From the Black Mountain to Waziristan / Being an account of the border countries and the more turbulent of the tribes controlled by the north-west frontier province, and of our military relations with them in the past

by H. C. Wylly

The Kunar Valley

Of the Kunar River and Valley Holdich has a good deal to say, both in The Gates of India and in The Indian Borderland. In the former book he writes that it was in the Kunar Valley that Alexander the Great “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 Bajaur 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 Khyber. It links together these northern valleys of Laghman, Kundar 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 Peshawar. 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.... The clustering villages are thick in some parts—so thick that they jostle each other continuously.... 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 terraces at their feet.”

In The Indian Borderland we are told that “the Kunar River rises in a blue lake called Gaz Kul, or Karumbar, under the southern slopes of the Hindu Kush. This, at least, is one of its sources. Many a mighty glacier standing about the head of the Yarkhun River offers its contributions. The Yarkhun flows past the foot of the Baroghil Pass, over pebble and boulder-covered flats, and through terrific gorges, with here and there the snout of a glacier protruding (or even temporarily blocking the valley) till it reaches Mastuj. From this point you may call it the Chitral River, or Kashkar, for it now flows past Chitral, and through the district known to hill people as Kashkar. It does not become the Kunar till it reaches the neighbourhood of the ancient kingdom of Kunar, which occupies the last fifty miles of its course before it joins the Kabul River.... The Kunar Valley and the Valley of the Bashgul, or Arnawai, together lead up to the Mandal and Dorah passes, either one of which is the gateway to the rich valleys of eastern Badakshan, and opens up a direct line to Jalalabad from the Oxus, which does not touch Kabul at all. These passes are high (14,000 feet to 15,000 feet), difficult, and very much more buried under snow than those further west; but a well-constructed road across them would still be a passable trade route for many months in the year; and would offer a far more direct connection between the Oxus regions and India than any which now exist.”

Asmar

“Asmar is the most unattractive corner of the Kunar district. A narrow, three-cornered patch of dusty valley, over which the wind comes dancing and sweeping from all sides at once, with the river running deep in a rocky gorge below; steep pine-clad hills to the west, and more reasonable slopes to the east, amongst which there winds up one of the chief routes into Bajaur ... such is the general view of Asmar.”

The aspect of the Mohmand hills is exceedingly dreary, and the eye is everywhere met by dry ravines between long rows of rocky hills and crags, scantily clothed with coarse grass, scrub and the dwarf palm. In summer the want of water is greatly felt, and the desert tracts radiate an intolerable heat; this, coupled with the unhealthiness of the river lowlands, probably accounts for the inferior physique of the Mohmands as compared with their Afridi and Shinwari neighbours. The want of water is especially felt in the Gandab district, which with the Shilman and Pandiali are the largest valleys in the Mohmand country, and the entrances to which are covered by the respective forts of Shabkadar, Michni, and Abazai. The villages, or rather fort clusters, are scattered along the valleys wherever a spring, or proximity of water to the surface, encourages cultivation, but in some cases the drinking water has to be brought from great distances, and is either obtained from springs whose supply is uncertain or from small tanks made to retain the rain water. The women are employed in the laborious task of bringing the water from these places for the use of the village.

The Mohmand Country

The crops in the Mohmand hills are almost entirely dependent on the winter and autumn rains, and should these fail there is considerable distress. Even in ordinary times the country cannot support the surplus population, which has for years past been steadily emigrating to the Peshawar district. The products of the Mohmand country are few and rude; a little grain, firewood, grass, charcoal, ropes and mats, honey and cattle from the Baizai hills—these are the chief exports. But through the Mohmand country come India-wards the wood rafts from Chitral, Kunar and Laghman on the Kabul River, and from Dir and Swat; wax, hides, ghi and rice from Kunar; and the iron of Bajaur in lumps and bars. The imports are salt, cloth, paper, soap, tea, indigo, sugar, grain, tobacco, needles, scissors and other manufactures of civilisation, purchased by the Mohmands for themselves and their northern neighbours. The through trade, therefore, is considerable, and it is with transit dues levied on trade, and the profits earned as carriers of goods to and from the trade centres of Peshawar, Jalalabad, Pesh-Bolak, Lalpura and Shabkadar, that the Mohmands supplement the scanty returns of their barren soil. In the hot weather trade is brisk on the Kabul River, upon which wood rafts, or merchandise carried on inflated skins, are floated down to British territory.

There are numerous roads through the Mohmand country, as the hills, though rugged and rocky, are nowhere impassable. The most important perhaps of these are the roads from Peshawar to Dakka, one from Shahgai via Tartara in the Mullagori country and the Shilman Valley, and the other from Fort Michni across the Kabul River by the Shanilo ferry into the Shilman Valley; in old days these were important trade routes. The other roads of importance from British territory are one from Shabkadar to the Gandab Valley, and another from Matta, a few miles north of Shabkadar, over the Inzarai Pass into the Pandiali Valley; this is comparatively easy and is known as the Alikandi route.

Of the Gandab Valley, Lieutenant Enriquez says that “it is certainly a hopeless wilderness. Mile after mile the scenery offers nothing but dreary boulder-strewn mountains. The streams in summer disappear under ground and only rise to the surface at intervals. The purity of the water is not above suspicion.[^[84]] In the deeper pools there are quantities of little fish which can be caught in a sheet, and which make a very tolerable substitute for white-bait. Smalls eels are also quite common and can be hooked. The hardy pink oleander thrives in the ravines, and lends the only touch of colour to the desolate landscape. In June the climate of the Gandab Valley is detestable. The excessive heat is intensified by radiation. The narrow glen acts as a funnel for the scorching wind, which blows hard for days on end. No tent can stand against the storm, and I have seen half a camp collapse when struck by a sudden blast. Dust and even small pebbles are blown about with great violence.”