Gojal valley and Wakhi people

Gojal valley and Wakhi people

Gojal is home to the Wakhi People. The Wakhi people live around the Pamir knot that overlaps four countries – Gojal, Ishkoman and Chitral in Pakistan. In Kohistani Badakhshan Autonomous province of Tajikistan, Wakhan corridor of the Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. Further more Yarkand, Srikol and Tashqurghan regions of Sinkiang province, China. Gojal valley and Wakhi people

The Wakhi people despite their spread in four countries on the Pamir high plateau, share close linguistic, cultural and religious ties with each other referring to themselves as Xhik or Wakhi. Wakhi people have a unique culture, living style, language and social organization. They are settled in Gojal, Ishkoman and Brughil (Chitral) but majority of them are settled in Gojal Tehsil of Hunza-Nagar District.  Although there is no hard evidence on early settlements but the researchers believe that the Wakhi’s came from Wakhan and settled in Yashkok and later spread to different areas.

Gojal valley and Wakhi people

Gojal valley is famous for its rich natural wealth, landscape, picturesque locations, lofty mountains, breathtaking scenic beauty, wildlife and nature, glittering glaciers, valleys of lush green foliage and fruits, beautiful meadows, and pastures. The valley is comprised of 25 villages, including Ghawooshben (Ainabad), Shishkat (Nazimabad-1), Gulmit, Ghulkin, Seesoni (Hussani), Passu, Khyber, Ghalapan, Moorkhon, Jamalabad, Gircha, Sarteez, Nazimabad, Sost (Aminabad) Khudabad, Misgar, Qalandarchi, Avgarchi, Raminj, Yarz Rech, Kirmin, Reshit, Sharisafz, Kumpirdior, Zowoodkhon, Oston and Shimshal. Gulmit is Gojal’s largest settlement and Tehsil headquarters.Gojal is geographically the largest Tehsil of Hunza-Nagar District in Gilgit-Baltistan spreading over an area of about 8,500 sq.km. The valley borders with the Xinjiang-Uighur region of China and Wakhan Corridor or Little Pamir of Afghanistan.

A variety of festivals present a unique feature of its cultural diversity and different forms of expressions as celebration of various events in community life. These festivals cover a number of important seasonal celebrations, cultural events and religious festivities. The information contained in this articles has been extracted from historypk.com Gojal valley and Wakhi people