The Osceola times., 1880-08-28
A MYSTERIOUS PEOPLE.
The Kanrs-Are They Descended From One
of AIexander's ColoniesY
London Telegraph.

accurate kIOWitubS VI NAM i'',a"f '"N
land OF mystery, which lies within the
late kingdom of the Ameers. Military
operations, however, have not brought
ms within reach of 'the black-clad peo-
nle" as the Kaiirs are called, or brought
any of them into our camp; so the cam
paicn bids fair to end leaving this truly
wonderful country quite unexplored:
Dardlstan, close by, is also a place of
maryels, and its folk lore would add to
Grimm and Anderson chapter about
bear kings and Harginn such as would
rival any of the legands of the Hartz
Mountains or Thuringia. kafiristan is
even more interesting than its neighbor,
for il is not only in its fables and myths
that this cloud-land is so delightfully."-
mysterious, but in every detail OF the
life and manners. the looks, dress, food,
religion and customs of the people that
inhabit it. Who are the kafirs, and
where is their country? II the questions
were asked of an Afghan of kabul, he
would probably answer that they were
intidel dogs who live so the north" OF
his citv, and that their women and child
rem are of such surprising beauty that
the agents of rich citizens are always on
the lookout for purchase. The size ol
their country no one knows exactly, but
"the love herb" grows there-a valuable
plant, indeed, for whoever possesses 1t
can command the affection of any he
pleases-and gold of very pale color,
but pure gold nevertheless, is found in
their fields with the maize. They eat
little grain, however, for the katirs live
on cheese and curds, meat and fruits,
chiefly the last, which grow wild all
over the hills, and their orchards are
wonderful. They have no earth in their
country to spare, 80 the "black-clad'
built their houses of cakes of cow-dung
and sand mixed together; but water
they have in abundance, since every
hill is divided from the next by a stream
which the people cross by swinging
bridges made of creepers. They kill
every Mussulmen they find within their
border. ami drink his blood indeed
some of the Katirs are cannables. Such
in effect would probably be the total
amount OF an Afghan's knowledge OF
this large body Of his fellow country
men, for kafristan, partly from its sin
lster traditions and the memory OF its
traditional blood feud with Islam, and
partly from the undoubted vindictiveness
of 1.-THE people toward Mohammedans, lisa
sealed book to the East. A tribe of
mountaineers, known as the Nimeha
Mosclems, who, to suit circumstances
and accommodate themselves to local
fashion in religion, are only true be-
levers on the Mohammedan side of the
frontier, and spit at the name OF Allah
on the kafir side, act as means OF COM
muncation between the "hlack clad"
and their neighbors, and where it not
for them it il probable that the katirs
would never be able to hold any inter
course with the outer world at all.
If the East itself is so ignorant of this
remarkable race, and if their next
neighbor and reputed kinsmen, the
Dards, really know nothing about them,
it is not surprising that in the West
the Kafir of Afghanistan should be a
complete mystery. Who are they?
Some say they are Arabs, while others
beleve them to be Greeks. Nor, remem-
herring how Alexander sowed colonies
along the roadside as he went to and re-
turned from India, Is such theory un-
tenabl', especially as some of the
Mohammedan tribes, once katirs, claim
European descent. The kaiirs them
selyes-the Siah Posh, or BLACK clad,
from their wearing black sheep-skin
coats with the hairy side outward, can
not, or will not, explain their own orr.
gin, for the few who have been Caught"
at intervals by inquisitive Englishmen
have only made matters worse by cheer
fully accepting for themselves any line
age that happened 10 be esuggested-Arab,
Hebrew or HELENE. Their language
Kalasha-would, it might have been sup
posed, have given clue; but here again
a difficulty arises, fJr the kafirs in COM
municating with their neighbors use
mongrel tongue Of which the vocabu-
larry, as tar as it is yet compiled, deiies
any important pathological inferences
being drawn from it, through its ad-
mixture of several dialects-Persian
Pushtoo, Hindi and Sanskrit-in vary
ing proportions, with large percentage
of words and idioms TO which no East
ern venracular offers any analogy. From
time to time Oriental scholars have given
their attention to this chronological mys-
terry, and notably Burnes, Wolf Vigne
and Bellew, though without any concu-
sve results; but DR.. Leitner, of Lahore,
has now contributed a further install
ment of a vocabulary compiled from the
lips of kafirs-two of them be ing pris
oner captured by the Maharajah of Cash
mere in his war with the tribes beyond
the Indus, in lS66-which promises to
lay the foundation Of something like a
sound knowledge of the linguistic &C.
peculiar to these unknown
Ill La hnp
yet any pronounced opinion upon their
lrigin.
The people, as we have said, nate the |
Mohammcdans with a surprising fervor,
not only from traditionary fueds, but |
because to this day the Afghans and
,thers carry on systematic brigandage
ipon their frontiers, tor the purpose of
stealing their women and children, who
ire then sold to the wealthy men of
<abul or Badakshan, Swat, Bajour and
jhitral. On the other hand they are
aid to be kindly disposed towards Hin.
ius, and are quite ready to accept En-
lishmen as friends. Native travellers
Who have visited them have come away
delighted with their genial hospitality,
nd struck with their activity of temper
ment, intelligence, and singularly high
tandard of morality and ethics. That
he katirs are brave needs no telling,
or they have retained their isolated in
in spite of every effort of
very conqueror from Timur downward,
nd The list OF their prosecutors have
,een well-nigh continuous for several
enturies, every Mohammedan chief in
urn ambitious OF becoming a "Ghazi,"
Iaving at one time or another turned
lis arms against this infidel colony. In
to some of the compli-
nents that have been paid them it is
tated, and with much truth against the
airs that thcv are but LITTLE IL nj oil |