The Afridis are a large tribe, inhabiting the lower and easternmost spurs of the Safed Koh Range, to the west and south of the Peshawar district, including the Bazar and Bara Valleys. On the east they are bounded by British territory; on their north they have the Mohmands; west, the Shinwaris; and south, the Orakzais and Bangash. Their origin is very obscure; Bellew identifies them with one of the peoples referred to by Herodotus; their traditions, however, says James, would lead us to believe that, in common with other Pathan tribes, they are the descendants of Khalid-ibn-Walid, a Jew, who embraced Islamism, and whose descendants had possession of great tracts in the western portion of Afghanistan during the tenth century. At this time, upon the convulsions in the country owing to the advance of Mahmud of Ghazni, a chief named Afrid was obliged, owing to his enormities and feuds, to fly from his country and seek refuge with a kindred spirit, by name Wazir, in the wilds of Shir-i-Talla. Here he seems to have settled and to have remained 262with his family for a considerable time. Turner gives something of the same story, viz. that Afrid, an individual of unknown country and parentage, came to Ghor, and there had an intrigue with a woman of the Karerai tribe, the eventual result of which was the tribe of Afridis. Cavagnari says of their origin that they are supposed to have been descended from a woman named Maimana, who had two sons, Afrid and Adam. But it is probably sufficient to surmise that they are a tribe of Pactiyan stock, who have been established in their present country for many centuries—far longer than the majority of Pathan tribes—and that living as they do on the high road from Central Asia to India, it is likely that they have a large admixture of Turkish and Scythian blood.
The Afridi country being bleak and sterile, and the rainfall but small, agriculture is only scantily pursued, although they raise a coarse kind of rice in the Bara Valley, a considerable amount of which finds its way to the Peshawar market. Some of the tribe also gain a precarious living by cutting and selling timber for firewood, but many of the clans possess great stock in cattle, cows, sheep and goats, and go in for breeding mules and donkeys, which are much thought of locally. Their chief manufactures are coarse mats and cloth, while in Maidan, at Ilmgudar near Fort Bara, and in the Kohat Pass there are factories which annually turn out a certain number of rifles.
As Soldiers
The Afridi in appearance is generally a fine, tall, athletic highlander, whose springy step at once denotes 263his mountain origin. They are lean but muscular men, with long, gaunt faces, high noses and cheekbones, and rather fair complexions. Brave and hardy, they make good soldiers, but are apt to be somewhat homesick in the hot weather, and they have gained a greater reputation for fidelity as soldiers than in any other way. The Afridi has uniformly shown himself ready to enlist in our army, and at the present moment there are probably 4000 of this tribe serving in the ranks of the Indian army or in the Khyber Rifles. But since the Pathan is notoriously restless and dislikes expatriation, the average length of service is shorter than in the case of our other Indian soldiers; the result being that a greater number of trained soldiers from Pathan squadrons and companies annually pass back to their homes, than is the case with a proportionately larger establishment of any other race. While, therefore, their loyalty, while actually in our service and even during frontier expeditions against their own kinsmen, has been all that could be wished, it is not perhaps saying much—considering their normal family relations—that they should cheerfully fight for us against them. But, on the other hand, it can hardly be expected that men who have become again merged in their tribe, and who, according to their own ideas, are no longer bound to us by any obligation, should maintain an attitude of complete aloofness from any tribal movement prompted by racial feeling, or by that fanaticism which, on the border, has been defined as “a sentiment of religious intolerance excited into reckless action.” During the Tirah Campaign the number 264of pensioners and reservists who fought against our troops is believed to have been very large. As long ago as 1884 it was stated of the Afridis that “almost every fighting man possesses a gun or pistol, besides other arms; many of the firearms are rifled, and some have percussion locks.” To-day the armament of these tribesmen is far more complete and up-to-date,[102] and there can be no doubt that the fighting powers of the Afridis have increased during recent years to a very formidable extent. At the same time our powers of effectively dealing with them have increased in a still greater ratio. Our soldiers are more suitably trained for the particular warfare waged in these border hills; they are infinitely better armed; the services of transport and supply are more efficiently organised; the country of the independent tribesmen is more thoroughly known; the moral effect of uniformly successful expeditions—are all factors which more than counterbalance any accession of strength which the last twenty-five years have brought to the Afridis.
As to the measures to be taken effectually to coerce them, Oliver, writing twenty-two years ago, said that “strong as are the natural positions they hold among the spurs and defiles of the Safed Koh and the bare, rugged, inhospitable ranges of the Khyber; difficult of approach the passes which might have to be forced, and unanimous as the clans may be to defend them at the signal of a common danger, the people are so 265dependent on the plains, their position—secure though it may sound—is really their weakest point, and makes it easy to shut them up in their own hills. Peshawar, the great field for their plundering operations, is also the market for their produce and the source of supply for their many domestic wants. Exclusion from Peshawar is to many clans a severe form of punishment; and an effectual blockade that will cut them off from the outer world, would probably bring them to terms sooner than an expedition.” But Holdich again reminds us that “across those wild break-neck passes over the Safed Koh into Ningrahar ... the hard-pressed Afridi can constantly find refuge for his family, and sanctuary for himself, amongst the Durani tribes who dwell on the northern slopes of the Safed Koh.” That there is always that back door, “the keys of which are in their own pockets,” and that “at the worst they could shift across the hills into Afghanistan, and there was the prospect ... that something more than mere shelter would be accorded by the ruler of Kabul.”
Their Character
Of the moral attributes of the Afridis few people have found much to say in praise. Mackeson wrote of them: “The Afridis are a most avaricious race, desperately fond of money. Their fidelity is measured by the length of the purse of the seducer, and they transfer their obedience and support from one party to another of their own clansmen, according to the comparative liberality of the donation.” Elphinstone, generally ready enough to record anything good of Afghans, said of the Afridis: “On the whole they 266are the greatest robbers among the Afghans, and, I imagine, have no faith or sense of honour; for I never heard of anybody hiring an escort of Khaiberis to secure his passage through their country—a step which always ensures a traveller’s safety in the lands of any other tribe.” MacGregor considers this estimate harsh, but that furnished by the same authority is hardly more flattering: “A ruthless, cowardly robber—a cold-blooded treacherous murderer; brought up from his earliest childhood amid scenes of appalling treachery and merciless revenge, nothing has changed him; as he has lived—a shameless, cruel savage—so he dies. And it would seem that, notwithstanding his long intercourse with us, and the fact that large numbers have been and are in our service, and must have learnt in some way what faith, justice and mercy mean, yet the Afridi is no better than in the days of his father.” Against these adverse testimonies, however, there is the opinion of Sir Robert Warburton, who spent eighteen years in their midst and who wrote of them: “The Afridi lad from his earliest childhood is taught by the circumstances of his existence and life to distrust all mankind, and very often his near relations, heirs to his small plot of land by inheritance, are his deadliest enemies. Distrust of all mankind, and readiness to strike the first blow for the safety of his own life, have therefore become the maxims of the Afridi. If you can overcome this mistrust, and be kind in words to him, he will repay you by great devotion, and he will put up with any punishment you like to give him except abuse. It 267took me years to get through this thick crust of mistrust, but what was the after-result? For upwards of fifteen years I went about unarmed amongst these people. My camp, wherever it happened to be pitched, was always guarded and protected by them. The deadliest enemies of the Khyber range, with a long record of blood-feuds, dropped those feuds for the time being when in my camp. Property was always safe.... Time after time have the Afridi elders and jirgahs supported me even against their own Maliks.”
Warburton’s Opinion
Notwithstanding all that has been said against the Afridi he is, on the whole, one of the finest of the Pathan races on our border. His appearance is greatly in his favour, and he is really braver, more open, and not more treacherous than many other Pathans. This much is certain, that he has the power of prejudicing Englishmen in his favour, and there are few brought into contact with him who do not at least begin with an enthusiastic admiration for his manliness. Again, with a tight hand over him, many of his faults remain dormant, and he soon develops into a valuable soldier.
Though eternally at feud among themselves, they seldom quarrel with neighbouring tribes; that is, the Afridis do not care to waste their energies in fighting with their neighbours, but reserve the luxury for home consumption—a feud to an Afridi is the salt of life, the one pleasure that makes existence tolerable. On occasion, in the face of common danger, they are capable of concerted action, as was shown in the Tirah Campaign of 1897, but even then one clan held entirely aloof. Though nominally under the control 268of their Maliks, the Afridis have very little respect for their authority and are thoroughly democratic. They are all of the Sunni persuasion of the Muhammadan faith.
The following are the eight clans into which the Afridi tribe is divided, and of these the first six are known collectively as the “Khyber Afridis”:
1.
Kuki Khel.
2.
Malikdin Khel.
3.
Kambar Khel.
4.
Kamrai or Kamar Khel.
5.
Zakha Khel.
6.
Sipah.
7.
Aka Khel.
8.
Adam Khel.
The Aka Khels have no connection with the Khyber and are located to the south of the Bara River. The Adam Khels inhabit the hills between the districts of Kohat and Peshawar, and cannot be regarded, except ethnologically, as a part of the Afridi tribe; for whether they are viewed with reference to their position, their interests or their habits, they are a distinct community.
The area of the country inhabited by the Afridis is about nine hundred square miles. The principal streams draining their hills are the northern branch of the Bara River, or Bara proper, the Bazar or Chora River, and the Khyber stream, all flowing into the Peshawar Valley. The valleys lying near the sources of the Bara River are included in the general name of Tirah, which comprises an area of 600 to 700 square 269miles. The greater part of Tirah is inhabited by different clans of the Orakzai tribe, but the valleys known as Rajgal and Maidan are occupied by the Afridis. The Rajgal Valley is drained by one main stream, into which fall some lesser streams from the surrounding hills. Its length is about ten miles, and the breadth of the open country about four to five miles. The elevation is over 5000. Maidan lies to the south of Rajgal, and is a circular valley about ten miles across, watered by several large watercourses. The streams from Rajgal and Maidan unite and form the Bara River, flowing down the valley of the same name to the Kajurai Plain, shortly before entering which the Bara is joined by the Mastura River.
The Clans
The Kuki Khel number some 5600 fighting men, and occupy the Rajgal valley and the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, as far as the Rohtas Hill, which overhangs the fort at Ali Musjid, and also the Bezai Spur—a long underfeature which flanks, but at a considerable distance, the latter part of the railway and road from Peshawar to Fort Jumrud. This clan has a bitter feud with the Zakha Khel, and is Gar in politics.
The Malikdin Khel is the Khan Khel or head clan of the Afridis, and is closely connected with the Kambar Khel, their settlements in Maidan, Chora and Kajurai lying together. In Maidan they occupy the central and northern portion of the valley—Bagh, the recognised meeting place of the Afridi Jirgahs, “where the Khyber raid and Afridi rebellion of 1897–98 were planned, and where fanaticism, 270intrigue and sedition have always been hot-bedded and nourished,” being in their country. The Malikdin Khels number some 6000 fighting men, and are Samil in politics.
The Kambar Khel is numerically the most powerful of all the Afridi clans, being able on emergency to put 10,000 armed men in the field; they belong to the Gar political faction. This clan is very migratory, occupying in the hot weather the Kahu Darra and the valley of the Shalobar River, which joins the Bara River at Dwatoi, and moving in the winter to the Kajurai Plain and to other minor settlements. This clan is very strongly represented in the Indian Army and Border Militia.
The Kamrai or Kumar Khel form but a small clan, Samil in politics, having its settlements in the extreme west of the Bara Valley, and also moving down to the Kajurai Valley to the west of Peshawar in the winter months. Their fighting men number no more than about 800.
Their Holy Places
The Zakha Khel owe their undoubted importance to their geographical position in Afridi-land, rather than to the number of armed men they can turn out—probably not less than 6000. Their holdings stretch diagonally across ............