A mountain range stretching 800 kilometres through central and eastern Afghanistan into northwestern Pakistan and far southeastern Tajikistan, forming the western section of the Hindu Kush Himalayan Region.
The Hindu Kush rises to its highest point at Tirich Mir, 7,708 metres, in Pakistan’s Chitral District. Its eastern end merges with the Karakoram Range, while to the north it meets the Pamir Mountains near the borders of China, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The range divides the Amu Darya valley to the north from the Indus River valley to the south. Historically, it served as a centre of Buddhism — the Bamiyan Buddhas stood here — and hosted monasteries and trade networks linking Central Asia with South Asia. The region became predominantly Muslim over several centuries, though Kafiristan retained ancient polytheistic traditions until the nineteenth century, when the Emirate of Afghanistan converted the area to Islam and renamed it Nuristan. The range has long been a route for invasions of the Indian subcontinent and remains strategically significant in Afghan conflict.
It appears in Field Notes: A rare crocodile in Côte d’Ivoire, five Himalayan pit vipers.
