Eastern Kata-vari also locally known as Shekhani is a variety of the Kata-vari language spoken in Chitral district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.^[3] The Kamviri language is also known as Shekhani. The Khowar name for the dialect is Sheikhwar^[4] which means "Language of the Sheikhs or converts."^[5] Some linguists consider Shekhani or Eastern Kata-vari a different language due to the isolation from other Nuristani languages other than Kamviri.^[6][7] Kamviri Shekhani is different than Eastern Kata-vari which is also called Shekhani.^[8]

In August 2022, Pakistani linguist, Rehmat Aziz Chitrali proposed a keyboard to Khowar Academy, Chitral.^[9]

The speakers of Eastern Kata-vari migrated from Kamdesh in Nuristan in modern-day Afghanistan to Lutkuh Valley in Chitrali Princely State in British Raj during the 19th century.^[10] Most Shekhani speakers speak either Pashto or Khowar as a second language. Many Shekhani speakers often marry the minority Pashtuns in the area.^[11]