Book Review: Beyond the Gorges of the Indus: Archaeology before Excavation by Karl Jettmar

Karl Jettmar retired from the University of Heidelberg in 1986. He was an expert in the field of Central Asian Anthropology, archaeology, and art history. This book not only bring out the ancient history of the Northern Areas of Pakistan, but it also an appeal for the conduct of archaeological excavations. Between 1954 and 1989, various expeditions to the Trans-Himalayan zone allowed Jettmar to acquire unique and intimate knowledge regarding the area. During one of the journeys Rhabar Hassan was the guide and interpreter (p. 102).

Karl Jettmar states that the women in Darel were confined to their houses, but in Tangir they participated  working in the fields (p. 52). The author also mentions about the presence of an Assistant Political Agent residing in Tangir/Darel (p. 53). In these valleys a horse and a gun distinguished a wealthy and an underprivileged person. In Darel during weddings some dances were shared by men and women (p. 62). Jettmar writes that a British force had succeeded in conquering Chilas and defended it against the uprising Kohistanis. He stresses that the people of Astore were eager to instigate the British into such an intervention, because this finally stopped the raids by the Chilasis (p. 47).

Gilgit Valley was conquered three times by the rulers of Baltistan (p. 122). Under Dadi Juvari three notables from Darel built long canals in Gilgit (p. 161). The author states that in 1841 when a landslide from the Nanga Parbat had dammed the river and created a lake which extended back over 55 km and when the dam broke the water level at Attock caused a rise of 80 feet (p. 84).

Further in the book there is mention of the discovery of Gilgit Manuscripts. Gilgit Manuscripts represent the Buddhist and pre-Tibetan period of Baltistan up to the middle of the 8th century A.D (P. 186). Other themes under discussion include the illicit digging at Dasht-i-Taus, Ali Ahmad Jan (SSP Gilgit Police) order of transporting part of a boulder in his private house, stupa carvings near Chaprote, Turk tribes, gold washing, Tarkhane dynasty in Gilgit,  remains of a castle in Naupur, Shastri's visit to Gilgit and migrations in Baltistan (p. 183).

Jettmar makes interesting revelations when he writes similar rituals of brining sexual fulfillment and children to those women who had problems in Dardistan. Jettmar admits that he got more concise descriptions from Bubur in Punyal (p. 198). In the olden days in the Haramosh valley, in the pul-festival similar rights and duties were given to the character as given to the Budalak in Kalash. 

Jettmar mentions that Fussman considered the Sakas as the Iranian nomads of Central Asia (p. 97). Jettmar says that the Shin people were the last wave of immigrants (p. 107). The author states that 560 of all the Middle Iranian inscriptions were found at one site alone at Shatial Bridge (p. 111).

In this work the reader gets an interesting perspective into the social conditions of Baltistan, Tangir and Darel. The ancient trading networks, dynasties, rock arts and inscriptions are also discussed in detail. I started reading this book in 2020 and discontinued after reading less than a hundred pages. Today on the 10th of December 2023 I finish reading this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

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Book Review: With Our Own Hands: A Celebration of Food and Life in the Pamir mountains of Afghanistan and Tajikistan by Frederik van Oudenhoven and Jamila Haider

 

This co-authored book provides the description of the recipes of a longlist of dishes prepared in the Pamir Mountains of Afghanistan and Tajikistan. It also gives details of the various days of celebrations in this region. I found many interesting points in this book.

A day without Shirchoy in the Pamirs is impossible to imagine. Shirchoy isn’t from these valleys and tea cannot even be grown here. Shirchoy has become more Pamiri than most Pamiri dishes.

In the book the authors inform the reader that farmers in Tajik Rushan tell how, during the Civil War (1992-1997), foreign aid agencies promoted a high-yielding wheat variety to help prevent famine. Later they realized that they made a bad choice as the new variety rotted when placed in the field to dry and the taste was also poor. According to some people the best tasting mixed floor comes from Ghund valley in Shugnan.

One of the apple species found in the area is the ancestor of all cultivated apples in the world. Malus sieversii belongs to the Pamirs and the Tien Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan further to the north. Other fruit trees in the region includes Walnut. The oldest Walnut tree in the Pamirs is a 700-year-old tree in the Tajik valley of Yazguliam. A group of Cuban scientists did the measurements.

Talking about the factor of dependency one farmer from Chidz says: “We became lazy because we received everything”. “We became dependent on Soviet fuel and we are still dependent today. Afghans aren’t. The war has given them an instinct for survival. They are always ready to work. They are ready for everything. When we have a problem, we go and look for a development agency and ask for help. When Afghans have a problem, they look for a development agency and ask for help. When Afghans have a problem, they look for a solution. We feel powerless, because we have become linked to a global system which is entirely out of our control. If oil prices go up, we suffer. If Moscow hits a recession, we feel it here.”

In the book there is also mention of the Haji Rehman Qul. Russian soldiers came to Haji Rahman Qul’s tent at night. He and his father were given the option of getting shot or drink poison. They preferred poison. As soon as the soldiers left the khan fetched a large bowl of yoghurt and drank from it. They vomited it up and rid their bodies of the noxious fluid.

The Amu Darya is a very fast flowing river; only the Mississippi and the Indus move more quickly. As far as irrigation is concerned many villages were quite autonomous in the way they maintained and used their water supply, but as governments, and their thirst for water, changed, so did the freedom communities had over their water. During the Soviet collectivization of land in Tajikistan, first under Lenin then under Stalin, water managements continued to be collective, but its control was taken out of the hands of the people and transferred directly to the central state. Today very few Tajik Pamiri villages have a proper system of water management at all.

This heavy book has a lot of pictures and I doubt if anyone has more encyclopedic information on the subject of food in the Pamir region of Afghanistan and Tajikistan.

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Book Review: Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Kyrgyz Republic published by UNESCO

 

This book provides brief and interesting information about the Kyrgyz way of life. It starts with the Akyns. These were the Kyrgyz epic tellers who combine singing, improvisation and musical composition. They were the figures who participated in story telling contests. The pre-eminent Kyrgyz epic is the 1000-year-old Manas trilogy which is known for its length (16 times longer the Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey). The Kyrgyz epic trilogy of Manas, Semetey and Seytek describes the unification of the scattered tribes into one nation.

The Kyrgyz population lives in yurt. Yurts are Turkic nomadic dwellings which remain the symbol of family and traditional hospitality, fundamental to the identity of the Kazakh and Kyrgyz peoples. Yurts are made from natural and renewable raw materials. Felt is also used by Kyrgyz for making items such as carpets, cloths and headwear. Sheep wool is used for felting. The Kyrgyz male headwear is Kalpak and the female one is called elechek. In the past Kalpak showed the social status of a person.

Komuz is the most popular and wide-spread string musical instrument in Kyrgyzstan. Metalworking masters are called usta or zerger. I might be a Persian word. For Kyrgyz people the most valued metal is silver, which is also as white metal. Silver is also used as an amulet against evil spirits.

The Kyrgyz have many traditional games. One of them is Besh tash, which literally means a game of five stones or group of stones). It is also mentioned in the Manas epic. Another game is Kyz kuumai, a game in which a woman rides a horse as fast as she can, while being chased by a male participant. First a man chases a woman. After reaching a certain point the woman chases the same man. If she manages to catch up with him, she whips him with a horse whip.

When a child is born, every child in the surrounding wants to be the first one who brings good news about the childbirth to other relatives. Genealogy played an important role in Kyrgyz culture, especially in choosing a partner for marriage. All Kyrgyz people must know at least seven generations of their forefathers.

Islamic Nikah is the main wedding ceremony. A cup of water is prepared for this ritual. Some sugar is added to water and sometimes a silver coin is placed at the bottom of the cup. After reciting verses from Quran, the newly-wed couple drinks water from the cup. The meaning of sharing water is that the couple agrees to live through thick and thin.

Some of the few Kyrgyz quotes are

“whoever does not know one’s forefather becomes a slave.”

 “a proverb is a father of words.”

“the one without a horse is like the one without legs.”

For food the Kyrgyz people eat lamb, beef, horse, meat, camel and yak meat. The most valued meat is lamb and horse meat. Horse meat is usually used for big celebrations. Chuchuk is a horse meat sausage which is made out of horse intestine stuffed with horse meat and fat.  Traditional Krygyz cuisine has seasonal variations. In spring and summer, most of the food is made out of fresh meat and the main beverage is Kymyz, fermented mare’s milk. Krygyz nomads use dried and jerked meat in winter. The winter beverage is bozo, a beer-like thick slightly alcoholic beverage. The main ingredients in Kyrgyz cuisine are meat, milk and flour. The youngest person goes around with a jar with water and a flat bucket and pours water to the hands of those sitting around the tablecloth.

Chuchuk, one of the main delicacies is a horse meat sausage. This is made out of horse intestine stuffed with horse meat and fat. Horse stomach, mane and boiled meat are also served as a meat plate. When Kyrgyz eat food the most respected person receives the sheep head. Gulazyk, is another meal of the Kyrgyz people. It is meat made into powder. This was done in the olden times for longer journeys. Kurut is also produced by Kyrgyz people. Kymyz- a drink made from horse, cow and camel milk. The one made out of mare’s milk is considered to be the best. Kymyz is considered to be the beverage of heroes.

This publication contains information on the intangible cultural heritage of the Kyrgyz people including traditional knowledge related to everyday life, livelihoods cultural practices as well as arts and crafts. This book could be of use to university students, scholars, tourists and the general public.

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Book Review: Cities of the Dead: The Ancestral Cemeteries of Kyrgyzstan by Nasser Rabbat, Elmira Kochumkulova and Altyn Kapalova

 

I learn from this book that the Kyrgyz territory was formally incorporated into the Russian Empire in 1876. In Kyrgyz tradition the living does not visit the graves of the dead. There is a popular Kyrgyz saying that ‘a Kyrgyz is born in the yurt and will die in the yurt.’ Yurt is the traditional home of the nomadic Kyrgyz people

Due to Stalin’s sedentarization policy the Kyrgyz and the other nomadic peoples of Central Asia were forced to give up their nomadic life. While reading the book, I also came across many words in Kyrgyz language which are commonly used by other mountain societies in Central Asia. For instance, Boorsok in Krygyz language is referred to a particular type of bread. It is also used by other communities in the region.

On page seven of the book, one of the authors named Elmira says that for many Kyrgyz their ethnic identity overrides their religious identity as Muslim. Overall the hybrid nature of Kyrgyz cultural identity can be summed up in the following expression: “We are born as a Kyrgyz, we live as a Russian, but we die as an Arab.”. Furthermore, in the book I see the transition in the Gumbez structure. Gumbez is the traditional Kyrgyz burial marker.

The book has a lot of pictures and less text. The different ways in which Gumbez were constructed is shown. The most interesting thing for me is the yurt structure around the graves during the Soviet period. Metal replaced the original yurt material. This book gives me an idea of working in the change in burial rites and sites in my native district and region.

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Book Review: The Ismailis and Kirgiz of the Upper Amu Darya and Pamirs in Afghanistan: A Micro-history of Delineating International Borders by David Straub

 

This thesis explores the Afghan occupation of the Upper Amu Darya and the Pamirs. The creation of the international borders in 1895 and the effect it had on the Ismaili and Kirghiz communities is investigated. Special emphasis is placed on how the new borders impacted trade and migration. With that, the position of the local political elites is also discussed.

Many of the border agreements are also mentioned in this world. How British, Russia, China and Afghanistan affected people of the mountain societies is described. After Mir Ali Mardan was ousted, a Kirghiz was appointed as the new governor of Wakhan. People from the south started migrating to Wakhan.

The Kirghiz near the Chinese side were once looted by the Qing officilas at Rangkul. As per the author, there was a pashtunization of local administrative positions among the Ismailis. Eleven Hakims were appointed in Wakhan. This composed of various ethnicities. Rehman Qul, a headman among the Kirghiz moved due to Soviet incursion and decided to go to Taghdumbash Pamir in Xinjiang. All the political, social and economic disturbances caused by drawing of borders is thoroughly discussed in this work. Anyone who has interested in politics of mountain communities of Central Asia should read this work.

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Book Review: The Birth of Tajikistan: National Identity and the Origins of the Republic by Paul Bergne

 

In October 1917 the Bolshevik Revolution broke out. During this period much of Central Asia was ruled by autonomous rulers such as the Emir of Bukhara and the Khan of Khiva. By the 1920s the khanates were converted into People’s republics. In 1924 Stalin the then people’s commissar for nationalities redrew the frontiers on ethno-linguistic lines. Among these was the Soviet Socialist Republic of Uzbekistan- the land of the Uzbeks.

Turkic Uzbeks were not the only ones living in Uzbekistan. There was a considerable number of Persian speaking population. Bergne writes that, in opposition to Uzbeks the Tajiks first gained an autonomous oblast (administrative region) within Uzbekistan, then an autonomous republic and in 1929 got the status of a full Soviet Union Republic. The new government had to survive the civil war which followed the revolution, build a new country in a remote terrain, create a Tajik identity (which did not exist before).

The author has tried to document as to how the idea of Tajik state came into form and how the birth of the Tajik nation took place.

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Book Review: Setting the East Ablaze: Lenin’s Dream of an Empire in Asia By Peter Hopkirk

In 1920 Lenin had declared that England was Soviet Union’s greatest enemy and they must be hit in India hard. During this tense period of the twentieth century various intelligence gatherings missions were carried out, both on the Soviet and the British side. The Soviet secret police known as Cheka as rival of the British intelligence, which was still the world’s most formidable intelligence service. Disguised as member of shooting trips, scientific expeditions and covering as native traders, acts of espionage gained new highest in the Central Asian region. In Summer 1918 a small party on ponies led by Colonel Fredrick Bailey of the Indian Political and Secret Department were travelling through Chinese Central Asia heading for the Russian frontier. Another British officer included in this party was Major Stewart Blacker.

On 22 April Bailey left India and on 7 June he reached Kashgar. Messages from Kashgar took at least three weeks to reach India by runner. On June 16, 1918, when Bailey and his party were about to leave Kashgar Tsar Nicholas and his family were executed in cold blood in the soviet territory. As they travelled towards Tashkent Bailey stopped to catch butterflies. On 14 August 1918 Colonel Bailey and Major Blacker stepped off the train in Tashkent and drove to Regina hotel. The two officers were lucky enough not to get shot. Invisible ink and code was used to convey news of their situation to Etherton in Kashgar. On September 1, 1918 Sir George Macartney had arrived in Tashkent and both were summoned to the White House, residence of the former Governor-General, to see President of the new republic.

One of the reasons why forbearance was being shown to the mission was that Bolshevik’s desire for recognition by the British, the then leading power of the world. At Tashkent there was the American Consul named Roger Tredwell. The author of this book says that Bailey finished his lunch and made his way home. Safely inside he made the final plan and left for Tredwell’s, for supper. After supper he entered a narrow row of houses nearby, after which he disappeared.

Another character in the great game was Paul Nazaroff who was the ringleader of a White Russian plot to overthrow the Tashkent Soviet and link up with the British to the West. Nazaroff was caught by two Cheka agents. Osipov had overthrown the Tashkent government and before the Revolution he was a junior officer in the Tsarist army. ‘For months now those Russians opposed to Bolshevik rule in Central Asia had been looking in desperation to the British for deliverance’, says Hopkirk.

Bailey was still on the run from the Cheka and was out of touch with his government. Indian revolutionaries had arrived in Tashkent with Bolshevik assistance and Bailey had noted them, not for the first time. King Habibullah of Afghanistan strictly remained neutral throughout the war from 1914-18. An Afghan mission had visited Moscow and met Lenin, Trotsky and other senior Bolshevik leaders.

Bailey’s former companion in Tashkent was now engaged in Bolshevik-watching from Meshed. To Bailey in Tashkent it had become obvious that the British were not aiming to drive the Bolsheviks out of Central Asia. He was simply wasting his time there and was at considerable risk. Bailey with the help of Manditch, a Serbian police contact got recruited in the Bolshevik Secret Service. Before leaving Tashkent Bailey managed to obtain a letter of introduction from the Bokharan consul to his opposite number in Kagan. It was acquired through mutual friends on ‘a solemn promise that Bailey was not a Bolshevik’. It was the last Bolsheviks were ever to see of Bailey.

It occurred to Bailey that once established in Bokhara, with the Emir’s blessings, he would be well placed to supply to Meshed regular intelligence about what was going on in Bolshevik Central Asia, just as Etherton was doing from Kashgar. Bailey made his escape to Persia on January 6, 1920. Bailey’s party crossed the river and narrowly escaped Bolshevik arrest. After seventeen months Bailey was finally on friendly soil. After Bailey, the author places Major (later Colonel) Etherton in the Soviet order of villainy. Etherton spent four years as Consul General at Kashgar. His book Across the Roof of the World is also mentioned by Hopkirk. In January 1918 a wireless receiving set was installed which intercepted Bolshevik radio traffic between Tashkent, Moscow and elsewhere. Officially the Consul General was there in Kashgar to protect the rights of British –Indian subjects in Chinese Turkestan. The Consul staff included a Vice-Consul, British wireless monitors, chief clerk, an assistant clerk, a Chinese secretary and numerous orderlies and servants. In case of trouble this British outpost had thirty sepoys commanded by an Indian officer who were changed annually.

The author describes the Chini Bagh residence at Kashgar. In 1913 Chini Bagh was demolished and a new twenty roomed European style residence was constructed. Before 1914-18, this English home was the oasis for rare European travelers. Albert von Le Coq and Aurel Stein also visited this place. The Bolsheviks were pressing the Chinese to be allowed to open consulates in Sinkiang and handover those who still remained loyal to the Tsarist cause. Etherton was determined to sabotage the Bolshevik move. Etherton warned the Chinese that the Bolsheviks would foment trouble among the Muslim population, which was already restless. Not until three years after Etherton’s departure from Kashgar was Moscow allowed to reoccupy its own Consulate-General at Kashgar.

On the second of March 1919, fifty-two leading revolutionaries including Lenin and Trotsky met within the walls of Kremlin to lay the foundations of the Communist International, which became better known as Comintern. Lenin wanted Bolshevism to spread in India. For this Manabendra Nath Roy was ready. He was a native of Bengal and from a well-known Brahmin family. He began his revolutionary career in as anti-British secret society. Wanted for treason by the British authorities Roy fled via Japan and China to the United States. Roy had disagreed with Lenin on two issues. First, Roy insisted that the colonies should first be liberated and secondly Roy did not want cooperation with non-Marxist liberation movements.

Further in the book, Baron Ungern-Sternberg who brought terror to Mongolia and Enver Pasha who dreamed of a Turkish empire in Central Asia is well explained. Their photographs are also published in the book. In 1921 Anglo-Soviet Trade Agreement was mad, which according to the author made partial recognition by the greatest of the imperialist powers. The news of the agreement was a bombshell to Colonel Etherton, who was at Kashgar. In India Mahatma Gandhi had appeared on the political scene. Gandhi had transformed the Indian National Congress into a nationwide political party. Mongolia on the other hand, was the second country to turn Communist. Ungern-Sternberg had it made easy for the Russians, says the author.

The entire Muslim population of Central Asia was alienated when the ancient Muslim town of Kokand was brutally sacked by the Soviets in 1918. Basmachi bands were formed as a reaction to this. Lenin chose Enver Pasha, a former Turkish General to break the basmachi and persuade the Muslim masses to join the Bolshevik cause. Enver wanted to deliver British India to the Bolsheviks in exchange their help in restoring him to power in Turkey, which by now was in the grip of one of his former colonels, Mustafa Pasha, better known as Kemal Ataturk. Ataturk showed himself to be friendly towards the soviet neighbors and hostile towards the British.

Enver Pasha’s political fortunes reached a low ebb on March 16, 1921 when Moscow finally signed a treaty with his arch-foe Ataturk. The author says that: “But it appears that the unsuspecting Lenin dispatched him to Central Asia hoping that he would exert his considerable influence on the local Muslim population…”. Enver arrived in Bohara which was now in firm Bolshevik hands. He made secret contact with basmachi leaders. Enver is said to have found himself in the cradle of the Turkish race. He was to lead against the Bolsheviks. Enver had to unite Uzbek, Turkoman, Kirghiz and Kazakh. He sent messengers to Khiva, Samarkand and Ferghana to invite basmachi leaders to join forces with him. On 14 February 1922 Enver captured Dushambe, in present-day Tajikistan.

On the other side, Roy considered Gandhi’s ideas as ‘positively reactionary’ and not being revolutionary. Ten of Roy’s Indian agents were picked up after entering the India across the Pamir. They were charged under section 121-A of the Indian Penal Code. Satlin who had been placed in charge of the Comintern’s eastern operations by Lenin, was now becoming increasingly impatient at Roy’s lack of results. On May 8, 1923 Lord Curzon sent an ultimatum warning Moscow that unless, within ten days, it withdrew all its agents operating against British interests in Asia, or anywhere else, trade relations between the two countries would be terminated forthwith. Moscow was momentarily stunned by Curzon’s bombshell but for the Bolsheviks Soviet India remained the ultimate Prize in Asia, and Moscow had no intention of abandoning its hopes. Comintern now aimed at expanding Eastwards towards China as well as into French Indo-China and the Dutch East Indies. Bolshevisk had links with China dated from 1920.

On February 1, 1924, Britain accorded full diplomatic recognition to the Soviet Union, becoming the first major power to do so. Major George Gillan who took charge as Consul-General at Kashgar pointed out to Taoyin that incase of trouble the British Consul-General could become a refuge for the most obvious victims of the mobs. In Kashgar Gillan and his Russian counterpart were indulging in these shadowy pursuits, elsewhere in China there had been dramatic developments. Borodin wanted the communists in China to go along with the Kuomintang and to seize victory from them at the last moment, from within. The warlord-held territories could be captured in this manner was what Borodin planned. Roy exited from the Soviet Union with the help of Borodin. Roy was arrested in Bombay and was found guilty and sentenced to twelve years of rigorous imprisonment.  He argued in court and quoted Hume and Bentham. His sentence was cut half.

Chapter sixteen is about the last of the central Asian dreamers. In this chapter the political turmoil, killings, conflicts and the last foreigners who observed the various changes in that part of Central Asia are mentioned. Khotan, Kucha and Yarkand are mentioned in the next chapter, serving as important positions in the great game. Colonel Reginald Schomberg, after travelling through Chinese Central Asia produced a twelve-page report. He warned that there is great threat of ‘Red intrigue’ in ‘India, Tibet, Chitral and Punial’.

Peter Hopkirk espouses that the East fails to ignite as he says that: “Lenin’s great dream of an empire in Asia, like those of Sternberg, Enver and Ma, had ended in failure”. Hopkirk considers that the only permanent gain has been Mongolia. Bailey described as the last player in the Great Game was to serve the British government for another eighteen years. First as political officer in Sikkim, later resident in Srinagar and lastly as Minister Plenipotentiary to the Royal Court of Nepal. Bailey passed away in 1967 at the age of eighty-five. The author considers him as the last survivor of those stirring days in Asia’s back.

The bloody struggle is a story of British intelligence officers, armed communists of the Communist International, Muslim leaders, Chinese political figures and other regional stakeholders. A very interesting read for all those interested in understanding Great Game in the Central Asian region.

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Book Review: Night Train to Turkistan by Stuart Stevens

With three companions Stuart Stevens sets on a mission to retrace the renowned journey undertaken by Peter Fleming and Ella Maillart across Chinese Turkistan in 1934. In this journey by Stuart he is accompanied by a triathlete, a Kung Fu expert and a female rower. This group travels by bus, donkey cart, truck and bicycle and aeroplane. During this journey they face numerous challenges. Many of the challenges are political but the physical challenges are also worth reading. The harsh climate, landscape and remoteness during their journey is really interesting to read.

The author at many instances relates his own journey with Fleming’s and tries to draw various comparisons between both of them. Taklamakan desert, Buddhist caves, explorers who visited the caves, trading routes, different ethnicities, physical infrastructure, social conflicts, hotel facilities and the Chinese bureaucracy are under discussion in the book. Sometimes the book also seems to present a reflection in the form of a critique of the daily life in China.

In my opinion this is a good book for travelers who intend to learn from various experiences in life. Traveling with a group and not finding everything in perfect shape is obviously not very pleasing. Instead, keeping the group intact and learning from the harsh realities on the ground makes the traveler stronger minded for any future adventures.

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Book Review: Etherton at Kashgar Rhetoric and Reality in the History of the Great Game by Daniel C. Waugh

I believe this research article is a very important one, as it brings out the complexities regarding the politics in East Asia in the late ninetieth and early twentieth century.

Etherton’s career is highlighted in the first chapter. Etherton was a British officer, traveler and writer. He fought for the British in Africa in 1901 and then joined Garhwal Rifles, a largely native regiment in northern India. Etherton’s two famous books are Across the Roof of the World and In the Heart of Asia. George Macartney was Etherton’s predecessor who considered him to be a scholarly and energetic man. The challenges faced by the British Consul in Kashgar are discussed. George Macartney had come to Kashgar in 1890 to represent British interest in the face of the already established Russian presence. His government saw fit to appoint him officially as Consul only in 1908.

Etherton’s responsibilities were political in nature but that did not undermine the question of trade and commercial interests. In fact, trade and commercial matters were also important, even in the period from 1918 to 1922. The Consul cared for the interests of British subjects in its region of China, that is the Indian merchants who in many cases had long been resident there. They controlled the trade across the passes from Kashmir, were actively involved in the trade across the passes from Kashmir, were actively in the trade with Russia, and played an important role in the financial life of oasis towns in Western Xinjiang.

The origins of the Kashgar Mission are discussed in the third chapter. This Mission included three officers which include Frederick Bailey, L. Stewart Balcker and Percy Ethorton. The aim of this mission was to find out exactly what was going on in Soviet Tashkent and to try to cultivate good relations with the new Soviet regime there in order that it prevent Central Asian cotton from being shipped to the Germans. The particular role of Captain Samad Shah, a cousin of the Aga Khan, in providing information is also highlighted in this particular chapter.

The consulate’s intelligence and communication networks are briefly explained in the fourth chapter. Etherton was able to cultivate Kyrgz tribal leaders in the Pamirs for information. On the other hand, informants for Sarikol plateau and Wakhan included Ismailis. Etherton used to send his own agents on specific missions, where they could cross the border disguised as merchants.

In 1918 the telegraph line of the British was extended from Gilgit to Misgar. Writing about the British government policies toward the Bolsheviks the writer considers Etherton’s purpose of network to be two fold. The first was to gather intelligence and second was to take steps which might counter political threats. In March 1921 to Anglo- Soviet trade agreement was signed. This caught Etherton, the far flung representative by surprise. Etherton had even used Fatwa from the Sheikh-ul Islam denouncing Bolshevism. In his report Etherton had included subjects of lasting interest to him which included Pan-Islamic movements and the role of the Japanese in East Asia.

In the second half of this research article the author is critical of Eherton. He questions Etherton’s special budgetary requests for secret service work. Skrine came after Eherton and a few months after that bluntly criticized Etherton in 1923. Etherton took leave from the post in 1922 and had the intention of returning, but his superiors did not wish that.

When Skrine arrived in Kashgar he discovered that the financial accounts in the Consulate were in total chaos. Skrine also accused Etherton of indulging in sexual dalliance with local prostitutes in official residence of Kashgar. Skrine said that for three and a half years Etherton had lovely time at the expense of the poor old impoverished British Empire. It is believed that Etherton was manipulating exchange rates in China, falsifying records, depositing funds in his own bank account in India, and held no accounting for his secret service operations in 1921-22.

The author believes that Etherton published his book to justify his actions and ensure his place in history. Furthermore, the author believes that activities of all the travelers in Central Asia need close scrutiny in order to get a better understanding of the events in nineteenth and early twentieth century.

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Book Review: Afghanistan and the Afghans by Major H.W. Bellew

This book/document provides a brief account of the history of Afghanistan and its people. It gives a special mention to the continuing crisis with Amir Sher Ali Khan of Afghanistan. The author tries to show that Afghanistan is unable to maintain its independence as a friendly neighbor without British support. He holds this view in reference to the aggressive policy of the Russians.

Bellew traces history of Afghans during the time of the Mughal rule in India. He espouses that in the latter half of the seventeenth century the Mughal Empire in India and the Saffavi in Persia were weakening the Afghans made many attempts to throw off the Mughals.

Nadir Shah is presented as a ‘Turkman bandit’ by the author, who overran Persia with his hordes of slave hunting robbers. Upon Nadir Shah’s death one of his Afghan generals named Sardar Ahmad Khan too over Nadir Shah’s position. Ahmad Khan crowned himself as the King of the Durrani, with the title Ahmad Shah. These events occurred in about 1747. From this date commences the history of Afghanistan as an independent kingdom. Ahmad Shah’s eldest son Tymur succeeded to the throne. With the death of Tymur in 1793 the downfall of the Durrani empire became complete. The Barakzai rose to power in 1818 after a period of turmoil.

An infringement of Afghan territory by the Persians led to the declaration war against Persia by the British government, and the conclusion of a treaty between government of India and the Amir of Kabul signed at Peshawar in January 1857. Back then Dost Muhammad Khan was the Amir of Kabul. Sher Ali in 1875 had thrown over the English to try Russian friendship. Bellew makes the argument that Sher Ali in the blindness of his ambition and the excess of his pride ignored the benefits he received from the British government. He further adds the material support by the British on successive occasions of domestic peril, there would not have been a united Afghanistan without the help of the British Empire.

Bellew states that twice Herat was rescued by the Persians by force of arms which involved millions of money and thousands of lives. Moreover, he emphasizes that thirty thousand muskets and two batteries of rifled artillery were provided. Training of drill-instructors and officers, provision of skilled artisans for gun-cap and arms manufacturers were made. In addition, dozens of exiled members of Sher Ali were sheltered.  The author raises a question ‘what has the Amir done for us in return for these concessions and favors.’ In return Sher Ali shut up his country to the British Empire. He not only closed roads to the British but also refused to answer letters addressed to him by the Viceroy.

On rejection of a friendly British Mission by the Amir, the use of force by the government of India was the only available alternative. The author considers that Amir Sher Ali is indebted to the British government for the possession and retention of Kandahar, Herat and Balkh. He opines that the government of India was entering Afghanistan with the pretext of only providing internal security and order but also to provide for the safety of its frontiers against external aggression and intrigue.

Further in the book the Bellew discusses Khan of Kalat, the rule of Sikhs, Amir of Bukhara and the Amir of Kabul. In the last quarter of the book the author briefly explains the different races inhabiting Afghanistan. Different territories are described. The name of origin of such territories are debated. Various tribes among the Pukhtuns, Turks, Hazaras and Tajiks are also discussed.

In the concluding paragraph of the book Bellew explains how he believes that Afghanistan would have never been able to maintain any degree of security as an independent kingdom without external sources of aid-either by military expeditions as in the time of Saddozai, or by diplomatic negotiations as in the time of Barakzais.

The author considers an error on behalf of the British Empire in trusting a ‘barbarous and untrustworthy neighbor’ pointing directly to Amir Sher Ali Khan’s rule.

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Book Review: Foreign Devils on the Silk Road by Peter Hopkirk

A very interesting book written about the Silk Road with particular emphasis on Central Asia, the author pays particular attention to the region of Chinese Turkestan. The first chapter traces the origin of the ancient Silk Road. The main arteries of the road are discussed and the nature of goods on the caravans.

Along the Silk Road travelled silk, gold, ivory and ideas. One of such ideas was Buddhism. It travelled from now what we call India to China. Oasis towns developed which served as center of art and learning. When the decline of such towns started the rich towns got swallowed by desert sand. Due to this legends were formed regarding lost cities filled with treasures. Expeditions through such deserts by travellers/treasure hunters were often fatal adventures. One of such deserts is the notorious Taklamakan desert which is frequently mentioned and discussed by Hopkirk.

In the early twentieth century a race began for hunting the buried treasures of Silk Road. This race was an international race. There developed a race for searching and digging adventures. Among the famous racers was Sven Hedin- a Swedish searcher, Aurel Stein- of Hungarian origin and Von Le Coq of German origin.

These gentlemen dug Chinese treasures which included paintings, manuscripts, and artifacts from temples, sculptors and frescos. All these precious objects were shifted to different countries and later to their respective museums.

Chapter fifteen’s title has been mentioned as ‘Spies along the Silk Road’. Throughout the chapter Japanese team has been discussed. The author provides links of the Japanese being spies, but the Europeans are considered travellers/treasure searchers. Further in the book the author believes that the Chinese view the treasure searchers as those who looted a very rich part of their ancient history. For such reasons the Chinese slammed the door on foreigners and Stein also had to discontinue his last expedition in Turkestan.

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