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JA.ER
,
FEVRIER
MARS.
-No:
I~
Janvier-Mars 1958
Vot. XIII,-No. 1.
\
Revue trimestrielle
P u b 1i ~ e par la Societe dei
etudes historiques d' Afghanidan
~
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E
::::
ABONNEMENT ANNUEL
KabouL .............. ...................... 40 Afghanis
Provinces .... . ... .. . . .. 41/50 Afghanis
Etranger ... ... .. ... ..
.............. 4 Dollars
~llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll
DIRECTEUR : MOHAMMAD NAB I KO HZAD
ADRESSE : SOCIETE D'HISTOIRE D' AFGHANISTAN :
KABOUL, AVENUE D'IBN-E-SlNA TEL. No. 2037 4
SOMMAIRE
Page.
D A R A • E • N 0 U R OU LA V ALEE
DE LA LUMIERE
THE R U IN S OF SURKH
'
KOTAL
L E S SITES T 0 U R I S T IQ U E S
DE L' AFGHANISTAN
SHIH
~CHI
HISTORICAL RECORDS
.Ahmad Ali. Kohzad.
1.
Gabrielle Bertrand
7.
M.
Nabi Kohzod.
1
o
Szuma Ch'ien 145·87B,
30
\
...
C. of the han Dynasty
IN THE HIGH LI~GH,TS OF
MODERN i. AFGHANI_STAN
Ahmad Ali Kohzad
COUVERTURE:
Le Minaret de Djam.
II
AVIS A NOS LECTEURS
La Societe des etudes historiques a vise see lecteurs
qu'_s:n plus des abonnemont~ la Societe est bien disposee
a faire des echanges contre ses publications:
AFGHANISTAN (revue trimestrielle) et ARIANA
( revue mensuelle ) qui paratt en persan et en pashto.
Note: AFGHANISTAN cancfour de~ civiliaations
(parut au ~ numero de 1957 est ecrit par G. FRUMKIN)
41
D A R A-E-N 0 U R
ou
LAVALLEE
DE
PAR: AHMAD
LA L U. M IE R E
ALI KOHZAD·
A UO Kilometre au nord du centre de Djelalabad, pruqu'au
commencem11nt de la vallee de Kqnar, s'uuvre au nord vcrs la
crete blanche de l'Hindu Kush. une petite vallee !lecondaire; c'est
]a valle• cle Nour qui veut dire en persan: "La Vallee de La
Lumiere.
Le long de Kouar auesi haut que Barikot en face a
Dokaleme ou s 'arrete le territoire afghan, il y a pas mal de vallees
principale de l'Hindu-Kosh
qui s'epanc,uiseent vers 1 a chaine
comme Div-Gal, Mazar, Nour-Gal, Paitch etc jusqu'a Landai-Sine
qui va a Kar.daish ou le plus grand centre du Nouri"tan afghan.
Parmi toutes ces vallees, la Vallee de Nour est la plus
proche a DjelalaLad et tout en etant proche et carrossable pe~t
donner au simple touristes et savants (linguist!•• ethnographes,
sociologuea, archeologues, hotanistes, geologues,) heaucoup de satisfaction dans lt~urs domofaines. Il y a pas mal de p"ersonnes a
Kahoul, afghans ou raagers qui desire~lt visiter . un jour Nouristan.
La vallee de Nour etit une antichamhre d'ou s'ouvre une petite
fenetre dans la haute partie vers quelques viUages qui mrlgreil
tous les vicissitudes et les evenements histeriques ont pu heusement garder les traits caracteristiques de leurs vie et la culture
autocohone de l'Hindu-Kush a laquelle je m'interresse et ie me
sens pauione .
La vallee de Nour est carrossable, · en face de Chighi le
centre administratif de la basse Konar , la route de Dara-e-Nour
s'ecarte de celle de Konar. A.mir HabibClulah Khan passione de
la chasse et la heaute naturclle des sites les plus reculees du
pays s'est rendu il y a une cinquantaine d'annees dans la vo~llee
Nour. La construction de la route date de cette epoque
-2(1327). Deux inscritptions dans la haute partie de la vallee en face du
village Waigal et Sotane eonfirment le rlepla<•ement royal.
La vallee de Nour sans e:1mpter S<1rol qui s'ouvre a l'ouest
presque au beau milieu d2 la vallee, se di vise en Jeux branches dam;
la partie la plus haute: Barkot et la valle tie Nour provrement dit. La
route carrcu;sable aboutisse a Chakiali le centre de Alaqadari ou petit
chef lieu administratif. Sur la route on rencontre les villages de la
basse vallee; Sartch, Badiali, ArRlah , et Kala - Shahi qui est compose
en realite d'un ensemble d e villages dunt Tal~qui''-~~-- demeur
Aghadjan Patcha Je chef spirituel dont de sa hospitalite je ne pens
pas .Puser en silence.
Les deux branchel!i de la, vallee ue son! praticables qu'a pied
on la marche est recompensee d'une promenade splendide a travers
nne lite de grandieuse beaute, Barkot reserve ses beautes d':lnl les
coins lea plu1 caches de ses detours. Les vgelations qui couvrent la
premiere parti de la vallee spn tensuite remplces par les arbrel.
Amlouk eat un fruit sauvage dont les femmes le reeu~illent et le
· vendent c:ontre le sel.porte par les colporteurs pashtoun. L'echan&e
de ce fruit conaiste en donnant deux poids du fruit contre un du sel
ou d'autre maticres.
Do Dank qui veut dire en penan deux directions on deux petites portes se fait voir ; aur les· fl:mcs les plus l<!auts de la montagne,
a gauche ; Jan,hagal et a droit Weigal qui se prononee Ouigal
aussi. Gal dana le dialecte nouristani vent dire co'urs d'eau eoulant au flanc d'une vallee. Wai ou plus correctement Oui veul dire
Fille; dont Waigal on Ouigal eat le cours d'eau ou la vallee d8 la
fille. Noublions pas que la beaute feminine eat tres attrayante ici et
que la femme a nne erande autorite. Entre les deux villages Jansha&ale et Weigal on voit a maint endroits des cave~ on plutot des tout
petits aailes sous formes des grottes creuse~s dans le roc mtme. L'entree de ces grottes ne depaue pas plus de 60 centimetres juste pour la
taille d'nn homme crenses bien soigneusement dans le roc. Sou
vent on voit meme par endroit la forme de cousiiin et oreillet donnee
au roe. C' est toni ours naturellement le folklore qui nons donne q:uel-
-3que Pxplicatioa~ t't qui precisf' les caves comme les demeures
des
I
Dives : etre 1urnatmels;. Je me demande comment le5 dives qui
sont toujours consideres comme des etres 1igantesques, dea geants
pouvaient :>e tenir dans des asiles aussi etroite. Il est sur et certain
que clans unP periode bien rleterminee de l'histoire de la Vallee
( l'histoire de l'Hindu-Kosh.) les habitants tres restereins de cea hau·
tes montagnee se creussient d'habitations dans lcs rocher~. Au fur
et au m::~sure que la population s'augrnenta, ont commencerent a
hatir des maisons et a former deR villages dont l'etwle de tout les
deux est tres interessant.
A Waiga] par exemrle les maisons sout superposees les unes
sur I es 1m tres.
Les n:atieree; de la ccstruction consistent en galets et des
poutres pour la toiturf'. Les paroi!» des cbambres se forment
par lcr-; poutre~ dont les extn:mites sn fixent sur les angles, et les
intervales qui rPstent entre les poufres se rempli!isent par des
galPtR. Les murs ainsi con~truits soot capable de . resister au
grands chutes de neige qui tomhent sur les hauteurs de l'HinduKosh. Le villag Je Waigal place haut sur les versants neigeux de
la montagne. me paraissait d~ loin inaccessi bit>.
Des jeunes filles et dea jeunes femmes Waigalis vetues
presque toute de cotonnadt~ hlanche ( jupe et p:mtalon collant )
et portan 1m peau de · chevre a revers selon leur usage me
croisaient sur le sentier de ]a montagne.
D'autres nous devancaient le long des ruisseaux limpides qui
coulaient aux abordB du village; On est arrive au fond de la vallee
au pied meme du village; il s'agit maintenant de monter une
etroite ruelle, ou plutot un es..:alier de plutieur ct:ntaines de
marches, lei, On se croise avec les betails du village dans la
com· et meme sur l'e,calier au moment ou les animaux descendent ]~; long oe l'escalier au fond de Ia vallee. Apres
avoir tmvers~r 1111 couloir rJous avont atteint la plu!! haute dont S.l
terract> dominait sur tout )p village et la vallee. Ce jour la par chance
un mariage ~e manifestait dau le village .Lea femme a et lea
-4-
'
hommes s'etaient r~uni1 sur d~eux terraces-l'une en face de l'autre.
Ont jouaietlt le1 tamhourin1; les hommes dansaient et les femmes
contemplaient.
Les deux sexe1 •avaient farde ]es yeux d'un produit liquide
de cuJeur rouge. Au premier aburd j'ai cru qu'd s'agissait peut
etre d'un medicament, mais ensuite j'ai eu la conviction qu'ici
dans le village et au moins chez les femmes ~:ette usage est un
soin de beaute.
Les femmes mariees portent un houch~ au nez, c'est une
broche ou plaquettte en ar~ent fahriqueea genuelement dans m~e
· yaiJee voisine: Colmar.
Ce qui me frappa beaucoup, c'etait d'entendre que le JOur
meme du mariage, ou le ceremonie avait lieu, ]a fian'cM etait allee
chercher du hois avee ses compagnons verw le sommet de la montagne. Les femme1 Waigalis a'ocecupents de tous les travaux
domestiques et sunt les vraies maitresses de ]a maison; c'est le
cas de tout Nouristan enti~r. De la terrace ou nous avait ete
accorde l'hospitalite je remarqus un groupe d'hommes autour d'un
narghile. On m'a dit qu'ice les hommmes n'ont presque rien a
faire, ils ne font que surveiller les enfants au moment ou leur mere
vont cherche:r du bois ou t~ueillir du fruits on menent paitre les
troupeaux de chevres.
Le fromage et le pain qui fent cuire
pierre ou disque sont tres apprecies.
sur une mince piece de
Da.s la' branche orientale de la haute vallee de Nour il y
a d'autrea villa,es comme Shemal et Kanak hahites par le
mems genre de monta&nards. Wairal et Shemal se resemblent de
tout le1 points de vue; meme ,enre de construction, m.eme eenre de
pvpluation meme g.-nre de vie, meme coutumes, meme moeurs et
meme langue. La diffrenee reste tout de meme dans la prouonciation trfu Jegere d'un village a l'autre, maie parfois usez
forte dans le vocabulaire.
•
-5Au point de vue racial~ l't la reparition de la • population
dans la vallee de Nour on peut diviser la population de la maniere
suivante:
Dans lea village!\ les plus hctuts comme le cas de waiglll,
janshagal ,
Shemal les hahitants sont autochtones ( les Homos
Alpinue) de
l'Hindu-Kosh. On
les anciens
Kafirs de
la
les considerent
Grande
Mongtagne.
des Bouristanis ou
Les
informations
verhale• confirmcnt cette idee. Lt:s indigenes croitnt que par exemple Shemal et Tchalf~ss elaient a l'origine deux freres, et leur
descendants resp(jctHt vivent aujourd'hui danli les hautes parties de la
vallee de Nour et de sa voisine Daiwga l. Tchaless ou le village
precite se trouve dans la haute Daiwgal. D'autres croient a
un troisieme frere: qui so trvuvait dans m1 village Jite ARETE
dans la vallee de Mazar. Ces croyances pQpulaires confirment
que les habitants des hautes vall€es secondaires de Konar sont
de la
meme souche,
sont meme
des freres et cousins, il111 parlent
leur dialecte ou nourietani on kafir que les lingnistes le comptent
de la famille Ddrdic. Un peu plus has on trouve d'autres populations,:
Le~
Degans
ou Degvnis
parl!J.nt le dialecte
pashay.
Lea
Degans sont
tajiks ou des
les Dehqan~ des premiers eiecles de l'Hegire, des
habitants agricuheurs. Ces habitanttJ sont repartient
en plusieurs villages dans Ia vallee de Nour aussi bien que dans
des vallees voitsines ju~qu'a L'agLman. Cette ma~tse de population
et lem dialecte pashav est une des prohleme pauinapte qu'il
"
devait
etre traiter a pJr. Ensuite ven
la partie btsz:se
de
la vallee de
qui se sont
Nour on rencontre de la pfJpulation Pashtoun
avancee des chaines d e Solc:a~n • Spinghar au
cours d'histoire Cest d'ailleurs a la suite de Ct'S 'teplacmt"nts que
lea autochtones de l'Hindu-Koshse sont retires de plus en plua
vers . les hauteurs. Il y a meme des villa~s ou Paahtouns et
Daigans vivemt ensemble
et parlent pashay ou pao;hto.
Dans la haute parti de la vallee
de Nour lei Daigaps et les
Nouristanis vivent presque hce a face a un~ Iegere difference d'altitude.
lei la population parle pashay dont les ''tlouristanili la comprennen t
auasi.
-6hauta
Le& doialectes dardic~ qui &Ollt reserves aux villages les plus
de~ la vallr~e dt' Nour sont cosidere~ parmi )ps plue rlificiles.
Au point de vue sociale il y a J'aures divisions a hire, selon le1
legendes populaires, on divise la population rle la vallee de Nour
!!lans distinction de Souehe ethnique en deux grandes categorie111: Lcs
Shenganek Pt h les saume. Le!i habitants dP plusieur villag~s
c:omme Sotonc, Macljkandol Waigal, jusqu'en bas rle Ja nllee y
comprit-i Amlah et Sroch font partie de shengan~k. les gents
de ,Sarol, Kashmanqaleh et d"autres sont consideres comme les Saume
Les Saumes ,.;;e ronsiderent socialement plus cleves.
Sur l'origine de Shenganek ]'ai eu cette petite ),.~gende; Sheng veut
dire la corne. 11 etait une fois une femme eneeiute, l'orsqu'elle mis
au jour son enfant Pile deposa le hebe sur la erete de la montagne
KondP (le nom que )e$ indigenes donnent a l'Hindu-Kosh) au pied
d'un arbre, !'enfant s'agrandit par le soin et le lait d'une chevre qui
y pusait reguliremen1lt• nourir. d'ou Sheng mck ve.1t dire elescendant
de la Corne.
Les Shenganek apartient "'~ wal qui ~st une partie sociale
predominante. Selon Ia coutnme locale si une mariee apres la cere.
monie du mariagP n'est plus contente et heureuse avec 1on mari faisant
payer les frais du mariage par un autn~ jeun homme elle peut ~;e liberer.
frais rembourses devait t'tre un peu plus superie~rs a ce
qu'on a· df'penses. Si au contraire le mari n"est 'plus ~atisfait dans
ce cas il ne doit a mariee juste les frais dn mariage.
Le~
La liberte des femmes surtout dans Ia haute vallee chez les
descendans. nouristanis est incontestable. Les femmei" ;• sont fideles
mais les lients du mariag-P pour raison dt> Ia formation sociaie
est assez elastiques.
portnt en ~enerale des turaa1u noir ce
Les femmes Daij!n'l
•rui l~·s fait recoun'lis'lablc" a"J:!f'z far~illemcnt des d'autrei femmes .
____
..,.~4-·-·
··------·
Unesco Fea uros
No. 252 · 2
Seph~mber
1957
THE HUINS OF SUUKH KOTAL
French Archaeologists Discover Ancient. Temple in Afghanistan
l>y GaLrklk l:l<wtrantl (*)
In the fir:;t ceutury A.D .. follo;ving the disnJ<~mhcrmettt uf tl1~
kingdoms c~tablisheJ in Baetriu by the de:;eendanlti of the 1e11erab
of Alexander the Great, Scythian tribes from Central Aiiia invaded
Afghanistan and nnrth-ea:;t India where they founded the great Kushan empire which flourished from 30 to 244 A.D.
These Indo-European tribes soon asl"iimilated the culture uf th<'
lands they had eonquered and in th3 !lecond eentury A.D., under tht>
influence of one of their leaders, Kanishka. m1 enthusiastiG convert
to Buddhbm. rdigious institutions grew up and flourished throu&hout the empire. The ancient town of Bamian, iu particular, to
which Kanishka's descendant:; made lavish donationti, beeame
important C@ntre of lunv-Buddhist art.
art
Magnificent vestiges of Buddhist art and arch i lecture dating
hack to this period have been dil'eovered in Af~;hauit'ltaH in recent
years by a team of French archaeologists. But they have al::;o unco.
vered the remnant1 of another eivilization which flourished in the
area during the :,;arne period. These districts of present-day AfghaniEtan in which the discoveri~s were made were not all included iu
the- Kushan empire and many of the inhabitantli never adopted I the
Buddhist faith. They remained attachtld to the ancient culture of
(*)
Iadian
Gabrielle BertrarHL
\~riter.
phical Society,lhP
urganiz~d
jl>Urnnilst and •·xplurer,
expedition to Afsam 111 I he north of
lndit~:
with
it1 I '!S;l a Fraaro·
tlH' support of tlw G<'ogra·
Mus('<' de l'Homnw in Paris nnd thl' Iadiun Mttt·E'Uill uf Calautta.
She has just left on a trip to India, Pak.istan Afghan\stan and Iran. ller works indtllk'"Le
peuple de Ja .Jungle·· and ·'Terres secretes
ou rcgnent les
Femmes:·,
puhlislwd in
England under the titles "'Tha People of the Jungle" and ·•send Lands w]u,re the
Women Reign"
-8lran and practised Zoroastrianism unitil they became converted tG
th~ faith of Islam.
In 1951, Daniel Schlumberger, head of the French archaeoligical
mission, _learned from an Afghan friend that some stones covered
with inscriptions in Greek. characters had been discovered in the area
of Pul-i-kumri, lit the foot of the passes leadinr to the mountains of
the Pamir. The stones were located about 8 miles from the town of Puli-Khumri, on the side of a road linking Haibach and Mazar-i.Snerif.
They were found quite hy chance when the Afghan Ministry of
Communications decided to be build a new stretch of~road by-pauing
a small pass called " Surkh Kotal " the Red P~tu. The · new
road was to wind round a hill which rises up in the middle of the
Pul-i-Khumri plain, and it was in ~he course of constructing it that
workmen uncovered a brick b.astion built on a foundation of stones,
some of whic'tl bore iri.scriptions in Greek letters.
Was this an i~olated bastion, or part of a more extensiYe
system of fortifications? Daniel Schlumberger soon found the
I
answer when he visited t~e site. Almost the whole periphery of
the hillock was surrounded by a wide moat, in a very bad itate
of puservation, but which could caaily bw recognized as part of
a syrtem of .fortifications. This moat surrounded a sort of Acropolis
on which were found the remains of a vast\ rectangular court
with a mouud in the middle which the archaeologiits thought
contained the ruins of a large buildin~.
..
Daniei Schlumberger and his team were very anxious to explore
the Acropolis, and work soon started on the site with the full support
of the Afghan authorities.
Tht central building i1 now almost entirely unearthed. It i1
a larie temple !et in a magnifcent
position over looking
the broad plain, commanding a view of mountains which stretch
in the north to the high paslies of the Hindu Ku1h. It wu the
discovery of this temple which finally threw light on the significance
-9of the r:,uins of Surkh Kotal and the divinity worshipped thue.
The monumenu rad been built on the site of a fire sanctuary
and, in the middle of the central hillock, the archaeologists found
a hollow in the ground which was still filled with fine grey
ashes, the accumulated remains of innumerable sacrifices offered to a
divinity worshipped in many lands. The Greeks Strabo and Pamanias
have left descriptions of the sacrifices they witnessed in Anatolia,
while at the other end of the Iranian domain, they visited temples
"having in their centre an
which the
Prie~ts
altar
maintained
heaped
with
uhes
and
over
an inextinguiehable flame."
ahJO been unearthed anil'
standi out majestically on the hilhidt~. It is difficult to say to
what period this an,l the other remaim: belong. Tlwugh th~y were
built six or seven centuries after Zoroaster, they are prior to
the period
when Zoroastrianism was
practised in the forms
in which it is known today (that is, beginning with the Sassanid
period in the 3rd century A.D.). The archaeologist• believe that
the templl"s were built at the time of the Kushan empire, which had
inheritad Greek traditio.n, b~t they maintain that the f~ith practis~d
there was indigenous to the country.
The altar
of Surkh
Wurk is
proceedin~
monuments
yet
Kotal
on the Surkh Kotal sits,
remain to be uncovered. But the
already thrown light on a period
known: the
in which
certain features
Daniel Schnlmberger.
the Iranian
about which
for many
digs have
almost nothini
is
period of Zoreastrianiem in Central Asia.
"The manner
lay-out and
has
thei!e monuments
of decoration
"They are linked
lands, which
are
built,
their
are not Greek", writes
to the ancient tradition of
dates back at least
t(l the &real Acha-
emenian empire (5th and 4th centuries B.C.)".
The disocvery of this temple is but a first step in research
on this mysterious period, for. the archaeologists believe that
many other
{UNESCO)
treasures lie hidden
b~neath the soil
of Afghanistan.
--------·--------
LES SITES
TOURISTIQUES
' DE
L' AFGHAN IS TAN
PAR
MOHAMMAD NABI KOHZAD.
Afghanistan est un pays de hautes montagnes, qui se trouve
au seuil d.s l'Asie centrale, sur les veuants du haut plat¢au de
Pamir, (Toit du Monde). Les lmutes et majestueuses montagnes,
avec les versants couverts de forets et les cimes de neigei
eternelles et leur variete de gamme de couleurs, donnet;t au pays
un aspect tres pittoresque. Les nllees profonde'> et verdovantes,
les gorges etroites, le cicl bleu, les quatre saisons bien dt'finies,
le climat salubre, sts n.inea et ses monuments
hiatoriques et
surtout l'hospitllite d~ ses habitants, represente l'Afghanistan un
pays de reve pour les touristes. C'est vraiment un pays du soleil
ou le beau temps y continu pendant toute l'annee; meme en hiver.
C'eat ici qu'on trouve les meilleurs fruits en abondance.
Aujourd'hui, 1' Afghanistan n'est pas un pnya p~rdu au seuil
de l' Asie centrale eomrne au pasae. Les distancea fakmleuses des
longs voyages, des 11emaines et des _mois, sont reduitfs a quelque
heures &race au reaeau aerien interns et dea lignes trasoceatiiennes
qui relient Ia capltale du pays aux centus internationaux.
Pour facilite lea touriste1 et les amis qui voya~ent en Afghanistan nous donnons ci dessous une liste breve maia bien claire et
precille des sites touristiques bien importants du pays.:
KABOUL BOUDDHISTE : Kaboul la capitale d' Afghanistan est
une ville ancienne et historique. Le fleuve de Kaboul pas@e au
•
centre de la ville.
Le Logar qui est un des affluent& de Kaboul vient du sud tt
coulc sur le bord oriental de la ville. Potu lea archeolo&ues auui
-11bi~n
que pour les amateurs les vestigec. historique3 de Kaboul bouddhiste sont interessants. Ce site se trouve a douze Km au Sud . Est
de la ville dan!! une localittt, qui
s'appele Tchakari pour y
joindre on prend la route qu'y va de Balahissar; noublons pas
que les derniers trois Kro d oi t etre parcouru a pied ou a cheval.
A Kaboul bouddhiste vous trouverez lea restes de plusitur . stupas
houddhiques du deuxieme et de troisieme siecle bien conserves.
Ces stupa~ sont les monuments les plus proches de Kabonl restes
encore debout. Au meme endroit mais un peu plus loin et au flam;
de la montagne on voit un tour de 20 metres de haut qu'on l'appelle
( Monar-e-Tchakari), ce tour qui a ete surmonte d'un (Tchakar)
ou (roue ) l't~mbleme de la religion boulddhiste date de l'epoque
Koushan. Vers le Sud-Ouest des stupas et de l'autre cote du flanc
d~ la montagne il y a un autre tour au nom de Sorkh Monar
eu ( Tour rouge).
BALAHISSAR ET LES MURS DE KABOUL: Veu le Sud-Est
sur les versants d'une colline verte qui s'appelo "Tepe Zamarod"
on aperQoit les restes des anciens murs. C'est !'emplacement du
Balahissar de Kaboul qui depuis les c:poquP-s preislamiquea jusqu'en 1879, c'est a dire la deuxieme invasoin anglaise etait une
fortereue et Ja citabclle de la ville. Les quartiers qui s't~tendaitnt
au pied de la citadelle a ete defendus par les murs tt les fosses. Jusquau milieu du XX ei~cle le centre de la ville se limitait aux enrirons
de Balahissar.: Sur !'emplacement de l'encien Balahisllar s'eleve aujourd'hui le batirrient de l'ecole militaire. Les murailles de Kaboul dont
les rest~& sont visibles aujourd'hui meme· en partie sur les montagne• de Sherdarwaza et Assmay sont construites au V siecle a
l'erioque des Hephtalites pour la deffence de la ville.
LE JARDIN DE BABOUR : Le voyageur qui arrive a Kabeul
est necessairemrht amene, des ses premien sorties, a la visite des
"Jardins de Babour". ll y trouv, dans un cadre verdoyant et fleuri a
une distance de deux Km au Sud-Ouest de la ville des jardinS'etages ala
mongole, un pavilion de repos rustique, un tennis, une pit>cine; tout
a cote se trouve le mausolee de Zahir Uddin Mohammed Babour le
premier des erand mongols, et la tombe de son fils Mirza Handa! et eellc
-12de son neveu Mohammed Hakim Mirza. Au d~uxieme etage dtl jardins
s'elevait une raVi8S8l!te mosquee eH marbre blanc COflS!ruite a l'epoqlle
de Shah Diahan actuellement dt"mon-tee pour raias,Jn de ]a rtttauration.
Des platanes centenaires ombaragent les abords du mamolee ainsi
que eels de la mosquee. C'est au jardin du Babour que l_a Mu ·
nicipalite celebre Ia fete des plantations au jour de l'an.
LE JARDIN DE TCHEHELSOTOUN: A deux Km du jardin
de Babour se trouve un autre jardin Tcheblsotoun. Cfl beau jardin
qui a un palais magnifique domine la plaine vedoyante de Tchardehi
TEPE TADJ · BEG: Ce palais qui est bati sur une dei collines
qui se trouvent derriere le gran1l palais de Daroilaman a le privilege
d'etre ~ituer sur une hauteur d'ou on peut contempler toute la
zone de Tcltar~lehi
BOSTAN SARAY, u: MAUSOLEE D'ABDUL
RAHMAN KHAN:
Juste au centre de la ville il y a un petit jardin au nome
de Bostan Saray ou reside le sie,e de !'Education National«~.
En face de l'entree du jardin se trouve le mausolee rl'Amir Abdul
Rahman Khan qui montre le style de la --:onstruction de son epoque.
TEPE MARANDJAN , MA~"SOLE DU FEU ROI
SA MAJESTE MOHAMMAD NADIR SHAH:
A l'angle Est de I11 vHle de Kaboul se trouve un tepe historique
qu'on l'appele Tepe Marandjan, d'ou on a trouve des vestiges his·
toriques, des statues et des monnais conservees au Musee de Kaboul.
Au flanc Sud de ce tepe est erige le mausolee, du feu roi Sa Majeste Mohammad Nadir Shah, h pere de notre actuel roi, Sa Majeste
Almotawakel Allallah Mohammad Zahir Shah. Ce mausolee construit de
belles pie~es de mrLres est visible de tuut les cuins de la ville. Du
haut du tepe on se rejonille rl'une tres helle vue de la ville.
KHADJA SAF A : Au Sud de la ville et au flanc dumont Sherdarwaza, se trouve une petite villa rustique et un pigeonnier qu'on le
Le grand Bouduha du Bamyan
Le Mau~olee du IV erne Calife a Mazar-e- Sharif
-13-.
voit de tres loin et de divers. point de la ville. Non seulement les
abords de villa, mais aussi une grande etendue du versant de la
montagnP, sont couverts d~ l'arbres de judas qui, fleurissent vers le
milieu du mois d'avrile et donntmt un upect tres pittoresque a cet
endroit. Khadja Safa est un site tres frequente_durant 1~ printemps.
LE MAlJSOLEE DE HAZRAT -E- TAMIM,
LES MARTYRS SACRES:
D~rriere
les ruines de B~]ahissar et au pied dv mont
Shakh-e-Barantay s'etend le celebre cimetiere de Kaboul, que des lea
premiers jours de Ia propagation, de l'lslam avec le manyre de (Hazrat·e-Tamim) l'un des disciples de notre Prophete Hazrat-e-Mohamn1ad,
porte le nom de Shohada - e - Salehin. Ce sanctuaire qui est un
lieu de pelerinage, est tn s freqt!ente pendant le printemps. A
cote de ce unctuaire Ee trouve UlW source limpidt> au nom de
Hazrat-e-Khedre tres visitee par lea pelerins.
RISH- KHORE: A J5 Km au Sud- Est de Kaboul il y a
un villa1e au nom de Rish-Khore. Un peu plus loin se t.rouv~,
une etroite vallee d'ou passP. Ia riviere de Kaboul et qui s'appele
Tanghi Lalandar; S.A.R. Shah Mahmoud Ghazi a edifice un tres
beau jardin en etagu a Rish-Khore qui est un des plus beaux pares
de Kaboul. Ce beau jardin don t l' entree est libre pour tout le
monde eat muni d'une belle piscine.
BEGRAMI : A 21 1\.m a l'E!!t de Kabor 1 DUJ la route de
Nan,arhar (la Province dt1 l'Est) se trouve un jardin .et un vaste
champ de Bozkashi dont tout les deux meritent unl" visite. Le jardin
do Bee;rami etait une fois la derniere etape venant de l'Est vers Kaboul. Un grand ruisseau qui parte de Logare coule au milieu du jar' din. Comme climat le jardin est plus chaud que Kaboul. Sa meilleur
saison est l'automne. Lea hoteil d'honneur et les grandes personalite.
qui voyageaint par l'aneienne route de Djelalahad venaient accuellir
dans ce jardin. A deux Km p]us baa du jardin et en face d'un
tept~ a'etend un vaste champ qu'on l'appele champ de gulf.
-14Le 21 du mois Mizan ou le jour de i'anivenaire de la
naiseance du S. M. le Roi d'Af~~thanistan y se deroule le fameux
jeu de Bozkuhi qui est un des jeus national du pays. Le spectacle
de ce jeu dont les meilleurs cavalit:rs · du pays y participent . est
tres pauionant surtant pour les etrangers.
PAGHMAN: A 27 Km a l'Ouest de Kaboul et l'lux pieds des hautes
montagnes qui limitent !'horizon Ouest de la ville, et dont les cretes
sout souvent couvertes de neige, se trouve un grouoe de residences
estivales au nom de Paghman. Paahman qui se trouve a une altitude
de 250<) m a un climat tres arreable et un a-ir montagneux et tres
pur. Ce petit villag avec son air frais, la heaute de 5es paysages,
ses aource1 d'eau froides et limpides, et sa proximite a la ville est
tres frequente pendant l:ete. Aux ahords du jardfn public de PB,-hman oR voit une s~rie de villas simples et elegantes. Au fond de la
vallee principale et au sommet dn haut montagne qui barre la vallee.
se trouve un lac qu'a l'origine etait un cratere d'un volcan et les
alpinistes y font ascension.
A huit Kms au Sud de Paghman s'ouvre un vallon au nom de
Be&toute. A l'entree de ce vallon et ~ur le contrefort de Ia
montagne s'eleve une petite construction ·au style de l'eoque d'Ahdur
Rahman Khan, qu'on l'appele Setara et qui donne, une tres belle
vue sur Ia ville rle Kaboul.
Avant d'arriver a Paghmlln vous trouvez un tres beau jardin
qui s'etend sur une vaste colline et qui temoigne lc gout tres
raffine du Sa Maj~ste le Roi Mohammad Zahir Shah, dont l'entree
est
toujour libre
pour les
visiteura.
KAPI~SA
KOHESTAN·KOHDAMAN
Vers le nord de Kaboul, se trouve une grande plaine verdoyante
et fertile entouree par leB chaineii de mont Paghman et Saffi et
arrosee par les fleuves rugissants de Pandjsher, Shotol, Gorband, et
Salang. Cette grande plaine, se divise en deux parties celle de Sud
Kohdaman et celle du Nord Kohestan. Les villages les plus earac-
-15• teriatiques et pittoresques d'Afghanietan s'etendent aux pied a de ces
montagnes. Kohdaman et Koheetan sont tout l~s deux la terre de
fruita et aurtout de raisin-., renommee pour son gout et 11 divereit~,
dans le monde entier. Les veatiges hittoriques couvrent une grande
etendue de cette zcne.
BEGRAM: Tcharikar qui se trouve a une distance de 80 Km de
Kaboul estun des plus grand centres d'Afghanis:an. A sept Km a l"Est
de ce point s'etend les ruines de Begram dont etait une-,fois la
eapitale du pays. La plaine de Begram, est tres fertile au point de
vue archeologique elle a deja fournit au cours d~e fouilles des
centaines de pieces d'ivoires et des verres peints uniques dans le monde,
conacrveee au Musee de Kaboul.
-BORDJ-E-ABDULLAH: Aux abords des ruines de Begram sur un
rocher qui domine les eaux du Paudjher on voit les vestiges des
ruines qu'on l'appele Bordj-e-Abdullah ou Abdullha-e-Bordj, a l'origine
c'est !'emplacement d'une de& forteresse d'Alexandre.
PAHLAWAN-KOH: A cinq Km et a l'Est du ruines de Begram un
voit un monticule sousle _nom de Pahlawan-Koh. Aux environs de ce.
monticule sont visibles lea re~tes de sept ou huit temples et stupas
bouddhiquel, lea trouvailles a'un de ces temples (:o;hotorak) sont
amenects au Musee de Kaboul.
ESTALEF: Lc pittoresque. villa,e d'Estalcf dont aee maisona
sont baties en etages sur les versant& de li montal{ne est entoure
do trea pree par dea coJlines verdoyantes; et de loin par dea haute• et majestueusea montagnes. Ce viliage, avec son jardin qui se
trouve, en face est
et plus verdoyants
. un des pluJ pittoresques
.
villages dea environs de Kaboul, et un dei meilleurs aites touriatiquea. Estalef et son iardia existait deja mP.me avant Olo!;!h-Beg,
l'oncle de Babour. Cc dernicr ameliora le cours d'eau qui paue
a l'interiur du jardin. Certain de ses haut1 et giganteaqus platanee
datent de. l'eopoque G.e Babour. Recement y on construit un hotel
tree confortable. · La saiaon printaniere et automnflle de ce
petit villaie eat vraiment charmante.
I 16 I
GOL · HAHAR ET LA F ABRIQUE DE TEXTILE ! A une ~
distance de 120 Km de Kaboul et a l'~xtreme nord du Kapiua le
jardin cie Golbahar et sa pavilion se trouvent juste aux riva&el des
fleuves rugissants de Shotol et Pand jsher. Un peu plus loin du jardin
et sur la rive gauche des fleuves, dans une plaine nommee
Shekhan Khel on a fonde une fabriquede textile qui est la plus grande ..
fabrique dans sa genre en Afghanistan; et dans un a"enir proche ··
y surgira une ville industriell~!.
,PARWAN. DJABULSARADJ, LA FABRIQUE DU CIMENT :
Panllele a Golbahar mais un pcu ecarte ven l'Ouest, ]'ancien Parwan s'etend A l'entree de la vallee de Salang, ou Alexandre le
Grand y bati une de 11es forterefises qui n'est plus visible aujourd'hui.
Amir Habiboulah K!Jan .Y construit , une citadelle dont aujourd'hui
toute la localite porte son uom et s'appelle (Djabul-Saradj) La febrique du ciment qui vicnt d'ctre construite recement fournit assez de
main-d'oeuvres aux habitants.
GHAZNl
A une dbtance de 140 Km - an Sud Oue11t de Kaboul et aux
abords de .la ville actuelle, s'etend les ruines de l'ancienne ville de
Ghazni ou la fameuse citee que pendant le Ve et VIe siecle 4e
l'hegire ( XT et XII) de i'ere chretienne, outre que la capitale
d'un grand empire etait l'un des foyeu de la science de l'art et de
la culture du monde Islamique, et ne connaissait d'autre rivale que
Ba2hdad. Les ruines de l'ancienne ville se prolcM&ent vers Je Sud
au~;si Lien que I 'Est et l'Ouest de la ville.
.
LES MINARETS: A deux Km et demi veri! l'Est de la vill de
Ghazni on voit deux minarets en briques cuites' portant des motifa
et des inscriptions en couffiques. Le premier minaret a ete construit
par Bahran Shah et 16 second qui se trouve plus pres du mausolee
du Sultam Mohmoud par Massoud III fils d'lbrahim. Ces minarets
sont parmi quelque mon~ments ghaznavides restes encore debout.
LE MAUSOLEE DU SULTAN MAHMOUD: Au fond et a
l'Est des minarets on voit de Join le haut dome du mausolee
-17{
de Sultan Mahmoud qui se trouve dans un petit verger de
Rawza. Le dome du mausolee est de constructio.u recente et date de
l'epoque d'Amir H1hihulah Khan. L:t pierre h~mhale du Sultan
Mahmoud qui est un chd d'oeuvre montn: le gout tre5 rafine de&
artistes ghaznavL:l@s. Dans le jardin du mausolee on a expose un cer·
tain nombre d.: marbres et et d'in:scripti<.ms, ramasEes de diverrs
points de Gha,~ni.
L1 tombe d:1 Sultan est tres frequentee
lieu de pelerinage '
et
a ete toujourss un
BAMY AN : B1myan ou b plu5 ~~&m:le des site!! historiques et
a.rcheologiques d'Afghanistan, se tro ve au Nord- Ouest et a 240
Km ·de Kahoul entre les chaines neigeuses du mont Baba et l'HinduKosh. Grace a sa beaute naturelle, artistique, et geologique c'est
un des endroitiS ·le plue frequentes pdr les touristes et les savant&
du monde ;entier. Le nombre des visit~urs de Bamyan augmente
bien sensiblement chaque annee. Bamyan avec ses pittore1,ques tt
profondes valleei, ses sources d'eau mineralei!, ses gigantesques
statue3 , ses inornbrables grottes historiques, ses ruines islami·
ques du. Moyen - age, ses anciennes forteresses perchees sur les
flancs de la montagne, ses curieuses formations geoloQtiques sea
varietes de ~ibiers ehamoi1 el perdrix, 1a peche de truites, ses lacs
de montagnes est un des points les plus attraynts du monde.
La route qu'y se conduise est ~onne, son hotel confortabl~ et son
cliinat tres salubre.
LES GIGANTESQUES STATUES DE 53 et de 35 metres: A
Bamyan les deux grandes statues qui se trouvent a une distance de
400 pieds l'une de l'autre ~ont les plus surpreDantes· ~tatues du
monde. Ces deux statues colossales qui sont sculptees dans des
nichu ou plutot ac: coeur de la montagne ou la grande muraille de
Bamy!n sont embellies par des fresques qui sont encore visibles sur
les parois des niches.
LES GROTTES PEINT£S ET DECOREES: Aux abords de ces
deux statues colossalles il y a deux groupes de grottes tres importantes qui constituent les resteli des ancidns temples bouddhiques.
-18Les ~rottes voi:>ines de la statue de 35m portent plus de fresques,
tandi3 que celles de 53m ont. plus de d"e,·or3 en reliefs.
KAKRAK: A l'Est des grandes Etatues s ouvre une longue vall~e qui s'appele Kakrak et y se trouve une antr statue de dix metr~"s
de haut, entouree par un groupe de grotte8. Des fresques detaches
de ses grottes "ont exposes au Musee de Kaboul. Kakrak est une
des belles et pittoresques vallt"es de Bamyan.
LA VALLEE DE FOLADI: A l'angle Nord-Ouest de Bamyan
s'etend Ja pittoresque vallee de Foladi qui aboutisse aux versants
du mont Baba dont sa plu~ haut sommet Foladi domine la valle.
Recemen.t on y vient de decouvrir un groupe de ~.rottes boudhiques
don t les murs et surtout les plafonds portent des fresques d 'une
beaute vraiment admirable.
1.£ DRAGON DE SORKHDAR: A l'Ouest et a sept Km du
grand bouddha se trouve untt formation ~eologique bizare sous
forme d'un tepe tie 400m de long. Les eaux mineralea et souterraines
qui sortent 'de cette formation forment une sorte de croute blanchatre. Le.;; indigenes donnent le nom de dragon a cett formation.
BA~ f) -
E - AMIR : A 80 Kms a !'Ouest de Bamyan et aux pieds
d'une series de colline de terre multicoloret s'etend un groupe de
lacs de montagnes, tres profonds. Les eaux des lacs vient d'une
source qul s'appele Koprok formant des lacs au nom dP- : Podlnah,
Zolfeqar, HaHnt, Gholaman, et Qambar dont le plus important est
eel de Haibat. Les eaux de Band - e- Amir sont poissoneuses mais
d' &bi tude y non pratiaue pas la pee he
rA
VILLE DE GHOLGHOLA: En face de la grande rauraille
et a !"Est ,Jc l'hotel, on distingue les ruine1 de la ville is!amiquc
de Ghol~L0la. Les restM de Ia citadelle, qui se trouvent sur
une sai.ll"e soat plus attrayante<>. La ville de Gholghola ou rej'nait
une des brancQ.es de la dynastic ghoride au nom de Shansabanide
de Bamyan a ete ravaget" au premier moitie du VII siecle de l'hegire,;
-19LA VILLE DE ZOHAK: A 18 Km a l'Est de la ville de
8arayan et au confluent des eaux (Eamyan, Kalou) on voit des
ruines sur le contrefort de la montange·. D'apres la 'couleur de sa
terre ces ruines sont appelees par les europeens . "Lq Ville Rcuge".
La ville de Zohak fondee par 1es turcs occidenlaux, vera VI et VII
siecle de l'ere chretienne, se servait comme une forteresse a l'epoque
islamique. Ce sont les braves defenseurs de cette ville qui tuerent
Motogen le ncveu de Gengis Khan lors de la aiege de la ville.
/
NANGARHAR
L A P R 0 V INC E D E VE S T
Nangarhar ou la province de l'Est de l'Afgbanisan dont le ~ieg~
~st Djelalabad est une region cbaude Ju pays, qui se trouve ~ntre
deux chaines neigeuses, celle de Safid-Koh et Hindu-Ko;,b. Cette region
hivernale a ses propres beautes; ~~ partie montagneu;;e et particuJierement Nouristan qui s'etend sur les versauts Sud de l'HinduKosh est accesible pendant toute les saisous et surtout en ete.
HADDA : A dlx Km au Sud. de la ville de Djelalabad il y
a une localite qui s'appele Ha·lda, et ou se fl·(mve encore les
vestiges et queque stupa~ bo1.1ddhiques. Pendant l'epoque preislamique Haddah etait un des foyers le plus important de bouddisme
et de l'art greco bouddhique. Un des grands temple de Haddah
dont aujourd'hui s'appele Tape · Kalan a fourni a la suite des
fouilies 23000 statue~; en stuc dont un grand nomLre a ete expolie
au Musee de Kaboul.
SULT ANPUR: A I' Ouest et a 18 Km de DjelalabaJ plus precisement dans la plaine de Sukh Rul il y a un petit village au nom
de Sultan - Pur. Ce village doit sa renommee a une source d'eau
minerale et limpide qui est connue depuis des centaines d'anneea,
dont aujourd'hui se trcuve enfermee a l'inttr:eur d'un jardin., qui
protege a.ussi un stupa iJoudd <~JUe entou1e par les arbres.
NOURTSTAN- Nou'ristan se compose d.'un groupe de villages
d'acces dificiles des vaJlees etroHes, et profondes, des varsantfi boises
des hauts sommets couverts de neige qui s'elevent dans les plis de
,
,
-20la chaines de l'I-Tindu-Kosh. Les nouristanis ou les habitantl de
)louristan qui sont le;; an~iens peuples de l'Hindu-Kosh ont bien
conserves leur style architectural, leur coutumes leur moeun, leur
mu.sique, ses instruments, leur nrmers et leur faeon de 1a chasse,
leur danse,, et leur sports et leur "autres tradition~.
La route de Konar· qui se diri~e vers Barikot s'avance vers le
coeur de Nouri.Jtan, c:'est a dire Kamdesh; et dans une avenir proche
'
.
'
les touristes pouront jqindrent le centre du Nouristan par leur voitures.
LA VALLEE DE NOUR: A une distanee de trois h~urea de
voiture de Dielalabad, en face de Shighi le centre de Kuzkonar ou
Konar inferieur s'ouvre un vallon au nom de Nour, dont sur upe _grande
partie est pra1icable par la voiture. Vers la partie superieure de ce valIon se trouvent des villa~es pittoresques, au noms de, Wai&al, Shimal,
Stan, Lemtak t)te, dont les habitants, des trois premiers villages
sont nourist~<nis et rellx des deux derniers sont paahay.
QATAGHAN
L'une des provinces du Nord afghan s'appel~ Qataghan qui s'etend
entre Badakhshan; la province de Mazar -e- Sharif et Kaboul. Dejas
une fois cette province formait une partie de notre, .. ancien Tokhare11tan; c'e,;t, une region fertile et tres convenable pour l'elevage
des animaux et rut out des chevaux. Qataghan .- des fabriques et des
nouveaux centre.• d'ag~lomerations a Pol-e- Khomri, Baghlan-e-Sanaati
et a Qunduu
PUL-E-KHOMRI : Est. une nouvelle petite ·ville industriellc:: de
la province de Qatagban qui a un t!rand centre hydroelectrique avec
une grande fabrique de textile qui offre u:ue main - d'oeuvre a
plusieur milliers d'ouvriers.
BAGHLAN- E -SANAATI: A cote de Pul-e-Khomri ~~ trouve une
autre ville industriellt-; Baglhan-e-Sanaati .dont sa 1ucrerie fournisae
une partie du beawin du pays.
SORKH- KOTAL: A 12 Km de Baghlan- e- Sanaate et sur
la route de Haibak on distinguc les ruines d'un des temples· du feu
-21qui se trouve au sommet 'd'ur.e colline. Ce temple qui a ete edifie
vers le premier siecle de l'er~ cnretienne, par le Grand Empereur
Kanishkal et pendant des siecles le feu s'y s'allumait, a mis au jour
des inscriptions en langue Tckharide et en caracteres e;reques.
QUNDUZ: Qunduz ou Kohandaje est nne des tmt.iennes vmt-~
de l' Afghanistan dont les ruines de sa citadelle sont encore visiblesGrace a sa production du coton cette l8calite a bien devolopee
aujourd'hui et compte parmi les villes industrielles du pays.
MAZAR· E ·SHARIF
La province de Mazar-e.Sharif occupe. la partie moyenne du
Nord afghan ou ancien B51ctre. Le Nord de cette province f'St limite
par Amou-Darya ou Oxns dont Balkh @tait son ancien sie&e, remplace aujourd hui par Mazar-e-Sharif. Cettt> zone fer tile de l' Afehanistan est tres favorable
pour l'elevage du
moutons Karakul.
,.
.
. L'arti'sanat du tapi.,; de cette region a une grande n!nommelt dans le monde
entier. La terre, d~ Mazar-e-Sharif a une irnportanee historique
de l'ancienne civilisation et de la cult~re d'Afgbanistan.
LE MAlJSOLEE DU QUATRIEME
CALIFE, H~ZRAT-E-A~I.
Le wausolee d'Ali le quatr,ieme calife de l'islam s'eleve j'uate -1:-t
centrt-: de la v:Mle de Mazar-e-Sharlf. Ce ma.molee qui supporte deux
'outes et des hauts minarets constr.:Jits au style timouride et embellis par les briqt'es emaillees de couleur bleu date de l'epoque
Sultan Sandjar, Amir Timour K~rag1w, et Sultan Hussein .Mirla le
roi timouride de Herat. Grace aux restaurations continttes le mausoleet a ete ttes bien conserve. Au commencement dll printemps ont
y celebrent la fameu1e fete de ( Gol-e-Sorkh ) ou Fleur Rou~e qui
.dure soixant jours ~t a laquelle ont participent de tout les points
du pays.
:BALKH: Omol-Belad ou La Men, des cites d• l'Orient ou la
ville qui depuis la plus haute antiq11ite jusqua present a conservee
sa renommee.
-22Les ruines de Balkh se trouvent a 22 Km a l'Ou~st de Mazar
-e-Sharif. Ses ancienne11 murallles avec se;i tours tt !'enceinte de la
citadelle et la fameux arc de la porte de Nawbahar sont eacore
debout. On y distingue deux autns monuments l'un Top-e-Rustaro
qui est le reste d'un stupa houdJhique et l'aatre Takht·e-Ru•tam,
dont certain gens le prend pour Ulll temple du feu. Comrne temoin
de l'archi tecture Islamique
de
la
dernit-re epoque timouride on y
voit une mo~quee au nwn de Kha.:lja 1Vlohamtrnd l\tr,;a, dont sa voute
eat embellie par les weilluues LriCJ'I~S emaillees en bleu.
A uue di~tance de 50 Km de BalLh et sur l'ancienne route de
qui porte le nom de
Mazar-e.Sharif exi,;te les ruine.> 1fun stupa
Tcharkh-e-Falak.
TA5HQURGHAN E'l' KHUU\l: · La gorge de Tashquq~han est
por'ail qui s'01wre y.~r:§ la plaine de h Bactrian.
C'est jus'te de l'autre ·~•)te d,~ edt gorgo:", qui ,;e trouve la petite
ville de Tusbqurghan. L'anei··n hazar couvert de Tashqurgan
dont le plafund a ete orne pas d~s va<;1~s en poreelaines est tres
pittoresque. A 18 Km au Nord de cette vill~ dans uue plaine
nbleneuse, on di!ltingue les reete,; tres us•:es de KhoJm ~ous
formes des Hopes d'ou on a trouve qndrrue statu~s en terre cuites.
comme un
HAYBAK HaybaK
ehan;
collines
se trouve
entre Pol-e-Khomri et Tashqur-
c'est une localite assez eterdue ·qui s'eten1
et des montagnes. De l'interet touristiqt1e
pie.J de"
trouve
;HI
y Ee
un stupa d'une masse de pierre qu'on l'appde Top-e-Ru,tam.
Aux abor~s de ce stupa on distingue p}u<;ieur grottt·s buuddhiques
qui datent du V siecle de l'ere chretienne. Le stupa en pierre de
Haybak est unique dans son genre en Afghanistan.
II En A T•
Herat
est
une
des
principales
vitles
de l'Ouest
qui
se
trouve a une petite distance de Harirud. Avant l'invasion d'Atexan~re
une
autre
ville
emplacement a ete
y
s'elevait
cede a
au
Herat
nom
actuel.
d'Artakana
Alexandre y
dont
son
construit
un de ses Alexandris. Herat siege de Khorassan, sous les rois i1la-
Le Minaret
de Djam
Lt" l\li11art't de
!Jjam: partie
illferieure
-23n,iques etait Ia capitale. A l'epoque timouride elle atteigna sow
apogee, elle e!ait une ville propsere, Lien peuplee, avec de tres beau
monuments, des jardins, dee hihliotequea, Madress~hs clout quelques
un encore debout wnt les temoins de cette epoque. Ci dessous
t'lous vous citons les sites les plus importants do cette ville.
GAZERGAH: Gazergah ou l'endroit ou se irouve .le mausolee
du grand maitre tpirituel de l'Islam Khadja Abdulah Ansar se
situe au Nord l<.:st de la Ville. Gazergah est un foyP.r sacre 011
a l'nterieur de sa cour on disdngue un groupe de temoignages
artistiques de plusieur siecle. Ce;; t<mioignageil consistent en pierres
tombale ineisees et travaillees, de~ arcs et des niches et des voutee.
La meilleure piece s'\ulptee est b. fameuse (Sang-e-Haft Qalam).
La pierre tomb:~le du Maitre Khadja Al.dulah Ansar qui porte un
quatrain ecrit par Hassan - Cbameluu e3t un<!:~ autre belle piece
et precieuse qui montre l'art de h aculplure et de Ia raligraphie
de Herat au cours du IX siecle de l'hegire.
I
LE DOM~.J VERT: Sur 1~ flanc Nord et aux abot:ds de la
ville d.e Herat on voit un dome et des minarets qui de eres
on de force attirent l'attenti0n des passants. Dans 1.., langa&e
populaire le dome est appele dom vert, et les Minarets Minaret•
de Mossalah. Sur ce vlace s'elevait plusieur monuments comme
Madrass:1h, mosqu'~e, et mau3olee dont uo grand nombre a ete
fonde par Gawhar-Shad Agha Reine timouri.le et la femme de
Shah Hukh Mirza.
Ahdu.l Razaq Samarqandi, l'hslorien de la cour de Shah.
Khokh dans le livre Matlaossadayne mentionne de ces madressahs,
dans le Nord de Ja ville et aux abords du pont nome lndjile.
Babour 'llUilii dans ses memoires cite de la mosquee et madreuab,
dont aujourd'hui il ne reste que llCJlt minarest de la moaquce et
un dome ou ~e repose quelque princes timouridu,.
Lea minarets et le dome vert sont les temoi,nages de
l'arehitecture et de la procedes de la fabrication des tuiles
emaillees, de (>einture deos incisions et de la sculpture au coura
du IX siecle el montrent l'art timouride.
-24MASJED-E-DJA~,1E, o·u GRANDE MOSQCEE: La gra:1de moaq11ee de Herat qui et est Lien connue soit a l'intereur qu'a l'exterieur
est une des plus grandes mosquees du monde. On attribu la
~·ondafion de cette mosquee a Sultan Ghyafsuddin Abulfath Mohamad,
Sam ghoride. La date de sa fondation aussi bien que de sa restauration a t:te estimte l'an 597 de l'hegire. Cette mo('luqee a ete
restauree a plusieur reprises par les rois Kurts et aussi en l'an
903 par le roi t~mouridt~ Sultar; Heissein Mirza. A L' eoque timJuridll
cttte mosquee avait une etendue de 365 metres de long sur 130
de large et 444 colonnes. Recerrtent y on pratiquee une nouvelL~
entree surmontee de deux mina::ets. Non loin de la moaopuee on
voit le mausolee du Sultan Ghyassudin le plus grand roi ghoride
d'Afghanistan et le conquereur d~ l'Inde.
LA FORTERESSE DE EKHTYARUDDIN: Cette forteresse qui
est appelee amsi la forteres.se de Darusaltana -e· Herat est un des
constructions tres fortific3S de \1 tlik F akhruddin, un des rois Kurt
et qui porte toujours le nom de Ektyarruddin.
Shah Rokb la
restaura en l'an 818 rle l'hegire (XV siecl.~ de l'ere chretienne)
Une grande putie de cette forteresse qui se trouve au Nord de
la ville de Herat est encore debemt et bien conservee.
TAKHT-E-SAFAR : Au Nord et a une petite distance dtl Hera
il y a un beau jardin elifie en et ·ge,- avec un cafe. Ce jardin qui
se trouve, sur un ·hauteur, qui domine la ville, est un point
ideal pour contempler la crepuswle de Herat qui a ime grande
'renommee.
LES SOURCES THEMLRAES : A 90 Km a l'Est de Herat
et le long du fleuve Harirud s'etend une vaste plaine bien
armsee et fertile. Au Nord-Ouest de cette plaine unc etroite v•llee
verdoyante nous conduit aux sources thermales. Lu anciens baina
de ces sources therm~Ales qui consiet:lient en simples coupoles
ont etaient rempla~es par des bains moderns qui sont tres
frequen tes. ·
L'arc de
Bost
Le Minaret de Ghazni
Tdwbel Ziua ((Jandahar)
'• Mussalla"de Herat
-25-
QAN_DHAR
Qandahu qui est aussi apj)elee la ville d'Ahmad Shahi est
une ville fondee par Ahmad Shah Baba le fondateur de Ia dynastic
Sadozay. Dernierement on a demoli l'enceinte de la• ville et les av~­
nues principales divisent .h ville en quatre sections bien distincu.
Grace au manteau de notre Prophete qu'y ~e trouve, Qandahar est
une ville vei)eree. Le mausolee des grands chds afghans, Mir- Wa~s
Baba Hotaki et Ahmad Shah Bab11 y ~~ trouvent aussi.
LE MANTEAU SACRE: A l'angle Nord du centre de la ville
de Qanoahar, se trouve un petit beau jardio avec un dome construit
au. style des monuments de l'epoque d'Ahmad Shah ou le Manteau
sacre de notre Prophete Hazrat-e-Mohamad est tres venerablement
I
conserve dans des caisses. Ahmad Shah Baba en portant ce manteau
saint de Bokhara a Qandahar; gagna un grapd honneur pour tout
!'Afghanistan et particulierement pour Qandahar.
LE MAUSOLEE D'AHMAD SHAH: A cote de la mosquee de
KhMqa-e-Sharif ou se trouve le manteau saint, s~eleve un dome haut
et majestueux sur une plate forme octagonale. C'est le mausolee du
Fondateur de la dynastic Sadozay; l'Augusote Roi d'Af&hanistan le
conquereur de Panipat Ahmad Shah Baba.
L'interieur du mausolee est emb~llie p:u les. meilleurs peintres
contemporains de Qandahar. A cote de Ia tombe on distingue le
~asque, le javelot d'Ahmad Shah accompagnes de quelques exPmplaires de sacre Koran.
LE MAUSOLEE DE MIR WAIS BABA: Parmi les beaux ver!t!.ers de Kokaran qui s'etendent sur une vaste etendue jusqu'au coura.
d' Arghandabe, vns, le Nord Oueat de la Ville de Qandahar, s'eleve un
petit dome semblable a c~l d' Ahmad Shah Baba mais un peu plus
pe\t. lei repo~e une autre per~onalite ~fghane Mir Wais Baba Hotaki,
qui supprima la domination des Safawides et fonda un &ouvernement
national a Qandahar.
'
-26TCIIEHELEZINA: A une distance de 8Km de Qandahar et sur la
route de Kokaran-Arghandabe a gauche de Ia route et sur un rocher
on di:;tingue une seriP. de marchea pratiquees dans le roc surmonte
d'une portique dont les parois portent des inscription a racontan t ]el-i
pays eonquis par son fondateur Zahir Uddin Mohama:!' Babour .
Tehehel-Z;na qui clomine les judins de Kokaran, la plaine
d'Arghandabe et la ville de Qdn,Jahar est Ires f~equente par 1es touristes
afrhans que l'etran&ers.
BABA W ALI: Au flanc
Nord-Ouest de la Ville de Qandahar
et de l'autre cote des vernnts de la montagne qui domine
plaine verdoyante d'Arghandabe, &e
trouve
le Ziarat et le
Ia
beau
jardin de Baba WLlli et son cafe. Le fleuvc d'Arghandabe coule
a une petite distance de ce point arrose, doni sur ses rivage• s'etende
de8 vutes plaines cultivees. Baba Wali offre une tres belle vue sur·
]a plaine et des verges de Qandahar.
MUNDIGAK: A une distance de 50 Km au Nord-Est d.: Qandahar
dans le hasl!in de Koshk-e-Nakhot et au voisinage du Sanctuaire et
de Ia montarne de Shah-Maqsud, se trouve un tepe ~reshistorique
au nom de Mondigak: dont ses treize couches sup~rposeea a une hauteur de trente metres au dessus du uiveau de la plaine. c~ fameau
tepee a mis au jour les diven periodes de la civilisation de bronze
au bassin d'Arghanandabe. Les trouvailles prehistoriques de ce site ont
revelees qu'a cinq mille and d'aujourd'hui au Sud-Ouest de l' Afghan·
is tan existait une ci viliaation sc:mblable a celle de I' Indus.
..
L' ARC DE BOST: Au confluent des deux grands fleuves Arghandahe et Hirmand on .trouve lu ruines de de Ja citadelle de Ia ville de
Bo!ite qu'au cours des premiers siecleR de J'Hegires comme une cite
commerciale avait Unt'' grar..de renommee. Parmi les ,chef d'oeuvres
artistiques de cette ville, seulement un arc de 20 metres de haut a
ete rf'lte debout. Cet arc etait vraissemblablement construi~ a l'epoque
gaznavide, porte dea inscriptions en caracteres couffiques et des
motifs en brique11 tailleea, C'e&t un des temoigna2es de !'architectures
islamique de !'Afghanistan.
I
-27LASHKARCAH: A sept Km :1u Nord-E!t tt le long du fleuve
Hirmand, se trouve une serie de ruines ou y s'elevait un jour lea
palais et les casermes gaznavides et qui formaieRt une partie de Ia
ville de Bost. Lee fresques gaznavides trouves d'ici SOiit conserye
au Musee de KaLuul. Les ruines intactes et lea nmu debout de
L~ts~karrah sont tws interessant pour les visiteurs. Aux abord!!l de
ces ruines une nouvelle cite vi~nt de .s'elever.
GHORK Au sud de la province de Herat il y a une localite
·au nom de Ghore dont le centre s'appele Taiwara. Au Moyen Are
et s utout a l'epoque des rois ghorides, Chore, occupait uue grande
etendue et durant VI et VII 8iecle de l'Hegire; XII 't XIH de l'ere
chretienne se comptait parmi les plus importants centres culturels,
construe tifF, et administratifs de Afghanistan. Chur~ qui eit constitue
par une serie de montagnes et de collines vient arroser par uncertain
nombre de fleuves. Non seulement les monumtmts historiques et le•
restes des fortere~ses mais aussi _les pittoresques paysages de Ghorc
~;~_, nt
tres interressan t.
LE MINARET DE DJAM : A 45 Km au Nord de Shahrak eta
65 Km au Nord-Est de Tchcsht a cote de Kamendj et au bord du
fleuve Harirud, se trouve le petit villare de Djam. Non loin de ce
village et juste sur la rive du fleuve s'eleve un minaret haut de 65 a
70 111etres , con!"truit eiT brique cuites et couvert d'inscriptions
couffiquues. C'est un des chefs d'oeuvro• de !'architecture et de l'art
islamique rhoride de J'Afchanistan. L'existance dt- ce minaret qui a
ete recement ConfiJmee, a une grande impor.tance hiRtOrique et
artistique pour les · amateurs et les sav:nu. L'emplacemsnt de
Firoz-Koh ou la capitale de Chore qui etait inconnu jusqu'a nos
jours a ete· recemerit identifi~ par notre &rand histl)rien Mon,ieur
Ahmad Ali Kohzad aux aborda de ce minaret.
•
\
TCHESHT : A 60 Km a l'Est de Obei et a 50 Km au
Nord . Ouest de Shahiak ~ un point monta~neux et au bord du
tleuve Harirud , se trouve notre pittoresque Tcht"ht. Ce site avec
ses coura d 'eau , ses ~>ources limpide-s et ses arbres centenairu
est tre1 renommee dans tnute la province de Herat et de Chore •
-28La reputation Je Chore consite pluto! a ses ruines et a quelque
monuments ghoridts qui sont t>ncon: debout et qui temoignent
l'habilete , le gout artistique~et tres rafine des architectes et cali"raphes de l'epo:rue ghorid~. Tchisht est le foyer dt' secte Tchstya
qui est tres pr~tique aux Indes. Le mausolee du fonudateur de la
secte, Hazrat Sultan Mohaynddin Tcheshti se trouve a Delhi.
TIW ARA: Tiwara est le chef
lieu de
Chore qui,
&e trow e
a une distance de 128 Km de Cozar:- Pam ou bifurcation de la
route Herat --Chore et a 185 Km de Ka~si le centre de Tchaghtcharan. Tiwara qui s'etend dans la plus large partie de la vsllee
de Yakhan est entoure par des montagnes, et dt!s tepes dont sa
terre rouge a \Ill effet tres attrayant . L~s eaux de la vallee de
Khadja Chare qui passent au centre de Taiwara sont tres poissoneuses. on' Y distngue les re;;tes d'une tres grande forteresse
qui date du XVHI f'iccle ou IH' twuve quelq;Je boutiques qui -forment le marclJe de
tres
Taiwara.
LA FORTEH.SSE DE KI-IISSAR::La forteresse de Khi~sar est
eonnue dans rhistore de Chore.'_:~Elle clu~ sa renommee a la
resistant.:e tres · e11ergique de ses habitants, c6ntre )'invasion de Gengis
Khan. Cette fortaesse est aussi appelee"Khons:u" et '·]a fortersse
de jeune fille". Les ruines de cete fortcresse se trouvent a 33 Km de
Partchaman et a 50 Km au Sud -Ouest de Taiwara. Elle se di•ise
en deux parties : Intniellre et extcri~uri-'. lin gros bloc de la ruine
se trouve perche sur le flanc tres abrut de la montagne d'ou domir~e
sur nne vaste plaine.
LARW AND: C'est une vaste plAine verdoyante au forme d'un
amphitheatre, avec des t:onr:> d'eau limpide3 et entuure de tot. t les
cotes, p:.tr des bauteJS montagnes, dont au printemps et en ete sont
couvertes' Je vegetatiot.s et de fleurs, g·ace aux quels la production
du miel y est ahondante.
Larwand se tronve
d:~ux
Aux deux
"Sorkh" dont le premier donne
dcuxieme a la
Absaib et
vallee de
extremites, r'ord et Sud de
cols, le col de Lokhte et le col Rouge ou
acces a !.1 vallee de
Partchaman.
Bvurak, un :sen tier s e
Aussi de
Mejgan et la
deux autre1
mene a Farah ;
La
cols
zone de
Le Dome
Vert
,
-2)Lilrwand qu'en p1shto veut dire "Voie obstruee" e~
entoure par les hautes montagnes.
S\KHAR :
oa
Saghar e.~t un. dei p)int5
li'l
sorl.e d·en;· 1o:;
imp)rtant~
de
Goh.-e. Ce site hi;;torique qui a aussi de beautes naturt>llrs '~' ;:ouv'
sur
les
versants !'Ouest de Stoth - Koh.
II compte
deux
mille
maisons et des sources d'eau inombrable. C'eEt ici qui se trcmait
la fameuse forteres~e de Zarmorgh et les prt mitrs pa 1ai!; dts rois
ghorides. On y distiugue encore debout ub minaret de hrique
crute de trente
metres de haut dont un des affluept de Hirmand
passe de sa voisinage.
Aux
versants du contrefort du mont Zar-
morgh qui est connu sous le nom de Koh-e-~ultan se trouve
les rtstes dt's ruines ct'une forteresse dont les habitants l'appele "La Forte d u Sultm . Il est vraissemblahle que Ia forteJ:"esse
du Sultan soit bati sur !'emplacement dn premier palais on
Darulmulk-Ghvride.
SHIH CHI
Historical Records
(Chepter 123)
by
SZUMA CH'IEN 145-87 B. C, of the HAN DYNASTY
• * •
TAYUAN
It was C~aD~ Ch'ien who first put his foot on the soil of
Tayiian (Ferghanll, modern Khokand). Chang Ch'ien was a native
of Hanchung, and was a lang (chief of guardsmen) during the
reign of Chien-Yuan ( 140-135 B.C.). The Emperor at that time
interrorated some Hsiunznus (Huns) who sur!"endered. The Huns said
that they had defeated the King of Yuehchih and made a winecup out of his bkull, and that the people of Yuehchih were in
exile and anxious to find an ally to take revenge on their
enemy the Huns. The Han (Chinese) Emperor had the intention
of wiping out the Huns ano, hearing of this, wished to send
an envoy to the Y1uhchih people.
.
But such an enJoy had to pass through territory under the
control of the Huns, and an atble man waa wanted. Chang Ch'ien,
as a lang, applied and was chosen. He went on the Yuehchih
mission takin1 with him Kan Fu, a Hun slave of the Tangyi
family. Leaving western Lung, he entered Hun territory and was
cau1ht and summoned before the Shanyu (Khan); The Khan
detained him and said: ·'Yuehchih is to the north of iny territory.
How could Han send its eavoy there? Would Han allow me to send
W:J envoy to Yueh (southern part of Han)?" Thuns Chang Ch'ieo was
de.tained for more than ten years amon& the Huns and had a
wife and children there.
their
However, he remained loyal to Han. The Huns relaxed
watch , and Chan1 Ch'ien succeeded in fleein& the country
-31with his dependenta. He headed for Yuehchih and, after travelline several tens of daya, came to Tayuan. The Kine of Tayuan
had learnt of the riches of Han and wished to tntde with it
but could not.
He was glad to lte Chang Ch'ien and asked
him where he was &oing. Chang Ch'ien answered: "I was sent Ly
the Han Emperor aa t-nvoy to Yuehchih. But the Huns blocked
my way ..
NoN I have escaped from the Hun a. I hope Your 1\1'.1j~sty
will appoint people to be my guide. If I should be asaisted tu
reach Yuehchih and then return to Han,my country would &ive
Your Majesty gifts beyond description." The King of Tayuan
agreed and rave Chang Ch'ien an escort. Chan& Ch'ieu came to
Kang- Chu (So2diana), and from there to the Gt:eater Yuehchih. The
original Kine of the Greater Yuchchih havinl' been killed by
the Huns, the prince was mad~ th~ ntw King. The new King of
Yuehchi.h, having subdued Tahsia (Bactria), ruled over much fertile land, led an easy life and had no a1grusive ambitions.
He noted that his country was far away from Han and had
no de•ire to take rev~nge on the Huns. Chang Ch'tin followed the
King of Yuehchih to Tahaia, but got nothing out of his mission to
Yuehchih. So after staying there for more than a year, Chanac Ch'ien
returned to the ' Linked Southern mountains. From there he tried
to Han through the Ch'iaug tribes but was arain detained by the
Huns and staved with them for more than a year. Then the Khan
died ( 127 B.C. ), and Prince Li of the Eastern Valley attacked the
Prince royal and made him11elf Khan. Takine advantage of the civil
strife, Chang Ch'ien fled and returned to Han, taking with him
his Hun wife and. Kan Eu. He was appointtd Taichunetafu ( Hieh
Counsellor) by the Empc!ror, and Kan Fu was appointed Feneshihchun (Royal Attendant). Chana Ch'ien Will of a atrong and generoua
character. , He had trust in others and was loved by the barbarian
people. Kan Eu was of Hun origin and was skilled in marksmanahip.
In privation he could find food by shooting fowls and beaatl with
bow and arrows. Chang Ch'ien had started with more than a hundred
followers. After being away for thirteen ycara, only they two returned .
•
-32Chang Ch'ien personally visited the (ollowin~e countries: Tayuan,
the Greater Yuehchih, Tahsia and Kangchu, and gathered information about other five or "ix big countries nearby. He rellorted to
the Emperor the following :
Tayuan was situated to the ,southwest of Hsiungnu and about
ten thousan 1 li ~o the exact west of th\3 Han capital. The people
were settled duwn and tilled tbe land. They grew rice and wheat in
their fields ar1d produced grape wines. The country was rich in good
horses which sweated Hood and wtre the off spring of a heavenly horse.
There
were walled cities and houses. The country encompassed more
'
1
than seventy countries, big and small, and had a' population of 1eve~al hundred~ of thousands. Its troops wcere armed with bows and
spear,., and iucludt;d cavalry units. To its north w,p.s Kangchu, to
its we,~t the GreJ.tei'' Yue~:1chih, to its southwest Ta~sia, to it~ northea~t Usun, and to its ea~t Hanmi and Yutien. All watt:r:s to the
we-s,t l•f Yutien flew we&t into the West Sea ( Aral St-a ), and ~all
waters to it~ e::tst flew east into the Salt lake. The Salt Lake ran
unierground Southward
and its water emerged to from the
sourc,! of the Yellow River. Yutien was rich in jade and other
precic•U7 s·one,o,. The River flew into China. There were Louland
t;rd f(ushih. wh;··h had walled cities and were on the shores of the
S •lt Lake. '_fhe Salt L"ke was 5,000 1i away from Changan. The westem
p Ht of H.;iun;.;nu was situ;tted to the east of the Salt Lake and
st~etcht'd up to the Great Wall in western _Lung, and its s,outhern
part neighbo:.I :~d on the Ch'iang tribes acro.1s the Han path.
1
Usun was about 2,000 li away to the northeast of Tayuan. It
was a nomad people engaged in animal husbandry and had the same
~ustoms as the Huns. It had several tens of thousands of archers
who were warlike and therefore willingly p~id kllegiance to the
Huns. Wi1en later it grew in stren~th, it gathered its own 1mbject
tribes and refuseJ to pay further homa'&e to the Huns.
Kangchu (Sogdiana) was about 2.000 li away to the northwest
of Tayuan. It was a nomad people and had similar customs as
Yuebchih. It had between 80 and 90 thousand archers. It was
-33neigbbour to Tayuan. Being a small r.ountry, it paid allegiance
to Yuehchib in the south and to the Huns in the east.
Yetsai was about 2,000 li away to the ~orthwest of Kangchu.
It was a nom~d people and had similar customs as Kan&chu. It
had more than a hundred thovsand archers. It was on the shore of
a big, bowndless lake callc l the North Sea (Caspin Sea.,).
The Greater Yuthchih was between 2 and 3 thousand li
away to the west of Tayuan and situ\ted on the northern bank: of
the Wei River. To its south wu Tahsia, to its west Anh~i and to
its north Kangchu ..
was a nomad people travelling alwut with
their cattle and had the same customs as tho Huns . It had
. between one and two hundred tholll!and archers
and therefore
took prid~ in its own strength and looked down upon Hsiungnu.
After Moden became the Khan, Hsilll~gnu defeated Yuehchih. And
then the Laoshang Khan (Moden'a son) killed the King of Yueh·
chih and made a wine cup out of his skull. At
first the
iuehchih people dwelt between Tunhuang and the
Chilien
mountain. After be.:ling defeated by Hsiungnu they moved far to
the wtst of Tayuan and attacked and subjected Tahsia. They
asettled their court and built their capital on the I northern hank
of the Wei Rive.r. The remaining small numbers who were unable
to depart stayed among the southern mountains of Ch'iang and
were called the Lesser Yuehchih .
tt
Anhsi was several thou~and li to the •west of the Greater
Yuehchih. The people were settle& down and tilled the land.
They glieW rice . Jand wheat in their field!i and produced graptt wines.
Their counties were similar to those of Tayuan. The country
had several hundred cities , big and smali, and measured several
thousand square li and was one of the bigcest countries. It
bordered on the Wei River and
had citizens and merchants
who used to ply by chariot or boat betwP.en nearby countries,
sometimes to a distance of several thousand li .. They made silver
coins embossed with images of their Kio&'s head. When a king
died, they used to change the coins to conform to thf new . ·
king\; image. They wrote by cutting In leather m horizontal
lines. To its west was T'iaochih, and to its north were Yentsai
and Lihsien.
T'iaochih
was severa.l thousand
li to lhe
wei5t of Anhsi and
bordered on the West Se' ( Mediteranean Sea). It was hot and
damp there. The people tilled the land ~nd grew rice in th~ir
fields. There was a kind of large bird. whid1 laid eggs as big
as jars. It was a populous country with many chieftains. It was
liiubject to Anhsi and made to serve as a colon~. The people
were skilled in magic. The elders of Anhsi heard of the rumour
that there were in T'iaochih the Weak
River and the fairy
Princess of the We:-;t, but never saw them.
Tahsia was more than 2,000 li to the southwest of Tayuan
and south of the Wei River. The people were settled and had
cities and houses and similar
customs as Tayuan. They h11d no
...
king hut often only small chieftains over the counties. Their
troops were weak and afraid of war. The_ people were skilled in
trade. When the Greater Yu~hchih moved .westward and defeated
tl-tem, they became a ; subject people. They were a big nation,
numbering more tban a million. Their capital vVU called the
Blue City where there were peddlers selling various goods. To its
SQutheast was Hindu.
Chan2 Ch'icn r,;aid: "When I was in Tahsia I saw hamboo
!'ticks of Chun and cloth of Shu ( Szechuan ). I asked them how
they got these. The people qf Tahsia said that their countrymen
bou&ht them in Hindu. Hindu is several thouu.nd li to the
•
&outheaat of Tahsia. The people are settled an.d have similar
cu1toms as Tahsia. The 'land is low, and the weather damp
and hot. In battle the people ride elephants. The country
on the Big River ( the Ga:::ges
). I calculate that , as Tahsia
,
1:>
is
twelve thousand li to the southwest of Changan, and Hindu m
its turn is several thousand li to the southeast of Tshaia and
is gtttin1 goods from Shu, then Hindu is not very far from
Shu. If our emoy to Tahsia should go through the Ch'iang~. it
-35woulrl he dan:erous atS the Ch'iangs are against us. If the enYoy
should go farther north, he would be held by the Huns . It
should be a shorter route from Shu, a route moreover which
would not be hest with robber!'!. Your Majesty has t;ow learnt
about l'ayuan, Tahsia ani Anhsi, which are ail hlg countries
rich in precious things; the people lead .a settled life and h•ve
quite similar employments as ChineEe people, they are, weak in
arms but tre-asure Chine~e
goods . Your Majesty
has also
learnt about the Greater Yuehcbih, Kangchu and others, countries to their north, whieh are strong in arms but can be
won over with gift,_ and profits. If we should succeed in brin~ing
all those countries under out tutelage through fair dealing, then
our terri tory would be extended ten thousand li, our ton1ue
'
would translated nine times, our culture would prevail over various
~.,onventions, and
Your Maksty's authority and prt>stige would
prevail throughout the fQur seas." The Emperor willingly approved
of what Chang Ch'ien had said and orderd him to organize
four envoys to issue at the same time from Chienwei in Shu
through four different Lutes, namely, throu1h M:u}g, through Hsi,
throuch Shan and through Chiungpei. The four envoys each went between one and two thousand li, and were blocked in the north at Ti
and 'f,.o and in the south at Sui an l Kuuming. The Kunming
people h:.td no chiettains and were skilled in raidtnr. They repeatedly waylaid and killed Chinese envoy!!, preventing the openinl;!
of the · route. B11t it wu learnt that more than a thousand li
to 1ts west there was a country called Tienviet where the peJple
rode elfphants, and th'lt oecaaionally smugglers from Shu reached
it. Thus through seeking access to Tahsia, China fiut came int~
contact with Titn. Formerly China had trjed to contact the southwes·
tern tribes hut had ceased to do so after spendjng much expen!Ses without openin2" the way. The efforts· were resumed since
Chang Ch'ien al!lserted that through them China could come int:>
r~ontact with Tahsia.
.
.
As a captain,
Chang Ch'ien followttd the Great General
(Wei Ch'ing) in the campaign against Hsiungnu. He knew where
there wt:re oases among the desert, thus the troops were able to
stay out of distress. He was therefore conferred the title of the
-36Kni~ht
of Farsight. That was in the aixth year of the reicn of Yuanshu (124 B.C.). The next year Chang; Ch'ien, as a commander of the
guards, together with Geaeral Li (Li Kuang) launched a campaign
from Y upeipinl:' against Hsiungnu. General Li was surrounded by
the Huns and his troqps incurred great l~sr;es. And Chang Ch'ien
fot failin, , to come at the appointed time to the rescue was sentenced to deatb hut allowed to ransom his life with his office and
titlt: Ul"prived of.
That year Han sent General Ho Chii-ping to attack Hsiuugnu,
who wiped out its troops at the West City to the number of several tens of thousands, and advanced ail far a5 the Chilien~Mollntains.
The next year Prince Hunshe led his people to surrender to Han.
Thus there were no longer Huns in Chingcheng and llohsi, and
westwatd from the Linked Southern Mountains to the Salt Lake. Occasionally messengers from Hsiungnu did arrive, but they were few.
Two years afterwards Han attackt~~d the Khan and drove him out of
the northern part of the Desert.
Afterwards the Emperor a1ked Chang Ch'ien several times
ahout Tahsia and its subject countries. Chang Ch'ien who had lo'ilt
his knighthood said: "When I stayed among the II um; 1 head about
Kun111o, King
of~ Usun. Kunmo's father had been tQe king of·~
small country to the west of Hsiungnu. The Hun8 killed his fath()r
and left baby Kunmo in the wilderness. Crows broul(ht him meat and
wlllves fed,him with milk. The Khan learnt about this with surprise
and, taking him for a god, had him b:~ought up under protection.
When Kunmo grew up, he was given commandership over troops
and won repeated successes. The Khan returned to Kunmo the
leadership over hi' father'.,; people and ordered him to guard permanently the West City. kunmo tol)k care of his people and attacked and occupied small countries nearby. He organized several tens
of thousands of archers and traine:d them in the art of war. After
the Khan died, Kunmo led his people and troops to move far away
and, keeping neutrality, refused to pay further homage to Hsiungnn.
Hsiungnu ma:le a surprise attack on him hut failed to win, and; taking
hiiU for a 2od'has kept away and ceased attacks, only maintaining
a nominal authority over him. Now, the Khan of Ilsiungnu is hard
I
-37-
\
preased by Han and the territory formerly ruled by Prince Hunshe
~· is void of pe9ple. If, taking advantage of this opportunity, we should
bribe Usun with a large IUm of money -- for the barbarian peoples
uv.ed to covet
Han goods - and inuuce its people to move
eastward to ftke dwelling in the area formerly of Prince
Huna~he, and to enter into brotherhood (matrimonial relations) with
.Han, it is bound to heed our advice. Tn that case Hsiungnu would
· b~ deprived of its ri1ht arm. In bringing Usun into alliance with
us, we will be able to collect Tahsia and the other countries to
its west as our outer subject11."
The Emperor approved of what Chang Ch'ien had uid and appointed him Chunclangchiang {commander of gmnds) and sent ~im on
the mission. Chang Ch'ien took wit11 him 300 men (each with two
horses), more than ten thousan:l heads of cattle, and thousands of
pieces of gold and silk cloth, as we'll as many deputy envoys who
could be sent by him to other nearby countries.
When Chang Ch'ien arriv~d in Usun,= King Kunrno of Uaun
reeeived him with no greater ceremony than:if he had been an envoy
from the Klnn. Bein~ creatly hurt and aware that the barbarian people were covetoua, Chang Ch'ien said. "The Emperor has
sent you awards. If you do not pay obeisance, I will take the awards
back with me," Kunmo then 11tood up and made an obeisance, ~ut
otherwise behaved as •· before. Conveying the idea of the Emperor,
Chart1 Ch'ien said: "If Usun should move eastward to aettle down
in the Han Emperor would give Kumno a princess for wife. "Usun was
divided and its King was old. They were far from Han a.1d ignorant
about its size. They used long to be sulwrdinate to Hsiungnu and
wero near to it. Their officials were all afraid of the Huns and reluctant to move. The King was unable to dictate in this matter. So
Chang Ch'ien could cet no ddinite reply from him.
Kunmo had more than ten sons. The middle son 'vas called
Talu who. wu a 11trong man skilled in commandership. He dwelt ,
apart in command of more than ten thousand horsemen. Ha elder
brother was the :prinee royal, who had a son called Chingchu. The
-38prince royal rHed young and while dying said to his father Kunmo:
"You must make Chingchu the prinee and nG t replace him hy ano- ~
ther one. " Pitying him Kumno" promissed and ultimately made
Chingchu the prince. Angry at being prevented from becoming the
prince, Talu rallied his younger brothers and ltd .Ws troops in a
revolt against Chingchu and Kunmo. Kunmo was old and in eonstant
fear lest ChinL;chu be killed by Talu. He gave Chingchu more than
ten thousand hors~men and made him dwell apart. /\nd Kunmo kept
more than ten thousand horsemen for himself. Thus the strength
of the country was divided· in three, with the greater part under
the contr~l of Kunino. That waa also why Kunmo dared not enter
into special a&reement with Chanr Ch'icn.
Therefete Chang Ch'i@n dispatched his deputy envoys to Tayuan, Kangchu, the Greater Yuehchih, Tahsia, Anhsi, Hindu, Yutien,
Ganmi and other nearby countrtes. Usun appoir.ted guides anfl interpreters to escort Chang Ch'ien home. Ghang Ch'ien- t0ok with him
an envoy trom Usun comprising scores of men and scores of horae&
to show gratitude for the awards, with the purpose of making them
sec the greatneu <lf Han.
Chang Ch'ien returned to the court and was appointed Tahsing,
an important post among the atattt officers. After a year :md more,
he died.
The envoy of Usun, seeing that
, Han was auch a populous and
rich country, reported h&ek to their own country. Thus Uaun carne
to hold Han in greater esteP.m. After a year or so, the deputy envoys
sent hy Chang Ch.'ien to Tah,;ia and other countrie-5 mos'ly
returned takin& with them men of tbose countries. ~n this way
the foreign countries to the northwest hegan to have intercourse
with Han. As Chanr Ch'ien was the one who blazed way, later
enveys who went there all styled. themselve;a crJmmission(lrs of
Knight of Far sight in making pledges to foreign Gountries which
trusted
'
his faith.
After the death of Chan, Ch'ien, the Knight of Ear sight,
H 8 iungnu learnt with anger about Usun's intercouue with Han
•
and wanted to
atta~k
it.
\
,_ 39-
When Han's envoy passed throu2h southern Usun and nachen
T:1yuan, the Greater Yuehchih and other neighbouring countries,
the King of Usun became afraid . and asked the envoy to accept
hone8 as offerin&s and expressed the wit!h for a Han princess
to seal the brotherhood (matrimonial relations ) . When the Emperor
sought eounsel from the state officers , they ail :sairl that :
"The girl must not be sent before the betrothel presents are brought".
Before that the Emperor had ~onsulted the Hook of Changes
which au&ured that a divine horse would come from the northwe&t.
Afterward,; h~ got the horse from Usun whicb was very flOod, and
named it the ·'heavenly horse." Then he Gbtained the horae from
Tayuau which sweate~ blood and was even stronger. So the Uaun
horse was renamed the "extreme west", and the Tayaau horse
was named the "he.lVenly horse".
It w~s then (121 B.C.) that Han began to build the defences
to the west of Lingchu. The Chiuchuan County was established
to increast~ contact with the foreign countries to the northwest.
For this purpose , more envoys were sent to Anhsi, Tentaai, Lihsien,
Tiaochih and Hindu. As the Emperor waa fond of Tayuan horses,
envoys followed on each other's heels all along the way. Among
the missiJns to foreign countries, the bigger ones each consisted
of several hundred people while the smaller of one hundred and
more. And the good;; and gifts they took with th¢m fcir surpassed
those at the time of the Knight Far sicht. But then when the:;e
became more and more common, the fashion ag~n slackened. At
tbe time of Han, sometimes more 1:han ten _missions were sent
each year, and no less than five or iix. It took eight or nine
ycus for a distant mission to return, and no less than a few
years for the nearer ones. At that time Han had annexed Yueh,
and the Yi peoples to the southwest ofj;hu were awed and heg~m
·o pay homace to the !~mperor. · There were established the counties of Yichou, Yuehchun, Yangki, Shenli and Wenshan, and the
aim wa:,; to extend the route up to the border of Tahsia. From
these counties
more than ten envoys led Ly Po Shih-chang, Lu
Yueh-jen and others were 1ent for Tahsia. But they were again
-40blocked at Kunming, killed and
reaching Tahsia.
robbed, and never »ucceeded
in
Then Han dispatched General• Kuo Ch'ang and Wei Kuang
leadini: criminals of the area round the capital and several tena
of thousands of people of Pa and Shu to attack those in Kunminc
who barred the way of the Han envoys. The troops under the
generals killed and took prisoners several tens of thomanda and
then returned. But afterwards when Chinese envoys reached
Kunming, they were still molested. So this rout~ atill could not
be opened.
On the other hand more aud more envoys went to Tahaia
by the northern route from Chiuchuan. Because of the frequent
arrival of envoys, the foreign countries became sated with Han
money and no longer treasured its &ooda. Since Chang Ch'ien
won
ret~pect
and. position
through openinr; inte:rcoune with
foreign countries, other officer& and aoldien following him competed
with each other in presenting reports to the Emperor describin1
strange things and interests in foreicn countries, and asking· to
be sent abroad as envoya. Considerin1 that few peopl~ were
willing to go to those extremely distant landa, the Emperor listened to
them and gave them missions and power to enrol people, no
matter what, their origins. They were provided with company'and sent
a!Jroad to enhance the intercourse. In travelline to and fro, it
was difficult to escape Lt!ing robbed. If the envoys were remiss
in their re•ponaibilities, they were pardoned by the Emperor. But
if their fault was serious, th•y incurred the anger of the Emperor
who would make them redeem their crime. Thua there was no
end of excuses for going abroad as envoys and little fear to
offend the law. The officials and soldiers who had followed them
abr<>ad also often praised foreign countries. Those ,whe talked big
were made envoys and those who talked small were made deputies.
Thus braagarts and bad dements followed suit. Those peoJle
wer" all of poor origin. They took the gooda and gifts from the
authorities to profit themselves by sellini at hi&h prices to foreigners.
Now the people in the forei&n countries grew dis&usted with th~
-4,1-
IN THE HIGHLIGHTS 0 F MODI:Ri~ AFGHANISTAN
Part 4
road of the mounted men was impaECsible; and he could not reach
Ghazni; and the patriots stayed their hl'<nds till the arrival of the Sirdar.
When the snow fall haJted and abated a little, the Sirclar hastily
made progress towards Ghazni, and the patriots were highly pleased
to see the Sirdar. All the men of Ghazni, thereupon, accepting the
Sirdar as their ·leader, gave all their command into his hands, and
gave him all power, whether h~ would like to fight the English or
that he may give peace to them. We all are obedient tu hh commwd~. That honoured, ofdcer gave words of encouragement to the •
patriots, and rested a little: meantime, the En(;lish officer was greatly exercised in mind regarding the arrival of the Sirdar, because
rations of the English were greatly depleted, and they were eatiiig
horse meat at Bala Hisar; and melted the ice to procure water. Later,
Sirdar Shum:mddin Kh.::m sent a meuage to colonel of the English
that an order had been given by Shah Shuja that they should leave
Ghazni and leave for India. The colonel wanted t'J see the royal
Command; and as the Sirdar had ·not that writing with him, he ientr
word to the Sirdars at Kabul to secure such a document. Shah Sbuja,
with great reluctance, gave the writing, which was sent by the Sirdar
to the English colonel at the Bala H;sar.
As this was all calciJlated as a political craft of his honour
Shameuddin Khan, and he wanted to arrest the English as they were
as alsG to capture all the money that was in poe;ses@ion of tP..ese
English. After a few days the writings needed by the English were
Eecured from Kabul fr.nn the higher quarters; and when they were in
hand, such writings were sent to the Eng]i,.;h at Bala Hisar. When
the English received thosn documents, they were greatly amazed.
In any case, the colonel of the Engli10h forces gurrunder•d three
lakhs of rupee$ and all the stores that were at Bala Hisar to
his honnur and he himself came down from the fortr@SS of Ba.la
Hisar with hii troops; and in addition the English commander
&ave seven rupees. to each of his soldiers, an;l t.rre;?ared to depart.
On this beini done his honour occl'lpied the Bala Hisar; and
took all the treasury and !gunpowder into his custody; and gave
orders that no one ihould enter the fort. When ,the "patriots" saw
-42that all that belonged to the Enghsh was taken by his honl)nr
and they could not &ct anythin& by way of loot from the Eng·
. li&h posssessiom; they (the country-fighters) reiilolved to fall upon
the retreating English force, and snatch that which they could
get that way as their share. It was this which brought manacr4l
and attacks upon the En~lish forces, which was badly cut up
and me~ny of ths En&lish w~re taken prisonera aad u hostages
by these fighters and some of these captured men of the
English forces were kept as land labourers. Such was the position of these captured men of the English officers, that thor~e
lance corporals and ser~ents, wlw during their service with the
English force were puffed up with such pride that they would
not ackonwledge the salutations of any one; were bein& uaed as
labourers, and concidered it as an honourable duty te do for the
work of the country folk. as mere and mean labourers; and were
employed to clean the stables. But when they \¥ere 10 attacked.
the English officers ran b4lck to Bala Hisar and took refu&e
with his honour. But one Englishman fell into the hand11 of the
country fighters along with his wife; and these countrymen slew
that · English, and used to tease his wife by saying ''eat the
&rapes of Ghazni, for they are sweet 1rapes!'' Those English offi·
cera who had come to his honour were held as prisoners of \'lar;
and his honour 11ent word to the higher quarters regarding hi@
victory, saying that in thP. battle of Ghazni two platoons, two
cavalry units and eleven English officers had been captured; and
after this victory, his honour started to arunge the matters of
the Gbazni territory according to the interests and welfare of the
patriots."
THE EVACUATION OF KABUL.
(The march back of the Elphinstone's force to Jalalabad.)
THE FOURTH NARRATIVE.
In the third Narrative of this survey we had seen as to how
a co-operation was established between Shah Shuja-as the prote&e
of the English-and the En1lish ; and as to how a general revolt took
place against this unholy alliance on the 2nd of NoYember 184l.A.D.
Le grand Bouddha du Bamyan
"'· \
Le l\Taw;olee
uu
IV erne Calife a Mazar-e- Sharif
-4317th. Ramazan 1257. A.H. This fire spread in all directions of the
country ; and when the English representative Macnaghten was auassinatei. what talks took place between the national forces of Afghanistan and the foreign &~gressors ; and as to what shape these talks
had taken as a result thereof-an Agreement and as to how his not
keeping his Engacement contril!>uted to his losin& his life.* After
that we had seen how conversations continued between the leaders
of the nation Utlder Vazir Mohamed Akbar Khan and Major Pot·
ting~r-Pottinger took the charge of English affairs after the fall of
Macna~hten and how the protege king-Shah Shuja-without slightest
hand in the negociations, and as hated person- by his nation-was
merely sitting in the fort of Bala Hisar and saw dram.t play around
him. The Agreement entered into between the Afghan leaders and
the English v. hich was hammered out as the first lmtrument of its
kind and which comprised the wishes of the Afchan people and the ..
En!l;lish contained four Clauses: the firet Draft of the Engagement
was the one which was compiled by Macngahten himself; which was
ammende:l by Sirdar Mohan1ed Akbar Khan and national leaders of
Afghanistan ; but as Macr..aghten started tu act contrary to those
engagement~, he paid it with his life.
The second ven;ion of the text of the Engagement was that
when wae projected by the leaders of Afghan nation; under that
text, the second "demand text" Major P1!tinger'11 Observations are
appended; since Pottin&er was then the new repre~tentative. There is,
ho\vever, a tbrd text, which contains the version of th~ "demands"
of the national leaders with Vazir Mohamed Akbar Khan's addition~;;
and finally the fourth text was evolved which combiiJed the demands
and acceptances of- both parties; and this Instrument was ultimately sil.{ned between the Afghan• leaders and Major Pottinger on
Thursrlay 16th of Ziqad 125-'?.A.H. First January 18t2.A.D. at Kabul.
A copy of this Instrument can be seen in the :Museum of Kabul.
• Sir Percy Sykes
writes to say that Sirdar
deceit of Macngahten, was compelled to
Mohamed
Akbar Khan seein;, the
kill Macngahten, and PoWnger-the English
Representative, who took the place of the assassinated officer-was also of that opinion
that tae English Representative ( Macnaghten ) had more than touched the fringes of
deceit and falsehood in his behaviour. (The History of Afghani•tan, by
31. Vol. II.)
Sykes
page.
-44At that period, l\lawab Zaman khan was
accepted as the king, and
~ayab Aminullah khan
logari as the Minister of the Realm. Sir
Percy Sykes points to that fact and the text of the Instrument itself bears witness to this statement. In the preface of this Instrument, after naming the two above mentioned men;
otl:>er leaders of lhe nation are also spnken of; and
the names of
in addition-in
a general manner all the leaders of the nations and Sirdars are
included in the t10xt as representing the country's interests. In the
text which is in the Kabul Museum, there are the seals of 14
lea-
den; whereas Sir Perey Sykes ;,:ays that there were 18 signatorie:>*.
In any case the text of the Instrument iil as f,)Llowt;: "Agreement and
Treaty between the mo:,;t honorable .... titles etc,ete ... Nawab Mohamed
Zaman Khan aPd the Second Repre!'entative Titlefi etc, etc Nayab Ami·
nullah khan, and tht> rest of the ;~awabs and Sirdars and Leaders
of all the Mosl~rr..,;; and the Englishmen of High quality, titles etc
etc, this has been 8~taled and agn_ed upon, that henceforth animosity and discord between the two parties E>hall be terminated and
give pl3ce to friendship aud cordiality and the streng t! .. ·ning of these
ties: for that purpose
the
following conditions
have been established
and resolved; the
and sitpulations
details and pa ....culars of
which are as follows:
ClauseN. 1.
According to the >>;:ishes of the English officers a group of the
Sirdars are to be appointe.! for the protectiou of the Englishmen, so
that they should not be molested during their journey to Jalalabad
with the troops; tl!mo the Sird~u Mohamed Usman Khan and Sirdar
Shah Donllah Khan lnl been so named.
•
Clause N. 2.
That tLe tnwps at JalalaLad should start for Peshawar prior
to the arrival of the English forces at .Jalalabnd frum Kabul. No ex('US~ would he a:;ceptcd on that score.
* The namn3 o:' L;.· i 8 pl'rsuns me as bdow: Mohammed Zaman Khan,
Mir Haji
Khan, Sikandar KJu,n, Darw".i'h Khan, lllohammed Akbar Khan, hohammed Usman Khan,
Ghulam Ahmed
Khan,
Ab,Julhcb
Khan, Glw!mn
Aminul:ah Khan,
Mohammed Khan, Khan Mohammed Khan, Abdul Khaliq
Mir Asiam Khan,
Samad Kban, Tvlohnmed Na,ir Khan,
Khan, i;l,da! Ghnfour Khan, Mir Aftah Khan.
I,
-4'5-
Clause N· J.
The Ghaz:rai troops of the English, sboultl rnaktJ
haste to vacate, 'and
to start for Kabul, and thence to
all possible
Peshawar.
Clause N, 4.
The English troops who are in Kandahar or at any otber part
and go to India, with
of Afghanistan must leave the clluntry
the
greatest despatch and without delay.
Clause N. s.
Whatever ~material and guns, and other posses"ions of Amir
Doust Mohamed Khan there might be in the hands of the Endihh
should be surrundereu to the Afghan
nation .
Clause N.&.
All
armory
the
material
and
transported
of
the English
in
the
rifles etc etc,
English shall bdong to
gun - pow.:l.er,
by the
shape of
gun~,
whkh could not be
his honour Nawab
Zaman Khat:~.
ClauseN. 7.
Those members of Shah Shuh,
who
on accr1unt of lack of
tran11port could not accompany the English forces to India, should
remain in the house of Haji Khan; and when Amir Doust Mohamed
Khan arrives in the Afghan
to g6 to India.
territory, they should he r)ermitted
Clause N. 8.
When
the English troops reach Pcsh<.. wnr, they
should
see
that Amir Doust Mohamed Khan and various rl!lemLers of his
family are ailowed to travel to Afghani>tan wilh all honcurs due
to them; so that they may reach Kabul ~·oot~.
ClauseN. 9
Six important
and men of high rank of
remain as hc~ta gtat Kd ul; rEd af "con
Khan and
his various
raech Peshawar, these
v"
members of the
the En~,:lisb ~h(mld
thr An·ir Dcu!'t 1\'lc.f:;'md
family 11;1d other Afghans
hostages should leave the Afghan territory.
-
4·6-
Clause N.10,
Under no circumstances the English should enter the realm of.
Afghanistan, nor are. the English ever cherish hope 'for the occupation
of Afghanistan; ao that generation• after generation"' the bonds of
fri~nrlship should continue between the two contracting parties. If
the Afghan government at anytime desire any assistance· from
the Enrlish againet a foe, then the En:lish would give such help
instinctivf:ly and if that were the case the Afghan JOVernment would
not make any treaty with a foreien power without consultin& the
Engli~h government and if help
from the direction indicated wu
not forthcoming
then the
Afghan &overnment
is free
to act and
choose it"' .::ourse.
I
Clause
N.11.
Should any Englishman not be able to leave this country
for unavoidahl~e reasom; then during his . brief sojourn a fri~ndly
treatment
will be accorded to him.
Clause N.12.
The retreating English force can take away six guns pulled
by horse!!, and thrt>e of those pulled by mules; and the rest which remain
to become the property of Nawab Zaman Khan; and for the second
time never
to
~ppearance
make an
if the Mo1lems and
and to
the Engliah did
ROt
remain friendly; and
hold
fast
to
these
rn"'agementc;.; and pledges , ther. each party in accordance to it~
faith and religion would be styled as liars; and they would be
condemned throughout the world. These items have been set down
as eng;:q~f'ment and pledges on behalf of both partiea written on
thi11 day, Thurl!!day 16th of the month Ziqad 1257.A.H.
The text
of
this
had bPen sealed and
middle
of
the
Afghan nation
Treaty and
si~ned as
an
19th century; and
and to her
urge
EnK"aii;emtnt is the one which
important
&ives
for
document
shape to the
freedom
and
in
spirit
the
of
independence.
That whieh is worthy of attention hel'e is the facts contained
in the clause. number two, clause humber three and clause number
four. These
clauses stipulate that the forces of the English should
-47vacate Jalalabad before their Kabul column reached Jalalab11d;
and that the Ghazni troopa should also leave Ghazni and should
proceed to Peshawar by way of Kabul; and that the troGps of
Kandahar and Killat Ghilzis ahould leave for India. Contrary to all
the11e conditions; neither General Nott moved out of Kandahar, nor
General Sale made any attempt to vacate his station at Jalalabad:
nor; indeed, the English force left Ghazni. The clause num&er
tenth had it that the English forces should nrver attempt to
enter Afghanistan ever again. But the Afghan cherished the hope
of occupyinc
Af&hnistan; and their
disinclination in re&ards
to the vindication of these clauaes bears witness to that fact.
Furthermore despite the fact that the number of guns which
Elphiristone was to take away with ' him was clearly expressed.
yet -he took with him many more than the stipulated number;
and these which he surrendered were quite useles'l. It would,
therefore, be aeen that their Treaty of First of January was
broken from the very firat; and the whole instrument was made
hardly more than a mere scrap of paper. Also the defeitful activitiea of high officers of the English add€d further fuel to the
fire. In any case the date for the evacuation of Kabul was fixed
a1 the 6th of January 1842. A.D. so that the English troops were
to go to Jalalabad. But before we might study the pratieulars of
thi1 evacuation, two points should be brought into the li1ht here;
oae of it being the position of Shah Shuja in Kabul and the
aecond the uprising of the Ghilzis between Kabul and Jalalabad.
There is little doubt that in the national movement of thf'
Afghans which took place on the Second of November l84l.A.D.
Shah Shuia never dared to interfere in 3ny of tbe Enclish
activities in Af~hanistan; and on the other hand all the time
was the most hated individual in t h e coulltry ; yet circum&tance obtaining then h ad rather shaken the adminililration
of Nawab Mohamed Zaman Khan; so that th~ evacuation o{ tJh:e
En~li1h forces and the appearance of Sirdar Mohamed Akbar
Khan had done two thin,s: the leavinc of the English had eiven
opportunity to Shah Shuja' to desert his former allies-the English
and to join the national &roup; and the arrival of Vizir Mohamed
Akbar Khan had stre112thened the position of Nawab Mohamed Zaman
,
-4.8Khan. The Nayab Aminullah Khan Logan did everything possible
for the unity of t h e country, and to persuade Shah Shuja to
:.tend his ways; and to reconcile with the leaders of the nation:
but very unfortum.tely Shah Shuja wouU not desert his foreign
nH~n tors; n .H to cease
to rely upon the English support;
and
although due to the pres~Sure of the nation, he did send a letter
to General Sale b vq.cate Jalalabad; hut he gave a 'verL~tl meisage
to the
mes,;enger saying that General Sale was not to leave the
·"~fghan soil. A_s the Engl.i:> h commander - General Sale- at
Jalalabad" despite the written engagement signed at Kabul, did not
lea\:e Jalalahad and prepared
to
give battle . The
leaders
of the
nati•)n requesteJ aLl !, indeed, some persisted that Shahshuja should
ally his troovs with those of Sirdar M()hamed Akbar Khan and
to fight Sale a.t Jalalabad. ln pretence, he seemed to have launched
out with his tr()Op(~l'f.! upto Siah Sung from Bala Hisar; but as
his n'al
purpose waa
Eng!i.,b; on
t.he night
t
o deceive
of
his
the nation, and
first d·ty's
march,
to
he
help
the
secretly,
came hack to BaJa Hisar in order to take his jewel-purse; and
on :.he a ext day, belog Saturday the Month of Safar l258.AD.
murdered b<ttw~en Bala Hisar and Siah Sung. A letter
which ha.'l Leen recdved aLout thiE matter, and which gives
detBils of polilical position obtaining then should be studied m
he
1Vai:i
part ./th of thL; surV"'Y·
The uprising of the Ghilzis between Kabul and Jalalabad is
anoiher point worthy of auention. This relates to the fate of the
Elphinstonc's column; hut we must speak of this from the time
whe!l his troup~ wer'' at Kabul; and particulars thereto prior to
the t:nghh troop'!i evacuation of Kabul. From the study of those
facts it would
!H~ se.;n
that even
Shairpore, the ChiL~i:'i had
Englisb
before the
En~lish troops
writers h:we 11aid, Sirdar Mohamed Akbar
was certainly not operative
left
risen; and .contrary to th11t which some
in
inciting
the
people
Khan's
to
hand
mass~tc:r;e
the Eriglish on their way to Jalalabad. In point of fact the Afghan
leader.:;, so far ail possible, actually tried to prevent such incidenta.
The fire of wrath of the nation had kindled to such a
degree, especially after the breaking of promises on the part of
-49the Engli8h, that • it was not all pos •iole to prevent the people to
hold their hand" a&ainst the English. Both Lady Sale and General
Aiyer attest to this matter in their notes of that occasion. ·
The rising amongst the Ghilzis, as a point of fact was a manifestation of the general rising of the people against the English.
It was a part and parcel of tlmt national movement against . the
English which was started on the 2nd, of November J.84l.A.D. at
Kabul and it ·spread in every nook and corner of the country; so
that the movement had gone to the eastern regions nearly two months
prior to the evacuation of the Eng]jsh forces from Shairpore. If
one is to study i.he maltc:r a little more closely it would Le' seen that
the Ghilzi imurrectir.n was even t:arli~r· than t,wo months/ as
above indicated. On the 19th of October, the Ghilzis had taken
Khord Kabul; so that General Elphinstone had to send Manthieth
at the head of thirtyfive foot lioldiers and a section of cavalry (fifth)
fr0m Kabul against these Ghilzis. Also from Gandomak, Robert
Sale in person had moved against them with No: II, and 13th Foot
Infantry; so th'at General Sale and four other officers were wounded
at an e.ngagement in Khurd Kabul. In the like manner fierce battles
took place between the Ghilzis and the English at Jakdalek and Gandomak, which we cannot describe here. General Sale's troops htard
the news of the aisassination of Buraes and the Kabul rising on 6th
of November; and' on the lOth of that month he (General Sale) received
letters from Macnaghten, Magragore, and Elphinstone that he was to
send the Gandomak \ troops at what~ver cost, to Kabul. But
General Sale, in spite of the denunciations of such high authorities,
1
bad to betake his men to Jalalal::ad became of his fear of the
Ghilzis on the way. He- arrived at Jahlabad on the llth of
November. After a reu of three days, General Sale wrote a reply
to the above mentioned En&}ish dignitariea at Kabul, Sltying that as
•
30,000 to fortythousand tribal men had gath~red on the way between
Jalalabad and Kabul, it is absolutely impossible to come to the
help of those Kabul; and that it was better that he should stren~then his position at Jalalabad. l
The purpose of quotin6 the evidenc of these English &enerals
and others of hi&h ranks, is this that it should ·be made dear
1 "The Afghan Wars" 1838 to l842.A.D- by C.R. Low page 22.
'
-50to our readers that before the Elphinstone fore~ left Kabt>l for
Jalalabad; the entire Ghilzi~; had arisen again~t the English forces
in the south uf the county; and the path wa1 one flaming fire
through which this body of men had tu pass eutward,.; 1110 that
at that time no <Hle .~ould ex,tiriguisn such a consuming conflagration. Siniar Moh<Jtned Akhar Khan anrl other national leaders,
try as they &·nay, nothing could ·be done. Theie national leaders,
indeed, did do everything possihle but the English lives could not
be saved.
On the 6th of January 181.2. &_.D. ( 22nd Ziqad 1251. A.H. ) tht"
English trcops which were known after the name of their comniander-Elphinstone, as Elphinstone , Column-started from the Shair-pore
cantonment of Kabul towards Jalalabad. There were 18,500
men
'
.
in . that army ; and the English writers divide this force into two
&ectiom; one is the fi~hting force; and consi,.ted of fighting men ; and
the other were the camp followers eonsil-lting of about 12,000 men."
Sir Percy Sykes, the English historian. says: "after two month•
humiliation and disgraceful existence, this incident ha~ no precedence in the Briti.,h military history; ~u that the mw who had
washed their hand:,; from their live~, resolv.:d to ltave the city."•
The English contrary to their engagement had taken three Illore
guns than was stipulated ; and those ~uns which they had to lt'ave
were disabled by them by removing their e.,sen tial parts. Kabul and
its neighbourhood was shrouded by heavy fali of snow; and the
winter of l858. A. I). was severest of it:-; kind; the uninvited ~uest·
the English soldiers-having been besictged for close upon 1.wo months;
' and after some of their men had been killed, and their officers had
signctd their "urrunder documents emerged from the Shairpore cantonment. A convoy of two thousand camels and pack animals e•er&ed
from Shairpore. A sorry spectacle! The Patriots set fire, to that which
umained at Shairpore, as a token of ''dean l-ling process," this fire
could he seen from many miles. The snow clad hills of Shair Darwaza and A,.,mai, glowed white and red in the setting sun of 6th of
January. 1842. A.D. and high winter wind was wafting the &moke over
the tail of the retreating army of the Eaglish. The population of Kabul
and other ua!ioual warriors, who had gathered since the ~ornin& to see
the last of the retreating army, began to move back to their home
/
I
-51fiers to Bala Hiaar and Siah Sung. Occa.sionally a report of gun fire
could be heard. The fact that the English bad taken more ~uns
from Kabul than they ought to have, made the English suspect
ahottt their engar;ements from
tte very start; and it wu
one of those reasons which st~trted the patriots to snipe upon
the English troops. On account of the intensity of cold and zmow
storm; snow could he detached from the hoove$ of the horses
by harnmen: lack nf rations. and difficulties of road had made
the proeress of the column very slow: so that during the day
only a distance of five miles could he covered: and first halt
was made at Bi~rami. On the second day. with an increa!e in
the severity of weather, the troop could go ar~ far as Turbah,
thia being the 7th of January. At Butkhak, Sirdar Mohamed
Akbar Khan, who was depnttd by the leaders of the nation to
accompany the retreating English force, joined thoce whom he
I
was expected to protect and to <~scort.*** He, however, advised
1eneral Elvhinstor1e to halt for a d2y and rest hi!i. troops, all~o
b .. cause rationa, fire wood could be procured. According to the
Clauae Number Nineth, be asked for six hostages who may be
rdaineJ, and this ,_tipulation had to be fulfilled prior to their
l~aving the region of Tazeen.
Thi11, too, was dependent upon
news to . \)e received that Gt>neral Siile had left Jalalabad. Amongst
the hostages the following were given: Captain Walsh, Drummond,
Troop, Cololly, Henry and Alexander.
0
'
'
The Engliah halted about ten milelil from the city of Kabul,
at the mouth of the valley of Khurd Kabul. On· the 8th January,
the English forC'e slarted off from the mouth of the valley of
Khurd Kabul. During these two days, tlote English lost no le•s
than two thomand men; and their number was estimated as
betw~en 14 and 16 thousand men: and at t~1t spot th!) Ghilzia
atart~d to snipe at the English force. Captain Skinner came to
Sirdar Mohamed Akhar Khan to take refuge; and the Sirdar
1lemanded three more hostages, who were Major Pottinger, Captain
Lawrence. and Mackenzie; and firing ceased.Then the troops proceeded
into the narrow parts of the valley. Gene:al Aiyer, who had rememSo.. fu,;tnote~: • ,**!•• ''n the next page.
<'
-52bered the narrow defiles of that valley of Khurd Kabul, so writet in
'
his despatch: "The narrow defile of Khurd Kabul
is about five miles
long on both sides it has towering heights, so that even the smallest
rays~ of the sun do not pemtrate it. There is a small stream in the
basin of the valley, banks of which are covered by snow; and snow
when we used, to cross and recross a stream 28 times, the troops
were under fierce fire from the enemy. "On that occasion, too, Lady
Sale, the wife uf the defender of Jalalabad was slightly wounded· in
the arm. A great disturbanco overtook the torce; and thousands of
men ran hither and thither in
f earch of protection; so that fire Jo
r
.
arms, stores, -\vomen and children were abandoned;_and every man ran
to prOtect his own skin.****During thi~ attack the Indian Footeoldiers
No:44 and tl:.e English Cavalry .did a great service to withstand
the attack of the Ghilzi~>. But ~his defence could not hold back
· the surging tide of the ·national wrath; so that no \ fes~ than three
thousand persons were killed ,that day alone at Khurd Kabul attack.
Hundreil; of course, died with exposure to inteme cold and through
severity of weather. Su fierce was • the attack that some English
historians have styled Khurd Kabul as "The graveyard of Elphir..•
stone'.a Force".
In spite of this surging
tide· of national
anger, Sirdar Mohamed Akbar Khan and other leaders like Sirdar.
Sultan Ahmed Khan and Mohamed Shah Kha1; did thei; best to
persuade the Ghilzis from killing the English at Khurd Kabul; but
all their efforts were in vain. The a.bove mP,n tioned English writer
further adds."I feel perfectly certain, that these (Sirdars above mentioned) imperilled their lives for us. " Lushinton, the author of a
book entitled A Gr<:at Country's Little Wars on England,. whtn ·
giving his view& ~dds this senten.ce: " Doubt upon their integrity
in~regards to' cease-fire, was a proof qf the hatred in which we were
viewed (such tt-xts should really .be given textually . from the!r
origin, for instance the exact wording of this Etl~lish author ought _
I
~
~----·
I
• Percy Sykes book page 33, Vol. II
I
•• Percy Sykes book page 33. Vol II.
'
I
,.. Although in the First Cl~use of the Agreement it is so written that Sirdar Mohamed
U 1 man Khan, and Sirdar Shah Doullah Khan would escourt the English back to India
but later Akbar Khan wao asked to accompany the inglish force.
-53to he quoted here: for tramlating tl1e
translation tends always
to
confuse the meaning Translator.) ****
On the fourth day (9th, January) the English tro(!pS made halt
at the end of the valley of Khurd Kabul;
BO
that a conference with
Sinlar Mohamed Akbar Khan may toke place. The Sirdar wanted
to take the women and children into his personal protection, so
that
wh,~n
th:; El.'~·lish a:rreeJ
to thtt
sugr;estion, he
took them
to the end of the caravan in his own camp. Elphinstune onu.
8£ain sent word to General S,tle to vacate Jalalabad through Captain
Mackay. 0'1 thi,; side of Khurd Kalml the Engbih force had he,,!
no les:J than ten thou"a'I.:i t;trol!g-originally-but repeated hold-ups
occurred so that dUiing sueh interruptions severe winter cnnditions
and the sniping of the Ghilzis re;JuceJ the number of the Englieh
force very
consideraLly. Two
Indian
Foot
Soldier
Units
were
'
complete y wiped out. In tl.e region of Khck-t -Jahbar-about five miles
from Kbnrd Kabul and 29 miles from Kabul; and of the ~nglish
race no mort~ fhan two hundred men wtre left in all the force.
1
The number cf Indian trnops, quite naturally. Between
and
Tazeen
.Tagdaluk-d!";ance of 22 miles-more attacks had to be sustained
by the English trnopR; eueh as on the 5th audt the 6th day of the
march at places of Snah Baba, (seven miles of Tazeen), Qatar Sung
(12 miles from Tazeen) In as much as no news
whatever had heen
given a~ to the e\'acuation of .Talabhad; Sirdar Mohamed Akbar
Khan was compelled to Ltke as hostages some leaders 0f the
English foree
sneh ae
General l::lphinstone,
Slatan and Johnson.
On the 1:2th. January (the lOth day of the march) the English
reached the hillside of Jagdalek, which has a height of about 6420.
feet; and there hecauH~ Jal<~LLad had not been evacuated spurred
on the attacks of the patrioh llp(Jn the British force: so that from
the enemy's force only 60 w~n Were left; out of which there WMe
only 10 officers; other
of the 50 being .soldiers.
•••• The KuJ,ul Iv'nrredio;~; ~ir \'in('Pnl L)H', 1841-1842.
***** A
gre(,t t'ountry's Lltlle wars on Engiand. page 141.
Afghanistan and Sin:le.
They now moved
-54,·towards GundnJ.mak; and OlllY 6 ot these were able to reach Fateh·
ahad, whid1 is ahout 16 mile~ of Jalalabad. Near the walls ~f the
city only two or three were left alive, who might also have perished
{Bth. Jarmary) but only one person named Dr. Brydon was able
ultimately to betake him.oelf in a very last degree of exhaustivn to
General Sale and to give him the news of th<> annihiliation of the
Elphinstone'a column.
It was in this way that in the c:ourse of only one week(from
amon~1t 18,<XJO fiih·
. 6t4 of January to l3t.h of January 1842.A.D.) from
ting men composed of the lfltlian and the British wldien, only one
man saved himself; and he to 1 w11.s helped by good fortune under the protection of the mountains of eastern Afghanistan ;
and the rest of the aggressors all perished-aggreilsors
to prevent the independence and freedom of
Brydon was the only man left t<> -take the
who wanted
this country.
sad news of
Dr.
his
men to Jalalabad.
All those hi~torical works that had been written by the Enclish
pt~riod
regarding thi:-;
of history of Anglo-Afghan dealing, reproach
the Afghan 1n a general way-Afghans who were de:fead~ng their horne
and earth and fought
to
proteet their
national
collntry anJ the;people: of a truth, in
tion the defence of ones
garded with
country and
repruaeh. Afghanistan
independence of
the terminology
ones life ought
was
a
of
reac-
to be re·
sovereign and an_. in·
dependent nation prior to 1838.A.D. and the Afghans had a king.
The laws. the aff~tirs as obtained in the country. ,did not
aggress upon any one ; nor had the Afghan!J cast their eyea upon
the property of other peoples: but when the unlucky shadow of the
grasping 'East India Company had been cast, upon more 'than half
of the lands of India; it gave rise to a series of misfortunes and
adversities which caused the blood of thousand~ of our countrymen
to flow; and even now-after a lapse of 112 years-the unlucky shadow
had not been lifted from the coafines of some of the territoriea
of some of our Afghan kinsmen. The English had desired to
cast the same net of commercial entanglements as·tht>y thr@W OVer
India and had
enslaved
that
country
for 150 years
upon Afghanistail through Alexander Burnes. But
to
~pread
the independent
nation
of
the
Afghans
heginnin:;
from
the
secomi November
1841. A.D. to l.ith. January 1842. had replied Ly their sword;; to all
the snares and delulllions of commerce and trade, military ami political ~tre1'"th of the English in such a Jownright a fa11hion, the like
of which could not L~., found by any English writers in the annals
of Great Britain's re-aetionary activities. The reactionary English writen; have the 'lsord "'barbarian" in their vocabulary; and that word
Ule frequentiy for the Afghans-Afghans who desired nothin& but
to safe-guard their national independence and national freedom: but
no Ullt' seems to have asked these unwanted and un-invited &UeStl,
that when you were in your own lands, and living out your
lives as you wanted to live; and aggressors entered into your
house. what would your own reaction must have been? The
Eneliah feared the french designs under Napoleon; and the CO'ietous eyes of the Ci\arlst Russia in regards to the fertlle regions
of India; so that neither of the~e may eaL np that tasteful
moreal of India; had <'onsidered the land of the Afghans as the
fateway of India, and had used our country as a plaything of
international politics; but this toy was found to be so hard a
stone for them and their imperial E>word-thrnsts, and shook the
•miter that its reactions have parallel in their own inqwri.al hi~tory.
Some of the Eu:lish writers do aeknowle•lge th~se hard acrimonious
truths- truth~ wlticb hal con~ int,) the op:m lis~~1t of history
as a result of the doings during the English interference 1838 ·
to 1842': A.D. The los:a of life which their troops su::-,tained. in
.L842. A.D. during their march back to whence they came; and tho
rebuff that they recdved during their wtstern ag:gres3~m in 1838.
A.D. are all evidenees of what had bet>n said above in this
rl"spect. In connPcti"OH with these affairs, the Engli:-h ha:d h<)eJ.l
the aggressors from the beginning !.o the end; the Afghans had
only defended their nation and their
country.*
Loshin,, one of the well-known Engiish authurs write:; as
follows in regards tu the:5e English ag&ressions:
they
•
footnote of the prf'vinu.> page rf'gtlrding llr. Brydon:
Dr. Brydon. whell flcl'iug towards Jalalh"rl was struck on the b·,vl h y a patriolte
Afghan iWOrdsman; hurt as he had pbcpcl some copies of a journal Fraze;- in his hat. the blow
failed to rt>ach the sl.:in of lhe sl. ul!; anJ it saving him: lk Brydon was able to get" to the
J:n1gish ramp as the lai1l surviv<'rt; 1t1Hl to r~port to Gcn<:ral Sale.
-.56"Without doubt, every pe;lplc, e:Jnfronte:l with such abject
forms of aggression, as did the Afghans, woulJ have behaved in
precisely the same way as the Afghans behaved towur~ the English
aggreswrs; but tbe greater crime that had }Jeen committed in
this
connection rt'sts on the shoulders of the English; fo'r
they were the aggres11ors; a crillle which if committed by one
nation against another must have this natural reaction ........... "
DISPOSITION OF SIRDAR MOHAMED AKBAR KHAN GHAII; HIS
TREATMENT OF THE fNGUSH PRISONERS.
General Sale anl Magrag,>r, the political secretary 11t Jalalabad,
dd not evacuate Jahbbad-eoutrary to tbe t~ngagement which the
British high officers had· ma'L~ 1vilh the Afghan:3 in Kabul. Dr.
f'-qlon took the 'news of the disaster nf rhe Endh·h forces to
General Sale on the 13th January 1842 at Jalalabad. Sirdar Mlllhamed
~\kbar Kh<tn Ghazi, who in the company of other Sirdars-Sirdar
Sultan Ahmed Khan and Mohamed Shah Khan Ababukr Khail-had
undertaken to look after the worn en and childrt>n of the English,
as well as their wounded officerf', converged from Jal!!.labad to
Lughman; ami po~:>sibly the same day or the next day arrived
at Tagri, the central position of Lughman. They stationed themselves at a place called Killa Moharr1ed Shah Khan known by
the name of Badiahbad. So far a3 was possilJ]e tl1e Sirdar did
everything in their powt"r to make the lot of their charg~
bettec . '!he treatment of Sirdar Mohamed Akbar Khan was of such
gallantry and of mauliness, that the English writers have been
compelled to praise his attitude towards the hostages and those
prisoneu who had been taken into his custody. This treatment
was given not only to the hostages, but actually towards even the
combitents-combitents, who had come' into our country as aggressors to usurp the freedom of our nation, and had killed thousands of our countrymen. The a~~sassim;tion of l\Iacnaghten and
the disaster that ,befell the Elphinstone
Column was the result
.
of the bad faith of the English milituymen themselves. According
to the estimation of Sirdar Mohamed Akbar Khan <{hazi, Macnaghten
was a deceitful n1an; and as we have aoted dlready, Macna~hten'•
-57ov.n successor himself-Pottinger-had agreed to that -yiew. This same
kind of perfidy was the breaking of ~olenm pledges giveo by
the Engliah at Kabul in writing in regards to the e~acuation
of the English forces from Jalalabad, prior to the Kf\hul Column
reachinr Jalalabad; and the moving out of the English forces
from Ghazni ·, Killat Ghilzis and Kandahar, caused the dif'truction
of the Elphinstone Force on its way to Jalalabad. Sir Percy Sykes
write•; "Mohamed Akbar Khan thought that if the Kabul force joined
the one at 'Jalalabad, his views would be annulled; an::l thus his watch
fulaess was natural; tlterefore, he halted the En:lish forces at Tazeen
till Jalalabad was evacuated. For this reason, indeed, he halted the
Kabul force s~veral times. The providing of rations for web a largct
body of men, is a clear matter; in which one cann<>t help much. In .
regards to the annahilation of the British force under Elphinstene
on itl!l way to Jalalabad, is the direct rewlt of the hreakin1 ·of the
English promise- written earagementssigned at Kabul-which inflamed
the national fe.elings and these sentiments bore stro:~~gly on the circumstances which brought about that catastrophe to the English.lf we were to
study the notts of Genl'!ral Aiyer-who himself was one of the prisoners
that Sirdar Mohamed Akbar Khan and other Sirdar could not stem
the tide of nation~} warth on that occasion, because the gross faithlessness of tae English t::oulli not be defended; and the r:ation had
risen as .one man to avenge themselves against the aggreuors. On
one of the occasions, the Sirdar had said that the tribal men of
his Ghilzis had become so enraged that they even, refused to
recognise their own leaders, ~nd would not be kept back from attacking those who had broken their solemn pledges. Sirdar Mohamed
Akbar Khan had other qualities also; one such beinr that he
showed friendliness even towards his f!nemies. Those of the
En1lish officers who came in contact with him, were treated by
him as his friends. He used even to praise the valour of
his adversaries; and those English officers who were taken
as prisoners, and were under his charjle, were captivated by his
charm and friendliness. So, indeed, were they won over by
his charming manner, that when they were permitted to go to Jalalabad from their priaonera camp, they used to return back to Sirdar
Mohamed Akbar Khan's camp willingly and with apparent pleasure.
- '>8 --Som·· tittw;, these pri"ont>rs used
type of ltf•·, ~e!ul'lly contributed
of grief: but tbi~
the safely and \\t'l-being of
lo bring
to
tWWII
forty odd En~!li:o.h officeiS. lhe.,e
Jivel!l Ulldl~f ihe protection of 3irdur rvlehamed Akbar Kht~n, v\iibout
rloubt. a.s can he intaginnl; \H~re valnable live,.:: dn;~ \\Len it was
thf" tim~ for ,-bowing trwhtional hu,pitality of tl:t· Afghan!'. the
SinJar llt&\nift·,tr:d u:nwsl. hospitality : and he lit'\l'f idlowt:d
that
any utte coulll ~o ought .
"'bich might
intringe the rules
of ho!>pitality. l liR far sightednf'~S for the national cau~r·; was so
great that he IJ~"H!r tholll!ht of ltis own personal intn;_·:5t, ur hi:i
pFrsonal !>afety : for in~tanc•;, wlwt; lw W<'S defeated at Jalaia!,ad;
and \\<l.£ \\C'IltH!ed; ~ome ndviscd him to slay all the Prisonen \\hum
he was protecti1 g ~ but he replied that nothing of that kind sh•>uld
be done: for if he did that then the English would kiLl Arnir Donst
Mohamed T\"ban and b is f;;rn ily in lndia ; a lt bough during that per·
Eng[i,-h women aud children and
hi;tvry, to kill a man wa~ of no great crime.''
iod t•f Afghan
Ltishitll;;totr.
in his book, a~ abo\T
mrntioncd, \\rites about
the kin,!line;;o:-; of ~irdat l\Iohamed Akbar Khan as follows:*
'' ..... rlw 111an.
prott-:eb ju;-,t thu~e \\ho
of ho;:-;pitality
am! great
1\bn leaving
t·hc military
functions;
now
fought a~aiwst him, and 11hows hii:h deeree
degree of kindliness ..... they brou"ht Lt.
Mehille befor,o; him~ and Melville was wounded.
Mohamed
Akbar
Khan dn•ssed his wounds with his own hands; aud with his own
ha~nds he wrap~;l'd the: wound; -and showed all kind:,; of cun:-;iderati(;n <:r~d c<,urte~y to the wounded man. Whenevt~r the prisoners
cro:,;~ed the fords of a riv~, th~ SinJar was most anxious
that
none of tlient sh.mld come to any hann. Only on rare occuions,
his Lebadour was l,nown to have any change; but as a rule his
ksind liness ar;d c ;Urtesy was uniform. Sirdar Mohamed Akbar
Khan showed
at that
sucl1 considt-:ration to the pri::-;onP-rs under his charge
remote
tim.:; which is
on ]y
uow
being ehown
in
the
civilised warfan~. If ~me \wre to t·ompare the Sinlar 's · kindly Lehaviour, with say; the behaviour of otherR in Oriental countries-like
Tippu or Hayder-the high qualitie,; of the Afghan nobleman rise
high above them.''
* Smull
Wur8 <>f A big Country . .England-Afghanistan, Sindh. 1-'agt' 165·166,
-59That which hu surprised this author is the
why Sirdar Mohamed Akabr Khan agreed to the
large hody of men; and yet wa& so solicitious
safety and the well-being of such a small numher,
hil-i ehar~e.
'
fact that, as to
distruction of a
regardin' the
wl1o were under
The reply to this question is so expansive that it could hardly be
contrc,lled: Sirdar Mohamed Akbar Khan's attitnrle tow:mls the
"distruction"' of a large body of fighting men was due to the
appreciation of the national duty, and a moral duty towards
mankind, for sueh aggressort:l are themselYes destroyer3 of human,
and innocent human li-.es without cause: his attitude towards a
smaller body of prsion:~rs under his charge is quite comprehen·
sible, for they were unarmed. and 'taken under once's protection
in the rood faith of giviflg proteetion to human beings; and had
ceased to be a danger to one people lives : thus an attitude to
thtm ()f kindliness was in conformity to the high mental make-up
of a nobleman of Afghanistan. It "':as this that made him so pliant
towards the women and children and wounded men at Badiahbad
in La~hman. He was solicitious towards th,e women-, used to sit
<m the floor with children and played with them; and bestowed
every possible attention to the welbein,! of children; and the welfare
of., women; which conatitute the un-writt~n laws of a high-born
Af~hsn, among!:it the' Afghans in Afghanistan. These are the national
tradition!! of the Afghan race. For the atte5tment of· this statement,
apuart from the writin:s of the Englis!J authors, we have discovered
a letter whic·h. had been writtf!~ from Tagri <Nagri) to Kabul, addresaed to Nayeb Aminullah Khan Logari at Kabul, regarding the
daughter of one Anderson-an Engliiih office~;-whose well-being anJ
protection i1 enjoimd 11pfin. Unfortu!Hltdy the date of thi~; letter
is t1vt given io th6, eommuniralion in question; hut it appears
from relative: circumstances of the case that it had been written
in the first days of their arrival at Lughmao; probably in tbo miJdle
of January L840.A.D. It1 text is as follows:*
I
'
•
" .... After tit!et' and other prelimiah prefixes .... to Nayeb
Sahib. May you enjoy all the goodness and bleasin~s, with the
~
-riOsafety of the country a'nd the people! In regards to the fallen
Mohamed Omar Khan, the
in the hands of the most honorable
illustrious son of the most highly exalted Mir Ahmed Khan, of
the dau~hter of one Anderson-an English officer-on the occasion
of the etruggle at Khu rd Kabul. From that date unwards, her
relatiYes are most anxious arid uneasy. Before this date, thi!
matter had been written to you; and now again it is being
written; that the daughter of Anduson should bt~ Eent
here
accompanied by trust worthy persons at the earliest possible moment:
it would be the ri&ht act
to have her
aent;
and
not
to send her will be a most unworthy act. By the grace of God
you yourself are a man of wisdom, thus you would do the utmost
possible in this connection. So far as affairs are concerned with u11
here, rest aasured that all is well with us here. You are to send
the news of your welfare and well - Leing-. In rel~tion to the
seadiag of the daur:hter of Anderson thero would be no delay, it is
hoped: be~~au;e that is one of the essentials of this letter; May your
days be of p~ace and success! " Mr. Anderson who had bren named
in this lett!H was one of the En&lish officeu; who had arrived at
Kandahu with the Anderson Unit 'with Shah Shuja in 1838. (1255.A.H)
His name was fir1t mentioned, when as a result of the treachery of
Haji Kakari, the Kandahar Sirdars had to leave Kandahar and had
to retreat to Grishk; al'ld this Anderson had bt.tea sent with his men
that unit bein' associated with Shab Shuja - to chase the
Kandah:ui Sird:ir" . The manuscript of the book entitled Nawai
Maharik by Ata Mohamed Khan writes about this matter as followa:
"In the year one thousand and two hundred and fiftyfive. A.H, when
Sirdars of Kandahar, namely Sirdar Kobin Oil Khan, Sirdar Rahm
Dil Khan, anJ Sirdar Mihr Dil Khan. on account of the revolt and
tre-achery and on accou~t of being untrue to the salt of Haji Kakari had
turned their fac .. from the Kaba of Islam, and were accursed of the
Holy precints of the Shrine of Meece; due to the night attack and
battle turned hi1 face from the fight, even- when the English force
had been weakened ttnd th~ir power was broken; leavin' the fort,
they left the place with their fami8es and retreated towards Grisbk. •
Thia last mentioned place is situated about hundred miles from Kandahar.
Grishk; • This is from a l\Ianuscripl from the Kabul
Museum.
-61.
at any rate, started forth in the quest of
The hono'rable persons ,
the arrest of tho Ka11dhari Sirdars with fifty horsemen dud one platoon and Hazara Hors:e (Anderson Unit) totether with two guns and
other war material to the fort of Grishk."
Mr. Anderso:t was at Grishk for lome time. After that he
1eft for Kabul; and after four years of his being attached to the
Elphinetone Column, he along with others had to retreat with olhen on
the 6th of January 1842.A.D. At that time an unorganised force was
Hill known as No: 5 Anderson's Lanc~n·e, 'which c0nsisted of 500
horsemen; and this unit was included amongst those who ha.l toe~ac­
uate with the Elphinstone Force from Kabul. It ap'pears th•t wheu his
daughter fell into the ha~tds of the Gha-,;is, he was. too, amongst the
priaoners of war; and that he was in the charge of Sirdar Mohamed
Ak\;>ar Khan. The sentence, which has been in2icative of this .affair
in the text of the letter runs as follows: "From that date lo this
mo:nent, her relative•, who are in the custody, ·are very anxtous .... "
In this letter whtn it is mentioned that "her relatives are
anxious about her," it is obvious that her father is also inc1nrl.ed
in those who may also be anxious. Amon,;st the names of those
who are mentioned as prisoneu of war, Anderson's name; .h ·vever,
has not ·been mentioned. Guin~ further into the text of the
letter, one obs1.1rves that Anderson's daughter fell into the· hands
of the Moet Honorable Mohamed Omar Khan son of The Most
Honourable Mir Armed Khan. From the notes of General Aiyer,
it would appear for certain that this happened on the 8th January
1842.A.D. that i.s on the third daY of their march from Kabul; and
the scene was enacted at Khurd Kabul. That was the most dangerous day for the English trc~Jps; for out of the ten thotuand
men,:three thousand were killed or perisherl. General Aiyer writes as
follows: " In the fear of life, which was rapidly increasivg, thousanJs of men were in flight and sought for their lives. When
they were searching their military headquarters, they had left
women and children and all the military stores; bt"cau,;c at that
time, everyone was running for his life. The column11, e,;pecially
tho!lie which were in the rear, such as the 42nd and 54 Infantry
had to &ult&in much loss of life; till at last they came to realise
--62that to tarry had no purpose; there wa11 a ~eneral n~tiremen t
toward:- the headquarters. There a big hone drawn cun lost it:"
bearing, and all the 1unners wNe killed. The eldest dau~hter
of Mr. Anderson and the small son ef Captain Boyad fell into
the hands
of the Afrhaus ."* One of such letters, which
was \vritten by Colonel Warburton on the 16th of January. that
is to say ei&ht days after the Khurd k:abul enga&ement; tl1er~ is
referelJ(:e re'gardin~ the arrival of Anderson's daughtsr at Kabul;
awl the reference is as followa: ..... " .... Our sold ieu, rtespite the
fact th~t winter weather had 1reatly be1lten them about, are
returning to Kabul
in large numbers; and thf'y have brought a
I girl (! expect thai she is the daughter of f\Ome English officer,
ani possibly that of Mr. Anderson) has been brouaht to Kabul
by th.ese soldiers. We are trying to get the little girl under our
protection. aod we hope very much to succeed: because the Nawab
ha~ t~b·n an oath that he Wduld
:,;ecure the girl for us ....... "*
In the footnote of that 'very pa~:e, it is added as follows: ......
The ehild which was four years old, and which had been
brollght by the Ghilzis from Khurd
Kahul, waa received by
"Z.otman Khan, who \yas known as " The Good Nawab". "Accordiug
to another footnote, whieh appears on the page numbt>r 280 of
the book entitled "The Kabul Revolt" by General Sir V_ineent
Aiy.r, it also f'an be read that the above mentioned girl stayed
in the hnuse of Zaman Khan for four months; and was looked
after handsme}y; so much so that even tht'! Engliiilh writers
themselves pr.aise this honorable treatment. The child was surrnndered
to the forces of General Pollock upon iti arrival. 'J'he manuscript
letter rerfrred to previously i Exhibit 3 ) in tht' Kabul Museum,
has another letter attached to it. That letter would be printed
at its correct place, f~r the con~inuity of the historical narrative.
At th~ moment, this much mieht he mentioned that it had been
it 'written at Nagri-the cent~r of Laghman on a Thursday:
hit
bean; no date: but has been written quite obviously in the middlt>
of the month of January. As we have se~n Anderson's daughter had
Tht' Kabul Revoir by Sir Vincent Aiyer
pages 270-271.
--6:)--.
heen corrveyl'd on the 16th of January to Kabul. The letter bearing
upon the daughter of Anderson was written
Akbar Khan
to
by Sirdar
Nayd> Arnlnullah Khan Lo~ari
hav• noticed, too that priur to tbis letter other
at
Mohamed
Kabul.
letters . have
( We
also
beeu :,;eut by Sirdar Mohamed Akbar Khan to the Nayeh at Kabul.)
The kindly treatmt-nt which
h~td
been
given to Andersn11's child,
once a&ain manifest the eharacter of hol:lpitality and noblt-ness of the
Afghau -leaders towards their eaptors; and Zaman Khan's tJ:ealnwnt
of tht~ Enelish · child is further proof of the Afghan allitu:le towards
their vris0nus. more upecially
v.ocmen ar,d chilc!Hn. The attitude
of such a callant Afghan leader as Sirdar Mohamed Akbar Khan,
his folicitations, his hoa;pitality are luminom; example• of that lllall's
\
1reat spirit of chivalry toward'§ his prisoners: aud this which has
been mentioned before, and .the f()llowing sentence,; are worthy of
bl!lin: quoted aa a
matter of pride in -relation to the behaviour of
the Afgban Sirdar Vazir Mohamed Akbar Khan; which had euJearecl
him to his enemiea. The text has it : " . • . . . . . • Before
this
hu '
lJeen penned ; and it is being written now that b~ whate•·er way it
lllight be possi!Jle, send that daughter of Andenon escorted by trlllltworthy men as possible. That act would he worthy, •.md 1f she wa,;;
uot received by ( her father and friendo) that action shall be of
high degree of di1grace and "shame. Thanks te God that you yowr6elf are man of sagat:ity and wisdom: and in tllis m.- tter (the seDdingof Anderson'• dau&hter ) utmoat effort must he ruade . . . . . . . . . .''
In relation to the eourteous behaviour and
Sirdar Mohamed Akbar
kindliness of the
Khan Ghazi towards the prisoners of war ;
aud hia hospitable attitude towards hi11 enemies.
\'indication<; ha:,
I
been made by the pen of the English writers themselvea, and .which
we hav~uoted in
more
of
this
the writin&l
text;
of
Lut here, ar;aiu, we include
those
Englishmen who
some
have written
about the event. Those passages are as follows : " . . . . . . . . . When
the relatives
and those
who are
ners of war and
thoae
Sirdar Mohamed
Akbar .Khan,
trembling, thes~
d~ar
and
near to 1he priso-
who had lost their live• in battle a_gainst
and
take his name with fear and
manifestations have reasons for it : the prisoner,.
of war were reearded as guestt ~tnd as equals ; and as auch they sat
-64with tbeir captors on the common board and had their meals all
together. The "destroyer" of the En&li"h troops of aggreasion, and
the as".!ssin of faithless Macnaghten the English representative-sat
on the dust and played with the children. and was regarded u a
kindly" playmate of these children . . . . . . . . . . . "*
.
There is no doubt that Sirdu Mohamed Akbar Khan was the
destroyer of the army of aggressiort; an assiausin of that Englishman
who wuuld not k~ep his word; he was a friend of those Engliah
officers who had been his prisoners of war ; he was the protector
of women and children and was a friend of the children of these
women. With them he played sitting on the ground, as if he was
one of them ; so that ~ne might regard him as a man woJrthy of
manhood of his country ; anfl a human being in all its aspects.
THE JALALABAD AFFAIR.
( The Sixth Narrative. )
The English aggressors, and those who had invaded our country, in spite of intense opposition of the Af6!han nation in gen~­
ral; which t,Omplexioned itself in sanguinary battles for four years;
which the~ had seen with their own eyes; and despite the solemn
engagement and Agreement signed at Kabul ; in virtue of which
they were to ev.1cuate the entire Afghan territories: despite the
t
fact that oue of the clauses in the Agreefuent had clearly defined
the point thi:l t prior to the reaching of the force frQm Kabul, the
English troope shaH leave Jalalabad; despite, too, that Elphinstone,
the Commanding officer of the British troops in l'etreat from Kabul
to Jalalabad and Major Pottinger-the de_;,mty of Macna~;:hten and
Shah Shuja-had written to General Sale and to the Englhh representative, one called Magra:-or ; neither Gfnera) Saft nor the
Political Agent paid the slightest attention to those lett~rs
from Kabul sent to them from
their own nationals, who
Treaty with the Afghans at· Kabul. Nor
had signed a solemn
was it all, for from the frontiers of
Jalalabad, and the
'eastern parts of the country-that is from the frontier regions to the
Footnote from previous page: "A great Country's Little War: or England Afghanistan
and Sindh by . LushingtOJ!·
·Pages 163 to 164.
•·
\
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I
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•
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...
I.
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Government Printing
House
Kabul,