AFGHANISTAN. 



been subject to the Ameer of Cabul, are now 

 independent, but may hereafter be compelled 

 to act- .Ik-fiance to Abdurrahman; 



while others are constantly revolting. Even 

 in the renter of the country, among the tribes 

 of Afghan Mood, the Ameer is unahle to exer- 

 cise ertl-ctive authority. The social system is 

 tribal and patriarchal, and civil government 



nlv in a loose, feudal form. The Af- 

 ghan tribes inhabit the valleys of the Cabul, 

 Helmund. and Argandab rivers, a mountainous 



: \injr between the Hindu Kush and 

 K..hi IJalia ranges on the northwest, and the 

 S.liman Mountains on the southeast. The rug- 

 i:ed and barren country in the southeastern 

 corner of Afghanistan is sparsely peopled with 

 wild tribes of kindred race. The Afghans fol- 

 -:..ral and agricultural pursuits, but war 

 is their favorite occupation. The tribes into 

 which they are divided are exceedingly jealous 

 of one another, and frequently engage in inter- 

 necine strife. They only unite for the con- 

 quest and oppression of other peoples. The 



i races inhabiting the northern slope 

 <>f the mountains afforded a rich field for con- 



The province of Herat was wrested 

 the Persians in 1753. Only the threats 



of Knirland prevented the Shah of Persia from 

 ng possession of Herat during the first 

 Anglo- Afghan war, in 1838-'42, and again in 

 The inhabitants of this province, with 

 the exception of the Saryk Tartars, and those 

 ot' the whole western side of Afghanistan, as 

 far as Ferrah, are of pure Iranian origin. They 

 have degenerated into barbarism to a large ex- 

 tent under the Afghan dominion; yet in many 

 of the tribes, such as the Tadjiks, the Timuris, 

 /.ilbashes, and the Parsivans, are still 

 cultivated the habits and traditions of civiliza- 

 tion. Though identical in race and language 

 with the Persians, they profess the Sunnite 

 form of Mohammedanism, and therefore are 

 but little attracted toward Persia. They would 

 embrace any alliance, however, and hail any 

 protector, BO that they might be delivered 

 from the galling and cruel yoke of the Af- 

 ghans. 



On the northern declivity of the Hindu 



Kush, the fertile valleys that lead down to 



us are peopled by diligent agricultur- 



peaceful semi-nomads, mostly Uzbek 



Turcomans. The Afghan power first pene- 



into this region near the end of last 



. and reach.-d the left bank of the Oxus 



about fifty years ago. The Turcomans had 



a powerful protector against the tyranny and 



rapacity of the Afghans in the Khan of Bo- 



khara, until the power of the latter was broken 



Mi was enabled, by sub- 



sidie- received from England, firmly to estab- 

 li>h his dominion along the whole bank of the 

 Oxus. The khanates of Maimene and And- 

 khoi were never thoroughly subjugated, and 

 ris.- in n-vo]t at every promising opportunity. 

 In the extreme east the provinces of Rochan 

 and Chignan accept the sovereignty of Cabul 



only when a military force is sent to occupy 

 the country. 



Diplomatic History of the Afghan Question. Th 



chief political interest attaching to Afghanis- 

 tan is derived from the fact that Great Britain 

 is striving to preserve it as a neutral zone be- 

 tween India and the advancing power of Rus- 

 sia. About fifty years ago, when Russia was 

 established on the north shore of the Sea of 

 Aral, and first turned her eyes toward Turkis- 

 tan, Great Britain felt the premonition of dan- 

 ger, and sought to bring the central Asian 

 khanates under English influence and protec- 

 tion, so as to establish a barrier against Russia 

 north of the Oxus. The more skillful strategy 

 and diplomacy of the Russians won this favor- 

 able position, and gradually transplanted the 

 power and influence of the Muscovite system, 

 which ends in complete political absorption, 

 across the desert steppes, to the fertile and 

 populous oases of central Asia, thus acquiring 

 a military base within striking distance of 

 Herat, the "Key of India." In 1864, when 

 the Russians occupied Chinakend and threat- 

 ened Khokand, Prince Gortchakoff, in a circu- 

 lar to the powers, indicated a line between the 

 Aral Sea and Issyk Kul, which was to be for- 

 tified and would mark the limit of Russian 

 expansion. The reasons that he gave for the 

 extension of the Russian dominions to that 

 line that the civilizing mission of Russia in 

 Asia required that the people who had been 

 converted from warlike and predatory habits 

 should be defended, in the pursuit of commerce 

 and agriculture, from the depredations of the 

 tribes that were still addicted to plunder 

 were partly the cause of transgressing the 

 frontier which it was then thought possible to 

 make secure, but were not sufficient to explain 

 the subjection of Bokhara soon afterward, and 

 the conquest of Khiva in 1873, and of Khokand 

 in 1876. Already in I860 England contented 

 herself with obtaining Gcrtchakolf s assurance 

 that the neutrality of Afghanistan should be 

 respected, and with taking care that there 

 should be an Afghanistan, by extending liberal 

 subsidies to Shere Ali, for the purpose of con- 

 solidating and maintaining his rule. Shere 

 Ali's faithless proceeding in entering into se- 

 cret negotiations with Russia, during the con- 

 flict over the San Stefano Treaty, convinced 

 the Disraeli Government of the worthlessness 

 of an alliance with the Ameer. The only way 

 to guard the land-route into India, they con- 

 cluded, was with English troops. The murder 

 of the English mission at Cabul furnished a 

 cause for the invasion and conquest of Afghan- 

 istan. They prepared to establish themselves 

 at Candahar and connect it with India by a 

 military railroad. The prodigious cost of the 

 Afghan campaign in blood and treasure, and 

 the continual sacrifices and dangers involved 

 in the maintenance of outposts and communi- 

 cations in the hostile Afghan country, as a pro- 

 vision against the remote and visionary con- 

 tingency of a Russian invasion of India, ere- 



