The Kom or Kam are a Nuristani tribe in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is borde ...

and

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. Most used alternative names are Kamozi, Kamoz/Camoze, Caumojee/Kaumoji, and Camoje.

History

Until the late 19th century, the Kom were a sub-group of the Siah-Posh Kafirs ("black-robed unbelievers") and their political (factional) headquarters was at Kombrom. They gave allegiance to the Mehtar (crown prince) of

Chitral Chitral ( khw, , lit=field, translit=ćhitrār; ur, , translit=ćitrāl) is situated on the Chitral River in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It serves as the capital of the Chitral District and before that as the capital of Chitral ...

. At that time, following their conquest by

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

Abdur Rahman Khan Abdur Rahman Khan GCSI (Pashto/ Dari: ) (between 1840 and 1844 – 1 October 1901) was Emir of Afghanistan from 1880 to his death in 1901. He is known for uniting the country after years of internal fighting and negotiation of the Durand Lin ...

, the Kom converted to

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...

. Kafiristan ("Land of Unbelievers") was renamed

Nuristan Nuristan, also spelled as Nurestan or Nooristan (Dari: ; Kamkata-vari: ), is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the eastern part of the country. It is divided into seven districts and is Afghanistan's least populous province, wi ...

("Land of Light") and its inhabitants became collectively known as

Nuristanis The Nuristanis, formerly known as Kafiristanis, are an ethnic group native to the Nuristan Province of northeastern Afghanistan and Chitral District of northwestern Pakistan. Their languages comprise the Nuristani branch of Indo-Iranian langua ...

(sometimes loosely translated as "enlightened ones"). By the end of the 19th century, the Kom were concentrated in the lower part of the Bashgul Valley and came to control it. Hence the valley became also known as Kam,George Scott Robertson,

Kamdesh Kāmdēsh ( ps, کامدېش, fa, کامدیش), or Kamdeish, is a town in the Landai Sin Valley, and the center of the Kamdesh District in Nuristan Province, Afghanistan. It is located at the general area of Yurmir () which is beside the meetin ...

in the

Khowar language Khowar () or Chitrali, is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken in Chitral and surrounding areas in Pakistan. Khowar is the lingua franca of Chitral, and it is also spoken in the Gupis-Yasin and Ghizer districts of Gilgit-Baltistan, as ...

, and as Kamoz in

Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official langua ...

. The country of the Kom is also known as Komstan. While they have never been regarded as numerous, the Kom have been respected for their military prowess by neighboring peoples, including the

is and

Pashtuns Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...

References

* George Scott Robertson (1896), ''The Kafirs of Hindukush'' *

Mountstuart Elphinstone Mountstuart Elphinstone (6 October 1779 – 20 November 1859) was a Scottish statesman and historian, associated with the government of British India. He later became the Governor of Bombay (now Mumbai) where he is credited with the open ...

(1815), ''An Account of the Kingdom of Caubol'', London * J. Biddulph (1971), ''Tribes of Hindukush'', Craz (Austria) * The Kom. Retrieved July 4, 2006, from ''Richard F. Strand: Nuristan, Hidden Land of the Hindu-Kush'

Ethnic groups in Afghanistan Nuristani tribes Ethnic groups in Pakistan {{Pakistan-ethno-stub

History

See also

References