Shughni

Shughni is spoken in the Shughnan district of north-eastern Badakhshan province and also in Tajikistan. Its largest sub-dialect is Roshani. Linguistically, it is related to the four other languages that make up the Pamiri language family: Wakhi, Munji, Ishkashimi, and Sanglechi.

In the high Pamiri mountains of Shughnan, many of the Shughni people still live a traditional life of shepherding and agriculture. The first person to put the Shughni language into writing was Mullah Lachin, who lived about a hundred years ago. His books are kept by his grandchildren on their family property today.

More recently, other poets and scholars have contributed to the growing pool of Shughni literature. These include those who have worked on designing the orthography and school curriculum such as Professor Khair Muhammad Haidari, Professor Khush Nazar Pamirzad, and Hafizullah Maihandoost.