Scrapbook of newspaper cuttings about Afghanistan [‎79r] (161/312)

! The powerful clan of the Gilzai,"or GfldjiJwith numerous
subdivisions, axe the owners of the Khelat-i-Gilzai region.
Their southern frontier is formed by the Durani country,
which extends to Kandahar. In the environs of Kandahar
and Gasni there are also the Ashaksai and Nurzai, and
others whose territories are less clearly divided.
" Of the branches of the Afghan people living in the
western parts of the kingdom we know but little. The most |
numerous are the Berduran. The Bareksai to whom be- I
longs the Khan, have 60,000 families, and accordingly are i
one of the strongest Afghan tribes.
" Next to the Afghans, the .Tadjiks are the most numer
ous race in the country. They are the aboriginal element
in the Western Provinces,and being a sedentary people are
called Tadjik—i.e., peasants, in contradistinction to the
Turk or warrior. They are now divided into a sedentary r
portion calling themselves Parsivan or Parsi Zeban, and
nomads known as AimakSi The latter wander about in the
hills surrounding the upper basin of the Kheri Rud, and ;
are mixed up with the Turkish tribes who immigrated !
under DjinghiB and Timur., Of these mixed tribes we '
know the Tchar Aimak, the Djemtchidi, the! Firua Kugl,"
Teimuni or Tegmuni, and the Zuri. Cognate to them are
the Timurs, formed by Timur Shah out of the heteroge
neous mob of his camp towards the end of the last century.
The Teimuns are settled in the three districts of Teivere, ,
Derya Dere, and Djvedja, each having a separate Khan.
| Up to 1844, when the -ruler of Herat transplanted 45,000 to
the country adjoining his capital, they were estimated at
10,000 souls. The Teimun territory is situated on the
southern declivity of the Sakh Kug hills, and
was anciently callad Guf. The Zuri is an insignificant
clan. The Firus Kug formerly lived further west in
Persian Khorasan, but were transferred by Timur to their
present settlement in Herat. They are now divided into
five branches with five chiefs living in the forts of Kades
Derssi, Kutche, Tchektcheran, and Doulet Yar, situated j
in the upper valleys of the Kheri Kud and Murgab. \
Kades was subjugated in 1844 by the Hezarai, but the j
other branches remained independent. The Zuri and i
Djemshidi, formerly potent and respected, now occupy I
'[ the small territory in the Murgab, to which they emi- i
i grated in the heroic period of Persian history. Their [
Khan resides at Bala Murgab, whence many raids are un
dertaken into neighbouring lands. The sedentary portion |
of the Tadjiks are numerously represented only in ,
Oabul Kugistan, in the valleys of Gorbend, Pendjir, and [
Nidgour, where they amounted to 40,000 families at the !
beginning of this century. They are warlike, almost en- }
tirely independent, and divided into small fraternities
under the direction of special Khans. The Tadjik branch :
in Logar, 8,000 families strong, is distinguished for its
braviry. In the other parts of Afghanistan the
Tadjiks are more or less mixed up with the Af
ghans, living sometimes in Afghan villages, some
times in separate colonies, under the direction of
Ketkhuds or Elders. In these parts they have no landed
property, but rent land from the Afghans, and altogether
occupy a very inferior position. In the towns they are a
gentle, hardworking race, and take to trades which the
Afghans despise ; in the villages they are justly famou 8
for the excellence of their husbandry. Many of these
Cabul Tadjiks serve in the Anglo-Indian forces, where they
are called Turks, and enjoy a good character. The Tadjiks
also form the original population of the Badakhshan region,
where they are divided into the three groups of Raman )
Shagnan, and Vashan. John Wood regarded the Tchitral
and Kafir people also as Tadjiks ; but these being un
doubtedly of different extraction, the Persian origin of the
Badakshan Tadjiks must appear very problematic.
" The third race enumerated in our list are the Kizil-
bashi, transferred by Nadir Shah from Persia to Cabul in
1737. They are a medley of Persians and Turks, of the '
Djevanshir, Afshar, and Muradchani tribes, who speak
Persian, and, indeed, are Persian in every respect. They
have an influential colony at Cabul, and are accounted the
best instructed part of the population.
" The Hazarah, according to some, are Mongols, intro
duced by Djinghis Khan ; according to others, Turkish
Usbeks of the Berlas tribe, formerly nomadizing near
Shakhrisabsk. Timur in the year 799 of the Hedshra de
spatched a thousand families of this tribe to the valley of
Badgis, on the Upper Murgab, where they were called
Hezarai or * Thousanders.' Thence they extended as far
as Cabul on the east and Kherikud on the west. Their
division into tribes and clans is very complex :—
" 1. Desanji.—BashaGulam,3,000 souls ;Yangur, 4,000 ;
Takana, 1,500 ; Sepa, 4,000 ; De Kudi, — ; Doulet Beg,
5,000 ; Roushan Beg, 2,500 ; Hyder Beg, 1,500 ; Tchaush,
1,000 ; Barat, 500.
" 2. De Tchaupan, or Zardchi, near Karabag.—Bobak,
1,000 souls ; Bichbud, 1,000 ; Aldi, 500 ; Tchardast, 1,000 ;
Tatar-i-Gabash, 1,500 ; Fouledi, 1,000 ; Kely, 750 ; Sheich
Ali, 5,000.
" 3. Balkiari, near Gasni.—Allakhodin, 750 ; Islam,
500; Ishaki, 500; Kimbut, 500 ; Shakkhi, 250.
" 4. Djagori.—Bubak, 5,000 ; Kalendar, 4,000 ; Malistan,
2,500; Gudjaristan, 2,500 j Zauli, 1,000 j Tchakmak,
1,200 ; Perak, 1,200.
" 5. Bezsud, south of Bamian.—Kalsitan, 2,000 ; Sagna- j
i-Dvuletana, 1,000 ; Derveisb Ali, 2,000 ; Djangli, 2,000 ; !
But Hassam, 1,500 ; Burdjagi, 1,000; Dikkhar, 1,000;
Dik Mardeghan, 1,000.
" The Hezarai are most of them nomads and inde
pendent. The Eastern sections of the race owe allegiance
i to Cabul. Their clans have separate Khans, and are in
j eternal feud with each other.
1 " The Usbeks, of the Kutagan tribe, are the descendants
of the Turkoman conquerors of Afghanistan, and the ruling
element in the Khanates north of the Hindoo Koosh.
" The Hindoos belong to the Kshatra or warrior caste^
are 300,000 strong, and live chiefly in the towns.
" The Djat, also about 300,000 strong, of unknown
origin, are probably aborigines. They are scattered over
the whole country.
"The Kafirs, or Siahposh, about 150,000, live on the
slopes of the Hindoo Koosh, in Northern Cabulistan. Of
Caucasian type, their' origin remains to be explained.
They are divided into the clans Kati, Pashagar, Pandu,
Vama, Mandukh, Samadjil, Tapakol, Tchanak, Dutan,
Sachao, Katar, Kemler, Kamus, Aekin, Asbpin, Vadin,
Vaikal, and Siyagpush. The Svat, Tchitrals, and Safi
belonging to the aboriginals border upon the Kafirs. They
are said to number no less than 500.000 souls.
" The Arabs, known as Seiids, or descendants of the
Prophet, form a compact mass in the district of Konar, in
Northern Cabulistan. They are also found dispersed over
the other districts, like Armenians and Jews,
" The Afghan tribes frequently intermingle, and in
crease or decrease in consequence of families leaving their
old associations to form new ties. Wars and feuds fre-
j quently result in the forcible transfer of tribes, or parts of
! tribes to new localities, when embodiment with other
I tribes usually ensues. The tribes are least distinct in the
towns. In some of them only one-fifth of the population
are Afghans, four-fifths consisting of Tadjiks, Hindoos,
Jews, Persians, &c.
" The most densely inhabited parts of the country are
the valleys of the Cabul and Koorum, with their tribu.
taries. In the Steppes occupying a considerable portion of
the southern provinces people crowd round the rivers, leav
ing the rest of the country empty. The regions bordering
on Beloochistan are the least inhabited. The inhabitants
live mostly in villages, isolated tenements being rendered
impossible by the frequent wars. The villages, always
large and surrounded by walls, frequently—especially in
Northern Cabul—have up to 3,000 houses.
4< Of the most important towns, Cabul has 60,000 in
habitants, Kandahar about 40,000, Herat 45,000, Maimene
18,000, Balkh 17,000, Gami 15,000, Andkui 15,000, Khulm
15,000, Jelalabad 1,000, Dushak 10,000, Kalegilsai 10,000,
and Sheich Nassur 9,000.
" The inhabitants are almost exclusively Sunnits, the
Hazarah and Kizilbashi alone being Shiahs. The small
number of Armenians in the country profess Christianity.
The Hindoos and Siahposh follow a nondescript religion
which is very little known, but seems to have affinities
with Shamanism, Altogether, there are about 800,000
Pagans i n the c ountry." |
9^^ ^iLujvo^Lut-
I ENGLAND AND CABUL.
POLICY OF RUSSIA.
[keutbr's telegram.]
BERLIN, Oct. 2 (Evening).
The North German Gazette of this evening
publishes a significant letter from. St. Peters
burg in which the present situation as regards
Bussia and Afghanistan is discussed as follows :
" The keynote of Eussian policy is that she
wishes to gain tranquillity on the basis of the
Treaty of Berlin. Even amongst the military
party a purely defensive policy is advocated. It is
then perfectly clear that Bussia, under these cir
cumstances and from these points of view, will
neither prepare for nor second any enterprise in
conjunction with Afghanistan. That Asiatic
spectators during the war in the East were
very attentive observers of the overt antagonism
between Bussia and England, who can be sur
prised ? It is also a fact that Bussia, quite as
much as England, allowed this antagonism to
show itself with great plainness by her military
reconnaissances. It may now, perhaps, be
thought that it would have been better in the
interest of both parties not to have done this,
but what has actually happened cannot be im
mediately forgotten, and spectators like Shere
Ali, who are by no means harmless, have pursued
their own policy."
TheKletter concludes with a reiteration of its
opening sentences:
" What we really i want is to gain tranquillity
on the basis of the Treaty of Berlin—tranquil
lity both at home and abroad. Bussia has to
collect her forces in the quiet works of peace."
AMONG THE FRONTIER
TRIBES.
THE PUNJAB FORCE.
" We are the subjects of the English Sahibs j
in the plains, but every man is free in the hills, I
in which he has no master save Allah." Such is '
the creed of the men who hold, for our good or .
evil, the border marches of India and Cabul.
But to the boast follows a lament. 11 Our
strength is not as it was, for we are divided
among ourselves. Our young men turn up the
soil to sow it, and build themselves houses, and
love ease instead of the sword and the shield,
and our old men tell us .that the time is not far
distant when the hills shall know us no more."