River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1880-10-07
A MYSTERIOUS PEOPLE.
TIE kaiirs---A Race OF unknown
Origin--A Are They Defended from
Oue OF AlcNander's COiOniesy

operations, however, have not brought
us within reach of 'the black-clad PEG
pie" rs the Kafirs are called, or brought
any of them into our camp, so the
campaign bids fair TO end leaving this
truly wonderful country quite unex-
plored. Dardistan, close by, is also a
place of marvels, and its folk lore
I would add to Grimm and Andersen
chapter about bear-kings and the Har-
! ginn such as would rival any of the
legends of the Hartz mountains or
Thuingia Kafirstan is even more IN
( tereSting than its neighbors, for ii is not
| only in its tabled myths that this cloud
! land is so delightfully."- mysterious, hut
/ in every detail ofits life and manners,
/ the looks, dress, food, religion, and Gus
/ toms of the country that inhabit il.
/ Who are the Katirs, and where is their
!, country? If the question was rs ied an
] Afghan or Cabul he would probably
I answer that they were intidel dogs who
! live ito the north" of his city, and their
women and children are Of such sur
passing beauty that the agents of rich
citizens are always ON lookout for a
purchase. The size of their country
no one knows exactly but "the love
herb" grows there-a valuable
plant, indeed, for whoever pos
SesseS it can command the affection of
any one he plcases-and GOLD of
very pale color, but pure gold never
f, theless, is found in their fields with the
maize They eat little grain, however,
: FOR the kafirs live on cheese and curds,
.meat and fruit. chiefly the last, which
sgrow wild all over their hills, and their
EDrchards are wonderful They have no
I.eayth in their country to spare, so the
Z 'black-clad' built their houses of cakes
l9of cow-dung and sand mixed together;
| 3ut water they have in abundance,
since every hill is divided from the
!. next by stream, which the people
Eeross by swinging bridges made ofcreep-
/. ers. They kill every Mussulman they
| find within their border, and drink his
| blood; indeed, some of the kaiirs are
:annlbals. Such in effect would prob
slble be the total amount of an Afghan's
3nCwledge Of this large body of his fell
! low countrymen, for Kaiiristan, partly
from its sinister traditions and the
memory of its traditional blood feud
With Islam, and partly from the I'm
doubted vindictiveness of the people
/ t'Ns'lN - Al CtsttNNl INllh
~ the east. 4 tribe of mouutaineers.
knoWn rs the Nimeha Moslems, who,
~ sl.it circumstances and to accommo-
date themselves To local fashion in re-
liGion, are only true believers on the
| Nohammedan side OF the frontier. and
! sF,it ut the name of Allah on the katir
SIDE, act as a means of communication
| between the "black-clad" and their
nelghbors, and, were it not for them. it
! Is irrobable that the katirs would not
| bc:able to hold any intercourse with
| the utter world at ALL
| ST the east itself is so iguo.ant of tins
| remarkable race, and if their next
nt.Shbors and reputed kinsmeu, the
| Dr.ds. really know nothing about them
| it Z not surprising that in the west the
Kalir of Afghanistan should be com
plcSe mystery. Who are they? Some
say they are Arabs, while others be-
| liefe them to be Greeks. Now remem-
| betting how Alexander sowed colonies
along the roadside as he went to, and
returned from India, * such theory
untenable, especially as some of the
MGhammcdan tribes once Kaiirs, claim
Euaopean descent The katirs them
| selves the Siah Posh, or ''black-clad,'
! from their wearing black sheep-skin
coatS with the hairy side outward -
cannot, or will not, explain their own
origin, for the few who have been
caught at intervals by inquisitive
! Engiishmcn have only made matters
worse by cheerfully accepting for them
selves any lineage that happened
to be suggested, Arab, Hebrew,
or Helene Their language Kalasha
! would, it might have been supposed,
have given a clue, but here again a diff
fcuty arises, for the Kaiirs in commu-
nicating with their neighbors use a
nongrel tongue, Of which the vocabu-
larry, as far as it is yet compiled, delies
any important pathological differences
being drawn by it, through It's admiX-
ture of several dialects--Persian, Push
too liindi, and Sanskrit,--in varying
proportions, with large percentage of
| words and idioms to which no eastern
vernacular offers any analogy From
time 30 time Oriental scholars have
given their attention to this ethnolog
ical mystery, and notably Burnes
Wolfe, Nigne, and Bcllew, without any
conclusive results; but DR.. Leitner, Of
Lahore, has now contributed a further
installmcnt of vocabular compiled
from the lips of Kafirs-two of them
being prisoners captured by the Man
araiah of Cashmere in the war with the
tribes beyond the Indus, in 1S6G-which
! promises TO lay the foundation TO some
thing like a sound knowledge of the lin
guistc eccentricities peculiar TO these
! unknoNn folk He himself however
has not as yet any pronounced opinion
upon their origin.
The people, as we have said, hate the
Mohammcdans with Il surprising fer
vor, not only from Evolutionary feuds,
but because to this day the Afg ans
and others carry on n systematic brl-
gandagc upon their frontiers, for the pur-
pose OF stealing their women and child
rem, WHO are then sold to the wealthy
men OF Kabul or Badakshan, Swat Ba-
ioure and Chitrat On the other hand,
they are said to be kindly disposed to-
ward Hndus, and quite ready to ac-
cept Englisbmen rs friends. Native
travellers who have visited them have
come away delighted with their genial
hospitality, and struck with their actiy-
itv Of temperament, intelligence, and
singularly high standard Of morality
and ethics That the kafrs are brave
needs no telling, for they have retained
their isolated independence in spite Of
every effort Of every conqueTor from
Timur downward, and the list Of their
prosecutors has been well-nigh cOntinu-
Gus for several centuries, every Mo
hammedan chief i'm turn ambitious of
becoming "Ghazi" having at one time
9r another turned his arms against this
infidel colony. In contradiction to
some of the compliments that have
been paid to them, it is stated, and with
much truth, against the Kafirs that
they are hut little, if at all, better than
their neighbors in many respects; that
their beautiful women do all the hard
work Of life. while their lords pass their
days in singing and drinking, and wish
ing i'll of Islam; that they are cruel and
treacherous To- their Mohammedan
n"ighbors: that their whole social life,
it, honors and ceremonies, turns upon
tie slaughter Of Mohammedans, md
that they worship idols. Apart, how
ever, from their religion, which is no
worse Than many others and their
hatred Oh the Moslem, the Kafirs can
fairly challenge our sympathy for their
bravery aud their personal resemblance
to European races, while interest is
stimulated by the little knowledge ,e
already possess Of this supposed rem
naut az Alpyapder'S arm y-thig fair