A remote and mysterious ethnic group, the Kafirs of Kafiristan continue to cast a spell similar to the one they cast on George Scott Robertson nine decades ago. Locked in the fastness of the Hindu-Kush mountains of Afghanistan and Pakistan, their relationship with the world beyond their valleys, with administrative authority, and with Islam has always been an ambiguous one and their unique culture persists to the present day.

Robertson’s curiosity about the people of Kafiristan was first excited while serving with the Kabul Field Force in 1878-80 and a further visit in October 1889 encouraged him to return to live with the Kafirs for a year in 1890-1. Often in fear for his life, Robertson had numerous adventures amongst the Kafirs, and his stories are full of vivid descriptions of their colourful personalities. Robertson went on to become the British Agent at Gilgit, succeeding Durand during a stormy period of power struggles that was to end in the famous siege of Chitral in 1895.

Renewed interest about a land and people, no longer as remote and inaccessible as when Robertson wrote, necessitates the present reprint of an 1896 edition of what still remains a major source of information on pre-Muslim Kafiristan.

Happily for the reader Robertson combines the perception and approach of an anthropologist with the skills of a novelist.

This edition, containing a new index and an Introduction by Louis Dupree, himself an expert on Kafirs, retains the original illustrations in all their authenticity.