国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

it I first observed, on a slightly lower shoulder northward, the much-decayed remains of a small
fort-like enclosure, measuring about thirty yards from east to west and somewhat less across, built
of rough blocks quite Cyclopean in appearance. The wall eastwards was over sixteen feet thick
at its base. The amount of debris and earth which in most places overlies the ruin of this outwork
left no doubt in my mind about its antiquity. Ascending to the crest of the hill I had before me
the very well preserved walls of a manifestly recent circumvallation, extending for about 170
yards from north to south with an average width of only 30–40 yards. I was told that it was built
by the Mankiāl people within the present generation for the purpose of warding off invasion from
the south, which was apprehended at the time when Chilās was brought under control in 1892.
The good condition in which the walls, in spite of their very rough construction, are found to-day
supported the statement. The modern fort appears never to have been completed. In any case
the small size of the stones used, as seen in Fig. 22, made it easy to distinguish its outline from the
walls of a far larger and manifestly ancient circumvallation traceable on the slopes below, and also
from the remains of the dilapidated dwellings that cover the area thus enclosed.

The walls of the old fort, though built of large stones, had in most parts, owing to the steepness Command-
of the lower slopes which they crowned, to a large extent crumbled away. Their remains, rising ing position
now nowhere to more than four or five feet above the surface of the ground, could be traced most of Rajī-kōt.
easily for about 250 yards along the south face and for about 170 yards northward from the south-
east corner. The remains of walls of similar material that belonged to interior structures occupying
easier slopes had suffered less decay. The general impression I gained during my rapid survey
of the Rajī-kōt site was fully in accord with the local belief that it marked the fortified
residence of the ancient rulers of Darēl, a belief to which the very name Rajī-kōt lends support.
The position must have specially recommended itself for this purpose on account of its natural
strength, the relatively large space available on the hill-top, and also because it completely com-
mands the narrow neck-like portion of the valley which intervenes between the two main cultivable
areas, viz. Mankiāl in the north and Samagiāl in the south.

It was probably the advantage of this central position dividing the two largest communities Stronghold
of the valley and thus facilitating their control which had induced Rāja Pakhtūn Wāli to choose of modern
the small open plain at the south foot of Rajī-kōt for the castle he was building as his place of ruler of
residence in the newly annexed territory and as a stronghold to safeguard its possession against Darēl.
possible risings. The site had long ago gone out of occupation, and even the rich land at the mouth
of the Bachai valley westwards had only recently been brought again under cultivation. There,
in the open court of the as yet unfinished castle of Gumāre-kōt, Rāja Pakhtūn Wāli received me
in full state. The high walls of the enceinte, turreted at the four corners, seemed to be copied from
the old strongholds that had long sheltered the rulers of Chitrāl and Mastūj, members of rival
branches of the Rāja's race, during centuries of strife and bloodshed.

It was to me an interesting experience, welcome both on personal and historical grounds, Meeting
to meet Pakhtūn Wāli. After a chequered career that befitted the son of Mir Wāli—ruler of with Rāja
Yāsīn, murderer of Hayward and finally a fugitive—he had succeeded in building up a new Pakhtūn
kingdom for himself, the most recent that India has seen raised on the old adventurous lines, and Wāli.
perhaps the last for the time being. Rāja Pakhtūn Wāli, if (Fig. 27) not a man of imposing build,
yet in expression of face and in bearing appeared the shrewd and energetic chief that his success
proclaimed him. Though he looked relatively young for his age, then about forty-six years, there
was no mistaking in his features the traces of anxious periods of struggle and intrigue. He generally
wore an air of reserve in which suspicion and cunning were combined; nevertheless, in his unguarded
moments, I thought I caught glimpses of genuine bonhomie. When speaking of his young sons,
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