Farmūl is another tūmān,826 a humble place, growing not bad apples which are carried into Hindūstān. Of Farmūl were the Shaikh-zādas, descendants of Shaikh Muḥammad Muṣalmān, who were so much in favour during the Afghān period in Hindūstān.
Bangash is another tūmān.827 All round about it are Afghān highwaymen, such as the Khūgīānī, Khirilchī, Tūrī and Landar. Lying out-of-the-way, as it does, its people do not pay taxes willingly. There has been no time to bring it to obedience; greater tasks have fallen to me, – the conquests of Qandahār, Balkh, Badakhshān and Hindūstān! But, God willing! when I get the chance, I most assuredly will take order with those Bangash thieves.
One of the bulūks of Kābul is Ālā-sāī,828 4 to 6 miles (2-3 shar‘ī) east of Nijr-aū. The direct road into it from Nijr-aū leads, at a place called Kūra, through the quite small pass which in that locality separates the hot and cold climates. Through this pass the birds migrate at the change of the seasons, and at those times many are taken by the people of Pīchghān, one of the dependencies of Nijr-aū, in the following manner: – From distance to distance near the mouth of the pass, they make hiding-places for the bird-catchers. They fasten one corner of a net five or six yards away, and weight the lower side to the ground with stones. Along the other side of the net, for half its width, they fasten a stick some 3 to 4 yards long. The hidden bird-catcher holds this stick and by it, when the birds approach, lifts up the net to its full height. The birds then go into the net of themselves. Sometimes so many are taken by this contrivance that there is not time to cut their throats.829
Though the Ālā-sāī pomegranates are not first-rate, they have local reputation because none are better there-abouts; they are carried into Hindūstān. Grapes also do not grow badly, and the wines of Ālā-sāī are better and stronger than those of Nijr-aū.
Badr-aū (Tag-aū) is another bulūk; it runs with Ālā-sāī, grows no fruit, and for cultivators has corn-growing Kāfirs.830
(f. Tribesmen of Kābul.)
Just as Turks and (Mughūl) clans (aīmāq) dwell in the open country of Khurāsān and Samarkand, so in Kābul do the Hazāra and Afghāns. Of the Hazāra, the most widely-scattered are the Sult̤ān-mas‘ūdi Hazāra, of Afghāns, the Mahmand.
(g. Revenue of Kābul.)
The revenues of Kābul, whether from the cultivated lands or from tolls (tamghā) or from dwellers in the open country, amount to 8 laks of shāhrukhīs.831
(h. The mountain-tracts of Kābul.)
Where the mountains of Andar-āb, Khwāst,832 and the Badakh-shānāt have conifers (archa), many springs and gentle slopes, those of eastern Kābul have grass (aūt), grass like a beautiful floor, on hill, slope and dale. For the most part it is būta-kāh grass (aūt), very suitable for horses. In the Andijān country they talk of būta-kāh, but why they do so was not known (to me?); in Kābul it was heard-say to be because the grass comes up in tufts (būta, būta).833 The alps of these mountains are like those of Ḥiṣār, Khutlān, Farghāna, Samarkand and Mughūlistān, – all these being alike in mountain and alp, though the alps of Farghāna and Mughūlistān are beyond comparison with the rest.
From all these the mountains of Nijr-aū, the Lamghānāt and Sawād differ in having masses of cypresses,834 holm-oak, olive and mastic (khanjak); their grass also is different, – it is dense, it is tall, it is good neither for horse nor sheep. Although these mountains are not so high as those already described, indeed they look to be low, none-the-less, they are strongholds; what to the eye is even slope, really is hard rock on which it is impossible to ride. Many of the beasts and birds of Hindūstān are found amongst them, such as the parrot, mīna, peacock and lūja (lūkha), the ape, nīl-gāu and hog-deer (kūta-pāī);835 some found there are not found even in Hindūstān.
The mountains to the west of Kābul are also all of one sort, those of the Zindān-valley, the Ṣūf-valley, Garzawān and Gharjistān (Gharchastān).836 Their meadows are mostly in the dales; they have not the same sweep of grass on slope and top as some of those described have; nor have they masses of trees; they have, however, grass suiting horses. On their flat tops, where all the crops are grown, there is ground where a horse can gallop. They have masses of kīyik.837 Their valley-bottoms are strongholds, mostly precipitous and inaccessible from above. It is remarkable that, whereas other mountains have their fastnesses in their high places, these have theirs below.
Of one sort again are the mountains of Ghūr, Karnūd (var. Kuzūd) and Hazāra; their meadows are in their dales; their trees are few, not even the archa being there;838 their grass is fit for horses and for the masses of sheep they keep. They differ from those last described in this, their strong places are not below.
The mountains (south-east of Kābul) of Khwāja Ismā‘īl, Dasht, Dūgī (Dūkī)839 and Afghānistān are all alike; all low, scant of vegetation, short of water, treeless, ugly and good-for-nothing. Their people take after them, just as has been said, Tīng būlmā-ghūncha tūsh būlmās.840 Likely enough the world has few mountains so useless and disgusting.
(h. Fire-wood of Kabul.)
The snow-fall being so heavy in Kābul, it is fortunate that excellent fire-wood is had near by. Given one day to fetch it, wood can be had of the khanjak (mastic), bīlūt (holm-oak), bādāmcha (small-almond) and qarqand.841 Of these khanjak wood is the best; it burns with flame and nice smell, makes plenty of hot ashes and does well even if sappy. Holm-oak is also first-rate fire-wood, blazing less than mastic but, like it, making a hot fire with plenty of hot ashes, and nice smell. It has the peculiarity in burning that when its leafy branches are set alight, they fire up with amazing sound, blazing and crackling from bottom to top. It is good fun to burn it. The wood of the small-almond is the most plentiful and commonly-used, but it does not make a lasting fire. The qarqand is quite a low shrub, thorny, and burning sappy or dry; it is the fuel of the Ghaznī people.
(i. Fauna of Kābul.)
The cultivated lands of Kābul lie between mountains which are like great dams842 to the flat valley-bottoms in which most villages and peopled places are. On these mountains kīyik and āhū843 are scarce. Across them, between its summer and winter quarters, the dun sheep,844 the arqārghalcha, have their regular track,845 to which braves go out with dogs and birds846 to take them. Towards Khūrd-kābul and the Sūrkh-rūd there is wild-ass, but there are no white kīyik at all; Ghaznī has both and in few other places are white kīyik found in such good condition.847
In the heats the fowling-grounds of Kābul are crowded. The birds take their way along the Bārān-water.