Evening star., 1937-01-17
The Afghanistan
Oil Adventure.
BY FREDERIC J. HASKIN.

VI p6LTOl6uIIl III
AfghaniStan.
Dispatches from London recently an
nounced that the Kingdom had granted
to an American company 75-year con-
cession to seek oil over a region of 270,-
900 square miles. The concession extends
for distance of 500 miles across North
ern Afghanistan and thence southwark
along the Persian border. The Inland
Exploration Co., which has obtained the
concession, has undertaken to make
every effort to bring production up to
10000 900 barrels in 10 years.
To the casual reader, this announce
ment may have passed as more or less
routine business news which belonged on
the financial pages of newspapers. AS a
matter of fact it represents perhaps the
most romantic chapter in business his
tory since the days of Marco Polo or Of
the formation of the British East India
Co. 1t is notable fact that, when the
government of Afghanistan concluded TO
grant concession, it insisted that an
American company receive the award.
To begin with, it has not been thought
that Afghanistan contained workable
deposits of petroleum until very re-
Gently, and then such knowledge as
existed was known to but few. The
Imperial Gazetteer of India. published
under the authority of the British secre-
tary of state for India, a monumental
work, makes no mention of petroleum
in the mountainous kingdom Nor do the
latest encyclopedias. They have plenty
to say about the silver and the gold and
the rubies as well as minerals of lesser
preciousness, but not a word about
petroleum.
All agree that there is petroleum i'll
India, but not in Afghanistan. Burma,
at the other end of the India empire,
has petroleum fields, and so has Bal
luchistan, which marches with Afghan
istan on the south. The Imperial
Gazetteer notes that drilling began in
Baluchistan as early as 1867, and that a
substantial production now is coming
out. That fact may have encouraged
prospectors, for the Shrani Hills, where
the oil was found, are not far from the
border of the kingdom now about TO be
exploited.
The point of greatest fascination about
the whole scheme is that an American
company is about to send corps of engi-
neers into what is perhaps the widest
country in the world, country with
IiSGOlS 81 Ndl leu dIlu 81 IAAoN
the story reads more like fantastic hc-
ton than anything else.
British military men have saying
that the point Of most vulnerability is
the northwest frontier. Whether they
said it or not, commanders earlier than
any British ones must have thought the
same thing. The Roman legions always
toir frnnfior the
which needed the closest guarding. The
northwest frontier of British India long
has been crossed from Afghanistan, and
the Khyber Pass is, perhaps, the most
famous of all passes. Through this pass
drove the hordeS which have aforetime
invaded India, centuries before the COM
ing of the British. There were Mogul
and Scythian, Persian and Greek inva-
sions which came this way.
For long years the British. who never.
incidentally have been able to subjugate
Afghanistan. have kept wary eye on
the Khyber Pass. The pass was the
crucial objective in both the First and
Second Afghan Wars. Terrific battles
were fought between the British and the
indomitable warlike Afghans. Besides
the Afghan threat. the Khyber Pass held
the threat of a Russian invasion. Who
does not remember Kipling's Ballad Of
the Kings Jest" telling of the fate Of
the courtier who warned the King that
the graycoatS were coming through the
pass coming down to PeShawar town.
It was in one of the struggles in this
region that Lord Roberts took Kandshar,
whence he derived his title of Roberts
of Kandahar And that name, which is
an eastern spelling Of Alexander, Il
reminder that Alexander the Great came
this way. came as far as the Fabulosus
Hydaspes, now known as the Indus.
Kandahar was named for him.
This was great and warlike country
long before the time of Alexander the
Great The capital city Of Afghanistan
is Kabul. OF it the authorities say that
it has been an important place for
countless ages and it is fascinating to
think that part of the discussions lead
ing up to the present American conces-
sion took place in this city, which is so
ancient that no man knows its origin.
1t was great in the days of Samarkand
and Bokhara, and was ages old when
Tamerlane and Genghis Khan were con-
ouering all they knew of the world. in
vading lands they never before had
heard of.
The eastern end of the American con-
cession presumably will be in the neigh
borhood of KafiriStan. The Imperial
Gazetteer notes: The northern prov
ince of Afghanistan. the Province of
Kabul. pushes itself into the very heart
of the mountain passes which buttress
the Pamirs and hide the wild valleys OF
Kafiristan" Not a few critics of Eng
lish and other literatures have ventured
the opinion that the greatest short story
ever written is Rudyard Kipling's Man
Who Would Be King" There seems to
be good reason for such an opinion.
1t should be recalled here that the
scene of the unbelievable adventures Of
the Man Who Would Be King was laid
in Kafiristan. The wild, savage and
infinitely formidable dwellers of those
wild valleys started out by making him
not only king but god. When they
discovered. through mis- weakness for
native woman, that his feet were of
clay. they executed him In manner
to read of which is calculated to keep q
nervous person awake O nights and
even fearful by day.
1t was not until about 1900 that much
was known of the Kafirs of Kafiristan,
and a great deal is not known even now.
1t remains one of the widest regions in
the world. And it is into such country
as this that an American companV is