Doodh Patti

The onslaughts are clearly eating at their open and nonchalant culture. Many have been forced to join the drift to the cities. But when asked what they want, their collective answer was simple: we want our old way of life. Which is why, pastoral Kelash have been able to keep some of their cultural traditions and identity so far.Some historians and anthropologists think that the Kelash are descendants of Indo-Aryans who overran the region in the second millennium BC. The Kelash say they are from a place called Tsiam, though nobody is sure where that is. Commonly they are considered as descendants of Alexander from Macedon who came this way. Their warrior like forebears managed for centuries to keep everyone - including Tamerlane - at bay. In 1893, the British and Afghan governments agreed on a common border that cut right through Kafiristan dividing the community into two parts. Abdur Rahman who was then Amir of Afghanistan renamed Afghan Kafiristan as Nuristan - land of Light.

The Kelash are called Kafirs (infidels) and their land is known as Kafiristan. Between the 13th and 16th centuries the Chitralis gradually subdued the Kelash. By the 19th century, Kelash had been pushed into the higher valleys of the southern Hindu Kush. Rudyard Kipling set his book “The Man who would Be King” in Kafiristan, portraying the people as fierce and credulous though he never went there. And later, what Geoffrey Moorhouse has described in his book "To the Frontier" is no more there. Even the Chitral town of days when Russian were in Afghanistan (shops used to be full of the US goods like sleeping bags, shoes and field jackets) is no more there.

Not properly documented in our history books, I had the opportunity to explore the Kelash valleys in the widespread and on the edge district Chitral in Pakistan and know the people during my two years long in small village Mirkhanni – a gateway to Kalash trilogy. There are no villages called Rumbor, Bumbret or Birir. These are the valleys inhabited by Kelashis. One can take a 4 x 4 jeep (or hire one) from Attaliq Bazaar Chitral, or more adventurous type can get off on foot and walk along river Kunar up to Ayun.

From Ayun, the road forks left to Bumbret and right to Rumbor. After the fork, the barely jeep able roads to Rumbor and Bumbret - steady climb - will give you a new appreciation for walking particularly if you have been missing walking. There you will see lush green tree lined terraces, dancing and noisy torrents and lofty snow capped peaks set at a distance in the backdrop of forests of Himalayan. Rumbor is friendliest of all valleys where as Bumbret is most picturesque. The mouth of Birir Valley is at village Gahiret, about seven kilometres south of Ayun. Birir - the traditional of all valleys - peters out beyond village Guru. Near the village, you will find out a breathtakingly beautiful spring beneath a mound of stones. It is possible to trek between the valleys. There are also some good locations for 'rock repelling' and places for camping especially in Birir.

Lively by nature, the Kelash are a bit Mediterranean looking, though they gamut from fair and nearly blonde to quite whitish. Men have largely traded traditional goat skin tunics for Shalwar Qamiz and Chirtali caps, often with plumes, feathers, or fresh flowers in the brim. It is the dress of the women that is unique and quite amazing. Even in the fields, women wear immense black or brown dresses reaching to the ground, bound at the waist with a sash. Over locks of hair they wear splendid headpieces decorated with cowries, shells, beads, buttons, coins and plumes. The formal forms of these outfits are spectacular, with embroidery, mounds of bead necklaces and bells. They often decorate their faces with mulberry juice tattoos or pomegranate seeds or blacken them with burnt goat's horn (also for sunburn protection). I once saw a three years old child completely coated with the soot of burnt horns. A local told, "This will keep the baby fair coloured through out life."

The Kelash religion is complex and polytheistic with a single creator, called Dezau or Khodai, and many other lesser gods and spirits, each with its own responsibilities. Two important ones are the warrior gods Mahandeo, guardian of crops, animals, other public matters, and the female goddess Jestak who cares for home, family and private matters. All need occasional compensations, usually in the form of goat sacrifices and ceremonies at their shrines scattered through the valleys. The religious traditions are taught by one generation to the next.

Traditionally the dead are not buried. The wooden coffins used to be placed on the ground. Wooden totes or effigies were carved for wealthy or honoured people. At few old style graveyards I saw, the coffins fallen open, wood pieces and bones scattered about. Totems are scarce now; some carted off by anthropologists and treasure hunters. "Swat and Karachi museums have a few in good conditions," informed a German researcher Laila Mason, whom I met in village Bashala. These days the dead are simply placed on cart in the graveyard.

Tradition has it that women are less pure than men are and there are precise rules about what each may do, where they may go and how to purify people and places. Women during menstruation or childbirth are confined to a lodge called Bashaleni (which is also a shrine to the goddess Dezalik, who looks after births). Men cannot go in; even other women must be 'purified' after a visit. In old days, even food could be served to the women confined in Bashaleni only by virgin boys, untouched by women. Gradually these traditions are losing their power. But still it is the women that are seen working around in fields or homes and men spend all their quality time sitting on the pathways. The burden of perpetuating the last strains of Kelash culture is also born by women alone.

The Kelash take their festivals seriously. In addition to religious ceremonies there is always dancing and local made wine. Typically the older men stand in the centre, taking turns chanting old legends. Accompanied by drums the women dance round them arms around one another's waists and shoulders in spinning twos and threes or trance like encircling lines.

There may be day dancing (adua-naat) and night dancing (raadt-naat) or both. Some may even be closed to outsiders. Each valley has its own style and timing. The dates may not be fixed until the last minute, often depending on harvest or other work, so you could end up waiting days or even weeks for the kick off. Locals from down country may find it difficult to attend any such function but foreigners are often welcome. A Swedish tourist Toni has an interesting theory for this. He says, "Kelash people do not like those who go looking for alcohol, hashish, women or pure salageet.

This feast dedicated to spring and to future harvests is called Joshi. It includes day dancing and family reunions for four to six days in mid May. The summer festival Uchau, celebrating the wheat and barley harvests, is a big tourist draw. It may include night dancing every few days in successive villages, form mid June to mid August. Pul is held only in Birir, for three or four days in late September or early October. Night dancing is held in various villages and day dancing on the last day. It marks the walnut and grape harvests and the end of wine making, though its origins concern the return of shepherds from the high pastures. This solstice festival called Chaumos is probably the biggest for the Kelash, with visiting, feasting and night dancing for around 10 days starting in mid December.

"It is in unique culture that Kelash differ from the rest of the country," confirms Pordum, an elderly resident of village Guru. It is also perhaps the sole claim to fame for the region besides gorgeous natural beauty, poverty and backwardness. Laila Mason says, "unless opportunities are created and due respect is given, this unique culture will disappear fast."

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Most people interested in fairies must have heard about Lake Baikal situated in Russia - an area commonly known as the Paristan. During my Russian language studies in the National University of Modern Languages Islamabad, our Russian teacher, who knew about how Paristan (fairy land) is famous in our local literature, used to tell us tales of fairies famous in Russia.

Alesa told us that "Baikal is one of the most beautiful and fourth highest lake in the world. The panorama is such that fairies come and dance there and meet those who visit Baikal." She also told about the fairy of love and taught the language in the process.

Lake Baikal is a picturesque, tranquil and pollution free place shrouded in romantic legend. It is a miracle on land with endless green forests all around. All you see is blue, blue and more blue. It is like a coast-less entity, with frozen blue skin of the lake rippling into crests of broken crystal as it approaches the pebbled coast.

Even in winter the mighty tide of the sleeping lake challenges its icy restraints, crushing against the shoreline with the force of a glacier. A smooth sheath of white flows uninterrupted up to the horizon, where the faint outline of a majestic mountain range floats mysteriously on the hazy skyline.

There are the alpine meadows, the springs, and the flowers, but there is nothing like Baikal Lake itself. What is peculiar is its sudden change of mood. It could be blue, quiet and calm one moment, and then immediately the wind rises and huge waves appear. It is like an old man mumbling. It is difficult to exaggerate Lake Baikal's beauty or size.

Baikal is very deep. Plunging more than a mile deep in the middle, Baikal holds more water than any other lake on Earth. It is fed by more than 300 torrents, but none comes out of it. In its depths thrive between 1,500 to 1,800 animal species - most of them peculiar to Baikal. It is home to the world's only freshwater seal.

Lake Baikal shoreline is home to growing human activities, including controversial industrial concerns, camping grounds, and grazing fields. Environmentalists claim the growing human activities are unreliable, and disturb this heaven on earth. However, the biggest threat to Baikal comes from poachers and careless humans who visit there.

What is the most distinct feature of Baikal? It is a fairies land full of romantic legend. I have heard many stories and this one particularly touched me. Local lore has it that there was a fairy of love. Her job was to distribute love among those who needed that in life. (Who does not need it?) She wanted love to prevail the world over. She also protected Baikal's natural surroundings and used to be on the shores of Baikal every night.

One night she met a man who just appeared on the shore of Baikal out of the blue. The man's name too was Baikal: mortal, deprived, lonely, and it looked from his face that he needed some love in life. The fairy saw him and fell head over heals, taking it as a test case. Led over the waves of sympathy and challenge, they instantly crossed all the distances usually not possible in a short time. They together wove hopes for the future.

Their love came to a tragic end. Baikal thought he was no match to the fairy. He was afraid of himself for being human. And one day, he disappeared all of a sudden without any explanation, without warning. The fairy kept looking for him, found him and cut off his feet, making him unable to move. Who will decide about this love affair?

There are two other lakes that remind me of Baikal: one is the world's highest, Lake Toba in Simatra (Singapore) and the other lake is Saif ul Muluk in northern Pakistan. Besides similar environments, the romantic legends are also attached with both lakes. A man named Samosir once caught a fish in Toba Lake that transformed into a beautiful woman. She married Samosir and started living happily with him, bore him children. Their love too came to a tragic end when Samosir told someone the secret that her wife was a fish. Gods sent relentless rain, flooding the valley. Samosir drowned and an island grew from his body.

And the Lake Saiful Muluk we are more familiar; the Crown Prince of Persia hears about the beauty of the fairy Princess Badar Jamal - the daughter of king of Caucasus - and falls in love. The prince, after wandering and hardships, succeeds in winning the heart of Badar Jamal. The lake becomes the rendezvous where the lovers meet: contemplating matters of heart and their future together, hence the name. The Jinn guard of the queen of Parbat becomes jealous of their love and one day breaches the bank of the Lake to drown them. But the lovers escape and find shelter in a nearby cave, which still exists.

Off the beaten track, up in the upper Hunza Valley, is Lake Sheosar. This place offers beautiful views of distant peaks and a panoramic view of Deosai Plains. At Bara Pani, one may spend hours in a hope to watch a bear or enjoy fishing in the cold waters of Barwai Stream. From here, you can travel back via Skardu and Gilgit to enjoy the most thrilling drive along the Indus River, or continue to glacier areas if you have to. Or just sit there and think about Adam Khan and Durkhane's love lore. And if you hear intently, you hear Adam Khan playing his Ik Tara.

I keep thinking of the lovers and fairies that come to the lakes to swim and dance in moonlit nights. I tend to believe such legends. The first impact that I get after setting eyes on any alpine lake is simply romantic. You do not get tired seeing the play of sun and shade. When you devote enough time to look at lakes - Baikal, Saiful Muluk or any other - it becomes a bit magical - clouding over, changing colors, and cliffs of surrounding hills turn convex and concave according to the slant of light. These seem places where one can forget the stress of today's fast lane life. The legends keep haunting me, though.

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Pervaiz Munir Alvi
Attock District in Punjab, Pakistan, is a place of great historic significance. Alexander the Great of Macedonia passed through it as did the first Mughal, Babar, and the various Afghan Sultans before him.

Emperor Akbar the Great, the grandson of Babar, recognizing the strategic importance of this area in 1581 built his famous Attock Fort complex here. The fall of Mughal Empire in eighteenth century saw the rise of Sikhs in Punjab and Durrani Afghans to the west. Once again Attock became a battle ground between two contending powers. British finally ended the feud by subjugating both Sikhs and Afghans in the nineteenth century. British at the same time also brought rail line to the area, built first permanent bridge in 1880 over the Indus River, and established a new city of Campbellpur. After independence of Pakistan the city was renamed as Attock City while the old city by the river is called Attock Khurd (Little Attock).So what gives Attock its historic significance and strategic importance?

The answer lies in geography. Located at the rim of the Potohar Plateau and overlooking the Kabul-Indus River confluence to the north, Attock is the historic gateway to the Central Asia.

Mr. Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India is known to have said: “As soon as I cross the Attock Bridge across the Indus River I feel as if I am in Central Asia”.

Indeed Attock is the eastern terminus of the Kabul-Attock corridor to the Central Asia through which for centuries have passed the armies and the caravans alike. However unlike the modern highways, this corridor is not a work of engineering marvel but an act of nature as it was naturally carved through the Hindu Kush Mountains by the legendry Kabul River and its numerous tributary rivers and streams. Traveling through the historic Kabul-Attock corridor and its adjoining valleys is in essence following the journey of the Kabul River and its tributaries.

The 435 miles long journey of River Kabul starts just west of the Kabul city in Afghanistan and ends at Attock where it ultimately falls into the River Indus. The river rises in the Sanglakh Range 45 miles west of the Kabul city as a small trickling and flows east towards Jalalabad and ultimately into Pakistan. Half mile east of Kabul city it is joined by the River Logar from the south and then about 40 miles below the Kabul city joins the River Panjshir flowing down from the north. On its way to Jalalabad, Kabul River is also joined by smaller rivers like Tagao, Alingar/Alishang combined, and Surkhab. Then about two or three miles below the city of Jalalabad it is joined by the Kunar River, which first rises in Chiantar glacier in Chitral, Pakistan as River Mastuj and flows southwest into Afghanistan.

Once in Afghanistan the Kunar River gets joined by Bashgal River from Nurestan before it finally merges with Kabul River. Kunar River brings in enough waters from Chitral and Nurestan areas that a few miles below its confluence with Kabul River a hydroelectric plant is built to harness river energies. This is the first water works on River Kabul.

From Jalalabad onward River Kabul cuts deep gorges through the Mahmond Hills, curves northward and approximately forms the international border between Afghanistan and Pakistan for several miles and then turns eastward again to be completely inside Pakistan just north of the legendry Khyber Pass. Ultimately in a perfect inverted U shape the river heads south towards the plains of Peshawar, the capital city of the Frontier Province of Pakistan.

Now this is the route through the Kabul River Valley, that armies of Alexander the Great and other invaders from Central Asia after him took to reach down to the plains of Peshawar.

These days, since 1945, the Upper Kabul River Valley in Afghanistan is occupied by the modern Kabul-Jalalabad-Peshawar Highway. However the highway does not completely follow the ancient route and instead, from Jalalabad onward it zigzags over the mountains and reaches Peshawar via Torkham and Landi Kotal through the legendry Khyber Pass. There is not much vehicle traffic through the river gorge; however the river itself is navigable by flat bottom boats or rafts and is considerably used for two-way commerce between Afghanistan and Pakistan. The gorge is narrow and deep and could easily lend itself as a site for a hydroelectric project but unfortunately neither one of the two countries has considered any such project yet.

In Pakistan the first head works on Kabul River is the Warsak Dam placed near Michni Fort. From this point various canals are developed in order to irrigate Peshawar Valley; these canals have significantly contributed towards the prosperity of the Charsadda district. Bara River flowing in from the Khyber Agency in the southwest is the first tributary to the Kabul River in Pakistan. These days Kabul River Canal originating from the Warsak Dam, after joining with Bara River provides waters to the Peshawar area and then travels further east to ultimately fall back into the Kabul River near the city of Nowshera.

Another and a major contributor to the Kabul River in Pakistan is the Swat River. It rises in the northern Swat near the city of Kalam and after traveling southward for about 70 miles gets joined by the Panjkora River near the town of Kalan Gai in Malakand District. The Panjkora River itself, just like Swat River, rises near Shiren gai in Dir and travels south to meet its counterpart. Together these two rivers continue to travel southward as Swat River and after passing through the Mahmond Agency fall into the Kabul River near Charsadda. The total length of Swat River is about 140 miles. Saidu Sharif is the most important and a capital city along the banks of River Swat. In the historic times these river routes were used both in war and peace. However with the opening of Jalalabad-Peshawar Highway and the Karakarom Highway to the further east, these ancient river routes even though now equipped with modern highways have lost their international significance and presently are used for the local traffic only.

British by 1895 under the leadership of Sir Robert Low had subjugated the Yousafzai clan of Swat, established a fort near the Malakand Pass and then brought rail line from Nowshera to Dar gai. They had also connected Swat with Malakand by tunnels thus further minimizing the importance of the ancient route via Swat River. Not only that, the Swat River itself was partially diverted at Malakand hydroelectric project as some of the river waters are forced to go through three mile long man made tunnels to a fall of 350 feet.

At present there are two power houses at Malakand Khas and Dar gai respectively and a third one is in the planning. At the bottom end of the tunnels the river waters are channeled through the Upper and the Lower Swat Canals. The Lower Swat Canal after passing through Mardan and Rasalpur areas falls into Kabul River near Nowshera. The Upper Swat Canal falls into the Kabul River just above the town of Jahangira named after Emperor Jahangir, the only son of Emperor Akbar. Jahangira is located on the right bank of the Indus River at its confluence with River Kabul. The rail line and the famous Grand Trunk, commonly known as G. T. Road, from Nowshera to Attock travels through the Lower Kabul River Valley along the banks of the River Kabul.

The journey of the Kabul River that starts from the Sanglakh Hills just west of the Kabul city in Afghanistan finally ends at the Indus River just north of Attock in Pakistan. The confluence area is a known sanctuary for the migratory birds flying between Siberia and Indus River delta in southern Pakistan along the Arabian Sea. The total run of the Kabul River and its tributary rivers adds up to be more than one thousand miles. All together from seven to ten significant tributary rivers and their picturesque valleys belong to the overall Kabul River system.

The thousands of square mile area of the Kabul River watershed, which is separate from the Upper Indus River watershed in Northern Areas of Pakistan, is stretched from Gazna to Panjshir Valley in northeast Afghanistan and from Khyber Agency to Chitral, Dir and Swat in northwest Pakistan. Today even though the ancient river routes of the Kabul River tributaries have lost their original significance, the new potentials for commerce, tourism industry and the river water developments are considerably significant. In the best interest of their people, the governments of neighboring Afghanistan and Pakistan need to minimize their political differences and cooperate mutually to fully realize the potentials of their joint Kabul River system stretched from Gazna to Kalam and from Kabul city to Attock City.

The souls that pave the way for the modern tarmac road known as the Karakorum Highway (KKH) still seem to flicker amongst the sharp moving shadows of the unstable rocks and the almost countless but crumbly semi-transparent glaciers that constantly threaten its existence. There has always been a long pass into, and out of China and Pakistan over what is sometime called the "Roof of the World" but in ancient times it was a very hazardous passageway. One wonders how Alexander might have crossed the Karakorum Mountains in 325 BC or how early travellers like Marco Polo, Hieun Tsang and others might have tracked on the route without backpacks, four wheel driven powerful vehicles and even the roads, till Pakistan Army engineers spread asphalt through one of the most difficult terrain in the world and created this great engineering feat called as the eighth wonder of the world.Northern Pakistan has some of the most beautiful and mightiest mountain terrain -- Hindu Kush and Karakorum -- in the world.

Besides raw natural beauty, the territory is very difficult for men and machine to work even in this modern age. The road is in fact reflection of man's incessant struggle against transcendental power.

What one sees while commuting on the highway? Extinct writings, Chinese traveller's diary and quoted in the North West Frontier Province Gazetteer that reads, "the path is certainly narrow, and often clung to the sheer faces of the many deep resonant gorges that confine their turgid, animated rivers. A traveller along the path sees at one glance the shadowy valleys from which a shiny mist columns rise at noon against a luminous sky, the forest ridges, stretches fold behind fold in softly undulating lines -- dotted by the white specks which mark the situation of Buddhist monasteries -- to the glacier draped pinnacles and precipices of the snowy range. He passes from the zone of tree ferns and endless colonnade of tall stemmed magnolias oaks and chestnut trees, fringes with delicate orchids and festooned by long convolvuluses to the region of gigantic pines, junipers, firs and larches. Down each ravine sparkles a brimming torrent, making the ferns and flowers nod as it dashes past them. Superb butterflies, black and blue, or flashes of rainbow colours that turn at pleasure into exact imitation of dead leaves, the fairies of this lavish transformation scene of nature, sail in and out between the sun light and gloom. The mountaineer pushes on by a track half buried between the red twisted stems of tree-rhododendrons, hung with long waiving lichens, till he emerges at last on open sky and the upper pastures -- the Alps of the Himalayan - field of flowers: of gentians and edelweiss and poppies, which blossom beneath the shining store house of snow that encompass the ice mailed and flouted shoulders of the giants of the range."

Get off the Grand Trunk Road -- main social as well as economic artery of Pakistan -- near Hassan Abdal; travel northeast through plains of Hazara and you are already in tourists' zone. Cyclists riding trendy machines and cellular phones even with local are commonly seen and almost all commodity items for the use offoreigners are available with vendors right on the roadside. Lucky ones may also have the pleasure to watch performance of Chinese artists at Silk Rout Festival that moves from place to place and gives spectacular performance.

Passing through outskirts of Mansehra, the road starts winding and climbing through forested hills, with houses climbing to the contours of hills and countless eateries lined up along the road. The travellers here are introduced to forbidding nature of the terrain. The river Indus gushes below and cliffs of bar rocks soar above as the KKH begins to cut its way through the gorges of Kohistan. After dipping into, and out of the Indus's wide bed the road also seem vying for the right of way with Gilgit and Hunza Riversbefore it heeds direct to the historic Khunjerab Pass into China. Voluminous traffic and rather unpleasant riding conditions becomes lighter after leaving Mansehra and remains so almost to Khunjerab Pass and beyond (to the end of the highway in Kashgar, China.)

Before crossing on the Chinese side of the Khunjerab Pass, the road passes through Hunza Valley. The intricate terraced fields, held in places by dry stone or wooden retaining walls and the complex system of irrigation channels leading down from mount Rakaposi or Ultar are testimony to the skilled labour of the locals who are famous for their different culture, friendly nature and long lives.

While the entire Hunza Valley is breathtaking in its splendour and beauty, one of my most enduring memories of this place is watching the sunrise over the hills. And, when you devote enough time to look at the mountains, it becomes a bit chameleon -- clouding over, changing colours, cliffs turning into convex and concave according to the slant light.

At night, lights glow in this tiny isolated villages. But, the village women still do not know the use of simple electric appliances of modern age. Community hydroelectric system has been installed on torrents. The system allows only few bulbs per household. Men and women are found working together in the fields, homes or collecting woods from hills in conical wicker baskets. They are welcoming and seem to be living at peace with themselves.

The highway is also called the "Silk Road" because it approximates the trail of what was once one of the many silk, jade and spice carrying caravan trails that congregated somewhere near Xi'an, in China, and terminated in the vicinity of modern Syria on the Mediterranean sea coast. Like long lines of exploring ants, determined traders, merchants and adventures wore a path through narrow gorges, high grass sheathed valleys, across waterless deserts, around higher mountains, and over ranging rivers in pursuit of bargains.

The passage of time has not altered any of these geophysical conditions. Rest every thing in the area has changed though. The developments found their is greatest physical manifestation with the construction of the KKH, built along the path of the caravan routs of the Silk Road, a joint venture between china and Pakistan (which is why it is also called as Pakistan China Friendship Road). Work on the mammoth project, which is said to have cost one life for every kilometre of road constructed, was begun in 1966 and completed in 1982. With commissioning of the road, the entire area has been laid open to trade and tourism. The resulting progress is undoubtedly causing a great deal of visible societal change.

While regular bus service ply the KKH to Gilgit, Hunza and the Khunjerab Pass, and the route eastwards through the Indus gorge to Baltistan, four-wheel drive powerful vehicles can only negotiate many of the remaining roads dissecting the region. There are lots of rough tracks leading to off road habitats on both sides of the road. For the adventurer who wants to go beyond these to really explore the mountains there is a highly developed system of trails built up over thousand of years by the tradesman, nomads and herdsmen, all granting access to some of the most magnificent mountain scenery on earth.

“My boyfriend and I left Australia and lived in Hungary and Germany for a while, where I couldn't speak the language; went to London, where we didn't like the weather; ended up in Canada because my sister was going to be there, and decided it was way too cold. So we ran away to St. Maarten. You can't see it in the picture, but there's a bar right on the beach. We quickly made friends there, and ended up going every morning at 10:30 for cocktails. Which doesn't seem so bad when you're in the Caribbean, but when you're outside the Caribbean, it doesn't really sound very good. The bar has a massive surfboard that they've turned into a blackboard, with the timetable of flights coming and going. They told us stories like seeing people's clothes catch on fire from the jet engine. I was ready to take a photo of the plane, but you forget you're on a beach, and suddenly the sand just comes at you. It feels like you're getting an exfoliating scrub at a day spa or something -- but much harsher.” As told to Seth Kugel

Bela is an ancient town in a historic tract surrounded by hills above the Arabian Sea; once Alexander was there; young Muslim Generals Muhammad Bin Qasim and Muhammad Bin Haroon were there; and lately British bureaucrat Sir Robert Sandeman was there.

Attitude tourism - to be distinguished from, say, adventure or seeing the sights - is generally not a particularly satisfying activity. Ideas and those who hatch them tend not to leave behind things large or attractive enough to ogle. So you may go to a place of great historic value but find nothing worth the visit. Lasbela tract is a case in point. Usually, you are left, if you are lucky, with a plaque or just an intrinsic thought. So I expected, more or less, nothing in Bela.

What I got was old signs, hot wind, remnants of crumbling columns, and a long view of the undergrowth of thorny bushes, some wildflowers, functional Persian wells and rocky hilltops covered with camel and sheep droppings. It was all prosaic and quiet and yet real enough to propel me into another fit of wonder.

One does not have to travel to have fun alone. I understand that. But I know of few surer ways to achieve what I find to be probably my happiest state - wonder - to stick a figurative pin into a map (as they taught me during a Map Reading Course) and then experience the grand surprise of seeing the I have only identified on maps but not seen before, someplace that inevitably and overwhelmingly exceeds my expectations.

Inhabited for centuries, Bela is a wonder in many ways. The town is situated in a significant plain called Lasbela in Balochistan with its own distinct history. The tract derives its name from the word "Las" which means a plain – surrounded by hill ranges, the greater part of the area is a flat plain, and Bela is the main town at the apex of the plain over 100 kilometres from Karachi. From the early period of history till the rise of the Jamoot tribe in the middle of the eighteenth century, only a few facts are known and recorded about the history of Lasbela.

Time seemed to me to be a greater mystery in Bela. The whole town had an air of being in a time-warp, lost and with its fibres still connected to some bygone era. Bela has been identified with the ancient place Armabel - the place that was visited by Alexander. Mohammad Bin Haroon, one of the Generals of Mohammad Bin Qasim is buried here. The last resting place of Robert Sandeman, the first British Chief Commissioner of Balochistan is also here. There are numerous sites and caves of prehistoric period and River Kud around Bela. Also, there are boulder hills in the neighbourhood, which are the remains of ancient settlements. The caves hewed out of solid conglomerate rock situated some 20 kilometres to the north of Bela town are other marvels worth visiting. The Jamia Masjid in Bela is an exemplary accomplishment of Islamic architecture.

On his way back from South Asia Alexander passed through Lasbela. According to Thomas Holdich's account, "After Alexande's death, one of his generals, Seleukas Nickator, became ruler of central and western Asia. For many centuries after this, nothing can be traced about the history of Lasbela. In early seventh century the ruler of Armabel (present Bela) was a Buddhist Somani. Chach usurped the throne of the dynasty of Sindh and marched to Bela in 636 AD. Chach was cordially received at Bela and was impressed with the loyalty of the people of Bela."

The area also lay on the route followed by the young Muslim General Muhammad-Bin-Qasim in 712 AD. On his way to Sindh, Mohammad-Bin-Qasim marched here accompanied by his General Muhammad Bin Haroon. The power of the Arabs lasted towards the end of the tenth century. Afterwards, the area appears to have come under the influence of the Sumras, who asserted their independence when the power of the Abbaside caliphs declined. The Sumras gained a position of supremacy in the middle of the eleventh century. The Sammas under Jam Umar eventually overthrew them in 1333. The Sammas reigned till 1523 when they were defeated and their power was completely broken by Shah Hussain Argon. The succeeding period is again obscure. The chiefs of the Gujar, Ranjha, Gunga and Burfat tribes, who are still found in Bela, are said to have exercised a semi independent power before the rise of the Jamoot tribe. When the British advancement extended beyond Sindh, Jam Mir Khan-II was exercising powerful political control over the affairs of the area. In agreement with the British, the family ruled until Pakistan came into existence.

Geographically, the district can be divided into the alluvial plain that surrounds Bela and extends southwards up to the bay of Sonmiani and the hilly regions situated east and west of this plain. The plain itself consists of alluvium deposits of rivers. At the edge of the plain, around the margins of the adjoining hilly regions and near the coast, lie raised sea-beaches, some 15 to 25 metres above sea level. The east of the alluvial plain exhibits the greatest variety of rocks forming the hill ranges, which are separated by valleys. The hilly region is situated on the west of the alluvial plain and extends along the Makran coast.

"Lasi" is a geographical term, which applies to all the tribes other than Baloch and Brahvi, Med, Khoja and Hindus who are settled in Lasbela. The principal Lasi tribes are only five in number: Jamoot, Ranjha, Sheikh, Angaria and Burraf. These are called the Panjraj or the five tribal confederacies. Under each Raj are a large number of heterogeneous groups. The few Afghans are mostly nomads, except the Buzdars, who are flock owners and wander about. Minor tribes include the Gunjas, Sinars, Sangurs, Burfats, Chhuttas and Khojas. A good number of Hindus are also residing in Uthal, Bela and Hub.

The land offers exciting landscape. The great span of arid wastelands with fierce but hospitable tribal people speaking different dialects makes the place very thrilling for cautiously curious going to this region. The dull brown of the fields is relieved by desolate shrubs, hamlets and Persian wells.

Not only is the earth good in Lasbela, but some of the people also left an unforgettable impression. There was my host Muqeem Kumbhar, landlord and agriculturist by profession and local historian in leisure time. He is well aware of the rapid change Lasbela is undergoing and feels powerless to do anything about it. He liked the idea of recording oral histories to document the folkways of the old Lasbela before they are totally wiped out by erosion of another kind.

For me, he arranged an evening with a nomad family who had a large herd of camels. We were served Kurut – curry made with dried meat and dried milk. It tasted wonderful. As a sweet dish, there was honey on the food mat, wild honey straight from the wilderness. The honey had a faint tang of wild berries, a beautiful lingering taste.

After the dinner we sat under the star studded sky to chat with the elders of the family. They had seen and knew so much and were more interesting than history books. Obviously, life of the nomads is incredibly difficult even in modern times despite having transistor radios, tape recorders and florescent lights. The evening reminded me of a similar experience I had outside the Saudi town Ar'Ar during the Gulf War. Only there we sat on costly carpets and under bright generator lights.

Adjacent to Karachi and having reservoirs of metal ores, Lasbela is developing rapidly. The area has potential for agricultural, fisheries and industrial development. By developing the industrial state of Hub, the people of Hub have become well-off, while many people of Bela still live without basic facilities. The private sector has shown much interest in developing various kinds of industries in this area due to incentives. Still, the rural and far flung areas remain deprived of electricity, water supply and gas. Drinking water is a major problem for the rural population.

A trip to this region is a wonderful for those who know the art to become happy when they have an enriching experience. After three days in the area, I turned back for a last look. There was nobody there, nothing but the shrubs swinging with the wind!