Introduction

 

The Torwali people group of Pakistan have a population of about 102,000 (2016). Most reside in Khyber Pakhtunkwa province: Swat district; upper Swat district, both sides of Swat river, north of Madyan up to Asret (Bahrain dialect); 2 villages in Chail valley (Chail dialect).

The Torwali language is classified as Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Outer Languages, Northwestern, Dardic, Kohistani. The ISO Code is trw. Alternate names include: Torwalak, Torwali Kohistani, Turvali.

The speakers of Torwali highly value their language. Curriculum was developed for a 2-year multilingual education program that bridges children from Torwali to Urdu [urd]. This was used in primary schools, but only to a limited extent. Literature has also been written in the Torwali using the Arabic script, or Naskh or Nastaliq variants.