That part of the country lying at the foot of the Hindu Kush mountains, which is bounded on the north by Kokand and Karatigan, on the east by Durwaz, on the south by Badakhshan and the Amu, on the west by Sherabad and Hissar (belonging to Bukhara) is called Khatlan ختلان. Koláb, a considerable town containing a population of about ten thousand, is situated at the distance of five miles from the northern bank of the Amu, and is the capital of the province. The other towns of note are Muminabad مؤمن اباد, Daulatabad دولتاباد, Khawaling خوالنگ, Baljawan بلجوان, and Sarchashmá سرچشمہ.
The country, being situated at the foot of mountains, and being watered by numerous streams, is highly fertile. The most important products are rice, wheat, barley, kharpazá, etc.; and the people generally are agricultural.
There is a mine of salt in the mountains of خواجه مؤمن Khawaja Mumin; and the salt produced resembles the Lahori salt, though it is not so pure and shining, and is very cheap.
Cattle breeding is carried on on a great scale, and the wealth of a man is estimated by the number of cattle he possesses. There is a kind of goat in this country which yields a very soft kind of wool (called Tibit); and the people of Kolah prepare from it hoses and a kind of turban, called Shamali (from shamal, the northern wind, from which it gives shelter).
Religion.—Generally the whole of the population belongs to the Sunni sect (according to the Hanafi rite).
Tribes.—The population of the country is divided into Laqai, Battash, and Tajiks. The Laqais live in movable tents (khargah) like the Kirghiz, and lead a roving life, and are soldiers and thieves by profession. The Battashes live in villages, which are generally clusters of kappás (thatched cottages), and are a peaceful and agricultural people. The Tajiks live in the towns, and are mostly artisans.
Language.—Turki is spoken in the villages and a very corrupt form of Persian in the towns. Most of the words are so twisted and distorted that a Persian cannot understand the people of the country without effort.
Government.—The country is really a province of Bukhárá; but a native of Kolab, descended from the Kapchaqs by the father’s and from the Laqais by the mother’s side, became independent of Bukhará. After his death, his four sons, Sayer Khan, Sara Khan, Qamshin Khan, Umra Khan, fought with one another for the crown; and Sara Khan, having defeated the other three, came to be the Chief of the province, but was defeated by an army from Bukhará and escaped to Kabul.
When Najmuddin left his country, it was governed by a servant of the court of Bukhárá.