Badakhshan

“ The Pamir land is the principal watershed of Asia, and Badakhshan forms part of the western water slope consti tuting the basin of the Oxus. The country is for the most part mountainous, but there are numerous plains and fertile valleys. The general slope of the country is great, since Kunduz is probably not more than 500 feet above the level of the sea, while Lake Victoria, close to the principal watershed, is estimated at 15,600 feet.
Badakhshan comprises 16 districts. The principal district called Faizabad is under the rule of the Mir Mahmiid Shah ”

“ He had usurped the throne of Bedakhshan in 1508, and was afterward established by Humayun as ruler over the whole of the Upper-Oxus territory.
162 From the political condition already referred to, it is quite evident why our author chose this very difficult, roundabout route past Badakhshan, the same route which was taken by Sheibani Khan, Baber's adversary, during his campaign against Khosru Shah. Part of ancient Khatlan, also called Khotl, is now included in the Province of Kulab.
163 Feizabad is now the capital of Badakhshan. It was Suleiman Shah, who made Kishm his residence. ”

“ Early in the middle of the 1 6th century the Uzbeks obtained possession of Badakhshan, but were soon expelled, and then the country was generally governed by descend ants of the old royal dynasty by the female line. ”

“ It was in 1866 the seat of a district ruler under the Mír of Badakhshan, who was styled the Mír of Kishm, and is the modern counterpart of Marco’s Quens or Count. The modern caravan-road between Kunduz and Badakhshan does not pass through Kishm, which is left some five miles to the right, but through the town of Mashhad, which stands on the same river. Kishm is the warmest district of Badakhshan. Its 156fruits are abundant, and ripen a month earlier than those at Faizabad, the capital of that country. ”

“ Yet it is “Fas ab hosti doceri,” and when Prince Gortschakoff urged the establishment of a neutral zone with autonomous states, including Badakhshan, he advocated a policy that would have conducted to centuries of peace and to the preservation of various ancient forms of indigenous Oriental civilization by interposing the mysterious blanks of the Pamirs and the inaccessible countries of the Hindukush between Russian and British aggression. ”

“ The Indian princes know full well that we are arming them, at their own expense, against a common foe who is not wanting in promises, and who is already posing as a saviour to the people of Raushan, Shignan, Wakhan, Hunza, and even Badakhshan, whose native dynasties or traditions we have either already put aside or are believed to threaten. ”

“ This they do to make themselves look large in the hips, for the men of those parts think that to be a great beauty in a woman.{9}
Note 1.—“The population of Badakhshan Proper is composed of Tajiks, Turks, and Arabs, who are all Sunnis, following the orthodox doctrines of the Mahomedan law, and speak Persian and Turki, whilst the people of the more mountainous tracts are Tajiks of the Shiá creed, having separate provincial dialects or languages of their own, the inhabitants of the principal places combining therewith a knowledge of Persian. ”

“ Babagundì is a famous shrine of Pir Irshád, where even the Mulai Ghazankhan gives cooking pots for travellers, and makes offerings; there are 5 or 6 houses of Zemindars, who look after the shrine. (Half a kôs beyond Babagundì the various roads to the Karumbar, Badakhshan, and one to Hunza join.)
Babagundi to Ríshatt; small fort, 11 kôs; inhabited; 5 villagers’ houses employed in agriculture. Ríshatt; for 4 kôs there is a plain road ”

“ He died in 1712. ↑ Provinces in Persia and Afghanistan conquered by Timur and Babar. Balkh was the cradle of the Zoroastrian religion and a great capital of some of the ancient Persian kings. Badakhshan is known for its ruby mines. Hirat is the gate of India and was many times besieged by the Persians. ”

“ The wealthier gives the larger present; the bigger is considered the superior in a general sort of way, and so two horses, two dogs, and a handful of gold dust are yearly sent by Hunza to Kashmîr or to Yarkand as a cloak for much more substantial exactions in return. Nagyr sends a basket of apricots instead of the horses and dogs. In 1871 Chitrál still paid a tribute to Badakhshan in slaves, but it would be absurd to infer from this fact that Chitrál ever acknowledged the suzerainty of Jehandar Shah, or of the Affghan faction that dispossessed him. ”

“ They are at constant feud with the people of Nagyr, who have some civilization, and are now devoted Shiahs (whence the number of pilgrims, four, from one village) . They are generally fair, and taller than the people of Hunza, who are described as dark skeletons. The Nagyris have fine embroideries, and are said to be accomplished musicians. Their forts confront those of Hunza on the other side of the same river. The people of Badakhshán used to deal largely in kidnapped slaves. ”

“ The veiled horseman who rescued the first and second Darweshes from self-destruction.
[257] A Persian proverb.
[258] Badakhshan is a part of the grand province of Khurasan, and the city of Balkh is its metropolis, to the eastward of which is a chain of mountains celebrated for producing fine rubies.
[259] All Asiatic princes, like others nearer home, have spies, called "reporters of intelligence," who inform themselves of what passes in public. They are, as a matter of course, the pest of society, and generally corrupt. ”

“ This will be for the Nīngnahār tūmān of Lamghān.
[1308] He was thus dangerously raised in his father’s place of rule.
[1309] ff. 10b, 11b. Ḥaidar M. writes, “Shāh Begīm laid claim to Badakhshān, saying, “it has been our hereditary kingdom for 3000 years; though I, being a woman, cannot myself attain sovereignty, yet my grandson Mīrzā Khān can hold it” (T. R. p. 203) .
[1310] tībrādīlār. The agitation of mind connoted, with movement, by this verb may well have been, here, doubt of Bābur’s power to protect. ”

“ No! he must be induced to divert attention from Kâbul by carrying war to some further field. The further the better, so long as it gave those same Moghul troops opportunity for legitimate raiding.
Babar himself never knew how much one woman's influence had to do with his resolution to march on Hindustân; even old Kâsim, though he had the key, did not realise how Mahâm managed to set aside his proposal of an attempt on Badakhshân in favour of the larger, more imaginative project ”

“ Farmūl is another tūmān,833 a humble place, growing not bad apples which are carried into Hindūstān. Of Farmūl were the Shaikh-zādas, descendants of Shaikh Muḥammad Muṣalmān, who were so much in favour during the Afghān period in Hindūstān.
Bangash is another tūmān.834 All round about it are Afghān highwaymen, such as the Khūgīānī, Khirilchī, Tūrī and Landar. Lying out-of-the-way, as it does, its people do not pay taxes willingly. There has been no time to bring it to obedience; greater tasks have fallen to me,—the conquests of Qandahār, Balkh, Badakhshān and Hindūstān! ”

“ He comes to see whoever is appointed to the government of Ahmadabad, and when work and service are necessary appears with a body of his men. On Saturday, the 1st of the month of Bahman, in the 12th year of my reign, Chandar Sen, who is one of the chief zamindars of this country, had the good fortune to kiss the threshold, and presented an offering of nine horses. On Sunday, the 2nd, I gave elephants to Rāja Kalyān, zamindar of Īḍar, to Sayyid Muṣt̤afā, and Mīr Fāẓil. On Monday I went out hawking, and scattered nearly 500 rupees on the road. On this day pears came from Badakhshan. ”

“ Still Babar set his teeth and stuck to the saddle.
"What! thou also?" he said reproachfully to Kwâjah-Kilân when in the privacy of the small Audience-Chamber, the latter urged the wisdom of doing as all the past conquerors of India had done; that is leaving so soon as the treasures had been divided. "And I counted thee my best friend."
"The Most-Clement knows I am that," protested the Kwâjah, stoutly. "That is why I urge immediate departure. The men lose heart. The Badakhshânis never engage for more than three months' fighting, and they have stood sixteen. ”

“ And first, we take his description of the great river of Badakshan and the table-land of Pamir—which the wandering Kirghiz call “The Roof of the World”—substituting modern names of places for those in the original.
“In leaving Badakshan, you ride twelve days between east and north-east, ascending a river [the Upper Oxus] that runs through land belonging to a brother of the Prince of Badakshan, and containing a good p. 15many towns and villages and scattered habitations. The people are Mohammedans, and valiant in war. ”

“ It is a bishop's see, and has an interesting cathedral. During the Peninsular War [350] Badajoz was besieged by Marshal Soult, and taken in March, 1811. It was twice attacked by the English, on 5th and 29th May, 1811, and was besieged by Wellington on 16th March, and taken 6th April, 1812. Pop. 37,600.—The province of Badajoz has an area of 8451 sq. miles. Pop. 644,220.
Badakshan ́, a territory of Central Asia, tributary to the Ameer of Afghanistan. It has the Oxus on the north, and the Hindu Kush on the south, and has lofty mountains and fertile valleys; the chief town is Faizabad. ”

“ Barhanuddin and his brother were defeated in several pitched battles, city after city opened its gates to the dreaded invader, and the last representatives of the Khojas were compelled to seek refuge in the isolated region of Badakshan. But even here they were not safe. The terror of the Chinese name had gone before them, and the sovereign of Badakshan, eager to propitiate the conqueror, sent the heads of the two brothers to the Chinese general, who was advancing from Yarkand. ”

“ No modern traveller has crossed Badakshan from the Pamirs to Balkh, but the general conformation of the country is fairly well ascertained, and there can be no doubt that the journey would occupy any pilgrim, no matter how devout and enthusiastic, at least two and a half months, and another month would be required to traverse the road from Balkh via Hiabak, or Baiman, over the Hindu Kush to Kabul. ”

“ But no such human tide ever flowed into Badakshan from the east nor yet from the south. To the east are the barrier heights of the Pamirs. No crowd of fugitives or captives ever faced those bleak, inhospitable, wind-torn valleys that we know of. Nor can we find any trace of emigration from India. Yet routes were known across the Pamirs, and in due time, as we have seen, small parties of pilgrims from China made use of these routes, seeking for religious truth in Balkh when, as a Buddhist centre, Balkh was in direct connection with the Buddhist cities of Eastern Turkistan. ”

“ The province of Badakshan to the east (the ancient Baktria) is still but indifferently explored. It is true that certain native explorers of the Indian Survey have made tracks through the country, 269 passing from the Pamir region to the Oxus plains; but no English traveller has recently done more than touch the fringe of that section of the Hindu Kush system which includes Kafiristan and its extension northwards, encircled by the great bend of the Oxus River. ”

“ The first assumption to make is that the modern capital Faizabad is on or near the site of the ancient one. Let us see how it fits Idrisi's itinerary. The information is most meagre. From Talekan to Badakshan, seven days. From Andarab to the same town (going east) , four days. Badakshan is described as a town "not very large but possessing many dependencies and a most fertile soil. The vine and other trees grow freely, and the country is watered by running streams. The town is defended by strong walls, and it possesses markets, caravanserais, and baths. It is a commercial centre. ”

“ The ancient Khulm (50 miles east of Balkh) was included in Badakshan. In Idrisi's day it was a place "of which the productions and resources 271 were very abundant: there is running water, cultivated fields, and all sorts of vegetable productions." From thence to Semenjan "a pretty town, in every way comparable to Khulm, commercial, populated, and encircled with mud walls," two days' journey. Then we have "from Balkh to Warwalin" (a town agreeable and commercial with others dependent on it) , two days. From Warwalin to Talekan, two days. ”

“ Like other Indian criminals the Badhaks were of a very religious or superstitious disposition. They considered the gods of the Hindu creed as favouring their undertakings so long as they were suitably propitiated by offering to their temples and priests, and the spirits of the most distinguished of their ancestors as exercising a vicarious authority under these deities in guiding them to their prey and warning them of danger.19 The following is an account of a Badhak sacrifice given to Colonel Sleeman by the Ajīt Singh already mentioned. ”

“ Then Badoura gave orders, and Camaralzaman, still in his workman's dress, his body wasted with grief, and his face and hands soiled with the defilements of his long voyage, came and stood before her. As soon as she saw him her heart leapt with joy, but she feared to reveal herself, for how would it appear to her emirs and chamberlains were she before all eyes to throw herself into the arms of a common gardener. Therefore, retaining her disguise, she spoke to him as a King should do to a peasant, and in a man's voice. ”