- Kom (people)
The Kom or Kam are a
Nuristani tribe inAfghanistan andPakistan .Most used alternative names are Kamozi, Kamoz/Camoze, Caumojee/Kaumoji, and Camoje (M. Elphinstone, George Roberston, Richard Strand).
History
In
1895 , following their conquest byEmir Abdur Rahman Khan , the Kom Kafir people inAfghanistan were forced to convert toIslam . Every former Kafiristan Kafiri were renamedNuristani ("The Enlightened Ones") respectivelyNuristan ("Land of Light"). In present time there are now known "Nuristani Kom" or simply "Kom".At the end of the 19th century, they were living in the lower part of the
Bashgul Valley , known as Kam (George Scott Robertson), Kamdesh in Khowar, and Kamoz in Pashto, and in the adjacent valleys.Numerous scholars have connected the names Kom and Kata with ancient
Kamboja and identified the Kafirs, especially the "Siah-Posh" Kafirs, as having descended from ancientKambojas (H.H. Wilson, M. Elphinstone, "Bombay Gazetteer", D. Wilber, M. C. Gillet, W. K. Fraser Tytler, "J.R.A.S." 1843, "J.A.S.B." 1874, etc, etc).Though not a numerous people, the Kom were greatly respected military prowess by neighboring tribes as well as by Chitralis and the
Pashtun people . The Kom control the destiny of Bashgul valley and were said to be its virtual kings (George Scott Roberston).The political headquarters of the Kom of the Siah-Posh Kafir clan were at "Kamdesh" or "Kombrom". The country of the Koms is also in present-day Nuristan called "Komstan".
ee also
*
Nurestan
*Nuristani people
*Nuristani languages
*Hindukush Kafir people
*Hindukush Black-Robed Kafir people
* Katir
*Kamviri
*Kambojas References
*
George Scott Robertson (1896), "The Kafirs of Hindukush"
*Mountstuart Elphinstone (1815), "An Account of the Kingdom of Caubol", London
* J. Biddulph (1971), "Tribes of Hindukush", Craz (Austria)
* The Kom. Retrieved July 04, 2006, from "Richard F. Strand: Nuristan, Hidden Land of the Hindu-Kush" [http://users.sedona.net/~strand/Nuristani/Kamkata/Kom/kom.html] .
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