Although the cameleers came from different ethnic groups and a range of regions - mostly Baluchistan, Kashmir, Sind and Punjab (parts of present-day Pakistan, Afghanistan, north-western India and eastern Iran), with a few from Egypt and Turkey, they were known collectively as Afghans, later shortened to Ghans. Ethnic groups included Pashtun, Punjabi, Baloch (or Baluch) and Sindhis (from the region between the southern Hindu Kush in Afghanistan and the Indus River in what is now Pakistan) as well as others (fewer in number) from Kashmir, Rajasthan, Egypt, Persia and Turkey. Most practised Islam, and many blended this with local their customs, in particular the Pashtun code of honour.