About the Book
"Gazetteer of the Eastern Hindu Kush" by Captain E. G. Barrow is a detailed account of the Eastern Hindu Kush region, providing insights into its geography, local tribes, culture, and strategic significance. Published in the late 19th century, the gazetteer serves as an important reference for understanding the area's complex topography and the diverse ethnic groups inhabiting it. Captain Barrow's work also includes information on trade routes, political dynamics, and the challenges of navigating this mountainous terrain during the British colonial era.
About the Author
Captain E. G. Barrow was a British military officer and author known for his detailed geographic and ethnographic works, including "Gazetteer of the Eastern Hindu Kush." His writings provided valuable insights into the strategic and cultural landscape of the regions he explored, contributing to British colonial knowledge during the 19th century.
Preface
THB region described in this Gazetteer is that lying on both sides of the Hindu-Kush, from Kashmir and Chinese Turkistan on the east to Badakhshan and Káfiristán on the west, and inclusive of the last named country. It includes Wakhán, Ishká-shahu, and Zébák, and all the non-Pathan races south of the Hindu-Kush between the eastern and western limits above defined. Nowhere, except along the northern border of Kághán, does this region touch British territory, and its sole importance, as far as we are concerned, lies in the fact that it is a possible theatre of war in the event of hostilities with Russia. In the Hindu-Kush and the passes over it, and in the routes which connect those passes with India, is centred the only real interest we have in this comparatively distant tract of country.
It is scarcely necessary to show that the Eastern Hindu-Kush For the Russian troops does present a possible theatre of war. in Ferghana, at all events, it offers the nearest and most accessible objective; while its flanking position with reference to the Punjab, and its advantageous situation as a base for intrigue in Kashmir, and among the fanatical tribes who border our territory from the Babúsar pass to the Khaibar, presents, from a Russian point of view, opportunities of no mean order. It is therefore a region on which we should keep a watchful eye, and where we should ever be prepared to forestall an enemy, particularly as in Badakhshan the Russians have a country ripe for revolt against the Amir, which offers a most convenient base of operations towards Chitrál. The strategical aspect of the Eastern Hindu-Kush has been considered in a separate secret memorandum addressed to the Quarter Master General.
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