State and Tribe in Nineteenth-Century Afghanistan by Christine Noelle

Author:Christine Noelle
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-136-60317-4
Publisher: Routledge

The Babakr Khel Ghilzais

The prominent position of the Babakr Khel of Tizin can be traced back to the eighteenth century, when they ingratiated themselves with Nadir Shah by showing ‘instances of personal and tribal devotion’. It is not clear, though, exactly what kind of privileges they received in return for their services. During the Sadozai period the Babakr Khel submitted a nominal revenue to the government and received allowances for protecting the roads leading to Kabul via Haft Kotal, Chinari and Lataband.399 Both the Jabbar Khel and the Babakr Khel seem to have expanded into the region of Laghman in the course of the eighteenth century. In the nineteenth century the Jabbar Khel were concentrated in the region south of the Kabul river, whereas the Babakr Khel were the dominant Ghilzai group in the valley proper.400 Although Laghman was generally referred to as ‘Ghilzai’ by the Durrani rulers, the original Tajik/Pashai population had not been displaced entirely by the advent of the Pashtuns. In the nineteenth century Laghman consisted of two subdivisions for revenue purposes, Laghman-i Afghania and Laghman-i Tajikia. In order to come to a closer understanding of the political circumstances in Laghman, let us take a look at the geographical setting:

The district of Laghman is about 26 miles from east to west, and on an average 32 miles from north to south. It may be said to begin near Darunta and, skirting the northern base of the Siah Koh, extends in a westerly direction up to Badpakht. The valley takes a northern direction at Mandrawar, and proceeding straight up to Tirgarhi, bifurcates into two portions – one going up the Alingar, and the other up the Alishang valley. Its boundaries on the north are the Kafiristan mountains, on the east the hills of Kashmund, on the south the Siah Koh range, on the west the Usbin river… On the eastern side a chain of spurs runs down from the Kashmund range, terminating in the Ambir hills just above Charbagh. The aspect of the country in this direction is dreary to a degree, and consists of sandy hillocks without any cultivation or vegetation on them, till they are finally lost in the Gamberi desert. The southern end of the valley, though it has some cultivated lands and flourishing villages, has nothing to boast of in the way of beauty; and the same remarks may apply to the western portion, but nothing can equal or surpass the beauty and grandeur of its northern parts. Looking northwards from Tirgarhi, the eye rests on the beautiful Alishang valley, with its numerous villages, forts, and river… To the northeast extends the Alingar valley, with its villages and forts belonging to different Ghilzai chiefs, the whole bounded by a mass of snowy mountains….401

While the Alingar valley up to Kulman, Chilas and Niyazi was dotted with Ghilzai forts and villages, the Alishang valley formed a stronghold of the Tajiks. The southern portion of the Laghman valley was inhabited by Pashtuns and Tajiks, the Pashtuns holding

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.