JBO'C's Historical Reference

Taimani of the Chahar Aimak, Afghanistan 

Taywasra was the traditional seat of the Taimani Tribe in the 19th century

Circa 1887

Of the Taimanis less is known than of the other three tribes of the Chahar Aimak. They are settled at and around the head-'waters of the Farah Rud, and their boundaries may be roughly laid down as, — on the north, the Hari Rud ; on the east, the Hazarajat and Zamindawar ; on the south and west, the road from Girishk throughbe gathered, the country of the Taimanis is inhabited by about 10,000 families of Taimanis, and 4000 to 5000 families of Tajiks and Mughals. The names of the ruling chiefs and the estimated numbers of their adherents are as follows: (1.) Sardar Ambiya Khan, chief of the Ghorat, about 8000 families, of whom nearly half are Tajiks and Mughals. (2.) Aga Rahmdal, chief of Shahrak, about 2000 families of Taimanis. (3.) Sultan Mohammed Khan, chief of the districts of Farsi and Chadrud, about 2000 Taimani families. (4.) Faiz Mohammed Khan, chief of Tulak, about 1500 Taimani families. (5.) Mohammed Sadik Khan, chief of Tagao Ishlan, about 1000 families (Taimanis). It is estimated that the Taimani chiefs could, if they combined their forces, put about 10,000 horsemen in the field. In estimating mating the fighting power of all these tribes, it is customary to reckon only the horsemen, inasmuch as they alone are available for service out of their own country. No doubt every able-bodied man would aid in defence of his own village; and if ever the British Government were to desire to drill and discipline levies from the Aimak tribes, they would probably find them excellent material. The Firuzkuhis have the reputation of being the bravest of the Aimaks. By the word Aimak is held to be expressed semi-pastoral, semi-agricultural tribes, generally of Persian origin, and speaking Persian, and of the Sunui faith. The term Aimak is never applied to Turkmen, though I have heard it applied to nomad Afghans. And yet it by no means necessarily implies nomad, though commonly applied to nomads. Neither the Chahar Aimak of the Herat province (Jamshidis, Hazaras, Firuzkuhis, and Taimanis), nor the Taimuris of Khaf in Persia, are nomads, though they change their dwelling-place from time to time. Although the bitterest enmity and continual feuds exist between the several Aimak tribes and sections, there is a certain brotherhood binding them together against their common foes, the Afghan and the Turkoman. But to return to the Taimanis. Their country is a mdangc of arid mountain, barren steppe, and here and there green cultivated valleys and patches of soil. Water is fairly abundant. The valleys are narrow, and consequently not very productive. The climate is in some parts sultry in summer and mild in winter, and in others cool in summer and bitterly cold in winter. In many parts of the country ruins of stone and brick buildings, traces of an earlier and higher civilisation, are to be seen. Considering/ however, that the dynasty of Ghor, which succeeded the Ghaznavide dynasty as conquerors of India, emanated from these parts, that is not surprising.
England and Russia Face to Face in Asia: Travels with the Afghan Boundary Commission
By Arthur Campbell Yate Published by W. Blackwood, 1887

The Taimanis are also in the main of Persian stock, differing from the others in that they have a strong section, to which the chief belongs, of Afghan-Kakar descent.
Imperial Gazetteer of India ...
By William Wilson Hunter, James Sutherland Cotton, William Stevenson Meyer, Great Britain IndiaOffice, Richard Burn
Published by Clarendon Press, 1908

The boundary of Ghor in ascending the valley of the Hari-rud was six and a half easy marches from Herat, at Chist , two marches above Obch. The chief part of the present population of Ghor are Taimanis,belonging to the class of nomad or semi-nomad dans called Aimäk, intermingled with Zuris and Tajiks.
The Encyclopædia Britannica: a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information
By Hugh Chisholm
Published by The Encyclopædia britannica company, 1910

The valley of the Nili (one of the tributaries of the Ghur) is well cultivated and full of trees, which is most unusual in this timberless country. The trees are not indigenous, being mostly apricot trees. Nili and Zerni fort are only three or four miles apart, and from the Hari-Rud to that fort the people are all Taimanis, and showed themselves civil and hospitable to strangers.

While engaged in his explorations in the Firuzkhui country, and about 15 miles from Daulatyar, Imam Sharif was robbed during the night of nearly all he possessed; his theodolite was wrecked, his aneroid broken and thrown into a stream, his records all carried off, including a long series of barometric observations and his notes on the Taimani country and its history. By good luck his plane-table was under his pillow and his complete sheet of survey rolled up in his bed, and these being saved he was enabled to continue his survey.

The Khan of Taiwari stated that there were at least 15,000 inhabitants in the Taimani country, which he described as a poor country with no fruit, and in great part deserted during the winter, when the people migrate to Sabzawar, the Helmand, or more genial climates. Snow lies deep in winter. The cultivation consists entirely of wheat, except in the Ghur valley, where a patch or two of melons exists.
The people are not absolutely poor; they own large herds of sheep and goats, and trade in otter skins and wool with merchants who come from Herat and Kandahar. The Taimanis also own a few cattle, and are invariably mounted, every man owning his horse. They resemble the Jamshidis more than the Hazaras or Firuzkhuis, and are exceedingly hospitable to travelers.

See Raverty's translation of the Tabakat-i-Nasiri, page 331, where reference is made to the Kasrs or forts built by Abbas of Ghur.
A Memoir on the Indian Surveys, 1875-1890 By Charles Edward Drummond Black, Great Britain India Office Published by E. A. Arnold, 1891

Note: See Yate's ' Afghan Boundary Commission,' p. 229. After Ayub's defeat, Khan Agha (Jamshidi) intrigued among the tribes of the Chahar Aimak against the Herati chief. While thus occupied, he was seized by Faiz Mahamad Khan and Mahamad Sadik Khan, chiefs of the Tulak and Tagas Ishlan sections of the Taimani tribe, taken to Herat, and handed over to Ayub, who put him to death.
The Life and Opinions of Major-General Sir Charles Metcalfe MacGregor: Quartermaster-general in India By Charles Metcalfe MacGregor, Charlotte Mary Jardine MacGregor Published by W. Blackwood and sons, 1888