UNDER THE ABSOLUTE AMIR
AMIR HABIBULLAH KHAN.
[Frontispiece.
UNDER
THE ABSOLUTE AMIR
BY
FRANK A. MARTIN
FOR EIGHT YEARS ENGINEER-IN-CHIEF SUCCESSIVELY TO THE AMIRS ABDUR
RAHMAN AND HABIBULLAH, AND FOR THE GREATER PART OF THAT
PERIOD THE ONLY ENGLISHMAN IN KABUL
Illustrated by the Author’s Drawings and Photographs,
and by other Photographs
LONDON and NEW YORK
HARPER & BROTHERS
45 ALBEMARLE STREET, W.
1907
| PAGE | |
| CHAPTER I ON THE ROAD | |
| Order of march—Soldiers and guards—Method of carrying goods by pack animals—Description of camps—Marches—Welcome given to Sirdar Nasrullah at villages and cities—Description of country passed through—Kandahar—Amir and the moullah who took refuge in the Kandahar Sanctuary | 1 |
| CHAPTER II ON THE ROAD—continued | |
| Method of fishing in the rivers—Route through Khilat and Mukur to Ghazni and distance from Kandahar—Cold and snow on journey—Ghazni—Robberies and murders on roads before Amir Abdur Rahman’s time—Villages and cultivation en route—Arrival in Kabul and reception of Sirdar Nasrullah by Amir | 16 |
| CHAPTER III KABUL | |
| The Mihman khana or Guest-house—Description of hamams (Turkish baths)—Description of people met with on roads and streets—Amir Abdur Rahman—Description of palace and audience chamber, and his reception of me—Situation of Kabul and description of country around—Kabul city, its bazars, streets, and filth—Water-supply and drainage systems—Sanitary arrangements—Pariah dogs and crows scavenging city | 33 |
| CHAPTER IV KABUL—continued | |
| How streets are governed—City magistrate—Robberies and murders—Bazar shops—Style of palaces and better-class houses—Climate of Kabul | 47[vi] |
| CHAPTER V MANNERS AND CUSTOMS | |