Afghans and Orlanthi

From: epweissengruber <epweissengruber_at_...>
Date: Sun, 15 Jan 2006 23:24:50 -0000


Mountsuart Elphinstone, an employee of the East India Company wrote a sympathetic view of the Afghan tribespeople in 1809 entitled "An Account of the Kingdom of Caubul." Anyone trying to characterize the Orlanthi could not do better than to hand out this quote from Elphinstone's book:

"Their vices are revenge, envy, avarice, rapacity and obstinacy; on the other hand, they are fond of liberty, faithful to their friends, kind to their dependents, hospitable, brave, hardy, frugal, laborious, and prudent; and they are less disposed than the nations in their neighborhood to falsehood, intrigue, and deceit ... [A visitor] would find it difficult to comprehend how a nation could subsist in such disorder; and would pity those, who were compelled to pass their days in such a scene, and whose minds were trained by their unhappy condition to fraud and violence, to rapine, deceit, and revenge. Yet, he would scarce fail to admire their martial and lofty spirit, their hospitality, and their bold and simple manners, equally removed from the suppleness of a citizen, and the awkward simplicity of a clown; and he would, probably, before long discover, among so many qualities that excited his disgust, the rudiments of many virtues."

Hapy New Year, Y'all.

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