Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1922-11-06
AFGHAN BORDER
SCENE OF RAIDS
Anachronistic Struggle Between
Bandit HiIImen and Peace
full PIainsmen Persists.
TRIBES ARE Widest OF WILD
india's Northwest BorderIand Is a
Racial Crazy Observation-Disclosures
Never Completely Subdued by
Afghan or Briton.

BON India, detailing the havoc
wrought by raids along the Afghan
! border, may indicate to those who
have travelled in the East merely thar
lndia's annual frontier war" is on
But, as pointed out in bulletin from
the Washington Cd. c. headquarters
of the National 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 unrest" says
the bulletin, amy mud-walled Afghan
village, with its battlemented towers
might become another Serajevo.
HiIIman VS.. PIansman.
From Armenia to Waziristan,
where ever-wild mountains, destitute
Of crops, frown down on rich valleys
and wide, fertile plains, there persists
the anachrOnistic struggle between
the freedom-loving bandolero of the
mountain Businesses and the peace
loving plainsman. Steadfast stand
the frontiers which separate the re-
giOns where law and order are a nelp
from those where they are a hin
drance. yep 1s
"The tribes which inhabit the
tumble of land between the Indus and
the Afghan boundary are wild lot
Malaria has left its mark on many,
but the fittest have survived. Climate
and famine, knife and jezail have dis
posed of the weaklings. Neither Al
CHAN nor Briton has ever been able
completely to subdue the freedom
loving mountaineers who inhabit this
rabbit-hutch of warlike clans which
have been used pre- and con according
to where the best fighting was prom
Used and the best pay offered.
"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-feuds.
Zone might call the region the land
Of PushtO and pOstin, for Pushto is
the language which binds most Of the
tribes together even more closely than
their Mohammedan religion.
"The Pathans claim descent from
the lost tribes of Israel, who were car
ried captive into Media by Nebuchad- |
nezzar. That makes them close rela- |
tives Of the Durani Afghans, whose dy, |
nasty still rules Afghanistan. But
there are Pathans and Pathans, and
locally at least they are called by
other names.
GhiIzai Makes Fine Figure.
"The man who wins deepest adm. !
ration is the Ghilzai, upon whose car
avanS the frontier trade depends |
Once their dynasty ruled Persia. Now
they weave the shuttle of trade back |
and forth between central Asia and
the Indian plains, bringing the rich
rugs Of BOkhara and Persian pussy.
cats past the stern walls of Fort Jam
rud to the Kabuli bazaar in Peshawar
Tricky as a gypsy in horse-trading. full
Of contempt for the Hindu and of feI.
low feeling for the Sikh, warriors by
courage, robbers by nature, traders by
profession, the Ghilzais~ are manly
lot whose early Iorbears of Turkish
origin lived in the central Asian
lands whence they bring down the
dried fruits Of Murghab and the
Zerafshan. Tramping along with his
heavy-necked camels, his powerful
chest barred to sun and wind, the Chill
zai is fine figure Of a man, one who. III
dropped among the flat-faced peOplesi |
of the South, could well be thought
a god. II
Call an Afghan 'Wazir' and he will
show gratitude. Call him 'Waziri
and he may kill without warning, fol-
the WaziriS, the largest of Panthan
tribes, are considered as dregs of the
earth by their fellow Afghans. Their
women are free and often unfaithful,
their men hot-headed and vain. Their
environment has given them fine
bodies, but their souls are unredeemed.
Nowhere is there a better example
Of a region where every prospect
pleases, and only man is vile.
Manhood is the first requisite of
him who hopes to join an Afghan
tribe. He must win his spurs before
ne is given a wife and his share in
he tribal lands
Behind the coat Of dirt which is
he right Of every trlbesman except on
1urbar days both men and women are
more than ordinarily good looking.
n most tribes the women are jealous
Y guarded and the reward for adult
Try is death to the woman and the
oss of his right foot to her para
nour.
warrior, freebooter, marauder,
hief, the true Afghan will not keep 5
hop or learn a trade. The hills are
lis brothers, his knife his bosom
riend, his matchbox his protector.
10 NAV land bipocaIf 20 +bis Go ,1;ox -