Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh: Tribes of the Hindu Kush

by John Biddulph, Sam Sloan (Introduction)

This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1880 edition published in Calcutta.

368 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2001

Reviews

[James Sater · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent resource for Gilgit. Important to understand the biases that went into it, but as a first hand account it's top notch.

[Mehwish Ali · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Biddulph in his book Tribes of Hindoo Koosh , has given a detailed account of his adventure in Yarkand and Gilgit during the early 18th century. According to the author, the population that is settled in Gilgit during his time of visit is majorly a mixed population with the descent of Hindu as he says that "the former rulers had a title of Ra, and there is reason to suppose that they were at one time Hindoos, but for the last five centuries and a half they been Mahommedan”. In Wakhan, Sirikol, and Yarkand, the name Kunjoot is given to Hunza and in ancient times it was called Challaj Bultum, a name which has fallen into disuse. John Biddulph talks about Hunza as the “chief place of resort for slave-merchants from Badakhshan”. The men were seized from caravans while they plundered them in Yarkand. One of the most successful adventures took place in 1865 when no less than 50 camels and 500 ponies laden with merchandise were driven from Koolanooldi to Hunza by way of Ujadbai without opposition.