Indian Antiquary Vol 46

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarkar
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 127

JUNE, 1917)
A THIRD JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION IN CENTRAL ASIA
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Manikyal and Samagial, well deserving to be called towns. Again and again I was struck by lingering traces of an inherited civilisation a good deal more developed than that to be fonnd now in the neighbouring hill tracts. Thus the alignment of the irrigation canals and the carefully preserved solid stonework of the terraces and embankments over which they are carried showed unusual skill. Another very significant feature was the abundance in houses, mosques and graves of fine wood-carving, retaining decorative motifs which are directly derived from Græco-Buddhist art as known to us from the ancient relievos of Gandhara, and which occur frequently also in the ornamental wood carvings excavated by me at sandburied old sites of Chinese Turkestan.
The racial type of the Darelis as far as I could judge without anthropometric observations, for the collection of which there was no time, seemed to me unmistakably akin to that of the other Darri tribes which occupy the adjoining mountain territories. This close relationship is also borne out by their Shina dialect. But there was something in the often refined features of the men and their less heavily built frame, which vaguely suggested inheritance from generations weakened by a decadent civilization and a long period of internal disorder. They struck me distinctly as a race possessing the instincts of quasi-town-bred tolk and needing a strong ruler.
On the evening of August 16 I was received by Raja Pakhtun Wali in full staté at the castle of Gumarekot, which he waw building in the centre of his recently annexed territory and as a stronghold to safeguard its possession against possible risings. The steep ridge which rises above it is occupied by the ruins of the large fort of Raji-kot, marking the ancient capital of Darel. It was a very interesting experience to meet the man who, after a career as chequered as befitted the son of Mir Wali, Hayward's murderer, had succeeded in building up a new kingdom for himself, the last, perhaps, which India has seen raised on the old adventurous lines. His human environment, in which Darelis are still kept much in the background, and the methods by which he maintains his rule seemed to call up times long gone by. There was much to claim my interest in what I heard from the shrewd and energetic Khushwagt chief that evening, and during the long visit he paid me next morning with his two young sons; but this is not the place to record it. He had spared no care nor trouble to facilitate my safe journey through his territory and to make it as profitable as the limitations of my time permitted. I shall always look back with gratitude to the friendly welcome acoorded, and with genuine interest and sympathy to the ruler.
It was a special satisfaction to me that on my way down Darel I was able to identify at Phoguch the site of an ancient Buddhist sanctuary which the Chinese pilgrims specially mention on account of its miracle-working colossal image of Maitreya Buddha in wood. The tomb of Shahakhel Baba, a Muhammadan Saint renowned for his miraculous powers and attracting pilgrims from many distant parts of the Hindukush region as well as Swat and the Indus Valley, attests here the continuity of local worship. Lower down we passed interesting ruins of castles once closing access to Darel. Then we ascended westwards by a precipitous track, difficult for load-carrying men, to the rugged high spur which divides Darel from Tangir. On reaching its top we were rewarded for a trying climb over bare rock slopes by the grand vistas which opened before us. Owing to its isolation the Shardai Pags commands wide views of Darel, Tangir, the Indus Valley, and the ranges beyond, and proved a truly ideal survey station. To the west there showed clearly the gap between precipitous snow-capped spurs,