582 Some JRemarJcs on the Origin of the Afghan people. [No. 6. 



Some of the Afghan females of the higher class, are famous for 

 their knowledge of Pushto which they read and write. The daughter 

 of the late Dalii Khan, Arbab, or chief of Torn,* near Peshawer, is 

 celebrated for her learning, and general proficiency in the Afghan 

 language. Peshawer, some fifty or sixty years since, was one of the 

 principal seats of Muhammadan learning, and by many was consi- 

 dered a more learned city than even Bokhara itself. 



The custom is for boys and girls of from five to twelve years of 

 age to go to the same school. After learning the letters they imme- 

 diately commence reading the Koran in Arabic, but of course 

 without understanding it. On its completion they begin to read 

 some Pushtu work usually a commentary on the Koran, or an 

 explanation of the rites and ceremonies of their faith, such as may 

 be found in the work entitled Kushid-ul-Ay'an, or some such reli- 

 gious subject. After the twelfth year, the girls either attend a 

 dame's school, or, if their parents can afford it, are taught at home. 

 Sometimes boys under twelve years of age, go to a dame's school 

 with grown up girls of fifteeen and upwards ; but this custom is only 

 prevalent at a distance from towns, as in most large places there are 

 separate schools for males and females. The scholars either pay a 

 small sum monthly to their teacher, or make him a present after 

 having completed the perusal of the Koran, according to the position 

 and means of their parents. Amongst some tribes a portion of land 

 is allotted to the Mulla or Priest, who also acts as village school- 

 master. 



The Afghan language, taking all things into consideration, is by 

 no means poor in literature. There are numerous poets, of whom 

 Abd-ur-U-ahman who flourished in Aurengzeb's time, is perhaps, the 

 best known and most generally esteemed. He was a Mulla or 

 Priest, and his writings, which are of a religious character, are col- 

 lected in the form of a Dewan — the form in which most of the poe- 

 tical works are arranged. 



The next most popular poet is Khushhal Khan who was chief of 

 the powerful clan of Khattak in the time of the Emperor Aurengzeb, 



* Tord, or Tolu, is a town or cluster of villages in the Yusufzo'e country, about 

 eleven miles north of Nohshair;i, and containing about 5000 inhabitants. 



