Gawri people

The Gawri people (Gawri: گاؤری) are an indigenous Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group native to Dir Kohistan and Swat Kohistan in northern Pakistan. They speak Gawri language, which belongs to the Kohistani group of Indo-Aryan languages.^[2]

Gawris predominantly inhabit the Kumrat Valley in the Upper Dir District and the valleys of Kalam, Usho and Utror in the Upper Swat District,^[3][4][5] and are closely related to the neighbouring Torwalis and Indus Kohistanis.

The traditional homeland of Gawri people is divided into the two communities of Upper Swat and Upper Panjkora river valleys, connected to each other through the Badgoi Pass.^[4] In Swat the main centre of Gawris is the town of Kalam, located at the confluence of Usho/Karan Daki and Swat rivers. In addition to the main Kalam Valley, they also inhabit its tributary valleys of Usho (including Matiltan) and Utror.^[6][4]

In Dir, Thal is the major Gawri town, the last village in the Kumrat Valley. Other Gawri speaking villages include Barikot, Rajkot, Biar, Kalkot and Lamuti, however, in Barikot and Rajkot most Gawris have adopted Pashto as their primary language.^[3]

In the south of Kalam the Gawri-speaking area is separated from Torwali-speaking Bahrain Valley by several Gujari-speaking settlements (Peshmal, Laikot and Badai Serai).^[3] To the east of Kalam and Usho, Indus Kohistani is spoken until the west bank of Indus. In the south of Kumrat, Pashto is the majority language while to the further north of Gawri area Khowar is the dominant language of Chitral and Ghizer.^[4]

The total Gawri population was estimated in 2025 to be 141,460, with 35% of them being below the age of 15.^[1] In Swat Kohistan alone the Gawri population was estimated to be around 60,000 as of 2025.^[7]

Gawri people are one of the several Indo-Aryan speaking populations inhabiting the Kohistan region in northern Pakistan. They are known to Kho people as Bashkarik and to Pashtuns as Kohistanis.^[4] Baart and Sagar (2002) believe them to be descendants of Gauraioi who were referenced by the Greek historians in the Dir region during the invasion of Alexander the Great.^[3] They were forced to migrate to the mountainous Upper Panjkora Valley following the invasion of Mahmud of Ghazni in the 11th century and the defeat of the Hindu Shahis. In the 15th and 16th centuries lower Panjkora and Swat Valleys were conquered by the Yousafzai Pashtuns. In the following centuries Gawris gradually converted to Islam.^[3]

Gawris maintained their internal independence until the 19th century. The Dir city was held by Gawris until 1804, when Yousafzais conquered it.^[8] The Gawri areas in Kumrat were conquered by the Nawabs of Dir in 1895, while those in Kalam tract remained independent throughout the colonial period owing to the competing claims by Chitral, Dir and Swat.^[1] The Wali of Swat captured Kalam Valley immediately after independence in 1947. After the princely states were abolished in 1969, Kumrat and Kalam became part of Dir and Swat districts, respectively.^[8]