How did the Nuristanis’ religious history change in 1896?

In 1896, the religious history of the Nuristani people underwent a profound and forced transformation. Previously, the inhabitants of the region—then known as Kafiristan, or "Land of the Infidels"—practiced a local polytheistic religion.123

During the 1890s, the Afghan emir Abdur Rahman Khan launched a military offensive to bring the region under his control. As part of this conquest, he forcibly converted the Nuristani population to Islam. Following this conversion, the emir renamed the territory Nurestan, which translates to "Land of the Enlightened" or "Land of Light".123

While the Nuristani people are now nominally Sunni Muslims, they maintain many traditional cultural practices that predate this forced conversion. Remnants of the region's original pre-Islamic religious culture have survived primarily among the Kalash people, who reside in the Chitral area of Pakistan.213