Evening star., 1901-10-08
SKETCH OF THE AMEER
DECEASED RULER OF AFGHANIsTAN
A NOTABLE MAN.
He Formed Lot of Independent
States Into an Empire and
Ruled 1t.

l.
Referring to the reported death of the
Ameer of Afghanistan a London dispatch
says: No confirmation has been received at
the foreign office of the ameer's reported
death, but the accuracy of the report Is
not officially doubted. In view of the ex-
listing critical situation in South Africa the
report sent something like a shock through
the united kingdom Great confidence is
expressed on all sides in the ability of
Lord Curzon, the Indian viceroy, to deal
With the situation. Before Lord Curzon at
tanned his present dignity he had travelled
through Afghanistan as the guest Of the
ameer and had thoroughly mastered the
problem of British policy in central Asia.
AT Simla it is believed that Habid Oul-
Ian Khan who was regarded by his father
as the successor to the throne and has long
mad share in the government of the coun-
try, VIII assume the succession peaceab bly,.
He is at Cabul. For some years under his
Iathers controlling handshe has had charge
OF the army, the states treasury and the
supreme court of appeal. He is regarded
as wise and temperate ruler, favorable TO
rather, and for this reason less likely to be
strong enough to govern the fierce, unruly
tribes or to resist the attempts of his
brothers to seize power.
hCl e 40 dl uHueTlylnS current OIL uHedSi-
ness IN the comments of the London pa
pers as to whether Russia will seize the
opportunity to push her frontier forward.
Ihe British troops in India, owing to the
South African war, are now below their
normal strength. 1t will be impossible to
take any more from South Africa, and, If
the ameer is dead, this will still further
encourage the Beers to proIong their re-
sistance.
Those who might be inclined to give
themselves up to poignant grief over the
death OF Abdur Rahman Khan, Ameer of
Afghanfstan, need not hasten to put on
the garments of mourning, for the ameer
mas been reported dead oftener than prob
7aDly any other man In the world. Some
times, even, the sly old potentate has
spread these distressing rumors himself 1t
has been limited that he has a passion for
reading his own obituaries
Nevertheless it may be interesting TO re-
cord that Abdur Rahman Khan was born
IN 1850, according to some records, or in
lS4o, according to others He was son of
AfZul Khan and a grandson of Dost Mo-
manned Kahn, and was recogni.ld as
ameer by the British government in July,
1ssO, after the events following the massa-
ere OF the Cayagnari mission. His eldest
son is Habid Oullah Khan and he has three
other sons
The ameer had been strongly suspected
OF 1nstigating the uprisings of the natives
on the lnd1an frontier which have caused
the British authorities so much trouble.
but he strenuously denied having any hand
in them.
The guiding principle of the ameer's early
life was an implaeable hatred for his uncle.
Shere Ali, whom he never forgave for hay-
ing suppianted his father, Afzul Khan. in
the succession to the throne AS a result
Abdul fought Shere Ali bitterly and de-
ieated him many times, placing first his
father on the throne and later his uncle
Aim. From 1864 to 1863 he was incessant-
ly hghtfng, and when, at the beginning of
the latter year, his father having died in
le6I and his uncle Aim having succumbed
to the victorious arms of Shere Ali he felt
that his cause was lost he fled from his
country into ten years exile, but with the
purpose to return in triumph.
he reached Russian territory where he
was we'll received by General Kaufman
who permitted him to reside at Samarcand
ana granted him a yearly pension. The
opportunity for which he longed, to return
70 Afghanistan, came in 1878, when Shere
Ali threw off the British alliance and a
British army entered the country, so that
Shere All forfeited his throne and, a little
later, his life.
Before Shere Ali died Abdul had collected
small body of Afghan refugees in Box
hara, had crossed the Oxus and made him.
self master of Badakshan. From that base
ne advanced into his old province of Af-
CHAN. Turkestan, and in July, 1880 he was
formally chosen by the leading men Of the
country as Ameer of.Afghanistan His title
was formally acknowledged by the British
Indian government, which granted him a
SUBSIDY OF $StU,Uoo a year besides making
him large gifts of rifles, cannon and am
munition to improve his military force
From a recent article about the ameer's
daily life the following extracts are taken:
THE ameer's daily habits of Itfe are ex-
ceedingly simple. On rising he takes cup
OF tea and a macaroon. After this he has
only two meals-lunch at midday and din
ner at midnight. These meals are washed
down with nothing but water The ameer
in fact, is an abstemious person. He never
drinks wine. though he keeps claret and
cordials at the palace for the use of Eu-
ropean visitors. He suffers excessively from
gout, strange to say, which the native
doctors used to treat by bleeding him with
leeches and by plunging his swollen feet in
Ice water. But one night European phy-
sician was called in and mixed a lotion for
the suffering ameer. In the name CT God,
the merciful and compassionate calculated
his majesty, as he tossed down the medi-
cine at a single draft. Still he survived
Although the ameer can read and write
it is said that none of his seven wives has
either accomplishment. He is a strict Mo-
hammedan, and will not listen to any pro-
posal to introduce other forms of religion
into his country. Although not in much
danger of assassination. he is more care
fully guarded than the Gar of Russia His
palace is an extensive fortress