The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1878-02-22
Pope Plus and Abdul Ghafnr.

~
his last the pope of the Mussulman.
passed away, Abdul Ghafur, the All.
koond of Swat, whose death has been
celebrated in these columns. (Ahkoond,
be 1t here said, means "teachcr.") From
Cashmere to Mecca, from Bokhara to
Lahore, in the politics of highland Asia
the Ahkoond has been much as the pope
is in the politics of Catholic Christen.
dom. Not the old man of the mountain
nor the fanatic Ameer of Bokhara,
murderer of Stoddart and Connolly: moi
the Sultan of Roum, claimant of the
legitimate Caliphatc; nor even tho
blind old zealot, Feysul, leader of the
Wahabee revival, has exercised such in.
fluence over the Mussulmans of Asia as
has the ascetic cowherd of the Gooiurs
Abdul Ghafur was born of shepherd
parents in 1870, and till he was sixteen,
herded their cattle. Running away
from home he sought out teachers first
at Peshawur, then at Khuttuck. Desir.
GUS of greater distinction than that of.
fered by the ordinary career of mool.
lah, he vowed to become q deryeesh,
and took possession of the island OF
Bokka, a mere bank of mud formed al
one great inundation of the Indus to
disappear at another. Here for twelve
years he lived hermit life, in wretch
ed hut, exposed to the cold blasts that
only high Asia knows, and having fol
food only milk and the ends of yarie.
ty of grass. Literally for months he
remained squatted on the ground facing
towards the Holy City, bowling the
creed and the ninety names of God, as
the Rev. Mr.. Hughes, q missionary to
Peshawur, and Sir Harry L,lmsden. q
British officer, certify. The latter had
been specially ordered to visit and re.
port upon this fanatic, who had already
become powerful in the religious world
Indeed, his fame had come to the ears OF
the Sikhs, masters of the Pcshawur val
ley, who had vowed vengeance on theil
former Mahometan prosecutors, and
they attempted his life, but he fled 10
the mountains. So great was now
(1S25) his influence that Dost Moham.
med courted his assistance when he
struck against the Sikhs, but Runieet
Singh was too strong for Ameer and
Ahkoond, and the latter, after fighting
gallantly in the Khybcr pass for the AT.
ghans, fled to the Swat village of Sydoo,
which he was destined to make another
Mecca.
The Swat valley, valley some fifty
or sixty miles long by three miles wide,
was broken up into three contestipo
tribeships, each claiming supremacy
over the others for its doctor of the
laws. BY craft and simulated miracles
Abdul Ghafur induced the clans to con-
solidate under a nominal king of his
own chosing, Syud Akbor. Then he
removed his rival saints by having one
assasslnated while at prayer and de-
nouncing the other two to the British,
who had conquered the Punjaub, as
Wahabees. Dost Mohammed urged
him to preach holy war against the
advancing infidel British, but the All
koond, who saw that English sovereign
ty guaranteed peace and prosperity to
the faithful repelled his overtures.
IIenceforward he continued to exercise
his influence in favor of the British, or
at least refrained from using it against
them, save when, in 1868, he for a time
checked Lord Elgin in the Umbeyla
by casting in his lot with the
Wahabees. This, however, was only
for he preached ever after
wards that djehad, or crescentade,
against the reformed of the Wahabee
rite was even more meritorious than
one against the infidel British. It was
Wahabee assassins, by the way, who
struck down the viceroy, Lord Mayo.
and Chief Justice Norman of Calcutta.
The Ahkoond's influence it would be
almost impossible to overate. For
nearly half century the Indian govern
ment watched him as assiduously and
as Europe watches bismarck
or used to watch Napoleon III. In 1852
Sir Harry Lemsden wrote: "This
saint has gained such an ascendency
over the minds of Mahometans in gen
eral that they believe he is supplied by
supernatural means with the nccessar-
les of life. Every morning, as he rises
from his prayers, he is said to find mon
ey under his carpet sufficient for the
days expenditures. lie is consulted in
all difficulties" "The pope of Sydoo. !"
says Mr.. Hughes, the missionary al
ready mentioned, "reigns supreme as
the guide and director of the hearts of
men all over High Asia" Three hun
dred pilgrims daily visited him, and
none came empty handed, whether their
home were Bengal, or Bokhara. or
Constantinople, or Mecca itself (for
even in the Holy City the Ahkoond was
held in high repute, Or Persia or Tunis.
These he entertained-fancy the host of
100000 visitors every year-blessed,
prayed for and advised. His counsels
and predictions were sought upon every
subject. This man came to
ask If he could lawfully learn English, "a
language which the oracle denounced as
the seed of infidelity;" this if his Grip
pied son would be healed by a certain
treatment; this how his lawsuit in the
courts would turn out
this Ga ruler) whether he should declare
war upon neighbor, or the Franks or
The Russians. Up to the very last he
retained his vigor. Last summer Ameer
Sher Ali of Cabul, as his father, Dost
had done before him, in
vited the Ahkoond's cooperation and
in the military movement then
being prepared in Afghanistan to take
advantage Of the Russo-Turkish war.
however it should result. The Ameer
had, indeed, previously testified TO his
of the old saint by ordering
liio Schipiiotioh VI q Dulhl volume Cclc-
brating his sanctity and his miracles.
In May, 1877 though then cighty-seven,
blind and suffering from chronic skin
disease, induced by the austerities of
MS early life, the Ahkoond, already the
patriarch of great family, married a
girl of twenty. 1t is worth while to
add that Mayfair of June 26, 1877, when
his latest appearance in the
area of Asian politics, said prophetical-
y, as the event has proved: at may
Dc that the same month, possibly the
'ame day, shall see the removal of two
I'D men, whose deaths will conyulse
he West, and affect the East" The
wo "old men" died within a fortnight
If each other.
A young gentleman in New York has
lit upon very funny amusement. lie
prunQ the fire alarm MS n sort of mas