Under the absolute Amir

by Frank A. Martin

INDEX

• A
• Abdur Rahman, Amir—
• Admiration for Gladstone, Bismarck, McMahon, and General White, [118-119]
• Afghans in Australia, and, [284]
• Amusements, [105-108]
• Anecdote of, when at war with his family, [117-118]
• Anecdote of, when in Russia, [116]
• Attendants (slave boys), [108-110]
• Attitude towards moullahs, [269]
• Attitude towards working mines, [261], [305]
• Aversion to railways, [305]
• Burial, [130]
• Character, [117], [118]
• Conduct at festivals, [207]
• Customs, [105], [106]
• Death, [126]
• Deserted during earthquake, [256]
• Doctor and medicine, [104]
• Drinking-water, [104]
• Favourites, [124]
• Fled from cholera to Paghman, [162], [200]
• Fond of flowers, [107]
• Food, [103]
• Government, [98 seq.], [102]
• Guard, [105]
• Hat with diamond star, [133]
• Imported Russian spy system, [151]
• Interest in trade and mechanics, [229], [233]
• Method of putting down robbery, [28]
• Offence of writing reports concerning him to the Indian Government, [152]
• On Afridi rising, [110-112]
• On English Parliament, [114]
• Palaces, [51-52], [102]
• Personal appearance, [37]
• Petitions to, [138]
• Plans for his country, [113], [117], [304]
• Policy of getting rid of influential men, [289 seq.]
• Policy towards England, [110], [113 seq.], [123], [208]
• Preparations for fighting or travelling, [104]
• Punishments, [157 seq.], [162 seq.], [170], [300]
• Reads letter from spy in Russia to author, [303]
• Reception of author, [38]
• Reception of Nasrullah Khan, [32]
• Sons, his treatment of them, [120], [121], [293]
• Stays at Nasrullah’s house, [121]
• Story of Moullah and, [15]
• Subjugated the Hazaras and Kafris, [63]
• Sufferings from gout, [108], [125]
• Title, “Light of Religion and Faith,” [123], [133]
• Tomb prepared at Kila Asham Khan, [129]
• Views on Boer War, [115]
• Afghanistan—
• As a buffer state, [298]
• Condition of country for warfare, [226]
• Difficult to enter, [308]
• Afghans—
• Admire fat men, [89]
• Characteristics, [61], [62], [65 seq.], [78], [92], [100], [138], [227], [276]
• Colony in Australia, [283], [284]
• Complexion, [61]
• Discontented, [298]
• Family feuds, [66]
• Fond of children, [184]
• Lost tribes of Israel and, [62]
• Mode of meeting friends, [6]
• Policy of arming, [300]
• Religious fanatics, [288]
• Sympathy with English justice and government, [301]
• Workman, [235]
• Afridi rising, [110]
• Aminoolah, Sirdar, [110], [120]
• Amirs—
• Internal policy, [307]
• Powers and duties, [98]
• Amusements, [68], [205]
• Animals, clean and unclean, [284]
• Apricots, [239]
• Arabic, children taught to read, [65]
• Arak fortified palace, [36]
• Abdur Rahman’s body taken to, [128]
• Described, [51], [52]
• Army, [299]
• As a fighting machine, [225-227]
• Generals have no knowledge of modern warfare, [225]
• Asman Heights, [162], [164]
• Water-marked, [259]
• Astrologers, [84]
• Author—
• Accompanies Shahzada to Kabul, [2]
• Appointment and work as engineer, [231-233]
• Assaying and reporting on minerals, [262]
• Attacked by Ghazis, [181]
• Exhibition of cinematograph, [141]
• First visit to Kabul, 1889, [166]
• Hindustani servant, [187]
• House and garden in Kabul, [177]
• Illness at Kandahar, [19]
• Inspects powder-shop, [183]
• Journey from Kabul to Peshawar, [308 seq.]
• On jury, [208]
• Presents from princes, [196]
• Quarters at Kabul, [33], [41]
• Quarters at Kandahar, [14]
• Received by Amir, [35], [36 seq.]
• Ride from Kabul to Peshawar, [11], [309 seq.]
• Riding and cycling, [176]
• Shooting on chamans, [175]
• Story of servants’ superstition, [78]
• Ayoob Khan, [112], [293]
• B
• Baber, summer palace at, [52]
• Baghibala palace, [52], [107]
• Abdur Rahman dies in, [127]
• Bala Hisar, Kabul, rased to the ground, [303]
• Bala Hisar, well in, [149]
• Barikab, [311], [314]
• Barracks, [219]
• Basawal, [316]
• Bazars, buying in, [190], [192 seq.]
• Bazars, lawlessness in, [192]
• Beating with sticks, [160]
• Blizzard, [312]
• Blue pigeon, [174], [176]
• Boer war, [115]
• Boistan serai palace, [36], [52]
• Abdul Rahman, buried in, [130]
• Audience chamber in, [38]
• Bribery, [100]
• British Agent in Kabul, [301]
• Brown, General Sir J., meets Shahzada at Chaman, [1]
• Budkhark, [311]
• Burial of household treasure, [129]
• Buying in bazar, [190], [192 seq.]
• C
• Camel meat, [88]
• Camels, ill-adapted for travelling over snow, [24]
• Camps, description of, [8]
• Caravans, [242]
• Carpets, [240]
• Carriers for hire, [195]
• Cattle-breeding, [240]
• Cavagnari massacred, [303]
• Chaman railway terminus near Afghan frontier, [1]
• Chamans, [174]
• Character of people, [64 seq.]
• Children, method of naming, [286]
• Children singing prayers on roof to avert calamity, [86]
• Chillum described, [89]
• Cholera epidemics, [45], [55], [87], [137], [162], [199], [200]
• Climate of Kabul, [53 seq.]
• Cloth manufactured, [240]
• Coal, [260], [263-264]
• Coinage and mint, [251]
• Cold and snow, [23], [25], [54]
• Copper ores, [260]
• Court jester, [108], [207]
• Courtship and marriage, [92 seq.]
• Cows, [194]
• Curios, Hindoo dealers and, [206]
• Curzon, Lord, requests Amir to visit him in Peshawar, [296]
• D
• Daka, Afghan frontier post, [316]
• Daly, Mrs., lady doctor, [130], [182], [185]
• Not allowed to visit the Queen Sultana, [295]
• Treating cholera cases, [200]
• Dances, [72]
• Dancing-girls, [71]
• Darwaza Ghazni pass, [29]
• Death penalty, [98]
• Debt collecting, [250]
• Deh Afghanan, [35], [177]
• Dogs, [27], [46], [285]
• Donkeys, small size of, [14]
• Dress of men, [58]
• Drills, [214]
• Duck-shooting, [108], [175]
• Durbars, [99], [100], [105], [123]
• On festivals, [206]
• Durrah-i-Yusef, coal at, [263]
• Dust storms, [54]
• E
• Earthquakes, [255 seq.]
• Elephant, story of mad, [139]
• Englishmen dining with Amir, [103]
• Europeans in Kabul, [123], [130], [173 seq.]
• Attend durbar on festivals, [206]
• Laws and, [208]
• Women and children, [184]
• Evil eye, the, [86]
• Execution, methods of, [168]
• Exports, [239]
• F
• Fairies, [80]
• Fakirs, [271], [273]
• False reporting, [153]
• Famine of 1903, [197]
• “Fanah” (wedge) torture, [153-155], [248]
• Fanatics (ghazis), [181]
• Fat men, [89]
• Fatehabad, [311]
• Festivals, [279-281]
• Firman, [185]
• Fish in Kabul river, [175]
• Fishing in rivers, method of, [17]
• Fleischer family, [130]
• Fleischer, Mr., murdered, [175]
• Fleischer, Mrs., her German nurse, [185]
• Flour, price of, [194]
• Food, [87-89], [194-195]
• Lawful and unlawful, [284]
• Fowls, duck, geese, etc., raising, [194]
• Freight-carrying, [242]
• Fruit, dried, [239]
• Fuel in Government workshops, [230], [234], [263], [264]
• Funerals, [96-97]
• G
• Games, [76]
• Gandamak, [311]
• Geology of country, [254 seq.]
• Ghazni, [23], [29];
• described, [24]
• Ghulam Hyder, [289]
• Girdi Kutch, [316]
• Girls become “purdah” about eight, [77]
• Gold, [260]
• Gold mine, an abandoned, [20]
• Government, [98], [101]
• Government stores, [102]
• Governors of Kandahar, [13]
• Grapes, [239]
• Gravestones, [96-97]
• Guards given to European servants of Government, [181]
• Gulistan serai, Queen Sultana’s palace, [36], [52], [128]
• H
• Habibullah Khan, Amir, [30], [31], [120]
• Acknowledged Amir, [127]
• Amusements, [139-141]
• Attendants, [109]
• Attitude towards fakirs, [273]
• Attitude towards moullahs, [270]
• Characteristics, [141], [207]
• Conduct on Abdur Rahman’s death, [127 seq.], [294]
• Coronation, [132-134]
• Desires seaboard, [306]
• Disallowed petitions, [138]
• Forms a parliament, [124]
• In Arak, [137], [294]
• Interest in machinery, [230]
• Nominal head of army, [121]
• Position difficult, [298]
• Precautions regarding his food and drink, [104]
• Promises of reform, [137]
• Remains in Arak during cholera epidemic, [201]
• Speech at coronation, [133-134]
• Story of his cruelty, [161]
• Haddah moullah, [110-112]
• Hafiz, [273]
• Haj, pilgrimages to Mecca, [281]
• Hamams (Turkish baths) described, [34]
• Hamilton, Lieutenant, [225]
• Hazaras, [63]
• Coolies, [186]
• Mulberry diet, [87]
• Servants, [190]
• Heat during summer months, [320]
• Hindeki, summer palace at, [52]
• Amir Habibullah at, [297]
• Hindu dealers and curios, [206]
• Money-lenders in Kabul, [251]
• Hindustani servants and swindling, [187 seq.]
• Holidays, how spent, [69]
• Horse raising, [240]
• Houses of Kabul described, [50]
• I
• Ignorance of numbers and telling the time, [92]
• Imports, [244]
• Insurrection expected on death of Abdur Rahman, [128], [131], [135], [295]
• Interpreters, [211]
• Irrigation, [13], [42], [241]
• J
• Jagdalak, [311]
• Jelalabad, [311]—
• Described, [315], [317]
• District, tropical fruits in, [239]
• Governor of, [112]
• To Khyber, country between, [320]
• To Peshawar, five days’ journey, [316]
• Jidrani knife-dancers, [72]
• Jihad (religious war), [112], [203], [226], [267], [269], [299]
• “Jubah,” account of, [73 seq.]
• Jumrood fort, [316]
• K
• Kabob, [88], [103]
• Kabul—
• Bazar shops, [49]
• British agent in, [301]
• Climate, [53 seq.]
• Adapted for fruit-growing, [239]
• Description of city and country round, [42 seq.]
• Houses described, [50]
• Kotwali and soldier guards, [145]
• Kotwali office, [143]
• Mihman Khana, or guest-house, [33]
• Palaces, [51]
• People met in streets, [36]
• Prisons in, [146 seq.]
• Robberies in, [47], [144]
• Russian influence in, [297]
• To Peshawar, eight days’ journey, [309]
• “Wardi” sounded, [49]
• Workshops, [234]
• Kabul river, [42]
• At Jelalabad, [316], [319]
• Kabul valley, crater of ancient volcano, [254]
• Once a lake, [258]
• Kabulis, characteristics, [61], [62], [66], [78]
• Kabulis, consume large quantities of tea, [89]
• Kafris, [63]
• Boys punished for deserting, [167]
• Kandahar—
• Described, [13], [14]
• District tropical fruits in, [239]
• Nasrullah Khan’s stay at, [12 seq.]
• Kandaharis, characteristics, [63]
• Khilat, [22], [29]
• “Khilat,” robes of honour, [134]
• Khuskh, Russian railway to, [114]
• Khyber Pass closed, [196]
• Khyber Pass, opened twice a week for travellers, [314]
• Kila Durani, [29]
• Kila Asham Khan, summer palace of Queen Sultana at, [52]
• Abdur Rahman’s tomb prepared at, [129]
• Kila Kazee, [30]
• Knife-dancers, [72]
• Kohistan, earthquakes in, [257]
• Koochee people, [88]
• As carriers, [242]
• Women, [243]
• Koran, account of, [268]
• Kotwal (magistrate), [138], [142 seq.]
• At Chaman terminus, story of, [6]
• Duties of, [47]
• Kotwali sepoys (policemen), [48], [143 seq.]
• Thieving propensities, [178-180]
• Kotwali stations, [145]
• “Kro,” the unit of distance, [10], [245]
• Kuzilbash people, [266]
• L
• Ladysmith, defence of, [119]
• Languages of Afghanistan, [63-64]
• Latabund Pass, [310], [314]
• Letter-writers in bazars, [50]
• Letters, [209]
• How carried, [210]
• Postage, [211]
• Loneliness of life in Kabul, [173]
• Lunatics, [271]
• Lundi Kotal, British frontier post, [316], [322]
• M
• Mahomed Ali, Sirdar, [120]
• Mahomed Omar, Sirdar, [30], [110], [120], [126], [133], [294]
• Acknowledges Habibullah as Amir, [127]
• Mahomedzai family, allowance from Government, [122]
• Mohammedan belief on true religions, [202]
• Marches, length of, [10], [25]
• Marriage customs, [94-95]
• Maulavi Najmudeen Aghondzada, Haddah moullah, [110-112]
• Melons, [317]
• Mills for grinding corn, [241]
• Mines, not worked, [261], [305]
• Mines, outcropping, [260]
• Mirzas (clerks), [245 seq.]
• Moullahs—
• Influence and practices, [135], [267], [274]
• Preaching a new religion, [202]
• Story of Amir and, [15]
• Mukur, [22], [23]
• Mulberry diet, [87]
• Munzil Bagh, [19]
• Musak, for carrying water and crossing rivers described, [318]
• Musical instruments, [70]
• At Kandahar, [22]
• Musjids, [277]
• Mussulman year, how reckoned, [279]
• N
• Nasrullah Khan, Shahzada, [40], [120]
• Builds house like Dorchester House, [121]
• Conduct on Abdur Rahman’s death, [126], [128], [133]
• Entry into Kabul, [31]
• Favourite wife dies of cholera, [201]
• Head of offices and mirzas, [121]
• Inspecting troops, [136]
• Journey from Chaman to Kabul, [2 seq.]
• Knowledge of his religion, [203]
• Mission to England, its object, [110]
• Routes from and to Kabul, [12]
• Stay in Kandahar, [12], [21]
• Visit to England, 1895, [1]
• Welcomed at villages and cities, [5], [11], [24]
• O
• Officers, titles, and promotion, [223]
• Officials, [99], [101], [103], [109]
• Power over Abdur Rahman, [125]
• Princes and, [121]
• Salaries, [122]
• Titles, [123]
• Treatment of English residents, [123]
• Workmen and, [236]
• Old uniforms, [60]
• ʾOud Khels, thief tribe, [221-223]
• Oxus river, gold in, [260]
• P
• Pack animals, [4], [242], [320]
• Paghman, summer palace at, [52]
• Abdur Rahman at, [162]
• Palaces in Kabul, [51]
• Parliament, [124]
• Persian, the Court language, [64]
• Petitions to Amir, [138]
• Pilau, [88], [103]
• Plots to get Abdur Rahman’s body, [129]
• Political situation, [289 seq.]
• Postage on letters and magazines, [211]
• Powder-making, accidents in, [237]
• Prayers, [276]
• Princes, Royal, their position and treatment, [120-122]
• Prisons, [302]
• In Kabul, [146 seq.]
• Well in Bala Hisar, [149]
• Prisoners: food and treatment, [148-150]
• Prisoners, revolt of, [147]
• Provisions from India, [194]
• Pul-i-Bagrami, Amir’s shooting-box at, [139]
• Punishments, [149 seq.], [157 seq.]
• Pushtoo, [63]
• Q
• Quail-shooting, [174], [176]
• Queen Sultana, [30]
• Influence, [126]
• Lived at Gulistan serai, [294]
• R
• Racing, [75]
• Rafts for crossing river, [317]
• Railways, why not wanted, [305]
• Railways would be easy to make in Afghanistan, [29]
• Ramazan fast, [277]
• Regimental bands, [223], [224]
• Regiments, how named, [220]
• Religion, [266 seq.]
• Crimes and offences, [274]
• Revenue of country, [296]
• Road from Chaman to Kandahar, [29]
• Robberies—
• And murders on roads, [27]
• By collectors of revenue, [123]
• In Kabul, [47], [144]
• Roberts, Lord, march to Kandahar, [113], [114]
• Roberts, Lord, rased Bala Hisar, [303]
• Roofs of houses used for exercise and sleeping, [205]
• Route to Kabul through Khilat, Mukur, and Ghazni, [22]
• Routes from India to Afghanistan, [12]
• Rupees, [252]
• Russian encroachments on frontier, [297]
• Russian influence in Kabul, [297]
• Russian railway to Khuskh, [114]
• S
• “Sandalee,” for warming rooms, described, [90]
• Sayids, [272]
• Schools, [64]
• Seaboard desired, [306]
• Serais, [312]
• Servants in Kabul, [186]
• Shahrara palace, [52]
• Shaitans (demons), stories of, [81 seq.]
• Sheep raising, [194]
• Shere Ali, Amir, story of chief of ʾOud Khels and, [221]
• Shiah sect, [266]
• Shinwari tribe, [112]
• Shooting near Kabul, [174]
• Silk, where produced, [240]
• Singing, [70]
• Sirdar, title conferred only on Amir’s sons, [30]
• Smoking, [89]
• Snipe-shooting, [175]
• Snuff-taking, [90]
• Soldiers—
• And arms, [213 seq.]
• Dress, [59], [213]
• Field-cooking utensils, [219]
• Guards, [3], [145]
• Length of service, [219]
• Medals, [218]
• Mode of life, [220]
• Pay, [218],
• increased, [136]
• Qualities, [225]
• Ready to revolt on Abdur Rahman’s death, [131], [135-137], [295]
• Uniforms, [216]
• Spies, favourite accusation of, [152]
• Spies in foreign countries, [303], [306]
• Sponges, legend about, [84]
• Spy system, [99], [151]
• Abolished, [134]
• Stealing, punishment for, [166]
• Story-tellers, [75]
• Sundials, [91]
• Suni sect, [266]
• Superstition, stories of, [78 seq.]
• Swordstick combats, [73]
• T
• Tea imported, [244]
• Timber, [240], [317]
• Time, how kept, [91-92]
• Tirah campaign, [300]
• Its effect on traffic, [196]
• Tobacco, [89]
• Tortures, [153 seq.], [302]
• Trade and commerce, [229 seq.]
• Treasury, public and private, [101]
• Turkestanis, [63]
• U
• Usbeg game of “Buz-bazee,” [315]
• Usbeg Lancers, [3]
• Usbegs, [63]
• W
• Warming rooms, method of, [90]
• Weddings of different classes, [94-95]
• Weights and measures, [245]
• White, General, defence of Ladysmith, [119]
• Wives, plurality of, [287]
• Working hours, [205]
• Workmen, foreman and, [236]
• Pay of, [238]
• Workshops, [229 seq.], [234]
• Women, laws of “purdah” suspended in time of war, [227]
• Women, not valued in Kabul, [198]
• Wrestling matches, [74]
• Y
• Yakoob Khan, [112], [293]

THE END

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