diff options
Diffstat (limited to '42970-0.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 42970-0.txt | 16050 |
1 files changed, 16050 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/42970-0.txt b/42970-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4ade0bd --- /dev/null +++ b/42970-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,16050 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42970 *** + +Transcriber's Note: + + Inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have + been preserved. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. + + Italic text is denoted by _underscores_. + + "crank" on page 147 is a possible typo + "Bamain" on page 213 is a possible typo + "Semetic" on page 225 is a possible typo + "Zoroastian" on page 270 is a possible typo + "Aegospotami" (in index) not found in text + "Kardos" (in index) not found in text + + Spelling differences between the index and the text were resolved + in favor of the text. + + + + + MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED + + LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA + MELBOURNE + + THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO + ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO + + THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. + TORONTO + + + + + THE + GATES OF INDIA + BEING + AN HISTORICAL NARRATIVE + + BY + COLONEL SIR THOMAS HOLDICH + K.C.M.G., K.C.I.E., C.B., D.Sc. + + AUTHOR OF + 'THE INDIAN BORDERLAND,' 'INDIA,' 'THE COUNTRIES OF + THE KING'S AWARD' + + _WITH MAPS_ + + + MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED + ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON + 1910 + + + + +PREFACE + + +As the world grows older and its composition both physical and human +becomes subject to ever-increasing scientific investigation, the close +interdependence of its history and its geography becomes more and more +definite. It is hardly too much to say that geography has so far +shaped history that in unravelling some of the more obscure +entanglements of historical record, we may safely appeal to our modern +knowledge of the physical environment of the scene of action to decide +on the actual course of events. Oriental scholars for many years past +have been deeply interested in reshaping the map of Asia to suit their +theories of the sequence of historical action in India and on its +frontiers. They have identified the position of ancient cities in +India, sometimes with marvellous precision, and have been able to +assign definite niches in history to historical personages with whose +story it would have been most difficult to deal were it not +intertwined with marked features of geographical environment. But on +the far frontiers of India, beyond the Indus, these geographical +conditions have only been imperfectly known until recently. It is +only within the last thirty years that the geography of the hinterland +of India--Tibet, Afghanistan, and Baluchistan--have been in any sense +brought under scientific examination, and at the best such examination +has been partial and incomplete. It is unfortunate that recent years +have added nothing to our knowledge of Afghanistan, and it seems +hopeless to wait for detailed information as to some of the more +remote (and most interesting) districts of that historic country. As, +therefore, in the course of twenty years of official wanderings I have +amassed certain notes which may help to throw some light on the +ancient highways and cities of those trans-frontier regions which +contain the landward gates of India, I have thought it better to make +some use of these notes now, and to put together the various theories +that I may have formed from time to time bearing on the past history +of that country, whilst the opportunity lasts. I have endeavoured to +present my own impressions at first hand as far as possible, unbiased +by the views already expressed by far more eminent writers than +myself, believing that there is a certain value in originality. I have +also endeavoured to keep the descriptive geography of such districts +as form the theatre of historical incidents on a level with the story +itself, so that the one may illustrate the other. + +Whilst investigating the methods of early explorers into the +hinterland of India it has, of course, been necessary to appeal to +the original narratives of the explorers themselves so far as +possible. Consequently I am indebted to the assistance afforded by +quite a host of authors for the basis of this compilation. And I may +briefly recount the names of those to whom I am under special +obligation. First and foremost are Mr. M'Crindle's admirable series of +handy little volumes dealing with the Greek period of Indian history, +the perusal of which first prompted an attempt to reconcile some of +the apparent discrepancies between classical story and practical +geography, with which may be included Sir A. Cunningham's _Coins of +Alexander's Successors in Kabul_. For the Arab phase of commercial +exploration I am indebted to Sir William Ouseley's translation, +_Oriental Geography of Ibn Haukel_, and the _Géographie d'Edrisi; +traduite par P. Aimedée Joubert_. For more modern records the official +reports of Burnes, Lord, and Leech on Afghanistan; Burnes' _Travels +into Bokhara, etc.; Cabul_, by the same author; _Ferrier's Caravan +Journeys_; Wood's _Journey to the Sources of the Oxus_; Moorcroft's +_Travels in the Himalayan Provinces_; Vigne's _Ghazni, Kabul, and +Afghanistan_; Henry Pottinger's _Travels in Baloochistan and Sinde_; +and last, but by no means least, Masson's _Travels in Afghanistan, +Beluchistan, the Panjab, and Kalat_, all of which have been largely +indented on. To this must be added Mr. Forrest's valuable compilation +of Bombay records. It has been indeed one of the objects of this book +to revive the records of past generations of explorers whose stories +have a deep significance even in this day, but which are apt to be +overlooked and forgotten as belonging to an ancient and superseded era +of research. Because these investigators belong to a past generation +it by no means follows that their work, their opinions, or their +deductions from original observations are as dead as they are +themselves. It is far too readily assumed that the work of the latest +explorer must necessarily supersede that of his predecessors. In the +difficult art of map compilation perhaps the most difficult problem +with which the compiler has to deal is the relative value of evidence +dating from different periods. Here, then, we have introduced a +variety of opinions and views expressed by men of many minds (but all +of one type as explorer), which may be balanced one against another +with a fair prospect of eliminating what mathematicians call the +"personal equation" and arriving at a sound "mean" value from combined +evidence. I have said they are all of one type, regarded as explorers. +There is only one word which fitly describes that type--magnificent. +We may well ask have we any explorers like them in these days? We know +well enough that we have the raw material in plenty for fashioning +them, but alas! opportunity is wanting. Exploration in these days is +becoming so professional and so scientific that modern methods hardly +admit of the dare-devil, face-to-face intermixing with savage breeds +and races that was such a distinctive feature in the work of these +heroes of an older age. We get geographical results with a rapidity +and a precision that were undreamt of in the early years (or even in +the middle) of the last century. Our instruments are incomparably +better, and our equipment is such that we can deal with the hostility +of nature in her more savage moods with comparative facility. But we +no longer live with the people about whom we set out to write +books--we don't wear their clothes, eat their food, fraternize with +them in their homes and in the field, learn their language and discuss +with them their religion and politics. And the result is that we don't +_know_ them half as well, and the ratio of our knowledge (in India at +least) is inverse to the official position towards them that we may +happen to occupy. The missionary and the police officer may know +something of the people; the high-placed political administrator knows +less (he cannot help himself), and the parliamentary demagogue knows +nothing at all. My excuse for giving so large a place to the American +explorer Masson, for instance, is that he was first in the field at a +critical period of Indian history. Apart from his extraordinary gifts +and power of absorbing and collating information, history has proved +that on the whole his judgment both as regards Afghan character and +Indian political ineptitude was essentially sound. Of course he was +not popular. He is as bitter and sarcastic in his unsparing +criticisms of local political methods in Afghanistan as he is of the +methods of the Indian Government behind them; and doubtless his +bitterness and undisguised hostility to some extent discounts the +value of his opinion. But he knew the Afghan, which we did not: and it +is most instructive to note the extraordinary divergence of opinion +that existed between him and Sir Alexander Burnes as regards some of +the most marked idiosyncrasies of Afghan character. Burnes was as +great an explorer as Masson, but whilst in Afghanistan he was the +emissary of the Indian Government, and thus it immediately became +worth while for the Afghan Sirdar to study his temper and his +weaknesses and to make the best use of both. Thus arose Burnes' +whole-hearted belief in the simplicity of Afghan methods, whilst +Masson, who was more or less behind the scenes, was in no position to +act as prompter to him. It was just preceding and during the momentous +period of the first Afghan war (1839-41) that European explorers in +Afghanistan and Baluchistan were most active. Long before then both +countries had been an open book to the Ancients, and both may be said +geographically to be an open book to us now. There are, however, +certain pages which have not yet been properly read, and something +will be said later on as to where these pages occur. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + INTRODUCTION 1 + + + CHAPTER I + + EARLY RELATIONS BETWEEN EAST AND WEST--GREECE AND + PERSIA AND EARLY TRIBAL DISTRIBUTIONS ON THE INDIAN + FRONTIER 11 + + + CHAPTER II + + ASSYRIA AND AFGHANISTAN--ANCIENT LAND ROUTES--POSSIBLE + SEA ROUTES 39 + + + CHAPTER III + + GREEK EXPLORATION--ALEXANDER--MODERN BALKH--THE BALKH + PLAIN AND BAKTRIA 58 + + + CHAPTER IV + + GREEK EXPLORATION--ALEXANDER--THE KABUL VALLEY GATES 94 + + + CHAPTER V + + GREEK EXPLORATION--THE WESTERN GATES 135 + + + CHAPTER VI + + CHINESE EXPLORATIONS--THE GATES OF THE NORTH 169 + + + CHAPTER VII + + MEDIÆVAL GEOGRAPHY--SEISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN 190 + + + CHAPTER VIII + + ARAB EXPLORATION--THE GATES OF MAKRAN 284 + + + CHAPTER IX + + EARLIEST ENGLISH EXPLORATION--CHRISTIE AND POTTINGER 325 + + + CHAPTER X + + AMERICAN EXPLORATION--MASSON--THE NEARER GATES, + BALUCHISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN 344 + + + CHAPTER XI + + AMERICAN EXPLORATION--MASSON (_CONTINUED_)--THE NEARER + GATES, BALUCHISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN 390 + + + CHAPTER XII + + LORD AND WOOD--THE FARTHER GATES, BADAKSHAN AND THE + OXUS 411 + + + CHAPTER XIII + + ACROSS AFGHANISTAN TO BOKHARA--MOORCROFT 442 + + + CHAPTER XIV + + ACROSS AFGHANISTAN TO BOKHARA--BURNES 451 + + + CHAPTER XV + + THE GATES OF GHAZNI--VIGNE 462 + + + CHAPTER XVI + + THE GATES OF GHAZNI--BROADFOOT 470 + + + CHAPTER XVII + + FRENCH EXPLORATION--FERRIER 476 + + + CHAPTER XVIII + + SUMMARY 500 + + + INDEX 531 + + + + +LIST OF MAPS + + + FACE PAGE + + 1. General Orographic Map of Afghanistan and Baluchistan, + showing Arab trade routes (see page 190 _et seq._) + _With Introduction_ + + 2. Sketch of Alexander's Route through the Kabul Valley to + India 94 + + 3. Greek Retreat from India (_Journal of the Society of Arts_, + April 1901) 135 + + 4. The Gates of Makran (_Journal of the Royal Geographical + Society_, April 1906) 284 + + 5. Sketch of the Hindu Kush Passes 500 + + + + + [Illustration: OROGRAPHICAL MAP OF AFGHANISTAN & BALUCHISTAN + COMPILED BY SIR THOMAS H. HOLDICH, K.C.M.G., K.C.I.E., C.B.] + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +Since the gates of India have become water gates and the way to India +has been the way of the sea, very little has been known of those other +landward gates which lie to the north and west of the peninsula, +through which have poured immigrants from Asia and conquerors from the +West from time immemorial. It has taken England a long time to +rediscover them, and she is even now doubtful about their strategic +value and the possibility of keeping them closed and barred. It is +only by an examination of the historical records which concern them, +and the geographical conditions which surround them, that any clear +appreciation of their value can be attained; and it is only within the +last century that such examinations have been rendered possible by the +enterprise and activity of a race of explorers (official and +otherwise) who have risked their lives in the dangerous field of the +Indian trans-frontier. In ancient days the very first (and sometimes +the last) thing that was learned about India was the way thither from +the North. In our times the process has been reversed, and we seek +for information with our backs to the South. We have worked our way +northward, having entered India by the southern water gates, and as we +have from time to time struggled rather to remain content within +narrow borders than to push outward and forward, the drift to the +north has been very slow, and there has never been, right from the +very beginning, any strenuous haste in the expansion of commercial +interests, or any spirit of crusade in the advance of Conquest. + +So late as the early years of the sixteenth century England was but a +poor country, with less inhabitants than are now crowded within the +London area. There was not much to spare, either of money or men, for +ventures which could only be regarded in those days as sheer gambling +speculations. The splendid records of a successful voyage must have +been greatly discounted by the many dismal tales of failure, and +nothing but an indomitable impulse, bred of international rivalry, +could have led the royal personages and the few wealthy citizens who +backed our earliest enterprises to open their purse-strings +sufficiently wide to find the necessary means for the equipment of a +modest little fleet of square-sailed merchant ships. National tenacity +prevailed, however, in the end. The hard-headed Islander finally +succeeded where the more impetuous Southerner failed, and England came +out finally with most of the honours of a long commercial contest. It +was in this way that we reached India, and by degrees we painted +India our own conventional colour in patches large enough to give us +the preponderating voice in her general administration. But as we +progressed northward and north-westward we realized the important fact +that India--the peninsula India--was insulated and protected by +geographical conformations which formed a natural barrier against +outside influences, almost as impassable as the sea barriers of +England. On the north-east a vast wilderness of forest-covered +mountain ranges and deep lateral valleys barred the way most +effectually against irruption from the yellow races of Asia. On the +north where the curving serrated ramparts of the north-east gave place +to the Himalayan barrier, the huge uplifted highlands of Tibet were +equally impassable to the busy pushing hordes of the Mongol; and it +was only on the extreme north-west about the hinterland of Kashmir, +and beyond the Himalayan system, that any weakness could be found in +the chain of defensive works which Nature had sent to the north of +India. Here, indeed, in the trans-Indus regions of Kashmir, sterile, +rugged, cold, and crowned with gigantic ice-clad peaks, there is a +slippery track reaching northward into the depression of Chinese +Turkestan, which for all time has been a recognised route connecting +India with High Asia. It is called the Karakoram route. Mile upon mile +a white thread of a road stretches across the stone-strewn plains, +bordered by the bones of the innumerable victims to the long fatigue +of a burdensome and ill-fed existence--the ghastly debris of former +caravans. It is perhaps the ugliest track to call a trade route in the +whole wide world. Not a tree, not a shrub, exists, not even the cold +dead beauty which a snow-sheet imparts to highland scenery, for there +is no great snowfall in the elevated spaces which back the Himalayas +and their offshoots. It is marked, too, by many a sordid tragedy of +murder and robbery, but it is nevertheless one of the northern gates +of India which we have spent much to preserve, and it does actually +serve a very important purpose in the commercial economy of India. At +least one army has traversed this route from the north with the +prospect before it of conquering Tibet; but it was a Mongol army, and +it was worsted in a most unequal contest with Nature. + +India (if we include Kashmir) runs to a northern apex about the point +where, from the western extension of the giant Muztagh, the Hindu Kush +system takes off in continuation of the great Asiatic divide. Here the +Pamirs border Kashmir, and here there are also mountain ways which +have aforetime let in the irrepressible Chinaman, probably as far as +Hunza, but still a very long way from the Indian peninsula. Then the +Hindu Kush slopes off to the south-westward and becomes the divide +between Afghanistan and Kashmir for a space, till, from north of +Chitral, it continues with a sweep right into Central Afghanistan and +merges into the mountain chain which reaches to Herat. From this +point, north of Chitral, commences the true north-west barrier of +India, a barrier which includes nearly the whole width of Afghanistan +beyond the formidable wall of the trans-Indus mountains. It is here +that the gates of India are to be found, and it is with this outermost +region of India, and what lies beyond it, that this book is chiefly +concerned. + +As the history of India under British occupation grew and expanded and +the painting red process gradually developed, whilst men were ever +reaching north-westward with their eyes set on these frontier hills, +the countries which lay beyond came to be regarded as the "ultima +thule" of Indian exploration, and Afghanistan and Baluchistan were +reckoned in English as the hinterland of India, only to be reached by +the efforts of English adventurers from the plains of the peninsula. +And that is the way in which those countries are still regarded. It is +Afghanistan in its relations to India, political, commercial, or +strategic, as the case may be, that fills the minds of our soldiers +and statesmen of to-day; and the way to Afghanistan is still by the +way of ships--across the ocean first, and then by climbing upward from +the plains of India to the continental plateau land of Asia. It was +not so twenty-five centuries ago. One can imagine the laughter that +would echo through the courts and palaces of Nineveh at the idea of +reaching Afghanistan by a sea route! Think of Tiglath Pilesur, the +founder of the Second Assyrian Empire, seated, curled, and anointed, +surrounded by his Court and flanked by the sculptured art of his +period (already losing some of the freshness and vigour of First +Empire design) in the pillared halls of Nineveh, and counting the +value of his Eastern satrapies in Sagartia, Ariana, and Arachosia, +with outlying provinces in Northern India, whilst meditating yet +further conquests to add to his almost illimitable Empire! No shadow +of Babylon had stretched northward then. No premonition of a yet +larger and later Empire overshadowed him or his successors, +Shalmaneser and Sargon. Northern Afghanistan was to these Assyrian +kings the dumping ground of unconsidered companies of conquered +slaves, a bourne from whence no captive was ever likely to return. No +record is left of the passing of those bands of colonists from West to +East. We can only gather from the writings of subsequent historians in +classical times that for centuries they must have drifted eastward +from Syria, Armenia, and Greece, carrying with them the rudiments of +the arts and industries of the land they had left for ever, and +providing India with the germs of an art system entirely imitative in +design, colour, and relief. The Aryan was before them in India. +Already the foundations were laid for historic dynasties, and Rajput +families were dating their origin from the sun and moon, whilst +somewhere from beneath the shadow of the Himalayas in the foothills of +Nipal was soon to arise the daystar of a new faith, a "light of Asia" +for all centuries to come. + +It is impossible to set a limit to the number and variety of the +people who, in these early centuries, either migrated, or were +deported, from West to East through Persia to Northern Afghanistan, or +who drifted southwards into Baluchistan. Not until the ethnography of +these frontier lands of India is exhaustively studied shall we be able +to unravel the influence of Assyrian, Median, Persian, Arab, or Greek +migrations in the strange conglomeration of humanity which peoples +those countries. Baktra (Balkh), in Northern Afghanistan, must have +been a city of consequence in days when Nineveh was young. Farah, a +city of Arachosia in Western Afghanistan on the borders of Seistan, +must have been a centre from whence Assyrian arts and industries were +passed on to India for ages; for Farah lies directly on the route +which connects Seistan with the southern passes into the Indus valley. +The Indus itself seems to have been the boundary which limited the +efforts of migration and exploration. Beyond the Indus were deserts in +the south and wide unproductive plains of the Punjab in the north, and +it is the deserts of the world's geography which, far more than any +other feature, have always determined the extent of the human tidal +waves and influenced their direction. They are as the promontories and +capes of the world's land perimeter to the tides of the ocean. Beyond +these parched and waterless tracts, where now the maximum temperatures +of sun-heat in India are registered, were vague uncertainties and +mythical wonders, the tales of which in ancient literature are in +strange contrast to the exact information which was obtained of +geographical conditions and tribal distributions in the basins of the +Kabul or Swat rivers, or within the narrow valleys of Makran. + +A recent writer (Mr. Ellsworth Huntington) has expressed in +picturesque and convincing language the nature of the relationship +which has ever existed between man and his physical environments in +Asia, and has illustrated the effect of certain pulsations of climate +in the movement of Asiatic history. The changing conditions of the +climate of High Asia, periods of desiccation and deprivation of +natural water-supply alternating with periods of cold and rainfall, +acting in slow progression through centuries and never ceasing in +their operation, have set "men in nations" moving over the face of +that continent since the beginning of time, and left a legacy of +buried history, to be unearthed by explorers of the type of Stein, +such as will eventually give us the key to many important problems in +race distribution. But more important even than climatic influence is +the direct influence of physical geography, the actual shaping of +mountain and valley, as a factor in directing the footsteps of early +migration. Nowadays men cross the seas in thousands from continent to +continent, but in the days of Egyptian and Assyrian empire it was that +straight high-road which crossed the fewest passes and tapped the best +natural resources of wood and water which was absolutely the +determining factor in the direction of the great human processions; +and although change of climate may have set the nomadic peoples of +High Asia moving with a purpose more extensive than an annual search +for pasturage, and have led to the peopling of India with successive +nations of Central Asiatic origin, it was the knowledge that by +certain routes between Mesopotamia and Northern Afghanistan lay no +inhospitable desert, and no impassable mountain barrier, that +determined the intermittent flow from the west, which received fresh +impulse with every conquest achieved, with every band of captives +available for colonizing distant satrapies. To put it shortly, there +was an easy high-road from Mesopotamia through Persia to Northern +Afghanistan, or even to Seistan, and not a very difficult one to +Makran; and so it came about that migratory movements, either +compulsory or voluntary, continued through centuries, ever extending +their scope till checked by the deserts of the Indian frontier or the +highlands of the Pamirs and Tibet, or the cold wild wastes of +Siberia. + +Thus Afghanistan and Baluchistan, the countries with which we are more +immediately concerned, were probably far better known to Assyrian and +Persian kings than they were to the British Intelligence Office (or +its equivalent) of a century ago. The first landward explorations of +these countries are lost in pre-historic mists, but we find that the +first scientific mission of which we have any record (that which was +led by Alexander the Great) was well supplied with fairly accurate +geographical information regarding the main route to be followed and +the main objectives to be gained. + +In tracing out, therefore, or rather in sketching, the gradual +progress of exploration in Afghanistan and Baluchistan, and the +gradual evolution of those countries into a proper appanage of British +India, we will begin (as history began) from the north and west rather +than from the south and the plains of Hindustan. + + + + +CHAPTER I + +EARLY RELATIONS BETWEEN EAST AND WEST. GREECE AND PERSIA AND EARLY +TRIBAL DISTRIBUTIONS ON THE INDIAN FRONTIER. + + +It is unfortunately most difficult to trace the conditions under which +Europe was first introduced to Asia, or the gradual ripening of early +acquaintance into inter-commercial relationship. Although the eastern +world was possessed of a sound literature in the time of Moses, and +although long before the days of Solomon there was "no end" to the +"making of books," it is remarkable how little has been left of these +archaic records, and it is only by inference gathered from tags and +ends of oriental script that we gradually realize how unimportant to +old-world thinkers was the daily course of their own national history. +India is full of ancient literature, but there is no ancient history. +To the Brahmans there was no need for it. To them the world and all +that it contains was "illusion," and it was worse than idle--it was +impious--to perpetuate the record of its varied phases as they +appeared to pass in unreal pageantry before their eyes. We know that +from under the veil of extravagant epic a certain amount of historical +truth has been dragged into daylight. The "Mahabharata" and the +"Ramayana" contain in allegorical outline the story of early conflicts +which ended in the foundation of mighty Rajput houses, or which +established the distribution of various races of the Indian peninsula. +Without an intimate knowledge of the language in which these great +epics are written it is impossible to estimate fully the nature of the +allegory which overlies an interesting historical record, but it has +always appeared to be sufficiently vague to warrant some uncertainty +as to the accuracy of the deductions which have hitherto been evolved +therefrom. Nevertheless it is from these early poems of the East that +we derive all that there is to be known about ancient India, and when +we turn from the East to the West strangely enough we find much the +same early literary conditions confronting us. + +About 950 years before Christ, two of the most perfect epic poems were +written that ever delighted the world, the _Iliad_ and _Odyssey_ of +Homer. The first begins with Achilles and ends with the funeral of +Hector. The second recounts the voyages and adventures of Ulysses +after the destruction of Troy. With our modern intimate knowledge of +the coasts of the Mediterranean it is not difficult to detect, amidst +the fabulous accounts of heroic adventures, many references to +geographical facts which must have been known generally to the Greeks +of the Homeric period, dealing chiefly with the coasts and islands of +the Western sea. There is but little reference to the East, although +many centuries before Homer's day there was a sea-going trade between +India and the West which brought ivory, apes, and peacocks to the +ports of Syria. The obvious inference to be derived from the general +absence of reference to the mysteries of Eastern geography is that +there was no through traffic. Ships from the East traded only along +the coast-lines that they knew, and ventured no farther than the point +where an interchange of commodities could be established with the slow +crawling craft of the West, the navigation of the period being +confined to hugging the coast-line and making for the nearest +shelter when times were bad. The interchange of commodities between +the rough sailor people of those days did not tend to an interchange +of geographical information. Probably the language difficulty stood in +the way. If there was no end to the making of books it was not the +illiterate and rough sailor men who made them. Nor do sailors, as a +rule, make them now. It is left to the intelligent traveller +uninterested in trade, and the journalistic seeker after sensation, to +make modern geographical records; and there were no such travellers in +the days of Homer, even if the art of writing had been a general +accomplishment. In days much later than Homer we can detect sailors' +yarns embodied in what purport to be authentic geographical records, +but none so early. We have a reference to certain Skythic nomads who +lived on mare's milk, and who had wandered from the Asiatic highlands +into the regions north of the Euxine, which is in itself deeply +interesting as it indicates that as early as the ninth century B.C. +Milesian Greek colonies had started settlements on the shores of the +Black Sea. As the centuries rolled on these settlements expanded into +powerful colonies, and with enterprising people such as the early +Greeks there can be little doubt that there was an intermittent +interchange of commerce with the tribes beyond the Euxine, and that +gradually a considerable, if inaccurate, knowledge of Asia, even +beyond the Taurus, was acquired. The world, for them, was still a flat +circular disc with a broad tidal ocean flowing around its edge, +encompassing the habitable portions about the centre. + +Africa extended southward to the land of Ethiop and no farther, but +Asia was a recognised geographical entity, less vague and nebulous +even than the western isles from whence the Ph[oe]nicians brought +their tin. There were certain fables current among the Greeks touching +the one-eyed Arimaspians, the gold-guarding griffins, and the +Hyperboreans, which in the middle of the sixth century were still +credited, and almost indicate an indefinite geographical conception of +northern Asiatic regions. But it is probable that much more was known +of Asiatic geography in these early years than can be gathered from +the poems and fables of Greek writers before the days of Herodotus and +of professional geography. There were no means of recording knowledge +ready to the hand of the colonist and commercial traveller then; even +the few literary men who later travelled for the sake of gaining +knowledge were dependent largely on information obtained scantily and +with difficulty from others, and the expression of their knowledge is +crude and imperfect. But what should we expect even in present times +if we proceeded to compile a geographical treatise from the works of +Milton and Shakespere? What indeed would be the result of a careful +analysis of parliamentary utterances on geographical subjects within, +say, the last half century? Would they present to future generations +anything approaching to an accurate epitome of the knowledge really +possessed (though possibly not expressed) by those who have within +that period almost exhausted the world's store of geographical record? +The analogy is a perfectly fair one. Geographers and explorers are not +always writers even in these days, and as we work backwards into the +archives of history nothing is more astonishing than the indications +which may be found of vast stores of accurate information of the +earth's physiography lost to the world for want of expression. + +It was between the sixth century B.C. and the days of Herodotus that +Miletus was destroyed, and captive Greeks were transported by Darius +Hystaspes from the Lybian Barké to Baktria, where we find traces of +them again under their original Greek name in the northern regions of +Afghanistan. It was long ere the days of Darius that the hosts of +Assyria beat down the walls of Samaria and scattered the remnants of +Israel through the highlands of Western Asia. Where did they drift to, +these ten despairing tribes? Possibly we may find something to remind +us of them also in the northern Afghan hills. + +It was probably about the same era that some pre-Hellenic race, led +(so it is written) by the mythical hero Dionysos, trod the weary route +from the Euxine to the Caspian, and from the southern shores of the +Caspian to the borderland of modern Indian frontier, where their +descendants welcomed Alexander on his arrival as men of his own faith +and kin, and were recognised as such by the great conqueror. Now all +this points to an acquaintance with the geographical links between +East and West which appears nowhere in any written record. Nowhere can +we find any clear statement of the actual routes by which these +pilgrims were supposed to have made their long and toilsome journeys. +Just the bare facts are recorded, and we are left to guess the means +by which they were accomplished. But it is clear that the old-world +overland connection between India and the Black Sea is a very old +connection indeed, and further, it is clear that what the Greeks may +not have known the Persians certainly did know. When Herodotus first +set solidly to work on a geographical treatise which was to embrace +the existing knowledge of the whole world, he undoubtedly derived a +great deal of that knowledge from official Persian sources; and it may +be added that the early Persian department for geographical +intelligence has been proved by this last century's scientific +investigations to have collected information of which the accuracy is +certainly astonishing. It is only quite recently, during the process +of surveys carried on by the Government of India through the highlands +and coast regions of Baluchistan and Eastern Persia, that anything +like a modern gazetteer of the tribes occupying those districts has +been rendered possible. Twenty-five years ago our military information +concerning ethnographic distributions in districts lying immediately +beyond the north-western frontier was no better than that which is +contained in the lists of the Persian satrapies, given to the world by +Herodotus nearly 500 years before the Christian era. Twenty-five years +ago we did not know of the existence of some of the tribes and peoples +mentioned by him, and we were unable to identify others. Now, however, +we are at last aware that through twenty-four centuries most of them +have clung to their old habitat in a part of the Eastern world where +material wealth and climatic attractions have never been sufficient to +lead to annihilation by conquest. Oppressed and harried by successive +Persian dynasties, overrun by the floatsam and jetsam of hosts of +migratory Asiatic peoples from the North, those tribes have mostly +survived to bear a much more valuable testimony to the knowledge of +the East entertained by the West in the days of Herodotus than any +which can be gathered from written documents. + +The Milesian colonies founded on the southern and western shores of +the Euxine in the sixth and seventh centuries B.C., whilst retaining +their trade connection with the parent city of Miletus (where sprang +that carpet-making industry for which this corner of Asia has been +famous ever since), found no open road to the further eastern trade +through the mountain regions that lie south of the Black Sea. Half a +century after Herodotus we find Xenophon struggling in almost helpless +entanglement amongst these wild mountains comparatively close to the +Greek colonies; and it was there that he encountered the fiercest +opposition from the native tribes-people that he met with during his +famous retreat from Persia. It is always so. Our most active opponents +on the Indian frontier are the mountaineers of the immediate +borderland--the people who _know_ us best, and therefore fear us most. +It was chiefly through Miletus and the Cilician gates that Greek +trade with Persia and Babylon was maintained. There were no Greek +colonies on the rugged eastern coasts of the Black Sea--sufficient +indication that no open trade route existed direct to the Caspian by +any line analogous to that of the modern railway that connects Batum +with Baku. On the north of the Euxine, however, there were great and +flourishing colonies (of which Olbia at the mouth of the Borysthenes, +or Dnieper, was the most famous) which undoubtedly traded with the +Skythic peoples north and west of the Caspian. From these sources came +the legends of Hyperboreans and Griffins and other similar tales, all +flavoured with the glamour of northern mystery, but none of them +pointing to an eastern origin. Recent investigations into the +ethnography of certain tribes in Afghanistan, however, seem to prove +conclusively that even if there was no recognised trade between Greece +and India before Miletus was destroyed by Darius Hystaspes, and Greek +settlers were transported by the Persian conqueror to the borders of +the modern Badakshan, yet there must have been Greek pioneers in +colonial enterprise who had made their way to the Far East and stayed +there. For instance, we have that strange record of settlements under +Dionysos amongst the spurs and foothills of the Hindu Kush, which were +clearly of Greek origin, although Arrian in his history of Alexander's +progress through Asia is unable to explain the meaning of them. + +There is more to be said about these settlements later. The first +actual record of settlement of Greeks in Baktria is that of Herodotus, +to which we have referred as being affected by Darius Hystaspes in the +sixth century before Christ, and the descendants of these settlers are +undoubtedly the people referred to by Arrian as "Kyreneans", who could +be no other than the Greek captives from the Lybian Barke. Their +existence two centuries later than Herodotus is attested by Arrian, +and they were apparently in possession of the Kaoshan pass over the +Hindu Kush at the time of Alexander's expedition. Another body of +Greeks is recorded by Arrian to have been settled in the Baktrian +country by Xerxes after his flight from Greece. These were the +Brankhidai of Milesia, whose posterity are said to have been +exterminated by Alexander in punishment for the crimes of their +grandfather Didymus. The name Barang, or Farang, is frequently +repeated in the mountain districts of Northern Afghanistan and +Badakshan, and careful inquiry would no doubt reveal the fact that +surviving Greek affinities are still far more widely spread through +that part of Asia than is generally known. All these settlements were +antecedent to Alexander, but beyond these recorded instances of Greek +occupation there can be little doubt that (as pointed out by Bellew in +his _Ethnography of Afghanistan_ and supported by later observations) +the Greek element had been diffused through the wide extent of the +Persian sovereignty for centuries before the birth of Alexander the +Great. It is probable that each of the four great divisions of the +ancient Greeks had contributed for a thousand years before to the +establishment of colonies in Asia Minor, and from these colonies bands +of emigrants had penetrated to the far east of the Persian dominions, +either as free men or captives. Amongst the clans and tribal sections +of Afghans and Pathans are to be found to this day names that are +clearly indicative of this pre-historic Greek connection. + +Persia at her greatest maintained a considerable overland trade with +India, and Indian tribute formed a large part of her revenues. All +Afghanistan was Persian; all Baluchistan, and the Indian frontier to +the Indus. The underlying Persian element is strong in all these +regions still, the dominant language of the country, the speech of the +people, whether Baluch or Pathan, is of Persian stock, whilst the +polite tongue of Court officials, if not the Persian of Tehran or +Shiraz, is at least an imitation of it. It is hardly strange that the +Greek language should have absolutely disappeared. We have the +statement of Seneca (referred to by Bellew in his _Inquiry_) that the +Greek language was spoken in the Indus valley as late as the middle of +the first century after Christ; "if indeed it did not continue to be +the colloquial in some parts of the valley to a considerably later +period." As this is nearly two centuries after the overthrow of Greek +dominion in Afghanistan, it at least indicates that the Greek +settlements established four centuries earlier must have continued to +exist, and to be reinforced by Greek women (for children speak their +mother's tongue) to a comparatively late period; and that the triumph +of the Jat over the Greek did not by any means efface the influence of +the Greek in India for centuries after it occurred. It is probable +that when the importation of Greek women (who were often employed in +the households of Indian chiefs and nobles at a time when Greek ladies +married Indian Princes) ceased, then the Greek language ceased to +exist also. The retinue and followers of Alexander's expedition took +the women of the country to wife, and it is not, as is so often +supposed, to the results of that expedition so much as to the long +existence of Greek colonies and settlements that we must attribute the +undoubted influence of Greek art on the early art of India. + +Thus we have a wide field before us for inquiry into the early history +of ethnographical movement in Asia, as it affected the relation +between Europe and Afghanistan. Afghanistan (which is a modern +political development) has ever held the landward gates of India. We +cannot understand India without a study of that wide hinterland +(Afghan, Persian, and Baluch) through which the great restless human +tide has ever been on the move: now a weeping nation of captives led +by tear-sodden routes to a land of exile; now a band of merchants +reaching forward to the land of golden promise; or perchance an army +of pilgrims marching with their feet treading deep into narrow +footways to the shrines of forgotten saints; or perchance an armed +host seeking an uncertain fate; a ceaseless, waveless tide, as +persistent, as enterprising, and infinitely more complicated in its +developments than the process of modern emigration, albeit modern +emigration may spread more widely. + +Living as we do in fixed habitations and hedged in not merely by +narrow seas but by the conventionalities of civilized existence, we +fail to realize the conditions of nomadic life which were so familiar +to our Asiatic ancestors. Something of its nature may be gathered +to-day from the Kalmuk and Kirghiz nomads of Central Asia. A day's +march is not a day's march to them--it is a day's normal occupation. +The yearly shift in search of fresh pasture is not a flitting on a +holiday tour; it is as much a part of the year's life as the change of +raiment between summer to winter. Everything moves; the home is not +left behind; every man, woman, and child of the family has a +recognised share in the general shift. Perhaps that of the Kirghiz man +is the easiest. He smokes a lazy pipe in the bright sunshine and +watches his boys strip off the felt covering of his wicker-built +"kibitka," whilst his wife with floating bands of her white headdress +fluttering in the breeze, and her quilted coat turned up to give more +freedom to her booted legs, gets together the household traps in +compact bundles for the great hairy camel to carry. Her efforts are +not inartistic; long experience has taught her exactly where every +household god can be stowed to the best advantage. Meanwhile the +happy, good-looking Kirghiz girls are racing over the grass country +after sheep, and ere long the little party is making its slow but sure +way over the breezy steppes to the passes of the blue mountains, which +look down from afar on to the warmer plains. And who has the best of +it? The free-roving, untrammelled child of the plain, quite godless, +and taking no thought for the morrow, or the carefully cultured and +tight-fitted product of civilization to whom the motor and the railway +represent the only thinkable method of progression? That, however, is +not the point. What we wish to emphasize is the apparent inability on +the part of many writers on the subject of ancient history and +geography to realize the essential difference between then and now as +regards human migratory movement. + +There is often an apparent misconception that there is more movement +in these days of railways and steamers and motors than existed ten +centuries before Christ. The difference lies not in the comparative +amount of movement but in the method of it. In one sense only is there +more movement--there are more people to travel; but in a broader sense +there is much less movement. Whole nations are no longer shifted at +the will of the conqueror across a continent, trade seekers no longer +devote their lives to the personal conduct of caravans; armies swelled +to prodigious size by a tagrag following no longer (except in China) +move slowly over the face of the land, devouring, like a swarm of +locusts, all that comes in their way. Colonial emigration perhaps +alone works on a larger scale now than in those early times; but +taking it "bye and large," the circulation of the human race, +unrestricted by political boundaries, was certainly more constant in +the unsettled days of nomadic existence than in these later days of +overgrown cities and electric traffic. If little or nothing is +recorded of many of the most important migrations which have changed +the ethnographic conditions of Asia, whilst at the same time we have +volumes of ancient philosophy and mythology, it is because such +changes were regarded as normal, and the current of contemporary +history as an ephemeral phenomenon not worth the labour of close +inquiry or a manuscript record. + +Such a gazetteer as that presented to us by Herodotus would not have +been possible had there not been free and frequent access to the +countries and the people with whom it deals. It is impossible to +conceive that so much accuracy of detail could have been acquired +without the assistance of personal inquiry on the spot. If this is so, +then the Persians at any rate knew their way well about Asia as far +east as Tibet and India, and the Greeks undoubtedly derived their +knowledge from Persia. When Alexander of Macedon first planned his +expedition to Central Asia he had probably more certain knowledge of +the way thither than Lord Napier of Magdala possessed when he set out +to find the capital of Theodore's kingdom in Abyssinia, and it is most +interesting to note the information which was possessed by the Greek +authorities a century and a half before Alexander's time. + +One notable occurrence pointing to a fairly comprehensive knowledge of +geography of the Indian border by the Persians, was the voyage of the +Greek Scylax of Caryanda down the Indus, and from its mouth to the +Arabian Gulf, which was regarded by Herodotus as establishing the fact +of a continuous sea. This voyage, or mission, which was undertaken by +order of Darius who wished to know where the Indus had its outlet and +"sent some ships" on a voyage of discovery, is most instructive. It is +true that the accounts of it are most meagre, but such details as are +given establish beyond a doubt that the expedition was practical and +real. The Persian dominions then extended to the Indus, but there is +no evidence that they ever extended beyond that river into the +peninsula of India. The Indus of the Persian age was not the Indus of +to-day, and its outlet to the sea presumably did not differ materially +from that of the subsequent days of Alexander and Nearkos. Thanks to +the careful investigations of the Bombay Survey Department, and the +close attention which has been given to ancient landmarks by General +Haig during the progress of his surveys, we know pretty certainly +where the course of the Lower Indus must have been, and where both +Scylax and Nearkos emerged into the Arabian Sea. The Indus delta of +to-day covers an area of 10,000 square miles with 125 miles of +coast-line, and it presents to us a huge alluvial tract which is +everywhere furrowed by ancient river channels. Some of these are +continuous through the delta, and can be traced far above it; others +are traceable for only short distances. Without entering into details +of the rate of progression in the formation of Delta (which can be +gathered not only from the abandoned sites of towns once known as +coast ports, but from actual observation from year to year), it may be +safely assumed that the Indus of Alexander and Scylax emptied itself +into the Ran of Kach, far to the south of its present debouchment. The +volume of its waters was then augmented by at least one important +river (the Saraswati), which, flowing from the Himalayas through what +is now known as the Rajputana desert, was the source of widespread +wealth and fertility to thousands of square miles where now there is +nothing to be met with but sandy waste. As far as the Indus the +Persian Empire is known to have extended, but no farther; and it was +important to the military advisers of Darius that something should be +known of the character of this boundary river. + +Wherever the ships sent by Darius may have gone it is quite clear that +they did not sail _up_ the Indus, or there would have been no +objective for an expedition which was organised to determine where the +Indus met the sea by the process of sailing down that river. Moreover, +the voyage up the Indus would have been tedious and slow, and could +only have been undertaken in the cold weather with the assistance of +native pilots acquainted with the ever-shifting bed of the river, +which, so far as its liability to change of channel is concerned, must +have been much the same in the days of Darius as it is at present. The +possibility, therefore, is that Scylax made his way to the Upper Indus +overland, for we are told that the expedition _started_ from the city +of Carpatyra in the Pactyan country. This in itself is exceedingly +instructive, indicating that the Pactyans, or Pathans, or Pukhtu +speaking peoples have occupied the districts of the Upper Indus for +four-and-twenty centuries at least; and coincident with them we learn +that the Aprytæ or Afridi shared the honour of being resident +landowners. Nor need we suppose that the beginning of this history was +the beginning of their existence. The Afridi may have rejoiced in his +native hills ten or twenty centuries before he was written about by +Herodotus. We need not stay to identify the site of Carpatyra. The +Upper Indus valley is full of ancient sites. A century and a half +later Taxilla was the recognized capital of the Upper Punjab, and +Carpatyra meanwhile may have disappeared. Anyhow we hear of Carpatyra +no more, nor has the ingenuity of modern research thrown any certain +light on its position. It is, however, probably near Attok that we +must look for it. Scylax made his way down the Indus in native craft +that from long before his day to the present have retained their +primitive form, a form which was not unlike that of the coast crawling +"ships" of Darius. He proved the existence of an open water-way from +the Upper Punjab to the Persian Gulf, and incidentally his expedition +shows us that the chief lines of communication through the width of +the Persian Empire were well known, and that the road from Susa to the +Upper Indus was open. The outlying satrapies of the Persian Empire +could never have been added one by one to that mighty power without +definite knowledge of the way to reach them. It was not merely a +spasmodic expedition, such as that of Scylax, which pointed the way to +the conquests of the Far East; it was the gathered information of +years of experience, and it was on the basis of this experience +(unwritten and unrecorded so far as we know) that Alexander founded +his plans of campaign. + +The detailed list of peoples included in the satrapies of the Persian +Empire, whilst it is more ethnographical than geographical in its +character, is sufficient proof in itself of the existence of constant +movement between Persia and the borderland of Afghanistan, which +assuredly included commercial traffic. This enumeration has been +compared with a catalogue of tribal contingents which swelled the +great army of Xerxes, an independent statement, and therefore a +valuable test to the general accuracy of Herodotus; and it is still +further confirmed by the list of nations subject to the Persian king +found in the inscriptions of Darius at Behistan and Persepolis. We are +not immediately concerned with the satrapies included in Western Asia +and Egypt, but when Herodotus makes a sudden departure from his rule +of geographical sequence and introduces a satrapy on the remotest east +of the Persian Empire, we immediately recognize that he touches the +Indian frontier. + +The second satrapy most probably corresponds with that part of Central +Afghanistan south of the Kabul River, which lies west of the Suliman +Hills and north of the Kwaja Amran or Khojak. Every name mentioned by +Herodotus certainly has its counterpart in one or other of the tribes +to be found there to this day, excepting the Lydoi (whose history as +Ludi is fairly well known) and the Lasonoi, who have emigrated, the +former into India and the latter to Baluchistan. + +The seventh satrapy, again, comprised the Sattagydai, the Gandarioi, +the Dadikai, and the Aparytai ("joined together"), an association of +names too remarkable to be mistaken. The Sattag or Khattak, the +Gandhari, the Dadi, and the Afridi are all trans-Indus people, and +without insisting too strongly on the exact habitat of each, +originally there can be little doubt that the seventh satrapy included +a great part of the Indus valley. + +The eleventh satrapy is also probably a district of the Indian +trans-frontier, although Bunbury associates the name Kaspioi with the +Caspian Sea. It is far more likely that the Kaspioi of Herodotus are +to be recognized as the people of the ancient Kaspira or Kasmira, and +the Daritæ as the Daraddesa (Dards) of the contiguous mountains. All +Kashmir, even to the borders of Tibet (whence came the story of the +gold-digging ants), was well enough known to the Persians and through +them to Herodotus. + +The twelfth satrapy comprised Balkh and Badakshan--what is now known +as Afghan Turkistan. It was here that, generations before Alexander's +campaign, those Greek settlements were founded by Darius and Xerxes +which have left to this day living traces of their existence in the +places originally allotted to them. In Afghan Turkistan also was +founded the centre of Greek dominion in this part of Asia after the +conquest of Persia, and it is impossible to avoid the conviction that +there was a connection between these two events. The Greeks took the +country from the Bakhi; but there are no people of this name left in +these provinces now. They may (as Bellew suggests) be recognized +again in the Bakhtyari of Southern Persia, but it seems unlikely; and +it is far more probable that they were obliterated by Alexander as his +most active opponents after he passed Aria (Herat) and Drangia +(Seistan). + +The sixteenth satrapy was north of the Oxus, and included Sogdia and +Aria (Herat). South of Aria was the fourteenth satrapy, represented by +Seistan and Western Makran, with "the islands of the sea in which the +King settles transported convicts"; and east of this again was the +seventeenth satrapy covering Southern Baluchistan and Eastern Makran. +It is only during the last twenty-five years that an accurate +geographical knowledge of these uninviting regions has been attained. +The gradual extension of the red line of the Indian border, with the +necessity for preserving peace and security, has gradually enveloped +Makran and Persian Baluchistan, the Gadrosia and Karmania of the +Greeks, and has brought to light many strange secrets which have been +dormant (for they were no secrets to the traveller of the Middle Ages) +for a few centuries prior to the arrival of the British flag in +Western India. It is an inhospitable country which is thus included. +"Mostly desert," as one ancient writer says; marvellously furrowed and +partitioned by bands of sun-scorched rocky hills, all narrow and sharp +where they follow each other in parallel waves facing the Arabian Sea, +or massed into enormous square-faced blocks of impassable mountain +barrier whenever the uniform regularity of structure is lost. And yet +it is a country full not only of interest historical and +ethnographical, such as might be expected of the environment of a +series of narrow passages leading to the western gates of India, but +of incident also. There are amongst these strange knife-backed +volcanic ridges and scarped clay hills valleys of great beauty, where +the date-palms mass their feathery heads into a forest of green, and +below them the fertile soil is moist and lush with cultured +vegetation. But we have described elsewhere this strangely mixed land, +and we have now only to deal with the aspect of it as known to the +Greeks before the days of Alexander. That knowledge was ethnographical +in its quality and exceedingly slight in quantity. Herodotus mentions +the Sagartoi, Zarangai, Thamanai, Uxoi, and Mykoi. These are Seistan +tribes. The Sagartoi were nomads of Seistan, mentioned both amongst +tribes paying tribute and those who were exempt. The Zarangai were the +inhabitants of Drangia (Seistan), where their ancient capital fills +one of the most remarkable of all historic sites. The Zarangai are +said to be recognizable in the Afghan Durani. No Afghan Durani would +admit this. He claims a very different origin (as will be explained), +and in the absence of authoritative history it is never wise to set +aside the traditions of a people about themselves, especially of a +people so advanced as the Duranis. More probable is it that the +ancient geographical appellation Zarangai covers the historic Kaiani +of Seistan supposed to be the same as the Kakaya of Sanscrit. + +The Uxoi may be the modern Hots of Makran--a people who are +traditionally reckoned amongst the most ancient of the mixed +population which has drifted into the Makran ethnographic cul-de-sac, +and who were certainly there in Alexander's time. In eastern Makran, +Herodotus mentions only the Parikanoi and the Asiatic Ethiopian. +Parikan is the Persian plural form of the Sanscrit Parva-ka, which +means "mountaineer." This bears exactly the same meaning as the word +Kohistani, or Barohi, and is not a tribal appellation at all, although +the latter may possibly have developed into the Brahui, the well-known +name of a very important Dravidian people of Southern Baluchistan +(highlanders all of them) who are akin to the Dravidian races of +Southern India. The Asiatic Ethiopian presents a more difficult +problem. During the winter of 1905 careful inquiries were made in +Makran for any evidence to support the suggestion that a tribe of +Kushite origin still existed in that country. It is of interest in +connection with the question whether the earliest immigrants into +Mesopotamia (these people who, according to Accadian tradition, +brought with them from the South the science of civilization) were a +Semitic race or Kushites. It is impossible to ignore the existence of +Kushite races in the east as well as the south. We have not only the +authority of the earliest Greek writings, but Biblical records also +are in support of the fact, and modern interest only centres in the +question what has become of them. Bellew suggests that it was after +the various Kush or Kach, or Kaj tribes that certain districts in +Baluchistan are called Kach Gandava or Kach (Kaj) Makran, and that the +chief of these tribes were the Gadara, after whom the country was +called Gadrosia. This seems mere conjecture. At any rate the term +Kach, sometimes Kachchi, sometimes Katz, is invariably applied to a +flat open space, even if it is only the flat terrace above a river +intervening between the river and a hill, and is purely geographical +in its significance. But it was a matter of interest to discover +whether the Gadurs of Las Bela could be the Gadrosii, or whether they +exhibited any Ethiopian traits. The Gadurs, however, proved to be a +section of the Rajput clan of Lumris, a proud race holding themselves +aloof from other clans and never intermarrying with them. There could +be no mistake about the Rajput origin of the red-skinned Gadur. He was +a Kshatrya of the lunar race, but he might very possibly represent the +ancient Gadrosii, even though he is no descendant of Kush. The other +Rajput tribes with whom the Gadurs coalesce have apparently held their +own in Las from a period quite remote, and must have been there when +Alexander passed that way. + +Asiatic negroes abound in Makran: some of them fresh importations from +Africa, others bred in the slave villages of the Arabian Sea coast, as +they have been for centuries. They are a fine, brawny, well-developed +race of people, and some of the best of them are to be found as +stokers in the P. & O. service; but they do not represent the Asiatic +Ethiopian of Herodotus, who could hardly compile a gazetteer for the +Greeks which should include all the ethnographical information known +to the Persians, any more than our Intelligence Department could +compile a complete gazetteer of the whole Russian Empire. To the +maritime Greek nation the overwhelming preponderance of the huge +Empire which overshadowed them must have created the same feeling of +anxious suspicion that the unwieldy size of Russia presents to us, and +it is not very likely that military intelligence of a really practical +nature was offered gratis to the Greeks by the Persian geographers and +military leaders. It is not surprising, therefore, that Herodotus did +not know all that existed on the far Persian frontier. There are +tribes and peoples about Southern Baluchistan who are as ancient as +Herodotus but who are not mentioned. For instance, the ruling tribe in +Makran until quite recently (when they were ousted by certain Sikh or +Rajput interlopers called Gichki) were the Boledi, and their country +was once certainly called Boledistan. The Boledi valley is one of the +loveliest in a country which is apt to enhance the loveliness of its +narrow bands of luxuriance by their rarety and their narrowness. It is +a sweet oasis in the midst of a barren rocky sea, and must always have +been an object of envy to dwellers outside, even in days when a fuller +water-supply, more widely spread, turned many a valley green which is +now deep drifted with sand. Ptolemy mentions the Boledis, so that they +can well boast the traditional respectability of age-long ancestry. +The Boledis are said to have dispossessed the Persian Kaiani Maliks, +who ruled Makran in the seventeenth century, when they headed what is +known as the Baluch Confederation. This may be veritable history, but +their pride of race and origin, on whatever record it is based, has +come to an end now; it has been left to the present generation to see +the last of them. A few years ago there was living but one +representative of the ruling family of the Boledis, an old lady named +Miriam, who was exceedingly cunning in the art of embroidery, and made +the most bewitching caps. She was, I believe, dependent on the bounty +of the Sultan of Muscat, who possesses a small tract of territory on +the Makran coast. Herodotus apparently knew nothing about the Boledis, +nor can it be doubted that the Greek knowledge of Makran was +exceedingly scanty. Thus, whilst Alexander marched to the Indian +frontier, well supplied with information as to the ways thither when +once he could make Persia his base, he was almost totally ignorant of +the one route out of India which he eventually followed, and which so +nearly enveloped his whole force in disaster. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +ASSYRIA AND AFGHANISTAN--ANCIENT LAND ROUTES--POSSIBLE SEA ROUTES + + +With the building up of the vast Persian Empire, and the gradual +fostering of eastern colonies, and the consequent introduction of the +manners and methods of Western Asia into the highlands of Samarkand +and Badakshan, other nationalities were concerned besides Persians and +Greeks. Captive peoples from Syria had been deported to Assyria seven +centuries before Christ. The House of Israel had been broken up (for +Samaria had fallen in 721 B.C. before the victorious hosts of Sargon), +and some of the Israelitish families had been deported eastwards and +northwards to Northern Mesopotamia and Armenia. With the vitality of +their indestructible race it is at least possible that a remnant +survived as serfs in Assyria, preserving their own customs and +institutions--secretly if not openly--intermarrying, trading, and +money-making, yet still looking for the final restoration of Israel +until the final break-up of the Assyrian Kingdom. They were never +absolutely absorbed, and never forgot to recount their historic +pedigree to their children. + +With the final overthrow of the Assyrian Kingdom we lose sight of the +tribes of Israel, who for more than a century had been mingled with +the peoples of Northern Mesopotamia and Armenia. At least history +holds no record of their further national existence. From time +immemorial in Asia it had been customary for the captives taken in war +to be transported bodily to another field for purposes of colonization +and public labour. When the world was more scantily peopled such +methods were natural and effectual; the increase of working power +gained thereby being of the utmost importance in days when enormous +irrigation canals were excavated, and bricks had to be fashioned for +the construction of walled cities. + +The extent and magnificence of Assyrian building must have demanded an +immense supply of such manual labour for the purpose of brickmaking. +All the mighty works of ancient Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon were +literally "the work of men's hands." In Mesopotamia was captured +labour especially necessary. Stone was indeed available at Nineveh, +but the barrenness of the soil which stretches flatly from the rugged +hills of Kurdistan across Mesopotamia rendered the country +unproductive unless enormous works of irrigation were undertaken for +the distribution of water. Mesopotamia is a country of immense +possibilities, but the wealth of it is only for those who can +distribute the waters of its great rivers over the productive soil. +The yearly inundations of the Euphrates and Tigris are but sufficient +for the needs of a narrow strip of land on either side the rivers, and +the crops of the country undeveloped by canals can only support a +scattered and scanty population. Towards the south there is another +difficulty. The flat soil becomes water-logged and marshy and runs to +waste for want of drainage. There is no stone for building purposes +near Babylon. Approaching Babylon over the windy wastes of +scrub-powdered plain there is nothing to be seen in the shape of a +hill. Long, low, flat-topped mounds stretch athwart the horizon and +resolve themselves on nearer approach into deeply scarred and +weather-worn accretions of debris, or else they are banks of ancient +waterways winding through the steppe, the last remnants of a +stupendous system of irrigation. Then there breaks into view the +solitary erection which stands in the open plain overlooking a wide +vista of marsh and swamp to the west, which represents the ruins +called Birs Nimrud, the Ziggurat or temple which, in successive tiers +devoted to the powers of heaven, supported the shrine of Mercury. It +is by far the most conspicuous object in the Babylonian landscape; +huge, dilapidated, and unshapely, it mounts guard over a silent, +stagnant, swampy plain. + +Now the remarkable feature in all these gigantic remains of antiquity +is that they are built of brick. In the wide expanse of Mesopotamia +plain around there is not a stone quarry to be found. Of Nineveh, we +learn from the masterly records of Xenophon that as he was leading the +surviving 10,000 Greeks in their retreat from the disastrous field of +Babylon back to the sunny Hellespont, some 200 years after the +destruction of Nineveh, he came upon a vast desert city on the Tigris. +The wall of it was 25 feet wide, 100 feet high, with a 20-foot +basement of stone. This was all that was left of Kalah, one of the +Assyrian capitals. A day's march farther north he came on another +deserted city with similar walls. These were the dry bones of Nineveh, +already forgotten and forsaken. Two centuries had in these early ages +been sufficient to blot out the memory of Assyrian greatness so +completely that Xenophon knew not of it, nor recognized the place +where his foot was treading. Barely seventy years ago was the memory +of them restored to man, and tokens of the richness and magnificence +of the art which embellished them first given to the world. The mounds +representing Nineveh and Babylon are some of them of enormous size. +The mound of Mugheir (the ancient Ur) is the ancient platform of an +Assyrian palace, which is faced with a wall 10 feet thick of red +kiln-dried bricks cemented with bitumen. Some of these platforms were +raised from 50 to 60 feet above the plain and protected by massive +stone masonry carried to a height exceeding that of the platform. But +the Babylonian mound of Birs Nimrud, which rises from the plain level +to the blue glazed masonry of the upper tier of the Ziggurat, is +altogether a brick construction. The debris of the many-coloured +bricks now forms a smooth slope for many feet from its base; but +above, where the square blocks of brickwork still hold together in +scattered disarray, you may still dig out a foot-square brick with the +title and designations of Nebuchadnezzar imprinted on its face. These +artificial mounds could only have been built at an enormous cost of +labour. The great mound of Koyunjik (the palace of Nineveh) covers an +area of 100 acres and reaches up 95 feet at its highest point. It has +been calculated that to heap up such a pile would "require the united +efforts of 10,000 men for twelve years, or 20,000 men for six years" +(Rawlinson, _Five Monarchies_), and then only the base of the palace +is reached; and there are many such mounds, for "it seems to have been +a point of honour with the Assyrian Kings that each should build a new +palace for himself" (Ragozin, _Chaldaea_). + +Only conquering monarchs with whole nations as prisoners could have +compassed such results. This, indeed, was one of the great objectives +of war in these early times. It was the amassing of a great population +for manual labour and the creation of new centres of civilization and +trade. Thus it was that the peoples of Western Asia--Egyptians, +Israelites, Jews, Ph[oe]nicians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and even +Greeks--were transported over vast distances by land, and a movement +given to the human race in that part of the world which has infinitely +complicated the science of ethnology. The peopling of Canada by the +French, of North America by the English, of Brazil by the Portuguese, +of Argentina and Chile by Spaniards and Italians, is perhaps a more +comprehensive process in the distribution of humanity and more +permanent in its character. But ancient compulsory movement, if not as +extensive as modern voluntary emigration, was at least wholesale, and +it led to the distribution of people in districts which would not +naturally have invited them. The first process in the consolidation of +a district, or satrapy, was the settlement of inhabitants, sometimes +in supercession of a displaced or annihilated people, sometimes as an +ethnic variety to the possessors of the soil. Tiglath Pileser was the +first Assyrian monarch to consolidate the Empire by its division into +satrapies. Henceforward the outlying provinces of the dominions were +convenient dumping places for such bodies of captives as were not +required for public works at home. + +Nothing would be more natural than that Sargon should deport a portion +of the Israelitish nation to colonize his eastern possessions towards +India, just as Darius Hystaspes later employed the same process to +the same ends when he deported Greeks from the Lybian Barke to +Baktria. There is nothing more astonishing in the fact that we should +find a powerful people claiming descent from Israel in Northern +Afghanistan than that we should find another people claiming a Greek +origin in the Hindu Kush. + +Nor was the importance of peopling waste lands and raising up new +nations out of well-planted colonies overlooked ten centuries before +Christ any more than it is now. Then it was a matter of transporting +them overland and on foot to the farthest eastern limits of these +great Asiatic empires. Always east or south they tramped, for nothing +was known of the geography of the North and West. Eastwards lay the +land of the sun, whence came the Indians who fought in the armies of +Darius, and where gold and ivory, apes and peacocks were found to fill +Ph[oe]nician ships. To-day it is different. The peopling of the world +with whites is chiefly a Western process. Emigrants go out in ships, +not as captives, but almost equally in compact bodies--the best of our +working men to Canada, and many of the best of our much-wanted +domestic servants to South Africa. It is a perpetual process in the +world's economy, and perhaps the chief factor in the world's history; +but in the old, old centuries before the Christian era it was +necessarily a land process, and the geographical distribution of the +land features determined the direction of the human tide. Some twenty +years before the fall of Samaria and the deportation of the ten tribes +of Israel, Tiglath Pileser had effected conquests in Asia which +carried him so far east that he probably touched the Indus. Why he +went no farther, or why Alexander subsequently left the greater part +of the Indian peninsula unexplored, is fully explicable on natural +grounds, even if other explanations were wanting. + +The Indus valley would offer to the military explorers from the West +the first taste of the quality of the climate of the India of the +plains which they would encounter. The Indus valley in the hot weather +would possess little climatic attraction for the Western highlander. +Alexander's troops mutinied when they got far beyond the Indus. Any +other troops would mutiny under such conditions as governed their +outfit and their march. It is more than possible that the great +Assyrian conqueror before him encountered much the same difficulty. It +is clear, however, historically, that the Assyrian knew and trod the +way to Northern Afghanistan (or Baktria), and if we examine the map of +Asia with any care we shall see that there is no formidable barrier to +the passing of large bodies of people from Nineveh to Herat (Aria), or +from Herat to the Indus valley, until we reach the very gates of India +on the north-west frontier. Four centuries later than Tiglath Pileser +the battle of Arbela was fought to a finish between Alexander and +Darius (who possessed both Greek and Indian troops in his army) on a +field which is not so very far to the east of Nineveh, and which is +probably represented more or less accurately by the modern Persian +town of Erbil. The modern town may not be on the exact site of the +action, and we know that the ancient town was some sixty miles away +from the battlefield. However that may be, we learn that in the +general retreat of the Persians which followed the battle, Darius made +his way to Ecbatana, the ancient capital of the Medes. There he +remained for about a year, but hearing of Alexander's advance from +Persepolis in the spring of 330 B.C. he fled to the north-east, with a +view to taking refuge with his kinsman Bessos, who was then satrap of +Baktria. This gives us the clue to the general line of communication +between Northern Mesopotamia and Baktria (or Afghanistan) in ancient +days; and the twenty-five centuries which have rolled by since that +early period have done little to modify that line. + +Until the beginning of the nineteenth century A.D. from the earliest +times with which we can come into contact through any human record, +this high-road (not the only one, but the chief one) must have been +trodden by the feet of thousands of weary pilgrims, captives, +emigrants, merchants, or fighting men--an intermittent tide of +humanity exceeding in volume any host known to modern days--bringing +East into touch with the West to an extent which we can hardly +appreciate. It may be said that the straightest road to Baktria did +not lie through Ecbatana. It did not; but independently of the fact +that Ecbatana was a city of great defensive capacity, and of reasons +both political and military which would have impelled Darius to take +that route, we shall find if we examine the latest Survey of India map +of Western Persia that the geographical distribution of hill and +valley make it the easiest, if not the shortest, route. The +configuration of Western Persia, like that of Makran and Southern +Baluchistan extending to our own north-west frontier, mainly consists +of long lines of narrow ridges curving in lines parallel to the coast, +rocky and mostly impassable to travellers crossing their difficult +ridge and furrow formation transversely, but presenting curiously easy +and open roads along the narrow lateral valleys. Ecbatana once stood +where the modern Hamadan now stands. The road from Arbil (or Erbil) +that carries most traffic follows this trough formation to Kermanshah +and then bends north-eastward to Hamadan. From Hamadan to Rhagai and +the Caspian gates, which was the route followed by Darius in his +flight from Ecbatana, the road was clearly coincident with the present +telegraph line to Tehran from Hamadan, which strikes into the great +post route eastward to Mashad and Herat, one of the straightest and +most uniformly level roads in all Asia. It must always have been so. +Remarkable physical changes have occurred in Asia during these +twenty-five centuries, but nothing to alter the relative disposition +of mountain and plain in this part of Persia, or to change the general +character of its ancient highway. All this part of Persia was under +the dominion of the Assyrian king when the tribes of Israel left Syria +for Armenia. He had but recently traversed the road to India, and he +knew the richness of Baktria (of Afghan Turkistan and Badakshan) and +could estimate what a colony might become in these eastern fields. + +What more natural than that he should draft some of his captives +eastward to the land of promise? There is not an important tribe of +people in all that hinterland of India that has not been drafted in +from somewhere. There is not a people left in India, for that matter, +that can safely call themselves indigenous. From Persia and Media, +from Aria and Skythia, from Greece and Arabia, from Syria and +Mesopotamia they have come, and their coming can generally be traced +historically, and their traditions of origin proved to be true. But +there is one important people (of whom there is much more to be said) +who call themselves Ben-i-Israel, who claim a descent from Kish, who +have adopted a strange mixture of Mosaic law and Hindu ordinance in +their moral code, who (some sections at least) keep a feast which +strangely accords with the Passover, who hate the Yahudi (Jew) with a +traditional hatred, and for whom no one has yet been able to suggest +any other origin than the one they claim, and claim with determined +force; and these people rule Afghanistan. It may be that they have +justification for their traditions, even as others have; they may yet +be proved to stand in the same relationship to the scattered remnants +of Israel as some of the Kafir inhabitants of Northern Afghanistan can +be shown to hold to the Greeks of pre-Alexandrian days. It is +difficult to account for the name Afghan: it has been said that it is +but the Armenian word Aghvan (Mountaineer). If this is so, it at once +indicates a connection between the modern Afghan and the Syrian +captives of Armenia. + +But whilst "men in nations" were thus traversing the highlands of +Persia from Mesopotamia to Northern Afghanistan by highways so ancient +that they may be regarded almost as geographical fixtures as +everlasting as the hills, we do not find much evidence of traffic with +the Central Asian States north of the Oxus. + +Early military excursions into the land of the Skyths were more for +the purpose of dealing with the predatory habits of these warlike +tribes, who afterwards peopled half of Europe as well as India, than +of promoting either trade or geographical inquiry; and it was the +route which led to Northern Afghanistan and Baktria through Northern +Persia which was most attractive from its general accessibility and +promise of profit. It was this way that Northern Kashmir and the +gold-fields of Tibet were touched. The Indian gold which formed so +large a part of the Persian revenues in the time of Darius undoubtedly +came from Northern India and Tibet. Old as are the workings of the +Wynaad gold-fields in the west, and Kolar in the east, of the +peninsula, it is unlikely that either of these sources was known to +Persia. + +The more direct routes to India from Ecbatana, passing through Central +Persia _via_ Kashan, Yezd, and Kirman, terminated on the Helmund or in +Makran, and there is no evidence that the mountain system which faces +the Indus was ever crossed by invading Persian hosts. There was, +indeed, a tradition in Alexander's time that an attempt had been made +to traverse Makran and that it had failed. This, says Arrian, was one +of the reasons why Alexander obstinately chose that route on his +retirement from India. In spite, however, of the geographical +difficulties which render it improbable that the hosts of Tiglath +Pileser (who could have dealt with the Skythians of the north readily +enough) ever broke across the north-western gateways of India's +mountain borderland, there was undoubtedly a close connection between +Assyria and India of which the evidence is still with us. + +Throughout the golden age of the Second Empire of Assyria, after the +subjugation of Babylon and the consolidation of the Empire by Tiglath +Pileser, during the reigns of Sargon and Senacherib (who fought the +first Assyrian naval fight), Esar Haddon (who destroyed Sidon and +removed the inhabitants) and Assur-bani-pal (Sardanapalus), to the +final overthrow of Assyria by Babylon in 625 B.C., when the star of +Nebuchadnezzar arose on the southern horizon, Assyria held the supreme +command of Eastern commerce, and Nineveh dictated the cannons of art +to the world. No event more profoundly affected the commerce of Asia +than the destruction of Sidon and the bodily transfer of its +commercial inhabitants to Assyria. This was the age of Assyrian art, +of literature, and of architecture; Assyrian culture realized its +culminating point in the reign of Assur-bani-pal, when the library at +Nineveh far surpassed any library that the world had ever seen. It was +then that intercourse between Assyria and India became unbroken and +intimate. Then public works of the largest dimensions were undertaken, +and colonies formed for the purpose of developing the riches of the +newly acquired lands in the East. Assyrian art found its way to India, +and the affinity between Assyrian and Indian art is directly traceable +still in spite of the impress subsequently effected by Greece and +Rome. + +The carpets that are spread on the floors of every Anglo-Indian home +and which, as Turkish, Persian, Central Asian, or Indian, are to be +found in every carpet shop in London, usually possess in the +intricacies of their pattern some trace of ancient Assyrian art. As +Sir George Birdwood has long ago pointed out, general similarities +between Assyrian and Indian design in carpet patterns may possibly be +due to a common Turanian origin, pre-Semitic and pre-Aryan; but there +are details of architectural plan in the Southern Indian temples +which, quite as much as the reproduction of the ancient Assyrian "knop +and flower" in its infinite variety of form (all expressing more or +less conventionally the cone and the lotus of the original idea), +testify to an infinitely old art affinity, and at the same time +witness to the wonderful vitality of intelligent design. + +The tree of life so largely interwoven into Eastern fabrics was the +"Asherah" or "grove" sacred to Asshur the supreme god of the +Assyrians, the Lord and Giver of life; and it appears to have been the +development of the "Hom" or lotus, which, although it is a Kashmir +valley plant, is always admirably rendered in Assyrian sculpture. +Eventually the date palm took the place of the Hom in the Euphrates +valley, just as the vine replaced it in Asia Minor and Greece. In +Central Asian rugs we find the cone replaced by the pomegranate, and +the tree of life becomes a pomegranate tree. There is too much +intricacy in such similarity of ornamental detail between Assyrian and +Indian art for the result to have been merely developments from a +common pre-historic stock along separate lines. They are clearly +imitations one of the other, and the similarity is but another link in +the chain of evidence which proves that the highways of Asia +connecting Assyria with India through Persia were well-trodden ways +seven centuries at least before Christ, even if the sea route from the +Red Sea and Euphrates had not then reached the Indus and western coast +of India. + +Whilst all historical evidence points to the Tehran-Mashad route as +the great highway which linked Mesopotamia with Baktria in past ages, +there are certain curious little indications that the southern road +through Persia, viz. Yezd and Kirman, was also well known, for it is a +remarkable fact (which may be taken for what it is worth) that it is +in the villages and bazaars of Sind that the potters may be found +whose conservative souls delight in the reproduction of a class of +ornamental decoration which most clearly indicates an Assyrian origin. +The direct route to Sind from Mesopotamia is not by way of Herat. It +is (as will be subsequently explained) _via_ Kirman and Makran, but +there is absolutely no historical evidence to support the suggestion +that this was a route utilized by the Assyrians; and there is, on the +other hand, Arrian's statement that roads through Makran were unknown +or but legendary. + +It is impossible, however, to ignore the fact that the sea route to +North-western India was utilized in very ancient times; and although +its connection with the northern landward gates of India may appear to +be rather obscure, that connection is a matter which actually concerns +us rather nearly in the present day. For it is by this ancient sea +route that Persia and Baluchistan, Seistan and Afghanistan derive +those supplies of small arms and ammunition which are abundant in +those countries, but which never pass through India. Muskat is the +chief depot for distribution, and the Persian ports of Bandar Abbas, +Jask, or Pasni on the Makran coast are utilized as ports for the +interior, leading by routes which are quite sufficiently good for +caravan traffic towards the point where Afghan territory meets that of +Persia and Baluchistan just south of Seistan. Once in Seistan they are +well behind the passes which split our nearer line of defence in the +trans-Indus hills. Even our command of the sea fails to suppress this +traffic, which has led to such a general distribution of arms of +precision (chiefly of German manufacture), that these countries may +fairly claim to be able to arm their whole population. No recent +researches in the Persian Gulf or on the Persian coast have added much +to the sum of our knowledge respecting the early navigation of these +Eastern seas, but there can be no question as to its immense +antiquity. The Ph[oe]nician settler in Syria and Mesopotamia has been +traced back to his primeval home in the Bahrein Islands, which, if +Herodotus is correct in his estimated date for the founding of Tyre +(2756 years B.C.), takes us back to very early times indeed for the +coast navigation of the Persian Gulf and the Indian Seas. Hiram, King +of Tyre, could look back through long ages to the days when his +Ph[oe]nician forefathers started their well-packed vessels (the +Ph[oe]nicians were famous for their skill in stowing cargo) to crawl +along the coasts of Makran and Western India for the purpose of +acquiring those stores of spices and gold which first made commerce +profitable, or else to make their way westward, guided by the +headlands and shore outlines of Southern Arabia, to gather the riches +from African fields. Makran is full of strange relics of immense age +for which none can account. Since Egyptology has become a recognized +science, who will lay the foundations of such a science for Southern +Arabia and Makran? When will some one arise with the wisdom and the +leisure to write of the power of ancient Arabia, and to trace the +impressions left on the whole world of commerce, of art, of +architecture, and literature by the ancient races who hailed from the +South? + +We cannot tell when the first sea-borne trade passed to and fro +between India and the Erythrean Sea, a creeping, slow-moving trade +making the best shift possible of wind and tide, and knowing no guide +but the pole star of that period, and the rocky headlands and islands +of the Makran coast. Many of the ancient islands exist no more, but +the coast is a peculiarly well-marked one for the mariner still. +Probably the coast trade was earlier than the overland caravan +traffic; but the latter was certainly co-existent with the Assyrian +monarchy when Persia and Central Asia lay at the feet of the conqueror +Tiglath Pileser. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +GREEK EXPLORATION--ALEXANDER--MODERN BALKH--THE BALKH PLAIN AND +BAKTRIA + + +Twenty-two centuries have rolled away since the first military +expedition from Europe was organized and led into the wilds of an Asia +which was probably as civilized then as it is now. Two thousand two +hundred years, and yet along the wild stretches of the Indian +frontier, where a mound here and there testifies to the former +existence of some forgotten camp, or where in the slant rays of the +evening sun faint indications may be traced on the level Punjab flats +of the foundation of a city long since dead, the name of the great +Macedonian is uttered with reverence and awe as might be the name of a +god who can still influence the lives of men, yet qualified by an +affix which indicates a curious survival of the mythological +conception of gods as human beings. You may wander through some of the +valleys cleft through the western frontier hills, where an +intermittent rivulet of water spreads a network of streamlets on the +boulder-covered bed of the nullah, and where the stony hills rise in +barren slopes on either side, and find, perchance half hidden by +weather-worn debris and tufts of stringy verdure, the remains of what +was once an artificial water-channel, stone built and admirably +graded, and you may ask who was responsible for this construction. Not +a man can say. There is no history, no tradition even, connected with +it. It passes their understanding. Doubtless it was the work of +"Sekunder" (Alexander)--that prehistoric, mythological, +incomprehensible, and yet beneficent being who lives in the minds of +the frontier people as the apotheosis of the Deputy Commissioner. Yet +the impression left on India by the Greeks is marvellously small. It +is chiefly to be found in the architecture and the sculpture of the +Punjab. The Greek language disappeared from the Indus valley about the +end of the tenth century A.D., and there is hardly a Greek place-name +now to be recognized anywhere on the Indus banks. But any unusual +relic of the past, the story of which has passed beyond the memory of +the present tribes-people (even though it may be obviously of mediæval +Arabic origin), is invariably attributed to Alexander. It is, however, +chiefly in the sculpture and decorations of Buddhist buildings (which +never existed in Alexander's day) that clear evidence exists of Greek +art conception. The classical features and folded raiment of the +sculptured saints and buddhas, which are found so freely in certain +parts of the Punjab, are obviously derived from original Greek ideals +which may very possibly have been transmitted through Rome. + +With Alexander in India we have nothing to do in these pages. It is as +the first explorer in the regions beyond India, the Afghan and +Baluchistan hinterlands, that he at present concerns us; and it may +fairly be stated that no later expedition combining scientific +research with military conquest ever added more to the sum of the +world's knowledge of those regions than that led by Alexander. For +centuries after it no light arises on the geographical horizon of the +Indian border. Indeed, not until political exigencies caused by +Russia's steady advance towards India compelled a revision of +political boundaries in Persia, Baluchistan, Afghanistan, and India, +was any very accurate idea obtained of the geographical conditions of +Northern and Western Afghanistan, or of Baluchistan, or of Southern +Persia. The mapping of these countries has been recent, and the +progress of it, as year by year the network of Indian triangulation +and topography spread westward and northward, has reopened many +sources of light which, if not altogether new, have lain hidden ever +since the Macedonian conqueror passed over them. Long before the Greek +army mustered on the banks of the Hellespont we have seen that the +highways to the East were well trodden and well known. It was not +likely that Alexander's intelligence department was lacking in +information. For many centuries subsequent to that expedition the rise +of the Parthian power absolutely cut off these old-world trade +communications and set the restless tides of human emigration into new +channels. But in Alexander's time there was nothing in Persia to +interrupt the interchange of courtesies between East and West. + +The great Aryan tide had already flowed from the Central Asian +highlands into India, but Jutes and Skyths had yet to make that great +drift westward which peopled half of Europe with nomadic tribes +speaking kindred tongues--a drift which never rested in its westward +advance till, as Anglians and Saxons, it had enveloped England and +faced its final destiny in an American continent. Assyria had passed +by with arts and commerce rather than with arms, and Persia had +followed in Assyrian tracks. Both had established colonies half-way to +India in the Afghan highlands, Persia with the aid of captive Greeks, +and Assyria with people taken from the Syrian land. The list of +Assyrian and Persian satrapies included all those lands which we now +call the hinterland of India, and which in Alexander's time must have +been absolutely Persianized. But beyond the historical evidence which +can be collected to prove the early, the constant, traffic which +ensued between Mesopotamia, or Asia Minor, and India, after the +consolidation of those two great empires, there is the tradition which +certain Greek writers (notably Arrian) treat rather scornfully, of the +conquest of Upper India by the mythical hero Bacchus. It is never wise +to treat any tradition scornfully, and Arrian is himself obliged to +admit the difficulty of explaining certain records connected with +Alexander's history, without assuming that the tradition was not +groundless. + +Writing of the city of Nysa, Arrian says that "it was built by +Dionysos or Bacchus, when he conquered the Indians; but who this +Bacchus was, or at what time or from whence he conquered the Indians +is hard to determine, whether he was that Theban who from Thebes, or +he who from Timolus, a mountain of Lydia, undertook that famous +expedition into India is very uncertain." There is a Greek epic poem +in hexameter verse, called the "Dionysiaka," or "Bassarika," which +tells of the conquest of India by Bacchus, the greatest of all his +achievements. The author is Nonnus of Panopolis in Egypt, who wrote +about the beginning of the fifth century of our era. Bacchus is said +to have received a command from Zeus to turn back the Indians, who had +extended their conquests to the Mediterranean, and in the execution of +this command he marched through Syria and Assyria. In Assyria he was +entertained with magnificent hospitality. Nothing further is said of +the route he took to reach India. The first battle which took place +in India was on the banks of the Hydaspes, where the Indians were +routed. Then followed as an incident in the war the destruction of the +Indian fleet in a naval battle, which is instructive. It took the +assistance of the goddess of war, Pallas Athene, to bring the campaign +to a conclusion, which terminated with the death of the Indian leader +Deriades. Here, then, is crystallized in verse the tradition to which +Arrian refers, and remembering that we are indebted to two great epics +of India, the "Ramayana" and the "Mahabharata," for such glimmering of +the ancient history of the Aryan occupation of India as we possess, we +may very well conceive that the germs of real historical fact lie +half-concealed in this poem of Nonnus. However that may be, it is +tolerably certain that Alexander found a people in Northern India who +claimed a Greek origin when he arrived there, quite apart from the +colonists of Baktria who had been transported there by Darius +Hydaspes, and that he recognized their claim to distant relationship. + +When Alexander, then, mustered his army in the sunny fields of Macedon +he was preparing for an expedition over no uncertain ways between +Greece and Baktria or Arachosia (Northern and Western Afghanistan). He +knew what lay before him if he could once break through the Persian +barrier; and the strength of that barrier he must have been well aware +lay as much in the stern fighting qualities of the mercenary Greek +legions in the pay of Persia as in the hosts of Persian and Indian +troops which the Persian monarch could array against him. We have +lists of the component forces on both sides. The Macedonian legions +were homogeneous and patriotic. The Persian army was partly European, +but chiefly Asiatic, with a mixed company of Asiatic troops such as +has probably never taken the field since. The opposing forces, indeed, +partook of the nature of the two armies which fought out the issue of +the Russo-Japanese campaign, and the result was much the same. There +was no tie of national sentiment to bind together the unwieldy cohorts +of Persia. They fought for their pay, and they fought well; but when +big battalions are divided in religious sentiment and unswayed by +patriotism, they are no match for Macedonian cohesion, Mahomedan +Jehad, or Japanese Bushido. + +It is quite interesting to examine the details of Alexander's army. +The main body consisted of six brigades of 3000 men, each united to +form an irresistible phalanx. Heavily armoured, with a long shield, a +long sword, and a four-and-twenty foot spear (sarina), the infantryman +of the phalanx must have possessed a powerful physique to enable him +to carry himself and his weapons in the field. The depth of the +phalanx was sixteen ranks, and the first six ranks were so placed that +they could all bring their spears into action at once. The bulk of +the phalanx consisted of Macedonians only. The light infantry, bowmen, +and dartsmen numbered about 6000. A third corps of 6000 men more +lightly armed, but with longer swords than the phalangists (called +Hypaspists), were intermediate. The cavalry consisted of three +classes, light, heavy, and medium, 3000 Macedonian and Thessalian +horsemen, heavily armoured, forming its main strength. The light +cavalry were Thracian lancers. The Royal Horse Guard included eight +Macedonian squadrons of horsemen picked from the best families in +Greece. It is useful to note that there were mounted infantry and +artillery (_i.e._ balistai and katapeltai) with the force. More useful +still to note that none of Alexander's victories were won by the solid +strength of his phalanx; it was the sweeping and resistless force of +his cavalry charges (often led by himself) that gained them. + +Perhaps the most notable feature about this Greek expedition to India +was the fact that it was the first military expedition of which there +is any record which included scientific inquiry as one of its objects. +Alexander had on his personal staff men of literary if not of +scientific acquirements, and it is to them doubtless that we owe a +comparatively clear account of the expedition, although unfortunately +their records have only been transmitted to us by later authors. If we +could but recover originals what a host of doubtful points might be +cleared up! It is true that previous to the date of Alexander one man +of genius, Xenophon, had kept a record of a magnificent military +achievement, and had proved himself to be master of literature as he +was of the science of leading; but Xenophon stands alone, and it may +be doubted whether, during the many centuries which have passed away +since the era of Greek supremacy, any practical leader of men has ever +attained such a splendid position in the ranks of writers of military +history. Alexander appears, at any rate, to have been no historian, +but his staff of cultivated literary assistants and men of letters +included many notable Greek names. + +Alexander crossed the Hellespont in the spring of the year 334 B.C., +and first encountered the Persians near the Granikos River. The battle +was decisive although the losses on either side do not appear to have +been heavy. It was but the augury of what was to follow. The +subsequent advance of the Macedonian troops southward through the +lovely land of Iona, and the reduction of Miletus and Helikarnassos, +brought the first year's campaign to a close. The second year opened +with the conquest of Pamphyllia and Phrygia, the passage of the Tauros +ranges being made in winter. On the return of spring he recrossed the +Tauros and reduced the western hill-tribes of Kilikia. Part of his +force, meanwhile, had occupied the passes into Syria known as the +Syrian gates. Within two days march of the Syrian gates the Persian +hosts again were massed in an open plain under Darius, who had +advanced from the east, waiting to fall upon the Macedonian troops and +crush them as they debouched from the defile. Tired of waiting, +however, Darius moved forward into Kilikia by the Amanian passes to +look for Alexander, and thus it happened that when Alexander finally +emerged from the Syrian gates into the plains of Syria he found his +enemy behind him. He partially retraced his steps and regained the +pass by midnight, and there from one of the adjoining summits he +"beheld the Persian watch-fires gleaming far and wide over the plain +of Issos." The rapidity of Alexander's movements was only equalled by +the fierce energy of his onslaught when he led his cavalry against the +unwieldy formations of his Persian enemy. It was his own hand that +gained the victory both then and afterwards. + +There is no more stirring story in all history than this progress of +the Macedonian force. Step by step it has been traced out from +Granikos to Issos and from Issos to Arbela; but this is not the place +to recapitulate that part of the story which applies only to Western +Asia. It is not until after the final decisive battle at Arbela, when +Darius fled in hot haste along the south-eastern road to Ecbatana, the +former capital of Media, and thence in the spring of 330 B.C. +retreated with a disorganized force and an intriguing court towards +Baktria, where he hoped to find a refuge with his kinsman Bessos the +satrap of that province, that we really touch on the subject with +which we wish to deal in this book, viz. the high-roads to Afghanistan +in those long past days. Alexander, meanwhile, had received the +submission of Babylon and restored the temple of Belus, and made +himself master of a more spacious empire than the world had yet seen. +It was then that the amazing results of his military success began to +turn his head. From this point the severe simplicity of the Macedonian +soldier is exchanged for the luxury, arrogance, and intolerance of the +despot and conqueror. As Alexander advanced in material strength so +did he slide down the easy descent of moral retrogression, and whilst +we can still admire his magnificence as a military leader we find +little else left to admire about him. From Babylon to the lovely +valley wherein lies Susa, and from Susa to Persepolis, was more or +less of a triumphal march in spite of the fierce opposition of the +satrap Artobaizanes. Of Persepolis we are taught to believe that +Alexander left nothing behind him but blackened ruins--the result of a +drunken orgy. During the winter, amidst snow and ice, he subdued the +Mardians in their mountain fastnesses (for he never left an active foe +on the flank or rear), and with the return of the sweet Persian spring +he renewed his hunt after Darius, turning his face to the north and +east. + +There are two high-roads through Persia to the East--one leading to +Northern Afghanistan and the Oxus regions over Mashad, the other to +Kirman, Seistan, and Kandahar. Along both of them there now runs a +telegraph line connecting with the Russian system _via_ Mashad, and +the Indian system _via_ Kirman. They must always have been +high-roads--the great trade routes to Central Asia and India. Where +the orderly line of telegraph poles now stretches in unending +regularity to mark the dusty highway, there, through more ages than we +can count, the padded foot of the camel must have worn the road into +ridges and ruts as he plodded his weary way with loads of merchandise +and fodder. No geological evolution can have disturbed those tracks +since the Assyrian kings first drew riches from the East and started +colonies on the Baktrian highlands; they are now as they were 1000 +years before Christ, and it is only natural that in the ordinary +course of the same unresting spirit of enterprise the telegraph posts +will sooner or later cast long shadows over a passing railway. The +desert regions of Persia separate these two roads: the wide flat +spaces of sand or "Kavir"; an unending procession of sand-hills on the +glittering fields of salt-bound swamp. The desert is crossable--it has +been fairly well exploited--but nothing so far has been found in it to +justify the expectation of great discoveries of dead and buried +cities, or traces of a former civilization such as once occupied the +deserts of Chinese Turkistan. + +We may well believe that the central deserts of Persia were the same +in Alexander's time as they are in ours. Consequently any large +company of people would have been more or less forced into one or +other of the well-known routes which the geographical configuration of +the country presented to them. In his pursuit of Darius Alexander +followed the northern route to Baktria which strikes a little north of +east from Ecbatana (Hamadan), and in these days leads direct to Tehran +the modern capital of Persia. The tragical fate of Darius, and +Alexander's crocodile grief thereat, belongs to another story. It is +only when he touches the regions beyond Mashad that he figures as one +of the earliest explorers of Afghanistan, and certainly the earliest +of whom we have any certain record. Unfortunately these records say +very little of the nature of those cities and centres of human life +which he found on the Afghan border; nor is there any definite +allusion to be found in the writings of Alexander's historians to the +colonial occupation of Afghanistan which must have preceded the +Persian conquests. We have seen that Assyrian influence was strongly +and continuously felt in India for many centuries after the +consolidation of the Second Assyrian Empire, and the probability that +between the Tigris and the Oxus there must have been intercommunication +from the earliest days of the rise of Assyrian power. + +There is one ragged and time-worn city in Afghan Turkistan which +certainly belongs to the centuries preceding the era of Alexander--it +was the capital of Baktria, the city of Bessos, and it has been a +great centre of commerce, a city of pilgrimage, Buddhist and +Mahomedan, for many a century since. This is Balkh, traditionally +known as the "Mother of cities," whose foundation is variously +ascribed to Nimrud, or to "Karomurs the Persian Romulus," Assyrian or +Persian as the fancy strikes the narrator. Of its extreme antiquity +there can be no doubt. It is certain that at a very early date it was +the rival of Ecbatana, of Nineveh, and of Babylon. Bricks with +inscriptions are said to have been found there some seventy years ago, +and similar bricks should certainly be there still. Officers of the +Russo-Afghan Boundary Commission passed through modern Balkh in 1884, +but no such bricks were found during the very cursory and entirely +superficial examination which was all that could be made of the place; +square bricks, without inscription, of the size and quality of those +which may any day be dug out of the Birs Nimrud at Babylon were +certainly found, and point to a similarity of construction in a part +of the ancient walls, which is surely not accidental. Modern Balkh +consists of about 500 houses of Afghan settlers, a colony of Jews, and +a small bazaar set in the midst of a waste of ruins and many acres of +debris. The walls of the city are 6½ or 7 miles in perimeter; in some +places they are supported by a rampart like the walls of Herat. These, +of course, are modern, as is the fort and citadel, or Bala Hissar, +which stands on a mound to the north-east. The green cupola of the +Masjid Sabz and the arched entrance to the ruined Madrasa testify to +modern Mahomedan occupation, as do the Top-i-Rustam and the +Takht-i-Rustam (two ancient topes) to the fervour of religious zeal +with which its Buddhist inhabitants invested it in the early centuries +of our era. Balkh awaits its Layard, and not only Balkh, for there are +mounds and ruins innumerable scattered through the breadth of the +Balkh plain. + +As one approaches Balkh by the Akcha road from the west, one looks +anxiously around for some outward signs of its extreme antiquity. They +are not altogether wanting, but time and the mellowing hand of Nature +have rounded off the edges of the mounds of debris which lie scattered +over miles of the surrounding country, brushing them over with the +fresh green of vegetation, and leaving no sign by which to judge of +the age of them. It is difficult in this part of Asia to get back +farther than the age of the great destroyer Chenghiz Khan. His time +has passed by long enough to leave but little evidence that the hand +of the destroyer was his hand; but probably nothing visible on the +surface dates back further than the six centuries which have come and +gone since his Mongol hordes were set loose. Beyond these surface +ruins and below them there must be cities arranged, as it were, in +underground flats, one piled on another, strata below strata, till we +reach the debris of the pre-Semitic days of Western and Central Asia, +when the Turanian races who supplied Arcadian civilization to +Mesopotamia peopled the land. Just as we cannot tell exactly when +Babylon first became a city, so are we confounded by the age of Balkh. +Babylon belongs to the time when myths were grouped around the +adventures of a solar hero. Ultimately, however, the Ca-dimissa of the +Accad became the Bab-ili (the "gate of God") of the Semite. It was +always the "gate of God," but whether the presiding deity was always +the Accadian Merodach seems doubtful. Fourteen or fifteen centuries +before Christ there was probably a Balkh as there was a Babylon; and +from time immemorial and a date unreckoned Balkh and Babylon must have +been the two great commercial centres of Asia. What a history to dig +out when its time shall come! + +As the Akcha road leads into the city it passes the outer wall, which +is about 30 feet high, by a gateway which is frankly nothing more than +a gap in the partially destroyed wall. It then skirts along, past a +ziarat gay with red flags, to a gateway in the second wall under the +citadel leading to an avenue of poplars ending with a garden. Here is +a pretentious and fairly comfortable caravanserai, facing a court +which is shaded by magnificent plane trees. At first sight Balkh +appears to consist of nothing but ruins, but ascending the mound, +which is surrounded by the dilapidated fort walls, one can see from +this vantage of about 70 feet how many new buildings are grouped round +the remnants of the old Mahomedan mosque, of which the dome and one +great gateway are all that is left. + +The plain of the ancient Baktria, of which Balkh represents the +capital, lies south of the Oxus River, extending east and west for +some 200 miles parallel to the river after its debouchment from the +mountains of Badakshan. It is flat, with a scattering of prominences +and mounds at intervals denoting the site of some village or fortress +of sufficient antiquity to account for its gradual rise on the +accumulations of its own debris, probably assisted in the first +instance by some topographical feature. Looking south it appears to be +flanked by a flat blue wall of hills, presenting no opportunity for +escalade or passage through them, a blue level line of counterscarp, +which is locally known as the Elburz. This great flanking wall is in +reality very nearly what it appears to be--an unassailable rampart; +but there are narrow ways intersecting it not easily discernible, and +through these ways the rivers of the highlands make a rough passage to +the plains. Wherever they tumble through the mountain gateways and +make placid tracks in the flats below, they are utilized for +irrigation purposes, and so there exists a narrow fringe of +cultivation under the hills, which extends here and there along the +banks of the rivers out into the open Balkh plain. But these rivers +never reach the Oxus. This is not merely because the waters of them +are absorbed in irrigation, but because there is a well-ascertained +tectonic action at work which is slowly raising the level of the +plain. Thus it happens that whilst big affluents from the north bring +rushing streams of much silt-stained water to the great river, no such +affluents exist on the south. The waters of the Elburz streams are all +lost in the Oxus plain ere they reach the river. Nevertheless there +are abundant evidences of the former existence of a vast irrigation +system drawn from the Oxus. The same lines of level mounds which break +the horizon of the plains of Babylon are to be seen here, and they +denote the same thing. They are the containing walls of canals which +carried the Oxus waters through hundreds of square miles of flat +plain, where they never can be carried again because of the alteration +in the respective levels of plain and river. Ten centuries before +Christ, at least, were the plains of Babylon thus irrigated, and just +as the arts of Greece and India rose on the ashes of the arts of +Nineveh, so doubtless was the science of irrigation carried into the +colonial field of Baktria from Assyria, and thus was the city of +"Nimrud" surrounded with a wealth of cultivation which rendered it +famous through Asia for more centuries than we can tell. Whether or no +the science of irrigation drifted eastwards from the west it seems +more than probable that the ruined and decayed water-ways which +intersect the Balkh plain were primarily due to the introduction of +Syrian labour, and account for the presence in that historic region of +a people amongst others who claim descent from captive Israelites. +There are no practical irrigation engineers in the world (excepting +perhaps the Chinese) who can rival the Afghans in their knowledge of +how to make water flow where water never flowed before. It is of +course impossible, on such evidence as we possess as yet, to claim +more than the appearance of a probability based on such an undeniable +possibility as this. + +After the death of Darius his kinsman Bessos escaped into his own +satrapy (probably to Balkh), and there assumed the upright tiara, the +emblem of Persian royalty, taking at the same time the name of +Artaxerxes. + +True to his invariable principle of leaving no unbeaten enemy on the +flank of his advance, Alexander proceeded to subjugate Hyrkania, from +which country he was separated by the Elburz (Persian) mountains. He +crossed those mountains in three divisions by separate passes, and +effected his purpose with his usual thoroughness and without much +difficulty. Having crushed the Mardians he shaped a straight course +eastward to Herat on his way to Baktria, marching by the great highway +which connects Tehran with Mashad. The country around Mashad (part of +Khorasan) was a satrapy of Persia under Satibarzanes, who submitted +without apparent opposition and was confirmed in his government. The +capital of this province was Artakoana, described as a city situated +in a plain of exceptional fertility where the main roads from north to +south and from west to east crossed each other. To no place does such +a description apply so closely as Herat, and it has consequently been +assumed that Herat indicates more or less closely the site of the +ancient city Artakoana, which, indeed, is most probable. But Alexander +had not long passed that city in his march towards Baktria when the +news of the revolt of Satibarzanes reached him with the story of the +loss of the Macedonian escort which had been left with that satrap and +had been massacred to a man. He immediately turned on his tracks, +captured Artakoana, routed the satrap, and by way of leaving a +permanent monument of his victory founded a new city in the +neighbourhood which he called Alexandreia. This is probably the actual +origin of the modern Herat, and it is a tribute to the sagacity of the +Macedonian King that from that time to this it has abundantly proved +its importance as a strategical and commercial centre. + +The forward march to Baktria would have taken the Greek army via +Kushk, Maruchak, and Maimana along the route which is practically the +easiest and safest for a large body of troops. It is the route +followed by the Afghan Boundary Commission in 1885. Alexander, +however, instead of resuming his march on Baktria, elected to crush +another of the Persian satraps who was concerned in the murder of +Darius and who ruled a province to the south of Herat. Crossing the +Hari Rud he therefore marched straight on Farah (Prophthasia), then +the capital of Seistan (Drangiana). Farah is considerably to the north +of any part of the Afghan province of Seistan at present, but it was +undoubtedly Alexander's objective, and the Drangiana of those times +was considerably more extensive than the Seistan of to-day--a fact +which will go some way to account for the exaggerated reports of the +ancient wealth and fertility of that province. Farah is a great +agricultural centre still, and would add enormously to the restricted +cultivable area of Seistan, even if one allows for the effects of sand +encroachment in that unpleasant region. Then occurred the plot against +Alexander's life which was detected at Prophthasia, and the consequent +torture and death of Philotas, who probably had no part in it. It is +one of the many actions of Alexander's life which reveals the ferocity +of the barbarian beneath the genius of the soldier. It was but the +barbarity of his age--a barbarity for the matter of that which lasted +in England till the time of the Georges, and which still survives in +Afghanistan. After a halt in Seistan, probably whilst waiting for +reinforcements, he struck north-eastwards again for Baktria. As it is +generally assumed that the Macedonian force now followed the Helmund +valley route to the Paropamisos, _i.e._ the Hindu Kush and its +extension westwards, it is as well to consider what sort of a country +it is that forms the basin of Helmund. + +It is worth remarking in the first place that the Ariaspian +inhabitants of the Helmund valley had received from Cyrus the name of +Euergetai, or benefactors, because they had assisted him at a time +when he had been in great difficulties. This is enough to satisfy us +that the district was known and had been traversed by a military force +long before Alexander entered it, and that he was making no +venturesome advance in ignorance of what lay before him. The valley of +the Helmund (or Etymander) could not have differed greatly in its +geographical features 300 years before Christ from its present +characteristics. The Helmund of the Seistan basin then occupied a +different channel to its present outlets into the Seistan swamps. How +different it is difficult to tell, for it has frequently changed its +course within historic times, silting up its bed and striking out a +new channel for itself, splitting into a number of streams and +wandering uncontrolled in loops or curves over the face of the flat +alluvial plains to which it brought fertility and wealth. It has been +a perpetual source of political discussion as a boundary between +Afghanistan and Persia, and it has altered the face of the land so +extensively and so often that there is nothing in ancient history +referring to the vast extent of agricultural wealth and the immensity +of its population which can be proved to be impossible, although it +seems likely enough that false inferences have been drawn from the +widespread area of ruined and deserted towns and villages which are +still to be seen and may almost be counted. It is not only that the +water-supply and facilities for irrigation, by shifting their +geographical position, have carried with them the potentialities for +cultivation. Other forces of Nature which seem to be set loose on +Seistan with peculiar virulence and activity have also been at work. +The sweeping blasts of the north-west wind, which rage through this +part of Asia with a strength and persistence unknown in regions more +protected by topographical features, carrying with them vast volumes +of sand and surface detritus, piling up smooth slopes to the windward +side of every obstruction, smoothing off the rough angles of the gaunt +bones of departed buildings, and sometimes positively wearing them +away by the force of attrition, play an important part in the +kaleidoscopic changes of Seistan landscape. Villages that are +flourishing one year may be sand-buried the next. Channels that now +run free with crop-raising water may be choked in a month, and all +the while the great Helmund, curving northward in its course, pours +down its steady volume of silt from the highlands, carrying tons of +detritus into open plains where it is spread out, sun-baked, dried, +wind-blown, and swirled back again to the southward in everlasting +movement. Thus it is that the evidence of hundreds of square miles of +ruins is no direct evidence of an immense population at any one +period. Nor can we say of this great alluvial basin, which is by turns +a smiling oasis, a pestilential swamp, a huge spread of populous +villages, or a howling desert smitten with a wind which becomes a +curse and afflicted with many of the pests and plagues of ancient +Egypt, that at any one period of its history more than another it +deserved the appellation of the "granary of Asia." The Helmund of +Seistan, however, is quite a different Helmund from the same river +nearer its source. Its character changes from the point where it makes +its great bend northward towards its final exit into the lagoons and +swamps of the Hamún. At Chaharburjak, where the high-road to Seistan +from the south crosses the river into Afghan territory, the Helmund is +a wide rippling stream (when not in flood), distinguished, if +anything, for the clearness of its waters. From this point eastwards +it parts two deserts. To the north the great, flat, windswept +Dasht-i-Margo, about as desolate and arid a region as fancy could +depict. To the south the desert of Baluchistan, by no means so +absolutely devoid of interest, with its marshalled sand-dunes +answering to the processes of the winds, its isolated but picturesque +peaks like islands in a sand sea, a few green spots here and there +showing where water oozes out from the buried feet of the rocky hills, +decorated with bunches of flowering tamarisk and perchance a palm or +two--a modified desert, but still a desert. Between the two deserts is +the Helmund, running in a cliff-sided trough which is never more than +a mile or two wide, intensely green and bright in the grass and crop +season, with flourishing villages at reasonable intervals and a +high-road connecting them from which can be counted that strange +multitude of departed cities of the old Kaiani Kingdom, which are +marked by a ragged crop of ruins still upstanding in a weird sort of +procession. Sometimes the high-road sweeps right into the midst of a +roofless palace, through the very walls of the ancient building, and +outside may be found spaces brushed clean by the wind leaving masses +of pottery, glass, and other common debris exposed. + +One constant surprise to modern explorers is the extraordinary +quantity of domestic crockery the remains of which surround old +eastern cities; and almost yet more of a surprise it is how far and +how widespread are certain easily recognized specialities, such, for +instance, as the so-called "celadon." Chips and fragments of celadon +are to be found from Babylon to Seistan, from Seistan to India, in +Afghanistan, Kashmir, Burma, Siam. In Siam are all that remains of +what were probably the original furnaces. Every shower of rain that +falls in this extended cemetery of crumbling monuments reveals small +treasures in the way of rings, coins, seals, etc. Much of the +cultivation and of the extent of population indicated by the ruins in +this narrow valley must have existed in the times of Alexander of +Macedon and the Ariaspians, and we find no difficulty in accepting the +Helmund (or Etymander) as the line of route which he followed for a +certain distance. Indeed, there is much more than a passing +probability that he followed the line which gave him water and +supplies as far as the junction of the Argandab and Helmund, for the +problem of crossing the desert from the Helmund valley to Nushki and +the cultivated districts of Kalat is a serious one--one, indeed, which +gave the Russo-Afghan Boundary Commissioners much anxious thought. But +beyond the Argandab junction it is extremely improbable that Alexander +followed the Helmund. The Helmund and its surroundings have been +carefully surveyed from this point through the turbulent districts of +Zamindawar for 100 miles or more, and again from its source near Kabul +for some fifty miles of its downward flow. The Zamindawar section of +the river affords an open road, although the river, as we follow it +upward, gradually becomes enclosed in comparatively narrow (yet still +fertile) valleys, and rapidly assumes the character of a mountain +stream. North of Zamindawar and south of its exit from the Koh-i-Baba +mountain system to the west of Kabul, no modern explorer has ever seen +the Helmund. It there passes through the Hazara highlands, and +although we have not penetrated that rugged plateau we know very well +its character by repute, and we have seen similar country to the west +where dwell cognate tribes--the Taimani and the Firozkohi. This upland +basin of the Helmund to the west of Kabul and Ghazni, this cradle of a +hundred affluents pouring down ice-cold water to the river, is but a +huge extension southwards of the Hindu Kush, and from it emerge many +of the great rivers of Afghanistan. To the north the rivers of Balkh +and Khulm take a hurried start for the Oxus plains. Westward the Hari +Rud streams off to Herat. South-westward extends the long curving line +of the Helmund, and eastward flow the young branches of the Kabul. A +rugged mountain mass called the Koh-i-Baba, the lineal continuation of +the Hindu Kush, dominates the rolling plateau from the north and +continues westward in an almost unbroken wall to the Band-i-Baian +looking down into the narrow Hari Rud valley. It is a part of the +continental divide of Asia, high, rugged, desolate, and almost +pathless. + +No matter from which side the toiler of the mountains approaches this +elevated and desolate region, whether emerging from the Herat +drainage he essays to reach Kabul, or from the small affluents of the +Helmund he strikes for the one gap which exists between the Hindu Kush +and the Koh-i-Baba which will lead him to Balkh and Afghan Turkistan, +he will have enormous difficulties to encounter. It can be done, +truly, but only with the pains and penalties of high mountaineering +attached. Taken as a whole, the highest uplands above the sources of +the minor rivers which water the bright and fertile valleys of Ghur, +Zamindawar, and Farah may be described much as one would describe +Tibet--a rolling, heaving, desolate tableland, wrinkled and +intersected by narrow mountain ranges, whose peaks run to 13,000 and +14,000 feet in altitude, enclosing between them restricted spaces of +pasture land. The Mongol population, who claim to have been introduced +as military settlers by Chenghiz Khan, live a life of hard privation. +They leave their barren wastes which the wind wipes clear of any tree +growth, for the lower valleys in the winter months, merely resorting +to them in the time of summer pasturage. The winter is long and +severe. It is not the altitude alone which is accountable for its +severity; it is the geographical position of this Central Afghan +upheaval which exposes it to the full blast of the ice-borne northern +winds which, sweeping across Turkistan with destructive energy, reduce +the atmosphere of Seistan to a sand-laden fog, and penetrate even to +the valley of the Indus where for days together they wrap the whole +landscape in a dusty haze. For many months the Hazara highlands are +buried under successive sheets of snowdrift. In summer, like the +Pamirs, they emerge from their winter's sleep and become a succession +of grass-covered downs. There are then open ways across them, and +travellers may pass by many recognizable tracks. But in winter they +are impassable to man and beast. Yet we are asked to believe that +Alexander, who had the best of guides in his pay, and who knew the +highways and byways of Asia as well, if not better, than they are +known now to any military authorities, took his army _in winter_ up +the Helmund valley till it struck its sources somewhere under the +Koh-i-Baba! + +There was no madness in Alexander's methods. His withdrawal from India +through the defiles and deserts of Makran was most venturesome and +most disastrous, but he had a distinct object to gain by the attempt +to pass into Persia that way. Here there was no object. The Helmund +route does not, and did not, lead directly to his objective, Baktria, +and there was another high-road always open, which must have been as +well known then as, indeed, it is well known to-day. There can be very +little doubt that he followed the Argandab to the neighbourhood of the +modern Kandahar (in Arachosia), and from Kandahar to Kabul he took the +same historic straight high-road which was followed by a later +General (Lord Roberts) when he marched from Kabul to Kandahar. This +would give him quite difficulties enough in winter to account for +Arrian's story of cold and privations. It would lead him direct to the +plains of the Kohistan north of Kabul, where there must have ever been +the opportunity of collecting supplies for his force, and where, +separated from him by the ridges of the Hindu Kush, were planted those +Greek colonies of Darius Hystaspes whose assistance might prove +invaluable to his onward movement. It was here, at any rate, not far +from the picturesque village of Charikar, that he founded that city of +Alexandreia, the remains of which appear to have been recently +disturbed by the Amir, and to which we shall make further reference. +Military text-books still speak of the Unai, or Bamian, as a pass +which was traversed by the Greeks. It is most improbable that they +ever crossed the Hindu Kush that way, and the question obviously +arises in connection with this theory of his march--How was it +possible for Alexander to spend the rest of the winter near the +sources of the Helmund? It was not possible. His next step was to +cross the Hindu Kush. This he attempted with difficulty in the spring, +and reached a fertile country in fifteen days. He might have crossed +by the Kaoshan Pass (which local tradition assigns as the pass which +he really selected), or by the Panjshir, which is longer, but in some +respects easier. The Panjshir is the pass usually adopted for the +passage of large bodies of troops by the Afghans themselves, and there +is reported to be, in these days, a well-engineered Khafila road, +which is kept open by forced labour in snow-time, connecting Kabul +with Andarab by this route. The pass of the Panjshir is about 11,600 +feet high, whereas the Kaoshan, though straighter, is 14,300. +Considering the slow rate of movement (fifteen days) it is more +probable that he took the easier route _via_ Panjshir. In either case +he would reach the beautiful and fertile valley of Andarab, and from +that base he could move freely into Baktria. The country had been +ravaged and wasted by Bessos, but that did not delay Alexander. The +chief cities of Baktria surrendered without opposition, and he pushed +forward to the Oxus in his pursuit of Bessos. + +All this would be more interesting if we could trace the route more +closely which was followed to the Oxus. We know, however, that for +previous centuries Balkh had been the capital city, the great trade +emporium of all that region. There is therefore no difficulty in +accepting Balkh as the Greek Baktria. Between Balkh and the Oxus the +plains are strewn with ruins, some of them of vast extent, whilst +other evidences of former townships are to be found about Khulm and +Tashkurghan farther to the east, and on the direct route from Andarab +to the Oxus. Bessos had retreated to Sogdiana of which Marakanda was +capital, and the straight road to Marakanda (Samarkand) crosses the +Oxus at Kilif. The description of the river Oxus at that point tallies +fairly well with Arrian's account of it. It is deep and rapid, and the +hill fortress of Kilif on the right bank, and of Dev Kala and other +isolated rocky hills on the left, hedges in the river to a channel +which cannot have changed through long ages. Elsewhere the Oxus is +peculiarly liable to shift its channel, and has done so from time to +time, forming new islands, taking fresh curves, and actually changing +its destination from the Caspian to the Aral Sea; but at Kilif it must +have ever been deep and rapid, covering a breadth of about +three-quarters of a mile. Across the breadth nowadays is about as +peculiar a ferry as was ever devised. Long, shallow, flat-bottomed +boats, square as to bow and stern, are towed from side to side of the +river by swimming horses. This would not be a matter of so much +surprise if the horses employed for the purpose were powerful animals +from fourteen to fifteen hands in height, but the remarkable feature +about the Kilif stud is the diminutive and ragged crew of underfed +ponies which it produces. And yet two, or even one, of these +inefficient-looking little animals will tow across a barge of twenty +feet or so in length, crowded with weighty bales of Bokhara +merchandise, and filled as to interstices with its owners and their +servants. The ponies are attached to outriggers with a strap from a +surcingle or belly-band buckled to their backs, thus supporting their +weight in the water at the same time that it takes the haulage. With +their heads just above stream, snorting and blowing, they swim with +measured strokes and tow the boat (advancing diagonally in crab-like +fashion to meet the current) straight across the river. The inadequacy +of the means to the end is the first thing which strikes the beholder, +but he is, however, rapidly convinced of the extraordinary hauling +capacity of a swimming horse when properly trained. Alexander crossed +on rafts supported on skins stuffed with straw, and it took him five +days to cross his force in this primitive fashion. + +On the right bank of the river, Bessos was given up by traitors in his +camp and was sent south to "Zariaspa" to await his doom. Zariaspa is +identified with Balkh by some authorities, but the name is probably a +variant on Adraspa which almost certainly was Andarab. Andarab was the +fertile and promising district into which Alexander descended from the +slopes of the Hindu Kush, by whichever route (Kaoshan or Panjshir) he +crossed those mountains. Directly on the route between Andarab and +Balkh is a minor province called Baglan, and a little less than +half-way (after crossing a local pass of no great significance called +Kotal Murgh) is a village or township, nowadays called Zardaspan, +which is sufficiently like Zariaspa to suggest an identity which is at +least plausible though it may be deceptive. But it is the fact that +the town of Baraki which lies farther on the same route is on the +outskirts of Baglan; and in this connection a reference to the theory +put forward by Dr. Bellew in his _Ethnography of Afghanistan_ +(_Asiatic Quarterly_, October 1891) is at least interesting. He points +out that the captive Greeks who were transported in the sixth century +B.C. by Darius Hystaspes from the Lybian Barké to Baktrian territory +were still occupying a village called Barké in the time of Herodotus. +A century later again during the Macedonian campaign, Kyrenes, or +Kyreneans, existed in that region according to Arrian, and it is +difficult to account for them in that part of Asia unless they were +the descendants of those same exiles from Barké, a colony of Kyrene +whom Darius originally transported to Baktria. They were in possession +of the Kaoshan Pass too, and might have rendered very effective aid to +Alexander during his passage across the mountains. Another body of +Greek colonists are recorded to have been settled in this same part of +Baktria by Xerxes after his flight from Greece, namely, the +Brankhidai, whose original settlement appears to have been in Andarab. +As we shall see later, people from Greece or from Grecian colonies +undoubtedly drifted across Asia to Northern Afghanistan in even +earlier times than those of the Persian Empire. There can, indeed, be +very little doubt that Ariaspa, or Andarab, was an important position +for the Greeks to occupy from its strategic value as commanding the +most practicable of the Hindu Kush passes. + +When Bessos, therefore, was deported across the Oxus to Zariaspa it is +probable that he was sent to Andarab; and here too Alexander returned +to winter towards the close of the year 329 B.C. after his +extraordinary success in Sogdia (Bokhara). With his trans-Oxus +campaign we have nothing to do; it is another history, and deeply +interesting as it would be to follow it in detail we must return to +Afghanistan. Nothing in all his Eastern campaign is more remarkable +than the facility with which Alexander recruited his army from Greece +during its progress. Gaps in the ranks were constantly filled up, and +the fighting strength of his force maintained at a high level. His +army was reorganized during the winter, and with the returning spring +he again started expeditions across the Oxus, in the course of which +he captured Roxana, the most beautiful woman in Asia (after the wife +of Darius) and married her. The particular fortress which held this +charming lady was perched on the top of an isolated craggy hill, and +the story of its capture is as thrilling as that of Aornos +subsequently. But, like Aornos, it is difficult to locate it. It might +have been Dev Kala, or Kilif, or any of a dozen such rock-crowned +hills which border the Oxus River. It is about this period that we +read first of his encounters with the Skythic races of Central Asia, +who gave him great trouble at the time and who subsequently subverted +the Greek power in Baktria altogether. In the spring of 327 B.C. he +moved out to invade a mountain district to the "East of Baktria" +(probably modern Badakshan), and subdued the hill-tribes under +Khorienes whom he confirmed in the government of his own country. It +was summer ere he set out finally from Baktria on his Indian +expedition. He recrossed the Paropamisos in ten days and halted at +Alexandreia near Charikar. Then commences the first recorded +expedition of the Kabul River basin. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +GREEK EXPLORATION--ALEXANDER--THE KABUL VALLEY TO THE INDUS + + +Alexander passed the next winter at the city of his own founding, +Alexandreia, in the Koh Daman to the north of Kabul. And from thence +in two divisions he started for the Indus, sending the main body of +his troops by the most direct route, with Taxila (the capital of the +Upper Punjab) for its objective, and himself with lighter brigades +specially organized to subdue certain tribes on the northern flank of +the route who certainly would imperil the security of his line of +communication if left alone. This was his invariable custom, and it +was greatly owing to the completeness with which these flanking +expeditions were carried out that he was able to keep open his +connection with Greece. There have been discussions as to the route +which he followed. Hyphæstion, in command of the main body, +undoubtedly followed the main route which would take him most directly +to the plains of the Punjab, which route is sufficiently well +indicated in these days as the "Khaibar." We hear very little +about his march eastwards. + + [Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF ALEXANDER'S ROUTE] + +In the days preceding the use of fire-arms the march of a body of +troops through defiles such as the Khurd Kabul or the Jagdallak was +comparatively simple. So far from such defiles serving as traps +wherein to catch an enemy unawares and destroy him from the cliffs and +hills on either side, these same cliffs and hills served rather as a +protection. The mere rolling down of stones would not do much +mischief, even if they could be rolled down effectively, which is not +usually the case; and in hand-to-hand encounters the tribespeople were +no match for the armoured Greeks. Alexander's operations would +preserve his force from molestation on its northern flank, and the +rugged ridges and spread of desolate hill-slopes presented by the +Safed Koh and other ranges on the south has never afforded suitable +ground for the collection of fighting bodies of men in any great +strength. General Stewart marched his force from Kabul to Peshawur in +1880 with his southern flank similarly unprotected with the same +successful result, his movements being so timed as to give no +opportunity for a gathering of the Ghilzai clans. On the northern +flank of the Khaibar route, however, there had been large tribal +settlements from the very beginning of things, and it was most +important that these outliers should feel the weight of Alexander's +mailed fist if the road between Kabul and the Indus were ever to be +made secure. He accordingly directed his attention to a more northerly +route to India which would bring him into contact with the Aspasians, +Gauraians, and Assakenians. + +We need not follow the ethnologists who identify these people with +certain tribes now existing with analogous names. There may very +possibly be remnants of them still, but they are not to be identified. +They obviously occupied the open cultivable valleys and alluvial +spaces which are interspersed amongst the mountains of the Kabul River +basin, the Kohistan and Kafiristan of modern maps. The Gauraians +certainly were the people of the Panjkora valley, and there is no +difficulty in assigning to the Aspasians the first great fertile tract +of open valley which would be encountered on the way eastwards. This +is Laghman (or Lamghan) with its noble reach of the Kabul River +meeting a snow-fed affluent, the Alingar, from the Kafir hills. There +is, indeed, no geographical alternative. Similarly with even a cursory +knowledge of the actual geographical conformation of the country, it +is impossible to imagine that Alexander would choose any other route +from Alexandreia towards Laghman than that which carries him past +Kabul. The Koh Daman (the skirts of the hills) which intervene between +Alexandreia (or Bagram) and Kabul is one of the gardens of +Afghanistan. There one may wander in the sweet springtide amidst the +curves and folds of an undulating land, neither hill nor plain, with +the scent of the flowering willow in the air, and the rankness of a +spring growth of flower and grass bordering narrow runlets and +irrigation channels; an unwinking blue above and a varied carpet +beneath, whilst the song of the labourer rises from fields and +orchards. Westward are the craggy outlines of Paghman (a noble +offshoot of the Hindu Kush hiding the loveliness of the Ghorband +valley behind it), down whose scarred and wrinkled ribs slide +waterfalls and streams to gladden the plain. Piled up on steep and +broken banks from the very foot of the mountains are scattered +white-walled villages, and it is here that you may find later in the +year the best fruit in Afghanistan. + +In November a gentle haze rests in soft indecision upon the +dust-coloured landscape--heavier and bluer over the low-lying fields +from which all vegetation has been lifted, lighter and edged with +filmy skirts where it rises from the sun-warmed brow of the hills. It +is a different world from the world of spring--all utterly +sad-coloured and dust-laden; but it is then that the troops and +strings of fruit-laden donkeys take their leisurely way towards the +city, where are open shops facing the narrow shadowed streets with +golden bulwarks of fruit piled from floor to roof. A narrow band of +rugged hills shuts off this lovely plain on the east from the only +valley route which could possibly present itself to an inexperienced +eye as an outlet from the Charikar region to the Kabul River bed, ere +it is lost in the dark defiles leading to the Laghman valley. The +hills are red in the waning light, and when the snow first lays its +lacework shroud over them in network patches they are inexpressibly +beautiful. But they are also inexpressibly rough and impracticable, +and the valley beyond is but a walled-in boulder-strewn trough, which +no general in his senses would select for a military high-road. +Alexander certainly did not march that way; he went to where Kabul is, +and there, at the city of Nikaia, he made sacrifice to the goddess +Athena. If Nikaia was not the modern Kabul it must have been very near +it. Does not Nonnus tell us that it was a stone city near a lake? +There is but one lake in the Kabul valley, and it is that at Wazirabad +close to the city. It is usual to regard Nonnus as a most +untrustworthy authority, but here for once he seems to have wandered +into the straight and narrow path of truth. So far there can be no +reasonable doubt about the direction of this great Pioneer's +explorations in Afghanistan. Beyond this, once again, we prefer to +trust to the known geographical distribution of hill and valley, and +the opportunities presented by physical features of the country, +rather than to any doubtful resemblance between ancient and modern +place, or tribal, names, for determining the successive actions of the +expedition. After the summons to Taxiles, chief of Taxila (itself the +chief city of the Upper Punjab), and the satisfactory reply thereto, +there was nothing to disturb the even course of Alexander's onward +movements but the activity of the mountain tribespeople who flanked +the line of route. + +The valley of Laghman must always have been a populous valley. From +the north the snow-capped peaks of Kafiristan look down upon it, and +from among the forest-clad valleys at the foot of these peaks two +important river systems take their rise, the Alingar and the Alishang, +which, uniting, join the Kabul River in the flat plain, where villages +now crowd in and dispute each acre of productive soil. It is difficult +to reach the Laghman valley from the west. The defiles of the Kabul +River are here impassable, but they can be turned by mountain routes, +and Alexander's force, which included the Hyspaspists, who were +comparatively lightly armed, with the archers, the "companion" cavalry +and the lancers, was evidently picked for mountain warfare. The +heavier brigades were with Hyphæstion who struck out by the +straightest route for Peukelaotis, which has been identified with an +ancient site about 17 miles to the north-east of Peshawur on the +eastern bank of the Swat River, and was then the capital of the +ancient Gandhara. We are told that Alexander's route was rugged and +hilly, and lay along the course of the river called Khoes. Rugged and +hilly it certainly was, but the Khoes presents a difficulty. He could +not actually follow the course of the Kabul River (Kophen) from the +Kabul plain because of the defiles, but he could have followed that +river below Butkak to the western entrance of the Laghman valley where +it unites with the Alingar, or Kao, River. It is impossible to admit +that he reached the Kao River after crossing the Kohistan and +Kafiristan, and then descended that river to its junction with the +Kabul. No cavalry could have performed such a feat. Geographical +conditions compel us to assume that he followed the Kabul River, which +is sometimes called Kao above the junction of the Kao River. + +It is far more impossible to identify the actual sites of Alexander's +first military engagements than it is to say, for instance, at this +period of history, where Cæsar landed in Great Britain, as we have no +means of making exhaustive local inquiries; but subsequent history +clearly indicates that his next step after settling the Laghman tribes +was to push on to the valley of the Choaspes, or Kunar. It was in the +Kunar valley that he found and defeated the chief of the Aspasians. +The Kunar River is by far the most important of the northern +tributaries of the Kabul. It rises under the Pamirs and is otherwise +known as the Chitral River. The Kunar valley is amongst the most +lovely of the many lovely valleys of Afghanistan. Flanked by the +snowy-capped mountains of Kashmund on the west, and the long level +water parting which divides it from Bajaor and the Panjkora drainage +on the east, it appears, as one enters it from Jalalabad, to be hemmed +in and constricted. The gates of it are indeed somewhat narrow, but it +widens out northward, where the ridges of the lofty Kashmund tail off +into low altitudes of sweeping foothills a few miles above the +entrance, and here offer opportunity for an easy pass across the +divide from the west into the valley. This is a link in the oldest and +probably the best trodden route from Kabul to the Punjab, and it has +no part with the Khaibar. It links together these northern valleys of +Laghman, Kunar, and Lundai (_i.e._ the Panjkora and Swat united) by a +road north of the Kabul, finally passing southwards into the plains +chequered by the river network above Peshawur. + +The lower Kunar valley in the early autumn is passing beautiful. Down +the tawny plain and backed by purple hills the river winds its way, +reflecting the azure sky with pure turquoise colour--the opaque blue +of silted water--blinking and winking with tiny sun shafts, and +running emerald green at the edges. Sharp perpendicular columns of +black break the landscape in ordered groups. These are the cypresses +which still adorn in stately rows the archaic gardens of townlets +which once were townships. The clustering villages are thick in some +parts--so thick that they jostle each other continuously. There is +nothing of the drab Punjab about these villages. They are +white-walled and outwardly clean, and in at least one ancient garden +there is a fair imitation of a Kashmir pavilion set at the end of a +white eye-blinding pathway, leading straight and stiff between rows of +cypress, and blotched in spring with inky splashes of fallen +mulberries. The scent of orange blossoms was around when we were +there, luscious and overpowering. It was the oppressive atmosphere of +the typical, sensuous East, and the free, fresh air from the river +outside the mud walls of that jealously-guarded estate was greatly +refreshing when we climbed out of the gardens. All this part of the +river must have been attractive to settlers even in Alexander's time, +and it requires no effort of imagination to suppose that it was here +that his second series of actions took place. Higher up the river the +valley closes, until, long before Chitral is reached, it narrows +exceedingly. Here, in the north, the northern winds rage down the +funnel with bitter fury and make life burdensome. The villages take to +the hill-slopes or cluster in patches on the flat terraces at their +foot. The revetted wall of small hillside fields outline the spurs in +continuous bands of pasture, and at intervals quaint colonies of huts +cling to the hills and seem ready to slither down into the wild rush +of the river below. Such as a whole is the Kunar valley, which, +centuries after Alexander had passed across it, was occupied by Kafir +tribes who may have succeeded the Aspasian peoples, or who may indeed +represent them. All the wild mountain districts west of the Kunar are +held by Kafirs still, and there is nothing remarkable in the fact +(which we shall see later on) that just to the east of the Kunar +valley Alexander found a people claiming the same origin there that +the Kafirs of Kashmund and Bashgol claim now. + +It was during the fighting in the Kunar valley that we hear so much of +that brilliant young leader Ptolemy, the son of Lagos, who was then +shaping his career for a Royal destiny in Egypt. With all the +thrilling incidents of the actual combat we have no space to deal, and +much as they would serve to lighten the prosaic tale of the progress +of Alexander's explorations, we must reluctantly leave them to Arrian +and the Greek historians. We are told that after the Kunar valley +action Alexander crossed the mountains and came to a city at their +base called Arigaion. Assuming that he crossed the Kunar watershed by +the Spinasuka Pass, which leads direct from Pashat (the present +capital of Kunar) into Bajaor, he would be close to Nawagai, the +present chief town of Bajaor. Arigaion would therefore be not far from +Nawagai. The place was burnt down; but recognizing the strategic +importance of the position, he left Krateros to fortify it and make it +the residence not only of such tribespeople as chose to return to +their houses, but also of such of his own soldiers as were unfit for +further service. This seems to have been his invariable custom, and +accounts for the traditions of Greek origin which we still find so +common in the north-western borderland of India. The story of this +part of his expedition reads almost as if it were journalistic. Then, +as now, the tribesmen took to the hills. Then, as now, their position +and approximate numbers could be ascertained by their camp-fires at +night. Ptolemy was intelligence officer and conducted the +reconnaissance, and on his report the plan of attack was arranged. +This was probably the most considerable action fought by Alexander in +the hills north of India. The conflict was sharp but decisive, and the +Aspasians, who had taken up their position on a hill, were utterly +routed. According to Ptolemy 40,000 prisoners and 230,000 oxen were +taken, and the fact that the pick of the oxen were sent to Macedonia +to improve the breed there shows how complete was the line of +communication between Greece and Upper India. The next tribe to be +dealt with were the Assakenians, and to reach them it was necessary to +cross the Gauraios, or Panjkora, which was deep, swift as to current, +and full of boulders. As we find no mention in Arrian's history of the +passage of the Suastos (Swat River) following on that of the Gauraios, +we must conclude that Alexander crossed the Panjkora _below_ its +junction with the Swat, where the river being much enclosed by hills +would certainly afford a most difficult passage. There are other +reasons which tend to confirm this view. + +The next important action which took place was the siege and capture +of the city called Massaga, which was only taken after four days' +severe fighting, during which Alexander was wounded in the foot by an +arrow. M'Crindle[1] quotes the various names given in Sanscrit and +Latin literature, and agrees with Rennel in adopting the site of +Mashanagar, mentioned by the Emperor Baber in his memoirs as lying two +marches from Bajaor on the river Swat, as representing Massaga. M. +Court heard from the Yasufzais of Swat that there was a place called +by the double name of Mashkine and Massanagar 24 miles from Bajaor. It +is not to be found now, but there is in the survey maps a place on the +Swat River about that distance from Nawagai (the chief town in Bajaor) +called Matkanai, close to the Malakand Pass, and this is no doubt the +place referred to. It is very difficult even in these days to get a +really authoritative spelling for place-names beyond, or even within, +the British Indian border; and as these surveys were made during the +progress of the Tirah expedition when the whole country was armed, +such information as could be obtained was often unusually sketchy. If +this is the site of Massaga it would be directly on the line of +Alexander's route from Nawagai eastwards, as he rounded the spurs of +the Koh-i-Mor which he left to the north of him, and struck the +Panjkora some miles below its junction with the Swat. There can be +little doubt that it was near this spot that the historic siege took +place. His next objective were two cities called Ora and Bazira, which +were obviously close together and interdependent. Cunningham places +the position of Bazira, at the town of Rustam (on the Kalapani River), +which is itself built on a very extensive old mound and represents the +former site of a town called Bazar. Rustam stands midway between the +Swat and Indus, and must always have been an important trade centre +between the rich valley of Swat and the towns of the Indus. Ora may +possibly be represented by the modern Bazar which is close by. +Geographically this is the most probable solution of the problem of +Alexander's movements, there being direct connection with the Swat +valley through Rustam which is not to be found farther north. +Alexander would have to cross the Malakand from the Swat valley to the +Indus plains, but would encounter no further obstacles if he moved on +this route. Bazira made a fair show of resistance, but the usual Greek +tactics of drawing the enemy out into the plains was resorted to by +Koenos with a certain amount of success; and when Ora fell before +Alexander, the full military strength of Bazira dispersed and fled for +refuge to the rock Aornos. + +So far we have followed this Greek expedition into regions which are +beyond the limits of modern Afghanistan, but the new geographical +detail acquired during the most recent of our frontier campaigns +enables new arguments to be adduced in favour of old theories (or the +reverse), and this departure from the strict political boundaries of +our subject leads us to regions which are at any rate historically and +strategically connected with it. With Aornos, however, our excursion +into Indian fields will terminate. Round about Aornos historical +controversy has ebbed and flowed for nearly a century, and it is not +my intention to add much to the literature which already concerns +itself with that doubtful locality. I believe, however, that it will +be some time yet before the last word is said about Aornos. Of all the +positions assigned to that marvellous feat of arms performed by the +Greek force, that which was advanced by the late General Sir James +Abbott in 1854 is the most attractive--so attractive, indeed, that it +is hard to surrender it. The discrepant accounts of the capture of the +famous "rock" given by Arrian (from the accounts of Ptolemy, one of +the chief actors in the scene), Curtius, Diodoros, and Strabo +obviously deal with a mountain position of considerable extent, where +was a flattish summit on which cavalry could act, and the base of it +was washed by the Indus. All, however, write as if it were an isolated +mountain with a definite circuit of, according to Arrian, 23 miles and +a height of 6200 feet (according to Diodoros of 12 miles and over 9000 +feet). The "rock" was situated near the city of Embolina, which we +know to have been on the Indus and which is probably to be identified +more or less with the modern town of Amb. The mountain was +forest-covered, with good soil and water springs. It was precipitous +towards the Indus, yet "not so steep but that 220 horse and war +engines were taken up to the summit," all of which Sir James Abbott +finds compatible with the hill Mahaban which is close to Amb, and +answers all descriptions excepting that of isolation, for it is but a +lofty spur of the dividing ridge between the Chumla, an affluent of +the Buner River, and the lower Mada Khel hills, culminating in a peak +overlooking the Indus from a height of 7320 feet. The geographical +situation is precisely such as we should expect under the +circumstances. The tribespeople driven from Bazira (assuming Bazira to +be near Rustam) following the usual methods of the mountaineers of the +Indian frontier, would retreat to higher and more inaccessible +fastnesses in their rugged hills. There is but one way open from +Rustam towards the Indus offering them the chance of safety from +pursuit, and undoubtedly they followed that track. It leads up to the +great divide north of them and then descends into the Chumla valley +leading to that of Buner, and the hills which were to prove their +salvation might well be those flanking the Chumla on the south, rising +as they do to ever higher altitudes as they approach the Indus. This, +in fact, is Mahaban. By all the rules of Native strategy in Northern +India this is precisely the position which they would take up. + +Aornos appears to have been a kind of generic name with the Greeks, +applied to mountain positions of a certain class, for we hear of +another Aornos in Central Asia, and the word translated "rock" seems +to mean anything from a mountain (as in the present case) to a +sand-bank (as in the case of the voyage of Nearkos). No isolated hill +such as would exactly fit in with Arrian's description exists in that +part of the Indus valley, and no physical changes such as alteration +in the course of the Indus, or such as might be effected by the +tectonic forces of Nature, are likely to have removed such a mountain. +Abbott's identification has therefore been generally accepted for many +years, and it has remained for our latest authority to question it +seriously. + +The latest investigator into the archæological interests of the Indian +trans-frontier is Dr. M. A. Stein, the Inspector-General of Education +in India. The marvellous results of his researches in Chinese +Turkistan have rendered his name famous all over the archæological +world, and it is to him that we owe an entirely new conception of the +civilization of Indo-China during the Buddhist period. Dr. Stein's +methods are thorough. He leaves nothing to speculation, and indulges +in no romance, whatever may be the temptation. He takes with him on +his archæological excursions a trained native surveyor of the Indian +survey, and he thus not only secures an exact illustration of his own +special area of investigation, but incidentally he adds immensely to +our topographical knowledge of little known regions. This is specially +necessary in those wild districts which are more immediately +contiguous to the Indian border, for it is seldom that the original +surveys of these districts can be anything more than topographical +sketches acquired, sometimes from a distance, sometimes on the spot, +but generally under all the disadvantages and disabilities of active +campaigning, when the limited area within which survey operations can +be carried on in safety is often very restricted. Thus we have very +presentable geographical maps of the regions of Alexander's exploits +in the north, but we have not had the opportunity of examining special +sites in detail, and there are doubtless certain irregularities in the +map compilation. This is very much the case as regards those hill +districts on the right bank of the Indus immediately adjoining the +Buner valley both north and south of it. Mahaban, the mountain which +in Abbott's opinion best represents what is to be gathered from +classical history of the general characteristics of Aornos, is south +of Buner, overlooking the lower valley close to the Indus River. Dr. +Stein formed the bold project of visiting Mahaban personally, and +taking a surveyor with him. It was a bold project, for there were many +difficulties both political and physical. The tribespeople +immediately connected with Mahaban are the Gaduns--a most unruly +people, constantly fighting amongst themselves; and it was only by +seizing on the exact psychological moment when for a brief space our +political representative had secured a lull in these fratricidal +feuds, that Stein was enabled to act. He actually reached Mahaban +under most trying conditions of wind and weather, and he made his +survey. Incidentally he effected some most remarkable Buddhist +identifications; but so far as the identification of Mahaban with +Aornos is concerned he came to the conclusion that such identification +could not possibly be maintained. This opinion is practically based on +the impossibility of fitting the details of the story of Aornos to the +physical features of Mahaban. It is unfortunate (but perhaps +inevitable) that even in those incidents and operations of Alexander's +expedition where his footsteps can be distinctly traced from point to +point, where geographical conformation absolutely debars us from +alternative selection of lines of action, the details of the story +never do fit the physical conditions which must have obtained in his +time. + +As the history of Alexander is in the main a true history, there is +absolutely no justification for cutting out the thrilling incident of +Aornos from it. There was undoubtedly an Aornos somewhere near the +Indus, and there was a singularly interesting fight for its +possession, the story of which includes so many of the methods and +tactics familiar to every modern north-west frontiersman, that we +decline to believe it to be all invention. But the story was written a +century after Alexander's time, compiled from contemporary records it +is true, but leaving no margin for inquiry amongst survivors as to +details. If, instead of ancient history, we were to turn to the +century-old records of our own frontier expeditions and rewrite them +with no practical knowledge of the geography of the country, and no +witness of the actual scene to give us an _ex parte_ statement of what +happened (for no single participator in an action is ever able to give +a correct account of all the incidents of it), what should we expect? +Some furtive investigator might study the story of the ascent of the +famous frontier mountain, the Takht-i-Suliman (a veritable Aornos!), +during the expedition of 1882-83, and find it impossible to recognize +the account of its steep and narrow ascent, requiring men to climb on +their hands and knees, with the fact that a very considerable force +did finally ascend by comparatively easy slopes and almost dropped on +to the heads of the defenders. Such incidents require explanation to +render them intelligible, and at this distance of time it is only +possible to balance probabilities as regards Aornos. + +Alexander's objective being India, eventually, and the Indus (of +India, not of the Himalayas) immediately, he would take the road +which led straightest from Massaga to the Indus; it is inconceivable +that he would deliberately involve himself and his army in the maze of +pathless mountains which enclose the head of Buner. He would certainly +take the road which leads from Malakand to the Indus, on which lies +Rustam. It has always been a great high-road. One of the most +interesting discoveries in connection with the Tirah campaign was the +old Buddhist road, well engineered and well graded, which leads from +Malakand to the plains of the Punjab--those northern plains which +abound with Buddhist relics. If we identify Bazar, or Rustam, with +Bazireh we may assume with certainty that a retreating tribe, driven +from any field of defeat on the straight high-road which links +Panjkora with the Indus, would inevitably retire to the nearest and +the highest mountain ridge that was within reach. This is certainly +the ridge terminating with Mahaban and flanking the Buner valley on +the south, a refuge in time of trouble for many a lawless people. +Probability, then, would seem to favour Mahaban, or some mountain +position near it. The modern name of this peak is Shah Kot, and it is +occupied by a mixed and irregular folk. Here Dr. Stein spent an +unhappy night in a whirling snow-storm, but he succeeded in examining +the mountain thoroughly. He decided that that position of Mahaban +could not possibly represent Aornos, for the following reasons:--The +hill-top is too narrow for military action; the ascent, instead of +being difficult, is easy from every side; and there is no spring of +water on the summit, which summit must have been a very considerable +plateau to admit of the action described; finally, there is no great +ravine, and therefore no opportunity for the erection of the mound +described by Arrian, which enabled the Greeks to fusilade the enemy's +camp with darts and stones. Can we reconcile these discrepancies with +the text of history? + +After the reduction of Bazira Alexander marched towards the Indus and +received the submission of Peukelaotis, which was then the capital of +what is now, roughly speaking, the Peshawur district. The site of this +ancient capital appears to be ascertained beyond doubt, and we must +regard it as fixed near Charsadda, about 17 miles north-east (not +north-west as M'Crindle has it) from Peshawur. From this place +Alexander marched to Embolina, which is said to be a city close +adjoining the rock of Aornos. On the route thither he is said by +Arrian to have taken "many other small towns seated upon that river," +_i.e_. the Indus; two princes of that province, Cophæus and Assagetes, +accompanying him. This sufficiently indicates that his march must have +been up the right bank of the Indus, which would be the natural route +for him to follow. Arrived at Embolina, he arranged for a base of +supplies at that point, and then, with "Archers, Agrians, Cænus' +Troop" and the choicest, best armed, and most expeditious foot out of +the whole army, besides 200 auxiliary horse and 100 equestrian +archers, he marched towards the "rock" (8 miles distant), and on the +first day chose a place convenient for an encampment. The day after, +he pitched his tents much higher. The ancient Embolina may not be the +modern Amb, but Amb undoubtedly is an extremely probable site for such +a base of supplies to be formed, whether the final objective were +Mahaban or any place (as suggested by Stein) higher up the river. The +fact that there is a similarity in the names Amb and Embolina need not +militate against the adoption of the site of Amb as by far the most +probable that any sagacious military commander would select. A mere +resemblance between the ancient and modern names of places may, of +course, be most deceptive. On the other hand it is often a most +valuable indication, and one certainly not to be neglected. +Place-names last with traditional tenacity in the East, and obscured +as they certainly would be by Greek transliteration (after all, not +worse than British transliteration), they still offer a chance of +identifying old positions such as nothing else can offer excepting +accurate topographical description. Once again, if Embolina were not +Amb it certainly ought to have been. + +Alexander's next movements from Embolina most clearly indicate that he +had to deal with a mountain position. There is no getting away from +it, nor from the fact that the road to it was passable for horsemen, +and therefore not insuperably difficult. At the same time he had to +move as slowly as any modern force would move, for he was traversing +the rough spurs of a hill which ran to 7800 feet in altitude. Further, +the mountain was high enough to render signalling by fire useful. The +"rock" was obviously either a mountain itself or it was perched on the +summit of a mountain. Ptolemy as usual had conducted the +reconnaissance. He established himself unobserved in a temporary +position on the crest, within reach of the enemy, who attempted to +dispossess him and failed; and it was he who (according to the story) +signalled to Alexander. Ptolemy had followed a route, with guides, +which proved rough and difficult, and Alexander's attempt to join him +next day was prevented by the fierce activity of the mountaineers, who +were plainly fighting from the mountain spurs. Then, it is said, +Alexander communicated with Ptolemy by night and arranged a combined +plan of attack. When it "was almost night" of the following day +Alexander succeeded in joining Ptolemy, but only after severe fighting +during the ascent. Then the combined forces attacked the "rock" and +failed. All this so far is plain unvarnished mountain warfare, and the +incidents follow each other as naturally as in any modern campaign. It +becomes clear that the "rock" was a position on the crest of a high +mountain, the ascent of which was rendered doubly difficult by fierce +opposition. But it was practicable. Nothing is said about cavalry +ascending. Why, then, did Alexander take cavalry? This question leads +to another. Why do our frontier generals always burden themselves with +cavalry on these frontier expeditions? They cannot act on the +mountain-sides, and they are useless for purposes of pursuit. The +answer is that they are most valuable for preserving the line of +communication. Without the cavalry Alexander had no overwhelming force +at his disposal, and it would not be very hazardous if we assumed that +the force which actually reached the crest of the mountain was a +comparatively small one--much of the original brigade being dispersed +on the route. + +Dr. Stein found the ascent too easy to reconcile with history. This +might possibly be the effect of long weather action of the slopes of +mountains subject to severe snow-falls. Twenty-three centuries of wind +and weather have beaten on those scarred and broken slopes since +Alexander's day. Those twenty-three centuries have had such effect on +the physical outlines of land conformation elsewhere as absolutely to +obliterate the tracks over which the Greek force most undoubtedly +passed. What may have been the exact effect of them on Mahaban, +whether (as usual) they rounded off sharp edges, cut out new channels, +obliterated some water springs and gave rise to others, smoothing +down the ruggedness of spurs and shaping the drainage, we cannot say. +Only it is certain that the slopes of Mahaban--and its crest for that +matter--are not what they were twenty-three centuries ago. We shall +never recognize Aornos by its superficial features. Then, in the Greek +story, follows the episode of filling up the great ravine which yawned +between the Greek position and the "rock" on which the tribespeople +were massed, and the final abandonment of the latter when, after three +days' incessant toil, a mound had been raised from which it could be +assailed by the darts and missiles of the Greeks. Arrian tells the +story with a certain amount of detail. He states that a "huge rampart" +was raised "from the level of that part of the hill where their +entrenchment was" by means of "poles and stakes," the whole being +"perfected in three days." On the fourth day the Greeks began to build +a "mound opposite the rock," and Alexander decided to extend the +"Rampart" to the mound. It was then that the "Barbarians" decided to +surrender. + +In the particular translation from which I have quoted (Rookes, 1829) +there is nothing said about the "great ravine" of which Stein writes +that it is clearly referred to by "all texts," and a very little +consideration will show that it could never have existed. No matter +what might have been the strength of Alexander's force it could only +have been numbered by hundreds and not by thousands, when it reached +the summit of the mountain. We might refer to the modern analogy of +the expedition to the summit of the Takht-i-Suliman, where it was +found quite impossible to maintain a few companies of infantry for +more than two or three days. Numbers engaged in action are +proverbially exaggerated, especially in the East; but the physical +impossibility of keeping a large force on the top of a mountain must +certainly be acknowledged. Even supposing there were a thousand men, +and that no guards were required, and no reliefs, and that the whole +force could apply themselves to filling up a "large ravine" with such +"stakes and poles" as they could carry or drag from the +mountain-slopes, it would take three months rather than three days to +fill up any ravine which could possibly be called "large." General +Abbott, as a scientific officer, was probably quite correct in his +estimate of the "Rampart" as some sort of a "trench of approach with a +parapet." There could not possibly have been a "great mound built of +stakes and poles for crossing a ravine." It may be noted that +Ptolemy's defensive work on his first arrival on the summit is called +(or translated) "Rampart," and yet we know that it could only have +been a palisade or an abattis. The story told by Arrian (and possibly +maltreated by translators) is doubtless full of inaccuracies and +exaggerations, but we decline to believe that it is pure invention. +There is nothing in it, so far, which absolutely militates against the +Mahaban of to-day (that refuge for Hindustani fanatics at one time, +and for the discontented tribesfolk of the whole countryside through +all time) being the Aornos of Arrian. No appearance of "precipices" +is, however, to be found in the survey of the summit which accompanied +Dr. Stein's report, and no opportunity for the defeated tribesmen to +fall into the river. The story runs that the defeated mountaineers +retreating from the victorious Greeks fell over the precipices in +their hot haste, and that many of them were drowned in the Indus. This +is indeed an incident which might be added as an effective addition to +any tall story of a fight which took place on hills in the immediate +neighbourhood of a river; but under no conceivable circumstances could +it be adjusted to the formation of the Mahaban hill, even if it were +admitted that armoured Greeks were any match in the hills for the +fleet-footed and light-clad Indians. Probably the incident is purely +decorative, but we need not therefore assume that the whole story is +fiction. It has been pointed out by Sir Bindon Blood, who commanded +the latest expedition to the Buner valley, that failing Mahaban there +is north of the Buner River, immediately overlooking the Indus, a peak +called Baio with precipitous flanks on the river side, which would fit +in with the tale of Aornos better even than Mahaban. The Buner River +joins the Indus through an impassable gorge steeply entrenched on +either side, and a mile or two above it is the peak of Baio. So far as +the Indus is concerned, that river presents no difficulties, for boats +can be hauled up it far beyond Baio--even to Thakot. Looking northward +or westward from above Kotkai one sees the river winding round the +foot of the lower spurs of the Black Mountain on its left or eastern +bank. Beyond is Baio on its right bank, towering (with a clumsy fort +on its summit) over the Indus and forming part of a continuous ridge, +beyond which again in the blue distance is the line of hills over +which is the Ambela Pass at the head of the Chumla valley. (It is +curious how the nomenclature hereabouts echoes faintly the Greek +Embolina.) Above Baio is the ford of Chakesar, from which runs an +old-time road westward to Manglaor, once the Buddhist capital of Swat. +It would be all within reach of either Indians or Greeks, so we need +not quite give up the thrilling tale of Aornos yet, even if Dr. Stein +defeats us on Mahaban. + +Then follows the narrative of an excursion into the country of the +Assakenoi and the capture of the elephants, which had been taken for +safety into the hills. The scene of this short expedition must have +been near the Indus, and was probably the valley of the Chumla or +Buner immediately under Mahaban, to the north. There was in those +far-off days a different class of vegetation on the Indus banks to +any which exists at present. We know that a good deal of the Indus +plain below its debouchment from the hills was a reedy swamp in +Alexander's time, and it was certainly the haunt of the rhinoceros for +centuries subsequently, and consequently quite suitable for elephants, +and it is probable that for some little distance above its debouchment +the same sort of pasturage was obtainable. Most interesting perhaps of +all the incidents in Arrian's history is that which now follows. We +are told that "Alexander then entered that part of the country which +lies between the Kophen and the Indus, where Nysa is said to be +situate." Other authorities, however, Curtius (viii. 10), Strabo (xv. +697), and Justin (xii. 7), make him a visitor to Nysa before he +crossed the Choaspes and took Massaga. All this is very vague; the +river he crossed immediately before taking Massaga was certainly the +Gauraios or Panjkora. + +There is a certain element of confusion in classical writings in +dealing with river names which we need not wait to investigate; nor is +it a matter of great importance whether Alexander retraced his steps +all the way to the country of Nysa (for no particular reason), or +whether he visited Nysa as he passed from the Kunar valley to the +Panjkora. The latter is far more probable, as Nysa (if we have +succeeded in identifying that interesting relic of pre-Alexandrian +Greek occupation) would be right in his path. Various authorities have +placed Nysa in different parts of the wide area indicated as lying +between the Kophen (Kabul) and the Indus, but none, before the Asmar +Boundary Commission surveyed the Kunar valley in the year 1894, had +the opportunity of studying the question _in loco_. Even then there +was no possibility of reaching the actual site which was indicated as +the site of Nysa; and when subsequently in 1898 geographical surveys +of Swat were pushed forward wherever it was possible for surveyors to +obtain a footing, they never approached that isolated band of hills at +the foot of which Nysa once lay. The result of inquiries instituted +during the progress of demarcating the boundary between Afghanistan +and the independent districts of the east from Asmar have been given +in the _R.G.S. Journal_, vol. vii., and no subsequent information has +been obtained which might lead me to modify the views therein +expressed, excepting perhaps in the doubtful point as to _when_, in +the course of his expedition, Alexander visited Nysa. In the first +engraved Atlas sheet of the Indian Survey dealing with the regions +east of the Kunar River, the name of Nysa, or Nyssa, is recorded as +one of the most important places in that neighbourhood, and it is +placed just south of the Koh-i-Mor, a spur, or extension, from the +eastern ridges of the Kunar valley. From what source of information +this addition to the map was made it is difficult to say, now that the +first compiler of those maps (General Walker) has passed away. But it +was undoubtedly a native source. Similarly the information obtained at +Asmar, that a large and scattered village named _Nusa_ was to be found +in that position, was also from a native (Yusufzai) source. No +possible cause can be suggested for this agreement between the two +native authorities, and it is unlikely that the name could have been +invented by both. At the same time Nysa, or Nusa, is not now generally +known to the borderland people near the Indian frontier, and it is +certainly no longer an important village. It is probably no more than +scattered and hidden ruins. Above it towers the three-peaked hill +called the Koh-i-Mor, whose outlines can be clearly distinguished from +Peshawur on any clear day, and on that hill grows the wild vine and +the ivy, even as they grow in glorious trailing and exuberant masses +on the scarped slopes of the Kafiristan hills to the west. + +We may repeat here what Arrian has to say about Nysa. "The city was +built by Dionysos or Bacchus when he conquered the Indians, but who +this Bacchus was, or at what time or from whence he conquered the +Indians is hard to determine. Whether he was that Theban who from +Thebes or he who from Tmolus, a mountain of Lydia, undertook that +famous expedition into India ... is very uncertain." So here we have a +clear reference to previous invasions of India from Greece, which were +regarded as historical in Arrian's time. However, as soon as +Alexander arrived at Nysa a deputation of Nysæans, headed by one +Akulphis, waited on him, and, after recovering from the astonishment +that his extraordinary appearance inspired, they presented a petition. +"The Nysæans entreat thee O King, for the reverence thou bearest to +Dionysos, their God, to leave their city untouched ... for Bacchus ... +built this city for an habitation for such of his soldiers as age or +accident had rendered unfit for military service.... He called this +city Nysa (Nuson) after the name of his nurse ... and the mountain +also, which is so near us, he would have denominated Meros (or the +thigh) alluding to his birth from that of Jupiter ... and as an +undoubted token that the place was founded by Bacchus, the ivy which +is to be found nowhere else throughout all India, flourishes in our +territories." Alexander was pleased to grant the petition, and ordered +that a hundred of the chief citizens should join his camp and +accompany him. It was then that Akulphis, with much native shrewdness, +suggested that if he really had the good of the city at heart he +should take two hundred of the worst citizens instead of one hundred +of the best--a suggestion which appealed at once to Alexander's good +sense, and the demand was withdrawn. Alexander then visited the +mountain and sacrificed to Bacchus, his troops meanwhile making +garlands of ivy "wherewith they crowned their heads, singing and +calling loudly upon the god, not only by the name of Dionysos, but by +all his other names." A sort of Bacchic orgy! + +But who were the Nysæans, and what became of them? In Arrian's +_Indika_ he says: "The Assakenoi" (who inhabited the Swat valley east +of Nysa) "are not men of great stature like the Indians ... not so +brave nor yet so swarthy as most Indians. They were in old times +subject to the Assyrians; then after a period of Median rule submitted +to the Persians ... the Nysaioi, however, are not an Indian race, but +descendants of those who came to India with Dionysos"; he adds that +the mountain "in the lower slopes of which Nysa is built" is +designated Meros, and he clearly distinguishes between Assakenoi and +Nysaioi. M. de St. Martin says that the name Nysa is of Persian or +Median origin; but although we know that Assyrians, Persians, and +Medes all overran this part of India before Alexander, and all must +have left, as was the invariable custom of those days, representatives +of their nationality behind them who have divided with subsequent +Skyths the ethnographical origin of many of the Upper Indian valley +tribes of to-day, there seems no sound reason for disputing the origin +of this particular name. + +Ptolemy barely mentions Nysa, but we learn something about the Nysæans +from fragments of the _Indika_ of Megasthenes, which have been +collected by Dr. Schwanbeck and translated by M'Crindle. We learn that +this pre-Alexandrian Greek Dionysos was a most beneficent conqueror. +He taught the Indians how to make wine and cultivate the fields; he +introduced the system of retiring to the slopes of Meros (the first +"hill station" in India) in the hot weather, where "the army recruited +by the cold breezes and the water which flowed fresh from the +fountains, recovered from sickness.... Having achieved altogether many +great and noble works, he was regarded as a deity, and obtained +immortal honours." + +Again we read, in a fragment quoted by Strabo, that the reason of +calling the mountain above Nysa by the name of Meron was that "ivy +grows there, and also the vine, although its fruit does not come to +perfection, as the clusters, on account of the heaviness of the rains, +fall off the trees before ripening. They" (the Greeks) "further call +the Oxydrakai descendants of Dionysos, because the vine grew in their +country, and their processions were conducted with great pomp, and +their kings, on going forth to war, and on other occasions, marched in +Bacchic fashion with drums beating," etc. + +Again we find, in a fragment quoted by Polyænus, that Dionysos, "in +his expedition against the Indians, in order that the cities might +receive him willingly, disguised the arms with which he had equipped +his troops, and made them wear soft raiment and fawn-skins. The spears +were wrapped round with ivy, and the thyrsus had a sharp point. He +gave the signal for battle by cymbals and drums instead of the +trumpet; and, by regaling the enemy with wine, diverted their thoughts +from war to dancing. These and all other Bacchic orgies were employed +in the system of warfare by which he subjugated the Indians and the +rest of Asia." + +All these lively legends point to a very early subjugation of India by +a Western race (who may have been of Greek origin) before the +invasions of Assyrian, Mede, or Persian. It could not well have been +later than the sixth century B.C., and might have been earlier by many +centuries. The Nysæans, whose city Alexander spared, were the +descendants of those conquerors who, coming from the West, were +probably deterred by the heat of the plains of India from carrying +their conquests south of the Punjab. They settled on the cool and +well-watered slopes of those mountains which crown the uplands of Swat +and Bajaur, where they cultivated the vine for generations, and after +the course of centuries, through which they preserved the tradition of +their Western origin, they welcomed the Macedonian conqueror as a man +of their own faith and nation. It seems possible that they may have +extended their habitat as far eastward as the upper Swat valley and +the mountain region of the Indus, and at one time may have occupied +the site of the ancient capital of the Assakenoi, Massaga, which there +is reason to suppose stood near the position now occupied by the town +of Matakanai; but they were clearly no longer there in the days of +Alexander, and must be distinguished as a separate race altogether +from the Assakenoi. As the centuries rolled on, this district of Swat, +together with the valley of Dir, became a great headquarters of +Buddhism. It is from this part of the trans-frontier that some of the +most remarkable of those sculptures have been taken which exhibit so +strong a Greek and Roman influence in their design. They are the +undoubted relics of stupas, dagobas, and monasteries belonging to a +period of a Buddhist occupation of the country, which was established +after Alexander's time. Buddhism did not become a State religion till +the reign of Asoka, grandson of that Sandrakottos (Chandragupta) to +whom Megasthenes was sent as ambassador; and it is improbable that any +of these buildings existed in the time of the Greek invasion, or we +should certainly have heard of them. + +But along with these Buddhist relics there have been lately unearthed +certain strange inscriptions, which have been submitted by their +discoverer, Major Deane,[2] to a congress of Orientalists, who can +only pronounce them to be in an unknown tongue. They have been found +in the Indus valley east of Swat, most of them being engraved on stone +slabs which have been built into towers, now in ruins. The towers are +comparatively modern, but it by no means follows that these +inscriptions are so. It is the common practice of Pathan builders to +preserve any engraved or sculptured relic that they may find, by +utilizing them as ornamental features in their buildings. It has +probably been a custom from time immemorial. In 1895 I observed +evidences of this propensity in the graveyard at Chagan Sarai, in the +Kunar valley, where many elaborately carved Buddhist fragments were +let into the sides of their roughly built "chabutras," or sepulchres, +with the obvious purpose of gaining effect thereby. No one would say +where those Buddhist fragments came from. The Kunar valley appears at +first sight to be absolutely free from Buddhist remains, although it +would naturally be selected as a most likely field for research. These +undeciphered inscriptions may possibly be found to be vastly more +ancient than the towers they adorned. It is, at any rate, a notable +fact about them that some of them "recall a Greek alphabet of archaic +type." So great an authority as M. Senart inclines to the opinion that +their authors must be referred to the Skythic or Mongolian invaders of +India; but he refers at the same time to a sculptured and inscribed +monument in the Louvre, of unknown origin, the characters on which +resemble those of the new script. "The subject of this sculpture seems +to be a Bacchic procession." What if it really is a Bacchic +procession, and the characters thereon inscribed prove to be an +archaic form of Greek--the forgotten forms of the Nysæan alphabet? + +Whilst surveying in the Kunar valley along the Kafiristan borderland, +I made the acquaintance of two Kafirs of Kamdesh, who stayed some +little time in the Afghan camp, in which my own tent was pitched, and +who were objects of much interest to the members of the Boundary +Commission there assembled. They submitted gracefully enough to much +cross-examination, and amongst other things they sang a war-hymn to +their god Gish, and executed a religious dance. Gish is not supreme in +their mythology, but he is the god who receives by far the greatest +amount of attention, for the Kafir of the lower Bashgol is ever on the +raid, always on the watch for the chance of a Mahomedan life. It is, +indeed, curious that whilst tolerant enough to allow of the existence +of Mahomedan communities in their midst, they yet rank the life of a +Mussulman as the one great object of attainment; so that a Kafir's +social position is dependent on the activity he displays in searching +out the common enemy, and his very right to sing hymns of adoration to +his war-god is strictly limited by the number of lives he has taken. +The hymn which these Kafirs recited, or sang, was translated word by +word, with the aid of a Chitrali interpreter, by a Munshi, who has the +reputation of being a most careful interpreter, and the following is +almost a literal transcript, for which I am indebted to Dr. MacNab, of +the Q.O. Corps of Guides:-- + + O thou who from Gir-Nysa's (lofty heights) was born + Who from its sevenfold portals didst emerge, + On Katan Chirak thou hast set thine eyes, + Towards (the depths of) Sum Bughal dost go, + In Sum Baral assembled you have been. + Sanji from the heights you see; Sanji you consult? + The council sits. O mad one, whither goest thou? + Say, Sanji, why dost thou go forth? + +The words within brackets are introduced, otherwise the translation is +literal. Gir-Nysa means the mountain of Nysa, Gir being a common +prefix denoting a peak or hill. Katan Chirak is explained to be an +ancient town in the Minjan valley of Badakshan, now in ruins; but it +was the first large place that the Kafirs captured, and is apparently +held to be symbolical of victory. This reference connects the Kamdesh +Kafirs with Badakshan, and shows these people to have been more +widespread than they are at present. Sum Bughal is a deep ravine +leading down to the plain of Sum Baral, where armies are assembled for +war. Sanji appears to be the oracle consulted before war is +undertaken. The chief interest of this verse (for I believe it is only +one verse of many, but it was all that our friends were entitled to +repeat) is the obvious reference in the first line to the mountain of +Bacchus, the Meros from which he was born, on the slopes of which +stood the ancient Nysa. It is, indeed, a Bacchic hymn (slightly +incoherent, perhaps, as is natural), and only wants the accessories of +vine-leaves and ivy to make it entirely classical. + +That eminent linguistic authority, Dr. Grierson, thinks that the +language in which the hymn was recited is derived from what Sanscrit +writers said was the language of the Pisacas, a people whom they +dubbed "demons" and "eaters of raw flesh," and who may be represented +by the "Pashai" dwellers in Laghman and its vicinity to-day. Possibly +the name of the chief village of the Kunar valley Pashat may claim the +same origin, for Laghman and Kunar both spread their plains to the +foot of the mountains of Kafiristan. + +The vine and the ivy are not far to seek. In making slow progress +through one of the deep "darras," or ravines, of the western Kunar +basin, leading to the snow-bound ridges that overlook Bashgol, I was +astonished at the free growth of the wild vine, and the thick masses +of ivy which here and there clung to the buttresses of the rugged +mountain spurs as ivy clings to less solid ruins in England. The +Kafirs have long been celebrated for their wine-making. Early in the +nineteenth century, when the adventurer Baber, on his way to found the +most magnificent dynasty that India has ever seen at Delhi, first +captured the ancient city of Bajaor, and then moved on to the valley +of Jandoul--now made historic by another adventurer, Umra Khan--he was +perpetually indulging in drinking-parties; and he used to ride in from +Jandoul to Bajaor to join his cronies in a real good Bacchic orgy more +frequently than was good for him. He has a good deal to say about the +Kafir wine in that inimitable Diary of his, and his appreciation of +it was not great. It was, however, much better than nothing, and he +drank a good deal of it. Through the kindness of the Sipah Salar, the +Amir's commander-in-chief, I have had the opportunity of tasting the +best brand of this classical liquor, and I agree with Baber--it is not +of a high class. It reminded me of badly corked and muddy Chablis, +which it much resembled in appearance. + + [Illustration: GREEK RETREAT FROM INDIA] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] _Ancient India_, "Invasion by Alexander the Great." Appendix. + +[2] The late Sir H. Deane. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +GREEK EXPLORATION--THE WESTERN GATES OF INDIA + + +South of the Khaibar route from Peshawur to Kabul and separated from +it by the remarkable straight-backed range of Sufed Koh, is an +alternative route _via_ the Kuram valley, at the head of which is the +historic Peiwar Pass. From the crest of the rigid line of the Sufed +Koh one may look down on either valley, the Kabul to the north or the +Kuram to the south; and but for the lack of any convenient lateral +communications between them, the two might be regarded as a twin +system, with Kabul as the common objective. But there is no +practicable pass across the Sufed Koh, so that no force moving along +either line could depend on direct support from the other side of the +mountains. It will be convenient here to regard the Kuram as an +alternative to the Kabul route, and to consider the two together as +forming a distinct group. + +The next important link between Afghanistan and the Indian frontier +south of the Kuram, is the open ramp of the Tochi valley. The Tochi +does not figure largely in history, but it has been utilized in the +past for sudden raids from Ghazni in spite of the difficulties which +Nature has strewn about its head. The Tochi, and the Gomul River south +of it, must be regarded as highways to Ghazni, but there is no +comparison between the two as regards their facilities or the amount +of traffic which they carry. All the carrying trade of the Ghazni +province is condensed into the narrow ways of the Gomul. Trade in the +Tochi hardly extends farther than the villages at its head. About the +Gomul there hangs many a tale of adventure, albeit adventure of rather +ancient date, for it is exceedingly doubtful if any living European +has ever trod more than the lower steps of that ancient staircase. +Then, south of the Gomul, there follows a whole series of minor passes +and byways wriggling through the clefts of the mountains, scrambling +occasionally over the sharp ridges, but generally adhering closely to +the line of some fierce little stream, which has either split its way +through the successive walls of rock offered by the parallel uptilted +ridges, or else was there, flowing gently down from the highlands, +before these ridges were tilted into their present position. There are +many such streams, and the history of their exploration is to be found +in the modern Archives of the Survey of India. They may have been used +for centuries by roving bands of frontier raiders, but they have no +history to speak of. South of the Gomul, they all connect Baluchistan +with India, for Baluchistan begins, politically, from the Gomul; and +they are of minor importance because, by grace of the determined +policy of the great maker of the Baluch frontier, Sir Robert Sandeman, +their back doors and small beginnings in the Baluch highlands are all +linked up by a line of posts which runs from Quetta to the Gomul _via_ +the Zhob valley. Whoever holds the two ends of the Zhob holds the key +of all these back doors. There is not much to be said about them. No +great halo of historical romance hangs around them; and yet the stern +grandeur of some of these waterways of the frontier hills is well +worth a better descriptive pen than mine. I know of one, in the depths +of a fathomless abyss, whose waters rage in wild fury over fantastic +piles of boulders, tossing up feathers of white spray to make glints +of light on the smooth apron of the limestone walls which enclose and +overshadow it, which is matchless in its weird beauty. From rounded +sun-kissed uplands, where olive groves shelve down long spurs, the +waters come, and with a gradually deepening and strengthening rush +they swirl into the embrace of the echoing hills, passing with swift +transition from a sunny stream to a boiling fury of turgid water under +the rugged cliffs of the pine-clad Takht-i-Suliman. Then the stream +sets out again, babbling sweetly as it goes, into the open, just a +dimpled stream, leaving lonely pools in silent places on its way, and +breaking up into a hundred streamlets to gladden the mountain people +with the gift of irrigation. + +It is impossible to describe these frontier waterways. There is +nothing like them to be found amidst scenes less wild and less +fantastic than their frontier cradles. But full of local light and +colour (and local tragedy too) as they surely are, they are +unimportant in the military economy of the frontier, and their very +wildness and impassability have saved them from the steps of the great +horde of Indian immigrants. When, however, we reach still farther +southward to the straight passes leading to Quetta, we are once again +in a land of history. It is there we find by far the most open gates +and those most difficult to shut, although the value of them as +military approaches is very largely discounted by the geographical +conditions of Western India at the point where they open on to the +Indus frontier. + +Quetta, Kalat, and Las Bela, standing nearly in line from north to +south, are the watch-towers of the western marches. Quetta and Kalat +stand high, surrounded by wild hill country. Magnificent cliff-crowned +mountains overlooking a wilderness of stone-strewed spurs embrace the +little flat plain on which Quetta lies crumpled. Here and there on the +plain an isolated smooth excrescence denotes an extinct volcano. Such +is the Miri, now converted into the protecting fort of Quetta. The +road from Quetta to the north-west, _i.e._ to Kandahar and Herat, has +to pass through a narrow hill-enclosed space some eight miles from +Quetta; and this physical gateway is strengthened and protected by all +the devices of which military engineering skill is capable, whilst +midway between Quetta and Kandahar is the formidable Khojak range +which must always have been a trouble to buccaneers from the +north-west. From Quetta to the south-east extends that road and that +railway which, intersecting the complicated rampart of frontier hills, +finally debouches into the desert plains round Jacobabad in Sind. +Kalat is somewhat similarly situated. High amongst the mountains, +Kalat also commands the approaches to an important pass to the plains, +_i.e._ the Mula, a pass which in times gone by was a commercial +high-road, but which has long been superseded by the Quetta passes of +Harnai and Bolan (or Mashkaf). Las Bela is an insignificant Baluch +town in the valley of the Purali, and at present commands nothing of +value. But it was not always insignificant, as we shall see, and if +its military value is not great at present, Las Bela must have stood +full in the tide of human immigration to India for centuries in the +past. It is a true gateway, and the story of it belongs to a period +more ancient than any. + +Owing to the peculiar geographical conformation of the country, Quetta +holds in her keeping all the approaches from the west, thus +safeguarding Kalat. The Kalat fortress is only of minor importance as +the guardian of the Mula stairway to the plains of India. It is the +extraordinary conformation of ridge and valley which forms the great +defensive wall of the southern frontier. Only where this wall is +traversed by streams which break through the successive ridges +gathering countless affluents from left and right in their +course--affluents which are often as straight and rectangular to the +main stream as the branches of a pear-tree trained on a wall are to +the parent stem--is it possible to find an open road from the plains +to the plateau. + +For very many miles north of Karachi the plains of Sind are faced by a +solid wall of rock, so rigid, so straight and unscalable (this is the +Kirthar range) as to form a veritably impracticable barrier. There is +but one crack in it. For a short space at its southern end, however, +it subsides into a series of minor ridges, and it is here that the +connection between Karachi and Las Bela is to be found. These southern +Las Bela approaches (about which there is more to be said) are not +only the oldest, but they have been the most persistently trodden of +any in the frontier, and they would be just as important in future as +they have been in the past but for their geographical position. They +are commanded from the sea. No one making for the Indus plains can +again utilize these approaches who does not hold command of the +Arabian Sea. In this way, and to this extent, the command of the +Arabian Sea and of the Persian Gulf beyond it becomes vitally +important to the security of India. Omitting for the present the Gomul +gateway (the story of the exploration of which belongs to a later +chapter), and in order to preserve something of chronological sequence +in this book, it is these most southern of the Baluchistan passes +which now claim our attention. + +Until quite lately these seaboard approaches to India have been almost +ignored by historians and military strategists (doubtless because so +little was known about them), and the pages of recent text-books are +silent concerning them. They lead outwards from the lower Indus +valleys through Makran, either into Persia or to the coast ports of +the Arabian Sea. From extreme Western Persia to the frontiers of India +at Quetta, or indeed to the Indus delta, it is possible for a laden +camel to take its way with care and comfort, never meeting a +formidable pass, never dragging its weary limbs up any too steep +incline, with regular stages and more or less good pasturage through +all the 1400 or 1500 miles which intervene between Western Persia and +Las Bela. From the pleasant palm groves of Panjgur in Makran to India, +it might indeed be well to have an efficient local guide, and indeed +from Las Bela to Karachi the road is not to be taken quite haphazard; +nevertheless, if the camel-driver knew his way, he could not only +lead his charge comfortably along a well-trodden route, but he might +turn chauffeur at the end of his long march and drive an exploring +party back in a motor. + +In the illimitable past it was this way that Dravidian peoples flocked +down from Asiatic highlands to the borderland of India. Some of them +remained for centuries either on the coast-line, where they built +strange dwellings and buried each other in earthen pots, or they were +entangled in the mass of frontier hills which back the solid Kirthar +ridge, and stayed there till a Turco-Mongol race, the Brahuis (or +Barohis, _i.e._ "men of the hills"), overlaid them, and intermixing +with them preserved the Dravidian language, but lost the Dravidian +characteristics. According to their own traditions a large number of +these Brahuis were implanted in their wild and almost inaccessible +hills by the conqueror Chenghiz Khan, and some of them call themselves +Mingals, or Mongols, to this day. This seems likely to be true. It is +always best to assume in the first instance that a local tradition +firmly held and strongly asserted has a basis of fact to support it. +Here are a people who have been an ethnological puzzle for many years, +talking the language of Southern Indian tribes, but protesting that +they are Mongols. Like the degenerate descendants of the Greeks in the +extreme north-west, or like the mixed Arab peoples of the Makran coast +and Baluchistan, these half-bred Mongols have preserved the +traditions of their fathers and adopted the tongue of their mothers. +It is strange how soon a language may be lost that is not preserved by +the women! What we learn from the Brahuis is that a Dravidian race +must once have been where they are now, and this supports the theory +now generally admitted, that the Dravidian peoples of India entered +India by these western gateways. + +No more interesting ethnographical inquiry could be found in relation +to the people of India than how these races, having got thus far on +their way, ever succeeded in getting to the south of the peninsula. It +could only have been the earliest arrivals on the frontier who passed +on. Later arrivals from Western Persia (amongst whom we may reckon the +Medes or Meds) remained in the Indus valley. The bar to frontier +progress lies in the desert which stretches east of the Indus from the +coast to the land of the five rivers. This is indeed India's second +line of defence, and it covers a large extent of her frontier. +Conquerors of the lower Indus valley have been obliged to follow up +the Indus to the Punjab before striking eastwards for the great cities +of the plains. Thus it is not only the Indus, but the desert behind +it, which has barred the progress of immigration and conquest from +time immemorial, and it is this, combined with the command given by +the sea, which differentiates these southern gates of India from the +northern, which lead on by open roads to Lahore, Delhi, and the heart +of India. + +The answer to the problem of immigration is probably simple. There was +a time when the great rivers of India did not follow their courses as +they do now. This was most recently the case as regards the Indus and +the rivers of Central India. In the days when there was no Indus delta +and the Indus emptied itself into the great sandy depression of the +Rann of Katch, another great lost river from the north-east, the +Saraswati, fed the Indus, and between them the desert area was +immensely reduced if it did not altogether disappear. Then, possibly, +could the cairn-erecting stone-monument building Dravidian sneak his +way along the west coast within sight of the sea, and there indeed has +he left his monuments behind him. Otherwise the Dravidian element of +Central Southern India could only have been gathered from beyond the +seas; a proposition which it is difficult to believe. However, never +since that desert strip was formed which now flanks the Indus to the +east can there have been a right-of-way to the heart of India by the +gateways of the west. The earliest exploration of these western roads, +of which we can trace any distinct record, was once again due to the +enterprise of the Greeks. We need not follow Alexander's victorious +footsteps through India, nor concern ourselves with the voyage of his +fleet down the Indus, and from the mouth of the Indus to Karachi. +General Haig, in his pamphlet on the Indus delta, has traced out his +route[3] with patient care, demonstrating from observations taken +during the course of his surveys the probable position of the +coast-line in those early days. + +From Karachi to the Persian Gulf, a voyage undertaken 300 years B.C., +of which a log has been kept from day to day, is necessarily of +exceeding interest, if only as an indication of a few of the changes +which have altered the form of that coast-line in the course of +twenty-two centuries. This old route from Arabia to the west coast of +India can hardly be left unnoticed, for it illustrates the earliest +beginning of those sea ways to India which were destined finally to +supplant the land ways altogether. I have already pointed out that, +judged by the standard of geographical aptitude only, there is no +great difficulty in reaching Persia from Karachi. But geographical +distribution of mountain, river, and plain is not all that is +necessary to take into account in planning an expedition into new +territory. There is also the question of supplies. This was the rock +on which Alexander's enterprise split. In moving out of India towards +Persia he adopted the same principle which had stood him in good stead +on the Indus, viz. the maintenance of communication between army and +fleet. Naturally he elected to retire from India by a route which as +far as possible touched the sea. This was his fatal mistake, and it +cost him half his force. + +We need not trouble ourselves further with the ethnographical +conditions of that extraordinary country, Makran, in Alexander's time; +nor need we follow in detail the changes which have taken place in the +general configuration of the coast-line between India and the Persian +Gulf during the last 2000 years, references to which will be found in +the _Journal of the Royal Society of Arts_ for April 1901. Apart from +the enormous extension of the Indus delta, and in spite of the +disappearance of many small islands off the coast, the general result +has been a material gain by the land on the sea in all this part of +the Asiatic coast-line. + +Alexander left Patala about the beginning of September 326 B.C. to +push his way through the country of the Arabii and Oritæ to Gadrosia +(or Makran) and Persia. The Arabii occupied the country between +Karachi and the Purali (or river of Las Bela), and the Oritæ and +Gadrosii apparently combined with other tribes to hold the country +that lay beyond the Purali (or Arabius). He had previously done all +that a good general can do to ensure the success of his movements by +personally reconnoitring all the approaches to the sea by the various +branches of the Indus; by pacifying the people and consolidating his +sovereignty at Patala so as to leave a strong position behind him +entirely subject to Greek authority; and by dividing his force so as +to utilize the various arms with the best possible effect. This force +was comprised in three divisions; one under Krateros included the +heavy transport and invalids, and this was despatched to Persia by a +route which was evidently as well known in that day as it is at +present. It is never contended by any historian that Alexander did not +know his way out of India. On the contrary, Arrian distinctly +insinuates that it was the perversity of pride, the "ambition to be +doing something new and astonishing" which "prevailed over all his +scruples" and decided him to send his crank Indus-built galleys to the +Euphrates by sea, and himself to prove that such an army led by "such +a general" could force a passage through the Makran wilderness where +the only previous records were those of disaster. He had heard that +Cyrus and Semiramis had failed, and that decided him to make the +attempt. + +We can follow Krateros no farther than to point out that his route was +by the Mulla (and not the Bolan) Pass to Kalat and Quetta. Thence he +must have taken the Kandahar route to the Helmund, and following that +river down to the fertile and well-populated plains of lower Seistan +(or Drangia) he crossed the Kirman desert by a well-known modern +caravan route, and joined Alexander at or near Kirman; for Alexander +was "on his way to Karmania" at the time that Krateros joined him, and +not at Pura (the capital of the Gadrosii) as suggested by St. John. +One interesting little relic of this march was dug up by Captain +Mackenzie, R.E., during the construction of the fort on the Miri at +Quetta. A small bronze figure of Hercules was brought to light, and it +now rests in the Asiatic Society's Museum at Calcutta. + +Alexander, as we have said, left Patala about the beginning of +September. But where was Patala? Probably it was neither Hyderabad (as +suggested by General Cunningham) nor Tatta (as upheld by other +authorities), but about 30 miles S.E. of the former and 60 miles +E.N.E. of the latter, in which locality, indeed, there are ruins +enough to satisfy any theory. From Patala we are told by Arrian that +he marched with a sufficient force to the Arabius; and that is all. +But from Quintus Curtius we learn that it was nine marches to Krokala +(a point easier of identification than most, from the preservation of +the name which survived through mediæval ages in the Karak--the +much-dreaded pirate of the coast--and can now be recognized in +Karachi) and five marches thence to the Arabius. He started in cool +monsoon weather. His route, after leaving Krokala, is determined by +the natural features of the country as then existing. There was no +shore route in these days. Alexander followed the subsequent mediæval +route which connected Makran with Sind in the days of Arab ascendancy, +a route that has been used as a highway into India for nearly eight +centuries. It is not the route which now connects Karachi and Las +Bela, but belongs to the later mediæval phase of history. As the sea +then extended at least to Liari, in the basin of the Purali or +Arabius, we are obliged to locate the position of his crossing that +river as being not far south of Las Bela; where in Alexander's time it +was "neither wide nor deep," and in these days is almost entirely +absorbed in irrigation. This does not, I admit, altogether tally with +the five marches of Quintus Curtius. It would amount to over a hundred +miles of marching, some of which would be heavy, though not very much +of it; but the discrepancy is not a serious one. The Arabius may have +been far to the east of its present channel--indeed, there are old +channels which indicate that it was so, and it does not follow that +the river was crossed at the point at which it was struck. The reason +for placing this crossing so far north is that room is required for +subsequent operations. After crossing, we are told that Alexander +"turned to his left towards the sea" (from which he was evidently +distant some space), and with a picked force he made a sudden descent +on the Oritæ. He marched one night only through desert country and in +the morning came to a well-inhabited district. Pushing on with cavalry +only, he defeated the Oritæ, and then later joining hands with the +rest of his forces, he penetrated to their capital city. For these +operations he must necessarily have been hedged in between the Purali +and Hala range, which he clearly had not crossed as yet. Now we are +expressly told by Arrian that the capital city of the Oritæ was but a +village that did duty for the capital, and that the name of it was +Rambakia. The care of it was committed to Hephæstion that he might +colonize it after the fashion of the Greeks. But we find that +Hephæstion certainly did not stay long there, and could only have left +the native village as he found it, with no very extensive +improvements. + +It would be most interesting to decide the position of Rambakia. What +we want to find is an ancient site, somewhere approaching the +sea-coast, say 30 or 40 miles from the crossing of the Purali, in a +district that might once have been cultivated and populous. We have +found two such sites--one now called Khair Kot, to the north-west of +Liari, commanding the Hala Pass; and another called Kotawari, +south-west of Liari, and very near the sea. The latter has but +recently been uncovered from the sand, but an existing mud wall and +its position on the coast indicate that it is not old enough for our +purpose. The other, Khair Kot, is an undoubted relic of mediæval Arab +supremacy. It is the Kambali of Idrisi on the high-road from Armail +(now Bela) to the great Sind port of Debal, and the record of it +belongs to another history. Nevertheless, Khair Kot is exactly where +we should expect Rambakia to be, and quite possibly where Rambakia +was. Amongst the coins and relics collected there, there is, however, +no trace of Greek inscription; but that this corner of the Bela +district was once flourishing and populous there is ample evidence. + +From Rambakia Alexander proceeded with half his targeteers and part of +his cavalry to force the pass which the Gadrosii and Oritæ had +conjointly seized "with the design of stopping his progress." This +pass might either have been the turning pass at the northern end of +the Hala, or it might have been on the water-parting from which the +Phur River springs farther on. I should think it was probably the +former, where there is better room for cavalry to act. + +Immediately after defeating the Oritæ (who apparently made little +resistance) Alexander appointed Leonatus, with a picked force, to +support the new Governor of Rambakia (Hephæstion having rejoined the +army), and left him to make arrangements for victualling the fleet +when it arrived, whilst he pushed on through desert country into the +territory of the Gadrosii by "a road very dangerous," and drawing down +towards the coast. He must then have followed the valley of the Phur +to the coast, and pushed on along the track of the modern telegraph +line till he reached the neighbourhood of the Hingol River. We are +indebted to Aristobulus for an account of this track in Alexander's +time. It was here that the Ph[oe]nician followers of the army +gathered their myrrh from the tamarisk trees; here were the mangrove +swamps, and the euphorbias, which still dot the plains with their +impenetrable clumps of prickly "shoots or stems, so thick set that if +a horseman should happen to be entangled therewith he would sooner be +pulled off his horse than freed from the stem," as Aristobulus tells +us. Here, too, were found the roots of spikenard, so precious to the +greedy Ph[oe]nician followers. These same products formed part of the +coast trade in the days when the Periplus was written, 400 years +later, though there is little demand for them now. + +It was somewhere near the Hingol River that Alexander made a +considerable halt to collect food and supplies for his fleet. His +exertions and his want of success are all fully described by Arrian, +as well as the rude class of fishing villages inhabited by +Ichthyophagi, all the latter of which might well be cut out of the +pages of Greek history and entered in a survey report as modern +narrative. After this we have but slight indications in Arrian's +history of Alexander's route to Pura, the capital of Gadrosia. Three +chapters are full of most graphic and lively descriptions of the +difficulties and horrors of that march. We only hear that he reached +Pura sixty days after leaving the country of the Oritæ, and there is +no record of the number of troops that survived. Luckily, however, the +log kept by the admiral of the fleet, Nearkhos, comes into our +assistance here, and though it is still Arrian's history, it is +Nearkhos who speaks. + +We must now turn back to follow the ships. I cannot enter in detail +into the reasons given by General Haig, in his interesting pamphlet on +the Indus Delta Country, for selecting the Gharo creek as the +particular arm of the Indus which was finally selected for the passage +of the fleet seaward. I can only remark that whilst the nature of the +half-formed delta of that period is still open to conjecture, so that +I see no reason why the island of Krokala, for instance, should not +have been represented by a district which bears a very similar name +nowadays, I fully agree that the description of the coast as given by +Nearkhos can only possibly apply to that section of it which is +embraced between the Gharo creek and Karachi. + +It is only within very recent times that the Gharo has ceased to be an +arm of the Indus. For the present, at any rate, we cannot do better +than follow so careful an observer as General Haig in his conclusions. +There can be little doubt that Alexander's haven, into which the fleet +put till the monsoon should moderate, and where it was detained for +twenty days, was _somewhere near_ Karachi. That it was the modern +Karachi harbour seems improbable. Of all parts of the western coast of +India, that about Karachi has probably changed its configuration most +rapidly, and there is ample room for conjecture as to where that haven +of refuge of 2000 years ago might actually have been. Let us accept +the fleet of river-built galleys, manned with oars, and open to every +phase of wind and weather, as having emerged from it about the +beginning of October, and as having reached the island of Domai, which +I am inclined to identify with Manora. + +Much difficulty has been found in making the estimate of each day's +run, as given in stadia, tally with the actual length of coast. I +think the difficulty disappears a good deal if we consider what means +there were of making such estimates. Short runs in the river between +known landmarks are very fairly consistent in the Greek accounts. On +the basis of such short runs, and with a very vague idea of the effect +of wind and tide, the length of each day's run at sea was probably +reckoned at so much per hour. There could hardly have been any other +way of reckoning open to the Greeks. They recognized no landmarks +after leaving Karachi. Even had they been able to use a log-line it +would have told them but little. Wind and current (for the currents on +this part of the sea mostly follow the monsoon wind) were either +against them or on their beam all the way to the Hingol, and they +encountered more than one severe storm which must have broken on them +with the full force of a monsoon head wind. From the point where the +fleet rounded Cape Monze and followed the windings of the coast to the +harbour of Morontobara the estimates, though excessive, are fairly +consistent; but from this point westward, when the full force of +monsoon wind and current set against them, the estimates of distance +are very largely in excess of the truth, and continue so till the +pilot was shipped at Mosarna who guided them up the coast of Persia. +Thenceforward there is much more consistency in their log. It must not +be supposed that Nearkhos was making a voyage of discovery. He was +following a track that had often been followed before. It was clear +that Alexander knew the way by sea to the coasts of Persia before he +started his fleet, and it is a matter of surprise rather than +otherwise that he did not find a pilot amongst the Malli, who, if they +are to be identified with the Meds, were one of the foremost sea-going +peoples of Asia. His Ph[oe]nician and Greek sailors evidently were +strangers to the coast, and some of his mixed crew of soldiers and +sailors had subsequently to be changed for drafts from the land +forces. + +We cannot now follow the voyage in detail, nor could we, even if we +would, indicate the precise position of those islands of which Arrian +writes between Cape Monze and Sonmiani; some of them may now be +represented by shoals known to the coasting vessels, whilst others may +be connected with the mainland. I have no doubt myself that +Morontobara (the "woman's haven") is represented by the great +depression of the Sirondha lake. Between Morontobara and Krokala +(which about answers to Ras Kachari) they touched at the mouth of the +Purali, or Arabius, not far from Liari, having an island which +sheltered them from the sea to windward, which is now part of the +mainland. Near by the mouth of the Arabius was another island "high +and bare" with a channel between it and the mainland. This, too, has +been linked up with the shore formation, and the channel no longer +exists, but there is ample evidence of the ancient character of this +corner of the coast. Between the Arabius and Krokala (three days' +sail) very bad weather was made, and two galleys and a transport were +lost. It was at Krokala that they joined hands with the army again. +Here Nearkhos formed a camp, and it was "in this part of the country" +that Leonatus defeated the Oritæ and their allies in a great battle +wherein 6000 were slain. Arrian adds that a full account of the action +and its sequel, the crowning of Leonatus with a golden crown by +Alexander, is given in his other work, but as a matter of fact the +other account is so entirely different (representing the Oritæ as +submitting quietly) that we can only suppose this to have been a +separate and distinct action from the cavalry skirmish mentioned +before. + +It must be noted that the coast hereabouts has probably largely +changed. A little farther west it is changing rapidly even now, and it +is idle to look for the names given by the Greeks as marking any +positive locality known at present. Hereabouts at any rate was the +spot where Alexander with such difficulty had collected ten days' +supplies for the fleet. This was now put on board, and the bad or +indifferent sailors exchanged for better seamen. From Krokala, a +course of 500 stadia (largely over-estimated) brought them to the +estuary of the Hingol River (which is described a winter torrent under +the name of Tomeros), and from this point all connection between the +fleet and the army appears to have been lost. It was at the mouth of +the Hingol that a skirmish took place with the natives which is so +vividly described by Nearkhos, when the Greeks leapt into the sea and +charged home through the surf. Of all the little episodes described in +the progress of the voyage this is one of the most interesting; for +there is a very close description given of certain barbarians clothed +in the skins of fish or animals, covered with long hair, and using +their nails as we use fish-knives, armed with wooden pikes hardened in +the fire, and fighting more like monkeys than men. Here we have the +real aboriginal inhabitants of India. Not so very many years ago, in +the woods of Western India, a specimen almost literally answering to +the description of Nearkhos was caught whilst we were in the process +of surveying those jungles, and he furnished a useful contribution to +ethnographical science at the time. Probably these barbarians of +Nearkhos were incomparably older even than the Turanian races which we +can recognize, and which succeeded them, and which, like them, have +been gradually driven south into the fastnesses of Central and +Southern India. + +Makran is full of Turanian relics connecting it with the Dravidian +races of the south; but there is no time to follow these interesting +glimpses into prehistoric ethnography opened up by the log of +Nearkhos. Nor, indeed, can we follow the voyage in detail much +farther, for we have to take up the route of Alexander, about which +very much less has hitherto been known than can be told about the +voyage of Nearkhos. We may, however, trace the track of Nearkhos past +the great rocky headland of Malan, still bearing the same name that +the Greeks gave it, to the commodious harbour of Bagisara, which is +likely enough the Damizar, or eastern bay, of the Urmara headland. The +Padizar, or western bay, corresponds more nearly with the name +Bagisara, but as they doubled a headland next day it is clear they +were on the eastern side of the Isthmus. The Pasiris whom he mentions +have left frequent traces of their existence along the coast. Kalama, +reached on the second day from Bagisara, is easily recognizable in the +Khor Khalmat of modern surveys, and it is here again that we can trace +a very considerable extension of the land seawards that would +completely have altered the course of the fleet from the coasting +track of modern days. The island of Karabine, from which they procured +sheep, may very well have been the projecting headland of Giaban, now +connected by a low sandy waste with the mainland. It could never have +been the island of Astola, as conjectured by M'Crindle and others. +From Kalama to Kissa (now disappeared) and Mosarna, along the coast +called Karbis (now Gazban), the course would again be longer than at +present, for there is much recent sand formation here; and when we +come to Mosarna itself, after doubling the headland of Jebel Zarain, +we find the harbour completely silted up. It may be noted that this +western bay of Pasni was probably exactly similar to the Padizar of +Urmara or of Gwadur, and that there is a general (but not universal) +tendency to shallowing on the western sides of all the Makran +headlands. Here they took the pilot on board, and after this there was +little difficulty. + +In three more days they made Barna (or Badara), which answers to +Gwadur, where were palm trees and myrtles, and we need follow them for +the present no farther. Colonel Mockler, who was well acquainted with +the Makran coast, but hardly, perhaps, appreciated all the changes +which the coast-line has undergone (neither, indeed, did I till the +surveys were complete), has traced the course of that historic fleet +with great care. He has pointed out correctly that two islands (Pola +and Karabia) have disappeared from the eastern neighbourhood of the +Gwadur headland and one (Derenbrosa) from its western extremity; and +he might have added that yet another is breaking up, and rapidly +disappearing off the headland of Passabandar, near Gwadur. He has +identified Kyiza (or Knidza), the small town built on an eminence not +far from the shore, which was captured by stratagem, beyond doubt, and +has traced the fleet from point to point with a careful analysis of +all existing records that I cannot pretend to imitate. We cannot, +however, leave Nearkhos without a passing reference to that island on +the coast of the Ichthyophagi, and which was sacred to the sun, and +which was, even in those days, enveloped in such a halo of mystery and +tradition that even Arrian holds Nearkhos up to contempt for expending +"time and ingenuity in the not very difficult task of proving the +falsehood" of these "antiquated fables." I have been to that island, +the island of Astola, and the tales that were told to Nearkhos are +told of it still. There, off the southern face of it, is the "sail +rock," the legendary relic of a lost ship which may well have been the +transport which Nearkhos did undoubtedly lose off its rocky shores. +There, indeed, I did not find the Nereid of such fascinating manners +and questionable customs as Nearkhos describes on the authority of the +inhabitants of the coast, but sea-urchins and sea-snakes abounded in +such numbers as to make the process of exploration quite sufficiently +exciting; and there were not wanting indications of those later days +when the Meds (now an insignificant fish-eating people scattered in +the coast hamlets) were the dreaded pirates of the Arabian Sea, and +used to convey the crews of the ships they captured to that island, +where they were murdered wholesale. It is curious that the name given +by Nearkhos is Nosala, or Nuhsala. In these days it is Astola, or more +properly Hashtala, sometimes even called Haftala. I am unable to +determine the meaning of the termination to which the numerals are +prefixed. Another name for it is Sangadip, which is also the mediæval +name for Ceylon. There can be no doubt about the identity of this +island of sun worship and historic fable. + +We must now turn to Alexander. We left him near the mouth of the +Hingol, then probably four or five miles north of its present +position, and nearer the modern telegraph line. So far he had almost +step by step followed out the subsequent line of the Indo-Persian +telegraph, and at the Hingol he was not very far south of it. Near +here Leonatus had had his fight with the Oritæ, and Alexander had +spent much time (for it must be remembered that he started a month +before his fleet, and that the fleet and Leonatus at least joined +hands at this point) in collecting supplies of grain from the more +cultivated districts north, and was prepared to resume his march along +the coast, true to his general tactical principle of keeping touch +with his ships. But an obstacle presented itself that possibly he had +not reckoned on. The huge barrier of the Malan range, abutting direct +on the sea, stopped his way. There was no "Buzi" pass (or goat track) +in those days, such as finally and after infinite difficulty helped +the telegraph line over, though there was indeed an ancient stronghold +at the top, which must have been in existence before his time, and was +likely enough the original city of Malan. He was consequently forced +into the interior, and here his difficulties began. + +We should be at a loss to follow him here, but for the fact that there +is only one possible route. He followed up the Hingol till he could +turn the Malan by an available pass westward. Nothing here has altered +since his days. Those magnificent peaks and mountains which surround +the sacred shrine of Hinglaz are, indeed, "everlasting hills," and it +was through them that he proceeded to make his way. It would be a +matter of immense interest could one trace any record of the Hinglaz +shrine in classical writings, but there is none that I know of. And +yet I believe that shrine which, next possibly to Juggernath, draws +the largest crowds of pilgrims (Hindu and Mussulman alike) of any in +India, was in existence before the days of Alexander. For the shrine +is sacred to the goddess Nana (now identified with Siva by Hindus), +and the Assyrian or Persian goddess Nana is of such immense antiquity +that she has furnished to us the key to an older chronology even than +that of Egypt. The famous cylinder of Assurbanipal, King of Assyria, +tells us that in the year 645 B.C. he destroyed Susa, the capital of +Elam, and from its temple he carried back the Chaldean goddess Nana, +and by the express command of the goddess herself, took her from +whence she had dwelt in Elam, "a place not appointed her," and +reinstated her in her own sanctuary at Urukh (now Warka in +Mesopotamia), whence she had originally been taken 1635 years before +by a conquering king of Elam, who had invaded Accad territory. Thus +she was clearly a well-established deity in Mesopotamia 2280 years +B.C. Alexander, however, would have left that Ziarat hidden away in +the folds of the Hinglaz mountain on his left, and followed the +windings of the Hingol River some forty miles to its junction with a +stream from the west, which would again give him the chance of +striking out parallel to the coast. + +We should be in some doubt at what particular point Alexander left the +Hingol, but for the survival of names given in history as those of a +people with whom he had to contend, viz. the Parikanoi, the Sagittæ, +and the Sakæ, names not mentioned by Arrian. Now, Herodotus gives the +Parikanoi and Asiatic Ethiopians as being the inhabitants of the +seventeenth satrapy of the Persian Empire, and Bellew suggests that +the Greek Parikanoi is a Greek transcript of the Persian form of +Parikan, the plural of the Sanscrit Parvá-ka--or, in other words, the +_Ba-rohi_--or men of the hills. However this may be, there is the bed +of the stream called Parkan skirting the north of the Taloi range and +leading westwards from the Hingol, and we need look no farther for the +Parikanoi. In support of Bellew's theory it may be stated that it is +not only in the heart of the Brahui country, but the Sajidi are still +a tribe of Jalawan Brahuis, of which the chief family is called Sakæ, +and that they occupy territory in Makran a little to the north of the +Parkan. There is every reason why Alexander should have selected this +route. It was his first chance of turning the Malan block, and it led +most directly westwards with a trend towards the sea. But at the time +of the year that he was pushing his way through this low valley +flanked by the Taloi hills, which rose to a height of 2000 feet above +him on his left, there would not be a drop of water to be had, and the +surrounding wilderness of sandy hillocks and scanty grass-covered +waste would afford his troops no supplies and no shelter from the +fierce autumn heat. All the miseries of his retreat were concentrated +into the distance (about 200 miles) between the Hingol and the coast. + +The story of that march is well told by Arrian. It was here that +occurred that gallant episode when Alexander proudly refused to drink +the small amount of water that was offered him in a helmet, because +his army was perishing with thirst. It must have been near the harbour +of Pasni, once again almost on the line of the present telegraph, that +Alexander emerged from the sand-storm with but four horsemen on to +the sea-coast at last, and instantly set to work to dig wells for his +perishing troops. Thenceforward Arrian tells us only that he marched +for seven days along the coast till he reached the well-known highway +to Karmania, when he turned inland, and his difficulties were at an +end. Now, that well-known highway was almost better known then than it +is now. He could only leave the coast near the Dasht River at Gwadur, +and strike across into the valley of the Bahu, which would lead him +through a country subsequently great in Arabic history, over the yet +unsuspected sites of many famous cities, to Bampur, the capital of +Gadrosia. From leaving the coast to Bampur the duration of his march +with an exhausted force would be little less than a month. Working +backward again from that same point (which may be regarded as an +obligatory one in his route) the seven days' weary drag through the +sand of the coast would carry him no farther than from the +neighbourhood of Pasni, and that is why I have selected that point for +the historic episode of his guiding his army by chance and emerging on +to the shore unexpectedly, rather than the neighbourhood of the Basol +River, to which the Parkan route should naturally have led him. He +clearly lost his way, as Arrian says he did, or else the estimated +number of marches is wrong. We are told by Arrian that he reached +Pura, the capital of Gadrosia, on the sixtieth day after leaving the +country of the Oritæ. This is a little indefinite, as he may be +considered to have left the country of the Oritæ when he started to +collect supplies from the northern district, and we do not know how +long he was on this reconnaissance. Probably, however, the date of +leaving the coast and striking inland up the Hingol River is the date +referred to by Arrian, in which case we may estimate that he spent +about twenty-four days negotiating the fearful country opened up to +him on the Parkan route ere he touched the seashore again. This is by +no means an exaggerated estimate if we consider the distance +(something short of 200 miles) and the nature of his army. A +half-armed mob, which included women and children, and of which the +transport consisted of horses and mules and wooden carts dragged by +men, cannot move with the facilities of a modern brigade. Nor would a +modern brigade move along that line with the rapidity that has +distinguished some of our late man[oe]uvres in South Africa. On the +whole, I think the estimate a probable one, and it brings us to +Bampur, the ancient capital of Gadrosia. + +We have now followed Alexander out of India into Persia. Thenceforward +there are no great geographical questions to decipher, or knots to be +untied. His progress was a progress of triumph, and the story of his +retreat well ends with the thrilling tale of his meeting again with +Nearkhos, after the latter had harboured his fleet at the mouth of the +Minab River and set out on the search for Alexander, guided by a +Greek who had strayed from Alexander's army. Blackened by exposure and +clothed in rags, Nearkhos was unrecognized till he announced himself +to the messenger sent to look for him. Even Alexander himself at first +failed to recognize his admiral in the extraordinary apparition that +was presented to him in his camp, and could only believe that his +fleet must have perished and that Nearkhos and Arkias were sole +survivors. We can imagine what followed. Those were days of ready +recognition of service and no despatches, and all Persia was open to +the conquerors to choose their reward. + +After Alexander's time many centuries elapsed before we get another +clear historic view into Makran, and then what do we find? A country +of great and flourishing cities, of high-roads connecting them with +well-known and well-marked stages; armies passing and re-passing, and +a trade which represented to those that held it the dominant +commercial power in the world, flowing steadily century after century +through that country which was fatal to Alexander, and which we are +rather apt now to consider the fag-end of the Baluchistan wilderness. +The history of Makran is bound up with the history of India from time +immemorial. Not all the passes of all the frontiers of India put +together have seen such traffic into the broad plains of Hindustan as +for certainly three, and possibly for eight, centuries passed through +the gateways of Makran. As one by one we can now lay our finger on +the sites of those historic cities, and first begin faintly to measure +the importance of Makran to India ere Vasco da Gama first claimed the +honour of doubling the Cape and opened up the ocean highway, we can +only be astonished that for four centuries more Makran remained a +blank on the map of the world. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[3] _Indus Delta Country_, 1894. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +CHINESE EXPLORATIONS--THE GATES OF THE FAR NORTH + + +There are many gateways into India, gateways on the north as well as +the north-west and west, and although these far northern ways are so +rugged, so difficult, and so elevated that they can hardly be regarded +as of political or strategic importance, yet they are many of them +well trodden and some were once far better known than they are now. +Opinions may perhaps differ as to their practical value as military or +commercial approaches under new conditions of road-making, but they +never have, so far, been utilized in either sense, and the interest of +them is purely historical. These are the ways of the pilgrims, and we +are almost as much indebted to Chinese records for our knowledge of +them as we are to the researches of modern explorers. + +For many a century after Alexander had left the scene of his Eastern +conquests historical darkness envelopes the rugged hills and plains +which witnessed the passing of the Greeks. The faith of Buddha was +strong before their day, but the building age of Buddhism was later. +No mention is to be found in the pages of Greek history of the +magnificent monuments of the creed which are an everlasting wonder of +the plains of Upper India. Such majestic testimony to the living force +of Buddhism could hardly have passed unnoticed by observers so keen as +those early Greeks; and when next we are dimly lighted on our way to +identify the lines of movement and the trend of commerce on the Indian +frontier, we find a new race of explorers treading their way with +pious footsteps from shrine to shrine, and the sacred books and +philosophic teaching of a widespreading faith the objects of their +quest. The Chinese pilgrim Fa Hian was the first to leave a permanent +record of his travels. His date is about A.D. 400, and he was only one +of a large number of Chinese pilgrims who knew the road between India +and China far better than any one knew it twenty-five years ago. + +Although the northern approaches to India from the direction of China +are rather far afield, yet recent revelations resulting from the +researches of such enterprising travellers as Sven Hedin and Stein, +confirming the older records, require some short reference to the +nature of those communications between the outside world of Asia and +India which distinguished the early centuries of our era. In those +early centuries there was to be found in that western extension of +the Gobi desert which we call Chinese Turkistan, in the low-lying +country, mostly sand-covered, which stretches to a yellow horizon +northward beneath the shimmering haze of an almost perpetual dust +veil, very different conditions of human existence to those which now +prevail. The zone of cultivation fed by the streams of the Kuen Lun +was wider, stretching farther into the desert. Rivers ran fuller of +water, carrying fertility farther afield; great lakes spread +themselves where now there are but marshes and reeds, and cities +flourished which have been covered over and buried under accumulating +shifting sand for centuries. A great central desert there always has +been within historic period, but it was a desert much modified by +bordering oases of green fertility, and a spread of irrigated +cultivation which is not to be found there now. + +Amongst the most interesting relics recovered from some of these +unearthed cities are certain writings in Karosthi and Brahmi (Indian) +script, which testify to the existence of roads and posts and a +regular system of communication between these cities of the plain, +which must have been in existence in those early years of the +Christian era when Karosthi was a spoken language in Northern India. +All this now sand-buried country was Buddhist then, and a great city +overlooked the wide expanse of the Lop Lake, and the rivers of the +southern hills carried fertility far into the central plain. When the +pilgrim Fa Hian trod the weary road from Western China to Chinese +Turkistan by way of Turfan and the Buddhist city of Lop, he followed +in a groove deep furrowed by the feet of many a pilgrim before him, +and a highway for devotees for many a century after. + +Strange as it may seem, the ancient people of this desert waste--the +people who now occupy the cultivated strip of land at the foot of the +Kuen Lun mountains which shut them off from Tibet--are an Indian race, +or rather a race of Indian extraction, far more allied to the +Indo-European than to any Mongol, Chinese, Tibetan, or Turk race with +which they may have been recently admixed. Did they spread northward +from India through the rugged passes of Northern Kashmir, taking with +them the faith of their ancestors? We do not know; but there can be +little doubt that the Chanto of the Lop basin and of Turfan is the +lineal successor of the people who welcomed the Chinese pilgrims in +their search after truth. Buddhist then and Mahomedan now, they seem +to have lost little of their genial spirit of hospitality to +strangers. + +Khotan (Ilchi) was the central attraction of Western Turkistan, one at +least of the most blessed wayside fountains of faith, the ultimate +sources of which were only to be found in India. Those ultimate +sources have long left India. They are concentrated in Lhasa now, +which city is still the sanctuary of Buddhism to the thousands of +pilgrims who make their way from China on the east and Mongolia on the +north as full of devout aspiration and of patient searching after +spiritual knowledge as was ever a Chinese pilgrim of past ages. Not +only was Western Turkistan full of the monuments and temples of +Buddhism scattered through the length of the green strips of territory +which bordered the dry steppe of the central depression watered on the +north by the Tarim River, and on the south by the many mountain +streams which rushed through the gorges of the Kuen Lun, but there was +an evident extension of outward and visible signs of the faith to the +northward, embracing the Turfan basin, which in many of its physical +characteristics is but a minor repetition of that of Lop, and possibly +even as far west as the great Lake Issyk Kul. Thus the old pilgrim +route to India from Western China, which was chosen by the devotee so +as to include as many sacred shrines as could possibly be made to +assist in adding grace to his pilgrimage, was a very different route +to that now followed by the pious Mongolian or Western Chinaman to +Lhasa. + +Avoiding the penalties of the Nan Shan system of mountains which +guards the Tibetan plateau on the north-east, these early pilgrims +held on their journey almost due west, and, skirting the Mongolian +steppe within sight of the Tibetan frontier hills, they reached +Turfan; then turning southward, they passed on to the Lop Nor lake +region by a well-ascertained route, which at that time intersected the +well-watered and fertile land of Lulan. There is water still in the +lower Tarim and in the Konche River beds, but it has proved in these +late years to be useless for agricultural development owing to the +increasing salinity of the soil. Several recent attempts at +recolonizing this area have resulted in total failure. From the Lop +Lake to Khotan _via_ Cherchen the old-world route was much the same as +now, but the width of fertility stretched farther north from the Kuen +Lun foothills, and the temples of Buddhism were rich and frequent, and +thus were pious pilgrims refreshed and elevated every step of the way +through this Turkistan region. Khotan appears to have been the local +centre of the faith. No lake spread out its blue waters to catch the +sky reflections here, but from the cold wastes of Tibet, through the +gorges of the great Kuen Lun range, the waters of a river flowed down +past the temples and stupas of Ilchi to find their way northward +across the sands to the Tarim. + +The high ritual of Buddhism in its ancient form was strange and +imposing. When we read Fa Hian's account of the great car procession, +we are no longer surprised at the effect which Buddhist symbolism +exercised on its disciples. Fa Hian and his fellow-travellers were +lodged in a sanghârâma, or temple of the "Great Vehicle," where were +three thousand priests "who assemble to eat at the sound of the +_ghantâ_. On entering the dining hall their carriage is grave and +demure, and they take their seats in regular order. All of them keep +silence; there is no noise with their eating bowls; when the +attendants give more food they are not allowed to speak to one another +but only to make signs with the hand." "In this country," says Fa +Hian, "there are fourteen great sanghârâmas. From the first day of the +fourth month they sweep and water the thoroughfares within the city +and decorate the streets. Above the city gate they stretch an awning +and use every kind of adornment. This is when the King and Queen and +Court ladies take their place. The Gomâti priests first of all take +their images in the procession. About three or four li from the city +they make a four-wheeled image car about 30 feet high, in appearance +like a moving palace adorned with the seven precious substances. They +fix upon it streamers of silk and canopy curtains. The figure is +placed in the car with two Bodhisatevas as companions, while the Devas +attend on them; all kinds of polished ornaments made of gold and +silver hang suspended in the air. When the image is 100 paces from the +gate the King takes off his royal cap, and changing his clothes for +new ones proceeds barefooted, with flowers and incense in his hand, +from the city, followed by his attendants. On meeting the image he +bows down his head and worships at its feet, scattering the flowers +and burning the incense. On entering the city the Queen and Court +ladies scatter about all kinds of flowers and throw them down in wild +profusion. So splendid are the arrangements for worship!"[4] Thus +writes Fa Hian, and it is sufficient to testify to the strength of +Buddhism and the magnificence of its ritual in the third century of +our era, when India still held the chief fountains of inspiration ere +the holy of holies was transferred to Lhasa and the pilgrim route was +changed. + +So far, then, we need not look for the influence exercised by the most +recent climatic pulsation of Central Asia which has dried up the +water-springs and allowed the sand-drifts to accumulate above many of +the minor townships of the Lop basin, in order to account for the +trend of Asiatic religious history towards Tibet. It was the gradual +decay of the faith, and its final departure from its birthplace in the +plains of India in later centuries, which sent pilgrims on another +track, and left many of the northern routes to be rediscovered by +European explorers in the nineteenth century. Most of the Chinese +pilgrims visited Khotan, but from Khotan onward their steps were bent +in several directions. Some of them visited Ki-pin, which has been +identified with the upper Kabul River basin. Here, indeed, were +scattered a wealth of Buddhist records to be studied, shrines to be +visited, and temples to be seen. The road from Balkh to Kabul and from +Kabul to the Punjab was pre-eminently a Buddhist route. Balkh, Haibak, +and Bamian all testify, as does the neighbourhood of Kabul itself, to +the existence of a lively Buddhist history before the Mahomedan +Conquest, and between Kabul and India there are Buddhist remains near +Jalalabad which rival in splendour those of the Swat valley and the +Upper Punjab. All these places were objects of devout attention +undoubtedly, but to reach Kabul _via_ Balkh from Khotan it would be +necessary to cross the Pamirs and Badakshan. It is not easy to follow +in detail the footsteps of these devotees, but it is obvious that +until they entered the "Tsungling" mountains they remained north of +the great trans-Himalayan ranges and of the Hindu Kush. The Tsungling +was the dreaded barrier between China and India, and the wild tales of +the horrors which attended the crossing of the mountains testify to +the fact that they were not much easier of access or transit at the +beginning of the Christian era than they are now. + +The direct distance between Khotan and Balkh is not less than 700 +miles, and 700 miles of such a mountain wilderness as would be +involved by the passing of the Pamirs into the valley of the Oxus and +the plains of Badakshan would represent 900 to 1000 of any ordinary +travelling. And yet there appear to be indications of a close +connection between these two centres of Buddhism. The great temple a +mile or two to the west of Khotan, called the Nava Sanghârâma, or +royal new temple, is the same as that to the south-west of Balkh, +according to a later traveller, Hiuen Tsiang, while the kings of +Khotan were said to be descended from Vaisravana, the protector of the +Balkh convent. No modern traveller has crossed Badakshan from the +Pamirs to Balkh, but the general conformation of the country is fairly +well ascertained, and there can be no doubt that the journey would +occupy any pilgrim, no matter how devout and enthusiastic, at least +two and a half months, and another month would be required to traverse +the road from Balkh _via_ Hiabak, or Baiman, over the Hindu Kush to +Kabul. + +Now we are told that Fa Hian journeyed twenty-five days to the Tsen-ho +country, from whence, by marching four days southward, he entered the +Tsungling mountains. Another twenty-five days' rugged marching took +him to the Kie-sha country, a country "hilly and cold" in "the midst +of the Tsungling mountains," where he rejoined his companions who had +started for Ki-pin. It is therefore clear that he did not rejoin them +at Kabul, nor could they have gone there; and the question +arises--Where is Kie-sha? The continuation of Fa Hian's story gives +the solution to the riddle. Another month's wandering from Kie-sha +across the Tsungling mountains took him to North India. It was a +perilous journey. The terrors of it remained engraved on the memory of +the saint after his return to his home in China. Great "poison +dragons" lived in those mountains, who spat poison and gravel-stones +at passing pilgrims, and few there were who survived the encounter. +The impression conveyed of furious blasts of mountain-bred winds is +vivid, and many travellers since Fa Hian's time have suffered +therefrom. "On entering the borders" of India he came to a little +country called To-li. To-li seems to be identified beyond dispute with +Darel, and with this to guide us we begin to see where our pilgrims +must have passed. Fifteen days more of Tsungling mountain-climbing +southwards took him to Wuchung (Udyana), where he remained during the +rains. Thence he went "south" to Sin-ho-to (Swat), and finally +"descended" into Gandara, or the Upper Punjab. + +From these final stages of his journey India-ward there is little +difficulty in recognizing that Kie-sha must be Kashmir. In the first +place, Kashmir lies on the most direct route between Chinese Turkistan +and India. Nor is it possible to believe that the wealth of Buddhist +remains which now appeal to the antiquarian in that delightful garden +of the Himalayas were not more or less due to the first impulse of the +devotees of the early faith to plant the seeds of Buddhism where the +passing to and fro of innumerable bands of pilgrims would of +necessity occur. Through Kashmir lay the high-road to High Asia, at +that time included in the Buddhist fold, where Indian language had +crystallized and corroborated the faith that was born in India. Thus +it was that glorious temples arose amidst the groves and on the slopes +of Kashmir hills, and even in the days of Fa Hian, when Buddhism was +already nine centuries old, there must have been much to beguile the +pilgrim to devotional study. In short, Kashmir could not be overlooked +by any devotee, and whether the direct route thither was taken from +Khotan, or whether Kashmir was visited in due course from Northern +India, we may be certain that it was one of the chief objectives of +Chinese pilgrimage. + +Fa Hian says so little about the kingdom of Kie-sha which can be made +use of to assist us, that it is not easy to identify the part of +Kashmir to which he refers. Twenty-five days after entering the +Tsungling mountains would enable him to reach the valley of Kashmir by +the Karakoram Pass, Leh, and the Zoji-la at the head of the Sind +valley. It is not a matter of much consequence for our purposes which +route he took, as it is quite clear that all these northern routes +were open to Chinese pilgrim traffic from the very earliest times. The +alternative route would be to the head of the Tagdumbash Pamir, over +the Killik Pass, and by Hunza to Gilgit and Astor. The Hunza country +(Kunjut) has always had an attraction for the Chinese. It has been +conquered and held by China, and is still reckoned by its inhabitants +as part of the Chinese Empire. Hunza and Nagar pay tribute to China to +this day. + +If we remember that the pains and penalties of a pilgrimage over any +of the Hindu Kush passes, or by the Karakoram (the chief trade route +through all time), to India, is as nothing to the trials which modern +Mongolian pilgrims undergo between China and Lhasa, over the terrible +altitudes of the Tibetan plateau, there will be little to surprise us +in these earlier achievements. Pioneers of exploration in the true +sense they were not, for the Himalayan byways must have been as well +known to them as were the Asiatic highways to Alexander ere he +attempted to reach India. We may assume, however, that Fa Hian entered +the central valley of Kashmir from Leh, for it gives a reasonable +pretext for his choice of a route out of it. It is not likely that he +would go twice over the same ground. He witnessed the pomp and +pageantry of Buddhist ritual in Kie-sha. The King of the country had +kept the great five-yearly assembly. He had "summoned Sramanas from +the four quarters, who came together like clouds." Silken canopies and +flags with gold and silver lotus-flowers figure amongst the +ritualistic properties, and form part of the processional arrangements +which end with the invariable offerings to the priests. "The King, +taking from the chief officer of the Embassy the horse he rides, with +its saddle and bridle, mounts it, and then, taking white taffeta, +jewels of various kinds, and things required by the Sramanas, in union +with his ministers, he vows to give them all to the priests. Having +thus given them, they are redeemed at a price from the priests." No +mention is made of the price, but as the Kashmiri of the past has been +excellently well described by another pilgrim as a true prototype of +the Kashmiri of the present, it is unlikely that the King lost much by +the deal. + +The description of Kie-sha as "in the middle of the Tsungling range" +would hardly apply to any country but Kashmir, and the fact is noted +that from Kie-sha towards India the vegetation changes in character. +Having crossed Tsungling, we arrive at North India, says Fa Hian, but +to reach the "little country called To-li" (Darel) he would have to +cross by the Burzil Pass into the basin of the Indus, and then follow +the Gilgit River to a point under the shadow of the Hindu Koh range, +opposite the head-waters of the Darel. Crossing the Hindu Koh, he +would then drop straight into this "little country." Remembering +something of the nature of the road to Gilgit ere our military +engineers fashioned a sound highway out of the rocky hill-sides, one +can sympathize with the pious Fa Hian when recalling in after years +the frightful experiences of that journey. + +A few miles beyond Gilgit the rough evidences of a ruined stupa, and a +still rougher outline of a Buddhist figure cut on the rocks which +guard a narrow gorge leading up the Hindu Koh slopes, points to the +take-off for Darel. No modern explorer has followed that route, except +one of the native explorers of the Indian survey who travelled under +the soubriquet of "the Mullah." The Mullah made his way through the +Darel valley to the Indus, and describes it as a difficult route. +There is little variation in the tale of troubled progress, but "the +Mullah" makes no mention of Buddhist relics, nor is it likely that +they would have appealed to him had he seen them. There can be little +doubt, however, that Darel holds some hidden secrets for future +enterprise to disclose. "Keeping along Tsungling, they journeyed +southward for fifteen days," says Fa Hian. "The road is difficult and +broken with steep crags and precipices in the way. The mountain-side +is simply a stone wall standing up 10,000 feet. Looking down, the +sight is confused and there is no sure foothold. Below is a river +called Sintu-ho (Indus). In old days men bored through the walls to +make a way, and spread out side ladders, of which there are seven +hundred in all to pass. Having passed the ladders, we proceed by a +hanging rope bridge to cross the river." All this agrees fairly well +with the Mullah's account of ladders and precipices, and locates the +route without much doubt. The Darel stream joins the Indus some 30 to +35 miles below Chilas, where the course of the latter river is +practically unsurveyed. Crossing the Indus, Fa Hian came to Wuchung, +which is identified with Udyana, or Upper Swat, and there he remained +during the rains. The Indus below the Darel junction is confined +within a narrow steep-sided gorge with hills running high on either +side, those on the east approaching 15,000 and 16,000 feet. There are +villages, groups of flat-roofed shanties, clinging like limpets to the +rocks, but there is little space for cultivation, and no record of +Buddhist remains north of Buner. No systematic search has been +possible. + +Investigations such as led to the remarkable discovery by Dr. Stein of +the site of that famous Buddhist sanctuary marking the spot where +Buddha, in a former birth, offered his body to the starving tigress on +Mount Banj, south of Buner, have never been possible farther north, on +account of the dangerous character of the hill-people of those +regions. Other Chinese pilgrims, Song Yun (A.D. 520) and Huec Sheng, +have recorded that after leaving the capital of ancient Udyana (near +Manglaor, in Upper Swat) they journeyed for eight days south-east, and +reached the place where Buddha made his body offering. "There high +mountains rose with steep slopes and dizzy peaks reaching to the +clouds," etc. "There stood on the mountain the temple of the collected +bones which counted 300 priests." But there is no mention of other +Buddhist sites of importance in the valley of the Indus. Leaving +Udyana, Fa Hian and his companions went south to the country of +Su-ho-to (Lower Swat), and finally ("descending eastward") in five +days found themselves in Gandhara--or the Upper Punjab. Nine days' +journey eastward from the point where they reached Gandhara they came +to the place of Buddha's body-offering, or Mount Banj. Such, in brief +outline, is the story of one pilgrim's journey across the Himalayas to +India. Other pilgrims undoubtedly entered India _via_ the Kabul River +valley, but we need hardly follow them. There were hundreds of them, +possibly thousands, and the pains and penalties of the pilgrimage but +served to add merit to their devotion. + +The point of the story lies in its revelation as regards connection +between Central Asia and India in the early centuries A.D. Clearly +there was no pass unknown or unvisited by the Chinese. Not merely the +direct routes, but all the connecting ways which linked up one +Buddhist centre with another were equally well known. What has +required from us a weary process of investigation to overcome the +difficulties of map-making, was to them, if not exactly an open book, +certainly a geographical record which could be turned to practical +use, and it is instructive to note the use that was made of it. As a +pious duty, bristling with difficulty and danger, travel over the +wandering tracks which pass through the northern gates of the +Himalayas was regarded with fervour; but it may be taken for granted +that less pious-minded adventurers than the Chinese pilgrims would +most certainly have made good use of that geographical knowledge to +exploit the riches of India had such a proceeding been possible. We +know that attempts have been made. From the earliest times the Mongol +hordes of China and Central Asia have been directed on India, and no +gateway which could offer any possible hope of admittance has been +neglected. Baktria (Badakshan), lying beyond the mountain barrier, had +been at their mercy. The successors to Alexander's legions in that +country were swamped and dispersed within a century or two of the +foundation of the Greek kingdom; and the Kabul River way to India has +let in army after army. But these northern passes have not only barred +migratory Asiatic hordes through all ages, but have proved too much +even for small organized Mongol military expeditions. + +The Chinese hosts, who apparently thought little of crossing the +Tibetan frontier over a succession of Alpine passes such as no Western +general in the world's history has ever encountered, failed to +penetrate farther than Kunjut. The Mongol invasion of Tibet early in +the sixteenth century (which is so graphically described in the +Tarikh-i-Rashidi by Mirza Haidar) was tentatively pushed into Kashmir +_via_ Ladakh, and was defeated by the natural difficulties of the +country--not by the resistance of the weak-kneed Kashmiri--much, +indeed, as a similar expedition to Lhasa was defeated by cold and +starvation. No modern ingenuity has as yet contrived a method of +dealing with the passive resistance of serrated bands of mountains of +such altitude as the Himalayas. No railway could be carried over such +a series of snow-capped ramparts; no force that was not composed of +Asiatic mountaineers could attempt to pass them with any chance of +success; and these northern lines, these eternal defences of Nature's +making may well be left, a vast silent wilderness of peaks, +undisturbed by man's puny efforts to improve their strength. Certainly +the making of highways in the midst of them is not the surest means of +adding to their natural powers of passive obstruction, although such +public works may possibly be deemed necessary in the interests of +peace and order preservation amongst the "snowy mountain men." + +Chinese pilgrims no longer tread those rocky mountain-paths (except in +the pages of Rudyard Kipling's entrancing work), and the tides of +devotion have set in other directions--to Mecca or to Lhasa; but the +fact that thousands of Buddhist worshippers yearly undertake a journey +which, for the hardships entailed by cold and starvation between the +western borders of China and Lhasa, should surely secure for them a +reserve of merit equal to that gathered by their forefathers from the +"Tsungling" mountains, might possibly lead to the question whether the +plateau of Eastern Tibet does not afford the open way which is not to +be found farther west. If a Chinese force of 70,000 men could advance +into the heart of Tibet, and finally administer a severe defeat on the +Gurkhas (which surely occurred in 1792) in Nepal, it is clear that +such a force could equally well reach Lhasa. It is also certain that +the stupendous mountain-chains and the elevated passes, which are the +ruling features of the eastern entrance into Tibet from China, far +exceed in natural strength and difficulty those which intervene +between the plains of India and Lhasa. We are therefore bound to admit +that it might be possible for an unopposed Chinese force to invade +India by Eastern Tibet; possibly even by the valley of Assam. There +is, however, no record that such an attempt has ever been made. The +savage and untamable disposition of the eastern Himalayan tribes, and +their intense hostility to strangers may have been, through all time, +a strong deterrent to any active exploitation of their country; and +the density of the forests which close down on the narrow ways which +intersect their hills, give them an advantage in savage tactics such +as was not possessed by the fighting Gurkha tribe in Nepal. But +whatever the reason may be, there is apparently no record of any +Chinese force descending through the Himalayas into the eastern plains +of India by any of the many ways afforded by the affluents of the +Brahmaputra. We may, I think, rest very well assured that no such +attempt could possibly be made by any force other than Chinese, and +that it is not likely that it ever will be made by them. We do not (at +present) look to the north-east (to China) for the shadows of coming +events in India. We look to the north, and looking in that direction +we are quite content to write down the approach to India by any +serious military force across Tibet or through the northern gateways +of Kashmir to be an impossibility. + +The footsteps of the Buddhist pilgrim point no road for the tread of +armies. In the interests of geographical research it is well to follow +their tracks, and to learn how much wiser geographically they were in +their day than we are now. It is well to remember that as modern +explorers we are as hopelessly behind them in the spirit of +enterprise, which reaches after an ethical ideal, as we are ahead of +them in the process of attaining exact knowledge of the world's +physiography, and recording it. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[4] _Buddhist Records of the Western World_, vol. i. p. 27. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MEDIÆVAL GEOGRAPHY--SEISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN + + +It was about eight centuries before Buddhism, debased and corrupted, +tainted with Siva worship and loaded with all the ghastly +paraphernalia of a savage demonology, had been driven from India +across the Himalayas, that the Star of Bethlehem had guided men from +the East to the cradle of the Christian faith--a faith so like +Buddhism in its ethical teaching and so unlike in its spiritual +conceptions,--and during those eight centuries Christianity had +already been spread by Apostles and missionaries through the broad +extent of High Asia. Thereupon arose a new propaganda which, spreading +outwards from a centre in south-west Arabia, finally set all humanity +into movement, impelling men to call the wide world to a recognition +of Allah and his one Prophet by methods which eventually included the +use of fire and sword. The rise of the faith of Islam was nearly +coincident (so far as India was concerned) with the fall of Buddhism. +Thenceforward the gentle life-saving precepts of Gautama were to be +taught in the south, and east, and north; in Ceylon, Burma, China, and +Mongolia after being first firmly rooted in Tibet and Turkistan, but +never again in the sacred groves of the land of their birth. And this +raging religious hurricane of Islam swept all before it for century +after century until, checked at last in Western Europe, it left the +world ennobled by many a magnificent monument, and, by adding to the +enlightenment of the dark places of the earth, fulfilled a mission in +the development of mankind. With it there arose a new race of +explorers who travelled into India from the west and north-west, +searching out new ways for their commerce, and it is with them now and +their marvellous records of restless commercial activity that we have +to deal. Masters of the sea, even as of the land, no military and +naval supremacy which has ever directed the destinies of nations was +so widespread in its geographical field of enterprise as that of the +Arabs. The whole world was theirs to explore. Their ships furrowed new +paths across the seas, even as their khafilas trod out new highways +over the land; and at the root of all their movement was the +commercial instinct of the Semite. After all it was the eternal +question of what would pay. Their progenitors had been builders of +cities, of roads, of huge dams for water storage and irrigation, and +directors for public works in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The might of +the sword of Islam but carved the way for the slave-owner and the +merchant to follow. Thus it is that mediæval records of exploration in +Afghanistan and Baluchistan are mostly Arab records; and it is from +them that we learn the "open sesame" of India's landward gates, long +ere the seaports of her coasts were visited by European ships. + +Nothing in the history of the world is more surprising than the rapid +spread of Arab conquests in Asia, Africa, and Western Europe at the +close of the seventh century of our era, excepting, perhaps, the +thoroughness of the subsequent disappearance of Arab influence, and +the absolute effacement of the Arabic language in those countries +which Arabs ruled and robbed. In Persia, Makran, Central Asia, or the +Indus valley, hardly a word of Arabic is now to be recognized. +Geographical terms may here and there be found near the coast, +surviving only because Arab ships still skirt those shores and the +sailor calls the landmarks by old-world names. Even in the English +language the sea terms of the Arab sailor still live. What is our +"Admiral" but the "Al mir ul bahr" of the Arabian Sea, or our "Barge" +but his "Barija," or warship! But in Sind, where Arab supremacy lasted +for at least three centuries, there is nothing left to indicate that +the Arab ever was there. + +The effacement of the Arab in India is chiefly due to the Afghan, the +Turk, and the Mongol. Mahmud of Ghazni put the finishing blow to Arab +supremacy in the Indus valley, when he sacked Multan about the +beginning of the eleventh century; and subsequently the destroying +hordes of Chenghiz Khan and Tamerlane completed the final downfall of +the Empire of the Khalifs. + +Between the beginning of the eighth century and that of the eleventh +the whole world of the Indian north-west frontier and its broad +hinterland, extending to the Tigris and the Oxus, was much traversed +and thoroughly well known to the Arab trader. In Makran we have seen +how they shaped out for themselves overland routes to India, +establishing big trade centres in flourishing towns, burying their +dead in layers on the hill-sides, cultivating their national fruit, +the date, in Makran valleys, and surrounding themselves with the +wealth and beauty of irrigated agriculture. The chief impulse to Arab +exploration emanated from the seat of the Khalifs in Mesopotamia, and +the schools of Western Persia and Bagdad appear to have educated the +best of those practical geographers who have left us their records of +travel in the East; but there are indications of an occasional influx +of Arabs from the coasts of Southern Arabia about whom we learn +nothing whatever from mediæval histories. It will be at any rate +interesting to discuss the general trend of exploration and travel, +associated either with pilgrimage or commerce, which distinguished the +days of Arab supremacy, and which throws considerable light on the +geography of the Indian borderland before its political features were +rearranged by the hand of Chenghiz Khan and his successors. This has +never yet been attempted by the light of recent investigations, and +even now it can only be done partially and indifferently from the want +of completed maps. The borderland which touches the Arabian +Sea--Southern Baluchistan--has been completely explored and mapped, +and the more obvious inferences to be derived from that mapping have +already been made. But Seistan, Karmania, the highways and cities of +Turkistan (Tocharistan) and Badakshan have not, so far as I know, been +outlined in any modern work based on Arab writings and collated with +the geographical surveys of the Russo-Afghan Boundary Commission and +their reports. It was after all but a cursory examination of a huge +area of most interesting country that was possible within the limited +time devoted to boundary demarcation labours in 1883-85; but the +physical features of this part of Asia being now fairly well defined, +there is a good deal to be inferred with reasonable probability from +the circumstance that highways and cities must ever be dependent for +their location on the distributions of topography. + +The first impression produced by the general overlook of all the +historic area which lies between Eastern Persia and the sources on the +Oxus, is one of surprise. There is so little left of this great busy +world of Arab commerce. It seems to have dropped out of the world's +economy, and certain regions to have reverted to a phase of pristine +freedom from sordid competition, which argues much for a decreased +population and a desiccated area of once flourishing lands. + +There are no forests and jungles in Western Afghanistan, or at least +only in restricted spaces on the mountain-slopes, so that there is no +wild undergrowth uprooting and covering the evidences of man's busy +habitation such as we find in Ceylon and the Nepal Tarai; where may be +seen strange staring stone witnesses of the faith of former centuries, +half hidden amidst the wild beauty and luxuriance of tropical forest +growth. There is nothing indeed quite so interesting. Nature has +spread out smooth grass slopes carpeted with sweet flowers in summer, +but frozen and windswept in winter; and beneath the surface we know +for a surety that the buried remains of centuries of busy traffic and +marketing lie hidden, but there is frequently no sign whatever above +ground. It is difficult to account for the utter want of visible +evidence. In the processes of clearing a field for military action, +when it becomes essential to remove some obstructive mud-built village +and trace a clear and free zone for artillery fire, it is often found +that the work of destruction is exceedingly difficult. Only with the +most careful management can the debris be so dispersed that it affords +no better cover to the enemy than the village which it once +represented. As for effacing it altogether, only time, with the +assistance of wind and weather, can accomplish that. But it is +remarkable with what completeness time succeeds. I have stood on the +site of a buried city in Sind--a city, too, of the mediæval era of +Arab ascendency--and have recognized no trace of it but what appeared +to be the turbaned effigies of a multitude of faithful mourners in +various expressive attitudes of grief and despair, who represented the +ancient cemetery of the city. The city had been wiped off the land as +clean as if it had been swept into the sea, but the burying places +remained, and the stone mourners continue mourning through the +centuries. + +The architectural order of these Khalmat tombs is quite Saracenic, and +the vestiges of geometrical design which relieve the plain surface of +the stone work and accentuate the lines of arch and moulding, are all +clean cut and clear. At the end of each tomb, set up on a pedestal, +the folded turban testifies in hard stone to the faith of the occupant +beneath. The sharp edges of the slabs and the clearness of the +ornamental carving are sufficient to prove that the age of these tombs +and monuments cannot be so very remote, although remote enough to have +led to the effacement of the township to which they belong. Sometimes +a mound, where no mound would naturally occur, indicates the base of +one of the larger buildings. Sometimes in the slanting rays of the +evening sun certain shadows, unobserved before, take shape and +pattern themselves into the form of a basement; and almost always +after heavy rain strange little ornaments, beads, and coins, glass +bangles, rings, etc., are washed out on the surface which tell their +own tale as surely as does the widespread and infinitely varied +remnants of household crockery. This last feature is sometimes quite +amazing in its variety and extent, and the quality of the local finds +is not a bad indication of the quality of the local household which +made use of it. "Celadon" ware is abundant from Karachi to Babylon, +and some of it is of extraordinary fineness and beauty of glaze. Pale +sage green is invariably the colour of it, and the tradition of luck +which attaches to it is common from China to Arabia. + +In places where vanished towns were in existence as late as the +eighteenth century (for instance, in the Helmund valley below Rudbar), +debris of pottery may be found literally in tons. In other places, +still living, where generations of cities have gradually waxed and +waned in successive stages, each in turn forming the foundation of a +new growth, it is very difficult to derive any true historical +indication from the debris which is to be found near the surface. +Nothing but systematic and extensive excavation will suffice to prove +that the existing conglomeration of rubbishy bazaars and ruined +mosques is only the last and most unworthy phase of the existence of a +city the glory of whose history is to be found in the world-wide +tradition of past centuries. And so it happens that, moving in the +footsteps of these old mediæval commercial travellers, with the story +of their travels in one's hand, and the indications of hill and plain +and river to testify to the way they went, and a fair possibility of +estimating distances according to their slipshod reckoning of a "day's +journey," one may possess the moral certainty that one has reached a +position where once there stood a flourishing market-town without the +faintest outward indication of it. Without facilities for digging and +delving, and the time for careful examination, there must necessarily +be a certain amount of conjecture about the exact locality of some +even of the most famous towns which were centres of Arab trade through +High Asia. Some indeed are to be found still under their ancient +names, but others (and amongst them many of great importance) are no +longer recognizable in the place where once they palpitated with +vigorous Eastern life. + +The area of Asia which for three or four centuries witnessed the +monopoly of Arab trade included very nearly the whole continent. Asia +Minor may be omitted from that area, and the remoter parts of China; +but all the Indian borderland was literally at their feet; and we can +now proceed to trace out some of their principal lines of route and +their chief halting-places in those districts of which the mediæval +geography has lately become known. + +It is not at all necessary, even if it were possible, to follow the +records of all the eminent Arab travellers who at intervals trod these +weary roads. In the first place they often copied their records from +one another, so that there is much vain repetition in them. In the +second place they are not all equally trustworthy, and their writing +and spelling, especially in place-names, wants that attention to +diacritical marks which in Eastern orthography is essential to correct +transliteration. It is perhaps unfortunate that the most eminent +geographer amongst them should not have been a traveller, but simply a +compiler. + +Abu Abdulla Mohamed was born at Ceuta in Morocco towards the end of +the eleventh century. Being descended from a family named Idris, he +came to be known as Al Idrisi. The branch of the family from which +Idrisi sprang ruled over the city of Magala. He travelled in Europe +and eventually settled at the Court of Roger II. in Sicily. Here he +wrote his book on geography. He quotes the various authors whom he +consulted in its compilation, and derived further information from +travellers whose accounts he compared and tested. The title of his +work is _The Delight of those who seek to wander through the Regions +of the World_, and it is from the French translation of this work by +Jaubert that the following notes on the countries lying beyond the +western borders of India are taken. This account may be accepted as +representing the condition of political and commercial geography +throughout those regions at the end of the eleventh century, some +eighty years or so after the borders of India had been periodically +harried by Mahmud of Ghazni, and not very long before the Mongol host +appeared on the horizon and made a clean sweep of Asiatic +civilization. + +To the west of the Indian frontier in those early days lay the Persian +provinces of Makran and Sejistan (Seistan), which two provinces +between them appear to represent a great part of modern Baluchistan. +The "Belous" were not yet in Baluchistan; they lived north of the +mountains occupied by the "Kufs," with whom they are invariably +associated in Arab geography. "The Kufs," says Idrisi, "are the only +people who do not speak Persian in the province of Kerman. Their +mountains reach to the Persian Gulf, being bordered on the north by +the country of Najirman (?Nakirman), on the south and east by the sea +and the Makran deserts, on the west by the sea and the 'Belous' +country and the districts of Matiban and Hormuz." These are doubtless +the "Bashkird" mountains, and the "species of Kurd, brave and savage" +which inhabited them under the name of Kufs probably represent the +progenitors of the present inhabitants. + +The "Bolous" or "Belous" lived in the plains to the north "right up +to the foot of the mountains," and these are the people (according to +Mr. Longworth Dames) who, hailing originally from the Caspian +provinces, are the typical Baluch tribespeople of to-day. + +These mountains, which Idrisi calls the "cold mountains," extend to +the north-west of Jirift and are "fertile, productive, and wooded." +"It is a country where snow falls every year," and of which "the +inhabitants are virtuous and innocent." There have been changes since +Idrisi's time, both moral and physical, but here is a strong item of +evidence in favour of the theory of the gradual desiccation which has +enveloped Southern Baluchistan and dried up the water-springs of +Makran. What Idrisi called the "Great Desert" is comprehensive. All +the great central wastes of Persia, including the Kerman desert as +well as the basin of the Helmund south of the hills, the frontier +hills of the Sind border up to Multan, were a part of it, and they +were inhabited by nomadic tribes of "thieves and brigands." + +Modern Seistan is a flat, unwholesome country, distributed +geographically on either side of the Helmund between Persia and +Afghanistan. It owes its place in history and its reputation for +enormous productiveness to the fact that it is the great central basin +of Afghanistan, where the Helmund and other Afghan rivers run to a +finish in vast swamps, or lagoons. Surrounded by deserts, Seistan is +never waterless, and there was, in days which can hardly be called +ancient, a really fine system of irrigation, which fertilized a fairly +large tract of now unproductive land on the Persian side of the river. +The amount of land thus brought under cultivation was considerable, +but not considerable enough to justify the historic reputation which +Seistan has always enjoyed as the "Granary of Asia." This traditional +wealth was no doubt exaggerated from the fact that the fertility of +Seistan (like that of the Herat valley, which is after all but an +insignificant item in Afghan territory) was in direct contrast to the +vast expanse of profitless desert with which it was surrounded--a +green oasis in the midst of an Asiatic wilderness. + +The Helmund has taken to itself many channels in the course of +measurable time. Its ancient beds have been traced and mapped, and +with them have been found evidences of closely-packed townships and +villages, where the shifting waters and consequent encroachment of +sand-waves leave no sign of life at present. + +Century after century the same eternal process of obliteration and +renovation has proceeded. Millions of tons of silt have been deposited +in this great alluvial basin. Levels have changed and the waters have +wandered irresponsibly into a network of channels westward. Then the +howling, desiccating winds of the north-west have carried back +sand-waves and silt, burying villages and filling the atmosphere for +hundreds of miles southward with impalpable dust, crossing the Helmund +deserts even to the frontier of India. There is no measurable scale +for the force of the Seistan winds. They scoop up the sand and sweep +clean the surface of the earth, polishing the rounded edges of the +ragged walls of the Helmund valley ruins. It is a notable fact that no +part of these ruins face the wind. All that is left of palaces and +citadels stands "end on" to the north-west. For a few short months in +the year the wind is modified, and then there instantly arises the +plague of insects which render life a burden to every living thing. +And yet Seistan has played a most important part in the history of +Asia, and may play an important rôle again. + +Arab records are very full of Seistan. The earliest of them that give +any serious geographical information are the records of Ibn Haukel, +but there are certainly indications in his account which engender a +suspicion that he never really visited the country. He mentions the +capital Zarinje (of which the ruins cover an enormous area to the east +of Nasratabad, the present capital) and writes of it as a very large +town with five gates, one of which "leads to Bist." There were +extensive fortifications, and a bazaar of which he reckons the annual +revenue to be 1000 direms. + +There were canals innumerable, and always the wind and the windmills. +It is curious that he traces the Helmund as running to Seistan first +and then to the Darya-i-Zarah. This is in fact correct, only the +Darya-i-Zarah (or Gaod-i-Zireh, as we know it) receives no water from +the Helmund until the great Hamún (lagoons) to the north of Nasratabad +are filled to overflow. He also mentions two rivers as flowing into +the Zarah--one from Farah (an important place in his time), which is +impossible, as it would have to cross the Helmund; and one from Ghur. +This indicates almost certainly that the name Zarah was not confined, +as it is now, to the great salt swamp south of Rudbar on the Helmund, +but it included the Hamúns north of Nasratabad, into which the Farah +River and the Ghur River do actually empty themselves. At present +these two great lake systems are separated by about 120 miles of +Helmund River basin, and are only connected occasionally in flood time +by means of the overflow (called Shelag) already referred to. The +mention of Bist, and of the bridge of boats across the river at that +point, is important, for it is clear that about the year A.D. 950 one +high-road for trade eastward was across the desert, _i.e._ _via_ the +Khash Rud valley from Zarinje to about the meridian of 63 E.L. and +then straight over the desert to Bist (Kala Bist of modern mapping). +The further mention of robats (or resting-places) _en route_, +indicates that it was well kept up and a much traversed high-road. +Subsequently Girishk appears to have become the popular crossing-place +of the river, but it is well to remember that the earlier route still +exists, and could readily be made available for a flank march on +Kandahar. + +From Idrisi's writings we learn that a century later, _i.e._ about the +end of the eleventh century, the Seistan province extended far beyond +its present limits. Bamian and Ghur (_i.e._ the central hills of +Afghanistan) were _vis-à-vis_ to that province; Farah was included; +and probably the whole line of the frontier hills from the Sulimanis, +opposite Multan, to Sibi and Kalat. It was an enormous province, and a +new light breaks on its traditional wealth in grain and agricultural +produce when we understand its vast extent. + +The regions of Ghur and Dawar bordered it to the north, and there is a +word or two to be said about both hereafter. Ghur in the eleventh +century included the valley of Herat and all the wedge of mountainous +country south of it to Dawar, but how far Seistan extended into the +heart of the mountain system which culminates to the south-west of +Kabul it is difficult to say. It is difficult to understand the +statement that Bamian, for instance, bordered Seistan, with Ghur in +between, unless, indeed, in these early days of Ghur's history (for +Ghur was only conquered by the Arabs in A.D. 1020, and was still far +from intertwining its history with that of Ghazni when Idrisi wrote) +the greatness of Bamian overshadowed the light of the lesser valleys +of Ghur, and Bamian was the ruling province of Central Afghanistan. +This, indeed, seems possible. The district of Dawar to the south of +Ghur has always been something of a mystery to geographers. Described +by Idrisi as "vast, rich, and fertile," and "the line of defence on +the side of Ghur, Baghnein, and Khilkh," it would be impossible to +place it without a knowledge of the towns mentioned, were it not that +we are told that Derthel, one of the chief towns of Dawar, is on the +Helmund, and that one crosses the river there "in order to reach +Sarwan." This at once indicates the traditional ford at Girishk as the +crossing-place, and Zamindawar as the Dawar of Idrisi. Khilkh then +becomes intelligible also as a town of the Khilkhi (the people who +then occupied Dawar, described as Turkish by Idrisi, and probably +identified with the modern Ghilzai), and finds its modern +representative in the Kalat-i-Ghilzai which crowns the well-known rock +on the road from Kandahar to Kabul. "The country is inhabited by a +people called Khilkh," says Idrisi. "The Khilkhs are of a Turkish +race, who from a remote period have inhabited this country, and whose +habitations are spread to the north of India on the flank of Ghur and +in western Seistan." Thus the position of the Ghilzai in the +ethnography of Central Afghanistan appears to have been established +long before the days of Mongol irruption. Then as now they formed a +very important tribal community. + +It is, however, sometimes difficult to reconcile Idrisi's account of +the routes followed by his countrymen in this part of Asia with +existing geographical features. Deserts and mountains must have been +much the same as they are now, and the best, if not the only, way to +unravel the geographical tangle is to take his itinerary and see where +it leads us. Of Baghnein on the southern borders of Seistan, he says +it is an "agreeable country, fertile and abundant in fruits." From +there (_i.e_. the country, not the town) to Derthel one reckons one +day's journey through the nomad tribes of Bechinks, Derthel being +"situated on the banks of the Helmund and one of the chief towns of +Dawar." + +So we have to cross an open uncultivated region for 40 miles or so +from Baghnein to reach Derthel, on the Helmund. Again, "one crosses +the Helmund at Derthel to reach Sarwan--a town situated about one +day's journey off," on which depends a territory which produces +everything in abundance. "Sarwan is bigger than Fars, and more rich in +fruit and all sorts of productions. Grapes are transported to Bost (or +Bist), a town two days distant passing by Firozand, which possesses a +big market, and is on the traveller's right as he travels to Benjawai, +which is _vis-à-vis_ to Derthel." "Rudhan (?Rudbar) is a small town +south of the Helmund." + +The Helmund valley has been surveyed from Zamindawar to its final exit +into the Seistan lagoons, and we know that at Girishk there is a very +ancient ford, which now marks, and has always marked, the great +highway from Kandahar to Herat. South of Girishk, at the junction of +the Arghandab with the Helmund, we find extensive and ancient ruins at +Kala Bist; and south of that again there are many ruins at intervals +in the Helmund valley; but these latter are comparatively recent, +dating from the time of the Kaiani Maliks of the eighteenth century. + +Assuming that the Helmund fords have remained constant, and placing +Derthel on one side of the river at Girishk and Benjawai on the other, +we find on our modern maps that from the ford it is a possible day's +journey to Kala Sarwan, higher up the Helmund, where "fruit and grapes +are to be had in abundance," and from whence they might certainly have +been sent to Bist, where grapes do not grow. Baghnein, separated from +Derthel by a strip of nomad country, one day's journey wide, might +thus be on either side the Helmund; but its contiguity to Ghur seems +to favour a position to the west, rather than to the east, of the +river, somewhere east of the plains of Bukwa about Washir. + +Now it is certain that no Arab traveller, crossing the Helmund desert +from the west by the direct route recently exploited in British Indian +interests below Kala Bist and south of the river, could by any +possibility have reached a grape-growing and highly-cultivated country +in one day's journey. The inference, then, is tolerably clear. Arab +traders and travellers never made use of this southern route. Nor +should we ourselves make use of such a route as that _via_ Nushki and +the Koh-i-Malik Siah, were we not forced into it by Afghan policy. The +natural high-road from the east of Persia and Herat to India is _via_ +the plains of Kandahar and the ford of Girishk, and the Arabs, with +all Khorasan at their feet, were not likely to travel any other way. + +Undoubtedly the system of approach to the Indus valley, open to Arab +traffic from Syria and Bagdad, most generally used and most widely +recognized was that through the Makran valleys to Karachi and Sind, +whilst the inland route, _via_ Persia and Seistan, made the well-known +ford of the Helmund at Girishk, or the boat bridge at Kala Bist, its +objective, and passed over the river to the plains about Kandahar. But +it is a very remarkable, and possibly a significant, fact that the +continuation of the route to Sind and the Indus valley from the plains +about Kandahar is not mentioned by any Arab writer. Did the Arabs +descend through any of the well-known passes of the frontier--the +Mulla, Bolan, Saki-Sarwar, or Gomul--into the plains of India? +Possibly they did so; but in that case it is difficult to account for +so important a geographical feature as the frontier passes of Sind +being ignored by the greatest geographer of his day. + +Following Idrisi's description of the Helmund province we have a brief +itinerary from the Helmund ford (Derthel or Benjawai) to Ghazni, said +to be nine days' journey inland. None of the places mentioned are to +be identified in modern maps except Cariat, which is more than +probably Kariut, a rich and fertile district in the Arghandab valley +in the direct line to Kalat-i-Ghilzai. This route passes well to the +north-east of Kandahar, which was apparently of little account in +Idrisi's days. Although there are extensive ruins at Kushk-i-Nakhud, +indicated by a huge artificial mound half-way between Girishk and +Kandahar, there is nothing in Idrisi's writings by which they can be +identified. + +Ghazni was then a large town "surrounded by mud walls and a ditch. +There are many houses and permanent markets in Ghazni; much business +is done there. It is one of the 'entrepots' of India. Kabul is nine +days' journey from it." This is not much to say of the city which had +been enriched by the spoils carried away from Muttra and Somnath, and +by the treasures amassed during seventeen fierce raids of that Mahmud +who, by repeated conquests, made all Northern and Western India +contribute to his treasury. + +Later, in 1332, the Arab traveller, Ibn Batuta, writes of Ghazni as a +small town set in a waste of ruins--a description which fits it not +inaptly at the present day; but in Idrisi's time, before the wars with +Ghur led to its destruction, whilst still the wealth of a great part +of India supported its magnificence, and whilst it was still the +theme of glowing panegyric by contemporary historians, one would +expect a rather more enthusiastic notice. But even Kabul (nine days' +journey distant from Ghazni) is only recognized as "_L'une des grandes +villes de l'Inde, entourée de murs_," with a "_bonne citadelle et au +dehors divers faubourgs_."[5] + +There is little to interest us, however, in tracing out the routes +that linked up Ghazni and Kabul with the Helmund. They have been the +same through all time, with just the difference of place-names. Towns +and villages, caravanserais and posts, have come and gone, but that +historic road has been marked out by Nature as one of the grandest +high-roads in Asia, from the days of Alexander to those of Roberts. +Two minars tapering to the sky on the plain before Ghazni are all that +are left of its ancient glories, and one cannot but contrast the +scattered debris of that once so famous city with the solid endurance +of the far greater and older architectural efforts in Egypt and +Assyria. Southern Afghanistan is indeed singularly poor and empty of +historic monuments. Even now were Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat, its +three great cities, to be flattened out by a widespread earthquake +there would be little that was not of Buddhist origin left for the +future archæologist to make a stir about. + +Idrisi writes of the Kingdom of Ghur as apart from Herat, although a +great part of the long Herat valley was certainly included. He calls +it a country "mountainous and well inhabited, where one finds springs, +rivers, and gardens--easy to defend and very fertile. There are many +cultivated fields and flocks. The inhabitants speak a language which +is not that of the people of Khorasan, and they are not Mohammedans." +Who were they? The Khilkhis or Ghilzais we know at that time +overspread the southern hills of Dawar; but who were the people +speaking a strange language in the land of the Chahar Aimak where now +dwell the Taimanis, unless they were the Taimanis themselves whose +traditions date from the time of Moses? + +More recently the Ghilzais have left Zamindawar, and the Taimanis have +been pressed backward and upward into the central hills by the Afghan +Durani clans, who circle round westward, forming a fringe on the +foothills between Herat and Kandahar, and who have now completely +monopolized Zamindawar. Here, indeed, the truculent Nurzai and +Achakzai, and other elements of the Durani section of Afghan +ethnography, flourish exceedingly, and it is in this corner of +Afghanistan, bordering on the Herat highway to India, that nearly all +the fanatics and ghazis of the country are bred. They presented so +turbulent and uncompromising a front to strangers in 1882 that there +was great difficulty in getting a fair survey of the land of the +Chahar Aimak or of Zamindawar. + +The mediæval provinces of Ghur and Bamain figure so largely in the +records of Arab geography, and appear to have been so fully open to +commerce during the centuries succeeding the Arab conquests, that one +naturally wonders whether there can have been any remarkable change in +the physical configuration of those regions which, in these later +days, has rendered them more inaccessible and unapproachable. The Arab +accounts of trade routes flit easily from point to point, taking +little reckoning of long distances and gigantic ice-bound passes, or +the perils of a treacherous climate. An itinerary which deals with +stupendous mountains and extreme altitudes has little more of +descriptive illustration in these Arab records than such as would +apply to camel tracks across the sandy desert or over the flat plain. +Nor is the distance which figures as a "day's journey" sensibly +changed to suit the route. Forty miles or so across the backbone of +the Hindu Kush is written of in much the same terms as if it were +forty miles over the plains. Giving the Arab travellers all credit for +far greater powers of endurance and determination than we moderns +possess, we must still believe that there is a great deal of +exaggeration (or forgetfulness) in these heroic records of the past. +It is unlikely that the physical conditions of the country have +materially changed. + +So little has been written of this central region of modern +Afghanistan (within which lie the ruins of more than one kingdom), so +little has it been traversed by modern explorers, that it may be +useful to give some slight general description of the country with +which these records deal, including Bamain and Kabul and the mountain +system occupied by the Taimani and Hazara tribes as well as the +prolific region of Zamindawar with the routes which traverse it. + +No part of Afghanistan has been subject to more speculative theories, +or requires more practical elucidation, than this mountain region in +which so large a share of the drama of Afghan history has been played. +Before the days of the Anglo-Russian agreement on the subject of the +northern boundaries of Afghanistan nothing was known of its geography, +beyond what might be gathered from the doubtful records of Ferrier's +journey--and that was very little. The geography of a country shapes +its history just as surely in the East as in the West, and we have +consequently much new light thrown on the interesting story of the +rise and fall of the Ghur dynasties by the fairly comprehensive +surveys of the region of their turbulent activities which were carried +out in 1882-83. + +From these sources we obtain a very fair idea of the general +conformation of Central Afghanistan, _i.e._ that part of Afghanistan +which is occupied by the tribes known as the Chahar Aimak, _i.e._ the +Jamshidis, the Hazaras, Firozkohis, and Taimanis. It consists in the +first place of a huge irregular tableland--or uplift--which has been +deeply scored and eroded by centuries of river action, the rivers +radiating from the central mass of the Koh-i-Babar to the west of +Kabul and flowing in deep valleys either directly northward towards +the Oxus, due west towards Herat (eventually to turn northward), or +south-west in irregular but more or less parallel lines to the Helmund +lagoons in Seistan. + +The Kabul River basin also finds its head near the same group of river +sources. The central mountain mass, the Koh-i-Babar, is high, rocky, +generally snow-capped and impassable. To the north it sends down long, +barren, and comparatively gentle spurs to the main plateau level, +which is deeply cut into by the northern system of rivers, including +the Murghab and the Balkh Ab. But the strangest feature in this +network of hydrography is the long, deep, narrow valley (almost +ditch-like in its regularity) which has been eroded by the Hari Rud +River as it makes its way due west, cutting off the sources of the +northern group from those of the Helmund or south-western group. It is +a most remarkable valley, depressed to a depth of 1000 to 2000 feet +below the general plateau level, bounded on the north by a +comparatively level line of red-faced cliffs, and on the south by +another straight flat-backed range called the Band-i-Baian (or farther +west, the Sufed Koh), which has been carved into the semblance of a +range by the parallel valleys of the Hari Rud on the north and the +Tagao Ishlan on the south, which hug the range between them. + +No affluents of any consequence join either stream. Either separate or +together they make their way with straight determination westward +towards Herat. South of this curious ditch rise the many streamlets +which work their way, sometimes through comparatively open valleys +where the floor level has been raised by the centuries of detritus, +sometimes through steep and narrow gorges where the harder rock of the +plateau formation presents more difficulties to erosion, into the +great Helmund basin. These are affluents of the Adraskand, the Farah +Rud, and the Helmund, all of which have the same bourne in the Seistan +depression. High up between the Farah Rud and the Helmund affluents +isolated rugged peaks and short ranges crease and crumple the surface +of the inhospitable land of the Hazaras, who occupy all the highest of +the uplands and all the sources of the streams, a hardy, handy race of +Mongols, living in wild seclusion, but proving themselves to be one of +the most useful communities amongst the many in Afghanistan. We have +some of them as sepoys in the Indian Army. Lower down in the same +river basins, where the gentle grass-covered valleys sweep up to the +crests of the hills, cultivation becomes possible. Here flocks of +sheep dot the hill-sides, and the land is open and free; but there are +still isolated and detached ribs of rocky eminence rising to 11,000 +and 12,000 feet, maintaining the mountainous character of the scenery, +and rivers are still locked in the embrace of occasional gorges which +admit of no passing by. This is the land of that very ancient people, +the Taimanis. + +The fierce and lawless Firozkohis live in the Murghab basin on the +plateau north of the Hari Rud, the Jamshidis to the west of them in +the milder climate of the lower hills, into which the plateau +subsides. + +Whilst we are chiefly concerned in tracing out the mediæval commercial +routes of Afghanistan, we may briefly summarize the events which prove +that those traversed between Herat and the central kingdoms were +important routes, worn smooth by the feet of armies as well as by the +tread of pack-laden khafilas. They are still very rough and they +present solid difficulties here and there, but in the main they are +passable commercial roads, although little commerce wends its way +about them now. + +In the Middle Ages the Kingdom of Ghur included the Herat valley as +far as Khwaja Chist above Obeh in the valley of the Hari Rud, as well +as all the hill country to the south-east. About the earliest mention +of Ghur by any traveller is that of Ibn Haukel, who speaks of Jebel al +Ghur, and talks of plains, ring-fenced with mountains, fruitful in +cattle and crops, and inhabited by infidels (_i.e._ non-Mussulmans). +The later history of Ghur is inextricably intertwined with that of +Ghazni. + +Mahmud of Ghazni frequently invaded the hills of Ghur which lay to the +west of him, but never made any practical impression on the Ghuri +tribespeople. In 1020, however, Mahomedans conquered Ghur effectually +from Herat. About a century later (this is after the time of Idrisi, +whose records we are following) a member of the ruling Ghuri family +(Shansabi) was recognized as lord of Ghur, and it was one of his sons +(Alauddin) who inflicted such terrible reprisals on Ghazni when he +sacked and destroyed that city and its people. It was about this time +(according to some authorities) that the kingdom of Bamian was founded +by another member of the same family; but we find Bamian distinctly +recognized as a separate kingdom by Idrisi a century or so earlier. +From 1174 to 1214 Bamian was the seat of government of a branch of +this family ruling all Tokharistan (Turkistan), during which period +Seistan and Herat were certainly tributary to Ghur. Ghur then became +so powerful, that it was said that prayers in the name of the Ghuri +were read from uttermost India to Persia, and from the Oxus to Hormuz. + +In 1214 Ghur was reduced first by Mahomedans from Khwarezm (Khiva), +and shortly afterwards by Chenghis Khan and his Mongol hosts. About +the middle of the thirteenth century, however, a recrudescence of +power appeared under the Kurt (or Tajik) dynasty subject to the +supreme government of the Mongols. Seistan, Kabul, and Tirah were +then ruled from Herat as the capital of Ghur. Timur finally broke up +Herat and Ghur in 1383, since which time its history has been as +obscure as the geography of the region which surrounded it. Such in +brief is the stormy tale of Ghur, and it leads to one or two +interesting deductions. There was evidently constant and ready +communication with Herat, Bamian, and Ghazni. The capital of Ghur must +have been an important town, situated in a fertile and fairly populous +district, which, although it was mountainous, yet enjoyed an excellent +climate. It must have been a military centre too, with fortresses and +places of defence. During its later history it is clear that Ghur was +often governed from Herat, but in earlier mediæval days Ghur possessed +a distinct capital and a separate entity amongst Afghan kingdoms, and +was able to hold its own against even so powerful an adversary as +Mahmud of Ghazni, whilst its communications were with Bamian on the +north-east rather than with Kabul, which was then regarded as an +"Indian" city. We can at any rate trace no record of a direct route +between Ghur and Kabul. + +In the twelfth century we read that the capital of Ghur was known as +Firozkohi, which name (says Yule) was probably appropriated by the +nomad Aimak tribe now called Firozkohi; but within the limits of what +is now recognized as the habitat of the Firozkohi (_i.e._ the plateau +which forms the basin of the Upper Murghab), it is impossible to find +any place which would answer to what we know of the general condition +of the surroundings and climate of the capital of Ghur, and which +would justify a claim to be considered a position of commanding +eminence. The altitude of the Upper Murghab branches is not more than +6000 to 7000 feet above sea-level, at which height the climate +certainly admits of agriculture, but no place that has been visited, +nor indeed any position in the valleys of the Upper Murghab affluents, +corresponds in any way to what we are told of this capital. + +If we look for the best modern lines of communication through Central +Afghanistan we shall certainly find that they correspond with mediæval +routes, fitting themselves to the conformation of the country. Central +Afghanistan is open to invasion from the north, west, and south, but +not directly from the east. The invasion of Ghur from Ghazni, for +instance, must have been directed by Kalat-i-Gilzai, Kariut, and Musa +Kila (in Zamindawar), to Yaman, which lies a little to the east of +Ghur (or Taiwara). So far as we know there are no passes leading due +west from Ghazni to the heart of the Taimani country. + +From the south the Helmund and its affluents offer several openings +into the heart of the Hazara highlands to the east of Taimani land, +amidst the great rocky peaks of which the positions were fixed from +stations on the Band-i-Baian. But there is no certain information +about the inhabited centres of Hazara population; and from what we +know of that desolate region of winter snow and wind, there never +could have been anything to tempt an invader, nor would any sound +commercial traveller have dreamt of passing that way from Seistan to +Bamian and Kabul. The idea that Alexander ever took an army up the +Helmund valley, and over the Bamian passes, must be regarded as most +improbable in spite of the description of Quintus Curtius, who +undoubtedly describes a route which presented more difficulties than +are quite appropriate to the regular Kandahar to Kabul road. On the +other hand, from Seistan by the Farah Rud there is a route which is +open to wheeled traffic all the way to Daolatyar on the upper Hari +Rud. Daolatyar may be regarded as the focus of several routes trending +north-eastward from Seistan, with the ultimate objective of Bamian and +the populous valleys of Ghur. + +One of the chief affluents of the Farah Rud is now known as the Ghur, +and we need look no farther than this valley for the central interest +of the Ghur kingdom, although the exact position of the capital may +still be open to discussion. Between the Tagao Ghur and the Farah Rud +are the Park Mountains, which are almost Himalayan in general +characteristics and beauty, with delightful valleys and open spaces, +terraced fields, well-built two-storied wooden houses, pretty +villages, orchards with an abundance of walnuts and vines trailing +over the trees; the Ghur valley itself being broad and open with a +clear river of sweet water in its midst. This is near its junction +with the Farah Rud. Above this, for a space, the valley narrows to a +gorge and there is no passing along it, whilst above the gorge again +it becomes wide, cultivated, and well populated, and this is where the +Taimani headquarters of Taiwara are found. Taiwara is locally known as +Ghur, and may be absolutely on the site of the ancient capital, for +there are ruins enough to support the theory. Beyond an intervening +band of hills to the south are two valleys full of cultivation and +trees, wherein are two important places, Nili and Zarni, which +likewise boast of extensive ruins, whilst at Jam Kala, hard by, there +is perched on a high spur above the road with only one approach, a +remarkable stone-built fort. Yaman, to the east of Taiwara, in the +Helmund drainage, is a permanent Taimani village. Here also are very +ancient ruins, and the people say that they date from the time of +Moses. At that time they say that cups were buried with the dead, one +at the head and one at the foot of the corpse. Our native surveyor +Imám Sharif saw one of these cups with an inscription on it, but was +unable to secure the relic. + +Nili and Zarni are in direct connection with Farah, with no +inconvenient break in the comparatively easy line of communication; +and they all (including Taiwara) are in direct communication with +Herat, by a good khafila route (_i.e._ good for camels). But the +routes differ widely, that from Herat to Taiwara by Farsi being more +direct, whilst the route from Herat to Zarni by Parjuman (which is +well kept up between these two places) passes well to the south. All +these places, again, are connected with the Hari Rud valley at Khwaja +Chist (the Ghur frontier) by a good passable high-road, which first +crosses the hills between Zarni and Taiwara, then passes under the +shadow of a remarkable mountain called Chalapdalan, or Chahil Abdal +(12,700 feet high--about which many mysterious traditions still +hover), over the Burma Pass into the Farah Rud drainage, thence over +another pass into the valleys of the Tagao Ishlan, and finally over +the Band-i-Baian into the Hari Rud valley at Khwaja Chist. + +This is the route described by Idrisi as connecting Ghur with Herat, +as we shall see. The Ghur district is linked up with Daolatyar and +Bamian by the Farah Rud line of approach, or by a route, described as +good, which runs east into the Hazara highlands, and then follows the +Helmund. The latter is very high. There is therefore absolutely no +difficulty in traversing these Taimani mountain regions in almost any +direction, and the facility for movement, combined with the beauty and +fertility of the country, all point unmistakably to Taiwara and its +neighbourhood as the seat of the Ghuri dynasty of the Afghan kings. + +The picturesque characteristics of Ghur extend southward to Zamindawar +on its southern frontier, the valleys of the Helmund, the Arghandab, +the Tarnak, and Arghastan--this is a land of open, rolling watersheds, +treeless, but covered with grass and flowers in spring, and crowned +with rocky peaks and ridges of rugged grandeur alternating with the +rich beauty of pastoral fields. The summer of their existence is in +curious contrast to the stern winter of the storm-swept highlands +above them, or the dreary expanse of drab sand-dusted desert below. +The route upstream to the backbone of the mountains, and so over the +divide to the kingdom of Bamian, was once a well-trodden route. + +Since so many routes converge on Daolatyar at the head of the Hari Rud +valley, one would naturally look for Daolatyar to figure in mediæval +geography as an important centre. It is not easy, however, to identify +any of the places mentioned by Idrisi as representing this particular +focus of highland routes. Between Ghur and Herat, or between Ghur and +Ghazni, the difficulty lies in the number and extent of populous +towns, any one of which may represent an ancient site, to say nothing +of ruins innumerable. Between Taiwara and Herat we get no information +from Idrisi till we reach Khwaja Chist on the frontier. He merely +mentions the existence of a khafila road, and then he counts seven +days' journey between Khwaja Chist and Herat, reckoning the first as +"short." + +The names of the halting-places between Khwaja Chist and Herat are +Housab, Auca, Marabad, Astarabad, Bajitan (or Najitan), and Nachan. +Auca I have no hesitation in identifying with Obeh. There is a large +village at Marwa which might possibly represent Marabad, and Naisan +would correspond in distance with Nachan, but this is mere guesswork; +to identify the others is impossible, without further examination than +was undertaken when surveying the ground. + +The story of the commerce of Central Asia, which centred itself in +Herat in the days of Arab supremacy, has a strong claim on the student +of Eastern geography, for it is only through the itineraries of these +wandering Semetic merchants and travellers that we can arrive at any +estimation of the peculiar phase of civilization which existed in Asia +in the mediæval centuries of our era; a period at which there is good +reason to suppose that civilization was as much advanced in the East +as in the West. It is not the professional explorers, nor yet the +missionaries (great as are their services to geography), who have +opened up to us a knowledge of the world's highways and byways +sufficient to lead to general map illustration of its ancient +continents, so much as the everlasting pushing out of trade +investigations in order to obtain the mastery of the road to wealth. + +India and its glittering fame has much to answer for, but India (that +is to say, the India we know, the peninsula of India) was so much +more get-at-able by sea than by land even in the early days of +navigation, that we do not learn so much about the passes through the +mountains into India as the way of the ships at sea, and the coast +ports which they visited. According to certain Arab writers large +companies of Arabs settled in the borderland and coasts of India from +the very earliest days. Indeed, there are evidences of their existence +in Makran long before the days of Alexander; but there is very little +evidence of any overland approach to India across the Indus. +Hindustan, to the mediæval Arab, commenced at the Hindu Kush, and +Kabul and Ghazni were "Indian" frontier towns; and the invasions and +conquests of India dating back to Assyrian times include no more than +the Indus basin, and were not concerned with anything farther south. +The Indus, with its flanking line of waterless desert, was ever a most +effectual geographical barrier. + +The Arabs entered India and occupied the Indus valley through Makran, +and throughout their writings we find, strangely, little reference to +any of the Indian frontier passes which we now know so well. But in +the north and north-west of Afghanistan, in the Seistan and the Oxus +regions, they were thoroughly at home both as traders and travellers; +and with the assistance of their records we can make out a very fair +idea of the general network of traffic which covered High Asia. The +destroying hordes of the subsequent Mongol invasions, and the +everlasting raids of Turkmans and Persians on the border, have clean +wiped out the greater number of the towns and cities mentioned by +them, and the map is now full of comparatively modern Turkish and +Persian names which give no indication whatever of ancient occupation. +There are, nevertheless, some points of unmistakable identity, and +from these we can work round to conclusions which justify us in +piecing together the old route-map of Northern Afghanistan to a +certain extent. This is not unimportant even to modern geographers. +The roads of the old khafila travellers may again be the roads of +modern progress. We know, at any rate, that the Arabs of 1000 years +ago were much the same as the Arabs of to-day in their manners and +methods. Their routes were camel routes, not horse routes, and their +day's journey was as far as a camel could go in a day, which was far +in the wider and more waterless spaces of desert or uninhabited +country, and very much shorter when convenient halting-places +occurred. These Arab itineraries are bare enumeration of place-names +and approximate distances. As for any description of the nature of the +road or the scenery, or any indication of altitude (which they +possibly had no means of judging), there is not a trace of it; and the +difficulties of transliteration in place-names are so great as to +leave identification generally a matter of mere guesswork. + +One of the most interesting geographical centres from which to take +off is Herat, and it may be instructive to note what is said about +Herat itself and its connections with the Oxus and Seistan. Herat, +says Idrisi, is "great and flourishing, it is defended inside by a +citadel, and is surrounded outside by 'faubourgs.' It has many gates +of wood clamped with iron, with the exception of the Babsari gate, +which is entirely of iron. The Grand Mosque of the town is in the +midst of the bazaars.... Herat is the central point between Khorasan, +Seistan, and Fars." Ibn Haukel (tenth century) mentions a gate called +the Darwaza Kushk, which is evidence that Kushk was of importance in +those days, though no separate mention is made of that place; and he +adds that the iron gate was the Balkh gate, and was in the midst of +the city. The strategical value of the position was clearly +recognized. + +That grand edifice, the Mosalla, with its mosques and minars, which +stood outside the walls of Herat and was the glory of the town in 1883 +(when it was destroyed in the interests of military defence), had no +previous existence in any other form than that which was given it when +it was built in the twelfth century. + +Both Ibn Haukel and Idrisi mention a mountain about six miles from +Herat, from which stone was taken for paving (or mill-stones), where +there was neither grass nor wood, but where was a place (in Ibn +Haukel's time, but not mentioned by Idrisi) "inhabited, called Sakah, +with a temple or Church of Christians." Idrisi says this mountain was +"on the road to Balkh, in the direction of Asfaran." This would seem +to indicate that Asfaran, "on the road to Balkh," must be Parana (or +Parwana), an important position about a day's march north of Herat. +Ibn Haukel says nothing about the road to Balkh, which can only be +northward from Herat, but merely mentions that the mountain was on the +desert or uncultivated side of Herat, where was a river which had to +be crossed by a bridge. This could only be _south_ of Herat. Asfaran +is also stated to be on the road to _Seistan_ and to have had four +places dependent on it, one of which was Adraskand; and the route to +Asfaran from Herat is further described as three days' journey +(Idrisi). Ibn Haukel also describes Asfaran as possessing four +dependent towns, and places it between Farah and Herat, or _south_ of +Herat. As Adraskand[6] is a well-known place between Herat and Farah, +we must assume that this is either another Asfaran, or that Idrisi has +made a mistake in copying Ibn Haukel. It might possibly be represented +by Parah, twenty-five miles south-west of Herat, although the limited +area of cultivable ground around renders this unlikely. Subzawar would +indicate a far more promising position for an important trade centre +such as Asfaran must have been, and would accord better with the three +days' journey from Herat of Idrisi, or the itinerary from Farah given +by Ibn Haukel, while the extensive ruins around testify to its +antiquity. Asfaran was almost certainly Subzawar. + +Considering the interest which may once again surround the question of +communications from Herat to India, it may be useful to point out that +the route connecting Farah with Herat 1000 years ago remains +apparently unchanged. The bridge called the Pul-i-Malun, over the Hari +Rud, must have been in existence then, and there was another bridge +over the Farah River one day's march below Farah, on the highway +between Herat and Seistan. To the west of Herat, on the ruin-strewn +road to Sarakhs, we have one or two interesting geographical +propositions. + +Idrisi mentions a place possessing considerable local importance +"before Herat had become what it is now," about 9 miles west of Herat, +called Kharachanabad. This can easily be recognized in the modern +Khardozan, a walled but very ancient town, which is about 8½ miles +distant. Between it and the walls of the city there is now no place of +importance, nor does it appear likely, for local reasons, that there +ever could have been any. Another place, called Bousik, or Boushinj +(Pousheng, according to Ibn Haukel), is said to be half the size of +Sarakhs, built on the flat plain 6 miles distant from the mountains, +surrounded with walls and a ditch, with brick houses, and inhabitants +who were commercial, rich, and prosperous, and "who drink the water of +the river that runs to Sarakhs." This indicates a site on the banks of +the Hari Rud. The only modern place of importance which answers this +description is the ancient town of Zindajan, which is about 6 miles +from the mountains, and which (according to Ferrier) still bears the +name of Foosheng. This name, however, was not recognized by the Afghan +Boundary Commission. "To the west of Bousik are Kharkerde and Jerkere. +One reckons two days' journey to this last town, which is well +populated, smaller than Kuseri, but where there is plenty of water and +cultivation. From Jerkere to Kharkerde is two days' journey." These +two places are obviously on the road to Nishapur. There is an ancient +"haoz," or tank, below the isolated hill of Sangiduktar, near the +Persian frontier, which might well represent what is left of Jerkere, +and Kharkerde lies beyond it, on the road to Rue Khaf (itself a very +ancient site, probably representing Rudan), near Karat. Another place +which has a very ancient and troubled history is Ghurian, about +thirteen miles west of Zindajan. This is readily identified as the +Koure of Idrisi, which is described as twelve miles from Bousik, on +the left of the high-road westward, and about three miles from it. + +This corresponds exactly with Ghurian, and proves that the high-road +has retained its position through ages. Koure is described as an +important town, but there is no mention of walls or defences. Another +place, second only in importance to Bousik, is Kouseri. It is in fact +said to be equal to Bousik, and to possess "running water and +gardens." There can be little doubt that this is Kuhsan (or Kusan), +one of the most important towns of the Herat valley. + +This great high-road, intersecting the plain from the north-west gate +of the city, is a pleasant enough road in the spring and summer +months. For a space it runs singularly free from crowded villages and +close cultivation, and the tread of a horse's hoof is amongst +low-growing flowers of the plain, a dwarf yellow rose with maroon +centre being the most prominent. Then, as one skirts the Kaibar River +as it runs to a junction with the Hari Rud from the northern hills, +cultivation thickens and villages increase. + +The road next hugs the Hari Rud, and, passing the high-walled town of +Zindajan to the south, runs, white and even and hard, with the scarlet +and purple of poppies and thistles fringing it, between long gravel +slopes of open dasht and the twin-peaked ridge of Doshak, to Rozanak +and Kuhsan. Kuhsan is a little to the south of the Kaman-i-Bihist. It +was here that the British Commission of the Russo-Afghan Boundary +gathered in the late autumn of 1884, one half from England and the +other half from India. The drab squares of the cultivated plain were +bare then, in November, and the poplars on the banks of the river were +scattering yellow leaves to the blasts of the bitter north-west winds +of autumn which sweep through Khorasan and Seistan, making of life a +daily burden. But there came a marvellous change in the spring-time, +when the world was scarlet and green below and blue above; when the +sand-grouse began to chatter through the clear sky; then +Kaman-i-Bihist (the bow of Paradise) justified its name. The old Arab +of the trading days who wandered northward to Sarakhs must have loved +this place. + +Stretching Sarakhs-ward are the hills, rocky and broken along the +river edge, but gradually giving place eastward to easy rounded +slopes, softened by rain and snow, and washed into smooth spurs with +treacherous waterways between which become quagmires under the +influence of a north-western "shamshir." The extraordinary effect of +denudation which yearly results from the heavy rain-storms which are +so frequent in spring and early summer in these hills must have +absolutely changed their outlines during the centuries which have +elapsed since the Semitic trader trod them. A summer storm-cloud +charged with electricity may burst on their summits, and the whole +surface of the slopes at once becomes soft and pulpy. Mud avalanches +start on the steeper grades and carry down thousands of tons of slimy +detritus in a crawling mass, and spread it out in fans at their feet. +It is not safe to say that the modern passes of the Paropamisus north +of Herat--the Ardewan and the Babar--were the passes of mediæval +commerce, although the Ardewan is marked by certain wells and ruined +caravanserais which show that it has long been used. It seems possible +that these passes may have shifted their positions more than once. +There was undoubtedly a well-trodden route from Bousik, which carried +the traveller more directly to Sarakhs than would the Ardewan or even +the Chashma Sabz Pass. This road followed the river more closely than +any railway ever will. It turned the river gorge to the east, and +probably passed through the hills by the Karez Ilias route, which runs +almost due north to Sarakhs. The only certain indication which we can +find in Idrisi is the statement that the "silver hill" (_i.e._ the +hill of the silver mine) is on the road from Herat to Sarakhs. The +Simkoh (silver hill) is still a well-known feature in the broken range +of the Paropamisus, near that route. But it is difficult after +centuries of disturbing forces, natural and artificial, to identify +the sites of many of the towns and markets mentioned by Idrisi, who +places Badghis to the west of Bousik, and gives the "silver hill" as +one of its "dependencies." There were two considerable towns, Kua (or +Kau) and Kawakir, said to have been near the silver hill, and there is +mention of a place called Kilrin in this neighbourhood. Probably the +ruins at Gulran represent the latter, but Kua and Kawakir are not +identified. Gulran was one of the most fascinating camps of the Afghan +Boundary Commission. On the open grass slopes stretching in gentle +grades northward, bordered by the line of red Paropamisan cliffs to +the south and west and by the open desert stretching to Merv on the +north, it was, during one or two early months of the year, quite an +ideal camping-ground. + +It was here that the wild asses of the mountains made a raid on the +humble four-footed followers of the Commission, and signified their +extreme disgust at the free use which was made of their +feeding-grounds; thus witnessing to the condition of primeval +simplicity into which that once populous district had subsided after +centuries of border raid and insecurity. The remains of an old karez, +or underground irrigation channel, not far north of Gulran, testified +to a former condition of cultivation and prosperity. + +From Gulran (which is connected with the Herat plains directly by the +pass called Chashma Sabz) roads stretch northwards and north-eastwards, +without obstacle, to the open Turkistan plains, where ancient sites +abound. Idrisi's indications, however, are but a very uncertain +foundation for identifying most of them. The "dependencies" of Badghis +are said to be Kua, Kughanabad, Bast, Jadwa, Kalawun, and Dehertan, +the last place being built on a hill having neither vegetation nor +gardens; but "lead is found there, and a small stream." + +The great trade centres of Turkistan, north of the Paropamisus, in +mediæval days were undoubtedly near Panjdeh, at the confluence of the +Kushk and Murghab rivers, and at Merv-el-Rud, or Maruchak. Two or +three obvious routes lead from the passes above Kaman-i-Bihist, or +above Herat, to Panjdeh and Maruchak. One is indicated by the drainage +of the Kushk River, and the other by that of the Kashan, which is more +or less parallel to the Kushk to the east of it, with desolate Chol +country in between. From Herat the most direct route to Panjdeh and +Merv is by the Babar Pass, or by Korokh, the Zirmast Pass, and Naratu. +Korokh (Karuj) is mentioned both by Ibn Haukel and Idrisi as being +situated three marches from Herat, surrounded by entrenchments, and in +the "gorge of mountains," with gardens and orchards and vines. The +Korokh of to-day is between the mountains, but only some twenty-five +miles from Herat. This modern Korokh has, however, many evidences of +great antiquity, and it is on the high-road to an important group of +passes leading past Naratu to Bala Murghab and Maruchak. The most +remarkable feature about Korokh is a grove of pine trees closely +resembling the "stone" pine of Italy, which mass themselves into a +dark blotch on the landscape and mark Korokh in this treeless country +most conspicuously. There are no other trees of the same sort to be +found now in this part of Asia, but I was told that they once were +abundant in the Herat valley, which renders it possible that the +"arar" trees, mentioned by Ibn Haukel as a peculiar source of revenue +to Bousik, may have been of this species. Naratu, again, is very +ancient, and its position among the hills (for it is a hill-fortress) +seems to identify it with Dahertan. Undoubtedly this was one of the +most important of the old routes northward, and it is a route of which +account should be taken to-day. + +In the Kuskh River more than one ancient site was observed, Kila Maur +being obviously one of the most important, whilst in the Kashan stream +there were evidences of former occupation at Torashekh and at +Robat-i-Kashan. Whilst there is a general vague resemblance between +the names of certain old Arab towns and places yet to be found in the +Herat valley and Badghis, it is only here and there that it has been +possible to identify the precise position of a mediæval site. The +dependencies of Badghis, enumerated by Idrisi, require the patient and +careful researches of a Stein to place them accurately on the basis +of such vague definitions as are given. We are merely told that +Kanowar and Kalawun are situated at a distance of three miles one from +the other, and that between them there is neither running water nor +gardens. "The people drink from wells and from rain-water. They +possess cultivated fields, sheep, and cattle." Such a description +would apply excellently well to any two contiguous villages in the +Chol country anywhere between the Kushk and the Kashan. Those rolling, +wave-like hills, with their marvellous spread of grass and flowers in +summer, and their dreary, wind-scoured bareness in winter, are +excellent for sheep and cattle at certain seasons of the year; but +water is only to be found at intervals, and there are much wider +distances than three miles where not even wells are to be found. + +Writing again of Herat, Idrisi says that, starting towards the east in +the direction of Balkh, one encounters three towns in the district of +Kenef: Tir, Kenef, and Lakshur; and that they are all about equally +distant, it being one day's journey to Tir, one more to Kenef, and +another to Lakshur (Lacschour). Tir is a rich town where the "prince +of the country" resides, larger than Bousik, full of commerce and +people, with brick-built houses, etc. Kenef is as large, but more +visited by foreigners; and Lakshur is equal to either. They are all of +them big towns of commercial importance, Lakshur being bounded on the +west by the Merv-el-Rud province, of which the capital is +Merv-el-Rud. + +Assuming for the present that Maruchak, on the Murghab, represents +Merv-el-Rud (Merv of the River), where are we to place these three +important sites, so that the last shall be east of the Maruchak +province and only three days' journey from Herat? The distance from +Herat to Maruchak is not less than 150 miles, and it is called by +Idrisi a six days' journey. Starting towards the east can only refer +to the Balkh route already referred to, _i.e._ _via_ Korokh and the +Zirmast Pass. It cannot mean the Hari Rud valley, for that leads to +Bamian rather than Balkh. By the Korokh route, however, it is possible +to follow a more direct line to Balkh than any which would pass by +Maruchak or Bamian. There is on this route, east of Naratu and +south-east of Maruchak, a place called Langar which might possibly +correspond to Lakshur, and it is not more than 70 to 80 miles from +Herat. From Langar there is an easy pass leading over the +Band-i-Turkistan more or less directly to Maimana and Balkh, and it +seems probable that this was a recognized khafila route. Tir is an +oft-repeated name in the Herat district. The river itself was called +Tir west of Herat, and there is the bridge of Tir (Tir-pul) just above +Kuhsan. The mountains, again, to the north-east are known as Tir +Band-i-Turkistan, and the Tir mentioned as on the road to Balkh must +certainly have been east of Herat. Of Kenef I can trace no evidence. +It must have been close to Korokh. + +That this route, through the Korokh valley and across the +water-parting by the Zirmast Pass to Naratu, was the high road between +Herat and Balkh I have very little doubt. It was the route selected +for mail service during the winter when the Afghan Boundary Commission +camp was at Bala Murghab, on the Murghab River, and it was seldom +closed by snow, although the Zirmast heights rise to over 7000 feet, +and the Tir Band-i-Turkistan (which represents the northern _rebord_ +or revetment of the uplands which contain the Murghab drainage) cannot +be much less. The intense bitterness of a Northern Afghan winter is +more or less spasmodic. It is only the dreaded shamshir (the +"scimitar" of the north-west) which is dangerous, and travelling is +possible at almost every season of the year. The condition of the +mountain ways and passes immediately above Bala Murghab is not that of +steep and difficult tracks across a rugged and rocky divide. In most +cases it is possible to ride over them, or, indeed, off them, in +almost any direction; but as these mountains extend eastward they +alter the character of their crests. From Herat to Maruchak this is +not, however, the direct road; the Kushk River, or the Kashan, +offering a much easier line of approach. + +All our investigations in 1884 tended to prove beyond dispute that +Maruchak represents the famous old city of Merv-el-Rud, the "Merv of +the River," to which every Arab geographer refers. Sir Henry Rawlinson +sums up the position in the Royal Geographical Society's _Proceedings_ +(vol. viii.), when he points out that there were two Mervs known to +the ancient geographer. One is the well-known Russian capital in +trans-Caspia, the "Merv of the Oasis," a city which, in conjunction +with Herat and Balkh, formed the tripolis of primitive Aryan +civilization. It was to this place that Orodis, the Parthian king, +transported the Roman soldiers whom he had taken prisoners in his +victory over Crassus, and here they seemed to have formed a +flourishing colony. + +Merv was in early ages a Christian city, and Christian congregations, +both Jacobite and Nestorian, flourished at Merv from about A.D. 200 +till the conquest of Persia by the Mahomedans. Merv the greater has as +stirring a history as any in Asia, but Merv-el-Rud, which was 140 +miles south of the older Merv, is altogether of later date. This city +is said to have been built by architects from Babylonia in the fifth +century A.D., and was flourishing at the time of the Arab invasion. +All this Oxus region (Tokharistan) was then held by a race of +Skytho-Aryans (white Huns) called Tokhari or Kushan, and their +capital, Talikhan, was not far from Maruchak. Now, Merv-el-Rud is the +only great city named in history on the Upper Murghab, above Panjdeh, +before the end of the fourteenth century A.D. After that date, in the +time of Shah Rokh (Timur's son), the name Merv-el-Rud disappears, and +Maruchak takes its place in all geographical works, the inference +being that, Merv-el-Rud being destroyed in Timur's wars, Maruchak was +built in its immediate neighbourhood. This surmise of Rawlinson's is +confirmed by the appearance of Maruchak, which is but an insignificant +collection of inferior buildings surrounded by a mud wall, with a +labyrinth of deep canal cuttings in front of it and a rough irregular +stretch of untilled country around. Merv-el-Rud must have been a much +greater place. + +There are, however, abundant evidences of grass-covered ruins, both +near Maruchak and at the junction of the Chaharshamba River with the +Murghab some 10 miles above Maruchak. Sir Henry Rawlinson points out +the strategic value of this point, as the Chaharshamba route leads +nearly straight into the Oxus plains and to Balkh. At the point of the +junction of the two rivers the valley of the Murghab hardly affords +room enough for a town of such importance as we are led to believe +Merv-el-Rud to have been, even after making all due allowance for +Oriental exaggeration. It is only about Maruchak that the valley +widens out sufficiently to admit of a large town. It seems probable, +therefore, that the site of Maruchak must be near the site of +Merv-el-Rud, although it does not actually command the entrance to +the Chaharshamba valley and the road to Afghan Turkistan. + +On this road, some 30 miles from the junction of the rivers, there is +to be seen on the slopes which flank the southern hills, the jagged +tooth-edged remains of a very old town (long deserted) which goes by +the name of Kila Wali. It is here, or close by, that the Tochari +planted their capital Talikan, at one time the seat of government of a +vast area of the Oxus basin. There is, however, another Talikan[7] in +Badakshan to the east of Balkh, and there are symptoms that some +confusion existed between the two in the minds of our mediæval +geographers. Ibn Haukel writes of Talikan as possessing more wholesome +air than Merv-el-Rud, and he refers to the river running between the +two. This is evidently in reference to the capital of Tocharistan at +Kila Wali. Again when he writes of Talikan as the largest city in +Tocharistan, "situated on a plain, near mountains," he is correct +enough as applied to Kila Wali, but this has nothing to do with +Andarab and Badakshan with which we find it directly associated in the +context. + +On the other hand the Talikan in Badakshan was one of a group of +important cities whose connection with India lay through Andarab and +the northern passes of the Hindu Kush. Between Maruchak and Panjdeh, +along the banks of the Murghab, are ruins innumerable, the sites of +other towns which it is impossible to identify with precision. There +can be little doubt, however, that the remains of the bridge which +once spanned the river at a point between Maruchak and Panjdeh marked +the site of Dizek (or Derak, according to Idrisi), which we know to +have been built on both sides of the river, and that Khuzan existed +near where Aktapa now is (_i.e._ near Panjdeh). The name Dizek is +still to be recognized, but it is applied to a curious sequence of +ancient Buddhist caves which have been carved out of the cliffs at +Panjdeh, and not to any site on the river banks. + +The confusion which occasionally exists between places bearing the +same name in mediæval geographical annals is very obvious in Idrisi's +description of Merv. The greater Merv (the Russian provincial capital) +is clearly mixed up in his mind with the lesser Merv when, in +describing the latter, he says that Merv-el-Rud is situated in a plain +at a great distance from mountains, and that its territory is fertile +but sandy; three grand mosques and a citadel adorn an eminence and +water is brought to it by innumerable canals, all of which is +applicable to Merv but not to Merv-el-Rud. He then continues with a +description of the greater Merv, which is quite apropos to that +locality, and makes it clear incidentally that Khiva (not Merv) +represents the ancient Khwarezm. Again, he enumerates towns and places +of Mahomedan origin which are "dependent" on "Merv." Amongst them we +find Mesiha, a pretty, well-cultivated place one day's journey to the +west of Merv; Jirena (Behvana), a market-town 9 miles from Merv, and 3 +from Dorak (? Dizek), a place situated on the banks of the river; then +Dendalkan, an important town two days from Merv on the road to +Sarakhs; Sarmakan, a large town to the left of Dorak and 3 miles +farther, Dorak being situated on the banks of the river at 12 miles +from Merv in the direction of Sarakhs; Kasr Akhif (or Ahnef), a little +town at one day's distance from Merv on the road to Balkh; Derah, a +small town 12 miles from Kasr Ahnef where grapes were abundant. Here, +says Idrisi, the river divides the town in two parts which are +connected by a bridge. It is quite impossible to straighten out this +geographical enumeration, unless we assume that it refers to +Merv-el-Rud and not to Merv. Then Mesiha becomes a possibility, and +might be looked for among the ruined sites on the Kushk +River--possibly at Kila Maur. Dorak, at 12 miles from Merv in the +direction of Sarakhs, and Dendalkan at two days' journey in the same +direction, would still be on the river banks. Kasr Ahnef we know to +have been built after the Arab invasion in the valley of the Murghab, +about 12 miles from Khuzan (identified by Rawlinson with Ak Tepe) and +15 from Merv-el-Rud, and must have been situated near the +Band-i-Nadir, where the desert road to Balkh enters the hills. Ak Tepe +must once have been a place of great importance, both strategically +(as it commands the position of the two important highways southward +to Herat, the Kushk and the Murghab valleys) and commercially. But +apparently its importance did not survive to Arab times. Dendalkan was +certainly near Ak Tepe. + +In making our surveys of this historic district it was exceedingly +difficult to associate the drab and dreary landscape of this Chol +(loess) country and its intersecting rivers with such a scene of busy +commercial life as the valleys must have presented in Arab times. The +Kushk is at best a "dry" river, as its name betokens, an +unsatisfactory driblet in a world of sandy desolation. Reeds and +thickets hide its narrow ways, and it is only where its low banks +recede on either hand as it emerges into the flat plains above Panjdeh +that there is room for anything that could by courtesy be called a +town. The Murghab River shows better promise. + +Below Maruchak, where towns once crowded, it widens into green spaces, +and the multiplicity and depth of the astonishing system of canals +which distribute the waters of the river on its left bank leave no +room to doubt the strength of the former population that constructed +them. Where the pheasants breed now in myriads, in reedy swamps and +scrubby thickets, there may lie hidden the foundations of many an old +town with its caravanserais, its mosques, and its baths. The economic +value of the Murghab River is still great in Northern Afghanistan. No +one watching the sullen flood pouring past Bala Murghab in the winter +time and looking up to the dark doors of the mountains from whence it +seems to emerge, could have any idea of the wealth and fertility and +the spread of its usefulness which is to be found on the far side of +those doors. From its many cradles in the Firozkohi uplands to its +many streamlets reaching out round Merv and turning the desert into a +glorious field of fertility, the Murghab does its duty bravely in the +world of rivers, and well deserves all that has ever been written in +its praise by past generations of geographers. + +Amongst the many high-roads of Northern Afghanistan which are +mentioned by the Arab writers, none is more frequently referred to +than the road from Herat to Balkh, _i.e._ to Afghan Turkistan. +Intervening between Herat and Afghan Turkistan there is immediately +north the easy round-backed range called by various names which have +been lumped under the term Paropamisus, down the northern slopes of +which the Kushk and Kashan made a fairly straight way through the sea +of rounded slopes and smooth steep-sided hills which constitute the +Chol. But this range is but an extension of the southern rampart of +the Firozkohi upland, which forms the upper basin of the Murghab and +overlooks the narrow valley of the Hari Rud. + +The northern rampart or buttress of that upland is the Tir +Band-i-Turkistan, the western flank of which is turned by the Murghab +River as it makes its way northward. So that there are several ways by +which Afghan Turkistan may be reached from Herat. Setting aside the +Hari Rud route to Bamian or Kabul, which would be a difficult and +lengthy detour for the purpose of reaching Balkh, there is the route +we have already mentioned _via_ Korokh, Naratu, and Langar, and thence +over the Band-i-Turkistan, or down the Murghab. But there is another +and probably the most trodden way, _via_ the Kashan to the Murghab +valley at the junction of the Chaharshamba River, and up that river to +the divide at its head, passing over into the Kaisar drainage, and so, +either to Andkhui and the Oxus, or to Maimana and Balkh. This was the +route made use of generally by the Russo-Afghan Boundary Commission, +and the existence of ancient tanks (called "Haoz") and of "robats" (or +halting-places) at regular intervals in the Kashan valley, testifies +to its use at no very ancient date. + +The entrance to the Chaharshamba valley is very narrow, so narrow as +to preclude the possibility of any large town ever having occupied +this position; but it opens out as one passes the old Kila Wali ruins +where there is ample space for the old capital of Tocharistan to have +existed. On the north, trailing streams descend from the Kara Bel +plateau (a magnificent grass country in summer and a cold scene of +windy desolation in winter), and their descent is frequently through +treacherous marshes and shining salt pitfalls, making it exceedingly +difficult to follow them to the plateau edge. To the south are the +harder features of the Band-i-Turkistan foothills, the crest of the +long black ridge of this Band being featureless and flat, as is +generally the case with the boundary ridges and revetments of a +plateau country. Over the Chaharshamba divide (at about 2800 feet) and +into the Kaisar drainage is an introduction to a country that is +beautiful with the varied beauty of low hill-tops and gentle slopes, +until one either by turning north, debouches into the flat desert +plains of the Oxus at Daolatabad, or continuing more easterly, arrives +at Maimana, the capital of the little province of Almar, the centre of +a small world of highly cultivated and populous country, and a town +which must from its position represent one or other of the ancient +trade centres mentioned by Idrisi. Here we leave behind the long lines +of Turkman kibitkas looking like rows of black bee-hives in the +snow-spread distance, and find the flat-roofed substantial houses of a +settled Uzbek population, with flourishing bazaars and a general +appearance of well-being inside the mud walls of the town. + +Idrisi writes that Talikan is built at the foot of a mountain which is +part of the Jurkan range (Band-i-Turkistan), and that it is on the +"paved" route between Merv and Balkh. This at once indicates that +route as an important one compared with other routes (there being a +desert route across the Karabel plateau from near Panjdeh in addition +to those already mentioned), although there is no sign of any serious +road-making to be detected at present. Sixty miles from Talikan, on +the road to Balkh, Idrisi places Karbat, a town not so large as +Talikan but more flourishing and better populated. The distance +reckoned along the one possible route here points to Maimana, which is +just 60 miles from Talikan, but there is no other indication of +identity. Karbat was a dependency of the province of Juzjan (or +Jurkan, probably Guzwan), and 54 miles to the east of it was the town +of Aspurkan, a small town, itself 54 miles from Balkh. Now Balkh, by +any possible route, is at least 130 to 140 miles from Maimana, but if +we assume Aspurkan to have been just half-way (as Idrisi makes it) +between Maimana and Balkh, we find Sar-i-pul (a small place +indifferently supplied with water, and thus answering Idrisi's +description of Aspurkan) almost exactly in that position. In support +of this identification of Aspurkan with Sar-i-pul there is the name +Aspardeh close to Sar-i-pul. Other places are mentioned by Idrisi as +flourishing centres of trade and industry in this singularly favoured +part of Afghanistan, where the low spurs and offshoots of the +Band-i-Turkistan break gently into the Oxus plains. He says that +Anbar, one day's march to the south-west of Aspurkan, was a larger +place than Merv-el-Rud, with vineyards and gardens surrounding it and +a fair trade in cloth. There, both in summer and winter, the chief of +the country resided. Two days from Aspurkan, and one from Karbat, was +the Jewish colony of Yahudia, a walled town with a good commercial +business. This colony is also mentioned by Ibn Haukel as situated in +the district of Jurkan. From Yahudia to Shar (a small town in the +hills) was one day's march. The main road south-west from Sar-i-pul +has probably remained unchanged through the centuries. It runs to +Balangur (? Bala Angur) and Kurchi, the former being 10 miles and the +latter 30 from Sar-i-pul. Either might represent the site of Anbar. +Twenty miles from Kurchi is Belchirag, and Belchirag is about 25 from +Maimana. It would thus represent the site of the ancient Yahudia +fairly well, whilst 25 to 30 miles from Belchirag we find Kala Shahar, +a small town in the mountains, still existing. Jurkan is described as +a town by Idrisi (and as a district by Ibn Haukel), built between two +mountains, three short marches from Aspurkan, and Zakar is another +commercial town two marches to the south-east. I should identify +Jirghan of our maps with Jurkan, and Takzar with Zakar. + +All this part of Afghan Turkistan is rich in agricultural +possibilities. The Uzbek population of the towns and the Ersari +Turkmans of the deserts beyond Shibarghan are all agriculturists, and +the land is great in fruit. They are a peaceful people, hating the +Afghan rule and praying for British or any other alternative. +Shibarghan is an insignificant walled town with a small garrison of +Afghan Kasidars; always in straits for water in the dry season. The +road between Shibarghan and Sar-i-pul is flat, skirting the edge of +the rolling Chol to the east of it. Sar-i-pul itself is but a small +walled town in rotten repair, sheltering a few Kasidars and two guns, +but no regular Afghan troops. There are a few Jews there who make and +sell wine, and a few Peshawur bunniahs (shopkeepers). + +From Sar-i-pul a direct road runs to Bamian and Kabul _via_ Takzar to +the south-east, and strikes the hill country almost at once after +leaving Sar-i-pul. It surmounts a high divide (about 11,000 feet), and +crosses the Balkh Ab valley to reach Bamian. There is another route up +the Astarab stream leading to Chiras at the head of the Murghab River +and into the Hazara highlands; but these were never trade routes +except for local purposes. The Hazaras send down to the plain their +camel hair-cloth and receive many of the necessities of life in +exchange, but there is no through traffic. + +The characteristics of the Astarab road are typical of this part of +Afghanistan. After passing Jirghan the valley is shut in by +magnificent cliffs from 700 to 1000 feet high. The vista is closed by +snow peaks to the south, which, with the brilliancy of up-springing +crops on the banks of the river, form a picture of almost Alpine +beauty. There is, curiously enough, an entire absence of forest in +the valley, but blocks of a soft white clay mixed with mica lend a +weird whiteness to its walls, dazzling the eye, and making patchwork +of Nature's colouring. Snakes abound in great numbers, mostly +harmless, but the deadly "asp-i-mar" is amongst them. There is a +yellow variety which is freely handled by the Uzbeks, who call this +snake Kamchin-i-Shah-i-Murdan. About eight miles beyond Jirghan the +Uzbek population ceases. From this point there are only Firozkohis and +some few Taimanis who have been ejected from the Hari Rud valley for +their misdeeds. They are all robbers by profession, supporting +existence by slave trading. They kidnap girls and boys from the Hazara +villages of the highlands and trade them to the Uzbeks in exchange for +guns, ammunition, and horses. These Taimani robbers are by no means +the only slave dealers. Nearly every well-to-do establishment in +Afghan Turkistan has one or two Hazara slaves. The prices paid, of +course, vary, but 300 krans each was paid for two girls bought in +1883. Expert native authorities have a very high opinion of the +handiness of Hazara slave girls. They are good at needlework, turning +out most exquisite embroidery, and they are never idle. + +The narrowness of the Astarab gorge renders it impossible to follow +the river along the whole of its course. The road finally leaves the +valley and strikes up to the plateau on its left bank. One remarkably +persistent feature in these valley formations is the existence of two +plateau levels, or terraces; that immediately overlooking the valley +being sometimes 100 feet lower than the second platform which is +thrown back for a considerable distance, leaving a broad terrace +formation between the line of its cliff edge and that bordering the +stream. Occasionally there is more than one such terrace indicating +former geologic floors of the valley. + +On gaining the plateau level a very remarkable scene opens out--a +broad green dasht, or plain, slopes away to a sharp line westwards +bordered by glittering cliffs and intersected by the white line of the +road. In the midst of this setting of white and green are the remains +of what must once have been a town of considerable importance, which +goes by the name locally of the Shahar-i-Wairan, or ancient city. Such +buildings as remain are of sun-dried brick; there appears to be no +indication of the usual wall or moat surrounding this city, and +nothing suggestive of a canal or "karez"; nothing, in short, but +scattered ruins covering about one and a half square miles. The +kabristan (or graveyard) was easily recognizable, and its vast size +furnished some clue to the size of the city. All history, all +tradition even, about this remarkable place seems lost in oblivion; +but a city of such pretensions must have had a fair place in geography +from very early times. It seems improbable, however, that it could +have been more than a summer residence in its palmy days, for winter +at this elevation (nearly 7000 feet) and in such an exposed locality +would be very severe indeed. The only indication which can be derived +from Idrisi's writings is the reference to the small town in the +mountains called Shah (Shahar) one day's march from the Jewish colony +of Yahudia. As already explained there is a Kila Shahar some 25 to 30 +miles from Yahudia (if we accept the position of Belchirag as more or +less representing that place), but the Shahar-i-Wairan is nearer by +some 10 miles, and fits better into the geographical scheme. I should +be inclined to identify the Shahar-i-Wairan with the ancient Shahar +(or Shah) and the Kila Shahar as a later development of the same +place. The point, however, to be specially noted about this +geographical theory is that there is no route by which camels can pass +either over the Band-i-Turkistan or the mountains enclosing the Balkh +Ab from the district of Sangcharak southward. The province of +Sangcharak, which corresponds roughly to the ancient district of +Jurkan (or Gurkan), is rich throughout, with highly cultivated valleys +and a dense population, but it is a sort of geographical cul-de-sac. + +Communication with the plains of the Oxus and with Balkh (by the lower +reaches of the Balkh Ab) is easy and frequent, but there never could +have been a khafila road over the rugged plateau land and mountains +which divide it from the basin of the Helmund. + +From time immemorial efforts have been made to reach Kabul by the +direct route from Herat which is indicated by the remarkable lie of +the Hari Rud valley. It was never recognized as a trade route, +although military expeditions have passed that way; and it has always +presented a geographical problem of great interest. From Herat +eastwards, past Obeh as far as Daolatyar, there is no great difficulty +to be overcome by the traveller, although the route diverges from the +main valley for a space. Between Daolatyar and the head of +Sar-i-jangal stream (which is the source and easternmost affluent of +the Hari Rud) the valley is well populated and well cultivated, with +abundant pasturage on the hills. But the winter here is severe. From +the middle of November to the middle of February snow closes all the +roads, and even after its disappearance the deep clayey tracks are +impassable even for foot travellers. In the neighbourhood of a small +fort called Kila Sofarak, about 40 miles from Daolatyar, there is a +parting of the ways. Over the water-parting at the head of the stream +by the Bakkak Pass a route leads into the Yakulang valley, a +continuation of the Band-i-Amir, or river of Balkh, which, in the +course of its passage through the gorges of the mountains, here forms +a series of natural aqueducts uniting seven narrow and deep lakes. +Inexpressibly wild and impressive is the character of the scenery +surrounding those deep-set lakes in the depths of the Afghan hills. + +Near the lakes are the ruins of two important towns or fortresses, +Chahilburj, and Khana Yahudi. On a high rock between them are the +ruins of Shahr-i-Babar the capital of kings who ruled over a country +most of which must have been included in the Hazara highlands, and was +probably more or less conterminous with the Bamian of Idrisi. Between +the Yakulang and the Bamian valley is a high flat watershed. Looking +north-west a vast broken plateau, wrinkled and corrugated by minor +ranges, and scored by deep valleys and ravines, fills up the whole +space from the mountains standing about the source of the Murghab and +Hari Rud to the Kunduz River of Badakshan. + +So little is this part of modern Afghanistan known, that it may be as +well to give a short description of the existing lines of +communication connecting the Oxus plains and Herat with Bamian and +Kabul, before attempting to follow out their mediæval adaptation to +commercial intercourse. + +From Balkh, or Mazar-i-Sharif, or from Deh Dadi (the new fortified +position near Mazar) the most direct routes southward either follow +the Balkh Ab valley to Kupruk and the Zari affluent, and then crossing +the Alakah ridge pass into the river valley again, and so reach the +Band-i-Amir and the head of the river at Yakulang; or passing by the +Darra Yusuf (a most important affluent of the Balkh River) attain more +directly to Bamian. Balkh and Mazar lie close together on the open +plain, and about 10 miles to the south of them rises the northern wall +of the plateau called Elburz, through which the Balkh River, and other +drainage of the plateau, forces its passage. Thus the whole course of +the Balkh River, from its head to within a mile or two of Balkh, lies +within a deep and narrow ditch cut out from the plateau which fills up +the space from the Elburz to the great divide of Central Afghanistan. +East and west of the Balkh River the plateau increases in elevation as +it reaches southward, culminating in knolls or peaks 12,000 and 13,000 +feet high about the latitude 35° 30', and falling gently where it +encloses the actual sources of the river. It is this plateau, or +uplift, which forms the dominant topographical feature of Northern +Afghanistan. + +West of the Balkh Ab it is represented by the Firozkohi uplands, which +contain the head valleys of the Murghab, bordered on the north by the +Tirband-i-Turkistan from the foot of which stretch away towards the +Oxus the endless sand-waves of the Chol, and by the highlands of +Maimana and Sangcharak, and which trend northward to within a few +miles of Balkh. At Balkh its northern edge is well defined by the +Elburz, but between Balkh and Maimana it is more or less merged into +the great loess sand sea, and its limitations become indefinite. East +of the longitude of Balkh it is lost in a distance whither our +surveyors have not traced its outlines, but where without doubt it +fills a wide area north of the Hindu Kush, determining the nature of +the Badakshan River sources and shaping itself into a vast upland +region of mountain and deep sunk gully, and generally preserving the +same characteristics throughout, till it overlooks the valley of the +Oxus. That part of it which embraces the affluents of the Balkh Ab and +the Kunduz is described as intensely wild and dreary, traversed by +irregular folds and ridges which rise in more or less rounded slopes +to great altitudes, hiding amongst them deep-seated valleys and +gulches, wherein is to be found all that there is of cultivation and +beauty. From above it presents the aspect of a huge drab-coloured, +hill-encumbered desert where man's habitation is not, and Nature has +sunk her brightest efforts out of sight. These efforts are to be found +in the valleys, which are excavated by ages of erosion, steep sided, +with precipitous cliffs overhanging, and a narrow green ribbon of +fertility winding through the flat floor of them. + +Across those dreary uplands, or else wandering blindfold along the +bottom of the river troughs, run the roads and tracks of the country; +some of them being the roads of centuries of busy traffic. A little +apart from the obvious route supplied by the lower course of the Balkh +Ab, and more important as leading more directly to the crest of the +main divide, is the road from Mazar to the Band-i-Amir district which +is practically the best road to Kabul. This strikes on to the plateau +and crosses several minor passes over spurs dividing the heads of +certain eastern affluents of the Balkh Ab before it drops into the +trough of the Darra Yusuf. Following the course of this river, and +skirting the towns of Kala Sarkari and Sadmurda, it strikes off from +its head over a pass called Dandan Shikan (the "tooth-breaker") into +the Kamard valley which runs eastwards into the big river of +Badakshan--the Kunduz. From Kamard over three passes into the +Saigan--another valley draining deeply eastwards into the Kunduz. From +this again, two parallel routes and passes southward connect Saigan +with the Bamian depression. Here the river of Bamian also runs east, +parallel to Saigan and Kamard (the three forming three parallel +depressions in the general plateau land), but meeting an affluent +draining from the east, the two join and curve northward into the +Kunduz. + +This new affluent from the east is important, for it leads over the +easy Shibar Pass into the head of the Ghorband valley and to Charikar. +Finally, there is the well-travelled route from Bamian, leading +southward over the Hajigak Pass into the Helmund valley at +Gardandiwal, where it crosses the river and then proceeds _via_ the +Unai Pass and Maidan to Kabul. Such is the general system of the Balkh +communications with Kabul. + +From Tashkurghan, east of Mazar, there are other routes equally +important. There is a direct road southward, which starts through an +extraordinary defile, where perpendicular walls of slippery rock +enclose a narrow cleft which hardly admits the passing of a loaded +mule to Ghaznigak and Haibak. From Haibak you may follow up the +Tashkurgan River to its head and then drop over the Kara Pass into +Kamard at Bajgah, and so to Bamian again; or you may avoid Bamian +altogether and striking off south-east from Haibak over the plateau, +slip down into the Kunduz drainage at Baghlan, and then follow it to +its junction with the Andarab at Dosh. This position at Dosh gives +practical command of all the passes over the Hindu Kush into the Kabul +basin, for the Andarab drains along the northern foot of the Hindu +Kush, and commands the back doors of all passes between the Chapdara +(or Chahardar) and the Khawak. + +The most trodden route to-day is that which is the most direct between +Kabul and Mazar, _i.e._ the route _via_ Bamian and the Darra Yusuf. +This is the route taken by the late Amir when he met his cousin Ishak +Khan in the field of Afghan Turkistan and defeated him. It is not the +route taken by the Afghan Boundary Commission in returning from the +same field in 1885. They returned by Haibak and Dosh and deploying +along the northern foot of the Hindu Kush, crossed by nearly every +available pass either into the Ghorband valley or that of the +Panjshir. + +It would almost appear from mediæval geographical record that there +was no way between Herat and Kabul that did not lead to the Bamian +valley. This is very far from accurately representing the actual +position, for Bamian lies obviously to the north of the direct line of +communication. Bamian was undoubtedly a place of great significance, +probably more important as a Buddhist centre than Kabul, more valuable +as a centre trade-market subsequently than the Indian city, as Kabul +was called. But its significance has disappeared, and it is now far +more important for us to know how to reach Kabul directly from the +west than how to pass through Bamian. The route to Bamian and Kabul +from Herat diverges at the small deserted fort of Sofarak, and follows +the Lal and the Kerman valleys at the head of the Hari Rud. Crossing +the Ak Zarat Pass southward there is little difficulty in traversing +the Besud route to the Helmund, from whence the road to Kabul over the +Unai Pass is open. The Bakkak Pass northward is the only real +difficulty between Herat and Bamian; much worse, indeed, than anything +on the route between Herat and Kabul direct; so that we have +determined the existence of a fairly easy route by the Hari Rud from +Herat to Kabul, and another route, with but one severe pass, between +Herat and Bamian. We must, however, remember that we are dealing with +Alpine altitudes. Overlooking the Yakulang head of the Balkh River are +magnificent peaks of 13,000 and 14,000 feet, and the passes are but a +few thousand feet lower. The valley of the Bamian, deep sunk in the +great plateau level, is between 8000 and 9000 feet above sea-level, +and the passes leading out of it are over 10,000 feet. To the south is +the magnificent snow-capped array of the Koh-i-Baba (or probably +Babar, from the name of the ancient people who occupied Bamian), the +culminating group of the central water-parting of Afghanistan running +to 16,000 and 17,000 feet. It is altitude, nothing but sheer altitude, +which is the effectual barrier to approach through the mountains which +divide the Oxus and Kabul basins. Rocky and "tooth-breaking" as may be +the passes of these northern hills they are all practicable at certain +times and seasons, but for months they are closed by the depth of +winter snows and the fierce terror of the Asiatic blizzard. The deep +valleys traversing the storm-ridden plateau are often beautiful +exceedingly, and form a strange contrast to the dull grey expanse of +rocky ridge and treeless plain of the weird plateau land; but in order +to reach them, or to pass from one to the other, high altitudes and +rugged pathways must always be negotiated. + +In the days before the Mahomedan conquest, the pilgrim days of devout +Chinese searchers after truth, the footsteps of the Buddhist devotees +can be very plainly traced. Balkh was a specially sacred centre; and +the magnificence of the Bamian relics are also celebrated. We should +not have known precisely the route followed by the pilgrims had they +not left their traces half-way between Balkh and Bamian at Haibak. +Here in the heart of this stony and rugged wilderness is an open +cultivated plain, green with summer crops and streaked with the dark +lines of orchard foliage. Little white houses peep out from amongst +the greenery, and there is a kind of Swiss summer holiday air +encompassing this mountain oasis which must have enchanted the +votaries of Buddha in their time. The Buddhist architects of old were +unsurpassed, even by the Roman Catholic Monks of later ages in the +selection of sites for their monasteries and temples. The sweet +seductions which Nature has to offer in her mountain retreats were as +a thanksgiving to the pilgrim, weary footed and sore with the terrible +experiences of travel which was far rougher than anything which even +the most devoted Hajji can place to the credit of his account with the +recording angel of the present day, and they were appreciated +accordingly. Haibak, although not quite on the straight line to +Bamian, was not to be overlooked as a resting-place, and here one of +the quaintest of all these northern religious relics was literally +unearthed by Captain Talbot[8] during the progress of the Russo-Afghan +surveys. A small circular stupa was discovered cut out of solid rock +below the ground level. It was surrounded by a ditch, and crowned by a +small square-built chamber which was also cut out of the rock _in +situ_. There was nothing to indicate the origin or meaning of a stupa +in such a position, and time was wanting for anything more than a +superficial examination; but here we had the evidence of Buddhist +occupation and Buddhist worship forming a distinct link between Balkh +and Bamian, and marking one resting-place for the weary pilgrim. As +for caves, the country round Haibak appears to be studded with them. + +So long must this strange region of ditch-like valleys, carved out of +the wrinkled central highlands of Afghanistan, have existed as the +focus of devout pilgrimage, if not of commercial activity, under the +Bamian kings, that the absence of any record descriptive of the routes +across it is rather surprising. Above the surface of the plateau the +long grey folds of the hills follow each other in monotonous +succession, with little relief from vegetation and unmarked by forest +growth. It is generally a scene of weary, stony desolation through +which narrow, white worn tracks thread their way. In the valleys it is +different. Cut squarely out of the plateau these intersecting valleys, +cliff bound on either side with reddish walls such as border the +valley of Bamian, offer fair opportunity for colonization. Where the +valleys open out there is space enough for cultivation, which in early +summer makes pretty contrast with the ruddy hills that hedge it. Where +it spreads out from the mouth of the gorges nourished by hundreds of +small channels which carry the water far afield, it is in most +charming contrast to the gaunt ruggedness of the hills from whence it +emerges. Such is the general outlook from the Firozkohi plateau, +looking northward into the Oxus plains when the yellow dust haze, +driven southward by the north-western winds, lifts sufficiently from +athwart the plains to render it possible to see towards Maimana or +into the valley of Astarab. + +The valley of Bamian stands at a level of about 8500 feet; the passes +out of it northward to Balkh or southward to Kabul rise to 11,000 and +12,000 feet. It is the mystery of its unrecorded history and the local +evidences of the departed glory of Buddhism, which render Bamian the +most interesting valley in Afghanistan. Massive ruins still look down +from the bordering cliffs, and for six or seven miles these cliffs are +pierced by an infinity of cave dwellings. Little is left of the +ancient city but its acropolis (known as Ghulghula), which crowns an +isolated rock in the middle of the valley. Enormous figures (170 and +120 feet high) are carved out of the conglomerate rock on the sides of +the Bamian gorge. Once coated with cement, and possibly coloured, or +gilt, these images must have appealed strongly to the imagination of +the weary pilgrim who prostrated himself at their feet. "Their golden +lines sparkle on every side," says Huen Tsang, who saw them in the +year A.D. 630, when he counted ten convents and 1000 monks of the +"Little Vehicle" in the valley of Bamian. + +Twelve hundred and fifty years later the great idols were measured by +theodolite and tape, and duly catalogued as curiosities of the world's +museum. We know very little of the later history of Bamian. The city +was swept off the face of the valley by Chengiz Khan; and Nadir Shah, +in later times, left the marks of his artillery on the face of cliffs +and images. Moslem destroyers and iconoclasts have worked their wicked +will on these ancient monuments, but they witness to the strength and +tenacity of a faith that still survives to sway a third of the human +race. + +Chahilburj and Shahr-i-Babar (31 miles above Chahilburj at the +junction of the Sarikoh stream with the Band-i-Amir) with the ruined +fortresses of Gawargar and Zohak, wonderful for the multiplicity of +its lines of defence, all attest to the former position of Bamian in +Afghan history and explain its prominence in mediæval annals. And yet +there is not much said about the road thither from Balkh, or onward to +the "Indian city" of Kabul. + +Idrisi just mentions the road connecting Balkh with Bamian, which he +describes as follows: "From Balkh to Meder (a small town in a plain +not far from mountains) three days' journey. From Meder to Kah +(well-populated town with bazaar and mosque) one day's journey. From +Kah to Bamian three days." Bamian he describes as of about the same +extent as Balkh, built on the summit of a mountain called Bamian, from +which issue several rivers which join the Andarab, possessing a +palace, a grand mosque, and a vast "faubourg"; and he enumerates +Kabul, Ghazni, and Karwan (which we find elsewhere to be near +Charikar) amongst others as dependencies of Bamian. + +It is not easy to identify Meder and Kah. The total distance from +Balkh to Bamian is at least 200 miles by the most direct route _via_ +the Darra Yusuf. Forty miles a day through such a country must be +regarded as a fine performance, even for Arab travellers who would +think little of 50 or 60 miles over the flats of Turkistan. However, +we must take the record as we find it, and assume that the camels of +those days (for the Arabs never rode horses on their journeys) were +better adapted for work in the hills than they are at present. + +The inference, however, is strong that not very much was really known +about this mountain region south of the Balkh plain. To the pilgrim it +offered no terrors; but to the merchant, with his heavily laden +caravan, it is difficult to conceive that 800 or 900 years ago it +could have been much easier to negotiate than it is to the Bokhara +merchants of to-day, who take a much longer route between the Oxus and +Kabul than that which carries them past Bamian. + +The province of Badakshan to the east (the ancient Baktria) is still +but indifferently explored. It is true that certain native explorers +of the Indian Survey have made tracks through the country, passing +from the Pamir region to the Oxus plains; but no English traveller has +recently done more than touch the fringe of that section of the Hindu +Kush system which includes Kafiristan and its extension northwards, +encircled by the great bend of the Oxus River. Kafiristan has ever +been an unexplored region--a mountain wilderness into which no call of +Buddhism ever lured the pilgrim, no Moslem conqueror (excepting +perhaps Timur) ever set his foot, until the late Amir Abdurrahmon +essayed to reduce that region and make it part of civilized +Afghanistan. Even he was content to leave it alone after a year or two +of vain hammering at its southern gates. Kafiristan formed part of the +mediæval province, or kingdom, of Bolor; but it is always written of +as the home of an uncouth and savage race of people, with whom it was +difficult to establish intercourse. Kafiristan is, however, in these +modern days very much curtailed as the home of the Kafir. Undoubtedly +many of the border tribes fringing the country (Dehgans, Nimchas, +etc.), who are now to be numbered amongst the most fanatical of Moslem +clans, are comparatively new recruits to the faith, and therefore +handle the new broom with traditional ardour; but they were not so +long ago members of the great mixed community of Kafirs who, driven +from many directions into the most inaccessible fastnesses of the +hills by the advance of stronger races north and south, have occupied +remote valleys, preserving their own dialects, mixing up in strange +confusion Brahman, Zoroastian, and Buddhist tenets with classical +mythology, each valley with apparently a law and a language of its +own, until it is impossible to unravel the threads of their +complicated relationship. Here we should expect to find (and we do +find) the last relics of the Greek occupation of Baktria, and here are +certainly remnants of a yet more ancient Persian stock, with all the +flotsam and jetsam of High Asia intermingled. They are, from the point +of view of the Kabul Court, all lumped together as Kafirs under two +denominations, Siahposh and Lalposh; and not till scientific +investigation, such as has not yet reached Afghanistan, can touch them +shall we know more than we do now. No commercial road ever ran through +the heart of Kafiristan, but there were two routes touching its +eastern and western limits, viz. that on the east passing by Jirm, and +that on the west by Anjuman, both joining the Kokcha River, which are +vaguely referred to by our Arab authorities. That by Jirm is certainly +impracticable for any but travellers on foot. + +Badakshan (_i.e._ the province) was apparently full of well-populated +and flourishing towns 1000 years ago. The names of many of them are +given by Idrisi, but it is not possible to identify more than a few. +The ancient Khulm (50 miles east of Balkh) was included in Badakshan. +In Idrisi's day it was a place "of which the productions and +resources were very abundant: there is running water, cultivated +fields, and all sorts of vegetable productions." From thence to +Semenjan "a pretty town, in every way comparable to Khulm, commercial, +populated, and encircled with mud walls," two days' journey. Then we +have "from Balkh to Warwalin" (a town agreeable and commercial with +others dependent on it), two days. From Warwalin to Talekan, two days. +Talekan is described as only one-fourth the size of Balkh, on the +banks of a big river in a plain where there are vineyards. And then, +strangely enough, we find "from Balkh to Khulm west of Warwalin is a +two-days' journey. From Semenjan to Talekan, two days." + +This is a puzzle which requires some adjustment. From Balkh to Khulm +is about 50 miles and may well pass as two days' journey. But from +Balkh to Warwalin is also said to be a two-days' journey, and from +Warwalin to Talekan two days, whilst Khulm is two days _west_ of +Warwalin. The difficulty lies in the fact that all these places must +be on a line running almost due _east_ from Balkh. It was and is the +great high-road of Badakshan in the Oxus plains. Moreover, Talekan has +been fixed by native surveyors at a point about 150 miles east of +Balkh which fully corresponds in its physical features to the +description given of that place above. If, however, we assume 150 +miles to represent six days' journey instead of four, the difficulty +vanishes. We then have Balkh to Khulm, two days; Khulm to Warwalin, +two days; and Warwalin to Talekan, two days. This would place Warwalin +somewhere about Kunduz, which is, indeed, a very probable position for +it. + +Semenjan is important. Two days from Talekan; two days from Khulm; +five days from Andarab. + +Andarab is fortunately a fixed position. The description given of it +by Idrisi places it at the junction of the Kaisan (or Kasan) stream +with the Andarab, both of which retain their ancient names. Andarab is +a very old and a very important position in all itineraries, from +Greek times till now, and it may be important again. But seeing that +Khulm is separated from Talekan by four days, it is difficult to +distinguish between Semenjan and Warwalin which is also two days from +each of those places. This illustrates the problems which beset the +unravelling of Arab itineraries. Seeing, however, that Talekan and +Warwalin have already been confused once, it is, I think, justifiable +to assume that the same mistake has occurred again. Such an assumption +would place Semenjan about where Haibak is, and where some central +town of importance must have always been, judging from its important +geographical position. Haibak is rather more than a hundred miles from +Andarab by the only practicable khafila route, which is a very fair +five-days' journey. This would indicate that the route followed by the +English Commission for the settlement of the Russo-Afghan frontier +from Balkh to Kabul was one of those recognized as trade routes in +the tenth and eleventh centuries. The location of one other town in +Badakshan is of interest, and that is a town called by Idrisi +"Badakshan," which gave its name to the province. The first assumption +to make is that the modern capital Faizabad is on or near the site of +the ancient one. Let us see how it fits Idrisi's itinerary. The +information is most meagre. From Talekan to Badakshan, seven days. +From Andarab to the same town (going east), four days. Badakshan is +described as a town "not very large but possessing many dependencies +and a most fertile soil. The vine and other trees grow freely, and the +country is watered by running streams. The town is defended by strong +walls, and it possesses markets, caravanserais, and baths. It is a +commercial centre. It is built on the west bank of the Khariab, the +largest river of those which flow to the Oxus." It is elsewhere stated +that the Khariab is another name for the Oxus or Jihun. It is added +that horses are bred there and mules; and rubies and lapis lazuli +found in the neighbourhood and distributed through the world. Musk +from Wakhan is brought to Badakshan. Also Badakshan adjoins Canouj, a +dependency of India. The two provinces which are found immediately +beyond the Oxus (under one government) are Djil and Waksh, which lie +between the Khariab (? Oxus) and Wakshab rivers, of which the first +bathes the eastern part of Djil and the other the country of Waksh. +The Waksh joins the Oxus from the north near the junction of the +latter with the Kunduz. Then follow the names of places dependent on +Waksh, of which Helawerd and Menk seem to be the chief. + +Now Faizabad is about 70 miles from Talekan, and about 160 at least +from Andarab. From Andarab the route strikes east at first, but after +crossing the Nawak Pass, over a spur of the Hindu Kush (which is +itself crossed near this point by the Khawak), it turns and passes +down the valley of Anjuman to Jirm and Faizabad. Jirm is on the left +bank of the Kokcha or Khariab--Faizabad being on the right,--and its +altitude (4800 feet) would certainly admit of vine-growing and may be +suitable for horse-breeding; but it must be admitted that in both +these particulars Faizabad has the advantage, although Jirm is the +centre of the mining industry in lapis lazuli, if not in rubies. Jirm +is about 130 miles from Andarab, and 80 (with a well-marked road +between) to Talekan. To fit Idrisi's itinerary we should have to +select a spot in the Anjuman valley some sixty miles south of Jirm. +This would involve an impossible altitude for either wine or horses +(in that latitude), so we are forced to conclude that the itinerary is +wrong. If it were exactly reversed and made seven days from Andarab +and four from Talekan, Jirm would represent the site of the ancient +capital exactly. Some such adjustment as this is necessary in order to +meet the requirements, and Idrisi's indications of the climate. On +the whole, I am inclined to believe that Jirm represents the ancient +capital. However that may be, it is important to note that the Anjuman +route from the pass at the head of the Panjshir valley was a +recognized route in the Middle Ages, and emphasizes the importance of +the Andarab position in Afghanistan. We have seen that from the very +earliest times, prior to the Greek invasion of India, this was +probably the region of western settlements in Baktria. It is about +here that we find the greatest number of indications (if place-names +are to be trusted) of Greek colonization. It is one of the districts +which are to be recognized as distinctly the theatres of Alexander's +military movements during his famous expedition. It commands four, if +not five, of the most important passes across the Hindu Kush. The +surveyor who carried his traverse up to the head of the Andarab and +over the Khawak Pass into the Panjshir found a depression in the Hindu +Kush range which admitted of two crossings (the Til and Khawak) at an +elevation of about 11,650 feet, neither of which presented any great +physical difficulty apart from that of altitude, both leading by +comparatively easy grades into the upper Panjshir valley. + +It is reported that since the Russo-Afghan Commission surveyors passed +that way, the late Amir has constructed a passable road for commercial +purposes, which can be kept open by the employment of coolie labour in +removing the snow, and that khafilas pass freely between Kabul and +Badakshan all the year round. In the tenth century there is ample +evidence that it was a well-trodden route, for we find it stated that +from Andarab to Hariana (travelling southward) is three days' journey. +"Hariana is a small town built at the foot of a mountain and on the +banks of a river, which, taking its source near Panjshir (Banjohir) +traverses that town without being utilized for irrigation until, +reaching Karwan, it enters into the territory of India and joins its +waters to the Nahrwara (Kabul) River. The inhabitants of Hariana +possess neither trees nor orchards. They only cultivate vegetables, +but they live by mining. It is impossible to see anything more perfect +than the metal which is extracted from the mines of Panjshir, a small +town built on a hill at one day's distance from Hariana and of which +the inhabitants are remarkable for violence and wickedness +(mechanceté) of their character. The river, which issues from +Panjshir, runs to Hariana as we have said." ... "From there (? +Hariana) to Karwan, southward, two days' journey." "The town of Karwan +is small but pretty, its environs are agreeable, bazaars frequent, +inhabitants well-off. The houses are built of mud and bricks. Situated +on the banks of a river which comes from Panjshir, this town is one of +the principal markets of India." + +From this account it is clear that the village of Panjshir must have +been somewhere near the modern Khawak, and Hariana about 20 miles +lower down the stream. But the site is not identified. Karwan was +obviously near the site of the modern Charikar, and might possibly be +Parwan, a very ancient site. It is worthy of note that in the tenth +century all the Kabul province was "India." Of all the passes +traversing the Hindu Kush we have mention only of this, the Khawak, +and (indirectly) of the group which connect Kabul with Bamian; and it +may be doubted whether in the Middle Ages any use was made of the +Shibar, Chapdara, or others that lie between the Kaoshan and Irak for +commercial purposes. + +There is, however, strong inference that the Greeks made use of the +Kaoshan, or Parwan, which is also commanded from Andarab. The +excellent military road constructed by the late Amir from Charikar, up +the Ghorband valley and over the Chapdara Pass, is a modern +development. + +Here, however, we must take leave of the routes to India, which are +sufficiently dealt with elsewhere, and returning to Badakshan see if +we can unravel some of the mediæval geography of the region which +stretches eastward to the Oxus affluents and the Pamirs. We know that +between Khotan and Balkh there was a very well-trodden pilgrim route +in the earlier days of our era (from the first century to the tenth), +when both these places were full of the high-priests of Buddhism. Was +it also a commercial route? The shortest way to determine its +position is to examine the map and see which way it must have run at a +time when (if we are to believe Mr. Ellsworthy Huntington's theories +of periodic fluctuations of climate in High Asia) all that vastly +elevated region was colder, less desiccated, and possibly more fertile +than now, whilst its glaciers and lakes were larger and more +extensive. + +Before turning eastward into the highlands and plateau of Asia it is +interesting to note that north of the Oxus the districts of Jil (which +was the region of mountains) and Waksh were both well known, and +boasted many important commercial centres. The two districts (under +one government) lay between the Wakshab which joins the Oxus from the +north to the north-east of Khulm, and the Khariab, which is clearly +another river than the Khariab (now the Kokcha) of Badakshan, and +which is probably the Oxus itself (see preceding note). These +trans-Oxus regions take us afield into the Khanates of Central Asia +beyond Afghanistan, and we can only note in passing that 1000 years +ago Termez was the most important town on the Oxus, commanding as it +did the main river crossing from Bokhara to Khulm and Balkh; Kabadian +also being very ancient. Termez may yet again become significant in +history. + +References to the Pamir region are very scanty, and indicate that not +much was known about them. The most direct road from Khotan in Chinese +Turkistan to Balkh, a well-worn pilgrim route of the early centuries +of our era, is that which first strikes north-west to Yarkand, and +then passing by the stone fort of Tashkurghan (one of the ancient +landmarks of Central Asian travel) follows the Tashkurghan River to +its head, passes over the Wakhjir Pass from the Tagdumbash Pamir into +the valley of the Wakhab (or Panja) River and follows that river to +Zebak in Badakshan. So far it is a long, difficult, and toilsome route +rising to an altitude of 15,000 to 16,000 feet, but after passing +Zebak to Faizabad and so on through Badakshan to Balkh, it is a +delightful road, full of picturesque beauty and incident. At certain +seasons of the year no part of it would appear formidable to such +earnest and determined devotees as the Chinese Buddhist pilgrims. From +Huen Tsang's account, however, it would seem that a still more +northerly route was usually preferred, one which involved crossing the +Oxus at Termez or Kilif. It is a curious feature in connection with +Buddhist records of travel (even the Arab records) that no account +whatever seems to be taken of abstract altitude, _i.e._ the altitude +of the plains. So long as the mountains towered above the pilgrims' +heads they were content to assume that they were traversing lowlands. +Never does it seem to have occurred to them that on the flat plains +they might be at a higher elevation than on the summits of the Chinese +or Arabian hills. The explanation undoubtedly lies in the fact that +they had no means of determining elevation. Hypsometers and aneroids +were not for them. The gradual ascents leading to the Pamir valleys +did not impress them, and so long as they ascended one side of a range +to descend on the other, the fact that the descent did not balance the +ascent was more or less unobserved. Wandering over the varied face of +the earth they were content to accept it as God made it, and ask no +questions. Recent investigations would lead us to suppose that in the +palmy days of Buddhist occupation of Chinese Turkistan, when Lop Nor +spread out its wide lake expanse to reflect a vista of towns and +villages on its banks, refreshing the earth by a thousand rivulets not +then impregnated with noxious salts; when high-roads traversed that +which is now but a moving procession of sand-waves following each +other in silent order at the bidding of the eternal wind; when men +made their arrangements for posting from point to point, and forgot to +pay their bills made out in the Karosthi language, the climate was +very different from what it is now. + +It was colder, moister, and the zones of cultivation far more +extensive, but it may also be that these regions were not so highly +elevated; indeed, there is good reason for believing that the eternal +processes of expansion and contraction of the earth's crust, never +altogether quiescent, is more marked in Central Asia than elsewhere, +and that the gradual elevation, which is undoubtedly in operation now, +may have also affected the levels of river-beds and intervening +divides, and thrown out of gear much of the original natural +possibilities for irrigation. However that may be, it is fairly +certain that no great amount of trade ever crossed the Pamirs. Marco +Polo crossed them, passing by Tashkurghan and making his way eastwards +to Cathay, and has very little to say about them except in admiration +of the magnificent pasturage which is just as abundant and as +nutritious now as it was in his time. Idrisi's information beyond the +regions of the Central Asian Khanates and the Oxus was very vague. He +says that on the borders of Waksh and of Jil are Wakhan and Sacnia, +dependencies of the country of the Turks. From Wakhan to Tibet is +eighteen journeys. "Wakhan possesses silver mines, and gold is taken +from the rivers. Musk and slaves are also taken from this country. +Sacnia town, which belongs to the Khizilji Turks, is five days from +Wakhan, and its territory adjoins China." Wakhan probably included the +province of the same name that now forms the extreme north-eastern +extension of Afghanistan, but the Tibet, which was eighteen days' +journey distant, in nowise corresponds with the modern Tibet. Assuming +that it was "Little Tibet" (or Ladakh), which might perhaps correspond +in the matter of distance, we should still have some difficulty in +reconciling Idrisi's description of the "Ville de Tibet" with any +place in Ladakh. He says "the town of Tibet is large, and the country +of which it is the capital carries the name." This country belongs to +the "Turks Tibetians." Its inhabitants entertain relations with +Ferghana, Botm,[9] and with the subjects of the Wakhan; they travel +over most of these countries, and they take from them their iron, +silver, precious stones, leopard skins, and Tibetan musk. This town is +built on a hill, at the foot of which runs a river which discharges +into the lake Berwan, situated towards the east. It is surrounded with +walls, and serves as the residence of a prince, who has many troops +and much cavalry, who wear coats of mail and are armed _de pied en +cap_. They make many things there, and export robes and stuff of which +the tissue is thick, rough, and durable. These robes cost much, and +one gets slaves and musk destined for Ferghana and India. There does +not exist in the world creatures endowed with more beautiful +complexions, with more charming figures, more perfect features, and +more agreeable shape than these Turk slaves. They are disrobed and +sold to merchants, and it is this class of girl who fetches 300 +dinars. The country of Bagnarghar lies between Tibet and China, +bounded on the north by the country of the Kirkhirs (Kiziljis in +another MS.), possibly Kirghiz. + +The course of the river on which the town is built, no less than the +name of the lake into which that river falls and the description of +the Turk slave girls (as of the cavalry), is quite inapplicable to +anything to be found in modern Tibet. I have little doubt that the +Tibet of Idrisi was a town on the high-road to China, which followed +the Tarim River eastward to its bourne in Lake Burhan. Lake Burhan is +now a swamp distinct from Lob, but 1000 years ago it may have been a +part of the Lob system, and Bagnarghar a part of Mongolia. The +description of the slave girls would apply equally well to the Turkman +women or to the Kirghiz, but certainly not to the flat-featured, +squat-shaped Tibetan, although there are not wanting good looks +amongst them. Then follows, in Idrisi's account, a list of the +dependencies of Tibet and some travellers' tales about the musk-deer. +It is impossible to place the ancient town of Tibet accurately. There +are ruined sites in numbers on the Tarim banks, and amongst them a +place called Tippak, but it would be dangerous to assume a connection +between Tibet and Tippak. This is interesting (and the interest must +be the excuse for the digression from Afghanistan), because it +indicates that modern Chinese Turkistan was included in Tibet a +thousand years ago, and it further throws a certain amount of light on +the origin of the remarkable concentration of Buddhist centres in the +Takla Makan. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[5] Joubert's translation. + +[6] Adraskand is mentioned as "a little place with cultivation, +gardens, and plenty of sweet water," and as one of the four towns +under the domination of Asfaran. This corresponds fairly well with the +modern town of Kila Adraskand of the same name. On the same southern +route from Herat, undoubtedly, was "Malin Herat, at one day's journey, +a town surrounded by gardens." The picturesque ruins of the bridge +called the Pul-i-Malun, across the Hari Rud, on the Kandahar road, is +evidence of the former existence of a town of Malun, of which no trace +remains to-day, but which must have corresponded very closely with +Rozabagh. + +[7] Talikhan in modern maps. + +[8] Now Colonel the Hon. M. G. Talbot, R.E. + +[9] The name or term Bot is locally applied now to certain Himalayan +districts as well as to Tibet. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +ARAB EXPLORATION--MAKRAN + + +Between Arabia and India is the strange land of Makran, in the +southern defiles and deserts of which country Alexander lost his way. +Had he by chance separated himself from the coast and abandoned +connection with his fleet he might have passed through Makran by more +northerly routes to Persia, and have made one of those open ways which +Arab occupation opened up to traffic 1000 years later. Makran is not +an attractive country for the modern explorer. It is not yet a popular +field for enterprise in research (though it well may become so), and a +few words of further description are necessary to explain how it was +that the death-trap of Alexander proved to be the road to wealth and +power of the subsequent Arab. + + [Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF ANCIENT & MEDIÆVAL MAKRAN + TO ILLUSTRATE PAPER BY COL. T. H. HOLDICH.] + +From the sun-swept Arabian Sea a long line of white shore, with a +ceaseless surf breaking on it, appears to edge it on the north. This +is backed by other long lines of level-topped hills, seldom rising to +conspicuous peaks or altitudes, but just stretched out in long +grey and purple lines with a prominent feature here and there to serve +as a useful landmark to mariners. Now and then when the shoreline is +indented, the hills actually face the sea and there are clean-cut +scarped cliffs presenting a square face to the waves. At such points +the deep rifted mountains of the interior either extend an arm to the +ocean, as at Malan, or it may be that a narrow band of ancient ridge +leaves jagged sections of its length above sea-level, parallel to the +coast-line, and that between it and the hills of the interior is a +sandy isthmus with sea indentation forming harbours on either side. +This country, for a width of about 100 miles, is called Makran. It is +the southernmost region of Southern Baluchistan, a country +geologically of recent formation, with a coastal uplift from the +sea-bottom of soft white sand strata capped here and there by +laterite. Such a formation lends itself to quaint curiosities in hill +structure. A protecting cap may preserve a pinnacle of soft rock, +whilst all around it the persistence of weather action has cut away +the soil. Gigantic cap-crowned pillars and pedestals are balanced in +fantastic array about the mountain slopes; deep cuttings and gorges +are formed by denudation, and from the gullies so fashioned amongst +these hills there may tower up a scarped cliff edge for thousands of +feet, with successive strata so well defined that it possesses all the +appearance of massive masonry construction. + +The sea which beats with unceasing surf on the shores of Makran is +full of the wonders of the deep. From the dead silent flat surface, +such as comes with an autumn calm, monstrous fish suddenly shoot out +for 15 or 20 feet into the air and fall with a resounding slap almost +amounting to a detonation. Whales still disport themselves close +inshore, and frighten no one. It is easy, however, to understand the +terror with which they inspired the Greek sailors of Nearkhos in their +open Indian-built boats as they wormed their way along the coast. +Occasionally a whale becomes involved with the cable of the +Indo-Persian telegraph line and loops himself into it, with fatal +results. There are islands off the shore, cut out from the mainland. +Some of them are in process of disappearance, when they will add their +quota to the bar which makes approach to the Makran shores so +generally difficult; others, more remote, bid fair to last as the +final remnants of a long-ago submerged ridge through ages yet to come; +and one regrets that the day of their enchantment has passed. Of such +is that island of Haftala, Hashtala, Nuhsala (it is difficult to +account for the variety of Persian numerals which are associated with +its name), which is called Nosala by Nearkhos and said by him to be +sacred to the sun. In the days of the Greeks it was enveloped in a +haze of mystery and tradition. The Karaks who made of this island a +base for their depredations, finally drew down upon themselves the +wrath of the Arabs, and this led incidentally to one of the most +successful invasions of India that have ever been conducted by sea and +land. + +But it is not only the historical and legendary interest of this +remarkable coast which renders it a fascinating subject for +exploration and romance. The physical conditions of it, the bubbling +mud volcanoes which occasionally fill the sea with yellow silt from +below, and always remain in a perpetual simmer of boiling activity; +the weird and fantastic forms assumed by the mud strata of recent +sea-making, which are the basis of the whole structure of ridge and +furrow which constitute Makran conformation, no less than the +extraordinary prevalence of electric phenomena,--all these offered the +Arabian Sea as a promising gift to the inventive faculty of such Arab +genius as revelled in stories of miraculous enterprise. On a still, +warm night when the stars are all ablaze overhead the sea will, of a +sudden, spread around in a sheet of milky white, and the sky become +black by contrast with the blackness of ink. Then again will there be +a transformation to a bright scintillating floor, with each little +wavelet dropping sparks of light upon it; and from the wake of the +vessel will stretch out to the horizon a shining way, like a silver +path into the great unknown. Meanwhile, the ship herself will be lit +up by the electric genii. Each iron rod or stanchion will gleam with a +weird white light; each spar will carry a little bunch of blue flame +at its point; the mast-head will be aflame, and softly through the +wonders of this strange Eastern sea the ship will stalk on in solemn +silence and most "excellent loneliness." Small wonder that Arab +mariners were stirring storytellers, living as they did amidst the +uncounted wonders of the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. + +Hardly less strange is the land formation of this southern edge of +Baluchistan. It is an old, old country, replete with the evidences of +unwritten history, the ultimate bourne of much of the flotsam and +jetsam of Asiatic humanity; a cul-de-sac where northern intruders meet +and get no farther. Yet geologically it is very new--so new that one +might think that the piles of sea-born shells which are to be found +here and there drifted into heaps on the soft mud flats amongst the +bristling ridges, were things of yesterday; so new, in fact, that it +has not yet done changing its outline. There is little difficulty in +marking the changes in the coast-line which must have occurred since +the third century B.C. One may even count up the island formations and +disappearances which have occurred within a generation; so incomplete +that the changing conditions of its water-supply have left their marks +everywhere over it. Desiccated forests are to be found with the trees +still standing, as they will continue to stand in this dry climate for +centuries. Huge masonry constructions, built as dams for the retention +of water in the inland hills, testify to the existence of an abundant +water-supply within historic periods; as also do the terraced slopes +which reach down in orderly steps to the foot of the ridges, each step +representing a formerly irrigated field. The water has failed; +whether, as is most probable, from the same desiccating processes +which are drying up lakes and dwindling glaciers in both northern and +southern hemispheres, or whether there has been special interference +with the routine of Nature and man has contributed to his own undoing, +it is impossible at present to say, but the result is that Makran is +now, and has been for centuries, a forgotten and almost a forsaken +country. In order to understand the remarkable peculiarity of its +geographical formation one requires a good map. Ridges, rather than +ranges, are the predominant feature of its orography. Ridges of all +degrees of altitude, extension, and rockiness, running in long lines +of parallel flexure on a system of curves which sweeps them round +gradually from the run of Indus frontier hills to an east and west +strike through Makran, and a final trend to the north-west, where they +guard the Persian coasts of the Gulf. As a rule they throw off no +spurs, standing stiff, jagged, naked, and uncompromising, like the +parallel walls of some gigantic system of defences, and varying in +height above the plain from 5000 feet to 50. The higher ranges have +been scored by weather and wet, with deep gorges and drainage lines, +and their scarred sides present various degrees of angle and +declivity, according to the dip of the strata that forms them. Some of +the smaller ridges have their rocky backbone set up straight, forming +a knife-like edge along which nothing but a squirrel could run. Across +them, breaking through the axis almost at right angles run some of the +main arteries of the general drainage system; but the most important +features of the country are the long lateral valleys between the +ridges, the streams of which feed the main rivers. These are often 8 +or 10 miles in width, with a flat alluvial bottom, and one may ride +for mile after mile along the open plain with clay or sand spread out +on either hand, and nothing but the distant wall of the hills flanking +the long and endless route. Some of these valleys are filled with a +luxuriance of palm growth (the dates of Panjgur, for instance, being +famous), and it is this remarkable feature of long, lateral valleys +which, through all the ages, has made of Makran an avenue of approach +to India from the west. The more important ranges lie to the north, +facing the deserts of Central Baluchistan. It is in the solid phalanx +of the coastal band of hills that the most marked adherence to the +gridiron, or ridge and furrow formation, is to be found. + +Exceptionally, out of this banded system arises some great mountain +block forming a separate feature, such as is the massive crag-crowned +cliff-lined block of Malan, west of one of the most important rivers +of Makran (the Hingol), to which reference has already been made. From +it an arm stretches southwards to the sea, and forms a square-headed +obstruction to traffic along the coast, which almost defeated the +efforts of the Indo-Persian telegraph constructors when they essayed +to carry a line across it, and did entirely defeat the intentions of +Alexander the Great to conduct his army within sight of his +Indus-built fleet. It is within the folds of this mountain group that +lies hidden that most ancient shrine of Indo-Persian worship, to which +we have already referred in the story of Alexander's retreat. + +It is the possibilities of Makran as an intervening link in the route +from Europe to India which renders that country interesting at the +present time, and it is therefore with a practical as well as +historical interest that we take up the story of frontier exploration +from the time when we first recognize the great commercial movements +of the Arab races, centuries after the disappearance of the last +remnants of ancient explorations by Assyrians, Persians, and Greeks. +It is extraordinary how deep a veil of forgetfulness was drawn over +Southern Baluchistan during this unrecorded interval. For a thousand +years, from the withdrawal of Alexander's attenuated force to the rise +and spread of Islam, we hear nothing of Makran, and we are left to the +traditions of the Baluch tribes to fill up the gap in history. What +the Arabs made of mediæval Makran as a gate of India may be briefly +told. Recent surveys have revealed their tracks, although we have no +clear record of their earliest movements. We know, however, that there +was an Arab governor of Makran long previous to the historical +invasion of India in A.D. 712, and that there must have been strong +commercial interest and considerable traffic before his time. Arabia, +indeed, had always been interested in Makran, and amongst other relics +of a long dead past are those huge stone constructions for +water-storage purposes to which we have referred, and which must have +been of very early Arab (possibly Himyaritic) building, as well as a +host of legends and traditions, all pointing to successive waves of +early tribal emigration, extending from the Persian frontier to the +lower Arabius--the Purali of our time. + +Hajjaj, the governor of Irak, under the Kalif Walid I., projected +three simultaneous expeditions into Asia for the advancement of the +true faith. One was directed towards Samarkand, one against the King +of Kabul, and the third was to operate directly on India through the +heart of Makran. The Makran field force was organised in the first +instance for the purpose of punishing certain Karak and Med pirates, +who had plundered a valuable convoy sent by the ruler of Ceylon to +Hajjaj and to the Kalif. These Karaks probably gave their names to the +Krokala of Nearkhos, and the Karachi of to-day, and have disappeared. +The Meds still exist. The expedition, which was placed under the +command of an enterprising young general aged seventeen, named Mahomed +Kasim, not only swept through Makran easily and successfully, but +ended by establishing Mahomedan supremacy in the Indus valley, and +originated a form of government which, under various phases, lasted +till Mahmud of Ghazni put an end to a degenerated form of it by +ousting the Karmatian rulers of Multan in A.D. 1005. The original +force which invaded Sind under Mahomed Kasim, and which was drawn +chiefly from Syria and Irak, consisted of 6000 camel-riders and 3000 +infantry. In Makran the Arab governor (it is important to note that +there was an Arab governor of Makran before that country became the +high-road to India) added further reinforcements, and there was also a +naval squadron, which conveyed catapults and ammunition by sea to the +Indus valley port of Debal. It was with this small force that one of +the most surprising invasions of India ever attempted was successfully +carried through Makran--a country hitherto deemed impracticable, and +associated in previous history with nothing but tales of disaster. For +long, however, we find that Mahomed Kasim had both the piratical Meds, +and the hardly less tractable Jats (a Skythic people still existing in +the Indus valley) in his train, and the news of his successes carried +to Damascus brought crowds of Arab adventurers to follow his fortunes. +When he left Multan for the north, he is said to have had 50,000 men +under his command. His subsequent career and tragic end are all +matters of history. + +The points chiefly to note in this remarkable invasion are that the +Arab soldiers first engaged were chiefly recruited from Syria; that, +contrary to their usual custom, they brought none of their women with +them; and that none of them probably ever returned to their country +again. Elliott tells us of the message sent them by the savage Kalif +Suliman: "Sow and sweat, for none of you will ever see Syria again." +What, then, became of all these first Arab conquerors of Western +India? They must have taken Persian-speaking wives of the stock of +Makran and Baluchistan, and their children, speaking their +mother-tongue, lost all knowledge of their fathers' language in the +course of a few generations. There are many such instances of the +rapid disappearance of a language in the East. For three centuries, +then, whilst a people of Arab descent ruled in Sind, there existed +through Makran one of the great highways of the world, a link between +West and East such as has never existed elsewhere on the Indian +border, save, perhaps, through the valley of the Kabul River and its +affluents. Along this highway flowed the greater part of the mighty +trade of India, a trade which has never failed to give commercial +predominance to that country which held the golden key to it, whether +that key has been in the hands of Arab, Turk, Venetian, Portuguese, +or Englishman. And though there are traces of a rapid decline in the +mediæval prosperity of Makran after the commencement of the eleventh +century, yet its comparative remoteness in geographical position saved +it subsequently from the ruthless destruction inflicted by Turk and +Tartar in more accessible regions, and left to it cities worth +despoiling even in the days of Portuguese supremacy. + +It is only lately that Makran has lapsed again into a mere +geographical expression. Twenty years ago our maps told us nothing +about it. It might have been, and was, for all practical purposes, as +unexplored and unknown as the forests of Africa. Now, however, we have +found that Makran is a country of great topographical interest as well +as of stirring history. And when we come to the days of Arab +ascendency, when Arab merchants settled in the country; when good +roads with well-marked stages were established; when, fortunately for +geography, certain Western commercial travellers, following, _longo +intervallo_, the example of the Chinese pilgrims--men such as Ibn +Haukal of Baghdad, or Istakhri of Persepolis--first set to work to +reduce geographical discovery to systematic compilation, we can take +their books and maps in our hands, and verify their statements as we +read. It is true that they copied a good deal from each other, and +that their manner of writing geographical names was obscure, and +leaves a good deal to be desired--a fault, by the way, from which the +maps of to-day are not entirely free--yet they are on the whole as +much more accurate than the early Greek geographers as the area of +their observations is more restricted. We may say that Makran and Sind +are perhaps more fully treated of by Arab geographers than any other +portion of the globe by the geographers who preceded them; and as +their details are more perfect, so, for the most part, is the +identification of those details rendered comparatively easy by the +nature of the country and its physical characteristics. With the +exception of the coast-line the topography of Makran to-day is the +topography of Makran in Alexandrian days. This is very different +indeed from the uncertain character of the Indus valley mediæval +geography. There the extraordinary hydrographical changes that have +taken place; the shifting of the great river itself from east to west, +dependent on certain recognized natural laws; the drying up and total +disappearance of ancient channels and river-beds; the formation of a +delta, and the ever-varying alterations in the coast-line (due greatly +to monsoon influences), leave large tracts almost unrecognizable as +described in mediæval literature. Makran is, for the most part, a +country of hills. Its valleys are narrow and sharply defined; its +mountains only passable at certain well-known points, which must have +been as definite before the Christian era as they are to-day; and it +is consequently comparatively easy to follow up a clue to any main +route passing through that country. + +Makran is, in short, a country full of long narrow valleys running +east and west, the longest and most important being the valley of Kej. +The main drainage of the country reaches the sea by a series of main +channels running south, which, inasmuch as they are driven almost at +right angles across the general run of the watersheds, necessarily +pass through a series of gorges of most magnificent proportions, which +are far more impressive as spectacles than they are convenient for +practical road-making. Thus Makran is very much easier to traverse +from east to west than it is from north to south. + +I have, perhaps, said enough to indicate that the old highways through +Makran, however much they may have assisted trade and traffic between +East and West, could only have been confined to very narrow limits +indeed. It is, in fact, almost a one-road country. Given the key, +then, to open the gates of such channels of communication as exist, +there is no difficulty in following them up, and the identification of +successive stages becomes merely a matter of local search. We know +where the old Arab cities _must_ have been, and we have but to look +about to find their ruins. The best key, perhaps, to this mediæval +system is to be found in a map given by the Baghdad traveller, Ibn +Haukal, who wrote his account of Makran early in the tenth century, +and though this map leaves much to be desired in clearness and +accuracy, it is quite sufficient to give us the clue we require at +first starting. In the written geographical accounts of the country, +we labour under the disadvantage of possessing no comparative standard +of distance. The Arab of mediæval days described the distance to be +traversed between one point and another much as the Bedou describes it +now. It is so many days' journey. Occasionally, indeed, we find a +compiler of more than usual precision modifying his description of a +stage as a long day's journey, or a short one. But such instances are +rare, and a day's journey appears to be literally just so much as +could conveniently be included in a day's work, with due regard to the +character of the route traversed. Across an open desert a day's +journey may be as much as 80 miles. Between the cities of a +well-populated district it may be much less. Taking an average from +all known distances, it is between 40 and 50 miles. Nor is it always +explained whether the day's journey is by land or sea, the unit "a +day's journey" being the distance traversed independent of the means +of transit. + +In Ibn Haukal's map, although we have very little indication of +comparative distance, we have a rough idea of bearings, and the +invaluable datum of a fixed starting-point that can be identified +beyond doubt. The great Arab port on the Makran coast, sometimes even +called the capital of Makran, was Tiz; and Tiz is a well-known coast +village to this day. About 100 miles west of the port of Gwadur there +is a convenient and sheltered harbour for coast shipping, and on the +shores of it there was a telegraph station of the Persian Gulf line +called Charbar. The telegraph station occupied the extremity of the +eastern horn of the bay, and was separated inland by some few miles of +sandy waste from a low band of coarse conglomerate hills, which +conceal amongst them a narrow valley, containing all that is left of +the ancient port of Tiz. If you take a boat from Charbar point, and, +coasting up the bay, land at the mouth of this valley, you will first +of all be confronted by a picturesque little Persian fort perched on +the rocks on either hand, and absolutely blocking the entrance to the +valley. This fort was built, or at least renewed, in the days of +General Sir F. Goldsmid's Seistan mission, to emphasize the fact that +the Persian Government claimed that valley for its own. About a mile +above the fort there exists a squalid little fishing village, the +inhabitants of which spend their spare moments (and they have many of +them) in making those palm mats which enter so largely into the house +architecture of the coast villages, as they sit beneath the shade of +one or two remarkably fine "banian" trees. The valley is narrow and +close, and the ruins of Tiz, extending on both sides the village, are +packed close together in enormous heaps of debris, so covered with +broken pottery as to suggest the idea that the inhabitants of old Tiz +must have once devoted themselves entirely to the production of +ceramic art ware. Every heavy shower of rain washes out fragments of +new curiosities in glass and china. Here may be found large quantities +of an antique form of glass, the secret of the manufacture of which +has (according to Venetian experts) long passed away, only to be +lately rediscovered. It takes the shape of bangles chiefly, and in +this form may be dug up in almost any of the recognized sites of +ancient coast towns along the Makran and Persian coasts. It is +apparently of Egyptian origin, and was brought to the coast in Arab +ships. Here also is to be found much of a special class of pottery, of +very fine texture, and usually finished with a light sage-green glaze, +which appears to me to be peculiarly Arabic, but of which I have yet +to learn the full history. It is well known in Afghanistan, where it +is said to possess the property of detecting poison by cracking under +it, but even there it is no modern importation. This is the celadon to +which reference has already been made. The rocky cliffs on either side +the valley are honey-combed with Mahomedan tombs, and the face of +every flat-spaced eminence is scarred with them. A hundred generations +of Moslems are buried there. The rocky declivities which hedge in this +remarkable site may give some clue to the yet more ancient name of +Talara which this place once bore. Talar in Baluchi bears the +signification of a rocky band of cliffs or hills. + +The obvious reason why the port of Tiz was chosen for the point of +debarkation for India is that, in addition to the general convenience +of the harbour, the monsoon winds do not affect the coast so far west. +At seasons when the Indus delta and the port of Debal were rendered +unapproachable, Tiz was an easy port to gain. There must have been a +considerable local trade, too, between the coast and the highly +cultivated, if restricted, valleys of Northern Makran, and it is more +than probable that Tiz was the port for the commerce of Seistan in its +most palmy days. + +From Tiz to Kiz (or Kej, which is reckoned as the first big city on +the road to India in mediæval geography) was, according to Istakhri +and Idrisi, a five-days' journey. Kiz is doubtless synonymous with +Kej, but the long straight valley of that name which leads eastwards +towards India has no town now which exactly corresponds to the name of +the valley. The distance between Tiz and the Kej district is from 160 +to 170 miles. No actual ruined site can be pointed out as yet marking +the position of Kiz, or (as Idrisi writes it) Kirusi, but it must have +been in the close neighbourhood of Kalatak, where, indeed, there is +ample room for further close investigation amongst surrounding ruins. +About the city, we may note from Idrisi that it was nearly as large as +Multan, and was the largest city in Makran. "Palm trees are +plentiful, and there is a large trade," says our author, who adds that +it is two long days' journey west of the city of Firabuz. From all the +varied forms which Arab geographical names can assume owing to +omission of diacritical marks in writing, this place, Firabuz, has +perhaps suffered most. The most correct reading of it would probably +be Kanazbun, and this is the form adopted by Elliott, who conjectures +that Kanazbun was situated near the modern Panjgur. From Kej to +Panjgur is not less than 110 miles, a very long two-days' journey. Yet +Istakhri supports Idrisi (if, indeed, he is not the original author of +the statement) that it is two days' journey from Kiz to Kanazbun. This +would lead one to place Kanazbun elsewhere than in the Panjgur +district, more especially as that district lies well to the north of +the direct road to India, were it not for local evidence that the +fertile and flourishing Panjgur valley must certainly be included +somehow in the mediæval geographical system, and that the conditions +of khafila traffic in mediæval times were such as to preclude the +possibility of the more direct route being utilized. To explain this +fully would demand a full explanation also of the physical geography +of Eastern Makran. I have no doubt whatever that Sir H. Elliott is +right in his conjecture, and that amongst the many relics of ancient +civilization which are to be found in Panjgur is the site of Kanazbun. +Kanazbun was in existence long before the Arab invasion of Sind. The +modern fort of Kudabandan probably represents the site of that more +ancient fort which was built by the usurper Chach of Sind, when he +marched through Makran to fix its further boundaries about the +beginning of the Mahomedan era. Kanazbun was a very large city indeed. +"It is a town," says Idrisi, "of which the inhabitants are rich. They +carry on a great trade. They are men of their word, enemies of fraud, +and they are generous and hospitable." Panjgur, I may add, is a +delightfully green spot amongst many other green spots in Makran. It +is not long ago that we had a small force cantoned there to preserve +law and order in that lawless land. There appeared to be but one +verdict on the part of the officers who lived there, and that verdict +was all in its favour. In this particular, Panjgur is probably unique +amongst frontier outposts. + +The next important city on the road to Sind was Armail, Armabel, or +Karabel, now, without doubt, Las Bela. From Kudabandan to Las Bela is +from 170 to 180 miles, and there is considerable variety of opinion as +to the number of days that were to be occupied in traversing the +distance. Istakhri says that from Kiz to Armail is six days' journey. +Deduct the two from Kiz to Kanazbun, and the distance between Kanazbun +and Armail is four days. Ibn Haukal makes it fourteen marches from +Kanazbun to the port of Debal, and as he reckons Armail to be six +from Debal on the Kanazbun road, we get a second estimate of eight +days' journey. Idrisi says that from Manhabari to Firabuz is six +marches, and we know otherwise that from Manhabari to Armail was four, +so the third estimate gives us two days' journey. Istakhri's estimate +is more in accordance with the average that we find elsewhere, and he +is the probable author of the original statements. But doubtless the +number of days occupied varied with the season and the amount of +supplies procurable. There were villages _en route_, and many +halting-places. The _Ashkalu l' Bilad_ of Ibn Haukal says: "Villages +of Dahuk and Kalwan are contiguous, and are between Labi and Armail"; +from which Elliott conjectures that Labi was synonymous with Kiz. +Idrisi states that "between Kiz and Armail two districts touch each +other, Rahun and Kalwan." I should be inclined to suggest that the +districts of Dashtak and Kolwah are those referred to. They are +contiguous, and they may be said to be between Kiz and Armail, though +it would be more exact to place them between Kanazbun and Armail. +Kolwah is a well-cultivated district lying to the south of the river, +which in its upper course is known as the Lob. I should conjecture +that this may be the Labi referred to by Ibn Haukal. + +The city of Armail, Armabel (sometimes Karabel), or Las Bela, is of +great historic interest. From the very earliest days of historical +record Armail, by right of its position commanding the high-road to +India, must have been of great importance. Las Bela is but the modern +name derived from the influx of the Las or Lumri tribe of Rajputs. It +is at present but an insignificant little town, picturesquely perched +on the banks of the Purali River, but in its immediate neighbourhood +is a veritable _embarras de richesse_ in ancient sites. Eleven miles +north-west of Las Bela, at Gondakahar, are the ruins of a very ancient +city, which at first sight appear to carry us back to the +pre-Mahomedan era of Arab occupation, when the country was peopled by +Arabii, and the Arab flag was paramount on the high seas. Not far from +them are the caves of Gondrani, about which there is no room for +conjecture, for they are clearly Buddhist, as can be told from their +construction. We know from the Chachnama of Sind that in the middle of +the eighth century the province of Las Bela was part of a Buddhist +kingdom, which extended from Armabel to the modern province of Gandava +in Sind. The great trade mart for the Buddhists on the frontier was a +place called Kandabel, which Elliott identifies with Gandava, the +capital of the province of Kach Gandava. It is, however, associated in +the Chachnama with Kandahar, the expression "Kandabel, that is, +Kandahar" being used, an expression which Elliott condemns for its +inaccuracy, as he recognizes but the one Kandahar, which is in +Afghanistan. It happens that there is a Kandahar, or Gandahar, in +Kach Gandava, and there are ruins enough in the neighbourhood to +justify the suspicion that this was after all the original Kandabel +rather than the modern town of Gandava. + +The capital of this ancient Buddha--or Buddhiya--kingdom I believe to +have been Armabel rather than Kandabel, it being at Armabel that Chach +found a Buddhist priest reigning in the year A.H. 2, when he passed +through. The curious association of names, and the undoubted Buddhist +character of the Gondrani caves, would lead one to assign a Buddhist +origin also to the neighbouring ruins of Gondakahar (or Gandakahar) +only that direct evidence from the ruins themselves is at present +wanting to confirm this conjecture. They require far closer +investigation than has been found possible in the course of ordinary +survey operations. The country lying between Las Bela and Kach Gandava +is occupied at present by a most troublesome section of the Dravidian +Brahuis, who call themselves Mingals, or Mongols, and who possibly may +be a Mongolian graft on the Dravidian stock. They may prove to be +modern representatives of the old Buddhist population of this land, +but their objection to political control has hitherto debarred us from +even exploring their country, although it is immediately on our own +borders. About 8 miles north of Las Bela are the ruins of a +comparatively recent Arab settlement, but they do not appear to be +important. It is probable that certain other ruins, about 1½ miles +east of the town, called Karia Pir, represent the latest mediæval +site, the site which was adopted after the destruction of the older +city by Mahomed Kasim on his way to invade Sind. Karia Pir is full of +Arabic coins and pottery. So many invasions of India have been planned +with varied success by the Kalifs of Baghdad since the first invasion +in the days of Omar I. in A.D. 644, till the time of the final +occupation of Sind in the time of the sixth Kalif Walid, about A.D. +712, that there is no difficulty in accounting for the varied sites +and fortunes of any city occupying so important a strategical position +as Bela. + +From Armail we have a two-days' march assigned by Istakhri and Idrisi +as the distance to the town of Kambali, or Yusli, towards India. These +two places have, in consequence of their similarity in position, +become much confused, and it has been assumed by some scholars that +they are identical. But they are clearly separated in Ibn Haukal's +map, and it is, in fact, the question only of which of two routes +towards India is selected that will decide which of the two cities +will be found on the road. There is (and always must have been) a +choice of routes to the ancient port of Debal after passing the city +of Armail. That route which led through Yusli in all probability +passed by the modern site of Uthal. Close to this village the +unmistakable ruins of a considerable Arab town have been found, and I +have no hesitation in identifying them as those of Yusli. About +Kambali, too, there can be very little doubt. There are certain +well-known ruins called Khairokot not far to the west of the village +of Liari. We know from mediæval description that Kambali was close to +the sea, and the sea shaped its coast-line in mediæval days so as +nearly to touch the site called Khairokot. Even now, under certain +conditions of tide, it is possible to reach Liari in a coast +fishing-boat, although the process of land formation at the head of +the Sonmiani bay is proceeding so fast that, on the other hand, it is +occasionally impossible even to reach the fishing village of Sonmiani +itself. The ruins of Khairokot are so extensive, and yield such large +evidences of Arab occupation that a place must certainly be found for +them in the mediæval system. Kambali appears to be the only possible +solution to the problem, although it was somewhat off the direct road +between Armail and Debal. + +From either of these towns we have a six-days' journey to Debal, +passing two other cities _en route_, viz. Manabari and the "small but +populous town of Khur." + +The Manhanari of Istakhri, Manbatara of Ibn Haukal, or Manabari of +Idrisi, again confronts us with the oft-repeated difficulty of two +places with similar names, there being no one individual site which +will answer all the descriptions given. General Haig has shown that +there was in all probability a Manjabari on the old channel of the +Indus, nearly opposite the famous city of Mansura, some 40 miles +north-east of the modern Hyderabad, which will answer certain points +of Arabic description; but he shows conclusively that this could not +be the Manhabari of Ibn Haukal and Idrisi, which was two days' journey +from Debal on the road to Armail. As we have now decided what +direction that road must have taken, after accepting General Haig's +position for Debal, and bearing in mind Idrisi's description of the +town as "built in a hollow," with fountains, springs, and gardens +around it, there seems to me but little doubt that the site of the +ancient Manhabari is to be found near that resort of all Karachi +holiday-makers called Mugger Pir. Here the sacred alligators are kept, +and hence the recognized name; but the real name of the place, +divested of its vulgar attributes, is Manga, or Manja Pir. The affix +Pir is common throughout the Bela district, and is a modern +introduction. The position of Mugger Pir, with its encircling walls of +hills, its adjacent hot springs and gardens (so rare as to be almost +unique in this part of the country), its convenient position with +respect to the coast, and, above all, its interesting architectural +remains, mark it unmistakably as that Manhabari of Idrisi which was +two days' march from Debal. + +Whether Manhabari can be identified with that ancient capital of +Indo-Skythia spoken of by Ptolemy and the author of the _Periplus_ as +Minagar, or Binagar, may be open to question, though there are a good +many points about it which appear to meet the description given by +more ancient geographers. The question is too large to enter on now, +but there is certainly reason to think that such identification may be +found possible. The small but populous town of Khur has left some +apparent records of its existence near the Malir waterworks of +Karachi, where there is a very fine group of Arab tombs in a good +state of preservation. There is a village called Khair marked on the +map not far from this position, and the actual site of the old town +cannot be far from it, although I have not had the opportunity of +identifying it. It is directly on the road connecting Debal with +Manhabari. With Manhabari and Khur our tale of buried cities closes in +this direction. We have but to add that General Haig identifies Debal +with a ruin-covered site 20 miles south-west of Thatta, and about 45 +miles east-south-east of Karachi. + +All these ancient cities eastwards from Makran are associated with one +very interesting feature. Somewhat apart from the deserted and hardly +recognizable ruins of the cities are groups of remarkable tombs, +constructed of stone, and carved with a most minute beauty of design, +which is so well preserved as to appear almost fresh from the hands of +the sculptor. These tombs are locally known as "Khalmati." + +Invariably placed on rising ground, with a fair command of the +surrounding landscape, they are the most conspicuous witnesses yet +remaining of the nature of the Saracenic style of decorative art which +must have beautified those early cities. The cities themselves have +long since passed away, but these stone records of dead citizens still +remain to illustrate, if but with a feeble light, one of the darkest +periods in the history of Indian architecture. These remains are most +likely Khalmati (_not_ Karmati) and belong to an Arab race who were +once strong in Sind and who came from the Makran coast at Khalmat. The +Karmatians were not builders. + +We have so far only dealt with that route to India which combined a +coasting voyage in Arab ships with an overland journey which was +obviously performed on a camel, or the days' stages could never have +been accomplished. But the number of cities in Western Makran and +Kirman which still exist under their mediæval names, and which are +thickly surrounded with evidences of their former wealth and +greatness, certifies to a former trade through Persia to India which +could have been nowise inferior to that from the shores of Arabia or +Egypt. Indeed, the overland route to India through Persia and Makran +was probably one of the best trodden trade routes that the world has +ever seen. It is almost unnecessary to enumerate such names as Darak, +Bih, Band, Kasrkand, Asfaka, and Fahalfahra (all of which are to be +found in Ibn Haukal's map), and to point out that they are represented +in modern geography by Dizak, Geh, Binth, Kasrkand, Asfaka, and Bahu +Kalat. Degenerated and narrowed as they now are, there are still +evidences written large enough in surrounding ruins to satisfy the +investigator of the reality and greatness of their past; whilst the +present nature of the routes which connect them by river and mountain +is enough to prove that they never could have been of small account in +the Arab geographical system. One city in this part of Makran is, I +confess, something of a riddle to me still. Rasak is ever spoken of by +Arab geographers as the city of "schismatics." There is, indeed, a +Rasak on the Sarbaz River road to Bampur, which might be strained to +fit the position assigned it in Arab geography; but it is now a small +and insignificant village, and apparently could never have been +otherwise. There is no room there for a city of such world-wide fame +as the ancient headquarters of heresy must have been--a city which +served usefully as a link between the heretics of Persia and those of +Sind. + +Istakhri says that Rasak is two days' journey from Fahalfahra (which +there is good reason for believing to be Bahu Kalat), but Idrisi makes +it a three-days' journey from that place, and three days from Darak, +so that it should be about half-way between them. Now, Darak can +hardly be other than Dizak, which is described by the same authority +as three days' journey from Firabuz (_i.e._ Kanazbun). It is also said +to have been a populous town, and south-west of it was "a high +mountain called the Mountain of Salt." South-west of Dizak are the +highest mountains in Makran, called the Bampusht Koh, and there is +enough salt in the neighbourhood to justify the geographer's +description. It may also be said to be three days' journey from +Kanazbun. Somewhere about half-way between Dizak and Bahu Kalat is the +important town of Sarbaz, and from a description of contiguous ruins +which has been given by Mr. E. A. Wainwright, of the Survey Department +(to whom I am indebted for most of the Makran identifications), I am +inclined to place the ancient Rasak at Sarbaz rather than in the +position which the modern name would apply to it. It is rather +significant that Ibn Haukal omits Rasak altogether from his map. Its +importance may be estimated from Idrisi's description of it taken from +the translation given by Elliott in the first volume of his History of +India: "The inhabitants of Rasak are schismatics. Their territory is +divided into two districts, one called Al Kharij, and the other Kir" +(or Kiz) "Kaian. Sugar-cane is much cultivated, and a considerable +trade is carried on in a sweetmeat called 'faniz,' which is made +here.... The territory of Maskan joins that of Kirman." Maskan is +probably represented by Mashkel at the present day, Mashkel being the +best date-growing district in Southern Baluchistan. It adjoins Kirman, +and produces dates of such excellent quality that they compare +favourably with the best products of the Euphrates. Idrisi's +description of this part of Western Makran continues thus: "The +inhabitants have a great reputation for courage. They have date-trees, +camels, cereals, and the fruit of cold countries." He then gives a +table of distances, from which we can roughly estimate the meaning of +"a day's journey." After stating that Fahalfahra, Asfaka, Band, and +Kasrkand are dependencies of Makran which resemble each other in point +of size and extent of their trade, he goes on to say, "Fahalfahra to +Rasak two days." (Istakhri makes it three days, the distance from Bahu +Kalat to Sarbaz being about 80 miles.) "From Fahalfahra to Asfaka two +days." (This is almost impossible, the distance being about 160 miles, +and the route passing through several large towns.) "From Asfaka to +Band one day towards the west." (This is about 45 miles south-west +rather than west.) "From Asfaka to Darak three days." (150 to 160 +miles according to the route taken.) "From Band to Kasrkand one day." +(About 70 miles, passing through Bih or Geh, which is not mentioned.) +"From Kasrkand to Kiz four days." This is not much over 150 miles, and +is the most probable estimate of them all. It is possible, of course, +that from 70 to 80 miles may have been covered on a good camel within +the limits of twenty-four hours. Such distances in Arabia are not +uncommon, but we are not here dealing with an absolutely desert +district, devoid of water. On the contrary, halting-places must have +always been frequent and convenient. + +I cannot leave this corner of Makran without a short reference to what +lay beyond to the north-west, on the Kirman border, as it appears to +me that one or two geographical riddles of mediæval days have recently +been cleared up by the results of our explorations. Idrisi says that +"Tubaran is near Fahraj, which belongs to Kirman. It is a +well-fortified town, and is situated on the banks of a river of the +same name, which are cultivated and fertile. From hence to Fardan, a +commercial town, the environs of which are well populated, four days. +Kir Kaian lies to the west of Fardan, on the road to Tubaran. The +country is well populated and very fertile. The vine grows here and +various sorts of fruit trees, but the palm is not to be found." +Elsewhere he states that "from Mansuria to Tubaran about fifteen +days"; and again, "from Tubaran to Multan, on the borders of Sind, ten +days." Here there is clearly the confusion which so constantly arises +from the repetition of place-names in different localities. Multan and +Mansuria are well-known or well-identified localities, and Turan was +an equally well-recognized district of Lower Sind, of which Khozdar +was the capital. Turan may well be reckoned as ten days from Multan, +or fifteen from Mansuria, but hardly the Tubaran, about which such a +detailed and precise description is given. There are two places called +indifferently Fahraj, Pahrag, Pahra, or Pahura, both of which are in +the Kirman district; one, which is shown in St. John's map of Persia, +is not very far from Regan, in the Narmashir province, and is +surrounded far and wide with ruins. It has been identified by St. John +as the Pahra of Arrian, the capital of Gadrosia, where Alexander +rested after his retreat through Makran. The other is some 16 miles +east of Bampur, to the north-west of Sarbaz. Both are on the banks of +a river, "cultivated and fertile"; both are the centres of an area of +ruins extending for miles; both must find a place in mediæval +geography. For many reasons, into which I cannot fully enter, I am +inclined to place the Pahra of Arrian in the site near Bampur. It +suits the narrative in many particulars better than does the Pahra +identified with Fahraj by St. John. The latter, I have very little +doubt, is the Fahraj of Idrisi, and the town of Tubaran was not far +from it. Fardan may well have been either Bampur itself (a very +ancient town) or Pahra, 16 miles to the east of it; and between Fardan +and Fahraj lay the district of Kir (or Kiz) Kaian, which has been +stated to be a district of Rasak. "On Tubaran," says Idrisi, "are +dependent Mahyak, Kir Kaian, Sura" (? Suza), "Fardan" (? Bampur or +Pahra), "Kashran" (? Khasrin), "and Masurjan. Masurjan is a +well-peopled commercial town surrounded with villages on the banks of +the Tubaran, from which town it is 42 miles distant. Masurjan to Darak +Yamuna 141 miles, Darak Yamuna to Firabuz 175 miles." If we take Regan +to represent the old city of Masurjan, and Yakmina as the modern +representative of Darak Yamuna, we shall find Idrisi's distances most +surprisingly in accordance with modern mapping. Regan is about 40 +miles from Fahraj, and the other distances, though not accurate of +course, are much more approximately correct than could possibly have +been expected from the generality of Idrisi's compilation. + +I cannot, however, now open up a fresh chapter on mediæval geography +in Persia. It is Makran itself to which I wish to draw attention. In +our thirst for trans-frontier knowledge farther north and farther +west, we have somewhat overlooked this very remarkable country. Idrisi +commences his description with the assertion that "Makran is a vast +country, mostly desert." We have not altogether found it so. It is +true that the voyager who might be condemned to coast his way from the +Gulf of Oman to the port of Karachi in the hot weather, might wonder +what of beauty, wealth, or even interest, could possibly lie beyond +that brazen coast washed by that molten sea; might well recall the +agonies of thirst endured during the Greek retreat; might think of the +lost armies of Cyrus and Simiramis; and whilst his eye could not fail +to be impressed with the grand outlines of those bold headlands which +guard the coast, his nose would be far more rudely reminded of the +unpleasant proximity of Ichthyophagi than delighted by soft odours of +spikenard or myrrh. And yet, for century after century, the key to the +golden gate of Indian commerce lay behind those Makran hills. Beyond +those square-headed bluffs and precipices, hidden amongst the serrated +lines of jagged ridges, was the high-road to wealth and fame, where +passed along not only many a rich khafila loaded with precious +merchandise, but many a stout array of troops besides. Those citizens +of Makran who "loved fair dealing, who were men of their word, and +enemies to fraud," who welcomed the lagging khafila, or sped on their +way the swift camel-mounted soldiers of Arabia, could have little +dreamed that for centuries in the undeveloped future, when trade +should pass over the high seas round the southern coast of Africa, and +the Western infidel should set his hated foot on Eastern shores, +Makran should sink out of sight and into such forgetfulness by the +world, that eventually this ancient land of the sun should become +something less well known than those mountains of the moon in which +lay the far-off sources of the Egyptian Nile. + +Yet it is not at all impossible that Makran may once again rise to +significance in Indian Councils. Men's eyes have been so much turned +to the proximity of Russia and Russian railways to the Indian frontier +that they have hardly taken into serious consideration the problems of +the future, which deal with the direct connection overland between +India and Europe other than those which touch Seistan or Herat. That +such connection will finally eventuate either through Seistan or Herat +(or through both) no one who has any appreciation of the power of +commercial interests to overcome purely military or political +objections will doubt; but meanwhile it may be more than interesting +to prove that a line through Persia is quite a practicable scheme, +although it would not be practicable on any alignment that has as yet +been suggested. It would not be practicable by following the coast, +for instance. It would be useless to link up Teheran with Mashad, +unless the Seistan line were adopted in extension; and the proposal to +join Ispahan to Seistan through Central Persia would involve such a +lengthening of the route to India as would seriously discount its +value. The only solution of the difficulty is through Makran to +Karachi. Military nervousness would thus be met by the fact that +Russia could make no use of such a line for purposes of invasion, +inasmuch as it would be commanded and protected from the sea. +Political difficulties with Afghanistan would be absolutely avoided by +a Persian line. Whether that would be better than a final agreement +with Russia based on mutual interest, which would certainly make +strongly for the peace of our borders, is another question. I am only +concerned just now in illustrating the geography of Makran and +pointing out its facilities as a land of possible routes to India, and +in showing how the exploration of Baluchistan and of Western India was +secured in mediæval times by means of these routes. + +It will, then, be interesting to note that at the eastern extremity of +Makran, dovetailed between the Makran hills as they sweep off with a +curve westward and our Sind frontier hills as they continue their +general strike southwards, is the little state of Las Bela. The +mountain conformation which encloses it makes the flat alluvial +portion of the state triangular in shape, and from the apex of the +triangle to the sea runs a river now known as the Purali, which in +ancient times was called the Arabis from the early Arab occupation of +the region. There are relics of apparent Arabic origin which, +independently of Greek records, testify to a very early interest in +this corner of the Indian borderland. Las Bela has a history which is +not without interest. It has been a Buddhist centre, and the caves of +Gondakahar near by testify to the ascetic fervour of the Buddhist +priesthood. The grave of one of the greatest of frontier political +leaders, Sir Robert Sandeman, lies near this little capital. Already +it forms an object of devotional pilgrimage through all the Sind +countryside. Possibly once again it may happen that Las Bela will be a +wayside resting-place on the road to India, as it has undoubtedly been +in the centuries of the past. It is not difficult to reach Las Bela +from Karachi by following the modern telegraph line. There are no +great physical obstacles interposed to make the way thorny for the +slow-moving train of a khafila, and where camels can take their +stately way there the more lively locomotive can follow. Should the +railway from Central Persia (let us say Ispahan) ever extend its iron +lines to Las Bela, it will make little of the rest of its extension to +Karachi. It is the actual physical arrangement of Makran topography +only which really matters; and here we are but treading in the +footsteps of the ubiquitous Arab when first he made his way +south-eastward from Arabia, or from Syria, to the Indian frontier. He +could, and he did, pass from the plateau of Persia into the very heart +of Makran without encountering the impediment of a single difficult +pass. + +Although the chief trade route of the Arabs to India was not through +Persia, but by way of the sea in coasting vessels, it is probable that +both Arabs and Persians before them made good use of the geographical +opportunities offered for an approach to the Indus valley and Northern +India, and that the central line of Persian approach through Makran +had been a world-old route for centuries. It is really a delightful +route to follow, full of the interest of magnificent scenery and of +varied human existence, and it is the telegraph route from Ispahan to +Panjgur in Makran. With the initial process of reaching Ispahan, +whether through the Kurdistan hills from Baghdad by way of Kermanshah +and the ancient town of Hamadan to Kum (the mountain road selected for +the telegraph line), or whether from Teheran to Kum and thence by +Kashan (a line not so replete with hills), we have no concern. This +part of Persia now falls by agreement under the influence of Russia, +and it is only by further agreement with Russia that this link in any +European connection could be forged. But from Ispahan to Karachi one +may still look over the wide uplands of the Persian plateau and +imagine, if we please, that it is for England to take her share in the +development of these ancient highways into a modern railway. Ispahan +is 5300 feet above sea-level, and from Ispahan one never descends to a +lower level than 3000 feet till one enters Makran. + +As Ispahan lies in a wide valley separated by a continuous line of +flanking hills from the main high road of Central Persia, which +connects Teheran and Kashan with Kirman, passing through Yezd, it is +necessary to cross this intervening divide in order to reach Yezd. +There is a waterway through the hills, near Taft, a little to the +south-west of Yezd which meets this difficulty. From Yezd onwards to +the south-west of Kirman, Bam, and the populous plains of Narmashir +and Regan, the road is never out of sight of mountains, the long lines +of the Persian ranges flanking it north and south culminating in the +magnificent peak of the Koh-i-Basman, but leaving a wide space between +unhindered by passes or rivers. From Narmashir the modern telegraph +passes off north-eastward to Seistan, and from there follows the new +trade route to Nushki and Quetta. It is probable that through all ages +this palpable method of circumventing the Dasht-i-Lut (the Kirman +desert) by skirting it on the south was adopted by travellers seeking +Seistan and Kandahar. There is, however, the difficulty of a +formidable band of mountains skirting the desert Seistan, which would +be a difficulty to railway construction. From Regan to Bampur and +Panjgur the normal and most convenient mountain conformation (although +the ranges close in and the valleys narrow) points an open way, with +no obstacle to bar the passage even of a motor; but after leaving +Bampur on the east there is a divide (of about 4000 to 5000 feet) to +be crossed before dropping into the final system of Mashkhel drainage, +which leads straight on to Panjgur, Kalat, and Quetta. Early Arab +commercial explorers did not usually make this detour to Quetta in +order to reach the Indus delta country, nor should we, if we wished to +take the shortest line and the easiest through Persia to Karachi or +Bombay. Much depends on the objective in India. Calcutta may be +reached from the Indus valley by the north-western lines on the normal +Indian gauge, or it may be reached through the Rajputana system on the +metre gauge. But for the latter system and for Bombay, Karachi becomes +our objective. To reach Karachi _via_ Seistan and Quetta would add at +least 500 unnecessary miles to our route from Central Persia, an +amount which equals the total distance between the present Russian +terminus of the Transcaspian line at Kushk and our own Indian terminus +at New Chaman. A direct through line from Panjgur to Karachi by the +old Arab caravan route, within striking distance from the sea, would +apparently outflank not only all political objections, but would +satisfy those military objectors who can only see in a railway the +opportunity for invasion of India. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +EARLIEST ENGLISH EXPLORATION--CHRISTIE AND POTTINGER + + +The Arabs of the Mediæval period, whose footsteps we have been +endeavouring to trace, were after their fashion true geographers and +explorers. True that with them the process of empire-making was +usually a savage process in the first instance, followed by the +peaceable extension of commercial interests. Trade with them (as with +us) followed the flag, and the Semitic instinct for making the most of +a newly-acquired property was ever the motive for wider exploration. +With the Chinese, during the Buddhist period, the ecstatic bliss of +pilgrimage, and the acquirement of special sanctity, were the motive +power of extraordinary energies; but with this difference of impulse +the result was much the same. Arab trader and Chinese pilgrim alike +gave to the world a new record, a record of geographical fact which, +simple and unscientific as it might be, was yet a true revelation for +the time being. But when Buddhism had become a memory, and Arab +domination had ceased to regulate the affairs of the Indus valley; +when the devastating hordes of the Mongol swept through Afghanistan to +the plains of India, geographical record no longer formed part of the +programme, and exploration found no place in the scheme of conquest. +The Mongol and the Turk were not geographers, such as were the Chinese +pilgrim and the Arab, and one gets little or nothing from either of +geographical record, in spite of the abundance of their historical +literature and the really high standard of literary attainment enjoyed +by many of the Turk leaders. That truly delightful historical +personage Babar, for instance, "the adventurer," the founder of the +Turk dynasty in India, good-looking, intellectual, possessed of great +ability as a soldier, endowed with true artistic temperament as +painter, poet, and author, the man who has left to all subsequent ages +an autobiography which is almost unique in its power of presenting to +the mind of its reader the impression of a "whole, real, live, human +being," with all his faults and his fancies, his affections and +aspirations, was apparently unimpressed with the value of dull details +of geography. He can say much about the human interests of the scenes +of his wanderings; he can describe landscape and climate, flowers and +fruits (especially melons); but though he doubtless possessed the true +bandit's instinct for local topography (which must, indeed, have been +very necessary in many of the episodes of his remarkable career) he +makes no systematic attempt to place before us a clear notion of the +geographical conditions of Afghanistan as they existed in his time. +His literary cousin Haidar is far more useful as a geographer. To him +we owe something more than a vague outline of the elusive kingdom of +Bolar and the limits of Kafiristan, but he merely touches on +Afghanistan in its connection with Tibet, and says little of the +country with which we are now immediately concerned. + +The one pre-eminent European traveller of the thirteenth century +(1272-73), the immortal Marco Polo, hardly touched Afghanistan. He and +his kinsmen passed by the high valleys of Vardos and Wakhan on their +way to Kashgar and Cathay, but his geographical information is so +vague as to render it difficult (until the surveys of these regions +were completed) to trace his footsteps. The raid of Taimur into +Kafiristan early in the fifteenth century, when it is said that he +reached Najil from the Khawak Pass over the Hindu Kush, will be +referred to again in dealing with Masson's narrative; but even to this +day it is doubtful how far he succeeded in penetrating into +Kafiristan, although the geographical inference of a practicable +military line of communication between Andarab and the head of the +Alingar River is certain. Three hundred and thirty years after Polo's +journey another European traveller passed through Badakshan and across +the Pamirs. This was the lay Jesuit, Benedict Goës, a true +geographer, bent on the exploration of Cathay and the reconnaissance +of its capabilities as a mission field. He crossed the Parwan Pass of +the Hindu Kush from Kabul to Badakshan and journeyed thence to +Yarkand; but he did not survive to tell his story in sufficient detail +to leave intelligible geography. We find practically no useful +geographical records of Afghanistan during many centuries of its +turbulent history, so that from the time of Arab commercial enterprise +to the days of our forefathers in India, when Afghanistan began to +loom large on the political horizon as a factor in our relations with +Russia and it became all important to know of what Afghanistan +consisted, there is little to collect from the pages of its turbid +history which can fairly rank as a record of geographical exploration. +It took a long time to awaken an intelligent interest in trans-Indus +geography in the minds of India's British administrators. But for +Russia it is possible that it would have remained unawakened still; +but early in the nineteenth century the shadow of Russia began to loom +over the north-western horizon, and it became unpleasantly obvious +that if we did not concern ourselves with Afghan politics, and secure +some knowledge of Afghan territory, our northern neighbours would not +fail to secure the advantages of early action. + +It is strange to recall the fact that we are indebted to the Emperor +Napoleon Buonaparte for the first exploration made by British +officers into the trans-frontier regions of Afghanistan and +Baluchistan in British political interests. Nearly a century ago (in +1810) the uneasiness created by the ambitious schemes of that most +irrepressible military freebooter resulted in the nomination of two +officers of Bombay Infantry to investigate the countries lying to the +west of what was then British India, with a view to ascertaining the +possibilities of invasion. The Punjab and Sind intervened between +British India and the hinterland of the frontier, and their +independence and jealous suspicion of the expansive tendency of the +British Raj added greatly to the difficulties and the risks of any +such trans-frontier enterprise. The Bombay Infantry has ever been a +sort of nursery for explorers of the best and most famous type, and +the two young gentlemen selected for this remarkable exploit were +worthy forerunners of Burton and Speke. The traditions of intelligence +service may almost be said to have been founded by them. The rule of +exploration a century ago admitted of no elaborate preparation: a +knowledge of the languages to be encountered was the one acquisition +which was deemed indispensable; and there can be little doubt that the +knowledge of Oriental tongues was an advantage which in those days +very rapidly led to distinction. It was probably less widespread but +much more thorough than it is at present. Captain Christie and +Lieutenant Pottinger started fair in the characters which they meant +to assume during their travels. They embarked as natives in a native +ship, and from the very outset they found it necessary to play up to +their disguise. The port of Sonmiani on the north-eastern shores of +the Arabian Sea was the objective in the first instance, and the rôle +of horse-dealers in the service of a Bombay firm was the part they +elected to play. How far it really imposed on Baluch or Afghan it is +difficult to say. One cannot but recollect that when another gallant +officer in later years assumed this disguise on the Persian frontier, +he was regarded as a harmless but eccentric European, who injured +nobody by the assumption of an expert knowledge which he did not +possess. He was known locally for years after his travels had ceased +as the English officer who "called himself" a horse-dealer. + +Sonmiani was a more important port a century ago than it is now that +Karachi has absorbed the trade of the Indus coast; but even then the +mud flats which render the village so unapproachable from the coast +were in process of formation, and it was only with favourable +conditions of tide that this wretched and long overlooked little +seaport could be reached. Sonmiani, however, may yet again rise to +distinction, for it is a notable fact that the facility for reaching +the interior of Baluchistan and the Afghan frontier by this route, +which facility decided its selection by Christie and Pottinger, is no +less nowadays than it was then. The explanation of it lies in the fact +that the route practically turns the frontier hills. It follows the +extraordinary alignment of their innumerable folds, passing between +them from valley to valley instead of breaking crudely across the +backbone of the system, and slips gently into the flat places of the +plateau land which stretch from Kharan to Kandahar. The more obvious +reason which presented itself to these early explorers was doubtless +the avoidance of the independent buffer land of Sind. They experienced +little difficulty, in spite of many warnings of the dangers in front +of them, when they left Sonmiani for Bela. At Bela they interviewed an +interesting and picturesque personality in the person of the Jam, and +were closely questioned about the English and their proceedings. +Apparently the Jam was prepared to accept their description of things +European generally, until they ventured to describe a 100-gun warship +and its equipment. Such an astounding creation he was unable to +believe in, and he frankly said so. From Bela the great northern +high-road led to the old capital, Khozdar, through a district infested +with Brahui robbers; but there was no better alternative, and the two +officers followed it. On the whole, the Brahui tribespeople treated +them well, and there was no serious collision. Khozdar was an +important centre in those days, with eight hundred houses, and certain +Hindu merchants from Shikarpur drove a thriving business there. +Nothing was more extraordinary in the palmy days of Sind than the +widespread commercial interests of Shikarpur. Credit could be obtained +at almost all the chief towns of Central Asia through the Shikarpur +merchants, and it was by draft, or "hundi," on Hindu bankers far and +wide that travellers were able to keep themselves supplied with cash +as they journeyed through these long stages. + +The route to Kalat passed by Sohrab and Rodinjo, and the two wayfarers +reached Kalat on February 9, 1810. The cold was intense; they were +quite unprepared for it, and suffered accordingly. Living with the +natives and putting up at the Mehman Khana (the guest house) of such +principal villages or towns as possessed one, they naturally were +thrown very closely into contact with native life, and learned native +opinions. The views of such travellers when dealing with the social +details of native existence are especially valuable, and the opinions +expressed by them of the character and disposition of the people +amongst whom they lived, and with whom they daily conversed on every +conceivable subject, are infinitely to be preferred to those of the +state officials of that time who lived in an artificial atmosphere. +Thus we find very considerable divergence in the opinions expressed +regarding Baluch and Afghan character between such close observers as +Pottinger or Masson and such eminent authorities as Burnes and +Elphinstone. The splendid hospitality and the affectation of +frankness which is common to all these varied types of frontier +humanity, combined with their magnificent presence, and very often +with a determined adherence to certain rules of guardianship and the +faithful discharge of the duties which it entails, are all of them +easily recognizable virtues which are much in the minds and mouths of +official travellers with a mission. The counteracting vices, the +spirit of fanatical hatred, of thievish malevolence, and the utter +social demoralization which usually (but not always) distinguishes +their domestic life and disgusts the stranger, is not so much _en +evidence_, and is only to be discerned by those who mix freely with +ordinary natives of the jungle and bazaar. As an instance, take +Pottinger's estimate of Persian character; it is really worth +recording as the impression of one of the earliest of English soldier +travellers. "Among themselves, with their equals, the Persians are +affable and polite; to their superiors, servile and obsequious; +towards their inferiors, haughty and domineering. All ranks are +equally avaricious, sordid, and dishonest.... Falsehood they look on +... as highly commendable, and good faith, generosity, and gratitude +are alike unknown to them. In debauchery none can exceed them, and +some of their propensities are too execrable and infamous to admit of +mention.... I feel inclined to look upon Persia, at the present day, +to be the very fountainhead of every species of tyranny, cruelty, +meanness, injustice, extortion, and infamy that can disgrace or +pollute human nature, and have ever been found in any age or nation." +These are strong terms to use about a people of whom we have been +assured that the basis of their youthful education is to "ride, to +shoot, and to speak the truth!" and yet who is it who knows Persia who +will say even now that they are undeserved? May the Persian parliament +mend their morals and reform their methods--if, indeed, such a "silk +purse" as a parliament can be made out of such crude material as the +Persian plebs! + +In spite of endless vexations and much spiteful malevolence, which +included endless attempts to trip up Pottinger in his assumed disguise +(and which, it must be admitted, were met by a not too strict +adherence to the actual truth on Pottinger's part), he does not +condemn the Baluchi and the Afghan in such terms as he applies to the +Persian; but he illustrates most forcibly the dangers arising from +habitual lawlessness due to the semi-feudal system of the Baluch +federation, and consequent want of administrative responsibility. In +spite, however, of endless difficulties, he finally got through, and +so did Christie; and for the getting through they were both largely +indebted to the vicarious hospitality of village chiefs and heads of +independent clans. + +At Kalat they found it far easier to get into the timber and mud +fortress than to get out again, and this difficulty repeated itself at +Nushki. At Nushki begins the real interest of their adventures. +Christie (after the usual wrangling and procrastination which attended +all arrangements for onward movement) took his way to Herat on almost +the exact line of route (_via_ Chagai, the Helmund, and Seistan) which +was followed seventy-three years later by the Russo-Afghan Boundary +Commission. Pottinger made what was really a far more venturesome +journey _via_ Kharan to Jalk and Persia. The meeting of these two +officers eventually at Ispahan in the darkness of night, and their +gradual recognition of each other, is as dramatic a story as the +meeting of Nearkhos with Alexander in Makran, or of Nansen with +Jackson amongst the ice-floes of the Far North. + +Christie gives us but small detail of his adventures. He necessarily +suffered much from thirst, but met with no serious encounters. Beyond +a well-deserved tribute to the sweet beauty of that picturesque +wayside town of Anardara in his careful record of his progress +northward from Seistan, where he made Jalalabad (which he calls +Doshak) his base for further exploration, he says very little about +the country he passed through. Incidentally he mentions Pulaki +(Poolki) as a very remarkable relic of past ages. He describes the +ruins of this place as covering an area of 16 square miles. Ferrier +mentions the same place subsequently, and locates it about a day's +march to the north of Kala-i-Fath (which Christie did not visit), and +it must have been one of the most famous of mediæval towns in Seistan. +But as collective ruins covering an area of 500 square miles have been +noted by Mr. Tate, the surveyor of the late Seistan mission, who +camped in their midst to the north of Kala-i-Fath, the exact site of +Pulaki may yet require careful research before it is identified. +Seistan is the land of half-buried ruins. No such extent of ruins +exists anywhere else in the world. It seems probable, therefore, that, +like the sites of many another ancient city of Seistan, Pulaki has +been either partially or absolutely absorbed in the boundless sea of +desert sand, which envelops and hides away each trace of the past as +its waves move forward in irresistible sequence before the howling +blasts of the north-west. + +Christie's route through Seistan followed the track connecting +Jalalabad on the Helmund with Peshawaran on the Farah Rud in dry +seasons, but which disappears in seasons of flood, when the two hamúns +or lakes of Seistan become one. Pushing on to Jawani he passed +Anardara on April 4, and reached Herat on the 18th. His description of +Herat is of a very general character, but is sufficient to indicate +that no very great change took place between the time of his visit and +that of the 1883 Commission. He was fairly well received, and +remained a month without any incident worthy of note, leaving on May +18 for Persia. + +This century-old visit of a British officer to Herat is chiefly +notable for its revelations as to the attitude of the Afghan +Government and people towards the English at the time it was made. +With the exception of the risk inseparable from travel in a lawless +country infested with organised bands of professional robbers, there +appears to have been no hostility bred by fanaticism or suspicion of +the trend of British policy. Afghanistan was socially in about the +same stage of development that France was in the days of Louis XI.--or +England a little earlier; and it is only the solidity conferred on +Afghan administration by the moral support of the British Government +which has effected any real change. Were England to abandon India +to-morrow there would be nothing to prevent a lapse into the same +condition of social anarchy which prevailed a century ago. India would +become the bait for ceaseless activity on the part of every Afghan +border chief who thought he had following sufficient to make a raid +effective. A thin veneer of civilization has crept into Afghanistan +with motors and telegraphs, but with it also has arisen new incentives +to hostility from dread of a possible loss of independence, and (in +the western parts of Afghanistan) from real fanatical hatred to the +infidel. Thus Afghanistan is actually more dangerous as a field of +exploration to the individual European at the present moment than it +was in the days of Christie and Pottinger. At the same time, British +military assistance would not only be welcome nowadays in case of a +conflict with a foreign enemy, but it would be claimed as the +fulfilment of a political engagement and expected as a right. + +Christie's stay at Herat seems to have been quite uneventful, and when +he left for Persia no one barred his way. The Persian frontier then +seems to have been rather more than 20 miles distant from +Herat--Christie places it a mile beyond the village of "Sekhwan," 22 +miles from the city. The only place which appears to correspond with +the position of Sekhwan now is Shakiban, which probably represents +another village. Making rapid progress westward through Persia, he +eventually reached Ispahan, where he rejoined Pottinger on June 30. It +must have been a hot and trying experience! + +Lieutenant Pottinger's adventures after leaving Nushki (from which +place he had considerable difficulty in effecting his departure) were +more exciting and apparently more risky than those of Christie. He +selected a route which no European has subsequently attempted, and +which it would be difficult to follow from his description of it were +it not that this region has now been completely surveyed. He struck +southwards down the Bado river, which leads almost directly to Kharan +and the desert beyond it stretching to the Mashkhel "hamún" or swamp. +He did not visit Kharan itself, and he apparently misplaces its +position by at least 50 miles, unless, indeed (which is quite +possible), the present site of the Naoshirwani capital is far removed +from that of a century ago. I am unaware, however, that any evidence +exists to that effect. + +Until the desert was encountered there was no great difficulty on this +route, but the horror of that desert crossing fully atoned for any +lack of unpleasant incident previously. It would even now be regarded +as a formidable undertaking, and we can easily understand the deadly +feelings that beset this pioneer explorer as he made his way in the +month of April from Kharan on a south-westerly track to the border of +Persia at Jalk. His description of this desert, like the rest of his +narrative, is full of instructive suggestion. The scope of his +observation generally, and the accuracy of the information which he +collected about the infinitely complex nationality of the Baluch +tribes, renders his evidence valuable as regards the natural phenomena +which he encountered; and no part of this evidence is more interesting +than his story of the Kharan desert, especially as no one since his +time has made anything like a scientific examination of its +construction and peculiarities. He describes it as a sea of red sand, +"the particles of which were so light that when taken in the hand +they were scarcely more than palpable; the whole is thrown into an +irregular mass of waves, principally running from east to west, and +varying in height from 10 to 20 feet. Most of them rise +perpendicularly on the opposite side to that from which the prevailing +wind blows (north-west), and might readily be fancied at a distance to +resemble a new brick wall. The side facing the wind slopes off with a +gradual declivity to the base (or near it) of the next windward wave." +He further describes a phenomenon which he observed in the midst of +this sand sea, which I think has not been described by any later +traveller or surveyor. He says "the desert seemed at a distance of +half a mile or less to have an elevated or flat surface from 6 to 12 +inches higher than the summits of the waves. This vapour appeared to +recede as we advanced, and once or twice completely encircled us, +limiting the horizon to a very confined space, and conveying a most +gloomy and unnatural sensation to the mind of the beholder; at the +same moment we were imperceptibly covered with innumerable atoms of +small sand, which, getting into our eyes, mouths and nostrils, caused +excessive irritation, attended with extreme thirst that was increased +in no small degree by the intense heat of the sun." This was only +visible during the hottest part of the day. Pottinger's explanation of +this curious phenomenon is that the fine particles of this dust-sand, +which are swept into the air almost daily by the force of the +north-west winds, fail to settle down at once when those winds cease, +but float in the air by reason of some change in their specific +gravity due to rarefaction from intense heat; and he adds that he has +seen this condition of sand-haze at the same time that, in an opposite +quarter, he has observed the mirage or luminous appearance of water +which is common to all deserts. Crossing the bed of the Budu (the +Mashkhel nullah--dry in April), he makes a curious mistake about the +direction of its waters, which he says run in a south-easterly +direction towards the coast. It actually runs north-west and empties +itself (when there is water in it) into the Mashkhel swamps. I must +admit, however, that, from personal observation, it is often +exceedingly difficult to decide from a casual inspection in which +direction the water of these abnormally flat nullahs runs. Shortly +after passing the Mashkhel, he encountered an ordinary dust-storm, +followed by heavy rain, which much modified the terrors of the awful +heat. + +Pottinger has something to say about the hot winds that occur between +June and September in these regions, known as the Bad-i-Simun, or +pestilential winds, which kill men exposed to them and destroy +vegetation, but his information was not derived from actual +observation, and it is difficult to get any really authentic account +of these winds. Parts of the Sind desert are equally subject to them. +After losing his way (which was inexcusable on the part of his guide +with the hills in sight), he arrived finally at the delightful little +valley of Kalagan, near Jalk, where the terrors of nature were +exchanged for those of his human surroundings. Kalagan is one of the +sweetest and greenest spots of the Baluch frontier, and it is easy to +realize Pottinger's intense joy in its palm groves and orchards. He +was now in Persia, and his subsequent proceedings do not concern our +present purpose. He travelled by Sib and Magas to Pahra and Bampur, +maintaining his disguise as a Pirzada, or wandering religious student, +with some difficulty, as he was insufficiently versed in the tenets of +Islam. However, he acted up to his Moslem professions with a certain +amount of success till he reached Pahra, where he was at once +recognized as an Englishman by a boy who had previously met an English +officer exploring in Southern Persia. But he was excellently well +treated at Pahra, in strange contrast to his subsequent treatment at +Bampur, close by. He eventually reached Kirman, and passed on by the +regular trade route to Ispahan. + +It is impossible to take leave of these two gallant young officers +without a tribute of admiration for their magnificent pluck, the +tenacity with which they held to their original purpose, the +forbearance and cleverness with which they met the persistent and +worrying difficulties which were set in their way by truculent native +officials, and the accuracy of their final statements. Pottinger +really left little to be discovered about the distribution of Baluch +tribes, and if his mapping exhibits some curious eccentricities, we +must remember that it was practically a compilation from memory, with +but the vaguest means at his disposal for the measurement of +distances. It was a first map, and by the light of it the success of +the subsequent explorations of Masson (which covered a good deal of +the same ground in Baluchistan) is fairly accounted for. Christie died +a soldier's death early in his career, but Pottinger lived to transmit +an honoured name to yet later adventurers in the field of geography. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +AMERICAN EXPLORATION--MASSON + + +In 1832 Lord William Bentinck, then Governor-General of India, found +Shah Sujah, the deposed Amir of Kabul, living as a pensioner at +Ludhiana when he visited the Punjab for an interview with its ruler +Ranjit Singh. At that interview the question of aiding Shah Sujah to +regain his throne from the usurper Dost Mahomed, who was suspected of +Russian proclivities, was mooted; and it was then, probably, that the +seeds of active interference in Afghan politics were sown, although +the idea of aiding Shah Sujah was negatived for the time being. The +result was the mission of Alexander Burnes to Kabul, which formed a +new era in Central Asian geography. From this time forward the map of +Afghanistan commenced to grow. The story of Burnes' first journey to +Kabul was published by Murray in 1834, and his example as a +geographical observer stimulated his assistants Leech, Lord, and Wood +to further enterprise during a second journey to the same capital. +Indeed the geographical work of some of these explorers still remains +as our standard reference for a knowledge of the configuration of +Northern Badakshan. This was the beginning of official recognition of +the value of trans-Indian geographical knowledge to Indian +administration; but then, as now, information obtained through +recognized official agents was apt to be regarded as the only +information worth having; and far too little effort was made to secure +the results of travellers' work, who, in a private capacity and +unhindered by official red tape, were able to acquire a direct +personal knowledge of Afghan geography such as was absolutely +impossible to political agents or their assistants. + +Before Indian administrators had seriously turned their attention to +the Afghan buffer-land and set to work to fill up "intelligence" +material at second hand, there was at least one active European agent +in the field who was in direct touch with the chief political actors +in that strange land of everlasting unrest, and who has left behind +him a record which is unsurpassed on the Indian frontier for the width +of its scope of inquiry into matters political, social, economic, and +scientific, and the general accuracy of his conclusions. This was the +American, Masson. It must be remembered that the Punjab and Sind were +almost as much _terra incognita_ to us in 1830 as was Afghanistan. The +approach to the latter country was through foreign territory. The Sikh +chiefs of the Punjab and the Amirs of Sind were not then necessarily +hostile to British interests. They watched, no doubt, the gradual +extension of the red line of our maps towards the north-west and west, +and were fully alive to the probability that, so far as regarded their +own countries, they would all soon be "painted red." But there was no +official discourtesy or intoleration shown towards European +travellers, and in the Sikh-governed Punjab, at any rate, much of the +military control of that most military nationality was in the hands of +European leaders. Nor do we find much of the spirit of fanatical +hatred to the Feringhi even in Afghanistan at that time. The European +came and went, and it was only due to the disturbed state of the +country and the local absence of law and order that he ran any risk of +serious misadventure. + +In these days it would be impossible for any European to travel as +Masson or Ferrier travelled in Afghanistan, but in those days there +was something to be gained by friendship with England, and the +weakness of our support was hardly suspected until it was disclosed by +the results of the first Afghan war. So Masson and Ferrier assumed the +rôle of Afghan travellers, clothed in Afghan garments, but more or +less ignorant of the Afghan language, living with the people, +partaking of their hospitality, studying their ways, joining their +pursuits, discussing their politics, and placing themselves on terms +of familiarity, if not of intimacy, with their many hosts in a way +which has never been imitated since. No one now ever assumes the +dress of the Afghan and lives with him. No one joins a caravan and +sits over the nightly fire discussing bazaar prices or the character +of a chief. A hurried rush to Kabul, a few brief and badly conducted +interviews with the Amir, and the official representative of India's +foreign policy returns to India as an Afghan oracle, but with no more +knowledge of the real inwardness of Afghan political aspiration, or of +the trend of national thought and feeling, than is acquired during a +six months' trip of a travelling M.P. in India. Consequently there is +a peculiar value in the records of such a traveller as Masson. They +are in many ways as valuable now as they were eighty years ago, for +the character of the Afghan has not changed with his history or his +politics. To some extent they are even more valuable, for it is +inevitable that the story of a long travel through an unknown and +unimagined world should be received with a certain amount of +reservation until later experience confirms the tale and verifies +localities. + +Fifty years elapsed before the footsteps of Masson could be traced +with certainty. Not till the conclusion of the last Afghan war, and +the final reshaping of the surveys of Baluchistan, could it be said +exactly where he wandered during those strenuous years of unremitting +travel. And now that we can take his story in detail, and follow him +stage by stage through the Indian borderlands, we can only say that, +considering the circumstances under which his observations were taken +and recorded, it is marvellously accurate in geographical detail. Were +his long past history of those stirring times as accurate as his +geography or as his antiquarian information there would be little +indeed left for subsequent investigators to add. + +Masson was in the field before Burnes. In the month of September 1830 +the Resident in the Persian Gulf writes to the Chief Secretary to the +Government of India[10] that "an American gentleman of the name of +Masson" arrived at Bushire from Bassadore on the "13th June last," and +that he described himself as belonging to the state of Kentucky, +having been absent for ten years from his country, "which he must +consequently have left when he was young, as he is now only about +two-and-thirty years of age." The same letter says that previous to +the breaking out of the war between Russia and Persia in 1826 Masson +"appears to have visited Khorasan from Tiflis by way of Mashed and +Herat, making no effort to conceal his European origin," and that from +Herat he went to Kandahar, Shikarpur, and Sind. + +Masson appears to have furnished some valuable information to the +Indian Government regarding the Durani occupation of Herat and the +political situation in Kabul and Kandahar, which, according to his +own account, he subsequently regretted, as he obviously regarded the +British attitude towards Afghanistan at that time in much the same +light as certain continental nations regarded the British attitude +towards the Transvaal previous to the last Boer war. "About the same +time," says the same letter from the Resident at Bushire, Masson was +much in the Bahawalpur country (Sind), after which he proceeded to +Peshawar, Kabul, Ghazni, etc. Extracts from his reports of his +journeys are forwarded with other information. In his book (_Travels +in Afghanistan, Baluchistan, the Punjab, and Kalat_, published in +1842) Masson opens his story with the autumn of 1826, when he was in +Bahawalpur and Sind, which he had approached through Rajputana, and +not from Afghanistan. He has much to say about Bahawalpur which, +however interesting and valuable as first-hand information about a +foreign state in 1826, no longer concerns this story. From Bahawalpur +he passed on to Peshawar and Kabul, from Kabul to Kandahar, and thence +to Shikarpur. As the incidents of his remarkable journey between +Kandahar and Shikarpur, described in the letter of the Bushire +Resident, are obviously the same as those in his book, the inference +is strong that the journey from Tiflis to Herat and Kandahar (which is +not mentioned in the book) has been somehow misplaced in the +Resident's record. + +When Masson entered Afghanistan from Peshawar there is certain +indirect evidence that this was the first time that he crossed the +Afghan border. He knew nothing of the Pashto language, which would be +remarkable in the case of a man like Masson, who always lived with the +people and not with the chiefs, and there is not the remotest +reference to any previous visit to Herat in his subsequent history. We +will at any rate follow the text of his own narrative, and surely no +narrative of adventure that has ever appeared before or since in +connection with Afghan exploration can rival it for interest. Peshawar +was at that time held by four Pathan Sirdars, brothers, who were +hardly independent, as they held their country (a small space +extending to about 25 miles round Peshawar, and which included Kohat +and Hangu) entirely at the pleasure of Ranjit Singh, the Sikh Chief of +the Punjab. Some show of making a strike for independence had been +made in connection with the Yusufzai rising led by Saiad Ahmad Shah, +but it had been suppressed, and during the temporary occupation of +Peshawar by the Sikhs the city had been despoiled and devastated. +Masson estimated that there were about fifty or sixty thousand +inhabitants in Peshawar, where he was exceedingly well treated. +"People of all classes were most civil and desirous to oblige." He was +an honoured guest at all entertainments. + +How long Masson remained at Peshawar it is difficult to say, for there +is a most lamentable absence of dates from his records, and Peshawar +appears to have been the base from which he started on a good many +excursions. Finally he made acquaintance with a Pathan who offered to +accompany him to Kabul, and he left Peshawar for Afghanistan by the +Khaibar route. He mentions two other routes as being popular in those +days, _i.e._ those of Abkhana and Karapa, and he asserts that they +were far more secure for traders than the Khaibar, but not so level +nor so direct. Masson started with his companion, dressed as a Pathan, +but taking nothing but a few pais (copper coins) and a book. His +companion, however, possessed a knife tied up in a corner of his +pyjamas. After cautiously crossing the plains and some intervening +hills, they struck the high road of the Khaibar apparently not far +from Ali Masjid, and here they fell in with the first people they had +met _en route_--about twenty men sitting in the shade of a rock, +"elderly, respectable, and venerable." They were hospitably received +and entertained, and news of the arrival of a European quickly spread. +Every European was expected to be a doctor in those days, and Masson +had to assume the rôle and make the most of his limited medical +knowledge. He either prescribed local remedies, or healed the sick on +Christian Science principles with a certain amount of success--enough +to ensure him a welcome wherever he went. It is a curious story for +any one who has traversed the Khaibar in these later days to read. A +European with a most limited knowledge of Pushto tramping the road in +company with a Pathan, living the simple life of the people, picking +up information every yard of the way, keenly interested in his rough +surroundings, taking count of the ragged groups of stone-built huts +clinging to the hill-sides or massed around a central citadel in the +open plain, with here and there a disintegrating monument crowning the +hill-top with a cupola or dome, the like of which he had never seen +before. + +Masson had hardly realized in these early days that he was on one of +the routes most sacred to pilgrimage of all those known to the +disciples of Buddha, and it was not till later years that he set about +a systematic exploration of the extraordinary wealth of Buddhist +relics which lie about Jalalabad and the valleys adjoining the Khaibar +route to Kabul. On his journey he made his way with the varied +incidents of adventure common to the time--robbed at one place, +treated with hospitality at another; sitting under the mulberry trees +discussing politics with all the energy of the true Afghan (who is +never deficient in the power of expressing his political sentiments), +and, taking it altogether, enjoying a close, if not an absolutely +friendly, intimacy with the half-savage people of those wholly savage +hills. An intimacy, such as no other educated European has ever +attained, and which tells a tale of a totally different attitude on +the part of the Afghan towards the European then, to that which has +existed since. The fact that Masson was American and not English +counted for nothing. The difference was not recognized by the Afghans, +although it was explained by him sometimes with careful elaboration. +It was the time when Dost Mahomed ruled in Kabul, but with the claims +of Shah Sujah (possibly backed by both Sikh and British) on the +political horizon. It was a time of political intrigue amongst Afghan +Sirdars and chiefs so complicated and so widespread as to be almost +unintelligible at this distance of time, and not even Masson, with all +his advantages of intimate association and great powers of intuition, +seems to have fathomed the position satisfactorily. Consequently it +was to the interests of the Afghan Government to stand well with the +British, even if it were equally their aim to keep on good terms with +Russia--in short, to play the same game that has lasted during the +rest of the century, and which threatens to last for many another +decade yet. But this was before the mission of Burnes, and before the +events of the subsequent Afghan war had taught the Afghan that British +arms were not necessarily invincible, nor British promises always +trustworthy. + +Apart from the ordinary chances of disaster on the roads arising from +the lack of law and order, any European would have met with a +hospitable reception at that time, and Masson himself relates how, in +Kabul, during some of the friendly gatherings which he attended, the +respective probabilities of British or Russian intervention in Kabul +affairs was a common subject of discussion. It is easy for one who +knows the country to picture him sitting under the shade of the +mulberry trees, with the soft lush of the Afghan summer in grass and +flowers about him, the scent of the willow in the air, and, across the +sliding blue of the Kabul River, a dim haze shadowing the rounded +outlines of some ancient stupa, whilst trying to unriddle the tangle +of Afghan politics or taking notes of weird stories and ancient +legends. Nothing seems to have come amiss to his inquiring mind. +Archæology, numismatics, botany, geology, and history--it was all new +to him, and an inexhaustible opportunity lay before him. He certainly +made good use of it. He busied himself, amongst other things, with an +inquiry into the origin of the Siahposh Kafirs, and, although his +speculations regarding them have long been discounted by the results +of subsequent investigation from nearer points of view, it is +interesting to note how these savages were then regarded by the +nearest Mahomedan communities. Masson admits that the history of a +Greek origin is supported by all natural and historical indications, +but he declines to accept "so bold and welcome an inference." Why he +should call it "bold and welcome" and then reject it, is not +explained, but it is probable that he accepted the claim to a Greek +origin on the part of the Kafirs as indicating that they claimed to +be Greek and nothing but Greek. When we consider the number and extent +of the Greek colonies which once existed beyond the Hindu Kush it +would indeed be surprising if there were no survival of Greek blood in +the veins of the people who, in the last stronghold of a conquered and +hunted race, represent the debris of the once powerful Baktrian +kingdom. Incidentally he discussed the interesting episode of Timur's +invasion of Kafiristan, a subject on which no recent investigations +have thrown any further light. The story, as told by Timur's +historian, Sharifudin, says that in A.D. 1399, when Timur was at +Andarab, complaints were made to him of outrage and oppression by the +exaction of tribute, or "Karaj," against the idolaters of Katawar and +the Siahposh. It appears that Katawar was then the general name for +the northern regions of Kafiristan, although no reference to that name +had been recorded lately. + +Timur is said to have taken a third part of the army of the Andarab +against the infidels, and to have reached Perjan (probably Parwan), +from whence he detached a part of his force to act to the north of +that place, whilst he himself proceeded to Kawak, which is certainly +Khawak at the head of the Panjshir valley. If Perjan is Parwan (which +I think most probable) this distribution of his force would indicate +that he held the Panjshir valley at both ends, and thus secured his +flank whilst operating in Kafiristan. From Khawak he "made the +ascent" of the mountains of "Ketnev" (_i.e._ he crossed the +intervening snow-covered divide between the Panjshir and the head of +the Alishang) and descended upon the fortress of Najil. This was +abandoned by the Siahposh Kafirs, who held a high hill on the left +bank of the river. After an obstinate fight the hill was carried, and +the male infidels, "whose souls were blacker than their garments," +were killed, and their women and children carried away. Timur set up a +marble pillar with an inscription recording the event, and it would be +exceedingly interesting if that pillar could be identified. Masson +thinks that a structure which he ascertained to have been in existence +in his time a little to the north of Najil, known as the Timur Hissar +(Timur's Fort), may be the fort which Timur destroyed after it had +been abandoned by the Kafirs, and that the record of his victory would +be found near by. The chief of Najil in Masson's time claimed descent +from Timur, and there was (and is still) so much of Tartar tradition +enveloping the valley of Najil (or the upper Alishang) as to make it +fairly certain that Tartar, or Mongol, troops did actually invade that +valley from the Panjshir, and that there is consequently a practicable +pass from the Panjshir into the upper Alishang. + +If we are correct in our assumption of the position of Farajghan and +Najil in the modern maps of Afghanistan, as determined from native +sources of information (for no surveyor has ever laid down the course +of the upper affluents of the Alishang) this Mongol force must have +crossed from about the centre of the Panjshir valley. It is a matter +of interest to observe that, historically, between Afghan Turkistan +and the Kabul plain the fashionable pass over the Hindu Kush until +quite recently was the Parwan, and this, no doubt, was due to the fact +that its altitude (12,300 feet) is less by quite 2000 feet than that +of the Kaoshan which closely adjoins it, although the Kaoshan is in +some other important respects the easier pass of the two. The Khawak, +at the head of the Panjshir, is lower still (11,650 feet), but it +offers a more circuitous route; whilst the Chahardar, the pass +selected by the Amir Abdurrahmon for the construction of a high-road +into Afghan Turkistan from the Kabul plain, is as high as the Kaoshan. +All these routes converge on the important strategical position of +Charikar, adjoining the junction of the Ghorband and Panjshir rivers; +and they all lead from that ancient strategical centre of Baktria, the +Andarab basin. Undoubtedly through all time the passage over the +Khawak (now a well-trodden khafila route, said to be open to traffic +all the year round) must have been the most attractive to the +freebooters and adventurers of the north; but there appears to have +been a reputation for ferocity and strength attached to the +inhabitants of the Panjshir valley, which was remarkable even in the +days when the only recognized right was might, and half Asia was +peopled by barbarians. They were spoken of with the respect due to a +condition of savage independence by the Arab writers who detail the +geography of these regions, and it is probable that they shared the +historical lawlessness of their Kafir neighbours (the Siahposh), even +if in those days they did not share a race affinity. At the beginning +of the sixteenth century the Emperor Babar notes that the Panjshir +people paid tribute to their neighbours the Kafirs. + +Masson's observations on this troublous corner of Asiatic geography +are shrewd and interesting, and as much to the purpose to-day as they +were when they were written. The explorations of McNair and Robertson +over the Kafiristan border from Chitral, and the march of Lockhart's +party through the Arnawai valley, added much to the geographical +knowledge of the eastern fringe of Kafiristan, whilst the +identification of the Koh-i-Mor with the classic Meros, and of certain +sections of the eastern Kafirs as representative of the ancient +Nysæans, clearly establishes the Greek connection about which Masson +was so sceptical. But the Kafirs of Central and Western Kafiristan, +the inhabitants of the upper basins of the Alishang and Alingar about +the centre of the Hindu Kush and of the Badakshan rivers to the north, +are just as unknown to us as they were to him. The only certain +inference that we can draw from the total absence of history about +these valleys of the Hindu Kush is that between the Khawak Pass at +the head of the Panjshir valley on the west, and the Minjan Pass +leading to Chitral on the east, there is not, and never has been, a +practicable route connecting the Kabul basin with Badakshan. No Arab +khafilas ever passed that way; no hordes of raiding robbers from +Central Asian fields ever forced a passage southward through those +Kafir defiles; they are still dark and impenetrable, the home of +distinct and separate valley communities, differing as widely in form +of speech as in superstitious ritual, the very flotsam and jetsam of +High Asia, as wild as the eagles above them or the markhor on their +craggy hill-sides. + +We will not follow Masson into the mazes of Afghan political history. +It is all a story of the past, but a story with a moral to it. Had the +Government of India in those days but troubled itself to obtain +information from existing practical sources within its reach, instead +of improvising a most imperfect political intelligence system, the +subsequent war with Afghanistan would have been conducted on very +different lines to those which were adopted, if it ever took place at +all. + +Masson made his way steadily to Kabul after meeting with adventures +and vicissitudes enough for a two-volume novel, and passed on to +Ghazni, where the army of Dost Mahomed Khan was then encamped, and +with which he took up his quarters. Here he was well received, and he +interviewed the great Afghan Chief (who settled his quarrel with his +brothers from Kandahar without fighting), and thus records his opinion +of a remarkable personage in history: "Dost Mahomed Khan has +distinguished himself on various occasions by acts of personal +intrepidity ... has proved himself an able Commander, equally well +skilled in stratagem and polity, and only employs the sword when other +means fail. He is remarkably plain in attire.... I should not have +conjectured him a man of ability either from his conversation or his +appearance"; but "a stranger must be cautious in estimating the +character of a Durani from his appearance," which caution he also +found it necessary to exercise in the case of Dost Mahomed's corpulent +brother, Mahomed Khan, the Governor of Ghazni. From Ghazni, Masson +continued his journey to Kandahar, still trudging the weary road on +foot in the doubtful company of casual Pathan wayfarers; and he +accepts the savage treatment which he experienced at the hands of +certain Lohanis near Ghazni as all in the day's work, never +complaining of his want of luck so long as he got off with his life, +and always ready to accept the chances of the most unsafe road rather +than remain inactive. At Kandahar he again set himself to acquire a +store of useful political information, though with what object it is +difficult to say. He certainly did not mean it for the Indian +Government, for he regrets later on in his career that he ever gave +any of it away, and as a record of almost unintelligible Afghan +intrigue it could hardly have interested his own. He was a wide +observer, however, and must have been the possessor of a most +remarkable memory. He was indeed a whole intelligence department in +himself. After some weird and gruesome experiences in Kandahar (where, +however, he was personally made welcome) he left for Shikarpur by the +Quetta and Bolan route, and it was on this journey that he nearly lost +his life. He committed the error of allowing the caravan with which he +was to travel to precede him, trusting to his being able to catch it +up _en route_. He fell amongst the Achakzai thieves of those ugly +plains, and being everywhere known and recognised as a Feringhi, he +passed a very rough time with them. They stripped him of his clothing +after beating him and robbing him of his money, and left him +"destitute, a stranger in the centre of Asia, unacquainted with the +language--which would have been useful to me--and from my colour +exposed on all occasions to notice, inquiry, ridicule, and insult." +However, "it was some consolation to find the khafila was not far +off," and eventually he joined it; but he nearly died of cold and +exposure, and it took him years to recover from the rheumatism set up +by crouching naked over the embers of the fire at night. + +There are several points about this remarkable journey which might +lead one to suspect that romance was not altogether a stranger to it, +were it not that the route itself is described with surprising +accuracy. It has only lately been possible to verify step by step the +road described by Masson. He could hardly have carried about volumes +of notes with him under such conditions as his story depicts, and it +might very well have happened that he dislocated his topography or his +ethnography from lapse of memory. But he does neither; and the most +amazing feature of Masson's tales of travel is that in all essential +features we knew little more about the country of the Afghans after +the last war with Afghanistan than he could have told us before the +first. Shall (or Quetta as we know it now) is described as a town of +about 300 houses, surrounded by a slight crenelated wall. The "huge +mound" (now the fort) is noted as supporting a ruinous citadel, the +residence of the Governor. Fruit was plentiful then, and he adds that +"Shall is proverbially celebrated for the excellence of its lambs." By +the desolate plain of Dasht-i-bedoulat and the Bolan Pass, Masson trod +the well-known route to Dadar and Shikarpur. He lived a strange life +in those days. No one since his time has rubbed shoulders with Afghan +and Baluch, intimately associating himself with all their simple and +savage ways; reckoning every man he met on the road as a robber till +he proved a friend; absolutely penniless, yet still meeting with rough +hospitality and real kindness now and then, and ever absorbing with a +most marvellous power of digestion all that was useful in the way of +information, whether it concerned the red-hot sand-strewn plains, or +the vermin-covered thieves and outcasts that disgraced them. It was +quite as often with the lowest of the gang as with the leaders that he +found himself most intimately associated. + +In those days Sind was a country as unknown to us geographically as +Afghanistan. The Indus and its capacity for navigation was a matter of +supreme interest, but the deserts of Sind were eyed askance, and +across those deserts came little call for exploration. The government +of the country under the Sind Amirs was decrepit and loose, leaving +district municipalities to look after themselves, and promoting no +general scheme for the public good. Shikarpur had been a great centre +of trade under the Duranis, and its financial credit extended far into +Central Asia. But in Masson's time much of that credit had disappeared +with the capitalists who supported it--chiefly Hindu bankers--who +migrated to the cities of Multan and Amritsar as the Sikh power in the +Punjab became a more and more powerful factor in frontier politics. +Whether Masson is correct in his estimate of the mischief done by the +reckless supply of funds from Shikarpur to the restless nobles of +Afghanistan, who were thus enabled to set on foot raids and inroads +into each other's territories, is, I think, doubtful. The want of +money never stayed an Afghan raid--on the contrary it is more apt to +instigate it. From Shikarpur he bent his steps towards the Punjab. No +modern traveller, racing down the Indus valley by a north-western +train, can well appreciate the amount of human interest and activity +which lies hidden beyond the wide flat plains of tamarisk jungle that +stretch between him and the frontier hills. This same Indus valley was +Arabic India for centuries, and there were Greek settlements centuries +earlier than the Arabs; none of this escaped Masson. + +The vicissitudes of this weary walk were many. Masson was put to +curious expedients in order to keep himself even decently clothed. +From under one hospitable roof he stole out in the evening, when the +ragged retinue of his host were all in a state of stupefaction from +drink, in order to be spared their too familiar adieux. It is a +remarkable fact that he found himself able to pass muster as a Mongol +on his journey, there being a tradition in Sind that some Mongols were +as fair as Englishmen. From Rohri on the Indus he made his way almost +exactly along the line of the present railway, through Bhawalpur to +Uch, continually losing his way in the narrow tracks that intersected +the intricate jungle, with but a rupee or two in his pocket, and +nothing but the saving grace of the village masjid as a refuge for the +night. His experiences with wayfarers like himself, the lies that he +heard (and I am afraid also told), the hospitality which he received +both from men and women, and the variety of incident generally which +adorns this part of Masson's tale is a refreshing contrast to the +dreary monotony of the modern traveller's tale of Indian travel, the +bare record of a dusty railway experience, with here and there a new +impression of old and worn-out themes. He was impressed with the +"contented, orderly, and hospitable" character of the people of +Northern Sind, whose condition was "very respectable" notwithstanding +an oppressive government. Saiads and fakirs, pirs and spiritual guides +of all sorts were an abomination to him, but it is somewhat new to +hear of Saiads that "they may commit any crime with impunity." At +Fazilpur (in Bhawalpur) he found an old friend, one Rahmat Khan, and +was once again in the lap of native luxury. Clean clothes, a bed to +lie on, and good food, kept him idle for a month ere he started again +northward for Lahore. Rahmat Khan was almost too generous. He spent +his last rupee recklessly on a nautch, and had to borrow from the +Hindus of his bazaar in order to find two rupees to present to his +guest for the cost of his journey to Lahore. Of this large sum it is +interesting to note that Masson had still eight annas left in his +pocket on his arrival at that city. Alas for the good old days! What a +modern tramp might achieve in India if he were allowed free play it is +difficult to guess, but never again will any European travel 360 miles +in India and feed himself for two months on a rupee and a half. + +Masson notes the extraordinary extent of ancient ruins around Uch, +and correctly infers the importance of that city in the days of Arab +ascendency. He has much to say that is still interesting about Multan +and its surroundings. It must have been new to historians to hear that +the heat of Multan is due to the maledictions of the Saint Shams +Tabieri, who was flayed alive by the progenitors of the people who now +venerate his shrine. Multan was in the hands of the Sikhs when Masson +was there. From Multan Masson ceased to follow the modern line of +railway, and adopted a route north of the Ravi River until near the +city, when he recrossed to the southern bank. Lost in admiration of +the luxuriance of the cultivation of this part of the Punjab, and full +of the interest aroused by the fact that he was on classical ground, +the ground of ancient history, he wandered into Lahore. Lahore and the +Sikh administration, the character of Ranjit Singh and his policy +towards British and Afghan neighbours, are all part of Indian history, +but it is interesting to recall the prominence of French and Italians +in the Punjab 100 years ago. General Allard was encountered quite +accidentally by Masson, who was at once recognized as a European, and +found himself able to talk French fluently. This naturally led to his +entertainment by the General at his own splendid establishments. The +beautiful tomb of Jehangir, the Shahdera, was occupied as a residence +by the French general, Amise, who died, so they said, in expiation of +his impiety in cleaning it up and making it tidy--which was probably +very necessary. The tomb of Anarkalli, south of the city, was used as +a harem by M. Ventura, the Italian general, whilst the well-known +Avitabile lived in a house decorated after the fashion of Neapolitan +art in cantonments to the east of the city. The lovely gardens of +Shalimar had already been robbed of much of their beauty by the +transfer of marble and stone from their pavilions for the building of +Amritsar, the new religious capital of the Sikhs. Lahore is "a dull +city in the commercial sense," says Masson, and Amritsar "has become +the great mart of the Punjab." We need not follow Masson's +explorations in the Punjab and Sind, further than to relate that he +finally left Lahore during the rainy season (he was riding now, and in +fairly easy circumstances) and made his way south again _via_ Multan, +Haidarabad, and Tatta, to Karachi. There is a lamentable want of dates +about this narrative, and it is almost impossible to fix the month, or +even the year, in which Masson visited any particular part of the +frontier. + +His next exploits and explorations conducted from Karachi are +sufficiently remarkable in themselves to place Masson quite at the +head of the list of frontier explorers. He stands, indeed, in the same +relation to the Indian borderland as Livingstone does to Africa. He +first made a sea trip in Arab crafts up the Persian Gulf, visiting +Muskat and obtaining a passage in a cruiser of the H.E.I. Company to +Bushire. This we know from Major David Wilson's report to have been in +1830. It was then that he gave up the record of his previous travels, +to which we have referred, and which he subsequently thought he had +reason to regret. A month or two was passed at Tabriz, and a trip up +the Tigris to Bagdad and Basrah. From Basrah he returned in a merchant +vessel to Muskat, and finally made Karachi again in an Arab bagala. At +Karachi he was not permitted to land, owing (as he suspected) to +another party of Englishmen who were then attempting to explore the +Indus. This turned out to be Captain Burnes' (afterwards Sir Alex. +Burnes) party. The objection was based on a somewhat ridiculous notion +of the capacity of the English to carry about regiments of soldiers +concealed in _boxes_, and Masson subsequently learned that having no +boxes with him, the opposition in his case had been withdrawn by the +Amirs of Sind as tantamount to a breach of hospitality. However, for +the time he was forced to return to Urmara on the Makran coast, from +which place he hoped to reach Kalat. In this he was disappointed, but +he found his way back to Sonmiani in an Arab dunghi (or bagala), +which, with the monsoon wind at her back, was run in gallant style +straight over the shallow bar into the harbour with hardly a foot of +water below her. The practice of medicine was what sustained Masson at +this period, but his reputation was slightly impaired by a crude +prescription of sea water. A lady, too, who suffered from a +disposition of her face to break out into white blotches, and who +appealed for a remedy, was told that she would look much better all +white. This again led to a lively controversy; but on the whole the +practice of medicine was as useful to Masson as it has proved through +all ages to explorers in all regions of the world. + +The story of Masson's next journey through Las Bela and Eastern +Baluchistan to Kalat and the neighbourhood of Quetta, must have been +an almost unintelligible record for half a century after it was +written. It is almost useless to repeat the names of the places he +visited. Five-and-twenty years ago these names were absolutely +unfamiliar, an empty sound signifying nothing to the dwellers on the +British side of the Baluch frontier. Gradually they have emerged from +the regions of the vague unknown into the ordered series of completed +maps; and nothing testifies more surely to the general accuracy of +Masson's narrative than the possibility which now exists of tracing +his steps from point to point through these wild and desolate regions +of rocky ridge and salt-edged jungle in Eastern Baluchistan. It is +certainly significant that in the year 1830 more should have been +known of the regions that lie between Karachi and Quetta or Kandahar, +than was known fifty years later when plans were elaborated for +bringing Quetta into railway communication with India. + +Had Masson's information been properly digested, the most direct route +to Kalat, Quetta, or Kandahar, _via_ the Purali River, would surely +have been weighed in administrative councils, and the advantage of +direct communication with the seaport by a cheaply constructed line +would have received due consideration. But Masson's work was still +unproven and unchecked, and it would have been more than any +Englishman's life was worth to have attempted in 1880 the task which +he undertook with such light-hearted energy. His observations of the +country he passed through, and the complicated tribal distribution +which distinguishes it are necessarily superficial, but they are +shrewd. It was clearly impossible for him to attempt any form of +survey, and without some map evidence of the scene of his wanderings +his explorations were deprived at the time of their chief +significance. From Las Bela to Kalat he appears to have encountered no +more dangerous adventure than might befall any Baluch traveller in the +same regions. From Kalat he wandered at leisure northward till he +overlooked the Dasht-i-bedaulat from the heights of Chahiltan. This +well-known Quetta peak has probably often been ascended by Englishmen +in late years, and the misty legend which is wreathed around it is +familiar to every regimental mess in the Quetta garrison. It is +perhaps a little disappointing to remember that the first white man +who achieved its ascent and told the story of the forty heaven-sent +infants who gambol about its summit to the eternal glory of the +sainted Hazart Ghaos (the patron saint of Baluch children), was an +American. Masson's interesting record of Chahiltan botany, however, +would be more useful if he translated the native names into botanical +language. + +From Quetta he returned to Kalat, and, determined to see as much of +the borderland as possible, he made his return journey from Kalat to +Sonmiani _via_ the Mulla Pass. The pass is still an interesting +feature in Baluch geography. It was once the popular route from the +plains to the highlands, when trade was more frequent between Kalat +and Hindustan, and may serve a useful purpose again. Very few even of +frontier officials know anything of it. Masson gives a capital +description of the Mulla route, "easy and safe, and may be travelled +at all seasons." From Jhal he went south through Sind to Sehwan, the +antiquity of which place gives him room for much speculation; but from +Sehwan to Sonmiani his route is not so clear. He started backwards on +his tracks from Sehwan, then struck southward through lower Sind, +passing on his way many ancient sites (locally known as "gôt," _i.e._ +kôt, or fort), the origin of which he was apparently unable to +determine, but halting at no place with a name that is still +prominent, unless the modern Pokran represents his Pokar. I am not +aware whether the "gôts" described by Masson in lower Sind have as yet +been scientifically examined, but his description of them tallies +with that of similar ruins lately found near Las Bela (especially as +regards the stone-built circle), which, occurring as they do in Makran +and the valley of the Purali (the ancient Arabis), are possibly relics +of the building races of Arabs (Sab[oe]an or Himyaritic) who occupied +these districts in early ages before they became withered and +waterless with the gradual alteration of their geographical +conditions. Other constructions, such as the cylindrical heaps on the +hills, are more certainly Buddhist. Masson was unaware that he was +traversing a province which figured as Bodh in Arab chronicles, and is +full of the traces of Buddhist occupation. Makran, Las Bela, and the +Sind borderland still offer a mine of wealth for archæological +research. The last two or three days' march was in company with a +Bulfut (Lumri) camel-man, whose mount was shared by Masson. As the +Lumri sowar was in the habit not only of taking opium himself but of +giving it to his camel, the morning's ride was sometimes perilously +lively. + +One would have thought that after so extensive an exploration, filled, +as it was, with daily risk from the hostility of fanatics, or the more +common (in those days) assaults of robbers, Masson would have had +enough of adventure to last him some years. It was not so. He appears +to have been an irreclaimable nomadic vagabond, and his only thought, +now that he had reached the West, was to be off again to Afghanistan. +Kalat again was his first objective, and to reach that place he +followed very much the same route as before. From Kalat, however, to +Kandahar and Kabul, he opened up a new line which is worth +description. There is little to record as far as Kalat. Once again he +joined a mixed Afghan khafila returning from India, and followed the +route which leads through Las Bela, Wad, and Khozdar. It was spring, +and the country was bright with flowers, the narrow little valleys +being full of the brilliance of upspringing crops. It is a mistake to +regard Baluchistan as a waste corner of Asia, the dumping ground of +the rubbish left over from the world's creation. Much of it, +doubtless, is inexpressibly dreary, and in certain dry and sun-baked +plains scarred with leprous streaks of salt eruption, it is +occasionally difficult to realize the beauty of the spring and summer +time in valleys where water is still fairly abundant, and the green +things of the earth seem mostly to congregate. A bed of scarlet +tulips, or the yellow sheen of the flowering shrub which spreads +across the plain of Wad would make any landscape gay, and the long +jagged lines of purple hills with chequered shadows patching their +rugged spurs would be a fascinating background to any picture. "Only +man is vile,"--but this is not true either. + +The character of the mixed inhabitants of these valleys of Eastern +Baluchistan (we have no room for ethnological disquisitions) is as +rugged as their hills, and as varied with patches of brightness as +their plains. Masson knew them as no one knows them now, and he +evidently loved them. His life was never safe from day to day, but +that did not prevent much good comradeship, some genuine friendship, +and a shrewd appreciation of the straight uprightness of those who, +like the patriarchs and prophets of old, seemed to be the righteous +few who leaven the whole lump. Masson was not a missionary, he was +only a well-educated and most observant vagabond, but what he has to +say of Baluch (or Brahui) character is just what Sandeman said half a +century later, and what Barnes or MacMahon[11] would say to-day. + +What Masson never seemed to appreciate (any more than the Arab traders +who trod the same roads in mediæval centuries) was the change of +altitude that accrued after long travelling over apparently flat +roads. The natural change in the character of vegetation with the +increase of altitude appears, therefore, to surprise him. He reached +Kalat without much incident. Here he parted with the Peshin Saiads and +the Brahuis of the caravan, and proceeded with the Afghan contingent +to Kandahar. The direct road from Kalat to Kandahar runs through the +Mangachar valley and thence crosses the Khwaja Amran, or Kojak range, +by the Kotal-i-bed into Shorawak, and runs northward to Kandahar +through the eastern part of the Registan, without touching the main +road from Quetta till within a march or two of Kandahar itself. It is +worth noting that there was no want of water on this route, and no +great difficulties were experienced in passing through the hills. +Irrigation canals and the intricacies of natural ravines in Shorawak +seem to have been the chief obstacles. It is a route which was never +made use of during the last Afghan war, nor, so far as I can discover, +during the previous one. The Achakzai tribespeople (some of whom were +with the khafila returning to their country from Bombay) behaved with +remarkable modesty and good faith, and altogether belied their natural +characteristics of truculence and treachery. The journey was made on +camel-back in a kajáwa, a method of travelling which ensures a good +overlook of the proceedings of the khafila and the country traversed +by it, but which can have few other recommendations. Kandahar, +however, was not Masson's objective on this trip. Afghanistan was in +its usual state of distracted politics, and Kabul was the centre of +distraction. To Kabul, therefore, Masson felt himself impelled; like +the stormy petrel he preferred a troubled horizon and plenty of +incident to the calmer seas of oriental existence in the flat plains +of Kandahar. His journey with an Afghan khafila by the well-trodden +road which leads to Ghazni was quite sufficiently full of incident, +and the extraordinary rapacity of the Ghilzai tribes, who occupy the +road as far as that city, leaves one astonished that enough was left +of the khafila for useful business purposes in Kabul. Masson was +impressed with the desolation and degradation of Ghazni. He can hardly +believe that this waste wilderness of mounds around an insignificant +town, with its two dreary sentinel minars standing out on the plain, +and a dilapidated tomb where rests all that is left of the great +conqueror Mahmud, can be the city of such former magnificence as is +described in Afghan history. Every traveller to Ghazni has been +touched with the same feeling of incredulity, but it only testifies to +the remarkable power possessed by the destroying hordes of Chenghiz +Khan and his successors of making a clean sweep of the cities which +fell into their hands. + +A few days before Masson's arrival in Kabul (this is one of the rare +dates which we find recorded in his story) in June 1832, three +Englishmen had visited the city. These were Lieutenant Burnes, Dr. +Gerard, and the Rev. Joseph Wolff. He does not appear to have actually +met them. Mr. Wolff had been fortunate enough to distinguish himself +as a prophet, and had acquired considerable reputation. An earthquake +preceding certain local disturbances between the Sunis and the Shiahs, +which he foretold, had established his position, and imitators had +begun to arise amongst the people. No better account of the city of +Kabul, the beauty of its surroundings, its fruit and its trade, and +the social customs of its people, is to be found than that of Masson. +What he observed of the city and suburbs in 1832 might almost have +been written of the Kabul of fifty years later; but the last +twenty-five years have introduced many radical changes, and good roads +for wheeled vehicles (not to mention motors) and a small local railway +have done more even than the stucco palaces and fantastic halls of the +late Amir Abdurrahmon to change the character of the place. The +curious spirit of tolerance and liberality which still pervades Kabul +and distinguishes it from other Afghan towns, which makes the life of +an individual European far more secure there than it would be in +Kandahar, the absence of Ghazidom and fanaticism, was even more marked +then than it is now. Armenian Christians were treated with more than +toleration, they intermarried with Mahomedans; the fact that Masson +was known to be a Feringhi never interfered with the spirit of +hospitality with which he was received and treated. Only on one +occasion was he insulted in the streets, and that was when he wore a +Persian cap instead of the usual lunghi. But the Jews were as much +anathema as they are now, and Masson tells a curious tale of one Jew +who was stoned to death by Mahomedans for denying the divinity of +Jesus Christ, after the Christian community of Armenians had declined +to carry out the punishment. To this day nothing arouses Afghan hatred +like the cry of Yahudi (Jew), and it may very possibly be partly due +to their firm conviction in their origin as Ben-i-Israel. + +The summer of 1832 at Kabul must have been a delightful experience, +but with the coming autumn the restlessness of the nomad again seized +on Masson and he made that journey to Bamian in company with an Afghan +friend, one Haji Khan, chief of Bamian, which followed the mission of +Burnes to Kunduz, and proved the possibilities of the route to Afghan +Turkestan by the southern passes of the Hindu Kush. Bamian was then +separated from Kabul by the width of the Besud territory, which was +practically controlled by a semi-independent Hazara chief, +Yezdambaksh. Beyond Bamian the pass of Ak Robat defined the northern +frontier of Afghanistan, beyond which again were more semi-independent +chiefs, of whom by far the most powerful, south of the Oxus, was Mir +Murad Beg of Kunduz. Amongst them all political intrigue was in a +state of boiling effervescence. Haji Khan (a Kakar soldier of fortune) +from Western Afghanistan knew himself to be unpopular with the Amir +Dost Mahomed Khan, and had shrewd suspicions that spite of a +long-tried friendship, he was regarded as a dangerous factor in Kabul +politics. Yezdambaksh, influenced doubtless by his gallant wife, who +rode and fought by his side and was ever at his elbow in council, +trimmed his course to patch up a temporary alliance with Haji Khan +under the pretext of suffocating the ambition of the local chief of +Saighan; whilst Murad Beg about that time was strong enough to +preserve his own position unassisted and aloof. Into the seething +welter of intrigue arising from the conflicting interests of these +many candidates for distinction in the Afghan border field Masson +plunged when he accepted Haji Khan's invitation to join him at Bamian. +Across the lovely plain of Chardeh, bright with the orange blossoms of +the safflower, Masson followed the well-known route to Argandi and +over the Safed Khak Pass to the foot of the divide which is crossed by +the Unai (called Honai by Masson), meeting with the usual demands for +"karij," or duty, from the Hazaras at their border, with the usual +altercations and violence on both sides. Well known as is this route, +it may be doubted whether any better description of it has ever been +written than that of Masson. Instead of striking straight across the +Helmund at Gardandiwal by the direct route to Bamian, the party +followed the course of the Helmund, then fringed with rose bushes and +willows, passing through a delightfully picturesque country till they +fell in with the Afghan camp, after much wandering in unknown parts on +the banks of the Helmund, at a point which it is difficult to +identify. + +The story of the daily progress of the oriental military camp, and the +daily discussions with Haji Khan, who appeared to be as frank and +childlike in his disclosures of his methods as any chattering booby, +is excellent. There is no doubt that Masson at this time exercised +very considerable influence over his Afghan and Hazara acquaintances, +and he is probably justified in his claim to have prevented more than +one serious row over the everlasting demands for karij. It is to be +noted that two guns were dragged along with this expedition by forced +Hazara labour, eighty men being required for one, and two hundred for +the other, assisted by an elephant. The calibre of the guns is not +mentioned. At a place called Shaitana they were still south of the +Helmund, and in the course of their progress through Besud visited the +sources of the Logar. Near these sources is the Azdha of Besud, the +petrified dragon slain by Hazrat Ali (not to be confused with Azdha of +Bamian), a volcanic formation stretching its white length through +about 170 yards, exhaling sulphurous odours. The red rock found about +its head is supposed to be tinged with blood. The Azdha afterwards +seen and described at Bamian is of "more imposing size." + +Another long march (apparently on the road to Ghazni) brought the +expedition to the frontier of Besud, at a point reckoned by Masson as +three marches from the Ghazni district. From here they retraced their +steps and crossed the Helmund at Ghoweh Kol (? Pai Kol), making for +Bamian. This closed the Besud expedition, which, regarded as a +geographical exploration, is still authoritative, no complete survey +of that district having ever been made. From the Helmund they reached +Bamian by the Siah Reg Pass, thus proving the possibility of +traversing that district by comparatively unknown routes which were +"not on the whole difficult to cavalry, though impracticable to +wheeled carriages." The guns were left in Besud, to be dragged through +by Hazaras. It must be remembered that this was early winter, and the +frozen snow rendered the passes slippery and difficult. The aspect of +the Koh-i-Baba (? Babar) mountains, and their "craggy pinnacles" +(which, by reason of their similarity of outline, gave much trouble to +our surveyors in 1882-83) seems to have impressed Masson greatly. The +descent into the Bamian valley was "perfectly easy, and the road +excellent throughout." Masson's contributions to the Asiatic Society +on the subject of Bamian and its "idols" are well known. His +observations were acute, and on the whole accurate. He rightly +conjectured these wonderful relics to be Buddhist, although he never +grasped the full extent of Buddhist influence, nor the extraordinary +width of their occupation in Northern Afghanistan. His conjectures and +impressions need not be repeated, but his somewhat crude sketches of +Bamian and the citadel of Gulgula intensify the regret which I always +feel that a thoroughly competent photographer was not attached to the +long subsequent Russo-Afghan Boundary Commission. + +Masson's wanderings in the company of the Afghan chief Haji Khan and +his redoubtable army through the valleys and over the passes of the +Hindu Kush and its western spurs is full of interest to the military +reader. The Afghan force consisted largely of cavalry, as did that of +the gallant Hazara chief, Yezdambaksh. Nothing is said about infantry, +but it was probably little better than a badly armed mob chiefly +concerned in guarding the guns which reached the valley of Bamian, +but, as already stated, they could not follow the cavalry over the +Siah Reg Pass from Besud. They were sent round by the "Karza" Pass, +which is probably the one known as Kafza on our maps, which indicates +the most direct route from Kabul to Bamian. + +It is necessary to follow the ostensible policy of these military +movements in order to render Masson's account of them intelligible. +Haji Khan was acting in concert with Yezdambaksh and his Hazara +troops, with the presumed object of crushing first Mahomed Ali, the +chief of Saighan (north of Bamian), and ultimately repeating the +process on Rahmatulla Khan, the chief of Kamard (north of Saighan). In +order to effect this he had to pass up the Bamian valley to its +northern head, marked by the Ak Robat Pass (10,200 feet high), and +thence descend into the Saighan valley by the route formed by one of +its southern tributaries. It was early winter (or late autumn), but +still the passes seemed to have been more or less free from snow, and +the Ak Robat Pass in particular appears to have given little trouble, +although the valley contracts almost to a gorge in the descent. +Masson noted evidences of the former existence of a considerable town +near this route on the descent from Ak Robat. Much to his +astonishment, instead of smashing the Saighan opposition with his +superior force, Haji Khan proceeded to patch up an alliance with +Mahomed Ali, which was cemented by his marrying one of the daughters +of that wily chief. Here, however, he experienced a cruel +disappointment. Instead of the lovely bride whom he had been led to +expect, he received a squat and snub-nosed Hazara girl, who was, +indeed, of very doubtful parentage. This little swindle, however, was +not permitted to interfere with his politics. The alliance ought to +have aroused the suspicion of Yezdambaksh, but the latter seems to +have trusted to the strength of his following to meet any possible +contingency. + +The next step was to proceed to Kamard and repeat the process of +occupation. Here, however, an unexpected difficulty arose. The +easy-going, hard-drinking Tajik chief of Kamard was far too wily to +put himself into Haji Khan's power, and with some of the Uzbek chiefs +who owed their allegiance to that fine old border bandit Murad Khan of +Kunduz (of whom we shall hear again), positively declined to permit +Haji Khan to come farther. Meanwhile, however, a force had advanced +over the divide between Saighan and Kamard by a pass which Masson +calls the Nalpach (or horseshoe-breaking pass), which can hardly be +the same as the well-known Dandan Shikan (or tooth-breaking pass), +but is probably to the east of it, leading more directly to Bajgah. +Before ascending the pass, Masson noted the remains of an ancient town +or fort built of immense stones, and here they halted. Here also snow +fell. Next day a reconnaissance in force was made over the Nalpach +Pass ("long, but not difficult"), and apparently part of the force +descended into Kamard and commenced hostile operations against the +Kamard chieftain. Haji Khan, however, returned to camp. He had now +succeeded in breaking up the Hazara force which was with him into two +or three detached bodies, so the opportunity was ripe for one of the +blackest acts of treachery that ever disgraced Afghan history--which +is saying a good deal. He entrapped and seized the fine old Hazara +chief, Yezdambaksh, and, after dragging him about with him under +circumstances of great indignity, he finally executed him. The Hazara +troops seem to have scattered without striking a concerted blow; their +camp was looted, whilst such wretched refugees as were caught were +stripped and enslaved. + +The savage barbarity of these proceedings, especially of the method of +the execution of Yezdambaksh (a rope being looped round the wretched +victim's neck, the two ends of which were hauled tight by a mixed +company of relatives and enemies), disgusted Masson deeply, and there +is a very obvious disposition evinced hereafter to part company with +his treacherous host, although he makes some attempt to excuse these +proceedings by pointing out that Haji Khan, after meeting with an +unexpected rebuff from Kamard (which he dare not resent so long as the +redoubtable Murad Beg loomed in the distance as the protector of the +frontier chiefs of Badakshan), would have been unable to keep and feed +his troops in the winter without scattering the Hazara contingent and +possessing himself of the resources of Besud. + +Winter had already set in, and the subsequent story is instructive in +illustration of the difficulties which beset the road between Kabul +and Bamian during the winter season. The resources of Bamian were +insufficient even for his diminished force (now reduced to about its +original strength of eight hundred), and the Ghulam Khana contingent +grew restive and impatient, demanding to go back to Kabul. The passes, +however, were not only closed by snow, but the position at Karzar was +held by Hazaras, who, however much they were demoralised by the +execution of their chief, might well be expected to make reprisals. +The Ghulam Khana men, about two hundred and twenty strong, therefore +moved in force from Bamian, with the hope of being able to influence +the Hazaras to let them pass through Besud. Apparently they did not +rank as true Afghans. No great resistance was made at Karzar, although +they were not admitted to shelter. They were freely looted, and +eventually allowed to pass after three days' detention, exposed to +the terrific blasts of a winter shamal (north-west wind) in snow which +was then breast high. Many of them perished before reaching Kabul, and +many more were permanently disabled from frostbites. + +Haji Khan, meanwhile, settled down as the uninvited guest of the +people of Bamian, and ensconced himself and his wives in the fort of +Saidabad, a strongly built construction of burnt bricks of immense +size, which Masson believed to have been built by the Arabs. Saidabad +is hard by the detached position of Gulgula; it is described by Masson +in considerable detail. Here, at an altitude of about 8500 feet, a +winter in Bamian is endurable, and Haji Khan avowed his intention of +remaining. It is interesting to note that a khafila from Bokhara for +Kabul arrived about this time, and was duly looted. Even in winter the +route (as a commercial route) was open. + +Masson's efforts were now directed towards getting back to Kabul. His +first essay was in company of two brothers of Haji Khan, who vowed to +get to Kabul somehow, even if, as Afghans, they had to fight their way +through Besud. The party followed up the Topchi valley from Bamian, +and crossing by the Shutar Gardan Pass, they reached Karzar. Here +again Masson noted extensive ruins _en route_. The road was bad and +the difficulties great, "leading over precipices," but they did, +nevertheless, succeed in crossing the main divide. Here Masson +experienced a very bad time, and to his disgust found that he must +retrace his steps to Bamian, owing to counter orders from Haji Khan +recalling the escort. There appeared, however, a prospect of getting +out of Bamian by the Shibar Pass (an easy pass), leading to the head +of the Ghorband valley; and trusting to certain arrangements made by a +Paghmani chief, Masson made a fresh attempt, passing eastward the +ancient remains of Zohak, and ascending by a fairly easy open track to +the valley or plain of Irak. Probably this pass is the one known as +Khashka in our maps. The wind was terrific, but the comparative +freedom from snow was an unexpected advantage. + +Passing eastwards from Irak (still on the northern slopes of the Hindu +Kush) the party made comparatively easy progress by a valley which +Masson calls Bubulak (where he observed tobacco to be growing). They +gradually ascended until once again they found themselves in snow, but +instead of making direct for the Shibar they inclined to a more +northerly pass called Bitchilik, which is separated from the Shibar by +a slight kotal (or divide). Here they found the Paghmani chief whom +they expected to join, but they found also that the section of Hazaras +who held these passes then were determined to bar their passage. Once +again Masson had to abandon the attempt (albeit the Shibar route to +Kabul would have been a very devious and dangerous one), and returned +to Bamian. + +There are one or two circumstances about this exploration of the +western Hindu Kush passes which deserve attention. For once Masson is +slightly inaccurate in his geography when he states that the Irak +stream drains into the Bamian valley. It joins the Bamian River after +it has left the valley and turned northward. So slight an error is +only a useful proof of his general accuracy. Another remarkable fact +was that he, a Feringhi, was elected by the Afghan gang with which he +was temporarily associated as their Khan, or chief! He was a little +better dressed than most of them in European chintzes. He found +himself utterly unable to restrain their looting propensities, but he +made himself quite popular by his civility and his small presents to +the wretched Hazaras on whom they were quartered. Incidentally he +gives us a most valuable impression of the nature of an important +group of Afghan passes, and I doubt if his information has ever been +much improved upon. + +Finally, the surrender of the Karzar position by the Hazaras reopened +the road to Kabul, and Masson was enabled to reach that capital by the +Topchi, Shutar Gardan, Kalu, Hajigak routes to Gardandiwal on the +Helmund. The Hajigak route he describes as easy of ascent, but "steep +and very troublesome" in the south. The Shutar Gardan (called +Panjpilan now) was "intricate and dangerous," but the passing of it +was done at night. This is, and always has been, the main khafila +route between Kabul, Bamian, and Bokhara. The journey from the Helmund +across the Unai (which pass was itself "difficult") was not +accomplished without great distress. A winter shumal caught Masson on +the road, and but for the timely shelter at Zaimuni would have +terminated his career there and then. Masson describes the terrific +effect of the wind with great vigour, but those who have experienced +it will not accuse him of exaggeration. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] _Selections from Travels and Journals preserved in the Bombay +Secretariat_, Forrest, 1908. + +[11] Now Sir Hugh Barnes and Sir Henry MacMahon, one a past, and the +other the present, Agent for the Governor-General in Baluchistan. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +AMERICAN EXPLORATION--MASSON (_continued_) + + +On Masson's return to Kabul he observed the first symptoms of active +interest in Afghan politics on the part of the Indian Government, in +the person of an accredited native agent (Saiad Karamat Ali) who had +travelled with Lieut. Conolly to Herat. Colonel Stoddart was at that +time detained in Bokhara, and was apparently under the impression that +he was befriended by a "profligate adventurer," one Samad Khan, who +had succeeded in establishing himself there as a pillar of the State +after imposing on so astute a politician as the Amir Dost Mahomed Khan +and on many of the leading Afghan Sirdars. Masson seems to have been +better aware of the character of this Khan than the Indian Government, +for he notes that "to be befriended by such a man is in itself +calamitous." + +It is quite comprehensible that the Indian Government should not duly +appreciate the position of an adventurer like Masson and his intimate +acquaintance with Afghanistan and its riotous rulers; but it was +unfortunate; for it is not too much to say that Indian Government +officials at that time were but amateurs in their knowledge of Afghan +politics compared to Masson; and much of the horrors of subsequent +events might have been avoided could Masson have been admitted freely +and fully to their counsels. However, for a time he employed himself +in collecting historical and scientific notes on Afghanistan, which we +still regard as standard works for reference. No one has succeeded +better in giving us an impression of the leading characteristics of +the Afghan chiefs of his time, and probably there is not much +improvement effected by a century of moral development. Steeped up to +the eyes in treachery towards each other, debauchees, drunkards, +liars, and murderers, one cannot but admire their extraordinary +virility. It was truly a case of the survival of the fittest, and the +fittest were certainly remarkable men. + +The Amir Dost Mahomed Khan was one of the worst, and one of the best. +One of the twenty-two sons of Sirafraz Khan, he worked his way upwards +by truly Afghan methods; methods which in the early days of his career +were utterly detestable, but which attained some sort of reflected +dignity later, when there were not wanting signs that in a different +environment he might have been truly great. He was illiterate and +uneducated, but appreciated the advantages of elementary schooling in +others. Into the strange welter of political intrigue which forms +Afghan history during the period of his rise to power we need not +enter; but it is necessary to note the extraordinary difference with +which the stranger in the land, a Feringhi, was regarded throughout +Afghanistan, then, as compared with his reception at present. It is +even possible that the life of a Feringhi was then safer (_i.e._ +deemed of more importance) than that of any ordinary Afghan chief. It +is certain that there was a strong feeling that it was well to be on +good terms with the representatives of a powerful neighbouring state. +This feeling was greatly weakened by the results of the first Afghan +war, and has never again been completely restored. + +Although we are only dealing with Masson as an explorer, it is +impossible not to express sympathy with his whole-hearted admiration +for the country of the Afghan. His description of the beauties of the +land, especially in early spring with the awakening of the season of +flowers, the irresistible charm of the mountain scenery of the +Kohistan as the gradual burst of summer bloom crept upwards over the +hills--all this finds an echo in the heart of every one who has ever +seen this "God granted" land; where, after all, the seething scum of +Afghan politics is very much confined to a class, although it +undoubtedly sinks deeper and reaches the mass of the people with more +of the force of self-interest than is the case in India, where the +historical pageant of kings and dynasties has passed over the great +mass of India's self-absorbed people and left them profoundly +unconscious of its progress. + +In the year 1833 Masson resumed his researches in the neighbourhood of +Kabul, commencing in the plains about 25 miles north-east from Kabul, +and 8 or 10 from Charikar. These researches were continued for some +years, until the failure of the mission to Kabul in 1838 obliged him +to leave the country; and in his proposal to resume them again in 1840 +he was opposed by "a miserable fraction of the Calcutta clique," who +had recourse to "acts as unprecedented, base, and illegal as perhaps +were ever perpetrated under the sanction of authority against a +subject of the British Crown." So that apparently he claimed British +nationality before he left Afghanistan. However that may be, it is +certain that no subsequent explorer has added much that is of value to +the extraordinary evidences of ancient occupation collected by Masson. +Here, he maintains, once existed the city of Alexandria founded by +Alexander on the Kabul plain; and a recent announcement from Kabul +that the site of an ancient city has been discovered obviously refers +to the same position at Begram near Charikar, and is a useful +commentary on the rapidity with which the fame and name of an original +explorer can disappear. + +The Masson collection of coins, which totalled between 15,000 and +20,000 in 1837, and which was presented to the East India Company, +proved a veritable revelation of unknown kings and dynasties, and +contributed enormously to our positive knowledge of Central Asian +history. The vast number of Cufic coins found at Begram show that the +city must have existed for some centuries after the Mahomedan +invasion. Chinese travellers tell of a city called Hupian in this +neighbourhood, but Masson is inclined to place the site of Hupian near +Charikar, where there was, in his time, a village called Malek Hupian. +He thinks that Begram had certainly ceased to exist at the time of +Timur's expedition to India; or that conqueror would not have found it +necessary to construct a canal from the Ghorband stream in order to +colonize this favoured corner of the Kabul plain. The canal still +exists as the Mahighir, and the people of the neighbourhood talked +Turki in Masson's time. Three miles east of Kabul there is another +ancient site known as Begram. This was probably the precursor of Kabul +itself, and other "Begrams" are known in India. The term appears to be +generic and to denote a famous site. Buddhist relics lie thickly round +about the Afghan Begrams, groups of them being very abundant +throughout the Kabul valley. + +It was after his first visit to Begram that Masson became acquainted +with M. Honigberger, whom he describes as a gentleman from Lahore bent +on archaeological research; and at the close of the autumn Dr. +Gerard, the companion of Lieut. Burnes, appeared at Kabul. +Honigberger's researches, like those of Gerard, appear to have been +confined to archæology, and the results of them form an interesting +story which was given to the world by Eugene Jacquet; but as neither +of these gentlemen can be said to have contributed to the early +geographical knowledge of the country, no further reference need be +made to them, beyond remarking that Honigberger very narrowly escaped +being murdered on his subsequent journey to Bokhara. + +Masson's extraordinary capability of dealing with every class of +people with whom he came in contact, and his consequent apparent +immunity from the dangers which beset the ordinary unaccredited +traveller, should not lead to the assumption that Afghanistan was a +safe country to travel in at the time of our first political +negotiations, in spite of there being less fanaticism at that time; +whilst the trans-Oxus states were then almost unapproachable. There, +at least, the gradual encroachment of Russian civilization has +absolutely altered the conditions of European existence, and Bokhara +has become quite a favourite resort for tourists. + +Masson's story of Afghan intrigue, which is the substance of Afghan +history at this period, is as interesting as are his archæological +investigations, for it affords us a view of events which occurred +behind the scenes, shut off from India by the curtain of the frontier +hills; but whilst he thus occupied his busy mind with the past and +the present policy of Afghanistan, he did not lose sight of the +opportunity for making fresh excursions into Afghan territory. His +visits to the Kabul valley and Peshawar can hardly claim to be +original explorations, though he undoubtedly acquired by them a local +geographical knowledge far in advance of anything then existing on the +Indian side of the border, and some of it ranks as authoritative even +now. It must not be supposed that these visits and investigations were +carried on without grave risk and constant difficulty, but by this +time Masson had so wide and so varied a personal acquaintance with the +leading chiefs and tribespeople of the country that he usually +succeeded in distinguishing friend from foe, and extricated himself +from positions which would have been fatal to any one less +knowledgeable than himself. + +During the year 1835 we learn that Masson was in Northern Afghanistan, +chiefly at Kabul, gathering information; but there appears to be +hardly a place which now figures in our maps with any prominence in +the Kabul province which he did not succeed in visiting; and as +regards some of them (Kunar, for instance) there was nothing added to +his record for at least sixty years. He penetrated the Alishang valley +to within 12 miles of Najil, a point which no European has succeeded +in reaching since; but his sphere of observation was always too +restricted to enable him to make much of his geographical +opportunities. Najil is now somewhat doubtfully placed on our maps +from native information gathered during the surveys executed with the +Afghan campaign of 1878-80. + +It was at this period in Masson's career (in 1835) that English +political interest in Kabul began to take an active shape. About this +time Masson accepted a proposal from the Indian Government (which +reached him through Captain Wade, the political officer on the Punjab +frontier) to act as British agent and keep the Government informed as +to the progress of affairs in Kabul. It is rather surprising that +Masson, who never misses an opportunity of asserting that he was not +an Englishman, and was by no means in sympathy with the policy of the +Indian Government towards Afghanistan, should have accepted this +responsibility. However, he did so, for a time at least, though he +subsequently requested that he might be relieved from the duties +entailed by such an equivocal position. He negotiated the foundation +of a commercial treaty between India and Kabul, but with scant +success. This period of seething intrigue at Kabul (as also between +Dost Mahomed Khan and the Sikhs) was hardly favourable to its +inception. His efforts were duly acknowledged by the Government, but +his position as agent became untenable when he found that it led to +interference with the great object of his residence in Afghanistan, +_i.e._ antiquarian research. We can only touch upon the political +events of 1836-37 cursorily, in spite of their absorbing interest, in +order to follow the sequence of Masson's career. + +At the beginning of 1836 the Sikhs under Ranjit Singh were +consolidating their position on the Western Punjab frontier, whilst +Dost Mahomed Khan was working all he knew to secure men and money for +military purposes. This led to a half-hearted renewal of +correspondence between Masson and Wade. The commencement of the year +1837 was marked by active preparations on the part of Dost Mahomed for +a campaign against the Sikhs, resulting in an equivocal victory for +the Afghans near Jamrud under Akbar Khan, but no essential change in +the relative position as regards the Peshawar frontier. Various were +the projects set on foot at this time for the assassination of the +Amir, and in the general network of bloody intrigue Masson was not +overlooked; but he was discreetly absent from Kabul during the winter +of 1836-37, having previously found it necessary to keep his house +full of armed men. He returned to Kabul in the spring. + +Towards the end of September 1837 Captain Burnes arrived in Kabul on +that historical commercial mission which was to result in a disastrous +misunderstanding between the Indian Government and the Amir. If we are +to believe Masson, it would be difficult to conceive a more +mismanaged and hopelessly bungled political function than this mission +proved to be; but we must remember that in experience of the Afghan +character and knowledge of intrigue the Indian Government and Council +were by no means experts. It is difficult to believe that the mere +fact of inadequate recognition of his services and consequent +disappointment could have so affected a man of Masson's independence +of character, natural ability, and clear sense of justice, as to lead +him to misrepresent the position absolutely. As a commercial mission +he regarded it as unnecessary. + +Burnes was instructed to proceed first to Haidarabad (in Sind) for the +purpose of opening up the Indus to commercial navigation, and thence +to journey _via_ Attok to Peshawar (held by the Sikhs), Kabul, and +Kandahar, back again to Haidarabad, all in the interest of a trade +which was already flourishing between Afghanistan and ports on the +Indus already established. "The Governments of India and of England," +says Masson, "as well as the public at large were never amused and +deceived by a greater fallacy than that of opening the Indus as +regards commercial objects." + +The keynote of Masson's policy was non-interference, so long as +interference either in trade or politics was not forced on the British +Government. At that time such views were undoubtedly sound; but even +then there was a stir in the political atmosphere which betokened much +nervousness in high quarters on the subject of Persian and Russian +intrigues with Afghanistan. So far, however, as Masson observes, +"there was little notion entertained at this time of convulsing +Central Asia, of deposing and setting up Kings, of carrying on wars, +of lavishing treasure, and of the commission of a long train of crimes +and follies." But with the arrival of Burnes at Kabul trade interests +seem to have faded and those of a more active policy to have taken +their place. The weak point in this change of policy appears to have +been the want of definite instructions from the Government of India to +their agent. + +The appearance of a Russian officer (Lieut. Vektavitch) at Kabul from +the Russian camp at Herat in December (he had, according to Masson, no +real authority to support him, and could only have been acting as a +spy on Burnes) was a source of much agitation; but nothing whatever +appears to have eventuated from his residence in Kabul, except grave +risk to himself. Masson never believed in the dangers arising from +either Persian or Russian intrigue (and he was certainly in a position +to judge), and he remarks about Vektavitch "that such a man could have +been expected to defeat a British mission is too ridiculous a notion +to be entertained; nor would his mere appearance have produced such a +result had not the mission itself been set forth without instructions +for its guidance, and had it not been conducted recklessly, and in +defiance of all common sense and decorum." This, indeed, is the +attitude assumed by Masson throughout towards the mission, although he +was still in the service of the Indian Government and acting under +Burnes. + +Burnes certainly seems to have behaved with great want of dignity in +the presence of the Amir and his Sirdars; making obeisance, and +addressing the Amir as if he were a dependant. Nor can his private +arrangements and his method of living in Kabul be commended as those +of a dignified agent. European manners and customs were looser in +those days in India than they are now, but with all latitude for the +_autres temps autres m[oe]urs_ excuse for his conduct, his ideas of +Eastern life seem to have been almost too oriental even for the +approval of the dissolute Afghan. Certain it is that no proposal made +by him on his own responsibility to the Amir (especially as regards +the cession of Peshawar on the death of Ranjit Singh) was supported by +his Government, and time after time he enjoyed the humiliation of +being obliged to eat his own words. On these occasions it would appear +that Masson seldom omitted the opportunity of saying "I told you so." + +In the interests of geographical explorations, this mission of Burnes +was important. Whatever else he was, there is no question that he was +as keen a geographical observer as Masson himself, and even if the +wisdom of the despatch of his assistants (Lieut. Leech to Kandahar, +and Dr. Lord with Lieut. Wood to Badakshan) may be questioned on +political grounds, it led to a series of remarkable explorations, some +of which even now furnish authority for Afghan map-making. + +In May 1837, Lieut. Eldred Pottinger arrived on leave from India (with +the interest of his father Sir Henry Pottinger to back him), and +immediately made secret preparations for his adventurous journey +through the Hazarajat from Kabul to Herat, which terminated in his +participation in the defence of Herat against the Persians. Thus was +the first authentic account received of the nature of that difficult +mountain region which has subsequently been so thoroughly exploited. +Afghanistan was just beginning to be known. + +Masson naturally disapproved of Pottinger's exploit, for he found +himself in hot water owing to the suspicion that he connived at it. He +says: "I have always thought that however fortunate for Lieut. +Pottinger himself, his trip to Herat was an unlucky one for his +country; the place would have been fought as well without him; and his +presence, which would scarcely be thought accidental, although truly +it was so, must not only have irritated the Persian King, but have +served as a pretext for the more prominent exertions of the Russian +staff. It is certain that when he started from Kabul he had no idea +that the city would be invested by a Persian army." Colonel Stoddart +was then the British agent in the Persian Camp. + +Incidentally it may be useful to note the results of the occupation of +Seistan about this time by an Afghan army under Shah Kamran, Governor +of Herat and brother to Dost Mahomed; the one brother, in fact, whom +he feared the most. Kamran's army had threatened Kandahar in the early +spring and had spread into Seistan. Here the cavalry horses perished +from disease, and the finest force which had marched from Herat for +years was placed absolutely _hors de combat_. Unable to obtain the +assistance of the army in the field, the frontier fortress of Ghorian +surrendered, and thus reduced Kamran to the necessity of retirement on +Herat and sustaining a siege. The destructive climate of Seistan has +evidently not greatly changed during the last century. + +Masson's view of the policy best adapted to the tangled situation was +the surrender of Peshawur to Sultan Mahomed Khan (the Amir's brother), +who already enjoyed half its revenues, which would have been an +acceptable proposition to the Sikh chief, Ranjit Singh (who found the +occupation of Peshawar a most profitless undertaking), and would at +the same time have reconciled the chiefs at Kandahar. The Amir Dost +Mahomed would have reconciled himself to a situation which he could +not avoid and the Indian Government would have enjoyed the credit of +establishing order on their frontiers on a tolerably sure basis +without committing themselves to any alliance, for (he writes) "my +experience has brought me to the decided opinion that any strict +alliance with powers so constituted would prove only productive of +mischief and embarrassment, while I still thought that British +influence might be usefully exerted in preserving the integrity of the +several states and putting their rulers on their good behaviour." +Subsequent events proved the soundness of these views, but we must +remember that Masson wrote "after the event." That he did, however, +strongly counsel Burnes to make no promise in the name of his +Government of the cession of Peshawar to the Amir on the death of +Ranjit Singh, is clear, and it is impossible to say how far the +disappointment felt by the Amir at the refusal of the Indian +Government to ratify this promise may have affected his subsequent +actions. Masson thinks that Burnes should have been recalled, but he +admits the difficulty that beset him owing to want of instructions. +"The folly of sending such a man as Captain Burnes without the fullest +and clearest instructions was now shown," etc. etc. It is surprising +that with his confidence in the ability of his immediate Chief so +absolutely destroyed, he should have continued to serve under him. + +Finally, on April 26, Burnes and Masson left Kabul together in a hurry +and were subsequently joined by Lord and Wood, and "thus closed a +mission, one of the most extraordinary ever sent forth by a +Government, whether as to the singular manner in which it was +conducted, or as to the results." Shortly after Masson resigned an +appointment under the Government of India which he stigmatises as +"disagreeable and dishonourable." It was a pity that he held it so +long. + +When Masson reached India he found that the Government had already +decided to restore the refugee Shah Sujah to the throne of Kabul, and +that a military expedition to Kandahar had been arranged. What he has +to say about the manner of this arrangement and the nature of the +influence brought to bear on Lord Auckland to bring it about is not +more pleasant reading than is his story of the Kabul Mission. This +tale, indeed, does not belong to the history of exploration any +further than to indicate under what conditions the first military +geographical knowledge of Farther Afghanistan was gained by such true +explorers as Pottinger, Lord, and Wood; and what amount of actually +new information was attained by Burnes' mission. This was very +considerable, as we shall see when we follow Burnes' assistants into +the field. Meanwhile we have not quite done with Masson. + +The closing incidents of the career of this remarkable man, as an +explorer, call for little more comment. Once again, in the year +preceding the disastrous termination to our first occupation of Kabul, +did he make Karachi and Sonmiani his base of departure for a fresh +venture in behalf of archæological research in Afghanistan. It was his +intention to proceed to Kandahar and Kabul, but his plans were +frustrated by as remarkable a series of incidents as could well have +barred the progress of any traveller. The Government of India, +instigated by reports which (according to Masson) were the results of +local intrigue and were palpably false, considered itself justified in +an expedition to Kalat and the deposition of its Brahui chief, Mehrab +Khan. This expedition was successfully carried out by General +Wiltshire, and Mehrab Khan was killed in the defence of his citadel. +Subsequently a British agent, Lieut. Loveday, was appointed to Kalat, +and Masson found him there on his arrival from Sonmiani. Masson's +description of him and of his crude political methods is not +flattering, and his weak surrender of Kalat to the badly armed Brahui +rabble who attacked the place in the interests of the late Khan's son +was certainly disgraceful. That surrender, which was only wiped out by +Nott's advance on Kalat, and the final suppression of the Brahui +revolt, cost Loveday his life, and placed Masson in deadly peril. He, +however, succeeded in reaching Quetta, where Captain Bean was in +political charge; but this officer not only put him into confinement +but treated him with positive barbarity. + +It is difficult to understand the political view of Masson's existence +in Baluchistan. If any man was capable of unriddling the network of +intrigue that occupied all the Baluch chiefs at this time, or could +bring anything of personal influence to bear on them, it was +undoubtedly Masson, and something of his history was at any rate +known. But he had resigned service under the Indian Government as +"disagreeable and dishonourable," and his reappearance at a time when +all Baluchistan was in the ferment of seething revolt was perhaps +regarded with suspicion. It is also quite conceivable that the local +political officer regarded him simply as an interloping loafer, and, +until he became better acquainted with Masson's character and ability, +would be no more likely to pay him attention than would any political +officer on the frontier to-day who suddenly found himself confronted +with a European in native dress with no valid explanation of his +appearance under very ambiguous circumstances. The days were not long +past when European loafers of any nationality whatsoever could, and +did, find not only service, but distinction, in the courts and armies +of native chiefs who were hostile to British interests. One can only +gather from Masson's strange story that there was no officer in the +British political service at that time with intuition sufficient to +enable him to appraise the situation correctly, or make use of other +experience than his own. + +Here, however, we must leave Masson. As an explorer in Afghanistan he +stands alone. His work has never been equalled; but owing to the very +unsatisfactory methods adopted by all explorers in those days for the +recording of geographical observations it cannot be said that his +contribution to exact geographical knowledge was commensurate with +his extraordinary capacity as an observant traveller, or his +remarkable industry. + +It is as a critic on the political methods of the Government of India +that Masson's records are chiefly instructive. Hostile critics of +Indian administrative methods usually belong to one of two classes. +They are either uninformed, notoriety-seeking demagogues playing to a +certain party gallery at home, or they are disappointed servants of +the Government, by whom they consider that their merits have been +overlooked. To this latter class it must be conceded that Masson +belonged, in spite of his expressed contempt for government service. +Thus the virulence of his attacks on the ignorance and fatuity of the +political officials with whom he was brought in contact must be freely +discounted, because of the obvious animus which pervades them. Still +it is to be feared there is too much reason to believe that private +interest was the recommendation which carried most weight in the +appointment of unfledged officers, both civil and military, to +political duty on the Indian frontier. These gentlemen took the field +without experience, and without that which might to a certain extent +take the place of experience, viz. an education in the main principles +both social and economical which govern the conditions of existence of +the people with whom they had to deal. A knowledge of political +economy, law, and languages is not enough to enable the young +administrator to take his place on the frontier, if he knows not +enough of the characteristics of the frontier tribes-people to enable +him to maintain the dignity of his position. Even physically there are +qualifications which are not always regarded as useful, which make for +strong influence and good government. A man may be physically powerful +enough to use his strength in fair contest to the immense enhancement +of his personal prestige, but he must not strike a blow where the blow +cannot be returned; and above all he must not endeavour to conciliate +by a silly display of obsequious attention, unless he is prepared to +sacrifice all his personal influence and destroy the respect due to +his office. + +Setting aside Masson's sentiments of disgust and horror (which he +really felt) that the fate of men should have been placed at the mercy +of the political officers in whom, at that time, Lord Auckland was +pleased to repose confidence, and his assertions that "on me developed +the task to obtain satisfaction for the insults some of these shallow +and misguided men thought fit to practise," his own account of the +extraordinary complexity of intrigue, and the unfathomable abyss of +deceit and crime which distinguished the political field of native +Baluchistan, is quite enough to account for much of their failure to +deal with the situation. At the same time, it is a strong indication +of the necessity for a sounder system of political education than any +which now exists. Possibly a time may come when we shall cease to see +systems of administration suitable to the plains applied to frontier +mountaineers, or, for that matter, the foreign methods of India +hammered into the nomadic pastoral peoples of other continents than +Asia, where they are wholly inapplicable. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +ENGLISH OFFICIAL EXPLORATION--LORD AND WOOD + + +Then followed the Afghan Campaign of 1839-40, a campaign which was in +many ways disastrous to our credit in Afghanistan both as diplomats +and soldiers, but which undoubtedly opened out an opportunity for +acquiring a general knowledge of the conformation of the country which +was not altogether neglected. With the political methods attending the +inception of the campaign (treated with such scathing scorn by +Masson), and the strange bungling of an overweighted and unwieldy +force armed with antique weapons we have nothing to do. The question +is whether, apart from the acquisition of route sketches and +intelligence reports dependent on the movements of the army in the +field, was there anything that could rank as original exploration in +new geographical fields? Lieut. North's excellent traverse and report +of the route to Kandahar, which still supplies data for an integral +part of our maps, was distinguished for more accuracy of detail and +observation than most efforts of a similar character made at that +time; but it can hardly be regarded as an illustration of new and +original exploration, the route itself being well enough known to +British Missions, although never before surveyed. It is undoubtedly +one of the best map contributions of the period. + +The adventures of Dr. Lord and Lieut. Wood in Badakshan, and the +remarkable journey of Broadfoot across Central Afghanistan, however, +belong to another category. These explorations covered new ground, +much of which has never since been visited by European travellers, and +they are authoritative records still. There were missed opportunities +in abundance. Also opportunities which were not missed, but of which +our records are so incomplete and obscure that the modern map-maker +can extract but little useful information from them. + +When Burnes was in Kabul on his first commercial mission, Dr. Lord and +Lieut. Leech of the Bombay Engineers were attached to his staff, and +both these gentlemen, with Lieut. Wood of the Indian Navy, +distinguished themselves by much original research, and have left +records the value of which has been proved by subsequent observations. +In the middle of October 1837 Dr. Lord left Kabul on an expedition +into the plains of the Koh Daman, to the north of that city, which was +to be extended to the passes of the Hindu Kush leading into Badakshan, +when he was subsequently invited to attend the court of Murad Beg, +the chief of Kunduz, in his professional capacity. Murad Beg was one +of the strongest chiefs of that time. As a bold and astute freebooter +and successful warrior he had made his name great amongst the Uzbeks +south of the Oxus, and had consolidated their scattered clans for the +time being into a formidable cohesion, the strength of which made +itself felt and respected at Kabul. Where Dost Mahomed's influence +ceased on the north there commenced that of Murad Beg, and the line of +division may be said to have extended from Ak Robat at the head of the +Bamian valley on the west, to the passes and foot-hills of the Hindu +Kush above Andarab on the east. It was late in the year for Lord to +attempt the passing of the Hindu Kush, and he appears to have lingered +too long amongst the delightful autumn scenes of that land of +enchantment, the Koh Daman. He selected the passes which strike off +from Charikar, near the junction of the Ghorband with the Panjshir +rivers. There has always been a slight confusion in the naming of this +group of passes, owing to the universal habit in Afghanistan of +bestowing the name of some possibly insignificant village site on +rivers, passes, and roads, without attaching any distinct and definite +name to these features themselves. + +From that break in the hills which gives passage to the Ghorband from +the south-west and the Panjshir from the north-east there strikes off +one well-known route across the backbone of the Hindu Kush, which is +marked near the southern foot of the mountains by the ancient town of +Parwan--a commercial site more ancient than that of Kabul--the +headquarters of Sabaktagin, the Ghuri conqueror, when he wrested Kabul +from the Hindu kings, and of Timur the Tartar in later ages. +Consequently, the pass which bears north from that point is often +called the Parwan. It was, according to Lord, the chief khafila route +from Badakshan (although it may be doubted whether it was ever as +popular as the Khawak when the Panjshir route was not closed by tribal +hostility), notwithstanding that far less traffic passed that way than +by Bamian and the Unai. The head of the pass was known as Sar Alang, +so that it figures in geographical records frequently under this name +also, whilst the local name acquired for it in the course of surveying +in 1883 was Bajgah. To the west of this is the Kaoshan Pass, which is +also known _par excellence_ as the pass of "Hindu Kush"; and farther +west again is the Gwalian (or Walian), an alternative to the Kaoshan +when the latter is in flood. Lord selected the Parwan or Sar Alang +Pass, narrow, rocky, and uneven, with a fall of about 200 feet per +mile, and was fairly defeated in his attempt to cross, on October 19, +by snow. This is about the closing time of the passes generally, the +Parwan being only 12,300 feet in altitude, although Lord estimated it +at 15,000. It is worth noting here that the Russo-Afghan Boundary +Commission party crossed by the Chahardar Pass (a pass to the west +again of the Walian) in the same month of October without encountering +any insuperable difficulty from snow, although the Chahardar is more +than 1000 feet higher than the Parwan. The fact that Lord met a +khafila snow-bound near the top of the pass indicates that it was +closed rather unexpectedly. Valuable observations were, however, the +result of this reconnaissance. It revealed the fact that snow lies +lower and deeper on the northern side of the Hindu Kush than on the +southern, a fact which is in direct opposition to the general +characteristics of the Himalayas. The explanation is, however, simple. +In both cases the snow lies lowest on that side which reaches down to +low humid plains and much precipitation of moisture. Where the barrier +of the mountains breaks the upward sweep of vapour-bearing currents, +there snowfall is arrested, and the highlands become desiccated. +Lord's observation as a geologist also determined the constitution of +these mountains. He noted the rugged uplift (beautiful from the +admixture of pure white felspar and glossy black hornblende) of the +central granite peaks through the overlying gneiss, schists, and +slate, which thus revealed the extension of one of the great primeval +folds of Himalayan conformation. + +Returning from his attempt to cross the pass, Lord had the good +fortune to be able to extend his researches for a day's march up the +Ghorband valley, and to explore the ancient lead mines of Ferengal, +which have been sunk in the Ghorband conglomerates, but had long been +abandoned by the Afghans. These he found to have been worked on +"knowledge and principle, not on blind chance,"--as might have been +expected in a country which still possesses some of the best practical +mining and irrigation engineers in the world; and he testifies, _inter +alia_, to the extraordinary effect of the exceeding dryness of the +interior, as evidenced by the preservation from decay of dead animals. +Similar phenomena have been observed in many parts of the world both +before and since, and it would appear that a satisfactory scientific +explanation is still wanting for this preservative tendency of caves +and mines; the atmosphere, in some cases where well-preserved remains +are found, being subject to exactly the same conditions of humidity as +the outer air. + +It was during this interesting exploratory trip that Dr. Lord received +a welcome invitation to visit Murad Beg in the Uzbek capital of +Kunduz, where his professional advice was in urgent demand. Although +the northern passes of the Hindu Kush were closed, the route to +Badakshan was still open _via_ Bamian and Khulm, and it was by this +route that for the first (and apparently the last) time the journey +from Kabul to Kunduz was made by European officers. Lord was +accompanied by Lieut. Wood, and it is to Wood's summary of the +conditions of the route that we now refer. As far as Bamian it was +already beginning to be a well-known road (well known, that is, to +European travellers); but beyond that point it was a new venture then, +nor can any record be traced of subsequent investigations on it. + +Wood summarises the route by first enumerating the seven passes which +have to be negotiated before reaching Kunduz (or Khulm), and gives us +a slight description of them all. Four of these passes were in Afghan +territory, and three beyond. Of the passes of Ispahak and Unai he +merely remarks that a mail-coach might be driven over them. The +Hajigak group he regards as the "Key-guide to the Bamian line," the +Hajigak being the highest pass encountered (about 11,000 feet). A +little to the north is the Irak, and to the south is the Pushti +Hajigak (Kafzur in modern maps); the Hajigak, or Irak, being open to +khafilas for ten months of the year, but for a considerably less +period to the passage of troops. The next pass Wood calls Kalloo +(Panjpilan in our maps), which he regards as being lower than Hajigak. +Then follows the descent into Bamian. Next is the Ak Robat Pass +(10,200 feet), between the valleys of Bamian and Saighan, of which +Wood reports that "it is open to wheeled traffic of all description." +As far as this (the then frontier of Afghanistan) Wood refers to the +fact, already recorded, that the Amir's Lieutenant--Haji Khan--was +able to take field-pieces "of a size between 12- and 18-pounders." We +already know the conditions under which this passage of artillery was +effected. It is also on record that Nadir Shah took guns as far as +Saighan. What is not so generally known is that the Uzbek chief, Murad +Beg, took an 18-pounder over the rest of the route from Saighan to +Kunduz. The three remaining passes are (1) the Dandan Shikan, between +Saighan and Kamard, of which Wood reports the north face to be +exceedingly difficult, and where he would never have believed that a +gun could pass, had it not been actually traversed by the 18-pounder +of Murad Beg. It may be mentioned here that it took 1100 men to drag +that gun up the northern face of the pass, so that Wood is quite +justified in classing it as only fit for camels. Then follows (2) the +Kara Pass, leading from Kamard into the valley of the Tashkurghan +River, about which the only remark made by Wood is that it may be +turned by the pass of Surkh Kila (which involves a considerable +detour). As Wood does not definitely state which is (3) the seventh +pass, we may assume that it is the Shamsuddin, which is merely a +detour to avoid an awkward reach of the Tashkurghan valley. + +This is probably the first clear exposition which has ever been made +of the general nature of the route connecting Kabul with Afghan +Turkistan, and for it we must give Lieut. Wood all the credit that is +fully due; for no subsequent surveys and investigations have +materially altered his opinion. It must not be forgotten that in +dealing with the story of Afghan exploration we are touching on past +records. The far-sighted policy of public works development, which +distinguished the late Amir Abdurrahmon, led to the extension of roads +for facilitating commerce between the Oxus and Kabul, the full effect +of which we have yet to learn. To the north of Kabul the roads opened +to khafila traffic, _via_ the Chahardar Pass and the Khawak, have +introduced a new and important feature into the system of Afghan +communications; and it is more than probable that the facilities for +wheeled traffic between Kabul and Tashkurghan have lately been largely +increased.[12] It is well also to remember that it is not the physical +difficulties of rough roads and narrow passes which form the chief +obstacle to the movement of large bodies of troops. Roads can be made, +and crooked places straightened with comparative ease, but altitude, +sheer altitude, still remains a formidable barrier, which no modern +ingenuity has taught us to overcome. Deep impassable snow-drifts, and +the fierce killing blasts of the north-westers of Afghanistan close +these highland fields for months together; and neither roads nor +railways (still less air-ships) can prevail against them. + +When Wood and Lord turned eastward from Khulm, and passed on to Kunduz +and Badakshan, they were treading ground which was absolutely new to +the European explorer, and which has seldom been reached even by the +ubiquitous native surveyor. Lord gives us but a scanty account of +Kunduz and northern Badakshan in his report, and we must turn to the +immortal Wood (the discoverer of one of the Oxus' sources) for fuller +and more picturesque detail. Wood left Kunduz for the upper Oxus in +the early spring of 1838, and it is somewhat remarkable that he should +have effected an important exploration successfully in regions so +highly elevated at the worst season of the year. Before following Wood +to the Oxus, we may add a few further details of that important march +from Kabul to Kunduz. + +It was in November 1837 that Wood and Lord were again in Kabul after +their unsuccessful attempt to cross the Parwan Pass, and losing no +time they started on the 15th for Badakshan by the Bamian route, +crossing the Unai Pass and the elevated plain which separates it from +the Helmund without difficulty. They encountered large parties of +half-starved Hazaras seeking the plains on their annual pilgrimage to +warm quarters for the winter. They crossed the Hajigak Pass on the +19th "with great ease," then passing the divide between the Afghan and +Turkistan drainage; but they had to make a considerable detour to +avoid the direct Kalu Pass, and entered Bamian by the precipitous +Pimuri defile and the volcanic valley of Zohak. The Ak Robat Pass +presented no difficulty. In Saighan they encountered the slave-gang of +wretched Hazara people who were being then conducted to Kunduz as +yearly contribution. Not much is said about the Dandan Shikan Pass +dividing Saighan from Kamurd, where they were welcomed by the drunken +old chief Rahmatulla Khan, whose character for reckless hospitality +seems to have been a well-known feature in Badakshan. He is mentioned +by every traveller who passed that way since Burnes' mission in 1832. +On the 28th they reached Kuram, where they found another slave-gang +being conducted by Afghans from Kabul, who had the grace to appear +much ashamed of being caught red-handed in a traffic which has never +commended itself to Afghan public opinion. Amongst Uzbeks it is +different, the custom of man-stealing appears to have smothered every +better feeling, and the traffic in human beings extends even into +their domestic arrangements. Their wives are just as much "property" +as their slaves. A little below Kuram they struck off to the right by +a direct route to Kunduz, and passing over a district which had "a +wavy surface," "affording excellent pasturage," which involved the +crossing of the pass of Archa, they finally crossed the Kunduz River, +and making their way through the swampy district of Baglan and +Aliabad, reached Kunduz on December 4. + +Wood is not enthusiastic about Kunduz. He calls it one of the most +wretched towns in Murad Beg's dominions. "The appearance of Kunduz +accords with the habits of an Uzbek; and by its manner, poverty and +filth, may be estimated the moral worth of its inhabitants." He +thought a good deal of Murad Beg all the same, and could not deny his +great abilities. "But with all his high qualifications Murad Beg is +but the head of an organised banditti, a nation of plunderers, whom, +however, none of the neighbouring states can exterminate." Murad Beg +has joined his fathers long ago, but no recent account of Kunduz much +alters Wood's opinion of it. The wretched Badakshanis whom Murad Beg +conquered, and whom he set to live or die in the dank pestilential +marshes which fill up the space between the Badakshan highlands and +the Oxus, have since then been restored to their own country; and of +Badakshan we heard enough from the Amir's officials connected with the +Pamir Boundary Commission to lead us to believe in it as a veritable +land of promise, a land whose natural beauty and fertility may be +compared to that of Kashmir--but this was told of the mountain +regions, not of the Oxus flats. + +When Wood got away from Kunduz and travelled eastwards to Faizabad and +Jirm he does rise to enthusiasm, and tells us of scenes of natural +beauty which no European eye has seen since he passed that way. On +December 11, in mid-winter, Wood started from Kunduz with the +permission of Murad Beg to trace the "Jihun" to its source, and the +story of this historical exploration will always be most excellent +reading. + +First crossing an open plain with a southern background of mountains, +a plain of jungle grass, moist and unfavourable to human life, with +stifling mists of vapour flitting uneasily before them, the party +reached higher ground and the town of Khanabad. Behind Khanabad rises +the isolated peak of Koh Umbar, 2500 feet above the plain, which +appears to be a remarkable landmark in this region. It has never yet +been fixed geographically. Passing through the low foot-hills +surrounding this mountain, Wood emerged into the plain of Talikhan, +and reached the ancient town of that name in a heavy downpour of +winter rain. Here at once he encountered reminiscences of Greek +occupation and claimants to the lineage of Alexander the Great. The +trail of the Greek occupation of Baktria clings to Badakshan as does +that of Nysa to the valleys of Kafiristan. The impression of Talikhan +is summed up by Wood in the statement that it is a most disagreeable +place in rainy weather. He might say the same of every town in Afghan +Turkistan. He has much to say of Uzbek character and idiosyncrasies. +In one respect he says that the habits of Uzbek children are superior +to those of young Britons. They do not rob sparrows' nests! Here, too, +Wood found himself on the track of Moorcroft. Striking eastward he +crossed the Lataband Pass (since fixed at 5650 feet in height) and +first encountered snow. From the pass he describes the surrounding +view as glorious: "In every quarter snowclad peaks shot up into the +sky," and he gives the name Khoja Mahomed to the range (unnamed in our +maps) which crosses Badakshan from north-east to south-west and forms +the chief water-parting of the country. Before him the Kokcha "rolled +its green waters through the rugged valley of Duvanah." The summit of +Lataband is wide and level and the descent eastwards comparatively +easy. + +Through the pretty vale of Mashad (where Wood's party crossed the +Varsach River) to Teshkhan the road led generally over hilly country +covered with snow; but leaving Teshkhan it rises over the pass of +Junasdara (fixed by Wood at 6600 feet), crossing one of the great +spurs of the Khoja Mahomed system, and descended to Daraim, "a valley +scarce a bowshot across, but watered, as all the valleys in Badakshan +are, by a beautiful stream of the purest water, and bordered, wherever +there is soil, by a soft velvet turf." To Daraim succeeded the plain +of Argu and the "wavy" district of Reishkhan, which reached to the +valley of the Kokcha. So far, since leaving Talikhan, they had met +with "no sign of man or beast," but the latter were occasionally in +close proximity, for the path was made easy by hog tracks, and Wood +has some grisly tales to tell about the ferocity of the wolves of the +country. Junasdara he describes as a difficult or steep pass, but he +notes the fact that Murad Beg had crossed it with artillery which left +evidence in wheel tracks. + +Of Faizabad, when Wood was there, "scarcely a vestige was left," and +Jirm had become the capital of the country. But Faizabad has risen to +importance since, and according to the reports of subsequent native +explorers, has regained a good deal of its commercial importance. +"Behind the site of the town the mountains are in successive ridges to +a height of at least 2000 feet" (_i.e._ above the plain); "before it +rolls the Kokcha in a rocky trench-like bed sufficiently deep to +preclude all danger of inundation. Looking up the valley, the ruined +and uncultivated gardens are seen to fringe the stream for a distance +of two miles above the town." Faizabad is about 3950 feet above +sea-level. Wood makes it about 500 feet lower, and his original +observations were probably of more than equal value with those of +subsequent native explorers. But certain recent improvements in +exploring instruments, and certain refinements in computing the value +of such observations, render the balance of probability in favour of +the later records. Wood (as a sailor) was a professional observer, and +where observations alone are concerned his own are excellent. + +From Faizabad Wood went to Jirm, which he regarded as a more important +position than Faizabad. Elsewhere an opinion has been expressed that +Jirm was the ancient capital of the country. Wood took the shortest +road to Jirm which leaves the Kokcha valley and passes over the Kasur +spur, winding by a high and slippery path for some distance along the +face of the hill. It was a two days' march. The fort at Jirm he +describes as the most important in Murad Beg's dominions. His stay at +Jirm gave him the opportunity of visiting the lapis-lazuli mines near +the head of the Kokcha River under the shadow of the Hindu Kush just +bordering Kafiristan. This experience was useful, for Wood not only +contributes a most interesting account of the working of the mines, +but places on record the impracticable nature of the route which +follows the Kokcha River from its source above the mines to Jirm. Near +the assumed source, and not far south of the mines, there are two +passes across the Hindu Kush, viz. the Minjan, which connects with the +well-known Dorah and leads to Chitral, and the Mandal, which unites +the head of the Bashgol valley of Kafiristan with the Minjan sources +of the Kokcha. The upper reaches of the Kokcha River form the Minjan +valley. Sir George Robertson crossed the Mandal in 1889 and fixed its +height at over 15,000 feet, and he places the head of the Minjan (or +Kokcha) much farther south than it appears in our maps. As the Mandal +Pass connects Kafiristan with the Minjan valley of the Kokcha +(pronounced by Wood to be almost impracticable above Jirm), it is of +no great geographical importance; nor, owing to the same +impracticability, is the Minjan Pass itself of any great consequence, +although it connects with Chitral. The Dorah (14,800 feet), on the +other hand, links up Chitral with another branch of the Kokcha, +passing by the populous commercial town of Zebak, and is consequently +a pass to be reckoned with in spite of its altitude. It is, in short, +the chief pass over the Hindu Kush directly connecting India with +Badakshan; but a pass which is nearly as high as Mont Blanc affords no +royal gateway through the mountains. + +Wood had sufficiently indicated the nature of the Kokcha valley +between Jirm and Minjan. At the point where the mines occur it is +about 200 yards wide. On both sides the mountains are "high and +naked," and the river flows in a trough 70 feet below the bed of the +valley. We know that it is not a practicable route. It is, however, +much to be regretted that no modern explorer has touched the valley of +Anjuman to the west of Minjan, which, whilst it is perhaps the main +contributor to the waters of the Kokcha, also appears to have +contained a recognised route in mediæval times. "If you wish not to go +to destruction, avoid the narrow valley of Koran," is a native warning +quoted by Wood, which seems to apply to the upper Kokcha. As a +passable khafila route, Idrisi writes that from Andarab to Badakshan +_towards the east_ is a four days' journey. Andarab (the ancient site) +being fixed at the junction of the Kasan stream with the Andarab +River, the only possible route eastwards would be to the head of the +Andarab at Khawak, and thence over the Nawak Pass into the Anjuman +valley. Nor can the Nawak (which is as well known a pass as the +Khawak) have any _raison d'être_ unless it connects with that valley. +There is, however, the possibility of a wrong inference from Idrisi's +vague statement. "Badakshan" (which was represented by either Jirm or +Faizabad) is actually east of Andarab, but to reach it by the obvious +route of the lowlands, following the Kunduz River and ultimately +striking eastwards, would involve starting from Andarab to the west of +north. But just as the Mandal leading into the Minjan valley opens up +no useful route in spite of being a well-known pass, so may the Nawak +lead to nothing really practicable in Anjuman. This, indeed, is +probably the case, but Anjuman remains to be explored. + +Returning to Jirm, Wood awaited the opportunity for his historic +exploration of the Oxus. This occurred at the end of January 1838, +when news came to Jirm that the Oxus was frozen above Darwaz. The only +route open to travellers in the snow time of that region is the bed of +the frozen river, and Wood determined to make the best use of the +opportunity. He was anxious to visit the ruby mines of the Oxus +valley, but in this he did not succeed, owing to the extreme +difficulties of the route following the river from its great bend +northward to the district of Gharan, in which these mines are +situated. He met the remnants of a party returning from Gharan which +had lost nearly half its numbers from an avalanche when he reached +Zebak, and wisely determined to expend his efforts in following up the +course of the river to its source, rather than tempt Providence by a +dangerous detour. To reach Zebak from Jirm it was necessary to follow +the Kokcha to its junction with the Wardoj and then turn up that +valley to Zebak. This journey in winter, with the biting blasts of the +glacier-bred winds of the Hindu Kush in their teeth, was sufficiently +trying. These devastated regions seem to be never free from the plague +of wind. It is bad enough in the Pamirs in summer, but in winter when +superadded to the effects of a cold registering 6° below zero it must +have been maddening. There was no great difficulty in crossing the +divide between Zebak (a small but not unimportant town) and the elbow +of the Oxus River at Ishkashm. + +Once again since the days of Wood a party of Europeans, which included +two well-known geographers (Lockhart and Woodthorpe, both of whom have +since gone to their rest), reached Ishkashm in 1886, and they were +treated there with anything but hospitality. Wood seemed to have fared +better. With the authority of Murad Beg to back him, and his own tact +and determination to carry him through, he succeeded in overcoming all +obstacles, and from point to point he made his way to where the Oxus +forks at Kila Panja. From Ishkashm to Kila Panja the valley was fairly +wide and open, and here for the first time he met those interesting +nomadic folk the Kirghiz. + +Wood's observations on the people he met are always acute and +interesting, but he seems rather to have been influenced (as he admits +that he may have been) by his Badakshani guides in framing his +estimate of Kirghiz character. Thieves and liars they may be. These +characteristics are common in High Asia, but even in these particulars +they compare favourably with Uzbeks and Afghans generally. At any rate +he trusted them, and it was with their assistance that he reached the +source of the Oxus. Without them in a world of snow-covered hills and +depressions, with every halting-place buried deep and not a trace of a +track to be seen, he would have fared badly. At Kila Panja he was +faced with a difficulty which gave him anxious consideration. Could he +have guessed what issues would thereafter hang on a decision to that +momentous question--which branch of the Oxus led to its real +source--it would have caused him even greater anxiety. Ultimately he +followed the northern branch which waters the Great Pamir, and after +almost incredible exertion in floundering through snowdrifts and +scratching his way along the ice road of the river surface, on +February 19, 1838, he overlooked that long narrow expanse of frozen +water which is now known as Victoria Lake. + +We may discuss the question of the source, or sources, of the Oxus +still, and trace them to the great glaciers from which the lakes north +and south of the Nicolas range are fed, or to the ice caverns of the +Hindu Kush as we please--there are many sources, and it is not in the +power of mortal man to measure their relative profundity--but Wood +still lives in geographical history as the first explorer of the upper +Oxus, and will rank with Speke and Grant as the author of a solution +to one of the great riddles of the world's hydrography. With infinite +labour he dug a hole through the ice and found the depth of the lake +at its centre to be only 9 feet. Were he to plumb it again in these +days he would find it even less, for the lake (like all Central Asian +lakes) is growing smaller and shallower year by year. The information +which he absorbed about the high regions of Asia, the Pamirs (the +Bam-i-dunya), was wonderfully correct on the whole, and is strong +evidence of his ability in sifting the mass of miscellaneous matter +with which the Asiatic usually conceals a geographical truth. He is +incorrect only in the matter of altitude, which he fixes too high by +more than a thousand feet, and he makes rather a strange mistake in +recording that the Kunar (the Chitral River) rises north of the Hindu +Kush and breaks through that range. Otherwise it would be difficult to +add to or to correct his information by the light of subsequent +surveys. With his return journey surrounded by all the enchantment of +bursting spring in those regions we need not concern ourselves. After +a three months' absence he rejoined Dr. Lord at Kunduz. + +Wood's return to Kunduz was but the prelude to another journey of +exploration into the northern regions of Badakshan which, in some +respects, was the most important of all his investigations, for it is +to the information obtained on this journey that we are still indebted +for what little knowledge we possess of the general characteristics of +the Oxus valley above Termez. Dr. Lord was summoned in his medical +capacity to visit a chief at Hazrat Imam on the Oxus River, and Wood +seized the opportunity to explore the Oxus basin from Hazrat Imam +upwards through Darwaz. + +Kunduz itself has been described by both authorities as a miserable +swamp-bound town, with pestilential low-lying flats stretching beyond +it towards the Oxus. This low country is, however, productive, and is +probably by this time largely reclaimed from the grass and reed beds +which covered it. Into this poisonous swamp country the Uzbek chief +had imported the wretched Badakshani Tajiks whom he had captured +during his extensive raids, for the purpose of colonizing. Wood +reckons that 100,000 people must have originally been dumped into this +swamp land, of whom barely 6000 were left when he was at Kunduz. +Between the swamp and the Oxus was a splendid stretch of prairie or +pasture land, reaching to the tangled jungle which immediately fringed +the river below the Darwaz mountains, and this naturally excited his +admiration. "Eastward" of Khulm "to the rocky barriers of Darwaz all +the high-lying portion of the valley is at this season (March) a wild +prairie of sweets, a verdant carpet enamelled with flowers"; and he +describes the "low swelling" hills fringing these plains as "soft to +the eye as the verdant sod which carpets them is to the foot." This is +very pretty, and quite accords with the general description of country +which forms part of the Oxus valley much farther west. The Oxus +jungles, however, only occur at intervals. In Wood's time (1838) they +were a thick tangle of low-growing scrub, which formed the haunts of +wild beasts which were a terror to the dwellers in the plains. Tigers +are found in those patches of Oxus jungle still. Hazrat Imam then +ranked with Zebak and Jirm as one of the most important towns of +Badakshan. East of Hazrat Imam were the traces of a gigantic canal +system with its head about Sherwan, from which point to the foot-hills +of Darwaz the river is (or was) fordable in almost any part. Wood +forded it at a point near Yang Kila, opposite Saib in Kolab, in March, +and found the river running in three channels, only one of which was +really difficult. In this one, however, the current was running 4 +miles an hour and the width of the channel was about 200 yards. It was +only by uniting the forces of the party to oppose the stream that +they were able to effect the passage. Thus was Wood probably the first +European to set his foot in Kolab north of the Oxus. The river-bottom +in this part of its course is generally pebbly, and at the Sherwan +ford guns had been taken across. Near the mouth of the Kokcha (here a +sluggish muddy stream) Wood found the site of an ancient city which he +calls Barbarra, and which I think is probably the Mabara of Idrisi. + +Wood's next excursion from Kunduz was by the direct high road westward +to Mazar, where he and Lord hoped to find relics of Moorcroft (in +which quest they were successful), and back again. This only confirmed +what was previously known of the facility of that route, one of the +most ancient in the world, and the attention which had been paid to it +by the construction of covered tanks (they would be called Haoz +farther west) at intervals for the convenience of travellers. The +final recall of these two explorers to Kabul afforded them the +opportunity for investigating the route which runs directly south from +Kunduz by the river valley of that name to the junction with the +Baghlan. Thence, following the Baghlan to its head, they crossed by +the Murgh Pass into the valley of Andarab, and diverging eastward they +adopted the Khawak Pass to reach the Panjshir valley, and so to Kabul. +No great difficulties were encountered on this route (which has only +been partially explored since), involving only two passes between the +Oxus and Kabul, _i.e._ the Murgh (7400 feet) which is barely mentioned +by Wood, and the Khawak (11,650 feet--Wood makes it 1500 feet higher), +and it undoubtedly possesses many advantages as the modern popular +route between Kabul and Badakshan. It is not the high-road to Mazar +(the capital of Afghan Turkistan), which will always be represented by +the Bamian route, but it must be recognised as a fairly easy means of +communication in summer between the chief fords of the Oxus and the +Kabul valley. The Greek settlements were about Baghlan and Andarab, +and undoubtedly this was the road best known to them across the Hindu +Kush, and probably as much used as the Kaoshan or Parwan passes, which +were more direct. For many centuries, however, in mediæval history the +Panjshir valley possessed such an evil reputation as the home of the +worst robbers in Asia, that a wide berth was given to it by casual +travellers. Timur Shah made good use of it for military purposes, as +we have seen, and latterly it has been improved into a fair commercial +high-road under Afghan engineers. The Panjshir inhabitants (once +Kafirs--now truculent Mohamedans) have been reduced to reason, and it +will be in the future what it has been in the ancient past--one of the +great khafila routes of Asia. When Wood crossed it in May it was not +really practicable for horses, and the party made their way across +with considerable difficulty. It is the altitude, and the altitude +alone, which renders it a formidable military barrier, and thus will +it remain as part of that great Hindu Kush wall which forms the +central obstruction of a buffer state. + +Before taking leave of these two most successful (and most +trustworthy) explorers of Afghanistan, it may be useful to sum up +their views on that little-known region, Badakshan. The plains, the +useful and beautiful valleys of Badakshan, lie in the embrace of a +kind of mountain horse-shoe, which shuts them off from the Oxus on the +north-east and east and winds round to the Hindu Kush on the south. +The weak point of the semicircular barrier occurs at the junction with +the Hindu Kush, where the pass between Zebak and Ishkashm is only 8700 +feet high. From the slopes of the Hindu Kush mountain torrents drain +down through the valleys of Zebak (called the Wardoj by Wood), the +Minjan (or Kokcha) and the Anjuman into the great central river of +Kokcha. Of these valleys, so far as we know, only the Wardoj is really +practicable as a northerly route to the Oxus. Shutting off the head of +the Kokcha system, a lateral range called Khoja Mahomed by Wood (a +name which ought to be preserved), in which are many magnificent +peaks, sends down its contributions north-west to the Kunduz. We know +nothing about these valleys, and Wood tells us nothing, but the +geographical inference is strong that all this part of upper +Badakshan, including the heads of the Kokcha and Kunduz affluents, is +but a wide inhospitable upland plateau of a conformation similar to +that which lies east and west of it, cut into deep furrows and +impassable gorges by the mountain streams which run thousands of feet +below the plateau level. Within it will almost certainly be traced in +due course of time the evidences of those primeval parallel folds, or +wrinkles, which form the basis of Himalayan construction. Probably the +Khoja Mahomed represents one of them, and the heads of the streams +which feed the Kokcha and the eastern affluents of the Kunduz will be +found (as already indicated in the Wardoj, or Zebak, stream) to take +their source in deep, lateral, ditch-like valleys, which, closely +underlying these folds, have been reshaped and altered by ages of +denudation and seismic destruction. + +The few inhabitants who are hidden away in remote villages and hamlets +belong to the great Kafir community. This is a part of unexplored +Kafiristan rather than Badakshan, and he will be a bold man indeed who +undertakes its investigation. No Asiatic secret now held back from +view will command so much vivid interest in its unfolding as will the +ethnographical conditions of these people when we can really get at +them. This mountain region occupies a large share of Badakshan. The +rest of the plateau land to the west we know fairly well and have +sufficiently described. The wonder of the world is that the deeply +recessed valleys of it, the Bamian, Saighan, Kamard, Baghlan, and +Andarab depressions should have figured so largely in the world's +history. That a confined narrow ribbon of space such as Bamian, +difficult of access, placed by nature in the heart of a wilderness, +should have been the centre not only of a great kingdom but the focus +of a great religion, would be inexplicable if we did not remember that +through it runs the connecting link between the wealth of India and +the great cities of the Oxus plains and Central Asia. + +The northern slopes and plains of Badakshan, between the mountains and +the Oxus, form part of a region which once represented the wealth of +civilization in Asia. The whole region was dotted with towns of +importance in mediæval times, and the fame of its beauty and wealth +had passed down the ages from the days of Assyria and Greece to those +of the destroying Mongol hordes. From prehistoric times nations of the +west had planted colonies in Baktria, and here are to be gathered +together the threads of so many ethnographical survivals as may be +represented by the successive Empires of the West. Baktria is the +cradle of a marvellously mixed ethnography, and to all who have seen +the weird beauty of that strange land, the fascination which it has +ever possessed for the explorer and pilgrims is no matter of surprise. + +A word or two must be added here about that previous explorer +(Moorcroft) in Northern Afghanistan whose fate was ascertained by +Lord. It is most unfortunate that some of the most important +manuscripts of this unfortunate Asiatic traveller were never +recovered, but his story has been written and will be referred to in +further detail. We have direct testimony to the fate which finally +overtook him in Dr. Lord's report of his visit to Mazar-i-Sharif, +which was made with the express purpose of recovering all the records +that might be traced of Moorcroft's travels in Afghan Turkistan. + +A previous story of Moorcroft is highly interesting. An early Tibetan +explorer (the celebrated Abbé Huc) told a tale of a certain Englishman +named Moorcroft, who was reported to have lived in Lhasa for twelve +years previous to the year 1838 and who was supposed to have been +assassinated on his way back to India _via_ Ladak. The story was +circumstantial and attracted considerable attention. We know now from +a memorandum of Dr. Lord written in May 1838, that in the early spring +of that year when he and Lieut. Wood visited Mazar-i-Sharif they +discovered that the German companion of Moorcroft (Trebeck) had died +in that city, leaving amongst many loose records a slip of paper, with +the date September 6, 1825, thereon, noting the fact that "Mr. M." +(Moorcroft) "died on August 27th." Dr. Lord's investigations led him +to the conclusion that Moorcroft died at Andkhui, a victim "not more +to the baneful effects of the climate than to the web of treachery and +intrigue with which he found himself surrounded and his return cut +off." Trebeck, who seems to have been held in great estimation by the +Afghans, died soon after; neither traveller leaving any substantial +account of his adventures. Moorcroft's books (thirty volumes) were +recovered, and the list of them would surprise any modern traveller +who believes in a light and handy equipment. Dr. Lord's inquiries, in +my opinion, effectually dispose of the venerable Abbé's story of +Moorcroft's residence at Lhasa; although, of course, the record of his +visit to Western Tibet and the Manasarawar Lakes earlier in the +century must have been well enough known; and the Tibetans may +possibly have believed in a reincarnation of their one and only +European visitor in their own capital. + +This chapter cannot be closed without a tribute of respect to those +most able and enterprising geographers who (chiefly as assistants to +Burnes) were the means of first giving to the world a reasonable +knowledge of the geography of Afghanistan. The names of Leech, Lord, +and Wood will always remain great in geographical story, and although +none of them individually (nor, indeed, all of them collectively) +covered anything like as wide an area as the American Masson, they +effected a far greater change in the maps of the period--for Masson +was no map-maker. As regards Sir Alexander Burnes, his initiative in +all that pertained to geographical exploration was great and valuable, +but he was individually more connected with the exploitation of +Central Asian and Persian geography than with that of Afghanistan. +Previous to the year 1836, when he undertook his political mission to +Kabul (and when he was travelling over comparatively old ground), he +had already extended his journeys across the Hindu Kush to the Oxus, +Bokhara, and Persia; and the book which he published in 1834 was a +revelation in Central Asian physiography and policy. But as an +explorer in Afghanistan he owed his information chiefly to his +assistants, and undoubtedly he was splendidly well served. The +ridiculous and costly impedimenta which seemed to be recognised as a +necessary accompaniment to a campaign or "an occupation" in those +days--the magnificent tents, the elephants, wives and nurseries and +retinue of military officers--found no place whatever in the +explorers' camps. Men were content to make their way from point to +point and take their chance of native hospitality. They lived with the +people amongst whom they moved, and they gradually became almost as +much of them as with them. Perhaps their views, political and social, +became somewhat too warmly tinted with local colour by these methods, +but undoubtedly they learned more and they saw more, and they acquired +a wider, deeper sympathy with native aspirations and native character +than is possible to travellers who move _en prince_ amongst a people +who only interest them as races dominating a certain section of the +mountains and plains of a strange world. All honour to the names of +Leech, Lord, and Wood--especially Wood. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[12] The latest reports indicate that there is now a road fit for +motor traffic between Kabul and Afghan Turkistan, as well as between +Kabul and Badakshan. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +ACROSS AFGHANISTAN TO BOKHARA--MOORCROFT + + +One of the most disappointing of the early British explorers of our +Indian trans-frontier was Moorcroft. Disappointing, because he got so +little geographical information out of so large an area of adventure. +Moorcroft was a veterinary surgeon blessed with an unusually good +education and all the impulse of a nomadic wanderer. He was +Superintendent of the H.E.I. Company's stud at Calcutta, and his views +on agricultural subjects generally, especially the improvement of +stock, were certainly in advance of his time, although it seems +extraordinary that he should have sought further inspiration in the +wilds of the then unexplored trans-Himalayas or in Central Asia. The +Government of India were evidently sceptical as to the value of such +researches, and he received but cold comfort from their grudging +spirit of support, which ended in a threat to cut off his pay +altogether after a few years' sojourn in Ladak whilst studying the +elementary principles of Tibetan farming. Neither would they supply +him with the ample stock of merchandise which he asked for as a means +of opening up trade with those chilly countries; and when, finally, he +assumed the position of a high political functionary, and became the +vehicle of an offer to the Government of India of the sovereignty of +Ladak (which certainly might have led to complications with the Sikh +Government of the Punjab) he was rather curtly told to mind his own +business. + +On the whole, it is tolerably clear that the Government represented by +old John Company was not much more favourable to irresponsible +travelling over the border and political intermeddling than is our +modern Imperial institution. However, the fact remains that Moorcroft +showed a spirit of daring enterprise, which led to the acquirement of +a vast amount of most important information about countries and +peoples contiguous to India of whom the Government of the time must +have been in utter ignorance. When he first exploited Ladak, Leh was +the _ultima thule_ of geographical investigation. What lay beyond it +was almost blank conjecture, and a residence of two years must have +ended in the amassing of a vast fund of useful information. +Unfortunately, much of that information was lost at his death, and the +correspondence and notes which came into the hands of his biographer +were of such a character--so extraordinarily discursive and frequently +so little relevant to the subject of his investigation--as to leave an +impression that Moorcroft was certainly eccentric in his +correspondence if not in more material ways. We get very little +original geographical suggestion from him; but his constant and +faithful companion Trebeck is much more consistent and careful in such +detail as we find due to his personal observation, and it is to +Trebeck rather than Moorcroft that the thanks of the Asiatic map-maker +are due. With the Ladak episodes of Moorcroft's career we have nothing +to do here, beyond noting that there is ample evidence that he never +reached Lhasa, and never resided there, in spite of the persistent +rumours which prevailed (even in Tibet) that a traveller of his name +had lived in the city. It is exceedingly difficult to account for this +rumour, unless indeed we credit the authors of it with a confusion of +ideas between Lhasa, the capital of Tibet proper, and Leh, the capital +of little Tibet. + +The interest of Moorcroft's adventures so far as we are now concerned +commences with his journey from Peshawar to Kabul, Badakshan and +Bokhara in 1824, when he was undoubtedly the first in the field of +British Central Asiatic exploration. He owed his safe conduct from +Peshawar (which place he reached only after some most unpleasant +experiences in passing through the Sikh dominions of the Punjab) to a +political crisis. Dost Mahomed Khan was consolidating his power at +Kabul, but he had not then squared accounts with Habibullah the son of +the former governor, his deceased elder brother Mahomed Azim Khan; and +certain other members of his family (his brothers, Yar Mahomed, Pir +Mahomed, and Sultan Mahomed), who were governors in the Indus +provinces, thought it as well to step in and effect an arrangement. It +was their stately march to Kabul which was Moorcroft's opportunity. +Those were days when an Englishman was yet of interest to the Afghan +potentate, who knew not what turn of fortune's wheel might necessitate +an appeal for the intervention of the English. + +Moorcroft did not love the Afghans, and between the unauthorised +robbers of the Kabul road and the official despoilers of the city he +paid dearly for the right of transit through Afghanistan of himself +and his merchandise. It was this assumed rôle of merchant (if indeed +it was assumed) that hampered Moorcroft from first to last in his +journeys beyond the frontier of British India. There was something to +be made out of him, either by fair means or foul, and the rapacious +exactions to which he was subjected were probably not in the least +modified by his obstinate refusals to meet what he considered unjust +demands. Invariably he had to pay in the end. His account of the road +to Kabul is interesting from the keen observation which he brought to +bear on his surroundings. He has much to say about the groups of +Buddhist buildings which are so marked a feature at various points of +the route, and his previous experiences in Tibet left him little room +for doubt as to the nature of them. It is strange that locally there +was not a tale to be told, not even a legend about them, which even +indefinitely maintained their Buddhist origin. + +From Kabul Moorcroft succeeded in getting free with surprisingly +little difficulty, though several members of his party declined to go +farther. He gradually made his way by the Unai and Hajigak passes to +Bamian, and thence to Haibak and Balkh. He was not slow to recognize +the connection between the obvious Buddhist relics of Bamian and those +which he had seen on the Kabul road; and at Haibak he visited a tope +called Takht-i-Rustam (a generic name for these topes in Central Asia) +of which his description tallies more or less with that of Captain +Talbot, R.E., who unearthed what is probably the same relic some sixty +years later. To Moorcroft we owe the identification of Haibak with the +old mediæval town of Semenjan, and he states that he was told on the +spot that this was its ancient name. No such name was recognised sixty +years later, but the evidence of Idrisi's records confirms the fact +beyond dispute. + +We need not enter into details of this well-worn and often described +route. Moorcroft's best efforts were not directed to gazetteering, and +we have much abler and more complete accounts of it than his. After +passing the Ak Robat divide, Moorcroft found himself beyond Afghan +jurisdiction and within the reach of that historic Uzbek chieftain, +Murad Beg of Kunduz. Although Murad Beg was little better than a +successful freebooter, he is a personage who has left his own definite +mark on the history of days when British interest was just dawning on +the Oxus banks. Moorcroft fell into his hands, and in spite of +introductions he fared exceedingly badly. Indeed there can be little +doubt that the cupidity excited by the possibility of so much plunder +would have ended fatally for him, but for a happy inspiration which +occurred to him when his affairs appeared to be _in extremis_. With +great difficulty and at the peril of his life he made his way eastward +to Talikhan, where resided a saintly Pirzada, uncle of Murad Beg, the +one righteous man whose upright and dignified character redeemed his +people from the taint of utter barbarism and treachery. He had +discrimination enough to read Moorcroft aright, and at once +discountenanced the tales that had been assiduously set abroad of his +being a British spy upon the land; and he had firmness and authority +sufficient to deliver him from the rapacity of his truculent nephew, +and procure him freedom to depart after months of delay in the +pestilential atmosphere of Kunduz. Yet this grand old Mahomedan saint +patronised the institution of slavery, and was not above making a +profit out of it, though at the same time he firmly declined to +receive presents or have bribes for his good offices. + +As other travellers following in Moorcroft's footsteps at no great +distance of time fell also into the hands of Murad Beg, and +experienced very different treatment, it is useful just to note +Moorcroft's description of him. He says: "I scarcely ever beheld a +more forbidding countenance. His extremely high cheekbones gave the +appearance to the skin of the face of its being unnaturally stretched, +whilst the narrowness of the lower jaw left scarcely room for the +teeth which were standing in all directions; he was extremely +near-sighted." Not an attractive description! The spring had well +advanced, and it was not till the middle of February 1825 that +Moorcroft was able to resume his journey to the Oxus. He travelled +from Kunduz to Tashkurghan and Mazar, and from the latter place he +followed the most direct route to Bokhara _via_ the Khwaja Salar ferry +across the Oxus, reaching Bokhara on February 25. Here his narrative +ends, and we only know from Dr. Lord and Wood that he returned from +Bokhara to Andkhui, and died there apparently of fever contracted in +Kunduz. He was buried near Balkh. Trebeck died soon after, and was +buried at Mazar-i-Sharif. Burnes visited and described the tombs of +both travellers, but they have long since disappeared. + +As a geographer there is much that is wanting in the methods of this +most enterprising traveller, who at least pioneered the way to High +Asia from British India but who never made geographical exploration a +primary object of his labours. He was true to the last to his trade as +a student of agriculture, and it is in this particular, rather than +in the regions of geography or history, that the value of his studies +chiefly lies. He was the first to point out the general character of +that disastrous road to Kabul which has cost England so dear, and he +is still, with Burnes and Lord and Wood, our chief authority for the +general characteristics of Badakshan and of the Oxus valley east of +Balkh. He did not, however, touch the Oxus east of Khwaja Salar, and +consequently did not see or appreciate the great spread of splendid +pastoral country which lies between the pestilential marsh lands of +Kunduz and the river. + +One would be apt to gather a pessimistic idea of lower Badakshan from +the pages of Moorcroft's story, which are undoubtedly tinted strongly +with the gloomy and grey colouring of his own unhappy experiences. Of +Balkh he has very little to say; he noted no antiquities about Balkh, +but he calls attention to the wide spaces covered with ruins which are +to be found at intervals scattered over the plains between Balkh and +the Oxus. It is a little difficult to follow his exact route across +the Oxus plains by the light of modern maps, but his Feruckabad is +probably our Feruk, and I gather that his Akbarabad is Akcha or +Akchaabad. The condition of Balkh, of Akcha, and of the ruin-studded +plains of the Oxus were evidently much the same in 1824 as they were +in 1884. Khwaja Salar (where Moorcroft crossed the Oxus in ferry-boats +drawn by horses) has since become historical. It was accepted in the +Anglo-Russian protocols defining the Afghan boundary as an important +point in the Russo-Afghan boundary delimitation, but it was not to be +found. Moorcroft gives a very good reason for its disappearance, by +stating that the place was razed to the ground just the day before he +arrived there. Since then the ruins of the old village have been +devoured by the shifting Oxus, and nothing but a ziarat at some +distance from the river remains as a record of the distinguished saint +who gave it its name. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +BURNES + + +No traveller who ever returned to his country with tales of stirring +adventure ever attracted more interest, or even astonishment, than +Lieut. Alexander Burnes. He published his story in 1835, when the Oxus +regions of Asia were but vaguely outlined and shadowy geography. It +did not matter that they had been the scene of classical history for +more than 2000 years, and that the whole network of Oxus roads and +rivers had been written about and traversed by European hosts for +centuries before our era. That story belonged to a buried past, and +the British occupation of India had come about in modern history by +way of the sea. England and Russia were then searching forward into +Central Asia like two blind wrestlers in the dark, feeling their +ground before them ere they came to grips. A veil of mystery hung over +these highlands, a geographical fog that had thickened up, with just a +thinner space in it here and there, where a gleam of light had +penetrated, but never dispersed it, since the days when Assyrian and +Persian, Skyth, Greek, and Mongul wandered through the highest of +Asiatic highways at their own sweet will. + +In the present year of grace and of red tape bindings to most books of +Asiatic travels, when the best of the geographical information +accumulated by the few who bear with them the seal of officialdom is +pigeon-holed for a use that never will be made of it, it is quite +refreshing to fall back on these most entertaining records of men who +(whether official or otherwise) all travelled under the same +conditions of association with the natives of the country they +traversed, accepting their hospitality, speaking their language, +assuming their manners and dress, and passing with the crowd (and with +the crowd only) as casual wayfarers. The fact of their European origin +was almost always suspected, if not known, to certain of the better +informed of their Asiatic hosts, but they were seldom given away. It +was nobody's business to quarrel with England then. A hundred years +ago the military credit of England stood high, and the irrepressible +advance of the red line of the British India-border impressed the mind +of the Asiatic of the highlands beyond the plains as evidence of an +irresistible power. Russia then made no such impression. She was still +far off, and the ties of commerce bound the Oxus Khanates to India, +even when Russian goods were in Asiatic markets. The bankers of the +country were Hindus--traders from the great commercial centre of +Shikarpur. It is strange to read of this constant contact with Hindus +in every part of Central Asia in those days, when the _hundi_ (or +bill) of a Shikarpur banker was as good as a letter of credit in any +bazaar as far as the Russian border. The power of England in India +undoubtedly loomed much larger in Asiatic eyes before the disasters of +the first Afghan war, and Englishmen of the type of Burnes, Christie, +Pottinger, Vigne, and Broadfoot were able to carry out prolonged +journeys through districts that are certainly not open to English +exploration now. Even were English officers to-day free under existing +political conditions to travel beyond the British border at all, it is +doubtful whether any disguise would serve as a protection. + +The day has passed for such ventures as those of Burnes, and we must +turn back a page or two in geographical history if we wish to +appreciate the full value of British enterprise in exploring +Afghanistan. Undoubtedly Burnes ranks high as a geographer and +original pioneer. The fact that there is little or nothing left of the +scene of his travels in 1830-32 and 1833 which has not been reduced to +scientific mapping now, does not in any way detract from the merit of +his early work; although it must be confessed that the perils of +disguise prevented the use of any but the very crudest methods of +ascertaining position and distance, and his map results would, in +these days, be regarded as disappointing. Sind and the Punjab being +trans-border lands, there were always useful and handy opportunities +for teaching the enterprising subaltern of Bombay Infantry how to +travel intelligently; with the natural result that no corps in the +world possessed a more splendid record of geographical achievement +than the Bombay N.I. + +Burnes began well in the Quartermaster-General's department, and was +soon entrusted with political power. Full early in his career he was +despatched with an enterprising sailor, Lieut. Wood, on a voyage up +the Indus which was to determine the commercial possibilities of its +navigation, and which did in fact lead to the formation of the Indus +flotilla--some fragments of which possibly exist still. It is most +interesting to read the able reports compiled by these young officers; +and one might speculate idly as to the feelings with which they would +now learn that within half a century their flotilla had come and gone, +superseded by one of the best paying of Indian railways. Their +feelings would probably be much the same as ours could we see fifty +years hence a well-established electric train service between Kabul +and Peshawar, and a double or treble line of rails linking up Russia +with India _via_ Herat. We shall not see it. It will be left to +another generation to write of its accomplishment. + +Searching the archives of the Royal Geographical Society for the story +of Burnes the traveller (apart from the voluminous records of Burnes +the diplomat), I came across a book with this simple inscription on +the title-page: "To the Royal Geographical Society of London, with the +best wishes for its prosperity by the Author." This is Vol. I. of +Burnes' Travels. It is written in the attenuated, pointed, and +ladylike style which was the style of the very early Victorian era. It +hardly leads to an impression of forceful and enterprising character. + +On January 2, 1831, Burnes made his first plunge into the wilderness +which lay between him and Lahore, the capital of the Sikh kingdom, and +he entered that city on the 17th. There he was most hospitably +received by the French officers in the service of Ranjit Singh, +Messieurs Allard and Court, and was welcomed by the Maharaja Ranjit +Singh, who treated him with "marked affability." Burnes was +accompanied by Dr. Gerard, and the two travellers were taken by Ranjit +Singh to a hunting party in the Punjab, a description of which serves +as a forcible illustration of the changes which less than one century +of British administration has effected in the plains of India. Never +will its like be seen again in the Land of the Five Rivers. The +guests' tents were made of Kashmir shawls, and were about 14 feet +square. One tent was red and the other white, and they were connected +by tent-walls of the same material, shaded by a _Shamiana_ supported +on silver-mounted poles. In each tent stood a camp-bed with Kashmir +shawl curtains. It was, as Burnes remarks, not an encampment suited to +the Punjab jungles; and the hunting procession headed by the +Maharaja, dressed in a tunic of green shawls, lined with fur, his +dagger studded with the richest brilliants, and a light metal shield, +the gift of the ex-king of Kabul (Shah Sujah, who, it will be +remembered, also surrendered the Koh-i-Nor diamond to Ranjit Singh +about this time), as the finishing touch to his equipment, must have +been quite melodramatic in its effects of colour and movement. It was, +as a matter of fact, a pig-sticking expedition, but the game fell to +the sword rather than to the spear; such of it, that is to say, as was +not caught in traps. The party was terminated by a hog-baiting +exhibition, in which dogs were used to worry the captive pigs, after +the latter were tied by one leg to a stake. When the pigs were +sufficiently infuriated, the entertainment concluded with letting them +loose through the camp, in order, as Ranjit said, "that men might +praise his humanity." + +Such episodes, however they might beguile the journey to the Afghan +frontier, belong to other histories than that of Afghan exploration, +and little more need be said of Burnes' experiences before reaching +the Afghan city of Peshawar, than that he experienced very different +treatment _en route_ to that which made Moorcroft's journey both +perilous and disheartening. In Peshawar the two brothers of Dost +Mahomed Khan (Sultan Mahomed and Pir Mahomed) seem to have rivalled +each other in courtly attentions to their guests, and Burnes was as +much enchanted with this garden of the North-West as any traveller of +to-day would be, provided that his visit were suitably timed. Burnes +thus sums up his impression of Ranjit Singh: "I never quitted the +presence of a native of Asia with such impressions as I left this man; +without education, and without a guide, he conducts all the affairs of +his kingdom with surpassing energy and vigour, and yet he wields his +power with a moderation quite unprecedented in an Eastern prince." + +On leaving Lahore Burnes received this salutary advice from M. Court, +packed in a French proverb, "Si tu veux vivre en paix en voyageant, +fais en sorte de hurler comme les loups avec qui tu te trouves." And +he set himself to conform to this text (and to the excellent sermon +which accompanied it) with a determination which undoubtedly served as +the foundation of his remarkable success as a traveller. It cannot be +too often insisted that the experiences of intelligent and cultivated +Europeans in the days of close association with the Asiatic led to an +appreciation of native character and to an intimacy with native +methods, which is only to be found in India now amongst missionaries +and police officers, if it is to be found at all. But even with all +the advantages possessed by such experiences as those of Burnes and of +the intrepid school of Asiatic travellers of his time, it required an +intuitive discernment almost amounting to genius to detect the motive +springs of Eastern political action. + +It may be doubted (as Masson doubted) whether to the day of his death +Burnes himself quite understood either the Afghan or the Sikh. But he +vigorously conformed to native usages in all outward show: "We threw +away all our European clothes and adopted without reserve the costume +of the Asiatic. We gave away our tents, beds, and boxes, and broke our +tables and chairs--a blanket serves to cover the saddle and to sleep +under.... The greater portion of my now limited wardrobe found a place +in the 'kurjin.' A single mule carried the whole of the baggage." +Armed with letters of introduction from a holy man (Fazl Haq), who +boasted a horde of disciples in Bokhara, and with all the graceful +good wishes which an Afghan potentate knows how to bestow, Burnes left +Peshawar and the two Afghan sirdars, and started for Kabul. It is +instructive to note that he avoided the Khaibar route, which had an +evil reputation. + +It would be interesting to trace Burnes' route from Peshawar to +Bokhara, _via_ Kabul and Bamian, were it not that we are dealing with +ground already sufficiently well discussed in these pages. Moreover, +Burnes travelled to Kabul in company which permitted him to make +little or no use of his opportunities for original geographical +research. After he left Kabul the vicissitudes and difficulties that +beset him were only such as might be experienced by any recognised +official political mission, and he experienced none of the vexatious +opposition and delay which was so fatal to Moorcroft. _En route_ he +passed through Bamian, Haibak, Khulm, and Balkh; he visited Kunduz, +and identified the tomb of Trebeck at Mazar; and by the light of a +brilliant moon he stood by the grave of Moorcroft, which he found +under a wall outside the city, apart from the Mussulman cemeteries. +The three days passed at Balkh were assiduously employed in local +investigation and the collection of coins and relics. He found coins, +or tokens, dating from early Persian occupation to the Mogul +dynasties, and he notes the size of the bricks and their shape, which +he describes as oblong approaching to square; but he mentions no +inscriptions. + +At this time Balkh was in the hands of the Bokhara chief, and Burnes +was already in Bokhara territory. The journey across the plains to the +Oxus was made on camels, Burnes being seated in a kajawa, and +balancing his servant on the other side. It was slow, but it gave him +the opportunity of overlooking the broad Oxus plain and noting the +general accuracy of the description given of it by Quintus Curtius. As +they approached the Oxus it was found necessary to employ a Turkman +guard. Burnes does not say from what Turkman tribe his guard was +taken, but from his description of them, their dress, equipment, and +steeds, they were clearly men of the same Ersari tribe that was found +fifty years later in the same neighbourhood by the Russo-Afghan +Boundary Commission. "They rode good horses and were armed with a +sword and long spear. They were not encumbered with shields and +powder-horns like other Asiatics, and only a few had matchlocks.... +They never use more than a single rein, which sets off their horses to +advantage." + +On the banks of the river they halted near the small village of Khwaja +Salar. This was the same place evidently that Moorcroft visited, and +which he described as destroyed in a raid; and it was here that Burnes +made use of the peculiar horse-drawn ferry which has already been +described. Fifty years later the ferry was at Kilif, and nothing was +to be found of the "village" of Khwaja Salar. Burnes' astonishment at +the quaint, but most efficient, method of utilizing the power of +swimming horses to haul the great ferry-boats has been shared by every +one who has seen them since; but he noted a fact which has not been +observed by other travellers, viz. that _any_ horse was taken for the +purpose, no matter whether trained or not; and he states that the +horses were yoked to the boat by a rope fixed to the hair of the mane. +If so, this method was improved on during the next half-century, for +the rope is now attached to a surcingle. "One of the boats was dragged +over by two of our jaded ponies; and the vessel which attempted to +follow us without them was carried so far down the stream as to detain +us a whole day on the banks till it could be brought up to the camp +of our caravan." The river at this point is about 800 yards wide, and +runs at the rate of three to four miles an hour. The crossing was +effected in fifteen minutes. Burnes adds: "I see nothing to prevent +the general adoption of this expeditious mode of crossing a river.... +I had never before seen the horse converted to such a use; and in my +travels through India I had always considered that noble animal as a +great encumbrance in crossing a river." And yet after two centuries of +military training in the plains of India, we English have not yet +arrived at this economical use of this great motive power always at +our command in a campaign! + +After passing the Oxus the chief interest of Burnes' story commences. +His life at Bokhara and his subsequent journey through the Turkman +deserts to Persia form a record which, combined with his own physical +capability, his energy, and his unfailing tact, good humour, and +modesty, stamp him as one of the greatest of English travellers. His +name has its own high place in geographical annals. We shall never +cease to admire the traveller, whatever we may think of the diplomat. +But once over the Oxus his story hardly concerns the gates of India. +He was beyond them, he had passed through, and was now on the far +landward side, still on a road to India; but it is a road over which +it no longer concerns us to follow him. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE GATES OF GHAZNI--VIGNE + + +Amongst original explorers of Afghanistan place must be found for G. +T. Vigne, who made in 1836 a venturesome, and, as it proved, a most +successful exploration of the Gomul route from the Indus to Ghazni. +Vigne was not a professional geographer so much as a botanist and +geologist, and the value of his work lies chiefly in the results of +his researches in those two branches of science, although he has left +on record a map of his journey which quite sufficiently illustrates +his route. He had previously visited Ladak (Little Tibet) and Kashmir, +and had made passing acquaintance with the Chief of the Punjab, Ranjit +Singh, in whose service foreigners found honourable employment. Masson +was in the field at the same time as Vigne, and the success of his +antiquarian researches in Northern Afghanistan, as well as those of +Honigberger and other archæologists during the time that Dost Mahomed +ruled in Kabul, and whilst the Amir's brother, Jabar Khan, befriended +Europeans, indicated a very different political atmosphere from that +which has subsequently clouded the Afghan horizon, so far as European +travellers are concerned. + +Vigne found no difficulty whatever in passing through Punjab territory +to the Indus Valley near Dera Ismail Khan, where he joined a Lohani +khafila which was making its annual journey to Ghazni with a valuable +stock of merchandise consisting chiefly of English goods. In the +genial month of May the khafila left Draband and took the world-old +Gomul route through the frontier hills to the central uplands of +Afghanistan. The heat must have been awful, and as Vigne lived the +life of the Lohani merchants, and shared their primitive shelter from +day to day, it is not surprising that we find him complaining gently +of the climate. The Lohanis treated him with the utmost kindness and +consideration from first to last; and the story of his travels is in +pleasing contrast to the tale told by Masson about the same time, of +his adventures on the Kandahar side. This was due chiefly, no doubt, +to Vigne's success as a doctor. It is always the doctors who make the +best way amongst uncivilized peoples, and India especially (or rather +the British Raj in India) owes almost as much to doctors as to +politicians. There is also a fellow-feeling which binds together +travellers of all sorts and conditions when bound for the same bourne, +taking together the same risks, experiencing the same trials and +difficulties, and enjoying unrestrained intercourse. This kind of +fellowship is world wide. One can trace a genial spirit of +_camaraderie_ pervading the wanderings of Chinese pilgrims, the tracks +of mediæval Arab merchants, the ways of modern missionaries, or the +ocean paths of sailors. Once on the move, with the sweet influences of +primitive nature pervading earth and air around, we may find, even in +these days, that the Afghan becomes quite a sociable companion, and +that he is to be trusted so far as he gives his word. + +Vigne seems to have had no trouble whatever except such as arose from +the persistent neglect of his medical instructions in cases of severe +illness. As the khafila followed the Gomul River closely, it was, of +course, subject to attack from the irrepressible Waziris on its flank, +and had to pay heavy duties to the Suliman Khel Ghilzais as soon as it +touched their country. There is little change in these respects since +1836, except that the Gomul route has been made plain and easy through +the first bands of frontier hills till it reaches the plateau, and the +Waziris are under better control. The interest of the journey lies in +that section of it which connects Domandi (the junction of the Gomul +and the Kundar Rivers) with Ghazni. This central part of Afghanistan +has never yet been surveyed. From the Takht-i-Suliman a few peaks have +been indifferently fixed on the ridges which form the divide between +the Gomul and the Ghazni drainage, but the hilly country beyond, +stretching to the Ghazni plain, is absolutely unreconnoitred. We have +still to appeal to Broadfoot and Vigne for geographical authority in +these regions, although native information (but not native surveyors) +has furnished details of a route which sufficiently corresponds with +that of both these enterprising travellers. + +There is some confusion about dates in Vigne's account, but it appears +that the khafila reached the Sarwandi Pass (which he calls +Sir-i-koll--7200 feet) over the central divide on the 12th June, and +thence descended into the Kattawaz country on the Ghazni side of this +central water-parting. About this region we have no accurate +geographical knowledge. Beyond the Sarwandi ridge, and intervening +between it and Ghazni, is a secondary pass, called Gazdarra in our +maps, crossing a ridge near the northern foot of which is Dihsai (the +nearest approach to Vigne's Dshara), which was reached by Vigne on the +16th June. Probably the two names represent the same place. + +Vigne's description of the central Sarwandi ridge corresponds +generally with what we know in other parts of the nature of those long +sweeping folds which traverse the central plateau from north-east to +south-west, preserving more or less a direction parallel to the +frontier. He writes of it as a broken and tumbled mass of sandstone, +but about "Dshara" he speaks of gently undulating hills exhibiting +small peaks of limestone and denuded patches of shingle. Between the +Sarwandi and the Dshara ridge the plain was covered with glittering +sand and was sweet with the scent of wild thyme. Somewhere on the +"level-topped" Sarwandi ridge there was said to be the ruins of an +ancient city called Zohaka, with gates of burnt brick, which Vigne did +not see, but in his map he indicates a position for it a long way to +the east of the ridge. It is quite probable that the ruins of more +than one ancient city are to be found in the neighbourhood of this +very ancient highway. Ancient as it is, however, it formed no part of +the mediæval commercial system of the Arabs--a system which apparently +did not include the frontier passes into India; and I have failed to +identify Vigne's Zohaka with any previous indications. These uplands +to the south of Ghazni evidently partake of the general +characteristics of the Wardak and Logar Valleys beyond them, +intervening between Ghazni and Kabul. Vigne was enchanted with the +prospect around him, and with the clear sweet atmosphere filled with +the aroma of wild thyme, wormwood, and the scented willow. It has +charmed many a weary soldier since his time. + +At Dshara, finding that the Lohani khafila was not going to Ghazni but +intended to follow a straighter route to Kabul, whilst at the same +time a very ready and profitable business was being done in the +well-populated valleys around, Vigne set off by himself with one +Kizzilbash guide for Ghazni. He says many hard things of the Lohanis +for breaking their promise of escort to Ghazni, remarks which seem +scarcely to accord with his free acknowledgments of their great +kindness to him elsewhere. As the opinion of so observant a traveller, +sharing the trials of the road with a band of native merchants, is +always interesting when it concerns the company with which he was +associated, I will quote his opinion of the Lohanis. "Taking them +altogether, I look on the Lohanis as the most respectable of the +Mahomedans and the most worthy of the notice and assistance of our +countrymen. The Turkish gentleman is said to be a man of his word; he +must be an enviable exception; but I otherwise solemnly believe that +there is not a Mahomedan--Sunni or Shiah--between Constantinople and +Yarkand who would hesitate to cheat a Feringi, Frank or European, and +who would not lie and scheme and try to deceive when the temptation +was worth his doing so," etc. This, of course, includes the Lohanis. + +At Ghazni, Vigne found a servant of Moorcroft's, who gave him +interesting information about the travels of that unfortunate +explorer; and he takes some useful notes of the present military +position and former condition of that city before its utter +destruction by Allah-u-din, Ghuri. He determined to depart somewhat +from the regular route to Kabul, and diverged from the straight road +which runs to the Sher-i-dahan in order to visit the "bund-i-sultan," +or reservoir, which had been constructed by Mahmud on the Ghazni River +for the proper water-supply of the town in its palmy days. As his last +day's travel took him to Lungar and Maidan before reaching Kabul he +evidently made a considerable detour westward. He inspected a copper +mine (with which he was greatly disappointed) at a place called Shibar +_en route_. To reach Shibar he made a long day's march from Ser-ab (? +Sar-i-ab), near the head of the Logar River. It is difficult to trace +this part of his route by the light of the map which he borrowed from +Honigberger. He clearly followed up the Ghazni River nearly to its +source, and then struck across to the head of the Logar, where he +correctly places Ser-ab, and where he found an agent of Masson's +engaged in excavating a tope. He next visited Shibar, and finally +marched by Lungar to Maidan and Kabul. He must, therefore, have +crossed the divide between the Ghazni River and the Logar, but we fail +to follow him to the Shibar copper mine. + +Shibar is the name of the pass which divides the Turkistan drainage +from the Ghorband, or Kabul, system; but it would be totally +impracticable to reach that point in a day's excursion from Ser-ab. We +must, therefore, conclude that there is another Shibar somewhere, +undetected by our surveyors. + +At Kabul he received a hospitable welcome from the Nawab Jabar Khan, +brother of the Amir Dost Mahomed, and here he fell in with Masson. We +need not trace his journey farther, for his subsequent footsteps only +followed the well-worn tracks to the Punjab. To Vigne we owe a vague +reference to a yet earlier English traveller in Afghanistan, one +Hicks, who died and was buried near the Peshawar gate of the old city. +The inscription on his tomb in English was-- + + HICKS, SON OF WILLIAM AND ELIZABETH HICKS, + +and Vigne adds that "by its date he must have lived a hundred and +fifty years ago." This is the earliest record we have of an English +traveller reaching Kabul, and it is strange that nothing is known +about Hicks, who certainly could not have inscribed his own epitaph! +The remarkable feature about the tomb is that such a memorial of a +Christian burial should have remained so long unmolested in a Moslem +country. No vestige of the tomb was discovered during the occupation +of Kabul in 1879-80. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +ENGLISH OFFICIAL EXPLORATION--BROADFOOT + + +In the year 1839 and in the month of October Lieut. J. S. Broadfoot of +the Indian Engineers made a memorable excursion across Central +Afghanistan, intervening between Ghazni and the Indus Valley, which +resulted in the acquisition of much information about one of the gates +of India which is too little known. No one has followed his tracks +since with any means of making a better reconnaissance, nor has any +one added much to the information obtained by him. It is true that +Vigne had been over the ground before him, but there is no comparison +between the use which Broadfoot made of his opportunities and the +geography which Vigne secured. Both took their lives in their hands, +but Vigne passed along with his Lohani khafila in days preceding the +British occupation of Afghanistan. There was no fanatical hostility +displayed towards him. On the contrary, his medical profession was a +recommendation which won him friends and good fellowship all along the +line. A few years had much changed the national (if one can use such +a word with regard to Afghanistan) feeling towards the European. From +day to day, and almost from hour to hour, Broadfoot felt that his life +hung on the chances of the moment. He was told by friends and enemies +alike that he would most certainly be killed. Yet he survived to do +good service in other fields, and to maintain the reputation of that +most distinguished branch of the military service, the Indian +Engineers. Broadfoot was but typical of his corps, even in the +scientific ability displayed in his researches, the clearness and the +soundness of the views he expresses, the determined pluck of his +enterprise, and his knowledge of native life and character. Durand, +North, Leach, and Broadfoot were Lieutenants of Engineers at the same +time, and their reports and their work are all historical records. + +Previously to his start on the Gomul reconnaissance Broadfoot had the +opportunity of reconnoitring much of the country to the south of +Ghazni bordering the Kandahar-Ghazni route. He had, therefore, a very +fair acquaintance with the people with whom he had to deal, and a +fairly well fixed point of departure for his work. His methods were +the time-honoured methods of many past generations of explorers. He +took his bearings with the prismatic compass, and he reckoned his +distance by the mean values obtained from three men pacing. +Consequently, he could not pretend, in such circumstances as he was +placed (being hardly able to leave his tent in spite of his disguise), +to complete much in the way of topography; but his clear description +of the ground he passed over, and the people he passed amongst, +furnishes nearly all that is necessary to enable us to realise the +practical value and the political difficulty of that important line of +communication with Central Afghanistan. + +From Ghazni southwards to Pannah there is nothing but open plain. From +near Pannah to the Sarwandi Pass, which crosses the main divide (the +Kohnak range) between the Helmund and the Indus basins, there is much +of the ridge and furrow formation which distinguishes the +north-western frontier, the alignment of the ridges being from N.E. to +S.W., but the Gazdarra Pass over the Kattawaz ridge is not formidable, +and the road along the plain of Kattawaz is open. In Kattawaz were +groups of villages, denoting a settled population, and as much +cultivation as might be possible amidst a lawless, crop-destroying, +and raiding generation of Ghilzais. + +"Kattasang, as viewed from Dand" (on the northern side) "appears a +mass of undulating hills, and as bare as a desert; it is the resort in +summer of some pastoral families of Suliman Khels." Approaching the +main divide of Sarwandi by the Sargo Pass two forts are passed near +Sargo, which sufficiently well illustrate the characteristics of +perpetual feud common to clans or families of the Ghilzai fraternity. +The forts are close to each other; one of them is known as Ghlo kala +(thieves' fort), but they are probably both equally worthy of the +name. The inhabitants of these forts absolutely destroyed each other +in a family feud, so that nothing now remains. Their very waters have +dried up. + +Near the Sargo, on the Ghazni side of the Sarwandi Pass, is Schintza, +at which place Vigne also halted, and from Schintza commences the real +ascent to the Sarwandi. The ascent, and indeed the crossing +altogether, are described by Broadfoot as easy. Vigne does not say +much about this. From the foot of the Sarwandi one branch of the Gomul +takes off, and from that point to the Indus the great trade route +practically follows the Gomul on a gradually descending grade. It is a +stony, rough, and broken hill route, now expanding into a broad track +of river-bed, now contracting into a cliff-bordered gully, +occasionally leaving the river and running parallel over adjoining +cliffs, but more often involving the worry of perpetual crossing and +re-crossing of the stream. Here and there is an expansion (such as the +"flower-bed," Gulkatz) into a reed-covered flat, and occasionally +there occurs a level open border space which the blackened stones of +previous khafilas denote as a camping-ground. Wild and dreary, carving +its way beneath the heat-cracked and rain-seared foot-hills of +Waziristan, strewn with stones and boulders, and disfigured by +leprous outbreaks of streaky white efflorescence, the Gomul in the hot +weather is not an attractive river. In flood-time it is dangerous, and +it is in the hottest of the hot weather months that the route is +fullest of the moving khafila crowds. + +In Broadfoot's time the worst part of the route was between the +plateau and the Indus plains. This is no longer so, for a +trade-developing and road-making Government has made the rough places +plain, and engineered a first-class high-road thus far. And there is +this to be noted about that section of it which still lies beyond the +ken of the frontier officer and which as yet the surveyor has not +mapped. Not a single camel-load in Broadfoot's khafila had to be +shifted on account of the roughness of the route between Ghazni and +the Indus, and not a space of any great length occurred over which +guns might not easily pass. The drawback to the route as a high-road +for trade has ever been the blackmailing propensities of Waziris and +cognate tribes who flank the route on either side. Broadfoot's khafila +lost no less than 100 men in transit; but this was at a time when the +country was generally disturbed. In more peaceful days previously +Vigne refers to constant losses both of men and property, but to +nothing like so great an extent. + +Broadfoot still stands for our authority in all that pertains to the +central Afghan tribes-people--chiefly the Suliman Khel clan of +Ghilzais--who occupy the Highlands between Waziristan and Ghazni. +Under the iron heel of the late Amir of Afghanistan no doubt much of +their turbulent and feud-loving propensities has been repressed, and +with its repression has followed a development of agriculture, and a +general improvement throughout the favoured districts of Kattawaz and +the Ghazni plain. Here the climate is exceptionally invigorating, and +much of the sweet landscape beauty of the adjoining districts of +Wardak and Logar (two of the loveliest valleys of Afghanistan) is +evidently repeated. Several fine rivers traverse these uplands, the +Jilgu and the Dwa Gomul (both rising from the central divide near to +the sources of the Tochi) having much local reputation, and claiming a +crude sort of reverence from the wild tribes of the plateau which is +only accorded to the gifts of Allah. The Suliman Khel are not +nomads--though like all Afghans they love tents--and their villages, +clinging to wall-sides or clustering round a central tower, are well +built and often exceedingly picturesque. The Ghilzai skill at the +construction of these underground irrigation channels called karez is +famous throughout Afghanistan. It is, however, the more westerly clans +who especially excel in the development of water-supply. The Suliman +Khel and the Nasirs take more kindly to the khafila and "povindah" +form of life, and this Gomul route is the very backbone of their +existence. It is a pity that we know so little about it. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +FRENCH EXPLORATION--FERRIER + + +Amongst modern explorers of Afghanistan who have earned distinction by +their capacity for single-handed geographical research and ability in +recording their experiences, the French officer M. Ferrier is one of +the most interesting and one of the most disappointing. He is +interesting in all that relates to the historical and political +aspects of Afghanistan at a date when England was specially concerned +with that country, and so far and so long as his footsteps can now be +traced with certainty on our recent maps, he is clearly to be credited +with powers of accurate observation and a fairly retentive memory. It +is just where, as a geographer, he leaves the known for the unknown, +and makes a plunge into a part of the country which no European has +actually traversed before or since, that he becomes disappointing. He +is the only known wanderer from the west who has traversed the uplands +of the Firozkohi plateau from north to south; and it is just that +region of the Upper Murghab basin which our surveyors were unable to +reach during the progress of the Russo-Afghan Boundary mapping. The +rapidity of the movements of the Commission when once it got to work +precluded the possibility, with only a weak staff of topographers, of +detailing native assistants to map every corner of that most +interesting district, and naturally the more important section of the +country received the first attention. But they closed round it so +nearly as to leave but little room for pure conjecture, and it is +quite possible to verify by local evidence the facts stated by +Ferrier, if not actually to trace out his route and map it. + +M. Ferrier's career was a sufficiently remarkable one. He served with +the French army in Africa, and was delegated with other officers to +organise the Persian army. Here he was regarded by the Russian +Ambassador as hostile to Russian interests, and the result was his +return to France in 1843, where he obtained no satisfaction for his +grievances. Deciding to take service with the Punjab Government under +the Regency which succeeded Ranjit Singh, he left France for Bagdad +and set out from that city in 1845 for a journey through Persia and +Afghanistan to India. + +Ferrier reached Herat seven years after the siege of that place by the +Persians, and four years after the British evacuation of Afghanistan, +and his story of interviews with that wily politician, Yar Mahomed +Khan, are most entertaining. It is satisfactory to note that the +English left on the whole a good reputation behind them. His attempt +to reach Lahore _via_ Balkh and Kabul was frustrated, and he was +forced off the line of route connecting Balkh with Kabul at what was +then the Afghan frontier. It was at this period of his travels that +his records become most interesting, as he was compelled to pass +through the Hazara country to the west of Kabul by an unknown route +not exactly recognisable, crossing the Firozkohi plateau and +descending through the Taimani country to Ghur. From Ghur he was sent +back to Herat, and so ended a very remarkable tour through an +absolutely unexplored part of Afghanistan. His final effort to reach +the Punjab by the already well-worn roads which lead by Kandahar and +Shikarpur was unsuccessful. Considering the risks of the journey, it +was a surprising attempt. It was in the course of this adventure that +he came across some of the ill-starred remnants of the disasters which +attended the British arms during the evacuation of Afghanistan. There +were apparently Englishmen in captivity in other parts of Afghanistan +than the north, and the fate of those unfortunate victims to the +extraordinary combination of political and military blundering which +marked those eventful years is left to conjecture. + +Such in brief outline was the story of Afghan exploration as it +concerned this gallant French officer, and from it we obtain some +useful geographical and antiquarian suggestions. The province of +Herat he regards as coincident with the Aria of the Greek historians, +and the Aria metropolis (or Artakoana) he considers might be +represented either by Kuhsan or by Herat itself. He expends a little +useless argument in refuting the common Afghan tradition that any part +of modern Herat was built by Alexander. Between the twelfth century +and the commencement of the seventeenth Herat has been sacked and +rebuilt at least seven times, and its previous history must have +involved many other radical changes since the days of Alexander. It +is, however, probable that the city has been built time after time on +the site which it now occupies, or very near it. The vast extent of +mounds and other evidences of ancient occupation to the north of it, +together with its very obvious strategic importance, give this +position a precedence in the district which could never have been +overlooked by any conqueror; but the other cities of Greek geography, +Sousa and Candace, are not so easy to place. Ferrier may be right in +his suggestion that Tous (north-west of Mashad) represents the Greek +Sousa, but he is unable to place Candace. To the west of Herat are +three very ancient sites, Kardozan, Zindajan (which Ferrier rightly +identified with the Arab city of Bouchinj), and Kuhsan, and Candace +might have stood where any of them now stand. + +Ferrier's description of Herat and its environment fully sustains Sir +Henry Rawlinson's opinion of him as an observant traveller. For a +simple soldier of fortune he displays remarkable erudition, as well as +careful observation, and there is hardly a suggestion which he makes +about the Herat of 1845 which subsequent examination did not justify +in 1885. It was the custom during the residence of the English Mission +under Major d'Arcy Todd in Herat for some, at least, of the leading +Afghan chiefs to accept invitations to dinner with the English +officers, a custom which promoted a certain amount of mutual +good-fellowship between Afghans and English, of which the effects had +not worn off when Ferrier was there. When, finally, Yar Mahomed was +convinced that Ferrier had no ulterior political motive for his visit, +and was persuaded to let him proceed on his journey, a final dinner +was arranged, at which Ferrier was the principal guest. It appears to +have been a success. "At the close of the repast the guests were +incapable of sitting upright, and at two in the morning I left these +worthy Mussulmans rolling on the carpet! The following day I prepared +for my departure." In 1885 manners and methods had changed for the +better. The English officers employed on the reorganisation of the +defences of the city were occasionally entertained at modest +tea-parties by the Afghan military commandant, but no such rollicking +proceedings as those recounted by Ferrier would ever have been +countenanced; and it must be confessed that Ferrier's accounts, both +here and elsewhere, of the social manners and customs of the Afghan +people are a little difficult to accept without reservation. We must, +however, make allowances for the times and the loose quality of Afghan +government. He left Herat by the northerly route, passing Parwana, the +Baba Pass, and the Kashan valley to Bala Murghab and Maimana. + +Ferrier has much to say that is interesting about the tribal +communities through which he passed, especially about the Chahar +Aimak, or wandering tent-living tribes, which include the Hazaras, +Jamshidis, Taimanis, and Firozkohis. He is, I think, the first to draw +attention to the fact that the Firozkohis are of Persian origin, a +people whose forefathers were driven by Tamerlane into the mountains +south of Mazanderan, and were eventually transported into the Herat +district. They spring from several different Persian tribes, and take +the name Firozkohi from "a village in the neighbourhood of which they +were surrounded and captured." The origin of the name Ferozkohi has +always been something of a geographical puzzle, and it is doubtful +whether there was ever a city originally of that name in Afghanistan, +although it may have been applied to the chief habitat of this +agglomeration of Persian refugees and colonists. + +Ferrier's account of his progress includes no geographical data worthy +of remark. Politically, this part of Afghan Turkistan has remained +much the same during the last seventy years, and geographically one +can only say that his account of the route is generally correct, +although it indicates that it is compiled from memory. For instance, +there is a steep watershed to be crossed between Torashekh and Mingal, +but it is not of the nature of a "rugged mountain," nor could there +have ever been space enough for the extent of cultivation which he +describes in the Murghab valley. He is very much at fault in his +description of the road from Nimlik (which he calls Meilik) to Balkh. +The hills are on the right (not left) of the road, and are much higher +than those previously described as rugged mountains. No water from +these hills could possibly reach the road, for there is a canal +between them, the overflow of which, however, might possibly swamp the +road. Balkh hardly responds to his description of it. There is no +mosque to the north of Balkh, nor is the citadel square. + +The road from Khulm to Bamian passes through Tashkurghan (which is due +east of Mazar--not south) and Haibak, and changes very much in +character before reaching Haibak. From Haibak to Kuram the description +of the road is fairly correct, but no amount of research on the part +of later surveyors has revealed the position of "Kartchoo" (which +apparently means locally a market); nor could Ferrier possibly have +encountered snow in July on any part of this route, even if he saw +any. We must, however, consider the conditions under which he was +travelling, and make allowances for the impossibility of keeping +anything of the nature of a systematic record. At Kuram, a well-known +point above Haibak on the road to Kabul, he reached the Uzbek +frontier. Beyond this point--into Afghanistan--no Uzbek would venture, +and it was impossible to proceed farther on the direct route to Kabul. +Yielding to the pressure of friendly advice, he made a retrograde +detour to Saripul, through districts occupied by Hazaras, and +"Kartchoo" was but a nomadic camp that he encountered during his first +day out from Kuram. Clearly he was making for the Yusuf Darra route to +Saripul; and his next camp, Dehao, marks the river. It may possibly be +the point marked Dehi on modern maps. At Saripul he was not only well +received by the Uzbek Governor, Mahomed Khan, but the extraordinary +influence which this man possessed with the Hazaras, Firozkohis, and +other Aimak tribes of northern Afghanistan enabled Ferrier to procure +food and horses at irregular stages which carried him to Ghur in the +Taimani land. + +It is this part of Ferrier's journey which is so tantalizing and so +difficult to follow. He must have travelled both far and fast. Leaving +Saripul on July 11, he rode "ten parasangs," over country very varied +in character, to Boodhi. Now this country has been surveyed, and there +can be no reasonable doubt about the route he took southwards. But no +such place as Boodhi has ever been identified, nor have the +remarkable sculptures which were observed _en route_, fashioned on an +"enormous block of rock," been found again, although careful inquiries +were made about them. They may, of course, have been missed, and +information may have been purposely withheld, for geographical surveys +do not permit of lengthy halts for inquiry on any line of route. +Ferrier's description of them is so full of detail that it is +difficult to believe that it is imaginary. He mentions that on the +plain on which Boodhi stood, "two parasangs to the right," there were +the "ruins of a large town," which might very possibly be the ruins +identified by Imam Sharif (a surveyor of the Afghan Boundary +Commission), and which would fix the position of "Boodhi" somewhere +near Belchirag on the main route southward to Ghur. Belchirag is about +55 miles from Saripul. The next day's ride must have carried him into +the valley of the Upper Murghab on the Firozkohi plateau, crossing the +Band-i-Turkistan _en route_, and it was here that he met with such a +remarkable welcome at the fortress of Dev Hissar. + +Ferrier describes the valley of the Upper Murghab in terms of rapture +which appear to be a trifle extravagant to those who know that +country. No systematic survey of it, however, has ever been possible, +and to this day the position of Dev Hissar is a matter of conjecture, +and the charming manners of its inhabitants (so unlike the ordinary +rough hospitality of the men and the unobtrusive character of the +women of the Firozkohi Aimak) are experiences such as our surveyors +sighed for in vain! As a mere guess, I should be inclined to place Dev +Hissar near Kila Gaohar, or to identify it with that fort. At any +rate, I prefer this solution of the puzzle to the suggestion that Dev +Hissar and its delightful inhabitants, like the previous sculptures, +were but an effort of imagination on the part of this volatile and +fascinating Frenchman. + +There is always an element of suspicion as to the value of Ferrier's +information when he deals with the feminine side of Hazara human +nature. For instance, he asserts that the Hazara women fight in their +tribal battles side by side with their husbands. This is a feature in +their character for independence which the Hazara men absolutely deny, +and it is hardly necessary to add that no confirmation could be +obtained anywhere of the remarkable familiarity with which the ladies +of Hissar are said by Ferrier customarily to treat their guests. + +The next long day's ride terminated at Singlak (another unknown +place), which was found deserted owing to a feud between the Hazaras +and Firozkohis. It was evidently within the Murghab basin and short of +the crest of the line of watershed bordering the Hari Rud valley on +the north, for the following day Ferrier crossed these hills, and the +Hari Rud valley beneath them (avoiding Daolatyar), at a point which he +fixes as "six parasangs S.W. of Sheherek." Again it is impossible to +locate the position. Kila Safarak is at the head of the Hari Rud, and +Kila Shaharak is in another valley (that of the Tagao Ishlan), so that +it will perhaps be safe to assume that it was nowhere near either of +these places, but at a point some 10 miles west of Daolatyar, which +marks the regular route for Ghur from the north. + +Ferrier's description of this part of his journey is vague and +unsatisfactory. No such place as Kohistani, "situated on a high plain +in the midst of the Siah Koh," is known any more than is Singlak. The +divide, or ridge, which he crossed in passing from the Murghab valley +to the narrow trough of the Hari Rud is lower than the hills on the +south of the river. He could not possibly have crossed snow nor +overlooked the landscape to Saripul. It is doubtful if Chalapdalan, +the mountain which impressed him so mightily, is visible from any part +of the broken watershed north of the Hari Rud. Chalapdalan is only +13,600 feet high, and there would have been no snow on it in July. As +we proceed farther we fail to identify Ferrier's Tingelab River, +unless he means the Ab-i-lal. The Hari Rud does not flow through +Shaharak, and no one has found a village called Jaor in the Hari Rud +valley. Continuing to cross the Band-i-Baian (which he calls Siah +Koh) from Kohistani Baba, a very long day's ride brought him to +Deria-dereh, also called "Dereh Mustapha Khan," which was evidently a +place of importance and the headquarters of a powerful section of +either Hazaras or Taimanis under a Chief, Mustapha Khan. Here, in a +small oblong valley entirely closed by mountains, was a little lake of +azure colour and transparent clearness which lay like a vast gem +embedded in surrounding verdure ... "around which were somewhat +irregularly pitched a number of Taimani tents, separated from each +other by little patches of cultivation and gardens enclosed by stone +walls breast high.... The luxuriance of the vegetation in this valley +might compare with any that I had ever seen in Europe. On the summits +of the surrounding mountains were several ruins, etc. etc." Ash and +oak trees were there. Fishermen were dragging the lake, women were +leading flocks to the water, and young girls sat outside the tents +weaving bereks (barak, or camel-hair cloth), and contentment was +depicted on every face. + +From Deria-dereh another long day's ride brought him to Zirni, which +he describes as the ancient capital of Ghur. From the Band-i-Baian (or +Koh Siah, as he calls it) to Zirni is at least 100 miles by the very +straightest road, and that would pass by Taiwara. It is clear that he +did not take that road, or he could hardly have ignored so important a +position as Taiwara. If he made a detour eastward he would pass +through Hazara country--very mountainous, very high and difficult, +and the length of the two days' journey would be nearer 150 miles than +100. To the first day's journey (as far as Deria-dereh) he gives ten +hours on horseback, which in that country might represent 60 miles; +but no such place as he describes, no lake with Arcadian surroundings, +has been either seen or heard of by subsequent surveyors within the +recognized limits of Taimani country. If it exists at all, it is to +the east of the great watershed from which spring the Ghur River and +the Farah Rud, hidden within the spurs of the Hazara mountains. This +is just possible, for this wild and weatherbeaten country has not been +so fully reconnoitred as that farther west; but it makes Ferrier's +journey extraordinary for the distances covered, and fully accounts +for the fact that he has preserved so little detail of this eventful +ride that, practically, there is nothing of geographical interest to +be learnt from it. + +Ferrier's description of the ruins which are to be found in the +neighbourhood of Zirni and Taiwara, especially his reference to a +"paved" road leading towards Ghazni, is very interesting. He is fully +impressed with the beauty of the surrounding country, and what he has +to say about this centre of an historical Afghan kingdom has been more +or less confirmed by subsequent explorers. Only the "Ghebers" have +disappeared; and the magnificent altitude of the "Chalap Dalan" +mountain, described by him as one of the "highest in the world," has +been reduced to comparatively humble proportions. Its isolated +position, however, undoubtedly entitles it to rank as a remarkable +geographical feature. + +At Zirni Ferrier found that his further progress towards Kandahar was +arrested, and from that point, to his bitter disgust, he was compelled +to return to Herat. From Zirni to Herat was, in his day, an unmapped +region, and he is the first European to give us even a glimpse of that +once well-trodden highway. His conjectures about the origin of the +Aimak tribes which people Central Afghanistan are worthy of study, as +they are based on original inquiry from the people themselves; but it +is very clear that either time has modified the manners of these +people, or that popular sources of information are not always to be +trusted. He repeats the story of the fighting propensities of Hazara +women when dealing with the Taimanis, and adds, as regards the latter, +that "a girl does not marry until she has performed some feat of +arms." It may be that "feats of arms" are not so easy of achievement +in these days, but it is certain that such an inducement to marry +would fail to be effective now. It might even prove detrimental to a +girl's chances. + +Once again we can only regard with astonishment Ferrier's record of a +ride from "Tarsi" (Parsi) to Herat, at least 90 miles, in one night. A +district Chief told Captain (now Colonel) the Hon. M. G. Talbot, who +conducted the surveys of the country in 1883, that "a good Taimani on +a good horse" might accomplish the feat, but that nobody else could. +Ferrier, with his considerable escort, seemed to have found no +difficulty, but undoubtedly he was in excellent training. His general +description of the country that he passed through accords with the +pace at which he swept through it, and nothing is to be gained by +criticising his hasty observations. At Herat he was fortunate in +securing the consent of Yar Mahomed Khan to his project for reaching +the Punjab _via_ Kandahar and Kabul; and with letters from that wily +potentate to the Amir Dost Mahomed Khan and his son-in-law Mahomed +Akbar Khan this "Lord of the Kingdom of France, General Ferrier" set +out on another attempt to reach India. In this he was unsuccessful, +and his path was a thorny one. He travelled by the road which had been +adopted as the post-road between Herat and Kandahar, during the +residence of the English Mission at Herat--a route which, leaving +Farah to the west, approaches Kandahar by Washir and Girishk, and +which is still undoubtedly the most direct road between the two +capitals. But the particularly truculent character of the Durani +Afghan tribes of Western Afghanistan rendered this journey most +dangerous for a single European moving without an armed escort, and he +was robbed and maltreated with fiendish persistency. It was a +well-known and much-trodden old road, but it has always been, and it +is still, about the worst road in all Afghanistan for the fanatical +unpleasantness of its Achakzai and Nurzai environment. + +After leaving Washir Ferrier was imprisoned at Mahmudabad, and again +when he reached Girishk, and the story of the treatment he received at +both places says much for the natural soundness of his constitution. +Luckily he fell in with a friendly Munshi who had been in English +service, who, whilst warning Ferrier that he might consider the +position of his head on his shoulders as "wonderfully shaky," did a +good deal to dissipate the notion that he was an English spy, and +helped him through what was indeed a very tight place. It was at this +point of his journey that Ferrier heard of an English prisoner in +Zamindawar,--a traveller with "green eyes and red hair,"--and the fact +that he actually received a note from this man (which he could not +read as it was written in English) seems to confirm that fact. He +could do nothing to help him, and no one knows what may have been the +ultimate fate of this unfortunate captive. + +Ferrier is naturally indignant with Sir Alexander Burnes for +describing the Afghans as "a sober, simple steady people" (Burnes' +_Travels in Bokhara_, vol. i. pp. 143, 144). How Burnes could ever +have arrived at such an extraordinary estimate of Afghan character is +hard to imagine, and it says little for those perceptive faculties for +which Masson has such contempt. But it not inaptly points the great +contrast that does really exist between the Kabuli and the Kandahari +to this day. When the English officers of the Afghan Boundary +Commission in 1883 were occupied in putting Herat into a state of +defence, their personal escort was carefully chosen from soldiers of +the northern province, who, by no means either "sober or simple," were +at any rate far less fanatical and truculent than the men of the west, +and they were, on the whole, a pleasant and friendly contingent to +deal with. + +At Girishk, and subsequently, Ferrier has certain geographical facts +of interest to record. Some of them still want verification, but they +are valuable indications. He notes the immense ruins and mounds on +both sides the Helmund at Girishk. He was in confinement at Girishk +for eight days, where he suffered much from "the vermin which I could +not prevent from getting into my clothes, and the rattling of my +inside from the scantiness of my daily ration." However, his trials +came to an end at last, and he left Girishk "with a heart full of +hatred for its inhabitants and a lively joy at his departure," fording +the Helmund at some little distance from the town. He remarks on the +vast ruins at Kushk-i-Nakhud, where there is a huge artificial mound. +A similar one exists at Sangusar, about 3 miles south-east of +Kushk-i-Nakhud. At Kandahar the final result of a short residence that +was certainly full of lively incident, and an interview with the +Governor Kohendil Khan (brother of the Amir Dost Mahomed), was a +return to Girishk. This must have been sickening; but it resulted in a +series of excursions into Baluch territory which are not +uninstructive. The ill-treatment (amounting to the actual infliction +of torture) which Ferrier endured at the hands of the Girishk Governor +(Sadik Khan, a son of Kohendil Khan) on this second visit to Girishk, +was even worse than the first, and it was only by signing away his +veracity and giving a false certificate of friendship with the brute +that he finally got free again. He was to follow the Helmund to Lash +Jowain in Seistan, but the attempt was frustrated by a local +disturbance at Binadur, on the Helmund. So far, however, this abortive +excursion was of certain geographical interest as covering new ground. +The places mentioned by Ferrier _en route_ are all still in existence, +but he gives no detailed account of them. + +Once more a start was made from Girishk, and this time our explorer +succeeded in reaching Farah by the direct route through Washir. It was +in the month of October, and the fiery heat of the Bakwa plain was +sufficiently trying even to this case-hardened Frenchman. About Farah +he has much to say that still requires confirmation. Of the exceeding +antiquity of this place there is ample evidence; but no one since +Ferrier has identified the site of the second and later town of Farah +"an hour" farther north or "half an hour" from the Farah Rud (river), +where bricks were seen "three feet long and four inches thick," with +inscriptions on them in cuneiform character, amidst the ruins. This +town was abandoned in favour of the older (and present) site when Shah +Abbas the Great besieged and destroyed it, but there can be no doubt +that the bricks seen by Ferrier must have possessed an origin long +anterior to the town, which only dates from the time of Chenghiz Khan. +The existence of such evidence of the ancient and long-continued +connection between Assyria and Western Afghanistan would be +exceedingly interesting were it confirmed by modern observation. Farah +is by all accounts a most remarkable town, and it undoubtedly contains +secrets of the past which for interest could only be surpassed by +those of Balkh. At Farah Ferrier was lodged in a "hole over the north +gate of the town, open to the violent winds of Seistan, which rushed +in at eight enormous holes, through which also came the rays of the +sun." Here wasps, scorpions, and mice were his companions, and it must +be admitted that Ferrier's account of the horrors of Farah residence +have been more or less confirmed by all subsequent travellers to +Seistan. But he finally succeeded in obtaining, through the not +inhospitable governor, the necessary permission from Yar Mahomed Khan +of Herat (whose policy in his dealings with Ferrier it is quite +impossible to decipher) to pass on to Shikarpur and Sind; and the +permission is couched in such pious and affectionate terms, that the +"very noble, very exalted, the companion of honour, of fortune, and of +happiness, my kind friend, General Ferrier," really thought there was +a chance of escaping from his clutches. He was, by the way, invited +back again to Herat, but he was told that he might please himself. + +Here follows a most interesting exploration into a stretch of +territory then utterly unreconnoitred and unknown, and it is +unfortunate that this most trying route through the flats and wastes +which stretch away eastwards of the Helmund lagoons should still be +but sketchily indicated in our maps. It is, however, from Farah to +Khash (where the Khash Rud is crossed), and from Khash to the Helmund, +but a track through a straight region of desolation and heat, +relieved, however (like the desert region to the south of the +Helmund), by strips of occasional tamarisk vegetation, where grass is +to be found in the spring and nomads collect with their flocks. +Watering-places might be developed here by digging wells, and the +route rendered practicable across the Dasht-i-Margo as it has been +between Nushki and Seistan, but when Ferrier crossed it it was a +dangerous route to attempt on tired and ill-fed horses. The existence +of troops of wild asses was sufficient evidence of its life-supporting +capabilities if properly developed. Ferrier struck the Helmund about +Khan Nashin. Here a most ill-timed and ill-advised fight with a Baluch +clan ended in a disastrous flight of the whole party down the Helmund +to Rudbar, and it would perhaps be unkind to criticise too closely the +heroics of this part of Ferrier's story. + +At Rudbar Ferrier again noticed bricks a yard square in an old dyke, +whilst hiding. Rudbar was well known to the Arab geographers, but this +record of Ferrier's carries it back (and with it the course of the +Helmund) to very ancient times indeed. Continuing to follow the river, +they passed Kala-i-Fath and reached "Poolka"--a place which no longer +exists under that name. This is all surveyed country; but no +investigator since Ferrier has observed the same ancient bricks at +Kala-i-Fath which Ferrier noted there as at Farah and Rudbar. There is +every probability, however, of their existence. All this part of the +Helmund valley abounds in antiquities which are as old as Asiatic +civilization, but nothing short of systematic antiquarian exploration +will lead to further discoveries of any value. + +Ferrier was now in Seistan, and we may pass over his record of +interesting observations on the wealth of antiquarian remains which +surrounded him. It is enough to point out that he was one of the first +to call public attention to them from the point of view of actual +contact. It must be accepted as much to the credit of Ferrier's +narrative that the latest surveys of Seistan (_i.e._ those completed +during the work of the Commission under Sir H. MacMahon in 1903-5) +entirely support the account given in his _Caravan Journeys_ as he +wandered through that historic land. By the light of the older maps, +completed during the Afghan Boundary Commission some twenty years +previously, it would have been difficult to have traced his steps. We +know now that the lake of Seistan should, with all due regard to its +extraordinary capacity for expansion and contraction, be represented +as in MacMahon's map, extending southwards to a level with the great +bend of the Helmund. Ferrier's narrative very conclusively illustrates +this position of it, and proves that such an expansion must be +regarded as normal. We can no longer accurately locate the positions +of Pulaki and Galjin, but from his own statements it seems more than +probable that the first place is already sand-buried. They were not +far north of Kala-i-Fath. From there he went northward to Jahanabad, +and north-west (not south-west) to Jalalabad. It was at Jahanabad that +he nearly fell into the hands of Ali Khan, the chief of Chakhansur +(Sheikh Nassoor of Ferrier), the scoundrel who had previously murdered +Dr. Forbes and hung his body up to be carefully watered and watched +till it fell to pieces in gold ducats. There was an unfortunate +superstition current in Baluchistan to the effect that this was the +normal end of European existence! Luckily it has passed away. Escaping +such a calamity, he turned the lake at its southern extremity, +passing through Sekoha, and travelled up its western banks till, after +crossing the Harat Rud, he reached Lash Jowain. From here to Farah and +from Farah once again to Herat, his road was made straight for him, +and we need only note what he has to say about the extent of the ruins +near Sabzawar to be convinced that here was the mediæval provincial +capital of Parwana. At Herat he was enabled to do what would have +saved him a most adventurous journey (and lost us the pleasure of +recording his work as that of a notable explorer of Afghanistan), +_i.e._ take the straight road back to Teheran from whence he came. + +With this we may bid adieu to Ferrier, but it is only fair to do tardy +justice to his remarkable work. I confess that after the regions of +Central Afghanistan had been fairly well reconnoitred by the surveyors +of the Russo-Afghan Boundary Commission, considerable doubt remained +in my mind as to the veracity of Ferrier's statements. I still think +he was imposed upon now and then by what he _heard_, but I have little +doubt that he adhered on the whole (and the conditions under which he +travelled must be remembered) to a truthful description of what he +_saw_. It is true that there still remains wanting an explanation of +his experiences at that restful island in the sea of difficulty and +danger which surrounded him--Dev Hissar--but I have already pointed +out that it may exist beyond the limits of actual subsequent +observation; and as regards the stupendous bricks with cuneiform +inscription, it can only be said that their existence in the +localities which he mentions has been rendered so probable by recent +investigation, that nothing short of serious and systematic +excavation, conducted in the spirit which animated the discovery of +Nineveh, will finally disprove this most interesting evidence of the +extreme antiquity of the cities of Afghanistan, and their relation to +the cities of Mesopotamia. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +SUMMARY + + +The close of the Afghan war of 1839-40 left a great deal to be desired +in the matter of practical geography. It was not the men but the +methods that were wanting. The commencement of the second and last +Afghan war in 1878 saw the initiation of a system of field survey of a +practical geographical nature, which combined the accuracy of +mathematical deduction with the rapidity of plane table topography. It +was the perfecting of the smaller class of triangulating instruments +that made this system possible, quite as much as the unique +opportunity afforded to a survey department in such a country as India +for training topographers. It worked well from the very first, and +wherever a force could march or a political mission be launched into +such a region of open hill and valley as the Indian trans-frontier, +there could the surveyors hold their own (no matter what the nature of +the movement might be) and make a "square" survey in fairly accurate +detail, with the certainty that it would take its final place +without squeezing or distortion in the general map of Asia. This was +of course very different from the plodding traverse work of former +days, and it rapidly placed quite a new complexion on our +trans-frontier maps. Since then regular systematic surveys in +extension of those of India have been carried far afield, and it may +safely be said now that no country in the world is better provided +with military maps of its frontiers than India. In Baluchistan, +indeed, there is little left to the imagination. A country which forty +years ago was an ugly blank in our maps, with a doubtful locality +indicated here and there, is now almost as well surveyed as Scotland. +Afghanistan, however, is beyond our line, "out of bounds," and the +result is that there are serious gaps in our map knowledge of the +country of the Amir, gaps which there seems little probability of +investigating under the present closure of the frontier to explorers. + + [Illustration: SKETCH MAP OF HINDU KUSH PASSES] + +By far the most important of these gaps are the uplands of Badakshan, +stretching from the Oxus plains to the Hindu Kush. The plains of +Balkh, as far east as Khulm and Tashkurghan, from whence the high-road +leads to Haibak, Bamian, and the Hindu Kush passes, are fairly well +mapped. The Oxus, to the north of Balkh, is well known, and the fords +and passages of that river have been reckoned up with fair accuracy. +From time immemorial every horde of Skythic origin, Nagas, Sakas, or +Jatas, must have passed these fords from the hills and valleys of the +Central Asian divide on their way to India. The Oxus fords have seen +men in millions making south for the valleys of Badakshan and the +Golden Gates of Central Asiatic ideal which lay yet farther south +beyond the grim line of Hindu Kush. Balkh (the city) must have stood +like a rock in the human tide which flowed from north to south. From +the west, too, from Asia Minor and the Persian provinces, as well as +from the Caspian steppes to the north-west, must have come many a +weary band of tear-stained captives, transported across half a +continent by their conquerors to colonize, build cities, and gradually +amalgamate with the indigenous people, and so to disappear from +history. From the west came Parthians, Medes, Assyrians, and Greeks, +who did not altogether disappear. But no such human tide ever flowed +into Badakshan from the east nor yet from the south. To the east are +the barrier heights of the Pamirs. No crowd of fugitives or captives +ever faced those bleak, inhospitable, wind-torn valleys that we know +of. Nor can we find any trace of emigration from India. Yet routes +were known across the Pamirs, and in due time, as we have seen, small +parties of pilgrims from China made use of these routes, seeking for +religious truth in Balkh when, as a Buddhist centre, Balkh was in +direct connection with the Buddhist cities of Eastern Turkistan. And +Buddhism itself, when it left India, went northward and flourished +exceedingly in those same cities of the sandy plain, where the people +talked and wrote a language of India for centuries after the birth of +Christ. Balkh, however, never stayed the tide which overlapped it and, +passing on, lost itself in the valleys under the Hindu Kush, or else, +surmounting that range, streamed over into the Kabul basin. Whether +the tide set in from north or west, the overflow was forced by purely +geographical conditions into precisely the same channels, and in many +cases it drifted into the hills and stayed there. What we should +expect to find in Balkh, then (whenever Dr. Stein can get there), are +records in brick, records in writing, and records in coin, of nearly +every great Asiatic movement which has influenced the destinies of +India from the days of Assyria to those of Mohamed. What a history to +unfold! + +Of the Badakshan uplands south and south-east of Balkh, we have but +most unsatisfying geographical record. In the days preceding the first +Afghan war when Burnes, Moorcroft, Lord, and Wood were in the field, +we certainly acquired much useful information which is still all that +we have for scientific reference. Moorcroft, as we have seen, made +several hurried journeys between Balkh and Kunduz under most perilous +conditions, when endeavouring to escape from the clutches of the +border chief, Murad Beg. But Moorcroft's opportunities of scientific +observation were small, and his means of ascertaining his +geographical position were crude, and we gain little or nothing from +his thrilling story of adventure, beyond a general description of a +desolate region of swamp and upland which forms the main features of +Northern Badakshan. + +Lord and Wood, who followed Moorcroft at no great interval, and who +were also in direct personal touch with Murad Beg under much the same +political circumstances, have furnished much more useful information +of the routes and passes between Haibak and Kunduz, and given us a +very fair idea of the physical configuration of that desolate +district. Lord's memoir on the _Uzbek State of Kundooz_ (published at +Simla in July 1838) is indeed the best, if not the only, authoritative +document concerning the history and policy of Badakshan, giving us a +fair idea of the conditions under which Murad Beg established and +consolidated his position as the paramount chief of that country, and +the guardian of the great commercial route between Kabul and Bokhara; +but there is little geographical information in the memoir. The four +fortified towns of the Kunduz state, Kunduz, Rustak, Talikhan, and +Hazrat Imam, are described rather as depositories for plunder than as +positions of any great importance, and the real strength of Murad +Beg's military force lay in the quality of his hordes of irregular +Uzbek horsemen and the extraordinary hardiness and endurance of the +Kataghani horses. So highly esteemed is this particular breed that the +late Amir of Afghanistan would permit of no export of horses from +Kataghan, reserving them especially for the purpose of mounting his +own cavalry. + +We learn incidentally of the waste and desolation caused by the +poisonous climate of the fens and marshes between Hazrat Imam and +Kunduin, to which Murad Beg had transported 20,000 Badakshani families +for purposes of colonization, and where Dr. Lord was told that barely +1000 individuals had survived; but Wood tells us much more than this +in his charming book on the Oxus. From the point where he left the +main road from Kabul to Bokhara (a little below Kuram north of the +Saighan valley) till he reached Kunduz, he was passing over country +and by-ways which have never been revisited by any European +geographer. He tells us that "the plain between the streams that water +Kunduz and Kuram has a wavy surface, and though unsuited to +agriculture has an excellent pasturage. The only village on the road +is Hazrat Baba Kamur. On the eastern side the plain is supported by a +ridge of hills sloping down from the mountains to the south. We +crossed it by the pass of Archa (so called from the fir trees which +cover its crest), from the top of which we had a noble view of the +snowy mountains to the east, the outliers of Hindu Kush. Next day we +forded the river of Kunduz, and continuing to journey along its right +bank, through the swampy district of Baghlan and Aliabad, reached the +capital of Murad Beg on Monday the 4th Dec. (1837)." The story of +Wood's travels in Badakshan has already been told; the moon-lit march +from Kunduz through the dense jungle grass and swamp, often knee-deep +in water; the gradual rise to higher ground above; the floating vapour +screen that hovered over the fens; Khanabad and its quaint array of +colleges and students, and the Koh Umber mountain, isolated and +conspicuous, dividing the plains of Kunduz and Talikhan--all these are +features which will indicate the general character of that part of +Badakshan but leave us no fixed and determined position. The Koh Umber +in particular must be a remarkable topographical landmark, as it +towers 2500 feet above the surrounding plain with a snow-covered +summit. Wood says of it that it is central to the districts of +Talikhan, Kunduz, and Hazrat Imam, and its pasturage is common to the +flocks of all three plains. But it is an undetermined geographical +feature, and still remains in its solitary grandeur, a position to be +won by future explorers. + +From Khanabad to Talikhan, Faizabad, and Jirm (which, it will be +recollected, was once the capital of Badakshan--probably the +"Badakshan" of Arab geography), we have the description of a +mountainous country supporting the conjectural topography of our maps, +which indicate that this route borders and occasionally crosses a +series of gigantic spurs or offshoots of a central range (which Wood +calls the Khoja) which must itself be a north-easterly arm of the +Hindu Kush, taking off from the latter range somewhere near the +Khawak Pass. Here, then, is one of the most important blanks in the +map of our frontier. Inconceivably rugged and difficult of access, it +seems probable that it is more accessible from Badakshan than from the +south. We know from Wood's account of the extraordinary difficulty +that beset his efforts to reach the lapis-lazuli mines above Jirm in +the Kokcha River something of the general nature of these northern +valleys and defiles of Kafiristan reaching down to lower Badakshan. It +would, indeed, be a splendid geographical feat to fix the position and +illustrate the topography of this roughest section of Asia. + +Between the Khawak Pass of the Hindu Kush which leads to Andarab, and +the Mandal, or Minjan, passes, some 70 miles to the east, we have +never solved the problem of the Hindu Kush divide. What lies behind +Wood's Khoja range, between it and the main divide? We have the valley +called Anjuman, which is believed to lead as directly to Jirm from the +Khawak Pass as Andarab does to Kunduz. It is an important feature in +Hindu Kush topography, but we know nothing of it. We may, however, +safely conjecture that the Minjan River, reached by Sir George +Robertson in one of his gallant attempts to explore Kafiristan, is the +upper Kokcha flowing past the lapis-lazuli mines to Jirm. But where +does it rise? And where on the southern slopes of the Hindu Kush do +the small affluents of the Alingar and Alishang have their beginning? +These are the hidden secrets of Kafiristan. It is here that those +turbulent people (who, by the way, seem to exhibit the same +characteristics from whatever valley of Kafiristan they come, and to +be much more homogeneous than is usually supposed) hide themselves in +their upland villages, amidst their magnificent woods and forests, +untroubled by either Afghan or European visitors. Here they live their +primitive lives, enlivened with quaint ceremonies and a heathenism +equally reminiscent of the mythology of Greece, the ritual of +Zoroaster, and the beliefs of the Hindu. Who will unravel the secrets +of this inhabited outland, which appears at present to be more +impracticable to the explorer than either of the poles? Yule, in his +preface to the last edition of Wood's _Oxus_, remarks that Colonel +Walker, the late Surveyor-General of India (and one of the greatest of +Asiatic geographers) repeatedly expressed his opinion that there is no +well-defined range where the Hindu Kush is represented in our maps, +and he adds that such an expression of opinion can only apply to that +part of the Hindu Kush which lies east of the Khawak Pass. Sir Henry +Yule refers to Wood's incidental notices of the mountains which he saw +towering to the south of him, "rising to a vast height and bearing far +below their summits the snow of ages," in refutation of such an +opinion; and he further quotes the "havildar's" (native surveyor) +report of the Nuksan and Dorah passes in confirmation of Wood. + +Since Yule wrote, Woodthorpe's surveys of the Nuksan and Dorah passes +during the Lockhart mission leave little doubt as to the nature of the +Hindu Kush as far west as those passes, but it is precisely between +those passes and the Khawak, along the backbone of Kafiristan, that we +have yet to learn the actual facts of mountain conformation. And here +possibly there may be something in Walker's suggestion. The mountains +to which Wood looked up from Talikhan or Kishm, towering to the south +of him and covered with perpetual snow, certainly formed no part of +the main Hindu Kush divide. Between them and the Hindu Kush is either +the deep valley of Anjuman, or more probably the upper drainage of the +Minjan, which, rising not far east of Khawak, repeats the almost +universal Himalayan feature of a long, lateral, ditch-like valley in +continuation of the Andarab depression, marking the base of the +connecting link in the primeval fold formed by the Hindu Kush east and +west of it. We should expect to find the Kafiristan mountain +conformation to be an integral part of the now recognised Himalayan +system of parallel mountain folds, with deep lateral valleys fed by a +transverse drainage. The long valley of the Alingar will prove to be +another such parallel depression, and we shall find when the map is +finished that the dominating structural feature of all this wild +hinterland of mountains is the north-east to south-west trend of +mountain and valley which marks the Kunar (or Chitral) valley on the +one side and the Panjshir on the other. The reason why it is more +probable that the Minjan River takes the direct drainage of the +northern slopes of this Kafiristan backbone into a lateral trough than +that the Anjuman spreads its head into a fan, is that Sir George +Robertson found the Minjan, below the pass of Mandal, to be a far more +considerable river than its assumed origin in the official maps would +make it. He accordingly makes a deep indentation in the Hindu Kush +divide (on the map which illustrates his captivating book, _The Kafirs +of the Hindu Kush_), bringing it down southward nearly half a degree +to an acute angle, so as to afford room for the Minjan to rise and +follow a course in direct line with its northerly run (as the Kokcha) +in Badakshan. This is a serious disturbance of the laws which govern +the structure of Asiatic mountain systems, as now recognized, and it +is indeed far more likely that the Minjan (Kokcha) follows those laws +which have placed the Andarab and the Panjshir (or for that matter the +Indus and the Brahmaputra) in their parallel mountain troughs, than +that the primeval fold of the Hindu Kush has become disjointed and +indented by some agency which it would be impossible to explain. Who +is going to complete the map and solve the question? + +We are still very far from possessing a satisfactory geographical +knowledge of even the more accessible districts of Badakshan. We still +depend on Wood for the best that we know of the route between +Faizabad and Zebak; and of those Eastern mountains which border the +Oxus as it bends northward to Kila Khum we know positively nothing at +all. + +But beyond all contention the hidden jewels to be acquired by +scientific research in Badakshan are archæological and antiquarian +rather than geographical. Now that Nineveh and Babylon have yielded up +their secrets, there is no such field out of Egypt for the antiquarian +and his spade as the plains of Balkh. But enough has been said of what +may be hidden beneath the unsightly bazaars and crumbling ruins of +modern Balkh. Whilst Badakshan literally teems with opportunities for +investigation, certain features of ancient Baktria appear to be +especially associated with certain sites; such, for instance, as the +sites of Semenjan (Haibak), Baghlan, Andarab, and particularly the +junction of the rivers at Kasan. That Andarab (Ariaspa) held the +capital of the Greek colonies there can be as little doubt as that +Haibak and its neighbourhood formed the great Buddhist centre between +Balkh and Kabul. Again, who is going to make friends with the Amir of +Afghanistan and try his luck? It must be a foreigner, for no +Englishman would be permitted by his own government to pass that way +at present. + +The wild and savage altitudes of Badakshan and Kafiristan by no means +exhaust the unexplored tracts of Afghanistan. We have the curious +feature of a well-surveyed route connecting Ghazni with Kandahar, one +of the straightest and best of military routes trodden by armies +uncountable from the days of Alexander to those of Roberts, a narrow +ribbon of well-ascertained topography, dividing the two most important +of the unexplored regions of Afghanistan. North-west of this road lies +the great basin of the central Helmund. South-east is a broken land of +plain, ribbed and streaked with sharp ridges of frontier formation, +about which we ought to know a great deal more than we do. Up the +frontier staircases and on to this plain run many important routes +from India. The Kuram route strikes it at its northern extremity and +leaves it to the southward. The Tochi valley route, and the great +mercantile Gomal highway strike into the middle of it, and yet no one +of our modern frontier explorers has ever reached it from one side or +the other. We still depend on Broadfoot's and Vigne's account of what +they saw there, although it is only just on the far side of the rocky +band of hills which face the Indus. + +About midway between Ghazni and Bannu is the water-parting which +separates the Indus drainage from that of the Helmund, and at this +point there are some formidable peaks, well over 12,000 feet in +height, to distinguish it. The Tochi passage is easy enough as far as +the Sheranni group of villages near the head of its long cultivated +ramp, but beyond that point the traveller becomes involved in the +narrow lateral valleys which follow the trend of the ridges which +traverse his path, where streams curl up from the Birmal hills to the +south and from the high altitudes which shelter the Kharotis on the +north. It is a perpetual wriggle through steep-sided rocky waterways, +until one emerges into more open country after crossing the main +divide by the Kotanni Pass. The hills here are called Jadran, and it +is probable that the Jadran divide and that of the Kohnak farther +south are one and the same. Beyond the Kotanni Pass to Ghazni the way +is fairly open, but we know very little about it beyond the historical +fact that the arch-raider, Mahmud of Ghazni, used to follow this route +for his cavalry descents on the Indian frontier with most remarkable +success. The remains of old encampments are to be seen in the plain at +the foot of the Tochi, and disjointed indications of an ancient +high-road were found on the hill slopes to the north of the stream by +our surveyors. + +Of the actual physical facts of the Gomul route we have only the +details gathered by Broadfoot under great difficulties, and a +traveller's account by Vigne. What they found has already been +described, and the frontier expedition to the Takht-i-Suliman in 1882 +sufficiently well determined the position of the Kohnak water-parting +to give a fixed geographical value to their narratives. But we have no +topography beyond Domandi and Wana. We know that the ever-present +repellent band of rocky ridge and furrow, the hill and valley +distribution which is distinctive, has to be encountered and passed; +but the route does not bristle with the difficulties of narrow ways +and stony footpaths as does the Tochi, and there is no doubt that it +could soon be reduced to a very practicable artillery road. The +important point is that we do not know here (any more than as regards +the upper Tochi) a great deal that it concerns us very much to know. +We have no mapping of the country which lies between the Baluch +frontier and Lake Abistada, the land of the stalwart Suliman Khel +tribes-people, and it is a country of which the possible resources +might be of great value to us if ever we are driven again to take +military stock of Afghanistan. + +But the importance of good mapping in this part of Afghanistan is due +solely to its position in geographical relation to the Indian +frontier. It is different when we turn to the stupendous altitudes of +the high Hazara plateau land to the north of the Ghazni-Kandahar +route. With this we are not likely to have any future concern, except +that which may be called academic. In spite of the reputation for +sterile wind-scoured desolation which the uplands hiding the upper +Helmund valleys have always enjoyed, it is not to be forgotten that +there are summer ways about them, and strong indications that some of +these ways are distinctly useful. Our knowledge of the Helmund River +(such knowledge, that is to say, as justifies us in mapping the +course of the river with a firm line) from its sources ends almost +exactly at the intersection of the parallel of 34° of North latitude +with the meridian of 67° East longitude. For the next 120 miles we +really know nothing about its course, except that it is said to run +nearly straight through the heart of the Hazara highlands. + +Two very considerable, but nameless, rivers run more or less parallel +to the Helmund to the south of it, draining the valleys of Ujaristan +and Urusgan, the upper part of the latter being called Malistan. What +these valleys are like, or what may be the nature of the dividing +water-parting, we do not know, nor have we any authentic description +of the valley of Nawar, which lies under the Gulkoh mountain at the +head of the Arghandab, but apparently unconnected with it. Native +information on the subject of these highly elevated valleys is +excessively meagre, nor are they of any special interest from either +the strategic or economic point of view. Far more interesting would it +be to secure a geographical map of those northern branches of the +Helmund, the Khud Rud, and the Kokhar Ab, which drain the mountain +districts to the east of Taiwara above the undetermined position of +Ghizao on the Helmund. These mountain streams must rush their waters +through magnificent gorges, for the peaks which soar above them rise +to 13,000 feet in altitude, and the country is described as +inconceivably rugged and wild. This is the real centre and home of the +Hazara communities, and, in spite of the fact that there are certain +well-ascertained tracks traversing the country and connecting the +Helmund with the valley of the Hari Rud, we know that for the greater +part of the year they must be closed to all traffic. They are of no +importance outside purely local interests. The comparatively small +area yet unexplored which lies to the north of the Hazara mountains, +shut off from them by the straight trough of the Hari Rud and +embracing the head of the Murghab River of Turkistan, is almost +equally unimportant, although it would be a matter of great interest +to investigate a little more closely the remarkable statements of +Ferrier which bear on this region. + +When we have finally struck a balance between our knowledge and our +ignorance of that which concerns the landward gates of India, we shall +recognize the fact that we know all that it is really essential that +we should know of these uplifted approaches. They are inconceivably +old--as old as the very mountains which they traverse. What use may be +made of them has been made long ago. We have but to turn back the +pages of history and we find abundant indications which may enable us +to gauge their real value as highways from Central Asia to India. +History says that none of the tracks which lead from China and Tibet +have ever been utilized for the passage of large bodies of people +either as emigrants, troops, commercial travellers, or pilgrims into +India, although there exists a direct connection between China and the +Brahmaputra in Assam, and although we know that the difficulties of +the road between Lhasa and India are by no means insuperable. Nor by +the Kashmir passes from Turkistan or the Pamirs is it possible to find +any record of a formidable passing of large bodies of people, although +the Karakoram has been a trade route through all time, and although +the Chinese have left their mark below Chitral. Yet we have had +explorers over the passes connecting the upper Oxus affluents with +Gilgit and Chitral who have not failed, some of them, to sound a +solemn note of warning. + +Before the settlement of the Oxus extension of the northern boundary +of Afghanistan, something of a scare was started by a demonstration of +the fact that it is occasionally quite easy to cross the Kilik Pass +from the Taghdumbash Pamir into the Gilgit basin, or to climb over the +comparatively easy slopes of the flat-backed Hindu Kush by the +Baroghel Pass and slip down into the valley of the Chitral. There was, +however, always a certain amount of geographical controversy as to the +value of the Chitral or of the Kilik approach after the crossing of +the Hindu Kush had been effected. Much of the difference of opinion +expressed by exploring experts was due to the different conditions +under which those undesirable, troublesome approaches to India were +viewed. Where one explorer might find a protruding glacier blocking +his path and terminating his excursions, another would speak of an +open roadway. + +From season to season in these high altitudes local conditions vary to +an extent which makes it impossible to forecast the difficulties which +may obtrude themselves during any one month or even for any one +summer. In winter, _i.e._ for at least eight months of the year, all +are equally ice-bound and impracticable, and although the general +spirit of desiccation, which reigns over High Asia and is tending to +reduce the glaciers and diminish the snowfall, may eventually change +the conditions of mountain passages to an appreciable extent (and for +a period), it would be idle to speculate on any really important +modification of these difficulties from such natural climatic causes. +We must take these mountain passes as we find them now, and as the +Chinese pilgrim of old found them, placed by Nature in positions +demanding a stout heart and an earnest purpose, determined to wrest +from inhospitable Nature the merit of a victorious encounter with her +worst and most detestable moods, ere we surmount them. To the pilgrim +they represented the "strait gate" and "narrow way" which ever leads +to salvation, and he accepted the horrors as a part of the sacrifice. +To us they represent troublesome breaks in the stern continuity of our +natural defences which can be made to serve no useful purpose, but +which may nevertheless afford the opportunity to an aggressive and +enterprising enemy to spy out the land and raise trouble on the +border. We cannot altogether leave them alone. They have to be watched +by the official guardians of our frontier, and all the gathered +threads of them converging on Leh or Gilgit must be held by hands that +are alert and strong. It is just as dangerous an error to regard such +approaches to India as negligible quantities in the military and +political field of Indian defence, as to take a serious view of their +practicability for purposes of invasion. + +Beyond this scattered series of rugged and elevated by-ways of the +mountains crossing the great Asiatic divide from regions of Tibet and +the Pamirs, to the west of them, we find on the edge of the unsurveyed +regions of Kafiristan that group of passages, the Mandal and Minjan, +the Nuksan and the Dorah which converge on Chitral as they pass +southward over the Hindu Kush from the rugged uplands of Badakshan. +None of these appear to have been pilgrim routes, nor does history +help us in estimating their value as gateways in the mountains. They +are practicable at certain seasons, and one of them, the Dorah, is a +much-trodden route, connecting what is probably the best road +traversing upper Badakshan from Faizabad to the Hindu Kush with the +Chitral valley, and it enjoys the comparatively moderate altitude of +about 14,500 feet above sea-level. A pass of this altitude is a pass +to be reckoned with, and nothing but its remote geographical position, +and the extreme difficulty of its approaches on either side (from +Badakshan or Chitral), can justify the curious absence of any +historical evidence proving it to have witnessed the crossing of +troops or the incursions of emigrants. For the latter purpose, indeed, +it may have served, but we know too little about the ethnography or +derivation of the Chitral valley tribes to be able to indulge in +speculation on the subject. + +What we know of the Dorah is that it is the connecting commercial link +between Badakshan and the Kunar valley during the summer months (July +to September), when mules and donkeys carry over wood and cloth goods +to be exchanged for firearms and cutlery with other produce of a more +local nature, including (so it is said) Badakshi slaves. It has been +crossed in early November in face of a bitter blizzard and piercing +cold, but it is not normally open then. The Nuksan Pass, which is not +far removed from it, is much higher (16,100 feet) and is frequently +blocked by glacial ice; but the Dorah, which steals its way through +rugged defiles from the Chitral valley over the dip in the Hindu Kush +down past the little blue lake of Dufferin into the depths of the +gorges which enclose the upper reaches of the Zebak affluent of the +great Kokcha River of Badakshan, (about which we have heard from +Wood), is the one gateway which is normally open from year to year, +and its existence renders necessary an advanced watch-tower at +Chitral. Like the Baroghel and other passes to the east of it, it is +not the Dorah itself but the extreme difficulty of the narrow ways +which lead to it, the wildness and sterility of the remote regions +which encompass it on either side, which lock this door to anything in +the shape of serious military enterprise. + +Beyond the Dorah to the westward, following the Kafiristan divide of +the Hindu Kush, we may well leave unassisted Nature to maintain her +own work of perfect defence, for there is not a track that we can +discover to exist, nor a by-way that we can hear of which passes +through that inconceivably grand and savage wilderness of untamed +mountains. Undoubtedly such tracks exist, but judging from the +remarkable physical constitution of the Kafir, they are such as to +demand an exceptional type of mountaineer to deal with them. It is +only when we work our way farther westward to those passes which lead +into the valleys of the upper Kabul River affluents, from the Khawak +Pass at the head of the Panjshir valley to the Unai which points the +way from Kabul to Bamian, that we find material for sober reflection +derived from the records of the past. + +The general characteristics of these passes have been described +already--and something of their history. We have seen that they have +been more or less open doors to India through the ages. Men literally +"in nations" have passed through them; the dynasties of India have +been changed and her destinies reshaped time after time by the +facilities of approach which they have afforded; and if the modern +conditions of things military were now what they were in the days of +Alexander or of Baber, there would be no reason why her destinies +should not once again be changed through use of them. We must remember +that they are not what they have been. How far they have been opened +up by artificial means, or which of them, besides the Nuksan and the +Chahardar, have been so improved, we have no means of knowing, but we +may take it for granted that the Public Works Department of +Afghanistan has not been idle; for we know that that department was +very closely directed by the late Amir, and that his staff of +engineers is most eminent and most practical.[13] + +The base of all this group of passes lies in Badakshan, so that the +chief characteristics as gates of India are common to all. It has been +too often pointed out to require repetition that the plains of +Balkh--all Afghan Turkistan in short--lie at the mercy of any +well-organized force which crosses the Oxus southwards; but once that +force enters the gorges and surmounts the passes of the Badakshan +ramparts a totally new set of military problems would be presented. +The narrowness and the isolation of its cultivated valleys; the vast +spaces of dreary, rugged desolation which part them; the roughness and +the altitude of the intervening ranges--in short, the passive +hostility of the uplands and their blank sterility would create the +necessity for some artificial means of importing supplies from the +plains before any formidable force could be kept alive at the front. +Modern methods point to military railways, for the ancient methods +which included the occupation of the country by well-planted military +colonies are no longer available. All military engineers nowadays +believe in a line, more or less perfect, of railway connection between +the front of a field force and its base of supply. But it would be a +long and weary, if not absolutely hopeless, task to bring a railway +across the highlands of Badakshan to the foot of the Hindu Kush from +the Oxus plains. + +We have read what Wood has to say of the routes from Kunduz southward +to Bamian and Kabul. This is the recognized trade route; the great +highway to Afghan Turkistan. Seven passes to be negotiated over as +many rough mountain divides, plunges innumerable into the deep-rifted +valleys by ways that are short and sharp, a series of physical +obstacles to be encountered, to surmount any one of which would be a +triumph of engineering enterprise. Amongst the scientific devices +which altitude renders absolutely necessary, would be a repeated +process of tunnelling. No railway yet has been carried over a sharp +divide of 10,000 or 11,000 feet altitude, subject to sudden and severe +climatic conditions, without the protection of a tunnel. As a work of +peaceful enterprise alone, this would be a line probably without a +parallel for the proportion of difficulty compared to its length in +the whole wide world. As a military enterprise, a rapid construction +for the support of a field army, it is but a childish chimera. Yet we +are writing of Badakshan's best road! + +It is true that by the Haibak route to Ghori and that ancient military +base of the Greeks, Andarab, the difficulty of the sheer physical +altitude of great passes is not encountered, and there are spaces +which might be pointed out where a light line could be engineered with +comparative facility. Even to reach thus far from the Oxus plains +would be a great advantage to a force that could spend a year or two, +like a Chinese army, in devising its route, but this comparative +facility terminates at the base of the Hindu Kush foot-hills; and it +matters not beyond that point whether the way be rough or plain, for +the wall of the mountains never drops to less than 12,500 feet, and no +railway has ever been carried in the open over such altitudes. +Tunnelling here would be found impossible, owing to the flat-backed +nature of the wide divide. With what may happen in future military +developments; whether a fleet of air-ships should in the farther +future sail over the snow-crested mountain tops and settle, replete +with all military devices in gunnery and stores, on the plains of the +Kohistan of Kabul we need hardly concern ourselves. It is at least an +eventuality of which the risk seems remote at present, and we may rest +content with the Hindu Kush barrier as a defensive line which cannot +be violated in the future as it has been in the past by any formidable +force cutting through Badakshan, without years of preparation and +forewarning. + +For any serious menace to the line of India's north-western defence we +must look farther west--much farther west--for enough has been said of +the great swelling highlands of the Firozkohi plateau, and of the +Hazara regions south of the Hari Rud sources, to indicate their +impracticable nature as the scene of military movement. It is, after +all, the highways of Herat and Seistan that form the only avenues for +military approach to the Indian frontier that are not barred by +difficulties of Nature's own providing, or commanded from the sea. +Once on these western fields we are touching on matter which has been +so worn threadbare by controversy that it might seem almost useless to +add further opinions. Historically it seems strange at first sight +that, compared with the northern approaches to which Kabul gives the +command, so very little use has been made of this open way. It was not +till the eighteenth century saw the foundation laid for the Afghan +kingdom that the more direct routes between Eastern Persia and the +Indus became alive with marching troops. The reason is, obviously, +geographical. Neither trade, nor the flag which preceded it from the +west, cared to face the dreary wastes of sand to the south of the +Helmund, backed, as they are, by the terrible band of the Sind +frontier hills full of untamed and untameable tribes, merely for the +purpose of dropping into the narrow riverain of the lower Indus, +beyond which, again, the deserts of Rajputana parted them from the +rich plains of Central India. When the Indus delta and Sind were the +objective of a military expedition, the conquerors came by way of the +sea, or by approaches within command of the sea--never from Herat. +Herat was but the gateway to Kandahar, and to Kabul in the days when +Kabul was "India." + +It was not, so far as we can tell, till Nadir Shah, after ravaging +Seistan and the rich towns of the Helmund valley, found a narrow +passage across the Sind frontier hills that any practical use was ever +made of the gates of Baluchistan. Although there are ethnological +evidences that a remnant of the Mongol hordes of Chenghis Khan settled +in those same Sind hills, there is no evidence that they crossed them +by any of the Baluch passes. It seems certain that in prehistoric +times, when the geographical conditions of Western India were +different from what they are now, Turanian peoples in tribal crowds +must have made their way into India southwards from Western Asia, but +they drifted by routes that hugged the coast-line. We have now, +however, replaced the old natural geographical conditions by an +artificial system which totally alters the strategic properties of +this part of the frontier. We have revolutionised the savage +wilderness of Baluchistan, and made highways not only from the Indus +to the Helmund, but from Central India to the Indus. The old barriers +have been broken down and new gateways thrown open. We could not help +breaking them down, if we were to have peace on our borders; but the +process has been attended with the disadvantage that it obliges us to +take anxious note of the roads through Eastern Persia and Western +Afghanistan which lead to them. + +For just about one century since the first scare arose concerning an +Indian invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte, have we been alternating +between periods of intense apprehension and of equally foolish apathy +concerning these Western Indian gateways. The rise and fall of public +apprehension might be expressed by a series of curves of curious +regularity. At present we are at the bottom of a curve, for reasons +which it is hardly necessary to enter into; but it is not an inapt +position for a calm review of the subject. There is, then, one great +highway after passing through Herat (which city is about 60 miles from +the nearest Russian military post), a highway which has been quite +sufficiently well described already, of about 360 miles in length +between Herat and Kandahar; Kandahar, again, being about 80 miles +from our frontier--say 500 miles in all; and the distinguishing +feature of this highway between Russia and India is the comparative +ease with which that great Asiatic divide which extends all the way +from the Hindu Kush to the Persian frontier (or beyond) can be crossed +on the north of Herat. There, this great central water-parting, so +formidable in its altitudes for many hundreds of miles, sinks to +insignificant levels and the comparatively gentle gradients of a +debased and disintegrated range. This divide is parted and split by +the passage of the Hari Rud River; but the passage of the river is +hill-enclosed and narrow, with many a rock-bound gorge which would not +readily lend itself to railway-making (although by no means precluding +it), so that the ridges of the divide could be better passed +elsewhere. + +We must concede that, taking it for all in all, that 500 miles of +railway gap which still yawns between the Indian and Russian systems +is an easy gap to fill up, and that it affords a road for advance +which (apart from the question of supplies) can only be regarded as an +open highway. Then there is also that other parallel road to Seistan +from the Russian Transcaspian line across the Elburz mountains (which +here represents the great divide) via Mashad--a route infinitely more +difficult, but still practicable--which leads by a longer way to the +Helmund and Kandahar. Were it not for the political considerations +arising from the respective geographical positions of these two +routes, one lying within Persian territory and the other being Afghan, +they might be regarded as practically one and the same. Neither of +them could be used (in the aggressive sense) without the occupation of +Herat, and most assuredly should circumstances arise in which either +of the two should be used (in the same aggressive sense) the other +would be utilized at the same time. + +This is, then, the chief problem of Indian defence so far as the +shutting of the gate is concerned, and there are no two ways of +dealing with it. We must have men and material sufficient in both +quantity and quality to guard these gates when open, or to close them +if we wish them shut. The question whether these western gates should +remain as they are, easily traversable, or should yield (as they must +do sooner or later) to commercial interests and admit of an iron way +to link up the Russian and Indian railway systems is really +immaterial. In the latter case they might be the more readily closed, +for such a connection would serve the purposes of a defence better +than those for offence; but in any case in order to be secure we must +be strong. + +FOOTNOTE: + +[13] Afghan Turkistan and Badakshan are now said to be connected with +Kabul by good motor roads. + + + + +INDEX + + + Abbas the Great, Shah, 494 + + Abbot, General Sir James, cited, 107-109, 119 + + Abdurrahmon, Amir, 357, 377, 419 + + Ab-i-lal river, 486 + + Abistada, Lake, 514 + + Abkhana route, 351 + + Abu Abdulla Mohammed (Al Idrisi). _See_ Idrisi + + Accadian tradition cited, 34, 73 + + Achakzai (Duranis), 212, 361, 375, 491 + + Adraskand, 229 _and n._; + river, 216 + + Aegospotami, xiii, 160, 163 + + Afghan, Armenian identification of word, 50 + + Afghan Boundary Commission. _See_ Russo-Afghan + + Afghan Turkistan: + Agricultural possibilities of, 251 + Ferrier in, 481 + Greek settlements in, 31 + Kabul, route to: + Modern improvements in, 419 _and n._, 522 _n._ + Wood's account of, 418-19 + Richness of, known to Tiglath Pilesur, 49 + Route to, by southern passes of Hindu Kush, 378 + Routes to, from Herat, 248 + Slavery in, 253 + Snakes in, 253 + Valley formations in, 253-4 + + Afghanistan: + Arab exploration of, 192 + Assyrian colonies in highlands of, 61 + Barbarity in, 78-9 + Boundary Commission. _See_ Russo-Afghan + British attitude towards, in early 19th century, 349; + Afghan attitude towards British, 337-8 + British war with (1839-40): + Conduct of, 359, 411 + Effects of, 346, 353, 392 + Geographical information acquired during, 411-12 + Remnants of British disasters in, 478 + British war with (1878-80), surveys in connection with, 397, 500 + Christie's and Pottinger's exploration of, 329 _et seq._ + Durani corner of, character of, 212 + _Ethnography of Afghanistan_ (Bellew) cited, 20, 91 + Foreign policy of, 353 + Greek names in, 21 + Helmund boundary of, 80 + Hinterland of India, viewed as, 5 + Indian land gates always held by, 22 + Language of, Persian in origin, 21 + Natural beauty of, 392 + Persia: + Colonies of, in, 61 + Intrigues of, British nervousness as to, 399-400 + War with (1837), 402 + Persian Empire including, in antiquity, 21 + Rain-storms in, 233-4 + Russian intrigues regarding, British nervousness as to, 399-400 + Russo-Afghan Boundary Commission. _See that title_ + Rulers of (Ben-i-Israel), traditions of, 49-50 + Social conditions in, past and present, 337-8, 395 + Surveying of, gaps in, 501; + important unexplored regions, 514 + + Afghanistan, Central: + Aimak tribes of, 488-9 + Broadfoot's exploration of, 412, 470 _et seq._ + Conformation of, 215 + Hazara highlands, 84-6 + Records of, scanty, 213-14 + Routes through, 220, 222-3 + Survey of (1882-3), 212, 214 + + Afghanistan, North (Baktria): + Alexander in, 88 + Altitudes of peaks and passes in, 262-3 + Assyrian estimate of, 6 + Irrigation works in, 75-6 + Kafir inhabitants of, 50 + Kyreneans in, 91 + Milesian Greeks (Brankhidai) transported to, 16, 19, 20, 31, 45, + 87, 91; + survival of Greek strain in, 354-5, 358 + Murghab river's economic value in, 246-7 + Plateau of, 258 + Route to, from Mesopotamia, 47-8, 54, 67-8, 70 + Winter climate of, 240 + + Afghanistan, South: + Christie's and Pottinger's exploration of, 329 _et seq._ + Firearms imported into, 55 + Historic monuments scarce in, 211 + + Afghans: + Burnes' estimate of, 491 + Durani. _See that title_ + European travellers' intercourse with (unofficial), 452, 457-8 + Foreigners, attitude towards, 337-8, 353, 392 + Masson's intimacy with, 346-7, 350, 352, 362-3; + his influence with, 380 + Slavery, attitude towards, 421 + + Afridi (Aprytae), 28, 31 + + Aimak tribes of Central Afghanistan, 488-9 + + Ak Robat, 446 + + Ak Robat pass, 378, 382, 421; + Wood's account of, 417 + + Ak Tepe (Khuzan), 245-6 + + Ak Zarat pass, 262 + + Akbar Khan (Afghan general), 398 + + Akcha (Akbarabad), 449 + + Akulphis, 125 + + Al Kharij, 313 + + Alakah ridge, 257 + + Alauddin (Allah-u-din), 218, 467 + + Alexander the Great: + Alexandreia (? Herat) founded by, 77 + + Alexander the Great: + Bakhi obliterated by, 31-2 + Brankhidai of Milesia exterminated by, 20 + Expedition of, to India: + Aornos episode, 106-107, 109-21 + Army, constituents of, 64-5 + Course and incidents of, 66-8, 70, 76-9, 83, 86-8, 90, 92-4, + 96, 98-100, 103-107, 111-22, 125 + Darius' flight from, 47-8, 67-8 + Geographical information possessed by, 10, 26, 29, 38, 61, 79, + 86, 147 + Greek influence of, in Indus valley less than supposed, 22 + Greeks in Afghanistan welcoming, 16, 63 + Knowledge acquired by, 60 + Mutiny beyond Indus, 46 + Nature of, 60, 65 + Recruitment from Greece during, 92 + Retreat, route of, 38, 51, 86, 145-54, 156, 161-6, 291 + Skythic tribes encountered by, 93 + Marriage of Alexander with Roxana, 92 + Philotas tortured to death by, 78 + Reverential attitude towards, still felt in India, 58-9 + + Alexandreia (Bagram, Herat), 77, 87, 93, 96, 393 + + Ali Khan, 497 + + Ali Masjid, 351 + + Aliabad, 421, 505 + + Alingar (Kao) river, 96, 99-100, 327, 358, 507, 509 + + Alishang river, 99, 356-8, 507 + + Alishang valley, Masson in, 396 + + Allard, General, 366, 455 + + Almar, 249 + + Altitude: + Abstract, mediæval ignorance of, 279 + As a factor in defence, 419 + + Amb (Embolina), 107-108, 114-15, 121 + + Ambela pass, 121 + + Amise, General, 366 + + Amritsar, 363, 367 + + Anardara, 335, 336 + + Anbar, 250-51 + + Andarab (Adraspa, Ariaspa, Zariaspa): + Alingar river, communication with, 327 + Capital of Greek colonies situated in, 511 + Fertility of, 90 + Greek settlements about, 435 + Haibak route to, 524 + Site of, 272, 427-8 + Strategic importance of, 92, 275, 277, 357 + Timur at, 355 + otherwise mentioned, 243, 272-4, 276 + + Andarab river, 268, 272, 428; + strategic importance of, 261 + + Andarab valley, 88, 90, 438, 509 + + Andkhui, 248, 439, 448 + + Anjuman, 270 + + Anjuman valley, 274, 436, 507, 509; + importance of route, 275; + unexplored, 427-8 + + Aornos, 92, 106-107, 109-21 + + Aprytae (Afridi), 28, 31 + + Arabian Sea: + Command of, necessary for safety of southern Baluchistan passes, + 140-41 + Islands in, disappearance of, 286, 288 + Phenomena of, 286-7 + + Arabic, derivatives from, 192 + + Arabii, 146, 305 + + Arabius river. _See_ Purali + + Arabs: + Ascendency of, in seventh century, 191-2 + Himyaritic, 372 + Indian invasion by, 293-4 + Indian route used by, _via_ Girishk, 209 + Makran under ascendency of, 292-5 + Methods of, mediæval and modern, 227 + Records of travel by, untrustworthiness of, 213 + Saboean, 372 + Sind under, 293, 311, 366 + + Arbela, Arbil. _See_ Erbil + + Arbela, battle of, 47, 67 + + Archa pass, 421, 505 + + Ardewan pass, 234 + + Argandi, 379 + + Arghandab river, 83, 86, 208, 224, 515 + + Arghastan river, 224 + + Argu plain, 424 + + Aria, 32, 479. _See also_ Herat + + Ariaspa. _See_ Andarab + + Arigaion, 103 + + Arimaspians, 14 + + Aristobulus cited, 151-2 + + Armail (Armabel, Karabel, Las Bela), 150, 304-307, 320; + distances to, 303-304 + + Armenia, Israelites deported to, 39, 49 + + Arnawai valley, 358 + + Arrian cited, 19-20, 51, 54, 62-3, 87, 89, 91, 103, 104, 107, 114, + 118, 119, 124, 126, 147, 148, 150, 152-3, 155, 156, 160, 165-6, + 316 + + Artakoana, 32, 77, 479. _See also_ Herat + + Artobaizanes, 68 + + Asfaka, 312, 314 + + Asfaran (? Subzawar), 229-30 + + Asmar Boundary Commission (1894), 123 + + Asoka, 129 + + Aspardeh, 250 + + Aspasians, 96, 100, 103, 104 + + Aspurkan (? Sar-i-pul), 250, 252 + + Assagetes, 114 + + Assakenians, 96, 104 + + Assakenoi, 121, 126, 129 + + Asshur (Assyrian god), 53 + + Assur-bani-pal (Sardanapalus), 52, 162-3 + + Assyria: + Afghan colonies of, 61 + Buildings in, nature of, 40-43 + Israelite serfs in, 39 + + Assyrian Empire, Second: + Afghanistan as viewed by, 6 + Art of, 7, 52-4 + Babylonian overthrow of, 52 + Golden age of, 51-3 + Influence of, in India, 70 + Israelites deported by, 16, 39, 44, 49, 61 + Naval fight of, first, 52 + Satrapies, institution of, 44 + + Astarab stream and route to Bamian, 252-4; + valley, 266 + + Astarabad, 225 + + Astola I. (Haftala), 160 + + Attok, Carpatyra probably near, 29 + + Auca (Obeh), 225 + + Auckland, Lord, 405, 409 + + Avitabile, 367 + + Azdha of Bamian, 380 + + Azdha of Besud, 380 + + + Babar (Baba) pass, 234, 236, 481 + + Baber, Emperor, cited, 133, 358; + estimate of, 326-7 + + Babylon: + Antiquities of, 73 + Assyria overthrown by, 52 + Barrenness of country round, 41 + + Badakshan: + Alexander in, 93 + Antiquarian treasures in, 511 + Balkh-Pamirs route across, 177-8 + British knowledge of, only recent, 345 + Climate of, 422 + Dorah route from, to Kunar valley, 520 + Exploration of, by Indian surveyors, 268-9 + Geographical knowledge of uplands of, defective, 501, 503, 510 + Greek settlements and remains in, 20, 31, 423 + Kabul, modern all-the-year-round route to, 275-6, 419 _n._, + 522 _n._ + Kafirs anciently in, 132 + Lord's and Wood's mission to, 402 + Moorcroft's journey to, 444 + Railway across uplands to, impracticability of, 523 + Routes to, compared, 414 + Wood's views on, 436-7 + + Badakshan (town) (? Jirm), 273-5 + + Badakshani transported by Murad Beg, 432, 505 + + Badghis, 235, 236, 237 + + Bado river, 338-9 + + Baghdad: + Masson at, 368 + Railway from, _via_ Hamadan and Kum, question as to, 322 + + Baghlan, 90, 261, 421, 505, 511; + Greek settlements about, 435 + + Baghlan river, 434; + valley, 437 + + Baghnein, 206-208 + + Bagisara (? Damizar), 158 + + Bagnarghar, 282-3 + + Bagram (Alexandreia), 77, 87, 93, 96, 393 + + Bahawalpur, 349, 364 + + Bahrein Is., 56 + + Bahu Kalat (Fahalfahra), 312-14 + + Bahu valley, 165 + + Baio peak, 120-21 + + Bajaor, 103 + + Bajaur, 128 + + Bajgah, 261, 384 + + Bajgah (Parwan, Sar Alang) pass, 414 + + Bajitan (Najitan), 225 + + Bakhi, 31-32 + + Bakhtyari, 32 + + Bakkak pass, 256, 262 + + Baktra. _See_ Balkh + + Baktria. _See_ Badakshan + + Bakwa plain, 493 + + Bala Murghab, 237, 240, 247, 481 + + Balangur (Bala Angur), 251 + + Balkh: + Antiquity of, 7, 71, 73 + Approach to, by Akcha road, 72, 73 + Buddhism at, 263, 502-503 + Coins and relics at, 459 + Ferrier's account of, 482 + Importance of, in antiquity, 88 + Khotan, distance from, 177 + Modern, 71-4 + Moorcroft at, 446, 449 + Persian satrapy including, 31 + Routes to, from: + Bamian, 267-8 + Bokhara, 278 + Herat, 239-40, 247-8 + Kabul, 272-3 + Khotan, 277, 278-9 + Merv, 249-50 + Punjab, 177 + Southward, 257 + + Balkh Ab river, 215 + + Balkh Ab valley, 252, 255, 257; + route to Kabul, 259-60 + + Balkh plains: + Antiquarian interest of, 88, 511 + Extent and character of, 74 + Mapping of, 501 + Rivers of, 75 + Waterway ruins of, 76 + + Balkh (Band-i-Amir) river: + Course of, 257-8 + Lakes and aqueducts of, 256 + Sarikoh, junction with, 267 + Scenery of, 262-3 + Source of, 84 + + Baluch Confederation: + Kaiani Maliks at head of, 37 + Lawlessness of, 334 + + Baluchistan: + Arab exploration of, 192 + Desert of, 82 + Exploration of, modern, 194; + by Christie and Pottinger, 329 _et seq._ + Firearms imported into, 55 + Frontier of, the Gomul, 137 + Hinterland of India, viewed as, 5 + Hot winds of, 341 + Language of, Persian in origin, 21 + Lasonoi emigration to, 30 + Makran. _See that title_ + Mediæval geography regarding, 200 + Mongol invasion of India through, 526 + Natural features and conditions of, 32-3, 47, 373 + Persian Empire including, 21 + Political intrigue in, 409 + Southern passes from, into India commanded from the sea, 140-41 + Surveying of, 501 + + Baluchistan, East: + Inhabitants of, character of, 373-4 + Masson's travels in, 369 + + Baluchistan, South: + Brahui of, 34 + Configuration of, 48 + + Baluchs, Masson's intimacy with, 374 + + Bam, 323 + + Bamain, 213-14 + + Bam-i-dunya. _See_ Pamirs + + Bamian: + Buddhist relics at, 177, 263, 265-6, 381, 446 + Founding of kingdom of, 218 + Importance of, in Middle Ages, 205, 261-2, 267 + Masson in, 378-86 + Route through, importance of, 438 + Routes to, from: + Balkh, 267-8 + Ghur, 224 + Kabul (open in winter), 385-6 + Oxus plains, 257 + Sar-i-pul, 252 + + Bamian (Unai) pass, 87, 221 + + Bamian river, 260, 388 + + Bamian valley: + Description of, 263, 265-6 + Importance of, 437-8 + + Bampur: + Alexander at, 165, 166, 316 + Mountain conformation of, 323 + Pottinger at, 342 + + Bampusht Koh mountains, 313 + + Band (Binth), 311-12, 314 + + Band-i-Amir mountains, 257 + + Band-i-Amir river. _See_ Balkh river + + Band-i-Baian (Siah Koh, Sufed Koh) mountains, 84, 215, 486, 487 + + Band-i-Nadir, 245 + + Band-i-Turkistan, 239, 249, 250, 484 + + Banj mountain, 184, 185 + + Banjohir (Panjshir), 276-7 + + Bannu, 512 + + Baraki, 91 + + Barbarra (? Mabara), 434 + + Barna, Badara (Gwadur), 159 + + Barnes, Sir Hugh, 374 _and n._ + + Baroghel pass, 517, 521 + + Barohi, meaning of term, 34, 163. _See also_ Brahuis + + Bashgol valley, 426 + + Bashkird mountains, 200 + + Basrah, 368 + + _Bassarika_ cited, 62 + + Bast, 236 + + Bazar (ancient) (Rustam, Bazira, Bazireh), 106, 113, 114 + + Bazar (modern) (? Ora), 106 + + Bean, Captain, 406-407 + + Begram, site of ancient city at, 393; + Cufic coins at, 394 + + Behistan inscriptions cited, 30 + + Behvana (Jirena), 245 + + Bela (in Baluchistan), 331 + + Bela. _See_ Las Bela + + Belchirag, 251, 255, 484 + + Bellew cited, 32, 35, 163-4; + his _Ethnography of Afghanistan_ cited, 20, 91; + his _Inquiry_ cited, 21 + + Belous (Bolous), 200 + + Ben-i-Israel, traditions of, 49-50, 378 + + Benjawai, 207, 208, 210 + + Bentinck, Lord Wm., 344 + + Berwan lake, 282 + + Bessos (later Artaxerxes), 47, 68, 76, 88, 90 + + Besud route to the Helmund, 262 + + Besud territory, 378, 380-81 + + Bih (Geh), 311-12, 314 + + Binadur, 493 + + Binth (Band), 311-12, 314 + + Birdwood, Sir Geo., cited, 53 + + Birmal hills, 513 + + Birs Nimrud, 41, 43, 71 + + Bist (Kala Bist), 204, 207, 208 + + Bitchilik pass, 387 + + Blood, Sir Bindon, cited, 120 + + Bodh, 372 + + Bokhara (Sogdiæ): + Alexander's success in, 92 + Balkh under chief of, 459 + Kabul and Bamian, main route from, 389 + Khulm and Balkh route from, 278 + Modern popularity of, 395 + Moorcroft's journey to, 444 + + Bolan (Mashkaf) pass, 139, 362 + + Bolar, kingdom of, 327 + + Boledi, 36-7 + + Bolor, Kafiristan part of, 269 + + Bolous (Belous), 200 + + Bombay N.I., geographical record of, 454 + + Boodhi, 483-4 + + Botm, 282 _and n._ + + Bouchinj (Zindajan), 479 + + Bousik (Boushinj, Pousheng), 231, 234, 237 + + Brahmi script cited, 171 + + Brahuis (Barohis): + Baluchistan, in, 331 + Masson's estimate of, 374 + Mingals, 142, 306 + Revolt of, at Kalat, 406 + Sakæ, 163-4 + Stock of, 34 + Traditions of, 142 + + Brankhidai of Milesia, 20, 91 + + Brick buildings of antiquity, 42-3 + + Broadfoot, Lieut. J. S., 513; + travels of, in Central Afghanistan, 412, 470 _et seq._; + estimate of, 471 + + Bubulak, 387 + + Buddhism: + Balkh, at, in antiquity, 72, 263, 502-503 + Bamian, relics in, 263-6, 381, 446 + Building age of, a later development, 170 + Haibak, at, 264-5, 511 + Jalalabad, relics at, 352 + Kashmir, in, 179-80 + Nava Sanghârâma, 178 + Ritual of, 174-6, 181-2 + Sind, ruins in, 372 + Swat, in, 129 + Takla Makan, in the, 283 + + _Buddhist Records of the Western World_, quoted, 175-6 + + Buddhiya kingdom, 305-306 + + Budu river, 341 + + Bunbury cited, 31 + + Buner river, 108, 120-21 + + Buner valley, Blood's expedition to, 120 + + Bushire, 348 + + Burhan, Lake, 283 + + Burnes, Sir Alexander, Indus navigation by, 368, 454; + at court of Ranjit Singh, 455-7; + mission of, to Kabul (1832), 344, 376; + to Kunduz, 378; + _Travels in Bokhara_ quoted, 455, 491; + date of publication, 344, 351; + commercial mission of, to Kabul (1837), 398-401, 404-405; + work of, 440-41; + estimate of, 453, 461 + + Burzil pass, 182 + + + Candace, 479 + + Canouj, 273 + + Cariat (Kariut), 210 + + Carpatyra, 28-9 + + Cavalry on frontier expeditions, 117 + + Celadon ware, 82-3, 197, 300 + + Chach of Sind, 303, 306 + + Chachnama of Sind cited, 305 + + Chagai, 335 + + Chagan Sarai, 130 + + Chahar Aimak, 212, 214, 481 + + Chaharburjak, 81 + + Chahardar (Chapdara) pass, 261, 415, 419, 522 + Height of, 357 + Military road over, 277 + + Chaharshamba river and route to Balkh from Herat, 242, 248 + + Chahil Abdal (Chalapdalan) mountain, 223, 486, 488 + + Chahilburj, 257, 267 + + Chahiltan heights, 370-71 + + Chakesar ford, 121 + + Chakhansur, 497 + + Chalapdalan (Chahil Abdal) mountain, 223, 486, 488 + + Chandragupta (Sandrakottos), 129 + + Chapdara pass. _See_ Chahardar + + Charbar, 299 + + Chardeh plain, 379 + + Charikar: + Military road from, over Chapdara pass, 277 + Strategical position of, 357 + + Charsadda, 114 + + Chashma Sabz pass, 234, 235 + + Chenghiz Khan, 72, 85, 142, 193, 194, 218, 267, 376, 526 + + Cherchen, 174 + + China, Buddhist pilgrimage routes from, 169 _et seq._, 502, 518 + + Chinese Turkistan: + Buddhist occupation of, 280 + Conditions of life in, in antiquity, 171, 172 + Tibet, included in, 283 + + Chiras, 252 + + Chitral, passes converging on, 426-7, 519 + + Chitral river. _See_ Kunar river + + Chitral valley: + Accessibility of, 517 + Dorah route to, 519-20 + + Choaspes. _See_ Kunar + + Chol country, 236, 238, 246, 247, 258 + + Christians: + Armenian, in Kabul, 377 + Merv, at, 241 + Sakah, at, 229 + + Christie, Captain, 329 _et seq._ + + Chumla river, 108; + valley, 121 + + Climate as affecting race distribution, 8, 46 + + Conolly, Lieut., 390 + + Cophæus, 114 + + Court, M., 455, 457 + + Crockery debris, 82, 197 + + Cufic coins, 394 + + Cunningham, General, cited, 106, 148 + + Curtius, Quintus, cited, 107, 122, 148-9, 221, 459 + + Cyrus, King of Persia, 79, 147 + + + Dadar, 362 + + Dahuk (? Dashtak), 304 + + Dames, Longworth, cited, 201 + + Damizar (? Bagisara), 158 + + Dand, 472 + + Dandan Shikan pass, 260, 384, 421; + Wood's account of, 418 + + Daolatabad, 249 + + Daolatyar, 221, 223-4, 256, 486 + + Daraim valley, 424 + + Darak (Dizak), 311-14 + + Darak Yamuna (Yakmina), 317 + + Dards, 31 + + Darel (To-li), 179, 182-3 + + Darel stream, 183-4 + + Darius, flight of, from Alexander, 47, 67; + death of, 70 + + Darius Hystaspes, transportation of Greeks by, 16, 19, 20, 31, 45, + 87, 91 + + Darra Yusuf river, 257, 200 + + Darwaz mountains, 432-3 + + Darya-i-Zarah (Gaod-i-Zireh), 204 + + Dasht river, 165 + + Dasht-i-bedoulat plain, 362, 370 + + Dasht-i-Lut, 323 + + Dasht-i-Margo desert, 81, 495 + + Dawar (Zamindawar), 83, 205-206, 223, 491 + + Deane, Major Sir H., cited, 129 + + Debal, 293, 301, 303, 307, 308, 310 + + Deh Dadi, 257 + + Dehao (? Dehi), 483 + + Dehertan (? Dahertan), 236, 237 + + Dehgans, 269 + + Dehi (? Dehao), 483 + + _Delight of those who seek to wander through the Regions of the + World, The_ (Idrisi), cited, 199 _et seq._ + + Dendalkan, 245, 246 + + Dera Ismail Khan, 463 + + Derah, 245 + + Derak (Dizek), 244 + + Dereh Mustapha Khan (Deria-dereh), 487 + + Derenbrosa, I., 159 + + Derthel, 206-208, 210 + + Deserts as barriers, 7-9 + + Dev Hissar fortress, 484-5 + + Dev Kala, 89, 92 + + Dihsai (Dshara), 465-6 + + Diodoros cited, 107 + + _Dionysiaka_ cited, 62 + + Dir valley, 129 + + Dizak (Darak), 311-14 + + Dizek (Derak), 244 + + Djil, 273 + + Doctors as travellers, 463 + + Domai (Manora), I., 154 + + Domandi, 464, 513 + + Dorah pass, 508-509; + nature and importance of, 426-7, 519-21 + + Dorak (? Dizek), 245 + + Dosh, 261 + + Doshak. _See_ Jalalabad + + Doshak range, 233 + + Dost Mahomed Khan, 344, 353, 359, 390, 403, 444, 462, 490; + operations by, against Sikhs, 397-8; + methods and estimate of, 360 + + Drangia. _See_ Seistan + + Dravidian Brahuis, 306 + + Dravidian races entering India, 142-4 + + Dshara (Dihsai), 465-6 + + Dufferin lake, 520 + + Durand, 471 + + Durani Afghans: + Districts inhabited by, 212 + Herat under occupation of, 348 + Shikarpur, at, 363 + Truculence of, 212, 490 + Zarangai alleged to be recognisable as, 33-4 + + Duvanah valley, 424 + + Dwa Gomul river, 475 + + + Eastward migrations, 6, 7, 9, 45, 49 + + Ecbatana: + Darius' flight to, 47-8, 67 + Route, direct, to India from, 51 + + Egypt, buildings in, 40 + + Elam, 163 + + Elburz mountains: + Alexander's passage of, 74, 76, 258 + Rivers of, 75 + Road across, 528 + mentioned, 74, 257 + + Elliott, Sir H., cited, 302, 304, 305; + quoted, 313 + + Embolina (Amb), 107-108, 114-15, 121 + + Erbil (Arbil): + Battle of Arbela at, 47 + Route from, to Hamadan, 48 + + Ersari Turkmans, 251, 459-60 + + Esar Haddon, King of Assyria, 52 + + Ethiopians, Asiatic, problem regarding, 34-6, 163 + + Euxine (Black Sea): + Milesian colonies S. and W. of, 18 + Skythic nomads N. of, 14, 19 + + Explorations of Indian trans-frontier, recentness of, 1, 17, 32, + 60, 345 + + + Fa Hian, 170, 172, 178, 180, 181, 184-5; + quoted, 174-6, 179, 183 + + Fahalfahra (Bahu Kalat), 312-14 + + Fahraj (Pahrag, Pahra, Pahura), 315, 317; + two places so named, 316 + + Faizabad: + Dorah route from, 519 + Situation of, 273-4, 425 + Wood's account and estimate of, 422, 425 + Zebak, route from, 511 + mentioned, 279, 506 + + Farah (Prophthasia): + Alexander the Great at, 78 + Antiquity of, 7 + Ferrier at, 493-4 + Herat, route from, 230-34 + Situation of, 7 + + Farah Rud river, 204, 216, 221, 336, 488, 494 + + Farajghan, 356 + + Fardan (? Bampur or Pahra), 315-17 + + Farsi, 223 + + Fazilpur, 365 + + Fazl Hag, 458 + + Ferengal, lead mines at, 416 + + Ferghana, 282 + + Ferrier, M., career of, 477; + at Herat, 477-8; + journey across Firozkohi plateau, 476, 478, 484; + route to Ghur, 485-7; + imprisonments of, 491-3; + at Farah, 493-4; + in Seistan, 496-7; + back to Herat, 498; + methods of, 346; + estimate of, 476, 480, 498; + cited, 214, 231, 335, 516; + _Caravan Journeys_ cited, 497 + + Ferrying by ponies, 89-90, 449, 460-61 + + Feruk (Feruckabad), 449 + + Firabuz (Kanazbun), 302-303; + distances from, 304, 313, 317 + + Firozand, 207 + + Firozkohi (mediæval capital of Ghur), 219 + + Firozkohi plateau: + Ferrier's journey across, 476, 478, 484; + route to Ghur, 485-7 + Impracticability of, for military operations, 525 + Outlook from, 266 + mentioned, 247, 258 + + Firozkohis: + District of, 84, 214, 217, 219, 253 + Origin of, 481 + + Foosheng, 231 + + Forbes, Dr., murder of, 497 + + Forrest's _Selections from Travels and Journals preserved in the + Bombay Secretariat_ quoted, 348, _and n._ + + + Gadrosia. _See_ Makran + + Gadrosii, 146, 151 + + Gaduns, 111 + + Gadurs, 35 + + Galjin, 497 + + Gandhara (Upper Punjab), 99, 179, 185 + + Gandava (Sind), 305 + + Gaod-i-Zireh (Darya-i-Zarah), 204 + + Gardandiwal, 260, 379, 388 + + Gauraians, 96 + + Gauraios river. _See_ Panjkora + + Gawargar, 267 + + Gazban (Karbis), 159 + + Gazdarra pass, 465, 472 + + Geh (Bih), 311-12, 314 + + Geography: + Ancient records of, absence of, 14-16, 18, 29 + Distances, difficulties of estimating, by "a day's journey," 298 + Influence of, on migratory movements, 9, 45-6; + on history, 214 + Makran, of, 295 _et seq._ + Official _v._ unofficial, 332, 345 + Persian, extent and accuracy of, 17, 25-6, 29, 31 + Recent advances in, 1, 17, 32, 60 + + Gerard, Dr., 376, 395 + + Germany, firearms from, imported to Persia, Seistan, etc., 55 + + Gharan, 429 + + Gharo river, 153 + + Ghazni (region): + Raids from, 136 + Vigne's exploration of, 462, 465 + + Ghazni river, 468 + + Ghazni (town): + Alauddin's sack of, 218 + Desolation of, 210-11, 376 + Kandahar, route to, 512 + Masson at, 359-60 + Vigne at, 467 + + Ghaznigak, 261 + + Ghilzais (Khilkhis): + Districts of, 375-6 + Importance of, 206, 212 + Suliman Khel. _See that title_ + + Ghizao, 515 + + Ghorband drainage system, 468 + + Ghorband river, 413 + + Ghorband valley: + Beauty of, 97 + Easy pass to, 260, 261, 387 + Lead mines in, 416 + Military road up, 277 + + Ghori, 524 + + Ghoweh Kol (? Pai Kol), 380 + + Ghulam Khana, 385 + + Ghur: + Ferrier at, 478 + Ghazni to, no direct route from, 220 + + Ghur, kingdom of: + Description and history of, in mediæval times, 205, 211-13, + 217-19 + Routes through, in mediæval times, 220-24 + + Ghur river, 204, 221, 488 + + Ghur valley, 221-2 + + Ghurian (Koure), 231-2 + + Giaban headland, 159 + + Gichki, 37 + + Gilgit basin, 517; + river, 182 + + Girishk: + Ferrier's imprisonment at, 491-3 + Ford at, 204, 206-10 + Kandahar route by, 490 + Ruins at, 492 + + Gish (war god), 131 + + Glass, Arabic, 300 + + Gobi desert, 171 + + Goës, Benedict, 327-8 + + Goldsmid, General Sir F., 299 + + Gomul river, 136, 464, 473-4 + + Gomul route from the Indus to Ghazni, Vigne's exploration of, 462, + 512, 513 + + Gondakahar (Gandakahar, Gondekehar) caves, 305, 306, 320 + + Gondrani caves, 305, 306 + + Granikos river, 66 + + Great Britain: + Afghan attitude towards, 337-8; + British attitude towards Afghanistan in early nineteenth + century, 349 + Afghan war (1839-40). _See_ Afghanistan, British war with + Afghan war (1878-80), surveys in connection with, 397, 500 + Sixteenth century, condition of England in, 2 + + Greeks: + Baghlan and Andarab, settlements about, 435 + Baktria, deportation to, 87, 91; + survival of strain in, 354-5, 358, 423 + Dionysian, migration of, to Indian frontier, 16, 19, 62-3, + 124-5, 358, 423 + Indian art, influence on, 59-60 + Kyrenean, in Baktria, 91 + Milesian. _See that title_ + Persian Empire, relations with, 20-21, 36, 61 + Women of, as influencing language in Indus valley, 22 + + Grierson, Dr., cited, 132 + + Gulgula citadel, 381, 386 + + Gulkatz, 473 + + Gulkoh mountain, 515 + + Gulran (? Kilrin), 235 + + Gurkhas in Nepal, 188 + + Guzwan (? Gurkan, Juzjan, Jurkan, Jirghan), 250, 251, 255 + + Gwadur (Barna, Badara), 159, 299 + + Gwalian (Walian) pass, 414 + + + Habibullah, 444 + + Haftala (Astola, Hashtala, Nuhsala, Nosala) Island, 161, 286 + + Haibak (Semenjan): + Andarab, distance from, 272; + route to, 524 + Buddhist remains at, 177, 264-5, 511 + Description of, 271 + Moorcroft at, 446 + mentioned, 261, 482 + + Haidar, cited, 186, 327 + + Haidarabad, 399 + + Haig, General, 27; + cited, 309-10; + _Indus Delta Country_ by, cited, 145, 153 + + Haji Khan, 378-87, 417 + + Hajigak pass, 260, 420, 446; + Masson's account of, 388; + Wood's account of, 417 + + Hajjaj, 292 + + Hala pass, 150 + + Hamadan, 322; + telegraph route from, to Teheran, 48 + + Harat Rud, 498 + + Hari Rud river: + Course of, 528 + Herat-Kabul route by, 248, 256, 262 + Pul-i-Malun across, 229 _n._, 230 + Source of, 84, 256 + + Hari Rud valley, 215, 485-6, 528 + + Hariana, 276-7 + + Harnai pass, 139 + + Hazaras: + Characteristics of, 216, 481 + Country of, nature of, 84-6, 214, 221, 516; + British interest in, merely academic, 514 + Forced labour of, 380-81 + Haji Khan's treachery against, 384 + Kidnapping of, by Taimanis, 253 + Masson's relations with, 387-8 + Slave-gangs of, 421 + Trading of, 252 + Women of, Ferrier's account of, 485 + Yezdambaksh, under, 378-9 + + Hazart Ghaos, 371 + + Hazrat Baba Kamur, 505 + + Hazrat Imam, 432-3, 504, 505, 506 + + Hedin, Sven, 170 + + Helawerd, 274 + + Helmund basin, 201; + central unexplored, 512 + + Helmund river (Etymander): + Course of: + Description of, 81-2, 83-4, 379 + Variations in, 79-80, 202 + Crossing-places on, 204-10, 380 + Detritus borne by, 81 + Indus, route to, 527 + Northern branches of, unexplored, 515 + Ruins bordering, 492 + Unexplored portion of, 512, 515 + + Helmund valley: + Antiquarian treasures in, 496 + Description of, 79 _et seq._ + Nadir Shah in, 526 + Pottery débris in, 197 + Survey of, thoroughness of, 207 + + Hephæstion, 94, 95, 99, 150, 151 + + Herat (Aria): + Ancient cities on or near site of, 77 + Balkh, routes to, 239-40, 247-8 + Capital of Ghur in mediæval times, 219 + Christie at, 336-7 + Commerce of, during Arab supremacy, 225 + Defence of, against the Persians (1837), 402 + Description of, by Idrisi, 228 + Durani occupation of, 348 + Farah, route to, 230-34 + Ferrier at, 477; + his views as to, 479 + India, military route to, 525-6 + Kabul, route to, by Hari Rud, 248, 256, 262; + other routes, 257 + Kandahar, direct route to, 490, 525-8 + Mosalla, 228 + Panjdeh and Merv, route to, 236 + Persian satrapy including, 32 + Persian siege of, 477 + Tributary to Ghur in mediæval times, 218 + + Herat valley, 202, 205, 211-12, 217; + route from, to India, 209; + trees in, 237 + + Herodotus cited, 17, 25, 26, 30, 31, 33-4, 56, 163 + + Hicks, 469 + + Hindu Koh range, 182 + + Hindu Kush mountains: + Direction of, 4 + Geographical knowledge of, defective, 508-9 + Passes over, 274, 327, 328, 357, 378, 381-2, 387, 413-15, + 426-7, 434-5, 507, 517, 519-25 + Andarab in relation to, 275, 277 + Command of, 261 + Masson's account of, 388 + Mediæval use of, 277 + Wood's account of, 417-18 + Snow line of, on north and south sides, 415 + + Hinglaz mountain and shrine, 162-3 + + Hingol river, 291; + Alexander at, on the retreat, 151, 157, 161-3, 166 + + History, unimportance of, to the ancients, 11, 25 + + Hiuen Tsiang cited, 178 + + Honigberger, M., 394-5, 462, 468 + + Hormuz, 200 + + Housab, 225 + + Huc, Abbé, cited, 439, 440 + + Huec Sheng, 184 + + Huen Tsang cited, 262, 279 + + Huntington, Ellsworthy, cited, 8, 278 + + Hunza (Kunjut), 180-81 + + Hupian, 394 + + Hyperboreans, 14, 19 + + + Ibn Batuta cited, 210 + + Ibn Haukel of Baghdad cited, 203, 217, 228-31, 236, 237, 243, + 251, 255, 295, 303; + _Ashkalu l' Bilad_ of, quoted, 304, 308-309; + map of Makran by, cited, 297-8, 307, 312, 313 + + Ichthyophagi, 160, 318 + + Idrisi (Abu Abdulla Mohammed) cited,199 _et seq._, 301-304, + 307-309, 312, 313, 315-17, 427-8, 434, 446; + quoted, 303, 314, 316-17 + + Ilchi (Khotan), 172 + + _Iliad_ cited, 12 + + Imám Sharif, 222 + + India (_for particular districts, rivers, etc., see their names_): + Aboriginal inhabitants of, 157 + Afghanistan: + Commercial treaty with, attempted, 397; + Burnes' mission, 398-401, 404-5 + Land gates of India always in possession of, 22 + Arab invasion of, by land and sea, 287 + Art of: + Assyrian influence on, 7, 52-4 + Greek influence on, 6, 22, 59-60, 129 + Syrian and Armenian influence on, 6 + Aryan influx to, 61 + Assyrian influence in, 70; + on art, 7, 52-4 + Bombay N.I., record of, 454 + Defences of, natural: + North and north-east frontier, on, 3 + South frontier, on--ridge and valley formation, 140; + Indus to Punjab desert, 7, 143-4, 226, 526 + Dravidian races entering, 142-4, 158 + Gold-fields of, 51 + Government of: + Characteristics of, 408-10 + Masson's criticisms of, 408, 409 + Greek impression left on, slightness of, 59 + History of, ancient, non-existent, 11 + Makran route to. _See under subheading_ Routes + N.W. barrier of, true situation of, 5 + Population of, not indigenous, 49 + Railway systems of, 324 + Rajput families of, 7 + Routes to: + Makran route: + Arab supremacy, under, 226, 294, 311 + Importance of, in antiquity, 167-8 + Modern ignorance regarding, 141; + modern possibilities as to, 319-24 + Northern, from Mongolia, 169 _et seq._, 186 _et seq._ + Persian, 311, 319, 321-4 + Sea-routes to N.W. in antiquity, 55 + Russian designs as to, question of, 319-20 + Trade of: + Persian, 21 + Syrian and Phoenician, 13, 45 + Wealth of, 295 + Turanian races in, 157-8 + + Indian Survey, 183 + + Indus river (Sintu ho): + Boundary of early exploration, 7 + Burnes' flotilla on, 454 + Course of, variations in, 26-7, 296 + Delta of, area of, 27 + Desert flanking, 143-4, 226, 526 + Gharo, creek of, 153 + Gorge of, below the Darel, 183-4 + Haig's _Indus Delta Country_ cited, 145, 153 + Navigability of, near Baio, 121 + Opening of, to commercial navigation, Burnes' mission regarding + (1837), 399 + Rann of Katch, estuary of, in antiquity, 144 + Routes from, to Helmund river and Central India, 527 + Voyage down, by Scylax, 26-8 + + Indus valley: + Climate of, 46; + fog, 85-6 + Greek and Arabic remains in, 364; + Greek language and its disappearance, 21, 59 + Inscriptions, undecipherable, found in, 129-30 + Mahomedan supremacy in, 293 + Pathans in, ancient settlement of, 28 + Persian satrapy including large part of, 31 + Routes to, through Makran, 141. _See also under_ India--Routes + Vegetation in, in antiquity, 121-2 + + Inscriptions on stone slabs, 129-30; + on bricks, 494, 496, 499 + + Irak, 292; + valley, 387; + stream, 388; + pass, 417 + + Irrigation in Afghanistan, 75-6, 475 + + Ishak Khan, 261 + + Ishkashm, 429 + + Islam. _See_ Mahomedanism + + Ispahan: + Railway from, question as to, 319, 321-2 + Telegraph route from, to Panjgur, 322 + + Ispahak pass, Wood's description of, 417 + + Israelites: + Assyrian deportation of, 16, 39, 44, 49, 61 + Disappearance of, as a nation, 40 + + Issyk Kul lake, 173 + + Istakhri of Persepolis cited, 295, 302, 303, 307, 308, 312 + + + Jabar Khan, 462, 469 + + Jacobabad, 139 + + Jacquet, Eugene, 395 + + Jadran hills, 513 + + Jadwa, 236 + + Jagdallak defile, 95 + + Jahanabad, 497 + + Jhal, 371 + + Jalalabad (Doshak), 335, 497; + Buddhist relics near, 177, 352 + + Jalawan Brahuis, 164 + + Jalk, 335 + + Jam Kala, 222 + + Jamrud, 398 + + Jamshidis, 214, 216, 481 + + Jaor, 486 + + Jats, Jatas, 293, 501 + + Jawani, 336 + + Jebel al Ghur, 217 + + Jerkere, 231 + + Jews (Yahudi): + Afghan hatred of, 50, 377 + Balkh, at, 71 + Sar-i-pul, at, 252 + Transportations of, 44 + Yahudia, at 251, 255 + + Jihun. _See_ Oxus. + + Jil district, 278 + + Jilgu river, 475 + + Jirena (Behvana), 245 + + Jirghan (? Jurkan, Gurkan, Juzjan, Guzwan), 250, 251, 255; + range, 249 + + Jirift, 201 + + Jirm (? Badakshan), 270, 506 + Position and importance of, 270, 274-5 + Wood's estimate of, 422, 425-6 + + Joubert's translation of Idrisi cited. _See_ Idrisi + + _Journal of the Royal Society of Arts_ cited, 146 + + Junasdara pass, 424-5 + + Jurkan (Gurkan, Juzjan, ?Guzwan or Jirghan), 250, 251, 255; + range, 249 + + Jutes, 61 + + + Kabadian, 278 + + Kabul: + Arab expedition against, 292 + Burnes' mission to (1832), 344, 376; + his commercial mission to (1837-8), 392, 398-401, 404-405 + Hicks' tomb at, 469 + Masson British agent in, 397; + his account of, 376-7 + Mediæval estimate of, as "Indian" town, 211, 219, 226, 262; + mediæval description quoted, 211 + Modern conditions in, social and material, 377 + Moorcroft's journey to, 444 + Routes to and from: + Afghan Turkistan, Wood's account of route to, 418-19; + modern improvements in, 419 _and n._, 522 _n._ + Andarab, Khafila road to, 88 + Badakshan, all-the-year-round route to, 275-6, 419 _n._ + Balkh, Frontier Commission's route from, 272-3 + Bamian, route to, open in winter, 385-6 + Bokhara and Bamian, main route to, 389 + Herat, route from, by Hari Rud, 248, 256, 262; + other routes, 257 + Kunduz, 416, 523 + Mazar and Band-i-Amir, by, 259-261 + Peshawar _via_ Kuram valley and Peiwar pass, 135 + Punjab, route from: + Buddhist character of, 177 + Kunar, Laghman and Lundai valleys, by, 101 + Sar-i-pul, from, 252 + Vigne at, 468-9 + + Kabul province, India in Middle Ages, 277 + + Kabul (Kophen, Nahrwara) river: + Alexander's probable course along, 100 + Source of, 84 + mentioned, 96, 276 + + Kabul river basin (Ki-pin), 96, 176, 215 + + Kabulis, 492 + + Kach (Kaj), meaning of term, 35 + + Kach Gandava, 305-306 + + Kafir wine, 133-4 + + Kafiristan: + Homogeneity of natives of, 508 + Inhabitants of, 96, 269 + Ivy and vine in, 124 + Timur's invasion of, 327, 355-6 + Unexplored wildness of, 269-70 + + Kafirs in Afghanistan: + Badakshan, in, 437 + Ignorance regarding, 269-70 + Kunar valley, in, 102-103; + two Kafirs of Kamdesh, 131-2 + Siahposh. _See that title_ + + _Kafirs of the Hindu Kush, The_ (Robertson), cited, 510 + + Kafzur (Hajigak) pass, 417 + + Kah, 267, 268 + + Kaiani of Seistan, 34 + + Kaiani kingdom, ruins of, 82 + + Kaiani Maliks, 37, 208 + + Kaibar river, 232 + + Kaisan (Kasan) river, 272 + + Kaisar drainage, 248-9 + + Kala Bist, 204, 207, 208 + + Kala Sarkari, 260 + + Kala Sarwan, 206-208 + + Kala Shahar, 251, 255 + + Kala-i-Fath, 355, 496, 497 + + Kalagan, 342 + + Kalah, ruins of, 42 + + Kalama (Khor Khalmat), 158 + + Kalapani river, 106 + + Kalat, 323 + British expedition to, 406 + Christie and Pottinger at, 332 + Masson at, 370-71 + Strategic position of, 138-9 + + Kalat-i-Ghilzai (Khilkh), 206, 210 + + Kalatak, 301 + + Kalawun, 236, 238 + + Kalloo (Panjpilan) pass, 417 + + Kalu, 388 + + Kalwan (? Kolwah), 304 + + Kaman-i-Bihist, 232, 236 + + Kamard, Tajik chief of, 383, 384, 421 + + Kamard valley, 260, 261, 437 + + Kambali (? Khairokot), 150, 307-308 + + Kamdesh, 131 + + Kamran, Shah, 403 + + Kanazbun (Firabuz), 302-303; + distances from, 304, 313, 317 + + Kandabel, 305 + + Kandahar: + Flank march on, possibility of, 204-5 + Indian frontier, distance from, 528 + Kabul compared with, in matter of tolerance, 377 + Leech's mission to, 401-402 + Masson at, 360-61 + Mediæval insignificance of, 210 + Routes from, to: + Ghazni, 512 + Herat, 490; + Herat as gateway to, 525-8 + Kabul, Alexander's, 86-7 + Kalat, _via_ Mangachar valley, 374-5 + Sonmiani, 331 + + Kandahar (in Kach Gandava), 305-306 + + Kandaharis, 492 + + Kanowar, 238 + + Kao river. _See_ Alingar + + Kaoshan pass, 435: + Alexander's passage of, tradition as to, 87 + Greek control of, before Alexander's expedition, 20, 91; + Greek use of, 277 + Height of, 88, 357 + "Hindu Kush," known as the pass of, 414 + + Kara pass, 260, 418 + + Karabel (Armail, Armabel, Las Bela), 304-307, 320 + + Karabel plateau: + Description of, 248 + Route across, from near Panjdeh to Balkh, 250 + + Karabia I., 159 + + Karabine, 158 + + Karachi: + Approaches to, 140-41 + Configuration of, changes in, 153 + Makran route to, modern possibilities as to, 319-24 + Malir waterworks, 310 + Masson refused landing at, 368 + Voyage from, to Persian Gulf (by Nearkhos), 146, 152-61 + + Karakoram pass, 180 + + Karakoram trade route, 181, 517; + description of, 3-4 + + Karaks, 286, 292 + + Karamat Ali, Saiad, 390 + + Karapa route, 351 + + Karat, 231 + + Karbat, 250 + + Karbis (Gazban), 159 + + Kardos, 327 + + Kardozan, 479 + + Karez Ilias route to Sarakhs, 234 + + Karia Pir, 307 + + Kariut (Cariat), 210 + + Karmania, 32, 165 + + Karmatians, 293, 311 + + Karomurs, 71 + + Karosthi language, 280; + script cited, 171 + + Kartchoo, 482 + + Karuj (Korokh), 236, 237 + + Karwan (? Parwan), 276-7 + + Karza (? Kafza) pass, 382, 385 + + Kasan, 511; + stream, 428 + + Kashan, 322; + river, 236, 237, 240; + valley, 481 + + Kashmir (Kie-sha): + Buddhism in, 179-80 + Fa Hian in, 178-9, 182 + Persian knowledge of, 31 + + Kashmir passes, no records of military use of, 517 + + Kashmund mountains, 100, 101 + + Kashran (? Khasrin), 317 + + Kaspioi, 31 + + Kaspira (Kasmira), 31 + + Kasr Akhif (Ahnef), 245 + + Kasrkand, 311-12, 314 + + Kasur spur, 426 + + Kataghani horses, 504-505 + + Katan Chirak, 132 + + Katawar, 355 + + Kattasang, 472 + + Kattawaz plain, 465, 472, 475 + + Kawak (Khawak), 355 + + Kawakir, 235 + + Kej (Kiz, Kirusi, ?Labi), 301-302 + + Kej valley, 297 + + Kenef, 238 + + Kunjut (Hunza), 180-181 + + Kerman desert, 201; + valley, 262 + + Kermanshah, 322 + + Ketnev, 356 + + Khaibar route to India: + Evil reputation of, 458 + Hyphæstion's march by, 95 + Masson's journey by, 351-2 + + Khair, 310 + + Khair Kot (? Kambali), 150, 307-308 + + Khalmat tombs, 196, 310-11 + + Khan Nashin, 495 + + Khana Yahudi, 257 + + Khanabad, 423, 506 + + Kharachanabad (Khardozan), 230 + + Kharan, 331, 335, 339 + + Kharan desert, 339-41 + + Khardozan (Kharachanabad), 230 + + Khariab river, 278 + + Khariab (Kokcha) river, 270, 273, 274 + + Kharkerde, 231 + + Kharotis, 513 + + Khash, 495 + + Khash Rud valley, 204 + + Khashka pass, 387 + + Khasrin (? Kashran), 317 + + Khawak pass: + Height of, 357, 435 + Importance of, 521 + Popularity of, 414 + Timur at, 327, 355, 435 + otherwise mentioned, 261, 275, 277, 419, 428, 434, 507 + + Khawak river, 274 + + Khazar, 388 + + Khilkh (Kalat-i-Ghilzai), 206 + + Khilkhis. _See_ Ghilzais + + Khiva (Khwarezm), 218, 244 + + Khizilji Turks, 281-2 + + Khoes river, 99-100 + + Khoja Mahomed range, 424, 436, 437, 506, 507 + + Khojak range, 139 + + Khor Khalmat (Kalama), 158 + + Khorasan, 348 + + Khorienes, 93 + + Khotan (Ilchi): + Balkh, distance from, 177; + route to, 277, 278-9 + Buddhist centre, as, 172, 174 + + Khozdar: + Christie and Pottinger at, 331 + Masson at, 373 + Turan, capital of, 315 + + Khulm, 88, 270-72, 416; + river, 84 + + Khur, 308, 310 + + Khurd Kabul defile, 95 + + Khud Rud, 515 + + Khuzan (Ak Tepe), 245-6 + + Khwaja Amran (Kojak) range, 374 + + Khwaja Chist, 217, 223 + + Khwaja Salar, 448, 449, 460 + + Khwarezm (Khiva), 218, 244 + + Ki-pin (Kabul river basin), 176 + + Kie-sha. _See_ Kashmir. + + Kila Adraskand, 229 _n._ + + Kila Gaohar, 485 + + Kila Khum, 511 + + Kila Maur, 237, 245 + + Kila Panja, 430 + + Kila Shaharak, 486 + + Kila Sofarak, 256 + + Kila Wali, 243, 248 + + Kilif, 279; + pony ferry at, 89-90, 460 + + Kilik pass, 180, 517 + + Kilrin (? Gulran), 235 + + Kir (Kiz) Kaian, 313-17 + + Kirghiz (? Kirkhirs): + Idrisi's account of, 282-3 + Wood's estimate of, 430 + + Kirman, 311, 313-15, 322-3; + telegraph _via_, to India, 69 + + Kirman desert, 147 + + Kirthar range, 140 + + Kishm, 509 + + Kiz (Kirusi, Kej, ?Labi), 301-302 + + Kiz (Kir) Kaian, 313-17 + + Kizzilbash, 467 + + Knidza (Kyiza), 160 + + Koh Daman: + Alexander at, 94 + Description of, 96-7 + Lord's expedition to, 412-13 + + Koh-i-Babar (Baba) mountains: + Altitude of, 263 + Nature and direction of, 84, 381 + Rivers starting from, 215 + + Koh-i-Basman, 323 + + Koh-i-Malik Siah, 209 + + Koh-i-Mor (Meros) mountains, 105, 123-4, 358 + + Koh Umber mountain, 423, 506 + + Kohendil Khan, 493 + + Kohistan: + Inhabitants of, 96 + Mountain scenery of, 392 + + Kohistan plains, 87 + + Kohistani, 486 + + Kohistani Babas, 487 + + Kohnak divide, 513 + + Kojak (Khwaja Amran) range, 374 + + Kokcha (Khariab, Minjan) river: + Course of, nature of, at Faizabad, 424, 425 + Mouth of, 434 + Robertson's view regarding, 510 + Route by headwaters of, nature of, 426, 427, 436 + mentioned, 270, 273, 274, 507, 520 + + Kokcha valley, 424, 425, 427 + + Kokhar Ab river, 515 + + Kolab, 433-4 + + Kolar gold-fields, 51 + + Kolwah (? Kalwan), 304 + + Konche river, 174 + + Kophen river. _See_ Kabul river + + Korokh (Karuj), 236, 237, 239, 240 + + Kotal-i-bed, 374 + + Kotal Murgh pass, 90 + + Kotanni pass, 513 + + Koure (Ghurian), 231-2 + + Koyunjik mound, 43 + + Krateros, 103, 147 + + Krokala, 148, 153, 156 + + Kua (Kau), 235, 236 + + Kudabandan, 303 + + Kuen Lun mountains, 171, 172, 173 + + Kufs, 200 + + Kughanabad, 236 + + Kuhsan, Kusan (? Kuseri, Kouseri), 232-3, 239, 479 + + Kum, 322 + + Kunar (Choaspes, Chitral) river, 122, 431; + importance of, 100 + + Kunar (Choaspes, Chitral) valley: + Description of, 100-103 + Direction of, 509-10 + Dorah route from, 520 + Ivy and vine in, 133 + Kafirs in, 102-103; + of Kamdesh, 131-2 + Masson's investigations as to, 396 + Survey of (1894), 123 + + Kundar river, 464 + + Kunduz (town): + Burnes' mission to, 378 + Description of, 504 + Lord's invitation to, 413, 416, 420-422 + Southward routes from, to Bamian and Kabul, 523 + Warwalin near, 272 + Wood's estimate of, 422 + + Kunduz district: + Fortified towns of, 504 + Pestilential climate of, 432, 447-9, 505 + Kunduz river, 261, 421, 428, 436, 505; + scenery of, 257, 259-260 + + Kunduz valley route to Kabul, 434 + + Kunjut, 186 + + Kupruk, 257 + + Kuram, 482-3, 505 + + Kuram valley route, 135, 512 + + Kurchi, 251 + + Kurdistan hills, 322 + + Kurt (Tajik) dynasty in Ghur, 218 + + Kuseri, Kouseri (? Kuhsan, Kusan), 231-3 + + Kushan (Tokhari), 241 + + Kushk, 324 + + Kushk river, 236, 237, 240; + description of, 246 + + Kushk-i-Nakhud, 210, 492 + + Kyiza (Knidza), 160 + + + Labi (? Kiz, Kirusi, Kej), 304 + + Ladakh ("Little Tibet"): + Idrisi's description of the town of, 281 + Mongol invasion _via_, 186 + Moorcroft in, 443-4 + Vigne in, 462 + + Laghman valley, 96, 99-101; + inhabitants of, 100, 133 + + Lahore: + Burnes at, 455 + Masson at, 366-7 + + Lakshur (? Langar), 238-9 + + Lalposh, 270 + + Lamghan. _See_ Laghman + + Language, women's preservation of, 22, 143, 295 + + Lapis-lazuli mines above Jirm, 426, 507 + + Las (Lumri) tribe of Rajputs, 305 + + Las Bela (Armail, Armabel, Karabel): + Distances to, 303-304 + Gadurs of, 35 + Historic interest of, 304-307, 320 + Masson at, 369 + Ruins near, 372 + Strategic position of, 138-9 + + Lash Jowain, 493, 498 + + Lasonoi, 30 + + Lataband pass, 424 + + Leach, Lieut., 471 + + Lead mines of Ferengal in Ghorband valley, 416 + + Leech, Lieut., on Burnes' staff, 401-402, 412; + work and methods of, 440-41 + + Leh, 180, 443, 444, 519 + + Leonatus, 151, 156, 161 + + Lhasa: + Buddhist centre, as, 172-3 + Moorcroft's residence at, question as to, 439-40, 444 + Pilgrimages to, 181, 187 + Route from, to India, 517 + + Liari, 308 + + Lockhart mission, 358, 429, 509 + + Logar river, 380, 468; + valley, 466, 475 + + Lohanis, 360, 463, 467 + + Lob, 283 + + Lop basin, 172, 173 + + Lop Nor, 171, 174, 280 + + Lord, Dr., mission of, to Badakshan, 402; + expedition of, to Koh Daman and Hindu Kush passes, 412-15; + in Ghorband valley, 416; + at Kunduz, 413, 416, 420-21; + visit of, to Hazrat Imam, 432; + investigations by, regarding Moorcroft, 439; + _Uzbek State of Kundooz_ by, 504; + cited, 420, 505 + + Loveday, Lieut., 406 + + Ludhiana, 344 + + Ludi (Lydoi), 30 + + Lulan, 174 + + Lumri (Las) tribe of Rajputs, 35, 305 + + Lundai valley, 101 + + Lungar, 468 + + Lydoi (Ludi), 30 + + + Mabara (? Barbarra), 434 + + Mackenzie, Captain, 148 + + M'Crindle cited, 159 + + MacMahon, Sir Henry, 374 _and n._, 497 + + MacNab, Dr., 131 + + McNair, 358 + + Mada Khel hills, 108 + + Mahaban (Shah Kot), 108, 110-11, 113, 117-21 + + _Mahabharata_ cited, 12, 63 + + Mahighir canal, 394 + + Mahmud of Ghazni, Multan conquered by (1005), 192-3, 293; + raids by, 200, 210, 218, 513; + tomb of, 376; + mentioned, 219, 468 + + Mahmudabad, 491 + + Mahomed Akbar Khan, 490 + + Mahomed Ali, Chief of Saighan, 378-9, 382-3 + + Mahomed Azim Khan, 444 + + Mahomed Kasim, 293-4, 307 + + Mahomed Khan, Sultan, 360, 403, 483 + + Mahomedanism, rise of, 187 + + Mahomedans: + Balkh, at, 72, 74 + Kafir attitude towards, 131 + Vigne's estimate of, 467 + + Maidan, 260, 468 + + Maimana, 239, 248-50, 258, 481 + + Makran (Gadrosia). _For particular districts, etc., see their + names_ + Alexander's retreat through, 38, 51, 86, 145-54, 161-6 + Ancient relics in, 56 + Arabian interest in, prior to A.D. 712, 292; + Arab governors of, 193, 292, 293 + Baluch traditions as to, 291 + Bampur the ancient capital of, 165 + Boledi long the ruling tribe in, 36-7 + Coasting trade of, in antiquity, 57 + Configuration, orography, and geological features of, 32-3, 48, + 285, 288-91, 296 + Decline of, in eleventh century, 295 + Desiccation of, 288-9 + Greek knowledge of, in ancient time scanty, 37 + Hots of (? Uxoi), 34 + Islands off, disappearance of, 286, 288 + Kaiani Maliks' supremacy in, 37 + Kushite race in, question as to, 34-5 + Negroes in, 36 + Persian satrapies including, 32, 200 + Physical features of. _See subheading_ Configuration + Ports of, for importation of firearms, 55 + Route through, to India under Arab supremacy, 209, 226, 294, 311 + Ignorance as to, 141 + Importance of, in antiquity, 167-8 + Modern possibilities as to, 319-24 + Stone-built circles in, 372 + Tombs in (Khalmati), 310-11 + Turanian relics in, 158 + View of, from Arabian Sea, 284-5 + + Malan headland, 158, 285, 291; + range, 161-2, 164 + + Malek Hupian, 394 + + Malistan valley, 515 + + Malli (? Meds), 155, 160-61 + + Malun Herat, 229 _n_. + + Manabari, 308-309 + + Manasarawar lakes, 440 + + Manbatara, 308 + + Mandal pass, 426, 507, 519 + + Manga (Manja, Mugger) Pir, 309 + + Mangachar valley, 374 + + Manglaor, 121 + + Manhabari (? Minagar, Binagar), 304, 309-10 + + Manjabari, 309 + + Manora (Domai) Island, 154 + + Mansura, 309 + + Mansuria, 315-16 + + Mashad: + Russian telegraph _via_, 69 + Seistan, route to, 528 + Teheran, objections regarding railway to, 319 + + Mashad valley, 424 + + Mashkaf (Bolan) pass, 139 + + Mashkel (? Maskan), 313-14; + swamp, 323, 339, 341 + + Massaga: + Alexander's capture of, 105, 122; + route from, 113 + Nysæans at, question as to, 128-9 + + Marabad, 225 + + Marakanda (Samarkand), 88 + + Mardians, 68, 76 + + Maruchak. _See_ Merv-el-Rud + + Marwa, 225 + + Masson, arrival of, at Bushire, 348, 368; + in Peshawar, 350; + journey to Kabul _via_ Khaibar route, 351-4, 359; + to Ghazni and Kandahar, 359-60; + to Quetta and Shikapur, 361-3; + in the Punjab, 364-5; + at Lahore, 365-367; + to Karachi, 377; + trips by water, 367-8; + in E. Baluchistan, 369; at Chahiltan, 370-71; + through Sind, 371-2; + again to Kalat, Kandahar, and Kabul, 372-7; + Besud expedition, 378, 380; + to Bamian (1832), 378-86; + to Kabul, 386, 388; + researches near Kabul, 393; + accepts post as British agent in Kabul, 397; + relations with Burnes, 399-401, 404; + resigns office under Indian Government, 405, 407; + experiences at Quetta, 406-7; + meeting with Vigne, 469; + intimacy with Afghans, 346-7, 350, 352, 362-363; + influence with them, 380; + intimacy with Baluchs, 374; + coins collected by, 393; + criticisms of Indian Government by, 408, 409; + value of work of, 345, 347-8, 367, 388, 391, 396, 407; + methods of, 346; + estimate of, 361, 370, 372, 395-6, 408; + _Travels in Afghanistan_, _etc._, see that title; + otherwise mentioned, 458, 462, 463, 468, 491 + + Masurjan, 317 + + Matakanai, 105, 128 + + Matiban, 200 + + Mazanderan, 481 + + Mazar, 434, 435, 448, 459 + + Mazar-i-Sharif, 257, 439 + + Meder, 267, 268 + + Meds (? Malli), 155, 160-61, 292-3 + + Megasthenes, 129; + his _India_ cited, 126-7 + + Mehrab Khan, 406 + + Meilik (Nimlik), 482 + + Menk, 274 + + Mesiha, 245 + + Mesopotamia: + Earliest immigrants into, question as to origin of, 34-5 + Irrigation works necessary in, 40-41 + Israelite deportations to, 39 + Nana-worship in, 163 + Teheran-Mashad route from, to Baktria, 47-8, 54, 70 + + Merv-el-Rud: + Confused with Russian Merv by Idrisi, 244-5 + Date and destruction of, 241-2 + otherwise mentioned, 236, 239, 240-41 + + Merv of the Oasis (Russian): + Balkh, routes to, 249-50 + Confused with Merv-el-Rud by Idrisi, 244 + Herat route from, 236 + Historic importance of, 241 + + Milesian Greeks: + Brankhidai, 20 + Colonies of: + N. of Euxine, 14 + S. and W. of Euxine, 18 + Transportation of, to Baktria region, 16, 19, 20, 31, 45 + + Miletus: + Alexander's reduction of (334 B.C.), 66 + Carpet-making industry of, 18 + Destruction of, date of, 16 + + Minab river, 166 + + Minagar, Binagar (? Manhabari), 304, 309-10 + + Mingal, 482 + + Mingals, 142, 306 + + Minjan pass, 507, 519; + Chitral route through, 359, 426 + + Minjan river. _See_ Kokcha + + Minjan valley, 132, 426, 436 + + Miri fort of Quetta, 138, 148 + + Mockler, Col., cited, 159-60 + + Mongols: + Afghanistan, in central plateau of, 85 + Asiatic civilization overrun by, 200 + Army of, destroyed on the Karakoram route, 4 + Chenghiz Khan, under, 73 + Ghur dynasty, subject to, 218 + India: + Central Southern, problem of arrival in, 142-4 + Invasion of, by, 326 + Military expeditions to, attempted, 186 + Pilgrimages to, 169 _et seq._ + + Monze, Cape, 154 + + Moorcroft, explorations by, 440; + question as to residence at Lhasa, 444; + journey from to Kabul, Badakshan, and Bokhara, 444-8; + official attitude towards, 442-3; + records of, 443; + fate of, 438-9; + grave of, 259; + estimate of, 443-4, 448, 503-504; + otherwise mentioned, 423, 434, 467 + + Morontobara, 154-5 + + Mosarna, 161 + + Mugger (Manga, Manja) Pir, 309 + + Mugheir (Ur), 42 + + Mula (Mulla) pass, 139, 140, 147, 371 + + Multan: + Hindu bankers in, 363 + Mahmud's conquest of (1005), 193, 293 + Masson's account of, 366 + Tubaran, distance from, 315 + + Murad Beg, Mir of Kunduz, position of, 378-9, 504; + Badakshani families transported by, 432, 505; + Lord's invitation by, 413, 416; + estimate of, 413; + Wood's estimate of, 422; + Moorcroft's experience and estimate of, 446-8; + otherwise mentioned, 385, 418, 425, 429, 503 + + Murad Khan of Kunduz, 383 + + Murgh pass, 434-5 + + Murghab basin, Upper, unmapped, 477 + + Murghab river: + Economic value of, 246-7 + Head of, unexplored, 516 + Head valleys of, 258 + Ruins on, 243-4 + Upper, climate of, 220 + otherwise mentioned, 215, 236, 239-41 + + Murghab valley, 242, 282, 284 + + Muskat, 55 + + Mustapha Khan, 487 + + Muttra, 210 + + + Nachan, 225 + + Nadir Shah, 267, 418, 526 + + Nagas, 501 + + Nahrwara river. _See_ Kabul river + + Naisan, 225 + + Najil, 327, 356, 396-7 + + Najirman (? Nakirman), 200 + + Najitan (Bajitan), 225 + + Nalpach pass, 383-4 + + Nan Shan mountain system, 173 + + Nana (Chaldean goddess), 162-3 + + Naoshirwan, 339 + + Napoleon Buonaparte, Emperor, 328-329 + + Naratu, 236, 237, 239, 248 + + Narmashir, 323 + + Nasirs, 475 + + Nasratabad, 203 + + Nassoor, Sheikh, 497 + + Nava Sanghârâma, 178 + + Navigation, ancient, character of, 13, 56-7 + + Nawagai, 103 + + Nawak pass, 274, 428 + + Nawar valley, 515 + + Nearkhos, 26, 27; + voyage of, from Karachi to Persian Gulf, 145, 152-61, 286; + meeting of, with Alexander, 166-7; + cited, 286 + + Negroes, Asiatic, 36 + + New Chaman, 324 + + Nicolas range, 431 + + Nikaia (modern Kabul), Alexander at, 98. _See also_ Kabul + + Nili, 222 + + Nimchas, 269 + + Nimlik (Meilik), 482 + + Nimrud, 71 + + Nineveh: + Ruins of, 42, 43 + Zenith of, 52 + + Nishapur, 231 + + Nomadic life, conditions of, 23-5 + + Nonnus of Panopolis cited, 62-3, 98 + + North, Lieut., value of geographical work by, 411-12, 471 + + Nott, 406 + + Nuhsala (Nosala, Haftala, Hashtala) island, 161, 286 + + Nuksan pass, 508-509, 519, 520, 522 + + Nurzai, 212, 491 + + Nusa. _See_ Nysa + + Nushki: + Christie and Pottinger at, 38 + Route _via_, 209, 323 + Telegraph to, 323 + + Nysa, Nyssa (Nusa, Nuson): + Tradition regarding, 62, 122-6 + War-hymn connected with, 131-2 + + Nysæan inscriptions, question as to, 129-30 + + Nysaioi, 126-7 + + + Obeh (Auca), 217, 225, 256 + + _Odyssey_ cited, 12 + + Olbia, 19 + + Omar I., Kalif of Baghdad, 307 + + Ora (? modern Bazar), 106 + + Oritæ, 146, 150, 151, 156, 161 + + Orodis, 241 + + Oxus district, mediæval geography of, 277 _et seq._ + + Oxus jungles, 433 + + Oxus (Jihun, Khariab) river: + Channel of, variations in, 89 + Fords of, accurate knowledge of, 501-502 + Irrigation works connected with, 75 + Khariab a name for, 273, 278 + Pony ferry over, at Kilif, 89-90, 460; + at Khwaja Salar, 449, 460-61 + Wood's explorations of, 420, 423, 428-35 + + Oxydrakai, 127 + + + Pactyans. _See_ Pathans + + Padizar bay, 158, 159 + + Paghman offshoot of Hindu Kush, 97 + + Paghman, 387 + + Pahrag (Pahra, Pahura, Fahraj), 315, 317, 342; + two places so named, 316 + + Pamirs: + Climate of, 429 + Mediæval geography of, 277 _et seq._ + Routes across, 502 + Taghdumbash, 517 + + Panja (Wakhab) river, 279 + + Panjdeh: + Buddhist caves at, 244 + Herat, routes from, 236 + Karabel plateau route from near, to Balkh, 250 + + Panjgur: + Dates of, 290 + Description of, 302-303 + Mountain conformation of, 323 + Railway from, to Karachi, question as to, 324 + Telegraph route to, from Ispahan, 322 + + Panjkora river, 104, 122 + + Panjkora valley, 96 + + Panjpilan (Kalloo, Shutar Gardan) pass, 386, 388, 417 + + Panjshir (Banjohir), 276-7 + + Panjshir pass, 87-8 + + Panjshir route between Kabul and Andarab, 87-8, 414 + + Panjshir valley: + Mediæval reputation of, 435 + Timur in, 355-6 + otherwise mentioned, 261, 275, 356-7, 434, 510, 521 + + Pannah, 472 + + Parah, 230 + + Parana (Parwana), 229, 481, 498 + + Parikanoi, 163-4 + + Parjuman, 223 + + Park mountains, 221 + + Parkan stream, 164 + + Paropamisos (Hindu Kush), 79, 234, 247. (_See also_ Hindu Kush.) + + Parsi (Tarsi), 489 + + Parwan (? Karwan), 276-7 + + Parwan (Sar Alang, Bajgah) pass, 328, 435; + altitude of, 357; + description of, 414 + + Parwana (Parana), 229, 481, 498 + + Pashai, 133 + + Pashat, 133 + + Pasiris, 158 + + Pasni, bay of, 159, 164 + + Patala, 146, 148 + + Pathans: + Ancient settlement of, in present situation, 28 + Greek names among, 21 + Inscriptions used by, for decoration, 129-30 + Persian origin of language of, 21 + + Peiwar pass, 135 + + Periplus cited, 310 + + Perjan (? Parwan), 355 + + Persepolis: + Alexander the Great at, 68 + Inscriptions at, cited, 30 + + Persia: + Afghanistan: + Colonies in, 61 + Intrigues regarding, British nervousness as to, 399-400 + War with (1837), 402 + Army of, French officers' organisation of, 477 + Charbar point fort built by, 299 + Configuration of western, 48 + Desert regions of, 69; + "Great Desert," 201 + Firearms imported into, 155 + Helmund boundary of, 80 + Routes through, to the East, two, 69; + routes to India, 311, 319, 321-4 + Russia: + Sphere of influence of, 322 + French organisation of Persian army resented by, 477 + War with (1826), 348 + + Persian Empire: + Extent of, 21, 26-7 + Geographical information possessed by, extent and accuracy of, + 17, 25-6, 29, 31 + Greek permeation of, 20-21; Greek attitude towards, 36 + Indian hinterland under control of, in Alexander's time, 61 + Indian trade of, 21 + Nations subject to, lists of, 29-30 + Satrapies of, identification of, 30-32 + + Persian Gulf: + Command of, necessary for safety of southern Baluchistan passes, + 141 + Masson's trip up, 367 + Voyage to, from Karachi (by Nearkhos), 146, 152-61 + + Persians, Pottinger's estimate of, 333-4 + + Peshawar: + Cession of, to Afghanistan mooted by Burnes, 401, 404 + Moorcroft's journey from, to Kabul and Bokhara, 444 + Route to, from Kabul _via_ Kuram valley and Peiwar pass, 135 + Sikh occupation of, 350 + + Peshawaran, 336 + + Peukelaotis, 99, 114 + + Philotas, 78 + + Phur river, 151 + + Physical geography, influence of, on migratory movements, 9, 45-6; + on history, 214 + + Pimuri defile, 421 + + Pir Mahomed, 445, 456 + + Pisacas, 133 + + Place-names, value of, in identifications, 115 + + Pokran (? Pokar), 371 + + Pola Island, 159 + + Polo, Marco, 281, 327 + + Polyænus quoted, 127-8 + + Pony-ferries on the Oxus--at Kilif, 89-90, 460; + at Khwaja Salar, 449, 460-61 + + Poolka, 496 + + Poolki (Pulaki), 335-6, 497 + + Pottinger, Lieut., explorations by, 329 _et seq._; + at Herat, 402; + quoted--on Persian character, 333-4; + on the Kharan desert, 339-40 + + Pousheng (Boushinj, Bousik), 231, 234, 237 + + Ptolemy (son of Lagos), with Alexander's expedition, 103, 104, 116; + cited, 37, 104, 310 + + Pul-i-Malun bridge, 229 _n._, 230 + + Pulaki (Poolki), 335-6, 497 + + Punjab: + Alexander's march on, 94 + Fa Hian in, 179, 185 + French and Italians in, 366 + Greek architecture and sculpture in, 59 + Ranjit Singh's hunting party in, 455-6 + Sikh Government, under, 345-6, 363 + + Pura, 165 + + Purali (Arabius) river, 146, 148, 149, 156, 292, 305, 320, 370 + + Pushti Hajigak (Kafzur) pass, 417 + + Pushto, 350, 352 + + + Quetta (Shall): + British ignorance regarding, in 1880, 369 + Masson and Bean at, 406; + Masson's account of, 362 + Strategic importance of, 137-9 + Telegraph to, from Seistan, 323 + + Quintus Curtius. _See_ Curtius + + + Ragozin's _Chaldea_ quoted, 43 + + Rahmat Khan, 365 + + Rahmatulla Khan, 382, 421 + + Rahun, 304 + + Rajput tribes, 35 + + Rajputana desert, 27 + + Ramayana cited, 12, 63 + + Rambakia, 150 + + Ranjit Singh, Bentinck's interview with (1832), 344; + position of, 350, 398; + Burnes' entertainment by, 455-6; + Burnes' estimate of, 457; + Vigne's acquaintance with, 462; + mentioned, 401, 404 + + Ras Kachari, 156 + + Rasak (? Sarbaz), 312-14 + + Ravi river, 366 + + Rawlinson, Sir Henry, cited, 241, 242, 245, 479; + his _Five Monarchies_ quoted, 43 + + Regan, 316, 317, 323 + + Registan, 375 + + Reishkhan district, 424 + + Robat-i-Kashan, 237 + + Roberts, Lord, 87 + + Robertson, Sir George, 358, 426, 507, 510 + + Rohri, 364 + + Rokh, Shah, 242 + + Rookes cited, 118 + + Roxana, 92 + + _R.G.S. Journal_ cited, 123; + _Proceedings_ cited, 241 + + Rozabagh, 229 _n._ + + Rozanak, 233 + + Ruby mines of Oxus valley, 428 + + Rudbar (? Rudhan), 207, 496 + + Rue Khaf (? Rudan), 231 + + Russia: + Afghan intrigues of, British nervousness regarding, 399-400 + India: + Designs on, question as to, 319-20 + Route to, nature of, 527-8 + Persia: + Army organisation of, resented by, 477 + Sphere of influence in, 322 + War with (1826), 348 + Transcaspian railway terminus, 324 + + Russo-Afghan Boundary Commission: + Camps of, 233, 235, 240 + Escort of English officers of, 492 + Geographical surveys in Reports of, 194, 264 + Kwaja Salar, disappearance of, 450 + Rapidity of movements of, 477 + Routes of, 78, 248, 261, 272-3, 335, 415 + otherwise mentioned, 71, 83, 231 + + Rustak, 504 + + Rustam (Bazira), 106, 113, 114 + + + Sabaktagin, 414 + + Sacnia, 281 + + Sadik Khan, 493 + + Sadmurda, 260 + + Safed Khak pass, 379 + + Safed Koh, 95 + + Sagittæ, 163 + + St. John cited, 148, 316 + + Saiad Ahmad Shah, 350 + + Saib, 433 + + Saidabad fort, 386 + + Saighan valley, 260, 379, 382, 421, 437, 505 + + Sajidi, 164 + + Sakæ, 163, 164 + + Sakah, 229 + + Sakas, 501 + + Samad Khan, 390 + + Samaria, date of fall of, 39 + + Sarmakan, 245 + + Samarkand (Marakanda), 88, 292 + + Sandeman, Sir Robert, 137, 320; + cited, 374 + + Sandrakottos (Chandragupta), 129 + + Sangadip Island, 161 + + Sangcharak, 258; + mountains, 255 + + Sangiduktar, 231 + + Sangusar, 492 + + Sar Alang (Parwan, Bajgah) pass, 414 + + Saraswati river, 27, 144 + + Sarakhs, 230, 233, 234 + + Sarbaz (? Rasak), 312, 314; + river, 312 + + Sardanapalus (Assur-bani-pal), 52, 162-3 + + Sargo pass, 472 + + Sargon, 39, 45 + + Sar-i-jangal stream, 256 + + Sarikoh stream, 267 + + Sar-i-pul (? Aspurkan), 250-52, 483 + + Sarwan (Kala Sarwan), 206-208 + + Sarwandi (Sir-i-koll) pass, 465, 472; + ridge, 465-6 + + Satibarzanes, 77 + + Schintza, 473 + + Schwanbeck, Dr., 126 + + Scylax of Caryanda, 26-9 + + Sehwan, 371 + + Seistan (Sejistan, Drangia, Drangiana): + Afghan army's experience in, 403 + Climate and natural conditions in, 80, 85, 201-203, 403, 494 + Extent of, less than of ancient Drangiana, 78; + extent in mediæval times, 205 + Firearms imported into, 55 + Goldsmid's mission to, 299 + Inhabitants of, mentioned by Herodotus, 33 + Lake of, 497 + Route to Mashad, 528 + Persian satrapy, 32, 200 + Ruins in, abundance of, 336 + Reputation of, 201-202 + Surveys of, 496-7 + Telegraph to, from Narmashir, 323 + Tributary to Ghur in mediæval times, 218 + + Sekhwan, 338 + + Sekoha, 498 + + Sejistan. _See_ Seistan + + Semenjan. _See_ Haibak + + Semiramis, 147 + + Senacherib, King of Assyria, 52 + + Senart, M., cited, 130 + + Seneca, cited, 21 + + Ser-ab (? Sar-i-ab), 468 + + Shah, 251, 255 + + Shah Kot (Mahaban), 108, 110-11, 113, 117-21 + + Shaharak, 486 + + Shahar-i-Babar, 257, 267 + + Shahar-i-Wairan (? Shahar, Shah), 254-5 + + Shaitana, 380 + + Shakiban, 338 + + Shams Tabieri, Saint, 366 + + Shamshirs, 233-4, 240 + + Shamsuddin pass, 418 + + Shansabi, 218 + + Sharif, Imam, 484 + + Sharifudin cited, 355 + + Sheherek, 486 + + Sheranni, 512 + + Sher-i-dahan, 468 + + Sherwan, 433-4 + + Shibar, 468 + + Shibar pass, 260, 277, 387 + + Shibarghan, 251-2 + + Shikapur, financial credit of, 331-2, 363, 452-3 + + Shorawak, 374-5 + + Shutar Gardan (Kalloo, Panjpilan) pass, 386, 388, 417 + + Siah Koh (Band-i-Baian), 486, 487 + + Siah Reg pass, 381 + + Siahposh Kafirs, 270, 354-6, 358 + + Siam, celadon furnaces in, 83 + + Sidonians, deportation of, by Assyria, 52 + + Sikhs, Dost Mahomed's operations against, 397-8 + + Simkoh, 234 + + Sind: + Arab ascendency in, 192, 293, 311, 366; + their geography of, 296; + buried Arab city in, 196 + Assyrian art in pottery of, 54 + Buddhist ruins in, 372 + Frontier passes of, 209 + Hot winds in, 341 + Independent government, under, 329, 331, 345-6, 363 + Masson in, 349; his account of, 365 + Mongols settled in, 526 + Mountain barrier of, 140 + + Singlak, 485 + + Sin-ho-to. _See_ Swat + + Sintu-ho river. _See_ Indus + + Sirafraz Khan, 391 + + Sir-i-koll (Sarwandi) pass, 465 + + Sirondha lake, 155 + + Skytho-Aryans, 241 + + Skyths: + Caspian, at north and west of, 19 + Central Asia, of, 50; + Alexander's encounter with, 92-3 + Euxine, at north of, 14 + Westward migration of, 61 + + Slavery in Badakshan, 520 + + Sofarak, 262 + + Sogdia (Bokhara), 32, 92 + + Sohrab, 332 + + Somnath, 210 + + Song Yun cited, 184 + + Sonmiani, 308, 368; + route from, to interior, 330-31 + + Sousa, 479 + + Spinasuka pass, 103 + + Stein, Dr. M. A., 237, 503; + Buddhist sanctuary discovered by, 184; + methods of, 109-11; + cited, 111, 113, 117-18, 120-21, 170 + + Stoddart, Colonel, 390, 402 + + Stone-built circles, 372 + + Strabo cited, 107, 122; + quoted, 127 + + Stewart, General, 95 + + Subzawar, 230, 498 + + Sufed Koh mountains, 135, 215 + + Su-ho-to (Lower Swat), 185 + + Sujah, Shah, 344, 353, 405, 456 + + Suliman, Kalif, 294 + + Suliman hills, torrents and passes of, 36-7 + + Suliman Khel Ghilzais: + Broadfoot the authority on, 474-5 + Duties levied by, 464, 474-5 + Kattasang, in, 472 + Land of, unexplored, 514 + + Sultan Mahomed, 445, 446 + + Sura (? Suza), 317 + + Surkh Kila pass, 418 + + Survey methods, perfecting of, 500 + + Suza (? Sura), 317 + + Swat (Sin-ho-to, Su-ho-to): + Buddhism in, 129 + Fa Hian in, 179, 185 + Geographical surveys of, 123 + Uplands of, 128 + + + Tabriz, 368 + + Taft, 322 + + Tagao Ghur river, 221 + + Tagao Ishlan river, 215-16, 223; + valley, 486 + + Tagdumbash Pamir, 180, 279, 517 + + Taimanis: + Country of, 84, 214, 217, 220, 222-223, 478, 488 + Kidnapping by, in Afghan Turkistan, 253 + Traditions of, 212 + Women of, Ferrier's account of, 489 + mentioned, 481, 489 + + Taiwara (Ghur): + Herat, route from, 223 + Importance of, 487 + Ruins at, 222, 488 + mentioned, 220, 515 + + Tajik (Kurt), dynasty in Ghur, 218 + + Tajiks, Badakshani, 432 + + Takla Makan, 283 + + Takht-i-Rustam (tope at Haibak), 446 + + Takht-i-Suliman mountain: + Expedition to (1882), 112, 119, 513 + River gorges of, 137 + mentioned, 137, 464 + + Takzar (Zakar), 251, 252 + + Talara, 300-301 + + Talbot, Colonel the Hon. M. G., R.E., 264 _and n._, 446; + cited, 489-90 + + Talekan, 271-4 + + Talikan, 241, 243, 504; + Mahomedan saint at, 447 + + Talikan (Talikhan), 243 _and n._, 249 + + Talikan plains, 506, 509 + + Talikhan plain, 423 + + Taloi range, 164 + + Tamerlane. _See_ Timur + + _Tarikh-i-Rashidi_ cited, 186 + + Tarim river, 173, 174, 283 + + Tarnak river, 224 + + Tashkurghan: + Fort of, 279, 281 + Kabul, routes to, 260, 419 + Moorcroft at, 448 + otherwise mentioned, 88, 482 + + Tashkurghan river, 261, 279 + + Tarsi (Parsi), 489 + + Tate, Mr. G. P., cited, 336 + + Taxila, 29, 94, 99 + + Taxiles, 99 + + Teheran: + Hamadan telegraph route to, 48 + Kashan, question as to railway _via_, 322 + Mashad route from, 54, 77; + question as to railway by, 319 + + Termez, 278, 279 + + Teshkhan, 424 + + Thakot, 121 + + Tibet: + Chinese Turkistan formerly included in, 283 + Gold-fields of, 51 + Gold-digging legends concerning, 31 + Idrisi's description of, 281-3 + Invasion of India from, possibility as to, 188 + Mongol invasion of, 186-7 + Moorcroft in, 439-40 + + Tibetans, modern, 283 + + Tiglath Pilesur, King of Assyria, 6, 44, 46, 49, 51, 52, 57 + + Tigris river, 368 + + Til pass, 275 + + Timur Hissar, 356 + + Timur Shah (Tamerlane): + Herat and Ghur broken up by, 219 + Kafiristan invaded by, 327, 355-6, 435 + Merv-el-Rud destroyed by, 242 + otherwise mentioned, 193, 394, 414, 481 + + Tingelab river, 486 + + Tippak, 283 + + Tir, 238-9 + + Tir Band-i-Turkistan mountains, 239, 240, 247, 258 + + Tirah Expedition, 105 + + Tiz (Talara), 299-301 + + Tochi river, 475 + + Tochi valley, 136; + route by, 512-14 + + Todd, Major d'Arcy, 480 + + Tokhari (Kushan), 241 + + Tokharistan (Oxus region), 241; + capital of, 243 + + To-li (Darel), 179, 182-3 + + Tomeros river, 157 + + Tous, 479 + + Topchi valley, 386, 388 + + Torashekh, 237, 482 + + Transportation of whole populations, 40, 44 + + Travel, _camaraderie_ of, 463-4 + + _Travels in Afghanistan, Baluchistan, the Punjab, and Kalat_ + (Masson) cited, 349 _et seq._ + + Trebeck, 439-40, 444, 448, 459 + + Tsungling, 177, 178 + + Tubaran, 315-17 + + Turan, 315-16 + + Turfan, 172 + + Turki language, 394 + + Turkistan, Afghan. _See_ Afghan Turkistan + + Turkman women, 283 + + Turkmans, Ersari, 459-60 + + Turks, Khizilji, 281-2 + + Turks Tibetans, 282 + + + Uch, 364, 366 + + Udyana (Wuchung), 179, 184 + + Ujaristan valley, 515 + + Unai (Honai, Bamian) pass, 87, 260, 262, 379, 389, 414, 420, 446; + importance of, 521; + Wood's description of, 417 + + Ur (Mugheir), 42 + + Urmara, 368 + + Urukh (Warka), 163 + + Urusgan valley, 515 + + Uthal, 307 + + Uzbeks: + Agricultural pursuits of, 251 + Dwellings of, 249 + Kirghiz compared with, 430 + Man-stealing propensities of, 421 + Murad Khan acknowledged liege by, 383, 413 + Snake-handling by, 253 + Wood's estimate of, 423 + + + Vaisravana, 178 + + Varsach river, 424 + + Vektavitch, Lieut., 400 + + Ventura, General, 367 + + Victoria Lake, 430-31 + + + Wad, 373 + + Wade, Captain, 397, 398 + + Wainwright, E. A., cited, 313 + + Wakhab (Panja) river, 279 + + Wakhan, 273, 281, 327 + + Wakhjir pass, 279 + + Waksh, 273, 278 + + Wakshab river, 273, 278 + + Walian (Gwalian) pass, 414 + + Walid I., Kalif, 292, 307 + + Walker, General, cited, 123, 508 + + Wana, 513 + + Wardak valley, 466, 475 + + Wardoj river, 429, 437 + + Wardoj (Zebak) valley, 436 + + Warka (Urukh), 163 + + Warwalin, 271-2 + + Washir, 490 + + Wazirabad lake, 98 + + Waziris, 464, 474 + + Waziristan, 473 + + Weather, effects of, on natural features, 117-18 + + Westward migrations, 45, 61 + + Wilson, Major David, cited, 368 + + Wiltshire, General, 406 + + Wine made by Kafirs, 133-4 + + Wood, Lieut., mission of, to Badakshan, 402; + with Lord, 412, 416-18, 420, 422, 432, 439; + explorations of the Oxus by, 420, 423, 428-35; + Indus navigation by, 454; cited, 505-507, 523; + estimate of, 431; + value of work of, 418 + + Wolff, Rev. Joseph, 376 + + Woodthorpe, 429, 509 + + Wuchung (Udyana), 179, 184 + + Wynaad gold-fields, 51 + + + Xenophon, retreat of, from Persia, 18, 42; + appreciation of, 66; + cited, 42 + + Xerxes, 20, 31, 91 + + + Yahudi. _See_ Jews + + Yahudia, 251, 255 + + Yakmina (Darak Yamuna), 317 + + Yakulang, 262; valley, 256 + + Yaman, 220, 222 + + Yang Kila, 433 + + Yar Mahomed Khan, 445, 477, 480, 490, 494 + + Yarkand, 279, 328 + + Yezd, 322 + + Yezdambaksh, 378, 382-4 + + Yule, Sir Henry, cited, 219, 508 + + Yusli, 307-308 + + Yusuf Darra route to Sar-i-pul, 483 + + Yusufzai rising, 350 + + + Zaimuni, 389 + + Zakar (Takzar), 251, 252 + + Zal valley, 262 + + Zamindawar (Dawar), 83, 205-206, 223, 491 + + Zarah swamp, 204 + + Zarangai, 33-4 + + Zardaspan, 90 + + Zari stream, 257 + + Zariaspa. _See_ Andarab + + Zarinje, 203, 204 + + Zarni, 222 + + Zebak: + Faizabad, route from, 511 + + Zebak: + Importance of, 427, 429, 433 + mentioned, 279 + + Zebak river, 437, 520 + + Zebak (Wardoj) valley, 436 + + Zhob valley, 137 + + Zindajan (Bouchinj), 231, 232, 479 + + Zirmast pass, 236, 239, 240 + + Zirni, 487, 488 + + Zohak, 267, 387; + valley, 421 + + Zohaka, 466 + + Zoji-la, 180 + + +THE END + + +_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, LIMITED, _Edinburgh_. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gates of India, by Thomas Holdich + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 42970 *** |