Under the absolute Amir

by Frank A. Martin

The present Amir, who has not yet the self-reliance of his father, treats all moullahs with great honour, and when he became Amir he sent for them all and gave them money and robes of honour, and otherwise treated them with distinction. It was no doubt politic to do so, for the time was critical; but they are a rather double-edged weapon, and he may find that they can cut both ways should he ever offend them.

There are many holy men and fakirs in the country, who are honoured by the people and treated with great consideration. They are credited with the power of curing sickness by reciting some part of the Koran over those who are ill, or by breathing on the water given them to drink; but more usually they write a verse of the Koran on a piece of paper and give it to the sick person to swallow. Holy graves are also supposed to cast out sickness, simply by the person living at the grave until cured, and one of my servants tried this remedy rather than take English medicine, but died there on the third day.

Lunatics are said to be God-afflicted, and no one therefore attempts to control their actions or in any way interfere with them. They are treated instead with great deference, and are asked for their prayers and advice in any difficulty or trouble. Offerings of food and money are taken them, and they are allowed to go where they will, and no one will stop them even if they wander into the Amir’s durbar. One such, who was known and reverenced all over Kabul, used to go about with nothing on but a long shirt, and this was open in front and exposed the chest, and in the depths of winter a posteen only was worn over the shirt. I have seen this man on the coldest days lying asleep on the bare ground in the open, bare-headed and barefooted. The man’s constitution who can stand such privation and live must be an exceptional one. He used sometimes to go to the Government stores, which were guarded by sepoys, and, breaking the padlock from a door, would walk in and lie down there, and no one dared to interfere with him; and he would also wander occasionally into the late Amir’s durbar and give expression to his opinion of the Amir’s character, which is a thing no other man could have done and lived to boast of. When the Amir gave him money he threw it broad-cast from him, and refused to be propitiated, and he would at times do this with the food and presents sent him by other people. He had many followers, of course, and these waxed fat on the good things sent their chief, and they copied his ways too, and tried to perfect themselves in them so that they might also receive honour, and perhaps, when the day came, step into their master’s shoes, and live free from the trials and worries governing other people.

There are many Sayids in the country; a Sayid is said to be a lineal descendant of the prophet, and they are looked upon as people of consequence, and are respected by others, but this does not prevent them having to work for their living. Several worked under me, and I found them superior to the bulk of the men I came in contact with, and generally more intelligent, which was, perhaps, the outcome of generations of trying to be superior to others.

A Hafiz is one of those who can recite the whole of the Koran by heart, and they are employed during Ramazan, the month of fasting, to recite a portion of it each evening in the musjids until the Koran is ended. It takes many days to do this, and the recital is so apportioned at times as to make it last until the end of the fast.

The fakirs, or holy mendicants, are a great institution in the country, as they are indeed throughout the East. They (men, women, and children) profess to do no work, but beg for the day’s requirements. They also profess to take no heed for the morrow, and to make a point of keeping nothing which is given them for the next day, but to expend all they receive from the charitable the same day that they receive it. They may be seen on the sides of the roads and bazars with their wooden or copper begging bowls, suspended by a string round the neck and hanging in front of them, continuously calling out to the passers-by for charity. Winter and summer they sit in the same place all day, but in winter they have a small iron bowl under their posteens, in which a little lighted charcoal is kept in order to keep them warm. The present Amir is much against the mode of life of these people, and he has those boys whom he sees upon the road begging, caught and taken to the workshops, where they are ordered to work, and receive food twice a day and clothes once a year in lieu of pay. They are practically kept prisoners in the workshops, for they are not allowed to go out day or night. So far as benefit to the Government is concerned, they are useless, for they do nothing but play about and idle all day. Coercion has no effect on them, and many of the ustads in the shops who tried to get work out of them, gave them up at last as hopeless, and from what I saw of them, they did nothing but spoil good material when their masters forced them to do anything, and as they did this with even the simplest sort of work, it was easy to see that they hoped by these means to be eventually sent away as useless.

Religious crimes and offences are tried by a jury of moullahs, under an appointed head, who is chosen from among themselves. For a capital religious offence the moullahs can order a person to be stoned to death, but the sentence must be ratified by the Amir. When the punishment is to be carried out, the condemned man, with hands tied behind him and chains upon his legs, is led along the streets of the city, some of the moullahs following, and at an appointed place the first stone is thrown by the chief moullah among them. The populace, who have joined the throng, and arm themselves with missiles as they go along, wait until the moullah throws the first stone, and then they commence throwing too. The condemned man is forced on by the shower of stones, which takes more and more effect on him as it is continued, for the incessant impact of stones gradually weakens him with pain, until a place called Siyah Sang is reached. This is a small hill of black rock, about two miles out of the city, surrounded by a stony tract of ground, and here larger stones are selected and thrown, so that soon the man is staggering forward feebly, knowing that where he falls his life will be ended, and trying to keep on a little longer. Eventually he can bear no more, or a stone larger than others brings him to his knees and he falls full length, and then the hail of missiles increases, some taking small boulders they can barely lift and heaving them on the man’s body, and so it continues until a mould is piled up over him, and there he is left, hidden by the heap of stones. Death does not always occur at once, although a man become unconscious when he falls, and cases have been known of a man living for some hours after, and dying at last in great agony.

The people are looked after by the moullahs, who see that they keep to their religion, and examine them periodically to see if they know their prayers; and for this purpose a party of them are appointed by the chief moullah to make occasional excursions into the bazars and workshops and to the public gardens about. On these occasions each man they come across is made to repeat his prayers, and if he says them correctly he is allowed to go his way, and his way is usually in the track of the moullahs, where he helps to swell the mob by which they are followed, for all those who pass the ordeal like to see what happens to the next man. The man who makes a mistake in his prayers, or has forgotten part of them, is beaten with sticks; but if the case is a bad one, and the man does not know his prayers at all, or those who owe him a grudge come forward and testify to his not saying them the stipulated number of times each day, then he is seized, and, with his face blackened and hands tied behind his back, is placed backwards on a donkey, which is led by moullahs through the principal bazars of the city, with, of course, a large crowd of men following and making rude jokes at his expense. The shame and disgrace of this proceeding is said to have such a lasting effect on the man as to ensure the due performance of religious observances in the future, and his friends and relations for years after ungenerously twit and joke him about it. I once saw a man, who was vigorously and arrogantly expressing his opinion on some subject, interrupted quietly by one of those present to be asked if he knew his prayers yet; the poor fellow collapsed, tried to brave it out for a little while, and then made a rapid exit, followed by the jeering laughter of his companions. Most of the Afghans are very susceptible to ridicule, and too much of it is apt to rouse their worst passions.

All good Mussulmans are supposed to pray five times a day, but before doing so they must wash their hands and feet, that they shall present themselves for prayer before God in a becoming manner. I was told that the reason wines and spirits are forbidden in the Koran is, that a man under the influence of drink does not fully comprehend what he does or says, and therefore his prayers, while in that condition, would be a sacrilege.