On the Language of the Sí-áh-pos'h Káfirs, with a short list of words; to which are added specimens of the Kohistimi, and other dialects spoken on the northern border of Afghánistán, &c.-By Captain H. G. RAVERTY, 3rd Regiment, Bombay N. I.

In the beginning of the year 1859, some time after my paper entitled "NOTES ON KAFIRISTÁN" had been submitted to the Society, but previous to its appearance in the Journal, the Rev. Dr. E. Trumpp, of the Church Missionary Society, residing, at that time, within the cantonment of Pes'hawar, was allowed to examine, through the Commissioner of that district, three men, said to have been of the Káfir race that is to say, what we call the Sí'ah-pos'h Káfirs-who had been brought to the district from Panj-korah or its neighbouring hilly tracts, for the purpose of being enlisted into the British service.

These three men remained at Pes'háwar for " a few days," during "three or four hours" of which Dr. Trumpp examined them, through a man named Muhammad Rasúl, a Kohistání of " Panjkore" as the Doctor terms it, but correctly, Panj-korah.† This man, who was not an Afghán, since the Doctor calls him a " Kúhistání," "spoke Pushto and a little Persian," and acted as interpreter between the Missionary and the so-called Káfirs; and from this short and round-about conference, a short grammar of the language has been made, and a list of seventy-seven Káfir words appended.

It is not my object to criticise the former at present, but to give a list of Káfir words, which I collected some years since, and which I intended to have given with my "Notes on Káfiristán." To these words, for the sake of facilitating comparison, I have also added some Kohistání words, which I collected about the same time, together with a few in the Pashai, Bárakai, Ķásh-kárí or Chitrálí, and Belúchkí languages. I would have given the Pushto equivalents of these had space permitted, but they may be easily found in my Dictionary of the language, together with the other words, of which there are often more than one, bearing the same signification.

From what is stated respecting the appearance of these three men, that "they were in all respects like the natives of the upper provinces of India, of a swarthy colour, with dark hair and dark eyes," I should

*No. 4 of 1859.

See my paper on Panj-korah in the last number of the Journal.

hardly think they were real Káfirs; and should consider that, in all probability, they were nimchahs (4) or "half-breeds," as those people are designated who have sprung from the mixture of Afgháns with the aborigines of the parts to the north of the Kábul river; viz. the Káfirs, Lamghánís, Shalmánís, Deggauns, Gújars, Suwátís, &c., and with each other; for the Afgháns, as we know from their histories, as well as from the accounts of Persian and Hindústání writers, have been in the habit of applying the Arabic term "Káfir," or "Infidel" very indiscriminately, particularly to the aboriginal people of Afghánistán bordering upon the Kábul river and its tributaries, and the people of the Alpine Panjáb nearest the Indus. Hence, with them, the term Kafir might as well refer to the Lamghánís, or Shalmánís, before conversion to their own faith, as to the people whom we know by the name of Sí-áh-pos'h Káfirs. Lieut. Wood, when on his journey to the source of the Oxus, passed close to their frontier, and he, moreover, saw and conversed with Sí-áh-pos'h Káfirs (for they are friendly with the people of Badakhshán), and he describes them as being very different to the "swarthy coloured people of the upper provinces of India, with dark hair and dark eyes," such as Dr. Trumpp speaks of.* What makes me think that these three men could not have been real Sí-áh-pos'h Káfirs, is the fact of their having come to Pes'hawar otherwise than as slaves. Both males and females-the latter in particular, on account of their fair complexions and beauty— are to be found in the dwellings of the Afgháns of the better class, in the Samáh of the Yúsufzís, but they are always slaves; and some will be found in the Pes'háwar district also; but they are very dif ferent to those the Missionary describes. The Sí-áh-pos'h Káfirs, are too hostile to, and hate the Afgháns and other Muhammadans of those parts too much (except perhaps the people of Badakhshán, as already mentioned), to meet them, or to enter their boundaries, save as enemies, or when, as slaves, they are compelled to do so. If these men were not actually Nímchahs or Kohistánís, of which, I have little doubt, they may possibly have been Bárís-a certain class or tribe among the Sí-áh-pos'h, who are held in the light of Páríahs. An account of these will be found at page 36 of my "Notes on Káfiristán” already referred to; but if the Kohistání words I have given be exa.

* Dr. Bellew also met Káfirs when in Afghánistán in 1857. See his excellent work.

mined, and compared with the short list given by the Missionary, it will be found that what he terms Káfir, are the same words as my Kohistání, with but slight exception; whilst what I term Káfir agree with the list (as far as it goes) given by Sir A. Burnes in the Society's Journal for April 1838, and are synonymous with those given by Mr. Norris (the Honorary Secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society) as an appendix to Dr. Trumpp's paper,* which were procured at Teheran from a Káfir woman residing in that city.

The Doctor says he "was very desirous to know by what name they called their own country, as Káfiristán is a mere Muhammadan appellation;" and that "the name they gave for their country was Wamasthán, a word, as I found, known to the Kúhistánís too, who designated it by what is called in Persian Kúhistán, or the highlands."+ He then proceeds to give, or rather to make out a signification for the word, and applies it to the whole tract forming the culminating ridges of Hindú Kush, as far west as Bálkh, in as plausible a manner as the "Hey diddlediddlethecatinthefiddle" inscription is edited and translated in one of the early numbers of Fraser's Magazine for the present year. He will find, however, that there is a tribe of Sí-áh-pos'h Káfirs called by the name of Wámah, and one of their villages is so named. An account of them and their district will be found in my paper.

Dr. Trumpp states, at pages 5-7 of his article, that the Káfir language, like the Pus'hto, has a short indistinct (?) vowel sound approaching the English u in but, or the German ; and that "it is not given in my Pushto Grammar (1st Ed.) though well known and even marked out by the natives themselves." He then goes on to say, a few paragraphs further on, that he "first mistook this sound for a short i, but soon found that it was a peculiar swift a, or in fact an indistinct vowel between short a and short i." He then states, that "the sound of Káfir a can only be compared to the peculiar indistinct sound in Pus'hto; as

,(.fem) آورده شده mas.) and) أوده سردي

which can only be learnt by hearing." To what sound in these four

"On the Language of the so-called Káfirs of the Indian Caucasus.-By the Rev. Ernest Trumpp, D. Phil., Missionary of the Church Missionary Society." Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. XIX. for 1861.

The word "Kohistan" is applied to all mountain tracts by the people of these parts-there is the Kohistán of Kábul, the Kohistán to the north of the Suwát river, &c., and not to "Kooner" only, as the Doctor calls it (Kunir he means).

words does he refer? to the first word, or the second; to the beginning, middle, or termination of these words? The explanation he gives will, I am sure, be perfectly unintelligible to all who do not happen to understand Pushto thoroughly; I think I can clear up the point. The Missionary refers, no doubt, to the adjectives, which takes a different sound before the final consonant for masculine and feminine nouns; and this peculiar vowel sound only occurs, either in the case of nouns, adjectives, and verbs, before the final consonant of a word. It will be found fully explained in my Grammar, in the declensions of nouns, in the word "ghal" a thief; in the word “skhwandar” a steer, in the fifth variety of nouns of the 6th Declension; in the terminations of adjectives of the same class; and in the terminations of some verbs. I have always written it, in the second edition of my Grammar, as explained by the Afghán author of the "EJAIB-ULLUGHAT"* gives it; viz., as a compound sound of short a and i. Thus in the example which Dr. Trumpp gives (which, in fact, is no example at all, since he places the short vowel point (-) 66 a"adjectives he uses), the first should be written s♪3‚í (ú-dæh) (mas.) and the second, ú-dah (fem.). In the work just quoted, the author states, "The word all, is an example of this peculiar sound. When written with simple r, á, quiescent gh, l with the short vowel a, and unaspirated h, or "há-i-khafi," it is the third person feminine singular" she goes ;" and when written with simple r, á, quiescent gh, l, with a short vowel approaching, to a and i slightly sounded, and unaspirated h, it is the third person masculine plural." These are the exact words of the author as I have given them in my Grammar. The vowel () (fat'hah) with (s) (hamzáh) combined (a) give an equivalent sound, as near as possible, which I have therefore adopted. It will be found written thus in the same manner in my Pushto Dictionary, in scores of words. The Afgháns, of course, mark it in speaking; but in writing they do not mark it: it is supposed, that a person acquainted with the rules of the language will read and understand it accordingly.

-

-over both the

s=

I may mention, that the Doctor has made some considerable errors with regard to the Pushto examples he has given. In the words

for example. By the word أوده شخه and أوده سردي

ر

dently means a man; but if so, the letter is not correct: it should *See my Grammar, Introduction, pages 34 and 84.

be Afghán

The word for woman should be with Afghán

نہیں

not with Persian

and with fat'ha'h () not with kasráh ()—

, not . count would be shidzah, whilst the Afghán pronunciation is, k'hadza'h by the Eastern, and s'hadza'h by the Western tribes, the peculiar Afghan letter being widely different from Persian Persian.

The pronunciation according to the Doctor's ac

He considers the Káfir language to be "a pure Prákrit dialect ;" yet, a few pages further on, he says:- "Note.-I have not been able to come to any conclusion in regard to the gender of nouns. I doubt greatly if any gender be distinguished, as I have not been able to find out any trace of it. So much is clear, that adjectives are not subject to any change, either in regard to gender or case." If such be the fact, how can the Káfir language possibly be a "pure Prákrit dialect?"

With reference to the Pashai and Bárakai words which follow, I may mention, that the Pashai language is spoken by the people of that name, who inhabit some of the small districts of the hilly country bordering Káfiristán on the south-west, and on the left, or northern bank of the Kábul river, between Jellálábád and Kabul. The Pashais are counted among the aboriginal people of the country, which the Afgháns are not.

The Bárakais, who are not Afgháns, are included among the people termed Tájíks (supposed to be of Arab descent,) dwell at, and round about Kánígoram, as we generally find it written in English, but properly, Kání-grám, and about Bárak in the province of Loghar, and But-Khák on the route between Jellálábád and Kábul, south of the river of that name.

I shall say nothing here about comparison of the words which follow, although I recognize a great many. It would be unfair towards that class of philosophers called "Comparative Philologists," who, if they set to work, may discover something wonderful among them, which none but themselves can understand.

It is necessary to say a few words respecting the orthography. The system is the same as used in my Pushto works; viz. that known as Sir William Jones's. The only difference is for the peculiar sounds similar to the Afghán letters, viz; ḍd for, rr for and s'h and k’h

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