492 



INDIA. 



occupied the heights south of the Bala Hissar. 

 An attempt was made by the British on the 

 13th to capture the ridge above the Bala His- 

 sar, but it was not carried out with success, 

 and the fighting of the 14th and 15th did not 

 result in any material improvement of their 

 position. General Koberts then collected his 

 troops in the Shirpoor cantonments, northeast 

 of Cabool, where he waited for reinforcements, 

 while the Afghans were left in possession of 

 Cabool. The cantonment of Shirpoor was con- 

 sidered well enough fortified to withstand any 

 attack that was likely to be made upon it, and 

 was supplied with provisions to last several 

 months. A few days afterward the Indian 

 Government published an explanation of the 

 military situation, stating that General Roberts 

 had ample transport and ammunition ; that, be- 

 sides the 23 cannon belonging to his force, he 

 had 214 captured cannon, many of which were 

 rifled. His intrenchments could easily be held 

 by 2,500 men, leaving 6,000 free for offensive 

 operations. General Bright had 12,000 men 

 between Jumrood and Jagdalak, with 30 can- 

 non, two months' supplies, and sufficient trans- 

 port. Including the forces at Candahar and in 

 the Kooram Valley, the total field force was 

 45,000 men, with 160 guns, and was considered 

 ample for present requirements. 



On the 17th of December General Gough left 

 Jagdalak with reinforcements for Shirpoor and 

 Cabool. By the 18th the defenses of the Shir- 

 poor cantonments had been completed. The 

 enemy at that time occupied the heights over 

 the city, but did not descend into the plains, 

 which were patrolled by the British cavalry. 

 General Roberts was awaiting the arrival of 

 General Gough to make an attack, but intend- 

 ed to begin the offensive before he came up if 

 a suitable opportunity should offer. The ene- 

 my's force was diminishing. One of their 

 prominent leaders had been killed in a skirmish 

 which took place on the 17th. Mohammed 

 Jan Mardak, the real Afghan leader, was re- 

 ported to have proclaimed Yakoob Khan's eld- 

 est son Ameer. On the 22d General Gough 

 reported that he had been obliged to engage 

 the Ghilzais all along his line in order to re- 

 press their desultory attacks, had driven them 

 off, and hoped that they were dispersing. Re- 

 enforcements continued to advance, but Gen- 

 eral Roberts did not find it necessary to wait 

 for them. Desultory attacks were kept up all 

 the day of the 22d ; and information was re- 

 ceived during the day that an attack would be 

 made by the enemy at daybreak on the 23d. 

 Bodies of the enemy were seen occupying the 

 distant villages and approaching nearer as it 

 became dark. At 6 o'clock the next morning 

 a fire was lighted on the Asmi Heights as a 

 signal, and immediately afterward the attack 

 was begun on three sides. The British were 

 already prepared for it. The strongest demon- 

 strations were made on the northeast, where, 

 as soon as the enemy's intention was fully de- 

 veloped, a counter-attack with cavalry and ar- 



tillery was ordered. A fire was accordingly 

 opened on the enemy's flanks, which speedily 

 dislodged them. The cavalry pursued and 

 sabered numbers of the enemy, who retired 

 from all points and hastily entered the city. 

 Some near villages were occupied by the Brit- 

 ish, particularly those on the Butkak road. 

 The success of the British proved to be com- 

 plete. The enemy's loss was severe, one re- 

 port saying that the ground around Shirpoor 

 was thick with the bodies of the slain. Those 

 of the enemy who lived in Cabool went straight 

 to their houses after their defeat. The Kohi- 

 stanis and Logaris remained in Cabool for a few 

 hours, but all fled during the night. Two of 

 the enemy's leaders, Mushki Alim (a priest) 

 and Mohammed Jan, fled early in the day, and 

 another prominent leader was reputed to have 

 fled toward Wardak, with Yakoob Khan's eld- 

 est son. Yakoob Khan's wife and mother, and 

 a daughter of the late Akbar Khan (who was 

 the principal opponent of the British in 1841), 

 were captured. The Bala Hissar and the city 

 of Cabool were reoccupied, and by the 29th of 

 December the country around Cabool and the 

 line of communications were reported clear. 

 An attack was afterward made by a khan with 

 2,000 followers on Colonel Norman at Gunda- 

 muk, but the enemy was driven off'. General 

 Baker was dispatched on the 27th with 1,700 

 infantry, a regiment of cavalry, and four guns, 

 to Kohistan. He there destroyed the fort of 

 the hostile chief Mirbatcha, which he found 

 abandoned, and received the submission of sev- 

 eral Kohistani and Logari chiefs. Mohammed 

 Jan sent propositions for peace, in which he 

 demanded, among other conditions, that the 

 British forces should return to India, and that 

 a promise should be given to send back the 

 Ameer, while two British officers should re- 

 main at Cabool as hostages for the fulfillment 

 of the promise. No notice had been taken of 

 these propositions at the end of the year. 



A fresh body of reinforcements from Eng- 

 land left Portsmouth on the morning of the 1st 

 of January, 1880. At that time 10,000 men 

 were on their way through the Afghan defiles 

 to the relief of General Roberts ; about one 

 fourth were British and the rest natives. Two 

 thousand men held the fort of Lundi Kotal, 

 and a similar number that of AH Musjid. 

 There were 500 Sepoys at Jumrood and 5,000 

 at Peshawer, and bodies were marching for- 

 ward from Jelalabad and Gundamuk, whose 

 places were to be supplied by troops from Agra, 

 Meerut, and Bombay. 



The annual financial statement, published by 

 the Indian Government in March, produced an 

 unfavorable impression. In view of the fact that 

 the actual deficit of 1877-'78 and the estimated 

 deficit of 1878-'79 amounted to over 16 mil- 

 lions, and that the public debt within the same 

 time increased by about 15 millions, a strong 

 dissatisfaction was felt with the resolution of 

 the Government to exempt from import duty 

 all cotton goods containing no yarn of a higher 



