The use of purely local terms in all writing is to be deprecated.
Perhaps the reason that no popular history of India exists, is to be
found in the outlandish names of the characters, and the other
expressions with which the pages are sprinkled. In this account I have
zealously tried to avoid the ugly jargon of a degraded language, and to
minimise the use of native names. The term just employed has, however,
been so freely used in the newspapers recently, that it is perhaps as
well to explain its meaning. A Jirgah is a deputation of tribesmen. It
does not necessarily represent the tribe. It may present--and very often
does--a minority report. Occasionally it expresses the opinion only of
its own members. What has been settled one day is therefore very often
overruled the next. The Jirgah may accept terms of peace in the morning,
and the camp may be rushed that night. These were, however, genuine, and
spoke in the name and with the authority of the tribes. All day they
kept arriving and squatting in rows before Major Deane's tent, to hear
the Government terms.
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