Kafiristan or Kafirstan ("Land of the non believers" in the Persian) was a historic name of Nurestan (Nuristan), a province in the Hindukush(Killer of Hindu Mountains) region of Afghanistan and Pakistan. This historic region lies on, and mainly comprises, basins of the rivers Alingar, Pech (Kamah), Landai Sin, and Kunar, and the intervening mountain ranges. It is bounded by the main range of the Hindukush on the north, the city of Chitral in the Pakistan to the east, the Kunar Valley in the south, and the Alishang River in the west. Image File history File links map of province of Afghanistan File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Sub_Pakistan. ... Persian (Local names: فارسی Fârsi or پارسی Pârsi)* is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well as by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... Nurestan (also spelled Nuristan or Nooristan) (Persian/Nuristani: نورستان) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Nurestan Province (also spelled Nuristan) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... The Hindu Kush or Hindukush (هندوکش in Persian) is a mountain range in Afghanistan as well as in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. ... Kunar river is located in Afghanistan and Pakistan. ... Kunar Valley is a valley in Afghanistan. ...

Kafiristan takes its name from the inhabitants, the Kafirs, a fiercely independent people with distinctive culture, language and religion. In 1896 the country was conquered and forcibly converted to Islam by the Emir Abdur Rahman Khan, who renamed the people as Nuristani ("Enlightened Ones" in Persian) and the land as Nuristan ("Land of the Enlightened"). It was only due to the location of three valleys notably, Birir, Bumburet and Rumbur that were located east of the Durand line under the administrative control of the British Raj and later Pakistan that this portion of kafiristan was spared forced conversion. After declining population figures throughout the 70's, the region of Kafiristan in Pakistan has recently shown an increase in its population, much to the delight of historians and local philanthropists. The government of Greece has established several schools in the region and is actively involved in the improvement of the area. The Kafirs were the historic inhabitants of Kafirstan, on the southern slopes of Hindukush. ... Year 1896 (MDCCCXCVI) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display calendar). ... Islam (Arabic:  ) is a monotheistic religion based upon the teachings of Muhammad, a 7th century Arab religious and political figure. ... Entrance to the emirs palace in Bukhara. ... Amir Abdur Rahman Khan Abdur Rahman Khan Abdur Rahman Khan (1844 - October 1, 1901), Emir of Afghanistan, was the third son of Afzul Khan, who was the eldest son of Dost Mahommed Khan, who had established the Barakzais family dynasty in Afghanistan. ... The Nuristani are a religious/ethnic group in the Nurestan Province of Afghanistan. ... Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... The Durand Line is the term for the poorly marked 2,640 kilometer (1,610 mile) border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. ... The flag of British India British India, circa 1860 The British Raj (Raj in Hindi meaning Rule; from Sanskrit Rajya) was the British rule between 1858 and 1947 of the Indian Subcontinent, which included the present-day India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Burma (Myanmar), whereby these lands were under the colonial...

Etymology of the name

It has been claimed that the name "Kafir" comes from the Arabic kafir, usually translated as "non-believer" (i.e. "non-Muslim"). However, that may be a folk etymology, and the word may in fact derive from an ancient name of the region; see Hindukush Kafir people for more details. Arabic ( or just ) is the largest living member of the Semitic language family in terms of speakers. ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... Folk etymology or popular etymology is a linguistic term for a category of false etymology which has grown up in popular lore, as opposed to one which arose in scholarly usage. ... The Kafirs were the historic inhabitants of Kafirstan, on the southern slopes of Hindukush. ...

Kafiristan in literature

Kafiristan was the setting for Rudyard Kipling's short story The Man Who Would Be King and the movie with the same title starring Sean Connery and Michael Caine. This article is about the British author. ... The Man Who Would Be King (1888) is a short story by Rudyard Kipling concerning two British ex-soldiers who set off from 19th century British India in search of adventure and end up as kings of Kafiristan (now part of Pakistan). ... Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930) is an Academy Award-winning Scottish actor and producer who is perhaps best known as the first actor to portray James Bond in cinema. ... Sir Maurice Joseph Micklewhite CBE (born March 14, 1933), known professionally as Michael Caine, is a two-time Academy Award-winning British film actor. ...

Kipling's story apparently has a basis in history as documented in Ben MaCintyre's book, The Man Who Would Be King: The First American In Afghanistan (2004). Josiah Harlan, the object of Kipling's Dravot, an American from Chester County, Pennsylvania assisted Shah Shujah al-Moolk in attacking Dost Mohammed Khan in Afghanistan. Josiah Harlan in his Afghan robes Josiah Harlan (June 12, 1799 - 1871) was an American adventurer, best known for travelling to Afghanistan and Punjab with the intention of being made king. ...

The cultural background for Kipling's story can be found in George Scott Robertson, Kafirs of the Hindu Kush (London, 1896), which came out a few years after Kipling's story. Robertson had spent a year living among the Kafirs before becoming British Agent in Gilgit.

Kafiristan is also the setting for the visit by G. I. Gurdjieff, to the legendary monastery of the World Brotherhood, in Meetings with Remarkable Men (pp. 228-231, 236-244.) Georges Ivanovich Gurdjieff Georges Ivanovich Gurdjieff (Георгий Иванович Гюрджиев, Georgiy Ivanovich Gyurdzhiev (or Gurdjiev); January 13, 1872? – October 29, 1949), was a Greek-Armenian mystic and spiritual teacher who initially gained public recognition as a teacher of sacred dance. ... Meetings with Remarkable Men is the second volume of the All and Everything trilogy written by Greek-Armenian mystic G. I. Gurdjieff, as well as its G. I. Gurdjieffs personal autobiography. ...

Kefiristan is a mentioned in passing, from the Doom novels mini-series by Dafydd ab Hugh and Brad Linaweaver, a mini-series based on the DOOM franchise. Cover for the first Doom novel, Knee-deep in the dead The Doom novel series is a series of four near-future science fiction novels co-written by Dafydd ab Hugh and Brad Linaweaver; Knee-Deep in the Dead, Hell on Earth, Infernal Sky, and Endgame. ... Dafydd ab Hugh (born October 22, 1960) is a science fiction author. ... Brad Linaweaver is a Nebula Award finalist for the novella version, and Prometheus Award winner for the novel version of His other novels include Sliders (based on the television series) and Collaborative novels are four best selling Doom books with Dafydd ab Hugh, three Battlestar Galactica novels with Richard Hatch... Doom (or DOOM)[1] is a 1993 computer game by id Software that is among the landmark titles in the first-person shooter genre. ...

Kafiristan (and Nuristan) are the basis of Eric Newby's book - A Short Walk in the Hindu Kush Eric Newby CBE MC (born December 6, 1919 - October 20, 2006)[1] was an English author of travel literature, regarded by many as one of the finest British travel writers of the 20th century. ...

See also

• Hindukush Kafir people