Peristan is the conventional name we use to refer to the pre-Islamic past of the vast mountain region ranging of the Hindukush/Karakorum, which was once the home to a congeries of culturally and linguistically diverse, non-literate societies, that were styled “Kafir” by their Muslim neighbours. While all the pre-Islamic cultures of this region are now vanished, with the only exception of the Kalasha, a fuller diachronic investigation of their past conditions, variations and developments has by now been made possible by the recent progresses in scientific knowledge of the subject. The “Roots of Peristan” Conference will convene in Rome for this purpose scholars from a variety of disciplines: anthropologists, historians, archaeologists, linguists, and cultural historians. The Conference is organized by ISMEO and its Scientific Committee is chaired by Prof. Adriano Rossi, President of ISMEO and former Dean of Istituto Orientale of Naples, with the Honorary Presidency of Prof. Em. Georg Budruss, University of Mainz.