The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-10-28
India's Northwest Borderland: Ra-S
ciai Crazy-QuiIt

Dispatches from India. detailing
the havoc wrought by<raids along
the Afghan berd der, may indicate
to those who have Travelled in the
East merely that India'ss annual
frontier war" is on. But, as pointed
out in bulletin from the Washing
ton. D. c., headquarters Of the Ma.
tional Geographic Society dealing
with the northwest Indian frontier,
troubles in the East might easily
mean a great, deal more. this, year
With the. Near East, Central
Asia and India seething with un-
rest. says the bulletin. "any mud
walled Afghan village, with its
battlemented towers might become
another SeTajevo.
HiIin,an KS. P'ainsman
From Armenia to Waziristan,
where ever-wild mountains. desti-
tute of crops, frown< down on rich
valleys and wide fertile plains,
there persists the anachroniStic
struggle between the freedom-lov-
ing bandoIero of the mountain fast
nesses and the peace-loving plains
man. Steadfast stand the from
tiers which separate the regions
where law and order are a help
from those where they are a him
drance.
''The tribes which inhabit the
tumble of, land between Indus and
the Afghan boundary are a wild
lot. Malaria has left it's mark on
many, but the fttest have surviv-.
ed. Climate and famine, knife and
jezail have disposed of the weak
lings Neither Afghan nor Briton
has ever beer able completely to
subdue the freedom loving noun
taineers who inhabit this rabbit
hutch Of warlike clans which have
been used pro and con according to
where the best fighting was prom
ised and the best pay afforded.
These are the Independent
Tribes, each with its own William
Tell And if their independence
is noticeable from beyond the
breastworks Of their beloved hills,
their local independence is just
as marked. For every man who has
fallen before the invader, many
another has fallen in the inter
minable inter-tribal blood-fueds.
'In ceylon, an Afghan is an out
lander who wears wide trousers and
a peaked cap inside his huge tur-
ban, whose business is that Of bank
er, and whose word is as good as
gold. Along the northwest from
tier Pathan is an Afghan who has
taken up residence inside the un-
certain boundary line in India.
There is considerable confusion of.
terms and there are so many tribes
and Sub-tribes that even authori-
ties admit their inability to trace
the linguistic and chronological di-
visions.
Language ard Dress Only Bonds
lone might call the region the
land of Pushto and postin, for
Pushto is tho language which binds
most of the tribes together even
more closely than their Mohamme-,
dan religion. The rostin, a yellow
sheep-skin coat with the wool in
side, with elaborate embroidery,
upon il and scent which cold alone
can kill, is as distinctive a fea-.
ture of the winter costume as are
the wide trousers or peaked skull
cap wrapped round with Il white
luns with flowing ends.
The Pathans claim descent
from the lost tribes Of ISRAELI. who
were carried captive into Media by
NebuchadnezZar That makes them
close relatives of the Durani A.
ghans. whose dynasty still rules
AfShanistan. But there are Path
ans and Pathans, and locally at
least. they are called hy other
names.
who has not heard of the At
ridi. the finest skirmisher in the
world. who languishes in the
plains? Taught to distrust All
mon. especially his near relatives.
the Afridi parent baptiZes his in
fant in burglary by passing it
through such a hole in the mud
wall as the snakyhaired thief is
wont to cut and admonishing it to
BE a thief, be a thief His rule
is strike first. or YOU may not
strike ut all Crafty, treacherous,