Under the absolute Amir

by Frank A. Martin

Amir Abdur Rahman was an exceptionally able man, and one who willingly gave the whole of his time and attention to the work required of him, working from the time he rose from his bed until he lay down again; but even so he was unable to see to all things himself, and the absence of responsible officials duly authorized to investigate and settle those matters which were not of sufficient moment to be taken before him for judgment, wasted much of the time which ought to have been devoted to important questions on which the welfare of the country depended. However, it is not surprising that the Amir was chary of putting too much authority in the hands of his officials, for those who had authority to judge minor cases invariably abused the authority given them, and the people who suffered through such abuse of authority, feared the enmity of the official too much to appeal to the Amir, and generally they were given cause to do so. As a case in point, I may mention that of a camel-owner who was brought before the city magistrate concerning the non-payment of some Government duty. In this case the man was forced to pay the duty, besides having two of his camels confiscated, for the magistrate did a transport business with camels himself. The camel-owner was naturally incensed at the injustice of the whole proceeding, and wrote the particulars to the Amir, bribing an official to give in his application. Bribery must be resorted to in those cases where an official is the intermediary. All this was timely reported to the magistrate, who at once betook himself to durbar, and laid the case in his own way before the Amir, making out that the man was an old offender, and, to prevent him running away before his highness had judged his punishment, he had kept two of his camels as security. The letter the man had written was brought in just then and handed to the Amir; but the Amir’s mind was prejudiced, and he saw in the man’s statement—and an Afghan always overstates the case—an endeavour to injure the character of the magistrate in revenge for the latter doing his duty. The man was therefore put in prison, and the whole of his property was confiscated, so that he lost all he had instead of getting back the two camels first taken.

With the Amir it is always the man who gets in his story or complaint first who wins, for the Afghan mind is readily prejudiced and chary of relinquishing first impressions, no matter how much truth lies in what is said by the man who speaks last. It is such cases as these, and more often than not an appeal to the higher power results in disaster to the applicant, which make the people chary of disputing the actions of the officials, and they therefore have to put up with as much justice as they can get, either by intrigue or bribery, and keep quiet, while the officials grow fat and rich, and become arrogant with continued prosperity, until one day they fly at game too high for them, and then come to grief and lose all, ending their days in prison or at the hands of the executioner. The late Amir one day told me that he trusted no one, and was so suspicious that he did not let his right hand know what the left one did; and with such men round him it is not surprising that he should have felt so.

Another thing which is further detrimental to the country lies in the officials being consulted on all matters concerning the interests of the people, for the Amir has no means of ascertaining the views and wishes of the people himself, and has to accept what his officials say, and this gives them the opportunity of bringing about that which is to their interest, and it is due to this selfish disregard of anything but their own profit that the officials force the people in yearly increasing numbers to give up the cultivation of their land and seek work elsewhere.

The Amir and the Government of Afghanistan are said by the people to be separate and distinct, and there is a public and a private treasury, on both of which the Amir draws, himself defining those expenses which are private, and those the Government must defray; but here all distinction ends, and it is difficult to see wherein the difference lies. I have been told that the Amir is the head of the Government; but so far as I could see he was head, body, and everything else, excepting where officials and governors of provinces save him the trouble of looking into matters which are profitable to themselves. The Government stores chiefly contain the arms and ammunition made in the country or purchased elsewhere, while the private stores, in addition to those goods which are required for daily use, contain the valuable presents brought in from all parts of the country by the chiefs who visit the Amir, and those received from other Governments, and contain immense treasures. In the private stores also are all the latest novelties which have been sent for from India, and there are few articles in that way which are not to be found there. Very few, however, of the articles, except those of daily use, go into the stores and come out of it again, for most of the things are put away and forgotten, and neither the Amir nor his storekeepers know all that the stores contain, for there are no proper records kept except of articles of intrinsic value.

The late Amir was very particular about his palaces, and the dwelling-places he built for himself were the first well-constructed buildings in the country, and they were furnished in the richest European style, all furniture and upholstery being of the best he could get in India or make in his own country. He insisted on all things about him being kept clean and tidy, and woe betide the unlucky slave boy who neglected his duty in that respect.

His food was cooked in the Government kitchens, which are kept guarded so that no one but those who are authorized to do so can enter, and the chief cook, with several soldiers, had to accompany the dishes from the kitchen to the palace (all dishes are served at once, and not in courses), and when placed before the Amir it was the cook’s duty to taste of each dish to show that the food was innocent of poison. Several high officials always dined with the Amir, the latter being seated at a small table covered with a white cloth, while on the ground stretching away in front of his table a long cloth was laid which was covered by another white one, and here, on both sides, squatted or kneeled the officials, all of them, the Amir included, eating with the right hand. The hands are washed both before and after a meal. The very best and richest foods, in the way of pilaus and kabobs, were cooked, and all were seasoned with spices, and the bread was the usual Afghan nan (flat cake), but the Amir preferred white bread baked in small loaves similar to the English ones.

If an Englishman dined with the Amir he was given a separate table, and a Hindustani cook and his assistants prepared and served the food in the usual English way, while, for drink, he had the choice of various wines and spirits, which the Amir used to keep in the stores for such purpose, although he himself always drank water, in accordance with the tenets of his religion.

The Amir’s drinking water, as well as all food for him, was very carefully guarded. One man was held responsible for it, and had charge of the key of the room in which it was kept locked. The same was done with the tea, for which another man was responsible, and another, a hakeem (doctor), was responsible for all medicine, mixing it and bringing it to the Amir himself. The positions these men held were no sinecure, for if the Amir had any strange pain in his body they had a very unpleasant time of it until the pain was gone, or proved to be due to natural causes, and at such times these men went about with a strained look on their faces, for none knew what fancy might seize the Amir to their undoing.

The present Amir follows the same procedure as his father, but, owing to one or two plots against him, which fortunately came to nothing, all measures for safety are more strictly enforced, and all the men responsible for what the Amir eats and drinks wear a more harassed look.

One of the late Amir’s precautions was to be always ready at a moment’s notice either for fighting or travelling to any part of his kingdom, or out of it if needs be. For this purpose several horses (which were changed every few hours) were kept day and night in the stalls by the door of the palace ready saddled and bridled, requiring only the girths to be tightened for mounting. Several fast mules were also kept ready in other stalls for carrying treasure, etc., on the journey. A cupboard with glass doors was kept by the head of the Amir’s bed in which was stacked his best rifles, and with them boxes of ammunition, while under his pillow were two or three revolvers ready loaded, so that the Amir was ever ready for emergencies. In addition a picked company of sowars, called the “Hazarbash” guard (ever present), were always ready night and day outside the palace to accompany the Amir. This guard the Amir kept provisioned for a few days, so that they might start at any moment on a journey, and those on duty were relieved at intervals. The Amir’s life had been an adventurous one, and it had taught him, and his experience in ruling his people had confirmed it, that it is wise to be ready at all times for anything that happens.