Wakhi Language

The Wakhi people  or the Khik  ( Xik ) are an Iranian ethnic group living in adjacent, remote regions of Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan and China. They are predominantly centered in Afghanistan's Wakhan Corridor, the northern-most part of  Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan, the Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistan and the southwestern region of China's Xinjiang. They are native speakers of Wakhi, an Indo-European language of the Iranian branch.

 Wakhi Peoples Are called :

The Wakhi people refer to themselves as Khik and to their language as Khik  Xik. The exonym Wakhi, which is given to them by their neighbors, is based on Wux the local name of the region of Wakhan, deriving from Waxšu, the old name of the Oxus River (Amu Darya), which is a major river formed by the junction of the Vakhsh and Panj rivers on the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan.

Bulbulic Music School At Gulmit - Promoting Wakhi Music to modren world , Picture by S.M. Bukhan's

Where wakhi Peoples existing ? 

The Wakhi Living literally on the Roof of the World or the Bam-I-Duniya are the Wakhi-speakers have a total population of about 50,000–70000. The population, who predominantly live in the Wakhan Corridor, the narrow strip of Afghan territory today's Badakhshan region located in northeastern Afghanistan and southeastern Tajikistan.The population is divided between four countries: Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Pakistan and China's Xinjiang.

The Wakhi people have been settlers of their lands for hundreds if not thousands of years however, the machinations of The Great Game during the eighteenth and nineteenth century created boundaries which separated the large body of the Wakhis into living in four countries.

Three of the last Wakhi shepherdesses: Sakina (left), Thai Bibi (centre), and Annar (right)
Photo by Taseer Baig, from BBC: The last of their kind

Maryam the Wakhi – approx. 85,000 Wakhi people live across Pakistan, Afghanistan, China & Tajikistan
Photo by Camille Delbos, for Al Jazeera Stories

In the harsh winter, Wakhi women collect river water
Photo © Pamir Times

Wakhi traditional dance in Tajikistan
Photo by Jay Tindall

Wakhi people on the Afghanistan side of the Wakhan Corridor
Photo shared by Carl Zha on X

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Wakhi In Tajikistan

Wakhi are inhabitants of Roshtqal'a District and Ishkoshim District of Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region. Tajikistan Contain Appox 23,816 (2018) Population Of Wakhi people.

Wakhi In Afghanistan

Wakhi primarily live in the Wakhan region of Badakhshan Province. The Wakhan sits at the junction of three major mountain ranges, the Hindu Kush, the Himalaya/ Karakoram, and the Pamirs – what is called the Pamir Knot. 

Wakhi people in Wakhan, Afghanistan

The valley is carved by the Wakhan River, fed by glacial meltwater from the surrounding mountains. From the town of Ishkashim, at 2,700 meters above sea level, the valley climbs steadily eastward, eventually reaching high altitude pasture land, above 4,000 meters, along the border with China. there are appox 17,485 (2018) Wakhi Peoples In Afghanistan.

Wakhi In Pakistan

In Gilgit-Baltistan in the north of Pakistan, Wakhi predominantly live in the upper region of Hunza popularly known as Gojal. 

Wakhi speakers also live in Ishkoman Valley of District Ghizer, and some villages of Yasin Valley . Wakhi also live in Broghal in Chitral district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.Wakhi population in pakistan Is Appox 22,974 (2018).

Wakhi Girl Shaila From Zood Khun Chipurson. By Ahmad Nafees Torwali - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

Wakhi In China

In China, Wakhi are inhabitants of Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County an administrative area within Kashgar Prefecture of Xinjiang. There  are appox 8,151 (2018) Wakhi Population All over China.

Wakhi In Russia and Turkey 

In Turkey There are some wakhi villages in Turkey in the eastern regions, where they have migrated from Afghanistan in 1979 during the Afghan and Russian war.

Nows a Day Many wakhi families are Migrating From Tajikistan to the parts Of Russia and maccoo.

Religion Of wakhi people

The Wakhi are mostly adhere to Shia Imami Ismaili  Islam, which is regarded as their ethnic religion and are followers of the Aga Khan.

Economy 

The Wakhi of Afghanistan Pamir are primarily nomadic, depending on their herds of yaks and horses.They often have two residences—one for winter and one for summer. Their houses are built of stone and sod.

Pakistan Trade between Wakhi people with Khisghiz Afghanistan through Irshad Pass , Picture Credit by Amunbai

Cultural preservation

In Pakistan, the central organization of the Wakhi is the Wakhi Cultural Association Pakistan (WCA), an organization that is registered with the Government of Pakistan and which works with the collaboration of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Lok Virsa Pakistan. The Association is working for the preservation of the Wakhi language and culture, as well as documenting their poetry and music.

Radio Pakistan Gilgit relays the Wakhi radio programme "Sadoyah Boomy Dunyo", the voice of the roof of the world. The Wakhi Cultural Association has arranged more than twenty programmes since 1984, which includes cultural shows, musical nights, and large-scale musical festivals with the collaboration of Lok Virsa Pakistan, the Aga Khan Cultural Service Pakistan (AKCSP) and Pakistan television. In 2000, the WCA won a "Best Programme" organizer award in the Silk Road Festival from the President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf. A computerized codification of the Wakhi script has been released, which will help to promote the language development program and documentation of Wakhi poetry, literature, and history

Writing System

Wakhi was not a written language. Writing systems have been developed for the language using Arabic, Cyrillic and Latin scripts.

Wakhi Alphabets using Cyrillic 

Cyrillic	Wakhi Word	Alphabet Sound	Word Sound
a	aman	a	aman
b	beṭ	b	bet̃
c	cum	c	cum
č	čoy	ch	choy
č̣	č̣eẓ̌em	c̃h	c̃h
d	daf	d	daf
ḍ	ḍox	d̃	d̃okh
δ	δai	dh	dhai
e	ehson	e	ehson
ә	—	ẽ	—
f	fuks	f	fuks
g	gut	g	gut
ɣ	ɣazg	gh	ghazg
ɣ̌	ɣ̌ar	g̃h	g̃har
h	hel	h	hel
j	jon	j	jon
ǰ̣	ǰ̣am	j̃	j̃am
k	kak	k	kak
x	xun	kh	khun
x̌	x̌ik	k̃h	k̃hik
l	istin	l	istin
m	mum	m	mum
n	nan	n	nan
o	oston	o	oston
p	pup	p	pup
q	qaq	q	qaq
r	ruxn	r	rukhn
s	suy	s	suy
š	šač	sh	shach
ṣ̌	ṣ̌apt	s̃h	s̃hapt
t	tat	t	tat
ṭ	ṭor	t̃	t̃or
ϑ	ϑoṭ	th	thot̃
u	ustoδ	u	ustodh
ʉ	ʉṣ̌ʉr	ũ	ũs̃htũr
v	voyn	v	voy
w	wurk	w	wurk
y	yark	y	yark
z	za	z	za
ʒ	ʒaqlai	z̃	z̃aqlai
ž	žui	zh	zhui
ẓ̌	ẓ̌arẓ̌	z̃h	z̃harz̃h

Map

Wakhi girl from Zood Khun, Chipurson
Photo by Jansher Khan Tajik

Ishkoshim

Wakhan Corridor Afghanistan

Gojal Valley, Hunza Pakistan

Kashghar, shangyang Province China

Ishkoman Valley, Ghizer Pakistan

Chipurson Valley, Gojal Hunza Pakistan

Reference about wakhi Population  wakhi.org