Zurmet.

Fêrmul.

Bangash.

Alah-sai.

hurricane, with snow and rain. I have seen in another history, that, when the Rai of Hind besieged Subaktegîn in Ghazni, Subaktegîn ordered dead flesh and other impurities to be thrown into this fountain, when there instantly arose a tempest and hurricane, with rain and snow, and by this device he drove away the enemy. I made strict inquiry in Ghazni for this well, but nobody could give me the slightest information about it. In these countries, Ghazni and Khwârizm are celebrated for their cold, in the same manner as Sultanîah and Tabrîz are in the Irâks and Azerbâijân.

Another Tumân is that of Zûrmet, which lies on the south of Kâbul, and southeast of Ghazni. It is distant twelve or thirteen farsangs from Kâbul, and seven or eight from Ghazni.3 It contains seven or eight districts or villages, and the residence of the Daragha is at Gerdez. In the walled town of Gerdez, the greater part of the houses are three or four stories in height. Gerdez is of considerable strength; and when the inhabitants were in a state of hostility to Nâsir Mirza, occasioned the Mirza no small trouble. The inhabitants of Zûrmet are Aughân-shâl (Afghans in their manners). They apply to agriculture, and the raising of corn, but not to orchards or gardening. On the south of this Tumân, there is a mountain which is termed the Hill of Turkestân; on the skirts of which, on a rising ground, is a fountain, near which is the tomb of Sheikh Muhammed Muselmân.

Another Tumân is that of Fêrmul,5 which is of small extent, and little importance; but its apples are tolerable, and they are carried even to Mûltân and Hindustân. The Sheikh-zadehs (descendants of Sheikhs), who were treated with such distinguished favour in Hindustân during the time of the Afghâns, were all of Fêrmul, and descended of Sheikh Muhammud Muselmân.

6

Bangash is another Tumân. It is entirely surrounded by hills inhabited by Afghan robbers, such as the Khugiâni, the Khirilchi, the Bûri, and the Linder, who, lying out of the way, do not willingly pay taxes. Being occupied by many affairs of superior importance, such as the conquest of Kandahâr, Balkh, Badakhshân, and Hindustân, I never found leisure to apply myself to the settlement of Bangash. But if Almighty God prosper my wishes, my first moments of leisure shall be devoted to the settlement of that district, and of its plundering neighbours.

One of the Balûks of Kâbul is Alah-sâi, which lies two or three farsangs to the east of Nijrow, from which you advance in a straight level direction towards Alah-sai. On reaching a place named Kôrah, you proceed by a small kotal, or hill-pass, towards Alah-sai. In this quarter, the space between the warm climate (Germsil) and the cold (Serdsîl) is merely the extent of this hill-pass of Kôrah. By this hill-pass, at the beginning of the spring, the birds take their flight from the one to the other. The

1 Baber has here reversed the situation of Subaktegîn and the Hindu Raja. Subaktegin besieged the Raja, and, after being repelled, was informed in a vision of the quality of the well.-Leyden.

2 Zûrmet lies east of Ghazni, on the sources of the Khuram river.

3 That is 48 or 52 miles from Kâbul, and 28 or 32 miles from Ghazni.

Leyden reads Barkestân.

5 Fêrmul lies S.E. from Ghazni, and, as has been already remarked, is probably Urghûn.

⚫ Bangash occupies the lower grounds from Gerdez to Kohat.

7 Alah-sâi, now called Tugow. Baber reckons it in the Germsîl. The great difference of climate, however, takes place farther east, between Alisheng and Uzbîn.

people of Pachghân, a place dependent on Nijrow, catch a great number of birds in their passage. In the ascent of the pass, they build from distance to distance cots of stone, in which the fowlers sit and conceal themselves. They fasten one side of a net strongly, at the distance of five or six gez;1 one side of it is fixed down to the ground by stones, the other end, as far as half its length, three or four gez,' they fix to a stick, one end of which is held by the fowler, who is concealed, and sits on the watch, looking through holes left in the cot for the purpose, and waiting for the approach of the game from below. As soon as the birds come close up, he elevates one end of the net, and they rush into it by their own impulse. By this device, they take a great quantity of fowl; they boast, that sometimes they take such a number, that they have not time to kill them in the mode commanded by the law. In this country, the pomegranates of Alah-sâi are famous: for, although they are not very excellent, yet there are none better in the country. They carry them all to Hindustân. Its grapes too are pretty good. The wines of Alah-sâi are not stronger, but are pleasanter than those of Nijrow.

3

1

Bedrow is another Balûk, which lies close by Alah-sâi. Here there are no fruits, Bedrow. and the cultivators are all Kâfers. They raise corn.

tants.

As in Khorasân and Samarkand the possessors of the Wolds are the Tûrks and InhabiAimâks, so, in this country, the inhabitants of the Waste are Hazâras and Afghâns. The most powerful of the Hazâras in this territory, are the Sultan Masaûdi Hazâras, and the most powerful of the Afghâns are the Mehmend Afghâns.

. The amount of the revenue of Kâbul, whether arising from settled lands, or raised Revenue. from the inhabitants of the wastes, is eight lak of shahrokhis.3

Eastern

The mountainous country on the east frontier of Kâbul is broken and of two kinds, Pasture. and the mountainous country on the west of Kâbul is also of two sorts, in which it hills. differs from the hilly countries in the direction of Anderâb, Khost, and the Badakhshânât, which are all covered with the Archeh, or mountain pine, well watered with springs, and abounding with soft and smooth heights; the vegetation on these last, whether on the hills, the gentle heights and eminences, or the valleys, is all of one sort, and is of good quality. It abounds with the grass named kah-butkeh, which is excellent for horses. In the county of Andejân, they also call this grass bûtkeh-aûti, but I was not acquainted with the origin of the name. In this country I learned that it is so called because it grows in bûteh, knots or patches. The yâilâks, or summer residences of Hissâr, Khûtlân, Samarkand, Ferghâna, and Moghulistân, are all the same kind of yâilâks and pasturages as these; and though the summer retreats of Ferghâna and Moghulistân are not to be compared with the others, yet the hills and pastures are of the same sort. Nijrow again, and the bill country of Lamghanât, Bajour, and Sewâd, are of another kind, having many forests of pine, fir, oak, olive, and

3 That is, by repeating the Musulman confession of faith, and cutting their neck. It is usual to say only Bismilla (in the name of God.)

Bedrow is perhaps the upper part of Tugow, now called Bâhâghâi. It is evidently higher up, by its having no fruits, and belonging to the Kâfers.

The rupee being equal to two shahrokhis and a half, the shahrokhis may be taken at tenpence, thus making the revenue only L.33,333, 6s. 8d.—See Ayeen Akbery, vol. II. p. 169.

Western hills.

Southern hills.

Fuel.

mastick, but the grass is by no means equal to that of the hill country just mentioned. It is abundant enough, and likewise tall enough, but good for nothing, and not kindly either for horses or sheep. Though these mountains are not nearly so elevated as those that compose the other hill-country, and appear diminutive in comparison, yet they are singularly hard hills; there are indeed slopes and hillocks which have a smooth, level surface; yet hillocks and hills are equally hard, are covered with rocks, and inaccessible to horses. In these mountains there are many of the birds and animals of Hindustân, such as the parrot, the sharok, the peacock, the lokheh, the ape, the nil-gau, and the koteh-pâi (short-foot), and besides these, many other kinds of birds and animals, exceeding in number what I have heard of even in Hindustân.

The mountainous country which lies to the west is composed of the hills that form the valley of Zindân,' the vale of Sûf, with Gurzewân and Gharjestân, which hills are all of the same description. Their grazing grounds are all in the valleys; the hills, or hillocks, have not a single handful of grass such as is to be found on the mountains to the north, nor do they even abound much with the Archeh pine. The grass in the grazing grounds is very fit for both horses and sheep. Above these hills, the whole country is good riding ground, and level, and there all the cultivated ground lies. The deer are very numerous in these mountains. The courses of the streams are generally profound glens, often quite perpendicular, and incapable of being descended. It is a singular circumstance, that, while in all other mountainous tracts, the strengths, and steep and rugged places, are at the top of the hills, in these mountains the strong places are all towards the bottom. The hill-countries of Ghûr, Karbû,2 and Hazâra, are all of the kind that has been described. Their pasture-grass is in the valleys and plains. They have few trees, and even the Archeh pine does not grow in them. The grass is nutritive to horses and sheep. The deer are numerous; and the rugged and precipitous places, and strengths of these hills, are also near the bottom.

This hill-country, however, bears no resemblance to the hill-countries of Khwâjeh Ismael, Desht, Duki, and Afghanistân, which have all an uniformity of aspect, being very low, having little grass, bad water, and not a tree, and which are an ugly and worthless country. At the same time, the mountains are worthy of the men; as the proverb says, "A narrow place is large to the narrow-minded." There are perhaps scarcely in the whole world such dismal-looking hill-countries as these.

In Kâbul, although the cold is intense, and much snow falls in winter, yet there is plenty of firewood, and near at hand. They can go and fetch it in one day. The fuel

1 This valley seems to run east and west, or north-east and south-west, across the road from Sârbâgh to Eibak. The Dereh-sûf, often mentioned by the Arabian writers, seems to lie west of Bâmiân; Gurzewan stretches west from the river of Balkh, north of Charkend, to the head of the Murghab. Gharjistân seems to have had Herât on the west, Furra on the south, and Ghour on the east.-Mines de l'Orient, vol. I. p. 325. It must, therefore, have corresponded with Sihâbend and the Firozkohi, perhaps including part of the Jemshedi country. In a passage of Ebn Haukal, p. 327, the learned De Sacy proposes to read Isferâin, for Esferar. Perhaps it would offer less violence to the text to read Isfezâr, which differs from the latter word only by one diacritical point. Isfezâr is the tract of country lying between Herât and Furra, to the south of Sebzâr.

2 In my Persian MS. it is sometimes called Gaznu, sometimes Karnûd.

3 Desht is Damân; Duki is the Hindki for a hill. Baber always uses it for the south-eastern hills of Afghanistan.

consists chiefly of mastick, oak, bitter almond, and the kerkend. The best of these is the mastick, which burns with a bright light, and has also a sweet perfume; it retains its heat long, and burns even when green. The oak,' too, is an excellent firewood, though it burns with a duller light; yet it affords much heat and light; its embers last a long time, and it yields a pleasant smell in burning. It has one singular property; if its green branches and leaves are set fire to, they blaze up and burn from the bottom to the top briskly and with a crackling noise, and catch fire all at once. It is a fine sight to see this tree burn. The bitter almond is the most abundant and common of all, but it does not last. The kerkend is a low, prickly thorn, that burns alike whether green or dry; it constitutes the only fuel of the inhabitants of Ghazni.

4

3

The different districts of Kâbul lie amid mountains which extend like so many Animals. mounds, with the vales and level plains expanding between them. The greater part of the villages and population is found on these intermediate spaces. Deer and game are scarce. In the autumn and spring, the red deer, which is the arkarghalcheh, always has a stated track which it follows, in going from its winter to its summer range. Those who are fond of hunting, and who have hounds, preoccupy this track, and, re2 maining on the watch, catch the deer. The red deer and wild ass 3 are also found near the Surkhâb, and little Kâbul, but the white deer is never found there. In Ghazni, they have both the white deer and wild ass, and the white deer is seldom to be met with so plump as near Ghazni. In the spring there are many hunting grounds in Kâbul. The great passage of the fowls and animals is by the banks of the river Bârân, for that river is enclosed by mountains both on the east and west. Right op- Modes of fowling. posite to this spot, that is, by the banks of the river Bârân, is the grand pass up Hindûkûsh, and there is no pass but itself in this vicinity. On that account all the game ascend the mountain by this route. If there be wind, or if any clouds rest on the pass up Hindûkûsh, the birds are unable to ascend it, and they all alight in the vale of Bârân, when multitudes of them are taken by the people of the neighbourhood. About the close of the winter, the banks of the river Bârân are frequented by multitudes of water-fowl, which are extremely fat. The cranes, the karkareh (or begla heron), and the larger game, afterwards arrive in innumerable flocks, and are seen in immense quantities. On the banks of the river Bârân, great numbers of cranes are caught in springes, which they make for that purpose, as well as the heron, the begla heron, and the khawâsil. This last-mentioned fowl is rare. The mode of taking these fowls is as follows: They spin a thin sliding springe, about an arrow's flight long, and to the one end of this cord fix a double-pointed arrow, while on the other end of it they fasten a cross handle of horn. They then take a stick, of the thickness of the wrist, and a span in length, and commencing at the arrow, wind up the cord till it is all wound on, after which they make fast the horn handle, and pull out the stick of the thickness of the wrist, on which the cord had been wound; the cord remaining

1 The belût (quercus, beloot) is a kind of oak, and bears acorns, but has prickly leaves, from which circumstance it is probably here confounded with the holly.

2 Ahue sûrkh.

3 Goreh-khar.

This is the Surkhâb which rises in Sefîd-koh, and joins the Kâbul river.

Slave fowlers.

Modes of fishing.

wound up and hollow. Taking a firm hold of the horn handle, they throw the dart having the cord attached to it, at any fowl that comes near. If it falls on the neck or wings of the bird it twists round it, and brings it down. All the people on the Bârân catch birds in this manner; but this mode of fowling is extremely difficult and unpleasant, as it must be practised on dark and rainy nights, for on such nights, for fear of the ravenous animals and beasts of prey, they fly about constantly all night long, never resting till the morning; and at such times they fly low. In the dark nights they keep flying over the running water, as it appears bright and white, and it is at such times when, from fear, they fly up and down above the streams all night long, that the fowlers cast their cords. One night I threw the cord many times, but at last it severed and the bird escaped; next morning, however, they brought in both the bird and the severed cord twisted round it. In this manner the people of the Bârân catch great numbers of herons. The kilki-say' are of the heron's feathers. These plumes, or kilkisaj, are one of the commodities carried into Irâk and Khorasân from Kâbul. There is a body of slave fowlers, whose trade and occupation is to act as fowlers; they may consist of about two hundred or three hundred houses. One of the family of Taimur Beg3 first caused them to be brought from the neighbourhood of Multân. They have constructed tanks, and bending down the branches of trees, have placed nets over the tanks; in this way they take every species of bird. These, however, are not the only persons who practise fowling, for all the inhabitants along the river Bârân, are extremely skilful in throwing the cord, in laying nets, and in every other device for taking fowl; and they take birds of every description.

In the same season the migration of the fish takes place in the river Bârân; they first of all take great quantities of them by the net, and by erecting gratings. In the autumn season, when the plant named kûlân kûerûgbi (or wild-ass's-tail) has come out, reached maturity, flowered and seeded, they take ten or twelve loads of it, and twenty or thirty loads of the plant named gok-shibâk, and having brought them to the banks of the river, shred them down and throw them into the stream; the instant that the plants touch the water the fishes become intoxicated, and they begin to catch them. Farther down the river they construct gratings, in a convenient place, in the following manner :-They take twigs of the tal tree, of the thickness of one's finger, and weave them into open gratings, lattice-wise; this lattice-work they place under a water-fall, where there is a hollow, and lay heaps of stones all around it, so that the water rushes through the wicker-work with a loud noise, and runs off below, while the fish that come down the stream are borne along and retained by the wicker-work above; and thus the fishes that have been intoxicated, while they come in numbers floating down the current, are taken within these gratings. They catch great quantities of fish in this manner, in the rivers of Gul-behâr, Perwân, and Istâlîf.5 There is another singular way in which they catch fish in Lamghanât during the

1 Plumes worn on the cap, or turban, on great occasions.

2 Gholaman-e-siâd; slave, or royal fowlers.

3 Tamerlane.

The chich, or gratings, are frames of open basket-work, which allow the water to pass, but retain the fish.

5 These rivers all run into the Bârân.