Native Name: kât'a. The population of the řâmg'al and kul'em Valleys in western Nuristân were sufficiently propagandized at the time of their conversion to Islâm to renounce their native name as synonymous with "infidel." They now prefer simply to be called "Nuristâni."

Other Names: kântozi (Pashto name), "Katir" (Robertson [1896]), "Bashgali" (from Khowar bašgali 'Nuristani; person from bašgal [the lanDai sin Valley]').

Location: the kt'ivi (Kântivâ) Valley in central Nuristân, the řâmg'al and kul'em Valleys of upper Laghmân (western Nuristân), the upper lânDâi s'in basin of eastern Nuristân, and pockets along the Afghanistan border in Chitrâl District, Pakistan.

Population: perhaps 30,000 – 40,000.

Settlements:

• in the kt'ivi Valley: kt'ivi, âsp'iT, mum;
• in řâmg'al: p'egal, kur'oc, gâm'ato, sk'unu, ân'iS, kan'egal, kavar'ać, kiv'iST, man'ül, l'inâř, bas'aidar, šâl'âdur, âć'agar, guln'aSo, štur, gâD'u, râr'o, pâC'o, gaz'in, p'uSol, âT'eTi;
• in kul'em: pâřg'al, S'ukâř, kul'em;
• in lânDâi s'in: p'eřuk, parst'om, câp'i, âvl'egul, badam'uk, baj'anCo, břag'amâTol, šütg'ül, âpć'âi, pSav'or, âT'eTi, bad'avon, pć'igřom;
• in Chitrâl: brum'utul, kun'iST, gâb'ur;

Language Name: kât'a-vari. Non-indigenous names include "Bashgali" (from Khowar) and "Kati" (Morgenstierne 1926).

Linguistic Position of Kât'a-vari: Kât'a-vari is a dialect of Kâmk'ata-viri, which forms with Vâs'i-vari the Northern Group of Nuristâni languages (see the Table of Languages). Within kât'a-vari there is a division between Western kât'a-vari, spoken in kt'ivi and řâmg'al, and Eastern kât'a-vari, spoken in the LanDai Sin Valley (except in the village of p'eřuk, where they speak the řâmg'al dialect). The dialects of kt'ivi and řâmg'al are separated by minor differences. Being somewhat isolated, speakers on the Pakistan side of the boundary diverge slightly from the dialectal norms of their more numerous cousins in Afghanistan.
    Fârsi (Persian) from the neighboring Panjshir Valley has displaced kât'a-vari in the villages of kiv'iST, bas'aidar, âć'agar, and guln'aSo in řâmg'al.

History: The Kâta were apparently the core group of early Nuristâni refugees from the Ghaznavid depopulation of Kâmâ. Following the Pech River, they settled the area around kt'ivi (Kântiwâ) in central Nuristân. From there they spread out to occupy the upper LanDai Sin basin in the east and the valleys of řâmg'al and kul'em in the upper Alingar basin in the west.