Afghanistan

by A. Hamilton

It would seem that the present moment were sufficiently propitious for the Government of India to press such an undertaking upon the Amir. At the time of the Dane Mission great attention was paid by the Afghans of Kandahar to the subject of railways between India and Afghanistan. The late Governor, Sirdar Ahmed Khan, now retired in disgrace, receiving orders to ascertain public feeling on a proposal to extend the Indian railway system to Kandahar and to inquire whether the people would object if the request of the British Government were conceded, read out the Amir’s instructions at a special Durbar where all shades of local opinion were represented. The question was debated by the nobles and the people at great length. In the end the view was returned that, while the railway itself would be beneficial, it would facilitate pretexts for dangerous aggressions and the conquest of the country. At a later occasion the Amir sought the opinions of the principal officers of the army who, not only unanimously in favour of the introduction of such a system of communication, warmly advocated its further projection to Herat. The provision of a railway between India and Kandahar, quite a different affair to a trans-Afghan system, would indubitably facilitate commerce, since the scheme would have to go hand in hand with a radical revision of the prohibitory tariffs now imposed along the Afghan border. The moral effect throughout the Kandahar region, too, would be no less significant than that originally caused upon the frontier by the railway to New Chaman, for without that extension from Quetta the proceeds of the Kandahar fruit-gardens would never reach the Indian markets.

Kandahar, which is 125 miles from Quetta and only 65 miles from the railhead at New Chaman, is the last place where an army advancing from Herat towards the Indus would halt. It also affords access to the Ghazni and Kabul roads through the Tarnak valley, and its proximity to the deserts of Baluchistan on the south renders at least one of its flanks safe from being turned. It is very accessible from Persia in the west and from India in the east, while it has changed hands so frequently during the period of its history—Persians, Uzbegs, Afghans and in recent times the English—that a further change is certainly to be anticipated. Kandahar is situated between the Argand and Tarnak rivers on a level plain covered with cultivation and well populated to the south and west; on the north-west a low ridge rises to the height of 1000 feet. The shape of the city is an irregular parallelogram, the length being from north to south with a circuit of 3 miles, 1006 yards. It is surrounded by a ditch, 24 feet wide and 10 feet deep, and by a wall which is 20½ feet thick at the bottom, 14½ feet thick at the top and 27 feet in height. This wall is made of mud hardened by exposure to the sun and without revetment of stone or brick. The length of the western face is 1967 yards, of the eastern 1810 yards, of the southern 1345 yards and of the northern 1164 yards. There are four main gates, through which run the principal streets and two minor gates. The Bar Durani and Kabul are on the eastern face, the Shikarpur on the southern face, the Herat and the Top Khana on the western face and the Idgah on the northern face. The Bar Durani and the Top Khana are the minor gates.

The gateways are defended by six double bastions and the angles are protected by four large circular towers. The curtains between the bastions have fifty-four small bastions distributed along the faces. From the Herat gate a street runs to the Kabul gate through the city; commencing from the Shikarpur gate and crossing it at right angles near the centre, another leads to the citadel, which is square-built with walls 260 yards in length.

PLAN OF KANDAHAR

The citadel is situated to the north of the city and south of it is the Top Khana. West of this is the tomb of Ahmed Shah Durani, an octagonal structure, overlaid with coloured porcelain bricks and surmounted by a gilded dome, surrounded by small minarets. It towers above all the adjacent buildings and its dome attracts attention to the city from a distance. The pavement of the tomb is carpeted and an embroidered cloak is thrown over the sarcophagus. The sepulchre itself, composed of a coarse stone from the mountains near Kandahar, is inlaid with wreaths of flowers in coloured marble. Twelve lesser tombs, which are those of the children of Ahmed Shah, are ranged near the resting-place of the father. The interior walls are painted in designs similar to those which adorn the exterior, but the execution is more regular and the colours, having been less exposed, are fresher and more brilliant. The lofty dome above the centre imparts an air of grandeur to the little temple, while its windows of stone trellis work admit a subdued and pleasant light. The tomb is engraved with passages from the Koran and a copy of the sacred volume, from which the Mullahs recite passages, is kept in the sanctuary.

At the point where the streets from the Herat gate and the Shikarpur gate meet, is the Charsu, a large dome 50 yards in diameter. Here, as in other parts of the city, are public “humams” or warm baths, where a course of Asiatic massage, including bathing, peeling, kneading and drying, costs one rupee. The Afghan mode of treatment differs but little from that prevailing in India. The houses generally are built of sun-dried bricks, with flat roofs. A few only possess upper storeys. The houses of the rich are enclosed by high walls and contain three or four courts with gardens and fountains. Each of these divisions holds a single building, separated into small compartments and provided with three or four large and lofty halls. The roofs are supported upon wooden pillars, carved and painted. The various suites open upon the several halls, which are embellished with mural paintings and numerous looking-glasses. The walls of the rooms are usually furnished with panels of glittering stucco, a compound of mica and talc, decorated with patterns of flowers. Their surfaces are broken by many recesses, sometimes the refuge of very tawdry ornaments. The ceilings are formed of small pieces of wood, carved, fitted into each other and varnished. The houses of the poorer classes are represented by single rooms 20 feet by 12 feet.

The four principal streets are each 40 yards wide, bordered with trees, flanked by shops and houses with open fronts and shady verandahs. Each street is named after the gate to which it leads from the Charsu, except in the case of the one which runs into the Top Khana. This street, which is very narrow both at its north and south entrances and has the Nikara Khana on its west, is called the Shahi Bazar. Smaller and narrower streets, each crossing the other at right angles, run from the principal thoroughfares towards the city walls, between which and the houses there is a road about 25 yards wide encircling the city. A second road, similar in design, exists on the outside of the wall along the western and southern faces as a relic of the British occupation. It has been planted with trees by the Afghan authorities, a similar adornment having been applied to the main Kokeran road.

Kandahar is divided into districts which are in the occupation of the different tribes. The south-western quarter of the city has four great divisions—the Barakzai Duranis, extending down the Shikarpur and Herat Bazars, having south of them the Hindustani quarter and west that of the Halakozai Duranis, while in the extreme south-west corner of the city, between the two last, there are the Nurzai Duranis. The south-eastern quarter appears to be occupied principally by Populzai Duranis. In the north-eastern quarter, the portion stretching on the north of the Kabul Bazar, is occupied by the Ghilzais; north of them and to the north-east angle of the city is the Bar Durani quarter; while between them and the citadel is the Achakzai Durani quarter. In the south-western portion of the north-western quarter are the houses of the Alizais. These divisions, relating to the principal tribes who frequent the city, concern the Duranis, Ghilzais, Parsiwans, and Kakuris. Greater detail of the population is represented by the following table of houses occupied in the several sections: