- "Kid? Why do you call me a small goat? You do not like Khamal?"
- ―Khamal[src]
Khamal (or Ham, as Indiana Jones often called him) was an Alaouite orphan from Tripoli who met Jones in 1938. An expert knife-thrower, Khamal also possessed a near-psychic ability to locate hidden artifacts. After discovering many treasures in the ruins of Bas Shamra, Khamal hid aboard René Pouillard's plane when Indiana Jones left for India. Khamal followed Indy and his guide Chandra to the India/Nepal border where he met Sophia Hapgood. Khamal was taken captive by a rival of Indiana Jones named Theo Van Aaken, who demanded a collection of ancient scrolls for the boy's safe return. Khamal broke free though, and soon found himself as part of Jones' quest to locate the Covenant of Buddha. However, Masashi Kyojo, and his Japanese soldiers were also in the race to find the Covenant.
Joined by Patar Kali, the team's train was attacked by a group of Waziri bandits while traveling through Afghanistan. The train's engineer was killed and the train went over a cliff. The group emerged unharmed, but Jones was soon attacked by a sword wielding warrior. Indy was saved by Khamal, who hurled a knife at the warrior, hitting him in the chest. Indy and Khamal spotted Sophie in a struggle with a tough bandit. While Jones was distracted fighting the man, however, other bandits kidnapped Sophie. Khamal watched on as Jones disguised himself as an Afridi horseman to enter the Buz Kashi race to literally win Hapgood back. Afterwards, Khamal and his friends met up with Sonam Tashi, who informed them of an attack by Kyojo, who believes that Indy could lead him to the Covenant.
Khamal then accompanied Indy to the Colossus of Bamain, where his ability to detect hidden items proved to be most useful, when he led Indiana to a small chamber containing a map, greatly impressing Kali.
Khamal fights off a trident-wielding warrior.
Khamal and the others later found the city of Chanri-Ha, where they were attacked by a Chanri-Ha warrior-shaman attempting to ward off the newcomers. The attacker stabbed Khamal in the chest. Khamal survived when the blow struck his knife belt, and killed the man with a knife. The city's residents came to believe that Khamal was actually their god, Zan-Khan and offered him treasure and daggers. After Khamal and Indy spotted a guard beating a slave woman, Khamal ordered the woman to be freed, and Sophie took her in as a servant. While searching for the tablets that would indicate where the covenant was hidden, Kali discovered that the city residents believed that Zan-Khan was a reincarnation of Alexander the Great and Genghis Khan. Kali then found the tablets when he found out that Khamal was sleeping on them. The residents of the city attempted to please Khamal with human sacrifice but Khamal cried at the sight of it, which caused the residents to realise that Khamal was no god, for they believed that no god who weeps. Khamal, Indy, Sophie, and Kali were cornered by guards, but were saved by an army of rebels led by the slave woman, who revealed herself to be General Serpent Lady. While Khamal and the army fled, angry citizens hurled bricks at the "false god", one of which struck Khamal right in the head. Indy later bandaged up Khamal's head, after ensuring he was safe.
Khamal and the team found themselves then having to escape Kyojo once again, only to be confronted by a squad of Chinese soldiers, led by Captain Lao-Tsing. Khamal and his friends were again saved by Serpent Lady, who shot the captain dead. The remaining soldiers surrendered, and the group, joined by the Serpent Lady, continued on their way. They boarded a train, headed for Hankow but Kyojo and his men prepared to corner them at the train station, only to discover that Khamal and the others got off the train ahead of time. Unfortunately, they were quickly captured by the bandit army of a warlord called Ch'ao the Red and his army. Ch'ao attacked Sophie, but Khamal defended her by stabbing the warrior in the chest. Ch'ao prepared to kill Khamal but was shot by Jones when the archaeologist grabbed one of the bandit's gun. However, Ch'ao's fortress was bombed by Japanese planes, though the group escaped in a jeep and were pursued by Kyojo in a tank.
The team located the temple where the Covenant was located and Indy defeated Kyojo in hand to hand combat. Afterwards, the temple began to collapse and Indy escaped just in time with the help of Khamal and the others.