Under the absolute Amir

by Frank A. Martin

UNDER THE ABSOLUTE AMIR

AMIR HABIBULLAH KHAN.

[Frontispiece.

UNDER
THE ABSOLUTE AMIR

BY
FRANK A. MARTIN
FOR EIGHT YEARS ENGINEER-IN-CHIEF SUCCESSIVELY TO THE AMIRS ABDUR
RAHMAN AND HABIBULLAH, AND FOR THE GREATER PART OF THAT
PERIOD THE ONLY ENGLISHMAN IN KABUL

Illustrated by the Author’s Drawings and Photographs,
and by other Photographs

LONDON and NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS
45 ALBEMARLE STREET, W.
1907

CONTENTS

	PAGE
CHAPTER I ON THE ROAD
Order of march—Soldiers and guards—Method of carrying goods by pack animals—Description of camps—Marches—Welcome given to Sirdar Nasrullah at villages and cities—Description of country passed through—Kandahar—Amir and the moullah who took refuge in the Kandahar Sanctuary	[1]
CHAPTER II ON THE ROAD—continued
Method of fishing in the rivers—Route through Khilat and Mukur to Ghazni and distance from Kandahar—Cold and snow on journey—Ghazni—Robberies and murders on roads before Amir Abdur Rahman’s time—Villages and cultivation en route—Arrival in Kabul and reception of Sirdar Nasrullah by Amir	[16]
CHAPTER III KABUL
The Mihman khana or Guest-house—Description of hamams (Turkish baths)—Description of people met with on roads and streets—Amir Abdur Rahman—Description of palace and audience chamber, and his reception of me—Situation of Kabul and description of country around—Kabul city, its bazars, streets, and filth—Water-supply and drainage systems—Sanitary arrangements—Pariah dogs and crows scavenging city	[33]
CHAPTER IV KABUL—continued
How streets are governed—City magistrate—Robberies and murders—Bazar shops—Style of palaces and better-class houses—Climate of Kabul	[47]
CHAPTER V MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
Belief in the supernatural—Dress of men—Complexion—Character of people—Description of various tribes—Languages and schools—Feuds between families—How holidays are spent by the people—Singing and musical instruments—Games and amusements	[58]
CHAPTER VI MANNERS AND CUSTOMS—continued
Superstitions, fairies, and devils—A curious legend—Astrologers—Children singing prayers on roofs to avert calamity—Different foods in use—Smoking and tobacco—The Amir’s chief physician—Snuff—Method of keeping warm in winter—How time is kept—Weddings of different classes—Funerals	[78]
CHAPTER VII AMIR ABDUR RAHMAN
Form of government—Abuse of authority—Amir’s food and drinking water and taster—Soldiers and horses always ready for flight—Amir’s habits—Amir’s amusements, attendants, etc.—Amir’s feelings towards England—Amir’s views on Afridi rising and Boer War—Amir’s stratagem	[98]
CHAPTER VIII AMIR ABDUR RAHMAN—continued
Amir’s sons and his treatment of them—Princes and their duties and durbars—Food supplied by Government to members of royal family—How officials are paid—Civil and Military titles—Court life and officials—Law courts—Amir’s lingering illness, death, and burial—Rumours of rising—Fears of populace—Burial of household treasures—Plots to get body—Coronation of Amir Habibullah—New Amir’s promises of Reform—Amusements	[120]
CHAPTER IX PRISONS AND PRISONERS
Kotwal and Kotwali (magistrate and police court)—Policemen as thieves—Description of prisons—Description of how prisoners are treated and their irons—The old well in Bala Hisar—The spy system—Cutting a man’s throat—False reporting—Fanah (wedge) tortures	[142]
CHAPTER X TORTURES AND METHODS OF EXECUTION
Amir’s iron rule—Hanging by hair and skinning alive—Beating to death with sticks—Cutting men in pieces—Throwing down mountain-side—Starving to death in cages—Boiling woman to soup and man drinking it before execution—Punishment by exposure and starvation—Scaffold scenes—Burying alive—Throwing into soap boilers—Cutting off hands—Blinding—Tying to bent trees and disrupting—Blowing from guns—Hanging, etc.	[157]
CHAPTER XI LIFE OF EUROPEANS IN KABUL
Life in Kabul—Houses and gardens—Guards and danger from “Ghazis”— Allowances given wives—Servants and swindling	[173]
CHAPTER XII LIFE OF EUROPEANS IN KABUL—continued
Lawlessness—Food: Raising cattle, sheep, fowls, etc.—Presents from princes and others—Famines in Kabul—Cholera—Moullah’s pilgrimage and preaching—Use of roofs of houses—Work and working hours—Amusements—Hindu dealers and old curios—Festival visits to Amir and princes—Europeans tried by jury—Letters, cost of postage—Interpreters	[192]
CHAPTER XIII SOLDIERS AND ARMS
Clothing—Reviews—Drill—Uniforms of Amir’s bodyguard—Arms—Pay—Medals—Length of service—Substitutes—Barracks—Mode of life—Gambling among soldiers—Different tribes forming regiments—Thief tribe and regiment—Officers and promotion—Bands—Afghan anecdotes of incidents during war, 1879-81—Afghan army as a fighting machine—Condition of country for warfare—Illustration of one side of Afghan character	[213]
CHAPTER XIV TRADES AND COMMERCE
Amir’s interest in mechanical tools, guns, etc.—Workshops—Consumption of fuel—Ustads and workmen—Pay of men—Trades, shopkeepers, and merchants—Produce of country—Exports and imports—Irrigation of crops and fights about water—Caravans and methods of carrying freight—Weights and measures—Mirzas and offices—Debt collecting—Hindoos and Hindoo money-lenders—Mint and coinage of country	[229]
CHAPTER XV GEOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OF THE COUNTRY
Kabul valley once crater of volcano—Earthquakes—Kabul once a large lake—Mines outcropping, gold, lead, copper, coal, etc.—Rivers, and gold in them—Existence of kept secret for fear of trouble—Turkestan mines—The question of fuel for Kabul workshops—Local supply exhausted—Coal under the valley of Kabul	[254]
CHAPTER XVI RELIGION
Suni and Shiah—Moullahs and their influence on the people—Jihads or holy wars—The Koran—Late Amir’s distrust of Moullahs—Holy men, fakirs, and holy graves—Madmen and reverence paid them as God-stricken—Sayid and Hafiz—Beggars and alms—Stoning to death for religious offences—Prayers—Punishments for not knowing prayers—Musjids—Ramazan and fastings—Haj—Afghan colony in Australia—Lawful and unlawful food—Plurality of wives	[266]
CHAPTER XVII POLITICAL SITUATION
Amir’s policy in killing off leading men of country to ensure his son’s reign—Dwindling revenue—Why Amir could not meet Lord Curzon in India—Russian encroachment on frontier—Russian influence in Kabul—Afghanistan a menace to Russian approach towards India—Afghan rule cheapest means of keeping unruly tribes in order—Policy to keep the Afghans well armed—Sympathy with English justice and government—Influence of British Agent on the people—Why railways are not wanted in Afghanistan—Reason rich mines are left unworked—Seaboard wanted by Amir on Beloochistan coast—Internal policy of Amir Abdur Rahman	[289]
CHAPTER XVIII ROAD FROM KABUL TO PESHAWAR
Difficulty of getting permission to enter Afghanistan and to leave it—Description of country passed through—Camping-places on way down and distances—Description of Jelalabad City—Usbeg horseback game of Buz-bazee—Kabul river at Jelalabad and beyond—The musak—Summer heat—The last day’s journey	[308]

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

	TO FACE PAGE
Amir Habibullah Khan	[Frontispiece]
The Shahzada on the March from Kandahar to Kabul	[8]
(From a drawing by the Author)
Sirdar Mahomed Omar Khan and Staff	[24]
Amir Abdur Rahman in everyday Durbar. Sirdar Habibullah (present Amir) sitting with him	[40]
(From a drawing by the Author)
The Mihman Khana (Guest-House), Kabul	[48]
Portion of Garden attached to my House—Saint’s Grave in the Corner of Garden	[48]
Group of Afghan Guards and Servants—taken in Compound of my House—Kitchen at the back	[80]
Marriage Party of the “Upper Ten.” Bride and Waiting-women carried in Litters	[88]
(From a drawing by the Author)
Marriage Party of Poorer Class—Bridegroom and Bride followed by Girl carrying the Bride’s Clothes	[96]
(From a drawing by the Author)
Amir Abdur Rahman and Officials at Dinner	[104]
(From a drawing by the Author)
Prince Iniatullah—Eldest Son of Amir Habibullah Khan—and Staff	[120]
Amir Abdur Rahman Khan	[128]
Kabuli Woman’s Indoor Dress	[200]
New Portion of Kabul Workshops, with the Sirdar’s Bungalow and Office in Centre	[232]
Soldiers on Guard in Garden outside the Kabul Workshops eating Food	[240]
(From a drawing by the Author)
Group of Kabul Mirzas (Writers, or Clerks)	[248]
The Serai at Jagdalak, on the Road from Kabul to Peshawar	[312]

Transcriber’s Note: The final illustration was originally described as “The Serai at Ingdalak”, a place which does not exist. A few other minor typographical errors were also corrected.