3f*>f J*2t.?\2tt O, wntowwurfu/ y >f' (Qa/efernta/ / v K / y V ,j/' y //////< va> ///iti r /:j//y 4 SALE IN AFGHANISTAN. [chap. i. clans which occupied the most inaccessible of the highland dis- tricts. Indeed, the Afghans bear, in this respect, a striking resemblance to the Celtic portions of the population both of Scotland and of Ireland, that they are divided into tribes, clans, and septs, which pay little or no obedience, in the internal ma- nagement of their affairs, to any power except that of custom and of their chiefs. To be sure, there is a point in which the spirit of clanship in Afghanistan acts differently, and on principle too, from its manner of operation either in Scotland or in Ireland. In the latter countries the head of the tribe used to demand and obtain the fealty of his clansmen to his person ; in the former this fealty is paid more to the community than to the chief: and hence it comes to pass that there is much more of individual independence of character among the Afghans than seems to have prevailed among the ancestors of the MacNeils or the O'Connors; for though there are instances in the history of the Celtic clans of the setting aside by his people of one chief and the appointment on the same authority of another, the pro- ceeding was not only rare in itself, but seems never to have been resorted to except in the last emergency ; whereas in Afghan- istan the practice is of constant occurrence as often as by the representatives of the principal families the chief is held to be incompetent ; or is found guilty of having transgressed those un- written laws which are understood by all, and by all reverenced and obeyed from one generation to another. The principal tribes among the Afghans are four, which branch off respectively into a countless number of clans. These are the Doorannees, the Ghilzies or Ghiljies, the Khyberrees, and the Belooches, of which the Doorannees have, for the last hundred years, possessed a preponderating political influence, though the Ghilzies are perhaps numerically the stronger, and, as individuals, assert the utmost conceivable share of personal independence. The latter, indeed, are noted, even among the wild tribes of the Caucasus, for their ferocity. Portions of them, which inhabit the regions between Cabul and Jellalabad, have doubtless been reduced, by the weight of the crown, to a certain show of order ; but the clans which dwell in the districts that extend from Candahar to Ghuznee are described as removed by a very slight bar from savageism. Two of these, the Oktaks and the Toh- chap, i.] HABITS OF THE AFGHANS. 5 kees, are said by one who sojourned a good while among them, to be, as regards their male population, " unsurpassed by any other Afghan tribe for commanding stature and strength ;" but it cannot be added that they use these advantages well, for " their manners are brutal/' and the violence of their chiefs, in their intercourse with strangers, is often such " that they can scarcely be considered in the light of human beings." Neither can much be stated in praise of their gentleness, whatever other good quality may be possessed by the Khyberree septs. They rob all merchants, travellers, and strangers whom they can way- lay, and practise perpetual forays on the lands of their neigh- bours ; but they never murder in cold blood. An individual may be slain in the attempt to defend his property ; a whole kaffela or caravan may be cut to pieces ; but such an event as a deli- berate assassination, except for the furtherance of a political end, seems to be unknown among them. Like their Celtic proto- types they are, moreover, hospitable in the extreme, and as ready to give a cloak to one wayfaring man who may need it, as to take a cloak away from another whom they may attack. If you throw yourself upon them in their own homes, you may almost always assure yourself of protection ; but it does not by any means follow that, having escorted you to the extreme limits of their territory, and seen you fairly across the line, they shall not fall upon you the next minute and plunder you of every article of value that you possess. Except in such clans as these, which may be reckoned among the Caucasian Children of the Mist, the Afghans appear to be a sociable and even a romantic people. The intercourse between the sexes is, with them, on a far better footing than with other tribes which profess the faith of Moslem. Indeed, the Afghan's home deserves to be accounted such, for he shares his hours of leisure pleasantly with his wife and children ; and if a guest (not a European) arrive at his dwelling, he leads him, without scruple, into the circle. The consequence is, that the passion of love, as we understand the term, is neither unknown nor un- honoured in Afghanistan. It enters into the subject of almost all the songs and tales which pass current in the country, and exer- cises no trivial influence at times over the transactions of real life. A love passage between the chieftain of one clan and the wife of 6 SALE IN AFGHANISTAN. [chap. i. the chief of another, led to a long and fierce war between the houses, in the course of which, as both clans had numerous allies, much blood was shed. It is a remarkable fact also, that some of the most illustrious warriors and princes of this nation have been as much celebrated for their skill in poetry as in arms. Khutal Khan, the chief of the tribe of the Khuttucks, whose resistance to Arungzebe might stand a comparison with that of Sir William Wallace to Edward the First, was the most popular poet of his day, and struck his lyre with excellent effect as often as it was found necessary to reanimate the spirits of his coun- trymen when depressed by defeat. His songs and odes continue to be in great favour throughout Afghanistan to this day. Few of the Oriental nations have any high regard for truth, or consider that they are bound by promises, however solemnly uttered. The Afghans can hardly be said to form an exception to this rule; yet the best authorities represent them as at least knowing what truth is ; and adhering to it, except when the ad- vancement of some scheme of paramount importance in their own eyes seems to require its violation. In other respects also they differ widely from their neighbours on either hand of them. There is no indolence or effeminacy in their natural dispo- sitions : on the contrary, they are hardy, enduring, patient of fatigue, and, when occupied in any business or employ- ment that interests them, industrious to a remarkable ex- tent. As horsemen they equal the Tartars, or the Indian dwellers upon the Pampas of South America. Slavery prevails among them, but in a very modified and impulsive form. To a man they are fond of money : nevertheless they do not hesitate to scatter it freely round them, provided they have reason to expect that, by so doing, they will secure the accomplishment of some important or mnch-desired end. They are proud, and jealous of neglect by their superiors. A clansman will attend cheerfully in the hall of his chief, as the chief waits upon the sovereign, from day to day ; and so long as the superior con- tinues to treat the inferior with courtesy, it is well. But let this be interrupted, even so far as that the salutation of the latter is not returned, and, without making a display of his mortifica- tion, the inferior forthwith absents himself. In a word, the Afghans, like other portions of the great human family, have chap, i.] OCCUPATIONS OF THE PEOPLE. 7 their virtues as well as their vices, both modified, if not pro- duced, by the point in civilization to which they have attained. Their vices are revenge, cruelty, avarice, rapacity, jealousy, and a paltering on great occasions with good faith. Their virtues, love of liberty, fidelity to friends, kindness to depen- dants, hospitality, bravery, hardihood, frugality, patience of labour, and prudence. The mass of the people who inhabit the towns do not belong to either of the four great Afghan tribes. They are the de- scendants of the various races which have at different times broken in upon Afghanistan and established there a temporary supre- macy, and who are now, and for some generations past have been, reduced to a state of vassalage. Indeed, it is in Afghan- istan somewhat as it used to be in England ere the Norman and Saxon races amalgamated, that the feebler, though more nume- rous portion of the community, carry on its ordinary business and practise trades, while they who exercise dominion over the land dwell apart chiefly in their country-houses. The court is indeed Afghan ; so is the army ; and the Afghan courtiers and commanders of troops occupy mansions in the capital as long as attendance on the sovereign is required. But the shop- keepers and tradesmen in Cabul are almost all Taujeeks, while banking is conducted exclusively by Hindoos. It is not, how- ever, meant that among merchants on a large scale Afghans are never to be found. Commerce they do not consider as degrading : it is trade alone which they despise ; though, generally speaking, the chiefs seek employment about the court, from which they withdraw at stated seasons to their castles, that they may super- intend the gathering in of their harvests and indulge in the pleasures of the chase, to which they are much addicted. Of the Afghan tribes some are agricultural, others pastoral. The agricultural clans possess settled habitations ; the pastoral hordes dwell in tents ; which they remove from place to place as the desire of obtaining better forage for their flocks and herds may prompt. Five distinct orders of persons find employment and a subsistance in agriculture. These are, first, such owners of the soil as cultivate their own lands, employing for that pur- pose hired labourers ; next, tenants who occupy farms at a fixed rent, either in money or in kind ; thirdly, middle-men, or land- 8 SALE IN AFGHANISTAN. [chap. i. stewards, who, applying a stipulated portion of the produce to their own use, manage the whole estate for the owner. Fourthly, there are hired labourers freemen who, for nine months in the year, engage to serve either a tenant or a land- owner, and are remunerated, sometimes by a mixed payment of money, food, and clothing ; sometimes by money-wages alone. If the latter arrangement be effected, the labourer receives for his term of service about thirty rupees : if the former, his re- ceipts fluctuate between two maunds and a half of grain with one rupee, and ten maunds with two rupees. Lastly, there are serfs (adscripti glcebce) which go with the land, however fre- quently it may change its owners. Labourers are hired in the towns by the day, and receive for their day's work from fourpence half-penny to sevenpence of our money, enormous wages in a country where from five to ten pounds of the best wheaten flour are sold for twopence ; for wheaten bread constitutes in Afghanistan the ordinary food of the people, though rice, and occasionally Indian corn, is con- sumed ; while the horses are fed with barley, the cattle during the winter with turnips, and both cattle and horses, when the occasion requires, with carrots. From what root the Afghans are sprung it is not an easy matter to determine. The Taujeeks, of whom mention has just been made, are of a mixed Arab and Persian descent, being the children of the hordes which first introduced Mohammedanism into the country, and, driving the aborigines to the hills, kept almost exclusive possession of the plains during three cen- turies : but the origin of each of the four great tribes is lost in obscurity. They themselves have a tradition that they are the descendants of the ten tribes whom Slialmanezer carried away captive after the destruction of Samaria ; and the account which they give of that catastrophe is both curious and striking. Indeed, they go further than this ; for they claim kindred with a royal stock, asserting that they are sprung from Ismia or Reskia, one of the sons of Saul. Unfortunately, however, for this tra- dition, the name of Reskia or Ismia, as a son of Saul, does not occur in the Bible ; and in other respects their genealogies savour very much of the fabulous. Besides, their language bears no very close affinity either to the Hebrew or the ancient Chaldee. chap, i.] PECULIARITIES IN DOMESTIC MANNERS. 9 Out of two hundred and eight words, which Mr. Elphinstone took the trouble to compare with Persian, Zend, Pehlevee, Sanscrit, Hindostanee, Arabic, Armenian, Georgian, Hebrew, and Chaldee, one hundred and ten were found to be radically different from all. The rest could be traced back to one or other of the six former dialects ; whereas with the four latter they proved to have no connexion. The Afghan seems there- fore to be anl original language, in the strictest sense of the term ; and is stated by those who are acquainted with it to be rough, but expressive and manly. The people themselves call it Pushtoo, though the character of which they make use is the Persian. A curious theory is entertained respecting this matter by one whose judgment it is right to treat with respect. Mr. Masson considers the Pushtoo to be a version of the Pali, that ancient language of which traces are to be found well nigh all over the world ; which was spoken by the Phoenicians, the people of Carthage, of Tyre, and even of Italy ; and which the Hyksos, or shepherd- kings, brought with them from the East into Egypt ; and continued as the Philistines to make use of down to the days of the descendants of David, and long afterwards. The best authorities agree in describing the Afghans, espe- cially in their towns, as a sociable and lively people. They delight in evening parties, where their principal amusement is story-telling. They have their concerts likewise, and nautches, of which the latter are said to be in a great measure free from the indelicate movements which characterise those of Hindostan. They are great people for pleasure parties into the country, and play marbles up to grey hairs with extreme relish. Their more athletic sports are firing at marks, hawking, riding down par- tridges, and battue-shooting ; and they are much excited by wit- nessing the combats of quails, cocks, dogs, rams, and even camels. There are other peculiarities in the domestic manners of the Afghans which deserve to be especially noticed. To the nature of the chiefship in each of the principal tribes allusion has already been made ; as, for example, that the office is here- ditary, and that the power, though controlled by recognised and established usages, is very considerable. This hereditary right, however, implies no more than that the chief, or Khan, for the 10 SALE IN AFGHANISTAN. [chap. i. time being, shall derive his descent from one of the leading families of the sept ; for it is the king who confers the dignity ; and though an abandonment of this principle is sure to give offence, and sometimes leads to civil war, there are many in- stances on record of a stranger being placed over the whole community, though seldom to a good purpose. At the same time the chief, after he is nominated and has been accepted by the tribe, can in himself perform no act of sovereignty, but must consult with his Jeerga ; that is, a council of elders, consist- ing of the heads of the principal families in the tribe. To be sure, if a sudden emergency occur, or some matter of trivial moment demand a settlemenf, the khan or chief is permitted to act alone ; but an attempt to render himself independent of the Jeerga, where time and opportunity of calling it together might be afforded, would inevitably lead to mischief, and end either in the deposition of the khan, or the severance from the tribe of such septs as might feel that they were strong enough to set up for themselv Feuds and quarrels of long standing appear to exist among the tribes of Central Asia to as great an extent as they formerly prevailed in the Highlands of Scotland. To this, indeed, the universal recognition of the lex t(tlio?iis leads; for where indi- viduals assert the right to avenge their own wrongs, and vindicate their own honour, there can be no escape from the ascendancy of the fiercer passions, which are never assuaged in a day. Moreover, he who touches the honour or attacks the rights of any one member of a clan, touches the honour or attacks the rights of all ; and a family war once begun, continues to be waged often throughout three or more generations. Then follow forays and wasting of lands with fire and sword, which there is no power in the supreme government to suppress ; for, in point of fact, thajsupreme government is never appealed to except in the last extremity. The law of Afghanistan is, in theory, the same with that of Mohammedan countries in general that of the Khoran. In practice the people manage their affairs and adjust the differences according to Pushtoonwullie, or immemorial usage. This it is which adjudges an eye to be given for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth ; and enables the party wronged to avenge himself on a chap, i.] A PARALLEL. 11 relative, if circumstances prevent him from reaching the ag- gressor in person. Hence revenge becomes, among the Afghans, a point of honour which no man may waive except with disgrace, though he may nurse and hide the sentiment for many years, till a fit opportunity of making a display of it occur. At the same time it is fair to add, that if quarrels arise within a clan, the clan uses every endeavour to adjust them without bloodshed. Sometimes the chief is privileged to interfere, though only as a mediator or adviser. Sometimes the council of elders takes the matter up, and compels a reconciliation, on pain of expulsion : or, lastly, the khan, or head of the tribe, may be appealed to ; when he not only forces the offending party to make restitution, but levies upon him a fine for the benefit of the state. In all these respects, the parallel between the state of society in Central Asia, and among the Celtic nations of Europe five centuries ago, is very striking. There are other points in which the Afghans appear to resemble the Germans, as Tacitus has described them. An Afghan tribe never refuses the rights of hospitality to a suppliant. He who flies from his clan, even if stained with blood, is sheltered or protected by the sept, on whose mercy he throws himself, war itself being preferred to the disgrace of rendering up a client. Again, when any great public event is at issue if the honour or interests of the nation seem to be in danger if foreign war be meditated, or the means of defence against invasion from abroad demand attention, the khans, or heads of tribes, assemble, and deliberate in public council on the measures which it may be most expedient to pursue. Having determined upon these, they assign to the shah, or king, authority to carry them into execution ; and obey, or are expected to obey, his bequests implicitly as long as the danger lasts. But the occasion ended, things return to their former course, for the monarchy has little or nothing of the temper of an autocracy about it. Indeed that kingdom is a mere amalgamation of many independent republics ; the king, the mere head of this confederation, whose influence is felt in the capital and in other great towns where he may chance to have governors, but who exercises little or no authority over the dwellers in the glens and among mountains. The service which 12 SALE IN AFGHANISTAN. [chap. i. his chiefs render to him is merely feudal. He may arrange for tribute instead of soldiers, and impose taxes on the traders and merchants who dwell around the palace ; but this tribute he seldom gets in, except with the strong hand, and neither in the amount nor manner of collecting his taxes does he seem to be guided by any fixed rule. Finally, a king of Cabul is not only such, but he is khan or chief of the most warlike and powerful of the Afghan tribes. And in this particular also, his position bears a remarkable re- semblance to that of the kings of Scotland, while as yet the royal house of Stuart occupied the throne in the northern division of Great Britain. chap, ii.] EARLY HISTORY. 13 CHAPTER II. Outline of Afghan History. There was a time, some centuries ago, when the Doorannee empire, in respect to its power and extent, held a high place among the nations of the earth. The Afghans have repeatedly given sovereigns both to Persia and to Hindostan ; and with both countries their wars, aggressive and defensive, have been endless. It was among them, also, as numerous coins and other relics attest, that the Macedonian colonies of Alexandria ad Caucasum, of Arigaeum, and Bazera were established ; indeed, there is a tribe inhabiting the mountain districts north of Lugh- man and Khonar, whose complexion, hair, features, and general appearance seem to vouch for the descent which they claim from the wreck of Alexander's army. But Afghanistan could not, any more than the countries that border upon it, sustain the attacks of the enthusiastic propagators of the faith of Moham- med, and yielded, for a while, reluctant obedience to the rule of the Caliphs. Other revolutions followed. As their conquerors sank into effeminacy and indolence the mountaineers recovered their courage, and, headed by kings of the Ghilzie tribe, not only threw off the Persian yoke, but became lords of Persia itself. Then arose Nadir Shah, before whose strong right hand all opposition went down. The Persian crown was wrested from its Afghan wearer ; the Persian arms were once more dominant in Afghanistan ; and Delhi itself felt the weight of a sceptre which was wielded to crush rather than to protect. Nevertheless, among these hardy mountaineers the spirit of in- dependence was not extinguished. They found a new leader in Ahmed Khan, a principal man in the Suddozye family, one of the most powerful of the clans into which the tribe of Abdallees, otherwise Doorannees, was divided ; and by him they were con- ducted through a series of great exploits and marvellous successes, not only to independence, but to a wide extension of their empire. Ahmed Shah was a prudent politician as well as a great and 14 SALE IN AFGHANISTAN. [chap. ii. successful warrior. He innovated in no alarming degree upon the usages of his country ; yet attached to himself and to his government the nobles and heads of houses, by finding for them constant employment and much gain in military operations. His object was rather to extend than to consolidate the empire ; and he attained it. The whole of the Punjaub and of Sinde were tributary to him. Twice he marched to Delhi, and four times to different points within the Indian empire. In the west he carried his arms as far as Neshapoor and Astrabad. It was he who changed the style of his tribe from Abdallee to Door- annee, having himself assumed, at his coronation, the title of Dooree Dooran ; that is, the pearl of the age. He died, worn out by constant exertion of body and mind, in the fiftieth year of his age ; and left the monarchy which he had founded to his eldest son, Timour. Timour Shah possessed no portion of the enterprise, and very little of the talent and vigour of mind, which distinguished his father. He wished to reign in sloth, preferring the pomp to the reality of kingship, and for twenty years kept his seat without the actual loss of any of the provinces. But in his day the seed was sown which advanced to rapid maturity under his successors ; for the children of Timour were numerous, and fought for the succession, and amid the confusion incident to these civil wars the sovereignty passed from the whole of them. Five, out of the many sons of Timour, played conspicuous parts in this ruinous game : namely, Humayoon, the eldest by one wife ; Shah Zemaun and Shah Shujah, by another ; Shah Mahmoud and Prince Ferooz Oodeen, by a third. Of these, Shah Zemaun the succession not having been fixed, proclaimed himself king on his father's decease in 1793 ; and through the influence of Poynder Khan, otherwise Serafrauz Khan, chief of the powerful Doorannee tribe of Baurickzye, and with the help of other lords, he secured the city of Cabul. He forthwith sent an army against Candahar, of which his brother Humayoon was in possession ; and of which the inhabitants seemed disposed, at first, to support the elder branch. But Humayoon did not possess the vigour of character which belonged to Shah Zemaun. His troops fought badly : he was defeated, and became a fugi- tive ; and before the end of the year fell into his brother's hands, and was blinded. chap, ii.] REIGN OF ZEMAUN SHAH. 15 While these struggles went on, Mahmoud, who had acknow- ledged Zemaun's authority, was permitted to retain his position as Hakim, or governor, at Herat. Prince Ferooz Oodeen also was with him, and seemed disposed, at first, to remain quiet ; but by and bye some differences between them arose, whereupon the prince made a pilgrimage to Me'cca, and on his return fixed his residence at Iram. Of him history henceforth makes mention as Hadjee Ferooz. Shah Zemaun was popular, and might have kept the empire, and transmitted it to his descendants, had he given himself to the task of consolidating its looser parts ; but this wise policy he neglected, and, entrusting the management of affairs at home to a vizeer who abused his confidence, he wasted his resources in constant, though fruitless invasions of India. His absence called into activity the ambition of his brother Mahmoud, which long lay dormant; and on three separate occasions, in 1794, 1797, and 1799, he raised the standard of rebellion. But he invariably sustained defeat ; and was driven at length to take refuge at the court of Persia, where he was flattered or neglected according as suited best the peculiar views which happened at the moment to be in favour with the government of Tehran. Meanwhile the vizeer, Wuffadar Khan, had rendered both him- self and his master so obnoxious to the nobles that a plot was entered into for putting the minister to death, for deposing Shah Zemaun, and setting up his brother by the same mother, Shah Shujah. At the head of this conspiracy, six of the principal chiefs of the Doorannee and Kuzylebash tribes placed themselves. And so well, for a time, were matters managed, that though they held frequent meetings at each other's houses, no suspicion of any evil design seems to have been entertained. Unfortu- nately for themselves, however, they had admitted a moonshee, or scribe, into their confidence, who betrayed them, and put the vizeer on his guard. Three individuals, namely, Serafrauz Khan, chief of the Baurackzyes ; Mohammed Azeem Khan, chief of the Alleckozyes ; and Ameer Arslan Khan, head of the powerful Persian tribe of Jewansheer, were stated to be the ringleaders ; and one by one they were seized. Mohammed Azeem, consi- dered the most formidable of the whole, gave himself up without resistance. An officer was then sent to apprehend Serafrauz 16 SALE IN AFGHANISTAN. [chap. it. Khan, whose son, Futteh Khan, proposed to put the functionary to death ; but Serafrauz refused to follow that daring course, and submitted. A like fate befel Ameer Arslan, who hap- pened at the time to be resident about court ; and the whole, with their partners in the conspiracy, and two other suspected chiefs besides, were summarily executed. Great and general was the indignation excited among the members of the Doorannee tribe, and one of them, Futteh Khan, the same who counselled resistance to the order of arrest, medi- tated revenge. He found out Mahmoud, who, with a slender retinue, was passing from place to place in Khorassan. He urged him to withdraw from his Persian allies, and to throw himself unreservedly among his kindred ; and Mahmoud, listening to the suggestion, entered the country of the Doorannee tribe, with only fifty horsemen in his train. To a man the clansmen declared in hie favour ; and after some fighting, and a great deal of treachery on all hands, Zemaun, attended by his late vizeer, Wuffadar, be- came a fugitive. They halted to refresh at the castle of one Moollah Aushik, a chieftain of the Shianwarree clan, and a dependant or protege of the vizeer. This man betrayed them; and AVutfadar and his brothers being put to death upon the spot, Zemaun was blinded and carried to Cabul, in the Balla Hissaur, or citadel, of which he became a state prisoner. Mahmoud ascended the throne amid the triumphant shouts of his adherents, but was soon found not to possess any of the qualities which are necessary to command the respect of a turbulent people. He regarded nothing but his own pleasures, leaving both the cares of srovernment and the toils of war to his ministers. These were able men, for Futteh Khan was one of them ; but they either did not dare, or proved little inclined to interfere with the humours of their brother chiefs ; and the whole country became in con- sequence one wide field of private quarrel and military licence. Moreover, though the capital and the districts dependent upon it acknowledged Mahmoud, the provinces paid no heed to his behests. His brother Ferooz, while he rendered to him a nominal allegiance, seized and held Heraut. The north-eastern countries would acknowledge no other sovereign than Zemaun ; and sud- denly a new rival sprang up in the person of Prince Shujah-ool- Mulk, the full brother of Zemaun Khan, and a young man about chap, ii.] SUCCESSES OF FUTTEH KHAN. 17 twenty years of age. This youth, who had been left in Peshawur with a small party of Zemaun's guards, to take care of his family and jewels, no sooner recovered from the panic which the first tidings of the revolution occasioned, than he came to the resolu- tion of proclaiming himself king ; and by a liberal distribution of money among the tribes in the neighbourhood soon saw the greater part of them gather round his standard. To march upon Cabul with ten thousand men was his obvious policy, and he adopted it ; but being met by Futteh Khan at the head of three thousand, in a narrow plain bounded by hills, he was totally defeated. He escaped with difficulty to the settle- ments of the Khyberees, by whom he was sheltered. Meanwhile a more serious rebellion, if such it deserve to be called, had broken out in another quarter, and the constitution of the empire was shaken to its foundation. The next most powerful tribe to the Doorannees was that of the Ghilzies, who in ancient days used to give a king to the whole of the Afghan nation, and who, having faithfully preserved their genealogies, set up Abdoore- heem as the living representative of the old royal family. Some bloody battles were fought between the rival factions, which ended in favour of the Doorannees, though not till the fortunes of the victors had more than once been reduced to the lowest ebb, and Shujah-ool-Mulk having sustained a second defeat, the throne of Mahmoud seemed to be secure. But it was not so. Persia had taken advantage of the civil war to complete the con- quest of a large portion of Khorassan. The head of the Beloches refused to acknowledge so feeble a government : of the Afghan tribes themselves, many set up for independence ; and the trea- sury being empty, and the king altogether wanting in personal weight and influence, there were no means at hand whereby to reduce them to order. Under these circumstances Futteh Khan was directed to march with as strong a force as could be col- lected against the factious. He levied a fine upon Peshawur, extorted fifty thousand rupees from the chief of Cashmere, and passing through different districts, raised the revenue from each, and came, in the summer of 1803, to Candahar. But while he thus exerted himself, the death of his colleague Akram Khan in Cabul precipitated the downfal of Mahmoud. Released from the restraint which his ministers used to put upon him, the dis- c 18 SALE IN AFGHANISTAN. [chap. 11. solute king ran into all manner of excesses, and being eagerly copied by his Kuzylebash guards, the whole city became con- vulsed with rapine and licentiousness. There were chiefs there, particularly one Mookhtar Oodowlah, who could not endure the degradation to which the nation seemed to be reduced ; and these provoking a sort of religious revolt, destroyed the kings guards, and shut him up in the Bala Hissaur. They then sent for Shujah-ool-Mulk, whom they proclaimed ; and having met and defeated Futteh Khan, when marching to the relief of Mahmoud, they compelled the latter to surrender himself, and placed Shujah on the throne. Sliah Shujah-ool-Mulk ascended the throne of Cabul in 1803. If deficient in energy, and therefore little qualified to fill the arduous station to which he had been raised, the accounts of his very enemies agree in representing him as placable, humane, generous, and, as far as circumstances would allow, just and true to His word. The difficulties, indeed, which beset him, and led to his eventual overthrow, had their roots in these disposi- tions ; for he treated Mahmoud tenderly, sparing his eye- sight and made no endeavour to escape from the many engage- ments into which, while playing an up-hill game, he had entered. The consequences were, that the revenue was all expended in a vain endeavour to appease the cupidity of men who proved to be insatiable, and that the troops, kept far in arrear with their pay, ceased to be trustworthy. Of these circumstance! the partisans of Mahmoud made good use. Futteh Khan, in particular, smarting under the mortification to which he had been subjected, by the rejection of bis proposal, to become vizier under the new regime, went into rebellion, and after a succession of conspiracies And revolts which it would be as tedious as unprofitable to particularise Shujah was again driven into exile, whereupon Malnnoud, his brother, resumed the reins of government. These events befel in 1809, a season of some anxiety to the British government, when Napoleon was understood to be nego- tiating with Russia and Persia for the free passage of his troops. if not for assistance, in the invasion of India. The deposed Shah fled for safety into the Punjaub, where Runjeet Singh was now supreme ; but the Afghan empire did not, in consequence, obtain rest. On the contrary, there was war in all its borders ; chap, ii.] POLICY OF PERSIA. 19 chief after chief asserting his independence, and Persia, the ancient enemy of the whole, pressing them continually. Of Shah Shujah's repeated attempts to recover the throne, between 1809 and 1815, the space at our command will not permit us to take particular notice. Enough is done, when we state, that though gallantly undertaken, they all failed mainly through some constitutional weakness on the part of the Shah, which rendered him incapable of directing the movements of an army in the field ; so that he became the object during their progress, of much treacherous treatment, as well from his own chiefs as from Runjeet Singh. From these he finally delivered himself by escaping with his family across the English frontier ; within which, at the town of Loodianah, an honourable asylum was afforded him. While Shujah-ool-Mulk thus dwelt in safety under the pro- tection of the British standard, there had arisen between Shah Mahmoud and his powerful vizeer, Futteh Khan, grounds of mutual altercation, which led, in due time, to very tragical results. The brothers of the vizeer, be it observed, were every- where established in places of influence and power. One executed the office of Governor of Cabul ; another was supreme at Peshawur ; a third was at the head of affairs in Cashmere in a word, the strength of the empire was in their hands. Heraut, however, was held by Ilajee Ferooz Deen, the brother of Shah Mahmoud, to whose son the Shah had given his daughter in marriage ; and the Shah, having become jealous of his relative, desired to gain possession of the place. Futteh Khan heartily co-operated with him, though, as was alleged, for selfish purposes, and a plan was arranged for getting the Hajee, who suspected no evil, into the power of his brother. It had long been the policy of Persia to open a way for her armies into the heart of Central Asia ; and to gain Heraut, and establish there a base for future operations, was a measure often attempted, though heretofore without success. Hajee Ferooz Deen complained that he was threatened with a siege, and Futteh Khan, putting himself at the head of the royal army, marched to his relief. There followed in his train the youngest of his brothers. Dost Mohammed by name ; a young man who on many previous occasions had given proof of extreme courage and a c 2 20 SALE IN AFGHANISTAN. [chap. ii. very reckless disposition ; and to him the vizeer committed the task of accomplishing by guile that which the application of mere force would have probably failed to effect. The Afghans met the Persians, and a battle ensued, from which each party withdrew, under the impression that it had sustained a de- feat : nevertheless the vizeer rallied his forces under the walls of Heraut ; and a series of intrigues began, with the results of which we are, for the present, alone concerned. The unsus- pecting Hajee was persuaded to visit the vizeer at his camp, and to admit Dost Mohammed with an armed party into the citadel. That he should be made prisoner and Heraut occupied was no more than Shah Mahmoud had provided for ; but Dost Moham- med went much further. He broke into the Zenana, or women's apartments belonging to the Hajee's son ; and dishonoured the wife of that prince, in other words, Mahmoud's daughter. Such an outrage could not, of course, be forgiven ; and as Mohammed effected his escape, Futteh Khan was charged with having sug- gested the offence; and being Boized by Prince Kamran, the son of Mahmoud and the brother of the ill-used lady, he was, with circumstances of peculiar cruelty, deprived of his sight. " The shout of Vizier Futteh Khan," says an able writer, M as the knife of the executioner was thrust into his visual organs, was that of the expiring Afghan monarchy." All his brothers heard of the deed with horror ; and they who had been un- feignedly indignant with Dost Mohammed, and, some in pretence, others in reality, had joined in pursuit of him, took up arms in order to avenge the wrongs of the blinded man. They made peace, moreover, with the fugitive ; who, being beyond comparison their superior in talent, soon acquired an ascendancy over them. It does not, however, appear that their designs extended further than the deposition, perhaps the death, of Mahmoud, and the setting up of another branch of the Suddozye family in his room ; nor had tliev so much as agreed among themselves as to the in- dividual who should be raised to the throne. But the plans and arrangements of men of inferior genius are everywhere bent by a master spirit to its own purposes ; and hence Dost Mohammed, partly by fraud, partly by violence, succeeded in thrusting the house of Suddozye wholly aside. It is due to the character of chap, ii.] RISE OF DOST MOHAMMED. 21 Shah Shujah to state, that in the midst of the troubles incident on this systematised rebellion, he made another attempt to recover the crown of Cabul. He was, however, deceived, betrayed, and finally defeated, and escaped once more to Loodianah, where for many years he dwelt peaceably in the bosom of his family. While the civil war went on, Futteh Khan was barbarously hacked to pieces by order of Shah Mahmoud and his son Kamran. The cruel deed'served but to exasperate the Baurackzye brothers, who, sometimes uniting their strength, sometimes acting inde- pendently, overthrew in all quarters the representatives of the rival house. They then began to quarrel among themselves, till at last the star of Dost Mohammed rose above the others, and he found himself master of Cabul and Ghuznee, and in a condition to give the law, in some sort, to his relatives. But the authority thus wielded was much more nominal than real. The several chiefs pursued each his own course, uniting with him whom they yet acknowledged as their head, only when great and pressing occasions required. Nevertheless, the pro- gress made by the Dost towards the re-establishment of the Doorannee empire, though slow, was steady. He gained ground upon his rivals day by day ; and whether through fear, or be- cause they hoped for rest under his strong government, the city of Cabul, with the provinces immediately dependant upon it, paid to him willing" obedience. He steadily refused, however, to assume the title of Shah, alleging that he had no treasure, and that a king without money was the most helpless of human beings. Nor were his scruples in regard to this point overcome to the last. Shah Shujah made, in 1 834, his final effort, single- handed, to regain the position from which he had fallen. He was joined by many Rohillas, Seikhs, Hindostanees, and men from Scinde, and advanced as far as Candahar, to which he laid siege. There Dost Mohammed attacked him, and after a battle which seems to have been strangely mismanaged on both sides, gave him a total defeat. Shujah fled once more to Loo- dianah ; and Dost Mohammed permitting himself on the field to be saluted as Amir, exercised henceforth more than kingly author rity in Cabul. 22 SALE IN AFGHANISTAN. [chap. hi. CHAPTER III. Early Negotiations -with Afghanistan Preparations for its Invasion. Ever since the foundations of British power in the East were laid, there has been more or less of intercourse between the rulers of Cabul and the representatives of the British govern- ment. For a while, indeed, this seems to have been on our part the effect rather of our fears, than of a higher motive. Nadir Shah had left a terrible name behind, which ,Shah Ahmed did his best to emulate ; and in Shah Zemaun's time it was found necessary to assemble an army of observation on the frontier, lest the Afghan should inarch, as he had engaged to do, to the assistance of Tippoo Sail), with whom the Anglo-Indian empire was then at war. There followed this movement repeated mis- sions now to the court of Persia for the purpose of negotiating a diversion, as often as an inroad of the mountaineers towards Delhi was apprehended now to Cabul when the prevailing cause of alarm chanced to be, that the French would contract an alliance with the Persians, and pass, by their help, through Cen- tral Asia, to the invasion of British India. It is not necessary to particularize the whole of these, nor yet to describe in detail the results to which they led. Enough is done when we state, that either because of the diplomatic skill with which they were managed, or that the dangers which they were designed to ob- viate proved more imaginary than real, the territories of the English in India have suffered no violation, though they have been continually extending themselves, and bid fair ere long to comprehend the entire Peninsula, from Cape Comorin to the Indus. As the fear of invasion subsided there arose a laudable ambi- tion to enter with the natives of Central Asia into more inti- mate commercial relations. The opening of the Indus to the trade of England and of British India was especially desired, and chap, in.] NEGOTIATIONS WITH CABUL. 23 it was proposed in 1832 to communicate upon this subject with the governments of those countries, which from their local situa- tion had it mainly in their power either to forward or to retard, if not entirely to frustrate, the arrangement. There were three such states, of unequal magnitude, which interposed at this time between the frontiers of British India and the river. The Punj- aub, extending as far as the Hindoo Cush from the point, where the waters of the Sutlej join those of the Indus, obeyed the au- thority of Runjeet Singh, a successful adventurer, and an able though unprincipled chief, between whom and the British go- vernment a treaty of amity subsisted. The Punjaub was joined, and in part overlapped by Bahwalpore, a small principality which followed the course of the river downwards to about lati- tude 27. And finally Scinde, over which a number of Ameers or petty princes held sway themselves foreigners and nearly related to one another took the line up and carried it on to the sea; and the country on both banks of the Indus was thus far within their jurisdiction. With the heads of these several states treaties were entered into, which gave such promise of good that it was deemed advisable to push the matter farther, and to make a great effort in the words of Lord Auckland, " to gain for the British nation in Central Asia that legitimate influence which an interchange of benefits would naturally produce." With this view, or rather, to use the terms of the Simla pro- clamation, " with a view to invite the aid of the de facto rulers of Afghanistan to the measures necessary for giving full effect to these treaties," Captain Burnes was deputed towards the close of the year 1 836, on a mission to Dost Mohammed Khan, the chief of Cabul. The progress of this mission, as well as the strange misapprehensions which induced the Envoy to withdraw from the scene of his labours at a very critical moment, are well known. A conviction seems, whether rightly or not, for some time previous to have matured itself in the minds of the local autho- rities, that peace wiih Afghanistan, so long as it should sub- mit to its then government, was impossible. They had satisfied themselves that Dost Mohammed Khan was in friendly commu- nication with the enemies of British power in the East. He was charged with having sanctioned the advance of a Persian army 24 SALE IX AFGHANISTAN. [chap. hi. to Heraut, and to have connived at the siege of that place, which was then carried on. It was laid to his door as an act of hos- tility towards England, that he had made an unsuccessful effort to wrest Peshawur out of the hands of Runjeet Singh, and was prepared to renew it. And, finally, a Russian officer made his appearance in Cabul, and it was concluded that he came thither in order to make arrangements for the invasion, sooner or later, of British India, by the forces of the Czar. We are not going to analyze the process of reasoning which led to these several conclusions. It is sufficiently set forth in the document to which reference has actually been made ; and whether well or ill- founded, led to results which must long be remembered on both banks of the Indus, and, as will be made more apparent from day to day, are still only in progress. There was to be war in disguise between British India, and the tribes which occupy the different provinces of Afghanistan. The object of this movement was not to be, on the part of Eng- land, the extension of her territory by conquests achieved in Central Asia ; but the restoration of peace to a country torn by civil dissensions, and the establishment in power of a prince well disposed towards a British alliance, and able and willing to coun- teract the objects of whatever states night meditate designs hostile to British interests Shujah Doulab-ool-Mulk was con- sidered to be the individual marked out for the accomplishment of these important objects; and though he had been repeatedly driven into exile, and now resided within the precincts of the English territories, " his popularity at home was said by the Governor-General to have been proved by the best authorities." It was accordingly resolved to espouse his cause. " His.Majesty Shujah-ool-Mulk," says the Simla Manifesto, u will enter Af- ghanistan surrounded by his own troops, and will be supported against foreign interference and factious opposition by a British army." That the probabilities, both of foreign interference and of factious opposition, were calculated largely, the extent of the preparations esteemed necessary to defeat the one, and over- come the other, demonstrate. The first step to be taken was to come to a right understand- ing with the powers whose territory intervened between the most advanced of the British posts, and the country in which it chap, in.] ' PREPARATIONS FOR INVASION. 25 was proposed that the British army should operate. Under the management of Mr. MacNaghten, at that time Secretary to the Government of India with the Governor-General, a treaty was accordingly concluded, whereby Runjeet Singh undertook to co-operate with the British Government in the restoration of Shujah-ool-Mulk to the throne, on the understanding that the Maha Rajah should be left in possession of the provinces which, amid the troubles of late years, he had wrested from the kingdom of Cabul. We further know, from Lord Auckland's Manifesto, " that a guaranteed independence was, on favourable terms, to be tendered to the Ameers of Scinde ; and that the integrity of Heraut, in the possession of its present ruler, would be respected. Thus on both flanks of his dominions, the legitimate king was to be cut short ; for Heraut, being in possession of the son of Shah Mahmoud, would be as little subject to his sway in the west as Peshawur, now occupied by a Seikh garrison, would obey him in the east. These points being settled, two corps d'armee were directed to assemble one in the province or presidency of Bengal, the other at Bombay. The former, consisting of five brigades of infantry, one cavalry brigade, with artillery, engineers, &c, in proportion, was to be told off into two divisions ; of which Major-General Sir Willoughby Cotton, G.C.B., K.C.H., was to command the first ; and Major-General Duncan to command the second. The divisions comprised respectively the following regiments bri- gaded together, under the officers whose names are given : First Division of Infantry three brigades. First Brigade : Colonel Sale, C.B., . . . . H. M. 13th Light Infantry. fl6th Regiment Native Infantry.