This project is a contribution to the ongoing typological debate on alignment patterns in the languages of the world, and in particular how referential hierarchies interact with these patterns. Alignment refers to the way S (the only argument of an intransitive clause) is coded, viz. either as A (the most agent-like argument of a transitive clause) or as P (the other argument, or the most patient-like argument of a transitive clause). The parameters involved are investigated by means of an in-depth study of Kashmiri and its dialects (“the Kashmiri languages”), with bearings on the typology of the Hindukush as a linguistic area. The project providez a comprehensive analysis of the complex person marking system and embeds the analysis in a typological framework in which the influence of referential hierarchies on alignment patterns is investigated and both genetic and areal influences on person marking are measured against universal tendencies.