The leaning of the Muláis is, of course,_Dardistan in 1866, 1886 and 1893 Being an account of the history, religions, customs, legends, fables, and songs of Gilgit, Chilas, Kandia (Gabrial), Dasin, Chitral, Hunsa, Nagyr, and other parts of the Hindukush, as also a supplement to the second edition of the Hunza and Nagyr handbook and an epitome of part III of the author's "The languages and races of Dardistan"

the chivalrous martyr A’li as its demigod or “next to God” in the A’lewia

sect, than to prosaic and monotonous Sunniism, so that to strangers they

seem to be Shiahs, as will be seen in an extract from a native Indian

Diary[137] written some 20 years ago, and which, it may be incidentally

stated, still throws much light on the present conflicts in Dir, Bajaur

and other petty States bordering on our frontier. No stranger is allowed

to see the Kelám-i-Pir, which takes the place of the Koran with Muláis,

but in the most popular poem that is recited by them, the Imám-ul Zemán

or Sahib-al-Zeman = the Imam or Lord of the Age (H. H. Aga Khan) is

worshipped as the Monarch of this World, the visible incarnation of the

Deity, offerings or a pilgrimage to whom dispenses a Mulái from prayer,

fasting or a visit to the sacred shrines of Mecca or Madina, or rather

the Shiah Kerbelá, the place of the martyrdom of Hasan and Husain, which

Shiahs annually celebrate by what are inappropriately called “miracle

plays,” but which really are “elegies,” and commemorative funeral

recitations and processions. A person who has seen “the Lord of the Age”

or who possesses some of the water in which he has washed his feet is

an honoured guest in Mulái countries. The poem above alluded to is a

parallel to the Druse “Contract” which will be considered further on, and

begins with an invocation for “Help, oh Ali.”

“Nobody will worship God, without worshipping Thee, Lord of the Age!

Jesus will descend from the fourth heaven to follow Thee, Lord of the

Age!

Thy will alone will end the strife with Antichrist, Lord of the Age!

Thy beauty gives light to heaven, the sun and the moon, Lord of the Age!

May I be blessed by being under the dust of Thy feet, Lord of the Age!”

A Maulái is, if sincere, already dead to sin, and can, therefore, not

commit any. He needs, therefore, no resurrection or last Judgment day.

Obedience to the Pîr is his sole article of faith, and he holds his

property, family and life at this Chief’s disposal.

I must now conclude this introduction to a comparison of the creeds of

the Druses and of the Muláis by quoting a few words from a rhapsody of

A’li, repeated by the ordinary Mauláis till the pious frenzy is at white

heat:

“Oh A’li, to God, to God, oh A’li, my sole aim, the only one, our Mula

A’li; My desire, the only our Mula A’li; My passion only the beauty of

A’li; My longing day and night for union with A’li; Higher and Higher

A’li, oh A’li; A’li is the Killer of difficulties, oh A’li; He is the

Commander of the Faithful, namely A’li; _That_ one is the Imám of the

steadfast in faith, namely A’li,” and so on _ad infinitum_ till we come

to the natural connection between normal Shiism, its exaggeration into

A’li worship, its mysterious interpretation of the self-sacrifice of

Husain to save the world, and, finally, to all other aberrations of

which Maulaism is one. The poem then goes into wild Turkish and Arabic

measures, which exhausted my informant, Ghulam Haidar, who adds on behalf

of himself, also in verse: “It is not proper that I should not answer

the question which you ask me, but what am I to say? The answer from me

is easy, but I see a difficulty in _your_ way. Oh Ghulam Haidar” (thrice

repeated). Then in prose. “In the night of Friday, the Mulái men (in

Hunza), instead of worship and prayer, taking Guitars and Drums (Rabábs

and Ḍaffs) in their hands, play the above “Ghazals” on them. Then six old

men, Akhunds (priests), having assembled, read (sing) them in the Mosque,

when the men of the mass of the people gather and give ear to them:

‘“Yá A’li, Yá A’li, Yá Imám-i-Zemán”’—

‘“Oh Ali, Oh Ali, Oh Imám (and Lord) of the Age”’—

is the mention (Chorus) which they take on their tongues. From the

beginning of the evening till the morning they thus show their zeal; the

Raja then as a reward of thanks for that worship bestows (gold dust to

the value of) four tilas on the priests and gives them a quantity of

butter of the weight of four measures and one sheep or big calf and one

maund of wheat in order to hold a feast.”

II.—THE COVENANT OF “THE INITIATED” DRUSES.

The following is a rendering of the Covenant or Contract which the

U’qalá or “the initiated” amongst the Druses are reciting in mysterious

seclusion. It was overheard by my informant, an “uninitiated” Druse.[138]

It formed, as it were, the evening prayer of his uncle and aunt. Although

an educated and highly intelligent person, he was not aware of even

its local interest, much less of its general historical and religious

importance.

_The Covenant = Al Mitháq_:

“O Governor [Valî] of the Age,[139] may Allah’s blessing and peace be

upon him” (this phrase seems intended to delude Muhammadans into the

belief that the Druses have the same Allah or God, but it has an esoteric

sense which will become apparent further on). “I put my confidence into

‘our spiritual head the Lord’ (literally ‘OUR MAULA AL-HÁKIM’) (here

is one of the esoteric formulæ)—‘the One, the Single, the Everlasting

(Lord), the (serenely) Distinct from Duality and Number.’ (This is a

protest not only against the female form of the Deity, but also against

the notion of a distinct good and evil principle, an Ahriman or Ormuz,

whilst its Muhammadan form would seem to outsiders to be merely a protest

against giving any ‘companion to God.’) The initiator and the to be

‘initiated’ then go on repeating together the following, the former using

the 3rd, and the latter the 1st, person. ‘I so and so’ (here comes name

of the initiated), ‘son of such a one, CONFESS firmly the confession to

which he (or I) respond from his [or my] soul, and bears testimony to it

upon his spirit, whilst in a condition of soundness of his spirit and

of his body, and with the (acceptance of the passing of the) lawfulness

of the order, obeying without reluctance and under no violence: THAT he

verily absolves (himself) from all Religions and Dogmas and Faiths and

Convictions, all of them, in the various species of their contradictions,

and that he does not acknowledge anything except the OBEDIENCE TO OUR

MAULA AL-HÁKIM, may his mention be glorious! and this obedience it is the

worship, and that he will not associate in his worship any (other) that

is past or is present, or is to come, and that he has verily entrusted

his spirit and his body, and whatever is to him and the whole of what he

may possess to OUR MAULA AL-HÁKIM, and that he is satisfied to fulfil all

His orders unto himself and against himself without any contradiction,

and not refusing anything and not denying (refusing) anything of His

actions, whether this injures him or rejoices him, and that he, should he

ever revert (apostatize) from the religion of our Maula Al-Hákim which he

has written upon his soul, and to which he has born testimony unto his

spirit, that HE SHALL BE BEREFT (free) of the Creator, who is worshipped

and deprived of the benefits of all the sanctions (rules, laws), and that

he shall be considered as deserving the punishment of God, the High, may

His mention be glorious! And that he, if he acknowledges that there is

not to him in Heaven and not in the Earth an Imám in existence _except

our Maula Al-Hákim_” (this confession distinguishes the Druses of the

Lebanon and the Muláis of the Hindukush from the orthodox Shiahs, who

believe in the coming of the ever-present Mahdi, or the twelfth Imám, a

view that had been fostered by us in the Sudán to our endless confusion

by our inexcusable opposition to the Sultan of Turkey as the Khalifa

of the Sunnis), “then will the mention of him (who only believes in

Al-Hákim) become glorious, and he will be of the _Muwáhidîn_ (who profess

the unity of God), who will (eventually) conquer.” (This appellation is

common to the Druses and to the Muláis, but is not admitted as being

applicable to them by orthodox Shiahs or Sunnis. In retaliation they

call the Sunni a dog, and the Shiah an ass.) “And (the above) has been

written[140] in the month so and so of the year (chronology) of the I’d

(festival) of our Maula Al-Hákim, whose nation be glorious, whose Empire

be strengthened to Him alone.” (The Maulái Chronology is said to begin

with the _special_ revelation of the Imám on the 17th Ramadan in the

559th year of the Hejira, at the castle of Alamût.)

_The Special Recitation._

The following is repeated by Druses at the conclusion of their prayers:

“May God’s blessing be upon him who speaks (confesses) the Lord of

goodness and benefits. May God bless the Ruler of the Guidances (Hidāyā);

to him be profit and sufficiency. May God’s blessing be on our Lord the

Hādi” (the Guide or “Mehdi” means one who is guided aright by God =

the coming Messiah of the Shiah world,) “the Imám, the greatest of the

perfect light” (this is an allusion to the 7th Imám, Ismail, descendant

of _the_ light[141] (Mohammed)), “who is waiting for the refuge

(salvation) of all living beings. On Him may be (our) trust, and from

him (may be) the peace. May God bless him and them whatever passes of

nights and of days and of months and of years, whenever flashes the dawn

of morning or night remains in darkness may abundant peace and trust be

for ever! _O Allah-humma!_” (the mystic Muhammadan remnant of Elohim =

Lords, Gods) “provide us with _Thy_ contentment” (this is a play of words

implying that our best “daily bread” is God’s contentment with us) “and

with _Their_ contentment” (this is either a Trinitarian or Polytheistic

invocation to “Elohim”) “and with _their_ intercession and with _Thy_

mercy and with _their_ mercy in this world and in the next! O our Maula!

and Lord of the Imám” (this is indeed significant as to the pretensions

of Al-Hákim to the godhead, or to some dignity very near it).

* * * * *

Now comes an ancient curse with a modern application and an appeal to

arms (whispered along the line of assembled Druses):

“Pray for the ornament of sons,

In the East the five[142] residing (compare also the Shiah ‘Panjtan’[143]

and the five main Shiah sects)[144]

They say: Father Abraham has appeared,

and they announce the good tidings to the worshippers of _One_ (the

Druses).

They say: With the sword has Father Abraham appeared;

A violence to his enemies

O brethren! Prepare earnestly for the campaign,

Visiting the House of Mecca.

The House of Mecca and the sacred places,

On them has destruction been ordained.

Oh people of the Berbers! Extermination is lawful.

With the sword shall ye be sacrificed.

The French are coming with stealth.

The ‘A’ql’ [or ‘the body of the initiated’] will protect us with its

sword.

Rejoice, people of China, in the hour of Thy arrival.

Welcome to thee, city of Arin (?), oh my Lady!” [Fatima?].

* * * * *

A Druse wedding-song may also be quoted here: (“Allah, billáli,

billáli.”) _The Chorus_: “O God, with the pearls, with the pearls,”

“Sway on to me, oh my Gazelle!” _Song_: “Thou maid who combest her (the

bride’s) tresses, comb them gently, and give her no pain; for she is the

daughter of nobles, accustomed to being a pet” [_delláli_]. _Chorus_:

_Allah, billáli, billáli; wa tanaqqalí, yá Ghazáli!_

* * * * *

_Another Song_: “Sing the praises of the shore, oh daughters; sing

the praises of the daughters of the shore; for we have passed by the

pomegranate-tree bearing full fruit, and we have compared it with the

cheeks of the daughters of the shore.”

(b) THE KELÁM-I-PÎR AND ESOTERIC MUHAMMADANISM.

It is not my wish to satisfy idle curiosity by describing the contents

of a book, concealed for nine hundred years, the greater portion of

which accident has placed in my hands after years of unsuccessful search

in inhospitable regions. The fragmentary information regarding it and

the practices of its followers which I had collected, were contributed

to publications, like this Review, of specialists for specialists

or for genuine Students of Oriental learning. Nothing could be more

distressing to me than the formation of a band of “esoteric Muhammadans,”

unacquainted with Arabic, which is the only key to the knowledge of

Islám. The mastery of the original language of his holy Scripture is,

still more emphatically, the _sine quâ non_ condition of a teacher, be he

Christian, Muhammadan, or other “possessor of a sacred book.” Nor should

anyone discuss another’s faith without knowing its religious texts in the

original as well as its present practice.

The term “esoteric” has been so misused in connection with Buddhism, the

least mystic of religions, by persons unacquainted with Sanscrit, Pali

and modern Buddhism, that it has become unsafe to adopt it as describing

the “inner” meaning of any faith. Were Buddha alive, he would regret

having made the path of salvation so easy by abolishing the various

stages of Brahminical preparation, through a studious, practical and

useful life, for the final retirement, meditation, and Nirvana. Yet

there are mysterious practices in the Tantric worship of “the Wisdom

of the Knowable,” which Buddha alone brought to the masses that were

to be emancipated from the Brahminical yoke. Even transparent Judaism

has its Kabala, and the religion that brought God to Man has mysteries

of grace and godliness, the real meaning of which is only known to the

true Christian of one’s own sect or school. Thus open, easy and simple

Muhammadanism has its two triumphant orthodoxies of Sunnis and Imamîa

Shiahs and 72 militant, or outwardly conforming, heterodoxies. Indeed,

as long as words can be fought over, and even facts do not impress all

alike, so long will the more or less proficient professors of a creed

reach various degrees of “esoteric” knowledge.

It is the unknown merit of the religious system of the so-called

Assassins of the Crusades to have discussed, dismissed and yet absorbed

a number of faiths and philosophies. It adapted itself to various stages

of knowledge among its proselytes from various creeds, whilst the

circumstances of its birth, history and surroundings gave it a Muhammadan

basis. _Non omnia scimus omnes_ may be said by the most “initiated”

Druse, Ismailian or “Mulái,” the latter being the name by which I will,

in future, designate all the ramifications of this remarkable system of

Philosophy, Religion and Practical politics.

This system elaborates the principle that all truths, except ONE, are

relative. It treats each man as it finds him, leading him through stages,

complete in themselves, to the final secret. We, too, in a way admit

that strong meat and drink are not the proper food for babes. We speak

of professional training and of the professional spirit, of _esprit de

corps_, terms which all have an “esoteric” sense, and imply preparation;

indeed, every experience of life is an “initiation” which he, who has not

undergone it, cannot “realize;” we, too, have medical and other works

which the ordinary reader does not buy and which are, so far, “esoteric”

to him, but we have not laid down in practice that he, who does not

know, shall not teach or rule. This has been systematized, with a keen

sense of proportion, by the Founders of the Ismailian sect. Fighting for

its existence against rival Muhammadan bodies and in the conflicts of

Christianity, Judaism, Magianism and various Philosophies, its emissaries

applied the Pauline conduct of being “all things to all men” in order to

gain converts.

After the establishment of mutual confidence, a Christian might be

confronted with puzzling questions regarding the Trinity, the Atonement,

the Holy Communion, etc.—the Jew be called to explain an Universal God,

yet exclusively beneficent to His people, or might be cross-examined

on the miracles of Moses; a Zoroastrian, to whom much sympathy should

be expressed, would be sounded as to his Magian belief; an idolater,

if ignorant, could be easily shown the error of his ways and, if not,

his pantheism might be checked by the evidences of materialistic or

monotheistic doctrine; the orthodox Sunni would be required to explain

the apparent inconsistencies of statements in the Korán, and the various

sects of Shiahs would be confounded by doubts being thrown on this or

that link of the hereditary succession of the apostleship of Muhammad;

sceptics, philosophers, word-splitters, both orthodox and heterodox,

would be followed into their last retrenchments by contradictory

arguments, materialistic, idealistic, exegetical, as the case may be.

With every creed, to use an Indian simile, the peeling of the onion

was repeated, in which, after one leaf after the other of the onion

is taken off in search of the onion, no onion is found and nothing is

left. The enquirer would thus be ready for the reception of such new

doctrine as might be taught him by the “Mulái”[145] preacher, or _Dái_,

who then revealed himself one step beyond the mental and moral capacity

of his intended convert, whilst sharing with the latter a basis of

common belief. Now this required ability of no mean order, as also of

great variety, so as to be adapted to all conditions of men to whom

the _Dái_ might address himself. Sex, age, profession, heredity and

acquired qualities, antecedents and attainments, all were taken into

consideration. At the same time, in an age of violence, the missionaries

of the new faith had to keep their work a profound secret and to insist

on a covenant, identical with, or similar to, the one of the Druses,

which I published in the last number of the _Asiatic Quarterly Review_.

Even when confronted by Hinduism, the new creed could represent that

Áli, the son-in-law of the prophet Muhammad, was the 10th incarnation

of Vishnu, which is expected, as was the Paraclete and as are the

Messiah and the “Mehdi” (many of those who adopted that title being

secret followers of the Ismailian creed).[146] I have pointed out in my

last article how the very name of ’Ali, his chivalrous character, his

eloquence, his sad death and the martyrdom of his sons lent themselves to

his more than apotheosis in minds already prepared by Magian doctrine and

the spirit of opposition to the successful Sunni oppressor. I think that

I can quote extracts, in support of this statement from the “Kelám-i-pîr”

or the “_Logos_ of the Ancient,” showing how the contributor to it

(for I take the “Kelám-i-pîr” to be a collective name like “Homer”),

the eminent mathematician, historian and poet, Shah Násir Khosrû, who

was born in the year 355 A.H. = 969 A.D. was led, after a long life of

purity and piety, of abstemiousness and study, to examine and reject one

religion after the other and, finally, adopt the one with which we are

now concerned and of which His Highness, Agha Sultan Muhammad Shah is the

present hereditary spiritual head. His authority extends from the Lebanon

to the Hindukush and wherever else there may be Ismailians, who either

openly profess obedience to him, as do the Khojahs in Bombay; or who are

his secret followers in various parts of the Muhammadan world in Asia and

Africa.[147] The present young, but enlightened, Chief is, as his father

and grandfather, likely to exert his influence for good.

The following is a short biographical sketch of this lineal descendant

of the prophet Áli. His genealogy is incontestable and will, I hope, be

included in my next paper.[148]

“H. H. Agha Sultan Muhammad Shah was born at Karachi on Nov. 2nd, 1877.

It was soon seen that it would be necessary to give him a good education,

and his father, H. H. the late Agha Ali Shah, early grounded him in the

history of Persia and the writings of its great poets. But this education

was certainly not sufficient in the present day, and Lady Ali Shah, after

the death of her husband, very wisely carried out his wishes by placing

his son under an English tutor, so that, whilst Persian was by no means

neglected, a course of English reading was begun. Four years ago he

stumbled over the spelling of monosyllables. The progress made now is

really surprising; with natural talents he has found it easy to acquire

a thorough English accent and converses freely with Englishmen. The

histories of Persia, India and England, the series of the Rulers of India

and the Queen’s Prime Ministers, McCarthy’s ‘History of our Own Times’

and the lives of eminent men that stock his library, mark a predilection

for History and Biography. The subjects of conversation during a

morning’s ride are often the politics of the day or the turning points

in the lives of illustrious men. But with this reading his other studies

are not neglected. Algebra, Geometry, Arithmetic, elementary Astronomy,

Chemistry and Mechanics, with English authors like Shakespeare, Macaulay,

and Scott, form a part of his scholastic course.

“Unlike his father and grandfather, the Aga Sahib has little love for

hunting, though he is seen regularly on the racecourse and is well known

in India as a patron of the turf. In the peculiarity of his position it

will be difficult for him to travel for some years, but his eyes are

directed to Europe and he looks forward to the pleasure of witnessing at

some future time an important debate in the House of Commons. From the

fact that every mail brings English periodicals to his door, it will be

seen that he closely follows everything that relates to English politics.

“With the work amongst the Khojahs and his other followers devolving

upon him at so early an age his studies are, of course, liable to be

interrupted, and it is hardly possible for him to devote himself to his

books—Oriental and English—as much as he would wish to do. He is not yet

married, nor does he seem inclined to marry early. A few years, however,

must see him the father of a family, and there is little doubt that his

children will be educated with all the advantages of the best ancient and

modern education so as to make them worthy of their illustrious descent.”

How far His Highness will be himself initiated into more than the

practice and rites, public and private, of so much of his form of the

Ismailian Faith as is necessary for the maintenance of his position and

responsibilities towards his followers, depends on his attainments,

mental vigour, and character. With greater theoretical power than

even the Pope, who is not hereditary, his influence is personal and

representative by the _consensus fidelium_. Nearly all of them are

in the first, or second, degree, even their Pirs being generally in

the 3rd or 4th, with a general leaning to a mystic divine A’li, not

merely the historical A’li, whom their followers see incarnated in his

present living descendant. Few, if any, of the leaders are in higher

degrees, for they might be out of touch with the practical exigencies

of their position in different countries and circumstances. Perhaps,

among the Druses, there may be one professor in the highest stage of

the “initiated”—the Ninth—but even then he would take his choice of

Philosophies and find a microcosm of theory and practice in each. The

result on mind and character would be ennobling, and he would die, if,

indeed, an “initiated” can die, carrying away with him the secret of

his faith, which he alone has been found worthy to discover. What that

secret is, no amount of divulging will impart to any one who is not

fit to receive it, though the infinite variety of its manifestations

adapt it to every form of thought or life. That even Masonic passwords

may, for practical purposes and in spite of published books, be kept a

secret, though possibly an open one, experience has shown, but the man

does not yet exist who can, or will, apply the system, of which I have

endeavoured to give a hint, to the Universal Federation of Religious

Autonomies, which, in my humble opinion, the Ismailian doctrine was

intended to found, little as its present followers may know of this use

of the genuine ring of Truth, of which every religion, according to

Lessing’s _Nathan der Weise_, claims to have the exclusive possession. If

this be not enough, I will, at the outset, give the advice that the old

man in Lavengro with his dying breath gave to his disciple as the reward

of a life-long devotion to learn the great secret—“LEARN ARABIC”—as a

variation on his “Learn German.” There is no royal road to learning or to

salvation, and mental culture is impossible without the synthesis which

the study of Classical languages—Oriental or European—still foster in

this age of destructive analysis and of that scepticism which does not

seek to re-construct.

* * * * *

Since writing above another accident has placed in my hands an evidently

ancient manuscript in Persian verse, on the same or kindred subjects of

Ismailian belief. The manuscript is duodecimo, about 200 pages in extent,

and is written in exquisite miniature caligraphy. Its perusal may affect

my decision as to the manner of dealing with the question, so far as the

public is concerned; in the meanwhile, I am still in search of the name

of its author, and of its date.

APPENDIX VIII.

ON THE

SCIENCES OF LANGUAGE AND OF ETHNOGRAPHY

WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO

_The Language and Customs of the People of Hunza_

BEING A REPORT ON AN EXTEMPORE ADDRESS

BY G. W. LEITNER, M.A., PH.D., LL.D., D.O.L., ETC.

_Publications of the Oriental Institute, Woking._

LONDON

SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO.

PATERNOSTER SQUARE

1890

ON THE SCIENCES OF LANGUAGE AND OF ETHNOGRAPHY:

_With special reference to the Language and Customs of the People of

Hunza._[149]

The time has long passed since grammar and its rules could be treated

in the way to which we were accustomed at school. Vitality has now to

be breathed into the dry bones of conjugations and declensions, and

no language can be taught, even for mere practical purposes, without

connecting custom and history with so-called “rules.” The influences of

climate and of religion have to be considered, as well as the character

of the people, if we wish to obtain a real hold on the language of our

study. Do we desire to make language a speciality, the preparation of

acquiring early in life two dissimilar languages, one analytic and the

other synthetic, is absolutely necessary, because if that is not done, we

shall always be hampered by the difficulty of dissociating the substance

from the word which designates it. The human mind is extremely limited,

and amongst the limits imposed upon it are those of, in early life,

connecting an idea, fact, or process, with certain words; and unless

two languages, at least, are learnt, and those two are as dissimilar

as possible, one is always, more or less, the slave of routine in the

perception and in the application of new facts and of new ideas, and

in the adaptation of any matter of either theoretical or practical

importance. It is a great advantage, for linguistic purposes, which are

far more practically important than may be generally believed, that

the study of the classical languages still holds the foremost place in

this country; because, however necessary scientific “observation” may

be, it cannot take the place of a cultured imagination. The stimulus

of illustration and comparison, which, in the historical sense of the

terms, is an absolutely necessary primary condition to mental advance,

is derived from classical and literary pursuits. The study of two very

similar languages, however, is not the same discipline to a beginner in

linguistics; _e.g._, to learn French and Italian is not of the same value

as French and German, for the more dissimilar the languages the better.

Again, if you desire to elicit a language of which you know nothing, from

a savage who cannot explain it and who does not understand your language,

there are certain processes with which some linguists, no doubt, are

familiar, and others commend themselves in practical experience; for

instance, in pointing to an object which you wish to have, say, a fruit

which you want to eat, you may not only obtain the name for it, but the

gesture to obtain it, if you are surrounded by several savages whose

language you do not know, may also induce one of the men to order another

to get it for you,—I suppose on the principle that it is easy for one

to command and for others to obey; but, be that as it may, this course,

to the attentive observer, first obtains the name for the required

thing and next elicits the imperative; you hear something with a kind

of inflection which, once heard, cannot be mistaken for anything else

than the imperative. Further, the _reply_ to the imperative would either

elicit “yes,” or “no,” or the indicative present. This process of inquiry

does not apply to all languages, but it applies to a great many; and

the attitude which you have to assume towards every language that you

know nothing about, in the midst of strangers who speak it, is that, of

course, of an entirely sympathetic student. You have, indeed, to apply

to language the dictum which Buddhist Lamas apply to religion—never to

think, much less to say, that your own religion (in this case your own

language) is the best; _i.e._, the form of expression in which you are in

the habit of conveying your thoughts, is one so perfectly conventional,

though rational in your case, that the greatest freedom from prejudice

is as essential a consideration as the wish to acquire the language of

others. In other words, in addition to the mere elementary acquisition

of knowledge, you have to cultivate a sympathetic attitude; and here,

again, is one of the proofs of a truth which my experience has taught me,

that, however great knowledge may be, sympathy is greater, for sympathy

enables us to fit the key which is given by knowledge. Gestures also

elicit a response in dealing, for instance, with numerals, where we are

facilitated by the fingers of the hand. Of course, one is occasionally

stopped by a savage who cannot go, or is supposed not to be able to go,

beyond two, or beyond five.

I take it that in the majority of cases of that kind, a good deal of

our misconception with regard to the difficulty of the inquiry lies in

ourselves—that ideas of multitude connected with the peculiar customs

of the race that have yet to be ascertained, are at the bottom of the

inability of that race to follow our numeration. For instance we go up

to ten, and in order to elicit a name for eleven, we say “one, ten;” if

the man laughs, change the order, and say “ten, one;” the chances are

that the savage will instinctively rejoin “ten _and_ one,” and we then

get the conjunction. Putting the fingers of both hands together may mean

“multitude,” “alliance,” or “enmity,” according as the customs of the

race are interpreted by that gesture.

I am reminded of this particular instance in my experience, because

I referred to it in a discussion on an admirable paper on the Kafirs

of the Hindukush by the eminent Dr. Bellew. If you do not take custom

along with a “rule,” and do not try to explain the so-called rule by

either historical events or some custom of the race, you make language

a matter entirely of memory, and as memory is one of the faculties that

suffers most from advancing age, or from modes of living and various

other circumstances, the moment that memory is impaired your linguistic

knowledge must suffer—you, therefore, should make language a matter of

judgment and of associations. If you do not do that, however great your

linguistic knowledge or scholarship, you must eventually fail in doing

justice to the subject or to those with whom you are dealing.

The same principle applies as much to a highly civilised language like

Arabic, one of the most important languages in the way of expressing the

multifarious processes of human thought and action, as to the remnant of

the pre-historic Hunza language, which throws an unexpected light on the

science of language.

Let us first take Arabic and the misconceptions of it by Arabic

scholars. In 1859 I pointed out before the College of Preceptors, how

it was necessary not only to discriminate between the Chapters in the

Koran delivered at Mecca, and those given at Medina, but also to arrange

the verses out of various Chapters in their real sequence. I believe we

are now advancing towards a better understanding of this most remarkable

book. But we still find in its translation such passages, for instance,

as, “when in war women are captured, _take_ those that are not married.”

The meaning is nothing so arbitrary. The expression for “take” that we

have there is _ankohu_—marry, _i.e._, take in marriage or _nikáh_, as no

alliance can be formed with even a willing captive taken in war, except

through the process of _nikáh_, which is the religious marriage contract.

Again, we have the passage, “Kill the infidels wherever you find them.”

There again is shown the want of sympathetic knowledge, which is distinct

from the knowledge of our translators who render “qatilu” by “kill,”

when it merely means “fight” and refers to an impending engagement with

enemies who were then attacking Muhammed’s camp. Apart from accuracy of

translation, a sympathetic attitude is also of practical importance.

_E.g._, had we gone into Oriental questions with more sympathy and, in

consequence, more real knowledge, many of our frontier wars would have

been avoided, and there is not the least doubt that in dealing with

Oriental humanity, whether we had taken a firm or a conciliatory course,

we should have been upon a track more likely to lead to success than

by taking action based on insufficient knowledge or on preconceptions.

For instance, in the _Times_ there was a telegram from Suakim about the

Mahdi, to the effect that El Senousi was opposing him successfully. I

do not know who El Senousi is, but very many years ago I pointed out

the great importance of the Senousi _sect_ in Africa, and, unless the

deceased founder of that name has now arisen, whether it is a man of

that name or the now well-known sect that is mentioned, one cannot say

from the telegram. The sender of the message states that as sure as the

El Senousi rises to importance there will be a danger to Egypt and to

Islam. It is Christian like to think well of Islam, and to try to protect

it. This very few Christians do, and it shows a kind feeling towards a

sister-faith, but I am not sure that the writer accurately knew what

Islam is; though there can be no doubt that the rise of fanatical sects,

like the Senousi, which is largely due to the feeling of resistance

created by the encroachments of so-called European civilisation, is

opposed to orthodox Muhammedanism. Be that as it may, I have also

turned to “the further correspondence on the affairs of Egypt” which a

friend gave me, and, really, I now know rather less about Egypt than I

did before. For instance, I find (and I am specially referring to the

blue-book in my hand) that letters of the greatest importance from the

Mahdi are treated in the following flippant manner: “This is nothing more

or less than an unauthenticated copy of a letter sent by the deceased

Mahdi to General Gordon!” Is this not enough to deserve attentive

inquiry? General Gordon would, probably, not have agreed with the writer

of this contemptuous remark, which is doubly out of place when we are

also told that the Mahdi was sending Gordon certain verses and passages

from the Korán, illustrative of his position, which are eliminated by

the translator as unnecessary, of no importance, and of very little

interest! Now, considering that this gentleman knew Arabic, I think I am

right when I add that with a little more sympathy he would have known

more, and had he known more he would have quoted those passages, for it

is most necessary for us to know on what precise authority of the Korán

or of tradition this so-called Mahdi based his claim, and knowledge of

this kind would give us the opportunity of dealing with the matter.

Again, on the question of Her Majesty’s title of “Kaisar-i-hind,” which,

after great difficulty, I succeeded in carrying into general adoption in

India, the previous translators of “Empress” had suggested some title

which would either have been unintelligible or which would have given Her

Majesty a disrespectful appellation, whilst none would have created that

awe and respect which, I suppose, the translation of the Imperial title

was intended to inspire. Even the subsequent official adopter of this

title, Sir W. Muir, advocated it on grounds which would have rendered

it inapplicable to India. With the National Anthem similarly, we had a

translation by a Persian into Hindustani, which was supported by a number

of Oriental scholars in this country, who either did not study it, or who

dealt with the matter entirely from a theoretical point of view, and what

was the result? The result was—that for “God Save the Queen,” a passage

was put which was either blasphemous, or which, in popular Muhammedan

acceptance, might mean, “God grant that Her Majesty may again marry!”

whereas one of the glories of Her Majesty among her Hindu subjects is

that she is a true “Satti” or Suttee, viz., a righteous widow, who ever

honours the memory of her terrestrial and spiritual husband—neither of

those views being intended by the translator, or by that very large and

responsible body of men who supported him, and that still larger and

emphatically loyal body that intended to give the translation of the

National Anthem as a gift to India at a cost of several thousand pounds,

when for a hundred rupees a dozen accurate and respectful versions were

elicited by me in India itself.

I therefore submit that in speaking of the sciences of language and

ethnography, we have, or ought to have, passed, long ago, the standpoint

of treating them separately; they must be treated together, and, as

I said at the beginning, taking, _e.g._, Arabic, with its thirty-six

broken plurals (quite enough to break anybody’s memory), you will never

be able to learn it unless you thoroughly realise the life of the Arab,

as he gets out of his tent in the morning, milks his female camel, &c.,

and unless you follow him through his daily ride or occupations. Then

you will understand how it is, especially if you have travelled in

Arabia, that camels that appear at a distance on the horizon, affect the

eye differently from camels when they come near, and are seen as they

follow one another in a row, and those again different from the camels

as they gather round the tent or encampment; and therefore it is that

in the different perceptions to the eye, under the influence of natural

phenomena, these multifarious plurals are of the greatest importance in

examining the customs of the people. Then will the discovery of the right

plural be a matter of enjoyment, leading one on to another discovery,

and to work all the better; whereas, with the grammatical routine that

we still pursue, I wonder, when we reach to middle or old age, after

following the literary profession, that we are not more dull or confused

than we are at present. When one abstract idea follows the other, as in

our phraseology, it is not like one scene following another in a new

country which is full of stimulus, but the course which we adopt of

abstract generalisations, without analysing them and bringing them back

to their concrete constituents, is almost a process of stultification.

Coming now to one of the most primitive, and certainly one of the

remnants of pre-historic languages, that of Hunza, which I had the

opportunity of examining twenty-three years ago, while Gilgit was in a

state of warfare, and where I had to learn the language, so to speak,

with a pencil in one hand and a weapon in the other, and surrounded by

people who were waiting for an opportunity to kill me, I found, that on

reverting to it three years ago, the language had already undergone a

process of assimilation to the surrounding dialects, owing to the advance

of so-called civilisation, which in that case, and which in the case of

most of these tribes, means the introduction of drunkenness and disease,

in this instance of cholera, for we know what has been the condition of

those countries which lie in the triangle between Cashmere, Kabul, and

Badakhshan, and to which I first gave the name of Dardistan in 1866.

Now, what does this language show us? There the ordinary methods proved

entirely at fault. If one pointed to an object, quite apart from the

ordinary difficulties of misapprehension, the man appealed to, for

instance, might say “your finger,” if a finger were the thing of which

he thought you wanted the name. If not satisfied with the name given in

response, and you turned to somebody else, another name was obtained; and

if you turned to a third person, you got a third name.

What was the reason for these differences? It was this, that the language

had not emerged from the state in which it is impossible to have such

a word as “head,” as distinguished from “my head,” or “thy head,” or

“his head”; for instance, _ak_ is “my name,” and _ik_ is “his name.”

Take away the pronominal sign, and you are left with _k_, which means

nothing. _Aus_ is “my wife,” and _gus_ “thy wife.” The _s_ alone has no

meaning, and, in some cases, it seemed impossible to arrive at putting

anything down correctly; but so it is in the initial stage of a language.

In the Hunza language under discussion, that stage is important to us as

members of the Aryan group, as the dissociation of the pronoun, verb,

adverb and conjunction from the act or substance only occurs when the

language emerges beyond the stage when the groping, as it were, of the

human child between the _meum_ and _tuum_, the first and second persons,

approaches the clear perception of the outer world, the “_suum_,” the

third person. Now, during the twenty years referred to “his” (house),

“his” (name), and “his” (head) are beginning to take the place of

“house,” “name,” “head,” generally, in not quite a decided manner, but

still they are taking their place. When I subsequently talked to the

Hunzas, and tried to find a reason for that “idiom,” if one may use

the term, it seemed very clear and convincing when they said, “How is

it possible for ‘a wife’ to exist unless she is somebody’s wife?” “You

cannot say, for instance, if you dissociate the one from the other, ‘her

wife,’ or ‘his husband.’ ‘Head,’ by itself, does not exist; it must be

somebody’s head.” When, again, you dissociate the sound which stands for

the action or substance from the pronoun, you come, in a certain group

of words, to another range of thought connected with the primary family

relation, and showing the existence of that particularly ancient form

of endogamy, in which all the elder females are the mothers and all the

elder men are the fathers of the tribe. For instance, take a word like

“mother;” “m” would mean the female principle, “o” would be the self, and

the _ther_ would mean “the tribe;” in other words, “mother” would mean:

“the female that bore me and that belongs to my tribe.” Now, fanciful

as this may appear to us, it is the simple fact as regards the Hunza

language, which, when put the test of analysis, will throw an incredible

light on the history of Aryan words. For instance, taking Sanskrit as

a typical language, you will, I believe, find how the early relations

grew, and you will get beyond the root into the parts of which the root

is made up; each of which has a meaning, not in one or two instances, but

in most. I am not going to read you the volume which I am preparing for

the Indian Government, and which is only the first part of the analysis

with regard to this language, and only a very small portion indeed of

the material that I collected in 1866, 1872, and 1884 regarding that

important part of the world, Dardistan, which is now being drawn within

the range of practical Indian politics—a region situated between the

Hindukush and Kaghan (lat. 37° N. and long. 73° E. to lat. 35° N. and

long. 74·3° E.) and comprising monarchies and republics, including a

small republic of eleven houses—a region which contains the solution

of numerous linguistic and ethnographical problems, the cradle of the

Aryan race, inhabited by the most varied tribes, from which region I

brought the first Hunza and the first Káfir that ever visited England,

and of which region one of its bigger Chiefs, owing to my sympathy with

the people, invested me with a kind of titular governorship. In that

comparatively small area the questions that are to be solved are great,

and it is even now in some parts, perhaps, as hazardous a journey as,

say, through the dark continent. Whether you get to the ancient Robber’s

Seat of Hunza, where the right of plundering is hereditary, or into the

recesses of Kafiristan or the fastnesses of Pakhtu settlers; whether

you proceed to the republics of Darel, Tangir or Chilás, or proceed to

the community where women are sometimes at the head of affairs, and

which is neither worse nor better than others, an amount of information,

especially ethnographic, is within one’s reach which makes Dardistan a

region that would reward a number of explorers. I may say, in my own

instance, if my life is spared for ten years longer, all I could do would

be to bring out the mere material in my possession in a rough form,

leaving the theories thereon to be elaborated by others. My difficulties

were great, but my reward has been in a mass of material, for the

elaboration of which International, Oriental, and other Congresses and

learned societies have petitioned Government since 1866. My official

duties have hitherto prevented my addressing myself to the congenial

task of elaborating the material in conjunction with others. In 1886, I

was, however, put for a few months on special duty in connexion with the

Hunza language, at the very time that Colonel Lockhart was traversing a

portion of Dardistan. But I think you will be more interested if, beyond

personal observations, I tell you something about that little country of

Hunza itself, which in many respects differs from those surrounding it,

not only in regard to its peculiar language, which I have mentioned, but

in other respects also. Unfortunately, it is also unlike the surrounding

districts, in being characterised by customs the absence of some of

which would be desirable. The Hunzas are nominal Muhammedans, and they

use their mosques for drinking and dancing assemblies. Women are as free

as air. There is little restriction in the relation of the sexes, and

the management of the State, in theory, is attributed to fairies. No war

is undertaken unless the fairy (whom, by the way, one is not allowed to

see) gives the command by beating the sacred drum. The witches, who get

into an ecstatic state, are the journalists, historians, and prophetesses

of the tribe. They tell you what goes on in the surrounding valleys.

They represent, as it were, the local _Times_; they tell you the past

glories, such as they are, of raids and murders by their tribe; and when

the _Tham_ or ruler, who is supposed to be heaven-born (there being some

mystery about the origin of his dynasty), does wrong, the only one who

will dare to tell him the truth is the Dayal, or the witch who prophesies

the future, and takes the opportunity of telling the Rajah that, unless

he behaves in a manner worthy of his origin, he will come to grief! This

is not a common form of popular representation to be met with, say, in

India. Grimm’s fairy-tales sometimes seem to be translated into practise

in Hunza-land, which offers material for discussion alike to those who

search for the Huns and to those who search for the very different Honas.

Then with regard to religion, as I said before, though nominally

Muhammedan, they are really deniers of all the important precepts of

true Muhammedanism, which is opposed to drunkenness, introduces a real

brotherhood, and enjoins great cleanliness as absolutely necessary

before the spiritual purification by prayer can take place. The people

are mostly Muláis, but inferior in piety (?) to those of Zébak, Shignán,

Wakhan, and other places. Now, what is that sect? It is represented by

His Highness Prince Aga Khan, of Bombay, a person who is not half aware

of his importance in those regions, where, till very recently, men were

murdered as soon as looked at. One who acknowledges him or has brought

some of the water with which he has washed his feet, would always be able

to pass through those regions perfectly unharmed! I found my disguise

as a Bokhara Mullah in 1866 to be quite useless, as a protection at

Gilgit, whence men were kidnapped to be exchanged for a good hunting

dog, but in Hunza they used to fill prisoners with gunpowder, and blow

them up for general amusement. His Highness, who is much given to

horse-racing, confines his spiritual administration to the collection of

taxes throughout Central Asia from his followers or believers, and the

believers themselves represent what is still left of the doctrine of the

Sheik-ul-Jabl or the Ancient of the Mountain, the head of the so-called

Assassins, a connexion of the Mahdi, if he was the Mahdi, or the supposed

Mahdi in the Soudan. I consider he was not the Mahdi as foretold in

Muhammedan tradition; but, be that as it may, the 7th Imám of the Shiahs

has given rise to the sects both of the Druses in the Lebanon and to the

Hunzas on the Pamir. They are the existing Ismailians, who, centuries

ago, under the influence of _Hashish_, the Indian hemp, committed crimes

throughout Christendom, and were the terror of Knight-Templars, as

“Hashîshîn,” corrupted into “Assassins.”

Now, I have been fortunate enough, owing to my friendship with the head

of their tribe, to obtain some portions of the Kelám-i-pîr volume, which

takes the place, really, of the Korán, and of which I have got a portion

here. I thought it might not be unworthy of your society to bring this to

your knowledge, as a very interesting remnant which throws, _inter alia_,

considerable light not only on their doctrine, but also on the Crusades.

By a similar favour, I have had the opportunity of hearing the Mitháq,

or covenant of the Druses, and that covenant of the Druses is a kind of

prayer they offer up to God, not only in connexion with the Old Man of

the Mountain, the head of the assassins who began about 1022, but also

with those mysterious rites which also take place in what I may call the

fairy-land of Hunza. With regard to the covenants, or one of them, which

the “U’qelá” or the “initiated” or “wise,” as distinguished from the

“Juhelá” or “ignorant” “laity,” among the Druses, offer up every night,

this was used by a so-called educated Druse, one who had been converted

to Protestantism,—a very good thing: but, as often happens, with that

denationalisation which renders his conversion useless as a means for

the promotion of any religion, as there are no indigenous elements for

its growth. Such a convert is often unable to obtain a knowledge of the

practices of his still unconverted countrymen, as nobody can be looked

upon with greater distrust than that native of a country who has unlearnt

to think in his own language, and who cannot acquire a foreign language

with its associations, which are part of the history of that language;

he does not become an Englishman with English associations, but ceases

to be a good native with his own indigenous associations. Therefore,

in my humble opinion, of all the unfortunate specimens of mankind, the

most degraded are those who, under the guise of being Europeanised and,

therefore, reformers, have themselves the greatest necessity for reform.

Their mind has become completely unhinged, thereby showing us that if we

Europeans wish to do good among Orientals we can do so best by living

good lives in the midst of professors of other religions, this being also

in accordance with the 13th edict of Asoka.

This Druse covenant makes the mad Fatimite ruler of Egypt, Hákim, the

“Lord of the Universe.” As I said before, the present “Lord of the

Universe”. for the Hunzas is the lineal descendant of the 7th Imám, a

resident of Bombay, one to whom the Muláis make pilgrimages, instead

of going to Mecca or to Kerbelá. You may imagine that, even as regards

the Druses, there must be something higher than _their_ “Lord of the

Universe;” but, such as he is, it is with him that this covenant is made.

Reverting to his living colleague, the Indian “Lord,” it may be stated

that there are men scattered throughout India of whose influence we have

only the faintest conception. I pointed out in 1866 that if anyone wanted

to follow successfully my footsteps is Dardistan, he would have to get

recommendations from His Highness Aga Khan of Bombay, and I am glad to

say that Col. Lockhart has taken advantage of that recommendation. The

Druse “Lord of the Universe” is regarded as one with whom nothing can be

compared. The Druses are to render him the most implicit obedience, and

to carry out his behests at the loss of everything, good name, wealth,

and life, with the view of obtaining the favour of one who may be taken

to be God; but the sentence is so constructed as to make him, if not God,

only second to God; in other words, only just a discrimination between

God as the distant ruler of the Universe and, perhaps, some lineal

descendant of Hákim, or rather, Hákim himself as an ever-living being, as

the ruler of _this_ world. This and some other prayers, with some songs,

one amongst which breathes the greatest hatred to Muhammedanism, and

speaks of the destruction of Mecca as something to look forward to, seems

to be deserving of study. There are also references in them to rites

connected with Abraham. A full translation of these documents, compared

with invocations in portions of the Korán, would, indeed, reward the

attention of the student.

I will now again revert from the Druses of the Lebanon to the Muláis

in the Himalayas. I obtained the poem in my hand from the head of that

sect, and the wording is such that it denies whilst affirming the

immortality and transmigration of souls. It says, “It is no use telling

the ignorant multitude what your faith is.” That is very much like what

Lord Beaconsfield said—that all thinking men were of one religion, but

they would not tell of what religion!—a wrong sentiment, but one that is

embodied in the above poem. “Tell them,” continues the poem in effect,

“if they want to know, in an answer of wisdom to a question of folly: ‘if

your life has been bad you will descend into the stone the vegetable, or

the animal; if your life has been good you will return as a better man.

The chain of life is undivided. The animal that is sacrificed proceeds to

a higher life.’ You cannot discriminate and yet deny individual life, and

apportion that air, stone, or plant, to the animal and to man, but you

ought to be punished for saying this to others!” And on this principle,

at any rate, the Druses also act or acted, that that is no crime which

is not found out; and a good many people, I am sorry to say, elsewhere,

think much the same; whereas in Hunza they have gone beyond that stage,

and care extremely little about their crimes being found out. The Mitháq

and other religious utterances of the Druses and the Kelám-i-Pîr of the

Hunzas, if published together, with certain new information which we

have regarding the Crusade of Richard Cœur-de-Lion, would, I think, were

time given and the matter elaborated, indeed deserve the attention of

the readers of the “Transactions.” It also seems strange that where such

customs exist there should be a prize for virtue, but there is one in

Hunza for wives who have remained faithful to their husbands, something

like the French prize for _rosières_.

Formerly Suttee was practised, but Suttee had rather the meaning of Sáthi

or companion, as both husband and wife went to the funeral pyre. Prizes

are similarly given to wives who have not quarrelled for, say, a certain

number of years with their husbands. The most curious custom which seems

to permeate these countries is to foster relationship in nursing,

where a nurse and all her relations come not only within the prohibited

degrees, which is against the spirit of Muhammedanism, but also create

the only real bond of true attachment that I have seen in Dardistan,

where other relatives seemed always engaged in murdering one another.

Nearly all the chiefs in Dardistan give their children to persons of

low degree to nurse, and these and the children of the nurse become

attached to them throughout life and are their only friends. But

this foster-relationship is also taken in order to get rid of the

consequences, say, of crime; for instance, in the case of adultery, or

supposed adultery, the suspected person who declares that he enters

into the relationship of a son to the woman with whom he is suspected,

after a certain penalty, is really accepted in that position, and the

trust is in no case betrayed. It is the only kind of forgiveness which

is given in Dardistan generally to that sort of transgression; but,

further than that, drinking milk with some one, or appointing some one

as foster-father, which is done by crossing two vases of milk, creates

the same relationship, except amongst the noble caste of Shins, who were

expelled by the Brahmins from India or Kashmir, and who hold the cow in

abhorence as one of their religious dogmas, whereas, in other ways, they

are really Brahmins, among whom we find Hinduism peeping out through the

thin crust of Muhammedanism.

The subject of caste, by the way, is also one which is generally

misunderstood, and which, if developed on Christian lines, would give

us the perfection of human society, and solve many of the problems with

which we are dealing in Europe in more advanced civilisations. I have

just read with concern some remarks against caste by Sir John Petheram,

who has been in India some three or four years. I think that before

people speak on subjects of such intricacy, they should take the position

of students of the question, learn at least one of the classical and one

of the vernacular languages of India, and then alone assume the role

of teachers whilst continuing to be learners; even in regard to such

subjects of infant-marriage and the prohibition of widow re-marriage,

there is a side of the question which has not yet been put sufficiently

before the British public. Infant-marriage, when properly carried out

in the higher castes, is an adoption of the girl into the family where

she and the husband grow up together and join in prayer in common, which

is necessary for their respective salvation; there is much to learn in

the way of tenderness, charity, and love, from some of the households in

India, where we find a community constituted on the noblest principles

of “the joint family,” with an admirable and economical subdivision of

labour, which enables them to live for a mere trifle, and yet so to

prepare their food that in every dish you can see the tender care of the

woman who prepares it for the good of the husband and of the household.

Then, as to the widow re-marriage, it has not been sufficiently pointed

out to the British public that spiritual marriage renders the re-marriage

of the Hindu widow impossible, because she is necessary for the spiritual

salvation of the husband, and because as the representative of his

property she may be called on to be the head of the family, for many of

them _are_ at the head of the family, and their position, therefore,

renders it simply impossible for them to re-marry. These are matters

that we should treat with respect, especially if we seek to adapt them

to the spirit of the age. There are also differences amongst Muhammedans

as great as there are between a Christian who tries to follow the Sermon

on the Mount and a nominal Christian. Science and religion, according to

a Muhammedan saying, are twins, and if I understand the object of this

Society, it is in order to make this twinship (if I may be allowed to

use the expression) more real that your labours have been initiated, and

that, under Providence, they have been carried to the successful results

that have followed them both here and abroad.

FOOTNOTES

[1] Strabo II. I., XV. I.—Arrian de Exped. Alex. V. 4 Indica c.

5.—Dio-Chrysos. Orat. XXXV.—Philostrat. de vitâ Apollon. Tyan. VI.

I.—Clem. Alex. Paed., II. 12.—Aelian de Nat. An. XV. 14.—Harpokrat, s.

v. χρυσοχοεῖν, Themist. Orat. XXVII.—Heliodor. X. 26.—Tzetz. Chil. XII.

330-340.—Pseudo Kallisth. II. 29.—Schol. ad Sophocl. Antig., v. 1,025.

[2] Propert. Eleg. III. 13.—Pomp. Mel. III. 7.—Plin. H. N. XI. 36,

XXXIII. 21.—Solin, c. 30.

[3] Indeed, there _is_ no other country between Kaspatyros and the

Paktyan country excepting Dardistan.

[4] This is the Bunji of recent Chilás fights (1893).

[5] General A. Cunningham very kindly sent me the quotation last year. It

runs as follows: Κασπάπυρος πόλις Γανόπρικὴ, Σκυθὼν άκτὴ.

[6] Who refers to my “Results of a Tour in Dardistan, Kashmir, Little

Tibet, Ladak, etc., in 1867-70,” and other papers in his pamphlet on the

origin of that legend.

[7] “Dardistan,” or the country of the Daradas of Hindu mythology,

embraces, in the narrowest sense of the term, the Shiná-speaking

countries (Gilgit, &c.); in a wider sense, Hunza, Nagyr, Yasin,

and Chitrál; and in the widest, also parts of Kafiristan. (See my

“Dardistan,” part III.)

[8] “Yatsh” means “bad” in Kashmiri.

[9] The father’s name was Mir Khan. The daughter’s name was Birani. The

bridegroom’s name was Shadu Malik of Nagyr, of Phall Tshatshe race, and

the place of the wedding was Buldar Butshe.

[10] Elsewhere called _tshi_.

[11] Eating meat was the process of _incarnation_.

[12] The story of the famous horse, the love-making between Azru and the

Princess, the manner of their marriage and other incidents connected with

the expulsion of the tyrant deserve attention.

[13] Possibly this legend is one of the causes of the unfounded

reputation of cannibalism which was given by Kashmiris and others to the

Dards before 1866, and of which one Dardu tribe accuses another, with

which, even if it should reside in a neighbouring valley, it may have no

intercourse. I refer elsewhere to the custom of drinking a portion of the

blood of an enemy, to which my two Kafirs confessed.—(“Dardistan,” Part

III.)

[14] Elsewhere called “Shiribadatt” in one name.

[15] Words inviting attention, such as “listen,” “explain,” etc., etc.,

are generally put at the end of riddles.

[16] The abbreviations “G.” and “A.” stand respectively for “in the

Gilgiti dialect” and “in the Astori dialect.”

[17] Not very many years ago the Albanian robbers in attacking shepherds

used to consider themselves victorious if they had robbed more sheep than

they had lost men.

[18] “Tré” = “three” is pronounced like “tshé.”

[19] Ae = (_Gilgiti_) mouth; aru = in the mouth; ázeju = against the

mouth. Aze = (_Astori_) mouth; ázeru = in the mouth; azeju = against the

mouth.

[20] [Her father was a Mirza and she was, therefore, called Mirzéy.]

[21] Khān is pronounced Khann for the sake of the metre.

[22] Term of familiarity used in calling a daughter.

[23] Mutshutshul is a narrow pass leading from Gakutsh to Yassen.

[24] Doloja is a village ahead of Mutshutshul.

[25] [To fear is construed with the Dative.]

[26] More probably “rey” is the pine called the Picea Webbiana.

[27] Part II., page 16, gives the following for “Birch.” “Birch? = Djônjî

(the white bark of which is used for paper) in Kashmîr where it is called

the book-tree “Burus kull” lit: Burus = the book; kúll = plant, tree.”

[28] “Tshikkí” is a black fragrant matter said to be gathered under

the wing-pits of the hawk; “djónji” is, to me, an unknown tree, but I

conjecture it to be the birch tree. “Gas” is a princess and “mal” is

added for euphony.

[29] [“Mulayi” for woman is not very respectful; women are generally

addressed as “kaki” sister, or “dhì” daughter.]

[30] _Na?_ is it? is it not so? _na_ seems generally to be a mere

exclamation.

[31] The people of Astor are mostly Sunnis, and the Gilgitis mostly

Shiahs, the Chilásis are all Sunnis.

[32] A reed which grows in the Gilgit country of white or red colour.

[33] It is rather unusual to find the nightingale representing the

beloved. She is generally “the rose” and the lover “the nightingale.”

[34] Possibly Ali Sher Khan, also called Ali Shah, the father of Ahmed

Shah, the successful and popular Rajah of Skardo in the Sikh days—or else

the great Ali Sher Khan, the founder of the race or caste of the Makpon

Rajahs of Skardo. He built a great stone aqueduct from the Satpur stream

which also banked up a quantity of useful soil against inundations.

[35] Murad was, I believe, the first Skardo Rajah who conquered Gilgit,

Nagyr, Hunza and Chitrál. He built a bridge near the Chitrál fort. Traces

of invasion from Little Tibet exist in Dardistan. A number of historical

events, occurring at different periods, seem to be mixed up in this song.

[36] The veneration for the name is, of course, also partly due to the

fact that it means “the lion of Ali,” Muhammad’s son-in-law, to whose

memory the Shiah Mussulmans are so devotedly attached. The Little

Tibetans are almost all Shiahs.

[37] “Sar” is Astori for Gilgiti “Djor.”

[38] The defile of the Makpon-i-Shang-Rong, where the Indus river makes a

sudden turn southward and below which it receives the Gilgit river.

[39] The Shiah Rajahs of Skardo believed themselves to be under the

special protection of Ali.

[40] The “Harginn,” a fabulous animal mentioned elsewhere.

[41] The beautiful songs of “My little darling ornaments will wear,”

“Corn is being distributed,” “I will give pleasure’s price,” “My metal is

hard,” “Come out, oh daughter of the hawk,” will be found on pages 2, 4,

10, 11, and 37, of this pamphlet respectively and need not therefore be

quoted in this place.

[42] “Powder” is called “Jebati” in Astóri and in Gilgiti “Bilen,” and

is, in both dialects, also the word used for medicinal powder. It is made

of Sulphur, Saltpetre and coal. Sulphur = dantzil. Saltpetre = Shór in

Astori, and Shorá in Ghilgiti. Coal = Kári. The general proportion of the

composition is, as my informant put it, after dividing the whole into six

and a half parts to give 5 of Saltpetre, 1 of coal, and ½ of Sulphur.

Some put less coal in, but it is generally believed that more than the

above proportion of Sulphur would make the powder too explosive.

[43] By the people of Gilgit.

[44] A few remarks made under this head and that of music have been taken

from Part II, pages 32 and 21, of my “Dardistan,” in order to render the

accounts more intelligible.

[45] The drawing and description of this scene were given in the

_Illustrated London News_ of the 12th February, 1870, under the heading

of “A Dance at Gilgit.”

[46] Wine is called in Gilgit by the same name as is “beer” by the

Astoris, _viz._: “Mō.” The wine press is called “Mōe Kùrr.” The reservoir

into which it flows is called “Mōe Sán.”

[47] These are the strange sect of the Muláis about whom more in my

“Handbook of Hunza, Nagyr and a part of Yasín.”

[48] This is said to be no longer the case, except in those Dard

republics, where foreigners have not yet interfered. In monarchical

Yasin, and, above all, in Hunza, sexual laxity has ever been great.

Where Sunni rulers have substituted dancing-boys for the dancing of

men (formerly both men and women danced together), a worse evil has

been introduced. A most sacred relationship is the one created by the

foster-mother. The linguistic portion of “The of Hunza-Nagyr Handbook,”

as also of Parts I. and II. of “Dardistan” solves the questions of

whether and where polygamy, endogamy, etc., existed among the Dards,

who, in appearance and sentiment as regards women, as also in legendary

lore, are very “European,” but whom invasion will convert into strict

Muhammadans and haters of the “Firenghi.”

[49] The “brother in the faith” with whom raw milk has been drunk, _Vide_

page 41.

Betrothal, = balli = pumpkin in Gilgiti, Soél—Astóri

Bridegroom, = hileléo, Gil. hiláleo. Astóri.

Bride, = hilal

Bridegroom’s MEN, = garóni, Gil. hilalée, Astóri.

Marriage ‎‏شادي‏‎ = garr, Gil. Kàsh. Astóri

Dowry, = “dab,” Gil. and Astóri

(the grain, ghee and sheep that may accompany the betrothal-present is

called by the Astóris “sakáro.”)

Husband, = baráo, Gil. baréyo, Astóri.

Wife, = Greyn, Gil. gréyn, Astóri.

Wedding dinner “garéy tíki” in Gilgiti. “Kajjéyn bai kyas,” in Astori (?)

[“tikki” is bread, “bai” is a chippati, kyas = food].

[50] The Turks say “a girl of 15 years of age should be either married or

buried.”

[51] Is celebrated in Autumn when the fruit and corn have become ripe.

For a detailed account of this and other festivals see “Hunza-Nagyr

Handbook,” and Parts II. and III. of the “Languages and Races of

Dardistan.”

[52] I have already related that a foreign Mulla had found his way to

Gilgit, and that the people, desirous that so holy a man should not

leave them and solicitous about the reputation that their country had no

shrine, killed him in order to have some place for pilgrimage. Similar

stories are, however, also told about shrines in Afghanistan. My Sazîni

speaks of shrines in Nagyr, Chilâs and Yasin, and says that in Sunni

Chilâs there are many Mullahs belonging to all the castes—two of the most

eminent being Kramìns of Shatiál, about 8 miles from Sazîn. About Castes,

_vide_ page 62.

[53] I refer to the Khajuná, or Burishki, a language also spoken in Nagyr

and a part of Yasin, whose inhabitants are Dards.

[54] I refer to the practice of “Taqqîah.” In the interior of Kabul

Hazara, on the contrary, I have been told that Pathan Sunni merchants

have to pretend to be Shiahs, in order to escape being murdered.

[55] Since writing the above in 1867, a third Kafir from Katár has

entered my service, and I have derived some detailed information from him

and others regarding the languages and customs of this mysterious race,

which will be embodied in my next volume. [This note was written in 1872.]

[56] I have heard this denied by a man from Sazîn, but state it on the

authority of two Chilâsis who were formerly in my service.

[57] My Sazîni says that only a portion of the Fort was blown up.

[58] _Vide_ “History of Dardistan” for details of the contending

dynasties of that region, pages 67 to 110.

[59] Major Montgomery remarks “the coins have the word Gujanfar on them,

the name, I suppose, of some emblematic animal. I was however unable to

find out its meaning.” The word is ‎‏غضنفر ‏‎, Ghazanfar [which means in

_Arabic_: lion, hero] and is the name of the former ruler of Hunza whose

name is on the coins. In Hunza itself, coined money is unknown. [For

changes since 1866, see “Hunza and Nagyr Handbook, 1893.”]

[60] This was the _name_ of the grandfather of Amán-ul-Mulk, the present

ruler of Chitrál (1877). Cunningham says that the _title_ of “Kathor”

has been held for 2000 years. I may incidentally mention that natives

of India who had visited Chitrál did not know it by any other name than

“Kashkar” the name of the principal town, whilst Chitrál was called “a

Kafir village surrounded by mountains” by Neyk Muhammad, a Lughmáni

Nîmtsha (or half) Mussulman in 1866.

[61] This is the plausible Gilgit story, which will, perhaps, be adopted

in Hunza when it becomes truly Muhammadan. In the meanwhile, my endeavour

in 1866 to find traces of Alexander the Great’s invasion in Dardistan,

has led to the adoption of the myth of descent from that Conqueror by the

Chinese Governor or the ancient hereditary “Thàm” of Hunza, who really

is “_ayeshó_,” or “heaven-born,” owing to the miraculous conception of a

female ancestor. “Mogholot” is the direct ancestor of the kindred Nagyr

line, “Girkis,” his twin-brother and deadly foe, being the ancestor of

the Hunza dynasty. (See Genealogy on pages 69 and 111.)

[62] This designation is really that of the Minister of Finances.

[63] This was written in 1866.

[64] I refer only to the present rule of Kashmir itself and not to the

massacres by Kashmir troops in Dardistan, of which details are given

elsewhere.

[65] _Vide_ my comparison between Dardu buildings, etc., and certain

excavations which I made at Takht-i-Bahi in Yusufzai in 1870.

[66] Seduction and adultery are punished with death in Chilâs and the

neighbouring independent Districts. Morality is, perhaps, not quite so

stern at Gilgit, whilst in Yasin, Hunza, and even in Nagyr before 1886,

great laxity is said to prevail.

[67] Since writing the above I have discovered that the people of

Kandiá—an unsuspected race and country lying between Swat and the

Indus—are Dards and speak a Dialect of Shiná, of which specimens are

given elsewhere in the “Races of the Hindukush.” (See Appendix IV.)

The tribe living on the left bank of the Kandiá river is called by its

neighbours “Dard.”

[68] The word ought to be transliterated “Gilgit” ‎‏گلگت ‏‎ and

pronounced as it would be in German, but this might expose it to being

pronounced as “Jiljit” by some English readers, so I have spelt it here

as “Ghilghit.”

[69] In a restricted sense “Shîn” is the name of the highest _caste_ of

the Shîn _race_. “Róno” is the highest official caste next to the ruling

families.

[70] My Sazîni says that they are really Shîns, Yashkuns, Dôms and

Kramins, but pretend to be Afghans. _Vide_ List of Castes, page 62.

Kholi-Palus are _two_ Districts, Khóli and Palus, whose inhabitants are

generally fighting with each other. Shepherds from these places often

bring their flocks for sale to Gilgit. I met a few.

[71] This name is also and properly given by the Baltis to their Dard

fellow-countrymen. Indeed the Little Tibetans look more like Dards than

Ladákis.

[72] _Place aux dames!_ For six years I believed myself “the discoverer”

of this fact, but I find that, as regards Kartakchun in Little Tibet, I

have been nearly anticipated by Mrs. Harvey, who calls the inhabitants

“Dards,” “Dâruds” (or “Dardoos.”)

[73] My Sazîni calls the people of his own place = Bigé; those of Tórr =

_Manuké_, and those of Harbenn = _Jure_.

[74] The two Kafirs in my service in 1866, one of whom was a Bashgali,

seemed inoffensive young men. They admitted drinking a portion of the

blood of a killed enemy or eating a bit of his heart, but I fancy this

practice proceeds more from bravado than appetite. In “Davies’ Trade

Report” I find the following Note to Appendix XXX., page CCCLXII. “The

ruler of Chitrál is in the habit of enslaving all persons from the

tribes of Kalásh, Dangini and Bashghali, idolaters living in the Chitrál

territory.”

[75] Both my Gilgiti follower, Ghulam Muhammad, and the Astóri retainer,

Mirza Khan, claimed to be pure Shîns. The former returned to my service

some years afterwards and was measured together with other Dards. (See

Appendix V.)

[76] My Sazîni says that the Dôms are below the Kramìns and that there

are only 4 original castes: Shîn, Yáshkunn, Kramìn [or “Kamìnn”] and Dôm,

who, to quote his words, occupy the following relative ranks: “The Shîn

is the right hand, the Yáshkunn the left; the Kramìn the right foot, the

Dôm the left foot.” “The other castes are mere names for occupations.” A

Shîn or Yáshkunn can trade, cultivate land or be a shepherd without loss

of dignity—Kramìns are weavers, carpenters, etc., but not musicians—as

for leather, it is not prepared in the country. Kramìns who cultivate

land consider themselves equal to Shîns. Dôms can follow _any_

employment, but, if a Dôm becomes a Mulla, he is respected. Members of

the several castes who misbehave are called Mîn, Pashgun, Mamin and Môm

respectively. “A man of good caste will espouse sides and fight to the

last even against his own brother.” Revenge is a duty, as among Afghans,

but is not transmitted from generation to generation, if the first

murderer is killed. A man who has killed another, by mistake, in a fight

or otherwise, seeks a frank forgiveness by bringing a rope, shroud and a

buffalo to the relatives of the deceased. The upper castes can, if there

are no Kramìns in their villages, do ironmonger’s and carpenter’s work,

without disgrace; but must wait for Kramìns or Dôms for weaver’s work.

The women spin. The “Dôms” are the “Rôms” of Gipsy lore.

[77] These legends should be compared with the Chitrál Fables published

by Mihtar Nizám-ul-Mulk in the _Asiatic Quarterly Review_ of January,

1891, namely: “the vindictive fowl,” “the golden mouse,” “the mouse and

the frog,” “the quail and the fox.” See Appendix III. as also Legends in

“The Hunza-Nagyr Handbook.”

[78] The scrupulousness of the Gipsies in discharging such obligations,

when contracted with a member of the same race, used to be notorious. The

Dôms or Rôms of the Shins are the “Romany” of Europe and our “Zingari” is

a corruption of “Sinkari” or inhabitants on the borders of the River or

Sin = the (Upper) Indus.

[79] Tromba, to be made eatable, must be ground into flour, then boiled

in water and placed in the “tshamúl” [in Astori] or “popúsh” [Ghilgiti],

a receptacle under the hearth, and has to be kept in this place for one

night, after which it is fit for use after being roasted or put on a

tawa [pan] like a Chupatti [a thin cake of unleavened bread]. “barao” or

tshítti baráo = sour baráo [móro baráo = sweet baráo].

[80] Almost every third man I met had, at some time or other, been

kidnapped and dragged off either to Chilás, Chitrál, Badakhshán or

Bukhárá. The surveillance, however, which is exercised over prisoners,

as they are being moved by goat-paths over mountains, cannot be a very

effective one and, therefore, many of them escape. Some of the Kashmir

Maharajah’s Sepoys, who had invaded Dardistan, had been captured and

had escaped. They narrated many stories of the ferocity of these

mountaineers; _e.g._, that they used their captives as fireworks, etc.,

etc., in order to enliven public gatherings. Even if this be true,

there can be no doubt that the Sepoys retaliated in the fiercest manner

whenever they had an opportunity, and the only acts of barbarism that

came under my observation, during the war with the tribes in 1866, were

committed by the Kashmir invaders.

[81] This is undoubtedly the _canis rutilans_, a species of wild dog,

which hunts in packs after the wild goat, so numerously found in the

high mountains round Gilgit. The snow-ounce also pursues it. Dardistan,

specially Hunza, is the paradise of the ibex, the wild sheep, including

the _ovis poli_, and the red bear.

[82] Only so much has been mentioned of the Genealogies of the rulers

of Nagyr, Hunza, and Dîr, as belongs to this portion of my account of

Dardistan.

[83] Full details of the son and successor of Ghazan Khan, Safdar Ali

Khan, to the present vassal of the Kashmir (Anglo-Indian) Government,

Muhammad Názim Khan, the fugitive Safdar Ali Khan’s half-brother, are

given elsewhere.

[84] Abbas Khan(?) now at Srinagur and Bahadur Khan(?).

[85] I believe that Raja Záhid Za’far’s wife was a sister of Rajas Kerîm

Khan and Sakandar Khan of Gilgit (also of Nagyr descent). _Vide_ page 67

and Heading V. on page 69.

This connexion might account for Za’far helping the Dogras, who had

reinstated Kerîm Khan in Gilgit.

[86] Jewahir Singh went by Shigar with 13,000 Baltis (Little Tibetans),

2,000 light infantry came _viâ_ Jagloth under Sirdar Mahmud Khan. The

general of all the “Khulle” Regiments was Bakhshi Radha Kishn. Colonel

Hoshiára went by the Nomal road to Nagyr, and after destroying 3,000 head

of sheep and many villages returned.

Wazir Zoraweru went to Darêl with Colonel Devi Singh and 10,000 men(?).

Bija Singh was at Gor(?) and Hussani Ali was in command of the Artillery.

[87] Mir Vali and Pahlwan are brothers by different mothers. Mulk Amán

and Nura Guzá (Mîr Ghazi?) are brothers by the same mother—so one of my

men says. Pahlwan is Amán-ul-Mulk’s sister’s son (_vide_ “History of Wars

with Kashmir”).

[88] _Extract_: “_1850._ The raids of the Chilásis, is made the occasion

for invading the country of Chilás, which not being a dependency of

Kashmir, is not included in the Treaty of 1846. The Maharaja gives

out that he is acting under orders of the British Government. Great

consternation among petty chiefs about Muzaffarabad regarding ulterior

plans of the Maharaja. The Sikhs send a large army, which is defeated

before the Fort of Chilás. 1851.—Bakhshi Hari Singh and Dewan Hari Chand

are sent with 10,000 men against Chilás, and succeed in destroying the

fort and scattering the hostile hill tribes which assisted the Chilásis.”

[89] Extract from Drew’s “Northern Barriers of India,” 1877: “Until

about 1850 they used to make occasional expeditions for plunder, coming

round the flanks of the mountain into this Astor Valley. It was these

raids that determined Maharaja Gulâb Singh to send a punitive expedition

against Chilás. This he did in 1851 or 1852. The Dogrâs at last took the

chief stronghold of the Chilásis, a fort two or three miles from the

Indus River, and reduced those people to some degree of obedience: and

_there has been no raid since_.”

[90] “The Astor people used formerly to do the same thing,” and on page

459 of Drew’s “Jummoo and Kashmir Territories,” the author, who was a

high official in the Kashmir service, says: “The Sikhs sent an expedition

to Chilás under one Sujah Singh, but it was repulsed.... This was about

the year 1843.... The good effects (of the expedition in 1850 or 1851)

... have already been spoken of. Since that time the Chilásis ... pay

yearly to the Maharaja a tribute of 100 goats and about two ounces of

gold-dust; _otherwise they are free_.” Since then Major Ommaney in

1868 reports that ever since the advent of British neighbourhood they

have never committed any offences: “The people are inoffensive.” Mr.

Scott calls them “a quiet, peace-loving people,” and all the Panjab

Administration Reports give them the same reputation.

[91] The word “Thousand” may only stand for 400, as explained elsewhere.

[92] For divisions of Dard castes see pages 62, 63.

[93] Of the value of ten annas each, then 1s. 3d.

[94] “Yaghistáni” means inhabitant of the “wild” or “independent” country.

[95] For Divisions of Dard Castes, see pages 62, 63.

[96] Robe of honor.

[97] [The stones are so loosely embedded in sandy soil, that treading

on or catching hold of one, often brings down an avalanche of stones.

When the path is narrow and a river flows beneath, it is, generally,

impossible to escape. Stones are often placed in such a way as to cause

avalanches to come on the invader who steps on them.]

[98] Here my informant, himself a Sunni Mussulman and always calling his

Shiah co-religionists Kafirs, was raving with indignation against the

orthodox Sunnis, Isa and Asmat and the Sunni soldiers of Kashmir, for

murdering the Shiahs of Yasin. He ascribed the atrocities of the Sikhs

entirely to the orders of the ex-fugitives.

[99] I met Lehna Singh, a relative of the Maharaja, in 1866 in command of

the Sai forces, who had only Rs. 20 per mensem, with unlimited liberty,

however, to make as much besides out of the people, as he could. Bad as

this system is, the drain on the rulers and the ruled is not so great,

under Oriental methods, as under a highly-paid European administration,

and the mismanagement of Kashmîr was far less expensive and less

injurious to the Empire than the present “good” management through

British officers.

[100] The Kholi people from whom the Sazini heard the account of the

massacre were 100 merchants who had come to Gilgit, as is their custom,

to sell goats, etc., and had there been arrested and taken along to Yasin

by Isa Bahadur, in order to prevent their spreading the news of the

impending attack. There were also eight men from Djajiál and five from

Patan. The following were the Chiefs with the merchants: Káhar, Kali,

Dessa, Amr, Djá—Shìns of Mahrëin in Koli (four miles from Koli). Sabit

Shah, Aman, Shudum Khan, Serdàn, Guldán (Kamins); Hajetu, Lola, Shughlu

Hákko, Bisat, Puz, Khushir (Yashkunns); Ashmál, Gulu, Subhán Shah, Bilál,

Mahsúmu, Yadúla, Najb-ulla of Kóli; Bolós Khan, and Bula Shài, two Patan

Sirdars—Wáli, Sirdar of Djajiál, a Shin, with seven Zemindars. I, adds

my informant, have also heard it from Mulk Aman who was not present,

but who sorrows deeply for the occurrence. (The atrocities related are

fully confirmed by Mr. Hayward’s account, quoted elsewhere, and by what I

saw and heard myself in 1866. Mr. Hayward fixes 1863 as the date of the

massacre.)

[101] There is a place called Nilamutsh—green mountain ridge—literally

a mountain that has fallen off a still higher one. Chaprôt is three kôs

above and Guyetsh two kôs below this place. Hîni is on the other side

of the river two and a half kos from Nilamutsh. Chaprôt has 150 houses;

Guyêtsh 30 and Hini 80 houses.

[102] I sent the Yarkandi, Niaz Muhammad, (whom I had taken to Europe),

by the little frequented Shigar route to find out the truth about

Hayward’s murder. His report is a strange and suggestive one, and will be

published in my next volume. (See also pages 74, 75 and 105.)

[103] It has also been alleged that in order to get rid of two doubtful

friends of the Maharajah, namely, Mir Vali and Mulk-Aman, and to make

room for the more trusted Pehliwan, Aman-ul-Mulk, the ruler of Chitrál

and supposed instigator of the murder of Hayward through the agency of

Mir Vali of Yasin, wrote to the Maharajah to implicate Mulk Aman in the

business. Immediately on his flight, his wife and son were temporarily

imprisoned in the Fort of Gilgit. Pehliwan and Rahmat interceded for some

of the servants, who were set free and sent on to Chitrál. Mir Vali found

his way to Chitrál, whose ruler had one of Mr. Hayward’s guns, though

the bulk of his property is said to have been recovered. There he was

seen by Major Montgomery’s Havildar, who reported that Mir Vali was lame

from a kick by a horse. This however, does not seem to have prevented

him from resuming the rule of Yasin in conjunction with Pehliwan or, if

recent accounts are to be trusted, from turning his nominal suzerain,

Aman-ul-Mulk, out of Chitrál. Mulk Aman also figured for a short time on

the scene of the war with Aman-ul-Mulk and by the latest report, seems to

have fled to Yarkand.

[104] This peak overlooks Bunji and the whole course of the Indus (with

a sight of the Gilgit Valley) from its sudden southward bend at the

Makpon-i-Shang-Rong, till it again bends westward beyond Chilás.

[105] The last (semi-official) _Moscow Gazette_ says: “Russia will not

neglect to avail herself of the first convenient opportunity to assist

the people of India to throw off the English yoke, with the view of

establishing the country under independent native rule.”

[106] I began to write this paper as an introduction to an academical

treatment of the history, language, and customs of Hunza-Nagyr, when

the apparently, sudden, but, probably, calculated complications on that

frontier compelled me to abandon my task for the present and to discuss

instead the ephemeral news as they were published from day to day in the

press.

[107]

“Agàr qahàt rijál uftad az-sî qaum kam gîrî.

Yakùm Affghan, doyum Kambó, soyùm bad-zât Kashmîrî.”

If there (ever) should be a scarcity of men, frequent little (beware of)

three peoples: one the Affghan, the second the Kambó, and the third the

bad-raced Kashmîrî.

[108] I was again on special duty in 1886, and its result was Part I. of

the “Hunza-Nagyr Handbook,” of which a second and enlarged edition will

appear shortly. My material, some of which has been published, has been

collected between 1865 and 1889 in my private capacity as a student of

languages and customs.

[109] In spite of Russian attempts to conciliate the orthodox Muhammadans

of Turkey and thus to take the place of the British as “the Protector of

Islám,” the news of the revision of the Korán by a Russian Censor and the

_bévue_ of putting up the Czar’s portrait in Central Asian Mosques, have

injured Russia’s propaganda among Muhammadans, whom also the accounts

of the persecution of the Jews have estranged from a Power that began

its rule in Central Asia by repairing and constructing Mosques, helping

Mosque Schools and even subsidizing an employé to call “the faithful” to

fast and _break_-fast during the month of Ramazán.

[110] “By the most recent account, Ghazan Khan, the son of Ghazanfar,

has been killed by his own son, Muhammad Khan. Muhammad Khan’s mother

was the sister of Zafar Khan, the ruler of Nagyr. She was killed by her

father-in-law, Ghazanfar, and thrown over a precipice from her house.

Ghazan Khan treacherously killed his paternal uncle, Abdullah Khan, ruler

of Gojál, who unsuspectingly met him. On ascending the throne, Ghazan

Khan is also said to have poisoned his ailing full brother, Bukhtawar

Shah, and another (by a different Sayad mother) Nanawal Shah. The

fratricidal traditions of Hunza and of the Khush-waqtia family of Yasin

have now been somewhat thrown into the shade by the parricide of Muhammad

Khan. The father of Ghazan Khan, Ghazanfar, is said to have died from

the effects of a suit of clothes, impregnated with small-pox, sent to

him by his daughter, the full sister of Ghazan Khan, who was married to

Mir Shah of Badakhshan, in order to accelerate her brother’s accession

to the throne. The father of Ghazanfar, Sullum, also poisoned his own

father. This state of things is very different from the gentle rules and

traditions of Nagyr, whose aged Chief, Zafar Khan, has nineteen sons, and

who sent his rebellious eldest son. Muhammad Khan (whose mother was a

full sister of Ghazan Khan of Hunza) to Ramsu in Kashmir territory, where

he died. He was married to a daughter of his maternal uncle, and tried

to sell some of his Nagyr subjects into slavery, against the traditions

of that peaceful country, in consequence of which his father, Zafar Khan

expelled him.” (See Part referring to the History and Customs of Hunza

and Nagyr.) Yet it is this patriarchal, loyal and God-fearing Záfar Khan,

whose letter to me I published last year, whom we accused of kidnapping

and aggressiveness, so that we might take his country.

[111] Of the £380, Shignán received £170, Sirikul £100, Wakkan £50, and

Hunza £60 in Yambus (silver blocks of the value of £17).

[112] _Times_, 5th December, 1892.

[113] _Asiatic Quarterly Review_, January, 1891.

[114] Burns, in his travels to Bukhárá, points out the locality of the

province of Koláb in the south of the Amu (Oxus), and calls it by the

name of Gawalan, which I think is a corruption of Khatlan; but Najmuddin

asserts with certainty that it is situated on the northern bank and

is a part of Ma-vara-un-nahr (the country on that side of the river)

(Transoxiana). Najmuddin is No. 2 of the group at the beginning of this

paper.

[115] This river is formed by three tributaries (1) coming from Sarghalan

(has a mine of rubies); (2) from Wardùj (sulphur mines); (3) ‎‏یمغان‏‎

Yamghan (iron mine). It flows through the territory of Badakhshan, and

joins the Amu.

[116] See also “Comparative Table” at the end of this Appendix, and

the “Anthropological Photograph” facing this page. Read also page 1 of

Appendix IV. “The Races of the Hindukush,” opposite to Drawing 1 of that

Appendix, on which look for Nos. 1, 6, and 9.

[117] Matavalli, and a new man, Mîr Abdullah of Gabriál (column F of

subjoined Comparative Table), were also measured at Lahore on the 23rd

March, 1886, with the following results that may be added to the above

measurements or may be compared with those in the “Comparative Table,”

respectively columns A and F, (_Matavalli_ and _Mîr Abdullah_).

I. Head: Greatest breadth, A, 14·3—F, 14·1.

Greatest length from glabella to the back of the head, A,

18·8—F, 18·6.

Greatest length from root of nose to the back of the head,

A, 19·6—F, 19·1.

Height of ear, A, 11·2—F, 11·9. Breadth of forehead, A,

10·6—F, 10·7.

Height of face (_a_), chin to edge of hair, A, 18·4—F, 19·1.

Height of face (_b_), root of nose to chin, A, 12·7—F, 12·1.

Middle face, root of nose to mouth. A, 8·1—F, 7·6.

Breadth of face, zygomatic arch, A, 13·8—F, 13·6.

Distance of the inner angles of eyes, A, 3·4—F, 3·4.

Distance of the outer angles of eyes, A, 9·2—F, 8·8.

Nose: Height, A, 5·1—F, 5·8; Length, A, 5·3—F, 5·9; Breadth,

A, 3·9—F, 3·5.

Mouth: Length, A, 5·4—F, 5·3.

Ear: Height, A, 6·1—F, 6·3; distance from ear-hole to root

of nose, A, 12·1—F, 12·1.

Horizontal circumference of head, A, 55—F, 53.

II. Body: Entire height, A, 165·7 centim.—F, 166.

Greatest extension of arms, A, 166·5—F, 165. !!

Height: chin, A, 142—F, 143. Height to navel, A, 96·5—F, 99.

” shoulder, A, 138—F, 138. ” middle finger, A, 73—F,

71·5.

” elbows, A, 104—F, 105. ” patella, A, 45—F, 44·5.

” wrist, A, 78—F, 80.

Height in sitting, to top of head (over the seat), A, 88—F, 85.

Breadth of shoulder, A, 43—F, 36.

Circumference of chest, A, 87—F, 81.

Hand: length middle finger, A, 8—F, 7·5; breadth, base of four

fingers, A, 10—F, 7·5.

Foot: length, A, 26—F, 25·5; breadth, A, 11—F, 8·25.

Circumference of upper leg, A, 46—F, 42·5.

Circumference of calf, A, 34—F, 32.

[118] For additional measurements, see page 2. He is No. 6 of Drawing 1

of Appendix IV.

[119] Mîr Abdullah is No. 7 of Drawing 1, and No. 2 of Drawing 2, of

Appendix IV. For additional measurements, see page 2.

[120] I was obliged to get myself measured in order to encourage the

Dards and Kafirs to allow themselves to be subjected to a process so

unintelligible to them. At the same time, their comparison with an

European may have some interest. His brachycephalic Cranial Index

81·44 may be compared with those of dolichocephalic Matavalli 73·84,

mesocephalic Khudáyár 78·7, mesocephalic Ghulám Muhammad 77·4,

mesocephalic Ghulám 77, the exquisitely dolichocephalic Abdullah 72·53

and dolichocephalic Mîr Abdullah 73·82, which give an average of 75·55.

The European’s circumference of head, 60 centimetres, may also be

compared with Abdul Ghafûr’s, 53·7½; Khudayâr’s, 52·5; Ibrahîm’s, 56·5;

Matavalli’s, 54; Sultan Ali’s, 53·75; Khudádad’s and Hatamu’s, 54·4; and

Ghulam Mahammad’s, 54; which give the circumference of the heads of the

eight Dards and Kafirs on the first page. This Table supplies further

details regarding three of them, and adds the measurements of three other

Dards (Ghulám, Abdullah, and Mîr Abdullah), so that in all, including

Jamshêd, the measurements of twelve Dards or Kafirs have been preserved.

Those taken by Dr. Neill have been lost. Notice also the fine formation

of the head and the amplitude of the frontal region of the Dareyli

herdsman, on the drawing opposite to page 76 of the text of this Volume.

[121] There were also weighed the Kamôzi Káfir Abdulghafûr, age 23 or 24,

weighing 10 st. 2¾ lb.; and the following Nagyris: Ibrahim Rôno, 34 years

old, 10 st. 12 lb.; Sultàn Ali, 35 years old, 9 st. 12 lb.; and the boy

Hatamu, 16 years old, and weighing 7 st. 13 lb.

[122] The numbers refer to the tables published by Broca, Topinard and

Hamy.

[123] The following extra measurements were given:—Height to auricular

meatus, 158; to acromion, 142; to epicondyle, 106; styloid apophysis of

the radius, 82; to the end of middle finger, 64.

[124] A kôs is a measurement of distance varying from 1 to 2½ miles, and

often depending on the speaker’s impression due to hardships encountered

or to other causes. “Katsha” and “pakka,” for “rough, unfinished,” and

“thorough” respectively, are terms well known to Anglo-Indians. “Katsha”

and “pakka” are generally spelt “kucha” and “pucka.”

[125] Or about 20 miles. The reader should notice that such abbreviations

as “14 kôs, plain” mean that “the distance is 14 kôs over generally a

plain or easy ground”; “h” stands for houses.

[126] Or British-Indian Rupees.

[127] It is superfluous to inform readers of this Review that the

Persians are Shiah, and the Turks Sunni, Muhammadans. Most of the Indian

Muhammadans are Sunnis.

[128] Many words denoting proximity, become honorifics, such as “Sherîf”

(Shereef), “Hazrat,” “Jenáb,” etc. “Khalîfah” is one who succeeds, or

follows, or is a deputy. Strictly speaking, this title refers to the

Sultan of Turkey as the successor of the Prophet Muhammad in the temporal

headship of the Sunnis, but even the successor of the heretical Mahdi in

the Sudán calls himself “Khalifa.”

[129] The “Sherîfs” or “Shereefs,” in a special, princely or official

sense, are lineal descendants of Muhammad through his daughter Fatima

who was married to A’li, and have, perhaps, even a higher claim to the

respect of the Faithful, than ordinary descendants or “Sayads.” The Grand

Shereef of Mecca, the Shereefian dynasty of Morocco, the Shereef of

Wazan, who also bears the title, like the Emperor of Morocco, of “Muláy,”

or “Maulái,” show the great extent of the “House of A’li.”

[130] Among these Pîrs each Mulái chooses his own, of course, _under_ the

supreme headship of Agha Khan.

[131] Who has been accused of instigating the “Old Man of the Mountain”

to send his emissaries to murder Conrad of Montferrat, titular King of

Jerusalem. The Ismailian “Assassins” are also accused of an attempt to

murder Prince Edward of England at Acre.

[132] Whom I took to England and whose name, curiously enough, was

“Matav_ali_,” which is also a derivative of “vali.”

[133] Also, “Does it rise in the direction of heavens, or is its descent

in vegetation?” [taking “Hásil” = obtaining for “Mehásil” = vegetation],

reproduction (?)

[134] Also, “Or in the form of Man how does it again rotate into being

born an Adamite?” or, “Why is man created in the form of a human being?”

[135] Also, “Nay, but the perfect man, the seemly, the all-perfect wins

the prize.”

[136] These words are so badly written that they may also be read as, “O,

thou that waitest not for wisdom.”

[137] “Degol is the first village of Zebák ... which is ruled by Shah

Abdur-Rahim, a Sayad of the Shiah sect, worshipped by all the Shiahs

of Kashkar, (Chitrál), Yarkand, and Khokand. They also worship Shah

Bombáy, Shah Madkasan, who is learned, good-natured, and friendly

to travellers.... The people give a tenth of their income to their

preceptors; if one has ten children, he consecrates one to Shah

Abdur-Rahim.... The inhabitants are strong and hardy; the women do not

cover their faces from strangers. Although Shiahs, they have no mosques

and repeat no prayers. Abdur-Rahim has one in his village, where _he_

prays. Every morning at _Chasht_ (the middle hour between sunrise and

noon) he sits in the assembly and distributes breads of wheat among the

members, followed by the servants handing round tea in porcelain cups

in which each one soaks his bread, and, after eating it, lifts his hand

to bless the giver, a custom also followed by the nobles on entering

the assembly. If Shah Abdur-Rahim addresses any of them, he rises from

his seat and answers as if he were reading a _ruka’t_ at the time of

praying, and then returns to his place, and sits on his knees, for to sit

otherwise is reckoned a sin amongst these men.” In other words, the only

worship of the prayerless Muláis is to their Pîr, to whom they address

the _ruka’t_ given by real Muhammadans in prayers to God [bowing, whilst

standing, with hands resting on the knees].

[138] The Druses are divided into “Juhelá” = “uninitiated,” or the Laity,

and “U’qalá” = the “initiated.”

[139] It should be noticed that this apotheosis of “Al-Hákim,” the

mad Fatimite Khalifa of Cairo (A.D. 996-1020), who was the head and

originator of the special Ismailian sect, which became subsequently

known to the Crusaders under the name of the “Assassins”—a corruption of

“Hashishin,” or drinkers of Hashish (_Canabis Indica_)—commences with

titles of governorship or Age which would seem (to the uninitiated) to be

compatible with his subordination to the Deity, although, for practical

purposes, Al-Hákim is the “ruler of this world,” whether for good or

for evil. He is, therefore, the Prince of this world, if not Apollyon,

and the fact that the words “Valî” = a deputed governor or “Hákim” = a

governor, may cause him to be confounded with either an ordinary ruler,

or be merely ringing the changes on his own name of “Al-Hákim,” it is

clear, at any rate to the initiated, that the only Deity worth caring for

is thereby meant, and that he began with the Khalifa Al-Hákim, who lives

for ever. In the titles “Maula” and “Valî” there is also an allusion to

A’li, who is “next to God,” and from whom Al-Hákim was descended. The

Mauláis or Muláis of the Hindukush use similar titles for their spiritual

head, whether dead, or continuing in his lineal descendant, Agha Khan of

Bombay. The “Kelám-i-Pîr,” or “the Logos or word of the Pîr or ancient

sage,” mainly refers to the sayings attributed to the “Sheikh-ul-Jabl,”

or “Old Man of the Mountain.” In Hunza itself, the Muláis equally address

their practical Deity as “The Ancient of the Age,” or “Pîr-uz-Zamán.”

[140] The contract is thus repeated from a written document.

[141] Many Shiahs call A’li “the light” of God.

[142] There are _five_ books of the _Sheikh-ul-A’ql_, “or old man of

the intelligence,” or of the “initiated,” and also apparently a book of

investigation and of the unity of the Godhead for the “initiated of the

retirement” = “U’qala al Khalwat.” There are _five_ “Maulas” or Mulas of

“the initiated,” which I take to be the names of five books, namely: (1)

the Mula of the A’ql, or Mind, or of the body-corporate of the “U’qalá”

or “the initiated”; (2) the Mula of the Nafs, or Breath; (3) the Mula

of the Zeman, or the Age; (4) the Mula of the Kalima, or the Word; (5)

the Mula of Al-Hákim, or the founder of the sect. Numbers 3 and 4 are

probably the Kelám-i-Pîr and other dicta of the Mulais of the Hindukush,

to which I have already referred.

[143] This holy roll among extreme Shiahs has _five_ names, namely, God,

Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Husain, which positively excludes the prophet

Muhammad, but includes his son-in-law (Ali), his daughter, Fatima, and

the martyred grandsons of Ali, namely Hasan and Husain. As a rule,

however, the ordinary orthodox “Panjtan” among Shiahs (and even in

some Sunni Mosque inscriptions) are: “Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, Hasan and

Husain.” “Panjtan” means “the five (holy) bodies.”

[144] There are _five_ main sects among the Shiahs, or, rather,

“Adelias,” or advocates of “the rightful” and hereditary succession to

the Apostleship of Muhammad, in opposition to the elective principle by

the _consensus fidelium_ of the Sunnis. The two sects that now concern us

are the African Ismailians, and the Ismailians of the Lebanon and of the

Hindukush. The number of Shiah sects is estimated variously from 3 to 72.

[145] I use the word “Mulái” to include not only the virtuous Druses

with their self-denying “initiated” or “_U’qelá_” leaders, but also the

Ismailians generally, whether religious or not, (as in impious Hunza) and

of whatever degree of conformity or scepticism. As a rule, an ordinary

Mulái will outwardly practise Sunni rites and hold Shiah doctrines.

[146] In discussion, whenever expedient, with a Brahmin, or even

Buddhist, the belief in a modified metempsychosis would form a bond of

sympathy (see last A. Q. R.), whilst the survival “of the most adapted,”

rather than that of “the best,”—without, however, the loss of any

individual or type,—would be connected with the notion of a certain fixed

number of souls in evolution from “the beginning” and ever recurrent in

living form. “The beginning,” however, would be a mere term applying

to this or that revealed condition, for behind what may be called “the

terrestrial gods,” behind Allah in whatever form, Deity or Deities,

there was The BEING that existed without a beginning and whose first

manifestation was the “Word” with its Replica as the type of the apostle

and his fellow that ever succeeded itself throughout the generations of

this world. If the visible Deity, preferring to show itself in human,

rather than any other, form, is incorporated in the lineal descendant

of the 7th Imám, it is, apparently, because humanity requires such

an unbroken link in order to convert into certainty its hope of the

deliverer, the Messiah, the Mahdi, the second [advent of] Jesus, who will

similarly be the Deity in the shape of a man, reconciling the various

expectations of all religions in one manifestation. That few, if any,

Muláis, or even the most “initiated” Druses, should know _every_ variety

of their belief, is natural, not only in consequence of varying degrees

of mental ability and of corresponding “initiation,” but also because of

varied historical or national surroundings, circumstances which underlie

the guiding principle of all Mulái belief and practice. I venture to

indicate, _as purely my personal impression_, that this principle, which

need not be further explained in this place, is the real secret of that

faith. In my humble opinion, the _disjecta membra_, so to speak, of that

faith form, if reconstituted, an embodiment of the religious thought of

the World that seeks to reconcile all differences in one Philosophy and

in one Policy.

[147] In the interior of Arabia, Mr. W. B. Harris has come across a

curious sect that may be connected with a section of the Kerámis or

Keramátis, sects that gave much trouble in Syria in the 10th century,

or, more probably, with an extreme and, probably, disavowed heterodox

sub-sect of the Ismailians. It may be interesting to quote the

correspondence that has taken place between us on the subject:

Tangier, _April 5, 1893_.

“During my journey through the Yemen last year I came across

a sect of people calling themselves _Makarama_, of whom I was

able to learn little, on account of their own reticence and the

apparent want of interest of their Moslem neighbours. However,

one of their number gave me a couple of lines of Arabic poetry,

which translated, run:

“God is unknown—by day or by night.

Why trouble about him, there is no heaven and no hell.”

All that I could find out about them in addition to this is

that they hold an annual nightly feast with closed doors and

lights in the windows, in which they are said to practise

incest; and that they annually practise the form of driving a

scapegoat into the mountains. The latter is clearly Judaic and

the former custom savours of the Karmathians, but this seems

improbable as the people are not Moslems. They are visited, it

is said, by certain Indians who prize the charms written by

these Yemenis. Beyond this I was able to discover nothing.

I have no valuable books of reference as to religions here,

but if I remember aright there were Phœnician rites resembling

this. Could it have anything to do with the Sabeans? I should

be so grateful to you if you could let me know, when you have

time, what you think about it. I can find no reference to them

in any work on the Yemen. The name of the sect is, I suppose,

of Persian origin.

WALTER B. HARRIS.

[REPLY.]

Vichy, _April 14, 1893_.

I, too, am not here within the reach of books of reference. I

will, however, try to suggest what occurs to me on the spur of

the moment in the hope that it may possibly be of some slight

use in your enquiries. It is very important, first of all,

to learn how “Makarama” is spelt by the Yemen people in the

Arabic character, and especially whether the “k” is a “kef” or

a “qaf” ‎‏ق ‏‎. Then the lines you quote should be sent to me

in the original Arabic dialect and character (not the Maghrebi

form, of course) and transliterated in Roman characters[*] _as

you heard them_, for a good deal depends, _inter alia_, on the

Arabic equivalents, used by “the Makarama” of “God,” “heaven,”

and “hell.” ... The sentiment of the translation is the _Mulái_

of Hunza, about whom I have written in the last _Asiatic

Quarterly Review_....

How do you know that the people are _not_ Moslems? That their

orthodox Muhammadan neighbours do not admit them to be such,

is not conclusive, for I have heard rigid Sunnis even exclude

Shiahs from that appellation. If you could remember the _exact_

question which you put on that subject to your Mukarama friends

and their precise reply, it might help to a conclusion.

Driving a scapegoat into the mountains is a common practice

among the Afghans, who call themselves “Beni Israel” (not to be

confounded with the _Jews_ properly so called—their “Musáis” or

“Yahûdis”). The other rites you speak of _were alleged_ against

the Karmathians and the Yazîdis _are_ accused of them. Have you

thought of the Yazîdis? The accusation of incestuous gatherings

is, as you know, constantly brought by “the orthodox” against

sectarians and I would not, in your place, give up the

conjecture of a Karmathian origin of the “Makarama,” before

you have gone further into the matter. Please, therefore, to

remember _all you can_ about your friends and, if I can, I

shall aid your enquiry to the best of my ability. I think you

are right about the Phœnician rites and the Sabean conjecture.

I do not think that “Makarama” is of Persian origin. Is

it possibly “_Mu_karama” or “_Mu_karrima”? If so, this

would be an appropriate title for a specially “blessed” or

enlightened sect. Why do you call them a “_sect_”? Are they

also ethnographically distinct from their neighbours and what

are their occupations? Could you get me a copy of one of

their _charms_? Their being visited by certain Indians would

rather show their Ismailian connexion than that they are not a

heretical Muhammadan sect. Indeed, among the Ismailian sects

mentioned by Makrizi as having spread in Yemen, among other

countries, are “the _Kerámis_, _Karmátis_, Khárijis, etc.,”

“all of whom studied philosophy and chose what suited them.” I

really think these are your “Makaráma.”

G. W. LEITNER.

[*] I think “romanizing” the Oriental characters a great

mistake, except “to make assurance doubly sure.” The _Arabic_

spelling would at once limit conjectures and lead to a solution.

[148] We trust to be able to publish in our next issue the history of his

family since 622 A.D. as also his photograph and those of his father and

grandfather, the latter of whom tendered great services to our Government

in Sind and Kandahar.—ED.

[149] Being a report of an extempore address delivered before the

Victoria Institute.

Transcriber’s Note:

This book is a collection of papers written at different times, and not

edited with any consistency. Spelling and accents vary considerably.

The text has been preserved as printed apart from minor repairs to

punctuation and the following changes to correct near-certain errors.

Introduction, page 1: “acccurate” changed to “accurate” (one of

the most accurate codes)

Main text, page 12: “Arzu” changed to “Azru” (‘Refuse food,’

said Azru)

Main text, page 40: “porbably” changed to “probably” (in Astor

(probably Vigne))

Main text, page 78: “Seapoys” changed to “Sepoys” (in 1866

_six_ Kashmir Sepoys)

Main text, page 89: “aud” changed to “and” (Shahbaz, also

called “Osmin,” and Uzet Shah)

Main text, page 99: redundant word “in” removed (lost 400 young

men [in] killed)

Main text, page 101: “Dumnu-dummu” changed to “Dummu-dummu”

(Yatshotsh below Dummu-dummu on the Gilgit side)

Main text, page 111: “Islamin” changed to “Islam in” (the

introduction of the religion of Islam in to Gilgit)

Appendix I, page 22: “Naygr” changed to “Nagyr” (As for Nagyr,

the case was quite different)

Appendix IV, page 1: “Kerbalá” changed to “Kerbelá” (sent to

Kerbelá a year ago)

Appendix IV, page 14: “wár” changed to “war” (war, _kali_.)

Appendix VI, page 8: “Pigisth” changed to “Pigitsh” (Kazi-deh

to Pigitsh 12 kôs)

Appendix VIII, page 5: “arbitary” changed to “arbitrary” (The

meaning is nothing so arbitrary.)

Illustration 15: “gNayari” changed to “Nagyri” (No. 4. Nagyri)

Footnote 38: “make” changed to “makes” (the Indus river makes a

sudden turn)

Footnote 129: “Marocco” changed to “Morocco” (like the Emperor

of Morocco)

End of Project Gutenberg's Dardistan in 1866, 1886 and 1893, by G. W. Leitner

Dardistan in 1866, 1886 and 1893 Being an account of the history, religions, customs, legends, fables, and songs of Gilgit, Chilas, Kandia (Gabrial), Dasin, Chitral, Hunsa, Nagyr, and other parts of the Hindukush, as also a supplement to the second edition of the Hunza and Nagyr handbook and an epitome of part III of the author's "The languages and races of Dardistan" · 第 8 / 8 章

The leaning of the Muláis is, of course, rather to poetical Shiism, with