In 1986 in the Kuthar Valley in the Anantnag District of south Kashmir (northwestern India), we studied the population to ascertain the prevalence and pattern of various neurological diseases. A house-to-house survey was done in a rural population of 63,645 (according to a World Health Organization protocol, 1981). 616 cases of major neurological disorders were detected, yielding a prevalence of ratio of 9.67/1,000 as of prevalence day November 1, 1986. The prevalence ratios for various common neurological disorders were: epilepsy 2.47/1,000; stroke 1.43/1,000; paralytic poliomyelitis 2.18/1,000; mental retardation 2.09/1,000; deaf mutism 1.63/1,000, and cerebral palsy 1.24/1,000. Persons with these conditions constituted 92% of all neurological cases. Patients with motor neuron disease, Alzheimer's dementia or multiple sclerosis were not found.