Lights & Shades of Hill Life in the Afghan and Hindu Highlands of the Punjab; A Contrast (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated.1895 Excerpt: ... CHAPTER III A Glance at the map at the end of this volume will show the position of the Kuram valley better than words can describe it. Roughly, it is a long narrow valley, some eighty miles from end to end, with a sharp bend to the south about half-way down it at Sadda village. The upper half is a more open basin, some five or six miles across, and has on the north side of it the stupendous line of the Safed Koh range, which, shutting it in like a wall, rises to a height of nearly 16,000 feet, or 10,000 feet above the valley itself. The south side of this basin is composed of lower, broken, and stony hills. From Sadda down to Thull, where the Kuram river, so to speak, strikes British territory, the valley is much narrower, and for a few miles above Thull is quite shut in by steep and barren mountains, which give the approach to the valley a desolate appearance as well as a dangerous character. Our interest in the valley was brought about by the fact that it is one of the two roads by which Kabul can be approached from the east. As is well known, it was by this valley that General Roberts advanced on Kabul, and in December 1878 forced the Afghan position at the Peiwar Kotal. After the successful termination of the Afghan War, in spite of our assurances to the Turis to the contrary, the valley was evacuated by British troops, and the Turis were granted the blessings of Home Rule, which was indeed a polite way of getting rid of an obligation that the Government found it inconvenient to carry out. Chap, in TURI FACTIONS 191 It needed no great foresight to realise the consequences. In a country of mountains and stones, the possessors of the valley and water are naturally the objects of envy, and the Turis in their valley again became the centre of interest to t...