The Pashayi or Pashai, formerly known as the Alina, (/pəˈʃaɪ/; Pashayi: پشه‌ای, romanised: Paṣhəy) are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group living primarily in eastern Afghanistan. They are mainly concentrated in the northern parts of Laghman and Nangarhar, also parts of Kunar, Kapisa, Parwan, Nuristan, parts of Panjshir, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. Many Pashayi are bilingual in Pashto and sometimes trilingual with Persian as a third language. Some of the Pashayi have been assimilated by Pashtuns, whereas those in Panjshir and Parwan,

History

There is no consensus on the origins of the Pashayi. According to Christine Noelle-Karimi, the Pashayis and Nuristanis were native to the Kunar Valley and Laghman Province, near Jalalabad in north-east Afghanistan, until they were displaced to less fertile mountainous region by successive waves of immigration by Ghilji Pashtuns. Conversely, Ovesen and Keiser suggest that the Pashayi were not driven up into the mountain valleys where they reside and were, rather, the indigenous inhabitants of their region before the rise of the Gandhara civilization.

Religions traditionally practised by the Pashayi people (before the arrival of Islam) included corrupt forms of Buddhism and Hinduism, animism, local beliefs, or combinations of these. The Pashayi additionally practiced shamanism and sacrificed goats as part of their beliefs. In the Sifat Nima, a book written by Darvish Mohammad Khan, the Pashayi worshipped gods named Pandad, Sharway, and Lamanday. According to Russian anthropologist G.J Daushvili, the Pashayi and other Western Dards shared a syncretic religion that featured elements of hunting cults, the Nuristani Kafir religion and Shaivism. It is additionally suggested by Keiser that the pre-Islamic Pashayi people may have followed a form of paganism similar to that of the Kalash people, rather than a form of degenerate Hindu-Buddhism.

In the 13th century, Marco Polo traveled through the region and described the locals as practitioners of sorcery and witchcraft, as well as calling them a "pestilent people" and crafty". Polo claimed that the men wore brooches and earrings decorated with gemstones, and that the main diet of the locals consisted of rice and meat.

In the 16th century, when Mughal ruler Babur visited Darai Nur, a district in Nangarhar Province primarily inhabited by the Pashayi people (and later more than 99% Pashayi), he found that the eating of pork had only recently been forbidden and that the town was famous for its wine. Hakim was a semi-independent governor of Kabul. The Sifat-nama-yi Darviš Muhammad Hān-i Ğāzī of Kadi Muhammad Salim who accompanied the expedition mentions its details.

During the 18th century, Pashtuns forced Pashayi people to convert to Islam, and conversions continued into recent history. According to Pashai oral tradition, in the mid-18th century, Deishamir Baba conquered Darra-i Nur Valley and converted the people to Islam. The valley was inhabited by Kafirs who only were armed with bows and arrows, whereas Deishamir Baba and his army had firearms. while a minority are Nizari Ismaili Muslims. There have been Pashayi-speaking Sikhs, although Muslim Pashayi people do not consider them as part of the ethnic group. Pashayi people have deliberately been listed as Tajik by census takers and government agents. This is a result of the census takers being Tajik themselves, wanting to increase their own numbers for "consequent benefits". Although, Pashayi-speaking Nizari Isma'ili refer to themselves as Tajik.

thumb|200x200px|Flag of the Pashayi people, sighted in Afghanistan and parts of Northern Pakistan

Founding myths among the Darra-i-Nur Pashayi

In Darra-i-Nur, the two most important descent groups are Soom, meaning hoof, and Shenganek, sheng meaning horn. According to Pashayi mythology, an unmarried woman had become pregnant and went into the mountains to give birth to a boy, subsequently abandoning the newborn under some leaves to hide her shame. A goat then discovered the boy, scraping the leaves away with their hoof, and raised the newborn, earning the name Soom. The story is repeated, except this time, the goat discovered the abandoned newborn with their horns, therefore earning the name Shenganek and becoming the ancestor of the Shenganek Pashayi. There is an additional tribe from Kuz Kunar District, known as Kolmān, as well as another tribe referred to as Surat Baig.

Etymology

There are several theories regarding the origin of the word Pashayi, with some claiming it is over 2,500 years old. In 1891, Henry Walter Bellew stated "Pashae, or Pashie are attributive plural forms, meaning 'of the Kingdom Padshahi'. The Pashayi are still found by that name in the Darai Nur District of Nangarhar Province, Bamyan and Laghman districts in the southern valleys. However, the Afghan Ministry of Information of Culture claim that Pashayi is derived from the words Baha Sha, Bahash and Bash which are words in the Pashayi languages. Others believe that the word comes from Psatha or Pishacha, meaning demon and carnivore. Others think that Pashayi is derived from Pashi, meaning "strong", "sturdy" and "rock wall" in the language.

The last theory claims that in ancient times, a king emerged from the Pashayi ethnic group, later being named after him as kings were referred to as Pasha or Padshāh. Pashayi historians and the Ministry of Culture and Information claim that the Pashayi people were referred to as Alina, evident through the naming of Alishang and Alingar District, Alingar meaning "home of the Alina".

Sir H. Rawlinson, in Monograph of the Oxus, suggests the name “Pashayi” might’ve originally been connected with Apresin and Paresin, the Zendavestian name for the region between Bactria and the Indus River. This name is also mentioned in the Babylonian version of the Behishtun inscription, where the term is treated the same as Gaddra in Persian, which refers to Gandhara. It’s possible that over time, the name “Pashayi” continued to be used, even if the original meaning was forgotten. The Pashayi people additionally perform a dance where young people of all genders gather in a circle, hold each other by their shoulders and begin singing songs. This is performed at weddings or during celebrations, and lasts for 20–25 minutes.

Marriage customs among the Pashayi additionally differ from those in other regions, where an engaged couple are permitted to spend time with each other and interact freely from the beginning of their engagement. Restrictions usually opposed on engaged couples in other regions do not apply, and wedding ceremonies also follow unique traditions. In recent years, the Pashayi Ethnic Union organisation was founded in Takhar Province, aiming to safeguard and promote the cultural and linguistic heritage of the Pashayi people.