The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-11-04
AMEER'SAUTOBIOGRAPH
A REMARKABLE BOOK SOON TO BE
PUBLISHED IN LONDON.
Abdur Rnhman Says that Even In
His Sleep He Is PIanning for
His Peoples Welfare.

Abdur Isahmans the Durani cbiet, OF MN is TIE
his mercy nils the Khyber hills-his grace S
he has taken toll OF the North and the South
his glory reache,h FAR,
And they tell the tale Of his charity from Balkh
10 Kandahar
Abdur Rahman. the Durani chief. of him is the
He has opened his mouth 70 she North and the
South. they have stuffed his mouth with
Ye know the truth OF his tender RUTLAND sweet
We have heard the song-How long? How long?
from Balkh TO Kandahar.
When Kipling wrote the above as the bur-
den OF his ballad of 'sThe Kings Mercy"
nc had no very high opinion of Abdur
Rahman, the Ameer of Afghanistan. Pos
sibly he was unduly prejudiced Possibly
not. At any rate. the Ameer is coming out
in his own defense, against Mr.. Kipling
and other aspersers of his fair name, in an
elaborate autobiography which is about TO
be published by John Murray, of London.
Some extracts from this remarkable work.
which is translated into English, from the
original Persian. by the Sultan Mahomed
Khan, are published in the first issue of
the Monthly Review, a Murray periodical,
which is being handled in this country by
Doubleday, Page & Co. At the outset the
Ameer Institutes a contrast between him
self and other Oriental monarchs, rather
to the detriment of the latter. In this con-
nection he says:
From my childhood up to the present
day my life is quite contrast to the hab-
its of living INDUCED in by nearly all 9TH
er Asiatic monarchs and chiefs. They live.
for the most part. a life of idle ease and
luxury, and il is thought by aristocratic
people that the prestige of a prince is
minimized by his being seen walking on
n wit nxxrF, haT dc
] myself believe that there is no greater
SIN than allowing our minds and bodies to
II is being ungrateful for the gifts of Prov
idence.
TROUBLED IN HIS SLEEP.
THE more ! see of other nations and
religions running fast in the pursuit of
progress the less / can rest and sleep; the
whole day long L keep on thinking how
shall be able 20 the race with the swift
est, and at night my dreams are just the
same There - a saying that the cat does
not dream about anything but mice;
dream Of nothing but the backward condi-
ton of my country and how to defend it,
seeing tha5 this poor goat, Afghanistan
Is a victim a. which a lion from side
and "A terrible bear from the other side
are staring and ready to swallow at the
first opportunity afforded them. My cour-
tiers know. for example, that years before
TIC QUESTION Oh marking out the BOUNDARIES
or AfghanlStan was mooted / had dreamed
"a dream that was published at that time
and distributed throughout the whole coun-
try. Briefly the purport of that dream was
that before my death | should finish and
complete making a strong wall around all
Afghanistan for its safety and protection.
This dream was interpreted by the aStrOn-
Cmers to mean that the boundaries of At
ghanistan should be so marked out by me
that an end would be put to the everlasting
forward policy of my neighbors, who used
year. Many other dreams of mine like this
all of which I have told TO my courtiers.
have come true, and they have seen that
the boundaries have been marked out and
am still alive. to the sorrow of those who
seem so anxious to put an end to me, as
they circulate false reports of my death
about once week. L did not think any
man died so many times as they have killed
me in their Imagination
The Ameer is evidently not a believer in
the systematiZing of work. He does all he
can i'm the time at his disposal. taking hold
OF what first comes his way. lie is doubt
less an assiduouS toiler, but in the follow
ing there Is IL fine suggestion of St. Gengul-
phusS wife with her Nor night nor day
since he'd been away she vowed and de-
clared she had not slept wink"
There is no fixed time and no proper pro-
gramme for me throughout the twepty-four
hours of the day and night in which I
work; L go on working from morning until
evening and from evening again until
morning, like any laborer. ! eat when
am hungry and some days do not remem-
Der that I have not eaten my mealS-I for
get all about 1t and ask my courtiers all
at once, raising my head from my writing
Did eat my dinner to-day or not?' In the
same way when / get tired and sleepy I go
TO sleep on the same bed which is my chair
for work. do not require any private room
or bedroom, neither any room for secrecy
or for grand receptions. There are plenty
CT such rooms in my palaces. but / have no
time TO spare even to move from one room
TO another
THE AAEER'S HABITS.
Further on the Ameer tells us that he
goes to bed at or 8 o clock in the morning
and rises at or 5 in the afternoon He be-
gins the day with an examination by his
doctors, who decide whether or not the
Ameer is in need of medical treatment.
Then the court tailor appears and with him
comes a stock of clothing from which the
Ameer selects the suit he wants TO wear.
Then breakfast is served. Afterward the
Ameer's troubles begin
Every page boy, he saws ''Of whom
there are hundreds and men of the detec-
tive department., walk in with letters in
their hands from one or other suffering
person who requires my help and Judgment
In this way L am crowded and surrounded
by so many who all want 10 have their
business attended To. as we'll as To show
their zeal TO me by giving me more work
To do. None of my fellow-countrymen have
a tenth part much to do. / keen on
working till or o'clock the next morn
ing, when l resume the same routine lust
keeping few minutes for my meals Even
then, however, my courtiers and officials
keep on astinS me questions. and in fact
there is no rest for the wicked.
As an apostle OF the strenuous life Alb
dhur Rhaman would gladden. the heart of
Theodore Roosevelt. Il am always ready =
he says las a soldier on the march to a
battle. in such manner that / could start
without any delay in case OF emergency.
The pockets of my coats and trousers are
always filled with loaded revolvers and one
or two lOaves of bread for one days food.
Several guns and swords are always lying
Jy the side of my bed or the chair on which
l am seated within reach of my hand. and
saddled horses are always kept ready in
front of my office. not only for myself, but
for all my courtiers and personal attend
ants, at the door OF my durbar ROOM
Els MAN ATTENDANTS
The Ameer's personal retinue, which al
ways moves about with him, even when he
passes from one part of his palace to an
other is thus described:
'-rhe following people are always in at
tendance upon me from the time that 1
awake until / go TO sleep:
Court secretaries Aishak Akasee (gen-
tleman usher). Nazir 0ord OF the seaD
head OF the intelligence department. head
of the royal kitchen-he has the duty of
bringing all the petitions before me. There
is no more honored and confidential posi-
ton than this. The name OF the gentleman
row holding Il is Safar Khan. The British