Pashtun Lohani

The roots of the Lohani trace back to the Ghor region, in present day Afghanistan, from where they moved down to Ghazni and lived for centuries as herders. There they became known as caravaneers, crossing the Gomal Pass between summers in the highlands and winters on the plains of Daman, trading between Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent.

During the era of the Lodi Sultanate, waves of Lohani migrated into India, reaching as far as Bihar, where an inscription from the late 15th century records the deeds of one of their leaders. Over time, the people settled in the lands they occupy today in northwestern Pakistan, at the foot of the mountains they once crossed as traders.

Most Lohani today live by farming, though the people are also present in urban trades, from commerce to public service. The former caravaneer life, marked by seasonal movement between summer pastures and winter plains, has given way to a more settled existence, but the memory of that mobility still shapes the group’s identity.

Social organization revolves around clan and tribe, whose weight often outweighs even loyalty to one’s own country. Pashtunwali governs relationships: hospitality to guests, defense of family honor and the resolution of disputes by the elders themselves, without relying on outside institutions.

The Lohani are Sunni Muslims, like nearly all Pashtuns. The Islamic faith is interwoven with the very honor code of Pashtunwali, so that being Pashtun and being Muslim have become, in practice, almost the same thing. Religious practice blends with ancient tribal customs, passed down from generation to generation together with the stories of the clan.

This fusion of religion and tribal identity makes Islam not just a personal belief but the glue that holds together the cohesion of the clan and loyalty among relatives, neighbors and allies. To question the faith is, for a Lohani, to question one’s very place within the family and community that has surrounded them since birth.

In Pashto, the heart language of the Lohani, Bible portions and the New Testament already exist, but the complete Bible has not yet been finished. There are also audio recordings and video content in the language, important resources in a culture where the spoken word and oral poetry carry more weight than the written text, and where access to printed materials is still limited outside the major centers.

Among the Lohani, being Pashtun means, in practice, being Muslim: abandoning Islam is seen as betrayal not only of the faith but of the clan and family honor, with severe social consequences. Proximity to the Afghan border, marked by decades of instability and the presence of armed groups, isolates the people even further from any contact with a Christian witness, making it rare for a Lohani to have ever heard of Jesus from someone within their own culture.

The region where the Lohani live carries the effects of decades of conflict and instability along the Afghan border, which limits access to education, healthcare and job opportunities beyond subsistence farming. Entire families live with the uncertainty of hard times, with few alternative sources of income when the harvest fails or violence draws near.

The people also lack any local Christian community, someone who speaks their language and understands their customs to walk alongside anyone who draws near to Jesus. Without that presence, the path to faith remains a lonely one for any Lohani drawn to the gospel.