Kohistan is home to a number of Indigenous northwestern Indo-Aryan peoples, collectively known as Kohistanis, who inhabited a larger region than their present extent in the past.

Miangul Abdul Wadud undertook several campaigns against the Kohistanis of Shangla, Buner and Battagram, incorporating these tracts into his state.

[2] Kohistan region was part of Malakand and Hazara Tribal Agencies during the British colonial period.

The Kalam tract was established as an independent tribal agency by the colonial government in 1926 due to the competing claims by the states of Chitral, Dir, and Swat.

The dominant ethnic group are Kohistanis, comprising 64.26% of total population, followed by Pashtuns (17.89%), Torwalis and Kalami (10.11%) and Shinas (4.28%).