Mr. Campbell supposes them to be Aryan, and probably of similar origin to the Jat. Several writers consider them to be descendants of one of the ten tribes of Israel, and seven books bearing on this subject were placed at the disposal of Surgeon-Major Bellew, and his examination of them showed their own belief to be that they are descendants from Saul, whose history in these books is in the main like that in the Hebrew Bible. Saul's two grandsons, Asaf and Afghana, served under Solomon.
In its physical features, Afghanistan is a star of valleys radiating from the Koh-i-Baba, and everywhere bounded by very rugged and difficult mountains ; the two great ranges, leaving the Bam-i-Danial in the N., being the Mustagh and the Hindu Kush, with numerous offshoots from the latter. The Siah Koh is the S. branch of the Koh-i-Baba, from which the Helmand, the Hari Rud, the Murghab, Balkh-ab, and Kunduz rivers rise.
The Hindu Kush range is traced from the S.W. corner of the Pamir in Central Asia, in about lat. 30' N., whence rise the Amu Darya, the Yarkand Darya, the Kunar, and the Gilgit rivers. It extends 1Y. as far as the spur which divides the Ghorband valley from that of the Helmand, in long. 68° 30' E., from which point it is called the Koh-i-Baba. In these limits it forms the water shed of the Oxus (Amu Darya) to its N., and the Kabul river to its S. ; and its ramifications or breadth may be said to extend from lat. 34° 30' to 37° 30' N., nearly 200 miles. The passes from Chitral to Badakhshan across the Hindu Kush are Chitral, Ishtirab, Kagram, Nuksan, Kharteza, and Darn ; from Deh Parian in the Panjsher valley a pass leads by Anjuman to Bamian ; the other passes are the Thal, Khawk, Bazarak, Shatpal, Parwan, Saralang, Kaoshan, Gwalian, Gwazgar, Chardar, Gholalaj, Farinjal, and Ghorband.
The Kohistan region commences from Kaghan, which is a narrow glen stretching upwards from the northernmost point of the Hazara district for a distance of nearly 90 miles, and separating the maharaja of Kashmir's territory from the inde pendent mountaineers. It is a district N. of that city, and has the valleys of Tagao, Nijrao, Panjsher, Ghorband, Charikar, Alishang, Alighur, and the Lower Kuner. The villages are small, but numer ous; the Kohistani, 40,000 in number, have always been independent ; their country is strong for defence. They are bold, violent, and unruly, and reckon it a disgrace to die in bed. They are prone to individual assassinations ; their arms, a carbine, a firelock, a pistol, and short sharp dagger, a few bows and shields. In 1840 the British Indian
forces had engagements at Parwandarra, Tuta,m darra, Jalgah, Kandara, Charikar, and Istalif.
Amongst them mulberry flour is the staff of life ; and, in their perpetual quarrels, the mulberry plantations of the valleys have, to their credit, always been spared.
The Suliman range is thrown off to the S. from the Allah Koh ridge between Kabul and Ghazni, in lat. 69° 30', and thence running southwards without a break, but throwing off many spurs, it forms the system of mountains of E. Afghanistan and Baluchistan. Takht-i-Suliman is the name given to two peaks ou the spur of the Suliman range, which forms the S. watershed of the Zhob river, and ends in the Gomal river at Ghwalari. The N. peak is in lat. 31° 41' N., long. 69° 58' 40" E., and rises 11,298 feet above the sea. The S. peak is in lat. 31° 35' 40" N., long. 70° 0' 40" E., and rises 11,070 ft. No European has ascended it.
As will have been seen, the Afghanistan country is entirely mountainous, but it has numerous flat bottomed valleys hemmed in by the mountains. These valleys are so large as to permit the evolu tions of an army, and this feature explains why these mountaineers carry on most of their warfare on horseback, and are proud of their cavalry and its elan. The region has many rivers of small size, and many irrigation canals. From its high elevation above the sea, the climate is very severe. The people are chiefly pastoral pomades, and even when settled, live iu tents. The towns are of no great size. Kabul, the present capital, has a population of 50,000 or 60,000 souls. The Kandahar population was estimated by Dr. Bellew at from 16,000 to 20,000 houses, or from 60,000 to 80,000 souls. Herat has from 6000 to 10,000 inhabitants ; Maemana, 40,000; Kunduz, about 6000 or 7000; and Shibbargham, 12,000.
In calling their country Walayat, the Afghans distinguish two portions of it as—(1) Kabul or Kabulistan, N. of Ghazni and the Safed-Koh, as far as the Hindu Kush ; and (2) Khorasan and Zabalistan, S. and W. from Ghazni to Persia and the desert of Seistan. Its greatest length is 750 miles, and greatest breadth 550 miles. Afghanistan is farther recognised by its people as comprising the provinces of Kabul, Jalalabad, Ghazni, Kan dahar, Herat, and Balkh, or, as the last is now called, Afghan-Turkestan. To these are sometimes added the districts of the Ghilzae and of the Hazara. Its ruler is known as the Amir, and his revenues are estimated at forty lakhs of rupees, or less than half a million sterling.