Scrapbook of newspaper cuttings about Afghanistan [‎97r] (197/312)

AFQSJNISTAN.
j The veiy interesting telegram from India we publish
! this morning confirms the view we have heretofore
I expressed that a winter campaign in Cabul would
not be undertaken. Troops are being massed at
the various frontier stations in readiness for a for
ward movement, and reinforcements are being hur
riedly pushed on to Quettah, whither General Bid-
dulph has already gone. Commissariat arrange
ments ,'appear to cause dissatisfaction, and much
difficulty is experienced in procuring car
riage for the troops. A record of past wars in
India shows that this branch of our Eastern Ar my
has generally proved itself most efficient, and there
is no reason why it should now be unequal to the
task before it. Unfortunately, the Punjab, the
great carriage depdt for India, has for the past 16
years been steadily drained of beasts of burden.
Mules, the most invaluable animals for mountain
warfare, were purchased by thousands for the
I Bhootan, Abyssinian, Looshae, and Dufiia
; expeditions, and no means taken to keep
! up the supply or inducements offered to
the zemindars to continue the breeding of them.
| The Punjab camel is too light a beast to.
stand tho heavy work of the Afghan mountains,
• and over the flooded country in Northern Scinde
would most assuredly split up in the feet ; fortu
nately in a few days now large caravans of Ghilzae
merchants will be pouring into the Derajat through
| the passes in the Suliman mountains. For a sufficient
) consideration these men will be willing to place
their camels at the disposal of the Indian Govern'
•j ment for the invasion of their own country, so that
| we may shortly hear of the difficulty regarding
j carriage being removed.
Previous arrangements with regard to the distri
bution of the columns appear to hold good. General
Biddulph commands the Southern Column, which
is being mobilized at Sukkur and Dera Ghazee
Khan. In all probability the Bombay Column will
j move from the former place by the Bolan, and the
| Bengal troops from Ghazee Khan by the Boogti
| Derah route on Quettah.
The central column has for its object the perma-
ment occupation of the Kuroom Valley, through
^ which runs a fairly good road to Ghuzni and
Cabul. The hardships experienced by Lumsden's
, Mission in 1857 do not quite bear out the favour
able impression given of the road by our Corre
spondent ; while the turbulent conduct of the
] Jaji8,who with difficulty were restrained by the
i Ameer's troops from _ massacring the Mission,
scarcely permits us to indulge in the belief that
i the inhabitants are very friendly to us. As far as
I the Peiwar Kotul they may be so, and, indeed,
we know they are. British columns have on one
occasion, at any rate, penetrated as far as this pass
without meeting any opposition. The Peiwar Pass
1 is not very formidable. The ascent is by a zigzag
; road with an easy gradient, but drag ropes would
be necessary for guns.
The climate of Kuroom is described as being mag
nificent; for about six weeks the winter is severe,but
: during the spring and autumn it is most charming,
j The valley is very fertile, filled with orchards, and
exceedingly well cultivated. The principal tribes are
the Baugash, a large section of whom dwell in the
I Hungoo and Kohat districts under our rule, and
who are peaceably|disposed, and the Turis, who are
| far better fighting material than their neighbours.
; These two tribes are estimated at a strength of
i 5,000 able-bodied i men each. The Jajis can
I put about 2,500, and the Mangals about 2,100
fighting men into the field. There are upwards of
40 walled villages in the valley capable of stubborn
defence agaihst assailants unarmed with artillery.
The chief crops of the valley are rice, wheat,
cotton, and barley, which the inhabitants
bring down to the Friday fair at our can
tonment of Bunnoo. Water, forage, and fire
wood are abundant throughout the district.
The whole of the inhabitants are Maho-
medans of the Shia persuasion, and are conse-
| quently inimical to the Suni rulers of Cabul. So
long ago as 1849, when the late Sir Herbert
Edwardes was employed in the Bunnoo district,th®
then ruler of Kuroom officially informed the British
officer that his tribes were anxious to place them
selves under ourSrule. r ..,The occupationjof Kuroom
and the adjacent "Valley of Khost has often been
considered as a possible measure by the Indian Go
vernment, to be carried out in much th& same way
i as the occupation of Cyprus has been recently
i achieved—that is, that we were to pay the
i Ameer his usual annual taxes, amounting to £1,500
per annum. It was calculated there would be a very
trifling loss to the Indian Exchequer, but the gain
in a strategical sense it was supposed would counter
balance it. There is no doubt that, with strong
military posts in the valley, we should be far
nearer Cabul and Ghuzni than we are at present,
and far more able to inflict a blow either on the
Ameer or on the Afridis of the Safaid Koh, should
such steps h be^desirable. The fort of Kuroom is gar
risoned by the Ameer's soldiers, and was visited
not only by Lumsden's Mission in 1857, but
also by a force under Sir .Neviiie Chamberlain
in 1856. It is by no means a formidable
work, and is not likely to give much trouble to
General Roberts's brigade. It is situated nearly in
the centre of the valley, 25 miles east of the Peiwar
Pass, 115 west of Kohat, 120 from Cabul, and 150
from Ghuzni. Like the;: majority of Eastern
forts, it is a square mud building ; the faces are
about 120 yards in length, with circular towers at
the angles. A second work, with loftier parapets,
is built inside. In this are the magazines, store-
i houses, &c. The outer work is surrounded by a
,i ditch, which can be flooded at pleasure. Enough
has been said of this district to show that^ the occu
pation of this valley as far as the Peiwar Kotal can
be undertaken with ease. Its communications with
Kohat, the base of operations of the central column
are easy, and the valley itself will form an
admirable secondary base for the ulterior advance
on Cabul. Its seizure will undoubtedly be a great
blow to the Ameer's prestige. Lord Lytton will
| probably be satisfied this year, at any rate, with
I the occupation of the province, and no movement
over.the Peiwar or the Shutargurdan will be un
dertaken by General Roberts's brigade until the
spring.
The news from Peshawur is conflicting. That
troops should be massed at Jumrood is a most
necessary step, and it is stated that the
mobilization presages an Attack on Ali
Musjid. We learn that the Ameer has brought
■ down a considerable body of men to the mouth of
the Khyber, and to prevent these troops debouch
ing into our plains and destroying our villages is
|l ail important. _ As to the plan of moving
0| on to Ali Musjid with the intention of remain"
H ing there during the winter, the following
sketch of the part this little fori: played from 1839
|| to 1842 may not be uninteresting. It takes its name
| from the ruins of a small Mahomedan mosque in its
il vicir,it y> and is situated midway between Peshawur
and Dhaka, about eight miles from the
eastern, 26 from the western end of | the
Khyber Pass, and 70 from Jelalabad. It
stands on the south side of the Pass, on the
summit of beetling crags which tower perpen-
1 dicularly above the roadway. The crests of the
hills at this spot are barely 150 yards from each
other, and as on the northern slopes a smaller
masonry block-house is constructed, a very
effective 3 cross-fire cani be poured on troops
advancing through |the ; defile. Fortunately the
fort is commanded both from (.the south and from
^ the west, and it was on these faces that Colonel
Wade delivered his attack in 1839. Although he
commenced his operations on the 25th of July, and
was enabled in a few hours to drive the defenders
from their outworks by the accuracy of his shell
fire, they only being armed with matchlocks,
it was not until ,] three days later that the
place surrendered. Its garrison was under
1,000 strong, of whom 500 were Irregular i
Jezailchees, the remainder levies from the Afridi
and Shinwarri tribes. Wade's loss was over 150
killed and wounded. As the occupation of the
place was absolutely necessary in order to keep open
free communication with jjjour forces in Jelalabad
and Cabul,a garrisonfofYusufzae Pathans was placed
in it. In November, 1841, a desperate attack was
made on the fort by a body of about 2,000 men be
longing to the neighbouring Afghan tribes. They cut
off the water supply and reduced the place to dread
ful straits ; but Mackeson, ever fertile of resource,
bought them off. A force under Colonel Moseley,
consisting of 2,500 men, was then sent to hold it,
but owing to insufficiency of provisions that officer
was compelled to retire in eight days, with a loss of
180 killed and wounded. Sir George Pollock on
his advance through the Khyber"left a garrison in
Ali Musjid, and on evacuating Afghanistan in No
vember. 1842. he destroyed the works, but they
were speedily reconstructed by the orders of Dost
. Mahomed.
The great drawback to Ali Musjid is its insalu
brity. In 1839 the mortality in the British de-,
j tachment holding it under Colonel Wade was some-
i thing terrible. In less than eight weeks there were
250 deaths out of a strength of a little over 2,400
men. This was mainly owing to the water, which
is strongly impregnated with antimony, and even
this supply is only obtained from the Khyber
i stream below, so that the place can easily be forced
into capitulation, should time be no object with the
advancing army. At the present moment, as there
is no immediate intention of an advance on Cabul, it
would be possibly a simple matter to force the garri
son to surrender; but by its occupation we might be
exposing our own troops to the sickness which proved
so fatal 40 years ago. The sight of a British detach
ment in the Khyber Pass might also rouse
dormant hatred of the various Khyberee clans, who
have never been favourable to us. The Zaka Khail
Afridis for years suffered ablockade at our hands and
j ever have been the greatest thieves on the Peshawur
i border ; while the Shinwanis, implicated in the
j murder of a British officer a few years ago, are or
; were openly hostile toward us.