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NURISTANIS 573
the father is still alive. Traditionally only men could own property in Nuristan;
under Islamic law women are entitled to a share of the patrimony, but in practice
their share usually reverts to their brothers or close male agnates.
Nuristanis are divided into a land-owning upper caste and a lower caste of
craftsmen, both endogamous. The lower caste were slaves until the advent of
Islam, and they are still largely disenfranchised. Within the lower caste there is
a further subdivision, the nature of which varies among the different Nuristani
peoples. Lower-caste craftsmen produce the woodworking, blacksmithing, pottery,
weaving and basketry used in daily Nuristani life.
Beyond occupation specialization by caste, the basic division of labor is by
sex. Males and females are supposed to contribute equally to the production of
the traditional Nuristani meal. The women provide bread, which entails responsibility
for all agricultural production and the gathering of firewood. The men
provide a dairy product, which entails the husbandry of goats and cattle.
Environment and the availability of territory determine some of the major
differences between the Nuristani peoples. Irrigation and field-terracing techniques
are somewhat more elaborate among the Kalasha peoples, who inhabit
the lower and narrower valleys of the Hindu Kush, than among the remaining
peoples, who inhabit the broader valleys of the higher elevations. The Vasi and
most Kati live above the zone where two cereal crops will grow annually; these
peoples rely on peas as a major supplement to their grain crops. Because of the
elevation, these peoples also lack the abundant holly-oak stands that provide
winter grazing for the goats of the lower inhabitants; the Vasi especially raise
fodder grasses which they stall feed their livestock throughout the winter.
Among the most important cultural differences in Nuristan are variation in
kinship organization. Kalasha and Kati recognize formalized groupings of close
agnates that are lacking in the descent model of the Kom and Kshto. Corporate
agnatic estates do not exist except among the Vasi, whose lineages each have a
clan house in which resides the hereditary lineage leader; other Nuristani peoples
do not recognize such hereditary roles. Although there is a common core of
kinship terminology throughout Nuristan, wide variation is found in the designation
of in-laws and aunts.
Other cultural differences that tend to coincide with the three major Nuristani
ethnic divisions include variations in dress, house construction and music.
Since their incorporation into Afghanistan in 1896, the Nuristanis have regarded
themselves as dominated by a corrupt and oppressive regime of their
traditional enemies, the Pushtun. However, the Pushtun kings treated the Nuristanis
nobly and provided the Nuristanis with opportunities for advancement in
the military, exploiting their skill as mountain warriors. Several Nuristanis rose
to the highest military ranks, and it was through these prominent Nuristanis that
the otherwise isolated peoples of Nuristan felt any personal integration into the
national community.
After the Communist coup of April 1978, many nationally prominent Nuristanis
were liquidated in the ensuing purge. The Nuristanis saw no personal ties