The Tajiks--
about 10,000 men--are chiefly in the Kabul and Ghazni districts.
The Hazaris and Eimaks are in the central section of Afghanistan,
known as the Hazaristan, extending east and west from the Koushan
pass over the Hindu-Kush range to Marchat on the Turcoman frontier,
and north and south from Sirpool in Turkestan to Girishk, between
Kandahar and Herat; they are the descendants of the military
settlers left by the Tartar hordes that swept Central Asia under
Genghiz Khan, and still maintain a quasi-independence; they
cordially detest the Afghan Government, but pay an annual tribute in
money to its support. Finally there is a million of foreign
nationalities, including Turks, Persians, Indians, Armenians, and
Kaffirs; the last-named are Hindus, and violent antagonists of the
Mohammedans living around them.
[Illustration: Mahaz Khan (a Tajik), Khan of Pest Bolak.
Jehandad (Lohanir), from Ghazni.]
Thus it is seen that modern Afghanistan comprises three great
districts--Herat in the west, Kabul in the east, and Kandahar in the
centre, with the seat of government at the cities of the same names
respectively.
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