From the Indus to the Tigris

by H. W. Bellew

Sketch Plan of the Cheda.

A. Highroad round a hill ridge.

B. Cheda pillars on plain and on rock.

C. Cháp circles.

The cheda is a pillar (called tsalai in Pushto) of from eight to twelve or more feet high, with a diameter of from three to four or more feet. It is neatly built of loose stones closely set in a cylindrical form. The top is convex or dome-shaped, and from its centre projects a single upright stone. The basement is a small square platform of stones, slightly raised above the surface of the ground. These structures are generally raised on some projecting rock overlooking the road, or on some slight eminence on the plain. At one or two spots we saw four or five close together, but generally they are only met at distant intervals, and singly. In general appearance they resemble miniature topes of the kind seen in some parts of Yúsufzai and the Peshawar valley. They are erected to the memory of clansmen who have died without issue; and it is the custom for the surviving relatives to celebrate the anniversary of such mournful events by donatives to the family priest and a feast to the clan. Where practicable, the customary offerings and ceremonies are performed round the monument itself; and for this purpose their observance is generally deferred to the time when the camps in their annual migrations halt in their vicinity. The sketch on [p. 56] shows the form of the cheda.

In all our route from Kotra, we saw very few of the people of the country. Including Hatáchi and Gorú with the few camps we passed, the population we found in this tract of country did not exceed two hundred families, if indeed it reached that number. Our companions, however, assured us that the hills were swarming with them, that every nook had its camp, and every valley its patch of cultivation. It may be so, but we saw no signs of any such populousness. In fact, the nature of the country does not admit of any large number being able to support themselves upon it, for the hills yield but the scantiest pasture, whilst the valleys offer a very small surface capable of cultivation. This conclusion is supported by the appearance and circumstances of the people and cattle we did see. They may be described in two words—poor and hungry.

The Brahoe are an interesting people, of whose history little is known. They are true nomads, and wander about the country in their respective limits, with their families and flocks, changing from the high lands to the low according to the seasons and pastures. In this respect they resemble some of the Afghan tribes. Some of them, however, are fixed in villages as cultivators of the soil. They are divided into an infinity of clans, or khel, such as Mingal, Bizanjo, Zangíjo, Kambarání, Zehrí, Ráisání, Kurdgálí, Rikkí, Samulárí, Hárúní, Nichárí, Rodání, Gurganání, and many others. Their camps are called tuman, and the head man of each tumandár.

They differ from the Afghan, Baloch, and Jat of Sindh, by whom they are surrounded, in general physique and physiognomy as well as in language. Their manners and customs, too, are said to differ in many respects from those of the people around them, though, in the matters of robbery and murder, a family resemblance pervades them all.

The Brahoe is of middle height, or below it, and of swarthy complexion; the face is broad, with high cheek-bones, and adorned with beard and mustaches of neither long nor thick growth; the head is covered with a shock of long matted hair, generally jet black; the eyes are black and keen. The body is compactly framed and clean-limbed. Altogether, the race is active, hardy, and enduring. The Brahoe language differs entirely from that of the Afghan, the Baloch, and the Jat, though it contains many Persian and Indian words. The numerals are the same as the Persian, except the first three, which are asit, irat, musit, respectively; but the pronouns are entirely different, and bear no resemblance to those of the other languages; the forms of conjugation and declension, too, are distinct and peculiar. On the march I collected a vocabulary of about eight hundred words, and a few sentences, to show the structure of the language. These, with a skeleton grammar prepared at the same time, will be found in the Appendix. The Brahoes are altogether illiterate. I could hear of no book written in their language, nor could I get a single specimen of their writing.