Hindu Kush

[hin-doo koosh, kuhsh]

noun

1. the Hindu Kush, a mountain range in southern Asia, mostly in northeastern Afghanistan, extending west from the Himalayas. Highest peak, Tirich Mir, 25,230 feet (7,690 meters).

Hindu Kush

/ kuːʃ, kʊʃ /

plural noun

1. a mountain range in central Asia, extending about 800 km (500 miles) east from the Koh-i-Baba Mountains of central Afghanistan to the Pamirs. Highest peak: Tirich Mir, 7690 m (25 230 ft)

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hindu Kush¹

First recorded in 1820–30; possibly from Persian koš, a derivative of the verb koštan “to kill,” the phrase meaning “Hindu killer” (from when slaves being transported from the Indian subcontinent to Central Asia died in the harsh climate of these mountains); possibly from Persian ‎ Hindūkuš, Hendukoš “Mountains of the Indus / of India,” which, in some 19th-century reports was also interpreted in a popular etymology as a compound of Hendu and koš “Hindu-slayer”