The New Orleans daily Democrat., 1878-11-29
ENGLAND'S OPPONENTS.
THE VARIOUS TRIBES HNCLUDEgp UN~
DEfg THE GENERAL TERM
OF AFe-MANs.

Il
OF AFe+WANs.
The Political Constitution of Afgsanrs-
| tan, "a Species 0f Feruat COnfeueracy.
[New York Times
| Afghanistan Is less @ country than u Deo-
pie. Unlike most regions where Tho course
OF rivers or the decivity of mountains has
guided the grouping Of it's inhabitants, Af-
ghanlstan presents, ns does Switzerland, O.
| central population, gifted with all the quail
ties OF mountnlneers- brave. ioalous OF their
| Independence, tenacious of their liberty
| through ages-and this people has succeeded
| In uniting around it all the heterogeneous
nationnlties spread around and over the sur
face OF its territory. Among these the first
| In Importance, the one which serves to weld
together oil the rest of the Afghans proper.
are called by themselves the Pouttaneh. The
European name Is borrowed from the
Persian - In India 1t Is known as the
| Patan tribe Whence the Afghans came
originally none can toll. they them
| selves have lost all tradition of their an
cestors. Some suppose thom to be descended
| from tho jews who were dispersed after tho
| captivity Of Salmanazar, and have sought for
proofs OF their theory in their cast of featlres
u
| tor; but their dialect, evidently Of Persinn
| origin, protests against these legends, tlesti-
| tute OF all serious foundation. Probably they
| ore an offshoot from the IndO- European FAM
| lly OF BactrIa, which emigrated across the
| northern hlls~-one Of those numerous CON
quertng races which at different epOchs have
left their own barren wastes for richer clmes
Next In Importance to the Pouktnneh arc tho
Iadjiks, who inhabit the western districts
| near the Persian border. According to their
| own account they were originally from the
nelghbOrhOOd Of Bagdad, an assertion main
| tnined by savans to be inadmssible. Why it
should be inadmissible ! cannot sny, except
| that savans generally are unwilling TO ad-
NIT anything which Is based upon common
tradition and cannot be proved mathemutical-
| ly. However, whether they be Iranan or
Arab, they are quiet, orderly race, attached
| to their native soil and entirely occupied With
| agriculture, their name, indeed, signifyng
"penSantS.' Rather looked down upon by
| their more turbulent neighbors, who consider
them incapable OF commanding, those among
them who have served in the ranks Of the
! British army have always shown both
courage and energy. Their language Is II
! dialect Of Persian, with IN admixt,lre Of many
Arab words. In tolerabo nnity with the
Pouktaneh and The Tadjlks are half Il dozen
| ancient northern iuyaSiuns. The UsbeCkg,
from the sandy tabe-lnnds of Iurkestnn are
in the north, along the banks Of tao Oxus. By
turns con1uerors and conquered, they have
|
Of their former subjects. The Hegarchs
are the descendants Of one thousand
lartar Lar famiies ,,Ii imported into the coun-
ersto ery 1y yyr sti 5H"4r accorGug to the
mada they have retained their nomadlc pro-
| cllvtteS, and may be seen in aIl the centres Of
| population offering their labor by the day,
| apparently unable to settle themselves to any
| liked place OF residences or to any permanent
occupation; The Siapoch Or Knrs~the i'm
| pure-inhabt the almost unknown mountain
chain which empties its streams into the
Caoul and the Indus. Pagans, and on that
acconnt acc dfsp'sed by their Moslem neighbors,
| the S1apoch are q people Of mysterious origin,
among whom are found white faces blue
eyes and fair hair, with q language evidently
OF Aryan pnrentage, which some authors
nave argued indicates descent from Mace
donian deserters of the army Of Alexan-
der the Great. The Arabs, the Hindoos
and the kizzilbash are mostly in Cabul-
lstan ana on the eastern frontier; finally
there are the Djats. an aboriginal trbs who
reside everywhere, mingl ng among the other
natives, but, unlike them, without Individual
lty. The majority of the people profess the
| tenets OF the NJ ussulman sect Of the Simnites
whence an lrreconcilable hatred for the Per-
sians WhO being Shiites, glOrify Husspin and
Hassan, and consider Omer On impostor and
and an assassin. III this grouping of peoples
constitutes population variousIy estimated
at from 2,0OO,OOO to 100000 souls. Most pro-
bably the latter is nearest the truth although
in reality all elements are wanting for even
an approximate valuaton-a rneagre CON
tingent for territory Of more than IA. .O0O,-
900 acres.
The political constitution Of Afghanistan is
species OF feudhl confederacy. The Enir is
the suZernin, more or less efficient, Of tho
other chiefs, who rule north and south Of the
Hlndoo koosh, although In reality the link
between the secondary powers and the central
government is usually very feeble. However,
accepting the official division Of the country
as real, Afghanistan is composed Of five prov
lnces-Cabullstan with it's dependencies Of
katirsan, III the mountains near the Indus
llFZArch, commanding the upper basin Of the
IIoImuud; Khornssan, which bounds tho
last NAMED on the west and SOUTH from
ilerat to Kandahnr, and is only separntnd
by conventional line from Persinn KhD-
raesdn; Afghan TuEki3tan, situated be-
tween the northern slope Of the EIindoD Kupsh
and the upper waters Of the Anon Dariu;
finally SeistHn, which surrounds the IIamOon
Lake, This Federation is, however, ANYTHING
but binding; several Of the Khanate8, purtc-
uIarly llerht, are virtually in1cpendrnt, and
could be Ga5ily detached from the Afghan ag-
g'oneration, while the plains and cities Of
lurkcst;tn seem fatally destined to become
Russian appanages Besides this, the social
organization by tribes or clans, accustomed
through ages to governments wcakens
greatly the action Of the central power. SO
that, it anything can give to Afghauistan the
strength to resist the shock Of q European
army, it will be the force Of cohesion, result
ing from q common sentiment of hatred for
the invader.