The herald., 1921-11-10

last remaining Independent ruler OF a
MoSlem country, now that the power
of the Turkish caliph at CONSTANT
nople Is broken. he yields a far-reach-
Ing influence throughout the NOLAN
medan world. And it Is probably TINT
because his land happens TO lie just
as II does on the map of the world, ne
will be for a long time to come an
active force In the political destinies
Of middle Asia.
The amir's word, his yerieSt within,
is law To his millions of subjects. tie |
is. in truth, the last of the despOtS, u |
sort of modern oriental patriarch on !
a 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 as shooting a prisoner from the
lannon's muzzle, sabering of his head,
stoning him to death. bnrying him
alive, cutting off his hands and feet
or putting out his eyes, are seldom EN-
ployed nowadays; yet often the crimi-
| nal himself will choose quick, though
violent, exodus to paradise rather than
| suffer long Imprisonment in a filthy
iron cage, perhaps to die eventually
Of starvation.
The way of the transgressor In At
| ghanistan continues to be uncommonly
hard, however Time and again, In
the recorded history Of this land, de-
posed amrs, troublesome relatives and
political enemies have been deliber-
ately blinded, there being a tradition
here that no man with any physical
affiiction may hold q public office OF
honor or profit.
Its Mountains and Tribes.
Politically, Afghanistan is divided
into four provinces: Afghan Turke-
stan, Kabul, Kandahar and Herat
geographically its most conspicuous
features are the high peaks in the
northeast; where 1t touches the great
Hindu Kush, the Tirach Mir attains Il
height of over $4,000 feet.
Through these mountains of north
east Afghanistan wind some Of the
most picturesque and historic trails of
the whole world. For centuries the
trade between Turkestan and India
has flowed over these high passes,
and the story goes that often these
annual caravans number as many as
10000 loaded animals, including cam
els. mules and horses.
J Afghanistan Is Babel of races and
, tongues more than half Its population
; are not Afghans at all. The majority
, group embraces the Iranian-Aryan
, ! Tadjiks, who iIhabit the settlements
and large towns; the MOngOlian Haza
, rahs who roam the mountainous cen
5 trail regions of the country, and the
. | TurkOmans and Uzbegs of northern
: Afghanistan. The real Afghans. OF
t "Pahtos" (Pathans). as they call them
$ selves, live In the high ranges stretch
Ing from the Solimans past Ghazni ant
t | Kandahar to the west, toward Herat.
t The tribes are divided into mino
d clans, called "khel," and they live al
d most entirely off their herds of cattle
e camels and sheep.
. Persian culture has nodded the so
cial life I'm Afghanistan through cen
l. turtles; notwithstanding the religion
$ hatred between the Sunnis and tn
Shias. Persian customs have been NOR
or less adopted In the upper rank
O Of all middle Asiatic Moslem society
e From the Perslans the Afghans got tn
s idea of marrying more than one wife
# but. like the Persians. too, they hav
It found to their dismay that pOlygam
n Is nowadays a most expensive custom
l. Amir Habibullah Khan (whO wa
J. assassinated in 1879 had harem @
IS 100 women, and among these, strange
l. ly enough, were few Europeans. Tn
e present amir. Amanu,lah Khan, hs
e but one wife.
49,