100 



CENTRAL ASIA. 



way they could. Soon afterward, Ferrah, only 

 three days' inarch from Herat, fell into the 

 hands of the prince. The commander of the 

 latter place, hazarding every thing for the 

 cause of his sovereign, would not wait for the 

 enemy to come up, but gave battle before the 

 gates of the city. The engagement resulted 

 unfortunately ; and, while the commander was 

 killed, the inhabitants of Herat, or, according 

 to another version, the soldiers of Sheer All 

 Khan, opened the gates of the fortress to the 

 rebellious prince. He found himself suddenly 

 in possession of the western outposts of the 

 kingdom, and master of a situation which sur- 

 passed his highest anticipations. 



At that time the condition of the different 

 parts of the Afghan kingdom was not the most 

 orderly. In the northern part of Toorkistan 

 the roads were infested by the adherents of 

 Abderraman Khan. Indeed, it was reported 

 that this chief, who was also a pretender to 

 the throne, had brought a force against He- 

 men, which khanate itself was not regarded 

 as entirely faithful to the ruler of Cabul. It 

 had been necessary to send a division of troops 

 to the south to repress the robberies of the 

 Cheiberis; the Dschemshids, the Beloochees, 

 the Hezars, and the Toorkomans, were all 

 awaiting with much expectation the breaking 

 out of hostilities between the father and son. 

 If the latter had only used more energetically 

 the means at his command, he would have sat 

 to-day supreme ruler on the throne of Cabul. 

 It is strange that the news of the criti- 

 cal situation in Afghanistan was not received 

 in Great Britain, the European state which is 

 most concerned in Afghan affairs, until the 

 civil war was at its height. The Viceroy of 

 India was instructed to enter into an alliance 

 with Sheer Ali Khan. On the 8th of May 

 this chief, greatly incensed at the conduct of 

 his son, set out with a force against Herat. 

 Doubtless, had he been allowed to follow the 

 policy suggested by his impulses, he would 

 have lost his throne and exposed Afghanistan 

 to devastation. But, through the influence of 

 British agents, who saw clearly the danger 

 of such a proceeding, he was persuaded to 

 adopt a more conciliatory policy. According- 

 ly, in June last, the Sirdar Mohammed Yakoob 

 Khan, accompanied only by a few friends, re- 

 turned to Cabul in the character of a penitent, 

 with the Koran at his neck, and a rosary 

 in his hand. Although he knew that his 

 father was not too scrupulous to put him out 

 of the way by poison or assassination, he has 

 remained in Cabul, where he has been publicly 

 proclaimed heir to the throne. The offended 

 lather, who is debarred from wreaking ven- 

 geance upon his son, satisfies himself by the 

 execution of summary measures upon his fol- 

 lowers, whose places at Herat and in the 

 neighborhood he has bestowed upon his own 

 people. But the army of the rebellious prince 

 refuse to take an oath of unconditional allegi- 

 ance to Sheer Ali. According to the last ac- 



counts, the soldiers were impatiently awaiting 

 Yakoob Khan's return, and had declared that, 

 if the prince were not soon placed at their 

 head, they would go to Memen and enlist 

 under the banners of Abderraman Khan. 



This opposition of the army is, however, not 

 of great importance. Yakoob Khan is at pres- 

 ent in Cabul, the object of lukewarm manifes- 

 tations of friendship from the court, and, on the 

 other hand, a witness of the manner in which 

 his chief abettor, Ezlen Khan, who was brought 

 to the residence loaded with chains and thrown 

 into prison, has to suffer the penalty which he 

 escapes. It is easy to believe that the recon- 

 ciliation between the father and the son is 

 only apparent. For, as the latter has tempo- 

 rarily suspended carrying out his designs only 

 because he expects to attain his ends by more 

 peaceful means from his intimidated father, so 

 the other has given pardon only in conse- 

 quence of orders from Calcutta, and because 

 fearing that England would regard the ques- 

 tion of the title to the Afghan crown simply 

 in the light of the principle of the right of 

 the strongest, he desires to obviate the danger 

 of the annual British subsidy going into Yakoob 

 Khan's war-chest. 



This prince is regarded by a part of the An- 

 glo-Indian press as hostile to the British inter- 

 ests, while another part hope that he will be 

 favorable to them. Both parties agree that he 

 is an important person to gain over ; and the 

 proposition is made in one journal that he be 

 sent to reside on the Hoogly as the plenipoten- 

 tiary of his father, in order that he may be 

 educated for the contingencies of the future, 

 in the immediate neighborhood of British in- 

 fluences. 



That part of East Toorkistan over which the 

 Chinese claim jurisdiction may be divided into 

 three poorly-endowed districts : 1. That of 

 South Eelee, where the Chinese formerly had 

 a penal colony, of which Kultscha, on the river 

 Hi, is the capital ; 2. The middle district of 

 Keer-Kasa- Oosoo, which has a marshy soil and 

 many lakes ; 3. The northern district of Tar- 

 bakatai, of which Tchoogootchak is the capital. 

 The Russians have recently encroached upon 

 this region, and have taken a slice from the 

 territory of the Chinese Empire, and, singularly 

 enough, upon the invitation of the authorities of 

 the latter. In June, 1871, it was announced in 

 the semi-official journals of Russia that the Chi- 

 nese had asked the Czar to help suppress the re- 

 bellion of the Soongarians. East Toorkistan re- 

 volted from Chinese rule some seven years ago, 

 and has since maintained its independence un- 

 der its own chiefs. In the district called by the 

 Chinese Thian-Shan-Nan Loo, i. e., the south- 

 ern Thian-Shan district, or Toorkistan, as we 

 call it, Yakoob Kushbegi still rules. In the 

 north, however, in the Thian-Shan-Peloo of 

 the Chinese, or in Eelee, as we designate it, the 

 Calmucks and the Tarandshis, with the last of 

 whom the Soongarians, or Chinese Mohamme- 

 dans, were affiliated, have assumed dominion. 



