Istalif, Afghanistan

I spent an afternoon in Istalif which is about an hour drive north of Kabul. It is located on the Shomali Plane. The Soviets came through the Shomali valley when they invaded Afghanistan. The Taliban later destroyed the village, forcing the inhabitants to leave. The village is known for its pottery tradition.

Below is an article from Ceramics Today about Istalif and the rebuilding of the Afghan ceramic tradition.

Rebuilding Afghanistan Pot by Pot: The Turquoise Mountain Foundation and the Potters of Istalifby Noah Coburn and Ester Svensson

Areas such as the Shomali Plain north of Kabul were devastated by fighting with the Taliban and have been very slow to rebuild. Many of these towns have struggled to reconstruct themselves and have been forced to find their own means of economic development. For Istalif, a town an hour and a half north of Kabul, in the foothills of the Hindu Kush, this means returning to their traditional crafts to drive their own rebuilding process. Istalifi potters in particular have come back to rebuild their kilns and return to methods of potting which have been passed from father to son for generations.

Istalif has long been renowned for its gardens and traditional crafts. The Empire Babur praised the beauty of Istalif’s gardens. Before the Soviet invasion, Istalif was a popular spot for tourists and Kabulis to visit on the weekend. However, Istalif’s location also made it a target for military strikes during Afghanistan’s 25 years of war.

As a primarily Tajik town, at the edge of the mountains and therefore an ideal route between Kabul and the safety of the hills for resistance fighters, the Taliban saw Istalif as a threat to their rule of Kabul. As a result after weeks of fierce fighting, the Taliban took control of the town. They gave the residents a few hours warning and then slowly and methodically buried or razed every building in town.
Most of the potters in Istalif fled to Kabul, many walking for almost a month to avoid the intense fighting while carrying all their positions. Most remained in Kabul, living in poverty with relatives or in squatter villages, until the fall of the Taliban. Almost immediately after Hamid Karzai’s interim government arrived, Istalifi potters began to move slowly back to their destroyed homes and returned to what they do best, making pots.

The Hindu Kush Mountains above some of the still unrepaired houses of Istalif.
Istalifi Pottery:

The methods of the Istalifi potters have changed little despite the upheaval of the past three decades. They use a mixture of earthenware clays that they collect in the mountains above Istalif and bring to their workshops by donkey. To the clay they add a plant fiber called gul-e loch, which makes the clay more workable, but also makes their pots much more brittle. They do all their measuring by eye and then the clay is mixed together by stamping it with their feet for between two and four hours.
The Istalifi potters are masters on the kick wheel and traditionally make a variety of bowls and plates. They throw off a hump and often produce as many as 50 bowls an hour when they are pressed for time. Since the 1970s however, they have increasingly made candlesticks and other decorative objects, which both foreigners and visiting Kabulis purchase.


The Turquoise Mountain Foundation’s work in Istalif began by primarily aiding the potters and their families, but the unique history and geography of Istalif are allowing traditional crafts slowly to revive the economy of the town. This is a town which can be reconstructed, primarily by relying on the appeal of their ancient craft. The Turquoise Mountain Foundation is in the process of building a visitor’s center near the town bazaar. This center will have museum displays about the history of Afghan pottery and will also be a place for the potters to display their work for visitors from Kabul and abroad.