Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 10.djvu/616

Rh 598 Ur I I 1 parts of the Indus basi11. The vi11e is much cultivated i11 some parts of the valley. I11 I’unial it is grown i11 s111ull vineyards, the vi11es bei11g often old trees; the whole vine- yard is covered with a. horizontal framework of sticks, 2 to 4 feet above the ground, a11d over tl1is the vi11es are trained. The people of the basin are all reckoned to be Dards, though there is this perplexing fact, that (setting aside dialects) two languages are spoken among them, which are entirely and radically different,—the Klmjzma. language, which is spoken in Hunza, Nagar, and Yassin, being one of which no relation has yet been traced to a11y other tongue, whilst the S/aina, spoken iii the rest of the basi11, is clearly Aryan, and kindred to the Sanskritie la11g11ages of I11dia. Now there seems to be no doubt entertai11ed that the Yassin people at least have all the characters of undisputed Dards. It is worth while to exhibit the numerals fro1n these two languages. Shina. Khajuna. I Shina. Khajuna. One .. cyl:. .... .. harm. Seven sath .... .. talé. 'l‘wo .... .. do ....... .. altdtz. I-:1_gl1t «ls/"L .... .. almmbu. 'I‘l1ree ..  tré ...... .. uslcé. .ne .  tum .... .. untsIu‘;. Four .... .. (.5-liar  tmlld. T en .... .. (ldy .... .. tdronzo. Five .... .. pofz ..... .. lslzudé. Ii1even.. aletiy .... .. lunna-Izmm. Six .. .  Slld ..... .. 7n 1'sIu'72d6. _ Twelve .. luiy . . . . . .. turma-altalr. The Dards not only occupy the Gilgit basin, but also extend dow11 the I11dus basin, in which they form a number of small republican communities (whilst the states ' of the Gilgit basin are all, so to speak, monarcliical), reach- ing to Batera, where the Pushto—speaking tribes who are of Afghan blood, or at least Afghanized, co111111cnce. The Dards are described as decidedly Aryan in features, broad- shouldered, well-proportioned, active, a11d enduring. The hair is usually black but sometimes brown, the eyes brow11 or hazel, the skin so1ueti111es fair enough to show a ruddy complexion ; the voice and manner of speech are harsh. In bearing they are cheerful, bold, and independent, not dis- obliging when rightly handled, a11d as a race decidedly clever. They do not care 1nuch for human life, but still are not bloozl-thirsty. They are, says Mr Drew, “a people who will meet one on even terms, without sycophancy or fear, and without impertinent self—assertion.” The women are not pretty in Gilgit, but those of Yassin have a better repute, and indeed Hayward says: “The women have a I suffer much from their raids ' ' here. more English cast of countenance than any I have yet seen ' in Asia, 1ight—brown locks prevailina.” The dress is entirely woollen, trousers, choga (long robe like a dressing-gown), and girdle. The cap is most characteristic; it is a long woollen bag rolled up at the edge till it .fits close to the hearl. The feet are wrapt in scraps of leather, with a long strip as a binder. There is a distinct separation i11to castes, of which Drew counts five, others only four. The lowest (._i I T Ilunza, I[ol:'1i—these are great wine drinke1's, X agar, Shiah ; Ishkaman, .Iolai; Yassin, Molai and Sunni, witl1- out any Shiahs. Till lately they were very loose .lahome— tans. Some of the .Ioslem otlicers_in the Sikh and l)ogra. garrisons have spread greater rigidity. The wine is put i11 large earthenware jars, which are then buried fora time. The people do 11ot u11dersta11d clarifying the wine. Dr Leitner tasted some which was very palatable, b11t looked 1nore like n-mtton-broth than wine. A ki11d of beer is also r.1ade. I’olo is a favourite game throughout Darclistain, as in Balti, which is its home, or one of its homes, :111d it ex- tends to the Chitral country. Wliercver Iialtis or ])ard.- live, the polo-ground maybe looked for. Target archery with firearms is also a favourite amusement; they use stones for bullets, with athin coating of lead. They are excellent shots. The Jew’s harp is played; a11d the invention is ascribed to King David. IIz'sIo7'_7/.—TI1e Da1'ds are located by I’tole1ny with surprising accuracy (Danulcc) o11 the west of the Upper I1nl11s, beyond the head—waters of tlie Swat 1'iver (Sonstzls), a11d north of the (.'aml(n'a', 1'.c., the Gainlluiias, who occupied l’esha'ar and the country north of it. The I)a2-dus a1nl C'Iu'nas also appear i11 many of the old l’auranie lists of peoples, the latter probably representing the Slain branch of the Dards. This region was traversed by two of the Chinese pilgrims of the early centuries of our era, who have left records ‘of their journeys, viz., l"ahian, coming fro1n the north, c. 400, a11d Hwen-tl1sa11g, ascending from Swat, c. 631. The latter says: “ I’c1‘ilo1IS were the roads, a11d dark the gorges. Soxm-tiines the pilgrim had to pass by loose cords, sometimes by light stretched iron chains. Here tl1e1'e were ledges ha11ging i11 1nid-air; there llying bridges across abysses; elsewhere paths cut with the chisel, or footings to climb by.” Yet evc11 in these inaccessible I'1'_'_fllHlS were found great convents, and 111iraculous images of lhiddha. How old the name of (lz'I_r/it is we do 11ot know, but it occurs iii the writings of the great )Iaho1netan savant Al-l}ir1'n1i, in his 'I)HllL'tS of I11dian geography. Speaking of l{asl11n1'r, he says: “'hen thou hast passed the defile which forms the entrance and hast penetrated i11to the plain, thou hast to thy left the Inountains of Balaur a11d Shamilzin. Two days" jo111'11e_v distant are the Turk- called ]}Imt¢i1I'arz':in, whose king takes the 11a111c of ]}I1((ts}m'I¢. The country wl1iel1 these Turks occupy is called I{1'II.'1'( (or Gilgit), Asora, aml Shalttis. Their tongue is Turk ; the people of l{ash1n1'r have tr ’——(lleinand, “ I'lxt1'aits,” i11 Jourmll Asz'(tt1'quc, scr. iv. to111. iv. ). There areditlicult matters fordisr-11ssio11 It is impossible to say what ground the writer had for calling the people Turlcs. lint it is curious that the .S'Iu'ns say they a1'e all of the sa111e race as the Moghuls of I11dia, whatever they may mean by that. Gilgit, as far back as tradition goes, was ruled by rajas of a family called 'I‘raka11e. 'hen this family became extinct the valley was desolatcd by successive invasions ot' neigliboiiring rains, and i11 the 20 or 30 years ending with 154;’. there had been live dy11astie 1'ev0lutio11s. The 111ost pro111i11e11t character in the history was a certain Gaur llalnnan or Gauhar Ainan, chief of Yassin, a eruel savage a11d 1na11-seller, of whom many evil deeds are told. l’-eing remonstrated with for selling a mullrzlz, he said. “ Why not! the Koran, the word of God, is sold; why not sell the expoirnder _ thereof?” The Sikhs cntercd Gilgit about 184:2, and kept a garri -o11 caste is Dum, the name of a low caste found all over I11dia to ' the extreme Deccan,—a notable cireu1n.-tance. castes, Shin and Yashkun, form the body of the Dard people. The pure Shin looks more like a European than any high- caste Brahman of I11dia. A Shin man may 111arry a Yashkun woman, but a Yashkun man may 11ot marry a Shin woman. The Yashkuns predominate in Gilgit basin; the Shins in Hara1nosh (up the Indus valley) and Astor (east of Gilgit), and in the states of the Indus basin below Gilgit. It is a notable circumstance that the Dards abhor the cow, mucl1 as the Mussulmans abhor swine. They will not drink cow’s milk, nor make or eat butter. I11 this last poi11t the Indo- Chi11ese nations generally and the Chinese resemble them, but not in the dislike to the animal. The Dards will not bur11 cow-dung 11or touch the cow if they can help it. All the Dards of the Gilgit basin are Mahometans, and of three (liﬂ"c-rent sects, Sunnis, Shiahs, and Mnlais (Mullahis ?), the last being a Shiah oﬁ"s-hoot and modifi- cation. The last two drink wine, the Sunnis do not. Gilgit proper is l1alf Sunni, l1alf Shiah; Punial, .Iol:'1i; The middle ' there. 'hen I{asl11n1'r was made over to Ilal1ara_ia (llllaib Sin__'l1 of .I:'nn1'1 i11 1846, by Lord Ilardinge, the Gilgit claims were traiisferred with it. And when a eo1n1nissio11 was sc11t to lay down boundaries of the tracts made over, llr Vans Agnew (afterw-.n'ds murdered at llnlt:in) a11d Licut. Ralph Young of the Engineers visited (iilgit, the first Englislimen who did so. The Ilogras (tiiilaib Siiiglrs race) had 111ucl1 ado to hold their ground, and iii 1852 a catastroplic oeenrred, parallel on a smaller scale to that of the linglish troops at Cal 111. N earl ' ‘.2000 men of theirs were exterxninated bv (‘aur Ilalnniin a11d a cofnbination of the l)ards; only one person, a sfyldiei-‘s wife, escaped, and the Dogras were driven away for eight _vears. (l1'1l:ib Singh would 11ot again cross the Indus, but after his death (in 1857) the present lIaharaja ltanbir Singh longed to recover lost prestige. 111 1860 he se11t a force i11to (iilgit. tiaur llah1nan_iust then died, and there was little resistance. The liogias have twice since then taken Yassin, but did not hold it. Now, recently, it is believed, they have not only occupied Yas-in, but have invaded Chitral also. They also, in 1.9613, invacleal liarel, one of the most secluded Dard states, to the south of the Uilgit basin, but with- drew again. The chief source of the int'o1'n1:1tion in this article is an excellent work by Mr Frederick Drew. who was long in the cnipioymcnt of the nmhnraja. 7'11» .lummorr and Kaslzrnir Territories u (.'eograplu'ml .-tccmmt, 1H7-'1. Use hns also been made of ])r I.eitne1's 11f1con1plcted work, I.‘c.<u’!.¢ of Tour in Ilm-disfan, &r.: of Mr lIaywa1'd’s letters (I‘rnc. Roy. G(0_r/. Soc., vol. xv., and Juurn. Roy. Geog. $06.. vol. xli.): and of Col. 'alker's Report on the Surrey Dept. for 1577-78. The iiarrative of “ the 1nnll'.1l1.“ who performed the renxarkuble journeys noticed