Nestled in the mountains a stone’s throw away from the busy markets of Chitral town is a small wooden structure in a graveyard containing a Saint from the days of yore.
A Saint who once prophesied the coming of a new age, a new kingdom and a new dynasty in the Hindu Kush. (🧵)
A Saint who once prophesied the coming of a new age, a new kingdom and a new dynasty in the Hindu Kush. (🧵)
Shah Burya Wali was a Saint from a land unknown. A wayward soul who chose the mountain kingdom of Chitral to become his last abode.
He arrived in what is today called Chitral town many centuries back and started preaching his message to all and any who would lend to him an ear.
He arrived in what is today called Chitral town many centuries back and started preaching his message to all and any who would lend to him an ear.
Chitral at that point in time was ruled by a Muslim dynasty called the Rais. According to tradition it was under the Rais that us Kho people (Chitralis) had pushed south and supplanted the Kalasha states.
The Rais were strong, swift, and brutal when the occasion called for it.
The Rais were strong, swift, and brutal when the occasion called for it.
With time the admirers of the Saint grew and whispers of his teachings seeped through the walls of the royal fort into the king’s court.
The Rais king became his greatest admirer and stayed in such a state till the saint’s death who was buried with utmost honours in the town.
The Rais king became his greatest admirer and stayed in such a state till the saint’s death who was buried with utmost honours in the town.
Soon after the saint’s passing, a man asked to enter the king’s court to offer him presents given to him when he was crossing over from Badakshan.
Two apples, to be given to the king and Atalegh (chief of defence). Courtesy of a Saint who called himself ‘Shah Burya Wali’.
Two apples, to be given to the king and Atalegh (chief of defence). Courtesy of a Saint who called himself ‘Shah Burya Wali’.
The king was furious as to who would try to make a fool out of him in such a manner for Burya wali had been buried in front of him.
We do not know what he did to the man in his rage but we do know that in this very spell of rage he threw away both the apples.
We do not know what he did to the man in his rage but we do know that in this very spell of rage he threw away both the apples.
The apples landed in the hands of the Atalegh, a bold man named Sangin Ali who took both and ate them that night. The same night in the king’s dream came the Saint and said that the two apples were given to bestow kingship on his progeny and Ataleghi on the progeny of Sangin.
“Alas for you have lost both and he has gained both” trailed off the saint’s voice in the dream.
At the break of morn the king had the saint’s grave dug up only to find a burial cloth and no mortal remains inside.
With the winds he had come and with the winds did he depart.
At the break of morn the king had the saint’s grave dug up only to find a burial cloth and no mortal remains inside.
With the winds he had come and with the winds did he depart.
It would only take for a few decades for Sangin’s grandsons to wrest the control of the state from the Rais. They would form the Katur dynasty of Chitral and the Khushwaqte dynasty of Yasin.
They shall rule for centuries and expand the might of our mountains.
They shall rule for centuries and expand the might of our mountains.
And so centuries later still perching on a hill upon Chitral town is the tomb of Burya Wali. Silently watching the workings of the prophecy that was given by the man for whom it was constructed.
For no one knows what happened of Burya Wali and where the winds took him.
For no one knows what happened of Burya Wali and where the winds took him.
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