From the Indus to the Tigris

by H. W. Bellew

To the northward the view was obstructed by the Barghanah hills, but to the west and south-west were seen the red sand-cliffs of the desert, through gaps in the intervening ridges, right down to the northern limits of Shorawak. At the top of the pass the aneroid figured 25·38, thus giving its elevation at about 4100 feet. From the pass the road leads along the course of a great ravine, wide and stony, and here and there retaining pools of water, round which grew the tamarisk, and a tall reed called durma at Peshawar and darga here. After winding along the ravine for a few miles, we rose out of it on to the Barghanah plain, and camped on a good kárez stream at the little village of Mákú—elevation, 3500 feet; air, sharp and frosty; no wind, fortunately. About five miles to the west of our camp is the Tangí ridge of hills. On its further side is the Fathullah camping-ground on the old road between Kandahar and Peshín.

From Mákú we marched sixteen miles to Mund Hissár, a short distance from the river Tarnak. Our route was northerly across an undulating plain closed to the east-north-east by the Márúf mountain, which projects forwards from the Sámai range to the Arghasán river. Márúf was the favourite residence of Sháh Ahmad, Durrani, the founder of the Afghan monarchy. He had a strong fort here, in which his family used to reside, and in which he himself ended his eventful career. Sháh Ahmad for many years suffered from a foul disease, which destroyed the nose and palate by ulceration, and during the latter years of his life he used to wear a silver plate to mask the hideous deformity. When he felt his end approaching, he had himself conveyed in a small sedan covered with scarlet cloth, and carried by two men only, from Kandahar to his family seat at Márúf. He dismissed his courtiers at the gates of the city, and would allow no one to accompany him except a few mounted attendants. Thus quietly he retired from the scene of his labours and exploits, and expired in the midst of his family in the summer of 1773, shortly after his arrival at Márúf. His remains were carried back to the city he founded, and now rest under the mausoleum which is its only ornament.

Sháh Ahmad was only fifty years old at the time of his death. He is said to have been a wise and just ruler, and of very simple and unostentatious habits. His repeated invasions of India enriched his country, whilst his successful campaigns against the Uzbaks and in Khorassan established the independence of his kingdom. He is always spoken of as the best of the Afghan sovereigns, and his memory is free from the vices and crimes that have so freely characterised the rule of his successors. His stronghold at Márúf was destroyed in October 1839, by a detachment of the Bombay army marching from Ghazni to Peshín, in revenge for the massacre there of a body of four hundred camp-followers proceeding from Kandahar to India.

After marching six miles, we came to the river Arghasán. It is separated from the valley of the Tarnak by a long ridge of hills that extends away to the north-east, and where we crossed it flows in a wide shallow bed, hardly sunk below the level of the plain. Its channel is about one hundred and eighty yards wide, and the river is divided into two streams by an intervening strip of low tamarisk jangal. The river was about a foot deep, and not very swift. Its water was clear, and is said to be very wholesome. In flood seasons the water flows broadcast over the plain, which is then quickly covered with excellent pasture herbs.

The Yúsufzai and Mahmand tribes of the Peshawar valley and hills were, according to their own accounts, originally settled as nomads on the banks of the Arghasán and the highlands of Ghwara Margha, to the north-east, sharing the former pastures with the Tarin tribe. But in a season of drought they fought with the latter, and were driven off to the eastward; and gradually working their way to Kabul, ultimately seized their present possessions from the Indian occupants, about four centuries ago.

Beyond the river, on either bank of which is a good irrigation canal, we wound round the end of the ridge of hills separating the valleys of the Tarnak and Arghasán; and passing the Naodih collection of domed huts, rose over some undulations and descended to the Tarnak valley; and going across it in the face of driving sleet and a biting cold north-west wind, camped close to the village of Mund Hissár. There is a large mound here with traces of ancient walls upon it. The village takes it name from it. The weather here was bitterly cold, owing to the blasts of the north-west wind that swept the plain. At midday the ground was hard frozen, as were all the lesser irrigation streams. This village is crown property, and is the most prosperous-looking one we have seen since entering Afghanistan. It is surrounded by a wide extent of cultivated and freely irrigated land, but not a tree is to be seen anywhere about it. Its people are a mixture of various races and tribes, who hold their lands on condition of rendering one half the produce to government.

The whole country between this and Khojak, though entirely devoid of timber, and even brushwood, in the spring and autumn months is covered with a rich pasture, and supports vast flocks of goats and sheep. During the summer and winter months the country is almost entirely deserted, owing to the excessive heat of the one season, and rigorous cold of the other, as well as the scarcity of pasture. I was told by a merchant engaged in the trade, that the average export of wool from Kandahar to Karáchí for the past ten years has been about five thousand candies (kaodí) annually. Each candy sells at Karáchí for from one hundred and fifty to two hundred rupees, thus giving a profit to the province of from seventy-five thousand to one hundred thousand rupees a year, or £7,500 to £10,000. The trade is capable of considerable extension, for large quantities of wool are still retained for home consumption in the manufacture of the felts called namad and khosai. The former are used as carpets and horse-clothing, and the latter is the ordinary winter dress of the peasantry.

During the march from Peshín we had noticed a large flock of sheep being daily driven along with our camp. We now learned that they formed part of the liberal supplies provided by order of the Amir for our party, which the Saggid informed us he reckoned would have numbered at least two hundred people. But, as we did not exceed thirty in number all told, they were going back to Kandahar.

9th February.—Marched twelve miles from Mund Hissár to Kandahar. At about a mile we crossed the river Tarnak, the edges of which were lined with snow-wreaths. The river flows in a wide pebbly bed between two gravelly banks. Its stream is strong and rapid, and mid-stream is about three feet deep. The water is muddy just now, and is said to be always more or less turbid, in which particular it differs from its tributaries the Arghasán and Argandáb, both of which have clear streams.