The kupas, the headdress of the women, is a mark of Kalash identity. Covered with cowrie shells, it is an appeal for protection and fecundity. The headdress is the first object that fascinates any penetrating into Kalash territory. Chitral, pakistan.

Once numbered in the tens of thousands, the Kalasha have seen their numbers dwindle over the past century. With their light complexion and light colored eyes, the Kalasha are rumored to be the descendants of Alexander the Great’s army, which conquered the Hindu Kush along with “the known world” in the 4th century B.C. In Kalasha oral history, they are the children of "Salaxi," their name for Alexander.

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Thomas Kelly > The kupas, the headdress of the women, is a mark of Kalash identity. Covered with cowrie shells, it is an appeal for protection and fecundity. No women may go bare-headed, without the kupas or at least without the headdress support, the shushut, which is also decorated with cowrie shells, beads, bells, buttons and pompoms.
Chitral, Pakistan.

Thomas Kelly > Kalash women preparing bread on metal griddles.
Chitral, Pakistan.

Thomas Kelly > Custom does not regulate the dress of Kalash men. They have simple adopted the Pakistani form of dress, the salwar-kamiz, a long cotton tunic worn over baggy trousers and a Chitrali cap.
Chitral, Pakistan.

Thomas Kelly > Kalash walks along on the irrigation canal carrying fodder for stall-feeding his animals.
The Kalash clan, located in Northern Chitral, Pakistan depend on farming and herding for a livelihood.
Chitral, Pakistan.

Thomas Kelly > Kalash boy brings home firewood.
Chitral, Pakistan.

Thomas Kelly > Kalash men.
Custom does not regulate te dress of Kalash men. They hav simple adopted th Pakistani form of dress, the salwar-kamiz, a long cotton tunic worn over baggy trousers and a Chitrali cap.
Chitral, Pakistan.

Thomas Kelly > Kalash man takes out grapes from the cold storage room for sharing during the Biramor Winter Solstice ceremony.
Chitral, Pakistan.

Thomas Kelly > Kalash man crossing narrow plank used as bridge.
Custom does not regulate te dress of Kalash men. They hav simple adopted th Pakistani form of dress, the salwar-kamiz, a long cotton tunic worn over baggy trousers and a Chitrali cap.
Chitral, Pakistan.

Thomas Kelly > Funeral procession weaves below Rumbir village. The Kalash bury their dead.
Chitral, Pakistan.

Thomas Kelly > Kalash boys.
Custom does not regulate the dress of Kalash men. They have simple adopted the Pakistani form of dress, the salwar-kamiz, a long cotton tunic worn over baggy trousers and a Chitrali cap.
Chitral, Pakistan.

Thomas Kelly > Relatives of the deceased lament and weave their hands above the body so as to assist the soul to detach itself.
Chitral, Pakistan.

The kupas, the headdress of the women, is a mark of Kalash identity. Covered with cowrie shells, it is an appeal for protection and fecundity. The headdress is the first object that fascinates any penetrating into Kalash territory.
Chitral, pakistan.