From the Indus to the Tigris

by H. W. Bellew

There is a road direct from Shál over the hills between Tokátú and Zarghún to the Tal Chhotiyálí route, but it is seldom used, owing to the risks from predatory Domarr, through whose territories it passes. These people have no large villages, but are scattered over the hills in caves and sheds with their flocks and sheep. During the winter, they descend to the lower valleys, where they pass the time in their black tents. They cultivate only sufficient ground for the supply of their wants, and for the most part live on the produce of their flocks, such as milk, butter, flesh, and the inspissated cheese known as kroot. From the goats’ hair they manufacture ropes and the black tents called kizhdí, and from the sheep’s wool they make the thick felt cloaks called kosai, which, with a pair of loose cotton trousers, constitute the whole winter dress of most of the people. The Domarr are said to muster nearly four thousand families.

A curious custom is said to prevail amongst them. In the spring and summer evenings, the young men and maidens of adjoining camps assemble on the hillsides, and shouting “Pír murr nadai, jwandai dai” (“The old man is not dead, he lives”), romp about till—I suppose on the principle of natural selection—the opposite sexes pair off in the favouring darkness, and chase each other amongst the trees and rocks, till summoned home by the calls of their respective parents. It does not appear that the custom leads to the contraction of matrimonial alliances amongst the performers, though to its observance is attributed the hardiness and populousness of the tribe.

During the afternoon, a messenger arrived from Cushlác with letters from the Afghan Commissioner for General Pollock, intimating his arrival there with a military escort for our safe conduct to Kandahar. It is therefore arranged that we proceed in the morning, apparently much to the relief of our host, the Náib Abdul Latíf, who seemed apprehensive lest the Afghan troops should cross the border into the district under his charge on the plea of meeting us, and thus unsettle the minds of his subjects with the idea that they were to be annexed to the Kabul dominions, between which and the territories of the Khán of Calát the Cushlác Lora is the present boundary.

Originally both Shál and Mastung with Shorawak formed part of the kingdom erected by Sháh Ahmad, Durrani. They were subsequently made over to Nasír Khán, chief of Balochistan, in return for his allegiance and maintenance of a contingent of troops in the interest of the Afghan sovereign. These districts are still considered by the Afghans as portion of their country, though they remain under the rule of the Khán of Calát; and in 1864, when Sherdil Khán usurped the government from the present chief, Khudádád Khán, the Governor of Kandahar made an attempt to reannex them to his province, but in this he was thwarted by the action of the British authorities, and the restoration of Khudádád Khán to his rightful government.

CHAPTER IV.

30th January.—Snow fell during the night, and this morning covers the whole plain to the depth of about six inches. We set out from Shál Kot at 9.10 A.M., under a salute from the fort as on arrival, and proceeded across the plain northwards to the foot of Tokátú mountain, where we came to the village of Kiroghar. This is a collection of some sixty detached huts on the stony hill skirt, and is about seven miles from the fort. It is occupied by the Bánzai section of the great Kákarr tribe. They have small colonies all along the hill skirts on the northern and eastern limits of the valley, and are said to number nearly five thousand families. They have been settled in these tracts for the past five generations, but were only properly reduced to the subjection of the Khán of Calát last year, previous to which they used to cause infinite loss and trouble by their plundering excursions on the Taghaghi Lak and Nishpá Pass, between Shál and Mastung. No caravan in those days was safe from their attacks. Last year the Náib led an expedition against them, and secured some of their chief men as hostages, and they now confine themselves to their own limits.

The Kákarr tribe, to which they belong, is one of the most numerous and powerful of the Afghan clans. They occupy all the hill country between this and the limits of Ghazni, where their border touches those of the Waziris and Ghilzais. To the eastward, their territories extend up to the base of Koh Kassi of the Sulemán range. To the westward, between Toba Márúf and Tokátú, they share the hill slopes that drain to the Kandahar plain and Peshín valley with the Achakzai and Spin Tarin tribes respectively.

The strength of the Kákarr tribe is variously estimated, but they are probably not less than fifty thousand families. They are mostly a pastoral people, but some are settled in the valleys of the country as cultivators of the soil, whilst those to the westward are engaged in trade, and almost exclusively collect the asafœtida imported into India. For this purpose their camps spread over the Kandahar plain up to the confines of Herat.