445 



An account of the Early Abdalees. By Major R. Leech, C.B., Late 

 Political Agent, Candahar. 



Preface. 



In Nyamatulla's History of the Afghans, by Dorn, Avdal the son of 

 Tareen, the son of Sharkhbun, the son of Sarbanni, the son of Pathan, 

 is said to have had two brothers, Toor and A spin ; and three sons, Barik, 

 Popal and Ali. Dorn in a note (38) on the authority of the Khulassat 

 Ulansat, however, gives Abdal two sons, Firak* and Isa. Firak had three 

 sons, Popal, Barek and Alekko ;f and Isa had five sons, Alizye4 Turzye, 

 (Noorzye of Elphinstone,) Ishakzye, Makoo and Khogani, which latter 

 are called collectively Panjpai.§ 



Again Malcolm, in his History of Persia, on the authority of a native 

 historian of no note, apparently a Barikzye writing for Persian readers, 

 attributes the rise of Sado,|| the progenitor of the royal house of the 

 Sadozyes, to the favor of a king of Persia, Shah Abbas the Great, 

 (entitled by the Persians the Beatified^") obtained on a visit to the 

 Persian court to complain of the tyranny and extortions exercised and 

 committed by a Persian Governor of Western Afghanistan. When 

 about to return to his native land, the king conferred on him the title 

 and privileges of a " Speen Jeerak" (white beard,) over the Afghans, 

 including the power of life and death over them all, with the exception 

 of the Barikzyes, and declared his person and the persons of his de- 

 scendants sacred.** 



It is even related by the Persians how Sado served for some time in 

 the disguise of a groom in the royal stables ; and having been promoted 

 to the charge of one of the king's favorite horses, how he attracted the 



* Known to the Afghans as Zeerak, as are the descendants of his three sons. 



f His tomb is said to be at Neecharah in Beelochistan. 



% Alizye is not the name of the son, which is Ali, but of his descendants ; Zye 

 being the Persian corruption of Zo'e, which in Pushtoo means a son. 



§ Panjpai, though literally meaning five feet or five supports, is often applied to more 

 than five subdivisions of a tribe. 



|| Sado is still a common name among the Afghans. 



H Jannat Makan. 



** Which they continued to be until the murder of Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk at Cabool, 

 in April 1842. 



