Frank A. Martin

“ The men of the Amir’s bodyguard, however, are drilled. The drill consists in the men, having already been taught to form themselves into fours, marching slowly in time to a drum-beat, and swinging each leg in turn high up in the air in front of them before bringing the foot down. This drill, which takes place on the main road outside the Arak palace, is witnessed by a large number of admiring citizens, but the spectacle of a regiment solemnly swinging their legs well up as they march, taking four or five seconds to each step, reminds one of a batch of recruits doing the goose-step. ”

“ The morning was clear and bright, and the dazzling whiteness of the snow in the sunlight was blinding, until the eyes became a little used to it; but the wind continued in all its severity, and while riding over the Latabund Pass, we found it far too cold at that altitude to sit in the saddle with comfort, for our hands and feet became so numbed and useless that we feared frostbite, and therefore the escort and myself dismounted and walked, in order to keep ourselves warm, and led our horses, until about two o’clock in the afternoon, we reached the summit. ”

“ The country looked very desolate and inhospitable, for on all sides stretched a large undulating sandy plain, bare of vegetation, save a few tufts of coarse grass here and there, and rocks jutting out of the plain in places, while in the distance were bare foot-hills and barren rocky mountains, and over all the sun threw its burning rays until the sand and rocks seemed to give out as much heat as the sun itself. ”

“ Courtship and marriage in Afghanistan differ in many respects from those interesting episodes in European countries, but in no respect more than in the man not seeing the girl until they are married, and she is his wife. Men in Afghanistan are not prone to talk about their wives, or the women of their family, and to ask after a man’s wife is akin to an insult, as evincing some degree of familiarity with her. ”

“ When in Kabul there is a remoteness in the thought of home and England so great that the memory seems to deal with the land and people of another planet, and if one were a Buddhist it might easily be conceived that the memory dealt with a former incarnation, for one is so cut off from the outer world, and all things are so different, that it appears like a separate existence. ”

“ In the narrower streets the upper stories cover the road entirely, forming dark crooked passages of unpleasant odour through which it is best to pick one’s way with a light. The widest bazars are about fifteen feet in width, and the narrowest about four feet, and as pack horses and camels carrying loads are to be met with all over the city, it is often a matter of difficulty to avoid being swept out of the saddle when riding past them. ”

“ When one of the Amir’s wives is expected to give birth to a child, preparations are made for the firing of guns and fireworks, and the feasting of all and sundry, in case it is a boy that comes into the world, but if it turns out to be a girl nothing in the way of rejoicing happens, and the mother is left to weep alone in the disappointment of her hopes; for all women desire and pray for a man child, because then the father will visit her, and she is made much of, and everybody else fusses over and congratulates her, so that she enjoys a small triumph. ”

“ It is usual for a big gun to be fired at sunset as a signal to the people that the day’s fast is over, and many of them have food or their pipes ready to hand, awaiting the signal which allows them to break their fast or take a pull at the pipe, for which the day’s abstinence has created so keen a desire. ”

“ If an Afghan owes money, it is similar to getting blood out of a stone to make him pay it; usually the odds in both cases are equal, unless a considerable amount of pressure can be applied. With many of them it looks as though their hearts were wrung when having to pay up, for it is done with a gloomy countenance and a display of considerable temper, as though they were being robbed by force of hard-earned gains. ”

“ His asking me to come often was another mark of extreme honour, and showed that I enjoyed great favour, and there is nothing an ambitious man in that country covets so much as being allowed often in the Amir’s presence, and there is a good deal of scheming done to be able to do so. For one thing, it is a sign of the highest favour and confidence, and for another all men regard that man as one to be fawned on and flattered; and although he may be hated by the envious, he is also feared, and becomes a man of consequence. ”

“ It was confidently expected by the people of all classes in Kabul that the death of the Amir would be the signal for a general insurrection, in which the army would lead, and, no doubt, it was not mere conjecture which led all people to expect it. To safeguard themselves as far as possible against the consequences of such riot and revolt, the people [129] buried their jewels and treasures in the floors of their houses, and got in as large a supply of flour, food, and fuel, as they could afford. ”

“ During the winter the days are mostly bright, and the sun shines brilliantly on the snow, causing it to thaw. In the evenings it freezes again, and then the roads are like polished glass, and men, horses, and camels fall and are injured, the animals often breaking their legs and having to be destroyed. The sun, shining on the snow, also causes a good deal of snow blindness. But the most trying time in winter is when the skies are overcast, and a great wind rises which nothing will shut out of the house. ”

“ There is no made road from Chaman to Kandahar, nothing but a track worn into the earth by the passing of caravans from time immemorial, and at places on the side of the track were the bones of horses and camels whitening where they had fallen. ”

“ When a person is ordered to be blown from a gun, he is taken to the one which is fired daily to announce the hour of midday, and is fixed on a small hill close to the Sherpur cantonment. He is there tied to the gun in such a manner that his back is against the muzzle, and on the explosion of the charge the greater part of his body is blown into pieces. Blowing from guns is a punishment intended to strike terror into the hearts of others, but it is no doubt a preferable death to other forms of execution, inasmuch as it is sudden. ”

“ The Afghan Army, regarded as a fighting machine matched against civilized troops, could not be considered efficient. The Afghan, as a soldier, has many good qualities; he can live for days on a few handfuls of grain, and endure considerable fatigue at the same time; he can sleep in the open on the coldest night, wrapped in his sheepskin, and do no more than he is accustomed to; over mountains he is untiring; and he is plucky and would fight well, provided he had confidence in his officers. ”

“ The Amir seldom spent much time in the harem serai amongst his women, it being his custom to devote an occasional evening to them only, and his opinion of women in general was not a high one. On some occasions he spoke rather plainly of the length, and lying propensities, of a woman’s tongue, and her general inaptitude for anything of worth, and love of intrigue. ”

“ If it was intended that the Afghans should be used as a means of checking Russian aggression, it would no doubt be better that they were well supplied with the best modern arms; but on the other hand, there is always the chance of such arms being used against the English, for the Afghans look upon all who are not of their own country and religion as enemies, and it is unlikely that any existing treaty would be considered or have the effect of making them hesitate to take advantage of an occasion which gave them an opportunity for extending their country, or of benefiting themselves otherwise. ”

“ I was told in Kabul that there is an old Afghan marriage custom among some of the tribes which differs from the above. With them, a man who wishes to marry a girl is allowed to live for some time in her father’s house, using the girl as his wife, and when after a reasonable time has elapsed, there is evidence that the girl is going to become a mother, he marries her. Should this not happen, the man is at liberty to marry her, or depart, and elsewhere seek a wife who is capable of continuing his family. ”

“ The dance commences by the men springing forward towards the centre of the circle and back again, flashing their knives about over their heads, and singing in time to the music in a low tone, but gradually the music, singing, and dancing become louder and quicker, belts and turbans are thrown off to allow of greater freedom of movement, and the knives flash more rapidly, until at last the men seem in a very frenzy, and the dancing becomes a series of wild leaps in the air, knives are thrown up and caught again, and the singing changes to a chorus of wild yells. ”

“ The Afghans are not great travellers, for their rulers do not offer facilities for them to visit other lands, nor do they encourage strangers in the country. They prefer instead to keep the people isolated, and out of touch with the rest of the world, and are fearful that knowledge and enlightenment would lessen their hold on their subjects, who would be less easily swayed in the direction they wished when invoked in the name of their religion were they [283] conversant with the laws and customs of the people of other countries, and could thereby draw comparisons for themselves. ”

“ These are the people who are feared by the inhabitants of Kabul when disturbances set in, for they come in thousands, naked, practically, and having nothing to lose but life, which they value little, loot all, rich and poor alike, for the poor of Kabul are like princes for wealth to them. ”

“ There is no attempt to keep the city clean, and the inhabitants of each house make their own sanitary arrangements, which practically means none at all, as each one throws the refuse of the house outside to lie there and rot, if not eaten up by the dogs and crows. The water of the place stinks, and it is not at all surprising that when cholera visits it, being brought up from India with the caravans, it makes a long and effective stay. ”

“ The sight of a kafar, and all who are not Mussulman are infidels, is so obnoxious that they spit on the ground when passing him in the street, and to kill one of them is quite a meritorious action in their eyes. The majority of the people are equally fanatical, and they also consider it no sin to lie to or swindle a kafar.
The influence the moullahs exert over the people is very great, and they have little trouble in getting them to join in the Jihad or holy war against the enemies of their religion. ”

“ The supernatural being the people dread most, and to whom they put down much that happens which cannot be satisfactorily explained, is the shaitan. Shaitans are demons who take many forms according to the fear or gift of exaggeration of the individual who thinks he has seen one. These beings they imagine may be behind any bush or boulder after sundown, and they also believe them capable of coming into the sleeping-room at night to frighten them into fits by their very ugliness, if nothing worse befalls, so the people sleep with head as well as body covered with blanket or rezai. ”

“ They certainly have occasion to fear their prison system becoming known publicly, for cruelty of all sorts is common in the way of torture. Imagine a prison where the limbs which have been hacked off men are left lying about, together with the dismembered bodies of those dead, of the suffering inflicted on them, until the whole place reeks of decomposing flesh, and then consider the frame of [303] mind of hundreds who are imprisoned without trial, unknowing of what their own punishment is to be, who daily live in the midst of these horrors. ”

“ The equivalent of a penny is accepted if the man is poor and they see he can give no more. Men coming into Kabul and having to travel two or three days to get there to pay some duty or tax of less than a rupee, have been kept waiting for days because they refused to give the mirza a few annas; so the people see that it saves money to give to the mirzas, and if they complain to a higher authority the mirza and all in his office will swear that the man never came near them. ”

“ After the death of Amir Abdur Rahman, a good deal of lawlessness prevailed in the bazars, which was principally due to soldiers interfering with most of the people they met, for the men of the army looked upon themselves, and not altogether without reason, as the cocks of the wall, since the Amir’s death, and of course, did their best to show that they were not subject to any authority. ”

“ LIFE OF EUROPEANS IN KABUL
Life in Kabul—Houses and gardens—Guards and danger from “Ghazis”—Allowances given wives—Servants and swindling.
I have often been asked, “But didn’t you find it lonely in Kabul?” and in giving an affirmative answer, the memory of the many weary hours spent alone after worktime is always brought back to me. In the loneliness of life in Kabul lies its worst feature, and the effect on one of living such a life for several years is far from beneficial, but the extent of the ill effect produced is not properly estimated until one returns to civilization. ”

“ The doorways are safer than other places in a house during an earthquake, as, should the roof fall in, one stands a chance of escaping unhurt. It is difficult to judge the length of time an earthquake lasts, for one is more interested in the probabilities attending it, but it seemed four or five minutes before the tremors finally ceased, and then I saw that large cracks had been formed down the walls of the room, although they are five or six feet thick, and the next day I heard of different houses completely thrown down and the people in them killed. ”

“ Parents, who had sold all there was in the house that could be sold to get money for food, had to watch their children crying of hunger, and daily getting weaker and thinner until at last they died, while they themselves, if they lived, did so only because they had more vitality and were stronger, and not because they ate food themselves and gave none to their children. ”

“ The clear atmosphere also makes the moonlight very brilliant, and the effect of the sleeping city bathed in the white light of the moon as seen from the roof of the house at night, the harsh outlines of houses and mountains toned down, and the domes of palaces and tombs rising above the other buildings is very beautiful. ”

“ Another man and woman, who were caught in the act of loving unwisely, were, by the order of the Amir, who appropriately said he would let them live together until death, put on top of the Asman Heights, tied back to back with ropes, and kept there until they died of exposure and starvation, and sepoys were put on guard to see that no one interfered with the fulfilment of the punishment. The woman died first, and the man was allowed a day longer to die in, but as he lingered he was helped on his journey. ”

“ But from that point where British authority begins, there is a smooth graded road, which leads one high up over the hills and mountains of the Khyber to Lundi Kotal, and thence through the difficult mountain country of the Pass, and on into Peshawar, with gradients so easy that one can take a dog-cart and drive at a sharp trot the whole of the distance, and cover ground in a few hours which, on the Afghan side of the frontier, takes a long day’s tedious riding to get over. ”

“ It is not all people who consider themselves capable of predicting the future who are treated with honour and amass wealth, as witness the case of three men from a distant part of the country, who were brought before the Amir for predicting that a great calamity was to visit the country on a certain date, some few months ahead, and who expected much from their voicing of the prophecy. ”

“ The bottom of the well is dark, and the only light which penetrates is from the mouth above, and no sound from the outer world can reach those imprisoned there, while the stench and foulness of the atmosphere is horrible, and is itself sufficient to cause death. There is a man, however, who is said to have been there for fifteen years or more, but he is quite mad, and unconscious of his surroundings. When the Amir died, the present ruler gave orders that those in the well should be taken out, and brought before him. ”

“ In Kabul, when a guest is invited to dinner, the invitation means that he is expected to stop the night in the house of his host, and on these occasions, when the dinner has been despatched, the guests gather round the host, squatting or lying on carpets while they smoke the chillum, and each one takes his turn at telling a story. The interest in the stories related is so great that they often sit listening to one another far into the night, and are unfit for work the following day.
Boys and children amuse themselves in much the same way as English children. ”

“ On the occasion of my first visit to Kabul in 1889, I was given tents in the garden adjoining the workshops to live in, it being summer time; and one day one of the workmen, who are always searched before being allowed to pass through the gate when work is over, was found to have a piece of leather the size of a man’s hand concealed under his coat. The Amir ordered the man to be hanged in the factory as a warning to the others, but on representations being made to him by the Englishmen who were working in the shops, the Amir commuted the sentence to the man’s hand being cut off. ”

“ Europeans are allowed to take their wives to Kabul, and the wives are generously given a living [184] allowance by the Amir; but Kabul is no place for a woman to live in, for there are no amusements, and there is practically no society for her, and few women can live happily who see no one but their husbands from one month to another; consequently women are forced back on themselves, and get into a low condition of health, which soon brings out all the ailments they are subject to. For children the climate is a good one, and they thrive well. ”

“ Fortunately there was no cholera about at the time, or I might have fared worse, for no thought of disease would have deterred me from drinking. The temperature is made more trying than it would be because the rocks absorb the heat of the sun and become very hot, and the heat given out by them, together with that of the sun, makes the narrow defiles here and there feel like ovens, and they are so stifling that breathing more resembles gasping, until they are left behind, when the hot wind of the plains comes as a perfect relief after what has been gone through. ”

“ But, excepting these few in authority, the people are shut off from news of the outer world, for there are no newspapers in the country, and the newspapers of other countries they are unable to read; and as their Government objects to foreigners entering the country and allows none such to do so except on business, and then only by special permission from the Amir, and as very few of their own people are allowed to travel on business across the border, the bulk of the Afghans are ignorant of everything except that which happens within their own limited sphere. ”

“ In Afghanistan no one but the Amir can order the death penalty; no important question concerning the internal government of the country or its political relations with other countries can be dealt with or settled except by him; all matters of import emanating from the various State departments and offices must be referred to him for final judgment; all officers and officials required for the Government service in different parts of the country must be selected and appointed by him, and all prisoners accused of any crime of a serious nature must be tried and sentenced by him. ”