Afghanistan

Since 1871, when Sir Charles MacGregor drew up a very exhaustive précis of information on Afghanistan for the use of the Government of India, no book dealing with our buffer state in a general manner has been issued. The thirty-five years which have intervened have not been without important contributions to our knowledge of Afghanistan, but those works which have appeared cannot altogether be described as presenting a single comprehensive study of contemporary conditions in the country. In 1886 Lieutenant A. C. Yate, and in 1888 Major C. E. Yate, C.S.I., C.M.G., described in two very interesting volumes the proceedings of the Afghan Boundary Commission. Ten years elapsed before anything of importance appeared, when, by a rare coincidence, two books dealing with Afghanistan saw the light in 1895: Mr. Stephen Wheeler’s admirable account of The Amir Abdur Rahman, and that most entertaining and graphic volume, My Residence at the Court of the Amir, by the late Amir’s private physician, Dr. A. J. Gray. In 1900 Sultan Mahomed Khan, Mir Munshi to Abdur Rahman, presented to the public his remarkable production, The Life of Abdur Rahman, as well as a treatise on The Constitution and Laws of Afghanistan. In the following year, 1901, Colonel Sir Thomas Holdich embodied in The Indian Borderland many graceful descriptions of scenery and various centres in Afghanistan while, in 1905, in a series of articles in the Wide World Magazine, Mrs. Kate Daly, physician to Habib Ullah’s harem and the Government of Afghanistan, illustrated with many delightful touches a sojourn of Eight Years Among the Afghans. These few works practically exhaust contemporary [Pg viii] literature on Afghanistan, and it is in an endeavour to provide a more complete record of the subject than has hitherto existed that the author of Korea has compiled this little book. Mistakes are those of his own making; reflections and criticisms arise from his own opinions; but, in hoping that his critics may find something of value in the results of two years’ toil, the author wishes to say that if good qualities exist in it, they are attributable to the encouragement and gracious assistance which he has received and here wishes to acknowledge.

With a view to the careful preparation of this volume the author, after returning to London from the war in Manchuria, visited Central Asia, his travels terminating abruptly in an attack of small-pox contracted from the natives, while he was wandering in the region of the Pamirs. Descending viâ Gilgit to India from the Taghdumbash, twelve months have been spent in the labour of writing, in the examination of a number of works, and in reference to those authorities who are so justly distinguished for their knowledge of the heart of Mid-Asia. In this direction it is perhaps of interest to point out that in order to establish a standard of accuracy, certain chapters have been submitted in page proof to the criticism of this little group of Central Asian experts, and their corrections embodied in its final form. The author very warmly appreciates the help which has in this way been given him, and to Colonel de la Poer Beresford and Captain Charles Bancroft in connection with chaps. i., ii., iii.; to Colonel Sir Thomas Holdich, K.C.I.E., K.C.M.G., C.B., in chap. iv.; to Colonel C. E. Yate, C.S.I., C.M.G., in chaps. v. and vi.; to Colonel Sir Henry McMahon, K.C.I.E., C.S.I., in chap. ix.; to Dr. A. J. Gray, Mrs. Kate Daly, and Major Cleveland, I.M.S., in chaps. xiv. and xv. he is very much indebted, as the indulgent manner in which his inquiries have been received has materially assisted the conclusion of his task.

In other quarters similar help has been given, and the author desires to express his deep obligation to the [Pg ix] Secretary of State for India, Mr. Morley, to Mr. John E. Ellis, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for India, to Sir William Lee-Warner, and to Mr. Thomas, of the Political Department, India Office, for the considerate way in which services have been rendered him. The very pleasant hospitality bestowed upon the author by Mr. George Macartney, C.S.I., the representative of the Government of India in Kashgar, Chinese Turkestan; by Mr. L. G. Fraser, the editor of The Times of India; by Mr. C. F. Meyer, Standard Oil Company’s Agent in Bombay; by Major Cleveland, in Poona; and by Mr. Ivor Heron-Maxwell, late of Baku in that centre, has provided him with many haunting memories which, in a later volume, will be more suitably described. To Dr. Chalmers Mitchell, Secretary of the Zoological Society of London, and to Mr. J. Bryant Sowerby, Secretary of the Royal Botanic Society, the author is indebted for assistance in compiling the tables of species which illustrate chap. xii.; while to the Librarian of the India Office, and to the Librarian of the Royal Geographical Society, he would express his grateful thanks.

As correspondent to The Pall Mall Gazette, and to The Times of India from Central Asia, it is the pleasant duty of the author to acknowledge the permission of Sir Douglas Straight and Mr. L. G. Fraser to make use of certain articles which, although entirely altered and greatly amplified since their original appearance, were first presented in the respective columns of these organs. These extracts, a few brief paragraphs on various pages, are confined solely to the first six chapters of the book. Acknowledgments are also due to the proprietors of that esteemed Indian journal The Pioneer, whose London staff permitted the files of their well-known paper to be inspected; to the proprietors of The Daily Graphic for permission to reproduce the block of the Amir’s proclamation, and accompanying translation, appearing on pages 370, 371; to Messrs. Macmillan for the right to reproduce their copper engraving of Dr. A. J. Gray’s painting of the Amir Abdur Rahman; to [Pg x] Baron Herbert de Reuter, Managing Director of Reuter’s Telegram Company, for courteous assistance; to Mr. J. D. Holmes, an Indian photographer of renown, whose unique photographs of the Khyber Pass illustrate chaps. xvi. and xvii.; to Lieutenant Stewart, whose photographs appear in chap. ix.; to Lieutenant Olufsen for the right to reproduce certain interesting photographs from that informative work Through the Unknown Pamirs; to Colonel Sir Thomas Holdich for authority to base upon his original sketches enlarged drawings of Herat and Kandahar, by Mr. Percy Home; to Major Cleveland, I.M.S., to whose great credit very many of the illustrations in this volume must be placed; to Major Molesworth Sykes, H.B.M. Consul at Meshed, for photographs appearing in chap. vii.; to Professor Victor Marsden, of Moscow University, for general courtesies; to Captain Charles Bancroft for assistance in translating extracts from papers placed at the author’s disposal by his Excellency Prince Khilkoff, Russian Minister of Railways; to that well-known military novelist, Mr. Horace Wyndham, who has been good enough to assist the author in the revision of his proofs; and to Mr. Thomas Bumpus, of Messrs. J. and E. Bumpus, Limited.

The final, but by no means the least gratifying, duty now remains to be fulfilled. It is concerned with the dedication of this volume which, by special permission, is inscribed:

[Pg xi]

TO HIM
WHO,
BY THE SPLENDOUR OF HIS GIFTS
AND
THE WISDOM OF HIS RULE,
HAS LEFT
AN INDELIBLE AND MEMORABLE
IMPRESSION
UPON INDIA:
LORD CURZON OF KEDLESTON,

G.C.S.I., G.C.I.E., P.C.
ETC. ETC. ETC.

[Pg xiii]

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED

The works consulted in the preparation of this volume, including references to the Encyclopædia Britannica, embrace most of the well-known writers on Asiatic Russia, Persia, Afghanistan, and the Indian Frontier. Among those of less recent date are the books of Bellew, Connelly, Elphinstone, Ferrier, Lansdell, MacGregor, Marvin, Pottinger, Rawlinson, Vambéry, Wood and Yule.

Contemporary authorities, to which the author is more especially indebted, are as follows:

And including all Parliamentary, Consular, and other official publications, the files of The Times, Morning Post, Standard, Daily Chronicle in England; and The Pioneer, Times of India, and Indian Daily News in India; besides the more prominent Continental organs.

[Pg xvii]

ILLUSTRATIONS

MARKET-CART, ORENBURG

CHAPTER I

THE ORENBURG-TASHKENT RAILWAY

By a coincidence of singular interest in Central Asian affairs the completion of the Orenburg-Tashkent railway occurred simultaneously with the evacuation of Lhassa by the troops of the Tibetan Mission, the two events measuring in a manner the character of the policies pursued by the respective Governments of Great Britain and Russia in Mid-Asia. Moreover, if consideration be given to them and the relation of each to contemporary affairs appreciated, it becomes no longer possible to question the causes which have determined the superior position now held in Asia by our great opponent. If this situation were the result of some sudden cataclysm of nature by which Russia had been violently projected from her territories in Europe across the lone wastes of the Kirghiz steppe into and beyond the region of the Pamirs or over the desert sands of the Kara Kum to the southern valleys of the Murghab river, our periodic lament at the mastery of Central Asia by Russia would be more comprehensible. But, unfortunately, the forward advance of Russia to the borders of Persia, along the frontiers of Afghanistan to the north-eastern slopes of the Hindu Kush, has been gradual; so gradual indeed that as each successive step became accomplished we have [Pg 2] had time to register recognition of the fact in bursts of indignant chatter, accompanied as is not unusual with us by a frothy clamour of empty threats. Unluckily noisy outcry has been mistaken for action; but from the moment when Russia first moved into Trans-Caspian territory there appears to have been nothing but vague realisation of the acute possibilities with which the situation in Central Asia from that hour became impressed. As time passed and the several phases vanished our indifference and supineness have increased, until no chapter in the history of our Imperial affairs offers more melancholy reading than that which deals with the period covering the “peaceful” penetration of Asia by Russia.

In order to secure sufficient momentum for her descent railways were needed; and, while the line so lately completed between Orenburg and Tashkent is a more material factor in the situation than hitherto has been recognised, the laying of the permanent way between Samarkand and Termes, Askhabad and Meshed, approximately gauges the duration of the interval separating Russia from the day when she will have rounded off her position in Mid-Asia. Just now, therefore, and for ten years to come, strategic requirements should alone be permitted to influence the arrangement of our policy in High Asia. Commercial developments within the vexed sphere of the Russian and British territories in this region should be regulated by circumstances which, actually inherent in our Asiatic position, have been too long ignored. No question of sentiment, no considerations of trade influenced the creation of railway communication between Orenburg and Tashkent, the construction of the Murghab Valley line or the extension of the Trans-Caspian system from Samarkand to Osh. Strategy, steely and calculating, required Mid-Russia to be linked with Mid-Asia, the irresistible expansion of empire following not so much the line of least resistance as the direction from which it would be placed in position for the next move. Continents have been crossed, kingdoms annihilated and provinces absorbed by Russia in her steady, inimical progression towards the heart of Central Asia; until there is nothing so important nor so intimately associated with our position in Afghanistan to-day as the intricate perplexities which have emanated from this untoward approach. From time to time attempts have been made to effect an adjustment of the points at issue. The result [Pg 3] has been unsatisfactory since the patchwork application of pen and paper has come, as a rule, in response to some accomplished coup upon the part of our astute opponent. Indeed, there is nothing in the result of any of these compromises which can be said to do credit to our knowledge of the existing situation. Indifference, coupled with a really lamentable ignorance, distinguishes the conditions, if not the atmosphere, under which these rectifications of frontier and modifications of clauses in previously accepted treaties have been carried out. But now that we have witnessed the joining of the rails between Orenburg and Tashkent let us put an end to our absurd philandering; and, appraising properly the true position of affairs, let us be content to regard all further extension of the Russian railway system in Mid-Asia as the climax of the situation. To do this we must understand the points at issue; and to-day in Central Asia there are many causes which of themselves are sufficient to direct attention to them.

[Pg 4] Years have passed since the delimitation of the Russo-Afghan frontier and the definition of the Anglo-Russian spheres of influence in the Pamirs were made. In the interval, beginning with the acceptance of the findings of the Pamir Boundary Commission of 1896, Russia ostensibly has been engaged in evolving an especial position for herself in North China and providing railway communication between Port Arthur, Vladivostock and St. Petersburg. In this direction, too, war has intervened, coming as the culminating stroke to the policy of bold aggression and niggardly compromise which distinguished the diplomatic activities of Russia in Manchuria. Yet throughout these ten years the energies of Russia in Mid-Asia have not been dormant. Inaction ill becomes the Colossus of the North and schemes, which were en l’air in 1896, have been pushed to completion, others of equal enterprise taking their place. Roads now thread the high valleys of the Pamirs; forts crown the ranges and the military occupation of the region is established. Similarly, means of access between the interior of the Bokharan dominions and the Oxus have been formed; caravan routes have been converted into trunk roads and the services of the camel, as a mode of transport, have been supplemented by the waggons of the railway and military authorities.

The great importance attaching to the Orenburg-Tashkent railway and its especial significance at this moment will be appreciated more thoroughly when it is understood that hitherto the work of maintaining touch between European Russia and the military establishment of Russian Turkestan devolved upon a flotilla of fourteen steamers in the Caspian sea—an uncertain, treacherous water at best—and the long, circuitous railway route viâ Moscow and the Caucasus. This necessitated a break of twenty hours for the sea-passage between Baku and Krasnovodsk before connection with the Trans-Caspian railway could be secured. The military forces in Askhabad, Merv, Osh and Tashkent—including, one might add, the whole region lying between the south-eastern slopes of the Pamirs, Chinese Turkestan, the Russo-Afghan and the Russo-Persian frontiers—embracing the several Turkestan Army Corps, were dependent upon a single and interrupted line. Now, however, under the provision of this supplementary and more direct Orenburg-Tashkent route the entire military situation in [Pg 5] Central Asia has been dislocated in favour of whatever future disposition Russia may see fit to adopt. All the great depôts of Southern and Central Russia—Odessa, Simpheropol, Kieff, Kharkoff and Moscow, in addition to the Caucasian bases as a possible reserve of reinforcements—are placed henceforth in immediate contact with Merv and Tashkent, this latter place at once becoming the principal military centre in these regions. Similarly, equal improvement will be manifested in the position along the Persian and Afghan borders, to which easy approach is now obtained over the metals of this new work and for which those military stations—Askhabad, Merv, Samarkand—standing upon the Trans-Caspian railway, and Osh, now serve as a line of advanced bases. It is, therefore, essential to consider in detail this fresh state of affairs; and as knowledge of the Orenburg-Tashkent railway is necessary to the proper understanding of the position of Afghanistan, the following study of that kingdom is prefaced with a complete description of the Orenburg-Tashkent work, together with the remaining sections of railway communication between Orenburg and Kushkinski Post.

The journey between St. Petersburg and Orenburg covers 1230 miles and between Orenburg and Tashkent 1174 miles, the latter line having taken almost four years to lay. [Pg 6] Work began on the northern section in the autumn of 1900 and many miles of permanent way had been constructed before, in the autumn of 1901, a start was made from the south. The two sections were united in September of 1904; but the northern was not opened to general traffic until July, nor the southern before November, 1905. Prior to the railway communications were maintained by means of tarantass along the post-road, which led from Aktiubinsk across the Kirghiz steppes viâ Orsk to Irghiz and thence through Kazalinsk to Perovski, where the road passed through Turkestan to run viâ Chimkent to Tashkent—a journey of nineteen days. In addition to the galloping patyorka and troika—teams of five and three horses respectively—which were wont to draw the vehicles along the post-road and the more lumbering Bactrian camels, harnessed three abreast and used in the stages across the Kara Kum, long, picturesque processions of camels, bound for Orenburg and carrying cotton and wool from Osh and Andijan, silks from Samarkand and Khiva, tapestries from Khokand, lambs’-wool, skins and carpets from Bokhara and dried fruits from Tashkent, annually passed between Tashkent and Orenburg from June to November.

Of late years, the Trans-Caspian railway, begun by Skobeleff in 1880 and gradually carried forward by Annenkoff to Samarkand, has supplanted the once flourishing traffic of the post-road, along which the passing of the [Pg 7] mails is now the sole movement. The new railway, too, is destined to eliminate even these few links with the past, although in the end it may revive the prosperity of the towns which through lack of the former trade have shrunk in size and diminished in importance. The line does not exactly follow the postal route; but from Orenburg, which is the terminus of the railway from Samara on the Trans-Siberian system, it crosses the Ural river to Iletsk on the Ilek, a tributary of the Ural. From Iletsk the metals run viâ Aktiubinsk and Kazalinsk along the Syr Daria valley viâ Perovski to Turkestan and thence to the terminus at Tashkent.

Originally one of three suggested routes the Orenburg-Tashkent road was the more desirable because the more direct. Alternative schemes in favour of connecting the Trans-Siberian with the Central Asian railway on one hand and the Saratoff-Uralsk railway with the Central [Pg 8] Asian railway on the other were submitted to the commission appointed to select the route. Prudence and sentiment, as well as the absence of any physical difficulties in the way of prompt construction, tempered the resolution of the tribunal in favour of the old post-track. It was begun at once and pushed to completion within four years—a feat impossible to accomplish in the case of either of the two rival schemes. The former of these, costly, elaborate and ambitious, sought to connect Tashkent with Semipalatinsk, the head of the steamboat service on the Irtish river, 2000 miles away, viâ Aulie-ata, Verni and Kopal. Passing between the two lakes Issyk and Balkash alternative routes were suggested for its direction from Semipalatinsk: the one securing a connection with the Trans-Siberian system at Omsk, the other seeking to pass along the post-road to Barnaul, terminating at Obi where the Trans-Siberian railway bridges the Obi river. The supporters of the scheme, which aimed at uniting the Saratoff-Uralsk railway with the Central Asian railway, proposed to carry the line beyond Uralsk to Kungrad, a fishing village in close proximity to the efflux of the Amu Daria and the Aral sea. From Kungrad, passing east of Khiva, the line would have traversed the Black Sands following a straight line and breaking into the Central Asian system at Charjui, opposite which, at Farab, a line to Termes viâ Kelif has been projected; and where, too, an iron girder bridge, resting on nineteen granite piers, spans the Amu Daria. It is useless at this date to weigh the balance between the several schemes; one of which, the Orenburg-Tashkent route, has become an accomplished fact to provide, doubtless in the near future, matter for immediate concern.

From Orenburg, of which the population is 80,000, the line 4 versts[1] from the station crosses the Ural river by an iron bridge, 160 sagenes[2] in length, running from there south to Iletsk, formerly the fortress Iletskaya Zashchita and at present a sub-district town of the Orenburg government with a population of 12,000.

From Iletsk a short branch line, rather more than three versts in length, proceeds to the Iletsk salt mines. Running eastwards and crossing the Ilek river from the right to the left bank by an iron bridge 105 sagenes in length it reaches Aktiubinsk, a district town in Turhai province. At this stage the railway traverses the main watershed of the Ural, Temir, [Pg 9] Kubele and Embi rivers, arriving at the Kum Asu pass across the Mugodjarski range. The passage of the line through the mountains, extending 26 versts and a veritable triumph of engineering, imposed a severe test upon the constructive ability of the railway staff. Beyond the range the line turns southward following the valleys of the Bolshoi, Mali Karagandi and Kuljur rivers until, 600 versts from Orenburg, it arrives at Lake Tchelkar. The line now runs across the Bolshiye and Maliye Barsuki sands, where there is abundance of underground fresh water, to the northern extremity of the Sari Tchegonak inlet on the Aral sea, where it descends to sea-level moving along the north-eastern [Pg 10] shore. The military depôt at Kazalinsk—sometimes called Fort No. 1—now approaches. This point founded in 1854 has lost its exclusive military character, ranking merely among the district centres of the Syr Daria province. Thirty-six versts from Kazalinsk, at the next station Mai Libash situated in a locality quite suitable for colonisation, a branch line, 4 versts in length, links up the important waterway of the Syr Daria with the Orenburg-Tashkent system, extending the facilities of the railway to shipping which may be delayed through stress of bad weather in the gulf or through inadequacy of the draught over the bar at the mouth of the river.

The main line keeps to the Syr Daria, running through the steppe along the post-road to Karmakchi or Fort No. 2. On leaving Karmakchi it diverges from the post-road to wind round a succession of lakes and marshes which lie at a distance of 50 versts from the river. The railway continuing its original direction now runs along the basins of the Syr Daria and the Karauzyak, a tributary which it crosses twice by small bridges, each constructed with two spans 60 sagenes in length. The character of the country from Karmakchi to Perovski, a distance of 138 versts, differs considerably from the region preceding it. The low-lying ground, broken by swamps, is everywhere covered with a thick overgrowth of reeds; while the more elevated parts, watered by ariks, are devoted to the cultivation of crops. The town of Perovski is situated in flat country 1½ versts from the station. From there to Djulek the line returns to the post-road and some distance from the Syr Daria passes between the river and the Ber Kazan lakes to Ber Kazan. At Djulek, the name being adopted from a small adjacent hamlet, it diverges from the post-road to run direct to the village of Skobelevski, one of those curious peasant settlements which located in the uttermost parts of Central Asia preserve in their smallest detail every characteristic of remote Russia. At such a place life savours so strongly of the middle ages that one scarcely heeds the purely modern significance which attaches to the Iron Horse.

Barely 30 versts from Skobelevski and situated close to the Syr Daria there is the station of Tumen Arik, which gives place to Turkestan, beyond which for 120 versts the line runs parallel with the post-road. The station is 2½ versts to the north of the town of Turkestan, one of the most important towns in the Syr Daria province and only 40 versts [Pg 11] from the Syr Daria. The next station Ikan is associated with the conquest of Turkestan, a famous battle having been fought about the scene where the station buildings now stand. Twenty versts to the north of the station, close to the post-road, there is a memorial to Ural Cossacks who fell during the fight. Otrar the following station is identified with the tradition, derived from the existence of an enormous mound standing amid the ruins of the old-time city of Otrar, that Timur when his army crossed the Syr Daria ordered each of his soldiers to throw a handful of earth upon the ground at the point where the river was crossed in safety. Beyond Otrar the line runs along the right bank of the Aris river, crossing it at 1570 versts from Orenburg by a bridge of 90 sagenes in three spans of 30 sagenes each. Aris station is placed further along the river bank at a point where at some future date branch lines between it and the town of Verni, as well as to a junction with the Trans-Siberian system, will be laid. After leaving it the railway, still ascending, ultimately crosses the pass of Sari Agatch in the Kizi Kurt range, 267 sagenes above the sea.

The descent from the pass leads to Djilgi valley where the line crosses three bridges; passing over the Keless river by a single span bridge of 25 sagenes, over the Bos-su arik by a bridge of 18 sagenes, and over the Salar river by a bridge of 12 sagenes. Seventy-two versts further the line runs into its terminus at Tashkent which is now classed as a station of the first degree, although commercially it stands only sixth among the stations of the Central Asian railway ranking with Andijan and yielding priority of place to Krasnovodsk, Samarkand, Khokand, Askhabad and Bokhara. It is proposed at Tashkent, which lies 1762 versts from Orenburg, 1747 versts from Krasnovodsk and 905 versts from Merv and where it is evident that the needs of the railway have been carefully studied, to double the track between Orenburg and Tashkent. Large stocks of spare rails and railway plant are held in reserve in sheds, one important feature of this very efficient preparation being the possession of 20 versts of light military railway. The erection of engine-sheds, waggon-sheds, workshops, supply stores and quarters for the staff has followed a most elaborate scale, these buildings being arranged in three groups around the station. The railway medical staff and the subordinate traffic and traction officials occupy the first; the chiefs of the traffic, telegraph and traction departments [Pg 12] are in possession of the second; the remaining employés securing accommodation in the third set of buildings placed at the end of the Station Square. Along the opposite face are the spacious workshops where between five and six hundred men find daily employment; in juxtaposition with the general depôt are the railway hospital, where there is accommodation for 10 beds, the main supply stores and a naphtha reservoir with a capacity of 50,000 poods.[3]

The country in the neighbourhood of Tashkent as seen from the railway presents the picture of a bountiful oasis. For 20 versts there is no interruption to a scene of wonderful fertility. Market gardens, smiling vineyards and fruitful orchards, not to mention cotton-fields and corn-lands, cover the landscape. This abundance in a measure is due to careful irrigation and to the excellent system of conserving water which has been introduced. In support of this 113 specific works have been completed, each of which—and the giant total includes water-pipes by the mile and innumerable aqueducts—was a component part of that scheme of irrigation by which life in Central Asia alone can be made possible.

Although work upon the Orenburg-Tashkent line began in 1900 immediately after the completion of the original survey, wherever more careful examination has shown an advantage to be possible alterations have been made. The cost of construction, estimated at 70,000 roubles[4] per verst, has been materially lessened by these means—a reduction of 24 versts equally divided between the Orenburg and Kazalinsk, Kazalinsk and Tashkent sections having been effected. By comparison with the old post-road the railway is much the shorter of the two lines of communication, the advantage in its favour amounting to 134 versts on one section of the road alone; the actual length between Tashkent and Kazalinsk being by post-road 953¼ versts and by railway 819¼.

No. 2. From Mugodjarski mountains to the sands of Bolshiye Barsuki, 400 to 560 versts.

In the northern section the line is supplied everywhere with fresh water—in the first instance from the Ural river and then by the smaller rivers Donguz, Elshanka, Ilek, Kulden, Kubele, Temir and Embi; Koss lake and finally from wells.

Here are the Iletsk mines, famous for their rock salt. They despatch annually to Orenburg more than 1,500,000 poods of salt. The deposits cover a field 4 versts in extent with an unvarying thickness of more than 85 sagenes. The section now in working contains 100 milliard poods of salt. The annual yield may be reckoned at 7,000,000 poods. At the present time considerably less than this output is obtained, the high freight charges upon land-carried goods and the insufficiency of the labour available being responsible for the disproportion.

In another direction the Iletsk district is of importance; the veterinary station Temir Utkul, through which pass large herds of cattle on their way to Orenburg from the Ural province, having been established there. In the course of the year many thousands of cattle are examined by the surgeons of the Veterinary Board—the existence of the numerous cattle-sheds and the constant arrival of the droves adding to the noise and bustle of Iletsk, if not exactly increasing its gaiety. Further on, in the Aktiubinsk district of the Turgai province and along the whole valley of the Ilek river, where much of the land is under cultivation, wide belts are given over to the pasturage of these travelling mobs of cattle. Upon both banks of the river, too, there are Kirghiz villages. The area of the Aktiubinsk district is:

From an agricultural point of view this locality, on account of its paucity of population and fertile soil, is regarded with high favour by the immigration authorities. In the town of Aktiubinsk itself there is a yearly market of cattle, corn, manufactures and agricultural implements. This as a rule returns a quarter of a million roubles. Now that the railway has been completed and opened to passenger and commercial traffic, it is expected that it will give an immediate impetus to this region and that it will be possible to carry out a more careful examination of its mining resources, of which at the present time there are [Pg 14] only indications. Copper has been traced along the Burt, Burl, Khabd and Kutchuk Sai rivers; deposits of coal have been found near the Maloi Khabd, Teress Butak and Yakshi Kargach rivers; iron has been located by the Burt river and naphtha on the Djus river; while there is reason to believe that gold exists in the vicinity.

On the second section, the line derives its water from springs in the Djaksi mountains, the basin of the Kuljur river, the Khoja and Tchelkar lakes. It abounds with Kirghiz villages but minerals do not play an important part in it. A few seams of coal are believed to exist in the ravine of the Alabass stream; and there are lodestone mines in the Djaman mountains and in the Kin Asu defile. Cattle-farming is more remunerative to the local settlers than cereal production; as a consequence there is very little cultivation. The district, which is 160 versts in length, occupies:

On the third section, which extends from the sands of Bolshiye Barsuki to Kazalinsk covering an area of 285 versts, the water-supply is obtained at first from shallow surface wells; but 45 versts from Kazalinsk the railway enters the Syr Daria valley, where water is abundant. The southern areas of this belt alone possess any commercial importance, owing to Kirghiz from the northern part of the Irgiz district who, to the number of some 10,000 kibitkas, winter there. The northern part is largely the continuation of a sparse steppe. The Kazalinsk district, beyond which the Orenburg-Tashkent railway enters Turkestan, is one of the least important divisions of the Syr Daria province. It embraces:

Around Kazalinsk itself, however, there has been but little agricultural activity. In the main, development is confined to the fertile Agerskski valley and along the Kuban Daria, a tributary of the Syr Daria. The return is meagre and the population has not sufficient corn for its own needs. Large quantities of grain are annually imported into the neighbourhood from the Amu Daria district by boat across [Pg 15] the Aral sea or by camel caravan. Railway traffic in this section nevertheless will not rely upon the carriage of cereal produce—live stock, which until the advent of the railway was sent to Orenburg by boat along the Syr Daria and then by caravan-road to the city, representing the prospective return which the district will bring to the line. The population is composed of:

The revenue of Kazalinsk is 21,880 roubles. The town contains the residences of a district governor and an inspector of fisheries, together with district military headquarters, the administrative offices of the treasury and the district court, besides a district hospital and a public library. There are no hotels. In early days in the conquest of Turkestan, when the Kazalinsk road served as the only line of communication with European Russia, the town became a busy mart for Orenburg, Tashkent, Khiva and Bokhara; even now the Kirghiz in the district possess 770,000 head of cattle. Trade was obliterated by the advent of the Central Asian railway; but it is hoped that now the Orenburg-Tashkent line has been opened to traffic it may revive.

The village of Karmakchi which is situated on the banks of the Syr Daria is another point in this district. It boasts only a small population, in all some 300 odd, an Orthodox church, post and telegraph office, two schools, hospital and military base office. Importance attaches to the post as it is upon the high road along which is conducted the winter trek of the Kirghiz.

With the opening of the line to traffic the transportation of fish by the railway has shown a tendency to increase. It is believed that the development of the fishing industry throughout the Aral basin is only a matter of time. At present the yearly catch of fish there reaches a total of 300,000 poods of which not less than one half is sent to Orenburg, the trade realising about 1,000,000 roubles. Hitherto little has been attempted. With the assistance of the railway a speedy expansion of the trade is assured—the interests of the fishing population and the general welfare of the river traffic having been advanced through the construction of a harbour upon the gulf of Sari Cheganak, in connection with the railway and only 5 versts distant. Aral sea, the station at this point, is 790 versts from Orenburg.

The fourth and last division, from Kazalinsk to Tashkent, runs along the valley of the Syr Daria. It is fully supplied with good water and possesses a larger population than either the second or the third sections. In it the line traverses the following districts of the Syr Daria province:

The Perovski district notwithstanding the good qualities of its soil produces very little corn; its chief population consists of nomadic Kirghiz who together own 990,000 head of cattle, the export cattle trade for the district amounting to 2,000,000 roubles annually. Small tracts of wheat and millet are cultivated here and there with the aid of tchigirs, native watering-pumps. The water is brought up from the river by means of a wheel, along the rim of which are fixed earthenware jugs or cylindrical vessels of sheet iron. These vessels raise the water to the height of the bank, whence it is very readily distributed. The best corn-lands are [Pg 17] situated in the Djulek sub-district; but the primitive methods of agriculture existing amongst the nomads, in conjunction with the deficiencies in the irrigation system, explain at once the lack of cereal development in these areas.

Perovski was taken by Count Perovski on July 28, 1853, and in honour of the occasion by Imperial order the fortress was renamed Fort Perovski. Close to the town there is a memorial to the Russian soldiers who fell during that engagement.

together with district administrative offices similar to those established at Kazalinsk. The water-supply is drawn from the Syr Daria by means of wells. There are no hotels. The town revenue is only 12,350 roubles; although the importation of various goods from Russia into the Perovski district represents an annual sum of 2,900,000 roubles. With the advent of the Central Asian railway the commercial importance of Perovski, once a point through which caravans destined for Orenburg or Tashkent passed, waned. Now its trade is dependent upon the numerous Tartars and Ural Cossacks who have settled there. The place is unhealthy, and the settlement is affected by the malaria arising from the marshes which surround it. In spring and summer the lagoons swarm with myriads of mosquitoes and horse-flies; so great is the plague that the Kirghiz together with their flocks and herds after wintering along the Syr Daria beat a hurried retreat into the steppe, driven off by the tiresome insects. Many months elapse before the nomads return; it is not until the cold weather has set in that they appear in any numbers. Quite close to Perovski there are two immigrant villages—Alexandrovski and Novo Astrakhanski—erected in 1895, where the inhabitants are occupied with cattle-farming and the sale of hay in winter time to the Kirghiz. The district possesses nothing save a pastoral population and a small settlement of 200 souls at Djulek. This place, formerly a fortress founded in 1861 and now half destroyed by the floods of the Syr Daria, contains the administrative offices of the commissioner of the section, with a postal and telegraphic bureau and a native school. To the south of Djulek there is Skobelevski, another small village founded by immigrants in 1895 and containing some fifty-six houses. It is watered by the Tchilli arik. Skobelevski is rapidly developing into a trade-mart, the source of its good fortune being contained in the advantageous position which it fills in the steppe. Throughout this region, plots of land with a good quality soil and well watered have been granted to colonists.

The Chimkent district similarly possesses a rich and fertile [Pg 19] soil, derived in the main from its network of irrigating canals. Its population is more numerous than other adjacent settlements and it supports altogether seventeen immigrant villages with a population of 5135. Chimkent contains in itself all the features necessary to the development of a wide belt of agriculture; but at the present time the most extensive tracts of wheat land are along the systems of the Aris, Aksu, Badam, Buraldai, Burdjar, Tchayan and Bugun rivers. In the valley of the Arisi, along the middle reaches, there are rice-fields; and in the country round Chimkent the cotton industry has begun to develop. Experiments are being tried in the cultivation of beetroot as the soil and climatic conditions of the district are especially favourable to its growth. The present quality of the Chimkent beetroot is not inferior to that grown in the Kharkoff Government; so that Chimkent may well become, in the near future, the centre of a sugar-producing industry not only for Turkestan but for the whole of Central Asia, which so far has imported its sugar exclusively from European Russia.

[Pg 20] The district town of Chimkent, formerly a Khokand fortress taken by the Russian forces under the command of General Chernaieff September 22, 1864, lies upon the eastern side of the railway. Its population comprises:

Through Chimkent passes a road from Tashkent to Verni. In the northern part of the district the line runs close to the ruins of the ancient town of Sauran and the fortress of Vani Kurgan, from where it proceeds to Turkestan. This was occupied in 1864 by the Russian forces under the command of General Verevkin.

Turkestan is situated 40 versts to the east of the right bank of the Syr Daria, at a height of 102 sagenes above sea level. It is watered by canals diverted from springs and small rivers which flow from the southern slopes of the Kara mountains. The combined population of the place comprises:

The outward appearance of the town is extremely handsome. There is much vegetation, many wide streets and large open spaces.

together with the administrative bureau of the sectional commissioner, besides district military headquarters, a district court and a post and telegraph office.

In respect of trade Turkestan occupies a prominent place. The great bulk of the raw products of the nomad cattle-farming industry is brought to it for the purpose of exchanging with articles of Russian manufacture. The yearly returns of the bazaars amount to 4,000,000 roubles; an increase upon this sum is expected now that in the Karatavski mountains, which are close at hand, lead mines have been discovered. The town revenue is 19,350 roubles.

The Tashkent district is more densely populated and possesses a more productive soil than Chimkent. The mineral resources, too, present greater promise while the trade returns reach a total of 50,000,000 roubles a year. Merchandise comes from Siberia into Orenburg and Tashkent; while, in addition, there are the local products and those from the interior of European Russia. The line serves, also, as the shortest route between Tashkent and the rich corn region at Chelyabinsk and Kurgan. Undoubtedly it will assist to supply the whole of Turkestan with Siberian corn, thereby setting free some of the land now under corn for the cultivation of cotton. Further, it connects Tashkent with the centre of the mining industry in the Ural mountains; and dense streams of Russian colonisation and trade pass by it into the heart of Central Asia.

The prosperity introduced both into Orenburg and Tashkent by the creation of railway communication between these two centres will exercise a very beneficial effect upon the capacity of their markets. Already improvement has been marked, the flow of fresh trade through these new channels following closely upon the advance of the construction parties. The period available for statistics does not represent the effect of the new railway upon local trade. [Pg 24] The work of construction had not begun at the time the returns, which are given below, were drawn up. At that moment the commercial activity of Tashkent was shown by the following table:

During the few years which have elapsed since the figures were compiled the Orenburg-Tashkent railway has been opened, this happy accomplishment at once becoming a factor of the greatest economic importance in the commerce of Central Asia.

[Pg 25]

CHAPTER II

THE KHANATE OF BOKHARA, THE PROVINCE OF SAMARKAND, THE DISTRICTS OF TASHKENT AND MERV

The Khanate of Bokhara, across which lies the direct line of any advance upon Afghanistan, is the most important of the Russian protected states in Central Asia. It is situated in the basin of the Amu Daria between the provinces of Trans-Caspia on the west, of Samarkand and Ferghana on the north and east; while, in the south, the course of the Oxus separates, along 500 versts of the frontier, the dominions of Bokhara from those of Afghanistan.

The area occupied by Bokhara, including the sub-territories Darwaz, Roshan and Shignan situated upon the western slopes of the Pamirs, amounts to 80,000 square miles, over which in the western part certain salt marshes and desolate stretches of sandy desert extend. The eastern area is confined by the rugged chains of the Alai and Trans-Alai systems, the Hissar mountains, the immediate prolongation of the Alai range and crowned with perpetual snow, attaining considerable altitude. This group divides the basins of the Zerafshan and Kashka Daria from the basin of the Amu Daria. The rivers of Bokhara belong to the Amu Daria system, the Oxus flowing for 490 versts through the Khanate itself. Constant demands for purposes of irrigation are made upon its waters as well as upon the waters of its many tributaries, [Pg 26] a fact which rapidly exhausts the lesser streams. In the western portion of the Khanate the Zerafshan river is the great artery; and although it possesses a direct stream only 214 versts in length it supplies a system of canals, the aggregate length of which amounts to more than 1000 versts. These again are divided to supply a further thousand channels, from which the water actually used for irrigating the various settlements and fields is finally drawn. The second most important river in the western part of the Khanate is the Kashka Daria, which waters the vast oases of Shakhri, Syabz and Karshine. In the eastern areas numerous streams are fed by the snows and glaciers of the Alai mountain system.

The western region of Bokhara possesses an extremely dry climate which, while hot in summer, tends to emphasise the severe cold of the winter months. Occasionally at that time the Amu Daria freezes, when the ice remains about the river for two or three weeks. The break-up of winter is manifested by heavy rains which, falling in February, continue until the middle of March when, after a short month of spring, a hot sun burns up the vegetation. At this period the nomadic tribes abandon the plains for the mountains, large areas of the Khanate now presenting the appearance of a sparsely populated desert in which the sole vegetation is found along the banks of the rivers or in oases watered by the canals. With the advent of autumn, the steppe once more reflects the movements of these people.

In its eastern part the altitude varies between 2500 and 8500 feet above sea-level. The climate, warm and mild in summer, is of undue severity in winter, the period of extreme cold lasting some four months. Snow, commencing to fall in October, remains upon the ground until April, the frosts always being severe. At such a season the winds, blowing from the north-east, possess an unusual keenness in contradistinction to the strong south-south-westerly winds which, prevailing in summer, are the precursor to burning sand-storms.

The total population of the Khanate amounts approximately to 2,500,000; the well-watered, flourishing oases bear in some places as many as 4000 people to the square mile. The steppe and mountainous regions are sparsely populated. The most important inhabited centres of the Khanate are as follows:

According to ethnographic distribution the population falls into two divisions. To the first belong those of Turki extraction and to the second the Iranian group. Amongst those of Turki descent the Uzbegs take the most prominent place, constituting not only a racial preponderance but the ruling power in the Khanate. Among the remaining constituents of the Turki division are the Turcomans (chiefly Ersaris) and the Kirghiz. To the Iranian category belong the Tajiks—the original inhabitants of the country, even now constituting the principal section of the population throughout its eastern and southern portions; the Sarts, a conglomeration of Turki and Iranian nationalities, comprise a considerable proportion of the urban and rural population. In smaller numbers are the various colonies of Jews, Afghans, Persians, Arabs, Armenians, Hindus and others. With the exception of the Jews and the Hindus the entire population is Mahommedan.

It will be seen that the population is represented by sedentary, semi-nomadic and nomadic classes. The first, constituting about 65 per cent. of the whole population, is distributed principally in the plains, a considerable proportion comprising Tajiks, Sarts, Jews, Persians, Afghans and Hindus. The semi-nomadic population forms about 15 per cent., consisting partly of Uzbegs, Turcomans and Tajiks dwelling in the hills. The nomads, who make up 20 per cent. of the population, live in the steppes of the western portion of the Khanate, in Darwaz and along the slopes of the Hissar mountains. They comprise Uzbegs, Turcomans and Kirghiz.

The soil, in general adapted to agriculture, yields with irrigation excellent harvests. The amount of cultivated land in the Khanate is little in excess of 8000 square miles; but, in order to make full use of the waters of the Amu Daria, Surkan, Kafirnigan and Waksh rivers, a large expenditure would be required, the present system of irrigation being very inadequate. Apart from cotton which [Pg 30] is exported in the raw state to the value of several million poods annually and the silk industry which, owing to disease among the worms, has deteriorated, the chief agricultural interest lies in the production of fruit, the produce of the orchards forming a staple food during the summer months. As a consequence, many different varieties of grapes, peaches, apricots, melons, water-melons, plums, apples, and pears are cultivated in the several gardens and orchards. Cattle-farming is conducted extensively in the valleys of the Hissar and Alai ranges and in Darwaz; in Kara Kul, situated in the vast Urta Chul steppe between the towns of Bokhara and Karsi, is the home of the famous caracal sheep. Other industries are the manufacture of leathern goods: shoes, saddles, saddle-cloths, metal and pottery ware; while a staple product, employed in the manufacture of felts, carpets and the clothes of the people, is cotton wool.

The yearly budget of the Khanate amounts to 8,000,000 roubles, 1,005,000 roubles of which are spent upon the army. The standing army, comprising Guards, battalions of the line, cavalry regiments, a brigade of mounted rifles and a small corps of artillerists, possesses a strength of 15,000 men with twenty guns. In addition there is a militia liable for duty in case of necessity but, equally with its more imposing sister service, of little practical utility.

The city of Bokhara is surrounded by massive walls which were built in the ninth century, 28 feet in height, 14 feet in thickness at the base, with 131 towers and pierced at irregular intervals by eleven gates. These ramparts contain, within a circuit of 7½ miles, an area of 1760 acres. The population numbers some hundred thousand and the variety of types included in this estimate is immense. The Tajiks, who predominate, are well favoured in their appearance; they have clear, olive complexions with black eyes and hair. Polite, hard-working and intelligent, they possess considerable aptitude for business. Against these excellent traits, however, must be noted the fact that they are inclined to cowardice and dishonesty. On this account they are regarded with contempt by the Uzbegs, a race whose physical characteristics cause them to resemble the rude warriors of the Osmanlis who supplanted the Cross by the Crescent in the fifteenth century. Independent in their bearing, the Uzbegs possess high courage together with something of the inborn dignity [Pg 33] of the Turk; but they are distinguished from that nation by a greater grossness of manner and less individuality. Equally with the Kirghiz and the Turcomans, the Uzbegs are divided in their classes between sedentary people and nomads. Then, also, in this dædalus there is the Jewish community, which is traditionally believed to have migrated hither from Baghdad. The Jews in Bokhara are forbidden to ride in the streets; while they must wear a distinctive costume, the main features of which include a small black cap, a dressing-gown of camel’s hair and a rope girdle. They are relegated to a filthy ghetto; and, although they may not be killed with impunity by a good believer, they are subjected to such grinding persecution that their numbers have been reduced in the course of half a century to something less than 75 per cent. of the 10,000 who originally composed the colony. The Jew in Bokhara shares with the Hindu settler there the profits of money-lending and the two classes are keen hands at a bargain. In addition to the Hindus there are a few Mahommedan merchants from Peshawar who are concerned in the tea trade. Other races among the moving mass comprise Afghans, Persians and Arabs, the variety of features shown by a Bokharan crowd suggesting so many different quarters as their place of origin that one would need to recite the map of High Asia to describe them.

The town of Bokhara is supplied with water from the Shari Rud canal, which, in turn, is fed by the Zerafshan river. A considerable amount is stored locally in special reservoirs, of which there are eighty-five. As their contents are seldom changed the supply soon assumes a thick, greenish consistency, the use of which is extremely detrimental to the health of the inhabitants. The deficiency of fresh water for drinking purposes, the oppressiveness of the summer heat and the propinquity of numerous cemeteries, together with the dust and dirt of the crowded streets, make life in Bokhara almost intolerable. The city, too, is a hot-bed of disease, malaria being specially prominent at certain seasons. The filaria medinesis, a worm of burrowing propensity, is endemic.

In Bokhara, as in most Eastern cities, the feminine element is entirely excluded from the street. The emancipation of women has not begun in the Middle East; should any have to venture forth they are muffled up so carefully that not even a suggestion of their personal [Pg 34] appearance can be gathered. Yet there is a certain charm and mystery in the flitting of the veiled Beauty and one would fain linger to speculate further, if such dallying with fortune were not eminently injudicious. If there is no revelation of the female form divine in the bazaar there is, at least, a wonderful wealth of gorgeous colouring. In time of festival the scene, welling up to break away in endless ripples, suggests the myriad beauties of a rainbow splintered into a million fragments.

There is relief, too, from the burning sunshine in the cool, lofty passages: shady, thronged and tortuous they extend in endless succession for mile after mile. The roof of the bazaar is a rude contrivance of undressed beams upon which there is a covering of beaten clay. Behind each stall is an alcove in the wall serving as home and office to the keen-visaged merchant who presides. In this little recess, piled upon innumerable shelves, rammed into little niches or strewn upon the floor, are the different articles which his trade requires. Carpets and rugs of harmonious hues, a wealth of parti-coloured shawls, innumerable lengths of dress pieces, cutlery, trinkets, snuff-boxes, gorgeous velvets and brilliant silks, the shimmer of satin and the coarse tracing of gold-wire embroidery, are here all displayed in prodigal confusion. As to the sources of supply, a good deal of the merchandise is the produce of Russian markets. For the rest, a certain proportion comes from Germany and a small amount is imported from France. England, it may be noted, is not represented at all.

The money-changers have a quarter to themselves, as have also the metal-workers and the vendors of silks and velvets. At every corner and odd twist of the passages there are the sweet-sellers, the tea merchants and the booths for food. China is the principal source of the tea supply, but of late a certain amount has found its way into Bokhara from the gardens of India and Ceylon. It is before the steaming samovars that the crowd of prospective purchasers is apt to be thickest. Beyond the bazaar boundaries are the wonderful relics of a bygone grandeur—imposing buildings and mosques, touched with the glory of the sunlight and capacious enough to contain within their courtyards 10,000 people at one time.

Although the chief interest of Bokhara centres in the portion just described, its public buildings well repay leisurely examination. The Registan, the market-place of [Pg 35] the north-west quarter, acts as a central zone. On one side standing upon a vast artificial mound is the citadel or Ark, its mighty walls forming a square of 450 yards, its parapet crenellated and its corners set with towers. The building dates from the era of the Samanides. In addition to the Amir’s palace the walls of the Ark enclose the houses of the chief ministers, the treasury, the State prison and various offices. The entrance to the citadel, which is defended by two imposing towers, is closed by massive gates above which there is a clock. None save the highest officials are permitted to enter the Ark; visitors, irrespective of rank, are compelled to dismount at its doors and to proceed on foot to the Amir’s quarters. Opposite the Ark stands the largest mosque in Bokhara, the Medjidi Kalan or Kok Gumbaz—the Mosque of the Green Cupola—which the Amir attends every Friday when he is in residence.

A smaller market-place, where transactions in cotton are carried out, is surrounded by several imposing edifices that rise with infinite grace to the sky, besides countless minarets of prayer acting as landmarks to the faithful. Here is the Great Mosque, the Masjid-i-Jama, while facing it is the Medresse Mir-i-Arab. This latter building ranks first among the many stately colleges of Bokhara. Near at hand is the Minar Kalan, 36 feet at the base and tapering to a height of over 200 feet. From a small platform just below the lofty pinnacle, miscreants were hurled to destruction in bygone days. With the exception of these buildings the city contains little of antiquity.

For its size the native quarter is a centre of the greatest importance; and its streets, although mean and sinuous, are filled by a crowd most typical of Asia. Ten thousand students receive instruction in its schools. It contains:

The houses, which are set in small compounds approached [Pg 39] by narrow alleys, are composed of clay with low roofs and without windows. A hole in the roof suffices for a chimney, and the open door affords light.

Samarkand, the administrative centre of the province of the same name and founded in 1871, is a close reproduction of a large Indian cantonment. The streets are wide, well paved, fringed with tall poplars and set with shops which are kept by Europeans. For the Russians, as the centre of the province and the location of army headquarters, it has special importance. Although without any architectural pretensions—the buildings are all one-storey structures on account of frequent visitations from earthquakes—its comparatively lofty position makes it an agreeable station and one of the most attractive gathering-places for Europeans in Asiatic Russia. The city is situated upon the south-western slopes of the Chupan Ata range, 7 versts from the Zerafshan river. The close proximity of the hills naturally influences its rainfall, which is greatest in March and April. The period from June to September is dry; and by February or March the trees are in bloom. By a happy choice in construction it has been planned upon exceptionally generous lines which, although imparting to the outskirts a desolate aspect, have been the cause of securing to the community a number of spacious squares, around which are placed the barracks and certain parks. The principal square, named after General Ivanoff, a former Governor of the province, is Ivanovski Square. Another interesting memento of the Russian conquest of Turkestan is situated between the military quarter and the green avenues of the Russian town, in a spot where the heroes who fell in the defence of the citadel in 1868 were buried. At the same place, too, a memorial has been erected to Colonel Sokovnin and Staff-Captain Konevski, who were killed in 1869.

According to the statistics of 1901, which are the most recently available, these figures had increased by a few thousands; they were then 58,194:

The native quarter, which is separated from the Russian town by the Abramovski Boulevard—so named in honour of General Abramoff, another military Governor of the province—covers an area of 4629 dessiatines. It was built by Timur the Lame. The streets with few exceptions are narrow, winding and unpaved; the houses are of baked mud, mean and cramped, with flat earthen roofs and no windows. In this division there are:

The value of Government property in the Russian and native areas of the city is estimated at 4,077,681 roubles. The city revenue approximates 147,616 roubles. The native quarter is the great commercial centre of the province and the trade returns for the city and its surrounding district amount to 17,858,900 roubles out of 24,951,320 roubles for the entire province. Of the squares the most celebrated is the Registan, with a length of 35 sagenes and width of 30 sagenes. It is bounded by three large mosques: the Tillah Kori—the Gold Covered; Ulug Beg; and Shir Dar—the Lion Bearing.

The Registan is the heart of ancient Samarkand. Prior to the advent of the Russians pardon and punishment were dealt from it to the people by their rulers, executions performed and wars declared, as the authorities pleased. Even up to the present day the Registan has preserved in some degree its importance as a popular tribune. From it self-constituted orators, holy men and politicians, expound their doctrines before a people gathered together from the most distant corners of the Continent of Asia. The Registan is only one feature of this delightful city; for here, too, are the stately ruins of the Bibi Khanum, tomb of the wife of Timur, [Pg 43] and the Gur Amir where Timur’s remains lie amid a scene eloquent in its simple grandeur. Although, unfortunately, this building has been spoilt by attempts at restoration, its encrusted tiles are as beautiful as when they were made, 400 years ago. Here, too, is the resting-place of the Shah Zindeh; and in its Urda or ancient citadel, now a weak, bastioned fort, is the Kok Tash—the coronation-stone of the descendants of Timur. The charm of the Gur Amir is supreme. Within its dome, before the horse-hair standard, the sheer force of association and the infinite suggestion of the spot make one feel the great presence of this renowned soldier. Beneath the cupola there is a nephrite cenotaph; perhaps, as Colonel C. E. de la Poer Beresford has said, the largest block of green jade in the world.[5] Close to it other tombs, lighter in colour, are erected to the memory of Ulug Beg and Mir Sayid, Timur’s grandson and tutor. Around these is a carved gypsum balustrade and in the crypt below, under a simple brick-tomb, lies the vanquisher of Toktamish Khan, of Sultan Bayazid, of Persia, the Caucasus and India—Timur himself.

In its economic aspect Samarkand occupies a very important position. Although scarcely serving as a mart to the produce of British India and Afghanistan, it is nevertheless a great emporium of trade. The roads, leading to the town or from it, as the case may be, are an index of its wide-reaching commercial influence. They run from Samarkand to Karki on the Amu Daria; and to Tashkent viâ Jizak; while Khojand, Khokand, Namangan, Andijan, Margelan and Osh are all in direct communication with it. Caravans from the east and north, from Persia and from China, carts perched on two gigantic wheels or transport bullocks laden with skins, even sheep carrying small packages—all are impressed into service and seem to be revolving in a constant stream round Samarkand. There is a steady traffic and the numerous bazaars are the centre of a brisk trade in skins and pelts. Unlike the bazaars of Bokhara, along the sides of which the merchants have their stalls, the passage-ways are open to the heavens. After the wonderful picture of Asiatic life presented by Bokhara, there are those who complain of a feeling of disappointment at the more subdued current which flows through Samarkand. Nevertheless the town has a charming setting. The snow-peaks of the Hissar chain and the curtain of enchanting [Pg 44] fields and spreading vineyards, which hides the hideous aspect of the Kara Kum, add to the pleasure which is derived from the delicate mingling of the colours of the street life. There is, indeed, a very special type found in the bazaars of Bokhara and Samarkand. Dressed in the choicest of silks, so soft that it suggests the rustle of the wind through the peach-trees and dyed in tones of yellow, green and brown, in shades of magenta and purple, in a note of blue reflecting the sky or touched with the blush of a red rose, are men of fine stature. They move with their long-skirted gowns clasped at the waist and their silken trousers tucked into brown, untanned boots, the seams of which are delicately embroidered. Every individual reserves to himself a most exclusive manner, representing the embodiment of dignity. There is such an air of contentment about the gaily-clad crowd as it passes from stall to stall; such perfect self-possession, suggested humility and independence that the difference in size between Bokhara and Samarkand goes unnoticed; the atmosphere being no less pleasing, the picture no less acceptable, in the smaller city than in the capital.

As the administrative focus of the Syr Daria province Tashkent is the principal city of Russian Turkestan and the seat of the Governor-General. The Russian quarter at once recalls memories of other spheres of Central Asia. The streets are wide and long. Dusty but much frequented, they are bordered by high, white poplars set in double rows, while upon each side there run the gurgling waters of the irrigation canals. The city is laid out in a sector of a circle, three great boulevards radiating from the cathedral, a handsome, octagonal building in freestone. Surmounted by the dome and golden cross, which mark in Russia all Orthodox places of worship, it occupies the centre of [Pg 47] Konstantinovski Square. It contains the remains of General von Kauffman, Governor-General of Russian Turkestan between 1867 and 1882 and, incidentally, conqueror of Khiva in 1873 and of Samarkand in 1868. He died May 4, 1882.

Tashkent, situated upon the slopes of the Tian Shan 172 sagenes above sea-level, lies in the midst of an extensive oasis whose fertile acres are watered by the river Chirchik and its tributaries. January is the coldest month, while July is the hottest. The prevailing breezes are north and north-east; but the characteristic peculiarity of the climate is the absence of wind, which makes the high temperature in the summer particularly oppressive. Spring weather begins in March; the hot season, commencing in May, continues until the middle of August. Speaking generally the place possesses the attributes of the climate in the plains of Central Asia while distinguished by its greater yearly rain-fall—384 millimètres—in consequence of the proximity of the mountains. The drinking water question, an ever-attendant difficulty in Central Asia, is no less acute in Tashkent, [Pg 48] constituting a serious drawback to conditions of life there. An ample supply of water is available for irrigation, the Chirchik river, as well as numerous wells and springs, being diverted for this purpose.

The Russian quarter, founded in 1865 after the capture of the native town from the Khan of Khokand upon June 15 by the Russian forces under General Chernaieff, is separated from the native by the Angar canal. It is divided into official and residential areas, and contains many large streets. The Sobornaya, in which are situated the best shops, is perhaps more animated than any other thoroughfare in the town, while the Romanovski Street, which crosses the official quarter, is devoted principally to the Government offices. Three wide streets—the Gospitalnaya, Dukhovskaya, and the Kailuski Prospekt—along which it is proposed to erect business premises, also run from this quarter to the station. The residential part is of much later construction; its population is more scattered, the houses are surrounded with dense gardens and the streets are wider. The houses in each section are, for the most part, single storeyed. The chief public works are the Alexandrovski Park, Konstantinovski Square, Gorodskoi Garden and the gardens surrounding the residence of the Governor-General. The Turkestan Public Library, founded by General von Kauffman with the object of furthering the education of the country, now contains more than 40,000 volumes.

The permanent garrison is never less than 10,000 men. Barracks and store-house accommodation for military supplies abound in the place. Between the spacious station and the Russian city, a distance of one verst, there are very [Pg 49] commodious infantry quarters. A long row of buildings, somewhat more remote and erected upon slightly rising ground, contains the lines of the Cossack establishment. The climate of Tashkent is too unhealthy to be endured in the hot weather. In summer the garrison moves to Chigman, a defile 671 sagenes above sea-level, situated 80 or 90 versts beyond the town on the river Chirchik, where there is a sanatorium for the troops. The families of the officers usually pass the season at the village of Troitzki, 25 versts from Tashkent. Five versts from the city is Nikolski, the first Russian settlement founded in the Syr Daria province. Lying between it and the Russian town is the native quarter. Recalling Andijan, Margelan, Khokand and Osh, it lacks the animation of the streets of Bokhara and is destitute of the architectural beauties of Samarkand. Surrounded on three sides by gardens, the fourth side touches the Russian town with which it is connected, as also with the station, by means of a horse tramway. It is divided into four parts called respectively Kukchinski, Sibzyarski, Shaikhantaurski and Bish Agatchski. Each is separated into districts, these sub-divisions totalling 206 in all.

The two quarters of Tashkent occupy to-day an area of 20 square versts. Forty years ago the site of the Russian settlement covered no more ground than that required by the village which contained the garrison. This original section has now disappeared, becoming merged as time passed and the colony expanded with the Fortress Esplanade, while the population has similarly increased. In May 1871 the combined figures of the native and Russian colony gave only 2701 inhabitants. In 1897 the census returns showed the population to be:

These figures, particularly in connection with the Russian colony, exhibit a gradual increase throughout the period intervening between the census of 1897 and that in 1901, when the returns were as follows:

[Pg 50] In greater detail the population of the native quarter was composed as follows:

Although the importance of Merv, as a military district, has increased since the Orenburg-Tashkent railway was opened the numbers of the resident population continue to decline. This proceeds from the unhealthy conditions that obtain locally. Malaria, the most prevalent complaint, runs a very level course throughout the year. Between July and November it becomes exceptionally virulent; and a recent Medical Commission returned the causes of the sickness in Merv as due solely to the presence of a specific organism which, passing from the soil into the water, was absorbed by the inhabitants. So rife is the disease that it is estimated that not one person escapes its attacks in the course of the year. The highest sick-rate occurs between the months of July and November, when it is responsible for 80 per cent. of the “Daily State” in the garrison and district hospitals. Merv malaria generally attacks the liver and kidneys, rapidly affecting the spleen. Every effort has been made to cope with its ravages. Among the attempts was a scheme for the introduction of a new system of irrigation and the purification of the water system, to which the Minister of War assigned 63,000 roubles. Hitherto the drinking-water, derived from the Murghab, has been altogether unfit for consumption. Apart from possible contamination in the sources of the water-supply, there is no doubt that much of the malaria in Merv arises from constant displacement of soil in the oasis; similar conditions prevail, usually for three or four years, in all tropical and semi-tropical countries whenever agricultural or other development requires the breaking of ground.

Certain features encountered in Merv—such as groups of chaffering natives, clusters of small, open shops, dusty trees, open drains and sweltering heat—are strangely [Pg 51] reminiscent of India, but the absence of punkahs and the high price of ice prove that the Russians in Central Asia are indifferent to comfort. Even the hotels make no attempt to relieve the effect of the temperature; while, in general, the houses are built without verandahs and the windows are unfitted with jalousies. Within the houses, too, conditions are most trying, the policy of every one being to admit the flies and exclude the air. Trade manages to thrive; and a weekly market is held on Mondays upon a plain to the east of the town. Thither all roads converge; thronged with two-wheeled Persian carts, ill-fed baggage horses burdened with goods, and gurgling camels. Standing solitary and forlorn is the patient ass whose lament is so eloquently described by Mr. Shoemaker, where that author says:

Fair days in the town bazaars are held upon Sundays and Thursdays, when the Hebrew, Persian and Armenian merchants are surrounded by crowds of Tekkes from neighbouring villages. Disposed for sale are the innumerable commodities of the Middle East—rice from Meshed; fruits from Samarkand; silk, sweetmeats and velvet from Bokhara; cheap cutlery, trinkets, leather goods and samovars from Russia; beautiful embroidery and shawls from the stores of the wealthier merchants; carpets from Herat; sheepskins from the country-side; plough-shares and knives from local forges; and relics of Old Merv. Prices are high; but the Turcomans make their purchases very willingly, unconscious of the contrast between their present peaceful demeanour and the attitude which distinguished them when they were robbers of the countryside.

The revenues derived from the native town amount to 42,000 roubles a year and the volume of business annually turned over is a little short of 100,000 roubles. The prosperity of the place is attested by the individual wealth of merchants attending the bazaars. Many of these men live in spacious houses, the majority of the natives frequenting the bazaar being well-to-do and apparently contented. Trade is brisk and, as the Russians have imposed but a few taxes and the Turcomans are exempt from military service, no particular difficulty attends the earning of the daily wage.

It is said occasionally that the disasters which attended Russia in Manchuria have stimulated the ambitions and desires of the Mahommedan population of Asiatic Russia to throw off the yoke of Muscovite rule. Hence it is possible that the reading of the existing situation in Central Asia, which is here presented, may not be accepted. In [Pg 55] point of fact, the Mahommedan attitude towards Russian rule in Mid-Asia has no relation whatever to the outcome of the late war in Manchuria; nor was it influenced in any way by the developments of that unfortunate struggle. Contrary belief is based upon the impression that the animus entertained against the Russians by the races of British India, where it is now assumed by the ignorant and very foolish that Russian arms would be at once defeated in any Indo-Russian conflict, exists equally among the Mahommedan population of Asiatic Russia. The comfortable acceptance of this doctrine of Indian superiority—one of the most amusing and dangerous fallacies of public opinion—shows the need of more discriminating criticism, upon the character of Russian administration of native races in Central Asia, to distinguish all shades of public and Indian opinion. The Russians are no less careful of the several peoples that find refuge under their rule than our own authorities, a fact which, unfortunately, we are inclined to ignore in our estimate of their present position through a conceit which inspires Anglo-Indians to regard British administration of native races as heaven-born. The opinion in reference to the Russo-Japanese War is equally erroneous; because, while it is known that our Indian subjects had recourse to all reports upon it and thus were at liberty to arrive at their preposterous conclusions, native opinion in Central Asia knew almost nothing of its course, character and result. Even if suspicions of the actual results were entertained, the constant display of troops, which was made in all Central Asiatic centres of importance during the progress of the campaign, would have dispelled the belief that the Russian military resources were straitened. Apart from this fact, the public in Central Asia were supplied only with those versions of the truth which were most acceptable—and useful—to the Russian amour propre. It will be seen, therefore, that wherever Mahommedan feeling may be opposed in the Tsar’s Asiatic dominions to Russian domination, such sentiment is spontaneous and as deeply rooted or easily appeased as the circumstances, which may have excited it, dictate. It is well to understand this phase of the situation in Central Asia since, in itself, it is very significant.

Merv, perhaps, is a case in point. On the surface the aspect of affairs there is placid enough; but the Russians [Pg 56] in Central Asia have read so many effective lessons to their subject races that at best opinion upon the possible chances of an outbreak is a blind hazard. Doubtless religious and racial prejudices are smouldering; yet, if there is any feeling of discontent, it must arise from an animosity born of pure fanaticism. Certainly the Russian rule in Mid-Asia is tolerant—now that the lesson has been taught—and there is neither religious nor educational interference. Moreover trade, fostered by very careful protection, prospers; and at least one secret of success in any Central Asian system of government is to let well alone and appeal to the vulgar through their pocket. This principle the Russians support with admirable patience, taking precautions at the same time that their benevolent administration shall not be endangered by too much licence in the matter of importing or possessing arms. A native rising would be difficult upon this account alone; while it should be remembered, too, that many years of leisured ease have brought about considerable deterioration in the instinctive passion for rape, bloodshed and plunder, which distinguished, only a few years ago, the inhabitants of these Central Asian Khanates.

Again, always pre-supposing the steady loyalty of the great bulk of the European troops, Russia has not enrolled any large number of native recruits in regions beyond the Caspian Sea; although her policy in the Caucasus has not been quite so exclusive. The success of any native insurrectionary movement in Trans-Caspia would depend, therefore, upon the precise amount of support that it received from any disaffected sections of the Caucasian establishment that might be incorporated with the Russo-European army on service in the Khanates. No doubt the wide area covered by the rebellion in the Caucasus will encourage the Caucasian element in the Trans-Caspian army to be troublesome; and, since the Caucasian races in a measure are akin with the Central Asian peoples, mutual sympathy may give rise to positive revolt in Central Asia. Between the European soldiers and the native races, however, there is little in common; and unless revolutionary agents from St. Petersburg, Moscow or the larger centres of disturbance contaminate the adherence of the men, there is really nothing to cause them to listen to any seditious overtures which might emanate from native sources. It is very easy in Central Asia to remove the rails of the permanent [Pg 57] way or to interrupt telegraphic communication, since the railway and the wires run for hundreds of miles unguarded and at the mercy of any wandering, discontented miscreant. Such instances of disaffection would be sporadic. Difficulties of combination—if the great distances separating Khiva, Merv, Bokhara and Tashkent were ignored, which they cannot be if the position of affairs is to be appraised properly—would alone prevent any simultaneous co-operation; while whatever unanimity might be disclosed by actively hostile parties of native or European revolutionaries, the forces at the disposal of the military authorities must enable them to suppress the movement rapidly and at once.

Of course the agitation in European Russia cannot leave Russians in Central Asia unaffected; continuation of the widespread irruptions of disorder in European Russia obviously imparts a new and most serious complexion to affairs in Asiatic Russia. Moreover signs of unrest, in consequence of interference by revolutionary agents from St. Petersburg, have already been displayed. At Askhabad the officers were locked in their quarters; at Kushkinski Post 200 soldiers joined in a strike of railway and telegraph officials. Further, at the instigation of Sokoloff an engineer and Simonoff an engine-fitter, a variety of farcical intentions were proclaimed, the main outcome of this signal act of rebellion culminating in a little temporary dislocation of the railway and telegraph services and the arrest of the ringleaders. None the less, the activity of these revolutionary agents does constitute a possible menace to the peace of Mid-Asia; for, while the native population recks little of the wiles of European agitators and can be overawed by the authorities, the situation, where it concerns the ultimate effect of the revolutionary propaganda upon the Russo-European army, rests upon the knees of the gods. There, unfortunately, it must remain; emphasising the fact that, on account of the means of checking the dissemination of revolutionary heresies and the growth of the operations of the agitators in Central Asia which the Russian authorities have at hand, the chances are much against any violent or widespread upheaval of the peace in these territories.

[Pg 58]

NATIVE QUARTER, TASHKENT

CHAPTER III

FROM TASHKENT TO MERV

The first station beyond Tashkent, travelling towards Merv, is Kauffmanskaya, where begins the practice of associating with the scenes of their conquests the names of officers who have achieved distinction in Turkestan. It is a pleasant custom and serves to perpetuate history in a manner which might be copied with advantage in India. In this instance General von Kauffman, who became eventually an aide-de-camp to the Tsar, was the first Governor-General of Russian Turkestan.

Between Tashkent and Kauffmanskaya which, although insignificant, is equipped with hospital accommodation for six patients, the railway crosses by an iron bridge of 8 sagenes the Salar river, itself a tributary of the more important Chirchik. The line then passes Zangi-ata and the post station of Nialbash, crossing the Kur Kulduk arik by an iron bridge 3 sagenes in length and running near Vrevskaya through the Chirchik Valley, a region of special interest to archæologists. Stari Tashkent or Old Tashkent, rich in historical associations, is in this neighbourhood. It was inhabited at one time by the Sakis who, in bygone centuries, offered a stubborn resistance to Alexander of Macedon. [Pg 59] Now it is only an insignificant hamlet, mere flotsam which has been thrown up and left by the advancing tide of Russian conquest. Lying to the east of Stari Tashkent and opposite Kirshul upon the left bank of the Chirchik river are the ruins of Shuturket or Ushturket—the Town of Camels; in the country between it and Binket, by which name Tashkent is known among the natives, there are other ruins.

After skirting Bodorodski and Kaunchi the station of Syr Darinskaya, lying about 1 verst from the hill and lake of Utch Tubeh, follows, the line crossing the Bos-su arik by a second bridge of 5 sagenes. Until this point the general direction has been south-west. Ten versts from Syr Darinskaya station, at a point where it crosses the Syr Daria by a four-span iron bridge 160 sagenes in length, the railway runs by the ancient fortress and lake of Urumbai and turns to the east to thread the hills which surround Utch Tubeh lake.

The point now arrives where the train enters the region distinguished by the Emperor Nicholas I. Canal, an extensive system of irrigation from the waters of the Syr Daria. These works, which the Ministry of Agriculture introduced, have brought more than 100,000 acres of the Golodnaya steppe under colonisation. It is due to the initiative and generosity of the Grand Duke Nicholas Konstantinovitch that the scheme was executed and its success is illustrated by the fact that seven villages—Nikolaievski, Nadejdinski, Verkhni, Nijni Volinski, Konnogvardeiski, Obyetovanni and Romanovski—have been established upon the reclaimed areas. In the main they are devoted to the cultivation of the smaller crops, although one or two are given up to the growing of cotton. The prosperity of the undertaking entails elaborate precautions; in order that the works should be unobstructed the head waters of the system are watched continuously by relays of guards.

The Golodnaya zone of cultivation extends only a verst or so beyond Golodnaya station; between this little oasis and Chernaievo, the next station, there is a barren wilderness. After leaving Golodnaya and crossing the Emperor Nicholas I. Canal by an iron bridge, 8 sagenes in length, the line proceeds north-east beyond the Syr Daria, where it turns sharply to the east in order to make the junction with the main line from Krasnovodsk to Andijan. Owing to the lack of cultivation and the scarcity of population [Pg 60] no commercial importance can be ascribed to Chernaievo. Attached to the little station is a small hospital with a capacity of ten beds, while the railway workshops employ a permanent staff of 100 workmen. The depôt at this point, on account of the junction between the line from Tashkent and the extension to Andijan, is out of proportion with the requirements of the neighbourhood. Of course here, as at every station on the line, there is a large store of naphtha, 50,000 poods being held against emergency in the naphtha reservoir.

In relation to Chernaievo, it would be a pity to avoid mention of the distinguished soldier who, subsequently Governor-General of Turkestan and dying in disgrace in August of 1898, gave his name to the place. Under happier circumstances Chernaieff might have become the Clive of Central Asia. It was he who, suffering defeat before Tashkent on October 2, 1854, and determining to remove so signal a stain from the prestige of the Russian forces, repeated his attack at a moment when he had received explicit orders from Alexander II. to refrain from doing so. With the Imperial despatches in his pocket he led his small forces to the onslaught and it was only when victory had been secured that he made himself acquainted with his instructions. The reply he despatched to his august sovereign is as historical as the famous signal which Nelson displayed at Trafalgar. “Sire,” he wrote,[6] “Your Majesty’s order, forbidding me to take Tashkent, has reached me only in the city itself which I have taken and place at your Majesty’s feet.” The [Pg 61] Tsar was angry at the breach of discipline and, although he accepted the fruits of General Chernaieff’s daring, he never restored his officer to favour. Superseded by General Romanovski and stung to the quick by this treatment, Chernaieff retired from the service, a broken-hearted man.

Beyond Chernaievo, situated amid most arid surroundings and in a locality where the water is salt, is Obrutchevo, so called in honour of the former Chief of the General Staff, General Obrutcheff. Nine versts further is Lomakino, which derives its name from General Lomakin, an officer of repute in the Turcoman Expedition of 1879. Between Lomakino and Jizak the line enters the province of Samarkand.

Jizak station, named after a district town in the province of Samarkand, is situated in the valley of the Sanzar river in a locality which is both thickly populated and well cultivated. At the workshops there is only a staff of nine workmen, while the railway depôt possesses little more than engine sheds and a naphtha reservoir of 10,000 poods. The water-supply of the station is drawn from the Sanzar river. Water for the consumption of the Russian quarter of the town, which lies at the foot of the northern slope of the Nura mountains, two versts from the railway, comes from the Russki arik.

The district supplied by the station is small and in the year under review there were:

Goods traffic reveals a steady demand for articles of Russian manufacture, the combined bulk of this trade being:

In consequence of the deficiency of fresh water Jizak is an unhealthy town, more malaria prevailing in the locality than in any other part of Turkestan, with the exception of the Murghab and Kushk valleys. The Russian quarter, which was formerly the Kluchevi fortress, possesses a number of public gardens. There are only thirty-six private houses [Pg 62] in the settlement and these, in the main, are occupied by officials. The public buildings include two schools, a military hospital, a military Orthodox Church, the Chancellery of the District Governor, the District Treasury and other offices. The population at the last census was 17,000.

The native quarter is of far greater commercial importance than the Russian town and is situated 3 versts from it. Indeed, the latter is almost solely a cantonment. The native town possesses:

The town revenue is 22,842 roubles and the value of Government property rather less than 600,000 roubles. There are no hotels in either quarter.

The native bazaars are supposed to be identical with the town of Gaza through which the armies of Alexander passed in the fourth century B.C. More recently the Russians converted it into a strong military post. At the time when it was assaulted by the Russian forces under General Romanovski, upon October 18, 1856, it was regarded as one of the most powerful fortresses in Central Asia. In those days the town was surmounted by a triple wall, 4 sagenes in thickness and 3½ sagenes in height. High towers defended the interior walls, while upon the outer wall were mounted fifty-three pieces of artillery. At that time the strength of the garrison under the command of Alayar Khan was returned at 10,000 men.

A few versts before Jizak the line, running in a westerly direction along the southern border of the Golodnaya desert, crosses by an iron bridge, 8 sagenes in length, the Sais Khaneh ravine. Beyond Jizak and after passing through Milyautinskaya it enters the Ilyan Uta defile, through which flows the Sanzar river. This defile is the only existing pass in the Nuratinski range and contains the famous Gates of Tamerlane. Beyond the gates there is the station of Kuropatkino, named after General Kuropatkin who so long presided over the destinies of Russia in Central Asia. From here, the line proceeds to cross the eastern slope of the Nura [Pg 65] range; barely thirty versts further on it arrives at Rostovtsevo which takes its name from a former Military Governor of the Ferghana province, Count Rostovtseff. Between Kuropatkino and this station the line crosses at the foot of the ascent of the Golun mountains a bridge, 5 sagenes in length, over the Balungur arik. From the slopes of the Golun Tau the railway traverses the watershed of the Zerafshan and Sanzar rivers, reaching at 10 versts from Kuropatkino the highest elevation on the whole line, 403 sagenes above sea-level. From this point the line then descends to Rostovtsevo from where, after a short run of 30 versts, it arrives at Samarkand.

With Rostovtsevo there commences without doubt the most interesting section of the journey between Tashkent and Samarkand. The market of Samarkand has spread its influence for many miles along the line; and, as a consequence, there is a welcome note of freshness in the scene. In addition to the prosperity naturally suggested by the spectacle of a flourishing oasis, the railway affords a fleeting inspection of two important bridges. The first, an iron bridge of seven spans and 56 sagenes in length, crosses the Zerafshan river, leaving on the right the Ark of Tamerlane and on the left a bold, lofty mountain crag. It rises from two stone buttresses and is supported by six iron pillars. The spans are 8 sagenes in length and composed of four sections, the whole work reflecting the cantilever principle. It has been adapted to traffic, vehicles passing along either side of the permanent way. Beyond these landmarks the railway picks its way down the rocky declivity of the Zerafshan watershed towards the undulating, cultivated lands which extend between Chupan Ata ridge and the second bridge, which, thrown across the deep Obi Siab ravine 2 versts outside Samarkand, possesses a length of 30 sagenes. It is [Pg 66] constructed in iron of three spans, supported by stone abutments upon two stone buttresses.

The station of Samarkand, second in importance to Krasnovodsk, is 1415 versts from Krasnovodsk and 332 versts from Tashkent. In the station square there are a church, an hospital of twenty-five beds, two second-class schools, workshops and railway yards affording daily employment for 160 men. Like most stations of the first class it acts as a medium of distribution to a wide area, stimulating not only the industrial interests throughout the province but imparting also an impetus to the agricultural activities of the neighbourhood.

The table of traffic for this important point, illustrating the volume of trade which passes through Samarkand, is as follows:

Djuma, the first station beyond Samarkand, is situated in a level, densely populated country. Barely 30 miles distant and with it equally a station of the fourth class, is Nagornaya, which in turn gives place to Katta Kurgan. This town, an important district centre in the Samarkand province, lies close to the railway in the midst of much luxuriant vegetation. Its altitude above sea-level is rather [Pg 67] more than 222 sagenes. The population numbers 10,219:

Its streets are very wide and charmingly planted with high trees—poplars, acacias, willows and white ash—watered by ariks supplied from the Narpai stream, itself a tributary of the Zerafshan river. Quite the most prominent feature is a large public garden surrounding the house of the Governor, while in connection with the public buildings there is a military church, a military hospital, a general hospital of twenty-five beds and a Russian native school. There are, of course, the usual district offices. Military headquarters occupies a building to itself, a second affording domicile to the base staff of the Eighth Turkestan Rifle Battalion.

In the main bazaar there are some 300 shops, the business transacted at them being concerned with the cotton industry and the production of vegetable oils. There is no hotel in either part of the town but there is an officers’ club in the Russian quarter. The general revenue from all sources is about 38,000 roubles and the largest industrial concern associated with the trade of the district is the Turkestan Cotton Company, of which the annual trading balance is considerably in excess of half a million roubles. The development of cotton in the neighbourhood, to which the Turcoman villages Mitana Pefshanba and Chardar devote their energies, promises to become a highly valuable venture.

A few versts beyond Katta Kurgan the line crosses the border of the dominions of the Amir of Bokhara. The first station beyond the frontier is Zirabulak, so called from heights which frown down upon the railway from close at hand. This little ridge of hills forms an interesting link with the Russian conquest of Turkestan; it was here that a column under General von Kauffman routed the Bokharan forces on July 2, 1868. The battle practically decided the Russian mastery of Central Asia, the peace concluded by the Amir Sayid Mozaffar Eddin having been maintained down to the present time. The rich vegetation distinguishing the locality continues as far as the next station, Ziadin, where the line enters a cultivated zone which is watered from the Zerafshan and the Narpai streams. The town possesses a native population of 8000, with a revenue of rather less than 16,000 roubles. Traffic passing through the neighbourhood is concerned chiefly with the importation [Pg 69] of goods from Russia and the export of cotton, statistics returning the following movement:

Beyond Ziadin, which is administered by an important Beg, the line runs to Kermine, a station of the third class constructed to meet the convenience of the present Amir of Bokhara who, previous to ascending the throne, had been the Beg of Kermine. The town, which has a population of 12,000, is dependent almost entirely upon the proceeds of the cotton industry. The native fort, standing in the town, has been converted into a Russian garrison, a battalion of the Turkestan Rifles occupying the post.

Melik, a small station occupying a position at the point where the line from Tashkent meets the Zerafshan river has, unfortunately, nothing with which to commend itself. The surrounding steppe is destitute of vegetation and only sparsely inhabited. At Kizil Steppe, which follows, there is a depôt and workshops for a permanent staff of eighteen men. It stands within easy proximity of the four centres Cidj Duvan, Adiz Abad, Vaganzi and Bustan, where there is a combined population of 20,000.

The cultivation of cotton is the prominent characteristic of this region and Kuyu Mazar, the next station, entirely derives its prosperity from the industry. In its immediate neighbourhood, moreover, there are several kishlaks devoted to it. A little further on the line enters a region of sandy [Pg 70] clay which, continuing for some distance, finally gives place to the areas of the fertile oasis that surrounds Bokhara.

Kagan, the station for Bokhara, belongs to the first class. It is situated 1182 versts from Krasnovodsk, 565 versts from Tashkent and ranks third among the stations of the Central Asian Railway, only yielding pride of place to Krasnovodsk and Askhabad. The station is erected upon ground specially granted by the Amir for the purpose, the Russian settlement of New Bokhara also being placed at this point. The native town of Bokhara, the capital of the Khanate and connected with the main station by a branch line, is 13 versts distant. It is the most important centre in the Khanate and maintains commercial relations with Moscow, Nijninovgorod, Lodz, Siberia, India, Persia and Afghanistan, the annual value of its business running into many millions of roubles. There are several banks but only two of importance—the Russian Imperial Bank, and the Russo-Chinese Bank. The residence of the Russian Political Agent is in New Bokhara and the Amir also has a place there, constructed in hybrid Byzantine style.

The population of the Russian settlement, returned at [Pg 71] 6000 inhabitants and drawn from various nationalities, includes the following European and Asiatic elements:

The remainder is made up of subjects of the Amir. The Russian quarter also contains 130 brick bungalows, an hospital with twenty beds, barracks for the 3rd and 4th Companies of the Second Railway Battalion, numerous shops and military go-downs.

The trade passing through Bokhara is very comprehensive. It embraces cotton, skins, wool, cotton prints, sugar and a large importation of Russian manufactures. The bazaars of the native city show a very varied assortment of silken fabrics, copper-ware, silver-work, carpets, leather and weapons, attracting traders from India and Persia, besides the Turcoman and Khivan districts.

The cultivated zone which lies around Bokhara and Kagan does not extend for any considerable distance beyond the immediate precincts of the capital of the Khanate. In running towards Merv the railway passes through a region where the water difficulty is perpetual. The waterless zone may be said to begin with Murgak, where water from the Zerafshan river is supplied in tanks by the railway. This system is also adopted for the next station, Yakatut, which although insignificant receives a comparatively important volume of trade. Irrigation is not encouraged and the water coming by the railway is very carefully distributed to a population that, including the large village of Yakatut and a few smaller hamlets, amounts in all to 3000 souls. The passenger traffic is small and the returns only record the import and export movement:

[Pg 73] Kara Kul follows as the line runs towards the south and 10 versts distant from it there is the native town of the same name. At one time the centre of a large and flourishing oasis, the drifting sands from the Kara Kum have encroached until it has been ruined and the total population of the region reduced to 5000 people. The place is watered by the Zerafshan, upon whose volume so much of the prosperity of Bokhara depends. This river, which was called by the ancients the Polytimaetus, takes its rise in the glaciers of the Kara mountains, 270 miles east of Samarkand. Its upper reaches resemble a succession of cataracts and it is altogether too shallow for navigation. The average width is 210 feet; more than 100 canals, some of which are 140 feet broad, are supplied from this source of Bokhara’s greatness. The capital of the Khanate is fed by one of them, called the Shari Rud, and over 35 feet in width. The river reaches its full volume during the winter and the spring. Three versts before Kara Kul, at a point where the stream breaks up into a series of small feeders, a wide bridge, 15 sagenes in length, affords passage to the railway.

In spite of diminishing importance Kara Kul still attracts and disperses a certain volume of trade, the movement showing:

the bulk of which is associated with the cotton factory of M. Levine and a distillery controlled by a French syndicate, the two properties being situated close to the station.

Beyond Kara Kul, as far as Khoja Davlet, there is a considerable area of cultivation. With this station the agricultural possibilities of the quarter, due in the main to irrigation by the waters of the Oxus, come to an end and the line begins to pass through the shifting sands of Sundukli. From this point, too, the growth of the saxaoul is promoted as a protection to the railway from the sand drifts. At Farab station, where the growth and cultivation of sand shrubs has been studied and where there is a special nursery covering 5 dessiatines, some little success in this direction has been attained. Unfortunately the moving sands are the great and ever present menace to the prosperity of this neighbourhood. In contrast with these outlying [Pg 74] edges of the district where there is nothing but a waste of salt marshes and sand dunes, there is a wonderful wealth of vegetation along the banks of the river. The station workshops, where some eighty workmen are daily employed, the small hospital, the railway buildings and the technical school are embowered by trees of the most luxuriant growth. None the less Farab, although associated with the headquarters of the Oxus steamers, is too close to Charjui to be of much importance.

Charjui, opposite to Farab at the crossing of the Oxus, lies 1070 versts from Krasnovodsk and 677 versts from Tashkent. The town is situated in the midst of a fertile oasis lying along the banks of the Amu Daria. The Russian settlement is close to the station, but 16 versts away there is the native centre from which it derives its name. This border stronghold surmounts a hill to the south of the railway line, bearing in its rugged outline a faint resemblance to Edinburgh Castle. The settlement, nestling at its foot, contains the headquarters of the 17th Turkestan Rifle Battalion. The local force amounts to one battalion of Turkestan Rifles and one squadron of Cossacks. The Russian quarter, built upon ground presented by the Amir to the Russian Government, covers a wide area upon the left bank of the stream and extends along both sides of the railway. The point is of extreme interest, since it is here that the original bridge over the Amu Daria was constructed. The new work, a magnificent steel girder affair only lately opened, takes the place of the earlier wooden structure which, some 4600 yards in length, withstood the effects of climate and the stream for many years.

The trade and traffic of Charjui, one of the most active stations on the Central Asian system, is as follows:

In addition to this there is an extensive botanical nursery, similar to that which exists at Farab and devoted to the same purpose. Equally with Farab it serves as headquarters for the Amu Daria flotilla, which plies between Patta Hissar on the south and Petro Alexandrovsk and Khiva on the north. Traffic upon the river has increased in proportion to the development of trade along the Central Asian railway, the steamer and general communication on the Amu Daria, taken in conjunction with the [Pg 76] caravan routes between Charjui and the outlying parts of the Khanates of Bokhara and Khiva, combining to render it a point of supreme importance.

As soon as the Oxus and Charjui have been left behind only two stations remain before the frontier of the Trans-Caspian province is reached. One of these two places, Barkhani, a small station of the fifth class, serves, with Charjui and Farab, for the experimental production of desert shrubs. Between the Amu Daria and Barkhani the spreading vegetation, which changes the banks of the Amu Daria into verdant slopes, gives place to the Black Sands of Bokhara, the famous Kara Kum Desert. Six versts beyond the second place, Karaul Kuyu, the line crosses the Trans-Caspian frontier, proceeding through the heart of the Kara Kum. The first station in the desert is Repetek, where there is a small depôt and workshops for a permanent staff of ten men. The water here, as well as for the next two stations, is brought from the Amu Daria at Charjui or from the Murghab at Merv, according to the direction in which the train may be travelling.

From Repetek the line enters the Merv district. Passing Pesski, Uch Adja and Ravnina, the first and last of which belong to the fourth degree and the remaining one to the third degree of stations, the line runs into Annenkovo, named after the famous constructor of the Trans-Caspian railway, General Annenkoff. The station itself lies in a hollow and 4 versts before the train reaches it there [Pg 77] begins that wonderful growth which Nature herself has supplied to resist the encroachment of the Black Sands. It is here that the desert shrub saxaoul, with its long penetrating roots—the great stand-by of the Russians in their fight against the sand—is encountered in its native state. Although special nurseries have been established at many stations for the cultivation of this shrub, the railway authorities employ its roots for firewood, encouraging the Tekkes in the surrounding districts to bring it into the yards. As instances of the destruction with which this plant is assailed nearly 46,000 poods of saxaoul root are supplied annually to the railway authorities by the Tekkes at Ravnina, while 170,000 poods are brought to the authorities at Annenkovo by the Tekke gatherers in that part, the activities of these people creating a very serious prospect since the artificial cultivation of the shrub in the nurseries does not keep pace with its disappearance in the veldt.

Beyond Annenkovo there is Kurban Kala. One verst further on this gives place to Bairam Ali, 108 sagenes above sea-level. The station adjoins the gardens of the [Pg 78] Murghab Imperial Estate which, founded in 1887 by Imperial enterprise, the Tsar having sanctioned the restoration of certain irrigation works, has assisted in securing a full measure of prosperity to these areas. Trim orchards and broad roads surround the station where huge piles of cotton may be seen awaiting transport, the evident prosperity of this smiling oasis affording striking contrast with the spectacle of Old Merv. Ruins, revealing a sombre vista of broken walls and shattered houses, the relics of a city which passed into decay in 1784, cover a space of 40 square versts. It is the name of the chief of that city that is now perpetuated in the adjoining station, Bairam Ali. As the strong ruler of the country-side, he had held in check the robber tribes until he and his city were overthrown in their turn by Amir Murad, the founder of the Bokharan dynasty.

[Pg 79] The country round Bairam Ali is level and the place draws its water from the Murghab river. Its commercial importance is progressing and, at present, there is a steady volume of trade passing through it.

The section of the railway from Tashkent now terminates at 905 versts from Tashkent and 842 versts from Krasnovodsk, after crossing the Tokhtamish arik by an eight-span iron girder bridge. This work rests upon iron piles, the length of the spans being 15 sagenes each. The commercial importance of Merv, in view of the rapid development of its trade with the Murghab Valley and the surrounding oases of Yulatan, Pendjeh and Tejend, imparts to the town an economic significance little less than that which emanates from its strategic aspect. The movement of trade, imported for its own consumption or distributed over the neighbouring markets, is:

The station of Merv, as the junction from which commences the Murghab branch line, is particularly well constructed. There is a depôt with spacious repairing yards and very commodious workshops, where 250 workmen are daily employed. In addition there are extensive railway go-downs and quarters for the employés of the company. If these represent merely the requirements of the station, in a more general way there is an hospital with several beds, a building for the accommodation of emigrants and, in the immediate precincts of the station, barracks for the 2nd Trans-Caspian Railway Battalion. Close to the station, which possesses special importance because of being the [Pg 80] only spot in a length of 200 versts up and down the line where fresh water may be obtained, such water being derived from the Murghab river, an iron bridge carries the railway across the river. The spans of the bridge are 30 sagenes and a paved carriage-way is laid upon either side of the metals. Beyond the bridge the road runs parallel with the Central Asian railway until it reaches the Murghab river. Down the banks of this stream it branches off towards the Kushk and Murghab valleys, holding solitary communion with the Murghab valley railway as far as the junction of the Pendjeh-Tanur Sangi extension with the line to Kushkinski Post.

The appearance of Merv is monotonous. An absence of tropical foliage, the conventional character of the bungalows and the broad, empty streets compose an exterior which is altogether desolate. The high temperature, which frequently exceeds 100 degrees, crushes initiative and possibly it is due to the glare of the sun and the thick dust which rises in white clouds from the roads, that the thoroughfares are deserted between sunrise and sunset. The Murghab river divides the town into a commercial quarter, prominently situated upon the right bank 133 sagenes above sea-level, and a military settlement upon the opposite bank but connected by a pontoon bridge. Within the military quarter, there are the barracks and the general offices of the Administration as well as a large garrison hospital and a military club. The civil section of the town contains a district hospital of fifteen beds and a casino, supported by the Government. The native bazaar is remote.

[Pg 81]

THE AMU DARIA BRIDGE

CHAPTER IV

THE NORTHERN BORDER AND THE OXUS RIVER: ITS CHARACTER, TRIBUTARIES AND FORDS

The Amu Daria, the more modern rendering of the name of the classic Oxus, serves along the north and north-east of Afghanistan for a distance of 330 miles as the frontier between Afghan territory and the dominions of the Amir of Bokhara. Rising in the region of the Pamirs this river, which is among the most historical in Asia, falls into the Aral sea after traversing more than 1400 miles. The area of its basin is estimated at 308,804 square kilomètres, while for a space of 200 miles it flows through Bokharan territory, after which, for a further 200 miles, it acts as the frontier between the Syr Daria province and the Khanate of Khiva.

Contributing to the volume of its upper waters are two principal streams, the Pamir and the Panja. The latter is the name by which the Upper Oxus is known. The word Panja, which is somewhat generic, is believed to refer to five streams existing in this region. It is related also to the names of the well-known Afghan forts of Kala Panja and Kala Bar Panja. It denotes the five fingers. It will be admitted that the existence of a sacred edifice [Pg 82] erected over a stone bearing the imprint of the hand of Hazrat Ali, son-in-law of Mahommed, and situated in the vicinity of Kala Panja, is presumptive evidence of an affinity between the existence of the five streams and the shrine. Further down the river, in Shignan, at Kala Bar Panja which means “The fort over the Panja,” a fort has been constructed above a similar mark to that defining the position of Kala Panja. There is little doubt that some numerical quantity is expressed in the nomenclature.

In this wilderness, which in winter is a world of snow and ice, there is another river, the Ak-su, so that there are three streams, the Pamir, Panja, and the Ak-su. This trio drains the Pamirs, the Ak-su uniting with the Panja at Kala Wamar, the others at Langar Kisht. The Pamir and the Ak-su rise amid the Nicholas glaciers which drain into Lake Victoria and Lake Chakmaktin; and, while neither of these lakes can be identified positively as the sole source of the Oxus nor the Pamir river be said to represent its origin, rivers, glaciers and lakes are associated very closely with its head-waters. The larger lake, known as Lake Victoria, and discovered in 1838 by Wood, is situated on the Pamir river; the smaller lake, Lake Chakmaktin, is on the Ak-su. The Pamir Daria flows through the Great Pamir. It possesses direct connection with the Oxus at Langar Kisht. The Ak-su flows through the Little Pamir. Lake Chakmaktin, lying on the Little Pamir, is situated 290 feet lower than Lake Victoria, which is 13,390 feet above sea-level. Panja, the third stream, rises in the congeries of glaciers which lie immediately below the Wakh-jir Pass—indisputably separate from the Nicholas glacier and without any connection with the two lakes. The five rivers which make up the waters of the Panja or Oxus are the Pamir, Panja, Ak-su or Murghab, Shakh and Ghund. Many of these streams bear two, three, or even five names, this engaging variety of description springing from the fact that the several parts of the same stream are differently described by the various natives—Afghans, Chinese, Tajiks and Kirghiz—who frequent the Pamir region. In some cases, too, explorers have added names derived from imperfect interpretation of local information, until it may be said that few rivers in the world bear so many names as does the Oxus in its higher reaches.

[Pg 85] If we take the upper stream and follow it from its source in the glaciers which lie below the Wakh-jir Pass, it will be found that in its immediate descent from this field, but without taking its name from the adjacent pass, the waters of the Amu Daria in their higher reaches are styled the Panja. This title extends along the Upper Oxus until, at Bozai Gumbaz, it is joined by the first contribution from the Nicholas glaciers. This affluent is described indifferently by the name Burgutai, Little Pamir Daria and Kuntai-su; a little before the meeting of the Burgutai with the Panja this stream divides east and west, the eastern arm passing into the channel of the Ak-su above Lake Chakmaktin so that the Burgutai stream feeds equally the Ak-su and Ab-i-Panja rivers. The Burgutai is narrow, shallow and inconstant; from its start to its junction with the Panja it possesses a course of only ten miles and is solely of interest as indicating one of the tributaries which go to swell the volume of the Oxus. Below Bozai Gumbaz the stream which rises in the Wakh-jir glaciers bears the five names Ab-i-Wakhan, Wakh-jir, Sarhad, Wakh-su and Ab-i-Panja, the several variations of the name Panja.

The fall of the Panja from its source to its junction with the Sarhad has been estimated at 1247 mètres in 75 kilomètres. It will be gathered, accordingly, that it is a very rapid stream until it reaches the Sarhad. At Bozai Gumbaz and for a short distance along the Wakhan valley, the river slackens until, turning northwards beyond Ishkashim, it recovers and tumbles swiftly forward. Before leaving the Wakhan valley it receives, on the right bank, the stream which flows through Lake Victoria and is known incorrectly as Ab-i-Panja and correctly as Pamir Daria. At one time, in consequence of Wood’s error, it was confounded with the head-waters of the Oxus. Neither in volume, length, nor through the possession of any requisite characteristic can the Pamir Daria be accounted the parent stream[7]. This river describes from its source in the glacial fields of Mount Nicholas a fall of 153 mètres over the first 20 kilomètres of its course. From Lake Victoria proper to Mazar-tepe, where the Khargosh river flows into it, the Pamir Daria falls 285 mètres in 40 kilomètres. From Mazar-tepe to Langar Kisht, where it unites with the waters of the Panja, Ab-i-Panja or Ab-i-Wakhan, there is a further fall of 831 mètres in 60 kilomètres. From Langar Kisht to Rang the fall is 327 mètres in 100 kilomètres, the pace of the river in this [Pg 86] stretch of the Wakhan valley being comparatively sluggish. From Rang, which is a little east of Ishkashim, to Khorok in Shignan there is a perceptible increase in the current of the river, its mean fall being 702 mètres in 100 kilomètres.

The Panja in its passage through the Wakhan valley presents a number of interesting contrasts. In its higher reaches at first a tumbling mountain torrent, it becomes between Semut which is below Langar Kisht and Shirtar, a slow, lifeless stream, so nerveless and placid that it ceases to carry in its current the masses of suspended matter which hitherto have been swept along with it. At Langar Kisht, the junction of the Pamir Daria with the Panja, there is a deposit of broken rocks and smooth water-borne stones which have been brought down from the glaciers. The wide area, covered by these quantities of débris and detritus from the upper valleys, makes the banks and bed of the river resemble a deserted beach, where human life seldom enters and vegetation does not flourish. In places where deposits of sand have been left by the stream, the wind has whipped the loose surfaces into small dunes; in other directions large tracts of this drift sand have been covered by tamarisk; elsewhere there is no vegetation and the tamarisk has not appeared. In mid-summer, when the river diminishes and high winds blow through the gorge, the scattered patches of sand left by the stream are caught up by the gales and swept in clouds of fine dust across the fields beyond.

In the wider valleys, such as those at Langar Kisht and the Zung, the Panja divides into a number of arms. These small channels contain dangerous quicksands. The stream itself is black with mud, the river at this point being charged with a fertilising matter which, where deposited, is followed usually by a growth of luxuriant vegetation. The Pamir Daria similarly breaks up, but its channels are free from quicksand and the water carries little mud in suspension.[8] Between Langar Kisht and Ptuk there is a belt of vegetation. The banks are covered with grass; there are many willows, white poplars, and here and there impenetrable copses of camelthorn. Beyond Ptuk, the beneficent character of the river changes and in the valley between Semut and Shirtar the banks reflect a waste of sand dunes and patches of drift sand. The mud deposits of the main stream, too, appear to be exhausted at Ptuk, [Pg 89] where there is a large intake of glacial water from a number of rapid streams which come down from the Hindu Kush. As if the moraines discharged their stones and gravel into these snow-fed torrents there exists at this point a stretch of river-bed, desolate and barren.

The mountains at Langar Kisht and Zung recede considerably on either side from the river and thus give room for a broad valley. But they come together immediately west of Kala Panja forming a narrow ravine through which the Panja can just pass. Beyond this gorge the valley expands to a breadth of several kilomètres and the river divides into arms dotted with little islands which are covered with thorny copses. After this lake-like extension the river, from the village of Shirtar down stream, consists of one channel which, here and there, widens out, making space for further inlets.

From Dersai to Nut the stream contracts to an average breadth of 25 mètres and dashes with such suppressed energy between the steep banks of its rocky bed that the boom of the tumbling waters echoes throughout the valley. From Dersai to Si Khanah the mountains run so close together, north and south, that in most places there is only room for the actual bed of the river, and it is only near the mouths of the small hill-side streams that a few hundred square yards of arable soil may be found. About 3 kilomètres west of Si Khanah there are a number of cataracts, and immediately south of Rang the sands, brought down by the stream, begin again to form into dunes. From Nut to Samchan, in the province of Ishkashim, the river [Pg 90] valley becomes broader, the Panja dividing into several arms. The banks here are covered with thick copses, the haunt of the wild boar and the home of many birds; but in the province of Gharan, a few kilomètres to the north of Samchan, the valley of the Panja becomes a mere cleft in the mountains, the river retaining this form until it receives the waters of the Ghund at Charog. At Darband, on the boundary between Gharan and Ishkashim and before the meeting of the Ghund Daria with the Panja, the stream breaking down a number of cataracts tears through its narrow mountain passage and becomes a most imposing waterfall; indeed, from Darband almost to Charog the stream of the Panja rushing along its rocky bed is one vast foaming cataract which, dashing against the mountains, crushes everything that falls into its whirling eddies.

The bulk of the tributary streams of the Panja river is found between Langar Kisht and Namagut, the presence of the Hindu Kush glaciers being the source of an extensive water-supply draining into the river. The length of these [Pg 91] streams seldom exceeds 15 kilomètres and the more general course is one of 10 kilomètres. Their period of greatest activity is at the time of the summer floods, when the ice melts and the heavy snows are broken up. At such a moment a large volume of water sweeps through their shallow channels carrying with it huge boulders, masses of ice, many tons of snow and running with too great force to present facilities for fording. North from Ishkashim the tributaries of the Panja diminish both in number and size. The rivers flowing from the Badakshan mountains and the streams from the southern valleys of the Pamirs are, save in one or two important instances, flood-water and dependent upon the break-up of the snows and ice. The most important exception is the Bartang, which is known as Murghab, Ak-tash and Ak-su. This river is certainly the longest tributary of the Panja in Roshan district. In the course of its descent from Lake Chakmaktin it receives no less than eight tributaries, three of which approach it from the north—the remaining five rising in small, separate streams in the hilly ground to the south. The Bartang is not the only river of importance which unites with the Panja after the main stream has swung out from the Wakhan valley towards the north. Two others, respectively the Ghund Daria and the Shakh Daria, join their waters at Sazan Bulak, flowing from that point under the name of Suchan Daria to a junction with the Panja. The waters of the Suchan Daria and the Panja meet at Charog, which lies on the right bank of the Panja somewhat south and east of Kala Bar Panja. This place, situated on the left bank, is the capital of Shignan.

Communications through Wakhan and Gharan still preserve their primitive character; but between Kala Panja and Kala Bar Panja, on the Afghan side of the river, there is a serviceable track which, if more a bridle path than suited for the requirements of wheeled traffic, is none the less superior to anything existing between these points on the Russian bank. The Russians have not troubled to make a clearance along the banks of the river, their principal objective having been to connect their military depôts in the Pamirs with the principal fords of the Upper Oxus and to provide first-class communications between their Pamir posts and their bases in Turkestan. The Afghan line of communications on the banks of the river proceeds from the energy and precautions taken by Abdur Rahman. [Pg 92] Although no longer preserved with the same care, it nevertheless offers to the Afghan patrols a convenient road by which the frontier may be inspected. At many points along this riverside paths have been cleared of boulders, streams have been bridged and ramps have been constructed to facilitate the passage of the more troublesome spurs. Difficulties of movement must beset the traveller in Wakhan at all times, as progress through the valleys is dependent on the season. During the melting of the snows, which begins in May, the rivers which draw their waters from the mountain system of the Hindu Kush or from the Pamirs are in flood, the period of flood-water prevailing until the end of August. From September to March it is usually possible to proceed along the banks; but, so soon as the snow begins to break up, the Panja in its higher, no less than in its middle, reaches becomes so swollen that the great volume of water passing through the channel breaks its bounds and inundates the valley. At such a time wide détours over the mountains have to be made; from the end of October the streams freeze and it becomes possible to use their frozen surfaces. Certain difficulties attend this practice, as the rapidity of the current interferes with the formation of the ice.

The passage through the river valleys, particularly in the [Pg 93] higher reaches along the Russian border, is always arduous. It is better to secure permission to go round than to endure the labour of clambering up the many steep mountain slopes where there is no path to guide one and very little foothold. It is practically useless to take animal transport, and coolies lightly laden are more reliable a means of effecting the journey. Beyond Ishkashim, as far as the junction of the Suchan Daria with the Panja, a distance of 50 miles, the river valley is so broken and complex that the road, where it exists at all, becomes a mere zigzag, half a dozen inches in breadth. Rugged and lofty, it is barely perceptible on the granite face of the mountain. Frequently, no better footing than the surface roughness of the rocks presents itself, Nature appearing to have gone out of her way in order to raise obstacles against the passing of the wayfarer.

At the junction of the Suchan Daria with the Panja, where the valley widens, there is no longer confusion about the name of the stream. It is now the Panja or Ab-i-Panja, and until meeting with the Bartang-Murghab-Ak-su-Ak-tash at Kala Wamar the valley preserves its open character. Beyond the Bartang its dimensions contract once more and the river tears a way for itself through mountain gorges. At Kala Khum it bends to the west and, striking a little south and then a little north-west, runs at right angles to the general trend of the mountains towards the more open valleys about Kulab. Kala Khum may be said to mark the most northerly point of the river. The district surrounding it is in distinct contrast with the desolation of the valleys along the Upper Oxus. The cliffs are no less bold and the precipices no less sheer than in Gharan and Wakhan; but owing to the mildness of the climate of Darwaz a genial warmth permeates the region, encouraging a generous growth of vegetation. The wild vine, the red pomegranate, the apple, pear and mulberry flourish and many varieties of vegetables are freely cultivated.

From the point where the Bokharan province of Kulab becomes separated by the Oxus river from the Afghan districts of Rustak and Kataghan the channel of the stream is contained no longer by the walls of the mountains. Broad streams, from the Trans-Alai range in one direction and the highlands of Karategin in another, join the Oxus, the main river at once beginning to adopt an uncertain channel. Numerous feeders appear on both banks at this [Pg 94] part of its course. The Kulab and Surkhab-Waksh-Kizil-su join it in broad muddy streams from the Karategin uplands, until the river, changing its character altogether, divides itself into many channels where the hills fail to confine it. In addition to the two tributaries just mentioned as appearing on the right bank, there are three others, the Kafirnahan, the Surkhan, and the Darban. These are contributed from Bokhara; while, on the left bank, Badakshan dismisses the Kokcha and the Kunduz-Ghori-Khanabad-Aksarai to a meeting with the main stream. In earlier times, when there were fewer settlements and the demand for purposes of irrigation was not so great, the Amu Daria possessed, both on the north and on the south, other tributaries, the waters of which are now entirely diverted to the fields. In these middle as also in the upper reaches of the river but little of the main stream is utilised by villagers, the inhabitants of the settlements in the valleys threaded by the Oxus supplying their agricultural necessities from the smaller streams. West of Kunduz, for a distance of nearly 700 miles, the drainage of the hills to the south of the river is lost in the plains of Afghan Turkestan; but on the Bokharan side the extensive canalisation, which is such a prominent feature, causes many of the streams to be exhausted before they have had opportunity to effect a junction with the Amu Daria. It is not until near Pitniak that any important diversion of the waters of the Oxus for cultivation is made. At that point the great division of the stream for the requirements of the Khivan oasis occurs, a general discharge of 125,000 cubic feet per second being deflected in order to supply a system of canals by which over 4000 square miles of fertile alluvial land are kept in tillage.

The bed of the Oxus in its lower reaches is muddy. Taking the course of the river as a whole, measurements which have been made at a series of points demonstrate that there are no less than 16,000,000 tons of sedimentary matter constantly passing down to form the vast delta that distinguishes its mouth, as well as to fertilise its banks or any areas which, from time to time, may be submerged. It is unnecessary to mention all the various channels through which, below the fortress of Nukus, the stream flows. The principal are the Ulkan Daria, the Taldik and the Yani Su. These present the usual features of a delta; but the triangular space contained within the Yani Su and the [Pg 95] Taldik, its extreme eastern and western channels, is not a true delta, since it consists of an original formation through which the river has cut its way to the Aral sea, and upon which other matter has been deposited. Actual deltas, however, have been developed about the mouths of the Taldik and Yani Su, their existence constituting a bar to vessels drawing over 4 feet of water.

The tendency of the Oxus, like that of the great Siberian rivers, is to press continually on its right or east bank. The consequence of this deflection, which is due to the rotation of the earth round its axis from west to east, is that the stream has turned from the Kungrad channel eastwards to the Taldik channel and thence to the Yani Su which, at present, is receiving the main discharge. In former times a far greater deviation took place. No less than twice during its history has the Oxus oscillated between the Caspian and the Aral seas. In the time of Strabo it was a sort of eastern continuation of the Kura route from Georgia [Pg 96] across the Caspian and the Kara Kum to Charjui. Its course across the desert is indicated by the Igdy and other wells dotted over the plains in a line with its former bed, which reached the Caspian in the depression between the Great and Little Balkan hills. Later on Edrisi found the Oxus flowing into the Aral. But in the fourteenth century it was flowing into the Caspian—this time along the Uzboi channel. The bed ran from near Nukus westwards to the Sara Kamish Steppe and thence southwards to the Igdy wells, along the original course between the Balkans to the Caspian, close to Mikhailovsk.

The navigation of the Oxus has been the subject of constant inquiry from the time when, in 1875, the steamer Petrovski, drawing 3½ feet of water, picked a passage for itself as far as Nukus. Three years later another steamer, the Samarkand, with a draught of 3 feet and of 24 horsepower, made the journey from Petro Alexandrovsk to Kelif. Between 1878 and 1880 further attempts were made to demonstrate the navigability of this waterway; but between 1880 and 1887 there was so much conflict of opinion that matters scarcely advanced beyond the experimental stage. At that date the increasing importance of the interests of Russia along the Afghan border made evident the advisability of improving all possible lines of communication with it. With this end in view, the Russian Government equipped a small fleet of steamers for river service and the navigation of the Oxus to-day is controlled by these vessels, which are described as the Government Amu Daria Flotilla. Between Patta Hissar on the middle reaches and Khiva, Petro Alexandrovsk and Kungrad on the lower reaches, these craft conduct a regular shipping business, Farab and Charjui acting as the central depôt to the service—Farab holding the headquarters of the company and Charjui being the principal anchorage.

From Patta Hissar to Charjui the journey occupies between seven and ten days, dependent upon the size of the steamer and the character of the voyage. Sand banks are a perpetual menace to rapid navigation, and the length of time varies according to the immunity of the undertaking from mishap. From Charjui to Kungrad the same amount of time is usually required.

The boats are of old construction and only number five in all. They are supplemented by a fleet of barges of large and small capacity, the larger class carrying 12,000 poods, the smaller, of which there are two divisions, carrying 5000 poods and 3000 poods each.

The two principal steamers, respectively the Tsar and Tsaritsa, were the first to be launched and date back to 1887. The three others, which are slower, smaller and more akin to river tugs than passenger craft, are the Samarkand, Bokhara and Kabul. Their cost was borne by the Government and ran into several thousand pounds apiece. All the vessels are paddle-boats and flat-bottomed. The two larger ships are supposed to be able to make sixteen knots per hour; their length is 150 feet, with 23 feet beam and engines of 500 horse-power.

Their draught, when laden, is rather less than 3 feet, while they carry a crew of thirty hands and possess accommodation for 300 men and 20 officers. They take any class of cargo and passengers and are also utilised for towing the freight barges of the military authorities up-stream to the frontier stations at Karki, Kelif, Patta Hissar and Termes. Navigation between Patta Hissar and Charjui continues throughout the year unless prevented by the freezing of the river; between Charjui and Kungrad the continuity of the down river service is dependent upon the sand banks, their sudden appearance and constant change of position quite upsetting the ordinary schedule.

From April 1 to October 1, the steamers leave Charjui twice a week—on Wednesdays for Karki and on Sundays for Patta Hissar. During the remainder of the year they [Pg 98] leave once a week, on Sundays, for Patta Hissar. On the journey from Patta Hissar to Karki, during the summer, steamers leave on Saturdays and in the winter months on Thursdays; for the journey from Karki to Patta Hissar steamers leave in the summer months on Wednesdays and in the winter months on Fridays. From Patta Hissar to Charjui steamers run every Friday and Sunday in summer and during the winter on Sundays.

In general, navigation on the lower Oxus is difficult. Above Charjui the swiftness of the current, which averages 5 miles and, in some places, even 6 miles an hour, impedes the up-stream progress of any but the more powerful boats. Unfortunately, the narrowness of the channel above Charjui and its extreme tortuousness makes the employment of steamers of a class that would be really serviceable against so strong a current quite unsuitable. Again, the constant shifting of the proper channel in the lower reaches, the liability of the river to sudden rises between April and August and the irregular falls between August and October—sometimes making within a few hours a difference of 8 feet in the level of the stream—create a further obstacle against the successful organisation of a purely commercial service. The difficulty is much greater down-stream where obstructions to navigation, owing to the diminution of the current as the surface of the stream increases, are more frequent.

In this respect it is interesting to study the fall of the river from Kelif to Charjui, and from that point to the mouth. [9]According to the Russian reckoning, between these two points, a distance of 200 miles, there is a fall of 220 feet, the altitude of the several stations along the bank being:

From Charjui to the mouth of the river there is a fall of only 167 feet in a distance of 500 miles. If the fall in the river between Patta Hissar and Charjui be compared with the width of the stream, the difficulty presented to navigation through the current will be understood. There is a breadth at Kelif of 540 yards which increases to 650 yards at Charjui during the normal flow of the river; but for a considerable distance from the bank the stream is shallow, [Pg 101] possessing a bare depth of 3 feet with an average of 10 feet in the centre. At the time of flood these dimensions become greatly increased and the Oxus from Farab to its mouth is an imposing spectacle. In places it is fully a mile in width and a very general measurement is 1000 mètres. The flood channel is usually three-fourths wider than the ordinary stream; in the extremely broad places the average strength of the current per hour is 4 miles, falling as low as 2½ miles per hour when the flood has subsided. The water passing down is in the desert stretches of a yellow hue. In those portions where rocks take the place of sand it shows a grey tone, imparted by the masses of granite, sand and mica which are held in suspension. In spite of its curious colouring the water is used extensively for drinking purposes without apparent ill-effect. In taste it is slightly saline, but it does not possess a sufficient quantity of salt to prevent freezing. The temperature of the river in mid-summer is 73°. In winter the stream above Kunduz freezes regularly, the frozen surface becoming a passage-way between the banks. Below Khiva a similar physical condition prevails, [Pg 102] caravans crossing the ice without risk. At Charjui the river freezes over from bank to bank, but it is only at rare seasons that the ice is of sufficient solidarity to support general traffic. At Karki the surface of the river coats over, but the ice itself is unsubstantial; at Kelif, where numerous floes appear in the stream, the force of the current is sufficient to prevent any general formation of ice.

The banks of the river about Kelif, for a distance of 50 miles above the ferry and particularly on the right bank, reveal considerable agricultural activity. Further along the left bank of the lower Oxus there is a zone, 5 miles in width, in which cultivation has been extensively practised. Wheat and barley, the spreading willow and the luscious mulberry-tree grow in profusion, imparting to the scene an appearance of prosperity in odd contrast with the dreary expanses distinguishing so much of the country through which the river courses. Irrigation is widely employed; water is drawn from the Oxus in long canals, the heads of which are constantly being destroyed by flood and renewed again as rapidly. The scene in these attenuated strips of cultivation is bright and there is a happy note of industry and peace. Small villages, the houses neatly built of stone, stand scattered about the landscape; single, substantial and very comfortable-looking homesteads are numerous. Where cultivation ceases, too, there is usually a narrow tract of jungle between the reeds of the river-bed and the edge of the desert, where admirable cover exists for wild animals and birds.

The passage of the stream by the steamers of the Oxus flotilla is made only during daylight. From Charjui, where there are excellent facilities, the hour of departure is eight o’clock. If overtaken by darkness between the stages the vessels tie up to the bank, resuming the journey at dawn. In calm weather an average daily passage is 50 miles, although down stream a better run is generally recorded. In the event of arriving in advance of the scheduled time, the hour of departure is left to the discretion of the captain. Regular halts are arranged at Patta Hissar, where the steamers stay four hours, and at Karki where, on the voyage to Patta Hissar, four hours are also spent. This interval is reduced to two hours on the return journey and also at Charjui; but elsewhere it is a matter of uncertainty, the duration of the stop merely being governed by the time occupied in loading and unloading the barges. Steamers, as [Pg 103] a rule, start punctually, particularly at Charjui, the vessels leaving their moorings according to Askhabad time. This is the standard on the Central Asian railway.

The custom of granting passages at reduced rates to all and sundry associated with the Government, observed throughout the railway systems of Russia, is adopted on the steamers of the Oxus flotilla. There are three classes of tariffs and two standards of accommodation:

These are all carried at a reduction of 50 per cent. Soldiers are compelled to show a warrant attested by the authority for the transport of troops by water; emigrants a permit signed by the local civil authority and the guard in charge of prisoners an order from the local police bureau, before being supplied with tickets. All passengers are entitled to one pood of baggage, free of charge; but for the unloading and reloading of baggage or of cargo, passengers must pay at the rate of one and a half kopecks per pood; for the hire of boats for the transportation of such baggage to the steamer or from the steamer to the shore at the rate of one kopeck per pood. Animals of a domestic description, such as sheep, camels, horses, cattle and dogs, bales of merchandise and timber are carried by special arrangement and under a special tariff. This can be supplied on demand at the chief bureau of the flotilla at Charjui and Farab, at the [Pg 104] principal goods office of the company at Karki, by the captains of steamers and the mates of barges. Steamers are permitted to tow private vessels of any description at the rate of half a kopeck per ton of their displacement in addition to whatever other charges may be contracted.

The accommodation is divided between the first and third classes, the cabins being at the disposal of the first-class passengers. Restrictions are not placed on the movements of native passengers who, if they dared to pay for a cabin, would be permitted to berth in the first saloon. Meals are supplied on board by arrangement with the purser; but, while there is no material difficulty attaching to the journey up and down the river, permission to travel by these steamers is very rarely accorded to foreigners.

For the better comprehension of the terms which have been mentioned the following table is given.

In addition to the steamers of the flotilla there are 380 native-owned craft engaged in trading along the lower and middle reaches of the stream. These vessels conduct a very flourishing trade in various native commodities—fruit, vegetables, wood, live stock, cotton goods and such minor manufactures as may be required among the native villages. The boats used in this traffic are of rough native workmanship, capacious and damp, but in their way serviceable enough.

Each boat can accommodate 150 passengers, twenty mounted men, and stow twenty tons of cargo—an estimate which strains their capacity to its utmost limit. In design these craft, flat-bottomed, with a draught of 18 inches and 2½ feet of gunwale above the water, are constructed of square logs of willow or mulberry, 6 feet in length, peeled, clipped into shape and clamped together with iron pins. [Pg 107] The craft trade principally on the lower reaches of the river although there is nothing to prevent them, save the difficulty of the task, from venturing further up-stream. In this respect a few of the better class do manage to reach Patta Hissar, whence large floats of timber are despatched to Charjui. The existence of this trade at Patta Hissar is characteristic of the middle reaches of the stream, where white poplar, willows and mulberry trees grow in profusion. The presence of the timber encourages native shipping to tie up to the trees, the several little colonies of vessels thus laid up imparting to the appearance of the river an amount of life and animation not always borne out by actual traffic.

The contrivances used by ferries on the Oxus are in a measure identical with those which may be noticed on the Murghab and along the Helmund. Neither rafts nor inflated skins are in any favour on the lower reaches, although skins are employed by natives in the region of the Upper Oxus, this method constituting the sole means by which a passage of the river is effected. On the middle and lower reaches there are rough boats, similar in design to the trading craft but somewhat smaller in dimension. Rafts are requisitioned only for the transportation of firewood.

[Pg 108] Above Charjui, as far as a little east of the mouth of the Kunduz river, a distance of nearly 300 miles, there are fifteen ferries, four of which have been abandoned. Below Charjui, from that point as far as Petro Alexandrovsk, there are nine. The following are the stations between Kunduz and Charjui:

These ferries are provided with two boats, stationed one on either side of the river. The passage is accomplished by punting or through the services of small horses trained to tow the boat while swimming and attached by means of a surcingle to an outrigger which projects beyond the gunwale. Native shipping relies principally on man-haulage up stream, supplemented by constant poling; down stream the boats drift with the current.

It is characteristic of a large portion of the river that the stream flows within double banks. The inner one is the line of the water at ordinary seasons, while the outer one is the limit of the river in flood. The distance between the banks is as much as two miles in many places and the zone thus formed is laid out in fields and gardens. Moreover, it rarely happens that this interior space is altogether inundated and a portion, therefore, is cultivated permanently. Elsewhere the area available for development is measured by the flood season. Where these intra-spaces occur considerable length is added to the ferry passage. Sometimes the river forms a series of separate channels until its waters [Pg 109] have united beyond the interruption. Such a point is met with at Khwaja Sala, where in certain seasons the stream is divided into three branches, the width of each channel being 295 yards, 113 yards and 415 yards. The average depth there is 9 feet. At Kelif, 33 miles up stream, on the other hand, these double banks do not appear, the river flowing in a single and very narrow bed. The Kelif ferry is of interest as a link in the affairs of Central Asia. It was the point where Alexander crossed the Oxus in B.C. 330; while, to-day, it is one of the most important Customs stations on the Russo-Afghan border. At every ferry station small posts of observation, formed of Bokharan levies, have been established. During the prevalence of plague in India and cholera in Afghanistan and Persia orders were issued which closed all ferries against the passage of caravans and travellers. Only at Charjui and Karki was traffic permitted. Lately there has been some relaxation in the execution of these regulations; but a number of the minor ferries are still barred against any description of communication from Afghanistan, India and Persia.

The river does not continue for many miles in the turbulent spirit that distinguishes its appearance at Kelif; at Karki, a few miles to the west, on account of a second channel there is greater width. At Charjui the ferry is nearly 700 yards across at low water, with several branches formed by sand banks. At the time of flood this distance becomes double with a depth of 30 feet in mid-stream; the further dimensions of the river down stream corresponding in proportion with the level of the banks.

[Pg 110]

CHAPTER V

THE MURGHAB VALLEY RAILWAY

The Russian Government has shown remarkable energy during the past few years in improving its railway communications in Central Asian regions. After the Trans-Caspian line had been finished from the Caspian Sea to Samarkand there was a lull in construction, but presently an extension was carried on to Tashkent and thence to Andijan. By creating railway communication with Merv, Russia met half-way the difficulties of her station in Trans-Caspia. In the event of any military crisis arising with Afghanistan 300 versts of difficult country yet remained to be crossed before concentration upon that frontier could be effected. At a later date, a branch was run from Merv to Pendjeh, by which this hiatus was at once repaired and Russia secured to herself a position of commanding importance across the road to Herat.

[Pg 111] Surveys, carried out in the year 1894 in two directions, from the station of Tejend and from Merv, demonstrated that the Merv-Murghab route did not present any technical difficulties. Shorter than the Tejend line by 65 versts and more level, it traversed the well-populated Merv, Yulatan and Pendjeh oases. Water was also plentiful. On the other hand the line from Tejend crossed very difficult country; while it doubled the distance, necessitating 700,000 cubic sagenes’ additional excavation. Perhaps a more emphatic objection arose from the inadequacy of water between Tejend and Sarakhs, supplies in the Tejend district drying up between September and January. As a consequence the line was constructed from Merv to Kushkinski Post, on the Afghan frontier, through the valleys of the Murghab and Kushk rivers, just over 293 versts or 192 miles in length, with a terminal depôt only 80 miles distant from Herat. From motives of economy one station was allowed to every 50 versts, with sidings half-way between them; only two engine sheds and workshops were provided, while all other buildings were limited and none but the cheapest materials employed. Bridges were made of wood instead of stone, the rolling-stock sufficing for four trains in the twenty-four hours. Railway and military telegraph wires were fixed to the same posts and it was not intended to ballast the permanent way. Construction was reduced by these precautions to 8,408,000 roubles. After revision by a commission of the General Staff this sum was increased by the cost of ballasting the permanent way, 329,000 roubles; the total expenditure upon the work finally amounting to 9,669,000 roubles or 33,000 roubles per verst.

Imperial ukase authorised construction on August 26, 1896, actual work beginning on April 27, 1897.

Colonel Ulyanin, of the Corps of Engineers, was appointed Chief Constructor and the overseers were also engineer officers, the majority of whom had already taken part in the laying of the Krasnovodsk-Merv section of the Trans-Caspian railway. The workmen consisted of Russians, Persians, Bokharans, Sarts from the province of Samarkand, Ersaris and Afghans from Maimana, the daily roll averaging between 3500 and 5000. Of this number from 27 per cent. to 45 per cent. were Russians, who were paid from eighty-nine kopecks to one rouble eighty kopecks per day. Native workmen received no more than eighty kopecks daily; several hundred of them worked for a monthly salary of between fifteen [Pg 112] and seventeen roubles. The prevalence of malaria in the Kushk and Murghab valleys interrupted the building and hundreds of instances of labourers breaking their contracts occurred, the authorities being obliged to repair the shortage by enlisting inexperienced men. In spite of this difficulty work upon the permanent way was completed in November 1898, and the task of laying the rails, which began on November 15, 1897, was finished on December 4, 1898. Rails were laid at a rate varying between 1 and 2½ versts per day, the job being carried out by the newly formed companies of the Railway Battalion. The cost per verst fluctuated from 350 to 450 roubles. The difference existing between the gauge of this railway and the standard of the Russian railways has since been altered. At first the line was of narrow gauge with rails weighing 18 lbs. to the cubic foot, metals of a heavier type only being laid for a distance of forty versts. The service of trains from Merv to Kushkinski was opened on December 4, 1898. At the present time, it comprises four daily local trains and two bi-weekly expresses, “through” trains, which complete the journey in eighteen hours at a speed of 11 miles an hour.

Upon completion and after inspection by a commission, control of the Murghab valley line reverted to the Minister of Ways and Communications by whom the original narrow gauge was adapted to the broad gauge of the Russian system. Various other alterations and improvements in the siding and hutting accommodation were also carried out. In 1901-02 branch lines to Chahil Dukteran and Tanur Sangi, skirting the left bank of the Murghab and passing Maruchak on the Afghan bank, were constructed. It is now proposed to double the entire track between Merv and Kushkinski Post, these highly significant changes making the railway available for any service the military authorities might impose upon it. The line itself is veiled in such close secrecy by the Russian authorities that peculiar interest attaches to any particulars upon it, and these notes, presented for the first time to the public, convey an accurate and not unimportant description of its character, from the junction at Merv to the terminus at Chahil Dukteran.

From Merv station, 118.01 sagenes above sea-level, the railway runs at first in a south-easterly direction, passing due south and south-west along the valleys of the [Pg 113] Murghab and Kushk rivers. The first station beyond Merv is Talkhatan Baba, some 37 versts distant at an elevation of 127.06 sagenes. This place is situated in country which is both sandy and flat, while barely 6 versts away is the Murghab river, upon which the station is dependent for its water-supply. Twenty versts further the line meets the spreading prosperity of the Yulatan oasis, from which the point derives its name. Yulatan station stands at a height of 134.16 sagenes; and, although a pleasant freshness is imparted by the oasis to its environment, the general spectacle is very dreary, being broken only by the contours of low dunes and undulating sand ridges. A small village has been founded by the Russians on the banks of the stream, the first colonists to establish themselves in Yulatan appearing in 1885. An open square, surrounded by little brick and stone buildings distinguishes the centre of [Pg 114] the settlement. Four wide streets, along the gutters of which are planted tall trees, radiate from it; while the population consists principally of Persians, Khivans, Sarts, Armenians and Bokharan Jews. The percentage of Russians is inconsiderable.

Yulatan contains the headquarters of the District Commissioner, the Sixth Company of the 1st Trans-Caspian Railway Battalion and two companies of the 1st Caucasian Rifle Battalion. There are also a post and telegraph office, a mixed primary school, an hospital with six beds, a synagogue and a large public garden. The trade is in the hands of Bokharan Jews and the market assembles upon Mondays and Thursdays. In the district around the station there is a Tekke population of 15,000, occupied, for the most part, in the cotton industry. By reason of its trade this station is the most important commercial centre on the line. In 1901, for which statistics have only just become available, there were:

These figures have increased greatly in more recent years, the bulk of the trade from the Yulatan oasis line now converging upon this point.

The third station from Merv is Sultan-i-band, some 76 versts distant and at an altitude of 139.55 sagenes. A slight change in the character of the country is here noticeable; the flat, sandy, barren expanse which begins wherever the Yulatan oasis leaves off giving place to dense reeds and marshes. Water is not drawn from the Murghab river at this station, the supply coming from the Khani Yab canal. Originally the region was fertilised by the Sultan-i-band; but that once magnificent work has fallen into decay, and, although the surrounding country contains a large Tekke population, there is very little industry. The ruins of the Sultan-i-band lie in the immediate vicinity,—the word “band” means “dam,”—this famous canal once being connected very closely with the history of Old Merv when the waters of the Murghab irrigated that oasis. But to-day the commercial importance of the district is [Pg 117] insignificant and in the year under review only 3689 poods of cotton were forwarded to Merv.

The environment of the next station, Imam Baba, which is 44 versts distant, reveals on account of the prevalence of malaria a very desolate appearance. It is situated where the sand-hills approach the banks of the Murghab river, but the spot is desert and marshy. It rests 148.60 sagenes above the sea, drawing its water from the Murghab river. There is little local industry and the district owing to the fever, is very scantily populated.

The fifth station from Merv is Sari Yazi, where a small buffet denotes its importance. The mean gradient of the line between Merv and this point is 0.0005 and the distance is 157 versts. The depôt is situated in the Murghab valley, bounded on the east by the Karabyl hills, a low-lying ridge of sandy clay. It lies 155.57 sagenes high and depends for its water upon the Murghab river. Sari Yazi occupies an interesting region and is itself the site of an important Turcoman fortress, now in ruins. Among the valleys on the northern slopes of the Karabyl hills there are the traces of numerous Tekke villages, whose men held the region in subjection while the women cultivated the ground. At the station there are railway yards and workshops; attached to it is an hospital with fifteen beds and barracks for one company of the Railway Battalion. In 1901 there arrived:

Tash Kepri, the sixth station from Merv and 197 versts from that place, is situated in the broad valley of the Murghab river at its confluence with the Kushk river. It is at a height of 164.0 sagenes and the water-supply is from the Murghab river. The place derives its name from a handsome old brick bridge of nine arches, which spans the Kushk river at a distance of three-quarters of a mile to the south-west of Ak Tepe and connects the station with the village. It is also described as Pul-i-Khisti. The Karabyl hills, which bound the valley of the Murghab on the east, here recede somewhat from the river and there is a vestige of cultivation, the green plots imparting a welcome note of relief to the general aspect of the scene. Close to the station is a monument to the soldiers who fell during the expedition of 1885, which was commanded by Lieut.-General [Pg 118] Komaroff. Among the trophies of the fight were eight guns and the whole of the Afghan camp. The monument was erected at the instance of the late Commander of the Forces in the Trans-Caspian province, Lieut.-General Kuropatkin, by those who took part in the fight together with the troops in garrison in the district. The commercial development of the Tash Kepri district is growing and, conformably with the increase of trade with Afghanistan, the station itself is becoming of greater importance. In 1901 there were:

Almost upon the frontier and connected with it by a carriage-road 22 versts in length, is Takhta Bazar, the headquarters of the Harzagi section of the Pendjeh [Pg 119] Sariks who control the Kashan valley cultivation. It is situated on the Murghab river and is the only settlement of importance in the Pendjeh district. The population comprises Jews, Persians, Bokharans, Armenians, Khivans, Russians, Afghans and Tartars. There are, including a native school under Russian supervision, fifty-seven buildings, in the village of which at least one-half belongs to the Jews. The Pendjeh Custom House, a frontier establishment of the third class through which passes the trade with Afghanistan, is situated near it. The trade statistics of the year under notice are:

From Pendjeh the main line, taking a south-westerly direction, runs through the narrow valley of the Kushk river to Kushkinski Post. Since the completion of this work a branch line has been carried through from Tash Kepri a distance of 22 versts along the Murghab to Tanur Sangi, affording a supplementary avenue of approach for the purposes of concentration and the transport of stores to points on the actual Russo-Afghan frontier. From this extension a further line, 25 versts in length, has been projected towards Torashekh from a little south-east of Pendjeh up the Kashan valley. Ten miles south-east of Tanur Sangi, at Bala Murghab and 30 miles south of Torashekh, at Kala Nao the Afghans possess strong frontier posts. Herat already lay so snugly in the grasp of Russia that it might have been spared this little further attention.

Kala-i-Mor, the station before Kushkinski Post, is situated almost mid-way between Pendjeh and the terminus at Kushk. It is 244 versts from Merv and 202 sagenes above sea-level. The position of the station, bounded by hills where wild boars are plentiful and snipe and pheasants offer attractive sport, occupies a dreary and desolate scene. There is little vegetation and considerable malaria; the local springs are quite brackish as the result of extensive deposits of salt in the sand. Fresh water is brought by train to the station where a drinking-water reservoir has been established. No trade exists at Kala-i-Mor, which fails to attract a population.

Beyond Kala-i-Mor, at a distance of 259 versts from Merv, the line crosses the Kushk river by a bridge with stone abutments supported upon iron piles. Half-way to Kushkinski Post station, near the railway siding, are the ruins of the small fortress of Chemen-i-Bed. While approaching it the line passes the Alexeieffski village, established by Russian colonists in 1892 and containing forty-one families. This village and the neighbouring one of Poltavski, founded in 1896 and where there are thirty-five families, are the most southern settlements within the Russian Empire. The inhabitants exist almost entirely by the exportation of inconsiderable quantities of wheat, hay and straw to Kushkinski Post for the purposes of the garrison.

Kushkinski Post station, 306.4 sagenes above sea-level, is 293 versts from Merv. It possesses a fine buffet. The military post, situated near the frontier in the broad valley of the Kushk river, is bounded by the undulating slopes of the Bend Chengurek chain, an off-shoot of the Paropamisus. With the completion of the Murghab railway, Kushkinski Post immediately attained special importance and, in 1900, it was declared a fortress of the fourth rank. The hoisting of the Imperial standard over the walls was carried out in the presence of the late Minister of War, General Kuropatkin. In the early days, before the lines of the fortress had been planned, Kushkinski Post comprised a number of detached works within which the various arms were quartered. At that time, too, the officers’ accommodation, consisting of one-storey buildings roughly [Pg 121] constructed out of mud, was in the railway settlement where, pending the completion of the main works, long narrow sheds for the use of the troops had been erected. Now improvement has followed upon preliminary chaos and the men are comfortably housed in cool barracks upon the upper slopes of the adjacent heights. The officers are disposed with equal care and convenience elsewhere. Public buildings likewise have improved upon their original sites. The military hospital, the post and telegraph bureau and the Custom House have taken up locations upon high ground, their positions crowned, if not protected by forts upon the crest of these very useful eminences. Kushkinski Post, therefore, may be said to be a thriving settlement where, if the hours are wearisome and the days charged with ennui, there is always the prospect of a “dust up.”

Attempts have been made from time to time, by officers stationed at Kushkinski Post, to become familiar with the officers in command of the Afghan posts across the frontier. More often these attempts at friendliness have been rebuffed, the Afghan soldiery neither accepting advances from the Russians nor making any overtures themselves. Strained relations exist, as a rule, between military posts on either side of any frontier, although, in regard to the Russo-Afghan frontier, there was an occasion when friendly conditions prevailed between the Russians and the Afghans.[10] At that time the staff of the frontier regiment on guard along the Afghan side of the border had accepted an invitation to the mess at the Russian post. They arrived in due course—appearing in all the full-dress grandeur of second-hand railway uniforms! The officer commanding the detachment exhibited on the collar of his tunic the mystic words “Ticket Collector”; his subordinate, a subaltern, was content with the less exalted label of “Guard.” Out of courtesy to their guests the Russians suppressed their merriment, receiving nevertheless the impression that a portion of the subsidy, granted by the Government of India to the Amir of Afghanistan, was taken out in the castoff uniforms of British public companies. The facts were that the Amir, through his Agent in India, had acquired a large parcel of discarded clothing at one of the annual sales of condemned stores in Northern India.

This exchange of courtesies on the frontier illustrates only the pleasant side of service in this region. More serious [Pg 122] incidents occur. Occasionally in the heat of the chase, when parties of Russian officers have crossed the frontier in pursuit of their quarry they have been fired upon by the Afghan patrols or ridden down by Afghan sowars. Sporting trips around Kushkinski Post or in the valleys of the Murghab are infrequent among the Russians, although wild boar abound in the thick patches of reeds which hem in the banks of the rivers; the tufts of grass, the hardy scrub and the patches of bush also afford excellent cover for partridges and pheasants. The scarcity of good water at any distance from the railway is the great drawback to such excursions, since the transport of water is both costly and cumbersome. In cantonments goat-skins of the precious fluid are brought for sale by water-sellers who come round, earning a precarious livelihood by their industry.

This custom, which prevails throughout the East, was once turned to account by an Afghan who was afterwards discovered to be an Hazara sapper from the Kabul garrison. Disguised as a water-seller he spent three weeks at Kushkinski Post, conducting an exhaustive inspection of the works and coming every night and morning to the fort with his supplies of water. Chance, which in Asia plays no less a part in the affairs of man than in Europe, threw across his path a native who had visited Kabul some weeks before with letters from the Governor-General of Turkestan. The Afghan had been deputed by the Amir to attend to the Turkestani. He had met and escorted him to the capital and back again to the western boundary. As the Russian had entered Afghanistan from the Kushkinski Post, along the Hari Rud valley, he was conducted from the capital to the frontier by the route he had first followed. At the frontier he had dismissed his Afghan attendant, who promptly proceeded to disguise himself as a water-carrier and to obtain admission to the station. Here he busied himself daily until, meeting of a sudden his late charge, recognition upon the part of the Russian subject was immediate and the spy was arrested in the act of escaping from the precincts of the fort. Suspicion as to the man’s identity became assured when a packet of notes was found, wrapped in a rubber sheath, at the bottom of the goat-skin water-bag.

Until the advent of the railway the colony at Kushkinski Post apart from the garrison, comprised a few Armenian and Persian traders. With the prolongation of the line from Merv the civilian population began to increase rapidly. [Pg 123] There is, of course, no hotel in the station; although the officers of the garrison have established a small military club wherein they mess together and where, when the bi-weekly trains bring the supply of ice, there is usually an animated gathering of desolated humanity. At the present time there are in Kushkinski Post 123 buildings, of which some thirty odd belong to private persons. Apart from the garrison the civil population numbers fifty people.

Kushkinski Post station consists of a handsome, spacious structure in the white stone which is brought from quarries in the basin of the Kushk. The railway buildings include a depôt with workshops, eight bungalows for the heads of the staff and special quarters for the employés. There are also large barracks for the 6th Company of the 1st Trans-Caspian Railway Battalion, who are not included in the field state of the post. All buildings are lighted by electricity and the workshops are furnished with electric motors, while the water is drawn from springs on Gumesli mountain.

[Pg 124] Kushk region is malarial in consequence of the marshy nature of the surrounding country. For some years past measures have been undertaken with a view to draining the swamps and regulating the running of the streams. By these means it has been hoped to render more healthy the general environment of the station, including the fortress works, Kushkinski village and the district lying between the Afghan frontier post of Kara Teppe and the Russian Alexeieffski and Poltavski villages.

The specific disease which makes duty in the Murghab and Kushk valleys peculiarly obnoxious is a low fever of an endemic nature. Its pathological history is still undetermined and, although investigations have been made into its character and numerous experiments essayed, the malady is usually fatal. In general, the patient is stricken suddenly when the liver would appear immediately to be affected, the skin becoming yellow and the sufferer lapsing into unconsciousness within a few hours of the attack. Systematic study of the disease has enabled the medical authorities to trace it indirectly to the soil from which, just as in Africa and any of the countries lying within the fever belt, germs are released whenever it is disturbed. In this way the most infectious points in the Kushk and Murghab valleys are those lying within the cultivated areas, more especially around those places where digging operations are of frequent occurrence. As the order of life becomes more settled and the necessity for any interference with the soil disappears, it is anticipated that the extreme virulence of the disease may diminish. At one time the soldiers of the Railway Battalions were so susceptible to its ravages that its course assumed the appearance of an epidemic.

No commercial importance belongs to Kushkinski Post and it is solely the strategic considerations which attach to it that give it so much value. In the hands of Russia and commanding the trade routes into Afghanistan, as well as the road to Herat, Kushkinski Post well might play a leading part in the settlement of questions still outstanding between Russia and Great Britain in respect of Afghanistan. Whether the existence of the post will promote the development of trade relations, which are now restricted by the Amir’s Government and directed by the Afghan frontier authorities through Khorassan, remains to be seen. Nothing can underestimate its significance. The post, together with the whole of this branch line, is a deliberate military measure against [Pg 125] Afghanistan, the boundaries of which kingdom can almost be seen from the ramparts of the forts which crown the crest of the hills.

Eighteen versts to the south of the fortress, at Chahil Dukteran, there is the post of the Russian Frontier Guard and the present terminus of the Murghab Valley railway. Beyond may be noted the solitary figures of the Russian sentinels keeping their beat along the extensive line of their position; while southward and serving at the moment for a caravan route lies the road to Herat. As an interesting link in the chain of evidence which points to the future use of this road in another way, there is the existence of a large store of light railway plant prepared for the purposes of extending it into Afghanistan itself, whenever the troops of Russia may require to be carried forward to the walls of Herat through the passes of the Paropamisus, a little less than 80 miles.

To Englishmen another, perhaps less direct and more ficticious, interest attaches to this railway. A glance at the map of the Eastern hemisphere will show that the shortest practicable line of communication between London and India lies through Russia and across Central Asia. The direction would be viâ Calais, Berlin, Warsaw, Rostov-on-Don, Petrovski, Baku, Krasnovodsk, Merv, Kushkinski, [Pg 126] Girishk and Kandahar. The whole of this distance has now been covered by railway, with the exception of the span of 195 miles across the Caspian Sea, between Baku and Krasnovodsk and the gap of 500 miles which still separates Kushkinski Post from New Chaman. If these sections were bridged the journey from London to India might be very considerably shortened, assuming that the present rate of speed—32 miles an hour on the European and 25 on the Asiatic lines—were maintained. The net saving in time, if the railway were completed, would be seven days; while the horrors of the Red Sea and the monsoon would be but bad dreams to the Anglo-Indian traveller. The country between Kushkinski Post and New Chaman presents no obstacle to the engineer; the Paropamisus range could be crossed by the Ardewan or the Chashma Sabz pass, neither of which is more than 3400 feet above sea-level or 1000 feet higher than that of the tableland on either side. From this point Herat, the garden city of Afghanistan and the key of India, is distant only 30 miles; thence the line would be carried by way of Sabzawar, Farah, Girishk and Kandahar to New Chaman.

However if further railway construction in this region is to take place, it will be in connection with the development of plans which concern the requirements of potential strategy rather than the humours of experimental fantasies. For some time past there have been abundant signs that Russia is proposing to find compensation in the Middle East for the downfall of her prestige in Further Asia. Certainly there is a field for her energies lying fallow in Central Asia. The precise quarter where the furrows are waiting to be ploughed is between the Central Asian railway and the frontiers of Northern Persia and Northern Afghanistan. It is to-day evident that sooner or later Russia will improve her communications in this direction by adding to the Orenburg-Tashkent system its natural complement—an extension to Termes on the Oxus, where there is a Russian fortress—or by imparting to her position on the Perso-Afghan border that little requisite attention which it merits—a railway to Meshed in Khorassan. Long since is it that these schemes entered the domain of practical politics, the Russian military position on the Middle Oxus requiring an alternative line of communications to that offered by the Amu Daria, which, when frozen in winter with the post-roads across the mountains blocked by snow, wraps in dangerous isolation the Russian garrisons at Termes, Kelif and elsewhere [Pg 129] along this section of the frontier. Preliminary surveys for a railway were conducted in 1902, when the routes selected followed from Samarkand the Shar-i-Sabz, Huzar, Shirabad caravan highway to Termes; and, from Farab to Termes, the trade route along the Oxus through Burdalik and Kelif. Further extensions in this direction would provide railway communication between Huzar and Karki by a bridge across the river, by which Huzar would become as important a railway junction as it is a caravan and trading centre. Still more in the future is the strong probability that Karki will be joined with the Afghan frontier at Imam Nasar, by following the caravan route from the river, or with Pendjeh across the fringe of the Kara Kum.

Equally determined has been the intention to open up railway communication with the north, north-eastern frontier of Persia, the original surveys taking place simultaneously with the parties working towards the Oxus. For purposes of the Persian railway two routes were also inspected in this quarter, the Askhabad-Meshed line receiving the earliest attention and warmest support. This scheme, after passing through the defiles between Firuza, the summer resort of Askhabad society, and Badjira, entered Persian territory at Kettechinar; running up the Deregez valley and leaving the Atrek waters near their source at Kuchan, it then broke into the Keshef Rud valley, striking the caravan road to Meshed between Durbadam and Imam Kuli. Great initial outlay was made in connection with this railway. Its course had been pegged out under the supervision of M. Stroieff, dragoman of the Russian Consulate at Meshed, with the help of the Ikram-ul-Mul late Karguzar of Kuchan, to whom 12,000 roubles were presented. Further, it was arranged to open a branch of the Imperial Russian Bank at Meshed to assist the financing of the work, the staff comprising an official from St. Petersburg as manager-in-chief, an assistant manager from Teheran, with Ali Askar Khan, the interpreter of the State Bank at Askhabad. The outbreak of hostilities in Manchuria imposed a temporary check upon the labours of the construction parties, the reflection thus obtained giving rise to the advantage of dropping a branch line from Tejend station on the Central Asian railway viâ Sarakhs, Daulatabad, Pul-i-Khatun to between Zulfikar and Kala Kafir, wherever some future extension of the Askhabad-Meshed line, following the Keshef Rud to its meeting with the Hari Rud on the actual Perso-Afghan [Pg 130] frontier, may terminate. The Tejend Rud is the name given to the lower waters of the Hari Rud which, flowing by Herat, receives midway in its course the Keshef Rud and thence runs close to Sarakhs, presenting to any line running along the Had Rud valley an alternative approach to the Afghan city.

That Herat and Meshed are the objectives of Russian railway policy is obvious from a pamphlet issued in 1902 by the Topographical Bureau in St. Petersburg and entitled Railways Across Persia. In its pages a railway was projected from Kara Kliss, a station midway between Tiflis and Erivan, viâ Tabriz, Teheran, Shahrud to Meshed. The mileage, cost, the number of sidings and names of stations were all laid down. The principal stations in the first section—Kara Kliss to Tabriz—were Erivan and Julfa. At this moment the span from Kara Kliss to Julfa a distance of 135 miles is completed, the first hundred miles—Kara Kliss to Erivan—being open to traffic and the remaining thirty-five miles—Erivan to Julfa—in working order. From Julfa a carriageway, constructed under Russian auspices and in all essentials a Russian military road, runs to Tabriz, so that Russian schemes for broad gauge railways to Herat and Meshed are at least removed from their incipient obscurity.

[Pg 131]

CHAPTER VI

THE MURGHAB VALLEY

The river Murghab, which, with the Kashan and the Kushk streams, waters the Merv oasis and then disappears in the sands of the Kara Kum desert, rises in the mass of mountains connecting the eastern extremities of the Safed Koh and Tir Band-i Turkestan ranges. It flows in a westerly direction through the great valley separating these mountain chains and, after receiving the waters of numerous tributaries, turns towards the north-west to pass the Afghan fortress of Bala Murghab and the post of Karawal Khana. At this latter point it receives the waters of the Kaisar affluent. Continuing in a north-westerly direction it flows past Maruchak, lying on the right bank, where a short distance below it is joined by the Kashan stream. Pendjeh and Ak Tepe are both situated upon the left bank. At Ak Tepe the Kushk river, which rises in the Paropamisus range, unites with it and from this point the Murghab runs in a due northerly direction past Yulatan to Merv, thence running dry in the desert.

Within Russian territory the Murghab river irrigates [Pg 132] exclusively the Merv district, and its length within the Trans-Caspian province is about 400 versts. If its numerous bends were taken into account the length of the stream would be 850 versts. The Kushk river waters Russian territory for a distance of 100 versts, from the Russo-Afghan frontier to its confluence with the Murghab; the Kashan for 60 versts. The width of the Murghab at the Kaushut-Khan-Band, 28 versts above the town of Merv, is about 23 sagenes; but at Merv itself it narrows to 12 sagenes. Its mean depth is 7 feet. The rise of the water begins in the middle of March and the fall finishes three months later. Between June and the middle of October the level of the river is determined by the rain-fall and snow in the neighbouring mountains. About June, when the river has fallen, the population experiences the want of the water which is necessary for the autumn crop of cotton. In years of drought, when the dearth of water is felt much earlier—during the period of the ripening of the crops, in fact—the population are obliged to abandon the greater portion of their harvest.

The country through which these rivers flow is, in the main, a mixture of desert waste and cultivated strip, with rising uplands carpeted in spring by bright flowers and hidden in winter by heavy snows. Roads meander along the valleys, sometimes by means of rocks and boulders crossing and recrossing the stream many times in short stretches or, at others, wandering far away from the waterside to traverse the broken spurs of hills. Where signs of cultivation exist, there are indications that the population has regained confidence in the Russian domination of the district. Fields and irrigation canals have been cleaned and restored; the sparkle of the little rills is reflected in the brilliant sunshine.

From the broad uplands of the watershed, from where to the river bed below there is in general a tedious scramble across a confusion of stones and brushwood, the tumbled masses of the rounded slopes are seen to sink into long undulating sweeps. Where the Kushk and Murghab valleys become entangled, a line of sand cliffs disappears in one direction into the haze of the Kara Kum and merges in another with the Karabyl plateau. In the distance the river, spreading itself over a labyrinth of canals, passes through a rapid succession of changing scenes, until, in the broad arid wastes of the Kara Kum, its waters are finally and [Pg 135] completely lost. South-west of Bala Murghab the valley narrows to the dimensions and rugged outlines of a defile. Through this the river rolls, tumbling with thunderous clamour, towards Pendjeh oasis, where it acquires a breadth of 1 to 3 miles. At Pul-i-Khisti, identical with Tash Kepri and a little above the Russian settlement of Takhta Bazaar, the stream is joined by the waters of the Kushk rivulet, when it is not consumed in irrigation. From this point the united rivers flow onward to the oases of Yulatan and Merv, passing through a broad flat valley, 2 miles in width, bounded on either side by sandstone heights. In this stage the river is slow running, deep and difficult to cross, and possessing but few fords. Its average breadth varies between 40 and 70 yards and the most prominent feature is its extreme sinuosity. Beyond Bala Murghab the river valley is contained on the left bank by an undulating chain of low hills, high rocky gorges enclosing the right. At this point the sides are steep, with a possible height of 24 feet and a surface growth of shrubs and willows. A narrow, level strip, tufted with scattered grasses, lies between the water’s edge and the hills on the left bank. The river itself flows in a single channel, clinging rather closely to the left of the valley. It possesses a mean breadth of 70 yards and a maximum current of 5 miles. The depth of the ford is between 3 to 4 feet.

The valleys which debouch upon the river are quite spacious and contain small plots of cultivated ground, with here and there a village. Unfortunately, while the banks of the river are fertile the valleys themselves are exceedingly unhealthy—a low fever, pathologically identical in the two districts of Murghab and Kushk, permeating them. Although the great majority of the inhabitants avow themselves immune from the disease, they are averse to settling in the valleys. A feature of the river is the abruptness with which the broad open spaces are changed to narrow gorges of no remarkable height. This trait in the character of an otherwise respectable inland river compresses so great a volume of water into so small a channel that its passage is attended with risk. It is not until the spreading expanses of the Pendjeh, Yulatan and Merv oases have exhausted it that the stream is crossed with convenience. At Bala Murghab, where the current is very strong and the depth uncertain, deep holes in the bottom and masses of protruding rocks, added to the hidden dangers [Pg 136] from quicksands, make the task of fording an intricate proceeding. There are two fords at this point, and a similar number are in use at Maruchak, Karawal Khana and Pendjeh, while the Russians have restored many stone bridges which formerly existed in the Kushk valley near the junction of the Murghab and Kushk rivers, at Maruchak and Bala Murghab. The liability of the two rivers to sudden floods renders all fords uncertain and insecure, particularly in the lower stretches between Pendjeh and Merv. More often than not necessity dictates the prudence of stripping to the skin, when the native, a prayer to Allah on his lips and his possessions strapped in a bundle on his head, flounders through the water to arrive damp, disconsolate and very scared on the opposite side. Nevertheless, the best fords are found usually where the stream flows swiftly through a narrow bed. At such a crossing there is a firm bottom and foothold is readily secured.

Many contrivances are used to cross the rivers of High Asia. Where the current is sluggish an inflated goatskin is employed. This system is in vogue on the Oxus and, in lesser degree, on the Helmund, where rafts of bushes are preferred. Along the Murghab the indifferent nature of the fords and the swiftness of the current in the narrow channels of the river make the use of a boat, drawn along a hawser, more suited to the needs of the occasion. Fords on the Murghab are not so frequent as on the Oxus.

The Kushk Valley extends in Russian and Afghan territory some 14 miles. It possesses an average breadth of three-quarters of a mile. Its hills, low and rounded, are a conglomerate of clay and red sand, but bare of trees and with their faces dotted with mud-cabins. An extensive system of irrigation is fed by the river and there is much cultivation on the tops and sides of the hills. The produce of the fields is only sufficient for the immediate wants of the native settlers, although the Russians hope, now a garrison has been established at Kushkinski Post, that the demands of the troops will spur the villagers to greater agricultural activity. In Afghan territory the valley is the habitat of the Jamshidis, who, quiet and tractable, reveal few wants and even fewer interests. Excessive irrigation has done so much to spread the fever that the population throughout the valley has been dwindling gradually. There are now less than 4000 families in the entire valley, years of peace and prosperity seeming [Pg 137] to accentuate the restlessness which underlies the nature of all nomadic people. A weekly bazaar is held at Kushkinski Post; similar gatherings taking place at Afghan Kushk, Bala Murghab, Maruchak and in the Pendjeh oasis at Takhta Bazaar. Salt, rice, soap, carpets and horses are all brought to the markets, while the Russians encourage the native merchants under their protection to display stocks of Russian sugar, matches and cotton prints. Silks from Meshed and Bokhara are also in evidence, but nothing of any English or Indian origin. French, American and German products are barred no less rigorously, although German matches and French sugar occasionally escape the specific ostracism which applies to British manufactures.

In the Kushk valley the fertility of the land is dependent upon the flooding of the river by the spring rains. As a consequence an ever-present feeling of irritation exists in the lower parts of the Kushk valley against the Afghan villagers, who control the head waters of the river and divert it to their own fields. This difficulty prevails along the entire line of the frontier in this region, the demarcation of the boundary between the two races leaving the heads of the canals in Afghan territory. There are many exceptions to the misfortune, and, so far as possible, the division is arranged in a spirit of mutual ownership, although the natives, on the Russian side of the frontier, have no claim to compensation if there should be an insufficient quantity. With a river like the Kushk, which possesses an irregular volume, the difficulty is much greater than in the case of the Murghab or even the Hari Rud. Water means to these primitive peoples life and existence; and, as cultivation is only rendered possible by most assiduous irrigation, the task of conserving the supply involves incessant labour. Although agricultural activity prevails principally in the Murghab and Kushk district there are a few cultivated places in the Kashan valley. It would be useless to make any comparison between the former valleys and the Kashan. The Kashan valley contains a small strip, level, well watered and about half a mile in width, through which percolates a narrow stream. In spite of its culturable soil the Kashan district is not frequently inhabited, as in the extreme hot weather the Kashan river is exhausted by the claims made upon [Pg 138] it for purposes of irrigation; below Robat-i-Kashan, except during the spring floods, there is no trace of water. A similar condition of affairs characterises its companion stream the Kushk; at the point of union with the Murghab it is frequently reduced to a mere trickle. None the less during the spring rains each of these rivers is liable to sudden floods. Prior to the advent of the railway at Tanur Sangi there were but few settlements in the valley. There was one at Karawal Khana on the right bank of the Murghab and 12 miles south of Maruchak, while the next of any consequence was at Bala Murghab, upon the same bank and more than 20 miles away from Maruchak. At the time when the Anglo-Russian Commission was adjusting the line of the Russo-Afghan frontier in this region, the absence of habitation and human settlement of any kind was most marked. Time has brought a change.

Tanur Sangi is now one of the termini of the Murghab valley railway. Barracks for the troops who are occupying the post have been built on the heights of the valley, the dense vegetation has been burnt off and a system of drainage applied to the neighbouring swamps. For the moment the Maruchak district, extending equally within Russian and Afghan territory, is pregnant with prospects and the advent of the Russians there has been followed by an influx of native settlers. Upon the Afghan side of the river there are similar indications, by reason of the arrival of the levies who garrison the Afghan forts at Bala Murghab, Maruchak, Kala Nao and elsewhere.

The river is the dividing-point between Russian and Afghan possessions at Maruchak for 15 miles. Still it is interesting to note that the natural frontier between Maruchak and Pendjeh is at the northern end of the Maruchak valley, where the hills, closing in upon the river on both sides, separate the Maruchak acres from those of the Pendjeh oasis. Formerly, too, the Murghab flowed down the northern end of the Maruchak valley, washing the western face. It has now changed its course and, sweeping from west to east, washes the eastern aspect. This deviation had an important bearing upon the findings of the Anglo-Russian Commission. Under their correct and literal interpretation of the protocol the Russians were debarred from exercising any claim over [Pg 141] the waters of canals employed for irrigation, provided their heads were in Afghan territory. By the change in the direction of the Murghab the head of the waters supplying the Pendjeh oasis, which proceed from the Band-i-Nadir canal on the left bank of the Murghab, was placed within Afghan territory. A modification of the situation was urged; finally the boundary was made to pass from Zulfikar on the Hari Rud to the Kushk and from the head of the canal in the Kashan valley to the head of the Band-i-Nadir on the Murghab, due west of Maruchak instead of to a point north of it. This re-adjustment permitted control of the head waters of the Band-i-Nadir to revert to Russia.

The Afghan fortress of Maruchak has experienced a varying fortune, the vicissitudes of which once brought it to ruin and caused its defences to be abandoned. Since then the advance of the Russians has thrown it into prominence again. Its walls have been restored, although it can never serve any other purpose than that of a frontier post of observation. The fortress is in the shape of a square of which the outer walls, measuring some 600 yards, rise 20 feet from the side of a moat. The main entrance [Pg 142] faces the river on the west. Other entrances of less importance are placed at the north-east and south-east angles. In the centre, rising from a circular mound some 40 feet in height with a diameter of 250 yards, is an inner fortress. Quarters for the troops have been constructed along the eastern wall where there is now accommodation for 1000 men. Gun towers stand at the four corners of the main wall and an infantry platform runs round the inner face of the square, a few feet below the parapet. At an angle of the inner fortress and slightly higher than the fortress itself is the citadel, some 80 yards square, where a last stand would be made. The walls and bastions of this are about 15 feet high and gun platforms have been constructed at the corners.

Bala Murghab, a sister fortress, is smaller than Maruchak and lies about 46 miles south-east of Pendjeh. The principal work consists of a fort 120 yards square, situated on a mound itself 30 feet in height; the walls of the fort rise a further 15 feet. An underground passage from it leads to the river and there are quarters for 200 cavalry, 300 infantry and one battery of artillery, besides storehouses and a magazine. The interior of the fort in its present size does not afford accommodation for the existing garrison, all of whom are Irregulars with the exception of the officers. The larger proportion of the mounted men have their lines outside the walls. On a mound, which hitherto has marked the ruins of an ancient citadel, a more commodious fort has been constructed. It stands at the bend of the river, covering Robat-i-Ishmail and protecting the entrance to the Mangan defile. Its dimensions provide for a square of 200 yards, with walls 25 feet in height and an inner defence work standing some 50 feet higher.

Independent of the regular garrison at Herat, there is a levy roll for the Bala Murghab district of 1000 mounted and dismounted men. Two hundred of the former are supposed always to be mustered as Bala Murghab finds details for a number of outlying fatigues, including pickets at the fords and certain mounted patrols. In the immediate vicinity of the fort there is a settlement containing several thousand families. It should be remembered that the garrison at this point is comprised of Afghan Irregulars, who still retain their old titles and organisation. Their company strength is 100 and each company is quite independent of the remaining ones. Five companies form the command of [Pg 145] a Sarhang, whose superior officer is a Sartip. Each company commander is known as a Sad Bashi; and for every ten men there is a Dah Bashi. In the regular Afghan army the commissioned ranks are known by the English equivalent; but in general the military organisation, whether regular or irregular in men as in matériel, is hopeless.

No point in the Murghab region is more important than the Pendjeh oasis as an agricultural colony. It is principally confined to the limits of a single valley, some 25 miles in length and 2 miles in breadth. Dotted about its spreading expanse there are a number of tiny settlements, containing in all some eight to nine thousand households. The areas under cultivation do not return sufficient grain to support so large a population; there is, therefore, a constant migration of Pendjeh Sariks to the adjacent valleys of Kushk and Maruchak as well as to the more distant oases of Yulatan and Tejend, where they have become ardent agriculturists.

The settlers in the Pendjeh valley are divided into five sections. Although united by tribal ties intercommunal jealousies are responsible for continuous discord. The richest and most influential section is that of the Soktis, who occupy the land on the western bank of the Murghab between Pendjeh, Kuhnah and Sari Yazi, a distance of some 35 miles. The Harzagis settlement, lying on the same bank, extends between Takhta Bazar and Maruchak; between these two large settlements are the areas occupied by the Khorassanlis. The two remaining sections, the Bairach and the Alishah, share the opposite bank.

The occupation of the Pendjeh valley by the Sariks took place about thirty years ago, when they were turned out of Merv by certain of the Tekke tribes. At first the Soktis were the sole possessors of the district; but, as other parties came in detachments from Merv, the different sections, increasing in numbers and in strength, were able to enforce upon the earlier arrivals a general division of the valley. Under existing arrangements the Pendjeh oasis has developed, the advent of the railway having attracted the attention of the Russians to its agricultural capacity. There must be now some 75,000 acres under cultivation, the entire area owing its fertility to the Murghab river, whose waters are confined by the Band-i-Nadir.

The Yulatan oasis, which is inhabited by those Sarik Turcomans who moved from the Pendjeh valley, similarly [Pg 146] possesses an unfailing supply of water from the huge dam, Band-i-Kazakli. This is drawn from the Murghab river by a canal and affords water to 125,000 acres, at a velocity of 1500 feet per second. The depth of the canal is sufficient to carry a camel off its legs. Near the site of the dam are the ruins of the Sultan-i-band, a work far vaster than any of the present day. It gave 28 feet head of water and made the fields and gardens of Old Merv the most fertile region upon the globe’s surface. The Sultan-i-band was destroyed in 1784 by the Amir Murad of Bokhara, an act which completely ruined the prosperity of Merv. Just a century later the Tsar, to whose private estates the site of Old Merv belongs, ordered the construction of an anicut 13 miles up stream. The work was carried out by Colonel Kashtalinski, superintendent of the State domains at Bairam Ali. It includes a dam which gives 14 feet head of water and it is connected with a series of storage basins, feeding a central canal 20 miles long. This in its turn supplies 35 miles of secondary canals and 105 miles of distributaries. The cost of these splendid operations was about £105,000; an expenditure which was declared by an eminent English authority on irrigation to be one-fifth of what a similar work would entail in India. It is in contemplation to restore the Sultan-i-band at an estimated cost of £210,000, by which a further measure of prosperity will be assured to the locality. The area thus irrigated amounts to 15,000 acres; 5000 of which are under cotton, while 3675 grow wheat and barley. The whole is let out to Turcomans and Bokharans. The mountains of cotton waiting for transport by rail in the season are a standing proof of the excellence of crops, which are said to return but little short of one hundredfold. The demand for farms within this fertile area is so great that the natives compete for the privilege of holding one at a rent in kind amounting to a quarter of the gross produce. In spite of prohibitions subletting is very rife and one plot frequently supports several families.

[Pg 147]

CHAPTER VII

HERAT AND THE WESTERN BORDER

The inception of the policy by which our relations with Afghanistan are controlled at the present time is due to the reflective intuition of Alexander Burnes[11] who, in 1831, when attached to the Teheran Mission under Sir John Macdonald, felt the necessity of combating the growing influence of Russia in Afghanistan. Circumstances, emanating from the presence of the Russian Mission under Prince Menzikoff at Teheran in 1826, disclosed the policy of Russia towards Persia and Afghanistan to be following two channels: the one, real, immediate and acquisitive; the other, remote, artificial and aiming at intimidation. The influence of these two methods of approach was inimical alike to Persia and Afghanistan, as also to the interests of India; to their existence may be traced the causes of the Russo-Persian War. The results of this campaign with Russia, in which the Shah was engaged from 1826 to 1828, left Persia smarting under its loss of prestige, broken up into a number of petty principalities and ready to attempt armed incursions across the frontier by way of restoring its good name. Khiva and then Herat in turn were considered, selection finally falling upon Herat as the object of attack. The expedition was begun; but owing to the death of Abbas Mirza, the father of the Prince Royal Mahomed Mirza who conducted the expedition, it was withdrawn and for the time being further action was deferred. In the meantime, affairs in Persia had attracted the attention of India; and, as the weakness of the Persian state increased, Russian diplomacy became more active. Distinguished by a marked hostility to England, the policy of Russia aimed at stirring up the tribes of Afghanistan. With this end in view Russian advice counselled Mahomed Mirza Shah to resume the operations against [Pg 148] Herat at the same time that a Russian Mission was despatched to Kabul. The intimate association with the affairs of Persia and Afghanistan, which distinguished the position of Russia at this date, is interesting since it reveals how closely our Afghan and our Persian policies were interwoven, the one re-acting on the other with sympathetic consequence. There is, also, equal evidence of the influence exercised over India by the machinations of Russian diplomacy.

The existence of Russian influence at Kabul and behind the Herat expedition of 1837-38 synchronised with the formal enunciation of the policy by which, since 1838 down to 1906, our relations with Afghanistan have been governed. Indeed, no sooner was the Persian expedition of 1837-38 launched against Herat than the Government of India awoke to the urgency of the situation. Lord Auckland, embodying in more concrete shape the spirit of the idea put forward by Alexander Burnes in 1831, proclaimed upon November 8, 1838, the necessity of establishing a permanent barrier against schemes of aggression upon our north-west frontier. A treaty of alliance was made with Ranjit Singh and Shah Shujah and an expedition, ostensibly prepared for the relief of Herat but not without the intention of checking the growing influence of Russia in Persia and Afghanistan, crossed the Indus under the leadership of General Keane. Kandahar was occupied and Kabul entered in 1839, when Shah Shujah was proclaimed. Unfortunately, owing to one of those singular mistakes of judgment which, by their very frequency, confirm the impression that our success in Asia is more by good fortune than good management, Kabul was evacuated in the winter of 1841-42 and the beneficial possibilities of the occupation of Kabul dissipated in a disgraceful and signally disastrous retirement.

In respect of Herat, Persian designs upon the fortress were by no means crushed by the effect of the campaign—the first Afghan War of 1838-1842. Within ten years—in 1851—disturbances, arising out of the death of the Khan of Herat, caused the new ruler to throw himself once more upon the support of Persia. This situation gave rise to the Anglo-Persian Convention January 1853, by which the independence of Herat and its continuation in Afghan hands was assured. This step, although indicating the importance which the Government of India attached to Herat and giving direct confirmation to the pronouncement of Lord Auckland in 1838, was not sufficient to secure immunity to the Herat [Pg 149] Khanate from Persian interference. Three years later—March 1856—the Government of Persia, taking advantage of a rupture of relations with Great Britain which had occurred in the previous December, despatched a force to Herat. The occupation of the city which followed was short-lived, an émeute occurring in which the Persian flag was replaced by that of the British. Within a few months the espousers of the English cause, receiving no encouragement from the Imperial Government, hauled down their flag and Herat passed once more into Persian hands. Surrendered to Persia on October 25, 1856, it was evacuated finally and restored to Afghanistan July 27, 1857, under pressure of the expeditionary column which disembarked at Karachi in the Persian Gulf on December 4, 1856.

This war, concluded by a treaty of peace signed in Paris March 4, 1857, marks an important epoch in our history with Afghanistan. It denoted the resumption of relations which had been in abeyance since 1842, preparing the way for that treaty of alliance which was signed at Peshawar with Dost Mahommed on January 27, 1857. By this engagement the assistance of the Afghans, in return for a monthly subsidy during the continuation of the war of 1856, was secured against the Persians. As events proved no such help was required. Although hostilities ceased within six weeks of the date of the agreement the monthly subsidy, beginning in the autumn of 1856, was continued until September 30, 1858, the accidence of the Indian mutiny dictating the prudence of preserving friendly relations with Kabul until the very disquieting influences, which were then at work, had been allayed. Relations with Afghanistan continued until 1863 to follow a course more or less overshadowed by the growing importance of Russian intrigue in Central Asia.

While our activities in Persia and Afghanistan demonstrated merely political expansion, a change of quite another order was beginning to define the position of Russia in Central Asia. From this it became evident that a severe test would be imposed upon our trans-border policy. By successive stages, Russian aggrandisement had subjugated the several States which were lying between her territories and the frontiers of Afghanistan when the principles of our policy in regard to that country were announced in 1838. One by one the Turcoman tribes were conquered until, by the capture of Samarkand in 1868 and the submission of the [Pg 150] Amir of Bokhara, Russia gained direct approach to the waters of the Oxus, with the right to furnish its bank with armed posts. The moment was rapidly arriving against which all the energies of Indo-Afghan policy in the past should have been directed. In the interval, before the Russian domination of Central Asia was complete, the aim of British policy to bring about a strong Afghanistan had seemed upon the point of realisation when, in 1863, Dost Mahommed died.

None could foresee the developments of the future. The activity of the Russians in Central Asia boded no good; and with the death of Dost Mahommed it was recognised that the resulting situation contained a challenge to the principles of the policy by which, in years gone by, we had proposed to guarantee the inviolability of Afghan territory. Indeed, an attitude of non-intervention was no longer politic; but, instead of seizing the opportunity presented by the death of Dost Mahommed and occupying the territories of Afghanistan for ourselves, we hesitated. Yet, if the passing visit of a Russian mission to Kabul in 1838 had been accounted sufficient warranty for the invasion of Afghanistan, how much more the massing of Russian forces upon its northern and north-western frontiers should have propelled us to a renewed display of energy in 1863. Unfortunately for ourselves, the logic of our position was destroyed irretrievably by the train of hostile circumstance which our supineness had set in motion. Whilst our politicians debated Russia had acted; and Shir Ali, Khan of Herat and son of Dost Mahommed, spurred by Russian promises and intrigues, began a movement against Azim, Khan of Kabul. Varying fortunes distinguished the efforts of the rival factions between 1863-1868; but at length, in 1868, Shir Ali prevailed and he became recognised as de facto ruler of Afghanistan. For the moment the situation showed improvement, as Shir Ali veered from Russia to India. Practical assistance, in the shape of money and materials of war, was at once accorded him by the Government of India, between whose supreme chief, Lord Mayo, and himself as the ruler of Afghanistan a conference was arranged at Umballa in March of 1869. The outcome of this meeting, not by any means so definite as the interests of a trans-border policy demanded, was held to be sufficient to dispel the feelings of alarm which the prolonged military activities of Russia in the Trans-Caspian region had aroused. None the less, while the Russians were occupied [Pg 151] with the conquest of Khiva and Shir Ali had been disappointed at the aloofness of the Indian Government, four momentous years 1869-1873 were passing. Their close revealed only the further and more complete estrangement of the Amir of Kabul through the amazing ineptitude with which the advisers of the Indian Government dealt with his difficulties. Bitter, indifferent, and relying upon the Russian promises of assistance of 1872, Shir Ali became openly defiant, repudiating all suggestions for any formal treaty of alliance, 1876-1877. At the same time, 1877, he flatly declined to admit to Kabul any British officers as the accredited representatives of the Government of India, although in 1878 he himself received a Russian mission there. With the failure of our own attempt (1878) to force a mission upon him, the Second Afghan War, 1878-1880, began.

Kandahar was occupied by Sir Donald Stewart, January 8, 1879; and, while a second force moved into position against the capital, a third under Sir Frederick Roberts marched against Paiwar Kotal. Shir Ali, flying before these operations, died at Mazar-i-Sharif in February 1879, the first chapter of the second war closing with the installation of his son Yakub Khan on the Kabul throne and the despatch of the Cavagnari mission to Kabul. The treaty of Gandamak, May 26, 1879, had barely put the seal upon certain rights, which might have led ultimately to the definite establishment of British [Pg 152] authority in Afghanistan, when, in the following September, the sudden massacre of the entire mission occurred. The second phase of the Afghan War of 1878-1880 opened with the operations of Sir Frederick Roberts. Defeating the Afghans at Charasia, he entered Kabul in October causing the overthrow of Yakub Khan and paving the way for the eventual recognition of the late Amir Abdur Rahman as Amir of Kabul. Throughout this occupation of Kabul the temper of the surrounding tribes became slowly inflamed until, in December 1879, a rebellion against the British was proclaimed. The tribes rising, the forces in Kabul were placed in jeopardy by the interruption of communications with India. Action by Sir Donald Stewart, who had come up with forces from Kandahar, stemmed the torrent, the situation growing more complex when Abdur Rahman, who had retired across the Oxus on his defeat by Shir Ali in the war for succession, 1863-1868, reappeared in March of 1880 to establish himself in north-western Afghanistan. Both the Government of India and the bulk of the population welcomed his return, and withdrawing the territories of the Kandahar province from his rule he was recognised as Amir of Afghanistan with certain reservations in respect of foreign policy and dealings with Russia. Unfortunately the disasters which hitherto had followed British intervention in Afghanistan were to continue; in July 1880, but a few months after the proclamation of Abdur Rahman as the new Amir, the news of the defeat at Maiwand of General Burrows was received. Ayub Khan, Khan of Herat and youngest son of Shir Ali, marching upon Kandahar and defeating the British force sent to check his advance, had succeeded in investing the city. Sir Frederick Roberts was now once more to come upon the scene. Taking 10,000 men from Sir Donald Stewart’s garrison at Kabul he set out to the relief of Kandahar, accomplishing by a series of forced efforts an extraordinarily rapid march of 313 miles and, on September 1, 1880, routing Ayub Khan’s army. A little later, in 1881, British troops once again retired to India from Afghanistan; but a sudden attack by Ayub Khan’s adherents in July, 1881, secured the re-capture of Kandahar, Ayub Khan remaining there until, on September 22, he was totally vanquished by Abdur Rahman, losing all his possessions and retreating to Persia, from where subsequently he surrendered to the Government of India.

During this long pre-occupation with Afghan affairs Russia had made considerable improvement in her own position in Central Asia, where but little more than the final touches remained to be given. These appeared with the seizure of Merv in 1884 and the completion of the Central Asian railway between Krasnovodsk and Samarkand 1800-1888. The slow, yet faltering, steps with which Russia had maintained her advance towards Afghanistan, in contradiction of all treaties, in abuse of all frontiers and in contempt of our own inaction, at last forced home upon the British Government the fruits of its own miscalculations. In 1884 along the Afghan north-western frontier as also in 1896 on the Pamirs, Boundary Commissions were assembled to meet the exigencies of the situation. The former of these took the field under the leadership of Sir Peter Lumsden, with whom were associated Colonel Sir West Ridgeway and numerous officers attached for political, survey, military, geological and medical duties, including Major E. L. Durand, Major C. E. Yate, Major T. H. Holdich, Captain St. George Gore, Captain Peacocke, Captain the Honourable M. C. Talbot, Captain Maitland, and Lieutenant A. C. Yate. The Pamirs Mission was under the presidency of Major-General M. G. Gerard, with whom were Colonel T. H. Holdich, Lieut.-Colonel R. A. Wahab, Captain E. F. H. McSwiney, and Surgeon-Captain A. W. [Pg 156] Alcock. Russia was represented by Major-General Povalo Shveikovski, Colonel Galkin, Captain Krutorogin, Lieutenant Orakolow, Monsieur Panafidine, and Doctor Welman.[12]

The province of Herat extends from near the sources of the Hari Rud on the east to the Persian frontier on the west, and from the Russian southern boundary to the northern limits of Seistan. The area is 300 miles from east to west and 200 miles from north to south. North, south and west there are tracts of unproductive country, presenting facilities for development only over restricted surfaces. In the east the upper reaches of the Hari Rud valley stretch away to the mountain regions of the Koh-i-Baba. It has been estimated that the valley of the Hari Rud is capable of furnishing supplies for an army of occupation which should not exceed 150,000 men. It is this fact, coupled with the value of its position as the converging point of roads from the Caspian, Merv, Meshed, Bokhara, and from India through Kandahar, which has invested Herat with the title of The Key of India. The Hari Rud oasis presents a wonderful appearance of fertility; near the city groves of pistachia and mulberry trees, blackberry bushes, wild roses and innumerable settlements abound. The Hari Rud, flowing in a single channel 100 to 140 feet in width which diminishes as the summer wanes, has been the means of converting into a smiling paradise the surrounding wilderness. Flood-water in this river lasts from the close of January until the end of March, when fords are dangerous to cross. The subsidence of flood-water in April makes it more readily passable, the average depth of the fords then measuring 4 feet. Later, when the warmer weather appears, the permanent channel breaks up into long lakes, fed by springs and underground continuations of supplementary streams. The northern extremity of the river, which waters the Tejend oasis and the Sarakhs region, preserves in the main the characteristics of the upper stream. The undulating country between the Hari Rud and the Murghab, extending from the northern slopes of the Paropamisus to the edge of the Kara Kum, is called Badghis. At one time this district included the oasis of Yulatan and, even now, it embraces Pendjeh. Across it, along the banks of the Murghab and through the valley of the Kushk, runs the direct road from Merv to Herat. From [Pg 157] the levels of valleys within Russian jurisdiction, which are about 2000 feet above sea-level, the road rises throughout a distance of 35 miles until it pierces the Paropamisus range by the Ardewan pass, 4700 feet above sea-level. From these mountains, it descends across the broken slopes of the Koh-i-Mulla Khwaja until it meets at last the alluvial flats of the Hari Rud plain, wherein the city of Herat stands, 2600 feet above sea-level.

The city of Herat, built entirely of mud with certain outworks lying beyond its walls, stands in a hollow. It forms a quadrangle 1600 yards by 1500 yards. On the western, southern and eastern faces the wall is a straight line, the only projecting points being the gateways and the bastions. On the northern face, the line is broken by the old Ark or citadel, which stands back about 200 yards from the main wall and is situated upon a high, artificial mound, which is 250 feet in width and between 50 and 60 feet in height. Above this the walls of the city rise an additional 30 feet. There are five gates—the Kutabchak near the north-east angle of the wall and the Malik gate at the re-entering angle formed by the wall of the Ark and the continuation of the north wall. The other gates are on the western, southern and eastern faces, the names respectively being the Irak, Kandahar and Kushk. Four streets, running from the centre of each face, meet at the Charsu, a domed square covered with beams and matting in the heart of the city. A wide, road encircles the walls on the inside, although its upkeep has been sadly neglected. The defences of the city are contained by the wall which stands above the mound. On its outer slope there were at one time two parallel trenches, covered by low parapets; but the trenches, like the moat at the foot of the mound, are now choked up. There are 25 bastions on each wall. The gates, defended by works differing from one another in shape, are of irregular design. They resemble redans, with sides of unequal length and project about 200 feet beyond the main wall. The defences of the gateways are of a lower profile than those of the main works. At the apex of the projection a small rectangular traverse screens the postern.

The northern wall is irregular. Near its centre, thrown back about 200 yards from the main wall and standing on a mound of its own, is the position of the old citadel. A “return” in the wall, leading down on this work from the eastern portion of the north face, terminates on the counterscarp [Pg 158] of its ditch. The western face, retired about 100 yards behind the eastern face, connects with the north-west angle of the citadel by a slight bend. There are two gateways on this front, the one about 200 yards to the westward of the north-east angle and the other in the main wall. This latter is unprovided with the irregular projecting work attached to the others.

The wall of the fort is about 14 feet thick at the base, 9 feet thick at the top and 18 feet high, exclusive of the parapet. The parapet is 2½ feet thick at the base, 9 inches at the crest and 7½ feet in height. It is loop-holed and crowned with the ruins of small battlements which, like so much attaching to Herat, have been permitted to crumble away. In several places the walls have broken down, the repairs subsequently effected adding to the general insecurity of what has remained rather than improving the original breaches. The width of the pathway behind the parapet is 6 feet; but there are many gaps, and continuity of communication is preserved only by the severe physical exertion of flying leaps. Their condition renders them ill-adapted to the employment of artillery, while the ramps leading up to this pathway are barely broad enough to admit the passage of a single man.

At one time this wall was flanked by small exterior towers, placed at intervals of 100 feet. They varied in size and are now so generally in ruin that it is difficult to estimate their dimensions. In their original state they were probably from 40 to 60 feet in diameter, the larger towers being 30 feet in width and projecting 25 feet. In contrast with the containing wall of the city the wall of the fort possesses an outward inclination, equal perhaps to one-seventh of its height. The slope of the towers is generally greater; many of them are splayed at the base to accommodate their foundations to the sloping surface upon which they rest. The whole work appears originally to have been constructed of sun-dried brick, backed with layers of moist earth. Some of the towers have foundations and facings of rough stone or burnt brick, laid in mud. The wall itself is a very old one; stone, brick and earth have been used indiscriminately, so that it now presents a patchwork appearance.

The interior slope of the mound, upon which the walls stand, is steep and from the base of the wall drops perpendicularly into the town. No attention whatever appears to have been paid to this part of the fortifications. The [Pg 161] inhabitants of the city have been for several generations in the habit of removing earth from it for the construction or repair of their dwellings. At one time, too, houses were erected close to the foot of the rampart and also upon it, the slope being excavated to admit of the walls being erected against it. A partial collapse of the mound has followed, the fallen masses of earth serving as a convenient resting-place for the dead.

The old citadel is a brick structure 150 yards long from east to west and 50 yards wide. It occupies an elevation of its own, and, when erected, stood nearly in the centre of the north face of the city. It was flanked by several towers, differing greatly in size; those at the angles were the largest, while those on the north-east angle were the most imposing. The interior, in part occupied by Feramorz Khan, the Commander-in-Chief, is divided into three courts. The inhabited portion is a lofty building, supported by four bastions along its face, with the entrance gate facing the main street to the Charsu. It fills a space 110 yards in length by 60 yards in breadth. The Ark, from its massive appearance, is very dignified, but it is not calculated to withstand protracted defence if the town itself were captured. Its walls, thickly built but of inferior masonry, are exposed from base to parapet, and a few shells dropped behind them would create great havoc.

The Ark-i-nao, or new citadel, serves as a parade-ground for the garrison. Weak both in plan and profile, it is constructed in advance of the mound, but 80 feet below it and upon a level with the country. It consists of 4 straight walls 300 yards in length. The face is flanked by 5 semi-circular towers, each possessing a diameter of 30 feet. The walls are 13 feet thick at the base and 8 feet at the top, crowned on their outer edge by a parapet 6 feet high and 1½ feet thick. There was once a ditch 30 feet in width and 15 feet in depth at a distance of 60 feet from its base, but it is now a general receptacle for the refuse of the city.

Within recent years the fortifications of Herat have undergone radical alteration. At one time, prior to the Pendjeh crisis, the city could not be said to possess an esplanade nor any free field of fire. Detached buildings, even small villages, surrounded it, while cultivation extended close to the walls; and where agriculture ended the cemeteries of the city began. Mosques, tombs and reservoirs stood opposite the gateways, some of them lying within 100 yards [Pg 162] of the walls. Vast mounds of earth were also close at hand. Many of these defects were removed[13] under the guidance of the British officers who were assisting in the demarcation of the Russo-Afghan boundary in 1884-87; in 1903-04, under the supervision of Feramorz Khan, additional improvements were made and a number of mountain and field batteries installed.

In general the Herati is not a fighting man and cares little for military appearances. Indeed, if choice were left to the Heratis they would sooner surrender at once to the Russians than run the risk of future disturbances. The garrison is not generally drawn from the locality and seldom includes many Herati, Hazara or Taimani recruits. Commanded by Feramorz Khan, it is composed mainly of regiments from Kandahar and Kabul, whose men lounge through the streets in unkempt undress or clad in dirty linen and to whom belongs such little martial spirit as may be detected in the city. In this direction nothing can be more marked than the difference between the Herati and the Afghan soldier. The former, a peasant pure and simple, is unversed in military science, while it is a rare sight to see the soldiers without an extraordinary number and variety of weapons attached to their persons. Each carries, as a rule, two pistols, a sword, rifle and many knives, their swagger and overbearing disposition causing them to be hated by the wretched population. The position of the city to-day as between Russia and India is rather that of a woman whose wares are put up to the highest bidder. It is not particularly partial to the rule of the Amir, to the overtures of Russia or to the influence of India. One might say that it were indifferent alike to each of these three interested parties and that it is merely a question of price which will determine its surrender. It must be confessed that the fortress occupies an unfortunate position. Whatever the garrison might attempt in support of the huge earthworks which the place boasts, there is no doubt that the sympathies of the population—if the history of the past goes for anything—would be given to any who contrived to evict the Afghans; and, as all reports concur in alluding to the lavish manner in which Russian roubles have circulated in the province, the statement may be hazarded that, under certain contingencies, the tribes on the north-western border of Afghanistan would declare for the [Pg 165] Russians. Upon this aspect of the situation various changes introduced by the Amir into the administration of Herat province, and concerning equally all posts along the banks of the Oxus and the western border, have direct bearing. Although there is practically no intercourse between the Afghan and Russian posts on either bank of the Amu Daria, indeed the ferry station at Chushka Guzar is constantly sniped from the Afghan bank by Pathan pickets, there has been an insidious growth of association between the Herat officials and the Russians. Quite lately the Kazi Saad-ud-Din, Governor of Herat, was recalled, the Shahgassi Mahomed Sarwar Khan taking his place, while a warning was administered to the commander-in-chief. There is no doubt that these officials accepted complimentary gifts from the Russian officials at Merv, and the transference of the one and the rebuke of the other may check the propensity of the native [Pg 166] to find in the efficacious application of the Russian rouble a panacea for all evils. In respect of the soldiers themselves, orders have been issued from Kabul that all detachments on frontier duty are to be relieved monthly. Obviously Herat is too close to the Russian border not to have been intimidated by the spectacle of Russia’s strength in Central Asia. A similar state of things might not be expected to prevail in Kabul and Kandahar. Kabul is too much under the personal sway of the Amir to express any active interest in Russia or India, while Kandahar has been associated too closely with the reverses which British arms have experienced in Afghanistan to have over much respect for the greatness of Hindustan. Russia is really the supreme and dominating factor in Afghanistan, not only along the northern, eastern and western frontiers, but throughout the kingdom.

Herat is a dirty town. The small lanes, crooked and narrow which branch from the main thoroughfares, are roofed and their gloom offers safe harbourage for the perpetration of every possible offence. The breadth of the streets is only 12 feet, but in their narrowest parts even this space is reduced. Pools of stagnant water left by the rains, piles of refuse thrown from the houses, together with dead cats, dogs and the excrement of human beings, mingle their effluvia in these low tunnels. Much of the city has been abandoned and various travellers, in reporting their experiences, agree that the bazaars are of a very inferior order. On either side of the streets there are spacious serais where the merchants have their depôts. The western face of the city is the least populated, the buildings in this quarter being a mass of ruins. The houses are constructed usually in the form of hollow squares. They are commonly of one storey, built of brick and mud, with very thick walls. The roofs are vaulted and composed, equally with the walls, of mud; the entrances are low and winding. These houses are quite incombustible. The larger establishments have stable and servants’ courts attached to them, and every courtyard has, in its centre, a well or small reservoir for the reception of water. All the houses are more or less capable of resisting men armed with rifles, and a determined garrison might, by barricading the streets leading to the ramparts and loopholing the adjacent houses, protract the defence of the place for some time after the walls had been gained by the enemy. There are several spacious [Pg 169] caravansaries in the town, all of which open upon the street leading from the Kandahar Gate to the citadel and would serve, in emergency, for the accommodation of troops. At the time of Connolly there were:

Although the city has been almost entirely destroyed since his day, his estimate is of some value for purposes of comparison.

The principal building in Herat is the Masjid-i-Jama, which comprises an area of 800 yards square. It was built at the end of the fifteenth century, in the reign of Shah Husein by his relative Prince Shibali. When perfect it was 465 feet long and 275 feet wide; it had 408 cupolas, 130 windows, 444 pillars, 6 entrances and was adorned in the most magnificent manner with gilding, carving, precious mosaic and other elaborate and costly embellishments. It stands in the north-east quarter of the city, about 300 yards from the east walls.

The palace of Chahar Bagh is situated to the west of the Masjid-i-Jama and was originally the winter residence of the chiefs of Herat. It is now the residence of the Governor of the city, but has been considerably enlarged and improved. A fine garden has been laid out with flower-beds and a fountain. It is enclosed on either side.

The inhabitants of Herat, who are mostly Shiah Mahommedans, comprise Afghans, Hazaras, Jamshidis and Tiamanis, with 700 Hindus and some 400 families of Jews. Its population has always been subject to constant fluctuation. When Christie visited it in 1809 the population stood at 100,000 souls. Connolly considers these figures too high, reducing them himself to 45,000. According to Ferrier, again, prior to the siege of 1838 the number of inhabitants was, at least, 70,000; when the siege was raised these numbers had dwindled to between 6000 to 7000, a total which, he considered, had increased in 1845 to 22,000. As under the severe but secure rule of Jan Mahommed life was safe, it is probable that before the investment of 1857 it again approached Connolly’s total. Its siege and capture by Dost Mahommed in 1863 must have once more reduced its numbers; when Vambéry visited it two months afterwards he was met by a scene of [Pg 170] utter desolation and devastation, from which, according to the estimate of A. C. Yate[14] in 1885, the city had never recovered. Citing the previous census, which gave the population at 1700 families, the latter returned it at 10,000. The existing number is now a little less than 18,000 people, exclusive of the garrison, which in peace numbers five regiments of regular infantry, twenty squadrons of cavalry, one battalion of sappers and eight batteries.

The city has declined considerably from its quondam opulence. There is scarcely any trade and the houses are deserted. It is, nevertheless, famous for its fruit and its breed of horses; but the Heratis have endured too many of “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” to be able to withstand adversity and bad seasons. Wars and sieges, pestilence and famine have had their effect; and the scene, which Vambéry described so brightly, is now sombre and melancholy. No longer is Herat the great central market between India and Persia. It still receives a certain amount of merchandise from Kabul, such as shawls, indigo, sugar, chintz, muslin, bafta, kincob, hides and leather. These are exported to Meshed, Yezd, Teheran, Baghdad and Kirman, and exchanged for tea, sugar-candy, china-ware, broadcloth, chintz, silk, copper, pepper, dates, shawls, numnahs, carpets and all kinds of spices. Silk is obtainable [Pg 173] in the vicinity of Herat, and lambs’ fleeces and sheep-skins are made up locally into caps and cloaks. There are, too, a number of native craftsmen who work in silk and metals, leather, iron and wood; but there are few opportunities for their skill and no money with which to pay for it. The carpets of Herat, once so famed for softness and for the brilliance and permanence of their colours, are no longer in demand. At one time they were made in all sizes, ranging in price from 10 to 1000 rupees; but their day is gone. Indeed, in its present impoverished state, the city is eloquent only of a bygone grandeur. Everything is decayed and decrepit.

In relation to future developments in the military position along the western frontier Herat, the immediate objective of Russia, has been for many years the pivot of our trans-border policy. Lying within 80 miles of Kushkinski Post, itself only eighteen hours by train from Merv, it would not be long after the outbreak of hostilities that a Russian force would be before its walls. The passage of reinforcements from Merv, in support of such detached or independent flying column, would be divided between Kushkinski Post and Tanur Sangi, which, when considered from Merv, the main depôt of supplies in Trans-Caspia, rank practically as ultimate bases, with an immediate base at Pendjeh. The position of Herat would be no worse than Maimana, Balkh, Kunduz and Andkhui, upon which an equally rapid concentration would be made. At such a time the forts established at Kala Khum, Chushka Guzar, Kelif and Termes—where, by order of Kuropatkin, a strong work has been placed to cover the debouchure opposite Patta Hissar of the road from Takht-a-pul, the central cantonment of Northern Afghanistan—would be sufficient to repel attack if the Afghans were rash enough to cross. Again, between the Oxus and the chain of main bases established along the Central Asian railway—Askhabad, Merv, Samarkand, Khokand and Margelan, with Tashkent as the great centre of arterial distribution—there would be a line of auxiliary depôts, such as Sharisabz and Hissar and no doubt possessing by the time war occurred railway communication with the Central Asian system on the one hand and the Oxus on the other, to serve as intermediate bases of supply to the ultimate frontier and fighting zone.

In the situation along the extreme eastern frontier, the [Pg 174] Badakshan-Wakhan region, the same preponderating strength and advantage of position would be detected in the Russian dispositions. The existence of the several elevated areas composing the Pamirs and acting as a containing rampart to the Russian left flank renders the Russian sphere between Kala Khum and Langar Kisht sufficiently impervious to serious attack. As a precaution against sporadic forays from the Afghan posts on the opposite bank a number of permanent forts, usually included within the Pamir military district, would be available.

On the right bank, between the upper waters of the Oxus and Charog, there is the post of Langar Kisht where the Russians maintain one company of thirty men with a maxim gun. Charog itself, which is opposite Kala Bar Panja, is the principal post of the Russians in the region of the Pamirs. Here the strength of the garrison varies according to the season of the year. During the winter months the muster is fifty Cossacks with four officers and a maxim detachment. Two maxims and a single mountain gun have been mounted on the ramparts covering the river. Charog is connected with Fort Murghabi by a road along the Alichur Pamir and the banks of the Ghund Daria; built of clay, wood and stone, it possesses earthworks of an enduring character. Additional accommodation is in course of construction, as it is intended to establish quarters there for one battalion of troops. The winter strength of the Russian force in the Pamirs is 500 men; this will be raised to 1000 men so soon as the requisite barracks have been erected at Charog and Fort Murghabi. The probable disposition of the force will put 300 men into each of the three forts at Tashkurgan, Charog and Murghabi, the remaining 100 being detailed by companies to the smaller posts of Langar Kisht, Aktash and Kizil Rabat. At Kala Wanj there was an establishment of 300 levies from the native army of the Amir of Bokhara, a further detachment from the same establishment and similar in strength, being in garrison at Kala Wamar. At Kala-Khum, occupied by 1000 men, there was one native regiment. Along the reach of the Middle Oxus the same arrangement held good, native troops being distributed among all ferry and customs posts, constituting a useful supplement to the Russian troops in the riverine areas. Hitherto the employment of the Bokharan levies for [Pg 175] garrison and frontier duty in Darwaz, Shignan and Roshan has been quite a feature of the Russian disposition along the Oxus. Drilled by Russian instructors and armed with modern weapons these territorial troops are regarded by the Russians as the equal of the Afghan soldiery. In war, they would be expected to relieve the regular forces of a multitude of fatigues and thus leave the energies and numbers of the Russian command unimpaired by that slow process of attrition by which, in the main, the fighting strength of an army becomes so quickly exhausted. Quite lately these posts have been taken over by the regular forces, the native troops being withdrawn for service in the Khanate. It has been always unlikely that, in the event of hostilities, the Russians would permit levies to take the field against the Afghan forces.

On the left bank of the stream the Afghan authorities maintain posts at Kala Panja, which is opposite Langar Kisht, Kala Bar Panja, which confronts Charog, and Ishkashim. No works of special importance have been [Pg 176] constructed to observe Kala Wamar and Kala Wanj, the work at Kala Bar Panja being the central Afghan position on the Upper Oxus. As a fort it compares not unfavourably with the Russian one at Charog; in point of size it is larger than the original Russian structure there. It is in the form of a square; the walls, constructed of clay and stone, are 200 yards in length, about 12 inches thick and 15 to 20 feet in height. It has capacity for about 1000 men and, along one wall, provision for a small force of cavalry.

Possession of these works did not quite equalise the situation and within the last few months many changes have taken place in the Eastern, Northern and Western commands, the raising of 20,000 recruits having been sanctioned by the Amir for the Eastern and Western divisions at the request of the commanding officers. Leading chiefs bringing 1000 men to the colours were to receive the rank of regimental commanders; those who raised 100 men would become company officers. It was further promised that the pay of these new regiments would be issued monthly. The strengthening process has been also applied to the Home or Central command, 10,000 men having been raised in the Shinwari district and sworn in by the Governor of Jelalabad; while enlistment among the Sufi tribal levies has been started for the Kabul garrison. Further, the Governors of Maimana and Faizabad were instructed to entrench their cities, to throw up the necessary watch towers and to place all approaches in a condition of defence. Two new forts were located on the Oxus at Kala Panja and Ishkashim in Wakhan, a third at Boharac and a fourth at Faizabad.

These fresh works possess nominal accommodation for 1000 men, although there is ample space for double or even treble this number. Built in the form of a square, the walls are 6 feet thick at the top and 18 feet at the base. Artillery emplacements have been prepared in the watch towers at each corner and a shooting-gallery runs round the defences a few feet below their parapet. Quarters have been placed along three walls, each wall taking twenty houses, the fourth wall holding the stable, transport and commissariat arrangements. Pathan regiments from Faizabad were detailed to these positions and also to the support of the Badakshan-Wakhan border; new regiments, fashioned from the reinforcements which [Pg 177] had been despatched to Faizabad, taking their place. The normal strength of the Eastern command is represented by seven regiments of Pathan infantry, four squadrons of cavalry and five batteries.

Similarly there has been much activity in the Northern command, the Governor of Afghan Turkestan, Sirdar Ghulam Ali Khan a son of Abdur Rahman, having completed his development of the scheme of defences at Dehdadi which the late Amir created. That stronghold has now been incorporated with Takht-a-Pul, which lies between Mazar-i-Sharif and Balkh and where an important fortified cantonment has been established, possessing a permanent strength of several thousand men. Habib Ullah has full confidence in his brother Ghulam Ali Khan and, in view of the delays which occur in the passage of supplies from the Kabul arsenals to the Herat and Turkestan garrisons, the Amir has sanctioned a proposal to construct in Herat and Takht-a-Pul, small-arms ordnance works, tanning-yards and boot factories, so that these two important commands may be independent of Kabul for these elemental accessories to their efficiency. Powers of control over these projects have been invested in Ghulam Ali Khan, who has appointed an assistant to the Herat branch of the undertaking.

[12] This study of Anglo-Afghan relations is continued in Chapters xvi. and xvii.

[Pg 178]

CHAPTER VIII

KANDAHAR

The road from Herat to Kandahar lies through districts rich in supplies. From Herat there are two great roads, a northern and southern, the latter passing through Sabzawar, Farah and Girishk to Kandahar, in which district it crosses the Zamindawar country, peopled in the main by the Duranis as far as the fords on the Helmund.

Sabzawar, which is 280 miles from Kandahar, is situated almost midway between Herat and Farah—90 miles from Herat and 71 miles from Farah. It stands 3550 feet above sea-level on the left bank of the Harud river, in an elbow of the stream and at the foot of the outlying spurs of the main ranges. Beyond and partly surrounding it there is a wide open plain, some 4 miles in circumference, well irrigated from the waters of the Harud river and, as a consequence, highly productive. The Sabzawar district contains the most fertile areas in the Herat province, a benevolent attention upon the part of Nature that renders the region of service as an intermediate base of supplies. No force, indeed, could resist the temptation of staying at such a point to refresh both man and beast, and to re-assemble its transport. The position is readily protected and the defensive value of the heights, which lie 2 miles distant to the south of the town, could be supplemented by the flooding of the lowlands from numerous water-courses which intersect the plain. The town draws its water from the Harud river, but certain of the villages are dependent upon canals. Several ruins impart an air of desolation to the plain, yet a pleasing sense of cultivation exists around the town itself, arising from the sparkle of running water and the freshness of green trees.

[Pg 179] In recent years Sabzawar has outgrown its original dimensions, and the fort, a square structure with walls 200 yards to 250 yards in length, seven circular bastions on each front and one gate in the south face, has been abandoned. Its walls are in ruins and the interior is uninhabited, save for a small colony of Shikarpuri Hindus. Outside the wall is a ditch, now dry and partially filled with refuse. In the centre of this forlorn scene there is the Governor’s residence, permitting a pleasant view of green trees and fresh-looking grass, cool and even healthy. The town proper, although such a dignified description is inaccurate as the great majority of the population live in villages beyond the walls, is well-to-do, thriving and the centre of a busy trade. Between Nasratabad and itself trade is peculiarly active, the hides, wool, goatskins and dried fruits forwarded from Seistan to Turkestan making it a point of call. Piece goods, sugar and iron-ware are imported in return. The export trade of the town has an annual value of 1,500,000 rupees Indian, and the revenue of the district is 33,000 tomans in cash, and 4000 kharwars in grain. The trade is controlled by Russian Armenian merchants who, resident in its vicinity, travel between Seistan and the surrounding region, pushing articles of Russian manufacture. Their activity in this respect has created an important demand for such goods, which quite oust the few signs of Indian trade that the place at one time revealed.

Sabzawar, the town, is enclosed within a high wall, pierced by four gates—the Irak gate on the west, the Nishapur gate on the east, the Herat gate on the north and the Farah gate on the south. The bazaar, in which are nearly 800 shops, stretches between the eastern and western gates across the town. Its breadth is possibly half a mile and the circumference of the town is a little under 2½ miles. The town is only a gathering place for the district which supports a number of villages and, together with the enveloping pasturage and a wide belt of cultivation, is inhabited by Nurzai Duranis. Each village is a small fort in itself and is surrounded by a high mud wall erected for purposes of security. In size these forts are about 60 yards square; in all there may be some 5000 households in the district, which may be apportioned into 4500 in the villages, 400 in the town, 100 in the fort, with a combined population of 12,000 souls.

[Pg 180]

TYPICAL STREET SCENE

Before reaching Farah it is necessary to cross the Farah Rud. This river, rising in the Taimani country, flows past Farah and Lash into the Hamun at its north-west angle, after a southerly course 200 miles in length. Its volume varies with the seasons. The water is usually clear and not quite drinkable for, after the main stream has been exhausted by the fields, the pools which remain in its deeper parts quickly become stagnant. In the spring it is a wide, deep river, always with sufficient water for irrigation in its course: even when nearly dry water is to be found by digging a foot into the river-bed. In the summer it is crossed on inflated skins or rafts of wood and reeds. The banks of the Farah Rud are covered with a jungle growth of tamarisk and mimosa. At the point where it is crossed by the north road from Herat to Kandahar it is fordable, although the bed is very irregular, with alternate rapids and deep pools. The ford is 1000 feet in breadth, but the channel in the dry season contracts to 50 yards, with a depth of 2½ feet. During the flood season caravans are apt to be detained for many weeks. At Farah the [Pg 181] banks are 400 yards apart, with a stream in the dry season of 150 yards in breadth and 2 feet of water. At this point it is both clear and rapid.

Farah, 2460 feet above sea-level, lies 170 miles south of Herat, 71 miles from Sabzawar on the south Kandahar road, 150 miles from Girishk and 225 miles from Kandahar. It is a square, walled town; lying north and south and standing well out in the plain it has a diameter of one mile and is in ruins. The wall by which it is surrounded is strongly reminiscent of Herat and comprises an enormous embankment of earth, mixed with chopped straw. A covered way entirely surrounds it on the outside, and its original height was between 35 and 40 feet. Towers rested on the ramparts at one time but, deserted by its inhabitants and neglected by the garrison which is its sole population, it has fallen altogether from its high estate. The town has two gates, that of Herat in the centre of the north face and that of Kandahar exactly opposite on the south side, the citadel occupying the north angle of the wall. Farah is no longer a city. Desolate, ruined and abandoned, its position still is of extreme importance, as it commands the Herat and Kandahar road and the northern entrance into Seistan. But the water in the fort is bad and the place is unhealthy. A general bonfire of the remains should complete the wreck which time has so nearly accomplished. Nowadays it does not contain more than fifty houses, yet it could easily hold several thousand. Those still standing are concealed by the ruins; and scattered jets of smoke, rising from heaps of débris, are the only indications of actual life. Formerly a bazaar crossed the town from the Kandahar Gate to the Herat Gate; but the few shops which remain are now congregated near the Herat Gate, the sole industry of the people being the manufacture of gunpowder from saltpetre. This is collected from the numerous water-pits which go to make up the general character of the scene within the walls.

Between Farah and Kandahar there is the Bakwa plain, which is associated in the minds of the Afghans with a tradition that identifies it with the scene of some future battle between the Russian and British forces. The plain is a dead level stretch without trees or growth of any kind to vary its monotony and it is to its western end that the scene of the prophecy refers. The usual version of the story mentions as a concluding detail that, after the fight, no [Pg 182] less than 12,000 riderless horses will be found wandering over it.[15] The Afghans attach considerable belief to this prophecy which, according to Colonel Yate who went to the pains of unearthing its origin, may be attributed to a native of Kuchan, Shah Ni’-Amat Ulla Wani of Kirman, who died in the year 1400 at the age of ninety-seven, having attained considerable reputation as an author, philosopher and sage.

From Farah to Girishk, situated on the Helmund river, is a distance of 150 miles. This river, which rises at Fazindaz in the western slopes of the Paghman mountains, flows with a course generally south-west for over 600 miles, ultimately falling into the Seistan lake. The first point about which any reliable information exists is at Gardan Diwar, about 40 miles from its source. It here runs along the north side of the Urt plateau at an elevation of 11,500 feet, about 12 yards wide, less than a foot in depth in winter and with a brisk current; it is joined by a tributary the Ab-i-Siah, coming from the southern slopes of the Haji Khak pass. In the summer this upper portion of the Helmund is a favourite resort of the pastoral tribes of the Eastern area. Thence it passes through a deep valley, hugging the south side of the Koh-i-Baba for 35 miles to Ghaoch Khol, its banks fringed with rose bushes and osiers. At this point it is crossed by a bridge, unites with a rivulet from the north and with the Ab-Dilawar from the south-west. From this to Diwal Khol, about 25 miles further, it pursues the same westerly direction which it has had from its source. A few miles beyond this point the stream gives a bold sweep to the south for 80 miles, as far as Chakmakchak. Here it is crossed by the road going west towards Herat and receives a considerable feeder from the north. The river then turns slightly to the south-west and keeps this direction for about 120 miles as far as Sakhir, where roads from Bamian, Maidan and Girishk meet. From Sakhir to Girishk, a distance of perhaps 150 miles, its course is more south and 25 miles below Sakhir it is joined from the east by the Tezin stream. At Garmab, 50 miles below this again, it is met by the Khudrud, where it is crossed 60 miles above Girishk. At this point the banks of the Helmund are 1000 yards apart; the right bank low and sandy and the left bank high and rocky. Sometimes when the volume of the river has diminished the breadth of the Helmund at Girishk itself is reduced to 300 yards; the stream flowing smoothly with a [Pg 185] mean depth at the ford of 3 feet. In mid-June, again, it is barely passable by infantry; but 3 miles up stream, where the river divides into three branches and the southern Herat-Kandahar road crosses, there is a ferry, in addition to several good fords. Here the depth is less than 4 feet and the breadth across each arm varies between 70 and 150 yards. About 45 miles below Girishk and just below Kala-i-Bist, is an island formed by the river. It is joined on the left by its great tributary the Argand-ab, from which point its width varies between 300 and 400 yards, with an average depth of 1½ to 2 fathoms. Thence to Benadar Kalan, a distance of 70 miles, its direction is south and from this it turns west for 120 miles. At Pul-alak, 100 miles distant, it is usually 400 yards wide, very deep and flowing in a broad stretch of water as far as Traku. Here, its progress arrested by some sand hills, it takes a sudden turn to the north-west and runs for 45 miles in that direction; finally it divides into the three branches, Rod-i-Seistan, Rod-i-Purian, and the Nad Ali. Since 1895 the Rod-i-Purian has been the main channel, displacing the Nad Ali course. The river, even in the dry season, is never without a plentiful supply of water.

[Pg 183]

CROSSING THE HELMUND RIVER

Its volume is:

2,000	cubic feet per second at low water.
50,000-60,000	” ” ” ordinary flood.
600,000-700,000	” ” ” abnormal flood.

The fords are:

Gardan Diwar (ford)	40	miles from source.
Ghaoch Khol (bridge)	75	”
Diwal Khol	100	”
Chakmakchak	180	”
Garmab	390	”
Three miles above Girishk (ford)	450	”
Girishk (ford and ferry)	450	”
Shamalan (ford)	500	”
Karnashin	550	”
Kal-i-Sabz (ford)	570	”
Deshu (ford)	590	”
Pul-alak (ford)	650	”
Traku (ferry)	680	”
Deshtak (ferry)	740	”

The fort of Girishk stands on the right bank of the Helmund about 1½ miles from the stream, upon the high road between Kandahar and Herat. Its position seems to [Pg 186] have been determined by the neighbourhood of the fords across the Helmund; also by the vicinity of the ferry, which, when the river is not fordable, is usually established at a narrow part of the stream below the fort. From the far side of the river Girishk appears to have more strength and to be in better order than inspection proves to be the case. Upon two sides and part of the third there is a ditch, which contains water but is formidable neither in width nor in depth. On the north and north-eastern aspects, where the wall is situated upon the high bank of the river, it is not continued.

Girishk, as also Farah, comes within the jurisdiction of the officials of Kandahar province and a small garrison is detailed from Kandahar itself. Two squadrons of cavalry and one battery of field guns usually comprise the regular establishment, to which is added a certain militia strength. The soldiers camp outside the walls; the fort itself, which is only 700 feet in length and 250 feet in breadth, being the residence of the Governor of Pusht-i-Rud, the name by which the district goes. In no sense can the building be regarded as possessing any military value. The walls are weak and exposed from their parapet to their foundations. Moreover, there is cover close up to them on all sides except the northern where a ravine, which would afford an enemy protection, is enfiladed from the north-west tower. The setting of the fort is quite picturesque. In the low-river lands on the south side there are charming gardens, but their walls and trees are too likely to afford cover to troops to be other than a danger. In the fort itself are two gateways; one of which, a small one, has been blocked up. The main one is at the southern extremity. There are four corner towers and the water-supply is reliable and drawn from the river. But, equally with Farah and Sabzawar, the fortifications of Girishk need not be the subject of any detailed consideration here. Standing on the main route from Herat to Kandahar, controlling the fords across the Helmund and commanding the road to Seistan from which it is only 190 miles distant, the richness of the surrounding region makes its early possession essential to any force operating from the Indo-Afghan border. Villages are numerous and every one is a thriving centre. The pasturage is both fattening and abundant, while the agricultural capacity of the Zamindawar lands is well known. During the last operations in Afghanistan 4,000,000 lbs. [Pg 187] weight of grain were collected from the Girishk district by the British force that was then in occupation, a return which makes it the most important of any of the bases which might be established on the Perso-Afghan border.

Girishk is 75 miles from Kandahar; mid-way between there is Maiwand, mournfully signalised by one of those inglorious reverses which British arms have experienced in Afghanistan—in this instance the defeat of General Burrows at the hands of Ayub Khan in 1880. Their incidence, unfortunately, has given rise to very exaggerated ideas upon the practical utility of the Afghan rabble and its powers of resistance at the present day. Kandahar, the scene of one brilliant episode when the victorious Roberts relieved an ominous situation, has been the centre of many ill-fated risings and mis-shapen schemes, yet of all none more so than that injudicious and most pretentious plan of uniting Quetta with Kushkinski Post by a trans-Afghan railway viâ Kandahar and Herat. No practical end can be served by such a line and, indeed upon the broadest grounds, there is absolutely nothing which can justify its construction. The policy of this country should be mistrustful of Russia always and our attitude should be actively suspicious. In Asia, High or Near, she is our inveterate opponent and the one element of danger which never can be removed from our path. We can neither believe in nor rely upon her bond, while her diplomatic morality no less than her most solemnly pledged word is instinctive with treachery. Whatever may be desirable for purposes of State at this moment, at least we should be mindful of our experiences at her hands and we should allow those lessons of past history to serve to-day as an active spur to our hostility. That she would stoop to any pretext, however infamous, to secure her ends is proven by the unctuous assurances which she tendered the Cabinet of the day in this country in respect of her campaigns in Central Asia. If this reminder be insufficient, let us reflect upon the manner in which she has excused to us, through long years, her nefarious designs against our interests in Persia and Manchuria. Therefore, remembering these things, it is necessary to repeat the warning to keep Russia at a distance.

CONSTRUCTING THE QUETTA-NUSHKI LINE

If Kandahar were to be concerned with any railway at all it should be through an extension from New Chaman. Without such provision our defensive strategy in Southern [Pg 188] Afghanistan must needs recoil upon itself. Indeed, no practical value whatever attaches to our power of offence on the Afghan-Baluch border unless it contains the means of counteracting Russia’s schemes of aggression on the Afghan-Perso border. At present our position in Southern Afghanistan is en l’air; but our interests demand that it should be brought to earth and linked up with the steel rails of the military system of strategic lines on the Indian frontier. Just now the position of Russia in Persia is in the making, yet the challenge to our situation in Southern Afghanistan is none the less apparent. It will become quite definite when she occupies Seistan. Russia has the advantage of us in the Middle East in the matter of railway construction and she will build first where she is in no [Pg 189] manner liable to be disturbed. If, in the interval, we do not measure our activity by her own, we shall find that we have delayed the extension of the rails to Kandahar until she herself is prepared to abide by the result of a single issue—the projection of the metals to Herat.

It would seem that the present moment were sufficiently propitious for the Government of India to press such an undertaking upon the Amir. At the time of the Dane Mission great attention was paid by the Afghans of Kandahar to the subject of railways between India and Afghanistan. The late Governor, Sirdar Ahmed Khan, now retired in disgrace, receiving orders to ascertain public feeling on a proposal to extend the Indian railway system to Kandahar and to inquire whether the people would object if the request of the British Government were conceded, read out the Amir’s instructions at a special Durbar where all shades of local opinion were represented. The question was debated by the nobles and the people at great length. In the end the view was returned that, while the railway itself would be beneficial, it would facilitate pretexts for dangerous aggressions and the conquest of the country. At a later occasion the Amir sought the opinions of the principal officers of the army who, not only unanimously in favour of the introduction of such a system of communication, warmly advocated its further projection to Herat. The provision of a railway between India and Kandahar, quite a different affair to a trans-Afghan system, would indubitably facilitate commerce, since the scheme would have to go hand in hand with a radical revision of the prohibitory tariffs now imposed along the Afghan border. The moral effect throughout the Kandahar region, too, would be no less significant than that originally caused upon the frontier by the railway to New Chaman, for without that extension from Quetta the proceeds of the Kandahar fruit-gardens would never reach the Indian markets.

Kandahar, which is 125 miles from Quetta and only 65 miles from the railhead at New Chaman, is the last place where an army advancing from Herat towards the Indus would halt. It also affords access to the Ghazni and Kabul roads through the Tarnak valley, and its proximity to the deserts of Baluchistan on the south renders at least one of its flanks safe from being turned. It is very accessible from Persia in the west and from India in the east, [Pg 190] while it has changed hands so frequently during the period of its history—Persians, Uzbegs, Afghans and in recent times the English—that a further change is certainly to be anticipated. Kandahar is situated between the Argand and Tarnak rivers on a level plain covered with cultivation and well populated to the south and west; on the north-west a low ridge rises to the height of 1000 feet. The shape of the city is an irregular parallelogram, the length being from north to south with a circuit of 3 miles, 1006 yards. It is surrounded by a ditch, 24 feet wide and 10 feet deep, and by a wall which is 20½ feet thick at the bottom, 14½ feet thick at the top and 27 feet in height. This wall is made of mud hardened by exposure to the sun and without revetment of stone or brick. The length of the western face is 1967 yards, of the eastern 1810 yards, of the southern 1345 yards and of the northern 1164 yards. There are four main gates, through which run the principal streets and two minor gates. The Bar Durani and Kabul are on the eastern face, the Shikarpur on the southern face, the Herat and the Top Khana on the western face and the Idgah on the northern face. The Bar Durani and the Top Khana are the minor gates.

The gateways are defended by six double bastions and the angles are protected by four large circular towers. The curtains between the bastions have fifty-four small bastions distributed along the faces. From the Herat gate a street runs to the Kabul gate through the city; commencing from the Shikarpur gate and crossing it at right angles near the centre, another leads to the citadel, which is square-built with walls 260 yards in length.

[Pg 191]

PLAN OF KANDAHAR

[Pg 192] The citadel is situated to the north of the city and south of it is the Top Khana. West of this is the tomb of Ahmed Shah Durani, an octagonal structure, overlaid with coloured porcelain bricks and surmounted by a gilded dome, surrounded by small minarets. It towers above all the adjacent buildings and its dome attracts attention to the city from a distance. The pavement of the tomb is carpeted and an embroidered cloak is thrown over the sarcophagus. The sepulchre itself, composed of a coarse stone from the mountains near Kandahar, is inlaid with wreaths of flowers in coloured marble. Twelve lesser tombs, which are those of the children of Ahmed Shah, are ranged near the resting-place of the father. The interior walls are painted in designs similar to those which adorn the exterior, but [Pg 193] the execution is more regular and the colours, having been less exposed, are fresher and more brilliant. The lofty dome above the centre imparts an air of grandeur to the little temple, while its windows of stone trellis work admit a subdued and pleasant light. The tomb is engraved with passages from the Koran and a copy of the sacred volume, from which the Mullahs recite passages, is kept in the sanctuary.

At the point where the streets from the Herat gate and the Shikarpur gate meet, is the Charsu, a large dome 50 yards in diameter. Here, as in other parts of the city, are public “humams” or warm baths, where a course of Asiatic massage, including bathing, peeling, kneading and drying, costs one rupee. The Afghan mode of treatment differs but little from that prevailing in India. The houses generally are built of sun-dried bricks, with flat roofs. A few only possess upper storeys. The houses of the rich are enclosed by high walls and contain three or four courts with gardens and fountains. Each of these divisions holds a single building, separated into small compartments and provided with three or four large and lofty halls. The roofs are supported upon wooden pillars, carved and painted. The various suites open upon the several halls, which are embellished with mural paintings and numerous looking-glasses. The walls of the rooms are usually furnished with panels of glittering stucco, a compound of mica and talc, decorated with patterns of flowers. Their surfaces are broken by many recesses, sometimes the refuge of very tawdry ornaments. The ceilings are formed of small pieces of wood, carved, fitted into each other and varnished. The houses of the poorer classes are represented by single rooms 20 feet by 12 feet.

The four principal streets are each 40 yards wide, bordered with trees, flanked by shops and houses with open fronts and shady verandahs. Each street is named after the gate to which it leads from the Charsu, except in the case of the one which runs into the Top Khana. This street, which is very narrow both at its north and south entrances and has the Nikara Khana on its west, is called the Shahi Bazar. Smaller and narrower streets, each crossing the other at right angles, run from the principal thoroughfares towards the city walls, between which and the houses there is a road about 25 yards wide encircling the city. A second road, similar in design, [Pg 194] exists on the outside of the wall along the western and southern faces as a relic of the British occupation. It has been planted with trees by the Afghan authorities, a similar adornment having been applied to the main Kokeran road.

Kandahar is divided into districts which are in the occupation of the different tribes. The south-western quarter of the city has four great divisions—the Barakzai Duranis, extending down the Shikarpur and Herat Bazars, having south of them the Hindustani quarter and west that of the Halakozai Duranis, while in the extreme south-west corner of the city, between the two last, there are the Nurzai Duranis. The south-eastern quarter appears to be occupied principally by Populzai Duranis. In the north-eastern quarter, the portion stretching on the north of the Kabul Bazar, is occupied by the Ghilzais; north of them and to the north-east angle of the city is the Bar Durani quarter; while between them and the citadel is the Achakzai Durani quarter. In the south-western portion of the north-western quarter are the houses of the Alizais. These divisions, relating to the principal tribes who frequent the city, concern the Duranis, Ghilzais, Parsiwans, and Kakuris. Greater detail of the population is represented by the following table of houses occupied in the several sections:

Barakzai	940
Nurzai	600
Alikozai	650
Populzai	600
Makuzai	100
Bar Durani	150
Saddozai	100
Kalezai	350
Kharoti	200
Ghilzai	100
Bamezai	400
Sarkani	200
Ismailzai	100
Pathans	200
Turks	50
Baburs and Babis	200
Achakzai	150
Ishakzai	600
Kakuri	550
Alizai	200
Khagwani	150
Bisakzai	100
Madozai	150
Parsiwan	1240
Pirian	100
Doalat Shahi	50
Arabs	50
Aakyakhel	50
Kashmiri	100
Hindus	300
Total	8730

In addition to these a large number of households is unreturned, the official approximate estimate showing no less than 20,000 houses, with a combined population of [Pg 197] 50,000 souls. The numerical strength of the larger Afghan cities has always fluctuated, the element of movement, as the population increases and diminishes, depending upon whether the local government were protective or oppressive. When Kandahar was visited by Elphinstone, he calculated its population at 100,000. Hough reported it at 80,000; Masson from 25,000 to 30,000, Ferrier 30,000, Court 25,000 and Bellew 15,500. Holdich, writing in 1880, put the strength of the Duranis, Ghilzais, Parsiwans and Kakuris alone at 30,000. In recent years Kandahar has prospered. As there has been but little to disturb the development of its trade and the general settlement of the immediate vicinity, it is possible that it may have reached the present high figure.

[Pg 195]

THE WALLS OF KANDAHAR

As in most Asiatic cities the different trades occupy special parts of the Kandahar bazaars. In all there are 3700 shops in addition to the stalls of the wayside pedlars. These, their goods spread upon the ground or displayed upon small tables, not infrequently act as agents of the more important merchants.

In the city there are:

Barbers	85
Silk merchants	201
Potters	135
Milk vendors	170
Butchers	231
General merchants	300

There are, too, certain street musicians and strolling players. The premises of the cloth merchants extend down the east side of the Shikarpur Bazar; and facing them are the saddlers and the smiths. From the Charsu towards the Kabul gate, to the north of the Kabul Bazar, are the Hindu bankers. In the opposite direction, on the north of the Herat Bazar, are the coppersmiths; and confronting them are the tailors and the shoemakers. At the north end of the Shahi Bazar is the grass market, and next to it, on the north-east, the cattle market. The Shikarpur Bazar is the popular and central meeting-place; but each of the four principal streets of Kandahar is thronged between sunrise and sunset. Almost without cessation is the movement of the mass of people: some riding, many walking, others proceeding to and from the markets leading camels, driving [Pg 198] ponies or themselves carrying loads. Women are rarely seen; but from beyond the Indian border or from out of the heart of Afghanistan there are traders, travellers and fakirs. Arrayed in various colours, though all assume the Afghan dress, they are only distinguished from each other by the forms of their head-dress. Their beards are black and bushy; but where age has made its appearance the white hairs are dyed red with the juice of the henna. A few are shaven and habited in jackets and trousers of blue linen or tunics of drab cloth with pendant sleeves, their heads being protected by cotton skull-caps. This latter type belongs usually to some trans-border region. Others wear cloaks made up in chintz or in the woollen cloth of the country, with turbans of very ample fold. The constant bustle of the streets produces considerable confusion around the stalls, while the shouts of the caravan leaders and the sickly whining of the street beggars add to the uproar. Mendicity is to be seen in its most loathsome and repulsive forms. The blind, the maimed and deformed, ragged and unspeakably squalid men, women and children not only stand and sit, but lie grovelling in the dust or mire under the feet of the crowd.

The Hindus are the most numerous as well as the wealthiest merchants in the city. They carry on a very profitable trade with Bombay, viâ Shikarpur and Karachi. They import silks, calicoes, muslins, chintzes, merinoes, woollen and broad cloths, leather, iron, copper, knives, scissors, needles, thread and paper from England; indigo, spices, sugar, medicines, salt from India; shawls, postins, shoes, opium, silks and carpets from Meshed. Kandahar exports to India and the Persian Gulf madder, assafœtida, goat’s-hair, camel’s-wool, preserved fruits, quince seeds, pomegranate rinds, tobacco, felts, raw silk, rosaries; horses, baggage ponies, Biran carpets, copper utensils and silk are contributed by Persia. The trade between Kandahar, Herat and Meshed is conducted principally by Persians, who bring down silk, raw and manufactured, copper utensils, guns, daggers, swords, precious stones (turquoise), brocade, gold and silver braiding, horses and carpets; they take back wool, felts, postins and skins.

[Pg 199]

ALWAYS A POPULAR AND CENTRAL MEETING PLACE

Kandahar city is by far the most important trade centre in Afghanistan, the customs and town dues together equalling the land revenues of the province. These several sources of income, of course, go some way towards meeting [Pg 201] the expenses of the Central Government. There are few manufactures or industries of importance that are peculiar to the city; the principal trade of a local description is the production of silk, felt and rosaries of soft crystallised silicate of magnesia, which is found near the city. The description of these trades will be found in a further chapter.

The following table shows the prices obtained in the Kandahar market for the under-mentioned imported articles:

Imports From India.
Bombay.
Names of Articles.		Prices.
		From.		To.
		R.	A.	R.	A.
Long cloths	per piece	7	8	6	8
” (unbleached)	”	4	8	3	0
Madapollams (white)	”	9	0	6	0
Alwan (shawl) stuff (red)	”	10	0	8	0
” ” (orange)	”	9	0	5	0
” ” (green)	”	9	0	5	0
” ” (white)	”	8	0	5	8
Jaconet (grey)	”	3	0	1	8
” (white)	”	3	8	2	8
Dimity (white)	”	4	0	3	0
” (rose)	”	9	0	7	12
Flowered muslins (all colours)	”	3	8	1	8
Coloured muslins	”	3	8	1	9
Net	per yard	1	0	0	7
Drill (white)	per piece	10	0	0	7
Flowered muslins (golden)	”	6	0	3	0
Velvet (black)	per yard	0	12	8	0
” (red)	”	1	12	1	0
Majut, imported	”	7	8	5	0
Broadcloth	”	7	8	5	0
Chintz (scarlet)	per piece	12	0	8	8
” (black)	”	8	0	6	2
” (scarlet and rose coloured)	”	5	0	3	0
” (white)	”	8	0	5	0
” (black and other colours)	”	5	8	5	0
” (shakar kouz, a colour)	”	9	0	6	0
Khasa (scarlet)	”	5	0	3	8
” (white)	”	3	0	2	0
Shawls	each	6	0	4	8
Merino	per yard	2	0	0	12
Molasses	per seer	0	8	—
Sugar	per 3½ seers	3	0	2	8
Black pepper	”	2	0	—
Sal ammoniac	”	2	0	—
Cloves	”	2	8	—
Green and black teas	”	20	0	12	0
Turmeric	per 3½ seers	2	0	—[Pg 202]
Dry ginger	”	2	0	—
Preserved ginger	per jar	4	8	—
Orpiment (yellow)	per 3½ seers	2	0	—
” (black)	”	2	0	—
Cinnamon	”	4	0	—
Cardamoms (small)	”	3	0	—
” (large)	”	3	8	—
Thread	per bundle	6	0	—
Cocoa-nuts	per 3½ seers	3	0	—
Satin	per yard	2	8	—
Flannel	”	1	0	—
Russian satin	”	1	8	—
Cambric	per piece	5	0	3	0

Penknives, two-bladed, Rs. 1-8; one blade, Rs. 1; large sailors’ knives, 4 annas. Quantities of pottery-ware of all descriptions are imported, as also needles, thread and a few Anglo-Indian medicines. Foreign drugs kill many more than they cure; since they are administered by a hakim who knows nothing of their properties, but tries the effect of the first which may be at hand, regulating the quantity given by the price.

Amritsar.
Names of Articles.		Prices.
		From.		To.
		R. A.		R. A.
Molasses	per Kandahari maund	2	4	—
Turmeric	” ” ”	1	8	—
Saffron	” ” ”	16	0	—

Punjabi shoes, penholders, lungis, cloth; Kashmiri shawls, puttu, zinc, saffron and Peshawar lungis.

Multan.
Names of Articles.			Prices.
			From.		To.
			R. A.		R. A.
Rough cloth		per 100 yards	9	0	—
Coloured sheets for women		” 20 ”	17	0	—
Chintz, Nasrkhani	per 20 pieces	or 160 ”	20	0	—
” Lulgurie	” ”	” ”	8	0	—
Alacha		per 4 ”	1	0	—
Buffalo-hides (cured)		per 20 ”	60	0	—
Goats			17	0	—
Shoes			according to quality

Imports from Russia.[Pg 203]
Names of Articles.	Bokhara.	Prices.
		From.		To.
		R. A.		R. A.
Russian gold lace	per tola	2	0	—
Bokhara silk	per Kandahari maund	35	0	—
Labani silk	” ” ”	25	0	—
Konkani silk	” ” ”	25	0	—
Gardauzi silk	” ” ”	33	0	—
Bokhara Tomujabin.	” ” ”	2	8	—
Gold lace (imitation)	per yard	4	0	—
Gulbadan (a silk cloth)	”	1	0	—
Kanawez (a silk cloth)	”	3	0	2	0
Postins (fox skin)	each	20	0	—
” (rat skin)	”	25	0	—
Sinjaf postins	”	40	0	—
Sinabands and postins samuri	”	600	0	100	0
Chogas (Alghani)	”	50	0	—
Russian boxes of all sorts and prices.

Imports from Persia.
Meshed and Khorassan.
Names of Articles.		Prices.
		From.		To.
		R. A.		R. A.
Nishapur firozes (Turquoises), at all prices
Opium (Gunabad)	per Kandahari maund	35	0	—
” (Yezd)	” ” ”	45	0	—
Kanawez	per yard	1	8	—
Silk lungis	each	9	0	—
” ” (Yezd)		5	0	—
Rasais (Yezd)		3	0	—
Silk handkerchiefs (black)		4	0	—
Bulghar skins		15	0	—
Bala-zins.		20	0	10	0
Black boots	per pair	8	0	7	0
Abrak (Rahdar)	each	280	0	—
” (Meshedi)	”	50	0	15	0
” (Kirmani)	”	9	0	—
Puttu		12	0	—

Double-barrelled guns, pistols and swords, chogas, white and grey drills, and chintzes of all sorts.

Local Imports.
Kabul.
Names of Articles.		Prices.
		From.		To.
		R. A.		R. A.
Postins	each	25	0	3	0
Sinabands	”	10	0	6	0
Puttu	”	30	0	15	0
Rice	per Kandahari maund	1	0	12	0
Walnuts	” ” ”	0	8	—
Kabul molasses	” ” ”	1	0	—

[Pg 204] Anardara.

From this district are brought the famous pomegranates, which are, perhaps, the finest in the world, as also assafœtida. This trade is chiefly in the hands of Tajiks and Kakuris.

The following are the market prices of articles exported from Kandahar:

Exports.
Names of Articles.		Prices.
		From.		To.
		R. A.		R. A.
Meshed and Herat silk	per Kandahari maund	40	0	—
” ”	” ” ”	35	0	—
” ”	” ” ”	30	0	—
Anab (jujube fruit)	” ” ”	1	0	—
Zerisk (a berry from Herat)	” ” ”	1	8	—
Saffron from Birjan	” ” ”	90	0	16	0
And dried fruits of all sorts in large quantities.

Certain articles[16] have been withdrawn from exportation by order of the Governor of Kandahar, but before this occurred the following taxes were levied: on wheat, barley, atta and rice eight annas per donkey-load or one rupee per camel-load; ghee, five rupees per maund; oil was mulcted in a sixth part. The kidney-fat of every sheep or goat slaughtered is a Government perquisite and is sent to the Amir’s soap manufactory, where it is made after the most economical principles into a coarse description of soap. Each shop pays a tax of one and a half Kandahari rupees per mensem. Saids, mullahs and a few others are exempted.

The returns from taxes assessed on the various crafts give:

Rs. per Annum.
Dyers	1500
Silk-weavers	3500
Tanners	4000
Gram-dealers	1250
Cap and postin-makers	600
Capitation tax	3000
Butchers	700
Cattle markets	2500
Gaming houses	2500

while bakers have to present annually to the Governor thirty Kandahari maunds of bread.

STATEMENT OF THE SCALE OF TAXATION CHARGED UPON EXPORTS TO BRITISH TERRITORY FROM KANDAHAR PROVINCE. [Pg 205]

S e r i a l N o.			Taxes.
	Commodity.	Per	Kachari or Octro Duty.			Kafila Bashi.			Dalali or Brokerage.			Goshi or Karim’s Dues.			Aishan’s Dues.			Nizam-ud- Din’s Dues.			Takhta- pul Dues.			Sardari Kila Buldak.			One-tenth.			In lump Sum.			Total.
			Rs.	a.	p.	Rs.	a.	p.	Rs.	a.	p.	Rs.	a.	p.	Rs.	a.	p.	Rs.	a.	p.	Rs.	a.	p.	Rs.	a.	p.	Rs.	a.	p.	Rs.	a.	p.	Rs.	a.	p.
1	Fresh fruit	Load of ass	1	0	0	0	13	4	0	4	0	0	6	8	1	10	8	—			0	2	0	0	1	4	0	6	8	—			4	12	8
2	Pomegranates	”	1	8	0	0	13	4	0	4	0	0	6	8	3	8	8	—			0	2	0	0	1	4	0	8	0	—			7	4	0
3	”	Camel load	5	0	0	1	10	8	0	8	0	1	0	0	14	9	4	—			0	4	0	0	4	0	2	4	0	—			25	8	0
4	Dry fruit	Donkey load	2	8	0	0	13	4	0	4	0	0	4	0	7	3	4	0	13	4	1	4	0	0	1	4	1	4	0	—			14	7	4
5	Wool	Camel Load[17]	40	0	0	3	5	4	10	8	0	1	10	8	19	4	0	—			0	12	0	0	2	8	8	0	0	—			83	10	8
6	Big postins	Per coat	1	8	0	0	13	4	1	0	0	0	6	8	—			—			—			—			⅒ of all taxes.			—			—
						per ass load.			percent.			per donkey load.
7	Postins of good quality	”	8	5	4	”			”			”			—			—			—			—			”			—			—
8	” mustalah be astin	”	1	8	0	”			”			”			—			—			—			—			”			—			—
9	” quilt	1	6	4	0	”			”			”			—			—			—			—			”			—			—
10	” 20 gula	1	1	4	0	”			”			”			—			—			—			—			”			—			—
11	” 6 ”	1	0	10	8	”			”			”			—			—			—			—			”			—			—
12	Puttu Kabli, No. 1	1	12	8	0	”			”			”			—			—			—			—			”			—			—
13	” No. 2	1	10	0	0	”			”			”			—			—			—			—			”			—			—
14	” No. 3	1	8	5	4	”			”			”			—			—			—			—			”			—			—
15	” No. 4	1	6	10	8	”			”			”			—			—			—			—			”			—			—
16	Qanawez (a kind of silk cloth)	Yard	0	4	0	”			”			”			—			—			—			—			”			—			—
17	Silk	4 sers	0	12	0	”			”			”			—			—			—			—			”			—			—
18	Namad (a coarse woollen cloth)	1	0	3	4	”			”			”			—			—			—			—			”			—			—
19	Rupees	Cwt.	4	0	0	”			”			”			—			—			—			—			”			—			—
20	Men	Per head	—			—			—			—			—			—			—			—			—			([18]) 2 4	8 2	0 8	([19])2 4	8 2	0 8

STATEMENT OF ARTICLES PROHIBITED FROM EXPORTATION TO BRITISH TERRITORY BY THE GOVERNOR OF KANDAHAR.[Pg 206]
	Articles.	Tax imposed before the prohibition.			Remarks.
1	Wheat—	Rs.	a.	p.
	(a) Per camel load	1	0	0
	(b) ” ass load	0	8	0
2	Almonds, per maund	—			None but the Amir’s Agent, since a long time, is allowed to export almonds.
3	Ghee, per maund	5	0	0
4	Goats and sheep, per head	0	8	0
5	Asses	Nil.
6	Horses or ponies— For every Rs. 8-5-3 of the estimated value.	1	0	0	Besides this amount, nearly Rs. 5 more per horse are taken, and on every hundred horses a further sum of Rs. 2 is levied.
7	Cows per head	5	0	0
8	Pistacia nuts, donkey load	20	7	0

TABLE OF DUTIES LEVIED UPON IMPORTS INTO KANDAHAR PROVINCE.
	Articles.	Imported from	Duty.			Remarks.
			Rs.	a.	p.
1	Horses	Kabul and Herat	12	8	0
			per horse.
2	Ponies	Do.	5	4	0
			per pony.
3	Miscellaneous	Do.	* 11	0	0
			for every 100 Rupees of the estimated value.			* In addition to this sum, 1 per cent. on account of brokerage and Rs. 2 per camel load and Re. 1 per ass load are recovered on account of rahdari, etc.
4	Cloth	India	14	0	0
			for every 100 Rupees’ worth of cloth.
5	Tea	Do.	¼th of its value.
6	Sugar	Do.	⅓rd Do.
7	Iron	Do.	⅒th Do.
8	Indigo	Do.	20	0	0
			per English maund.
9	Oils	Do.	⅙th of their value.

The Saids of Peshin, Kakuris, Bakhtiaris and the Baluchis are the tribes principally engaged in horse dealing. This trade flourishes for six months in the year; but it is stagnant during the hot weather and in the winter, when the roads are closed by snow. About 2000 or 3000 horses are said to pass through the city annually. The chief breeding districts drawn on by these traders are Sarakhs, Maimana, Nur and Kala [Pg 207] Nau in the Hazara country; Daria Gaz and Kelati-i-Nadiri in Persia; Gulza and Firozkoh in Herat province. Of these the horses from Sarakhs, Nur and Gulza are most prized, realising locally between 60 and 120 rupees. An export duty between fifteen to thirty rupees was originally levied against each animal. To escape this tax traders frequently took the desert routes, but the trade is now prohibited. The cows of Kandahar and Seistan are in general request; they are said to give twenty seers of milk each per diem, being milked three times in twenty-four hours. They fetch about forty rupees each. Camels are anything but plentiful in the Kandahar district; and the supply is scarcely adequate to meet the demands of the trading population. Many are imported from Baluchistan, the prices varying from twenty to one hundred rupees.

TYPICAL STREET SCENES

The Saids of Peshin and others formerly conducted a [Pg 208] more or less profitable traffic in slaves in Western Afghanistan, some four or five hundred being sold annually in Kandahar. A few of these unfortunates were purchased in Seistan, but most of them were kidnapped from elsewhere. Slavery in Afghanistan, however, was abolished by Abdur Rahman in 1895, the Russian and Indian Governments mutually co-operating in its prevention. Very few slaves were Persian born, the several regions of Afghanistan supplying their own superfluous human beings. Hazara furnished a large quota, frequently in lieu of arrears of revenue or when there was difficulty in realising Government assignments against the different villages. The value of slaves fluctuated according to the price of food; during seasons of abundance high prices were obtained, but in any period of scarcity slaves were a drug in the market.

The climate of Kandahar is charming in the winter, but the spring is considered the most pleasant time. Barren parched hills lie close to the city on the north and west; the heat radiating from them is such that the winds are hot and parching. The temperature of the thermometer varies greatly between morning and the middle of the day—sometimes as much as 40 or 50 degrees.

In winter, composed of the months of December, January and February, the weather is cloudy, with storms, snow, sleet and rain. The wind varies between all the points of the compass, seldom for long blowing from one direction. Frosts are severe.

WINTER TEMPERATURE OF THE AIR.
Maximum.
6 A.M.	1 P.M.	8 P.M.
Open air 52	Sun 115, shade 59	Open air 61.30
Medium.
6 A.M.	1 P.M.	8 P.M.
Open air 36.8	Sun 78.45, shade 49.15	Open air 44.44
Minimum.
6 A.M.	1 P.M.	8 P.M.
Open air 15	Sun 36.30, shade 42	Open air 31.00

In spring, made up of the months of March, April and May, the weather is fair but cloudy. Occasional rain falls; and there are thunder-storms during the first half of the season, in which also the nights are cold and very frosty. [Pg 209] In the latter half of this quarter the weather becomes warmer, dews fall at night and dust-storms occur infrequently. The wind is westerly and south-westerly, but high easterly winds prevail in March.

SPRING TEMPERATURE OF THE AIR.
Maximum.
4 A.M.	1 P.M.	8 P.M.
Open air 78	Sun 139, shade 85	Open air 85
Medium.
4 A.M.	1 P.M.	8 P.M.
Open air 56.23	Sun 114.50, shade 70.8	Open air 69.35
Minimum.
4 A.M.	1 P.M.	8 P.M.
Open air 31	Sun 78, shade 53	Open air 44.45

During the months of June, July, August and part of September, the hot season obtains, commencing about June 20 and continuing until September 20. It comprises two periods of forty days each, separated by an intervening fortnight of cloudy and cooler weather, during which thunder-storms occur in the mountains, though rain rarely falls on the plain. The most prevalent wind during the summer blows from the west during the day, but during the night and until the sun has been “up” a couple of hours it emanates from the opposite direction. Dust-storms are frequent and severe.

SUMMER TEMPERATURE OF THE AIR.
Maximum.
4 A.M.	1 P.M.	8 P.M.
Open air 86	Sun 150, shade 96	Open air 94
Medium.
4 A.M.	1 P.M.	8 P.M.
Open air 74	Sun 136.20, shade 87.10	Open air 86.15
Minimum.
4 A.M.	1 P.M.	8 P.M.
Open air 63	Sun 105, shade 82	Open air 77

The wind, during the autumn in the evening and in the early morning, blows in warm unrefreshing gusts, heated by passing over the many bare rocky ranges which serve simply to reflect the sun. During these months, part of September, October and November, the sun is still powerful. Occasional dust-storms occur, and there is cloudy weather towards the close of the season. The dews are heavy; little rain falls and [Pg 210] high north-easterly and north-westerly winds prevail at the close of the season.

AUTUMN TEMPERATURE OF THE AIR.
Maximum.
5 A.M.	1 P.M.	8 P.M.
Open air 65	Sun 148, shade 82	Open air 85
Medium.
5 A.M.	1 P.M.	8 P.M.
Open air 50.57	Sun 123.50, shade 70.44	Open air 69.15
Minimum.
5 A.M.	1 P.M.	8 P.M.
Open air 32	Sun 70, shade 58	Open air 51

Of diseases that may be attributed to the Kandahar climate, the most prominent are intermittent and remittent fevers, whilst continued fevers and small-pox, although met with only in a sporadic form, are epidemic in certain seasons. The first-named maladies are prevalent throughout the year; although more active in the spring and autumn when they are remarkable for the frequency of the tertian form.

Ophthalmic complaints are numerous, although not altogether attributable to the climate. Rheumatism, neuralgic affections, scrofula, syphilis and certain cerebral disturbances are common.

CARRYING COTTON TO MARKET.

[15] “Northern Afghanistan.” Major C. E. Yate.

[16] See pages 205, 206.

[17] 1 camel load = 8 maunds and 16 sers.

[18] Persons visiting British territory for trade purposes, etc., are required to pay Rs. 2-8 as passport tax per head, provided they furnish personal security to return within 6 months.

[19] Persons visiting British territory for trade purposes, etc., are required to pay Rs. 4-2-8 as passport tax per head, provided they furnish personal security to return within 1 year.

[Pg 211]

CHAPTER IX

SEISTAN AND THE McMAHON MISSION

Westwards of the Kandahar district is the region of Seistan, to which unusual political interest attaches. Roughly speaking, it is divided between Persia and Afghanistan, the Helmund river demarcating the mutual spheres of interest and occupation. Geographically, it belongs to the watershed of Afghanistan. Its extensive areas, situated along the borders of Afghanistan, Persia and Baluchistan, are drained by the Hamun lake, which also receives the waters of the Helmund, Farah, Khash and Harud rivers. The area of this depression, which is broken up into three subsidiary basins—those of the Farah, the Helmund and the Zirreh,—is 125,000 square miles. The first of these consists of the two-fold lagoon formed by the Harud and Farah rivers flowing from the north, and by the Helmund and the Khash or Kushk Rud flowing from the south and east respectively. These are connected by a thick reed-bed called the Naizar, which, according to the amount of water that the lakes contain, is either a marsh or a cane-brake. In flood-time these waters, ordinarily distinct, unite to pour over the Naizar into the second great depression, known by the generic title of Hamun Lake. In times of abnormal flood the Hamun will itself overflow. On such occasions the water, draining southwards through the Sarshela ravine, inundates the third depression, which is known as the Gaud-i-Zirreh. The Hamun Lake, like the Gaud-i-Zirreh, is one of those seasonable phenomena which are invariably met in regions where the water system is irregular. At certain periods quite dry, at others it possesses a measurement of 100 miles in length, 15 miles in breadth, with a mean depth of 4 feet and a maximum of 10 feet. The waters of the Hamun are sweet. Fish are very plentiful, providing food for an aboriginal [Pg 212] colony which frequents the lake. It is, also, the haunt of many varieties of wild geese, duck and other water-fowl.

CAMEL BAZAAR, NASRATABAD

It is better, before proceeding to study further the value of Seistan, to describe exactly of what Seistan consists. Sir Frederic Goldsmid, for purposes of more accurate definition of the region, divided its areas into two parts: Seistan Proper and Outer Seistan. In this he may be said to have given Seistan Proper[20] to Persia [Pg 213] and Outer Seistan[21] to Afghanistan. The former lies between the Naizar on the north and the main lateral canal, which waters the lands around Sekuha and the neighbouring villages on the south. It extends along the old bed of the Helmund, from a mile above the dam at Kohak, to its mouth on the east, and to the fringe of the Hamun and the Kuh-i-Khwajah on the west. The population numbers 45,000, of whom 10,000 were nomads of mixed descent. Of the larger total, 20,000 are returned as Seistanis and 15,000 as Persian-speaking settlers, the average number of persons to the square mile being roughly 15—figures which are eight times in excess of the proportional result found elsewhere in Persia. Outer Seistan comprises the country stretching along the right bank of the Helmund, from its lake mouth on the north to Rudbar in the south. The inhabitants are Seistanis, Baluchi nomads and Afghans, together with a certain proportion of Sanjuranis and Joktis—the term Seistani applying particularly to that portion of the inhabitants possessing permanent settlements, irrespective of descent and nationality. The combined areas of the Seistan basin aggregate some 7006 square miles and the joint population is returned at 205,000, or 34 to the square mile.

It is the Helmund river, the chief tributary to the Hamun, that has been the greatest obstacle to the successful demarcation of the Seistan region. Hitherto the boundary defining the respective limits of the two States has been the one arranged in 1872 by the Goldsmid Award. Under that instrument a line was drawn from Siah-koh to where the then main bed of the Helmund river entered the Naizar swamp. The frontier then proceeded to Kohak. From this point it followed a south-westerly direction to Koh-i-Malik-i-Siah, thus leaving the two banks of the Helmund below Kohak to Afghanistan. Since then the Helmund has changed its course, and in that portion of the frontier which was affected by the vagaries of the stream, considerable confusion arose, while local Perso-Afghan relations became very much inflamed. The question as between the two races depended upon the future division of the new bed of the Helmund, the point of dispute dealing specifically with the divergence of the main stream from the channel which was selected as the frontier line by the Mission of 1872. The Afghans, who were the principal gainers by the [Pg 214] alteration of the course of the river, claimed that the new bed formed the frontier: the Persians, on the other hand, endeavoured to maintain the strict interpretation of the old agreement.

LAKESIDE DWELLERS

Unfortunately Seistan possessed interest for others than those who were dependent upon the course of the Helmund, and Russia had already secured the Shah’s assent to the appointment of a Russian consul at Nasratabad. As soon as the dispute promised local unpleasantness between Persia and Afghanistan, and political difficulties for Great Britain with Teheran, this individual, M. Miller, interfered. Exclaiming against the presumption of the Afghans, he offered to provide a force to resist their so-called aggression. Happily, before matters had reached the crisis which would have made Russian interference possible, the Shah, in accordance with the terms of the Treaty of Paris, requested the British Government to arbitrate on the question of the Helmund waters and, at the same time, to establish a permanent boundary line in place of the vague provisions made by the Goldsmid Mission.

In agreeable accord with this request, the Imperial Government at the end of 1902 appointed as British Commissioner, Major McMahon, who had already demarcated the whole of the southern boundary of Afghanistan—a [Pg 215] distance of 800 miles. It so happened that his new duties commenced at Koh-i-Malik-i-Siah, the point at which his former work finished. The mission consisted of eleven British officers, numerous survey and irrigation experts, an escort of 200 native infantry, 60 cavalry, with a large supply of transport, including the 58th Camel Corps—in all a total of 1500 men, 200 horses and 2200 camels. As the base was at Quetta, 500 miles across an almost waterless desert, whence all stores except grain and fodder and a few local commodities had to be imported, the task of feeding the mission can be well appreciated. Starting from Quetta, the mission proceeded through Afghan territory to Khwaja-ali on the Helmund and then followed the river, with the object of commencing work in the middle of the boundary.[22] This march of 500 miles over uninhabited waterless country occupied five weeks. The temperature was very low, with the thermometer at 4 degrees above zero; and frightful blizzards were encountered. During this period three men were frozen to death and a number of animals lost. On reaching Seistan, Colonel McMahon was met by the Afghan Commissioner and by two Persian Commissioners, each with a large escort. The Amir, who was known personally to the British Commissioner, kindly despatched from Kandahar for his private protection a force of 100 cavalry and 200 infantry.

1 2

THE NATIVE STAFF ATTACHED TO
THE MISSION

1. Mir Shumsha Khan Bahadur, first Native
Commissioner. 2. Kazi Khan.

Political difficulties for the Mission commenced at the very outset. Attempting to cross into Persian Seistan it was refused admission by the Persians, who had been thoroughly frightened by Russian misrepresentation as to its object. The cool assertion was made that no boundary was in dispute, and that any attempt to pass into [Pg 216] Persian territory would be met by force. For a whole month the Mission contented itself with travelling along the Afghan side of the Helmund, collecting information in regard to the frontier line. Throughout this time there was no meeting with the Persian officials. Further work at last necessitated an entry into Persian territory. Notwithstanding Persia’s protests and her objection to the erection of a bridge for the purpose of crossing the Helmund, the Mission crossed, receiving the customary compliments and being welcomed with bands and guards of honour.

The actual work of demarcation was very difficult. South of the Helmund for 90 miles the line lay through an arid desert where water was brought from long distances. North of this section the boundary traversed country liable to inundation in which pillars of a massive permanent nature had to be erected, while the last 20 miles of the frontier ran up the waterless, glacial slopes of the Siah-koh. By the decision agreed upon the old bed of the Helmund was retained as the new frontier, the present boundary being so fixed that it continues irrespective of further changes in the course of the river. This arrangement reconstitutes the 1872 line. Considerable delay marked its acceptance both in Kabul and Teheran, the findings being delivered in April 1904. Demarcation work, proceeding in accordance with McMahon’s report, was not completed until the close of 1904, by which time Persian objections to the decision upon the boundary had been overcome, the first part of the work of the Mission being settled absolutely when the final adhesion of the two Governments to the verdict of the Mission was notified in September 1904. The appropriation of the Helmund waters between Persia and Afghanistan was the second part of the business of the Mission. The difficulties of the question were increased by Russian exertions to thwart a satisfactory solution. Nevertheless, after most scrupulous pains and exhaustive inquiries into existing rights and practice, the Commissioners’ award upon partition of the waters was handed, in May 1905, to the Persian and Afghan representatives for communication to their respective Governments. The Amir of Afghanistan at once accepted the judgment of Colonel McMahon, while the people on the spot also warmly espoused the settlement. But Persia, inspired by the laboured concoctions of the Russian [Pg 217] officials in Teheran, refused to ratify the protocol and, after great delay, confirmed her dissatisfaction at the distribution of the waters by direct representations to the British Minister at Teheran. Unhappily on February 26, 1906, in spite of previous official intimations from the Foreign Office that Persia had acquiesced in the results of the Mission, the Shah’s Government formally notified Sir Edward Grey of its inability to accept and consequent rejection of the decision in respect of the McMahon division of the waters of the Helmund. In a similar manner, it may be remembered, Persia appealed against the decision of the Goldsmid Mission with the result that its original terms were confirmed. No genuine objection exists in this instance.

2 1 3

OFFICERS OF THE MCMAHON MISSION

1. Colonel Sir A. H. McMahon, K.C.I.E., C.S.I.
2. Captain Ramsay, Personal Assistant to Colonel McMahon.
3. Captain Bell, C.I. Horse, Commanding Camel Corps.

It is perhaps to be regretted that the most prominent result revealed by the McMahon Mission was the pronounced antagonism of the Germans and Russians to British interests in Persia. From the very beginning and with deliberate intent, M. Miller wrongly described the [Pg 218] intentions and aims of the Mission, his ingenious fabrications ultimately finding sympathetic shelter in the columns of the German Press. Germany’s share in the persecution with which the Mission was followed has passed unnoticed in this country. But at a moment when stupid people are encouraging others of greater foolishness to commit the British Government to very undesirable rapprochements with Berlin, it is as well to reflect upon the real character of the niceties which underlie German policy where Anglo-German interests are concerned. Unfortunately, it is not always realised in Great Britain how much weight a venal Press can give to the indefatigable inventions of scurrilous, political gossipers. It may be, therefore, necessary to say that not a particle of truth attaches to the many statements about the McMahon Mission which appeared abroad in print. Ingenuous as the mendacity and duplicity of M. Miller may be, it is incomprehensible that any diplomatic official would circulate, without specific orders, such lies and travesties of fact as were current in Seistan during the sojourn of the Mission there. Whatever may appear to have been the gist of M. Miller’s instructions from the Russian Minister in Teheran, it is to be admitted that he acted up to the fullest limit of his opportunities. Happily the malicious untruths and slanders, which became so prominent a feature of the Russo-German press campaign, have recoiled upon the Russian policy; and, while the arch purveyor of the trash has been removed, Russian prestige itself has temporarily fallen very low.

With the disappearance of M. Miller from the scene in Seistan, the emissaries of the Russian authorities went further afield. Articles, breathing the engaging candour of a regular crusade, appeared in the Press of St. Petersburg and Berlin, lengthy extracts being received in Teheran itself through the kindly offices of the Official Telegraph Agency in St. Petersburg. The organ of the Russian authorities in Central Asia—The Russian Trans-Caspian Gazette, published at Askhabad—was perhaps the most industrious agent in circulating grotesque details of the wrongs inflicted upon the poor Seistanis by the brutal decisions of the British Mission. In respect of these statements it happens that the share in the Hamun lake, allotted originally by the Goldsmid Convention, remains absolutely unaltered. The remark that Persian Seistan was in danger [Pg 219] of becoming a desert because Persia had been mulcted in two-thirds of its water supply is a lying absurdity, divulged by M. Miller or the Russian Minister in Teheran for no other purpose than to sow distrust of Great Britain in the Persian mind and throughout Europe. Again, the touching descriptions of the homeless Seistanis dispossessed of their lands through the heartless insistence of the British Commissioner, which only needed to appear in the Russian Trans-Caspian Gazette to be commented upon by German newsmongers with characteristic insolence, are conspicuously false insomuch that neither Persian nor Afghan villages were removed, nor any single individual evicted. The statement, too, that the McMahon Mission had laid out upon Persian soil an extensive fortified camp, within battlemented mud walls is equally untrue. This “extensive fortified camp” consisted of the mud-huts used by the Mission; the walls were the mud-walls of the tennis-court, while “the armed guard,” left in charge of these “fortifications,” resolved itself into one of three watchmen, who had been given the custody of certain property pending orders as to its removal. In this direction it is of interest to know that upon the day following the departure of the Mission an attempt by the Russians to occupy the camp was prevented only by the presence of these men.

Full inquiries into the pernicious activity which distinguished the Russian officials of course should be made by the British Government. There is no doubt that M. Miller abused the privileges attaching to his diplomatic position in proclaiming that the British Mission would not be permitted by the Russians to enter Persia; and when, as the representative of Russia in Seistan, he went the length of arranging riots against the British Consul on his Majesty’s birthday, he committed a serious offence against a friendly country. At such an affront Sir Arthur Hardinge, our Minister in Teheran, might well have intervened; but, in spite of the mob demonstrating before the British Consulate and demanding the expulsion of the Consul and the withdrawal of the Mission, it was left to the Mission itself to secure its own protection. This was not impossible; eventually the ringleaders of the movement, which included the majority of the Russian agents in Seistan, were apprehended and summarily flogged. There could have been no objection if the stronger action, which the circumstances warranted, had been more directly applied.

BALUCHISTAN CAMEL CORPS

[Pg 220] While the course of the Imperial Government in respect of Afghanistan cannot be defined with certainty, there is an equal lack of decision in respect of our policy towards Persia. The condition of our affairs in Mid-Asia, Persia and Afghanistan, which our lamentable lack of foresight has precipitated, is altogether disastrous; our difficulties increasing precisely as the integrity of Persia and the dependence of Afghanistan disappear. In consequence of the serious defects in our policy, coupled with most inadequate representation at Teheran, Great Britain has been almost completely ousted from north-east Persia. The success of the Boundary Mission in Seistan cannot be regarded as introducing any permanent factor in nor effecting any radical alteration of the situation. In view of the significant hold over Persia which Russia possesses and since Russian movement in Khorassan in the future cannot but affect Seistan, the present occasion is one where a firm stand against Russian pretensions undoubtedly should be made.

The trials of the mission in Seistan were of a distinctly [Pg 221] unpleasant order. During the winter 1904-05 the jackals with which the district abounds, for some unknown cause went mad, attacking men and animals. Four members of the Mission were bitten, one of whom died of hydrophobia. The disease also spread to the wolves, who played great havoc. One wild night, March 25, 1905, during a blizzard blowing at a velocity of 88 miles an hour, two mad wolves raided the lines of the Camel Corps and worried seventy-eight camels and one horse. Forty-eight of the camels and the horse died of hydrophobia. On another occasion a horde of these creatures tried unsuccessfully to rush the main camp. The Seistanis themselves were so overcome by terror that they actually killed off all but a few of their dogs on whom they depend for safety and security at night.

1 2 3

BALUCHI CHIEFS WHO ACCOMPANIED
COLONEL MCMAHON

1. Jalal Khan.
2. Bungle Khan of Zhob.
3. Merab Khan, son of Chief
of the Buchtie tribe.

One of the most tragic experiences was the death of an Indian surveyor while on duty in the waterless Dasht-i-Margo. He ventured too far from water and, owing to the intense heat, was unable either to move forward or to retrace his steps. He and seven of his followers paid the penalty with their lives. This incident was marked by the heroism of one of his men who, seeing the surveyor die, determined to rescue the map, to secure which so many lives had been given. He cut it off from the board of the plane table and, knowing that he could not long retain consciousness, wound it under his waistcloth round his body. Then he blindly started northward in the hope of reaching water. The four men who commenced this journey with him collapsed, he himself remembers no more than regaining consciousness at night-time lying by a pool in the Krash river. Here he was found by a wandering Afghan, who carried him on his back to a native [Pg 222] village where, after receiving careful attention, his life was saved. The bodies of his unfortunate companions were subsequently discovered in a completely mummified condition.

Seistan resembles other parts of Central Asia and almost every centre of importance in Afghanistan, insomuch that its existence depends upon irrigation. The canals which branch off from the Helmund, bearing the waters of that river throughout the heart of the country, date back to a period which itself is long prior to either Persian or Afghan conquest. The systems in vogue to-day are hardly an improvement upon those earlier waterworks; there is no doubt that the region might be made the centre of an exceptionally fertile oasis if there were any enduring qualities in the local government, security for trade or opening for agricultural activity. Life in Seistan does not entail elaborate preparations. Provisions are cheap; and sheep and oxen are abundant. Rice comes from Herat, vegetables are scarce, while wheat and barley may be purchased in large quantities.

The feature of Seistan is the Helmund. Indeed, this region is as dependent upon the Helmund as Egypt is upon the Nile, and in recent years agricultural conditions have much improved. The gross revenue is now 100,000 kharwars of grain, with an additional 7100 tomans as the value of other products. Of this latter return the Amir of Seistan takes one-fifth, 1420 tomans; with levies upon forage and firewood from each village and the proceeds from the sales of permits to collect taxes on cows and sheep, the cash revenue amounts to 14,095 tomans. The tax on cows is 2½ krans per 100 cows, and the impost on sheep 1 kran for 20 sheep. There is no levy on ploughing bullocks. Of the 100,000 kharwars of grain the Amir receives 30,000 kharwars at the value of 5 tomans per kharwar. The net receipts are, therefore, 164,095, of which the Persian Government require 2600 tomans in cash and 24,012 kharwars in grain, of which 9812 kharwars are remitted in allowances to officials, priests and troops.[23] In place of the payment in grain, too, the Persian Government usually accepts a cash equivalent at the rate of 7 krans per kharwar, 9940 tomans, the aggregate cash payment contributed by Seistan to Teheran amounting to 12,540 tomans, or £2500.

[Pg 223] The prices ruling in the Nasratabad Bazar are:[24]

Wheat, 25 krans, or about 10s., per kharwar of 649 lbs.
Barley, 20 krans, or about 8s., per kharwar of 649 lbs.
Bhusa, 4 krans per kharwar of 649 lbs.
Firewood (tamarisk), 4 krans per kharwar of 649 lbs.
Bread, 1 kran per 2 mans or 13 lbs.
Ghee, 4 krans per 1 man or 6½ lbs.
Milk, 1 kran per 2 mans or 13 lbs.
Sugar, 6½ krans per 1 man or 6½ lbs.
Fowls, 2 or 3 for a kran.
Eggs, 40 for a kran.

The capital of Seistan is divided into two sections—northern and southern; although so long the centre of local government, it reflects at first a somewhat cheerless and dilapidated appearance. The absence of roads about the city and the generally neglected condition of Husseinabad, the southern town, set up a feeling of disappointment in those who see the place for the first time. Beyond these two towns have sprung up in the last few years the neat buildings of the British Consulate, which may be said to constitute a third part of the capital, with Captain Macpherson in charge of Anglo-Indian interests. Separated from the rest of the city by a broad stretch of level ground, some acres in extent, it occupies an admirable site and has the advantage of room for extension, should it, at any time, be thought advisable to embark upon enlargement. Between two rows of buildings is a wide space, more nearly a square than a street, at the end of which the Union Jack flies. Behind the main block on the south side of the square is a mosque. The principal premises cover a space of about 150 yards by 70 yards, the whole site consisting roughly of about 13 acres. Alongside the consulate stand the imposing premises of the British bank, a branch of the Imperial Bank of Persia, comprising several excellent houses and a well-kept garden.

Husseinabad is little more than a collection of small-domed mud-houses, built, irrespective of ground plan, wheresoever fancy dictated and placed in the middle of a vast plain. Here and there a windmill of curious shape—usually stationary in the winter months, but wanting only the fierce blasts of the Bad-i-sad-o-bist roz or wind of 120 days, which blows unceasingly in the summer months, to rouse it to a state of wild activity—stands conspicuously among the surrounding houses. Beyond [Pg 224] this the residences of the Russian Consul and the Chief Mullah are the only other objects likely to attract attention. The former, no longer the largest house in the town, is also badly situated, being enclosed on three sides by houses and on the fourth by a graveyard, which stretches from the Consulate to the walls of Nasratabad. The Russian Consulate itself, a rectangular building enclosing two courtyards opening into one another, has been, in reality, converted from native houses. It rejoices in an upper storey; a cluster of domes—each room possessing a separate dome—forms the roof, above which stands a sorry-looking flagstaff.

GATES OF NASRATABAD

Nasratabad, the northern town, though in itself insignificant, is by far the more imposing half. It is surrounded by walls 30 feet in height, about 350 yards in length from [Pg 225] north to south and 400 yards from east to west, with buttresses at intervals of about 40 yards. An additional rectangular enclosure projecting from the north-east corner contains the arc or citadel, in which is situated the palace of the Amir. In the centre of the southern wall, supported on either side by buttresses, stands one of the two gateways of the city. From here the central street traverses the length of the city, terminating in a similar gateway in the centre of the north wall. Running all round is a protected way which is loopholed; there is also a deep ditch, sometimes filled with water. The place possesses from fifty to one hundred shops; with one exception they are insignificant and mainly occupied by soldiers who, during their term of service in Seistan, devote themselves to trade and are scarcely ever taken away from the fort. The open spaces in the city have been cultivated, and little patches of grain may occasionally be seen. As is always the case with Persian towns donkeys are everywhere to the fore.

THE WALLS OF NASRATABAD

Nasratabad is garrisoned by two Kain regiments,[25] one of which is disbanded at home, while the other supplies shopkeepers to the capital in the intervals of military duties. The nominal strength is 1000, but less than 800 men are mobilised. They are armed with the useless jezail, although at Birjand there is a store of Werndl rifles; they are supposed to receive a new uniform every second year. Service is for life and is hereditary in the families supplying the soldiers. Their pay is twenty krans—twelve shillings—and 7½ mans of wheat yearly; on service in Seistan they are given rations. As may be supposed, they do not constitute a formidable body of fighting men. In addition to the infantry there are 20 gunners hailing from Tabriz, who hold a position of which they take the [Pg 226] fullest advantage. They carry on the business of moneylenders, charging 500 per cent. as a minimum!

It has long been recognised in Seistan that, while Indian commerce can achieve no compensating return in the markets of Khorassan against the trade of Russia and a dam of prohibitory tariffs blocks any little trickle from India entering Central Asia, something might be gained by concentrating attention upon Seistan itself. Accordingly, when in 1896 the laying-out of a route between Nushki and Nasratabad was begun and the construction of a railway between Quetta and Nushki was mooted, two important steps in the right direction were indicated. The distance from Quetta to Nasratabad along the route which was adopted is 565 miles. The five stages out of Quetta down to Nushki, a distance of 93 miles, pass through mountainous country. The road descends 2564 feet from the Quetta plateau to the great tableland which stretches away to Seistan at a height of 3000 feet. Across it lies the track, fairly level and admirably adapted for the passage of caravans. The hills tower in rough fantastic forms along the road to Nushki, and in crossing from valley to valley vistas of the mountain scenery of Baluchistan open out in constant succession. The altitude of the country above the sea and the dry bracing atmosphere create, in winter, a pleasant feeling of exhilaration. The heat in summer is intense, but the temperature varies between the extremes of heat and cold.

BAZAAR SCENE, NASRATABAD

The hills are the great feature of Quetta. To the east, within a mile or two of the bazaar, the Mardar range rises to a height of 11,000 feet, forming a splendid background to the cantonment. To the north, west and south the plain stretches out to the foot of the Zarghim, Tuckatoo and Chiltan hills. Bare and rugged are their slopes, for the juniper groves are tucked away in clefts on the hill-sides. Chill and forbidding are their summits, save at sunset when they flush scarlet as sin; then deepening gradually to purple pale to amethyst as twilight falls. As the night darkens, too, the fires of the charcoal-burners in the juniper valleys flash out, and the lowing of cattle from a distant bazaar reverberates in the still air. The atmosphere is very clear and distances are most deceptive. Dust-storms are frequent and the tiny dust-devil may be seen across the plain twirling rapidly in the radiant sunlight. Near Quetta there are a few mud-walled villages. They contain mostly a mixed population, the Baluchis proper being nomads and [Pg 227] living in black blanket-tents. Even of these there are very few except at harvest time, when beside every threshing-floor, dotted amongst the golden mounds of bhusa, are ragged shelters. Each tent is composed simply of a couple of coarse goats’-hair blankets stretched, one to the windward and one overhead, across some forked sticks. Inside swarm a mass of men, women and children. The women wear long-sleeved, red cotton shirts reaching to the ankles, full cotton trousers and chaddas of indigo blue cotton. They do not [Pg 228] appear to veil themselves among their own people; upon the approach of the white man a corner of the chadda is caught quickly across the mouth. The chadda falls straight down from the crown of the head to the heels and the frayed, soil-worn tail is left to drag among the dust heaps. The long black tresses of the women are thickly plaited and ornamented with blue beads and white cowries. Sometimes a mass of coins is worn like a fringe over the forehead. Their shirts are finely worked in green and gold on the hems, at the sleeves, neck, skirt and down the opening at the throat with the Russian cross stitch.

The Baluchi is a wild-looking man with long, black, well-oiled locks, which he keeps hanging in heavy curls round his neck and shoulders. He wears flowing cotton trousers, a cotton shirt, a waistcoat and a variety of coats according to his means. His apparel is of the dirtiest and his bare feet are thrust into heavy ammunition boots with never a lace in them. In spite of certain defects in his attire, he is a very dignified-looking man and a born leader—of camels! Moreover, he does not set too high value upon his womenfolk; labour is divided, and in ploughing his wife and a camel are usually harnessed together. The price of a spouse is calculated in so many goats, sheep, donkeys or camels.

From Quetta a good driving road runs as far as Samungli, 8 miles distant, where there is a small caravansary. From this point a kutcha road bears off south-west circling round the northern foot of Chiltan in the valley of Girdi Tallao, near the middle of which is the next halting-place. Here there is a caravansary built in the Persian fashion—a square courtyard with leans-to for cattle and camel-men and in one corner quarters, consisting of a mud rez-de-chaussée and a wooden chappar khaneh, for travellers of a better class.

From Girdi Tallao the road proceeds to Tilleri through a cultivated valley, always bordered by the bare hills. At Tilleri there is another rest-house built on the same pattern, but possessing the luxury of windows in the lower storey. After leaving Tilleri the road is level for the first few miles as far as the Sherinab stream. It then rises gradually for the ascent of the Barak pass, where there is a litter of rubble and stones and the ground is very much broken. Beyond the pass, in the vicinity of Murad Khan Killah, the valley spreads out to a level plain with sandy, well-cultivated soil—for Baluchistan. Up to this point in this stage there is not a vestige of a tree nor yet a camel-thorn bush; even the water is brackish. Moreover signs of agricultural [Pg 229] activity do not continue. Soon after leaving Murad Khan the route lies across stony, uneven ground until the Kishingi valley is reached. Here the soil is once more sandy; camel-thorn abounds, and in spring there is the glow of crimson tulips. Beyond Kishingi, the road descends into the Nushki plain by a long, steep pass.

It has not been possible for Nushki to avoid the prosperity which follows in the train of the caravan. At the present moment it is an active but unfortunate settlement. Built at the foot of the hills which bound it on the north and only 2 or 3 miles from the range separating it from Kishingi, the winds from the west, sweeping along the plain to the hills and then eddying back again carrying clouds of dust, catch Nushki both ways. Although very seriously exposed and lying on the edge of the desert which stretches away westwards to the Helmund, there are evidences in the country around of attempts at agriculture. Irrigation is practised and the trickle of water from the Kaisar stream has been augmented by the careful sinking of wells, until the present state of Nushki is in near relation with that which seems to have existed many generations ago. On the top of a low spur of hills which runs south across the valley, where was once a Baluchi fort, now stands an ugly mud-coloured, flat-roofed bungalow, the traveller’s rest-house. The hill on which it is built is very stony and absolutely bare of vegetation. On its southern aspect is a pebbly water-course into which the water, after running close to the bazaar and supplying two cattle-fords, dribbles scantily. The water-course is a favourite place for the disposal of dead camels and donkeys; while the unwholesome little river, the germ-bearer of many maladies, serves to turn three rather primitive waterwheels for the grinding of wheat and barley. In the clay soil along the edges of the stream myriads of tiny mauve irises grow during spring, with here and there scarlet and yellow tulips.

The bazaar is somewhat uninteresting, for it has been built by a British officer in uncompromisingly straight lines. Of course it is all made of mud; the roofs are flat and there are no balconies or verandahs because wood is scarce. So also there are no white Hindu temples and shady peepul trees, no domed mosques and stately-arched gateways, no strings of chillies strung across the shop fronts crimsoning in the sun. There is no touch of colour anywhere; even the people seem to be clad in dirty white or dusty indigo-blue.

[Pg 230] A wide street leads through the centre of the bazaar, and upon it are set two rows of one-storey mud-shops. Nearly all belong to Hindu bunnias from Shikarpur. Their effects are chiefly sacks of grain and Manchester cotton goods, a few native-made long overcoats, waistcoats broidered with gold or silver thread and the peaked Afghan kullah or semi-conical cap, worn in the centre of the puggaree. At the end of this thoroughfare are the police lines, post office and some attempts at a military cantonment in which the local levy is quartered. The population is liable to fluctuation. Three years ago there were 250 people and rather more than 200 houses, of which 120 were shops; but any estimate to-day would need to be much greater, as the numbers of the population have doubled. This increase is due primarily to the growing popularity of the Nushki-Seistan route and an influx of people who were concerned in the construction of the Quetta-Nushki railway. The completion of this work, which was opened to traffic on November 15, 1905, when a tri-weekly service was initiated, will probably cause the abandonment of the present position which Nushki occupies. The soil there has been infected by epidemics of cholera, and enteric is endemic among the villagers.

The actual terminus of the line has been placed 10 miles further on in the open valley, where there is both water and a better situation. There is little doubt that ultimately the preference of the caravans and the merchants will be given to the spot where the station premises are already located.

Work upon the railway began in the summer of 1902, when the difficulties which it presented were not formidable. The cost of construction has been but little more than half a million sterling. The line, which is 83 miles in length, branches off from the North-Western railway to Quetta above the Bolan pass, 3 miles from Shezand station and 12 miles short of Quetta itself, at a height of 5864 feet. The stations constructed on the line are very well appointed, far better than those upon the Bolan or Humai systems. They reflect the greatest credit on the engineers. They are as follows:

1. Nishpa East.
2. Nishpa West.
3. Tiri Walikhan.
4. Dhinger.
5. Sheikh Wazil.
6. Khurd Barak.
7. Kardagap.
8. Galangur Kotal.
9. Kishingi.
10. Nushki.

[Pg 231] In general, Mr. Woodside may be congratulated upon the successful termination of his labours. Certain features in the construction are novel and create a somewhat daring precedent, as bridges have been built only over the large streams. Across the smaller streams the line runs, so that in heavy storms it may be washed away and the service dislocated. The experiment may prove troublesome, and it will be interesting to see how the system answers; with small traffic it may be a success. For a long time there will be little traffic beyond the Mastang district, although there is likely to be a large trade from there during the hot weather. The investigations of the engineers have proved that in all the valleys water is everywhere within practicable distance, under 150 feet generally. Where there was desolation before, and where it was not believed possible to find water, plentiful springs have been tapped.

Splendid work has been done by two young engineers, fresh from Scotland, Mr. Slee and Mr. Young. In two years or less these young men have learned the languages generally spoken by the workmen, and in dealing with the tribesmen, who numbered some thousands, they have had neither difficulty nor opposition. Their lives cannot be said to have been lonely. Day and night they were busy, orders or instructions being incessantly solicited, while their words were law in settling the disputes that so frequently arose between the tribesmen.

With the advent of the railway to Nushki, that place now becomes the starting-point of the great Indo-Perso overland caravan route. Prior to 1896, the existence of certain questions of a political nature prevented any definite steps being taken towards the construction of a trade-way between Seistan and Nushki. The Amir of Afghanistan, Abdur Rahman, whose fiscal policy was well calculated to stifle trade, was in occupation of the Chageh district, through which lay the direct route from Nushki to Seistan. It was eminently desirable that a change should be effected in the ownership of this district. In accordance with the Agreement of 1893, drawn up between Sir Mortimer Durand and Abdur Rahman, the Chageh district was assigned to the British sphere. In the following years, 1894-6, a Boundary Commission under Captain McMahon occupied itself in demarcating the frontier of Afghanistan south of the Helmund and up to Koh-i-Malik-i-Siah; in 1895, by agreement [Pg 232] with the Shah, a second Commission under Colonel Holdich proceeded to define the Perso-Baluch frontier between Kohak and Koh-i-Malik-i-Siah—a distance of 300 miles. So soon as these two missions had completed their labours, Captain Webb Ware was appointed the Assistant Political Officer and was placed in charge of the stretch of country which had accrued to the Government of India as the result of the demarcation, Major Trench proceeding to Seistan. Captain Webb Ware at once set himself to work upon plans for the creation of a trade route between Seistan and Nushki, the good fortune which had attended his earlier efforts being carried a stage further in 1900, when the interests of the Khan of Kelat in the Nushki district were bought out at a perpetual quit-rent of 9000 rupees per annum. Success has been pronounced; and both the character and complexion of this barren region have been transformed. No more difficult country could have been found for development. In the days before the road was started the region was the home of roving parties of Baluchi and Afghan ruffians who periodically sallied forth to plunder passing caravans. Further, heat, the absence of water and the dangers of the journey to India over long desert stretches, militated against its adoption. Only at rare intervals did a caravan attempt the venture.

These defects are now, in the main, surmounted, and an excellent trade route is established between Nushki and Nasratabad, the marches being divided into twenty-one stages. Between Nushki and Robat a kutcha road, varying in breadth between 10 feet and 20 feet, is laid out. Dâk bungalows have also been established at regularly appointed stations and[26] telegraphic communication exists. Around the several bungalows there are now tiny settlements where itinerant traders exist on the proceeds of their business with the caravans. Marauding bands have ceased to worry, as their leaders have been made responsible for the safe custody of travellers between the different stages. At each post there is a small levy-guard and quarters for the camel-dâk, which carries the mail between India and Seistan in nine and a half days. Although it is impossible to avoid the heat, the water difficulty is no longer insuperable. Wells have been sunk and, since the abolition of all tolls and duties on the route—which wise precaution was made an [Pg 233] essential preliminary to the inauguration of the service—an increasing stream of camels passes to and fro, between India and Khorassan.

Value of Imports and Exports by the Nushki-Seistan route for the years 1896-1905.
Year.				Rupees.
March 1,	1896,	to March 1,	1897	1½	lakhs.
”	1897	”	1898	5	”
”	1898	”	1899	7	”
”	1899	”	1900	12	”
”	1900	”	1901	15	”
”	1901	”	1902	20	”
”	1902	”	1903	18	”
”	1903	”	1904	18	”
”	1904	”	1905	24	”

List of Marches between Nushki rail head and Nasratabad.
1. [27]Nushki to Mull	25
2. [27]Mull to Padag	30
3. Padag to Yadgar Chah	24
4. Yadgar Chah to Dalbandin	31
5. [27]Dalbandin to Jujaki	30
6. Jujaki to Meroi	21
7. [27]Meroi to Chah Sandan	21
8. Chah Sandan to Tratoh	24
9. Tratoh to Kundi	22
10. Kundi to Mashki Chah	22
11. [27]Mashki Chah to Ware Chah	26
12. Ware Chah to Makak Karez	23
13. Makak Karez to Sainduk	11
14. [27]Sainduk to Kirtaka	17
15. Kirtaka to Chah Mohammed Reza	17
16. Chah Mohammed Reza to Killa Robat	28
17. [27]Killa Robat to Hormak	17
18. Hormak to Nowad Chah	24
19. Nowad Chah to Girdi Thana	7
20. Girdi Thana to Asak Chah	22
21. Asak Chah to Sayed Khan’s khel	10
22. Sayed Khan’s khel to Nasratabad	20
22. Quetta to Nushki	93
Total	565

The road follows two sides of a triangle, skirting the whole of Southern Afghanistan before entering Persia at Koh-i-Malik-i-Siah. The distance from Nushki to Koh-i-Malik-i-Siah and thence direct to Meshed is just 1000 miles. To [Pg 234] aid traders using this route a rebate of seven-eighths of the Indian Customs duty is allowed. As the sea is free to Bunder Abbas, this concession should be increased so that the starting-points of the caravans—i.e., Nushki and Bunder Abbas—might be on a footing of equality. “Drawbacks” of 33 per cent. are granted by the North-Western railway on all goods sent by it and destined for Persia. Additional facilities have also been arranged for the trade using this new route; in order to avoid the difficulty of having to go 150 miles out of their way to Nasratabad for Customs examination, hitherto experienced by merchants proceeding by the Nushki route to Khorassan, a first-class Customs Bureau has been established at Koh-i-Malik-i-Siah. This enables kafilas to proceed direct to Kain and Khorassan viâ the Palankoh route and to avoid the detour through Seistan. Furthermore, a British Consular Agent has been deputed to Koh-i-Malik-i-Siah, one of whose principal duties it will be to watch the interests of British traders using the route and to assist them in their dealings with the Customs authorities. As regards traffic, since the opening of the Quetta-Nushki railway a considerable flow of trade has set in from the Helmund direction viâ Chageh, as caravans for Herat and Afghan traders naturally prefer to follow the Helmund to a point north-west of Chageh and then to turn southwards. A stretch of desert still has to be crossed; but it is less in extent than that between Nushki and the Persian frontier at Robat.

In order to encourage traders a revised schedule of rates for the hire of camels along the Nushki-Seistan-Meshed route has been issued by the Government of India. By these changes the hire for single camels carrying 400 pounds has been reduced from 57 rs. 8 a. for the single journey to 55 rs.; for the double journey from 100 to 95 rs., the time having been decreased from 105 to 85 days: this latter is a distinct advance. The charge per kharwar has been reduced from 370 krans to 359 krans 11 shahis, or 89 rs. 6 a. This concession does not yet equal the average rate of hire from Bunder Abbas to Meshed, which is 300 krans per kharwar. Goods must be packed in gunny bags, boxes or leather cases, no package weighing more than 2½ maunds. Special rates are quoted for wood-work and iron materials. The periods allowed for the journey are:

Quetta to Seistan	45 days.
Seistan to Meshed	40 ”
Nushki to Seistan	38 ”

[Pg 235] Contractors will be held responsible for all loss and damage to goods in transit obviously due to the neglect of the camel-men. They will be at liberty to refuse goods for delivery if they are not properly packed and secured. Loss through raids will be considered beyond the contractors’ responsibility. Ten days’ notice must be given for any number of camels required up to 40, 25 days for over 50 and up to 300, 50 days above 300 but not exceeding 1000. Express camels can be hired at higher rates, the journey from Quetta to Seistan being then made in 30 days.

The evident success of the new route has been the more remarkable because M. Naus, the head of the Belgian administration that conducts the Persian Customs, has devised special means to check the expansion of Indian trade, two Customs officers being appointed to Nasratabad to deal with it. To give zest to their existence these men imposed many novel regulations upon caravans.[28] The camel-men are fined for the non-observance of arbitrary rules which are purposely varied so that confusion may be created; the men are thrown into prison, the animals seized and the goods confiscated. In addition, the Customs barrier in Seistan is reinforced by a plague cordon between Seistan and Khorassan against caravans from India, in spite of the fact that the period of any possible incubation has expired long before a caravan from Quetta can reach Seistan, and that the limits of time, within which quarantine is permissible, have been laid down by the decision of the Venice Sanitary Congress. The headquarters of this latest pest are at Turbat-i-Haidari and Karez. Meanwhile the Russian and Belgian authorities encourage the circulation of alarmist rumours about the mortality from Indian plague in Seistan, the doctor at the Russian legation in Teheran recently having spread a statement that 99 per cent. of deaths from plague had occurred in the Naizar district of Seistan. While these reports are very greatly exaggerated in respect of Indian plague, an epidemic of this disease nevertheless ravaged Seistan during the spring of 1906. At Nasratabad the population was reduced through it from 2500 to rather more than 300. The efforts of Dr. Kelly, the medical officer attached to the British Consulate in Nasratabad, however, did much to arrest it, over 500 inoculations having been made and an excellent impression created by the recovery of a man who had been seized after being inoculated by him. None-the-less, its [Pg 236] existence prepares the way for more vigorous precautions against Indian caravans, the measures of the plague officials being directed against the development of Indian commercial relations with Northern Persia and Northern Afghanistan in the hope that Persian and Afghan merchants may frequent the Meshed emporium. At the present moment these preventive measures have achieved conspicuous success, and Russian commercial activity has entirely subjugated Khorassan province. No headway appears to be possible for British trade; while the rapid growth of Russian commercial influence, under this system of pernicious assistance, threatens to reduce Seistan to the position of a commercial base from which the markets of India can be attacked by articles of Russian manufacture. A precisely similar state of things prevails at Meshed in respect of Afghanistan.

DÂK BUNGALOW ON THE NUSHKI ROUTE

It is of value to compare the Nushki-Seistan route to Meshed with others, viz., the Bunder Abbas-Narmashir-Neh-Turbat route; the Bunder Abbas-Yezd-Turbat route; the Bushire-Yezd-Turbat route; the Basra-Baghdad-Kermanshah-Teheran route; and the Trebizond-Tabriz-Teheran route.

[Pg 237] 2. The Bunder Abbas-Narmashir-Neh-Turbat route.—The distance is about 900 miles and the time taken to traverse it is from 80 to 120 days. The cost of transport is about £5 per 650 lbs. It is needless to say that owing to Bunder Abbas being in direct communication with London, goods reach it at a cheaper rate and more quickly than viâ Nushki, which is not as yet a commercial centre of any great importance. At Bunder Abbas, too, there is a large and old-established colony of British Indian merchants, in addition to the agents of more than one British firm. This route, moreover, possesses certain inherent attractions. The Customs examination takes place at the point of landing, before the caravan journey commences; while goods destined for export are only examined at Bunder Abbas. Further, there are alternative markets at Bam and Kerman, and alternative routes viâ those centres. Supplies also are cheaper and not so scanty; and the grazing is better. At the same time, the Nushki route is quite secure as far as the British frontier and comparatively safe in Persian territory. No route in Southern Persia is ever permanently safe.

3. The Bunder Abbas-Yezd-Turbat route.—An alternative route from Bunder Abbas of less importance, but still the second largest artery of trade from the south as regards Khorassan, runs viâ Yezd, to which centre much trade is attracted by the presence of a large number of merchants and the prospect of choice of markets. Several Khorassan merchants, indeed, make their purchases in Yezd; although every year the tendency is to go further afield and establish direct relations elsewhere. The smaller merchants from lack of capital continue to depend upon the credit afforded them by the wealthier members of the fraternity and are thus tied to the home mart.

4. The Bushire-Yezd-Turbat route.—Bushire is 932 miles distant from Meshed and a certain quantity of goods reaches Khorassan from that port, perhaps to the extent of 4 per cent. of its total imports. As a rule, the trade is not direct, but applies to that class of traffic which is done by merchants who do business solely with Yezd.

5. The Basra-Baghdad-Kermanshah-Teheran route.—The distance from Baghdad is over 1000 miles. The time taken is about four to five months, the cost being about £8 10s. per 650 lbs. Goods in transit by this route pay a penalty of 1 per cent. to the Turkish Customs. Owing to the lack of water-carriage on the Tigris there is frequently [Pg 238] much delay at Basra before goods are forwarded; and, as everything breaks bulk at Basra and again at Baghdad, the route is bound to be expensive. It is preferred for heavy articles such as pianos and machinery.

INFANTRY WITH THE PERSIAN COMMISSIONER

This route, as far as Khorassan is concerned, is chiefly used for the importation of British, Austro-Hungarian and German manufactures, such as cloth, gold and silver thread and lace. These goods, as a rule, are destined primarily for Teheran; but, when conditions are more promising at Meshed, they are forwarded for sale to that market. Yet another aspect of this route is that Baghdad, owing to its proximity to Kerbela, is a great pilgrim centre. Consequently, merchants not infrequently combine a little profit [Pg 239] with a pilgrimage. The figures for 1904-1905 on this route are £14,491 as against £20,800 in 1903-1904.

6. The Trebizond-Tabriz-Teheran route.—Trebizond is the most westerly port of entry with which the trade of Khorassan and the commercial centres of Meshed and Seistan is concerned. The distance to Meshed is some 1400 miles and the time taken is seldom less than five months. The cost is about £12 per 650 lbs. This route exists owing to the fact that goods using it pay no Customs in Turkey; but it is a terribly long and expensive journey to Khorassan, while the strict application of the new Persian Customs rules is reacting unfavourably on its prosperity. The advent of the Russian rail-head within a few miles of Tabriz will also press it very hard. At the same time certain classes of goods, not affected by Russian competition, will continue to use this route. The total for the year 1904-1905 was returned at £17,770, as against £21,780 for 1903-1904.

To summarise: Route No. 1 is an artificial route called into being on account of the fiscal barriers erected around Afghanistan, otherwise the Kandahar-Herat route is shorter and cheaper. Routes 2 and 3 are the most natural, but receive little assistance from the Persian Government in the suppression of brigandage or in other ways. Their desert nature also constitutes a grave disadvantage. These routes are the main arteries of commerce from the south. Routes 5 and 6 are not primarily intended to serve Khorassan, but occasionally the market is more promising at Meshed than Teheran.

A table of these trade routes is appended:

Table of Routes, Freights, etc., to Meshed.
Route.		Distance in miles to Meshed.	Average Cost of Carriage per Kharwar (650 lbs.)		Length of Journey in Days.	Nature of Transport.	Value of Trade.
			£	s.			£
1.	Nushki, viâ Turbat	1000	6	0	85	Mainly Camels	22,654
2.	Bunder Abbas, viâ Narmashir and Neh and Turbat	900	5	0	80-120	”	-
3.	Bunder Abbas, viâ Yezd and Turbat	1020	6	0	100-140	”	-
4.	Bushire, viâ Yezd and Turbat	932	6	10	100-140	Mainly Mules	35,592
5.	Baghdad, viâ Kermanshah and Teheran	1050	8	10	120-150	Mules and Camels	14,491
6.	Trebizond, viâ Tabriz and Teheran	1380	12	0	150-180	Mainly Camels	17,770

[Pg 240]

THE PERSIAN COMMISSIONER

It is, however, a question of politics more than of trade, and the Nushki-Nasratabad route is of less significance beside the political considerations which attach to the future state of Seistan. In this way the importance of the latter is as great as the value which attaches to Herat, because the occupation of Khorassan by Russia would imply a dominating control of Seistan. Moreover, any movement across Khorassan upon Seistan places the road to Kandahar from Herat, together with the strategical points of Sabzawar and Farah, at the mercy of Russia, a contingency which is certainly to be avoided in the present disordered condition of our own house in Asia. Seistan is equally related to the strategic positions of Russia in Central Asia and India, insomuch that if Russia were to become installed there [Pg 241] the obstacle to an advance upon India, which is presented by Afghanistan, would have been surmounted and the road to the Gulf opened. Although she might not make any actual forward movement from Seistan towards India, countless opportunities would occur to her to foment disturbances among the Baluchi peoples and to spread an actively hostile propaganda throughout the trans-frontier region. Such a forward movement, too, an actual advance of 300 miles, would impose upon the Government of India many additional outlays of money, besides keeping India in a continuously unsettled and anxious state. It will be seen that the interests of Russia and India in Seistan proceed on identical lines. If India were able to control Outer Seistan an important position would be established from which she could frustrate Russia’s designs along the Perso-Afghan border and in the direction of the Persian Gulf. To do this it is not so much the interests of Seistan as our position in Afghanistan and Persia which require to be considered. The advantage with respect to Persia rests just now with the Russians, whose activity can only be countered with effect by a permanent understanding with the Amir and the strengthening of Persia in some enduring fashion. With Kandahar linked up by railway with India, Afghanistan definitely united in arms with us, and Persia, freed from the wiles of Russia, once more dependant upon us, our position along the Perso-Afghan border would be endowed with such strength that the combination well might serve to check any further Russian activities in the Middle East.

Note.—The names of the officers on the Seistan Mission were as follows:

Political.—Colonel A. H. (now Sir Henry) McMahon, K.C.I.E., C.S.I.; Capt. Ramsay (Personal Assistant).

Irrigation Officer.—Mr. Ward, C.I.E.

Survey Officer.—Mr. Tate.

Infantry Escort.—Major H. F. Walters, 124th Baluchistan Infantry; Lieut. A. E. Stewart, 124th Baluchistan Infantry; Lieut. Brett, 124th Baluchistan Infantry.

Cavalry Escort.—Lieut. C. P. Landon.

Commanding Camel Corps.—Capt. R. C. Bell, Central India Horse.

Doctor.—Major W. Irvine, I.M.S.

[20] The area of Seistan Proper is 3847 square miles.

[21] The area of Outer Seistan is 3159 square miles.

[22] Sir H. McMahon before the Royal Geographical Society. April 1906.

[23] “Sport and Politics under an Eastern Sky.” Earl of Ronaldshay.

[24] “On the Outskirts of Empire in Asia.” Earl of Ronaldshay.

[25] “Khurasan and Sistan.” Lieut.-Colonel C. E. Yate.

[26] The telegraph stations are Nushki, Mull, Dalbandin, Meroi, Mashki Chah, Sainduk, Killa Robat.

[27] Telegraph stations.

[28] “The Middle Eastern Question.” Valentine Chirol.

[Pg 242]

A CARAVAN OF PACK-PONIES

CHAPTER X

PROVINCES AND DISTRICT CENTRES, ETHNOGRAPHICAL
AND OROLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION

Afghanistan to-day is divided into five major provinces—Kabul, Herat, Kandahar, Afghan Turkestan and Badakshan; and two territories—Kafiristan and Wakhan. Kandahar includes Seistan and the basin of the Helmund; Herat the basin of the Hari-Rud and north-western Afghanistan; Afghan Turkestan the former khanates Andkhui, Maimana, Balkh and Khulm; the province of Badakshan administers the territory of Wakhan and the regions of the Upper Oxus. Kabul, Herat and Kandahar are the centres of their respective provinces; Tashkurgan and Mazar-i-Sharif of Afghan Turkestan and Faizabad of Badakshan.

The province of Kabul is bounded on the north-west by the Koh-i-Baba, north by the Hindu Kush, north-east by the Panjsher river and on the east by Jagdalik. In the south its limits are defined by the Sufed Koh and Ghazni; [Pg 243] to the west by the hill country of the Hazaras, while its area of administration includes Bamian and Haibak. The province is very mountainous, but it contains also a large portion of arable lands which, lying along the base of the hills, derive much of their richness from the off-scourings of the mountain faces.

Wheat and barley are the chief products, these grains constituting the staple food of the poorest classes. Nonetheless, the crops are not sufficient for the needs of the province and the demands of an inter-provincial export trade, which exists in a flourishing condition. Cereals are imported from Ghazni and rice from Upper Bangash, Jelalabad, Lughman and even Kunar. In bad years, when prices rule high, corn is obtained from Bamian, which is also the chief centre for supplies of ghee. The Hazara country and the Ghilzai region are active competitors with Bamian in this trade. Agriculture and pastoral pursuits in the main attract the sole energies of the countryside; the most important pasturage existing in Logar. Grass is plentiful in the Kabul valley and also towards Ghorband, while agricultural development is greatest in the Butkhak district. Water is abundant and every landowner devotes considerable attention to fruit-culture. A large proportion of the population in the Kabul province live in tents during the summer months. The villages are of various sizes and usually number 150 families. As a rule the villages are not fortified; but each contains a small guard-tower from where a watch is kept over the villages, fields and flocks. Sheep are maintained for purposes of breeding, but bullocks, camels, mules and horses are employed in transport—trading between Turkestan, India and Khorassan. Bullocks are made use of within the precincts of the Kabul valley; camels between Kabul province, Khorassan and Turkestan; mules and ponies between the province and the Hazara country.

The province of Badakshan lies in the extreme east of Afghanistan. It is bounded on the north and the east by the course of the Oxus, south by the crests of the Hindu Kush as far as the junction of the Hindu Kush with the Mustagh and Sarikol ranges, west by a line which crosses the Turkestan plain southwards from the junction of the Kunduz river with the Oxus, from which point it proceeds ultimately to strike the Hindu Kush. The principal [Pg 244] sub-divisions of Badakshan are: on the west, Rustak, Kataghan, Ghori, Narin and Anderab; on the north, Darwaz, Ragh and Shiwa; on the east, Gharan, Ishkashim, Zebak and Wakhan; elsewhere, Faizabad, Farkhar, Minjan and Kishm. Numerous lofty mountain ranges and deep rugged valleys, wherein there is no little agricultural development, define its physiography, while ethnographically the bulk of the people of the province are Tajik.

In winter the climate is severe, the mountain passes being blocked by snow and the rivers frozen. In general it appears somewhat diversified and in the loftier parts of the province the agricultural seasons are frequently ruined by early frost. The chief industrial centres of the region are situated in the more temperate zones where the valleys are sheltered by the orological development. The rain-fall, by reason of the stimulating influence of the forests, is abundant, especially in March and April. With the end of April a period of drought, continuing throughout May, June, July and in a lesser degree in the months of August, September and October, begins. Snow makes its appearance in November, but the heavier falls do not begin until the middle of December.

The principal industry of Badakshan is agricultural; but there is also considerable mineral wealth, while salt deposits and sulphur mines are known to exist and in some measure have been exploited. Salt and sulphur are found in the valley of the Kokcha; iron exists near Faizabad, while the ruby mines, for which the province has been celebrated, and the lapis-lazuli mines, are found respectively on the right bank of the Oxus close to Ishkashim, in Gharan and near the sources of the Kokcha. The ruby mines lie some 1200 feet above the Oxus river; but the deposits are not worked regularly, although from time to time in the reign of Abdur Rahman projects for developing them were initiated.

[Pg 245]

WOMAN POUNDING GRAIN

The alpine territory of Wakhan lies in the extreme north-east. It consists of two upland valleys which are traversed by the Panja. These are hemmed in on either side by lofty mountains; those to the south form the northern section of the Hindu Kush here crossed by very difficult passes, the easiest of which is the Baroghil (12,000 feet) leading to Chitral and Gilgit. The chief resources of the people are derived from their flocks of sheep and droves of Tibetan [Pg 247] yak. Wakhan is too elevated and sterile for tillage, but it yields a pasturage like that of the Pamir region. In this alpine district the lowest hamlet is 8000 feet; Sarhad, the highest, is no less than 11,000 feet above the sea. Nevertheless, pulse and barley crops are grown in the more sheltered glens.

As a province Afghan Turkestan ranks among the most important in the State. Before its division at the hands of Abdur Rahman it embraced much of the territory which he apportioned to the province of Badakshan, including every important khanate contained within the Oxus region. If now, when Afghanistan has been reduced to order and a settled system of administration has given place to the authority of the Khans, its revenues are less than others, its position is equal to Herat and Kandahar. In importance it has ranked hitherto with the capital province and contained the divisions of Maimana, Andkhui, Balkh and Khulm, together with a number of so-called industrial centres, including Tashkurgan, a commercial market and Mazar-i-Sharif. The limits of the province include the southern half of the Oxus basin from the frontier of Badakshan on the east to the upper waters of the Murghab on the west. The Oxus forms the northern border from the confluence of the Kokcha river to Khwaja Sala. To the south it is contained by the high mountains of the Hindu Kush, which form the dividing line of the country from east to west.

Quite lately Habib Ullah has proposed to re-distribute the various districts which make up the provinces of Badakshan and Afghan Turkestan, so that two new provinces may soon come into existence. These will have their headquarters at Mazar-i-Sharif and Khanabad respectively. The first will consist of the districts of Balkh, Akcha, Shibirghan, Andkhui and Tashkurgan, extending to the Oxus on the north and Bamian on the south. The second will take in all the country eastwards to Chitral, including Badakshan and Wakhan. Each province will have a Governor with two Deputies. Sirdar Ghulam Ali Khan, brother of the Amir, will be Governor of one, and another brother, Sirdar Omar Khan, will have his headquarters in the other. It is intended at a later date to subdivide the provinces of Herat and Kandahar in similar fashion, all the governors being of royal blood.

A BALUCHI SHEPHERD

The province of Herat extends, east and west, from near [Pg 248] the sources of the Hari-Rud to the Persian boundary beyond Ghorian, some 300 miles; and in length, between its northern frontier and Seistan in the south, some 200 miles. As a whole the region lacks any particular [Pg 249] industrial or agricultural activity, its present appearance suggesting that the unsettled conditions prevailing on its northern frontiers have discouraged all efforts towards local development. Although it contains such centres as Obeh and Sabzawar, besides places of less note, it is an impoverished province and requires years of honest administration before it can recover from the ill-effects of the abuses which have distinguished its existence.

Although the Herat province for a long time has been the seat of Afghan government, sometimes in subordination to Kabul or upon occasion independent, it has been, nevertheless, the object of constant attention from Persia. Since Ahmed Shah Durani founded the Durani empire Herat has ranked as one of the three chief cities of the country; and, even with the downfall of the dynasty which Ahmed Shah established and his son Timur wrecked, it has contrived to play an interesting part in the fortunes of the State, if not always an important one. But from the time when it was incorporated in the Afghan kingdom by Dost Mahommed forty-three years ago, it has experienced without any serious interruption the yoke of the Kabul Government, until, freed from the menace of Persian aggression by British intervention, it needs to-day only a period of equitable government to restore its fortunes.

At the present date the province comprises between five and six hundred villages, with some forty-five thousand households distributed over the centres of Ghorian, Sabzawar, Farah Bakwa, Kurak, Obeh, Ghor and Kala Nao. In the days when it formed a separate principality, many tribes, now lying within the Persian and Russian boundaries, were allied in arms with Herat, the prestige of its reputation enforcing a general recognition of its position and obedience to its behests. The old order has now quite disappeared. With the advance of Russia to the northern frontier of Afghanistan the independence of these roving peoples has been curtailed and their love of war suppressed, the new arrangement depriving the former khanate of no small proportion of its earlier glories. As a province of Afghanistan, Herat is the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the north-western frontier and the seat of a provincial governor; it remains to be seen whether it becomes a centre of industrial activity in connection with the army.

While it is impossible to define with absolute accuracy the various boundaries, there is no doubt that in point of [Pg 250] size the province of Kandahar is the most extensive of any in Afghanistan. Although it has long ceased to be the seat of the supreme government of the country, this province is second to none in the value of its commercial importance, while its revenues have become an important factor in the upkeep of the kingdom. The dimensions of its wide area extend from a few miles south of Ghazni in the north-east to the Persian frontier and from the northern extremity of the Hazara country to the Afghan-Baluch border. The district centres which the province contains are Farah, Kelat-i-Ghilzai, Girishk, Laush, Khash, Barakail and Afghan-Seistan. A division of interests marks the relations existing between Kandahar and the Farah district which, although governed from Kandahar, exercises complete jurisdiction over its own revenues. Excluding this source, the local revenue, which is assessed in grain, returns a little short of a million rupees annually, the customs and town duties of Kandahar city equalling the land revenues of the entire province. Lying somewhat closer to Kabul than does Herat, Kandahar has shared the fortunes of the capital city, revealing the effect in itself of any change of rulers in Kabul. Nevertheless, while it has experienced certain intervals of independence, Kandahar province unlike Herat province has not suffered from the effects of continuous dynastic wars and the dread of Persian invasion. In general, too, the tide of its disasters has flowed from India, British armies of occupation having been in possession of its areas at various dates since Anglo-Indian arms first supported the cause of Shah Shujah. The days of British intervention have passed long since and the province, no less than the city, is now an integral part of the Amir’s dominions.

[Pg 251]

Photo, Olufsen

ELDERS FROM WAKHAN

The division of Afghanistan into settled provinces is due to the initiative of Dost Mahommed, the earliest movement in this direction being the despatch of an expedition under Mahommed Akbar Khan, his son. This brought about the downfall of the khanates in the regions south of the Oxus. Turkestan, including what is now described as Badakshan, was not completely subjugated as the result of this individual’s military activities. It was not until about 1866, when Shir Ali despatched Mahommed Alum Khan to Balkh as Governor of that centre, that the operations began which were to lead to the complete conquest by Afghan arms of all the khanates contained within the Oxus region. Mahommed Alum Khan through his general, Hafiz Ullah [Pg 253] Khan, defeated Mahmud Shah the ruler of Badakshan. By this victory the dependent states of Shignan, Roshan and Wakhan were occupied. Subsequently, the annexation of Maimana rounded off the operations which, in the first instance at the hands of Mahommed Akbar Khan and later at the instigation of Mahommed Alum Khan, had brought about the extension of the Afghan dominions to the banks of the Oxus and the Murghab. The conquered area was not to remain long without a change in the fashion of its government; one of the earliest administrative acts of Abdur Rahman was to split it up into two divisions—Afghan Turkestan and Badakshan. With this improvement upon the previous condition of their affairs, these troublous little hot-beds of anarchy and misrule were extinguished, the areas being incorporated in one or other of the two provinces; their former boundaries now represent the limits of the districts or counties into which they were converted.

The chief of these khanates was that of Kunduz, presided over by a Mir and covering 19,000 square miles. It was divided into three districts:

(1) Kunduz, with the sub-districts of Baglan, Ghori, Doshi, Killagai, Khinjan, Anderab, Khost, Narin, Ishkashim, Khanabad, Tashkurgan, Haibak.

(2) Talikhan, with the sub-districts of Talikhan, Rustak, Chiab, Faizabad, Jarm, Wakhan.

(3) Hazrat Imam, with the sub-districts of Hazrat Imam, Siab, Kulab, Tapa, Kurgan Yube, Kabadian, Muminabad.

Great changes have taken place in the territory which once belonged to Kunduz. Kulab, Muminabad, Kabadian, have passed into the possession of Russia; while Ghori, Narin, Kunduz, Baglan, Anderab, Rustak, Wakhan and Faizabad have been shorn from its territories and handed over to the province of Badakshan for administrative purposes. In the days when the Khan of Kunduz exercised jurisdiction over a belt of country extending from the Wakhan valley to the Kunduz river, the population was returned at 420,000 people, in the main composed of Uzbegs and Tajiks. At that time, too, the district of Kunduz possessed 60,000 houses, that of Talikhan 25,000 houses, while in Hazrat Imam there were 20,000 houses. Kunduz, the former capital of this territory, has fallen from its high estate. It is nowadays a mean and sparsely inhabited district; the little town itself contains barely 1500 houses, the extreme unhealthiness of the region having [Pg 254] caused the residents of this former populous centre to abandon it. The place still boasts traces of a fortress; and a wretched citadel, situated in its north-east corner, is the seat of a petty official. Time has quite obscured the lines of the defences, and a dry ditch, which once surrounded the work, is now laid out in fruit gardens or sown with patches of corn.

West of Kunduz lay the Khanate of Khulm, now eclipsed by the more important centre of Tashkurgan. In the days of its supremacy the Khulm territory included the districts of Tashkurgan, Haibak and Khurram Sarbag. When the seat of local government was removed from Khulm to Tashkurgan, the place lapsed into decay and, now that Haibak has been brought under the direct administration of the Kabul province, Tashkurgan has become the most important centre of what was once a flourishing khanate. The town of Khulm stood out in the Oxus plain, surrounded by a belt of very productive land. The irrigation of this district was highly developed; even now there are numerous orchards and cultivated fields about the site of the ruined city. The population has disappeared and barely 100 families remain on the outskirts.

To the east of Kunduz, 15 miles distant, is Khanabad, the proposed centre of one of the suggested new provinces. It is situated on the right bank of the Farkhan branch of the Kunduz river. The population is dependent on traffic from Cis-Oxus areas, although in recent years considerable local trade has sprung up. The town is surrounded by high walls and lies on the brow of hills which overlook the Kunduz region; it contains some 1500 households. In summer-time a far larger estimate could be returned as its numbers fluctuate. A position of some military strength has been made, and the fort, which is comparatively new, possesses strong mud walls, 18 feet in height. The Farkhan river, abreast of Khanabad, divides into two channels: the western channel is 3 feet deep and 15 yards wide; the stream possesses a rate of 5 miles an hour. The eastern channel is 60 yards wide and flows immediately below the walls of the town.

Tashkurgan, a cheerless group of villages enclosed by a mud wall, is the great trade mart of Afghan-Turkestan and a distributing point for the merchandise which caravans bring there from India and Bokhara. The wall, which is 3 miles in circumference, is pierced by wooden gates, [Pg 255] and the houses of the villages number between 15,000 and 20,000. The population is subject to fluctuation. It falls as low as 15,000 in the winter season, rising with great rapidity so soon as the opening of the passes permits the resumption of trade relations with China, Russian Turkestan and India. Each house is protected by an 8-foot high mud wall, which imparts a dreary and monotonous appearance to the streets. The houses are built of clay and sun-dried bricks, with one storey and a domed roof. As a rule, they stand amid a profusion of fruit-trees; and, in the approach from the west, the town is lost in a maze of fruit-gardens. The streets are straight and only of moderate breadth; they intersect each other at right angles and down the centre of each there is an irrigating channel. A branch of the Doaba river, increased by many rivulets, runs through the town, but it is absorbed by the soil soon after it has passed Old Khulm.

Bazaars are held every Monday and Thursday and, in addition to the produce of Bokhara and India, there is a considerable market in live-stock: horses, mules, cows, sheep, goats and asses being assembled in their respective quarters for sale. Cotton goods, cloth and silk-stuffs from India; tanned leather, raw cotton, hides, fuel from Turkestan; grapes, raisins, pistacia nuts, pomegranates, dried plums from the country-side; rock salt, Russian boots, indigenous dyes—as the pomegranate bark and madder—and indigo imported from India, are exposed, together with chogas from Chitral and raw wool from Badakshan. Printed chintzes, quilts and turbans are also brought from Russian Turkestan; and coarse saddlery from Kabul is much in request. One section of the bazaar is set aside for the sale of melons, which are raised in great quantities in the neighbourhood.

The population is typical of a frontier region, and a sprinkling of natives from every quarter of Central Asia may be found there. The Hindus act as money-lenders and bankers, exacting an exorbitant usury; and other natives of India keep the drug stores and the dye shops. The vendors of dried fruits are mostly from Kabul. The trade with Yarkand is in the hands of Andijani merchants, who acquire the sheep and furs of the Oxus territory in exchange, at Yarkand, for tea, which is disposed of in Turkestan.

Fifty miles to the west of Khulm there is the beginning of what once was the territory of Balkh, which draws its [Pg 256] water from 18 canals fed from the Balkh river. To-day the scene of the Mother of Cities reflects nothing but decay. The bazaar, simply a covered street with a few shops in it, runs through the village. The combined population of the district does not exceed 2000, including a small colony of Hindus and about 70 Jews. Both these classes are shop-keepers and each is subject to a capitation tax. The caste of the Hindus is shown by the usual painted marks upon the forehead and the Jews wear a black sheepskin cap. The climate of Balkh is very insalubrious, but the heat is temperate. In June the thermometer does not rise above 80°, while July is the hottest month of the year. The crops do not ripen until July, which makes the harvest fifty days later than Peshawar. The region is unusually fertile. Indeed, the fruit of Balkh is most famous, and the apricots grow to the size of apples. The soil is of a greyish colour, like pipe-clay and very rich. Within the Balkh region water is distributed by means of aqueducts leading from the Balkh river. The area of cultivation is not sufficient to exhaust the capacity of these canals, their constant overflow accounting for the extreme unhealthiness of the place. Aside from this peculiarity, the country is not naturally marshy. The district lies some 1800 feet above the level of the sea, about 6 miles from the hills on a gentle slope, which sinks towards the Oxus. The waters of the Balkh river do not at the present day reach the Oxus, the stream being consumed in the Balkh plain.

The spectacle of ruined Balkh, which at one time extended in a circuit of 20 miles, must recall Old Merv. Formerly it was surrounded by walls, some 6½ miles in circumference. Nothing is left of these walls to-day but a mound of dried mud, worn by the weather into all manner of desolate and fantastic shapes. The whole of the northern half of the old city is one vast waste. Within the Akchah gate, three lofty arches mark the remains of the Jumma Masjid and at the cross-roads there are the foundations of the charsu. A little to the east of it there are two lofty gateways, the remains of the main city gates—the western portion of the city having been added subsequently. The southern and south-eastern portions stood upon a high mound which resembled the position of Herat; but all the remainder, with the exception of the old fort and citadel, was low and not more than 10 feet thick. The citadel, in its south-west [Pg 257] corner, stood some 50 feet higher still. The whole was surrounded by a separate moat, rather narrow towards the city but with steeply-scarped sides.[29] This citadel must now be nothing but a mound, the weather having obliterated even the remnants found by Colonel C. E. Yate. To its north lay the fort, an empty, bare place, surrounded by high walls and ruined bastions, with no signs of habitation except the débris of a mass of low brick buildings at its southern end. It stood at a considerable height above the level of its surroundings.

Between Khulm and Balkh, 9 miles east of Balkh and 26 miles from Khulm, is Mazar-i-Sharif, situated on a canal drawn from the Balkh-ab and containing rather more than 2000 households. It is held in the greatest veneration by Mahommedans in general and especially by Shiahs, on account of the firm conviction that Hazrat Ali was buried there. The tomb consists of two lofty cupolas which were built some 480 years ago. An annual fair is held, during which old and young, the blind, the infirm, the halt and the maimed of many a distant region crowd to Mazar-i-Sharif and, encamping round its shrine, plead day and night for the saint’s interposition on their behalf. Where cures are effected, they are the result more usually of a change of air and scene; but the greater portion of the faithful return as they came, bewailing their want of belief and their sins, yet never questioning the potency of the shrine.

Mazar-i-Sharif is the summer resort of nearly the whole population of the Balkh district, as its situation is more elevated, its temperature less oppressive and its air less impure than that enjoyed by the Mother of Cities. In contrast with Balkh it is the centre of a flourishing district, where the soil is rich, returning ample compensation for any agricultural attention that it may receive. A large trade emanates from this region, as, in addition to an extensive settled population, there are considerable military establishments. The headquarters of these are located at Takht-a-Pul, where Dost Mahommed was occupied for five years in constructing a fortified cantonment, and Dehdadi. The former is protected by a broad deep moat and enclosed within double walls 30 feet in height, pierced for musketry, bearing gun towers and flanked by imposing bastions; the latter commands the road from the Oxus and lies upon the summit of a high mountain overlooking Mazar-i-Sharif [Pg 258] from the south-west. Twelve years were spent upon the construction and equipment of this frontier stronghold, and in the days of Abdur Rahman it was defended by an assortment of guns, embracing Krupp field-pieces, naval quick-firers—such as Nordenfeldt and Hotchkiss—and a number of maxims. The works are well protected from gun-fire, and great pains have been taken to depress all epaulements to the level of the mountain face.

Beyond Balkh the territories of a number of minor khanates began. Forty miles west of Balkh there was Akcha, an Uzbeg khanate, while further west again there were the areas of the four territories of Andkhui, Shibirghan, Saripul and Maimana. The first and the last of these petty governments were the most important, the latter preserving until lately a form of independence. Each of these little states has experienced singular vicissitudes, fighting constantly among themselves, occasionally uniting against the Afghans or the Amir of Bokhara. Andkhui, particularly, has endured many reverses of fortune, since, lying upon the roads from Herat, the Turcoman country and Bokhara, it has always been subject to attack. In recent years it has enjoyed a period of peace, but even under existing conditions it has not regained its earlier prosperity. At one time the khanate contained nearly 50,000 families, 13,000 living in the town. The population is a mixture of many races—Tajiks, Uzbegs, Persians and Turcomans—whose religious convictions are divided between the Shiah and Sunni sects in almost equal proportions.

Andkhui is situated on the Sangalak river, which, rising in the Band-i-Turkestan, flows past Maimana to be lost in the desert before reaching the Oxus. The water of the river is undrinkable; but it is used extensively for purposes of irrigation, and imparts so much prosperity to the Andkhui district that a zone of cultivation extends several miles round the city. Fruit, corn, rice and live-stock are raised in great abundance; a bustling trade is conducted in black lambs’-skins with Persia, in camels with the districts beyond the Oxus, in fruit and cereal products with inter-provincial centres. The population now resident in the town has fallen from its former high figure; it is estimated that there are only 3000 families within the walls. The houses are all flat-roofed, low mud-buildings. The city walls are in ruins; the bazaar and the fort are the sole points of interest [Pg 259] in the place. The bazaar, which is situated where four cross-roads meet, is insignificant. It lies in the centre of the town and is roofed with matting. The market days are Sundays and Thursdays; but little business at other times is transacted. Beyond the bazaar there is the fort—a high, irregularly-shaped enclosure, some 250 yards or 300 yards in diameter. It is occupied by a garrison consisting of one company from the regular regiments at Maimana, three companies of Khasadars, two guns and 100 sowars, the latter force being quartered beyond the walls on the northern face.

The last of the little khanates, whose areas now compose the province of Afghan Turkestan, is that of Maimana. This extends a distance of 18 miles in breadth and 20 miles in length. Besides the chief town it contains ten villages, of which the most considerable are Kaisar, Kafarkala, Alvar and Khojakand. Maimana itself has 35,000 families. The population, divided into settlers and nomads, is estimated at 100,000 souls; in point of nationality they are for the most part Uzbegs of the tribes of Min, Atchamali and Duz. There is a sprinkling of Tajiks, Heratis and a few Hindus, Afghans and Jews. Hindus and Jews pay small capitation taxes. The town Maimana is situated upon a plain in the midst of hills. It is surrounded by an earth-wall 12 feet high, 5 feet thick and a ditch. It has towers at the angles and four gates. Its extent is about 2 miles in circumference, but the place shows considerable neglect and decay. The town is extremely filthy, and the bazaar is in a most dilapidated condition. In it are three mosques and two schools, the former constructed of mud and the latter of brick.

The revenue of the district is estimated at £20,000, but the taxes of the town are levied by the local authorities as follows: one tithe on the produce of land, one tila (Rs. 7) on each garden, 2½ per cent. on cattle, sheep, and merchandise, one-half tila on each house, six tilas on each shop, one tila on the sales of horses or camels. In addition to the tax on merchandise, transit duties are levied on every camel-load of iron or other goods, while the Government also forms a close monopoly of alum, nitre and sulphur.

In a sense the Hindu Kush is the dominant mountain system, together with that extension which radiates from the Tirogkhoi plateau and the stupendous peaks of the Koh-i-Baba. Everywhere the orology is of a very rugged and difficult nature and its natural divisions may be said to be:

[Pg 260] (1) The basin of the Kabul river, including its tributaries, the Logar, Panjsher and Kunar rivers.

(2) The table-land valleys of the Ghilzai country from Ghazni to Kandahar, including the Argandab, the Tarnak and the Arghesan.

(3) The tributary valleys of the Indus, viz., Kurram, Khost, Dawar, Gomul, Zobe and Bori.

(4) The valley of the Helmund.

(5) The basin of the Hamun lake.

(6) The valley of the Hari Rud.

(7) The valley of the Murghab.

(8) The tributary valleys of the Oxus, viz., Maimana, Balkh, Khulm, Kunduz and Kokcha rivers.

The general elevation of the country is considerable. Starting from the Koh-i-Baba it slopes outwards and attains in the table-land of Ghazni and the upper valleys of the Hari Rud, Helmund and Kabul rivers its highest points. Sloping downwards towards its boundaries the waters of its rivers become absorbed by irrigation or lost by evaporation. Except in its north-east corner, it grows more desert-like in character and is bounded in all other directions, if not by a desert, at least by a belt of “bad lands,” in which the work of cultivation and the march of habitation is everywhere arrested by a want of water.

As opposed to the mountain system of Afghanistan there is very little plain. Except between the foot of the northern slopes of the Hindu Kush and the Oxus, at the foot of their south-western slopes along the lower courses of the Hari Rud, the Farah and the Helmund, and the desert to the south of Kandahar, there is none. Certain of the valleys have wide stretches of level, which, although they may not be described as plains, are of such an open, undulating nature that they afford ample space for cultivation. The water question is the great difficulty; although the number of rivers in Afghanistan is considerable only the Helmund is of any magnitude. Generally speaking, they are fordable everywhere during the greater part of the year. Their volume, too, is greatly diminished by the irrigating channels, by which a stream of some promise at its source rapidly dwindles away. The supplies that they yield to cultivation make them of importance.

The following are the chief hydrographic divisions:

(1) The Kabul river and its tributaries.

(2) The Indus affluents.

[Pg 261] (3) The basin of the Oxus.

(4) The basin of the Helmund.

(5) The basin of the Hari Rud.

Photo, Olufsen

KASI KHODA DA OF ISHKASHIM

The prevailing climatic conditions of Afghanistan are dryness combined with great extremes of temperature. Snow lies on the ground for three months during the year in the Kabul and Ghazni districts, while many of the peaks from the Hindu Kush to Kelat rise above the snow-line. But so much depends on elevation that Jelalabad, 2000 feet above the sea, is scarcely colder than India, while the winters [Pg 262] on the neighbouring Kohistan uplands are as severe as those of Russia. The coldest month of the year is February, the mean minimum being 17° F. and the maximum 38° in the northern districts. The greatest cold is accompanied by an extreme lowness of temperature; during the continuation of the cold wave, which may remain for several days, the temperature varies from a mean of 12° below zero to a maximum of 17° below freezing-point. In Kabul, where the snow lies upon the ground for three months, the thermometer falls to 3° below zero and in Ghazni it sinks to 10° below zero, with a daily maximum rise of 5°. The summer heat, on the other hand, is everywhere high, especially in the Oxus region where a shade maximum of 110° to 120° is usual. At Kabul (6500 feet) the glass rises to 90° and 100° in the shade, and in Kandahar to 110°. None the less, southern Afghanistan is, on the whole, decidedly more salubrious than the fever-stricken lowland districts of Afghan Turkestan.

If such is an outline of the physical and climatic conditions of Afghanistan, the ethnographic divisions no less require mention. In spite of the disappearance of the khanates and the incorporation of their territories with Kabul, strong differences of race still mark out the several peoples.

The subjoined table comprises the different tribes classified according to their geographical distribution:[30]

Aryans.	Galcha Branch	Wakhis	Hindu Kush (northern slopes).
		Badakhshis	Hindu Kush (northern slopes).
		Swatis	Hindu Kush (southern slopes).
		Siah-Posh Kafirs
		Safis
		Chagnans
		Kohistanis	Hills north of Kabul.
	Iranic Branch	Afghans	Kabul; Suliman Mountains; Kandahar; Helmund basin; Herat.
		Tajiks	Herat; most towns and settled districts.
		Seistanis	Lower Helmund. Hamun.
	Indic Branch	Hindkis	Most large towns.
Mongol-Tatars.	Mongol Branch	Hazaras	Northern highlands between Bamian and Herat. [Pg 263]
	Mongol Branch	Aimaks	Northern highlands between Bamian and Herat. [Pg 263]
	Turki Branch	Uzbegs	Afghan Turkestan.
		Turcomans	Herat, Maimana and Andkhui.
		Kizil Bashis	Kabul chiefly.

The Afghans claim to be Ben-i-Israel, but since Ahmed Shah Durani announced the independence of his state the Afghans of Afghanistan have styled themselves Durani. They are settled principally in the Kandahar country, extending into Seistan and to the borders of the Herat valley. Eastward they spread across the Afghan border into the Toba highlands north of the Khojak, where they are represented by Achakzai and Sadozai clans. They exist in the Kabul districts as Barakzai (the Amir’s clan), and as Mahmundzai (Mohmands) and Yusufzai. They occupy the hills north of the Kabul river, Bajaor, Swat, Buner and part of the Peshawar plains.

After the Afghans the dominant people are the Pukhtun or Pathans, represented by a variety of tribes, many of whom are recognised as being of Indian origin. They inhabit the hilly regions along the immediate British frontier. The Afridi Jowaki and Orakzai clans hold the highlands immediately south of the Khyber and Peshawar, the Turis of the Kurram, the Dawaris of Tochi and the Waziris of Waziristan filling up the intervening Pathan hills north of the Gomul. In the Kohat district the Khattak and Bangash clans are Pathan so that Pathans are found on both sides of the border.

The Ghilzai is reckoned as a Pathan, and he is also connected with the Afghan. Nevertheless his origin is distinct; he claims only ties of faith and affinity of language with other Afghan peoples. The Ghilzai rank collectively as second to none in military strength and in commercial enterprise; further their chiefs take a leading part in the politics of the country, possessing much influence at Kabul. They are a fine, manly race of people, and it is from some of their most influential clans (Suliman Khel, Nasir Khel, Kharotis, etc.) that the main body of Povindah merchants is derived. These frontier commercial travellers trade between Ghazni and the plains of India, bringing down their heavily-laden kafilas at the commencement of the cold weather and retiring again to the hills ere the summer heat sets in. During the winter months thousands of them circulate through the farthest districts of the peninsula, [Pg 264] where it not infrequently happens that they prove to be troublesome, if not dangerous, visitors.

Underlying the predominant Afghan and Ghilzai elements in Afghan ethnography there is the Tajik, who, representing the original Persian possessors of the soil, still speaks his mother tongue. There are pure Persians in Afghanistan, such as the Kizil Bashis of Kabul and the Naoshirwans of Kharan. The Tajiks are the cultivators in the rural districts: the shop-keepers and clerks in the towns; while they are slaves of the Pathan in Afghanistan no less than the Hindkis are in the plains of the Indus.

Next in importance to the Tajik is the Mongol Hazara, who speaks a dialect of Persian and belongs to the Shiah sect of Mahommedans. The Hazaras occupy the highlands of the upper Helmund valley, spreading through the country between Kabul and Herat, as well as into a strip of territory on the frontier slopes of the Hindu Kush. In the western provinces they are known as Hazaras, Jamshidis, Taimanis and Ferozkhois; in other districts they are distinguished by the name of the territory which they occupy. They are pure Mongols; intermixing with no other races, preserving their language and their Mongol characteristics they are uninfluenced by their surroundings.

In Afghan Turkestan the Tajik is allied with the Uzbeg and Turcoman; the chief Turcoman tribes left to Afghan rule being the Alieli of the Daolatabad-Andkhui districts and the Ersaris of the Khwaja Salar section of the Oxus frontier. Originally robbers and raiders, they have now beaten their swords into ploughshares and concern themselves with agricultural pursuits.

Thus while there is an Afghan race almost identical in physical type, speech, religion and culture, there is none possessing a distinct sense of its unity, with common political sentiments and aspirations. The Duranis, the Ghilzais, the Waziris, the Afridis, the Mongols, Mohmands, Jusufzais and others form so many different communities within the State. Each possesses separate interests, although Ahmed Shah Durani endeavoured to give a national importance to his tribe, not only by changing its name from Abdali to Durani, but also by associating with it other sections—the Jusufzais, Mohmands, Afridis, Shinwaris, Orakzais and Turkolanis—under the common designation of Bar-Duranis. The attempt failed, and these sections still retain their tribal integrity, declining to be [Pg 267] fused together; so that, while the peoples of Afghanistan have lost their independence, it cannot be said that they have not preserved their individuality.

[Pg 265]

Photo, Olufsen

CHILDREN FROM THE UPPER OXUS

Whatever the descent of the Afghans may be, the following, a list of the races inhabiting Afghanistan at the present day, represents an endeavour to establish the connections between them.

(1) The Durani tribes are:

1. Popalzai; 2. Alikuzai; 3. Barakzai; 4. Achakzai; 5. Nurzai; 6. Ishakzai; 7. Khugianis.

(2) The Tarins are divided into:

(a) The Spin Tarins.

(b) The Tor Tarins.

The Spin embrace:

1. Shadizai; 2. Marpani; 3. Lasran; 4. Adwani.

The Tor include:

1. Batezai; 2. Haikalzai; 3. Malizai; 4. Kadazai; 5. Khanizai; 6. Khamzai; 7. Alizai; 8. Nurzai; 9. Kalazai; 10. Naezai; 11. Musizai; 12. Abdulrahmanzai; 13. Habilzai; 14. Hamranzai; 15. Karbela; 16. Sezai.

(3) The Kakars are composed of:

1. Jalazai; 2. Musa Khel; 3. Kadizai; 4. Utman Khel; 5. Abdulazai; 6. Kabizai; 7. Hamzazai; 8. Shabozai; 9. Khidarzai.

(4) The Ghilzais control:

Ibrahim	⎧ Zabr Khel	Shahmomalzai.
	⎪ Ahmadzai	Kaisar Khel.
	⎪ Umar Khel	Khwazak.
	⎨ Adamzai	Stanizai.
	⎪ Chalozai	Ali Khel.
	⎩ Chinzai	Andar.
Turan	⎧ Ohtaki.
	⎨ Tokai.
	⎩ Hotaki.

(5) The Povindahs comprise:

1. Lohani; 2. Nasir; 3. Nazai; 4. Kharoti.

(6) The Waziris are made up of:

1. Mahsud; 2. Utmanzai; 3. Ahmadzai.

(7) Shiranis.

(8) The Turis are broken up among:

1. Gundi Khel; 2. Alizai; 3. Mastu Khel; 4. Hamza Khel; 5. Dopazai.

(9) The Zaimukht are represented by:

1. Mamuzai; 2. Khwahdad Khel.

(10) Orakzais.

[Pg 268] (11) Dawaris.

(12) Khostwals.

(13) The Afridis are split into:

1. Kaki Khel; 2. Malik Din; 3. Kambar; 4. Kamr; 5. Lakha Khel; 6. Aka Khel; 7. Sipahs.

(14) The Tajiks embody:

1. Kehwani; 2. Ada Khel; 3. Petla; 4. Ahman Khel; 5. Ali Khel; 6. Jamu Khel; 7. Husen Khel; 8. Keria Ahmud Khel.

(15) The Mongols are formed of:

1. Miral Khel; 2. Khajuri; 3. Zab; 4. Margai; 5. Kamal Khel.

(16) Jadrans.

(17) The Shinwaris are constituted by:

1. Khoja Khel; 2. Shekhmal Khel; 3. Mirdad Khel; 4. Ashkben Khel; 5. Syad Khel; 6. Sangu Khel.

(18) The Mohmands are indicated as:

1. Tarakzai; 2. Alamzai; 3. Baizai; 4. Khwaizai; 5. Utmanzai; 6. Dawezai.

(19) The Yusafzais (Kohistani) dissolve into:

1. Baizai; 2. Khwazozais; 3. Malizais; 4. Turkilanis; 5. Utmanzais; 6. Hasanzai; 7. Akazai; 8. Mada Khel; 9. Iliaszai; 10. Daolatzai; 11. Chagarzai; 12. Nurizai; 13. Utman Khels.

Photo, Olufsen

A MOUNTAIN VILLAGE

[29] “Northern Afghanistan.” Major C. E. Yate.

[30] “Asia.” A. H. Keane.

[Pg 269]

ENTRANCE TO AMIR’S PAVILION AT JELALABAD

CHAPTER XI

ADMINISTRATION, LAWS AND REVENUE

The task which presented itself to Abdur Rahman upon his accession to the throne, was of such magnitude that few Asiatic potentates would have ventured to have coped with it. The gravest confusion prevailed in every department of political, civil and military administration, while the supremacy of the Amir of Kabul received no very definite recognition from the Sirdars who were ruling over the several tribes which together made up the State. Under Dost Mahommed, as also in the reign of Shir Ali, the Sirdars, jealous, ambitious and turbulent, governed in their respective districts each after his own fashion. The controlling authority of the Amir of Kabul was not infrequently defied; and as no community of interests existed between Kabul and the khanates there was no enduring form of government. Everything depended upon the pleasure of chiefs who, regulated by no law, were always ready to indulge in hostilities for their own gratification. The results of such a system of government are illustrated by the civil war of 1863-1869, which distinguished the early years of Shir Ali’s [Pg 270] reign, the final triumph of that ruler securing the paramountcy of the Amir of Kabul throughout Afghanistan. While Shir Ali founded a certain despotic sovereignty over Afghanistan, it was Abdur Rahman who, by establishing a military autocracy, guaranteed the absolutism of the Amir. The continuation of such a form of government is possible only so long as the Amir is able to rely upon the unswerving loyalty of his troops. But until the moment of disunion arrives the ruler of Afghanistan is a dictator, whose absolute authority is limited only by the calculations which prudence dictates. Religion is the one counterpoise to his authority and the growing influence of the priests—an influence which has increased decidedly since the accession of Habib Ullah—represents the sole quarter from which might arise disturbing elements.

Under Abdur Rahman the power of the priests was held in check; his rugged independence did not permit him to brook, even covertly, the exercise of priestly authority. The Church restrained, he was able to proceed with the work of curtailing the rights and privileges of the chiefs who, at one and the same time, had been a source of strength or of danger to his predecessors. Prompt to defend the authority of the Amir of Kabul when relations were cemented by a good understanding and accustomed to a certain degree to participate in the affairs of government, the tribal chiefs refused to resign any measure of their authority when such action threatened to precipitate the disappearance of their powers. Dost Mahommed did not attempt to interfere with the Sirdars; Shir Ali introduced into their position no perceptible modification. The tribal system was in full swing at the time when Abdur Rahman ascended the throne. At that moment each tribe together with its sub-divisions, according to its numerical force and territorial dimensions, supported one or more of the reigning chiefs. These leaders, whose existence may be compared with that enjoyed by the dukes and barons of the Middle Ages in France, occupied so great a position in the State that the enlistment of their services upon behalf of the throne carried with it a weight, always sufficient to maintain the balance of the scales in favour of the ruler of Kabul. Nevertheless, in order to fortify his own position, Abdur Rahman decided to suppress them. One by one they were brought under subjection, the gradual circumscription of their authority paving the way to the subsequent solidarity [Pg 271] which distinguished his own position. From this step he proceeded to fasten upon the remains of the old system a new administration, purging the Augean stable and curbing the rights of the chiefs no less than the licence of the individual.

Hitherto in Afghanistan freedom of movement had been permitted. There was nothing to prevent the entire population of a village from crossing the border if the majority of its elders were so inclined. Abdur Rahman checked this liberty, instituting a system which allowed none but the authorised to move between the great centres of the country or to venture beyond its frontiers. It is not to be supposed that he was able to maintain free from abuse his new order of government. Spoliation and embezzlement had existed so long in Afghanistan that recourse to them had become second nature to every functionary. Each official, whether he were the product of the new order or a remnant of the old, was corrupt and regarded abuse of office as the customary symbol of administrative power. The existence of such a practice necessarily threw into confusion any attempt at reform; and, although Abdur Rahman produced much elaborate machinery, departmental disorders continued unabated. In Kabul, in spite of many high-sounding titles, the methods of the new order were still regulated by the principles of the old.

To the ignorant or to the zealous this condition of affairs may perhaps be disappointing; but in any Oriental government the first and only thought of the official classes is the enhancement of their own interests and the enrichment of their private coffers. Abdur Rahman put a stop to the sale of public offices, but he could not control the disbursement and acceptance of bribes by which such offices can be awarded; and, from the highest to the lowest, while success favours the delinquent, his crime attracts no attention so long as he may distribute his favours. Even under Abdur Rahman it was rarely that officials of importance were brought to book, while to-day the Throne itself visits the avaricious by exacting the repletion of its privy purse at the expense of justice.

It is of course to the credit of Abdur Rahman that he began his task at the beginning. At the time of his succession the system of government was so involved that the entire machinery of the civil administration was carried on by a staff of ten clerks, who were controlled by an official combining within himself the functions of every executive [Pg 272] officer.[31] There were no public offices and the seat of government was the bedroom of this man. There were no books; the statements of expenditure and the records of government business were entered upon small slips of paper, 8 inches long and 6 inches wide, each sheet containing the briefest abstract of the matter with which it was concerned. If any reference were required it frequently happened that thousands of these pages had to be examined. In order to remedy this system of keeping records Abdur Rahman introduced ledgers and record books, the defacement of which was an offence punishable by the amputation of the fingers. From this, in due course, he proceeded to create a military and civil administration. Under military administration, in addition to the armed forces of the army, militia and levies, he included the departments concerned with the manufacture of every variety of war material and the industries associated with each. All workmen employed in these concerns and all foreigners, whose services were retained by the Government, were brought within the supervision of the military bureau. Upon the military side, too, he arranged that pay-sheets should be honoured monthly, while treasury disbursements, which were incorporated in the revenue branch of the civil [Pg 273] department, were made annually or, in certain exceptions, bi-yearly.

The civil administration, as ordained by Abdur Rahman, still continues. It embraces the Boards of Treasury and Trade, the Bureaux of Justice and Police, the Offices of Records, Public Works, Posts and Communications. The Departments of Education and Medicine are a separate organisation. The Board of Treasury is divided into four departments of Revenue and Expenditure—northern, southern, eastern and western—in connection with which there are the State Treasury and the Private Treasury. The State Treasury is controlled by the State Treasurer and the Councillors of the Exchequer, who render accounts to an Accountant-General. Statements of revenue and expenditure are receipted daily and every evening an abstract, showing the transactions of the day and countersigned by the heads of the departments concerned, is submitted to the Amir. The Private Treasury is occupied solely with the income and monies of the Royal Family. Each Treasury is divided into two branches, the one being set aside for payments in cash and the other for the reception of transactions in kind. The Board of Trade includes the Caravan Department and the Customs House Department. Branches of these are established in the larger centres and appeals from them pass through the chief bureau in Kabul, where they are referred to the office of the Financial Commissioner, Mirza Shah Beg Khan, for presentation to the Amir when the necessity arises.

Government is conducted through the agency of a Supreme Council and a General Assembly drawn from three classes. At present these are certain Sirdars who take their seats as members of the Royal Clan; the Khans, who are representatives of the country; and the Mullahs, who are the representatives of the Mahommedan religion. Abdur Rahman modified in some degree the rights and privileges of the Sirdars in connection with the Royal Durbars; nowadays only those who are the descendants of the Amir Dost Mahommed Khan and his brothers, or who have received the specific sanction of the Throne to bear the title, may occupy a place at them. These three classes are divided into two parties. One of them is known as the Durbar Shahi or the Supreme Council; the other is called the Khawanin Mulkhi or General Assembly. These representatives are convoked by a call from the Aishak Akasee, whose position [Pg 274] resembles that held by the Lord Chamberlain in England. It is his duty to summon all the members of the Supreme Council and to arrange their seats according to the order of their merit. He has another subordinate officer, who is called Omla Bashi, who notifies the General Assembly and takes a receipt for the delivery of the notices of meeting. On their arrival outside the Durbar Hall councillors are received at the gate by another officer, called Kabchi Bashi, who is a deputy of the Aishak Akasee. The Kabchi Bashi introduces members of the General Assembly to the Aishak Akasee.

Upon the attendance of these three Estates of the Realm the Amir reads a proclamation or makes a speech on the subjects which are claiming the attention of the meeting and at the same time asks their opinion. This usually results in the expression of the same views as those held by the Amir, as this assembly has neither the capacity nor the courage to detect anything wrong in the law or policy of their sovereign. Another mode of introducing an alteration of the law is that some member or members of this assembly may lay a petition before the Amir, to which sanction may be given. The most important factor in securing any change, consists in the daily reports from the magistrates, the governors, the ecclesiastical and criminal courts, the revenue department and other offices of the Government, who forward their decisions for approval and sanction, or send in their petitions or the petitions of tribes in the country requesting the Amir to sign a new ordinance. If the Amir forms a favourable opinion upon these documents they are enrolled in the Record Office of the Government.

The Amir’s Supreme Council or Cabinet differs from the English Cabinet in that there is no Prime Minister and that the Cabinet cannot give any advice to the Crown without being asked to do so. The Amir is seldom absent from his Council, but its assemblage simply depends on the pleasure of the Crown. If the presence of any member is unpopular in the country, the people have the power to protest against it.

The following officials constitute the Cabinet:[32] the Aishak Akasee; Lord of the Seal; Chief Secretary and several other secretaries; the military officials of the bodyguard; Lord Treasurer of the private treasury of the Sovereign; Secretary of State for War; Secretaries of State for [Pg 275] the North, South, East and West; Postmaster-General; Commander-in-Chief or his deputy; Master of the Horse; Kotwal or Home Secretary; Quartermaster-General; Accountant-General; Groom of the Bed-chamber; Superintendent of the Magazines; Heads of the Board of Trade and of the Board of Education. In addition, there are sometimes those other officials or chiefs who may be sufficiently in the confidence of the Amir to be admitted to the meetings.

The following division of business is usually observed: Monday and Thursday are devoted to postal despatches and to the Exchequer; Tuesday is set aside for consideration of military cases and the affairs of the War Office; Wednesday is devoted to the affairs of the whole kingdom when public as well as private Durbars are held; Friday is observed as a religious holiday; on Saturday the Amir sits as a Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Justice; Sunday is devoted to the inspection of the army, magazines, war materials, manufactories, industries and various miscellaneous matters.

(2) Those created by the Amir, which are based upon [Pg 276] Islamic laws, the opinions of the people and the personal views of Habib Ullah as well as of his father, the late Amir.

In criminal, revenue and political law the procedure was devised by Abdur Rahman; but for the rest, Islamic law is the general practice. The cases decided by the Amir himself are brought under two headings:

Firstly, he sits as a Supreme Court of Appeal; in which capacity he hears and decides the appeals from all the various courts, whether civil, criminal or ecclesiastical.

Secondly, there are some cases which he hears himself from the beginning and decides himself, just as do the inferior courts.

Commonly it is understood that when the Amir sits as an original court to hear cases which are not appeals from any other court, such cases must be of great importance: such as political disputes, cases of high treason, offences against the Throne and matters of Government revenue. This is merely a theory, since any person who has even a trifling matter in dispute can have his case decided by the Amir himself if he fears that the subordinate Court is prejudiced; or if he chooses for any other reason to go before the Amir in preference to going before the subordinate Courts. It is in the pleasure of the Crown to refer such a plaintiff to the subordinate Courts, unless the plaintiff can prove that he has reason to believe that justice would not be equally meted out in such a court.

The rule of Appeal, unlike that of England, is that the superior Court, instead of being satisfied with the investigation of the subordinate Court, takes the case as if it were a new one. New evidence, fresh inquiries and investigations are made from the very beginning, as though the case had never previously been tried.

Firstly, the various courts forward for his approval such judgments as they consider of great importance and do not like to take upon themselves the responsibility of deciding.

Secondly, the same Courts forward to the Amir for his opinion questions on which there is no definitely laid down law by which to abide.

Thirdly, in cases where the spies of the Amir, who are supposed to be everywhere, report to him that some kind of fraud or partiality had been shown in a decision.

[Pg 277]Fourthly, where a plaintiff or defendant is dissatisfied with the judgment of any Court he can appeal to the Amir.

(2) Court of First Instance.—Occasionally the Amir sits as a Court of First Instance, when it is permitted to all persons to approach him with grievances, disputes or claims as they would any other magistrate. Whether it is an appeal or an original case, the modes of trial in civil law are the same. The plaintiff brings his witnesses with him, if it is necessary to have any witness at all, and the defendant brings his witnesses also. Both sides are heard and the case decided upon the spot, the inordinate delay which distinguishes judicial procedure in England being avoided.

The various codes of law are so numerous that they would fill at least a dozen bulky volumes. Every official, the holders of all offices, great or small, in Afghanistan has a manual signed or sealed by the Amir, on which he acts. Instructions are so minute, moreover, that it is a common saying in Afghanistan that there is not a donkey-driver in the country who does not possess a signature of the Amir to some document, giving him the law which he is to obey. All classes are amenable to the law, and in theory there is no exemption or special laws—not even for the nearest relatives of the Amir, as was once proved when a favourite wife of the late Abdur Rahman was ordered by him to answer in the courts to the summons of a firm of Parsee milliners. Judicial corruption, however, makes evasion of the law neither difficult nor infrequent, and bribery is the cause of a general miscarriage of justice.

The condition of the Criminal Law is singularly barbarous; and no attempt, even upon paper or in theory, has been made to mitigate its crude severity. There is no fixed limit for the various punishments, and, although sentences of death need to be confirmed by the Amir, torture is invariably applied in all cases of criminal procedure. The instrument more generally used is known as the Fanah, a contrivance not unlike the “boot.” There are many things in the Afghan code which are susceptible of improvement for the whim of the Amir is law, and, at best, he is no better than an amiable despot whose caprice demands immediate realisation. In this, Afghanistan is far removed from the condition of the native States of India and the territories of Bokhara, where, if justice is also tempered with bribery and corruption, life is at least respected until the innocent are proved to be guilty. Not so in the Amir’s country, [Pg 278] where men are still blown from guns and penalties of equal brutality exacted for comparatively trivial offences.

Illustrations of the harshness of the law abound in Kabul itself. It is a common spectacle to see prisoners, their ankles encircled by steel bands, which are connected by a rod to a chain round their waists, sitting by the wayside asking alms of passers-by. Under the conditions which prevail in the Kabul prisons, unless the inmates have money or friends who will interest themselves in their plight, they are thrown upon the charity of the public for their means of subsistence. Government provides nothing for them but bread and prison quarters, where, chained and under close observation, they lead a life of endless misery. Justice, too, is very slow-footed and expedition is impossible until the officers of the Court, whose duty it is to bring cases-in-waiting to the notice of the judge, have first been bribed. Heavy tolls are levied by all officials for this service and, if the payments are not forthcoming, the trial may never take place or it may be protracted through several years. Even then, when prisoners have been tried, their sentences pronounced and they are at the conclusion of their terms of imprisonment, the rental charges for their use of the prisons have still to be met. The system is iniquitous and imposes upon poor captives the alternative of perpetual slavery, or the necessity to cry for alms in the streets as they go to and from their work. Employment in the workshops, the ordnance yards and upon the Government buildings is the only description of labour with which the prisoners are furnished. In a measure such work is popular among them, as it affords opportunities for discussion with their friends and gives them for a brief space somewhat greater liberty of movement. Their tasks are of the hardest and roughest description, but they have a chance to wash their clothes—even to take a bath in the canal which runs through the factories. Sometimes, too, regular workmen distribute their food among the prisoners or even present them with a few pice. But at all times their fate is terrible and their existence in prison accompanied by extreme privations. Again, if death is the order of their lot, it is impossible to say whether it will be short, sharp and sudden, or something a little lingering like the ends which befel a robber, and an over-zealous student of political affairs, of whom Abdur Rahman made such terrible examples.

The robber, the leader of a band of brigands whose exploits [Pg 279] and activity had won for the Lata Bund Devan an unenviable notoriety, was captured by the police after many attempts, and repeated warnings. The Amir, who had become exasperated at the robberies of the band, determined to make a fitting example of their leader. Upon the summit of the Lata Bund Pass, 8000 feet above sea-level, he erected a flag-staff; from this he suspended an iron cage and in the cage he placed the robber—where he left him, as an example! It is said in Kabul that the fate of that highwayman determined the end of the robber band. Certainly, since that day no further crimes of violence have been committed in the pass.

The other was a student who, brought before Abdur Rahman, declared in a state of unrepressed excitement that the Russians were advancing to invade Afghanistan.

“The Russians are coming?” said the Amir with grim deliberation; “then you shall be taken to the summit of yonder tower and shall have no food till you see them arrive.”

The theory of Justice in all Eastern countries aims at punishing some one person for every indictable misdemeanour. In China, in Japan, in Korea and in Africa, too, the autocrat measures the peace of the country-side by the moral effect of his standard of punishment. No crime escapes its levy against the liberty of the subject, although the criminal himself may abscond. A precisely similar state of affairs prevails in Afghanistan where, in the event of the offender escaping, the hostage satisfies the findings of the law. Liberty of movement, therefore, is denied to every one in Kabul beyond a six-mile radius measured from the Kabul police station. For permission to go beyond this point it is necessary to obtain at a cost of three rupees a rahdari or road-pass and to leave Afghanistan without such a pass is punishable with death. In point of fact, facilities are never granted until hostages against the failure of the person to return have been given. In the case of any one venturing to leave Afghanistan and failing to come back, his property is at once confiscated, his family is imprisoned and his more immediate surety is executed. Such a fate befel the family of a soldier who was making a protracted stay in India. Arrested and threatened with execution their release was secured only by the man’s return and surrender, knowing when he did so that he would be blown from a gun on the place of execution. [Pg 280] This was ultimately his fate. It is one so constantly meted out to prisoners that, whenever the boom of the gun is heard in Kabul, only those who are of the sternest disposition can suppress the sigh which involuntarily escapes as the mournful sound falls upon the ears. There are, of course, other ways of punishing the guilty than that of blowing them from cannon. Yet the boom of a gun in Kabul only denotes one of three things: the passing of the Amir, the mid-day hour, and the release of a soul to Paradise from the horrors of the Kabul prisons.

In the city of Kabul the Amir does not give the enemies of law and order a chance. The chief magistrate has become an object of public execration and wholesome dread. His spies are believed to be everywhere; and hardly a word can be spoken without its coming to the ears of the Naib Kotwal and through him to the Amir himself. The Kabul police code is curiously elaborate. It forbids evil speaking in the streets. The vituperation of a Said (a reputed descendant of the Prophet Mahommed through his daughter Fatima), of a man of learning or of a civic elder renders the offender liable to twenty lashes and a fine of fifty rupees. If the bad language is only aimed at a common person ten lashes with a fine of ten rupees is the penalty provided. Punishments are also laid down for dishonest tradesmen who cheat with false weights or adulterate the food they sell, for the indecorous bather, the gambler, the purveyor of charms; as also for persons who misbehave in the mosque, forget to say their prayers or to observe a fast day. The man who kisses some one else’s wife receives thirty lashes and is sent to prison for further inquiry.

Careful directions are laid down in regard to administering the lash. The instrument itself is made of three strips of camel, cow and sheep skin, with a handle of olive wood. The stripes are laid on with pious ejaculations and the police officer is exhorted to feel, if he cannot show, sorrow for the wrong-doer, “since Mahommedans are all of one flesh.” Special cognisance is taken of offences against religion. If any free-thinking Kabuli omits to bend his head with due reverence at the hour of prayer the police officer must at first remonstrate gently. If the mild appeal fails, he must use harsh terms, such as “O foolish, O stupid one.” In the event of continued obstinacy the stick is to be applied; and, as a last resource, the Amir is to be informed. He—“will do the rest.”

[Pg 281] The departments for the administration of the Government in the provinces are as follows:

(1) The Governor-General, the Governor together with the Secretaries and Staffs.

Strictly speaking, there are no positive restrictions limiting and separating the authority of any one official from that of another. Cases go before any court to which the applicant may choose to take them. As a rule the Governor-General of the province is the executive head of all departments within his sphere and he is looked upon as a Court of Appeal from the District Courts, which are presided over by the District Governor or his subordinate officials. The main duty of the Governor-General is to collect the revenues from the landowners and to administer the province; of the District Governor, to settle the disputes of landowners, to keep the peace in his district, to circulate the Kabul proclamations and to forward from time to time any orders which he may receive from his provincial heads. The chief provinces are administered by Governors-General, the more important centres by Governors and the smaller places by District Governors, District Superintendents and Inspectors. Commanders-in-Chief are associated with the Governors-General of provinces and military officers of corresponding subordinate rank assist the civilian officials. Governors, exercising full executive powers locally, report to their Governors-in-Chief who, in turn, despatch a monthly report to Kabul.

The Ecclesiastical Court of the Kazi is looked upon as the highest tribunal in the province and hence it is not limited to religious subjects; all civil cases, whatever their nature, may be taken before it. Generally speaking, business differences and religious disputes are settled in the District Courts, cases concerning divorce, marriage and inheritance passing before the Provincial Supreme Court. Cases punishable by death seldom come within the jurisdiction of the provincial courts. The Chief Judge of this court is called Kazi and his subordinates are Muftis. Cases are decided by a majority.

(3) The Kotwal (Head of the Police Department) together with the force of Police, Secretary and the officials of the Passport Department.

The Kotwal exercises much greater authority in criminal [Pg 282] cases than any other criminal official whatever. He combines the duties of a District Chief of Police and a judge of Petty Sessions, while he may determine small criminal cases, forwarding the more serious to the capital. He is also in charge of the local Intelligence Department and is in each centre an official of whose tyranny, oppression and cruelty stories and poems have been handed down from posterity.

(4) Kafila Bashi (an official of the Caravan Department) with a Board of Commerce, a Revenue Office, Tax-Collector’s Office, Treasury Office and a local military force.

The Kafila Bashi is an official who supplies transport to travellers; in this respect he is responsible for the payment of all dues by travellers, as well as for the treatment dealt out to the caravan followers. He receives his commission from those who hire the animals and renders an account of every transaction to the Government. All expenses of this establishment are paid by the Government and the balance passes into the District Treasury.

The Board of Commerce settles disputes between merchants. The President of the Board presides over this court and its members are elected from among the mercantile community, irrespective of religion.

The Revenue Office settles the accounts of the revenue and keeps a record of the taxes which every landowner must pay annually to the Government. The land revenue is now fixed at one-third of the produce of the soil and is to be collected by the lambardar of each village. Associated with the Revenue Office are officers who register and copy all documents issued in connection with the collection and expenditure of revenue. Duties upon commerce are levied at the rate of 2½ per cent. upon all exports and imports, all such monies passing direct into the local treasury.

Abdur Rahman gave his closest attention to the revenue. One of his earliest acts was to replace by tokens of his own the currency which had existed under the Khans. Hitherto, the money in circulation in Afghanistan had been represented by three varieties of rupees—the Herat, the Kandahar and the Kabul which, although not really of identical value, were reckoned at ten shahis. No gold tokens had been struck by any of the dynasties reigning in the State, and the gold coins which passed in the country were represented by the ducat of Russia, the tilla of Bokhara [Pg 283] and the toman of Persia. These coins had been imported in the natural course of trade; but by a strange coincidence the Persian token suffered a discount, while the Russian and Bokharan coins enjoyed a premium of 10 per cent. There were certain silver coins, also, which had been introduced by merchants from beyond the borders. Among these were the silver kran from Persia and the silver rupee from India, equally liable to the vagaries of exchange. In detail, the currency of Afghanistan was as follows:

The dinar, the rupee kham and the toman figured, in the main, in accounts, the table of the coins actually in circulation being as follows:

In order to re-establish the currency of the country upon a sound basis Abdur Rahman opened a mint in Kabul. At the same time he re-organised the methods of revenue collection, besides improving the channels through which it was received.

The work of the mint was at first conducted by hand. It was not until some years after he had ascended the throne that the late Amir introduced minting machinery, at the same time requesting the Government of India to loan the services of an Englishman to superintend its erection. The official thus despatched was Mr. McDermot, employed in the Calcutta mint; and under his supervision Kabuli workmen learnt to cut the dies, to erect the stamps and to strike off the coins. The capacity of the plant which was erected in Kabul was limited to a silver and copper mintage of 100,000 coins a day, made up of five and ten pice pieces, rupees, half-rupees and third-rupees. In contradistinction to the rupees which had previously been struck off at Kabul, each new rupee was worth only one shilling. These coins bore upon their faces the inscription—a [Pg 284] translation of a title conferred upon Abdur Rahman by his people in 1896—“The Light of the Nation and of Religion”; the reverse side bore his coat-of-arms. Until this superscription was adopted, coins were engraved only with the date and place of casting upon one side, and upon the reverse the name of the ruler—“Cast at the Capital of Kabul: Amir Abdur Rahman.” Since Habib Ullah’s accession Abdur Rahman’s coinage has been superseded by a new issue bearing in Turkish characters the inscription “Amir Habib Ullah Khan, Amir of Kabul, The Seeker of God’s help.” The engraving on the obverse represents a mosque with pulpit and minarets, encircled by rifles, standards, swords and cannon. Habib Ullah’s coins are of lower standard to the previous issue; actual exchange against Indian currency being:

The Amir’s officials in levying duties maintain an arbitrary and wholly fictitious rate of exchange under which

The income of Afghanistan has always been subject to serious fluctuation. In 1839, at a moment when Kandahar, Herat, and Kabul were separate territories, and there were ten rupees to the pound sterling, the proceeds from each State were:

Nearly twenty years later, in 1857, during a conference with the Governor-General of India at Peshawar, Dost Mahommed submitted an estimate of his returns which, excluding a million rupees which had to be disbursed to tribal chiefs, was as follows:

While the receipts of Afghan Turkestan were incorporated with these figures, the Herat territory was still an independent [Pg 285] sphere and its income on that account is not included. A few years later, under Shir Ali, the revenue from all sources rose to £710,000; which, together with the very handsome subsidy annually paid by the Government of India, and if it had been assisted by a liberal fiscal policy under Abdur Rahman, well might have expanded to an annual income of one million sterling.

[Pg 286] Prior to their systematic collection under the arrangements which were devised by Abdur Rahman, the monies of Afghanistan were obtained by an elaborate process of taxation, which, if not altogether excessive, was accompanied by much unauthorised exaction. Taxes were imposed upon all live-stock, upon cultivated ground, upon all varieties of produce, upon houses and upon certain classes of the population, the apparent aim of the authorities, irrespective of their actual needs, being to extract as much as possible from their unhappy subjects. The following table represents the taxes which were imposed in the territories of Herat, Kandahar and Kabul.

In addition to these taxes there were the inter-territorial levies upon merchandise in transit from one principality to another. These were upon—

Goods were exported from Afghanistan free from customs duties, but all trade entering the country was charged as follows:

Under Abdur Rahman some little relief from the oppressive [Pg 287] and arbitrary payments, which were extorted alike from the unfortunate merchant and the luckless cultivator, was secured; and, as he instilled a measure of reform into the practices of government, certain sources of taxation were dropped and the burden resting upon industry and agriculture proportionately lightened. The principal means of income to the State now emanated from taxes which were levied upon cultivated lands and fruit-trees, export and import trade, customs, registration and postage fees (contracts, passport fees, marriage settlements, etc.), penalties under law, revenue from Government lands and shops, Government monopolies and manufactures, mines and minerals (salt, rubies, gold, lapis lazuli, coal) and the annual subsidy of eighteen lakhs of rupees—these several branches of the State revenue gradually defining the limits of its present prosperity, which has been somewhat further assisted by the benevolent, economic policy of the present Amir. Abuses in the collection of octroi have been remedied, certain taxes abolished, many mines developed, while to give an impetus to trade in Afghanistan, Habib Ullah has announced that, in future, traders may receive advances from the Kabul Treasury on proper security. This concession is greatly appreciated by the commercial community, as it will enable them to escape the payment of interest to the Hindu bankers from whom they have been in the habit of borrowing. Moreover, it is expected that if full effect is given to the Amir’s wishes trade between India and Afghanistan will soon improve. The loans will be repayable by easy instalments, this novel scheme establishing a very important departure.

[33] 1 jindek = 4d.; 3 jindeks = 1 rupee Kandahar; 2 rupees Kandahar = 1 Kabul rupee; 1 Kabul rupee = 2s.

[Pg 288]

CARAVAN OF WOOL AND COTTON

CHAPTER XII

TRADE: INDUSTRIES AND PRODUCTS

For many years prior to the reign of Abdur Rahman, trade with Afghanistan itself or in transit to regions beyond the frontiers had to contend against two difficulties, the one arising from the heavy imposts upon goods intended for local consumption, and the other from the excessive charges levied upon merchandise destined for markets beyond the Oxus. Under the Khans commerce struggled ineffectually against exactions which, if comprehensible during a period when the country was parcelled out among a number of reigning families, were directly inimical to its better interests so soon as the several territories became incorporated within one central administration.

At this juncture the trade of Afghanistan followed these routes, none of which were practicable for wheeled traffic:

[Pg 289] (5) From India, viâ the Khyber and the Ghwalari passes, to Kabul and the Oxus.

In connection with these routes the following duties were levied at the different points upon passing caravans.

From India, viâ the Khyber and Ghwalari passes, for Kabul, in addition to a 2½ per cent. ad valorem:

Between the Kabul and Balkh territories local caravans, carrying goods within the boundaries of either khanate, had, in their passage of the Hindu Kush, viâ the Kushan pass, to pay:

Merchandise from Eastern Turkestan paid at Jelalabad, in addition to 2½ per cent. ad valorem, as follows:

[Pg 290] Upon trade coming into Herat and the north-western districts of Afghanistan from regions beyond the Oxus, in addition to a 5 per cent. ad valorem, duties were paid at:

From India, viâ the Gomul and the Bolan, for Kandahar and Herat, in addition to 2½ per cent. ad valorem, tolls were levied at:

Examination of these imposts goes to prove that, under the rule of the khans and in the reign of Shir Ali, trade received no encouragement; while, if Abdur Rahman were the father of his people, there is no doubt that judged by his domestic policy he revealed a lack of foresight in fulfilling his parental obligations. If overweening vanity and ignorance contributed to the failure of Abdur Rahman’s attempt to make Afghanistan a self-supporting State, it can be pleaded for him, nevertheless, that it was his intention to help trade and industries which were indigenous to the country. To effect this, he abolished inter-provincial tolls, maintained the scale of rates which was levied upon caravans in transit to trans-Oxus markets, increased the frontier duties in proportion to the loss which he sustained by withdrawing charges hitherto imposed within his dominions, and began various industrial works in the capital.

Enamoured of his idea, he unfortunately omitted from consideration, besides a certain inadequacy of revenue, the overwhelming intolerance of his subjects to every form of labour. There was thus in Afghanistan itself when, six years after his accession to the throne, the Amir embarked upon a campaign of commercial expansion, no [Pg 291] reserve of capital behind the Government and no fund of energy in the people. In spite of the number of miscellaneous industries which he attempted in Kabul no continuity of success was preserved, while reaction against his penalties upon Indian trade resulted in the opening up of the Quetta-Nushki-Nasratabad road as a commercial route. Direct loss of revenue, therefore, befel Abdur Rahman through his encouragement of a policy which was prejudicial to his own interests, as it was hostile to the trade of India and Russia. So far from profitable was the issue, indeed, that the position of the State at the close of his reign was in anything but a condition of comfortable prosperity.

The movement of the principal imports and exports in the closing years of his reign is given on pp. 292, 293.

Under pressure of financial difficulties arising from debts contracted by his father for the supply of military stores and equipment, the development of public works and a host of minor obligations, Habib Ullah was compelled to reconsider his economic position. Accepting the situation on its merits, during the first year of his reign he remitted certain duties and lowered the transit charges on “through” caravans, in respect of indigo and tea, to the equivalent of 2½ per cent. ad valorem duty. This impost upon tea works out at the rate of 7 pies per pound, but the tax on tea intended for the markets of Afghanistan is much higher. This is returned at 125 rupees per camel-load of 360 pounds, thereby levying a charge of 5 annas against each pound which, although an exceedingly high rate, compares not unfavourably with the crushing Customs dues on the Russian frontier and the tax in England. A revival of the demand in Afghanistan for tea grown in India has shown itself during the past year or two; and, undoubtedly, if the import duty were lowered the Afghans would become better customers, especially for the green variety, which they most favour. If the Amir could be convinced that a smaller duty would involve no loss of revenue, owing to larger imports, a reduction of the tariff might possibly be sanctioned.

On the whole the fiscal policy of the present Amir encourages the belief that, in time, many of the existing obstacles to free commercial intercourse with India will be removed. The small benefits already offered to Indian merchants have produced immediate response and the prospect of further concessions is widely appreciated. Trade exports [Pg 294] from Kabul during 1904-05 alone increased by 25 lakhs of rupees, the volume of trade proceeding from Kandahar showing an improvement no less emphatic. The total value of exports and imports combined, since indications of a more liberal fiscal policy first were manifested, in lakhs of rupees, is shown in the following table:

The values of the principal imports from Kabul during 1904-05 were fruits and nuts, 7.9 lakhs; animals (horses, sheep, and goats), 4.4 lakhs; hides (including skins) and ghee, each about 2½ lakhs, the total being 26 lakhs as in the previous year. Exports during 1904-05 improved by 25 lakhs to 69⅓ lakhs. Cattle, sheep, and goats accounted for 8⅘ lakhs of this increase. Cotton fabrics, valued at 38⅓ lakhs (more than two-thirds being of foreign manufacture), increased by 12½ lakhs. The other principal articles were cotton yarn (mostly foreign), 3.2 lakhs, and leather, 2.5 lakhs. The exports of tea (nearly all green tea) were 397,265 pounds Indian, value 1.5 lakhs, 300,384 pounds foreign, value 3.1 lakhs. Among imports from Kandahar during 1904-05, valued at 40⅕ lakhs, were raw wool, 18.8 lakhs; fruits and nuts, 12.2 lakhs; and ghee, 2.6 lakhs, in all of which there has been a larger trade. The exports during 1904-05 reached 36⅓ lakhs, the two principal articles—Indian cottons, 14.7 lakhs, and foreign piece-goods, 10 lakhs—both showing an improvement.

The general character of the trade conducted between Afghanistan and India is indicated by the appended list of the principal imports and exports with their values during the last three years in lakhs of rupees:

If India conducts with Afghanistan a trade which, although subject to fluctuations, enjoys considerable prosperity, the flow of commerce from the Trans-Oxus region towards the same markets is by no means contemptible. Indeed, articles imported into Afghanistan from Moscow, Merv, Bokhara and Samarkand figure in every bazaar in the Herat and Afghan Turkestan provinces. This trade passes through the customs stations of Kelif, Chushka Gusar, 40 miles to the east of Kelif, and Termes, 34 miles to the east of Chushka Gusar, the former of which is the principal seat of Russian Customs on the middle Oxus. Trade between Afghanistan and Russia has never been altogether prohibited by the Kabul authorities, Abdur [Pg 296] Rahman permitting kafilas to travel by the routes on which he had established customs posts. On goods purchased in Russian territory by Afghan traders a rebate equal to the tax levied by the Amir’s officials is granted. Further, customs dues on goods imported from Afghanistan have been reduced by 50 per cent. Russian trade is therefore making rapid progress. The value of the goods which passed through the Russo-Afghan posts was £450,000 in 1902. To-day it probably exceeds half a million sterling. The import into Central Asia of goods from India has been strangled by the high Customs’ tariff of the Russians, plus the heavy transit dues in Afghanistan itself. The agents of Russian firms at Kelif and Chushka Guzar state that they can now compete successfully with British Indian trade in Northern Afghanistan owing to the comparative cheapness of transport from Europe, which means that the Trans-Caspian and Orenburg-Tashkent lines of railway are carrying Russian merchandise at specially low rates. None the less, the Russian traders complain of the Afghan transit dues, as their imposition causes delay on all the principal caravan routes and adds enormously to the transport charges. With the advantages which Russia now possesses, unless a determined effort is made to save the situation for the benefit of Indian trade, we may presently expect her to renew her efforts to open up direct relations with Kabul in order to obtain greater facilities for commerce. It may be, too, that it will be in this manner rather than by active aggression that she will seek to lessen British influence in Afghanistan, and even to raise complications with the Amir.

[Pg 297] In silk, linen and cotton goods the Russian fabrics are quite equal to those articles of Anglo-Indian manufacture which find their way into the country. Russian chintzes are more durable and of coarser texture than the Anglo-Indian article; although less elegant in appearance and of colours that are not so fast, they meet with a ready sale among the poorer classes. The silk goods imported from Bokhara are of Russian manufacture, but they might well be superseded by better and cheaper importations from India. Silk handkerchiefs of various colours, and even black ones, are in great demand. Foreign silks do not sell so readily as certain lines in cotton and linen fabrics, since Kandahar, Herat and Kabul possess their own silk looms, each loom paying an annual tax of 23 rupees to the State. The articles manufactured by the native looms are plain silks, called kanavaz; red, yellow and purple durahee of slighter texture, less width and of the same colours; suga khanmee of large and small widths, with perpendicular white lines on a red ground; dushmals or handkerchiefs, black and red, with white spots, bound by females around their heads; and broonghees hummam, for the bath. To meet the demands of the Kabul market, raw and spun silks are imported from Bokhara, Kandahar and Herat, but the great bulk of either variety required by the Kabul looms comes from districts in the Kabul province. Velvets and satins are imported from both sides of the frontier; but wherever Indian or British goods meet the products of the Russian market in Afghanistan, the bounty-fed trade of Russia in Central Asia enjoys a conspicuous advantage.

Certain imports from Russia and India suffer from competition with the Kabul made product. In this respect the trade in gold and silver lace from Bokhara and India has fallen away very noticeably, although the quantity despatched from Bokhara still exceeds that imported from India. The trade in leather has also suffered by the development of local tanneries, but importations of the raw material are still necessary on account of the demands of the factory where the military equipment is made.

The trade in paper comes almost solely from the Russian market and quantities are imported from across the Oxus. The paper is of foolscap size, of stout, inferior quality and white or blue in colour. There are two assortments: glazed and unglazed. The blue glazed variety is preferred, the unglazed kind usually being sized at Kabul. A busy trade [Pg 298] in this commodity passes between Kabul and Kandahar, the Russian product having captured the market to the practical exclusion of all other brands. The paper needs to be stout to allow facility of erasure; on this account, and with reference to the nature of the ink employed, glazed paper is most satisfactory.

The attention of the people is directed to the land rather than to trade and a very large proportion of the population takes naturally to cultivation. Farming is divided between the production of fruit and the growth of cereals. The Afghans are a fruit-loving people; in certain districts fruit, both in its fresh and preserved condition, forms the staple diet of a large section of the population throughout the year. A rapidly growing export in fresh and dried fruits exists with India. Indeed, so important has this industry become that, in the country round Kandahar, a marked increase in the number of orchards and fruit gardens has taken place within the last five years, the presence of the railway at New Chaman and its extension to Nushki making the exportation of fresh fruit not only practicable but profitable. Fruit farming is divided between orchard fruits, with which vegetable farming is usually combined and those fruits which may be grown in fields on a large scale. In the one class are apples, pears, almonds, peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, grapes, figs, quinces, pomegranates and mulberries, in addition to walnut, pistacia, the edible pine and rhubarb, which grow wild in the northern and eastern highlands. Vegetable produce, which holds a high position in the export trade, includes most domestic vegetables; while, of the uncultivated vegetable products, the castor-oil plant, the mustard, sesame and assafœtida grow in great abundance. The fruit fields also produce several varieties of melons, including musk, water and scented melons, cucumbers and pumpkins.

In the direction of cereal production there are two harvests. One, reaped in summer, is the result of an autumn sowing and includes wheat, barley and certain varieties of peas and beans. The second harvest is gathered in autumn from a spring sowing, and embraces crops, rice, Indian corn, millet, arzun and jowari, besides other grains of less importance. In addition to these cereals, crops of madder, tobacco, cotton, opium, hemp, clover and lucerne are very generally cultivated. Clover and lucerne are [Pg 301] produced for fodder, hemp for its intoxicating properties and madder, tobacco, cotton and opium for export. In relation to the other crops, wheat is the food of the people, barley and jowari are given to horses, and arzun and Indian corn are grown for culinary purposes.

Ferns and mosses are confined to the higher ranges, while the lowest terminal ridges are scantily clothed with an almost wholly herbal vegetation.

[Pg 302]The following plants, thorny in character, are to be found scattered over less elevated valley bottoms:

The following trees have been introduced into the cultivated districts, and they are now native to the country:

As regards vertebrate zoology Afghanistan lies on the frontier of three regions—the Eurasian, the Ethiopian and the Indo-Malayan. In the main the species are Eurasian.

The mineral wealth of Afghanistan is at present almost entirely undeveloped, the late Amir, Abdur Rahman, being possessed by an instinctive animus against company promoters and concession hunters. Habib Ullah, too, has not yet made any sign of permitting the evident resources of the country to be exploited. The localities, in which deposits are known to exist, are shown in the accompanying table:

Among the industries of Afghanistan, exclusive of the agricultural activities of a large section of the people, the production of silks, the manufacture of felts, postins and rosaries, the cultivation of turmeric and ginger, and horse-breeding occupy important positions.

Silk is produced in considerable quantity at Kandahar, which is also the centre of other arts and crafts that afford occupation and support to numerous families. The quality of silk Kandahar is capable of much improvement. The cocoons are small, of unequal size and of different colours—yellow, white and grey. The majority of the worms are reared in neighbouring villages, but principally in those along the Argand-ab, where also the mulberry-trees are most abundant. The value of the mulberry-trees around [Pg 305] Kandahar is estimated at several lakhs. The whole of the silk produced in the district pays a tax to the Government and its sale without permission is prohibited.

The manufacture of sheepskin coats is an important industry which once made Kandahar province its centre. Of late years the trade has so greatly increased, owing to the demands for this article from India, that other districts have devoted themselves to it with equal success. The leather is prepared and made up in Kandahar, Ghazni and Kabul on an extended scale, thus giving occupation to many hundreds of families. The method of manufacture is not without interest. The dried, unshorn sheepskin is immersed in running water until it is soft and pliant, while at the same time the wool is thoroughly washed with soap. After this the fleece is combed and the skin stretched on a board, when the inside surface is smeared with a thin paste, composed of equal parts of fine wheaten and rice flour, to which is added a small proportion of finely-powdered salt. This dressing is renewed daily for five or six days, throughout which time the pelt is exposed to the sun. Before the conclusion of this process the skin is again cleansed, washed and dried, after which all superfluous growths are removed. The surface is then treated with a tanning mixture made of dried pomegranate rinds, powdered alum, red ochre and sweet oil. After some days, when the requisite suppleness has been gained, this preparation is scraped off.

In the western districts a mixture of alum and white clay is used in preference to the pomegranate rinds. In such cases the skins, when cured, are white and somewhat coarser to the touch than those prepared with pomegranate rinds. In the Kabul process the pomegranate rind is used most freely; as the Kabul skins are prepared with the greatest care, they are esteemed more than those of Ghazni and Kandahar. Before the tanning is completed the skins are handed over to tailors, who reduce them to strips of 2 feet long by 4 or 5 inches wide, from which they make three varieties of coats. One class comprises small coats with short sleeves and requires only two or three skins; another description reaches to the knees and is furnished with full sleeves fitting close to the arm. This takes five or six pelts. A third pattern forms a large loose cloak of capacious dimensions extending from head to heel and furnished with long sleeves, very wide above the elbow and very narrow below it; it also projects [Pg 306] several inches beyond the tips of the fingers. These require ten or twelve skins. Usually the edges and sleeves of the coats are embroidered with yellow silk. The completed articles cost from one to fifty rupees, according to size and finish. They are well adapted to the climate of the country; except in exposure to rain, when they are reversed, the woolly side is worn next the body. The full-length coat is a very cumbrous dress and is usually only worn in the house; it serves alike for bed, bedding, or as a cloak. The nature of the material favours the harbouring of insects, and few people are met whose coats do not serve as a breeding-ground for an immense colony of vermin.

An industry of equal importance with the postin trade is the manufacture of felts, which similarly centres in Kandahar. From there these goods are distributed throughout the country, besides being exported to India, Persia and the Trans-Oxus region.

Rosaries are also extensively manufactured at Kandahar from soft crystallised silicate of magnesia. This is quarried from a hill at Shah Maksud, about 30 miles north-west of the city, where soapstone and antimony are also obtained in considerable abundance. The stone varies in colour from a light yellow to a bluish white and is generally opaque. The most popular kind is straw coloured and semi-transparent. A few specimens are of a mottled greenish colour, brown or nearly black; they are used for the same purposes as the lighter varieties. Rosaries and charms of various sorts are made for exportation to Mecca. They range in price from a couple of annas to a hundred rupees. The refuse from the work is reduced to powder and utilised by native physicians as a remedy for heart-burn.

It should be remembered, that everything, whether solid or liquid, is sold by weight in Afghanistan. In cloth the conventional measure in the bazaar is from the top of the middle finger to the point of the elbow.

[Pg 308]

CHAPTER XIII

ARMY, FORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS

Prior to the reign of Dost Mahommed the defensive power of Afghanistan was represented by an association of tribes whose chieftains offered to the Amir of Kabul, as circumstances dictated, a more or less willing service. Such a system, while making the promotion of any settled organisation impossible, was satisfactory only so long as the Amir of Kabul was able to rely upon the fidelity of the Khans. But in an order of government, in which priority of place was secured by dint of might, each chief, as opportunity offered, rose to proclaim his independence of Kabul. By reason of these constant irruptions of disaffection among the tribes composing the confederacy, few rulers were in a better position than Dost Mahommed to realise the disabilities of such a military system.

The forces over which he exerted complete control were confined to the Kabul territory, although in addition he exercised nominal jurisdiction over the tribal levies of the khanates of Kandahar and Herat. These divisions of the available forces presented the following effective establishment:

At the moment the fighting machine in Afghanistan was composed of those tribal chiefs, district land-owners and priests whose influence was sufficient to regulate the movement of any particular number of followers. At the first news of war the leaders of these several contingents hurried with their following to some central camp, the united strength constituting the army of the district ruler, although the component units of such a force owned allegiance to individual district chiefs rather than to any supreme authority. In addition to this combative force, there was usually another body which, although not drawn from the best material and less numerous, was possessed of greater experience than the main following. Composed of men who were attached to no individual leader, or made up of the numbers of some border ruffian, these auxiliaries participated in the operations for the purposes of loot and from pure love of war and bloodshed. In each case their weapons were of the crudest variety; very frequently the dismounted forces were armed solely with swords, spears and shields, the horsemen carrying matchlocks, flintlocks or ancient pistols. Every one was compelled to furnish his own weapons, the mounted men being responsible for their horses. The militia held the lands on condition of service and were exempt from all taxes on land except the tithe. The men were born fighters and each, so soon as he could wield a spear or manage a fire-arm, attached himself to some district chief. No regular rate of pay was made by the leader to his following who, if they failed to live upon their plunder, were indemnified by small grants of land, by the right of pasturage and by permission to adopt a trade. Upon the part of the chief, too, as between himself and the Khan of the territory, the scale of remuneration was never fixed, the sum varying according to his local influence and the number of men he could bring into the field. This condition of affairs, typical of most Asiatic hordes at the time, had always prevailed in Afghanistan. The success against other native armies of such a system, wherein no precautions were observed and no [Pg 310] knowledge of military operations was required, was due to the great élan in attack of the Afghans and to their undoubted courage, more than to any preconceived notion of the art of war.

In addition to the territories of Kandahar and Herat there was the state of Balkh, allied with but independent of Kabul and invested in Mahommed Afzul Khan. The army of Balkh was commanded by General Shir Mahommed Khan, an officer of the Anglo-Indian army of the name of Campbell, who had been captured by Dost Mahommed when he had defeated Shah Shujah at the battle of Kandahar. The influence of this man who, professing the Mahommedan faith, rose to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Balkh forces, was to become a determining factor in the evolution of the army of Afghanistan from its tribal state. Love of war was always more pronounced in the Afghan tribes than among other Eastern races; and, as the profession of arms to them was in the [Pg 311] nature of a trade, expectations of a quick response of course prompted the suggestions which Lieutenant Campbell made to the Amir of Balkh. While every credit must be given to the wisdom and foresight of Mahommed Afzul Khan, there is no doubt that the beginnings of the present military system of Afghanistan were laid by this adventurous Englishman. Moreover, it was due to the influence which Campbell exercised over Abdur Rahman, the son of Mahommed Afzul Khan, which caused the former to become an ardent apostle of reform in military matters when he succeeded to the throne.

At the time of the elevation of Campbell to the supreme command of the army of Balkh, the forces in the territory were divided between a combined permanently enlisted body and a militia derived from Uzbeg, Durani and Kabuli tribes. It numbered 29,500 men comprising:

This force of fighting men, ill-organised and untutored, was deficient in central control, its condition not unnaturally reflecting the disorder actually inherent in the system. Under Campbell’s administration, the masses of tribal levies were reduced to an organised basis which contained the elements of the present establishment. The mounted and dismounted sections were formed into cavalry and infantry regiments; while the eighty guns, which were included in the Balkh army, were established by batteries and an elementary knowledge of the principles of drill and tactics imparted to the troops.

In his task of reform Campbell received every encouragement. Although Dost Mahommed himself made no alteration in the Kabul district, he watched with interest the work of reorganisation. Unfortunately, Campbell died before any great progress could be made, his demise being followed within a short space by that of Dost Mahommed in 1863 and Mahommed Afzul Khan in 1867. Nevertheless his influence was abiding, since the spectacle presented by the Balkh forces prompted Shir Ali to adopt an Anglo-Indian model as the working basis for his reorganisation of the Kabul army. In the sixteen years of his reign, between 1863-1879, he continued to introduce improvements founded upon Anglo-Indian drill-books, which he had had translated into Persian and Pushtu. Batteries of field [Pg 312] and mountain artillery, and regiments of horse and foot were raised; territorial divisions were formed upon paper and field columns, whose brigade and regimental units corresponded with the Anglo-Indian system, were created. In actual practice these troops were never brigaded together, and officers and men alike were ignorant of parade and musketry exercises. Nevertheless, if their notions of drill were vague, their spirits and their carriage were not unmartial. In detail, and under a general distribution of the regular forces, troops were located—

The nominal strength of each infantry regiment was 800 men, although daily parade seldom mustered more than 600 men. The state of the cavalry regiments was 300 men, the complete return of the regular forces of Afghanistan at this epoch being:

The system of recruiting for these regiments was the worst conceivable. Neither conscription nor free enlistment, it was little better than the forcible seizure of the able-bodied in each district, the men being compelled [Pg 315] to serve on pain of the imprisonment and utter ruin of their families. The pay of the infantry was nominally five rupees a month, with ten rupees in each year deducted for clothing and accoutrements. The distribution of the remainder was very irregular and not unusually paid in grain, or credited to their families at home on account of local taxes. Consequently the soldier, often finding himself in his quarters without the means of purchasing the common necessaries of life, was driven to recoup his finances by highway robbery, a delinquency which the officers punished—by sharing in the spoil.

These troops were accoutred with the discarded flint muskets, swords, belts and bayonets of the British forces in India, or a Kabul imitation of these weapons. Certain companies were provided with two-grooved rifles, constructed from models carried off by deserters from some one or other of our frontier regiments. The uniforms were no less abominable, not infrequently representing purchases of condemned stores from our frontier stations which had been disposed of at an auction. The clothing was invariably procured from these markets; and, as a consequence, native officers of all grades, even in the same regiment, might have been seen in every imaginable British habiliment, from a naval jacket to a whipper’s-in hunting coat, including the full dress of a general and the round beaver hat of a civilian. British kit was very popular, and its possession conferred exceptional distinction upon the lucky owner.

[Pg 316] Of the horse it is only possible to say that in all respects they were a bad imitation of the Indian light cavalry, reproducing even their Hussar saddles and steel scabbards. Their appointments, equally with the infantry, were almost hopeless and their drill quite unsuited to their order. Foot drill was the conventional exercise; and, since all horses were sent out to graze during the summer months, mounted drill was practised only during the cold weather, when through lack of food the animals were too poor in condition to be put through their facings. The horses were undersized and generally procured from the Turcoman steppes, but man and beast were equally valueless. No less unsatisfactory were the Afghan artillery, although, from the numerical strength of the Amir’s ordnance, a very false idea might be formed of the actual value of his artillery. Many of the guns were useless; for others there was no ammunition; while the equipment and carriages of the field guns were of the most obsolete pattern.

Besides these so-called troops, the Amir had always available the jezailchis, who were formerly the only infantry in the country. They were light troops, armed with matchlock and jezail, accustomed to hill warfare and perhaps as good skirmishers as were to be found at this time in Asia. Experience had taught them to be judges of ground and distance, while instinct made them chary of ambush. These were of two classes. The one class was in the service of the Amir, on a nominal salary of five rupees per mensem, which was paid in grain. These men were armed by the State and mustered some 3500 men, employed in holding forts and posts throughout the country. They were commanded by Sadbashis and Dahbashis, captains of hundreds and heads over tens, who received a proportionately higher rate of pay. The other class, the immediate following of the different chiefs, may be considered as a local militia. They were assigned rent-free a piece of land in lieu of pay; and, as a rule, these several bodies of militia numbered in each instance between 1000 and 1500 men.

The Irregular Afghan Horse, as they existed at this time, are even more difficult than the jezailchis to compute. They were not particularly numerous, although Kandahar and its dependencies could furnish 8000; Ghazni, 5000; Kabul, including Jelalabad, Logar and the Koh-i-Daman, 15,000; while Balkh, with its Uzbeg population, returned 10,000. These men were the equal of any undisciplined horsemen [Pg 317] in Asia; mounted upon small but wiry horses, carrying a perfect arsenal of weapons, among which shield, spear, matchlock, sword, pistol and knife were prominent, they were always rough and invariably ready for the field. Capable of undergoing great fatigue and exceedingly harassing to a flying foe, they were, when led by a determined chief, anything but contemptible in a mêlée.

The establishment of the regular and auxiliary forces, as they existed at this date, boasted no commissariat department. In districts, where the revenue was paid in grain, a certain proportion was allotted to each fort; if the troops were on the march, orders upon the headmen of the various villages were issued, the villages being credited with the amount of grain, etc., supplied when the revenue came to be collected. Upon any occasion where the whole available force was collected en masse, each district had to furnish a certain amount of grain as well as its fighting contingent, the daily ration of every man being estimated at one seer of flour. So long as this supply lasted the men considered themselves bound to remain with their chiefs; but the moment that the issue ceased there was a general dissolution of the forces. Similarly, there was no settled transport system nor ordnance supply, arrangements, haphazard in the extreme, rising as occasion required. In many respects, the changing conditions of military life, in the absence of specific reforms, brought no remedy of [Pg 318] abuses which, existing under Dost Mahommed, found opportunity for increased activity in the new order of affairs. The inevitable break-down occurred; and at the first tests, imposed by the actions at Peiwar Kotal and Ali Masjid, the entire machine went to pieces. Later, at Charasiab and Ahmad Khel, the Afghan array had returned to its own style of fighting and, under tribal leaders, ill-disciplined, yet courageous and determined, fought valiantly and well.

In spite of the excellent beginnings which had been made by Shir Ali, the condition of the army at the time of his accession placed a very heavy burden upon the shoulders of Abdur Rahman. Handicapped by internal dissensions, it was not until he had established as paramount his authority over the tribes that he was able to turn attention to the crude structure which had been built by his predecessor. Elaborating the handiwork of Shir Ali by many personal touches, he gradually shaped the whole system to his own mould. To every regiment of cavalry and infantry he attached complementary engineer, medical and commissariat details, so that each unit was complete in itself and independent of its brigade. In a measure and as the outcome of this initiative Abdur Rahman became the actual founder of the army of Afghanistan. Recognising the many deficiencies in the military system, he increased its potential significance by substituting for the old feudal levies one central army, paid, created and controlled directly by himself. With implacable severity he chastised his enemies, breaking up their powers of resistance and developing his own position, until the foundations of his earlier work became the permanent supports to a military autocracy. Regiment after regiment was added to the permanent strength of his military establishment as opportunity offered; while, in addition, 50,000 pack-mules and pack-ponies were set aside as a park of transport, and immense reserves of grain were stored in readiness at Herat, Kandahar and Kabul. Monthly pay-sheets were drawn up, by which generals of the first class received six hundred Kabuli rupees monthly, a brigadier two hundred and fifty, a colonel of cavalry two hundred, a major one hundred and twenty, captains of cavalry eighty, of infantry and artillery thirty, down to corporals of foot, who received ten rupees. The rank and file were paid partly in kind, a trooper getting sixteen rupees in cash and four rupees’ worth of grain, a private of foot five rupees in cash [Pg 319] and three rupees’ worth of grain. Every regiment was to have a chaplain (mullah), a physician (hakim) and a surgeon (yarrah). To some extent bribery and corruption were suppressed. A corps of signallers was formed and a body of sappers and miners instructed in the art of entrenchment, bridge-building and road-making. Further, the gunners were taught the technique of their matériel, while the Kabul regiments were put through courses of musketry and the elemental mysteries of tactics and strategy were disclosed to their officers.

So much was attempted by Abdur Rahman that he well may be forgiven for leaving to his successor execution of detail. Within a few months of his accession the strength of the army in Kabul, Kandahar, Herat and beyond the Hindu Kush consisted of 58,740 men with 182 guns.

[Pg 320] Weak in artillery—there being few trained gunners—the cannon, partly of English, partly of native manufacture and of various ages and patterns, were the time-honoured relics of Dost Mahommed and Shir Ali. The infantry rifles of the regulars also were of different makes, varying from the old two-grooved Brunswick to the Martini-Henry. The tribal forces were largely armed with matchlocks. Assisted by the subsidies which he received from the Government of India, Abdur Rahman swept away the rubbish and collected an immense stock of modern ordnance supplies. Over and above the quantity held against the immediate mobilisation of the standing forces, by importation and manufacture he piled up a vast reserve of rifles, field-pieces and guns of large calibre with their requisite ammunition, doubtless very varied in their character and including every sort of pattern from Krupp field-pieces to Maxim, Nordenfeldt and Hotchkiss quick-firers. For this purpose he erected in Kabul itself the necessary works, imparting to the position of Afghanistan by these means and for the first time in its history some element of security, and creating an army which required only to be supervised with the same watchfulness by his successor to attain ultimately as near to perfection as any purely native organisation can arrive. Ordnance factories—with a weekly output of two guns, one hundred and seventy-five rifles and a varying quantity of small arms ammunition—workshops, and an arsenal existing to-day in Kabul prove the inflexible determination of his plans. In furtherance of them, it was his idea to fashion an army which, apportioned between regulars and tribal levies, would number 1,000,000 men. There was to be a permanent regular force of 300,000 men, with an established ammunition reserve of 500 rounds to each field-piece and 5000 rounds to every rifle. Moreover, many months before his death the ordnance supplies, amassed in Kabul, sufficed for a very large proportion of such a force, at the same time exceeding the amount necessary for the requirements of the existing field and garrison forces. Had Abdur Rahman only survived a few years longer, it is indisputable that a force of a million fighting men, more or less trained but at least efficiently armed, would have been secured, although it may be doubted whether, save under the press of dire necessity, he would have ventured to issue weapons to them or to place more than a quarter of this number actually in the field.

[Pg 321] At his demise the numbers of the forces available were considerably below the million standard. At that time the peace strength of the regular army was estimated at 150,000 men, distributed between the military centres of Herat, Kabul, Kandahar, Mazar-i-Sharif, Jelalabad, Asmai, the region of the Upper Oxus, and in detachments on frontier duty along the Russo-Afghan, Perso-Afghan and Indo-Afghan boundaries. This force was composed as follows:

The many flaws in the system which Abdur Rahman had created were emphasised at his death, in part by the indifference of Habib Ullah to matters military, but in the main by organic difficulties emanating from reactionary influences in the environment of the throne. Broadly speaking, the army and administration of Afghanistan were too centralised to be continuous unless the reins of government had passed into the hands of a man as fearless and able as Abdur Rahman was. Habib Ullah is a man of different mould; and as a consequence on the death of Abdur Rahman the absolutism of his rule suffered material contraction.

It is to be regretted that the late Amir, while evolving out of a heterogeneous collection of warring tribes a settled and independent country, failed to bequeath to his son any portion of his own singular abilities. As a consequence, the order of government in Kabul is neither so unquestioned nor substantial as it was, for the men whose services assisted Abdur Rahman to effect his life’s work have dropped out—from death or through inability to serve Habib Ullah. Faults, inherent in the character of the Afghans and particularly prominent in the present Amir, have thus measured the success which befel Abdur Rahman by the span of that [Pg 322] ruler’s life, until it is really but little more than the shell of the former edifice which now remains.

Deprived of the inspiring genius of Abdur Rahman, within the five years which have elapsed since his death there is every ground to believe that the army has fallen away in efficiency as well as in numbers, and that the work of reorganisation largely requires to be repeated. In a measure, the Afghans retain at the present time their old characteristics—their love of their own country and their hatred of alien races; but, through lapse of time and their intercourse on the one hand with the Russians and in the other direction with India, they are liable to flock to the standard of the Amir less than they were. It must not be forgotten that to-day Afghanistan reproduces the condition of a settled country, possessing a population much more peaceful than were the inhabitants a generation ago. Moreover through the penetrating associations of prosperity and through many years of peace the warlike instincts of the tribes have become numbed, while their martial ardour has evaporated, requiring constant amelioration of the conditions of service by way of stimulating their military zeal. Increases of pay and more generous rations have been conceded in the past and, lately, attempts have been made to soothe the susceptibilities of the officers. Habib Ullah has ordained that for the future promotions will go by seniority, although the system of selection, where it is concerned with posts which are hereditary in families connected with the Royal House, will not be altered. As [Pg 323] a sop to the feelings of the rank and file the class-company system is to be enforced, the men of the different tribes being incorporated regimentally under their own tribal leaders. In this direction, too, it is of interest to note that every cantonment will be provided with a garrison mullah who, on Fridays, will read prayers before the assembled troops and address them on Saints’ Days, while teachers in religious instruction are to be attached to each regimental company.

Lately, Habib Ullah has shown signs of awakening to the responsibilities of his position; and it is to be hoped that, under pressure from recent political circumstances, he may abandon the foolish indulgence to which hitherto he has been a slave. Indications of this spirit are not very pronounced, but their manifestation does not come a moment too soon. In the main they are associated with military matters, although certain measures deal exclusively with the administration. Among the former, orders have been given to the leather factories in Kabul to manufacture 300,000 sets of infantry equipment and an agent has been despatched to India to purchase gear for the mounted branches of the service. At best these activities are no promise of an abiding interest in his service and, indeed, they are discounted by his refusal to hearken to advice. At the present time the army of Afghanistan, in its existing condition, admittedly possesses in a high degree the qualities of endurance, courage and mobility; but, in spite of its modern guise, it lacks discipline and cohesion and, as a fighting machine, is liable upon these grounds to be thrown quickly out of gear. Under these circumstances the observation may perhaps be hazarded that it would be as well before equipping it with first-class material to make sure that the men were sufficiently organised to understand its use. At present modern weapons are unknown to the great bulk of the forces of Afghanistan; and it cannot be denied that the absence of this quality makes it more of a menace to itself than to an enemy. Hitherto, there has been greater variety than method in the Afghan military equipment, irregularity of pattern distinguishing alike rifle, field-piece and ammunition, while the education of the officers and the training of the men has been neglected.

The continuation of these imperfections is due primarily to the inability of the Amir of Afghanistan to rely upon the loyalty of his troops. At the same time, their existence appertains to every Oriental army which is placed [Pg 324] solely in native custody. They have always been a feature of the Afghan service. The condition of the garrison in the capital perhaps reveals some little superiority over those which are placed further afield, but it can be affirmed quite truly that the military qualities of Afghanistan proceed entirely from the inborn fanaticism of its people and not from the practical organisation of its active state. Nevertheless under conditions applicable to mountain warfare the Afghan army could become an invaluable auxiliary; although its capacity, as well as its determination, to offer any prolonged resistance are matters of doubt. Defects could be removed by re-organisation; good qualities enhanced by careful training under British officers or by the despatch of selected Afghan officers and men for training with our own troops.

In spite of the obduracy of Habib Ullah over this point, he has made known his intention of falling back upon the support of the Indian Government when his own arms have been defeated. This contingency, which is liable to arise at the outset of a war with any foreign power, imposes upon the Government of India a thankless burden, in no way lessened by the proposal of the Amir to create in Kabul an Afghan Staff College, and the determination of the Imperial Government to avoid insistence upon what is, by no means, an unreasonable precaution. As matters rest at present unless change is introduced the preposterous conceit, which distinguishes the Afghans, is destined to receive an unwelcome shock. Nevertheless the Amir cannot be persuaded to place his military affairs in the hands of the Indian Government; since, now that the Japanese have beaten the Russians and, in the mind of the Amir, the Imperial Government is frightened at the Russian Government, the Afghans argue, having defeated British arms, that they are now superior to the Japanese. Therefore, they deny us the possession of any point of advantage in their country, a consummation which, while not quite that towards which our diplomacy has been directed, may be ascribed to the results, in combination, of a policy of friendly missions and half measures. Now that we have given Habib Ullah permission to import without check unlimited supplies of arms and ammunition the disadvantages of such a situation increase rather than diminish; as it exists so close to the Indian frontier and in a way in which it cannot be controlled by the Indian Government, [Pg 325] it behoves the Imperial Government to come to a definite decision at once with regard to its line of action in relation to Afghanistan.

Abdur Rahman did not confine his work of reorganisation solely to the military system of Afghanistan. He devoted great attention to the military roads of the state, realising that a system of communications was as important as a well-equipped and efficiently-organised army. Kabul, as the capital, was united with Badakshan on the east, with Turkestan on the north and with Kandahar and Herat on the south and west. Prior to these works certain native roads did exist between the several centres; but it was due to the activity and initiative of the late Amir that improvements were introduced, or altogether new lines of communication opened. Undeterred by the difficulties which beset his engineers and as an index to the consistent vigour with which he assisted the development and execution of his policy, he threw roads across the Hindu Kush, facilitating by these means not only the trend of inter-provincial trade, but the pacification and administration of his provinces. In addition to these strategic roads, he improved the trade routes which led into the country from the Trans-Oxus, India and Persia. In the south the Khyber, Kurram and the Gomul routes received notice; in the north there were the routes from Russian Turkestan leading through well-known centres to points of admission upon the Afghan border. After the subjugation of Kafiristan he took the precaution of making a military road through that country from north to south, thus opening up communication with [Pg 326] the Kunar Valley, and Jelalabad, where considerable numbers of troops are always stationed. Further, he directed that it should eventually be carried over the western Hindu Kush so as to give a better route to Kataghan, Badakshan, and the upper Oxus Valley. This portion of the work was finished in March 1904. The northern terminus of the road is at Faizabad, the principal town of Badakshan, where caravan routes meet from Bokhara on the north-west, the Pamirs and Kashgar on the north-east. The Afghan Government have constructed serais at all the halting-places, and caravans are encouraged to use the road in preference to that through Chitral.

Curiously enough in another direction, the construction of fortresses, Abdur Rahman was more neglectful. If he improved the lines of communication and re-organised the state of the army he built but few forts, relying almost entirely upon those which already had been constructed. Nowadays with the exception of the Kabul positions, Dehdadi, Mazar-i-Sharif and Baldak Spin, the two latter of which he built to command the approaches to Balkh and Kandahar, there are no modern forts in the kingdom. Those that do exist are made of mud and are of insufficient strength to withstand bombardment. The great majority serve merely as garrison depôts and are without interest save as interesting ruins.

[Pg 329] The following routes indicate briefly the principal lines of communication in Afghanistan.

[Pg 342]

CHAPTER XIV

KABUL: ITS PALACES AND COURT LIFE

The road from Kandahar to Kabul in its present condition is one of those permanent improvements with which the late Abdur Rahman endowed Afghanistan. Under the ægis of that energetic ruler the old caravan routes between Kandahar and Kabul, and Kabul and Herat, were replaced by first-class military communications, the elders of the villages in the several districts traversed being held responsible for their security. The road to Kabul runs north-east from Kandahar and the distance is 315 miles. The two points of importance are Kelat-i-Ghilzai, on the right bank of the Tarnak river and 85 miles north-east of Kandahar, and Ghazni, 225 miles north-east of Kandahar and 78 miles south-west of Kabul.

There is no town at Kelat-i-Ghilzai; but there are two small walled villages not far from the fort to the north-west and a few nomadic encampments upon the surrounding plain. The fort stands upon an isolated plateau, which in places is very steep. There are two gateways, respectively situated upon the northern and southern faces of the work. The quarters of the garrison are arranged along the eastern and western faces and a battery of four guns is posted upon a neighbouring height. The garrison is not large and the defences have suffered from neglect. There is good water from springs within the perimeter of the fort; but [Pg 343] the position is endangered by the existence of certain features in the immediate vicinity which command the walls, and also by the facilities for cover offered by the character of the approaches. The bazaar is small, containing fifty shops: in addition there are several Government granaries and a residence for the Governor.

Ghazni, the capital of the Ghilzai country and the principal centre between Kandahar and Kabul, occupies a very important point, since it commands the road through the Gomul Pass to Dera Ismail Khan. From its strategical position, too, it must be considered the pivot to any line of operations against an enemy advancing from the west or north; while its possession in the hands of an Indian army would place such a force astride one of the most important channels of communication in the state. It is situated upon the left bank of the Ghazni river, on level ground between the river and the termination of a spur, running east and west from the Gilkoh Range 7730 feet above sea-level. The place spreads itself out to the south and east, but the river checks its expansion on the west, the stream leaving but a confined space between its left bank and the knoll where the citadel stands. It is surrounded by a high wall, built upon the top of a mound, in part natural and in part artificial. The wall is of composite construction, stone and brick-masonry laid in mud having been employed in its erection. It is flanked at irregular intervals by towers and possesses a total circumference, inclusive of the citadel, of 1750 yards.

The citadel is situated at the north angle of the town, upon an abrupt, detached knoll where the hills terminate. It lies 150 feet above the plain and dominates the city completely. Its defences are a high masonry wall, loopholed and provided with a parapet, but no rampart save the natural hill. There are four towers at the angles, but these are small and insignificant. The citadel has no other strength than that afforded by its commanding situation and formidable slopes; the area of the summit of the knoll is limited and the buildings are not adapted to shell-fire. The town and citadel are both commanded by hills to the north, but the former is in a measure sheltered by the position of the latter. The supply of water is unreliable and there is only one well within the walls. The view from the citadel is extensive, but by no means inviting, as the plain is very indifferently furnished with villages. There are [Pg 344] very numerous shrines—197 being the number given—which are surrounded by orchards, vineyards, and small corn-fields. Excepting along the course of the river the plain is bare and empty, although it is broken up by the irrigation channels which cross the road at intervals of 8 or 10 miles. Distant hills extend in low ranges of bare rock. The country skirting them is a waste of stone and scrub, in the possession of wandering Ghilzais whose flocks of goats, sheep and camels share the pastures with wild deer, wolves, foxes and hares. The black-hair tents of these nomads of the desert, pitched in the sheltered hollows of its surface for protection from the keen westerly wind, impart to the scene its sole sign of human habitation.

The town itself is dirty. The thoroughfares, lined with houses several storeys in height, are narrow, dark and irregular. Near the base of the citadel, upon its easterly and westerly aspect, there is a small open space varying from 100 yards to 150 yards; upon the southern side the houses crowd close up to the rock. From the Khanah Gate to the Kandahar or Bazar Gate, a street runs with some pretensions to uniformity of breadth and directness of course. Another leads north-east to the open space upon the west of the citadel, while from the Kabul Gate there is communication by several narrow and somewhat tortuous lanes. The houses are built of mud; only in rare instances do they possess domed roofs.

The population fluctuates according to the season and the amount of trade passing into India. It seldom rises above 8000 people nor falls much below 3000 people. The inhabitants are largely drawn from the Nasir, Suliman Khel and other Ghilzai clans, who are concerned with the through caravan trade viâ the Gomul, together with a certain proportion of Duranis and Tajiks. There are, also, 250 families of Hazara labourers and perhaps 200 Hindu shopkeepers, bankers and traders. The community in Ghazni is very mixed, ignorant, superstitious and, if the Hindu element is excepted, without wealth. Hindus in Ghazni are required to wear tight trousers instead of loose ones, a black cap in place of a turban and to pay a capitation tax. Upon compliance with these restrictions they receive protection and contrive to control the trade between India and Afghanistan. The chief trade of the place is in corn, fruits and madder, all of which are largely produced in the district. Wool and camels’-hair cloth are [Pg 345] brought into the market from the adjoining Hazara country; and, since the British occupation of Wano and the opening up of the Gomul Pass, local commerce has developed. Agriculturally, the district is a rich one. Large crops of wheat and barley are obtained, the capital itself drawing no small proportion of its grain supply from this market. In addition to the land under cereal cultivation there are magnificent pastures, while the fruit is no less celebrated. The excellence of the apples surpasses that of those grown at Kandahar, although the Kandahar melons, an especial production of that city, are superior to the variety which are reared at Ghazni. For corn and apricots Kabul makes a heavy demand upon Ghazni; but the madder grown in the vicinity is almost all exported to India, while tobacco, corn and the castor-oil plant are grown only for home consumption.

The climate of Ghazni for several months of the year is very cold, the snow lying upon the ground from November until the middle of March. Frosts fall early in October and the ice lasts until mid-day; from November for many weeks there is no thaw at all. In December the country is covered with 3 feet of snow, which remains on the ground until March. The spring is genial and, as the fields become green, flowers appear on the plain. Rain falls irregularly and only for a few days, but the bane of the climate is the dust which comes up with the westerly winds. In summer the heat is less than that which prevails at Kabul and Kandahar. The severity of the winter months entails as a rule heavy mortality among the people, the lack of fuel being the principal cause of the deaths. The flocks of sheep and goats and the droves of camels also suffer; and, as there is a large nomadic population in the district, the distress is not confined to the limits of the town. Indeed, the Ghazni centre experiences a higher rate of mortality than anywhere else in Afghanistan.

Kabul is situated at the western extremity of a spacious plain in an angle formed by the approach of two converging heights, the Asmai and the Shere Darwaza, with which the Takht-i-Shah is joined by a narrow ridge 7 miles above the confluence of the Logar and Kabul rivers. The elevations of these three hills are Asmai 6790 feet, Shere Darwaza 7166 feet and the Takht-i-Shah 7530 feet. The city is about 3 miles in circumference, but there are no walls round it at the present time. Formerly it was encircled by walls [Pg 346] constructed of sun-baked bricks and mud. Traces of the wall may be seen in many places; along the crests of the Asmai and Shere Darwaza it is still standing and follows those heights to the Kabul river, which separates the two. If the existing landmarks are any indication of its original size, it is improbable that old Kabul ever can have boasted a permanent population of 20,000 inhabitants. The walls of the old city were pierced by seven gates, the Lahore Gate being now the only one which is left. These earlier gates were the Sirdar, Pêt, Deh Afghanan, Deh Mazang, Guzar Gah, Jabr—and the Lahore, the existing entrance. Of these, the Sirdar was the last, and the Jabr Gate the first, to be removed. The sites of the others, although no longer existing, are quite well known and serve as Custom stations to the revenue officers. Many of the names by which these seven gates were known belonged to 1504, when Baber raised the fortunes of the city to the dignity of a capital—a period so remote from to-day that it is only by the recapitulation of the names that the incidents of that epoch are recalled. Nowadays the Lahore Gate has fallen into decay and its heavy wooden doors, studded with iron, appear as if about to fall. The brickwork of the gateway has also crumbled and the loopholes in the arch are choked with rubbish. In spite of its dilapidated condition, it remains an emphatic link between the present time and those past centuries.

The city extends a mile and a half from east to west and a mile from north to south. Hemmed in by the mountains, there is little room for a capital of any size, except in a northerly direction towards the Shirpur cantonment. It is the intention of the present ruler of Afghanistan to lay down the lines of a new city, which, in size and in the importance of its defences, shall be worthy of the growing dignity of the state. The late Amir, Abdur Rahman, had planned the site of another capital in the fertile Chahardeh valley to the west of Shere Darwaza and Asmai, and between them and the Paghman hills, when death interrupted his labours. Nevertheless he bequeathed his policy to his successor, Habib Ullah, who has not yet moved in the matter. Shir Ali, disgusted with the unpleasant condition of his city, began a new one at Shirpur—the city of Shir Ali—but circumstances prevented him from completing more than three walls, these relics of a self-imposed task subsequently affording much assistance to the British [Pg 347] when the Shirpur cantonment was built. In its present state Kabul affords a curious and interesting study in contrasts between the old and the new conditions. It is still a dirty city, its mean appearance emphasised by the neglected condition of its rambling lanes and the ramshackle character of its houses. Yet it boasts the possession of several buildings more or less imposing, their existence striking a very welcome note of relief after any close acquaintance with the narrow, ill-paved streets and their unusually sordid environment. Still, accumulations of dirt and the neglect of ages cannot conceal in the general complexion of the capital a certain tawdry magnificence, constantly illustrated by the erection of elaborate edifices that pass into neglect within a short space of their construction. In this way there are quite a number of so-called palaces in Kabul, as well as various buildings which, erected under the spur of that conspicuous vanity that distinguishes the Afghan Court and vaguely intended for industrial enterprises, have been abandoned entirely or put to other uses.

In spite of the vagaries of design that distinguish the architectural arts as they are revealed in Kabul, interest clings to the old Bala Hissar which, lying on a spur at the foot of the Shere Darwaza, was the abode of Shir Ali, similarly serving as the Residency for Cavagnari when that ill-fated officer lived there. The Bala Hissar is now in ruins, but it still contains the Black Well, a hole of infamous repute, serving as a prison for political offenders and other malefactors. The defences of the Bala Hissar have been demolished, although the original gateway is still standing and the outer wall and moat exist. The fort itself is now used as a magazine and within the walls rough barracks have been provided for the troops. The recent increase in the garrison of the city is expected to occasion its total demolition and the re-erection of more convenient quarters.

The modern palaces of Kabul are, of course, superior in size and in their scheme of adornment to the earlier buildings; on this account it is impossible that they can fail to arrest attention. The residence which will become eventually the principal seat of the Amir in Kabul is the Dil Khusha Palace. This is still in process of construction. Much time has been spent over the work, Mr. Finlayson, the architect retained by the Amir, being delayed with his task by native jealousies and Court intrigues. It will be a [Pg 348] large, semi-European structure with two storeys, the upper windows permitting pleasant views of the palace gardens. Its cost, which will amount to several lakhs of rupees, is to be borne by the resources of the state which are already quite sufficiently straitened. As a rule the Amir selects his abode according to the prevailing season, changing as the whim seizes him, the apparent caprice being more generally dictated by the fear of assassination. The favourite palace, the Erg, which was appointed as the quarters of the Dane Mission, lies a little beyond the town, between it and the Shirpur cantonment where Elphinstone had his headquarters. Here there is now located an hospital for sick and wounded soldiers; and, provided by a paternal and God-granted Government, a retreat for lunatics, maimed prisoners, and the blind and indigent, where the delights of a lingering death may be indulged, since the authorities thoughtfully refuse either aid or medicine. The palace of the Erg corresponds more nearly with the part played in the old days by the Bala Hissar. It is at once the central domicile of the Court and a strong defensive work, although it is commanded by a fort situated on the summit of Asmai. The accommodation is divided between the palace quarter, occupying the inmost station, and an inner and outer fort. A high wall, pierced on its eastern aspect by a [Pg 349] square gateway (in which there are no gates) encloses the entire position. Within the gateway and extending round the wall of the outer fort are the quarters of the troops, and in the centre there are spacious gardens. One regiment is always on duty in the outer fort, a second regiment being detailed to safeguard the defences of the palace proper and its outer precincts. At no time during the day or night is the Amir without a strong guard. Cossack posts are established about the entrance, while patrols and sentries watch the grounds and the palace itself. The inner fort is separated from the outer one by a wide, deep ditch, and on the remote side there rise high battlements. Access to it is gained by a drawbridge which, lowered between sunrise and sunset, is raised at night.

In appearance this work is decidedly Oriental. The much decorated gateway is set in a semicircular recess, flanked by imposing bastions. The gates are of wood, massive and studded with iron, the arches on either side containing quarters for the guards. To enter it is necessary to cross the guard-room and to negotiate beyond it the various sentries. In a small tower above the gateway a maxim is stationed, the tower itself being used at sunrise and sunset as a place of ceremonial salutation. Morning and night throughout the year, when the Amir is in residence, the changing of the guards is accompanied with an outburst of native music, a weird discord of drum and horn, which breaks forth in greeting to his Highness. This inner work is itself divided by a further wall, which is pierced with loop-holes and unceasingly patrolled. To a certain extent it acts as a defensive curtain to the heart of the palace for, in the space between, there are a series of small gardens and the palace premises. The garden walks are fenced with iron railings; abutting from them at their eastern and southern extremities are rows of symmetrically arranged buildings of single and double storeys. A postern-gate affords admission, its position covered by a massive, wooden screen of considerable height, length and strength. This erection protects the palace when the postern gate is open. The several buildings that are congregated behind the curtain-wall comprise the Amir’s pavilion, the official quarters of the princes and a separate enclosure, in which stands the Harem Serai. In addition there are the Amir’s treasury and storehouses, together with the quarters of certain Court officials and the [Pg 350] barracks of the bodyguard—the little colony being set within a landscape of singular beauty. Numerous varieties of plants grow in the garden; about the pavilion there is a wealth of flowering stocks, sweet smelling peas and gaily coloured roses, the air being heavy with the scent of many perfumes. Considering the mean and uncomfortable squalor of the city, the presence of this oasis with its fresh flowers, green grass, shady trees and neatly tended paths, lends to the position of the palace an attractive brightness. Away from the flowers there is a somewhat garish note: the walks between the beds are paved with marble, and the stone figures of two recumbent lions repose upon either side of steps leading to the pavilion. This building was constructed by Abdur Rahman, its plan being modelled upon a church which he had seen in Tashkent. It is a pretentious two-storey structure, square in position, dome-shaped in design, with towers and cupolas upon each corner, the lofty, octagonal hall reaching to the roof. Upon the ground floor four alcoves lead off from the main space, and above them there are four other rooms.

The corner towers possess an upper and a lower chamber. A covered walk runs round three sides, shading the windows of the alcoves from the glare of the sun at noon. The upper rooms are lighted by windows overlooking the gardens; the alcoves on the ground floor by windows which open upon the verandah. The outer face of the walk is pierced by nine arches, and the roof serves as a promenade for any one who may be occupying the chambers in the towers. Each alcove is about 12 feet square, while the breadth of the hall is 18 feet. The recesses are retained by the Amir for his personal use, one acting as an entrance lobby, another as the receptacle for his couch, a third as a writing-room and a fourth as a waiting-place for his pages. There are no doors to these recesses on the main floor and, between each lying back against the wall, there are various articles of furniture, a black wood writing-desk, a German piano, a marble-topped table and a carved wood cabinet. Two pictures adorn the walls—one representing the House of Commons and the other the House of Lords; it might be a suitable attention upon the part of the Government of India to supplement these pictures with paintings of Queen Victoria, Edward VII. and Queen Alexandra.

For audiences of a semi-private character, as well as for all Durbar matters of a public nature, Abdur Rahman [Pg 353] frequented the Durbar Hall, situated beyond the moat in the gardens of the Erg Palace. It is a long, lofty building with pillared verandah, corrugated iron roof and twelve spacious windows on each side, curtained after the European fashion. Two rows of white columns, placed at regular stages down the floor of the building, support an elaborately carved ceiling, ornamented with stencilled plates beaten out of empty kerosene tins. It is 60 yards in length and 20 yards in breadth. The decoration is Oriental, but in the upholstery there is a mingling of the influence of the West with certain fashions of the East. The eastern entrance admits through a big double doorway and portico to the Durbar chamber, which is usually the scene of any festivities that the Amir may provide for the delectation of his Court or the entertainment of his guests. At such a moment the floor is carpeted with English carpets and the aisles of the hall are occupied by long tables, each place being set with a cane-bottomed wooden arm-chair, European cutlery and Indian napery. The illumination proceeds from two electric arc lamps, their dynamo worked by a portable engine which is brought from the workshops for the occasion. The building lies east and west across the garden and, at its western extremity, there is the Amir’s Guest House. This comprises, on the ground floor, a large hall, which opens into the palace gardens and three smaller rooms. A stone staircase, with wooden balustrade, leads where there is a second apartment, on an upper floor, lighted by many double windows and giving upon a terrace.

In addition to a summer palace at Indikki, regarded by the late Amir as a convenient place of banishment for his sons when occasion for their punishment occurred, there is the Shah Ara Palace. This was used for the reception of the Dane Mission, and is generally employed in all state ceremonies. It is situated in a spacious garden, where stands during Ramazan a Durbar tent, in which the Amir fulfils his religious duties. For audiences with the Amir at this palace the invited guests assemble in a similar tent, whence they are conducted to the throne room. The floor of this apartment is decorated with Persian carpets; and a row of chairs, arranged along one wall, is confronted by two carved cupboards. In the centre of the room is a polished table and near the entrance there is a smaller one, circular and marble-topped. The Durbars held in this palace are of interest because they constitute one of [Pg 354] the few occasions upon which the Amir of Afghanistan receives and speaks with Europeans.

Invited to the particular reception now described were Major Cleveland, the physician of the Amir, and Mrs. Cleveland; Mr. Finlayson, the architect; Mr. Thornton, the superintendent of the leather factory; the Misses Brown, European medical attendants attached to the Harem; and Mr. Donovan, of the Ordnance Department. The audience had been arranged for noon, and after some little pause, during which the guests were placed in their order of presentation, Habib Ullah sent in to inquire whether he should shake hands with the ladies. Upon receiving a reply in the affirmative he strode into the room, attended by Mahommed Suleiman Khan, his private secretary, Azim Ullah, the Court interpreter, and several pages.

Morning dress appeared to be the order of the function—Mr. Finlayson wearing a frock-coat, Mr. Donovan a blue serge suit, Major Cleveland a blue uniform with sword and no belt. The ladies adopted calling costumes. The [Pg 355] Amir, appearing in his official attire, had donned a black frock-coat, with a single-breasted waistcoat, a white shirt and a pair of light grey trousers over patent boots. He wore a turned-down white collar and a stiff butterfly tie, which it was the privilege of the private secretary to adjust from time to time. Upon his head he wore a black astrakhan cap; the left hand was gloved with brown kid, the glove for the right hand being carried. His clothes were well cut and he was very carefully groomed. Smaller in stature than his father, to whom he bears a marked facial resemblance, his attitude is no less dignified, although his manner is much milder than that which distinguished the late Abdur Rahman. In speaking, Habib Ullah suffers from a slight impediment of speech, the result of an attempt against his life when, as a child, some one endeavoured to poison him. In appearance he is of a light complexion, with heavy features which are adorned with a slight beard and moustache. He is broad, rather clumsily built, with a marked tendency to stoutness. Neither in his face, nor in such evidences of capacity as he has shown, does he reveal the truculent ability of his immediate predecessor upon the throne.

Frankness and self-reliance were, perhaps, the most prominent characteristics of Abdur Rahman’s nature. At the same time, he was a genial, strong, clever man of the world, well-informed upon all subjects of general interest, [Pg 356] eloquent, resolute, logical and possessed of much innate humour and facility in repartee. Always alive to his own interests, he possessed no small capacity for intrigue; and his first bid for position in Afghanistan was as the nominee of the Russians, General Kauffman, the Russian Governor-General of Turkestan, having arranged that he should be supplied with 200 breech-loading rifles, 20,000 rounds of ammunition, accoutrements for 100 horse and 100 footmen and 5000 Bokhara tillas (35,000 rupees). Yet, when he appeared across the border and arrived at a secret understanding with the Government of India about his nomination as Amir, he posed as the champion of his faith and the liberator of the land from foreign domination, suppressing, in order to do this, all mention of his agreement with us and of his relations with Russia. Nevertheless, as soon as his own position was secure, he curtailed the influence of the mullahs.

It was no part of the Russian scheme that Abdur Rahman should go to Kabul. They had calculated that, as we were about to retire from Afghanistan, Abdur Rahman might drive out General Ghulam Haidar from Turkestan and establish himself as ruler. Later, if circumstances should permit and the British nominee at Kabul prove weak or incapable, they expected to strengthen their position there and, at last, to see all Northern Afghanistan under Russian occupation. With our acceptance of Abdur Rahman as Amir, he realised that the interests of himself, his dynasty and his country lay with us. Resolved to obtain all he could from the British Government, he was perfectly good humoured and contented when he found that all his demands could not be granted. He spoke of Russia with friendliness, and acknowledged his obligations to her for the seven years of hospitality that had been shown him. He absolutely denied any agreement with or dependence on her; and, making light of the circumstances under which he left Tashkent as also the instructions and assistance he had received, he preferred, with the aid of England, to reign as an independent sovereign. The results of his rule reveal an astonishing record of work done, and progress made, in the short space of twenty years. Amid constant anxiety and discouragement, surrounded by open enemies and secret traitors, with robber tribes to subdue, the whole machinery of administration to create, and with very few servants and officials who could sympathise with, carry out or even understand his schemes for the development and civilisation [Pg 357] of his country, he yet achieved a signal and brilliant success, leaving it to his successor to cement the structure which he had put together with such labour and loving care or to wreck it altogether.

After addressing a variety of remarks upon the various interests in Kabul to his guests, Habib Ullah opened a general conversation in Persian, as that tongue is the language of the Court. Habib Ullah reads and speaks English, Arabic, Hindustani and Persian, but considers the employment of English as undignified. At the beginning of the audience the Amir seemed preoccupied; but as he had just come from giving orders in connection with the welcome and entertainment of the Dane Mission, he presently talked of that event. He began by a graceful allusion to the Viceroy, Lord Curzon, and a complimentary reference to Lord Kitchener, in acknowledgment of the great interest these distinguished people took in the welfare of his state. Gradually he brought the conversation closer to his subject, likening Afghanistan to the position of a shield held at arm’s length against the enemies of India.

“If such a shield were thin as parchment,” said Habib Ullah, “a child could tear it. But if thick and strong were the shield it would resist all attempts; and it is my object to make this shield strong—so strong that it cannot be broken,” adding with parting reflection that he would discuss further the means of strengthening the shield when the Mission from India had arrived.

At this point in the interview Inayat Ullah Khan, the little prince who at a later date visited India, entered the chamber. Salaaming to his father he stood with the pages until given permission to be seated. Habib Ullah now turned the conversation to his gun accident, finding in the quick recovery that he had made under the skilful attention of Major Bird—physician to the late Viceroy and specially despatched in response to an urgent message from Kabul—a direct manifestation of the grace of Allah. In order that his guests should be in a position to inspect the injured limb the Amir rested his hand upon a table, which he himself drew up. Removing the glove the effects of the operation became apparent. At the moment that Major Bird had arrived in Kabul the hand had become very swollen. There was, also, a great accumulation of pus in the wounds, which it had been necessary to incise; while the terminal phalanx of the index finger, and part of the second phalanx of the [Pg 358] middle finger of the left hand, had been removed. At the time of this audience Major Bird had returned to India. The wounds had healed; and the hand was perfectly healthy, although the joints were still stiff. The accident, which has made him look with greater toleration upon the wisdom of establishing in Kabul a permanent branch of the Indian medical system, had been caused through the bursting of a sixty guinea, hammerless, 12-bore, double-barrel gun of English make. The Amir, on March 28, 1904, was snipe-shooting near the village of Khudadad and had shot twenty brace, when, as he was firing, the right barrel burst, a fragment an inch and a half in length being blown out. Fortunately the palm of the hand was well beneath the barrel, the injured fingers alone resting on the side—a position which explains the escape of the other portion of the hand.

Upon the conclusion of their examination of his hand by his visitors, the reception, which had occupied two hours in duration, terminated with a concluding remark upon the murder of Mr. Fleischer, an English-speaking German subject, who had been sent out from Krupp’s, to superintend the Kabul ordnance yards and workshops. Mr. Fleischer had remained in Kabul in charge of the arsenal until, returning to India to meet his wife and family, he was murdered by the risaldar of the escort that was taking him to Lundi Khana, the limit of Afghan territory in the direction of India. Habib Ullah defended the action of the murderer on the ground that, when a Mahommedan overhears his faith abused, he must kill himself or the traducer. Mr. Fleischer had not abused the Mahommedan religion, the foul deed arising out of a jealous intrigue between Mohammed Sarwar Khan, the official in charge of the Amir’s factories, and the risaldar, but set afoot by Habib Ullah’s practice of accepting complaints against foreign workmen without permitting them to make any explanation on their own behalf. Mr. Martin himself had suffered through having punished this same official, Mohammed Sarwar Khan, for gross insolence, and accordingly had left the Amir’s service. After his departure Mohammed Sarwar Khan plotted against Mr. Fleischer, finding in the latter’s visit to India an opportunity well suited to his purpose on account of the Amir’s hostility to Europeans. Accordingly Mohammed Sarwar Khan instructed the risaldar to provoke Mr. Fleischer in such a way that complaints by this worthy pair could be lodged with Habib Ullah against him.

[Pg 359] The actual incident began on the evening of November 6, 1904, when, near the village of Basawul, a party of Europeans, proceeding to Kabul from Peshawar, were joined at their encampment for the night by Mr. Fleischer and his caravan from Kabul. After dinner Mr. Fleischer discovered that the Europeans from India had not been provided with farrashes, whose duties it is to attend to the pitching and striking of tents in camp. As Mr. Fleischer was going in the morning to Lundi Kotal and would not require his farrashes, he sent a message to the risaldar to inform him that these men were to return to Kabul with the European party from India. The risaldar, on receipt of this message, replied that he would not be responsible for the tents which the Amir had loaned for the journey if the two farrashes were withdrawn. Mr. Fleischer then despatched his servant to tell the man to come to him, which order the risaldar refused to obey. Subsequently, later in the night, when Mr. Fleischer had gone back to his own camp, the fellow was again insubordinate. The next morning, November 7, Mr. Fleischer bade farewell to the Europeans and, proceeding on his way to India, was shot down a mile from Lundi Khana by the risaldar. News of the murder was conveyed to Dakka, the officer of that post going out to meet the risaldar. The newcomer inquired immediately whether there had been any witnesses of the crime, and, learning that it had been witnessed by two muleteers, he suggested that they should be shot too, at the same time guaranteeing to support any story that the risaldar should invent. The murderer did not attach any importance to the matter and declined the proposal, returning to Dakka as the guest of the officer of that fort.

Within a short time news reached the Governor of Jelalabad, who sent out to arrest the risaldar, reporting at the same time the deed to the Amir. To save his own “face” Habib Ullah issued orders that the murderer should be taken back to the scene of his crime and there shot, the escort, which he had commanded, together with his family, being cast into prison. The action of the Amir came as a complete surprise to the risaldar; before execution he explained that, had he known that the Amir would have regarded the shooting of a feringhee with such severity, he would have shot the two witnesses as well.

In appreciation of Mr. Fleischer’s services the Amir went through the farce of announcing to the Government [Pg 360] of India his intention of presenting the widow and her family with a pension. Many months have passed since then and no payment has been awarded, money being as difficult to screw out of Afghanistan as gold is from stones. Nevertheless, Mrs. Fleischer has appealed repeatedly, but without success, to the consideration of the Government of India and to the generosity of the Amir.

In spite of his amiability Habib Ullah does not possess a very secure seat upon his throne, the intrigues of the queen-mother and the jealousy of his brothers disturbing his position. Nor does he receive the confidence of his people or reveal sufficient strength of character to dominate the situation. Afghanistan needs the firm hand of a man, who is as much a maker as a ruler of men. Habib Ullah is weak-willed; and, in a country where the authority of the priest is a law in the land, his subserviency to priestly control and his subjection to the influence of his brother Nasr Ullah Khan have attracted universal attention. Nasr Ullah and the Queen Dowager, Bibi Halima, wife of the late Amir and the mother of Sirdar Mahommed Omar Jar Khan, are the stormy petrels in the Afghan sea of domestic politics. Habib Ullah in some measure understands the situation; and, doubtless, it is out of respect for their dignity that Bibi Halima and Omar Khan are closely protected by a strong detachment of the Imperial Bodyguard—so closely, indeed, that they are practically state prisoners.

It is more difficult for the Amir to assail the position occupied by Nasr Ullah, who was appointed commander-in-chief of the Afghan army in the early days of Habib Ullah’s accession. Little attempt therefore is made by the Amir to curb the masterful will of his brother. Nasr Ullah Khan, who has become a Hafis or repeater of the Koran, also held the office of Shahgassi, or Gentleman Usher to the King. Just before the advent of the Dane Mission at Kabul he was created an Itwad-ul-Dowlah or Pillar of the State. In his dual capacity he threw into the scales already settling against the Mission the whole weight of his influence, ultimately securing its complete discomfiture. He is not, perhaps, the most reliable prop to the policy and rule of his brother, since he aspires to the throne for himself; and, there is no doubt that when opportunity offers, he will make a bid for it. At the moment neither his plans nor his partisans are prepared, but events move with such swiftness in Afghanistan that no one can gauge more than approximately [Pg 361] the varying fortunes of the situation. Serious family quarrels have compelled the Amir to exercise his authority in the arbitrary way common in Afghanistan. The first step taken was in 1904, when the Omar Jar was deprived of his bodyguard, the men being sent back to their regiments. The next step was to remove him from his office as head of all Government officials, an appointment in which he had succeeded Nasr Ullah Kahn in 1902. These proceedings caused much excitement in the capital and public feeling increased when it became known that the Bibi Halima had refused to accept the allowance assigned to her for the upkeep of her household. Matters became further complicated by an incident which roused the Amir’s anger against the “Queen’s” faction. Omar Jar ordered the Master of the Horse to send him the favourite charger of the late Amir. This request was disregarded, and the unfortunate officer, on being summoned to give an explanation, was so maltreated by the Sirdar’s retainers that he died from his injuries. When news of these proceedings reached the ears of the Amir, the Bibi Halima and her son were directed to leave the palace where they had resided since the demise of Abdur Rahman, Habib Ullah finally decreeing that they should be confined to another residence, where they are practically state prisoners. His Highness is said to have asked two of the principal mullahs in Kabul to adjudicate upon the causes of the strained relations existing in his family; but, although a temporary compromise was established, no permanent reconciliation was obtained. It is necessary to study carefully the table [Pg 362] of the Amir’s descent[36] to understand the precise position of affairs existing to-day in Afghanistan.

Even in Afghanistan women wield an influence over the affairs of the state, and its domestic policy is never without the disturbing effect of a jealous woman’s interference. Indeed, the sway of the harem in Court circles at Kabul is as pronounced as the power of the priests—a condition of affairs that is no small departure from the old order, when women and priests were relegated to the background. Since the ascent of the present Amir to the throne there have been changes in the army, in the state and in the harem. Three wives have been divorced—a woman of the Mohmund tribe; a woman from the Helmund country who had only been a few days in Kabul and the daughter of Saad-ud-Din Khan, Hakim of Herat, the will of the Kabul priests prevailing upon Habib Ullah to enforce the spirit of the Koran, which forbids the maintenance of more than four wives. The number of concubines is unrestricted and the strength of the royal harem in this respect increases constantly, slaves of prepossessing appearance—in the service of the queens—being chosen. Their end is usually disastrous, and the hapless woman who, as a slave, excites the admiration of the Amir is generally—“removed.” The four wives who have survived this example of priestly authority are: (1) the mother of Aman Ullah; (2) Ulia Jancah (the daughter of Yusef Khan Barakzai, the favourite wife until recently—she is the mother of a daughter); (3) the daughter of Ibrahim Khan; and (4) the mother of Inayat Ullah. The child of Yusef Khan, Ulia Jancah, is known in the intimate circle of the harem as the Hindustani queen. She is a woman of education, charm and accomplishment. She reads and writes; as a former pupil of an Indian seminary, she also sings and plays the piano. She is no admirer of the Afghan ruler, his people, or the state; and it was the chance expression of this aversion which brought about her displacement.

Amir Dost Mahommed Khan Barakzai. Born 1774. Finally overthrew the power of the ruling Saddozai clan on the death of Shah Shujah, 1829. Died 1863.

Married a daughter of a Shia Rayi of Shalozan in Kuram, sister of Shah Hussein Mania, father of Shah Jehan of Kuram.

Amir Mahommed Afzul Khan. Died 1867. Married a daughter of a Popalzai Rayi of Koh-i-Daman, Haka Kabul, sister of Khwahaja Mahommed Khan, and of Sultan Mahommed Khan Popalzai.

Amir Abdur Rahman Khan. Born 1844. Refugee in Russian territory. 1869-79. Recognized as Amir 1880. Died October 1, 1901.

Married Bibi Halima, daughter of Sahibzadeh Alik Ullah Khan, and grand-daughter, on the maternal side, of Amir Dost Mahommed Khan.

Amir Mahommed Azim Khan. Born (?). Died 1869. Married an Armenian of Kabul, a relative of Daniyal Khan.

Amir Shir Ali Khan. Born 1825. Succeeded as Amir 1863. Died 1879. Married Kamar Jan, sister of Saadet Kahn of Lalpura.

Mahommed Ayub Khan. Born 1856. Refugee, first in Persia and then in India, since 1881.

The woman now filling the position of chief queen is the mother of Aman Ullah. She has recently given birth to a daughter. At a more normal season she strikes an interesting contrast with the daughter of Yusef Khan. She is a woman of ungovernable passions, wilful, domineering, and capricious—an odd mixture of the termagant and the shrew. She has killed with her own hands three of her [Pg 366] slaves who had become enceinte through their intercourse with the Amir, and she chastises personally her erring handmaidens, purposely disfiguring any whose physical attractiveness may appeal to their master. Her influence over the Amir, however, is limited. She sings and dances, but she lacks the subtle craft of the Bibi Halima and the gentle dignity of the Hindustani queen. The four wives of the Amir occupy positions which are graduated to a recognised scale. The first wife, the mother of Aman Ullah, draws an allowance of one lakh of rupees annually; the second wife, Ulia Jancah, the Hindustani queen, 80,000 rupees; the third wife, the daughter of Ibrahim, 20,000 rupees; and the fourth wife, mother of Inayat Ullah, 14,000 rupees a year. The first queen resides in the harem serai of the Shah Ara palace where the two principal concubines, the mothers of Hayat-Ullah Khan[38] and Kabir Jan[39] and respectively former Badakshi and Tokhi slave-girls, are housed. The inmates of the harem are busy people, occupying themselves in knitting, embroidery and other feminine pursuits. The chief wife has a sewing machine and with it makes clothes for her children. The Hindustani Queen, who is of royal birth, lives in great style. She is an ambitious woman and wears English dresses although it should be said that they are costumes in the fashion of thirty years ago. Each of the Amir’s married wives, as distinct from the concubines, has a separate house, where she lives with her children.

The Queen Dowager, Bibi Halima, the mother of Sirdar Mahommed Omar Khan, a woman of engaging personality, at one time held a position not without close resemblance to those filled by the Empress Dowager of China and the Lady Om, queen to the Emperor of Korea. Her intrigues on behalf of her son were over-bold and she is now confined—her son, contrary to the energetic character of his mother, taking little interest in his situation. The Bibi Halima is a woman of considerable beauty, particularly intelligent and well informed. She is nearly forty-three years of age, and her sympathies are so distinctly British that her palace is regarded with as much suspicion as the British agency. The law of succession to the thrones in Mahommedan countries, apart from the exercise of opportunity which secures recognition upon the basis that might is right, entails the [Pg 369] throne upon the son of the first woman whom the ruler may have married. The heir may be younger than sons born to other women, but, if such a marriage were the first alliance contracted by his father, the succession is seldom set aside. Abdur Rahman, however, departed from this custom as the Amirs of Afghanistan have power to appoint their successors.

Habib Ullah is the offspring of a Wakhan concubine named Gulriz with whom the Amir Abdur Rahman consorted. Bibi Halima, also the wife of Abdur Rahman, lays claim to it through her direct descent from the Amir Dost Mahommed Khan. She is of the Blood Royal indubitably; and, if she were in possession of her liberty, she would soon compel her son, Sirdar Mahommed Omar Khan, to take the field. His chances of success in any rebellion would be as great as those enjoyed by his half-brother, Nasr Ullah Khan, similarly a son of Gulriz and full brother to Habib Ullah. The disparity in the ages of these three sons of Abdur Rahman bears upon the present situation—Habib Ullah, born 1872, and Nasr Ullah, born 1874, being many years the senior of Mahommed Omar, who was born at Mazar-i-Sharif on September 15, 1889. By a strange irony, which may yet be not without its effect upon the succession to the throne, Inayat Ullah, the son of Habib Ullah and the lawful heir to the throne, was born in 1888, his uncle, the son of Bibi Halima and Abdur Rahman, being only six months younger.

Ultimately, there is some prospect of a struggle for the throne taking place between the uncle and his nephew. Each is a young man; but, although time may not temper their discretion, it does lie within the power of Habib Ullah to place the rights of his son beyond the reach of this particular rival candidate. In any case, and it is of interest to note it, Habib Ullah has gone out of his way to consolidate the position of his eldest son, Inayat Ullah. This he did by despatching him on the recent mission to India and appointing him Governor of Kabul, while Mahommed Omar shares the restricted liberty of his mother, and Hayat Ullah, born in 1890, the son of a Badakshi slave-girl and half-brother to Inayat Ullah, the heir-apparent, has been appointed to Badakshan as Governor of the province. These facts are in reality only eddies showing the way that the current runs in Kabul, where [Pg 372] from its complex nature the position may be described as shifting, delicate and treacherous as any quicksand. None the less the policy of the new Amir has been markedly benevolent; and his remission of certain taxes, his many acts of clemency to Afridi fugitives and his invitations[41] to Afghan refugees of noble or tribal families to return, reveal a great change in the controlling forces in Afghanistan. It is to us not a matter of gratification altogether, for it merely shows that the tribal leaders of noble families have lost their influence, that they can no more sway factions or parties in the population, and that power in Afghanistan is being gradually centralised around the Amir in a circle of officials which is controlled by the mullahs. The invitation to the refugees to come back is not out of any generosity of feeling; it arises from pride—and a desire to appear to be indulgent to those who are helpless and who are now impotent. In fact it is political charity, intended to spread the good name of the new ruler of Afghanistan in India, and to impress the British Government. It is a certain indication too, that, in the event of complications in the future with Afghanistan, the assistance of dissatisfied Sirdars will be of little value, for, in a few years if not very soon, the only elements will be the officials, the bureaucracy and the mullahs. At the same time the power of the Amir himself has been reduced and transferred to the officials. The measures of Abdur Rahman prepared the way for this change. He either killed or frightened out of Afghanistan every rival or every individual likely to acquire influence. His declaration and boast was that his God-granted Government ruled for the benefit of the people and the glory of religion, that he had no object but the good of the country and no secrets from the people as he had no interests but theirs to serve. There is not amongst any class of Afghans the feeling of reverence for the throne which exists in Turkey or in Persia. The Amir is the highest official of a tribe, that has seized power; and Afghanistan is gradually evolving a bureaucratic Government controlled by priestly influence, whose policy will not always be measured by the interests of the country, but by whatever interpretations of the “Sheriat” some powerful mullah may conjure up.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan is acknowledged to be an independent Government within certain limitations. No [Pg 373] Power has any right to interfere in its administration, although it is obvious that certain contingencies might alter its position in this respect. In the meantime, the Government of Afghanistan owes no national debt nor any war indemnity. The Amir is not hampered by any capitulations with Foreign Governments; he has no foreign ambassadors in his capital—although this is more a grievance than a pleasure to him, since he is anxious to vaunt his independence before the Courts of Europe.

The relations between Great Britain and Afghanistan as they stand to-day are fixed by treaties. The British Government acknowledges the independence of Afghanistan; it accepts responsibility for its safety and integrity against unprovoked aggressions, so long as the Amir does not act against the advice of the British Government in matters affecting his relations with other countries. Great Britain pays the Amir eighteen lakhs of rupees as an annual subsidy by virtue of Sir Mortimer Durand’s treaty with the Amir Abdur Rahman, dated 1893 and confirmed by Sir Louis Dane with the Amir Habib Ullah, 1904-1905; in addition to which she permits Afghanistan to import without restriction supplies of war materials and to maintain a political agent at the Court of the Viceroy of India.

In return for this understanding with the Imperial Government, the Amir is bound by his word and treaties to be the friend and ally of Great Britain; he pledges himself not to communicate with any Foreign Power without consulting with the Indian Government, and to accept at Kabul a British Agent, who must always be a Mahommedan subject and provided solely with a native staff.

The British agent at Kabul holds an absolutely thankless position. He is shunned of necessity by Europeans in order to avoid giving rise to political suspicions, and he may see the Amir only in the public Durbars or by special appointment. To all intents and purposes he is a prisoner; since, although received in Durbar, he does not visit any one and seldom ventures into the street. If a European were seen speaking to the British Agent, or to any one attached to his staff, he would certainly be packed off at once to the frontier. No Afghan is allowed to enter the British Agency and no Englishman has visited the British Agent, since Sir Salter Pyne left Kabul. Even to be [Pg 374] found near the building causes suspicion, as several Afghans have discovered. Moreover, since in many cases punishment has not ended merely with imprisonment, it has become an unwritten law to avoid the British agent and his entourage at any cost.

The British political agents at Kabul are appointed by the Indian Foreign Office, who forward to the Amir for his approval the names of a few Mahommedan officials. One of these candidates is selected, the term of office being from three to five years. Upon returning to India he is usually rewarded with the title of Nawab. The Agency staff consists of two secretaries, one hospital assistant, and about two or three dozen private servants and bodyguard, all of which must be natives of India. The British agent attends the public audiences of the Amir; but, if he has any letters or communications from the British Government to convey to the Amir, he must ask for an appointment to deliver them.

If there are any legal disputes or claims between members of the staff of the British agent, both plaintiff and defendant are referred by him to the Courts of Justice in India. If the British agent or any member of his staff has a dispute with the Afghan subjects of the Amir, such cases are usually decided in the Courts of Kabul, under the law of that country. Complications of a very serious political character are invariably referred to the Governments of India and Afghanistan for arrangement between themselves.

The British agent puts his diary and also the private letters of the whole of his staff into one package, which he hands to the Amir’s Postmaster-General at Kabul, taking a receipt for their delivery under seal; from the Amir’s post-office they are sent down to Peshawar, where the Amir’s postmaster is given a discharge for their surrender to the political agent at Peshawar. In the same manner the packages of letters, which are delivered by the British political agent at Peshawar to the Amir’s postmaster at that place, are forwarded to the British agent at Kabul by the Amir’s Postmaster-General, who also takes a voucher for their safe and proper condition. The services and duties of the Amir’s political agent with the Viceroy of India, who, together with his staff, is a Mahommedan subject of the Amir, are nearly the same as those of the British agent [Pg 375] at Kabul, except that the term and time of his office is not limited and depends entirely on the pleasure of the Amir. Besides the political agent, the Amir has various commercial agents in India as well as in England, the most important of these having been Sir Acquin Martin, Mr. T. B. Guthrie and Mr. E. T. Pack. Each of these industrious and excellent servants of the Amir has suffered the loss of large sums of money through a very pronounced defect in the Amirs of Afghanistan, which causes them to forget their obligations so long as there is a frontier lying between the Government of Kabul and those with whom its debts have been contracted. Representations remain unanswered and, apparently, no authority exists which can make the Amir of Afghanistan redeem his liabilities, although an obvious course awaits if the Government of India would assent to the attachment of the subsidy.

[37] Adapted from “The Life of Abdur Rahman”: Sultan Mahomed Khan and “The Middle Eastern Question”: Valentine Chirol.

[Pg 376]

CHAPTER XV

KABUL AND ITS BAZAARS

The bazaars of Kabul are quite unworthy of the capital, but radical improvement in their character could only be made by a complete reconstruction of the city. Here and there new ones have been built, Habib Ullah himself having erected several at his own expense, but the principle of construction, adopted at the time of the building of the city, is the great stumbling block to any extensive alterations. The narrowness of the streets, many of which are mere alleys, gives rise to perpetual congestion; while, in consequence of their contracted character, they are always dirty and overloaded with the refuse of the houses, more particularly in winter when they are blocked with the snow, which is swept from the roofs. Of the several bazaars of the city,[42] the three principal, running irregularly parallel to each other, are the Shor Bazar, the Erg Bazar, and the Darwaza Lahori Bazar. The former extends east and west from the Bala Hissar to the Ziarat Baba Khudi, a distance of little more than three-quarters of a mile. The latter, stretching from the Darwaza Lahori, passes through the centre of the wood market and terminates at the New Bridge. The Erg Bazar crosses the town and communicates with the workshops. The western portion of the Darwaza Lahori Bazar [Pg 377] was the site of the Char Chata, at one time undoubtedly the most magnificent bazaar in Afghanistan. The structure, ascribed to Ali Mardan Khan, whose name is immortal in these countries, was handsomely laid out and highly embellished with paintings. Four covered arcades, of equal length and dimensions, were separated from each other by open squares, originally provided with wells and fountains. The entire fabric was destroyed in October 1842 by General Pollock, as retribution for the murder of Sir William Macnaghten and the indignities offered to his remains.

The Nakush Bazar, or cattle market, is situated north of the Kabul river and west of the Pul-i-Kishti in the Indarabi quarter. The Mandi Kalan and the Mandi Shahzada, the chief grain bazaars, lie in the Tandur Sazi quarter, between the Shor Bazar and the Darwaza Lahori. The Shikarpuri quarter, adjoining the Pul-i-Kishti on the right bank of the river, is the fruit market. Here are collected the various fruits for which the capital of Afghanistan is so famous, the exhibition of grapes, apples, apricots and pears becoming at once the glory of the bazaars. Melons are missing from this bazaar, as this important branch of the fruit trade of Afghanistan is conducted in the Mandi Kalan. Near to the fruit bazaar are the wood and charcoal markets, each section of trade possessing its particular locality and its special marketplace.

In this way there is a shoe bazaar, a meat market, a vegetable market, a copper bazaar, silk bazaar and certain central marts where arms, tobacco, furs, medicines and cloth are sold. In the boot bazaar there are a number of Anglo-Indian importations and no less a quantity from Russia. The native shoes are made from leather which is manufactured [Pg 378] in Kabul at the Amir’s factory—articles of local manufacture being put up as a rule upon the premises where they are sold. The more important merchants possess accommodation beneath their shops, where craftsmen, whose special industry is allied with the business in the premises above them, are employed. These underground rooms are so small that the men at work are compelled to crouch over their knees, while customers, who bring articles for repair, sit in the street. In the copper bazaar, where domestic utensils are to be found, there is the ceaseless tapping of countless hammers, as the men, assisted by boys who ply the bellows or feed the furnace with charcoal, wield their tools upon long-necked vases, hubble-bubbles, kettles, cooking pots, water-bottles with delicate handles and graceful spouts, stoves, plates and copper boxes of all shapes and sizes. These workers in metals, whether they are the ironmongers or silversmiths, smelters of copper or the moulders of brass, are worthy of their hire, and bring to their labours an extraordinary patience and exactitude. The silversmiths are, perhaps, the most wonderful craftsmen, although the men who trace fantastic designs upon metal vessels with blunt instruments are not to be despised. From early morning, without cessation until the heat of the mid-day hours makes work impossible, they bend over their tasks, actively working their pliers, tweezers and hammers as they fashion ear-rings, bracelets or graven ewers. The business, transacted at these stalls, seems out of proportion with the labour involved, as sales are arranged between the merchant and his customers only after many days of protracted dealing.

The method of barter is always the same in the East. Customers sit down by the side of the merchant, examining and asking the value of his goods, praising certain pieces and decrying others, until conversation has worked round to the article which it is desired to buy. Ten times the price will be asked at first, perhaps haggled over with all sincerity, until, as the would-be purchaser rises to leave, a few rupees will be knocked off the figure which the vendor has been demanding. It is then prudent to leave, returning some other day to begin over again. The hours spent in an Oriental bazaar are of such supreme interest that they are sacrificed very willingly and are not easily forgotten. The setting of the scene is romantic, while the life of the city passes in endless, kaleidoscopic [Pg 379] changes of character, of costume and of men and beasts. It is never wise to hurry transactions conducted amid such environment. Time is of no value to the merchant, who regards the overtures with indifference. He may hope that ultimately his customer will become his patron, but he would never show his satisfaction nor lose an opportunity to drive a haggling bargain. Around the shops there are always groups of idle but profoundly interested spectators. Some one ascertains the price the worker is paid; another inquires of the merchant the amount he will receive for it; and, in the hope of extracting a commission from the proprietor of the shop or his purchaser, all are eager to advise the customer upon the merits of the article he may have chosen or the sum he may have offered.

In the silk and cotton bazaar there is equally the press and bustle of an active trade, a continuous passing of gaily-decked customers and busy traders—from India with caravans of silk, from Turkestan with bales of printed cottons, plain calicoes and other articles of Russian manufacture, merchants and itinerant traders from the most distant parts of Afghanistan, from Persia and from Kashgar. There is, too, a wonderful blaze of colour in the silk stalls, while the display of goods in the cotton shops reveals a various assortment of English clothing—cotton and merino vests, men’s shirts, drawers and socks—and a variety of coloured waistbands, a weird collection of ties and some really startling handkerchiefs from India. These stalls, whether their effects are imported from India or from Turkestan, are mostly in the keeping of Hindus, who transact a very profitable business with their Afghan masters. Nevertheless, long intercourse with Afghanistan has quite crushed the Hindu, obliterating all trace of his original individuality, and emphasising his inborn humility and lack of spirit. In Kabul the Hindus pay a poll tax and wear turbans, which may be only red or yellow—a similar rule prevailing in Kandahar. Formerly they affected the red, the blue lungi, which is prohibited to them, being favoured by the Afghans. Similar indications of prosperity may be found in the skin bazaar, where the furriers are engaged in making the fur coats for which Kabul has become famous. Here there are several kinds of expensive furs such as marten, a variety of red fox, squirrel, wild cat and astrakhan. Over the latter fur the Amir exercises a monopoly. The cheaper kinds are put to numerous purposes, figuring as [Pg 380] lining for cloaks, hats and high boots of the Russian and Turcoman pattern. Many of the fur caps are costly in production and elaborate in design. Cut from a piece of velvet, trimmed with fur and heavily embroidered with gold thread from Benares, they are sold in the Kabul bazaars only to the richest classes, becoming, as a rule, a finishing touch to a costume which, on the score of colour effect, will leave little to be desired.

The character of the costume adopted by the average Afghan depends, in a certain measure, upon whether he is a hillsman or one who is accustomed to town-life. If he possess merely a casual acquaintanceship with the life of the towns, coming to them from some small village or in charge of a trading caravan from the border, his costume is simple although effective. Probably he is a fine-looking man: tall, with a long, blue-black beard; his head may be shaven, or his long hair may hang in ringlets over his shoulders. He will wear a small unembroidered skull-cap and wound round it a blue, coarse, cotton lungi. A loose vest, caught at the waist by the ample folds of a cummerbund, will reach the knees; and tucked within these folds there will be pistols and an array of formidable knives. His drawers of cotton and reaching only a little below the knees are very baggy. Round his shoulders there will be thrown carelessly, but with conspicuous grace, a heavy blue cotton shawl; his feet will be ornamented by leather sandals with high curving toes.

The dress of a man of the better classes differs from that adopted by the hillsman. He then wears tom-bons or pyjamas, gathered in at the waist and falling in tapering folds from the hip to the ankle, where they fit closely. The native shoes will be worn without socks, unless the wearer is wealthy. An embroidered piran or chemise falls over the pyjamas nearly to the knees, and a waistcoat, reaching a little below the waist, with long sleeves and a slit at the hip, is also affected. The costume is completed by a loose robe. The waistcoat is of velvet or cloth, quilted and generally gold embroidered. The coat is of thin native cloth. The Kabul man-about-town usually amplifies the native costume with European innovations; as a rule the higher he rises in the social scale the more Europeanised he becomes in costume.

Nevertheless, the readiness to follow certain European fashions depends solely upon the personal influence of [Pg 381] the Amir, although the custom prevails more generally in Kabul than in many parts of India. European weapons are, of course, acquired by all who can afford them; but the earliest and the most striking change of dress is the replacement of the cummerbund by a belt, with a brass or silver buckle and decorated with two labels—“Made in Germany” and “God Bless the Happy Home.” Upon more serious grounds the wisdom of this innovation may be questioned, since the climate of Afghanistan is subject to such great variations of temperature that the cummerbund affords excellent protection to the abdominal region. The purchase of socks and “foreign style” coat or, better still, a discarded uniform follows, while patent leather button boots are considered to give a nice, dressy appearance to the bareness of the leg. Trousers are not general in any degree, although they are affected among the upper classes and also in Court and military circles. They are made quite loose and are put on over the native pyjamas. In spite of the popularity which foreign dress has achieved, it is always discarded in the privacy of the family. While nothing affords Habib [Pg 382] Ullah so much pleasure as showing himself in European costume in public, nothing will induce him to wear Western clothes once the doors of his palace have closed upon him and he can recline at his ease amid well-placed cushions. His disapproval of ostentatious habiliment was revealed at the Nauroz festival in 1903, when he ordained that all good Mahommedans of the upper classes should eschew braid, gold lace and embroidered shoes. He also enjoined them to wear trousers and to keep the feet and ankles bare. Hindus were ordered to wear yellow turbans and to encircle the waist with a cord as a mark of distinction and humility.

The attire adopted for ordinary purposes differs in a very considerable degree from that worn by a Court attendant. Regulation Court costume comprises a black cloth coat, vest and trousers, circular astrakhan hat, and white collar with a black necktie. Any one who wishes to attend at the palace or to be present at a Durbar, must wear this dress, which is cut to a special pattern. Military officers wear their uniform. On State occasions the Amir himself is resplendent in a scarlet coat, richly embroidered with gold lace, white cloth trousers and white gloves. For headgear he has an astrakhan hat decorated with a large diamond star,—the costume being completed by a gold belt with jewelled buckle, sword and gold shoulder-straps surmounted by a diamond insignia. In semi-state dress Habib Ullah puts himself into a black uniform, faced with several revers of braid and having deep, astrakhan cuffs, black cloth trousers braided, and patent leather knee-boots. The sleeves, cap, sword and shoulder-straps are the same as in full dress. At other times the Amir wears the ordinary garb of an English gentleman and greatly dislikes any exaggerated display of jewellery, believing that simplicity is not only desirable but in accord with the tenets of the Mahommedan religion. In furtherance of that view he has restricted the wearing of jewellery among men to signet rings and prohibited altogether the gaudy silk handkerchiefs, which it had been the fashion to display about the shoulders. It is difficult for the Afghans to subdue their passion for ostentation. Friday, a day which corresponds with our Sunday, is the great festival of the Afghan. This weekly holiday commences with a visit to the baths and a brief call at the mosque, after which the entire family, arrayed in its best, [Pg 383] proceeds to take the air. There are many gardens of a sort in Kabul; and each is thronged by people, who sit about the pathways bartering for bunches of fruit and trays of sweetmeats, or loll with rapt attention around the perch of some singing-bird. Every man of consequence is attended by slaves bearing his pipe, the cage of his pet songster, sweetmeats and fruit, the party coming to a halt in some secluded spot where, lying at ease, receiving and returning the salutations of his friends, he listens to the notes of his favourite bird.

The indoor costume of an Afghan woman is no less picturesque than that of her lord and master. Even to a plain and awkward woman it imparts some appearance of grace. The piran extends from the throat to just above the ankles, with sleeves that reach to the wrist. It is of cloth of gold, velvet, silk, cashmere or calico, and in shape not unlike our own Princess robe. Beneath this are the tom-bons, very similar to the garment worn by men.[43] These may be of cloth of gold, silk, cashmere or calico; they are finished off at the ankles by a fringe of diamonds, gold or silver. A round cap, worked all over with gold thread, so that it looks like gold cloth, is fitted closely to the back of the head. The hair, parted in the centre, is done up in tiny braids, which are caught in a black silk embroidered bag, worn underneath the gold cap, but hanging down the back to below the waist. Married women wear a fringe of hair, often curled, on either side of the face. Descending from the top of the head to the hem of the piran, leaving the face uncovered, is the gracefully-draped chadar—a large [Pg 384] wrapping of finest muslin, filmy gauze, or delicately tinted chiffon. Black hair is in vogue among the belles of the harem; if their locks reveal any shade of fairness or show indications of turning grey the vain creatures, adopting the custom of their Western sisters, at once dye them. Like all their sex, too, they delight in jewellery and conspicuous ornaments, and a considerable portion of their savings is expended upon the purchase of necklaces, ear-rings and bracelets. All who can afford it wear flowers just above the right ear, while they also indulge in the use of cosmetics. Paint and powder, rouge for the lips and the blackening pencil for eyebrows and eyelashes are the adventitious aids to whatever natural charms they may possess.

Proud of their prepossessing qualities, the women of Afghanistan have exploited their charms so much that it was left to Habib Ullah to impose a check upon the increasing attractiveness of the street costume of the feminine portion of his subjects. One day, in the spring of 1903, to the unspeakable dismay of many pretty women and of all young girls, he issued orders, changing the white burka, which, although covering the head and figure and leaving a latticed insertion before the face, was in a measure attractive. Thereafter these white street robes were to be dyed kharki for Mahommedan women, red or mustard-yellow for Hindu women and slate colour for other women. Disobedience of this law was threatened with a fine of fifty rupees, while its requirements had to be fulfilled within fourteen days. Unhappily, by this change an attractive feature in the life of the city has disappeared, the lamentable hues enforced upon the poor ladies by the Amir’s edict emphasising the dirt and discomfort of the Kabul streets.

In Afghanistan, as in all Mahommedan countries, the women lead a very secluded life, seldom venturing into the streets. The conditions of their married life are unfortunate, since the religion of the Afghan permits him to possess four wives, while no restrictions are imposed upon the number of concubines that he may support. This law in regard to wives is broken at will; and, while plurality of wives may be conducive to the satisfaction of the husband, it is unnecessary to say that the practice is not in favour among the women, who, in this matter, incline their hearts after the customs of the West. Moreover, women are not the sole companions of their husbands, for in Afghanistan, as in most Oriental countries, the small, but comely, boy is the [Pg 385] more frequent intimate of their masters. At Court and in the households of the several princes this characteristic feature of the East may be observed, the existence of these boys being accepted by the priests, who themselves indulge in this most peculiar vice.

In spite of their position, women do contrive to play an important part in the life of the country and, in a measure, help to keep alive many of the old superstitions of the people, while their passionate credulity no doubt exercises an influence over the feelings of their husbands. Their strongest superstition perhaps attaches to the potency of the frog as a love charm. Women, especially in the harem of the Amir where jealousy is supreme, resort constantly to this enchantment to improve their positions. The mode of procedure is as follows: two frogs are tied back to back. A black heart is then painted upon the bull frog, while the head of the cow is similarly ornamented. The pair are then baked alive and the remains reduced to powder, which, sprinkled upon some dear friend, is supposed to cause her to lose the favour of her husband and to give place to the rival. This spell is employed so frequently even among the lowest classes that there is probably no household in which recourse to it is not made every few days. In the harem of the palace the chief queen keeps a slave boy whose sole duty it is to provide the frogs necessary for the preparation. It is the invariable experience of native ladies, when calling upon the queen, to find that [Pg 386] they have been surreptitiously powdered with it at the hands of some discreet attendant.

Another legend, implicitly accepted by the women of Afghanistan, is associated with the Lata Bund Davan or Rag Bound Pass. It ordains that they will have healthy children, and gain favour in the eyes of their lords, if they tie a piece of cloth to the bushes in the Rag Bound Pass. Certain prescribed prayers, of course, accompany the ceremony, the summit of the pass presenting an extraordinary aspect from the fluttering rags, and streamers of cotton, calico and cloth which have been secured there.

Among men a bullet which has been through a human body is valued very highly, the supernatural powers of such a charm finding immediate acceptance with the Amir. Whenever they are extracted from any patient in the Kabul hospitals, Habib Ullah secures possession of the coveted relic to the great grief of its owner who, equally with him, supports the view that such a bullet acts as a preservative of life. Unfortunately, complaint is fruitless; the man who would be bold enough to seek the restoration of his property might find himself condemned to imprisonment or execution.

There is little doubt that the gross superstition prevailing in the country is the direct effect of its religious bigotry. Afghanistan, if Turkey be excepted, is the most powerful Mahommedan country in the world, and religion exercises a deciding voice in its affairs. The real rulers of the people are the priests, whether the wise men who have made the pilgrimage to Mecca, or merely the wandering fakirs whose fanatical tendencies are so easily aroused. The great division of the State lies between the two religious sects, the Sunni and the Shiah Mahommedans. In the main, Afghans are Sunni; while the Persians, the Hazaras, the Kizzilbashes of Kabul and the Turis of the Kurram border, are Shiahs. The Kafirs of Kafiristan are pagan. Between these two sects there exists an envenomed feud which is by no means confined to Afghanistan, similar contempt, and an equal undying hatred against the other, distinguishing the partisans of either sect wherever they may meet. In Afghanistan Habib Ullah is the leader of the Sunnis, but his power is purely nominal; the real leader is Nasr Ullah Khan. The Amir of Kabul recently requested the priesthood to pronounce formally upon the question as to what amount of tolerance should be shown to the Shiahs [Pg 387] in Afghanistan. The decision formulated was that the Sunni religion was the one true Faith which should be recognised by his Highness as “King of Islam.” Accordingly all ceremonial observances of the Shiahs in Kabul have been stopped and similar action is likely to be taken elsewhere. It is seen, however, that the services of the Hindu colony cannot be dispensed with, as its leading members have a good deal to say in matters of finance and trade, while the Kizzilbashes (of Persian origin) are also a thrifty community in Kabul. It has therefore been ordered that their places of worship are to be 5 feet lower than the Sunni mosques, and existing buildings are to be altered accordingly. Since the Shiahs are not numerous enough to give any political trouble they will probably conform to the orders issued, which naturally met with the immediate approval of the Sunnis.

Ramasan, the period corresponding with our Lent, is very strictly observed. It continues throughout the Moslem world for one lunar month and in Kabul the Amir, his Court and his subjects deny themselves most strictly. Gun-fire at dawn—from which time no one is allowed to eat, to drink, or to smoke—gives the signal. It terminates at sunset, when just previous to evening gun-fire the activity round the provision stalls is tremendous, the spectacle of a vast concourse simultaneously preparing to eat anywhere and everywhere—in the palace, in the mansions of the wealthy, in the hovels of the poor, in the crowded street—no matter what any may be doing, as the signal breaks, being very singular. Between gun-fire at dusk and gun-fire at dawn two meals are partaken, after which the wise make day into night, retiring to their couches to wait for the hour when they prepare to feed again. The termination of the fast is celebrated by the firing of guns, general feasting and rejoicing, while the following day is observed as the Id—the great festival of the Mahommedan calendar. On this day the Amir and his Court proceed in full state to the Idgah Mosque, when prayers are celebrated by Nasr Ullah in person, the service being followed by a public Durbar held in the Salaam Khana where Habib Ullah meets his people.

Four days are annually set apart for religious celebrations in Afghanistan. These comprise two Id festivals, one immediately following Ramasan, the other two months and ten days later; the third, the Barat festival, takes place forty-five [Pg 388] days before Ramasan. The fourth event is Nauroz or New Year which falls invariably upon March 21. Abdur Rahman created a fifth festival, observed upon 28th of Asad, in remembrance of the day when confirmation of his title “The Light of the Nation and Religion” was received from all the centres of Afghanistan.

Priestly influence in Afghanistan is anything but beneficial. The priests impose upon the credulity of the people, concealing their actual worthlessness by a continuous assumption of godliness which they do not really practise. Their power is opposed to foreign development, since any raising of the veil about the borders of Afghanistan would deal a grievous blow to their position. Habib Ullah is completely subjugated to their will, and his brother, Nasr Ullah Khan, imbibes his anti-foreign prejudices from their bigoted teachings. At once a curse and a power in the land, they are the most enduring menace to our influence which the country contains. As a religion Mahommedanism exacts constant adoration of the qualities of God. The word Allah in a variety of intonations, or the phrase “God knows,” recur without cessation to the lips of every devout follower of the Prophet. All correspondence of an official or private character also addresses itself in the first place to the Supreme Deity—letters beginning with the phrase “In the name of God” and closing with the farewell salutation, “With the will of God,” or “In the hands of God.” This peculiarity quite fails to arouse sentiments of very great depth among the great mass of the Afghans, although the western areas frequently develop a spirit of ghazidom, under pressure of which feeling and excitement become intense.

Religion is allied with the practice of medicine and the pursuit of learning in Afghanistan, although in respect of education no settled procedure has been adopted. Upon occasion Abdur Rahman gave expression to his intention of founding a native university in Kabul, and Habib Ullah in 1904 actually imported from India five Mahommedan graduates from Lahore College for the purpose of founding a college for the education of the sons of Afghan nobles. The plan raised the hostility of the priests and was abandoned. At present the Amir contemplates the erection of a military academy. Unhappily the roads round Kabul are paved with good intentions, and the educational system of Afghanistan has made no advance upon the native principle of oral teaching. There are no schools or colleges under [Pg 389] European supervision similar to those which exist in other Eastern countries, and the young idea is only trained to read Persian, to quote extensively from the Koran, to write, to shoot and to ride. Nothing further is desired by the priests, since it is their aim to maintain their authority unimpaired by extraneous suggestion.

The priests exert in a measure a two-fold power. In the villages of the countryside it is the local mullah who drives into the dull wits of his audience the rudiments of reading, writing, and religion. At the same time, in addition to teaching the countryside he professes to heal it, although attempts have been made from time to time to establish in Kabul European control in medical matters. But the Court is suspicious; and, while Abdur Rahman supported in theory the introduction of improved medical knowledge, enlisting in March 1889 Mr. J. A. Gray as his private surgeon, he was in practice opposed to its acceptance. Nevertheless, under the supervision of various distinguished people attempts have been made to instruct native doctors in the art of vaccination and in simple dispensing; while, in 1894, Miss Lillias Hamilton opened an hospital in Kabul. At their instigation, too, military hospitals, placed in the charge of native druggists who were familiarised with Western ideas, were started. Popular prejudices [Pg 390] prevail so strongly in the capital, that no great success has attended these efforts, and the medical arrangements of Afghanistan have remained under the control of the native professors of the healing art, save for those spasmodic interruptions which have occurred when more competent authorities were summoned to Kabul from India by the Amir.

Miss Lillias Hamilton spent three years at the Court of Abdur Rahman, the cause of her becoming medical attendant to the Amir being somewhat curious. Abdur Rahman, observing the good effect that association with English gentlemen had on the men folk of his country, conceived the brilliant idea of providing an example for Afghan women by obtaining the presence of an English lady. On the announcement being made that a lady was required merely to be entertained as a visitor for six months at the Amir’s Court Miss Hamilton applied for the post, and was accepted. Her appointment as physician was due to the fact that the Amir fell ill during her visit, and wisely availed himself of the aid of the only qualified medical practitioner in the country. Miss Lillias Hamilton always described the late Amir as a man of simple mind, who was nevertheless possessed of a progressive spirit. On being asked why he entertained a friendly feeling towards Great Britain, the Amir said:

This charming and well-known physician relates several characteristic anecdotes of the late monarch, of which one is reproduced here. After an eclipse of the sun Abdur Rahman said to Miss Hamilton:

Miss Hamilton assured him that she could, and proceeded to do so with the aid of a candle and an orange. In the evening when, according to his custom, Abdur Rahman held a reception, he told his people that they were all very stupid and that he was sure not one of them could explain the eclipse. Many wild suggestions were made, until the Amir [Pg 391] attempted to give the demonstration that Miss Hamilton had shown him. Since she kindly came to his assistance it went off so successfully that the company were deeply impressed with the Amir’s wisdom.

Multitudes of ailing people flocked to Miss Hamilton for advice, some of them sleeping outside her hospital all night in order to be attended to the first thing in the morning. This lady doctor was also the first to introduce the Western system of vaccination into Afghanistan, where almost the greatest scourge is small-pox, and where the Amir does not allow conscientious objectors!

As one foreign physician has left Kabul and another has taken his place, the newcomer has found that the hospital buildings of his predecessor have become in the interval the premises of a school, a depôt for military stores, or have fallen altogether into ruin. The establishment which has served longest as an hospital was built for that purpose by Nasr Ullah Khan in compliment to Mrs. Daly, who was so long associated with Miss Hamilton as medical adviser to the harem. It contained 100 beds. This building is now a magazine for artillery stores, while a second, which filled a similar purpose under Dr. Gray, is now a school. During the eight years in which Mrs. Daly was engaged in medical work in Afghanistan she held the appointment of private physician to Abdur Rahman’s queen, Bibi Halima, besides filling the post of medical adviser to the Kabul Government. Mrs. Daly has stated that between three hundred to five hundred patients daily visited her, and that, while very interested in her work, she was sorely harassed by the unceasing espionage of which she was the very conscious victim. The high opinion which the Government of Afghanistan formed of Mrs. Daly’s services is aptly illustrated by a testimonial from Habib Ullah, which was presented to her in the autumn of 1902. It ran:

[Pg 392] In the following year, 1903, the European residents of Kabul subscribed through a committee of three to an expression of gratitude to Mrs. Daly in the following terms:

There are several degrees of native “practitioners.” There is first the class who professes to dress wounds and ulcers, to set fractures and to probe for bullets. These men have no ability and very little real knowledge of their work. They are quite ignorant of anatomy. The mischief perpetrated by these “dressers,” as they are called, is equalled by the class who practise the art of surgery and are described as “barbers.” These men are specialists in the extraction of teeth, and in “bleeding”—a cure used equally for liver complaints, fevers, indigestion, rheumatism, and gout. In addition to these two there is a third expert, the oculist, who, like his colleagues in the previous classes, is entirely deficient in any knowledge of his work. These three medical authorities are distinct from the hakims, who practise as physicians simply. These latter do not use the knife or even have recourse to bleeding. Their principal method of treatment, which is without pathological relation to cause and effect and lacks recognition of the malady from which the sick may be suffering, is by the administration of purgatives, in the healing properties of which they place great faith. They provide for their own existence by preying upon the superstitions and credulity of the public. These four classes—dressers, barbers, oculists and hakims are responsible for at least 70 per cent. of the annual death-roll of the city. From time to time, particularly under the régime of Dr. Gray, energetic attempts were made to [Pg 393] combat these evils; in place of these so-called curative remedies, courses of elementary instruction in the art of medicine, in the science of physiology and in anatomy were suggested. These schemes were entirely fruitless and aroused an actively hostile and violent propaganda, which was directed against the foreign physicians.

Unfortunately, ministrations of European medical officers in Kabul are handicapped very seriously by the injudicious liberty of practice which is allowed to any wandering hospital assistant who, after a few months’ casual acquaintance with some Indian hospital, sets up in the Afghan capital. These men, in whom a little learning is as dangerous as the more complete ignorance of the Afghan self-appointed leech, use foreign medicines without distinguishing the properties of the several ingredients. It is not to be supposed that the Afghan doctor fails to make capital out of the repeated failures of the Hindustani quack; and, as the hakim finds his patients among the better classes of the residents, the prejudice, emanating from his unceasing denunciation of the methods of foreign practitioners, is stronger among the upper ranks of Kabul society than among the very poor. It is, indeed, among the latter that lively appreciation of the skill and experience of the foreign physicians is found. The ignorant, ill-kempt Afghan, [Pg 394] tempted by the promise of free rations and treatment, has sufficient raw intelligence to discard the remedies of his own doctors and to consult the foreigner, even, upon occasion, placing such faith in him that he will swallow a week’s medicine in a single draught.

The most recent medical attendant to the Amir is Major Cleveland, one of the leading authorities of his rank in India, and selected specially for service in Afghanistan by the Government of India at the direct invitation of Habib Ullah. A more suitable candidate for the post it would be difficult to find. Aside from his wide experience of natives, he is a distinguished linguist, speaking French, German, Persian, Pushtu and Hindustani with fluency. It may be added, too, that modesty is his most distinguishing characteristic and that he knows nothing of this reference to his abilities. The full list of those whose medical services have been retained by the Amir from time to time is as follows: Mr. O’Meara, dentist, 1887; Mr. J. A. Gray, surgeon, 1889; Miss Lillias Hamilton, physician, 1894; Mrs. K. Daly, who, in 1895, accompanied Miss Hamilton as assistant when that lady returned to Kabul with Nasr Ullah Khan, after his visit to England; Major Cleveland, who took up the duties of physician to the Amir in 1904, and the Misses Brown, who, in 1904, replaced Mrs. Daly. In addition to these there have been numerous technical advisers: Sir Salter Pyne, Sir Acquin Martin, Monsieur Jerome, Messrs. McDermot, Cameron, Thornton, Clements, Fleischer, Middleton, Stewart, Walter, Grant, Donovan, Edwards, Tasker, Riches, F. Martin, Finlayson and others who, each and every one, have added to the dignity and prestige of the white races in Afghanistan by their devoted and unceasing service at the Court of the Amir. Their duties have not always been rewarded, and at certain times the Amir has done without the services of any European medical adviser. In this direction Major Cleveland followed upon Dr. Gray, but the interval, which was a wide one, was filled by Miss Hamilton and, at a later date, by Mrs. Daly. Further gaps ensued when the retirement of Mrs. Daly followed the withdrawal of Miss Hamilton, who now has set up in practice in this country. In the interval Abdur Rahman entrusted his health to the scanty knowledge of an Indian hospital assistant, whose ignorance was as profound as the superstitions of the Amir and his successor were unyielding. The crisis came with the injury to Habib Ullah’s hand: it was because [Pg 395] of the speedy relief which Major Bird brought to the august sufferer that the Amir reconsidered his absurd objections and applied to Lord Curzon for the services of two lady doctors, in addition to those of a physician.

This subject has always received close consideration at the hands of the Government of India, and there should not be any insuperable difficulties in the way of arranging that an Indian medical staff should be permanently established in Kabul. A doctor is practically always safe, even among the most fanatical tribes beyond our border-line. A few successful operations, even though they are of the simplest order, make him the friend of the people. His fame rapidly spreads and patients come from long distances to visit him. No one dare interfere with him, and not even the jealousy of the local hakims can render his position altogether precarious. In a big city like Kabul, the headquarters of the Afghan Court, the conditions are somewhat different. Admittedly Doctor Gray, who was physician to Abdur Rahman for several years, had no easy task to discharge. His experiences show that he was often driven to the verge of exasperation by the intrigues of his native rivals. But a Court physician in a semi-civilised country will always have his detractors and he can only confound them by pointing to the success gained by his treatment. In future if any medical mission were stationed in Kabul they should not be attached to the personal retinue of the Amir, but should have their headquarters in a public hospital, which his Highness should provide for them and all classes of the people should be able to avail themselves of their knowledge and skill. Their time should not be wasted by frequent summonses to the palace at all hours of the day and night, with the inevitable long delays in ante-rooms; they should rather be busily engaged with the common run of patients of whom there would certainly be no lack. There is a very wide field open for the skilled surgeon, and if the Amir is in earnest in desiring the services of medical officers in his capital, they might ultimately be welcomed by every class of the population.

The Europeans, who have found employment in the service of Afghanistan, have belonged to many trades. The majority, in some way or another associated with the Ordnance Department of the Amir’s Government, have supervised the different branches of the magnificent arsenal with which the late Amir equipped his capital. Lately, [Pg 396] there have been difficulties over the fuel question, the great demands for fuel made by the works having caused a fuel famine in the Kabul district. Habib Ullah proposes to surmount this problem by developing certain coal deposits which have been located in Afghan Turkestan, and through an electric power installation for the workshops. Tentative attempts in this direction have been in hand since 1903, when the fuel bill was represented by eight lakhs of Kabuli rupees. Snider and Martini rifles; Hotchkiss, Gatling and field guns; swords, sabres and knives; ammunition; transport carts; bits, bridles and saddles; boots and uniforms, are all turned out from the Kabul works, twenty-five rifles per diem, two guns and 20,000 rounds of Martini ammunition per week being the estimated capacity of the factories. The workshops, the growth of the first fifteen years of Abdur Rahman’s reign, were due solely to the initiative of the late Amir, assisted by Sir Salter Pyne. This well-known engineer was personally responsible for their introduction, besides doing much to familiarise the Afghans with the mechanical implements and improvements of the West. As the result of these efforts the workshops now occupy an extensive range of buildings, situated outside the town on the banks of the Kabul river, where 1500 natives under the superintendence of 100 Hindu artificers, who have been trained in the factories and workshops of India, are daily employed. The mint where the plant possesses a possible output of 20,000 coins per day, the tanning yards, the candle factory where 100,000 candles can be turned out weekly, and the soap works where ten tons of soap can be made up in the same period, are all located in buildings adjoining the Ordnance compound.

With the exception of the tanning yards and the leather factory, where 300,000 stands of infantry equipment were put in hand during 1904-1905, no great activity has distinguished these various enterprises during the last three years, a general stoppage of work having been caused in all branches by the extreme scarcity of the wood supplies. In spite of the output of ammunition having ceased, the traffic in Kabul-made ammunition is encouraged by the authorities, practically unlimited supplies for Martini and Snider rifles being easily purchased by the natives. The price is only four annas per cartridge, so that a fairly large amount can be obtained at small expense. As such cartridges command a price varying from eight to twelve annas in the tribal [Pg 397] country the outlay of money in Kabul is quite a profitable investment. The supply of Martini ammunition has become most difficult to obtain since the Indian Army was given the ̇303 rifle, and orders were issued regarding the return of empty cases to the Ordnance Department; but with the vast supplies stored in Kabul the tribesmen can get almost as much ammunition as they want. The late Abdur Rahman punished with the greatest severity any one found trafficking in rifles and cartridges, for he held that it was dangerous to let the tribes become well armed. Habib Ullah’s departure from the Amir Abdur Rahman’s policy is exceedingly foolish, although characteristic of Habib Ullah’s weak and undecided rule. It should be noted, too, since supplies of ammunition in Kabul are so readily forthcoming, that there has been a revival in the profitable trade of rifle-selling on the frontier. A large number of English Martinis, both rifles and carbines, have lately been imported into Afghanistan from the Persian Gulf. Very many of these have found their way into the tribal country on the North-west frontier of India, the price being only Rs. 180, or less than half the sum that was usually paid by tribesmen for a Martini before the ̇303 rifle was issued to troops in India. The weapons are well made and all bear the inscription “Ma-sha-Illah” in Arabic. It is surmised that they have been sent through in some way from Turkey, possibly viâ Baghdad, and were originally intended for the Central Asian khanates. The Government of India is not concerned with this phase of the affair, but it is a somewhat serious matter that the tribesmen in the Pathan hinterland beyond the Indian frontier should be able to obtain breechloaders so cheaply. The Martini had fallen into disrepute owing to the difficulty of obtaining ammunition, but now that it is possible to draw so readily upon the Amir’s reserves the situation should be watched, since tribesmen, who pay Rs. 600 or Rs. 700 for ̇303 rifles and can get Martinis at Rs. 180 each, will have plenty of money to spare for cartridges.

While mention has been already made of those Europeans who have passed through Kabul in the service of the Court, there are two others who, by the folly of their conduct, have trailed the reputation of the white races through the filth of the Kabul bazaars. These two, the one, Frau Liebertziet, a German woman with a family in Germany, and for some time maid to Mrs. Fleischer, the other an English woman, have [Pg 398] permitted their passions to thrust them beyond the limits of decency. Frau Liebertziet left behind in Kabul to attend to Mr. Fleischer’s wants when Mrs. Fleischer went on leave to Europe, turned native, adopted the Mahommedan faith and petitioned the Amir to be given a husband. The Afghans themselves refused the lady and Habib Ullah would not allow any Hindustani to marry her. In the end he provided her with a Kaffir boy who had been converted to Islamism. The English woman, having contracted an alliance in India with an Afghan camel-man, disguised herself as a native woman and crossed the frontier riding her husband’s camel. Her arrival in Kabul quickened the curiosity of every native in the bazaar, raising a sensation which brought the story very speedily to the ears of Habib Ullah. Unfortunately, to an ignorance of all European languages saving her own, she added but a meagre acquaintanceship [Pg 399] with the tongues of Asia; as a consequence, when summoned to the presence of the Amir she was literally speechless. Habib Ullah sent for the German woman to speak with the English woman from India, but communion was impossible as each was ignorant of the other’s tongue. Indeed, it was not until Mrs. Cleveland, the wife of Major Cleveland, arrived in Kabul with her husband, coming at the same time as the Misses Brown, that any explanation was forthcoming. It may be said here that, in both cases, the Amir endeavoured to induce the women to return to India: unluckily, each was obdurate, and the pair have been converted to Islamism taking up their residence in the hovels of the Kabul bazaar, where, enclosed from the world, they endure an existence the sordid tragedy of which forbids more detailed description. For the benefit of those women in this country whose delight it is to associate with coloured blood—whether it flows in the veins of negroes from Africa, of natives from Egypt, or of princes and students from India—one is constrained to remark that their lives are a degradation and their conduct an infamy. So long as they transgress racial limitations they should be properly regarded as beyond the pale.

[Pg 400]

IN THE KHYBER PASS

CHAPTER XVI

ANGLO-AFGHAN RELATIONS

Under instructions addressed to Lieutenant-General Sir Donald Stewart, commanding the forces in Northern and Eastern Afghanistan, by the Marquess of Ripon as Viceroy of India, Sir Lepel Griffin on July 20, 1880, communicated the following promise in the course of a letter to Abdur Rahman on his recognition as Amir of Afghanistan by the Afghan Sirdars at Kabul in 1880.

In the first years of his reign Abdur Rahman certainly complied with the conditions stipulated by Sir Lepel Griffin, the correctness of his general conduct prompting Lord Ripon nearly three years later, June 16, 1883, in the course of a letter to write:

[Pg 401] In the following year, 1884, the gradual advance of Russia across Central Asia gave rise to apprehensions about the position of Afghanistan. Merv had been annexed in February of this year, when, after repeated inquiries on the part of Great Britain, it was arranged that an Anglo-Russian Boundary Commission should meet in October at Sarakhs, which had just been occupied. The course of events did not improve with this decision since, although Sir Peter Lumsden was despatched to the rendezvous, the Russian commissioner evaded a meeting. Fears for the situation of Afghanistan were not set aside by the seizure of Pul-i-Khatun in the very month—October 1884—for which the Sarakhs meeting had been originally convened, and the existence of very evident preparations for a further forward movement. The legitimacy of these proceedings was debated between St. Petersburg and London, Kabul and Calcutta, but, in spite of all pledges, the Russians in February of 1885 took possession of Zulfikar and Akrobat. Meanwhile in India plans for a full state Durbar at Rawal Pindi on April 8, in honour of T.R.H. the Duke and Duchess of Connaught, were in hand. The presence of the Amir of Afghanistan had been invited by the Viceroy, between whom and Abdur Rahman a conference upon the defence and demarcation of the north-western frontier, the strengthening of Herat, and the extension of the Sakkur-Sibi Railway to Quetta had been settled. While Anglo-Russian friction on the Afghan border did not prevent Abdur Rahman from paying homage to the august pair, the occasion was seized upon by the Russians to engage the Afghans at Tash Kepri on March 30, 1885, when more than 1200 of the Amir’s soldiers were ruthlessly butchered. The next day Abdur Rahman arrived in India, meeting with a magnificent reception. At an interview with Lord Dufferin the Amir, instancing the seizure of Pendjeh, complained that his predictions about the intentions of the Russians had been ignored. The Viceroy, in reply, informed him that any further aggression by Russia against Afghanistan would be considered by England as a casus belli, declared that preparations for war had been begun—orders for the mobilisation of two army corps had indeed been issued—and offered the services of engineer officers. At a subsequent audience on April 5, 1885, these fair words were confirmed by a gift of ten lakhs of rupees, 20,000 breech-loading rifles, a heavy battery of four guns, a mountain battery [Pg 402] of six guns and two howitzers, besides very liberal rifle and artillery supplies. These presents were guarantees of the benevolence, sincerity, and goodwill of the Government of India; and three days later Abdur Rahman, expressing his appreciation, said, in his speech before the Viceroy:

No doubt so keen a humourist as Abdur Rahman proved himself realised the grim jest which the action of the Russians at Pendjeh had instilled into the Viceroy’s formal confirmation of the pledges existing between India and Afghanistan. Such things are, however, among the unrecorded facts of life. Perhaps, too, it is to be deplored that, in later years, relations between Russia and Great Britain in respect of Afghanistan have been curiously productive of these little ironies.

Proceedings in connection with the Russo-Afghan Boundary question dragged on through 1886 until, after being transferred to St. Petersburg and London, and again returning to the scene itself, they were concluded in the winter of 1887. Difficulties between Russia and India, on behalf of Afghanistan, were for the moment at an end, when, in 1888, the Marquess of Dufferin gave place to the Marquess of Lansdowne as Viceroy of India. With the newcomer an active frontier policy was inaugurated. In quiet furtherance of this the Quetta railway, which in January 1888 had been carried to Kila Abdulla, was continued through the Khwaja Amran beyond Old Chaman to New Chaman. The Amir of Afghanistan professed to regard this extension as a violation of the Treaty of Gandamak which placed the Afghan-Baluch boundary at the foot of the Khwaja Amran—an undesirable site for a railway terminus. This undertaking was the forerunner of much military activity, and twice in this year expeditions took the field against the Hazaras of the Black Mountain. These ventures introduced a disturbing element into conditions prevailing upon the frontier and had an inflammatory effect upon Afghan opinion. At the moment, 1889, the Amir was on service in Afghan-Turkestan superintending certain defensive measures along the northern and north-western frontier, but by the [Pg 403] summer of 1890 he had returned to Kabul. In the spring of this year the turbulence of the Khidarzais in the Zhob valley had been suppressed, the increasing energy of the Government of India bringing the danger of a rupture of relations between India and Afghanistan appreciably closer. In view of the position of affairs, the Government of India refused to permit the passage of war materials into Afghanistan, stopping not only the rifles, artillery and ammunition, but also all imports of iron, steel and copper. To this action the Amir replied by repudiating the subsidy of twelve lakhs which had been granted by Lord Ripon. At the same time he wrote a letter to Lord Salisbury, who was then Prime Minister, and, as a more practical measure and a protest against our occupation of New Chaman, he prohibited his people from using the railway from the terminus at the northern foot-hills of the Khwaja Amran to the first station on the south side of the tunnel through the mountains.

In the following year, 1891, columns twice moved against the Orakzai clans in the Miranzai valley, the operations against the Hazaras were repeated for the second time, and hostilities, resulting in the subjugation of Hunza and Nagar and the occupation of Chitral, broke out. The troops of the Amir were also on active service in 1891, occupying the Asmar valley in December under the Sipah Salar Ghulam Haidar Khan, a proceeding aimed in a measure at the Government of India, who were contemplating similar action. In 1892 troops again were sent across the frontier, moving against the Isazai clan in the Trans-Indus Isazai territory. The entire frontier was now in a restless state; and, as the tension between Kabul and Calcutta had increased steadily, it seemed desirable that the Amir should be given an opportunity to declare his intentions. Lord Lansdowne thereupon invited Abdur Rahman to visit India; and, when the Amir refused on the plea of the disturbed condition of his country, the Viceroy suggested that a meeting should take place on the Indo-Afghan frontier. Again the Amir of Afghanistan demurred; when, since hostilities appeared inevitable and preparations for war were in progress, the proposal that a British mission should visit Kabul, which Abdur Rahman had first addressed to Lord Ripon and repeated to Lord Dufferin in 1887, was taken up. Abdur Rahman was informed that a military mission under the personal direction of Lord Roberts, the Commander-in-Chief in India, and escorted by a brigade of British troops, would [Pg 404] visit Jelalabad. Lord Roberts had been the active exponent of the forward policy since Lord Lansdowne had assumed vice-regal office. The long series of military operations in the frontier region, which had resulted from his energetic direction of affairs, made his selection for a peaceful mission obnoxious to the Amir, who naturally also appreciated the [Pg 405] objections of the people of Afghanistan to receive a visit from the hero of the 1878-80 war. Moreover, the situation in Afghanistan itself, at the time when this ultimatum was despatched to Kabul, was menaced with the danger of widespread rebellion. The Hazaras had led the revolt against the Amir and disaffection was manifested even in the capital. Abdur Rahman’s natural adroitness never stood him in better stead than at this period. Returning a polite and very diplomatic reply to the notification to the Government of India, he stated that he was sending to the Viceroy his own personal representative. After a little interval, Mr. (now Sir Salter) Pyne was entrusted with letters for the Viceroy and the Foreign Secretary to the Government of India, Mr. (now Sir Mortimer) Durand. By travelling slowly and acting with studied deliberation Mr. Pyne achieved his employer’s object, which was to procrastinate until Lord Roberts, then on the eve of his return to England, had left India. By these means war was undoubtedly averted, misunderstandings abridged, and the way paved by Mr. Pyne for the visit of the Durand Mission, the Amir’s envoy stipulating for an unescorted civil mission.

At this time questions in dispute with Afghanistan were not alone occupied with the vexed areas in occupation by the independent tribes along the north-western frontier of India. The Russians had raised again the Agreement of 1873, by which the northern boundary of Afghanistan was defined by the course of the Oxus, and were pressing for its literal fulfilment. Since the conflict at Pendjeh and the Boundary Commission of 1884-87, Russia had turned her attention to the Pamirs where, hitherto, China and Afghanistan had been solely concerned. Fort Pamir, a frontier post, had been erected by Captain Yonoff on the Sarez Pamir in 1891; the brutal massacre of sixteen Afghan soldiers under Shams-ud-Din Khan by the same officer had occurred at Somatash on the Alichur Pamir, June 22, 1892; and in the month before the arrival of the Durand Mission there had been a further Russo-Afghan encounter on the Badakshan border. These disorders were, perhaps, inseparable from a situation in which the rights of the case were so violently opposed to the policy, interests and intentions of Russia. Insistence upon the justice of the Afghan claim without supporting force would have been futile. The Amir’s invitation therefore offered opportunity for settling not only the very serious problem of the tribes on the north-western [Pg 406] frontier of India, but, equally, the question of jurisdiction on the Pamirs.

The usual honours were paid upon arrival in Kabul. The Mission was met by General Ghulam Haidar Khan, lodged in the Indikki Palace, the residence of Habib Ullah Khan, and presented with a ziafat of 33,895 Kabuli rupees. After preliminary conferences, in pursuance of instructions from Lord Lansdowne, Mr. Mortimer Durand on November 11, 1893, addressed to Abdur Rahman the following letter:

And upon November 12, 1893, Abdur Rahman’s acceptance of the Anglo-Russian Agreement of 1873 was confirmed by a note signed by himself and the British envoy.

By this Note the matter of the Afghan position on the Pamirs was referred to the Anglo-Russian Pamirs Commission of 1895-96. That tribunal settled the question by dispossessing the Amir in favour of the Tsar. In the interval which elapsed between November 1893 and the assembly of the Commission, a fresh skirmish took place at Yaims in 1894, when an Afghan post was wiped out by Cossacks.

The disposal of the difficulties between Russia and Afghanistan was preliminary to the real work of the Durand Mission. This task, the adjustment of the many grievances set in train by the forward movement, was based upon many important and substantial concessions, the existence of which caused high hopes of the ultimate success of the Mission to be entertained. The assurance of assistance in case of unprovoked aggression given in 1880, and repeated in 1885, was confirmed, the subsidy of twelve lakhs increased to eighteen lakhs, and the right to import munitions of war admitted. Further, this additional engagement, entered as Clause II. of the Durand Agreement, November 12, 1893, was contracted:

Two days after the conclusion of its labours, November 14, the Mission left Kabul, sharing upon its arrival in India in that prodigal distribution of honours which occasionally reveals but a faint relation between cause and effect. [Pg 408] Included in these favours was Mr. Pyne, whose services undoubtedly had constituted him a beneficent factor in the course of the negotiations. This gentleman was knighted, a similar distinction falling to the chief of the Mission. Time, however, has disclosed the Durand Agreement itself to be merely pretentious and possessed of very indifferent qualities.

Apart from the developments of the frontier policy under Lord Roberts, the evacuation of the Ningrahar valley after the Afghan War of 1878-80 contributed very largely to the unsatisfactory situation in which we at this time were placed. Had this position, together with Jelalabad, been retained, we should have cut off the retreat of the Afridis, Orakzais, Mohmands, Swatis and others into Afghan territory. Under existing circumstances these tribes can make good their escape into Afghanistan, even receiving assistance from that country when hard pressed. At the period of the Durand Mission the Government of India laid claim to the entire region—Bulund Khel, Mohmandstan, Asmar and Yaghistan, the latter embracing Chitral, Bajaur, Swat, Buner, Dir, Chilas and Waziristan. The Amir put forward a demand for Chageh, the Asmar valley, which he previously had occupied, and objected to the British pretensions. In point of fact, the rights of the Government of India had been already established by conquest and by moral superiority, since this zone, the home of border ruffians, had always required the watchful initiative of a strong Government. The British position was, therefore, incontestable. Moreover, since we were prepared to increase the subsidy of the Amir as a salve for the extinction of his interest in the Chitral region, there was no need to recede from any point. In regard to matters diplomatic, occasion should have been taken to provide, by a special clause in the treaty, for some proportion of these additional lakhs being devoted by their recipient to the task of assisting our own military authorities to draw the fangs of the more turbulent frontier elements. This precaution was ignored nor was it deemed necessary to allot to the Mission the services of a survey officer. Ultimately, after long discussion, the negotiations concluded, when it was revealed that at needless sacrifice the Asmar valley, commanding the approach to the Pamir-Chitral region and south-eastern Afghanistan and of great importance to strategic considerations on the Indian frontier, had been surrendered to the Amir, the Birmal tract, separated from Waziristan, and an ethnic absurdity perpetrated where [Pg 409] the Mohmands country had been divided by the watershed of the Kunar and Panj-kora rivers. Such a process of vivisection, intolerable to a tribe who, although involved in constant dissension among themselves, were a united people, was at once resented.

In a letter, addressed to the Viceroy of India before the Durand Mission had set out for Kabul, Abdur Rahman had warned the Government of the consequence of interfering with the border tribes. He wrote:

Early in 1894 the Marquess of Lansdowne had been succeeded by the Earl of Elgin, Lord Rosebery had become Prime Minister, and Abdur Rahman had been invited to England, the invitation being endorsed by Sir Henry Fowler. Regarding the Durand legacy as a bequest to be fulfilled and undeterred by the fact that frontier feeling was still highly excited over the Mission to Kabul, the Government of India proceeded to appoint various boundary commissions. One, destined for the Afghan-Waziristan border with orders to assemble on October 1, at Dera Ismail Khan, included Messrs. King, Anderson, Grant and Bruce with an escort of 3000 soldiers and six guns. Another, meeting on December 3, at Lundi Khana and intended for the Mohmand-Bajaur-Asmar boundary, comprised

This action on the part of the Government of India attracted the attention of the Amir who summoned the Sipah Salar to Kabul from Jelalabad for a conference upon the subject. Rumours had already indicated Abdur Rahman’s opposition to the Mohmand demarcation and storm clouds were gathering over the Kunar valley when, on June 12, the Commissioner of Peshawar, Mr. Richard Udny, chief of the future boundary commission, issued the following indiscreet proclamation:

Since nothing whatever had been decided about the Mohmand line, the publication of such a rescript was a most improper and provocative proceeding. The Amir was offended, while the Sipah Salar retaliated by destroying all copies of the proclamation that found their way across the border. No doubt, too, it was a sense of lingering irritation which a little later caused Abdur Rahman to repudiate the Durand Agreement, where it concerned the Mohmand-Bajaur region. Ghulam Haidar made the views of the Amir quite clear at a meeting with Mr. R. Udny [Pg 413] and Surgeon-Captain McNabb on August 12, in Jelalabad. The Sipah Salar there rejected entirely the proposed division of the Mohmands, claiming, in place of the Panj-kora-Kunar line, to exercise jurisdiction over them down to the Peshawar valley. Similarly, the Afghan Commander-in-Chief refused to secede an inch of Kafiristan. Troubles also followed in the wake of the Bruce mission. Breaking camp on October 1, and marching viâ the Gomul valley into Southern Waziristan, the laager at Wano was attacked by the Waziris on November 3, with such success that an expedition under Sir William Lockhart was immediately sent against them. In the end the boundary, from the Gomul in the south to the Tochi and the Kurram in the north, was settled, the solution of the Mohmand impasse on April 9, 1895, being due solely to the fact that detailed for duty on the Mohmand-Bajaur section was the most distinguished survey officer of his day—Colonel (now Sir Thomas) Holdich. In no wise rebuffed by the remarkable deficiencies of the Durand Agreement nor the discrepancies of the Udny manifesto, this officer contrived through clever adaptation of available geographical data to evolve something of a border line, although no part of the boundary defined south of the Hindu Kush bore any relation to the frontier laid down by Durand or Udny.

Events in the Mohmand country were not confined to the excitement emanating from the proposed delimitation of the hinterland. During the last five years an Afghan freebooter from Jandol, Umra Khan, had made bold bids for supremacy alternately against the Khan of Jandol and the Mir of Dir, uniting with the one against the other as his interests dictated and opportunity served. Success attended him when, in an attempt to occupy part of the Kunar valley, upon which Abdur Rahman had already cast eyes, he was badly defeated by Ghulam Haidar. In due course he recovered and re-establishing his rule over Dir and Nawagai, he contracted an alliance with Shir Afzal, lately Mehtar of Chitral. At the moment this man was a fugitive; and, as such, a cat’s-paw of the Amir of Afghanistan from whose custody he had been permitted to escape, since Abdur Rahman was proposing to step into his shoes if any conspicuous result attended Umra Khan’s operations in Chitral. Moreover, Ghulam Haidar and Umra Khan had come to terms upon a basis which furnished the Afghan king-maker with supplies, volunteers and ammunition. [Pg 414] If the nature of the agreement between Abdur Rahman and Shir Afzal were never entirely disclosed, the character of the understanding between the Sipah Salar of the Amir of Afghanistan and the progressive ruffian from Jandol was soon confirmed. As Ghulam Haidar watched over the welfare of the Udny party in the Lower Kunar valley, the situation shifted early in the New Year of 1895 from the Mohmand country to Chitral. Here the sudden appearance of Umra Khan at the head of a motley force on behalf of Shir Afzal had precipitated a dynastic war. While Umra Khan seized Kala Drosh in Lower Chitral proclaiming Shir Afzal, the British agent in Gilgit, Dr. (now Sir George) Robertson, advancing from that station threw himself into Chitral and set up a cadet of the reigning family as the rightful ruler. Umra Khan, supported by large numbers of well-armed Afghan infantry from the Sipah Salar’s camp at Asmar and plentifully supplied with Kabul breechloaders and ammunition, advanced against Dr. Robertson, inflicting upon him a crushing defeat. The effect of this disaster on British prestige was in a measure effaced by the pluck and determination of the Chitral garrison, before whom, on March 3, 1895, Umra Khan settled himself for a siege. His triumph was short lived, since on April 18, the investment was rudely disturbed by the arrival of Colonel Kelly with 650 men from Gilgit. By then, too, a larger force had taken the field, for General Sir Robert Low, at the head of 15,000 soldiers with 30,000 transport animals and 10,000 followers, had embarked upon a campaign in the Swat-Bajaur-Chitral country.

Through the accidence of these events matters had come to an absolute dead-lock in the Mohmand-Bajaur-Asmar region. The Udny commission had been withdrawn with only a part of its work accomplished, the chief receiving the honour of knighthood for his services. Elsewhere, too, the situation was unsatisfactory. The border tribes, alarmed at the prospect of enforced demarcation, their fears accentuated by the establishment of military posts at Wano, in the Tochi and Kurram valleys, on the Malakand—the key to Swat—at Chakdara where the Panj-kora had been bridged, and on the Samana ridge, trembled for their independence. Moreover the presence of these survey parties was constantly used for the purpose of exploiting tribal sentiment by Ghulam Haidar, who would not have acted as he did without very definite instructions and very acute knowledge of the Amir’s sympathies. Abdur Rahman [Pg 415] was thus engaging in a double game. Exercising a potent inimical authority over events in the Chitral crisis, as that affair waned he was at pains to show his amiability towards Great Britain. In April 1895, almost simultaneously with the raising of the Chitral siege, Nasr Ullah left Kabul on his visit to England. He arrived in London in May, leaving for Kabul in the following August, the recipient of a G.C.M.G. and the bearer of a similar honour to his brother Habib Ullah. The real purport of the Mission, to secure authority to open direct relations between Kabul and the India Office as well as with the Viceroy and to establish official representation in London, failed. The Amir of Afghanistan professed to find a slight in the curt refusal of the Imperial Government to accede to his requests, and was in high dudgeon. Nevertheless, there was nothing remarkable in this rejection of the Amir’s petition. Sir Henry Fowler, however, committed a blunder in sanctioning an invitation which led merely to the ventilation of grievances and paved the way for those preposterous claims to independent sovereignty which distinguished the later years of Abdur Rahman’s rule, and, since his demise, have ranked among the many pretensions of Habib Ullah.

By the autumn of 1895 the Chitral imbroglio had been straightened, and the remaining months of the year were occupied with the proceedings of the Pamir Boundary Commission and the doings of the Afghan army in Kafiristan. Here Abdur Rahman had embarked upon a brief campaign, which, after forty days of actual warfare, terminated in the spring of 1896. Aside from these operations, interest in the frontier situation was riveted upon the curious theological studies which Abdur Rahman had been pursuing in Kabul. Expectations were also raised by communications evidently passing between Ghulam Haidar and the principal border fanatics Said Akbar of the Aka Khels, the Sarlor Fakir—the Mad Mullah of the Swat—and the Hadda Mullah. After much labour and while the letters were in exchange, Abdur Rahman had composed a treatise, the Twakim-ud-din, expounding the merits of the jehad or holy war, and the virtues of the ghazi. Satisfied with this work, at the close of 1895, he convened for the Nauroz festival, March 21, 1896, a great convocation of mullahs drawn from all parts of his dominions and the Indo-Afghan borderland as well, at which he dilated upon the essential principles of that doctrine which specially enjoins the extinction of the infidel. It was a dangerous way to secure [Pg 416] his recognition as one of the supreme heads of Islam, and obviously antagonistic to the preservation of harmonious relations between the tribesmen and the Government of India. After much earnest exhortation the holy men were dismissed, comforted by many gifts and gracious words. Concerned at the action of the Amir and compelled to notice the conduct of Ghulam Haidar, the Viceroy of India (Earl of Elgin) on May 2, 1896, addressed to Abdur Rahman a remonstrance upon the unfriendly attitude of his frontier officials. The reply from Kabul is best illustrated by the action of some mullahs who had been summoned to the Nauroz festival. At the Id of Pilgrimage, May 25, the title Zia-ul-Millat wa ud-Din, the Light of the Nation and Religion, was offered to Abdur Rahman. When confirmation of this tribute had been received from the whole of Afghanistan the Amir adopted it at a special Durbar on August 24, at the same time appropriating to himself the further dignity of King of Islam.

Save for these occurrences in Kabul, a few riots in the Tochi valley in February, and the conclusion of the work of the Pamir Boundary Commission the year 1896 was undisturbed. Intrigues were afoot, however, and emissaries of the Mahommedan religion, in the shape of bigoted travelling fakirs, were “out” as the perfervid exponents of a Moslem crusade. Early in May 1897, Abdur Rahman received at Kabul with great state a Turkish visitor from Constantinople. A few hours later on the same day the Amir summoned all the mullahs of the city to a private audience. Meanwhile correspondence passed between the leading lights of the Moslem world on both sides of the frontier, and evidences of unrest and disaffection were increasing. With suspicions lulled by eighteen months’ comparative calm, or set at rest by the fact that the Chitral reliefs had been unmolested, the frontier political officers in the Tochi explored routes, made surveys and constructed roads in continuation of the protective works which were begun in the Tochi valley so soon as that area was occupied. The Tochi lies only a little north of Waziristan and so close to Wano that the Waziris were readily roused to avenge themselves by the mullahs when opportunity offered. It came—with the visit of Mr. Gee, the political officer in Tochi, to Maizar, June 10, 1897, when a treacherous attack was made upon the party and 72 casualties inflicted. In spite of the extreme heat of this month retaliatory measures were at once put into execution, General Corrie Bird taking the [Pg 417] field with 7000 soldiers, 10,000 transport animals and 3000 followers.

The mullahs were now actively extolling the cause of the jehad to their disciples when the persistent efforts of the Hadda Mullah to excite Mahommedan fanaticism in Swat, Bajaur and Dir were unexpectedly furthered by the appearance in Swat of the Mad Mullah. The companion of the Hadda Mullah in his recent stay in Kabul, he had come direct from the Afghan capital, declaring everywhere that a holy war had been proclaimed. Under the enthusiasm inspired by the eloquence of this restless spirit, the Mad Fakir’s progress through Swat was in the nature of a triumph. Thana had declared itself for him, when on July 26, the fury of the storm broke over Malakand and Chakdara. By August 1, a field force of two brigades under Major-General Sir Bindon Blood arrived at Malakand, where the opposing tribesmen numbered 20,000 men. Meanwhile, the apostles of the movement looked to Kabul for their orders. Letters and proclamations, purporting to describe the Amir’s interest in it, were issued; and, as the tribes rallied to his call, Hadda Mullah, relying upon the kindly offices of Ghulam Haidar and emulating the example of the Mad Fakir, led on August 7, an attack against the British frontier post at Shabkaddar. Unfortunately for Indo-Afghan relations the muster for this affair contained, besides several thousand Mohmands, a large proportion of Afghans from the Kunar valley, the Khugiani country, the Laughman and Jelalabad districts, the Basawal and Hazarnao villages, and soldiers in plain clothes from the Kabul garrison. It was no longer possible for the Government of India to ignore the complicity of the Afghan frontier officials. So pronounced was their sympathy with the rising that Abdur Rahman addressed a firman to the Sipah Salar, containing an expression of his grave displeasure at their misconduct.

Matters had gone too far to be adjusted by such means, and on August 13, 1897, Sir Richard Udny, instrumental with Brigadier-General (now Major-General Sir Edmond) Elles, who was commanding at Peshawar, in abandoning the Khyber Pass to the unsupported custody of Afridi militia, directed an emphatic remonstrance to the Amir of Afghanistan. His Highness was informed of the nature of the reports which had reached the Government of India, and was required to take immediate steps to recall his subjects and to prevent the repetition of so exceedingly grave [Pg 418] an offence. After reminding the Amir that the Viceroy, in May 1896, had called his Highness’s attention to the unfriendly conduct of the Sipah Salar, the letter concluded as follows:

Abdur Rahman replied at once to the charges of the Government of India, returning a denial and reading the correspondence at a Kabul Durbar held on August 18, in commemoration of his assumption of the title Zia-ul-Millat wa ud-Din. Facts were a little too strong for much importance to be attached to this refutation; but the rebuke, which had now been administered, warned him, doubtless, that the limits of Government patience in his direction had been reached. Correspondence on the question became protracted, and the initial response from Kabul had barely been received when a further fillip was given to the fighting on the frontier. For several days, as early as August 16, warnings had been received that the Afridis were preparing to descend upon the Khyber. It was further stated that this area of operations would be increased by a simultaneous attack from the Orakzais against the Samana ridge in support of the Afridi movement. To its subsequent confusion the Indian Government at the time was relying upon reports from Sir Richard Udny, Commissioner of Peshawar, and Brigadier-General Elles, whose conception of the seriousness of the situation did not prompt him to employ in support of the posts in the Khyber any portion of the 10,000 men lying idle under his command. Equally with those of Sir Richard Udny, the exertions of General Elles upon this occasion were very disappointing.

On August 17, when no less a frontier personage than Malik Amin Khan reported that an Afridi lasakar of 10,000 men accompanied by 1500 mullahs was preparing to descend upon the Khyber, Sir Richard Udny telegraphed to Simla:

Two days later, August 19, Brigadier-General Elles, telegraphing [Pg 419] to Simla, stated that Sir Richard Udny had informed him that Malik Amin Khan’s information was much exaggerated, adding that Captain Barton, Commandant of the Khyber rifles, had reported the Afridi gathering to be smaller than originally imagined. On the next day, August 20, alarmed at the gravity of his position and advised by the officer commanding the Peshawar forces, Sir Richard Udny withdrew Captain Barton from his post at Lundi Kotal. After consultation with Colonel Aslam Khan and Brigadier-General Elles, on the same day in a telegram to the Punjab Government, he advocated, in spite of the objections of Colonel Aslam Khan to such a policy, the leaving of the defence of the Khyber positions to the unsupported activities of the native levies, in accordance with the terms of the Khyber Agreement of 1881 by which the Afridis were made responsible for the safety of the pass. In this singular point of view Brigadier-General Elles concurred, contenting himself, in spite of the condition of affairs with a faint-hearted and useless promenade in the direction of Jamrud. Meanwhile, with assistance withheld, disaster was deliberately invited. So it happened that, on August 23, when Sir Richard Udny, in a telegram to the Government of India, was again referring to the terms of the Khyber Agreement, the advancing wave of the Afridi tide actually broke against Ali Masjid. From early morning of this day Afridi met Afridi in a brief, bloody struggle round British supremacy in this border stronghold. True to their salt, the men who had been in charge of our posts held out against their own tribesmen until unsupported resistance was no longer possible. Fort Maude and Ali Masjid fell that same night, Lundi Kotal resisted valiantly until August 25, capitulating almost at the moment when the Orakzais were advancing to the attack against the Samana ridge. There the position was cleared by General Yeatman Biggs who, having reinforced the garrisons, dissipated his victory in an ignominious withdrawal harried by his enemy. Tactical blundering thus accomplished at this point what political irresolution had effected in respect of the Khyber.

In whatever degree the Amir of Afghanistan by his letter of August 18, may have exculpated himself from events preliminary to the Tirah campaign, the exodus of armed bands from Afghan territory continued to meet with only passive resistance from the frontier officials. Under pressure [Pg 420] of accumulating evidence, forwarded direct from Kabul by the British agent, the Viceroy of India on August 30, 1897, addressed a further communication to Abdur Rahman, in the course of which he wrote:

Before the Amir could reply to the letter of August 30 from the Viceroy, a deputation of Afridi elders, whose intentions certainly lent colour to the Viceroy’s plaint, arrived at Jelalabad en route to Kabul for the purpose of presenting a petition to Abdur Rahman. This document, dated September 5, 1897, was as follows:

This prayer of the Afridis had not reached Kabul, when a further letter, September 6, was sent to the Amir from the Government of India, anticipating Afghan assistance in catching the Hadda Mullah should he escape into the Kunar valley. Meanwhile, the aspect of the precise relations existing between Kabul and the revolting tribesmen, and disclosed by this deputation from the Afridi jirga was not very much improved when, on September 10, Abdur Rahman, in acknowledging the letter of August 30, wrote:

The air of truculent triumph which pervaded this communication elicited no rebuke. Naturally enough a government, which made no effective preparation to protect the native guards of British posts in their hour of need, would hesitate to take exception at the twist of a Persian phrase. Two days later, September 12, the same strain of insolence, coupled with many amiable sentiments, could be detected in the reply to the Viceroy’s letter of September 6. With remarkable effrontery Abdur Rahman expressed the fear that collisions might occur in the Kunar valley between the Afghan and British forces, if the pursuit of Hadda Mullah were pushed too far in that direction.

Events, culminating with the fall of Saraghari fort on September 12, were making it incumbent to administer sharp punishment to the Afridis; and the Tirah field force, 60,000 strong, was concentrated at Kohat under Lieutenant-General Sir William Lockhart for this purpose. Concerned at the dislocation of border affairs, at the loss of revenue attendant upon the closing of the Khyber, and deriving [Pg 424] an inspiration from the magnitude of the force which was collecting for service with General Lockhart, the Amir himself from this time became less obstructive, withdrawing his own troops from outlying posts, refusing to harbour armed fugitives and turning a very cold shoulder to those who invoked his aid. In consequence of this change of front he refused to permit the Afridi elders to come to Kabul, detaining them in Jelalabad while he posted in public in the capital on September 23, the following reply:

In spite of the Amir’s attitude towards the Afridi deputation on September 23, and his emphatic denial of the complicity of Ghulam Haidar in his letter to the Viceroy on August 18, evidence of Afghan participation was again unpleasantly prominent, negotiations for peace with certain of the tribal factions being complicated by the acts of the Afghan commander-in-chief. On one occasion, September 1, when the Hadda Mullah had been compelled to disperse an Afghan lashkar by specific orders from the Amir, Ghulam Haidar had sent the fakir encouraging messages, a present of five British rifles, cartridges and a horse. Five weeks later Major Deane, political agent in the Dir-Swat-Chitral country, complained on October 8 that two mule-loads of ammunition sent by Umra Khan from Kabul had passed through Ghulam Haidar’s camp at Asmar; while a few days previously Sir Bindon Blood had reported from Panj-kora, September 28:

Again, when the Mahmunds finally submitted, dreading Kabul reprisals for their surrender they begged to be protected from Abdur Rahman and Ghulam Haidar. Although these were merely the under-currents of the situation as it appeared at the outset of the Tirah campaign in 1897, by the close of those operations in 1898 tribesmen of all denominations of fanatical obstinacy were alluding to the encouragement which they had received from the Sipah Salar and Abdur Rahman. Over the singular propensity for blundering which distinguished the elect in these two years and the protracted misfortunes attending Anglo-Indian arms during the long series of minor wars which concluded with the Tirah, it is permissible at length to draw [Pg 426] the veil. In any case, the Tirah, no less a stage in the course of Anglo-Afghan history than were the earlier occurrences, is of fading interest in this little survey; the trend of affairs passes, almost with relief, to consideration of the happier prospect which the advent of a new Viceroy, Lord Curzon of Kedleston, January 1899, inaugurated for India itself and of the more encouraging note introduced into Imperial relations with the spheres beyond its borders.

[Pg 427]

CHAPTER XVII

ANGLO-AFGHAN RELATIONS—continued

Upon the conclusion of the Tirah campaign the forward policy ceased to be measured by the virulence of Anglo-Afghan amenities. Relations between Kabul and Calcutta were dominated by the pleasant impressions of his guest which Abdur Rahman had gathered when, as the Honourable George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P., the incoming Viceroy had visited Kabul in 1894. With much care this distinguished student had made an elaborate examination of border politics, presenting the results of his diligence in a series of scholarly and exhaustive studies of Russia in Central Asia, Persia and the Persian Question, The Pamirs and the Source of the Oxus, and A Recent Journey in Afghanistan. By reason of these journeys across Asiatic Russia, the Pamirs, Afghanistan and Persia, and through his remarkable opportunities for observation, unrivalled powers of assimilation, grasp of subject, luminosity of judgment and lucidity of expression, Mr. George Curzon was without a peer as an authority on frontier problems. When this brilliant and indefatigable mind was called to India as Lord Curzon of Kedleston, the methods by which the forward policy had been regulated in the closing decade of the nineteenth century had broken down, the labour of reconstruction reverting to a man who at least was the foremost expert of his time. Modifications were now essential; and Lord Curzon at once put into execution a number of important reforms in the economic and military control of the north-west frontier. The regular garrison in Chitral was lessened by one third. The soldiers in Lower Swat and the Malakand were reduced from 3550 men to one battalion and a half of native infantry and a small detachment of cavalry, while regular troops were withdrawn from the Gilgit Agency. Similarly, communication with Malakand was strengthened [Pg 428] by constructing a railway, 2 feet 6 inches in breadth from Nowshera to Dargai, to which four companies were posted, while a very large cantonment was created at Nowshera. In the Khyber the regular establishment, 3700 strong, was replaced by two battalions (1250 in all) of the reorganised and enlarged Khyber Rifles, with an increased [Pg 429] number of British officers and an improved scale of pay. The costly and extensive fortifications which at one time it was proposed to build in the pass, and at its further extremity, were abandoned in favour of a cheaper and improved scheme of defences, constructed to meet the requirements of the Afridi garrison. The plan of laying either the bed of a railway or a railway itself up the Khyber pass was displaced by the extension of the existing north-west railway from Peshawar to Jamrud, a distance of 10 miles.

Between Peshawar and Kohat, the amiable co-operation of the pass tribes was secured in the peaceable construction of the long desired cart-road through the Kohat pass, and a military road through the Mullagori country in the Khyber region, serving as a safe alternative road to that by way of Ali Masjid, was undertaken. At the same time a narrow gauge line, linking Thall viâ Kohat with Kushalgarh upon the Indus and now converted to broad gauge, was projected; while, at a later date Nushki was joined up with Quetta. The finishing touch to an almost perfect system of frontier communications may be found in the preparations recently made for carrying the line along the left bank of the Kabul river to Dakka.

South of Kohat the Samana Rifles, a force of tribal militia 450 strong under British officers and recruited from the Orakzai tribesmen, was furnished as an extra battalion to the border military police, and the strength of the regular garrisons, maintained on the Samana range, reduced from 1700 to 600 men. In the Kurram valley, the Kurram militia were reorganised in two battalions (1250 strong) under British officers. In Waziristan, two battalions of Waziristan militia, 800 strong, were raised, the one for the Tochi valley or Northern Waziristan, the other for the Gomul valley or Southern Waziristan, thus releasing the services of 4000 regulars. These changes were rendered possible by the organisation and training of border police, militia and levies, the total strength of which is 10,000 men. The risk of entrusting to these irregulars the garrisoning of advanced posts was provided against by maintaining flying columns at Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan, and minimised by the marked improvement of road and railway communication with all strategic centres in the North-West Province. While the financial saving was great, efficiency was increased [Pg 430] because regiments were no longer split up into detachments. The number of regulars serving beyond the administrative frontier was reduced from 10,200 in 1899 to 5000, while supporting garrisons were increased from 22,000 in 1899 to 24,000.

When the Viceroy of India was satisfied that these measures were destined to reap their complement of success he supplemented his experiments in frontier management by their [Pg 431] concluding phase. On August 27, 1900, after eighteen months’ patient inquiry and constant observation, he drew up a Minute advocating the separation of the administration of the north-west frontier from the control of the Punjab Government. These proposals were supported by the signatures of his colleagues in a covering despatch on September 13. Following the lines of Lord Lytton’s celebrated Minute upon the creation of a distinct Trans-Indus District, April 22, 1877, Lord Curzon embodied in one of the most brilliant pieces of analysis ever placed before the Imperial Government a temperate and lucid exposition of the existing order of frontier administration. The acceptance of the views enunciated in this Minute was notified by the Secretary of State for India, Lord George Hamilton, on December 20, 1900, but it was not until November 9, 1901, that the establishment of the new territory under the name of the North-West Frontier Province was proclaimed.

While Lord Curzon during the first three years of his régime—January 1899 to November 1901—was occupied with repairing the fabric of Indian frontier administration, Afghanistan, in the early spring of 1900, became the cause of an exchange of diplomatic notes between the late Lord Salisbury as Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and the late Russian Ambassador to Great Britain, M. de Staal, acting under the orders of the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, Count Mouravieff. In a communication dated February 6, 1900, M. de Staal informed the Foreign Office that the Russian Government were proposing that direct relations should be established between Russia and Afghanistan with regard to frontier matters; but that such relations should have no political character as the Russian Government intended to maintain their former engagements and would continue to consider Afghanistan outside the sphere of Russian influence. An immediate reply to this request was vouchsafed in which it was stated that, having regard to the understanding by which Afghanistan is outside the sphere of Russian influence,

[Pg 432] To this intimation no reply at the moment was preferred by the Russian authorities, and the study of Anglo-Afghan relations shifts once more to the dominions of the Amir. Throughout the period in which Lord Curzon was so engrossed with the machinery of frontier and administrative reforms Abdur Rahman had not been in any way an idle ruler. In spite of his failing powers, with great energy and determination, he had concentrated his efforts upon the completion of his life’s work. With that accomplished, assured of the good-will of the Government of India shortly after Lord Curzon’s arrival in 1899 by the release of the munitions of war which had been detained through the outbreak of the Tirah troubles, he turned his hand to matters of more domestic concern. Satisfied with the improvements in his military establishment, content with the reforms which he had introduced in the administrative economy of his state, and having established its independence by elaborate artifices, he again sought the preservation of his line. In an effort to prepare his people for the acceptance and accession of Habib Ullah Khan at his demise he had, in 1891, delegated to this son authority to hold the public Durbars in Kabul. At the same time he had reserved to himself the control of foreign affairs, manifesting in this direction a keen appreciation of the value to the position of India which underlay the situation of Afghanistan. Menaced by growing physical infirmity and with strange premonition of his approaching end, at a special Durbar in the autumn of 1900 he informed the assembled nobles and high officials of his inability to cope with the increasing volume of affairs. Thereupon, amid a scene of singular pathos, the old Amir indicated that his son, Habib Ullah, would be given a still larger measure of authority.

A few months later, in May of 1901, a more emphatic warning of the grave state of the Amir’s health was received. Intelligence came through from Kabul to Peshawar that Abdur Rahman was no longer able to walk, and that he was not expected to live through the approaching winter. Incapacitated by a combination of Bright’s disease and gout as he was, the mental faculties of the ruler of Afghanistan were nevertheless unimpaired, and throughout the closing year of his life he applied them constantly to the improvement of his country. Interested in the South African War and grasping the salient lessons of our unreadiness, the Amir laid out much money in 1900-1901 upon a scheme of mobilisation; [Pg 433] while in May 1901 he secured permission to import from Germany some thirty howitzers and field guns. At the same time, and without informing the Government of India, he ordered a large number of castings for big guns, an order which was subsequently repudiated by Habib Ullah. In August 1901 he personally directed the preparations for the suppression of the threatened disaffection in Khost, besides attending to the rising of the Tagis of Hariob on the Peiwar in September. These events were the last affairs of a prominent description to which Abdur Rahman was able to apply himself. Even while engaged in the business attending the Tagis operations his Highness began to show signs of decline and, on September 20, he was seized with a stroke of paralysis which disabled his right side.

His native physicians had prepared a compound of rare medicines costing several thousand rupees; but, as the paralytic seizure was kept strictly secret in the palace, this concoction was not in readiness and, when offered to the Amir, he could not take it. On September 28 his Highness, feeling his end approaching, summoned his sons, the nobles, the principal civil and military officers and the chief raises of Kabul, Hindu and Mahommedan. One son only, Mahommed Afzul Khan, a boy of thirteen, was absent. He was with his mother at Balkh, that lady belonging to the Saids of Balkh. When all had assembled the Amir by look acknowledged their homage and then addressed them in a feeble, but distinct voice, saying:

The listeners were affected to tears by this speech. They declared that the Shahzada Habib Ullah, who had managed the state affairs so well for eight years, was the ruler whom they desired. On this the dying Amir indicated that a sword with a belt set with precious stones should be handed to Habib Ullah, together with a big volume containing his will and instructions for the future management of the state. He then ordered Nasr Ullah Khan to gird his brother with the sword, and dismissed the audience. Abdur Rahman had always the presentiment that he would die in the same year as our lamented sovereign Queen Victoria; and, after [Pg 434] this assemblage, his condition became rapidly worse and he died on October 1. The news was kept secret until the morning of the 3rd, when, his precautions against disturbance having been completed, Habib Ullah himself made it public. Later in the day, on October 3, at a special Durbar Habib Ullah was formally accepted as Amir, whereupon he issued the following proclamation to the high officers of state:

A second Durbar was held on the 6th, when the commander-in-chief, the principal military officers, the tribal chiefs then in Kabul, the leading nobles and the chief mullahs renewed publicly their agreement, made with the late Amir in the autumn of 1900, regarding the succession of Habib Ullah. With the Koran before them they affixed their seals to an oath which ran as follows:

The thousands of people assembled on the occasion of this Durbar solemnly removed their turbans, loudly acclaiming Habib Ullah as their new ruler. The leading Hindus of Kabul, headed by Dewan Harinjan, afterwards presented their agreement to the Amir, who graciously accepted it with the assurance that they should continue to live in peace and quietude, and promising a reduction of the taxes hitherto levied on their community. In Kabul on October 8, yet [Pg 436] another Durbar was held, whereat Sirdar Nasr Ullah Khan brought the Koran, the sword and the flag belonging to the late Amir. Habib Ullah rose on the approach of his brother. Placing the Koran upon his head and fastening the sword round his waist, he raised the flag and took the oath to rule Afghanistan as a true Mahommedan. He said his brothers, the whole army and the people had appointed him king. He accepted the office and publicly asked God to pardon all his sins. The Amir then declared that he confirmed his brother, Nasr Ullah Khan, in the offices which he had held under the late Amir, at the same time appointing Omar Khan to take charge of the Revenue Department and Amin Ullah Khan to preside over the Judicial Department.

Simultaneously with these announcements several acts of clemency and generosity were proclaimed. In each of the important centres prisoners, confined for minor offences, were released; while various sums of money for charitable distribution, in all aggregating one lakh of rupees, were remitted to the local authorities. Kabul naturally came in for especial marks of grace. The trading community was advised of the remission of the more oppressive taxes, and certain guilds were notified that Treasury grants would be made to them. Five hundred prisoners in the capital province were also set at liberty. In a general way, since Abdur Rahman’s scheme of taking one able-bodied man in eight for military service had given rise to discontent, Habib Ullah advanced the pay of all ranks in the Regular and Irregular establishments. The pay of the cavalry was increased from twenty rupees to twenty-five rupees per month, the infantry from eight rupees to ten rupees per month, and the levies from six rupees to eight rupees per month. The officers enjoyed a proportionate increment. These evidences of consideration secured the tranquillity of the people at a change of ruler, although the perspicacity of the late Amir, in arranging matrimonial alliances for Habib Ullah with the leading families in the army and priesthood, had already secured the allegiance to his successor of these two important factors in the state. The accession, therefore, was undisturbed; and, while couriers bore the news far and wide to officials, the issue of a fresh coinage, bearing the impression in Turkish characters “Amir Habib Ullah Khan, Amir of Kabul, the Seeker of God’s Help,” carried conviction in the market-place. At the same time in India, October 14, was observed as an official Day of Mourning, and Habib [Pg 439] Ullah was informed that a Mahommedan deputation, charged with the condolences of the Government of India and the personal greetings of the Viceroy, would immediately set out for Kabul. A few days later Habib Ullah’s preoccupation with the affairs of state passed from the civil to the spiritual side, when the new ruler of Afghanistan gave an ominous sign of that bigotry which has since distinguished him. For the first time in the country’s history the head of the state publicly performed the priestly functions in celebrating the Id at the Idgah Mosque. The chief priest of Kabul immediately proclaimed Habib Ullah to be the successor of Mahommed, whereupon the Amir of Afghanistan delivered an address inspired throughout by a spirit of intolerant ecclesiasticism. Among other things, he laid down that a fine not exceeding ten Kabuli rupees would be inflicted on all who did not offer prayers night and morning in the mosques. A register of the daily attendance of all individuals in the various quarters was to be kept; and a “box of justice” set up in each into which secret reports, upon any who neglected their religious duties, could be dropped.

The visitation of Providence upon Abdur Rahman could hardly have come at a more inopportune moment. Although the peace of the Indian frontier in 1901 was disturbed only by the Mahsud-Waziri operations, resulting from the legacy of hate which our activities on the Waziristan border during Lord Elgin’s administration had bequeathed to Lord Curzon, the action of Russia in the previous year in respect of Russo-Afghan relations had made it quite clear that the harmony of Mid-Asia was involved in the disastrous failure of British arms in the Transvaal. Nothing had ever been more probable than that an irruption of disorder throughout Afghanistan would attend the death of the late Amir. It was upon this contingency that, in the past, much thought and no little speculation had turned. Even if historical parallels were ignored, there were so many claimants to the accession in the field that the wiseacres of the chancelleries throughout the world had freely prophesied the decease of Abdur Rahman to be the signal for a general mêlée in Asia, in which Russia and Great Britain would support the rival factions. The Russians, no less than ourselves, shared these premonitions; and, when the precarious condition of Abdur Rahman’s health became actually alarming in the spring of 1901, there was a wealth of [Pg 440] suggestion in the silent preparation which took place along the Russo-Afghan and Indo-Afghan borders. Under the watchful ægis of Lord Curzon no sign of the apprehensions to which the death of Abdur Rahman gave rise in the mind of the Government of India was permitted to become public. While the first indication of a recrudescence of Russian activity along the Afghan border had been given nearly two years before, a fresh fillip to the situation was imparted by the sudden departure for the Afghan frontier of the Russian Minister of War, General Kuropatkin, who quitted St. Petersburg immediately after the receipt of the tidings of the Amir’s demise. Almost the earliest act of the former Governor-General of Asiatic Russia upon his arrival in Trans-Caspia was to release from imprisonment at Merv, on October 19, 1901, six Afghans who had been charged with espionage. Summoning them to his presence, he gave them the following message of good-will to the new Amir:

While General Kuropatkin moved from Merv to Tashkent, where he was engaged in an inspection of the garrison, besides taking part in the ceremonies attendant upon the turning of the first sod of the Tashkent division of the Orenburg-Tashkent Railway, the Government of India replied to his act of overt insolence by entrusting to the chief of the Mahommedan Mission, which left Peshawar for Kabul on November 20, 1901, an invitation for his Highness the Amir of Afghanistan to visit India. In spite of certain pre-occupation, General Kuropatkin, during his visit to Central Asia, found time to devote considerable attention to Abdur Rahman’s successor. Before December 11, when the deputation of Indian Mahommedans quitted Kabul for their own homes, Habib Ullah received from the Governor of Mazar-i-Sharif an intimation that the Governor of Tashkent would send towards the close of the winter 1901-02 a deputation of Mahommedan officials from Russian Turkestan to participate in the Nauroz festival on March 21 at Kabul. Accompanying the escort were to be several [Pg 441] batteries of field guns with supplies of ammunition, intended as a gift to his Highness in commemoration of his accession.

The significance of these circumstances was not lost upon Habib Ullah, whose perception would indeed have been dim if the antagonism of Anglo-Russian interests at the Court of Kabul had escaped his notice. An inkling of his attitude towards foreign affairs had been given when, in the very early days of his reign, he had ordered his people to observe Abdur Rahman’s prohibition against any use of the Quetta-Chaman extension between the first station on the southern side of the Khwaja Amran tunnel and the terminus at its northern extremity. In view of this, more than ordinary interest attached to the pronouncement which, it was anticipated, Habib Ullah would make to the members of the Indian Mission of Condolence.

At their first reception Habib Ullah’s attitude hardly commended itself to the pleasure of his guests. Inquiring what were the intentions of the Government of India in respect of his father’s subsidy, the invitation from the Viceroy was handed to him. After expressing satisfaction at the compliment which had been paid to him and alluding to the difficulty of accepting the invitation for some time, he hinted that the obligations contracted by Abdur Rahman were not binding upon himself. Finally, he threw the delegates a crumb of comfort in the assurance that he would follow in the footsteps of his lamented father. At a later date, in full Durbar and attended by the Mission, he expounded his policy, reiterating his intention to respect Abdur Rahman’s prejudices in regard to the introduction of telegraphs, the construction of railways, the reorganisation of the army, the appointment of a European British agent to Kabul and the adoption of Western customs—even the use of foreign medicines was banned. Schools for instruction in the Persian and Arabic languages, and the Mahommedan faith, would be opened, but the country would be jealously guarded against every form of external aggression.

For reasons which did not transpire, but which would not be difficult to determine, the visit of a Mahommedan deputation from Russian Turkestan did not take place. Meanwhile, astonishment at the promulgation of the recent ordinances had barely subsided when Habib Ullah began to press attentions upon his former tutor and pestilential frontier fanatic, Najib-ud-Din, the Mullah of Hadda, this action at once introducing into the arena of Anglo-Afghan [Pg 442] relations a disquieting figure. Ostensibly with a view to honouring his former teacher, Habib Ullah detached certain disciples from the mullah’s entourage for a Mahommedan crusade in Kafiristan, increased his sacerdotal powers by placing a large section of the frontier within his religious jurisdiction, ordered a new mosque to be built for him and invited him to participate in the Installation ceremonies at the Nauroz, presenting him with the gift of an elephant and howdah for the journey. Invitations to the Nauroz celebrations were issued to other leading spirits in the frontier disturbances of 1897, including the notorious Mullah Powindah from Waziristan, the troublesome fire-eater Mullah Said Akbar from Tirah and the Safi Mullah. Following so closely upon the semi-contemptuous rejection of the representations which the Government of India had made through the deputation of Indian Mahommedans, Habib Ullah’s predilection for the society of men who had already incurred the displeasure of the Government of India made manifest the fact that the impulse of bigotry was stronger in him than the dictates of policy. The late Amir was accustomed to use the mullahs to consolidate his own authority and to interpose a fretful hedge of fanaticism between his kingdom and the outside world. But he knew also how to curb their insolence when occasion required, and he made them all—kazis, imams and muftis—servants of the state. This adroitness in professing a militant orthodoxy and in securing at the same time the supremacy of the state over the church in Afghanistan, has been described as one of the most remarkable proofs of Abdur Rahman’s political genius.

Habib Ullah’s action in immersing himself in religious affairs so soon as he had ascended the throne, belonged to a different category. It gave rise to misgivings with regard to his capacity to hold the helm of state with the same firmness and clearness of vision as had enabled his father to descry the various shoals ahead. In any case since it boded no good to the peace of the frontier, it drew down upon the Amir a polite but unmistakable remonstrance. The effect of this was not lost upon the throne; and when the aged mullah pleaded, in excuse of his inability to attend the Nauroz, the difficulties of a journey across the hills in March, the point was conceded by his late pupil. Moreover, the Amir’s attitude at the Nauroz was circumspect and remarkable only for a very colourless exposition of the [Pg 443] divine character of the shariat, the strict fulfilment of which he enjoined upon all good Mahommedans. Five days after the celebration of the Nauroz, however, the summons to the Hadda Mullah was repeated, but the Amir’s reception of this distinguished prelate was sufficiently cool to disarm criticism.

Administrative and domestic difficulties beset Habib Ullah at an early date in his career as Amir of Afghanistan. Before the summer of 1902 had waned the discovery of a palace intrigue with extensive ramifications induced him, at a Durbar on June 8, to order the re-establishment of the Secret Intelligence Branch in Kabul, the reports from which were to be presented to him each morning. At the same time, in an interesting attempt to temper despotism with justice, he ordained that an influential rais from each tribe should be associated with each local governor to assist in the disposal of tribal cases. More important matters were to come before a Council of State in Tribal Affairs, which he now proceeded to create. It was composed of leading members of various tribes; and weekly meetings were to take place in Kabul under his own presidency. Almost the first matter to engage the consideration of this body was, in August 1903, a joint protest from the Ghilzais, Duranis and Suliman Khels against the application of Abdur Rahman’s scheme of calling up one man in eight for military service. In preference to this measure the objectors propounded the suggestion that musketry instructors should be appointed to all large villages. Acceptance of any modification of Abdur Rahman’s plan was deferred until the return of Nasr Ullah Khan from a tour of inspection of the military conditions of the state, which the Amir had projected.

As these events were occurring at Kabul, it became evident in Europe, that although Russia had not returned to the charge in respect of her communication to the Foreign Office on February 6, 1900, she had not abandoned the purpose which she had in view. In the middle of August 1902 the Russian authorities, in defiance of their treaty limitations, twice secretly addressed the Afghan Government, concealing this grave breach of their obligations towards us by an impudent agitation in the press for liberty of direct communication with Afghanistan. On August 31, the mouthpiece of the Russian Foreign Office, the Novoe Vremya, contained the following startling observation:

Four days later, on September 4, the St. Petersburg Bourse Gazette, a paper in close relation with the Finance Ministry, said:

A message from the governor of Russian Turkestan to the governor of Afghan Turkestan, requesting that direct commercial intercourse might be established across the Oxus, had already been delivered when the initiatory efforts of the Novoe Vremya and the St. Petersburg Bourse Gazette were seconded by the Viedomosti and the Moscow Bourse Gazette. While the Russian press debated the character of their obligations to us in respect of Afghanistan, the emissary of the Russian Government, Sikandur Khan, a Turcoman from Ali Yurt, proceeded to Kabul. Nearly two months elapsed before tidings of the arrival of Sikandur Khan at Kabul on September 4, reached India. Proof of Russia’s proceedings was then incontestable since, on September 5, at a State Durbar which had been specially summoned, Habib Ullah read a letter from the Russian Government to the following effect:

When the reading of this document was finished the Amir asked for the opinion of the Durbar, the temper of its members being illustrated by Ali Yar Khan, who said:

“Let this Turki dog who carries messages for infidels be beaten on the head with shoes till his hair falls off. That ought to be our answer to the Russians.”

The Amir, greatly displeased at this remark, observed that, if there were any shoebeating, it would be for him who suggested the maltreatment of the messenger. Subsequently fifty rupees were given to the Russian courier. After some public discussion the Durbar dispersed, the Amir ordering the State Secretary to acknowledge receipt of the Russian communication, and to say that, while he was willing to discuss the matter, the interchange of views must in future be made through the Government of India in accordance with the precedent established by his father, the Amir Abdur Rahman. The Russian proceedings not unnaturally attracted the attention of Parliament; and on October 21, Lord George Hamilton acquainted the British public for the first time with the receipt of the proposal which had been transmitted by the Russian Embassy to the Foreign Office nearly three years before. The correctness of the Amir’s reply was in striking contrast with the impropriety of the Russian communication, the despatch of which had transgressed the limits of diplomatic etiquette. As far back as 1868-69, Prince Gortchakoff had assured Lord Clarendon that the Russian Government regarded Afghanistan as completely outside her sphere of influence. That engagement had been re-affirmed in 1875; extended, according to the statement made by M. de Giers to Mr. Kennedy on October 2, 1883, to include abstention from the transmission of letters of ceremony, and constantly renewed in personal [Pg 446] conversation upon a variety of occasions since the original was enacted.

This action of Russia on the waters of the Oxus had drawn attention to the vague, uncertain state of the relations subsisting between Kabul and Calcutta. As matters stood all former agreements between India and Afghanistan had automatically terminated with the death of Abdur Rahman; and it remained for the succeeding Amir to adjust the situation by calling upon the Government of India to renew the arrangements by which Afghanistan had become a subsidised and protected state of India. Although twelve months had passed since the decease of the late Amir and many opportunities had been accorded him, Habib Ullah had given no indication of any desire to enter into any undertaking with the Government of India. Nevertheless he credited himself quite wrongfully each month with the accretions of his subsidy and the balance of his father’s monies which were lying, by the particular arrangement of the late Amir, at the Treasury in India. There is, to the onlooker, the greater piquancy in this regular remittance to India of debit cheques against the Treasury, since Habib Ullah, from the outset of his reign, had exhibited a most imperfect loyalty. The patronage which he extended to the Hadda Mullah had already brought one rebuke upon him; its continuation, in the face of such remonstrance, disclosed no sense of responsibility to the Government of India. Again his procrastination in dealing with the Viceroy’s invitation to a conference obviously qualified those amiable expressions of regard for Lord Curzon which Habib Ullah was at such pains to profess.

Since his accession, in marked contrast with the policy of his father, he had received numerous deputations from the Afridi zone, including one from the most predatory of all the clans south of the Khyber, the Zakka Khels, whose hostility to the British Government has always been a prominent feature of the frontier. The good impression, created in September, when he had invited the Hadda Mullah to return finally to his own country, placing a takht-i-rawan at his disposal for the journey, was ruined by this foolish dalliance with Afridi tribes from within the Durand border. At the moment, taking time by the forelock, Habib Ullah was anxious to raise an Afridi bodyguard, composed of men upon whose personal loyalty absolute reliance could be placed in case of an émeute in the palace. [Pg 447] Knowledge of this fact acted as a spur to the more disorderly border-elements, who wished to separate the Afridis, as a tribe, from the control of the Indian Government. Embodying their several schemes in one, they put forward a plan which was presented to Habib Ullah by Khawas Khan, an Afridi malik, who, in 1897, had fled before the avenging arm of the Indian Government to Kabul. This worthy, now entirely dependent upon the benevolence of the Amir’s Government, urged his protector to raise an Afridi contingent, to which project Habib Ullah was foolish enough to assent. Robes of honour were issued to the tribal chiefs and a rate of pay, double the amount allowed to the Afghan soldiery, with a month’s advance, was promised to all recruits. Two thousand Afridis came forward in the first week, 500 of whom after receiving their rewards at once deserted. The success of this new departure appeared to be assured, when the corps was disbanded on account of the hostility which was displayed by the Afghans themselves to the scheme, the men being permitted to retain the clothing, modern breech-loading rifles and ammunition with which they had been supplied. The moving influence in this salutary change of mind on the part of Habib Ullah had been that of Nasr Ullah Khan; and it was with the greater regret that, in a little time, the Amir of Afghanistan was found to have [Pg 448] broken away from the more masterful will of his brother to toy once again with the questionable ministrations of the Hadda Mullah. Early in November this holy, but tiresome, prelate wrote and persuaded Habib Ullah to hold a special Durbar in order to accept from the hands of the mullahs the title of Siraj-ul-Millat wa ud-Din—“The Lamp of The Congregation and The Faith.” In view of this it was generally felt that the happiest augury for the peace of the Indo-Afghan border, at the end of 1902, was the death of the Hadda Mullah on December 23, when the Afghan Government devoted a sum of 30,000 rupees towards the funeral obsequies of their sainted protégé.

The removal of the obstacles in the way of any cordial understanding between Russia and Great Britain in respect of Afghanistan was not assisted when, on January 14, 1903, the Foreign Office in St. Petersburg issued, in reference to the declaration made by Lord George Hamilton, the following communique:

If language is to have any meaning at all in diplomacy, as in ordinary life, this utterance can only be characterised as one of the most flagrant perversions of truth that have ever disgraced the history of even Russian politics. Quite rightly the request of February 6, 1900, had been interpreted as a veiled demand for the right to establish a Russian representative at Kabul. The proposal admits of being supported by the plausible contention that such an agency would be a convenient means of settling disputes and avoiding collisions on the Russo-Afghan border. It must not be forgotten that it was over almost an identical question—the reception of the Stolietoff Mission by Shir Ali—that Great Britain fought the Second Afghan War; and it can hardly be denied that, if the concession demanded by the Note of 1900 were granted, the result would be to set up an influence in Kabul hostile in spirit to our own and from the first day of its existence there devoted to the sapping of our position.

Great inconvenience of course attaches to a system by which the smallest detail in the adjustment of any difficulty [Pg 449] along the Russo-Afghan frontier must be referred for settlement from the Oxus to Tashkent, from Tashkent to St. Petersburg, from St. Petersburg to London, from London to the Government of India, and from the Viceroy’s Council to Kabul where, after much delay, the same process is repeated over the return journey. Unfortunately, the maintenance of such a cumbersome procedure is essential to the harmony of Anglo-Afghan relations since, although Russia professes to require facilities for frontier intercourse in commercial matters alone, similar protestations reduced Manchuria to the level of a Russian protected State until Japan intervened. Great Britain does not wish to embark upon a campaign in Central Asia and there need be no war so long as Russia, observing the pledges which she has given, tempers her desires with discretion. But continuation of the mischievous interference in Persia and Afghanistan, which has distinguished her actions hitherto, is a menace to the world’s peace, as the indulgent nature of the British Government has now been pushed to the limit of its endurance.

So far as Anglo-Afghan relations were concerned the New Year of 1903 held out little prospect of improvement. Possibly the mass of business, associated with Habib Ullah’s installation as Siraj-ul-Millat wa ud-Din, early in April, did prevent the Amir of Afghanistan from visiting India in the spring of this year. But, aside from the irregularity of the Amir’s behaviour, the incident of April 6, when Lieutenant-Colonel A. C. Yate, commanding the 24th Baluchistan Infantry Regiment and stationed at Chaman, was arrested by Afghan officials for an innocent trespass beyond the Indo-Afghan border and removed to the fort at Baldak Spin, may be regarded as throwing light upon the precise quality of the bonds of amity which were uniting the two countries. Again, serious exception could be taken at the manner in which the Amirs of Afghanistan were employing the permission to import munitions of war which had been granted by the Government of India. The arrival of the thirty Krupp guns, acquired by Abdur Rahman on the eve of his death, had revealed the presence of a large number of castings for heavy ordnance which had been secretly obtained from Essen by the late Amir. A small army of carts and camels, lent by the Government of India, carried the thirty guns from Peshawar to Jelalabad, whence forty elephants, sent by Habib Ullah for the purpose, bore them to Kabul. Very properly transport was denied to that [Pg 450] part of the purchase which disclosed Abdur Rahman’s strange dereliction of his treaty rights. Moreover, it was not difficult for Habib Ullah to recognise the irregularity of his father’s procedure, the immediate consequence of which was the repudiation of the order by the son. Unhappily, before this particular incident could be considered to have closed an immense consignment of rifle cartridges, numbering several millions of rounds, many of which were found to be of the explosive character condemned by the Hague Conference, arrived from the Amir’s agents in England. Since it never had been intended that the right to import munitions of war accorded to the late Amir of Afghanistan implied the power to amass an unlimited amount of war matériel in Kabul, no other course was open to the Viceroy of India than to see that these other stores were likewise detained by the frontier authorities.

Something more important than considerations of prestige, therefore, was embroiled in the indifference which the Amir of Afghanistan displayed towards India as the paramount state, making it incumbent upon the Government to repeat their earlier representations. There was no need, indeed the occasion had hardly arisen, for any violent coercion. The situation required merely such tightening of the reins as would bring to the ruler of Kabul a proper comprehension of the actual ties between his country and India. In the correspondence which ensued, the Amir claimed the right to import munitions of war under the treaty which had given similar powers to Abdur Rahman. Unfortunately Habib Ullah had no such right; nor was any moral obligation to honour the debit notes which Habib Ullah had drawn every month against the Indian Treasury attaching to the Government of India. These points were made clear to the Amir who had neither the funds to pay for nor the authority to order the armaments which were then waiting at the frontier. The lesson had been driven home, and the loftiness of tone, which the Amir of Afghanistan had adopted in the initiatory letter, was hardly discernible in his concluding statement. Since there was no malice in the attitude of the Government of India, the Amir of Afghanistan was again invited to visit India for purposes of a conference with the Viceroy. A visitation of cholera, which swept through Kabul and North-eastern Afghanistan in 1903, the worst since the epidemic of 1879, permitted an excuse to be offered at which no exception could be taken. Before the [Pg 451] scourge had subsided Russia had repeated her designs against Afghanistan. This, in view of the explicit denouncement of her treaty requirements, implied by the communique of January 1903, was not perhaps surprising. Their renewal was denied by Lord Cranbourne in the House of Commons both in the spring and autumn sessions of 1903. Nevertheless, in the middle of February, Sirdar Ali Khan, the governor of Afghan Turkestan, had sent to Kabul four Russian spies whom he had arrested near Mazar-i-Sharif; but the most flagrant of these insidious encroachments upon a British preserve occurred in the following August, when the governor of Russian Turkestan sent back some deserters from the Afghan army who had escaped into Russian territory. Obviously the note of defiance in the message which accompanied them was addressed to the suzerain power.

In spite of these persistent endeavours to establish friendly relations with Kabul there is little reason to believe that Habib Ullah offered any encouragement to the Russian frontier officers. Inveterate suspicion of foreign influence characterises every aspect of his external policy and Russia and Great Britain are made to feel impartially the effect of this attitude. Abdur Rahman accepted the good faith of the Indian Government unquestioningly and understood his northern neighbour sufficiently to realise that it was less a wish for the friendship of Afghanistan than a desire to pin-prick India which prompted her overtures. Habib Ullah has yet to learn how to stand where his father strode with perfect confidence, a foolish mistrust sapping the strength of the son. Under a less skilful statesman than Lord Curzon it is conceivable that the patience of the Government of India would long since have been exhausted. That exceptional familiarity with the affairs of Asia, which preeminently distinguishes the late Viceroy, enabling him [Pg 452] to tread Oriental labyrinths with wise discrimination, permitted him upon this occasion to bridge once more a crisis between Afghanistan and India. Almost in defiance of Kabul obstruction, he proceeded to the solution of difficulties which did not require any personal discussion with a refractory potentate. Early in the winter of 1903-04, the Government of India took up for consideration those sections of the Afghan boundary which, ever since the withdrawal of the Udny Mission eight years previously, had required demarcation. Surprised into ruffled acquiescence, the Amir in January 1904 began to make extensive preparations for a meeting between Major Roos-Keppel, the chief of the British Commission, and his own representative. Through the brief absence of Lord Curzon from the helm of state, the vacillation of the Amir precipitated a collapse of these plans at the last moment. Wilfully stupid, too, only a little later—in July 1904—was Habib Ullah’s order to Nasr Ullah Khan to select twenty-four officers who were to be detailed as envoys to England, France, Germany, Russia, Persia, China, Japan, Turkey and Egypt in the Old World, and America in the New World.

If the break-down in the negotiations anent the Mohmand boundary had increased the tension between Kabul and Calcutta, it was certainly impossible to tolerate this more direct perversion of the principles out of which the fabric of our relations with Afghanistan had been woven. Concerned at the rupture which was threatening between India and Afghanistan at a moment when Lord Curzon was absent from India and too timid to insist upon the Amir’s acceptance of the Viceroy’s invitation to a conference, the Imperial Government, as the only means of renewing the Agreements upon which they were set which remained to them, decided to despatch a Mission to Kabul. At the instance of the Secretary of State for India, Mr. St. John Brodrick, the acting Viceroy of India, Lord Ampthill, acquainted Habib Ullah with the wishes of His Majesty’s Government. In reply His Highness, with the hope of improving his position when the time came for diplomatic discussion and as an act of conciliation towards the Viceroy, intimated his willingness to send his son Inayat Ullah Khan—a charming, intelligent boy of sixteen and a remarkable instance of that youthful precocity which attains so abnormal a development in the Oriental—to meet Lord Curzon upon his return to India. However pressing may have been the questions [Pg 453] outstanding between the Government of India and the Amir of Afghanistan, the visit of a British Mission to Kabul—no doubt desirable and in that sense opportune—was derogatory in a Government whose invitations to the head of the country, which it was proposed to honour in such an emphatic fashion, had been treated with contumacy. Lord Curzon’s opposition to the project is well-known; but with the exception of this distinguished statesman few were prepared for the unfortunate set back which the mission received. A grievous miscalculation undoubtedly was made. But the blunder, which determined its existence and brought about a complete miscarriage of Anglo-Indian policy, lay not so much in sending the mission as in His Majesty’s Government not having decided, if the Amir proved recalcitrant, how far and upon what ground the Cabinet should stand firm.

As constituted, the Mission comprised Mr., now Sir, Louis Dane, Foreign Secretary at Simla, Mr. H. R. Dobbs—who, together with Major Wanliss, had recently returned from replacing the boundary pillars on the Perso-Afghan border—Major W. Malleson, R.A., Captain Victor Brooke, 9th Lancers, and a British doctor. Leaving Peshawar on November 27, the mission reached Dakka on November 29, and was met at Lundi Khana by 200 Afghan cavalry under the Sipah Salar Ghulam Hussein, the Sarhang of Dakka, and Mahommed Hasan Khan. Major Roos-Keppel, political agent for the Khyber, accompanied the party for a few miles beyond Lundi Khana to Torkhana, where a [Pg 454] guard of honour of the Khyber Rifles was drawn up, the mission ultimately arriving at Kabul on December 10. Elaborate gifts were conveyed by Mr. Dane for presentation to the Amir, among many others a £700 motor-car and several cases of sporting equipment. As a compliment to the ladies of the harem the Government of India thoughtfully included a cinematograph, providing at the same time the necessary operator. Among the presents to the Mission from his Highness were a gold watch and a set of gold cuff links which Habib Ullah had offered to Mr. Dane. The note struck by the negotiations was scarcely in the same pitch as the festivities by which the withdrawal of the Mission was celebrated, when seven gramophones simultaneously discharged bursts of discordant revelry. Nevertheless, the din of these instruments fell on the ears of those who had every cause to be relieved at the peaceful termination of their labours, since the clouds had hung low over Kabul throughout the Anglo-Afghan conferences of 1904-05.

Many things in our buffer state of course required to be improved as much for the enhancement of its own interests as for the advantage of India. There was the Amir’s perpetuation of Abdur Rahman’s objection to Afghan subjects using the northern extremity of the Quetta-Chaman railway to be discussed, as well as the projection of railways from Chaman to Kandahar and from Peshawar to Kabul. Besides these important subjects there were the prolongation of the Indian system of telegraphs to Kabul and Kandahar; the provision of telegraphic communication between Kabul, Mazar-i-Sharif and Herat; Kabul and Kandahar; Kandahar and Herat. The re-organisation of the Afghan army had also to be considered, while the demarcation of the Mohmand boundary and the Seistan border, the definition of the Amir’s control over border tribes, the question of the subsidy and Habib Ullah’s powers in respect of the importation of munitions of war were topics, the examination of which would be, it was expected, to the mutual benefit of the contracting parties in an Anglo-Afghan alliance. In India it was understood that there might be a difficulty in the arrangement of the terms which were to be secured from the Amir; but that ultimately, and after protracted negotiations, our demands would be conceded. To this end the chief of the Mission was provided with a treaty, drawn up under the personal supervision of Lord Curzon during his brief residence in London [Pg 455] in 1904, which was designed to bring about a discussion of every aspect of the old agreements with a view to removing previous difficulties and arriving at a clear understanding for the future.

This treaty comprised three clauses, but Habib Ullah, simulating annoyance at the terms of the clause which attempted to restrict the importation of arms, would not enter into any discussion over it. After the Mission had passed four months in the Afghan capital, the limit, to which the Amir of Afghanistan would permit himself to go, reproduced simply the formal renewal on both sides of the engagements entered into between Abdur Rahman, the late Amir of Afghanistan, and the Government of India.

Thus the situation upon the arrival of Mr. Dane from Kabul differed in no way from that which had preceded his departure for the Afghan capital, save that substantial concessions had been awarded to the Amir of Afghanistan who, in return, had conceded nothing. In addition to an astonishing and entirely unnecessary elevation in the style and title of the ruler of Afghanistan—conveyed in the charge “Independent King of the State of Afghanistan and its Dependencies,” and the reference to “His Majesty,” which the precious instrument reveals—inevitable corollaries of the transaction were the continuation of the annual subsidy of eighteen lakhs to Abdur Rahman’s successor, the release of the arrears—approximately amounting to £400,000—which had been accumulating since a little previous to the demise of the late Amir, and the right to an unrestricted importation of arms.

It must not be supposed that the mere ratification of the engagements was sufficient for the purposes of British policy in Central Asia. Much more was needed; and, since facilities were deliberately withheld and the Amir rejected consideration of our pledged responsibility, it is evident that the subjugation of Afghanistan to the interests of India is incomplete. It is of value perhaps to have ascertained that the Amir is disaffected and untrustworthy. There [Pg 457] was always a doubt but it was hoped that the affront, which he offered so sedulously to the British Government, was due to his own conspicuous vanity rather than the manifestation of actual ill-will. The Kabul conference made that point clear; but, as the Imperial Government have elected to observe an impressive reticence upon the circumstances of this unfortunate episode, it is no less incumbent upon others to do likewise. Nothing can be gained by revealing to the world the details of a rebuff without parallel in the history of Indian politics, unless such acknowledgment were made to assist public opinion in appreciating the issues involved in the absence of any satisfactory understanding between Kabul and Calcutta. That this course formed no part of the late Government’s policy was disclosed on June 21, 1905, by the debate in Parliament upon the Indian budget and, at a later date, upon Mr. Balfour’s speech on Imperial Defence. The Ministers, who spoke on these occasions, concealed the truth rather than stated it, and their utterances cannot be accepted as either correct or adequate. Mr. Balfour’s statement that the construction “of strategic railways by Russia in Afghanistan” would provoke Great Britain to war does not render the character of Anglo-Afghan policy more intelligible, nor remove the disadvantages from our position. On the [Pg 458] contrary, the utterance was most misleading since no such contingency, as the construction of Russian railways in Afghanistan itself, is likely to occur until Russia is prepared to strike with all her strength in Persia and Afghanistan. The question of Anglo-Afghan relations, therefore, remains for solution, having given rise to a situation which was regarded by the late Viceroy and every member of his Council with the gravest apprehension.

[Pg 461]

APPENDIX I

NAMES OF STATIONS ON THE ORENBURG-TASHKENT
RAILWAY

[Pg 463]

APPENDIX II—(A)

LIST OF STATIONS FROM TASHKENT TO MERV, WITH
DISTANCES FROM KRASNOVODSK AND TASHKENT

APPENDIX II—(B)

MURGHAB VALLEY RAILWAY

LIST OF STATIONS FROM MERV TO KUSHKINSKI POST
WITH DISTANCES FROM KRASNOVODSK AND MERV

[Pg 465]

APPENDIX III

Kishlak, a village of sedentary Turcomans, as opposed to Aoul, the nomad village.

[Pg 466]

APPENDIX IV

THE TREATY OF GANDAMAK

Treaty between the British Government and his Highness Mahommed Yakub Khan, Amir of Afghanistan and its dependencies, concluded at Gandamak on the 26th May, 1879, by his Highness the Amir Mahommed Yakub Khan on his own part and on the part of the British Government by Major (afterwards Sir Louis) P. L. N. Cavagnari, C.S.I.

At the great Durbar held by Lord Dufferin on April 8, 1885, the Amir Abdur Rahman spoke as follows:

Concluded between General Aide-de-Camp Kauffman, Governor-General of Turkestan, and Seid Mozaffur, Amir of Bokhara.

Letter from Major-General Ivanoff, Governor of Zerafshan, to the Heir-Apparent, Mahommed Musa Khan, and others.

From time to time the Russian Government has given a series of assurances that whatever its action in other respects may have been, it regarded Afghanistan as entirely beyond its sphere of action.

In March 1869, the Earl of Clarendon, then Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, informed the British Ambassador at St. Petersburg that he had received communication of a despatch addressed by the Russian Chancellor, Prince [Pg 506] Gortchakow, to the Russian Ambassador in London, containing the following declaration:

On October 17, 1872, Earl Granville addressed to Lord Loftus, Ambassador at St. Petersburg, the following letter upon the Russo-Afghan frontier.

Prince Gortchakow to Count Brunnow (communicated to Earl Granville by Count Brunnow, February 17).

Prince Gortchakow to Count Schuvaloff (communicated to the Earl of Derby by Count Schuvaloff, February 25, 1876).

After drawing the attention of the Russian Government, at the end of 1876, to the correspondence exchanged between General Kauffman and the Amir of Kabul, the British Ambassador received the following further assurance:

M. de Giers to Lord A. Loftus.

“St. Petersburg, February 21,March 5, 1877.

“The Imperial Government entirely share the opinion of the British Government that a frank and cordial interchange of opinions on the question of Central Asia cannot do otherwise than contribute to the maintenance of the good and friendly relations at present established between Russia and England.

“With this view they felt ready to give, in the Notes of the 19th November1st December and the 3rd15th December, to which your Excellency refers, the assurance that Russia had not endeavoured to conclude any arrangement, commercial or political, with the Amir of Kabul, and that the rare relations of our authorities in Central Asia with the latter had never borne any other character than that of pure courtesy, in conformity with local usages in the East. While now renewing these assurances, the Imperial Government hope the British Government will recognise that practically we have never swerved from them, whatever may have been the erroneous interpretations placed by the native Asiatic Governments on the communications of General Kauffman, and whatever false importance may have been attributed to the method of transmission adopted by him. Misunderstandings on this subject were nearly inevitable, considering the uncertain character of the native populations of Central Asia, and their inveterate inclination to intrigue; the only effective way, in our opinion, of meeting this danger, lies in the good faith and loyalty which, we are glad to think, will never cease to influence, on either [Pg 513] side, any interchange of views between us and the British Cabinet.”

The following Notes were exchanged between the Russian Ambassador in London and Lord Salisbury before General Stolietoff’s final recall from Kabul after the conclusion of the Congress of Berlin:

Count Schuvaloff to the Marquis of Salisbury

London, December 7,19, 1878.

“You have expressed surprise on learning that the Russian mission, which you thought had left Kabul, was still there. You reminded me of the declaration made by M. de Giers to the British Chargé d’Affaires concerning the provisional character of this mission, which was despatched under exceptional circumstances, and at a time when it was to be feared that war might break out between England and Russia.

“I have received a telegram from Prince Gortchakow, in which he charges me to ask you whether the arrangements between Russia and England, such as they existed before the despatch of the mission, and such as they are recorded in the correspondence exchanged on this subject between the two Cabinets, are maintained by her Majesty’s Government, and whether they retain in their eyes their obligatory character.

“His Majesty the Emperor is disposed, on his part, to observe all the arrangements relative to Central Asia concluded between Russia and England, and to recall immediately the mission which is at Kabul.”

The Marquis of Salisbury to Count Schuvaloff.

“Foreign Office,
“December 19, 1878.

“In reply to your letter of this day’s date, I have to state to your Excellency that the continued presence of the Russian Mission at Kabul is the sole obstacle to a full revival of the understanding between the two Powers expressed in the correspondence which has passed between them upon the subject of Afghanistan and Central Asia; and when the Russian Mission is withdrawn, her Majesty’s Government will consider that all engagements on both sides with respect to those countries retain their obligatory character.”

In 1882 the position of the two countries in Asia was again discussed in connection with the Russian advance to Merv.

[Pg 514] Earl Granville to Sir E. Thornton.

“Foreign Office,
February 22, 1882.

“The Russian Ambassador called upon me this afternoon by appointment. His Excellency told me that he had reported to his Government the substance of the conversation we had had on the 2nd instant on the policy of the two Governments in Asia, as reported in my despatch of that date.

“Prince Lobanow said that he had told his Government that I had commenced by stating that the present good relations between Russia and England offered an opportunity, of which it was desirable to take advantage, for coming to some further understanding as to the position of the two countries in Central Asia; that he had thereupon suggested a renewal of the agreement formerly made with Prince Gortchakow by Lord Clarendon and me; that to this I had replied that I looked upon that agreement as still existing in full force, but that it left certain matters undecided which it would be well definitely to settle; and that I had finished by proposing a delimitation of the Persian frontier from Baba Durmaz to a point in the neighbourhood of the Hari Rud.

“He had now received the reply of his Government. They acknowledged the continued validity of the agreement formerly entered into by Prince Gortchakow, by which Afghanistan was admitted to be beyond the sphere of Russian influence. That agreement was, however, as I had said, incomplete: and they were ready to supplement it by a settlement of the frontier of Afghanistan, from the point where it had been left undefined as far as Sarakhs.”

In 1883 the following correspondence took place:

Earl Granville to Mr. J. G. Kennedy.

“Foreign Office,
“October 2, 1883.

“A report has reached her Majesty’s Government of an intended visit of a Russian to Kabul bearing a letter from the Emperor of Russia to the Amir.

“Such a proceeding on the part of the Russian Government would be inconsistent with the assurances which they have given to her Majesty’s Government from time to time on the subject of Afghanistan.

“I have to instruct you to inquire as to the truth of this report, and to inform me of the result by telegraph.”

[Pg 515] Mr. J. G. Kennedy to Earl Granville.

“St. Petersburg, October 3, 1883.

“I have the honour to state that on receipt to-day of your Lordship’s telegram of the 2nd instant I immediately waited on M. de Giers at the Foreign Department, and inquired of his Excellency whether there was any truth in a report which had reached her Majesty’s Government that a Russian intended to go to Kabul, furnished with a letter to the Amir from the Emperor.

“M. de Giers at once replied that such an event was impossible. The Emperor was most unlikely to give any letter addressed to the Amir to any one. No such letter could be written without M. de Giers’ knowledge, and he could positively and solemnly assure me that no such letter had been written by his Imperial Majesty.

“M. de Giers further states that so anxious were the Emperor and himself to avoid all suspicion of Russian communication with Afghanistan, that strict orders had been sent to the Governor-General of Turkestan to desist from the transmission of letters of ceremony, or even of letters of recommendation, to the Amir in favour of travellers. In fact, all possible steps were taken to prevent intercourse between Russia and Afghanistan, which latter country was considered to be in England’s ‘orbit.’

“In reply to a suggestion of mine, M. de Giers stated that no such letter could have been written during the Moscow Coronation festivities, at which period the Emperor had been most guarded in all his dealings with the various Asiatic potentates there assembled.

“M. de Giers also promised to inform me at once whenever any intention existed of such an improbable event as the transmission of a letter from his Imperial Majesty to the Ruler of Afghanistan.”

In 1884, in view of inquiries made by the British Government as to the reported despatch of a Russian Agent to Maimana, within the frontiers of Afghanistan, M. de Giers communicated on April 1527 to the British Ambassador at St. Petersburg the following:

“The Imperial Ministry can, on the other hand, state that no agent has been sent to Maimana. According to the terms of the arrangement come to between the two Powers, Maimana is included in the country of the Amir of Afghanistan, and the Government of his Majesty the Emperor is resolved to scrupulously respect, as it has done in times past, all the engagements it contracted in virtue of the arrangement in question.”

In 1885 further disquieting reports having arisen with [Pg 516] regard to the proceedings of the Russians on the Afghan frontier, the following Memorandum was communicated by the Russian Foreign Office to the British Ambassador at St. Petersburg:

“The Imperial Ministry for Foreign Affairs has taken note of the Memorandum which was transmitted by the English Ambassador on the 16th instant, and which contains the expression of the wish of her Majesty’s Government that the agitation raised in the two countries by the rumours about the preparations said to be in progress on both sides should cease.”

The same Memorandum states that, unless circumstances arise over which they have no control, which might bring about sudden changes, the two Governments are in a position which would allow them to arrive at an arrangement satisfactory and honourable for Russia, the Amir of Afghanistan, and England!

“The Imperial Cabinet cannot do less than join in this desire of her Majesty’s Government. They have never cherished, nor do they cherish, aggressive views on Herat, or any other part of the Amir’s possessions, and they only aim at contributing to the establishment of peace and security there. Resolved, as they are, to respect scrupulously the rights of Great Britain, as well as those of the Amir, the Imperial Cabinet hope that her Majesty’s Government will display the same regard for the rights of Russia, and they are convinced that the two Governments will thus succeed in avoiding everything which might interfere with a satisfactory solution of the question now under negotiation.

“St. Petersburg, March 18, 1885.”

The circumstances which had arisen made the arrangement of a Russo-Afghan Boundary Convention desirable, and it was agreed at St. Petersburg on July 10, 1887, that:

“(1) The frontier included between the pillars No. 1 and No. 19, and the pillars No. 36 and No. 65, should be considered as definitely settled. The trigonometrical points on the portion of the frontier line described above, and included between pillars No. 19 and No. 36, are likewise admitted as definitive. The description of this part of the frontier, as well as that of the part to the eastward of pillar No. 65, may be completed after the demarcation. The synopsis of pillars attached to Protocol No. 15, dated the 1st (13th) September, 1886, is admitted to be correct and definitive as regards pillars No. 1 to No. 19, and No. 36 to No. 65. It will be completed subsequently by the synopsis of the pillars from No. 20 to No. 35, and by that of the pillars to the east of No. 65.

[Pg 517] “(2) Leaving pillar No. 19, the frontier shall follow a straight line up to the summit of the hill marked 2740 on map No. 1, annexed to the present Protocol. This point, where pillar No. 20 shall be placed, is known under the denomination of trigonometrical station of Kara Tepe (latitude 35° 17′ 49″, longitude 62° 15′ 17″). Farther on the line shall descend the crest of the hills, being directed from this point towards the confluence of the Kushk and the Moghur. Pillar No. 21 shall be placed on a point of this crest, or of its slope, so as to be seen from the confluence above-mentioned. A straight line shall connect No. 21 with No. 22, placed in the valley of the Kushk on the left bank of the river, 900 feet to the north of the confluence of the Kushk with the Moghur. Leaving pillar No. 22, the line shall ascend the thalweg of the Kushk to pillar No. 23, placed 2700 feet above the head of the new canal, on the right bank of which the water-supply is situated about 6000 feet to the N.N.E. of the Ziaret of Chahil-Dukhter. From pillar No. 23 a straight line shall be traced to the point marked 2925 on map No. 3 annexed to the present Protocol (latitude 35° 16′ 53″, longitude 62° 27′ 57″). Whence the frontier shall follow the line of the water-parting, passing through the following points: The point 3017 (Bandi Akhamar, latitude 35° 14′ 21″, longitude 62° 35′ 48″, pillar No. 26); the point 3198 (latitude 35° 14′ 20″, longitude 62° 41′ 0″, pillar No. 27); and the point Kalari 2 (latitude 35° 18′ 21″, longitude 62° 47′ 18″); and shall run on to the point marked No. 29 on map No. 4 annexed to the present Protocol. The frontier shall cross the valley of the river Kashan in a straight line between pillars No. 29 and No. 30 (trigonometrical station of Tori-Scheikh, latitude 35° 24′ 51″, longitude 62° 59′ 43″, map No. 3), where it meets the line of the water-parting of the Kashan and the Murghab, shall pass on to this latter, and shall follow it up to the trigonometrical station of the Kashan (latitude 35° 38′ 13″, longitude 63° 6′ 4″, pillar No. 32). From this station a straight line shall be traced to a point on the Murghab (pillar No. 35) situated 700 ft. above the canal-head of the canal Yaki-Yuz or Yaki-Yangi. Further on the frontier, descending the thalweg of the Murghab, shall join pillar No. 36 of the frontier demarcated in 1885-86. To the east of pillar No. 65 the frontier shall follow the line marked A B C D on map No. 8 annexed to the present Protocol, the point A being situated at a distance of 3500 ft. south of the walls of Tinam Nazar; the point B being near Kara Tepe Khurd-Kak, which remains to the Afghans; the point C about midway between the east and west walls of Katabadji; and lastly, the point D about midway between the wells Ali Kadim and the wells marked Chahi. The wells of Tinam Nazar, Kara-Tepe-Khurd, West Katabadji and Ali Kadim remain outside of Afghan territory. From the point D a straight line shall be traced as far as the commencement of the local frontier demarcated between Bosagha and Khamiab, which shall continue to serve as frontier between the two [Pg 518] villages, with the single reservation that the canals of Bosagha along all their course, that is to say, as far as Koinli (point H), shall be included in Russian territory. In other words, the present demarcation will confirm the existing rights of the two parties on the banks of the Amu Daria, that is to say, that the inhabitants of Khamiah shall retain all their lands and all their pastures, including those which are east of the local frontier marked E F G on maps Nos. 9 and 10 annexed to the Protocol. On the other hand, the inhabitants of Bosagha shall retain the exclusive enjoyment of their canals as far as Koinli, with the right of repairing and supplying them, in accordance with the customs in force in regard to those of Khamiab, when the waters of Amu Daria are too low to supply directly the canal-heads of Koinli. The officers who shall be charged to execute on the spot the provisions of the present Protocol between the above-named pillars shall be bound to place a sufficient number of intermediate pillars, taking advantage for this purpose as much as possible of the salient points.

“(3) The clause in Protocol No. 4 of the 14th (26th) December, 1885 prohibiting the Afghans from making use of the irrigating canals in the Kushk valley below Chahil Dukhter, which were not in use at that time, remains in force; but it is understood that this clause can only be applied to the canals supplied by the Kushk. The Afghans shall not have the right to make use of the waters of the Kushk for their agricultural works north of Chahil Dukhter; but the waters of the Moghur belong exclusively to them, and they may carry out any works they may think necessary in order to make use of them.

“(4) The clauses in Protocols No. 4 of the 14th (26th) December, 1885, and No. 15 of the 1st (13th) September, 1886, relative to the construction of a dam on the Murghab, remain in force. M. Linoview having expressed the wish that the obligation imposed on the Amir of Afghanistan to give up for this purpose a tract of land on the right bank of the Murghab, under the conditions stipulated in the said Protocols, should be extended to the whole course of the river below the canal-head of Yaki-Yuz, Colonel Ridgeway is of opinion that the necessary steps to obtain the assent of the Amir might delay the conclusion of the present arrangement; but he is nevertheless convinced that the assent of the Amir to this cession, under the same conditions, of a tract of land on the right bank can be obtained without difficulty, if later on the Imperial Government should inform her Britannic Majesty’s Government of their intention of proceeding to the construction of a dam above the canal-head of Bendi Nadiri.

“(5) The British Government will communicate without delay to the Amir of Afghanistan the arrangements herein agreed upon, and the Imperial Government of Russia will enter into possession [Pg 519] of the territory adjudged to them, by the present Protocol, from the 1st (13th) October of the present year.

“(6) The frontier agreed upon shall be locally demarcated by a mixed Commission according to the signed maps. In case the work of demarcation should be delayed, the line traced on the maps shall nevertheless be considered binding by the two Governments.”

[45] This letter, which is generally referred to as the letter from the Foreign Secretary, dated July 20, 1880, is known to have been sealed by Mr. Griffin and delivered by him on July 31, 1880.

[46] “Forty-One Years in India.”—Roberts.

[Pg 520]

APPENDIX V

A.—SUMMER SERVICE OF THE OXUS FLOTILLA

KEY:
B: Number of versts from Charjui to Patta Hissar.
C: Cost of transport of 1 pood of baggage from Charjui.
D: Cost of transport of 1 pood of baggage from Patta Hissar.
E: Number of versts from Patta Hissar.

B	Cost of passage for passengers from Charjui.				C	Voyage from Charjui to Patta Hissar.		Points touched at.	Voyage from Patta Hissar to Charjui.		Cost of passage for passengers from Patta Hissar.				D	E
B	1 Cl.		3 Cl.		C	Arrive.	Depart.	Points touched at.	Arrive.	Depart.	1 Cl.		3 Cl.		D	E
	R	K	R	K	Kop.						R	K	R	K	Kop.
56	1	68	-	56	5,6	Thur. & Mon.	Wed. & Sun.	Charjui	⎫	⎫	12	99	4	33	43,3	433
109	3	27	1	09	10,9	” ”	Thur. & Mon.	Natizin	⎪	⎬Sat. & Mon.	11	31	3	77	37,7	377
126	3	78	1	26	12,6	” ”	” ”	Burdalik	⎬Sat. & Mon.	⎪	9	72	3	24	32,4	324
151	4	53	1	51	15,1	Fri. & Tues.	” ”	Polvart	⎪	⎭	9	21	3	07	30,7	307
212	6	36	2	12	21,3	” ”	Fri. & Tues.	Bashir	⎪	Fri. & Sun.	8	46	2	82	28,2	282
233	6	99	2	33	23,3	⎫		⎧Karki	⎭	⎫	6	63	2	21	22,1	221
225	7	65	2	55	25,5	⎬Wednesday	Wednesday	⎨Kundalem	⎫	⎪	6	00	2	00	20,0	200
271	8	13	2	71	27,1	⎪		⎪Mukri	⎬Sunday	⎬Sunday	5	34	1	78	17,8	178
303	9	09	3	03	30,3	⎭		⎩Ak Kum	⎭	⎭	4	86	1	62	16,2	162
322½	9	98	3	33	33,25	Thursday	Thursday	Charshangu	⎫	⎫	3	90	1	30	13,0	130
358½	10	76	3	59	35,85	Thursday	Thursday	Kelif	⎪	⎪	3	02	1	10	10,05	100½
385	11	55	3	85	38,5	⎫	⎫	Kuyu Kara Mazar	⎬Saturday	⎬Saturday	2	24	-	75	7,45	74½
399	11	97	3	99	39,9	⎬ Friday	⎬ Friday	Chushka-Gisar	⎪	⎪	1	44	-	48	4,8	48
404	12	12	4	04	40,4	⎪	⎪	Shur Ob	⎪	⎪	1	02	-	34	3,4	34
433	12	99	4	33	4,33	⎭	⎭	Patta Hissar	⎭	⎭	-	87	-	29	29,9	29

[Pg 521]

B.—WINTER SERVICE OF THE OXUS FLOTILLA

Voyage from Charjui to Patta Hissar.		Points touched at.	Voyage from Patta Hissar Charjui.
Arrive.	Depart.	Points touched at.	Arrive.	Depart.
Monday	Sunday	Charjui	Tuesday	Tuesday
Tuesday	Monday	Narizim	Tuesday	Monday
Tuesday	Tuesday	Burdalik	Monday	Monday
Wednesday	Wednesday	Polvart	Monday	Sunday
Friday	Wednesday	Bashir	Sunday	Sunday
Friday	Friday	Karki	Sunday	Saturday
Saturday	Saturday	Kundalem	Saturday	Saturday
Sunday	Saturday	Mukri	Saturday	Saturday
Sunday	Sunday	Ak Kum	Friday	Friday
Monday	Monday	Charshangu	Friday	Friday
Tuesday	Monday	Kelif	Friday	Thursday
Tuesday	Tuesday	Kuyu Kara Mazar	Thursday	Thursday
Wednesday	Wednesday	Chuska Gisar	Thursday	Thursday
Wednesday	Wednesday	Kuyu Shur Ob	Thursday	Thursday
Wednesday	Wednesday	Chur Ob	Thursday	Thursday
Wednesday	Wednesday	Patta Hissar	Thursday	Thursday

[Pg 522]

APPENDIX VI

RETURN OF ARTICLES EXPORTED FROM RUSSIA TO KHORASSAN DURING THE PERIOD
MARCH 21, 1903, TO MARCH 20, 1904, COMPARED WITH 1900-03

Articles.	Value.				1903-04.		Destination of Imports.
Articles.	1900-01.	1901-02.	1902-03.		Quantity.	Value.	Destination of Imports.
Animals—	£	£	£			£	Khorassan only, though many of the camels go to Azerbaijan. Specification of various animals was only kept at Meshed. Those here entered as “Unspecified” are animals that entered at Kuchan, and of which no detail was kept
Camels	592	858	8,198	Number	293	1,806⎫
Donkeys	—	56	832	”	47	73⎬
Horses	—	584	2,901	”	155	649⎪
Unspecified	—	—	94	”	1,626	6,386⎭
Animal products, crude	—	—	—	Lbs.	232,700	2,926	Khorassan. Chiefly intestines and some silkworm eggs from France
Beer, vinegar, and other fermented beverages	122	221	319	”	32,273	360⎫	⎬Khorassan
Butter and other edible fats	62	195	967	”	75,754	2,059⎭	⎬Khorassan
Candles	2,283	2,139	2,726	”	59,898	1,836	Khorassan, Seistan, Birjand, Yezd, Kerman, and Afghanistan
Carpets	506	348	248	”	5,018	618	Khorassan. Chiefly Turkoman carpets
Chemical products	—	—	299	”	85,593	1,086	Khorassan, Afghanistan, Birjand, and Seistan
Cochineal	385	228	573	”	34,775	1,377	Khorassan and Birjand
Copper and nickel, in sheets, bars, &c.	—	—	85	”	1,697	58	Khorassan, Birjand, and Afghanistan[Pg 523]
Copper, brass, and nickelwork	—	—	355	”	38,279	2,669	Chiefly brasswork. Goes to Khorassan, Afghanistan, Birjand, Yezd, Kerman, Seistan, and samovars (tea-urns) even to India
Cotton, raw	—	—	—	”	6,045	126	Khorassan
Drugs	226	1,004	160	”	15,048	640	Khorassan, Afghanistan, Birjand, and Seistan
Dyes and varnishes	83	171	165	”	14,600	321	Khorassan and Birjand
Earthenware and crockery	2,343	1,236	1,090	”	123,507	3,208⎫	⎬Khorassan, Afghanistan, Seistan, Birjand, Yezd, and Kerman
Fabrics of hemp and flax	4,746	2,764	3,858	”	302,310	8,026⎭	⎬Khorassan, Afghanistan, Seistan, Birjand, Yezd, and Kerman
Fish, fresh and salted	61	69	—	”	1,528	45⎫	Khorassan
Flour	—	—	232	”	55,983	317⎬
Fruits—						⎪
Dried	—	—	620	”	1,242	19⎭
Fresh	27	51	—	”	17,167	162	Khorassan. Lemons, oranges, &c., brought from Resht via Russia
Furniture	432	839	1,612	”	76,174	1,994	Khorassan, Birjand, and Seistan
Glass, mirrors, &c.	—	—	1,077	”	57,585	732⎫	⎬Khorassan, Birjand, Seistan, and Afghanistan
Glassware	7,127	4,330	1,591	”	148,909	3,520⎭	⎬Khorassan, Birjand, Seistan, and Afghanistan
Gold and silver work	—	—	22	”	1	127⎫	⎬Khorassan
Grain, wheat, and barley	556	849	1,430	”	408,909	1,888⎭	⎬Khorassan
Iron in bars, &c., and scrap-iron	7,084	5,248	4,671	”	1,084,090	7,646⎫	Khorassan, Birjand, Seistan, and Yezd
Iron and steel, manufactured	4,784	3,308	2,483	”	225,713	5,845⎬
Lead, zinc, and tin in sheets and ingots	—	—	399	”	32,474	972⎪
Leather work	—	—	—	”	4,316	543⎭[Pg 524]
Lemonade and fruit syrups	194	261	147	”	28,966	214	Khorassan
Matches	573	5,127	2,005	”	221,423	3,616	Khorassan, Afghanistan, Birjand, Seistan, Yezd, and Kerman
Mercery and hardware	1,276	7,786	4,697	”	25,266	2,590	Khorassan, Afghanistan, Birjand, and Seistan
Minerals not specified	98	45	16	”	3,679	61	Khorassan
Musical Instruments	—	—	—	”	410	269	Khorassan and Birjand
Oil—
Petroleum	14,847	14,618	14,375	”	4,007,985	19,619	Afghanistan, Khorassan, Birjand, Seistan, and Yezd
Other	14	37	248	”	17,889	153	Khorassan
Papers and wares thereof	1,123	1,928	1,044	”	71,189	1,908	Khorassan, Afghanistan, Birjand, and Seistan
Printed matter	—	—	110	”	5,480	270⎫	⎬Khorassan
Provisions	4	7	2,217	”	6,819	120⎭	⎬Khorassan
Rice	—	4,247	3,682	”	2,329,587	22,878	Comes from Resht in Persia via Enzeli and Krasnovodsk to Khorassan, Afghanistan, Birjand, and Seistan
Rope, &c.	87	89	134	”	8,769	164	Khorassan
Rubber goods	—	—	5	”	3,195	532	Khorassan, Afghanistan, Birjand, Seistan, Yezd, and Kerman
Silk, raw	72	332	515	”	4,830	1,630	Khorassan and Yezd
Skins							[Pg 525]
Untanned	50	633	921	”	11,206	585⎫	Khorassan, Afghanistan, Birjand, and Seistan
Other	1,748	2,074	1,532	”	23,713	1,186⎬
Soap	101	88	187	”	9,322	352⎭
Spices	—	448	92	”	531	40	Khorassan, Birjand, and Seistan
Spirits	187	227	469	”	6,176	245⎫	⎬Khorassan
Stones, precious and other	—	—	—	”	2,782	73⎭	⎬Khorassan
Sugar—
Loaf	107,032	118,422	132,090	”	12,696,665	107,978⎬
Other	19,259	26,203	38,444	”	4,330,320	37,694⎭
Tea	961	925	353	”	110,949	7,937	Largely Indian tea. Khorassan, Afghanistan, Birjand, and Seistan
Thread—
Cotton	222	356	177	”	8,457	604⎫	Khorassan, Afghanistan, Birjand, Seistan, Yezd, and Kerman
Imitation gold and silver	1,112	—	—	”	7,326	1,325⎬
Other	449	3,565	610	”	169	66⎭
Tissues—
Cotton	70,305	115,799	65,521	”	1,682,447	604⎫	Khorassan, Afghanistan, Birjand, Seistan, Yezd, and Kerman
Silk	1,498	3,978	997	”	1,245	1,175⎬
Woollen	1,405	2,548	3,361	”	17,383	4,175⎪
Other	476	2,600	—	”	2,009	296⎭
Tobacco and cigarettes	2,345	1,794	3,634	”	54,113	3,120	Khorassan, Afghanistan, Birjand, Seistan, Yezd, and Kerman
Vehicles	82	410	653	Number	111	844	Khorassan
Vegetables and vegetable substances	—	—	—	Lbs.	28,048	1,134	Khorassan and Birjand
Watches	139	47	79	Number	83	146	Khorassan and Afghanistan
Wearing apparel	1,145	1,350	842	Lbs.	3,811	1,223	Khorassan, Birjand, and Seistan
Wines	98	127	297	”	3,211	95	Khorassan
Wood, manufactured	—	126	44	”	35,516	99	Khorassan and Seistan
Miscellaneous	2,523	752	137	”	293	56
Total	£260,844	£341,447	£316,642	—	—	£405,028

[Pg 526]

APPENDIX VII

RETURN OF ARTICLES EXPORTED FROM KHORASSAN TO RUSSIA DURING THE PERIOD MARCH 21, 1903, TO MARCH 20, 1904, COMPARED WITH 1900-03

Articles.	Value.				1903-04.		Remarks.
Articles.	1900-01.	1901-02.	1902-03.		Quantity.	Value.	Remarks.
	£	£	£			£
Almonds and pistachio nuts	3,017	1,166	1,639	—	—	—	Included in “Fruits, dried”; separate figures not obtainable
Animals—
Camels	540	—	94	Number	8	46
Cattle	1,719	7,913	13,702	”	5,764	8,496
Donkeys	—	—	19	”	14	18
Horses	—	—	136	”	43	199
Sheep	429	2,008	1,905	”	22,879	8,434
Unspecified	2	201	313	”	8,947	178	Poultry, &c.
Animal products, crude	—	—	—	Lbs.	38,590	505
Butter and other edible fats	—	3	—	”	2,919	114
Carpets	20,855	15,600	32,958	”	66,125	6,233	For Constantinople, American, and European markets
Charcoal	15	—	134	”	421,512	928	Exported chiefly from Sarakhs district
Copper-work	—	—	317	”	1,846	149	Chiefly basins, ewers, and trays
Cotton, raw	162,318	74,330	121,906	”	10,839,589	196,081	Some for European, greater part for Russian, markets
Drugs	270	212	245	”	4,921	135
Dyes	2,783	1,918	1,999	”	89,245	1,280	Chiefly henna and a dye made from the pistachio-tree and used for dyeing skins [Pg 527]
Earthenware and crockery	146	61	35	”	1,547	99
Fodder	—	—	23	”	132,392	91
Fruits, dried and fresh	5,219	10,281	2,966	”	10,244,286	54,716[47]
Glassware	16	1	40	—	—	—
Gold and silver work	—	—	6	Lbs.	2	30
Grain	696	765	2,378	”	33,365	163
Gums	279	14	151	”	13,462	181
Gut	233	627	195	—	—	—
Indigo	717	352	241	Lbs.	761	53	Entered as “Animal products, crude”
Iron, manufactured	39	11	580	”	1,243	73	Entirely Indian
Mercery and hardware	365	1,823	656	”	9,438	1,859
Minerals, not specified	273	418	57	”	1,287	74
Oils	128	286	89	”	1,950	24
Opium	36	6,681	2,975	”	18,532	8,553
Precious stones	492	595	5,592	”	1,638	4,597	Principally turquoises
Provisions, fresh and preserved	96	37	302	”	15,457	1,245
Raisins	2,948	20,483	37,041	—	—	—	Included in “Fruits, dried”; separate figures not obtainable
Rope, &c.	6	51	37	Lbs.	130	4
Shawls	12,763	16,579	12,833	”	45,065	6,134	Chiefly from Khorassan, some from Kerman
Silk, raw	361	204	278	”	72,326	5,074
Skins—
Untanned	29,006	26,466	18,951	”	1,841,815	48,164
Other	2,270	6,070	3,448	”	29,029	1,509
Spices	914	443	240	”	32,050	684	Almost entirely Indian
Sugar—
Loaf	—	—	1,029	”	114,862	1,302
Other	326	2,683	71	”	41,757	293
Tea	25,197	34,062	10,255	”	170,840	11,569	Entirely Indian tea
Thread—							[Pg 528]
Cotton	201	340	56	”	345	21
Silk	211⎫	⎬480⎨	⎧425	”	1,547	561
Wool	10⎭	⎬480⎨	⎩ 59	”	13,429	218
Timber	106	38	175	”	460,025	320
Tissues—
Cotton	15,721	21,110	13,703	”	142,578	12,615	Chiefly turbans. Coarse locally made cloth
Silk	3,540	10,129	11,255	”	460,764	28,030	From Khorassan chiefly, but also from Yezd and Kerman
Woollen	291	1,874	2,853	”	27,399	5,253
Other	39	199	—	—	—	—
Tobacco and cigarettes	462	152	181	Lbs.	559	36
Vegetables and vegetable substances	—	—	1,929	”	893,009	5,372
Wearing apparel	1,032	372	1,403	”	11,025	1,167
Woodwork	—	—	—	”	7,781	154
Wool	62,770	34,498	68,121	”	5,477,771	104,166	Largely Afghan wool, vide “Imports from Afghanistan”
Miscellaneous	1,078	3,415	170	”	1,378	52
Total	£359,935	£304,951	£376,166	—	—	£527,252

[47] Chiefly raisins.

[Pg 529]

APPENDIX VIII

RETURN OF ARTICLES EXPORTED FROM AFGHANISTAN TO KHORASSAN AND SEISTAN DURING THE PERIOD MARCH 21, 1903, TO MARCH 20, 1904, COMPARED WITH 1900-03

Articles.	Value.				1903-04.		Remarks.
Articles.	1900-01.	1901-02.	1902-03.		Quantity.	Value.	Remarks.
	£	£	£			£
Almonds and pistachio nuts	404	3,297	1,479	—	—	—	Included in “Fruits, dried”; separate figures not obtainable
Animal products, crude	22	68	25	—	—	—
Butter and other fats	2,070	14,100	6,486	Lbs.	38,318	1,231	Decrease of importation in 1903-1904, due to mortality among the sheep owing to drought
Camels	—	188	351	—	—	—
Carpets	1,291	1,091	2,524	Lbs.	18,857	1,285
Cattle	—	—	357	—	—	—
Cotton, raw	18	388	358	Lbs.	57,779	1,061	Re-exported to Russia
Drugs	1,759	741	1,189	”	78,072	1,742	Partly Indian
Fruits, fresh and dried	16	171	15	”	69,999	607
Grain	594	889	671	”	4,355	56
Gum	5	—	21	”	131	7
Horses	—	33	1,116	—	—	—
Indigo	77	161	231	Lbs.	6,747	720	This is entirely indigo come through Afghanistan from India
Iron, manufactured	—	—	17	”	3,419	58
Leather work	—	—	—	”	208	58
Mercery and hardware	229	819	391	”	2,399	400
Oils	47	118	—	—	—	—	[Pg 530]
Opium	682	865	197	Lbs.	104	46	Decrease due to heavy increase of duty under new tariff
Packing materials	164	630	1,015	—	—	—	These are woollen sacks for packing wool, &c.
Provisions	—	436	650	Lbs.	28,756	285
Raisins	1	440	201	—	—	—	Included in “Fruits, dried”
Rice	5,791	5,737	2,426	Lbs.	74,302	731
Rope	—	43	24	—	—	—
Sheep	—	2,039	12,223	Number	8,388	2,048	Decrease due to mortality among the sheep
Skins—
Tanned	3,493	1,635	8,638	Lbs.	11,363	833	These are chiefly postins (sheep-skin coats)
Untanned	1,548	1,640	7,526	”	324,617	8,235	Large part re-exported to Russia
Spices	24	1,347	305	”	87,126	1,060	Come chiefly from India
Thread	62	113	702	”	2,783	380
Tissues	1,062	1,703	774	”	6,815	271
Tobacco	230	307	174	”	1,762	22
Wearing apparel	781	1,184	1,120	”	1,534	275
Wool	11,245	29,156	45,113	”	3,240,692	90,366	Re-exported to Russia, and to United Kingdom and America via Russia
Miscellaneous	37	420	156	”	80	3
Total	£31,652	£69,759	£96,475	—	—	£111,780

[Pg 531]

APPENDIX IX

RETURN OF ARTICLES EXPORTED FROM KHORASSAN AND SEISTAN TO AFGHANISTAN DURING THE PERIOD MARCH 21, 1903, TO MARCH 20, 1904, COMPARED WITH 1900-03

Articles.	Value.				1903-04.		Remarks.
Articles.	1900-01.	1901-02.	1902-03.		Quantity.	Value.	Remarks.
	£	£	£			£
Animal products, crude	—	—	—	Lbs.	12,670	196
Camels	—	—	120	Number	7	43
Candles	50	32	139	Lbs.	4,713	154	Entirely Russian candles
Carpets	—	—	28	”	12,428	989
Cattle	—	—	—	Number	8	15
Chemicals	—	—	67	Lbs.	2,425	52
Copper in bars	—	—	2	”	1,950	27⎫	Comes from Russia and is made into trays, water vessels, &c., in Khorassan and exported to Afghanistan
” work	—	—	125	”	9,562	475⎭
Drugs	39	120	158	”	12,883	228
Dyes	5	298	205	”	3,003	27
Earthenware and crockery	71	27	197	”	3,081	96	Comes from Russia
Fruits, fresh and dried	36	23	145	”	24,649	192
Glass, mirrors, &c.	—	—	166	”	2,340	40⎫	⎬Comes entirely from Russia
Glassware	102	2	170	”	11,213	364⎭	⎬Comes entirely from Russia
Gold and silver work	—	—	39	”	5	34
Grain	1	—	2	”	14,359	73
Hardware	248	515	1,324	”	17,986	1,248	Lamps, boxes in wood and metal, needles, &c., buttons and beads; mostly from Russia
Horses	—	—	19	Number	34	115	[Pg 532]
Indigo	72	71	572	—	—	—	Indian. Export ceased owing to heavy customs duty in Persia
Iron in sheets, &c.	260	152	38	Lbs.	28,900	229⎫	⎬Comes entirely from Russia
” and steel, manufactured	108	128	101	”	5,259	151⎭	⎬Comes entirely from Russia
Leather-work	—	—	—	”	1,287	120	Both Russian and Indian
Oil—				”
Petroleum	31	27	428	”	137,163	818	Entirely from Russia
Other	—	—	273	”	3,553	87
Paper	10	106	102	”	780	15	Chiefly Russian
Provisions	—	—	162	”	1,346	8	Butter, flour, and salt
Sheep	—	2	4	Number	1,067	195
Silk, raw	66	—	96	Lbs.	2,977	1,580
Skins—				”
Furs	—	—	—	”	13	33
Tanned and untanned	100	180	54	”	1,742	91
Spices	255	524	801	”	20,753	602	Almost entirely from India
Sugar—				”
Loaf	3,747	—	4,925	”	615,180	7,743⎫	⎬Entirely Russian
Other	1,982	450	2,600	”	357,494	4,751⎭	⎬Entirely Russian
Tea	1,155	802	1,898	”	1,112	88	ndian green tea
Thread—				”
Cotton	—	144	266	”	3,458	182
Imitation gold and silver	— ⎫	⎬ 601⎨	⎧ 9	”	533	115	[Pg 533]
Silk	42⎭	⎬ 601⎨	⎩2,547	”	423	175
Tin and lead in ingots	—	—	51	”	2,301	192	Russian
Tissues—				”
Cotton	9,588	12,713	24,550	”	387,777	29,792	Chiefly Russian
Silk	—	622	1,865	”	9,065	4,635	” Persian
Woollen	5,102	336	97	”	17,108	2,843
Turquoises	—	—	—	”	384	591
Vegetables	—	—	—	”	4,589	117
Vehicles	—	—	24	Number	2	84	Two Russian carriages exported for Commander-in-Chief, Herat
Wearing apparel	2	162	94	Lbs.	2,460	221
Wood, manufactured	—	4	63	”	1,755	37
Miscellaneous	215	204	129	”	468	40
Total	23,287	18,245	44,655	—	—	59,903

[Pg 534]

APPENDIX X

RETURN OF ARTICLES EXPORTED FROM INDIA TO KHORASSAN VIA THE SEISTAN ROUTE DURING THE PERIOD MARCH 21, 1903, TO MARCH 20, 1904

Articles.	Value.			1903-04.
	Khorassan and Seistan.			Khorassan only.
	1900-01.	1901-02.	1902-03.	Quantity.	Value.
	£	£	£	Lbs.	£
Camels	—	—	246	—	—
Candles	—	115	19	—	—
Drugs	9	150	45	—	—
Dyes	—	32	21	—	—
Earthenware and crockery	—	83	35	1,750	37
Fruits, dried	2	—	389	—	—
Glassware	—	1,508	34	—	—
Indigo	1,825	8,226	3,575	47,097	5,531
Iron and brass in bars and sheets	—	96	3	1,120	64[48]
Leather work	—	—	—	3,250	409
Machinery	—	—	121	—	—
Mercery, &c.	—	2,487	840	3,350	2 9[49]
Provisions, preserved	—	113	69	—	—
Rice	—	—	102	—	—
Skins	89	195	721	10,925	1,463[50]
Spices	—	556	183	7,345	236
Sugar	—	64	131	—	—
Tea	—	9,011	434	79,579	4,134[51]
Thread (cotton) and yarn	—	2	101	6,500	818
Tissues—	—
Cotton	—	4,427	3,281	—	—
Silk	—	155	—	—	—
Woolen	—	206	109	—	—
Tobacco	—	83	109	840	74[52]
Wearing apparel	—	245	464	—	—
Wines	—	—	—	728	49
Miscellaneous	—	148	71	227	26
Total	£1,925	£27,902	£11,103	—	£13,060

[48] Entirely brass sheets used for manufacturing tea-urns.

[49] Chiefly palm-leaf fans.

[50] Largely fox-skins, which are mostly re-exported to Russia.

[51] Of this, £517 worth was green tea and the rest black.

[52] Entirely snuff.

[Pg 535]

APPENDIX XI

RETURN OF ARTICLES EXPORTED FROM KHORASSAN TO INDIA VIA THE SEISTAN ROUTE DURING THE PERIOD MARCH 21, 1903, TO MARCH 20, 1904

Articles.	Value.				1903-04.
	Khorassan and Seistan.				Khorassan only.
	1900-01.	1901-02.	1902-03.		Quantity.	Value.
	£	£	£	Lbs.		£
Almonds and pistachio nuts	261	44	37	”	87,750	1,039[53]
Butter (ghi)	—	1,039	—	”	—	—
Carpets	—	134	273	”	—	—
Copper, brass, and nickel work (tea-urns)	—	—	—	”	[54]	10
Drugs	153	507	316	”	—	—
Earthenware and crockery	—	—	32	”	700	94
Fruits, dried	—	62	8	”	10,400	87[55]
Grain	—	—	179	”	—	—
Horses	862	2,493	3,631	Number	192	1,792
Mules	338	162	—	”	—	—
Silk, raw	—	—	—	Lbs.	312	218
Skins, untanned	—	—	429	”	—	—
Tissues—				”
Cotton	50	—	55	”	—	—
Silk	1,255	2,046	7,336	”	7,598	3,658
Woollen	—	2	106	”	—	—
Turquoises	—	—	—	”	180	326
Miscellaneous	—	179	32	”	—	32
Total	£2,919	£6,668	£12,434		—	£7,256

[53] Almonds only.

[54] Not stated.

[55] Plums.

[Pg 536]

APPENDIX XII

TRADE VALUE OF THE SEISTAN ROUTE COMPARED WITH COMPETING ROUTES

Year	By the—
	Quetta-Seistan Route.			Bunder Abbas Route.			Trebizond-Tabriz-Teheran Route.		Baghdad-Kermanshah-Teheran Route.
	Imports.	Exports.	Total.	Imports.	Exports.	Total.	Imports.	Exports.	Imports.	Exports.
	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£	£
1900-01[56]	1,925	2,919	4,844	[57]	[57]	—	[57]	[57]	[57]	[57]
1901-02[56]	27,902	6,668	34,570	85,813	[57]	—	18,060	—	[57]	[57]
1902-03[56]	11,103	12,434	23,537	108,319	[57]	—	—	—	[57]	[57]
1903-04[58]	13,060	7,256	20,316	80,261	38,165	118,426	21,780	—	20,800	—

[56] For Khorassan and Seistan.

[57] Not recorded.

[58] For Khorassan only.

[Pg 537]

APPENDIX XIII

AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND JAPAN

Signed at London, August 12, 1905

Preamble.

The Governments of Great Britain and Japan, being desirous of replacing the Agreement concluded between them on January 30, 1902, by fresh stipulations, have agreed upon the following Articles, which have for their object—

(a) The consolidation and maintenance of the general peace in the regions of Eastern Asia and of India;

(b) The preservation of the common interests of all Powers in China by ensuring the independence and integrity of the Chinese Empire and the principle of equal opportunities for the commerce and industry of all nations in China;

(c) The maintenance of the territorial rights of the High Contracting Parties in the regions of Eastern Asia and of India, and the defence of their special interests in the said regions:—

Article I.

It is agreed that whenever, in the opinion of either Great Britain or Japan, any of the rights and interests referred to in the preamble of this Agreement are in jeopardy, the two Governments will communicate with one another fully and frankly, and will consider in common the measures which should be taken to safeguard those menaced rights or interests.

Article II.

If by reason of unprovoked attack or aggressive action, wherever arising, on the part of any other Power or Powers either Contracting Party should be involved in war in defence of its territorial rights or special interests mentioned in the preamble of this Agreement, the other Contracting Party will at once come to the assistance of its ally, and will conduct the war in common, and make peace in mutual agreement with it.

[Pg 538] Article III.

Japan possessing paramount political, military, and economic interests in Korea, Great Britain recognises the right of Japan to take such measures of guidance, control, and protection in Korea as she may deem proper and necessary to safeguard and advance those interests, provided always that such measures are not contrary to the principle of equal opportunities for the commerce and industry of all nations.

Article IV.

Great Britain having a special interest in all that concerns the security of the Indian frontier, Japan recognises her right to take such measures in the proximity of that frontier as she may find necessary for safeguarding her Indian possessions.

Article V.

The High Contracting Parties agree that neither of them will, without consulting the other, enter into separate arrangements with another Power to the prejudice of the objects described in the preamble of this Agreement.

Article VI.

As regards the present war between Japan and Russia, Great Britain will continue to maintain strict neutrality unless some other Power or Powers should join in hostilities against Japan, in which case Great Britain will come to the assistance of Japan, and will conduct the war in common, and make peace in mutual agreement with Japan.

Article VII.

The conditions under which armed assistance shall be afforded by either Power to the other in the circumstances mentioned in the present Agreement, and the means by which such assistance is to be made available, will be arranged by the Naval and Military authorities of the Contracting Parties, who will from time to time consult one another fully and freely upon all questions of mutual interest.

Article VIII.

The present Agreement shall, subject to the provisions of Article VI., come into effect immediately after the date of its signature, and remain in force for ten years from that date.

In case neither of the High Contracting Parties should have notified twelve months before the expiration of the said ten years the intention of terminating it, it shall remain binding until the expiration of one year from the day on which either of the High Contracting parties shall have denounced it. But if, when the [Pg 539] date fixed for its expiration arrives, either ally is actually engaged in war, the alliance shall, ipso facto, continue until peace is concluded.

In faith whereof the Undersigned, duly authorised by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement and have affixed thereto their Seals.

Done in duplicate at London, the 12th day of August, 1905.

LANSDOWNE.
(L.S.) TADASU HAYASHI.

[Pg 540]

APPENDIX XIV

CHRONOLOGICAL SKETCH OF AFGHAN HISTORY

1747.—Nadir Shah, a Turcoman bandit, conquers Persia with an army composed largely of Afghans. Sacks Delhi and is assassinated in camp on return from India.

Sirdar Ahmed Khan, an Afghan cavalry general of the Saddozai section of the Abdali Afghans, seizes the treasure near Kandahar and has himself crowned king of the Durani with the title of Ahmed Shah, Duri Duran. With Ahmed commences history of Afghan nation as an independent kingdom. He builds Kandahar shortly afterwards, calling it Ahmed Shahior Ahmed Shahr. (These events occur about 1747.) Ahmed Shah reigns twenty-six years. He replenishes his treasuries by frequent invasions of India. He is succeeded by his son Timour Shah.

1773.—Timour Shah’s succession to the throne. He removes the seat of government from Kandahar to Kabul. He reigns twenty years and dies 1793, leaving three sons:

(1) Zaman Shah, who reigns four years, living chiefly at Peshawar. He is deposed by his half-brother, Mahommed, and blinded as retaliation for having caused to be executed Wazir Surfaraz Khan Barakzai (called Paindah Khan).

(2) Mahommed, who is attacked and imprisoned by

(3) Shah Shujah, full brother of Zaman Shah. He ascends the throne of Kabul, but lives principally at Peshawar.

1800.—Proposed invasion of India by the emperors Paul and Napoleon.

1807.—Scheme of Indian invasion by the emperors Alexander and Napoleon.

1809.—News having been received that Emperor Napoleon and Tsar Alexander had agreed to invade India through Persia, Mr. Elphinstone is sent as an ambassador to Kabul, meets Shah Shujah at Peshawar, and concludes a treaty.

1809.—Fateh Khan, son of murdered Wazir Surfaraz Khan, releases Mahommed and places him on the throne. Flight of Shah Shujah from Peshawar to take refuge with Ranjit Singh at Lahore, the latter extracting from him the famous Koh-i-Nur diamond, but refusing to protect him.

1818.—Murder of Fateh Khan by order of Shah Mahommed and [Pg 541] his son Kamran. Country again convulsed with anarchy. Mahommed and Kamran retire to Herat, the rest of the country being divided between the brothers of Fateh Khan, the murdered Wazir, amongst whom Dost Mahommed Khan got Kabul, Jelalabad, and Ghazni.

1826.—Accession of Dost Mahommed, Amir of Afghanistan.

1832.—Lieutenant A. Burnes’ journey to Kabul, Bokhara, Merv, and Meshed.

1833.—Unsuccessful Persian expedition against Herat.

1837.—Persia, instigated by Russia, marches against Herat.

1837.—Siege of Herat and defence by Eldred Pottinger, November 1837, to June 1838.

1837.—Mission of Sir Alexander Burnes to Kabul to make peace between Dost Mahommed and Ranjit Singh, September 1837.

1837.—Russian agent, Vitkievitch, at Kabul, December 1837.

1838.—Wood explores the Upper Oxus to Lake Siri-kol.

1838.—Rupture of relations with Dost Mahommed. Recall of Burnes.

1838.—Beginning of first Afghan War, November 1838.

1839.—Capture of Kandahar.

1839.—Capture of Kabul, flight of Dost Mahommed, and restoration of Shah Shujah (August).

1840.—Rising of Dost Mahommed (September).

1840.—Defeat and surrender of Dost Mahommed at Bamian (November).

1841.—Assassination of Sir A. Burnes at Kabul (November).

1841.—Murder of Sir W. Macnaghten at Kabul (December).

1842.—Siege of British forces in Kabul (December 1841, to January 1842).

1842.—Retreat and massacre of British army (January).

1842.—Advance of British relief column under General Pollock (April).

1842.—March of General Nott from Kandahar to Kabul (August to September).

1842.—General Pollock re-enters Kabul (September).

1842.—Evacuation of Afghanistan (October).

1842.—Dost Mahommed restored to throne.

1854.—Meeting between Ghulan Hydel, Envoy of Dost Mahommed and Sir John Laurence at fort Abbotabad to discuss question of alliance.

1855.—First treaty between Great Britain and Dost Mahommed (January).

1856.—Surrender of Herat to the Persians (October).

1857.—Meeting between Sir John Laurence and Dost Mahommed at Peshawar.

1857.—Second treaty between Great Britain and Dost Mahommed (January).

[Pg 542] 1857.—Grant of subsidy to Dost Mahommed of 12 lakhs.

1857.—Mission of Major Lumsden to Kandahar (March to April).

1857.—War between Great Britain and Persia upon behalf of Afghanistan (November 1856, to March 1857).

1857.—Appointment of British agent to Kabul. Removal to Kandahar.

1857.—Treaty of Paris between Great Britain and Persia (March).

1858.—Recall of Kandahar Mission: agent remains.

1858.—Russian Mission of Khanikoff to Herat.

1858.—Death of Ghulam Hyder, son of Dost Mahommed; and Shir Ali nominated successor to Dost Mahommed.

1863.—Death of Dost Mahommed (June). Accession of Shir Ali; return to Kabul with British Agent from Kandahar.

1863.—Requests recognition of Mahommed Ali; treaty of peace, and grant of 6000 rupees.

1863-1868.—Civil War in Afghanistan.

Consequent upon the nomination of Shir Ali, serious dissension occurred in the family of Dost Mahommed. Upon the succession of Shir Ali, rebellion broke out, and Azim, brother to Shir Ali by a different mother, fled into British territory. Afzal, the brother of Azim, serving as Governor of Balkh, also revolted. Shir Ali defeated Afzal, imprisoning him in August 1864. Abdur Rahman, the son of Afzal, was pursued by Shir Ali. Abdur Rahman was joined by Azim, the two marching on Kabul, released Afzal and attacked Kabul in 1866. Shir Ali fled to Kandahar, Afzal entering Kabul as Amir on May 21, 1866. Recognised by the Government of India, he died suddenly in 1867. He was succeeded by Azim, who was never recognised officially by the Government of India. Shir Ali then marched against Azim in 1869, defeating him. Azim died in flight to Teheran, the final triumph and the concluding act of the rebellion being the accession to the throne of Shir Ali Khan in 1869.

1865.—Mahommed Ali killed.

1869.—Flight of Abdur Rahman Khan to Samarkand.

1869.—Shir Ali endeavours to obtain recognition by British Government of his son Abdullah Jan as successor. Refused.

1869.—Umballa Conference between Lord Mayo and Shir Ali (March).

1869.—First overtures from Lord Clarendon to Prince Gortchakow about Afghanistan.

1872.—Gortchakow-Granville Agreement as to boundaries of Afghanistan (October).

1872.—Seistan Boundary Commission.

1873.—Evidences of estrangement of Shir Ali from Government of India.

1873.—Abdullah Jan proclaimed heir-apparent. Yakub Khan revolts. Flight to Herat.

1874.—Imprisonment at Kabul of Yakub Khan.

[Pg 543] 1876.—Cool reception of Mission from Lord Lytton to Kabul.

1876.—Quetta occupied.

1877.—Abortive Conference at Peshawar between Sir L. Pelly and the Prime Minister of Shir Ali, Nur Mahomet Shah (February).

1877.—Estrangement of Shir Ali completed.

1878.—Kauffman threatens invasion of Afghanistan and India (June).

1878.—Pamir column despatched under General Abramoff (June).

1878.—Arrival of Stolietoff mission at Kabul (July).

1878.—Refusal of Shir Ali to allow the Mission under Sir Neville B. Chamberlain, Commander of the Madras army, to enter Afghanistan. Major Cavagnari and party threatened with attack at Ali Musjid if progress through Khyber Pass maintained (September 20 and 21).

1878.—Advance continued, November 21.

1878.—Colonel Grodekoff’s ride from Samarkand to Herat (October to November).

1878.—Denunciation of alliance with Dost Mahommed by Lord Lytton (November 21).

1878.—Second Afghan War begun (November).

1878.—Flight of Shir Ali from Kabul and release of Yakub Khan.

1879.—Death of Shir Ali in February and accession of Yakub Khan (February).

1879.—Treaty of Gandamak with Yakub Khan (June 8).

1879.—Assassination of Sir L. Cavagnari at Kabul, Dr. Ambrose Kelly, Lieut. Hamilton, and Mr. Jenkins and others (September 3 and 4).

1879.—Third Afghan War begun (September 6). March of General Roberts on Kabul.

1879.—General Roberts arrives at Kabul (September 28), and occupies Dakka (September 22).

1879.—Execution of murderers of Sir L. Cavagnari (October 20-24).

1879.—Twenty-five thousand Afghans defeated by Generals Roberts and Gough (December 23).

1879.—Kabul deserted by Afghans; re-occupation by British (December 26).

1879.—Yakub Khan deported to India (December).

1880.—Recognition of Abdur Rahman Khan as Amir (July).

1880.—Disaster of Maiwand (July 27). Defeat of General Burrows by Ayub Khan.

1880.—March of Sir F. Roberts to the relief of Kandahar (leaving Kabul August 8, arriving Kandahar August 31).

1880.—Rejection of Ayub’s terms by Sir F. Roberts and defeat of Ayub at Mazra (or Battle of Kandahar on September 1).

1881.—Evacuation of Kandahar and entry of Abdur Rahman (September 30).

1882-1883.—Surveys of Lessar.

1882.—Moslim agent appointed to represent British Government at Kabul.

[Pg 544] 1882.—Quetta district handed over on a rent to the British.

1882.—Prince Lobanoff converses with Lord Granville re Prince Gortchakow’s circular of 1873.

1883.—Occupation by Russia of Tejend oasis (October).

1883.—Quetta district ceded to Great Britain.

1883.—Shignan and Roshan occupied by Abdur Rahman Khan.

1883.—Abdur Rahman passes a law concerning the status of women.

1883.—Subsidy of 12 lakhs, granted by Lord Ripon to Abdur Rahman, due.

1884.—Frontier negotiations between Great Britain and Russia. Sir Peter Lumsden proceeds with British Mission to Herat to demarcate Northern Boundary of Afghanistan.

1884.—Recommencement of Quetta Railway.

1884.—Sir P. Lumsden sent as British Boundary Commissioner (October 1884).

1884.—The Russians occupy Pul-i-Khatun (October).

1885.—The Russians occupy Zulfikar and Akrobat, and advance upon Pendjeh (February).

1885.—Fight between the Russians and Afghans at Tash-Kepri on the Kushk (March 30).

1885.—Rawal Pindi conference between Lord Dufferin and Abdur Rahman Khan. Amir received K.C.S.I. (April).

1885.—War scare in Great Britain (April).

1885.—Sir P. Lumsden recalled. Colonel West Ridgeway remains on the scene of activities of Mission.

1885.—British and Russian Boundary Commissioners meet again. First boundary pillar formally erected (November 12).

1886.—Bolan Railway constructed to Quetta.

1886.—Demarcation of Afghan boundary up to separation of Commission (September).

1886.—Return of British Commission through Kabul to India (October).

1887.—Occupation of Karki by Russia (May).

1887.—Negotiations at St. Petersburg continued and concluded (July).

1887.—Final settlement and demarcation of Afghan frontier (winter).

1887.—Escape of Ayub Khan from Persia; failure of rebellion in Afghanistan.

1887.—Surrender of Ayub Khan to General Maclean, Viceroy’s Agent at Meshed, and detention in India.

1888.—Quetta Railway continued to Kila Abdulla (January).

1888.—Revolt of Is-hak Khan against Abdur Rahman Khan (July to September).

1888.—Retreat of Is-hak Khan to Samarkand.

1889.—War scare on the Oxus boundary (February to March).

[Pg 545] 1891.—Abdur Rahman introduces the Oath of Allegiance on the Koran among his councillors.

1891.—Abdur Rahman appoints Habib Ullah to hold public Durbars.

1893.—Sir Mortimer Durand goes to Kabul to explain drift of negotiations between Great Britain and Russia in connection with Northern frontier and Pamir region.

1893.—Durand Agreement.

1893.—Increase of subsidy granted to Abdur Rahman by six lakhs, and permitted to import munitions of war as required.

1893.—Abdur Rahman recognises British protectorate over Chitral and agrees to respect Bajaor and Swat.

1893.—New Chaman occupied as railway terminus.

1894.—Abdur Rahman invited to England by Queen Victoria; unable to accept.

1895.—Abdur Rahman abolished slavery in Afghanistan.

1895.—Oath of Allegiance accepted from whole of the State of Afghanistan by Abdur Rahman.

1895.—Abdur Rahman adopts title Zia-ul-Millat-ud-Din.

1895.—Visit of Nasr Ullah Khan, second son of Abdur Rahman, to England.

1901.—Death of Abdur Rahman (October 1). Habib Ullah proclaimed (October 3).

1902-1903.—Re-erection of boundary pillars on Perso-Afghan border.

1903.—Construction Quetta-Nushki Railway begun.

1903-1904-1905.—McMahon Mission for delimitation of Seistan boundary.

1904.—Opening of the Orenburg-Tashkent Railway.

1904.—Visit of Sirdar Inayat Ullah to India.

1904-1905.—Mission of Sir Louis Dane to Kabul.

1905.—Opening of the Quetta-Nushki Railway (November).

1905.—Resignation of Lord Curzon of Kedleston. Appointment of Earl Minto as Viceroy of India. Kitchener-Curzon controversy.

1905-06.—Extension of railway to Dakka.

1906.—Shah rejects the award made by McMahon Mission in respect of the waters of the Helmund.

1906.—Rumours of autumn. Visit of Habib Ullah to India.

[Pg 546]

MAP OF
AFGHANISTAN
BY
Angus Hamilton
Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
London: H. Heinemann. Stanford’s Geogˡ Estabᵗ London

[Pg 547]

INDEX

Abdur Rahman, 91, 152, 247, 253, 258, 355-356, 433
Accession of Habib Ullah and, 432
Administrative system of, 269, 272
Afridi Elders and, 421-422, 424
Army under, 318-321, 325
Chitral crisis and, 415
Decline and death of, 432-434, 439
Lord Dufferin and, 401
Sir M. Durand and, 406
Lord Elgin and, 416, 418, 420
Europeans employed by, 394
Fiscal policy of, 231, 290-291
Foreign relations, 356-357, 403, 446
Frontier disturbances, 419, 422, 424
Gifts to, 402
Gun-running, 397
Sir Lepel Griffin and, 400
Imports of munitions, 407
Indian Government and, 419-425
Invited to England, 409
Mobilisation scheme, 432
Mullahs and, 415-416, 442
Queen Victoria, 433
Reception of Turkish visitor by, 416
Recognition of, as Amir, 400
Refusal to visit India, 403
Refusal to receive Roberts Mission, 405
Lord Ripon and, 400
Shir Afzal, 413, 414
and South African War, 432
Subsidy, 407
Swat-Tochi rising, 417
Theological studies of, 415
Treaties, 406, 412, 455
Tribal affairs, 270-271, 443, 447
Visits Afghan-Turkestan, 402
Warns Viceroy, 409
Western therapeutics and, 389
Abramoff, General, 40
Adiz Abad, 69
Afghan Turkestan, 94, 242, 262
Area of, 247
Coal deposits in, 396
Subjugation of, 250
Visited by Abdur Rahman, 402
Afghan War, First, 148
Second, 151, 152, 448
Afghanistan, administrative system of, 269-287
British relations with, 147-149, 155-156, 187-189, 220, 250, 356, 373, 375, 446, 455, 457, 458
Climate of, 261, 262
Currency of, 283
Ethnographic distribution, 262-263, 267-268
Khanates of, 250-253
Laws of, 275-280
Minerals of, 304
Orology of, 259, 260
Products and manufactures, 298-307
Provinces of, 242-247
Revenue of, 282-287
Rivers in, 260-276 (See Rivers)
Russian relations with, 121-122, 356, 440, 443, 447, 457-458
Trade of, 236, 288-298, 306
Afridis, 264, 408, 417, 418, 419, 423, 446
Agerskski valley, 14
Agreements (See Treaties)
Ahmed Khan, Sirdar, 189
Ahmed, Shah, tomb of, 190, 193
Akcha, 247, 258
Akrobat, 401
Aktash, 174
Ak-Tepe, 117
Aktinbinsk, 6, 7, 9, 13, 14
Alai mountains, 25, 26, 30
Alayar Khan, 62
Alcock, Surgeon-Captain A. W., 156
Alexander II., 60 [Pg 548]
Alexander of Macedon, 58, 62, 109
Alexandrovski, 18
Alexeieffski, 120, 124
Alichm Pamir, 174
Ali Mardan Khan, 377
Ali Masjid, 419 (See also Khyber)
Ali Yai Khan, remarks of, 445
Alvar, 259
Amir Ullah Khan, 362, 436
Ampthill, Lord, 452
Amritsar, 202
Amu Daria (See Oxus)
Amu Daria flotilla, 74, 75, 96, 97, 98, 102-104
Anardara, 204
Anderab, 244, 253
Anderson, Mr., 409
Andijan, 6, 11, 43, 49, 59, 110
Andkhui, 173, 242, 247, 258-259
Anglo-Afghan Boundary Mission, 155
Anglo-Russian Boundary Mission, 138, 141
Annenkoff, General, 7, 76
Annenkovo, 76, 77
Aral sea, 10, 16, 95, 96
Ardewan pass, 126, 157
Aris, 11
Army, 308-326
Under Abdur Rahman, 318-321, 325
Under Dost Mahommed, 308-311
Under Habib Ullah, 321-324
Under Shir Ali, 311-318
Askhabad, 3, 4, 5, 11, 70, 103, 173
Aslam Khan, Colonel, 419
Asmar valley, 403, 408, 425
Auckland, Lord, 1, 148
Aulie-ata, 8
Ayub Khan, 152, 187
Baber, 346
Badakshan, 242, 243, 244, 250-253, 405
Badghis, 156
Bad-i-sad-o-bist roz, 223
Badjira, 129
Baghdad, 237, 238
Baglan, 253
Bairam Ali, 77, 78, 79
Bajaur-Mohmands, 408, 412, 413, 414, 417
Bakhtiaris, 204
Bakwa plain, 181
Bala Murghab, 119, 135, 142
Balfour, Mr. A. J., speeches of, 457
Balkan hills, 96
Balkash, 8
Balkh, 173, 177, 242, 247, 250, 256-257, 260, 310-311
Balkh-Herat route, list of marches, 329-330
Baluchis, 204, 226, 227, 228, 241
Baluchistan, 189
Bam, 237
Bamian, 182, 243, 247
Band-i-Turkestan, 258
Bangash, Upper, 243
Bannu, 429
Barak pass, 228
Barakail, 250
Barkhani, 76
Barnaul, 8
Baroghil pass, 244
Barton, Captain, 419
Basawul, 359
Basra, 238
Basra-Baghdad-Kermanshah-Teheran route, comparison of, with Nushki-Seistan route, 237, 238
Belgian customs in Seistan, 235
Beetroot in Chimkent district, 19
Bell, Captain R. C., 241
Bellew, cited, 197
Benadar Kalan, 185
Benn, Major, 232
Ber Kazan, 10
Bibi Halima, 360, 361, 366, 369
Biggs, General Yeatman, 419
Binket (See Tashkent)
Bird, Major, 357, 358, 394, 395
Bird, General Corrie, 416
Bish Agatchski, 49
Black Sands of Bokhara (See Kara Kum)
Blood, General Sir Bindon, 417, 425
Bodorodski, 59
Bokhara, Khanate of, 25-39
City, 2, 6, 30, 36-39, 49, 52, 70-71, 104
Bazaars, 34, 44
Commercial relations, 70, 71
Imports from Kandahar, 203
Irrigation, 94
Masjid-i-Jama, 36
Medjidi Kalyan, 35
Medresse Mir-i-Arab, 36
Minai Kalan, 36
Population, 26, 29, 30, 33
Products, 29-30
Registan, 34
Soil, 29-30
Submission to Russia, 150
Walls of, 30
Water difficulty, 25, 26, 33, 72
Women in, 33, 34 [Pg 549]
Bolan pass, 230
Bombay, imports from, into Kandahar, 201-202
Bori valley, 260
Bozai Gumbaz, 85
British agent in Kabul, 374
Agent at Koh-i-Malik-Siah, 234
Interests in Persia, 220 in Seistan, 241
Merchants at Bunder Abbas, 237
Relations with Afghanistan, 147, 148, 149, 155, 156, 220, 250, 373-375, 446, 454, 457, 458
Relations with Russia, 1-3, 187, 188, 189, 448
Support of Abdur Rahman as Amir, 356
Brett, Lieutenant, 241
Brodrick, Mr. St. John, 452
Brooke, Captain Victor, 453
Brown, The Misses, 354, 395, 399
Bruce, Mr., 409
Buluna Khel, 408
Bunder Abbas, 234, 237
British merchants at, 237
Rate of camel-hire, 234
Buner, 408
Burnes, Alexander, 147-148
Burrows, General, 152, 187
Bushire, 237
Bustan, 69
Butkhak, 243
Cameron, Mr., 394
Campbell, Lieutenant, 310-311
Canals:
Angar, 48
Balungar, 65
Bos Su, 11, 59
Emperor Nicholas I., 59
Khani Yab, 114
Russki, 61
Shari Rud, 33, 73
Tchüli, 18
Tokhtamish, 79
Tumen, 10
Caspian Sea, 4, 95, 96
Cavagnari, Sir Louis, 347
Central Asian railway, 8, 11, 15, 18, 70, 75, 103, 155, 173
Chageh, 231, 232, 234, 408
Chahil Dukteran, 112, 125
Chakdara, 414, 417
Chakmakchak, 182
Charasia, 152
Chardar, 67
Charhardeh valley, 346
Charjui, 8, 74, 75, 76, 96, 97, 98, 102, 103, 104, 107, 108, 109
Charog, 86, 90, 91, 174
Chasma Sabz, 126
Chelyabinsk, 23
Chemen-i-Bed, 120
Chernaieff, General, 20, 48, 60, 61
Chernaievo, 59, 60, 61
Chigman, 49
Chilas, 408
Chiltan hills, 226
Chimkent, 6, 16, 18, 19, 20, 23
Chitral, 408, 413, 414, 415
British occupation of, 403
Military establishments of, 427
Relief of, 414
Shir Afzal, Mehtar of, 413, 414
Christie, cited, 169
Chushka, 173
Cidj Duvan, 69
Clarendon, Lord, 445
Clarke, Mr., 406
Clements, Mr., 394
Cleveland, Major, 394, 399, 354, 399
Mrs., 354, 399
Coldstream, Lieutenant, 410
Coal, 14, 396
Communications, 91, 92, 93, 329-341
Connaught, T.R.H. Duke and Duchess of, 401
Connolly, cited, 169
Copper, 14
Cotton, 30, 69, 73, 78, 117
Court, cited, 197
Cranbourne, Lord, 451
Currency, 436
Curzon, Hon. George Nathaniel, M.P., 427
Literary works of, 427
Visits Kabul, 427
Curzon of Kedleston, Lord, 426, 439, 452
Abdur Rahman’s death and, 440
Dane Mission, 453, 454, 455
Habib Ullah, 451
N.-W. F. Province, 431, 432
Reforms of, 427
Customs, Belgian, in Seistan, 235
Dakka, 359, 429
Daly, Mrs., 391, 392, 394, 395
Dane, Sir Louis, 453, 454-456
Mission, 189, 348, 353, 357, 360
Treaty, 373, 455, 456
Darband, 90 [Pg 550]
Darwaz, 25, 29, 30, 93, 244
Dawar valley, 260
Dasht-i-Margo, 221
Daulatabad, 129
Deane, Major, 425
Dehdadi, 177, 257
Dera Ismail Khan, 409, 429
Dera Ismail Khan-Kandahar, list of marches between, 335-337
Deregez valley, 129
Dersai, 89
Deserts:
Bolshiye sands, 9
Bolshiye Barsuki sands, 12, 13, 14
Golodnaya, 62
Kara Kum, 1, 6, 18, 44, 73, 76, 77, 96, 129, 156
Maliye Barsuki, 9
Desert shrubs (See Saxaoul)
Dir, 408, 417
Mir of, 413
Diseases:
Cholera, 450
Malaria, 18, 33, 50, 61, 114, 117, 124, 135
Filaria Medinesis, 33
Diwal Khol, 182
Djilgi valley, 11
Djulek, 10, 18
Djuma, 66
Dobbs, Mr. H. R., 453
Donald, Mr., 406
Donovan, Mr., 354, 394
Dost Mahommed, 169, 249, 269, 250
Afghan army under, 308, 311
Death of, 150
and Great Britain, 149
Dress, 379-384
Dufferin, Marquess of, 401, 402, 403
Durand, Major E. L., 155
Sir Mortimer, 405, 406, 446
Durani, Ahmed Shah, 249, 263, 264
Duranis, 178, 197, 263, 264, 344
Nurzai, 179
Durbadam, 129
Edrisi, 96
Education, 388-389
Edwards, Mr., 394
Elgin, Earl of, 409
Abdur Rahman, 416, 418, 420
Administration of, 439
Elles, Major-General Sir Edmond, 417, 418, 419
Ellis, Colonel, 406
Elphinstone, 348
cited, 197
Erivan, 130
Ersaris, 29, 111, 264
Europeans in Kabul, 394
Faizabad, 177, 242, 244, 253
Farab, 73, 74, 75, 96, 101, 103, 104, 129
Farah, 178, 180, 181, 182, 186, 249, 250
Strategic importance of, 181
Farkhar, 244
Fazindaz, 182
Fenn, Major, 406
Feramorz Khan, 162
Ferghana, 65
Ferozkhois, 264
Ferrier, cited, 169, 197
Ferries on the Oxus, 108
Festivals:
Asad, 388
Barat, 387
Id, 387, 416
Nauroz, 387, 415
Ramasan, 387
Fever, Kushk valley, 124
Murghab valley, 135
(See Malaria)
Filaria Medinesis, 33
Finlayson, Mr., 347, 354, 394
Fishing industry, Aral basin, 16
Firuza, 129
Fleischer, Mr., 392, 394
Murder of, 358-360
Fleischer, Mrs., 360, 397-398
Forts, list of, 326-328
Fowler, Sir Henry, 409, 415
Frontier, N.-W.: activity on, 403
Province, 429, 430, 431
Galkin, Colonel, 156
Gandamak, 402
Treaty of, 151
Gardan Diwar, 182
Garmab, 182
Gee, Mr., 416
Gerard, Major-General M. G., 155
Germany, antagonism of, 217, 218
Misrepresentations of Press, 218, 219
Ghaoch Khol, 182
Gharan, 90, 91, 93, 244
Ghazis, 388
Ghazni, 243, 260, 262, 305, 343-345
Ghilzais, 197, 263-264, 344
Trade with Kabul, 243
Ghorband, 243
Ghori, 244, 253
Ghorian, 248
Ghulam Ali Khan, Sirdar, 177, 247
Ghulam Haidar Khan (Sipah Salar) 403, 406, 412, 413, 414, 415, 417, 425 [Pg 551]
Abdur Rahman and, 410
Kafiristan, 413
Umra Khan, 413
Ghulam Hussein (Sipah Salar), 453
Giers, M. de, 445
Gilgit, 414
Agency, 427
Military establishment of, 427
Girdi Tallao, 228
Girishk, 178, 182, 185, 186, 187, 250
Girishk-Seistan, list of marches between, 341-342
God-i-Zirreh, 211
Gold, 14
Goldsmid, Sir Frederic, 212
Mission, 213, 216, 217, 218
Golodnaya steppe, 59, 62
Gomul pass, 343, 344, 345
Gomul valley, 260, 413, 429
Gore, Captain St. George, 155
Gortchakoff, Prince, 445
Grant, Mr., 394, 409
Gray, Dr. J. A., 389, 391, 392, 394, 395
Griffin, Sir Lepel, 400
Gulriz, 369
Gumesli, 123
Gun-running, 397
Guthrie, Mr. T. B., 375
Guzar, 173
Habib Ullah, Amir, 355, 360, 361, 362, 415, 432, 446
Abdur Rahman and, 433, 450
Accession, 434, 435, 436
Afghan envoys, 452
Army under, 321-324
Border tribes and, 446, 447
Dane Mission and, 454, 456, 457
Death of Abdur Rahman, 434
Europeans employed by, 394 received by, 354-358
Gun accident to, 357, 358, 394
Hadda Mullah and, 441, 442, 443, 448
Harem of, 362-369
Id festival and, 439
Inayat-Ullah and, 452
Islamism, 387
Khawas Khan and, 447
Nazr Ullah and, 338, 447
Pedigree of, 365
Policy of, 247, 291, 370-371, 388, 397
Priestly influence upon, 362
Quetta-Chaman Railway, 441
Russia, 440-441, 444, 457
Shiahs and, 386
Subsidy, 441, 446, 450
Sunnis and, 386
Hadda Mullah, 415, 417, 422, 425, 441, 442, 443, 446, 448
Hafiz Ullah Khan, 253
Haibak, 243, 254
Haji Khak pass, 182
Hamilton, Lord George, 431, 445, 448
Miss Lillias, 389, 390, 391, 394
Hardinge, Sir Arthur, 219
Hastings, Mr. C., 410
Hari Rud, valley of, 156
Hayat Ullah Khan, 247, 362, 369
Hazaras, 169, 243, 264, 344, 402, 403, 405
Hazrat Ali, 82, 257
Imam, 253
Helmund river, 107, 178, 182, 185, 260-261
Fords and ferries, 185
Seistan boundary and, 211, 213, 214, 215, 216
Herat City, 110, 111 119, 124, 125, 130, 166, 169, 178, 180, 181
Citadel of, 161
Defences of, 157-162
Description of, 157, 158
Deterioration of, 170
Garrison of, 162
Population of, 169, 170
Strengthening of, 401
Herat:
Expedition to, 147, 148, 149
Independence of, declared, 148
India and, 136
Persia and, 148, 149, 249
Restoration of, to Afghanistan, 149
Russia and, 162, 165, 173
Strategic position of, 173
Trade of, 170, 173
Trans-Afghan Railway and, 189
Herat-Balkh, list of marches between, 329
Herat-Kandahar route, list of marches, 331-335
Herat-Maimana, list of marches between, 341
Herat, province of, 156, 248-249
Hindu Kush mountains, 1, 89, 90, 92, 242, 243, 244, 247, 259, 260
Hindus, 29, 33, 169, 197, 198, 230, 255, 256, 259, 344, 379
Hissar, 173 [Pg 552]
Holdich, Colonel Sir Thomas, 410, 413, cited, 197
Colonel T. H., 155
Major T. H., 155
Hough, cited, 197
Hunza, 403
Husseinabad, 223, 224
Huzar, 129
Ibrahim Khan, Sirdar, 362
Id festival, 387, 439
Idgah mosque, 387, 439
Igdy wells, 96
Ikan, 11
Ikram-ul-Mul, 129
Ilek, 7
Iletsk, 8, 13
Mines, 13
Ilijik, 104
Ilyan Uta defile, 62
Imam Baba, 117
Kuli, 129
Nasar, 129
Inayat Ullah Khan, 357, 362, 369
Visit to India, 452
Indekki palace, 406
Indian Government, border tribes, 447
Correspondence with Abdur Rahman, 401, 406, 416, 418-425
Claims of, 408
Relations with Kabul, 148-149, 250, 373-375, 446, 454, 457-458
Indian plague and Seistan, 235
Trade with Afghanistan, 295-297
Trade with Seistan, 235
Indus river, 260, 261, 429
Irghiz, 16
Iron, 14, 244
Irvine, Major W., 241
Isazais, 403
Ishkashim, 86, 90, 91, 93, 244
Ivanoff, General, 39
Jagdalik, 242
Jamshidis, 136, 169, 264
Jandol, Khan of, 413
Jan Mahommed, 169
Jelalabad, 243, 261, 408, 410
Jerome, Monsieur, 394
Jews, 29, 33, 114, 119, 169, 256, 259
Jizak, 43, 61, 62
Julfa, 130
Jusufzais, 264
Kabadian, 253
Kabir Jan Khan, 362
Kabul, 416
Arms traffic, 396-397
Bala Hissar, 347, 348
Bazaars of, 376-380
British agent in, 374
British occupation of, 148, 152
Cholera, 450
Europeans employed in, 394
European medical advisers, 390-395
Evacuation of, 1842, 148
Nauroz festival, 440, 442, 443
Industries:
Leather Factory, 396
Ordnance yards, 396
Postin, 305
Tanning yards, 396
Workshop, 396
Military Academy, 388
Palaces:
Dekusha, 347
Durbar Hall, 353
Erg, 348, 349
Indekki, 353
Shah Ara, 353
Russian emissary visits, 444, 445
Russian influence at, 148
Russian Mission, 148, 150, 151
Russian representative at, 448
Secret Intelligence Branch established at, 443
Shirpur cantonment, 346, 348
Situation of, 345-346
Temperature, 262
Trade of, 170, 203, 294, 345
University, Lahore College and, 388
Kabul-Kandahar, list of marches between, 338
Kabul-Oxus river, list of marches between, 338-340
Kabul-Peshawar, list of marches between, 340
Kabul province, 242-243
Kafarkala, 259
Kafiristan, 415
Kagan, 70
Kainar, 234
Kaisar, 259
Kakuris, 197, 204
Kala Bar Panja, 81, 82, 91, 173, 174, 176
Drosh, 414
Kala-i-Zist, 185
Kala-i-Mor, 119
Kala Kafir, 129
Kala Nao, 138, 249 [Pg 553]
Panja, 81, 82, 89, 176
Wamar, 174
Wanj, 174
Kandahar, 178, 180, 181, 187, 189, 190, 193, 242, 250
Area of, 250
Bazaars of, 197-198
British occupation of, 148
Intervention in, 250
Beggars in, 198
Climate of, 208-210
Connection with proposed railway, 187, 189
Defences, 190
Description of, 189-194
Diseases prevalent in, 210
Fruit industry of, 345
Horse trade of, 204, 207
Population, 194, 197
Products of, 298, 304-306
Relief of, 152
Revenue of, 250
Strategic importance of, and situation, 189, 190
Temperature, 262
Trade of, 198-208, 294
Kadahar-Dera Ismail Khan, list of marches between, 335-337
Kandahar-Herat route, list of marches, 331-335
Kandahar-Kabul, list of marches between, 338
Kara Kliss, 130
Kul, 30, 73
Kum, 1, 6, 18, 44, 73, 76, 77, 93, 94, 96, 129, 156
Teppe, 124
Karabyl hills, 117
Karategin, 93, 94
Karaul Kuyu, 76
Karawal Khana, 138
Karez, 235
Karki, 8, 43, 97, 98, 102, 109, 129, 173
Karmakchi, 10, 15
Karshine oasis, 26
Kashan valley, 119, 137
Kashtalinski, Colonel, 146
Kataghan, 93, 244
Katta Kurgan, 66, 67
Kauffman, General von, 47, 48, 58, 68
Kauffmanskaya, 58
Kaunchi, 59
Kazalinsk, 6, 7, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18
Keane, Lord, 148
Kelat, Khan of, 232
Kelat-i-Ghilzai, 250, 342
Kelif, 96, 97, 98, 102, 109, 173
Kelly, Colonel, 414
Kennedy, Mr., 445
Kerbela, 238
Kerman, 237
Kermanshah, 237
Kermine, 69
Kettechinar, 129
Khanabad, 247, 254
Kharkoff, 5, 19
Khash, 250
Khawas Khan, Habib Ullah and, 447
Khidarzais of Zhob, 403
Khiva, 6, 8, 15, 75, 81, 94, 96, 101, 147
Russian conquest of, 151
Khokand, 6, 11, 43, 49, 173
Khan of, 48
Khoja Daolet, 73
Kul, 14
Khojakand, 259
Khojand, 43
Khorassan, 124, 203, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 239, 240
Khost, 260, 433
Khudadad, 358
Khulm, 242, 247, 254, 260
Khudrud, 182
Khurram Sarbag, 254
Khwaja Amran, 402, 403
Sala, 109, 247
Khwaja-ali, 215
Khyber pass, 417, 418, 419, 428, 429, 446
Abandonment of, 417
Afridi attack upon, 418
Militia in, 417, 419
Khyber Rifles, 428, 454
Kieff, 5
Kila Abdulla, 402
Kin Asu defile, 14
King, Mr., 409
Kirghiz, 13, 14, 15, 18, 29, 33
Steppe, 1, 6
Kirshul, 59
Kishingi, 229
Kishm, 244
Kizil Rabat, 174
Steppe, 69
Kluchevi fortress, 61
Kohak, 213, 232
Kohat pass, 429
Koh-i-Malik-i-Siah, 213, 215, 232, 234
Koh-i-Mulla Khwaja, 157
Kohistan, 262
Kokcha valley, mines of, 244
Kok Tash, Samarkand, 43 [Pg 554]
Komaroff, Lieut.-General, 118
Konevski, Staff-Captain, 39
Konnogvardeiski, 59
Konstantinovitch, Grand Duke Nicholas, 59
Kopal, 8
Krasnovodsk, 11, 59, 70, 74, 79, 111, 155
Kuchan, 129
Kah-i-Khwajah, 213
Kukchinski, 49
Kulab, 93, 253
Kum Asu pass, 9
Kunar, 243
Krutorogin, Captain, 156
Kunduz, 173, 253, 260
Kungrad, 8, 96, 97
Kurak, 249
Kurban Kala, 77
Kurgan, 23
Kur Kulduk, 58
Kuropatkin, General, 62, 118, 120, 173, 440
Kuropatkino, 62, 65
Kurram Valley, 260, 414, 429
Militia, 429
Kushk (Afghan), 137
Valley, 80
Extent and population of, 136-137
Irrigation of, 137
Prevalence of fever in, 124
Trade of, 137
Kushkinski Post, 5, 111, 112, 124, 173, 187
Russian garrison at, 120-123
Station, 119, 120, 123, 125, 126
Strategic value of, 124
Kuyu Mazar, 69
Lakes:
Berkazan, 10
Chakmaktin, 82, 91
God-i-Zirreh, 211
Hamun, 180, 182, 211, 212, 213, 218, 260
Issyk-Kul, 8
Koss Kue, 13
Sara Kamish steppe, 96
Tchelkar, 9, 14
Victoria, 82, 85
Landon, Lieutenant C. P., 241
Langar Kisht, 85, 86, 89, 90, 174
Lansdowne, Marquess of, 402, 403, 406, 409
Lapis-lazuli mines, 244
Lash, 180
Liebertziet, Frau, 397
Lockhart, General Sir William, 413, 423, 424
Logar, 243
Lomakin, General, 61
Lomakino, 61
Low, General Sir Robert, 414
Lughman, 243
Lumsden, Sir Peter, 155, 401
Lundi Khana, 358
Dane Mission arrives at, 453
Udny Mission at, 409
Lundi Kotal, 359, 419
Lytton, Lord, 431
Macdonald, Sir John, 147
Macnaghten, Sir William, 377
Macpherson, Captain, 223
Mahommed Afzul Khan, 310, 311
Akbar Khan, 250, 253
Alum Khan, 250, 253
Mirza Shah, 147
Mahmud Shah, 253
Mahsud-Wagiri operations, 439
Mai Libash, 10
Maimana, 173, 242, 247, 253, 258-260
Maimana-Herat, list of marches between, 341
Maitland, Captain, 155
Maiwand, 152, 187
Malakand, 414, 417
Military establishment of, 427
Malaria in:
Bokhara, 33
Imam Baba, 117
Kushk region, 124
Merv, 50
Perovski, 18
Murghab valley, 112, 117
Jizak, 61
Malleson, Major W., 453
Mangan defile, 142
Manners-Smith, V.C., Captain, 406
Mardar, not Mirdar, 226
Margelan, 43, 49, 173
Martin, Mr. F. A., 358, 392, 394
Sir Acquin, 375, 394
Maruchak, 138, 141, 142, 173
Valley, 138
Masjid-i-Jama, 36
Masson, cited, 197
Mastang, 231
Maude, Fort, 419
Mayo, Lord, 150
Mazar-i-Sharif, 177, 247, 257, 369, 440, 451
Mazar-tepe, 85
McDermot, Mr., 283, 394
McMahon, Captain H. (See Colonel Sir Henry) [Pg 555]
Colonel Sir Henry, 214, 215, 241, 406
McNabb, Surgeon-Captain, 410, 413
McSwiney, Captain E. F. H., 155
Measures, table of Afghan, 306-307
Medjidi Kalyan, 35
Medresse, Mir-i-Arab, 36
Menzikoff, Prince, 147
Merv, 4, 5, 11, 50-56, 80, 110, 173, 440
Annexation of, 155, 401
District of, 76
Old, 52, 78, 114
Station of, 79, 111, 112
Merv-Herat road, 156-157
Meshed, 3, 52, 129, 130, 203, 234, 239
Russian commercial influence in, 236
Various routes to, 236-239
Meshed-Askakbad, proposed railway, 129
Meshed-Bunder Abbas, rate of camel-hire, 234
Middleton, Mr., 394
Mikhailovsk, 96
Miller, M., Russian Consul at Nasratabad, 214
Misrepresentation of, 217, 218, 219
Milyautinskaya, 62
Minar Kalan, 36
Mineral deposits of Afghanistan, 304
Minerals:
Coal, 14, 396
Copper, 14
Gold, 14
Iron, 14, 244
Lapis-lazuli, 244
Salt, 13, 244
Saltpetre, 181
Sulphur, 244
Mines of Aktinbinsk, 14
Iletsk, 13
Minjan, 244
Miranzai valley, 403
Mirza, Abbas, 147
Mahommed, 147
Missions:
Afghan Boundary, 1884; 155, 401, 402, 405
British visit to Jelalabad, proposed, 403-404
Bruce, 409, 413
Cavagnari, 151, 152, 347
of Condolence, 436, 440, 441
Dane, 453, 454, 455
Durand, 405, 406, 407
Goldsmid, 213, 216, 217, 218
Pamir Boundary, 155, 407, 415
Pamirs, 155
Roos-Keppel, 452
Roberts, proposed, 405
Udny, 409, 414, 452
Mitana Pefshanba, 67
Mohmands, 264, 408-409, 412-413, 425
Mongols, 264
Moscow, 4, 5
Bourse Gazette, statements of, 444
Mountains:
Alai, 25, 26, 30
Asmai, 345, 346
Badakshan, 91
Bend Chengurek, 120
Chupan Ata, 39, 65
Djaksi, 14
Djaman, 14
Gilkoh, 343
Go Um Tau, 65
Hindu Kush, 1, 89, 90, 92, 242-244, 247, 259, 260
Hissar, 25, 29, 30, 43, 44
Kara, 120
Kara Tau, 73
Karatavski, 23
Koh-i-Baba, 156, 182, 242, 259, 260
Kizi Kurt, 11
Mirdah, 226
Mugodjarski, 9, 12
Mustagh, 243
Nura Tau, 6, 62
Nuratinski, 62
Paropamisus, 120, 125, 156, 157
Sarikol, 243
Siah-koh, 213, 216
Sufed Koh, 242
Takht-i-Shah, 345
Tian Shan, 47
Trans Alai, 25, 93
Mouravieff, Count, 431
Mullagori country, 429
Mullah Powindah, 442
Said Akbar, 442
Multan, 202
Muminabad, 253
Munitions of war, 403, 407, 432, 433, 449, 450
Murad, Amir, 78, 146
Khan, 228, 229
Murgak, 72
Murghab Imperial estate, 78 [Pg 556]
River, 76, 80, 91, 93, 107, 111-114, 117, 119, 131, 136, 138, 146, 156
Valley, 80, 117, 131-146, 260
Prevalence of fever, 124
Railway, 3, 110, 111, 112, 120, 130
Trade of, 137
Murghabi, Fort, 174
Nadejdinski, 59
Nagornaya, 66
Naizar marsh, 211, 213
Namagut, 90
Namangan, 43
Naphtha, 14, 60
Narmashir, 237
Nasratabad, 179, 214, 217-219, 223-225
Garrison of, 225, 226
Russian Consul at, 214, 217, 218, 219, 224
Nasratabad-Nushki route, 226, 231-232
Naus, M., and Persian Customs, 235
Nawagai, 413
Nazr Ullah Khan, 360, 369, 386, 388, 415, 433, 436, 443, 447
Neh, 237
New Bokhara, 70
Chaman, 187, 189
Nialbash, 58
Ni-Amat Ulla, Shah; Wani of Kirman, 122
Nijni Volinski, 59
Nikolævski, 59
Nikolski, 49
Ningrahar valley, 408
North-W. F. Province, 429, 431
Novo Astrakhanski, 18
Novoe Vremya, statement of, 443-444
Nukus, 94, 96
Nushki, 229, 230, 429
Nushki-Quetta trade route, 226-229
Railway, 226
Nushki-Seistan trade route, 226, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235
Camel-hire, revision of charges, 234, 335
Comparison of, with alternative routes, 236, 237, 238, 239
List of marches, Nushki-Nasratabad, 233
Trade facilities of, 234
Returns, 233
Nut, 89
Obeh, 249
Obi, 8
Siab ravine, 65
Obrutcheff, General, 61
Obrutchevo, 61
Obyetovanni, 59
Odessa, 5
Old Tashkent (Stari Tashkent), 58
Merv, 78
Omar Khan, Sirdar Mahommed, 360, 361, 366, 369, 436
Omsk, 8
Orakolow, Lieutenant, 156
Orakzais, 264, 403
Orenburg, 6, 8, 12, 15, 23
Orenburg-Tashkent, old post-road, 6, 7
Railway, administration of, 12
Alternative schemes to, 7, 8
Branch line to Syr Daria, 10
Construction of, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 50
Double track proposed, 11
Markets of Central Asia, 23, 24
Opened by General Kuropatkin, 440
Route followed by, 7, 8
Water-supply, 9, 13, 14, 16
Orsk, 6
Osh, 3, 4, 6, 43, 49, 173
Otrar, 11
Oxus flotilla, 74, 75, 96-98, 102-104
Region, temperature, 262
River, 8, 25, 26, 29, 43, 73, 74, 75, 76, 95, 96, 260, 261
Fall of, 98
Ferries and fords, 107, 108
Mines in valley of, 244
Mouths of, 94, 95
Navigation of, 96, 98, 104, 107
Russian and Afghan communications along, 91, 92
Russian military disposition along, 174, 175
Proposed railway to, 129
Source of, 81, 82
Trade upon, 104, 107
Upper, 82 (See Panja)
Oxus-Kabul, list of marches between, 338-340
Pack, Mr. E. T., 375
Paghman hills, 182, 346
Paiwar Kotal, 151 [Pg 557]
Palankoh route, 234
Pamir, Alichur, 405
Boundary Mission, 4, 155
Fort, 405
Great, 82
Little, 82
Sarez, 405
Pamirs, 4, 25, 81, 82, 91, 92, 405, 407
Afghan position in, 407
Russian force in, 174
Panafidine, M., 156
Panja River, 81, 82, 85, 86, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93
Paropamisus mountains, 120, 125, 156, 157
Parsiwans, 197
Pathans, 263, 264 (See also Ghilzai)
Patta Hissar, 75, 96, 97, 98, 102, 107, 173
Peacocke, Captain, 155
Pendjeh, 110, 111, 112, 119, 129, 145, 156, 173, 401
Fight at, 405
Pendjeh-Tanur-Sangi branch line, 80
Perovski, 6, 7, 10, 16-18
Count, 17
Fort, 17
Persia:
Designs upon Herat, 148, 149
Interests in Seistan, 213, 214
Obstruction to Seistan Boundary
Commission, 215, 216
Relations with Afghanistan,
Great Britain, and Russia, 147-149, 214
Perso-Afghan War, 147, 148, 149
Persians, 29, 33, 111, 114, 119, 198, 258, 264
Peshawar, 149, 429, 440, 449, 453
Peshawar-Kabul, list of marches between, 340
Pesski, 176
Petro-Alexandrovsk, 75, 96, 108
Pitniak, 94
Plague, Seistan and Indian, 235
Pollock, General, 377
Poltavski, 120, 124
Polytimætus (See Zerafshan)
Postins, manufacture of, 305-306
Practitioners, native, 392, 393
European, 394
Ptuk, 86
Pul-alak, 185
Pul-i-Khatun, 129, 401
Pul-i-Khisti, 117
(See Tash Kepri)
Pukhtun (See Pathans)
Pyne, Mr. (See Sir Salter)
Sir Salter, 373, 394, 396, 405, 408
Quetta, 187, 189, 215, 226, 228, 429
Railway, extension of, to New Chaman, 402
Quetta-Nushki railway, 226, 230, 231, 234
Route, 226-229, 291
Ragh, 244
Railways:
Across Persia, 130
Askhabad-Meshed, 129
Central Asian, 8, 11, 15, 18, 70, 75, 103, 155, 173
Indian, Kabul river, 429
Khyber, 429
Nowshera-Dargai, 428
Quetta-Chaman, 402, 441
Sakkur-Sibi, 401
Thau-Kushalgarh, 429
Murghab valley, 3, 110-130
Orenburg-Tashkent, 3-50
Russian, in Afghanistan, 457, 458
Saratoff-Uralsk, 8
Trans-Afghan, 189
Trans-Siberian, 7, 8, 11
Ramasan, 387
Ramsay, Captain, 241
Rang, 85, 86, 89
Ranjit Singh, British alliance with, 148
Ravania, 76, 77
Registan, Bokhara, 34
Samarkand, 40
Religion, 386-387, 388
Repetek, 76
Riches, Mr., 394
Ridgeway, Colonel Sir West, 155
Ripon, Marquess of, 400, 403
Rivers:
Ab-Dilawar, 182
Ab-i-Siah, 182
Ab-i-Wakhan, 82, 85
Abs-i-Panja, 82, 85, 93
Aksarai, 94
Ak-su, 19, 82, 91, 93
Alabass, 14
Argand-ab, 185, 260
Arghesan, 260
Arisi, 11, 19
Atrek, 129
Badam, 19
Balkh, 256
Bartang, 91, 93
Bolshoi, 9
Bugun, 19 [Pg 558]
Buraldai, 19
Burdjar, 19
Burgutai, 85
Burl, 14
Burt, 14
Chirchik, 47, 48, 49, 58, 59
Darban, 94
Djus, 14
Doaba, 255
Donguz, 13
Elshanka, 13
Embi, 9, 13
Farah Rud, 180, 211, 260
Farkhan, 254
Ghazni, 343
Ghori, 94
Ghund Daria, 90, 91, 174
Hari Rud, 130, 156, 248, 260, 261
Harud, 178, 211
Helmund, 107, 178, 182, 185, 211, 213, 214, 215, 216, 222, 260, 261
Ilek, 7, 13
Irtish, 8
Khargosh, 85
Kabul, 260, 261, 345, 346, 429
Kafirnahan, 94
Kaisar, 229
Karanzyak, 10
Kashan, 131, 137
Kashka, 25, 26
Keless, 11
Keshef Rud, 129, 130
Khabd, 14
Khanabad, 94
Khash, 211
Kizil-su, 94
Kokcha, 94, 247, 260
Krash, 221
Kuban, 14
Kubele, 9, 13
Kulab, 94
Kulden, 13
Kuljur, 9, 14
Kunar, 260
Kunduz, 94, 101, 108, 254
Kushk, 111, 113, 117, 119, 120, 131, 137, 138
Kutchuk-sai, 14
Little Pamir, 85
Logar, 260, 345
Mali Karagandi, 9
Maloi Khabd, 14
Murghab, 76, 80, 91, 93, 107, 111-114, 117, 119, 131, 136, 138, 146, 156
Narpai, 67, 68
Obi, 8
Oxus (See Oxus)
Pamir, 82, 85, 86
Panja, 81, 82, 85, 86, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93
Panj-Kola, 414, 425
Panjsher, 242, 260
Salar, 11, 58
Sangalak, 258
Sanzar, 61, 62, 65
Shakh Dana, 91
Sherinab, 228
Suchan Daria, 91, 93
Surkan, 29, 94
Syr Daria, 10, 11, 15, 16, 18, 20, 59
Taldik, 94, 95
Tchayan, 19
Tejend Rud, 130
Temir, 9, 13
Teress Butak, 14
Tezin, 182
Ulkan, 94
Ural, 7, 8, 9, 13
Wakhan Daria, 85
Wakhan-su, 85
Wakh-jir, 82, 85
Waksh, 29, 94
Yani Su, 94, 95
Zerafshan, 25, 26, 33, 39, 65, 67-69, 72, 73
Zirreh, 211
Robat, 232
Roberts, General Sir Frederick (See Lord Roberts)
Lord, 151, 152, 403, 404, 405, 408
Robertson, Dr. Sir George, 414
Romanovski, 89
General, 61, 62
Roos-Keppel, Major, 452, 453
Rosebery, Earl of, 409
Roshan, 25, 253
Rostovtseff, Count, 65
Rostovtsevo, 65
Rubies, 244
Rudbar, 213
Russia:
Afghanistan and, 121-122, 148-150, 151, 162, 165, 173, 356, 405, 440, 441, 443, 444, 447, 452, 457, 458
Agents of, 444
and Great Britain, 1-4, 147, 187, 188, 189, 448
Imperial Bank of, 70, 129
Khorassan in, 236
in Mid-Asia, 2, 3-4, 5, 55-57, 149, 150, 174, 401 [Pg 559]
Oxus river and, 91, 149-150, 174, 175
Pamirs in, 405
Persia and, 147, 158
Seistan and, 214, 215, 217, 219, 236, 241
Russian Railways:
Askhabad-Meshed, 129, 130
Murghab Valley, 110-130
Railway schemes, 1, 126, 129,188, 189, 237
Trade with Afghanistan, 179, 295-298
Russo-Chinese Bank, 70
Russo-Persian War, 147
Rustak, 93, 244, 253
Saad-ud-Din Khan, 362
Sabzawar, 178, 179, 181, 186, 240, 249
Safi Mullah, 442
Said Akbar, 415
Saids of Peshin, 204, 207
St. Petersburg Bourse Gazette, 444
Sais Khaneh ravine, 62
Sakhir, 182
Sakis, 58
Salaam Khana, 387
Salisbury, Marquess of, 431
Salt, 13, 244
Saltpetre, 181
Samana, 414, 418, 429
Rifles, 429
Samara, 7
Samarkand, 3, 5, 6, 11, 39-44, 49, 52, 65, 110, 155, 173
Bazaars of, 43, 44
Bibi Khanum, 43
Capture of, by Russia, 149
Gur Amir, 43
Ivanovski Square, 39
Kok Tash, 43
Old town, 40, 43
Population, 39, 40
Registan, 40
Shir Dar, 40
Station of, 66
Tillah Kori, 40
Tomb of the Shah Zindeh, 43
of Timur, 43
Trade of, 40, 43, 66
Ulug Beg, 40
Urda, 43
Samchan, 89, 90
Samungli, 228
Sand shrubs (See Saxaoul)
Saraghari, fort, 423
Sarakhs, 111, 129, 130, 156, 401
Saratoff-Uralsk railway, 8
Sarhad river, 82, 85, 247
Sari Agatch pass, 11
Saripal, 258
Sari Tchegonak, inlet, 10
Yazi, 117, 145
Sarlor Fakir, 415, 417
Sarshela ravine, 211
Sarts, 29, 111, 114
Sarwar Khan, Shahgassi Mahommed, 361, 362
Sauran, 20
Saxaoul, (desert shrub), 73, 75, 76, 77
Sayid Mozaffrar Eddin, Amir, 68
Sazan Bulak, 91
Seistan, 179, 186, 211, 212, 213, 214, 240, 241, 242
Afghan, 250
Afghan interests in, 213, 214
Belgian customs and, 235
Boundary Mission, 215, 216, 217, 219, 220, 221, 222, 241
British interests in, 241
Indian plague in, 235, 236
Irrigation of, 222
Persian interests in, 213-214
Population of, 213
Russian interests in, 214, 215, 236
Taxes and revenue of, 222, 223
Trade with India, 235
Seistan-Girishk, list of marches between, 340-341
Seistan-Nushki, overland route, 231, 232, 233, 234, 235
Sekuha, 213
Semipalatinsk, 8
Semut, 86
Shabkaddar, 417
Shah Maksud, 306
Zindeh, tomb of, Samarkand, 43
Shaikhantaurski, 49
Shakhri oasis, 26
Shar-i-Sabz, 129, 173
Shezand, 230
Shiahs, 169, 258, 386, 387
Shibirghan, 247, 258
Shignan, 25, 82, 91, 203
Shikarpur, 230
Shinwaris, 264
Shirabad, 129
Shir Afzal, 413-414
Ali, 150, 151, 250, 269-270
Conference with Lord Mayo at Umballa, 150
Refusal to admit British representatives to Kabul, 151 [Pg 560]
Reform of Afghan army by, 311-318
and Stolietoff Mission, 448
Dar, Samarkand, 40
Darwaza, Mrs., 345, 346
Shirtar, 86, 89
Shiwa, 244
Shoemaker, cited, 51
Shujah, Shah, 1, 48
Shuturket, 59
Shveikovski, Major-General Povalo, 156
Sibzyarski, 49
Sikandur Khan, 444
Si Khanah, 89
Simpheropol, 5
Skobeleff, 7, 10
Skobelevski, 18
Slave trade in Kandahar, 207-208
Slee, Mr., 231
Sokovnin, Colonel, 39
Somatash, 405
South African War, 439
Spies, Russian, in Mazar-i-Sharif, 451
Staal, M. de, 431
Stari Tashkent (Old Tashkent), 58, 59
Stewart, Lieutenant-General Sir Donald, 151, 152, 400
Lieutenant A. E., 241
Mr., 394
Stolietoff Mission, 448
Strabo, 95
Stroieff, M., 129
Sulphur, 244
Sultan-i-band, 114, 146
Sundukli, 73
Sunnis, 258, 386, 387
Superstitions, Afghan, 385-386
Swat, 408, 417, 427
Syabz oasis, 26
Syr Daria, 10, 11, 15, 16, 18, 20, 59
Province, 81
Darinskaya, 59
Tabriz, 130, 237, 239
Tagis, 433
Taimanis, 169, 180, 264
Tajiks, 29, 30, 244, 258, 259, 264, 344
Takhta Bazar, 118, 119
Takht-i-pul, 173, 177, 257
Takht-i-rawan, 446
Talbot, Captain the Hon. M. C., 155
Talikhan, 253
Talkhatan Baba, 113
Tamerlane, Ark of, 65 (See also Timur)
Gates of, 62 (See also Timur)
Tanur Sangi, 80, 112, 119, 138, 173
Tarnak, 189, 260
Tartars, 18, 119
Tashkent, 4-7, 11-13, 15, 16, 20, 23-24, 43-50, 74, 79, 110, 173, 440
Alexandrovski Park, 48
Angar canal, 48
Capture of, by Russians, 60
Cathedral, 44, 47
Climate, 47, 49
District, 23
Population, 16
Dukhovskaya, 48
Fortress Esplanade, 49
Gospitalnaya, 48
Irrigation of, 12
Kailuski Prospekt, 48
Konstantinovski Square, 47
Native quarter, 49
Oasis of, 12
Old (See Stari Tashkent)
Orenburg-, railway (See Orenburg-Tashkent railway)
Population, 49, 50
Romanovski Street, 48
Russian garrison, 48-49
Quarter, 44, 48, 49
Sobornaya Boulevard, 48
Station of, 11
Town revenues, 48
Trade returns, 24
Turkestan Public Library, 48
Water difficulty, 48
Tash Kepri, 117-119, 135, 401
Tashkurgan, 174, 242, 247, 254, 255
Population of, 255
Tasker, Mr., 394
Tate, Mr., 241
Teheran, 130, 147, 237-239
Routes to, 237-239
Tejend, 111, 129, 156
Tekkes, 77, 114, 117
Temir Utkul, 13
Termes, 3, 8, 97, 129, 173
Thana, 417
Thornton, Mr. E. T., 354, 392, 394
Tian Shan mountains, 47
Tiflis, 130
Tigris river, 237
Tillah Kori, Samarkand, 40
Tilleri, 228 [Pg 561]
Timur, 11, 40, 43, 249 (See also Tamerlane)
Tomb of, Samarkand, 43 (See also Tamerlane)
Tirah operations, 423, 425, 426
Tirogkhoi plateau, 259
Tochi, 414, 416, 429
Torashekh, 119
Torkhana, 453
Trade of Afghanistan, 288-298, 306
Traku, 185
Trans-Afghan railway, proposed, 187
Trans-Atai mountains, 25, 93
Trans-Caspian Gazette, 218-219
Trans-Caspian railway, 3-6, 110, 111
Trans-Siberian railway, 7, 8, 11
Treaties:
Anglo-Russian, 1873, 406
Dost Mahomed and British, 149
Durand, 231, 373, 407, 408, 412, 446
Gandamak, 402
Khyber, 481
Trebizond-Tabriz-Teheran route, comparison of, with Nushki-Seistan route, 239
Trench, Major, 223, 232
Tribal affairs, 270-271, 443, 447
Troitzki, 49
Tuckatoo hills, 2260
Turbat, 237
Turbat-i-Naidari, 235
Turcomans, 29, 33, 52, 258, 264
Turkestan, 7, 10-11, 20, 23, 179
Afghan (See Afghan Turkestan)
Cotton Company, 67
Public Library, Tashkent, 48
Russian, 11, 20, 23, 39, 44, 47, 68
Turgai province, 13
Turkish Emissary to Abdur Rahman, 416
Turkoman Expedition, 61
Twakim-ud-Din, 415
Uch Udja, 76
Udny, Mr. (See Sir Richard Udny)
Sir Richard, 410, 412, 417-419, 452
Proclamation, 410, 412, 413
Ulia Jancah, 362
Ulug Beg, Samarkand, 40
Ulyanin, Colonel, 111
Umra Khan, 413, 425
Upper Oxos (See Panja river)
Ural Cossacks, 18
Uralsk, 8
Urda, Samarkand, 43
Urt plateau, 182
Urta Chul steppe, 30
Urumbai, 59
Usef Khan Barakzai, 362
Ushturket, 59
Utch Tubeh, 59
Uzbegs, 30, 33, 258, 259, 264
Uzboi channel, 96
Vaganzi, 69
Vambéry, cited, 169, 170
Vani Kurgan, 20
Venice Sanitary Congress, 235
Verevkin, General, 20
Verkhni, 59
Verni, 8, 11, 20
Victoria, lake, 82, 85
Viedomosti, statements of, 444
Vrevskaya, 58
Wahab, Lieutenant-Colonel R. A., 155
Wakhan, 91-93, 242, 244, 247, 253
Valley, 85, 86
Wakh-jir pass, 82, 85
Walter, Mr., 394
Walters, Major H. F., 241
Wanliss, Major, 453
Wano, 345, 413, 414, 416
War, Afghan, First, 148
Second, 151, 152, 448
Perso-Afghan, 148-149
Ward, Mr., 241
Ware, Captain Webb, 232
Waziris, 264
Waziristan, 408, 413, 416, 429, 439
Weights, Afghan, 307
Welman, Doctor, 156
Women in Afghanistan, 197, 383-385
in Bokhara, 33, 34
Wood, Lieutenant, 82, 85
Wood’s Lake (See Victoria Lake)
Woodside, Mr., 231
Yaghistan, 408
Yaims, skirmish at, 407
Yakatut, 72
Yakshi Kargach river, 14
Yakub Khan, 151, 152
Yarkand, 255
Yate, Colonel A. C., 182, 449
cited, 170
Lieutenant A. C., 155
Major C. E., 155
Yezd, 237 [Pg 562]
Yonoff, Captain, 405
Young, Mr., 231
Yulatan, 111, 113, 114, 145, 146
Zakka Khels, 446
Zamindawar, 178, 186
Zangi-ata, 58
Zarghun hills, 226
Zarghim, 226
Zebak, 244
Zerafshan river, 25, 26, 33, 39, 65, 67-69, 72, 73
Ziadin, 68, 69
Zirabulak, 68
Zhob valley, 260, 403
Zulfikar, 129, 401
Zung, 86, 89

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Transcriber’s Note:

Footnotes were renumbered sequentially and were moved to the end of the chapter. Footnotes [27], [56] and [57] have multiple anchors. A few anchors are positioned at the beginning of the sentence.

Words may have multiple spelling variations or inconsistent hyphenation in the text. Obsolete and alternative spellings were left unchanged. Misspelled words were corrected. Where spelling varies between an index entry and the text of the book, the index entry was adjusted to match the text. Obvious printing errors, such as backwards, upside down, or missing letters and punctuation, were corrected. Use of italics was made consistent in various lists. Final stops missing at the end of sentences and abbreviations were added.

Columns and rows were reversed for two tables on page 293. When a table does not display completely on small handheld devices, tapping the screen may present the entire table in miniature.

The pedigree chart in Chapter XIV was converted to a descendant format to fit electronic screens. Spouses are indented between the male's name and their children. An image of the original chart was added.

There may be a digit not printed in Appendix X, last column for entry of Mercery, &c.

Bruce, R. I.	The Forward Policy and its Results.
Chirol, Valentine	The Middle Eastern Question.
Curzon, Lord	Russia in Central Asia.
” ”	Persia and the Persian Question.
” ”	The Pamirs and the Source of the Oxus.
Daly, Mrs. Kate	Eight Years among the Afghans.
Gray, Dr. A. J.	My Residence at the Court of the Amir.
Holdich, Colonel Sir T. H.	The Indian Borderland.
Keane, A. H.	Asia.
Lansdell, H.	Russia in Central Asia.
Olufsen, O.	Through the Unknown Pamirs.
Roberts, Field Marshal Lord	Forty-one Years in India.
Ronaldshay, Earl of	Sport and Politics under an Eastern Sky.
” ” ”	On the Outskirts of Empire in Asia.
Shoemaker, M. M.	The Heart of the Orient.
Skrine, F. H., and Ross, E. D.	The Heart of Asia.
Sultan Mahomed Khan	Laws and Constitution of Afghanistan.
” ” ”	The Life of Abdur Rahman, Amir of Afghanistan.
Thorburn, S. S.	The Punjab in Peace and War.
Yate, A. C.	England and Russia Face to Face.
Yate, C. E.	Kurasan and Seistan.
” ”	Northern Afghanistan.

CHAP.	PAGE
I.	The Orenburg-Tashkent Railway	1
II.	The Khanate of Bokhara, the Province of Samarkand, the Districts of Tashkent and Merv	25
III.	From Tashkent to Merv	58
IV.	The Northern Border and the Oxus River: its Character, Tributaries and Fords	81
V.	The Murghab Valley Railway	110
VI.	The Murghab Valley	131
VII.	Herat and the Western Border	147
VIII.	Kandahar	178
IX.	Seistan and the McMahon Mission	211
X.	Provinces and District Centres, Ethnographical and Orological Distribution	242
XI.	Administration, Laws and Revenue	269
XII.	Trade: Industries and Products	288
XIII.	Army, Forts and Communications	308
XIV.	Kabul: its Palaces and Court Life	342
XV.	Kabul and its Bazaars	376
XVI.	Anglo-Afghan Relations	400
XVII.	Anglo-Afghan Relations (continued)	427
APPENDICES
I.	Names of Stations on the Orenburg-Tashkent Railway	461
II.	(A) List of Stations from Tashkent to Merv, with Distances from Krasnovodsk and Tashkent	463
II.	(B) Murghab Valley Railway: List of Stations from Merv to Kushkinski Post, with Distances from Krasnovodsk and Merv	464[Pg xvi]
III.	Table of Measurements	465
IV.	The Treaty of Gandamak, etc. etc.	466
V.	Time Tables of the Oxus Flotilla	519
VI.	Return of Articles Exported from Russia to Khorassan during the Period March 21, 1903, to March 20, 1904, compared with 1900-03	522
VII.	Return of Articles Exported from Khorassan to Russia during the Period March 21, 1903, to March 20, 1904, compared with 1900-03	526
VIII.	Return of Articles Exported from Afghanistan to Khorassan and Seistan during the Period March 21, 1903, to March 20, 1904, compared with 1900-03	529
IX.	Return of Articles Exported from Khorassan and Seistan to Afghanistan during the Period March 21, 1903, to March 20, 1904, compared with 1900-03	531
X.	Return of Articles Exported from India to Khorassan viâ the Seistan Route during the Period March 21, 1903, to March 20, 1904	534
XI.	Return of Articles Exported from Khorassan to India viâ the Seistan Route during the Period March 21, 1903, to March 20, 1904	535
XII.	Trade Value of the Seistan Route compared with Competing Routes	536
XIII.	Agreement between the United Kingdom and Japan	537
XIV.	Chronological Sketch of Afghan History	540
	Index	547

PAGE
Lord Curzon of Kedleston	Frontispiece
Market-cart, Orenburg	1
Tomb in the Market-place, Samarkand	3
Palace of the Governor, Baku	5
The Picturesque Camel	6
The Shir Dar Medresse, Samarkand	7
On the Road in Asia	9
Kirghiz Elders	17
Kirghiz Women	19
Native Quarter, Tashkent	21
Shir Dar, Samarkand	25
The Amir of Bokhara on Palace Steps	27
The Gates of Bokhara	31
The Prison, Bokhara	35
The Minar Kalan, Bokhara	36
The Ark, Bokhara	37
The Tomb of Tamerlane, Samarkand	41
Samarkand—the Hour of Prayer	44
Samarkand—a Bird’s-eye View	45
Sobornaya Boulevard in Tashkent	47
Bazaar Scene	51
Breaking Camp on Manœuvres, Tashkent	53
Native Quarter, Tashkent	58
Koran Stand, Samarkand	58
Peasants from the Golodnaya Steppe	60
The Column of Tamerlane, Samarkand	63
The Registan, Samarkand	65[Pg xviii]
Throne-Room—Palace of the Amir of Bokhara	68
Amir’s Palace, Bokhara	70
The Dervishes of Bokhara	72
The Kara Kum—Black Sands	76
Mosque at Bairam Ali	77
The Gur Amir	78
The Military Quarter, Merv	80
The Amu Daria Bridge	81
Near the Source of the Oxus	83
The Valley of the Oxus	83
Beside the Oxus	87
The Wakhan Valley	87
Type from Wakhan	89
Bridge over the Upper Oxus	90
Difficult Going	92
Village on the Lower Oxus	95
Petro Alexandrovsk	99
Native Church at Khiva	101
Temple on the Banks of the Oxus	103
The Shrine of Hazrat Ali	105
Village on the Middle Oxus	107
Street Scene, Andijan	110
A Notable Gathering	113
On the Central Asian Railway	115
School Children	118
Hindu Traders at Pendjeh	120
Native Water-Sellers	123
Khorassan Dervish	125
The Murghab Valley Railway	127
Native School	130
The Russian Cossack on the Afghan Border	131
Tamarisk Scrub in the River Valley	133
Bokharan Traders at Pendjeh	139
The Russo-Afghan Boundary	141
Meshed Traders at Pendjeh	143
Gandamak Bridge, where the Famous Treaty was signed	151[Pg xix]
Plan of Herat	153
A Street Shrine	155
The Irak Gate	159
Herat Citadel	163
Kitchen in Native House	165
Household Utensils	167
A Caravansary Compound	170
Religious Festival on the Perso-Afghan Border	171
Afghan Post at Kala Panja	175
A Water Seller	177
Typical Street Scene	180
Crossing the Helmund River	183
Constructing the Quetta-Nushki Line	188
Plan of Kandahar	191
The Walls of Kandahar	195
Always a popular and central Meeting-place	199
Typical Street Scenes	207
Carrying Cotton to Market	210
Camel Bazaar, Nasratabad	212
Lakeside Dwellers	214
The Native Staff attached to the Mission	215
Officers of the McMahon Mission	217
Baluchistan Camel Corps	220
Baluchi Chiefs who accompanied Colonel McMahon	221
Gates at Nasratabad	224
The Walls at Nasratabad	225
Bazaar Scene, Nasratabad	227
Dâk Bungalow on the Nushki Route	236
Infantry with the Persian Commissioner	238
The Persian Commissioner	240
A Caravan of Pack-Ponies	242
Women pounding Grain	245
A Baluchi Shepherd	248
Elders from Wakhan	251
Kasi Khoda da of Ishkashim	261
Children from the Upper Oxus	265[Pg xx]
A Mountain Village	268
Entrance to Amir’s Pavilion at Jelalabad	269
Tomb of the Emperor Baber near Kabul	272
Spinning Cotton	275
A Customs Station in the Plains	285
Abdur Rahman’s Memorial to the Soldiers who fell in the War of 1878-1880	287
Caravan of Wool and Cotton	288
Cotton Fields under Irrigation from the Amu Daria	299
Across the Passes	307
Typical Afghan Fortress	310
Picket of the Household Troops	313
Troop of Cavalry	315
Men of the Amir’s Bodyguard	317
Infantry in Parade State	319
Patrols of Household Troops	322
Infantry on the March	325
Miss Brown, Physician to the Amir’s Harem	342
Winter Palace of the Amir	348
Amir’s Summer Residence—Indikki Palace	351
Major Cleveland, I.M.S. Physician to the Amir of Afghanistan	354
Mrs. Cleveland	355
His Highness Prince Nasr Ulla Khan	361
The Amir’s Bodyguard	363
His Highness Habib Ullah, Amir of Afghanistan	367
A Proclamation	370
Major Cleveland’s Residence at Kabul	375
The famous Cage on the Summit of the Lataband Pass	376
Weighing Wood in the Bazaar	377
Playground of Amir’s School, Kabul	381
Afghan Women	383
A Saint’s Tomb	385
The Bala Hissar Kabul	389
Remains of the Roberts Bastion at Shirpur	393
Bazaar Children	398
In the Khyber Pass	400[Pg xxi]
Abdur Rahman’s Palace at Jelalabad	404
The Road to Lundi Khana, Khyber Pass	412
Ali Masjid Fort	420
Jamrud Fort	426
Jamrud Fort	428
Caravansary at Dakka	430
Grounds of Palace occupied by the Dane Mission	437
Takht-i-Rawan	447
Festival in Honour of the Dane Mission	453
Scene of the Audiences between Habib Ullah and Sir Louis Dane	455
Escort outside the Gate of the Quarters occupied by the Dane Mission	457
The Walls of Bokhara	458
Map of Afghanistan	At end

Area.	Population.
40,000 sq. versts	120,000

Area.	Population.
127,300 sq. versts	85,000

Private houses	578
Orthodox church	1
Synagogue	1
Mosques	2
Schools	4
Native universities	2

		Poods.		Roubles.
Wool
Sheep	} 200,000		⎫	2,000,000
Camel			⎪
Hides		150,000	⎬
Lard		150,000	⎭
Cattle				400,000

District.	Area.		Population.
Perovski	95,965	sq. versts	133,784
Chimkent	100,808	” ”	285,180
Tashkent	40,380	” ”	500,015

Orthodox Russians	1050
Jews	130
Dissenters	210
Tartars	450
Sarts and Kirghiz	3326

Russian Quarter.		Native Quarter.
Houses	105	Houses	1886
Orthodox churches	2	Schools	3
Mosques	34	Native schools	16

Exports.			Imports.
Wool	⎫	2,000,000 roubles	Manufactured goods	⎫	3,000,000 roubles
Hides	⎪		Iron	⎪
Lard	⎬		Agricultural Implements	⎬
Butter	⎪		Tea	⎪
Wheat	⎪		Sugar	⎭
Santonin	⎭

Table of Imports—1901
Manufactured goods	204,530	poods.
Iron and steel	68,501	”
Dried fruits	101,156	”
Raisins	49,233	”
Black tea	20,718	”
Green tea	6,061	”
Wine grapes	14,105	”
Kerosene	104,317	”
Naphtha refuse	23,402	”
Refined sugar	85,246	”
Sanded sugar	23,905	”
Salt	24,442	”
Military stores	112,506	”
Table of Exports—1901
Wheat	378,058	poods.
Rice	194,574	”
Skins and undressed hides	44,409	”
Hemp seed, flax seed, and grasses	19,784	”
Spirits	26,620	”
Undressed sheep-skins	57,899	”
Cotton	241,484	”
Military stores	108,794	”

Town.	Population.
Bokhara	100,000
Karshi	60,000
Shaar	10,000
Guzar	25,000
Kara Kul	5,000
Ziadin	8,000
Hissar	15,000
Shir Abad	20,000
Karki	10,000
Charjui	15,000
Kermine	12,000
Kelif	7,000

Streets	360
Caravansaries	50
Covered bazaars	50
Mosques	364
Native schools	138
Russian school	1
Russian hospital and dispensary	1

Russians	10,621
Poles	315
Germans	378
Armenians	335
Jews	4,949
Sarts	40,184
Kirghiz	36
Afghans	186
Persians	237
Hindus	10

Males.	Females.	Total.
4478	4002	8480

Merchandise.	Value.
110,000 poods	1,800,000 roubles.

Males.	Females.	Total.
3197	1969	5166

Males.	Females.	Total.
6887	5554	12,441

Orthodox churches	4
Private houses	1,100
Clubs	2
Library	1
Schools	9
Hospital	1
Theatre	1
Museum	1

Shops	1,169
Caravansaries	28
Market-places	4
Squares	2
Medresses	14
Mosques	105
Jewish synagogue	1
Jewish prayer-houses	6
Mektebs	91

Military club	1
General club	1
Houses	3776
Schools	22
Orthodox churches	10
Protestant church	1
Synagogues	3
Sunnite mosques	17

Revenue.
427,572 roubles.
Expenditure.
Police	90,599
Local administration	67,867
General expenditure	269,106
Roubles	427,572

1901.
Russians.		Natives.
Men	16,416	Men	70,903
Women	16,926	Women	59,019
Total	33,342	Total	129,922

Russians	109
Persians	18
British Indian subjects	38
Jews	543
Tartars	420
Kirghiz	378
Sarts	128,406
Afghans	10

Houses (private)	17,164
Shops	45,000
Mosques	328
Mektebs	242
Medresses	24
Russian native schools	6

Races.	Total.
Russians	2297
Armenians	609
Sarts	167
Tartars	85
Khivans	36
Afghans	33
Germans	38
Persians	838
Jews	225
Gruzenes	63
Tekkes	33
Bokharans	56
Ersaris	41
Poles	30

Mahommedans.	Russians.
16,614	386
Males.	Females.
9247	7753

Passengers.
Arrivals.	Departures.
47,774	47,159
Imports.
Manufactured goods	320,745	poods.
Iron and steel	72,521	”
Green tea	85,059	”
Black tea	35,066	”
Kerosene	110,497	”
Yarn and thread	41,625	”
Refined sugar	48,481	”
Sanded sugar	35,299	”
Military stores	93,372	”
Exports.
Wheat	173,835	poods.
Wheat flour	398,425	”
Rice	811,990	”
Raisins	784,011	”
Dried grapes	54,138	”
Spirits	19,650	”
Skins and hides	15,387	”
Undressed sheep-skins	21,703	”
Cotton	102,414	”
Manufactured goods	192,116	”

ANGUS HAMILTON

PREFACE

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

THE ORENBURG-TASHKENT RAILWAY

CHAPTER II

THE KHANATE OF BOKHARA, THE PROVINCE OF SAMARKAND, THE DISTRICTS OF TASHKENT AND MERV

CHAPTER III

FROM TASHKENT TO MERV

CHAPTER IV

THE NORTHERN BORDER AND THE OXUS RIVER: ITS CHARACTER, TRIBUTARIES AND FORDS

CHAPTER V

THE MURGHAB VALLEY RAILWAY

CHAPTER VI

THE MURGHAB VALLEY

CHAPTER VII

HERAT AND THE WESTERN BORDER

CHAPTER VIII

KANDAHAR

CHAPTER IX

SEISTAN AND THE McMAHON MISSION

CHAPTER X

PROVINCES AND DISTRICT CENTRES, ETHNOGRAPHICAL AND OROLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION

CHAPTER XI

ADMINISTRATION, LAWS AND REVENUE

CHAPTER XII

TRADE: INDUSTRIES AND PRODUCTS

CHAPTER XIII

ARMY, FORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS

CHAPTER XIV

KABUL: ITS PALACES AND COURT LIFE

CHAPTER XV

KABUL AND ITS BAZAARS

CHAPTER XVI

ANGLO-AFGHAN RELATIONS

CHAPTER XVII

ANGLO-AFGHAN RELATIONS—continued

APPENDICES

APPENDIX I

APPENDIX II—(A)

APPENDIX II—(B)

APPENDIX III

APPENDIX IV

APPENDIX V

APPENDIX VI

APPENDIX VII

APPENDIX VIII

APPENDIX IX

APPENDIX X

APPENDIX XI

APPENDIX XII

APPENDIX XIII

APPENDIX XIV

INDEX

Transcriber’s Note:

PROVINCES AND DISTRICT CENTRES, ETHNOGRAPHICAL
AND OROLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION

Mosques (smaller)	38
Synagogues	1
Theological schools	2
Native schools	30

Imports.
Manufactured goods	10,500 poods.
Exports.
Cotton	108,168 poods.

Imports.
Cotton seed	51,675	poods.
Goods (various)	3,615	”
Exports.
Wine grapes.	9,555	poods.
Goods (various)	36,467	”

Imports.
Military stores	280,399	poods.
Refined sugar	63,534	”
Sanded sugar	20,043	”
Yarn and thread	26,320	”
Kerosene	95,303	”
Timber	325,390	”
Manufactures	45,661	”
Iron	34,287	”
Spirits	13,709	”
Wine grapes	13,681	”
Green tea	21,373	”
Rice	48,876	”
Wheat flour	117,593	”
Goods, various	714,175	”
Exports.
Raisins.	10,985	poods.
Skins	12,321	”
Manufactured goods	8,499	”
Carpets	11,073	”
Sheep skins	18,508	”
Caracal	3,805	”
Cotton seed	85,825	”
Cotton.	516,641	”
Wool	104,243	”
Goods (various)	191,584	”

Russians.		Natives.
Men.	Women.	Men.	Women.
2247	1254	2651	1417

Imports.
Iron and steel		51,850	poods.
Goods (various)		93,763	”
Exports.
Cotton		300,000	poods.
Dried fruits	⎫	43,761	”
Grape fruits	⎬
Rice	⎭

1	ton	=	62 poods
1	pood	=	36 lbs.
1	rouble	=	2 shillings
100	kopecks	=	1 rouble

Imports.			Exports.
Merchandise	10,569	poods	Merchandise	30,161	poods.
Sugar	413	”	Wheat	2,109	”
Kerosene	602	”	Barley	3,581	”
Flour	856	”	Cotton	16,763	”

Imports.	Exports.
Merchandise, 9188 poods.	Cotton and Merchandise, 2139 poods.

Arrivals.	Departures.
1631	1710
Imports.	Exports.
33,632 poods	41,913 poods