Most Sarikoli speakers live in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. Finally, the alternatives of Pashtu and Urdu are unacceptable. Pashtu is a difficult and complex language which not many want to learn unless they must. Moreover, Pathans are not well liked and are known for engaging in endless blood feuds and for fighting and killing each other. Urdu is primarily a written language and a lingua franca.
Few families speak Urdu in their homes, even in lower Pakistan.
A variety of this language is spoken in Village Sau in Afghanistan. The people of Ashret are important because they are strategically located at the main gate to Chitral. All persons entering Chitral through Lowari Top, the pass which is 10,230 feet high which connects Chitral to Dir and the rest of Pakistan, must pass the customs checkpost at Ashret. Tradition has it that the people of Ashret are originally from Chilas in the Indus Valley. The people of Ashret are truly faithful guardians of the gate.