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It was in the remote and little known village of “Ghazi,” situated on the left bank of the stately and classical Indus, and at the distance of about thirty miles from the ancient city of “Attock” (Atak) that most of this Folk-lore was collected.

Ghazi in itself is not what would be called a picturesque village in those parts. Its straggling huts and houses are built on a rocky, unkind sort of soil, so that fine forest trees which would make a pleasing picture of the place will not grow there; indeed the vegetation is almost entirely restricted to scrub and brushwood. There are, however, here and there, thickets of the “Phoolai” and “Vahekur” plants, and a stunted variety of the Plum tree, known by the natives as “Jhâr Bayri.”

At some little distance inland, however, the soil improves; and the farmers are able there to cultivate both wheat and barley, and to plant the oil and cotton seeds from which they obtain very fair crops.

The view, however, looking from the village has a distinct charm of its own, owing to the wild, mountainous, and well-wooded country which encircles it. Within a few miles to its rear are the Hills of “Gundghur,” the highest peak of which is by the natives of the place called “Pir Than,” and is the scene of many of their local legends.

Far away towards the north and west are lofty ranges of mountains, running, as it were, in graduated succession to join the distant line, which is in point of fact but an extreme western extension of the Himalayas.

Immediately at the foot of the village, runs as I have already said, the river Indus, and as its banks are somewhat narrowed at this point the stream becomes more rapid, but the river broadens out again a little further down, until it reaches the city of Attock, where its volume is increased by the waters of the Kabul River.

The natives who dwell in the village are of that mixture of races usually to be found in most of the towns and villages in the “Hazara” district in which Ghazi is situated.

The Head men are Pathans of the “Thar” tribe, commonly called “Thar Kheyles.” They are believed to be the descendants of Afghan soldiers who came into India with the armies of Timur Baber and Nadir Shah.

Then there are two or three divisions of the farmer class known as “Awans,” good soldiers and no better people in all India, and “Ghurkās”—fine, tough men. Also the barber class, or “Naies,” also called “Napit”; the shoemakers, or “Mochīs”; the potters, or “Koobhars”; the weavers, or “Powlees”; the blacksmiths, or “Lohars;” and so on, with a sprinkling of “Merasis,” or “Dooms,” who fill the post of Genealogists and Bards to the community, and who are the reciters of warlike poetry.

These last are for the most part the receptacles and custodians of the old village folk-lore, though sometimes amongst the farmers living as they do a simple and rustic life, many tales of the remote past have been retained, and the barbers, too, have been occasionally known to relate them.

Above Ghazi, and at a distance of about twelve miles on the same side of the river, are the villages known by the general name of “Thorbela.” The word locally means “Black Island,” after an island which was situated in front of them, but was washed away in the floods of 1842. Since that date many of the huts have been erected at some distance from the banks. The village is an important one, and contains a thriving and industrious community. To get to “Thorbela” the traveller has to pass through the small village of “Mohat,” between which and Ghazi is the ferry across the Indus to the populous town of “Topi.” This town contains the same admixture of races as at Ghazi, but in addition a larger proportion of the “Juddoon” tribe who speak the “Pushtu” language, which has some similarity to the Semitic.

The whole of this district will well repay a visit at any time, and the interest is greatly enhanced when one calls to mind the many historical events that have taken place, in and around it, in years long gone by.

It was at Attock (Atak) that Alexander the Great is believed to have crossed the Indus B.C. 326. The ancient name of this city was said to be “Taxila,” so named after a petty king who joined his forces with those of Alexander in the attack and defeat of King Porus, and it was here that Alexander rested his army for three days, and was royally entertained by its reigning Sovereign.

It is, however, quite foreign to my purpose here, to dwell at any length on the ancient history of this part of India and the Punjâb generally, called by the Greeks the “Pente Potamia.” I will not either touch upon the supposed route taken by Alexander across the “Paropamisus” Mountains (Hindu Kush), which is still a very disputed point.

My purpose in referring to this old history, is to draw attention to the fact that in the traditions that these non-recording Ghazi folk have handed down of their gods, their heroes, and preternatural beings, they appear to have kept ever in their memories this visit of Alexander to India, in the legend of “Secundur Zulf Kurnain,” which forms one of the tales of this series.

It was at this little village of Ghazi, and in the districts adjoining it, remote at the time from all European influence, that Mr. Thomas Lambert Barlow resided for over thirty years. He was employed by our Government in the Salt Revenue Department, and in the execution of these arduous duties, he was as a matter of course thrown into almost daily contact with all classes of the natives. He found it necessary to acquaint himself with their various dialects, and it was not long before he was able to communicate freely with every caste and tribe.

No European could have had a better opportunity of getting at the thoughts and feelings of the people than he had, and being on friendly terms with most of them, they would talk to him, and before him, with perfect freedom, and altogether with an absence of that kind of restraint, which I can say from my own knowledge, is felt more or less by most natives of India when in the presence of a European.

It has been said, and perhaps with some justice, that many folk tales have to be received with a certain amount of misgiving; and doubtless also each narrative as it descends in successive generations loses some of the force of the original. It is also very clear that the Folk-lore of a long-established and independent community such as that of Ghazi, or other out-of-the-way village of India, is not to be got at all of a sudden, for it lies deep down in the memories of only a certain few of the people, and these not always willing to impart it unto strangers to their country.

It was not surprising therefore that it was only by degrees, and by very slow degrees, that Mr. Barlow, though always a welcome guest at their village “Hûjrâs” or meeting places, was able to collect the lore of this interesting, this semi-religious, and warlike people. Many of their tales he repeated to the Rev. Mr. Swynnerton, F.S.A., who in 1892 published them in his popular work entitled the “Indian Nights,” and again with others in a later volume.

Mr. Barlow had not, however, exhausted all his store, and he has been good enough to place these few more at my disposal, and to permit me to send them to the Press in our joint names.

He has given them to me both orally and from notes, and it has been my task to throw them into a readable form, avoiding as far as possible all modification or undue colouring. In making together the translation into English we were conscious sometimes of missing the native expression or idiom. When any such difficulty arose we found help in transposing the original words into the “Hindustani” language, a native tongue familiar to us both. By this means, and with general care we were able to get pretty near to the thought and combination of thought of the native narrators, and the homeliness of their style.

It is perhaps matter for regret that in publishing these rural tales, I am not in a position to add the names of those people in Ghazi from whom Mr. Barlow heard them, nor, of course, can I give their antecedents. It might perhaps have afforded some clue to the source from whence the tales had been received, and it would certainly have been an additional evidence of their authenticity.

Mr. Barlow, however, made no note of these particulars at the time, and he cannot even now trust his memory on these points. He gathered the tales more to obtain a better insight into the character of the people, and to strengthen his knowledge of the language, and with no ulterior view to their publication. He, however, can say with all truth, that most of them were related in his presence by the farmers and “Merasis” or bards of the people, and that they are from the original stock transmitted to them by their forefathers.

I have thought it better not to encumber this volume with any elaborate analysis of the Tales. They are very simple and descriptive, and folk-lorists more able than myself, can readily arrange an analysis according to their own system.

It has been necessary, however, with these Indian Folk-tales to attach a few explanatory notes, chiefly to elucidate the text, but also with the view of bringing our readers more into touch with the people of the district.

The Tales gain a great advantage from the drawings of Miss L. Fenn, which will be found to be full of expression and spirit, and are at the same time faithful representations of the general characteristics of the people of this part of Northern India.

I am indebted also to the late Mr. John W. N. Barlow for much assistance to us in describing the native costumes, and for other information connected with the Ghazi community.

These Tales under a different form and style, were re-printed in 1902, from the “Indian Antiquary,” by the Education Society’s Press, Bombay; and later were kindly edited by W. Crooke, of the Bengal Civil Service (retired), the author of the “N.W. Provinces of India,” and other valuable works.

They are now re-produced by the Original Writers, with some corrections and emendations, together with the illustrations to the text referred to above.

J. F. A. M^cNair, Major R.A., C.M.G.

Belgrave House,

Preston Park, Brighton.