The Portland daily press., 1898-01-03
THOSE BoTHERsoME HlLLMEN.
They AIRS Uncharmy Neighbors for the
British in India.
(Army and Navy journal. J

(Army and Navy Journal)
The country Of the Mohmands, to which
attention has been called by the frontier
troubles in India, is described ms being
exceedingly dreary; the eye is everywhere
met by dry ravines between long rows of
rocky hills and crags. scantily clothed
with coarse grass, scrubwooa, and the
dwarf palm. In summer. great want of
wafer is felt, and thu desert tracts radiate
an intolerable heat; this, coupled with
the unhealthiness of the river lowlands,
probably accounts for the inferior
physique of the Mohmands to the sur
rounding tribes. The first occasion on
which the British government came into
contact with the Mohmand tribe was
during the first war in Afghanistan, in
1852. During the early years of British
rule in the Peshawar Valley the Mob
mands gave more trouble than almost
any other tribe. During the Sepoy OUT
break the Mohmands continued their
raids, but did nothing of more forinida-
Bile nature. The Afridis derive their i'm
portance from their geographical posi-
tion, which gives them command Sof the
Khyber and Kohat roads.
They were first encountered by British
troops in 1889, when Colonel Made, with
contingent of Sikh troops, forced the
Khy Der Pass. There was difficulty with
them again in 1854 and from that time
onward they were continually raiding
and being fined or blockaded, though, as
one commissioner remarked, "getting
tine out of Afridis is like getting blona
outsof stone" During the mutiny the
Afridis also did not take advantage of
their opportunity In February. 1881, ail
tho Khyber clans finally ratified thssagree
ment with the British government to
keep the Khyber open, the terms Of which
have now been seriously broken for the
first time. The trouble with the Afridis
is traced to the policy of bribing them to
make them keep the pence, instead Of
Furnishing them for breaking it.
A native paper at Lahore, India, recent
ly published an interview with the
Amir's Mir Munshi, who was visiting
the city. The eau SEES for the late conflicts
between British Indian troops and the
Afghan tribes on the northern frontier of
British India, is stated by an officer of
the Amir of Afgranistan to be the desirs,
to increase the wszifa, as the mullahs
and chiefs call the largess which the In
dian government pays to them for keeping
the peace. The size of the 'wazia' is q
matter of pride with them as well as a
source of income. Their methods of
bringing about rising" are described
as follows: First, they rouse their friends
and trustworthy disciples, and as soon as
they have collected gathering of 800 or
400 they attack ana take post, and send
word to the surrounding villagers that
they must now either fight together with
them against their enemy or be killed in
rvrzn nf ha[ a. al,
Obliged the poor villagers, nolens volens
take up arms and follow them. Follow
ing this method the chief by and by finds
himself at the head of thousands of armed
followers, enough he feels satisfied, to
make his own terms with the govern
ment. Another reason that the Amir's
officer gave was the interference with the
tribal and other customs by political
officers. The remedy proposed was that
the government should never allow any
'wazifa or laraess to those chiefs or
mullabs who have once opposed them in
the field, SO that it may be known among
them that those who act treacherously arc
never rewarded. An English paper com
menting upon the foregoing statement,
says: There is a grain of truth In this
criticism of the unwisdom of the govern
ment policy i'll paying hlackmail, and
also, we believe, in relation to the. politi-
cal officers. But, as q whole, Of course,
these views must be taken. not as the
opinions which Afghan officials actually
hold, but as those which they wish us to
believe that they hold. A Hindu, who
was interviewed, stated that India was in
a state OF chronic revolt, and it required
but little agitation to set the whole PENN
sula in blaze and sweep away English
rule, like the chaff before the wind. The
priests are waiting, with impatience and
suppressed rage, for a suitable moment To
begin the agitation. The educated Hindu
appreciates toe advantages of British rule.
and this native said Today, if the
English wanted to leave our land, on our
knees must we implore them to remain;
for India without the English means
disorder or chaos" Nature is on-the side
of the natives, who believe in India for
the Indians; for the children of English
settlers die under the Indian sun, and on
the Ganges and Indus there is no Euro
pean in its third generation.