The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1878-10-02
Afghanistan and the Afghans.
some Acc ount ofthe Country with which
England may 20 10 War.


England may 20 10 War.
Aishanistan is county in Central Asia.
"nich has suddenly been brought before the
whoie civilized world by the struggle between
R1ssia and England for supremacy over it and
its people, as barrier to the possessions OF
both countries. The Himalayas are a section
or the broken chain of highlands which
stretches across the continent of the Old World
from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean, and
end naturally only at the Bamain Pass, for the
Hlndoo koosh are but an extension of the
Himalayas, and end naturally in the great din
at Bamain, although the range, under other
names, continues westward along the northern
frontier OF Persia on to the plateau of Armenia.
Atghanistan thus lies both north aud south Of
the Himalayas both beyond and within the
Hindoo Koosb, and the part Of it which con.
Germs Great Britain and Russia Just at the
present is that which includes the valleys OF
Cabul and Candahar, to the south Of the Him.
doc Kcosh, and within the basin of the Indus.
Afghanistan proper is simply part of the In
dus basin, thai part of it formed by the south.
ern watershed Of the 4indoo Koosh, and To
perfect the northwestern frontier of British In
dia it has long been felt in England that the
waters OF the Hindoo Koosh, from the Pamers
Steppe to the Bamisn Pass, which leads into
western Turkestsn, should be in British hands,
or in the hands of trusted allies. The conquest
OF the country, however, would be a matter of
no little d'thcolty. In military point Of view,
Afghanistan is stronger even than Algeria. 1t
is ''the Mahratts country" of northern India
country sbounding 10 all the resources of war,
in which armies can be prepared in perfect Sc
crecy, and descend to sweep the rich aud de-
fenceless plains below without q moments
warning. The proverb is current throughout
Central Asia, HE who cOuquers Cabul rules
in Hindostan." Afghanistso, in fact abso.
lutely commands Iudia, and it is felt that the
British must eventually turn it to their own ad-
vantage as redoubt across the ditch of the In
dus and outwork of the Himslaysn rampant Of
India In possession of civilized hostile pow
er, 1t would hang in the Himaayan sky over
the great camp of Delhi like the sword OF Da-
mocles. The British, under these circum-
stances, could no longer hold India except on
suffsrance.
The population of the whole country known
as Atghanistan is neatly 100000. The Az
ghsns of the Cabul and Candahsr valleys,
who alone are concerned iu the present diff
Guilty, are divided into two great tribes-the
Ghilzles of Cabul and the Daranis of Canda-
bar. The Ghilzles. had in former times the as
cendancy, and it was their chief. Mahmoud
WuO ON6ELuItW tue oOu dynasty OF RSr3tA In
17l7 and conquered Persia, but after their ex-
pnlsion by Nadir Shah the Duranis got the
upper hand. This tribe is divided into niue
clans. the chief Of which are the Sadoz ais, the
old royal clan of Ahmed Shah Durani, and
the Barokzais represented by Dost Moham-
med aud Shere Ali; and it is the rivalries be-
tween these royal clans aud families which
have reduced Afghauistan to political nonen-
tity, in spite of its extent, fertility and popu,
lation. The Afghan tribes are, physically, re-
rtyo htu tJnn tall -
and active. They have extremely handsome
faces, and the beauty of their women is often
OF dazzling brllliauce. The Afghan women
of some of the frontier tribes go unveiled,
When they meet a man coming along the road.
the more elderly modestly Cast down their eyes
and pass on. but the younger women turn their
backs TO him, and stand still until he has gone
by. This coy demeanor has proved fatal to the
peace OF many young English subalterD, who
has found it impossible to pass the enchanting
apparition in his path. The Afghans are ex-
tremely hospitabe, and When once forced to
settle down to industrial pursuits develop an
astonishing aptitude for trade. They have made
little progress towards general settling down,
however, because of the rivalries and Jealous
les of the chiefs of the different tribes Iu
maps the frontiers of Afghanistan are made to
coincide with those of India, but all the bor-
der tribes both claim and maintain their inds-
pendence OF any central authority, aud are un-
der no rule whatever except that of their own
chiefs, and even these are seldom obeyed one
Instant longer than is convenient. Indeed, the
only authority which has of lats years been rev.
erenced by the tribes oD the northwest frontier
OF India was that of the late Akhoond of Swat.
who accidentally gained his ascendancy over
them through his reputation as saint.
1t has been the settled policy Of the British
officials of the PuDjauh, which is the district
Immediately ad jacent to Afghanistau, to eL-
couras Q the claims of the frontier tribes to in-
dependence of the Ameer of Cabul. They have
ALWAYS affected to treat these tribes as useful
"butfer" between the Indian Govern ment and
the Ameer, and the tribes themselves have
only been too glad to play off the one power
against the other As consequence, the north
west frontier of India has been in q chronic
state OF trouble ever since the annex alton OF the
Punjaub, in 1849. La the interval between
that date and the present, the Indian Govern
ment has been obliged to undertake no less
than twenty.eight expeditions against them, or
az the rate OF one expedition a year. The
khyber Pass, which Is or ought to be the great
highway between British India and Central
Asia, has never once been open to peaceful ex-
pedltions more than few weeks at a time.
The Ameer could not keep il open without as
serting and maintaining his supremacy over the
wild tribes in its vicinity, and the British have
shrunk from undertaking the task for fear Of
giving offense to Cabul. AS conseq uence tle
very considerable trade between the Puniaub
and Afghanistan has been obliged to seek out
the difficult routes to the north of the Khyber
and between the real Kbyber Pass and ths Ca
bal river. The ability of the Ameer to sudden
ly man the pass and thus head off General Sir
Neville Chambsrlain's mission was the direct
result Of the hslf-hearted policy which has been
pursued by the British Government in India,
Now they are repenting at their leisure; aua
meanwhile, General Abramoff, the Russian
envoy is doing all he can towards cementing an
alliance between the Ameer and Russia. The
British authorities, on their part fully realiss
the critical character of the situation, aud ap-
pear to be moving in response to the universal
demand of the Indian press for an apology
from the Ameer or the occupation of Afghanis-
tan. But the military operations which are
inevitable must be postponed until spring, for
the attempt to force the Khyber Pass in winter
would be sheer folly. Nearly forty years ago
the British We're reckless enough to venture
upon military operations in the Afghan coun-
ry in mid-winter, and the terrible lesson then
earned has probably not yet bsen forgotten.