Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1879-10-04

that the Ameer is believed either TO
have connived at the recent outbreak or,
al least. to have been forced to sanction
the movement in self-defence. What
special tie, for instance, attaches To him
the Mahmunds. who, We are told, have
taken an active part in the uprising?
What il the source Of his influence over
the great Ghilzai group, whom. accord
ing to a telegram, he has called TO arms?
Above all, what is the precise relation
OF the present ruler, and Of his dynasty,
TO the powerful Durani clan which has
long formed the dominant element in
Afghanistan? Some clear notion of
Of these matters is essential TO an under
standing Of current kilograms.
Both from a numerical and an his
torical point OF view the two foremost
tribes of the Afghan or Pathan race are
the Ghilzais and the Duranis. The an
cestral home of the latter lies in and
about Herat, stretching TO 4 point some
what beyond Candahar. That city,
however, was originally included in the
Ghilzai country, which still covers the
whole southeastern part of Afghanistan.
The Ghilzais are reputed to be descend
ed from the illegitimate son Of an exiled
Persian Prince, Shah Hussein, but they
were the first TO throw off the Persian
yoke and 10 give independence TO the
Afghan tribes who previously had been
ruled from Ispahan or from Delhi. 1t
was not much more than a century and
4 half ago that the Ghilzais in the neigh-
borhood Of Candahar rose against their
Persian governor. and made one Of their
chiefs, Mir Nais, King.
The dynasty thus created in la0l had
a brilliant but short career, and was de-
throned in 1877 by the Persian General,
Nadir Shah. The latter had been as
sisted IN his Eastern conquests by an
Afghan chief named Ahmed Khan, the
head of the Sudosye family Of the Alb
dali clan. After the death of Nadir
Shah, his Afghan lieutenant set himself
up as King in Candahar, the difference
between his dynasty and that of Mir
Vais being that in the latter case the
Ghilzais and in the former the Abdalis
Wee the controlling tribe. in the hope
of appeasing the enmity between these
clans, which, however, has not been
wholly healed to this day, Ahmed as
sumed the title Of Durf-i-Duraa pearl
of the Age), and henceforth the Abdalis
became known rs the Duranis At the
present day the Duranis are much the
stronger, numbering about three-quar-
tiers OF Il million souls. whereas their
traditional rivals do not muster more
than three or four hundred thousand.
The dominant tribe is generally credited
with more spirit and bravery, though
the GhilZais have given ample proof of
martial qualities.
Ii Is not, however, TO the Sudosye
branch of the Duranis that Yaeob Khan
belongs. During the latter years Of the
lasi century and the earlier years Of the
present, the Ghilzais kept up the strug-
gle for supremacy, and, though they
were unable Ia gam the throne for them
selves. they helped 10 transfer it TO an
other subdivision OF the puranis. Under
one Of Ahmed Khan's successors a chief
of the Barueksye branch became a sort
Of mayor Of the palace, and, after his
murder, brother who was TO be well
known a. Dost Mohammed displaced
the Sndo>ye line, and became sole Ameer
Al Cahul. Ii WAS not, however, until
ls+3 that the new BaTucksye house was
firmly established in the mastery of the
whole country.
Thus it appears that Dost Mohammed
and his grandson, the present ruler, can
invoke the ties of hereditary clanhood
only rs regards one branch Of the Durani
tribe. and must find in the other their
most implacable enemies. Heretofore
The Ghilz.ais have uniformly supported
the present dynasty from their hatred of
the sudcsye line, which had supplanted |
their own leaders. Moreover, Yaeob |
Khan has a special hold upon them, hav-
ing married the daughter OF one of their
most prominent chiefs. IL was this fact
quite as much as Lord Northbrook's /