The Northern Pacific farmer. [volume] (Wadena, Minn.) 1878-1885, 1880-10-21
WHO AYOOBkH IS.
The Life and Busy Career Of an AZ
| ghanistan Chieftain.
From the London Times,

ghanfstan Chteftain.
From the London Times
The victory of Ayoob Khan will have
the effect of bringing this young prince
of the Barakzai house. prominently
forward as an active participation in
the guidance of events in eastern At
ghanistan. Up to the present time he
had held aloof from the Vaccinations
at Cabul and Candahar, and the view
had become general that he was either
personally incompetent or Indifferent
to the progress of affairs. Both opin-
ions are now shown to be fallacious by
the success of the Herati army, and
Ayoob Khan will henceforth occupy
prominent place in the imagination of
the Afghan people as their
most successful champion. While
his name will undoubtedly serve to
give increased cohes: on to tile so-called
national party, his birth, together with
the promise of ability now afforded,
will tend to make him among his fol-
lowers the natural successor of his
brother Yakoob. Whereas up to the
present he remained in the background,
circumstances have now brought him
prominently forward, and in the flu
ture settlement Of Afghanistan the role
he will play must necessarily be an
important one.
Ayoob, so far as our information
goes, is the son Of the late Ameer
Shere Ali, by the daughter of the Mo-
mand chief of Lalpura, thus being the
fnll brother of Yakoob Kahn. He
was born in or about the year 1851 land
took part in the campaig n of 1S67-'S,
which resulted in the triumph of va
koob and the restoration of Shere Ali
to the throne. His name was not
mentioned, however, until much later
period. In 1871 Yakoob had fallen in
to disfavor with his father, and had for
safety withdrawn from Cabul In the
following year he retired to Seistan, and
soon afterward, gathering around him
a small band Of adventures, among
whom Ayoob was prominent, he at
tackled Herat and expelled Shere Ais
government. Until the close of the
year 1871, Yakoob ruled there in indie
pendent state, and he was assisted in
the task of government by his young
brother Ayoob. In the year mentioned
the well-known attempt to reconcile
the conflicting pretensions of Shere Ali
and his son was made, and Yakoob
went under a safe conduct to Cabul,
where he was arrested and cast into
prison. In his absence he had left Ayoob
in charge of Herat, but the prompt
measures taken by the Ameer and the
skill shown by his general, Omar Khan,
made his rule there one Of very brief
duration. = On the approach Of Shere
Ais army he fled to Persia, where he
was granted an honorable reception and
allotted Il pension by the Shah. From
1874 until the flight of Shere Ali from
Cabul, in December, 1878, he resided in
Persia, generally at Meshed, but when
the Afghan power crumbled away III it's
first contact with our own, he saw that
an opportunity offered itself for estab-
fishing himself in Herat. The governor
nominated by the Amer was apparent
ly 10th to refuse an entrance to Ayoob
at time when q common danger
seemed to sink all party differences, but
as soon as the young prince had obtain
ed admission into Herat he intrigued,
and successfully, against his fathers
Representative. When Yakoob Khan
was negotiating with us at Gandamak,
his brother Ayoob had so far
consolidated his power in the
west that he was in position to send
fresh troops to take part in the war
against ourselves. These arrived on
the scene too late, for the treaty of
Gandamark had been signed. It is
generally understood that Ayoob, on
learning the conclusion of the war, re-
preached his brother for having made
territorial concessions to the Infidel;
and the part taken by the Herati levies
in the attack on the Cabul residency
will also be remembered as substan-
TALLY this view.
! Ayoob showed ne inclination to leave
Herat and come to Cabal after the
withdrawal of our troops last year-a
circumstance which may be attributed
either to his Discrimination to surrender
independent authority, or to the con.
sideration that the communication
through Candahar was only practicable
with our assent. Even after the out.
break of the last campaign he long
remained passive, and, despite fire.
Iquent rumors, it was only within the
last few weeks that he showed any in
clination to take an active part in the
progress of events. His success will
inevitably make him the natural
leader Of the party of Yakoob, and,
while everything depends on his skill,
recollections, are unavoidably aroused
of the former proves and ability
shown by his brother in the same quar-
ter where he is nov operating. He
doubtless hopes to emulate the career
of his uncle, the famous Akbar Khan,
but he will find that the state of affairs