Scrapbook of newspaper cuttings about Afghanistan [‎129r] (265/312)

a ^ /3
In the early part of the year 1876 an elaborate report, about ninety pages
long, was compiled by Captain H. Trotter, R.E., on the journeys of three
Indian native explorers named, respectively, "the Havildar Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard. ," "the Moolah,"
and "the Pundit." These three men had each done during the years 1873-4-5
very important exploring work beyond the British-Indian frontiers. The
first had crossed the Hindoo Koosh and the Oxus, and had surveyed several
routes in Badakhshan, Kolab Darwaz, &c.j and the second had crossed the
same great mountain range by a more easterly route, and had travelled
through Wakhan to Kashgar. The most remarkable journey of the three,
however, was that of " the Pundit," who is now better known to fame as
Pundit Nain Singh. His route (over 1,200 miles' long) lay through an
unexplored portion of Tibet, and, taken with his previous feats of travel,
very deservedly gained him the gold medal of the Royal Geographical
Society. The three reports on these journeys were bound up together,
and the edition printed was, we believe, one of about three hundred
copies. But this work, which contained no more important political
allusion than a casual remark that the ruler of Afghan Turkestan was
detested for his cruelty and debaucheries, and that the Baroghil was
the easiest known pass over the eastern Hindoo Koosh—two facts
already perfectly notorious—this work, we say, was branded (in blood-red
letters) " Secret and confidential," relegated to their Index Expurgatorius,
and ruthlessly suppressed by the Calcutta Foreign Office. Some meagre
abstracts, with or without authority, found their way into public print; but the
copies were, we believe, consigned to an insect-haunted cupboard at Dehra
Doon and the seal of the Foreign Secretary set on the door of the prison-
house. By this time the geographers, whose desire for fresh information is
exactly in inverse proportion to that of foreign and political officers,
began to clamour. The abstracts were miserably insufficient; the detailed
routes were not given; the height above the sea of a particular lake
in Eastern Tibet had been omitted ; and there was good reason to
believe that a portion of the Havildar Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard. 's route between Cabul and
the Oxus was not exactly what it pretended to be. All these points, and
many more of equally vital importance could be elucidated if the original
reports were but made accessible to the panting votaries of science. The
Calcutta Foreign Office, however, remained inexorable; and up to the
present time, we believe, the mystic seal has remained undisturbed on the
aforesaid cupboard-door. We would suggest that an excellent opportunity
has now arrived for its removal.
At a time when information about Afghanistan is in demand, it may
tie useful to mention that a very graphic as well as accurate descrip
tion of it is to be found in the notes of an itinerary through that
country by the distinguished General Nott, and published as an appendix
to his Life. General Nott, as is well known, was one of the few men in
high places in Afghanistan who did not lose his head when the difficulties
gathered round us in the fourth year of our occupation. Entering as
a brigadier under Lord Keane's army, which advanced through the Bolan |
Pass, he was left behind in command of the station of Candahar when the
army passed on. Nott was an outspoken man, and, expressing his mind
freely about what he considered our mismanagement of affairs and the
blunders of our incompetent envoy and his "boy politicals," and pro
phesying disasters to come, he was for some time in disfavour with
the authorities in Calcutta. How truly his predictions were verified,
and how gallantly the old General, now for the first rime placed in a
position of active responsibility, confirmed the reputation for ability and
force of character which he had earned in a long peaceful career, is well
known. Occupying Candahar with one European and four native bat
talions, he held the enemy at bay all the winter, and as soon as the weather
permitted, sallied out and cleared the country of his would-be besiegers;
and, while everywhere else the English were fugitives or beleaguered, the
cantonments of Candahar henceforward remained in peaceful occupation.
Then, reinforced by troops from the Indus, obtaining a reluctant consent
from the Governor-General, he marched triumphantly forward, relieved
the gallant garrison of Khelat-i-Ghilzie, and effected a junction with
Pollock before Cabul, which place he was quite prepared to recover
without assistance, if need be. Nott persistently maintained the supe
riority of the Indian sepoy Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank. to the Afghan, and, repudiating the doctrine,
then as now too much in fashion, that the former requires the support
of European troops to lead the attack and show him the way, lost no
opportunity of pitting the sepoy Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank. alone against the enemy. It must be
added that the sepoy Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank. answered the call most satisfactorily; no troops
could have behaved better than the garrison of Candahar. The
" Notes " we have referred to were made first when Nott marched up to
Candahar in 1838, for the route from Shikarpoor by the Bolan Pass to
Candahar; and afterwards for the route from Candahar back to India,
by way of Cabul and the Khyber Pass, when he marched that way with
his avenging army in 1842. They are high evidence of the intelligeice of
the 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. , and his clearness both of expression and observation. "The
Life of General Nott" by Stocqueler is a poor affair, but yet interasting
reading from being the record of a remarkable man.
THE AFGHAN CAMPAIGN.
The Standard observes that the telegrams of to-day from India seem to
confirm the impression that the Government intend to proceed with deli
beration in their measures for bringing the Ameer of Afghanistan to reason.
The determination to leave as little as possible to chance, and not to
underrate the powers of the enemy, may be very commendable, but it
is to be questioned whether more is not lost than gained by this elaborate
preparation. Every day which passes without our striking a blow at the
Afghans involves some diminution of our military credit, while it adds to
1 he. confidence of the enem y, increases his resources, and strengthens his
Ijtmtujojun aq / cu j oum mo Xub amo,,
ItM 5E ,«,«.[* sjocMsMau °, E osn U o 3 oi !Ueq 0 '
- -mnfT mi -—-y 0581103 o; PUE o, ,
In the early part of the year 1876 an elaborate report, about ninety pages
long, was compiled by Captain H. Trotter, R.E., on the journeys of three
Indian native explorers named, respectively, "the Havildar Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard. ," "the Moolah,"
and "the Pundit." These three men had each done during the years 1873-4-5
very important exploring work beyond the British-Indian frontiers. The
first had crossed the Hindoo Koosh and the Oxus, and had surveyed several
routes in Badakhshan, Kolab Darwaz, &c.; and the second had crossed the
same great mountain range by a more easterly route, and had travelled
through Wakhan to Kashgar. The most remarkable journey of the three,
however, was that of " the Pundit," who is now better known to fame as
Pundit Nain Singh. His route (over 1,200 miles' long) lay through an
unexplored portion of Tibet, and, taken with his previous feats of travel,
very deservedly gained him the gold medal of the Royal Geographical
Society. The three reports on these journeys were bound up together,
and the edition printed was, we believe, one of about three hundred
copies. But this work, which contained no more important political
allusion than a casual remark that the ruler of Afghan Turkestan was
detested for his cruelty and debaucheries, and that the Baroghil was
the easiest known pass over the eastern Hindoo Koosh—two facts
already perfectly notorious—this work, we say, was branded (in blood-red
letters) " Secret and confidential," relegated to their Index Expurgaforius,
and ruthlessly suppressed by the Calcutta Foreign Office. Some meagre
abstracts, with or without authority, found their way into public print; but the
copies were, we believe, consigned to an insect-haunted cupboard at Dehra
Doon and the seal of the Foreign Secretary set on the door of the prison-
house. By this time the geographers, whose desire for fresh information is
exactly in inverse proportion to that of foreign and political officers,
began to clamour. The abstracts were miserably insufficient; the detailed
routes were not given; the height above the sea of a particular lake
in Eastern Tibet had been omitted ; and there was good reason to
believe that a portion of the Havildar Custodian; police sergeant; jail or prison guard. 's route between Cabul and
the Oxus was not exactly what it pretended to be. All these points, and
many more of equally vital importance could be elucidated if the original
reports were but made accessible to the panting votaries of science. The
Calcutta Foreign Office, however, remained inexorable; and up to the
present time, we believe, the mystic seal has remained undisturbed on the
aforesaid cupboard-door. We would suggest that an excellent opportunity
has now arrived for its removal.
At a time when information about Afghanistan is in demand, it may
be useful to mention that a very graphic as well as accurate descrip
tion of it is to be found in the notes of an itinerary through that
country by the distinguished General Nott, and published as an appendix
to his Life. General Nott, as is well known, was one of the few men in
high places in Afghanistan who did not lose his head when the difficulties
gathered round us in the fourth year of our occupation. Entering as
a biigadier under Lord Keane's army, which advanced through the Bolan
Pass, he was left behind in command of the station of Candahar when the
army passed on. Nott was an outspoken man, and, expressing his mind
freely about what he considered our mismanagement of affairs and the
blunders of our incompetent envoy and his "boy politicals," and pro
phesying disasters to come, he was for some time in disfavour with
the authorities in Calcutta. How truly his predictions were verified,
and how gallantly the old General, now for the first time placed in a
position of active responsibility, confirmed the reputation for ability and
force of character which he had earned in a long peaceful career, is well
known. Occupying Candahar with one European and four native bat
talions, he held the enemy at bay all the winter, and as soon as the weather
permitted, sallied out and cleared the country of his would-be besiegers;
and, while everywhere else the English were fugitives or beleaguered, the
cantonments of Candahar henceforward remained in peaceful occupation.
Then, reinforced by troops from the Indus, obtaining a reluctant consent
from the Governor-General, he marched triumphantly forward, relieved
the gallant garrison of Khelat-i-Ghilzie, and effected a junction with
Pollock before Cabul, which place he was quite prepared to recover
without assistance, if need be. Nott persistently maintained the supe
riority of the Indian sepoy Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank. to the Afghan, and, repudiating the doctrine,
then as now too much in fashion, that the former requires the support
of European troops to lead the attack and show him the way, lost no
opportunity of pitting the sepoy Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank. alone against the enemy. It must be
added that the sepoy Term used in English to refer to an Indian infantryman. Carries some derogatory connotations as sometimes used as a means of othering and emphasising race, colour, origins, or rank. answered the call most satisfactorily; no troops
could have behaved better than the garrison of Candahar. The
" Notes " we have referred to were made first when Nott marched up to
Candahar in 1838, for the route from Shikarpoor by the Bolan Pass t®
Candahar; and afterwards for the route from Candahar back to India,
by way of Cabul and the Khyber Pass, when he marched that way with
his avenging army in 1842. They are high evidence of the intelligeice of
the 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. , and his clearness both of expression and observation. " The
Life of General Nott" by Stocqueler is a poor affair, but yet interesting
reading from being the record of a remarkable man.
the afghan campaign.
The Standard observes that the telegrams of to-day from India seem to
confirm the impression that the, Government intend to proceed with deli
beration in their measures for bringing the Ameer of Afghanistan to reason.
The determination to leave as little as possible to chance, and not to
underrate the powers of the enemy, may be very commendable, but it
is to be questioned whether more is not lost than gained by this elaborate
preparation. Every day which passes without our striking a blow at the
Afghans involves some diminution of our military credit, while it adds to
the confidence of the enemy, increases his resources, and strengthens his
position. It is impossible that Shere Ali could have ventured on such a
step as the repulse of the British mission without having fully made up his
mind to a war with England. However scrupulous may have been the
conduct of the Russian agent—however nice his courtesies—it is impossible
i t* 11 ' ^.hat Shere Ali has come to the conclusion that the appearance of
Russia on the scene means that in some way or other he is to participate
in her strength. That he is likely to be disabused of this source of con
fidence before long we may well believe. In the meantime every day's delay
ii calculated to blind him to his danger and to confirm him in his delusion.