Scrapbook of newspaper cuttings about Afghanistan [‎66v] (136/312)

; inOKfenate and excessive greed for money is a
prevailing trait in the ordinary character of the
Afghan, and place and power are only valued
in proportion to the facilities they offer for
amassing wealth. The ruler of a city, when
famine threatens, has been known again and;
again to buy up all the available grain, and,
hoarding it up until the mortality from star
vation drives the survivors to his granaries, will
then reap a golden harvest. The poor, compelled
to feed on grass and weeds, besiege the Palace
with clamorous appeals for help, but they cry in i
vain. Tbe troops, who in such times have i
enough to to keep the peace, have to be well
fed, but pay day is postponed on the pretext of
the sufferings in the city requiring all available
funds, and when it does at last arrive the
wretched soldiers find their rations charged for at
iamine rates. Oumv pccagioiy when Bome travel
lers bad feasted their escort on a roast sheep, the i
paymaster deducted the cost of the meal from |
the pay of the partakers, but as it was not easy
to find out how many had shared in it, tho cal
culation was based on the assumption that every .
five men in the army had eaten a sheep, and
the deduction was extended over the whole
force. The grosy injustice was at once re-!
sented, and large numbers began to desert from 1
the array ; but, after a few had been recap
tured and hauged, the appearance of order was -
restored.
Constant outbreaks of insubordination, re
sulting in murders and military executions, .
kept the cantonments in excitement for a i
long time, but eventually the soldiers seemed j
to be tired of disaffection. Meanwhile, no i
serious effort had been made to quell the mu-1
tiny; for, with the whole army insubordinate, j
and a civil population never under control, ]
repressive measures on a large scale were ob- i
viously impossible. Nor is the disaffection as-
tonishing. Indeed, the wonder is, as a recent ;
writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. says, that the people or the army do not
combine and overthrow the authorities at every j
cause for discontent. But their clan jealousies !
and utter want of unanimity are, we are told,
their chiefs' safeguards. As a rule, the soldiers
are only paid three times a year, at intervals of
four months, and even then they receive only [
about a fifth of what is actually due. All kinds ii
of deductions are made, in the first place by the ?
Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. , for their arms, food, clothing, &c., and
in the next, by their officers, who take a com
mission upon all their pay and a percentage
over. Even then the miserable remnant is
made over to the men not in cash but in grain,
or even, as is often the case, in orders upon a |
village which has been backward in its revenue, j
The result may be imagined when a posse of
armed ruffians visit a locality in the name of the
State and collect what they consider their dues.
As a matter of fact, the soldiers' look to this
legalised plunder as one of their regular sources
of emolument, and perhaps but for it would not
tolerate as they do the gross exactions of their
officers and the Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. . The effect upon the
country may be easily understood. But not
so apparent ia the policy which underlies this
seemingly reckless sacrifice of the loyalty of
the army. It is true that the soldiers are |
grossly robbed by their superiors, but they have, 1
at the same time, permission to recoup them
selves as best they can from the villagers. The
result is that the rural population and the
troops at headquarters are eminently hostile to
each other, and can never combine for any
political movement, while the soldiers thus
alienated from the civilians are compelled, for
their very existence, to support the power
which arms them against their countrymen,
and from which they derive their own
despotic and barbarous privileges of plunder
and murder. The Afghan soldiers, says Dr,
Bellew, " are truly the most lawless set of vil
lains to be found in the country. They oppress
the people in every way with absolute impunity,
and cattle lifting, burglary, and the kidnapping
of children are carried on by them daily both
in the city and the suburban villages. But when
it is considered that the soldier's full pay is only
about nine shillings a month, and that he seldom
receives a third of it, it is not remarkable that he j
should seek the means of subsistence else-1
where,"
Tyranny and cupidity are not, however, the |
only weaknesses of Afghan rulers, for the pre- ^
sent Ameer has himself set the example of poi-1
soningrelatives, murdering obnoxious individuals
generally, and, if rumours current in India
be well founded, in torturing sons into imbe-
! cility. That a certain humour often accom
panies these aqts does not justify them, and in
the following Instance, a typical one of the
relations of the governors and the governed in \
, Cabul, it is impossible not to discern a complete
paralysis of social and domestic order. A rich
man died, leaving one child, a daughter of nine
years. The relatives met to decide on the dis
posal of the effects of the deceased, but, being
unable to agree, carried the case to the Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. .
The magistrate ordered the child to be produced
with all her wealth, and, on their appearance,
ordered the one to his harem, the other to his
treasury, informing the thunderstruck relations
that, as he had made up his mind to marry the
orphan, her riches would constitute her dowry,
and they might go. Drunkenness, although
their religion forbids all stimulants, is a fashion-
I able vice among the aristocracy of Cabul, from
the Royal family downwards ; and, besides the
various wines produced from the local grapes—
nearly every noble has his own wine
press on the premises—a large trade in Euro
pean alcoholic liquors is carried on. The amuse
ments of the upper class are debauchery and, field
sports. Of the former it suffices to say that the
abominations of all Mohammedan countries seem
to be naturalised and exaggerated among the
subjects of the Ameer, With regard to their
field sports, we have in a recent issue given a
sketch of its chief forms ; but it remains to add
that whatever the game in view may be the
Afghan sportsman compasses its destruction
in the laziest manner possible. In shooting
they never think of taking a flying shot, but
prefer the more deliberate, and easy " pot," and,
indeed, when the occasion offers, the sports
man goes out to bis ground, and ensconcing
himself in a shady corner, waits for game to
pass the muzzle of his gun, even though the
vineyards all round him may be, as they usually
are, resonant with the cries of the partridge and
quail. When after antelope, the Afghan always
sits down and stops till the quarry comes past
him, either in its natural course or driven by .
beaters. In many exercises, however, they excel,
and when therefore they express surprise and dis-1
gust at the undignified exertions taken in their :
amusements by Europeans, they are only giving
utterance to the feelings that possess every
Oriental when he sees an Englishman tramping
after game rifle in hand, and enduring cheer
fully all the fatigue that comes in the day's
work. The Afghan does not recognise the
virtue of activity. Nor, considering that a
rotund paunch is held to be respectable, could it
well be otherwise? Violent exercise has the
tendency to reduce obesity, and therefore, to the
Oriental mind, to lower a person's claims to the 1
respect of others.
In war only, public or private, is the latent
energy of the Afghan character evoked, and to
compass his revenge, to bring down his quarry
j in a man-hunt, all the vindictive activity of
the people is brought into exercise. No length
of tedious march or patient ambuscade deters
the Afghan from his revenge, and even in cold
blood they carry out themselves, and applaud in
others, acts of retributive justice, as they call it.
The hideous practice of allowing private per
sons to exact vengeance for injuries received
has been an Eastern custom from time imme
morial, and flourishes to-day in Afghanistan in
all its. revolting simplicity. Thus, two men
happening to quarrel, one wounded the other,
and the wounded man, refusing to submit to
amputation, died. His brother, as next-of-kin,
at once claimed the privilege of putting the i
homicide to death, and at a formal council held
the claim was admitted as sound. The subse
quent exaction of the penalty is thus described
by a European writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. : li About noon there
was a great crowd and tumult of voices out
side the citadel gate, but, as we knew what
was to take place, we did not go out to see
the ceremony. Presently the din was hushed,
there was a momentary pause of coihplete
silence, and then a sudden outburst of ap
plause. We hardly needed to be told what
had happened, but soon after Faramuz Khan
| came in, in perfect ecstacies of delight at the
; brutal sight he had just witnessed and applauded.
i He told us that after the judge had pronounced *
the prisoner guilty, he consigned him to the care
of the avenger, who at once stepped forward,
and, unsheathing his knife, threw down his
brother's homicide, and kneeling on his chest,
with a sonorous Bismillah-a-rahman-a-rahim
(In the name of God the most merci
ful and gracious), cut his throat from ear to
f ptre' , pTT -samoq ut s^siiutntc) a 'q p. jauii saitt
i -auia.i jaqjo uaqM 'squni eqi m buibi! oi^iauau pari mjbiuuom i
pa® 'qiao; pire 'aauj 'puaq aqj sured iuo.ij Suuaijn-s snosjaa
Sj jo spuBsnoqi pajno esq arailXOXIX KAUaX H.iitiau KT
1 ^aoK—'sxHOis ssa^daais auop-: _ oM
| t -mTiggui^OK'jtijuiaqo '31A1.0X'J,'g'Ja.Xtim aq4 Xq sdtuujs fo J
intonate and excessive greed for money is a
prevailing trait in the ordinary character of the
Af ghan, and place and power are only valued j
in proportion to the facilities they offer for
amassing wealth. The ruler of a city, when
famine threatens, has been known again and
again to buy up all the available grain, and,
hoarding it up until the mortality from star
vation drives the survivors to his granaries, will
then reap a golden harvest. The poor, compelled
to feed on grass and weeds, besiege the Palace
with clamorous appeals for help, but they cry in
vain. The troops, who in such times have
enough to to keep the peace, have to be well;
fed, but pay day is postponed on the pretext of
the sufferings in the city requiring all available
funds, and when it does at last arrive the
wretched soldiers find their rations charged for at
iamine rates, Ooffttepgc agioft, when some travel- !
Icrs had feasted their escort on a roast sheep, the ;
paymaster deducted the cost of the meal from j
the pay of the partakers, but as it was not easy
to find out how many had shared in it, tho cal
culation was based on the assumption that every
five men in the army had eaten a sheep, and
the deduction was extended over the whole
force. The gros^ injustice was at once re
sented, and large numbers began to desert from
the array ; but, after a few had been recap
tured and hanged, the appearance of order was
restored.
Constant outbreaks of insubordination, re
sulting in murders and military executions,
kept the cantonments in excitement for a i
long time, but eventually the soldiers seemed i
to be tired of disaffection. Meanwhile, no i
serious effort had been made to quell the mu- i
tiny; for, with the whole army insubordinate, j
and a civil population never under control, j
repressive measures on a large scale were ob
viously impossible. Nor is the disaffection as
tonishing. Indeed, the wonder is, as a recent
writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. says, that the people or the army do not
combine and overthrow the authorities at every
cause for discontent. But their clan jealousies
and utter want of unanimity are, we are told,
their chiefs' safeguards. As a rule, the soldiers
are only paid three times a year, at intervals of
four months, and even then they receive only
about a fifth of what is actually due. All kinds
of deductions are made r in the first place by the
Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. , for their arms, food, clothing, &c., and
in the next, by their officers, who take a com
mission upon all their pay and a percentage
over. Even then the miserable remnant is
made over to the men not in cash but in grain,
or even, qs is often the case, in orders upon a j
village which has been backward in its revenue.}
The result may be imagined when a posse of
armed ruffians visit a locality in the name of the
State and collect what they consider their dues.
As a matter of fact, the soldiers' look to this
legahsed plunder as one of their regular sources
of emolument, and perhaps but for it would not
tolerate as they do the gross exactions of their
officers and the Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. . The effect upon the
country may be easily understood. But not
so apparent is the policy which underlies this
seemingly reckless sacrifice of the loyalty of
the army. It is true that the soldiers are j
grossly robbed by their superiors, but they have,
at the same time, permission to recoup them
selves as best they can from the villagers. The
result is that the rural population and the
troops at headquarters are eminently hostile to
each other, and can never combine for any
political movement, while the soldiers thus
alienated from the civilians are compelled, for
their very existence, to support the power
which arms them against their countrymen,
and from which they derive their own
despotic and barbarous privileges of plunder
and murder. The Afghan soldiers, says Dr.
Bellew, " are truly the most lawless set of vil
lains to be found in the country. They oppress
the people in every way with absolute impunity,
and cattle lifting, burglary, and the kidnapping
of children are carried on lay them daily both
in the city and the suburban villages. But when
it is considered that the soldier's full pay is only
about nine shillings a month, and that he seldom
receives a third of it, it is not remarkable that he
should seek the means of subsistence else
where."
Tyranny and cupidity are not, however, the
only weaknesses of Afghan rulers, for the pre
sent Ameer has himself set the example of poi
soning relatives, murdering obnoxious individuals
generally, and, if rumours current in India
be well founded, in torturing sons into imbe-
; cility. That a certain humour often accom
panies these a<jts does not justify them, and in
the foilowing~instance, a typical one of the
relations of the governors and the governed in
Cabul, it is impossible not to discern a complete
paralysis of social and domestic order. A rich
man died, leaving one child, a daughter of nine
years. The relatives met to decide on the dis
posal of the effects of the deceased, but, being
unable to agree, carried the case to the Sirdar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. .
The magistrate ordered the child to be produced
with all her wealth, and, on their appearance,
ordered the one to his harem, the other to his
treasury, informing the thunderstruck relations
that, as he had made up his mind to marry the
orphan, her riches would constitute her dowry,
and they might go. Drunkenness, although
their religion forbids all stimulants, is a fashion
able vice among the aristocracy of Cabul, from
the Royal family downwards ; and, besides the
various wines produced from the local grapes—
nearly every noble has his own wine
press on the premises—a large trade in Euro
pean alcoholic liquors is carried on. The amuse
ments of the upper class are debauchery and, field
sports. Of the former it suffices to say that the
abominations of all Mohammedan countries seem
to be naturalised and exaggerated among the
subjects of the Ameer. With regard to their
field sports, we have in a recent issue given a
sketch of its chief forms ; but it remains to add
that whatever the game in view may be the
Afghan sportsman compasses its destruction
in the laziest manner possible. In shooting
they never think of taking a flying shot, but
prefer the more deliberate, and easy " pot," and,
indeed, when the occasion offers, the sports
man goes out to his ground, and ensconcing
himself in a shady corner, waits for game to
pass the muzzle of his gun, even though the
vineyards all round him may be, as they usually
are, resonant with the cries of the partridge and
quail. When after antelope, the Afghan always
sits down and stops till the quarry comes past
him, either in its natural course or driven by
beaters. In many exercises, however, they excel,
and when therefore they express surprise and dis
gust at the undignified exertions taken in their
amusements by Europeans, they are only giving ^
utterance to the feelings that possess every
Oriental when he sees an Englishman tramping
after game rifle in hand, and enduring cheer
fully all the fatigue that comes in the days
work. The Afghan does not recognise the
virtue of activity. Nor, considering that a
rotund paunch is held to be respectable, could it
well be otherwise ? Violent exercise has the
tendency to reduce obesity, and therefore, to the
Oriental mind, to lower a person's claims to the
respect of others.
In war only, public or private, is the latent
energy of the Afghan character evoked, and to
compass his revenge, to bring down his quarry
in a man-hunt, all the vindictive activity of
the people is brought into exercise. No length
of tedious march or patient ambuscade deters
the Afghan from his revenge, and even in cold
blood they carry out themselves, and applaud in
others, acts of retributive justice, as they call it.
The hideous practice of allowing private per
sons to exact vengeance for injuries received
has been an Eastern custom from time imme
morial, and flourishes to-day in Afghanistan in
all its revolting simplicity. Thus, two men
happening to quarrel, one wounded the other,
and the wounded man, refusing to submit to
amputation, died. His brother, as next-of-kin,
at once claimed the privilege of putting the
homicide to death, and at a formal council held
the claim was admitted as sound. The subse
quent exaction of the penalty is thus described
by a European writer The lowest of the four classes into which East India Company civil servants were divided. A Writer’s duties originally consisted mostly of copying documents and book-keeping. : '• About noon there
was a great crowd and tumult of voices out
side the citadel gate, but, as we knew what
was to take place, we did not go out to see
the ceremony. Presently the din was hushed,
there was a momentary pause of complete
silence, and then a sudden outburst of ap
plause. We hardly needed to be told what
had happened, but soon after Faramuz Khan
came in, in perfect ecstacies of delight at the
brutal sight he had just witnessed and applauded.
He told us that after the judge had pronounced
the prisoner guilty, he consigned him to the care
of the avenger, who at once stepped forward,
and, unsheathing his knife, threw down his
brother's homicide, and kneeling on his chest,
with a sonorous Bismillah-a-rahman-a-rahim
(In the name of God the most merci
ful and gracious), cut his throat from ear to
ear as he would have done that of a sheep."
The chiefs, it will be seen, have no claim to the
respect of those over whom they are placed, nor
do they command their respect. And from
them the examples spreads downwards to the
lowest, of looking at all who are weaker than
themselves as their prey, and all equals as their
Leuemie^