18S0.] n. C. TcmiAo—Iioufc of the Tal OhotiaU Mold Force. 



151 



Barons of European feudal times these village Khans seem to exercise the 

 right of private war on their neighhours without control or interference. 

 Certain villages have acquired an evil name for this kind of truculence. 

 Kach in the Sho'b valley is such a village. Nor is a figlit or quarrel always 

 a necessary reason for a change of site, any caprice or change of owners is 

 sufficient. A case in point is the fort of Ha'ji Kha'n (Amand Khe'l) in 

 the Pishin. And towards the Border by the Han Pass, in the long sti-etch 

 of disputed land about the passes, ruined villages are naturally to be seen 

 in the more exposed parts of the Ltj'nt Kue'l, Zaekha'it and Spin Taiiin 

 country on the Afghan side and in Ba'ekho'm on the Beloch side, the 

 result of endless border raids. The lawlessness of the Ghilzats along the 

 roads between Kandahar and Kabul has been noticed b}^ former travellers, 

 one of whom has written :* " Every man distrusts his neighbour or is at 

 open feud with him. It is the custom of the country to throw a heap o£ 

 etones over murdered travellers, and in the ravine leading from Shilgab to 

 ZuRMAT (Ghilzai country) the frequency of these heaps is sickening. In 

 many cases they are to be found at the closed end of the ravines showing 

 how the poor travellers have run as far as possible and then been cut 

 down." The same may be remarked of almost any part of the Kakar 

 country, and in that portion about Mts. Ma'zhwo and Spinskhar where 

 the heights are crossed between tlie UsH and Nangalu'na Passes, there is 

 I a long narrow valley between low hills to be crossed, and in this it is hard- 

 i ly any exaggeration to say that these heaps may be seen but a few yards 

 i apait. The -reason appears to be that persons going from the Sho'e and 

 ! JJo'bai Valleys or the Dumar country from the south towards tlie Pishin must 

 I pass this way througli a country which is for some thirty miles utterly unin- 

 j habited. In the wild uninhabited border tract about the Han, Hanokai 

 i and Trikh Kuram passes they may be seen in clusters in many places 

 I telling of some fights either among the local tribes themselves or with the 

 Belck'liis. 



The mutual distrust among the tribes and even sections inhabiting 

 j different districts is so great as to result in an almost absolute ignorance 

 t of each other. They appear to have a real fear of going into each other's 

 country and invariably give one another a bad character. Thus Ka'kaes 

 are an abomination to Tarins and Aciiakzais and Lu'nis to Ka'kars, 

 while the wretched Zarkha'n is harried on all sides. The I'sa' Kue'l 

 Kabirs and the inhabitants of the Gwa'l valley manifested an extraordi- 

 nary fear of the Pa'nizai Kakars of the hills to the east of them. Sandae 

 Khe'l Kakars could not be induced to venture into the neighbouring LuNi 

 territory and I did not personally meet a man who had been towards 

 GflAZNi by the To'ba Plateau or along the Tal Chotiali iioute. A guide 

 * Mucgregor's Gazetteer. 



