DARDISTAN.ORG

The Dardistan Project was founded to document the culture, history, languages, and genetics of the many peoples of Dardistan. Dardistan is a region that spans Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, and Kashmir.

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The various ethnic groups of "Dardistan" do not necessarily identify as "dards" and not all of their diverse languages are related. However grouping these various mountain peoples due to their geographic adjacency using historic terminology helps pool charitable resources and research more effectively.

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We define someone as "Dardic" if they meet any one of the following classifications:

 

- A native speaker of a Dardic language (e.g. Kashmiri language, Kohistani language)

- An indigenous inhabitant of Dardistan (e.g. Kalash people, Nuristani people)

- Any endogamous group that descends from the first two groups (e.g. Swati tribe, Tanoli tribe)

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The project was started upon noticing that although Dardistan was a unique bastion of cultural and genetic diversity, it remained mostly undocumented online. As descendants of this impoverished region join the online global community, we wish to provide them with resources for their heritage.

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Additionally, many people stumble upon their Dardic heritage through study and genetic testing, such as Pashtunized Dardic groups like the Swatis and Afridis, and they are underequipped to learn about their heritage.​

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The Dardistan Project adheres to the following principles:

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Community-driven

The Dardistan Project aims to be bottoms-up, and driven by the needs and desires of Dardic peoples. This means it will be up to the community to determine which projects are important to work on, and to answer questions as to what a Dardic identity might look like.​

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Contribute upstream

Instead of creating separate articles and databases for Dardistan, the Dardistan Project will primarily contribute to pre-existing sources like Wikipedia, so that all of humanity can easily benefit from its work. 

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Academically sound

The Dardistan Project should work closely with academia and not advance any information that is not academically sound. However, it should be noted that not all questions are academic in nature, and questions of what a Dardic identity should look like cannot be answered by academia.