Wakhi Erotic

Wakhi are an Eastern Iranian Pamiri people of the high Pamir and Hindu Kush, living where Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and China meet, from the Wakhan Corridor and Gojal in upper Hunza to the Tajik Pamirs and Tashkurgan in Xinjiang. They speak Wakhi, an Indo-European language of the Eastern Iranian (Pamiri) group, and are predominantly Nizari Ismaili Muslims who follow the Aga Khan.

Society and subsistence

Wakhi life is one of high-altitude agropastoralism. Families grow barley, wheat, peas and potatoes on irrigated terraces in short summers and drive yaks, sheep and goats to alpine pastures, often practicing a vertical movement between valley villages and summer settlements. Stone and mud houses with a central skylight hearth are traditional, and hospitality and communal labor are strongly valued in a harsh environment.

Faith and culture

As Ismailis, the Wakhi observe a form of Islam that gathers in community religious houses (jamatkhana), and Aga Khan development institutions have strongly shaped modern education and health among them. Music, poetry and the Persian literary heritage color cultural life.

Appearance and adornment

Wakhi are typically of medium height with fair to wheatish skin, dark hair and often high cheekbones; light eyes appear occasionally. Women wear brightly embroidered dresses, red and white beaded caps and layered necklaces, while men favor long coats, sashes and the rolled woolen Pamiri or Chitrali cap against the cold. Mountain sun leaves ruddy, weathered cheeks.