SOS 



BADAKHSHAN. 



BADEN. 



and deals largely in slaves, whom he kidnaps from Chitral and Kaffir- 

 istan. Lieutenant Wood, who spent the month of January here, 

 found the lowest temperature of the month 10", the highest 48, and 

 the mean 29'8 Fahr. 



" Of Pyzabad," the former capital of Badakhshan, Lieutenant Wood 

 (from whose 'Journey to the Source of the Oxus' this article is 

 compiled) says, "scarcely a vestige is left save the withered trees 

 which once ornamented its gardens. Its fort, the dilapidated walls of 

 which are still standing, occupied a rock on the left bank of the river, 

 commanding the entrance of the upper valley, which ia here 400 

 yards wide. Behind the site of the town the mountains rise in 

 successive ridges to a height of at least 2000 feet. Before it flows the 

 Kokeha, in a rocky trenchlike bed, sufficiently deep to preclude all 

 fear of inundation. Looking up the mountain-valley, the rained and 

 uncultivated gardens are seen to fringe the stream for a distance of 

 two miles above the town, while in an opposite direction the Kokeha 

 winds through a grassy plain, which, sweeping out from the base of 

 Khojft-Mohamed, is encircled by swelling hills, alike fitted for agri- 

 cultural or pastoral purposes." From the absence of prominent 

 ruins, Lieutenant Wood infers that the town could not have been 

 substanti i !ly built. The inhabitants, on their subjugation by Murad 

 Beg, were removed to Kunduz, " a place only fit to be the residence 

 of aquatic birds." Fyzabad was also sometimes called Badakhshan. 



In such a country there are great varieties of climate ; the 

 snow lies about the Sir-i-Kol from October to the end of June, 

 when its neighbourhood is all alive with the Khirghiz and their 

 numerous flocks and herds. The lake is the haunt of innumer- 

 able aquatic fowl. By the beginning of March spring has com- 

 menced below the junction of the Wardodj with the Kokeha, and 

 the season is still more advanced in the plains and valleys west- 

 ward, and the greensward ia enamelled with crocuses, daffodils, and 

 snowdrops. 



The country is generally bare of trees. Poplar and fruit-trees are 

 usually found near the habitations, and are probably not indigenous. 

 In some parts of the valley of the Oxus the mulberry is largely 

 grown for the production of silk. The indigenous trees are the 

 archa, or dwarf fir, which serves for building purposes ; almond and 

 pistachio-trees, which grow on the lower slopes of the Hindu-Koosh ; 

 and the willow, which margins most of the streams. In the Durah 

 Sir-i-Kol the willow grows at 13,000 feet above the sea, but here it is 

 only a bush. Plums grow as high up as Langer-Kish. Furze bushes, 

 willow, and animals' dung, are commonly used for fuel; those who 

 are more wealthy sometimes burn charcoal made from the archa or 

 the almond-tree. 



Besides the animals named before, asses and hogs are numerous in 

 parts. But the most important domestic animal in the mountainous 

 districts is the yak, or kash-gow, as it is called in Wakhan. It gives 

 richer milk than the cow, but less of it. It is used as a beast of 

 burden ; and it is endowed with great sagacity, so that it can find a 

 sure footing when travellers are at fault, and it acts as pioneer 

 through the snow-clad passes of th mountains. The yaks are 

 gregarious and set the wolves (which abound in Wakhan and Pamir) 

 at defiance. The hair of the body is clipped once a year and woven 

 into mats, and also into a strong stuff of which riding trousers are 

 made : the tail-hair is spun into ropes ; the end of the tail with the 

 hair on is made into fly-flappers (chowries) so common in China and 

 Hindoctan. The animal is about 3J feet high, very hairy, and very 

 powerful, so much so that it ia commonly used for the saddle. It 

 frequents the high mountain slopes and their flat summits ; a tempe- 

 rature below zero delights it. If the snow on the mountain-top lies too 

 deep for it to get at the herbage, it rolls itself down the slopes and 

 eats its way up again, displacing a groove of snow at each ascent. 



Among wild animals are the kutch-gar and the rass, species of 

 wild sheep met with on the confines of Pamir, eagles, hares, deers, 

 foxes, great numbers of partridges, pheasants, ravens, jays, sparrows, 

 larks, bulbuls, &c. 



The district of Wakhan embraces the main valley of the Oxus from 

 Ishkaahm upwards, the durahs of Sirhad and Sir-i-Kol, and the 

 adjacent mountains. The population is scanty probably not much 

 above a thousand and these are confined to the valley of the Oxus 

 below Langer-Kish and the durah of Sirhad ; the rest of the surface 

 being for most of the year dreary and uninhabitable. In this 

 enumeration the Khirghiz are not comprised. The ruler of Wakhan 

 i!y nominally subject to Kunduz; he derives his revenue 

 from slave dealing and from taxing in kind the Yarkand Kafilahs that 

 pan up the durah of Sir-i-Kol. He obtains his slaves from the 

 Shakh-Durah, a mountain district north of Wakhan on the right 

 bank of the Oxus. The slaves are bartered with the Usbeks of 

 Kiitidti/ f.,r lior-ies, and are again sold by them to the ruler of 

 Chitral. The Wakhan ruler, as well as the rulers of Badakhshan, 

 Darwaz, and Chitral, claim to be descended from Alexander the 

 Qnai 



The flocks of the Wakhani constitute his riches. The skin and fleece 

 of the sheep supply him with cloth ; during the long winter the 

 women spin the wool and the men weave it into cloth. The valuable 

 wool of which Kashmir shawls are made is yielded by the Wakhan 

 goat. Wakhan dogs are much valued for their swiftness, vigilance, 

 and courage. The principal crops in Wakhan are peas and barley ; a 



little wheat also is grown. The seed is sown in April and the crop 

 is ripe in July ; corn has to be imported from countries lower down 

 the Oxus. In summer the women ascend to the higher valleys and 

 mountain pastures, and devote themselves to the labours of the dairy, 

 whilst the men remain to look after the crops. In winter the 

 Khirghiz occasionally spread their tents in Wakhan, bringing with 

 them vast numbers of yaks, sheep, dogs, and Bactrian camels. 

 These Khirghiz have the nauseous custom of eating, not tobacco, but 

 snuff, which they absolutely swallow. They all have bad teeth. 



The houses resemble those of Badakhshan, except that they have 

 large stoves in the Russian fashion occupying an entire side of the 

 house. The smoke is annoying, but its pungency to the eyes is in a 

 great measure avoided by lying on the floor. Furze and wood are 

 used for fuel. A branch of red-willow, which contains much resin, 

 servos for a candle. As many as six families live together in one or 

 two apartments. 



The district of Sliagnan, further down the Oxus and on its right 

 bank, is a mountainous country, said to be accessible only at mid- 

 summer, and even then the passes are sometimes treacherous, and 

 avalanches are very frequent. There is said to be a lake in Shagnan 

 half a day's journey in circumference, and communicating with the 

 Oxus (here called Panj) by a stream " sufficient to turn two mills." 

 At Gharan, a small place consisting of a fort and a few hamlets, 

 near the bend of the Oxus to the north-west, are the famous ruby 

 mines. The entrance to them is said to be 1200 feet above the 

 level of the river. The formation of the mountain is either red 

 sandstone or limestone largely impregaated with magnesia. The 

 rubies occur in the rock in round nodules or whitish blotches of 

 considerable size. The mines are not now worked. The Kunduz 

 chief irritated at the small profit derived from them soon after his 

 subjugation of the country, swept away 500 families of the district 

 and sold them as slaves. The produce of the mines was formerly 

 exported to Bokhara and China. 



Roxhan lies lower down the Oxus, to the north-west of Shagnan, 

 and like it is inacessible except in the middle of summer. Both 

 countries abound in stone-fruit, and the mulberry flourishes in the 

 valleys. The crops are wheat and barley. Cows and sheep are the 

 principal stock; the Khirghiz camel is the beast of burden. The 

 inhabitants of both districts are Shiahs ; their dress and houses are 

 like those of the Wakhanis. Roshan has about 1000 families ; 

 Shagnan now has not more than half that number. The two 

 districts pay a joint tribute of fifteen slaves to the Kunduz chief. 

 The language spoken in these districts is said to be peculiar to them. 



Darwaz lies between Badakhshan and the left bank of the Oxus, 

 and west of Shagnan and Roshan. Tlis also is an exceedingly 

 mountainous country, to be traversed only by footmen. Cotton is 

 grown on what little soil there is, and woven into cloth, which is 

 exported in return for corn and gunpowder. All the villages are 

 built along the Oxus. The Darwazis are Tajiks, Sunnite Moham- 

 medans, and speak Persian. Their country is independent of Kunduz. 

 The shah, or king, keeps up a comparatively large force. To the 

 north of Darwaz and on the opposite side of the Oxus is another very 

 mountainous district called Karatagin. West of Darwaz is the 

 district of Said, the most western part of Murad Beg's dominions 

 north of the Oxus. It is named from Said, a village of about 100 

 families, which stands 5 miles from the Oxus, on the edge of the 

 jungle that fringes the river. The hills in the neighbourhood of 

 Said afford an inexhaustible supply of mineral salt. 



Of the history of Badakhshan little is known prior to the Uzbeck 

 invasion :>f Transoxiana in the beginning of the 16th century. The 

 renowned Baber, unable to hold his own against the Uzbeks, marched 

 to the south' and founded the Mogul empire, of which both Balkh and 

 Badakhshan were nominal dependencies. On the downfal of the 

 Mogul empire, Badakhshan owned a doubtful allegiance to Kabul. 

 In 1823 the Uzbeks, already masters of Kunduz on the south of the 

 Oxus, invaded Badakhshan, commanded by the chief Murad Beg, and 

 defeated the Badakhshies in a pitched battle at Taishkan, midway 

 between Fyzabad and the Lattaband pass. The conquered army fell 

 back upon Fyzabad, and Murad unable to follow up his victory let 

 the country retain a waning independence for two years longer. 

 Since then it has been, and for the first time as far as we know, a 

 conquered country ; its towns have been demolished and their inhabit- 

 ants removed to people the pestilential swamps of Kunduz, or else 

 sold as slaves by their intolerant rulers. Before their conversion to 

 Islam the Badakhshies seem to have been fire-worshippers. 



BA'DEN, a grand-duchy in the south-west of Germany, whose 

 political existence dates from the year 1805, forms a compact territory 

 extending along the right bank of the Rhine, and is situated between 

 47 and 50 N. lat., 7 and 10 E. long. Its length in a straight line 

 from north to south is about 150 miles. The breadth is extremely 

 variable, in tho south it is about 100 miles, in the north about 

 50 miles, but in the centre a little south of Rastadt it is hardly 

 14 miles. It is bounded S. by the Lake of Constant and the Rhine, 

 which separate it from Switzerland, excepting for three short 

 distances where the territories of Schaffhausen and Basel stretch 

 over the right bank of the river ; W. by the Rhine, which separates 

 it from France and the Palatinate ; N. by Hesse-Darmstadt and 

 Bavaria ; and E. by Wurtemberg and Hoheuzollern. 



