1 JUDICIAL JEERGA&
2 169
3 pel him the Ooloon. The same is done to way 00% who nfiiMt to
4 •bide by their deovee, and they often empower the acciLser to execute
5 exact letaliation on the defemknt* if he refuses to pay the compenn*
6 tion decreed. Where the compensation is fixed, or when it has been
7 settled at a high rate by the .Teerga, they always intercede with tftie
8 oflbnded party to fiugiye part of it.
9 I was at first surprised to find that JeeigM w«n more nraLy em-
10 ployed in ascertaining the guilt of an accused pmm, than in judging
11 of the circumstances which justified his alleged offence, and in deter-
12 mining the compensation wbit !i he was to make to the injured party;
13 but bv degrees, reason.s appeared v liy acts of violence should seltlom
14 be concealed. The Pooshtoonwulhf gives a man a right to revenge .
15 his own injuries, and the opinion of the Afghauns makes it a point
16 of honour to assert that right : all motive for concealment is, there-
17 fore, withdrawn, unless the party is sensible that he is in the wrong;
18 and on the other hand, publicity is necessary to clear his honour.
19 The Afghaun notions on this subject are illustrated by those ot our
20 own nation on the practice of duelling, which is only a generous and
21 well-regulated mode ol priv ate revenge.
22 • On the whole, these judicial Jeergas are useful inst il utions. In
23 most cases they conduct themselves with tolerable impartialiLVs al-
24 though they cannot be exempt from the influence of friendship and
25 enmity, and may perhaps, in some instances, be accessible to solicita-
26 tiOD^ snd even to oonuptioik Oae Bstmally imagines their debates to
27 be tmrndtuoiis and dtsoiderly, but I enderstand tbat this U not often
28 tbe case; and in some tribes, tbe Jeergas are remadoiUe Ibr order
29 and gravity, and for a rnde kind of eloquence^ mudi admired by thor
30 countrymen.
31 Hie Jeeiga is rendered umeoessaiy in sonoe cases by the extenstre
32 powers of the Khann, and in odieis it is rendered nugatory by tiie
33 mnnUness of tbe people. Tbe moat powerful Khaun, however, is
34 glad o£ the countenance of a Jeeig^^ when he has to deal with a
35 powttful oflbider.; and among the Doocaonees, where the chief acts
36 by the Kingf s sinthority, and is supported by hu power, he still finds
37 E