Under the absolute Amir

by Frank A. Martin

AMIR ABDUR RAHMAN KHAN.

[To face p. 128.

It was confidently expected by the people of all classes in Kabul that the death of the Amir would be the signal for a general insurrection, in which the army would lead, and, no doubt, it was not mere conjecture which led all people to expect it. To safeguard themselves as far as possible against the consequences of such riot and revolt, the people buried their jewels and treasures in the floors of their houses, and got in as large a supply of flour, food, and fuel, as they could afford. They also brought out all the arms they possessed for each man intending holding his own house as a fort during the riots. Wild-looking, scantily dressed men came down in numbers from the mountains, carrying battle-axes and old flintlocks, and overran Kabul and the roads round about, for the news of the Amir’s death had acted on them like the sight of a dead carcase on vultures, and caused them to flock round from great distances in an incredibly short space of time to see what loot was going. These are the people who are feared by the inhabitants of Kabul when disturbances set in, for they come in thousands, naked, practically, and having nothing to lose but life, which they value little, loot all, rich and poor alike, for the poor of Kabul are like princes for wealth to them. They even demolish houses for the sake of the wood used in their construction, and the house in which I lived had once been rased to the ground by them, and been rebuilt by the Government.

I was told that there was a plot on foot to get the Amir’s body on the way to the tomb, which he had built outside Kabul at Kila Asham Khan some years before, and cut it into pieces that dogs might eat it. (This is looked upon as the greatest evil that can befall the body of a Mussulman.) The road from Kabul, leading to Kila Asham Khan, and the hills along the route, were black with people about two o’clock that day, waiting for the funeral procession to pass, and there was a general air of suppressed excitement among all the people as the time fixed for the funeral drew near, which showed itself in a quickness of movement and alert look, foreign to their usual leisurely style, and betrayed the nervous excitement under which all laboured. However, news of all this having reached the authorities, the late Amir’s body was buried instead in the east wing of the Boistan Serai Palace, which is just outside Arak and alongside the Queen-Sultana’s palace, and the day passed without anything untoward happening.

There were six Europeans in Kabul at the time of the Amir’s death—Mrs. Daly, the lady doctor, Mr. Fleischer, a German (murdered there in 1904), with his wife, child, and nurse, and myself—and the question was discussed as to what should be done in case of a rising, and although we talked the matter over thoroughly, we could see no means of escape from the city or the country, and there seemed nothing to be done to safeguard ourselves but to decide on getting all together in one house as soon as rioting started, provided we had sufficient time to do so, and barricade and defend that as long as possible, for the European residents would be among the first to be attacked, and the guards could not be depended on to fight for the infidel against their own people when once order was overthrown. We knew that, so long as the soldiers remained faithful to the Amir, there would be no rising which could not be easily quelled, but if the soldiers rose against the Amir, then the guards, with the Europeans, would no doubt shoot down the kafirs to begin with, and, in fact, one of the guards threatened a servant of Mrs. Daly’s that as soon as fighting commenced, they would kill the servants of the Europeans first, and the Europeans afterwards. I had obtained a quantity of Martini-Henri cartridges from the workshops for the use of the guard with me in case they were attacked by the people, and at the time of the funeral they were very anxious I should serve these out to them at once; but I preferred waiting to see the course events would take before giving them the means to make themselves dangerous to me, and others with me, in the event of the army revolting, and told them to keep their minds at rest, for the cartridges would be served out in time enough for use when wanted. Undoubtedly the soldiers were ready to revolt, and intended doing so, if any one could be got to lead them, and each regiment expected the others to commence the rising, and were ready to join them when they did so, but there was no combination among them, and no man had sufficient courage to take the lead. The officers of the guards, who came round to my house on the day of the funeral to see that all precautions for safety were taken, and posted some of the guards on the roof whence they could command the neighbouring houses, told me to be ready for any emergency, as from all they heard it was likely enough that I, with many of themselves, would be killed before the night. Also, to prevent any disturbance being precipitated by an attack on the Europeans, the other Europeans and myself were told to keep in the house, and not go into the bazars on any account.

On the day following the burial of the Amir, October 3, 1901, Sirdar Habibullah, the eldest son of Amir Abdur Rahman, who was then about thirty-two years of age, was formally made Amir. The ceremony took place in the Salaam khana, outside the walls of the Arak palace, in the presence of all the princes, officials, principal army officers, chiefs, and khans of tribes. There was no display of colour, and the princes, officials, and others who had them wore black clothes, while others had white clothes and some those of a dark colour. It is not the Afghan custom to wear black as mourning, except on the death of a king, and it is then worn for three days. The ceremony consisted of two parts, the religious and the civil.

The religious ceremony was performed by the chief moullah of the Juma Musjid, and was commenced by all those present joining in prayers. Then the moullah wound a lungi (headcloth) of white muslin round the Sirdar’s head, after which the Koran and holy relics of the Prophet (a coat and some hair) and a flag from the tomb of a saint were presented him, after which the moullah announced him to be the duly elected Amir of Afghanistan. The flag from the tomb of a saint was one brought by the late Amir from a holy grave in Turkistan, all such graves having poles on which small flags and streamers are fastened, stuck in the ground around them. The late Amir had camped near by when on his way from Russia to Kabul, and during the night had dreamed that he would be successful in his quest for the throne of Afghanistan, and so had brought one of the flags from the grave as both a memento and a charm.

The civil ceremony was performed by Sirdar Nasrullah (the new Amir’s full brother), who placed the late Amir’s hat on the new Amir’s head. This hat was of black Astrakan skin, and on one side of it was the diamond star, presented to the late Amir by the members of the royal family on the occasion of his receiving the title of “Light of Religion and Faith.” The late Amir’s belt was next fastened round his waist and his father’s sword was presented him. The hat, sword, and belt which had previously been worn by the new Amir, were given to Sirdar Nasrullah, and Sirdar Nasrullah’s hat, sword, and belt were given to Sirdar Mahomed Omar, who was the youngest son. The Amir then made a speech, in which he said that he intended to hold the country intact, to resent foreign aggression, and to put in hand such reforms that the people of the country would become prosperous, and he would also abolish the hated spy system, which had till then prevailed, and by which no man was safe. A great cheer was raised on this, a very unusual thing for the Afghans, but the abolition of the spy system meant peace and security for them all. The oath of allegiance to the Amir was then sworn on the Koran by all those present, and the ceremony ended in the customary way by all partaking of food. For weeks afterwards the city was full of men from different parts of the country, chiefs of tribes, governors of cities, head men of villages, etc., all come to take the oath of allegiance to the Amir, and to all who did so, the customary “khilat” or robes of honour were given. These are something in the fashion of cloaks, made of brown, blue, or green cloth and embroidered with gold braid. Some of the men were so poor that they were dressed in little better than rags, which were washed clean for the occasion, and wore mocassins of undressed leather instead of boots, and they all looked a little sheepish and yet proud, as they strolled about the streets in their khilat. Many tailors are constantly kept at work in Kabul making khilats, which are given to any one whom the Amir desires to honour, and some of the khilats are very rich, being made of a fine hand-stitched cloth imported from Cashmere, and heavily embroidered with gold lace and lined with silk and fur. These khilats cost many hundreds of rupees.

All the leading moullahs of the country were collected in Kabul, and to them khilats were also given, and the new Amir paid them much attention, for the moullahs are an influential section of the community, who are able to sway the minds of the people and lead them in any direction they choose. Three or four of the oldest and holiest of the moullahs were appointed to stop at the late Amir’s tomb and pray there, and it was afterwards said by some of the people that the tomb, to which all had access to pray for his soul, had blue flames coming out of it, and this was a sure proof that his spirit was in Hades. However, the tomb was three times set on fire by some persons unknown who wished to disgrace it, and that caused it to be commonly said that the heat of the Amir’s soul was the cause of the fires. It was impossible for an able ruler like the late Amir to forcibly bring a lawless people into the right way of behaviour without making many hate as well as fear him, and those who feared him when alive were not slow to try and disgrace his name when dead, and beyond the power of retaliation.