Between 1972 and 1974, Shahrani conducted anthropological field research in the Wakhan region in northeastern Afghanistan among pastoral nomadic Kyrgyz in the Pamirs and their neighbors the Wakhi agropastoralist community.
He later worked as an anthropological consultant for the ethnographic film, The Kirghiz of Afghanistan, which was aired on PBS’s Odyssey series (Fall 1981).
He was also a Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars of the Smithsonian Institution (1997–98).
He has conducted extensive field research in Afghanistan, Turkey, Pakistan and Uzbekistan.
His major contributions to Central Asian Studies include: