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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

Presented by-
Rev. James T. Dickinson

JOURNatf

THE NORTH OF INDIA,
OVERLAND FROM ENGLAND,
THROUGH RUSSIA, PERSIA, AND
AFFGH AUN ISTAUN.

BY IJEUT. ARTHUR CONOLLY.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
SECOND EDITION, REVISED.

LONDON :
RICHARD BENTLEY. NEW BURLINGTON STREET,
i^uWffilier in ©rHinarp to ^n ^ajefitp.
1838.

YALE

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WHITIWO, BEAnrOBT HOCSE, 6THAND.

CONTENTS OF
THE SECOND VOLUME.

CHAPTER I.
Heraut and its environs — Climate — Divisions of the province — Agri
cultural produce — Government assessments and general receipts —
Commerce — Political condition of Affghaunistaun — Character and
prospects of Shah Kamraun . . .1
CHAPTER XI.
Personal narrative during sojourn at Heraut — Pecuniary difficulties —
M00II& Ismael and the Jews at Heraut — Arabic copy of the scrip
tures — Suggestions regarding the extension of Christian and other
knowledge among Mohummudans . . .19
CHAPTER III.
Kamraun's projects on Candahar — Account of roads between Heraut
and Caubul — Hindoo merchants at Heraut — Holy family of
Pisheen — Syud Muheen Shah — The author generously relieved by
him — Departure from Heraut, and march under his escort to
Girishk on the Helmund. • . .41
CHAPTER IV.
Journey on across the rivers Helmund and Turnuk to Ghoondee Mun-
soor Khan — Halt— Author's severe illness — Keramut All's visit to
Candahar — Remarks upon the government and country — Descrip
tions of Affghaun character and manners— Continuation of journey
over the Kohjeh Amraun mountains, and across the river Lora, to
Syud Muheen Shah's home in the valley of Pisheen . . 76

IV CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
Khojeh Amraun, Speen Taizhe, and Toba hills — Valley of Pisheen—
Shorawuck and Shorarood — Inhabitants of Pisheen — History of the
ShS.deezye, Hyderzye, and Kerbolah Syuds — Affghaun social life —
Personal narrative during a sojourn at Pisheen . . 108
CHAPTER VI.
Further residence at Pisheen — Affghaun superstitions — Alarm, and
hasty preparations for continuing our journey . . 136
CHAPTER VII.
March from Pisheen to Quetta, and halt there — Personal narrative —
Blood-feuds — Custom of Trysting . . 159
CHAPTER VIII.
Departure frora Quetta, and march, through the defile of Bolaun, to
the town of Baugh, in the plain of Kutch — Halt at Baugh . 183
CHAPTER IX. f
March from Baugh to the town of Shikarpore — Remarks on the
political and social condition of Beloochistaun . . 200
CHAPTER X.
Halt at Shikarpore — March to the river Indus, and on to the towns of
Khirepore and Rohree — Fortress of Bukkar — Ameers of Sinde —
State of the people — Rohree well situated for commercial purposes
— Remarks on British and Russian trade with central Asia . 215
CHAPTER XI.
March on vi& Buhawalpore, across the Indian desert, to the British
frontier . . . . .236
AFFGHAUN HISTORY . . . .257
OVERLAND INVASION OF INDIA . . 319

NAREATIVE

OVERLAND JOURNEY

TO THE

NORTH OF INBIA.

CHAPTER I.
Heraut and its environs — Climate — Divisions of the province — Agri
cultural produce — Government assessments and general receipts —
Commerce — Political condition of Affghaunistaun — Character and
prospects of Shah Kamraun.
Heraut is a well-fortified town, three quarters of
a mile square, comprising four thousand dwelling-
housesj twelve hundred shops, seventeen caravan-
seras, and twenty baths, besides many mosques, and
fine public reservoirs of water. It contains about
forty-five thousand* inhabitants, the majority of
* When we first inquired about the population of Heraut, the in
habitants told us that there were twelve thousand houses within the
walls ; but our host, who was the calenter of the city, said that only
four thousand "house doors" were registered in the Shah's books. At
the high computation of ten persons to each house, we have only forty
thousand souls, but one entrance may lead to more than one domicile,
VOL. II. B '

2 INTERIOR OF THE CITY.
whom are Sheahs ; and there may be one thousand
Hindoos settled there, and forty families of Jews.
The outside wall is thickly built upon a solid mound
formed by the earth of a wet ditch, which, filled by
springs within itself, goes entirely round the city.
There are five gates, defended each by a small out
work, and on the north side is a strong citadel, also
surrounded by a wet ditch, which overlooks the
town. The interior of Heraut is divided into quarters,
by four long bazaars covered with arched brick, which
meet in a small domed quadrangle in the centre of
the city. The town itself is, I should imagine, one
of the dirtiest in the world. Many of the small
streets, which branch from the main ones, are built
over, and form low dark tunnels, containing every
ofiensive thing. No drains having been contrived to
carry off the rain which falls within the walls, it col
lects and stagnates in ponds which are dug, in differ
ent parts of the city. The residents cast out the
refuse of their houses into the streets, and dead cats
and dogs are commonly seen lying upon heaps of the
vilest filth. In a street which we were obliged to
and I think that, considering this, and taking into account the inmates
of the citadel and palace, those who reside in seventeen large caravan-
seras, and in some of the shops, the residents may altogether be rated
at the round number of forty-five thousand. Captain Christie esti
mated the population of Heraut at one hundred thousand souls : either
I conceive that officer was misled by the statements of the inhabitants,
or he took into account some quarters outside the walls, which were
destroyed when the city was besieged by the Candahar Sirdars, I think
in 1824.

the suburbs. 3
pass through to get at the bazaar, lay for many days
a dead horse, surrounded by bloated dogs, and poi
soning the neighbourhood with its unwholesome
effluvia. More could be said about the bestiality of
the citizens, but as it is not a choice theme, I will
not enlarge upon it. " Rusm ust," — " It is the
custom," was the only apology I heard even fi-om
those who admitted the evil : my wonder was how
they could live, but, as the Aukhoond-zadeh observed,
" the climate is fine, and if dirt killed people, where
would the Affghauns be!" Candahar is quite as
dirty a place, and Caubul, the " city of a hundred
thousand gardens," is said to be little better.
But though the city of Heraut is as I have de
scribed it, without the walls all is beauty. The town
is situated at four miles distance from hills on the
north, and twelve from those which run south of it.
The space between the hills is one beautifiil extent
of little fortified villages, gardens, vineyards, and
corn-fields, and this rich scene is lightened by many
small streams of shining water, which cut the plain
in all directions. A dam is thrown across the Heri-
rood, and its waters, being turned into many canals,
are so conducted over the vale of Heraut that every
part of it is watered. Varieties of the most delicious
fruits are grown in the valley, and they are sold
cheaper even than at Meshed; the necessaries of
life are plentiful and cheap, and the bread and water
of Heraut are a proverb for their excellence. I
really never in England even tasted more delicious
B 2

4 ENVIRONS.
water than that of the Herirood : it is " as clear as
tears," and, the natives say, only equalled by the
waters of Cashmere, which make those who drink
them beautiful.
The Baugh-e Shah, or the king's garden, was
formerly one of the wonders of Heraut, but its p^-
terres have been neglected, and " its palaces lie
desolate ;" a beautiful avenue of fir-trees, a mile in
length, extended from its entrance to near the city
wall, but when we were at Heraut, the Shah, in a
spirit of barbarous economy, was felling some of the
trees for the purpose of repairing his palace. A
mile to the north of the city are the remains of
what anciently was the wall of Heri, and not far fi-om
it is a pile of magnificent ruins, — the " MoosuUah,"
or place of worship, built by a pious king of the house
of Timour, to receive the remains of the Imaum
Reza : when, at the death of the saint, the victorious
disputants for his body took and buried it at Meshed,
this edifice was neglected and left to ruin. The
buildings were commenced on a grander scale than
those at Meshed, as may be seen by the foundations
of such parts as were not completed, and great must
have been the cost of erecting what now stands. An
•' Iwan," built so high that the eye is strained in
looking up to it, fironts a court one hundred paces
square, the cloistered sides of which are embellished
with beautiful designs of flowers, &c. set in mosaic
work of white quartz and coloured enamel tile. From
the square you enter a large circular hall of great

• CLIMATE. 5
height, covered with a fine dome, and this leads into
another apartment of the same shape, but of smaller
proportions. This is one part ; it would be difiicult
to describe the rest, for it was not uniformly com
pleted : there are the remains of twenty minarets,
among many buildings of designs at once chaste and
costly, the pillars and arches of which are broken into
a mass of irregular and beautiful ruin. We ascended
by one hundred and forty steps to the top of the
highest minaret, and thence looked down upon the
city and the rich gardens and vineyards round and
beyond it ; a scene so varied and beautiful, that I can
fancy nothing like it, except, perhaps, in Italy. The
cultivators of this " happy valley" enumerate, if I
remember right, seventeen different sorts of grapes
which they grow ; — the marble and the raisin grape,
that which is translucent and without seeds, the
golden grape of Cas-vine, and the small red grape of
Budduckshan, with other temptingly-named varieties
of this delicious fi:uit. The vines are planted in
trenches, and trained over a sloping bank of earth,
on which they are suffered to ripen, a method which
I conceive would answer only in a very dry at
mosphere. The climate of this country is said to be salubrious ;
the heat is excessive for two months in summer, and
in winter much snow falls. The year before our
coming to Heraut, the - cholera morbus had swept
away many thousand persons fi-om the city and the
provinces round ; but this is a scourge which seems

6 TEOOL LANDS.
to visit all climes. The smallpox, I imagine, occa^
sionally makes sad havoc among the people of this
country ; they hardly know the practice of vaccina
tion, and are so dirty that any contagious disease
must spread rapidly among them. On the 24th of
September the thermometer stood at 85° (in the
shade at the hottest time of the day) : between that
date and the 6th of October it fell gradually to 65°,
and on the four last days of our stay at Heraut, the
mercury stood at 70°. The nights were very cold,
and winter was e-vidently fast approaching.
In the province of Heraut there are eight belooksj
or pergunnahs, into which are divided the lands in
the valley, chiefly watered by eight large canals from
the river, and four small velaits or counties. We
were able to obtain the following registered account
of the villages, water, ploughs, assessment, and teool
lands, which I have every reason to believe a correct
one. " Teool" is jagheer; land held free, or on con
dition of military service, as the greater part of Aff-
ghaunistan is, or rather was, under the royal govem-
mentj for the rebel sirdars have in a great measure
resumed the crown grants. The produce is calcu
lated from the number of ploughs that are rated
against the villages of each district, for every plough
is averaged to turn up land for three khurwars of
seed. The soil of Heraut returns at a medium cal
culation tenfold, and at this rate the produce is esti
mated ; i. e. for every plough three khurwars of seed,

PRODUCE OF THE LAND. 7
and ten times the quantity of the seed for the gross
produce. The eight belooks are named — Injeel, Aulinjaun,
Oodvan-o-Teezan, Khiabaun, Subbukkur, Ghoori-
vaun-o-Pushtaun, Goozara, and Kumberrauk; and
in these districts are 446 villages, eight large canals,
which feed innumerable smaller ones, 123 canauts,*
and 2288 ploughs. The gross produce of wheat and
barley in the eight belooks, by the above calculation,
amounts to more than 68,600 khurwars, or measures
of one hundred maunds : t of these, 28,000 are as
signed to the crown, and the rest to the cultivators,
except a tithe which is set apart for seed.
The velaits, or counties, are — Oubeh, Koorkh,
Shaffljaun, and Ghourian. Our accounts gave to
the three first — eighty-three -villages, 103 cajiauts
and 648 ploughs, or a produce of 19,440 khurwars^
of which 5700 were assigned to the crown. We
could obtain no statement of the produce of Ghou
rian, further than that the Shah received 500 khur
wars, and granted the rest in teool ; but as it is the
finest of the velaits, its produce may well be esti
mated at 10,000 Tabreez khurwars. Formerly the
country of Ghourian sent in much money and grain
but of late years it has suffered from the inroads of
the Toorkmuns, and there has been a great falling
* ATtificial water-courses.
f Khur-bar, or war, an ass-load. The khurwar of Heraut is one-
fourth larger than the standard one of Tabreez ; our stateraents are
according to the latter measure.

8 CASH RECEIPTS,
off in the duties which were once levied upon the
passing trade. When we were at Heraut, the go
vernment of Ghourian was held by a brother of sir
dar Yar Mohummud Khan, protected by whom, it
was said, he generally gave a very Flemish account
of his receipts.
The above estimates give a total of about 98,000
khurwars of wheat and barley. So much of the land
being teool, the produce can only be guessed at, but
I should conceive it to be greater than above calcu
lated, because Kamraun has frequently laid extra
taxes of grain upon the cultivators, and as they do
not appear in the first instance to get their just share,
they could not well otherwise have met his demands.
The lands were considered to be under-assessed,
and, as far as we could judge from the information
we received, very irregularly : of the crown share,
eight-ninths were stated to be given in teool. The
population of the province must now be great, and were
this fertile country settled, and equitably governed,
there would scarcely be bounds to the produces,
Kamraun's money receipts from the city of Heraut
and its vicinity were rated at 20,288 Heraut tomauns.
An Heraut tomaun is divided into twenty reals (or
rupees), thirteen of which make one tomaun of Irak;
so that we have 32,968 Irak tomauns, or 21,429/. 4s.
This money was collected by assessments on the
eight belooks, on the many gardens and vineyards,
and on city lands; fi-om several Elaut tribes (or
portiofis of them) tributary to Heraut ; from the

POLICE EXTORTION. 9
customs (2^ per cent, upon every thing, whether
money or goods,) and from the mint (said to yield a
good profit.) Part was realized by many vexatious
duties imposed upon nearly every thing marketed in
the city, few articles being allowed to be sold with
out the Shah's stamp upon them ; the law extended
even to butcher's meat, and any one who transgressed
it; rendered himself liable to a fine and a beating.
The strangest item in the account was the sum of a
lac of Heraut rupees, said to be the rent from the
police ; so that our -visiter, Meerza Agha, had to
make a profit upon this sum, — ^by charging the in
habitants for the protection of his night-watch, by
taxing wine and gambling-houses, and levying penal
ties upon every sort of immorality, real or pretended,
he not being . likely to want evidence of any offence
that he might choose to affix upon a person able to
pay a fine. In bad seasons, he was obliged to stretch
a point or two to make up his rent, sure of support
from the Shah; and the monarch sometimes made
him his instrument for performing an act of violence
with a show of justice. Not long before our arrival,
they had carried into execution the following inge
nious scheme for plundering a very respectable and
wealthy merchant who had come to the city. As he
was too prudent a person to give the authorities any
just cause of offence, Meerza Agha gave a dancing-
girl money to make her way into the man's house at
night and create a disturbance ; he took care to be
in the way, and when the noise commenced, entered

lO EXACTIONS ON TRADE.
the house with a party of myrmidons, and took the
stranger prisoner, for acting immorally andLmaking
an uproar ; nor was the man released until he had
paid a very heavy fine. In the lock-up house in the
bazaar there were generally one or two offenders,
sentenced to punishment on a certain day, who con
tinually shouted out entreaties to the passers-by to
contribute a trifle towards the sum required for their
release, and they often obtained it.
With regard to trade, the merchants declared that
Kamraun's exactions were scarcely proportioned to
their means of meeting them, and that they were for
the most part ruined ; assertions in which there was
evidently much truth. "If we but knew," they
said, " the actual sum that he would extort fi-om us
yearly, we would make up our minds to pay it, or to
go and live elsewhere ; but in addition to the regu
lar hea-vy duties, we are constantly called upon for
extra contributions." The sum of 20,288 Heraut
tomauns was the nominal amount to be collected as
above stated, but the people said that his Majesty
had not failed one year to exact fully as much more
upon some pretence or other. In the accounts
which were shown to us, there was no mention what
ever made of the districts of Furrah, Subzaur, and
Ghore ; neither were the money receipts from the
smaller places given. These governments are held
by the Shah's sons, or by favoured sirdars, who
doubtless do not account very strictly for their col
lections either in money or grain. The province of

TRADE OF HERAUT. 11
Furrah, we learned, is almost entirely teool, and, as
I before observed, the capabilities of a country thus
disposed of are not easily ascertained: however,
though many items were wanting on the records,
the total annual money income was stated in a
sum amounting to Ir&k tomauns 137,305, or
89,248/. 5s.
In my account of the trade at Meshed, I men
tioned the articles that are exported from Heraut.
Silk is obtainable in the neighbourhood, but not in
sufficient quantity for export. Many lamb and
sheep skins are made up into caps and cloaks in the
city, and returned into the country round from which
they were brought. There were, if I remember
right, more than one hundred and fifty shoemakers'
shops in the city, but they were unable to supply
the demands from the province, and many camel-
loads of ready-made slippers were brought fi-om
Candahar, where they are manufactured in great
quantities. The leather comes from Hindoostan.
The lead-mines in the vicinity of Heraut are
reported to be rich, but they are scarcely worked.
The carpets of Heraut, so famed for softness and for
the brilliance and permanency of their colours, truly
deserve their repute : they are made of all sizes, and
at any price, from ten to one thousand rupees ; but
carpets of any size and value are now seldom ordered,
and the trade has altogether declined of late years.
The best pieces that we saw appeared to me to
equal the Turkey carpets, and considering their

12 THE REBEL BROTHERS RULING AT CANDAHAR.
texture 'and beauty, to bear a moderate price ; but
I fear that the expense of the land carriage woi||cl
prevent our receiving many of them in Hindoostan,
in barter for the goods which the Affghauns yearly
take from us.
During our stay at Heraut, we obtained . the
following sketch of the political state of Affghaunis
taun, which I give here, as I imagine that the con
dition of that country has not been materially
altered since the period at which I wrote.
Shah Kamraun's actual rule extends westward to
a little beyond Rosanuck, and for about two hundred
and twenty-four miles on the road to Candahar.
The Belooches care so little for his authority, that
they come from the south and infest this road ; and
northward, it may be a question whether his influ
ence extends to the Moorghaub river.
Sheer-dil and Poor-dil Khans are dead ; and the
province of Candahar is now held by three younger
brothers of the rebel family, — Cohun-dil, Raheem-dil,
and Meher-dil Khans, men who are only notorious
for their bad qualities. They have pursued a
narrow line of policy, making no provision for the
future ; Tor they have exerted themselves to put
down the old nobles, and have set over the people
men of low birth and indifferent character, whose
enormities they connive at, in order that they may
have interests in common. Their thought is to sus
tain themselves by military force, and they keep^in
regular pay six thousand unmatched horsemen (all

DOST MOHUMMUD KHAN OF CAUBUL. 13
Ghilgies, for they will not entertain a Doorraunee),
who are let loose upon the people. We were
assured that, in spring, to lessen the expense of
their military establishment, they would march to
some part of their county and let their troopers
forage for themselves, provided the unhappy pea
sants could not pay them to go elsewhere. They
have ruined trade by their exactions, and all people
within their sway, groaning under every species of
oppression, look anxiously for Kamraun, or for any
one to relieve them.
In bright contrast to these is Dost Mohummud
Khan, now the eldest of the family, who governs at
Caubul. Albeit not formerly of very good character,
he is now widely famed for the excellence of his
rule ; and the inhabitants of Caubul, chiefly Taujicks,
would probably be sorry to see him supplanted. He
is said to command the services of eighteen thou
sand regularly-paid horse, and he has a dozen guns.
Dost Mohummud Khan has followed a liberal line of
policy, endeavouring to conciliate the nobles and all
classes of the people ; he enlists Doorraunees, and
has brought under subjection the disaffected Ghilgies
within his district. He affects the strictest forms of
the Soonnee creed, while he is most tolerant to the
many Sheahs of Caubul. Of late years, by all ac
counts, he has been ambitious of the character of a
saint, pretending to have celestial visions. In one
of these he declared the arch-impostor himself ap
peared to him, and reproved him for the immorality

14 AMEER MOHUMMUD KHAN OF GHUZNI.
of his countrymen ; upon which he ordered all
women of bad character to marry or to leave Caubul,
and forbad the introduction of any intoxicating drug
into the city. Though the policy of Dost Mohum-
mud Khan has evidently been to endeavour to pre-
pare the way for the introduction of another line of
kings, he probably doubts whether the Suddozy®
interest will not again prevail, and it seemed to be
thought that he would not object to compound for
his treason by helping Shah Shoojah to the throne.
His feud with Kamraun (though unauthorized by
Doorraunee law, which professes to consider the life
of a Suddozye sacred) is bitter, and could with
difficulty be quenched.
Ameer Mohummud Khan, another brother, who
rules at Ghuzni, bears a fair character. His troops
are included in those of Dost Mohummud Khan.
There are some other brothers at Jellallabad, "who
have eight hundred or a thousand horse. Peshawar
is held by Sooltan Mohummud, Peer Mohummud,
and Syud Mohummud Khans, also brothers of the
family ; but the inhabitants of the latter place, hav
ing suffered from the visitation of the Sikhs, must be
desirous to see the end of a power, which, while it is
strong enough to oppress them, is not able to protect
them from foreign enemies.
Kamraun is now a well aged man; he has ten
male children, the eldest of whom, a fine young man
of three or four and twenty, is named Jehangire.
The two next in age are naraed Syf-ool Moolk and

CHARACTER OF SHAH KAMRAUN. 15
Saadut-ool Moolk; the seven others are not yet
grown up.
Of Shah Kamraun's character there is not much to
be said in praise. Even his enemies give him credit
for courage and natural talent, but he is avaricious,
cruel, and debauched. When I say that he has been
guilty of breaking his solemnly pledged oath, I need
not add a word more against his private character : —
as a king, he has behaved unwisely and ill, for he
has ruined trade by hea-vy imposts, and no man
living within the influence of his authority dares avow
himself possessed of wealth.
The following anecdote, which was related to me
by several different inhabitants of Heraut, will enable
the reader to appreciate the character of the heir to
the Affghaun monarchy. A merchant of the Bukh-
teeauree tribe fgave a Hindoo banker the sura of
eighteen hundred golden ducats for a biU of
exchange upon Caubul. This he covered with cloth
to make it look like a charm, and hung it about his
neck, hoping thus to convey it safely to Caubul.
Somehow or other Kamraun learned what he had
done, and sent two or three men to take the pre
tended charm from him. They accost e their victim
by asking him for a pinch of snuff, and when he re
plied that he had none, they abused him for being
without so necessary an article ; then swore they
believed he had snuff but would not give away a
pinch, engaged him in a quarrel, scuffled with him,
and tore the charm from his neck. They next went

16 CHARACTER OF SHAH KAMRAUN.
to the Hindoo banker, and returning him his draft,
forced him to refund the cash, which there is no
doubt they duly paid to their royal employer. The
Bukhteeauree petitioned the Shah, who, affecting to
take pity upon him, ordered that he should be paid
a real a day from the royal treasury. This pension
was discontinued after a week, and the man was or
dered to receive, in lieu of it, a daily portion of bread
from the royal oven. Even this dole was denied the
man after a short time, and he long remained as a
beggar at the palace gate, hoping that part even of
his money might be restored, " but he received not
a black farthing, and returned to his own country."
On his first coming to Heraut, Kamraun thought
it good policy to be liberal to the peasantry of the
province, but when, afl;er a few years, he saw the
rebels in settled possession of the country which had
been so foolishly ceded to them, he became despond
ing and morose, and rigid in exacting fi-om every one
the dues of that royalty, the name of which only re
mained to him.
Kamraun was always of a gloomy disposition;
a circumstance not to be wondered at, considering
that at an early age he was initiated into scenes of
stratagem and bloodshed, and taught to sacrifice the
best feehngs of humanity to the interests of ambition.
Morality of any sort was not likely to be studied to
much purpose in such a school, and Kamraun is now
a slave towine and the harem. We learned that
his majesty would at times deliberately set about

HIS INDECISION. I7
making himself drunk ; not for love of drinking, for
he could get no liquor except vile arrack, or thin sour
wine made by the Jews, but solely to raise his spirits,
which would soraetimes be excited to perfect phrensy.
No one, it was said,|but the Attar Bashee dared attend
on the king while he was in " the horrors ;" and,
during the days of illness which succeeded such de
bauches, unlucky did that person deem hiraself whose
affairs brought hira under the royal cognizance. At
all times the people of Heraut seemed to labour
under considerable fear of his majesty, and the only
man who appeared always merry and at ease was
Shemshooddeen Khan, whose sister, report said, in
fluenced the disposition of her royal consort as she
would, by the fascination of her beauty.
But notwithstanding all Kamraun's faults, the peo
ple would be glad to see him restored to the throne ;
the interests of the'Suddozye tribe, and of all the old
Doorraunee families, are connected with his, and the
Affghauns generally, have in every way suffered so
much frora the consequences of the revolution, that
they would hail the resumption of the royal authority,
whether by Kamraun or by any other man of the
family. Whether or not Kajnraun will realize their
wishes is a question. Constant reverses of fortune,
caused generally by the faithlessness of those whom
he trusted, seem to have unsettled the decision of
his character ; for of late years he has frequently
summoned "his friends, and made demonstrations of
marching to recover Candahar, and then, when the
VOL. II. c

18 HIS PROSPECTS.
time for action came, suddenly deferred the project.
His subjects, afi;er two or three false alarms, decided
that the Shah's object in thus acting was, that he
might have pretence for imposing extraordinary taxes
upon them ; but though this is a consideration which
bis majesty doubtless on no occasion lost sight of, it
is probable that he really entertained the designs
which he professed, but that he wanted nerve to prO'.
secute them, when he came to reflect upon the
chance of his losing the only retreat that fortune had
left him, The consequences of such indecision may
be fatal to the existence of the Affghauns as an inde
pendent nation ; for the Persians will assuredly press
eastward, and if they expel the nominal king of the
Affghauns from Heraut, what is to prevent them
frora subjugating the rebel states into which the
Doorraunee kingdom has been divided? More
impossible events have happened than the exten
sion of the Persian empire from the Arras to the
Indus.

PERSONAL NARRATIVE. I9

CHAPTER II.
Personal narrative during sojourn at Heraut — Pecuniary difficulties —
MooUa Ismael and the Jews at Heraut — Arabic copy of the scrip
tures — Suggestions regarding the extension of Christian and other
knowledge among Mohummudans.
We continued to receive every civility fi:ora our
host : through him it was intimated to me, that Shah
Kamraun had been pleased graciously to accept the
letter which I had forwarded, and that I should be
received at audience, and presented with a robe of
honour; but as the Shah was bestowing such dis
tinctions upon those whom he wished to engage in
his projected attempt upon Candahar, I fpared lest I
should be represented as an ambassador extraordinary
fii-om the British Government, and so, with many
protestations of my sense of the great honour pro
posed to be conferred upon me, I declined it, on the
ground of my being a mere traveller, not possessed
of an offering for the king, unprovided even with ap
parel suitable to the occasion of a presentation, and
added that, having had the honour to forward the
sincere expressions of my chief's consideration, I
c 2

20 THE SHAH's PROFESSION OF ESTEEM.
would pray for his majesty, and proceed on my jour-
ney as soon as opportunity served and he per
mitted. This answer was not taken in ill part, and subse
quently, some indirect communications were made to
me through the same channel, the purport of which
was, profession of Shah Kamraun's immense esteem
for the British, and hope that if he succeeded m re
covering his kingdom, lasting friendship would he
established between the two nations. The commer
cial advantages which could accrue to the English
from the restoration of order in Affghaunistaun were
adverted to, and our friend would have touched upon
the political relations which should exist between the
Affghauns and the Enghsh, as regarded the Fran-
ceese and the Oroos, but here he fairly bothered
himself, and appeared to be reheved when I assured
him that we had no great dread of the attack of either
nation. I was much pressed to say if I came in any
way as an agent of the British Government, but I
answered that I was a mere traveller, and could say
nothing in the name of my masters, though, I added,
every Englishman knew that his rulers wished to see
the Affghauns united and happy, and to be friends
with them, (witness their embassy to Shah Shoojah,
the shelter which that monarch had found in the
British provinces, and the great encouragement given
to Affghauns trading to India), that, Inshallah!
affairs would turn out for the best, &c. Apparently
these answers were sufficient, for the only subsequent

INSTANCE OF ROYAL CONDESCENSION. .21
communication that I received was, an inquiry
whether I possessed, or could prepare, a liquor
which would make his Majesty drunk at once.
Abbas Khan was said to enjoy much of the Khan's
favour, and I believe he did, for Kamraun felt that
he could better depend upon his foreign servants
than upon many of the lords of his own country, since
the former could exercise no influence among the
Doorraunee tribes. The favour of monarchs may
sometimes be so great as to be burdensome, and per
haps our host thought so one evening, when he re
turned home quite exhausted from the effect of the
Shah's graciousness to him. He had engaged to
come over to our house, but sent an excuse by his
servant, who told us the reason, with many inter-
jectional remarks upon the greatness of the Shah's
sheffdkut for his master.
The Khan was out riding, about three miles from
the city, when he met Shah Kamraun on his return
frora hunting. He dismounted to do reverence, and
the Shah was pleased to honour him with a call to
the fortunate stirrup, and to ask what horse he was
riding. The Khan took occasion to state that it was
a colt of the Coord chief's best breed, which he had
brought from Meshed, in the hope that it might be
deemed worthy the regard of the royal eye ; upon
which the Shah was graciously pleased to notify his
approval of the Khan's dutifulness, and then, moving
on towards the city, still in conversation with the Khan,
he allowed him to run at his bridle all the way, dis-

22 THE SHAH'S STUD.
coursing with him about one thing or other, a degree
of mihir haunee* which was seldom shown to any
one, and for which the Khan was bound to be grate-:'
ful, though it sent him to bed.
Shemshoodeen Khan, the king's favourite, ex-
pressed hiraself civilly towards us, and told me to
come and see him in the citadel, when he would show
me the king's horses. I appointed a day to go, but
the evening before it, the Khan was ordered out
suddenly in command of one thousand horse, to cheek
a large body of Toorkmuns said to be in the neigh
bourhood, so I missed the opportunity of seeing the
interior of the citadel. We were told that Kamraun
had a large stud of good horses, seven or eight of
which were famous for their pedigree and for their
performances. These fine animals were trained to a
a quick amble, a pace which enables horses to per
form long marches with ease both to themselves and
to their riders, and which certainly might be well
adopted by the hussars of European armies. At a
rough guess, formed from what I have heard of the
marches of troops in these countries, I should say
that their pace on a forced march is a fourth quicker
than ours, a circumstance worthy of consideration.
Kamraun, while we were at Heraut, used to ride
out twice a week far into the country to hawk or
hunt : he would start early in the morning -with a
dozen attendants, and seldom return till past sunset,
* Affability.

HOW FURNISHED, 23
riding in the course of the day from fifty to sixty
miles. There was one horse in his stable, which
though old, -was still watched with great care. It
had been bred by the chief of an Hazaureh tribe, and
was so faraous, that when Kamraun sent to demand
the animal, the clan protested against their chief's
giving it yp, — for with these mountaineers, as with
those of our country, " the laird's honour is Dugald's,"
and fearing lest the prince should endeavour to
possess himself of their famed steed by force, they
kept guard round the tent in which it was stabled.
Kamraun's desire to obtain the horse was not lessened
by this tribute to its value, but he craftily pretended
to have lost his fancy, and some time after invited the
chief to a conference at Heraut. When the Ha
zaureh Khan arrived, he was seized and confined,
and a strong party were immediately sent to his
country to possess themselves of the horse ; the re
lations of the chief, fearing lest Kamraun should
injure him, did not resist the party sent, and the steed
was brought off. When Kamraun had seen the
animal in his stable, he released its owner, with ex
pressions of regret that his unwiUingness to obhge
his prince should have led to his inconvenience.
We ventured to ask a man who was relating this
anecdote, whether the act did not come under the
head of oppression. — " No doubt," was the answer.
" Zoolm bood ; it was oppression ; but the horse was a
rare horse, and the Shahzadeh could not have gotten
it any other way."

24 EXCURSION TO GAUZER GAU.
On the 12th we made a party, with our host's
brother and the Aukhoondzadeh, to visit the shrine
of Khojeh AbdooUah Ansarree, a Soonnee saint and
philanthropist of great celebrity, who lies buried in
a garden on the hills which are to the north of the.
city. The morning was lovely, and ray companions,
having plenty of pipes to keep them in spirits,, ex-
erted themselves to be witty, so we rode in the
greatest possible harmony to the village of Gauzer
Gau. Here we picketed our horses under a fine
tree, and proceeded to the gate of the garden, on either
side of which was a small mosque, kept by attendant
servants of the shrine, who desired us to enter and
say a mass, and to leave as much money as we were
anxious should be given in charity. We deposited
our slippers here, and then passed into a walled gar
den, the trees of which shaded several tombs of white
marble, built over the dust of the descendants of
Tiinour-lung. At the end of the garden, under a
low spreading tree, was the grave of the saint, covered
by a large stuccoed mound of conical shape, and
headed by a pillar of white marble, on which were
sculptured choice Arabic sentences. The shape of
the pillar was very elegant ; but, unfortunately, when
the Cujjers came to Heraut they cracked it, in their
desire to dishonour the grave of a saint of a sect
opposed to their own. All our party were Sheahs,
so that if they did not consider the act a very meri
torious one, they in no way found fault with it, and
as they entertained no great idea of the sanctity of

EXCURSION TO GAUZER GAU. 26
the place, I was enabled to indulge my curiosity
without constraint. About the tomb were many rags,
left there by votaries who had bad husbands, or who
were childless, &c., and several rams' horns, which,
J could not learn why, are brought to all holy places.
Near the head of the tomb was a withered tree, stuck
full of nails, which had been driven in by persons
afflicted with toothache ; — a certain cure. It is odd
that just such a conceit appears to have prevailed
formerly in our own country, for in an old Knglish
book, among other quaint notices, is written the
following recipe for relief from that distressing
malady : " To cure the toothache — Take a new
nail, and make the gum bleed with it, and then drive
it into an oak. This did cure Sir William Neal's
son, a very stout gentleman, when he was almost
mad with pain, and had a mind to have pistoled
himself." The shrine is well endowed, a MotwuUee and
thirty attendants being retained to perform the duties
of reading the Koran and keeping the garden in
order ; and they, and numberless cats, lounge about
and sleep, and profit by the visiters. Khojeh Ab
dooUah Ansarree extended his philanthropy to the
brute species, and was very fond of cats, of which
I should think not fewer than a hundred are kept in
honour of his raeraory ; not that the shrine is put to
much expense, for the townspeople continually make
picnic parties, to enjoy the sail (prospect) from these

^6 EXCURSION TO GAUZER GAU.
hiUs, and what they do not eat, they leave for the
cats and beggars.
Timour-lung's descendants constructed summer
palaces on this hiU, made other gardens, and basins,
of water ; but these only remain as evidences of a
grandeur which has passed away. We wandered^
among the ruins and over the hill, enjoying varied
prospects of the beautiful valley below us, and then
sat down to dine under a shady tree. Our host had
munificently kabaubed a sheep, and our cloth was
besides spread with bread and cheese, curds, grapes,
and pistachio- nuts ; our beverage was clear and
sparkling water from the rill, and the repast was
seasoned with the best humour and Persian wit.
While we feasted we were surrounded by cats, who
watched and fought for morsels thrown to them, and
two or three old beggars shared with them the frag
ments of our repast. The glow of an autumn sun,
which had bathed the whole valley in a flood of hght,
was fading into the gray of evening when we mounted
our horses to return home : the moon rose almost as
soon as the sun had set ; by its fight we visited other
gardens on our way to the city, which we reached
when its inhabitants were at rest, and retired to our
couches in that pleasant state of weariness which
closes a day happUy spent.
Our residence at this beautiful place would have
been delightful, had we not been exposed to the
many evils attendant on poverty. The money which

PRESSED FOR MONEY. 27
we had obtained at Meshed, only sufficed to pay our
debts there ; Gholam Reza, the Yezd merchant,
would not advance a sous more ; and " a commander
of ten" of Kamraun's horse, who, with great show
of goodnature, had forced a loan of fifteen gold du
cats upon the Syud during the march, having acquired
considerable doubts of our solvency, in consequence
of the kotwal's unprofitable visit, used to walk up
daily to know if we meant to pay him when his cash
became due, and never would leave us until we had
propitiated him with a cup of tea. The Yezd mer
chant also pressed us unfairly for his money ; for
alarmed at the place he had come to, he wished to
depart with all speed, and seeing us unmoved by his
insinuations that there was small chance of our mes
senger's escaping the dangers of the road from Teh-
raun, even if he had been despatched thence with
money, he set a host of relations upon us, who scru
pled not to hint that they considered us little short
of swindlers. One of his unclgs, a most ill-favoured
old man, would sit dhurna in our room the whole
morning, occasionally asking gruffly how and when
we meant to pay his nephew ; and when answered
that the term of payraent had not arrived, he would
endeavour to make himself as unpleasant as possible,
by caUing for water to drink, and then almost put
ting our servant upon his oath that I had not touched
the vessel, in which it was brought, taking the oppor
tunity of. saying something sarcastic under pretence
of apology.

28 MOOLLA ISMAEL.
If at Meshed money was with difficulty to be got,
at Heraut it was a stiU scarcer commodity: mer-
chants were alarmed at a demand for ten tomauns,
and shook their heads at the mention of a bill on
Persia or Hindoostan. We had pawned every thing
that would be taken in pledge, no news of our
messenger came, winter was approaching, and our
prospects were altogether so gloomy that we did not
like to think upon them.
Not many days after our arrival, we had been
visited by one MooUS. Ismael, a worthy old Jew,
who having lost a fortune in the troubles of the
country, subsisted as best he could. Five years
back, he said, two Feringees, now Sirdars in Run-
jeet Sing's service, had lodged with him, and there
fore he had called upon us to offer his services in any
way. When told our wants, he confessed that our
chance of being relieved from them was small ; but
he said that as men sometimes did enter into des
perate speculations, Inshallah, one of that class
would be found, and he commenced searching for
this rara avis, — the " Oonka" of Meerza Mousa's
ornithology, — with a zeal for which we could never
feel less than grateful.
MooUi Ismael was the richest of the Jews at
Heraut, and he said that he had nothing. He
gained his livehhood in the bazaar, as a deUal or
broker, being patronised by the merchants, in con
sequence of his generous conduct some years before,
in enduring much ill-treatment rather than confess a

THE JEWS AT HERAUT. 29
knowledge of certain goods which had been confided
to his care. The contrast between this man's fidelity
and his mendacity was striking : he was so virtuous
as to suffer torture rather than betray his trust ; but,
at the same time, he did not scruple to swear by
solemn oaths to the Hakim's officers, that he knew
nothing about the merchandise which they desired
to seize, although he had it concealed in his own
cellar. His brethren, the old Jew said, did not now num
ber forty houses in Heraut : long and constant ill-
treatment had reduced their numbers and beggared
them ; but, clinging firmly to the hope of their
fathers, they patiently eked out a living as best they
could, knowing that whenever they might remove,
it would be but to exchange one oppression for
another. Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast.
How shall ye flee away, and be at rest ?
I sat with MoolM Ismael one afternoon during
the Feast of Tabernacles, in a small tent made of
boughs and chintz cloths, which he had set up in
the court of his house : every now and then a party
of lads would come to the court door, and shout out
the master's narae, in order that they might make
sport of him, "Ho MooUa Ismael ! why have ['you
become a tent-abider ?" — "Because, lord of my
life, it is comraanded." — " It is not written in the
book, you old dog !" would be the retort, and then
would generally foUow a chorus of conteraptuous

30 CHARACTER OF MOOLLA ISMAEL.
1
laughter, or a volley of curses and abuse. The old
man felt their taunts, but dared not reply to them,
so he comforted himself with an expression which, as
he spoke it was full of pathos—" Well I it is but for
a time, and UUah has wiUed it ; we are scorned and
injured, but God wUl remember our sufferings.
When the Lord bringeth back the capti-vity of his
people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be
glad." Our fi-iend had a less scriptural way of comforting
himself, and to judge by his fi^equent inebriety, he
found it necessary to counteract the effects of much
sorrow. When he came to us of an evening, he was
usually attended by a fiiend who watched his steps,
and sometimes he would in the day-time show signs
of having taken his " morning ;" but when he had
any real business on hand, he would take an oath
against strong drink, as an Irishman does against
whiskey. I must add also, that on sabbath and
holy days, MooUS. Ismael most scrupulously ab
stained fi-om drinking ; indeed he was so particular
about observing his religious ordinances to the very
letter, that he would not strike a light after Friday's
sun had set. Drunkenness is a vice which I ima
gine is very prevalent among the Jews, and pro
fessed Christians, whose societies are scattered over
the land of the Crescent ; those whom I had oppor
tunities of seeing, appeared to think it proper to
drink, because the Mohummudans did not ; but I
could not observe that they made it a duty to differ

usurer's MORALITY. 31
from their enemies upon many other points of
conscience. In order to procure us a little temporary reUef,
MooUa Ismael introduced us to a person who ad
vanced a few ducats upon the pledge of our watches
and pistols, — an old mooUa, whose conscience would
not allow him to take usury, and who therefore charged
us for the risk of keeping the articles in his house ; a
distinction which he begged might be appreciated.
These men have the easiest modes imaginable of
evading the spirit of their religious ordinances, as I
observed, rather to my astonishment, in a case in
which Hadjee MooUS. Ramazaun took a part.
The Caubul merchant, whora I mentioned as hav
ing made great affectation of poverty on leaving
Meshed, seeing how much we were in want, came to
us privately, and telling us that a Jsafilah was about
to set out for Caubul by the direct road through the
mountainous country of the Sheah Hazaurehs, pro
posed that we should accorapany him this way, a
journey of fifteen or sixteen days ; to enable us to
quit Heraut, he offered to obtain for me three hun
dred ducats, if I would engage to pay him double
that sum at Caubul, where he said he thought I
might find merchants who would accept my biU on
India. Our prospects were so very uncertain, and
our situation was so unpleasant, that I inclined to
accept his offer, usurious as it was, and we adjourned
to Hadjee MooUa Ramazaun's house to talk the mat
ter over. The Hadjee was appointed broker ; so,

32 usurer's MORALITSr.
sending for two or three of his relations to witness
the transaction, he ordered an old shawl to he
brought, and first pretending to seU it to the Caubui?
merchant, he said to me — " You agree to give
A'Mo'mud Banker six hundred ducats when you
reach Caubul, for this shawl, and other articles to be-
furnished by him to you ; — and you engage not to
quit Caubul until A'Mo'mud Banker permits you «
even, added the last-named person, though you"
should have to borrow twelve hundred ducats to pay
me my six hundred. I demurred about agreeing to
this strange compact, for I had not made up my
mind to accept such hard terras, and aU Agha Mo
hummud Banker's dealings savoured so much of du
plicity, that I felt averse to putting myself in his-
power ; some instances of his conduct at this con-
ference determinejl me not to trust him, so I signified
my resolve to await intelhgence from Tehrauni*
Hadjee MooUa Ramazaun rather approved of the
determination, but the circumstance of his superin
tending such a transaction showed the laxity of his
sect's moral system ; for all who knew him declared
that a better or more conscientious man than their
Moojteheid, would with difficulty be found in the
country. Hadjee MooU^ Ramazaun had lately received
from Tehraun the present of an Arabic copy of our
scriptures. One day that we were seated with him
in the house of his son-in-law the Aukhoond-zadeh,
he produced the book, and made such remarks upon

RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY. 33
different passages, as showed that he had interested
himself in the perusal of it. In the course of his
comments he here and there threw out objections,
and I, essaying to answer them, presently found
myself engaged in a religious discussion, a circum
stance which I began to regret, as I was not suffi
ciently versed in scholastic language to argue in
proper terms, and though both the Hadjee and
MooUa Mohummud laid it down as a rule, that we
were to dispute upon neutral ground, we soon fell
back, each on our own, and whenever I made a stand
against any very dogmatical proposition, the Auk
hoond-zadeh would press me with — " But what says
Al-Koran ? what is written in the book ?" upon
which, uttering a solemn and guttural Arabic quota
tion, he would pour out such a torrent of words in
paraphrase of it, as for the moment to overpower me,
and then, smoothing his beard, and running over his
beads, he would sigh and roll his eyes, and gravely
ejaculate, " UUah Ho Acber !" as if he wondered
how it was possible for a man to hold such heterodox
opinions. This is a master-stroke with the logicians
of these countries, and when a discussion between
two doctors waxes warm, each disputant keeps his
voice up to the proper pitch, to guard against his
flank being turned by the well-known manoeuvre ; so
it may be imagined what a noise they make.
Mohumraudan divines argue, as indeed do raost
other people, raore or less, not to establish the rights
of a question, but to get the better of their opponents,
VOL. II. D

34 RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY.
and an infidel will in vain talk to them about petitib
principii and prejudiced opinions : Al-Koran is theij;
point d'appui, and they wUl successfuUy rally upon
it when backed by an assembly of " the faithfiil."
There is but one remedy for this, — spread of know
ledge among the people ; except indeed we fight
them with their own weapons, as recommended by
" St. Louis" in his advice to the Sieur de Joinville-r.^
never to waste words on an infidel, as all that a
Christian could do in an obstinate case, was to thrust
his sword into the unbeliever's belly as far as it
would go.
I am sure the bulk of the Mohummudans in this
country do not believe that the Feringees have any
real religion. They hear, from their friends who visit
India, that we eat abomination, and are never seen to
pray ; and they care not to inquire more about us.
" Kaufir'und !" is their exclamation, " they are infi
dels !" and it is a matter of indifference to them how
many shades there may be between all those whoB\ .
they include under the denomination, between the
Jew and the Christian, the Guebre and the Hindoo !"
It is therefore greatly to be desired, that such trans
lations of our Scripture as may invite their study^
should be sent among these people, in order, first, to
satisfy thera that we have a religion ; and secondly^
that they may know what our religion is ; in order
that they may learn to respect us, which they do not
now, and gradually to regard us with kindlier feel
ings ; for until they do, we shall in vain attempt to
propagate the gospel among them.

RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY. 35
Hadjee MooUa Ramazaun praised the talent and
labour of those who had made the translation sent
him, though he said that, of course, with regard to
idiom and cadence, it was far from being what it
ought to be ; but I must not omit to add, that he ap
proved of a literal version. I make a point of raen
tioning the latter opinion, because I rayself entertain
a contrary one, formed in a great measure on the
judgment of ray acute and unprejudiced travelling
companion. It certainly may not be amiss, for the
sake of criticaVreference, to have a word for word trans
lation of our sacred writ in Arabic, — which is to most
Mohummudans, what Latin is to the various Chris
tians of Europe, — but although a few men like our
friend the Moojteheid, might betake themselves to
the dry study of a work literally written, the generality
would not, and therefore I conceive that we should
use a more attractive style when rendering our
Bible into the other tongues of Asia, even if we do
not prepare a second, more popular, version for those
to whom Arabic is yet a living language. The in
terest and prejudice of those crafty doctors " the
piUars of Islam," would induce them to exhibit only
the errors, or what they would argue to be such, in
writings which threaten the very base of the temple
that they uphold ; so, to prevent their being unjustly
biassed, we should give the people at large every
inducement to read for themselves ; and in order to
this, we should not only translate frora the original,
so as to preserve the similarity of idiom which runs
D 2

36 RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY.
through all Eastern languages, but not insist upon a
strictly literal rendering, when, fuUy preserving the
sense, we can express a sentence more beautifully,
Judge from the Persians, who though indeed too
prone, like the nation with whom, they are so often
compared, to sacrifice soberness to jest and sophism,
are not only naturally intelligent, but very fond of
inquiry and reasoning. Except the Arabs, no people
are more susceptible of the beauties and sublimities
of language, more fond of dwelling upon them, but
they will not read what is written in a hard style.
It is in their easy, harmonious, and widely-difiiised
tongue, that we should begin to labour earnestly for
the extension in Asia of all knowledge and truth, and
I consider that rauch facility for this great undeij-
taking is offered to us in their country. In order,
for instance, to obtain a good translation of the Old
Testament, we might get the assistance of Persian
Jews. The descendants of Israel who hve in Iran,
retain their own language, and some of their mooU^
not only acquire a classical knowledge of Persian, bu|
become skilled in Arabic, which is so nearly related
to Hebrew, and one of these would have a heart in
the work, which no Mohumraudan assistant well, can.
Perhaps, too, partial aid might be got from the most
learned of the Armenian Christians settled in Persia.
During the Mohurrum at Meshed, the lecturers
read from an Arabic work passages which appeared
greatly to affect the multitude. The book is at^.
tributed to Hossein's son, Ah Awsut, and is entitled

RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY. 3J
" Sahifa Sajjadea," the book of the Adorer, a name
by which Ali Awsut was designated, or Sahifa
Kamila, the full or perfect book. It is written
much in the style of the Psalms of David, consisting
of lamentations for sin, adoration of God, and
entreaties for his mercy, and doubtless many idioms
and expressions might be adopted from it, and from
similar works, to suit a translation of our psalmist's
verses. The Arabian impostor borrowed so much from our
Scripture, to interweave with the forgeries which he
palmed upon his superstitiously ignorant countrymen,
that a Mohumraudan now thinks he convicts a Chris
tian by his very Testaments ; for he recognises in
them much that corresponds with his own traditions,
and he has been taught to believe that we have indeed
portions of the revealed writings, but that all such
parts of our sacred history as do not agree with
his, are corruptions, which were raade by Jews and
Christians for their own wicked purposes. Now the
Koran can no more bear an impartial comparison
with the Jewish Testament, than the licentious tenets
that it inculcates can stand before the purity and
charity of gospel precepts ; the very harmony of the
prophecies which bind the parts of the old revela
tion together, would induce candid Mohumraudan
examiners to give a verdict in its favour, and then
must foUow their right acceptation of the Saviour
whom the Jews deny, for, as argued by Sir WiUiam
Jones, they are already a sort of heterodox Chris-

38 RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY.
tians, devoutly believing, as they do, in the immaci
late conception, divine character, greatest miracK^,
and ascension, of " Huzrut Esau I" — the Lord
Jesus 1
It is plainly, therefore, desirable that we should court
every means likely to lead Mohummudans in general
to compare their scriptures with ours. But more
than this, it is necessary that we should impart to
them as much of the knowledge now current in the
enlightened world, as will enable them to set about
the comparison fairly. There has already been ex
cited, among the Persians in particular, a bold spirit
of religious doubt and inquiry, but this now generally
loses itself in a scoffing and loose infidelity, dignified
with the title of Sooffeeism,* because these peo^^le
neither know the true principles by which to dis
cern and prove truth, nor possess a weU-based and '
highly-raised standard of moraUty. We should sup.
* Sooffee — signifying pure — was originally a term for certain ardent
devotees, who while professing respect for the established religion of
Isl&m, departed widely from its creed and institutions, and aspired to
something like that holy abstraction, and spiritual absorption into the
divine essence, of which Hindoo mystics dream. The liberty of this
vague faith soon degenerated into licence among many of the sects who
adopted the appellation, and all grades of its numerous followers are
banned by the sober and orthodox Mooselmaun. The title, com
prehends religious and poetical enthusiasts, abstrusely speculative
philosophers, (" falsely so called,") and practical epicureans ; one reading
figuratively, and referring to the delights of a future world, a theme of
wine, harmony, or love, which another construes and applies in its lite
ral and gross sense ; and nowadays the title is claimed by many 8
would-be " esprit fort," who can do no more than repeat a few scep
tical commonplaces, and quote Hafiz, or MooUa Roomee, for his liberal
indulgence in the goblet, music, and sensuality.

RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY. 39
ply all their wants, and first, from our stores of histo-
rical fact and inductive learning, compUe for them
works calculated to prepare the way for rehgious
discussion. At present there is no comraon ground
for debate between us.*
Much care and tact will be required for the pre
paration of the latter books. Our long-bearded
pupils must be addressed as men, even where it may
be necessary to teach them as children, and he who
would instruct them, should not only be thoroughly
master of the subjects to be discussed, but acquainted
also with the extent, and particular form, of their
literary attainments. Our modern primers of learn
ing carry a look of insult to the conceit of wisdom in
which they have been accustomed to hug themselves,
and they take disgust at medicine which would cure
their ignorance were it only disguised. They must
be approached in their own style, and humoured to
their least points of taste. Even in the " getting up"
of books which they might accept as far as matter is
concerned, we offend their prejudices. They dislike
stiff print : we persist however in sending them
this, on indifferent-looking, narrow-cut paper, when
through the aid of lithography, we might give them
multiplied pages scarcely to be distinguished from
* Part of this paragraph having been quoted in reviews, I would re
mark that the editor of my Journal, mistaking " enlightened world" for
enlightened word, slightly altered my text to suit his reading. I have
now endeavoured to make my meaning clearer, and put all my sugges
tions on this important subject in one place.— Note to second Edition.

40 RELIGIOUS CONTROVERSY.
those of their exquisitely-penned, broad-marginedj
glazed and gilded manuscripts ; and we excite their
very indignation with the common covers in which
we bind sheets containing matter which we profess to
hold sacred, when, with a little moulding and gilding,
we might impress them with a handsome and oriental
appearance. Books of the latter fashion would be
more expensive than those now published ; true, but
it would be better to distribute half a dozen copies :of
a sort that would be valued and probably read, than
half a hundred of a kind which we see at once thrown
aside as unsightly by the majority of those to whom
they are given. Just let the experiment be tried.
We possess, in Henry Martyn's version, a good copy
of the New Testament in Persian : hthograph; from
this, in the best style, just the Sermon on the
Mount,* and send it to Persia for circulation. All
would receive this " Sahifa Kamila," and many would
read it, who might not be induced to undertake the
perusal of the whole Testament. Few of those who
revere our Saviour's name, could sincerely study this
portion of His revelation without desiring to have
the rest, and for such the complete volume might be
forwarded in the same style, with any such literary
treatises as might be prepared, calculated to stimulate,!
inquiry and establish sound knowledge.
* Of late years there has been a special demand for the Sermori
on the Mount among, the Sikhs. It has been printed separately,.!
and is largely given away to members of this sect, who annually visitj)
the great Hurdwar fair.

kamraun's PROJECTED MARCH ON CANDAHAR. 41

CHAPTER III.
Kamraun's projects on Candahar — Account of roads between Heraut
and Caubul — Hindoo merchants at Heraut — Holy family of
Pisheen — Syud Muheen Shah — The Author generously relieved by
him — Departure from Heraut, and raarch under his escort to
Girishk on the Helmund.
On the 14th of October, Shah Kamraun publicly
announced his determination of marching upon Can
dahar. The wealthiest Hindoos took flight upon
the first intimation, but Meerza Agha was imme
diately set to work, upon the purses of those who
remained in the city. A tax in money and grain
was laid upon all the villages round; guns and
marching equipage were put in order ; influential
Khans were presented with robes of honour, and
sent to raise the clans on the road, and the Sirdar
Yar Mohummud Khan was formally invested with
the title of " Vuzeer of Affghaunistaun." Many
of the townspeople seemed to think that this was
only one of Kamraun's excuses for raising money ;
but when he expended some of it in fitting out tents,
their doubts were shaken. Little as Kamraun was
liked by the Herautees, they seemed aU to wish
that he really would attempt the recovery of his
kingdom ; for, bad ruler as he was, he was a very

42 kamraun's PROJECTED MARCH ON CANDAHAR.
Noorshewan in comparison with the rebel Sirdars of
Candahar, and therefore there was hope that the
people would rise to assist him. In the restoration
of order, merchants saw a prospect of the roads be
ing again open to trade, " and at least," shrewdly
observed a townsman to me, "if the Shah fixe? his
presence at Candahar we shall be gainers, for now
he is but in name a king, while this poor city of
Heraut is alone made to pay for all the appendages
of royalty.
Although the Shah had announced his determina
tion to march upon Candahar, no time was fixed for
his setting out, so we indulged a hope that we might
stUl receive a remittance frora the westward time
enough to let us travel on under convoy of his
majesty's army to Candahar, and witness his strug
gle for the kingdom. Our host said it was probable
that the royal force would not move until the winter
had set in, when not only would Heraut be secure
from the attack of troops which might at other sea
sons be sent through the Sheah Hazaureh country
from Caubul, but Dost Mohummud Khan would be
unable to march to the assistance of his brothers at
Candahar. The first road, from Heraut to Caubul,
eastward through the country by the Sheah Hazau
rehs, is described as very difficult, leading continually
over high and steep mountains. During the favour-
able months, occasional parties of travellers go by
this route, and we know that it has been travelled
by armies of horse, but guns cannot be drawn over

DIRECT ROAD FROM HERAUT TO CAUBUL. 43
the steeps. Early in winter the passage is shut,
and it remains so tUl near the end of spring. Those
who have seen the places over which the horsemen
of Persia and Affghaunistaun ride, will not suppose
this road to be an easy one, frora hearing that a
mounted army has marched it, and I question whe
ther it could at any season be taken, except by the
lightest troops of an European army. One old
mooUa, who had just come from Caubul this way,
when applied to for information regarding the road,
could scarcely do any thing but groan at the very
recollection of his journey. The mountains, he
said, were for the raost part so steep, that there was
no riding down, much less up them ; his horse had
died upon the way, and he knew not how it was that
he had not died too ; and " Lord of my soul," he
added, " it is not alone the labour that a man has to
encounter, but his very life is in danger, from the
commencement to the end of this cursed journey.
God knows I have suffered abuse enough for being
of the true faith, but when I got among men who
I thought would honour me for being of that which
they profess, I was cursed and called Soonnee!
Ld hoM-e wo id koovut-e Hid billd-hil dlee-yil
dzeem!* That such men should bring a reproach
on us by calling themselves Sheahs !"
It appears that the inhabitants of this mountainous
* There is no repentance (for sins), there is no power (to act right),
except by the aid of the AUglorious and Almighty God ! — a common
Mohummudan ejaculation.

44 HINDOO MERCHANTS AT HERAUT.
tract are as fanatical as wUd : they abominate the
Affghauns, and are very suspicious of the few whp
travel through their country as professed foUowers
of Ali ; besides which, they like to make infidels of
strangers, in order to confiscate their effects accord
ing to law. There are two or three Sheah guides!
only who can safely convey traveUers by this road,
aiid they do not travel often backwards and forwards
in the course of the year. Our friend the Aukhoond-
zadeh told us that he once travelled a little way into
this country, and took with him a bundle of shrouds,
on which sentences of the Koran were stamped;
these procured him the best treatment wherever he
went, and a profit to boot, for the Sheahs conceive
it of great import that their remains be wrapped in
such holy cloths.
The great road from Heraut to Candahar is open
the year round, but that between the latter place
and Caubul is shut in the middle of winter ; or at
least it is considered dangerous to travel it, and
many instances are related of persons having
perished in attempting the journey at this season.
There is risk of being lost in the deep snow-driftsf'
and, between Ghuzni and Caubul especially, they
say winds blow which are sharp enough to " cut the
life out of a man."
MooUa Ismael endeavoured to persuade sorae
Hindoo merchants to assist us, but they one and all
refused. About a thousand of these idolaters, it is
calculated, reside in the city: they have private

THEIR PENURIOUS CONDUCT. 45
houses, and some of them dwell in a large brick
caravansera which they possess in the main street.
A few keep shops in the bazaar, the others are
engaged in agency and general traffic, the extent of
which is known only to themselves ; but the greater
number of them are reputed rich, and they should
be so, for nothing, one would imagine, but the
certainty of considerable gain, could induce men of
so wary yet indolent a race, to give up their friends
and country, and to come through so much danger
and hardship to a land where they are despised,
denied the exercise of many of those religious
observances upon which they set so much store, and
continually brought in contact with what to them is
defilement. Neither the climate, nor the decent
fashions of the country, would aUow of their dressing
in the loose costume of Hindoostan ; so they case
their spare bodies in tight-fitting vests and panta
loons, and crown their painted heads with small stiff
caps. No dress could well be less becoming to men
of their figure and complexion, and many of them
might sit for pictures of meanness and famine.
The chance of enormous profit sometiraes terapts
these men to try what they call " a wind speculation,"
and my friend Karaumut Ali took it into his head
that he should be able to talk some of them over
with his Indian tongue ; he therefore put on his best
abba one afternoon, and set out for their caravansera.
Our household tried several "falls," which they
declared spoke propitiously; and the Syud, at the

46 AN OFFER OF ASSISTANCE.
particular request of his protege, stepped across the
threshold with his most fortunate leg, and walked*
away confidently. We awaited his return with
much hope, for our servant had dreamed that he saw
a cossid arrive from Tehraun with a bag of money,
and we had each " a sort of impression" (grounded, as
such feelings usually are, upon our hopes), that the
Syud would succeed in the object of his errand:
we were however grievously disappointed; our
firiend returned at dark quite crest-fallen, and
addressing no other words to us than " Neh
shood!" — "a failure!" — threw himself at length
upon his carpet, and studied the ceiling for some
time in gloomy silence, when he began to ease his;
spirits by consigning the idolaters, and the fathers of
the idolaters, from the remotest generation, to every
thing bad, and by taxing his wit for abuse to bestow;
upon them. The last exercise had a happy effect
upon his temper, for he was so pleased with the
point of some of his sarcasms, that he got on good
terms with himself again, and forgot the worst part
of his . anger ; then, over a game of chess, he gave
me an amusing description of his interviews with
a round of httle dried old men, the heads of the
mercantile establishments, who each heard his storyl
with the utmost patience, on the chance of there
being a word of profit in it, and then quietly
answered that our affair was not in their way of
business. I had after this an offer of assistance, but it was

THE DAHBASHEE's OFFER DECLINED. 47
such a one as I could not accept. The Dahbashee
of the Shah's guard walked up one morning, and
when he had sipped his tea, and asked if we had yet
received any money, assured me that his heart bled
for me, that he had been afflicting himself with
thoughts upon my lonely situation i^ a strange coun
try, and that perhaps he could enable me to continue
my journey, if I approved of a plan which he had
conceived. A friend of his, he said, was about to
take an investment of assafcetida to Mooltan ; but if
I would engage to pay this man the sura which he
expected to realize by the trip, he would lend rae
his money, and take me directly through the moun
tains into the Punjab. This looked well, but on
coraing to inquire into his friend's expected profits, I
found that he had calculated them at the rate of
about nine hundred per cent., so that I at once de
clined the proposal. The Dahbashee urged me more
than once to think upon his plan, saying that the
winter would soon shut the roads to India ; but a
suspicion crossed my mind that he had been sent to
find out how much money I could command in Hin
doostan, and this made me decline the offer in more
decided terms. We were however at last relieved
from our difficulties, and in a manner which I have
pride in mentioning, as it shows how fair a character
my countrymen have acquired abroad : I am more
over happy to have an opportunity of making known
the man to whom I am so especiaUy indebted.
MooUa Ismael, as a last chance, applied to some

48 THE SYUDS OF PISHEEN.
Syuds of Pisheen, a large family of the Prophetfs-de.
scendants, who live in the valley of Pisheen, three
marches south of Candahar. These men are sup-
posed by the superstitious Affghauns to inherit, the
power of healing diseases, charming the elemen&l
and putting spgUs upon gunpowder, &,c., an^tof
blessing or cursing their neighbours with sure effect,;
consequently, their persons and their property are
respected by the most lawless tribes, aud they are
enabled to carry on trade (which they are nearly all
engaged in) when less gifted persons could not.
MooUa Ismael brought some of these merchants to
our house, one of whom said that he would give me
indigo for a bill upon India, if his partner, who had
lately returned from that country, did not object';
and on the morrow he brought this person, who, after
a little conversation, pronounced me to be a.bon^
fide Englishman, and one whose word might be relied
upon. It was a great satisfaction to hear him run
over the names of Mr. Elphinstone, Sir John Mal
colm, and other gentlemen known for the high office
they held in India. Mr. Elphinstone had given, his
brother's son a handful of money for answering a few
questions ; Mr. Cole of Mysore had bought a hor^^
from him; Hunter Sahib, of Mutchleebunder,.had
given him a rifle ; we were a most excellent tribe,
who never gave our words falsely, and, please God,'
he would take my debts upon his head and shoulders,
and convey me safely to Hindoostan. Money. he
said he possessed not, having just completed the

^ ^L>^
STIU .111) WtTHE'KH SlHIAir,
SYUD MUHEEN SHAH. 49
purchase of thirty horses for the Indian market, but
InshaUah ! his word was good for any sum, and he
would be our security.
Syud Muheen Shah, for it is time that I should
mention his name, is a Peer Khaneh, or elder, of the
Pisheen Syuds : he had come to Heraut to recover
a debt, and was about to return immediately home,
to march his horses to India, when his partner told
hira of a foreigner's being in the city in distress, and
brought him to see us. Having engaged to serve us,
he would listen to none of his friends remonstrances,
but calling upon our creditors, struck hands 'with
them for our debts, and sought for one who would
give us money on the best terms.
We found many who would accept our friend's
bond, but they would only give us merchandise for
it. Still we determined to proceed on our journey
at any sacrifice, and so, after spending a few days in
useless attempts to procure cash, I gave a promissory
bill to the amount of nine hundred and ten ducats, or
four thousand five hundred Bengal rupees, for a bale
of Cashmere shawls ; these we sold in the bazaar for
about one thousand nine hundred rupees, with which
we paid our debts : Syud Muheen became security
for me, and we prepared to journey on to India under
his escort.
We need lose no time, our new friend said, in
waiting to see what course Shah Kamraun would pur
sue, but start at once, in confidence that he would be
fully able to get us through any troublesome parties
VOL. II. E

so LEAVE-TAKING.
who might have risen to disturb the road between
Heraut and Canhahar, on the rumour of approaching
hostilities. We felt bound to receive his advice as
law, and therefore sent to beg the Shah's conge,
which was graciously given us.
From the good Aukhoond-zadeh we parted with
much regret, for he had been a real friend to us ; but,
as he expressed in a Persian verse,
" Friends must part ! for a time — and for ever!
It was my heart's wish ever to be near you.
But what can a man do against the decrees of fate ?" -
Since our arrival at Heraut, we had received in
creased marks of MooUa Mohummud's kindness and
attention, not the worst of which were, — sundry de
licacies of food, prepared by the doubtless fair hands
of the lights of his harem, which would find their way
to our house in unostentatious Uttle dishes, about
the hour of evening meal ; now, as a parting gift,
our good friend brought several articles of men's
dress, beautifully worked with raost spider-like em
broidery, by the same fingers which had ministered
to our other senses. We accepted each a token, and
forcing upon him in return as large a mark of our
gratitude as we could spare, took a very affectionate
adieu, receiving his farewell benediction outside the
city gate.
We had nothing to offer Abbas Khan but our un
feigned thanks for his hospitality ; it was, however,
signified to me by one of his confidants, that the Khan
would like a pair of pistols to be sent him from Hin-

DEPARTURE FROM HERAUT. 51
doost&n, so, at leave-taking, I begged he would allow
me to send a brace, as a sign of our having reached
India : his farewell speech was as kind as his preced
ing conduct, and our parting words expressed a hope
that he would not forget us, but that he would keep
fresh the meadow of friendship, by a continual stream
of letters bearing assurances of his health and pros
perity. It was on the 19th of October that we rode from
Heraut, under the escort of Syud Muheen Shah, and
a dozen other travellers, chiefly Syuds of Pisheen.
Four miles from the city we crossed the Herirood by
a long bridge of brick called Pool-e Moulaun, which
gives a name to the river. So much of the water
had been drawn off above, that the stream here was
inconsiderable, but it was swift, and clear as a dia
mond. Twelve miles to the southward of the city,
we entered a break in the hills, through which a hard
and tolerably good road took us ten mUes to Meer
Daoud, an old caravansera, where we slept from mid
night tUl four the next morning.
20th. — Twenty-three miles south, to Meer UUah,
an old caravansera. Eleven miles on the way was the
ruined caravansera of Shah Beg, where there is always
a smaU stream of clear water. Our road was good,
between low rocky hiUs running on our course, and
for the last three mUes we had a rill of water with
us. We halted untU four in the afternoon, when as
we were about to continue our journey, one of the
party called out that a party of horsemen were
E 2

52 A FALSE ALARM.
coming in pursuit of us. " Oh! zoe di womrcihj"
exclaimed Syud Muheen Shah, " death to your son!
but you have spoken the truth, and my house | is
ruined ;" and looking up the road, we saw, at no
great distance, three horsemen who were urging
their jaded steeds towards us, and by cries and ges
tures desiring us to await them. They proved to be
troopers of the Shah's guard, but our fears that they
had been sent to bring us back, were relieved when
we heard them in loud altercation with a lad of our
party, who it appeared was also a trooper in the
Shah's army, but who, not liking the service, had
taken French leave, and was retiring in disgust to
his home. The horsemen had been sent by the
Sirdar to bring him back, but he put himself undeir
the Syuds' protection, and, drawing his sword, de
clared he would cut down the first man who attempted
¦ i >' ¦ . ¦ ' -id'' v-^ C -
to lay hands upon him. A sword was unsheathed by
one of the other party, and there appeared probability
of a fight ; but the Syuds interfered, saying that the
young man was travelling under their protection, and
could not be taken away by force : after a httle
angry discussion, they decided that the youth should
give his sword as a present to those who had been
sent in pursuit of him, and the latter were bound, on
penalty of " the curse of the Syuds of Pisheen," to
say, on their return to the Sirdar, that they had been
unable to overtake the deserter.
We rode for six miles to a small brook called
" Rood-e Guz," which we followed for six miles

NIGHT ROBBERY. 53
more, tiU it was lost in the " Rood-e Adruscund,"
a fuU stream of the clearest water, said to come
twenty fursukhs through hUls from the east, and to
faU into the Furrah-rood, near " Kullah Laush."
A body of men who lay on the bank of the streara,
chaUenged us sharply as we were about to cross it ;
but when they understood who headed our party,
they came forward peaceably to request a blessing,
and to ask the news from Heraut.
Eight railes from this stream, we passed the ruins
of a building called Ziarut-e Khojeh Oureh, where
there was water. A mile beyond this point, a road
went off to the town of Subzaur. We rode on till
eleven at night, when the raoon going down, we
halted in the plain to sleep : thieves had followed us,
and although watch was kept, a man succeeded in
creeping up unperceived in the dark, and snatching
a carpet-bag from under the head of a Candahar
moolia who was travelling with us, he made off
with it. We were awakened by the cries of the
moolia, who said that his bag contained his best
clothes, three rupees, and a Koran ; and many were
the lamentations that he made for the loss of the latter.
At the first alarra the whole party had started to their
feet and handled their arras, but it was too dark to
pursue the robbers, since we could scarcely see each
other where we stood ; so Munheen Shah adopted
another course, and stilling the mooUa's lamentations,
shouted to the thieves in Pushtoo, threatening them
with a curse for robbing Syuds of Pisheen.
After much calling, he was answered by one or two

54 PLAIN OP JAMBURAN.
voices afar off, the owners of which, being encouraged
by fair promises, came to parley in the distance.
" Hoi" caUed out our friend, " listen to my words;
I am Syud Muheen Shah, and we are Syudsvof
Pisheen ; restore the things you have taken, or"--:.
and here followed an enumeration of the dire con
sequences of offending such holy men, murrain among
sheep, and the swelling of camels' beUies, withi sick
ness, and bad luck of every kind, to themselves and
those belonging to them. " You are not Pisheen
Syuds," was shouted in answer. — " 'Tis an oath, that
we are," — " It's a lie, you are not all Syuds.f'-?-
" No matter, I, InshaUah, am Syud Muheen Shah,
Peerkhaneh, of Shadeezye; keep the money and
clothes, but return the Koran, or it wUl bring a curse
upon- you and yours." — " Good !" shouted a voice,
which after a short silence added, "it is under the
single fir-tree in front of you ; come and take it.
Two of our party went forward with their swords
drawn, and found the book as described ; but. the
rogues had torn the cover off, and they were deaf to
all calls for fiirther restitution.
The next morning early we rode twelve miles to
Kullah kooshk-e Jamburan, a small fort situate in a
fertile plain twenty miles in breadth, enclosed by
hiUs, which on the east break into a valley running
from it. Close to Kullah Kooshk is a stream of de
licious water, and many other forts (that is, from
ten to forty houses, enclosed by a weak mud-wall,)
extend over the plain of Jamburan to the town of
Subzaur, which is just seen under a hiU in the dis-

TOWN OP SUBZAUR. 55
tance, bearing about sixteen mUes south-west by
west. Subzaur is a town of one thousand houses : the
governor resides there in a good fort, and exercises
sway over a district in which there are one hundred
sraall KuUahs or fortified vUlages, all of which are
within raoderate distance of the tovrai. A son of
Kamraun's ruled there when we passed. News of
the Shah's coming had gone before us, and much
interest had been excited by the report : all seemed
to think that the restoration of the Suddozyes would
better the state of the country, but the majority
doubted Kamraun's quitting Heraut. " I hope,"
said one of the party, who had seated themselves
near us to discuss the question, " that if Kamraun
does come, he will come in the apricot season, for
my father has a garden, large as from here to the
river, and he takes twopence a head from as many as
like to eat therein." Many ovmers of gardens
near cities in this country, are accustomed to charge
a certain sum to visiters, who are allowed to enter and
eat fruit d discretion : the Persians, who must in
vent a joke upon every thing, declare that at Caubul
the eaters of fruit are weighed on entering and on
coming out of the gardens, and charged for the dif
ference ; and they teU how that a certain wag put
stones in his pocket, which he threw away in the
garden, so that when he had eaten his fill of fruit, and
was weighed on coming out, he was found fighter than
when he had gone in, — a problem which long puzzled

50 DOWLUTABAD.
the virise men of " the city of a, hundred thousand
gardens." Quitting Jamburan on the afternoon of the 21st, we
rode till midnight, about twenty-eight miles. After
twelvemiles we entered hills again, but the road, though
stony, was good for fourteen miles, when it became un
even and bad. Eight mUes on the way was a spot called
Gundutsau, where were two wells of good water : at
Jansau, as many miles beyond, was a small rill, and
again three mUes further on there was a spring. , We-
slept on the road till six o'clock the next morning, and
then marched nine miles and a half, by a hiUy bad
road, to the foot of the high hiU Kharuck, a peak in
a range which runs W. S. W. by E. N. E., bordering
the Furrah-rood valley. We rested under the shadei'
of khunjuk (mastich) trees, by a tiny stream of de
liciously cold water; and having brought food for
ourselves and horses from the last station, we were
content to be without visiters in our retreat. ¦ Our
course in this march was indirect, but Kharuck peak
bore about thirty-five miles south-east of our last stagei-i!
At three in the afternoon we continued our joumey^T?
and riding for an hour to the summit of a not veiyot
high cotul, looked down upon a fine plain bounded by
a nearly parallel range, through which flowed the
Furrah-rood. Across this valley we rode sixteen^
miles to " Dowlutabad," a ruined mud fort, close to '
the river, in which were reflected the many lights of
two large Noorzye khaUs encamped upon the, bank.*
• A road turns off three miles before Kharuck, which passes to the

FURRAH-ROOD RIVER. 57
25th. — This morning we halted, and from the
near khails obtained provisions for ourselves and
cattle, in barter for kerchiefs of coarse but gay-
patterned chintz, tinsel ornaments, needles, &c.,
which our guide had brought with him for the pur
pose. For six needles we got bread for as many
persons, and for a few tinsel rings, chopped straw
for our horses ; provision that some less provident
men of our party with difficulty obtained for two
common reals ; so little does money circulate among
this unsophisticated people. There was however a
Hindoo resident among them, who was by no means
ignorant of its value, as we shortly afterwards found,
when we had to deal with him for corn. This
miserable creature actually resided here alone, cut
off from his kindred, and exposed to every sort ol
indignity, for the sake of making a little money.
When it was told that we were Syuds of Pisheen,
the superstitious shepherds brought their sick to be
cured. Syud Muheen, as the elder of his sect, laid
hands upon the diseased persons, muttering a few
words, and bidding them expect relief; in return
for the service, he received a fowl, all that the
Syuds of Pisheen allow theraselves to accept. The
patients had evidently great faith in Syud Muheen,
and I am sure that he thought himself possessed of
the virtue for which they gave him credit ; imagina-
right of the cotul, through, not over, the hills, and then crosses the
plain to Dowlutabad, There is a halting place on this road called
Aub-e Koreish.

58 AFFGHAUN CREDULITY.
tion goes a great way in such cases, and no doubt
people are often cured by having their minds re
lieved. I was amused to observe our friend's man
ner towards me, when he first began to give out his
blessings, for he had seen enough of my countrymesa'
to suspect that I might not suppose him gifted to
the extent that his own people did, and he felt
uneasy at not knowing what I thought of the matter*
I of course did not hurt his feelings by acknowledg
ing that I was sceptical, and saw that I had light
ened his mind greatly by congratulating him on his
good fortune in being bom to so much virtue, for
he commenced a detail of cases in which his bene
dictions or curses had taken effect, teUing me,
among other anecdotes, that on one occasion in
Sinde, when a man refused food to a small party
which he headed, he had cursed his camels, and that
they nearly all died within three months. A ser
vant of his, who heard us conversing, anxious that
no doubts should remain upon my mind, called to
me when we dismounted, and baring his arm,
showed me a slight scar near his elbow; "This,"
said he, " was done when I was a lad ; we had a
fight with the Cawkers, and they thought to beat
us, but Syud Muheen's father put a spell on their
powder, and the ball which cut my elbow did not
strike me harder than a stone from the hand would
have done."
One would think that their battles with the Sikhs
had cured the Affghauns of the latter conceit, but

FURRAH-ROOD VALLEY. 59
they stiU hold to it : in a corapany of Persian and
Affghaun gentlemen at Heraut, a Khan of the
latter nation was very curious about the European sys
tera of warfare, and, being told that we took most care
to have an efficient artillery, he said good-naturedly,
but with rather a scornful laugh,—" Artillery ! What
would you do with your artillery against us ?
Inshallah, we shall be invading Hindoostan some of
these days, and then our Syuds shall make your
powder turn to water, while our horse will gallop in
upon you and cut you down at your guns." — " And
if you do come," I replied, " as enemies, Inshallah I
we'll make roast meat of you all !" — a retort which
was received with the greatest good-humour by the
whole company.
Furrah-rood valley runs down sixty miles to Kullah
Laush : half way is Furrah, a town of two thousand
houses, near the river, and built under a single hill,
which is in the centre of the valley. There are three
hundred small forts in the province ; the land is fer
tile, and much grain is cultivated, as the shepherds
for many miles round are supplied with it hence ;
but nearly all the land is teool, the province, we
learned, being bound to furnish three thousand horse
to Shah Kararaun. Shumshooddeen Khan, whom
we met at Heraut, had been appointed governor : we
were told that he received annually from the district
twelve thousand Heraut rupees, and three thousand
khurwars of grain. The Furrah-rood was at its low
est when we forded it, — a quick clear stream, fifty

60 LARGEBUR kahreeze.
yards across, flowing through the valley in a broad
bed of soft pebbles. In spring this is a wide and
deep river, and there is always sufficient water in it
for much cultivation. .
From Dowlutabad we rode thirty-one miles, to
Largebur Kahreeze. After twelve miles across jhe
valley, we entered hills, but our road througlj^thi^m
was level and good all the way : twenty -two mil,e| on
the road was Checkau, a spring of good water,
near to it was a smaU fort. At Largebur
there was plenty of good water ; we put up in some
pomegranate gardens, and procured bread and corn
from a neighbouring khail of Noorzyes.
.25th, afternoon. — Twenty-eight miles to Gimi^
neemurgh. Our road was stony and bad, and, lay
close between high hills. Four miles or so on thg
way, at a spot called Caravancasee, were two or three
small canauts of water, which the Noorzyes of a
neighbouring khail had turned upon land cultiyal;^
with cotton and melons. The tribes in the neigh
bourhood have a bad name; a month beforQ,,we
passed, they had nearly killed a Syud, by peltinghipi
with stones to induce him to abandon his property,
at which he stood guard with his matchlock, and Kam?
j-aun, as a sumraary punishment, had ordered the
country round to be chuppaoed. Syud Muheen Shah
could not contain his indignation when relating thg
circumstance., "Not," said he, " that he was onie
of us ; but if any Syud is to be thus with impunity
injured, there is an end of our religion. But In'

TOOT-E-GUSSERMAU-— GHORE. 61'
shallah TauUah," was added, in the spirit of that re
ligion, " they wiU make a clean harry of the rascals
tbis time."
On a former occasion, when a Sirdar was sent to
punish these people, a man robbed him as he was
riding at the head of a party of soldiers. In parts
the road is very narrow, between low sloping hills,
on which grow thick bushes, so that although a raan
may run up thera, a rider cannot foUow him, and a
thief, starting from behind a bush as the Sirdar rode
by, snatched a shawl turban from his head, and was
over the hill out of sight before the chief had well re
covered from his astonishment. To judge by the
many good stories related of their feats, the Aff
ghauns are all expert thieves, and, like the Spartans
bf old, only know shame in detection ; that is, in
being detected before they have accomplished their
robbery, for afterwards, it is a very good joke with
them. Fourteen miles on the road was a spot called
Tbot-e-Gussermau, said to be the half-distance point
between Heraut and Candahar ; it was night when
we passed, but we reraarked the lights of many
khails, and were told that there was much good water
there. The old city of Ghore was said to lie about
thirty-five miles north of this point. Ghore is now
a ruinous ill-inhabited town, the capital of a petty
province, governed by one of Shah Kamraun's sons,
who has his residence there. At midnight we

62 PLEASANT TRAVELLING.
reached Gunneemurgh, a small open space betweeii
low hiUs, where was the spring of a clear riU.
Though it was so late in the year, our night
marches were pleasant : being well clothed, we felt
the air rather bracing than unpleasantly cold, and as
we had all become intimate, we rode socially along in
the bright moonUght, chatting with each other, or
joking aloud, whUst occasionally one of the party
would shout out a wild Pushtoo song. Plain food,
with plenty of exercise and continual change of
scene, kept us in health, and when we halted to rest,
we needed but to lay our heads to the ground to be
immediately asleep. Syud Muheen Shah and I had
become great friends, and our affection for each other
was strengthened by our mutual liking for tea: we
generally took the first watch, and cooked a kettle-
ful which we drank sociably while the others were
sleeping around us, he telling me anecdotes of the
different tribes of his wild countrymen.
In describing their pastoral life, he would draw a
most Arcadian picture of the pleasant spring meet
ings in the hUls of Toba, where the water was like
running diamonds, the plentiful fresh verdure as a
carpet of emeralds, and the air like the odour of
musk ; the last simile certainly, and most probably
the two others, borrowed frora the poem of Youssoof
and Zuleikha, a well-thumbed copy of which my
friend used invariably to produce froni his saddle
bag when he had leisure to con it over by daylight.

PASTORAL ANECDOTES. 63
The shepherds of Toba, he said, would at this
blithe season pitch their camps together, and enter
tain each other, for joy of the increase which the
new year brought them, feasting on larab and fresh
curds, and all the varieties which their wives made
with milk ; hunting with hawks and. greyhounds
during the day, or perhaps following a wolf or a
hyena to his lair, and tying him there ; while at
night, they would sit out late in social parties, con
versing and telUng stories, dancing the Attun in a
a ring, and singing their common songs, or the odes
of their poet Rehmaun. Or he would relate how
among some of the Cawker clans the manners were
so free, that at evening men and women would raeet
unreservedly, join hands in circles, and together
dance the intoxicating Attun, when haply, araong
the young raen, two rivals for the sraile of a girl
would exchange angry words, and go aside to draw
swords upon each other in the moonlight. And
this would lead him to an anecdote of gallantry in
fight, such as that displayed by Tor Khan, Kharoot,
who, when the smaU band with whom he fought was
defeated by the men of the Nawaub of Dera, dis^
dained to fly from their numbers, but standing his
ground, called out and challenged any "man of
heart" to meet him in single combat ; then, seeing
that no one dared to cross swords with him, strode
up to a cannon, and, throvring it over by the
strength of his arms, struck his sword deep into the

64 ANECDOTE OF TOR KHAN.
carriage, and stood there defenceless, taunting his
foes tUl a ball struck him mortally, when he fell, but
with his face towards those whom he had defied, that
it might not be said that Tor Khan retreated a foot
from an enemy.
I have great pleasure in recollecting this journey ;—
there was something very exciting in our vagabond
life, every day showing much that was novel and in
teresting ; above all, there was connected with it a
feeling of independence, which gave an elasticity to
the spirits, and tinged every thing couleur de rose,—
which made the very air taste fresher than elsewhereji
the sky seem clearer, and the stars shine larger and
more bright. With a friend with whom to exchange
thoughts, I know not raany ways in which a man
could spend part of his life more pleasantly ; but a
friend is indispensable, for in sickness or danger, or
anxiety of any sort, it is disheartening to have no
one to look to for sympathy and advice, and, often
as it has been quoted, I raust for its truth re-eoh|
the sentiment of Marmontel, — " II est triste de voir
une belle campagne, sans pouvoir dire a quelqu'un,
voila une beUe campagne !"
At Gunneemurgh we were visited by some At-
chickzyes of a near khaU, who sold us flour and corn.
Ando here our friend was waited upon by a young
man of good famUy, who had ridden to the road from
some distance, in order to gain intelligence of the
JShah's plans. He was mounted on a very beautiful

PREDATORY BELOOCHES. 65
mare, which he had received as a present from Kam
raun, and it need hardly be added that he was a zealous
i-oyaUst. He told Syud Muheen that he had forty
men ready to put foot in stirrup, and said sanguinely,
that, InshaUah, the whole country would be up for
the Suddozyes as soon as they showed that they were
determined to march against the rebels. After a
little conversation, he rose and humbly asked a
blessing from Syud Muheen ; receiving which, he
mounted his beautiful steed and rode away home.
From Gunneemurgh we made a march of more than
forty miles to Washeer. We started two hours after
noon, and were on- the saddle until one at night, travel
ling in considerable fear of the Belooches, who fre
quently come in parties upon running camels, and wait
near the road for travellers. Since the dethronement
of Shah Zemaun, the weakness of the ever-changing
government has permitted these savages to make
their inroads with impunity, and they have become a
terror to the merchants who travel within their reach ;
for not content with robbing those whom they meet,
they seldom spare their lives, perhaps on account of
their superstition, that they may come under the law
which makes a dead raan's goods lawful plunder.
On their marauding expeditions, these Belooches
ride fleet camels, two on each beast ; they are gene
rally well armed with matchlocks and swords, and,
provided with a certain number of days' food, they
lie in wait at some distance from the road, keeping a
look-out for traveUers. The Affghauns, to give a
VOL. II. F

66 PREDATORY BELOOCHES.
strong idea of their ferocity, call them Adtm-khoor,—
eaters of men, and describe them as demoniacal look
ing fellows, who appearing of a sudden from some
ambush, trot up en masse with wild yells to within a
short distance of their prey, when they spread, and,
without listening to parley, proceed diligently to kill
as many as they can, and having collected their spoil,
trot horae again on their baadees, or camels of the
wind. Now and then they spare a remarkably use
ful-looking man to carry him off into slavery, but he
had better be killed, for he can never hope to
escape, and indeed they do leur possible to deaden
his wish to return to his kindred, by disfigurmg him
so that he would be ashamed to be seen at home;
cutting his ears off, destroying the roots of his hair
and beard, &c.
When a kafilah is attacked, all who can, run away;
those whose fate obliges them to stand their ground,
do it with the courage which distinguishes the
Pooshtooneh,* and seU their lives dearly; nay, I
heard of a young Affghaun Syud, who being left
with a few others on foot with their camels, defended
himself with such gallant success, after escaping
many shots which were fired at him, that the super
stitious robbers thought him specially protected, and
neither offered further to hurt him, nor to seize two
camels which he separated from the file as his own,
and shouted out as they were leaving him and his
* The name the Affghauns call themselves by.

BAADEES, OR RUNNING CAMELS. 6?
murdered friends,—" Your blessing, O Syud, goes
with us, Inshallah !"
Scarcely credible journeys are performed by the
running camels of this country. I am afraid to as-
sert positively how far these animals can run in the
course of twenty-four hours, because the natives
exaggerate their perforraances very much, and when
you cannot believe the whole of a story, it is diffi
cult to decide how much of it you are to believe ;
but I do not think I shall greatly err in saying that,
at a push, a good baadee can be trotted one hundred
miles in a full day and night.
Mais revenons d nos moutons. — Syud Muheen
Shah led us in so many directions, to avoid places
where he thought an enemy might be, that at the
end of the stage I could not precisely recollect how
we had come ; but the general direction of the road
from Gunneemurgh is east south-east, and the direct
distance is, I should think, little short of forty railes.
After the first four miles, we got out of the hills,
upon a level stony plain, and went in the direction
of a single high mountain, called Koh-e-doosd, or
thieves' mount, because the Belooches set watchers
upon it to look out for kafilahs : far in the distance
across the plain, we could see a line of hiUs, behind
which the nearest tribes were said to range.
Three miles from the hUls of Gunneemurgh we
crossed the Brahim-jooe, or Ibrahim-jooe river, a
little water flowing south in the broad bed, which is
filled in spring. A fursukh or so up the stream is
F 2

68 ATCHICKZYE ROBBERS.
KuUah Suffeid, a small fort inhabited, Syud Muheen"
told us, by a set of Atchickzyes, who were as bad as
Belooches, and in his endeavour to steer well between
this Scylla and Charybdis, he made so many turns,
that he must have added two or three miles to the
march. His advice to us was, if the enemy comes,
do not spare your horses, but keep close to me, and
never look behind you. I should not omit to men
tion, as a trait of this man's generosity, that he in
sisted upon my changing horses with him, that I
might have a better chance of escape in case flight
should be necessary, saying that he perhaps might
save his life, but that if I lost mine, and he survived,
his good name would be gone for ever. We had
been drilled into being alarmed, and rode together
in silence at a brisk waUi, the very horses seeming
to share our feelings.
Nineteen raUes from the Brahim-jooe river we
came to the broad bed of the Kash-rood, in which
there was not much water. This was considered the
point of greatest danger, for in the bed of the stream
grows much high grass, concealed by which, the
robbers and their camels lie until traveUers pass.
" Now, for your lives, not a word," said Muheen
Shah ; " these fellows have ears like hares ;" and
we scarcely drew breath until we had crossed. Our
nusseeb was good, not a living creature moved in the
grass, and when we had ridden a little distance, our
guide stroked his beard and muttered a short thanks
giving for danger past, not forgetting to add an en-

ANECDOTES OF THE BELOOCHES. 69
comiura upon his own particular hukht, upon which
we slackened our pace, and let loose our tongues
again. I am not quite sure that our worthy leader did not
make as much as possible of the danger, in order to
heighten our esteem for that hukht of which he made
such frequent and honourable mention ; but at all
events, his great apparent anxiety, and his grave in
junctions, had kept us so long quiet, that all felt glad
when the restraint was taken off, and fifteen rainutes
afterwards we could hardly have been known for the
same party, as we straggled on carelessly, talking
and joking freely about the enemy whom we had
just been treating with so much respect.
Each person had a story to tell about the wild
Belooches : one was, that Hadjee Syud somebody
had been among them, and seen that they had made
bags for their grain, &c. with cashmere shawls, which
they had plundered from a kafilah ; the dogs ! how
should they know the value of a shawl ! The burden
of the second anecdote was, how Syud somebody
else, having been robbed of several camel-loads of
sugar, had bethought him of a clever raode of at once
revenging himself and doing a public service. On
reaching Heraut, said the story, he mixed up strong
poison in a quantity of sugar, which he packed on
two camels, and himself mounted on a fleet horse,
took to the road again. Several times did he pass
the dangerous places without meeting the enemy,
because he wanted to meet them ; but at last they

70 ARRIVAL AT WASHEER.
came, and he fled away, leaving his camels in their
hands. Thinking, doubtless, to enjoy such another
treat as they or their brethren had before done, the
robbers paid their hearty respects to the sugar, as
those who have seen the fondness of Asiatics for
sweets can fancy, and so dreadful was the consequent
mortality among them, that the Syud's most venge.
ful hopes were reaUzed, and it is a standard rule
among the Belooche marauders of the present
generation, to partake of no edible thing that may
fall into their hands. I remember no more of the
anecdotes told at this time, for I was latterly so fetigued
as twice to fall from my horse from sheer sleepiness:
considering our pace for the greater part of the way,
I do not think that we could have ridden much less
than fifty miles ; we were all completely knocked up
when we reached our stage, and slept under some
trees tUl the sun was near the meridian the next
day. At Washeer were four little mud forts, plenty of
water, and some large fields prepared for cultivation-
The gates of the fort were closed, and the owners
were encamped outside the walls in felt tents. We
visited one khail, at the risk of being devoured by a j
troop of savage dogs, which singled me out, as if
they suspected what my unguarded English exclama- ,
tions might have betrayed when they fastened on the
skirt of my long robe ; my good genius appeared in {
the guise of a wrinkled old woman, who quietly laying
down her distaff, rose, and with little appareiit'eX'!

ANXIETY FOR KAMRAUN's COMING. 71
ertion Hfted up a large stone, which she threw among
the dogs as a token of her disapprobation, and then
politely told me in Pushtoo that I was welcome. The
tents were of wretched construction, and the people
seemed poor. Both men and women were working
at sraall fraraes, weaving coarse cotton cloths. I
looked in vain for beauty on the scarcely veiled gipsy
countenances of the woraen ; perhaps had the faces
of the youngest been cleaned, charms might have
been brought out, like the beauties of a neglected
picture. Kamraun's rule ended here. The men crowded
anxiously around to hear the news fronv Heraut, some
loudly expressing their hope that the Shah would
come. " God rouse his manhood!" was the ex
pression of a man built like a Hercules, who had stood
leaning on a staff listening to the conversation.
" Does he think we have no swords ? — The Sud
dozyes have becorae women ! How many times has
Kamraun talked of coming and disappointed us !" —
" Whatever UUah wills happens,"^ — answered our
friend warily ; for as we approached Candahar, both
he and his fellow Syuds were careful not to commit
themselves by expressions which might be repeated
to their disadvantage, and they referred every thing
to nusseeb o kismut, fate and fortune. If it was
Kamraun's fate and fortune he would recover the
throne, and if it was the Sirdars' fate and fortune,
they would prevent him ; — decisions which sounded
like oracles from the mouths of men deemed inspired.

72 LUR — KULLAH DOOSHAUK.
26th  Thirty-four mUes and a half to Lur. At
the third and fifth miles on the road were villages,
where there was much excellent water and some
cotton-fields. After eight miles, we came to the
villages of Possaud and Namzaud, near to which was
an old boundary piUar called Yaiklung. Here a road
goes off to Candahar, through the rich country of
Zemeendawir, but no one may travel to the capital
otherwise than vid Girishk, on penalty of forfeiting
his beast and any goods that it may be laden with,
because customs are levied at the latter place.
Lur is a small mud fort in the plain. Quitting
Washeer, we travelled thirty miles or so through low
hills to Kullah Dooshauk, the station at which travel
lers usually halt : hence on to Candahar the country
is plain, of a light sandy soil, which, when irrigated,
is very productive. The hills which run irregularly
over the country between Heraut and this place, are
high 'and bare, and chiefly composed of mixed reddish
and black rock, streaked, and apparently containing
much ore. I picked up two specimens to carry to
India with rae, but unfortunately lost one of them.
I am not sure that it was not stolen from me by some
one who conceived that I had discovered in it matter
for making gold ; for on what other account a person
should trouble himself to pick up stones, a native of
the East cannot conceive, and if he is not sure whoa
stranger is, he sets him down for a spy or an alche
mist. The second specimen of rock vs^as pronounced
by a learned geologist of Calcutta to belong to the

GIRISHK. 73
formation called Greywacke slate. These hills con
tain mineral springs, the water of some of which was
described to be cold in the daytime and warm at
night. Twelve miles from Heraut are some faraous
springs, from bathing in which, it is said, persons
afflicted with cutaneous disorders experience much
benefit. Our next march was to Girishk, on the Helmund ;
a distance of about thirty-two miles. Eleven miles
on the road was the strong little fort of Saadut, about
which much land had been cultivated by means of
Kahreeze water. This fort was buUt by Vuzeer
Futteh Khan for his mother, a lady much renowned
for courage and goodness, who held a petty court
here while she lived : the Affghauns speak of her by
the name " The Mother." On the road we met a
large kafilah of camels, laden with indigo, the mer
chants of which came anxiously to us to learn whether
Kararaun had raoved out of Heraut, as if his array
was on the road, they would not venture forward
with their raerchandise ; they told us that the Can
dahar Sirdars were out with their troops, fighting
against some of the Sheah Hazaurehs.
At Girishk we halted near a large and strong fort,
lately built by the Baurickzye Sirdars, and below a
gravelly hill, on which is buried one Syud Daoud, a
Soonnee saint of note, who in time of yore rode upon
a wall, and cut a passage through the' Helmund for
somebody's army. Under the fort were a few

74 THE RIVER HELMUND.
wretched huts, inhabited by persons who supplied
us with food and corn.
The banks of the river Helmund are about a thou
sand yards apart : the right bank is low and sandy,
but the left rocky and high : the stream, then at its
lowest, was distant from the fort about two miles and
a half; where we forded it the water was stirrup-
deep, and flowed smoothly, but with force, in a clear
stream of three hundred and fifty yards width.
The rise of the Helmund commences in winter,
much rain falling at that season : the stream is
swelled to great depth and breadth in spring, when
the snows melt, and on the quantity of snow which
falls in the raountains during winter, depends its fill.
ness and rapidity. So much snow fell during the
cold season of 1829, and winter broke up so suddenly,
that very early in the next spring a great torrent
came down from the mountains, which at night swept
away some entire khails frora under the very walls of
the fort, and flooded the whole country on the right
bank of the river.
Ameer Ali, our Meshed acquaintance of rascally
memory, crossed the Helmund at Girishk, in spring,
when it was at its height. There were two large
crazy boats, of the art of governing which the water
men were quite ignorant, and on board one of them
got some fiarty souls and half a dozen horses : when
they loosed, aU repeated a fateheh, " Ushudoo Un,
La Illah II Illah !" and away they went down the

DECEPTIVE DEPTH OF WATER. 75
current for three raUes, the boatraen hallooing and
straining to work tq the side, and the most timorous
of the passengers making all sorts of vows in case
they should safely touch shore again. At last they
got out of the current, struck happily against the
bank with a shock which threw thera atop of each
other, and were then quietly towed up streara again
opposite to their starting-point.
In summer the water of the Helmund is so clear,
that you are liable to be deceived about its depth.
Two raonths or so prior to our coraing, the Sirdars
had lost their best gun, in consequence of the drivers
mistaking the depth of water at a part they atterapted
to ford, and men were still engaged in the endeavour
to get it out. The banks of the river are yet
marked by villages and cultivation, but the oppres
sions of the rebel governors have made the view very
different from what it was, for so late as in the days
of Zemaun Shah, the Helmund was said to flow
through a garden.

76 GIRISHK.

CHAPTER IV.
Journey on across the rivers Helmund and Turnuk to Ghoondee Mun-
soor Khan — Halt — Author's severe illness —Keramut Ali's visit to
Candahar — Remarks upon the government and country — Descrip
tions of Affghaun character and manners — Continuation of journey
over the Khojeh Amraun mountains, and across the river Lora, to
Syud Muheen Shah's home in the valley of Pisheen.
We arrived at Girishk late at night, and were de
tained the next day, and until the night of the second,
by two officers of the customs, a Mooselmaun and a
Hindoo, who, whatever was the difference of their
religious creeds, held the same opinions on the point
of honesty. The first day one of them was absent,
so no business could be done, much to Syud Mu
heen's vexation, for he said that a kafilah was to leave
Heraut the day after us, with which would travel
some persons whom it was prudent to avoid.
The next raorning early we saw about two hundred
horseraen ride in : as soon as Muheen Shah had re
connoitred thera, he bade rae observe one young man,
that I might avoid him. " He wished to travel with

A- TROUBLESOME ACQUAINTANCE. 77
me," said my friend, "but, knowing him to be a
meddling fellow, I told him I was not going to start
for four days ; now, if he sees you with me, he wUl
suspect something, and if the Sirdars hear of you, it
is all up with us; there is not such a dog in the
world : but I raust humour him, so you go and stay
in ' The Mother's' garden, below there, tiU I come
to you." I accordingly went, and lay " perdue" all
day, in a fine garden made by the mother of Futteh
Khan. In the evening came my friend in good spirits, to
say that he had quite blinded his acquaintance, pre
tending to have left the city suddenly, for fear that
Kamraun was going to exact something from him.
" I knew," said the Shah,* " that he wished to
marry into my father-in-law's family at Caubul, so I
pretended to favour his suit, hinting that if he left
the matter to me, I would arrange it ; so now we are
fast friends, and whatever he sees or hears, he will
say nothing."- Further, my friend told me, that he
had arranged matters so that our departure would be
connived at that evening.
The duty of three and a half golden ducats is
levied upon every horse at Girishk, besides six and a
half more at Candahar, and the contents of all loads
should be examined and declared at the first place.
Syud Muheen Shah, thinking that it might not be so
well to submit sorae little knick-knacks that we had
* The title of " Shah," I should have observed, is given in these
countries to men esteemed holy.

78 STRATAGEM TO EVADE THE DUTIES.
to the view of the officers, and also that it was pru-
dent not to let our arrival be known at Candahar,
bribed the Hindoo and bis colleague to let us pass
unsearched and unregistered. To his countryman he
gave a little money and many promises of blessings,
and to the Hindoo a sum in hard cash, the only thing
that would move him : we were desired to load and
steal away without bustle, lest the other travellers
should observe our departure, and afterwards in
form against us, accordingly, about eight o'clock, we
quietly left our ground. The Hindoo agent stood
upon a small bridge to see us fairly off, and warn us
to secrecy, doubtless congratulating himself upon this
roguery ; but had he known who I was, he would
not have been so easily satisfied.
" That is a work weU done," said Muheen Shah,
when we were en route again. He is a deep fellow,
that dog of an idolater, but, Inshallah ! I have been
too much for him." I did not feel myself caUed upon
to object to my friend's lies and illegal acts, for I saw
that they were the coin of the country, and that there
was no getting on without thera. My morality, I
fear, had suffered a little from contact with these
people, for I reraeraber seeing so much reason in
Syud Muheen's apology for his contrivances, that I
did not atterapt to gamsay it. " When I am among
honest men," said he, "I defy any one to say that
an action or a word of mine is crooked ; but what
would my honesty avail rae among such rogues as
these r

CROSS THE HELMUND. 79
A man who was going to his home over the
water, offered to show us the ford for a trifle, and
under his guidance we crossed at a point about
three miles and a half below the fort. In the centre
of the stream, a pony belonging to a Syud of our
party lost footing, and fell with a load of silks ; so
when we reached the opposite bank, it was decided
to remain there till morning, and the wetted cloths
were laid out to dry in the wind. It was a sad mis
fortune to the proprietor, but, as it had happened, I
did not regret the accident, since it gave me an
opportunity of seeing this noble river to advantage
by daylight from the high bank. I asked our guide
how much water there was in spring. " As much
as it pleased God to send," was his reply ; a fair
specimen of the answers you may expect when seek
ing information in these countries. This pious man,
seeing the sUks laid out to dry, extorted some money
from their owner, by threatening to go and inform
against him for smuggling ; and-just as he was about
to depart with what he had thus obtained, he
profited by a second temptation of the same sort ;
for hearing loud shouts from the river, he went down
to the ford, and caught a person in the middle of it,
who proved also to be charged with smuggled goods.
It was the unlucky Candahar moolia, who had been
robbed of his Koran the night we slept in the plain
near Jamburan. I have seldom seen a more ludi
crous figure than this man presented when he toiled

80 RIDE - TO- KBOOSH-N AKHOQD.
up the bank, with one hand holding a bundle on his
head, and with the other grasping the tail of'a hdfi;
drowned little pony, which- pulled him along. He.-
paid the guide his hush-money in kind, protesttog
that he had no cash, and then, sitting down by t|ti
fire, he declared his conviction that he was under a
course of visitations for some bygone sin, for that. no-
undertaking now prospered with him. He had, it;
appeared, gone back on the Heraut road,- and then;
made a great circuit to arrive at the ford, whjeh;he,
reached a little after us, then, attempting to crossd
where he had seen our torches, he had ridden his:
pony into deep water, and felt himself compelled. toi-
haUoo for assistance. He did not even get symav
pathy, for the party were too much engagedjwiii.I
their own losses to think of his ; thereftH^ev mt%)
another sigh at his evil fate, he sought the? only
worldly refuge that a man has in sorrow — sleep. ' ..^
The next morning we rode, in the teeth of a
cutting wind, thirty-one miles to Khoosh-nakhoei
where we found several "khails"* pitched, about!
some large pomegranate gardens. We remained)
here two hours, and then marched on fifteen miles.n
more to Houz-e Muddut Khan, a reservoir of watery,
near which we halted to sleep. I got little ; for thes!
fatigue of so long a ride, added to the injurioils/!
effects of marching alternately in the heat of thg'i
* " Khail" is the Affghaun name for an open village or encanapiBeiitvai

MUHEEN SHAH's RESIDENCE. 81
sun and the cold night-air, had made me iU, and I
suffered a very common misery, in lying restless,
while ten others were snoring around me.
At sunrise the next morning we rose to conclude
our journey, and after travelling along the road
together for a little distance, parted compasny ; our
corapanions following the high road to Candahar,
which they said lay directly east, about seven for-
sukhs distant, and Syud Muheen taking us across
country to Ghoondee Munsoor Khan, a point said to
be about sixteen railes south of the city. Our cross
road took us by raany villages, the fine lands of
which were well watered and industriously culti
vated. Twelve railes on the road we forded the
Urghandaub, still a quick stream, although so much
of its water had been drawn off above, for the cul
tivation of fields which marked its course from a
great distance.
Three miles before Ghoondee Munsoor Khan (or
Munsoor Khan's mound), we crossed the river
Turnuk, a shallow stream between high banks of
crumbling sandy earth, and an hour after noon we
reached a small kuUah, lately built by Syud Muheen
Shah, in which one of his wives, and his brother-in-
j law's faraUy were residing. Muheen Shah and I
.had ridden on ahead with one of his raen : I missed
ithe latter at the river Turnuk, and guessed that he
bad been sent on to notify our approach, when I saw
my friend washing and combing out his beard, and
making a few alterations in his dress.
VOL. II. Q

82 AN AFFGHAUN WELCOME.
At a little distance from the fort, Syud Muheen
was met by his brother-in-law and two or three
relations, a brace of household slaves, and the other
male domestics of the family, who received him with
much ceremony, and led the way into the interior,
where the same forms of welcome were repeated.
"She raughle I shejureel — be khiree! — Salau-
matee I — she juree I be khiree Salaumatee I he
juree I he khiree !'' Sec. " You are welcome ! you
are opportunely come, happily, and in good season,
you are welcome, you are happily come, you are
welcome,'' &c., terms all of nearly the same signi-
fication, which are exchanged with much gravity
several times, by all Affghauns who meet after a
few days of separation.
Syud Muheen and his brother-in-law met upon
terms of equality, and hugged each other " a 1' Aff
ghaun," by pressing shoulder to shoulder; but the
lowest menial in the house offered his respecHiil
welcome, and was kindly answered by the master;
nor were the complimentary inquiries restricted to
the person of Muheen Shah, for the state of his
attendant followers was also asked after, through
their master; he with the utmost gravity turning to
each man to inquire how he felt himself. " Lulloo,
you are weU? Muttoo? Anzul.?" — and Lulloo,
Muttoo, and Anzul, nodding their heads in the
affirmative, and ejaculating each " Shookr UUah,"*
he felt himself at liberty to answer for their respec
tive healths. The manner in which all this was
* Thank God.

AFFGHAUN ETIQUETTE. 83
done was amusing to a stranger, but as an instance
of national raanners, it spoke well for the people,
and it called to mind the history we read of the
" good old times" in our own country, when masters
treated their servants more as if they conceived
thera to be fashioned out of the sarae clay, and the
latter repaid the courtesy with affection terapered by
respect. Our friend had talked much to me on the road
about his second wife, and I expected to see him
make at once for the " underoon," to be welcomed
by. her ; but etiquette would not allow him to betray
a desire to see his lady, until he had sat a due time
with the males of the family; — in such superior esti
mation are men held in these barbarous countries !
As we rode along in the morning, we had been
considering the merits of our respective country
women, and my friend, I thought, had displayed a
very gaUant feeling for the sex in general ; I there
fore took the liberty of asking hira why he did not
hasten to salute his wife. " What ! before my
brother-in-law ?" was the answer, " that would never
do." Now the man professed to be very fond of his
wife, and I know did not care a rush for his brother-
in-law, for he cautioned me against too intimate an
acquaintance with him. " He is my relation," were
his words, " 'tis true, and under obligations to me ;
but though his tongue is smooth, his heart is not
better than any body else's, so do not trust him with
many of your secrets." G 2

84 CHARACTER OF SYUD SYFOODDEEN.
This relation, Syud Syfooddeen, (or the sword of
religion,) called "for short" Syud Syfoo, made a
great dinner for us, and we sat down to it in the
evening, more than twenty persons of all degrees.
The host was, I imagine, very much the man that
Muheen Shah described him, except that he was a
fanatic, and any thing but smooth-tongued when
discussing religious topics. On seeing Karaumut
Ali and his protege, he guessed that they were
Sheahs, and set himself to work to prove them ; but
he raet his match in Karaumut Ali, who was too
well versed in the tenets of the Soonnees to be
taken unawares, and he led the prayers, and traced
his descent from the best branch of the orthodox
Syuds, with a self-possession that quite baffled his in
quisitor, who, still unconvinced, changed his batterj^
and began to heap maledictions upon the sect of Ali,
— sentiments which my friend echoed with perfect
sangfroid, and which his protege assented to for
safety's sake. I pitied the latter, knowing that his
feelings would be much hurt ; but he made himself
sorae amends afterwards, for when we retired to rest,
and he had laid himself snugly under his coverlid,
he spent half an hour in muttering the bitterest
curses on the three first Caliphs, and on all who
might follow them, without reserve^ and doubtless
went to sleep with a mind much reheved. "
Once .uipon the subject of religion, Syud ' Syf^o
would not : let it rest, and next he attacked me/ by
asking if my countrymen ¦. did not eat hogs. , Seeiflg

REMEDIES FOR FEVER. 85
the company look very much disgusted, I shook my
head, in the hope that they would not believe in the
possibihty of such a thing ; but here I reckoned
without my host, for Syud Syfoo had been at Bom
bay, and hastened to insist upon it that he had seen
a hog being prepared for the food of the Feringee
soldiers ; " they had him in a tub," he explained ;
" they had cut his throat from ear to ear, and were
shaving him with hot water." The credit of my
nation was at stake, and in such a case veracity
would have been a fault ; so I boldly corrected him,
by saying that we had indeed a low caste of men
who partook of swine's flesh, but that no ashroff —
no gentleman among us ate pig ; and Syud Muheen
cleverly nodding assent to this, and adding that I
was a gentleman of the first order, and an altogether
clean person, who did not even drink wine, I raore
than recovered the ground which I had lost.
1. I felt truly glad when the asserably broke up, for
I was very ill, and the next morning found that I
had got the jaundice, and to boot, what the French
are pleased to call " %ine bonne fievre." My first
act was to send for a barber, but when he came he
would not bleed me, because it was Friday ; so I
took at a venture a large dose of calomel, and ab
stained from food. During the nine days that we re
mained here, I was confined to my bed, and more
than once thought that I should die ; for I could not
shake off the fever which was daily reducing my
strength, and those who professed to understand the
other malady, said that if my colour did not shortly

86 ROUTES FROM HERAUT TO CANDAHAR.
change for the better, it would go hard with me.
So many recipes were offered, that had I used half of
them I might have died of another disease. One of
them I remember was — a breast of roast mutton ;—
a remedy which one of Syud Syfoo's dependents
assured me had brought him round when he was
very bad indeed with the same complaint. Syud
Muheen Shah thinks that he was the means of
curing me, by advising the decoction of a bitter
herb to be drawn up the nose, so as to produce a
discharge from the head, — the usual mode of treating
the jaundice among the Affghauns ; but I was so
very ill, that I cannot ascribe my cure to any
medicine, and should be sorry to orait expressing my
gratitude to that Providence which preserved me in
this as in every other chance of ray journey.
The route by which we carae from Heraut to Can
dahar has not, I believe, been travelled by any other
European. It is reputed to be the most difficult, *
because the most hilly, of three roads, but a httle
labour would raake it an easy one. The DUaram,
or usual kafilah road, was taken many years ago by
Mr. Foster, and there is no reason to suppose that
its state has been materially altered since the period
at which that traveller wrote.* The third road is
said to be similar to the Dilaram one.
During our journey, we met very few of the in-

* Two distinguished officers now commanding the forces of Maha.
rajah Runjeet Sing, — Generals Allard and Ventura, — travelled through
Persia and Affghaunistaun to the Panjaub some years ago, but they,
unfortunately, published no account of their journey.

COUNTRY BETWEEN HERAUT AND CANDAHAR. 87
habitants of the country, and were able to form but
an imperfect notion of the extent of population : in
the daytime we scarcely saw any body, but at night
lights would shine out all round us, from distant
khails or sheepfolds. Near some of the usual halting-
places are found khails, from which travellers obtain
flour or bread, and grain for their horses ; but the
body of the people, divided into sraall pastoral so
cieties, wander with their flocks in the broad vaUeys
away from the road. Still, however, judging from
the barren appearance of the country, and from the
circumstance of so little of it being cultivated, and
also from the general result of our inquiries, I should
say that the country between Heraut and Candahar
is but scantily populated.
Though the appearance of the land was bare (we
viewed it the end of autumn), so bare, indeed, that
an English farmer would probably deem it impos
sible to feed sheep upon it, the flocks that we saw
seemed to thrive upon the short and scanty herbage
which it produced. The soil is in most places such
as might be profitably tiUed where there is water,
though it is not generally used otherwise than as
pasture-land, distinct parts of the country being set
apart for cultivation, such as the neighbourhoods of
Furrah, Subzaur, Ghore, &c., to which the people
repair at proper seasons to cultivate grain, and then
return to the care of their flocks again. We occa
sionally saw spots cultivated with cotton, but except
in the vicinity of towns, I conceive that this plant is

OO THE NOMADE AFFGHAUNS. T"
grown more for private use in the khails thaaufof
sale. The Affghauns are all for a far nienteMe,
and, dwelling under riide felt tents, they are confent
to live poorly, so that they may live idly and inde?
pendently. They are clothed coarsely ; gaily when
they can afford it, but always dirtily, and their fere
is very simple. The common food of the Affghauns
is kooroot, hard pressed salted curds, which 'are
scraped and boUed up with butter, and eaten with
unleavened bread. They never tire of this foodj
and it is arausing to see the eagerness with which a
party will get round a bowl, break their bread into it,
and then thrust their huge fingers into the mess. I
have heard a man who had been eating little else all
his hfe, exclaim with a sigh of sincerity after licking
his fingers — " Hei kooroot ! by heaven, it is a good
thing, kooroot!" ¦>
It is chiefly in spring that the nomade Affghauns
allow themselves the luxury of flesh; they roast or
make broth of it, not having palates for the delicacies
which are eaten in cities. At a feast, the ¦ mastea:
waits upon his guests, sees that their dishes are filled,
and encourages thera to eat, handing choice bits to
the most favoured persons. Words are not wasted
during the meal, the company addressing themselves
to the food set before thera, with a gravity becoming
the grand occupation of life, and when they have
qualified their meat with a hearty draught of wat€j5»
and washed their hands, the eldest man of the contf
party prays, for a blessing upon the host, to which %

THE NOORZYE AND ATCHIKZYE TRIBES. 89
rest say " Aumeen ! — God bless him, and increase
his store, InshaUah!"
;From Heraut to Largebur Kahreeze, the people
who inhabit the country through which our road lay
are of the Noorzye tribe ; between the latter place
and Gunneemurgh, the country is chiefly occupied
by Atchikzyes ; and then again on to Girishk, you
meet Noorzyes. They are fine-looking raen, tall and
stout, with clear brown complexions, black hair and
eyes, and brilliantly white teeth, and wear an ap
pearance of great manliness and good humour. Some
times a man descrying our party from afar, would
make for a point in the road, and there await us, to
see who we were and learn the news, or to beg a
blessing from the Syuds of Pisheen. Our patron,
Muheen Shah, appeared to be known by every body,
and when his (I may call thera) adorers ran eagerly
to his stirrup for a benediction, he patted them affec
tionately on the head, with " God prosper you brother,
and give yon increase 1" and such other expressions
as were suited to their circumstances.
All sorts of accidents and desires were submitted
to the consideration of the Shah, and he prescribed
for the different cases with much tact. " God increase
your store !" said he to a petitioner for his blessing; —
i^ Inshallah ! God is gracious," was the answer,
"but our two camels have been sick ever since
spring, and Jandaud lies up there sick with the
shaking fever ; do something for us !" — " She, she,
good, good! we wiU say a 'fateheh,' fol- Jandaud."—-

90 AFFGHAUN LEVIES.
" Ho! Syud Moortesa! Syud Daoud! a fateheh for
Jandaud Khan !" — and getting their horses together,
they held up their palms while Muheen Shah mut
tered a prayer, reverentially stroking their beards
when he had finished it. " And the camels?" asked
the suitor. " Keep a good heart ! I swear to you that
I lost my best camel not two weeks ago! it was
fated! nusseeb kismut ! — but never despond; UUah
kureem deb! UUah is merciful! it will be well,
Inshallah!" and with such homely consolation he
comforted and dismissed his foUower, who remained
on the road-side after we had ridden on, to supplicate
all blessings upon so good a man.
From meeting so few people between Heraut and
Candahar, I was induced to ask our friends whence
Shah Kamraun expected to get his partisans. In
the different khails of the road, I was told, were
many horses, and as friends to the royal cause would
muster from all quarters, far and near, there would be
no great difficulty in getting together a volunteer
levy of four or five thousand cavalry. The state*
ment was probably correct, for during the last civil
war in Affghaunistaun, large bodies of irregular
horse were frequently collected on short notice.
Every man is a soldier according to the fashion of
the times ; he has a sword, if not a gun, and if he
does not himself own a horse, he can borrow one.
It is easy to raise an army in this country, the diffi
culty is to keep it together ; for if their wants are
not provided for, the soldiers soon betake themselves

CITY OF CANDAHAR. gj
to their homes, and frequently, when experiencing
the best treatment, mere caprice will induce some of
them to desert their standard and go over to the op.
posite party.
While I lay sick at Syud Muheen Shah's house,
my friend Karaumut Ali went to the city : on his
return he gave me the following, I am sure, correct
description of it :
" The city of Candahar is a third larger than
Heraut. In shape it is a parallelogram, three thou
sand six hundred ordinary paces long, by eighteen
hundred broad, and its length is north and south.
The city is enclosed by a bastioned mud wall, on the
ramparts of which three men can walk abreast, and
a ditch, lately made by the Sirdars, encompasses the
entire extent of this. The depth of the ditch was
about nine feet ; it was partly dry, and in parts re
tained pools of water, which had run through the city
into it. Water is conveyed into the town from a
little distance by three canals ; this supply might be
cut off, but there are many wells inside. In the
south quarter of the town is a citadel of no great con
sequence ; the city is nowhere commanded, but it is
not on the whole a place of strength."
Provisions, my friend said, were very plentiful and
cheap, two broad and well supplied bazaars, according
to his description, running across the city at right
angles to each other, and meeting in the centre of it
mnder a small domed square. The Syud was lodged
in a house with half-a-dozen Affghauns, at whose

92 CLIMATE OF CANDAHAR.
dirtiness he expressed much disgust; and^; to de
scribe the city, he said, " You know what Heraut
is ! well then, imagine (if you can) a town and. a peo-
pie some degrees raore filthy : — Tooff! — I spit upon
the beards of such beasts : I shall never be clean
again !"
The city of Candahar being a third larger than
Heraut, its population, if my calculation regarding
the latter city be correct, maybe rated at sixty thou
sand souls;. We could not procure accounts of the
produce of the country, but were told that the Sirdars
had resumed all the lands which had been held in
teool under the royal government, and that they
exacted as much as they could from the cultivatorgii
By taxes, and by oppressing all classes of peoplej
they were said to collect annually one hundred
thousand gold ducats, which are equal to : about
.£50,000. , - ,1
., The climate of Candahar is not so good as thatjof
the country about Heraut, for in summer the heat is
much greater, and in winter more rain than snowt
falls : but still the place is esteemed healthy. As in
Persia, the inhabitants of Affghaunistaun can easilyi
change their cliraate. In suraraer many of the Can-
da,harees make a journey of two or three days to the,
hills of Toba, where it is always deliciously cooL u' :
The finest fruits and vegetables are grown in thei'
neighbourhood of Candahar : among the fruitg,:, the.
pomegranates are especially esteemed. Were this
city the seat of a just government, it would be the

THE CANDAHAR SIRDARS. 93
centre of a large circle of rich cultivation. The soil
is good, and water abundant, and though the cultiva
tors were oppressed by the rebel Sirdars, still it was
apparent from the cheapness of grain at Candahar
that much was raised. We required no stronger
proof of the Sirdars' misrule, than the circumstances
of Shah Kararaun being desired. He certainly was
no Noorshewan, yet we raet few who, on being told
that he was coming, did not express a hope that he
would bestir himself, and add a prayer for his success
against the zaalim* usurpers.
On the last day of the Syud's stay at Candahar,
he saw the Sirdars ride into the city. They had
lost some men in battle with the Sheah Hazaurehs^
and hastily made peace with them, on hearing that
the Shah was about to march from Heraut. He de
scribed thera as " portly, richly dressed, but vulgar-
looking raen, who rode their horses stiffly in order to
fippear consequential." — Their troops were all called
in, couriers were sent to Caubul, as well as to their par
tisans in the country round, and orders were given tb
put their artillery (six or eight good guns) into the
best state. It was raoreover said that instructions had
been issued to prevent any traders frora proceeding
with their merchandise to Heraut, lest Kamraun
should seize them, and by thus enriching himself be
better able to prosecute the war. A similar order,
we heard, was about to be issued by Kamratm, when
-•" * TyrannieaL '•

94 THE SYUD TAKEN FOR AN EUROPEAN.
we were on the point of leaving Heraut ; — a sad in-
stance of the opinion that the beUigerent powers en-
tertained of each other, and a very satire on the
fortune of princes.
On the same day the Syud was singularly accosted
in the bazaar of Candahar by an Affghaun, who
would insist upon it that my friend was an European,
and lately arrived from Bokhara. He only got rid of
the fellow by treating him as though he thought him
crazy, and indeed it argued great want of sense in
the man to take a person of my friend's complexion
for a Feringee. It was evident that the Indian who
had endeavoured to rob us at Heraut, had visited
Candahar, and reported our intended coming, and
that the man who accosted the Syud, had been im?
perfectly informed of the story regarding us. Wh^
Muheen Shah was told of the circumstance, he urged
the expediency of continuing our journey, and an old
Doorraunee nobleman, whose kullah was close, to
Syud Muheen's, (Munsoor Khan of honourable fame,)
being told in confidence of my being there, advigfd
my making no longer stay than necessary, lest the
Sirdars should hear of ray arrival, and cause me to be
detained or ill-treated.
There could be little reason to doubt the sincerity
of Munsoor Khan's advice, for his own brother had
been murdered by the rebel chiefs, in violation of
their pledged word, and he himself had suffered many
indignities at their hands. Infirm and irapoverished,
the old noble maintained his loyalty, and spurning

MUNSOOR KHAN. 95
their offers of favour as the price of blood, in the
midst of adversity, preserved that true dignity of
which the worst fortune cannot deprive an honest
man. Munsoor Khan, if my recollection serves me
aright, was the nobleman selected by Zemaun Shah
as his ambassador to the court of Persia, and very
worthily, it is said, did he discharge his office. We
heard frequent mention of his narae, and it was al
ways, coupled with terms of regard; nor do I remem
ber any trait of the Affghaun character which struck
me more pleasingly, than the devoted fidelity with
which the Khan's vassals seeraed to cling to their
master in his adversity.
Men such as the younger brothers of Futteh
Khan, who possessing neither principle nor talent,
found themselves suddenly raised to great power
which they had no certainty of retaining, were not
likely to look rauch beyond their immediate interests ;
and, accordingly, we see that they employed every
means to enrich themselves, at the expense of those
who had been thrown into their power. Such con
duct, they were probably able to foresee, could only
lead to a strong reaction of feeling in favour of the
royal family, and therefore they sought to crush those
influential men who were disposed to restore the
Suddozye dynasty ; but though by murder and rapine
they removed some, and weakened others of the
chiefs whom they feared, among the nobUity gene
raUy they met with a spirit of hereditary pride and

96 MUNSOOR KHAN.
deep-rooted attachment to old institutions, which re
solutely opposed itself to their usurpation ; and in-
stances of devoted fealty to the Suddozye family are
recorded of Doorraunee chiefs, which call to mind'
the unflinching and generous loyalty of those gallant
gentlemen of our own nation, who engaging' in the
long unfortunate cause of the Stuarts, sacrificed their*
lives and fortunes rather than acknowledged' the
authority of those whom they considered usurpers of
their place.
Araong the many names thus distinguished,' I re
member hearing that of Munsoor Khan's brothel
above alluded to, Mucksood Khan, who, weU known
as a loyal and influential nobleman, was marked out
for destruction by the Candahar Sirdars, but who,
the soul of honour himself, beheved the rebels wheii
they swore not to injure hira, and trusting him
self in their hands, was basely plundered ' and de
prived of life by them. And of old Munsooir'
Khan hiraself, who when carried before the Sir
dars, and told that he should be tortured if he
did not declare his wealth, answered them by scorn
fully asking how much malice they could wreak upon
his limbs, crippled as they were by wounds and age;
and told them that he had expended his riches^as
became a nobleman, on his soldiers, and in relieving
the needy; then remerabering his brother, the oti
Khan raised himself, and fearlessly upbraided the
usurpers with their cruel treachery, and told theiii
that they were a curse on the land, whom God

CONTINUATION OF.- JOURNEY. 97
would soon remove, and foUow with his vengeance
for 'their wickedness ; — and they were awed, and
d#red not hurt him, but, affecting to laugh scorn
fully, let him go, because, as they said, he was the
old soldier Munsoor Khan, — that is, privileged.
On the eve of our departure, when Muheen Shah
came to my bed to propose continuing our journey
on the morrow, I felt far from equal to the under
taking ; but he expressed himself so anxiously, that
I agreed to attempt it. There was reason in what
my friend urged, — that as I had made some stay at
Heraut avowedly an Englishman, the Sirdars, if
they heard of my living incog, at his house, would
fancy that my journey was in some way connected
with the king's affairs. "And do not fancy," added
he, in a low tone, " that your being here can long
remain a secret ; there is Syud Syfoo, ray own
brother-in-law, if no one else would, I do not know
that he would not inform against me, if he thought
it would serve his interests to do so. Sahib ! you
do not know my countrymen ; on such an occasion I
would not trust my own brother."
,,,.In order to give his relative an interest, in my
welfare, Syud Muheen bought a horse from him, for
vvhich he engaged to pay on his return from Hin-
c(oostan. "He knows now," argued the Shah,
flf^that our nusseebs are bound together, so for his
own sake he will be careful not to injure us : he
must not, however, see that I doubt him, or have
any complaint against him, (though. I have, as I
VOL. II. H

98 DEPARTURE FROM GHOONDEE MUNSOOR KHAN.
will tell you another time ;) — we will talk him fair
now, but when I get to Pisheen, see if I do not
play him a trick. InshaUah ! I can throw dust into
a man's eyes as well as another."
Syud Syfoo, it was frequently made evident by
his manner, could not get the better of his prejudice
against my companions : he had assured himself that
the Persian and the Lahoree were Sheahs, for they
went about the Soonnee forras in so slovenly a man
ner, that I could have detected them myself; and
though he could never catch Karaumut AU tripping,
he took it for granted that he was of the heretical
sect also : moreover, the man was a hypocrite
as well as a bigot ; he felt that my friend saw into
his character, and hated him for his acuteness. For
me " the sword of religion" latterly affected the
warmest regard, and when I took leave of him, he
prayed that I might become a Mohummudan, I
did not believe that his wish had even sincerity to
recommend it, and we had so many times come to
the conclusion that he was an arrant rascal, that I
did not feel in the least degree obliged to him ; but,
politician as I had become, I thanked him for his
consideration, and bade him adieu as though he had
been one of the best men in the world.
We marched from Ghoondee Munsoor Khan on
the 10th of November ; our own party, two Syuds
of Pisheen (the one a friend, and the other, a
follower of Muheen Shah), and a Khanehzad, or
home-bred slave, half negro half A%haun, who

DOOREE RIVER AND BROOK ARGHESTAUN, 99
called our host master. We had given two of our
horses and some money for three camels, which
carried our baggage and the Lahoree. Muheen
Shah lent one of his horses to Karaumut AU, and
mounted me upon a Chahargoosht, or four-eared*
Bokhara pony, a stout shaggy animal, not unlike a
a bear, which had been trained to a quick and easy
arable. We made a short march of sixteen miles to
the Dooree river, in the bed of which there was
much good water. Five miles on the road was the
brook Arghestaun, the water of which is famed for
its exceUence. Ahmud Shah Doorraunee, we were
assured, would drink no other when he was at Can
dahar, and by his orders it had been weighed in a
scale with other waters, and proved to be far lighter
than any of them.
11th  Thirty-one miles to Kullah FutooUah.
After three miles, we got upon the road coming from
Candahar, near to Lylee Mujnoon, a high rock,
under which there is a spring of water. Sorae ac
count for the name of this rock, by asserting, that
" that ornament of frantic lovers, the heart-consumed,
anguish-pierced Mujnoon," threw hiraself frora its
peak, in order to convince the father of " the Empress
in the dominion of loveliness, Lylee, the heart-ra-
visher," that be was really in love. They assert
that he fell upon his legs, and that where he lighted
the spring gushed ; but there are others again, who,
* So called, because the animal's ears are usually slit in two.
H 2

100 CHARACTER OF THE NOORZYES.
presuming on their coUege education, treat the story
as an idle tradition, and go so far as even to doubt
whether Mujnoon was ever in this part of the eoun-
try. There, however, as our friend's friend acutely
remarked, stands the rock, and at its foot the springs
and a man may believe just as much or as little of the
tale as he feels inclined to.
Kullah Fut, or Put-ooUah (for the Affghauns ge
nerally use p for /), is a mud fort, situated in a, broad
bare valley, four raUes beyond a narrow line of hills,
called Gautee, which run nearly parallel with the
range of Khojeh Amraun. The Noorzyes who inha-i
bited the fort, Muheen Shah warned us as we were
riding up, were a set of great Namrauds (Angli«^
blackguards), whom it would be well to have nothing
to say to ; and his words were shortly verified,ifora
man of the crowd which assembled round us to hear!
the news and sell necessaries, began to quarrel with
him about the price of something. Words ran very*
high tUl our friend, finding that his opponent's voice
was the loudest, and that as a stranger he was fight")
ing at disadvantage, turned to the crowd, and hold
ing up his hands, exclaimed, "Very well! very well I
I say not a word more ! but please God, you will
see some accident befall that man before eight days;
Only wait eight days ! Inshallah TauUah ! the curse
of Syud Muheen Shah will not go to the wind. ¦ In
shallah TauUah !" and then he turned away, muttefi'''
ing, and looking as black as possible.
This very much altered the state of affairs, for

AFFGHAUN CREDULITY. 101
these men well knew the narae of our patron, though
they had not till then been acquainted with his per
son, and they sought to pacify him. The quarreller
attempted to keep up his high tone, but he pre
sently slunk away on seeing the turn that the matter
had taken. Muheen Shah for a time indignantly
refused to listen to those who now crowded round
him, with endeavours to appease his anger. He
wore the appearance of a deeply injured person, and
would only answer their apologies by quietly repeat
ing, " No, no ; say nothing ! say nothing ! only wait
eight days." At last the offender was brought be
tween two of his friends to ask pardon, and when he
had humbly cried " Toba" (peccavi), Muheen Shah
suffered himself to be entreated, and took off the
anathema, gravely congratulating the man upon his
timely submission, and warning him not to trust his
tongue again in a dispute with a Syud of Sha
deezye. We here witnessed another instance of these peo
ple's credulity. A woman with a swollen arm came
in the evening to Muheen^Shah to be cured, when he
spat upon the limb, and muttered something, order
ing her to remain quiet and do no work. The next
rooming the woman came with a plate of raisins as a
thanks-offering to our friend, saying that the swelling
was reduced, and that she felt much better. Muheen
Shah magnanimously refused to accept the raisins,
but he took all the credit of the cure, and the woman
went away blessing him.

102 AFFGHAUN CREDULITY.
We could not fail to observe that there was a con-
siderable portion of cunning mixed up with the Shah's
•superstition, and I was sorry to remark it, for I felt
so much obliged to the man, that I wished to consider
him above the mean immoralities, a disposition for
which I am now inclined to think all Asiatics imbibfe
with their mother's milk. I regretted the discovery
also on a selfish principle, for if you happen to see
one of your best friends impose upon another, it is
difficult to exclude from your mind a lurking doubt
of his perfect sincerity towards yourself. However
a second, more powerfully selfish, feehng interfered
to prevent our laying the first one too much to heart;
we profited too well by our patron's conduct to feel
beyond measure disgusted at it, and in aU things re
lating to his treatraent of us, he was, to use the
praise of the Lahoree, not a man, but a Ferishtah, a
very angel of a man.
12th. — As we were shivering round a fire in our
poosteens, an hour before sunrise, an old graybeard,
with a fresh, golden-pippin sort of complexion, came
up and laughed at us. for looking so cold. He told
us that he was a native of the hUls of Toba, where
the snow lay for five months in the year, and where
in summer the water was so cold, that you could not
take a long draught of it. He was ninety years old,
he said, and had lately married his third wife, andhe
talked as if there was no likehhood of his dying fcr
the next fifty years.
From Kullah PutooUah we rode across the valley

WELL OF KHAN-E-AULUM. 103
twenty-four miles to Chokee, a small spring of good
water, at the entrance of the Khojeh Amraun hiUs.
After we had traveUed six mUes, Syud Muheen led
us off the road some little distance, to show us an
extraordinary excavation, called Bhoulee Khan-e-
Aulura, or the WeU of the Lord of the World. A
passage some eight or ten feet broad, and two hun
dred paces in extent, was cut down through hard
gravelly earth, td a circular chamber of, if I recollect
right, about twenty-one feet diameter, which had
been sunk perpendicularly, like a well, to a depth of
perhaps one hundred feet below the surface. From
this level a small well had been dug, in which there
was water at the' depth of thirty feet, and which we
were told was often used by the shepherds, who, in
different parts of this plain, have dug other wells
from which to water their sheep.
Who Khan-e- Aulum was, it does not appear. Like
the King of Bohemia, he is described as " a certain
king," who was marching at the head of a large army ;
arriving at this spot very thirsty, and being un
able to get any thing to drink, he ordered a halt, and
commanded that water should be found while he
slept ; upon which the troops set to work, and la
boured so strenuously, that a goblet of water was
presented to "The Lord of the. World" on his
awakening. It was a valley of wonders, for we were
shown a rocky hiU in the distance, whence on a cer
tain night every year would come the sound of sharp
firing of musketry, and groans like those of dying

104 KHOJEH AMRAUN HILLS.
men, sounds which, whatever they were, were not
mortal. Ten mUes on the road from KuUah Putoollah,
we crossed the dry bed of the Kudunny, which holds
water only in winter and spring, and towards sunset
we arrived at the foot of the Khojeh Amraun hills.
We all felt inclined to halt at the spring, except
Muheen Shah, who said that we must get on as far
as possible that night,- so as to pass a police station
before light on the next day's march ; and accord
ingly we rode on.
The Khojeh Amraun hills are a broad range,
which rise gradually above each other to the main
line. The first are very low, and the highest have
no great altitude. From Chokee spring to the foot
of the main range, a distance of about four miles,
our road was on a gradual ascent, and it was bordered
by many little deUs, in which grew khunjuck trees
and many shrubs. " In spring," said Muheen Shah^s
friend, "it is Behisht here (Paradise) ; the snow
melts into clear riUs, and a light cool air is always
blowing, to bear to .you the fragrance of a thousa,nd
odours from the shrubs and flowers which cover the
hills." We were too weary to applaud this poetical
description, having ridden without food all day ; and
Syud Muheen led on without the least regard to our
fatigue. We crossed the highest ridge by a steep
and narrow but short ascent, and then, descending
leisurely two and a half or three miles, by a rocky
and winding path, halted for the night at a spot where

CAUTION OF MUHEEN SHAH. 105
the road opened out between the rocks. We made
a blazing fire of sticks, upon which we placed the
trunk of a tree, and then, making a frugal meal of
bread and water, betook ourselves to a comfortable
slunjber. The camels, which were up with us at
Chokee, did not arrive till within an hour of mid
night, so difficult was the path to them.
Very early the next morning, Muheen Shah
made us march on, in order that we might escape
particular notice at the dreaded station. It was six
miles, by a broad good road, to the outlet of the hills,
where, at a post called Chookee Shumshoo khan,
we were stopped by a party of the Pisheen Hakim's
men, and ordered to pay duty upon our camel-loads.
It was now sunrise, so that Muheen Shah's object in
hurrying us on had been frustrated; but he knew
what, was to be done in such a case, therefore de
siring me to wrap my poosteen about me, and sit
apart, so as to let it appear that I was unwell, he set
himself to make friends with the collectors of cus
toms, and when he had said a fateheh for one, and
spoken encouraging things to the others, he told
them that he was in an extraordinary hurry, and
begged that they would not detain his camels. The
iiibeasts, he protested, were only laden with pomegra-
, inates, which he was going to take to the Hakim at
„! Quetta ; the horse-merchants were anxiously waiting
his arrival, as it was tirae they should be on the road
to India, and he had much to do before starting, &c.
-My companions, he said, were return pilgrims, la

106 THE RIVER LORA.
lad of Heraut, son to Syud somebody's friend, and
very sick with the yellow complaint, as they might
see ; and to make a long story short, he gave them
a bribe, and they let us pass.
Five miles to the right of this post, was visible
the castle of the Hakim of these trustworthy feUows,
AbdooUah Khan Atchickzye ; a man so notorious
for his viUany, that (according to the Shah's idea)
there was no reason to entertain the slightest scruple
of conscience for having cheated him.
Ten miles frora the outlet of the hills, our road
entered a jungle of tamarisk wood, which runs far up
the Pisheen valley : through this we rode six miles
to a river called Lora, which comes from Burshore,
as stated by Mr. Elphinstone. The water of this
stream was rather muddy, and lay in a deep bed of
soft crumbling earth. We crossed where the water
was about three feet deep, and rode four miles
beyond, to Shddeezye, the khail of the best families
of the Syuds of Pisheen.
Our coming was observed when we were at sorae
distance frora the khail, and all the Syuds who
happened to be at home came out to welcome us.
There were twenty or more men, and a crowd of
fine children, who discontinued their sports when we
dismounted from our horses, and stood in a body
respectfuUy behind their elders.
Gravity being considered a great sign of wisdom
in these countries, there was no lively expression of
pleasure at the meeting, but much ceremonious

WELCOME TO SYUD MUHEEN's HOUSE. 107
salutation, solemn repetition of inquiries after
healths, and hugging ; which being duly over, Syud
Muheen walked to a smaU enclosure, within which
was the grave of his deceased elder brother, where
he stood sorae time in prayer. After his devotion
had been accomplished, he introduced us to his
younger brother, and then led us to the court of his
own residence, within which he pitched a small tent
for our accoraraodation. I need scarcely add, that we
received hospitable treatraent as long as we re
mained here.

108 THE KHOJEH AMRAUN HILLS. -

CHAPTER V.
Khojeh Amraun, Speen Taizhe, and Toba hills— Valley of Pisheen-;-,
Shorawuck and Shorarood — Inhabitants of Pisheen — History of the
Sh&deezye, Hyderzye, and Kerbolah Syuds — Affghaun social life-
Personal narrative during a sojourn at Pisheen.
The range of hUls named by Mr. Elphinstone
Khojeh Amraun, or rather that portion of it which is
visible from the valley of Pisheen, runs N.N.E. and
S.S.W. We crossed it by what is termed the Koz-
huck cotul, four miles to the left of which, viewqi^,
from Pisheen, is another similar pass, called Eog;.
hanee ; and again, six mUes to the left of Roghanee
cotul, is the pass of Ghwozhe, which comes througli,,
not over, the hills, and is passable by any thing. ,,,!
This range has three naraes. Speen Taizhe,
Khojeh Amraun, and Toba. The centre, or Khojeh,
Amraun division, extends from a point twelve miles
to the right, or north-north-eastward, of Kozhu^
cotul, to another point about twenty-eight milesjto
the left of it. The Speen Taizhe division runs to
the south-south-westward of Khojeh Amraun, twenty-,,
four miles, when the range ends in sand. Wliere.,
the Khojeli Amraun division ends (twelve milp^g) (^

SPEEN TAIZHE AND TOBA HILLS. 109
the right of Kozhuck cotul, the hiUs take the name
of Toba, with which they run up a hundred and
sixty mUes, to Murgha in Bukhteeauree country.
They first, according to my information, go through
the country inhabited by the Noorzyes Ahmud
Khan ; but I confess that I am not certain about the
course of these bills beyond Pisheen, as I do not
know where either the Noorzyes Ahmud Khan or
the Murgha Bukhteeaurees are seated. At best, a
traveller across this country must feel rauch uncer
tainty in laying down chains of mountains from
native report. The land is covered with irregular
hiUs, to almost every peak or turn of which the
people give a separate name, and it is only by
learning that several parallel routes come to cotuls
about the same line, that you may presume them to
cut a connected range. When I was seeking infor
mation in Pisheen, I was entreated not to appear
curious about the country, but to wait for Syud
somebody, who would join us on the march, who
knew all the hills in Khorassaun. This person (if
there was such a person) did not join us, and it was
not till after our arrival in Hindoostan, that I
obtained the latter part of the information which
has been given above.
Every body gave the sarae account of the cliraate
of Toba. Between the long and severe winters
which the inhabitants of these hills experience, they
enjoy a very delicious climate : the tops of the hills
are table-lands, which are greatly cultivated by

110 VALLEY OF PISHEEN.
raeans of the water which springs every where in
abundance ; one enthusiastic resident of this part of
the country, in describing it said, that even if there
was not water there, the very air would raise the
crops. The valley of Pisheen, or as it is soraetimes called
Pisheng, is formed by the Khojeh Amraun range,
and another nearly parallel but scanty line called
Ajrum, which divides it from the province of Shaul,
The valley is thirty miles broad, and twice that dis.
tance in length, and apparently is high land between
Burshore and Shorawuck, for at both of these places
we heard great accounts of the cultivation, while the
water of the river which runs down Pisheen, lies in
so deep a bed, that it cannot well be raised for the
purposes of agriculture.
Lora is the Pushtoo for river. The Pisheen lora,
as stated by Mr. Elphinstone, has its rise at a spot
called Tubbye, above Burshore, which is a small fer--
tile tract at the head of the Pisheen valley. The
stream has the name of Aub-e-Burshore during its
course from Tubbye to the end of the district ; there
it receives the water of the Soorkaub, a stream of the
sarae size, and flows on down the vaUey with the
narae of Lora, or, the river.
The khaU of Shadeezye is buUt on the bank of
another lora, which rises at a place called Ser-e-aub,
ten miles to the southward of the town of Quetta, It
comes up to Hyderzye khail, then turning, flows
down past Shadeezye, four mUes or so below which

SHORAWUCK AND SHORAROOD. HI
it joins the Pisheen lora, and the united streams flow
on past Shorawuck and Shorarood, one hundred and
twenty mUes, into an aub-istaada, or lake, described
as eight miles in circuit.
Shorawuck and Shorarood are two districts about
twenty miles distant from each other, which, being
well irrigated by the waters of the lora, are greatly
cultivated with wheat, barley, and bajra, of which
grain, of the last especially, many camel-loads are
yearly exported to Kelaute-e Nusseer, Pisheen, &c.
When the snow melts and runs from the mountains
in spring, the loras, after their junction, form a deep
and rapid stream. The lake which receives their
waters appears to be on the border of the sandy de
sert ; it decreases much in size during the hot months,
but it is never dry. A young Syud, who told me
that he had spent several days there shooting wUd
fowl with baU, said, " The lake is deep at flood
(spring) time, but the sand drinks so much water,
that a man does not know how much flows to it then,
and at other times the cultivators draw the water off
before it reaches the lake."
Pisheen is inhabited by Tor Tereens, by different
families of Syuds, and a few Hurasayehs, or natura-
lized strangers. Situated between the weU-cultivated
districts of Burshore and Shorawuck, the Pisheengees
can be easUy supplied with grain frora either quarter ;
yet StUl the Tereens cultivate portions of the valley
by means of canaut and rain water. Both they and
the Syuds possess flocks of sheep, which thrive, as

11€ INHABITANTS OF PISHEEN.
elsewhere, upon very little. Formerly the Syuds of
Pisheen held the best part of the vaUey in free
tenure, but the rebel Sirdars resumed all the crown
grants, in spite of the remonstrances, nay threats,, of
the holy men, and the latter now occupy themselves
rather with commerce than with agriculture.
The far-famed Syuds of Pisheen are divided into
three classes : the Shadeezye, Hyderzye, and Ker-
bolah-e. The Shadeezyes call themselves the first,
though I imagine the Hyderzyes make as much of
themselves ; but neither admit the Kerbolah-eesto
any thing like an equality ; for as the credit of their
supernatural virtues is valuable, they are anxious to
share it with as few as possible. The following, ac
count of these esteeraed raen was extracted by my
friend Karaumut Ali from the Tuarikh-e-khan Je-
han-e. The Syud's own traditional account differs
soraewhat frora it, but as neither is true, the discre
pancy is of no great consequence.
Kyse, Abd-ool Resheed, or " the slave of the
Deity," is looked up to by the Affghauns as the
ancestor to whom they owe their conversion to Islam ;
and they say that Mohummud, charmed with his zeal
and gallantry in the cause, gave him the title of
" Buthan-e Islam," or " the keel of the faith,"
whence is supposed to have been derived the word
Puthan, the narae by which Affghauns are designated
in Hindoostan.
Fifth in generation from Kyse Abd-ool Resheed,
descended Haroon. He was a fakeer, a poor devout

ORIGIN OF THE SHADEEZYES. 113
man, who possessed one goat and one daughter, and
subsisted chiefly upon what he got in the chase.
One day that Haroon was out hunting as usual,
four WuUee OoUah (that is, friends of God, or holy
men) having with them a lad, came to the tent.
His daughter " was a girl of understanding, who had
been well brought up," and she hastened to welcome
the strangers in her father's name, baked a cake for
their iraraediate refreshraent, and killed the goat to
dress it for their dinner. At even time Haroon re
turned from the chase, empty-handed and wearied,
but he blessed his fortune when he found who had
come under the shelter of his tent ; he praised his
daughter for her good conduct, then, forgetting his
fatigue, set hiraself assiduously to wait upon his
guests, washing their hands, and serving thera at
meat, &c. and at night, when they retired to rest, he
gave them up his own covering.
The next morning, when the holy men were about
to depart, Haroon frankly told them his circum-
stances ; that there reraained to him in the world
but one things — his daughter; but he declared that
rather than allow men of their character to leave his
door without a present, he would give thera that
daughter, whom they might sell, or themselves retain
as a slave.
'-- Charmed with the good man's disinterestedness,
the WuUee OoUah expressed their determination to
.reward him for it. His daughter, they said, they
;would marry to the lad who was with thera, a youth
VOL. II. I

114 HYDERZYE AND KERBOLAH SYUDS.
of holy origin, by name Syud Doorjamaul, and they
there made good their words. When they took
leave of the young couple, they blessed them with
all the virtues to which their descendants now lay
claim, and they foretold that seven children should
be the issue of the marriage, who should inherit their
properties, and be widely known as the Saadzye (or
posterity) of the Syud, and from a corruption of this
word, or from shadee, signifying raarriage, the head
khail of these descendants was named Shadeezye.,,, ^is
The Syuds of Hyderzye khail derive their name
from one Syud Hyder, who went out from the head
quarters ; therefore it is fair to suppose that they are
as highly gifted as the generality of their connexions
at Shadeezye. I say the generahty, because though
Syud Doorjamaul's virtue is supposed to run more or
less through all the faraily, it is judged to dwell with
greatest potency in the persons of the elders, and the
family in the direct line of descent claim the chief
exercise of it.
The origin of the Kerbolah Syuds is thus described
in the book from which the above information was
extracted; When the WuUee OoUah were about to
take leave of Haroon, they told him that under a
certain tree, on a certain road, he would find a child,
which had been there exposed to chance :* the

* This relates to a superstitious custom which prevails in parts of
the East. Sometimes a parent whose child will not thrive, or who,
perhaps, has lost several children successively, decides that an evil fate
attends him, and fearing therefore the death of the infant^ he exposes

GENEALOGY OF THE SHADEEZYES. 115
foundling they said, was a Syud, and they directed
Haroon to adopt and cherish it, and caU its name
Kerbolah ; then, it is said, they predicted much good
fortune to him and the child, and departed in a very
mysterious manner.
The Shadeezye Syuds affect not to be very sure
about the last section of the above history, nor are
they content with that part of it which relates to
themselves in particular, for they contend that they
can trace their descent from the martyr Hossein
through Syud Doorjamaul, who, they say, was one of
four brothers, Door-*jamaul, Door-jelaul, Door-ka-
maul, and Door-delail. Door-jelaul is the raan
widely known as Syud Jelaulooddeen Bokharee, who
rose to fame at Bokhara, and afterwards settled in
the city of Ooch, where he died and was buried.
His genealogy is traced frora Hossein ; but, accord
ing to all that I can gather frora some of the most
esteemed Soonnee writers, he had only one brother,
which is rather against the Pisheen Syud's claira.
It is very difficult to get at the truth of a story
which is thought good enough to be adopted by se
veral parties, for no one scruples to alter the circum-
it, in the hope that some more fortunate person will look upon and
adopt it. I imagine that very few Mohummudans would hesitate to
act the part of the good Samaritan to an infant thus cast out : we
knew an old Indian Syud at Meshed who had adopted a foundling boy,
and he complained that the father, seeing his son grown into a fine
young raan, had declared himself, and was continually endeavouring to
recover his own flesh and blood.
* The word Door (Pearl) prefixed to the above names, is a favour
ite term of honour with the Affghauns.
I 2

116 SYUD JELAULOODDEEN.
stances of it to serve a special purpose or a prejudice,
and what one knave writes, twenty fools copy. A
Soonnee who traced his ancestry up to some Peer*
or other, whom he wished to prove related to Syud
Jelaulooddeen, showed me a clumsily devised Poosht-
nameh,t which deduced the origin of the Syud from
Hossein's son Ali Asghur, who was kiUed when he
was but six months old ; and when I happened to
apply to an Indian Sheah Moolia for information, he
said, " All that I know about that Jelaulooddeen is,
that on the eighth day of the month Mohurrum,1: we
give breakfasts, when before each person is placed a
sweet milk cake, some radishes, ginger, onions, mint,
cheese, sweetmeats, and a basin of mutton broth;
then, as we eat, we invoke curses upon him, and his
father, and his father's father, and upon all the dogs
of the same faith who carae before and after him ;
and upon all those who did foUow, do follow, and
will follow them : and to every curse that one in
vokes, the rest cry, ' Besh bad! may it be worse
than that ! and be it upon him who echoes it not, or
who feels sick at hearing it !' "
Ask a Sheah if Jelaulooddeen was not a Syud, he
answers, " Yes, in the line of Jaffer the liar, to which
hangs the following tale : When Huzrut Imaum-e-

* The head of a religious sect. -j- Pedigree.'
J The anniversary of the day on which Abbas, the brother of Ali,
fell a martyr at Kerbolah. The Sheahs on this day give breakfasts, to
commemorate his sufferings, and vent their spleen upon the sect who
caused them.

SYUD JELAULOODDEEN. 117
Hussan Uskeree was at the death of his father de
clared Imaum, his younger brother Jaffer disputed
the title with hira ; upon which it was agreed that
they should seek a Hookura* at the shrine of Huzrut
Ali. They went together to the tomb of the saint,
and separately addressed the following salutation to
him : — ' Vssalaamo Aleika Yah Ali Ibn-e Vbbee
Taulib !' Peace be upon you, O Ali the son of
Aboo Taulib. .To which a voice from the tomb an
swered — ' Wo Aleikoom Salaam Yah Imaum-e
Hussan Uskeree! And upon you be peace, O
Imaum Hussan Uskeree !' This settled the question,
and from that day Jaffer bore the name of "Kuzzaub,"
the liar. Soonnees name him Jaffer-e-Tuwwaub,
Jaffer the penitent, and are not ashamed to trace
their descent- from him ; but the Sheahs altogether
deny his legitimacy, and when it does not suit them
to allow a Syud's pedigree, they ingraft it upon Jaf
fer Kuzzaub's family tree.
However, the reputation of Syud Jelaulooddeen is
too well established to be much shaken by such as
saults, and as he belongs to the strongest party, the
greater number of Mohumraudans are bound to be
lieve the following account of hira.
The original narae of Huzrut Syud Jelaulooddeen
Bokharee, UUah Sirrahoo,t was Syud Hossein.
Jelaulooddeen signifies eminent in religion, and was
the title given him on account of his exceUence. In
* In this sense, a decision by oracle.
t The blessed Syud Jelaulooddeen ot Bokhara; may God sanctify
the place of his rest !

118" SYUD JELAULOODDEEN.
his youth, the Prophet (upon whom the' highest
blessing and the most perfect peace) appeared to him
in a dream of the night, and commanded him to go
to the King of Bokhara, who would give him a daugh.
ter in marriage.
In obedience to the fortunate mandate, the Syud",
took his excellent presence to Bokhara, and repairing
to the gate of the Shah's palace, desired the parties
to go and tell the King that the son of a Syud,
whose name was Shah Hossein, and who had lately;
become a young man, had come to marry his daugh
ter. The servants took in this plain message to the
King, who fell into such anger at what he deemed his
insolence, that he commanded the audacious stranger's
head to be instantly taken off; but the Vuzeer, hint
ing that as the youth was the son of a Syud, such a
sumraary act would not look well in the eyes of the
people, suggested that the offender should be impri
soned, and had hira sent to the royal cook-room,
there to abide the Shah's pleasure.
It was deterrained by the King and his sage mi
nister quietly to sraother the audacious stranger, and
when a quarter of the night was gone, they shut him
up in a hot oven. The King then went to bed, but
in his sleep the Prophet appeared to him with an
angry countenance, and said, " O sinner, what pre
sumption has possessed thee to shut up one of my
descendants in an oven." The King, awakening in
terror, on the instant,, with naked head and feet, re
paired to the cook-room, and threw open the oven

jelaulooddeen's syud. 119
door, when he beheld Syud Hossein seated com
posedly inside, unscorched, and devoutly reading the
Koran. CaUing him forth, the King feU at his feet,
and beseeched pardon for his great mistake, then
leading the holy raan to the royal apartment, he at
once gave him a Princess for wife, and loaded him
with honours. This is why the Syud is called
Bokharee. This being about one of the best stories going
among the Soonnees, it is no wonder that the Pisheen
Syuds should have endeavoured to identify thera
selves with it. They are illiterate men, who would
have no objection to abide by any good tradition
that served to raise them in their own conceit, and
in the estimation of their superstitious countrymen.
It is, however, but doing them justice to say, that
they are to the full as great enthusiasts as cheats ;
that, the state of society considered, they do not
make a bad use of their influence ; and that, whether
from consideration of their gentle blood, or from a
necessary care of their conduct, they are far more
respectable, and much better behaved men than
their neighbours.
We remained eight days in Shadeezye khail, and
were kindly treated by aU the people. Muheen
Shah's friends, I believe, for the raost part thought
that, to use their style of expression, he had "ruined
his house" by becoming surety for a stranger ; but
since he had embarked his fortune in such a venture,
they felt themselves bound to put a good face upon

120 KHAIL OF SHADEEZYE.
the matter. When we left Ghoondoe Munsoor
Khan, I could scarcely sit upon my horse; three
days afterwards, such was the effect of change of air
in this fine climate, I was suffering only from the
weakness consequent upon my illness. Perhaps. also
I partly owed the amendment to the free use of the
juice of fresh pomegranates, a sack of which fruit
Muheen Shah had brought from Candahar... I
mention the circumstance, because it gives me plea
sure to note .a trait of the kind attention which 1
throughout experienced from him.
At our friend's house I rapidly recovered strength,
and amused myself by stroUing about to observe the
manners of this society. My great desire to ride up
and down the valley, was opposed by Muheen Shah,
who begged me not to go abroad, lest any of the
horse-merchants assembled in Pisheen should report
me to the Hakim, AbdooUah Khan, who would
certainly detain us, and probably make his protectipn
of me an excuse for ruining his family ; so of course
I did not press the point.
The khaU of Shadeezye consists of about one
hundred and fifty families, whose houses are built in
two villages, which are close to each other, and
situated at a distance of two hundred yards from the
crumbling bank of the lora. A few of the best re
sidences are built with thick mud walls, covered with
beams, but the greater number are mere huts. How
ever they all seemed to live comfortably, and to take
a very laudable care of each other. In Muheen

EMPLOYMENT OF THE INMATES. 121
Shah's Httle court there was a house which he had
given up to the family of a poor Syud, and he and
the other heads of the khail gave the man grain, and
such things as were necessary for his family — " for
the sake of God, and that he might pray for them."
Our friend's residence consisted of a line of low
rooms, which occupied one side of the court. There
were no signs of riches in his establishment, but that
was no better evidence of his condition than was his
personal appearance. It is not politic for a man to
exhibit his wealth in such a country, and Muheen
Shah pointed out to rae, in confidence, several exces
sively dirty fellows, who were reputed among them
selves to be very well to do in the world.
The raen were busily engaged during the day,
some with their horses, which were picketed all
round the khail, preparatory to being taken to India
for sale, while others, or their male slaves, would take
camels to the tamarisk wood, to bring in a store of
fuel to last their families during the approaching
cold season.
The feraales and their bondswomen were well
busied in household labour ; repairing to the river to
fiU water-skins, which they would bring back upon
their heads, cooking food for the men entertained as
grooms, and preparing needful things for their re
latives' journey. Labour and exposure had, I fancy,
made raany of the women look older than they were,
and less handsome than they otherwise might have
been, but there were not wanting among thera some sun-

122 DRESS OF THE WOMEN.
burnt beauties, as I had opportunities of observing ;
for though their manners were very retiring and
modest, living, as they were, like one separate family,
they were not restrained by the rules which bind wo
men who reside in cities, therefore instead of covering
up their figures, and peeping through sUps of bob
bin-net, as the Persian women do, they wore plaids
thrown loosely over their heads like the veUs worn by
Indian women, which but half-concealed their fea-
tures, and frequently, when engaged in household
occupations, they allowed their veils to faU upon their
shoulders, so as to discover their heads. The hair was
worn h la Madonna, and I remarked one very pretty
girl, living near us, who had plaited hers wher#
it was parted ; a coiffure which I take the hberty of
strongly recoraraending to the notice of ladies of all
nations. The apparel of the woraen was simple, consisting
of a long chemise, which feU from the neck to the
heels, trousers fitting tightly round the ankle, and
the plaid or veil above described ; and, hke Scotch
women, they appeared to feel gin^e in shoes.
This leads me to the tale of Muheen Shah's griev
ances, which, when we were at his kuUah near Can
dahar, he promised to tell me all about. On the
road he had given me several hints that he had some
thing in petto for Syud Syfoo, and when we had
been a day or two at Shadeezye, he unburdened his
mind in a long conversation with me.
It appeared that, on some occasion when the khail

DOMESTIC GRIEVANCES. 123
did not, he thought, pay sufficient respect to his
opinion, he had paired off with Syud Syfoo, and, as
he candidly confessed, raade a fool of hiraself, by
buUding, at joint expense, the kuUah in which we
had stayed at Ghoondee Munsoor Khan. However,
as the raoney was burnt, he began to leave off think
ing about it, but his chum soon gave hira other
trouble for his thoughts, by insisting upon the neces
sity of building this and that upon the joint account,
and raoreover teaching his wife to be dissatisfied be
cause she had not fifty useless things which Syud
Syfoo gave his own wives ; but worst of all, when he
returned this last time to his home, he found — that
his spouse had forsaken the ways of the Pisheen
Syudanees (I thought he was going to tell rae that
she had changed sorae raaterial part of her faith).
She had grown asharaed of the siraple and modest
habiUments which becarae the wife of a Syud of
Pisheen, and arrayed herself splendidly in silk and
satin cb la Persanne !
This, he said, he could not overlook ; he had given
his lady a bit of his mind, and InshaUah Tallah I he
bad a hoonur (stratagem) which would astonish his
brother-in-law. " This evening," concluded he^
" you wUl see the chief Syuds come, in the name of
aU the khaU, to make a formal request that I will
send for my family to reside among them, as it is
fitting the house of a peerkhaneh should. I will
make a great favour of complying with their request,
and then it wiU be known that I have Hstened to the

124 PASSION FOR INTRIGUE.
desire of the khaU. My ' House' wiU be sent for, as it
were in their name, and then Syud Syfoo and his
Persian women may make the most of the kullah."
In effect, at evening came a deputation of elders
to wait upon Muheen Shah, as he had taught me to
expect, and a long hour did they sit and argue with
our friend, who met their words with loud Pushtoo
orations, and, to judge from the tone of his voice,
seemed quite opposed to their wishes. At last,
however, he slackened, and allowed himself to be
entreated ; thanks and adulations were lavished upon
him, and he gave a finish to the artifice, by putting
on the air of a man who had sacrificed a private feel
ing to a deep sense of public duty. ?
The passion for intrigue appears to be inseparable
from the character of an Asiatic. Throughout' the
eastern world it is the raain spring of every action,
affairs of state and the petty details of life being alike
managed by it ; and to such an extent is the feeling
carried, that I really think I am justified in saying,
that if a man were sure of gaining his point by going
straight to it, he would risk the loss of it rather than
not work it out by intrigue. A raonarch who writes
himself the Pole Star, the Grasper, the Asylum, the
Father, and what not else of the world, and who is
represented as powerful as Fate, exalted as the Plei
ades, and dignified as Jupiter ; the Sovereign of the
age of the world ; Ruler of the sea and land ; who
needs but nod his august head to cause those of a
thousand of his too fortunate slaves to roll at his feet,

MUHEEN shah's CONFIDENCES. 125
has his brain full of plots and stratagems, the greater
part of which are as unkingly as superfiuous ; and
below hira, from the prime minister to the peasant,
affairs of the greatest moment and most trivial con
sequence must be directed by it ; so assiduously do
they heap intrigue upon intrigue, that they must
sometimes be very much puzzled to know whether
they are not plotting against themselves.
Muheen Shah and I had become so very intimate,
that he did not scruple to tell me all his secrets. It
is irapossible that a man can live with the weight of
an unshared grievance upon his breast, and my friend,
perhaps feeling himself safer with me than with his
own people, was glad of an opportunity of relieving
his mind confidentially ; at least he always appeared
much lighter when he had said out his say. Nor
did he, on other occasions, scruple to talk about
domestic raatters when he saw that they amused and
interested me. Womanhood is a delicate topic to
discourse upon with a Mohummudan, but Muheen
Shah had received kindness at the hands of two or
three ladies of gentlemen with whom he had dealt in
the course of his professional wanderings in British
India, and had seen much of the freedom of our life,
therefore he was not in the least shocked or ashamed
to answer me when I inquired about the customs of
the feraales of his country. His " Asherut khanum,"
or Lady of delight —
" The loved of all others, whose smile was the light
That lit up his Harem, his beauteous and bright,"

126 muheen shah's ' CONFIDENCES.
was, he told me, at Caubul ; a beautiful creature of
thirteen (my friend was some eight-and-forty years old)
whom he would really show me, Enghsh fashion, if
ever I came to Caubul. Once set the Shah upon
the theme of this love, and there was scarcely a pos
sibility of diverting his thoughts ; she was so beauti
ful and graceful, — I forget his extravagant similes,—
so every thing that was perfection ; and he loved
her the more, that he had long wooed, and with dif
ficulty won her ; for her parents were of high rank,
and though, of course, they esteemed him, they
thought him not rich enough, or that they might
marry her to some one of their own rank ; and the
mother raade a difficulty about his having other
wives ; but at last they recollected that he was a
Peerkhaneh of Shadeezye, and all that, and over-
carae their scruples ; and when at last every thing
was settled, he so increased in fat, from very joy
that his clothes would scarcely contain him.
His first, rest her soul ! had died some years ago,
leaving him the pledge which he had shown me (a
dirty little boy) ; perhaps he should take a fourth a
year or two hence ; why not ? the Prophet, upon
whom be peace, had four, and offspring were rare
things ; but still he did not know, — the one at Cau
bul was such a sweet creature ! so sweet, — that were
she to spit in the salt waves of the sea, they would
become honey ! And then the second one was a good
girl at heart : — good when he was near at hand to
keep her in order I

how to CORRECT A WIFE. 127
My friend's method of keeping a woman in order
was a striking one. He had occasion one day, he re
lated, to correct his wife, and he took up a bridle for
the purpose. Unfortunately the iron bit which was
at the end of it swang round and struck her on the
side, and then he knew that she was really hurt, for
she left off screaming, and lay down upon the ground
and moaned. He was very sorry, very sorry indeed,
for he never would have struck her to hurt her in
such a raanner, but he preserved his dignity, and
walked away, and raoreover he kept aloof from her for
two days, when she came and assured him of her
humble contrition, and promised not to offend again.
" However," added the Shah, " I determined never
to strike a woman again except with my hand, —
never except with my hand, — and I am not sure now
but that it is good not to strike a woraan at all, for I
have seen your countrymen's beebees in India, and
they are not beaten ; — ^but then again, your women
have understanding, and do not raake fools of thera
selves." I took the liberty of asking my friend what fault his
wife had comraitted. "I will teU you," said he. " One
day I observed that she wore something hung from
her neck, and told her to show it to rae : she refused
till I becarae angry, and when she did take it off and
show it, I saw that it was a charra, which she had
procured from some one or other, in order to keep rae
at home. I ordered her to take some water and rub
the ink off the paper, but she not only would not obey

128 AN UNREASONABLE HUSBAND.
me, but refiised to give it to me even, keeping it fast
closed in ber hand; so I took up the %idle and
threatened her, but still she kept it, saying that I
should not travel, but remain at home ! What could
I do ?" — " Do !" exclaimed I, with an indignation
which quite astonished the Shah, "why it was an
instance of great affection for you ; she wished to re
tain you near her!" — " Oh! yes," said he, "thatis
all very weU, but if I were not to travel, I wonde4
who would provide for the house, and what would
become of the Alika Malika.*
I hope that any lady who may chance to read this
will not think my friend a monster, otherwise I shall
regret having made public details of a connubial-
fracas which he confided to me in the" honest sim
plicity of his heart. By nature, the Shah was one of
the raost tender-hearted of men, but the prejudices
in which he had been educated, made him think that
a strong demonstration of authority was necessary to
maintain the discipline of his house. The worst part
of his deed was, by his own telling, accidental, for he
only had recourse to the bridle as a last resource,
when all his condescending requests had failed ; and
the ungallant ideas which prompted him to the use of
it, were derived from too high an opinion of his sex ;
an error naturally to be entertained by a man whose
religion teaches hira that he is equal to four women. '¦
Neither would I have it inferred from the anecdlite
* The children. Alika is the Pushtoo for children ; Maltka is a
word added for sound's sake, as if we were to say children pildren. }%.

AFFGHAUN WOMEN. 129
that the Affghauns Ul-treat their woraen ; on the con
trary, they are both proud and fond of them. Those
who dwell in the country have ' such confidence in
their women, that if they absent themselves from
their homes, they leave their wives in charge of their
establishments ; and a married woman may without a
shadow of scandal entertain a traveller who happens
to arrive at her husband's tent during his absence ;
for by these, as by most other nomade people, a
stranger would be thought to slight the inmates of
a tent which he passed to take rest in another.
The Affghauns have a proverb upon the goodness
of their women, for it is a saying with them, " Go
to Hind for riches, and for pleasure to Cashmere ;
but come to Khorassaun for a wife :" and the women
themselves, I think I may say, are as well satisfied
with their husbands, and with their condition gene
raUy, as any woraen in the world. With regard to
the law which authorizes their husbands to beat
them, the Prophet (on whom be peace !) made it, so
they can have nothing to object to the institution,
much as they may dislike coming under its exercise :
it was only framed for cases of emergency, therefore
when a raan enforces it ad libitum, he breaks the
law, and there is nothing to prevent any raan.
Christian or Mohumraudan, frora beating his wife, if
he chooses to do it on such terras.
The free manner in which the Affghauns live in
their pastoral societies, not to say that they are a
poeticaUy-disposed people, causes them to be less
VOL. II. K

130 AFFGHAUN COURTSHIP.
strangers than are most other Mohummudans to the
romance of love, and they indulge in it^when, as
young men, they woo their brides ; for they have a
custom called Naumzaud bazee, which nearly an^
swers to the old Scottish one of trysting ;— the
lover being privately admitted to interviews with his
mistress, and allowed to court her under the eye of
her mother ; the male relatives of the lady, if the
suitor is a proper man, not being so impertinent as
to know any thing about the matter ; and two or
three months, if not a longer period, are thus plea
santly passed before the mamage. But they profess
the strictest morality, and so heinous a crime do
they consider adultery, that they generaUy take the
law into their own hands, and punish the offender?
with death. A murderer raay obtain the refiige
which an adulterer cannot, for the law in the one
case leaves vengeance to the nearest of kin, while
in the other it imperatively dictates the punishment;
and I was assured that even had the members of a
khaU given shelter to a guilty pair, they would not
withhold them from an injured party who might
come soleranly to deraand thera. In illustration of
their feeling on this point, a late instance of stern
principle was related to rae in the case of a man
whose sister fled to him one evening, pursued by
her infuriated husband with a drawn sword. She
gained his tent, and, ignorant of her offence, he
prepared to defend her at aU hazards, but when the
injured husband solemnly swore that he had con-

BOYS OF THE KHAIL. 131
victed her of adultery, the man became deaf to the
pleadings of his sister, and put her forth to her
husband, who with one blow of bis sword struck her
lifeless. The boys of the khail were, to use a school term,
" splendid fellows ;" handsome, fresh-coloured lads,
who were ready for any sport : we struck up an im
mense friendship with them, and generally had a
large circle of them round our fire at evening. The
second night after our arrival, a party of these wags,
by means of burnt cork, wool beards, and their
fathers' clothes, metamorphosed themselves into
figures of the patriarchs of Pisheen, and came cere
moniously to welcorae us to their valley. The
mummery was got up much in the style of that
which is acted by Neptune and his Tritons, when
unlucky landsmen cross the line for the first time,
and it ended in like manner, — in our paying tribute
to the lords of the soil, and receiving the assurance
of their friendship and protection.
We gave them a sheep which they were to kill
and kabaub for themselves, and they were so pleSsed
with the gift, that they presently returned with their
heads full of an amuseraent for us. They said that
somebody's donkey had died, and that where it had
been carried out across the river, the print of a
hyena's feet had been marked ; that the beast would
surely come again, and that, if we would ask Syud
Muheen to ask Syud Daoud to come, we would go
out hunting the next day.
K 2

132 HYENA HUNT.
Syud Daoud was a dark young man of perhaps
twenty-five years of age, who was quoted by the
boys of the khaU as the Nimrod of the age : he
happened to look in upon us at this time, in the
hope of sharing in the contents of our tea-kettle, and,
after a httle opposition on the part of Muheen Shah,
we arranged a hunting-party for the morrow. We
set out about sunrise ; a dozen of us on horseback,
as many more men on foot, and all the lads of the
khaU, with some fifteen greyhounds and sheep-dogs.
Syud Daoud took up fresh foot-marks of the hyena
near the carcass of the donkey, and with the assist
ance of two or three other experienced men, tracked
the animal a distance of four miles to some large
ravines. Here they lost the foot-marks, the track
being crossed by several others, and the ground
being too hard to receive more than a faint im
pression ; but after much searching, what with his
clear sight, and his knowledge of the different dens
in these ravines, Syud Daoud followed a track to a
hole in the side of a bank, in which he decided that
the animal, being gorged, had betaken itself to
rest. A semicircle was accordingly formed before the
hole, two or three who had swords unsheathing them,
and the boys standing fearlessly by them with stones
and sticks, or holding back the yelling dogs. Syud
Daoud ordered us to be as quiet as possible, in order
that he might go into the den and tie the beast ; but
the hyena, alarmed at the barking of the dogs, came

HYENA HUNT. 133
out upon us unexpectedly, throwing over a man who
stood guard at the entrance with his sword. The
boys, without the least appearance of fear, shouted
and screamed, while they rained blows upon the
brute's back with sticks and stones, the swordsmen
every now and then making a cut at his hide, and
they altogether so worried and confounded the animal,
that after running up and down the rank without at
tempting to attack any body, he turned short and
scrambled up the bank, rolled hiraself down on the
other side, and set off at a long canter across a plain.
It was sorae time before we could get our horses
round, so that the hyena got a good start ; he gave
us a gallop of three miles, the greyhounds running
alongside of the beast without being able to hold hira,
and he occasionally sidling his unwieldy body to the
right or left to snap at them. At last the beast got
into raviny ground, and we lost him ; Syud Daoud
said that he would not now stop till he reached a
place some miles distant, so that we should not get
him that day, and as his word was law on such mat
ters, we returned home.
I mentioned that it was at first proposed to tie the
hyena in his den. It appears a dangerous proceed
ing, but, according to the accounts of these people, it
is not so for a raan who has strength and coolness,
for the hyena, though a savage beast, is easily fright
ened, and Syud Daoud was said to have tied three
in the course of a day. However it is of course a
very dangerous undertaking for one who cannot sus-

134

TYING A HYENA.

tain great presence of mind, as they testified by men-
tioning the case of a man who a year or two before
had died of a bite that he got in a clumsy attempt.
Syud Daoud himself described to me the mode of
tying a hyena in his lair, as foUows :— « When,"
said he, " you have tracked the beast to his den, you
take a rope with two sUp-knots upon it in your right
hand, and with your left holding a felt cloak before
you, you go boldly but quietly in. The animal does
not know what is the nature of the danger, and
therefore retires to the back of his den ; but you
may always teU where his head is, by the glare of his
eyes. You keep moving on graduaUy towards him
on your knees, and when you are within distance,
throw the cloak over his head, close with him, and
take care that he does not free himself; the beast is
so frightened that he cowers back, and, though he
may bite the felt, he cannot turn his neck round to
hurt you, so you quietly feel for his two fore legs,
slip the knots over them, and then with one strong
pull draw thera tight up to the back of his neck and
tie them there. The beast is now your own, and
you may do what you like with him. We generally
take those which we catch home to the khail, and
hunt them on the plain with bridles in their mouths,
that our dogs raay be taught not to fear the brutes
when they meet them wild."
This Syud Daoud was a specimen of a character
which I believe is not uncommon in Affghaunistaun!
he cared for nothing but the pleasure of sporting, and

AFFGHAUN NIMROD. 135
from morning tUl night he would be out tracking
wolves or hyenas, coursing, or hawking. He was
the idol of the lads of the khaU, who thought no
honour equal to that of being allowed to accompany
him on his excursions ; but the elders, though they
admired his daring, yet regretted that he was so
engaged with field-sports, since he was of the best
family, and ought to have been travelling about get
ting a good name to the khail, instead of wrestling
for ever with wUd beasts. Muheen Shah was quite
pathetic in lamenting his disposition, which he said
they had in vain attempted to amend : they had mar
ried him to the prettiest girl in the khaU, in the hope
of making him raore domestic, but all for nothing, for
he never cared for her, and would persist in being a
regular junglee, — a wild man.
Syud Daoud was rather vexed that the hyena had
escaped us this day, and for the two or three subse
quent ones, he was out in the hope of finding and
bringing the beast in, Sorae days after we had
marched from Pisheen, a messenger overtook us at
Quetta: he was charged with letters for different
persons, and in one paper was written a message
from Syud Daoud to me. " Tell the Sahib that I
tied the hyena last Thursday, and that, Inshallah,
we hunted and kiUed him at the khail. And tell
the Sahib to send me some tea by the first oppor
tunity."

136 PISHEEN SUPERSTITIONS.

CHAPTER VI.

Further residence at Pisheen — Affghaun superstitions — Alarm, and
hasty preparations for continuing our journey.

PisHEEN being a centre to so much superstition, I
hoped to obtain there a full account of the vulgar
errors of the Affghauns ; but while we were at our
friend's house, the people were too busy to attend to
me, and it was on different occasions during our
journey that I noted the following superstitions,
many of which are common to all Mohummudans,
though their features raay be altered in different
places, to suit the character of a people, or the pre
judice of a sect.
The Syuds of Pisheen, among their inherent su
pernatural powers, are believed to possess that of
exorcising evU demons. Gins, Deeves, &c., in the
various orders which have been assigned to them by
the devices or the romance of raan's iraagination:'''-
These beings are supposed to have propensities
which induce thera to mar the happiness of mortals.

DEMONS. 137
and therefore many of the iUs and mischances of this
life are attributed to their evU agency.
A Gin, as the name denotes, is a spirit, which
enters into folks' bodies and possesses them. A
person who has been thus taken, may be known by
his foaming at the mouth, and losing the right use of
himself; and as the gin usually takes hold of its vic
tim's tongue, and uses it to utter foolish and blas
phemous words, when a man speaks in such a raanner,
it is a great sign of his being possessed by a devil :
but if there should be any doubt about a case, re
course is to be had to an exorcist, who looks into the
patient's eyes, and if they are reddish, and like a
cat's, it is certain that the spirit is there, for the gin
substitutes its own eyes in the place of its victim's.
Then the exorcist conjures the demon, and if it stub
bornly retains its infiuence, he writes a charm upon
a piece of paper which he burns under the patient's
nose, and so causes the spirit to evaporate.
Sometimes the gin takes possession of the joints
of a man, like the rheumatism ; but in such case it
is generally easy to expel him, by putting the afflicted
person's fingers in the grasp of a strong raan's hand,
and pressing them as in a vice, when the gin is
heard crying out, and requesting that he may be al
lowed to depart : however, when the exorcist has a
good hold, he is not a wise man if he frees the tor
mentor tiU he swears by Solomon's slipper not to
come again.
It sometimes happens that the demon is not to be

138 EXORCISM.
SO easily got rid of, and then the exorcist is obliged
to light a fire, upon which he places a frying-pan
with some clarified butter in it; when the oil is
heated, the exorcist throws in a charm, by virtue of
which the gin is made to feel the agonies of frying,
and he is shortly heard exclaiming as before. Or he
raay be ejected by burning a charm under the pos
sessed person's nose, as above described. _
This is evidently a Jewish superstition ; and
either inherited by the Affghauns from (as it is sup-
posed) their ancestors, the descendants of Israel, or
borrowed, as so many of the Mohummudan traditions
and superstitions are, from the Talmud. Josephus,
in the Eighth Book of his " Jewish Antiquities,"
according to an edition of his works faithfully trans
lated out of the Latin and French, by Thomas
Lodge, Doctor in Physicke, A.D. 1632, in describ
ing the character of Solomon, says, " Hee obtained
also by inspiration the art of raagicke for the profit
and health of raen, and the exorcising and casting
out of deuUs, for he deuised certaine incantations,
whereby the diseased are cured, and left the methods
of conjuration in writing, whereby the deuils are en
chanted and expelled ; so that never more they dare
returne ; and this kinde of healing to this day is very
usual amongst those of our nation. For I saw a cer
taine popular and private man amongst the Hebrewes,
in the presence of Vespasian, his sonnes, tribunes,
and other souldiers, that cured divers that were
possessed. And the manner of his cure was this :

EXORCISM. 139
he applied to the nose of the Demoniack a ring ;
under the scale whereof was a root of those things
that Saloraon had declared, which drew the deuil out
of the nostrils of the sicke, as soone as he smelled
the root : and as soone as the man was falne, he ad
jured him never more to returne, intermixing some
mention of Salomon, and rehearsing those incanta
tions that were invented by him."
The ability to exorcise malignant spirits, which the
Pisheen Syuds are credited with on account of their
supposed holy descent, is pretended to, more or less,
by mooUas of all sects ; for in Persia and Affghaunis
taun, and I iraagine in most other parts of the East,
when a raan is afflicted with any disease, or seized
with a fit or sudden illness, which, frora their slender
knowledge pf pathology, the doctors are unable to
account for by natural causes, he is supposed to be
labouring under deraonomania, and treated accord
ingly. The mooUas themselves, being for the most
part ignorant and superstitious, believe much that the
common people do, and what they may doubt they
assent to for their profit's sake, for they live in every
way upon the ignorance of the vulgar.
Our excellent friend MooUa Mohuraraud at Heraut,
who certainly was as honest a raan as could be met
with in his clai5s, would not allow me to express my
doubts on such matters, and assured me that he him
self had cured two or three persons in his lifetime.
One case, he said, had occurred only the year before,
at his own house in the city.

140 EXORCISM.
A man whora he had lately entertained as a servant,
fell from the terrace of his house on which he had
gone to sleep, and when he himself, being roused by
the fall, went down into the court, he found the man
writhing about in delirium, with eyes like coals. He
at a glance saw how the case stood ; therefore, calling
two or three persons to raise the man and hold him,
he proceeded to conjure the gin, and, after a hard
battle of words, succeeded in expelling him, and re
storing the man to his senses. I ventured to suggest
that the man, being a stranger, might have risen in
the night, and tumbled over ; but the Aukhoond-
zadeh scouted the insinuation. " Een cheh gup ust?
What inconsiderate words are these ?" said he. " The
man was a man, and not a fool to take so little care
of himself! What else but an evil spirit could have
possessed him to tumble down several feet ? Be
sides, did not I see the state of the raan after he had
fallen? No, no, friend of raine, hear reason!"
"If you doubt this, however," said MooUa Mo
hummud, when he had recovered from the heat into
which defence of his abihties had betrayed hira,^ — "if
you doubt this, how wUl you account for a circum
stance which, in the knowledge of every one is of
frequent occurrence? An unlettered fellow, who
can just repeat ' Bismillah Irahmaun Iraheem,' is
suddenly seized with nobody knows what, and when
a moolia is brought to him, and begins to recite the
Azimut, he, that is not he, but the gin, speaking
with his tongue, throws back a page for a verse, and

EXORCISM. 141
proves himself the best read person of the two ! How
otherwise will you account for this, than by admitting
that which is true ; that which I tell you ?"
" Then, I suppose," inquired I, " that if the
patient be not cured, it is owing to the stupidity of
the raooUa !" — " Undoubtedly ; without doubt, to a
certain extent ; a man who has not studied, how can
he fight a demon ? but if one mooUa fails, a more
learned one is sent for, and all measures are tried,
for some gins are very potent. Once seven mooUas
went to exorcise a gin who had taken possession of a
man, but he was so zubberdust (powerful) that they
could make nothing of him, and at last he got angry,
and kicked the possessed person's foot with such
force against the wall of the room they were sitting
in, that it gave way, and the roof tumbled in and
killed thera. Nay, nay, Agha ! you raust not oppose
your doubts to proven facts, Een cheesha mushoor
und, these are things known to the world."
I remember being gravely told by a Persian at
Meshed, that sometiraes, when a gin Ughted upon a
person's head for the purpose of tormenting him, a
clever mooUa would catch hira by the foUowing pro
cess : The mooUa takes with him an earthen pot, in
side of which, when he has seated the person before
him, he lights a lamp. He then proceeds to recite an
Azimut, and; by a judicious apphcation of texts,
charms the gin from the patient's head into the pot,
claps a cover on, and, hermetically sealing it with
flour paste, sends it to some waste place ; cautioning

142 GINS AND DEEVES.
the bearer not to break the pot, lest the creature
should not have been destroyed by the light, for gins
are subject to death as well as mortal men.
A Deeve is vulgarly considered to differ from a
gin in respect of his being of somewhat grosser fabric,
but, strictly speaking, I believe they are creatures of
the same class, — gin being the Arabic, and deeve the
Persian word for them. A gin or a deeve can as
sume the form of any beast, bird, fish, or fly ; he can
take the semblance of a man or woman, of a cloud or
a hill, in short, of any thing in nature, except that of
a Nubbee,* or an Imaum;
There are good as well as bad spirits among the
gins and deeves, and it is said that if one of them
takes a fancy to a man, he wUl attend upon him as a
sort of farailiar, advise him, and help him to make a
fortune. There is evidently a great deal of humanity
about the creatures, for Mohummud ordered that the
flesh nearest to bones of meat should not be eaten,
but that it should be thrown out for the gins and
deeves, whose perquisite it is ; and it is a generally
received notion, that they are so fond of sweets, that
towards dusk they come into the bazaars of towns to
buy them, so disguised that no one would know them
unless he were a mooUa, and got an opportunity of
narrowly looking into their eyes.
It is believed by aU Mohummudans, that if a man
will or can undergo the ordeal of the chillah, or forty
* Prophet.

THE ORDEAL. 143
days' trial, he may obtain power over aU the genii.
The trial is a very arduous one, for a man desirous
of submitting hiraself to it must in the first place be
a mooUa in the strict sense of the term, and he must
moreover be a moral as well as a learned person.
Then for the actual ordeal, he must sit for the space
of forty days within a circle, and satisfy his appetite
with a few grains of barley and a few drops of water
daily. His occupation is to be the perusal of the
Kor^n and select text-books, and he must be careful
to perform every religious duty ; for if he neglects
the least one, or if he moves out of the circle, the
genii have power to kill or madden hira.
As he approaches the end of his probation, the
gins and deeves exert themselves to the utmost to
turn him frora his purpose, coming round his circle
in horrible shapes a la Freischiitz, in order to frighten
him ; but if he keeps a good heart, and his presence
of mind, their devices cannot hurt hira, and on the
fortieth day they disappear. Then the chief of the
gins comes, in the guise of a venerable old man,
perhaps, and with the insidiousness of a pleasing
conversation endeavours to distract the probationer's
attention from his books ; or in the form of a beau
tifiil woraan tries to lure hira into forgetfulness of a
duty ; but if he resists such temptations, and finishes
his course, the head gin comes in his own appearance,
and swears allegiance to him by the oath of Solomon's
slipper, and then the genii, great and small, must
attend at the caU of the worthy mooUsi to do his

144 THE PERIS.
bidding, and he raay send them all over the world,—"
to the peak of Demawand, or the pearl banks of the
sea ; into the heart of the earth, or to the fountain
of Zuleimat at the north pole, to fetch hira a goblet
of the water of life.
Araong the genii in whose existence the Affghauns
believe, raust not be forgotten the Peris ; the best
of whom are imagined to be beautiful creatures with
forras like light, " who live in the air on odours,"
and are the friends and benefactors of mankind.
They favour those to whom they attach themselvesyi
by attending at the birth of their offspring; they
sooth the children in their infancy, and attend on
them in after-years as good geniuses, so that it is
comraon for the Affghauns to say of a man who
prospers in life, that he drank fairy's milk.
Like the beings of our fairy-land, the Peris are
not above faUing in love with mortals of earth. A
woman of the Speen Tereen tribe, loved of a Peri,
was taken away for five months to some fairy rath in
Ginnistan, or elf-land, and, when restored, she was
a " wise woman," and had the gift of discovering
where stolen things were, so that people came from
distances to consult her.
And I was told of a man then living, named Sau-
daud, with whom a Peri " Murdn Gool" feU in love,
and never left him tUl he married her. The youth
had betrothed himself to a girl of his own tribe, and
had prepared his camels to go and fetch his bride,
when Mul-an Gool assembled a troop of Peris, threw.

THE PERIS. 145
over his gay kajavahs and broke thera, and thus
thwarted aU his plans whenever he attempted to set
out ; so that Saudaud, who had turned a deaf ear to
her entreaties for his love, was worried into a com
promise, and agreed to marry both her and his be
trothed. Muran Gool cunningly agreed to any terms
which would put him in her power, and, when he
had united himself to her, cast such a spell upon
him, that he becarae bhnd to his mortal wife, and to
aU the other women of the world, having eyes only
for herself, his enchantress.
It is supposed that our word fairy is derived from
Peri, which, according . to the construction of the
Persian alphabet, raay allowably be written Feri;
there need scarcely be a doubt about it, for the
beings whora either word describes are evidently the
sarae : " They do wander everj' where.
Swifter than the moon's sphere."
So that it would scarcely be an exertion for them to
dance half round the beautiful parts of the earth in a
night ; and if the hiUs of Toba be truly such as they
are described, without doubt Titania holds her revels
there ; and her pale orbs are to be seen on the eme
rald swards by the diamond-running streams.
The Affghauns have great faith in the malignancy
of an " evil eye." I heard of a man so ill-favoured
in this respect, that another person admiring a stone
¦vvhich lay on the ground, he did but look upon it,
and it flew into a, thousand pieces. This beats, the
VOL. II. L

146 FANCIES RESPECTING THE WIND.
gimlet eye! If a horse or other doraestic animal
chances to fall suddenly ill, an Affghaun says that
an evil eye has stricken the beast, and one of these
people would feel quite uneasy if a stranger looked
long upon his horse or camel. They do not even
consider that their own persons are exempt from the
effects of a baneful look ; and when a chUd, or, as it
sometimes happens, a youthfiil person, begins to feel
the infiuence of a disease which for a whUe had
" slept in the blood," and to dechne, they are apt
to conceive such a one to be the victim of an evil
eye. The elements, of course, are taxed by the super
stition of this country. It is a Mohummudan tradi.
tion, that when Cain murdered Abel, the elements
were disturbed, and now, when a high wind blows
for three days successively, Affghauns say it is a sign
that murder has been committed. We witnessed an
instance of their belief in this sign while we were at
Pisheen, for it happening to blow very hard during
three days of our stay, Syud Muheen Shah ventured
to assert that " blood had been shed." It was a
very warrantable guess in such disturbed times, and
it so chanced that, before we left the place, intelli
gence was brought that some khan had been put to
death by the Candahar Sirdars. Muheen Shah's ex
pression was brought to mind, and he got credit for
his second sight.
One of their fancies about the wind is quite an
Irish one. They conceive that those little whirlwinds

FANCIES RESPECTING THE WIND. 147
of dust and dried leaves, which spin about in autumn,
are caused by a gin and his train, or by troops of the
good people, taking the air, or travelling about on
their own business ; and they say that a mooUa, if he
be sufficiently well read in Azimut, may make
money by watching them ; provided always that he
be both poor and honest.
Holding in his hand a paper, on which is written
an account of his good works, and a slight statement
of his necessities, the mooUa goes to a plain where he
is likely to meet with such whirlwinds, and standing
patiently till one is passing him, throws his paper
into it, and on the spot finds it transmuted into a
heap of money. Should a man fail in such an attempt
to enrich himself, he must not blame the good people,
but return horae, and study to acquire what is defi
cient in his learning or honesty.
Moreover, it is not to be doubted, that if a man
who succeeded in making money of his charm, were
to take a dried leaf from one of these fairy whirlwinds,
and fasten it on the skin of his stomach, he might
eat and drink without being surfeited, untU it pleased
him to to take it off again. What would not an
EngUsh alderman give for the knowledge of such a
secret ?
The Affghauns share with other Mohumraudans
the superstition bequeathed to thera by their prophet
concerning the Leilut-ool-kudr, or the " night of
power," — the anniversary of the night on which the
Koran is supposed to have been sent frora High to

148 THE LEILUT-OOL-KUDR.
the lowest heaven. In the Koran itself, this night is
declared to be " better than a thousand months.
Therein do the angels descend, and the spirit of
Gabriel also, by the perraission of their Lord, with
His decrees concerning every raatter. It is peace
to the rising of the morn."
The Leilut-ool-kudr falls in the month of Rama-
zan, but the Mohumraudan doctors differ in then
opinions concerning its occurrence, some thinking
that it falls either on the 15th, l6th, or lyth of the
month, others being for the 21st, 22nd, and 23rd,
and others again for the 27th, 28th, or 29th ; but
they are all agreed that in the month there is one
night, and in that night one hour, in the which every
prayer, every wish of the heart offered up, wiU find
acceptance in heaven ; so that even if a fakeer should
petition to be made an eraperor, his desire would be
granted. ' Happy is one of the faithful esteemed
whose fate it is to die on the blessed night.
It is not thought that the dead reappear to mortal
beings, except in drearas ; but the souls of the de
parted are believed to revisit their earthly homes,
for love of those whora they left ; at first often, but
gradually making their visits more like angels', — "few
and far between."
The Affghauns set great store upon dreams, espe
ciaUy those of reputed holy persons, such as the
Syuds of Pisheen ; for they conceive that the visions
of such men are prompted by intelligence superior to
that of mortals, and it is comraon for a raan to ask a

RELIANCE ON DREAMS. 149
Pisheen Syud to dream a dream for him. They
imagine that the spirits of the departed appear to
them in visions. Syud Muheen Shah, twice during
the tirae that we were with him, pretended to have
been visited by the shade of his elder brother, who
enjoyed a saintly reputation while in the land of the
living. On neither occasion could I determine whether
our friend was shamraing, or whether he was suffer
ing frora a sort of nightmare, or waking dream,
caused by his having brooded upon a superstitious
belief of his brother's and his own supernatural en
dowments. The first tirae that he was seized in this
manner was in the night ; he awoke us as we were
all sleeping near each other, by moaning and speak
ing thickly every now and then, heaving his breast
in a raanner that induced us to think that he was in
a fit ; but when one of our party would have shaken
him, he was forbidden to do so by the Syud's people,
who said that the Shah was dreaming, and was oh
no account to be disturbed. He appeared really un
well, and much depressed in spirits, for the next two
days, which induced me to think that he had been
worked upon by his imagination ; but my friend
Karaumut Ali insisted upon it that it was a scene
which he got up periodically, for the purpose of
keeping up his reputation.
Another custom which the Affghauns have in
common with all followers of Islam, is that of wel
coming the new moon, when they offer a prayer to God

150 RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS.
to keep them from sin during the raonth of its con-
tinuance, and to dispose their hearts to his service.
They pray God to preserve the raoon from eclipse,
and to cause its light to shine prosperously on them
selves, their relations and friends, on the faithful, and
on all just men in authority ; after which they ex
change good wishes — " May this month be a fortu
nate one to you," &c.
And I raay raention another of their customs,
which appears to have prevailed in all the East from
tirae iraraeraorial ; though the Mohummudans, having
adopted it, for the most, part maintain that it was
instituted by the founder of their sect, or by the
Imaums who succeeded him. When a person is very
ill, his friends release birds from their cages, as a
propitiatory sacrifice to the mercy of God. Freedom
from bondage, they say, is life ; and they hope that
as they release the bird's soul frora the bitterness of
its captivity, so the sick person's soul will be merci
fully let free from the pains of its sickness.
To return to our journal. — We had been five
days in Pisheen, when our host came with a face of
much anxiety to say, that four of the Hakims' men
had arrived at the khail to demand us, insisting upon
it that we were Jews, whom Muheen Shah had smug
gled past the police-station, and desiring that he
should accompany aU our party to the presence of
AbdooUah Khan. He and his friends, the Shah said,
had protested that we were Indian pilgrims, who had
remained but one day at the khail ; therefore we

AN EASTERN ARGUMENT. 151
must strike our tent, and go into bis bouse, and on
no account show ourselves outside his court, when
InshaUah, and by virtue of his (eternal) hukht, he
would arrange raatters properly.
In the evening our friend came to say that all was
going on well ; that the men would remain that night
to be his guests, and sleep in the raosque ; that they
did not suspect our presence, and that they had
opened a negotiation about his not returning with
thera, the terras of which would be discussed at
leisure, and, he had little doubt, be satisfactorily
arranged. In effect, he did induce the men to depart early on
the morrow, by using an argument exactly suited to
their understandings ; — that it was better their beUies
should be filled with a little, than their master's but
indifferently satisfied with much ; better they, their
wives, farailies, and household stock, should gain the
good wishes of a Peerkhaneh of Shadeezye, by mak
ing a proper excuse for him, than that they should
draw his Ul-will upon themselves, by causing him to
delay his departure, and suffer loss.
He swore, and I beUeve got a friend or two to
back his oath, thatwe werel ndian Hadjees, who had
gone on to Quetta ; and assuring the myrmidons that
they might tell their master he had also raarched that
way, since he certainly would do so on the morrow,
he bribed, blessed, and dismissed them ; esteeming a
false oath in such a case no more perjury, than justi
fiable homicide murder. " Khoda TauUah," said he.

152 APOLOGY FOR KARAUMUT ALI
" knows that I have never said a crooked word to
take any raan at disadvantage, but an oath to escape
such an oppressor as AbdooUah Khan is vjafih
(incumbent)." An apology for my friend's ethical imperfections
must be borrowed from the one which he made for
the men whom he had been obliged to bribe. The
fault, he argued, lay less in the men than in then-
master : where governors were cruel oppressors,
their servants would, of course, be rogues, and a man
must do the best he could for himself when thrown
into such society. AbdooUah Khan was a man-eater^
who was not guided by a single just principle ; who
had no regard for Syuds whom kings thought it an
honour to have seated by them ; and who evidently
being a person altogether without religion, deserved
to be treated as a man worse than a kaufir.
I am beginning to fear that some uncharitable
reader may be condemning us for having passively
suffered ourselves to be benefited by such rogueries ;
but really, interference to prevent them would have
been an act little short of "felo de se." Now, having
made an apology for myself and my fellow-travellgr
Karaumut Ali, I raay continue that for Muheen
Shah, whose private character, like that of any other
great man in a peculiar situation, must not be judged
by bis public actions. The state of society in these
countries is such, that however much virtue may be
admired in the abstract, it is thought imprudent
generally to practise it. A wise parent gives his son

AND MUHEEN SHAH. 153
a sort of Janus education, teUing hira of a few virtues,
but initiating him into the mysteries of every vice,
in order that he may be a match for his demoralized
neighbours ; and thus nearly every person cora
raences life prepared to be faithful to his friends,
and an honest man or rogue to the world as
may be.
For the Persian and the Lahoree I need not offer
apology, since they assured me that none was neces
sary. To prove their words, they quoted a favourite
Sheah text, that Huzrut Ibrahim forswore himself to
Pharaoh ; and when I remarked that he manifestly
sinned in doing so, they replied, " Forbid that they
should say a Nubbee was guilty of sin."
We felt much relieved when AbdooUah Khan's
men had taken themselves away, for we could an
ticipate no favourable result from an interview with
such a person. It would have been difficult to pre
vent his discovering me to be a European ; and if he
had done so, he in all probability would have taken
me with him to Candahar, whither he had just been
called by the rebel Sirdars, in order to lend his aid
to their preparations to oppose Shah Kamraun.
And had I assumed the character of an Armenian,
I should have exposed rayself to much ill-treatment,
for AbdooUah Khan had the character of never
allowing an unbeliever to pass until he had extorted
all he could frora hira, and sorae of his modes of
torture were described, which it was quite painful
to think about. The mildest of his " tender mercies"

154 JEWS AND HINDOOS.
were, we were told, putting stones under a man's
armpits, and then pressing his arms to his sides, or
laying a man on his back, and gradually placing
weights upon his belly, until unendurable agony
forced money or life out of him.
All infidels travelling through Affghaunistaun,.
would be glad to pay the poll-tax regulated accord
ing to the Shirra, if that were all ; but, in the dis
turbed state of the country, every true believer
demands it ; and as the kaufir gets no receipt for his
money, and his oath is of no value whatever, he
must pay so long as he has money, and when it is
all gone, accept the martyrdom of abuse and
blows. Jews raake their way best, for they have some pro
pensities in common with Mohumraudans, while they
affect poverty, and bear up against the injury which
is their portion, better than any other people in the
world. But a Hindoo whose fate brings hira this way,
travels at the risk of the worst treatraent. As no
disguise would serve him, he does not assume one,
but pays the leader of a kafilah for his protection on
the road, and endeavours either to make a circuit
round police-stations, or to bribe the officers; but
soraetiraes he is caught tripping, or he cannot bribe
high enough, and then, if he is taken before a man
dressed in a little brief authority, AbdooUah Khan
for instance, but little mercy is shown hira ; for all
his tribe are reputed to be raoneyed raen, and if
torture should fail to wring a black coin from him.

BAD CHARACTER OF ABDOOLLAH KHAN. 155
they would raerely think that they had troubled
themselves to no purpose. What treatment could
be too bad for such an usurious, and in every way
abominable idolater?
Hitherto Syud Muheen Shah's protection had
shielded us, but he honestly confessed that although
his bukht had never failed to do great things for
him, he could not answer for the conduct of a man
who lived upon the bread of oppression, and who,
since he did not fear God, could have but little
regard for the holiest of men.
There are still parts of this country, the inha
bitants of which retain their savage independence,
but wherever the influence of any government ex
tends, oppression is looked for as a raatter of course,
and a man in authority may, without much scandal,
exercise it to a certain extent, by virtue of his
office ; it being an understood point between him
and his subjects, that he is to extort, and they to
withhold, as much as they mutually can by ordinary
raeans ; so that when a man is really notorious as an
extortioner, he must needs be a monster of iniquity.
AbdooUah Khan was in the enjoyment of, I should
think, as bad a name as could well be given to a
man ; his countrymen said that he must have been
suckled by a devU. The following anecdote, which
is related of his former life, says much for the cruel
cunning of his disposition, and shows also how easily
an eastern despot can raise the wind.
When Mohummud Azeem Khan (brother to the

156

RAISING THE WIND.

famed Affghaun Vuzeer Futteh Khan) was governor
in Cashmere, AbdooUah Khan, who attended at his
court, offered to give him eight thousand rupees for
all the wind that blew over Cashmere. The goverr
nor, reasoning like Mertoun, that " since every
thing in the universe is bought and sold, the wind
should not be excepted if a purchaser can be
found" — and partner, no doubt, in the villany that
foUowed, — accepted the offer, and permitted Ab
dooUah Khan to issue a proclaraation, warning all
people that he had bought the wind of Cashmere,
and threatening to punish any one who should
winnow his grain, or in any other way use it without
his perraission. The order at first excited amuse
ment, but when the governor, who had affected to
think it a joke, said that he had been taken advan-
tage of, but that he raust be as good as his word,
and allowed AbdooUah Khan severely to fine those
who even presunded to fly a pigeon without purcha
sing his licence, the purport of the bargain was
understood. The Cashraerians had been too long
faraihar with oppression not to know the only means
of lightening its chains, and they subscribed a large
sum of raoney to induce AbdooUah Khan to allow
" the wind of heaven" to blow freely on them again,
the governor promising that such another spell
should not be put upon it.
The first thing that Muheen Shah did after the
departure of the Hakim's men was, to send advice to
all horse-dealers in the valley that he was about to

DINNER PARTY AT PISHEEN. 157
start immediately. Several merchants had assera
bled in order to travel under his protection, knowing
that his influence as Peerkhaneh of Shadeezye would
greatly protect them, both on the road through their
own disturbed country, and through Beloochistaun,
and as they had for some days awaited his summons,
they carae at once to Shadeezye, in order to make a
fortunate start together.
The night before our departure, we went with
Muheen Shah to dine with a Syud who was, in every
sense of the word, the greatest man in the khail.
He had a dozen chUdren, and a great many sheep,
and was so fat, that a Turkish lady might have en
vied him as he sat at the head of his hearth, a serai
circle of fine sons standing respectfully about hira,
and seated by his side his pet chUd, a little rosy-
faced boy, whose raother had thought to increase the
effect of his large black eyes by streaking them with
soormeh. Our host's house was one of the best, its thick
mud waUs being roofed over with large beams. We
sat in a large mud-washed room, near the bead of
which was a hole containing a wood fire. The two
eldest boys went round to pour water on our hands,
and a stout negro lad and giri brought in two smok
ing bowls of fowl-soup and boiled rice. Such fare was
not to be despised, and we fed, like Major Dalgetty
in anticipation of several days indifferent living.
As aU the company understood Persian, we con
versed at our ease. They talked of the dangers of

158 ' AFTER-DINNER AMUSEMENT.
our road onward, especially of that which was to be
dreaded in the close defile of Bolaun, in which the
savage Cawkers had murdered hundreds of travellers;
and they related anecdotes of the many different
clans of this tribe, some of which were spoken of as
wUd but not bad people, while others were described
as regular Anthropophagi.
I noted a story about one Hadjee Khan, a Cawker
chief, who retiring frora court to dwell among his
tribe, took with him a small tent. This at first ex
cited the wonder of the men of his clan, but when
they saw what use was made of it, they were scanda
lized at such effeminacy and extravagance, and steal
ing the tent, cut it up for shirting.
Of some men of one of the more ferocious clans it
was told, that they murdered a traveller for the sake
of what they thought was a silver bowl, but finding
it to be made of pewter, they iraprecated a thousand
curses upon the unfortunate man who had owned it,
for giving them so much useless trouble.
After dinner the boys stood out, and danced the
Attun for our amusement, the negroes standing to
gether, with their thick lips apart, grinning their
delight. We spent an hour more in pleasant con
versation, and then retired to prepare for the mor.
row's journey.

PREPARATIONS FOR STARTING. 159

CHAPTER VIL
M arch from Pisheen to Quetta, and halt there — Perso nal narrative —
Blood — Feuds — Custom of Trysting.
Nov. 21. — About ten o'clock in the morning, the
merchants being all ready to start, they assembled
in front of the khail. The horses were led out by
the families of those araong the Syuds who owned
them, gaUy trapped with coloured beads and ribbons,
and charms innumerable, to keep them from evil eye
and all accident on the road, and ensure a speedy
and good sale to " some Rajah, Inshallah !" in Hin
doostan. The young women did not corae near the
men, but grouped at a little distance ; while the elder
dames took the privileges of their years, and carae
araong their relatives, to reiterate charges about the
sum that was to be got for a favourite horse, and the
chintz or kimcob that was to be brought back with
part of the money. It was a not-to-be-forgotten
scene. Two mounds of earth had been raised at a Uttle

160 MARCH TO TERKHA OBA.
distance from each other, and on these stood two
elders of the khail, each holding an end of a long
scarf, in the centre of which was tied a Koran. Un
der this the horses were led off in succession, the
friends of the owner of each animal ejaculating a
"good luck" for him as it passed under the sacred
volurae ; and when all this was over, the men em
braced each other, or went into their harems for a
last farewell. Our most particular friends among
the boys, insisted upon stuffing our shulwars with
raisins and little cakes fried in oil, assuring us that
it was lucky to start on a journey with sweets in
pocket. Lastly, Syud Muheen Shah standing in the centre
of the crowd, solemnly begged God's blessing on
the journey, and a speedy and happy return to their
horaes, after which we raounted our horses and rode
away. One or two old women followed to pour
water after us, a custom similar to, and as efficacious
as, that of throwing an old shoe, and relatives shouted
their last words to each other as long as we were
within hearing — " Adieu, my life ! I have surren
dered you into God's keeping !" " InshaUah ! Insh
allah ! God preserve you from calamity, and give
increase to your store, and grant that we may soon
see your face where your back now is ! Adieu I and
may the great God preserve you I"
We raarched between noon and sunset a distance
of sixteen railes to Terkha Oba, a small kahreeze of

CHARACTER OF MR. ELPHINSTONE. l6l
bad water on the other side of the Ajrum hills. Our
road was over a plain, which appeared barren to my
eye, but on which, notwithstanding, raany sheep
were browsing. In the evening we were introduced
to several of Syud Muheen's connexions, and to
many other merchants, not Syuds, who nearly all
volunteered intimacy with rae, addressing me in
broken Persian or Hindoostanee, and telling me that
they were intiraate friends of Elpistine Sahib, — and
I had the misfortune of being the lion of the evening
to those who had not seen a Frangee.
I now heard many wonderful stories related of
Mr. Elphinstone and the English gentlemen who ac
companied the British mission to Shah Shoojah ; — how
they shot birds on the wing, and understood the art
of keeraia,* and how they did and said various ad
mirable things. One said that Mr. Elphinstone had
a telescope, with which, by sorae magic contrivance,
a man might see what was passing on the other side
of a mountain. And a second declared that Mr.
Elphinstone was a Soonnee, or at least that, in con
versation with some khan who was quoted, he had
said sufficient in praise of their sect to show that he
inclined to it. They spoke of Mr. Elphinstone with
the esteem, and I may say affection, with which aU
Affghauns use his name, protesting that he was a
She Ashrof, — a real gentleman, and as fiiU of under
standing as generosity ; though they confessed they
* Alchemy.
VOL. II. M

162 QUALIFICATIONS FOR A HERO.
could not conceive why he had troubled himself so
much about their hills and valleys, if he did not mean
to come and take thera.
I found that as far as professions went I might
now count many friends ; and if not very sincere
ones, at least merry acquaintances for the time being.
" You are for Bombay, of course," said one. " Insh
allah ! we will take you there safely, and then you
shaU seU all our horses to your fi-iends. , If you want
a horse yourself, take that long-tailed gray, and pay
me when you get to Bombay ; or if you do not like
mine, take Syud Azeez's colt with the thin tail,
which you can cut off as your countrymen do ;"— a
s^ly which was received with shouts of laughter.
" By your soul I ara speaking the truth," added he,
affecting to think that some doubted what he said ;
" by the life of your son 1 by the char yar,* I swear
to you that some of the Inglis cut off their horses'
taUs as short as my thumb ;" — and a second burst of
merriment rewarded his wit.
Among Syud Muheen's relatives was a slight, re
solute-looking young Syud, who prided himself upon
being a perfect Sahib Shumseer, or raaster of the
sword. He boasted that he could cut off a ram's
head with a single blow, and hinted, moreover, that
he could eat the best part of the animal afterwards ; for
in the east it is considered that a great hero must of
necessity be a great eater. A lion-eater is a terra
* " The Four Friends"— the title given by Soonnees to the first four
Imaums.

BLOOD-FEUDS. 163
for a distinguished man of war, signifying, doubtless,
a man strong enough to kiU a lion and eat him.
The great hero Roostum devoured a wild ass to the
very marrow ; and to corae down to warriors of later
years. Nadir Shah, it is said, could eat a lamb stuffed
with almonds. It is true that the Persian conqueror
owed his death to the consequences of indigestion,
but he was nevertheless a great hero, and had he
been allowed to Uve on, would probably have added
another bright page to the history of his wars.
The young Syud just mentioned, showing
me his weapons one afternoon, vaunted that few
raen would like to cross swords with him, two
having tried the experiment somewhat to their
cost. This vain assertion was confirmed by
others, who added, that the young man had so se
verely wounded his last antagonist, as nearly to entail
a blood-feud upon hiraself, since had he kUled his
eneray, the nearest of kin would " never have left
him." I at different times heard many anecdotes of
Affghaun blood-feuds : sorae of the descriptions
forcibly rerainded me of the bitter enmities that we
read of in the old stories of the Scottish highlanders.
Few Affghauns but have a tale of this sort to relate,
and the narrators always seemed to enjoy a fierce
pleasure in detailing how such a one watched for and
dissembled with his enemy, until he gained an op
portunity of completing his vengeance.
Revenge for blood is, with an Affghaun, a duty
which is rendered sacred by long custgm, and
m2

164

BLOOD-FEUDS.

sanctioned by his religion. If immediate opportunity
of retaliation should not present itself, a man wilt
dodge his foe for years, with the cruel purpose ever
uppermost in his thoughts, using every cunning and
treacherous artifice to entrap or lull him into coh:
fidence, and thinking it no shame to attack him in a
defenceless state. The public leave raen to settle
their own quarrels, not interfering except, perhaps,
in the case of a long-cherished feud between families
which affects the interests of the coramunity ; and
then they induce the man whose turn it is to re
taliate, to accept the price of blood.
A friend told me that he was once in the bazaar
of the city of Candahar in broad day, when a Ghilgie
Affghaun, meeting a man with whom he had a blood-
feud, suddenly drew his sword and killed him with a
blow across the head, then escaping to the gate of the
city, mounted his horse and fled ; no relative was by,
andstrangersdidnotfeel theraselves caUed upon to stop
the raurderer. Another person told me that a noble
man with whom he was connected (one Arabkhan
AUekkozye) having corae to Candahar from his
neighbouring vUlage of Taubeen, had very nearly
been murdered while in a public bath of the city ; his
servants and a barber having only just time to throw
themselves between him and an enemy who had
thought to take him unawares.
Moolia Mohuraraud, our Heraut friend, told me
the following story, the circurastances of which he
said he could vouch for, as they occurred in a house

BLOOD-FEUDS. l65
which was close to one that he forraeriy lived in at
Candahar, the feraales of which were intimate with
his own. A Doorraunee of the neighbourhood of
Candahar, had a blood-feud with a young man whom
he had long vainly watched, in the hope of finding
him off his guard. . At last he heard that his eneray
had sent sweetraeats to the house of a resident of
Candahar, as a prelirainary to espousing his daughter,
upon which he left his village, and came privately into
the city. The Affghauns, as before mentioned, have
a custora called Naurazaud Bazee, (trysting) — the
lover being secretly adraitted to interviews with his
mistress, which frequently last until a late hour in the
night. The avenger watched in vain for an op
portunity, till the very night before the wedding,
when he gained access to a court adjoining that of
the house in which the girl lived, and boring a hole
through a wall, lay in wait there with his matchlock.
In the evening the lover came as usual to tryst ; he
he had that day sent the customary present of the
bridal dress and ornaments, but his betrothed
"through modesty had declined examining them be
fore all her female acquaintance," and when the young
man asked if she approved of her trousseau, the
mother explained this, and called her away to look at
it then. This was late in the night ; the moraent
she went out, the blood avenger took aim at his
victim as he sat on a low couch, and in perhaps the
happiest moment of his life, shot him dead.

166 MARCH TO QUETTA.
22nd. — From Terkha Oba we marched twenty
mUes to the town of Quetta; the route taking us three
mUes across a narrow valley to a low range of hiUs run
ning nearly parallel to Ajrura, caUed Musailaugh, two
miles over and through them, and then fifteen miles
across a plain to Quetta. Twelve railes on the road
we crossed the Shadeezye lora on its way from Ser-e-
aub, and seven miles beyond, a smaUer stream tributary
to it. Five mUes frora Quetta, we passed through a
village of forty houses, and in several directions we
viewed small forts and artificial water-courses. We
ended ouy march in the afternoon, and the horses
being picketed on a plain spot near the town, the
raerchants went to pay their respects to the go-'
vernor. Quetta, the petty capital of the Belooche province
of Shaul, is a town of four hundred small flat-roofed
houses of one story each, surrounded by a thin mud
wall, in which there are four gates. The residence,
or as he himself was pleased to term it, the citadel, of
the Hakim who rules here on the part of the Khan
of Kelaut-e-Nusseer, is built on a high mound
inside, so that when his orders are shouted there,
they may be heard all over the town. The residents
are Affghauns, Belooches, and Hindoos. The latter,
who may araount to a fourth of the population, are
all engaged in trade, which is raore considerable than
a stranger would be apt to iraagine from the appear
ance of the place. '
Kafilahs to and from Hindoostan pass this way,'*

THE TOWN OF QUETTA. I67
taking horses, dried fruits, and the few exports of
Heraut and Candahar, such as assafoetida, saffron,
&c„ and bringing back indigo, leather, English and
Indian cloths and chintzes, spices, sugar, &c. The
horses are nearly all raarched down through Beloo
chistaun and Sinde to the sea-coast, where they are
shipped for Bombay; and if they find speedy sale
for their aniraals there, the raerchants usually return
horae by the sarae route.
Quetta is also a rendezvous for merchants who,
not liking to undertake long voyages, meet those
who are on their return, and purchase a, gross of
goods which they retail among their own country
men ; while those who arrive frora their journeys, are
not sorry to take sorae days' rest here. On the
whole, Quetta is a town of some importance, and were
the country settled, and the roads from the different
quarters opened to a regular trade, it could hardly
fail to become a large place, seeing that the soil of
the province is good, and water abundant in the hills
which enclose it.
The town of Quetta, or as it is vulgarly called
Quote, is situated at the head of a fine valley eight
miles in breadth. Eight naUes north-north-east of
the town is the peak of Tukkatoo : it is in a high
range of raountains, which, comraencing abruptly six
mUes to the west of it, run easterly to the Indus.
The Tukkatoo range is crossed by another very high
one, called Umbar, which comes up north by east,
and which I conceive holds nearly the sarae course

168 MERCHANTS OF QUETTA.
for many. miles beyond. A branch comes to it front
the Khojeh Amraun range, north-east in a bend
across the valley, separating (as I understood) Pisheen
frora Burshore. Parallel to the Urabar range, is one
of equal altitude called Jingeer or Zunjeera, of which
I shall make further mention presently. The cli
mate of this place is said to be a fine one ; during
the nine days of our stay, the thermoraeter varied no
raore than half a point above or below temperate ; we
had a clear Italian sky and a cool wind in the day
time, while at night it was so cold that we were glad
to sleep with our heads under our blankets.
We were detained nine days at Quetta. The
merchants' had duty to pay on their horses, and ac
counts to settle with debtors and creditors who met
them here ; all matters which required much discus
sion. At daybreak you might see the men rise one
after the other frora under the rugs they had covered
themselves with, throw their indescribably dirty skin-
cloaks over their dirty under garments, perform their
ablutions, and say their prayers, and then get toge
ther in circles, and wrangle for two or three consecu
tive hours. It was amusing to observe a party thus
engaged, for when the speakers became interested
upon a subject, they declaimed in the most impas
sioned manner, giving effect to their words by vehe
ment and in many instances very appropriate ges
tures. I saw but few bonds given; the Hindoos, of course,
did not fail to deraand thera, but in their dealings

AFFGHAUN HORSE-DEALERS. l69
with each other, the Affghaun merchants did no
raore than strike hands in the presence of witnesses ;
a man buying a horse, or borrowing a sum in cash,
and promising to pay so much at a given time, or on
his return, whenever it might be ; and I afterwards
remarked, that few of those with whom we travelled
took any account of the money they spent, further
than that between such and such a place they had
expended so many ducats.
These raerchants can profit but little on the sale
of such horses as they import into Hindoostan.
Formerly they brought down valuable stallions bred
frora Toorkraun stock, but now they cannot obtain
sufficiently high prices in India to raake it worth
their while to purchase many such, and those which
they trade in are for the most part bred in their
own khails. About six hundred tolerably good
horses annually pass Quetta ; a few of the best are
purchased by the Hyderabad Ameers, and the rest
are shipped for Bombay.
With every party of merchants there is one horse
priced at a lac of rupees ; declared to be the very
brother of the famed steed which Tippoo Sahib
purchased for that sum. Our lac-of-rupee horse was
a tall roaring staUion, Ught brown, with white legs
and forehead, and a back as long as an alligator's.
He was dressed out with beads and amulets, and
smarter body-cloths than the rest, and had the
honour always to lead the march. The great merit
of this animal lay in his paces, for he was perfectly

170 AFFGHAUN HORSE-DEALERS.
trained to step and prance, and he ambled so fast,
that a great man seated on him might glide along
with ease and dignity, while his retinue, on their
sorry steeds, kicked up the dust behind him at. a
canter. I afterwards heard that one of the Ameers
bought the beast for three thousand rupees.
There were not fifty really good horses among
the four hundred that we had with us, and consider
ing the duties the merchants had to pay on the,;
road, deaths, accidents, expense of shipping, and
cost of long keeping, I question whether many were
not losers on the whole. They said, indeed, they
did not calculate their profit upon the sale of their
horses, but upon the goods which they should bring
back with them from India. They assured me,
with a laugh at the expense of my countrymen, that
at Bombay, the Bussorah merchants purchased some
of their horses for four and five hundred rupees each,.
and sold them to the English gentlemen as Arabs
for three times as much raoney.
Some of the horses were very rips, but their,.
mas'ters had a great idea of their value, and probably,
felt very much affronted when they were offered
trifling prices for thera in India. There was a man •
of our party who had three such animals ; we parted
frora him at Shikarpore, and I saw him about four
teen months afterwards in Calcutta : he had marcheid,,
down to the sea-coast, and taken ship for Bombay,
whence he went to Mangalore, across the country to
Bangalore, on to Madras, and thence along the, sea-

THE HAKIM OF QUETTA. I7I
coast vid Cuttak to Calcutta ; as he said, here and
there " selling a fiorse for nothing, that be might
eat the proceeds." His third horse had died just
after he reached Calcutta, and he brought me the
tail as a present, begging me for old acquaintance
sake to give him a trifle to help him home again.
It was a case of Nusseb kismut, he said, and he
might have better luck another tirae : — " Kbire !
Khoda kureera deb!" "All's for the best I"—
" God is beneficent."
Jellal Khan, the Hakim, was a Belooche who had
lately been a horse-dealer, and some of the mer
chants therefore expected to be indulgently taxed ;
but Muheen Shah shook his head at the idea, and
seemed to think that the governor's being " York
shire too," was just the reason why they should not
be able to talk hira over. His opinion proved to be
a just one, for after two or three days' hard discussion,
the raerchants found that their old pleas of hard
tiraes, &c., and their threats of not coming this
road again, were wasted on a man who had been
using them himself for several years, and they ac
cordingly determined to pay the usual sura of half
a ducat upon each horse, and to continue their
journey. But even this resolution did not suit the gover
nor, for he had grain to sell, which they must needs
buy as long as he could keep their horses there ; so
he devised excuses for deferring the settling time,
and when pressed by the merchants to give them

172 THE HAKIM OF QUETTA.
their roJcsut (conge),, ^aid that in truth , he w^
unwUling to let them depart, because his information
confirmed a report which had been some days, in
circulation, that one Poyindeh Khan, an ex-Hakira
of Pisheen, had put himself at the head of a bandittj,
composed of sorae desperadoes of the Cawkeji;, and
other tribes, and had occupied the mountain-pasg on
the road to Dander,
It was not doubted that there was some truth, in
the report, but as it was one which just served the
interest of the governor, he apparently determine^
to make the raost of it. In the evening it was
rumoured that the Khan was " going out," and early
the next morning he did indeed sally forth in his
fighting apparel, at the head of some five-and-twenty
Belooche matchlock and javeUn men, when after
capering about in front of our ground, vvith as much
of the pride, pomp, and circurastance of glorious, war
as he could assume, he rode away for a spot about
twenty mUes distant, where some pf. the marauders
were said to be. Late at night the governor re
turned without having seen any of the reported
eneray ; the rascals, as one of his suite said, having
been too lucky to wait until the Khan got a blow
at thera.
The truth of that part of the report which relate^
to the ex-Hakira's league with the banditti having
been ascertained, the merchants resolved to await
the arrival of more of their fraternity, who v?er?ini-
mediately eXipected ; and a message was sent to an

VISIT TO THE QUETTA HAKIM. I73
influential Cawker chief, to say that the merchants
would give him money to escort them through the
dangerous pass of Bolaun.
On the second morning after Our arrival, I went
with Syud Muheen Shah to visit the Hakim. My
frifend said that as it was impossible the governor
could remain in ignorance of ray being there, he had
thought it best to make a virtue of necessity, and be
the first man to mention the circumstance ; the
Khan, he said, had received the intimation most
graciously, and charged him to tell me, that he (the
Khan) desired no greater pleasure than that of mak
ing the acquaintance of an individual of so esteemed
a tribe as the Inglis Feringees.
Jellal Khan received us on the terraced roof of his
citadel, whence he could feast his eyes upon the best
part of his domain. He was a tall and slight, hook
nosed, aind vulgarly independent-looking man, who
evidently did not want a good opinion of himself.
After a few extravagant compliments had been ex
changed, he waved his hand affectedly to direct my
view upon the surrounding country, and asked me if
I had ever seen such a place as Quetta. I answered,
with truth, that I had not ; and then he was pleased
to assure me that I might bless the fortune which had
brought rae to his stronghold, since he was monarch
of all he surveyed, and that if AbdooUah Khan, the
Candahar Sirdars, or any body else, should send to
demand me, he would spit upon the messengers, or,
if I ^tekrred it, blow them frbmtbe mouths of

174: DINE WITH THE HAKIM.
his cannon. (The Khan had one smaU gun which
he kept in the court of his harera.) It had pleased
hira, he said, to travel rauch : he had seen and hked
ray countryraen, and had raade hiraself acquainted
with their customs ; they were fine soldiers, and men
of veracity, whom he approved of, and I might
equally count upon his protection and friendship :—
to all which I raade a due proportion of bows and
hyperbolical acknowledgments.— i'am^^^e d'un grand ,
homme est un bienfait des Dieux !
The governor gave the most sensible proof of his
knowledge of EngUsh custoras, by inviting me to
cement our friendship by eating a meal together ;
and led the way down into a small mud-buUt apart
raent, the walls and roof of which were hung with
raatchlocks, swords, shields, and lances, and various
trophies of the chase ; one side containing a window
looking upon the tovra, where the Khan was wont
to sit to indulge his subjects with a view of his bust.
Our repast consisted of fowl-soup, which was served
in a large pewter bowl ; we partook of the liquid
portion by raaking temporary spoons of bits of bread
as thin as pancakes, which were sent out to us hot
and hot from " the within."
I have been particular in noticing occasions on
which we got any thing very good to eat, because
they were of sufficiently rare occurrence to make us
consider thera diesfesti. Occasionally we got meat,
but our usual fare was boiled rice or vetch, which we
ate with cakes of heavy unleavened bread, and if we

ARRIVAL OF MORE HORSE-MERCHANTS. 175
thought of breakfast for the raorrow, we put a flap
of the latter into our holsters or breeches-pocket.
However we generally contrived to cook a kettleful
of tea, which made amends for the badness of a din
ner, and was most refreshing after a long march. We
had fortunately provided a good supply at Meshed,
for at Heraut neither tea nor coffee was to be pur
chased in the bazaar.
At Quetta I one morning remarked two evidences
of our approach to Hindoostan. The first was seeing
half a dozen thin Hindoos emptying pots of water on
their bodies when it was hardly day, and the air so
cold that others walked with their cloaks in their
mouths ; the second was seeing two idolatrous old
women of the sarae caste walking round a tree, and
pouring water on its roots, while they rauttered
charras or incantations.
On the sixth day of our stay, the expected horse-
raerchants arrived, and our party was made up to
about two hundred and fifty men, who had charge of
four hundred indifferent horses. As the greater
number of the party had little to do, and they appre
hended no danger, they dozed through the day, and
kept us awake half the night with their songs and
jokes. From what I saw of the Affghauns, I should say
that they are passionately fond of music ; and there
is this advantage attending their taste for it, that a
little goes a great way with them. At Quetta there
was one old musician, who played upon an Indian

176 POETRY AND MUSIC.
fiddle ; he was so husky with a cold, that he could
barely speak above his breath, yet he was made to
play and sing every night. He would harp for more
than an hour upon the same tune, varying the words
of it for such as he could compose extempore, now
and then warning the company, so as to allow them
to bring in a chorus. Sometimes a loud laugh would
interrupt the twang of the music for a minute or two,
but it would be taken up again with the same melan
choly, and had it not been played so often, pleasing
air. Rehmaun was an esteemed Affghaun poet, and his
odes are often sung. At times the people of our
party would sing the compositions of their village-i
poets ; or, striking up a recitative tune, they would
follow each other in extemporizing an irregular verse
to a set chorus. One favourite and interminably
monotonous chorus that used to keep sleep from us,
I have reason to reraeraber, ended with the long-
drawn-out word Shddeezye; — the meaning of the
verses composed nightly to it would be something
like what follows : —
Our home is now behind us.
We have quitted Shadeezye!
Chorus.
We have quitted ShS,deezye. — (iis)
Where is a valley like it ?
Where else is Shfi.deezye ?
Chorus.
Where else is Shadeezye ?

THE ATTUN DANCE. I77
Long is the road before us ;
Distant the land of Kaufirs we are going to ;
Much trouble must we undergo "in a land of strangers ;
Bat we'll return to Shadeezye !
Chorus.
But we'll return to Shadeezye !

> I

We'll return to Shadeezye ;
Our camels laden with silks and velvets,
With Kiracob, and spices, and choice things ;
We'll return to Shadeezye !
Chorus.
We'll return to Shadeezye ! — &r.
This is however but a cold outline of the style of
such songs ; for the perforraer endeavours to touch
the feelings of his audience by introducing raany
Uttle incidents associated with their recollections of
home, often with success, as I could judge from the
expression of their rough countenances, and their
energetic demonstrations of applause.
At Quetta I first saw the Attun danced to per
fection. It was bright moonlight, and while many
of us lay upon a bank, thirty or forty raen stood up
in a circle to dance. They coraraenced by joining
hands, and alternately advancing and retreating a
step or two (as dancers do in the last figure of a
quadrille), making each a deep and smothered sound
from the chest, which I can compare to nothing but
the groaning of a horse or other large animal.
Gradually they increased the loudness of this, and
stamped their feet in regular time, becoming raore
and more excited, and then with one accord they
VOL. II. N

178 THE ATTUN DANCE.
flung their hands loose, clapped their palms, and
tossed their arms about, now making measured move-
raents with their hands and feet, setting their teeth
tight, frowning, rolling their eyes, and grunting, and
then twirling their bodies round and round like
drunken men, winding into each other's places, , and
shrieking and whooping as Scotchmen do in a reel;
the spectators the while loudly applauding them with
cries of " Barikallah ! Barikallah ! Shadbash !* Ai
Shadbash !" " Well done ! — well done ! be happy!
O be happy ! Bravo Thamas Khan ! weU danced
Tharaas Khan ! who said he was an old raan ? By
UUah he is the youngest raan among ye! Shah-
bash Jooraun ! Barikallah Syud Azeez ! excellent
Tharaas Khan !" and exciting themselves by the
praises they lavished on the dancers, many threw off
their cloaks and stepped into the ring. Thamas
Khan, alluded to above, was a Uttle old feUow with an
iraraense white turban, upon whom every one thought
himself privileged to cut a joke. His beard would
have been also white had he not dyed it orange
colour, but set him in an Attun ring, and he put
the youngest to shame by the energy of his gestures
and twirls. The dance lasted until the greater num
ber of the performers were quite spent with the
violence of their exertions, and lay down panting, M
they would after a hard run. The state of I may
call it phrensy to which they excited themselves is
* Shadb^h — ^be happy.

CONFIDENTIAL DISCOURSE. 179
indescribable ; — if any thing could give an idea of the
orgies of the BacchanaUa, it must be this dance.
I made several visits to the governor : he treated
me with civility on all occasions, and was pleased to
volunteer information regarding his province of Shaul,
which he said extended from a spot called Kooshlauk,
ten cross on the other side of the Tukkatoo moun
tains, to Ser-e-aub in the opposite direction,' — ^was
bounded on the west by the Ajrura range, and on the
east separated by the Umbar range frora the country of
the Cawkers. Further, the Khan said that he was
lord of five thousand ryots of the Cassye tribe, who
cultivated lands watered by fifty kahreezes, and who
paid hira annually 5000 cucha rupees, besides eight
hundred khurwars of grain, and an equal raeasure of
kau or chopped straw. The gross money revenue,
including the sum levied by taxes upon the kafilahs
which passed, averaged, the Khan said, the annual
sum of 30,000 cucha rupees, or 1500 gold ducats.
A budrukah, or escort, of forty Cawker matchlock-
men having arrived, and all duties having been paid,
it was deterrained to prosecute our journey. The
day before we raarched, the governor invited rae to
breakfast with hira, and Muheen Shah and I went
together. Soon after breakfast, Jellal Khan sent
Muheen Shah into the town upon sorae business, and
presently entered upon a secret and confidential dis
course. He rejoiced, hg said, that he had found an
opportunity of speaking to me in private, because he
wished to know whether I was satisfied with the
N 2

180 CONFIDENTIAL DISCOURSE.
treatment I had received at his hands, and whether
there was any thing that he could do for me : he was
not a wealthy raan ! but, please God, he descended
from as good family as any of the chiefs who sat on
the right hand of the Khan of Kelaut, and having
met a raan whose demeanour and conversation showed
him to be of exalted rank, he was anxious to esta
blish on lasting grounds, a friendship so auspiciously
commenced. This was the prelude. I answered it, of course,
with suitable compliments of speech, and the governor
proceeded to expatiate upon the natural fertUity of his
province, the revenue of which he doubted not might
be trebled in good hands. He lamented that the
Khan (of Kelaut) had so little art of making the
most of his country, and wished that he possessed
more of the understanding of my tribe, who under
took nothing without reflection and foresight ; who
by their wise conduct had won the esteem and confi
dence of all men ; who did nothing uselessly, and
who perseveringly went through with whatever they
undertook ; — as, for instance, I, who, having set out
upon a journey through strange countries and un
friendly people, had persisted in making my way to
Quetta, and doubtless, Inshallah, would shortly hap
pily end my travel in my own country.
There was no mistaking the drift of the governor's
discourse, but determining; to let him come to the
point himself, I replied that I thought he attributed
too rauch sagacity to ray countrymen, and overlooked

VVITH THE GOVERNOR. 181
a shoke (propensity) they had to wander aU over the
world to see people who had no great wish to see
them, for the pleasure of novelty, or to indulge a dis
position to study men and manners ; but that though,
as he had justly observed, a stranger was liable to suffer
hardship and ill-treatment, stUl that he, on the other
hand, might meet with persons whose justice, benevo
lence, and wisdom, were themes in everybody's raouth :
that I, for instance, had stored the recollection of
many kindnesses received from different persons whom
I had been so fortunate as to meet with, and that
should I reach India, one of my particular pleasures
would be to relate to my friends the lucky accident
that had brought me to Quetta, and procured me
the friendship of so accoraplished a person as Jellal
Khan. The governor could not look otherwise than flat
tered ; he swore that every word I uttered more and
more convinced him of my discretion and good breed
ing, but that, waving compliments, he would be glad
if I would treat him with that ingenuous confidence
that should subsist between friends, and tell him the
precise object of my journey, in order that he might
know in what manner best to serve me.
It cost me raany protestations to convince the
Khan (if indeed I did convince him) that I had not
visited that part of the country with a view to some
great political enterprise. He looked quite vexed
whUe I was explaining to him the chance that had
thrown me in the way of Syud Muheen Shah, and

182 CONFIDENTIAL DISCOURSE.
brought rae that road, and coaxingly assured me that
he knew the Feringees to be far too clever feUows to
put themselves out of the way to no purpose. Had
not we taken all Hindoostan, and was not Khorassaun
a finer country, and was there not a tree near Canda
har to which it had been prophesied that the Ferin
gees should extend their dominion ? God was with
us, and it was decreed, and must certainly come to
pass, as I knew, only I did not confide in him. I at
last offered to take an oath that I did not believe my
countrymen entertained the slightest idea of extend
ing their frontier from rich plains into a barren coun
try of mountains, as he must be convinced, if he used
his exceUent judgment ; since, even admitting his
erroneous supposition of their being " world-grasp
ers," they did not want the sagacity of the wolf, who
would not leave a sheep to dine upon a porcupine ;
and this so far satisfied him, that he did not press the
matter further, but insisted upon my accepting of
a small basket of preserved dates as a parting token
of his friendship, and requested me to send him a fine
telescope from India.

DEPARTURE FROM QUETTA. 183

CHAPTER VIIL
Departure from Quetta, and march, through the defile of Bolaun, to
the town of Baugh, in the plain of Kutch— Halt at Baugh.
On the raorning of the 2nd Deceraber, we took
leave of Quetta, and marched down the vaUey formed
by the Umbar and Zunjeera mountains, eleven miles
a point west of south, to Ser-re-aub. The soil of the
valley was good, and, on the right, under the Zun
jeera hills, were several little hamlets. At Ser-e-aub
we encamped near the source of the Shadeezye lora,
which rises from several springs in a bed which
you may jurap across, but which soon widens and
deepens. There was a sensible difference between the climate
of Quetta and this spot. It was so cold at night,
that every one's care seemed to be how much clothing
he could heap upon himself. At evening, our now
large party looked very picturesque, lying round their
clear burning fires, between the pickets of their

184 A BIVOUAC.
horses ; the wild-looking Cawker guards having post
apart, a little distance from either end of our bivouac.
And later, when the moon was up, the scene was
only varied to appear raore beautiful. The men,
wrapped in their rugs and blanket-cloaks, lay in all
directions araong packages, saddles, and various wea
pons, stretched in the deepest repose ; and the still
ness of the sharp night-air was only interrupted by
the sound of camels chewing the cud, or the occa
sional thick breathing of a dreaming horse. Here
and there —

¦ " a man

Clad in a flowing garb did watch the while.
While many of his tribe slumber'd aromid :
And they were canopied by the blue sky
So cloudless, clear, and purely beautiful!"
The next day we marched eighteen miles to the
Kurklekkee hills, which may be described as the first
of a close and high series that cover the country as
far as the plain of Dander, and which have a general
inclination up to the Tukkatoo chain. After riding
six miles, we passed round the end of the Umbar
range. The Jinjeer line has a longer course : below
Ser-e-aub it takes the name of Speersoond, with which
it runs down about twenty miles, when it is crossed
by another high but (I imagine) short range. It is
difficult to ascertain the courses of these mountains,
for some of them rise at once to their greatest alti
tude, and, perhaps, after a few railes end abruptly.

KURKLEKKEE HILLS. 185
They are all high, and their general direction is
north and south ; but others come across these, cut
ting out valleys frora ten to fifteen miles in length,
and seven or eight miles in breadth. Three miles
and a half before we reached the Kurklekkee hills,
we passed through a break in a parallel Une, called
Dewangee ; the plain between it and the continua
tion of the Jinjeer hills is called Dusht-e-Coochooti. - ^
On different parts of it were small mud towers, built
by the husbandmen as places to flee to in case of
their being attacked by marauding Cawkers from the
adjoining mountains. After a raarch of eighteen
mUes, we reached the foot of the Kurklekkee hiUs,
and crossing a narrow ridge, found ourselves in a
stony slip of a valley, at the head of which we halted
for the night.
This march we brought skins of water with us.
Hard by there was said to be a sraall natural reservoir
on a rock, but we did not visit it. Great vigilance
was observed throughout the night ; a strong guard
was posted at the narrow entrance into the valley,
and the raerchants and their grooms relieved each
other on watch from tirae to tirae, as they had re
ceived sorae confirraation of the report which had
alarmed them at Quetta.
Before it was Ught next morning the whole camp
was astir, and when all were ready, the order of
march was arranged; the riders who had fire-arms
forming an advance and rear guard, while the grooms,
leading the horses and camels, walked together in a

186 DEFILE OF BOLAUN.
body on foot. Frora the valley in which we had
slept, we at once entered the close defile of Bolaun.
At first there was but breadth for a dozen horsemen
between the rocks, which rose like walls on either
side to a great height. Afterwards the road lay
broadly between the mountains, occasionaUy opening
out. It was like the beach of a sea, forraed of loose
pebbly stones and sand, and it ran in sharp angles
from one hundred and fifty to two hundred yards in
length. This was the style of the pass for ten miles
to Ser-e-khujoor. The minutest description could
hardly convey a just idea of its strength ; it is a de
file which a regiment of brave men could defend
against an army.
At Ser-e-khujoor, a full and rapid stream gushed
out from the foot of the rock. It ran a short dis
tance, and then lost itself in the ground, appearing
again two miles lower down, near a single date-tree,
caUed Khujoor-e-pauin. At Ser-e-khujoor .the hiUs
broke off frora the road, but they still commanded it
for nineteen more miles, and the same beach-like
road lay between steep banks, as if it were the bed
of a deep but dried river.
Sixteen miles on the road was Khaukee Deho,
and thirteen miles further on Beebeenaunee, both
places where there was abundance of good water,
used as halting-points by camel caravans. Many
graves were here and there pointed out as those of
murdered traveUers, and I afterwards learned that
beyond Khaukee Deho we passed a burying-ground

DEFILE OP BOLAUN. 187
named Kutlgau, or the place of slaughter, from the
circurastance of a large party of travellers having
been murdered there.
At Ser-e-khujoor we had halted a minute or two
to water the horses, and then continued our march
in the same order as before, with the exception that,
where the nature of the ground admitted it, we had
skirmishers thrown out on either flank on the bank
above us. Muheen Shah rode at the head of thei
party, from time to time giving such advice and or
ders as he deemed expedient. He looked anxious,
but said that he had seen a dream in the night, and
that it was khire,* InshaUah. At Beebeenaunee
the mountains parted off to the right and left, and
here ended the dreaded defile of Bolaun. Many
keen eyes had been all the way directed to the tops
of the hills, from whence we expected to see ene
mies overlooking us, but not the shadow of a foe ap
peared, and we returned thanks to Providence with
minds much relieved, though still highly excited:
when we were safely at the end of the dreaded pass,
Muheen Shah caUed a halt, and recited a short prayer,
which was answered by two shouts that made the hiUs
ring again.
At Beebeenaunee we parted company from the
Cawker guard, and, continuing our march raore
leisurely, rode on till an hour after sunset, when we
halted for the night at Keerta or Gurm-aub, a soft
* Propitious.

188 MOUNTAIN PASSES.
sandy spot near a moderately high range of hills,
running up north-north-west to Tukkattoo, named
Gurra-aub frora the circurastance of there being a
thermal spring close by.
We marched from Kurklekkee at break of day,
but the road at first wound so frequently, and the
mountains were so high, that I could not exactly
ascertain our course. At Keerta I compared notes
with my corapanion Karauraut Ali, and we agreed
that we had not raarched less than forty miles.
Judging from the recollection of our indirect route,
and from the bearing which I the next morning
took of a small peak, said to be just above the little
stony valley in which we had slept, I laid down
Keerta, in a direct line, twenty-eight mUes south
east by south of Kurklekkee.
From Ser-e-khujoor to Beebeenaunee our pace
was so quick a walk, that the camels were almost
pushed into a trot. This was partly owing to every
body's anxiety to get forward, but chiefly on account
of the great descent of the road. I should have
raentioned that the rise of the country from Quetta
to Kurklekkee is very apparent. The Kurklekkee
hills, thus standing upon the highest ground, have
been fixed upon by the natives as the natural boun
dary between Khorassaun and Hindoostan.
There is another pass which joins that of Bolaun
at Beebeenaunee, but it is said to be a more difficult
one : — " You travel six miles south frora Ser-e-aub,
and then the road turns off to the right, to a* spring

MOUNTAIN PASSES. 189
at the foot of the mountains, which is the first halt.
The second march occupies camels ten hours ; the
road is over steep hills, and only camels half laden
can take it. You halt at a spring caUed Nagahoo.
The next march is to Koogelee, whence you go vid
Beebeenaunee to Keerta : the road is on a great
descent. At Koogelee there are khails of Be
looches and Muhrries ; there is abundance of water,
and much good rice is cultivated. The road all the
way frora the first spring is so difficult, that it is
only taken when danger is apprehended in the
defile of the other one. Horses all lose their shoes
whenever they corae this way."
Frora Keerta we rode south through a deep and
narrow valley. The bed, as before, was like a
beach, and on it lay many ponds of clear water,
which we were continually crossing. After ten
mUes, the road between the high rocks was blocked
up by a lake too deep to be ridden through. We
made a circuit of three miles, by a craggy path up
and down rocks, and got into the valley again
where, widening out, it allowed the water to spread
into a shallower pond, which we forded where the
water reached to our saddle-girths. Some babool
trees, named in Pushtoo Cundye, gave narae to this
spot ; but they had been swept away two years
before by a torrent, which caused the lake to forra
in the area that its violence had deepened. To
judge from the traces of the ravages, a great flood
of water must have rushed through the valley ; for

190 MOUNTAIN TORRENTS.
in parts it had furrowed up the large stones of the
bed, and thrown them up like a wall to the height
of several feet. In answer to my inquiries where
this water carae , from, I was told that it was rain
water, and it struck me as probable that the periodi
cal rains which come up from the Indian Ocean, are
stayed by and gathered in these mountains. They
deluge the plain of Dander, but are hardly' felt at
Quetta. . The rocks are high and barren. In sum
mer the sun acting upon these pent-up waters,
causes a pestilent air, and the road between Quetta
and Dander is shut.* Native cossids are, indeed,
to be found whose poverty will tempt them to carry
letters, but they often remain on the road as food
for hyenas. We saw many foot-marks of these
animals, fit inhabitants of a region so desolate, that
had they not the power of going far for their food,
they must eat each other.
From Cundye a road goes direct to the town
of Baugh. When we had crossed the broad lake,
we followed a turn of the valley for four miles, then
the mountains breaking, we left thera, and, following
a sraall but rapid brook, rode across a bare plain,
seven miles to Gooroo, a village distant three miles
from the town of Dander.
Dauder is a town of the same size as Quetta;
likevrise governed under the authority of the khan of
* When this road is shut, travellers go from Quetta m& Moostung
and Kelaut-e Nusseer to Gundawa. The latter road is taken by
caravans of laden camels, and it is not described as a difficult one.

TOWN OF DAUDER. 191
Kelaut-e-Nusseer. The Hakim was a man who had
been brought up as a slave in the house of the Khan.
Two-thirds of the inhabitants are Juts,* and Beloo
ches, and the rest Hindoos. Viewed from hence,
the raountains which we had left presented the ap
pearance of one very high range, coming up north
from the sea, and crossing the Tukkatoo chain at a
right angle, so as distinctly to separate the moun
tainous from the plain country. We now felt that
we had quitted Khorassaun : — climate, soil, and pro
duce, and the dark, oily, naked people, all forcibly
told of Hindoostan.
Dauder is situated in the arid white plain of
Kutch, the crusted surface of which is cracked like
the dried bed of a marsh. Even the natives feel the
heat of this plain in summer as dreadful, and it would
scarcely be habitable were it not watered by the
stream which we brought with us from the hills, and
by a river called Naree, which, coraing from the
Tukkatoo, or, as they are here caUed, the Laree
mountains, runs south to forty-two mUes beyond
Baugh, and then goes off to the right towards what
I may term the great Sinde and Kutch chain.
During the periodical rains this bed is filled : the
cultivators build strong earthen dams across it, and
so retain the water for a second crop. Scarcely any
wheat or barley is now grown : the staple food of the
* The aborigines, long ago converted from the Hindop, to the
Soonnee Mohummudan, religion.

192 JOURNEY TO BAUGH.
people is jawarree, which is cultivated to a great ex
tent round Dauder. Bajra and cotton are also cul-
tiva,ted. We halted one day at Gooroo, and the
Hakim's raen levied a tax of half a ducat upon each
horse. Dec. 7th. — Thirty-six mUes to Baugh. After"^
riding eleven miles, we saw at the distance of five
railes on our left, the village of Heeree, which is
used by carael caravans as a stage between Baugh
and Dauder. The country was quite bare tiU we
were within eight railes of Baugh, when it was flooded
by water from the dams of the Naree, and cultivated
all the way with jawarree and bajra. From the ap-
proach^ the town looked well, adorned, as it appeared,
by fine trees, and several little teraples, and built
upon a rising ground, above the oasis which had been
forraed around it ; but when we approached, the iUu-
sion vanished, and we found a dirty town of low mud
houses, built partly within, and partly without, a
crumbUng raud wall, the raany gaps in which had
been stopped by furze bushes. In the trees, how- '
ever, we were not so rauch disappointed, and we
picketed our horses in a large grove.
Baugh is a town of two thousand houses, and three
hundred shops. A third of the inhabitants are
Hindoos, and they seeraed to enjoy a brisk trade,
chiefly in the common sorts of grain. The Affghauns
take many camel-loads of jawarree hence to their
own country, both using it to malce bread for them- '
selves, and giving it to their horses. The Hindoos

TOWN OF BAUGH. 193
also profit by the sale of gunpowder, much of which
is manufactured here, and exported to Affghaunis
taun and to Sinde.
. We halted seven days at Baugh, in order that the
horses might recruit upon the nourishing stalks of
the jawarree plant. When we arrived, the Hakim,
who had also been a slave in the family of the Khan
of Kelaut, was away, fighting sorae of his rebeUious
subjects, but he returned on the third day, at the
head of a faithful body of his raen at arms, looking as
victorious as possible, preceded by a state elephant,
and by a brace of musicians, who raade a dreadful
noise with Indian trumpets. The horse-dealers were
lavish of their adulations : " The Khan was come
from beating his enemies ! Inshallah ! was it not al
ways thus that his fortunate foot returned to his
abode of wealth and delight!" — The Khan conde
scended to be as gracious as a proper sense of dignity
wouldjallow him, and subsequently evinced his satis
faction by accepting something less than the regular
dutyof half a ducat upon each horse.
Great was the astonishment of some Affghauns
who had not before seen an elephant. They stared
at the animal open-mouthed, sighed, and shook their
heads, and seenaed with difficulty to persuade them
selves that it was a natural creature.
On the road from Pisheen I had been astonished
at the physical powers of the Affghaun grooms:
many of them had the difficult task of leading two
strong horses during a march that occupied the day,
VOL. II. o

i.Q'if CONTEMPT OF AFFGHAUNS FOR HINDOOS.
and at night they reheved each other on guard, their
food consisting only of half-baked cakes of unleavened
bread. Here many seemed inclined to bring up the
balance of their fatigue hours, reposing day and night
among the bundles of jawarree stalks that had been
piled up for the horses, while a few would amus6
themselves by bathing in the deep lakes which had
been formed in the river's bed, or by prowling round
the banks to get a shot at wild fowl. I saw a young
man of the party shoot two ducks with baU : at the
end of his matchlock was a long fork on a pivot,
which he used as a rest, and he invariably fired with
great precision.
At sunrise every morning Hindoos would visit us
with pots full of curds, portions of which they ladled
out to a pea's weight, insisting upon raoney first,
and taking special care that their vessels were not
touched. The last caution was thought a great pre
sumption by some of the rough mountaineers, who
had been accustoraed to think very contemptuously
of a Hindoo, and they becarae quite indignant when
the idolaters presumed to elevate their voices, and
bandy angry expressions with them. " Oh I that I
had you up in my own place !" was nearly the male
diction of one of Muheen Shah's men, when called
off from a Hindoo radish-merchant whom he had been
bullying : " Oh ! that I had you up in my own
place I" By Aboo Bukr, I would flay you, and then
flog you to death with your own black hide, vile dog
of jehannum!"

AFFGHAUNS RESEMBLE THE WELSH. 195
Not having had the good fortune to visit Wales, I
cannot teU how far I am justified in the foUowing
comparison, but judging from written descriptions of
the people of our sister country, I ara inclined to
think that, as the Persians have been named the
Frenchmen, so the Affghauns might be termed the
Welshmen of the East. In their love for cheese,
though they have not yet learned to toast it, the
Affghauns are very little behind the Welsh ; they
are brave, ridiculously proud, and as hasty as tinder
to catch fire ; and, like the Welsh, they have a
peculiar way of altering the letters of words, so as
to make them sound short.
Furrah (the ancient Purra) they call Purrah ; and
the famed Vuzeer Futteh Khan, whom they so loved,
and whora they still so often talk about, is commonly
caUed Putteh Kan. The Persian alphabet, which
they use (having no written character of their own),
admits of several substitutions of one letter for an
other ; but the Affghauns are frequently not guided
by rule, and as they generally speak in a nasal tone,
and mispronounce the words of any other language
but their own, a good story is easily made out of
their expressions. The foUowing anecdote, iU as ray
translation of it raay read, is an inimitable one as told
by a Persian who has Uved among Affghauns.
When Ahmud Shah founded the Doorraunee mo
narchy, he modelled his court upon the Persian style,
and several gentlemen of the latter country came to
obtain service under hisMajesty. Thegreatest of these
o 2

196 A PERSIAN ANECDOTE.
was an old kuzzilbash nobleman, named Ali Merdauj^
Khan, who having signified his desire to the proper
authorities, had a day appointed for audience of the
Affghaun monarch. The Doorraunee ceremony of
presentation at court is a very strange one, borrowed,
apparently, from the Chinese Tartars, — the person
upon whom the honour is to be conferred, being
placed between two officers of the court, who run
him up at a trot to within a certain distance of
the king, shout out his name, and then, twisting him
round, hurry him back again at the pace he came : at
least this is the Persian account of the ceremony. Ali
Merdaun Khan's dignity was considerably shaken, by
this (to him) unusual mode of proceeding, and he
lost all control over his teraper when he was an
nounced as Ali Pertan Kan, from Ispilan. Indig
nantly shaking off his conductors, the old noble ex-.
claimed, with more warmth than decorum, " Not
Ali Pertan Kan, from Ispilan ! but A-li Mer-daun,
Khaun, from Is-pha-haun," — laying a dignified stress i
upon every syllable of his full-sounding name and
birthplace, and then, with a reverential bow to the
king, awaiting his dismissal, and gravely retiring as
he would have done frora the presence of the Shahan
Shah. Ahmud Shah, it is said, was much amused at
the Khan's bearing, and wished to retain him near,
his person, but the old gentleman's pride was hurt,
and he refused to stay among a people too barbaro;us
to pronounce his name properly.
Besides curd-sellers, we were daily visited^ by

AN UNCEREMONIOUS FAKEER. 197
venders of fried peas, and of immense radishes and
turnips, which the Affghauns devoured raw in great
quantities ; and raorning and evening we were waited
on by all the indigent of the place, araong whom
were several uncombed and debauched-lookingfakeers,
who used to prowl about until they caught a party
about to eat, when with the exclamation of Yah
Huk ! they would coolly thrust their gourds forward,
and wait until something was put into thera. One
red-eyed old beggar of the crew was even less cere
monious, for one evening, when a party near us had
prepared for themselves, as a treat, a mess of bread
sopped in mutton broth, he waited till they gathered
round it, then stepping up to where they were
seated, dropped on his heels, and with a devout
"Bismillah Irrahmaun Irraheem!" threw up his
sleeve, and dipped his fingers into the dish. The
party were disposed to be angry, but seeing that they
drew back, their self-invited guest with the most im
perturbable assurance pressed them to eat ; — " Bis-
miUah ! Bismillah ! fall to ! pray, fall to ! ! what UUah
has provided let no man be unthankful for !" and,
whether moved by the piety of his speech, or by
hunger, one of the hosts repeated Bismillah! and
they were presently all eating together with as much
concord as diligence.
Apropos of turnips above alluded to, — I at this
place heard a curious anecdote related by a Ghilgie,
who accounted for the defeat of his tribe, when on
the last occasion they rose under Abdooraheem Khan,

198 A CURIOUS ANECDOTE.
the lineal descendant of their ancient kings, and en
deavoured to overthrow the Doorraunee monarchy ;
for the interesting account of which, see Elphin-
stone's Caubul. — " You'll be late, and will lose your
bargain if you reraain there higgling for turnips,"
said a Syud to a Ghilgie Affghaun whom he wanted
to accompany hira to the town. " And if I am,"
retorted the man, " I cannot lose more than I have
done by turnips." The laugh that the answer ex
cited, induced me to ask the meaning of it, and the
Ghilgie himself gave it to rae in the evening.
He coramenced by describing how his clans were in
duced to get together, what Khans were among them,
and where they met and fought the Doorraunees,
&c. ; but the part immediately relating to his answer
was this : " We had the best of it, and got near
Caubul, and after fighting and beating the Door
raunees till the heat of the last day, we went into a
turnip-field to refresh ourselves : news came that the
Doorraunees had rallied and were upon us ; we did
not believe it, but stayed to eat our turnips, and I was
among the few lucky ones who can teU the tale."
Some ill-natured person of our company told the
Hakim that Muheen Shah had a Feringee with
him. Fortunately the worthy governor was a
Moreed* of our patron's, and he took no further ad
vantage of the communication than to exact the
promise of some particular blessings for his son. He
* Disciple.

DEPARTURE FROM BAUGH. 199
even sent two horseraen to see us safely out of his
country,* only requesting that Syud Muheen would
pass his son under his leg : this the Shah told rae he
did three times, and, Inshallah ! no sword would cut,
no bullet shoot the lad, and he would become a dis
tinguished man if it was his nusseeb kismut.\ And
thus we happily bade adieu to Baugh.
* I have since learned with regret, that this kind deputy was put to
death by his chief, for sending a complimentary present to the un
lucky ex-monarch. Shah Shoojah, on his last fruitless atterapt to recover
the Affghaun monarchy.
f Fate and fortune.

200 RIDE TO MUCHEE — CUNDA.

CHAPTER IX.
March from Baugh to the town of Shikarpore — Remarks on the
political and social condition of Beloochistaun.
Dec. 14. — We rode from Baugh, sixteen miles, to
the viUage of Muchee. On the road we passed the
villages of Kazee-ke-wustee, and Gilpore, at each of
which there was an unbricked well. We nearly
followed the course of the Naree river : in parts the
water had been kept, from others it had been drawn
off. The natives here and there dig wells in parts of
the bed which have been lately drained : the water
thus obtained is not good, but it is better than could
be got by digging elsewhere. There was much
cultivation of jawarree and cotton on the way.
15th. — Twenty-six miles, vid Hajee-ke-Sheher,
Ghurree, and Meerpore, to Cunda. The three first
places were well-sized viUages, and at the last were
two mud towns of the same name. This march also
we had with the Naree, the bed of which was dry for
about two-thirds of the distance. The Ntiree river
now goes off to the right, nearer to the mountains,
and, some said, reaches the sea.
At Cunda there was an old large, and a smaU new

DEMAND OF DUTY. 201
town, both surrounded with mud waUs. We could
not buy any milk here, and the inhabitants said that
they were all in a state of beggary ; a tribe of maraud
ing Belooches having driven away seven hundred
head of cattle a few months before, and the jawarree
crop having been blighted.
Here a deraand was made by two different parties
for duty upon our horses. The Syuds agreed to pay
the chief of the strongest set, on condition that he
kept off the other, which he consented to do ; but
when he had persuaded his rivals to withdraw, he in
sisted upon receiving half the sum that they had de
manded besides his own, threatening to bring them
back if his demand was not complied with. The
Syuds were now obliged to assume their bullying
tone : they declared that they would fight both parties
rather than be robbed, hinting that common weapons
would avail little against theirs ; and, getting to
gether, they took counsel about formally cursing the
exactor Nawaub Juwanee, as the chief was named.
This got wind, as it was intended it should, and
not long after came a messenger from the Nawaub's
mother, to offer a trifling present to the head Syuds,
deprecating their curse, and promising to use all her
influence over her son, to bring him to reason. This
she apparently did, for in the evening the Nawaub
sent to say that if the Syuds would pay him his due,
and a trifle more, he would escort them with twenty
horsemen to the end of the next stage, and this was
agreed to.

202 VILLAGES OF SAATEE AND POONOO.
l6th — Twenty-one miles to Saatee. For the
first nine miles we rode throuo-h a fine tamarisk and
thorn wood ; the country onward was bare. Saatee
is a moderate-sized village. Here a party came to
demand duty : Nawaub Juwanee took three ducats
to dismiss them, and when he had with much diffi
culty succeeded in doing so, he sent to request that
some chirs* might be given him. The Syuds were
shocked at its being supposed possible that they
could have any thing so unlawful in their possession,
but they sent hira another ducat in lieu, fearing alto
gether to cast his highness off. The title to which
this debauched extortioner answered was, Ghurreeb
Nawdz, — " Cherisher of the Poor."
17th. — Twenty-nine railes to Poonoo. After
riding ten miles, we came to a jungle of low trees,
which, running east and west, marks the boundary
between Beloochistaun and Sinde, and which south
ward extends to the river Indus, whose banks it
fringes. We had stolen away from Saatee a little
before the moon rose, and reached the wood about
sunrise ; hardly had we entered it, when we heard
two or three shots fired behind us, and the cry ran
that our rear was attacked : the fighting men has
tened back to the post of danger, priming their
pieces as they went, while the others pressed on as
fast as the narrow path would adrait, camels and
horses crowding upon each other ; but after a few
* An intoxicating drug.

SEPARATION OF CARAVAN. 203
rainutes of suspense, we learned that the alarm had
been needlessly given by two or three stragglers, who
had been stripped of their clothes by robbers. We
continued our march without further disturbance,
and when we had ended it, the merchants congratu
lated each other upon being out of Beloochistaun.
Poonoo is a large Hindoo village, surrounded by
a few acres of land cleared from the jungle, inha
bited by people who had the air of a society of
Quakers, compared with those whora we had been
accustoraed to look upon. Here was much to assure
us that we were really in India : we encamped in a
fine grove of neera and mango trees, near a very
large brick well, to and from which the women passed
at evening, gracefully carrying jars upon their heads,
and soraetimes singing as they went in groups ;
many gray squirrels were chasing each other round
the trunks of the large trees, the foliage of which
was filled by doves, minas, and little green paroquets ;
the sun, the heat of which, even at this season, we
felt .unpleasant when long exposed to it, went down
like a ball of fire, tinging the sky one beautiful deep
orange colour; and at night the ground we slept
upon was wet with a heavy dew.
The next morning we parted company from the
greater number of the horse-dealers, Syud Muheen
Shah resolving to accompany me to the north-west
frontier of British India. A few of the merchants
carae with us to Shikarpore on business, whUe the
rest went on to the town of Larkhana, where they

204 TOWN OF GHURREE.
proposed to make a halt of ten days or a fortnigij^
before proceeding vid the capital of Sinde to the sea^
coast., Muheen Shah selected half-a-dozen of his
best horses to take with him, and sent the rest, on to
Bombay, under charge of his brother.
From Poonoo we rode about five-and-twenty miles
to the town of Ghurree. Our path lay through a
thick jungle, the soil of which was very fine. Tracks
crossed each other in all directions, and we frequently
lost our way until we obtained a guide ; once we
were obhged to raake a circuit to avoid a marsh; or
lake," which had been formed, we were told, by the
inundation of the Indus. We thought it must bff
rain-water, but were assured that, above Shikarpore,
the right bank of the river was low, and that there
much water was let in upon the country.
There were many wretched hamlets on and near
the road, occupying small spots cleared from the
jungle. At each there was a shallow unbricked welli
and round about most of thera small patches culti
vated with the commonest grain. A few buffaloesy i
goats, and fowls, seeraed to constitute the wealth of
each village.
Ghurree is a moderate-sized, thriving town. We
saw there much good sugar-cane, and noticed twenty
coraraon Indian miUs at work, expressing oil from'
sesaraun seed. Here we first saw a wheeled car^
riage. A hundred Affghaun famUies are settled at
Ghurree ; their chief, Jooma Khan Baurickzye, was
residing in a neat Uttle fort near the town, affecting

RIDE TO SHIKARPORE. 205
submission to the authority of the Ameers of Hy
derabad. From Ghurree we rode eight mUes north to Shi
karpore : half way was the fortified village of Kerne.
In approaching Shikarpore, we rode for some dis
tance through open groves of tall palm-trees, and
the appearance of the town was imposing, as we
occasionaUy got glimpses of its high houses rising
above each other among fine trees. Two miles frora
the city we were raet by a party of the governor's
confidential people, who were going off express to
Poonoo, on the report that a large corapany of horse-
merchants had halted there. The chief of the party,
who was a consequential and fat little Belooche,
deemed our coraing reason sufficient for his return
ing ; therefore inquiring where the horse-raerchants
would be met with, he sent his men after thera, and
hiraself took charge of us, riding round us as we
prbeeeded, to judge if any of our steeds were worthy
the Araeer's notice ; for these princes are very arbi
trary in their orders about the horses which come
down from the north countries, allowing none to be
taken out of their dominions until they have seen
them. I happened to be riding the best of Muheen
Shah's horses, and the man singled me out : — " Ho !
you sir! what is your fortunate name?" — "Meerza
Sadik," muttered I, taken rather by surprise. —
"Then Meerza Sadik, just walk your horse out,
hold up his head, and put him to his amble :— higher.

206 SHIKARPORE.
higher, man ! phoo ! are you a horse-dealer ; or do
you not want to show his paces ? I believe that is
it, for you Puthans are deceitful fellows." Here it
was explained who Syud Muheen Shah was, and the
Belooche sobered his tone, declared that he had a
great esteem for holy men, and that we were wel
come to Shikarpore. On reaching the city, our
bustling conductor left us, to announce our arrival,
and we put up in a small grove just outside the
wall. Shikarpore is a very large town, surrounded by a
thick, but much broken mud wall, in which there
are eight gates. Much of the interior is waste
ground, and part is occupied by large trees. Al-
most every house has a shop attached to it, and
through the centre of the city runs each way a
low bazaar, covered in with rafters and pahn
leaves. The shops seemed to be well fiUed with
the necessaries of life, and various merchandise,
and the people had that busy air which characterizes
raen engaged in active trade.
Around the city are fine gardens, and groves of
luxuriant Indian trees, which make the environs
very beautiful ; but the heat of the climate during
the greater part of the year is such as would kill
any body but a Hindoo. So great is the heat, that
every inhabitant who can afford the expense, builds
upon his house a very high story, on the roof of
which he sleeps without clothes. "In summer,"

SHIKARPORE. 207
said an Affghaun resident, " the sun wiU roast an
egg, and turn a white man black ;" about the ne
plus ultra of solar heat.
Shikarpore is chiefly inhabited by Hindoo bankers
and merchants, who have commercial connexions all
over the east. They are sleek, smooth-shaven, and
what an American would terra prosperous-looking
raen, and if report does not very much belie them,
they are an immensely rich body. Like the blood
sucking Sircars of Bengal, they are said to attach
theraselves to the fortunes of others, and to grow
fat, in proportion as their patrons grow poor: —
au reste, they are civil, good people, and very clever
at languages, there being but few araong them who
do not understand Persian, Beloocbee, Pushtoo,
Hindoostanee, and the dialects of Sinde. Several
corruptions of the Sinde language are in use, the
most comraon one of which is called Shikarporee.
We heard it spoken at Dauder, and after we had
crossed the Indus, as far easterly as Buhawulpore ;
it is a sharp, quickly-spoken dialect, differing from
Hindoostanee about as much as Bengalee does.
More than a fourth of the inhabitants of the city
are Mohummudans, and among these are from five
to six hundred Affghaun families. In the province,
we were told, are settled as raany as four thousand
famihes: great jealousy exists between them and
their late tributaries the Sindees, but they can do
nothing but grumble, and pray that the Doorraunee
King may have his own again. When the relatives

208 SOIL AND PRODUCE.
of the Affghaun vuzeer dethroned Shah Mahmood,
Shikarpore fell to the share of the Candahar
brothers ; but the Hyderabad Ameers, who had
only been obedient to the Affghaun monarchs occa
sionally and upon compulsion, declared themselves
entirely independent after the revolution, and eject
ing the Affghaun governor from Shikarpore, ¦ placed
a servant of their own in his stead, not fearing' the
rebel claimants, who, they judged, would have
enough to do to take care of themselves in their'
distant province of Candahar. The Hakim whb
now rules at Shikarpore on the part of the Ameers,
collects from the town and province three lacs of
rupees yearly. The further sum of 50,000 rupees'
accrues annually to the Ameers from the customs of
the city. When the Affghauns had the rule, double
the latter sum was collected.
The soil of the province is very fertile, and it may
in most places be irrigated by means of weUs ; water
lying sufficiently near the surface to be raised by the
Persian wheel. Sugar, cotton, indigo, tobacco, and
opium, are cultivated, as also wheat, barley, and
peas, a little rice, and much jawarree and bajra.
However the finest land of the province is waste :
the rich banks of the Indus, which are alluvial for
some miles' breadth on either side, and which might
be cultivated to great purpose, are allowed to remain
covered with jungle, that garae raay be preserved for
the sport of the Araeers.
I would now take a slight review of the country

DISTURBED COUNTRY. 209
between Candahar and Shikarpore, premising that
as Mr. Pottinger wrote a full description of Beloo
chistaun, I confine myself to the detaU of such parts
as came imraediately under our observation.
Our calculations make the distance from Candahar
to Shikarpore (bends in the road, &c. included) about
three hundred and ninety miles. It has been shoAvn
that the rule of the Candahar rebel Sirdars does not
extend to Quetta ; and that although the authority
of the Khan of Kelaut-e-Nusseer commences at the
latter place, the road frora it to the capital of the
next of his petty states is comraanded by wild Aff
ghaun and Belooche tribes, who occupy the hills on
the left and right of the forraidable pass of Bolaun.
Hakims rule at Dauder and Baugh in the name of
the Khan of Kelaut, but they have each enough to
do to sustain their limited authority, and the more
southern and western parts of Beloochistaun are in
a very disturbed state. Belooche tribes war upon
each other, or plunder the Juts, and many who can
find raeans to pay a few retainers, set theraselves up as
chiefs, and caU a small circle of country their own.
The good order of Beloochistaun, I raean of that
part of it which may be considered as belonging to
the government of the Khan of Kelaut-e-Nusseer,
and which I will caU Beloochistaun proper,* would
* Say Kutch, on the east of the great (Sinde and Kutch) chain j
and west of this, to the longitudinal line of 64°, the country between
Kelaut and the sea : for the western Belooches are, and, I imagine,
ever have been, as independent as Bedouins.
VOL. II. P

210 BELOOCHISTAUN PROPER.
appear to depend upon that of Affghaunistaun.
When, on the death of Nadir Shah, Ahmud Khan
Suddozye founded the Doorraunee monarchy, Be
loochistaun, under Nusseer Khan, became virtually
subject to the reigning power in Affghaunistaun ;—
an agreement being made by which the Khan of
Kelaut engaged to furnish a large quota of troops to
the King of Candahar's army, whenever it should be
employed in foreign war. Ahmud Shah made the
Belooches sensible of their inferiority to the Aff-
ghauns, and while he reigned, his authority was
generally respected. So long also as Nusseer Khan
lived, Beloochistaun was well governed, but during
the last twelve years of this chief's rule, another king
sat on the Affghaun throne — Timour Shah, who by
his irresolute conduct gave encouragement to turbu-
lently-disposed chiefs to throw off their allegiance,
and the Belooches, lonof accustomed to consider that
alone to be power which was sustained at the sword's
point, began to think lightly of the protecting go
vernment, and many of them to set at nought .their
liege-lord the Khan of Kelaut. ,,„,
Mahraoud Khan was a mere boy when he succeeded
his father Nusseer Khan, and consequently he was not
able effectually to check the revolt of his chiefs, , The. ,
sons of Timour Shah Doorraunee occupied themselves
in civil war, and when the last of them was driven froHij:i
the throne by rebels,, Affghaunistaun was divided,;,
into several states, which were not separately strong
enough to enforce obedience from the Belooches.

BELOOCHES AND JUTS, 211
However, Mehraub Khan, the present Khan of Ke
laut, not being cordiaUy supported by his chieftains,
finds it expedient to be friends with the Candahar
Sirdars ; as weU to prevent their spoiling his country,
as to have in them an ally against the Ameers of
Sinde, who have shown a wish to encroach upon his
territory. Mehraub Khan has also found it neces
sary to conciUate Runjeet Sing, and, all things
considered, it seemed to be thought that he wished
for the restoration of the Suddozye dynasty in
Affghaunistaun. The bulk of the inhabitants of Kutch are Juts, —
the aborigines. It is not exactly known at what
period these people were converted from the Hindoo
to the Mohummudan rehgion ; at present they are
divided into many tribes, and profess themselves
Soonnees. They live in viUages, and are the agri
culturists of the country.
The Belooches bear but a very small proportion to
those whora they conquered, and, with the exception
of a few who reside in the small forts which are scat
tered over the country, they live in khaUs, and rove
to pasture their oxen and sheep.
The condition of either people seems far from a
prosperous one. They are just able to feed and
clothe themselves, and that but indifferently. The
Belooches live under felt tents. The habitations of
the viUages are mere sheds, generally built of sticks
and grass, and the inhabitants can change their situa
tion ahnost as easily as if they lived in tents.
p 2

212 CULTIVATORS OF THE LAND.
The terms on which the land is tilled are these :
Persons wishing to cultivate land near a stream, (the
Naree, for instance,) throw a dam across the bed,
and run up a few houses near the spot. The produce
of the land upon which water is turned, is divided
into three shares : — the first one the cultivator halves
with the Hakim, or with the proprietor of the soil, to
indenanify himself for the expense of constructing the
erabankraent ; and of the two reraaining shares, the
Hakira, or proprietor, takes nearly seven eighths.
A traveller raight note the sites of villages which,
perhaps, would not be found twelve raonths after
wards ; for in case of oppression by the lord of the
soil, or of accident, such as the breaking away of a
dara, &c., the ryots are likely to reraove and esta
blish theraselves elsewhere.
The country to the right of our road, near the
mountains, is I imagine not ill-cultivated, for we
learned that from the base of the mountains, all the way
from Dauder to the sea, run many little rivulets, the
waters of which are damraed, and kept for agricultural
purposes. I raentioned that we brought a stream
with us frora the mountains, which went off towards
them again after having watered the land about Dau
der. I believe that this is joined by another stream,
which comes out of the hills by a pass called Moolia,
and that it then runs parallel with, and at no great
distance from the mountains, halfway to the sea..
The river Naree comes s,outh frora the high moun
tains of Tukkatoo, or Laree, past Sewee, a proverbi-

FOOD OF THE INHABITANTS. 213
ally hot place, where rauch rice is cultivated. East
ward of the Naree we heard of two moderately-sized
streams (which I imagine must run to the Indus),
and many small rivulets are said to irrigate the lands
at the foot of the mountains. The general course of
all the water in this plain is south.
The staple food of the people of Kutch is jawarree
or bajra bread. The first grain is much cultivated,
and sold very cheap. Wheat and barley are little, if
at all, grown. We could only obtain wheaten flour at
the towns, and then not much ; even barley meal,
which is far cheaper, was not to be had ready ground
in any quantity.
At the towns of Dauder and Baugh, a little mutton
or goat's flesh was exposed for sale in the bazaar.
The people of Kutch possess many cattle, but owing
to their poverty, and perhaps to the heat of the
climate, they do not eat much flesh. Sorae of the
horse-raerchants of our party brought with thera
pieces of dry salted raeat, to which they occasionally
treated theraselves.
One day we had the luck to taste fresh mutton,
such as it was. A stout Caubul ram, which was
being led to India for sale, warranted to break the
head of any raale of his species he might butt against,
happened to receive a severe kick frora a carael, and
as he looked very likely to die, it was determined to
kiU and eat him. Muheen Shah was caUed upon to
officiate. Standing in the midst of a crowd, the
gasping rara lying at his feet, he bared his arra, and

214 FOOD OF THE INHABITANTS.
flourished his knife, with the dignity of an ancient
priest of Jupiter, then uttering a loud " Bismil-
lab UUah Ho Acber!" he stooped and turned the
victim's head towards the kebla, while he dexterously
drew the sharp blade across the throat, so as not
quite to divide the thorax, and then declared the
flesh to be lawful meat.

HALT AT SHIKARPORE. 215

CHAPTER X.
Halt at Shikarpore— March to the river Indus, and on to the towns of
Klhirepore and Rohree — Fortress of Bukkar — Ameers of Sinde —
State of the people — Rohree well situated for commercial purposes
— Remarks on British and Russian trade with central Asia.
We halted three days at Shikarpore. Our friend
had business to transact, and the Hakim made some
difficulty about allowing him to take his horses across
the Indus, until he promised to go vid Khirepore, in
order that the Meers of that place might see the
animals. We had ample leisure to survey the town and its
environs. I do not believe there is any thing very
curious to be seen at Shikarpore, unless it be the
library of one Meah Hadjee Fakeer OoUah, who
boasted that he possessed seven hundred voluraes,
six hundred and ninety-nine of which were upon
theology, and one upon history.
On the 20th of December we rode from Shikarpore
to the river Indus. The distance was about fifteen
mUes, and our road lay through a jungle, which in

216 RIVER INDUS.
many places was inclosed and planted with sugar*
cane, to preserve wild hogs for the sport of the
Ameers. Just as the sun was setting, we found
ourselves at the end of the wood, and upon the high
bank of the Indus, which was flowing past us in one
calm broad stream. The spot where we stood com
manded a view of two other broad reaches, and the
Scene altogether was one that for quiet grandeur and
beauty could hardly be surpassed.
We slept upon the bank, and the next morning
were ferried over in boats which held two camels and
three horses. We were towed up the bank for some
distance, and then loosing, went across diagonally
with the help of the stream. We were rowed by a
large pair of oars, assisted by a long rudder which
the helrasman used as a paddle, and we were exactly
eight minutes from bank to bank.
The water appeared to run at the rate of two miles
and a half per hour, and the breadth of it was half
a mile. The boatraen said that the water was then
at its lowest, and that it would not rise till the moun
tain snows melted in the spring. We had not the
means of ascertaining its actual depth, but we found
no bottom near the centre of the stream with a pole
twelve feet long, and were told that we were not near
it. Though the right bank was high, the left was
here scarcely defined ; the bed was of earthy sand,
and the water in appearance like that of the
Ganges. We rode on nine miles beyond the river, through

TOWN OF KHIREPORE. 217
a low open wood not far frora the bank, and crossed
a dry bed which we saw again at Khirepore : water
is dararaed up in it for cultivation, as in the Kutch
waterrcourses. Seven miles on the road was a large
village naraed Hohrara or Oleera ; we halted at the
vUlage of Dublee, where we spent the night un
pleasantly enough in a drizzling rain. Muheen Shah
tried an address to the skies, but they would not
pity us, and we had nothing for it but to get well
under our blankets.
22nd. — Eight miles by a winding road through
jungle to Khirepore, a very large open town buUt
among trees, — the seat of the descendants of the
late esteemed Sinde chief Ameer Sohraub.
At his death Meer Sohraub bequeathed his coun
try to his eldest son Meer Roostum, and all his
coUected wealth to his second son Meer Morad;
decreeing however from the revenues of the eldest,
provision for forty other descendants. The two
brothers at first quarrelled, but when we were at
Khirepore they were living in the same house,
though on very dubious terms. A wall divided
their several ranges of apartments, and the entrances
were kept by a body of either chief's retainers ;
indeed we were told that Meer Morad dreaded to
go out hunting without his brother, lest the latter
-i should take the opportunity to seize his treasure.
Yet we heard from several persons an anecdote of
Meer Morad, which, were it not for the indubitable
fact that it is not in the nature of Agiatics to confide

218 THE KHIREPORE AMEERS.
in each other, would induce a doubt whether a man
who had acted so generously, could harbour such
degrading suspicions against a brother who could not
wrong him if he acknowledged the weakest dictates
of honour or gratitude, as the following story may
show. Meer Roostum received no money with the terri
tory that his father bequeathed to him, and when he
quarrelled with his brother, he found himself so ill
able to pay the fighting raen whora he had enter
tained, that he applied to a neighbouring chief for a
loan to enable him to carry on the war. Meer
Morad, hearing of this, sent to request that he would
not lower his dignity by taking raoney from a stran
ger, for he would lend him whatever sum he required,
whether they were to continue enemies, or to be
come friends ; — and this it was, according to the
story, that led the way to a reconciliation.
We arrived at Khirepore early in the day : scarcely
were our horses tied up, when we heard loud shouts
and the barking of many dogs, and presently came
a party of troopers to say that the Meers were going
out hunting, and had ordered our horses to accompany
thera, that they raight see their mettle. Remon
strance was useless, so the horses being saddled,
were ridden off, and put through their paces till
evening. Muheen Shah was very indignant, and the next
day took an early opportunity of applying for per
mission to continue his journey. When he went.

MUHEEN shah's CAPTIVITY. 219
he was offered five hundred rupees for his best
horse, and excusing himself from selling any, on the
plea that they had been bought on comraission for
some Rajah in British India, he was ordered to pay
a very heavy duty upon each animal. He complied,
and was told that he should receive a pass, but as he
was about to leave the palace, he was taken by a party
of Meer Morad's men, who demanded duty on ac
count of their master, and the consequence of his
refusal was, that in spite of his bukht, he was put in
a guard-house, and kept there all night.
We did not at the time learn raore than that our
friend had been imprisoned, and therefore suffered
much uneasy conjecture as to the cause. The Aff
ghaun grooms were very dejected, and evidently at
tributed their raaster's Ul-treatment to his connexion
with me. — ^We were all sitting round a fire late in
evening, " chewing the bitter cud of unpleasant re
flections," and listening to a serenade of jackals, when
a stout Affghaun stranger walked up and gave us a
Salaam Alekoora ! One of our party looking up, with
an exclamation of surprise recognised the man, who
when he had exchanged a few questions in Pushtoo,
sat down among us, and unroUing a cloth frora his
waist, produced a packet of English letters ad
dressed to me. For a raoment or two I could scarcely
think myself awake, so great was the surprise ; but
breaking the seals, I recognised the signatures of
fiiends whom I had left at Tabreez, and was presently
able to appreciate their kind efforts in my service.

220 LETTERS FROM ENGLISH FRIENDS.
The letters contained bills on Heraut for the money
we had required, and our friend Moolia Mohumud
had sent them after us to Pisheen, whence again th©y
had been forwarded by the Syuds. — Karaumut AH
also got remembrances from his friends, and for^a
while poor Muheen Shah and our sorrow on his ac
count were forgotten ; but the happiness that I ex
perienced in receiving these letters, was dashed with
regret that I could not but feel on learning from them
the death of the British Envoy, Sir John Macdonald,
to whom I had been indebted for many kindnesses; '
The next morning Muheen Shah thought it better
to pay for his release, and thus obtaining it, he lost
no time in getting the promised passport from Meer
Roostum. The Shah looked very pale and unhappy
when he returned to us, and refused all offers of re
freshment, vowing that bread should not pass his
lips until he was away frora such a place. We ac
cordingly made ready to start, and engaging the
services of a guide who said he knew all the roads be
tween that and Buhawulpore, we set out for Rohree. .
The distance frora Khirepore to Rohree is about
sixteen railes. We rode for ten miles through, a
country which had been partially cleared for culti
vation, and then entered a grove of gigantic palm-
trees, on either side of which were large walled
gardens of many fruits, and occasionally a few
houses. We rode for six miles through this beauti
ful grove, and got out of it upon a broad area of
loose sand shelving gently down to the Indus^ To

TOWN OF ROHREE. 221
the right of this, built upon a flint rock, was the old
town of Rohree, — a ruined coUection of tall, deso
late-looking houses, with broken latticed windows,
and wooden balconies, — and on the left stood a thick
clump of trees, partly shutting out frora view the
massy fortress of Bukkar, which, strongly buUt of
brick and stone, rises from an island in the centre of
the river. Our horses clambered up the rocky path
into a narrow street, which was crossed by a long
bazaar, lowly roofed over with rafters and palm-
leaves : not being able to ride under this, we found
our way through the town by narrow lanes, and
halted on the other side of it, near the bank of the
river. 1 25th December. — We spent Christmas-day at
Rohree, for Muheen Shah going early to present
our pass to the governor of the fortress, was told
that it was informal, and that we could not proceed ;
upon which our friend saddled a running camel, and
trotted back to Khirepore again, leaving us to sur
vey the wonders of this extraordinary place.
Rohree, the ancient capital of the Sogdi, if not
the town which, according to Arrian, Alexander the
Great built when he rested hereabouts on his way
to the ocean, has fallen into decay, and does not
contain more than six or seven thousand inhabitants,
four-fifths of whom are Hindoos. The flint rock
upon which it is built, is washed by the river, and it
runs curiously back to some mUes' distance, having
somewhat the appearance of an old Hne of bastioned

222 ISLAND FORTRESS OF BUKKAR.
fortification. The flint of which this and the other
rocks are composed is of so good a quality, that
travellers on the river commonly take away a quan
tity in their boats.
We did not visit the ancient town of Bukkar, but
we viewed its extensive ruins at some distance from
the opposite bank.
The island fortress of Bukkar is built upon an
oval flint rock three quarters of a mile in circum
ference, which divides a stream eight hundred yards
in width. The fort itself is strongly built, but it is
overlooked by the bank upon which stands the town
of Rohree. It commands the river, and aU boats
that pass up and down pay a toll. The water
covers part of the rock at one end, and forms a
little islet, on which is a Mohummudan temple em
bowered in trees : this is the resting-place of so great
a saint, that the very fishes come up from the sea to
swim a Ziarut round it, and to mark their respect
for the shrine, they never once turn tail on the
journey up.
Near the bank, a little below the fort, is another
rock, which becomes an islet at the sweU of the
river. This hill has long been used as a Mohum
mudan burial-ground, and is covered with old tombs.
You ascend to its summit by seventy steps : a little
way up dwells a hermit, who makes visiters take
their shoes off, and accepts their charity, bidding
them pray for the souls of the departed.
The natives of Rohree are an amphibious race of

AMEERS OF SINDE. 223
beings who spend their days upon the river catching
fish, which they salt and preserve. The mode in
which these fishers exercise their art is very curious :
they lay their storaachs upon large empty jars, and
holding a line or net in hand, they use their feet as
paddles, and float about with their faces close to the
water. We wondered at the ease with which they
seeraed to control the force of the stream. Some
times a man would lie still upon the water, as if he
was tight anchored to the bottom, and then, aban
doning hiraself to the current, he would drop down
as far as it suited hira, when he would land, walk
up the bank with his jar, and launch himself
afresh. From its situation, Rohree should be a healthier
place than Khirepore ; the chiefs however prefer re
siding at the latter place, and not only is the town of
Rohree neglected, but on the bank of the river
beyond it, jungle keeps waste rich land which might
be very profitably cultivated, as well with articles
for export, as with the better sorts of grain. The
Ameers of Sinde appear to live only for themselves,
and to be as blind to the capabilities of their
country, as they are regardless of the welfare of its
inhabitants: to indulge their passion for sporting,
they suffer much of their richest land to be covered
with jungle, and the revenue thus sacrificed is raade
up, as far as is possible, by heavy drains upon the
profits of such lands as are left to the peasantry.
The people feel the check of this ignorantly oppres-

224 STATE OF THE PEOPLE.
sive system, yet attempt not to better their con
dition, and in that happy spirit of fiUal piety for
which Indians are distinguished, resign themselves
to the life that their fathers endured.
The staple food of the people of Sinde is bread
made of jawarree or bajra. Buffaloes being very
cheap in this country, the poorest people have them,
and some possess a few goats and fowls. Their
dwellings are of the meanest order : the neatest are
those of the people who reside upon lands which are
liable to be flooded; — little thatched sheds raised
upon bamboo frames some five or six feet above the
ground, into which the occupants ascend by small
ladders. From what we observed, and were able to learn of
Sinde and its people generally, I cannot help thinking
that the amount of the Ameers' income has been
exaggerated ; though there need be little doubt that
it would more than equal the reputed sum, if these
princes could fully understand their interests. It is
lamentable that provinces which, frora their situation
and natural fertility, ought to be filled with rich and
happy people, should be subject to the misrule of a
few ignorant despots : but the Indus must be shortly
thrown open to our trade, and then will be levelled
that unsocial barrier within which the jealous chief-=
tains of Sinde have so long fenced themselves ; we
shall enlighten thera with notions of just pohcy, and
thus raise the condition of their people. Hitherto
the Indus has been suffered to flow from its source

ROHREE WELL SITUATED FOR COMMERCE. 225
to the Indian ocean, contributing little to the wealth
or civiUzation of the countries which lie upon its
banks ; the short-sighted chiefs of the Indian states
which it bounds, have been distrustful of each other,
and mutually jealous of the power which has resources
and enterprise sufficient to embrace the whole of the
river in one grand commercial scheme ; but happUy
their distrust is giving way before the tried good
faith of the British Government, and we may hope
that many years will not elapse before all parties are
zealously engaged in an extended trade, which wiU
bind their interests closely together, and be the
means of introducing comraerce and civUization into
a new world.
Rohree is a city which appears in every way de
signed to become a place of wealth and importance,
surrounded as it is by a fertile country, standing on
a noble river which is navigable from the ocean to
Attock, and situated at raean distance from many
places of political and commercial importance. On
the verge of the natural frontier of Hindoostan, and
commanding the great Candahar road, it is well
situated on what would be adopted as a line of de
fence against foreign invasion ; and conveniently
placed with regard to some of the principal cities of
India, it offers an admirable position for an emporium
which would make our manufactures accessible to the
countries which stretch far to the north and west.
The natives of Affghaunistaun chiefly trade with
southern India, taking the roads through Beloochis-
VOL. II. Q

226 ROHREE WELL SITUATED FOR COMMERCE.
taun and Sinde, to the ports of Kuricbee and Mun-
davie, where they embark for Bombay. The Hy
derabad Ameers endeavour to keep the trade in these
roads, and the Ameers of Khirepore, by injudiciously
exacting large and irregular duties, have discouraged
the raerchants from opening a new one through their
territory to the northern provinces of British India,
&c., and thus Shikarpore flourishes ; but Rohree is in
every respect better situated for commerce than Shi
karpore, and were it once established as a mart,
would scarcely fail to attract the wealth of the former
place, and to become one of the largest commercial
towns in India.
If the Affghaun merchants could obtain at Rohree
the European and Indian goods they traffic in, many
of them certainly would repair thither in preference
to following the tedious and expensive route to the
sea-coast. Those who brought things which they
could not sell or exchange at Rohree, would travel
up to Buhawulpore, and thence by the newly opened
road across the Indian desert to the provinces of
Upper India ; and probably they would return to the
frontier mart to purchase an investment for their own
country. Thus a grand trade road would be esta
blished vid Quetta to Candahar, and the latter city
would become an entrepot, whence our comraodities
would be dispersed to other quarters.
I will here venture a few opinions upon the dis
tinct question of our trade in the countries beyond
the Indus, for having viewed it in connexion with

BRITISH TRADE BEYOND THE INDUS. 227
the Other advantages which should be consequent
upon the opening of the river, my preceding words
raay have made rae seem too sanguine about it.
Our trade beyond the Indus must depend first —
upon the state of the Affghaun country ; for until that
is in some degree restored to order, traffic cannot be
greatly extended in or beyond it. Not only do
merchants risk open and violent robbery, which they
must pay to guard themselves against, but they are
exposed to the arbitrary exactions of so raany persons
in authority, that it is only in consequence of their
obtaining large prices for the small quantity of goods
exported, that they are enabled to make profit.
The extension of the trade must be gradual ; for
as yet the pastoral tribes of Affghaunistaun are not
rich enough to purchase a very great quantity of our
manufactures, rauch as they covet them ; nor does
their country afford many things that we could to
any extent receive in barter from them.
If encouraged, the Affghaun merchants could im
port into India any required number of really good
horses, at a fair price, but the demand for these
must necessarily be limited, since the Indian cavalry
cannot be dependent upon a foreign country for their
supply of horses, and the Government studs breed
nearly as raany as are required for the public
service. The whole of Hindoostan is now supplied with
dried and preserved fruits frora Caubul, by the fol
lowing roads, vid the Punjaub to Loodeeana; vid
q2

228 BRITISH TRADE BEYOND THE INDUS.
Damaun, Mooltan, Buhawulpore, and Hissar, to
Deblee ; vid Quetta, Dauder, Baugb, and Larkhana,*
to Sinde, and on by the usual road to Bombay and
Madras. Apples, quinces, and grapes are packed
in cotton, and as they are easily damaged, the profit
on tbem is uncertain ; but pomegranates, pistachio-
nuts, almonds, dried apricots, figs, raisins, &c., are
brought without loss : the demand for them is cer
tain, and the profit good.
Assafoetida and saffron are the chief exports from
* I may here insert a memorandum of the duties levied on the
road we took from Quetta to Shikarpore, which was by mistake omit
ted in the first edition.
At Quetta 91 cucha rupees, named huft senna (IS of which go to a
Bajoklee or gold ducat), are levied for the Kelaut chief, on every hoise,
or laden camel, going to Hindoost&n. Ditto on laden camels coming
from Hindoostan ; except when they are charged with indigo, — the duty
on a camel-load of which is 13^ rupees ; or with cloths or leather,— the
duty on which is 9 rupees per load. Unladen camels pass duty free.
At Dauder (formerly levied by the Affghauns, and sent to Canda
har, now sent to Kelaut), 4 rupees are demanded for every horse, or
laden camel. During the Doorraunee monarchy, pucka rupees were
current in this province, and then the same number of those were
taken. At Baugh 3, at Cunda 2, rupees per horse or laden camel for the
Kelaut chief.
At Shikarpore (which clears Larkhaneh), for the Hyderabad
Ameers, are levied in rupees of which 5 go to a ducat (about the
same as siccas). Reals.
Per horse . . _ gl
Per camelladen with either raw or wrought silk . .17
Do. with assafoetida, fruit, Ilwerd, crimson dye-wood, &c. 9
Uncut Turquoise stones, Khak e Ferooza, imported into Hindoostan
upon camels in large quantities, pay duty at the general rate of 7 or 8
Trolh'T' '''"^;"=" *° '^' ^''^'"^ ^^'"^' f"'- i' i= ^ speculation how
rough stones w,ll cut up.-Note to Second Edition.

BRITISH TRADE BEYOND THE INDUS. 229
Heraut : the quality of the carpets made there is
very fine, but I am not sufficiently well informed
about our trade in this article, to know whether it
would suit us to revive the manufacture at Heraut,
so as to obtain carpets thence by land-carriage, and
ship them at the mouth of the Indus for Europe.
At Candahar is grown tobacco, which is esteemed
to be little inferior to that of Shirauz. Very good
opium is cultivated at Candahar, and the mountains
in the north-eastern part of Affghaunistaun contain
inexhaustible mines of the purest rock-salt. I am
not qualified to judge to what extent it would serve
the purposes of the Honourable Company's Govern
ment to receive the last two articles, but I presume
that every encouragement would be given to people
wiUing to relieve us of our manufactures, and per
haps some sacrifice submitted to in one branch of
trade, for the establishment of another.
It is difficult to judge what wealth there may be
in Affghaunistaun and the countries beyond, because
the state of society there is such, that men will bury
their money rather than be thought to possess
much ; and having little security for their neigh
bours' honesty, they are careful how they lend what
they are afraid openly to speculate with themselves :
but money there doubtless is in those countries,*
and were security established, it would quickly find
its way into circulation. Affghaunistaun is a coun-
* I asked an Affghaun merchant whether there was still wealth in
this country. "Is there any doubt about it?" was his answer: "if
there were not, what would so many Hindoos do there ? Flies do
not swarm about an empty honey-pot."

230 RUSSIAN TRADE WITH CENTRAL ASIA.
try which, were it settled, and freely open to those
which surround it, would soon attract trade and
wealth. The climate of the countries beyond the
Indus is such, that our woollen and cotton cloths,
&c., will always be in request there, and gradually,
as the condition of the people betters, wiU markets
open for our exports.*
Of late years the Russians have been sedulously
endeavouring to extend the sale of their manufac
tures in Toorkestaun, Persia, and Affghaunistaun,
and they have now four channels for their trade.
1. Vid Orenburg to Bokhara, whence their com
modities are taken to Meshed and Heraut, to Caubul,
and even to Cashgar.
2. From Astrakhan vid Mangishlak, on the east
coast of the Caspian, to Khiva.
3. By the port of Reshdt, on the south coast of
the Caspian, to Tehraun and Isphahaun, &c., and
to Meshed, &c.
4. By the land-route from Tiflis, vid Tabreez to
Tehraun, &c.
The articles that they export are mentioned in my
account of the trade of Meshed, and accordmg to
the statement of Baron Meyendorff, the commerce
between Bokhara and Russia employs three thousand
camels. According to the same authority, the value of mer
chandise imported by the Bokharians into Russia,
upon about three thousand camels, may amount in a
* See Appendix A.

RUSSIAN TRADE WITH CENTRAL ASIA. 231
good year to near eight raillions of paper roubles,
or 333,333/. As the goods which the Bokharians
import into Russia, are more valuable and less bulky
than those which they export thence, it may be con
jectured that they receive in barter as great a quan
tity of Russian commodities as will load their camels,
and that they are paid the balance in gold. Gold
ducats coined in Russia, are, I know, brought from
Orenburg : this coin passes current all over the East,
and it is generally sold at a good premium, on account
of the purity of its metal.
Baron Meyendorff says that the Bokharian mer
chants realize a clear profit of thirty per cent, upon
their trade with Russia, " Generalement," he ob
serves, " ils gagnent moins sur la vente des mar-
chandises Russes en Boukharie, que sur celle de
leurs en Russie ; ce qui doit faire conclure que
^importation de celles de Russie en Boukharie a
presque atteint son maximum."
This raay be owing, first, to the greater facility
which has of late years been given to the other chan
nels of Russian trade eastward, and secondly, to the
circumstance of English chintzes and other cloths
having found their way in greater quantities to Bok
hara. The Russian manufactures have as yet little
to recommend them but their cheapness, and ours
are every where bought in preference, notwithstand
ing the great difference of the prices.
According to the best of my information, the least
profit the Affghaun merchants gain upon the sale of

232 ENGLISH AND RUSSIAN TRADE
our goods at Candahar and Caubul, is one hundred'
per cent, upon prime cost. Owing to the irregu
larity of the trade, our commodities are sometiraes
cheaper at Caubul than at Candahar.
My friend Muheen Shah, in the year 1828, at
Bombay, invested a capital of seven thousand rupees,
chiefly in English piece-goods, which he took by sea
to the port of Soomeeanee in Beloochistaun, and
thence on camels vid Bayla, Kelaut, Pisheen, Can
dahar, and Ghuzni, to Caubul. Here, according to
a list of prices shown me, he disposed of part of his
investment at the rate of one hundred and ten per
cent, profit upon prime cost, and the rest, consisting
chiefly of EngUsh chintzes, he sent on vid Bulkh to
Bokhara. His goods reached the latter city about
the time that the Russian caravan arrived there from
Orenburg, but they sold immediately at a profit of
frora one hundred and fifty to two hundred per cent.
upon prime cost, and comparatively with Russian
manufactures of the sarae kind, at the rate of a fifth
higher price.
Muheen Shah, it is to be observed, made profit
upon goods which had come to market by a month's
sea voyage, and a land route of from thirteen to
fourteen hundred miles, notwithstanding many arbi
trary exactions that he was subject to on the way,
and the expense of four months' detention at one
place, on account of the disturbed state of the coun
try. From him and other merchants I learned, that
Enghsh goods generaUy sell at Bokhara," at the rate

IN CENTRAL ASIA. 233
of one hundred and fifty per cent, profit upon prime
cost at Bombay, and at the rate of a fifth higher price
than Russian manufactures of the same kind. They
told me also that, two years ago, sorae Russian
chintzes brought to Caubul could not even be sold
for the Bokhara price, because there was much
English chintz in the market. I offer their state
ments to show the different degree of estimation in
which English and Russian manufactures are held in
these countries, and to show that, if we had the navi
gation of the Indus, we could afford to lower the
prices considerably : we should thus throw our raanu
factures among a fresh class of persons, and if we
could further reduce our prices to the level of the
Russian rates, we should in a great measure turn our
rivals out of the market.
I have taken Bokhara as an extreme point : of
course, if we can gain any advantage over the Rus
sians in our trade there, it must be increased to us
the nearer we corae to the Indus. The trade is now
confined to men who undertake distant and irregular
speculations upon petty capitals, which they have
first to realize by selling the things which they ex
port from their own country; but were the com
raerce extended, moneyed merchants would engage
in it, regular investments would be imported
and stored, and the present traders would for the
most part become carriers from one entrepot to
another. In a previous chapter, I quoted a passage frora

234 THE oxus.
Baron Meyendorff, where he says that the trade of
Russia with Bokhara would require fresh impulses, if
the communication between the two countries were
made safe by the subjection of Khiva to the Czar.
If the Russians do by any means succeed in esta-
bUshing their authority at Khiva, they will assuredly
navigate the Oxus ;* and here we must keep in sight
a point of great iraportance, upon which Baron Mey
endorff speaks positively ; viz., that there is no water
communication between Bokhara and the Oxus ; —
the river which flows past the city of Bokhara, ex
pending itself in the lake of Kara Koul. This gives
Khiva such an advantage as a place of trade, that it
would in all probabUity attract the commerce of Bok
hara, and, becoming stocked by Armenians, Jews,
and other commercial people, would rise into a place
of considerable importance.
The Oxus would easily lead the Russians to Bulkh,
which, there is licence to suppose, would become a
large town, corresponding to Khiva, and a mart at
* According to the accounts that we received of the Oxus, it is navi
gable during eight months of the year. From above Bulkh to past
Khiva, the river has an average breadth of half a mile. [One inform
ant, who stated this, said that he first crossed the river above Bulkh,
and again on his way from Bokhara, at Charjoob.] When the snows
melt on the mountains from which the Oxus flows, it runs in a broad
and very rapid stream, which it would be dangerous to come down, and
very difficult to ascend : this excess of water runs off in two months
and a half or so, and then the river runs broadly and moderately, hav
ing depth suflicient to float boats of large burden. There are boats at
the ferries that take across twelve camels. — The general account said,
that there were no fords, but that travellers often crossed on inflated
skins. In winter the Oxus is frozen.

THE INDUS. 235
which much Indian produce would be exchanged for
Russian exports. This would cause a great revolu
tion in the trade of Central Asia, and give the Rus
sians advantages, the effects of which would be best
counteracted by those which we should produce by
throwing open the Indus.
Our trade in the countries beyond the Indus, I
have observed, must be gradually extended ; but we
should at once nearly double it by establishing an
emporiura on the bank of the river, since we should
enable the Affghauns to make two voyages where
they now raake one. But it is not in these countries
only that we shall extend the sale of our exports by
opening the Indus to our trade : — goods brought by
ship frora Bombay, or from England direct, to the
mouth of the Indus, could be taken up the river, and
landed at Rohree so cheaply, that we should lower
the prices in Sinde and Rajpootana, in the Central
and Upper Provinces of British India, and in the
Punjaub ; so that it may be reasonably concluded,
that the gross deraand for our manufactures would be
very much increased.

236 MARCH FROM ROHREE

CHAPTER XI.
March on vid Buhawalpore, across the Indian desert, to the British
frontier — Conclusion of journey.
December 26th. — From Rohree we made a march
of about forty railes to a very large vUlage named
Cawnpore. We passed eight small vUlages on the
way : the road lay through jungle, which was suf
fered to keep waste a fine soil.
27th. — Forty miles to Raatee. Syud Muheen Shah
fancied that the Ameers would somehow or other
hear of ray being with his party, and send men to
bring us back ; he therefore desired the guide to
avoid the main road, and we went from hamlet to
hamlet to ask our way. The soil of the country we
rode through was fine, but, excepting where cleared
for a Httle cultivation of cotton or jawarree, it was
overrun with jungle. About sunset, as we were
making the best of our way up a long open glade,
one of our running camels slipped upon the turf, and
snapped its leg in two, so that we were obliged to
unload the poor animal, and give it to sorae vUIagers.

TOWARDS BUHAWULPORE. 237
Raatee was a large village, where we got food for
ourselves and horses at a Hindoo shop.
28th. — Twenty-eight raUes to the vUlage of Zore-
kote. Fifteen mUes on the road was the viUage of
Zeera-ka-kote, which marks the frontier between the
territories of the Khirepore Ameers and Buhawul
Khan. There were numerous hamlets on the road,
and the jungle was greatly cleared for cultivation.
At Zorekote we met a party of Affghauns, who had
come from Caubul vid Damaun, and were going to
Hyderabad with hawks and a kaufir* slave-girl for
sale. 29th — Twenty-five miles to Sultanpore. Three
miles before the latter place was the small walled
town of Nohshehera, where, halting to rest a little
under the shade of a tree, we fell into conversation
with a Persian stranger, who, according to what we
could discover of his condition, was a gentleraan of
the Zand family, travelling pour se distraire. In
two minutes Keraumut Ali and the stranger be
came as old friends, cracking their jokes, and com
plimenting each other on their wit : a little per
suasion induced the traveller to turn his pony's head,
and go back with us one stage, and I do not remem
ber many pleasanter evenings than this which we
passed in his society.
Khoosroo, as the stranger styled himself, was a
* From Kaufiristaun, or Infidel land ; a part of the Hindoo Koosh
mountains, inhabited by a race of idolaters, supposed to be descended
from a colony of Grecians. Vide Elphinstone's Caubul.

338 A PLEASANT TRAVELLERS
tall, very handsome, and goodbumoured-looking man,
with a beard worthy of one who claimed descent from
a late royal faraily. He had travelled through
Toorkestaun, part of Affghaunistaun, and the Pun
jaub, and was fuU of very entertaining anecdote re
lating to his travels. From the little he had seen of
English society at the outpost of Loodeeana, he un
dertook to describe the ways and means of the
Feringees who ruled over India, and if his remarks
were severe, they were very amusingly made.
" The Feringees," he commenced, " are, I beg
leave to represent, by no means a pleasant people to
be araong ; for they have nothing to say for them
selves, and, considering that they are unbelievers,
have raore damaugh* than enough. One of their
sirdars, learning that I was a great traveller, sent to
invite me to visit him : so I went, and saw a great
little man, who was very civil, but as khooshM as
a stick : he seated me on a chair near him, and gave
me tea, which, I beg leave to state, they make de
liciously: he then asked me whether I had not
visited this and that place, and when I answered
bullit, he rejoined, " Hal" We sat thus for some
time ; first came in one captan, and then another
captan ; they looked at me and at each other, and
every now and then dehvered themselves of a syllable
or two ; while one man was pacing up and down the
room as if he was possessed. At last some of them
* Pride, or self-sufficiency. f Dry, stiff. + Yes

DESCRIPTION OF THE FERINGEES. 239
gave their hand to the master of the house, and went
away ; so I thought I might as well take leave also.
" I have learned that formerly these men were a
small tribe of merchants, servants to the kings of
this country, but now, maledictions on their fathers !
they have it all their own way. The secret of their
rule is this : They have inforraation of every thing
that passes every where, and they raake the most of
the news. If two men quarrel about a country, they
step in to adjust the dispute, and turn both out. It
is a pity we had not the land I UUah I how rich some
of those fat Lahore idolaters are !
" Soldiers, I request perraission to observe, the
Inglis are not; though no doubt they are great
raerchants, and shrewd people. For a long tirae
they paid us some crores a year, to keep the Oroos
off thera ; but old Suleiman* there has enough to
do to keep them off himself, and the Feringees,
having been acute enough to see this, no longer
waste their money. They say that Abbas Mirza
has married the Iraperatoor'st daughter ! Is it true ?
These are wonderful times! we were kings the
other day, and now I am — let me remember— ay,
Khoosroo Shah, soraetiraes compelled to hide my
religion, and beg civUity from a set of dogs like —
what is the happy name of your friend the peer
* A terra of derision for Futteh Ali Shah, in allusion to the num
ber of his women.
f The Emperor of Russia.

240 BOUNDARY OF THE INDIAN DESERT.
there asleep? Muheen Shah; Moobarik bash;
Muheen Shah, (aside,) if you hear me, and' a curse
be upon you if you are asleep !" ¦
We parted the next morning, Keraumut Ali
was as sorrowful as if he was about to separate irgm
a brother, for it was long since his heart had been
gladdened with so much khoosh-sobut,* and -when
we had marched on some distance, be broke a Ipng
silence by exclaiming, " Hei Iran! Iran! your peo
ple may be rogues and liars ; but I swear youiar©
such pleasant companions, that one would: live
among you on any terms!" i:.r';i:
30th. — Twenty-six miles to Cawnpore, whichtis a
sraall town with a good bazaar. For the lastjtwo
marches, the soil had gradually become fighter and
more sandy, and the villages now were generally;
built upon sand-hills, which warned us of the vicini^
of the desert. Even in this country the- Syujdi?; .of
Pisheen are much esteemed : many of the Mfthum*
mudan people would come to be patted on the, hftajl
and blessed by our leader, and sometimes i a. mart
would stand in the road whUe our line passedj^a^
ing a blessing at every stirrup. i,'';!
31.- — Twenty-seven miles to Chowderee, wh^re
were a few huts, near a bungalow erected fori;t^e
occasional use of Buhawul Khan on his sporting,
excursions. For the last thirteen miles, qur; rQadi
* Pleasant converse.

TOWN OF AHMUDPORE. 241
lay on the edge of the desert : close on our left was
the good soil, cultivated as far as the eye reached,
and separated frora the desert as if by a line.
January 1st, 1831. — Twenty-eight miles to the
city of Ahmudpore. Five miles to a village on the
edge of a desert, as many east into it, and then
twelve railes N.E. to a vUlage naraed Cohee, where
we got upon the good soil again.
Ahmudpore is a very large open town, in the
environs of which are many fine trees, and a park
containing a handsome white stuccoed building, the
palace of Buhawul Khan. The Khan generally re
sides here, consequently the town is in a fiou-
rishing condition : it appeared to be filled with
inhabitants, and the neighbouring lands were raost
industriously cultivated. We halted here three days
to rest our cattle, and knowing Buhawul Khan's
respect for the English, I declared rayself a British
officer, from Persia overland, travelling through his
country to our frontier. The Khan was away at
Derawul, a fortress in the desert, which is esteemed
strong on account of its situation, and where the
Khan is said to keep his treasure. A messenger
who was despatched on a running carael to report
my arrival, was sent back with a message expressive
of the Khan's hearty welcome, and regret that he
had been led so far into the desert in pursuit of
garae that he could not return soon. He sent his
minister orders to supply aU my wants, and furnish
VOL, II. R

242 CIVILITY OF THE KHAN.
me with a free pass through his dominions, and
during the time of our stay here, his people loaded
us with civility, sending me presents of sheep, rice,
and sweetmeats, insomuch that, as my companion
observed, " the Affghauns began to think that they
had arrived at the confines of Paradise I" ; , a^-i
5th. — Thirty railes to the city of Buhawulpqre,
through an open country of raixed good land and
sandy soil, which was greatly cultivated. One day's
halt. We accounted the distance frora Roreesto
the city of Buhawulpore to be about two hundre^n
and forty miles. We came by a road to the right of ;
the great one : the latter is flooded in the rains
so as to be irapassable, and the one that we took
must be very bad at that season. This is a country
to puzzle those who lecture upon the UI effects^ of
malaria : a vast quantity must be engendered in the,
jungle which extends from the road to the banks? of
the river, yet in this wood are concealed innume^
rable little hamlets, the inhabitants of which seem to
care as Uttle about damp, as their buffaloes do.
For the first ninety mUes, to the boundary of the-
Khirepore Ameers' territory, we continually came
upon a herd of these hideous aniraals, lying inia
stagnant pool, with their satanic-looking heads just
above the water, tended by a creature nearly as
black and untaraed as theraselves, and it was chew
ing to get out of so waste, a country. As soon, as
we had crossed the frontier into Buhawul Khan's

CITY OF BUHAWULPORE. 243
territory, we were struck with the improved appear-
ance of the land : the ground was cleared, and
cultivated with the better sorts of grain ; the people
also seemed more orderly and respectable, and they
all spoke of the Khan in terms of regard.
Buhawulpore is not now the city that Mr. Elphin
stone described it to be : the walls have fallen, and
there is a general appearance of decay in the town,
in spite of its raanufactures, and the trade which
passes through it. This is owing to the Khan's
preferring to reside at Ahraudpore, where he is
further from his hated neighbours the Sikhs, and
nearer to his fancied stronghold in the desert. The
river Hyphasis has hardly proved a barrier to the en
croachments of Runjeet Sing, and it is said that the
disraemberment of the Punjaub has been the Khan's
prayer for many years.
The day that we halted here I rode to see the
river Hyphasis. There was not much in the ap
pearance of this classic stream to reward a ride over a
very deep sand ; but fortunately it was a Hindoo
festival, and the banks of the river were lined with
many groups of the townspeople in their gaily-
coloured, fluttering dresses, which made the scene
very picturesque.
On this occasion I was told of a Hindoo super
stition, than which, I should imagine, there are few
more extraordinary in any of the creeds of this world;
viz., that it is a highly meritorious charity to feast a
R 2

244 HINDOO SUPERSTITION.
Brahrain untU he dies of a surfeit! I doubted thj
statement of the first person who described a feast of
this sort, but the stateraents of others confirraed his,
arid I wrote down the ensuing fable, which accounts
for the custom, from the translation of a learned
Brahmin, who read it from the Bhagwut.
In the era of Krishna, the eighth Avatar of Vishnu
the preserver, there was a Rajah named Kurrun, who
daily gave away a mun and ten seers* of gold, in
charity, before he broke his fast. By the decree of
Providence, he was kUled in fight with a Rajah of
the Chettree caste, and went to Paradise, wherethe
saw hundreds of mountains of gold. The Plutot of
this Elysium said to him, " These are all for thee!
the rnillion-fold multiplication of the gold which thou
gaVest away in charity upon earth !" ^
Presently Rajah Kurrun felt very hungry and
thirsty, and asked for food; to which request^ the
guardian of Paradise answered, — " When thou wert
in the World, didst thou ever for charity's sake give
away meat and drink, that its increase should be
laid up for thee here ? Reflect ! Do you ever re
member giving food away in charity ?" After much
* About 100 lbs. avoirdupois.
+ Yumu, the Indian Pluto, is a dark-green man, clothed in red.'^'with
inflamed eyes ; he sits upon a buffalo, has a crown on his head; and
bplds in his right hand a club, with which he drives out the soul from
the body, and punishes the wicked. This is his form of terror, as king
of the souls of the dead j but he is also worshipped in a form less
terrific, which he is said to assume when he passes a sentence of hap
piness on the meritorious. Vide " Ward's View of the Hindoos."

HINDOO SUPERSTITION. 245
consideration. Rajah Kurrun said, " This much I re
member, that one day when a person in my neigh
bourhood was entertaining Brahmins, a very hungry
man came to me and asked, • Is it in thy house that
Brahmins are this day entertained ?" I replied, no !
but with my little finger I pointed to the house in
which the feast was being held." The Pluto of
Paradise on hearing these words, said, " For this,
much reward has been reaped for thee : put thy
little finger into thy mouth and suck it!" Rajah
Kurrun did so, and instantly the painful feelings of
hunger and thirst left hira.
Rajah Kurrun then thought to himself, if I, by the
'trifling act of pointing with my little finger to the
house of entertainraent, have gathered such reward,
how great will be the portion of him who gave the
feast ! Upon this reflection, he requested fifteen
days' leave of absence frora Paradise, and returning
to earth, spent the whole time in feeding Brahmins.
, The anniversary of this period is held sacred by
Hindoos, and it is chiefly on these days that persons
who are anxious to go to such a real Hindoo, Para
dise as Rajah Kurrun's, spend their money in giving
feasts to Brahmins. A raan invites a party of these
;,hply men to dine with him, by requesting them to
come and sit in the light of his eyes, and put the
soles of their feet upon the crown of his head ; when
t-they are arrived, and seated on the ground, with
leaves of the palm-tree before them as plates, he

246 FEASTING BRAHMINS.
serves them with rich dishes, and uses his utmost en
deavours to make them eat to repletion.
The more the Brahmins partake of his charity,
the greater the host considers his reward wiU be ; and
as he cannot do more than kUl his friends with kind
ness, he does his best to persuade them to so happy
a death. When the guests protest that they have
eaten their fiU, the host beseeches thena to bring
blessings on him by eating a little more ; frora en
treaties he proceeds to offers of reward, and ac-
tuaUy bids his guests sums of money to eat fiirther
portions, increasing his offers according to his dis
position sand means, sometiraes to very large sums,
for if he fails to kill his Brahmin guests with his meat,
he still looks for the virtual increase of what they eat,
and of the raoney with which he bribes them ; arid
"men," — to borrow an expression from my best in
formant, " after spending the greatest part of their
Aves in an economy which scarcely allowed them to
keep flesh upon their bones, have been known to
dissipate at a sitting, the gatherings of many years of
their usurious existences."
It may occasionally happen that the greediness
of a novice induces him to kill himself by eating over-
rauch; but the old Brahrains must be too discreet
to sacrifice theraselves for the benefit even of the most
generous entertainer; and doubtless, on a good
occasion, they " all keep a corner" to make money by.
Syud Muheen Shah, not having calculated upon

VILLAGE OF PARWALLAH. 247
the exactions of the Khirepore Ameers, had not
borrowed sufficient raoney frora his agent at ShUcar-
pore, and we were only just able to pay our expen
ses to Buhawulpore. This gave rae an opportunity
of judging how weU our patron's narae was known to
his own countryraen, for an Affghaun of the Bukhtee
auree tribe, who was here on his return from Deblee,
hearing that Syud Muheen Shah had arrived, came
and advanced him a loan of two hundred rupees,
though he had never seen him before. Muheen
Shah hinted that the man might expect a great in
crease of his caraels and sheep, and such other things
as he considered araong the blessings of this life ;
jand he allowed hira to kiss the hair of some deceased
saint's beard, which he carried with him roUed up in
about a dozen handkerchiefs.
^Learning that the road eastward through the
desert might now be safely taken, we determined to
end our travel by journeying across it to the British
frontier, and on the 7th of January rode frora Bu
hawulpore, thirteen miles, to ParwaUab, a village of
one hundred huts in the desert, where there were
four deep wells of good water. Two miles from
Buhawulpore we got off the good soil, and then our
road lay through low heaps of loose sand, which had
formed upon a hard subsoil. At ParwaUab the
water of the wells was poured into clay cisterns, and
large droves of camels and oxen, which had been

248 ROAD FROM MAROOT TO MEERGHUR.
driven in frora the grassy jungle of the desert, wete
being watered at these. I
8th.— ^Taking water and grain with us, we marched
twenty miles into the desert, and halted where thei^
was much coarse dry grass, with which we fed 'our
horses. At midnight we loaded our camels, arid
marched on fifteen miles to Maroot, a sraall town
with' a bastioned wall, where we got the coraraonest
necessaries of food for ourselves and horses.
Between ParwaUab and Maroot there was -more
hard soil than loose sand, but what there was of the
latter was heavy. This is esteemed the only difficult
march on the road. At Maroot duty was demanded
upon our cattle, but on showing the Khan's lettei^,
we were allowed to pass free. There were several
wells of good water here ; we paid a trifle for water
ing our horses, and marched on eleven and a half
mUes to Meerghur. Six miles on the road was the
little square brick fort of Jamghur, within which
were a few houses, and near to which we observed a
small wood of babool trees. At Medrghur^ there
was a strong little brick fort: within it were a few
shops, and outside, raany dwelling-houses. Here we
saw large droves of cattle, which had been driven in
to water. The road between Maroot and Meerghur
lay for the raost part over firm earth: occasionally it
was crossed by a broad layer of heavy sand, but this
bore no proportion to the good soU. Many tracks

PHOOLERA TO ANOPGHUR. 249
crossed th© road, leading to weUs dug in different
parts of the desert for the use of cattle.
?j.,,10th. — Twelve miles to Phoolera, a small town
^th a fort; and twelve miles beyond it to Sirdar
Kote. There was very little loose sand this stage ;
the road lay for the most part over hard earth,: which
sounded under our horses' feet, and for the last
twelve miles of the way there was much good dry
grass, of which we cut a supply for our horses. Sir-
da^, Kote is Buhawul Khan's frontier town : formerly
the place was named Walour. Outside a fort are
many rand houses and several wells, but the water is
bad. Here we escaped another duty by showing the
Khan's pass.
;, 11th. — Eleven and a half miles to Anopghur, the
largest town on the road. Here also there is a brick
fort. We watered our horses at one of several wells,
^jid -then continued our march : when we had got
^Ijput two mUes from the town, we saw that we were
pursued by three ragged spearmen, mounted on lean
ponies, who riding up to us with very fierce ges-
tujjes, would have taken us all prisoners, for attempt
ing to defraud their master, the Bikaneer Rajah, of
h^^, rightful dues. Muheen Shah and I rode back
j^ifder their escort, and were taken before the chief
f}f,the place, whom we found seated on a low terrace,
just above the street, from which we addressed him.
There was a shout of derision from some eight or ten
persons who composed his court, when I declared

250 KUMMAUI SER.
myself to be an English officer, and we were told
that we deserved to have our ears and noses cut off,
for pretending that we were going to remain, and
then stealing away to evade payment of the regular
duties ; a ; crime which had not, I believe, entered
into ,any body's thoughts, AVhen the governor had
done speaking, we appeased his indignation with soft
words, perstiading him, by raeans of Buhawul Khan's
passport, that I was an EngUsh gentleraan and
not a raerchant ; then being' released, with raany
apologies for the mistake, we galloped after our own
party, and rode on with thera ten miles to Rehrer,
or Kumraaul Ser, a smaU Mohumraudan village,
where we halted for the night.
- The water at this place was very bad; and there
was only one shop, kept by a little famished-looking
old Hindoo, who would not sell us any bajra for our
horses, because he could not give change for a ru
pee. This " atomy of a man" sat on guard before
half a dozen earthen pots that contained his stores,
callous alike to the civil and blustering words of the
Affghauns who in turn assailed him, and he only
came to terms when they agreed to spend the whole
rupee in his shop.
This last day's march there was much good dry
grass on the sides of the road : the soil was for the
raoSt part hard, thinly dotted here and there with
little hiUocks of shifting sand which the wind had
blown up.

HULWANA  FUTTEHGHUR. 251
12th. — Twenty- two miles to Hulwana, where we
fijund a mud fort, many houses, and some wells of
excellent iwater. ; Three railes and a half on the road
was • Beloocha, and twelve railes beyond, Boogea;
both villages where the water was bad. Throughout
the whole of this day's march the soil ' was sandy :
eight, miles distant, on the right of our road, was a
strongly-marked line of high sand-hills.
13th. — Eight miles to Soorutghur, a town with a
small brick fort. We rode beyond this thirteen
miles to the village of Gooree Bunga, where we got
provisions from a Hindoo shop. The water here
was good. This day we got near the sand-hills on
our right, and, in chase of a fox, rode into them.
They appeared too firm to be moved by the suraraer
tuffans,* and perhaps prevent rauch sand frora being
drifted from the southward.
, 14th. — Ten railes to the town of Futtehghur, vid
the viUages of KaUee Bunga ke Sheher, Beloor na
ghoor, and Sujjee Poena. At Futtehghur the road
branched : one route went up to Bhutneere, and the
other, which we followed, led more directly to Tibbee.
We passed within three miles and a half of the large
fortress of Bhutneere, and crossed the British frontier
at Tibbee, where we found a rasallah of Colonel
Skinner's irregular horse. Among the men of this
troop j I found two or three with whom I had been
* Strong winds.

252 STATE OF THE INDIAN DESERT.
acquainted in camp some years before, so thatr I
presently felt quite at home. They insisted , upon
giving us a zeafut,* and making much of usj land
getting together round a good fire, we spent a very
sociable evening together.^
At the calculation of two miles and a half per hour
for camel's pace, we made the distance from Buha
wulpore to the British frontier one hundred and
seventy^six miles. The first eighty-three belongqto
Buhawul Khan, and the rest to the Bikaneer RajaL
The preceding route shows that this is not, as
has been thought, altogether a desert of deep sand.
What loose sand there is lies upon a hard subsoil,
and it bears no proportion to the good land.
The country is greatly covered with low jungle of
weedy bushes and grass, in which many thousand
camels and oxen are pastured. The best of' this
grass is like good hay, and a coarser sort, which pro
duces a small bur, is a favourite food of oxen. WeUs
are dug in raany parts of the desert, to whidi the
cattle are driven to water every second or even third
day, according to the season of the year. Water
lies at a great depth below the surface, from one
hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty feet, and
we were told that further south it was only found at
a depth of three hundred feet. But for this circum
stance, much of the soil might be cultivated ; as it is,
* Entertainment.

THE BHUTTEES. 253
crops of bajra, and mot,* are raised by the periodical
rains. - The preceding route also shows that there are
gCveral towns upon the road. Some of these have
been rauch enlarged of late years, and if only the
commonest necessaries are procurable at thera, it is
because there is yet no demand for others^ The
staple food of the people is bajra, and upon this, or
upon jawarree, we were obliged to feed our horses,
for these animals being seldom brought this road,
no provision has been made for them.
: iSo long as the Bhuttees were in force, it was dan
gerous to travel this road, but since the British Go
vernment put these marauders down, it has been
quite safe, and it may now be travelled by a single
man. One of the first signs of our approach to a
civilized country, was sirailar to that which has been
recorded by a former traveller. The bones of three
Bhuttee murderers were hanging in chains on the
side of the road, and we learned that such an un-
!heard-of punishment had a wonderful effect upon the
people of this wild tribe.
From Tibbee we marched to Raneah, formeriy the
seat of the Bhuttee Nawaub, whose revenue was
chiefly derived from his regular share in whatever
his subjects stole. The Bhuttees are a very dark and
tSavage-looking race, who profess the Mohummudan
religion. We were told that they are very strict in
their religious exercises, one of their prayers being a
* A small pea.

254 END OF THE JOURNEY.
petition that the British power may be destroyed in
Hindoostan, and the good old times revived again. "'
We continued our march through this country,'
and on the evening of the second day reached the
station of Hissar, where .in the hospitable mansion
of Captain Parsons, Superintendent of the Govern
raent Stud, I had once raore the satisfaction of
hearing ray own language spoken.
Hence I marched on through British India to
Cawnpore on the Ganges, where taking leave of ~
Syud Muheen Shah, I embarked for Calcutta. Near
Dehlee I had an opportunity of introducing both
my native friends to the Governor General, Lord
William Bentinck, froni whom they received marked
honour and great kindness.
The reader will have formed some idea of the
care, and of the difficulty, with which Syud Muheen
Shah conveyed us from Heraut to Dehlee, but I
could not in words express the kindness and dehcacy
of this man's conduct towards us durinar the whole
of the journey. Wherever he met fiiends, they
laboured to convince him that I was an impostor, and
he was exposed to extreme vexation and danger on
ray account ; yet he never relaxed in his endeavours
to promote my safety and comfort, he paid all our
expenses, and avoided alluding to ray debt to hira.
I have to express ray gratitude to raany English gentle
men in different parts of India, who have made a point
of showing attention to this friend, and I am happy

END OF THE JOURNEY. 255
in the assurance that he is in every way satisfied with
the result of his generous conduct to a stranger in
distress. Syud Keraumut Ali, my tutor and steadfast friend,
some raonths after our arrival at Calcutta, went in a
pohtical capacity to Caubul, returning from whence
he settled in the distinguished office of MootawuUee,
or administrator, to a large Mohummudan endowment
at Hoogly, which I trust he wiU happily enjoy to the
end of a good old age.

AFFGHAUN HISTORY.

VOL. II,

AFFGHAUN HISTORY.

Those whom the following sketch will interest, wUl
have read Elphinstone's History of the Affghauns.
We in vain sought for information that would throw
a light .upon the origin of this people : the Tuarikh-e-
Khan jehan Khan, a Persian work to which we were
referred, is so full of fable and improbable circum
stances, and so inaccurate with regard to early dates
and genealogies, that little reliance is to be placed
on it ; and as it apparently is the book from which
Mr. Elphinstone extracted his notices of the sup
posed descent of the Affghauns, I cannot do better
than refer my readers to that gentleman's work. We
made carefiil inquiry about the modern history of
this nation : the accounts which I obtained from the
best-informed raen we knew, tallied so nearly with
those given by Mr. Elphinstone, that I trust I may
be excused for borrowing from that author's narra
tive, such detaUs as will give a connexion to my
continuation of it. s 2

260 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
The last of the Sofis resigned his crown to Mah^
raood Ghilgie, at Isphahaun, a. d. 1722. Five
years after, Nadir Shah rose to free Persia, and not
only drove the Affghauns thence, but, after some
hard fighting, defeated them in their own country.^
The Affghauns were then known as two great rival
tribes, the Ghilgies and the AbdauUees. In I737,
Zulfacar and Ahmud Khans, brothers, of the Sud
dozye (the chief) tribe of the AbdauUees, entered
Nadir Shah's service, and followed him in his warS,
with a large body of their clan. Zulfacar Khan was
subsequently appointed Hakim at Heraut, and fell
in a battle with the Ghilgies : Ahmud Khan's con
spicuous gallantry endeared him to Nadir Shah, and
he remained in high rank and favour with that
monarch until he was murdered in his camp; at
Couchan (June, 1747)- Ahmud Khan then vrith-
drew from the Persian array, foUowed by the Aff
ghauns at that tirae serving in it, and hastening to
Candahar, as head of the Suddozyes, took upon
hiraself the exercise of chief authority there. The
sum of thirty lacs of rupees (according to Khojfeh
Abdul Kurreem, from the revenue of Peshqwer
Caubul and Sinde) arriving at Candahar at the time
for Nadir Shah, Ahmud Khan took possession^ of it :
this enabled him to equip a body of attached troops,
composed of the veterans who had fought under
him for Nadir Shah, and before that year was ended,
he caused himself to be crowned King of the Aff
ghauns at Candahar, assuraing the title of Dooree

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 261
Dooraun (the pearl of the age) and changing the
name of the AbdauUees to Doorraunee.
Ahmud Shah reigned twenty-six years, and during
the whole of that period scarcely knew rest ; march
ing continually east and west, to subdue foreign
enemies, and to subject domestic ones : twice he
marched conqueror into Dehlee, and four other
times to different points in India. In the west, he
carried his arms as far as Neshapoor and Astrabad.
In his fiftieth year, his constitution sank under con
stant fatigue of raind and body, and in June 1 773,
he left the great raonarchy which he had founded to
his eldest son Tiraour.
Timour Shah had neither the enterprise nor the
mental vigour of his father, and was content to
j!eign in indolent magnificence for raore than twenty
years, during which time he laid the germ of "a
decay that has advanced with rapid strides under
the reigns of his successors." — Timour begot many
schUdren, who fought for the inheritance. Those
whom this history concerns were — Hummayoon, the
sieldest, by one wife ; Sha6 Zemaun, and Shah Shoo-
jau,'by another ; Shah Mahmood, and Prince Ferooz
Oodeen, by a third.
t' Timour Shah died at Caubul, May 1793. The
succession not having been fixed. Shah Zemaun
proclaimed hiraself King at that city, and, through
the influence of Poynder Khan (breveted Serafrauz
Khan), Chief of the powerful tribe of Baurickzye,
secured the support of the other lords there. His

262 AFFGHAUN HISTORY,
first act was to send his Vuzeer, Wuffadar Khan
Suddozye, with an army, to take Candahar. Hum
mayoon had there proclaimed himself King, but
being ill-supported, he was beaten by Zemaun's
troops: he fled from Candahar, and lived a pre
carious life for a year, when he was seized and
blinded, and his narae does not again occur in this
history. At Heraut, Mahraood was Hakira ; but as he
acknowledged Zeraaun's authority, he was allowed
to retain his governraent. Prince Ferooz Oodeeh
was with hira ; shortly after, on some disagreemenii,
the latter went to Mecca, and on his return Uved
in Iran. Frora that tirae he is generally spoken of as
Hadjee Ferooz.
Shah Zemaun was popular, and might have retained
his kingdom had he set about organizing it ; but he
left that care to a man every way unworthy the office
of Vuzeer, and gave himself up to a project of in
vading India. So often as he advanced east, he was
recalled by danger in the west, and he dallied vrith it
till he lost his crown.
Mahmood, who in acknowledging him King had
only made a virtue of necessity, rebelled as soon as
he could muster a force. He made three attempts
for the throne, in 1794, 97, and 99, but was un
successful " in each, and finally took refiige at the
Court of Iran. In 1800, he accorapanied Futteh
Ali Shah, on his second expedition into Khorassan.
His hopes had revived, for the Persian raonarch

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 263
promised him assistance, and great discontent pre
vailed against Zeraaun Shah, in consequence of his
severity to six conspirators, all raen of rank, aad
headed by the sarae Serafrauz Khan who had been
instruraental in securing him the crown. Their in
tention was to murder the Vuzeer, and to depose the
King in favour of Shoojah. Zemaun upheld his
minister, and put them all to death ; a vengeance as
fatal in its effects as severe : not only did it lose him
the crown, but to it may be traced all the misery
which has since afflicted Affghaunistaun through
Futteh Khan.
Futteh Ali Shah's proraises came to naught, and
Mahmood, left helpless, retired to TubbuS, with his
eldest son Prince Kamraun, and a few stanch fol
lowers ; but he shortly received an invitation from
Futteh Khan Baurickzye, who offered to assist him
against Shah Zeraaun, with all his tribe.
Futteh Khan succeeded to the chieftainship of
the Baurickzyes, when his father was executed by
Zemaun Shah : in assisting Mahmood, he saw a pro
spect of gratifying both his revenge and his ambition,
and setting out from Tubbus with his royal confede
rate, after they had soleranly sworn on the Koran to
stand by each other, he raarched with him through See-
staun to the Helmund. At Girishk the influence of
Futteh Khan showed itself; Baurickzyes, Ishaukzyes,
and Alizyes, flocked to Mahraood's standard, and pos
sessed of sufficient force, the rebels advanced and
invested Candahar : after forty days, Futteh Khan ob-

264 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
tained entrance into the city at night, by stratagem;
the royal governor fled hastily away, and the place
was theirs without bloodshed.
Zemaun Shah was near the Indus, preparing to
invade Hindoostan, and it was not till he heard of the
fall of Candahar, that he was roused to a sense of his
own danger. Leaving his brother Shoojah at Pes-
hower, in charge of the most valuable crown property,
he hastened to Caubul ; but, even had the Doorrau
nee lords been willing to overlook his recent severity,
it would have been impossible for a man so detested
as his Vuzeer to have met the danger properly. His
fears were shared by the King, and they showed
them by attempting to treat with the rebels. Po
pular opinion was turned against the Shah, and when
at length he marched on Candahar with thirty thou
sand men, the effects of his conduct were shown in
the desertion of many to the usurper. When the
Royal vanguard neared Futteh Khan's array, it went
over to a man.
On the news reaching head-quarters, the con
science-stricken Vuzeer gave up all for lost, and im
parting his alarm to the King, they fled back to
Caubul. Meeting there but little sympathy, they
continued their flight to the Shainwarree country :
the attendance of so odious a person as the Vuzeer
was in itself sufficient to prevent raany nobles from
sharing the fortune of their master ; they nearly all
went over to the usurper, and the dethroned King,
strange to say in an Affghaun country, was given up

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 205
by the raan whose hospitality he had sought. He
was Winded and confined at Caubul, and Futteh
Khan took the life of the ex- Vuzeer in atoneraent
for his father's blood.
Shahzadeh Kyser, a son of Zemaun Shah's, was ruler
at Heraut. His minister now intrigued with Hadjee
Ferooz, and that prince coraing to Heraut, was con
firmed by Mahmood in the government of the pro
vince. Kandahar was given to Kamraun, Mahraood's
eldest son.
The new King gave hiraself up to indolence and
enjoyment. Akrum Khan Alizye, a lord who had
shared his worst fortunes, and Futteh Khan, were at
the head of Affairs, but these ministers soon quarrelled,
their rival parties weakened the state, and the people,
who in a change of government had hoped for relief,
found theraselves at the mercy of an undisciplined
soldiery, whose excesses Futteh Khan'* winked at,
that he might attach them more particularly to hira
self. Such a reign could not last. Futteh Khan upheld
it by military force for raore than two years, during
which time he defeated three endeavours of the
Prince Shoojau to overthrow it, and two insurrecr
tions of the Ghilgies, who vainly hoped through
the dissensions of the Doorraunees to restore

;;_* Futteh Khan was a profligate and ambitious man, of desperate
valour, and unbounded liberality. His character was so correctly
drawn by Mr. Elphinstone, that it maybe traced in his every action
since the period at which that gentleman wrote.

266 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
their* dynasty. At last Akram Khan died, and
Futteh Khan being away with the array settling the
provinces, Moukhtar Oudoulah, (son of Shah Wullee
Khan)t who considered Futteh Khan as a usurper
of his hereditary right as Vuzeer, set on foot an
insurrection, in which he was assisted by the Meer
Waez, a saint of reputed strict raanners, and of great
influence over the people.
The population of Caubul is greatly of the Sheah
persuasion, and as Mahraood's body-guard was
chiefly coraposed of Persians, he gave favour to their
sect. Offended at this, the Meer Waez zealously
concerted vrith the Mookhtar Oudoulah, and in
flaming the Soonnee population of the neighbourhood,
raised a religious tumult in which Mahmood was
deposed : the Mookhtar Oudoulah brought Prince
Shoojah to Caubul, and on reaching the city, he was
conducted in triumph to the palace as king.t Shoo-.
jab imprisoned Mahmood, but spared his sight; a
rare act of clemency, and one which he unfortunateily^
had afterwards cause to regret : he immediately
restored his brother Zeraaun to liberty, and his only
act of rigour, if such it raay be called, was to punish
the man who had basely given up Shah Zemaun. ,
Futteh Khan went to Kamraun at Candahar ; but.
as they could not make head there, the Prince
* Vide Elphinstone.
f The office of Grand Vuzeer was originally made hereditary in the.
faraily of Shah Wullee Khan, of the Baiiraizye tribe ; but first Zemaun,
next Mahmood, departed from this rule.
I Vide Elpliinstone. #•

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 267
repaired to Furrah, and the ex- Vuzeer offered his
services to the new King. They were not accepted,
and he retired to his castle at Girishk. Shahzadeh
Kyser was made ruler at Candahar, and Hadjee
Ferooz was allowed to retain the government of
Heraut. Mookhtar Oudoulah was appointed prime minister,
and the comraenceraent of Shoojah's reign was
promising ; but he raade an enemy of his Vuzeer, by
wishing to act independently of him, and there were
not wanting persons to increase their jealousy.
Gaining the crown after so raany years of adversity,
Shoojah found hiraself surrounded by men to whora
he was under obligations, but who were too raany
for his resources ; those for whom he could not pro
vide, intrigued to weaken the existing ministry, in
the hope of bringing theraselves in, and thus Shoo
jah, with the best desires, felt hiraself unable to
restore the tone of a governraent which his pre
decessor had so much weakened.
Futteh Khan, whose life was intrigue, set on
foot many rebellions, and, in the summer of 1805,
aided Kamraun to eject Prince Kyser frora Canda
har. Shoojah marched in person against the rebels,
who were assisted from Heraut with six thousand
men, under MuUick Cossim (Hadjee Ferooz's son) ;
but these latter being recalled by a threatened in
vasion of the Persians, the intriguers found them
selves without an army ; Kamraun fled to Furrah,
Fiftteh Khan again tendered his services to Shoojah,

268 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
and the latter, hoping to make a friend of so dan
gerous an enemy, accepted thera.
During Mahraood's unsettled reign, the Persians
had taken Meshed, and estabhshed there a governor
of Persian Khorassaun, and they showed that their
further encroachments would depend upon the Aff
ghauns' means of resisting them. They now threat
ened Heraut under Mohamraed Khan Cujjer, Naib
of Khorassaun.
Hadjee Ferooz, necessitated to be warlike, ex
erted hiraself with much policy to meet the danger.
He declared it a war of faith, and called upon
Sooffee Islam,* a famous saint of the neighbourhood,
to use his interest vrith the followers of the blessed
Imauras. Most of the townspeople were Sheahs,
and could but wish well to the Persians ; but among
the Soonnees, MooUas exchanged their books for
* Sooffee Islftm was of Oosbeg origin, and formerly famous as a free
booter. Renouncing this character, he took that of a Derveish, and
assuming the name of Sooffee Isl&m, settled in Bokhara, where, as iAp
doctrines were of the easiest, he soon attracted many disciples. Shab
Moraud Beg of Bokhara, who was more -ambitious of fame as a saint
than as a king, condescended, it is said, to strike the innovator upon
the mouth with his shoe, and publicly to abuse him for his morals,:
certain it is that he expelled him the city, and the Sooffee retired
to Koorook, a province of Heraut, where he rose to great esteem
with all ranks. The Soonnees vied with each other in sending
him presents of grain, sheep, &c., and as he gave freely of what cost
him nothing, he got a character of great charity. He was so free from
the common prejudices of religion, that he married eighteen wives,
daughters of his devoted admirers. He is described as a small man,
pale, with a little beard on the chin. Being lame, he rode in a palkee ;
great the honour of those who carried him. Some time before his
death he shed a tooth, which was buried with honour in his garden :
a tomb i-aised over it commemorates the fame of so great a .«iin*

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 269
swords, and those of the country round flocked to
the S coffee's standard. In all were coUected eleven
thousand men (Affghauns and Eiraauks) ; but only
two thousand were soldiers, and with these Hadjee
Ferooz raarched to encounter the Cujjers, who were
superior both in nurabers and discipline. A battle
was fought beyond Shikkeewan : the Soonnees, who
were excited to the highest pitch of fanaticism,
charged furiously upon the Sheahs, but fighting with
more zeal than tact, they were divided and sadly
cut up. Sooffee Islam fell a martyr, and his body
was ignorainiously burnt hy the victorious Persians,
vvho now advanced and threatened the city of He
raut. The Doorraunees rallied to defend it, but
Hadjee Ferooz, rendered cautious by his defeat,
paid fifty thoilsand rupees to be quit of the in-^
vaders. Shoojah had at this tirae too rauch to occupy hira
at Caubul to think of resenting the foreign affi*ont : —
jealousies had increased in his councils, and an attempt
(favoured it was said by his Vuzeer) was made tp
raise one of the confined princes to the throne. This,
though it failed, had serious consequences ; for in
the confusion caused by it, Mahraood escaped from
prison, and fled to his son Kamraun at Furrah.
In the beginning of 1808, Shah Shoojah went to
Sinde, but allowed the Araeers to withhold much of
their tribute due, upon pretence of bad seasons.
Futteh Khan, who accompanied him, irritated at his
thus yielding, or more probably seeing a chance of

270 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
his former power in the restoration of Mahmood,
took an early opportunity of quitting the army with
three thousand men, and marched to join Mahmoodl
The Mookhtar Oudoulah had remained at Caubul,
but perceiving that his influence with Shah Shoojah
had greatly decreased, he resolved to place a more
compliant master on the throne, and accordingly in
trigued with Prince Kyser.
Intelligence reached the Shah that the Mookhtar
Oudoulah had proclaimed Kyser King at Caubul,
and they that had taken Peshower : Shoojah marched
directly to the latter place, defeated the rebels, and
entered Peshower in triumph, with the Vuzeer's
head borne behind hira on a spear. Next Shoojah
marched an array against Mahmood, who, joined by
Futteh Khan, had again taken Candahar: he de
feated the rebels, and retook the city, and then
returned to Peshower, 10th January, 1809, shortly'
after which period the Honourable Mr. Elphinstdn'e'^
arrived at his Court, on a mission from the British
Governraent. The object of this erabassy was to secure the
friendship of the Affghaun raonarch, so as to prevent
the intrigues of the French, who threatened to carry'
the war into Asia, and a very excellent understand-'
ing was established between the Doorraunee Court
and the British mission, during the stay of the latter
at Peshower : unfortunately, however, the good foot
ing which Mr. Elphinstone had gained, was lost to
us in consequence of an immediately succeedino- re-

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 271
volution which dethroned Shah Shoojah : our negO'-
tiations in Persia at this tirae prevailing over those
of the French, the event was not of immediate con
sequence to us, but it is to be regretted that any thing
should have occurred to break off a friendship so
happily commenced, and that the subsequent state
of this interesting country has been such as to pre
clude us from entertaining any definite relations with
its rulers.
For the office of Vuzeer, Shoojah now selected
Akram Khan Baumizye, a man of courageous, but
arrogant, and close disposition : as a check upon
hira, he gave his confidence to several Persian lords
who were at his court, and he was considered firmly
established on the throne ; but he had been rendered
too confident by his late successes, forhe sent Akram
Khan, with his army, to reduce the rebellious pro
vince of Cashmere, which was held by Atta Mo
hummud Khan, son to the late Vuzeer Mookhtar-
lung, and Futteh Khan, who was never disheartened,
got together more troops, and again advancing, retook
Candahar for Mahmood.
This news reached Shoojah at Peshower. WhUe
he comforted himself with the hope that Akram
Khan would return and defeat the rebels in the west,
came news of the entire discomfiture of his army in
Cashraere. This was closely fiallowed by news that
the rebels were advancing upon Caubul. Shoojah,
unprovided with raoney, and without zealous mini
sters, was surprised ; but he equipped as effective an

272 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
army as the haste would admit of, and resolved to
try a battle at Peshower, where he hoped that those
to whom he had shown so much kindness would rally
round him. In case of a reverse, his harera was sent
towards Rawil Pindee, and Zeraaun Shah accompa
nied it.
Shah Mahmood entered Caubul on the 17th of
AprU, 1809, with an army of between five and six
thousand horse. One of his first acts was to seize
and put to death Meer AUum Khan, an influentialx
Noorzye chief; a very impolitic deed, and one which
gave great offence, as it was felt to have been insti-;
gated by the private animosity of Futteh Khan, It
caused a blood-feud between the Noorzyes and the
Baurickzyes, and many of the latter tribe expressed
strong disapprobation at the conduct of their chief,
for hitherto no Doorraunee had been molested on ac
count of the part that he had taken in civil war.
Shoojah marched from Peshower on the 15th of
June : on the 29th of the same month, Futteh Khan
met his troops on their march, in the hills half
way between Caubul and Peshower, and attacking,
them briskly before they could form, put them to
confusion : Akram Khan was kUled, fighting bravely
in a vain attempt to restore the day, and Shoojah
seeing all lost, fled over the raountains south of the^
Khyber pass to Hessauruk. He staid at the latter
place a few days, and was joined by some of his
adherents, when finding that Mahmood remained
at Caubul, he returned to Peshower. As he had

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 273
some reason to impute his defeat to treachery, Shoo
jah was inclined rather to retire into Hindoostan
than to trust his countrymen in another struggle for
the throne, but the earnest persuasions of those who
remained faithful to him, induced hira to try his for
tune once raore, so quitting Peshower with a sraall
piarty, he took the direct road to Candahar.
The reason why Mahraood did not follow up his
victory was, that he feared to venture frora Caubul:
much disaffection existed among his Sirdars, in con
sequence of the execution of Meer AUum Khan
Noorzye, and the tribe of the raurdered chief, burn
ing for revenge, had gathered under AbdooUah
Khan, his father, and threatened an insurrection.
There were indeed grounds for alarm, for as soon as
the insurgents had made head, they were joined by
Yehyah Khan Baumizye (brother to the late Vu
zeer Akrara Khan), Sauloo Khan Ishaukzye, and
other 'Doorraunee lords of note, and feeling thera
selves strong, they advanced upon Candahar. Prince
Aiyoob,* who had been left in charge there, marched
out with a small force to oppose the rebels, but see
ing their superior strength, or perhaps hoping to
gain their favour for himself, he joined them, and
they amicably accompanied him on his return to the
<5apital. A few days after this event, arrived Shah Shoojah.
Misfortune seeraed to follow the steps of this
* A son of Timour Shah's, half brother to Mahmood,
VOL. II. T

274 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
monarch, for on the tenth evening of his march from
Peshower, when he and his foUowers had retired to
rest, one Noor Mohummud Khan Doorraunee, who
had a blood-feud with his Nussuckchee Bashee, came
upon that nobleman by stealth, and murdered him
whUe he slept ; depriving the king at once of a
faithful friend and an influential partisan. However
Shoojah continued his march to Candahar, and when
his approach was announced to the insurgent chiefs,
they went out a great distance to meet him, and
escorted him with all honour to the city. Prince
Aiyoob, who at first distrusted him, being reassured
by many kind promises, erabraced the good cause,
and it still looked well, for raany of the provinces
yet held out for Shoojah : the Norzyes, who were
bound to his side by the strong desire of avenging
their chief's death, mustered in considerable force,
and the lords who took part with him subscribed so
liberally, that he shortly saw himself at the head of
a well equipped array : he had the advantage of
position, being at Candahar, in the centre of the
Doorraunees, and his character stood in every way
higher than did that of his enemy, who, in addition
to his late cruelty, had been rendering himself odious
by heavy exactions upon the people of Caubuk
Mahraood's only strength lay in the genius of Futteh
Khan, but here again the fortune of that extraordi
nary man predominated. The armies were drawn
up for battle, when Sauloo Khan Ishaukzye (pro
bably by concert) went over to Mahraood's side, a

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 275
treachery so unlooked for, that it caused much con
fusion among Shoojah's troops, and Futteh Khan
seizing the raoment to charge, bore down impetuously
upon thera at the head of his whole force, and put
them to the rout. The unfortunate Shoojah, again
forced to fly, took the road south to the Indus, and,
crossing the river at Bukkar, proceeded to rejoin his
family at Rawil Pindee.
Shortly after his arrival at this town, (February
2nd, 1810,) Shoojah had an interview with the Sikh
monarch Runjeet Sing, who received him with many
professions of esteem, and kept him a guest in his
camp for ten days. On returning to his family,
Shoojah found messengers from Atta Mohummud
Khan, the rebel governor of Cashmere, who had sent
him both money and troops, desiring him to try his
fortune again. The Shah accordingly set out, and,
fording the Indus on the 20th of March, eight railes
above Attock, he raarched to Peshower, and took
undisputed possession of that city ; Mohuraraud
Azim Khan Baurickzye, Mahraood's governor,
evacuating the place on his approach.
Shoojah kept Peshower till the month of Septem
ber in that year, when Mohummud Azeem Khan,
coming from Caubul with a strong force, drove him
beyond the Indus again. He made a third attempt
in the month of December 181 1, but suffered a defeat
at Akora, and was at last fain to rejoin his famUy at
RawU Pindee. In the spring of the year, he was
invited to Cashmere by Atta Mohummud Khan, and

276 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
as that chief had given him many proofs of devotion,
Shoojah did not hesitate to go ; but when he reached
the valley, the treacherous governor seized and con
fined hira ; for no apparent cause, except perhaps that
he bore in mind the tragical, but merited, death of
his father the Mookhtar-lung.
When the news of this fresh misfortune reached
the royal family at Rawil Pindee, they began to fear
lest some violence should be offered to them, and re
membering the attentions which Runjeet Sing, had
bestowed upon Shoojah, they determined to seek
refuge at the Sikh court ; accordingly, in the month
of September 1812, they retired to Lahore, where
Runjeet received them kindly.
Mahmood was now King again at Caubul, but (to
judge by his conduct) had not learned to profit by
his reverses ; Kamraun assumed the government at
Candahar ; Hadjee Feerooz was still allowed to keep
Heraut ; and Futteh Khan was grand Vuzeer. This
chief had regained entire sway over Mahmood, and
took the surest way of strengthening his own power,
by placing his near relations over the provinces of the
kingdora. As soon as Mahraood was relieved frora fear of
Shoojah, he felt it necessary to direct his attention
to his country east of the Indus ; for Atta Mohum
mud Khan was stiU iu open rebellion in Cashmere,
and Runjeet Sing, perceiving the disunion of the
Affghauns, had commenced his long meditated en
croachraents upon the Doorraunee provinces in the

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 277
Punjaub. Many skirmishes took place between the
Affghauns and the Sikhs, but in the end of the year
1812, Futteh Khan made a truce with the Mahara
jah, and engaged to give him nine lacs of rupees, if
he would assist in expeUing the rebel governor from
Cashmere. Runjeet Sing agreed to the proposal,
and intrusting his dewan, Mokum Chund, with the
command of ten thousand men selected for this en
terprise, returned to his capital.
¦ The allied forces commenced operations against
the rebels in Cashraere, and the first month of the
new year saw them in possession of the valley.
Atta Mohummud Khan fled when the last passes
had been forced, carrying off his treasure by the
direct road through the mountains to Peshower.
When Futteh Khan and Runjeet Sing's dewan
arrived at the capital of Cashmere, they learned
that the unfortunate Shah Shoojah was imprisoned in
a neighbouring fort. Futteh Khan released the
monarch, and it appears raade sorae overtures to
him, but Shoojah had been taught to distrust this
ichief's professions, and longing to be with his family,
determined to accorapany Runjeet's dewan on his
Teturn to Lahore.
When Atta Mohuraraud Khan was forced to fly frora
Cashmere, his brother Jandaud Khan held the fort
of Attock ; now, instigated by motives of revenge
and avarice, he offered to give up this iraportant post
to Runjeet Sing, on condition of receiving a rich jahr
geer in the Punjaub. The Maharajah too well knew

27'8 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
the value of this fortress to hesitate about securing it ;
he made great proraises to Jandaud Khan, and im
mediately sent a strong force to garrison the place.
When Futteh Khan was informed of this arrange
ment, he refused to pay the stipulated sum for the
assistance of the Sikh troops, declaring the spirit of
the treaty violated ; then leaving his brother Mohum
mud Azeem Khan with the troops, in charge of Cash
mere, he posted to Caubul, and returned with an
other army to retake Attock ; so war was declared
again between the two nations.
Runjeet was prompt to defend his newly-acquired
position, and sent his best troops, under dewan
Mokum Chund, to encounter the Affghauns : a
desperate battle was fought between the two armies,
and victory was at first doubtful, but all the gallantry
of the Affghauns did not avail them against the dis
cipline of the Sikhs, and being completely routed
after an obstinate resistance, they fled leaving one
thousand of their best men upon the field. Futteh
Khan, rendered careful by this defeat, coUected a
large force at Peshower, in order to support his
countryraen in the Punjaub, or in Cashmere, and
to take advantage of any opportunity that raight pre
sent itself of recovering the fort of Attock, or of an
noying bis eneray.
This victory was a great triumph to Runjeet, and
the pride of Futteh Khan seems to have been broken
as well as raortified, if we may believe him to have
dictated the foUowing cool proposal, which was shortly

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 279
after sent secretly in a letter, as from Shah Mahraood,
to the British Government :
" Since we worship the same God, it is our duty jointly to
extirpate the infidels who are so many thorns in the
garden *of the Punjaub. As soon as the flame of war
shall have been kindled, and troops under Vuzeer Futteh
Khan put in motion towards that quarter, God willing,
we shall soon put the idolaters to confusion, and then
we will divide the Punjaub between us."
The Vuzeer, however, kindled a flame to little
purpose against the thorns of the Punjaub, and his
attention was shortly called to the aggressions of
foreign enemies in another quarter.
During the late events, Hussan Ali Meerza had
- succeeded to the government of Persian Khorassaun :
in the beginning of 1818, this Cujjer prince wrote to
Hadjee Ferooz, desiring that the titles of his father, the
Shah of Persia, should be stamped upon money coined
at Heraut ; that his name should be read in the Khot-
beh,* and that tribute should be given him : further,
it was desired that Ferooz, in ratificatibn of these hard
terms, should give his daughter to Hussan Ali
Meerza's son.
Ferooz answered evasively, and sent a young son
(MuUick Hossein) to Caubul, requesting assistance
against the Persians. Futteh Khan being sent for
from Peshower, proposed to march fifteen thousand
men to Heraut; Mahmood assented, but in re
collection of some very^ unworthy treatment that he
* A public oration regularly delivered in the mosques, in which the
reigning king is prayed for.

280 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
had received at his brother's hands after his escape
from Caubul, desired the Vuzeer, if opportunity
served, to seize and confine Hadjee Ferooz, then to
fight or make terms with the Cujjers as seemed most
expedient. Futteh Khan accordingly marched with MuUick
Hossein, to whom he'paid assiduous attention, put
ting in practice all his artifice to impose^ upon the
young embassador. He threw out hints that, slighted
by Mahmood, he longed for an opportunity of trans
ferring his aUegiance to Ferooz: MuUick Hossein
eagerly caught at this idea, and to confirm him in it,
Futteh Khan, instead of halting at Candahar, sent
his troops forward eight miles frora the city, where
joining them after a hasty audience of Kamraun, he
gave out that the Shahzadeh wished to seize him.
Kamraun was mUch troubled at this report, for he
had becorae very jealous of the Vuzeer, and conceived
that this was a plan to erabroil hira vrith the king his
father ; he in open durbar disclairaed aU idea of in
juring Futteh Khan, and sent Mohuraraud Hosseik
Khan (a Persian noble, his servant, and a friend of
the Vuzeer's) to beg him to dismiss such an idea
from his mind, and to name the author of the slander.
Futteh Khan had made a long march, and the en
voy reaching his camp about sunset, found him
seated before his tent, in company with his brothers
Dost Mohummud, SheerdU, and Poordil Khans, and
others. Before he could deliver a word of his
message, Futteh Khan assailed him with reproaches.

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 281
for having forgotten old friendship, and made party
with the prince against him ; " but," said the
Vuzeer loudly, " If such is to be my reward for long
and tried service to Shah Mahmood, I renounce it ;
— there are others who will prize it more." He
V70uld not hear the envoy, but raade a point of his re
maining his guest for the night ; some hours after,
he made his tent private, and sent for his old fnend
whom he received with the greatest cordiality, and
jeered for his want of discernment, " This firman,"
said he, " sends me to seize the Hadjee ; it was
necessary to blind so wary a person, so do you return
to Kaniraun, and tell hira that I am his servant."
, Futteh Khan was more than ever attentive to
MuUick Hossein, persuading him that he would beat
the Persians, and then march back with Ferooz to
depose Mahraood : the young prince was completely
bhnded, and thus they reached Heraut. News of
the ., fupture with Kararaun had preceded thera, pro
ducing the effect that Futteh Khan wished ; MulUck
Hossein was earnest in persuading his father how
iBUtirely the Vuzeer was devoted to his service, and
the suspicions of even so cautious a person were laid
asleep. The carap was formed two miles from the city, and
profiision reigned in it ; the townsmen were feasted
there, and they in turn invited the soldiers to the
. city. This unreserved intercourse lasted for ten
, days, the engrossing subject with all being the ex
pected conflict with the Persians. At the end of

282 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
this tirae, Futteh Khan contrived to seduce the khans
raost in Ferooz's interests to the camp, for a council
of war. He arranged that many of his men should
be in town, and proceeding with his brother Dost
Mohummud, and a large retinue, to pay his respects
to Hadjee Ferooz, he seized that prince suddenly at
audience,* and made himself master of the citadel,
before those who were in camp suspected his design.
Futteh Khan next brought his men close under
the walls of the town, and, having imprisoned Ferooz
and his family, he sent for the Persian envoy, whom
he thus addressed: — "Money is coined in Mah
mood' s name, his name is read in the Khotbeh, and
to him only is tribute given ; — I, his servant, ac
knowledge no other authority ; if your master wishes
to dispute it, — BismiUah ! In God's name !"
Mahmood was very indignant when he heard that
his instructions had been exceeded to an extent that
cast dishonour upon himself; more so when, as his
portion of the spoil, he received only a few horses ;
but Futteh Khan felt himself beyond the king's
indignation, and with what fell to hist share of

* Feeroz, alarmed at the number of the Vuzeer's attendants, at
tempted to retire by a private passage to his inner apartments ; but
he was pursued by Dost Mohummud Khan, and a large party, into the
actual harem, there seized, and plundered of his valuables to the very
ornaments upon the women : Dost Mohummud Khan himself, it is
said, insulted Ferooz's daughter-in-law, by attempting to cut a bunch
of pearls from off part of her dress.
f Dost Mohummud Khan, rather than account with his brother
for the share that he had secured, fled with it by a direct road to
Peshower.

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 283
Ferooz's money, doubled his force, and marched out
to Ghoorian to meet the Persians.
Hussan Ali Meerza marched from Meshed on
receiving Futteh Khan's answer, with a mixed force
amounting to fourteen thousand raen. He had four
thousand of the Shah's regular footraen (Seranau-
nees and Daraghaunees)* under Sirdar Zulfacar
Khan, and the rest of his army consisted of cavalry.
There were three hundred Koords under Hussan
Khan Chinnaraunee (a reputed hero, with a double-
headed spear), sorae Arabs of a tribe seated near
Berjend, and horseraen frora the neighbourhoods of
Neshapoor, Subzawar, Meshed, and Toorshish. He
was accorapanied by Meerza Abdul Wahab, Moatira-
udood-Dowlah,t who had been sent by the Shah to
put Khorassaun in order, but who brought only his
talent and sanctity to the field.
Hussan Ali Meerza, who perhaps had judged too
hastUy of the Affghaun character from Hadjee Fe
rooz's former conceding behaviour, sent an envoy to
Futteh Khan, urging him to avoid bloodshed by
agreeing to the required terms ; but the Vuzeer sent
back the envoy with his former answer, and talked
of following in the steps of Mahmood Ghilgie : he
had increased his array to thirty thousand raen, and
it would be difficult to say what were the projects
of so ambitious a man, with such an army at com
mand. * Provinces of repute for furnishing good soldiers.
f Confidential state minister.

284 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
The rival forces mutually advancing, came in
sight of each other at Kahreeze, about " chaust"
(breakfast) time on the 25th of May, 1818, and by
noon the Carools* were engaged in a sham fight,,---
•' careering their horses, firing their matchlocks,
shaking their lances, and shouting, to show, their
manhood." The Affghaun force the while was
breaking into line opposite to the one which Hussan
Ali Meerza had formed. A Cahreeze of water,
which gives name to the place, ran through the field ;
both parties perforraed the ablutions prescribed fqr
the dead, in case they should fall in battle, , and
exchanged their usual clothes for fighting appareh
Hussan Ali Meerza doffed his prince's suit for the
dress of a coramon trooper, but Futteh Khan,
" Sirdar-e-Sirdaraun" (chief of chiefs), dressed aU
in black, and mounted on a famed charger, "was
prpud to make his tall figure conspicuous in front of
the centre of his Une."
The Persians had eight light guns, and two hun
dred camel-swivels. The Affghauns had but four
guns, and one hundred svrivels, but they were
better mounted, and in numbers far superior to their
enemy : the artillery of each line was in front of its
centre, but Hussan Ali Meerza, of his excess of
cannon, planted two guns on either wing.
Booneeard Beg Hazaureh, with three thousand of
his tribe, had come near the field of action, probably
* Vanguards.

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 285
to dispose of his services. The Prince royal sent
and desired hira to side with neither party, — to plun
der the conquered and welcorae. So he kept aloof
with his men, waiting like vultures to fall upon the
vanquished. An envoy came from Futteh Khan, to propose, as
an adjustment, the cession of Ghourian. Hussan
Ali Meerza was disposed to agree, and so were his
sirdars, with the exception of Zulfacar Khan, an old
nobleman whose desperate valour had gained him the
reputation of a madraan : however, the Moatira-
udood-Dowlah was called upon to istakhaur, or cast
the event ; he did so, and it carae up, " That it was
good to cede Ghourian." Next Futteh Khan sent
to desire that the Persian force should fall back:
again the Moatimudood-Dowlah istakhaured, and
pronounced, " That it was good to fall back ;" but
Zulfacar Khan becarae like a raadman at the idea of
such an act, and would not hear of it. "To retire,"
he said, " would be to acknowledge thenaselves in
ferior; which, please God, the ' Shahan Shah's'
troops never were, when opposed to the scura of
the earth ; then, in the fulness of his heart, he
daraned the Affghauns for Soonnees and infidels^
swearing that he would burn their fathers, and
dishonour their houses ; and he ordered the gunners
to show the envoy how warra a reception his coun
tryraen might expect." Three or four guns were
rapidly let off, and the envoy coupling this display
with the old Khan's hostUe- speech, thought it safest

286 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
to put spurs to his horse and ride back to his party ;
the bravado fire was returned from the Affghaun
side, and the battle began.
A general discharge of artillery was kept up for
some time, without doing much execution on either
side ; there was a little distant skirmishing, and then
more than half the Affghauns, headed by the Vu
zeer's brothers, SheerdU, Cohundil, and Poordil
Khans, and by the old Sirdar Yar Mohummud
Khan AUekkozye, put their horses to the gaUop,
and loosening rein as they got to full speed, they
placed their left arms across their foreheads, and,
flourishing their swords and shouting, charged fu
riously upon the Persian line. Their greatest num
bers were directed against the left wing, where ZuU
facar Khan was with his infantry. " They knew that
there was but one man in the line, and their object
was to break it where he was."
Muddud Khan Saugzye (Doorraunee) had a few
years before come to Meshed, and was in the Per
sian ranks against his countryraen. When Zulfacar
Khan cursed the Soonnees so warmly, his heart
turned ; he was the first to fly, and his desertion, with
the impetuous charge of the Affghauns, struck a panic
into Hussan Ali Meerza's array, which rapidly spread
through his mixed ranks, and, one after another, the
two centre and the right divisions broke and fled.
The carael-swivels were carried off, but the great
guns were deserted ; Hussan AU Meerza made sorae
atterapts to stop his men, which greatly endangered

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 287
his own life ; it was gallantly saved by the hero of
the two-headed spear, whose horse he mounted after
his own had been wounded, and he escaped from the
field with a small party about him.
Zulfacar Khan had firmly stood the charge of the
Affghauns, and, returning a steady fire of musketry,
had sent them back in confusion upon their own line,
when he secured his guns. About this time Futteh
Khan was struck in the raouth by a spent ball, which
caused him to fall upon his horse's neck ; those about
him supposing him killed, and seeing their country
men return in disorder from the charge, lost heart
and fled, and though Futteh Khan regained his seat,
and waved his sword to his troops, he failed in rally
ing them ; he saw victory snatched from his grasp by
an event as singular as unlooked for, and had no al
ternative but to lay the accident on his " fate," and
take the road to Heraut after his men.*
Hussan Ali Meerza succeeded in rallying part of
his troops about three miles frora the scene of action,
and shortly learned that the Affghauns had fled;
upon which he returned to his faithful Sirdar, who
kept the field, and arriving there when it was well
night, fired off his remaining powder to victory.
Some of the earliest fugitives reached Meshed in
* Booneeard Beg plundered both armies in their retreat. In Futteh
Khan's tent he got part of Hadjee Ferooz's wealth, which had been
brought to the field, and on the Persian side he captured the
Moatimud-ood-Dowlah, who was afterwards restored. The Persians,
who must have their joke, declare that Meerza Abdul Wahab istak
haured which road to take, and chose the wrong one.

288 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
an incredibly short space of time, and sang " tQut-.
est-galore." The Vuzeer was for flight, and great.
consternation prevailed, but Meerza Hidayut Oollah,
the high priest, reminding the inhabitants that no
person of any sect called Mohumraudan had ever
dared to coramit the impiety of firing at the sacred s
walls of Meshed, proposed to remain defended within
them till help should arrive from the Shah ; at any
rate to await certain intelligence. It was not till the
prince returned, that this victory was believed ; then
Meshed was illurainated for joy, and all sorts of con^
gratulation and feasting went on. A large picture,.
which still hangs in the citadel, was painted to cora-
memorate the event, and Hussan Ali Meerza got
the title of " Sword of the Throne."
Futteh Khan, finding that the Persians did not
pursue, lit up Heraut for his share of the victory ;
not long after it, came Kararaun from Candahar,
sent by his father, lest Futteh Khan, having ejected
Hadjee Ferooz, should keep Heraut on his own
account. The prince put up in a suraraer palace in
the Baugh-e-Shah,* refusing to enter the town ;
probably because the citadel was in the hands of the
Vuzeer's nephew, Ameen-ool- Moolk. Futteh Khan,
who went daily (as was his duty) to salaam, was
repeatedly asked for a share of Hadjee Ferooz's pro
perty, but he first answered evasively, and at last
directly, that what his sword had earned he would
* " The king's garden," — situated a mile from the city.

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 289
keep. He was frequently warned by his friends,
that the dishonour he had put upon the royal family
in violating Hadjee Ferooz's harem, rankled in the
hearts of Mahmood and Kamraun, and he was re
quested to appease the latter with part of the spoil ;
but his scornful answer was — " I twice placed Mah
mood upon the throne, and his kingdom is now in
the hands of my kinsmen ; who is Kararaun, there
fore, that in a dreara he should think of injuring
me?" — Kamraun wrote to his father that Futteh
Khan was in reality king, and proposed putting him
away. Mahmood left all to his discretion, and the
prince consulted rather his revenge. Shortly after,
Futteh Khan, coming as usual to morning salaam,
found the prince with those lords most in his in
terests ; among them Atta Mohummud Khan
Noorzye, who had the blood-feud of Meer AUum
Khan to avenge. The cruel scene which then took
place, had evidently been planned : the conversation
was led to the subject of the late battle with the Per
sians, and one of the Khans took occasion to throw out
a«taunting allusion to the Vuzeer's flight; this was
followed up by a sarcasm from another of the party,
and when Futteh Khan turned fiercely upon them,
the prince took their part, assailing him with
violent reproaches for having brought lasting disgrace
upon the Affghaun name, by flying before an infidel
army not half so numerous as his own. Fired at
this, Futteh Khan replied with indignation, that as
no raan could control the decrees of Providence, so
VOL. II. u

290 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
he could not be held answerable for them, and he
added proudly, that with regard to the imputations
cast upon his courage, Shahzadeh Kamraun could
hardly need to be rerainded of what the sword of
Futteh Khan had done both for and against hira.*
Nothing raore was needed to coraplete the prince's
rage ; he rose up in his anger, and gave the word to
his ready attendants, who imraediately seized the
Vuzeer, and on the spot blinded hira : Atta Mohura^
mud Khan, on a sign from the prince, thrusting the
point of a dagger into his enemy's eyes. Futteh
Khan was then put upon a horse, and sent to con
finement in the citadel. Mohummud Hossein Khan,
a Persian nobleman (the same who had followed
him with a message when he marched from Candai
har), was appointed to command there, and Poordil
Khan, with his nephew Ameen-ool-Moolk, were
seized and added to his charge.t When the news
* Alluding to occasions during the civil war, on which he had
worsted the prince. Vide Elphinstone.
f I relate the following anecdote in the words of the man who gave
it to me ; he had served Mohummud Hossein Khan, the father of our
host, at Heraut : — " When Futteh Khan was brought to the citadel,
and put under charge of my master Mohummud Hossein Khan, I was
appointed peishkhidmut to him, and I was with him till he was taken
away. A few days after I had first waited on him, a party came to the
iipartment. One said, ' Salaam Alikoom Vuzeer.' ' Alikoom Salaaiii !'
answered Futteh Khan, ' who are yoU ?' ' I am Cossim KhaU.'
' What Cossim Khan ?' ' A man of the Vakeel's : — Shahzadeh Kam
raun sends to say, that for what is past he is sorry ; — he hears that your
eyes pain you much, and deprive you of sleep, because there still 're
mains part of the flesh, and he begs you will let me remove it, that
you may be put at ease.' — (It was rumoured that Atta Mohummud
Khan had not entirely destroyed the sight with his dagger.) Futteh

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 291
reached camp, it broke into small parties and dis
persed. SheerdU and CohundU Khans effected their
flight to Girishk.
Five months after, Kamraun returned to Canda
har, taking with him his unfortunate victim in a
litter, the brother and the nephew of the Vuzeer,
and also Hadjee Ferooz. The latter was released
on his arrival at Candahar, probably because he was
not worth keeping, and he retired to Meshed. The
other captives were tortured for money : Futteh
Khan's raother offered a lac of rupees for her sons
alive, but Futteh Khan sent to desire her not to
give any thing, as both money and life would be
taken, and as in his then lamentable state he set
little store upon existence.
. The iraraediate consequence of Kararaun's cruelty
was that all Futteh Khan's brother's rebelled, and

Khan did not at first reply, then he answered bitterly, and in a changed
voice, ' The prince takes too much thought on my account, does he
wish to put salt upon a wound ? My eyes can be no worse, but now,
tliey are well as they are.' Seeing that the imposition would not pass,
they did not dissemble further, but threw him down, and drew his eyes
out of their sockets. Futteh Khan did not even groan, though he evi
dently suffered great torture. ' If ever there was a man in this world,
that was he!' I was left alone with him : the whole of that night he
.^alked up and down the apartment, wringing his hands, and asking
Vbat crime he had committed to be thus tortured. At whiles he
would imprecate curses upon the authors of his calamity, then pray
that he might die. Towards morning he was exhausted, and slept
many hours : he was afterwards calm, but very melancholy ; very re
gular in his prayers. He seemed most to feel the falling off of severa
friends, who were afraid to have communication with him, and he
often said that Mahmood would lose Khorassaun by his precipitate
Sfuelty." .
U 2

^92 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
Mahmood soon found himself but nominally king.
He was pressed to return to Caubul, but he put off
his march thither till the cold weather rendered it
impracticable. Dost Mohummud Khan, imboldened
by the inaction of the royalists, and joined by two
other brothers, raised a party and threatened Caubul,
and then only Shahzadeh Jehanguire (Kamraun's
son) was sent with a small force to relieve Prince
Sooltaun Mohummud Khan,* who had been left there
in comraand. The prince reached Caubul, but the
cold was so great that sorae of his party died on the
road. With Jehanguire was sent Atta Mohuraraud Khan
Baumizye to direct him in his government. To this
man the rebel brothers wrote that revenge was their
sole object, and that if he would send away Jehanguire,
they would consider him in the right of an elder
brother, take the city for him, and then turn their
strength upon Candahar.
Atta Mohuraraud Khan allowed hiraself to be se
duced by their fair words, and made party with them.
His defection disheartened the royalists in the town,
and it was easily taken : Jehanguire retired to the
Baullah Hissar,-]- but the rebels vigorously besieging
him there, blew up a bastion, when the prince, mount
ing his horse, put himself at the head of a few de
voted followers, and gaUantly cutting his way through
the rebels when it was dusk, escaped at the citv-
* Descended from Timour's son Aiyoob.
t Citadel.

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 293
gate, leaving Dost Mohummud Khan and his bro
thers masters of Caubul.
They had now to dispose of Atta Mohuraraud
Khan, who was not less occupied in projecting means
to get rid of them. They were however beforehand
with hira, and failing in an attempt to blow him up
at a feast, seized him there and blinded him.* Dost
Mohummud Khan then doubting how far he, not
being of the Suddozye tribe, should at first be re
cognised as ruler at Caubul, ostensibly appointed
Sooltaun Mohummud Khan governor, but kept the
real authority in his own hands.
In the spring Mahmood, convinced of the ne
cessity, marched his troops to the vicinity of Caubul.
He was accorapanied by his son Kamraun, and
Futteh Khan was taken with them in a litter. Gool
Mohummud Khan, Populzye, was left Naib at Can
dahar  As soon as the royalists had marched ;from
Candahar, the Girishk brothers got together two or
three thousand men, and put themselves between the
city and the army ; they then sent to the Naib, de-
* There were two brothers ; one in the service of Atta Mohummud
Khan, and the other a servant to Dost Mohummud Khan. Atta
-Mohummud Khan, having accepted the rebel brothers' invitation to a
feast, had seated himself and his party on powder enough to blow them
through the roof. The man in Dost Mohummud Khan's service seeing^
his own brother of the party, called him out, and told him that the
host's leaving the room on an excuse, was only awaited as a signal to
fife the train. The second brother, having eaten his master's salt, re
turned instantly to save hira, and told him of the plot. The rebels,
finding that their treacherous intentions were suspected, thought it as
well to throw off the mask ; so laying hands on their guest before he
could make his escape, they on the spot deprived him of sight.

294 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
siring him to surrender the capital. Gool Mohum
mud Khan, with the tact of a real diplomatist, agreed
to give the city to them in case Mahmood should be
defeated, and satisfied with this promise, they with
drew to await the event.
Dost Mohummud Khan could oppose but three
thousand men to Mahraood's large army, but he
knew how Futteh Khan "bad been loved by the
King's troops, and calculating upon rauch defection
frora thera, he resolved to abide a battle. The armies
were separated by a line of hills, and for ten days
thus remained, messages passing to and fro, but all
atterapts at reconciliation proving vain. At the end
of the tirae spent so foolishly, a noble named Shah-
pussund Khan told Mahmood that many of his Sir
dars were disaffected, and he mentioned Atta Ool
lah Khan AUzye (a Sirdar of influence), as among
the number. The next day, DUowar Khan Shahg-
haussee went over with fifty horsemen, and Mah
raood, with his characteristic want of energy, instead
of sifting the matter, gave up all for lost. After even
ing prayers, he asserabled his Sirdars to council in
open plain, and Futteh Khan was placed in the midst :
Mahmood addressing him, said, that he was weary
of seeing the blood of his people shed ; that what
had passed could only be regretted, but that if the
Vuzeer would bring his brothers to their allegiance,
they should be continued in their respective govern
ments, and higher honours than ever be heaped upon
himself. '« You offer what is gone from you," re-'

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 29^
plied Futteh Khan, " and what has a blind man to
do with power ? Before you deprived Futteh Khan
of sight, you should have secured the authority in the
hands of his kindred. Do you act as you deem best
to quell the storra you have raised ; I wash my
hands of all consequences, and will abide my fate."
-r-Mahmood, enraged at his obstinacy, then com
pleted his vengeance, by ordering " the man who
was his friend to step out and strike the first blow ;"
twenty swords were drawn, for raany that stood there
had hfe-reckonings with Futteh Khan, and he was
literally cut to pieces.
Though he should have been re-assured by the
part his Sirdars had taken in the murder, which put
a feud between themselves and the rebel family,
Mahmood could not shake off his disquiet at Shah-
pussund Khan's intelhgence ; perhaps reraorse at
his cruel return to one who had twice gained hira a
throne, added to his natural tiraorousness, raade him
distrustful of those about him, and fearful of the
dreadful reckoning which the rebels would exact
should he be betrayed into their hands. On the
second night after the tragedy, he and his son
Kamraun, escorted only by a small party of their
most trusty retainers, fled by the direct road through
the Sheah Hazareh country to Heraut. Their de
parture was so little suspected, that it was midnight
before the news spread in the camp, which was then
suddenly broken up : sorae few went over to the
rebels, but the greater number followed Mahmood

296 AF'FGHAUN HISTORY.
to Heraut. With them came Atta Oollah Khan
Alizye,; and then the King, convinced how hastily
he had acted, was with difficulty dissuaded from put
ting Shahpussund Khan to death. This nobleman
is described as an intriguer gifted with so rare a
speech, that he could talk any body into his projects.
He well knew how to play upon the weak inteUect
of his master, and, little doubt is entertained, pur
posely deceived him in this instance ; but his plans
evidently failed, nor is it, I believe, generally known
what they were.
Dost Mohuraraud Khan and his brothers were
glad to return to Caubul, so unexpectedly ceded to
them ; and Gool Mohummud Khan, faithfiil to his
promise, gave up Candahar to the Girishk brothers.
Mohuraraud Azeem Khan, fuU brother to Futteh
Khan, and next in age of the family, had marched
from Cashraere with a strong force when he heard
of Kamraun's cruelty, leaving Jubbar Khan (a half
brother), governor in "the valley;" but, before his
arrival at Caubul, he heard that Dost Mohummud
Khan had taken the city. Mohummud Azeem
Khan then wrote to his brother, warning him that
Aiyoob's* son would league with his fellow Suddo
zyes, and counselled that he should be put to death
to revenge Futteh Khan's blood : this Dost Mohum
mud Khan's regard for his good name forbade his
doing, but he feigned to fly from his elder brother,
and allowed him to take possession of Caubul.
» Sooltaun Mohummud.

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 297
Mohuraraud Azeera Khan upon this took thought
how to rid himself of Sooltaun Mohummud Khan,
and at the same time save his own reputation. He
found an instrument in another of the Suddozye
princes, who was induced by the prospect of suc
cession, artfully held out to him, to murder his
brother. Next the intriguer, with the same temp
tation, instigated an uncle to assassinate his fratri
cide nephew, and lastly, sending a person to assure
the old man in confidence that Azeem Khan was
only looking about for another Suddozye to murder
him, he frightened hira from the city, and it re
mained his own.
Dost Mohummud Khan now returned from
Ghuzni; he was nominaUy governor of the latter
place, but he lived with his brother, to whora, in
consideration of his seniority, he ceded the exercise
of chief authority at Caubul. SheerdU, Poordil, and
Raheeradil Khans established themselves as joint
rulers at Candahar, and other brothers of the family
were appointed to the governments of Peshower and
JaUallabad. Thus was overthrown the Doorraunee monarchy.
— The ex-king and his son had, by their cruel and
dastardly conduct, forfeited claim to the sympathy
of the people, who also, in the continual struggles
and changes which had taken place among the royal
family since the death of Shah Timour, had lost
much of their respect for the sovereign tribe ; and
the rebel Sirdars, by appropriating the revenues to

^98 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
the maintenance of select troops, were able to retain
the governments which they bad usurped.
Shah Shoojah, to whora sorae now looked, was in
Hindoostan : he was, indeed, induced to venture back
to his country in the winter of 1818, but his endeavours
to reinstate himself were as unsuccessful as his former
attempts had been. The adventures of this monarch
frona the time of his dethronement are quite a
romance : — on his release from imprisonraent > in
Cashmere, he accompanied Runjeet Sing's Dewan
to Lahore, where he had the happiness of rejoining
his family ; but he had not been many days in the
Sikh capital, when his host began to act a very
unworthy part towards hira. Shoojah had preserved
sorae valuable jewels, among which was the " Koh-e
Noor," or the " mountain of light," a diamond of
immense value, taken from Mohuraraud Shah by
Shah Nadir, when he invaded Hindostan, and which
at the death of the Persian monarch came into the
possession of Ahmud Shah Doorraunee. This rare
stone Runjeet deraanded, in a raanner which showed
that he would not be refused. Shoojah was naturally
unwilling to part with a gera of such value, espe
cially when his adverse fortune rendered it probable
that he might need it, and it was not until his unfor
tunate guest had suffered every indignity, that the
possessor of miUions was able to extort the jewel
from him.
The Maharajah's rapacity was not even satisfied
with the possession of " the mountain of light," for

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 299
he used many unworthy means to obtain the jewels
which yet remained to the royal exiles; so that
seeing the terms upon which they were to remain
guests at Lahore, they resolved to seek refuge in
the British provinces.
A Puthan horse-dealer, naraed Arab AU Khan,
was the person who assisted the ladies of the harenj
to escape ; providing horses upon which they raade a
forced march to the Sutlej. The following account
of their flight was written by a native then resident
at the court of Lahore, who had means of ascertain
ing the facts.
The princesses and their female attendants dressed
themselves as women of the country, leaving the
palace which had been allotted to them as a resi
dence, repaired in the evening to the house of a banker
in the city, from whence they went to the residences
of two other persons, in order to elude pursuit.
Their departure from the palace, and their disguise,
had been noticed, and it was judged necessary to
acquaint the Maharajah with the circumstances, but
the King had drunk wine and was asleep, and the
Jemadar Khooshaul Sing dreaded to intrude upon
his privacy; however, as the case was urgent, he
sought the advice of Fakeer (or Hakeem) Azizoo-
deen, a sort of Oliver Dain, barber-physician and
minister, who, possessing the entire confidence of
his raaster, scrupled not to rouse hira : the monarch,
therefore, being awakened, and told of the necessity.

300 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
immediately gave orders to secure the fugitives, and
they were taken before they had set out from the
city. But notvrithstanding this faUure, they imme
diately after contrived to elude the vigUance of the
palace-guards, and, through the assistance of the
Puthan horse-merchant mentioned, safely effected
their escape across the Sutlej into the British terri
tory. On the 2nd December, 1814, it was anounced
to the political agent at Loodeeana, that Wuffa
Begum, and the females of Shah Shoojaa's harem,
had. arrived in the town of that place. Embarrass
ing as was the circumstance of their arrival, con
sidering our political relations with the king they
had fled from, there coiUd be no doubt what course
to pursue ; the British agent therefore sent to assure
the royal fugitives of the protection of his govern
ment, and to welcome them with the courtesy due to
their sex and raisfortunes.
Shah Shoojah, being more closely watched, was
detected in an attempt which he made to escape at
the sarae tirae with his family. When Runjeet
heard that the latter had reached the British pro
vinces, he closely imprisoned Shoojah, and treated
him with much rigour ; placing sentries in his very
apartment, in the fear lest he also should escape
across the Sutlej ; for the Sikh monarch had not at
that time learned sufficiently to appreciate the ho
nour and good faith of the British government, and
having from the first been jealous of our alliance

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 301
with the Affghauns, he appears to have been filled
with vague apprehensions that we might concert
with, or assist, the ex-king to his prejudice.
All his precautions, however, to keep his royal
guest a captive, proved ineffectual : in the month of
April, in the ensuing year, Shoojah, in the raost en
terprising and wonderful raanner, escaped frora
Lahore ; climbing over the walls of several courts,
and creeping through a drain to outside the city
wall, and then continuing his flight to Kishtewaur,
the Mohummudan Rajah of which country received
him in the kindest manner, and not only welcomed
him as a guest, but gave him money, with which he
raised troops, and marched in the hope of being able
to take Cashmere. Again fortune played this un
lucky monarch false : on his march through the hUls
be was overtaken by so heavy a snow-storm, that
some of his followers perished in it, and the rest
were dispersed : it seemed as though he was but
warring against his fate, therefore instead of return
ing to his generous friend, he disguised himself, and
set-out upon a hazardous journey over the raountains ;
after experiencing hardships such as fall to the lot of
few raen, he reached the British post of Subbathoo,
and then proceeded to join his famUy at Loodeeana,
where he has since lived, as a grateful pensioner of
that government, whose embassy he had a few years
before received when seated on the throne ) of
Caubul. The occasion of Futteh Khan's being caUed to

302 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
Heraut to check the Persians, in the spring of 1818,
has been related. His departure left the Doorrau
nees east of the Indus to their own resources, and
Runjeet Sing, ever prompt to seize an advantage,
only waited till the Affghaun army had marched from
Peshower, to send his disciplined troops and a bat
tering train, to lay siege to the city of Mooltaun,
against which he had made more than one vain
atterapt. Nawaub Mozuffer Khan, who commanded at the
latter place, held out obstinately against the Sikhs,
his religious pride inducing hira to scorn their
proffered terras ; but his garrrison was weak, and in
valour only a match for the besiegers : he made one
or two sharp sallies, and repelled some partial assaults
during a long siege, but while he thus weakened his
own force, he did not make any serious impression
upon his eneraies. On the 31st of May, the Sikhs
mustering their whole force for the attack, made an
assault upon several parts of the defences, and, after
a desperate contest, succeeded in possessing them
selves of the ramparts. The battle did not end here,
for the deadliest hatred urged both parties to continue
it ; the remnant of the Affghauns feU back upon the
town, and, till they were nearly all slain, maintained
an unequal strife with the Sikhs, who pouring in over
the no longer defended waUs, fought their way from
house to house, giving no quarter, and committing
cruel outrages upon the defenceless inhabitants. The
Nawaub Mozuffer Khan, with two sons, feU gaUantly

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 303
in the storm, and more than a thousand Affghauns
are said to have died with him. The town was
completely sacked, and when order was in some de
gree restored, the inhabitants were set to repair the
breaches ; a strong Sikh garrison filled the city, and
all authority was taken out of the hands of Mohum
mudans ; the cow was declared sacred, the cry of
the Muezzin forbidden, and the idolatrous foUowers
of Gooro-Govind tore down the crescent of Islam.
Possessed of Attock and Mooltaun, Runjeet saw
himself raaster of the Punjaub, and he soon ceased to
apprehend any atterapt on the part of the Affghauns
to recover the country he had driven thera frora, for
in the same year fell the long-tottering Doorraunee
monarchy, and the rulers of the petty states which
were established upon its ruins, even if they had not
been engrossed with the care of securing their newly-
usurped possessions, were not separately in a condi
tion to make head against him.
The coraplete disunion of his long formidable ene
mies opened to Runjeet Sing an unbounded prospect
of empire. His position at Mooltaun enabled him
to overawe the Mohummudan chief of Buhawalpore,
till then a subject of the King of Affghaunistaun ; and
further south, following the course of the Indus, the
rich province of Sinde remained in a state weak
enough to tempt his arms. The Ameers of the lat
ter country took early measures to free themselves
frora the yoke of the rebel Sirdars of Candahar, still
the Maharajah could not but conteraplate the period

304 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
when his superior force might cause the large tribute
which they had paid to the King of Caubul, to flow
into his own coffers. Runjeet's greatest efforts
against the highlands of Cashraere, had hitherto been
foiled by the firmness of the Affghauns, but when,
in consequence of the murder of Vuzeer Futteh
Khan, his brother Mohuraraud Azeera Khan marched
to head his rebel kinsmen at Caubul, leaving the
valley but imperfectly garrisoned by a small force
under his half-brother Jubbar Khan, the Maharajah
at once saw his opportunity, and putting himself at
the head of his best troops, he marched with such
speed north, that he was at the raountain passes be
fore his enemies well knew that he had left Lahore.
The hasty arrangements for defence which Jubbar
Khan then raade, avaUed Uttle against the vigorous
attack of the Sikhs, who, flushed by their recent suc
cesses, pressed on eagerly, and drove the Affghaun
garrison from barrier to barrier, tUl, losing all heart,
they retreated into the valley, and then, following
the example of their leader, fled by the western pass
through the mountains to Peshower. On the 5th of
July, 1819, Runjeet Sing marched his victorious
army into the capital of Cashmere ; nor did his suc
cesses end here, for anxious to strike a blow which
should convince the Affghauns of their inabilitv to
cope with him on any ground, he left his general in
command of an eflScient force in the vaUey of Cash
mere and proceeding with the residue of his troops
to Attock, he forded the Indus, in defiance of the

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 305
eneray who occupied its western bank, and driving
them before him to the city of Peshower, received the
submission of the inhabitants of that place, after
which he returned to Lahore.
HuraiUated as the Affghauns felt at their entire
defeat by an idolatrous enemy whora they had so
long despised, the state of anarchy into which their
country had been thrown by the revolution, pre
vented their raaking any strong effort to recover
their character. The rebel Sirdars of Caubul, who
were the most concerned in the aggressions of the
Sikhs, feared at first to leave Caubul, but after four
years, seeing that the ex-king and his son remained
quietly at Heraut, they gained confidence, and in
the spring of 1823, Mohuraraud Azeera Khan, learn
ing that the Sikhs were again about to cross the
Indus into his territory, marched at the head of all
his troops to oppose them.
In the month of March was fought the last great
battle between the Affghauns and the Sikhs. The
latter crossed the Indus, and Mohummud Azeem
Khan advanced from Peshower to meet them.
Against the advice of his brother Dost Mohuraraud
Khan, who coramanded his vanguard, he made a
fatiguing march from Peshower to a spot called
Huzzaroo, where he was to be joined by his half-
brother, Summud Khan, who had been sent on to
raise the Khuttucks and Eusofzyes. On reaching
the ground, he found himself close to the Sikhs, but
separated from them, and from his aUies, by a deep
''01,. II. x

306 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
stream : he lost some men in a vain attempt to cross.
this water, and was compeUed to remain an inactive
witness of an engagement between Summud Khan's
men and the Sikhs, in which the superior numbers
and the discipline of the latter prevailed, and his
countrymen, after an obstinate defence, fled to the
hills in their rear. i
Could Mohuraraud Azeem Khan have taken part
in the engagement, it is probable that the Sikhs
might have lost the day ; for only after a long , and
bloody contest did they succeed in defeating the
wild mountaineers who met them. The latter, urged
on by the bitterest feelings of national and rehgious
antipathy, fought Uke madmen ; lads of twelve and
fifteen years (it was related) though armed only
with long knives, throwing theraselves upon the
Sikh battalions, and endeavouring to stab the soldiers
behind their bayonets. In the rear of the high
landers were two hillocks, to which, as often as they
were repulsed, they retreated, but only to rally and
charge again upon their invaders ; and with such
undiminished vigour did they return to the combat,
that the Sikhs began almost to despair of conquering
them, and at one time were seen to waver, upon
which Runjeet, the " Napoleon de I'Orient" (as a
late French traveUer aptly named him), who had
watched the conflict from a height in the rear of his
troops, seized the standard of his body-guard, and
led into the thickest of the fight.
This restored the spirit of the Sikhs, and even-

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 307
tigdly their discipline prevailed. " The last stand
was raade near sunset, by two hundred of the
Eusofzyes, who, forming upon the hUlock in their
rear, with loud shouts of " ullah !" charged bravely
upon the infidels ; but the kaufirs (said the narrator
of this engagement) met thera with their Nizam,*
and their swords could not tell against it : sorae feU,
as men should, blade in hand, and vrith their faces
to the enemy; the rest did not attempt to rally
again, but made for the hiUs, and as night was
coming on, the exhausted Sikhs did not atterapt to
pursue them.
Mohummud Azeem Khan did not wait the night
where he was, for recoUecting that he had left his .
treasure on the road behind him, he began to fear
lest his fugitive allies, the Khuttuks, should direct
their course to it, and so marched hastily back to
secure it, abandoning his guns and tents. These
Dost Mohummud Khan, who had encamped apart
with the vanguard, brought off the next day, de
fended from the Sikhs by the sarae obstacle which
had prevented his taking part in the engagement :
he overtook his brother near Peshower, and returned
with him to Caubul ; but Azeera Khan never
recovered the sharae of his reverse : he and Summud
Khan both fell sick ; the latter died in a few days,
and shortly afterwards, Azeem Khan, feeling that he
should not survive, collected his great wealth, and
* Discipline.
X 2

308 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
gave it to his son AbibooUah Khan, charging bim to
wipe off the stain from his memory, by raising troops
and fighting the Sikhs.
On Mohummud Azeem Khan's decease, Abibool-
lah Khan was anxious to comply with his father's
last injunctions, but when he would have assumed
the seat of government, he was resisted by Dost
Mohuraraud Khan, who declared that although he had ¦
respected his brother's seniority, yet that the Sidar-
ship of Caubul was his by right of original conquest,
and he raised a party to support his claira.
For some days Caubul was the scene of skirmishes
between the troops of AbibooUah Khan and his
uncle : as the former could afford to pay his followers
weU, he soon had the largest army, but fortune,
which seeraed to play into the hands of Dost Mo
hummud Khan, assisted him by a stratagera of his
brother SheerdU Khan, who, to sound the chance of
getting Caubul for hiraself, wrote from Candahar to
AbibooUah Khan, offering to assist him in ejecting
Dost Mohummud Khan. Deceived by his pro.
fessions AbibooUah Khan invited SheerdU Khan to
Caubul ; when the latter chief arrived, he found that
singly he could not hope to dispossess his nephew,
therefore he privately made party with his brother;
arguing with AbibooUah Khan upon the scandal of
a quarrel between such near relations, and assuring
him that Dost Mohummud Khan was wiUino- to
agree to a fair compromise, he persuaded him to
come to a conference, and there seizing him, caused

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 309
him to be imprisoned, after which he himself
assumed the government at Caubul.
Dost Mohummud Khan did not dispute the rule
with his elder brother, but as a recompence for his
share in the plot, he deraanded a large portion of
AbibooUah Khan's confiscated wealth. SheerdU
Khan refused to part with his ill-gotten treasure,
upon which the brothers were at issue, and fought
morning and noon regularly for several days, when
four others of the family, coming frora Peshower,
made the following terras between thera. SheerdU
was to retire to Candahar with all his wealth, and to
cede Caubul and its revenue to Dost Mohummud
Khan. SheerdU accordingly returned to Candahar,
and Dost Momummud Khan assumed the govern
ment at Caubul, where he has ever since ruled in
undisputed authority.
Now to return to the royal famUy. — Shah Mah
mood, on his arrival at Heraut, resigned all exercise
of authority to Kamraun, and endeavoured to lose
the sense of his misfortunes in intoxication. A year
afl;er, Shahpussund Khan proposed to raise by sub
scription a force with which to march and take
Candahar frora the rebels ; Kararaun to give fifty
thousand, he ten thousand rupees, and the other
Sirdars, the merchants, &c. according to their
ability. Kamraun liked all parts of the scheme but
the first, having, he protested, no money, and on
this point he quarreUed with his adviser. Next re
presenting to his father that Shahpussund Khan was,
the chief cause of their misfortune, Kamraun proposed

310 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
to punish the intriguer, and in part indemnify them
selves, by taking his wealth. Mahmood offered no
objection, and Shahpussund was accordingly sent as
a captive to KuUah Laush, a strong hill-fort on the
border of Seestaun, which together with a place
called " Juwaine," was his famUy inheritance. After
Kamraun had extorted all the money that he could
from his prisoner, he deprived him of the fort of
Laush, but permitted hira to retire to Juwaine vrith
his faraily.
Shahpussund Khan now wrote to Hadjee Ferooz
at Meshed, that if he would come to Juwaine, he
would raise a force and take Furrah for him. Hadjee
Ferooz was too badly off not to obey the suraraons,
and Mohuraraud Khan Nahee, of Kauin, assisting
them with some troops, they were able to take
Furrah from Kamraun's Hakim. The prince marched
from Heraut to recover this fortress, and drove the
allies within its walls. Shahpussund Khan being
hard pressed, made a capitulation, the terms of
which were — that he was to remain at Furrah as
Kamraun's Hakim, and that Hadjee Ferooz was to
be sent about his business. The latter returned
to Meshed, and Shahpussund Khan, not feeUng
sure of Kamraun, went to KiUich Khan Timooree at
Khaff, whora, with Ibrahim Khan Jemsheddee, he
associated in a fresh plot in favour of Hadjee Ferooz
which that unlucky prince engaged in, preferrinff all
hazards to living in actual poverty.
Kamraun applied to Booneard Beg Hazaureh for
assistance, and his troops so worsted the rebels, that

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 31 1
KiUich Khan was left on the field, and Ferooz with
his other assistants, had they not fled early, would
have been taken. They rode northward, but un-
, luckily meeting on the way, troops which Mohummud
Khan of Toorbut had sent co-operate with Booneard
Beg's men, they took to a hiU and fought. Ibrahim
Khan was shot, Shahpussund Khan escaped, and went
to Toorbut- Hyderah, where he made a fast friend
ship with the master of the troops he had fled from,
but poor Hadjee Ferooz was made prisoner, and sent
, with the head of Ibrahim Khan to Heraut, where he
was imprisoned in the citadel.
A few months after, Kararaun resolved to raarch
upon Candahar. He left Mustapha Khan Zooree
(Eimauk), in charge of the citadel, and desired one
ManawuUee Khan to follow him, when he had got
what money he could frora Mohuraraud Hossein
Khan, a cousin of his own. The relative of the
prince naturally took umbrage at a raan who was con
tinually dunning hira, so repairing to Mahraood
(who had graduaUy become jealous of the authority
which he had resigned into his son's hands), he re
presented ManawuUee Khan as a meddling fellow in
Kamraun's interests, whora it would be well to con
fine, and getting so much leave frora the Shah, he,
in excess of it, put the raan to death on his own ac
count. He then made friends with Mustapha Khan ;
, -they brought Booneard Beg Hazaureh into council,
and deeming themselves strong, seized Mahraood,

312 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
and confining hira in the citadel, released Hadjee
Ferooz, whom they proclaimed King.
This farce lasted eighteen days ; then Mustapha
Khan, on condition of being made Lord executive,
promised Mahmood to restore him. He brought the
Shah down to the town with a party, when King Ferooz
and his aUies fled one after another. At this junc
ture arrived Kamraun from Candahar, and found the
gates closed against him. This was the work of
Mustapha Khan, who fearing Kamraun's vengeance,
persuaded Mahraood that his authority would be at
an end the moraent he allowed his son to enter the
town. Kararaun, enraged at such a reception, was
for beseiging his father, but he fled hastily on the ap
proach of an unlooked for enemy.
The Candahar brothers, hearing of the quarrels in
the royal family, thought that good opportunity
offered itself for completing their revenge, and, fol
lowing Kamraun to Heraut, they partially invested
the city.
Mahraood was now reduced to beg assistance from
Shahpussund Khan, to whom he wrote requesting
hira to induce Mohummud Khan of Toorbut to raove
to the relief of Heraut. His application was effec
tual, and Mohuraraud Khan marched to Ghourian ;
but finding that the city was invested, he wrote to
the rebel brothers that he had come to side with
them, upon which, Sheerdil Khan rode to Ghou
rian to welcome him. They marched back together

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 313
to near the city, when Mohuraraud Khan, greatly to
the relief of the besieged, who had watched his party
from the ramparts, turned off and was adraitted
within the walls. Upon this the brothers raised the
siege and returned to Candahar.
Mohuraraud Khan received lands for his service,
and he presented Shahpussund Khan, as an injured,
stiU devoted, servant ; Mahraood therefore restored
him to favour and confidence. But this arrangeraent
did not suit Mustapha Khan, who, conscious that
there was not room both for himself and Shahpussund,
imagined that the policy of the latter would be to
bring in Kararaun, who would kill him. " You en
tertain jealousy against me," said he ; — Shahpussund
denied it. " Then come and give me your hand*
upon the Koran that you do not." When Shah
pussund went to the citadel, he was seized and im
prisoned ; Mahraood, apprehending fresh violence to
his own person, fied from his city, and Mustapha
Khan remained lord of it.
Mahmood stayed his fiight at Subzaur. Doorrau
nees, however sundered, have common causes which
unite them, and they flocked round their king in a
case which involved their nationality.! Kamraun
* 2 Kings X. 15. — Jehu meeting Jehonadab, salutes him, and asks
— " Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart ? And Jehona
dab answered. It is. — If it be, give me thine hand." &c..
f Mustapha Khan was not even an Affghaun, though it is probable
that to make Heraut his own never entered his imagination till Mah
raood's flight put him in possession of it.-

314 AFFGHAUN HISTORY.
came frora Furrah with a force, jealousies were for
gotten, and they raade one cause against the usurper.
Meer Sadik Khan, Berdoorraunee, wrote from within
Heraut that he would open the gates on their ap
proach. Kamraun pressing on, was admitted into
the town, and iraraediately besieged the citadel : he
sprung a mine under a bastion, and Mustapha was
glad to resign his brief authority on promise that his
life should be spared ; but Kamraun foully broke his
oath ; for he had not been many days in Heraut,
when he put Mustapha Khan to death — (in the
winter of 1824).
Affairs fell into the old train, and Shahpussund
Khan, and the other lords about Mahraood, seeing
theraselves without interest, moved him anew to take
the supreme power into his own hands. Those
about Kamraun played the part that suited their
interests, and working on the fears of Mahmood by
hinting that his son wished to seize him, caused him
to retire to Gauzer-Gau, a viUage four miles from
the city, where is entombed the faraous Soonnee
Saint Khojeh AbdooUah Ansarree. There he re
sided for six months, when getting a fresh fright, he
fled over the Moorghaub. The Wallee of Meimunna
persuaded Derveish Khan Jemsheddee to assist him
with three thousand troops, and with these he re
traced his steps. Kamraun sent his Sirdar and his
son Jehanguire with two thousand men to keep the
road frora Meimunna, but the Shah was in corre-

Affghaun history. 315
spondence with a raan of this carap, Suraunder Khan
Baumizye, and having information of their position,
he carae circuitously upon them in the grey of the
morning, when, by help of Suraunder Khan's trea
cherous flight, he routed thera ; biit wanting
resolution to follow up his advantage by attacking
the city, he went and intrenched himself outside it
in the Baugh~e-Shah. Kamraun, reinforced by
troops frora Furrah under his general Yar Mohum
mud Khan, attacked his father's allies, and had not
beaten them out of their advanced intrenchment,
when Mahmood mounted and fled over the Moor
ghaub again.
The Persian prince Hussan Ali Meerza, had
marched from Meshed to help Kamraun, who had
made friends with him after the battle of Kahreese,
but finding that the enemy had fled, he returned
home, leaving his son Arghoon Meerza at Heraut,
with three thousand horse. This young prince,
joined by Kamraun's Sirdar, pursued Mahmood;
after some skirmishing with the Hazaurehs, a treaty
was made, the chief article of which was, that no assist
ance was to be rendered by them to Mahmood. He
was accordingly told to seek refuge elsewhere, and
this unfortunate, now old raan, was again a wanderer.
He retired to Laush, where he reraained a year in a
pitiable state, wanting every thing: Kararaun, at
last, struck vrith reraorse, sent two sons with pre
sents and a dutifiil message ; they brought him with

3l6 affghaun history.
a show of honour to Heraut, but he closed his
eventful life after a year, and Kamraun was legaUy
king. Though it is impossible not to compassionate a
man so severely visited in his old age, yet there was
little in the character of Shah Mahraood to render
hira worthy of coramiseration. His first act was
rebellion against his king and brother. Shah Zemaun,
and no feeling of gratitude for the forbearance which
had been shown him, interfered to prevent his de
throning Shah Shoojah, to make himself a second time
king. He appears ever to have been more studious
to indulge his sensuality than to promote the good
of his people, and as he did not gain the throne by
any merit of his own, so he was unable to sustain
himself at the height to which fortune had raised him :
short-sighted as ungrateful, he murdered the raan to
whora he owed every thing, and deprived of his sup
port, fell through his own weakness.
The character of Kamraun has been described in
the journal : for the bad qualities which mark it, we
could wish to find apology in the circumstances under
which he was educated, but nothing can excuse his
cruel ingratitude to Futteh Khan, or his unnatural
conduct towards his own parent. His bad conduct
as a ruler may in some measure be extenuated, when
it is remembered that, having lived almost without a
friend, he has often suffered from the treachery of
those to whom he trusted : now driven to a corner

AFFGHAUN HISTORY. 317
of his dominions by rebel enemies, he has thought it
expedient to fill his coffers, in order to be prepared
for a stUl greater reverse, or, haply, for an opportu
nity of recovering the throne of his father.

OVERLAND INVASION OF INDIA.

OVERLAND INVASION OF INDIA.

My journey having afforded me peculiar oppor
tunities of judging parts of this oft-discussed but
ever-interesting question, I venture to exhibit the
result of some reflections formed upon it during my
travels. I will not attempt to embrace within the
limits of this sketch, the arguraents belonging to all
parts of so extended a subject, but rather confine
myself to such as are connected with the politics of
Asia. — Calcutta, 1831.

Twenty- three years ago, France threatened our
possessions in Hindoostan, and the British Govern
ment deeraed it expedient to send arabassadors to
the Shahs of Persia and Affghaunistaun, to secure
their friendship, and so provide against the danger.
We need not now busy ourselves in debating whether
VOL. II. Y

322 OVERLAND INVASION
or no the French could have carried their great
threats into execution, for the events of late years
have entirely altered our political relations with
France and Persia, and reduced the arguments upon
this question within a much more tangible compass.
Instead of fearing our near European neighbours,
we hope that for the fiiture their interests wUl be
allied with ours ; but, in our endeavours to crush
the power of- Napoleon, we gave strength to Russia,
who now commands from her adjoining frontier, the
influence over Persia for which France intrigued
from a distance ; and so far has the new power thrown
forward her boundary of late years, and so marked a
contrast does she present to the nations on her east,
that we may now speculate upon the probable as well
as the possible effects of her politics upon the coun
tries of Central Asia.
The views upon our Eastern possessions which the
Russians raay have entertained, have necessarily
been distant and indefinite. Perhaps it is speaking
raost accurately to say, that the Russians have long
been anxious to have it in their power to attack us
in India, in case of a quarrel rendering such a mea
sure expedient; — and whether they now can, or
hereafter wiU be able to do this, is the point for
discussion. It is with this question as with most others ; few
will take a medium view of its merits. One party
wiU insist upon drawing a paraUel between the light

OF INDIA. 323
troops of former Asiatic armies, and those of Europe
in the present day, and argue that because Tiraour
Lung, Mahmood of Ghuzni, the Emperor Bauber,
and Nadir Shah, all rode to Hindoostan, the Rus
sians can raake a dash through the countries which
separate our frontiers, and turn us out of India
before we have tirae to prepare for defence : while
the opposite class treat the whole question as chi
merical, and dispose of it by a few general reraarks
upon the great diflBculties of the march, — the
national poverty of the Russians, and the instability
of their government, — the many political eras that
must elapse before they can mature their plans, —
and the great control that we have over their cora
merce. I will endeavour to hold a raoderate course
between these two extreme opinions.
Some years must elapse before the Russians can
themselves advance, or extend their infiuence, to
points whence they can make a fair start for the
invasion of India ; but distant and uncertain though
the danger may be, it certainly is one that the
British government should provide against, since
the Russians can still extend their power eastward,
and since it is their policy to do so, in order to
the increase of their railitary and coraraercial
ambition.
' There are two great routes, and I conceive only
two, by which the Russians can invade India. They
win either raake Khiva their base, and thence
Y 2

324 OVERLAND INVASION
going up the Oxus to Bulkh, will proceed over the
Baumeeaun mountains, vid Caubul and Peshower,
to the Indus ; or, taking the Persian frontier for a
base, they wUl follow the great roads through
central Affghaunistaun.*
The mere distance that they would have to raarch
either way, is less a matter for consideration than
the natural facilities and difficulties of the countries
through which the route would lie, their political
state, and the degree of assistance, or otherwise,
that their inhabitants could, or probably would, render
to foreign invaders. W^e possess nothing like the
information, either geographical or statistical, that we
ought to have of these intermediate countries, but
with what has from time to time been gleaned, we
may make a fair guess at their actual conditions, as
well as at their relative means ; while our large
experience of Eastern character, enables us pretty
confidently to predict how the rulers of such states
would act, if they were called on to choose between
the interests of two rival European powers.
In reviewing our journey into the Caspian desert,t
I offered some suggestions upon the policy of the
Russians in Toorkestaun, and drew the conclusions
that, directly or indirectly, they could estabUsh
* Many persons have speculated upon our being invaded from the
south of Persia, by troops shipped in the gulf, or by an army marched
along the coast, and supplied with provisions from the sea, in improve
ment upon the march of Alexander the Great ; but this is almost sup
posing us to have no ships on the ocean.
-f See from pages 142 to 162, vol, i.

OF INDIA. 325
their authority in Kharazm, if not in Bokhara also.
It is plain, I think, that the Russians cannot weU
invade us through the countries as they now stand
between the Oural and the Indus ; but if they can
establish their influence so firraly at Khiva, as to be
able to base their operations upon that place, the
invasion of India, though still a difficult, would be
by no means an impracticable undertaking.
'^¦'Spedulating particularly, in a later chapter,* upon
the extension of Russian trade by Toorkestaun, I
supposed that our rivals' earliest endeavour on gain
ing footing at Khiva, would be to throw open the
Oxus. Every thing then said with regard to in-
fcreased facility for the conveyance of raerchandise,
applies to the transport of railitary stores and troops,
and of course, the more commerce enriches, increases,
and settles, the people of the naturaUy fertile
country round the marts which must grow on and
heyond this new great channel of trade, the greater
will be the sources whence invaders may draw
supplies. I raay here repeat, that the Oxus would easily
lead the Russians to Bulkh, which would probably
become a large and rich commercial place. The
route hence to Caubul would lie through the passes
of the Hindoo Koosh mountains, which are prac
ticable during six months of the year. This, though
not a very long, would be an extremely laborious
* See page 234, vol. ii.

3^6 OVERLAND INVASION
journey, and provisions must be carried aU the way.
From Caubul, the road goes through a mountain
ous, but very passable, and well-watered country, vid
JeUallabad and Peshower, to Attock, where the in
vaders would cross into the Punjaub, unless they
passed the river higher up, for the purpose of occu
pying the strong country of Cashraere.*
At Attock, then, I will suppose the Russians ar
rived, and there leave thera, to take a view of the
second route by which they raay advance to India ; —
a route concerning which my information is raore
certain, and which, whether we regard the political
or the natural condition of the countries through
which it lies, offers surer and raore immediate means
for such an undertaking.
Whatever the Russians may do in Toorkestaun,
many years will be requisite to bring their plans to
maturity there. Possibly, circumstances may delay
hostility between us until such time as they are able
to invade India from both the suggested bases ; but
it is through central Affghaunistaun that the attack
will be chiefly conducted, if ever it is made, because
it is in this direction that the Russians can most
easily push on the Persians, and increase the re
sources of the country, by substituting a settled for
a pastoral people.
* There are passes above Attock into Cashmere, which were often
used by the Affghauns when they had possession of the latter country,
My accounts state that the roads are not practicable for artillery.

OF INDIA. 327
Overawing the Persians frora their own south
ern border, the Russians can coraraand a road
through their neighbours' erapire, wherever it may
extend to, either for advance or retreat. The Persian
frontier, I assurae, would be the line frora which the
Russians would make their last start for India, and
it is probable that this frontier will soon be thrown
considerably more eastward. Affghaunistaun, in its
present disunited state, offers every temptation to
the encroachment of the Persians, and Heraut,
which I have shown they claira as the ancient capital
of Khorassaun, will, there is little doubt, ere long
fall into their hands. I will not here enter into spe
culations regarding the further extension of their
empire in the direction of India, but remark merely,
that settled at Heraut, their influence would extend
at least to Candahar.
The roads from the present Russian frontier on the
Arras, to Heraut, are practicable for an European
army. Troops might also be transported across the
; Caspian to Astrabad, thence marched, by the roads
shown in the journal, to Meshed, and on from the
Holy City, by the two described routes, to Heraut : or
be raarched from Astrabad across the mountains to
Neshapoor (where they could as well be supphed with
provisions as at Meshed), and thence proceed to
Heraut by either, or by both, of the onward routes
through Meshed and Toorshish.
Heraut could be made a place of considerable

328 OVERLAND INVASION
strength : nothing can well exceed the plenty and
excellence of the supplies from the valley, and an
army might be garrisoned there for years, with every
necessary immediately within its reach.
The country between Heraut and Candahar,
though hilly, would offer little obstacle to the march of
an unopposed European army ; water is in sufficiency,
and partial supplies might be procured on the way.
The neighbourhood of Candahar could furnish
abundant supplies, and an array would be cora
fortably situated there, if the people were weU-dis-
posed towards it.
The situation of the latter capital marks it for a
pivot upon which the operations of the expedition
would turn ; for there the invaders must esta
blish theraselves firmly, make dispositions for their
advance towards India, and provide for their retreat
from it.
From Candahar they would either go vid Ghuzni
up to Caubul, and thence on through the before-de
scribed country to Attock ; or, through the mostly
barren and difficult country vid Pisheen, Quetta,
Dauder, and Baugh, they would march south to the
Indus about Shikarpore.
The first is not a difficult road during nine months
of the year, but it is next to impassable in winter, by
reason of the heavy snow that faUs, and the extrerae
rigour of the cliraate, in the neighbourhood of
Ghuzni especially. " The country," says Foster,

OF INDIA. 329
" has generally a barren aspect, with a scanty sup
ply of wood and water." Supphes of food are not to
be looked for in great quantities from the pastoral
people who border the road, and Ghuzni is no longer
a town of any consequence.
With regard to the second route from Candahar ;
partial supplies of provisions might be obtained in the
vaUey of Pisheen, and at the towns of Quetta, Dan
der, and Baugh, and a sufficiency of such as the
country produces at Shikarpore. The want both of
water and wood would be often experienced on this
road, and I can say no raore regarding it, than that
it could be taken by a befriended army, during the
favourable season of the year. At the best time, the
train of an European army would suffer much injury
from the roughness of the passes between Quetta and
Dauder, and during summer this tract of country is
impassable. As far as only the difficulty of roads,* or the ca-
pabiUty of the country to yield comraon supplies, is
concerned, I do not doubt that a Russian army could
march through Persia and Affghaunistaun to India ;
but there reraains much to be considered after this
admission. The distance between the Russian frontier and
the Indus could not be marched in less than two

* When I say that roads are not difficult, I mean either that they
are at present practicable for an European army and its train, or that
they might be made so by pioneers without extraordinary labour.

330 OVERLAND INVASION
campaigns, — say the first would bring the invaders
to Candahar,* — and, with every assistance, the
Russians would incur incalculable expense in such an
enterprise. The undertaking I say is feasible, as
far as regards the natural obstacles of the countries
through which the march would lie, and the capa
bilities of those countries to furnish sufficient sup
plies at certain comraissariat points ; but these points
are far distant frora each other, and supplies for con
sumption on the marches between them, raust be
carried with the array, while many mess and hospital
stores which are necessary in quantities for the
European soldier, must be brought, with all proper
articles of modern mUitary equipment, from the
starting-point. This would require very many
beasts of burden : — camels, horses, mules, and
galloways, are easily and cheaply to be obtained
throughout these countries, but so large a deraand
for thera would greatly raise their price, and they
raust carry every sort of food for themselves' as
well ; for hardly any where on the line of march,
would be found sufficient grass for the cattle of
the smallest army, and to supply the deficiency,
the invaders must carry chopped straw, which the
* I have here in view an army strong enough to hope for success
agairist us in India, attended by its requisite train. I mean not to
assert that a small army of Russian troops might not march at once to
the Indus, if it were favoured by all the people on the road ; — sup
posing that promises of strong support were held out by disaffected
parties in India, to induce such an undertaking.

OF INDIA. 331
people of these countries store as provender for their
cattle. Fuel is a very scarce and dear article through
out Central Persia and Affghaunistaun, and sorae
tiraes an absolute want of it is experienced even by
the travellers of kafilahs.
Water is not generally found in such abundance,
at the different stages on the roads through these
countries, as to adrait of many cattle halting at the
same place on the same day ; a large army must
therefore divide its columns, and submit to much de
lay in marching from one great point to another ;
and frequently very fatiguing marches must be
made, in order to procure a sufficiency of this
grand necessary for the smallest division of such a
force, unless a supply were carried with it when ne
cessary. The last remedy brings an increase to the
evil of an immense train of baggage cattle.
In speculating upon the chances of an overland
invasion, we generally flatter ourselves that half our
enemies would die of hard labour, bad diet, change
; of climate, and incleraent weather, before they reached
the Indus : some very prejudicial changes of air,
food, and water, must truly be encountered on such
an expedition, and unless the Russians do consider
ably ameliorate the condition both of their commis
sariat and medical staff, we may reasonably calculate
upon a great mortality among them before they ex-

332 OVERLAND INVASION
change shots with us. I do not lay so rauch stress
upon their exposure to bad weather, because the
climate of Khorassaun is regular, and if the Russians
could afford time to corae, they raight choose their
seasons ; but what serious obstacles do not the
different seasons oppose to the co-operation, to
the very coramunication almost, of troops sepa
rated in some parts of Affghaunistaun itself,
or in Affghaunistaun and India! During winter,
troops at Caubul and Candahar could not march
the one to the other ; during summer and early
autumn, the road south through the mountains
to Quetta is closed; so that not only could
not troops concert a simultaneous enterprise by
the two routes to the Indus, but an array pushed
on by the southern road, would run the risk of being
cut off frora its reserve in Khorassaun.
As it is uncertain under what circurastances the
Russians would come, it is scarcely possible to
calculate all the difficulties that they would haye
to encounter ; but it is to be observed, that all
the preceding observations set the undertaking in
its easiest light, for they suppose our enemies to
be assisted by the people of Affghaunistaun as well
as by the Persians.
Now the Affghauns have little to gain, but much
to fear, from letting the Russians enter their coun
try ; they are natural enemies to the nations by

OF INDIA. 333
whom the Russians must in the first instance, be
assisted, whether Oosbeg or Persian, and they
raoreover cherish a strong fanatical antipathy against
the latter people. The Affghauns have little reason
to fear us, and they derive benefit from their com
raercial intercourse with our Indian provinces : we
should therefore look upon them as our natural
alHes. If the Affghauns, as a nation, were determined to
resist Russian invasion of India, the difficulties of
the march would be rendered wellnigh insurmount
able ; for though Affghaunistaun is a country through
which an unopposed European army could without
great difficulty move, its natural advantages are so
many, that the resolute people occupying its fast
nesses could greatly check, if not altogether prevent,
the advance of an enemy into it ; while they could
greatly straiten, or altogether withhold, the supplies
for which these invaders would otherwise look to
them. It may safely be assumed, that however
dfisirous the Russians might be to invade British
India, they would not atterapt to force their
way to it, either frora the north or west,^ through
Affghaunistaun. They would hardly attempt to push
through, and leave in their rear, a warlike nation of
adverse highlanders, even if these stood alone in
their hostility ; but in the crisis supposed, we should
join heart and hand with the Affghauns, and give
them such aid as would almost certainly enable them

334 OVERLAND INVASION
to repel, on their very frontiers, the forces of any
league that raight be formed against ours.
At the period when we apprehended invasion from
the French, Mr. Elphinstone, who was sent as
British ambassador to the court of Caubul, succeeded
in establishing very friendly relations with the Door
raunee monarch. These were interrupted by a
revolution, from the effects of which our neighbours
have never recovered ; but were they reunited and
settled under one government, we might renew our
connexion with them, and reasonably calculate upon
their cordial assistance against the Russians as a
coraraon eneray : it raay however be doubted whether,
if certain evident scheraes are allowed to take their
course in Central Asia, the Affghauns will not either
cease to be a nation, or lose the power fiiUy to serve
us ; for the Doorraunee monarchy is virtually dead,
and in their present distracted state, the Affghauns
cannot offer effectual opposition to the Persians, who
will be quietly used by our rivals, as an instrument
to destroy the strongest barrier that could be
established to protect India frora invasion on the
west. Different opinions have been held regarding our
fittest policy towards this people. Affghaunistaun,
sorae have argued, in its pastoral and distracted
state, is probably a better defence to our eastern
possessions than it would be were it settled under
one government ; for in the latter case, there would

OF INDIA. 335
be a greater extension of the fixed population, and
the resources of the country would be more gene
rally brought into action ; therefore by using our
influence to restore it to order, we should perhaps
but be making provision for an invading eneray :
and, it has been added, it raight be irapolitic in us
to aid the re-establishraent of one ruler, instead of
the raany chiefs of opposed interests with whom the
Russians would have to treat for the raeans of
advancing to the Indus, because none of these
would be disposed to admit foreigners into their
states, or to assist them in any way, unless they
were influenced by motives of interest or alarm ; for
the favour of such chiefs as were to be bribed, we
could bid as high as our enemies, and by sending
a few of our disciplined troops into the country of
these brave mountaineers, to assist thera in raaking
the most of their natural defences, we could enable
them to set all invaders at naught.
The last proceeding would be expedient in either
case, and there is some plausibility in the first argu
ments, but in objection to thera recurs the danger
that the different Affghaun parties will be subjected
by the Persians ; if not entirely, at least to such an
extent as to incapacitate thera frora being very
useful to us hereafter. But even if we could feel
satisfied that the Persians would not encroach upon
our neighbours, and that the latter would reraain
the disunited inhabitants of a generally barren.

336 OVERLAND INVASION
because pastoral, country, it is questionable whether
it would be wise in us to leave them thus.
The rulers of petty Affghaun states, cannot have
the raotives to oppose foreign invasion of India
that would be felt by a monarch whose dignity and
interests would in many ways be associated with
ours ; neither would they feel the sarae reasons for
reraaining steadfast in alliances that raight be made
with them by the distant British Government ; and
there would probably be as much difficulty in
managing their confiicting interests, as in opposing
the enemy. Singly, the chief of a small state could
not offer effectual opposition to an European invader,
and it would be easy to gain hira by encouraging
his arabition against his rivals at home, or doubly
to profit by it, by directing it on India.
It would require great inducements to terapt a
reigning king, frora a sure and profitable alliance
with us (his protecting power), into an under
taking which, at best doubtful, would entail ruin
upon hira if it failed; and it is difficult to be
lieve that the intrigues of our eneraies could so
deaden the jealousy of an Affghaun sovereign, and
so totally supersede our influence at his court,
as to induce hira to let the Russians estabUsh
themselves throughout his dominions; which they
must do in order to the regular invasion of India.
The Russians could offer an Affghaun sovereign
nothing but proraises, the fulfilment of which would

OF INDIA. 337
depend on their success ; but supposing always that
they could hold out expectations sufficiently dazzUng
to seduce a monarch in instance, from honourable cer
tain empire, to the unworthy chance of greater, and
that he should prove venal, with the hold that we
should have upon him, we should be able to bribe
up to our enemies' price, in case it were worth
while to do so : at worst, after some years' friendly
communication with this nation, we should not be
without friends among them, and early as it would
be necessary for their king to manifest his inten
tions, if they proved treacherous, we should have
time enough to excite a revolution and make a party
for ourselves, or forcibly to occupy some passes lead
ing from this raountainous country, so as to keep the
war out of our own as long as possible.
Moreover, with regard to the notion of our deriv
ing security frora the existence of many parties in
Affghaunistaun, it is to be remarked, that at present
the country is not shared by many chiefs of opposed
interests, but unequaUy divided between two families,
— ^rebel and ex-royalist: there raay be jealousies
between the different raerabers of the rebel house,
but so long as the Suddozyes retain a portion of the
country, the Baurickzye Sirdars must keep together
for the sake of their comraon cause.
Supposing these two families to preserve their re
lative positions till the anticipated day of invasion,
the Russians would find a ready ally in the ex-
VOL. II. z

338 OVERLAND INVASION
royaUsts: with this aid they would hardly be a
match for us and the other party, if we coalesced,
since we should be in possession of the greatest
portion of a strong country, through which their
route must lie. But this assumes, what is doubtfiil,
that all the Affghaun people subject to the Baurickzye
Sirdars would make party with them; for, not to
reason upon their desiring change from the oppres
sion of these petty despots, the right of the Suddozye
family to the supreme government has hitherto been
considered sacred by the Doorraunees, and there
would always be a strong feeling in their favour if
they put theraselves forward. Even though the
Baurickzyes should entirely deprive the Suddozye
family of rule in Affghaunistaun, for some years to
corae the name of the latter would serve invaders as
a war-cry to raise as many adherents as they would
pay for ; but I conceive that I am putting unlikely
cases, and that the Persians assuredly will advance,
and settle the rival claims — by destroying both.
Could the Shah of Iran content himself with driv
ing out the Suddozyes from the ancient capital of
Khorassaun, the remainder of the once great Door-
raunnee empire would probably reraain in the hands
of the Baurickzye Sirdars. These might bequeath
their states to their descendants, or themselves be
supplanted by other upstarts ; or possibly, a chief,
such as the present ruler of Caubul, would form the
different states into one, which, if left to itself, we

OF INDIA. ^39
might expect to see undergo a series of petty revo
lutions, siraUar to those which destroyed the mo
narchy : but to recur to the grand danger ; if the
Persian monarch takes Heraut, he will not be dis
posed to rest long on his arms there, and he will
march farther eastward, if the Baurickzye Sirdars do
not submit to retain their states under the bond of
allegiance to his crown : — in either of which cases,
the road to India would be greatly opened for the
Russians.

The preceding speculations* are built upon the
belief that Russia has estabhshed a paramount in
fluence over Persia. In order to show reasons for
this opinion, I must refer to the circurastances of
our political connexion with the latter country in
1800. The continually threatened invasion of India by
Zemaun Shah, Doorraunee, induced Lord Wellesley
to form a defensive alliance against this restless
monarch with Futteh Ali Shah, Cujjer, who readily
came into the Governor-General's views, as he had
recently failed in two invasions of Khorassaun. In
January, 1801, Captain, afterwards Sir John Mal-

* This chapter was first printed in the Calcutta Courier, 2nd and
3rd of July, 1831. My English Editor deeming it too long for entire
repubUcation with the journal, cut off the latter portion, which I now
rKtore, as it contains some arguments that (justified, like the fore
going anticipations, by recent events) closely bear upon the existing
politics of Persia and Affghaunistaun. — Note to Second Edition.
Z 2

340 OVERLAND INVASION
colm, concluded a treaty with the Court of Tehraun,
the leading article of which stipulated that the Shah
should attack the Affghauns on their west, whenever
they advanced east to invade Hindoostan, and that
his majesty should make no peace with them, unless
they promised to refrain from aggressing us. For
this the English government engaged to give the
Cujjer king every necessary assistance, in the event
of his being attacked by the Affghauns.
The same year relieved us from fear of invasion
by the latter people ; for Zemaun Shah, while intent
upon his favourite scheme of foreign conquest, was
deposed and blinded by his brother Mahmood,
— the extent of whose ambition was to have
the raeans of indulging in idle sensuality at horae.
But the first article of our treaty with the king of
Persia, led to a raore iraportant one ; Zeraaun Shah's
menaced attack being but a link in the great chain
of dangers which at this time surrounded our empire
in tha East.
Zemaun Shah projected the invasion of India on
his accession to the throne of Caubul in 1 793, about
which time he received a secret embassy frora Tippoo
Sahib, who proposed to attack the infidel foreigners
by concert from the north and south, so as to destroy
them frora off the face of Hindoostan.*
From the time of his signing the treaty of Serin-

* Vide Sultaun Tippoo's secret correspondence with Zemaun Shah
-As. An. Reg. 1799.

OF INDIA, 341
gapatam, Tippoo had devoted hiraself with in
creased passion to intrigues with every eastern
power, foreign or doraestic, whom he could possibly
hope to excite against the British, and he had espe
cially endeavoured to form a close offensive alliance
with our declared enemy the French, who were now
in Egypt, professing to have gained the first step
towards the destruction of British empire in India.
The sedulously prosecuted intrigues of the French
in Hindoostan, had led to the growth of other strong
factions in their favour there, and their now undis
guised and desperate exertions to ruin our power
through our commerce, raade it expedient for the
British Government, by every means, to prevent the
extension of their influence in Asia. Our ambas
sador at Tehraun was able, apparently, to show the
Shah a common danger, for the second article of the
aforesaid treaty bound the English and Persian na
tions in close alliance against the French.
By this article it was agreed, that in the event of
French troops atterapting to forra a settleraent on
any island or shore of Persia, the two allied powers
should co-operate for their extirpation. It was en-
.gaged, raoreover, that no individual Frenchraan
even should be perraitted to reside in Persia ; and
the Shah's ' firmaun' authorized the governors of
his provinces to disgrace or slay any person of this
nation who atterapted to pass their boundaries, or to
obtain footing in any place.
The exaggerated tone of the Persian raonarch's

34S OVERLAND INVASION
professions was a true index to their value : not
clearly understanding his position with regard to two
nations of Europe, who addressed him from different
parts of the East, and ignorant of their comparative
power to serve or injure hira, Futteh Ali Shah made
friends with those wbo seemed nearest, — the splen
dour of whose embassy, while it evidenced their
greatness, was flattering to his vanity, — but probably
without being able to discern much coraraunity of
interest in an alliance with either party. He might
with some reason have repented of the ignoble tem
per displayed in the latter part of his treaty with us
against the French, but it was not necessary for him
to send a mission to Buonaparte in 1806,* nor was
he in any way justified when, two years afterwards,
he welcomed the French General Gardanne, who ar
rived at his court " with the declared intention of
establishing a connexion which might facilitate Na
poleon's views of attacking the EngUsh in India."
The danger which at this period menaced our
eastern possessions, appeared so alarming to the
authorities both at home and in India, that they
simultaneously despatched arabassadors to the court
of Persia, to counteract the designs of the French
there ; but such a change had been wrought in the
Shah's disposition, that when General Malcolm ar
rived at Bushire, on an embassy from the Governor-
General, Lord Minto, he was refused permission to
* Meerza Reza, the ambassador on this occasion, concluded a treaty
with Napoleon at Finkinstein.

OF INDIA. 343
come to the capital as before, and directed to treat
with the viceroy of Shiraz. To this indignity he
would not submit, but memorializing against it to
no purpose, he returned in anger to Calcutta, when
the Governor-General gave orders to prepare an ex
pedition to saU to the Persian Gulfi
However, Sir Harford Jones, who shortly after
arrived at Bushire as plenipotentiary direct from the
Enghsh crown, encountered not the obstacles that
had been thrown in the way of the Governor-Gene
ral's envoy, and taking a different view of the matter,
he proceeded to join the Persian court at Tehraun,
and entered into a negotiation for a fresh treaty.
Futteh Ali Shah had by this time been made
aware of his inability to resist the Russians, who in
the last ten years had advanced their frontier four
hundred miles,' — " from the "north of the Caucasus
to the banks of the Arraxes," — and his majesty's
fears inclined him to prefer the alliance of those who
promised hira the best assistance against this colossal
eneray. Napoleon's professed object in sending
General Gardanne to the Shah was, in order to con
cert with him an invasion of Russia's eastern pro
vinces ; though the principal cause of the mission is
declared to have been " the emperor's wish to
strike England in the heart of her Asiatic posses
sions."* The Persian monarch, however, was too

* Vide de Bourrienne's Memoirs. — " Gardanne's embassy," says this
writer, " was at first conceived on a much grander scale than that on

344 OVERLAND INVASION
wise to discard the English until he could be sure
that the French would better assist him against the
Russians ; and as his ministers and the French envoy
were mutually employed in endeavours to sound and
circumvent each other, it is not surprising that their
negotiations came to nothing. During their stay,
the officers attached to the imperial mission assisted
to discipline a Persian corps, and the Shah's favour
towards General Gardanne went to the unprece
dented extent of creating an order of knighthood for
him ; but after a while, seeing reason to doubt whe
ther Napoleon could fulfil either his promises or de
signs, perhaps alarraed at the report of hostile prepa
rations in India, and, above all, irresistibly tempted
by a high bribe of English gold, he (to use political
language) returned to his first friendship, and dis
missed the French mission from his court, with less
ceremony than was courteous.
Events in Europe had now added the Russians to
the nuraber of our eneraies ; therefore we were able
to extend our engageraents with the Persian Govern
ment, so as to suit the policy of both contracting
parties. In a treaty concluded by Sir Harford
Jones, in March, 1809, it was engaged that the
which it was executed. Napoleon had resolved to send to the Shah
of Persia four thousand infantry, commanded by chosen and expe
rienced officers, ten thousand muskets, and fifty pieces of cannon; and
I also know that orders were given for the execution of this design."
* * * * " Circumstances," adds he, " did not permit the emperor to give
the mission all the importance he desired."— Alluding, it is presumed
to Napoleon's engagements at the treaty of Tilsit.

OF INDIA. 345
English Government should subsidize* the Persians
as long as they were at war with the Russians, on
condition of their aiding to repel any atterapt of
the French; or in other words, as Sir John Mal
colm justly observes, " for the fulfilment of the en
gagements which they had contracted ten years
before." Upon the settlement of this treaty, Futteh Ali
Shah sent Meerza Abool Hussan Khan, as his
friendly ambassador, to the throne of England.t The
Governor-General's envoy again repaired to the
presence at Tehraun, to efface all unpleasant im
pressions, and the Shah condescended to extreme
graciousness, in order to atone for his late "hau
teur" and insincerity.
The war in Spain at this period drew Napoleon's
attention from the East, and he found no subsequent
opportunity to renew his intrigues in Persia, so that
Futteh Ali Shah's second promises were not put to
the test ; but pur experience of the character of a Per
sian court is quite sufficient to warn us against plac
ing much trust in its professions. Friendship indeed
* The subsidy was settled to be 120,000 tomauns (about 100,000^.)
per annum ; a supply of 16,000 stand of arms ; 20 field pieces com
plete ; and such numbers as could be spared of artillery-men and
officers to instruct the Persian army. — Malcolm's Pol. India, vol. i.
chap. 6.
•|- On his return to Persia, in 1810, Meerza Abool Hussan Khan
was accompanied by Sir Gore Ouseley, Bart., K. L. S , Envoy Extra
ordinary from the King of England, who towards the end of 1813,
mediated a treaty between Persia and Russia. Sir Gore Ouseley re
turned to England vid Russia in 1814.

346 OVERLAND INVASION
between states is a raere name ; and though the
Shah's conduct must be borne in mind, the chief
question for us to consider is, what it is most for his
interest to do henceforward.
Since we destroyed French infiuence in Persia,
English soldiers have fought against Russia under
the Persian banner, and England having felt par
ticularly interested in checking the growing power
of the northern emperor since Napoleon fell, the
ministers of Britain and Iran have held very friendly
counsel together. It might not be altogether foreign
to the present question to inquire, whether by draw
ing close to Persia, and displaying her jealousy of
Russia, England has not added a great spur to the
Czar's ambition against his eastern neighbours, —
and whether by our half raeasures of support to the
latter people, we have not raade thera an easier,
because a raore confident and tangible prey; but
this consideration apart, whatever we raay have
done for the Persians, we have not prevented them
from being completely conquered by the Muscovites;
the most vigorous assistance that we could now give
the Shah, would hardly enable him to drive the
Russians so far back as to secure Persia against
their future encroachments, — and nothing else would
serve him. The time is past when Georgia would
have put herself under Persian rule I Russia's
best energies will be employed to improve the
resources of the fine country last acquired south of
the Caucasus, and her special care will be, to fill it

OF INDIA. 347
with good troops that she can pour across the
Arraxes at a day's warning.
I humbly conceive that in the existing conditions
of Russia and Persia, we can form no compact with
the latter people that wiU contain what must be the
essence of every effectual bond between nations —
common interest. While there was hope that the
Russians could be kept back, this feeling existed ;
but having regularly forced their way to a
coramanding frontier, the Russians have so mani
fested their superiority, as to reverse the policy of
Persia, and oblige her to be friends with a nation
who, having proved themselves irresistible as
enemies, raay now be very serviceable as allies.
The Persians raust be aware that they cannot of
themselves withstand the Russians ; and even sup
posing (England and Russia being at war) that they
should desire to comraence a fresh struggle, with our
hearty co-operation, a glance at Iran, and at the
relative positions of Russia, England, and British
India, wUl show the advantages that our rivals
would stiU have in such a contest. It is about 450
miles frora the Russian frontier on the Arras,* by the
high-road via Tabreez, to Tehraun. The nearest
point to the capital at which we could land troops is
Bushire,! distant more than 7OO miles, and our
* From the Russian frontier below the Arras, in Talisb, where
troops might be collected for war without positive breach of peace,
it is but 326 miles to Tehraun, vi& the port of Reshdt.
t It is more than twice as far from Bunder Abbas to Shiraz, but the
road is much easier, and by taking it, from 450 to 500 miles of sea
voyage would be saved.

348 OVERLAND INVASION
nearest point to it is Bombay ; so that it is im
possible to say what the Russians might not do be
fore English help could reach the Persians. What
ever forces we could send from a great distance, the
Russians could out-number from their adjoining fron
tier; and to meet them we must march up to the capital,
for they would have no object in coming south of it.
Thus the expense of our share in the war would be very
great : nor would our portion of risk be inconsider
able ; for if our Persian allies wavered (and they are
neither the most resolute nor constant people in the
world), we should have many mUes to retreat to our
shipping ; and our defeat in Persia would produce a
very injurious effect upon popular opinion in the
countries beyond ; — in India itself.
I am not unaware of the effectual check that we
might oppose to the advance of the Russians on
India, if we raised and sustained all Persia against
them, but question whether the end of a war waged
in the latter country, for such purpose, would repay the
vast means necessary to prosecute it there : from
Russia's strong position too in regard to her neighbour,
— coraraanding, as she does, entrance into the Shah's
finest provinces south of the Arras, and those which
lie at the base of the Caspian sea, — there would be
continual danger that she raight obtain such advan
tages as would induce the Persian government to
patch up a peace at our expense.
Little as the Persians in general may like their
neighbours, the reflecting among thera raust see the
advantages to be derived from friendly contact with

OF INDIA. 349
their late foes. The Russians can impart to the
Persians, on a reasonable scale, and with good effect,
systems which we have for some years beep import
ing in parcels, to Uttle purpose : in particular, they
can lend the Shah a sufficient number of cheaply paid
officers, to discipline an array which wiU protect and
keep in order his present dominions, and enable him
to take much valuable country both east and west,*
in lieu of the provinces ceded to them : and though
* By merely permitting a few thousands of his disciplined soldiers to
desert, the emperor can add such force to the Shah's ranks as will ensure
them victory over any eastern army opposed to them. Allusion has been
made in the journal to the number of Russian deserters in the Persian
service : to these might be added many who would gladly escape
to the easy service of the Shah. In my observation about Rus
sian officers being lent to drill the Shah's army, I may seem to have
forgotten the advice which always has been, and still is, pressed upon
the British Government— to send a sufficient number of its officers
upon this duty. It is without doubt advisable to encourage to the
utmost the introduction of Englishmen into the Persian army, but
there are difficulties in the plan of sending many British covenanted
servants. The pay of one English officer will suffice for many Russian
subalterns ; — a great consideration for the Shah, if he is to pay them,
and a great consideration for us, if we are to send many ; (and many
are required.) A case might occur, like that of the last war, when,
however much we might wish the discomfiture of the Russians, we
could not, consistently with our friendly relations with their sovereign ,
permit men of our own army to direct hostile operations against
them ; and it would not exactly suit the Shah to have soldiers who
would choose in what quarrel to fight. Russia desires to discipline
the Persians, in order to push them as conquerors into countries
through which she may require a road to India. England wishes to
make the Persians strong, in case she should need their aid against a
power of which she is naturally jealous. Between her two wooers,
Persia should get a good army at a small expense, but she will be
sometimes puzzled which to favour, for though the Shah would na
turally rather trust his army to Englishmen than to his late con
querors, still should he be intent upon extending his empire towards
the Indus, he might fancy that Englishraen would not be very cordial
in that service.

350 OVERLAND INVASION
they will do this for the sake of their own pohcy, it
cannot be denied that Persia has no better course
than to let her interests be so advanced, since she is
of herself unable to forward them.
The Persians, doubtless, will not in any case
readily submit their councils tp Russian guidance,
for they must long be distrustfiil of their conquerors,
— " et dona ferentes." The Shah may be dazzled
with the prospect of widely extending his empire
through the assistance of his brother the Czar,
but as he must ever feel the yoke of so forcible
a friendship, it may be questioned how far he
would be willing to break with the only nation
who might possibly assist to emancipate him
from its trammels. We raay work upon this
feeling so as to delay Russo-Persian schemes, but
we cannot altogether prevent them, for Persia's
natural ambition, as well as her obvious policy, wiU
direct her arms to the vast field that invites her
sway, and it would be difficult to say by what ar
guments we should prevail on our friends not to
seize valuable countries which are within their grasp,
merely because we anticipate danger to our eastern
colonies from the extension of their empire in that
direction. The Russians will be ever prompting
and assisting the Shah's ambition, and whatever
professions they may make to us in this respect,
they can easily violate them with an innocent face.
Seeing then, that for the present at least, it is
rather Persia's interest to be friends with Russia

OF INDIA. 351
than with England, and that her policy has a
tendency, however distantly, to endanger our eastern
possessions, we should make ourselves as independ
ent of the Shah as possible, and as far as we safely
can, thwart his ambitious views in the direction
of Hindoostan. The first great means of effect
ing this that offers itself for consideration is, our
interfering to restore the raonarchy of the Affghauns,
and giving this people strength to resist the en
croachments of their eneraies, so as to establish them
as a solid barrier on our west. It appears that this
nation's political interests are in a great measure
connected with ours, and that the extension of our
trade beyond the Indus must chiefly depend upon
their restoration to order. I do not myself doubt
that the British Government might effect this, by
lending itself heartUy to such a measure ; but those
who are better qualified for so important a task must
decide, whether the prospect of Persia's extending
her empire upon the ruins of the Doorraunee mo
narchy be so near as to make our iraraediate inter
ference necessary, and whether or no the embarrass
ments with which we might surround ourselves by
such a policy, would outweigh the advantages to be
expected from it.
The greatest objection, perhaps, to our directly
interfering to build up the Affghauns, and supporting
them as a nation, is the danger of our being thereby
embroiled in a quarrel with Persia ; — an event in
every way to be deprecated, which our rivals would

352 OVERLAND INVASION
of course do their best to promote. If, in the
present posture of affairs, the last-suggested plan
should be deemed injudicious, it at least behoves
the British Governraent to pay the most watchful
attention to the politics of all the countries
between the Oural, Arras, and Indus rivers,
and, I would humbly suggest, be prepared to
seize the first good opportunity of taking part in
those of Affghaunistaun ; for until it does, the anti
cipated intrigues of Russia can neither be well«-
known, nor effectually counteracted. The effect in
deed of her influence upon Persia may be in a great'
measure watched by those who are at the court of
the latter country, but concerning the progress of
her schemes to the northward, we now cannot have
any certain information. When Russian influence
begins to work in Toorkestaun, it will be necessary
that we have footing there also ; but that we ob
viously cannot obtain until we have secured the
friendship of the intermediate people.
It is possible that the Suddozye tribe may them
selves be able to restore the royal government in
Affghaunistaun ; in which case, we could enter into
such political and commercial relations with them as
might be convenient ; binding ourselves to no par
ticular line of conduct, but quietly doing our best
to strengthen our neighbours, or regulating our future
policy according to our increased knowledge of
their resources, and experience of their character.
Again, if the now rebel Sirdars should succeed in

OF INDIA. 353
altogether ejecting the royal family, or if, in conse
quence of the Persians taking Heraut, the Baurick
zye chiefs should be left in possession of the rest of
the country, we might form such connexions with
thera as best suited the pohtics of the times. In the
latter case, it should be the especial object of the
British Government to form an alliance with the
chief ruling at Caubul ; this post being one to which
we can have easy access, which is sufficiently
near our possessions to warrant our insisting upon
its not falling into the hands of those who may be
made a means of aggressing us, and which in a
military point of view is of the greatest importr
ance, inasmuch as that, situated at a convenient
distance frora our frontier, and in the raidst of a
naturally strong country, it coramands two of the
three routes by which an European army must march
to invade Hindoostan.
What raight be the precise object, or the effect, of
such an attempt on the part of Russia, it is not the de
sign of the present treatise to inquire. My endeavour
has been to show, that the Russians, having of late
years gained a vast increase of political influence in
Central Asia, are pursuing a system calculated still
further to extend it, and that if certain of their
schemes succeed, they will so lessen the difficulties
now opposed to such an undertaking as the invasion
of India, as to make it very probable that they
would attempt it in the event of their going to war
with us. Their plans would be formed according to
VOL. II. 2 A

354 OVERLAND INV-ASION
the success of their intrigues, but hostUe Jlations
are seldom deterred by the greatest risks and diffi
culties from attempting to hurt each other, and it
is probable that Russia when at war with ^England,
would be so checked in Europe, that she would
redouble her exertions to injure us in Asia. I
am far from apprehending that Russia's utmost
efforts could subvert our eastern empire ; and
I believe, with the generality of those who reason
upon the extent of our means in India, that by
judiciously using the same, we should be able (Deo
favente) to give any invading army a very good
beating. But this is not a point to be decided by
any nuraber of persons' opinions, nor is it possible
for the wisest to determine what would be the
result of such a collision. It is not doubted,
that the mere circurastance of the Russians being
in a situation enabling them at any time seriously to
threaten an attack upon India, would be a cause of
constant great anxiety and expense to the British
Government ; and therefore perhaps it will be con
ceded, that the more barriers we can oppose to such
a danger, and the further we can keep it from uSj
the better.
In the preceding paragraphs, I have ventured to
urge the speedy adoption of precautionary measures
against this growing danger abroad ; in conclusion,
however, I would remark, that whatever may be our
foreign policy, it is above every thing requisite that
we trust mainly to our own resources in India;

OF INDIA. 355
timely and skilfully appropriating to the purpose, the
abundant means that this country possesses of de
fending itself The great natural strength of west
ern and northern India, is so clearly seen on glancing
the i^e up the Indus, from the sea to the parallel of
Cashmere, and down again from this natural fortress
of Hindoostan, through the Punjaub to the Hyphasis,
still southward through the great sandy desert to the
Runn of Cutch, that it is needless to particularize
it ; nor is it great boasting to say, that sincerely
assisted by the native chiefs whose states lie between
the ^British frontier and the Indus, we might hope
to " burn the fathers of all the Russians" who could
be sent to invade us.
As yet we have not interfered to strengthen the
assailable side of Hindoostan by means of the noble
river by which it is bounded: — the line on which, it
is presumed, an invading enemy would be met, and
on which therefore we should repose in established
strength ; feeling ourselves at home in the position,
and commanding there supplies of every sort, in full.
Unforced quantities. Concerning the advantages of
tills river as an advanced line of defence against
invasion from the westward, it wiU be sufficient to
remark that troops and stores might be conveyed to
it (firectly from England, — so frora any of our foreign
possessions, or from either of the three Presidencies
of British India itself, — and that from the sea up to
Attock, if not also through the tributary streams
that divide the Punjaub, coraraunication might

356 OVERLAND INVASION
be carried on by means of steam-boats during
nearly the whole year.* The military reader may be
startled at the recomraendation of so extended a line
of defence, but it must be reraerabered that we
know where to collect our strength on it ; since
whichever way the Russians raight march overland
to invade India, they could only debouche from the
raountains of Affghaunistaun by two routes, so that
we might expect them at Attock, or at some spot
near the island fort Bukkar :t — ^in case of threatened
invasion, our troops would of course strongly occupy
the hUl country west of Cashmere, and an army
would also be collected at Bombay, or some other
convenient part on the western coast ; thus even if
the invaders succeeded in forcing our first line near
either of the above points, they would march on
under increased risks, since retiring upon our re
serves through the strong country yet intervening
either way to the British provinces, we should ever
present a front to our enemies, whUe an army
might be sent either from the hUls, or from the sea-
coast, to take thera in the rear.
However it is not my wish to detail a plan of
* The season when it would be most difficult to beat up these rivers
(the rains) is one during which no army could keep the field.
t There is indeed a road, through the mountains, from Candahar to
Dera Ghazee Khan, which we know to have been marched by Asiatic
troops J but according to the best information that I could obtain, it is
hardly practicable for an European army. However my informants
were merchants, who do not travel the latter road for fear of the lawless
tribes through whose mountains it passes, and perhaps they magnified
its difficulties. r r j g

OF INDIA. 357
defensive operations in India, but to press the expe
diency of our employing the present time of peace,
in assuraing situations which would .enablp us
promptly to use the fuUest means of defence against
any foreign attack ; and I humbly conceive it to be
yery necessary that we should now obtain the entire
iiiavigation of the Indus, as well as free coramunication
from the interior provinces, to certain well-chosen
spots on its bank, at which to establish entrepots for
our trade ; — objects which are surely to be obtained
by friendly negotiation with the rulers of Sinde and
the Punjaub, and which, as they raust ultiraately
tend to the great benefit of these princes, are the
means best calculated to cement our friendship. The
long scrupulqusly forbearing conduct of the British
government towards the independent native chiefs of
western and northern India, has dispelled much of
the jealousy that they naturally entertained against
its rapidly extended power, and while it has stood
aloof, their political circurastances have thrown them
all within the sphere of its control, so that it
would appear that we have but to step for
ward to secure the objects necessary to our com
mercial and political welfare. We only need to
1)ring ourselves into friendly contact with these
princes, to convince them how true is the policy we
profess, and how greatly their interests are connected
with ours, and when satisfied of their cordial friend
ship, we might with more reason than at present set
at hdught the designs of our rivals. In this way, a

358 OVERLAND INVASION OF INDIA.
system of defence will be quietly organized by tlie
lucrative extension of our trade, and our political
influence will go hand in hand with our commerce
into the countries beyond. In a word, with reference
to all the preceding remarks it may be said, that
when we have freely opened the Indus to our trade,
and secured the friendship of the neighbouring
people beyond, Russia may float her commodities up
the Oxus, but we will undersell her : — she may float
armies up instead of manufactures, and we shall be
prepared to meet them.

THE END.

APPENDIX A.

When I travelled through Affghaunistaun in 1830, none of the na
tive merchants whom we consulted, seemed to think that wool could
be profitably exported from their country. Since that period, however.
Colonel Pottinger has effectually opened the Indus, and given to the
Affghauns, as well as to the Beloches, means of easily reaching a near
great market, where they may exchange as much of this raw material
as they can produce, for the manufactured goods into which we will
work it up.
A decided trade in the wool of " sheep pastured in those parts of
India bordering on the Indus," commenced at Bombay in 1833, when
69,944 lbs. were exported. It has since increased at an extraordinary
rate, no less than 2,444,091 lbs. having been exported from Bombay
in the official year of 1837.
The European demand for this article being unlimited, how earnestly
should we endeavour to facilitate the means of its transport by the In
dus, so as to enable even the far Nomade tribes to send their fleeces, at
some profit, to a market from which they will take our various manu
factures in return. It must be British vigour that will really keep this
fine river open, and if private enterprise is not strong enough to make
a good beginning, the British Government should encourage it. — I may
here note a remarkable fact, to show how much we and the Affghauns
are mutually interested in making the Indus a cheap channel of trade.
Syud Keramut Ali, in 1834, got from merchants with whom he was in
timate, musters of all the manufactured " Russian goods" imported
via Bokhara, that were then selling at the usual good profit in the
Caubul baztir. I lately gave a set of these to a gentleman interested
in our trade with the East, when he ascertained from an experienced
merchant to whom they were forwarded, that more than two-thirds of
them were of Glasgow and Manchester make. This corroborates a
statement made by Mr. Masson, in his valuable " Report upon the
Trade of Caubul," which was published by order of the Government of
India.* * See a small pamphlet which was compiled, I think, under the direction of
Macgregor Laird, Esq., when it was proposed to form a. British Company for the
navigation of the Indus.

WrilTlNO, BEAUFOKT BOUSE, STRAND.