"Khowar Language: Where It Is Spoken and Useful Phrases"

The Khowar language is the mother tongue of the Kho people of Chitral and the everyday language of the whole district, spoken in homes, bazaars and most offices from Drosh to the Broghil valley. The linguist Elena Bashir, in her 2025 Grammar of Khowar, puts first-language speakers at around 400,000. It is also spoken in the Ghizer, Gupis and Yasin valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan and in two side valleys of upper Swat. A visitor does not need it, because almost every Chitrali also speaks Urdu, but a greeting in Khowar is noticed.

This guide covers where Khowar is spoken, where it sits among the languages of the mountains, how it is written, and a handful of words that are worth learning before a trip to Chitral.

Where is Khowar spoken?

Khowar is the main language of Upper and Lower Chitral, the two districts that Chitral was split into in 2018. That covers the main Chitral river valley and its large side valleys: Lotkuh (the Garam Chashma road), Mulkhow, Torkhow and Laspur. Bashir describes it as the lingua franca of both districts. In Upper Chitral it is the dominant language everywhere except Broghil, where Wakhi is spoken.

Lower Chitral is more mixed. Pashto is now heard fairly often in the southernmost parts near Drosh, Madaklasht has a local variety of Persian, and in the Kalash valleys people speak Kalasha at home and Khowar as well. Bashir notes that many Dameli and Palula speakers in the south also use Khowar.

Outside Chitral, Khowar crosses Shandur Pass into Gilgit-Baltistan, where it is spoken in Ghizer, Gupis and Yasin. If you drive the Shandur road from Mastuj to Phander and Gahkuch, you stay in Khowar-speaking country most of the way. It is also spoken in the Ushu and Mataltan valleys above Kalam in upper Swat, with a different accent. Many Chitralis have moved to Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and Karachi, so you will hear it there too; Peshawar's Chitrali Bazaar, near Qissa Khwani, is run largely by Khowar-speaking traders.

Khowar is not listed separately in the published 2023 census tables, so there is no official count. The figure of around 400,000 is Bashir's estimate, built on an earlier figure of about 300,000 from 2003. Ethnologue gives a higher number, 580,000 for 2020.

How is Khowar related to other languages?

Khowar is an Indo-Aryan language, a distant cousin of Urdu, Punjabi and Hindko. Within that family it belongs to the mountain languages usually called Dardic, along with Shina, Kalasha, Torwali and the Kohistani languages. Bashir prefers the term "Far Northwestern Indo-Aryan", because "Dardic" is a geographical label rather than a single branch of the family tree.

Its closest relative is Kalasha, the language of the Kalash valleys south-west of Chitral town. The two share many inherited features but are separate languages, and a Kalasha speaker and a Khowar speaker do not simply understand each other. Our Kalash culture guide covers that community.

Khowar is also known for being old-fashioned in the linguist's sense. The Norwegian scholar Georg Morgenstierne noted that it keeps much of the case system of Sanskrit, which Urdu and Hindi have largely lost. Over the centuries it has also taken words from Persian (the court language of Chitral's rulers until 1969), from Turkic, from Wakhi and other Pamir languages, and now from Urdu and English.

Neighbouring languages

Bashir lists the languages that border the Khowar area:

• North: Wakhi, in Broghil and across into Afghanistan's Wakhan.
• East: Shina and Burushaski, in Gilgit, Hunza and the Yasin valley.
• West: Kalasha, Kamkata-viri and Yidgha.
• South and south-east: Palula and Dameli, and the Kohistani languages of Kalam and Dir.

For the languages on the Gilgit-Baltistan side of Shandur, see our guide to Gilgit-Baltistan languages.

Does Khowar have dialects?

Early scholars thought it had none. Later work found regional differences, and the Chitrali writer Inayatullah Faizi divides the Khowar area into six zones:

1. Chitral town and Drosh
2. Torkhow and Mulkhow
3. Biyar (the upper valleys)
4. Lotkuh, Karimabad and Arkari
5. Laspur
6. Ghizer, Yasin, Warashgum and Ishkoman in Gilgit-Baltistan

The Khowar of Upper Chitral is considered the most conservative and the original form of the language. According to research cited by Bashir, the language's earliest home was the valleys around Mastuj, from where it spread south. In upper Swat, the vocabulary is close to Chitral's but the pronunciation and intonation are noticeably different. None of this matters much to a visitor: a Khowar speaker from Booni and one from Drosh understand each other without trouble.

How is Khowar written?

For most of its history Khowar was spoken, not written. Chitral's official language under its Mehtars was Persian, and the state archives before Pakistan are all in Persian.

In 1921 Prince Nasir ul-Mulk, then Mehtar of Chitral, published a proposed alphabet using the Perso-Arabic script, with new letters for Khowar sounds that Urdu and Persian lack. Prince Samsam ul-Mulk later wrote a short grammar, a phrase book and a primer. Six extra letters are now standard, so written Khowar looks like Urdu with a few unfamiliar characters.

The Anjuman-e-Taraqqi Khowar, founded in 1965 by Shahzada Hussam ul-Mulk, was the first organisation set up to promote the language. In 2011 the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government decided to teach five regional languages in schools, Khowar among them, and primary textbooks have since been produced.

Khowar poetry and music

Poetry is where Khowar is strongest. Bashir notes that mushairas, public poetry readings, are held often in towns and villages, many organised by local branches of the Anjuman. Prose is newer; collections of Chitrali folk tales and short stories have only appeared in the last decade or so.

Most visitors meet Khowar through song. Folk songs are sung at weddings and gatherings to the long-necked Chitrali sitar, and Bashir notes that videos of Khowar singers and poetry readings are now widely shared online. Our Chitral culture guide covers the music, the polo and Kho customs in more detail.

Useful Khowar words for visitors

The words below come from Bashir's grammar, written in simple roman letters. Pronunciation varies from valley to valley, and nobody expects a visitor to get it right; the effort is what counts.

For "thank you" and most practical questions, Urdu is perfectly normal in Chitral and nobody will think twice about it. Use Khowar for the greeting and the "Jam asusa?", then switch.

The word menu, guest, is worth knowing. Chitralis take hospitality seriously, and as a visitor you will often hear yourself described as one.

Is it worth learning some Khowar?

For getting around, no. Bashir records that most educated Chitralis read and speak Urdu, and English is common in Chitral town among younger people and anyone working in tourism. Hotel staff, jeep drivers and shopkeepers on the main routes all switch to Urdu without being asked.

For the trip itself, two or three words are worth the five minutes. A greeting and "Jam asusa?" at a village shop in Mastuj or Booni usually starts a conversation that Urdu alone would not. If you are interested in languages more broadly, Chitral is one of the most varied corners of Pakistan: Khowar, Kalasha, Wakhi, Palula and Persian are all spoken within a day's drive of each other. Our languages of Pakistan guide puts Khowar in the national picture, and the Pakistan travel guide covers the practical basics of a trip north.

One planning note. Pakistani travellers visit Chitral throughout the season, but as of September 2026 the UK government advises against all travel on the N45 from Mardan to Chitral city, which is the road through Dir and the Lowari Tunnel, and within 10 miles of the Afghan border. Foreign-passport holders should check their own government's advice, since travelling against it can void insurance, and everyone should check local news before setting out. Our guide is Chitral safe has the detail.

Frequently asked questions