Afghan Village Voices: Stories from a Tribal Community

562 Pages·2020·17.657 MB·English

by  Richard Tapper, Nancy Lindisfarne-Tapper

Afghan Village Voices
For the Piruzai people of Konjek and Khârkash

Contents
List of Maps, Tables and Figures
List of Illustrations
Preface
1 Prologue: Introducing the Piruzai
Great Games in Afghanistan
Afghan Turkistan: the setting
Pashtuns come to Sar-e-pol
The Piruzai
The Piruzai economy
Population growth and change
Village life in 1971
The narrators
2 The Es’hâqzai Come North
The move north
From Kandahar …
… to Turkistan
Resisting the khans
Wazir Mahmad-gol Mohmand
The khans in 1970
3 Ethnic Politics in Sar-e-pol
Elections
Elections for People’s Assembly 1965
Elections for Senate 1969
Elections for People’s Assembly 1969
Ethnic Categories
‘Afghan’ and ‘Fârsibân’
Uzbeks and others
Marrying strangers: Rangin and Golshâh Taymani
The Runaways
The quest in Day-kondi
Petitioning the government in Kabul
The fallout
A Moral Tale of Abduction and Revenge
4 Tribal Politics
Murder and Revenge
The Piruzai Feud
I: In the mountains
II: At the wedding
III: Peacemaking, marriages
Village Factions
Groups
Leaders
‘Upper’ vs ‘Lower’ Konjek
5 A Shepherd’s Life
The Tale of the Shepherd and the Judge
The Flocks
The Nomad Trail
Chârgol’s first trip
The flash-flood and the dervish
Home
The Pastoral Year
Mating and lambing
Lambs and spring grazing
Hard work in the mountains
Autumn and winter
Shepherding Contracts
Employees
Partners
6 For the Animals
Camel Care
An Old Wolf’s Tale
Wolves and thieves
The tick man
The Tale of Nokhodak
Expedition to the Salt-pan
A Terrible Winter
7 Land: A Golden Tent-Peg
The Value of Land
Water Rights
Inheritance
8 On the Farm
The Tale of the Ox, the Donkey and the Hen
Farming in Sar-e-pol
‘White’ crops
Shoot- and stubble-grazing
‘Green’ crops
Rainfed farming
The Tale of Secret and Satan
Farming Contracts
Farmhands and sharecroppers
Pawning, renting and selling land
Farming Up-country
In the mountains
In Kachan and Sangchârak
Vineyards in Sangchârak
9 Other Business
Work for the Landless
Cowherds
The Tale of Soltânyâr
Trade and Exchange
Nomad bazaars
Trade on the trek
Trade for a living
Livestock trading
The skin trade
Debt
Going to market
Rising prices
The Zuris
A trip to Qataghan
The Tale of the Fox and the Miller
10 The Marriage Market
The Tale of Jallât Khân and Shamayel
Getting Married
Engagement
Marrying relatives
Exchange marriage (mëkhi)
In-laws (khish)
Brideprice
Going to bâzi
The wedding – and after
Irregularities
Jumping the gun
Elopements; infidelities
Parwiz and Shamayel
Madu
The pimp
Endings
Widowhood
Divorce
The Tale of Sheykh Shâdi
11 Family Matters
A Tale of Three Brothers
Family Solidarity and Break-down
Hearth and home
Haji Zabtu’s Family
Ghâfur’s wives
Bâbu and Joma-khân
Mumin, Khânamir
Khawânin and Abdor-Rahmân
Tumân and Maryam
Mâku remarries
Tumân and Pâkiza
Khâni-âghâ and Bâdâm
Pâdshâh and Pâkhâl
Tumân and Sarwar
Darwiza and Sawur
A bride for Baya-khân
Golapruz and Soleymân-shâh
Ghaws and Family
Golshâh Taymani
Gorey’s Deceit
Mowzoddin’s Misfortunes
12 Religion, Life, Death, Disease
Religious Practices
Mosques and tâlebs
The Hajj
Fasting and alms
The Ids
Id and Jashn parties
Some mullahs
Childbirth and Infancy
Birth
Nashra and tsalweshti
Circumcision; childhood
Death and the Afterlife
Funerals
Heaven and Hell
The skies
Baya-khân on Plato
Disease and Curing
Some diseases
The skin cure
Fasting
‘Warm’ and ‘cool’
The mullah
Charms, Curses and the ‘Eye’
Love charms – and others
The Evil Eye
13 The World of Jinns
More numerous than raindrops
They attack women and children …
… and animals
Detective-jinns
Dreams
Jinn Tribes
Mirgey
Khâpëska
Wobâ
Mordëzmâ
Pari, div, ablij, rëwey, balâ
Haji Tumân defeats the jinn
Sheytân
Birth of a Jinn
The Tale of the Three Musicians
14 Shrines, Sufis, Exorcism
Pilgrimage to Shrines
A pilgrimage to Mazâr-e-Sharif
Exorcism
Shrines and jinns
Sufi pirs and âghâs
Bâbak’s exorcism
Mahbuba/Khurey’s exorcism
The Tale of Seyf-ol-moluk and Badri-jamâl
15 Epilogue: The Piruzai Since 1972
Haji Tumân on ‘The End of Times’
What happened to the Piruzai?
Appendices
1 Ancestors
2 Afghanistan and Sar-e-pol, 1972–2016
The PDPA
The mujahidin
The Taliban
Post-2001
3 Recording and Editing the Stories
Recording
Representation
Cultural styles
Translating, selecting and editing
Transliteration and usage
Glossary