Machine transcription
108
others. A man who is in difficulty or has a favour to ask goes
to the house or tent of an Afghan on whom he depends, and
refuses to sit on his carpet, or to partake of his hospitality until
the boon is granted. The honour of the party thus solicited
will incur a stain if he does not grant the favour asked of him.
So far is this practice carried, that a man over-matched by his
enemy, will sometimes go Ninawati to the house of another man,
and entreat him to take up his quarrel, a request with which the
other is obliged to comply. A still stronger appeal is made when a
woman in distress sends her veil to an Afghan, calling upon
him as her brother, and imploring his assistance for herself
or her family. From this custom arises the obligation of
protecting and defending a fugitive, even against the govern-
ment, irrespective of his crime. Those who seek shelter under
the roof of an Afghan are to be defended at all cost. The code
followed by an Afghan is :
(1) An Afghan must grant to all fugitives the right of
asylum.
(2) An Afghan must offer hospitality even to his dreaded
enemy.
(3) An Afghan must wipe out insult with insult.
Another strange custom goes by the name of “Ghag-
Kawal”, which literally means “calling”. A lover, who is unable
to secure the object of his love by any other means, usually
resorts to this national custom. Repairing to the residence of
his beloved, he fires into the air just in front of her door, there-
by declaring his attachment to the girl. He then approaches her
father or guardian through the elders of the tribe, entreating to
forgive him for his audacity, and imploring the hand of his
daughter in marriage. Refusal of such a request often leads to
tribal feuds.
Roughly two thirds of characters agree with a modern printed edition of the same text. Much of the disagreement is editorial, not misreading. Treat the transcription as a finding aid and read the page image before quoting. How this was measured.
