Correspondence and Papers on Persia [‎10v] (25/107)

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in a few hours of any hostile movement on the part of the
Russians, and could take action at once.
The first link in the chain, viz., from Chaman to
Kandahar, could be laid within a month, were the A mir s sanc
tion obtained. There are absolutely no physical m lenities,
and the country is so sparsely populated and the tribes are so
well in hand that the wire would not be inter lei ed 'Mth. Ihe
section most likely to give trouble would be that between
Kandahar and Farah, as the Zammdawar district with its
notoriously evil-disposed population, would have to oe travers
ed. But if one thing is clear, it is that the Amu is leaied
throughout the length and breadth of Afghanistan, his stern
rule having inspired every 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. and tribal elnet with a holy
horror of after-consequences should they defy ms authority.
If it were his will that a telegraph line should >c laid and
maintained from Kandahar to Herat he would but have to
make known his command that the working parties should not
be molested and the wire be held sacred to ensure his orders
being respected. We may imagine what measures would be
taken if the line were cut: the local tribe would be held res
ponsible for the damage, and their ruined and smoking villages
would soon testify to the anger of the Amir. 1 ake the case of
the overland line through Persia, which was at first frequently
broken in the Province of Fars, then overrun with robbers.
The Shah was resolved that the wire of the mysterious bijli-
dak System of postal communication used in Moghul India and later by the East India Company. should be respected, and he sent to Fars a stern old soldier
who rejoiced, we believe, in the title of Hissam-el-Sultanat, the
“ Sword of the State.” Due warning was given that death
would be the punishment awarded to anyone found destroying
the telegraph, but still the wire was cut and the posts uprooted.
Hissam-el-Sultanat caught some of the robbers, and his mode
of disposing of them soon struck terror among their fellows.
When a man was caught, a hollow pedestal of masonry was
built near the road-side along which the telegraph ran, and in
this the poor wretch was placed. He was “ built in ” with
bricks and mortar to his armpits, and was then left to perish
of starvation, his skeleton remaining as a warning to other
evil-doers. A cruel measure no doubt; but, then, the Persians
are not a civilised nation, and their usual punishments are
barbarous in the extreme. A few ghastly examples of this
kind and the telegraph line was left untouched, and its main
tenance now is a very easy business. We are convinced that
the Amir could ensure the safety of any line of telegraph that
might be put in Afghanistan, just as the Shah has ensured
the maintenance of the lines in Persia; it is merely a matter of
Abdur Rahman being won over to see the advantages of having
the wire laid, He has shown a lively interest in telephones