Afghanistan

AFGHANISTAN, a country of Asia. Estimated area is 245,000-27o,000sq.m. (including Badakshan and Kafiristan). Pop. about 12,000,000. It is bounded on the north by Russian Turkistan, on the west by Persia, and on the east and south by Kashmir and the north-west frontier of India and Baluchistan. Surveys from 1872 to 1905 delimited the frontier which was accepted by Afghanistan in a treaty of 1921.

Boundaries.

From the town of Zulfikar on the Hari Rud river the boundary between Afghanistan and Russia is roughly parallel to the Paropamisus, and about 35m. N. of it, till it strikes the Kushk river in Jamshidi territory at a point once known as Chahil Dukteran, but now the Russian post Kushkinski, terminus of a branch railway from Merv. Kushkinski is about 2om. below the old Jamshidi settlement of Kushk, the capital of Badghis. From Kush kinski the boundary runs north-east, crossing the Murghab river near Maruchak (an Afghan fortress), and passing through the hills of the Chul, and the undulating deserts of the Aleli Turk mans, to the Oxus, leaving the valleys of Charshamba and of Andkhui (to which it runs approximately parallel) within Afghan limits. These valleys define the limits of cultivation in this di rection. Throughout this region the boundary is generally marked by pillars, but here and there local water-partings or watercourses are used. The boundary meets the Oxus at Khamiab at the west ern extremity of the cultivated district of Khwaja Salar and from that point to the eastern end of Lake Victoria in the Pamirs the main channel of the Oxus river forms the northern limit of \Afghanistan. (See Oxus.) Eastwards from Lake Victoria the frontier was determined by the Pamir Boundary Commission (1895). A part of the little Pamir is Afghan, but the boundary crosses this Pamir before the great bend northwards of the Aksu takes place, and passing over a series of crags and untraversable mountain ridges, is lost on the Chinese frontier in the snowfields of Sarikol. Bending back westwards the frontier now follows the water-parting of the Hindu Kush; and as the Hindu Kush abso lutely overhangs the Oxus nearly opposite Ishkashim, it follows that, at this point, Afghanistan is about iom. wide. Thus a small high portion of the State extends eastwards from its north-eastern corner and is attached to the great Afghan quadrilateral by the thin link of the Panja valley. These narrow limits (called Wak han) include the lofty spurs of the northern flank of the Hindu Kush, an impassable barrier at this point, where the glacial passes reach 19,000f t. in altitude, and the enclosing peaks 24,000f t. The backbone or main water-divide of the Hindu Kush continues to form the boundary between Afghanistan and the North-West Frontier Province of India until it reaches Kafiristan. From near the Dorah pass (14,800ft.), which connects Chitral with the Panja (or Oxus) river, a long, straight, snow-clad spur reaches south wards, which divides the Kafiristan valley of Bashgol from that of Chitral, and this continues to define the eastern limits of Afghani stan till it nearly touches the Chitral river opposite the village of Arnawai, 45m. south of Chitral. Here the Bashgol and Chitral valleys unite and the boundary passes to the water-divide east of the Chitral river; along this water-divide it extends to a point nearly opposite the quaint old town of Pashat in the Kunar valley (the Chitral river has become the Kunar in its course southwards), and then divides the Mohmand country till it strikes the Kabul river near Palosi. Thence following a course nearly due south it reaches Landi Kotal. From the abutment of the Hindu Kush on the Sarikol in the Pamir region to Landi Kotal, and through out its eastern and southern limits, the boundary of Afghanistan touches districts which were brought under British political con trol with the formation of the North-West Frontier Province of India in 1901. From the neighbourhood of Landi Kotal the boundary is carried to the Safed Koh overlooking the Afridi Tirah, and then, rounding off the cultivated portions of the Kurram valley below the Peiwar, it crosses the Kaitu and passes to the upper reaches of the Tochi. Crossing these again, it is continued on the west of Waziristan, finally striking the Gomal river at Domandi. South of the Gomal it separates Afghanistan from Baluchistan, which here adjoins the North-West Frontier Province. From Do mandi (the junction of the Kundar river with the Gomal) the Afghan boundary marches with that of Baluchistan. (See BALU CHISTAN.) It is carried south-west mainly along the Kundar and Kadanai to a point beyond the Sind-Peshin terminal station of New Chaman, west of the Khojak range, and then drops south to Shorawak and Nushki. From Nushki it crosses the Helmand desert, touching the crest of a well-defined watershed for a great part of the way and, leaving Chagai to Baluchistan, it strikes nearly west to the Persian frontier, and joins it on the Koh-i Malik Siah mountain, south of Seistan.

Indefinite Limits.

Two important points upon this part of the Afghan boundary are notable. It leaves some of the most fanatical of the Durani Afghan people on the Baluch side of the frontier in the Toba district, north of the Quetta-Chaman line of railway; and it passes 5om. S. of the Helmand river, enclosing within Afghanistan the only approach to Seistan from India which is available during the seasons of Helmand overflow. Be yond these lagoons to Hashtadan it is still indefinite. The eastern limits of Hashtadan had been previously fixed as far north as the Hari Rud river at Toman Agha. From this point to Zulfikar the Hari Rud is itself the boundary. The Hindu Kush spreads fan wise from a stem of great height (24,000ft.) in the north-east. The rays of the fan diminish in height to the north and south of a more or less central one called Koh-i-Baba, west of Kabul (greatest height 16,87oft.) and the Safed Koh of western Afghan istan farther west. On the north-north-west are the deep defiles of the southern feeders of the Oxus, while the Murghab drains the north-western hills and loses itself in the wastes of Turkistan. The Hari Rud runs parallel to and north of the Koh-i-Baba and Safed Koh of the west, giving a site to Herat as it leaves the hills, and turns north to lose itself like the Murghab. The south ward rays of the fan have rivers between them which reach through the desert of Registan to the lake-swamp of Seistan ; the chief of these is the Helmand. At the emergence of one of the feeders of the Helmand from the hills, above the desert, stands Kandahar, a focus for numerous valleys, and also related to the Bolan pass. On the east the tremendous drop from Afghanistan to the Indus lowland has promoted the cutting of deep valleys, notably that of the Khyber pass on a feeder of the Kabul river, which has eaten back among the hill lines right to the Hindu Kush. The northern flank of the fan-mountains, on the west, is the Band-i-Turkistan, a sombre line overlooking the immense Chul, a loess area stretching away northwards to the Oxus.

The complexity of the Kabul river feeders is an important factor of the existence of the historic city of Kabul. From the city one may follow lines between the ridges southwards to Ghazni and to Kandahar, or the line of the Hari-Rud westwards to Herat, or one may go north over either the Hindu Kush (via the Unai pass) or Koh-i-Baba (via the pass of Irak) and so down the tremendous defiles of the Balkh river or one may skirt round the north-east of the Koh-i-Baba at a lower level via Charikar and the Shibar pass. By taking the last route one avoids getting more than I o,000 ft. above sea-level and this route is not often snowbound for long. It is the historic way. In the 19th century somewhat more direct ways from the Oxus to Kabul have been developed farther east. From Kabul into India one route much used in historic times left the Kabul river above Jalalabad and went north-east across the Kunar, thence into Bajaur and so via Malakand or some route near it into the Indian plains. The famous Khyber pass is entered beyond the fort of Jamrud, I irn. W. of Peshawar: it follows the Khyber stream up to Landi Kotal, debouching on to the Kabul river at Dakka whence the route goes along to Jala labad, beyond which are alternative ways to Kabul. The Khyber pass is the part of the route between the entry to the mountains west of Jamrud and the emergence above at Landi Kotal and it lies within the North-West Frontier Province of India.

The Bara route farther south leads up into the heart of the Tirah country. The Kurram river route with the Peiwar (8,600ft.) and Shutargardan (io,800ft.) passes across the southern extensions of the Safed Koh (note the resemblance to the name of the range in western Afghanistan) is the next route southwards. The Tochi river route leads to Ghazni whence, in the days of its power, many raids were made upon the Indian plains. The Gomal river route has considerable commercial importance as it involves no very difficult pass though it is forced to leave the river because of very narrow precipitous defiles. From Kandahar a route skirts the ends of the hill lines to the frontier at Chaman whence it goes through the Kojak pass down to Kila Abdullah; it has considerable trade.

In spite of much work spread over many years some of the physical features of Afghanistan are still undetermined, the rugged nature of the country being a severe handicap to research.

Climate.—In the north the climate is extreme. In winter, waves of intense cold occur with temperatures ranging from —12° F. to 15° F., while in summer the shade temperature in the Oxus region may reach II o° or 120°F. For seven months of the year (May–November) the temperature-range exceeds 3o°F. daily, this range being greater than that of the days in the cold season. In Kabul snow lies for two or three months and people stay indoors near the stoves. At Ghazni also snow lasts long and tradition tells of disastrous snowstorms. Everywhere, however, summer heat is great, but this is especially the case all around Kandahar; this country in summer suffers from dust storms and snow rarely lies on the plains in winter. Herat has a strong north west wind and relatively mild temperature throughout the sum mer and in winter the snow rarely lies long; but above Herat fierce winter cold prevails and the upper part of the Hari Rud river freezes, rapids and all.

The south-west monsoon brings rain only to the valleys that lead down from Afghanistan to the Indus plains, the Kabul valley as far as Laghman, the eastern ends of the Safed Koh, of the east and the Kurram valley. It therefore does not bring rain to Afghan istan which gets much of its precipitation as winter snow and a small but very important contribution of rain in spring. Snow and spring rain come largely from the north-west and in winter the snow-winds are intensely cold. The atmosphere is dry and the brilliant sunshine of a large part of the year, with very bright clear nights also, is a feature.

Vegetation.—On the main ranges at 6,000 to I o,000 ft. grow large forest trees, among which conifers are most prominent, such as Cedrus deodara, A bies excelsa, Pinus longifolia, P. pinaster, P. pinea (the edible pine) and the larch. Yew, hazel, juniper, wal nut, wild peach and almond are also found. Growing under the shade of these are several varieties of rose, honeysuckle, currant, gooseberry, hawthorn, rhododendron and luxuriant herbage, the Ranunculaceae being abundant and rich in genera. The lemon and wild vine are commonest on the northern mountains. The walnut and oak (evergreen, holly-leaved and kermes) descend to the secondary heights, where they become mixed with alder, ash, khinjak, Arbor-vitae, juniper, Indigoferae and dwarf laburnum, with species of Astragalus, etc. Lower again and down to 3,000ft. grow wild olive, species of rock-rose, wild privet, acacias and mimosas, barberry and Zizyphus; and, in places, Chamaerops humilis (which is applied to a variety of useful purposes), Bignonia or trumpet flower, sissu, Salvadora persica, verbena, acanthus, varieties of Gesnerae. The lowest terminal ridges, es pecially towards the west, are naked in aspect. Their scanty vegetation is almost wholly herbal; shrubs are only occasional; trees almost non-existent. Labiate composite and umbelliferous plants are most common. Ferns and mosses are almost confined to the higher ranges. On the dreary Kandahar table-lands grow many vigorous plants, such as papilionaceous Leguminosae, and the camel-thorn (Hedysarum Alhagi), Astragalus in several vari eties, spiny rest-harrow (Ononis spinosa), the fibrous roots of which often serve as a tooth-brush; plants of the sub-family Mimosae, such as the sensitive mimosa; a plant of the rue family, called by the natives lipdd; the common wormwood ; also certain orchids, and several species of Salsola. Rue and wormwood give domestic medicines—the former for rheumatism and neuralgia ; the latter for fever, debility and dyspepsia, as well as for a vermi fuge. The lipdd, of heavy nauseous odour, is believed to keep off evil spirits. On some sides and hollows of ravines are found rose-bay (Nerium Oleander), called in Persian khar-zarah, or ass bane, wild laburnum and various Indigoferae.

The chief cultivated trees are mulberry, willow, poplar, ash, and occasionally the plane.

Of commercial value is the gum-resin of Narthex asafetida of the high and dry plains of western Afghanistan, especially between Kandahar and Herat. The Kakar clan collects this gum-resin; and the depot is Kandahar, whence it finds its way to India, for use as a condiment. It is not used in Afghanistan, but the Seistan people eat the green stalks preserved in brine. In the highlands of edible wild rhubarb is an important local luxury. The bleached rhubarb, which has a very delicate flavour, is obtained by covering the young leaves as they sprout with loose stones or an empty jar. Leaf-stalks are gathered and carried down for sale. Bleached and unbleached rhubarb are both largely consumed, both raw and cooked. Walnut and edible pine-nut are both wild growths, which are exported. The sanjit (Elaeagnus orientalis), common on the banks of watercourses, furnishes an edible fruit. The dried tuber of a mountain orchis affords the nutritious mucil age called salep; a good deal of this goes to India. Pistacia khinjak affords a mastic. The fruit, mixed with its resin, is used for food by the Achakzais in southern Afghanistan. The true pistachio is found only on the northern frontier; the nuts are imported from Badakhshan and Kunduz. Mushrooms and other fungi are largely used as food, especially by town Hindus as a substitute for meat. Manna, of at least two kinds, is sold in the bazaars. One, called turanjbin, appears to exude, in small round tears, from the camel-thorn, and also from the dwarf tamarisk; the other, sir-kasht, in large grains and irregular masses or cakes with bits of twig imbedded, is obtained from a tree which the natives call sigh chob (black wood), thought by Bellew to be a Fraxinus or Ornus.

Agriculture.

In most parts of the country there are two harvests, as generally in India. One of these, called by the Afghans bandrak, or the spring crop, is sown in the end of autumn and reaped in summer. It consists of wheat, barley and a variety of lentils. The other, called pclizah or tirmai, the autumnal, is sown in the end of spring and reaped in autumn. It consists of rice, varieties of millet and sorghum, of maize, Pliaseolus mango, to bacco, beet, turnips, etc. The loftier regions have but one harvest. Wheat is the staple food ; rice is not largely distributed. In the eastern mountains bdjra (Holcus spicatus) is the chief grain. Most English and Indian garden-stuffs are cultivated, turnips in some places very largely, as cattle food. The growing of melons, water melons and other cucurbitaceous plants is very important near towns. Sugar-cane is grown only in the rich plains ; and though cotton is grown in the warmer tracts, most of the cotton cloth is imported.

Madder is part of the spring crop near Ghazni and Kandahar and in the west and supplies the Indian demand. It is said to be very profitable, though it takes three years to mature. Saffron is grown and exported. The castor-oil plant furnishes most of the oil of the country. Tobacco is very general; that of Kandahar is exported to India and Bokhara. Two crops of leaves are taken.

Lucerne and a trefoil called shaftal form important fodder crops in the west, and, when irrigated, are said to afford ten or 12 cuttings in the season. The komal (Prangos pabularia) is abundant in the hill country of Ghazni, and is said to extend through the klazara country to Herat. It is stored for winter fodder. Others are derived from the Holcus sorghum, and from two kinds of panick. It is common to cut down the green wheat and barley before the ear forms, for fodder, and the repetition of this, with barley at least, is said not to injure the grain crop. Bellew gives the following statement of the manner in which the soil is some times worked in the Kandahar district :—Barley is sown in No vember ; in March and April it is twice cut for fodder ; in June the grain is reaped, the ground is ploughed and manured and sown with tobacco, which yields two cuttings. The ground is then pre pared for carrots and turnips, which are gathered in November or December.

European fruits are of many varieties and excellent quality. Fresh or preserved, they form a principal food of a large class of the people, and the dry fruit is largely exported. In the valleys of Kabul mulberries are dried, and packed in skins for winter use. This mulberry cake is often reduced to flour, forming in some valleys the staple food. Vines are sometimes trained on trellises, but most frequently over ridges of earth 8 or 'oft. high; the produce round Kandahar must be enormous.

Open canals are usual in the Kabul valley, and in eastern Afghanistan generally; but in the west much use is made of the karez, a subterranean aqueduct uniting waters of several springs and conducting their combined volume to the surface at a lower level.

Wild mammals include the tiger in the north, the common leopard and other cats, wolves, jackals, foxes and hyenas among the dog tribe, goats, wild sheep, gazelles, deer, Himalayan varieties of markhor and ibex, wild hogs, wild asses (Equus onager). Afghanistan seems to furnish a retreat for the breeding season for many Indian and perhaps some African birds, while in winter its bird life is akin to that of lands farther north.

Of domestic animals, the one-humped camel is cared for and is a stronger breed than the taller one used in India. The two humped camel is used in the north. The yabu, an indigenous horse, is strong and heavy-shouldered and about 14 hands high; it cannot do fast work nor stand great heat. The breed was im proved by Abdur Rahman and those bred in the north are ex ported to Humped cows are kept for milk in the south and south-west, pressed and dried curd being largely eaten; it is said to be a Mongol introduction. Fat-tailed indigenous sheep are either white or russet ; the white fleeces are exported to Per sia and to Europe via Bombay. Mutton salted and dried in the sun is one of the chief foods of the nomad people who also use beef and camel's flesh in the same way. Goats and dogs (pointers and greyhounds) are also noteworthy.

Minerals.

A little gold is taken from the streams in Lagh man and the adjoining districts. Famous silver mines were former ly worked near the head of the Panjshir valley in Hindu Kush. Kabul gets iron from the Permuli (or Farmuli) district, between the Upper Kurram and Gomal. Iron ore is most abundant near the passes leading to Bamian, and in other parts of Hindu Kush. Copper ore from various parts of Afghanistan has been seen, but it is nowhere worked. Lead is found in Upper Bangash (Kurram district), and in the Shinwari country; also among the branches of the Safed Koh of eastern Afghanistan and in the Kakar coun try. There are reported to be rich lead mines near Herat scarcely worked. Lead, with antimony, is found near the Arghandab, 32m. N.W. of Ghazni, and in the Ghorband valley, north of Kabul. Most of the lead used, however, comes from the Hazara country, where the ore is described as being gathered on the surface. A. large and elaborate ancient mine exists at Feringal, in the Ghor band valley. Antimony is obtained at Shah-Maksud, about 3om. N. of Kandahar. Sulphur is said to be found at Herat, dug from the soil in small fragments, but the chief supply comes from the Hazara country and from Pirkisri, on the confines of Seistan, where there would seem to be a crater, or fumarole. Sal-ammoniac is brought from the same place. Gypsum is found in large quanti ties in the plain of Kandahar, being dug out in fragile coralline masses from near the surface. Coal (perhaps lignite) is found at least in the Ghorband valley and near the Khurd Kabul pass. Nitre abounds in the soil over all the south-west of Afghanistan, and often affects the water of the karez or subterranean canals. Rubies, turquoises and first-quality lapis lazuli come from Badak shan. This last material, especially, is smuggled to the north.

People.

The term Afghan really applies to one section only of the people, but this is the dominant section known as the Durani. The Ghilzai (almost as powerful as the Durani) claim to be of Turkish origin ; the Hazaras, the Chahar-Aimak, Tajiks, Uzbegs, Kafirs and others are more or less subject races. Popu larly any inhabitant of Afghanistan is known as Afghan on the Indian frontier without distinction of origin or language ; but the language division between the Parsiwan (or Persian-speaking Afghan) and the Pathan of the Indian frontier is a very distinct one. The predominance of the Afghan in Afghanistan dates from the mid-i8th century, when Ahmad Shah carved out Afghanistan from the previous conquests of Nadir Shah and called it the Durani empire.

The Durani Afghans claim to be Ben-i-Israel, and insist on their descent from tribes carried away captive from Palestine to Media by Nebuchadrezzar. Yet they also claim to be Pukhtun (or Pa than) in common with all other Pushtu-speaking tribes, whom they do not admit to be Afghan. The bond of affinity between the various peoples who compose the Pathan community is simply the bond of a common language. All of them recognize a common code or unwritten law called Pukhtunwali, which appears to be similar in general character to the old Hebraic law, though modi fied by Mohammedan ordinances, and strangely similar in some points to Rajput custom. Besides their division into clans and tribes, the whole Afghan people may be divided into dwellers in tents and dwellers in houses ; and this division is apparently not coincident with tribal divisions, for of several of the great clans at least a part is nomad and a part settled. Such is the case with the Durani and with the Ghilzai.

Dominant Stock.

Afghans have fine figures, aquiline profiles, fair complexions, and a small group yielded an average cephalic index of 74.8, a value nearer to that found among Rajputs in India than to that among the Pukhtun (Pathan) groups (ay. ceph. ind. 8o-83) of the Indian frontier or to that among some of the subject peoples. Among the latter, the Hazaras are tall, very broad-headed (average cephalic index 85.o), and akin in feature to peoples of parts of Turkistan and Mongolia ; they are said to have been planted in Afghanistan by Jenghiz Khan and they in habit especially the mountains west of Kabul. The Tajiks are as broad-headed as the Hazaras but belong to the pale rosy-skinned rather than to the yellow-skinned stock; they seem to be an old established, settled, agricultural people.

Tribal law, with the custom of hospitality, and the vendetta in many forms are rules of life, and even the settled Afghan is very much a soldier. They are able to endure great privation and are sober and stern, and may often become cruel. They have long been free of law and have looked upon taxation as interference to be resisted by force, but now the "modernization" of Afghanistan is said to be proceeding apace.

The cultivators, including owners, tenants, labourers and slaves, are skilled irrigators, utilizing every fragment of profitable land ; some of the Ghilzai are specially skilled in building underground water-channels (karez). The settled folk live chiefly in village communities and leave handicraft and commerce largely to sub ject races save that some Ghilzai are wandering traders (powin daks). Afghanistan is a stronghold of Islam, of the Sunni sect for the most part, though the Hazaras and others are Shiah. The Kafirs, as the name implies, are non-Mohammedans, living in Kafiristan (E.N.E.) ; other tribes of the Indian border are recent converts to Islam. Some of the Durani Afghans of Kandahar and Zamindawar districts are very fanatical "Ghazis," that is, men who have vowed their lives to the extinction of other creeds.

Language and Administration.

The official language of Afghanistan is Persian, which is also the vernacular of the people west of the Helmand ; Pushtu is more widely spoken, especially towards the east, but is unknown in the west ; Turki is spoken in the north. There is a respectable amount of Afghan literature. The oldest work in Pushtu is a history of the conquest of Swat by Shaikh Mali, a chief of the Yusafzais, and leader in the con quest (A.D. 1413-24). In 1494 Kaju Khan became chief of the same clan; during his rule Boner and Panjkora were completely conquered, and he wrote a history of the events. In the reign of Akbar, Bayazid Ansari, called Piri-i-Roshan, "the saint of Light," the founder of an heretical sect, wrote in Pushtu, as did his chief antagonist, a famous Afghan saint called Akhund Darweza. The literature is richest in poetry. Abdur Rahman (17th century) is the best known poet. Another very popular poet is Khushal Khan, the warlike chief of the Khattaks in the time of Aurangzeb. Many other members of his family were poets also. Ahmad Shah, the founder of the monarchy, likewise wrote poetry. Ballads are numerous. Much of the literature is in Persian. The village Mul lah or priest teaches the boys reading and writing and religion through the Koran ; the Afghan noble has long known Persian and there is an old-established traditional lore in religion and medicine. But of late a good deal has been done to modernize education, by teaching agriculture, by developing free secondary schools includ ing one under French and one under German supervision, by opening two colleges in Kabul, one for army officers and one for administrators, as well as other colleges elsewhere. Afghan stu dents in recent years have been sent to France and Germany. The Government was an absolute monarchy until 1922 when a legis lative and a State assembly were organized with a cabinet under the presidency of the king, Amanullah Khan (born 1892, succeeded to the throne 1919), who took the title of king in 1926 in place of that of Amir. Ministers are appointed for foreign affairs, in ternal affairs, education, commerce, justice, revenue and war. There are five major provinces: Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Mazar i-Sharif, and Kataghan-Badakhshan, and four minor provinces Jalalabad, Khost, Farah and Maimena. Each province is under a governor. The law is that of Islam with courts in each seat of Government and appeals to higher courts and ultimately to a supreme one at Kabul. The army is a short service conscript one, but tribal groups also count for a great deal ; there are armament factories at Kabul, and, by a treaty of 1921, the Afghans may im port munitions through India. Herat in the west and Dehdadi near Balkh in the north are strongly fortified. A new currency was established in 1926, and revenue is mainly from customs. A sub sidy was formerly paid by the Indian Government to the Amir but that ceased, by agreement, in 1919. There is no regular budget but the public revenue is still under ir,000,000. There are neither banks nor railways, nor is Afghanistan as yet in the International Postal Union, but some waterfalls, notably that of Djebel-us Seradj, are utilized as sources of hydro-electric power. Railways reach the Afghan frontier at various points from the British side and also from the Russian side. The Khyber railway goes up to Landi Kotal.

Communications and Industries.

There are no railways, but telegraphic communication exists between Kabul and Pesha war ; telephones exist in some of the towns, and Kabul has a wireless installation.

Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Persia, Russia and Tur key have legations at Kabul. Kabul (pop. 8o,000) is the historic centre and the limits of its authority have varied greatly from time to time, some mountain regions being practically independent. Herat (pop. 30,000) is largely Persian in character and has often been in rebellion. Kandahar (pop. 6o,000) in the south and Mazar-i-Sherif (pop. 46,200) in the north are other important centres.

Silks, felts, carpets, articles made from camels' and goats' hair, sheepskin coats, soap, clothing, boots, etc., are produced at Kabul, chiefly for the army, in factories that are partly instructional. Herat and Kandahar have long been famed for their silks, felts and carpets, though these are not comparable to true Persian ones. Herat and Kandahar gather fine wool from the nomad shep herds. Commerce across the frontiers has been limited by high duties. India sends to Afghanistan cotton goods, dye-stuffs, hard ware, etc., while Afghanistan sends into India timber, dried fruits, provisions, drugs (especially asafoetida), madder, spices, wool, silk, hides, cattle, tobacco. Merchandise is still_ carried chiefly on camel or pony back, but timber is floated down the streams where that is possible. Cattle go in greater number into Soviet terri tories and food stuffs are also exported in that direction, while im ports from Russian lands into northern Afghanistan include wool and cotton. Trade with Persia is of little account.

The basin of the Kabul river especially abounds in remains of the period when Buddhism flourished. Bamian is famous for its wall-cut figures and at Haibak (on the route between Tashkurghan and Kabul) there are some most interesting Buddhist remains. In the Koh-Daman, north of Kabul, are the sites of several ancient cities, the greatest of which, called Beghram, has furnished coins in scores of thousands, and has been supposed to represent Alex ander's Nicaea. Nearer Kabul, and especially on the hills some miles south of the city, are numerous topes. In the valley of Jalalabad are many remains of the same character.

In the valley of the Tarnak are the ruins of a great city (Ulan Robat) supposed to be the ancient Arachosia. About Girishk, on the Helmand, are extensive mounds and other traces of buildings; and the remains of several great cities exist in the plain of Seistan, as Pulki, Peshawaran and Lakh, relics of ancient Drangiana. An ancient stone vessel preserved in a mosque at Kandahar is almost certainly the same that was treasured at Peshawar in • the 5th century as the begging pot of Sakya-Muni. In architectural relics of a later date than the Graeco-Buddhist period Afghanistan is remarkably deficient. Of the old city of Ghazni, the vast capital of Mahmud and his race, no substantial relics survive, except the tomb of Mahmud and two remarkable brick minarets. A vast and fruitful harvest of coins has been gathered in Afghanistan and the adjoining regions. The concession for archaeological exploration in Afghanistan has been given to France. Regarding the proprie torship of finds, it may be noted that the adoption of regulations such as are in force in Egypt is being considered.

W. Bellew, Races of Afghanistan (188o) ; C. E. Yate, Northern Afghanistan (1888) ; Sultan Mohammed Khan, Life of Abdur Rahman (two) ; Constitution and Laws of Afghanistan (Iwo) ; T. H. Holdich, Indian Borderland (i9oi) ; Imperial Gazetteer of India, "Afghanistan" (1908) ; 0. von Niedermayer, Afghanistan (Leipzig, 1924) ; L'Afghanistan nouveau (Paris, 1924) ; E. Trinkler, Quer durch Afghanistan each lndien (1925) ; R. Furon, L'Afghanistan (1926) .

Present-day Army.

The present military system dates from the days of Abdur Rahman who in 1896 introduced semi-compul sory service which provided that one man in every eight between the ages of 16 and 7o should take his turn in undergoing military training. In 1917 an organization was introduced to provide corps (Urdu) of all arms with a personnel of about 24,000 com batants, divisions of all arms with about 12,000 and mixed brigades with about 4,000, all with mounted troops in the pro portion to infantry of one to six, with a six- or four-gun battery attached to each infantry "battalion." Recruitment is practically for life, but nominally discharge can be obtained after 3 years if a substitute is forthcoming. The king is head of the army, with a commander in chief as executive commander, and subordinates for the army formations. The headquarters of the military districts are Kabul, Jalalabad, Kost, Ghazni, Mukur, Kandahar, Farak, Herat, Maimana, Mazar-i-sharif and Faizabad. The dis tribution of troops is irregular. Kabul has the most. Practically all Afghans being armed with modern rifles, estimates of fighting strength are misleading. Taking the population at 6,000,000, an estimate of about 1,200,000 of fighting age would be somewhere near the mark. The size of mobile formations would depend upon success in collecting transport. Some motor transport is kept at Kabul. There are military academies at Kabul and Herat, mili tary schools for cadets at Kabul, Ostalif and Jalalabad, but the majority of officers seem to be drawn from other sources. Kabul and other places have defences. Herat and Dehdali near Balkh are credited with being the chief fastnesses in 'Northern Afghanis tan, the latter covering the roads leading from the Oxus into Afghan Turkistan. According to travellers' reports, attention is being directed to the development of air forces. Visits to Kabul of Russian aircraft and negotiations for their purchase have been reported, the Russians desiring to provide the pilots.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.—Afghanistan is one of the few countries for which Bibliography.—Afghanistan is one of the few countries for which information about armaments is not to be found in the League of Nations Armament? Year Books. Foreign travellers were not encouraged by the present King's predecessors. The preceding notes are from the best accessible reports, culled from many sources. Among the most recent is an English translation by B. K. Featherstone of Through the heart of Afghanistan by Emil Trinkler (Faber and Gwyer, 1928). (G. G. A.)