AMONG THE WILD TRIBES OF THE AFGHAN FRONTIER A RECORD OF SIXTEEN TEARS' CLOSE INTERCOURSE WITH THE NATIVES OF THE INDIAN MARCHES BY T. L. PENNELL, M.D., B.Sc, F.R.C.S. WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY FIELD-MARSHAL EARL ROBERTS, V.C, K.G. With many Illustrations & a Map SIXTH & CHEAPER EDITION LONDON SEELEY, SERVICE & CO. LIMITED 38 Great Russell Street 1922 — — — MISSIONARY LIBRARY FOR BOYS &" GIRLS WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS &• COLOURED FRONTISPIECE A HERO OF THE AFGHAN FRONTIER. Being the Life of Dr T. L. Pennell, of Bannu, told for Boys & Girls. By A. M. Pennell, M.B., B.S.(Lond.), B.Sc. "J^o *' Tliis is the glorious life-story of Dr T. L. Pennell retold for boys and y L, 'y girls." church Family Newspaper. S'S^ ^ " Tlie life-story of a fearless Englishman of the best kind." -^ «„. —Daily Telegraph, ' ^ JUDSON, THE HERO OF BURMA. The Life of Judson told for Boys & Girls. By Jesse Page, F.R.G.S. ** A stirring life-BtOTY."—Schoolmasler. "There is not a dull page in the whole book."' Ltji of Faith, " Most interesting and fascinating." Record. ON TRAIL 6- RAPID BY DOGSLED & CANOE. Bishop Bompas's Life amongst the Red Indians and Esquimo told for Boys &• Girls. By the Rev. H. A. Cody, M.A. " A book of golden deeds, full of inspiration."— ^«<f*«. " An admirable picture of a great o.zx^zx'''— spectator. " The astonishing adventures of Bishop Bompas amongst Bed Indians and Eskimos."— T-y^^ Challenge. MISSIONARY CRUSADERS. Stories of the Daunt- less Courage and Remarkable Adventures which Missionaries have had in many parts of the World whilst carrying out their duties. By Claud Field, M.A. (Cantab.). MISSIONARY KNIGHTS OF THE CROSS. Stories of the Indomitable Courage &• Stirring Adventures of Missionaries with Uncivilised Man, Wild Beasts, 6- the Forces of Nature in many parts of the World. By J. C. Lambert, M.A., D.D. MISSIONARY HEROINES OF THE CROSS. True Stories of the Splendid Courage (S- Patient Endurance of Lady Missionaries. By Canon Dawson. LIVINGSTONE, THE HERO OF AFRICA. By R. B. Davison, M.A.(Oxon.). With many Illustrations. BY ESKIMO DOGSLED 6- KAYAK. The Adventures 6* Experiences of a Missionary in Labrador. By DrS. K. HuiTON. SEELEY. SERVICE 6- CO. LIMITED B 21 1966 ..oA «j J .. •» i. ;-i i V v5 i « ^ TO MY MOTHER, TO THE INSnSATION OF WHOSE LIFE AND TEACHlNa I OWE MORE THAN I CAN REALIZE OR RECORD — INTRODUCTION This book is a valuable record of sixteen years' good work by an officer—a medical missionary—in charge of a medical mission station at Bannu, on the North-West Frontier of India. Although many accounts have been written descriptive of the wild tribes on this border, there was still plenty of room for Dr. PennelPs modestly-related narrative. Previous writers e.g., Paget and Mason, Holdich, Oliver, Warburton, Elsmie, and many others—have dealt with the expeditions that have taken place from time to time against the turbulent occupants of the trans-Indus mountains, and with the military problems and possibilities of the difficult regions which they inhabit. But Dr. PennelFs story is not concerned with the clash of arms. His mission has been to preachy to heal, and to save ; and in his long and intimate intercourse with the tribesmen, as recounted in these pages, he throws many new and interesting sidelights on the domestic and social, as well as on the moral and religious, aspects of their lives and characters. During a long career in India I myself have seen and heard a good deal about these medical missions, and I can testify to their doing excellent and useful work, and that they are valuable and humanizing factors and moral aids well worthy of all encouragement and support. No one can read Dr. PennelFs experiences without feeling that the man who is a physician and able to heal the body, in addition to being a preacher who can ^' minister to a mind INTRODUCTION diseased ^ as well as to spiritual needs, wields an influence which is not possessed by him who is a missionary only. As the author himself writes: "The doctor finds his sphere everywhere, and his hands are full of work as soon as he arrives (at his station). He is able to overcome suspicion and prejudice, and his kindly aid and sympathetic treatment disarm opposition, while his life is a better setting forth of Christianity than his words. There is a door everywhere which can be opened by love and sympathy and practical service, and no one is more in a position to have a key for every door than a doctor." These few words fairly sum up the situation, and I fully agree with the view they express. On such a wild frontier as that on the North-West Border of India the life of a doctor-missionary is beset with many perils. A perusal of Dr. PennelPs most interesting story shows that he has had his share of them, and that in the earnest and zealous discharge of his duties he has faced them bravely and cheerfully. I cordially recommend his book to all readers, and my earnest hope is that medical missions will continue to flourish. ROBERTS, F.M. December 19, 1908. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION After sixteen years of close contact with the Afghans and Pathans of our North-West Frontier in India, I was asked to commit some of my experiences to paper. The present book is the result. I have used the Government system of transliter- ation in vernacular names and expressions, and I beg the reader to bestow a few minutes' consideration on the table of corre- sponding sounds and letters given on p. xvi, as it is painful to hear the way in which Englishmen, who, with their wide imperial interests, should be better informed, mispronounce common Indian words and names of places which are in con- stant use nowadays in England as much as abroad. Nothing is recorded which has not been enacted in my own experience or in that of some trustworthy friend. In Chapters XIII. and XIV. it would have been unwise to give the actual names, so I have put the experience of several such cases to- gether into one connected story, which, while concealing the identity of the actors, may also make the narrative more inter- esting to the reader ; every fact recorded, however, happened under my own eyes. In Chapter XXII., the night adventure of Chikki, when he met an English officer in disguise, was related by him to me of another member of his profession, and not of himself. I wish to thank the Church Missionary Society for allowing me to reproduce some articles which have already appeared in their publications, notably Chapter XX. and part of Chapter IV. I tender my best thanks to Major Wilkinson, I. M.S., Major Watson, H. Bolton, Esq., I.C.S., and Colonel S. Baker, for some of the photographs which have been here reproduced ; and to Dr. J. Cropper for his kindness in reading the proofs. We are at present engaged in building a branch dispensary at Thai, a place on the extreme border mentioned several times in the text, where the medical mission will have a profound in- fluence on the trans-border tribes, as well as on those in British India. This will be known as the " Lord Roberts Hospital," as that place was at one time of the 1879-80 campaign the head- quarters of his column. The Author's profits on the sale of this book will be entirely devoted to the building of the hospital, and carrying on of the medical mission work at Thai. T. L. PENNELL. P. AND O. S.S. "China/^ Gulf op Suez, September 24, 1908, PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION The kind reception which has been afforded to the earlier editions of this book has induced the publishers to bring out the present edition at a price which will bring it within the reach of all. The Lord Roberts Hospital at Thai has profited considerably by the sales of the earlier editions, and I hope that now a still wider circle of friends will add their share to the carrying on of this beneficent Christian agency in one of the wildest corners of our North-West Frontier. T. L. TENNELL. BikNNU, May 24, 1911. —A CONTENTS CHAI»TER 1 THE AFGHAN CHARACTER PAGB& Paradoxical ideas of honour—Blood-feuds—A sister's revenjE^e The story of an outlaw—^Taken by assault—A jirgah and its unexpected termination—BluiF—An attempt at kidnapping Hospitality—A midnight meal—An ungrateful patient— robber^s death—An Afghan dance—A village warfare—An officer^s escape—Cousins ----- 17-30 CHAPTER H AFGHAN TRADITIONS Israelitish origin of the Afghans—Jewish practices—Shepherd tradition of the Wazirs— Afridis and their saint—The zyarat, or shrine—Graveyards— Custom of burial—Graves of holy men—Charms and amulets—The medical practice of a faqir Native remedies—First aid to the wounded—Purges and blood- letting—Tooth extraction—Smallpox • - - 31-43 CHAPTER H] BORDER WARRIORS Peiwar Kotal—The Kurram Valley—The Bannu Oasis—Indepen- dent tribes—The Durand line—The indispensable Hindu— lawsuit and its sequel—A Hindu outwits a Muhammadan The scope of the missionary - - - - 44-53 CHAPl^ER IV A FRONTIER VALLEY Description of the Kurram Valley—Shiahs and Sunnis—Favourable reception of Christianity—Independent areas—A candid reply —Proverbial disunion of the Afghans—The two policies— Sir Robert Sandeman—Lord Curzon creates the North-West Frontier Province— Frontier wars —Tlie vicious circle —Two flaws the natives see in British rule : the usurer, delayed justice—Personal influence - - .