Produced by Andrea Ball, Eric Eldred, Charles Franks,
Juliet Sutherland, and the Online Distributed Proofreading
Team
AFGHANISTAN AND THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN DISPUTE
by THEO. F. RODENBOUGH
Bvt. Brigadier General, U.S.A
AN ACCOUNT OF RUSSIA'S ADVANCE TOWARD INDIA, BASED UPON THE
REPORTS AND EXPERIENCES OF RUSSIAN, GERMAN, AND BRITISH
OFFICERS AND TRAVELLERS; WITH A DESCRIPTION OF
AFGHANISTAN AND OF THE MILITARY RESOURCES
OF THE POWERS CONCERNED
[Illustration: Afghanistan: England versus Russia]
[Illustration: The Ruler of Afghanistan, Abdurrahman Khan,
Ameer of Kabul]
* * * * *
WITH THREE MAPS AND OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS
* * * * *
CONTENTS.
I.
THROUGH THE GATES OF ASIA
II.
ON THE THRESHOLD OF INDIA
III.
THE BRITISH FORCES AND ROUTES
IV.
THE RUSSIAN FORCES AND APPROACHES
V.
REVIEW OF THE MILITARY SITUATION
LIST OF AUTHORITIES
INDEX
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
_MAPS_.
Afghanistan and the Surrounding Territories (Drawn for this Work and
Corrected by the Latest Military Surveys--end of vol.)
The Asiatic Territories Absorbed by Russia During the Past Two
Centuries, with the Dates of the Various Annexations
The Russian Lines of Advance from their Base of Supplies
_CUTS_.
Abdurrahman Khan, Ameer of Kabul (Frontispiece)
Mahaz Khan (A Tajik), Khan of Pest Bolak
Jehandad (Lohanir), from Ghazni
Wullie Mohammed, a Dahzungi Hazara
Pozai Khan, a Shinwarri (Musician)
Khan Baz, a Khumbhur Khel Afreedi
Tooro Baz, a Kookie Khel Afreedi
Zool Kuddar, an Adam Khel Afreedi
Mousa, a Kizilbash, Born in Peshawur
The City of Kandahar, Afghanistan
Castle of Zohak, First March from Bamian, Irak Road to Kabul
An Afghan Post-Chaise; Going to the Front
Gate of the Bazaar at Kabul
Major-General, Sir F. S. Roberts, V.C., K.C.B.
Khelat-i-Ghilzi, between Kandahar and Ghazni
Elephant with Artillery; on the Road to Ali Musjid
Detail of Elephant Saddle
Noah's Valley, Kunar River
Watch Tower in the Khaiber Pass
Fort of Ali Musjid, from the Heights above Lala Cheena, in the
Khaiber Pass
Fort of Dakka, on the Kabul River
The Ishbola Tepe, Khaiber Pass
Entrance to the Bolan Pass, from Dadur
Entrance to the Khojak Pass, from Pishin, on the Road to Kandahar
The Order of March in Central Asia
Gorge in the Tirband-i-Turkestan, through which the Murghab flows
Jelalabad, from Piper's Hill
[Illustration: MAP Showing the Advances of RUSSIA towards INDIA
1734-1884.]
AFGHANISTAN
AND THE
ANGLO-RUSSIAN DISPUTE
I.
THROUGH THE GATES OF ASIA.
In universal history there is no more interesting subject for the
consideration of the political student than the record of Russian
progress through Central Asia.
In one sense this advance is a practical reestablishment or
extension of the influence of the Aryan race in countries long
dominated by peoples of Turki or Mongolian origin; in another
sense it has resulted in a transition from the barbarism or rude
forms of Asiatic life to the enlightenment and higher moral
development of a European age. In a religious sense it embodies a
crusade against Oriental fanaticism; and it is a curious feature of
the Anglo-Russian dispute, that upon a question of temporal gain,
the greatest Christian nation finds itself allied with the followers
of Buddha and Mahomet against Russia under the Banner of the Cross.
The descendants of the great Peter have opened up in Central Asia a
new region which, if as yet it has not been "made to blossom as the
rose," has nevertheless profited by the introduction of law, order,
and a certain amount of industrial prosperity.
Russia commenced her relations with Central Asia as early as the
sixteenth century. Not only through embassies sent, but by military
expeditions; these, however, at that time were private ventures by
roving Cossacks and other inhabitants of Southern Russia. Authorized
government expeditions commenced with Peter the Great, who in
1716-17 sent two exploring parties into the Central Asian
deserts--Bekovitch to Khiva, and Likhareff to the Black Irtish. These
expeditions were undertaken in search of gold, supposed to exist in
those regions, but failed in their object; the detachment under
Bekovitch being entirely destroyed after reaching Khiva. Peter
next turned his attention to the country bordering upon the
southern shores of the Caspian Sea; taking advantage of Persian
embarrassments, with the consent of the Shah and of the Sultan he
acquired, in 1722-3, the provinces of Gilan, Mazanderan, and
Asterabad; but the great expense of maintaining a large garrison so
remote from Russia, and the unhealthiness of the locality, induced
the Russian Government, in 1732, to restore the districts to Persia.
In the same year Abul-Khair, the Khan of the Little Kirghiz Horde,
voluntarily submitted to Russia. Twenty years later a small strip of
the kingdom of Djungaria, on the Irtish, was absorbed, and toward
the commencement of the reign of Catharine II, Russian authority
was asserted and maintained over the broad tract from the Altai to
the Caspian. This occupation was limited to a line of outposts along
the Ural, the Irtish, and in the intervening district. During
Catharine's reign the frontier nomads became reduced in numbers, by
the departure from the steppe between the Ural and Volga of the
Calmucks, who fled into Djungaria, and were nearly destroyed on the
road, by the Kirghiz.
The connection between Russia and Central Asia at this time assumed
another character, that of complete tranquillity, in consequence of
the development of trade through Orenburg and to some extent through
Troitsk and Petropaulovsk. The lines along the Ural and Irtish
gradually acquired strength; the robber-raids into European Russia
and Western Siberia almost entirely ceasing. The allegiance of the
Kirghiz of the Little and Central Hordes was expressed in the fact
that their Khans were always selected under Russian influence and
from time to time appeared at St. Petersburg to render homage. With
the Central Asian khanates there was no connection except that of
trade, but as regarded the Turcomans, who, it is said, had
frequently asked for Russian protection, intercourse was
discouraged, as they could not be trusted "within the lines," being
simply bandits.
The Emperor Paul imagined that the steppes offered a good road to
Southern Asia, and desiring to expel the English from India, in the
year 1800 he despatched a large number of Don Cossacks, under
Orloff, through the districts of the Little Horde. At the time a
treaty was concluded with Napoleon, then First Consul, by virtue of
which a combined Russo-French army was to disembark at Asterabad and
march from thence into India by way of Khorassan and Afghanistan.
The death of the Emperor of Russia put an end to this plan.
During the reign of Alexander I, Central Asia was suffered to rest,
and even the Chinese made raids into Russian territory without
interruption. In the third decade of the present century, however,
several advanced military settlements of Cossacks were founded.
"Thus," says M. Veniukoff, "was inaugurated the policy which
afterward guided us in the steppe, the foundation of advanced
settlements and towns (at first forts, afterwards _stanitsas_
[Footnote: Cossack settlements.]) until the most advanced of them
touches some natural barrier."
About 1840, it was discovered that the system of military
colonization was more effectual in preserving order in the Orenburg
district than by flying detachments sent, as occasion required, from
Southern Russia; and in 1845-6 the Orenburg and Ural (or Targai and
Irgiz) forts were established. In 1846 the Great Kirghiz Horde
acknowledged its subjection to Russia on the farther side of the
Balkash, while at the same time a fort was constructed on the lower
Yaxartes.
In 1847 the encroachments of Russia in Central Asia had brought her
upon the borders of the important khanates of Khiva and Khokand,
and, like some huge boa-constrictor, she prepared to swallow them.
In 1852 the inevitable military expedition was followed by the
customary permanent post. Another row of forts was planted on the
Lower Yaxartes, and in 1854 far to the eastward, in the midst of the
Great Horde, was built Fort Vernoye--the foundation of a new line,
more or less contiguous to natural boundaries (mountains and
rivers), but not a close line. Between Perovsky and Vernoye there
were upwards of four hundred and fifty miles of desert open to the
incursions of brigands, and between the Aral and Caspian seas there
was a gap, two hundred miles in width, favorable for raids into the
Orenburg Steppe from the side of Khiva. Finally, under the pretext
of closing this gap, a general convergent movement of the Siberian
and Orenburg forces commenced, culminating under General Tchernayeff
in the capture of Aulieata and Chemkent in 1864, and of Tashkent in
1865.
Here, M. Veniukoff says: "The Government intended to halt in its
conquests, and, limiting itself to forming a closed line on the
south of the Kirghiz steppes, left it to the sedentary inhabitants
of Tashkent to form a separate khanate from the Khokand so hostile
to us." And this historian tells us that the Tashkendees declined
the honor of becoming the Czar's policemen in this way, evidently
foreseeing the end, and, to cut the matter short, chose the Russian
general, Tchernayeff, as their Khan. The few Central Asian rulers
whose necks had so far escaped the Muscovite heel, made an
ineffectual resistance, and in 1866 Hodjeni and Jizakh were duly
"annexed," thus separating Bokhara and Khokand.
Here we may glance at the method by which Russia took firmer root on
the shores of the Caspian, and established a commercial link with
the Khivan region. In 1869 a military post and seaport was planted
at Krasnovodsk, on that point of the east shore of the Caspian,
which presents the greatest facilities for shipping, and as a base
of operations against the Turcomans, who were at that time very
troublesome. Several military expeditions set out from this point,
and every year detachments of troops were despatched to keep the
roads open toward Khiva, the Kepet Dagh, or the banks of the Attrek.
Within five years (1870-'75) the nomads living within the routes
named had become "good Turcomans," carried the Czar's mails to
Khiva, and furnished the Krasnovodsk-Khivan caravans with camels and
drivers. But the colonization scheme on the lower Caspian had once
more brought the Russians to the Persian boundary. In 1869 the Shah
had been rather officiously assured that Russia would not think of
going below the line of the Attrek; yet, as Colonel Veniukoff shows,
she now regrets having committed herself, and urges "geographical
ignorance" of the locality when the assurance was given, and the
fact that part of her restless subjects, on the Attrek, pass eight
months of the year in Russian territory and four in "so-called"
Persia; it is therefore not difficult to imagine the probable change
on the map of that quarter.
The march continued toward Khiva, and after the usual
iron-hand-in-velvet-glove introduction, General Kaufmann in 1873
pounced upon that important khanate, and thus added another to the
jewels of the Empire. Nominally, Khiva is independent, but nevertheless
collects and pays to Russia a considerable contribution annually.
In 1868 Russia seized Samarcand, and established over the khanate of
Bokhara a similar supervision to that in Khiva. As the distinguished
Russian already quoted remarks: "The programme of the political
existence of Bokhara as a separate sovereignty was accorded to her
by us in the shape of two treaties, in 1868 and 1873, which defined
her subordinate relation to Russia. But no one looks at these acts
as the treaties of an equal with an equal. They are instructions in
a polite form, or programmes given by the civilized conqueror to the
conquered barbarians, and the execution of which is guaranteed by
the immediate presence of a military force."
The district of Khokand, whose ruler, Khudoyar Khan, submitted
himself to Russia in 1867, was for a number of years nominally
independent, but becoming disturbed by domestic dissensions, was
ultimately annexed under the name of the Fergana Province.
To this point we have followed Colonel Veniukoff's account of the
Russian advance. It will doubtless interest the reader to continue
the narrative from an English view, exceptionally accurate and
dispassionate in its nature.
In a lecture before the Royal United Service Institution in London,
May 16, 1884, Lieut.-General Sir Edward Hamley, of the British Army,
discussed the Central Asian question before an audience comprising
such Indian experts as Sir Henry Rawlinson, Lord Napier of Magdala,
and Mr. Charles Marvin, and many distinguished officers, including
Lord Chelmsford, Sir F. Haines, and Colonel Malleson. Among other
things, General Hamley said:
"Probably England has never been quite free, during the present
century, from some degree of anxiety caused by the steady, gradual
approaches of Russia through Central Asia toward India. It was seen
that where her foot was planted it never went back. It was seen that
with forces comparatively small she never failed to effect any
conquest she was bent on, and that the conquest, once effected, was
final. This security in possession was owing in great measure to the
fact that the governments she displaced were bad governments, and
that she substituted one far better in itself and of a simplicity
which was well adapted to the people with whom she was dealing. She
aimed mainly at three things--the establishment of order and of
confidence and the obtaining of some return for her own heavy
expenses. From the establishment of order and of confidence sprang a
prosperity which enabled her to obtain a certain revenue, though
entirely inadequate to her expenditure. Thus we beheld her pressing
solidly on, and we knew not where she might stop. Pretexts, such as
it was difficult to find a flaw in, were never wanting on which to
ground a fresh absorption of territory. And seeing behind this
advance a vast country--almost a continent--which was not merely a
great Asiatic Power, but a great European State, under autocratic,
irresponsible rule, with interests touching ours at many points, it
is not to be wondered at that we watched with anxiety her progress
as she bore steadily down toward our Indian frontier."
General Hamley says that England became particularly suspicious of
Russia in 1867 when she absorbed Turkestan, and this feeling was
intensified in 1878, while the Treaty of Berlin was still pending.
General Kaufmann assembled a small army of about 12,000 men and
thirty-two guns on the frontier of Bokhara, and although upon the
signing of the treaty all threatening movements ceased, yet the
British commander then operating in Afghanistan knew that Kaufmann
had proposed to march in the direction of Kabul, and menace the
British frontier.
It has ever been the practice of Russia, in her schemes of
aggrandizement, to combine her diplomatic with her military
machinery; but, unlike other nations, the ambassador has generally
been subordinate to the general.
At the time that General Kaufmann sheathed his sword under the
influence of the Treaty of Berlin, in 1878, there remained another
representative of Russia--General Stolietoff--who had been quietly
negotiating with the Ameer of Afghanistan, Shere Ali, the terms of a
"Russian treaty," whose characteristics have already been described.
Hearing of this, the English Ambassador at St. Petersburg questioned
the Russian Minister, who answered him "that no mission had been,
nor was intended to be, sent to Kabul, either by the Imperial
Government or by General Kaufmann." This denial was given on July
3d, the day after Stolietoff and his mission had started from
Samarcand. After the envoy's arrival at Kabul, another remonstrance
met with the reply that the mission was "of a professional nature
and one of simple courtesy," and was not, therefore, inconsistent
with the pacific assurances already given. The real nature of this
mission became known from papers found by General Roberts at Kabul
in 1879. These showed that Shere Ali had been invited to form a
close alliance with the Russian Government. General Kaufmann had
advised Shere Ali to try and stir up disaffection among the Queen's
Indian subjects, promising to aid him, eventually, with troops.
Finding that this scheme was impracticable at the moment, Russia
dropped the Ameer, who fled from the scene of his misfortunes, and
died soon after.
For the moment England breathed more freely. There were still great
natural obstacles between the empires of Russia and of India. Not
only the friendly state of Afghanistan, but on its northwestern
border the neutral territory of Merv, hitherto an independent
province, and inhabited by warlike tribes of Turcomans difficult to
reach through their deserts and likely to harass a Russian advance
to Herat to an embarrassing extent. It was seen that the possession
of this territory would at once free Russia from much difficulty in
case of an advance and give her the means of threatening Herat as
well as Kabul from her base in Turkestan, and even to some extent to
carry forward that base beyond the Oxus.
On the part of Russia, the success of General Skobeleff in capturing
the fortified position of Geok Tepe, January 24, 1880, marked the
beginning of negotiations with the Turcomans for the acquisition of
Merv. For a long while these were unsuccessful, but early in 1884 it
was cabled to London, that "The Queen of the World" had accepted the
White Czar as her future liege lord.
The immediate cause of this event was the effect produced upon the
minds of the Turcoman deputation to Moscow by the spectacle of the
Czar's coronation. The impression created by the gorgeous ceremonial
was heightened by the presence of so many Asiatic chiefs and
kinglets at the ancient and historic capital of Russia. The tales
they brought back were well calculated to influence the minds of a
wild and primitive people; and when the Khan of Khiva proffered his
services for the settlement of their relations with Russia, that
section of the Tekke tribe in favor of peace accepted them. The
chiefs tendered their formal submission to the Czar, and promised to
allow Russian merchants to reside among them, and pledged themselves
to maintain the security of the routes from the Oxus to the Tejend;
also accepting the responsibilities of Russian subjects by rendering
tribute either in money or by military service. To all intents and
purposes it is equivalent to the establishment of a Russian garrison
in Merv.
The thorough way in which Russia seeks to bind her Asiatic subjects
is shown in the fact that in 1884, at the request of the Khan of
Khiva, a Russian tutor was selected to instruct his children.
Soon after it was reported that the Russians had established
themselves at Sarakhs on the direct road to Herat and just over the
Persian boundary of Afghanistan. These later movements again aroused
the distrust of England, and a joint commission of Russian and
English officials was appointed early in the year 1885.
While the English members of the commission under Sir Peter Lumsden
were awaiting the convenience of their foreign colleagues, the
presence of Russian troops was reported on the disputed territory in
the vicinity of Herat.
This action alarmed the Afghans, and a collision seemed imminent.
The English Government considered M. de Giers' explanation of this
encroachment unsatisfactory. Pending an adjustment of the new
complication both nations prepared for the worst.
Here we will leave the subject of the Russian advance through the
Gates of Asia and pass to the consideration of the present neutral
ground of Afghanistan.
[Illustration: OUTLINE MAP Showing RUSSIAN-CAUCASIAN and
TRANS-CASPIAN Territory, and NEW ODESSA-HERAT ROUTE.]
II.
ON THE THRESHOLD OF INDIA.
From the Amu Daria and the Turcoman steppes to the deserts of
Beloochistan, from Persian Khorassan to the valley of the Indus,
stretches the country of the Afghans. Men of renown and events of
world-wide interest have been connected with its history. Its
records tell of the murder of Cavagnari in recent times; of the
tragedy of Elphinstone's command (1838-42); of Shah Nadir, the
butcher of Delhi (1738-39); of Baber Khan, the founder of Mongolian
rule in India (1520); of Timur, the assailer of the world (1398); of
Genghiz Khan, the annihilator of the civilization of ancient Asia
(1218-24); of the great ruler, Sultan Mahmoud (A. D. 1000); and yet
earlier, of Alexander, "the divinely favored Macedonian." Afghan
history dies away, in the hymns of the Indian Vedas, eighteen
hundred years before the birth of Christ.
The territory of Afghanistan--which is destined to be the arena of a
great international duel--covers an area of 12,000 square miles, or
a tract measuring from north to south 688 miles, and from east to
west 736 miles. It is a mountainous country; a high plateau, 6,000
feet above the sea, overlooked by lofty mountain ranges which open
out and sink toward the west and south. On the north it is bordered
by the western ranges of the Himalayas, which reach to the Amu
Daria; by the wall-like range of the Hindu Kush, some of whose peaks
are 19,000 feet high; and by several smaller ridges. Between the
Kabul and Kuram rivers rises the snow-capped Sufeid Koh, the
principal peak of which, to the south of Jelalabad, attains an
altitude of 15,000 feet. To the south of this, in Southern
Afghanistan, the Suleiman range, of an average height of 9,000 feet,
falls rapidly toward the valley of the Indus. Between the Hindu Kush
and the Suleiman ranges there are several lesser ones stretching
toward the southwest, including the Auran Mountains (7,000 feet).
Of the principal rivers noted here (the Helmund, Har-i-Rud, Kabul,
Kuram, and the Gomal) the Helmund alone is navigable. The Helmund
terminates in the swamps of Seistan, as also do the Kash, Farrah,
and Herat rivers, running parallel to the Helmund across the
Kandahar-Herat roads, at 80, 150, and 200 miles, respectively, to
the west of it. These rivers are without bridges, but (with the
exception of the Helmund--provided with ferry at Girishk) are
fordable, save in the months of April and May. The country is
otherwise open and easily traversable, but only on the main routes
can water be readily obtained, and forage is scarce in the winter.
The Turnuk valley, running northeast from Kandahar, is followed by
the great route to Ghazni and Kabul skirting the Guikok range--separated
from the Hazaristan to its west by the parallel valley of
the Argandab. The latter valley is also followed by a route which
enters it from Mooktur, the source of the Turnuk. This debouches
upon the Herat road about ten miles west of Kandahar, and there is
no communication west of it between Herat and Kabul, save by
impracticable mountain routes across the Hazaristan.
Three routes from Kandahar to Herat separate at Girishk on the
Helmund, cross the Kash at different points, and meet at Sabzawar
(280 miles from Kandahar) on the Herat; both of the southernmost
passing by the town of Farrah, which is 230 miles from Kandahar.
From Girishk also a road follows the Helmund to Seistan and Lash
Jowain, where it joins the Herat road at Farrah on the river of that
name, or at Sabzawar on the Herat. The southernmost of the routes to
Farrah also branches from Kash down the river named Kash, joining
the Seistan route at Lash.
The general aspect of Afghanistan is that of a series of elevated
flat-bottomed valleys, in the vicinity of the streams, somewhat
under cultivation. The scenery is often wild and beautiful, and some
of the defiles to the north of the Hindu Kush are said to be of
appalling grandeur, while the soft, still loveliness of the
sheltered glens on the southern slope of that range strongly
impresses the traveller who visits them. Some of the ranges in the
north and northeast are well timbered with pine and oak.
The eastern half of Afghanistan is generally cold and rugged, but
sustains innumerable flocks and herds, and abounds in mineral
wealth, especially lead and sulphur. In the more sheltered valleys
considerable fruit is grown, but only grain enough for the actual
consumption of the inhabitants. Water and fodder abound, but fuel is
deficient; a serious matter, as the cold in the winter is extreme.
The western part of Afghanistan is a more fertile region,
interspersed, it is true, with lofty ranges, but comprising many
pleasant valleys and pastures.
The population is approximately estimated at eight millions.
Afghanistan is a genuine society of different nations, although the
greater part are of Persian descent. The strongholds of the German
self-protecting federations are here produced on a large scale.
Thus the Duranis, Tajiks, Yusafzais, Ghilzais, Eimaks, Hazaris,
Kaffirs, Hindus, Jats, Arabs, Kizilbashis, Uzbeks, Biluchis, are
near neighbors; of these about 3,000,000 may be real Afghans who
profess the Suni faith and speak Indo-Persian Puchtu. There are over
four hundred inferior tribes known. The Duranis are numerically
strongest and live in the vicinity of Kandahar. Next in importance
are the Ghilzais, estimated at 30,000 fighting men living in the
triangle--Kabul, Jelalabad, Khelat-i-Ghilzai; until 1747 they
furnished the rulers of Afghanistan. To the south of the Ghilzais
live the Puchtu-speaking races who chiefly defend only their own
territory; the mountainous eastern border is inhabited by the
Momunds, Afridis, Arakzais, Zymukts, Waziris, who have never been
subdued. Their sense of independence, however, does not prevent them
from selling their friendship for ready money to the highest bidder.
On the watershed of the Helmund and Indus dwell the independent
Pathans and Biluchis. The Persian-speaking Kizilbashis in Kabul,
comprise 3,000,000 of Shiahs, who are not Afghans, many of whose
30,000 fighting men are in the Ameer's regular army. The Tajiks--about
10,000 men--are chiefly in the Kabul and Ghazni districts.
The Hazaris and Eimaks are in the central section of Afghanistan,
known as the Hazaristan, extending east and west from the Koushan
pass over the Hindu-Kush range to Marchat on the Turcoman frontier,
and north and south from Sirpool in Turkestan to Girishk, between
Kandahar and Herat; they are the descendants of the military
settlers left by the Tartar hordes that swept Central Asia under
Genghiz Khan, and still maintain a quasi-independence; they
cordially detest the Afghan Government, but pay an annual tribute in
money to its support. Finally there is a million of foreign
nationalities, including Turks, Persians, Indians, Armenians, and
Kaffirs; the last-named are Hindus, and violent antagonists of the
Mohammedans living around them.
[Illustration: Mahaz Khan (a Tajik), Khan of Pest Bolak.
Jehandad (Lohanir), from Ghazni.]
Thus it is seen that modern Afghanistan comprises three great
districts--Herat in the west, Kabul in the east, and Kandahar in the
centre, with the seat of government at the cities of the same names
respectively. Within each district are, as already described, a
large number of tribes occupying sub-districts, closely connected
like the cells of a honey-comb, but each with its destinctive
manners and customs and irregular military forces, in no instance
numbering less than 6,000 men, and often twice that number, divided
about equally into horse and foot. Many of these render military
service to the Ameer, many are bandits in the worst sense. The
nomadic tribes--like the Eimaks peopling the Heratic region--live
principally in tents, encamping in winter in the valleys, and in
summer on the table-lands of the mountain ranges. They are ignorant,
hospitable, and brave and ardent hunters. Their principal trade is
with Herat, and consists of woollen and camel-hair fabrics and
clarified butter.
[Illustration: Wullie Mohammed, a Dahzungi Hazara.
Pozai Khan, a Shinwarri (Musician).]
The farming population all live in small hamlets. The better classes
of these live in villages surrounding or joined to the castle of a
Khan. These castles are encompassed by a rude wall, having
frequently turrets at the corners, and occasionally armed with
swivel-guns or wall-pieces. The principal gardens are always on the
outside of the castle, and the herds of horses and camels belonging
to the Khan are kept at distant pastures and attended by herders,
who live in tents. In the Bori and Ghazgar valleys the houses are of
wood. In the Ghazgar valley they are all fortified, as already
described; the doors are generally mere man-holes, and the top of
the towers are loopholes. The better class, and more modern of
these, have flat roofs, from which the water is carried by spouts;
the walls surrounding are at least twelve feet high, and cover
nearly an acre of ground. Three or four such houses usually
constitute a village. These semi-barbarians are noted for the length
and ferocity of their feuds. Sometimes two branches of a family who
are neighbors become enemies. The distance between their "fortlets"
may be two hundred yards, and on that space no one ventures. They go
out at opposite gates and walk straight from their own fort in a
line protected by its walls from the fire of the other, until out of
range, then they turn around to their fields. Broadfoot relates that
"once in Zurmat I saw a fort shut by rolling a stone against the
door, instead of with the usual heavy chain. On inquiring as to the
cause of such carelessness, the Malik, a fine old man with a plump,
good-humored face, stretched his arms out toward the line of distant
forts, and said: 'I have not an enemy!' It was a pleasing exception
to the rule."
[Illustration: Khan Baz, a Khumbhur Khel Afreedi.
Tooro Baz, a Kookie Khel Afreedi.]
These feuds are a system of petty warfare, carried on by long shots,
stealing cattle, and burning crops. Samson, burning his neighbor's
corn, acted just like an Afghan. When the harvest is nearly ripe,
neither party dare sleep. The remedy is sometimes for both to fight
until an equal number are killed on each side, when the neighbors
step in and effect a reconciliation; another method is to pay
forfeit of a feast and some sheep or cloth; in exceptional cases, a
few Afghan virgins are substituted for the sheep, but they are given
in marriage, and are well treated.
Our space does not permit an extended reference to the manners and
customs of this primitive people but a few characteristics may be
briefly noted. The love of war is felt much more among Afghans than
by other Eastern peoples, although but little effort has been made
by them to augment the means of resistance and aggression. Pillage,
fighting, and disturbances are at times necessary to their very
existence, and are followed by long days of idleness, during which
they live on the fruits of their depredations. There is no shade of
difference between the character of the nomad and the citizen; a
town life does not soften their habits; they live there as they live
in a tent, armed to the teeth and ready for the onslaught. Though
full of duplicity, one is nevertheless liable to be taken in by
their apparent frankness. They are hospitable to strangers, but only
because this is an ancient custom which has the force of law and is
not a virtue which springs from the heart. The pride of the Afghans
is a marked feature of their national character. They boast of their
descent, their prowess in arms, their independence; and cap all by
"Am I not a Puktan?"
The Afghan people, occupied with the defence of their homes, have
failed to assist the Ameer in the formation and maintenance of that
indispensable instrument--an organized, well-equipped, easily
mobilized army. In regular battle the Afghans can have but little
hope of success; their strength lies in the petty warfare peculiar
to a wild, mountainous country. As auxiliaries, as partisan troops
in their own country, they would be of great value to their allies
and extremely troublesome to their enemies. For outpost, courier,
and scouting purposes, they would doubtless be most efficient. The
strength of the organized army in the service of the Ameer of
Afghanistan is about 50,000 men of all arms. The traveller Vambery,
who visited Herat in 1863, says:
"The Afghan's national costume consists of a long shirt, drawers,
and dirty linen clothes; or, if he is a soldier, he affects a
British red coat. He throws it over his shirt, while he gets on his
head the picturesque Indo-Afghan turban. Others again--and these are
the _beau-monde_--are wont to assume a half-Persian costume. Weapons
are borne by all. Rarely does any one, whether civil or military,
enter the bazar without his sword and shield. To be quite _a la
mode_ one must carry about one quite an arsenal, consisting of two
pistols, a sword, poniard, hand-jar, gun, and shield." M. Vambery
also describes a drill of some Afghan regulars.
"The men had a very military bearing, far better than the Ottoman
army that was so drilled forty years ago. These might have been
mistaken for European troops if most of them had not had on their
bare feet the pointed Kabuli shoe, and had not had their short
trowsers so tightly stretched by their straps that they threatened
every moment to burst and fly up above the knee."
The adventurous O'Donovan thus describes an Afghan cavalryman whom
he met unexpectedly, near Herat, in 1880: "He wore a dark-colored
turban, one end of the cloth pulled up in front so as to resemble a
small cockade. His uniform was blue-black, and he wore long boots. A
broad black leather cross-belt, with two very large brass buckles,
crossed his breast. He had sabre, pistols, and carbine."
[Illustration: Zool Kuddar, an Adam Khel Afreedi.
Mousa, a Kizilbash, Born in Peshawur.]
The actual fighting strength of the army of Afghanistan cannot be
definitely stated. Major Lumsden, who has represented the British
Government in that country in various diplomatic capacities, stated
(some years since) that the regular army of the Ameer consisted of
sixteen regiments of infantry, three of cavalry, and seventy-six
field guns. The infantry regiments numbered about 800 men each; the
men were obtained by compulsory levy. Their uniform consisted of
English cast-off clothes purchased at auction. The pay, about five
rupees per mensem, was paid irregularly and often in kind; two
months' pay was deducted for clothing. The cavalry and artillery
were badly horsed; and the horses were sent to graze in summer. A
Russian report of 1868 estimates the infantry at 10,000 men. The
armament, equipment, and instruction of the troops have doubtless
improved since that time, as ten years later the British Government
supplied the Afghan Government with 10,000 Enfield and 5,000 Snider
rifles and one field battery, and very recently (1885) it was
announced that a present of Martini-Henry rifles and improved field
guns had been sent to Abdurrahman by the Indian authorities.
Besides the regular army there is a paid irregular mounted force of
about 20,000 men, active and formidable in "hill operations," and
known as Jezailchis.
The late General Colin Mackenzie, in an account of his experiences
in the Elphinstone disaster of 1842, says:
"The Jezailchis are so called from their jezails or long rifles. The
Afghans are said to be among the best marksmen in the world. They
are accustomed to arms from early boyhood, live in a chronic state
of warfare with their neighbors, and are most skilful in taking
advantage of cover. An Afghan will throw himself flat, behind a
stone barely big enough to cover his head, and scoop a hollow in the
ground with his left elbow as he loads. Men like these only require
training to make first-rate irregular troops.
"As a trait of Afghan character, I must mention that whenever the
Jezailchis could snatch five minutes to refresh themselves with a
pipe, one of them would twang a sort of a rude guitar as an
accompaniment to some martial song, which, mingling with the notes
of war, sounded very strangely."
The Russian General Staff have also estimated the Ameer's force,
exclusive of the irregulars, at 66,400 men with 30 guns.
The efficiency of this body, by reason of their peculiar
surroundings, must vary with the character of the operations. For
defence--particularly of their own section--they form an important
consideration; for aggressive purposes their strength lies in
partisan operations, in small detachments, requiring great mobility.
Just as it is difficult to understand the rapidity with which
large numbers are assembled in Afghanistan for fighting purposes,
so the dispersing of an Afghan army together with its attendant
masses of tribal levies in flight is almost beyond comprehension;
men who have been actually engaged in hand-to-hand combat dispose of
their arms in the villages they pass through, and meet their
pursuers with melons or other fruit in their hands, While they adopt
the _role_ of peaceful inhabitants.
A brief description of some of the more noted cities of Afghanistan
may be appropriate here.
Sir Henry Rawlinson gives the following details respecting the
so-called Key of India--the city of Herat:
"That which distinguishes Herat from all other Oriental cities, and
at the same time constitutes its main defence, is the stupendous
character of the earthwork upon which the city wall is built. This
earthwork averages 250 feet in width at the base and about 50 feet
in height, and as it is crowned by a wall 25 feet high and 14 feet
thick at the base, supported by about 150 semicircular towers, and
is further protected by a ditch 45 feet in width and 16 feet in
depth, it presents an appearance of imposing strength. Whether the
place is really as strong as it looks has been differently
estimated. General Ferrier, who resided for some time in Herat, in
1846, states that the city is nothing more than an immense redoubt,
and gives it as his opinion that, as the line of wall is entirely
without flanking defences, the place could not hold out for twenty
days against a European army; and M. Khanikoff, who, although not a
professional soldier, was a very acute observer, further remarks
that the whole interior of the city is dominated from the rising
ground 700 yards distant and covered with solid buildings at the
northeast angle, while the water supply both for the ditch and the
city would be at the mercy of an enemy holding the outside country;
the wells and reservoirs inside the wall, which could then alone be
available--being quite inadequate to the wants of the inhabitants:
but on the other hand, all experience testifies to the defensibility
of the position.
"Not to speak of the siege which Herat sustained at the hands of
Genghiz Khan, of Timur, and of Ahmed Shah, we have only to remember
that in 1837 the Afghans of Herat, under Major Eldred Pottinger,
beat off the continuous attacks, for nearly ten months, of a Persian
army of 35,000 regular troops supported by fifty pieces of
artillery, and in many cases directed and even commanded by Russian
officers. The truth seems to be that Herat, although in its present
state quite unfit to resist a European army, possesses great
capabilities of defence, and might by a skilful adaptation of the
resources of modern science be made almost impregnable. Major
Saunders, a British engineer officer, calculated in 1840 that, at an
outlay of L60,000, which would include the expenses of deepening the
ditch, clearing the glacis and esplanade, providing flanking
defences, and repairing the walls throughout, Herat might be
rendered secure against any possible renewal of the attack by
Persia."
The location of this city upon the principal thoroughfare between
India, Persia, and Turkestan gives it a special importance in a
military sense. It is also the principal mart of Western
Afghanistan, and comprises extensive manufactures in wool and
leather. The natural fertility of the country near Herat has been
enhanced by irrigation.
"The valley, or _julgah_ (as the Persians say), in which the
city lies is rich in the possession of a river. This valley is about
thirty miles long by sixteen in breadth, exclusive of the ground
taken up by the fortress and the walls. Four of these miles separate
the town from the northern and twelve from the southern hills, while
at one quarter of the greater distance runs the Her-i-Rud or Herat
River, which, rising near the Kuh-i-Baba, pursues a westerly course
till, passing the city, it sweeps, first gradually, then decidedly,
to the north, eventually to lose its identity in the environs of
Sarakhs. It is of political as well as of geographical importance,
for it passes between the Persian and Afghan frontier posts of
Kahriz and Kusun respectively, and may be considered to mark the
Perso-Afghan boundary at the Western Paropismus. The Plain, south of
the walls, is watered by a net-work of eight or nine large and many
minor ditches. The aqueducts are stated to be superior to those of
Bokhara, Samarcand, and Ispahan. The grain produced is abundant--beyond
the requirements of town and suburbs together. The bread, the
water, and the vines have the merit of special excellence. Yet, with
all this wealth of means and material, capable of subsisting an army
of 150,000 men for some time, much of the legacy of past ages is
disregarded and nullified by the supineness of a present generation.
The ruins visible on all sides are not all useless or obsolete
works. As one conclusive instance may be cited the neglected
'Pul-i-Malan.' This bridge, of twenty-three arches, can scarcely be
considered void of purpose or practical benefit. It is, however,
rapidly falling into decay, and as the river has changed its bed,
part of it remains, barren of object, on dry land. On the rising of
the waters this state of things is inconvenient; for the river, at
such time, is no longer fordable, and the Kandahar caravans, going
to and fro, have difficulty in crossing." [Footnote: Sir F. J.
Goldsmid, "Journeys Between Herat and Khiva."]
In 1830 Conolly was of opinion that the city was one of the dirtiest
in the world, being absolutely destitute of drainage; and Vambery,
thirty-three years afterward, when the city was captured by Dost
Mohammed, says the city was largely a heap of rubbish, having
suffered the horrors of a long siege.
The city of Kabul, from which the surrounding territory of Eastern
Afghanistan takes its name, stands in lat. 34 degrees 30' N., and
long. 69 degrees 6' E., near the point where the Kabul River is
crossed by three bridges. Its altitude is 6,400 feet, and, within a
short distance to the north, is overtopped by pinnacles of the Hindu
Kush about 14,000 feet higher.
The winters are severe, but the summers are very temperate--seldom
going above 80 degrees. Kabul is fortified without and within; being
separated into quarters by stone walls: the Bala Hissar, or citadel
proper, being on the east, while the Persian quarter of the city is
strongly protected on the southwest. In the days of Sultan Baber,
Kabul was the capital of the Mogul empire. In modern times, it has
been the scene of many Anglo-Indian struggles. It was taken by the
British in 1839, and lost by them, through treachery, in 1841;
in the following January, 4,000 British soldiers and 12,000
camp-followers were massacred while retreating.
Kandahar, the capital of Central Afghanistan, is about two hundred
miles S. W. of Kabul, and three hundred and seventy-one miles E. of
Herat. It is said to have been founded by Alexander of Macedon. The
city is laid out at right angles, and is watered from the
neighboring rivers through canals, which send to every street an
ample supply. Sir Michael Biddulph describes the surroundings:
"Kandahar stands on the western side of a plain, which was
originally a barren skirt of the mountain. Exactly opposite to the
city, and two miles to the westward, there is a wide break in the
dividing ridge, through which the road to Herat leads, and by which
are conducted the many canals and watercourses, taken from the
Argandab, to supply the town and fertilize its environs. The energy
and skill displayed in these extensive water-works cannot be too
highly extolled. Brought from a point many miles distant in the
Argandab valley, the chief canal, with its offshoots, conducts a
vast body of water, which is dispersed along the contours of the
declining plain in innumerable channels, spreading a rich fertility
for many miles in a fan-like form to the southeast of the gap.
Villages cluster around the city on three sides; cornfields,
orchards, gardens, and vineyards are seen in luxurious succession,
presenting a veritable oasis within the girdle of rugged hills and
desert wastes all around. And if we turn to the aspect of the
country beyond the gap, we see in the Argandab valley, along the
canals and the river banks, a fair and beautiful landscape of
village and cultivated ground, stretching for many miles in each
direction. This productive character of the immediate neighborhood
of Kandahar, and its commanding position within reach of other
fertile districts, would give to this place, under a strong, stable,
and just government, as much prosperity and happiness as falls to
the lot of any place in the world."
[Illustration: City of Kandahar, Afghanistan.]
Jelalabad stands on the Kabul River, about half-way between Kabul
and the Khaiber Pass. It was the scene of the stubborn defence by
Sir Robert Sale in 1842, referred to elsewhere. It has a floating
population of about three thousand souls. Our engraving is taken
from the south and west. The stream in the west is the Kabul River.
The Jati gate in the south wall is the exit from the Hindu quarter.
The Kabul exit is on the west, while the road to Peshawur commences
at the gate of that name on the east wall of the city. The northern
gate is known as the Pheel Khana, or elephant quarter. The walls of
the town and of its houses are of mud, and the roofs generally of
wood. The city is laid out in the form of a parallelogram
intersected by two main streets crossing in the centre.
The town of Ghazni (the ancient Ghizni) is another historical
landmark in a region famous for its evidences of former grandeur. It
stands about 230 miles northeast of Kandahar on the road to Kabul;
it is literally "founded upon a rock" at an elevation of 7,726 feet,
and its base is 280 feet above the adjacent plain. It has walls
thirty-five feet high, and a wet ditch, but is not considered in any
sense formidable by modern engineers, as it is commanded by
neighboring heights; it will always be a rendezvous for the natives,
and forms a station or an important line of communication between
the Indus and the Murghab. In the tenth century it was the seat of
an empire comprising the present territory of Afghanistan, and which
had in the space of seventy years absorbed thirty-eight degrees of
longitude and twenty degrees of latitude. Its decline dates from the
twelfth century, when the seat of government was transferred to
Lahore. From 1839 to 1880 it has been occupied alternately by the
British and the Afghans. The climate is not exceptionally severe,
although in winter the mercury drops to 25 degrees below zero at
times. The population averages about ten thousand.
Peshawur is one of the most important towns, both in a military and
commercial sense, in the _Derajat_. It is the capital of a province
of the same name on the N. W. frontier of India, eighteen miles from
the Khaiber Pass and one hundred and fifty miles S.E. of Kabul. It
has the usual bastioned defences, besides some detached works of
more importance. It was once a rich and populous city, but has, like
many other like places in that region, fallen from its high estate.
It is garrisoned by the British, and can boast of fair trade and a
population of about fifty thousand. It is the centre of a fruitful
district containing more than one million inhabitants.