The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-26 00:00:00

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[PRICE 49. STAMPICD 5D*

THE .117mY AND THE GATE ; 9'HE
_ROA!) -PROM THE CASPIAN TO THE
INDUS.

The limits of a brief memoir do not consist with

our attempting to argue the question whether the
presumed designs of Russia upon our Indian em-
pire are more or less serious ; but it may be ob-
served, en, passant, that the most sceptical have
by this time ceased to regard such designs as alto-
gether imaginary. Our present object is only to
give an intelligible, however concise, account of the
roads by which a Russian army might hest reach
India from the shores of the Caspian Sea. It is
unnecessary here to discuss the probable strength of
the invaders in men or in materiel, but they would
need to be well provided at all points. An invasion
of India at the present day is a far different enter-
prise from that which was successfully undertaken
by Alexander, Mahmood of Ghuzni, Tiinour,
Baber, and Nadir Shah. An analogy is subverted
in presence of the.fact that the modern invader can
have no chance of success without being prepared,
at the end of a laborious and disorganising march,
to encounter, not, as heretofore, the pageant levies
of an Oriental court, but the banded discipline, the
arms, the arts, and the sterner civilisation of the
Western world.

The original basis of a Russian expedition against
India is necessarily the Caspian Sea, which is
simply a Russian lake—not so much as a fishing
boat being allowed to stivuipon. its waters, without
a formal permit from the paramount authority.
From the eastern shores of the Caspian, two main

routes (each admitting of some variation in detail)
lead directly to.the banks of the Indus. The first
of these proceeds across the desert land intervening
betwixt the waters of the Caspian and those of the
smaller inland see of Aral, and so on to Khiva.
Upon this line it is alleged that the Russians have
already sunk wells, stage by stage, in the desert,

and taken other measures to secure their means of
communication. Quitting Khiva, the invaders
would probably observe a loose parallel with the
general course of the Oxtts, taking every advan-
tage of the capabilities of that fine stream, up to
that point where its navigation ceases to be easy.
The onward route would then lie through Balkh,
Khooloon, and Bamian, over the passes of the
Hindoo-Koosh, to Cabul. The second of the two

main lines has its commencement ha the neighbour-
hood of Astrabad, the south-eastern point of the
Caspian, and leads, by Meshed, to Herat.
Now, a very little consideration induces us to

set down the first or more northerly of these lines
of approach as altogether out of question. It is
much longer than the other ; a larger portion of
desert country has to be traversed; the wildest
tribes are to be encountered ; supplies could not be
obtained, water is often scarce, and the greatest
difficulty would be experienced in transporting the
materiel of a large army over mountain passes, at an
elevation of 13,000 feet above the level of the ocean.
If in ancient times Alexander adopted this route,
we are at least assured that he met with great
natural obstacles, and experienced much opposi-
tion. After all, there is some reason for supposing
that his eventual success was in no small degree
due to the liberality with which he treated the
hostile chiefs. Certain it is that the Macedonians

felt themselves to have had quite enough of the
work, as was evinced by their undisguised mutiny,
not long after, on the banks of the Sutlej.
But, independently of these obvious reflec-
tions, there is little doubt that the Russian

Government has long since been warned by
its agents against contemplating an advance
by the Paropamisan line. Indeed, the then noto-
rious Vickovitch, addressing his superior, from
Cabul, in the year 1837, writes somewhat as fol-
lows :—" The geographical position of Afghanistan
makes it the only route through which a conqueror

can pass from Candahar to the very shores a the
ocean. Barren deserts, which can never be passed
by any kind of military force, on the north and
north-west, the way from Toorkistan is hemmed in
by the strong passes of the Hindoo-Koosh, which
offer only two roads impracticable during four
months for the passage of military stores or sup-
plies to support an army."
Under these circumstances, we have little hesita-
tien in presuming that an invading force would
give---preference to the route from Astrabad to
Herat, which passes through the important city of
Meshed. The country presents no impediments
to the march of troops ; and as for the road, Count
Simonitch, the Russian envoy, having expressed
a fear lest infirm health might prevent him accom-
panying the late Shah of Persia in his expedition of
1837, was told that he might, if so disposed, travel
every inch of the way in his own carriage with per-
fect safety. It is, moreover, not unworthy of
notice that a sufficient force advancing along this
road can hold the wild Toorcomans completely in
check. Thus Lord Auckland, in a despatch dated.
Simla, May 12, 1838, says :—" The rapid and suc-
cessful advance of Persia in the investment of Herat
and the well-judged diversion by which the Shah
has been able to cut off apparently every hope of
succour to the place from any of the friendly tribes
in Toorkistan, have intervened to baffle all our cal-
culations." We shall now, then, suppose an in-
vading force arrived, without encountering any
material difficulties, at
HERAT, THE KEY OP INDIA,
of which place it may be as well to give a succinct
account. The territofy, of which Herat is the chief
town, is the last remnant of the Afghan monarchy
founded by Ahmed Shah Douranee, after the death
of his master, Nadir Shah, in 1747. Since the
decay of monarchical government in Affghanistan,
Persia has ever looked upon this province with a
greedy eye. Nay, the Persian government has of
late years openly avowed a belief that the posses-
sion of Herat would give such a hold on England
that she could no longer deny anything the Persians
chose to demand, for its possession would give the
power .to disturb the English in India, or to give
a passage thither to their enemies, whenever the
Persians should think proper to do so. In opposi-
tion to this convenient doctrine, it is justly argued
on the other hand, that Afghanistan must be con-
sidered the out-lying frontier of India. No Euro-
pean nation has any relations, either commercial
or political, with the former country. The British
are, therefore, entitled to regard any interference
with jealousy, and all the best authorities agree
that the integrity of Herat must be maintained, as
the only safe and sure means of opposing the efforts
of Persiato annihilate the independence of Afghan-
istan. Shah Kamran, the last lineal ruler of Ah-
med's yace, steadily refused to acknowledge the
Persian monarch as his sovereign or to coin money
or suffer the prayers to be read in his name. He
was not unwilling to yield him a certain deference
and respect, or even to pay a kind of honorary
tribute. But he would neither relinquish his own
title of Shah door-i-dooran,* nor own himself de-
pendent upon Persia, nor admit of interference
with the internal affairs of his kingdom.
Herat the capital—the Aria of Arian—stands in
lat. 34 deg. 50 min, north, and long. 62 deg. 30 min.
east, at an elevation of 2,500 feet above the level
of the sea. It is 200 miles S.E. by E. of Meshed,
and 360 miles west of Cabul. Prior to the siege
of 1837-38, the town was reckoned to contain about
45,000 inhabitants, but that event, and other suc-
ceeding calamities, will probably have reduced the
number much below the amount named. A ditch,
mound, and bastioned wall enclose the town, in
the form of an oblong area, of which the greater
length is nearly a mile. There are five gates; and
four arcaded bazaars, similar to those of Cabul,_ie
meet under a dome in the centre of the place. The
real strength of the fortifications consists in
slopentwo
covered ways, or fausse-braies, on the exterior
of the embankments one within and the
other
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But how are the invaderstopro
a direct
proceed? Tradition
tells of, and modern maps indicate,
from Herat to Cabul ; but, practically, no such
thing exists.
There may indeed be points of de-
scent: between those two places, where troops free
ofincumbrance, or with only mountain artillery,
might—if not actively opposed—effect a passage
over the Hindon-Koosh. But a modern army,
destined to invade British India, would not attempt
to make its way by any other route than that of

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