The Jones County news., 1921-09-15

last remaining Independent ruler OF a
Moslem country, now that the power
OF the Turkish caiiph at Constant
nople Is broken. he wiclds a far-reach-
ing influence throughout the Noham-
nedan world. And It Is probably that
because his land happens to lie just
as Il does on the map Of the world he
win be for a long time TO come an
actye force In The political destinles
Of middle Asia.
The amlr's word. hiy eeriest whim,
Is law to his millions of subjects. He
is. IN truth the last OF the despots,
sort OF modern oriental patriarch on
grand scale. His Judgments are, Of
course, based primarily on the Koran,
or on the common law Of the land.
There is no statute book, no penal
code and no court
The amir reserves to himself the
right OF passing death sentences. The
cruel Afghan forms OF punishment
such MS shooting a prisoner from the
cannon's muzzle, saberng off his head,
: stoning him TO death burying him
A alive, cutting on his hands and feet
or putting out his eyes. are seldom EN-
!, ployed nowadays; yet often the crimi-
Il nal h'mseif Will choose d quick, though
:, violent. exodus TO pHvHdtse rnth~v <hWr
h, suffer long Imprisonment IN nithy
i iron cage, perhaps to die eventually
y OF starvation.
The way Of the transgressor Ia AT
ghnnstan continues to be uneommonly
: hard, however. Time and again, 10
u the recorded history OF this land, de-
= posed nmirs troublesome relatives and
Il political enemies have been deliber-
. ately blinded, there being tradition
here that no man with any physical
: afiiction may hold Il public Office OF
u honor or profit. A
! Its Mountains and Tribes.
Politically, Afghanistan is divided
J. into four provinces; Afghan Turke-
1 stan, Kabul, KaDdahar and Herat.
3 geographically Its most conspicuous
q features are the high peaks In the
= northeast; where 1t touches the great
= Hindu Kush, the Tirach Mir attains
! height of over 2a.0oO feet
= Through these mountains Of north
V east Afghanlstan wind some OF the
4 most picturesque and historic trails OF
3 the whole world For centuries the
4 trade between Turkestan and India
, has flowed over these high passes,
e and the story goes that often these
e annual caravans number as many as
q 10000 loaded animals, including cam
q, els, mules and horses.
is Afghanistan is a Babel Of races and
'e tongues more than half Its population
Il are not Afghans at all. The majority
n group embraces the Iranian-Aryan
h Tadjiks. who inhabIt the settlements
ID and large towns the MongoIian Haza-
In rahs. who roam the mountainous CEN
~ trail regions Of the country, and the
q, Turkomans and Uzbegs OF northern
n Afghanistan. The resi- Afghans. or
ri "Pahtos" (Pathans). as they call them
ls selves. live In the high ranges stretch
Ing from the soilmans past Ghazni and
RI Kandahar to the west. toward Herst.
IT The tribes are divided into Einor
ID clans, called "khel." and they live al
I'd most entirely off their herds Of cattle.
he camels and sheep.
10 Persian culture has nodded the So
he cial life Ia Afghanistan through cen
b. turtles notwithstanding the religious
rs hetred between the Sunnis and the
Shias Persian customs have been mors
or less adopted In the upper ranks
90 OF all middle Asiatic Moslem society
he From the persIans the Afghans got thu
Is idea Of marrying more than one wife
of but. like the Persians. too, they hAv'
at found 10 their dismay that polygsm.
In IL nowadays q most expensive custom
u Amir Habibullah Khan (who wa
ID assassInated in 1919) had a harem o
It's 100 women. and among these, strange
ul- ly enough. were few Europeans. Tn
he present amir, Amanu,lah Khan, hn
he but one wife.