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238
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[SEPTEMBER, 1878.
their revenues in rupees, and of the principal routes in farsakhs. He then proceeds with the history of the Saduzai dynasty, which he brings down to the date of writing, A. H. 1233 (A.D. 1817), and concludes with the question, "What will happen next P" To which the answer of Time has been strange enough
Next follows a similar account of Bukhara, which is very full, the author being naturally well up in his subject. Thirdly, Khiva is described in the same way. Fourthly, Khokand, a good deal mixed up with Kashgar and Yårkand. Fifthly, Khurassån, Tibet, and Kåśmir divide & chapter among them. Here ends the work of Mir Abd'ul Karim, but not that of M. Schefer, who has, to supply the deficiencies of his author, added 52 pages of appendices, consisting of translated extracts from original Asiatic works, except only a short notice of the citadel of Kabul taken from Mayson.
Mir Abd'ul Karim seems to have been a diligent observer and collector of materials, and, when not Blinded by his religions passions (like most Tajiks of the Khânates, he was a violent Sunni), to be a tolerably candid and trustworthy historian. His great fault is that he hardly ever gives a date. Several of his geographical statements are corro borated by more recent European travellers, and he deals little in the marvellous. The following account of the Yak seems worth transcribing :"There is found in these mountains an ox called Kathas; it hath a great brush like a fox's, whereof the hairs are as long as those of women, and which is used in Turkistán to mount upon the Tughs. These oxen are found in great numbers all along the route from Tibet to Yårkand. In Tibet they are tamed and used for burden; they work as well as buffaloes; their flesh and milk have a very sweet savour. ... On the road to Tibet I caught a young Kuths napping, and slew him with a pistolshot; his fesh was delicious." Delicious' as the ydk veal is the Mir's brief and candid ac. count of his sporting feat. A real Persian would have given a chapter to the chase, and finally shorn off the head of the mighty mountain bull' with one sweep of his shamsher. His historical style is equally brief and matter-of-fact, bar & few pious remarks and indifferent verses; and he gives fow anecdotes. One is introduced in illustration of the character of the Yomud Turkomâns,
on whom so much sympathy has of late been ex. pended. Abd'ul Karim would have wasted little on them; he calls them 'perverse brigands, whose habits reminded him of those of the Janissaries'
it will be remembered that he wrote for an officer of the court of Mahmud the Reformer), and Bays, "A preacher was describing paradise. There was in the congregation a certain Turk, and quoth be, 'Do they go on alaman (foray) there P' No,' was the answer. Then,' retorted / the Turk, 'would I liefer be in hell.' The Yomuda are of his opinion.” A much worse infidel, however, was 'Alam Khân of Khokand, whose seal illustrates M. Schefer's title-page. "It is related," says the Mir, " that a certain Shaikh had many disciples in Khokand, and asserted that his holy life had procured him the privilege of revelation, and the power of thaumaturgy. One day, 'Alam Khan, who was sitting by a cistern, bade stretch a rope across it and call the Shaikh. The latter came, with some disciples, and sat down before the Khân. After a short time, 'Alam Khan said, O Shaikh ! Shortly, on the day of resurrection, thou wilt pass thy disciples over the bridge Al Sirat, under which is hell. At present do thou walk along this rope, that I may be witness to one of thy miracles."" The Shaikh protested, the Khan insisted; and the end of it was that the holy man made the attempt, failed ignominiously, and got not only & ducking, but such a thrashing, in the character of a detected impostor, that he died of the effects. “Whenever 'Alam Khan caught a dervish he seized him and set him to drive camels." This irreligious prince, naturally, was dethroned and murdered by his brother and uncle.
We give the following genealogies of the reigning families :
The House of Saduzai is said by Abdu'l Karim to have come from Multân. Though they were certainly powerful there during the time of the last Nawabs and the Sikhs, this is unlikely, and it is more probable that their settlement there dates from 1731 A.D., when Nadir Shah banished their chiefs thither.
The following is the genealogy of the family :Zaman Khån Abd&li Durani Saduzai came from Afghanistan proper to Herkt about 1708, and joined his tribesman Asad u'lla Khan,' governor of Heråt for Shah Husain
To wit, Khurass An, from the Fihris u't Tamarikh of Riza Kuli Khan, tom. ix.;Turkestan (Khokand), from the end of the Tarikhi Ahmad of Munshi Muhammad Abd'al Karim Turkistan and Desht (i kiptchak) from the Jahan Nama of Højt Khalifs; the Kalmak, Tibet, K&shg&r, the Kazaks, and Tura, from Saifi's History of the Kings of Hind, Sind, Khita, Khoten, 8c.
Tugh = the famous 'horse-tails' of Tatar armies.
• On the other hand he records the devices of a great many coins and seals...
. Probably one of those which are common in courtyards and gardens all over the East. The locale indicates that the Khan was taking his ease, and very likely drunk.
Elphinstone's Hist. (1st ed.) p. 842. Elphinstone calls him Abdu'lla.
