* * * * *
The circumstance of an English army penetrating into Central Asia,
through countries which had not been traversed by European troops since
Alexander the Great led his victorious army from the Hellespont to the
Jaxartes and Indus, is so strong a feature in our military history, that
I have determined, at the suggestion of my friends, to print those
letters received from my son which detail any of the events of the
campaign. As he was actively engaged with the Bombay division, his
narrative may be relied upon so far as he had an opportunity of
witnessing its operations; and it being my intention to have only a few
copies printed, to give to those friends who may take an interest in his
letters, I need not apologize for the familiar manner in which they are
written, as they were intended by him only for his own family, without
an idea of their being printed. A history, however, may be collected
from them most honourable to the British soldiers, both Europeans and
natives of India. They shew the patience with which, for more than
twelve months, the soldiers bore all their deprivations and fatiguing
marches through countries until then unknown to them, whether moving
through arid sands or rocky passes, under a burning sun; or over
desolate mountains, amidst the most severe frosts, with scarcely an
interval of repose. Neither was their gallantry less conspicuous than
their patience, when they had the good fortune to find an enemy who
ventured to face them. Although the circumstances which his letters
detail might well deserve a better historian than my son, yet are they
of that high and honourable character, that they cannot lose any part of
their value by his familiar manner of narrating them.
When I decided upon printing these letters, it became a matter of
interest to place before the reader a short account of the countries in
which the operations of the army were conducted, as well as of the
native rulers who took part in, or were the cause of them; in order that
the letters might be more clearly understood by those friends who have
not felt sufficiently interested in the history of those countries to
make any inquiries about them. But, before I do so, I shall draw the
attention of the reader to the army of Alexander, to which I have before
alluded.
Without entering into the causes which led to his extraordinary
conquests, predicted by Daniel as the means ordained of God to overthrow
the Persian empire, then under the government of Darius, certain it is
that he conquered the whole of those countries which extend from the
Hellespont to the Indus, when his career was arrested by his own
soldiers. Having overrun Syria, Egypt, Media, and Parthia, keeping his
course to the north-east, he not only passed the Oxus, and forced his
way to the Jaxartes, but, pressed by the Scythians from its opposite
shore, he crossed that river, and beat them in a decisive battle. From
the Jaxartes he returned in a southern direction towards the Indus, and
having suffered the greatest privations, and struggled with the most
alarming difficulties during the time that he was engaged in the
conquest of those mountainous districts, he at length reached Cabool,
making himself master of Afghanistan. Here he appears to have halted for
a considerable time, to refresh and re-equip his army, which, with the
addition of 30,000 recruits, amounted to 120,000 men.
At this place, Alexander first came upon the scene of the campaign
referred to in the following letters. Here he meditated the invasion of
India, intending to march to the mouth of the Ganges; but the conquest
of that country was destined for a nation almost unknown in the days of
Alexander, and lying far more remote from it than Greece; and, until the
campaign of 1839 drew our armies to the western side of the Indus, the
Sutlej was alike the boundary of Alexander's conquests to the east, as
of those of England towards the west.
Alexander having prepared his army for this expedition, moved towards
the Indus, taking many strong places on his march. Having crossed that
river, the king of the country offered no resistance, but became the
ally of Alexander, who expected to have found Porus, whose kingdom was
on the other side of the Hydaspes, equally ready to submit. But it
required the utmost skill of Alexander to cross the river, which he
effected, and conquered Porus, after a most severe struggle, with the
loss of his renowned charger, Bucephalus, and he was so pleased at the
magnanimity of Porus that he not only gave him back his kingdom, but
added several small states to it, making him a sincere ally. Alexander
then continued his march towards the east, conquering all who opposed
him, until he reached the banks of the Hyphasis (Sutlej), which he was
about to cross, when his progress was arrested by murmurs and tumults in
his camp. His soldiers declared their determination not to extend his
conquests, and entreated him to return. He then marched back to the
Acesines, gave the whole country as far as the Hyphasis to Porus, and
thus made him ruler of the Punjab. Alexander encamped near the Acesines
until the month of October, when the fleet which he built, consisting of
800 galleys and boats, being ready, he embarked his army and proceeded
towards the Indus; but before he reached that river he came to two
countries possessed by warriors who united their armies to oppose his
progress. After beating them in many engagements, Alexander attacked the
city of the Oxydracæ, into which the greater part of those armies had
retired. Here his rash valour had nearly terminated his career: he was
severely wounded in the side by an arrow, from the effects of which he
was with difficulty restored to health. He then descended the river, a
portion of his army marching on its banks, conquering every nation that
opposed him. About the month of July he reached Patala (Tatta), where he
built a citadel and formed a port for his shipping. He then proceeded,
with part of his fleet, by the western branch of the river, to discover
the ocean. This he accomplished at great hazard, when he sacrificed to
the gods (particularly to Neptune), and besought them not to suffer any
mortal after him to exceed the bounds of his expedition. He then
returned to join the rest of his fleet and army at Patala, and to make
arrangements for his march to Babylon. He appointed Nearchus admiral of
his fleet, and having given him orders to ascend the Persian Gulf to the
Euphrates, he commenced his march through Beloochistan, leaving Nearchus
to follow him as soon as the season would permit. Alexander was more
than sixty days in reaching the frontiers of Persia, during which time
his army sufficed such dreadful privations from want of food, that the
soldiers were obliged to eat their own war-horses, and from the sickness
consequent upon such a state of distress, his army was reduced to less
than one-half of the number which left Patala. It is not necessary to
follow him to Babylon, or to describe the voyage of Nearchus, who,
having sailed up the Persian Gulf, united his forces to those of his
royal master in the river Pasi-Tigris, near Susa. Enough, however, may
be learned from this history to convince us that if such an army could
be conducted 2000 years ago from the Hellespont to the Jaxartes and
Indus, the march from the southern shores of the Caspian Sea to Cabool
would require comparatively but very slight exertion, if those who have
the means should have the desire also to accomplish it.
I can say little of my own knowledge of the political causes which gave
rise to the war, as I am unacquainted with the affairs of India and the
motives which actuated its governors; but a brief outline may be
collected from a book lately published by the Hon. Capt. Osborne,
military secretary to the Governor-General, to which I shall refer,
after making some observations upon the countries through which the
operations of the army were conducted, and particularly on the situation
of Afghanistan, in reference to those persons who had before been, is
well as those who were, its rulers, when Shah Shooja was restored by the
British Government to its throne. These observations I have chiefly
collected from the valuable work of that enterprising officer Lieut.
Burnes, which he published after visiting those countries in 1831, 1832,
and 1833.
The chief portion of the Bombay division of the army engaged in the
operations to which these letters refer, landed at the Hujamree mouth of
the Indus, and marching through Lower Sinde, by Tatta, ascended the
Indus by its western bank. On arriving in Upper Sinde, it was found that
Shah Shooja with his contingent, as well as the Bengal division of the
army, had crossed the Indus _en route_ from that Presidency, and had
advanced towards Afghanistan, and that the Bombay division was to follow
them. To effect this, the division marched through Cutch Gundava, and
the Bolan Pass, which is situated in the mountains which divide the
province of Sarawar, in Beloochistan, as well as Cutch Gundava, from
Afghanistan. Having made their way through the Bolan Pass, the army
entered the Shawl district of Afghanistan, and thence proceeded through
the Ghwozhe Pass to Candahar, Ghuzni, and Cabool; at which
last-mentioned place Shah Shooja's eldest son joined his father with
some troops of Runjet Sing's, which had crossed the Indus from the
Punjab, marching by Peshawur and the Kyber Pass. The division of the
Bombay troops under General Willshire having remained at Cabool about a
month, returned to Ghuzni, and thence in a straight direction to
Quettah, leaving Candahar some distance on the right; Capt. Outram, who
commanded a body of native horse, preceding the main body of the
division for the purpose of capturing the forts, or castles, belonging
to those chiefs who had not submitted to Shah Shooja. From Quettah,
General Willshire moved with a part of his division upon Kelat, and
thence through the Gundava Pass and Cutch Gundava to the Indus, where
these troops were met by the rest of the division, which came from
Quettah by the Bolan Pass. Hence they descended to Curachee to embark
for their respective quarters in India. The fate of one of the regiments
of the division, the 17th, as it is recorded in a Bombay paper, is most
distressing. They embarked at Curachee for Bombay, and sailed in the
morning with a fair wind and a fine breeze, but before the night closed
in upon them the ship was fast aground upon a sandbank, off the Hujamree
branch of the Indus, scarcely within sight of land. Everything was
thrown overboard to lighten the ship, but in vain; she became a total
wreck, and settled down to her main deck in the water. She fortunately,
however, held together long enough to allow all the men to be taken on
shore, which occupied three days, but with the loss of everything they
had taken on board with them. The other regiments, we may hope, have
been more fortunate, as they were not mentioned in the paper which gave
this melancholy account of the 17th regiment.
Sinde, the country through which the army first passed, is divided into
three districts, each governed by an Ameer, the chief of whom resides at
Hydrabad, the second at Khyrpoor, and the other at Meerpoor; and when
Lieut. Burnes ascended the Indus, in 1831, the reigning Ameers were
branches of the Beloochistan tribe of Talpoor. With these the chief of
Kelat and Gundava, Mehrab Khan (who was related by marriage to the Ameer
of Hydrabad), was more closely allied than any other prince. Like them,
he had been formerly tributary to Cabool, and had shaken off the yoke,
and, possessing a very strong country between Afghanistan and Sinde, he
became as useful as he had at all times proved himself a faithful ally
to the Sindeans. Shikarpoor, with the fertile country around it, as well
as Bukker, had formerly belonged to the Barukzye family of Afghanistan,
and, although they still possessed Candahar, Cabool, and Peshawar, they
had in vain endeavoured to withdraw Mehrab Khan from his alliance with
the Sindeans, or to recover those lost possessions.
To understand the political state of Afghanistan, into which the army
marched for the purpose of restoring Shah Shooja to its throne, it will
be necessary to go back to the early part of the last century, when
Nadir Shah had raised himself to the throne of Persia. His name having
become formidable as a conqueror, he turned his thoughts to the conquest
of India, and, assuming sufficient pretexts for breaking the relations
of amity which he professed for the monarch of that country, he
determined to invade it, and for that purpose began his march in 1738.
Taking with him some of the chiefs of Afghanistan, he crossed the Punjab
and entered Delhi. He there raised enormous contributions, and seized
upon everything worth taking away; amongst other things the far-famed
Peacock throne, in which was the renowned diamond called "The Mountain
of Light." The spoils with which he returned to Persia were valued at
nearly seventy millions of pounds sterling. It is not necessary to
follow the history of Nadir; it will be enough to say that, amidst the
confusion which followed his death, Ahmed Khan obtained possession of
part of his treasure, amongst which was the great diamond. He escaped
with it into Khorassan, where he made himself master also of a large sum
of money which was coming to Nadir from India. Ahmed was a brave and
intelligent man, had been an officer of rank under the Shah, and, being
in possession of the treasure necessary for his purpose, he proclaimed
himself king, and was crowned at Candahar "King of the Afghans." Ahmed
was of the Suddoozye family, which were but a small tribe; but he was
greatly assisted by the powerful Barukzye family, whose friendship he
justly valued and made use of to his advantage: of this latter family
Hajee Jamel was then the chief. Ahmed knew how to conciliate the
independent spirit of his Afghan subjects, and by making frequent
incursions on his neighbours, kept alive that spirit of enterprise which
was congenial to their feelings; but from the time of his death the
royal authority began to decline, as Timour, his son and successor, had
neither the sense nor enterprise necessary to uphold it. Affairs became
still worse under the sons of Timour. Shah Zumaun was of a cruel
disposition, and wanted the education necessary to the situation he was
called upon to fill; his brothers, Mahmood and Shah Shooja, were not
better disposed; and towards the Barukzye family, who had been so
instrumental in placing their grandfather, Ahmed, on the throne, they
conducted themselves not only most imprudently, but with dreadful
cruelty.
Shah Zumaun was succeeded by Shah Shooja, of whom, although the chief
person in the present drama, little more need be said of this part of
his history than that, ignorant of the mode of governing such
independent tribes as the Afghans, his power was never great, and, after
the fall of his vizier, and the murder of his comrade, Meer Waeez, it
gradually declined, until he lost his throne at Neemla, in 1809. He had
taken the field with a well-appointed army of 15,000 men; but was
attacked by Futteh Khan, an experienced general, at the head of 2000
men, before the royal army was formed for battle; Akram Khan, his
vizier, was slain, and he fled to the Kyber country, leaving the greater
part of his treasure in the hands of his conquerors. Shah Shooja had
failed to conciliate the Barukzye family; Futteh Khan, their chief, had
therefore espoused the cause of the king's brother, Mahmood, and having
driven Shah Shooja from his throne, he placed Mahmood upon it, and
accepted for himself the situation of vizier. Under his vigorous
administration, the whole of the Afghan country, with the exception of
Cashmere, submitted to the dominion of the new sovereign. The Shah of
Persia, anxious to possess himself of Herat, sent an army against it,
but was defeated in his object, and Herat was preserved to Mahmood by
the successful exertions of Futteh Khan. No sooner, however, was Mahmood
thus firmly established in his dominions, than his son Kamran became
jealous of the man who had raised him to the situation, and had secured
to him the kingdom; he therefore determined to effect the ruin of the
vizier. The prince was not long in gaining over his father to his views;
and Futteh Khan being at Herat, Kamran seized on his person and put out
his eyes. In this state he kept him prisoner for about six months,
during which time the brothers of the vizier, irritated at the conduct
of Kamran, began to show signs of disaffection. Mahmood ordered Futteh
Khan to be brought before him in the court of his palace, and accusing
the brothers of the vizier of rebellion, directed him to bring them back
to a state of allegiance. The vizier, in the dreadful condition in which
he had been reduced, replied to the demand of Mahmood, "What can an old
and blind man do?" when, by the order of the king, the courtiers cut the
vizier to pieces, limb after limb: his nose and ears were hacked off;
neither did he receive his death blow until not a member of his person
was left upon which they could inflict torture. With the fall of his
vizier the king's power rapidly declined, and he fled to Herat,
virtually yielding up the rest of his kingdom. He died in 1829, his son,
Kamran, succeeding to the limited government of that portion only of his
former dominions. Upon the flight of Mahmood to Herat, the horrid murder
of their brother threw the whole of the Barukzye family into open
revolt, the eldest of whom, Azeem Khan, recalled Shah Shooja from his
exile. From the time Shah Shooja lost his throne, he had been first a
captive in the hands of the son of his former vizier, and then a
pensioner on the bounty of the Maharajah, at Lahore, who in return
extorted from him the famous diamond, "The Mountain of Light," and other
jewels, which he had brought away with him when he fled at Neemla. He
then made his escape from the Maharajah, and found protection and
support from the British government of India. Upon the summons from
Azeem Khan, Shah Shooja immediately hastened to Peshawur; where, before
his benefactor had time to meet him, he practically displayed his ideas
of royalty so unwisely, and so insulted some of the friends of the
Barukzye family, that the whole party took offence, and they at once
rejected him, and placed his brother Eyoob on the throne.
Eyoob was but a puppet king, the tool of the family who raised him to
the government; Azeem Khan, who was appointed his vizier, being in truth
the ruler. Several of the young princes who aspired to the throne were
delivered over to Eyoob, who put them to death.
Shooja, driven from Peshawur, retired to Shikarpoor, which the Ameers of
Sinde ceded to him; where, in place of conducting himself with prudence,
he was so addicted to low intrigue with those about him, that his
enemies availed themselves of this propensity to effect his ruin, and
drove him from Shikarpoor, when, crossing the Indus, he fled through the
desert by Juydalmeer, and returned to Loodiana. "The fitness," says
Lieut. Burnes, "of Shah Shooja-ool-Moolk for the station of a sovereign
seems ever to have been doubtful. His manners and address are highly
polished, but his judgment does not rise above mediocrity; had the case
been otherwise, we should not now see him an exile from his country and
his throne, without a hope of regaining them, after an absence of twenty
years, and before he has attained the fiftieth year of his age."
The civil wars which had thus so frequently occurred in Afghanistan
weakened the resources of the country and its means of defence. Runjet
Sing availed himself of the advantage which this state of affairs
presented to him, and obtained possession of Cashmere; when, continuing
his conquests, he crossed the Indus, and made himself master of
Peshawur, burning its palace, and laying the country under tribute.
Azeem Khan made a precipitate retreat before the army of the Sikhs
towards Cabool, without attempting to arrest their progress, and was so
stung with remorse at the weakness of his conduct that he died on
reaching that city. With the death of Azeem the royal authority was
extinguished. The king fled to Lahore, and lived under the protection of
his conqueror. Herat alone remained in the possession of one of the
Suddoozye family. The brothers of the late vizier seized his son, and
deprived him of his treasure and his power. The kingdom was then divided
between them. Cabool fell into the hands of Dost Mahomed; Peshawur and
Candahar were held by two of his brothers; the Sindeans threw off their
yoke, and refused to pay tribute; Balk was annexed to the dominions of
the King of Bokhara; the richest portion of the provinces having fallen
into the possession of the Sikhs. In seventy-six years from the time
that Ahmed Shah was crowned at Candahar, the Dooranee monarchy again
ceased to exist.
As I have given the character of Shah Shooja, it will be interesting to
quote that of Dost Mahomed, from the same author. "He is unremitting in
his attention to business, and attends daily at the courthouse, with the
Cazee and Moollahs, to decide every cause according to law. Trade has
received the greatest encouragement from him, and he has derived his own
reward, since the receipts of the customhouse of the city have increased
fifty thousand rupees, and furnished him with a net revenue of two lacs
of rupees per annum. The merchant may travel without a guard or
protection from one frontier to another, an unheard-of circumstance in
the time of the kings. The justice of this chief affords a constant
theme of praise to all classes. The peasant rejoices at the absence of
tyranny, the citizen at the safety of his home, the merchant at the
equity of his decisions and the protection of his property, and the
soldier at the regular manner in which his arrears are discharged." "One
is struck with the intelligence, knowledge, and curiosity which he
displays, as well as at his accomplished manners and address."
To this short sketch of Afghanistan, and of the persons connected with
its political history, I will add some extracts from the work of the
Hon. Capt. Osborne, because they explain the circumstances which led to
the campaign of the Indus, and to the restoration of Shah Shooja to the
throne of Cabool. He says, "In May, 1838, a complimentary deputation was
sent by Runjet Sing to the Governor-General at Simla, consisting of some
of the most distinguished Sikh chiefs, who were received with all the
honours prescribed by oriental etiquette. Shortly afterwards, Lord
Auckland resolved to send a mission to the court of Lahore, not merely
to reciprocate the compliments of the Maharajah, but to treat upon all
the important interests which were involved in the existing state of
political affairs in that quarter of the world. The recent attempts of
the Persians on Herat, the ambiguous conduct of Dost Mahomed, and the
suspicions which had been excited with respect to the proceedings and
ulterior designs of Russia, rendered it of the greatest importance to
cement the alliance with Runjet Sing, and engage him to a firm and
effective co-operation with us in the establishment of general
tranquillity, the resistance of foreign encroachment, and the extension
of the benefits of commerce and the blessings of civilization.
Accordingly, W.H. Macnaghten, Esq., was deputed on the mission to the
Maharajah, accompanied by Dr. Drummond, Capt. Macgregor, and the Hon. W.
Osborne, military secretary to the Governor-General.
"The object of the Governor-General's mission to Lahore having been
accomplished, and the concurrence, and, if necessary, the co-operation
of Runjet Sing, in the restoration of Shah Shooja, secured, Mr.
Macnaghten repaired to Loodiana, for the purpose of submitting to the
Shah the treaties that had been concluded, and announcing to him the
approaching change in his fortunes. The envoys seem to have been much
struck with the majestic appearance of the old pretender, especially
with the flowing honours of a black beard descending to his waist,
always the most cherished appendage of oriental dignity. He had lived
for twenty years in undisturbed seclusion, if not 'the world
forgetting,' certainly 'by the world forgot,' consoling himself for the
loss of his kingdom in a domestic circle of six hundred wives, but
always 'sighing his soul' towards the mountains and valleys of
Afghanistan, and patiently awaiting the _kismet_, or fate, which was to
restore him to his throne. The preparations thenceforward went rapidly
on. The contingent raised by the Shah was united (more for form than
use) to the British force, and in three months the expedition began its
operations."
But before I conclude this introduction to the letters, which detail the
results of these treaties with the Maharajah, and the march of Shah
Shooja to Cabool, as I have spoken of the leading characters of
Afghanistan, I may be permitted to say a few words about the persons
through whose exertions the Shah has been restored to the throne of that
country--the officers of the British army; and I do so the more
anxiously, because the naval and military glory of our country, which in
my early days was the theme of every song, is now seldom heard of in
society, and those gallant services appear to be nearly forgotten, which
during a long protracted state of warfare, within our own recollection,
placed England in a position to dictate her own terms of peace to the
world:--a state of society which encourages a certain class of persons
the more effectually to abuse the military profession, and to mislead
their deluded followers, by clamouring about the expense of the army,
and the aristocratic bearing of its members, that they may the more
readily carry out their own schemes of personal vanity and demoralizing
political economy.
It is the peculiar feature of the British army, to which we are indebted
for its high and honourable bearing, that the sons of the first families
in the land are ever anxious to bear arms under its standards, looking
not to pecuniary emolument, but to those honours which military rank and
professional attainments can procure for them; whilst the first commands
and the highest stations in the service are filled without distinction
from every grade in society. It is this happy mixture which induces that
high sense of honour, so peculiarly characteristic of our service; that
acknowledged distinction between the officers and the privates; that
true discipline which, tempered with justice and kindly feeling, wins
the respect of the soldier, and induces him to place that reliance upon
his commander everywhere so conspicuous, whether in the camp or field of
battle. But this high feeling in the army causes no additional expense
to the country; the charge is altogether a deception. Let the following
sketch of a young soldier's life of the present day, as applicable to
others as to himself, answer the charge of these politicians.
He was educated for the highest walk of the legal profession, and had
nearly prepared himself for the university, when he decided to change
his course and go into the army. The Commander-in-chief placed his name
amongst the candidates for commissions, and he went to Hanover, where,
after he had made himself master of the German language, his Royal
Highness the Duke of Cambridge kindly gave him a commission in the
Yagers of the Guard, better known in England, in the Peninsula, and at
Waterloo, as the Rifles of the German Legion. Being only a volunteer in
the regiment, he could not receive pay from the government; he was,
therefore, at very considerable personal expense to keep his proper
standing with his brother officers; and as soon as he had acquired all
the military knowledge that he was likely to get in the regiment in time
of peace, he obtained leave to return to England; and, as he had not any
immediate expectation of a commission, he visited France, to make
himself more perfect in the French language. After this, he was allowed
to purchase a commission in the 2nd regiment, or Queen's Royals; and he
embarked to join that corps in India. His letters will shew what that
regiment, in common with others, have endured during a campaign of
fifteen months in Central Asia, their privations and expenses; and when
his second commission was paid for, during that campaign, he found
himself at its close, at the age of twenty-five, a lieutenant on full
pay, the amount of which, if he was in England, would be far short of
the interest of the money which has been expended in his commissions and
education, and with fifteen lieutenants still above him on the roll of
his regiment.
It will be seen by his letters, and it is confirmed by the official
despatches of the Commander-in-chief, that the company to which he was
attached (the light company of the Queen's) led the storming party at
Ghuzni. He was shot through the arm and through the body, and left for
dead at the foot of the citadel at Kelat, whilst endeavouring to save
the lives of some Beloochees who were crying for mercy. And for these
services he is to be rewarded with a medal, by Shah Shooja; for Ghuzni,
and for the capture of both places he has the full enjoyment of the
highest gratification that a soldier can feel--the consciousness that he
has done his duty to his country, and, let me hope, in the act of mercy
in which he suffered, his duty to his God as a Christian. But he is not
a solitary example of such good fortune. No one who was wounded and
survived may have been nearer death than himself, yet are there others
who have done more, and suffered more, as the history of the army of
the Indus would bear ample testimony.
Let me then ask, in behalf of the British officer, when he is lightly
spoken of as a man, or when the expenses of the army are cavilled at, on
which side is the debt--on his, or on that of his country?