Before their conquest by Abdur Rahman all the Kafirs were
idolaters of a rather low type. There were lingering traces of
ancestor-worship, and perhaps of fire-worship also. The
gods were numerous; tribal, family, household deities
had to be propitiated, and mischievous spirits and fairies haunted
Religion.
forests, rivers, vales and great stones. Imra was the Creator, and
all the other supernatural powers were subordinate to him. Of the
inferior gods, Moni seemed to be the most ancient; but Gísh, the
war-god, was by far the most popular. It was his worship, doubtless,
which kept the Kafirs so long independent. In life as a hero,
and after death as a god, he symbolized hatred to the religion of
Mahomet. Every village revered his shrine; some possessed two.
Imra, Gísh and Moni were honoured with separate little temples,
as was usually Dizáni goddess; but three or four of the others would
share one between them, each looking out of a small separate square
window. The worshipped object was either a large fragment of
stone or an image of wood conventionally carved, with round white
stones for eyes. Different animals were sacrificed at different
shrines: cows to Imra, male goats and bulls to Gísh, sheep to the
god of wealth; but goats were generally acceptable, and were also
slain ceremonially to discover a complaisant god, to solemnize a vow,
to end a quarrel, to ratify brotherhood. The ministers of religion
were a hereditary priest, a well-born chanter of praise, and a buffoon
of low station, who was supposed to become inspired at each sacrifice,
and to have the power of seeing fairies and other spirits whenever
they were near, also of understanding their wishes. The blood of
the offering, together with flour, wine and butter, was cast on the
shrine after the animal and the other gifts had been sanctified with
water sprinkled by the officiating priests, while he cried “Súch,
súch!” (“Be pure!”). Dense clouds of smoke from burning
juniper-cedar, which crackled and gave forth pungent incense, added
to the spectacle, which was dignified by the bearing of the officials
and solemnized by the devout responses of the congregation. There
was no human sacrifice except when a prisoner of war, after a
solemn service at a shrine, was taken away and stabbed before the
wooden tomb of some unavenged headman. Kafirs believed in a
kind of Hell where wicked people burned; but the Hereafter was an
underground region entered by a guarded aperture, and inhabited
by the shapes which men see in dreams. Suicide was as unknown
as fear of dying. Melancholy afflicted only the sick and the bereaved.
Religious traditions, miracles and anecdotes were puerile,
and pointed no social lesson or any religious law. Music, dancing
and songs of praise were acceptable to the gods, and every village
(grom) had its dancing platform and dancing house (grom ma),
furnished with a simple altar. No prayers were offered, only
invocations, exhortative or remonstrant.
The great majority of the tribes were made up of clans. A person’s importance was derived chiefly from the wealth of his family and the number of male adults which it contained. The power of a family, as shown by the number and quality of its fighting men as well as by the strength of Tribal Organization. its followers, was the index of that family’s influence. Weak clans and detached families, or poor but free households, carried their independence modestly. The lowest clan above the slaves sought service with their wealthier tribesmen as henchmen and armed shepherds. By intricate ceremonial, associated with complicated duties, social and religious, which extended over two years, punctuated at intervals by prodigious compulsory banquets, rich men could become elders or jast. Still further outlay and ostentation enabled the few who could sustain the cost to rank still higher as chief or Mír. Theoretically, all the important and outside affairs of the tribe were managed by the jast in council; actually they were controlled by two or three of the most respected of that class. Very serious questions which inflamed the minds of the people would be debated in informal parliaments of the whole tribe. Kafirs have a remarkable fondness for discussing in conclave. Orators, consequently, are influential. The internal business of a tribe was managed by an elected magistrate with twelve assistants. It was their duty to see that the customs of the people were respected; that the proper seasons for gathering fruit were rigidly observed. They regulated the irrigation of the fields, moderating the incessant quarrels which originated in the competition for the water; and they kept the channels in good repair. Their chief, helped by contributions in kind from all householders, entertained tribal guests. He also saw that the weekly Kafir Sabbath, from the sowing to the carrying of the crops, was carefully observed, the fires kept burning, and the dancers collected and encouraged. Opposition to these annual magistrates or infraction of tribal laws was punished by fines, which were the perquisites and the payment of those officials. Serious offences against the whole people were judged by the community itself; the sentences ranged as high as expulsion from the settlement, accompanied with the burning of the culprit’s house and the spoliation of his goods. In such cases, the family and the clan refusing to intervene, the offender at once became cowed into submission.
Habitations are generally strong, and built largely of wood. They are frequently two or more storeys high, often with an open gallery at the top. Wealthy owners were fond of elaborate carving in simple designs and devices. A room is square, with a smoke-hole when possible; small windows, with shutters and bolts, and Houses and Villages. heavy doors fastened by a sliding wooden pin, are common. The nature of the ground, its defensible character, the necessity of not encroaching upon the scanty arable land, and such considerations, determine the design of the villages. Specimens of many varieties may be discovered. There is the shockingly overcrowded oblong kind, fort-shaped, three storeys high, and on a river’s bank, which is pierced by an underground way leading to the water. Here all rooms look on to the large central courtyard; outwards are few or no windows. There is also the tiny hamlet of a few piled-up hovels perched on the flattish top of some huge rock, inaccessible when the ladder connecting it with the neighbouring hill-side or leading to the ground is withdrawn. Some villages on mounds are defended at the base by a circular wall strengthened with an entanglement of branches. Others cling to the knife-edged back of some difficult spur. Many are hidden away up side ravines. A few boldly rely upon the numbers of their fighting men, and are unprotected save by watch-towers. While frequently very picturesque at a distance, all are dirty and grimed with smoke; bones and horns of slaughtered animals litter the ground. The ground floor of a house is usually a winter stable for cows and the latrine, as well as the manure store for the household; the middle part contains the family treasures; on the top is the living-place. In cold valleys, such as the Presungal, the houses are often clustered upon a hillock, and penetrate into the soil to the depth of two or more apartments. Notched poles are the universal ladders and stairways.
In height Kafirs average about 5 ft. 6 in. They are lean; always in hard condition; active jumpers, untiring walkers, expert mountaineers; exceptionally they are tall and heavy. With chests fairly deep, and muscular, springy legs, there is some lightness and want of power about the shoulder Characteristics. muscles, the arms and the hand-grasp. In complexion they are purely Eastern. Some tribes, notably the Wai, are fairer than others, but the average colour is that of the natives of the Punjab. Albinos, or red-haired people, number less than 12% of the population. As a rule, the features are well-shaped, especially the nose. The glance is wild and bold, with the wide-lidded, restless gaze of the hawk; or the exact converse—a shifty, furtive peer under lowered brows. This look is rather common amongst the wealthier families and the most famous tribesmen. The shape of a man’s head not uncommonly indicates his social rank. Several have the brows of thinkers and men of affairs. The degraded forms are the bird-of-prey type—low, hairy foreheads, hooked noses with receding chin, or the thickened, coarse features of the darker slave class. Intellectually they are of good average power. Their moral characteristics are passionate covetousness, and jealousy so intense that it smothers prudence. Before finally destroying, it constantly endangered their wildly cherished independence. Revenge, especially on neighbouring Kafirs, is obtained at any price. Kafirs are subtle, crafty, quick in danger and resolute, as might be expected of people who have been plunderers and assassins for centuries, whose lives were the forfeit of a fault in unflinchingness or of a moment’s vacillation. Stealthy daring, born of wary and healthy nerves and the training of generations, almost transformed into an instinct, is the national characteristic. Ghastly shadows, they flitted in the precincts of hostile villages far distant from their own valleys, living upon the poorest food carried in a fetid goatskin bag; ever ready to stab in the darkness or to wriggle through apertures, to slay as they slept men, women and babies. Then, with clothing for prize, and human ears as a trophy, they sped, watchful as hares, for their far-away hills, avenger Pathans racing furiously in their track. Kafirs, most faithful to one another, never abandoned a comrade. If he were killed, they sought to carry away his head for funeral observances. As traders, though cunning enough, they are no match for the Afghan. They were more successful as brigands and blackmailers than as skilled thieves. In night robbery and in pilfering they showed little ingenuity. Truth was considered innately dangerous; but a Kafir is far more trustworthy than his Mahommedan neighbours. Although hospitality is generally viewed as a hopeful investment, it can be calculated on, and is unstinted. Kafirs are capable of strong friendship. They are not cruel, being kind to children and to animals, and protective to the weak and the old. Family ties and the claim of blood even triumph over jealousy and covetousness.
The national attire of the men is a badly-cured goatskin, confined at the waist by a leather belt studded with nails, supporting the I-hilted dagger, strong but clumsy, of slave manufacture, sheathed in wood covered with iron or brass, and often prettily ornamented. Women are dressed in a long, Dress, Weapons, Utensils, &c. very dark tunic of wool, ample below the shoulders, and edged with red. This is fastened at the bosom by an iron pin, a thorn, or a fibula; it is gathered round the body by a woven band, an inch wide, knotted in front to dangle down in tassels. On this girdle is carried a fantastically handled knife in a leather covering. The woman’s tunic is sometimes worn by men. As worn by women its shape is something between a long frock-coat and an Inverness cape. Its hue and the blackness of the hairy goatskin give the name of Siah-Posh, “black-robed,” to the majority of the clans. The other tribes wear such articles of cotton attire as they can obtain by barter, by theft, or by killing beyond the border, for
