Book Review: Between the Oxus and the Indus by Colonel R.C.F Schomberg

Between the Indus and the Oxus was written in the earlier half of the twentieth by a British traveller known as R.C.F Schomberg. In the introductory chapter the writer briefly explains the Gilgit Agency, including themes such as the geography, people, languages and political administration of the area. Thereon he gives accounts of the places he visited and the observation he made while travelling.

The writer’s team consists of Abdullah Beg and Daulat Shah belonging from Hunza; his cooks Abdullah Rathar and Aziza Rathar were both from Kashmir. Later on another man named Hasil Shah from Hunza joined the group.Starting from Punyal he informs the reader about the adventures he came across there.  One of the observations made by Schomberg while travelling through Punyal was that the Raja of Punyal lived on the opposite side of the river. This raja would cross the river on a narrow rope bridge and meet the passengers on the road. This act of his saved him from spending on his guests as he would meet them on the road. Schomberg adds on that the chiefs of Punyal are largely of Chitrali descent. Shah Kutor and Shah Burush being the grandsons of Shah Khushwaqt. Moreover he compares the people of Hunza and Punyal. He is of the view that the men of Hunza are better climbers and fighters. Punyalis on the other hand hate agriculture.

Schomberg also briefs his reader about his travels through Kuh and Ghizr.  Kuh and Ghizer had one governor. This governor was appointed by the British government as the other governors of Yasin and Ghizer too were appointed by them. At various places he mentions the issue of food security in the region. He believes that the staple food in Hunza was apricot unlike Kuh and Ghizer where things are differet. Furthermore Schomberg confirms the presence of English trout in the Ghizer River. Moving on, in his account the author refers to the murder of George Hayward, a British traveller, in the nineteenth. This mysterious murder took place in Yasin where Schomberg was travelling now. Yasin exported wheat and Barley as it had these crops in abundance, but there was a shortage of pastureland in the territory. Schomberg categorizes the people in the Gilgit agency in terms of strength and intelligence. He refers to the people of Hunza as superior among all the people in the whole expanse. Being a keen observer he writes that in the upper Yasin valley, women did not work as they did in Hunza and Punyal. He praises the Yak, a domesticated mountain animal at Ishkoman and describes its role in detail. According to him the wakhis fully use the yak for their different tasks. Other than this the author has mentioned details about Ali Mardan Shah, an old wakhi chief from Wakhan who used to live in Imit. With that on page ninety the pirs of Chatorkhand have also been discussed. Throughout his account various comparisons of Hunza and Nagir have been made by Schomberg. The Mir of Hunza at that time was Mir Nazim Khan who was from a peasant mother. Nazim hated to see his people leave his valley. Furthermore in the book local folklores, festivals and superstitions have been highlighted in great detail. The practice of fratricide was very common in those days. For instance in Hunza Mir Ghazan Khan had murdered his father Ghazunfur Khan. He also murdered his uncle Abdulla Khan.  The roles and responsibilities of various functionaries have been outlined by Schomberg. Under the Mir worked the Wazir, Trangpa, Uyum, Chirbu,  Yarpa and Elchi . These were the elements of his power and influence in the area.

In chapter twelve different castes/ races in Gilgit region have been identified by the author.  Schomberg believes that Yeshkun, Ronos and Shins are not necessarily different races. Some of them are castes and the categorization of races in the region is false. Doms consist of muscians, blacksmiths and cobblers while wakhi to him are a race of an old ‘Persian stock’. According to him Ishkoman had been colonized many times by Gilgit and Bagrot. Before that it belonged to Yasin. In this book the major events of the Hunza-Nagir war of 1891 have also been discussed. The foster relationship of the ruling family with the locals has been reflected. Schomberg says that the locals of Hunza, Nagir and Punyal had to pay money to their respective rulers. This money was used by the rulers for the marriage of their offspring. Schomberg’s account also includes his th local tales and stories. He mentions stories of witch and wizards in Hunza. He considers that the apples of Passu are famous. On his tour to Chupursan he wrote that there were 60 families in Reshit, a small village in Chupursan Valley. He narrates that the body of Baba Ghundi is not buried at the shrine in Chupursan. In the last chapter of the book Darel and Tangir are discussed in great detail. The various attempts by rulers to rule the area have been mentioned. Schomberg considers Pakhtun Wali, son of Mir Wali from Yasin to have ruled this area for 12 years.  He stands to be the only one to do so under an autocratic rule.

R.C.F Schomberg while travelling through the region has in some of the cases included minute details and in other instances just overlooked many important details which if included would have given a comprehensive outlook to his account.

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Book Review: Three Cups of Deceit by Jon Krakauer

Three Cups of Deceit written by Jon Krakauer is basically a reply to Greg Mortenson’s book Three Cups of Tea. Published in 2011, this book has been divided into three parts. 

The first part named the creation myth addresses the creation of Greg’s story in Baltistan, which according to Krakauer is a fake one. Krakauer simply refutes the narration of Greg Mortenson. At various places in his book Greg has mentions that after returning from a failed attempt of K2 in 1993 he lived in a small village called Korphe. But Krakauer contests this narration on page 8 of his book. He is of the view that Greg along with two others had walked down to Askole and from thereon they hired a jeep which took them to Skardu, the district capital. The author Jon Krakauer refers to Darsney, Greg’s fellow who returned with him after the failed attempt of K-2, who says that according to him he and Greg had stayed at Skardu for several days after the failed attempt. After that they hired a jeep and went to Khane, a village in the Hushe Valley. It is there where Greg proposed the construction of a school, as the village did not have one. Furthermore Mortenson mentions in his account that he had met Niamat Gul Mehsud for the first time in Peshawer, whereas Mahsud remembers meeting Mortenson in Rawalpindi, in front of the latter’s hotel. Greg shows in his book that he was kept hostage in South Wazairistan by the Taliban back in1996.  However the author of Three Cups of Deceit makes it clear that the kidnapping story of Greg is entirely fabricated. He gives references of various credible people who surely believe that the story was fabricated. Naimat Gul one of his accomplices also believes that Greg had invented a false story.

The second section of the book is titled accountable to no one. For the funding of his schools Greg believes that it does not matter where the money comes from, as it is in the service of God. Known for not returning phone calls and emails Mortenson also does not arrive on time for his engagements. Karakauer has repeatedly referred to various instances when Mortenson maintained this careless attitude. Mortenson said he had a salary of $28000 in 1995, but in reality he was drawing a salary of about $75000. This means Mortenson was not honest about his salary. Further on page 30 the author mentions that an article on Greg suggested that the schools constructed by Greg helped in countering the influence of fundamentalist Madrassas. This question further complicates and creates doubts about the authenticity of Greg’s story. Mortenson in his first book narrates the story of a long conversation with King Zahir Shah in 2003, in a PIA flight. Krakauer on inquiring from Zahir Shah’s grandson made it clear that no such meeting had taken place. In fact his grandson said that King Zahir Shah had never travelled on any PIA flight from 1973 to 2007. Hence Mortenson’s story seems to be made up. Not only that but Mortenson used CAI’s credit cards and never produced any receipts for them. Mortenson used chartered jets, received royalties from his books and also purchased thousands of copies of his book for the attendees of his events. Along with that Mortenson charges hefty amount of money when he speaks at events. He charges $30,000 plus per event and travel expenses too.

The final part of the book is regarding the school constructed by the Central Asian Institute headed by Greg Mortenson. Many of the schools constructed by Greg, according to Krakauer, have turned into ghost schools. Going on further Greg has referred in one of his books that Wahabbi influence present in the region where he works is strong. But in all those areas where his projects have been established there is no presence of Wahhabi elements. The working mechanisms of CAI are dubious. In 2010 when an auditor was asked to audit CAI finances, a fraudulent document was produced by the CAI staffers. Adding on to that Parvi from Baltistan, who resigned from CAI confessed to embezzle $50,000 from CAI. Further in the Three Cups of Deceit, the gallstone attack on Safaraz Khan, the then program director northern Afghanistan is covered in detail. Greg is alleged to have produced a tampered account of the incident in his book. In 2007 with respect to an incident, Mortenson in one of his email’s to Sarfaraz believed that, AKDN an international NGO, was planting false rumors against CAI. According to the author of Three Cups of Deceit the school in Boazai Gumbaz Wakhan district, was built primarily for the sake of Greg’s book.

Jon Krakauer believes that Greg lied about his first visit to Korphe, lied about eight day armed kidnapping by the Taliban and also bluffed about the building of schools in areas which were on the frontline of war against terror. In the concluding remarks the author has rightly made a remark considering Greg as a murderer of his ‘own creation through his duplicity’. 

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