B2R37-27 Afghan rocks Balladonia

Some of the weathered rocks at Afghan Rocks. Nullarbor #roundAustraliawithSpelio PA234227 See some research on the Yilgarn Craton here.. www.sciencewa.net.au/topics/industry-a-resources/item/274... A quick scan of a slide from my Ozimages Days Mary peaks out of one of the Afghan Rocks near Balladonia, west Nullarbor. Eyre Highway. We had a trip out via Esperance and Mt Ragged in 1967, I think it was before Xmas sometime, in the old Beetle. Wandered around all the tracks and old homesteads from Israelite Bay up to Balladonia. There is a story of Thomas Knowles shooting a cameleer here in the 1800s www.wanowandthen.com/Afghans-in-Western-Australia.html A word or two needs to be said about the importance of the Afghan camel drivers, who helped open up much of Western Australia (and indeed the rest of Australia as well) and who carted much needed supplies to the outback towns and stations. Australia is 70% arid or semi-arid land and as a result it has the smallest population of all the world’s five continents. With so much desert to explore it comes as no surprise that camels and the men skilled in handling them were brought out to help open up the vast dry interior. A high proportion of early settlers who came to Australia were ex-military men who had served in India. Here they had come into contact with camels and had seen the advantages they had over horses when travelling through areas of very low rainfall. Although the word ‘Afghan’ is used as a universal description of the cameleers, their nationality varied considerably. They came from India, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and of course Afghanistan. It is thought that the name Afghan stuck because the first cameleers and their camels arrived in South Australia aboard the ship Afghan. The first camels brought to Australia were a single male and single female, shipped to Hobart in 1840. They were sent on to Melbourne and then Sydney but their ultimate fate remains unknown. Estimates put the number of Afghans that came out to Australia to act as cameleers to be around 3,000. What proportion of those came to W.A. is unknown. The first camels to arrive in W.A. came with Ernest Giles in November 1875, after crossing the continent from Adelaide, but it was the discovery of gold in several centres that led to large numbers of Afghans and their camels making their way here. It was on these same goldfields (supplied to a great extent by the cameleers) that racial tensions began to appear. Following are some excerpts from an article published in the Coolgardie Miner in June 1884: 'We calmly arise to protest in language simple and unadorned against the opening of our doors to aliens of Asiatic extraction... ...As a rule they are peaceful, obliging, industrious fellows, who interfere with no man's right;... ...Those Afghans who have pitched their tents amongst us seem a most exemplary lot of men... ...but we fear a low degenerate mongrel race of human beings will follow where they lead, and for the protection of our Anglo Saxon race we say and say emphatically... ...we have no use for you at present.' Worse was to come and the same newspaper was responsible for publishing the following venomous diatribe: 'These Afghans, we are informed on unquestionable authority are well armed, and would have little hesitation in punctuating with bullets their objections to being interfered with. History furnishes us with vivid portrayals of the defilement of the dead women and children, and the awful horrors which have always followed even the temporary triumphs of the black man over the white, or the Moslem over the Christian.' It just goes on getting worse and worse: 'The Asiatic has not come along in the march of civilisation as so far as to leave his instinct to kill behind him. When the Asiatic goes a little dotty; he runs amok, and strikes down all who come in his path.' These articles were nothing more than incitement to public unrest and disorder. As the Afghans were in competition with European haulers, who mostly used horses, there was some friction between the two groups. It was said that horses would baulk at drinking from wells where camels had been a short time before and that horses became nervous and skittish when camels were about. One of the worst incidents to occur took place east of Esperance at a place now known as Afghan Rocks. Two parties, one with horses and one with camels, had camped near each other overnight and to start with relations were friendly. Things went wrong when Tom Knowles found one of the Afghans (Noore Mahomet) washing his feet in the rock hole, polluting the water which was regarded as a sin in the water poor areas. Knowles told Mahomet to get out of the water but the Afghan refused (washing of the feet is part of Muslim devotions). Knowles knocked Mahomet down and drew his pistol. Mahomet called for help from his companions who came to his aid throwing stones and carrying sticks. Knowles opened fire killing Jehan Mahomet and wounding Noore (who later died of his wounds). Knowles ran out of ammunition and made a run for it, but he was caught, tied to a tree and beaten unconscious. Knowles’ companions were lured to the Afghan camp and seized, and like Knowles, they were tied up. Historical picture of a camel and Afghan cameleer The remaining Afghans discussed the situation and decided that rather than taking revenge, Knowles had to be handed over to the police (so much for Asiatics being unable to control themselves). The inevitable resulted with Knowles being acquitted by an all white jury. The verdict was far from universally popular and Knowles, fearing for his life, fled to a remote corner of the Northern Territory. As Muslims, the Afghans had an aversion to dealing with pork products and it was generally understood that they would not carry bacon. To get around this some traders used to put bacon into boxes labeled ‘beans’ or ‘rice’. On one occasion one of these boxes was found to be leaking bacon fat and the cameleer simply dumped all the goods his camels were carrying by the side of the road. The unlucky trader was left with a hefty loss of profits and had to re-supply the next camel train carefully omitting any boxes containing bacon. Despite the friction between these two groups, the Afghans made an enormous contribution to the development of Western Australia and have been somewhat overlooked in many history books. In the end it was not racism that brought an end to the camel trains, it was the coming of the motor car. see slide.... B2R37-28 Afghan Rock Also in the area, on the Balladonia–Rawlinna Road,[13] are freshwater pools 14 km (8.7 mi) east at Afghan Rock(s), named for an cameleer who was shot nearby[14][15] on 13 October 1894.[16][17] The pools were a vital stop for drinking water during the 19th century, when goods were being transported across the Nullarbor by teams of horses or camels,[15] especially during the days of the Western Australian gold rushes.[18] On this date, there were two groups of men and their beasts: white men, using horses, and "Afghan" cameleers. Tom Knowles, after noticing one of the "Afghan" cameleers, Noor(e) Mahomet, washing his feet in one of the rock holes (known as gnamma in WA). After being met with a refusal to desist, Knowles knocked Mahomet down and drew his gun. Mahomet's friends came to his aid, throwing stones and waving sticks. Knowles shot one of the other men dead and wounded Mahomet, who died later of his wounds. After running out of ammunition, he ran away, but the cameleers caught him, tied him to a tree, and beat him until he lost consciousness. His companions came to the Afghan camp, where they were tied up against trees for the night. In the morning, the cameleers untied the men, whereupon Knowles rode to Israelite Bay (then referred to as Point Malcolm[16]), 120 mi (190 km) away, and report the incident to police.[17][19] The case was extensively reported in the newspapers at the time,[20][21] which also followed the trial of Knowles, on charges of manslaughter.[17] Knowles was acquitted, but the decision was controversial and Knowles fled to the Northern Territory.[19] The case is described in detail in The Ballad of Abdul Wade (2022), a book about cameleer Abdul Wade, by Ryan Butta.[17] Today, Afghan Rock is accessible by soft roaders, but travellers need to obtain permission and directions from the manager of Balladonia Station.[15] It is approximately 447 m (1,467 ft) above sea level.[22]