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40-535: Komedes is the ethnonym of an ancient people in Central Asia . They were mentioned by the ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy in Geography ( c.  150 CE). Traditional Hindu and Indian spellings included Kumuda, Kumuda-dvipa, and Parama Kambojas ; and ancient Greek and Roman spellings included Komedes, Komedei, Traumeda, Caumedae, Homodotes, Homodoti, or Homodontes. The Greek geographer Ptolemy uses

80-416: A compound word related to origin or usage. A polito-ethnonym indicates that name originated from the political affiliation, like when the polysemic term Austrians is sometimes used more specifically for native, German speaking inhabitants of Austria , who have their own endonyms. A topo-ethnonym refers to the ethnonym derived from a toponym (name of a geographical locality, placename), like when

120-509: A greater evolution; older terms such as colored carried negative connotations and have been replaced by modern-day equivalents such as Black or African American . Other ethnonyms such as Negro have a different status. The term was considered acceptable in its use by activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s, but other activists took a different perspective. In discussing an address in 1960 by Elijah Muhammad , it

160-862: A junction with other notable mountains, namely the Tian Shan , Karakoram , Kunlun , Hindu Kush and the Himalaya mountain ranges. They are among the world's highest mountains . Much of the Pamir Mountains lie in the Gorno-Badakhshan region of Tajikistan . Spanning the border parts of four countries, to the south, they border the Hindu Kush mountains along Afghanistan 's Wakhan Corridor in Badakhshan Province , Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan regions of Pakistan . To

200-642: A number of non-Russians including Ney Elias , George Littledale , the Earl of Dunmore , Wilhelm Filchner and Lord Curzon who was probably the first to reach the Wakhan source of the Oxus River . In 1891 the Russians informed Francis Younghusband that he was on their territory and later escorted a Lieutenant Davidson out of the area ('Pamir Incident'). In 1892 a battalion of Russians under Mikhail Ionov entered

240-468: A rocky plain. A pamir lasts until erosion forms soil and cuts down normal valleys. This type of terrain is found in the east and north of the Wakhan , and the east and south of Gorno-Badakhshan, as opposed to the valleys and gorges of the west. Pamirs are used for summer pasture. The Great Pamir is around Lake Zorkul . The Little Pamir is east of this in the far east of Wakhan. The Taghdumbash Pamir

280-671: A sub-field of anthroponymy , the study of ethnonyms is called ethnonymy or ethnonymics. Ethnonyms should not be confused with demonyms , which designate all the people of a geographic territory, regardless of ethnic or linguistic divisions within its population. Numerous ethnonyms can apply to the same ethnic or racial group, with various levels of recognition, acceptance and use. The State Library of South Australia contemplated this issue when considering Library of Congress headings for literature pertaining to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people . Some 20 different ethnonyms were considered as potential Library of Congress headings, but it

320-996: Is between Tashkurgan and the Wakhan west of the Karakoram Highway . The Alichur Pamir is around Yashil Kul on the Gunt River . The Sarez Pamir is around the town of Murghab, Tajikistan . The Khargush Pamir is south of Lake Karakul . There are several others. The Pamir River is in the south-west of the Pamirs. The three highest mountains in the Pamirs core are Ismoil Somoni Peak (known from 1932 to 1962 as Stalin Peak, and from 1962 to 1998 as Communism Peak), 7,495 m (24,590 ft); Ibn Sina Peak (still unofficially known as Lenin Peak), 7,134 m (23,406 ft); and Peak Korzhenevskaya ( Russian : Пик Корженевской , Pik Korzhenevskoi ), 7,105 m (23,310 ft). In

360-519: Is the isolated region's main supply route. The Great Silk Road crossed a number of Pamir Mountain ranges. In December 2009, the New York Times featured articles on the possibilities for tourism in the Pamir area of Tajikistan. 2013 proved to be the most successful year ever for tourism in the region and tourism development continues to be the fastest growing economic sector. Historically,

400-469: Is widely used in professional literature to discriminate semantics of the terms. In onomastic studies, there are several terms that are related to ethnonyms, like the term ethnotoponym , that designates a specific toponym (placename) that is formed from an ethnonym. Many names of regions and countries are ethnotoponyms . Pamir Mountains The Pamir Mountains are a range of mountains between Central Asia and South Asia . They are located at

440-585: Is written Памир / Цунлин in the Cyrillic alphabet , and in Xiao'erjing it is written پَامِعَر / ڞوْلٍْ . The name "Pamir" is used more commonly in Modern Chinese and loaned as 帕米尔 / 帕米爾 Pàmǐ'ěr . According to Middleton and Thomas, "pamir" is also a geological term. A pamir is a flat plateau or U-shaped valley surrounded by mountains. It forms when a glacier or ice field melts leaving

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480-579: The Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. It may have comprised Badakshan , the Alay Valley , Alay Mountains , Tienshan , Karotegin (Rasht Valley, in modern Tajikistan) and possibly extended as far north as the Zeravshan and Fergana valleys. On the east, it likely bordered modern Yarkand and/or Kashgar ; to the west by Bactria ; to the north-west by Sogdiana ; to the north by Uttarakuru ; to

520-641: The Yaghnob Valley , also use the verb shavati. Ethnonym For example, the dominant ethnic group of Germany is the Germans. The ethnonym Germans is a Latin -derived exonym used in the English language, but the Germans call themselves Deutsche , an endonym. The German people are identified by a variety of exonyms across Europe, such as Allemands ( French ), tedeschi ( Italian ), tyskar ( Swedish ) and Niemcy ( Polish ). As

560-518: The polysemic term Montenegrins , which was originally used for the inhabitants of the geographical area of the Black Mountain ( Montenegro ), acquired an additional ethnonymic use, designating modern ethnic Montenegrins , who have their own distinct endonyms. Classical geographers frequently used topo-ethnonyms (ethnonyms formed from toponyms) as substitute for ethnonyms in general descriptions, or for unknown endonyms. Compound terminology

600-585: The 20th century, these mountains have been the setting for the Tajikistan Civil War , border disputes between China and the Soviet Union , establishment of military bases by the US, Russia, and India, and renewed interest in trade development and resource exploration. The Chinese government says it has resolved most of the disputes it had with Central Asian countries. Some researchers identify

640-617: The 77 km (48 mi) long Fedchenko Glacier , the longest in the former USSR and the longest glacier outside the polar regions . Approximately 12,500 km (ca. 10%) of the Pamirs are glaciated. Glaciers in the Southern Pamirs are retreating rapidly. Ten percent of annual runoff is supposed to originate from retreating glaciers in the Southern Pamirs. In the North-Western Pamirs, glaciers have almost stable mass balances . Covered in snow during most of

680-501: The Advancement of Colored People. In such contexts, ethnonyms are susceptible to the phenomenon of the euphemism treadmill . In English, ethnonyms are generally formulated through suffixation; most ethnonyms for toponyms ending in -a are formed by adding -n : Bulgaria, Bulgarian ; Estonia, Estonian . In English, in many cases, the name for the dominant language of a group is identical to their English-language ethnonym;

720-582: The British and Russians agreed to an Afghan frontier along the Panj River. From 1871 to around 1893 several Russian military-scientific expeditions mapped out most of the Pamirs ( Alexei Pavlovich Fedchenko , Nikolai Severtzov , Captain Dmitry Putyata and others. Later came Nikolai Korzhenevskiy ). Several local groups asked for Russian protection from Afghan raiders. The Russians were followed by

760-573: The Eastern Pamirs, China's Kongur Tagh is the highest at 7,649 m (25,095 ft). Among the significant peaks of the Pamir Mountains are the following: Remark : The summits of the Kongur and Muztagata Group are in some sources counted as part of the Kunlun , which would make Pik Ismoil Somoni the highest summit of the Pamir. There are many glaciers in the Pamir Mountains, including

800-557: The French speak French, the Germans speak German. This is sometimes erroneously overgeneralized; it may be assumed that people from India speak "Indian", despite there being no language in India which is called by that name. Generally, any group of people may have numerous ethnonyms, associated with the political affiliation with a state or a province, with geographical landmark, with the language, or another distinct feature. Ethnonym may be

840-585: The Hindu toponyms Komdesh, Kamdesh, and Kambodesh (or Kamboi-desh). ^C Ammianus Marcellinus also calls the Sogdian region Komadas. Julius Honorius ’ Cosmographia mentions a people called Traumeda and a mountain called Caumedes as the source of the river Oxus (modern Amu Darya ). Classical sources further indicate that the Komedes living in "Mt Hemodos or Emode" were known as Homodotes. Hindu texts from

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880-580: The Kambojas region may have been the equivalent to the Komedes. Linguistic traces of the ancient Kambojas have been suggested in several modern languages of the Pamir Mountains , Khotan and Sogdiana. Languages of this region have shown influence from the Kambojan verb shavti, meaning "to go." For example, modern Pamiri or Ghalchah languages, spoken in and around the Pamir Mountains , also use

920-482: The Pamir Mountains are referred by different names. In Indo-European languages , they are called: In Turkic languages , they are called: In Chinese , they are referred as "Onion Range" ( simplified Chinese : 葱岭 ; traditional Chinese : 蔥嶺 ; pinyin : Cōnglǐng ; Wade–Giles : Ts'ung-ling ), which is named after the wild onions growing in the region; In the Dungan dialect of Mandarin , it

960-495: The Pamir Mountains were considered a strategic trade route between Kashgar and Kokand on the Northern Silk Road , a prehistoric trackway, and have been subject to numerous territorial conquests. The Northern Silk Road (about 2,600 km (1,616 mi) in length) connected the ancient Chinese capital Chang'an with Kashgar over the Pamir Mountains towards the west, and from there continued to ancient Parthia . In

1000-631: The Wakhan River. There are various Arab and Chinese reports. Marco Polo may have travelled along the Panj River . In 1602 Bento de Goes travelled from Kabul to Yarkand and left a meager report on the Pamirs. In 1838 Lieutenant John Wood reached the headwaters of the Pamir River . From about 1868 to 1880, a number of Indians in the British service secretly explored the Panj area. In 1873

1040-639: The about 1000 BCE refer to a high tableland north of Himavata ( Hindukush or the Himalayas in general) as Kumuda. From here, Indo-Aryan peoples may have pushed their way southwards towards India, preserving the name of their traditions as a relic of old mountain worship. Mahabharata indicates that the Kambojas (specifically the Parama Kambojas , along with the Lohas and Rishikas , lived in

1080-534: The area and camped near the present Murghab . In 1893 they built a proper fort there ( Pamirskiy Post ). In 1895 their base was moved to Khorog facing the Afghans. In 1928 the last blank areas around the Fedchenko Glacier were mapped by a German-Soviet expedition under Willi Rickmer Rickmers. In the early 1980s, a deposit of gemstone -quality clinohumite was discovered in the Pamir Mountains. It

1120-417: The glacier snowline (ELA ) as altitude limit between glacier nourishing area and ablation zone, was about 820 to 1250 metres lower than it is today. Under the condition of comparable proportions of precipitation there results from this a glacial depression of temperature of at least 5 to 7.5 °C. Coal is mined in the west, though sheep herding in upper meadowlands is the primary source of income for

1160-595: The name Komdei for the region fed by the Jaxartes river (modern Syr Darya ) and its tributaries . Komedes Ptolemy refers to the people of Komdei as Komedes who "inhabited the entire land of the Sacae ." He also refers to a tribal people from the mountainous regions of Sogdiana as far as Jaxartes whom he variously calls Komoi/Kamoi, Komroi/Khomroi or Komedei. Ptolemy's references to the Komdei or Komedes region may allude to

1200-767: The north, they join the Tian Shan mountains along the Alay Valley of Kyrgyzstan . To the east, they extend to the range that includes China 's Kongur Tagh , in the "Eastern Pamirs", separated by the Yarkand valley from the Kunlun Mountains . Since the Victorian era , they have been known as the " Roof of the World ", presumably a translation from Persian . The Pamir region is home to several different cultures, peoples and languages. In some of these languages,

1240-640: The north-east through the Gez valley up to c.1850 m asl (meters above sea level) and thus as far as to the margin of the Tarim basin. This outlet glacier received inflow from the Kaiayayilak glacier from the Kongur north flank. From the north-adjacent Kara Bak Tor (Chakragil, c. 6800 or 6694 m) massif, the Oytag valley glacier in the same exposition flowed also down up to c. 1850 m asl. At glacial times

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1280-582: The region. The lapis lazuli found in Egyptian tombs is thought to come from the Pamir area in Badakhshan province of Afghanistan. About 138 BCE Zhang Qian reached the Fergana Valley northwest of the Pamirs. Ptolemy vaguely describes a trade route through the area. From about 600 CE, Buddhist pilgrims travelled on both sides of the Pamirs to reach India from China. In 747 a Tang army was on

1320-615: The south-east by Darada ; and to the south by Gandhara . The Chinese equivalent to the name may have been Xiuxun . Xuanzang also mentioned the Kiumito and Kumito; Wu'k ong mentioned Kiumiche; and T'ang mentioned Kumi. In Al-Mughni , Al-Maqidisi calls the people inhabiting the Kumed or Kumadh the Kumiji, perhaps equivalent to the Sanskrit word Kamboji or Kambojas. ^A In Iran,

1360-406: The southern parts of Shakdvipa . The Vayu Purana uses the name Kumuda-dvipa as an alternate for Kushadvipa , one of seven dvipa mentioned in Hindu topology. In the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (Bhāgavata Purāṇa) , Kumuda is a puranic name of a mountain forming the northern buttress of Mount Meru , also known as Sumeru and possibly Pamirs. The Kumuda here extended between the headwaters of what are now

1400-575: The western margin of the Tarim Basin an east–west extension of c. 200 km. Its north–south extension from King Ata Tagh up to the northwest Kunlun foothills amounts to c.170 km. Whilst the up to 21 km long current valley glaciers are restricted to mountain massifs exceeding 5600 m in height, during the last glacial period the glacier ice covered the high plateau with its set-up highland relief, continuing west of Mustagh Ata and Kongur. From this glacier area an outlet glacier has flowed down to

1440-625: The word shavti to mean "to go." Wilhelm Tomaschek has stated that, of all the Ghalchah/Pamiri languages, " Munjani is most closely related to the language of Zend Avestan ". Michael Witzel connects the ethnolinguistic term Munjan to the Mujavat of the Hindu Atharvaveda and Mahabarata . Other scholars claim Munjan is directed from the root Murg of Amyurgio Sacae, meaning "Soma-twisting Sakas." The Yaghnobi language , spoken in

1480-455: The year, the Pamirs have long and bitterly cold winters , and short, cool summers , which equals an ET (tundra climate) according to Köppen climate classification ( EF above the snow line). Annual precipitation is about 130 mm (5 in), which supports grasslands but few trees . The East-Pamir, in the centre of which the massifs of Mustagh Ata (7620 m) and Kongur Tagh (Qungur Shan, 7578, 7628 or 7830 m) are situated, shows from

1520-482: Was recommended that only a fraction of them be employed for the purposes of cataloguing. Ethnonyms can change in character over time; while originally socially acceptable, they may come to be considered offensive . For instance, the term gypsy has been used to refer to the Romani . Other examples include Vandal , Bushman , Barbarian , and Philistine . The ethnonyms applied to African Americans have demonstrated

1560-508: Was stated "to the Muslims, terms like Negro and colored are labels created by white people to negate the past greatness of the black race". Four decades later, a similar difference of opinion remains. In 2006, one commentator suggested that the term Negro is outdated or offensive in many quarters; similarly, the word "colored" still appears in the name of the NAACP , or National Association for

1600-739: Was the only such deposit known until the discovery of gem-quality material in the Taymyr region of Siberia , in 2000. The earliest known evidence of human cannabis use was found in tombs at the Jirzankal Cemetery. The Pamir Highway , the world's second highest international road, runs from Dushanbe in Tajikistan to Osh in Kyrgyzstan through the Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province , and

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