AFGHANISTAN. 



in 1868, and secured to himself tho rule over 

 Afghanistan. 



Their language as well as their physical con- 

 stitution prove the Afghans to belong to the 

 Aryan race. They are a well-formed, hand- 

 some, intolligent people, free from Oriental 

 ignorance and indolence. Almost every vil- 

 lage Iui3 a inollali, who is at the same time 

 school-teacher and reader in tho mosque. The 

 boys quite generally learn to read, to write, 

 and to say tho common prayers, and it is be- 

 lieved that about one fourth of the entire 

 population is in possession of an elementary 

 education. The instruction is given in the 

 Afghan language, but the boys also learn 

 Persian, which is the literary language in 

 Oabool, Oandahar, and Peshawer, as well as 

 tho colloquial language of the higher classes, 

 and is spoken in the western districts almost 

 exclusively. The schools in the towns are very 

 good, and their courses of instruction embrace 

 Persian and Arabic. The high school of 

 Peshawer, which embraced the whole course of 

 Mohammedan science, was celebrated through- 

 out Central Asia. Nearly all the Afghans are 

 Sunnite Mohammedans ; the educated classes 

 are tolerant, and, inclining toward Sufism, 

 sometimes exhibit considerable indifference in 

 regard to the Koran. 



A full account of the British-Indian cam- 

 paign against Afghanistan to the end of 1878 

 was given in the "Annual Cyclop?mlia " for 

 that year, and mention was made of the 

 ending of the active campaign with the cap- 

 ture of Oandahar on the 9th of January. At 

 the end of 1878 the British-Indian forces had 

 marched by three columns into the Afghan 

 country, and had seized the principal passes 

 leading to the important stations of Oandahar, 

 Cabool, and Jelalabud. Shere Ali, having 

 become convinced that reliance could not be 

 placed on his troops, had fled after the cap- 

 ture of Fort Ali Musjid and the Peiwan, leav- 

 ing Yakoob Khan in charge of his capital ; and 

 the capture of Jelalabad, December 20th, 

 placed the country substantially at the mercy 

 of the invading force. It was for some time 

 doubtful where Shere Ali had gone, and con- 

 tradictory reports were in circulation on the 

 subject. It appeared from information which 

 afterward reached the Viceroy of India that, 

 when his military condition had become crit- 

 ical, he held a durbar, at which the chiefs 

 agreed that effective resistance was not prac- 

 ticable, and the Ameer decided to seek the 

 protection of the Russians. Yakoob Khan 

 was released from confinement and placed in 

 control, an oath having been administered to 

 him that he would do as the Ameer might di- 

 rect; and the Ameer left Cabool on the 18th 

 of December. The Afghan envoys who had 

 been sent to the Russian General Kaufmann 

 at Tashkend held a farewell interview with 

 him about the 1st of January, when the Gen- 

 eral informed them that the Czar absolutely 

 refused to intervene in the affairs of Afghanis- 



tan. Two or three days later General Kauf- 

 mann received a letter from General Rasgo- 

 noff, the Russian agent at Oabool, stating that 

 he had left Cabool with the Ameer for the 

 i:n>M:in frontier. General Kaufmuim had tele- 

 graphed to Prince Gortcbakoff for instructions, 

 and had advised that the Ameer be received 

 if he crossed the Russian frontier. Shere AH 

 left affairs at Cabool in a disordered state. 

 His authority, according to the accounts re- 

 ceived from there, had almost disappeared, 

 and Yakoob Khan had difficulty in securing 

 himself in his new position, and there appeared 

 danger for some time that he would be over- 

 thrown before he could adopt any definite at- 

 titude with respect to the invasion. 



The British advance against Candahar was 

 begun on the 31st of December, 1878, when 

 a large part of General Stewart's division 

 marched through the Ghamaja Pass, and Gen- 

 eral Biddulph's division crossed the Khojek 

 pass. The two bodies met at Tuk-i-Put, at the 

 junction of the two passes, and on the 6th 

 or 7th of January their advanced cavalry en- 

 countered the Afghan cavalry, 600 strong, and 

 easily defeated them, with a loss of 34 killed 

 and prisoners, and 4 wounded on the British 

 side. The enemy fled toward Candahar. On 

 the 8th the advancing force was met by two 

 deputations from Candahar. One deputation, 

 representing the townsfolk, reported that the 

 governor of the town had fled with an escort 

 of troops to Herat, taking with him most of 

 the civil officers and a sum of money, and that 

 the rest of the army had fled on receiving the 

 news of the defeat at Tuk-i-Put; and they 

 stated that the people were prepared to open 

 their gates on the arrival of the columns. The 

 other deputation was from the deputy-gov- 

 ernor, tendering a formal surrender of the 

 city. On the next day the British entered the 

 city, the first brigade of General Stewart's 

 division and the first of General Biddulph's 

 moving together. The march proved a diffi- 

 cult one, for the dikes by the roadside had 

 been broken and the road was flooded ; but 

 the people were quiet, and the troops were 

 well received. The large Hindoo colony dwell- 

 ing in the town welcomed them, it was said, 

 with delight. Candahar is described by a 

 special correspondent who was with General 

 Stewart's column as "less a great city than a 

 collection of numerous walled villages lying in 

 an oblong plain, intersected every fifty yards 

 by watercourses, and surrounded by a com- 

 mon wall. It is encircled by abrupt stony 

 hills. It possesses no good streets practicable 

 for wheeled vehicles, and in empty spaces 

 within the walls are many rugged trees, and 

 some large sapling plantations, which assist in 

 destroying its appearance as a great city. The 

 mud walls encircling it are of great height and 

 thickness, and are in a state of fair repair. 

 The bastions and towers described as existing 

 in 1840 have now entirely disappeared." The 

 condition of the citadel indicated that military 



