 Selim Aga, according to his own account, was born in Taqali valley controlled by a chief whose main possessions were the "three" wells.The people of Taqali practised primitive agriculture and sheepherding, their faith combined Islam with pagan Sun worship.Selim, the oldest boy in the family, was prepared by the father to plow his own farmland; he was abducted by slaveholders when herding the livestock.