Yadgha, also spelled Yidgha, is an endangered Eastern Iranian language of the Pamir group. It is spoken by around 6,000 people in the Upper Lutkoh Valley of Chitral Lower, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, and is closely related to Munji, spoken across the border in Afghanistan.
The language community is concentrated in a handful of villages stretching west from Garam Chashma toward the Dorah Pass near the Afghan frontier. Yadgha belongs to the Indo-European family and is classified within the Southeastern Iranian branch, specifically the Munji–Yidgha subgroup.
In 2016, the Forum for Language Initiatives (FLI) carried out a preliminary documentation project, recording ten folktales with Urdu translations and producing the first publications in Yadgha. FLI also supports the annual Phathak festival, which engages youth and helps them reconnect with their cultural heritage.
The Yadgha-speaking community is largely agrarian and pastoral. Oral traditions trace their ancestry to a migration from Afghanistan’s Munjan Valley about five centuries ago. Historically, the language has remained unwritten, with elders preserving its heritage through oral transmission.
Link to FLI project products is provided below.
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