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25
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remind them that it had not been replied to. They would then look into the matter ; but when they see that we are claiming two tracts of country on the Chinese side of the main watershed, objections will most probably be made. Then I think we might argue that we found our claims to the Western Taghdumbash country in virtue of certain rights possessed by Hunza. We might also point out that the light-hearted way in which the Chinese were lending their territory in Sarikol to the Russians for the stationing of troops caused us some anxiety, and who could say that these same troops would not to-morrow push their way higher up the valley, to the gullet of the Mintika, Kilik, and the Wakhjir Passes-in fact, into the very country that is fixed as a wedge between British territory on the one side and the territory of a State within our sphere of influence, namely, Afghanistan, on the other?
13. Here I think, in order to overcome Chinese objections, we might somewhat modify our original proposal regarding the Western Taghdumbash. How if we allowed that tract to remain under Chinese jurisdiction, but on condition that the Chinese engaged to renounce their right either to cedo it to a third Power or to permit such a Power to station troops there without the consent of the British Government? No doubt diplomacy could devise some other and better condition. But the essential, it seems to me, is to find a formula for the compounding of a pill which will be easily swallowed by the Chinese and will afterwards be susceptible of being converted into, as it were, a legal shot against the Russians, when Kashgaria will have fallen into their hands.
14. To meet the possible Chinese objection to the inclusion of Darwaza within our border, supposing that the Chinese claimed the place, not by reason of occupation, but simply by reason of its being situated on their side of the main watershed, it might be pointed out to them that a watershed was not everything. Example: Trkishtam, a Russian frontier post between Kashgar and Osh, is situated just on the Chinese side of the main ridge of the Tian Shan.
Inclosure 37 in No. 1.
Mr. Colvin to Government of India.
394
Srinagar, November 10, 1904. WITH reference to Foreign Department telegram dated the 8th October, 1904, I have the honour to forward herewith in original, with translation, a letter, dated the 22nd Jamadi-ul-Awal, 1322 (corresponding to 5th August, 1904), from the Amban of Tashkurgan to the Mir of Hunza.
The Political Agent, Gilgit, requests that the letter may be returned when done with.
(Translation.)
Inclosure 38 in No. 1.
Amban of Tashkurgun to Nazim Khan,
22 Jamadi-ul-Awal (August 5, 1904). YOUR letter regarding your own welfare and that of your subjects ("faqra"), which you sent by the hand of Zarparast, Ali Parast, and Kara Beg, was duly received by me. I learnt its contents. You stated that some men of the Taghdumbash do not pay the "nazrana.”* I have inquired into the matter, and have come to know that a few Wakhi settlers at Dafdar do not pay the "nazrana. But they have never paid it before. The bigh officials † (Elders) have excused them from the payment of the taxes. I also have refrained from ordering them to pay. Whatever the high officials have fixed of old cannot now be changed.
19
(Telegraphic.)
Inclosure 35 in No. 1.
Mr. Colvin to Government of India
YOUR telegram dated the 7th November.
*
Following telegram received from the Political Agent, Gilgit- "Refer to telegram 4286 from Foreign.
November 13, 1904.
"Since 1899 the Mir has regularly sent out two men to reside at Darwaza during
summer."
(Telegraphic.)
Inclosure 36 in No. 1.
Mr. Colvin to Government of India.
POLITICAL AGENT, Gilgit, wires:--
99 Camp, 11th November.
November 14, 1904.
"The Mir met me to-day. He states that people of Shimshal depend for their grazing almost entirely on the Pamirs between Shimshal Pass and Darwaza, and that there is no grazing on this side Shimshal Pass. In view of this I now think that frontier should run from Khunjerab Pass to peak north of Shimshal Pass, and then, leaving crest along spur to the Darwaza post, as suggested in Sir Claude MacDonald's letter to Tsung-li Yamên dated the 14th March, 1899.
"Mir states that four men are stationed at Darwaza throughout the year, and not two in summer only, as previously telegraphed by me."
Inclosure 39 in No. 1.
Extract from the Gilgit Diary for the week ending November 12, 1904.
1 ARRIVED at Baltit on the 11th instant. The Mir returned from his tour in Gujhal on the same day and paid me a visit shortly after my arrival. The Mir talked a good deal about Shingshal, which valley he visited this summer for the first time. He says that the Shingshalis are well off in comparison with the rest of his subjects.
Polygamy is common in the valley, which is certainly not the case in the rest of Hunza, where according to old reports, polyandry was not unknown. There are some forty families in Shingshal, and according to the Mir they have sufficient cultivation, but they take more interest in their flocks and herds than in agriculture. The Mir keeps about 100 yaks with the Shingshalis, and the people themselves own at least 500 more, and also keep large numbers of sheep and goats. All these animals are taken in summer to the Pamir which is situated between the Shingshal Pass and the “ Darband," known as Darwaza, where there is excellent grazing. The Mir states that in Sbingshal proper there is practically no grazing.
The approaches to Shingshal are very difficult both on the Hunza side and in the direction of the pass, and the people are consequently left a great deal to themselves. According to the Mir they fully appreciate the Par Britannica, as they are no longer harried by the raiding parties from Hunza, whose route usually lay through their valley, and for whom they were forced to carry loads and furnish supplies.
Should the ex-Mir Safdar Ali ever obtain a footing in Raskam the Shingshal Valley would require careful watching, as, although no serious attack on Hunza need be anticipated by this route, it would not do to allow the ex-Mir to establish himself in the valley.
Wazir Hamayun Beg informs me that at least 100 families in Hunza are still warm adherents of Sardar Ali's; and if these men joined the ex-Mir in Shingshal, the present Mir might experience some difficulty in turning them out.
* The word Alban" in the original is "Azban," presumably a Turki word.-B. E. M. G. †The word in the original is “Kalanan," which might mean high officials or local Elders.-B. E. M. G.
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