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HINDU

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 314 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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HINDU See also:

Kum), the highways of See also:Afghanistan may be classed under two heads: (1) See also:Foreign See also:trade routes, and (2) See also:Internal communications. (I) Of the many routes which See also:cross the frontiers of Afghanistan the most important commercially are those which connect the See also:Oxus regions and the Central Asian khanates with See also:Kabul, and those which See also:lead from Kabul, See also:Ghazni and See also:Kandahar to the plains of See also:India. Kabul is linked with Afghan See also:Turkestan and See also:Badakshan by three See also:main lines of communication across the Koh-i-Baba and the Hindu Kush. One of these routes follows the See also:Balkh See also:river to its See also:head from See also:Tashkurghan, and then, preserving a high See also:general level of 8000 to 9000 ft., it passes over the See also:water-divides separating the upper tributaries of the See also:Kunduz river, and drops into the valley formed by an-other tributary at See also:Bamian. From Bamian it passes over the central See also:mountain See also:chain to Kabul either by the well-known passes of See also:Irak (marking the water-See also:divide of the Koh-i-Baba) and of Unai (marking the See also:summit of the Sanglakh, a See also:branch of the Hindu Kush), or else, turning eastwards, it crosses into the Ghorband valley by the Shibar, a pass which is considerably See also:lower than the Irak and is very seldom snowbound. From the See also:foot of the Unai pass it follows the Kabul river, and from the foot of the Shibar it follows the circuitous route which is offered by the drainage of the Ghorband valley to Charikar, and thence southwards to Kabul. The main points on this route are See also:Haibak, Bajgah and Bamian. It is full of awkward grades and See also:minor passes, but it does not maintain a high level generally, no pass (if the Shibar route be adopted) much exceeding 1o,000 ft. That this has for centuries been regarded as the main route northward from Kabul, the Buddhist See also:relics of Bamian and Haibak See also:bear silent See also:witness; but it may be doubted whether Abdur Rahman's See also:talent for roadmaking has not opened out better alternative lines. One of his roads connects Haibak with the Ghorband valley by the Chahardar pass across the Hindu Kush. The pass is high (nearly 14,000 ft.), but the road is excellently well laid out, and the route, which, See also:south of Haibak, traverses a corner of the Ghori and Baghlan districts of Badakshan, is more See also:direct. A third route also passes through Badakshan, and connects Kunduz with Charikar by the Khawak pass and Panjshir river.

The latter joins the Ghorband See also:

close to Charikar. The Khawak (11,600 ft.) is not a high pass; the grades are easy and the snowfall usually See also:light. This high road is stated (on Afghan authority) to be kept open for khafila See also:traffic all the See also:year See also:round by the employment of forced labour for clearing See also:snow. It is a recently See also:developed route and one of See also:great importance to Kabul, both strategically and commercially. Routes that pass through the mountain barriers of the frontier between Peshawarand the Gomaloccur at intervals along the western border, and in the See also:northern See also:section of the See also:Indian frontier they are all well marked. The Khyber, See also:Kurram and Tochi are the best known, inasmuch as all these lines of advance into Afghanistan are held by See also:British troops or Indian levies. But the Bara valley route into the See also:heart of the See also:Afridi See also:Tirah is not to be altogether overlooked, although it is not a trade route of any importance. Between Kabul and See also:Jalalabad there are two roads, one by the Lataband pass, and the other and more difficult by the Khurd-Kabul and Jagdalak passes, the latter being the See also:scene of the See also:massacre of a British See also:brigade in 1842. Between Jalalabad and See also:Peshawar is the Khyber pass (q.v.). The Khyber was not in See also:ancient times the main route of advance from Kabul to Peshawar. From Kabul the old route followed the Kabul river through the valley of See also:Laghman (or Lamghan, as the Afghans See also:call it) over a See also:gentle water-parting into the See also:Kunar valley, leaving Ningrahar and Jalalabad to the south. From the Kunar it crossed into See also:Bajour by one of several open and comparatively easy passes, and from Bajour descended into India either by the Malakand or some other contiguous frontier gateway to the plains of Peshawar.

The Kurram route involves the Peiwar and Shutargardan passes (8600 and 10,800 ft. respectively) across the See also:

southern extensions of the Safed Koh range, and has never been a great trade route, however suitable as an alternative military See also:line of advance. Trade does not extend largely between Afghanistan and India by the Tochi route, being locally confined to the valley and the dis• tracts at its head, yet this is the shortest and most direct route between Ghazni and the frontier, and in the palmy days of Ghazni raiding was the road by which the great robber Mahmud occasionally descended on to the See also:Indus plains. Traces of his raiding and road-making are still visible, but it is certain that he made use of the more direct route to Peshawar far more frequently than he did of the Tochi. The exact nature of the connexion between the head of the Tochi and the Ghazni See also:plain is still unknown to us. The See also:Gomal is the great central trade route between Afghanistan and India; and the position, which is held by a tribal See also:post at See also:Wana, will do much to ensure its continued popularity. The Gomal involves no passes of any great difficulty, although it is impossible to follow the actual course of the river on See also:account of the narrow defiles which have been cut through the See also:recent See also:conglomerate beds which flank the plains of the Indus. It has been carefully surveyed for a possible railway See also:alignment; and an excellent road now connects Omitting the See also:group of northern routes to India from Central See also:Asia, which pass between See also:Kashmir and Afghanistan Tank (at its foot) with the See also:Zhob line of communications to See also:Quetta, and with Wana on the southern flank of See also:Waziristan. The Gomal route is of immense importance, both as a commercial and strategic line, and in both particulars is of far greater significance than either the Kurram or the Tochi. (2) Of the interior lines of communication ,those which connect the great cities of Afghanistan, See also:Herat, Kabul and Kandahar, are obviously the most important. Between Kabul and Herat there is no " royal " road, the existing route passing over the frequently snow-See also:bound wastes that See also:lie below the southern flank of the great Koh-i-Baba into the upper valleys of the Hari Rud tributaries. It is a See also:waste, elevated, desolate region that the route traverses, and the road itself is only open at certain seasons of the year. Between Kabul and Kandahar exists the well-known and oft-traversed route by Ghazni and See also:Kalat-i-See also:Ghilzai.

There is but one insignificant waterparting—or kotal—a little to the See also:

north of Ghazni; and the road, although unmade, may be considered equal to any road of its length in See also:Europe for military purposes. Between Kandahar and Herat there is the recognized trade route which crosses the See also:Helmund at See also:Girishk and passes through See also:Farah and See also:Sabzawar. It includes about 36o See also:miles of easy road, with spaces where wateris scarce. There is not a pass of any great importance, nor a river of any great difficulty, to be encountered from end to end, but the route is flanked on the north between Kandahar and Girishk by the Zamindawar hills, containing the most truculent and fanatical clans of all the Southern Afghan tribes. Little need be said of the 65 m. of route between Kandahar and the See also:Baluchistan frontier at New Chaman. It is on the whole a route across open plains and hard, stony " dasht"—a route which would offer no great difficulties to that railway See also:extension from Chaman which has so See also:long been contemplated. A very considerable trade,now passes along this route to India, in spite of almost prohibitive imposts; but the trade does not follow the railway from New Chaman to the eastern foot of the Khojak. Long strings of camels may still be seen from the See also:train windows patiently treading their slow way over the Khojak pass to Kila Abdullah, whilst the train alongside them rapidly twists through the mountain See also:tunnel into the See also:Peshin valley. The variety of See also:climate is immense, as might be expected. Taking the See also:highlands of the See also:country as a whole, there is no climate. great difference between the mean temperature of Afghanistan and that of the lower Himalayas. Each may be placed at a point between 5o° and 60° F. But the remark-able feature of Afghan climate (as also of that of Baluchistan) is its extreme range of temperature within limited periods.

The least daily range in the north is during the See also:

cold See also:weather, the greatest in the hot. For seven months of the year (from May to See also:November) this range exceeds 30° F. daily. Waves of intense cold occur, lasting for several days, and one may have to endure a cold of 120 below zero, rising to a maximum of 17° below freezing-point. On the other See also:hand the summer temperature is exceedingly high, especially in the Oxus regions, where a shade maximum of r ro° to 120° is not uncommon. At Kabul, and over all the northern See also:part of the country to the descent at See also:Gandamak, See also:winter is rigorous, but especially so on the high Arachosian See also:plateau. In Kabul the snow lies for two or three months; the See also:people seldom leave their houses, and See also:sleep close to stoves. At Ghazni the snow has been known to lie long beyond the vernal See also:equinox; the thermometer sinks to ro° and 15° below zero (Fahr.) ; and tradition relates the entire destruction of the See also:population of Ghazni by snowstorms more than once. At Jalalabad the winter and the climate generally assume an Indian See also:character. The summer See also:heat is great everywhere in Afghanistan, but most of all in the districts bordering on the Indus, especially Sewi, on the lower Helmund and in See also:Seistan. All over Kandahar See also:province the summer heat is intense, and the simoon is not unknown. The hot See also:season throughout this part of the country is rendered more trying by frequent dust storms and fiery winds; whilst the See also:bare rocky ridges that See also:traverse the country, absorbing heat by See also:day and radiating it by See also:night, render the summer nights most oppressive. At Kabul the summer See also:sun has great See also:power, though the heat is tempered occasionally by cool breezes from the Hindu Kush, and the nights are usually cool.

At Kandahar snow seldom falls on the plains or lower hills; when it does, it melts at once. At Herat, though 800 ft. lower than Kandahar, the summer climate is more temperate; and, in fact, the climate altogether is far from disagreeable. From May to See also:

September the See also:wind blows from the N.W. with great violence, and this extends across the country to Kandahar. The winter is tolerably mild;snow melts as it falls, and even on the mountains does not lie long. Three years out of four at Herat it does not freeze hard enough for the people to See also:store See also:ice; yet it was not very far from Herat, and could not have been at a greatly higher level (at Kafir Kala, near Kassan) that, in 175o, Ahmad Shah's See also:army, retreating from See also:Persia, is said to have lost 18,000 men from cold in a single night. In the northern Herat districts, too, records of the coldest See also:month (See also:February) show the mean minimum as 17° F., and the maximum 38°. The eastern reaches of the Hari Rud river are frozen hard in the winter, rapids and all, and the people travel on it as on a road. The summer rains that accompany the S.W. See also:monsoon in India, beating along the southern slopes of the See also:Himalaya, travel up the Kabul valley as far as Laghman, though they are more clearly See also:felt in Bajour and Panjkora, under the high spurs of the Hindu Kush, and in the eastern branches of Safed Koh. See also:Rain also falls at this season at the head of Kurram valley. South of this the Suliman mountains may be taken as the western limit of the monsoon's See also:action. It is quite unfelt in the See also:rest of Afghanistan, in which, as in all the See also:west of Asia, the winter rains are the most considerable. The See also:spring rain, though less copious, is more important to See also:agriculture than the winter rain, unless where the latter falls in the See also:form of snow.

In the See also:

absence of monsoon influences there are steadier weather indications than in India. The north-west blizzards which occur in winter and spring are the most noticeable feature, and their See also:influence is clearly felt on the Indian frontier. The cold is then intense and the force of the wind cyclonic. Speaking generally, the Afghanistan climate is a dry one. The sun shines with splendour for three-fourths of the year, and the nights are even more clear than the days. Marked characteristics are the great See also:differences of summer and winter temperature and of day and night temperature, as well as the extent to which See also:change of climate can be attained by slight change of See also:place. As the See also:emperor See also:Baber said of Kabul, at one day's See also:journey from it you may find a place where snow never falls, and at two See also:hours' journey a place where snow almost never melts! The Afghans vaunt the salubrity and See also:charm of some See also:local climates, as of the Toba hills above the See also:Kakar country, and of some of the high valleys of the Safed Koh. The people have by no means that See also:immunity from disease which the See also:bright, dry character of the climate and the See also:fine See also:physical aspect of a large proportion of them might lead us to expect. Intermittent and remittent fevers are very prevalent; bowel complaints are See also:common, and often fatal in the autumn. The universal See also:custom of sleeping on the See also:house-See also:top in summer promotes rheumatic and neuralgic affections; and in the Koh Daman of Kabul, which the natives regard as having the finest of climates, the mortality from See also:fever and bowel complaint, between See also:July and See also:October, is great, the immoderate use of See also:fruit predisposing to such ailments. The See also:term Afghan really applies to one section only of the mixed conglomeration of nationalities which forms the people of Afghanistan, but this is the dominant section known as the See also:Durani.

The Ghilzai (who is almost as powerful as the Durani) claims to be of See also:

Turkish origin; the Hazaras, the Chahar-See also:Aimak, Tajiks, Uzbegs, Kafirs and others are more or less subject races. Popularly any inhabitant of Afghanistan is known as Afghan on the Indian frontier without distinction of origin or See also:language; but the language See also:division between the Parsiwan (or See also:Persian-speaking Afghan) and the See also:Pathan is a very distinct one. The predominance of the Afghan in Afghanistan See also:dates from the See also:middle of the 18th See also:century, when Ahmad Shah carved out Afghanistan from the previous See also:con-quests of See also:Nadir Shah and called it the Durani See also:empire. The Durani Afghans claim to be See also:Ben-i-See also:Israel, and insist on their descent from the tribes who were carried away See also:captive from See also:Palestine to See also:Media by See also:Nebuchadrezzar. Yet they also claim to be Pukhtun (or Pathan) in common with all other See also:Pushtu-speaking tribes, whom they do not admit to be Afghan. The See also:bond of See also:affinity between the various peoples who compose the Pathan community is simply the bond of a common language. Population. All of them recognize a common See also:code or unwritten See also:law called Pukhtunwali, which appears to be similar in general character to the old Hebraic law, though modified by See also:Mahommedan ordinances, and strangely similar in certain particulars to See also:Rajput custom. Besides their division into clans and tribes, the whole Afghan people may be divided into dwellers in tents and dwellers in houses; and this division is apparently not coincident with tribal divisions, for of several of the great clans at least a part is See also:nomad and a part settled. Such, e.g., is the See also:case with the Durani and with the Ghilzai. The settled Afghans form the See also:village communities, and in part the population of the few towns. Their See also:chief occupation is with the See also:soil.

They form the core of the nation and the main part of the army. Nearly all own the See also:

land on which they live, and which they cultivate with their own hands or by hired labour. Roundly speaking, agriculture and soldiering are their See also:sole occupations. No Afghan will pursue a handicraft or keep a See also:shop, though the Ghilzai Povindahs engage largely in travelling trade and transport of goods. As a See also:race the Afghans are very handsome and athletic, often with See also:fair complexion and flowing See also:beard, generally See also:black or See also:brown, sometimes, though rarely, red; the features highly aquiline. The See also:hair is shaved off from the forehead to the top of the head, the See also:remainder at the sides being allowed to fall in large curls over the shoulders. Their step is full of See also:resolution; their bearing proud and See also:apt to be rough. The See also:women have handsome features of Jewish See also:cast (the last trait often true also of the men); fair complexions, sometimes rosy, though usually a See also:pale sallow; hair braided and plaited behind in two long tresses terminating in silken tassels. They are rigidly secluded, but intrigue is frequent. The Afghans, inured to bloodshed from childhood, are See also:familiar with See also:death, and audacious in attack, but easily discouraged by failure; excessively turbulent and unsubmissive to law or discipline; apparently See also:frank and affable in manner, especially when they See also:hope to gain some See also:object, but capable of the grossest brutality when that hope ceases. They are unscrupulous in See also:perjury, treacherous, vain and insatiable, passionate in vindictiveness, which they will satisfy at the cost of their own lives and in the most cruel manner. Nowhere is See also:crime committed on such trifling grounds, or with such general impunity, though when it is punished the See also:punishment is atrocious.

Among themselves the Afghans are quarrelsome, intriguing and distrustful; estrangements and affrays are of See also:

constant occurrence; the traveller conceals and misrepresents the See also:time and direction of his journey. The Afghan is by breed and nature a See also:bird of See also:prey. If from See also:habit and tradition he respects a stranger within his See also:threshold, he yet considers it legitimate to warn a See also:neighbour of the prey that is afoot, or even to overtake and See also:plunder his See also:guest after he has quitted his roof. The repression of crime and the demand of See also:taxation he regards alike as tyranny. The Afghans are eternally boasting of their lineage, their See also:independence and their prowess. They look on the Afghans as the first of nations, and each See also:man looks on himself as the equal of any Afghan. They are capable of enduring great privation, and make excellent soldiers under British discipline, though there are but few in the Indian army. Sobriety and hardiness characterize the bulk of the people, though the higher classes are too often stained with deep and degrading debauchery. The first impression made by the Afghan is favourable. The See also:European, especially if he come from India, is charmed by their apparently frank, open-hearted, hospitable and manly See also:manners; but the charm is not of long duration, and he finds that the Afghan is as cruel and crafty as he is See also:independent. No trustworthy See also:statistics exist showing either See also:present See also:numbers or fluctuations in the population of Afghanistan. Within the See also:amir's dominions there are probably from four to five millions of people, and of these the vast See also:majority are agriculturists.

The cultivators, including landowners, tenants, hired labourers and slaves, represent the working population of the country, and as industrious and successful agriculturists they are unsurpassed in Asia. They have carried the See also:

art of See also:irrigation to great per-fection, and they utilize every See also:acre of profitable soil. Certain Ghilzai clans are specially famous for their skill in the construction of the karez or underground water-channel. The See also:religion of the country throughout is Mahommedan. Next to See also:Turkey, Afghanistan is the most powerful Mahommedan See also:kingdom in existence. The vast majority of Afghans Religion. are of the Sunni See also:sect; but there are, in their midst, such powerful communities of Shiahs as the Hazaras of the central districts, the See also:Kizilbashes of Kabul and the Turis of the Kurram border, nor is there between them that bitterness of sectarian animosity which is so marked a feature in India. The Kafirs of the mountainous region of See also:Kafiristan alone are non-Mahommedan. They are sunk in a paganism which seems to embrace some faint reflexion of See also:Greek See also:mythology, Zoroastrian principles and the tenets of See also:Buddhism, originally gathered, no doubt, from the varied elements of their mixed extraction. Those contiguous Afghan tribes, who have not so long ago been converted to the faith of See also:Islam, are naturally the most fanatical and the most virulent upholders of the faith around them. In and about the. centre of See also:civilization at Kabul, instances of Ghazism are comparatively rare. In the western provinces about Kandahar (amongst the Durani Afghans—the people who claim to be Beni-Israel), and especially in Zamindawar, the spirit of fanaticism runs high, and every other Afghan is a possible See also:Ghazi—a man who has devoted his See also:life to the extinction of other See also:creeds. Persian is the See also:vernacular of a large part of the non-Afghan population, and is familiar to all educated Afghans; it is the language of the See also:court and of literature.

Pushtu, how-ever, is the prevailing language, though it does not anage Ladngu seem to be spoken in Herat, or, roughly speaking, west literature. of the Helmund. See also:

Turki is spoken in Afghan Turkestan. There is a respectable amount of Afghan literature. The See also:oldest See also:work in Pushtu is a See also:history of the See also:conquest of See also:Swat by Shaikh Mali, a chief of the Yusafzais, and See also:leader in the conquest (A.D. 1413-24). In 1494 Kaju See also:Khan became chief of the same See also:clan; during his See also:rule See also:Buner and Panjkora were completely conquered, and he wrote a history of the events. In the reign of See also:Akbar, See also:Bayazid Ansari, called Pir-i-Roshan, " the See also:Saint of Light," the founder of an heretical sect, wrote in Pushtu; as did his chief antagonist, a famous Afghan saint called Akhund Darweza. The literature is richest in See also:poetry. Abdur Rahman (17th ceniury) is the best known poet. Another very popular poet is Khushal Khan, the warlike chief of the Khattaks in the time of See also:Aurangzeb. Many other members of his See also:family were poets also. Ahmad Shah, the founder of the See also:monarchy, likewise wrote poetry.

See also:

Ballads are numerous. See also:Education is confined to most elementary principles in Afghanistan. Of See also:schools or colleges for the purposes of a higher education befitted to the sons of noblemen and the more Education. wealthy merchants there are absolutely none; but the village school is an ever-present and very open spectacle to the passer-by. Here the younger boys are collected and instructed in the rudiments of See also:reading, See also:writing and religious creed by the village See also:mullah, or See also:priest, who thereby acquires an See also:early influence over the Afghan mind. The method of teaching is confined to that wearisome See also:system of loud-voiced repetition which is so annoying a feature in Indian schools; and the See also:Koran is, of course, the See also:text-See also:book in all forms of education. Every Afghan See also:gentleman can read and speak Persian, but beyond this acquirement education seems to be limited to the physical development of the youth by instruction in See also:horsemanship and feats of skill. Such advanced education as exists in Afghanistan is centred in the priests and physicians; but the See also:ignorance of both is extreme. The See also:government of Afghanistan is an See also:absolute monarchy under the amir, and See also:succession to the See also:throne is hereditary. There are five chief See also:political divisions in the country—namely, Kabul, Turkestan, Herat, Kandahar and Badakshan, constitu- tion and each of which is ruled by a " naib "-or See also:governor, who See also:laws. is directly responsible to the amir. Under the See also:governors of provinces the nobles and kazis (or See also:district See also:judges) dispense See also:justice much in the feudal See also:fashion. There are three classes of chiefs who form the See also:council or See also:durbar of the See also:king. These are the sirdars, the khans and the mullahs.

The sirdars are hereditary nobles, the khans are representatives of the people, and the mullahs of Mahommedan religion. The khan is elected by the clan or tribe. The clannish See also:

attachment of the Afghans is rather to the community than to the chief. These three classes of representatives are divided into two assemblies, the Durbar Shahi or royal See also:assembly, and the Kharwanin Mulkhi or See also:commons. The mullahs take their place in one or the other according to their individual See also:rank. The executive officials of the amir have a selected See also:body, called the Khilwat, which acts as a See also:cabinet council, but no member can give See also:advice to the See also:crown without being asked to do so, or beyond the See also:jurisdiction of his own See also:department. The amir, in addition to being chief executive officer, is chief See also:judge and supreme court of See also:appeal. Any one has the right to appeal to the amir for trial, and the great amirs, Dost Mahommed and Abdur Rahman, were accessible at all times to the petitions of their subjects. Next to the amir comes the court of the kazi, the chief centre of justice, and beneath the kazi comes the kotwal, who performs, as in India, the See also:ordinary functions of a See also:magistrate. In large provincial towns there is a punchait, or council, for the trial of commercial cases. There are government departments for the See also:administration of See also:revenue, customs, post-See also:office, military affairs, &c. The general law administered in all the courts of Afghanistan is,that of Islam and of the customs of the country, with developments introduced by the Amir Abdur Rahman.

The Afghan army probably numbers 50,000 regulars distributed between the military centres of Herat, Kandahar, Kabul, Mazar-See also:

Defence. i-Sharif, Jalalabad and Asmar, with detachments at frontier outposts on the See also:side of India. Abdur Rahman claimed that he could put roo,000 men into the See also:field within a See also:week for the defence of Herat. In 1896 he introduced a system of semi-enforced service whereby one man in every eight between the ages of sixteen and seventy takes his turn at military training. In this way he calculated that he could have raised 1,000,000 men armed with See also:modern weapons, but his chief difficulty would be See also:money and transport. The pay of the army is apt to be irregular. The amir's factories at Kabul for arms and See also:ammunition are said to turn out about, 20,000 cartridges and 15 rifles daily, with 2 guns per week; but: the armj thus produced are very heterogeneous, and the different varieties of See also:cartridge used would cause endless complications. The two chief fastnesses of Northern Afghanistan are Herat and Dehdadi near Balkh. The latter fort took twelve years to build, and commands all the roads leading from the Oxus into Afghan Turkestan. It is armed with See also:naval See also:quick-firing guns, See also:Krupp,Hotchkiss, Nordenfeld and See also:Maxim. The chief See also:cantonment for the same district is at Mazar-i-Sharif, 12 M. from Balkh. Financially, Afghanistan has never, since it first became a kingdom, been able to pay for its own government, public See also:works See also:Finance and army. There appears to be no inherent See also:reason why this should be so.

Whilst it can never (in the absence of any great See also:

mineral See also:wealth) develop into a wealthy country, it can at least support its own population; and it would, but for the See also:short-sighted trade policy of Abdur Rahman, certainly have risen to a position of respectable solvency. Its revenues (about which no trustworthy See also:information is available) are subject to great fluctuations, and probably never exceed the value of one million See also:sterling per annum. They See also:fell in Shere See also:Ali's time to 700,000. The See also:original See also:subsidy to the amir from the Indian government was fixed at 12 lakhs of rupees (8o,000) per annum, but in 1893, in connexion with the boundary See also:settlement, it was increased to L120,000. Few minerals are wrought in Afghanistan, though Abdur Rahman claims in his autobiography that the country is See also:rich Minerals. in mines. Some small quantity of See also:gold is taken from the streams in Laghman and the adjoining districts. Famous See also:silver mines were formerly worked near the head of the Panjshir valley in Hindu Kush. Kabul is chiefly supplied with See also:iron from the Permuli (or Farmuli) district, between the Upper Kurram and Gomal, where it is said to be abundant. Iron ore is most abundant near the passes leading to Bamian, and in other parts of Hindu Kush. See also:Copper ore from various parts of Afghanistan has been seen, but it is nowhere worked. Lead is found in Upper See also:Bangash (Kurram district), and in the See also:Shinwari country (also among the branches of Safed Koh), and in the Kakar country. There are reported to be rich lead mines near Herat scarcely worked.

Lead, with See also:

antimony, is found near the Arghand-ab, 32 M. north-west of Ghazni, and in the Ghorband valley, north of Kabul. Most of the lead used, how-ever, comes from the See also:Hazara country, where the ore is described as being gathered on the See also:surface. An ancient mine of great extent and elaborate character exists at Feringal, in the Ghorband valley. Antimony is obtained in considerable quantities at Shah-Maksud, about 3o M. north of Kandahar. See also:Sulphur is said to be found at Herat, dug from the soil in small fragments, but the chief See also:supply comes from the Hazara country and from Pirkisri, on the confines of Seistan, where there would seem to be a See also:crater, or See also:fumarole. Sal-ammoniac is brought from the same place. See also:Gypsum is found in large quantities in the plain of Kandahar, being dug out in fragile coralline masses from near the surface. See also:Coal (perhaps See also:lignite) is said to be found in Zurmat (between the Upper Kurram and the Gomal) and near Ghazni. See also:Nitre abounds in the soil over all the south-west of Afghanistan, and often affects the water of the karez or subterranean canals. The characteristic See also:distribution of vegetation on the mountains of Afghanistan is worthy of See also:attention. The great See also:mass of it is confined to the main ranges and their immediate off-shoots, whilst on the more distant and terminal prolongations it is almost entirely absent; in fact, these are naked See also:rock and See also:stone. Take, for example, the Safed Koh.

On the alpine range itself and its immediate branches, at a height of 600o to 10,000 ft., we have abundant growth of large See also:

forest trees, among which conifers are the most See also:noble and prominent, such as Cedrus Deodara, Abies excelsa, Pinus longijolia, P. Pinaster, P. Pinea (the edible See also:pine) and the See also:larch. We have also the See also:yew, the See also:hazel, See also:juniper, See also:walnut, See also:wild See also:peach and See also:almond. Growing under the shade of these are several varieties of See also:rose, See also:honeysuckle, See also:currant, See also:gooseberry, See also:hawthorn, See also:rhododendron and a luxuriant herbage, among which the See also:ranunculus family is important for frequency and number of genera. The See also:lemon and wild See also:vine are also here met with, but are more common on the northern mountains. The walnut and See also:oak (See also:evergreen, See also:holly-leaved and See also:kermes) descend to the secondary heights, where they become mixed with See also:alder, ash, khinjak, Arbor-vitae, juniper, with See also:species of Astragalus, &c. Here also are Indigoferae and See also:dwarf See also:laburnum. Lower again, and down to 3000 ft. we have wild See also:olive, species of rock-rose, wild See also:privet, acacias and mimosas, See also:barberry and Zizyphus; and in the eastern ramifications of the chain, Chamaerops humilis (which is applied to a variety of useful purposes), Bignonia or See also:trumpet See also:flower, sissu, Salvadora persica, See also:verbena, See also:acanthus, varieties of Gesnerae. The lowest terminal ridges, especially towards the west, are, as has been said, naked in aspect. Their scanty vegetation is almost wholly herbal; shrubs are only occasional; trees almost non-existent. Labiate, composite and umbelliferous See also:plants are most common.

Ferns and mosses are almost confined to the higher ranges. In the See also:

low brushwood scattered over portions of the dreary plains of the Kandahar table-lands, we find leguminous thorny plants of the papilionaceous sub-See also:order, such as See also:camel-See also:thorn (Hedysar'um Alhagi), Astragalus in several varieties, spiny rest-See also:harrow (Ononis spinosa), the fibrous roots of which often serve as a tooth-See also:brush; plants of the sub-order Mirnosae, as the sensitive See also:mimosa; a plant of the See also:rue family, called by the natives lipdd; the common See also:worm-See also:wood; also certain See also:orchids, and several species of Salsola. The rue and See also:wormwood are in general use as domestic medicines—the former for See also:rheumatism and See also:neuralgia; the latter in fever, debility and See also:dyspepsia, as well as for a vermifuge. The lipad, owing to its heavy nauseous odour, is believed to keep off evil See also:spirits. In some places, occupying the sides and hollows of ravines, are found the rose See also:bay (Nerium Oleander), called in Persian See also:khar-zarah, or See also:ass-bane, the wild laburnum and various Indigoferae. In cultivated districts the chief trees seen are mulberry, See also:willow, See also:poplar, ash, and occasionally the See also:plane ; but these are due to man's planting. One of the most important of these is the See also:gum-See also:resin of See also:Narthex asafetida, which grows abundantly in the high and dry plains of Western Afghanistan, especially between Kandahar and Uncuki-Herat. The See also:depot for it is Kandahar, whence it finds its rated See also:pro-way to India, where it is much used as a condiment. It ducts of is not so used in Afghanistan, but the Seistan people eat value. the See also:green stalks of the plant preserved in brine. The collection of the gum-resin is almost entirely in the hands of the Kakar clan of Afghans. Vegetation. In the highlands of Kabul edible See also:rhubarb is an important local luxury.

The plants grow wild in the mountains. The bleached rhubarb, which has a very delicate flavour, is altered by covering the See also:

young leaves, as they sprout from the soil, with loose stones or an empty See also:jar. The See also:leaf-stalks are gathered by the neighbouring See also:hill people, and carried down for See also:sale. Bleached and unbleached rhubarb are both largely consumed, both raw and cooked. The walnut and edible pine-See also:nut are both wild growths, which are exported. The sanjit (Elaeaguns orientalis), common on the See also:banks of water-courses, furnishes an edible fruit. An orchis found in the mountain yields the dried tuber which affords the nutritious See also:mucilage called See also:salep; a See also:good See also:deal of this goes to India. Pistacia khinjak affords a See also:mastic. The fruit, mixed with its resin, is used for See also:food by the Achakzais in Southern Afghanistan. The true pistachio is found only on the northern frontier; the nuts are imported from Badakshan and Kunduz. Mushrooms and other See also:fungi are largely used as food, especially by the See also:Hindus of the towns, to whom they supply a substitute for See also:meat. See also:Manna, of at least two kinds, is sold in the bazaars.

One, called turanjbin, appears to exude, in small round tears, from the camel-thorn, and also from the dwarf See also:

tamarisk; the other, See also:sir-kasht, in large grains and irregular masses or cakes with bits of twig imbedded, is obtained from a See also:tree which the natives call siah chob (black wood), thought by Bellew to be a Fraxinus or Ornus. In most parts of the country there are two harvests, as generally in India. One of these, called by the Afghans bandrak, or See also:ate. the spring See also:crop, is sown in the end of autumn and culture. reaped in summer. It consists of See also:wheat, See also:barley and a variety of lentils. The other, called pdizah or tirmdi, the autumnal, is sown in the end of spring, and reaped in autumn. It consists of See also:rice, varieties of See also:millet and See also:sorghum, of See also:maize, Phaseolus Mungo, See also:tobacco, See also:beet, turnips, &c. The loftier regions have but one See also:harvest. Wheat is the See also:staple food over the greater part of the country. Rice is not largely distributed. In much of the eastern mountainous country b¢jra (Holcus spicatus) is the chief See also:grain. Most See also:English and Indian See also:garden-stuffs are cultivated; turnips in some places very largely, as See also:cattle food.

The growth of melons, water-melons and other cucurbitaceous plants is reckoned very important, especially near towns; and this crop See also:

counts for a distinct harvest. See also:Sugar-See also:cane is grown only in the rich plains; and though See also:cotton is grown in the warmer tracts, most of the cotton See also:cloth is imported. See also:Madder is an important See also:item of the spring crop in Ghazni and Kandahar districts, and generally over the west, and supplies the Indian demand. It is said to be very profitable, though it takes three years to mature. See also:Saffron is grown and exported. The See also:castor-oil plant is everywhere common, and furnishes most of the oil of the country. Tobacco is grown very generally; that of Kandahar has much repute, and is exported to India and See also:Bokhara. Two crops of leaves are taken. See also:Lucerne and a See also:trefoil called shaftal form important See also:fodder crops in the western parts of the country, and, when irrigated; are said to afford ten or twelve cuttings in the season. The komal (Prangos pabularia) is abundant in the hill country of Ghazni, and is said to extend through the Hazara country to Herat. It is stored for winter use, and forms an excellent fodder. Others are derived from the Holcus sorghum, and from two kinds of panick.

It is common to cut down the green wheat and barley before the See also:

ear forms, for fodder, and the repetition of this, with barley at least, is said not to injure the grain crop. Bellew gives the following statement of the manner in which the soil is sometimes worked in the Kandahar district: Barley is sown in November; in See also:March and See also:April it is twice cut for fodder; in See also:June the grain is reaped, the ground is ploughed and manured and sown with tobacco, which yields two cuttings. The ground is then prepared for carrots and turnips, which are gathered in November or See also:December. Of great moment are the fruit crops. All European fruits are produced profusely, in many varieties and of excellent quality. Fresh or preserved, they form a See also:principal food of a large class of the people, and the dry fruit is largely exported. In the valleys of Kabul mulberries are dried, and packed in skins for winter use, This mulberry cake is often reduced toflour, and used as such, forming in some valleys the main food of the people. Grapes are grown very extensively, and the varieties are very numerous. The vines are sometimes trained on trellises, but most frequently over ridges of See also:earth 8 or lo ft. high. The principal part of the garden lands in villages round Kandahar is vineyard, and the produce must be enormous. Open canals are usual in the Kabul valley, and in eastern Afghanistan generally; but over all the western parts of the country much use is made of the karez, which is a subterranean See also:aqueduct uniting the See also:waters of several springs, and conducting their combined See also:volume to the surface at a lower level. As regards vertebrate See also:zoology, Afghanistan lies on the frontier of three regions, viz. the See also:Eurasian, the Ethiopian (to which region Baluchistan seems to belong) and the Indo-Malayan.

Hence it naturally partakes somewhat of the forms of each, but is in the main Eurasian. Felidae.—F. catus, F. chaus (both Eurasian) ; F. See also:

caracal (Eur., Ind., Eth.), about Kandahar; a small See also:leopard, stated to be found almost all over the country, perhaps rather the See also:cheetah (F. jubatus, Ind. and Eth.) ; F. pardus, the common leopard (Eth. and Ind.). The See also:tiger exists in Afghan Turkestan. Canidae.—The See also:jackal (C. aureus, Eur., Ind., Eth.) abounds on the Helmund and Argand-ab, and probably elsewhere. Wolves (C. Bengalensis) are formidable in the wilder tracts, and assemble in troops on the snow, destroying cattle and sometimes attacking single horsemen. The See also:hyena (H. striata, See also:Africa to India) is common. These do not See also:hunt in packs, but will sometimes singly attack a See also:bullock; they and the wolves make havoc among See also:sheep. A favourite feat of the boldest of the young men of southern Afghanistan is to enter the hyena's den, single-handed, muffle and tie him. There are wild See also:dogs, according to See also:Elphinstone and See also:Conolly. The small Indian See also:fox (Vulpes Bengalensis) is found; also V. flavescens, common to India and Persia, the skin of which is much used as a See also:fur. Musielidae.—Species of mungoose (Herpestes), species of See also:otter, Mustela erminea, and two ferrets, one of them with See also:tortoise-See also:shell marks, tamed by the Afghans to keep down See also:vermin; a See also:marten (M. flavigula, Indian).

Bears are two: a black one, probably Ursus torquatus; and one of a dirty yellow, U. Isabellinus, both Himalayan species. Ruminants.—Capra aegagrus and C. megaceros; a wild sheep (Ovis cycloceros or Vignei) ; Gazella subguiturosa—these are often netted in batches when they descend to drink at a stream; G. dorcas perhaps; Cervus Wallichii, the Indian barasingha, and probably some other Indian See also:

deer, in the north-eastern mountains. The wild hog (See also:Sus scrofa) is found on the lower Helmund. The wild ass, Gorkhar of Persia (Equus onager), is frequent on the sandy tracts in the south-west. The Himalayan varieties of the See also:markhor and See also:ibex are abundant in Kafiristan. Talpidae.—A See also:mole, probably Talpa Europaea; Sorex Indicus; Erinaceus collaris (Indian), and Er. auritus (Eurasian). Bats believed to be Phyllorhinus cineraceus (See also:Punjab species), Scotophilus Bellii (W. India), Vesp. auritus and V. barhastellus, both found from See also:England to India. See also:Rodentia.—A See also:squirrel (Sciurus Syriacus?) ; See also:Mus Indicus and M. Gerbellinus; a See also:jerboa (Dipus telum?); Alactaga Bactriana; Gerbillus Indicus, and G. erythrinus (Persian and Indian); Lagomys Nepalensis, a Central Asian species. A See also:hare, probably L. ruficaudatus.

aBIRDS.—The largest See also:

list of Afghan birds that we know of is given by See also:Captain See also:Hutton in the J. As. See also:Soc. See also:Bengal, vol. xvi. pp. 775 seq. ; but it is confessedly far from See also:complete. Of 124 species in that list, 95 are pronounced to be Eurasian, 17 Indian, lo both Eurasian and Indian, i (Turlur risorius) Eur., Ind. and Eth.; and I only, Carpodacus (Bucanetes) crassirostris, See also:peculiar to the country. Afghanistan appears to be, during the breeding season, the See also:retreat of a variety of Indian and some See also:African (See also:desert) forms, whilst in winter the vifauna becomes overwhelmingly Eurasian. EPTILEs.—The following particulars are from See also:Gray:—Lizards —Pseudopus gracilis (Eur.), Argyrophis Horsfieldii, Salea Horsfieldii, Calotes Maria, C. versicolor, C. minor, C. Emma, Phrynocephalus Tickelii—all Indian forms. A tortoise (Testudo Horsfieldii) appears to be peculiar to Kabul. There are apparently no salamanders or tailed See also:Amphibia.

The frogs are partly Eurasian, partly Indian; and the same may be said of the See also:

fish, but they are as yet most imperfectly known. The camel is of a more robust and compact breed than the tall beast used in India, and is more carefully tended. The two-humped Bactrian camel is commonly used in the Oxus regions, but is seldom seen near the Indian frontier. Horses form a staple export to India. The best of these, however, are reserved for the Afghan See also:cavalry. Those exported to India are usually bred in See also:Maimana and other places in Afghan See also:Fauna. Turkestan. The indigenous See also:horse is the yabu, a stout, heavy-shouldered See also:animal, of about 14 hands high, used chiefly for See also:burden, but also for See also:riding. It gets over incredible distances at an ambling shuffle, but is unfit for fast work and cannot stand excessive heat. The breed of horses was much improved under the amir Abdur Rahman, who took much See also:interest in it. Generally, colts are sold and worked too young. The cows of Kandahar and Seistan give very large quantities of See also:milk.

They seem to be of the humped variety, but with the hump evanescent. See also:

Dairy produce is important in Afghan See also:diet, especially the pressed and dried curd called knit (an See also:article and name perhaps introduced by the See also:Mongols). There are two varieties of sheep, both having the See also:fat tail. One bears a See also:white fleece, the other a russet or black one. Much of the white See also:wool is exported to Persia, and now largely to Europe by Bombay. Flocks of sheep are the main wealth of the nomad population, and mutton is the chief animal food of the nation. In autumn large numbers are slaughtered, their carcases cut up, rubbed with See also:salt and dried in the sun. The same is done with See also:beef and camel's flesh. The goats, generally black or parti-coloured, seem to be a degenerate variety of the See also:shawl-See also:goat. The climate is found. to be favourable to See also:dog-breeding. Pointers are bred in the See also:Kohistan of Kabul and above Jalalabad—large, heavy, slow-See also:hunting, but fine-nosed and staunch; very like the old'See also:double-nosed See also:Spanish pointer. There are See also:grey-hounds also, but inferior in See also:speed to second-See also:rate English dogs.

The manufactures of the country have not developed much during recent years. Poshtins (sheepskin clothing) and the many varieties of camel and goat's hair-cloth which, Trade and See also:

commerce. under the name of " barak," " karak," &c., are manu- factured in the northern districts, are still the chief local products of that part of Afghanistan. Herat and Kandahar are famous for their silks, although a large proportion of the manufactured See also:silk found on the Herat See also:market, as well as many of the felts, carpets and embroideries, are brought from the Central Asian khanates. The district of Herat produces many of the smaller sorts of carpets (" galichas " or See also:prayer-carpets), of excellent See also:design and See also:colour, the little See also:town of Adraskand being especially famous for this See also:industry; but they are not to be compared with the best products of eastern Persia or of the Turkman districts about See also:Panjdeh. The nomadic Afghan tribes of the west are chiefly See also:pastoral, and the wool of the southern Herat and Kandahar provinces is famous for its quality. In this direction, the See also:late boundary settlements have undoubtedly led to a considerable development of local resources. A large quantity of wool, together with silk, dried fruit, madder and asafetida, finds its way to India by the Kandahar route. It is impossible to give accurate trade statistics, there being no trustworthy system of See also:registration. The value of the imports from Kabul to India in 1892-1893 was estimated at 221,000 Rx(or tens of rupees). In 1899 it was little over 217,000 Rx, the See also:period of lowest intermediate depression being in 1897. These imports include horses, cattle, fruits, grain, wool, silk, hides, tobacco, drugs and provisions (ghi, &c.). All this trade emanates from Kabul, there being no transit trade with Bokhara owing to the heavy dues levied by the amir.

The value of the exports from India to Kabul also shows great fluctuation. In the year 1892-1893 it was registered at nearly 611,000 Rx. In 1894-1895 it had sunk to 274,000 Rx, and in 1899 it figured at 294,600 Rx. The chief items are cotton goods, sugar and See also:

tea. In 1898-1899 the imports from Kandahar to India were valued at 330,000 Rx, and the exports from India to Kandahar at about 264,000 Rx. Three-fourths of the exports consist of cotton goods, and three-eighths of the imports were raw wool. The See also:balance of the imports was chiefly made up of dried fruits. Comparison with trade statistics of previous years on this side Afghanistan is difficult, owing to the inclusion of a large section of Baluchistan and Persia within the See also:official " Kandahar " returns; but it does not appear that the value of the western Afghanistan trade is much on the increase. The opening up of the route between Quetta and Seistan has doubtless affected a trade which was already seriously hampered by restrictions. In the year after the See also:mission of Sir See also:Louis Dane to Kabul in 1905 it was authoritatively stated that the trade between Afghanistan and India had nearly doubled in value. The See also:basin of.the Kabul river especially abounds in remains of the period when Buddhism flourished. Bamian is famous for its See also:wall-cut figures, and at Haibak (on the route between Tashkurghan and Kabul) there are some most tiA ti es. ens.qu t interesting Buddhist remains.

In the Koh-Daman, north of Kabul, are the sites of several ancient cities, the greatest of which, called Beghram, has furnished coins in scores of thousands, and has been supposed to represent See also:

Alexander's See also:Nicaea. Nearer Kabul, and especially on the hills some miles south of the See also:city, are numerous topes. In the valley of Jalalabad are many remains of the same character. In the valley of the Tarnak are the ruins of a great city (See also:Ulan Robat) supposed to be the ancient Arachosia. About Girishk, on the Helmund, are extensive mounds and other traces of buildings; and the remains of several great cities exist in the plain of Seistan, as at Pulki, Peshawaran and See also:Lakh, relics of ancient Drangiana. An ancient stone See also:vessel preserved in a See also:mosque at Kandahar is almost certainly the same that was treasured at Peshawar in the 5th century as the begging pot of Sakya-Muni. In architectural relics of a later date than the Graeco-Buddhist period Afghanistan is remarkably deficient. Of the city of Ghazni, the vast See also:capital of Mahmud and his race, no substantial relics survive, except the See also:tomb of Mahmud and two remarkable See also:brick minarets. A vast and fruitful harvest of coins has been gathered in Afghanistan and the adjoining regions.

End of Article: HINDU

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