Chitral

Chitral lies in a river valley beneath the high peaks of the Hindu Kush. The mountain kingdom that took its name from the town was ruled by families whose rivalries reached into the neighbouring valleys of Mastuj, Yasin and Badakhshan. Khowar speakers formed an important part of its population, while mountain passes connected the valley with lands on both sides of the range.

Local histories tell of struggles between the Rais and Kator rulers. Shah Mahmud Rais recovered Chitral with help from Kashgar and Yarkand, forcing his Kator rivals to flee. Later in the eighteenth century Farmurz Shah Khushwaqt defeated the Rais, and Mohtaram Shah Kator took Chitral. After further contests with his Khushwaqt kinsmen, he established his supremacy in 1833.