Munji language

Munji
Spoken in	Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan
Native speakers	Not known  (date missing)
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Eastern Southeastern Pamir Munji
Writing system	None
Language codes
ISO 639-3	mnj
Linguasphere	58-ABD-ba

The Munji language, also Munjani language, is a Pamir language spoken in Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan. It is similar to the Yidgha language which is spoken in the Upper Lutkuh Valley of Chitral, west of Garam Chishma in Pakistan.

The Garam Chishma area became important during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan because the Soviets were unable to stop the flow of arms and men back and forth across the Dorah Pass that separates Chitral from Badakshan in Afghanistan. Almost the entire Munji-speaking population of Afghanistan fled across the border to Chitral during the War in Afghanistan.^{[citation needed]}

The Pamir Mountains are a high plateau sometimes called "The roof of the world" that joins Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, China and Kashmir. Marco Polo is believed to have crossed the Pamir Mountains on the way to China.

Further reading

• Decker, Kendall (1992). Languages of Chitral. Islamabad: National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University and Summer Institute of Linguistics. http://www.ethnologue.com/show_work.asp?id=32850. 
• Morgenstierne, Georg (1926). Report on a Linguistic Mission to Afghanistan. Oslo: Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning, Serie C I-2. ISBN 0-923891-09-9.