Herat

“ It is the chief emporium of the trade between Hindostan, Kashmeer, Cabul, Candahar, Bokhara, Merve, Khorassan, Yezd, and Kerman. In addition to the advantages which it derives from this active trade, and the transit dues arising therefrom, Herat gains much wealth from the manufactures which are carried on by its citizens; but after all it is to its situation as the key to Affghanistan that it owes its chief importance. Prince Hassan Ali Meerza advanced from Ghorian to Herat, and began to besiege the city in due form. ”

“ The terms brought by the envoy from Herat were so advantageous that the British envoy recommended the Persian government to accept them, lest the British government should suspect that Persia, in persisting to prosecute the war, had other objects in view than those avowed. The conditions, however, were rejected, and it was evident that the shah would only be satisfied with the sovereignty of Herat. His troops were again put in motion on the 23rd of July ”

“ Azim shook his head. This was quite beyond him. "He is fighting against you now, master. If the princes find out that you are English they will put you in a dungeon and most likely kill you, and kill me too, so as to shut my mouth. This man is paid to act as a spy on you. Why not kill him? Thousands of people were killed or died at Herat. I cannot understand why one man should not be killed, when we can perhaps get free away if he is dead." ”

“ Under the reign of this pacific prince, who waged no war until driven to extremes by his kinsmen, there was executed, at Herat, one of the most splendid specimens of Iranian painting, the manuscript of the ‘Ascension of Mohammed to Heaven.’ Illuminated books belonging to the Timurid school of Persia and Turkestan are not excessively rare, and we must look among them to find the master-pieces of Persian painting. ”

“ This report had fortunately enormously magnified the strength of the British expedition, and the news gave fresh life to the defenders of Herat. The Persians again opened negotiations, waiving the question of the expulsion of Pottinger, but the wuzeer was less inclined than before to yield to the Persian demands.
M'Neill was on his way to the frontier when he was informed of the arrival of the British expedition to the Persian Gulf, and at the same time received instructions from the Foreign Office in anticipation of the refusal of the Shah to retire from before Herat. ”

“ The Amir looked upon Herat as an integral part of the Afghan dominions, and was very desirous of re-establishing [Page 30] his authority over that place and preventing its falling into the hands of the Persians; but he felt himself too weak to have any hope of success without help from us in men and money. It was, therefore, Dost Mahomed's interest to convince the British Government that the Shah had infringed the conditions of an engagement entered into with us in 1853, under which Persia abandoned all claim to Herat. ”

“ Three generations after Abusaid’s mission, when the whole of Kuhistan had returned, at least in appearance, within the pale of the true faith, the Sultan Shahrokh, the son of Timur, sent Jelali, of Kain, who usually lived in Herat, and was thence called Al Herat, and Al Kaini, for the purpose of ascertaining the state of belief in that province. ”

“ There is the reason why the British had sent a spy to Herat.
The Heratis were quick to seek the advice of the British officer who organized the defense and in the end took charge, the one competent man in the garrison. Shah Kamran sent him with a flag of truce to the Persian army. The Persian soldiers hailed him with rapture, thinking they would soon get home to their wives and families; they patted his legs, they caressed his horse, they shouted “Bravo! Bravo! Welcome! The English were always friends of the king of kings!” ”

“ The inhabitants of Herat defended themselves with the courage and steadiness which they have manifested during each of the numerous sieges of that fortress. On one occasion they sallied out from the place and defeated one of the divisions of the Persian army; but Mahomed Meerza was assisted by the talent and experience of Monsieur Beroffsky, a Polish officer who had come to Persia with the design of inducing that power to league with Turkey against Russia at the time of the Polish insurrection. ”

“ In Persia the governors squeeze the people a bit, and sometimes there is much grumbling, but the worst of them are very much better than Yar Mahomed, who is a son of Sheitan, whom may Allah confound."
"He is a scoundrel," Angus agreed heartily. "I wonder myself that the people of Herat have not long since risen and torn him to pieces. I know that if I had been a merchant there I should have tried to stir them up to do it."
Azim shook his head. "They cannot trust each other, effendi. There are many who would like to do as you have said, but there are many who cannot trust their own neighbours." ”

“ To the first of these questions Angus could only reply that, not having been in the Persian camp, he was unable to give them information. There were certainly Russian generals and officers leading the Persians at the siege of Herat. They were infidels, and neighbours of the Persians. For himself, he thought that while no doubt the Shah wished to be at peace with such powerful neighbours, he would be wise not to trust them very far. He could not really wish for them to become more powerful, and if they aided him, it could only be for their own objects. ”

“ That is the report which he will probably make to the Prince, and we may safely calculate that it will be afternoon before parties of horse are sent off in pursuit by the Herat, Ghuznee, and Quettah roads, and will probably be instructed to enquire for two young Persians on foot. They will lose time by stopping at every village to make enquiries, and after going forty or fifty miles will begin to feel sure that we have not come along that road, but have gone by one of the others, or perhaps hidden up in some village at a distance from the road. ”

“ From Obeh to Kuhsan 50 m. west of Herat, it forms a valley of great fertility, densely populated and highly cultivated; practically all its waters being drawn off for purposes of irrigation. It is the contrast between the cultivated aspect of the valley of Herat and the surrounding desert that has given Herat its great reputation for fertility. Three miles to the south of Herat the Kandahar road crosses the river by a masonry bridge of 26 arches now in ruins. ”

“ I saw no signs whatever of any gatherings of the Afghans, nor was the subject ever alluded to in the conversations I had with traders at the place where I lodged."
At this moment a native officer came in and said that [Pg 118] Sir Alexander desired to see Captains Arbuthnot and Jones. As they buckled on their swords the latter said: "You have told us about Herat, Mr. Campbell, and this evening I hope you will tell us about your journey down." ”

“ At the present day, with the exception of the Chahar-súk, where there is always a certain amount of traffic, and where the great diversity of race and costume imparts much liveliness to the scene, Herat presents a very melancholy and desolate appearance. The mud houses in rear of the bazaars are for the most part uninhabited and in ruins, and even the burnt brick buildings are becoming everywhere dilapidated. The city is also one of the filthiest in the East, as there are no means of drainage or sewerage, and garbage of every description lies in heaps in the open streets. ”

“ Kandahar, the scene of one brilliant episode when the victorious Roberts relieved an ominous situation, has been the centre of many ill-fated risings and mis-shapen schemes, yet of all none more so than that injudicious and most pretentious plan of uniting Quetta with Kushkinski Post by a trans-Afghan railway viâ Kandahar and Herat. No practical end can be served by such a line and, indeed upon the broadest grounds, there is absolutely nothing which can justify its construction. The policy of this country should be mistrustful of Russia always and our attitude should be actively suspicious. ”

“ He showed great ability at an early age, and was made governor of Herat by his father, but broke into open rebellion against him in 1870, and was imprisoned in 1874 in Kabul. However, when Shere Ali in 1878 fled before the British, he handed over the government to Yakub, who, on his father's death in the following February, was proclaimed amir, and signed a treaty of peace with the British at Gandamak. He agreed to receive a British resident, and was in turn to receive a subsidy and support against foreign attack. ”

“ Needs must he go that the devils drive.
Exit.
KING. What accident hath happ'd to Hieronimo?
I have not seen him to demean him so.
LOR. My gracious lord, he is with extreme pride
Conceiv'd of young Horatio, his son,
And covetous of having himself
The ransom of the young prince, Balthazar,
Distract, and in a manner lunatic.
KING. Believe me, nephew, we are sorry for 't;
This is the love that fathers bear their sons.
But, gentle brother, go give to him this gold,
The prince's ransom; let him have his due;
For what he hath, Horatio shall not want.
Haply Hieronimo hath need thereof. ”

“ For justice is exiled from the earth.
Hieronimo will bear thee company.
Thy mother cries on righteous Radamant
For just revenge against the murderers.
BAZULTO. Alas, my lord, whence springs this troubled speech?
HIERO. But let me look on my Horatio:
Sweet boy, how art thou chang'd in death's black shade!
Had Proserpine no pity on thy youth,
But suffer'd thy fair crimson-colour'd spring
With wither'd winter to be blasted thus?
Horatio, thou are older than thy father:
Ah, ruthless father, that favour thus transforms.
BA. Ah, my good lord, I am not your young son.
HIE. What! ”

“ All of us, now and then, have greedy longings for ‘flesh in the wilderness.’ We cry for it, and pray for it, with eager angry passion. And sometimes we are given our ‘desire,’ and allowed to eat to the full of the unwholesome food we crave. It was so with Antipater. He had longed to found a royal house, and had schemed and sinned to that end. He was ‘granted his desire.’ His son Herod was now King of Judea, and of all the rightful family none were left but the old, deaf Hyrcanus and a young lad named Aristobulus, the brother of Herod’s wife Mariamne. ”

“ When did Herods win a kingdom by cringing in fear? Not thus are kingdoms won, Brother! Old Queen Herodias grows madder every day with dreams of the Hermit John’s head slain in the dungeons there. Sister Drusilla, who has ever been jealous of me being younger and your favorite, swears she will join her husband Felix, whether he is in Rome, or among the barbarians. Know you not if the Romans win here, the secret Zealots and Sicarii Sword Ruffians in the Fort there on the Dead Sea will rise and cut our throats for loyalty to Rome ”

“ Have you forgotten how Herod the Great had strangled, beneath the baths of Machærus, his wife’s brother, who was High Priest, to gain his end; and how when his best loved wife taunted him with murder and turned from him in hate, though he loved her to madness, he slew her, too, and stopped at naught to make his throne secure? I am such a Herod daughter! Shall we let slip what he paid such price to gain?”
The King’s brows knitted deep. Though scarce past mid-life, he bent with the impotence of fate too powerful for him to master. ”

“ Herod the Great became governor of Galilee, and later the Roman senate made him king of Judaea. He besieged Jerusalem, and took it in 37 B.C. "A singular compound of good and bad—mostly bad—was this King Herod." He hired men to drown a supposed rival, as if in sport, at Jericho on the occasion of a feast, and in the beginning of his reign he slaughtered more than half of the members of the Sanhedrin. The aged high priest Hyrcanus was put to death, as was also Mariamne, the wife of this monster, who was ruling when the Messiah was born at Bethlehem. ”

“ But Herod was not the highest ruler. Many years before this time, the Romans, who came from the city of Rome in Italy, had won all the lands around the Great Sea, the sea which we call the Mediterranean; and above king Herod of Judea was the great king of Rome, ruling over all the lands, and over the land of Judea among them. So Herod, though king of Judea, obeyed his overlord, the emperor at Rome. At the time when this story begins, the emperor at Rome was named Augustus Cæsar.
At this time, the land where the Jews lived was full of people. ”

“ These Jews honored Hyrcanus as their high priest and king, as did all the Jewish nation that dwelt as far as Euphrates; which respect was very much to his satisfaction. But when he was informed that Herod had received the kingdom, new hopes came upon him, as having been himself still of a kind disposition towards him, and expecting that Herod would bear in mind what favor he had received from him; and when he was upon his trial, and when he was in danger that a capital sentence would be pronounced against him, he delivered him from that danger, and from all punishment. ”

“ I for my part am of opinion that the Hellenes when they tell this tale are altogether without knowledge of the nature and customs of the Egyptians; for how should they for whom it is not lawful to sacrifice even beasts, except swine and the males of oxen and calves (such of them as are clean) and geese, how should these sacrifice human beings? Besides this, how is it in nature possible that Heracles, being one person only and moreover a man (as they assert) , should slay many myriads? ”