Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-05-14

tlpOn the annexation OF Pun1ab. IN lSS.
The possession OF Psshawar is always
a bone OF contention between the Ameer
of Kabul and the British Government.
II was. In fact. the possession OF
Peshawar, and the positive refusal OF
the Government OF India TO make Il
over TO Ameer Shere All Khan. which
brought about the estrangement which
led to the Afghan war. At that time
Shere All endeavored. but completely
failed. to weld the Afghan tribes TO the
frontier into one great fighting force
and to become such a leader as would
revive the old traditions OF the Afghans
as the governing power OF Northern
India, for. as have remarked, all that
these Afghan tribes need In order 10 be-
come a threatening force to the British
empire Is either religious or military
leader.
A POSSIBILITY.
Within the last thirty years which
cover my intimate knowledge OF those
tribes. there has been threatened pos
sibility of such a leader being raised w.
At one time the celebrated Akhoond Of
Swat was n centre OF enormous influence.
He had fought the Sikhs with some de-
gree of success before the British occu-
patton OF the Peshawar Valley. and du-
ring the Umbeyla war of 1853 he very
nearly succeeded in raising a religious
war He was defeated by diplomacy.
rather than by force Of arms. In 1873
Shere All Khan, the Ameer Of kabui.
thought he had succeeded in combining
the forces OF the Afghan-speaking people.
and II was not until Ali Musjid was taken,
on September q. 1873. that he discovered
his mistake. The British army had en-
tered the dark deiiles of the Khyber with
the assistance, rather than against. the
opposition OF the tribes.
II seems strange that after a period
of more than fifty years. extending from
1888, when the British forces first en-
tered Afghan territory under General
Keane. to the present time. when SIR
Robert Low has led an invading force
into the region Of Chitral, compara-
lively little has been done to subdue these
Afghan tribes.
The truth is that the Afghans like the
japanese. have national traditions which
inspire them In time of war There was
time when the Pathans or Afghans
ruled the whole of Northern India, and
when they held Delhi with the same iron
grasp that the British now hold il. and
these Afghan warriors are not 10 be re-
garded as either defunct or an effete
race. When Lord Mayo complimented
Ameer Shere Ali Khan upon the manly
bearing of his young son Abdula at the
Umballa Conference in 1863. the Ameer
exclaimed:
why, he belongs to a nation OF men"
And just as il has taken the western
world some time to discover that the
Jap Is a fighting animal, so it will proba-
bly, take some little time longer TO dis
cover that the Afghan-speaking races
and their Beloch neighbors. numbering
nearly two hundred thousand fighting
men, are a formidable force. Ii seems
strange that at the present time when
the British army attempts to settle Chi
trail affairs. IL has been compelled to
travel 500 miles. of which 200 miles is an
almost untrodden route.
\ STRONG FORCE.
1t will be observed that the British ex-
petition to Chitral. numbering, 1t is
said, three batteries of mountain artil-
lery and 1900 soldiers, is made up Of En-
glishmen. Sil<hs. and Goorkhas. The
Moslem sepoy Is necessarily excluded as
far as possible for evident reasons. In
these wars in which the fanatical ele-
ment IL introduced. II is we'll known that
when vanquished enemy cries "Allah
Akbar" God is great. that no Mosem
soldier in the pay Of foreign infidel
government would dare TO run him
VI SUbbl MIN. on the Oflcr
hand, the Sikhs and the Goorkhas are
the natural enemies Of the Moslem
Afghan.
The Sikhs are probably the finest SOL
diers in the world. They usually stand
8 feet. and have a fine physique. They
are rum drinkers, II Is true, but unlike
Thomas Atkins, or British fame. they
can 20 without their rum under the ex-
element of war. They inherit the tradi-
tons OF those legions which Runjeet
Singh, 1.-THE Lion OF the Punjab." led
against the Afghans when he wrested
the Peshawar Valley from their rule.
There are probably twenty sikh regi-
ments I'm the British army.
The GOorkhas are very similar I'm their
national characteristics to the japanese
They are small men but tremendous
flghters. They are supposed 20 be the
descendants of Hindu refugees who fed
before the Moslem invasion and the Mon
golians inhabiting the hills OF Nspaul
Their physiognomy is OF Enthusiastically
Chinese character, with small eyes. fiat
noses. and meagre whiskers They are
sturdy built, but in stature very short.
The average height OF a Goorkha soldier
Is feet 3. They can handle the bayonet
with SIKH, but their national weapon for
hand-to-hand encounter is the kukri.
Misunderstanding curved knife with a
sharp edge on the inside like n sickle
These kukris in their hands are formil-
able weapons. With them they bIsect
goats or decapitate bullocks, and they
cut up Afghans with equal effect. One
VIII crouch behind a rock and sprInp
upon tall Afghan just as he il stoop-
ing 10 fire, and cut his head In two like
a pumpkin. The Sikhs and Goorkhas are
IDEAL soldiers for mountain warfare. bur
on the other hand, the Britisher Is SIM
gularly united for such expeditions az
the one now in ChitraL The British SOL
diers are unused to hand-to-hand en-
counters. and find it difficult 10 endure
the hardships which an inhospItable
country like Chitral entails.
The chief difficulty in frontier war IA
found In the hour OF victory. Different
sections OF the tribes occupying the
northwest frontier OF India have been
conquered and subdued, but the question
always arises, What can the British Gov
eminent do with the country so conquer
ed? Ii is chiefly land OF rocks and
stones. and absolutely useless as part OF
BRUSH territory. IL must be evacuated
even AFTER valuable lives have been given
FOR the conquest, and then gradually the
people relapse into their former habits
or antagonism to the British
The policy outlined by Lord Beacon.-
heid and Lord Salisbury, but reversed by
Mr.. Gladstone and Lord Ripon. was the
opening out OF these mountainous regions
by stationing British agents az certain
centres and running railroads through
the various passes. And IL would seem
That until something OF the kind is ac-
complished these warlike regions cannot
possibly be brought under control. and in
their present condition they constitute
the greatest elements OF danger 10 the
peace Of the British In India.
Lord Rosebery, the present head OF tho
British Administration, Is credited with
advanced views" on Anglo-India foreign
policy. But hitherto the Liberal party
has declined TO interfere with those indie,
pendent tribes which constitute the bar
rier between British India and the king
dom OF Afghanistan. /, is therefore pro-
bable that now that Mr.. Robertson has
been rescued, and the Staying OF Captain
Ross and his sixty faithful Sikhs has
been avenged. the strong expedition now
occupying Chitral will return, and those
inhospitable regions will once more set
tie down into their old ways OF living
and fighting.
What 10 do with its northwest frontier
Is still an unsolved problem with the
British Government in India.