Under the absolute Amir

by Frank A. Martin

We were four days reaching Kandahar, for only on one day was the march at all a long one, the rest being what they term “King’s marches,” in contradistinction to “Caravan marches.” King’s marches being short ones on account of the number of men, etc., to move. The distance from one camp to another is usually expressed as so many hours’ journey. The horses on a journey go at a uniform pace, something between a quick walk and a jog-trot to which they are trained, and at which pace they can, when in condition, cover fifty to sixty miles in a day, though it is not customary to push them to that extent except in cases of necessity. Taking into consideration the mountainous description of country usually met with, the absence of proper roads, and the size of the horses (which average thirteen to fourteen hands), this is a fair distance.

They have a unit of distance in Afghanistan called a “kro,” which is said by some to be equivalent to one and a half English miles, but as there are no recognized number of “guz” (yards) to the “kro” it assumes varying dimensions, according to individual taste. I once received a firman from the Amir, through the prince, to make a perambulating instrument for measuring roads which was to show distances on the index in guz and kro, and I wrote the prince to let me know the number of guz in a kro that I might arrange the necessary clockwork. He replied that he had made inquiries, and the number given by different persons so varied that he had written the Amir to fix a standard; but the Amir fell ill just then, and the matter remained in abeyance, and the same indefiniteness still exists. The present Amir has distances measured in yards and miles.

Once when travelling from Kabul to Peshawar, and after being seven or eight hours in the saddle, I asked the sowars with me how far it was to the village by which we intended camping. One usually is rather interested in knowing how much farther one has to go after several hours’ riding. He told me that it was between one to two kro ahead, but we did not get to camp until after three hours’ further riding. So I henceforth made it a custom to inquire the distance in hours, and found it less disappointing.

On arriving within a few miles of Kandahar, the prince was met by the General commanding that district and the principal officers, who dismounted at a distance from him, and came up with heads uncovered. When they reached him they kissed his foot, and then, taking his hand between both of theirs, placed it on each eye in turn, and kissed it also; this being the Afghan custom when acknowledging their chief or swearing allegiance. Near the city the troops of the garrison were drawn up, together with the artillery, and the latter fired the royal salute as the prince rode up. The prince then inspected the troops, and addressed a few words to them, after which, followed by all the officers and officials, he repaired to the musjid for prayers, while I rode on to the city to find the quarters which had been allotted to me.

The road viâ Kandahar is not one which is often used when travelling from India to Kabul, the road from Peshawar through the Khyber Pass being the direct route, and the journey by that road occupies about eight days when travelling with little luggage and doing forced marches, while the route viâ Kandahar and Ghazni takes three or four weeks. There are no roads for wheeled traffic, nor are there any railways, and one must either ride or be carried in a sort of sedan chair, suspended from the backs of two horses. The Afghan rulers are greatly prejudiced against railways, and if one but mentions such a scheme ulterior designs are at once suspected. Yet a proper scheme of railways to open up the country would make it rich and prosperous, and do away with the present universal poverty and misery.

The Shahzada on leaving Kabul for England had been sent viâ Peshawar by the late Amir, and arrangements had been made for him to return viâ Kandahar, in order that he might see as much as possible of the country. Since he came from Russia, a little boy of nine, he had never been more than a few miles out of Kabul, for the Amir did not encourage the members of his family to travel unless of necessity. The Amir also wished him to stop in Kandahar on his return journey to inquire into matters concerning its government, because for many years there had been complaints from the people of the oppression of the governors and absence of justice.

I was told, while in Kandahar, that the Amir made the previous governors, when accepting office, sign a paper providing that, should they rob or oppress either rich or poor, they consented to be hanged, and it was significant that the last three or four governors had been hanged. The man who was governor when the prince arrived suddenly fell ill, and died a few days afterwards, and there were not wanting those who suggested self-destruction in order to escape worse happening.

Kandahar is situated in the middle of a fertile plain, or rather the plain would be fertile if irrigated and cultivated as it could be; but when I was there, there was little cultivation or signs of it, although the rivers carry plenty of water. On account of the small amount of rainfall in Afghanistan irrigation is necessary in order to make the land yield crops; and in some cases, to provide water for land which cannot be irrigated direct from the river, the people have sunk a series of wells leading from water-bearing strata to the land requiring irrigation, connecting the wells by underground ducts; the water from the last well being raised to the surface by means of a Persian wheel. This is a laborious process, and as the connecting ducts are not arched or protected in any way, the supply is frequently stopped by the earth falling in, and crops are ruined before the supply can be set going again.