Memoirs of Meredith Worth [‎2r] (3/12)

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inter-tribal disputes. Tribal law rnade no provision for punishment. It was
only concerned with compensation for the injured party. The Jirga , composed
of tribesmen who knew the parties, were expected to assess the damage done
in terms of money or livestock and to fix the time by which the family of the
guilty party had to make a settlement. If a murder had taken place it was
necessary to appoint a leading Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. to preside over the Jirga and to make
sure that the terms of compensation were accepted by the injured family who
would not then start a vendetta. I remember one case in which a Lambardar,or
official, of the Marri Baluch tribe was murdered. As he was an important
tribal official the findings of the Jirga, after endorsement by the P.A., had
to be approved by the Agent to the Governor General, Lt-Col Sir Arthur
Parsons, who had recently arrived from Waziristan in the N.W.F.P. In murder
cases it was customary for the guilty man to be told to leave the tribal, area
until compensation had been paid. This ’exile 1 was always added to the Jirga
decision for the safwty of the guilty man as well as of his family. The A.G.G.
refused to accept this addition on the grounds that a man could not be punished
twice for the same offence. He could not be made to understand that there
was no question of punishment and that the ’exile* was a safeguard for the
life of the murdererwas duly killed after a short interval. What perhaps
finally convinced the A.G.G. that the peaceful civil administration in
Baluchistan had some advantages over that in the N.W.F.P. was a surprise
visit which he paid to a large gathering at a place called Each. It was a
collection of jirgas deciding tribal disputes under the chaimaiiship of the
P.A.without art armed guard in sight. When Sandeman came to Quetta from Sind
he pacified J the Baluch and Pathan tribes by allowing them to appoint guards
or Levies as they were called from their members to maintain the peace. The ^
cost was met by Government. Some people outside the Province referred to this
arrangement as ’blackmail'. In fact it was sound sense. By holding the purse
strings Government was able to ensure that the peace was kept and th«t all
could move in safety throughout the Province.
In the winter of I93& I w a> s transferred to Abbottabad in the N.W.F.P.
as Civil Sub-Judge, a most curious appointment as I knew nothing abomttCivil
Law and cared less. It was not surprising, therefore, that nearly all my
judgments were reversed on appeal and that after a few months I was sent to
Kabul to act as Counsellor in the British Legation whilst the Minister was on
leave. memories of the 6 months of my stay are pictures of Aminullah’s
tram and 20 yl3»r*bs of track, the 2 huge Buddhas at Bamyian, the trout fishing
at Bulula andduck shooting on the Logar River, the hissing Japanese trying
to excuse the murders at Nanking, charming French archaeologists, an Italian
Minister who could not hold his beer and messages from the Foreign Office
which even encoded the ’thes* in a sentance and most of which could have been
sent safely en clair if the Foreign Office had .not wanted to keep their
Cypher clerks employed.
Tfre Afghan Government was building a new road to the Indian frontier
partly following the Kabul River-. As I had to visit Peshawar on duty the
acting Minister, Arthur .Macann asked me to find out whether the new road
was passable for traffic. In order to evade the Afghan authorities I left
after dark and reached the turn off of the new road about midnight. After
the potholes of the old road the surface was excellent until we reached the
top of the pass about 2.0 a.m. In bright moonlight many hundreds of feet