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530 MOGHOLS
of their neighbors to the north and east, the Taimani, in contrast to the fully
sedentary "Mountain Tajiks" of Ghor to their west and south.
The Moghols of Ghor live in open villages, their one-story houses being built
usually of sun-dried mud-bricks, frequently on a stone foundation. A peculiar
feature Moghol houses have in common with Taimani houses is the frequent
occurrence of gabled roofs, an unusual feature in Afghanistan and unlike the
flat roofs of the usual two-storied houses in the compact villages of the neighboring
Tajik. Moghol tents show the same specific characteristics as the tents
of the southern Taimani in Farsi District, quite different from the structure of
the latter people's traditional tent with straight walls and gables.
During the annual migration of the Moghols, the whole village moves in early
April from their houses at the bottom of the valleys some 30 to 90 miles up into
the hills. This movement coincides with the lambing season, and milk processing
is the main occupation for the months to come. Patches of the hillsides are
plowed, and wheat is sown on this non-irrigated land. Part of the male population
has to return to the village in late July for a week or two to harvest the winter
wheat on the irrigated patches in the valley. Immediately after their return to
the campsite, the spring wheat is ripe for harvest. In early September the community
returns to the outskirts of the permanent settlement and pitches the tents
on the harvested fields, where their sheep and other animals also graze. This
step in the annual cycle provides a minimal amount of manure before the fields
are plowed in October and winter wheat is sown. Just before the plowing the
winter quarters are occupied and the tents stored until next spring.
The compound in the village is usually occupied by an extended family (paternal
or fraternal), whereas there usually is a separate tent for each nuclear
family during the summer. The economic entity for agriculture and animal husbandry
ideally is the greater unit of the extended family as well.
The Moghols of Ghor are structured in two subtribes, Burquti and Arghuni.
The former is further divided into Kalanzai and Khurdagzai ("Clan of the Elder,"
and "Clan of the Younger"), the ancient tradition of the steppes, reminiscent
of the nobility of the "White Bones" and the commoners of the "Black Bones."
This is one of the arguments supporting the belief that the Burquti (literally and
according to oral tradition, "descendants of the Buraq Khan," great-grandson
of Chagatai) are the original core of the Moghols of Afghanistan.
The two main divisions of the Arghuni are the Marda and Khudaydad ("Given
by God"). These groups are of lower status. The Marda supposedly are followers
of the Khan. Khudaydad is a name given either to a son born much later than
his elder brothers or to a son of an elderly couple, born as a single child.
The settlement pattern of the Moghols of Ghor strengthen these suppositions.
Those living closest to the former castle of Qaisar are the Kalanzai, for example,
the Khans and their personal following. Next to them are Khurdagzai villages
and in the outer circle the two "commoner" groups of the Arghuni. Marda in
large numbers also exist as Taimani and Aimaq-Hazara clans.