The Yidgha-Munji people () also known as Mukhbani () are the Iranian- Pamiri peoples inhabiting the Lotkoh Valley in

Chitral Chitral ( khw, , lit=field, translit=ćhitrār; ur, , translit=ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral ...

( Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) and Kuran wa Munjan District in Badakhshan in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.

History

Historically the Munji and the Yidgha were one group. 500 years ago, the Yidgha people fled Munjan Valley (in Afghanistan) to Chitral because of persecution by the Arghun Dynasty which then had lost control of Chitral. The place where the Munjis originated was from the village of Munji, hence the name. Many Munji later fled to Pakistan during the War in Afghanistan as there were many killed during the American Invasion of Afghanistan.

Lifestyle

The Yidgha are engaged in agriculture and livestock including potatoes, animals, and dry fruits. Many Yidgha speakers have married the Kho as well as Dari speakers. The literacy rate of the Yidgha is only three percent. The people visit Shekhani speakers in nearby Afghanistan's Hamadiwanababa in

Nuristan Province Nuristan, also spelled as Nurestan or Nooristan (Dari: ; Kamkata-vari: ), is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. It is divided into seven districts and is Afghanistan's least populous province, wi ...

where they trade. The Munji people, the majority who now live in Pakistan, have intended to return to their homes in Afghanistan after the conflict ends. The Munji live a simple life and are primarily involved in trading with nearby communities like the Gawar ( Gawar-Bati speakers) and the Parachi ( Parachi speakers). Many Munji are said to have come earlier to Chitral, from Nasir Khusrow, who went to treat his sick wife.

Languages

The Munji and Yidgha speak their respected language, Munji and Yidgha, which are both

mutually intelligible In linguistics, mutual intelligibility is a relationship between languages or dialects in which speakers of different but related varieties can readily understand each other without prior familiarity or special effort. It is sometimes used as an ...

with each other and belong to the Pamiri languages, a subgroup of the

Eastern Iranian languages The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times (from c. the 4th century BC). The Avestan language is often classified as early Eastern Iranian. As opposed to the Middle Western Iranian diale ...

, which in turn is part of the Iranian languages. The languages have some dialectal differences with Yidgha borrowing more words from Khowar than Munji, with Munji rarely borrowing from Khowar and more from Nuristani languages like

Kata-vari Kata-vari is a dialect of the Kamkata-vari language spoken by the Kata in parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The most used alternative names are ''Kati'', ''Kativiri'' or ''Bashgali''. It is spoken by approximately 40,000 people (mostly in Afgh ...

and Shekhani.

References

{{reflist Social groups of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ethnic groups in Pakistan Ethnic groups in Badakhshan Province Ethnic groups in South Asia Indigenous peoples of South Asia Chitral District Pamiri people