| Numbers. | Average. | Total. | Artillery. | |
| 16 | Regiments of Infantry | 800 | 12,800 | |
| 3 | ” Cavalry | 300 | 900 | |
| Field guns | 67 | |||
| Mountain guns | 9 | |||
| Heavy guns | 4 | |||
| Mortar | 1 | |||
| Total | 13,700 | 81 | ||
PICKET OF THE HOUSEHOLD TROOPS
The system of recruiting for these regiments was the worst conceivable. Neither conscription nor free enlistment, it was little better than the forcible seizure of the able-bodied in each district, the men being compelled to serve on pain of the imprisonment and utter ruin of their families. The pay of the infantry was nominally five rupees a month, with ten rupees in each year deducted for clothing and accoutrements. The distribution of the remainder was very irregular and not unusually paid in grain, or credited to their families at home on account of local taxes. Consequently the soldier, often finding himself in his quarters without the means of purchasing the common necessaries of life, was driven to recoup his finances by highway robbery, a delinquency which the officers punished—by sharing in the spoil.
TROOP OF CAVALRY
These troops were accoutred with the discarded flint muskets, swords, belts and bayonets of the British forces in India, or a Kabul imitation of these weapons. Certain companies were provided with two-grooved rifles, constructed from models carried off by deserters from some one or other of our frontier regiments. The uniforms were no less abominable, not infrequently representing purchases of condemned stores from our frontier stations which had been disposed of at an auction. The clothing was invariably procured from these markets; and, as a consequence, native officers of all grades, even in the same regiment, might have been seen in every imaginable British habiliment, from a naval jacket to a whipper’s-in hunting coat, including the full dress of a general and the round beaver hat of a civilian. British kit was very popular, and its possession conferred exceptional distinction upon the lucky owner.
Of the horse it is only possible to say that in all respects they were a bad imitation of the Indian light cavalry, reproducing even their Hussar saddles and steel scabbards. Their appointments, equally with the infantry, were almost hopeless and their drill quite unsuited to their order. Foot drill was the conventional exercise; and, since all horses were sent out to graze during the summer months, mounted drill was practised only during the cold weather, when through lack of food the animals were too poor in condition to be put through their facings. The horses were undersized and generally procured from the Turcoman steppes, but man and beast were equally valueless. No less unsatisfactory were the Afghan artillery, although, from the numerical strength of the Amir’s ordnance, a very false idea might be formed of the actual value of his artillery. Many of the guns were useless; for others there was no ammunition; while the equipment and carriages of the field guns were of the most obsolete pattern.