NikastaliCome outkewhykaranílièdelayest thou!(“balanîle,” in Gilgiti).
NikastaliCome outmáleyn(from) thy father’sgutíjo.tent.
NikastaliCome outkewhykaraníliè.delayest thou.
Né roDo not weeptsharéynwaterfall’sbaráye.fairy.
Né roDo not weepteynthyróngcolourboje.will go.
Né roDo not weepjarobrethren’sshidati.beloved.
Né roDo not weeptéythyróngcolourboje.will go.
Né roDo not weepmaleynfather’sshidati.beloved.
Né roDo not weeptéythyróngcolourboje.will go.
Translation.
Come out, O daughter of the hawk!Come out, why dost thou delay?Come forth from thy father’s tent,Come out and do not delay.Weep not! O fairy of the waterfall!Weep not! thy colour will fade;Weep not! thou art the beloved of us all who are thy brethren,Weep not! thy colour will fade.O Weep not! thou beloved of fathers, [or “thy father’s darling.”]For if thou weepest, thy face will grow pale.
Come out, O daughter of the hawk!Come out, why dost thou delay?Come forth from thy father’s tent,Come out and do not delay.Weep not! O fairy of the waterfall!Weep not! thy colour will fade;Weep not! thou art the beloved of us all who are thy brethren,Weep not! thy colour will fade.O Weep not! thou beloved of fathers, [or “thy father’s darling.”]For if thou weepest, thy face will grow pale.
Come out, O daughter of the hawk!
Come out, why dost thou delay?
Come forth from thy father’s tent,
Come out and do not delay.
Weep not! O fairy of the waterfall!
Weep not! thy colour will fade;
Weep not! thou art the beloved of us all who are thy brethren,
Weep not! thy colour will fade.
O Weep not! thou beloved of fathers, [or “thy father’s darling.”]
For if thou weepest, thy face will grow pale.
Then the young man catches hold of her dress, or in Gilgit of her arm, puts her on horseback, and rides off with her, heedless of her tears and of those of her companions.
Funerals are conducted in a very simple manner. The custom of eating grapes at funerals I have already touched upon in my allusion to Dureyl in the chapter on “Wine.” Bread is commonly distributed together with Ghî, etc., three days after the funeral, to people in general, a custom which is called “Nashí” by the Astóris, and “Khatm” by theGilgitis. When a person is dead, the Mulla, assisted generally by a near friend of the deceased, washes the body which is then placed in a shroud. Women assemble, weep and relate the virtues of the deceased. The body is conveyed to the grave the very day of the decease. In Astor there is something in the shape of a bier for conveying the dead. At Gilgit two poles, across which little bits of wood are placed sideways and then fastened, serve for the same purpose. The persons who carry the body think it a meritorious act. The women accompany the body for some fifty yards and then return to the house to weep. The body is then placed in the earth which has been dug up to admit of its interment. Sometimes the grave is well-cemented and a kind of small vault is made over it with pieces of wood closely jammed together. A Pîr or saint receives a hewn stone standing as a sign-post from the tomb. I have seen no inscriptions anywhere. The tomb of one of their famous saints at Gilgit has none. I have heard people there say that he was killed at that place in order to provide the country with a shrine. My Gilgiti who, like all his countrymen, was very patriotic, denied it, but I heard it at Gilgit from several persons, among whom was one of the descendants of the saint. As the Saint was a Kashmiri, the veracity of his descendant may be doubted. To return to the funeral. The body is conveyed to the cemetery, which is generally at some distance from the village, accompanied by friends. When they reach the spot the Mulla reads the prayers standing as in the “Djenazá”—any genuflexion, “ruku” رکوعand prostration are, of course, inadmissible. After the body has been interred the Mulla recites the Fatiha, [opening prayer of the Koran] all people standing up and holding out their hands as if they were reading a book. The Mulla prays that the deceased may be preserved from the fire of hell as he was a good man, etc. Then after a short benediction the people separate. For three days at Gilgit and seven days at Astor the near relatives of the deceased do not eatmeat. After that period the grave is again visited by the deceased’s friends, who, on reaching the grave, eat some ghí and bread, offer up prayers, and, on returning, slaughter a sheep, whose kidney is roasted and divided in small bits amongst those present. Bread is distributed amongst those present and a little feast is indulged in, in memory of the deceased. I doubt, however, whether the Gilgitis are very exact in their religious exercises. The mention of death was always received with shouts of laughter by them, and one of them told me that a dead person deserved only to be kicked. He possibly only joked and there can be little doubt that the Gilgit people are not very communicative about their better feelings. It would be ridiculous, however, to deny them the possession of natural feelings, although I certainly believe that they are not over-burdened with sentiment. In Astór the influence of Kashmir has made the people attend a little more to the ceremonies of the Mussulman religion.
In Chilâs rigour is observed in the maintenance of religious practices, but elsewhere there exists the greatest laxity. In fact, so rude are the people that they have no written character of their own, and till very recently the art of writing (Persian) was confined to, perhaps, the Rajas of these countries or rather to their Munshis, whenever they had any. Some of them may be able to read the Koran. Even this I doubt, as of hundreds of people I saw only one who could read at Gilgit, and he was a Kashmiri who had travelled far and wide and had at last settled in that country.
The great holiday of the Shîn people happened in 1867, during the month succeeding the Ramazan, but seems to be generally on the sixth of February. It is called the “Shinó náo,” “the new day of the Shîn people.” The Gilgitis call the day “Shinó bazóno,” “the spring of the Shîn people.” [The year, it will be remembered, is divided into bazono = spring; walo = summer; shero = autumn;yono = winter.] The snow is now becoming a little softer and out-of-door life is more possible. The festivities are kept up for twelve days. Visits take place and man and wife are invited out to dinner during that period. Formerly, when the Shîns had a Raja or Nawab of their own, it used to be the custom for women to dance during those twelve days. Now the advent of the Sepoys and the ridiculous pseudo-morality of the Kashmir rule have introduced a kind of Pardah and the chaste Shîn women do not like to expose themselves to the strangers. Then there is the Naurôz, which is celebrated for three, and sometimes for six, days.
There are now five great holidays in the year:
On the last-named holiday the game of Polo is played, good clothes are put on, and men and women amuse themselves at public meetings.
The Shîn people are very patriotic. Since the Maharaja’s rule many of their old customs have died out, and the separation of the sexes is becoming greater. Their great national festival I have already described under the head of “Historical Legend of Gilgit” (pages 14 to 16).
If the Dards—the races living between the Hindu-Kush and Kaghán—have preserved many Aryan customs and traditions, it is partly because they have lived in almost perfect seclusion from other Muhammadans. In Chilâs, where the Sunni form of that faith prevails, there is little to relieve the austerity of that creed. The rest of the Muhammadan Dards are Shiahs, and that belief is more elastic and seems to be more suited to a quick-witted race, than the orthodox form of Islam. Sunniism, however, isadvancing in Dardistan and will, no doubt, sweep away many of the existing traditions. The progress, too, of the present invasion by Kashmir, which, although governed by Hindus, is chiefly Sunni, will familiarize the Dards with the notions of orthodox Muhammadans and will tend to substitute a monotonous worship for a multiform superstition. I have already noticed that, in spite of the exclusiveness of Hinduism, attempts are made by the Maharaja of Kashmir to gather into the fold those races and creeds which, merely because they are not Muhammadan, are induced by him to consider themselves Hindu. For instance, the Siah Posh Kafirs, whom I venture also to consider Dards, have an ancient form of nature-worship which is being encroached upon by Hindu myths, not because they are altogether congenial but because they constitute the religion of the enemies of Muhammadans, their own bitter foes who kidnap the pretty Kafir girls and to kill whom establishes a claim among Kafirs to consideration. In the same way there is a revival of Hinduism in the Buddhist countries of Ladak and Zanskar, which belong to Kashmir, and ideas of caste are welcomed where a few years ago they were unknown. As no one can become a Hindu, but any one can become a Muhammadan, Hinduism is at a natural disadvantage in its contact with an advancing creed and, therefore, there is the more reason why zealous Hindus should seek to strengthen themselves by amalgamation with other idolatrous creeds. To return to the Mussulman Dards, it will be easy to perceive by a reference to my ethnographical vocabulary what notions are Muhammadan and what traces there remain of a more ancient belief. The “world of Gods” is not the mere اخرة which their professed religion teaches, nor is the “serpent world” a Muhammadan term for our present existence. Of course, their Maulvis may read “religious lessons” and talk to them of Paradise and Hell, but it is from a more ancient source that they derive a kindly sympathy with the evil spirits “Yatsh;” credit them with good actions, describe their worship of the sun and moon, and fill the interior ofmountains with their palaces and songs. Again, it is not Islam that tells them of the regeneration of their country by fairies—that places these lovely beings on the top of the Himalayas and makes them visit, and ally themselves to, mankind. The fairies too are not all good, as the Yatsh are not all bad. They destroy the man who seeks to surprise their secrets, although, perhaps, they condone the offence by making him live for ever after in fairy-land. Indeed, the more we look into the national life of the Dards the less do we find it tinctured by Muhammadan distaste of compromise. Outwardly their customs may conform to that ceremonial, but when they make death an opportunity for jokes and amusement we cannot refuse attention to the circumstance by merely explaining it away on the ground that they are savages. I have noticed the prevalence of caste among them, how proud they are of their Shîn descent, how little (with the exception of the more devout Chilâsis) they draw upon Scripture for their personal names, how they honour women and how they like the dog, an animal deemed unclean by other Muhammadans. The Dards had no hesitation in eating with me, but I should not be surprised to hear that they did not do so when Mr. Hayward visited them, for the Hinduized Mussulman servants that one takes on tours might have availed themselves of their supposed superior knowledge of the faith to inform the natives that they were making an improper concession to an infidel. A good many Dards, however, have the impression that the English are Mussulmans—a belief that would not deter them from killing or robbing a European traveller in some districts, if he had anything “worth taking.” Gouhar-Amán [called “Gôrmán” by the people] of Yasin used to say that as the Koran, the word of God, was sold, there could be no objection to sell an expounder of the word of God, a Mulla, who unfortunately fell into his hands. I did not meet any real Shîn who was a Mulla,[52]but I have no doubt that, especially inHunza, they are using the services of Mullas in order to give a religious sanction to their predatory excursions. I have said that the Dards were generally Shiahs—perhaps I ought not to include the Shiah Hunzas among Dards as they speak a non-Aryan language unlike any other that I know[53]—and as a rule the Shiahs are preyed upon by Sunnis. Shiah children are kidnapped by Sunnis as an act both religious and profitable. Shiahs have to go through the markets of Bokhara denying their religion, for which deception, by the way, they have the sanction of their own priests.[54]Can we, therefore, wonder that the Mulái Hunzas make the best of both worlds by preferring to kidnap Sunnis to their own co-religionists? A very curious fact is the attachment of Shiahs to their distant priesthood. We know how the Indian Shiahs look to Persia; how all expect the advent of their Messiah, the Imám Mahdi; how the appointment of Kazis (civil functionaries) is made through the Mujtehid [a kind of high priest] and is ratified by the ruling power, rather than emanate direct from the secular authorities, as is the case with Sunnis. The well-known Sayad residing at Bombay, Agha Khan, has adherents even in Dardistan, and any command that may reach them from him [generally a demand for money] is obeyed implicitly. Indeed, throughout India and Central Asia there are men, some of whom lead an apparently obscure life, whose importance for good or evil should not be underrated by the authorities. [See my “Hunza and Nagyr Handbook, 1893.”]
What we know about the religion of the Siah-PoshKafirs [whom I include in the term “Dards”] is very little. My informants were two Kafir lads, who lived for some weeks in my compound and whose religious notions had, no doubt, been affected on their way down through Kashmir. That they go once a year to the top of a mountain as a religious exercise and put a stone on to a cairn; that the number of Muhammadan heads hung up in front of their doors indicates their position in the tribe; that they are said to sit on benches rather than squat on the ground like other Asiatics: that they are reported to like all those who wear a curl in front; that they are fair and have blue eyes, that they drink a portion of the blood of a killed enemy—this and the few words which have been collected of their language is very nearly all we have hitherto known about them. What I have been able to ascertain regarding them, will be mentioned elsewhere.[55]
Chilâs, which sends a tribute every year to Kashmir for the sake of larger return-presents rather than as a sign of subjection, is said to be governed by a council of elders, in which even women are admitted.[56]When I visited Gilgit, in 1866, it was practically without a ruler, the invading troops of Kashmir barely holding their own within a few yards of the Gilgit Fort—a remarkable construction which, according to the report of newspapers, was blown up by accident in 1876, and of which the only record is the drawing published in theIllustrated London Newsof the 12th February 1870.[57]There is now (1877) a Thanadar of Gilgit, whose rule is probably not very different from that of his rapacious colleagues in Kashmir. The Gilgitis are kept quiet by the presence of the Kashmir army, andby the fact that their chiefs are prisoners at Srinagar, where other representatives of once reigning houses are also under surveillance. Mansur Ali Khan, the supposed rightful Raja of Gilgit is there; he is the son of Asghar Ali Khan, son of Raja Khan, son of Gurtam Khan—but legitimate descent has little weight in countries that are constantly disturbed by violence, except in Hunza, where the supreme right to rob is hereditary.[58]The Gilgitis, who are a little more settled than their neighbours to the West, North and South, and who possess the most refined Dardu dialect and traditions, were constantly exposed to marauding parties, and the late ruler of Yasin, Gouhar-Amán, who had conquered Gilgit, made it a practice to sell them into slavery on the pretext that they were Shiahs and infidels. Yasin was lately ruled by Mir Wali, the supposed murderer of Mr. Hayward, and is a dependency of Chitrál, a country which is ruled by Amán-ul-mulk. The Hunza people are under Ghazan Khan, the son of Ghazanfar,[59]and seem to delight in plundering their Kirghiz neighbours, although all travellers through that inhospitable region, with the exception of Badakhshan merchants, are impartially attacked by these robbers, whose depredations have caused the nearest pass from Central Asia to India to be almost entirely deserted (1866). At Gilgit I saw the young Raja of Nagyr, with a servant, also a Nagyri. He was a most amiable and intelligent lad, whose articulation was very much more refined than that of his companion, who prefixed a guttural to every Khajuná word beginning with a vowel. The boy was kept a prisoner in the Gilgit Fort as a hostage to Kashmir for his father’s good behaviour,and it was with some difficulty that he was allowed to see me and answer certain linguistic questions which I put to him. If he has not been sent back to his country, it would be a good opportunity for our Government to get him to the Panjab in the cold weather with the view of our obtaining more detailed information than we now possess regarding the Khajuná, that extraordinary language to which I have several times alluded. [This was done on my second official mission to Kashmir in 1886.]
The name ofRá,Rásh,Raja, applied to Muhammadans, may sound singular to those accustomed to connect them with Hindu rulers but it is the ancient name for “King” at Gilgit (for which “Nawab” seems a modern substitute in that country)—whilst Shah Kathor[60]in Chitrál, Tham in Hunza and Nagyr, Mitérr (Mihtar) and Bakhté in Yasin and Trakhné in Gilgit offer food for speculation. The Hunza people say that the King’s race is Mogholote (or Mogul?); they call the KingSawwashand affirm that he is Aishea (this probably means that he is descended from Ayesha, the wife of Muhammad).[61]Under the king or chief, for the time being, the most daring or intriguing hold office and a new element of disturbance has now been introduced into Dardistan by the Kashmir faction at every court [or rather robber’s nest] which seeks to advance the interests orulterior plans of conquest of the Maharaja, our feudatory. Whilst the name of Wazir is now common for a “minister,” we find the names of the subordinate offices of Trangpá, Yarfá, Zeytú, Gopá, etc., etc., which point to the reminiscences of Tibetan Government and a reference to the “Official Designations” in Part II. of my “Dardistan” will direct speculation on other matters connected with the subject.
I need scarcely add that under a Government, like that of Chitrál, which used to derive a large portion of its revenue from kidnapping, the position of the official slave-dealer (Diwánbigi)[62]was a high one. Shortly before I visited Gilgit, a man used to sell for a good hunting dog (of which animal the Dards are very fond), two men for a pony and three men for a large piece of pattú (a kind of woollen stuff). Women and weak men received the preference, it being difficult for them to escape once they have reached their destination. Practically, all the hillmen are republicans. The name for servant is identical with that of “companion;” it is only the prisoner of another tribe who is a “slave.” The progress of Kashmir will certainly have the effect of stopping, at any rate nominally, the trade inmaleslaves, but it will reduce all subjects to the same dead level of slavery and extinguish that spirit of freedom, and with it many of the traditions, that have preserved the Dard races from the degeneracy which has been the fate of the Aryans who reached Kashmir and India. The indigenous Government is one whose occasional tyranny is often relieved by rebellion. I think the Dard Legends and Songs show that the Dards are a superior people to the Dogras, who wish to take their country in defiance of treaty obligations,[63]and I, for one, would almost prefer the continuance of present anarchy which may end in a national solution or in adirect alliancewith the British, to theépicierpolicy of Kashmir which, without shedding blood,[64]has drained theresources of that Paradise on earth and killed the intellectual and moral life of its people. The administration of justice and the collection of the taxes in Dardistan are carried on, the former with some show of respect for religious injunctions, the latter with sole regard to whatever the tax-gatherer can immediately lay his hand upon.
Most of the villages, whose names I have given elsewhere, are situate on the main lines of roads which, as everywhere in Himalayan countries, generally coincides with the course of rivers. The villages are sometimes scattered, but as a rule, the houses are closely packed together. Stones are heaped up and closely cemented, and the upper story, which often is only a space shielded by a cloth or by grass-bundles on a few poles, is generally reached by a staircase from the outside.[65]Most villages are protected by one or more wooden forts, which—with the exception of the Gilgit fort—are rude blockhouses, garnished with rows of beams, behind which it is easy to fight as long as the place is not set on fire. Most villages also contain an open space, generally near a fountain, where the villagers meet in the evening and young people make love to each other.[66]Sometimes the houses contain a subterranean apartment which is used as a cellar or stable—at other times, the stable forms the lower part of the house and the family live on the roof under a kind of grass-tent. In Ládak, a little earth heaped up before the door and impressed with a large wooden seal, was sufficient, some years ago, to protect a house in the absence of its owner. In Dardistan bolts, etc., show the prevailing insecurity. I have seen houses which had a courtyard, round which the rooms were built, but generally all buildings inDardistan are of the meanest description—the mosque of Gilgit, in which I slept one night whilst the Sepoys were burying two or three yards away from me, those who were killed by the so-called rebels, being almost as miserable a construction as the rest. The inner part of the house is generally divided from the outer by a beam which goes right across. My vocabulary will show all the implements, material, etc., used in building, etc. Water-mills and windmills are to be found.
Cradles were an unknown commodity till lately. I have already referred to the wine and treasury cellars excavated in the mountains, and which provided the Dards with food during the war in 1866, whilst the invading Kashmir troops around them were starving. Baths (which were unknown till lately) are sheltered constructions under waterfalls; in fact, they are mere sheltered douche-baths. There is no pavement except so far as stones are placed in order to show where there arenoroads. The rooms have a fire-place, which at Astor (where it is used for the reception of live coals) is in the middle of the room. The conservancy arrangements are on the slope of the hills close to the villages, in front of which are fields of Indian corn, etc.
The name of Dardistan (a hybrid between the “Darada” of Sanscrit writings and a Persian termination) seems now to be generally accepted. I include in it all the countries lying between the Hindu Kush and Kaghan (lat. 37° N. and long. 73° E. to lat. 35° N., long. 74° 30´ E.). In a restricted sense the Dards are the race inhabiting the mountainous country of Shináki, detailed further on, but I include under that designation not only the Chilâsis, Astóris, Gilgitis, Dareylis, etc., but also the people of Hunza, Nagyr, Yasin, Chitrál and Kafiristan.[67]As is the case with uncivilized races generally, the Dards have no name in common, but call each Dardtribe that inhabits a different valley by a different name. This will be seen in subjoined Extract from my Ethnographical Vocabulary. The name “Dard” itself was not claimed by any of the race that I met. If asked whether they were “Dards” they said “certainly,” thinking I mispronounced the word “dáde” of the Hill Panjabi which means “wild” “independent,” and is a name given them by foreigners as well as “yaghi,” = rebellious [the country is indifferently known as Yaghistan, Kohistan and, since my visit in 1866 as “Dardistan,” a name which I see Mr. Hayward has adopted]. I hope the name of Dard will be retained, for, besides being the designation of, at least,onetribe, it connects the country with a range known in Hindu mythology and history. However, I must leave this and other disputed points for the present, and confine myself now to quoting a page of Part II. of my “Dardistán” for the service of those whom the philological portion of that work has deterred from looking at the descriptive part.
“SHIN are all the people of Chilâs, Astór, Dareyl orDarèll, Gôr, Ghilghit[68]orGilìt. All these tribes do not acknowledge the ‘Guraizis,’ a people inhabiting the Guraiz valley between Chilâs and Kashmîr, asShîn, although the Guraizis themselves think so. The Guraizi dialect, however is undoubtedly Shiná, much mixed with Kashmiri.
“The Shîns[69]call themselves ‘Shin, Shiná lôk, Shinâki,’ and are very proud of the appellation, and in addition to the above-named races include in it the people of Tòrr, Hárben, Sazîn, [districts of, or rather near, Chilâs]; Tanyire [Tangîr] belonging to Darell; also the people of Kholi-Palus whose origin is Shîn, but who are mixed with Afghans. Some do not consider the people of Kholi-Palus as Shîn.[70]They speak both Shiná and Pukhtu [pronounced by the Shîn people ‘Postó.’] The Baltis, or Little Tibetans, call the Shîn and also the Nagyr people ‘Brokhpá,’ or, as a term of respect, ‘Brokhpá bábo.’[71]Offshoots of the ‘Shîn’ people live in Little Tibet and even the district of Dras, near the Zojilá pass on the Ladâk road towards Kashmîr, was once Shîn and was called by themHuméss. I was the first traveller who discovered that there were Shîn colonies in Little Tibet, viz.: the villages of Shingôtsh, Sáspur, Brashbrialdo, Bashó, Danàl djúnele, Tâtshin, Dorôt (inhabited by pure Shîns), Zungôt, Tortzé (in the direction of Rongdu) and Durò, one day’s march from Skardo.”[72]
Note.—The Kirghiz are described by the Chilâsis as having flat faces and small noses and are supposed to be very white and beautiful, to be Nomads and to feed on milk, butter and mutton.
The Chilâsis call the people between Hunza and the Pamêr [our Pamir] on the Yarkand road = Gójál.
There are also other Gojáls under a Raja of Gojál on the Badakhshán road.
The Chílâsis call the Siah Pôsh Kâfirs = Bashgalí (Bashgal is the name of the country inhabited by this people who enjoy the very worst reputation for cruelty). They are supposed to kill every traveller that comes within their reach and to cut his nose or ear off as a trophy.[74]
The Chilâsis were originally four tribes; viz.:
The Boté and the Matshuké fought. The latter were defeated, and are said to have fled into Astor and Little Tibet territory.
A Foreigner is called “ósho.”
Fellow-countrymen are called “malêki.”
The stature of the Dards is generally slender and wiry and well suited to the life of a mountaineer. They are now gradually adopting Indian clothes, and whilst this will displace their own rather picturesque dress and strong, though rough, indigenous manufacture, it may also render them less manly. They are fairer than the people of the plains (the women of Yasin being particularly beautiful and almost reminding one of European women), but on the frontier they are rather mixed—the Chilâsis with theKaghanis and Astóris—the Astóris and Gilgitis with the Tibetans, and the Guraizis with the Tibetans on the one hand and the Kashmiris on the other. The consequence is that their sharp and comparatively clear complexion (where it is not under a crust of dirt) approaches, in some Districts, a Tatar or Moghal appearance. Again, the Nagyris are shorter than the people of Hunza to whom I have already referred. Just before I reached the Gilgit fort, I met a Nagyri, whose yellow moustache and general appearance almost made me believe that I had come across a Russian in disguise. I have little hesitation in stating that the pure Shîn looks more like a European than any high-caste Brahmin of India. Measurements were taken by Dr. Neil of the Lahore Medical College, but have, unfortunately, been lost, of the two Shîns who accompanied me to the Panjab, where they stayed in my house for a few months, together with other representatives of the various races whom I had brought down with me.[75]The prevalence of caste among the Shîns also deserves attention. We have not the Muhammadan Sayad, Sheykh, Moghal, and Pathan (which, no doubt, will be substituted in future for the existing caste designations), nor the Kashmiri Muhammadan equivalents of what are generally mere names for occupations. The following List of Dard Castes may be quoted appropriately from Part II. of my “Dardistan”:—
“Raja (highest on account of position).
“Wazîr (ofShînrace, and also the official caste of ‘Róno’).
“SHIN the highest caste; the Shiná people of pure origin, whether they be Astóris, Gilgitis, Chilâsis, etc., etc.[75]
“They say that it is the same race as the ‘Moghals’ of India. Probably this name only suggested itself to them when coming in contact with Mussulmans from Kashmir orthe Panjab. The following castes are named in their order of rank (for exact details, see “Hunza Handbook”):
“N.B.TheBrokhpâare a mixed race of Dardu-Tibetans, as indeed are the Astoris [the latter of whom, however, consider themselves very pure Shîns]; theGuráïzisare probably Dardu-Kashmiris; but I presume that the above division of caste is known, if not upheld, by every section of the Shîná people. The castes most prevalent in Guraiz are evidently Kashmiri as:
“Bhat. Lôn. Dâr. Wây. Râter. Thôkr. Bagâ.”
It is said that bears, as the winter is coming on, are in the habit of filling their dens with grass and that they eat a plant, called “ajalí,” which has a narcotic effect upon them and keeps them in a state of torpor during the winter. After three months, when the spring arrives, they awake and go about for food. One of these bears once scented a corpse which he disinterred. It happened to be that of a woman who had died a few days before. The bear, who was in good spirits, brought her to his den, where he set her upright against a stone and fashioning a spindle with his teeth and paws gave it to her into one hand and placed some wool into the other. He then went on growling “mû-mû-mû” to encourage the woman to spin. He also brought her some nuts and other provisions to eat. Of course, his efforts were useless, and when she after a few days gave signs of decomposition he ate her up in despair. This is a story based on the playful habits of the bear.
Another curious story is related of a bear. Two women, a mother and her little daughter, were one night watching their field of Indian corn “makai,” against the inroads of these animals. The mother had to go to her house to prepare the food and ordered her daughter to light a fire outside. Whilst she was doing this a bear came and took her away. He carried her into his den, and daily brought her to eat and to drink. He rolled a big stone in front of the den, whenever he went away on his tours, which the girl was not strong enough to remove. When she became old enough to be able to do this he used daily to lick her feet, by which they became swollen and gradually dwindled down to mere misshapen stumps. The girl eventually died in childbirth, and the poor bear after vain efforts to restore her to life roamed disconsolately about the fields.
It is said that bears were originally the offspring of a man who was driven into madness by his inability to pay his debts, and who took to the hills in order to avoid his creditors.[78]
The following story was related by a man of the name of Ghalib Shah residing at a village near Astór, called Parishing. He was one night looking out whether any bear had come into his “tromba” field.[79]Hesaw that a bear was there and that he with his forepaws alternately took a pawful of “tromba,” blew the chaff away and ate hastily. The man was one-eyed [shéo = blind; my Ghilgiti used “Kyor,” which he said was a Persian word, but which is evidently Turkish] and ran to his hut to get his gun. He came out and pointed it at the bear. The animal who saw this ran round the blind side of the man’s face, snatched the gun out of his hand and threw it away. The bear and the man then wrestled for a time, but afterwards both gave up the struggle and retired. The man, after he had recovered himself went to look for the gun, the stock of which he found broken. The match-string by which the stock had been tied to the barrel had gone on burning all night and had been the cause of the gun being destroyed. The son of that man still lives at the village and tells this story, which the people affect to believe.
A Mulla, of the name of Lal Mohammad, said that when he was taken a prisoner into Chilás,[80]he and his escort passed one day through one of the dreariest portions of the mountains of that inhospitable region. There they heard a noise, and quietly approaching to ascertain its cause they saw a company of bears tearing up the grass and making bundles of it which they hugged. Other bears again wrapped their heads in grass, and some stood on their hind-paws, holding a stick in their forepaws and dancing to the sound of the howls of the others. They then ranged themselves in rows, at each end of which was a young bear; on one side a male, on the other a female. These were supposed to celebrate their marriage on the occasion in question. My informant swore to the story and my Ghilgiti corroborated the truth of the first portion of the account, which he said described a practice believed to be common to bears.
There is a curious superstition with regard to an animal called “Harginn,” which appears to be more like a porcupine than anything else. It is covered with bristles; its back is of a red-brownish and its belly of a yellowish colour. That animal is supposed to be very dangerous, and to contain poison in its bristles. At the approach of any man or animal it is said to gather itself up for a terrific jump into the air, from which it descends unto the head of the intended victim. It is said to be generally about half a yard long and a span broad. Our friend Lal Mohammad, a saintly Akhunzada, but a regular Münchhausen, affirmed to have once met with a curious incident with regard to that animal. He was out shooting one day when he saw a stag which seemed intently to look in one direction.He fired off his gun, which however did not divert the attention of the stag. At last, he found out what it was that the stag was looking at. It turned out to be a huge “Harginn,” which had swallowed a large Markhor with the exception of his horns! There was the porcupine out of whose mouth protruded the head and horns of the Markhor!! My Ghilgiti, on the contrary, said that the Harginn was a great snake “like a big fish called Nang.” Perhaps, Harginn means a monster or dragon, and is applied to different animals in the two countries of Ghilghit and Astor.
A curious animal something like a wolf is also described. The species is called “Kō.”[81]These animals are like dogs; their snouts are of a red colour, and are very long; they hunt in herds of ten or twenty and track game which they bring down, one herd or one Kō, as the case may be, relieving the other at certain stages. A Shikári once reported that he saw a large number of them asleep. They were all ranged in a single long line. A bear approached, and by the aid of a long branch measured the line. He then went to some distance and measuring the ground dug it out to the extent of the line in length. He then went back to measure the breadth of the sleeping troop when his branch touched one of the animals which at once jumped up and roused the others. They all then pursued him and brought him down. Some of them harassed him in front, whilst one of them went behind and sucked his stomach clean out. This seems to be a favourite method of these animals in destroying game. They do not attack men, but bring down horses, sheep and game.
The Flora and Fauna of Dardistan have been so minutely described in Part II. of my “Languages and Races of Dardistan,” though mainly from a linguistic standpoint, that I have nothing to say here about the products and animals of that country. Nor need I say anything about the dress of its people, except that its rolled-up woollen cap is, practically, the sign of the brotherhood (sometimes like that of Cain) among all members of the Dard race, and, at once, distinguishes them from Pathans, Affghans, Kashmiris, and others. The beautifully-knit stockings are also a Dard art, and seem to have suggested, rather than followed, Kashmir patterns. Above all, the quasi-Celtic brass brooches of the women, and the family axes of the Hunza-Nagyris denote the antiquity of the Dard race. Curious is also the dress, light as air and softly warm, made of the fluff of the white giant vulture or of that of the wild fowl. I must also refer the reader who wishes to know details about the rivers, mountains, etc., of Dardistan, and the occupations of its peoples, to Part II. of my “Languages and Races of Dardistan,” and to the main volume, of which this is a Supplement, namely, the so-called “Hunza and Nagyr Handbook,” a volume of 247 folio pages.