The Geographical Journal (Journal of the Royal Geographical Society): Volume XVI, No. 6 [‎373r] (98/232)

ON THE AFGHAN FRONTIER: A RECONNAISSANCE IN SHUGNAN. 671
by surprise with the fervour of their welcome. On meeting with persons either
older or of higher social grade than themselves, the custom is for the younger to
take the other’s hand and kiss it, to which greeting the elder responds by either
kissing him on the forehead or throwing him a kiss, the whole performance being
accomplished generally with dignity and grace.
The Tajiks, therefore, on meeting us ran up alongside our horses, took our
hands, kissed them, and seemed to expect us to be as demonstrative as they were.
It was only later on, when our interpreters had explained to them that we were
unfortunate enough to have different customs, that they greeted us with hand
shakings and by making the “ kulduk,” i.e. a low reverence, performed with
hands on breast.
By midday we had taken up our quarters in the tent prepared for us, and
received numerous visits from Tajik-Shugnanis as well as from an influential family
of Kirghiz then nomadizing in the district—that of Bai-Kurban-dakhta. In the
time of the Khans, Kirghiz nomads, to the number of forty or fifty families,
regularly made their homes in the Shugnan district, but now there are only about
seven families there, and even those edge as near as possible to the Pamir deserts,
so as to have a refuge handy against the Afghans. The latter swoop down on the
higher reaches of the Shakh-Dara every now and then from Wakhan, where they
garrison the fortress Kala-i-Bar-Panja, the capital of the Khanate of Shugnan.
The intervening country is very precipitous, and is icebound for three to four
months in the year. Indeed, it is only the great difficulty of communication which
has hitherto protected the Kirghiz from being forced under the^ sway of the Afghans.
As it is, the latter have only thought fit to demand that the Kirghiz shall maintain
a post of observation on their behalf, and inform them of everything worthy of
notice—especially regarding the actions of the Russians on the Pamir.
As the entire garrison turned out and greeted us with every demonstration of
friendship, their faithfulness to their charge, I am afraid, is more assumed than
real. We made a halt near by the demolished Kirghiz fortress Butenek-Kurgan
on the rivulet Jaushankuz (Anglice, “ sown barley ”), formed by the junction of
the Kok-bai-Chat and Mats. The name is appropriate, and not merely poetical,
because, as a fact, barley-sowing actually begins here. Most probably this Butenek
Kurgan, like all the others of which we have occasion to mention, was a place
■fortified by the Kirghiz so as to serve as a defence from their Tajik persecutors.
In the times of the khans, or, as they were called, “ Shah ” (ruler), these Tajik
invasions were looked upon as such matter-of-fact enterprises, that even the Shah
himself would not scruple to enrich his coffers by the despatch of a marauding
party or two. In fact, these raids came to be looked upon as so many legitimate
commercial expeditions, combining personal gain with the pleasures of war, with
out any of its dangers.
The Jaushankuz valley, which widens at this part, is encompassed by low
mountains, quite bare, alike of vegetation and of snow. The soil, though rather
marshy, is covered with a rich grass, dotted here and there with willow bushes,
averaging 6 feet in height. . . . ,
We started at 9.30 a.m., accompanied by an enthusiastic and increasing crow
of Tajiks and Kirghiz. The road first traversed the plain, but soon led us to a
ford across the river. The latter here takes a sharp bend to the right. After
crossing the river we entered a large defile, at the mouth of which stand a number
of peculiar stone masses bearing a rough resemblance to Kirghiz “ kibitkas
(dwelling-tents). Regarding the latter there is a legend which says that they
mark the site of a former rich “ aul ” (village). A holy man wandered in one day
era vino- rest and food, but the rich inhabitants, who had waxed proud in their