The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1878-10-03
Afghanistan and the Afghans.

AfghaniStan is a country in Central
Asia, which has suddenly been brought
before the whole civilized world by the |
struggle between Russia and England '
for supremacy over it and its people, as T,
q barrier to the possessions of both coun- 1
tries. The Himalayas are section of (
the broken chain of highlands which
stretches across the continent of the
Old World from the Pacific to the At
lantic Ocean, and end naturally only at
the Bamian Pass, for the Hindoo koosh
are but.an extension Of the Himalayas,
and end naturally in the great dip at
Bamain, although the range, under 9TH
er names, continues westward along the
northern frontier of Persia on to the
plateau of Armenia. Afghanistan thus
lies both north and south of the Hima-
layas, both beyond and within the Hin
doc Koosh, and the part of it which
concerns Great Britain and Russia just
at present is that which includes the
valleys of CaboOl and Candabar, to the
south of the HindOo Koosh, and within
the basin of the Indus. Afghanistan
proper is simply part of the Indus
basin, that part of it formed by the south I
ern watershed of the Hindoo koosh,
and to perfect the northwestern frontier
of British India, it has long been felt IN /
England that the waters of the HIndoo /
Koosh, from the Pamere Steppe to the
Bamian Pass, which leads into Western
Turkestan, should be in British hands,
or in the hands of trusted allies. The
conquest of the country, however,
would be matter of no little difficulty.
In military point of view Afghanistan
is stronger even than Algeria. 1t is
"the Mahratta country" of Northern
Indiar-a country Astounding in all the
resources of war, in which armies can
be prepared in perfect secrecy, and de
scend to sweep the rich and defenseless
plains below without moments warn
ing. The proverb is current through
out Central Asia, "He who conquers
Cabool rules in Hindoostan." Afghan
istan, in fact, absolutely commands In
dia, and it is felt that the British must
eventually turn it to their own advan-
tage as a redoubt across the ditch of the
Indus and outwork of the Himalayan
rampant of India. In possession OF
civilized hostile power it would hang in
the Himalayan sky over the great camp
of the Delhi like the sword of Damocles
The British, under these circumstances,
could no longer hold India except on
sufferance.
The population of the whole country
known as Afghanistan is nearly 8,0OO,-
600. The Afghans of the Cabool and
Candahar Valleys, who alone are inl-
mediately concerned in the present diff
Guilty, are divided into two great tribes
the Ghilzles of Cabool and the Duranis
of Candahar. The Ghilzles had in for
mer times the ascendancy, and it was
their chief-Mahmoud-who overthrow
the Soft dynasty of Persia in 1717 and
conquered Persia, but after their expul-
sion by Nadir Shah the Duranis got the
upper hand. This tribe is divided into
nine clans, the chief of which are the
Sadozais, the old royal clan of Ahmed
Shah Durani, and the Barokzais, repre-
sented by Dost Mohammed and Shere
Ali; and it is the rivalries between those
royal clans and families which have re-
duced Afghanistan to political nonent;-
ty, in spite of its extent, fertility and
population. The Afghan tribes are,
physically, remarkably fine races-tall,
robust, we'll formed and active.
They have extremely handsome
faces, and the beauty Of their
women is often of dazzling bril-
lance. The Afghan women of some of
the frontier tribes go unveiled. When
they meet 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 subal-
tern, who has found it impossible to pass
the enchanting apparition in his path.
The Afghans are extremely hospitable,
and when once forced to settle down TO
industrial pursuits, develop an astonish-
ing aptitude for trade. They have
made little progress toward a general
settling down, however, because of the
rivalries and jealousies of the chiefs of
the different tribes. In maps the from
tiers of Afghanistan are made to coin
eide with those of India, but all the
border tribes both claim and maintain
their independence of any central au-
thority, and are under no rule whatever
except that of their own chiefs, and even
these are seldom obeyed Oneinstant long
err than is convenient. Indeed, the only
authority which has of late years been
reverenced by the tribes on the north
west frontier of India was that of the
1 late Akhoond, of Swat, who accidental
ly gained his ascendancy over them
through his reputation as saint.
I 1t has been the settled policy of the
British officials of the Punjab, which is
the district Immediately adjacent to
/ Afghanistan, to encourage the claims of
the frontier tribes to independence of
the Ameer of Cabool. They have al
ways affected to treat these tribes as a
useful "buffer'' between the Indian
/ Government and the Amer, and the
tribes themselves have only been too
glad to play off the one power against
the other. As consequence, the
northwest frontier of India has been in
a chronic state of trouble ever since the
annexation of the Puniab in 1S49. In
4 the interval between that date and the
present. the Indian Government has
/ been obliged to undertake no less than
twenty-eight expeditions against them,
| or at the rate of one expedition a year.
The Khyb Pass, which is or ought to
be the great highway between British
! India and Central Asia, has never once
been open to peaceful expeditions more
/ than few weeks at time. The Ameer
could not keep it open without assert
ing ard maintaining his supremacy
over TIE wild tribes in its vicinity, and
the British have shrunk from under
taking the task for fear of giving Of
Tense to Cabool. As. consequence the
very considerable trade between the Pun
I iab and Afghanistau has been obliged to
seek out all the difficult routes to the