Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-11-21

and two other officers be taken into the
courtyard and forthwith hanged. Inc
others were reduced to the ranks. Nor DID
the men escape Those who had killed OFF,
GERS were hanged, and the ringleaders were
imprisoned for a short term; nut the rest
We're pardoned in consideration OF their
provocation.
When Abdur Rahman heard this story he
said:
PRAISE be to Allah. My son will be
great king. Now 1 can die In peace for L
know my country will not miss me-
,,hen he returned to Kabul, after his two
years absence, the ameer conferred two
decorations upon his son-one for his braV-
cry in depressing the mutiny. and the other
for having governed the country so wisely,
cleverly and so entirely In accordance with
my Wishes"
Habibullah, having been carefully tested
and found to be of sterling stuff, was given
a degree of power unprecedented in Asiatic
Kingdoms. Usually an oriental monarch
fears to trust his son with authority, lest
that son should conspire against him Alb
dur Rahman, on the contrary, trained his
son to carry on his own great work after
his death.
The holding of the public audience Cor
durbar), which hitherto had been done in
person by all the kings of Afghanistan, was
intrusted to the prince, and he was made
the supreme court of appeal. All the judges
whether ecclesiastical, civil or criminal
were placed under him; there was no court
over him, save the emeer. Every official
in the kingdom was placed directly under
his orders.
Fit to Be Ruler.
When giving him this great power Abdur
Rahman asked him.
When you are called upon to do JUS
tice between men, by what light will you
be guided?'
Accustomed to the flattery of an oriental
court, he expected his son to answer, by
your example," but the young man replied:
by the light of the Koran.
And if there is nothing in the Koran
that bears on the case, what Will you DO
then? Will you refer 1t to me?'
mo. l Will do as 1 think right am OPP
pointed to judge, and l will judge.
The stern old ameer applauded the
answer and said that his son was mt to be
ruler and a king.
The procedure Of trials before Habi-
bullah was simple and patriarchal. There
We're no lawyers and none of the law de-
lays Anybody who wanted an sd to see min MN
his case. The beggar and the prince We're
equal before his throne OIL Justice. Both
stood shoulder to shoulder before him and
stated their grievances for his judgment
Once he punished his own brother, Nasrul-
lah Khan, on the complaint of an artisan
All the high officials of the kingdom and
most Of the government departments were
placed under his control, and the other
princes of the royal house were taught to
pay homage to him as they did to the
ameer. He proved himself to be fine
| soldier, d just JuOSe, dH dpIc duIii'liSel avn
and a ruler in every way fitted to succeed
his great father.
So it came about that when Abdur Rah-
man died in 1901 Habibuliah quietly as
cended the throne by general reclamation
Of the Afghan chiefs and people. Such a
peaceful succession was unprecedented in
Afghan annals. The death of other kings
had always led to civil war, but everybody
had been taught to recognize Habibullah
as the greatest man in the country, after
his father. He was the logical king.
A Plotting Queen.
During the lifetime of Abdur Rahman
there was continual plotting against Habi-
bullah by the Sultana Halima, the prin-
cipal queen. She naturally wished her
own son, little boy named Mahomed
Omar JAM to become king; and she had
a very powerful following, she was the
ameer's favorite wife.
She is woman of royal blood and
thought that her son had a superior claim
to the throne, Habbullah's mother having
been simply the handmaiden of one of the
other queens This queen had no children,
so, following an immemorial custom of the
east. she said to Abdur Rahman, as Sarai
said to Abraham, Go in unto my maid,
that l may have children by her."
BY oriental custom, Habibullah is reck-
oned as the son of the queen. not as the
son of the slave girl; but naturally Ma
homed Omar JAMS mother insisted on le-
garding him in the latter light.
ShH is a remarkable woman. Once, in
her youth, revolt broke out in INabul
while the ameer was away. She left the
harem dressed herself a soldier, Put
herself at the head of the loyal troops ard
led the charge which won the day. When
the ameer hurried back. he found that she
had hanged the principal rebels, restored
law and order, and gone back to the ha-
rem. He gave her a jeWeled sword as a
reward
Naturally such a woman would fight hard
for what she considered to be the rights
of her son. She vainly pestered Abdur
Rahman to proclaim him the heir. He
would not do it, but she worried him so
much that at last he gave up visiting the
harem.
The sultana did all she could in honor to
bar Habibullah from the succession. Some
of her supporters tried several times to as
sassnate him. but without her sanction.
Once some of them told her of Il plot they
had made to poison him. She instantly re-
vealed it to the ameer, and they died a
very unpleasant death.
On another occasion mullah named
Kishmash who was employed by the ameer
as spy and belonged to the sultana's
party, made false report that Habibullah
was plotting against his father. The sui
tana helped to prove the charge untrue,
and the unhappy Kishmash was blown
from gun.
Played and Lost.
Poor Halima played a straight hand and
lost. From oriental standpoint, Habi-
bullah ought to have murdered her and her
son when he came to the throne. That
would have been playing the game accord
But he is chivalrous He maintains her in