within the boundaries of Afghanistan. It will be readily understood from the above that orthodoxy, in matters of religion, is little less than compulsory, and that owing to a natural reaction of the subjects on the ruler, it would be equally impossible for the Amir to depart from the role which was formerly entrusted to him, when in 1896 he was given by his officers of state the title of " Zia ul millat ud din " (Light of Religion and Faith). Even very slight predelictions which the Amir, after his return from India, evinced for Western methods and occupations, were regarded so suspiciously by the sticklers for orthodoxy, and so resented by the hierarchy of mullahs that it became obvious that the adoption of a liberal policy and the granting of an}^ degree of religious liberty would seriously endanger the throne.
Among Cis-frontier Pathans, however, heterodoxy is common. In the Yusufzai district numbers hold the Wahhabi doctrines and Mirzaites are common in Peshawar.
A remarkable schismatic movement was that inaugurated in the latter part of the sixteenth century by a religious reformer named Bazid, but called by his adherents Pir-i-Roshan. This man taught that no special observances, such as prayers, fasts, etc., were needed as a means of access to God, and that the Koran was superseded. He was bitterly opposed by Akhund Darweza, the historian of the Yusufzais, whose following termed him in derision Pir-i-Tarik. He, however, obtained a large following first in Dir, Swat and Bajour, and then among the Mohmands and people of Tirah. The last-mentioned country became his stronghold, and his followers became so militant that both Akbar and Jahangir were obliged to send expeditions against them, in one of which Birbal, Akbar's favourite, was killed. They went so far as to lay siege to Peshawar and over-run all the Frontier. The heresy, however, gradually died out, though it continued for a long time among the Afridis of Tirah.
At the present time the strict outward orthodoxy of Kabul contrasts with the free thought and liberal ideas of Peshawar, and fanaticism and religious prejudice are steadily on the decrease among the Pathan tribes of
