-*"."" 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 COLONEL ALEXANDER GARDNER
 
 ' ' The untented Kosmos my abode 
 
 I pass, a wilful stranger : 
 My mistress still the open road 
 And the bright eyes of danger." 
 
 R. L. S.
 
 Soldier and Traveller 
 
 MEMOIKS OF ALEXANDER GARDNER 
 
 COLONEL OF ARTILLERY IN THE SERVICE OF 
 MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 MAJOE HUGH PEAESE 
 
 2ND BATT. THE EAST SURREY REGIMENT 
 
 WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 
 THE RIGHT HON. 
 
 SIE EICHAED TEMPLE, BART., G.C.S.I. 
 
 WITH PORTRAITS AND MAPS 
 
 WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS 
 
 EDINBURGH AND LONDON 
 
 MDCCCXCVIII
 
 NOTE. 
 
 THE Editor desires to express his grateful thanks 
 to all who have assisted him in the preparation 
 of this volume ; and he would specially acknow- 
 ledge the kind help and encouragement afforded 
 him by Captain Claude Clerk, C.I.E., and Mr 
 Herbert Compton.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE MAN AND HIS WRITINGS. 
 
 Mr Frederick Cooper and Colonel Gardner Sir Lepel Griffin 
 Mr Edgeworth's abstract of Colonel Gardner's Journal 
 Sir Henry Yule and Sir Henry Rawlinson Mr Ney Elias 
 Sir Henry Durand's 'Life of a Soldier of the Olden 
 Time' 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 EARLY LIFE AND TRAVELS, 1785-1819. 
 
 Parentage and birth of the traveller A wanderer from child- 
 hood The Jesuit school in Mexico Five years in Ireland 
 Gardner returns to America Visits Lisbon, Madrid, 
 Cairo, Trebizond, and Astrakhan Gardner's elder brother ; 
 his sudden death Gardner's first visit to Herat First 
 wanderings in Asia . . . . . .13 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 ADVENTURES AMONG THE HAZARAS, 1819. 
 
 Savage hospitality The Khalzais (Dai Kundi Hazaras) The 
 Therbahs The ancient Kafirs Gardner acquires a faithful
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 follower The slave - dealers Gardner's nom de voyage 
 A generous host Gardner's dangerous illness The 
 Khan of Khiva A geographical problem Adventures of 
 M. Sturzky Gardner returns to Astraakhn . . 28 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 WANDERER AND FREEBOOTER IN CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 M. Delaroche Gardner again leaves Astrakhan Crossing the 
 Aral Sea Gardner approaches Ura-tube An adventure 
 with Kipchak Kirghiz "When at Rome act like the 
 Romans " A flight for dear life Gardner a freebooter 
 Approaches Afghanistan . . . . .43 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A SOLDIER OP FORTUNE AMONG THE AFGHANS. 
 
 The kingdom of Afghanistan Habib-ulla Khan and his his- 
 tory Gardner joins his standard and becomes a soldier of 
 fortune Afghan tolls The romance of war Gardner's 
 marriage The castello Triumph of Amir Dost Muhammad 
 Khan Tragic end of Gardner's married life Habib-ulla 
 Khan's resolution 54 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A FUGITIVE. 
 
 Gardner a fugitive Desperate straits The value of salt in 
 Central Asia The kalendars Visit to a Kafir priest A 
 kind reception The Khilti Kafirs Historic remains 
 Disposal of the dead by the Kafirs A relic of the past 
 Farewell to the holy man An attack by robbers A race 
 for life The escape A good soldier Bolor Captain 
 Younghusband Note on "Bolor" . . . .73
 
 CONTENTS. IX 
 
 CHAPTER VIL 
 
 THROUGH BADAKSHAN. 
 
 The Kokcha river The Kunduz chief Slave-dealing Trav- 
 elling companions Some Badakshan history The ruins of 
 ancient Zaruth The Kafir empire of early times Difficult 
 travelling Attacked by wolves Undesirable acquaint- 
 ances The Therbah's finger Retribution The chief of 
 Shighnan Justice tempered by mercy . . .102 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 AMONG THE KIRGHIZ. 
 
 Beauties of Kafiristan Titles of the Shighnan ladies 
 Methods of obtaining gold from the rivers Visit to a 
 Kirghiz encampment A benevolent ruler Dress and ap- 
 pearance of the Kirghiz A venerable fakir Visit to the 
 ruby mines Wait for the wedding A disappointment 
 Consolation Wanderings in the Pamirs A robber chief 
 A ride for a wife A tragic occurrence . . . 1 23 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A REMARKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 The Garden of Eden The Akas and the Keiaz Gardner 
 leaves Pamir Crosses the Yamunyar river near Tash- 
 balyk The yak Yarkand The two cities Leh and 
 Srinagar The great earthquake Gardner's journey 
 through Gilgit and Chitral The strategic importance of 
 Chitral Second visit to Kafiristan Gardner traverses 
 Afghanistan and is imprisoned at Girishk Visit to Kabul 
 Farewell to the Therbah Gardner arrives in Bajaur 
 Syad Ahmad the reformer His history Death of the 
 Syad Gardner becomes chief of artillery at Peshawar and 
 concludes his travels . . . 145
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 ADVENTURES IN THE PANJAB. 
 
 Peshawar Maharaja Ranjit Singh Gardner enters his service 
 Visits on the way Dr Harlan and General Avitabile 
 Generals Ventura and Court Raja Dhyan Singh, the 
 Prime Minister Gardner's dtbut as a gunner He becomes 
 an instructor Campaign on the Indus Operations in 
 Bannu The Sikh-Afghan war of 1835 Final conquest of 
 Peshawar by the Sikhs Gardner obtains command of the 
 Jammu artillery Ranjit Singh's last campaign A rapid 
 march The rebellion of Shamas Khan . . 175 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE LION OF THE PANJAB." 
 
 Early days of the Sikh army Ranjit Singh's Gurkhas The 
 Maharaja and his paddle-boat Gulab Singh and the 
 treacherous merchant The jocose chaudri A camel-load 
 of flattery Character of Gulab Singh . . .198 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 INTRIGUE AND ANARCHY. 
 
 Death of Ranjit Singh Ambitious project of the Dogra 
 brothers Maharaja Kharrak Singh Murder of Sardar 
 Chet Singh Deposition and death of Kharrak Singh The 
 vengeance of Heaven Death of Nao Nihal Singh . . 211 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE DEFENCE OF LAHORE. 
 
 The rival claimants Sher Singh propitiates the army De- 
 fence of the fortress Gardner's defence of the gateway
 
 CONTENTS. Xl 
 
 Terms of peace Murder of the Maharani and accession of 
 
 the Maharaja Sher Singh ..... 227 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 "HORROR ON HORROR'S HEAD." 
 
 The Kabul disaster Gardner accompanies the Dogra troops 
 to Peshawar Brigadier-General Wild delayed by Gulab 
 Singh Sir Henry Lawrence Bad news Murders of Ma- 
 haraja Sher Singh and of Dhyan Singh Sati of his widow 
 and thirteen slaves Character of Hira Singh Rani Jindan 
 Death of Suchet Singh Gardner disguised as an Akali 
 Deaths of Hira Singh and Jawahir Singh Outbreak of 
 war with the English ..... 240 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE FIRST SIKH WAR. 
 
 The Sikh generals Departure of Ventura and Avitabile 
 The apex of the army Colonel Hurbon Gulab Singh's 
 diplomacy Rani Jindan and the deputation Occupation 
 of Lahore Terms of peace ..... 263 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 "PORT AFTER STORMY SEAS." 
 
 Gardner exiled from the Panjab 'History of the Reigning 
 Family of Lahore ' Gardner enters Gulab Singh's service 
 Settles for life in Kashmir Birth of his daughter 
 Impression of Gardner Mr Andrew Wilson Captain 
 Segrave The Russian advance towards India Gardner's 
 advice to John Bull Death of the Traveller The sug- 
 gestion of his career ..... 276
 
 Xll CONTENTS. 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 COLONEL GARDNER'S LIST OP RANJIT SINGH'S OFFICERS . 295 
 MEDICAL OFFICERS . . . . . . 296 
 
 RANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS . . .297 
 I. GENERAL VENTURA ..... 304 
 
 II. GENERAL ALLARD . . . . .311 
 
 III. GENERAL AVITABILE . . . . .316 
 
 IV. GENERAL COURT ..... 325 
 V. DR HARLAN ...... 329 
 
 VI. GENERAL VAN CORTLANDT .... 338 
 
 VII. COLONEL FORD ..... 340 
 
 VIII. COLONEL FOULKES . . . . .341 
 
 IX. CAPTAIN ARGOUD ..... 341 
 
 X. COLONEL CANORA ..... 345 
 
 XI. COLONEL THOMAS ..... 347 
 
 XIL LESLIE OR RATTRAY . ... . . 348 
 
 XHI. COLONEL MOUTON ..... 349 
 
 XTV. COLONEL HURBON ..... 350 
 
 XV. COLONEL STEINBACH .... 351 
 
 XVL CAPTAIN DE LA FONT . . . .351 
 
 xvn. CAPTAIN M'PHERSON ..... 352 
 
 XVIIL") 
 
 J-MESSRS CAMPBELL AND GARRON . . . 352 
 
 XIX. ) 
 LIST OF CHARACTERS IN PANJAB HISTORY, FROM THE DEATH 
 
 OF RANJIT SINGH TO THE BRITISH ANNEXATION 354 
 
 INDEX . . . 355
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A GOODLY portion of Colonel Gardner's eventful 
 life was spent in the Panjab kingdom or province 
 during the palmy days of Ranjit Singh. His 
 adventurous travels were in the regions adjacent 
 to or beyond the Panjab frontier. The early years 
 of my own active service were passed in the 
 Panjab, and I was accustomed, indeed obliged, to 
 study the affairs of the regions beyond its north- 
 west frontier, even though I had no chance of 
 travelling in them. Thus the names mentioned 
 by Gardner in his Memoirs regarding countries 
 beyond the Panjab have long been known to me 
 from anxious study. The names of men and 
 places mentioned by him in the Panjab are still 
 better known to me those of men either from 
 personal acquaintance or very near tradition, those
 
 XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of places either from frequent visits or from actual 
 residence. Major Pearse has now arranged these 
 stirring and interesting Memoirs in a lucid and 
 satisfactory manner ; and I willingly comply with 
 his request that I should write a brief Introduction. 
 It is indeed hard for me to describe to an English 
 reader the memories which a perusal of these 
 Memoirs summons up in my imagination, the 
 potent figures whom I used to see moving on the 
 historic stage, now described by one who knew 
 them even more intimately than I did ; the work- 
 ings of human nature in the most mountainous 
 regions of the earth, which I often heard narrated 
 by many an Asiatic, now recorded in my own 
 language by one who saw them in their very 
 midst ; the tremendous events, on which I con- 
 stantly pondered while standing on the very spots 
 or places where they occurred, now depicted by 
 one who was a witness of, or participator in, 
 them ! 
 
 As is often the case in the men who live a 
 daring, dashing life that sustains nervous tension 
 and excites the imaginative faculties, Gardner 
 evidently possessed a power of narration and 
 description in a high degree clear in facts, 
 graphic in touches of detail, picturesque invari-
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 ably applicable equally to human motive, action, 
 and habit appreciative towards others, modest 
 respecting himself indicating that presence of 
 mind, whether in distress or in peril, whereby his 
 aptitude for accurate observation never for an 
 instant failed him. In the middle and later part 
 of his career he must have been a fairly diligent 
 writer. Had he been able to preserve all his 
 papers, and if, after the loss of some among them, 
 he had been at the pains of bringing out all he 
 had, under his own eye, with the requisite supple- 
 ments, a capital record would have been handed 
 down to us. The tale of his career would have 
 been as good as that which Othello told to 
 Desdemona. As it is, his life-story is something 
 of that nature, and though not so complete as 
 it might have been under the auspices of the 
 narrator himself, has yet been made sufficiently 
 so by Major Pearse's good care and skill. It well 
 deserves the attention of our rising manhood in 
 the British Isles. Though relating not to the 
 British dominions nor to the British service, it 
 shows what men of British race can do under 
 the stress of trial and suffering. It illustrates 
 that self-contained spirit of adventure in indi- 
 viduals which has done much towards found-
 
 XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ing the British Empire, and may yet help in 
 extending that Empire in all quarters of the 
 globe. 
 
 To the Memoirs also are appended some useful 
 memoranda regarding the several European officers 
 employed together with Gardner in the service of 
 Ranjit Singh. 
 
 Alexander Gardner was born in 1785 in North 
 America, on the shore of Lake Superior, and died 
 at Srinagar, the capital of Kashmir, in 1877. His 
 father was a Scottish emigrant to the then British 
 colonies of North America, who took part in the 
 War of Independence. His mother was an English- 
 woman resident in South America, and had an 
 admixture of Spanish blood. Her distinguished 
 son wrote of her in terms of the highest admir- 
 ation. He inherited an adventurous disposition 
 from both sides, paternal and maternal. He sought 
 first for a position in the Eussian service, but 
 accidentally lost it on the eve of attainment. 
 Then he crossed the Caspian Sea, and entered 
 on a career of adventure in Central Asia, from 
 Kokan across the Hindu Caucasus to Herat, amidst 
 ambuscades, fierce reprisals, hairbreadth escapes, 
 alternations between brief plenty and long fasting 
 amidst episodes sometimes of brutality and
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV11 
 
 cruelty wellnigh inconceivable, at other times of 
 hearty charity and fidelity unto death. For some 
 time he was prominent in the service of Habib- 
 ulla Khan, the first Afghan opponent of the great 
 Dost Muhammad Khan. During two years he 
 actually enjoyed a term of domestic happiness, 
 when he was peaceful indoors though generally 
 at war out-of-doors. This was the one oasis in 
 the wild desert of his whole life. To the last 
 he could never refer to it without tears, case- 
 hardened as he was, with his memory seared by 
 many horrors, and his visage hardened by looking 
 at terrors in the face. It met with a bloody and 
 piteous termination ; and then for some time he 
 had to get through an existence fraught with 
 extremity of hardship and of crisis, during which 
 he was preserved by his own intrepidity and 
 penetration. At length he succeeded in entering 
 the Panjab, being engaged in the service of the 
 Afghan chiefs who held Peshawar, and who were 
 subdued by Maharaja Eanjit Singh. While there 
 he received a command to enter Eanjit Singh's ser- 
 vice, and proceeded to Lahore. He was employed 
 in the Maharaja's service as commandant of artillery 
 for several years. Then he was transferred to the 
 service of Dhyan Singh, the Prime Minister, a
 
 Xviii INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Rajput of the lower Himalayas, who with his 
 brother, the famous Gulab Singh, became the chief 
 feudatories of the Sikh sovereignty. He made 
 the acquaintance of Henry Lawrence, then a rising 
 political officer at Peshawar, at the time of the 
 British disasters at Kabul in 1841. After Dhyan 
 Singh's death he served Gulab Singh alone. He 
 witnessed, or was in close contact with, the sang- 
 uinary revolutions that followed one after another 
 upon the death of Eanjit. He was at Lahore 
 during the first Panjab war in 1845-46. He then 
 returned to the territories of Gulab Singh, who 
 became sovereign of Jammu and Kashmir. He 
 died a pensioner under Gulab Singh's successor 
 in Kashmir at the advanced age of about ninety 
 years. His constitution, originally magnificent, 
 must have become somewhat worn out by the 
 severe vicissitudes of a long career, and he dreamed 
 the evening of his life away. 
 
 It is wonderful how he retained the power of 
 writing English simply, gracefully, graphically, 
 inasmuch as for several years consecutively he 
 could never have heard it spoken nor had any 
 opportunities of reading it. For long intervals 
 he could have used no language but Mongolian 
 or Pushtoo, and later on little but Panjabee. He
 
 INTRODUCTION. XIX 
 
 must also have learnt at least something of Persian 
 and Russian. 
 
 In this widely extended record, almost entirely 
 autobiographical, beginning in the latter part of 
 the last century and ending past the middle of the 
 present century stretching from the Caspian Sea 
 across the Indus and on to the Sutlej the diverse 
 matters group themselves under certain heads as 
 follows for a bird's-eye view : 
 
 First. The geography of Central Asia, especially 
 the country of the rivers Oxus and Jaxartes, the 
 Turcoman desert, the western extremity of the 
 Himalayan range, Badakshan, the Pamir with 
 sources of the Oxus, and Chitral. 
 
 Second. The characteristics, mental and phys- 
 ical, of the men and women of these regions, 
 the dispositions of individuals, the customs of 
 tribes. 
 
 Third. The court and camp of Ranjit Singh, 
 which formed the most potent organisation of this 
 kind ever erected by the natives of India in modern 
 times. 
 
 Fourth. The tragic and sometimes terrific events 
 which ensued after the death of Ranjit Singh, and 
 which led to the first war between the Sikhs and 
 the British, a war which broke the back of that 
 
 6
 
 XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 community, religious, military, and political, saluted 
 proudly by the Sikhs as the Khalsa. 
 
 Fifth. The scenes, strange, weird, pathetic, un- 
 lucky, lucky, in Gardner's life, relating to him in 
 particular. 
 
 I proceed to offer a few observations on each of 
 these groups. 
 
 In respect to the first group, the geograph- 
 ical details, though not quite all that they 
 might have been, owing to the loss of papers 
 in time of dire trouble, they are yet notably 
 considerable, and are in themselves valuable. 
 Gardner has been highly esteemed as a geogra- 
 phical authority upon the regions he had visited 
 by such men as Sir Alexander Burnes, Sir Henry 
 Rawlinson, Sir Henry Durand, and Mr Ney Elias. 
 Much attention was paid to his work at the time 
 by the Royal Asiatic Society in India. Fifty years 
 ago, when he travelled or sojourned in those moun- 
 tains and uplands, there was a sentiment, a pre- 
 vision, in the British mind to the effect that our 
 interest in these regions must one day grow and 
 rise. By this time, indeed, it has grown and risen ; 
 for a large, perhaps the greater, part of them has 
 come within the British sphere of influence after 
 delimitation of boundaries by treaty with a Euro-
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXI 
 
 pean Power. We have therefore rendered our- 
 selves nationally responsible for learning all that 
 can be learnt about these regions. Much, indeed, 
 has been done in this way since Gardner's time. 
 Still, these Memoirs of his deserve study, for they 
 will clear up some points that are obscure, confirm 
 others that may have been doubtful, add others 
 not previously verified, and render our general view 
 more correct and better subservient to our com- 
 prehension of political relations. The more the 
 geographical features are brought home to the 
 minds of our politicians, the better will they know 
 how to guard our own domains. Moreover, we 
 are now concerned to understand the origin, the 
 progress, the history of geographical discovery in 
 this quarter. To all this the Gardner Memoirs 
 greatly conduce. They do not consist merely of 
 topographical description, but while conveying 
 sound information, they are replete with varied 
 interest. 
 
 Kegarding the second group, that of the men 
 and women, it is to be remarked that if, in the 
 words of the poet, " the noblest study of mankind 
 is man," then here is to be found some material 
 for that end material, too, specially useful to 
 us Europeans, because since some centuries at
 
 XX11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 least we find little or nothing of that sort on 
 our own European continent. Gardner narrates 
 the divers incidents which happened under his 
 own eyes, and wherewith he was closely concerned 
 or had immediate contact with artless naivete, 
 each point being limned by a master hand, like 
 those touches in a sketch which, to artists' eyes, 
 indicate that it has been taken from nature. The 
 internal evidence convinces us that these characters 
 are drawn from the life in Central Asia. Now and 
 again the rapine, the revenge, the thirst for blood, 
 the disregard of life, the throes of agony, the 
 effacement of all sentiment, the destruction of 
 all faith and honour, make us wonder whether 
 these creatures are like human beings whether 
 they are not predatory animals, birds of prey, in 
 human form. Yet there are simultaneously af- 
 forded proofs that into these poor souls there has 
 been breathed something of the divine spirit which 
 is not yet extinct that through all the clouds and 
 brooding darkness there sometimes break the rays 
 of light from the conscience given by the Creator. 
 The same narrative presents instances among the 
 same men of fidelity, truthful, honourable, endur- 
 ing, and disinterested for danger or safety, for 
 plenty or hunger, for heat or cold, for peace or
 
 INTRODUCTION. XX111 
 
 crisis. Again, there are cases of hospitality with 
 many of the best qualities of charity as we under- 
 stand it of protection accorded to one who seemed 
 helpless, friendless, destitute, maintained proof 
 against temptation and inviolable under trial. Af- 
 ter terrific scenes there closely follow ceremonies, 
 graceful, gallant, chivalric, almost recalling the 
 legends of the Golden Age. The character of 
 the women is often romantic and courageous in 
 the extreme. In what we should call Baronial 
 warfare, where one wild chief will be the conqueror 
 and another the conquered, the women, generally 
 numerous, of the vanquished are infamously seized 
 as the spoil of the victor. But often the pride of 
 the women will not brook this. When they see 
 that warlike defence is over, they will die rather 
 than fall into the hands of their foes : the wife will 
 beg death from her husband's sword, the sister 
 from her brother's dagger. Apart from all this, 
 several episodes are briefly recounted which, as 
 tragic plots, would be worthy of Shakespearean 
 treatment, and as dramas would be as complete 
 as anything that a dramatist could frame. In 
 reference to the dreadful faults of these poor 
 people in Central Asia, the charitably considerate 
 reader may remember that some centuries ago the
 
 XXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 devastating inundation of Gengiz Khan and his 
 Mongol hordes swept over these garden-like ter- 
 ritories, which probably were among the original 
 habitations of mankind. By this dread series of 
 events there came about that which the historian 
 eloquently and truly describes, "a shipwreck of 
 nations." There was not only a dislocation but 
 a disruption of society. Morally as well as materi- 
 ally every root was torn up, every foundation 
 dug out, every landmark swept away, everything 
 that pertained to civilisation was flung into a 
 vortex of barbarism. The damage then done to 
 countries at that time among the fairest on earth 
 has proved irreparable during the succeeding cen- 
 turies. Yet the plant of divine affection once 
 sown in a race of mankind never quite dies the 
 light of other days is never put out the spark is 
 still in the embers ready to burst forth into white 
 flame. No doubt, since Gardner's time the Eus- 
 sian supervision will have done much for social 
 improvement, and British influence, advancing in 
 the same direction, may do still more. Still, if we 
 are to prepare for the better things that are to be, 
 we ought to know the things that have been, and 
 therefore weigh well such authentic narratives as 
 those of Gardner.
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXV 
 
 Eeferring to the third group, that concerning 
 Eanjit Singh, we may observe that it relates hardly 
 at all to the condition of the Panjab at the time. 
 Gardner had but scant notions I might almost 
 say no notion of civil government. But after 
 quitting the turbulent Peshawar and its cut- 
 throat neighbours, and on crossing the Indus, he 
 was evidently struck with the comparative peace, 
 the rule and order, which reigned in the Panjab. 
 In the absence of any account from the author, 
 I may explain to our reader the character of 
 Ranjit Singh's civil rule in a few words, having 
 myself had to study it while the memory of it 
 was fresh among the people, and while evidence 
 on every point was forthcoming. It was as bad 
 as it dared to be with such a people as the 
 Panjabi just that and no worse. It took all 
 that it could venture to take from the people 
 that much and no more. It took no thought for 
 judgment and justice, that was relegated to 
 feudatories of degrees and sorts ; but they were 
 men of the country, locally respected or feared, 
 and they would not carry things too far. The 
 Sikh sovereignty as a political and military insti- 
 tution only was popular in the Panjab. It was 
 the symbol of a national faith, founded on a sort
 
 XXVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of theocracy, but victorious by force of arms. 
 The people were in no humour to quarrel with 
 it needlessly. So long as they could go on pay- 
 ing their way, they did not want any revolution 
 they would bear a burden sooner than rebel, 
 they would yield up a large percentage of their 
 crops before they turned out to fight. They 
 would so turn out, however, instantly if pro- 
 voked beyond a certain point, and this too with 
 grenadier-like force. The knowledge of this kept 
 the conduct of the Government within bounds. 
 
 Still, Gardner gives us much material for the 
 historical completion of the portraiture of Kan- 
 jit Singh, who considering his comparatively 
 humble birth, his mean bringing up with really 
 no education, his want of personal gifts, the dis- 
 advantages arising from debased habits and the 
 lowest life was the most extraordinary native 
 that ever rose to power in India within modern 
 times, power effectively great and long sustained 
 over the manliest race on the Indian continent 
 personal, too, to himself alone, so that when 
 it dropped from his dying hands no successor 
 could be found to take it up. Thus the reader 
 will doubtlessly note the various meetings which 
 Gardner had with Ranjit Singh, the cautious
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXV11 
 
 inquiries about military affairs, the instinctive 
 dread of the approach of the British Power, the 
 employment of European officers in the field, 
 the march with the army to the Afghan fron- 
 tiers with the Sikh sovereign at its head, the 
 strange affairs at the mouth of the Khyber Pass, 
 and the several other operations on the Trans-Indus 
 border. He gives some instructive notes regard- 
 ing Ranjit Singh's management of the Sikh or 
 Khalsa army. While presenting a high estimate 
 of Ranjit's capacity for kingship, he abstains from 
 noticing perhaps he even throws a veil over 
 the king's vices, which were scandalously overt 
 and destructive of respectability in the State. 
 He must have seen these more or less, but he is 
 loyal when leaving them unmentioned. This is 
 the more noteworthy in that he deals quite dif- 
 ferently with the character of Gulab Singh, who 
 was equally his patron and ultimately his sole 
 employer. His analysis of Gulab Singh's con- 
 duct and disposition amounts to ruthless vivi- 
 section, and must doubtless be true. On the 
 other hand, he attributes many wise and able 
 qualities to his master, to whom this particular 
 praise well deserved, no doubt was most accep- 
 table. Strangely enough, it appears that this
 
 XXV111 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 character was published at the time, and gave no 
 offence to Gulab Singh. This would be incredible 
 had it not been authenticated. The fact must be, 
 that Gulab Singh had been so inured to the com- 
 mission of crime, and Gardner to the sight of it, 
 that both had ceased to be horrified by it. There- 
 fore the one did not hesitate to impute it, nor did 
 the other mind the imputation, so long as a certain 
 sort of praise was attributed which the one knew 
 how to render with discrimination and the other 
 appreciated highly. 
 
 The fourth group relates to the events ensuing 
 on the death of Ranjit Singh. The events in the 
 palaces of native princes in India have now been 
 known to European authorities for a century and 
 a half. I do not remember any so grave as those 
 which occurred in quick succession at the capital 
 of the Panjab, Lahore, at this epoch. Upon most 
 of these a lurid light is thrown by Gardner's narra 
 tive, he being an eyewitness of some, or in immedi- 
 ate proximity to others. I must refer the reader 
 to Gardner's word-pictures of these grim occasions 
 their effect would be marred by any attempt at 
 reproduction. The story of how Dhyan Singh the 
 Vizier receives a deadly threat from Cheyt Singh 
 within the next twenty-four hours how Dhyan
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXIX 
 
 Singh (Gardner with him) follows up Cheyt Singh 
 that very night into the recesses of the palace, and 
 after a tiger-spring stabs him to the heart, saying 
 that the twenty-four hours are not over is drama- 
 tically tragic. Rarely do we have such a tale 
 authenticated at first hand by an eyewitness. Of 
 a similar character is the murder of Dhyan Singh, 
 shot in the back, and the sati-burmng of his young 
 widow she declaring that her funereal fire shall 
 not be lighted till the heads of her husband's 
 murderers are placed at her feet ; and she, when 
 they have been thus placed by Gardner himself, 
 mounting the pyre and applying the torch with 
 her own hand, her little maid in her lap sharing 
 the same fate. Equally graphic is the account of 
 the murder of the Maharaja Sher Singh. He has a 
 stormy interview with a great feudatory. At the 
 end he asks to look at the handsomely -worked 
 barrel of a musket which the feudatory bears. 
 Admiring it, he gets the muzzle close to his 
 breast ; the feudatory pulls the trigger and the 
 king drops dead. The last scene at Lahore is 
 remarkable, when the Sikh army, governed no 
 longer by its sovereign but by its own military 
 committees, is shortly to march and cross the 
 Sutlej as an act of war against the British.
 
 XXX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 There is now an infant Maharaja as sovereign, with 
 his mother as regent, assisted by a brother, who is 
 especially unpopular with the army. All three are 
 summoned to attend a great parade : they come 
 in state, she and her boy on one elephant and 
 he on another. They are received with an omin- 
 ously resounding salute of artillery. Her elephant 
 is first made to kneel down ; she with her boy 
 is dragged shrieking to a sumptuous tent; then 
 the brother's elephant is made to kneel, and he 
 is promptly despatched in the face of the army. 
 Such was the discipline with which the Sikh army 
 on the eve of contest prepared itself to cross swords 
 with the British. Lastly, while the army is fight- 
 ing a losing battle, a big deputation comes back 
 from it to Lahore to see the Regent and complain 
 to her against the commissariat. She receives 
 them, the complaints grow louder, and the fate 
 of the capital is trembling : suddenly (Gardner 
 standing just behind her) she flings off her loose 
 outer skirt and flings it at their heads, saying, 
 "Wear that, you cowards, while I go to fight in 
 man's equipment ! " The men are abashed, and 
 the crisis is for the moment averted. I have 
 held out only a few signals, but to realise these
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXXI 
 
 romances of real life, the reader must peruse 
 Gardner's narrative. 
 
 The last or fifth group contains the scenes affect- 
 ing Gardner personally. These are so frequent 
 throughout the Memoirs that to array them all 
 would be like counting the beads in a long neck- 
 lace. I shall only advert to a very few in order 
 to give some idea of the whole. On the last day 
 of his married life in Afghanistan, after an adverse 
 fight he is told that his little fort (castello) has 
 been captured, and that all is over within it. He 
 rushes thither and ascends to his desolate chamber. 
 There he sees his young wife lying dead with her 
 boy, also dead, in her arms. From out her dress 
 there just protrudes the left hand with which she 
 has driven the dagger to her heart to avoid be- 
 coming the prey of the captor. Anon he and his 
 few followers, afraid to light a fire in the Afghan 
 cold at the mouth of their cave for fear of dis- 
 covery, desperate from wounds and hunger, stop 
 a party of traders, overhaul their effects, taking 
 some of their provisions, such as fat sheep-tails 
 preserved in snow, and a ball of salt well rounded 
 off from constant licking, but leaving them to pro- 
 ceed with their more valuable things. Later on,
 
 XXX11 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 when in Moslem service, he hangs round his neck 
 a clasped Koran which none will dare to touch. 
 Between the leaves of this he places his notes and 
 memoranda ; when the book shall thus become 
 suspiciously thick he means to say that these are 
 extra prayers. During the early days of his ser- 
 vice with Ranjit Singh some guns presented by 
 the British Governor-Greneral have arrived. He 
 is shown the shells and fuses in the tumbrils, and 
 asked if he can fire them. Fortunately for him, 
 he finds among the fuses a slip of paper which he 
 can read while his employers cannot, and which 
 gives the necessary instructions. Possessed of 
 this knowledge, he is able to fire them with entire 
 success ; and so in Sikh estimation his reputation 
 as an artillerist is made. On one dire occasion 
 after Ranjit Singh's death he makes havoc with 
 his guns. A fight at the closest quarters is going 
 on between two rival parties for the possession of 
 the palace fortress of Lahore. He has to defend 
 the gate, which has been destroyed, and at the 
 entrance he contrives to pack his ten guns with 
 their muzzles all together : these he fires simul- 
 taneously as the fanatical Akalis with shouts and 
 brandished swords are pressing in a mass up the
 
 INTRODUCTION. XXX111 
 
 narrow way and lo ! the assailants are literally 
 blown into the air. 
 
 These Memoirs, published just half a century 
 after the event, corroborate the conclusion formed 
 by many, as I remember, after the first Sikh war in 
 1845-46. On the death of Ranjit Singh in 1839, 
 Sikh rule in the Panjab became an impossibility. 
 The members of a brave but unruly confederacy, 
 extending over the Land of the Five Rivers, had 
 been united and held together by the rough genius 
 of Ranjit Singh, but never welded nor consolidated. 
 He was not statesman enough for such consoli- 
 dation, being merely a rude organiser, and a fight- 
 ing commander without being a soldier in any 
 higher sense. On his death it became, from 
 Gardner's narrative, clearer than ever that there 
 were four parties clutching with lethal violence at 
 each other's throats the Court party, the so-called 
 blood princes, the Dogras (Dhyan Singh and G-ulab 
 Singh), and the Sindhanwala chiefs. Above all was 
 an unmanageable army acknowledging no power but 
 its own. The destruction of all these elements, 
 the one by the other, was about happening when 
 the first Sikh war broke out. On a retrospect we 
 may almost regret that the British Government
 
 XXXIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 could not then annex the country, the native rule 
 having become demonstrably impossible. That 
 would have saved all the bloodshed in the second 
 war. As it was, a further respite was allowed in 
 the hope of better things. But the fire of disturb- 
 ance burst forth worse than ever. The second war 
 had to be undertaken, and after that the annex- 
 ation of the Panjab became inevitable. If any 
 one should doubt the ultimate necessity of that 
 annexation, let him consult these Memoirs of 
 Gardner. 
 
 KICHARD TEMPLE.
 
 COLONEL ALEXANDEK GARDNER 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE MAN AND HIS WRITINGS. 
 
 MR FREDERICK COOPER AND COLONEL GARDNER SIR LEPEL 
 GRIFFIN MR EDGEWORTH'S ABSTRACT OF COLONEL GARDNER'S 
 JOURNAL SIR HENRY YULE AND SIR HENRY RAWLINSON MR 
 NEY ELIAS SIR HENRY DURAND'S 'LIFE OF A SOLDIER OF THE 
 OLDEN TIME.' 
 
 IN the hot weather of the year 1864 the Govern- 
 ment of India deputed, as was then the annual 
 custom, an officer to the valley of Kashmir to 
 act as referee between the large body of English 
 visitors and the subjects of his Highness the 
 reigning Maharaja. 
 
 The officer selected for duty on this occasion 
 was Mr Frederick Cooper a man well known in 
 his day for a terrible act of severity performed 
 
 A
 
 2 THE MAN AND HIS WRITINGS. 
 
 by him in the execution of his duty during the 
 suppression of the great mutiny of the Indian 
 army. 
 
 Mr Cooper was a man of talent and imagina- 
 tion, and while making such inquiries concerning 
 the affairs of Kashmir as seemed to him a desir- 
 able preliminary to the performance of his new 
 duties, he heard for the first time of the exist- 
 ence at Srinagar of an old European commandant 
 of the name of Gardner. 
 
 Feeling sure that the conversation of this veteran 
 would supply information of great interest con- 
 cerning the history, manners, and customs of 
 Kashmir, Mr Cooper lost no time in requesting 
 the old adventurer, who bore the rank of com- 
 mandant or colonel of artillery, to favour him 
 with a visit. 
 
 The desired visit was speedily paid, and Mr 
 Cooper's description of his new acquaintance, 
 written down at the time, presents to us the 
 hero of the following narrative of travel and 
 adventure. 
 
 " The old colonel," he writes, " while on the 
 verge of his eightieth year, had a gait as sturdy 
 and a stride as firm as a man of fifty. Some 
 six feet in height, he usually wore a tartan-plaid
 
 GARDNER AS HE APPEARED TO MR COOPER. 3 
 
 suit, purchased apparently from the quartermaster's 
 stores of one of the Highland regiments serving 
 in India. In consequence of a severe wound in 
 the neck, received in battle many years before, 
 the old commandant had long been unable to 
 eat solid food ; he had, moreover, lost from age 
 nearly all his teeth. The photograph " a copy of 
 which forms the frontispiece of this work " while 
 indicating the outline of the countenance, gives 
 but a dim idea of the vivacity of expression, the 
 play of feature, the humour of the mouth, and 
 the energy of character portrayed by the whole 
 aspect of the man as he described the arduous 
 and terrible incidents of a long life of romance 
 and vicissitude. 
 
 " The English he spoke was quaint, graphic, and 
 wonderfully good considering his fifty years of 
 residence among Asiatics. 
 
 " In the course of our first conversation I dis- 
 covered the stores of experience, adventure, and 
 observation which the old man could unfold ; his 
 memory, too, except as to precise dates, I found 
 singularly tenacious. He complained of the loss 
 and abstraction at various times of his manu- 
 scripts. A whole volume, which contained an 
 account of his visit to Kafiristan, perished at
 
 4 THE MAN AND HIS WRITINGS. 
 
 Kabul in the destruction of the house of Sir 
 Alexander Burnes. 
 
 " Sir Alexander, whose interest in Kafiristan is 
 well known, had borrowed the book in question 
 from Gardner before starting with the army of 
 the Indus on that march from which he was 
 never to return." 
 
 The outcome of this interview was a series of 
 conversations between Mr Cooper and Gardner, 
 in the course of which the latter related those 
 wanderings and adventures, an account of which 
 I have pieced together to the best of my ability 
 in the following pages. 
 
 Colonel Gardner had from time to time written 
 down in his quaint, crabbed handwriting many 
 anecdotes connected with his service under Maha- 
 raja Eanjit Singh ; and these pictures of a bygone 
 conqueror, and of the mighty army which he 
 welded together, possess a unique interest and 
 value. 
 
 Mr Cooper unfortunately did not live to com- 
 plete his history of Gardner's travels, and for 
 some years after his death the unfinished work 
 and Gardner's own manuscripts entirely dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 In a footnote to Sir Lepel Griffin's masterly Life
 
 VICISSITUDES OF GARDNER'S PAPERS. 5 
 
 of Ranjit Singh occurs the following reference to 
 these papers : " Colonel Gardner . . . allowed me 
 to read his manuscript narrative of the later years 
 of the Maharaja, and the events which succeeded 
 his death. These most interesting and valuable 
 papers, which were intrusted to the late Mr Fred- 
 erick Cooper, C.B., have disappeared, and the loss, 
 from a historical point of view, is considerable." 
 
 I will conclude this reference to Mr Cooper's 
 share in preparing the narrative by mentioning 
 the fact that his rough draft of Gardner's travels, 
 as far as the point where Gardner left the Pamirs, 
 was corrected throughout by Gardner himself; 
 and therefore it may be assumed that the traveller 
 accepted the draft as a faithful record of his 
 adventures. 
 
 It is perhaps unnecessary to relate to the reader 
 how it was that Gardner's papers came into my 
 hands : suffice it to say that this occurred some 
 four years ago, and that the vicissitudes of the 
 papers by no means came to an end with Mr 
 Cooper's death. Two very high authorities on 
 Central Asian geography successively took the 
 papers in hand with a view to investigating their 
 value, and both unhappily died while the papers 
 were in their possession.
 
 6 THE MAN AND HIS WRITINGS. 
 
 I must now say something on the subject of 
 the credibility of Colonel Gardner's narrative. 
 
 Those interested in the study of geography may 
 be aware that an abstract of a portion of Gardner's 
 travels appeared in the ' Journal of the Asiatic 
 Society of Bengal' of February 1853. This ab- 
 stract was furnished to the Journal by Mr Edge- 
 worth, an officer of the Bengal Civil Service ; but 
 as Mr Edgeworth was unfortunately prevented 
 "by want of leisure and other causes" from 
 properly editing the abstract, its publication 
 throws but little light on Gardner's exploits, and 
 has no value for us save that it affords positive 
 proof that Gardner had written at some period 
 prior to 1853 an account of his travels, " thrown," 
 as Mr Edgeworth writes in his introductory re- 
 marks, " into the shape they now have, occupying 
 several volumes of country paper." 
 
 The abstract was, in fact, so carelessly put to- 
 gether, and so barbarously mangled by native 
 printers, that its publication permanently injured 
 Gardner's reputation, and even caused many per- 
 sons to express their disbelief that he had ever 
 visited the regions he professed to describe. 
 
 Such, however, was not the opinion of geogra- 
 phers so thoroughly qualified to give an authori-
 
 GARDNER'S ACHIEVEMENTS AS A TRAVELLER. 7 
 
 tative opinion on the subject as the late Sir Henry 
 Rawlinson and Sir Henry Yule. Thus the latter, 
 in his preface to the second edition of Wood's 
 ' Journey to the Sources of the Eiver Oxus/ after 
 making severe comments on the inaccuracy of Mr 
 Edgeworth's abstract of Gardner's Journal, says : 
 "Colonel Gardner is not only a real person, and 
 one who has real personal acquaintance with the 
 regions [Badakshan and the Pamirs] of which 
 we are treating, to a degree, it is believed, far 
 surpassing that of any European or native tra- 
 veller whose narrative has been published, but 
 he appears to have acquired the esteem of men 
 like the late Sir Henry Durand, whose good 
 opinion was of unusual worth." 
 
 Sir Henry Kawlinson repeatedly refers in his 
 geographical writings to Gardner's travels, and 
 in his well - known ' Monograph on the Oxus ' 
 says, " Colonel Gardner did certainly visit Bad- 
 akshan in person"; and again, "Gardner actually 
 traversed the Gilgit valley from the Indus to 
 the Snowy Mountains, and finally crossed into 
 Chitral, being, in fact, the only Englishman up 
 to the present time (1872) who has ever per- 
 formed the journey throughout. 
 
 These remarks of Sir Henry Rawlinson and Sir
 
 8 THE MAN AND HIS WRITINGS. 
 
 Henry Yule were written, it must be remembered, 
 before Mr Cooper had set about the task of writ- 
 ing a corrected version of Gardner's travels, and 
 these two eminent geographers had nothing before 
 them on which to settle Gardner's claim to be 
 considered a great traveller but the mangled 
 "abstract," the inaccuracies of which they so 
 severely criticised. Nevertheless, barbarous spell- 
 ing, unrecognisable names, and incorrect dis- 
 tances notwithstanding, they agreed in believing 
 that Gardner had verily and indeed traversed 
 Badakshan and the Pamirs, and had found his 
 way from those regions to India by the way of 
 Gilgit and Chitral. 
 
 About a year ago I placed the entire MS. of 
 Gardner's geographical notes and Mr Cooper's 
 rough draft of his travels in the hands of that 
 "mute, inglorious Milton," the late Mr Ney 
 Elias, a man whose invincible modesty alone 
 prevented his being known as one of the greatest 
 of English travellers, and one of the highest 
 authorities on Eastern geography. 
 
 Mr Elias took the greatest interest in the MS., 
 and at the time of his sudden and lamented 
 death had, in part, written a note on Gardner's 
 travels.
 
 THE TESTIMONY OF MR NEY ELIAS. 
 
 Having himself a personal knowledge of Bad- 
 akshan and other portions of Gardner's route, 
 possessed by no living European, Mr Elias's 
 opinion may be accepted as final. The follow- 
 ing extract should satisfy all but the most in- 
 credulous : 
 
 "There appears to me to be good internal 
 evidence that, as regards the main routes he 
 professes to have travelled, Gardner's story is 
 truthful. When he tells us that he visited the 
 east coast of the Caspian, Northern Persia, Herat, 
 the Hazara country, even Khiva ; that he spent 
 some time in and about the district of Inderab, 
 and afterwards passed through part of Badak- 
 shan and Shighnan, thence crossing the Pamirs 
 into Eastern Turkestan, I see no reason to doubt 
 him. At the time he speaks of, such journeys 
 were almost as practicable for Europeans as for 
 Asiatics. Most of the countries in Central Asia 
 were in a more or less disturbed and lawless 
 condition much more so than in later years 
 but that was a condition which' affected Asiatic 
 and European alike. . . . The times were, on 
 the whole, sufficiently favourable to render be- 
 lief in the main features of his narrative possible ; 
 and it is, in a sense, the truth of the general
 
 10 THE MAN AND HIS WRITINGS. 
 
 narrative that enables us to excuse the untruth 
 of many of the details. 
 
 "In other words, had Gardner not travelled 
 over a great part of the ground he professes to 
 describe, it would not have been possible for 
 him to interpolate the doubtful portions of his 
 story. He could not have known enough of the 
 surrounding conditions or even the names of 
 places and tribes, nor have met with the people 
 whose clumsy inventions he at times serves out 
 to us. It is necessary, for instance, that a man 
 who could never have read of the Pamir region 
 should at least have visited that country or its 
 neighbourhood before he could invent or repeat 
 stories regarding Shakh Dara or the Yaman Yar, 
 or be able to dictate the name of Shighnan." 
 
 I will conclude this brief introduction of Colonel 
 Gardner and his writings with a summary of his 
 career with which Sir Henry Durand completed 
 a sketch entitled ' Life of a Soldier of the Olden 
 Time : An unwritten Page of History ' : 
 
 "Even in outline the story is of great interest, 
 a life drama indeed, as full of incident and 
 adventure as drama can well be. The story of 
 Dugald Dalgetty is nothing to this, as it will be 
 seen by the light of times to come.
 
 GAKDNER'S MAGNETIC INFLUENCE. 11 
 
 " To take the two ends of the long tangled line 
 is something wonderful, one end bright and 
 sunny on the banks of Lake Superior in the Far 
 West ; the other end approaching, where the 
 chapter will close, in lands watered by the Indus. 
 And then the schooling in Ireland, and the teach- 
 ing in Lahore ; the parting from home for ever 
 for a life from end to end of perils such as very 
 few men have ever imagined, still less known. 
 
 "It is difficult perhaps to comprehend all the 
 career, but much may be understood. There is 
 no mistake about the high heart, the undaunted 
 courage, the unflagging will. Colonel Gardner's 
 personal influence, too, must have been great 
 what is called magnetic ; for how else could he 
 have bound to himself for nine months, and he 
 all the time a prisoner, men who seemed to have 
 an interest in separating from him as far as pos- 
 sible ? And how else could he have drawn to 
 himself those Sowars and others whom he led 
 to Kabul and elsewhere ? 
 
 " That such a man has been so little mentioned 
 in the history of the times is a marvel. But 
 we must remember that he was a man without 
 a country, though England or any country might 
 be proud to claim him.
 
 12 THE MAN AND HIS WRITINGS. 
 
 " Faithful to his standard, whatever it was, 
 obeying without questioning military orders, he 
 presented and presents, perhaps, one of the finest 
 specimens ever known of the soldier of fortune. 
 
 " He must have been a man, too, who did not 
 care to force himself into notice so long as he 
 could obtain employment ; and the fact that he 
 secured the respect and confidence of so many 
 persons, of characters so widely different, is 
 enough to show that besides being a bold 
 soldier, he was possessed of rare tact and skill, 
 of qualities indeed which, if the love of adven- 
 ture had been urged on by anything like an 
 equal share of ambition, would have gone far to 
 gather together the turbulent elements among 
 which he lived, and make of them a more 
 devastating flame than even Gardner himself 
 ever saw." 
 
 Such a tribute, coming from so honoured a 
 source, surely entitles Gardner to "a fair field 
 and no favour," and never in his life did he ask 
 for more.
 
 13 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 EARLY LIFE AND TRAVELS, 1785-1819. 
 
 PARENTAGE AND BIRTH OP THE TRAVELLER A WANDERER PROM 
 CHILDHOOD THE JESUIT SCHOOL IN MEXICO FIVE YEARS IN 
 IRELAND GARDNER RETURNS TO AMERICA VISITS LISBON, 
 MADRID, CAIRO, TREBIZOND, AND ASTRAKHAN GARDNER'S 
 ELDER BROTHER ; HIS SUDDEN DEATH GARDNER'S FIRST VISIT 
 TO HERAT FIRST WANDERINGS IN ASIA. 
 
 ABOUT the middle of the last century a certain 
 Scottish surgeon named Gardner accompanied his 
 father to North America, and subsequently took 
 an active part in the War of Independence. It 
 appears that he was intimately associated with 
 several of the leaders of the rebellious colonists, 
 particularly with George Washington and the 
 Marquis de Lafayette, and he long preserved 
 their correspondence with him. 
 
 After the War of Independence had ceased Dr 
 Gardner obtained employment under the Mexican 
 Government, and while living in Mexico married 
 the daughter of an Englishman named Haughton,
 
 14 EARLY LIFE AND TRAVELS. 
 
 who was the principal official of a town and dis- 
 trict on the banks of the river Colorado. Haugh- 
 ton's wife was of Spanish descent and belonged 
 to a good family, through whose influence Haugh- 
 ton had obtained preferment. Haughton himself 
 was the son of a major in the English army, 
 well known in his day as a traveller in Africa, 
 in which mysterious continent he eventually lost 
 his life. 
 
 Soon after the marriage Dr Gardner and his 
 wife moved northwards and made their home on 
 that portion of the shore of Lake Superior which 
 is nearest to the source of the Mississippi, and 
 here in the course of time they became the 
 parents of three sons and as many daughters. 
 
 The youngest of these sons, the hero of these 
 pages, who was born in the year 1785, received 
 the names of Alexander Haughton Campbell, and, 
 like his brothers, was brought up in the Unitarian 
 religion, the creed of their father. The daughters, 
 on the other hand, followed their mother and be- 
 came Eoman Catholics. 
 
 Although in his old age Alexander Gardner 
 became devout in his language, and, perhaps from 
 long association with Orientals, interlarded his 
 letters with pious phrases, it does not appear that
 
 A WANDERER FROM CHILDHOOD. 15 
 
 religion came much between him and worldly 
 objects during his adventurous career. For many 
 years he passed as a Mussulman, and apparently 
 felt no scruple in the matter. 
 
 This may possibly have resulted from the con- 
 tentions which took place in his childhood, as the 
 strict views of Mrs Gardner impelled her to en- 
 deavour to draw her sons as well as her daughters 
 into the fold of her Church. 
 
 Alexander Gardner's travels began early in life, 
 for before his fifth birthday Dr Gardner returned 
 to Mexico and made a new home there, near the 
 mouth of the river Colorado and not far from the 
 town of St Xavier. At the same time he per- 
 manently entered the Government medical service, 
 and in course of time acquired considerable pro- 
 perty in addition to some inherited by his wife. 
 
 Mrs Gardner was, to use her son's words, "in 
 all respects a well - educated and accomplished 
 woman, of a rare sweetness and strength of char- 
 acter." She educated her sons and daughters in 
 their early years, and as a man may be in some 
 measure judged by his appreciation of that price- 
 less blessing, a good mother, it is worthy of note 
 that Gardner attributed to that early training 
 whatever of good there might be in his character.
 
 16 EARLY LIFE AND TRAVELS. 
 
 She was, he adds, an accomplished linguist, speak- 
 ing French and Italian well, in addition to English 
 and Spanish, which she naturally knew in virtue 
 of her mixed descent. 
 
 Dr Gardner was cast in a rougher mould, but 
 he was a well-educated man, and taught his sons 
 Greek and Latin, with the severity customary at 
 that period, until they reached the age of twelve, 
 when (no doubt at the desire of their mother) 
 they went successively to the Jesuit school at St 
 Xavier. 
 
 As was natural, Gardner, when recording his 
 early recollections, had no very definite memories 
 of this school, but remembered creating a sensation 
 on his first arrival there by a sturdy refusal to 
 attend the daily mass and the confessional. The 
 contempt with which he was treated by the 
 priestly masters galled him to the quick, and he 
 was even more infuriated by the haughty disdain, 
 such as Spaniards alone can exhibit, with which 
 his schoolfellows received both friendly overtures 
 and warlike challenges. 
 
 Isolation in youth is hard to bear, yet no doubt 
 Gardner had to thank it in part for the stern 
 and inflexible courage that enabled him to endure, 
 and even to enjoy, the much greater isolation
 
 THE MAGGOT OF HIS BRAIN. 17 
 
 that of the European dweller among Orientals 
 that was his lot for the greater part of his life. 
 
 Alexander Gardner's chief consolation during 
 his lonely school-life was derived from the inces- 
 sant study of a book of travels among the 
 American Indians, the property of the Principal 
 of the school. Gardner discovered this book, he 
 relates, in the Principal's library, while waiting 
 there for chastisement. He begged for a loan of 
 the book, but being refused, took an opportunity 
 of possessing himself of it ; and the successful 
 lawlessness of the act, coupled with the romantic 
 character of the book, no doubt permanently 
 influenced him. In his own words, "From this 
 early period of life the notion of being a traveller 
 and adventurer, and of somehow and somewhere 
 carving out a career for myself, was the maggot 
 of my brain." 
 
 Gardner remained nearly nine years in the 
 seminary, mainly at the intercession of his 
 mother, for his father would have preferred his 
 being educated in England. 
 
 Mrs Gardner died early in the year 1807, 
 when Alexander was between twenty - one and 
 twenty - two years old ; and there is some mys- 
 tery as to the manner in which he passed the 
 
 B
 
 18 EARLY LIFE AND TRAVELS. 
 
 following five years. He himself states that he 
 was in Ireland during the greater part of the 
 time, preparing partly for a maritime life, to 
 which he was then inclined. It is probable that 
 while in Ireland he acquired a certain knowledge 
 of the science of gunnery, and also assimilated 
 the tenacious accent of "the distressful country." 
 In after -years his knowledge of artillery and his 
 strong Irish brogue gave occasion to those un- 
 friendly to him to accuse Gardner of being a 
 deserter from the British artillery. This charge 
 was, however, quite unsubstantiated, and there 
 are no grounds for giving it the slightest credit. 
 It should also be stated that Gardner came in 
 contact, after the Sikh war, with very many 
 English officers and soldiers, and that, had the 
 statement been true, more would certainly have 
 been heard of it, as every effort was being made at 
 the time to remove the European and foreign officers 
 who were in the service of the Sikh Government. 
 
 In 1812 Gardner returned to America, landing 
 at New Orleans in the month of March. Here 
 he received the news of his father's death, con- 
 veyed to him in a letter from his second brother, 
 and immediately embarked on the career of ad- 
 venture to which his inclination led him.
 
 THE SPIRIT OF UNKEST. 19 
 
 The spirit of unrest, inherited from both sides 
 of their parentage, was no doubt strong in the 
 Gardner family ; and Alexander's eldest brother 
 had for several years been employed by the 
 Eussian Government as an engineer at Astrakhan. 
 By his advice Gardner left Philadelphia, where 
 he had been staying with one of his uncles, and 
 sailed for Lisbon, whence he proceeded to Madrid. 
 There he realised his father's Spanish property 
 (derived from his wife) on behalf of the family, 
 it having been arranged that the portions of 
 himself and his eldest brother should be pro- 
 vided from this source. 
 
 Having realised the property, Gardner trans- 
 mitted the proceeds to his brother at Astrakhan, 
 retaining only a sum sufficient for his own travel- 
 ling expenses to that city. 
 
 While preparing for this journey, Gardner made 
 the acquaintance of a man named Aylmer, whom 
 he describes as very clever and an experienced 
 traveller, and, moreover, a relation of the Prin- 
 cipal of Gardner's old Jesuit school in Mexico. 
 Aylmer was a Jesuit himself, and had no difficulty 
 in persuading Gardner to join him in a journey 
 which he was about to make to Alexandria and 
 Cairo. His complete knowledge of Persian and
 
 20 EARLY LIFE AND TRAVELS. 
 
 Turkish made him a desirable travelling companion 
 for Gardner, and the latter seized the opportunity 
 offered him of gaining an acquaintance with those 
 languages. 
 
 Early in the year 1813 they accordingly set 
 out from Madrid together, and arrived in due 
 course at Cairo, where Gardner found (as Aylmer 
 had promised him) a friendly and intelligent 
 French society. A Monsieur Julien welcomed 
 them to his house, and they found other visitors 
 there in the persons of two German mineralogists. 
 These men, one of whom was named Dallerwitz, 
 having been dissatisfied with the salaries offered 
 them by the Egyptian and Persian Governments, 
 had determined to try their fortune in a military 
 career, and to wend their way to the Russian 
 frontier, as reports were current that European 
 military officers, particularly those trained as 
 engineers, were in request by that Government. 
 
 Having made the acquaintance of these Ger- 
 mans, Aylmer and Gardner determined to proceed 
 to Trebizond with them. Another member of 
 the party was a highly accomplished Frenchman 
 named Rossaix, one of that large body of his 
 countrymen who had been thrown out of em- 
 ployment by the peace of 1805, and who dis-
 
 PROM CAIRO TO TREBIZOND. 21 
 
 persed themselves over the East in search of a 
 new field for military enterprise. Rossaix was a 
 skilled engineer, and had a design, which he 
 afterwards carried into execution, of entering the 
 service of the ruler of the Sikhs, Maharaja Ranjit 
 Singh. 
 
 The conversation which Gardner had at this 
 time with M. Rossaix led him, many years later, 
 to enter the Maharaja's service. 
 
 Rossaix himself went to Lahore, and died there 
 of cholera many years before Gardner's arrival, 
 having obtained very lucrative employment. 
 
 The party of engineers which now left Cairo 
 was too small to travel safely, and they intended 
 to join a large caravan, organised by some Armen- 
 ian merchants, which had recently started. After 
 running some risks, Gardner and his companions 
 caught up the caravan a few marches from Jericho, 
 and found that it consisted of about 3000 human 
 beings " a medley of Asiatics, chiefly pilgrims ; 
 a mendicant set, but very sturdy." It was 
 necessary to maintain an incessant watch against 
 them, but, as it proved, unsuccessfully, for the 
 party did not escape robbery in fact, they were, 
 pillaged to such a degree that a small party of 
 Christian, Turkish, and Arab merchants, who had
 
 22 EARLY LIFE AND TRAVELS. 
 
 effects which they did not choose to lose, and 
 with whom Gardner and his friends were asso- 
 ciated, kept aloof some 300 yards from the 
 main encampment, letting it be known that any 
 prowlers would be fired on. 
 
 When near Erzeroum intelligence reached 
 Gardner's French and German friends which 
 decided them on going with him to Astrakhan. 
 They therefore embarked at Trebizond on a 
 Russian craft bound for a small port at the 
 northern base of the Caucasus. From this place 
 Gardner wrote to his brother, who immediately 
 set to work to obtain employment for him 
 under the Russian Government. 
 
 Finding that the salaries of mineralogists were 
 very high, and that there was a considerable de- 
 mand for superintendents (presumably of mines), 
 Gardner applied himself studiously to all the 
 books he could gather together, so that his 
 brother might be able as soon as possible to 
 testify honestly to his acquirements. He was, 
 he says, aided in his studies both by a natural 
 bent and by some training in the rudiments of 
 geology and chemistry happily acquired from his 
 lamented and honoured father. At this period 
 Gardner lived with his brother, and worked and
 
 THE HAND OF DESTINY. 23 
 
 studied under his supervision : he speaks with 
 much gratitude of his fatherly kindness, and 
 recalls with satisfaction the fact that he was 
 able to make himself useful to him. 
 
 This settled and promising life was, however, 
 to come to an abrupt end ; for when Gardner 
 was on the point of receiving the reward of his 
 labours in the shape of a Government appoint- 
 ment, his hopes were shattered and his home 
 broken up by the sudden death of his brother, 
 who was killed by a fall from his horse on 
 December 14, 1817. 
 
 Gardner's first design was to request the ful- 
 filment of the promises of employment for him 
 that had been made to his brother ; but far 
 from obtaining his wish, he was disgusted by 
 repeated discourtesies and delays, and, to add 
 to his difficulties, his brother's property was 
 attached in liquidation of claims based on ac- 
 counts which his death had left unclosed. 
 
 After a tedious litigation that detained him 
 nearly a year and cured him of any fancy for 
 the Russian service, Gardner, through the kind 
 intervention of a friend, was allowed to retain 
 about 6000, one -third of his brother's effects. 
 This sum included his own patrimony.
 
 24 EARLY LIFE AND TRAVELS. 
 
 Disgusted with Russia, and disheartened by the 
 loss of his brother, Gardner was about to return 
 to America when he met one day a German 
 named Sturzky, who was accompanied, to Gard- 
 ner's surprise and satisfaction, by his old travel- 
 ling companion Dallerwitz. These two gentlemen 
 had left the Russian service, and were about to 
 proceed to the Court of Persia in quest of 
 fortune, and Gardner was easily induced to 
 accompany them. He left the bulk of his for- 
 tune in safe hands at Astrakhan, and taking 
 with him a small sum for travelling expenses, 
 started again on his travels. The party left 
 Astrakhan early in October 1818 in a small 
 merchant craft, in which they crossed to the 
 eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, and then, 
 turning south, gradually worked their way to 
 Astrabad. 
 
 This was a slow and tedious voyage, and, on 
 landing, the company broke up, Dallerwitz re- 
 turning to Russia, while Sturzky and Gardner 
 started for Herat. Gardner now proposed travel- 
 ling through Persia and Afghanistan to the Pan- 
 jab, having heard while at Astrabad that his friend 
 M. Rossaix was receiving large pay at Lahore.
 
 INVITED TO KHOKAND. 25 
 
 In the course of the journey to Herat, Gardner 
 and Sturzky fell in with a respectable -looking 
 and intelligent man, with some twenty mounted 
 attendants. He represented himself to be a 
 naib or vakil (ambassador) from the khan of 
 Khokand, sent from that territory on a political 
 mission to the Courts of Persia and Herat, and 
 now returning to his master. He held out allur- 
 ing prospects to the travellers if they would 
 accompany him to Khokand. M. Sturzky was 
 at once persuaded to adopt the proposal, and 
 was fully convinced of the truth of the man's 
 assertions. He endeavoured to persuade Gardner 
 to go with him and the vakil, and Gardner 
 would have done so but that he fortunately fell 
 ill. Sturzky therefore took a friendly leave of 
 him, and departed with his new ally. This took 
 place within a few miles of Herat, and Gardner 
 entered that city on the following day, and re- 
 mained there a short time until cured of his 
 fever. He then proposed to visit Khiva, and 
 possibly to rejoin M. Sturzky. 
 
 On the 20th January 1819 Gardner was fit to 
 travel, and started off to Ghorian, hearing that 
 a small caravan of petty merchants and Mecca
 
 26 EARLY LIFE AND TRAVELS. 
 
 pilgrims, bound for different parts of Turkestan, 
 was collecting there. Losing no time, Gardner 
 covered the thirty-five miles to Ghorian by sun- 
 set, but, to his intense vexation, found that he 
 had been misinformed, and that the caravan was 
 really ending, not beginning, its journey. It 
 was bound for Herat, there to rest some time 
 before proceeding eastward. The kqfila (cara- 
 van) was a very small one, and had been no 
 less than eighteen months on the march from 
 Mecca. 
 
 Nevertheless, some of its devoted members had 
 still to toil as far as the north-eastern boundaries 
 of Khokand, Kashgar, and Yarkand, and even to 
 the more distant regions of Mongolia. 
 
 Gardner returned with the kafila to Herat, 
 and having made acquaintances among the pil- 
 grims, determined to remain with them during 
 their stay at Herat, and to travel towards Kun- 
 duz in their company. He was now, at the age 
 of thirty -four, about to enter on a career of 
 apparently aimless wandering, which he pursued 
 until his arrival in the Panjab in August 1831, 
 a period of twelve years. Occasionally he settled 
 down for a time, but soon the force of circum-
 
 A ROLLING STONE. 27 
 
 stances, or a roving and lawless disposition, com- 
 pelled him to move on. 
 
 We can now leave Gardner to tell in his own 
 language the tale of his first journey in the 
 wilds of Central Asia, on which he started on 
 January 19, 1819.
 
 28 
 
 CHAPTEK III. 
 
 ADVENTURES AMONG THE HAZARAS, 1819. 
 
 SAVAGE HOSPITALITY THE KHALZAIS (DAI KUNDI HAZARAS) THE 
 THERBAHS THE ANCIENT KAFIRS GARDNER ACQUIRES A 
 FAITHFUL FOLLOWER THE SLAVE -DEALERS GARDNER'S " NOM 
 DE VOYAGE" A GENEROUS HOST GARDNER'S DANGEROUS ILL- 
 NESS THE KHAN OF KHIVA A GEOGRAPHICAL PROBLEM AD- 
 VENTURES OF M. STURZKY GARDNER RETURNS TO ASTRAKHAN. 
 
 WE left Herat at daybreak, and as the melting 
 of the snow might soon be confidently expected, 
 the kafilcb took a direct, but little-frequented, road 
 over the snowy ranges of the "Western Hindu 
 Kush. We were, in all about 100 persons, bound 
 for various parts of Turkestan, and by general 
 agreement amongst us the city of Kunduz, the 
 capital of the kingdom of that name, then under 
 the sway of Mir Murad AH Beg, was to be our 
 first destination. Arrived there, or near there, we 
 intended to break off into small parties which 
 could make their own arrangements for reaching 
 their homes. Most of us were provided with
 
 SAVAGE HOSPITALITY. 29 
 
 rough - coated ponies or mules. The region 
 through which we now commenced to travel 
 was inhabited by the Hazaras, whom we found 
 to be a truly hospitable race. We journeyed 
 along the track that appeared to separate the 
 northern (or hill) Hazaras from the southern 
 tribes, and our daily marches were from eight 
 to ten miles in length, and generally in a north- 
 easterly direction. 
 
 The kindly hill Hazaras kept us regularly sup- 
 plied with fresh bread and milk, and made us 
 welcome to their villages for as long as we 
 liked to stay. I observed, and it was worth 
 observing, that the farther we journeyed from 
 the confines of civilisation the more marked and 
 scrupulous was the punctiliousness with which 
 our wants were met. 
 
 We took sixteen marches to traverse the land 
 inhabited by the Hazaras, and in the evening 
 of the fifth day we arrived at a mosque, which 
 served as a serai, or resting-place for travellers, 
 and hinted a wish to stay the night and a 
 readiness to pay for accommodation, food, and 
 forage. Our offer met with polite but sharp 
 resentment : no purchasers could be allowed to 
 rest under their protection. It is considered not
 
 30 ADVENTURES AMONG THE HAZARAS. 
 
 only a disgrace but a crime, for which they are 
 responsible to God, if a fellow -creature suffers 
 want under their roof; but these wild Hazaras 
 strictly define the limits of their hospitality, and 
 consider it quite a venial matter to sally forth 
 armed, and to waylay and plunder caravans be- 
 fore they happen to have entered the charmed 
 precincts. But any outrage on a poor and lonely 
 traveller is hooted as a disgrace. 
 
 Devotion precedes a marauding expedition. The 
 Hazara invariably recites a prayer in the mosque 
 or at the nearest shrine, and if in the struggle 
 for booty slaughter is probable, he, before striking 
 the necessary but perhaps deadly blow, mutters 
 between his teeth the "kulma," repeating the 
 invocation " Bismilla ill il la." They deem the 
 penal responsibility for the crime materially 
 modified in the eyes of God and man by this 
 propitiatory precaution. In fact, in their eyes 
 it is tantamount to absolution, the booty is re- 
 garded as lawfully gained income, and a portion, 
 one-fortieth, is set aside for charity. The omission 
 of the invocation precludes all these benefits ; and 
 death, heavy calamity, or some deadly illness is 
 deemed to be hovering over the guilty. 
 
 To resume my journey. We proceeded on our
 
 UNDER PROTECTION OF THE CHURCH. 31 
 
 way through thinly inhabited country. The lower 
 Hazara district, the borders of which we skirted, 
 was thriving with grain crops, and we obtained 
 guides and protectors through the district, thereby 
 avoiding adding our slender belongings to swell 
 their prosperity. 
 
 These protectors w r ere fakirs, mullahs, or pirs 
 in other words, men of various religious pre- 
 tensions. Each conducted us to the limit of his 
 spiritual dominions, and the sanctity of their 
 profession was our only but sufficient protection. 
 They were quite indispensable to our life and 
 property, and were well rewarded by subscription, 
 though they often tried to exact more than we 
 were disposed to afford. 
 
 Travelling thus, we traversed, as I have said, 
 the Hazara country for a period of sixteen days. 
 I then left the kafila, and turning to the north, 
 with a few companions, I entered the country 
 of the Khalzais, 1 a mountain tribe living to the 
 north of the Hazara region. The history of this 
 race is obscure, but they are supposed to be the 
 
 1 1 am very uncertain of the spelling of this name, and have been 
 unable to identify the tribe. They are said, in Edgeworth's abstract 
 of Gardner's travels, to be a section of the Dai Kundi Hazaras. 
 Hardly anything is as yet known of the Dai Kundi country. 
 EDITOR.
 
 32 ADVENTURES AMONG THE HAZARAS. 
 
 descendants of emigrant Arabs, Mongols, and 
 Tartars. From my notes I take the following 
 description. 
 
 The Khalzais are low sized, but stout and 
 active, of a florid complexion, with brown or 
 dark-red hair and beard. 
 
 The women are very comely, active in all 
 household pursuits, and not shrinking from hold- 
 ing a spear and taking part in a clan skirmish. 
 The beauty of the women is in repute through- 
 out Afghanistan and the north of Persia, from 
 whence slave-dealers are deputed to kidnap them 
 for the seraglios of the wealthy. Reprisals are 
 often adopted, and expeditions formed by the 
 Khalzais to carry fire and sword into the neigh- 
 bouring countries. In these expeditions the 
 Khalzais carry off women and children for sale 
 in the slave-markets of Balkh or Bokhara. 
 
 The Khalzais are armed with a long straight 
 knife, a short, stout, broad-headed spear, and a 
 matchlock or jezail. Their dress consists of a 
 long loose garment of a coarse woollen texture, 
 manufactured from the wool of their own sheep ; 
 a jacket made of roughly dressed skins ; a waist- 
 band of several folds of cloth; narrower rolls 
 round the legs ; raw skin sandals ; and a curiously
 
 INHABITANTS OF THE DESERT. 33 
 
 shaped leather hat completes the picturesque cos- 
 tume. In the summer those who can afford to 
 do so, adopt soft trousers. 
 
 The women dress in loose trousers, with a short 
 vest of black or blue woollen stuff. Their hair 
 is neatly braided, with long pendent ringlets. 
 
 They live in caves, some of which have spacious 
 apartments, calculated to shelter a patriarchal 
 family. 
 
 The tribe are devout Muhammadans, and can 
 marry the usual number of wives, but, contrary 
 to custom, they adopt no privacy for them. Not- 
 withstanding, the virtue of the Khalzai female is 
 held in high repute. 
 
 From this tribe I passed on to another known 
 as the Therbahs, a tribe of Kafir descent. 
 
 The Therbah, who is a half-savage, worships 
 the sun and moon, fire and water, and resembles 
 in some respects the scattered remnants of the 
 Guebers of Persia. The tribe wanders about the 
 sandy wastes south of Merve. They maintain 
 friendly relations with their neighbours the Khal- 
 zais, and they understand each other's dialect. 
 They intermarry with the Siah Posh Kafirs, who 
 inhabit the Eastern Hindu Kush ranges, but the 
 pride of the latter tribe does not permit them 
 
 c
 
 34 ADVENTURES AMONG THE HAZARAS. 
 
 to give their daughters in return. The Therbah 
 is said to be able to make the journey to the 
 Khawak district, on the border of Kafiristan, in 
 ten or twelve days. 
 
 In ancient days the Kafirs are said to have 
 spread over the whole Hindu Kush region, and 
 even far to the west of those mountains, but 
 various invasions worked great changes. Timur 
 passed over the Bamian route into India, and 
 partially destroyed the Kafir races by the sword 
 or by compulsory proselytism. Local traditions 
 affirm that while carrying on an unsuccessful war 
 with the Siah Posh Kafirs he managed to compel 
 8000 males of other tribes to adopt Muhamma- 
 danism. The numerous tribes who follow the 
 Prophet under the name of Hazaras, and the 
 Kemaik races, are lineal descendants of these 
 ancient Kafir tribes. The Therbahs are among 
 them, but have retained their ancient religion. 
 The Therbahs resembled the Khalzais in appear- 
 ance, and with some trifling exceptions their dress 
 was also similar. Their chief, whose name was 
 Therman Khan, treated me with much friendship 
 and hospitality, and his son Ibrahim Khan at- 
 tached himself to me also. I passed about a 
 month with Therman Khan, and made several
 
 PLOT TO SELL GARDNER AS A SLAVE. 35 
 
 expeditions of exploration, which I should think 
 worthy of record but for the far more exciting 
 scenes through which I was destined to pass. 
 
 In addition to two servants who were already in 
 my employment, I here procured two others. One 
 of these was an Afghan or Kohistan lad about 
 eighteen years of age, who had been stolen by an 
 itinerant slave -dealer, bought by Therman Khan 
 as a child, and reared by him. Therman Khan 
 gave me the lad, and he proved a faithful servant 
 and good soldier. I always called him Therbah, 
 in memory of the tribe whence I obtained him, and 
 his history will be found in the following pages. 
 
 It being now my purpose to proceed to Merve, 
 a party of Therbahs, under Ibrahim Khan, was 
 ordered by the chief to conduct me to that neigh- 
 bourhood. In the course of our journey we met 
 with the following adventure, which indicates the 
 species of society into which we had penetrated. 
 We reached a town called Nack, distant some 
 miles from Merve, and there met a party of 
 five slave-dealers from the north. While we were 
 inquiring particulars of the country through which 
 they had travelled, these men opened a shy con- 
 verse in the Turki dialect with some of our party. 
 When the time for repose came, they sought a
 
 36 ADVENTURES AMONG THE HAZARAS. 
 
 private interview with Ibrahim Khan, who in a 
 short time returned to us with peals of laughter, 
 and I was apprised that negotiations had been 
 made for my sale as a slave. The slave-dealers 
 were not convinced that their proposition was 
 declined, and one of them sneaked in and privately 
 thrust five tillahs into the hand of Ibrahim Khan : 
 he flung them away, and repeated that I was not 
 merchantable. 
 
 At last words grew high and blows were ex- 
 changed, and the scuffle ended in the binding in 
 bonds of the five merchants by the chief authority 
 of the place. 
 
 They were very near being retaliated upon and 
 made slaves of themselves, but humanity prevailed 
 in the counsels and they were let go mulcted, 
 however, of everything but a sword and shield 
 apiece, as a just fine for their insolence and 
 violence. After these ruffians had vanished, it 
 transpired that four of them belonged to a body 
 of men whose whole trade consisted of kidnapping 
 children for sale. Eleven tillahs of gold, part of 
 the money found on my would-be purchasers, were 
 handed to me. I gave ten of them to Ibrahim 
 Khan when we parted company a fortnight later. 
 From his protection I passed to that of a Turko-
 
 A FEIENDLY CHIEF. 37 
 
 man chief, named Shah Mardak, said to be of 
 Mogul origin : he, however, stoutly professed to 
 be a Turkh. He was chief of a small oasis in the 
 sandy tract to the south-east of Merve. He gave 
 me a most hospitable welcome. 
 
 I lived with him for some time, moving about 
 in an easterly direction, and eventually left him 
 and made a forced march to Andkhui, where I 
 joined a considerable caravan. This was composed 
 of merchants of various nationalities, the principal 
 of them being a very intelligent man, who passed 
 by the name of Urd Khan. He received me as 
 a guest in his tents, and treated me with great 
 generosity. I had no money left and no prospects 
 at Khiva, his home and the destination of the 
 caravan, save the doubtful assistance that M. 
 Sturzky might be able to afford me. 
 
 I have not yet stated that my own travelling 
 name was Arb Shah. I passed as a native of Arabia, 
 and met very few in my travels who could speak 
 Arabic. I explained any deficiency of knowledge of 
 my native language by telling my interlocutor that 
 I came from the opposite corner of Arabia to that 
 with which he was acquainted, having previously 
 taken care to worm this information out of him. 
 
 While travelling with Urd Khan I fell danger-
 
 38 ADVENTURES AMONG THE HAZARAS. 
 
 ously ill with brain fever, and was insensible for 
 two days. We were at the time about ten days' 
 journey from Khiva. Nothing could exceed the 
 paternal benevolence of Urd Khan. He actually 
 conveyed me in a bed made up in a kajaiva, 
 carried by one of his private camels, and I was 
 balanced by his ladies in the kajawa on the other 
 side : they treated me with great kindness. 
 
 During my illness we were one day alarmed by 
 twenty horsemen galloping up. Urd Khan, as the 
 selected chief of the caravan, was deputed to deal 
 with them. His tactics were erroneous. Thinking 
 they were but a small party, and calculating on 
 our strength, he told them to be off as " dogs." 
 Off they went and halted suddenly a mile in front, 
 and seemed in a moment to melt away out of 
 sight. We marched on for a few miles, when 
 suddenly a band of some 400 marauding Turkoman 
 horsemen appeared. Urd Khan now changed his 
 tone. As for me, I was dead-sick, and little cared 
 what became of me. 
 
 He rode forward and arranged a parley with the 
 chiefs, who condoned his former demeanour to their 
 deputies, as the first batch proved to be. Our 
 lives were to be spared, and we and our women 
 were not to be sold into slavery, the ordinary
 
 PLUNDERED. 39 
 
 doom on such occasions, but Urd Khan was to 
 be mulcted of a fine camel and two kajawas full 
 of selected merchandise. Then every one had to 
 open his bales, and contributions were levied from 
 us all, in due proportion, under Urd Khan's super- 
 vision. My pony was seized ; and a rich Jewish 
 merchant, who was among us, was treated with 
 exceptional severity. This he attributed to Urd 
 Khan, and longed for revenge. The depredators 
 affected great indignation at having had to come 
 so far. They had come, they said, twenty farsangs 
 on receiving Turkoman telegraphic intelligence of 
 the treatment of their deputies at the hands of 
 Urd Khan. 
 
 They do, in fact, communicate with each other 
 with extraordinary speed, and swoop down in num- 
 bers, like vultures upon a dead body, when but 
 one solitary bird has originally scented the carrion. 
 We were warned that we should only be safe until 
 noon the following day, and taking the hint, 
 hurried off, and had hardly got across the river 
 Oxus when a body of sixty men, either of the 
 same band or another of like character, halloed 
 to the peasantry on our bank that we were robbers 
 and had despoiled them. 
 
 The peasantry were soon up in arms, but for-
 
 40 ADVENTURES AMONG THE HAZARAS. 
 
 tunately took our view of the matter. The 
 whistling, shouting, shrieking, and signalling on 
 this occasion betokened the state of incessant 
 watchfulness the inhabitants of these parts are 
 obliged to maintain. Aided by the villagers, we 
 were strong enough to hold our own, and moved 
 slowly on. We did not dare to halt, as from the 
 well-known pride of the Turkoman hordes we were 
 in hourly expectation of another attack, and we 
 therefore moved on until within two marches of 
 Khiva. Here a tremendous altercation arose be- 
 tween the Jew and Urd Khan. The Jew wanted 
 to go to Khokand, Urd Khan intended shortly to 
 start for Orenburg, and they were bartering com- 
 modities to suit the different markets. 
 
 The country we were now in was most inimical 
 to Russians, of whose movements they were very 
 jealous, and the Jew disappeared, and gave out 
 that Urd Khan had a Russian spy with him. I 
 was still prostrate with fever, and indifferent as 
 to what befell me. Urd Khan swore that no harm 
 should touch me, and nobly did that generous and 
 disinterested Asiatic redeem his pledge. He had 
 some acquaintance with the khan of Khiva, and 
 went to see him, and declared that I was too ill 
 to move.
 
 A GEOGRAPHICAL PEOBLEM. 41 
 
 In a great state of anxiety as to my identity, 
 the khan ' deputed three learned men, who had 
 travelled over half the world, to examine me. 
 
 I told them the truth that I was an American. 
 They were suspicious. One of them, a very en- 
 lightened man, thought to pose me by a conclusive 
 and abstruse geographical question, " Could I go 
 by land from America to England ? " I promptly 
 answered, " No ! " at which, as much delighted at 
 his own superior learning as at my reply, he de- 
 clared that he was convinced. Americans they 
 considered " Yagistanis," or Independents. 
 
 Urd Khan hovered round my couch during this 
 perilous interview, and plied me with incessant 
 gruels, magnifying my deplorable state, and 
 actually managed so well as to get the Jew 
 flung into prison. He then deported me quietly 
 to the home of a friend of his at Urgunz. During 
 all this time I had no resources of my own, and 
 lived entirely on the munificent hospitality of my 
 Eastern entertainer. From this place I wrote to 
 Khokand to M. Sturzky, who wrote me in reply 
 a doleful account of himself. The Khiva people 
 had stripped him of everything, and but for the 
 intercession of a holy travelling khoja, of great 
 sanctity, he would have been murdered.
 
 42 ADVENTURES AMONG THE HAZARAS. 
 
 He subsequently managed to join me on my 
 way to Astrakhan, after many adventures. He 
 was half-naked, thin, hungry, and ill, but still in 
 good spirits. The hapless man had bought his 
 escape from Khiva at the price of circumcision in 
 a public ceremonial by the fanatical Jchofa, who 
 deemed the wrath of Heaven inevitable had he 
 omitted to avail himself of this happy opportunity 
 of securing the conversion of an infidel. 
 
 My health being restored, I dismissed my Ther- 
 bah to his home, and returned with M. Sturzky, 
 by way of the Sea of Aral, whence I crossed the 
 steppe to Alexandrovsk, where I took ship for 
 Astrakhan.
 
 43 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 WANDERER AND FREEBOOTER IN CENTRAL ASIA. 
 
 M. DELAROCHE GARDNER AGAIN LEAVES ASTRAKHAN CROSSING 
 THE ARAL SEA GARDNER APPROACHES URA-TUBE AN ADVEN- 
 TURE WITH KIPCHAK KIRGHIZ " WHEN AT ROME ACT LIKE 
 THE ROMANS" A FLIGHT FOR DEAR LIFE GARDNER A FREE- 
 BOOTER APPROACHES AFGHANISTAN. 
 
 GARDNER reached Astrakhan without further ad- 
 venture, and there had the good fortune to meet 
 a relation and friend, in the person of M. Dela- 
 roche, the son of one of Gardner's maternal aunts. 
 
 M. Delaroche, who had been a great traveller, 
 had brought with him letters to high Russian 
 authorities, by means of which he purposed to 
 obtain for his relations the remainder of the elder 
 Gardner's fortune, which had been so unjustly 
 attached by the Russian Government. 
 
 In this matter he eventually was successful, and 
 was also ready and even anxious to obtain employ- 
 ment for Gardner ; but, as the latter quaintly puts
 
 44 WANDERER AND FREEBOOTER. 
 
 it, he had imbibed a prejudice against the Russian 
 method of conducting business, and preferred to 
 remain his own master. 
 
 In the course of the year 1820 M. Delaroche 
 left for America and M. Sturzky for Moscow. 
 Gardner took an early opportunity of repaying 
 his debt to the generous Urd Khan, and remained 
 at Astrakhan until the beginning of the year 1823, 
 during which period he apparently spent or lost 
 his small fortune. 
 
 He then became restless, and in the month of 
 February again set out on his Asiatic travels. 
 
 He could not, he says, rest in civilised coun- 
 tries, and, being free from family ties, was per- 
 suaded that he would find happiness among wild 
 races and in exploring unknown lands. Realising, 
 therefore, the scant remains of his fortune, 
 Gardner embarked for the last time on the Cas- 
 pian Sea. He had determined to lose his identity 
 as soon as possible, and particularly to cast off all 
 connection with Russia a step that was essential 
 to his safety, as that nation was much hated and 
 dreaded at the period in question by all the tribes 
 and peoples between the Caspian Sea and the city 
 of Khiva. 
 
 On leaving his ship Gardner therefore dismissed
 
 THE GARB OF AN UZBEG. 45 
 
 his servant, who returned to Astrakhan, and im- 
 mediately exchanged the Russian furs which he 
 was wearing for the garb of an Uzbeg. This con- 
 sisted, he says, of a lofty, peaked fur cap ; a black 
 postin (sheepskin coat) ; thick wide drawers reach- 
 ing to the knee ; short black boots, with bandages 
 twisted round the leg over them and up to the 
 knee. 
 
 There was nothing worthy of note during Gard- 
 ner's journey across the steppes from the Caspian 
 to the Aral Sea. The ground was familiar to him, 
 and he merely records that he received great hos- 
 pitality from the various chiefs, and that he re- 
 sumed (this time for many years) his travelling 
 name of Arb Shah, the convenience of which has 
 been explained. 
 
 In spite of the risk, Gardner could not resist 
 sending a message to his friend Urd Khan, to in- 
 quire where he was and how he fared. The mes- 
 senger returned and informed Gardner that Urd 
 Khan had gone to Meshed, and also conveyed a 
 warning from Urd Khan's brother to Gardner that 
 he should not visit Khiva. 
 
 Meanwhile Gardner had with great difficulty 
 crossed the Aral Sea : his boat filled with water 
 and nearly foundered. Eventually he and his
 
 46 WANDERER AND FREEBOOTER. 
 
 companions landed on the south-east shore, in a 
 most dangerous swamp at the mouth of a river. 
 There is, he says, a most remarkable formation at 
 this place. The silt of the river forms an immense 
 bed of inert vegetable matter, which presents all 
 the horrors of a quicksand for any unfortunate 
 vessel that founders. No life has ever been known 
 to be saved under such circumstances. Having 
 happily effected a safe landing, Gardner and two 
 or three wanderers who had joined him travelled 
 for a short distance along the bank of the river at 
 whose mouth they had landed, but presently 
 struck off to the east with the intention of reach- 
 ing Khojend, the home of one of the party. They 
 gave all towns and other dangerous places a wide 
 berth, but on approaching their destination were 
 tracked and apprehended by some scouts, who, 
 however, let them pass unmolested on receiving a 
 satisfactory account of the party from the native 
 of Khojend. 
 
 On approaching Ura-tube they made a detour, 
 as the beg or bai (ruler) of that place was a noted 
 and unscrupulous marauder and robber. About 
 this time Gardner was joined by his faithful Ther- 
 bah, who had heard of his journey and had followed 
 him up, and also by a remarkable person who was
 
 A MYSTERIOUS ACQUAINTANCE. 47 
 
 travelling with three or four camels. Gardner 
 suspected this man of being an escaped convict 
 from Siberia, but was uncertain of his nationality 
 he called himself a Pole, and perhaps was one. 
 He spoke of various parts of Germany and of 
 Transylvania and Albania. He usually spoke 
 French to Gardner, and went by the name of Aga 
 Beg. He showed himself very friendly to Gardner ; 
 and it was, in fact, thanks to his information and 
 advice that the party kept clear of the direct road 
 to Ura-tube and Khojend, and went by the Ak- 
 Tagh range, farther to the north. 
 
 Barely had they skirted this range when they 
 found themselves in bad company. The advent- 
 ures that followed shall be related in Gardner's 
 own words. 
 
 "We found ourselves," he says, "close upon a 
 large camp of Kipchaks, which was pitched on the 
 banks of the Jisak, a river which empties itself 
 into the Zerufshan. At the head of the encamp- 
 ment was a powerful beg or bai. 
 
 " There was nothing for it but to make the best 
 of things ; so we, as the smaller party, sent a depu- 
 tation to salute the larger. From the date of this 
 rencontre the whole destinies of myself and my
 
 48 WANDERER AND FREEBOOTER, 
 
 party were changed, and our horizons were dark 
 with presages of imminent disaster. 
 
 "A suspicious cordiality was soon struck up 
 between some of our servants and those of the 
 bais large camp. Pressure was also put upon us 
 by the Ura-tube freebooters, who, on the pretext 
 that we had intruded without leave in their terri- 
 tory, made a demand for fifteen or twenty horses. 
 We had the latter number among our small party, 
 five of which were mine, very fine animals which 
 had caught the eye of the stalwart bai, our neigh- 
 bour. Twenty per cent of all our goods was also 
 demanded, and eight days were allowed us to show 
 our belongings. Nothing is done in a hurry in 
 Asia. It was pretended that similar demands 
 were made on our neighbours the Kipchaks, and 
 their bai sent for us to his camp under the pre- 
 text of asking our advice. On arriving there he 
 was not to be found, and on our return we found 
 that he had visited our little encampment during 
 our absence. The result of his inspection was soon 
 apparent. Orders came to us that we should move 
 closer to the bai's camp. We had to obey, and 
 that very night our horses and camels were stolen 
 under the very noses of our treacherous servants. 
 
 " We tracked them to the bai's camp, recognised
 
 A MIDNIGHT RAID. 49 
 
 our property, and demanded their restitution. We 
 were, however, hustled back with volleys of abuse. 
 We then offered to buy them back, but it was of 
 no use. 
 
 " Meanwhile, to add to our difficulties, the Ura- 
 tube chief sent an imperative mandate for a con- 
 tribution of five horses. We had none to give, 
 and grew desperate. 
 
 " We swore on our drawn swords to recover our 
 horses and property by stratagem or force, or die 
 for it. 
 
 " Aga Beg had two trusty men, as familiar as 
 wild beasts with the intricate ravines about the 
 place, and such ground was homelike to my Ther- 
 bah. We determined to make a midnight daur 
 (raid), recover our horses, plunder as much as 
 we could in reprisal, and escape by the ravines. 
 Hemmed in as we were, we prowled about for two 
 nights, being fired upon once or twice in mistake for 
 wild animals by the camp outposts of the Kipchaks. 
 
 " The suspicions of the bai seemed at last to be 
 lulled, and the hour came. We entered the camp 
 and carried off twelve horses, including my own 
 five, and plenty of booty, and then made the best 
 of our way south by places in which pursuit was 
 at that hour of night almost impossible. It was a 
 
 D
 
 50 WANDERER AND FREEBOOTER. 
 
 daring deed. We knew that the pursuit would be 
 close and furious, and that the whole country 
 would soon be up. We were at the mercy of Aga 
 Beg's guides, but felt that we could rely on him 
 and them. Our hope was to reach Samarkand, 
 where he had property and a powerful connection. 
 
 " Three horsemen of the Ura-tube chief suddenly 
 overtook us about dawn, and with violent abuse 
 ordered us to halt and yield in the name of the 
 Government. On our refusal they threatened to 
 fire, and in self-defence we slew them and fled on, 
 taking their arms and horses, through the tracks 
 most remote from habitations. One night a Turk- 
 oman horseman passed near us at full speed, and 
 soon afterwards another came up to us and stopped 
 us. He said he had orders from Samarkand to 
 aid in arresting a desperate band of robbers. We 
 declared that we were in pursuit of them. We 
 might easily have killed him, but agreed that by 
 letting him pass on we might divert suspicion 
 from ourselves. 
 
 " It was evidently unsafe to make for Samar- 
 kand, as was our intention then ; so, wearily but in 
 good heart, we pursued our anxious way towards 
 Hazrat Imam, hoping for shelter there. 
 
 "Having reached the Oxus, we hid ourselves
 
 PROCLAIMED AND PURSUED. 51 
 
 among the rocky banks, and sent a man to the 
 holy place to see what our chances were. He re- 
 turned with the calamitous news that our party, 
 'dogs of Mervites,' were proclaimed all over the 
 country, and no one would dare to take us in." 
 
 Finding life under such circumstances a trifle 
 too exciting, Gardner and his companions now 
 decided to strike southward and endeavour to 
 make their way to Kabul, there to offer their 
 services to Amir Dost Muhammad Khan, who was 
 at this time establishing himself, by right of con- 
 quest and by the will of the people, as ruler of the 
 northern and eastern portions of Afghanistan. 
 
 Gardner but seldom mentions dates, and it 
 is difficult to gather from his rapid narrative 
 how long was the period during which he and 
 Aga Beg lived as wandering freebooters. They 
 apparently joined forces early in the summer of 
 1823, and from the great distances covered during 
 their prolonged flight from the Kipchak marauders, 
 it must have been well on in the year when the 
 party crossed the Oxus at the first practicable spot 
 above Hazrat Imam and headed towards Kabul. 
 
 A rough and dangerous mountain country had 
 to be traversed, all authorities to be avoided, and
 
 52 WANDERER AND FREEBOOTER. 
 
 it need cause us no surprise to learn that the condi- 
 tion of the travellers proceeded from bad to worse. 
 Unheedingly they passed the famous lapis-lazuli 
 mines ; historic cities were to them but the strong- 
 holds of oppression, and, as such, to be avoided. 
 
 " Food," says Gardner, " we obtained by levying 
 contributions from every one we could master, but 
 we did not slaughter unless in self-defence." 
 
 When near Kunduz, it should be said, they had 
 again been compelled to kill a party of three armed 
 men, who declared that Gardner's party were them- 
 selves the robbers whom they professed to be pur- 
 suing, and threatened to take them before the ruler 
 of the province. 
 
 A guilty conscience is certainly suggested by the 
 following passage, which immediately follows that 
 quoted above : " On coming near Inder - ab (or 
 Anderab) we halted for two days, to rest our 
 wearied bones. We told the same story to all we 
 met, saying, 'Have you seen any robbers? We 
 are in pursuit of a band.' " To this query Gardner 
 says they invariably received the response, "You 
 will find them in Bolor." We shall henceforth 
 become familiar with this name under various 
 forms. 
 
 The borders of Afghanistan were at length
 
 RIVAL CLAIMANTS. 53 
 
 reached, but the path to safety and employment 
 under Dost Muhammad Khan was by no means 
 clear. 
 
 The reader will be reminded in the next chapter 
 how it was that Dost Muhammad Khan came to be 
 Amir of Kabul, and must further understand that 
 at the time of Gardner's arrival in the Inder-ab 
 valley, that region and the Kohistan (or mountain 
 country to the north of Kabul) was in possession of 
 a rival claimant to the throne. This claimant was 
 Prince Habib-ulla Khan, son of the deceased elder 
 brother of Dost Muhammad Khan. Habib-ulla 
 Khan had for a short time been recognised as ruler 
 of Kabul, but had now been dispossessed by his 
 uncle.
 
 54 
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 A SOLDIER OF FORTUNE AMONG THE AFGHANS. 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF AFGHANISTAN HABIB-ULLA KHAN AND HIS HIS- 
 TORY GARDNER JOINS HIS STANDARD AND BECOMES A SOLDIER 
 OF FORTUNE AFGHAN TOLLS THE ROMANCE OF WAR GARD- 
 NER'S MARRIAGE THE CASTELLO TRIUMPH OF AMIR DOST 
 MUHAMMAD KHAN TRAGIC END OF GARDNER'S MARRIED LIFE 
 HABIB-ULLA KHAN'S RESOLUTION. 
 
 THE kingdom of Afghanistan dates only from the 
 year 1747, when Ahmad Khan, hereditary chief 
 of the Sadozai tribe, was crowned King of the 
 Afghans at Kandahar. Ahmad Khan changed the 
 name of his tribe to Durani, and assumed the title 
 of Shah Duri Duran. After a glorious career of 
 conquest he died in June 1773. 
 
 Ahmad Shah Durani was succeeded by his son 
 Taimur, who reigned twenty years, and was suc- 
 ceeded by his son Shah Zaman, who was blinded 
 and deposed in the year 1799. Shah Zaman's 
 brother and successor, Mahmud Shah, had no
 
 THE AFGHANS. 55 
 
 strength of character, and in July 1803 was set 
 aside in favour of Shah Shujah, another brother. 
 
 The vicissitudes undergone by this unfortunate 
 monarch are well known, and had resulted in his 
 exile in the year 1811, when the greater part of 
 Afghanistan fell under the dominion of another 
 great clan the Barakzai of which Dost Muham- 
 mad Khan eventually became the chief. In 1839 
 the British placed Shah Shujah once more on the 
 throne of Afghanistan, but as soon as the protec- 
 tion of that Power ceased, in April 1842, Shah 
 Shujah was murdered. 
 
 His son and successor, Fathi Jang, shared the 
 same fate a few months later, and Dost Muhammad 
 resumed the power whieh he alone could wield 
 effectively. His family has ever since reigned in 
 Afghanistan. 
 
 The people of Afghanistan are indifferently 
 called Afghans and Pathans. The former name is 
 by some writers said to indicate the turbulent 
 nature of the people (fighan meaning lamentation) 
 the same Persian word fighan means in another 
 sense " idols," and may therefore imply a nation of 
 idolaters. 
 
 The name " Pathan " is said by Colonel Malleson 
 to embody the idea of strength. "Pashtun" or
 
 56 A SOLDIER OF FORTUNE. 
 
 " Pukhtun," yet another name of the nation, is 
 said to mean "dwellers in hills." 
 
 Gardner and his companions had, of course, no 
 knowledge of Afghan politics, and little antici- 
 pated the events which were about to frustrate 
 their intention of seeking employment under Dost 
 Muhammad. Gardner's account of his campaign 
 under Prince Habib-ulla Khan is so spirited, and 
 fortunately so complete, that it follows entirely 
 in his own words. 
 
 The history of the internecine struggle between 
 Dost Muhammad Khan and the various members 
 of his family for the throne of Afghanistan has 
 been very incompletely told by historians. The 
 record of the Kohistan campaign, as related in the 
 following pages by Gardner, is therefore valuable 
 as well as interesting. 
 
 The happy audacity and confidence displayed by 
 the adventurer on the occasion of his falling in 
 with Habib-ulla Khan throw full light on his 
 character, and enable us to understand how it 
 was that dangers vanished from before him. 
 
 At last (says the traveller) we came upon 
 an outpost of the Kohistan region of the Kabul 
 country, and were stopped by a mounted guard.
 
 A CRITICAL MOMENT. 57 
 
 We demanded the name of the ruler. The guard 
 declared it to be the great Amir Habib-ulla Khan, 
 of Kabul, Kashmir, and Peshawar. We desired 
 to be brought before him. The guard refused, 
 and demanded the usual custom dues. We per- 
 sisted, and seeing a threatening of an attack, 
 disarmed two of them, but the third escaped and 
 flew for aid. The crisis was now approaching. 
 
 In about an hour we heard the trampling and 
 rushing sound of still distant cavalry, and pres- 
 ently the famous but unfortunate outlawed chief- 
 tain, splendidly mounted and at the head of fifty 
 picked horsemen, dashed at us. We could see 
 them coming on like a desert-storm for a mile, 
 and I had barely time to order my followers to 
 mount and to place myself at their head, when the 
 cavalcade was upon us. I received them with a 
 respectful military salute. , Habib-ulla Khan was 
 enraged at the insult we had offered to his out- 
 post, but amused, I could see, at the attitude 
 of our small band. The moment was come for 
 parley ; I ordered my men to sheath their swords, 
 returned my own to its scabbard, and demanded 
 an audience. By this time we were completely 
 surrounded by the chiefs party, and I knew that 
 we were in their power, and that nothing but
 
 58 A SOLDIER OF FORTUNE. 
 
 audacity and tact could save us. I enjoined 
 silence, under pain of death, on my men, and then 
 explained myself frankly to the chief. 
 
 I told him I was of the New World (he had 
 never before heard of it) and a Christian, and he 
 declared the secret should be inviolable. His first 
 irritation over, it pleased rather than displeased 
 his fine nature that we had refused to comply with 
 the demands of the outpost, and had preferred 
 to fling ourselves on his protection. The affair 
 ended by the generous chief sending then and 
 there a distance of three miles for a sumptuous 
 repast and Kabul vintages wherewith to recruit 
 our famished frames. He then took us with him 
 to his fort, where he recounted to me all his 
 history, his hopes, and his sufferings. He told 
 me how he had been plundered, how grossly his 
 mother had been treated, how his two lovely 
 sisters had been violated by order of his uncle, 
 Dost Muhammad Khan, and how he had slain 
 them at their own request with his own hand, 
 and lastly, how he had fled and become the out- 
 law I found him. 
 
 I sympathised deeply with the brave and per- 
 secuted man, whose eyes filled with tears when he 
 recalled the dishonour of his family. The person
 
 COMMANDANT OF HORSE. 59 
 
 of the chieftain was as attractive, and his face as 
 handsome, as his stature was gigantic ; his prowess 
 in action I have never seen surpassed. His open 
 nature abhorred Asiatic wiles, and thus he had 
 easily fallen a prey to the machinations of his wily 
 uncle, Dost Muhammad Khan. 
 
 The Dost at this time had abandoned the follies 
 of his youth and affected great religious austerity, 
 and by these means, and by making grants of land 
 to the mullahs 1 in all the Kohistan, the territory 
 still held by his nephew, had succeeded in raising 
 up a religious war against him. He bribed the 
 avaricious and intriguing priests to proclaim 
 Habib-ulla Khan an infidel and a wine -bibber, 
 and was aided by the liberal opinions and jovial 
 habits of the sardar. 
 
 Being, like Habib - ulla Khan, of a sanguine 
 disposition, and, moreover, being favourably im- 
 pressed by his appearance and manner, I prof- 
 fered the services of myself and my followers, 
 which were readily accepted, and I was en- 
 gaged as commandant of 180 picked horse to 
 be employed in forays into the enemy's country, 
 and in levying contributions on all caravans, 
 especially seizing every morsel of baggage and 
 
 1 Priests.
 
 60 A SOLDIER OF FORTUNE. 
 
 property that was intended for Dost Muhammad 
 Khan. 
 
 Our good friend Aga Beg took leave, and the 
 chief presented the faithful, though mysterious, 
 adventurer with a fine horse, and a safe escort 
 to his destination. 
 
 I had one day accidentally noticed a golden or 
 brazen cross hanging from Aga Beg's neck, and 
 asked him in French where his home was, thinking 
 that he might be of that nationality. He replied, 
 with a smile, in that language, that he lived in 
 the mountains of Ura-tube, but gave me no 
 further information, nor did I seek for any. I 
 parted from him with regret, and for ever. 1 
 
 From this date for a period of two and a half 
 years I led a life in the saddle, one of active war- 
 fare and continual forays : so successful were we 
 that we had our advanced posts within twenty 
 miles of Kabul, and the Dost dared not show his 
 nose in the whole mountain region. 
 
 None of the chiefs faithful and ardent followers 
 received any pay. We lived, as I have said, in 
 the saddle, and fed in common, for the good cause 
 
 1 The Pole gave Gardner a curious crystal pipe-bowl as a parting 
 present. This gift was subsequently a source of trouble to the 
 recipient.
 
 CHAMPION OF EVERY FIGHT. 61 
 
 of right against wrong which we had espoused. 
 Any money derived from our captures went to pay 
 the general expenses. 
 
 We made daily forays, with various results, and 
 Habib-ulla Khan headed us in every struggle, and 
 was the champion of every fight. He seemed 
 ubiquitous in action, and his shout in the charge 
 struck terror into the hearts of our enemies, and 
 seemed to lend double courage and vigour to his 
 followers. There was hardly one of us who was 
 not at one time or other indebted to him for 
 life, and not one who was not ready to repay the 
 debt. 
 
 The contributions levied on travellers and 
 traders amounted to nearly 20 per cent. Now 
 the dues of Government (and it was these dues 
 that we affected to levy) ought, by the Muham- 
 madan law, to amount to one -fortieth or 2 per 
 cent. So, to satisfy our consciences, we detailed 
 to our victims the following rapacious schedule : 
 
 2 1 per cent the dues of God ; 
 2 1 " for the priests ; 
 2| ii for the poor ; 
 2| ii for the great Amir Habib - ulla 
 Khan;
 
 62 A SOLDIER OF FORTUNE. 
 
 2i per cent for prayers of intercession at 
 
 Mecca ; 
 2 ii for the protection we afforded 
 
 them out of our dominions ; 
 and the remainder for our expenses (for by 
 this time we had usually got tired of details). 
 
 I cannot relate my experiences at length, for 
 the events of one day much resembled those of 
 another, but one occasion is indelibly impressed 
 on my memory. 
 
 It was about six months after I joined Habib- 
 ulla Khan that we received information from a 
 trustworthy source in Kabul that Dost Muhammad 
 Khan was about to move in force to the north, 
 but for a short distance only, and not with the 
 intention of attacking us. The politic conduct 
 of his uncle always infuriated Habib-ulla Khan, 
 who longed for an opportunity of settling the 
 family questions in the field. 
 
 He now, however, felt that something was likely 
 to happen which would give him an opportunity 
 of dealing a home-blow to his enemy, and so it 
 fell out. We ascertained from our spies that one 
 of the ladies of Dost Muhammad's harem, who 
 had long been absent on a pilgrimage to various 
 shrines, had ended her pious journey at Hazrat
 
 A CLEVER RUSE. 63 
 
 Imam, and was now about to return to Kabul 
 from that place, with an escort of some fifty 
 sowars. The object of her pilgrimage had been 
 to secure the intercession of the priests of all the 
 shrines in her favour, she being unblessed with 
 issue. So anxious was the Dost about the safety 
 of his lady, and of a treasure in gold that she 
 was bringing with her from a source which I 
 failed to identify, that he sent an overpowering 
 body of horse to guard all the Bamian passes. 
 
 By a clever ruse, and by making some of our 
 people personate some sowars of Dost Muhammad 
 Khan and misinform other bodies of his troops, 
 we induced the lady's escort to divert their route 
 to the Ghorband Pass, where Habib - ulla lay in 
 wait. We attacked them in front and rear, and 
 they were largely outnumbered, but the escort 
 were true to their trust and made a gallant 
 fight. 
 
 Eventually we cut off the camels laden with 
 treasure and those on which the lady and her 
 attendants were carried, and Habib-ulla committed 
 the entire prize to my care, while he covered our 
 retreat. 
 
 While so doing he was attacked by a large 
 force of the Kabul cavalry, which had found out 
 what was going on and that they had been de-
 
 64 A SOLDIER OF FORTUNE. 
 
 ceived. So hardly was he pressed, and so hot 
 was the pursuit, that nothing but extraordinary 
 exertions on our part, and the brilliant courage 
 of Habib-ulla Khan, extricated us. 
 
 In the course of the running fight to our strong- 
 hold I was enabled to see the beautiful face of a 
 young girl who accompanied the princess. I rode 
 for a considerable time beside her, pretending that 
 my respect for the elder lady made me choose 
 that side of her camel on which her attendant 
 was carried. 
 
 On the following morning Habib - ulla Khan 
 richly rewarded all his followers, for he was gen- 
 erous to a fault ; but I refused my share of the 
 gold, and begged for this girl to be given me in 
 marriage as the only reward I desired. She was 
 of royal birth on the mother's side, being the 
 daughter (as was at once discovered) of one of 
 Habib - ulla Khan's nearest relatives. He, how- 
 ever, freely and willingly gave her to me, and 
 established me as commandant of a fort near his 
 own abode. There I was very happy for about 
 two years, in the course of which time my wife 
 made me the father of a noble boy. 
 
 To return, however, to Dost Muhammad's lady. 
 
 She was treated with scrupulous honour and
 
 A CAPTIVE LADY OF THE HAEEM. 65 
 
 respect, being given a separate residence with her 
 attendants. Every facility was given her to com- 
 municate her whereabouts to her lord, and after 
 negotiations which lasted over two or three 
 months, she was ransomed at the price of 3000 
 tillaks of gold, five horses, three large falcons, 
 and other articles of value. She returned to 
 Kabul with her personal honour untarnished and 
 her private property untouched. 
 
 Many of us hoped that after this dignified and 
 chivalrous behaviour to the wife of an uncle who 
 had barbarously outraged the family of Habib- 
 ulla Khan, negotiations might have been entered 
 into and a spirit of amity displayed by the Dost. 
 But it was not to be so. Habib - ulla, far from 
 encouraging any proffer of reconciliation, rather 
 widened the breach by his unyielding pride. He 
 declared that his uncles should humble themselves 
 before him, and not he to them, and he published 
 it abroad that the ransom paid for the lady was 
 the token of their humiliation and the symbol 
 of their admission of his sovereign rights. Neither 
 would the proud youth abate one jot of his claims 
 to absolute dominion, nor lower in any degree his 
 tone of defiance. 
 
 The Dost despatched two wily mullahs, osten- 
 
 E
 
 66 A SOLDIER OF FORTUNE. 
 
 sibly with a view to effect a reconciliation between 
 him and his nephew. These men were kindly and 
 cordially received, but we soon found that they 
 were endeavouring to tamper with our officers, 
 and Habib - ulla assumed a distant behaviour to- 
 wards them. The mullahs were made over to my 
 care as guests. I housed them, and attended with 
 due courtesy to their wants. 
 
 When they had resided about fifteen days in 
 my castello, which was about a mile and a half 
 to the north-east of the fort of Parwan, 1 Habib- 
 ulla Khan's residence, the leader of the two de- 
 clared one morning that he had seen a vision 
 during the previous night. A prophet had ap- 
 peared unto him and declared that it was his, 
 the mullah's, bounden duty to convert Habib-ulla 
 Khan and his troops to the right faith. After 
 this announcement he assumed fanatical airs, and 
 stood in one of the principal highways with a 
 Koran in one hand and a rusty pistol in the other, 
 calling on all passers-by to repent, that he might 
 show them the seventh heaven, the everlasting 
 abode of the houris. Being looked on as half- 
 
 1 Parwan or Parwandarrah is a few miles north of Charikar. A 
 British force was defeated there by Dost Muhammad in November 
 1840.
 
 THE SAINT-KILLERS. 67 
 
 crazy, not much notice was taken of him, until 
 one day he was seen standing on the top of one 
 of the turrets of my castello and beckoning to 
 some armed strangers who had evidently been 
 skulking about the ravines. Signal whistles were 
 soon heard from two or three quarters. 
 
 No more ado was made than for the mullah to 
 be shot dead forthwith by my killadar (fort-war- 
 der), and the rest of the party fled precipitately. 
 
 I was not at home at the time, but was seated 
 in the presence, receiving orders on some important 
 matter from the chief, when the tidings reached 
 him. He merely remarked, " Let the dead mullah 
 be washed and buried, according to the rites of the 
 Faithful." He then wrote to Kabul, explaining 
 how the man had met his death through his own 
 misconduct and treachery. This occurrence nat- 
 urally was exaggerated and made use of against 
 Habib-ulla Khan and his followers, and the cry 
 for a holy war to the knife became hot and 
 furious. The addition of " saint - killers " was 
 made to the already tolerably complete vocabu- 
 lary of opprobrious designations used against us 
 by the Dost's party. 
 
 Now, as I have already said, the Dost had 
 gained over the priests by large grants of land,
 
 68 A SOLDIER OF FORTUNE. 
 
 most of which lay in the district still held by 
 our party. The time had now come for our 
 enemies, aided by the excited feeling abroad, to 
 make a simultaneous attack on us from all sides, 
 with the object of destroying us if possible, or at 
 any rate of finally driving us out of the country 
 and breaking our power. The Dost employed his 
 whole available force, some 12,000 men, for the 
 work of extirpation. They hemmed us in on the 
 west, south, and east, and for a period of from 
 two to three months there was a series of bloody 
 and desperate fights. We were gradually more 
 and more closely surrounded, and our originally 
 slender numbers were terribly attenuated. 
 
 In March 1826 1 the struggle was nearly over. 
 Habib-ulla Khan's force mustered but 180 devoted 
 sowars. Our sole remaining outlets were the 
 Khawak Pass and the Kafir -Ghaur, the latter 
 almost inaccessible and in country unknown to 
 nearly all of us. Well do I remember the occa- 
 sion of the Dost's final attack. Snow was still 
 lying on the ground in large and deep patches. 
 My troop (which had hitherto escaped fairly well) 
 
 1 It is usually stated that Dost Muhammad overcame the rebellion 
 of Habib-ulla Khan in the course of the year 1824 ; but the details 
 of the civil war are but little known, and Gardner's date may be 
 correct
 
 DEFEAT AND DISASTER. 69 
 
 had been reduced in the previous day's fight from 
 ninety men to thirty-nine. The enemy had been 
 most pertinacious, and had followed us until well 
 into the night, contrary to their usual custom. 
 I felt that we were at our last gasp, when an 
 express message reached me from Parwan, which 
 Habib-ulla was defending in person, ordering me 
 to join him at Grha'rak-i-Siah, a place so called 
 from a dark ravine beneath it. My heart beat 
 with sad forebodings, too awfully to be realised 
 I must hurry over this part of my history. 
 
 I soon learnt that my chief had been over- 
 powered and his fort taken : he himself with the 
 few survivors of the garrison had cut their way 
 through their enemies, and endeavoured to throw 
 themselves into my castello. They had, however, 
 been unable to escape from their pursuers, and 
 were sore pressed when I came to their assis- 
 tance. I reached Habib-ulla Khan about half- 
 way between Parwan and my home, and found 
 him fighting desperately with twelve of his men 
 about him. Cutting my way through the enemy, 
 I reached him, and found that he was badly 
 wounded in the arm. I myself had previously 
 received a ball in my knee. 
 
 Habib-ulla Khan, on seeing me, drew me aside
 
 70 A SOLDIER OF FORTUNE. 
 
 (the enemy having now retired), and, with a stony 
 countenance in which all outward sign of emotion 
 seemed to have been frozen down, told me that all 
 was over with my unfortunate wife and little baby. 
 He then detached half my men, and ordered me to 
 go to my castello with the remainder and bring off 
 what was left of the garrison, if any had survived 
 the attack. 
 
 On arrival I felt a stern pleasure at seeing the 
 great number of dead bodies of the enemy in com- 
 parison to those of the defenders ; but our succour 
 was too late the garrison had been slaughtered to 
 a man. 
 
 The silence was oppressive when I rode through 
 the gateway of the fort, and my men instinctively 
 fell back, when an old mullah (who had remained 
 faithful to our party) came out to meet me, with 
 his left hand and arm bound up. His fingers had 
 been cut off and his arm nearly severed at the 
 wrist by savage blows from a scimitar while striv- 
 ing to protect my little child. Faint from his 
 wounds and from the miserable recollection of 
 the scenes from which he escaped, the sole sur- 
 vivor, the aged mullah, at first stood gazing at 
 me in a sort of wild abstraction, and then re- 
 counted the tale of the massacre of all I loved.
 
 SAD FATE OF GARDNER'S WIFE. 71 
 
 The garrison had long and gallantly held their 
 own, though attacked on all sides by an immensely 
 superior force. They had seen Habib-ulla Khan 
 approaching, fighting gallantly, and had for a 
 moment thought themselves saved, but he had 
 been driven back and passed from their sight. 
 The castello had then been stormed and all in it 
 put to the sword, with the sole exception of the 
 priest. 
 
 After this brief story the mullah silently beck- 
 oned to me to dismount and to follow him into 
 the inner rooms. There lay four mangled corpses, 
 my wife, my boy, and two little eunuch youths. 
 I had left them all thoughtless and happy but 
 five days before. The bodies had been decently 
 covered up by the faithful mullah, but the right 
 hand of the hapless young mother could be seen, 
 and clenched in it the reeking katar with which 
 she had stabbed herself to the heart after handing 
 over the child to the priest for protection. Her 
 room had been broken open, and mortally self- 
 wounded as she was, the assassins nearly severed 
 her head from her body with their long Afghan 
 knives or sabres. The mullah had tried to escape 
 with the child, but had been cut across the hand 
 and arm as aforesaid, and the boy seized and bar-
 
 72 A SOLDIER OF FORTUNE. 
 
 barously murdered. There he lay by the side of 
 his mother. 1 
 
 I sank on my knees and involuntarily offered 
 up a prayer for vengeance to the Most High God. 
 Seeing my attitude, the mullah, in a low solemn 
 tone, breathed the Muhammadan prayers proper 
 for the presence of the dead, in which my sowars, 
 who had silently followed with bent heads, fer- 
 vently joined. Tear after tear trickled down the 
 pallid and withered cheeks of the priest as he 
 concluded. Rising, I forced myself and him away 
 from the room, gave him all the money I had 
 for the interment of the dead, and with fevered 
 brain rode away for ever from my once happy 
 mountain home. 
 
 Habib-ulla Khan saw by our faces that all was 
 over, and, with the same stony expression of 
 despair in his countenance, bade us dismount 
 and take counsel as to our future. His mind, he 
 said, was made up. He would save, by death 
 from his own hands, all his females from dis- 
 honour (he had removed them from Parwan some 
 little time before), and then fall upon the enemy 
 and die sword in hand. 
 
 1 To the end of his long life Colonel Gardner was unable to tell 
 without tears the sad story of his Afghan wife and child.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A FUGITIVE. 
 
 GARDNER A FUGITIVE DESPERATE STRAITS THE VALUE OP SALT 
 IN CENTRAL ASIA THE KALENDARS VISIT TO A KAFIR PRIEST 
 A KIND RECEPTION THE KHILTI KAFIRS HISTORIC REMAINS 
 DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD BY THE KAFIRS A RELIC OF THE 
 PAST FAREWELL TO THE HOLY MAN AN ATTACK BY ROBBERS 
 A RACE FOR LIFE THE ESCAPE A GOOD SOLDIER BOLOR 
 CAPTAIN YOUNGHUSBAND NOTE ON " BOLOK." 
 
 IN accordance with his resolution Prince Habib-ulla 
 Khan returned to his stronghold in an inaccessible 
 place near Parwan, and there with his own hands 
 slew his wives and female slaves. He believed 
 that this terrible act was necessary to preserve 
 them from dishonour at the hands of the victorious 
 faction, and his previous experiences certainly 
 justified his belief. The prince's mind became 
 unhinged from his misfortunes, and it is believed 
 that he shortly afterwards died while performing 
 a pilgrimage to Mecca. 
 
 Gardner mentions a beautiful act of fidelity on
 
 74 A FUGITIVE. 
 
 the part of a Kafir boy, one of the prince's slaves, 
 who had been treated very kindly by him. This 
 boy first begged leave to accompany the prince, 
 and on being told that this was impossible, he 
 insisted on being slain together with the ladies 
 of the royal household. 
 
 It would appear that Gardner and seven other 
 wounded men were unable to follow Habib-ulla 
 Khan on account of the severity of their injuries, 
 and this fact undoubtedly saved Gardner's life. 
 Still his circumstances were bad enough, and by 
 some means or other it was absolutely necessary 
 for him and his companions to put as much 
 ground as possible between themselves and the 
 followers of Dost Muhammad Khan. 
 
 How they fared shall now be related by Gardner 
 himself. He thus continues his narrative : 
 
 I will not dwell upon the details of my parting 
 from my noble chief and brother, nor will I relate 
 how he carried out his dreadful intention in regard 
 to his family. The days which immediately fol- 
 lowed the departure of Habib-ulla Khan seem a 
 wild and sickening dream. I was wounded in 
 the neck and leg, and my companions were all 
 more or less disabled. Our party only numbered
 
 IN DANGER AND DISTRESS. 75 
 
 eight souls. The greatest danger attended any 
 appearance on our part on the northern plains. 
 There was nothing before us but to plunder to 
 support life. 
 
 Our whole property amounted to the value of 
 nine or ten annas in copper coins, called Kohistani 
 zerubs. To light a fire by day was certain dis- 
 covery, and we had to contend against damp 
 clouds and cold sleet. 
 
 After making a short march, with great pain and 
 difficulty, we concealed ourselves in a cavity among 
 some rocks, from which we could command a good 
 view of the main passes for nearly two miles. 
 Desperate with hunger, wounds, and privation, 
 we despatched from this place two of our party 
 (having previously sworn fealty to each other on 
 our naked sword-blades) to try and procure some 
 flour or a sheep. They returned without success ; 
 but having sworn to stick by one another to the 
 last, all doubts were removed, and we boldly lit a 
 fire and slept in a circle with our feet to the heat. 
 Our nimchis and postins 1 were our only bedding 
 and clothing. 
 
 The night passed, and in the morning, after our 
 
 1 Postins = sheepskin coats. The word nimchi has a similar mean- 
 ing : here probably it stands for a sheepskin used as a blanket.
 
 76 A FUGITIVE. 
 
 scouts had again sallied forth, we were aroused by 
 three low whistles from our sentinel. A party of 
 six Hindus and two Afghans was slowly approach- 
 ing, with two ponies loaded with various bundles. 
 It seemed as if they would never arrive ! 
 
 At last we emerged, and met them with the 
 salute "Salaam Aleikum," and demanded some- 
 thing to appease our hunger, in the name of God 
 and the Prophet. There was a pause. Our num- 
 bers were few, but we were desperate and famishing, 
 so without further parley we fell upon the party 
 and disarmed them. The booty miserably dis- 
 appointed us. We got some snow -preserved fat 
 sheep-tails (dumba), some snuff, some dried pepper, 
 some skins, and a big lump of reddish-black salt. 
 We added to our collection a little asafcetida, and 
 half the money belonging to the Hindus, amount- 
 ing to ten tillahs. During the whole time we 
 carefully kept mounted, as is the rule to prevent 
 surprise, and allowed the party to proceed without 
 further molestation. It was evident that, as we 
 hoped, we were supposed to be a mere outpost of 
 a band of professional Turkoman marauders and 
 slave - robbers, of which I, with my fairer com- 
 plexion, my high black pirpank, 1 black postin, 
 
 1 Conical hat.
 
 A FRIENDLY AVALANCHE. 77 
 
 hair -rope girdle, and Turki overall boots, was 
 accounted the chief. They thought themselves 
 well off in not being taken for slaves to the 
 markets of Kunduz, Balkh, or Bokhara. 
 
 On returning to our cave we found the mouth 
 nearly blocked up with boulders from an avalanche, 
 which had killed near it some large hyena -like 
 animal. This we considered a godsend, and fell 
 to cooking it. It was disgustingly rotten, but 
 our famished senses cared for nothing, and after 
 dabbing it over with the spices we had just looted, 
 we made a hearty meal of it, half raw. 
 
 On the following morning we arose with light 
 hearts expecting the return of our two scouts, who 
 had again gone down towards the plain of Inderab. 
 After our usual orisons, and having posted the 
 necessary look-out on the top of the crags which 
 towered to the height of 1200 or 1500 feet over 
 our head, we proceeded to dress our own and our 
 horses' wounds for which purpose we ventured 
 for the first time to encroach upon our precious 
 and only lump of salt, part of the previous day's 
 loot. We were reluctant to make use of it in 
 the absence of any of our party, as salt, when 
 scarce, is invaluable to travellers, and in Central 
 Asia it is looked upon as most dishonourable
 
 78 A FUGITIVE. 
 
 conduct to make unnecessary and unequal use 
 of it. 
 
 It was for a similar reason that the day before we 
 had preferred to eat of our half-stinking wolf-meat, 
 instead of at once attacking two fine fat sheep- 
 tails, preserved in snow, which we had captured. 
 Our lump of salt was perfectly round, and polished 
 from the many lickings it had received from the 
 tongues of former owners, and as it would have 
 been considered a sacrilegious act to break off 
 a splinter, we were forced to take some water in 
 the hand and rub the salt in it. With this we 
 washed our wounds, and afterwards applied a 
 dressing of powdered charcoal and clay, which was 
 bound over them and so left for twenty-four hours. 
 
 We now turned our attention to procuring a 
 meal for the day without encroaching on our 
 comrades' rations, or on the aforementioned sheep- 
 tails. We finally resolved to collect a quantity of 
 snow mushrooms and edible herbs, sufficient for 
 two or three days, to which we might give a relish 
 by a little salt, a morsel of wolf-meat, or of our 
 fat sheep - tails. What was our consternation to 
 find that during the night rats had eaten through 
 the rope which tied them up, and consumed the 
 whole of them ! Nothing daunted, however, we
 
 WOLVES IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING. 79 
 
 started to collect provisions.- Before we had gone 
 far we were recalled by our look-out on the crags. 
 We arrived at our post not a moment too soon, 
 and found ourselves confronted by seven men, all 
 on foot, four of whom were dressed as dervishes or 
 fakirs. Two of the latter were old men with long 
 red beards, the other two being dressed as dervishee- 
 Jcalendars, with the high cap and alpha to suit, 
 thrown over their postin vests : all carried the 
 usual wooden bowl, the holy chob-shereef or staff 
 of peace, with quantities of bead rosaries and black 
 hair ropes tied round their necks, by which the 
 holy Koran was suspended. 
 
 This, as is the custom, they held towards us 
 in both hands as we approached, as a deprecation 
 against evil intentions, and at the same time 
 pronounced the usual fakir's salutation, " Shukur, 
 Shukur Allah," pronounced with a drawling, 
 solemn accent. 
 
 Turning away from these men, we brought our 
 spears to bear on their three companions, who 
 were well clothed in Kohistani Afghan costume, 
 and appeared to be fumbling to get their hands 
 on their swords and knives, with the evident 
 intention of resistance. This was speedily over- 
 come, and the most bumptious, who had twice
 
 80 A FUGITIVE. 
 
 tried to cut off my spear -head, was knocked 
 down, and they were all disarmed. We then 
 proceeded to search them, and were much sur- 
 prised to find underneath their outer -dress full 
 suits of chain - armour, evidently concealed for 
 the purpose of safe conveyance to Kabul or to 
 some chief in that vicinity. 
 
 Although we were but five in number, our 
 scouts being still absent and the look-out man 
 remaining on his post, we resolved to make 
 these men prisoners, and keep them with us till 
 the return of our comrades, and until we had 
 arranged our future movements. So we marched 
 them off to our retreat, and made them assist 
 us in collecting herbs for our day's meal. We 
 took this precaution from dread of treachery on 
 the part of the holy men, of the character of 
 which class we had so many sad recollections. 
 We learned from one of the fakirs that the news 
 of the defeat of Habib-ulla Khan had reached 
 the valley of the Kunduz river, and that 
 mounted bands had been collected in that neigh- 
 bourhood to plunder all weak parties who might 
 be flying from the vengeance of Dost Muham- 
 mad, and to protect their own villages from 
 strong parties of fugitives.
 
 DANGER ON ALL SIDES. 81 
 
 "We began to feel anxious about the safety of 
 our two scouts, when to our joy they returned 
 on the second day, bringing with them two 
 sheep and some other provisions, carried by 
 three other men, taken in the Inderab valley, 
 two of whom our scouts pronounced to be our 
 lawful slaves, they having been caught in the 
 act of betraying the scouts. 
 
 They further told us that one of Habib-ulla's 
 jamadars, having been forced to fly from the 
 Ghorband valley, where he was stationed, had 
 crossed the border into Turkestan with fifteen 
 or twenty horsemen ; and after safely passing 
 the border fort of Khunjan, had been attacked 
 in the Killaghai Pass by an overwhelming force 
 of the people of that region. The jamadar 
 and all his party had been killed or taken 
 prisoners. 
 
 This news determined us to break up our 
 present camp, and to make with all speed and 
 secrecy to the famous holy shrine of Hazrat 
 Imam, situated on the south bank of the Oxus, 
 and about two marches north of Kunduz. There 
 we were sure to find sanctuary. 
 
 We resolved therefore to start that very night, 
 and to proceed by a bypath mostly used by the
 
 82 A FUGITIVE. 
 
 Kafirs, to a place called Pir Nimchu Kafir Ghaur 
 (or the cave of the priest of the Nimchu Kafirs). 1 
 In accordance with this resolution we started 
 after nightfall, taking our prisoners with us. 
 However, we set them at liberty at the head 
 of the pass, having previously taken the suits 
 of chain -armour from them and deprived them 
 of their arms. I also exchanged clothes with 
 one of the dervishes. We then showed them a 
 secure place to rest in, and warned them not to 
 stir till the following day. "We subsequently 
 discovered that these men were not travelling 
 in their proper characters, but were nothing 
 more nor less than a band of robbers, and that 
 the bearded old men were merely decoys. In 
 fact, one of our recently returned scouts declared 
 that he recognised in them part of a large body 
 of professional robbers well known throughout 
 that region. 
 
 The night was fine and clear, and we went on 
 our way, taking with us the three men our scouts 
 had brought in one as a guide to the roads and 
 paths, and the other two as our bond-fide slaves. 
 
 1 Nimchu Kafirs are the descendants of mixed unions between 
 Kafirs and Muhammadans, and are to be found all round the 
 borders of Kafiristan.
 
 A SUCCESSFUL DISGUISE. 83 
 
 After descending a short distance, our path 
 struck off to the north-east for a few miles, and 
 then again to the east, after which we kept our 
 old guide, the North Star, nearly on our right 
 hand for eight or ten miles, when, after passing 
 with some difficulty over a rocky spur of the 
 Northern Hindu Kush, we descended and crossed 
 a small rapid stream, whose banks were thickly 
 wooded. After passing through the underwood, 
 we entered a deep watercourse with high cliffs 
 on either side. This was the Ghaur-i-Kafir, or 
 Kafir's path. 
 
 It now became very dark, so we halted on a 
 nice grassy spot, well sheltered in case of rain. 
 We had got over eighteen or twenty miles. 
 
 Here one of our party suggested that it would 
 be well if we got rid of our Afghan dress and 
 tried to appear like Turkomans. We immedi- 
 ately set to work, and with some skins which 
 formed part of our booty extemporised Turko- 
 mani caps. We then turned the hairy side of 
 our postins outwards, and substituting grass 
 ropes for our lunfis, 1 we produced a decidedly 
 successful personification of a small band of 
 wandering Turkomans. 
 
 1 Lunj is = scarves.
 
 84 A FUGITIVE. 
 
 We started again, however, as soon as the 
 light served, and after a fatiguing ride through 
 deep defiles and watercourses, we arrived late in 
 the evening at the Ghaur-i-Pir Nimchu our 
 destination. 
 
 We had sent one of our party in advance to 
 give notice of our approach, and were most 
 kindly received by the holy man. He had with 
 him nine or ten disciples, by whom we were 
 treated with the greatest civility. We and our 
 horses were quickly provided with every neces- 
 sary, and before we went to rest our feet were 
 well washed with warm water and bran, mixed 
 with sweet herbs. 
 
 They seemed to have ample stores of every- 
 thing, and the best wine of Kafiristan was not 
 wanting. Being all of us very tired, we soon 
 went to rest on soft bear- and sheep-skins, which 
 were spread for us in a large cave. 
 
 In the morning we all performed our orisons 
 in company. The pir seemed to be of a very 
 advanced age, I should say almost ninety : al- 
 though somewhat bent and with but dim eye- 
 sight, he still possessed considerable vigour and 
 a stentorian voice, and was altogether of a com- 
 manding appearance.
 
 RELICS OP ANTIQUITY. 85 
 
 He and his race were of the Khilti race of 
 Kafirs, which tribe inhabits the outer ranges and 
 northern crest of the Hindu Kush. There were 
 no inhabitants within a long day's march of this 
 place, and even at that distance they were but 
 few and far between. The old pir said that the 
 holy place was originally established by the great 
 kings of Ghor ; and he showed me two marble 
 slabs with Arabic characters engraved on them, 
 said to have been presented by two kings of 
 Ghor who reigned at Delhi viz., Muhammad 
 Ghori, and Shah budin Ghori, first Emperor of 
 Delhi. There was likewise a large slab of 
 green marble, also with an inscription, said to 
 have been presented by Timur in person when 
 he attempted to invade Kafiristan, but got no 
 farther than this point. This memorial was 
 erected in the year 1398. 
 
 The aged pir said that even in these bad and 
 unholy days he could still, by the grace of God 
 and the Prophet, boast of having a lakh 1 of dis- 
 ciples far and near, and comprising both Nimchus 
 and Muhammadans. We too, feeling a reverence 
 for the holy man our protector, went through the 
 usual ceremony and became his disciples. 
 
 i A lakh = 100,000.
 
 86 A FUGITIVE. 
 
 We now for the first time had our wounds 
 properly dressed ; and the good old man pre- 
 sented us with hill -ponies in place of some of 
 our horses, which were worn out. He soon 
 guessed that we were a portion of Habib - ulla's 
 following, and assured us that our misfortunes 
 gave us a stronger claim on him than if we had 
 come in happiness and wealth. He advised us 
 to go to Hazrat Imam, avoiding Kunduz and 
 such noted places, and to travel through Badak- 
 shan. We resolved to follow his advice, but fate 
 willed it otherwise. 
 
 The old pir was remarkably shrewd and in- 
 telligent for a man who had never been farther 
 than the Khawak Pass on one side and the 
 sources of the Khalsu on the other. 
 
 In legendary and traditional lore he was well 
 informed. According to him Scythia was the 
 original cradle of the Kafir race, and they claim 
 one of the kings of the dynasty of Cyrus as 
 their founder. 
 
 I must here mention that at the intercession 
 of the pir we exchanged our two slaves with 
 him for some skins and other articles of clothing 
 of which we were in need. Our third prisoner 
 freely volunteered to join our fortunes, and
 
 AN ACCESSION OF STRENGTH. 87 
 
 having taken the oath of fidelity, he was pro- 
 vided with a Turkoman dress and arms. The 
 good pir also presented me, as a special mark 
 of favour, with a fine leopard -skin mantle and 
 cap to match, the latter about three-quarters of 
 a yard high. But his highest mark of favour 
 was his presenting me with an old and worn-out 
 Koran, which he ceremoniously hung round my 
 neck in the large cave. 
 
 I here formally and in his presence assumed 
 command of our small party, each one faithfully 
 promising to give strict obedience to my orders. 
 
 On the day of our intended departure our 
 strength received a welcome accession. We had, 
 of course, always had a good look-out kept for 
 us by one of the disciples, as pursuit was quite 
 possible, though improbable. Early on this day 
 the signal was given that a small party of 
 strangers was approaching. This turned out to 
 be five of our old friends and comrades, another 
 remnant of Habib-ulla Khan's following. One of 
 them was very badly and two slightly wounded. 
 They had been under the command of a naib or 
 lieutenant named Usbuk Beg, a native of Kara- 
 tegin, a district north of the river Oxus. About 
 a month before our defeat he had a party of
 
 88 A FUGITIVE. 
 
 about seventy horsemen under his orders, mostly 
 Usbegs and Hazaras, of which we now saw the 
 survivors. Shortly before Habib-ulla Khan's last 
 fight, Usbuk Beg had been cut off by Dost 
 Muhammad's troops and forced to fly towards 
 Kunduz. After being allowed to pass several 
 border forts in apparent friendship, he had been 
 treacherously attacked by large numbers of 
 Kunduz horsemen, when all but nine of his 
 troop were slain or captured. These nine were 
 again attacked in the Inderab valley, and lost 
 four more of their number. Finally, the five 
 survivors reached this place of safety. The 
 soldier who was badly wounded was left to be 
 well cared for by the holy men ; and after stay- 
 ing an extra day to allow the others to recruit 
 their strength, we finally started, now thirteen 
 in number. 
 
 On taking my leave of the pir, he generously 
 placed in my hands a Eussian silk handkerchief, 
 in one corner of which were tied up sixty gold 
 Bokhara tillahs. Having obtained a guide from 
 our kind host, we each of us bent down and 
 received his parting blessing. We then embraced 
 his disciples, and took leave of them with regret 
 and affection.
 
 A HANDSOME OFFER. 89 
 
 They held out every inducement to me to 
 remain with them, promising me certain felicity 
 in a future state, which would, they said, be 
 ensured by having my remains placed on the 
 highest peak of the Hindu Kush. They disposed 
 of their dead in this way, and never by burial. 
 Although Muhammadans, they appeared to have 
 a strange hankering for the worship of fire, water, 
 and the sun. Among other earthly inducements 
 to join them, they promised to place 20,000 brave 
 Khilti Kafirs under my command. 
 
 There being no access to their country except 
 by bypaths such as that by which we had 
 travelled, and known to few, Kafiristan may be 
 considered as one huge fortress, well kept by 
 the able hands of its brave inhabitants. 
 
 I have not yet described the pir's place of 
 abode. It was a collection of caves situated on 
 an extensive rocky plateau about 1000 feet above 
 the ravine below, and with high peaks above it. 
 There was no vegetation whatever, with the 
 exception of a few mossy patches. Most of the 
 caves were immense clefts, not produced by the 
 action of water, but evidently by some great 
 convulsion of nature. Some of them were not 
 less than 100 yards in depth, and from 10 to
 
 90 A FUGITIVE. 
 
 50 feet broad, but invariably narrowing towards 
 their farther end. Most of them were stored 
 with grass, firewood, and various requisites for 
 the use of the hermit and his disciples. In one 
 I perceived a copious spring of cool clear water, 
 and the quantities of provisions and stores which 
 were supplied spoke well for the reverence with 
 which the holy man is regarded by his followers. 
 
 Had we not expected a hot pursuit from Dost 
 Muhammad's troops, this would have seemed a 
 safe refuge ; but I was determined to run no 
 risk of bringing our kind host into trouble. 
 
 Setting forth, then, refreshed, strengthened, 
 and encouraged, we travelled in the direction of 
 Hazrat Imam our first two days' journey being 
 most tedious, for we had to recross the spurs of 
 the Hindu Kush, over and through which we 
 had reached the pir's retreat. 
 
 I will not weary you by detailing our marches, 
 but must describe a remarkable relic of the past 
 which we observed on the most northern range 
 of these mountains. On a smooth rocky plat- 
 form, having a slight slope towards the north, 
 was an immense mass of stone, which our guide 
 called the Asp-i-Dheha. This on inspection 
 turned out to be (as I imagined) a unique curi-
 
 LEGEND OF THE FLYING HORSE. 91 
 
 osity, but our guide told us that a similar one 
 existed in the Khilti country. It was a colossal 
 figure of a horse, now lying prostrate on its 
 left side, the head turned to the north. It had 
 evidently at one time been erect, as the stumps 
 of the four feet were still in position : they were 
 part of the platform, and had evidently never 
 been detached from it. I assured myself that 
 there was no joint or cement, and that the 
 entire figure must have been hewn from the 
 solid rock. These four stumps were of different 
 lengths, and the portions of the legs still at- 
 tached to the horse's body corresponded perfectly 
 with them. It seemed singular that the enor- 
 mous mass had not been broken in falling, but 
 this was accounted for by its very size and by 
 the hardness of the material a black flinty por- 
 phyrite with beautiful veins of dark red and 
 green running through it. On striking it with 
 my knife it rang like bell-metal. 
 
 I should say that its height when erect was 
 about 15 feet to the withers. 
 
 One guide related the tradition concerning the 
 horse as follows : " This horse once had wings 
 and could fly ; even now it often speaks and im- 
 plores its master to come and ride it again. The
 
 92 A FUGITIVE. 
 
 giant, its master, lives far away in the north, 
 in the land of ice and snow. Every night he 
 used to fly down on this horse to meet a beau- 
 tiful queen of these parts. In the course of time 
 she died, and the giant, coming down as usual 
 and finding her dead, was so overpowered with 
 grief that, alighting from his horse, he cut off 
 its wings. He then took up the mountain and 
 buried himself beneath it. His horse waited so 
 long for him that it was turned into stone, but 
 always remained facing the north, expecting its 
 master's return. Hence it is that it often calls 
 aloud to him, as has been said." 
 
 As it was our wish to reach Hazrat Imam with 
 as much secrecy as possible, we resolved to keep 
 to the hills as far as Takht-i-Sulaiman, and after- 
 wards reach our destination by the Lataband 
 Pass. We then hoped to be safe fijom all pur- 
 suit. 
 
 We moved northwards, and shortly after leav- 
 ing the horse met a man armed with a bow and 
 arrows and carrying a shield. He told us that 
 he was a herdsman, and showed us a path which 
 led in the required direction past an old fort called 
 Killa Seth. His home was hard by, and, as he 
 informed us, a day's march from Takht-i-Sulaiman.
 
 A MARAUDER-INFESTED REGION. 93 
 
 As he volunteered to show us the way, he was 
 quickly mounted behind one of our party, and 
 we took leave of our former guide, who had 
 conducted us from Ghaur-i-Pir. Our new con- 
 ductor informed us that the ruins of the fort 
 were at times infested by a party of Kunduz 
 horsemen, sixty in number, who had recently 
 carried off his goats. 
 
 After a long day's ride we came at sunset to 
 the ruins, which stood on a high hill. These con- 
 sisted of foundations only, half buried in the earth, 
 but were both massive and extensive. Some of 
 the stones, which were cut in an oblong form, 
 must have weighed several tons. We pushed on 
 for a mile or so, and halted for the night in a 
 narrow glen. About a mile from our post was a 
 village, the first we had seen since parting with 
 Habib-ulla Khan. The inhabitants were herds- 
 men, and confirmed our guide's account of the 
 dangers of the road we had intended to follow. 
 They told us that the Kunduz marauders infested 
 that region, and had taken away many of the 
 inhabitants, making slaves of them and plunder- 
 ing their villages. This information changed our 
 plans, and we turned in an easterly direction. We 
 had started, as usual, at break of day, and rode
 
 94 A FUGITIVE. 
 
 at a rapid pace, hoping to reach a pass called 
 the Dara Sulaiman before night. 
 
 About two hours before sunset we met an 
 Udassi fakir, who was, he said, seeking medicinal 
 herbs, and who had just come from Hazrat Imam 
 vid Jerm. He claimed to be a transmuter of 
 metals into gold. This superstition is very com- 
 mon in the East, among the higher as well as 
 the poorer classes. 
 
 While he was pointing out to us the direction 
 of the Takht - i - Sulaiman, which, he said, was a 
 long day's march from us, we perceived a con- 
 siderable body of horsemen moving towards the 
 south, but apparently not approaching us. When 
 about due west of us they suddenly changed their 
 direction and moved on us at a quicker pace. We 
 were now satisfied that they were enemies, and 
 pledged ourselves to sell our lives and liberty at 
 as dear a rate as possible. We now made every 
 effort to reach the pass before them, as, should 
 we succeed, we might hope to withstand their 
 first charge and finally escape in the darkness. 
 
 They were about fifty in number, well-mounted, 
 and (as we found) all armed with matchlocks slung 
 on their shoulders, swords, spears, knives, &c. It 
 was now raining heavily, with dark heavy clouds
 
 A RIDE FOR LIFE. 95 
 
 all around us. Galloping for the pass at full 
 speed, we arrived within 600 or 800 yards of it, 
 well in advance of our pursuers, when a small 
 party of five men emerged from the pass and 
 boldly charged towards us in front, loudly order- 
 ing us to halt in the name of the Kunduz chief, 
 Mir Ali Murad. We, however, paid no attention 
 to them, when two of them brought their match- 
 locks down to the present and threatened to fire 
 on my Therbah, who was nearest to them. He 
 immediately charged them, and quickly unhorsed 
 and slew both of them ; and our volunteer, who 
 was a capital horseman and spearman, wheeled 
 round upon the others and despatched two. My 
 Therbah immediately afterwards killed the re- 
 maining man with his long Afghan knife. 
 
 The fray now became general, as the main body 
 charged us, trying to save their comrades. This 
 fortunately prevented their using their matchlocks, 
 and we had reached the mouth of the pass, which 
 we held with desperation. Their overwhelming 
 numbers, however, soon broke our ranks, and they 
 unfortunately got mixed up with us : there was 
 no room for orderly fighting, and it was a mere 
 cut-and-thrust affair. 
 
 Soon we had only seven men left out of thir-
 
 96 A FUGITIVE. 
 
 teen, and we slowly retreated up the pass, keeping 
 them off as well as we could. In the pass we 
 lost two more men, one our late volunteer, and 
 were now reduced to five, each of us severely 
 wounded. I myself received two wounds, one a 
 bad one in the groin from an Afghan knife, and 
 the other a stab from a dirk in the chest. 
 
 It was now quite dark, and the rain was coming 
 down still heavier than before. However, our 
 enemies followed us no farther, no doubt the 
 plundering of the dead being their chief induce- 
 ment to return. We made our way through the 
 pass as quickly as we could in the midst of heavy 
 rain, hail, and lightning, while the roll of the 
 thunder seemed to make the very rocks around 
 us and the ground beneath us to vibrate most 
 sensibly. What with my two former wounds still 
 raw, and my two fresh ones (one of which was 
 bleeding freely), I was soon so weak as nearly to 
 faint in my saddle ; while my Therbah was in 
 nearly as bad a condition. We, however, kept up 
 our spirits, and congratulated ourselves that not 
 one of our party had been taken alive or doomed 
 by capture to hopeless slavery. 
 
 Thus we proceeded through the whole dark 
 night, the vivid and repeated flashes of lightning
 
 A GOOD SOLDIER. 97 
 
 alone showing us the way over most difficult 
 ground. About daybreak we arrived at the east- 
 ern mouth of the pass, and having cleared it, we 
 left the road and made for the shelter of a secluded 
 glen, where we halted. The rain had now nearly 
 ceased, and we proceeded to collect forage for our 
 jaded horses. We were so utterly wearied that 
 we did not care for food for ourselves, though we 
 had two days' rations of mulberry-bread with us, 
 which had been given us by the holy pir. We 
 accordingly lay down in our dripping clothes, in- 
 different whether we might be traced and again 
 attacked by our last night's enemies. I did not 
 even take the precaution to apply any dressing 
 to my wounds, merely satisfying myself that the 
 bleeding had ceased. 
 
 Notwithstanding a drizzling rain which shortly 
 came on, and the keen cutting blast from the hills, 
 we slept nearly the whole day. Whilst I slept my 
 Therbah sat watchful by my side, and no expostula- 
 tion of mine could induce him to lie down and take 
 rest. Though he spoke in high terms of praise of 
 the bravery of our comrades, and particularly of 
 our volunteer, who had been killed beside him, he 
 never made any reference to his own exploits, and 
 considered it as an insult for any one to allude in 
 
 G
 
 98 A FUGITIVE. 
 
 his presence to his acts, or draw attention to his 
 wounds. 
 
 I may here be permitted to say that, from long 
 association with these rude people, I have in a 
 measure contracted some of their habits and peculi- 
 arities this among others ; and though bearing on 
 my body the tokens of my younger and wilder 
 days in the shape of thirteen or fourteen wounds, 
 nothing annoys me more than to be asked how I 
 got this and where I received that. If such a 
 question had been asked me in Turkestan, I should 
 certainly have knocked the man down who ques- 
 tioned me. And I may here say, once for all, that 
 in all the occurrences of my past, misspent life, I 
 was invariably actuated in my inward soul by feel- 
 ings at once honest and upright, at least so far as 
 my poor senses allow me to judge between right 
 and wrong. 
 
 We now deeply repented not having acted on 
 the advice of the old pir, and as we considered it 
 useless to attempt to reach Hazrat Imam, we de- 
 termined to strike off directly to the east, towards 
 the Kokcha river, and thence across the Oxus 
 towards the Shighnan and Bolor ranges, in whose 
 wild fastnesses we felt sure of a safe retreat.
 
 A MYSTERIOUS REGION. 99 
 
 NOTE ON "BOLOR." 
 
 The name Bolor, applied by different writers to various 
 regions of Central Asia, has long puzzled geographers. 
 It has even been stated, but quite without justification, 
 that no such place as Bolor ever existed; for it cannot 
 be seriously believed that writers who have been proved 
 trustworthy in all other particulars should have entered 
 into a general conspiracy to deceive the generations of 
 mankind for whom they successively wrote, on this one 
 subject only. Yet so conflicting are the various state- 
 ments as to the locality of Bolor that an eminent English 
 geographer was driven to form the theory that part of 
 the map of Central Asia had become accidentally semi- 
 inverted: by correcting this supposed error he most in- 
 geniously brought the rival Bolors into one focus. 
 
 "Without making a wearisome catalogue of all the geo- 
 graphical works in which this mysterious region is men- 
 tioned, it may be interesting to notice the following 
 allusions to Bolor by the best known writers : 
 
 1. Hwen-Thsang, who travelled during the years 629 
 to 645 A.D., visited Bolor twice. He describes the king- 
 dom as lying on the Indus, and in the heart of the 
 Himalayas. In another place he states that it lay south 
 of the mountains that formed the southern boundary of 
 Pamir. In the opinion of Mr Ney Elias, one of the 
 highest authorities on the subject, the Bolor of Hwen- 
 Thsang is now represented by the small States now under 
 the Gilgit agency viz., Chitral, Gilgit, Panyal, Hunza, 
 and Nagar. 
 
 2. Al-Biruni, a writer in the eleventh century, men- 
 tions " Balur Shah " as the ruler of a region which 
 General Cunningham identified as Balti or Baltistan.
 
 100 A FUGITIVE. 
 
 Mr Ney Elias, however, dissented from this opinion, on 
 the authority of Mirza Haidar, who invaded Bolor in 
 1530-31 and placed it in the Gilgit Chitral region. 
 
 3. Marco Polo says that he travelled through Bolor on 
 his way from the high plain of Pamir to Kashgar. In 
 the opinion of Sir Henry Yule this region would be that 
 to the north of Balti and Kanjut, and included in Sirikol. 
 
 4. The name Bolor occurs in various writings of the 
 seventeenth and the first half of the eighteenth cen- 
 turies ; and towards the middle of the latter century it 
 came to be believed, on the authority of certain Jesuit 
 missionaries who entered Eastern Turkestan from China, 
 that the true position of Bolor was to the west of Pamir. 
 This belief is supported by statements in the Chinese 
 Imperial Geography, which mention Bolor as a country 
 east of Badakshan and south-west of Yarkand. 
 
 Bolor, in fact, according to the Chinese and the Jesuit 
 geographers, was either Pamir itself under another name, 
 or a portion of the region now known as Pamir. This 
 localisation of Bolor coincides with the geography of 
 Gardner, and is therefore at variance with that of all 
 writers who place this "will-o'-the-wisp" of a country 
 to the south of the Karakorum Mountains. Being unable 
 to reconcile the conflicting statements quoted above, and 
 many others referred to by the various writers on the 
 subject, I appealed for assistance to Captain Young- 
 husband, whose acquaintance with Central Asia need 
 not be dilated on, and in his reply to my letter lies, I 
 believe, the solution of the ancient problem. 
 
 Writing from the Hindu Kush frontier on the 16th 
 September 1894," I have not," he says, " myself heard 
 the word Bolor used. ... In these countries ranges of 
 mountains seldom have a name. We, for instance, call
 
 MOUNTAINS WITHOUT A NAME. 101 
 
 the mountains round me here the Hindu Kush ; but not 
 a single native of these parts has ever heard that name 
 applied to them. Mountain-people look upon mountains 
 as the usual state of affairs on this earth, and don't give 
 a name to the mass of mountains amongst which they 
 live, any more than the inhabitants of a plain country 
 give a name to the plain. An outside traveller has there- 
 fore to invent a name to apply to the mountain-range 
 which he visits. 
 
 "We have unearthed Hindu Kush and applied it to 
 the whole range, although I believe it is in reality the 
 name of a single pass only ; and in the same way Gardner 
 may have applied the name Bolor. 
 
 " I have talked over the matter with Lieutenant Cocker- 
 ill, an officer who has been travelling round the frontier 
 this summer, and he suggested that very possibly Bolor 
 may be merely a corruption of the Persian word Mid 
 upper or above. 
 
 " This word is pronounced by the people of Badakshan 
 (and by Afghans too, I believe) very broad " baw-law." 
 Upper Chitral is often spoken of as Chitral Bala, and in 
 this way a passing traveller may have thought that the 
 upper part of Chitral was named Bala Baw-law Bolor. 
 Or again, the upper regions anywhere might be called 
 Bala. A traveller from the plains of Badakshan going to 
 the Pamirs might say, ' I am going up above, I am going 
 bdld,' and a stranger might think that bdld was a name. 
 This is far-fetched in a way, but in the default of any 
 other theory it is worth thinking over." 
 
 It is indeed well worth thinking over, and is to my 
 mind the only approach that has yet been made to a 
 reconciliation of the conflicting statements as to the 
 cloudy land of Bolor. H. P.
 
 102 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THROUGH BADAKSHAN. 
 
 THE KOKCHA RIVER THE KUNDUZ CHIEF SLAVE-DEALING TRAV- 
 ELLING COMPANIONS SOME BADAKSHAN HISTORY THE RUINS 
 OP ANCIENT ZARUTH THE KAFIR EMPIRE OF EARLY TIMES 
 DIFFICULT TRAVELLING ATTACKED BY WOLVES UNDESIRABLE 
 ACQUAINTANCES THE THERBAH'S FINGER RETRIBUTION THE 
 CHIEF OF SHIGHNAN JUSTICE TEMPERED BY MERCY. 
 
 HAVING somewhat recruited ourselves and our 
 horses by a few days' halt in the glen, we set off 
 north - eastward in the direction of Jerm, and, I 
 think, after two or three marches we entered the 
 Kokcha valley and crossed that river eight or 
 nine miles north of Jerm. Thence we struck for a 
 ford on the eastern branch of the same river, north 
 of Yomal, and between that place and Khairabad. 
 We crossed the river and journeyed on some 
 fifteen miles, where, for the first time since leav- 
 ing the Khawak Pass, we ventured to approach 
 some scattered villages, which we observed at the 
 base of a high mountain-range running north and
 
 ANNUAL SLAVE-RAIDS. 103 
 
 south. These mountains appeared to be of con- 
 siderable altitude, and many of their peaks were 
 topped with snow. 
 
 We were deceived by the height of these moun- 
 tains, for on approaching the villages we found 
 that, although in a rocky situation and surrounded 
 by ravines, they were at a distance of some miles 
 from the actual base of the hills. With the ex- 
 ception of three or four huts, all these habitations 
 were deserted. A few poor families lived apart 
 from each other, and appeared to be in the lowest 
 state of poverty and wretchedness. All this 
 misery was caused by the oppression of the Kun- 
 duz chief, who, not content with plundering his 
 wretched subjects, made an annual raid into the 
 country south of Oxus, and by chappaos (night- 
 attacks) carried off all the inhabitants on whom 
 his troops could lay their hands. These, after 
 the best had been selected by the chief and his 
 courtiers, were publicly sold in the bazaars of 
 Turkestan. The principal providers of this species 
 of merchandise were the khan of Khiva, the king 
 of Bokhara (the great hero of the Muhammadan 
 faith), and the robber beg of Kunduz. 
 
 In the regular slave-markets, or in transactions 
 between dealers, it is the custom to pay for slaves
 
 104 THROUGH BADAKSHAN. 
 
 in money ; the usual medium being either Bok- 
 haran gold tillahs (in value about 5 or 5J Com- 
 pany rupees each), or in gold bars or gold grain. 
 In Yarkand, or on the Chinese frontier, the medium 
 is the silver khurup with the Chinese stamp, 
 the value of which varies from 150 to 200 rupees 
 each. The price of a male slave varies according 
 to circumstances from 5 to 500 rupees. The price 
 of the females also necessarily varies much, from 2 
 tillahs to 10,000 rupees. Even double the latter 
 sum has been known to be given. 
 
 However, a vast deal of business is also done 
 by barter, of which we had proof at the holy 
 shrine of Pir-i-Nimcha, where we exchanged two 
 slaves for a few lambs' skins ! Sanctity and slave- 
 dealing may be considered somewhat akin in the 
 Turkestan region, and the more holy the person 
 the more extensive are generally his transactions 
 in flesh and blood. 1 
 
 The few wretched families at present residing 
 in the hamlets where we halted were mostly Tajiks 
 and farmers, with some few labourers and petty 
 
 1 Note by Colonel Gardner. I subsequently knew at Mooltan a 
 most respectable Lohani fruit merchant who was proved by his own 
 ledger to have exchanged a female slave-girl for three ponies and 
 seven long-haired, red-eyed cats, all of which he disposed of, no 
 doubt to advantage, to the English gentlemen at that station.
 
 TRAVELLING COMPANIONS. 105 
 
 traders, most of the Uzbegs being in their tents 
 among the hills pasturing their cattle. The in- 
 habitants treated us with all hospitality, so we 
 resolved to stay here for a certain time, to rest. 
 During our stay three strangers arrived direct 
 from Jerm and Yomal. They informed us that 
 the latter place was a long day's march west or 
 south-west of us. On becoming acquainted with 
 these men I discovered that one of them was a 
 respectable Syad named Mir Ali Shah, who had 
 a servant with him ; both were well armed, and 
 with handsome weapons. The third person was, 
 curiously enough, a Hindu named Jey Earn, of 
 respectable appearance and well armed. These 
 people appeared to have travelled much together. 
 They were both well - educated men, and could 
 read, write, and speak fluently Persian, Turki, 
 Pashtu, and Arabic. The Hindu had further some 
 colloquial knowledge of the languages of Kafiri- 
 stan, as he had formerly travelled in that country 
 with some other Hindus. 
 
 They appeared to be intimate with the courts 
 and chiefs of Turkestan and Afghanistan, and Mir 
 Ali Shah had held some position of trust under 
 Dost Muhammad shortly after the death of Sardar 
 Azim Khan, the father of our late chief Habib-ulla
 
 106 THROUGH BADAKSHAN. 
 
 Khan. The Syad was a great traveller, and had 
 been to Shikarpur, Lahore, and Peshawar, and had 
 also made a pilgrimage to Mecca, and visited all 
 the places of note in Persia. Jey Ram had been 
 to many places in Russia, as far as Moscow. 
 
 They appeared to have been travelling for pleas- 
 ure during the last two years under the ostensible 
 character of hakims (doctors), to which they added 
 astrology and fortune-telling. I invited them to 
 stay with us as our guests as long as it might suit 
 them to do so. They dressed our wounds and 
 those of our horses with such skill and success that 
 my Therbah declared that they had been sent by 
 God for our succour. By their advice we remained 
 in these villages for eighteen or twenty days to 
 recruit our strength, as they stated that the coun- 
 try through which we proposed to travel was so 
 difficult that we should be obliged to leave our 
 horses behind and proceed on foot. They further 
 said that they themselves were now on their way 
 to those countries, and that on reaching the Oxus 
 they intended to sell their horses and do likewise. 
 They intended to remain during the winter in the 
 Darra Darwaz, and in the following spring to visit 
 Yarkand. Our present residence was called Zaruth 
 Nao.
 
 A DASTARDLY DEED. 107 
 
 While resting here these men related to us the 
 legends and traditions of the country round, par- 
 ticularly concerning the treachery of Shah Sultan 
 Shah, a former ruler of Badakshan, who had mur- 
 dered a Kashgar prince when the latter had fled 
 for refuge to his country when Kashgar had been 
 invaded by the Chinese. 
 
 The prince was enticed into Badakshan by false 
 promises of friendship, and then put to the torture 
 to force him to give up his jewels and treasure. 
 Finally he was put to death by being cut up, limb 
 by limb, in the presence of his wives and children. 
 God had, however, punished this cruel act by 
 means of the prince's grandson, who instigated the 
 chiefs of Balkh and Kunduz to attack Badakshan, 
 and having caused himself to be placed at the 
 head of their troops, had avenged his grandfather's 
 murder by the conquest and almost total depop- 
 ulation of Badakshan. Even now his descendants 
 were the chief instigators of the yearly raids into 
 this unhappy country. 
 
 The Syad informed me that Faizabad, which 
 stands on the north of the junction of the two 
 main branches of the Kokcha river, has always 
 been considered the capital of Badakshan, but that 
 since the invasion of the country its importance
 
 108 THROUGH BADAKSHAN. 
 
 has gradually decreased, notwithstanding its ex-' 
 tensive iron-smelting trade and silk manufactures, 
 and that Jerm may now be considered the most 
 prosperous place. 1 
 
 Badakshan is the garden of the East, and the 
 only obstacles to its prosperity are the con- 
 stant depredations of the Kunduz chief. He is 
 prevented by the difficult nature of the country 
 from extending his forays north of the Oxus, 
 except occasionally towards the north - western 
 boundaries of Badakshan. 
 
 While remaining at Zaruth Nao we started one 
 day to see the ruins which existed in the neighbour- 
 hood, and after riding over a most difficult country 
 for about seven miles, came to a semicircular plat- 
 form of bare rock about 300 or 400 yards in circum- 
 ference, in the centre of which were the ruins of 
 Zaruth. Nothing, however, now remained but 
 large masses of hewn stone, all of a black colour 
 and flinty nature, which were strewn about in all 
 directions. In the midst of these ruins was piled 
 up an immense cairn of loose stones, contributed 
 by visitors ; and, as was the custom, each of us 
 
 1 About three years after this history was related to Colonel 
 Gardner, the Kunduz chief made an organised raid into Badakshan 
 and totally destroyed Faizabad. H. P.
 
 A REMARKABLE CAVE. 109 
 
 added one or two more to the heap. There was 
 another cairn at the entrance to a cave, which was 
 at the base of the eastern face of the neighbouring 
 cliff. Having washed our hands (as in duty bound) 
 in the spring- water close by, we entered the cave 
 in single file, the mouth of it being only about 2 
 feet or 2 feet broad ; its height was about 20 feet. 
 
 However, as we advanced it gradually widened 
 for about 15 yards, at which distance from the 
 entrance were its largest dimensions namely, 
 about 24 feet in width. The roof was here so high 
 that we could not perceive it in the darkness. The 
 cave continued with these dimensions for about 20 
 yards farther in a straight line, and then turned 
 and grew narrow towards the north, and ended in a 
 cleft a few yards farther on. 
 
 The floor consisted of the bare uneven rock, but 
 the walls on each side were well polished to the 
 height of 6 or 7 feet, on which space were to be 
 seen the mutilated remains of idols, which had been 
 originally cut out of the rock in pretty high relief. 
 They were, however, so mutilated that only one or 
 two could be distinguished as having limbs, and 
 the faces of all were smashed. 
 
 At the farther end of the cave there was a small 
 spring of water, near which was a very remarkable
 
 110 THROUGH BADAKSHAN. 
 
 echo, which appeared to reverberate through other 
 spacious galleries. 
 
 The story of this place (called Sheheid Ghaur-i- 
 Zaruth), as told me by the Syad, was that formerly 
 the whole of Badakshan was held by the Kafirs, 
 and the Kur Kafirs held the northern part of the 
 range now called the Koh -i-Kojah -Muhammad ; 
 other tribes held the whole of the ranges south of 
 the Oxus, through which country numerous caves 
 and ruins are to be seen to attest to their former 
 power. From the reign of Sultan Mahmud of 
 Ghazni 1 (A.D. 1000) down to Khusrao (A.D. 1150), 
 the last of the Ghazni dynasty, constant raids had 
 been made into Badakshan in order to destroy the 
 Kafirs and annex their country; but it was not 
 until Muhammad Ghori conquered Delhi and 
 founded the Muhammadan Government of India 
 (A.D. 1193) that the country called Kafiristan was 
 broken up, and the name of Badakshan bestowed 
 on that part from which the Kafirs were driven. 
 
 At this time a holy man from Mecca headed the 
 Ghazis in a religious war, and slew 300 or 400 
 Kafir priests in this very cave. All the idols were 
 
 1 The Ghaznivide dynasty existed from A.D. 962 to 1186, but did 
 not possess an independent sovereignty until A.D. 999, when Mahmud 
 threw off his allegiance to the Court of Bokhara. H. P.
 
 TIMUR THE TARTAR. Ill 
 
 then destroyed, and on the ruins of their place of 
 worship the Mecca pir built a masjid to commemo- 
 rate the heroic deed he had consummated. This 
 done, the holy man took up his abode there, and 
 his successors held sway until the days of Timur 
 some 200 years. 
 
 This monarch attempted to complete the sub- 
 jugation of Kafiristan, but was foiled. The Kafirs, 
 in retaliation, issued from their fastnesses and made 
 a successful raid to the north and west. They 
 came to this place, slew the pir of that day with, 
 it is said, 500 followers, and razed his masjid to the 
 ground. The Syad told me of numerous other 
 caves in the neighbourhood even more extensive 
 than this one, but the roads to them were very 
 dangerous at this time of year from constant 
 avalanches. 
 
 Having halted about twenty days at these 
 villages, and being now pretty well recovered from 
 our wounds, we started and took a north-easterly 
 direction, to get through the Khojah Mahomed 
 range, by the pass called Kafir Ghesh Durrah, 
 from two large stone idols cut out of the solid rock, 
 and representing the Kafir deity Ghesh (the Earth) 
 and his wife Dizane (the producer of all things). 
 The road was so bad that we were obliged to lead
 
 112 THROUGH BADAKSHAN. 
 
 our horses over it. It was far more difficult than 
 the Khawak Pass, though at about the same 
 altitude the ascent and descent being far more 
 precipitous. 
 
 Darkness came upon us, with rain, sleet, and 
 snow, when we were at the top of the pass. "We 
 passed a most wretched night under some rocks, 
 and were nearly frozen from the intensity of the 
 cold and the bitter wind, which blew keenly. We 
 started early the following morning, and after 
 travelling for four days over most difficult, almost 
 impracticable country, and after traversing another 
 pass at least equally elevated as that just described, 
 we arrived at the southern branch of the Oxus, just 
 opposite the junction of the Shakh Dara river, 
 which flows into it from the eastward. 
 
 During the entire march of four days we only 
 met two or three solitary Badakshani herdsmen ; 
 and though we saw some few ruined villages off the 
 road, we did not come across a single inhabited 
 one, a significant proof of the present state of 
 desolation of this part of Badakshan. 
 
 We found the bridge over the river destroyed, 
 and only some rope-crossings left which, as we 
 had horses, left us nothing for it but to make a 
 bridge or raft.
 
 BRIDGE OF ICE AND STRAW. 113 
 
 The inhabitants of this region had fled into the 
 fastnesses to escape a grand raid, which was daily 
 expected, and we could get but little assistance. 
 Finally we managed with incredible difficulty to 
 bind blocks of ice together with straw ropes, which 
 when covered with grass formed a means of cross- 
 ing for us and our horses. I should mention that 
 in all my misadventures I had religiously kept the 
 horses which I stole in reprisal from the Kipchak 
 chief. They were excellent animals, and though 
 some had been killed and others left behind, I still 
 had five of them. As I have said, that was the 
 number of survivors of my party after the attack 
 of the Kunduz robbers, and we certainly owed our 
 lives to the excellence of these horses, which I was 
 anxious to keep as long as possible in so dangerous 
 a country. From the reports of the guide whose 
 services we managed to secure, we made out that 
 we were about seven or eight marches from the ruby 
 mines. I was most anxious to visit them, but my 
 Therbah and Jey Earn remonstrated, and begged 
 me to wait until we reached the fort of the chief of 
 Shighnan, from which we could proceed to the fort 
 of Gharan, in the immediate vicinity of the mines. 
 There he promised us a cordial reception. 
 
 After crossing the river we passed a miserable 
 
 H
 
 114 THROUGH BADAKSHAN. 
 
 night, without food or a light for our pipes, with 
 the keen wind blowing down upon us from the 
 snowy heights of the Bolor Mountains and the 
 Pamir steppes. 
 
 The next morning I was still more importunate 
 about the ruby mines, fearing to lose the oppor- 
 tunity of a lifetime, and eventually I prevailed. 
 So, having shifted our camp to a more sequestered 
 spot, and leaving the remainder of our party with 
 strict orders to lie close, the Syad, the Therbah, 
 and myself started off, armed with stout spears. 
 We wandered through rock and precipice, and after 
 weary toil were brought to a standstill by a deep, 
 swift torrent. We managed to wade through it by 
 tying our three selves together separately we 
 should certainly have been carried off our feet. 
 
 Having reached the other side we strode on ex- 
 ulting, hoping to reach some outlying hamlet ; but 
 on attaining the summit of a hill, at least 13,000 
 feet above the level of the sea, we were disap- 
 pointed to find more journeying in store for us. 
 Night was approaching, and we had brought no 
 food with us. Just then we came upon an exciting 
 wild hunt. A quantity of wild sheep tore past us, 
 hotly followed by wolves. My Therbah promptly 
 shot one of the sheep, but two wolves turned and
 
 ATTACKED BY WOLVES. 115 
 
 disputed our right to it. We shot the nearest wolf, 
 but others came up and hovered round. Now we 
 were in a fix, for we had no materials for a fire, 
 and jaded as we were, had the prospect of a night's 
 skirmishing with hungry wolves, leopards, hyenas, 
 and jackals. The Syad was better off, as he sus- 
 tained himself by his unfailing resource of opium. 
 
 We buried our sheep under a pile of stones, and 
 leaving the Syad to watch, the Therbah and I set 
 out in search of fuel. After some trouble we 
 collected a miserable bundle of tufted shrub and 
 animal dung, and returned just in time to save our 
 raw material. The Syad was musically snoring 
 under the influence of his opium, and a wolf had 
 dragged our sheep from underneath the stones and 
 had nearly eaten one of its legs. 
 
 I was behind the Therbah, having gone farther 
 away to secure a tall shrub I had remarked at 
 a distance, and was nearly eaten by a pack of 
 wolves, for just as I hurried up and shot the 
 first depredator, the main body threw themselves 
 alike on his dead body and on me. I tried to 
 force my way through them, but one of them 
 gave me a sharp nip, and the taste of blood 
 made him set up an unearthly screech, which, 
 being taken up by the others, proved my sal-
 
 116 THKOUGH BADAKSHAN. 
 
 vation, for my friend the Therbah hurried up, 
 shouting and firing into the midst of them. At 
 this they slowly and sulkily retreated. 
 
 We then proceeded to warm, rather than roast, 
 the new flesh at our scanty fire, at which the 
 Syad expressed great disgust, and asked what 
 crime he had committed to be asked to eat raw 
 meat. The Therbah and I had not spoiled our 
 appetites with opium, and fell to ; immediately 
 afterwards the former fell asleep. The Syad 
 then, somewhat recovered from the effects of the 
 opium, convinced me, after a long argument, of 
 the danger and fruitlessness of attempting further 
 to find the ruby mines. 
 
 The next morning we commenced the return 
 journey, and had just reached the stream which 
 had given us so much trouble before, when we 
 heard a sharp whistle, and saw two men peering 
 down on us from a rock about 150 yards above 
 us. The Syad gave a friendly salute, and went 
 forward to meet them, and presently returned 
 with them. As will be seen, a pleasant acquisi- 
 tion they proved ! 
 
 One was a stout active greybeard of about 
 sixty, the other a tall strong young man of 
 about twenty. Both carried long heavy match-
 
 AN INCIDENT OF TRAVEL. 117 
 
 locks with wooden forked props attached, and 
 matches lit, and each had a sword and shield 
 loosely slung over their shoulder. Seeing this, 
 the Therbah and I, unperceived by them, loos- 
 ened our weapons. 
 
 They accosted us in a friendly way, and seemed 
 astonished at our double-barrelled muskets, and 
 at the intelligence that they killed at 800 yards. 
 They declined to make a close inspection of such 
 terrible weapons. They told the Syad that they 
 were servants of the Kunduz Beg, and had been 
 with some others in search of falcons for the 
 prince. They were very officious in offering aid 
 in crossing the stream to the Syad, begging to 
 carry his garments and boots for him. 
 
 The Therbah and I did not like the appearance 
 of things, and declined assistance. The strangers 
 were very reverential to the Syad, kissing his 
 feet. We had now approached the brink, and 
 the Syad, after breathing a short " Bismillah, 
 Illah, Illah," descended the bank, entered the 
 stream, and had got half-way across when off 
 started the two strangers with his boots and 
 clothes, the Therbah and I, who had kept our 
 eyes on them, in hot pursuit. The Therbah 
 dropped his gun to lighten himself, and we
 
 118 THROUGH BADAKSHAN. 
 
 gained on them rapidly. I covered them with 
 my weapon, when they dropped the clothes. 
 We speedily recrossed the ford, not knowing 
 how many more marauders might be about, 
 when " bang " went a matchlock, and a ball 
 struck the ground at our feet. A second shot 
 went through the Syad's pirpank (a high, coni- 
 cal, black lambskin cap), a third took off the 
 top joint of the second finger of my poor Ther- 
 bah's left hand. The ball struck him while wav- 
 ing his arm to me to fire. Feeling that there 
 was no help for it, I took steady aim, fired, and 
 rolled over the elder robber, who fell down the 
 khad (declivity). The younger one rushed away, 
 yelling to his comrades. We went our way, 
 looking constantly round, and presently we saw 
 three or four men gathered round the dead or 
 dying robber. A few dropping shots were sent 
 after us, but luckily we escaped scot-free to our 
 camp. 
 
 When I awoke next morning I was surprised 
 to see three strangers telling some long yarn to 
 the Syad's servant and to the Hindu, Jey Earn. 
 I feigned sleep, and heard them say how they 
 belonged to the great beg of Kunduz, were out 
 on an expedition in search of falcons, had been
 
 THE THERBAH'S FINGER AVENGED. 119 
 
 set upon by a desperate gang of robbers the 
 evening before, their leader shot dead, and they 
 themselves robbed of all their money. They 
 showed the matchlock of the victim of my 
 double-barrelled gun. 
 
 I soon identified in one of the strangers the 
 younger of our two assailants, and the man I 
 had seen fire the shot that took off the Therbah's 
 finger. I resolved on the capture of these men, 
 who, with their listeners, thought me buried in 
 profound slumber. I contrived to give a signal 
 to my trusty Therbah, and suddenly sprang upon 
 the men, and with his aid overpowered them in 
 an instant. 
 
 I bound and secured the younger worthy, and 
 when the Therbah presently recognised him, I 
 had much difficulty in preventing him from at 
 once avenging his shattered hand. 
 
 The Syad appeased him by saying that the 
 fellow would be sold next day as a dog of a 
 Kafir at the fort in Shighnan, to which we now 
 proceeded. 
 
 In the evening we arrived there, and were re- 
 ceived with much kindness by the bai, or chief. 
 He came out to meet us, attended by two or 
 three followers, and with a present of two goats,
 
 120 THROUGH BADAKSHAN. 
 
 some melted butter, floor, and firewood, all very 
 acceptable. The old man welcomed us to his 
 dominions, and loudly praised their beauty. He 
 identified our prisoners with a gang of profes- 
 sional robbers from the Jerm district, whose chief 
 was the man I had killed, and who had been 
 pillaging and murdering for the last three years. 
 He said that they must, according to the custom 
 of the country, be either sold in slavery or suffer 
 death. The good old bai, though of the blood 
 royal, did not disdain to sit up half the night 
 with us, squatted on the ground in true patri- 
 archal style, armed to the teeth with sword, 
 dagger, and buckler. We had not a cloth among 
 us to spread on the greensward, little being left 
 to us beyond our good horses and arms, and our 
 scant clothing. 
 
 The night passed away, and next morning we 
 heard that the young robber had made a clean 
 breast of all the transactions of his gang. "We 
 were summoned to the presence, and the young 
 miscreant, after a solemn adjuration, repeated 
 his confession before us. He told a tale of 
 murders and robberies in which he had taken 
 part during the last eight months, and offered 
 to show where the booty was buried. He was
 
 PRISONERS SOLD BY AUCTION. 121 
 
 sent off under escort, and soon returned with 
 every item he had mentioned. 
 
 The bai then assumed a judicial air, no further 
 evidence of guilt was deemed requisite, and 
 each member of the conclave was called upon 
 for his vote as to the punishment. At the same 
 time three mullahs or khojas, who were in 
 special attendance, opened each his Koran and 
 pored over the statutes with great gravity. Two 
 men were sent out to ascertain the wish of our 
 party. After the votes were all given it ap- 
 peared that, with one dissentient, who was for 
 pardon, it was unanimously decided that all 
 should be sold into slavery for life. Mine was 
 the dissentient, but powerless, voice. 
 
 The bai then summoned a person of high 
 official standing, whose dress proclaimed him to 
 be no less than the Court barber. A solemn 
 prayer was offered by the head Jchofa, after 
 which the long hair of the prisoners was cut by 
 the above functionary within an inch of their 
 scalps. 
 
 They were then proclaimed for public auction, 
 and knocked down to the bai himself at the low 
 figure of 18 tillahs of gold-dust a-head. 
 
 After this their hair was close shaven to the
 
 122 THROUGH BADAKSHAN. 
 
 scalp. The bai then rose and took hold of the 
 young man who had confessed by the arm, put 
 his hand upon his head, and declared him peni- 
 tent. He then ordered him to be his personal 
 attendant. The young man at once prostrated 
 himself, and the bai being now seated, he placed 
 his head underneath the heel of the chief. The 
 bai then raised him up, and he was forthwith 
 released and a freeman. The other two, who 
 were doomed for slavery, were sent away in 
 custody of four or five armed men, who were 
 instructed where to meet a slave -dealer who 
 would take possession of them.
 
 123 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 AMONG THE KIRGHIZ. 
 
 BEAUTIES OF KAFIRISTAN TITLES OF THE SHIGHNAN LADIES 
 METHODS OF OBTAINING GOLD FROM THE RIVERS VISIT TO A 
 KIRGHIZ ENCAMPMENT A BENEVOLENT RULER DRESS AND 
 APPEARANCE OF THE KIRGHIZ A VENERABLE FAKIR VISIT 
 TO THE RUBY MINES WAIT FOR THE WEDDING A DISAPPOINT- 
 MENT CONSOLATION WANDERINGS IN THE PAMIRS A ROBBER 
 CHIEF A RIDE FOR A WIFE A TRAGIC OCCURRENCE. 
 
 ALL the prominent points of the Shighnan valley 
 are studded with castellos. The control of the bai 
 over his subjects was very limited. Bands of 
 depredators amounting to 200 or 300 men would 
 at times cross the Pamir steppes and plunder the 
 Tash- Kurgan district and others in an easterly 
 direction, going as far as Yarkand and Kar-galik. 
 But now, in consequence of the wide - reaching 
 ascendancy of the Kunduz power, the Shighnan 
 clans are rather the plundered than the plunderers. 
 We proceeded on our journey through the valley, 
 amid the usual varieties of mountain country, and
 
 124 AMONG THE KIRGHIZ. 
 
 encountering the usual difficulties with practical 
 skill. Every effort was being made to procure by 
 bribery a respite, at least, from the dreaded raid 
 of the Kunduz ruler. Everything obtainable was 
 being collected gold-dust, horses, leopard and 
 lion skins, falcons, fine greyhounds, &c. Most of 
 the inhabitants, especially women and children, 
 had for the last two or three months been remov- 
 ing all their chattels into the mountain fastnesses 
 to the north of Shighnan, and had even crossed 
 the boundary range into Roshan and Darwaz. 
 
 All the houses and hamlets I saw in Shighnan 
 were well kept, especially when the presiding 
 female was of Kirghiz extraction, or from Wakhan, 
 Chitral, or Kafiristan. The beauty of the women 
 of the last-named region is proverbial in Asia ; 
 hair varying from the deepest auburn to the 
 brightest golden tints, 1 blue eyes, lithe figures, 
 fine white teeth, cherry lips, and the loveliest 
 peach-blossom on their cheeks. 
 
 All along the westerly part of the Shakh Dara 
 
 1 Sir Henry Rawlinson, speaking at a meeting of the Eoyal 
 Geographical Society in April 1881, said that, forty years previously, 
 while at Kahul, he had seen a Kafir slave, the most beautiful 
 oriental lady that he ever saw. She was the only lady he had ever 
 met who, by loosening her golden hair, could cover herself com- 
 pletely from head to foot as with a screen." H. P.
 
 LADIES OF SHIGHNAN. 125 
 
 valley were traces of former habitations, once 
 populous and happy hamlets. Here and there 
 were clumps of mulberries, apricots, peaches, 
 cherries, walnuts, and poplars. But for the fever- 
 ish excitement of a life of perpetual fear of in- 
 vasion, nothing could be more charming than the 
 rustic society of these mountains. Polygamy, of 
 course, prevails, and each bai or baron numbers 
 his seven or eight partners of his existence. 
 
 The first four wives had titles which signified 
 (1) the original ; (2) the beauty ; (3) the hand- 
 maid ; (4) the pet. Here, as in Turkestan, the 
 females are by no means secluded : each and all 
 were free to come and go as the mountain breezes. 
 Far different is it with the females in the Afghan 
 families of Kabul and other large cities. 
 
 In the families among whom I was now sojourn- 
 ing connubial honour and felicity were the rule. 
 I remember that one day the Syad and myself 
 were paying a social visit to the old bai. In our 
 position of guests we enjoyed the privilege of 
 entering the sacred precincts of the harem, and we 
 found the old man submitting to a pretty sharp 
 slipper-beating at the hands of two beauties, who 
 had taken this mode of avenging themselves for 
 an imaginary breach of fidelity !
 
 126 AMONG THE KIRGHIZ. 
 
 The population generally were herdsmen or 
 farmers, but they added to their income by gold- 
 washing in the rivers and by occasional plundering 
 expeditions. There are three different methods of 
 obtaining gold from the rivers. The first is to 
 wash the river-sand at certain well-known spots, 
 particularly at the inner angles of curves, where 
 the strong current of the main stream causes swift 
 reverse eddies, and allows the gold scales and 
 particles to subside together with quantities of 
 deep purple and black ferruginous sand, in which 
 alone gold is found. This operation is lucrative 
 in the Upper Oxus and several other rivers. The 
 proper season is after the rains, and when the snow- 
 floods have subsided and left the rivers at their 
 lowest. Sometimes as much as four tillahs weight 
 of gold is collected about 120 grains. This, when 
 rubbed up with a little mercury, forms a still 
 amalgam. It is then taken home and separated 
 from all impurities. The mercury evaporates 
 through an application of heat, and the residuum 
 of pure gold is stored in the hollow shank-bones of 
 large birds, such as herons, cranes, &c. The second 
 method, in vogue principally in the neighbourhood 
 of Hazrat Imam, consists in the formation of a sort 
 of gold -trap of fleecy sheepskins, which are laid
 
 THE GOLDEN FLEECE EXPLAINED. 127 
 
 down in the bed of the river at chosen spots. 
 They are held in place by heavy stones, and care 
 is taken that the natural inclination of the wool 
 faces the stream, so as to keep the entire growth 
 of the wool freely flowing in the water. After two 
 or three days' immersion the fleeces are carefully 
 taken from the river and sun - dried. Without 
 hazarding a suggestion that the fable of the 
 Argonautic expedition of the Golden Fleece may 
 have derived its origin from the immemorial 
 practice just described, it is certain that the 
 possession of these golden fleeces is the cause 
 of severe skirmishes, as armed parties frequently 
 rush upon the men left to watch, and sometimes 
 bear off the prize, leaving its guardians dead on 
 the riverside. The third method is to scoop out 
 little holes in the sand in suitable places, and 
 rubbing the sand in the hands, to pick out the 
 grains of gold by aid of a keen eye. This is 
 principally practised by the nomad tribes to the 
 eastward of the Pamir steppes, in the regions of 
 Khotan, Chiang, &c. 
 
 To return to our sojourn with the bai. We 
 became pleasantly intimate, and one day he pro- 
 posed to take the Syad and myself on a trip to 
 visit a Kirghiz encampment. My Therbah attended
 
 
 128 AMONG THE KIRGHIZ. 
 
 us. Starting at daybreak, we arrived after a 
 scramble of eight hours through ravines and over 
 rocks. The encampment was pitched on a strangely 
 chosen spot. Not a tree was to be seen. There 
 were wild mountain flowers in abundance ; and a 
 purling stream fringed with willows wound through 
 the tents pitched on either bank. 
 
 Not only the males but the females of the en- 
 campment met our small cavalcade a mile out, and 
 favoured the bai first, and afterwards the rest of 
 us, with many embraces. There were about eight 
 families. The peculiar warmth of welcome was 
 chiefly attributable to the presence of the bai, 
 whom they honoured as their chief. This volun- 
 tary allegiance arose from the fact of the chief 
 being able to some extent to protect them. Some 
 forty families in all of the Kirghiz owned the 
 bai's sovereignty, of whom about twenty had been 
 subject to his father. To each family was granted 
 an allotment of land on the slopes of the western 
 base of the Pamir steppes. Here they soon shook 
 off their former nomadic habits. When the snows 
 melted they used to go with their families to visit 
 their old friends in the higher Pamir steppes, but 
 faithfully returned to their new settlement in the 
 fall of the year to reap their crops. The uniformly
 
 A PATRIARCHAL RULER. 129 
 
 conciliatory policy of the patriarchal bai reconciled 
 them to a stationary life. He never imposed on 
 them a tax higher than the time-honoured fortieth 
 part of all produce. Any further contribution was 
 entirely voluntary. The bai told me that there 
 were some fifteen chieftains in the same position 
 as himself along the district of the Bolor ranges 
 and the western skirts of the Pamir steppes, and 
 that they all acted in a similar way to their 
 Kirghiz settler subjects. In all there were about 
 30,000 souls who had divested their allegiance 
 from the Court of Khokand to the petty Bolor 
 chiefs. The whole of the nomad Kirghiz tribes of 
 this region were formerly subjects of the king of 
 Khokand, but had been driven into rebellion by 
 the extortions to which they had been subjected. 
 The Khokand authorities were truly rapacious, and 
 each official in turn exacted dues from the unhappy 
 nomads. 
 
 The personal appearance of the male Kirghiz is 
 peculiar. He wears a coarse skin or woollen gar- 
 ment tightly girt round the waist with leather or 
 woollen ropes ; a woolly or fur cap. The features 
 are pure Tartar : small, deep - sunken eyes, de- 
 pressed forehead and nose, and high cheek-bones. 
 When fully accoutred with the heavy rude match- 
 
 i
 
 130 AMONG THE KIRGHIZ. 
 
 lock over his broad shoulder, the Kirghiz, though 
 squat and low in figure, presents, with his robust 
 frame and ruddy cheeks, the type of a resolute 
 mountaineer. The women of the encampment, 
 while bearing traces of their Tartar descent, were 
 much the more pleasing -featured portion of the 
 community. They had light -brown hair, blue 
 eyes, and rosy cheeks and lips. 1 
 
 Each family had its sheep, protected by fierce 
 hill-dogs ; and the headmen owned camels and 
 rugged ponies. 
 
 The women were uniformly modest and virtu- 
 ous, active and good-natured in the performance 
 of their household duties. 
 
 There were in camp some beautifully shaggy- 
 maned Khazak ponies, with bushy and glossy 
 hair all over their heads and bodies, almost con- 
 
 1 Colonel Gardner was rather an enthusiast on the subject of 
 female beauty. As recent travellers in the Pamir region have 
 described the appearance of the women in less favourable terms, I 
 will add the testimony of Captain John Wood, who visited that part 
 of the world in December 1837 : " If unable to praise the men of 
 the Kirghiz for their good looks, I may, without flattery, pronounce 
 the young women pretty. All have the glow of health in their 
 cheeks, and though they have the harsh features of the race, there 
 is a softness about their lineaments, a coyness and maidenly reserve 
 in their demeanour, that contrast strongly and most agreeably with 
 the uncouth figures and harsh manners of the men." From 'A 
 Journey to the Source of the River Oxus.' H. P.
 
 THE RUBY MINES. 131 
 
 cealing their eyes, and reaching to the ground ; 
 also some splendid Shahbaz hawks, collected as a 
 propitiatory offering to the Kataghani robber- 
 chief. I accompanied the bai when he went to 
 present these gifts, which seemed to give great 
 satisfaction. 
 
 On our way we visited the famous ruby mines. 
 To reach them we had to diverge southwards. 
 Before starting we were treated to a sumptuous 
 repast served on wooden trays, on which were 
 spread handsome tablecloths. Everything was 
 served by fair hostesses. We had kababs and 
 pillaos, both sweet-spiced and saline, with fresh 
 cheese - curds, washed down by draughts of fine 
 though somewhat acid Kafiristan and Chitral 
 wine. Nor was fine, fat, snow - preserved wild 
 mutton wanting. We had horn spoons and 
 ladles to help ourselves with. 
 
 The presents for the dreaded chief consisted 
 of lion and tiger skins, large red - deer antlers 
 and horns of markhor and ibex, some fine 
 furs, a few bags and bones full of gold-dust, 
 some musk -glands, and a few rubies of inferior 
 quality. 
 
 Having taken leave of our hosts and hostesses 
 with outstretched hands, muttering a short prayer
 
 132 AMONG THE KIRGHIZ. 
 
 after the head mullah, we mounted and started 
 off towards a lonely hamlet where we were to 
 pass the night before going to the mines. 
 
 Here dwelt a solitary fakir of venerable aspect, 
 with long white locks and eyebrows, and evi- 
 dently of an advanced age. He was seated on 
 the only mat in the place, outside his hovel, 
 absorbed in reverie. All his worldly property 
 seemed to consist of some earthen pots of grain 
 placed in a hole dug in the middle of the hut. 
 He was evidently one of those hermits of the 
 mountains who relinquish the world and all its 
 cares. He was a remarkable man, for he had 
 visited Turkey, Asia Minor, Arabia, Persia, Tur- 
 kestan, and Afghanistan ; had seen Constantinople, 
 Bagdad, Erzeroum, Mecca, Medina, Ispahan, and 
 Teheran. Moreover, he was known to be the 
 owner of a remarkable ruby, and the old bai 
 was most anxious to become its possessor. He 
 made most urgent entreaties for the gem, but 
 for some time the fakir sat perfectly unmoved. 
 The bai declared that by means of this ruby 
 only could the robber - chief, whom he was on 
 his journey to propitiate, be induced to spare 
 the lives, property, and honour of all the inno- 
 cent families around. At last the fakir quietly
 
 THE HERMIT AND THE RUBY. 133 
 
 arose, and lifting the plank that covered a hole 
 in the hut, after a little fumbling produced the 
 gem. Having motioned us with a dignified ges- 
 ture to be seated, he proceeded quietly to unfold 
 a bit of rag, then with much grace placed the 
 jewel softly in the hands of the bai, bestowed 
 on him his blessing, expressed his hope that the 
 offering might produce the anticipated result, 
 and then relapsed into a silent reverie. The bai 
 offered him a sum of money, but the old man 
 gently declined it, but desired that the allowance 
 of grain, which it appears was made him, should 
 be somewhat augmented, in order that he might 
 be able to relieve wayworn and destitute trav- 
 ellers. This was at once agreed to, when the 
 fakir motioned to us to leave his hut, whereupon 
 we departed. 
 
 On examining the gem I found a small Zoroas- 
 trian altar cut in high relief on the centre of 
 the oblong face of the stone, and round the altar 
 a double cordon of letters of the same kind of 
 characters that appear on the Scytho - Bactrian 
 coins which are found about Balkh, Bokhara, &c. 
 The stone was very valuable, from 150 to 200 
 carats in weight a pure lustrous gem. It was 
 salaamed to by the bai and all his followers.
 
 134 AMONG THE KIRGHIZ. 
 
 The ruby had been found about the time of 
 Timur by an ancester of the fakir in a cave 
 near the famous shrine and Kafir city of Esh or 
 Oosh in the Bolor ranges. 
 
 On the following day we took leave of the 
 holy man and proceeded to the mines. They 
 consisted, somewhat to my surprise, of cave -like 
 burrows about 1000 feet above the river. They 
 were cut in soft, decayed, sandstone stratified 
 rock, which both above and below alternated 
 with a species of mountain limestone, also in 
 strata. There was a thick, whitish, and in parts 
 yellowish, saline - like crust formed on the sides 
 of the cuttings, which exuded from the limestone 
 rock, and which was in many parts strongly 
 marked with green, yellow, and dirty-white spots, 
 giving evidence of the presence of iron or copper 
 oxides. The upper part and roofs of the burrows 
 were utterly neglected and in ruins. After wad- 
 ing diagonally through the slush we emerged. 
 Around were old dismantled forts which once 
 commanded the passage of the river and the 
 entrance to the mines. It was said that there 
 were copper, antimony, and lead mines in the 
 vicinity, but that they had not been worked 
 since the days of Timur. In my wanderings I
 
 A RUNAWAY BRIDE. 135 
 
 lost no opportunity of inquiring about the various 
 mines which existed in the regions which I visited, 
 but I never found one which seemed likely to 
 repay attention. 
 
 After leaving the ruby mines I returned with 
 the bai to the valley, which he made his head- 
 quarters at this time, and stayed with him 
 about two months. I had intended to proceed 
 to Yarkand, but the bai dissuaded me from 
 going there without protection. Moreover, the 
 bai, who was at least sixty -five years of age, 
 desired us to witness his approaching nuptials. 
 
 The bride was a fair young Kirghiz, with a 
 rich dowry of camels, ponies, sheep, hounds, 
 hawks, &c. 
 
 Early in the morning of the wedding-day all 
 the bai's male subjects gathered round the fort 
 gateway in their gaudiest attire of various skins 
 and furs thrown over dirty and tattered woollen 
 garments, and armed to the teeth. Most of them 
 had spears in their hands, a large, heavy, forked 
 matchlock slung over their shoulders, with sword 
 and shield, and perhaps the handle of a long 
 hatchet -like knife sticking out from the waist- 
 band. Some wore gay heron -plumes in their 
 head-dresses, all were mounted on Kirghiz camels
 
 136 AMONG THE KIRGHIZ. 
 
 or ponies. The most comical addition to the 
 dress was a flag stuck on a pole tied to each 
 man's back, which waved high over his head. 
 
 There was a monster kettle - drum, horn trum- 
 pets, and a nondescript brass wind-instrument, a 
 few stout male singers, and some dancing -boys 
 got up in female attire. 
 
 When the old bai came forth from the fort, 
 with the bridecake of mulberries and a wreath 
 of flowers, there was a general greeting of 
 " Salaam Aleikum," and the instruments set up a 
 tremendous discordant braying, which set the 
 camels scampering about the plain. The motley 
 cavalcade then started up a ravine, and every one 
 commenced firing salutes of blank cartridge. 
 
 When we had come within a quarter of a mile 
 of the Kirghiz encampment the bai sent a formal 
 deputation of some of his followers, with wreaths 
 of flowers in one hand and the sword in the other, 
 to demand the bride ; but lo ! imagine the uproar 
 and disappointment when it was found that the fair 
 one had absconded with her mother, and that her 
 father had started with some twenty horsemen in 
 hot pursuit. The end was tragic. On the father 
 overtaking the fugitives they refused to surrender, 
 and a bloody fight ensued. The enraged Kirghiz
 
 CONSOLATION. 137 
 
 chief killed his own wife and daughter, and after 
 a brief and bloody struggle not one of the eloping 
 party survived. They were thirteen in all, and 
 the eleven men of the party laid fifteen of their 
 opponents low, besides wounding the chief himself. 
 We returned in sadder mood to partake of what 
 should have been the marriage-feast. As if to 
 drown the past in oblivion, the night witnessed 
 deep potations of the beloved kumiss, and before 
 morning the bai was consoled by marriage with 
 a lovely girl of fifteen, daughter of one of the 
 Kirghiz' headmen. 
 
 Shortly afterwards we took leave of the bai, 
 although warmly pressed by him to settle down 
 as honoured members of his principality, and went 
 on to visit another chief, whose abode was called 
 Bolor Kash. 
 
 We had been invited to pass the remainder of 
 the summer with this chief, and were received with 
 all due honour and courtesy. It was about the 
 end of August 1826 when we arrived at Bolor 
 Kash, but I was anxious to push on, and cut our 
 visit down to three or four days. I found in this 
 village, as in all other Kirghiz communities, an 
 old witch, who was the oracle of the place. She 
 was at once genealogist, news-monger, astrologer,
 
 138 AMONG THE KIRGHIZ. 
 
 historian, exerciser, match - maker, doctor, and 
 divine. 
 
 While staying here I was distressed to hear that 
 the presents offered by my friend the head bai of 
 Shighnan had not been considered sufficient by the 
 rapacious beg of Kunduz, and his wrath was feared. 
 
 Travelling in these regions was extremely diffi- 
 cult, and at one time we took seven days to cover 
 forty miles. 
 
 During our journey we came upon a lonely 
 hamlet where a near relation of the ruling prince 
 of that region had betaken himself. He had un- 
 fortunately killed a favourite courtier of the ruler, 
 and had to fly for his life. 
 
 He had assumed the title of Shah Nawaz Beg, 
 and was trying to carve out a principality for 
 himself. He had already made a fair beginning 
 by the subjection of a community of five Kirghiz 
 families. Travelling on, we came to more hamlets, 
 until at the end of September we crossed an un- 
 named river and arrived at the fort of the ruler 
 against whom Shah Nawaz Beg had revolted. 
 
 The Syad and Jey Ram, who were previously 
 acquainted with the prince, went ahead, leaving 
 us some 500 yards outside. We were soon sum- 
 moned, and passed up a steep ascent of some 300
 
 HOSPITABLY ENTERTAINED. 139 
 
 yards, and into a kind of domestic chapel a small 
 mosque and thence into a private bath, where 
 we performed our ablutions. Thence we proceeded 
 to the mosque, where we performed our evening 
 orisons, which we had scarcely concluded when we 
 were summoned to the presence of the potentate. 
 He was seated in state on some coloured felts, with 
 a large dirty-looking bolster to support his back. 
 Round the walls of the room, which were wattled, 
 were squatted kinsmen and courtiers armed to the 
 teeth. 
 
 On our arrival the ruler arose ; and we ex- 
 changed the usual hearty salutations, and he 
 favoured each of us with warm embraces. Tea, 
 wine, and kumiss were freely distributed, and 
 the king entered into easy conversation with us, 
 lamenting with strong emotion a recent disastrous 
 affair in which some of his followers had been mur- 
 dered. He aimed his remarks pointedly at some 
 of our party, knowing that they would not fail 
 to pass them on to those for whom they were 
 intended. 
 
 We stayed a fortnight with the prince, and then 
 moved on about nine miles, to the northern Bolor 
 ranges, where we sojourned a month in a cave, 
 occasionally used as a shooting-lodge. We found
 
 140 AMONG THE KIRGHIZ. 
 
 game as plentiful as the population was scanty, 
 the great wild sheep being the favourite quarry. 
 
 Our intention now was to go up towards the 
 Ustum valley, south of the Alai ranges, and 
 about mid-way between the Terek Pass and Lake 
 Karakul ; but winter approached, and a noble 
 robber-chieftain, Shah Bahadur Beg, to whom we 
 had been introduced, would have detained us hos- 
 pitably. However, we were anxious to push on, 
 and prevailed over his objections and started. 
 Shah Bahadur Beg's residence was the fort of 
 Tak, or Kurghan Tdk, distant about two and 
 a half days' good marching from the fort of 
 Bolor Kash, and north or north-west of it. The 
 intervening country is monotonous and sparsely 
 inhabited. 
 
 After a week's travelling, aided by some of 
 Shah Bahadur Beg's retainers, we met a party of 
 travellers, who declared that the passes were all 
 closed by snow ; so we were obliged to return, not, 
 however, without extracting blackmail (which was 
 readily paid) of 10 per cent from these and other 
 wayfarers. 
 
 On our way back to the Shah's stronghold we 
 fell in with a party of thirteen Kirghiz families 
 who had been compulsorily summoned by him to
 
 A RACE FOR A WIFE. 141 
 
 arrange a marriage dispute. It seemed that a fair 
 young damsel, daughter of the Kirghiz bai, had 
 been betrothed and sold for various considerable 
 sums to a number of different suitors. It was 
 settled now by the elders and priests that all 
 the young suitors had an equal right to her, 
 that the lady should ride with a slung bow, and 
 that whoever caught her should be the lucky 
 swain. 
 
 Accordingly she appeared : a lovely girl, with 
 a heron's plume stuck in her high fur cap grace- 
 fully waving over her fair forehead ; a red leathern 
 girdle round her waist ; and a small light bow 
 slung over her arm. She also held a few 
 arrows. She then chose a fleet horse and started 
 off at full speed, hotly pursued by her suitors. 
 The excitement of the chase was vivid. She 
 was long seen waving the bow over her head in 
 the distance, until a turn of the plain round a 
 mountain spur hid the headlong party from our 
 sight. Had she escaped and returned to camp in 
 possession of the bow, she would have been con- 
 sidered as freed from all engagements ; but it was 
 not to be so. After a long chase the young lady 
 returned, flushed and tired, without her bow, and 
 somewhat abashed. Shortly afterwards we saw
 
 142 AMONG THE KIRGHIZ. 
 
 the triumphant suitor describing a figure of eight 
 on horseback on the very spot whence the lady 
 came again into our range of vision, and brandish- 
 ing the fateful bow aloft. 
 
 Then the elders and priests arose, and with pipe 
 and tambour played the conquering hero into camp. 
 Before an hour had elapsed the nuptial knot had 
 been tied. The bride now for the first time 
 loosed her virgin tresses, which were formerly 
 plaited over her neck ; and then the wedding 
 banquet commenced. 
 
 The wedding-cake, of pulverised mulberries, was 
 cut into substantial lumps by young female attend- 
 ants, whole roasted sheep were chopped up, and 
 sour kumiss was handed round. Then came a ball, 
 and all danced and gambolled until the bleating of 
 the lambs in the encampment, and the general stir 
 of animal life, warned us that the grey dawn was 
 breaking. 
 
 Alas ! it ushered in a melancholy day. Although 
 not one of our party had slept a wink amid the 
 joyous revelry of the night, we were up and off at 
 sunrise, and had not proceeded more than four or 
 five miles when of a sudden Shah Bahadur Beg 
 
 o 
 
 himself unexpectedly and mysteriously appeared
 
 TRAGIC SEQUEL. 143 
 
 before us, with a strong body of followers. He 
 welcomed us courteously, and then rapidly dis- 
 appeared on some expedition, the object of which 
 we could not divine. The mystery was soon 
 terribly solved. In the evening the Shah re- 
 turned from his raid ; with him were some seven 
 or eight Kipchak Kirghiz elders and females, and 
 to our grief we recognised the beauteous heroine 
 and bride of yesterday's revels, strapped to the 
 chiefs back, on his horse. Earnest were our 
 intercessions for the prisoners, and so far as the 
 rest of them were concerned, they were success- 
 ful, for the Shah graciously released them. 
 
 As to the unhappy girl, our prayers were fruit- 
 less. The Shah declared that he had had the 
 misfortune that day to kill both her parents, her 
 brothers, and her husband, and that he was there- 
 fore bound to constitute himself her protector. 
 Sadly we accompanied the Shah to his home. 
 
 Nothing reconciled the girl to her fate. She 
 stabbed herself to death before the Shah two days 
 afterwards, with a dagger which she had evidently 
 concealed for the purpose. 
 
 We wintered here with the Shah, and in the 
 spring of 1827 took our departure, resisting all
 
 144 AMONG THE KIRGHIZ. 
 
 the inducements of our host to stay. He con- 
 sidered that, with women, wine, good horses, good 
 guns, good dogs, good falcons, and with a castello 
 on the top of a crag in Yagistan, 1 all that life could 
 offer was at our feet. 
 
 1 "Yagistan" means "the independent country."
 
 145 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A REMARKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 THE GARDEN OF EDEN THE AKAS AND THE KEIAZ GARDNER 
 LEAVES PAMIR CROSSES THE YAMUNYAR RIVER NEAR TASH- 
 BALYK THE YAK YARKAND THE TWO CITIES LEH AND SRIN- 
 AGAR THE GREAT EARTHQUAKE GARDNER'S JOURNEY THROUGH 
 GILGIT AND CHITRAL THE STRATEGIC IMPORTANCE OF CHITRAL 
 SECOND VISIT TO KAFIRISTAN GARDNER TRAVERSES AFGHAN- 
 ISTAN AND IS IMPRISONED AT GIRISHK VISIT TO KABUL 
 FAREWELL TO THE THERBAH GARDNER ARRIVES IN BAJAUR 
 SYAD AHMAD THE REFORMER HIS HISTORY DEATH OF THE 
 SYAD GARDNER BECOMES CHIEF OF ARTILLERY AT PESHAWAR 
 AND CONCLUDES HIS TRAVELS. 
 
 GARDNER passed the winter of the year 1826 with 
 the hospitable robber -chief Shah Bahadur Beg, 
 and set forth in the spring of 1827 on his journey 
 to Yarkand. 
 
 In addition to Jey Ram the Hindu, and Mir 
 Ali Shah, the Syad, Gardner's party included the 
 Syad's servant and Gardner's own four attendants, 
 or eight persons in all. 
 
 The party determined to travel northwards 
 at first, so as to strike the trade route from 
 
 K
 
 146 A REMARKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 Samarkand to Yarkand ; and with this object they 
 journeyed through Karategin to the valley of the 
 Surkhab ; then turning eastward they went by the 
 great Alai valley or plateau. 
 
 This is a region considered by many to be no 
 other than the site of the Garden of Eden and the 
 birthplace of the human race. In contrast to most 
 of the regions round about, the Alai valley is very 
 fertile. Gardner stated in after-life that the wild 
 fruits there were equal to the garden fruit of 
 Kashmir. 
 
 At this point the only Afghan who remained of 
 the party which originally followed him from the 
 Kohistan declined to go any farther east, and took 
 his leave. 
 
 Gardner gives a curious account of the in- 
 habitants of the Karatagh and Aktagh mountains, 
 who were, he says, the descendants of the ancient 
 Kafir race who inhabited this region. 
 
 Although no subsequent traveller, whose experi- 
 ences have been published, has as yet confirmed 
 Gardner's account, his statement is too curious 
 to lose, and may even hereafter be proved to be 
 accurate. Dr Sven Hedin is stated to have dis- 
 covered a previously unknown tribe very similar 
 to Gardner's Akas.
 
 A FIERCE AND INDEPENDENT RACE. 147 
 
 The mountain-ranges known as the Aktagh and 
 Karatagh are considerably to the west of the place 
 in which Gardner now was ; but he states that the 
 Akas, as he calls these wild tribes, lived also in 
 the mountains bordering the Alai valley, and that 
 they were the original inhabitants of Kashgar. 1 
 At the time of his visit they were entirely confined 
 to the mountains. 
 
 " The Akas," says Gardner, " and other moun- 
 tain tribes of the great Kashgar population, pre- 
 tend, like all the people of Great Kashgar, to great 
 antiquity, and are probably the aborigines of these 
 mountains (Aktagh), from which they take their 
 names. 
 
 " Very few Akas have ever embraced Muham- 
 madanism, and these few are a tribe to the 
 north of and about the Terek Pass. They go 
 by the name of Grums, a degraded and little 
 respected tribe. 
 
 " The other Akas are an independent and fierce 
 race, of predatory habits, and prove themselves to 
 
 1 Gardner mentions the Alai and Trans- Alai ranges by name, and 
 appears to apply the name Aktagh to some range near them. The 
 mountains in this region are so named in Arrowsmith's map of 
 Central Asia, the only one that Gardner could have seen at the 
 period when he dictated his recollections to Mr Cooper and Sir 
 Henry Durand : this seems to explain his mistake.
 
 148 A REMARKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 the surrounding Muhammadans to be of obstinate 
 and warlike character. A continual and bitter 
 warfare exists between them, much resembling 
 that between the Kafirs of the Hindu Kush and 
 their Afghan and Chitrali neighbours. 
 
 "All the Akas that the Muhammadans make 
 captive in their raids are invariably sold as 
 slaves. 
 
 "The Akas are of low stature, but well made 
 and hardy; manly, fierce, and savage in manner. 
 They are generally dressed in skins. Their women, 
 though of fair complexion, are not entitled to be 
 called good-looking, being of coarse features except 
 in one curious tribe called the Keiaz. 
 
 "This tribe live in small communities in the 
 most inaccessible peaks of the mountains, and 
 number some 7000 souls in all. They lead the 
 life of wild beasts, living in holes and dens dug 
 out of the crags. They subsist chiefly by hunting, 
 in which they are very expert, and so barbarous 
 are they as seldom to use fire to make their meat 
 more palatable. If the tales told by their Mu- 
 hammadan neighbours are to be relied on, the 
 Keiaz are not content with the raw flesh of wild 
 animals alone, but 'sometimes devour the bodies of 
 their enemies who fall into their hands.
 
 MARRIAGE AMONG THE KEIAZ. 149 
 
 "Among the mountains and valleys that I 
 passed through on my way to Ausgess resided 
 these Keiaz. They, like the Akas, were generally 
 clothed in the skins of wild animals that they 
 slew in the chase. They were armed only with a 
 small bow and a spear. They adore rude idols, 
 large masses of curiously shaped stone or rocks. 
 They mix very little with the Akas, by whom 
 they are considered a barbarous people ; but 
 the latter admire their women, frequently take 
 them captive, and make them slaves or even 
 wives. 
 
 "The Keiaz marriage rites are simple : the lover 
 lays his bow at the feet of the lady ; if she lifts it 
 up, kisses and returns it, she is . his wedded wife. 
 By taking her husband's bow and flinging it on 
 the ground before him, she can divorce herself, 
 and she may secure a husband by unslinging his 
 bow from his shoulder. I heard, however, that 
 these practices, though existing and considered 
 sacred, were seldom resorted to. The Keiaz, in 
 their funeral ceremonies, much resemble the Akas, 
 who sometimes burn their dead, and sometimes 
 bury them in a sitting or erect position, but never 
 place them in a horizontal position in mother 
 earth.
 
 150 A REMARKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 " Sometimes, again, they lay their dead in deep 
 water-holes, or allow them to be washed away by 
 the torrents into which they fling them. 
 
 " The Akas and Keiaz had various divinities, 
 but also worshipped obscene figures." 
 
 The MSS. concerning Gardner's journey from 
 the Pamirs to Yarkand are so incomplete and 
 confused, that I have experienced great difficulty 
 in tracing his route. Among other places men- 
 tioned in connection with the Akas and Keiaz are 
 a fort and valley named " Ustum " : the valley 
 is stated to have been a very large one, running 
 east and west, and at the eastern extremity was a 
 second fort, named Uskumbak. 
 
 This second fort was said to be eighteen days' 
 march south-west of Kashgar, and the Ustum 
 valley may therefore be the exit from the 
 Pamir plateau now known as the Gaz defile. 
 Gardner had therefore, apparently, turned south- 
 ward again from the Alai plateau, and had passed 
 near Lake Kara Kul, thus travelling by the old 
 trade-route from Samarkand to Yarkand. Pos- 
 sibly, however, Gardner left the Alai valley by 
 the more direct road of the Terek Pass. This 
 pass is a very long one, and is divided into two 
 marches. The second march ends at a place
 
 CROSSING THE DESERT. 151 
 
 called Egrushtam a name not unlike Ustum, 
 which Gardner in another paper spells " Rustam." 
 
 Gardner states that he and his companions 
 halted a few days at Uskumbak, as was the regular 
 custom of small parties of travellers by this route, 
 so as to unite with another party, and so make up 
 a caravan of sufficient strength to brave the perils 
 of the great desert of Kashgar. Three merchants 
 had already joined him, and by the accession of a 
 party of seven stragglers at Uskumbak, natives of 
 Yarkand, who were desirous of going thither, 
 Gardner's party was brought up to seventeen and 
 provided with guides : he therefore went on his 
 way without further delay. 
 
 From Uskumbak Gardner and his companions 
 marched in three days to another fort called 
 Dunchu (or Dunchai), which was four long 
 marches south-west of Tash-balyk, a large town 
 on the north bank of the Yamunyar river. They 
 heard that during this three days' journey water 
 was only procurable at one spot, and that at the 
 middle of the second day's march. They therefore 
 carried water with them, slung in skins under the 
 horses' bellies. On arriving at the spot where 
 water was promised, they found it extremely salt 
 and bad, in small pools, but were obliged to make
 
 152 A REMARKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 the best of it. On this day, all along the road, 
 they met herds of yaks, which Gardner describes 
 as follows : 
 
 " On this day all along our march we met with 
 large herds of various species of deer, antelope, &c., 
 and some small herds of what the Akas named 
 1 ansak,' but which the Yarkand men called ' yak/ 
 a large animal resembling a cow. These yak, of 
 which there are two or three species, are found 
 in great numbers to the north, and were very 
 numerous also throughout the whole of the desert 
 to the south. Early this evening we put up at 
 some dried-up reservoirs, in some of which, how- 
 ever, a little muddy brackish water still remained, 
 round which numerous footprints of deer, antelope, 
 and yak proved that they resorted to this place 
 for water. The Mogul merchants told me that a 
 certain tribe of Chinese Tartars venerated those 
 yaks to such a degree as to make the wounding 
 or killing of them punishable with death. The 
 animals which I saw between this place and 
 Yarkand had cylindrical horns curved outwards, 
 very long pendent hair, and horse-like tail : the 
 largest specimen I saw here very much resembled 
 an English bull in appearance, and the footprints 
 of some were larger than those of any bull. The
 
 THE YAK AND ITS USES. 153 
 
 head was somewhat short, crowned with two round 
 horns, which tapered from the foot upwards and 
 terminated in sharp points. 
 
 " To the wandering tribes of Tartars these 
 animals are most valuable, but more particularly 
 to the tribes called at Yarkand the Kizl and Alai 
 Kirghiz, who wander about in large or small obahs 
 or camps, and drive the animals from place to 
 place in summer towards the Pamir. They are 
 an easy mode of conveyance, furnish good, warm 
 coverings and wholesome food. They are never 
 employed in agriculture. Tents and ropes are 
 manufactured from their hair, and many dress 
 themselves entirely in the skins. 
 
 " The yaks' tails have been held in high esti- 
 mation for ages throughout India as objects of 
 pageantry and parade, and no man of distinction 
 stirred abroad or sat in his durbar at home 
 without two or three " thrusters - away of flies" 
 attending him. The Chinese and some of the 
 Chinese Tartars sometimes dye yaks' tails of a 
 reddish black, or some other colour, and wear them 
 as tufts in their bonnets or on their horses, often 
 accompanied by a peacock-feather, the emblem of 
 royal dignity or high station. The yak is one of 
 the most timid of animals, and very swift : when
 
 154 A REMARKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 chased by horsemen and dogs, and on the point of 
 being overtaken, it hides its hindquarters in some 
 bush and there waits for its enemies, imagining, 
 perhaps, that if it could conceal its tail, which it 
 considers perhaps as the object they are in search 
 of, it might escape unhurt." 
 
 On the third day after their departure from 
 the Pamir plateau, Gardner and his companions 
 reached the town of Dunchu (or Dunchai), having, 
 he says, to wade the Yamunyar 1 river to reach it, 
 the town standing on the south bank of the river. 
 
 From Dunchu they journeyed to Yarkand in 
 twenty-one days, making one halt only to visit a 
 great mound with caves, which Gardner calls Mahu 
 or Mahusang. He states that mephitic vapours 
 arise here from clefts in the ground, and also that 
 the mound apparently covers the site of an ancient 
 city. Gardner's description of Yarkand is briefly 
 given in Mr Edgeworth's abstract in the following 
 words : 
 
 "Keached Yarkand. It consists of two cities, 
 one inhabited by the Muhammadan population, 
 the other by the Chinese garrison. The gates 
 are closed at night. The population number 
 
 1 The existence of this river was for a considerable time doubted 
 by geographers : it is, however, correctly named by Gardner.
 
 YARKAND. 155 
 
 80,000 to 100,000 souls, and there are 15,000 
 soldiers in the garrison. There is a Muhammadan 
 governor, named Khan Ali Jan. The Chinese 
 governor is named Shun Teth. Green and black 
 tea, packed in vellum, shawls, wool, porcelain, 
 and chrysoprase beads are among the principal 
 articles of trade." 
 
 Gardner remained three days at Yarkand and 
 then went on his way southward, reaching Kar- 
 galik on the second day. Thence, going south 
 steadily, he arrived in thirty days at Leh, the 
 capital of Ladak. In the course of this journey 
 he traversed the Karakoram Pass, but says little 
 about it, no doubt because it was really much 
 easier travelling than many passes which he had 
 already traversed. The diary of his journey is 
 given in Mr Edgeworth's abstract, but is not 
 sufficiently interesting to merit transcription. Sir 
 Henry Durand mentions that Gardner travelled 
 from Yarkand to Leh as a pilgrim, wearing the 
 hadji dress. Arrived at Leh, he was sent with 
 five or six others to collect pilgrims from Khoten 
 and other places to the eastward, and while on 
 this errand he saw the Pangkong Lake. 
 
 Having collected the pilgrims, Gardner returned 
 to Leh, and went thence to Srinagar, the capital
 
 156 A REMARKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 of Kashmir. Shortly before he arrived there a 
 terrible earthquake occurred, which killed 11,000 
 or 12,000 people. The stench from the corpses 
 was frightful, and the survivors, were afraid to 
 bury them. In consequence a kind of plague 
 broke out in a few days, people fell to the earth 
 with vertigo and nausea, and their bodies turned 
 black. The natives fled in all directions. Diwan 
 Kirpa Earn was at this time governor of Kashmir 
 for Maharaja Kanjit Singh, having recently suc- 
 ceeded his father. 
 
 At the time of Gardner's arrival at Srinagar 
 that city was still under the influence of Afghan 
 merchants and soldiers, and from some of them 
 Gardner heard a false report that his former leader 
 Habib-ulla Khan was once more in the ascendant, 
 and the adventurous soldier decided at once on 
 joining his old chief. Accompanied only by Jey 
 Earn the Hindu, by his faithful Therbah and three 
 other Muhammadans, he made an astonishing 
 journey from Srinagar through Chilas and Bunji 
 (where he crossed the Indus) to Gilgit, and thence 
 to Chitral. Of this journey Sir Henry Eawlinson 
 writes in his "Monograph on the Oxus " i 1 " Gardner 
 actually traversed the Gilgit valley from the Indus 
 
 1 Journal of the Royal Geographical Society, vol. xlii.
 
 IMPORTANCE OF CHITKAL TO INDIA. 157 
 
 to the Snowy Mountains, and finally crossed over 
 into Chitral, being, in fact, the only Englishman 
 up to the present time [1872] who has ever per- 
 formed the journey throughout." 
 
 Gardner subsequently wrote voluminous reports 
 on the importance of Chitral to India, both as 
 a trade-route between that country and Central 
 Asia and as a weak spot in our military position. 
 He was, however, in advance of his time, and his 
 words fell upon deaf ears. Later days have seen 
 a wiser policy adopted ; and those who have wit- 
 nessed the very recent occupation of Chitral by 
 England, and of Kafiristan by the Afghans, with- 
 out understanding the military advantages of both 
 moves, may be enlightened by the following note, 
 written by Gardner about thirty years ago : 
 
 "It is said that when Amir Dost Muhammad 
 Khan was invading Kunduz and Badakshan in 
 1850, the large body of troops which had been 
 sent from Kabul vid the Khawak Pass [the route 
 followed by Gardner himself] had met with but 
 slight success. There appeared no prospect of 
 thus reducing these distant regions to subjection 
 until a body of from 2000 to 3000 irregular 
 cavalry, with four or six guns, I know not which, 
 were sent up from Jalalabad by the Chitral
 
 158 A REMARKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 caravan-route, and crossing the Baroghil Pass 
 into Wakhan, swept to the westward, vid Kala- 
 i-Panj and Ishkashem, meeting no resistance until 
 they arrived at Jerm. 
 
 "The chief of Badakshan, seeing himself thus 
 unexpectedly attacked both in front and rear, 
 went with the leading inhabitants of his province 
 and tendered his full submission to the Afghan 
 ruler. 
 
 " This body of troops then continued its march, 
 and in a similar manner compelled the surrender 
 of the chief of Kunduz, who had previously made 
 a noble and successful defence against the Kabul 
 army. 
 
 "May it not be suggested that what happened 
 on the above occasion may be repeated in the 
 reverse way, and that Afghanistan may fall to 
 Eussia if attacked in like manner ; that is, that 
 while one army was knocking at the time-honoured 
 gate of Bamian, another might steal its way 
 down the Chitral valley, and suddenly dash on 
 the astounded and probably weak garrison of 
 Jalalabad." 
 
 Gardner's prophetic lines show at any rate that 
 as a student of " the great game of Central Asia " 
 he was in the front rank.
 
 EARLY VISITORS TO KAFIRISTAN. 159 
 
 From Chitral he sent his followers and baggage 
 down by river to Jalalabad, while he himself for 
 the second time entered Kafiristan and travelled 
 along the Kamah or Kameh river. He was ac- 
 companied by a priest, and was well treated, his 
 only difficulty being to escape from the hospitality 
 of his hosts. 
 
 The full diary of this visit to Kafiristan and 
 of Gardner's journey from Pamir was lent to Sir 
 Alexander Burnes, and was destroyed when that 
 unfortunate officer was murdered at Kabul and 
 his house pillaged. 
 
 All that remain by way of record of this most 
 interesting passage in Gardner's adventurous life 
 are some disconnected notes and allusions. Some 
 of the notes are written on the margin of various 
 printed pages concerning Kafiristan. 
 
 Among the allusions are two references to the 
 fact related by the Kafirs to Gardner that two 
 Europeans had lived in their country about the 
 year 1770, and had, according to one story, died 
 in captivity, and, according to the other, been 
 murdered by the Kafirs, under the supposition 
 that they were evil spirits. These unfortunate 
 Europeans were probably Koman Catholic mis- 
 sionaries.
 
 160 A REMARKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 A geographical note by Gardner is of interest. 
 On a statement by Captain Raverty concerning 
 the Kashkar, Chitral, or Kunur river, and an un- 
 named river which Captain Eaverty says joins it 
 at Chigar-Serai, Gardner says : 
 
 " The river called the Kameh or Kafir- Ab rises 
 east or south-east of the Kotal-i-Dara [Dorah Pass 
 on modern maps] in the north of Kafiristan, and 
 flowing at first south-west, bends down to the 
 south-east and joins the Chitral or Kashkar river 
 near Chigar-Serai. Thence those united streams 
 or rivers are known as the Kunur river, and fall 
 into the Kabul river at or near Jalalabad." 
 
 The Kameh river does rise as stated above ; it 
 does bend slightly westward, and then to the 
 south - east. The statement illustrates Gardner's 
 knowledge of a country into which no white man 
 but himself had then penetrated. Concerning 
 the tribes of Kafiristan enumerated by Raverty, 
 Gardner writes : 
 
 "These are the names of the principal valleys 
 as well as of the tribes, the main valley being 
 the Kameh, down and along the upper portion 
 of which the Kam or Kameh tribe inhabit." 
 
 This statement also has been confirmed by the 
 recent writings of Sir George Robertson ; but no
 
 THE CRYSTAL HOOKAH. 161 
 
 one but Gardner could have made it at the time 
 when it was written by him. 
 
 Leaving Kafiristan by Chigar-Serai and Jalala- 
 bad, Gardner journeyed towards Kabul, but on 
 approaching the capital found that he had been 
 misinformed about Habib - ulla Khan, who was 
 now said to have perished while on a pilgrimage 
 to Mecca. Dost Muhammad was all-powerful, and 
 it was no part of Gardner's plan to place himself 
 in the lion's jaws, though as a matter of fact he 
 was eventually compelled to do so. 
 
 Gardner now contemplated returning to Persia, 
 and marched vid Ghazni and Kilat-i-Ghilzai to 
 Kandahar. At this city the Sardars, Dost Mu- 
 hammad's brothers, who governed the province, 
 sent for a crystal hookah, Gardner's most valued 
 possession, which had been given him by his 
 mysterious friend the Pole of Ura-tube ; they 
 also demanded from him and his followers (a 
 band of Khaibari outlaws who had attached them- 
 selves to him) a ransom of a lakh and a half of 
 rupees. 
 
 Gardner arrived at Kandahar early in the spring 
 of 1830, and after a time occupied in reasoning 
 with the Sardars, he obtained permission from them 
 to take leave and proceed to Herat. This permis-
 
 162 A REMARKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 sion was conveyed in an official letter written in 
 Persian, and was evidently couched in terms of 
 double meaning, for on reaching Girishk and pre- 
 senting the letter, Gardner and his followers were 
 treacherously seized while at dinner, and were cast 
 into the subterranean dungeons of the castle. 
 After a few days the Khaibaris and the Therbah 
 were released ; but Gardner was kept for nine 
 months a prisoner beneath ground. 
 
 Now was shown his remarkable influence over 
 those who from time to time became his followers 
 for none of the Khaibaris would desert him, but 
 went round to the priests, exciting sympathy in 
 his behalf. These faithful men eventually obtained 
 Gardner's release, but with extreme difficulty, and 
 by means only of the whole party promising not 
 to go to Herat, and stating in writing that they 
 had been well treated. 
 
 The head of the party of Khaibaris was one 
 Ghulam Rassul Khan of Ali Masjid, and this man 
 actually proposed to re-enter Kandahar and force 
 the Sirdars to give them some money to help them 
 on their way. So bold a proposal delighted 
 Gardner, and the attempt was accordingly made, 
 but without success. 
 
 Ghulam Rassul Khan now obtained the dress
 
 A BOLD STRATAGEM. 163 
 
 of a shahzada, 1 in which Gardner was dressed ; 
 and certain men who were at variance with the 
 Sirdars gradually joined the party until their 
 number reached forty armed and mounted men. 
 With this following Gardner set out towards 
 Kabul. He had thus escaped from most immi- 
 nent danger, from a long and apparently hopeless 
 captivity, and found himself at the head of a 
 strong body of men, several of whom had shown 
 extraordinary fidelity to him. All that he now 
 wanted was money, and accident or design soon 
 placed within his grasp the means of obtaining 
 a supply. 
 
 Between Kilat-i-Ghilzai and Kabul Gardner's 
 party met a kafila or caravan bound for Kandahar, 
 and belonging to merchants trading under the pro- 
 tection of the Kandahar rulers. Gardner, who 
 with his men had halted as soon as the approach 
 of the caravan was signalled by his scouts, pre- 
 tended that he also was proceeding to Kandahar, 
 and joined the kafila. As soon as a favourable 
 opportunity arose he seized and bound the mer- 
 chants, thus anticipating them in their intentions 
 with regard to him ; then, taking the bull by the 
 
 1 Probably meaning a prince of the ex-royal family, of whom 
 there were a great number.
 
 164 A KEMAEKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 horns, he made straight for Kabul, with the inten- 
 tion of throwing himself on the mercy of Amir 
 Dost Muhammad Khan. 
 
 The party rode night and day, so as to outstrip 
 the messengers of the Kandahar Sirdars, and riding 
 direct to the Bala Hissar or palace, Gardner and 
 Ghulam Rassul Khan presented their arms, horses, 
 and spoil to Dost Muhammad and asked for a 
 private audience. They then told their story to 
 the warlike chief, who heard them patiently, 
 agreed that they had been badly treated by his 
 brothers, and had done rightly in taking the law 
 into their own hands. He declined to take any- 
 thing from them, but would not allow them to 
 remain in his territory. The Amir then gave 
 Gardner a safe -conduct to the territory of Mir 
 Alam Khan of Bajaur, whom Gardner decided to 
 visit. This chief had already treated him kindly 
 when he passed through Bajaur on his way from 
 Kafiristan to Afghanistan a year previously. 
 
 When leaving Kabul Gardner lost the services 
 of his faithful follower the Therbah, who had 
 shared so many dangers and hardships with him, 
 and had done nobly in keeping up the fidelity of 
 the Khaibaris during Gardner's long captivity at 
 Girishk. The Therbah now returned to his own
 
 STOUT HEART AND READY WIT. 165 
 
 home, and Gardner once again became a lonely 
 man, with no resource but his own stout heart 
 and ready wit. Never had these two allies stood 
 by him better than in his bold action at Kabul, 
 where he had countless enemies. In the words 
 of Sir Henry Durand, whose narrative has been 
 closely followed in this chapter, " Gardner seems 
 to have been indebted for life, and that many 
 a time over, to his cool audacity, which never 
 failed him for a moment, be the strait what it 
 might." 
 
 Gardner obtained permission from the Amir to 
 remain a few days at Kabul, and left that city 
 towards the end of January 1831. He was, he 
 says, disappointed at having failed to establish 
 himself in a military career under that great leader 
 of men, but for many reasons he was glad to leave 
 Afghanistan. There were too many Afghans whose 
 fathers and brothers had met him in battle to 
 make a residence in a country where blood-feuds 
 were a sacred duty even moderately safe from 
 treachery and violence. 
 
 Moreover, neither Gardner's admiration for the 
 Amir, nor gratitude for the protection he had af- 
 forded to the fugitives, could blind Gardner to the 
 iniquity of Dost Muhammad's conduct towards
 
 166 A REMARKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 Prince Habib-ulla Khan. Finally and principally, 
 Gardner adds, he hated every Afghan of the domi- 
 nant faction for the death of his innocent wife 
 and son. 
 
 The period of Gardner's wanderings was now 
 approaching a close ; but before he could enter the 
 Panjab, the country which, with its then depen- 
 dency, Kashmir, was thereafter to become his home, 
 he had to traverse the most dangerous of all regions 
 that from Kabul to Peshawar the very home of 
 battle, murder, and sudden death. 
 
 It was, however, he writes, with a light heart 
 that he retraced his footsteps from Kabul to Jal- 
 alabad, and thence to Kunar and Bajaur, where 
 he was again kindly received by the ruler, Mir 
 Alam Khan. 
 
 His adventures in those troubled regions may 
 now be related by himself: 
 
 I arrived at Bajaur at the moment that a certain 
 Muhammad Ismail had arrived from the fanatic 
 chief Syad Ahmad with a demand for aid from 
 the mir, as from all neighbouring Muhammadan 
 chieftains. This Syad Ahmad was a remarkable
 
 SYAD AHMAD, THE REFORMER. 167 
 
 man, who gave much trouble for some years to 
 Maharaja Ranjit Singh. 
 
 Some four years prior to my arrival at Bajaur 
 he had raised the green standard of the Prophet 
 in the Eusafzai hills, between Peshawar and Attock, 
 and proclaimed a religious war against the Sikhs. 
 Syad Ahmad belonged to a family of Syads in 
 Bareilly, and commenced life as a petty officer 
 of cavalry in the army of Amir Khan, the great 
 soldier of fortune. After preparing in India for 
 the religious war which he desired to wage, Syad 
 Ahmad entered Afghanistan ; but finding no en- 
 thusiasm there, he proceeded with several hundred 
 followers to Punjtar in the Eusafzai hills, and made 
 that place his headquarters. This, as I have said, 
 was early in the year 1827. 
 
 After various vicissitudes the Syad actually be- 
 came in 1830 master of the city and district of 
 Peshawar, from which place he ousted Sultan 
 Muhammad Khan. This prince was a brother of 
 Amir Dost Muhammad Khan, and at this time 
 ruled Peshawar as a tributary of Maharaja Ranjit 
 Singh, the sovereign of the Panjab. 
 
 This success of the Syad proved his ruin, for the 
 Maharaja immediately occupied Peshawar in per-
 
 168 A REMARKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 son, and determined to destroy the reformer once 
 and for all. He intrusted the task to his son, the 
 Shahzada 1 Sher Singh, whose operations were at 
 first unsuccessful. 
 
 Syad Ahmad had two faithful and trusted fol- 
 lowers, the Maulvis Abdul Hai and Muhammad 
 Ismail, and these men strained every nerve to 
 obtain assistance and reinforcements for their 
 master. 
 
 When Muhammad Ismail arrived at the Court 
 of Mir Alam Khan the latter was in doubt what 
 course to adopt. The religious enthusiasm of his 
 people, and their hatred of the infidel Sikhs, im- 
 pelled him to make common cause with the Syad, 
 but at the same time he had substantial reasons to 
 maintain friendly relations with Ranjit Singh, and 
 more especially with the Wazir (or Prime Minister), 
 Raja Dhyan Singh. The influence of the latter 
 was very great throughout all the mountain regions 
 on the northern boundaries of India. 
 
 In this difficulty my arrival, with my trusty 
 band of Khaibaris, was very welcome to the mir, 
 and no doubt combined with his former friendship 
 to elicit the warm reception which he gave me. 
 
 1 The recognised sons of Maharaja Ranjit Singh bore the title of 
 shahzada or prince.
 
 UNDER THE HOLY STANDARD. 169 
 
 He was wary enough to say nothing of his in- 
 tentions to me for three or four days after my 
 arrival, until my attention was attracted by an im- 
 passioned address which I heard Muhammad Ismail 
 deliver to a large assembly of the wild Eusafzai 
 mountaineers. The enthusiasm which he aroused 
 suggested to me that I might do worse than join 
 the Syad his master, as I saw a good opportunity 
 of getting together such a body of followers as 
 would make my services valuable to any ruler to 
 whom I might subsequently offer them. There- 
 fore, when Mir Alam Khan proposed to me to take 
 command of those of his followers who desired to 
 array themselves under the sacred banner of the 
 Syad or Khalifa as he now styled himself, I fell in 
 readily enough with his wish. 
 
 In a few days I marched towards Balakot, the 
 headquarters of Syad Ahmad, at the head of some 
 250 well-armed and warlike mountaineers, all burn- 
 ing with religious zeal and with the desire to work 
 their will in the rich city of Peshawar. For rich 
 it seemed to them, though at that time its pros- 
 perity was at a very low ebb, it having been for 
 so many years bandied about between the Sikhs 
 and Afghans. 
 
 On the march I heard a curious story concerning
 
 170 A REMARKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 the Syad, which may or may not have been true. 
 In either case it did not appear to lessen the 
 respect in which the narrator evidently held the 
 holy man. 
 
 At some period of his career, said my informant, 
 Syad Ahmad was in the service of Sirdar Pir 
 Muhammad, chief of Kohat and one of the Bar- 
 akzai l brothers. The Syad was then young, active, 
 energetic, and a first-rate swordsman and horse- 
 man. One day he and another man applied for 
 pay towards their expenses, and received a written 
 order for some 30 or 40 rupees on a village a few 
 miles from Peshawar. They went to the village 
 in company and received the money; but when 
 returning they quarrelled as to its division, the 
 upshot being that Syad Ahmad slew his comrade. 
 Then, taking all the money, he hastened to Pesha- 
 war. At the gateway of Sirdar Pir Muhammad's 
 house in that city he found a swift horse standing, 
 ready saddled and bridled, according to custom. 
 This horse he forcibly seized, and fled on it across 
 the Kabul river to Bajaur. There he immediately 
 began to preach a holy war against all unbelievers. 
 It did not appear to distress my religious enthusiast 
 to believe that the great Khalifa, the Defender of 
 
 1 That is, one of the brothers of Dost Muhammad Khan.
 
 BATTLE OF BALAKOT. 17 1 
 
 the Faith, the glitter of whose sword was now to 
 scatter destruction among the infidels, was iden- 
 tical with the thief and murderer of the story. 
 
 However, as it turned out, we set out to join 
 the holy standard just an hour too late, for the 
 Syad and his faithful maulvi were slain, fighting 
 bravely side by side, before we could join in the 
 fight. They were taken by surprise at a place near 
 Balakot and surrounded by a large party of Sikhs, 
 who had crossed the river Indus on massaks, or 
 inflated skins. In his anxiety to rejoin his master 
 Muhammad Ismail had left me and my force a 
 march behind, and, owing to the mistake or 
 treachery of a guide, we took longer than was 
 expected in coming up. 
 
 I well remember the scene as I and my Eusaf- 
 zai and Khaibari followers came in view of the 
 action. 
 
 Syad Ahmad and the maulvi, surrounded by his 
 surviving Indian followers, were fighting desper- 
 ately hand to hand with the equally fanatical 
 Akalis of the Sikh army. They had been taken 
 by surprise and isolated from the main body of 
 the Syad's forces, which fought very badly without 
 their leader. Even as I caught sight of the Syad 
 and maulvi they fell pierced by a hundred weapons.
 
 172 A REMARKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 Those around them were slain to a man, and the 
 main body dispersed in every direction. 
 
 With some difficulty I kept my party together, 
 and withdrew to the hills, showing so bold a front 
 to the Sikhs that they did not dare to follow us 
 far. The Eusafzai mountain - passes always gave 
 the Sikhs cholera, as Avitabile 1 used to say. 
 
 I was literally within a few hundred yards of 
 the Syad when he fell, but I did not see the angel 
 descend and carry him off to Paradise, although 
 many of his followers remembered afterwards that 
 they had seen it distinctly enough. 
 
 I remained two nights at Panchthar, where I 
 rested my men after their exertions, and divided 
 the booty between them. The death of the Syad 
 broke the only link that held his followers together, 
 and in the retreat many of the parties from dif- 
 ferent regions fell upon one another for plunder. 
 My Khaibaris and Eusafzais were equal to the best 
 in this matter, and cut down several of the Hindu- 
 stani fanatics 2 who had joined them for protection, 
 
 1 General Avitabile, Kanjit Singh's Italian governor of the Pesha- 
 war district. See Appendix. 
 
 2 The Hindustani fanatics were the Indian followers of Syad 
 Ahmad. Their descendants give trouble to the present day, and 
 took a prominent part in the recent Frontier war.
 
 GARDNER CONCEALS HIS WRITINGS. 173 
 
 and whose clothing or equipment seemed to them 
 a desirable acquisition. 
 
 Having rested my men, and given leave to my 
 faithful Khaibaris to return to their homes, I re- 
 turned to Bajaur, where I was kindly welcomed by 
 Mir Alam Khan. It was while in comparative 
 ease and security, and habited as a Mussulman, at 
 Bajaur, that I managed to jot down the rough 
 records of my wanderings. As a devout man I 
 carried the Koran suspended from my neck, and in 
 its leaves I deposited my scraps. After a time the 
 holy book got so bulky that I had to devote my 
 tobacco-pouch as a receptacle for my writings. No 
 one would ever touch the Koran of a neighbour, 
 and had any interference been attempted or sus- 
 picions aroused, I should have represented my 
 scraps as additional prayers. 
 
 My stay at Bajaur was not a long one, as during 
 the summer I received an invitation from Sultan 
 Muhammad Khan * to enter his service as chief of 
 artillery. This prince had been reinstated as gov- 
 ernor of Peshawar when, as I have related, Maha- 
 raja Eanjit Singh came to his assistance in the 
 previous year. Sultan Muhammad Khan took 
 
 1 Brother and enemy of Dost Muhammad Khan.
 
 174 A REMARKABLE JOURNEY. 
 
 great interest in artillery, but I taught him all 
 that he knew about the subject. 
 
 Gardner's travels had now come to an end. 
 Except for the period of his imprisonment at 
 Girishk, he had been constantly on the move 
 since his final departure from Astrakhan in February 
 1823, a period of eight and a half years. 
 
 Few men have undergone such perils and have 
 travelled such long distances through unknown 
 countries.
 
 175 
 
 CHAPTEK X. 
 
 ADVENTURES IN THE PANJAB. 
 
 PESHAWAR MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH GARDNER ENTERS HIS SER- 
 VICE VISITS ON THE WAT DR HARLAN AND GENERAL AVITA- 
 BILE GENERALS VENTURA AND COURT RAJA DHYAN SINGH, THE 
 PRIME MINISTER GARDNER'S DtiBUT AS A GUNNER HE BECOMES 
 AN INSTRUCTOR CAMPAIGN ON THE INDUS OPERATIONS IN 
 BANNU THE SIKH - AFGHAN WAR OF 1835 FINAL CONQUEST 
 OF PESHAWAR BY THE SIKHS GARDNER OBTAINS COMMAND OF 
 THE JAMMU ARTILLERY RANJIT SINGH'S LAST CAMPAIGN A 
 RAPID MARCH THE REBELLION OF SHAMAS KHAN. 
 
 IT may be as well to repeat, for the information 
 of those unfamiliar with Eastern history, that Pesha- 
 war, so long a bone of contention between the 
 Sikh and Afghan nations, was now practically a 
 portion of the Panjab. 
 
 Sultan Muhammad Khan, though nominally an 
 independent sovereign, was to all intents and pur- 
 poses a vassal of Ranjit Singh. 
 
 It was, in fact, not very long after Gardner's 
 arrival at Peshawar that the Maharaja compelled 
 Sultan Muhammad to join his Court, and replaced
 
 176 ADVENTURES IN THE PANJAB. 
 
 him as governor of Peshawar by a succession of 
 Sikh sardars, who, proving incapable of managing 
 the turbulent people of Peshawar, that "nest of 
 scorpions," were succeeded finally by the iron- 
 handed Avitabile. 
 
 Gardner thus describes his entry into the 
 Panjab : 
 
 I went to Peshawar in the month of August 
 1831, and remained there until the spring of the 
 following year, 1832, when a letter was received 
 by Sultan Muhammad Khan from Maharaja Ranjit 
 Singh 1 desiring my services. I myself would 
 
 1 Kanjit Singh, who became Maharaja of the Panjab, was born in 
 the year 1780, and at the age of eleven succeeded his father as chief 
 of one of the least important of the twelve confederacies which at 
 the time composed the Sikh nation. One by one the confederacies 
 fell before the talents and ambition of Kanjit Singh, who then 
 turned his attention to those portions of the Panjab that were in pos- 
 session of neighbouring rulers. Multan was captured in 1818, and 
 Kashmir in the following year. 
 
 The only Powers that the Maharaja now had cause to fear were 
 the British and the Afghans, and with the object of facing them on 
 equal terms Ranjit Singh set about the task of raising a large army, 
 formed on the European system. With this object in view he gave 
 employment to a considerable number of foreign officers, of whom 
 the most important were Generals Ventura, Allard, Court, and 
 Avitabile ; Colonels Gardner and Van Cortlandt. The skill and 
 tenacity with which the Sikh army fought the British in two des- 
 perate campaigns show with what success these officers and their 
 assistants served Ranjit Singh.
 
 GARDNER JOINS THE SIKHS. 177 
 
 have preferred to remain at Peshawar, but Sultan 
 Muhammad dared not refuse the Maharaja. I 
 regretted leaving him, as he had treated me kindly 
 and honourably, making me daily a guest at his 
 table, and giving me a liberal salary. 
 
 On taking my leave of Sultan Muhammad he 
 bestowed a number of gifts upon me, including an 
 excellent horse and a sum of money. 
 
 I was directed to travel under the care of the 
 Maharaja's daroga, or chief of the stud, who was 
 then at Peshawar, collecting the annual tribute of 
 horses. Some delay, however, occurred in his 
 setting out on his journey to Lahore, as none but 
 the best Persian or Turki horses were accepted in 
 tribute, and I took advantage of the opportunity 
 by again visiting my friends Mir Alam Khan of 
 Bajaur, Futteh Khan of Panchthar, and Paindah 
 Khan of Am, on the right bank of the Indus. 
 
 Thence crossing to Torbela, I went down to the 
 fort of Attock, where I met the daroga with his 
 horses. His escort consisted of some forty well- 
 armed Sikh horsemen ; but notwithstanding, he 
 had been attacked at night between Peshawar and 
 Attock by 300 or 400 Afridis, and four of his 
 horses had been taken from him. 
 
 On our way from Attock to Rawal Pindi we 
 
 M
 
 178 ADVENTURES IN THE PAN JAB. 
 
 were again attacked by 400 to 500 Ghakkars near 
 the Margali Pass, with a loss on this occasion of 
 two horses and five men. 
 
 After this nothing of import occurred until the 
 party arrived safely at Gujrat. Hence the dar- 
 oga started direct for Lahore, while I and my 
 servants remained a few days with Dr Harlan, 1 
 then governor of the district. Then, crossing the 
 Chenab river, I went to Wazirabad, where I re- 
 mained four or five days the guest of General 
 Avitabile, 2 the governor. It was unfortunate that 
 a sore animosity existed at the time between these 
 two governors. However, I received letters of in- 
 troduction from both, and went from Wazirabad to 
 Lahore, where I met Generals Ventura 3 and Court. 4 
 
 1 Dr Harlan was an American adventurer who obtained employ- 
 ment at different times under Ranjit Singh and Dost Muhammad. 
 He was thoroughly unscrupulous and a man of considerable talent. 
 His ' Memoir of Afghanistan ' is worth reading. 
 
 2 General Avitabile was governor of Wazirabad before he was 
 made governor of Peshawar. He greatly beautified the town of 
 Wazirabad. 
 
 3 General Ventura was an Italian officer of high character in the 
 service of Eanjit Singh. He was much honoured and trusted by 
 the Maharaja, and commanded the "Fouj Khas" or model brigade 
 of the Khalsa army. General Ventura eventually became governor 
 of Lahore. 
 
 4 General Court was a French officer of artillery, a most honour- 
 able and estimable man of considerable professional skill. 
 
 For biographies of all the above officers see Appendix.
 
 A CHARACTERISTIC INCIDENT. 179 
 
 After a few days' delay I was presented at Court 
 by General Ventura and the Prime Minister, Kaja 
 Dhyan Singh. 
 
 I presented my letters from Syad Jan, chief of 
 Kunar, and from Mir Alam Khan of Bajaur, both 
 of whom were on friendly terms with the Maharaja. 
 I also had letters from the three Barakzai brothers, 
 Sardars Sultan Muhammad of Peshawar, Pir 
 Muhammad of Kohat, and Syad Mahmud of 
 Hashtnagar. 
 
 On the day of my presentation to the Maharaja, 
 and while I was waiting outside the Shalimar 
 Gardens, an incident occurred which is described 
 in the work called ' Adventures of an Officer,' by 
 the great and good Sir Henry Lawrence (after- 
 wards my well-known and honoured friend). 
 
 A certain Nand Singh, an officer of the Maha- 
 raja's cavalry, rode his horse intentionally against 
 me and endeavoured to jostle me into the ditch, 
 which was deep and filled with running water. 
 I touched the rein of my good steed, gave him 
 half a turn, pressed him with my sword-hand 
 the veriest trifle on the loins, and in an instant 
 Nand Singh and his horse were rolling on the 
 ground. I calmly expressed a hope that the 
 fallen man was not hurt, and was treated with
 
 180 ADVENTURES IN THE PAN JAB. 
 
 much civility during the remaining time that I 
 was kept waiting. 
 
 Shortly after I was summoned to the Maha- 
 raja's presence, and was graciously received by 
 that great man. Much as I had heard of the 
 insignificance of his appearance, it at first startled 
 me ; but the profound respect with which he was 
 treated, and the extraordinary range of subjects 
 on which he closely examined me, speedily dis- 
 pelled the first impression. 
 
 The Maharaja was indeed one of those master- 
 minds which only require opportunity to change 
 the face of the globe. Ranjit Singh made a 
 great and powerful nation from the disunited 
 confederacies of the Sikhs, and would have 
 carried his conquests to Delhi or even farther 
 had it not been for the simultaneous rise and 
 consolidation of the British empire in India. 
 
 At the time of my arrival at Lahore the Maha- 
 raja was in want of an instructor of artillery, M. 
 Court being employed principally as superin- 
 tendent of the gun - factory. He was a very 
 amiable and accomplished man, as was General 
 Ventura. 
 
 A few days after my audience Raja Dhyan 
 Singh, the Prime Minister, showed me the two
 
 GARDNER'S DBUT AS A GUNNER. 181 
 
 guns that had been presented by Lord William 
 Bentinck, the Governor-General of India, to Maha- 
 raja Eanjit Singh. Dhyan Singh pointed out to 
 me the shells and fuses in the tumbrils, and 
 asked me if I could explain their use or fire 
 them. I found in one of the tumbrils, inclosed 
 in a bundle of fuses, a small printed slip of 
 paper giving instructions as to the time of burn- 
 ing, time of flight, &c. Having read this, I told 
 Dhyan Singh that I hoped to be able to fire 
 them and to satisfy him as to my knowledge of 
 their proper use. I, however, asked to be 
 allowed to cut and burn one fuse first, which at 
 his desire I did in his presence. The result 
 agreeing with that shown on the printed slip, 
 there seemed to be no further difficulty. 
 
 Accordingly one of the guns, with its tumbril, 
 &c., was given over next day into my charge, 
 and I was ordered to get ready to fire three or 
 four of the shells at different distances in the 
 presence of Maharaja Eanjit Singh. I took a 
 few soldiers in hand, and in a few days' time 
 all this was done with a degree of success un- 
 expected even by myself, the shells bursting ex- 
 actly as required at 600, 800, 1000, and 1200 
 yards.
 
 182 ADVENTURES IN THE PANJAB. 
 
 This occurred in the presence of the Maharaja 
 and his entire Court, and all seemed pleased, 
 especially the Prime Minister Kaja Dhyan Singh, 
 who ever after acted as my patron and stead- 
 fast friend. His brothers Kaja (afterwards Maha- 
 raja) Gulab Singh and Kaja Suchet Singh also 
 befriended me. 
 
 In consequence of my success as an artillerist 
 I received a considerable present, and was en- 
 rolled in the Maharaja's service with the rank of 
 colonel of artillery, and was placed in full com- 
 mand of a camp of eight horse - artillery guns, 
 two mortars, and two howitzers. I was likewise 
 deputed to teach most of the principal officers 
 attached to the artillery, at the head of whom 
 were General Sultan Muhammad and several 
 colonels, all of whom as my shagird (pupils) 
 were directed to present me with a nuzzar or 
 douceur of 500 to 1000 rupees. 
 
 For two or three months Maharaja Kanjit Singh 
 witnessed with much interest their firing of shell, 
 shot, canister, red - hot shot, &c. ; all receiving 
 presents from his Highness according to their 
 proficiency and merits. The presents ranged 
 from 500 to 5000 rupees, and were usually paid,
 
 ON ACTIVE SERVICE AGAIN. 183 
 
 half in gold and silver, and half in Pashmina 
 shawls, 1 &c. 
 
 This mode of treatment proved, of course, a 
 strong incentive to the Maharaja's officers, who 
 worked hard, early and late. 
 
 I should mention that on meeting my country- 
 man Harlan I resumed the character of a wilayati 
 or foreigner, and resumed also the name of 
 Gardner, which I had abandoned for so long that 
 it sounded strangely in my ears. The Sikhs 
 usually called me " Gordana." 
 
 Thus matters continued for three or four 
 months, when I was ordered to proceed with my 
 park of artillery, to which was added a force of 
 800 regular infantry and 400 " Ghorcharahs," or 
 irregular cavalry, to join General Ventura. The 
 General had previously been despatched with his 
 force of about 6000 men to subjugate and annex 
 Sabzal-kot and Rojan, both on the right bank of 
 the Indus below Mittun-kot. This object, after 
 some trouble, having been effected, I received an 
 order to march with all speed with my force of 
 artillery, infantry, and cavalry via Dera Ghazi 
 Khan and Dera Ismail Khan to join the Sikh 
 
 1 Commonly called " Kashmir " shawls.
 
 184 ADVENTURES IN THE PAN JAB. 
 
 force, then in Bannu, under the command of Sardar 
 Tara Singh. Accordingly I went, finding con- 
 siderable difficulty at and on each side of the 
 Paizu Pass, from bad roads and an almost com- 
 plete lack of water. 
 
 On reaching the fort of Lukki, to the north of 
 the Paizu Pass and on the river Gombela, I found 
 Tara Singh hard pressed by the Bannuites, he 
 having but 2000 Sikh irregular cavalry and four 
 small guns with him, without any infantry. He 
 found himself obliged to act on the defensive 
 against some thousands of well-armed and mounted 
 Bannuites, assisted by 4000 or 5000 wild mountain 
 Waziris on foot. However, in the course of about 
 four months we managed to cut down, burn, and 
 destroy all the grain crops, and to level and 
 destroy the forts, villages, gardens, fruit-trees, 
 orchards, &c., of all the most refractory, and of 
 those who refused to pay their fixed annual 
 stipend or revenues. This effected, we returned 
 to Lahore via Kalabagh on the river Indus. 
 
 In such expeditions I served the Maharaja for 
 some three years, and early in 1835 I was march- 
 ing south when, at Wazirabad or Eamnagar, I 
 found the whole Sikh army, with Ranjit Singh at 
 their head, in full march towards Peshawar. Here
 
 THE AFGHAN ARMY. 185 
 
 Tara Singh, with and under whom I was still 
 serving, halted on the banks of the Chenab for a 
 day or two for instructions. Having received 
 them, we changed our front and marched west- 
 ward, and soon took up our respective positions 
 in the advancing Sikh army. On arriving at 
 Peshawar we found Amir Dost Muhammad with 
 40,000 or 50,000 of his own troops, and about 
 60,000 to 80,000 Grhazis, encamped at and about 
 the mouth of the Khaibar Pass. 
 
 The " Francese Compo," l or French division of 
 the Sikh army, then personally commanded by 
 the four French and Italian generals Messieurs 
 Allard, 2 Ventura, Avitabile, and Court and 
 having a strength of 20,000 to 22,000 men, 
 marched towards Hashtnagar, and thence slowly 
 and cautiously made its way westward and south- 
 westward with the object of turning the left flank 
 of the Dost's army; while the remainder of the 
 Sikh army, commanded by Kanjit Singh himself, 
 and 60,000 to 80,000 strong, horse and foot, 
 threatened Dost Muhammad's centre and right 
 flank. 
 
 1 This was the camp name of the " Fouj Khas," or model brigade. 
 
 2 General Allard was a French officer who died in Ranjit Singh's 
 aervice. See Appendix.
 
 186 ADVENTURES IN THE PANJAB. 
 
 The good, kind, and polite old Fakir Azizuddin, 1 
 with his younger brother Nuruddin, Chefs Diplo- 
 matiques of home, foreign, and private affairs, 
 Head and Grand Ministers of State to Kanjit 
 Singh, were, as peacemakers, day and night, back- 
 ward and forward, parleying direct between Kanjit 
 Singh and Dost Muhammad. They certainly per- 
 formed this duty at great personal risk, as serious 
 and heavy cannonading and skirmishing took place 
 every day from morning till night between the 
 two armies. 
 
 The firing and fighting took place along the 
 whole front, and there being but two and a half 
 or three short miles between the armies, and the 
 Afghan position being on rising ground, every 
 movement on either side was plainly visible to 
 the other. Thus matters proceeded for about a 
 month, when the entire Sikh army, with the 
 French division, were ready to advance and make 
 a simultaneous attack on the Afghan position. 
 
 Ranjit Singh ordered pay to be issued to the 
 
 1 Fakir Azizuddin, Foreign Minister to Maharaja Ranjit Singh, 
 was a very remarkable man. He originally gained influence over 
 the Maharaja by his skill as a physician, and subsequently impressed 
 his master by the wisdom of his advice. Sir Lepel Griffin, the 
 highest authority on Panjab history, considers Azizuddin to have 
 been one of the ablest and certainly the most honest of all Ranjit 
 Singh's courtiers. His brother Nuruddin was also much respected.
 
 FLIGHT OF THE AFGHANS. 187 
 
 whole army without delay, and accordingly all 
 arrears, with one month's pay in addition as a 
 present, were issued to all the troops with such 
 celerity that the entire 100,000 men were paid off in 
 the course of about four hours. A general advance 
 and attack along the whole line was ordered to 
 commence at four o'clock the next morning. This 
 was done, but the Sikhs had not advanced above 
 1000 yards when the words "Fled! Fled!" were 
 loudly vociferated by the whole army, proclaiming 
 that the bird had flown. In fact, Dost Muham- 
 mad, with all his troops and Ghazis, had retreated 
 during the night into the Khaibar, and when day 
 broke not even a single tent or Afghan was to be 
 seen. 
 
 The Sikh army was halted, and encamped on 
 their advanced ground for two days, and Fakir 
 Azizuddin returning from his mission on the 
 evening of the second day, the camp was broken 
 up on the third, and the whole army retired on 
 Peshawar. After five or six days' rest Maharaja 
 Kanjit Singh with his army marched back to 
 Lahore, leaving Sirdar Hari Singh Nalwa as 
 governor of Peshawar. By this one month's 
 sparring, coquetting, and skirmishing with Dost 
 Muhammad, Ranjit Singh gained his long- wished-
 
 188 ADVENTURES IN THE PANJAB. 
 
 for object, the undisputed occupation and master- 
 ship of the Peshawar valley. But still it could 
 not be called a bloodless victory, for the Sikhs 
 daily lost from 100 to 150, or even 200 men : the 
 Afghan loss must have been much greater, the 
 Sikh artillery being far more numerous than, and 
 superior to, that of the Afghans. 
 
 The cavalry charges in bodies of from 2000 to 
 5000 men on either side were usually very serious 
 and bloody affairs ; and the Sikhs daily lost many 
 lives at the merciless hands of the Ghazis, who, 
 each with his little green Moslem flag, boldly 
 pressed on, freely and fairly courting death and 
 martyrdom. They only became shy of thus 
 advancing when they had seen the bodies of dead 
 Ghazis burnt in heaps ; for in their wild fanatical 
 simplicity they believed (as they do even now) 
 that if their bodies are thus burnt, instead of 
 going to heaven they inevitably go to the nether 
 regions. 
 
 On recrossing the Indus at the fort of Attock 
 the Sikhs unfortunately lost a full boat-load of 
 regular infantry ; and the rear and flanks of the 
 Sikh army, both in going to and returning from 
 Peshawar, were, as was always the case, harassed 
 by the Ghakkars. This tribe inhabits the range of
 
 AFRIDI ATTACKS. 189 
 
 hills westward of Rawul Pindi, and claims to be of 
 Persian descent. Their legends speak of a former 
 great Ghakkar dynasty. 1 Parties of the Sikh army 
 were also constantly attacked by the Afridi tribe, 
 which inhabits the hills between Attock and 
 Peshawar. 
 
 On reaching the Jheluni river the army was, 
 to some extent, broken up, a large part of it 
 being dispersed on various duties. A body of 
 5000 or 6000 men were sent to Bannu, as it 
 was stated that the Waziris had collected in 
 large numbers, and were about to unite with 
 the Afridis of Kohat, and with the Khaibaris, 
 for the purpose of attacking Hari Singh, and, 
 if possible, of retaking Peshawar. 
 
 The three former Barakzai chiefs of Peshawar 
 had gone to Kabul with their brother, Dost 
 Muhammad ; but a short time afterwards Maha- 
 raja Ranjit Singh sent for them, and honoured 
 them and treated them well at Lahore, though 
 I do not know how he induced them to go 
 there. When I reached Gujrat a sardar or 
 general named Amir or Mir Singh, with two strong 
 battalions of infantry, 500 Sikh irregular cavalry, 
 
 1 In the year 1205 the conqueror Muhammad Ghori was killed 
 by the tribe of Ghakkars.
 
 190 ADVENTURES IN THE PANJAB. 
 
 and my camp of artillery, was ordered to follow 
 and join the force already sent to Bannu. We 
 accordingly marched down the left bank of the 
 Jhelum, crossed over at Khushab, and marched 
 thence vid Towana and the sandy desert road 
 to Kalabagh, where we crossed the Indus. 
 Thence we marched to Bannu by the Esau-khel 
 road, and then joined the main body. We 
 found the Bannuites usually quiet and amenable, 
 willing peaceably to pay their annual tribute ; 
 but the hill Waziri tribes, particularly those of 
 Kunigaram, gave us no rest day or night for 
 the three or four months that we remained at 
 Bannu. We received strict orders not to enter 
 the hills, and therefore could not punish them 
 as we desired ; but the dread of our doing so, 
 and our daily threatening to do so, prevented 
 them from going towards either Kohat or Pesha- 
 war, as otherwise they might have done. More- 
 over, they soon heard that the Barakzai sardars, 
 the former chiefs of Peshawar, had gone to La- 
 hore and were well treated there ; and this news 
 kept them quiet for a time. So, receiving the 
 annual tribute without further trouble, we all 
 returned to Lahore. 
 
 After a short time I went with my camp to
 
 GARDNER'S ARTILLERY. 191 
 
 Amritsar for the Dasahra festival, for which 
 occasion the whole of Eanjit Singh's army was 
 yearly collected in camp. It was about this time 
 that the Prime Minister, Raja Dhyan Singh, 1 
 took me from Maharaja Kanjit Singh's service 
 and placed me in full command of his own and 
 his brothers' artillery, which was attached to the 
 already organised Jammu contingent of 7000 to 
 8000 men. 
 
 The artillery portion of the contingent, now 
 placed under my command, consisted of six nine- 
 pounder and six six-pounder horse-artillery guns, 
 four mortars, four howitzers, and two three- 
 pounder mountain -guns, twenty-two pieces in all, 
 besides some camel-guns, all well found and in 
 good order. With this camp, and attached to 
 the Jammu contingent, I marched with Kanjit 
 Singh and his whole army about the early spring 
 of 1837 from Lahore to Wazirabad, and thence 
 down the left bank of the Chenab, vid Eam- 
 nagar to Chiniote. So far, this march was 
 supposed to have for its object the settling of 
 some differences between Diwan Sawun Mull, 
 
 1 Sir Herbert Edwardes states in his 'Life of Sir Henry Law- 
 rence' that Gardner married a native wife, given him by Raja 
 Dhyan Singh out of his own house.
 
 192 ADVENTURES IN THE PANJAB. 
 
 governor of Multan, and Raja Gulab Singh, ruler 
 of Jammu. However, we halted some time at 
 Chiniote, where at first rumours, and afterwards 
 authentic news, reached us that Sardar Muham- 
 mad Akbar Khan, Dost Muhammad's son, had 
 come from Kabul with 20,000 to 25,000 Afghan 
 troops, had passed through the Khaibar, and was 
 now devastating the plains of Peshawar up to 
 the very walls of the city; and that the Sikh 
 governor, Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa, though un- 
 doubtedly an experienced and remarkably brave 
 soldier of acknowledged skill, could make no 
 head against him. Soon afterwards news arrived 
 of Sardar Hari Singh's death, he having fallen 
 bravely at the head of his Sikh troops under the 
 sword of the Afghans. 1 
 
 Ranjit Singh, now aroused to action, issued 
 immediate and strict orders for the whole army 
 to reach Peshawar as quickly as possible by 
 forced marches, each commander choosing his 
 own road. The Prime Minister, Raja Dhyan 
 Singh, a remarkably brave and active man, 
 reached the fort of Jamrud, near the Khaibar, 
 with 10,000 to 12,000 irregular cavalry, on the 
 morning of the seventh day from Chiniote; but 
 
 1 Battle of Jamrud, April 30, 1837.
 
 A RAPID MARCH. 193 
 
 he unfortunately found that Muhammad Akbar 
 Khan, hearing of the rapid and near approach 
 of the whole Sikh army, after doing all the 
 injury he could, had on the previous day fled 
 back towards Kabul. On the morning of the 
 ninth day Eaja Gulab Singh, 1 at the head of 
 his contingent, all intact, reached Khairabad, 
 opposite and west of Attock ; and during that 
 day the bulk of the Sikh army arrived, and 
 were crossing the river pell-mell and in no 
 small confusion and uproar. 
 
 While Kaja Gulab Singh with one contingent 
 was passing westward through the Gidar Gali 
 Pass about noon, he received written directions 
 from his brother at Jamrud not to advance 
 towards Peshawar, but to cross the Kabul river 
 and enter and overawe both the upper and lower 
 Yusufzai country, these tribes, emboldened by 
 Muhammad Akbar Khan's temporary success and 
 firebrand raid, having become refractory and in- 
 clined to mischief. This order, though apparently 
 simple to obey, really gave Kaja Gulab Singh 
 and our whole 'contingent plenty nay, handfuls 
 of work night and day for six months : for the 
 
 1 Brother of the Prime Minister, and subsequently Maharaja of 
 Kashmir. 
 
 N
 
 194 ADVENTURES IN THE PAN JAB. 
 
 artillery it was a regular life in the saddle. 
 During the Yusufzai campaign Mian Udam 
 Singh, 1 Raja Gulab Singh's eldest son, almost 
 daily achieved such prodigies of valour as to 
 call forth the unstinted admiration and applause, 
 and often the amazement, of the whole con- 
 tingent. If Raja Suchet Singh, 2 his uncle, was 
 too reckless, dashing, flashy, and fiery before 
 the enemy, Udam Singh also was rash and 
 impetuous to a dangerous degree. 
 
 Meanwhile trouble had arisen in Gulab Singh's 
 own dominions. Raja Dhyan Singh had an 
 orderly or servant of good family, belonging to 
 one of the hill tribes south and south-west of 
 Kashmir and Punch. This man, Shamas Khan 
 by name, whom the Raja had treated with con- 
 siderable kindness, spread a false report through- 
 out the whole hill -country (while the brothers 
 were busily engaged) that both Gulab Singh 
 and Dhyan Singh had been killed in battle. 
 
 The entire population of these hill regions 
 were thus encouraged to rise in armed rebellion, 
 
 1 It will be seen that this brave young soldier was killed with 
 Maharaja Nao Nihal Singh on the 6th November 1840. 
 
 " Raja Suchet Singh was the third of the Jammu brothers, of 
 whom Dhyan Singh and Gulab Singh have already been mentioned.
 
 "ALARUMS AND EXCURSIONS." 195 
 
 and by stratagem and treachery most of the 
 hill forts about there were seized and the garri- 
 sons massacred. 
 
 This untoward news of course made Raja Gulab 
 Singh anxious to return and regain his sovereignty, 
 and the Yusufzai region being now settled and 
 peaceful, the Eaja with his contingent crossed in 
 the autumn to the left bank of the Indus at Bazar- 
 ki-Patan, some miles above Attock, and marched 
 thence direct to Kahati, near the Jhelum, north- 
 west of Rawul Pindi. Leaving his artillery here, 
 Raja Gulab Singh with the remainder of the con- 
 tingent entered the hills, while another body of 
 troops moved up quickly from Jammu. After some 
 desultory warfare the rebellion was crushed and 
 subdued in about three months, when the whole 
 contingent again returned to Lahore. I had not 
 been long there when news arrived that the Sikh 
 force in Bannu had been obliged to retire across 
 the Indus, and had suffered great loss. On this 
 Raja Suchet Singh with Prince Nao Nihal Singh, 
 son of Shahzada Kharak Singh, with a large Sikh 
 force and the Jammu contingent, were ordered 
 to proceed to Bannu without delay. 
 
 Our contingent, under Raja Suchet Singh, reached
 
 196 ADVENTURES IN THE PANJAB. 
 
 Kalabagh by forced marches, and thence went on 
 to Bannu carefully, the Sikh force under their 
 prince 1 joining us a day or two after. For two 
 months or more we had severe fighting with some 
 thousands of Waziris and Bannuites united. How- 
 ever, we levelled and burnt all the refractory 
 Bannu fort - villages, and beat the Waziris back 
 into their hills, and even well punished and dis- 
 persed them. This done, we marched by the 
 Paizu 2 Pass to Tank, to punish the Nawab of that 
 principality he being the cause and instigator 
 of all the late troubles in this quarter ; but pre- 
 vious to our arrival he had fled to one of his 
 strongholds some twenty or twenty - five miles 
 within the Waziri hills. Thither our contingent, 
 with Suchet Singh at its head, quickly fol- 
 lowed him. Our way led through ravines, and 
 up along the bed of the Tank river, until we 
 reached a considerable plain, in the centre of which 
 stood the fort of Sarwarghur. However, we found 
 that the Nawab had fled on to Ghuzni or Kabul 
 the day before our arrival. We therefore quickly 
 retraced our steps to Tank, and there annexed the 
 whole of the principality; but we certainly had 
 
 1 Nao Nihal Singh. 2 Now called " Shaikh Budin."
 
 WAZIRI TACTICS. 197 
 
 considerable hard work and some severe fighting, 
 both going to and returning from Sarwarghur. 
 The Waziris crowned the heights on each side of 
 us, and disputed every inch of the road. 
 
 The object for which we had been sent being, 
 as far as practicable, effected, the whole force 
 marched back to Lahore.
 
 198 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 "THE LION OF THE PAN JAB." 
 
 EARLY DAYS OP THE SIKH ARMY RANJIT SINGH'S GURKHAS THE 
 MAHARAJA AND HIS PADDLE-BOAT GULAB SINGH AND THE 
 TREACHEROUS MERCHANT THE JOCOSE CHAVDRI A CAMEL-LOAD 
 OF FLATTERY CHARACTER OF GULAB SINGH. 
 
 IN addition to the foregoing record of his cam- 
 paigns in the service of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, 
 which was written by Colonel Gardner himself, 
 and has been left, as far as possible, unaltered, 
 I have found various disconnected anecdotes con- 
 cerning the great Maharaja and Gardner's later 
 master, Maharaja Gulab Singh of Jammu and 
 Kashmir, which may amuse and possibly instruct 
 the reader. They also are given in Gardner's own 
 words. 
 
 The following description of the early days 
 of the Khalsa army is of undoubted interest, and 
 presents a vivid picture of the homely and simple 
 dealings of Ranjit Singh with his soldiers :
 
 EARLY DAYS OF THE SIKH ARMY. 199 
 
 In the early part of Ranjit Singh's career there 
 was no such thing as money payments. The 
 soldiers received patches of land, and were called 
 puttidars. It was considered ignoble to take 
 money payments : a ready - money soldier was 
 held in contempt. It was in 1809, when Lord 
 Metcalfe, then a young political officer from 
 Delhi, was deputed to Amritsar, that Ranjit Singh 
 first set his keen eye upon disciplined and regular 
 soldiery. It so happened that a dash at Met- 
 calfe's encampment was made by some of the 
 redoubted Akalis. 1 The small escort of red-coated 
 Purbias rallied round Metcalfe, and so astonished 
 the Akalis by their unwonted appearance and 
 bold front that they turned and fled. Ranjit 
 Singh was not slow to learn the lesson taught, 
 and he looked about to find any one who could 
 teach drill. One Drounkal Singh appeared, who 
 proved to the Maharaja that he knew the bayonet 
 exercise, &c., and was immediately employed by 
 the Maharaja to make a commencement with some 
 twenty or thirty men. The old troops took um- 
 brage, and resented the innovation : the idea of 
 money payments, too, was abhorrent. Ranjit 
 
 1 The Akalis were a fanatical band of Sikhs who corresponded to 
 the Ghazis of Muhammadan nations.
 
 200 "THE LION OF THE PANJAB." 
 
 Singh was not the man to be turned from his 
 purpose. He used to favour the new men in 
 every way used to send for them in a morning, 
 distribute food from his own table to them after 
 their parades, with which he affected to be highly 
 pleased, and administered bacJcshish to each with 
 his own hand. The sight of the money was too 
 much for the remainder of the army, who now no 
 longer held aloof from the new discipline and 
 regular payment. Ranjit Singh attempted a fur- 
 ther innovation in introducing the Sepoy cap 
 instead of the turban : this the army would not 
 stand, and mutinied. The wily Maharaja bided 
 his time, and did not press the point. He had 
 about 1200 Gurkhas in his camp. Turning to the 
 Sikhs, he said he would not force the caps on those 
 of his own faith and nation, especially consider- 
 ing the inconvenience which the long hair they 
 were obliged to wear might cause them; but 
 ordered them to surround the Gurkhas when they 
 went for their pay, and secure a promise from 
 them that they would wear the caps. At this 
 time the camp of the Maharaja was pitched on 
 the great plain of Govindgarh, outside Amritsar. 
 The sturdy little Gurkhas got wind of the con- 
 spiracy, and went for their pay with loaded mus-
 
 THE STURDY GURKHAS. 201 
 
 kets. On receiving their pay they commenced 
 returning, and met three battalions of Sikhs march- 
 ing down upon them, with the intention of which 
 they had been forewarned. They halted and said, 
 "Let us pass, or we open fire, we are armed 
 and loaded : you would not wear the cap ; no 
 more will we." So far from the Sikhs carrying 
 out the Maharaja's orders, they rushed up and 
 embraced the Gurkhas, and a great fraternisa- 
 tion followed. Still Ranjit Singh, though obliged 
 to overlook these acts, did not swerve from his 
 purpose ; and he managed to effect his end 
 adroitly, by ordering the drill -instructor, Droun- 
 kal Singh, to wear the cap himself, and to en- 
 list in future no recruit without previously taking 
 agreement from him to wear it. This man, 
 Drounkal Singh, afterwards became a colonel, and 
 has descendants possessed of good property all 
 over the country. 
 
 Great man though he undoubtedly was, it must 
 be remembered that the Maharaja was quite un- 
 educated. He looked upon his European officers 
 as men of universal talents, and it was his regular 
 habit to compel them to undertake duties in 
 addition to those on which they were specially 
 employed. Thus Avitabile and Ventura, originally
 
 202 " THE LION OF THE PANJAB." 
 
 engaged as military instructors, were appointed 
 governors of provinces, but were still required to 
 perform military duties ; Harlan, though nearly 
 always employed in civil duties, held in addition 
 the command of troops ; Honigberger, who was 
 a doctor and nothing but a doctor, was compelled 
 to superintend a gunpowder manufactory, and 
 was pressed to accept a civil government. 
 
 The following anecdote, recorded by Colonel 
 Gardner, tells of yet another profession that was 
 once forced on General Ventura : 
 
 Ranjit Singh's Paddle-boat. 
 
 Having heard of steamers, Eanjit Singh desired 
 to have one ; and believing that a foreigner could 
 do anything, asked General Ventura if he was a 
 good blacksmith, and desired him, without waiting 
 for a reply, to make him a steamer at once. The 
 General protested, but it was as much as his 
 position was worth. Eanjit said he was a fool, 
 and General Ventura promised to make one, and 
 boldly asked for 40,000 rupees. He came to me 
 and begged my aid. I read up all I could about 
 paddle-boat building, and succeeded in turning out
 
 A WONDROUS BARGE. 203 
 
 a wondrous sort of two-decked barge with paddle- 
 wheels to be worked by hand. I may mention 
 that when the 40,000 rupees were sent by the 
 hands of the bais (the personal attendants of 
 Kanjit), they demanded 15,000 rupees out of it. 
 We knew it was better not to murmur but to give 
 it, as people of that sort were not to be offended. 
 E-anjit Singh clapped his hands, as was his wont, 
 in ecstasy with the boat, in the sides of the lower 
 decks of which I had made port - holes which 
 bristled with swivel-guns. This boat was launched 
 on the Ravi, but with the utmost efforts of the 
 exhausted wheel -turners would not go more than 
 10 yards or so up the stream. However, Ranjit 
 Singh was delighted. I had built fore and aft 
 cabins, and he filled them with nautch-girls, and 
 there was a great tamasha. He sent us 20,000 
 rupees in addition, of which the bais took 5000 : 
 the cost of the boat could not have been more 
 than 2000. This was the first and only steamer 
 built for the Sikh monarchy. Ranjit Singh was 
 quite satisfied with the fact of the boat moving up 
 the stream, however slowly, without sails or oars : 
 he had equalled the achievements of the West 
 in science, and that was all he desired. The 
 picnic was not unaccompanied by strong drinks,
 
 204 " THE LION OF THE PAN JAB.' 
 
 and I received at the end of the celebration a 
 further present of a shawl and 3000 rupees. 
 
 Maharaja Guldb Singh. 
 
 Scarcely less interesting a figure than the great 
 Maharaja himself was Maharaja Gulab Singh of 
 Kashmir, into whose service Gardner finally passed 
 after the death of Ranjit Singh. The following 
 anecdote shows Gulab Singh in one of his more 
 gentle moments, for, as is told in another place, 
 he could be very terrible to his subjects when 
 it seemed fit to him to strike terror into their 
 hearts. " The utmost reverence and submission," 
 says Gardner, "attended the invocation of his 
 name." 
 
 " A travelling merchant had been robbed by 
 three thieves, who had just completed their act 
 of spoliation when their victim in despair uttered 
 the cry, ' Dooai Maharaj ! ' (Succour, oh king ! ) 
 Immediately on hearing these words the thieves 
 reflected, and decided to restore all their booty. 
 In doing so they stipulated that the merchant 
 in return should never reveal the circumstance, 
 and this he promised. Proceeding on his journey, 
 he disposed of his property in the various markets,
 
 EASTERN JUSTICE. 205 
 
 and, faithless to his word, went straight to the 
 Maharaja Gulab Singh and complained of having 
 been robbed. As is usual in these dominions, a 
 hue and cry was sent all over the country, and, 
 as is almost invariably the result, the thieves were 
 captured and brought before Gulab Singh. They 
 admitted the robbery, but on being asked by his 
 Highness if they had anything to plead in ex- 
 tenuation of the crime, they recounted the facts, 
 how at the mere sound of the invocation to the 
 Maharaja's name they had returned the booty, 
 stipulating only for silence. On hearing this the 
 Maharaja, who had taken the precaution of 
 securing from the mouth of the complainant the 
 list of property stolen, sent to the bazaars where 
 the robbers declared the goods had been sold. 
 They were produced ; the perfidy of the merchant 
 was proved ; he was sentenced to lose his 
 property, which was handed over to the robbers, 
 who were pardoned. The purchase - money was 
 restored to the buyers, and the merchant was 
 thrown into prison for nine months. 
 
 " I was seated in durbar when this occurred. 
 
 " Gulab Singh used to enjoy a little opium 
 occasionally, and his tongue never failed to become 
 amusingly unloosened afterwards. Often when
 
 206 " THE LION OF THE PAN JAB." 
 
 nazars were presented he used jokingly to return 
 them. One day the chaudri of a very turbu- 
 lent neighbourhood, called Deva Buttala, below 
 Bhimbur, presented a rupee, which Gulab Singh 
 returned with polite jocularity. Many a time 
 had the incorrigible Deva Buttalaites received 
 chastisement for their bold depredations. In 
 such repute, indeed, was their character held, that 
 recruits from this part were more in request than 
 almost any other in the Panjab. The chaudri 
 asked, in reply to repeated inquiries from Gulab 
 Singh as to not only his own immediate per- 
 sonal welfare, but that of every one of his 
 relations (and this with great affected interest), 
 whether he might detail the exact truth. ' Go 
 on/ says the Raja. * Well,' rejoined he, ' there is 
 no period of my mind when I suffered less 
 anxiety, and was so completely at my ease ! ' 
 ' How so ? ' cries Gulab Singh. ' Why/ said the 
 chaudri, ' I can now keep open house, for I 
 have nothing in it to steal. Formerly I had the 
 trouble of locking the door upon my cooking 
 utensils, but I am spared all trouble now about 
 thieves. For which I thank God/ said the 
 chaudri, pretending gratitude to the Disposer of 
 events. Gulab Singh was highly amused at the
 
 PATRIARCHAL SIMPLICITY. 207 
 
 man's readiness, and gave him a quantity of 
 brass cooking - pots, and 20 rupees, cautioning 
 him to lock his door again. 
 
 " In those days a patriarchal simplicity ob- 
 tained. With the advance of European ideas 
 (call it civilisation if you will) a greater distance 
 came to be observed between the sovereign and 
 his subjects ; and the respectful familiarity on 
 one side, and jocular condescension on the other, 
 are not to be found except in remote tracts. 
 
 " Gulab Singh had a knack of flattering and 
 saying something personally pleasing to all who 
 appeared at his durbars. One day he loaded a 
 chaudri with the most fulsome compliments, till 
 at last the elated recipient, affecting a look of 
 artlessness, asked permission to say one word 
 ('urz kurna'). 'By all means,' says the Eaja. 
 ' Unfortunately, sire, I forgot to bring my camels, 
 horses, and mules here to carry away such a load 
 of praises, and fortunately, too, as they must have 
 sunk under the pleasing burden. Instead, have 
 the kindness to give me something personally sub- 
 stantial, which, although really inferior in value 
 to your Highness's approbation, I could yet take 
 away in my hand/ and he held it out. Gulab 
 Singh and the whole durbar were delighted at
 
 208 " THE LION OF THE PAN JAB." 
 
 the humour of the man ; 50 rupees were at once 
 sent for, and a dress of honour, which the man 
 carried off, and he was called always afterwards, 
 ' the unt walla chaudri ' (the csuaiel-chaudri). 
 
 "Gulab Singh used to go round and visit 
 peasants' houses personally, and, often incognito, 
 ask about their crops, pat their children, and 
 make himself pleasant in a thousand ways, not 
 forgetting to leave substantial tokens of his 
 visit." 
 
 Character of Gulab Singh. 
 
 The following study of Maharaja Gulab Singh, 
 written by Gardner, and included by Colonel 
 Carmichael Smyth in his 'History of the Eeign- 
 ing Family of Lahore/ is worthy of perusal. It 
 presents an interesting picture of that very re- 
 markable statesman, missing only one trait the 
 intense pride taken by Gulab Singh in his very 
 dubious descent from the ancient reigning family 
 of Jammu, a pride which, in the opinion of 
 that shrewd observer Sir Herbert Edwardes, was 
 even more powerful than the avarice which 
 seemed to most people Gulab Singh's guiding 
 impulse : 
 
 "The character of Gulab Singh in the early
 
 CHARACTER STUDY OF GULAB SINGH. 209 
 
 days of his power was one of the most repulsive 
 it is possible to imagine. 1 Ambitious, avaricious, 
 and cruel by nature, he reduced the exercise of 
 his cruelty to a system for the promotion of the 
 objects which his ambition and avarice led him 
 to seek. He exercised the most ruthless bar- 
 barities, not in the heat of conflict or the flush 
 of victory only, nor in the rage of an offended 
 sovereign against rebellious subjects : he deliber- 
 ately committed the most horrible atrocities for 
 the purpose of investing his name with a terror 
 that should keep down all thoughts of resistance 
 to his sway. 
 
 " To turn to smaller traits ; he is an eater of 
 opium, he tells long stories, offers little, promises 
 less, but keeps his word ; has a good memory, 
 and is free and humorous with even the lowest 
 and poorest class of his subjects. The partaker 
 and companion of their toils and labours, seem- 
 ing to be their diligent and careful instructor 
 and father, their intimate village brother, their 
 free, jocose, humorous neighbour, their constant 
 
 1 It is a most remarkable circumstance that, in spite of the publi- 
 cation of Colonel Gardner's extremely candid account of Maharaja 
 Gulab Singh's character and career, the latter apparently felt no 
 ill-will towards Gardner, but retained him permanently in his 
 service. 
 

 
 210 "THE LION OF THE PANJAB. 
 
 visitor; yet, with all this, in reality a very 
 leech, sucking their life's blood, the shameless 
 trader of their sons and daughters ; the would-be 
 great merchant of the East, the very jack-of-all- 
 trades, the usurer, the turn -penny, the briber, 
 and the bribed. With all this he must be ac- 
 counted the very best of soldiers, and, for an 
 Asiatic and an uneducated man, he is an able, 
 active, bold, and energetic, yet wise and prudent 
 commander. He is anything but strong-headed 
 and hot-blooded ; prudently making slow, resolute, 
 and judicious movements, thinking more of his 
 resources, reserves, &c., than is the wont of 
 Orientals. Looking more to the future and its 
 wants and requisites than to the present or the 
 past, slowly he proceeds, feeling his way as he 
 advances, quick in taking advantages, relying 
 much on his subtle political talent, and looking 
 on arms as his last resource. In the field of 
 battle he is self-composed, prudent, and watchful 
 to the last degree; but at the breach, storm, or 
 charge, he freely, though reluctantly, expends 
 his men, while himself just the man to be at 
 their head if required. Generally, however, he 
 is the cool and able commander in the rear."
 
 211 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 INTRIGUE AND ANARCHY. 
 
 DEATH OF RANJIT SINGH AMBITIOUS PROJECT OF THE DOQRA 
 BROTHERS MAHARAJA KHARRAK SINGH MURDER OF SARDAR 
 CHET SINGH DEPOSITION AND DEATH OF KHARRAK SINGH 
 THE VENGEANCE OF HEAVEN DEATH OF NAO NIHAL SINGH. 
 
 MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH died on the 27th June 
 1839, and, in the words of Sir Lepel Griffin, the 
 six years which followed were a period of storm 
 and anarchy, in which assassination was the rule 
 and the weak were ruthlessly trampled under foot. 
 The kingdom founded in violence, treachery, and 
 blood did not long survive its founder. Created 
 by the military and administrative genius of one 
 man, it crumbled into powder when the spirit 
 which gave it life was withdrawn. The death 
 of Ranjit Singh was, in fact, followed by a rapid 
 succession of crimes and tragedies such as have 
 rarely been paralleled in history, save in the
 
 212 INTRIGUE AND ANARCHY. 
 
 darkest period of the downfall of Kome, or in 
 the early days of the French Eevolution. 
 Colonel Gardner thus tells the tale : 
 
 In the old age of the Maharaja there was a 
 person whom he especially took into favour, and 
 whom he loved like a son from his birth. This 
 was Hira Singh, the son of Eaja Dhyan Singh. 
 Ranjit Singh could hardly bear the boy to be 
 out of his sight, and he from infancy was sedu- 
 lously taught to call the monarch taba (papa). 
 As Hira Singh approached manhood the army 
 also yielded its affection to the Maharaja's 
 favourite, and so it came about that this senile 
 love of the old Maharaja, aided by the inclination 
 of the powerful army, suggested a dream of great- 
 ness to his uncles the Dogra brothers, and led to 
 the successive deeds of violence by which it seemed 
 to them that their ambitious design might be 
 gratified. This dream was that Hira Singh, the 
 heir of their family, or at least the most promis- 
 ing of its rising generation, might eventually 
 succeed to the throne of Ranjit Singh. Those 
 to be swept away were the male members of the 
 Maharaja's family, and all those ministers, advisers, 
 and chiefs who would not join the Dogra party.
 
 A DREADFUL PROGRAMME. 213 
 
 A glance at the table (Appendix) will show 
 that in the course of a very few years this pro- 
 gramme was carried out in all its essential feat- 
 ures ; and I will now relate how it was that all 
 these murders were brought about directly or 
 indirectly by the Dogra brothers, Dhyan Singh 
 and Gulab Singh, for the eventual aggrandise- 
 ment of their family in the person of Hira 
 Singh. The two brothers played the awful game 
 with deliberate and unswerving pertinacity, and 
 the narrative will explain how their schemes 
 were carried out, and how Dhyan Singh and Hira 
 Singh were themselves overwhelmed in the tor- 
 rent of blood which they had caused to flow. 
 When Eanjit Singh's death opened to them the 
 field of action, the veil of futurity hid these 
 events from their eyes : their only thought was 
 that the way to the throne had to be cleared 
 of all obstacles, and at the same time an out- 
 ward show of fealty to the Khalsa, and of 
 loyalty to the sovereign line of succession, had 
 to be maintained. The slightest suspicion might 
 have been fatal, yet prompt action seemed to 
 be the least dangerous course, and the first blow 
 fell quickly.
 
 214 INTRIGUE AND ANARCHY. 
 
 Ranjit Singh when on his deathbed summoned 
 to him his only legitimate son, Shahzada Kharrak 
 Singh, and proclaimed him his heir, with Raja 
 Dhyan Singh as Minister. Now Kharrak Singh 
 was a blockhead, and a slave to opium : at the 
 time of his accession to the throne of Lahore he 
 passed his whole time in a state of stupefaction. 
 His chief adviser was a sardar named Chet 
 Singh, and this man had the courage to set 
 himself forward as a rival to the all-powerful 
 Dhyan Singh, and was also so rash as to make 
 known his intention of having the Minister 
 assassinated. Matters came to a climax in 
 October 1839, but little more than three months 
 after Ranjit Singh's death ; and being, as I was, 
 the commandant of Raja Dhyan Singh's artil- 
 lery, and high in his confidence, I was closely 
 connected with the events which I am about to 
 describe. 
 
 It must be remembered that Dhyan Singh and 
 his brothers had been created Rajas by Ranjit 
 Singh, and that in the latter years of his reign 
 they had become nearly independent, gratitude 
 and the additional power that Dhyan Singh's 
 office of wazir conferred upon them being the 
 links that bound them to the service of their
 
 TWENTY-POUR HOURS* NOTICE. 215 
 
 old master and benefactor. After his death, they 
 became entirely independent, and maintained a 
 large force of troops of their own race (Dogras). 1 
 Sardar Chet Singh, the chief adviser of the new 
 Maharaja, endeavoured to obtain the support of 
 General Ventura and the other foreign officers, 
 and was aided by the ill-feeling which had long 
 existed between Ventura and the Minister. By 
 the 8th October things had reached such a pitch 
 that the murder of the whole Dogra family had 
 been decided on, and Chet Singh was rash 
 enough to say in durbar to Dhyan Singh, " See 
 what will become of you in twenty-four hours." 
 Eaja Dhyan Singh, who was a man of in- 
 flexible resolution and imperturbable serenity of 
 demeanour, smiled politely and replied, " Your 
 humble servant, sir; we shall see." He had for 
 some time past prepared the way for his in- 
 tended action by spreading rumours that Chet 
 Singh was a traitor, and in the pay of the 
 British Government. As such rumours gain 
 
 1 " The Dogras are a branch of the Aryan invaders of India who 
 settled in the hill country between the Panjab and the Himalayas. 
 
 " They are divided into castes, and the Dogra Rajputs (who rank 
 next to the Brahmans) rose to power with the brothers Dhyan Singh 
 and Gulab Singh, and are a ruling and fighting caste. 
 
 " Jammu is about the centre, as it is the capital of the country of 
 the Dogras." Drew's ' Northern Barrier of India.'
 
 216 INTRIGUE AND ANARCHY. 
 
 credence in proportion as they are detailed and 
 minute, he noised it abroad that Chet Singh had 
 engaged to place the Panjab under the protec- 
 tion of the British, to pay 6 annas in every 
 rupee of revenue to them, to disband the Khalsa 
 army, and to turn all the sardars out of their 
 command. 
 
 The time to move had now arrived, and he 
 betook himself as soon as the durbar was over 
 to the zenana of Kharrak Singh (to which he 
 had the right of admission by favour of the 
 late Maharaja), and secured an interview with 
 the Maharani, the mother of Prince Nao Nihal 
 Singh. This lady was well aware of the weak- 
 ness of her husband, and Dhyan Singh easily 
 persuaded her that the success of Chet Singh 
 would result in the entire supremacy of that 
 sardar and the foreign officers, and the reduc- 
 tion of the royal family to a cipher. Prince 
 Nao Nihal Singh was at this time a spirited, 
 ambitious youth of eighteen years of age, the 
 only descendant of Eanjit Singh who showed 
 character and ability. His wife was summoned 
 to the secret conclave in the zenana, and sub- 
 sequently the prince himself was called in. It 
 was agreed that none could be more devoted
 
 PRELIMINARY STEPS. 217 
 
 to the family of Eanjit Singh than the Dogra 
 brothers, and that the only obstacle to general 
 tranquillity was the traitor Chet Singh. The 
 arrangements decided on were the death of the 
 latter, the retirement of Kharrak Singh from 
 active public life, for which neither his inclina- 
 tions nor his mental endowments fitted him, and 
 the regency of his son, Nao Nihal Singh. The 
 prince fully and cheerfully agreed to a pro- 
 gramme which was to lead to his aggrandisement. 
 The next step was to ascertain the feelings of 
 the Sikh sardars of the French brigade. Dhyan 
 Singh found them entirely with him, and secured 
 a promise of their co-operation. Lastly, the con- 
 cert of the powerful Sindhanwalia family was 
 necessary. Chet Singh, prompted by General 
 Ventura, had already sought alliance with them, 
 assuring them that the Dogra family were in 
 correspondence with the British with a view to 
 the disinheritance of Eanjit Singh's descendants 
 and their own elevation to power. Eaja Dhyan 
 Singh's policy viz., placing Nao Nihal Singh on 
 the throne was sufficient answer to any doubts 
 the Sindhanwalias might have felt as to the loyalty 
 of the Dogra family, and their aid was at once 
 promised.
 
 218 INTRIGUE AND ANARCHY. 
 
 Finally, Dhyan Singh gave instructions to the 
 army, which was now completely at his orders, 
 to remain perfectly quiet all night. I received 
 orders that loaded guns were to be placed at 
 nightfall at all the gates of the palace, and that 
 whatever occurred, whatever thunders there might 
 be at the gates, every one was to feign sleep. 
 Eaja Dhyan Singh asked me if I would like to 
 accompany him, and of course I accepted the 
 invitation. The party consisted of about fifteen : 
 the three Raja brothers Gulab Singh, Dhyan 
 Singh, and Suchet Singh in addition to Prince 
 Nao Nihal Singh ; then came the heads of the 
 Sindhanwalia family, then two trusty noblemen 
 called Rao Lai Singh and Rao Keshur Singh, 
 and myself. The ladies of the zenana had 
 promised to leave us free entrance to the build- 
 ing where the Maharaja and his Minister slept. 
 
 It was near midnight when we entered the 
 palace, and no sooner had we left the gate 
 through which we had been admitted than a 
 voice accosted us, " Who is it ? " Dhyan Singh 
 replied, "The Maharaja goes to-morrow to bathe 
 at Amritsar, and we are to make the necessary 
 preparations." This was the concerted answer. 
 We reached another and inner gate, which noise-
 
 DHYAN SINGH'S HAND. 219 
 
 lessly opened on a whispered order from Dhyan 
 Singh. Without uttering a whisper, we stealthily 
 crept our way in the dark up a flight of stairs, 
 over a place called the Badshah - i - Takht, and 
 thence to the immediate vicinity of the royal 
 apartment. Here Gulab Singh and Dhyan Singh 
 held a whispered consultation, the purport of 
 which I could not catch. At this moment a 
 man started up, and seeing us, called out and 
 tried to run off". Suchet Singh shot him dead, 
 and was himself instantly almost knocked down 
 by a tremendous cuff on the ear dealt him by 
 his brother, Gulab Singh, who cursed him under 
 his breath for his imprudence. On looking over 
 a parapet we saw two companies of the Ma- 
 haraja's guard. Dhyan Singh quickly went 
 down the staircase to the place where they 
 were stationed, and was accosted by the subadar 
 in command, who said, " Why did you fire ? " 
 I had followed Dhyan Singh, and stood imme- 
 diately behind him. He simply showed his 
 right hand (on which he had two thumbs) and 
 put his finger to his lips. On seeing the well- 
 known peculiarity the subadar whispered, "Lie 
 down," and the whole of the two companies 
 noiselessly lay down at full length and pre-
 
 220 INTRIGUE AND ANARCHY. 
 
 tended sleep. The subadar then pointed with a 
 mute gesture to the room of the doomed man, 
 the door of which had been left ajar. There 
 was a light in the room. Dhyan Singh ap- 
 proached and entered it, followed .by the whole 
 party. Lo ! there sat Maharaja Kharrak Singh 
 on his bed washing his teeth. The adjoining 
 bed, which belonged to Chet Singh, was empty. 
 When asked where his Minister was, Kharrak 
 Singh simply replied that he had gone out on 
 hearing a shot fired. 
 
 Perceiving a fierce sort of half smile light up the 
 faces of the Dogra brothers, he begged that Chet 
 Singh's life might be spared, and would have 
 proved very restive had not his own son and 
 some four or five Sikhs held him down while we 
 proceeded in search of the fugitive. Two torches 
 had to be lit, and on entering the room where we 
 expected to find the Minister it appeared to be 
 empty : it was very long and narrow. Lai Singh, 
 however, called out that he saw the glitter of a 
 sword in one corner, and there cowered the wretched 
 man, his hand upon his sword. We were armed 
 only with daggers. The eyes of Dhyan Singh 
 seemed to shoot fire as his gaze alighted and fixed 
 itself on his deadly foe. Gulab Singh was for
 
 A STATE PROCEEDING. 221 
 
 interposing to do the deed of blood himself, fear- 
 ing for his brother (who was a short man) in the 
 desperate defence he counted on ; but Dhyan Singh 
 roughly shook him off, and, dagger in hand, slowly 
 advancing towards his enemy, said, "The "twenty- 
 four hours you were courteous enough to men- 
 tion to me have not yet elapsed." Then with 
 the spring of a tiger the successful counter- 
 plotter dashed at his enemy and plunged his 
 dagger into his heart, crying out, "Take this in 
 memory of E-anjit Singh." Dhyan Singh then 
 turned round to his party, his face radiant with 
 gratified purpose, and courteously thanked us for 
 our aid. 
 
 We then, in token that this was entirely a 
 State proceeding, prostrated ourselves at the feet 
 of Maharaja Kharrak Singh, and subsequently at 
 the feet of his son, Nao Nihal Singh. The latter 
 had been most actively and fully occupied in trying 
 to pacify his father, whose rage was uncontrollable. 
 It was only by the intercessions, prayers, and 
 explanations of the Maharani and the other ladies 
 of the zenana, added to those of his son, that he 
 could be brought to understand the political neces- 
 sity of the doom that had been meted out. The 
 night's work done, we all returned quietly to our
 
 222 INTRIGUE AND ANARCHY. 
 
 camps. A general sensation of relief was felt on 
 all hands at the death of Chet Singh : not the 
 slightest animosity was awakened by it, and the 
 opinion was openly breathed by all, " Now all will 
 go straight." 
 
 Chet Singh having been dealt with, the Dogra 
 brothers turned their attention to Maharaja Khar- 
 rak Singh, and experienced no difficulty in remov- 
 ing him from their path, aided as they were by 
 the ambition of his son, Prince Nao Nihal Singh. 
 Immediately after the death of Sardar Chet Singh, 
 Kharrak Singh was deposed. His actual reign 
 had been limited to a few months, and he was 
 not long permitted to survive its termination. It 
 is stated that the deposed Maharaja lingered for 
 some nine months after his deposition, during 
 which period he was gradually poisoned by his 
 physicians, with the connivance of his son and 
 successor. Kharrak Singh cherished the greatest 
 affection for this unnatural son, and in the agony 
 of death called for Nao Nihal Singh in order to 
 pardon him : the young prince, however, visited 
 his father once only during his long illness, and 
 that on the day before his death, and even then 
 treated him with the greatest brutality and inso- 
 lence. The next day, November 5, 1840, Kharrak
 
 THE CREMATION OF KHARRAK SINGH. 223 
 
 Singh breathed his last at the early age of thirty- 
 eight. 
 
 The vengeance of Heaven soon fell on Maharaja 
 Nao Nihal Singh. On the day following Kharrak 
 Singh's death his body was burnt in accordance 
 with the Sikh custom, and two of his Eanis and 
 eleven of his slave -girls were burnt with him. 
 The new Maharaja stood for a time by the blaz- 
 ing pile, which had been erected in the open space 
 opposite the mausoleum of Ranjit Singh ; but, 
 either ill or impatient, he would not remain as 
 etiquette demanded until his father's body had 
 been consumed by the flames, but went to a 
 bathing-place about 120 yards away to perform 
 the ceremony of ablution. He was attended by 
 the whole Court, and five elephants were in wait- 
 ing ; but as it would have been considered irrever- 
 ent for him to ride past the funeral-pile on his 
 return, the elephants were sent back to wait at a 
 little distance. I was present at the commence- 
 ment of the ceremony of cremation of Maharaja 
 Kharrak Singh, and when the torch was applied 
 was standing close by in attendance on Raja 
 Dhyan Singh. Before the new Maharaja left the 
 spot I was directed by Dhyan Singh to go and 
 bring forty of my artillerymen in their fatigue
 
 224 INTRIGUE AND ANARCHY. 
 
 dress : I was not told, nor have I ever ascertained, 
 what they were wanted for. When I returned, the 
 catastrophe had just occurred. 
 
 Maharaja Nao Nihal Singh had passed through 
 an archway on his return from bathing, and just 
 before entering it he took the hand of his constant 
 companion Udam Singh, the eldest son of Raja 
 Gulab Singh : the two young men entered the 
 archway together. As they emerged from it a 
 crash was heard; beams, stones, and tiles fell 
 from above, and the Maharaja and Udam Singh 
 were struck to the ground. The latter was killed 
 on the spot, and Nao Nihal Singh was struck to 
 the earth. He was injured in the head, but 
 presently attempted to rise, and cried out for 
 water. The Prime Minister rushed up, and, it 
 is said, pushed aside the dead body of his own 
 nephew, reserving all his devotion and care for 
 the young king. Nao Nihal Singh was carried 
 into the palace, the doors were closed, and ad- 
 mission denied to all. Several of the principal 
 sardars begged to see the Maharaja, among them 
 the Sindhanwalias, relations of the royal family : 
 in vain did Nao Nihal Singh's mother, in a 
 paroxysm of rage and anxiety, come and beat 
 the fort gates with her own hands admittance
 
 ACCIDENT OR MURDER? 225 
 
 even to the fort there was none, still less into 
 the Maharaja's apartment. None of the female 
 inmates, not even his wives, were suffered to 
 see him. 
 
 The palki-bearers who had carried Nao Nihal 
 Singh to his palace were sent to their homes ; they 
 were servants in my own camp of artillery, and 
 were five in number. Two were afterwards 
 privately put to death, two escaped into Hin- 
 dustan, the fate of the fifth is unknown to me. 
 One of the palki-bearers afterwards affirmed that 
 when the prince was put into the palki, and when 
 he was assisting to put him there, he saw that 
 above the right ear there was a wound which 
 bled so slightly as only to cause a blotch of 
 blood about the size of a rupee on the pillow or 
 cloth on which Nao Nihal Singh's head rested 
 while in the palki. Now it is a curious fact that 
 when the room was opened, in which his corpse 
 was first exposed by Dhyan Singh, blood in great 
 quantities, both in fluid and coagulated pools, was 
 found around the head of the cloth on which the 
 body lay. Be this as it may, when the doors were 
 thrown open the Sindhanwalias found the young 
 Maharaja dead, Dhyan Singh prostrate in afflic- 
 tion on the ground, and Fakir Nuruddin, the 
 
 p
 
 226 INTRIGUE AND ANARCHY. 
 
 royal physician, lamenting that all remedies " had 
 been useless. 1 
 
 Thus perished Maharaja Nao Nihal Singh on the 
 day following the death of his father. 
 
 1 It was at the time commonly believed that the death of Nao 
 Nihal Singh was brought about by the Dogra brothers, but it is at 
 least equally probable that it really resulted from an accident. Syad 
 Muhammad Latif, the author of ' The History of the Panjab,' points 
 out very sensibly that had the fall of the parapet been foreseen, 
 some other companion than Udam Singh would have been chosen 
 for the doomed prince. Dhyan Singh himself also appears to have 
 narrowly escaped being crushed, his arm being severely contused. 
 This certainly points to an accident.
 
 227 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE DEFENCE OF LAHORE. 
 
 THE RIVAL CLAIMANTS SHEB SINGH PROPITIATES THE ARMY DE- 
 FENCE OF THE FORTRESS GARDNER'S DEFENCE OF THE GATE- 
 WAY TERMS OF PEACE MURDER OF THE MAHARANI AND AC- 
 CESSION OF THE MAHARAJA SHER SINGH. 
 
 WITH Nao Nihal Singh expired the legitimate 
 line of Ranjit Singh. All that remained to 
 thwart the ambition of the Dogra brothers were 
 Sher Singh and the other princes whom Ranjit 
 Singh had from time to time, for reasons of his 
 own, chosen to acknowledge. 
 
 Sher Singh, the eldest of the princes, was very 
 popular with the army, and would in ordinary 
 course have now succeeded to the throne ; but 
 to further their deep-laid plot, the Dogra family 
 set up a rival claimant in the person of Maharani 
 Chand Kour. This lady was the widow of Khar- 
 rak Singh and mother of Nao Nihal Singh, 
 and she based her claim to the throne on the
 
 228 THE DEFENCE OF LAHORE. 
 
 assertion that a widow of Nao Nihal Singh 
 would in due time give birth to an heir. Chand 
 Kour claimed the regency of the kingdom pend- 
 ing the birth of her grandchild, and her preten- 
 sions were by no means without the support of 
 precedent among the Sikhs. Still further to 
 complicate matters, and with the intention of 
 eventually destroying both claimants, the Dogra 
 family now pretended to be divided among them- 
 selves. Eaja Gulab Singh and his nephew Hira 
 Singh espoused the cause of the queen, while 
 Eaja Dhyan Singh declared for the party of 
 Sher Singh, who assumed the title of Maharaja. 
 Sher Singh remained for a time at his estate 
 of Batala, but by the end of the year considered 
 himself strong enough to assert his claim, and 
 marched on Lahore at the head of a small body 
 of troops. This took place early in the month 
 of January 1841, and on the approach of Sher 
 Singh, Chand Kour, Gulab Singh, and Hira 
 Singh threw themselves into the fortress of 
 Lahore. The Dogra troops of Gulab Singh were 
 on this occasion all placed under my immediate 
 orders, but in the event of a battle it was ar- 
 ranged that Gulab Singh himself should take 
 supreme command, while I should devote myself
 
 " FIVE BROTHERS." 229 
 
 to my especial charge, the artillery. Until the 
 actual fighting commenced Gulab Singh could 
 better aid our side by giving his full attention 
 to diplomacy. I must mention that Dhyan Singh 
 did not accompany Sher Singh to Lahore, but 
 withdrew for a time to Jammu, the capital of 
 the Dogra dominions. 
 
 On approaching Lahore Maharaja Sher Singh 
 summoned the whole Khalsa army to join him, 
 and in his proclamation made use of a traditional 
 Panjabi expression, which may be translated 
 "five brothers." The meaning of this term was 
 that every soldier was to take four relations with 
 him on the campaign, to share in the pillage 
 that would ensue. Such was the ancient custom 
 of the Khalsa army, and the magnitude of the 
 assembly on this occasion may be imagined : to 
 the very horizon the plains and the hills were 
 one blaze of camp-fires. To strengthen his in- 
 fluence with the army Sher Singh made great 
 concessions to them, giving them leave to execute 
 lynch-law, and do all that they thought fit for 
 their private enemies. To this flagrant weakness 
 may be attributed the mutinies and violence which 
 occurred during Sher Singh's reign, and particularly 
 the atrocities inflicted on the detested pay officials.
 
 230 THE DEFENCE OF LAHORE. 
 
 I should mention that previous to our throw- 
 ing ourselves into the fort of Lahore, Gulab 
 Singh's Dogra troops, under my command, were 
 encamped at Shadera, across the Eavi. We had 
 been casting guns in the garden there, and those 
 guns which were unfinished I buried before mov- 
 ing into Lahore. They were not discovered. The 
 situation was critical. At the utmost our force did 
 not exceed 3000 men, and against us were prob- 
 ably not less than 150,000 men, with 200 pieces 
 of artillery, encamped on the plain of Mian Mir. 
 
 The revolution had awoke the country, and 
 was about to sift the husks from the wheat sep- 
 arate the good and bad; and the whole Manjha 1 
 was astir. Gulab Singh knew well that the troops 
 had been bought over, but adhered bravely to his 
 determination to defend the Maharani to the last. 
 Being of an acquisitive turn of mind, no doubt the 
 fact that the "Koh-i-nur" and the whole of the 
 State treasury were in the fort had due weight 
 with him. The army and the population, which 
 
 1 " The Manjha" was, strictly speaking, the country in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the cities of Lahore and Amritsar ; but the term had 
 a wider significance, and was used to distinguish the Sikhs who 
 lived north of the Sutlej from the "Malwa" Sikhs, who lived 
 south of that river. The Malwa Sikhs preserved themselves from 
 coming under the sway of Ranjit Singh by placing themselves 
 under British protection.
 
 THE CRISIS. 231 
 
 flocked in hundreds of thousands, were eager for 
 plunder. The first thing to be done was to see 
 whether the Sikh sardars were with us. All 
 swore heartily to be faithful ; and Tej Singh was 
 the most fervent in his protestations of loyalty. 
 Now the city guard was composed of portions of 
 the regular army ; Dogras only held the fort. A 
 largesse of two lakhs of rupees was distributed 
 among the city guard in order to secure their 
 fidelity. Every preparation for the crisis was 
 made that ingenuity could devise, and for two 
 days we were hard at work, but still there came 
 no move on the part of Sher Singh. At last on 
 January 13th one of the most tremendous roars 
 that ever rose from a concourse of human beings 
 drowned our voices, distant as it was, and warned 
 us that the man had arrived. Sher Singh had 
 indeed come, and planted his flag and pitched 
 his camp on the high mound called "Budha ka 
 awa." The whole of his troops then thundered 
 a salute, which continued for two hours, amid 
 shouts of " Sher Singh Badshah ! Dhyan Singh 
 Wazir ! death to Chand Kour and the Dogras ! " 
 We were shut up in the fort, and two days elapsed 
 amid the most portentous buzz of voices from the 
 moat outside, while Sher Singh made preparations
 
 232 THE DEFENCE OF LAHORE. 
 
 for attack. My women and all the others, ex- 
 cepting the queen, had been hidden previously 
 in disguise in various parts of the city. Another 
 deafening salute, which lasted for more than an 
 hour, announced to us that Sher Singh had been 
 enthroned by the army, and that obeisance was 
 being made by the commanding officers. The 
 poor queen was so sick with terror at the uproar 
 made, no doubt to overawe us, that she caused 
 another lakh of rupees to be given hurriedly to 
 the doubtful city troops of the regular army, who 
 held the gates of the city. With the hour, as, 
 I must say, is ever the case in critical periods, 
 came the man ; and nothing could surpass the 
 calmness, the forethought, the activity, and the 
 mental resource of Gulab Singh, or his sedulous 
 consideration for the terrified queen. His de- 
 termination never failed him. He had a knack 
 of seizing occasion for action with such rapidity 
 of vision, combined with such immutability of 
 purpose, that those of his actions that appeared 
 most questionable were justified by the bright 
 results by which they were always attended. 
 Every sardar solemnly swore fealty again on 
 the Granth. 1 We had blocked the archways 
 
 1 The sacred book of the Sikhs.
 
 LOSS OP THE CITY. 233 
 
 leading to two gates of the fort with carts and 
 waggons, and had planted two guns loaded to 
 the muzzle with grape at each of the upper forts, 
 Dogra soldiers lining the parapets of the walls 
 above. The night after Sher Singh's investment 
 passed in comparative silence, which to us was 
 as full of portent as the former noise. Eesistance, 
 indeed, seemed useless in the teeth of such odds. 
 As the morning dawned the whole army arose 
 and surrounded the city. Every gate was im- 
 mediately opened to them by the soldiers, who, 
 having pocketed three lakhs from the queen, had 
 made an equally profitable bargain with Sher 
 Singh. Destruction stared us in the face : we 
 had red-hot cannon-balls ready to blow ourselves 
 and the whole city into the air, if the worst came 
 to the worst. Two heavy siege-trains of forty 
 guns each were laid against the fort, while no 
 less than eighty horse-artillery pieces were drawn 
 up on the broad road immediately in front of 
 us on the city side, which position they were 
 peaceably allowed to take up by the treacherous 
 troops. 
 
 The tops of the minarets of the Badshahi 
 mosque swarmed with marksmen, who fired direct 
 into the interior of the fort. General Sultan
 
 234 THE DEFENCE OF LAHORE. 
 
 Muhammad and Imam Shah commanded respec- 
 tively the right and left wings of the army. As 
 with the city troops, so with the sardars, es- 
 pecially the important Sindhanwalias, all forsook 
 us. The treachery of Tej Singh was so con- 
 spicuously and pointedly base, he having prayed 
 us to leave the gates of the upper fort open for 
 the sardars, that we all swore to a man to kill 
 him if fate put him in our way. The gates of 
 the outer wall leading into the Hazuri Bagh 
 having been opened, Sher Singh entered in person 
 and took shelter in a tykhana. 1 Gulab Singh was 
 now summoned to surrender. Every moment we 
 expected to see the spark of a port-fire and to 
 hear the crash of the cannonade. Gulab Singh's 
 keen eyes peered anxiously through the openings : 
 still there was no noise, and not a musket fired. 
 I then sidled down the archway to look through 
 the chink of the Hazuri Bagh gate, which I had 
 blocked up with carts, and saw fourteen guns 
 deliberately loaded, planted within 20 yards, and 
 aimed straight at the gate. 
 
 The Dogras on the walls began to look over, 
 and were jeered at by Sher Singh's troops. The 
 little fort was surrounded by a sea of human 
 
 1 Underground room.
 
 DEFENCE OF THE GATEWAY. 235 
 
 heads. Gulab Singh made contemptuous replies, 
 and roared out to Sher Singh, demanding that he 
 should surrender. There was a brief but breath- 
 less pause, and I had not time to warn my 
 artillerymen to clear out of the way when down 
 came the gates over our party, torn to shreds by 
 the simultaneous discharge of all the fourteen 
 guns. Seventeen of my party were blown to 
 pieces, parts of the bodies flying over me. When 
 I had wiped the blood and brains from my face, 
 and could recover a moment, I saw only one 
 little trembling Klasi. I hurriedly asked him for 
 a port-fire, having lost mine in the fall of the 
 ruins. He had just time to hand it me, and I 
 had crept under my two guns, when with a wild 
 yell some 300 Akalis 1 swept up the Hazuri Bagh 
 and crowded into the gate. They were packed 
 as close as fish, and could hardly move over the 
 heaps of wood and stone, the rubbish and the 
 carts, with which the gateway was blocked. Just 
 at that moment, when the crowd were rushing 
 on us, their swords high in the air, I managed 
 to fire the ten guns, and literally blew them into 
 the air. In the pause which followed I loaded 
 
 1 " Akalis," literally " Immortals," the fanatical Sikhs, correspond- 
 ing to " Ghazis."
 
 236 THE DEFENCE OF LAHORE. 
 
 the guns with the aid of the three of my artillery- 
 men who survived, and our next discharge swept 
 away the hostile artillerymen who were at the 
 fourteen guns outside, who had remained stand- 
 ing perfectly paralysed by the destruction of the 
 Akalis. Then Sher Singh fled, and grievous car- 
 nage commenced. The Dogras, always excellent 
 marksmen, seemed that day not to miss a man 
 from the walls. The whole of the artillerymen 
 round the field-pieces in front of us strewed the 
 ground. In the Hazuri Bagh we counted the 
 bodies of no less than 2800 soldiers, 200 artillery- 
 men, and 180 horses. And now the whole park 
 of artillery opened upon us that day, and for the 
 three days following, tearing the walls of the 
 fort to rags. They mounted their heavy guns 
 on high houses, the walls of which they pierced 
 to command the fort. Many a time did Sher 
 Singh attempt a parley ; but Gulab Singh knew 
 his countrymen too well to believe any protesta- 
 tions. He said, " Wait until Dhyan Singh comes." 
 At last that noble Minister did arrive, furious, as 
 it seemed, with Sher Singh for his rashness ; and 
 after protracted delay, the firing on both sides 
 was finally subdued. Our bombardment was over, 
 and the brothers arranged terms of peace. Our
 
 A MASTERPIECE OF ACTING. 237 
 
 little force was to quit the fort with honour, and 
 betake itself to the old encampment on the other 
 side of the river. It was decided that while Chand 
 Kour should be recognised as titular head of the 
 State, and as such should receive a personal 
 allowance of twenty lakhs of rupees per annum, 
 the posture of public affairs and the temper of 
 the army were such that a man was required as 
 king. Sher Singh was therefore chosen Badshah, 
 and Eaja Dhyan Singh kept his original place as 
 Wazir and War Minister. 
 
 Dhyan Singh then arranged for an interview 
 between his brother and the new monarch. Dur- 
 ing the siege we had been up to our knees in 
 State jewels and gold mohurs ; but as our lives 
 were not worth a moment's purchase, no one had 
 possessed himself of aught. Gulab Singh, how- 
 ever, had secured the " Koh - i - nur " about his 
 person. (Chand Kour would have swallowed it 
 if she had got hold of it.) And now came a 
 masterpiece of acting on the part of Gulab 
 Singh. He presented the " Koh-i-nur " with much 
 empressement to the reigning sovereign, and took 
 great credit for saving the royal property. In 
 return he obtained a firman for twenty lakhs' 
 worth of villages west of Bhimbur, and was recog-
 
 238 THE DEFENCE OF LAHORE. 
 
 nised as guardian of the Maharani Chand Kour. 
 He had not, however, lost the opportunity of 
 securing about two millions of treasure in his 
 honourable hands from the fort, which spoil was 
 securely conveyed to Jammu. 
 
 Thus ended the memorable defence of the for- 
 tress of Lahore. The poor Maharani did not long 
 survive, dying a miserable death by the hands 
 of slave-girls, bribed by Sher Singh, who dropped 
 a great flagstone on her head while she was lying 
 in her bath. This brutal act incensed the Dogra 
 brothers ; but they were pacified by the reversion 
 of the landed property of the murdered queen, 
 which property is in the possession of their family 
 to this day. 
 
 Thus on the 18th January 1841 Sher Singh 
 became Maharaja indeed, and for the space of a 
 year and a half nothing of great importance 
 befell him. He was brought into close connec- 
 tion with the British, owing to the course of the 
 Afghan war, and gave free passage to their troops 
 through his dominions, thus carrying out the 
 policy of Maharaja Kanjit Singh. His army, 
 however, got more and more out of hand, and 
 Sher Singh strove in vain to lay the spirit of
 
 AN INCAPABLE RULER. 239 
 
 insubordination which his unwise concessions had 
 aroused. Murders of commandants and other 
 officers constantly occurred, and the sound ad- 
 vice of Dhyan Singh was rejected by the infatu- 
 ated Maharaja, who passed his time in drinking- 
 bouts and every debauchery.
 
 240 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 "HORROR ON HORROR'S HEAD." 
 
 THE KABUL DISASTER GARDNER ACCOMPANIES THE DOGRA TROOPS 
 TO PESHAWAR BRIGADIER-GENERAL WILD DELAYED BY GULAB 
 SINGH SIR HENRY LAWRENCE BAD NEWS MURDERS OF MAHA- 
 RAJA SHER SINGH AND OF DHYAN SINGH SA TI OF HIS WIDOW 
 AND THIRTEEN SLAVES CHARACTER OF HIRA SINGH RANI 
 JINDAU DEATH OF SUCHET SINGH GARDNER DISGUISED AS AN 
 AKALI DEATHS OF HIRA SINGH AND JAWAHIR SINGH OUT- 
 BREAK OF WAR WITH THE ENGLISH. 
 
 THE month of January 1842 was disastrous to the 
 British, for of a large force which was compelled 
 to leave Kabul on the 6th of that month but one 
 single man reached the city of Jalalabad, where 
 a garrison under Sir Robert Sale with difficulty 
 held its own. The few survivors of the Kabul 
 force were prisoners in the hands of Muhammad 
 Akbar Khan, the son of Dost Muhammad. 
 
 Shortly before this time Maharaja Sher Singh, 
 who was a staunch supporter of the British, ordered 
 the Dogra force, of some 10,000 men, to proceed 
 to Peshawar, and appointed Raja Gulab Singh
 
 SIR HENRY LAWRENCE. 241 
 
 governor of that province in the room of General 
 Avitabile, who shared in the unpopularity of Ranjit 
 Singh's old foreign officers. I accompanied the 
 Dogra troops in my capacity of commandant of 
 artillery. 
 
 It is recorded in history that General Wild, who 
 commanded the first body of troops, hurried up 
 through the Panjab on the news of the disasters 
 of Kabul, was delayed at Peshawar, and rendered 
 unable to advance through the Khaibar Pass to 
 reinforce Sale's beleaguered garrison of Jalalabad ; 
 but it is perhaps reserved for me to explain clearly 
 how this was brought about. 
 
 It was on this occasion that I was first brought 
 in contact with Sir Henry Lawrence, then a young 
 " political " officer. 1 I have often since expressed 
 my admiration of that great and good man, and 
 of the tact and ability he brought to bear on his 
 political duties. 
 
 The Dogra force was encamped on the west bank 
 of the Indus, and Gulab Singh obviously had no 
 wish to go to Peshawar in accordance with his 
 orders. Under the pretext that his rear was 
 
 1 Sir Henry Lawrence was born in 1806, and was consequently 
 thirty -five at this time. Gardner was, of course, twenty or twenty- 
 one years older. 
 
 Q
 
 242 "HORROR ON HORRORS HEAD. 
 
 threatened, he sent frequent messages by myself 
 and others to Peshawar to say that he was unable 
 to advance thither. Meanwhile I was aware that 
 he was receiving daily letters from Kabul. He 
 was, indeed, in constant communication with 
 Muhammad Akbar Khan. These messages were 
 brought by men whom Gulab Singh used to rep- 
 resent as paupers and refugees. 
 
 One day an English doctor in the disguise of a 
 Pathan came into camp, requesting aid, in the 
 shape of boats, from Gulab Singh. This assistance 
 was promised, and the doctor departed to Brigadier 
 Wild's camp. Directly he had gone Gulab Singh 
 sent me and another commandant in his confidence 
 (who, like myself, was intimately acquainted with 
 the Yusufzai country and people), and directed us 
 to go all along the Indus and conceal every boat 
 we could lay hands on. He pretended that these 
 boats were required for his own force, and for great 
 British reinforcements coming up in rear. Thus 
 the army of succour of the unfortunate Wild, who 
 was making every effort to get on, was delayed for 
 ten days at Attock instead of two, and in that 
 period the destruction of the army at Kabul was 
 consummated. At last Wild got across, and Gulab 
 Singh then took charge of the ferry at Attock.
 
 A HAZARDOUS JOURNEY. 243 
 
 Daily rumours of disasters at Kabul arrived, and 
 news now came, to add to the confusion, that the 
 whole Sikh garrison of Peshawar was in open 
 rebellion. 
 
 Over and over again did Lawrence write to 
 Gulab Singh, who returned him no answer. The 
 road from Peshawar to Attock, moreover, was 
 beleaguered by mutinous troops. 
 
 One day I heard that a sahib had come into 
 camp, and seeing one or two persons under a tree, 
 I went forward and found Lawrence dressed, not 
 very successfully, as a Pathan. He had had the 
 courage to travel right through the Yusufzai coun- 
 try, had crossed the river at a dangerous place 
 (Bazar-ka-patan), and here he was in the midst of 
 the camp asking for Gulab Singh. That astute 
 chief at once ordered large tents to be prepared 
 for the British official, gave him a warm reception, 
 and declared that he had written at least five times 
 a-day, and that his notes must have been inter- 
 cepted. Lawrence was then closeted two hours 
 with Gulab Singh, and I could see at once on the 
 close of the interview that the wonderful tact of 
 the rising " political " had prevailed, and that he 
 was master of the situation. 
 
 It was amusing to listen to the verbal fence of
 
 244 " HORROR ON HORROR S HEAD." 
 
 the two when I was admitted into the audience- 
 tent. Lawrence had got some valuable news from 
 down country, and he was well aware that Gulab 
 Singh's direct news from Kabul would be of the 
 greatest interest to the British. He jocularly 
 offered to swap news. Gulab Singh laughed and 
 agreed. " Give and take," said he ; " let it be fair 
 barter : you tell the truth, and so will I." 
 
 The bargain was struck, and Lawrence led off 
 by telling Gulab Singh that his expedition to 
 Thibet had utterly failed, and that his agent, 
 Wazir Zorawar Singh, with 9000 soldiers, had been 
 cut off nearly to a man. 
 
 " I also have some news," said Gulab Singh in 
 his turn, and then told Lawrence the horrid truth 
 that all was over with the British at Kabul, and 
 that Akbar Khan was pressing Jalalabad with 
 terrific vigour. Lawrence, shocked at the intelli- 
 gence, demanded proofs, when the two retired once 
 more to a private conference, and Gulab Singh 
 showed him the letter he had received. 1 
 
 1 The conversation between Sir Henry Lawrence and Gulab Singh, 
 as related by Gardner, agrees sufficiently closely with the account in 
 the Life of Sir Henry written by Sir Herbert Edwardes. The fact 
 that information was given to Lawrence by Gardner is also men- 
 tioned, with the explanation that Gardner was exceptionally well- 
 informed in Sikh affairs, because " he had married a native wife, 
 given to him by Rajah Dhyan Singh out of his own house ; and
 
 DOST MUHAMMAD'S RELEASE. 245 
 
 The story of General Pollock's advance to Kabul, 
 and of the subsequent withdrawal of the English 
 army from Afghanistan, need not here be related : 
 suffice it to say that, thanks in a great measure to 
 Sir Henry Lawrence, the Sikh troops of Maharaja 
 Sher Singh took a fair share in the operations. At 
 the conclusion of the war a grand review of the 
 British and Sikh armies took place at Ferozepur, 
 and it was on this occasion that Prince Partab 
 Singh, the heir-apparent, won so much favour with 
 Lord Ellenborough and the English officers. 
 
 In February 1843 Dost Muhammad Khan, 
 having been released from his captivity in India, 
 returned to Kabul by way of Lahore, where he 
 contracted a treaty of alliance with the durbar. 
 Soon after this the intrigues and jealousies between 
 the Sindhanwalias and Raja Dhyan Singh recom- 
 menced, and eventually cost all of them, and 
 Maharaja Sher Singh, their lives. 
 
 The principal Sindhanwalia sardars were named 
 Attar Singh and Lehna Singh (who were brothers), 
 and Ajit Singh, who was nephew to both of them. 
 
 through her, and living always among the natives, he was behind 
 the scenes, and heard a good deal of the intrigues that were on foot. 
 He had wild moods of talking, letting the corners of dark things 
 peep out, and then shutting them up again with a look behind him, 
 as if life at Jammu was both strange and fearful."
 
 246 " HORROR ON HORROR S HEAD. ' 
 
 These sardars were very powerful, and had 
 exceptional influence on account of their rela- 
 tionship to Maharaja Ranjit Singh. They had 
 left the Panjab for a time after Sher Singh's acces- 
 sion to the throne, but now returned, and were 
 apparently on friendly terms with the Maharaja. 
 Attar Singh, however, distrusted both Sher Singh 
 and Dhyan Singh, and retired to his estates, leav- 
 ing his brother and nephew to carry on the war. 
 
 For a time there was great familiarity between 
 Lehna Singh, Ajit Singh, and the Maharajah, and 
 the three frequently caroused together. Maharaja 
 Sher Singh passed most of his time at his favourite 
 house, known as Shah Bilawal, and here on Sep- 
 tember 15, 1843, the tragedy occurred. 
 
 An inspection of certain soldiers, for whom the 
 Sindhanwalias desired to receive a yagir, was fixed 
 to take place on this day, and in the morning the 
 soldiers were marshalled in brilliant array. The 
 Maharaja, however, did not inspect them at the 
 appointed time, and Lehna Singh and Ajit Singh 
 consequently went to him and reproached him in a 
 jocular manner for keeping them waiting. They 
 were each armed with a magnificent new double- 
 barrelled gun. Seating themselves opposite Ma- 
 haraja Sher Singh, they asked for a jagir. He
 
 WHOLESALE MURDER. 247 
 
 replied, " By-and-bye," and stretched out his hand 
 for Ajit Singh's gun, which he wished to look at. 
 Ajit Singh affected to hand it to him, but brought 
 the muzzle to bear on his breast, pulled the triggers, 
 and lodged the contents in his body. Two cuts of 
 a sword finally ended the career of Maharaja Sher 
 Singh. 
 
 Not content with this murder, Ajit Singh went 
 into the inner apartments and cut down Partab 
 Singh, the pretty little son of Sher Singh. Partab 
 Singh ran up to Ajit Singh and knelt before him, 
 calling him "uncle." 1 The brutal Ajit Singh, hot 
 with the blood which already dyed his hand, then 
 penetrated into the harem of Sher Singh, and 
 murdered all the Maharaja's women one under 
 circumstances of peculiar atrocity, for she was on 
 the eve of giving birth to an infant. 
 
 With that strange foreboding which seems to 
 attend the coming of terrible events, there was a 
 general uneasiness in the air. I for one was on 
 the alert directly I heard the shots fired, and went 
 at once to find Dhyan Singh, who had already 
 gone to see Maharaja Sher Singh in consequence 
 
 1 Sir Lepel Griffin states that Prince Partab Singh was murdered 
 by Lehna Singh.
 
 248 " HORROR ON HORROR'S HEAD." 
 
 of some dark rumours which had reached him. 
 He found Ajit Singh fresh from his deeds of blood 
 and half-way on his return journey to Lahore. 
 Dhyan Singh turned and accompanied Ajit Singh, 
 and the Sindhanwalias said to him, " What is done 
 cannot be undone. Dhulip Singh must now be 
 Maharaja." This was in accordance with Dhyan 
 Singh's views, and all seemed quiet for a few min- 
 utes, though he was uneasy at finding himself sur- 
 rounded by Ajit Singh's followers. On arriving at 
 the outer gate of the fortress they entered together, 
 but at the inner gate all but a very few of the 
 Minister's attendants were excluded. 
 
 Presently Ajit Singh drew Raja Dhyan Singh's 
 attention to some men on the parapet of the fort, 
 shot him in the back, and despatched him with a 
 sword. Thus perished the wise and brave Dhyan 
 Singh, whose fall was deplored by the whole army : 
 but it was avenged, and that quickly. 
 
 Grief and fury seized the troops. The Sindhan- 
 walias endeavoured to come to terms with Hira 
 Singh and Suchet Singh, the son and brother of 
 the murdered Minister, but they knew better than 
 to trust them. Hira Singh enflamed the rage of 
 the army by fervent appeals, and excited their 
 cupidity by lavish promises of money. The excite-
 
 RETEIBUTION. 249 
 
 ment was wound up to frenzy by the conduct of 
 the young and exquisitely lovely wife of Dhyan 
 Singh, the daughter of the Kajput chief of Pathan- 
 kot. This lady vowed that she would not become 
 sati until she had the heads of Lehna Singh and 
 Ajit Singh. I myself laid their heads at the feet 
 of Dhyan Singh's corpse that evening. 
 
 The Sindhanwalias attempted to defend the fort, 
 but in a feeble manner at first. Forty thousand 
 men attacked them, and they saw that all was lost. 
 When, however, the wall was breached, and death 
 became imminent, they fought with desperation and 
 inflicted heavy loss on the army. Ajit Singh and 
 Lehna Singh were killed with no more mercy 
 than they had shown, and Kaja Dhyan Singh was 
 avenged. 
 
 The sati of his widow then took place, and sel- 
 dom, if ever, have I been so powerfully affected as 
 at the self-immolation of the gentle and lovely girl, 
 whose love for her husband passed all bounds. 
 During the day, while inciting the army to avenge 
 her husband's murder, she had appeared in public 
 before the soldiers, discarding the seclusion of a 
 lifetime. When his murderers had been slain she 
 gave directions as to the disposition of his property 
 with a stoicism and self-possession to which no
 
 250 " HORROR ON HORROR'S HEAD." 
 
 one beside her could lay claim : she thanked her 
 brave avengers, and declared that she would tell of 
 their good deeds to her husband when in heaven. 
 There was nothing left for her, she said, but to 
 join him. 
 
 Great efforts were made among the assembly to 
 prevent the sacrifice of a sweet little maiden of nine 
 or ten years of age who had been passionately 
 attached to the murdered Eaja. When not allowed 
 to get upon the pyre, she vowed she would not live, 
 slipped from the hands of those who would hold 
 her, rushed to the battlements of the city, and 
 threw herself from them. We picked her up more 
 dead than alive, and the beautiful devotee seated 
 on the pyre at last consented to take the child in 
 her lap to share her doom. 
 
 They placed her husband's diamond kalgi 
 (aigrette) in her turban, and she then fastened it 
 with her own hands in the turban of her stepson, 
 Hira Singh. Then, smiling on those around, she lit 
 the pyre, the flames of which glistened on the arms 
 and accoutrements, and even, it seemed to me, on 
 the swimming eyes of the soldiery. So perished 
 the widow of Dhyan Singh, with thirteen of her 
 female slaves. 
 
 As for Maharaja Sher Singh, no one thought of
 
 CHARACTER OF HIRA SINGH. 251 
 
 avenging his death, and not a thought was bestowed 
 on the sepulture of his remains. 
 
 The tragic events described above were followed 
 by the succession of the boy Dhulip Singh to the 
 throne, with Hira Singh as wazir. The latter now 
 appeared to be all-powerful ; but he had powerful 
 enemies, and, moreover, a master in the person of 
 one Pandit Julia, a man of the most repulsive cast 
 of countenance, and of a most tyrannical and am- 
 bitious spirit. He had been tutor to Hira Singh 
 in his youth, and the latter, being still quite a 
 young man, was entirely in his hands. 
 
 Hira Singh was indeed but a poor copy of his 
 father, whom he in vain attempted to resemble. 
 His character was compounded of many conflicting 
 qualities. Crouching and mean to his superiors; 
 silent and suspicious with his equals ; proud, super- 
 cilious, and arrogant to his inferiors ; subtle and 
 deceitful to all. Too much puffed up to return, or 
 even notice, the salutations of better men than 
 himself; reared as the lapdog of Eanjit Singh and 
 his dissolute companions ; with a smattering of 
 English, Persian, and Sanscrit, and pretending to 
 a perfect knowledge of all three languages. Clean, 
 neat, and showy in person, like his father ; but
 
 252 " HORROR ON HORROR'S HEAD." 
 
 too effeminate to resemble him truly; unstable, 
 and, as it seemed, not daring to walk, stir, sit, rise, 
 eat, drink, sleep, or speak without what ? A 
 trifling sign, a careless nod, or some such sufficient 
 guiding token from his mysterious jailor, his 
 familiar spirit, his preceptor, master, father and 
 brother, inferior and superior, Pandit Julia. 
 
 No sooner was Hira Singh in power than his 
 actions, under the guidance of the Pandit, caused 
 the greatest dissatisfaction in the army, and in- 
 trigues were speedily afoot, having for their object 
 Pandit Julia's downfall and death. The leading 
 spirit in this movement was Sardar Jawahir Singh, 
 brother of the Eani Jindan, and consequently 
 uncle of the young Maharaja Dhulip Singh. Eani 
 Jindan and Jawahir Singh were the children of 
 one Manna, the dog-keeper of Eanjit Singh. Eani 
 Jindan was endowed with extraordinary beauty 
 and great talent. Her father, Manna, was a man 
 of much humour and fun, who used to take great 
 liberties with the old Lion of the Panjab, often 
 rallying him jocularly on the state of his harem, 
 and jocosely asking him to make a queen of his 
 little daughter. Manna used to perch the pretty 
 child on his shoulder, and run with her along- 
 side of the Maharaja's palki when he made his
 
 THE RISE OF A FAVOURITE. 253 
 
 entrances into Lahore, declaring the girl was 
 getting burdensome and heavy. At last the mon- 
 arch was persuaded, and said, " Very well, bring 
 her." (He did this as Manna used to banter him 
 about his age, and the Maharaja was very sensitive 
 as to his personal decay.) 
 
 In the harem the little beauty used to gambol 
 and frolic and tease Eanjit Singh, and managed 
 to captivate him in a way that smote the real 
 wives with jealousy so much so that Ranjit Singh 
 sent her when thirteen years of age to Amritsar, 
 and gave her an allowance of 5000 rupees per 
 month. Eaja Dhyan Singh had charge of her, 
 and this contributed to that able courtier's influ- 
 ence. He took her back to Lahore, treated her 
 with great dignity, and ultimately effected the 
 celebration of the karewa, tantamount to the 
 chadar dalna, 1 marriage ceremony, between her 
 and Ranjit Singh. Her ascendancy over the 
 Maharaja was soon gained, and never lost. 
 
 Now, to increase his influence over the new 
 Minister, Hira Singh, Pandit Julia intrigued so 
 as to produce, if possible, a deadly feud between 
 
 1 The offspring of this form of union was considered legitimate, 
 and had the right of inheritance. Chadar daltia means " throwing 
 the sheet."
 
 254 " HORROR ON HORROR'S HEAD." 
 
 him and his two uncles, Gulab Singh and Suchet 
 Singh, the remaining Dogra brothers. 
 
 Suchet Singh was a splendid swordsman, and the 
 very pink of chivalry. He knew that the Pandit 
 was at the bottom of the estrangement between 
 himself and his nephew, but matters had gone too 
 far to be put straight. Early in December 1844 
 Suchet Singh received an invitation from the Rani 
 Jindan and her brother Jawahir Singh to come 
 to Lahore, and was assured by them that the 
 army would go over from Hira Singh to him. 
 In an evil moment for himself the gallant Suchet 
 Singh started with only fifty men, and having 
 arrived at Lahore, took up quarters in a small 
 mosque near the Shalimar Gardens. 
 
 Pandit Julia knew that the success of Suchet 
 Singh would be death to himself, and took his 
 measures accordingly, distributing to each man 
 in the army a pair of bracelets worth 30 rupees. 
 This reward had been promised by Hira Singh 
 to the army as a reward for the loyalty to his 
 house they had shown in avenging on the Sind- 
 hanwalia family the murder of his father, Raja 
 Dhyan Singh. The time for disbursing the re- 
 ward was well chosen. 
 
 On Suchet Singh sending word that he had
 
 UNCLE AND NEPHEW. 255 
 
 arrived, Hira Singh, who loved him in his heart, 
 wanted to go at once and embrace his uncle ; 
 but his evil genius the Pandit persuaded him that 
 he would be murdered, and produced a pothi or 
 horoscope in which it was written that Suchet 
 Singh or Hira Singh would fall the next day. 
 The Pandit then ordered the army to attack the 
 mosque ; but they too loved Suchet Singh, and at 
 first refused to obey. At last they attacked, and 
 under the fire of eighty pieces of artillery the 
 roof of the mosque soon began to fall on the 
 heads of the devoted little band within. 
 
 Suchet Singh read his Granth calmly, prepared 
 himself for death, and calling his followers around 
 him, told any of them who were not ready to 
 die to go in peace. None would, however, leave 
 him. He then charged the army with his fifty 
 followers, and after performing prodigies of valour 
 they all perished. The troops who attacked them 
 lost 160 killed and wounded. Hira Singh threw 
 himself in great grief upon the dead body of his 
 uncle. 
 
 At the time of Suchet Singh's death I had 
 just returned to Jammu from Sialkote, which I 
 had captured from Kashmira and Peshora Singh, 
 adopted sons of Eanjit Singh. I informed Gulab
 
 256 " HORROR ON HORROR'S HEAD." 
 
 Singh of his brother's rash journey, and the Raja 
 burst into tears and said, "He will be killed to 
 a certainty ! Take your force from Sialkote " 
 (where I had left it), "hasten to Lahore, and 
 defend him." 
 
 Gulab Singh would not delay to give me a 
 written order, but took off a small gold ring, 
 which I was to show as a proof that I repre- 
 sented him. I immediately started, picked up 
 my troops at Sialkote, arrived on the third day 
 at Lahore, and fired a salute to let Suchet Singh 
 (as I hoped), and the army also, know of my 
 arrival. I was one day too late. 
 
 The hatred towards Pandit Julia rapidly in- 
 creased, and soon the whole army was won to 
 the side of Griilab Singh. Loud demands were 
 addressed to Hira Singh to give up the Pandit, 
 but Hira Singh refused to comply, and so turned 
 the vengeance of the army against himself. Even- 
 tually Hira Singh and the Pandit were compelled 
 to take refuge in the late Raja Dhyan Singh's 
 house at Lahore, known as the " Hira Mandi," 
 but subsequently fled with 1200 men to Shah- 
 dera. The army then entered the city of Lahore 
 and commenced killing all the Dogras. 
 
 My life, being, as I was, in command of the
 
 A TERRIBLE SCENE. 257 
 
 troops of that race, was imperilled ; but some 
 Akalis, who knew that I was an old officer of 
 Banjit Singh, took me under their protection, 
 and from motives of personal safety I became a 
 complete Akali in costume and habits. 
 
 On the 21st December 1844 the army crossed 
 to Shahdera and yelled to Hira Singh to give 
 himself up to them and let the Pandit meet his 
 fate. Hira Singh, however, fled with the Pandit, 
 and with them Sohan Singh, a son of Gulab 
 Singh. After a running fight of nine miles they 
 were all caught and slain : their heads were cut 
 off and paraded through Lahore city. I myself, 
 dressed as an Akali, carried the Pandit's head 
 in my hands. The whole army was responsible 
 for his death, but Hira Singh's death was caused 
 by his mistaken loyalty to his tutor. 
 
 After the Akalis had triumphantly carried about 
 the heads of the dead princes for more than a 
 fortnight, I managed with great difficulty to secure 
 the heads and to send them to Jammu to Gulab 
 Singh. The heads were then cremated. 
 
 Eaja Gulab Singh now thirsted for vengeance 
 on the Sikh nation, which had killed so many 
 members of his family. He determined to make 
 
 R
 
 258 " HORROR ON HORROR'S HEAD." 
 
 terms for himself with the British, and to leave 
 
 % 
 
 the Sikhs to their doom. Jawahir Singh especi- 
 ally incurred his wrath for the death of Hira 
 Singh and Sohan Singh. 
 
 Jawahir Singh was completely intoxicated by 
 his sudden rise to power, and in the exuberance 
 of his heart began to ill-treat Kashmira Singh 
 and Peshora Singh, two adopted sons of Maha- 
 raja Ranjit Singh. This was enough to cause 
 the army to feel furious indignation any favour- 
 ite of the old Maharaja was sacred to them. 
 Kashmira Singh and Peshora Singh were shortly 
 afterwards killed, the latter under atrocious cir- 
 cumstances of cold-blooded treachery. One cir- 
 cumstance connected with his murder incensed 
 the army to the last degree. The boy had im- 
 plored his murderer to give him arms and let 
 him die fighting like a Sikh and a man, and the 
 story reached the army of Lahore. Their first 
 resolution was to march to Attock and avenge 
 the murder, which had taken place there ; but the 
 Sikhs are proverbially fickle, and the immediate 
 death of Jawahir Singh was decided on as a pre- 
 liminary. 
 
 The Council of the army deliberated for fifteen 
 or twenty days. Jawahir Singh was in the fort,
 
 THE IRON DISCIPLINE OF THE SIKHS. 259 
 
 and dared not show his head : menacing news 
 reached him daily. I had one interview with 
 him, and could hold out no hope, but told him 
 to behave like a man and face the peril. The 
 Council at last closed their deliberations and de- 
 cided that Jawahir Singh should be slain, and that 
 then the army should march down and attack 
 Delhi. 
 
 On September 21, 1845, Jawahir Singh was sum- 
 moned b.efore the army. He came out on an 
 elephant, holding in his arms his nephew, the 
 young Maharaja Dhulip Singh, the last survivor 
 of the line of Eanjit Singh. The Maharani Jin- 
 dan accompanied him on another elephant. Ja- 
 wahir Singh had an escort of 400 horsemen, and 
 two elephant-loads of rupees with which to tempt 
 the army. As soon as the cavalcade left the 
 fort an ominous salute ran along the immense 
 line of the army 180 guns were fired. A roll- 
 call was beat, and not a man of that great host 
 was absent. So terribly stern was their discipline 
 that, after the salute had died away, not a sound 
 was to be heard but the trampling of the feet 
 of the royal cavalcade. 
 
 Dhulip Singh was received with royal honours : 
 his mother, the Maharani Jindan, in miserable
 
 260 " HORROR ON HORROR'S HEAD." 
 
 terror for her brother, was seated on her golden 
 hauda, dressed in white Sikh clothes and closely 
 veiled. As soon as the procession reached the 
 middle of the line one man came forward and 
 cried out, " Stop," and at his single voice the 
 whole procession paused. A tremor ran through 
 the host : many expected a rescue on the part of 
 the French brigade ; but not a man stirred. The 
 great Panch (Military Council) was still sitting 
 on the right of the line. Four battalions were 
 now ordered to the front, and removed Jawahir 
 Singh's escort to a distance. Then another bat- 
 talion marched up and surrounded the elephants 
 of the royal personages. Ten of the Council then 
 came forward ; the Rani's elephant was ordered 
 to kneel down, and she herself was escorted to 
 a small but beautiful tent prepared for her 
 close by. 
 
 Then a terrible scene took place. The Rani 
 was dragged away, shrieking to the army to spare 
 her brother. Jawahir Singh was next ordered to 
 descend from his elephant. He lost his head, 
 attempted to parley, and a tail Sikh slapped his 
 face and took the boy Dhulip Singh from his 
 arms, asking him how he dared to disobey the 
 Khalsa. Dhulip Singh was placed in his mother's
 
 
 "THROWING THE SNAKE." 261 
 
 arms, and she, hiding herself behind the walls of 
 her tent, held the child up above them in view of 
 the army, crying for mercy for her brother in the 
 name of her son. Suddenly, hearing a yell of 
 agony from a well-known voice, she flung the 
 child away in an agony of grief and rage. For- 
 tunately he was caught by a soldier, or the conse- 
 quences might have been fatal. 
 
 Meanwhile the bloody work had been done on 
 the hated Minister. A soldier, who had presum- 
 ably received his orders, had gone up the ladder 
 placed by Jawahir Singh's elephant, stabbed him 
 with his bayonet, and flung him upon the ground, 
 where he was despatched in a moment with fifty 
 wounds. 
 
 Thus did the Sikh army avenge the death of 
 Kashmira Singh and Peshora Singh. 
 
 Maharani Jindan now became regent, and with 
 her lover Lai Singh, who was appointed her ad- 
 viser, decided on a policy of aggression. That 
 policy was indicated by the old Sikh motto, 
 " Throw the snake into your enemy's bosom," 
 which is even more forcible than the English, 
 " Kill two birds with one stone." The snake was 
 the evilly disposed, violent, yet powerful and 
 splendid Sikh army. It was to be flung upon
 
 262 "HORROR ON HORRORS HEAD. 
 
 the British, and so destroyed. Thus did the Rani 
 Jindan in her turn plan to avenge herself on the 
 murderers of her brother Jawahir Singh. 
 
 The army entered on the war with enthusiasm, 
 and every man took with him a spade from his 
 own home for engineering purposes. The skill 
 with which they used them, and the valiant stand 
 which they made against the British, is a matter 
 of history. 
 
 The Sikh army crossed the Sutlej on the 8th 
 December 1845.
 
 263 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE FIRST SIKH WAR. 
 
 THE SIKH GENERALS DEPARTURE OF VENTURA AND AVITABILE 
 THE APEX OF THE ARMY COLONEL HURBON GULAB SINGH'S 
 DIPLOMACY RANI JINDAN AND THE DEPUTATION OCCUPATION 
 OF LAHORE TERMS OF PEACE. 
 
 AFTER the murder of Wazir Jawahir Singh his 
 sister, the Rani Jindan, was declared regent. Her 
 principal advisers were Diwan Dina Nath, Bhai 
 Ram Singh, and Misr Lai Singh, the first named 
 of whom was a man of remarkable talent, known 
 as " the Talleyrand of the Panjab." When war was 
 declared against the British, and the Sikhs crossed 
 the Sutlej, I was acting as Raja Gulab's agent and 
 factotum at Lahore, and in consequence had great 
 power and influence. 
 
 Two more contemptible poltroons than the two 
 generals of the Khalsa army Lai Singh and Tej 
 Singh, both Brahmans never breathed. Lai 
 Singh ran away and hid himself for twenty days
 
 264 THE FIRST SIKH WAR. 
 
 in an oven at Ludiana, in which the Sikhs would 
 have baked him if they had caught him. Tej 
 Singh always kept at the apex of the army (in the 
 rear), pretending that he could thus have an eye 
 to both divisions, and that it was not his duty to 
 go in front. Tej Singh was never trusted by any 
 one. After the start of the Sikh army for the 
 front Lai Singh and Dina Nath used to receive 
 visitors, and a succession of picnics used to take 
 place at Shalimar Gardens. The Rani's policy was 
 to affect enormous anxiety for the success of the 
 Sikhs, but to afford them no substantial aid. If 
 Delhi was taken, then so much the more glory and 
 loot ; if the British were victorious, the Eani, who 
 was corresponding with them, could trust to their 
 protection. 
 
 The pusillanimous and ignominious departure 
 of Avitabile and Ventura at this critical juncture 
 much disgusted the army, who wanted efficient 
 and civilised control. There was no necessity to 
 leave that I saw. I was always treated with 
 honour and respect. 
 
 The state of the army was such that proscription 
 rolls were made out of all individuals obnoxious to 
 them, and they had to be given up. I started 
 originally with the army, but was recalled by the
 
 THE SIKH ARMY BETRAYED. 265 
 
 Kani to Lahore, and she specially insisted that I 
 was wanted to hold Lahore against the Khalsa. 
 I was privately told to bring back no Sikhs, but 
 as many Mussulmans as I had with me. These 
 Mussulmans were the very brigade which mutinied 
 at Peshawar in 1841, at the time Sir Henry 
 Lawrence was deputed there. The Muhammadans, 
 hating the Sikhs, were enchanted at the recall, 
 and on our return I was, as it were, governor of 
 Lahore. My orders were simple : " No Sikhs are 
 to return ; manage that, and the rest shall be as 
 you like." Much more fear was entertained of 
 personal maltreatment by the Sikhs than of the 
 British Government. 
 
 Twenty - five of Lord Hardinge's body - guard, 
 thinking matters rather doubtful, deserted and 
 put themselves under my orders at Lahore fine 
 tall men, swaggering about the city, very different 
 from the slight and active "Manjha" Sikhs. One 
 of them asked for a regiment of cavalry to lead 
 against the British. The resolve of their ruler 
 to destroy the army, anyhow and by whatever 
 means, was known even by the Sikh army itself; 
 but such had been the stern discipline of the 
 Panch, such were the hopes of loot from Delhi, 
 such the real belief that the intentions of the
 
 266 THE FIRST SIKH WAR. 
 
 British were aggressive, such the domestic incite- 
 ments of their families to plunder, and such their 
 devotion to their mystic faith, that one single 
 dogged determination filled the bosom of each 
 soldier. The word went round, "We will go to 
 the sacrifice." One miserable deserter was nearly 
 beaten to death by his Panjabi countrywomen. 
 
 " Let us not survive," said some, " the invasion 
 of Kanjit Singh's boundaries." For to their minds 
 the occupation of the protected Sikh States by 
 British troops was tantamount to an invasion. 
 
 After the battle of Ferozeshah, which took place 
 on the 22nd December 1845, it was reported at 
 Lahore that the British army had been defeated, 
 and the Maharani and her council, though knowing 
 the truth, were yet afraid that their own army 
 might in the end be successful. They well knew 
 that in that case it would return to Lahore, and 
 that anarchy and bloodshed would once again be 
 the order of the day. They therefore sent con- 
 gratulatory messages to the troops, and counselled 
 an immediate advance southwards by way of 
 Bhawulpur. By this means, they said, the 
 British army could be taken in flank, and Delhi 
 captured. 
 
 The only duty imposed on me was to protect
 
 GARDNER'S DUTY. 267 
 
 Maharani Jindan and her child, and to get the 
 dread Khalsa army destroyed somehow. 
 
 " Don't come back, gallant men of the ' Guruji,' " 
 said we, " without at all events seeing Delhi." 
 The Fakir Azizuddin foresaw, as well as most of 
 us who were not infatuated by religion or intoxi- 
 cated with drink, that the British must in the end 
 win, from the elements of real unity which guided 
 their councils, notwithstanding the doubtful state 
 of their native troops. 
 
 Lai Singh ran away at Mudki : he preferred the 
 embraces of Venus at Lahore to the triumphs of 
 Mars ; and was, as all Brahmans are, held in the 
 highest contempt by the Sikhs. He fled, hid him- 
 self in a hayrick, and skulked off from the army. 
 Swapping his handsome horse for a "tattoo," and 
 smearing over his face with ashes like a poor fakir, 
 he hid himself in an oven belonging to an old 
 bakeress at Ludiana. The Eani Jindan led him a 
 dreadful life at first, when he returned to Lahore 
 after twenty days' absence, jeering at him for his 
 cautious behaviour; but he being her favourite, 
 
 orders were given to stop any further hilarity. 
 
 i 
 
 Even to Tej Singh the army cried, " Do not betray 
 us ! " such was his character for treachery. When 
 he arrived at Ferozeshah he said he was off to
 
 268 THE FIRST SIKH WAR. 
 
 bring up the reserve." He never once went to the 
 front. There was another general who actually 
 ran away, and was jeered at by the army as a 
 lounda kutta (dog with his tail cut). Tej Singh, 
 keeping in his favourite position, the apex (as he 
 called it) of the army, actually built a bomb- 
 proof mud hut, like a small tent, for himself, 
 inside which he sat doing puja (i.e., " saying 
 his prayers "), his Brahman astrologers being 
 instructed to give out that everything depended 
 on the safety of the holy man. When he dis- 
 appeared after the battle of Ferozeshah he gave 
 out that he was outflanked by the British, and 
 was turning to meet his new enemy in the rear. 
 He declared that he was panting for the war, but 
 that his Brahmans would not let him out of his 
 hut. 
 
 Hurbon was a fine soldier : he was a Spaniard, 
 and had come out to the Sikh service on hearing 
 the accounts of the large emoluments received by 
 Ventura and Avitabile. He was told to show his 
 mettle in the campaign, which he did, and bravely, 
 being the engineer, moreover, who did all the 
 castrametation which so surprised the British 
 army. 
 
 All this time Gulab Singh, who could have
 
 GULAB SINGH'S DUPLICITY. 269 
 
 brought 40,000 men by a sign of his finger, was 
 being implored by the Sikhs to aid them. At 
 that moment he had a difficult and critical game 
 to play. The army offered to make him (Dogra 
 though he was) Maharaja, and to kill the traitors 
 Lai Singh and Tej Singh. Fortunately for the 
 British, their prestige had its influence on his 
 mind, and his memory recounted the treacheries 
 of the Sikhs to himself and his countrymen, and 
 he decided ' otherwise. He remained firstly at 
 Jammu, the Eani Jindan telling him not to stir 
 unless she required him. Meanwhile Gulab Singh 
 cajoled the whole of the leading panchayets of 
 the Sikh army, affecting to see every visitor from 
 the battles at any moment, whether he was bath- 
 ing or eating, as if his whole heart was with the 
 Sikhs. He got all the wheat - carriers in the 
 country, loaded them with immense display with 
 about one-fourth of what they could carry, put 
 placards in " Gurmukhi " on their necks to the 
 effect that they were carrying supplies from Gulab 
 Singh, and told them, under pain of mutilation, 
 not to go two abreast, in order that the army and 
 the country might imagine that incessant and 
 enormous supplies were being forwarded to the 
 stalwart and devoted Khalsa by their loyal and
 
 270 THE FIRST SIKH WAR. 
 
 affectionate friend. " I'm not going empty-handed 
 to the great campaign that is to end at Calcutta," 
 gave out Gulab Singh. " When all is ready for 
 campaigning, off I start. This will be a long war," 
 said he. " It's a race to the capital, and devil 
 catch the hindmost." Thus he temporised. But 
 he held the power, and would have used it (if 
 Dhyan Singh had been alive, or if he himself had 
 been a Sikh) to create an insurrection which would 
 have shaken the British power more even than the 
 mutiny of 1857. All the protected Sikh States in 
 the Malwa Nabha, Jhind, and Patiala were 
 ready to envelop the British army in case of a 
 reverse. 
 
 When at last, after the defeat at Sobraon on 
 February 10, 1846, the remains of the Sikh army 
 passed Hari-ka Ghat, Gulab Singh moved from 
 Jammu. I went to meet him. "How is her 
 Majesty?" said he, the first words. I went 
 with him to meet Major Lawrence. I had about 
 500 men, Gulab Singh some 2000, and 20,000 
 or 30,000 men within hail. Now here were the 
 Sikhs crossing at Hari-ka Ghat, and the British 
 at Kussur, who were therefore in a most critical 
 position, as they were between the Sikh and
 
 GARDNER AND SIR HENRY LAWRENCE. 271 
 
 Dogra armies. Of course Gulab Singh had a 
 double move ; and Lawrence seemed to be anxious 
 at the military mistake of moving the British 
 army between one strong, though beaten, force, 
 and another fresh in body and of a doubtful 
 course of policy. Though Sir Henry tried to 
 pump me, I only said, and could say, as an 
 honest paid servant of my masters, "Keep up a 
 bold face, and look to your right : the Dogra 
 force may be secured to act as light infantry in 
 case of any further trouble." 
 
 A very dramatic and characteristic scene oc- 
 curred between the battles of Ferozeshah and 
 Sobraon. The unfortunate Sikhs were hurried 
 on to their fate, and were literally starved for 
 want of rations. They sent a deputation of 500 
 picked Sikhs to Lahore to urge the dire neces- 
 sities of the army for three days they had 
 lived upon grain and raw carrots. The Rani 
 at first would not allow the deputation to enter 
 Lahore. She feared justly for her personal safety 
 at the hands of these desperate men. I there- 
 fore placed four battalions of infantry in guard 
 over the queen, and she at last consented to 
 hold a durbar and receive the deputation. They
 
 272 THE FIRST SIKH WAR. 
 
 were told to come armed with swords only. 
 Under the pretence of this being a State oc- 
 casion, I turned out a very large personal guard 
 for the queen, who waited behind a screen the 
 arrival of the envoys. I was standing close 
 to the Rani, and could see the gesticulations 
 and movements of the deputation. In answer 
 to the urgent and loud complaints of the sacri- 
 fice to which the army was exposed, she said 
 that Gulab Singh had forwarded vast supplies. 
 "No, he has not," roared the deputation; "we 
 know the old fox : he has not sent breakfast 
 for a bird (chiria-ki-haziri)" Further parley 
 ensued, the tempers of both parties waxing 
 wroth. At last the deputation said, "Give us 
 powder and shot." At this I saw some move- 
 ment behind the purdah (the little Dhulip was 
 seated in front of it). I could detect that the 
 Rani was shifting her petticoat ; I could see 
 that she stepped oiit of it, and then rolling it up 
 rapidly into a ball, flung it over the screen at 
 the heads of the angry envoys, crying out, 
 " Wear that, you cowards ! I'll go in trousers 
 and fight myself ! " l The effect was electric. 
 
 1 Colonel Gardner has Anglicised this well-known story.
 
 THE RANI'S STRATAGEM. 273 
 
 After a moment's pause, during which the de- 
 putation seemed stunned, a unanimous shout 
 arose, "Dhulip Singh Maharaja, we will go and 
 die for his kingdom and the Khalsaji ! " and 
 breaking up tumultuously and highly excited, 
 this dangerous deputation dispersed, and rejoined 
 the army. The courage and intuition displayed 
 by this extraordinary woman under such critical 
 circumstances filled us all with as much amaze- 
 ment as admiration. 
 
 The Rani Jindan was very vain of her attrac- 
 tions, and when I was showing Sir Henry 
 Lawrence and Sir Eobert (then Captain) Napier 
 round the Palace of Lahore, immediately upon 
 the occupation after the termination of the first 
 Sikh campaign, the latter officer asked me if I 
 could manage to procure him a sight of her. 
 Knowing that Rani Jindan possessed rather more 
 than ordinary female curiosity, I offered to 
 gratify her with a sight of the victorious Eng- 
 lish, and thus it was that her beautiful head 
 and neck appeared once or twice over a wall, 
 to the gratification of the officers. 
 
 The Rani used to wonder why a matrimonial 
 alliance was not at once formed for her with 
 
 s
 
 274 THE FIRST SIKH WAR. 
 
 some officer of rank, who would then manage 
 State affairs with her. 
 
 She used to send for portraits of all the 
 officers, and in one especially she took great 
 interest, and said that he must be a lord. This 
 fortunate individual's name has not transpired, 
 and, much to the Maharani's mortification, the 
 affair went no further. She considered that such 
 a marriage would have secured the future of 
 herself and her son. 
 
 
 
 The British army had reached Lahore on the 
 20th February 1846, and on the 8th of the 
 following month a treaty of peace was ratified 
 between the British Government and the Lahore 
 durbar. Maharaja Dhulip Singh renounced all 
 claim to the territories south of the river Sutlej, 
 and recognised the independence of Gulab Singh 
 as Raja of Jammu and such other hill territories 
 as might be assigned to him. Colonel Sir Henry 
 Lawrence was appointed Resident at Lahore, 
 where furthermore a large British force was to 
 remain till the end of the year. 
 
 On the 15th March the Governor- General, Sir 
 Henry Hardinge, invested Gulab Singh with the
 
 DEFEAT OP THE KHALSA. 275 
 
 title of Maharaja of Kashmir and Jammu, and 
 Gulab Singh acknowledged the supremacy of the 
 British Government. 
 
 Thus, after a campaign of but sixty days, the 
 proud and fierce Khalsa army was effectually 
 defeated, though by no means disgraced, and 
 the kingdom of Ranjit Singh reduced to a 
 position of dependency and subjection.
 
 276 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 "PORT AFTER STORMY SEAS." 
 
 GARDNER EXILED FROM THE PAN JAB 'HISTORY OF THE REIGNING 
 FAMILY OF LAHORE 'GARDNER ENTERS GULAB SINGH'S SERVICE 
 SETTLES FOR LIFE IN KASHMIR BIRTH OF HIS DAUGHTER 
 IMPRESSION OF GARDNER MR ANDREW WILSON CAPTAIN 
 SEGRAVE THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE TOWARDS INDIA GARDNER'S 
 ADVICE TO JOHN BULL DEATH OF THE TRAVELLER THE SUG- 
 GESTION OF HIS CAREER. 
 
 COLONEL GARDNER, as has been explained, was not 
 called upon to take an active part in either of the 
 wars between the Sikhs and the British. He took 
 the field on the outbreak of the first war, but was 
 almost immediately recalled to Lahore by the Kani 
 Jindan, mother of the young Maharaja, who de- 
 sired him to take command of her own guards. 
 On the conclusion of peace a council of regency 
 was appointed to administer the government of 
 the Panjab, and one of the leading members of 
 this council was Raja Tej Singh, who was Gardner's 
 personal enemy.
 
 AN EXILE ON BRITISH SOIL. 277 
 
 Tej Singh lost no time in taking advantage of 
 his position, and Gardner presently received an 
 order from the council to leave Lahore within 
 twenty-four hours. There was no disputing the 
 order, and Gardner was compelled to seek an 
 asylum on British soil. He went to the frontier 
 station of Ludhiana, where he had friends, and 
 during his brief residence there occupied his leisure 
 by giving to Colonel Carmichael-Smyth of the 3rd 
 Bengal Light Cavalry the information which the 
 latter embodied in a work entitled ' The History of 
 the Reigning Family of Lahore.' Those who have 
 read that curious and little-known work will re- 
 cognise some of the incidents contained in the 
 foregoing pages. 
 
 Gardner's period of exile was very short : he 
 was soon afterwards permitted to enter the service 
 of Gulab Singh, now created an independent 
 sovereign as Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. 
 
 The latter province was ceded to the Maharaja 
 for reasons which need not here be discussed, but 
 they did not commend themselves to Sheikh Imam- 
 ud-din, the governor of Kashmir under the Sikh 
 Government. Imam-ud-din declined to surrender 
 Kashmir to the new Maharaja, who was therefore 
 compelled to obtain possession of his kingdom by
 
 278 " PORT AFTER STORMY SEAS." 
 
 force of arms. Gardner accompanied Gulab Singh 
 in the operations which ensued, and when Imam- 
 ud-din had been overthrown and the new sovereign 
 "had his own," Gardner received the reward of 
 his long and faithful services to the Maharaja and 
 his family. He received command of the "Ranbir" 
 regiment of infantry, and of all the Kashmir artil- 
 lery, with a salary of 500 rupees per mensem. 
 This income, with the revenues of some villages 
 bestowed upon him by the Maharaja, gave Gardner 
 a comfortable income for the remaining thirty years 
 of his long life. He lived in good style, after the 
 native fashion, being from long habit a complete 
 Oriental, and retained his activity of mind and 
 body to the very last. 
 
 Gardner was held in high respect by his native 
 neighbours, and more especially by the old soldiers 
 of the Khalsa who had settled in Jammu or 
 Kashmir. These veterans loved to meet one 
 who had enjoyed the confidence of Eanjit Singh ; 
 and those of them who live still, though now ex- 
 tremely old, are full of recollections of " Gordana 
 Sahib." 
 
 Colonel Gardner's last years were rendered in- 
 teresting to him by the birth of a daughter, who 
 received the name of Helena : there is pleasing
 
 COLONEL GARDNER'S DESCENDANTS. 279 
 
 evidence in his letters that the wellbeing of this 
 child of his old age occupied many of his thoughts. 
 This daughter, now Mrs Botha, has inherited much 
 of her father's adventurous and roving spirit, and 
 recently visited her birthplace. Many ancient Sikh 
 soldiers came from all directions to see her, and to 
 tell her of their attachment to her father. One 
 fact about Gardner they never failed to mention, 
 which was the curious habit that he had of clutch- 
 ing his neck with an iron pincer when about to 
 drink. This operation was rendered necessary 
 by the severe wound in his neck, which has 
 been mentioned elsewhere. His Highness, the 
 reigning Maharaja of Kashmir, also told Mrs 
 Botha of this peculiarity of her father, he having 
 been greatly impressed by it when a boy. Colonel 
 Gardner's daughter has two children, a son and 
 a daughter, on the former of whom she has be- 
 stowed the name of Alexander, in memory of his 
 grandfather. 
 
 It will be readily imagined that English visitors 
 to the vale of Kashmir lost no opportunity of 
 calling on the old adventurer, and of hearing the 
 strange story of bygone days which he was so 
 ready to tell. Some of those who delighted thus to 
 hear of ancient wars were famous soldiers, among
 
 280 " PORT AFTER STORMY SEAS." 
 
 whom may be mentioned Lord Strathnairn, "a 
 first-class fighting-man," and Sir Henry Durand, 
 the hero of the Gate of Ghuzni. 
 
 Many of these English visitors have left on record 
 their impressions of Gardner, and the description 
 of him by Mr Andrew Wilson in his charming book, 
 ' The Abode of Snow,' merits quotation. " Colonel 
 Gardner," he writes, " a soldier of fortune, ninety 
 years of age, was born on the shores of Lake 
 Superior, and had wandered into Central Asia at 
 an early period. It was something almost appal- 
 ling to hear this ancient warrior discourse of what 
 have now become almost prehistoric times, and 
 relate his experiences in the service of Ranjit 
 Singh and other kings and chiefs less known to 
 fame. If (as I have no reason to believe) he 
 occasionally confused hearsay with his own ex- 
 periences, it could scarcely be wondered at con- 
 sidering his years, and there is no doubt as to the 
 general facts of his career. Listening to his graphic 
 narrations, Central Asia vividly appeared as it was 
 more than half a century ago, when Englishmen 
 could traverse it, not only with tolerable safety, 
 but usually as honoured guests." 
 
 Captain Segrave supplies a vivid portrait of 
 Colonel Gardner in his old age, which may ex-
 
 GARDNER IN OLD AGE. 281 
 
 plain the costume in which he appears in the 
 frontispiece. In writing of his first meeting with 
 Gardner, Captain Segrave says : " I can perfectly 
 recollect my first interview with him. He walked 
 into Cooper's reception-room one morning, a most 
 peculiar and striking appearance, clothed from 
 head to foot in the 79th tartan, but fashioned 
 by a native tailor. Even his pagri was of tartan, 
 and it was adorned with the egret's plume, only 
 allowed to persons of high rank. I imagine he 
 lived entirely in native fashion : he was said to be 
 wealthy, and the owner of many villages." 
 
 Gardner took a keen interest in public affairs, 
 and wrote voluminously on the subject of the 
 Russian advance towards India. He was an ad- 
 vocate of the "forward policy," and perhaps 
 showed some want of tact in impressing his views 
 on this subject on Lord Lawrence during the 
 latter's viceroyalty. 
 
 Other opinions of Gardner's might have found 
 more favour with Lord Lawrence, and to those 
 interested in the future destiny of our Indian 
 empire there may appear to be something of value 
 in the following letter, which is obviously modelled 
 on the well-known " Brahmin ee-Bull " letters. It 
 shows, at any rate, the impressions of a white
 
 282 "PORT AFTER STORMY SEAS." 
 
 resident in India who had had peculiar oppor- 
 tunities of ascertaining native opinions, and whose 
 sympathies were rather with the natives than 
 with their English conquerors. It may be deemed 
 worthy of note also in consideration of the great 
 age (ninety-one) of its writer. 
 
 "A few plain, simple, and brotherly words from 
 John Bull of India to his much beloved Aryan 
 brother, the Eight Honourable Sir John Bull 
 of England. 
 
 " MY DEAR JOHN, There is no occasion here to 
 call upon the great and erudite professor, Max 
 Mtiller, or any other Max, to rise from his chair 
 to prove our relationship, as it has been so long 
 acknowledged both by ourselves and by all the 
 literati, antiquarians, and historians of Europe 
 and the East. Therefore, my dear John, let it 
 suffice, I say, that I and nearly all my brethren 
 and kindred here really and seriously believe that 
 the time has arrived when a true and sincere 
 community of feeling, thought, word, and deed 
 should exist between us for our mutual and 
 common interests ; and should by all possible 
 means be promoted for the future welfare and 
 happiness of the great Aryan family. But to
 
 HOW TO GOVERN INDIA. 283 
 
 carry this design to its legitimate end, it is of 
 the greatest importance that all future corre- 
 spondence between us, as brothers, should be 
 conducted in a plain, open, and candid manner ; 
 that is, we must use plain, common English, 
 without any parliamentary beating around the 
 bush, or unmeaning and ambiguous phrases. This 
 is really so much a necessity, that I cannot believe 
 but that it has already been settled and agreed 
 between us. Therefore, to commence, I will first 
 make the simple remark that it is of little use 
 to remind you of the manner in which you 
 originally, about 250 or 300 years ago, became 
 acquainted with us ; nor to ask you whether you 
 then entered our house by the front door, the 
 back door, or the skylight. 
 
 " But, dear John, when you did enter, you very 
 soon succeeded by your wisdom and discretion in 
 making yourself completely and comfortably at 
 home, inducing us to believe that you had come 
 on a brotherly visit ; consequently we received 
 you as brothers should, and we respected you 
 both as a brother and a friend, although we had 
 previously neither seen you nor heard much of 
 you for five or six thousand years. 
 
 " But, dear John, you cannot but remember that
 
 284 " PORT AFTER STORMY SEAS." 
 
 when you had become a guest or lodger in our 
 house it was not long before you began to lay 
 claims on all our goods and chattels ; in fact you 
 seemed inclined (of course in a friendly and 
 brotherly way) to make everything your own ; 
 and you next, very wisely, began to make laws 
 of your own by which you aptly and adroitly 
 made it appear that everything you had done 
 was right and inevitable, according to your laws, 
 will, and pleasure. At the same time, by the 
 magic aid of your Western talent and wisdom, the 
 various family feuds and internal broils, which 
 unfortunately always exist among us, afforded you 
 a fair opportunity of assisting one party against 
 another ; and thus it came about that while con- 
 fusion and warfare stalked through the land, peace 
 seemed to be your will and your gift. So matters 
 continued until the great Lord Olive, Sahib 
 Bahadur, appeared upon the stage, and played 
 so distinguished and conspicuous a part in the 
 Indian drama ; and although he came to India 
 with merely a humble kalamdan 1 in his pocket, 
 such was his genius that he laid the sure founda- 
 tions of that glorious fabric, the British empire in 
 the East. 
 
 1 Inkstand.
 
 "WHERE HAS THE MONEY GONE?" 285 
 
 " Aided as you were by the genius of Lord Clive 
 and his successors, is it not true, dear John, that it 
 was our folly and disunion that permitted or, to 
 speak more politely, compelled you to advance 
 from the Bay of Bengal to Peshawar, and from 
 Cape Comorin to the Himalayas. 
 
 " This, however, dear John, is ancient history, 
 and we might be content to forget it, but that it 
 is all written with our own records, and must 
 therefore at times come to our memory. Another 
 fact, too, is recorded, with which you, dear John, 
 must be familiar namely, that India was famed 
 in ancient times as one of the richest countries 
 of the earth, the land of jewels and gold. Now 
 all this wealth has vanished, and India to-day is 
 actually impoverished, perhaps one of the poorest 
 of all countries. 
 
 " Now, my dear John, I shall ask you a plain 
 and simple question Where has all this wealth 
 gone to? You surely do not consider us profli- 
 gates or spendthrifts, who have squandered all 
 our national belongings in frivolity and vanity ? 
 That, dear John, is not our traditional character. 
 We are well known throughout the world as a 
 thrifty and prudent race. You will hardly assert 
 that we have been so mad as to throw our wealth
 
 286 " PORT AFTER STORMY SEAS." 
 
 into the sea ; nor have we sent it to the Emperor 
 of China, nor thrown it away on the dogs and 
 bears of the North Pole ; any more than we have 
 made a present of it to the woolly - headed 
 " Habshis " of Africa. Then, dear John, to what 
 quarter of the globe do you think it can have 
 gone but to the West ? In fact, some of our 
 star-gazers and astrologers assert (though I can 
 hardly believe them) that you have been adroitly 
 milking the poor Indian milch cow to your heart's 
 content from the day you first entered the country 
 to the present time. If this be true, dear John, 
 all we can say is, that although you have always 
 loved us well, you seem to love the poor old milch 
 cow better ; and there is no doubt whatever that 
 she has now become so lean on it that she is now 
 only fit to be laid up in some humane and charit- 
 able hospital for worn-out animals. It is indeed a 
 fact, too, that while India has become one of the 
 poorest, England has become one of the richest, 
 countries on the earth. 
 
 " A few days since one of our promising youths 
 (I believe they call him " Young Bengal ") de- 
 clared at a debating club that it was a positive 
 and historical fact that, when you first entered 
 our house, you appeared so amiable that, in our
 
 CHEAP "CHARLIES." 287 
 
 usual polite way, we frankly asked you to consider 
 the house your own, and you certainly lost no 
 time in taking us at our word ; for, very shortly, 
 you not only were quite at home in our house, 
 but actually took upon yourself the heavy re- 
 sponsibilities of paterfamilias. In this capacity, 
 he added, you went to great expense in dressing 
 us out in red coats, of which we were so proud 
 that we strutted about in them like peacocks on a 
 green. Seeing this, you kindly made cheap 
 " Charlies " of us, to watch the house and cry 
 aloud, the livelong night, " All's well " ; and so 
 well did we do our duty that no robbers came to 
 rob the robber ! 
 
 " Dear John, from the happy days of our revered 
 Shri Ram Chandra to the present time we never 
 heard of such a thing as a National Debt, but now 
 you have in some way placed upon our weak and 
 emaciated shoulders the Atlas-like burden of a 
 hundred and fifty millions of money ; but as you 
 say you have done it for our benefit, we must so 
 accept it. For the kind exertions you are making 
 for our education, thus placing us on the highroad 
 to enlightenment and civilisation, we beg to offer 
 you our sincere thanks ; for we are conscious that 
 knowledge is power, and that this is the only path
 
 288 " PORT AFTER STORMY SEAS." 
 
 by which we can in time attain to national great- 
 ness. But we must ask more immediate help. 
 You well know, dear John, the numerous occa- 
 sions on which ere now we have proved our loy- 
 alty to the throne, how often- we have fought, 
 and freely spilt our best blood, in your cause, not 
 only in India, but in Egypt, in China, in Persia, 
 in Burma, and other lands ; and in return you 
 surely will not think it too much if we ask you to 
 bestow on us three small favours. The first of 
 these is the full development of the natural re- 
 sources of India, both mineral and vegetable. 
 They are rich and varied, and can only be fully 
 developed by means of a hearty and full measure 
 of the necessary legislative initiation and encour- 
 agement : there is no doubt that you would soon 
 be proud to see the happy results of such action 
 on your part in an improved and modernised 
 system of agriculture, horticulture, husbandry in 
 general, and irrigation ; and I further undertake 
 that soon we should boast of our Manchesters, 
 Leeds, Sheffields, and Newcastles. Secondly, we 
 earnestly request you to open for our preferment 
 the door so long closed, and to give us access to 
 the higher grades in the civil and military services. 
 My dear John, it is mere folly, an unwise and
 
 THE NATIVE ARMY. 289 
 
 unworthy subterfuge, to say, or affect to believe, 
 that we have not clever and trustworthy gentle- 
 men of high rank and proved respectability, fully 
 capable of acting as Deputy Commissioners, Pol- 
 itical Agents, Residents, or even Lieutenant-Gov- 
 ernors ; as well as Captains, Majors, Colonels, and 
 Generals in the army. I can assure you that we 
 have many scions of noble and princely birth, who, 
 with a fair meed of encouragement, would soon 
 qualify themselves for, and would prove a credit 
 to, your civil or military service. 
 
 " Our third and chief request is that, for the 
 future benefit of both India and England, we 
 should be allowed to have representatives both 
 in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, 
 as well as in the Indian Councils of London and 
 Calcutta. 
 
 " My dear John, you often say that you have won 
 India by the sword ; but I beg to assure you that 
 if you grant us these three requests you will fairly 
 and completely win the hearts of your three hun- 
 dred million, more or less, of Indian subjects. 
 
 "As to the native army, I beg to assure you 
 that you possess as good material as can be 
 found in any part of the world ; but I would sug- 
 gest that clan corps, or clan divisions, would be 
 
 T
 
 290 " PORT AFTER STORMY SEAS." 
 
 the best system that you could adopt. For in- 
 stance, a Rajput, a Goorkha, an Oude, an Afghan, 
 or a Sikh division, of well-chosen men, organised 
 to suit their own national ideas (not yours), and 
 commanded by officers of their own clan or race, 
 would prove not only loyal to you, but of the 
 highest value in every respect. I assure you that 
 such officers, chosen from the chiefs and nobles of 
 the land, would not only be held to loyalty by 
 their high birth, high caste, rank, and family 
 pride, but would by them be stimulated to a noble 
 ardour and desire to distinguish themselves in the 
 field as brave soldiers. 
 
 "As to the reigning princes of India, you have 
 only to treat them honourably, justly, and can- 
 didly, and they will assuredly prove the strongest 
 and truest pillars of the State, and the best sup- 
 porters of your empire in the East. With kind 
 regards and best wishes, I beg to remain, dear 
 John, your affectionate Aryan brother, 
 
 " JOHN BULL of India. 
 
 " 22nd July 1876." 
 
 The story has been told. The long and event- 
 ful life came at last to a peaceful close, and 
 Alexander Gardner, one of the last of the Indian
 
 GARDNER DIES IN HIS BED. 291 
 
 adventurers, died in his bed at Jammu on the 
 22nd day of January 1877, being then in the 
 ninety-second year of his age. At the end Gardner 
 wished to lie among Christian men, and he was 
 accordingly buried in the military cemetery at 
 Sialkot, the nearest English cantonment. 
 
 In that quiet nook he, who had seen men and 
 nature under such strange and varied circum- 
 stances, rests from his labours. The field of ad- 
 venture which attracted him has ceased to offer 
 inducements to the bold spirit of the wanderers, 
 but there are yet dark places on the earth where 
 they may do good work. To those who have in 
 them the divine spark of enterprise these pages 
 may not be without a suggestion and a lesson.
 
 APPENDIX 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 SOME ACCOUNT OF MAHARAJA RANJIT SINGH 
 AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS 
 
 BY MAJOR HUGH PEARSE
 
 COLONEL GARDNER'S LIST OF RANJIT SINGH'S 
 OFFICERS. 
 
 1. General Ventura 
 
 Italian 
 
 Infantry. 
 
 2. Allard 
 
 French 
 
 Cavalry. 
 
 3. M Avitabile 
 
 Italian 
 
 Infantry. 
 
 4. it Court 
 
 French 
 
 Artillery. 
 
 5. ii Harlan 
 
 American 
 
 Infantry. 
 
 6. ii Van Cortlandt. 
 
 English 
 
 it 
 
 7. Colonel Ford 
 
 ii 
 
 ii 
 
 8. ii Foulkes 
 
 ii 
 
 Cavalry. 
 
 9. Captain Argoud 
 
 French 
 
 Infantry. 
 
 10. Colonel Canora 
 
 American 
 
 Artillery. 
 
 11. ii Thomas 
 
 Anglo-Indian 
 
 Infantry. 
 
 12. Lieut.-Col. Leslie, alias Rattray 
 
 ii 
 
 ii 
 
 13. Colonel Mouton 
 
 French 
 
 Cavalry. 
 
 14. ii Hurbon 
 
 Spanish 
 
 Engineer. 
 
 15. ii Steinbach 
 
 English (?) 
 
 Infantry. 
 
 16. Captain de la Font 
 
 French 
 
 ii 
 
 17. M'Pherson 
 
 English 
 
 ii 
 
 18. Mr Campbell 
 
 Anglo- Indian (?) 
 
 M 
 
 19. Mr Garron (Carron ?) 
 
 French 
 
 Cavalry. 
 
 20. Gordon 
 
 Anglo-Indian. 
 
 n 
 
 21. ) 
 > De Fasheye (father and son) 
 2t2t, ) 
 
 French. 
 
 ii 
 
 23. Alvarine 
 
 Italian 
 
 Infantry. 
 
 24. Hommus 
 
 Spaniard 
 
 ii 
 
 25. Amise 
 
 French 
 
 n 
 
 26. Hest 
 
 Greek 
 
 ii 
 
 27. De la Roche 
 
 French 
 
 n 
 
 28. Dubuignon 
 
 ii 
 
 n
 
 296 
 
 LIST OF RANJIT SINGH S OFFICERS. 
 
 29. John Holmes 
 
 30. Vochus 
 
 31. Del'Ust 
 
 32. Hureleek 
 
 33. Fitzroy 
 
 34. Barlow 
 
 35. Martindale 
 
 36. Jervais 
 
 37. Mo3vius 
 
 38. Bianchi 
 
 39. Dottenweiss 
 
 Anglo-Indian 
 Russian 
 French 
 Greek 
 
 Anglo-Indian 
 
 French 
 
 Russian 
 
 Italian 
 
 German 
 
 Infantry. 
 
 Engineer. 
 
 1. Dr Harvey 
 
 2. Dr Bene"t 
 
 MEDICAL OFFICERS. 
 
 English. 
 French 
 
 Drew 500 rupees per mensem 
 
 in 1838. 
 
 3. Dr Martin Honigberger Austrian Drew 900 rupees per mensem 
 
 same year. A clever doctor, an 
 enterprising traveller, and an 
 amiable man ; author of an 
 interesting work, ' Thirty-five 
 Years in the East.'
 
 GENERAL ALLARD, 
 
 ORGANISER OK THE SIKH CAVALRY.
 
 RANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 THE Sikhs, who became eventually the most powerful 
 nation encountered by us during the conquest and con- 
 solidation of the Indian Empire, were in the beginning no 
 more than a weak and persecuted religious community. 
 
 Nanak, the founder of their religion, was born in the 
 year 1469, and the name " Sikhs " literally, learners or 
 disciples given by him to his followers, became in time 
 the descriptive title of the whole people. 
 
 Nanak was succeeded by nine other prophets, the last 
 of whom, Govind Singh, was assassinated in 1708. At 
 the time of Govind Singh's death the Sikhs had become 
 a warlike and powerful people, but they had yet to await 
 the coming of the man who was to weld them into a 
 nation and bestow on them the gift of discipline. 
 
 At length, in the year 1780, Eanjit Singh, destined to 
 become a great leader of men, was born at Gujrat, the son 
 of Mahan Singh, chief of one of the least important of 
 the twelve confederacies into which the Sikhs were at 
 that time formed. 
 
 Mahan Singh died in 1791, and the young Kanjit Singh, 
 only eleven years of age, would hardly have been per-
 
 298 RANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 mitted to arrive at manhood but for the protection given 
 him by two remarkable women. These were his mother, 
 Raj Kour, daughter of Raja Gajpat Singh of Jind; and 
 his mother-in-law, Sada Kour, 1 who had succeeded, as 
 widow and heiress of her husband, to the chiefship of the 
 powerful Kanheya confederacy. This confederacy ranked 
 fourth in importance among the twelve, and Ranjit Singh, 
 having grown up under the protection of its chieftainess, 
 took no rest until he had dispossessed Sada Kour from 
 authority. She died in the year 1827 in the prison to 
 which her ungrateful proUgt. had consigned her. 
 
 Ranjit Singh's treatment of the other cherisher of his 
 youth was yet more ungrateful, for, unless rumour foully 
 belies him, he killed his mother, Raj Kour, with his own 
 hands following in this action the example left him by 
 his father and grandfather. 
 
 It would be wearisome to the reader to trace minutely 
 the measures, alternately violent and treacherous, by 
 which Ranjit Singh gradually brought confederacy after 
 confederacy under his rule, but some notice must be 
 taken of an eventful period in which the young chief 
 seized the golden opportunity of his lifetime. 
 
 The city of Lahore, the ancient capital of the Panjab, 
 had been occupied in the years 1797 and 1798 by Shah 
 Zaman, the Afghan invader of Northern India ; but in 
 the latter year domestic troubles recalled him somewhat 
 suddenly to his own dominions, and while crossing the 
 river Jhelam in flood he lost twelve pieces of artillery 
 which were imbedded in quicksands. Not being able to 
 
 1 Ranjit Singh had married, after the oriental fashion, at the age of six 
 years, Mahtab Kour, daughter of Sada Kour. The title " Kour " means 
 princess.
 
 RANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 299 
 
 tarry until the guns had been extricated, Shah Zaman 
 promised Eanjit Singh, whose inherited territory lay near 
 Lahore, authority to take possession of that city and dis- 
 trict from its then rulers, if he would save the imperilled 
 guns (whose possession was at that period a matter of 
 importance) and send them to Afghanistan. Having ex- 
 tricated the guns, Eanjit Singh made short work of 
 capturing Lahore, whereupon he assumed the title of 
 Maharaja, by which he is known in history : moreover, 
 he soon afterwards annexed Amritsar, the religious capital 
 of the Sikhs. 
 
 It will be understood that this rapid rise to power of 
 a competent and ambitious ruler, and the consequent 
 consolidation of the Sikhs, could not escape the notice of 
 the English Government ; and resulted, in fact, inevitably 
 in the development of political relations between the two 
 Powers, now become neighbours. 
 
 In 1809 a mission under Mr (afterwards Lord) Met- 
 calfe effected an alliance between the British and Eanjit 
 Singh, to which the latter honourably adhered during the 
 remainder of his life. 
 
 An incident occurred during the visit of Mr Metcalfe's 
 mission which brought home to Eanjit Singh's mind a 
 sense of the true value of discipline, and determined him 
 to form an army on the European system. Among the 
 Sikh troops of 1809 were a turbulent and fanatical set of 
 men known as the Akalis, or Immortals, whose headlong 
 valour had often served Eanjit Singh and turned the 
 fortunes of a doubtful battle. The Akalis, infuriated by 
 the sight of the religious observances of Mr Metcalfe's 
 Hindu escort, suddenly and without the slightest warning 
 made an attack in overwhelming numbers on the camp of
 
 300 RANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 the British mission, which was defended only by two com- 
 panies of native infantry. Though taken by surprise, the 
 escort quickly rallied and repelled the attack of the 
 Akalis, who incurred the wrath of Ranjit Singh even more 
 for their ignominious defeat than for the inconvenience 
 caused by their misconduct in making the attack. Prof- 
 iting by this experience, and with the object of raising 
 his own troops to a state of discipline similar to that of 
 the British-Indian army, the Maharaja gave employment 
 to certain deserters from our service, with whose assist- 
 ance considerable progress was made. 
 
 Finally, the absorption, in the year 1820, of the great 
 Kanheya confederacy, removed the last remaining faction 
 of any strength, and left Ranjit Singh free to devote his 
 attention in earnest to the formation of a disciplined 
 army for the now united Sikh nation. With a natural 
 prejudice against Englishmen, the Maharaja proceeded 
 with great caution in the selection of officers to assist him 
 in his task, and it was not until the spring of the year 
 1822 that the two pioneers of the band of adventurers 
 in the Panjab appeared on the scene. These were the 
 Chevalier Ventura and the Chevalier Allard, officers of 
 the great Napoleon's army, who had served the Emperor 
 with honour and credit, and who, after the fatal day of 
 Waterloo, had wandered to Egypt, and thence successively 
 to Persia, Afghanistan, and the Panjab, in search of 
 fortune. 
 
 The arrival at Lahore of Ventura and Allard did not 
 put an immediate end to the difficulties which had 
 attended their journey; for Ranjit Singh was of an ex- 
 tremely suspicious turn of mind, and took some time to 
 assure himself that the two foreigners (who were in a
 
 EANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 301 
 
 state of extreme poverty) were really what they declared 
 themselves to be, and not secret emissaries of the dreaded 
 and suspected British Government. 
 
 Before describing the careers of Ventura and his com- 
 panions in arms, a brief description must be given of the 
 old Sikh army the " Dal Khalsa," or army of God, as it 
 was called and of the Maharaja, its creator. 
 
 The army consisted for the most part of cavalry, raised 
 and paid under a feudal system. Each chief furnished 
 his followers with arms and horses, and the mounted 
 soldier alone was held in respect. The exceptional estima- 
 tion in which the Akalis (the fanatics already mentioned) 
 were held, was partly due to their religious character and 
 partly to the desperate courage which they showed in 
 action. They usually fought on foot, but all other Sikhs 
 mounted themselves before going on active service if 
 possible, or at any rate on the first opportunity that 
 offered itself. 
 
 The Sikh weapon was the sword, which, when mounted, 
 they used with great skill. Bows and arrows were used 
 by the infantry, and a few matchlocks ; but in the early 
 days of Ranjit Singh's career the Sikhs disliked firearms 
 and artillery of all descriptions, and possessed little or no 
 skill in their use. 
 
 The picture of a Sikh soldier of the unreformed army, 
 drawn for Bellasis by Chand Khan, 1 is probably as accur- 
 ate as it is spirited, due allowance being made for the 
 supposed bias of the speaker : " Go to the bazaar, take any 
 dirty, naked scoundrel, twist up his hair, give him a lofty 
 turban and a clean vest; comb out and lengthen his 
 beard, and gird his loins with a yellow cummerbund ; put 
 
 1 In ' Adventures of an Officer in the Pan jab,' by Sir Henry Lawrence.
 
 302 RANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 a clumsy sword by his side and a long spear in his 
 cowardly hand; set him on a strong bony two-year-old 
 horse, and you have a passable Sikh." Omitting the 
 adjective "cowardly," the above description may be ac- 
 cepted ; but such men as those so unflatteringly described 
 had done great things for Ranjit Singh. The swords may 
 have been clumsy, but they were wielded by no cowardly 
 hands when Multan was captured by the Khalsa from its 
 gallant Afghan defenders. 
 
 With the arrival of Ventura and Allard came the day 
 when the Maharaja could put into execution his long- 
 cherished design, and commence to form his undisciplined 
 hordes of horsemen into that Sikh army which in the end 
 faced, and for a time faced successfully, the conquerors of 
 Napoleon and his legions. 
 
 At the death of Ranjit Singh (1839) the strength of the 
 regular army of the Panjab is stated by Sir Lepel Griffin 
 to have been 29,000 men, with 192 guns. The monthly 
 cost was Rs. 3,82,088, or say 500,000 per annum. 
 
 The irregular levies were estimated at about the same 
 strength, and, says Sir Lepel Griffin, "were the picturesque 
 elements in the Maharaja's reviews. Many of the men 
 were well-to-do country gentlemen, the sons, relations, or 
 clansmen of the chiefs who placed them in the field and 
 maintained them there, and whose personal credit was 
 concerned in their splendid appearance. There was no 
 uniformity in their dress. Some wore a shirt of mail, with 
 a helmet inlaid with gold and a kalji or heron's plume ; 
 others were gay with the many-coloured splendour of velvet 
 and silk, with pink or yellow muslin turbans, and gold- 
 embroidered belts carrying their sword and powder-horn. 
 All wore, at the back, the small, round shield of tough
 
 BAN JIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 303 
 
 buffalo-hide. These magnificent horsemen were armed 
 some with bows and arrows, but the majority with match- 
 locks, with which they made excellent practice." 
 
 And what manner of man was the great Maharaja who 
 had welded together this valiant, powerful, and pictur- 
 esque army ? 
 
 Of the many descriptions of him that have been handed 
 down to us, none is more vivid than that written by the 
 traveller, Baron von Hligel : " In person he is short and 
 mean-looking, and had he not distinguished himself by his 
 great talents, he would be passed by without being thought 
 worthy of observation. Without exaggeration I must call 
 him the most ugly and unprepossessing man I saw through- 
 out the Panjab. His left eye, which is quite closed, dis- 
 figures him less than the other, which is always rolling 
 about wide open, and is much distorted by disease. The 
 scars of the smallpox on his face do not run into one 
 another, but form so many dark pits in his greyish-brown 
 skin ; his short straight nose is swollen at the tip ; the 
 skinny lips are stretched tight over his teeth, which are 
 still good ; his grizzled beard, very thin on the cheeks and 
 upper lip, meets under the chin in matted confusion ; and 
 his head, which is sunk very much on his broad shoulders, 
 is too large for his height, and does not seem to move 
 easily." 
 
 It must be remembered that this striking picture was 
 drawn late in the Maharaja's life, and Sir Lepel Griffin 
 tells us that in earlier days Kanjit Singh, though short of 
 stature and cruelly disfigured by smallpox, was the beau 
 idtal of a soldier, strong, spare, active, courageous, and 
 enduring. An excellent horseman, he would remain in 
 the saddle the whole day without showing any sign of
 
 304 RAN JIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 fatigue. His love of horses amounted to a passion ; he 
 was a keen sportsman and an accomplished swordsman. 
 His dress was scrupulously simple, contrasting strongly 
 with the gorgeous costumes of the Sikh sardars. 
 
 That Ranjit Singh was indeed a great man, a king of 
 men, cannot for a moment be doubted. He was a born 
 ruler, with the natural genius of command. Men obeyed 
 him by instinct and because they had no power to disobey. 
 Yet his moral character was extremely low selfish, false, 
 avaricious, grossly superstitious, shamelessly and openly 
 drunken and debauched. That a man with these char- 
 acteristics exercised an absolute control, even when 
 paralysed and indeed half dead, over the turbulent Sikh 
 people, testifies to his greatness. 
 
 Without attempting to present a complete picture of so 
 complex a character as that of Eanjit Singh, two points 
 call for our special attention when considering the 
 Maharaja as a ruler and as the creator of an army : the 
 first, his appreciation of the value of European discipline ; 
 and the second, his discrimination in the choice of agents. 
 
 The sketches of the Maharaja's chief officers, which 
 follow, show how wisely they were chosen and how 
 judiciously they were employed. From these pages and 
 from the record of Colonel Gardner, some idea may be 
 derived of the Dal Khalsa, or Sikh army. 
 
 I. GENERAL VENTURA. 
 
 For several reasons the name of General Ventura 
 deserves to stand first in the roll of Eanjit Singh's white 
 officers. He stood second to none in the estimation of his
 
 GENERAL VENTURA. 305 
 
 royal master, and was held in like respect by those British 
 officials, both civil and military, with whom he came in 
 contact. He was, moreover, with Allard, the first to 
 enter Eanjit Singh's service, and he remained in it faith- 
 fully until and after the end of the Maharaja's life. 
 
 The fact, however, which influences me most strongly 
 in according the place of honour to Ventura is his selection 
 by Kanjit Singh to command the " Fouj Khas," or model 
 brigade the first in rank, discipline, and equipment in 
 the reformed army. The four infantry battalions of this 
 brigade were the models on which the remainder of the 
 army was formed, and it was by the conversion of his 
 main strength from indifferent irregular cavalry to infantry 
 of a very high class that Kanjit Singh effected the mar- 
 vellous results which establish his claim to be considered 
 a great military organiser. In this conversion Ventura 
 was his right-hand man, and the only thing to be regretted 
 is that the account of his career, that of an honourable and 
 brave soldier of fortune, is perhaps less entertaining than 
 those of some of his less reputable colleagues. 
 
 Of the early life of Ventura I have been able to ascer- 
 tain but little. It is usually stated (on the authority of 
 Henry Prinsep) that Ventura, an Italian by birth, had 
 held the rank of colonel of infantry in the army of the 
 Napoleonic Empire ; and there is no reason to doubt the 
 fact. There is, unfortunately, no record in the French 
 War Office of the services of individual members of the 
 Italian contingent of the army of the First Empire, nor 
 can information on the subject be obtained from the War 
 Office of the present Italian army. 
 
 Joseph Wolff, the heroic missionary-traveller, states that 
 Ventura was a Jew by birth, and that his name was 
 
 U
 
 306 RAN JIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 Keuben Ben-Toora. Be this as it may, Maharaja Eanjit 
 Singh, when his first distrust had worn off, rapidly took 
 Ventura into favour, gave him at first the command of 
 two battalions, and very shortly afterwards that of a 
 brigade. For a dwelling the Maharaja assigned to Ventura 
 the remarkable building close to Lahore known as the 
 tomb of Anarkali. This building had previously been 
 occupied by Prince Karak Singh, the heir-apparent a 
 fact which shows the high social position accorded to 
 Ventura. 
 
 The Maharaja desired his officers to engage not to eat 
 beef, not to shave their beards, and not to smoke tobacco ; 
 but on Ventura and Allard agreeing to the first two 
 conditions, the third was dispensed with. 
 
 General Ventura had not long to wait before an op- 
 portunity offered itself to him to show the Maharaja 
 and the Sikh army the merits of his system of dis- 
 cipline, and also to illustrate his skill as a tactician. 
 In March 1823, only a year after Ventura's arrival at 
 Lahore, the Sikh army was engaged against the Afghans 
 in the battle of Nowshera or Theri. The Afghans were 
 in great strength their regular troops holding a position 
 on the right bank of the Kabul river, while 20,000 
 mountaineers of the Khatak and Yusufzai tribes occupied 
 a strong position on the left bank. 
 
 Maharaja Eanjit Singh now showed his confidence in 
 Generals Ventura and Allard by sending them with a 
 small force of eight battalions and two batteries to keep 
 the regular Afghan troops in check, while he with his 
 main strength fell upon the Ghazis. The battle was 
 severely contested, but, thanks to the superior general- 
 ship of Eanjit Singh, resulted in a complete victory for
 
 GENERAL VENTURA. 307 
 
 the Sikhs. The loss of the victors was estimated by 
 Captain (afterwards Sir Claude) Wade 1 at 2000 men 
 out of a total force present of 24,000. 
 
 The Afghan tribesmen had more than 3000 men killed, 
 but gallantly rallied on the day following the battle and 
 were ready to renew the fight. Muhammad Azim Khan, 
 however, who commanded the Afghan regular troops, fear- 
 ing lest his treasure and harem might fall into the hands of 
 the Sikhs, broke up his camp, and, crossing the Momand 
 hills with undignified haste, regained the valley of Jalala- 
 bad. He was pursued for a considerable distance by 
 Ventura and Allard, whose force had been increased by 
 a contingent under Prince Sher Singh one of the 
 Maharaja's sons, and a brave soldier. 
 
 In consequence of this victory Eanjit Singh occupied 
 the city of Peshawar, and his troops plundered the whole 
 district up to the Khaibar Pass. 
 
 General Ventura was highly favoured by the Maharaja 
 in consequence of his services on this and subsequent 
 occasions, and was granted pay at the rate of 2500 
 rupees a -month. He also was at various times given 
 large jagirs, or feudal grants of land, by his royal 
 master; and towards the end of the Maharaja's life 
 Ventura received two villages as a special gift for his 
 young daughter Victorine. 
 
 In spite of this large income the General was not so 
 rich a man as might have been expected. He was too 
 honourable to add to his fortune by illicit means, and 
 his salary was usually in arrears to a very considerable 
 extent. For years the debt amounted to no less than 
 
 1 Sir Claude Wade held charge for many years of our political relations 
 with Ranjit Singh, and was on most intimate terms with the Maharaja.
 
 308 RANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 150,000 rupees, or five years' income; and whenever 
 Ventura asked for the money due to him the Maharaja 
 would say, "What do you require it for? Is not all I 
 have yours ? " 
 
 In 1825 General Ventura was married to a European 
 lady at Ludhiana, and in honour of the event a cere- 
 monial took place at Lahore, when the bridegroom re- 
 ceived gifts of 10,000 rupees from the Maharaja and 
 30,000 from the courtiers. 
 
 The first campaign in the year 1826 was directed 
 again Kotler, the chief command being intrusted to 
 Jamadar Khushal Singh, a favourite officer of the Maha- 
 raja. In this campaign a number of Sikh sardars or 
 chiefs, and soldiers, refused to serve under Ventura and 
 Allard, and threatened to resist their authority by main 
 force. The two generals complained to the Maharaja, 
 who at once proceeded to the army, degraded the mutin- 
 ous officers, and severely punished the ringleaders of 
 inferior rank. 
 
 Later in the year General Ventura accompanied Sardar 
 Hari Singh Nalwa, one of the bravest and best educated 
 of the Sikh chieftains, in various small expeditions. A 
 rising at Gandgarh was quelled after a smart action, 
 the hill fortress of Srikot was captured ; and finally 
 Ventura took part in a demonstration under Prince Sher 
 Singh, the object of which was to exact payment of the 
 annual tribute from Yar Muhammad Khan, at that time 
 ruler of Peshawar. The tribute was paid without fighting, 
 and so ended a year of great military activity. 
 
 In the year 1827 occurred the curious incident of the 
 horse Laili, which has been so often dilated on by writers 
 of Sikh history. This horse was believed to be of sur-
 
 GENERAL VENTURA. 309 
 
 passing beauty and excellence, and it is said that Fatten 
 Ali Shah, of Persia, offered 75,000 rupees for the animal. 
 Maharaja Eanjit Singh also set his heart on becoming the 
 owner of Laili. Yar Muhammad Khan of Peshawar, the 
 owner of the coveted horse, had it noised abroad that 
 Laili was dead; but this having been disproved, the 
 Maharaja sent an expeditionary force under the command 
 of his son, Prince Sher Singh, and General Ventura, and 
 at length obtained possession of Laili. The presence of 
 General Ventura, and subsequently of General Allard, at 
 Peshawar, in connection with this affair, proved to be 
 of material service to the Maharaja, as he was thereby 
 enabled to rescue that city and district from the fanatical 
 followers of Syad Ahmad the Keformer, who had defeated 
 the Afghan troops and slain Yar Muhammad Khan him- 
 self. Peshawar was for a time relinquished to the 
 Afghans and the Sikh army withdrawn. The ultimate 
 fate of Syad Ahmad is related by Colonel Gardner in 
 chap. ix. of this work. 
 
 To avoid undue repetition, it will suffice to say that, 
 from the time of his entering Ranjit Singh's service, 
 General Ventura took an active part in all the campaigns 
 and expeditions by means of which the Maharaja in- 
 creased year by year the extent of his dominions and 
 the efficiency of his army. 
 
 The confidence shown in Ventura, and the other foreign 
 officers who will next be introduced to the reader, aroused 
 so much jealousy among the Sikh princes and chieftains 
 that, in general, the leadership of those expeditions in 
 which the Maharaja himself did not exercise the com- 
 mand was bestowed on one of the reigning family, or 
 one of the few chiefs who could be trusted in independ-
 
 310 RAN JIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 ent employment : thus in the year 1831, that of Colonel 
 Gardner's arrival in the Panjab, General Ventura shared 
 with Shahzada Sher Singh the command of the force sent 
 out from Peshawar against the reformer Syad Ahmad. 
 As is related in Gardner's narrative, this force completely 
 defeated Syad Ahmad's followers, and the prophet him- 
 self was slain, at a place called Balakot. Gardner was 
 just too late to take part in the action ; but it is probable 
 that Ventura became aware that Gardner had intended 
 to assist the insurgents, and that this fact, coupled with 
 Gardner's adherence to the Dogra faction, caused the 
 ill-will which is shown by Gardner's language to have 
 existed between them. The French and Italian officers 
 in Eanjit Singh's service held much aloof from those of 
 other nationalities, and this also must have contributed 
 to the unfriendliness. 
 
 Later in the year 1831 General Ventura was sent to 
 Multan, in command of a force of 10,000 troops and 
 thirty pieces of artillery, for the purpose of collecting 
 the tribute of that province. 
 
 Space does not permit me to detail Ventura's military 
 achievements in the service of Maharaja Ranjit Singh : 
 suffice it to say that he served that exacting master faith- 
 fully to the end of his life, and after the Maharaja's 
 death he in like manner served his successors. 
 
 In addition to the rank of general, conferred on Ven- 
 tura soon after he entered the Sikh service, Ranjit Singh 
 created him Jcazi and governor of Lahore, which appoint- 
 ment gave him the third seat in durbar. 
 
 During the early years of his service in the Panjab 
 General Ventura had lived with General Allard in a 
 large mosque near the Lahore cantonments. It is re-
 
 GENERAL ALLARD. 311 
 
 lated that when Ventura was absent in France for two 
 years (1838-1840), his family, together with forty or 
 fifty female slaves, lived during the whole period in 
 this mosque without once moving out of doors. 
 
 General Ventura was a high-minded and honourable 
 soldier, much respected by the Sikhs, and also by all 
 the English officers with whom he was brought in con- 
 tact. He eventually retired from the Panjab in 1843, 
 possessed of an ample fortune, and passed the remainder 
 of his life at Paris, where he lived in very good style. 
 
 II. GENERAL ALLARD. 
 
 The second of Maharaja Eanjit Singh's foreign generals 
 was Jean Francois Allard, born at Saint Tropez, a small 
 seaport on the Mediterranean coast of France, on March 
 8, 1785. Allard joined the French army on December 
 6, 1803, his first regiment being the 23rd Dragoons, in 
 which he passed through the various grades to the rank 
 of squadron quartermaster-sergeant. 
 
 Allard served in Italy during the years 1804 to 1806, 
 and was transferred in the latter year to the royal guard 
 of the army of the kingdom of Naples. In February 
 1807 he became quartermaster of the Neapolitan regi- 
 ment of light cavalry, and towards the end of the fol- 
 lowing year accompanied that corps to the theatre of 
 war in Spain. 
 
 Allard became sub-lieutenant on the 15th June 1809, 
 and lieutenant on the 10th July 1810. On the 31st 
 July 1813 he received two sword - cuts in the skirmish 
 of Aleazar, near Alcala, and a year later was transferred
 
 312 RAN JIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 to the 2nd regiment of dragoons of the Imperial Guard 
 of France. In July 1814 he was again transferred to 
 the 2nd Hussars, and on 28th April 1815 he was pro- 
 moted captain in the 7th Hussars. 
 
 His services had been rewarded with the crosses of 
 the Royal Spanish Order and of the Legion of Honour, 
 and he held the appointment of aide-de-camp to Mare- 
 chal Brune. Fortune appeared, therefore, to smile on the 
 young soldier, and a successful career in the military 
 service of France seemed fairly within his reach. The 
 fatal day of Waterloo, and the murder of his patron, 
 Mare'chal Brune, dashed his hopes to the earth, and after 
 four years of hesitation and of half-hearted attempts to 
 make a fresh start in the royal army, Allard decided to 
 seek his fortune abroad. His first intention was to visit 
 the United States, but a communication from his friend 
 Colonel Ventura caused him to change his plans and 
 accompany the latter to Persia, where they entered the 
 service of Abbas Mirza, the heir -apparent. Here the 
 friends were treated with kindness and respect, but their 
 aspirations in the matter of salary were very far from 
 satisfied ; so in the fulness of time they took leave of 
 Abbas Mirza and passed through Afghanistan into the 
 Panjab. 
 
 Their early troubles in this kingdom have been related 
 in the account of Ventura, and on that subject it need 
 only be stated that at the same time that Ventura re- 
 ceived command of a body of infantry, Allard was com- 
 missioned to raise a corps of dragoons, who were to be 
 armed and disciplined like the cavalry of European 
 armies. Into this task Allard entered with unbounded 
 enthusiasm, and with a considerable amount of success.
 
 GENERAL ALLARD. 313 
 
 Lieutenant William Barr, of the Bengal Horse Artil- 
 lery, who accompanied Sir Claude Wade in his successful 
 operations in the Khaibar Pass, gives an excellent de- 
 scription of the Sikh cavalry at the time of Allard's death. 
 After an unfavourable review of the artillery (who were, 
 however, much better than they looked), Barr writes : 
 
 " We then reached the cavalry, the dragoons occupying 
 the left. These were well mounted, and form a fine body 
 of men and horses. On their right were two regiments 
 of Allard's cuirassiers, the most noble - looking troops 
 on parade. The men and horses were all picked, and 
 amongst the former are to be seen many stalwart fellows, 
 who appear to advantage under their cuirasses and steel 
 casques. Particular attention seems to have been paid 
 to setting them well up, and their accoutrements are 
 kept in the highest order. Many of the officers wear 
 brass cuirasses, and their commandant is perhaps the 
 finest man of the whole body, and looks extremely well 
 in front of his superb regiment. ... It used to be poor 
 Allard's pride and amusement to review these men, and 
 their present martial appearance is no doubt owing to 
 that officer's constant care and superintendence." 
 
 Barr goes on to say that in marching past, the regular- 
 ity and order of the cuirassiers could scarcely be exceeded 
 by the Company's cavalry. 
 
 Barr and his companions had previously been much 
 struck by the excellent way in which Allard's dragoons 
 were mounted. This was the corps mentioned above as 
 taking the left of the line of cavalry. The dress of these 
 dragoons consisted of a jacket of a dull red with broad 
 facings of buff, crossed in front by a pair of black belts, 
 one of which supported a pouch and the other a bayonet,
 
 314 RANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 genuine dragoon equipment, in which the Sikh cavalry 
 fought, as the old quip has it, indifferently on horseback 
 or on foot. Hound the waist the dragoons wore a cum- 
 merbund, partially concealed by a sword-belt, from which 
 hung a sabre with a brass hilt and leathern scabbard. 
 The carbine was so attached as to give it the appearance 
 of being slung across the back of the dragoon, but rested, 
 in fact, in a bucket fastened to the saddle. The trousers 
 were of dark-blue cloth with a red stripe, and the turbans 
 of crimson silk, brought somewhat into a peak in front, 
 and ornamented in the centre with a small brass half- 
 moon, from which sprang a glittering sprig about two 
 inches in height. 
 
 The officers were attired from top to toe in bright 
 crimson silk, and were armed with a sabre only. 
 
 Like General Ventura, Allard took part in all the cam- 
 paigns of the Sikh army from the date of his arrival in 
 the Panjab. It is related that very soon after Allard had 
 begun to form his regular cavalry Eanjit Singh ordered 
 his Ghorcharas, or irregular cavalry, to cross the Indus. 
 The order was immediately obeyed, but no discipline was 
 observed and no precautions were taken. No less than 
 500 men are said to have been swept away by the torrent 
 and drowned. Allard then mounted an elephant, and 
 directed his cavalry by trumpet-sounds, and moving them 
 in a suitable formation, succeeded in conveying them 
 across the Indus without loss. Allard was immediately 
 given the rank of general, and received the same pay as 
 Ventura viz., 3000 per annum. 
 
 General Allard, like his friend Ventura, was a man of 
 high character, of polished manners, and of a most amiable 
 disposition. Frequent mention is made of him in the
 
 GENERAL ALLARD. 315 
 
 writings of travellers in the Panjab, and, almost without 
 exception, he is spoken of in terms of respect and liking. 
 He showed a princely hospitality to Europeans of all 
 ranks, and a gentleness to the natives of India which 
 earned him the contempt of Avitabile a fact on which 
 he is surely to be congratulated. 
 
 Ranjit Singh seems to have felt a genuine affection for 
 Allard, and it is even said that the Maharaja's death was 
 hastened by the loss of his friend. 
 
 General Allard's death occurred at Peshawar on Janu- 
 ary 23, 1839, and his body was taken to Lahore for burial : 
 the cause of death was heart disease. The Maharaja was 
 in bad health, and his attendants were long afraid to tell 
 him of Allard's death. General Allard was nearly fifty- 
 four years old, and left a wife and large family, to whom 
 he was greatly attached. He was perhaps the most 
 amiable and attractive of soldiers of fortune. 
 
 It is worth mentioning that Allard, together with 
 Ventura, Avitabile, and Court, received from King Louis 
 Philippe the rank of general in the French army and the 
 Cross of the Legion of Honour. Allard was also appointed 
 Political Agent of the French Government at the Court of 
 Lahore. In appearance he was said to have been a hand- 
 some man, of a benevolent cast of countenance ; and Miss 
 Eden amusingly describes the impression made on her by 
 his remarkable beard. "Allard," she writes in a letter 
 from Calcutta dated December 5, 1836, "wears an im- 
 mensely long beard that he is always stroking and making 
 much of ; and I was dead absent all the time he was there 
 because his wings are beautiful white hair, and his mou- 
 stachios and the middle of his beard quite black. He 
 looks like a piebald horse."
 
 316 RAN JIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 III. GENERAL AVITABILE. 
 
 In marked contrast to Allard was Avitabile, the third of 
 Ranjit Singh's white generals, who is even better known 
 to us than are Ventura and Allard, as it fell to his lot 
 to occupy a position for many years in which he was able 
 to render signal services to the British Indian Govern- 
 ment. This position was that of governor of Peshawar, 
 which city and province were ruled by Avitabile with 
 remorseless cruelty, shameless rapacity, and signal skill 
 and success. 
 
 Of the early life which fitted a Neapolitan peasant for 
 such a position but little can be ascertained with certainty, 
 but that little discloses a very remarkable personality. 
 " Paolo di Bartolomeo Avitabile a general in the armies 
 of the Panjab and of France ; Chevalier of the Legion 
 of Honour; of the Orders of Merit and of Saint Ferdi- 
 nand (of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies) ; Commander 
 of the Durani Order (of Afghanistan) ; Grand Commander 
 of the Lion and Sun and of the Two Lions and Crown (of 
 Persia) ; and of the Star of the Panjab " was born at 
 Agerolo in the kingdom of Naples on the 25th October 
 1791, and served in the local levies of his native State 
 during the years 1807 to 1809. 
 
 Avitabile then entered the artillery of the army of King 
 Joseph Buonaparte, and served that sovereign and his 
 successor Murat. Avitabile served several campaigns 
 under Murat in the Italian contingent of the imperial 
 army, and rose to the rank of lieutenant, receiving also 
 the command of the 15th Battery. 
 
 When the kingdom of Naples was restored to the Bour- 
 bons by the fall of Napoleon, Avitabile retained his rank
 
 GENERAL AVITABILE. 317 
 
 and command, and served under the Austrian General 
 Delaver at the siege of Gaeta. On this occasion he 
 showed distinguished gallantry, and was twice wounded. 
 General Delaver recommended him for promotion to the 
 rank of captain and for a decoration, but for some un- 
 explained reason Avitabile was removed in the same rank 
 of lieutenant to a light infantry regiment. Disgusted by 
 this treatment, Avitabile determined to seek his fortunes 
 abroad, and embarked for Philadelphia : his voyage was, 
 however, disastrous, and ended in a shipwreck near Mar- 
 seilles. Here Avitabile was kindly treated, and advised to 
 turn his steps eastward rather than westward : he accord- 
 ingly took ship for Constantinople, where he found an 
 envoy of Futteh Ali Shah of Persia charged with the duty 
 of obtaining European officers for the Persian army. 
 
 Avitabile arrived at Teheran in the year 1820, and 
 served the Shah and his heir-apparent for a period of six 
 years, during which he performed signal services, and was 
 rewarded with the rank of " khan " and the grade of 
 colonel. He also received two of the highest Persian 
 decorations. 1 Discontented with his remuneration, and 
 hearing favourable reports from Ventura of his service in 
 the Panjab, Avitabile and Court (a brother-officer of the 
 Napoleonic army who was in Persia with him) set out for 
 India. After an adventurous journey through Afghan- 
 istan, they arrived in the Panjab and were quickly given 
 employment. Ranjit Singh soon discovered that Avi- 
 tabile's talents lay in the direction of civil government, 
 
 1 This statement is derived from an account of General Avitabile in the 
 'Livre des Ce'lebrite's Contemporaines,' published in 1846. It must, how- 
 ever, be mentioned that Sir George Russell Clerk, who knew Avitabile 
 well, mentions in his Diary that the latter held no military rank in Persia, 
 and, in fact, made his living in that country as a pedlar.
 
 318 RANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 and made him governor of the town and province of 
 Wazirabad. 
 
 Avitabile showed great ability in this office, and ruled 
 his subjects, Sikhs and Muhammadans alike, with im- 
 partial severity. In so doing he undoubtedly pleased 
 Eanjit Singh, who had all the instincts of a great ruler, 
 but gave great dissatisfaction to the Sikhs, who desired 
 and expected to be treated as the ruling race. In addition 
 to his duties as governor, Avitabile exercised military 
 command over the troops at Wazirabad, and succeeded 
 in impressing something of his own stern character on 
 Ms infantry regiment. 
 
 The Eev. Joseph Wolff, on his arrival in the Panjab 
 (in 1832), found Avitabile at Wazirabad, and gives the 
 following interesting account of him: 
 
 "This famous Neapolitan spoke Italian, French, Per- 
 sian, and Hindustani with equal facility. He had im- 
 proved the town of Wazirabad to a remarkable extent. 
 He kept the streets of the city clean, and had a fine 
 palace and a beautiful carriage for himself. He was a 
 clever, cheerful man, and full of fun. He told Wolff at 
 once that he would show to him his angeli custodes, and 
 then took him to his bedroom, the walls of which were 
 covered with pictures of dancing-girls. 
 
 " He and Wolff one day rode out together on elephants, 
 and he said to him, ' Now I will show you the marks of 
 the civilisation which I have introduced into this country.' 
 They rode outside the town, and there Wolff saw before 
 him about six gibbets, upon which a great number of 
 malefactors were hanging. Though Avitabile was full of 
 fun, yet whenever the conversation was directed to im- 
 portant subjects, he became most serious. Though he had
 
 GENERAL AVITABILE. 319 
 
 amassed in India a fortune of 50,000, he was always 
 panting after a return to his native country, Naples ; and 
 he said to Wolff, ' For the love of God, help me to leave 
 this place ! ' " 
 
 Avitabile continued to govern Wazirabad wisely, and 
 on the whole well, until he was removed in the year 1834 
 to Peshawar. The government of this new conquest of 
 the Maharaja's had proved too arduous a task for the 
 various Sikh princes and sardars who had tried their 
 hands at it. 
 
 Peshawar is, as has been well said, a fragment of 
 Central Asia that has accidentally become, geographically 
 and politically, part of India. Of all the cities of the 
 plains its inhabitants have been and are the most savage 
 and unruly. The ruthless Avitabile was the first man 
 who ever held Peshawar in subjection. In the opinion of 
 Sir Henry Lawrence, a man who must have held Avita- 
 bile's methods in horror, " the most lenient view of him 
 that can be taken is, to consider him as set in authority 
 over savage animals not as a ruler over reasonable 
 beings as one appointed to grind down a race, who bear 
 the yoke with about as good a grace as ' a wild bull in a 
 net,' and who, catching the ruler for one moment asleep, 
 would soon cease to be governed. But the ground of 
 complaint alleged against him is that he acts as a savage 
 among savage men, instead of showing them that a 
 Christian can wield the iron sceptre without staining it 
 by needless cruelty, without following some of the worst 
 fashions of his worst neighbours. Under his rule sum- 
 mary hangings have been added to the native catalogue 
 of punishments, and not a bad one either, when properly 
 used ; but the ostentation of adding two or three to the
 
 320 RANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 string suspended from the gibbet, on special days and 
 festivals, added to a very evident habitual carelessness of 
 life, lead one to fear that small pains are taken to dis- 
 tinguish between innocence and guilt, and that many a 
 man, ignorant of the alleged crime, pays for it with his 
 blood. . . . 
 
 "Still, General Avitabile has many of the attributes of 
 a good ruler: he is bold, active, and intelligent, seeing 
 everything with his own eyes ; up early and late. He has, 
 at the expense of his own character for humanity, by the 
 terror of his name, saved much life. It is but just to state 
 that the peaceful and well-disposed inhabitants of Pesha- 
 war, both Hindu and Muhammadan, united in praise of 
 his administration, though all with one voice declared 
 that mercy seldom mingled in his decrees. Believed to 
 fear neither man nor devil, Avitabile keeps down by grim 
 fear what nothing else would keep down, the unruly 
 spirits around him, who, if let slip, would riot in carnage : 
 his severity may therefore be extenuated as the least of 
 two evils." 
 
 This is not an unfavourable picture, and it is worth 
 studying, for Avitabile was one of the very few Euro- 
 peans who has governed an Eastern province on oriental 
 principles. 
 
 Avitabile was in appearance " a tall stout man, of sensual 
 countenance, with large nose and lips, something of the 
 Jewish type, and well whiskered and bearded. He wore 
 a laced blue jacket, not unlike that of our horse-artillery, 
 capacious crimson trousers of the Turkish fashion, and a 
 rich sword." The blade of this sword had belonged to the 
 Emperor Akbar, and was a superb one : it cost Avitabile 
 2000 rupees, and the setting cost him another thousand.
 
 GENERAL AVITABILE. 321 
 
 The hilt was of gold, studded with very valuable jewels, 
 as was the scabbard, a very small portion of green velvet 
 being visible in the middle of the latter. It would be 
 interesting to know what has become of this costly relic. 
 
 The following anecdote, told by a German traveller in 
 the Panjab at the time of Avitabile's governorship of 
 Peshawar, illustrates the General's ready wit and know- 
 ledge of native character : 
 
 "A certain Mohammedan woman of Peshawar had a 
 son and a daughter. Both married, and the daughter and 
 daughter-in-law gave birth, at the same time, to two 
 children, one a boy, the other a girl. Some time after- 
 wards a serious dispute arose between the two ladies. 
 The daughter's child was a girl, that of the daughter-in- 
 law a boy, but the former maintained that the boy was 
 hers and had been stolen from her. The daughter-in-law 
 denied the charge, and was supported in her denial by her 
 husband's mother. The strife became serious, and the 
 contending parties brought the affair before the judge. 
 This magistrate, being no Solomon, was unable to elicit 
 the truth, and dismissed the complainants. The latter 
 were not satisfied, and appealed to the High Court, over 
 which General Avitabile presided. The case was brought 
 before him, and public curiosity was strained to the high- 
 est pitch, each eagerly asking his neighbour, 'How will 
 the judge decide ? ' The statements upon both sides having 
 been gone through, General Avitabile ordered two goats 
 to be brought, one having a male, the other a female kid. 
 This being done, he sent for two sheep that had each a 
 lamb, one a male, the other a female. In like manner he 
 commanded two cows to be brought, of which one had a 
 male, the other a female calf. These different quadrupeds 
 
 X
 
 322 RANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 being introduced, he ordered that the goats, the sheep, and 
 the cows should be milked, and the milk of each animal 
 placed in a separate vessel, which should be marked. 
 ' Now,' said the General, ' let this milk be examined, and 
 it will be found that that which belongs to the animals 
 that have male young is stronger than the milk which has 
 been taken from the others.' Upon inspection this was 
 found to be correct. ' Now,' said the judge, ' bring me 
 some milk from the mothers of the children/ The milk 
 was brought, and General Avitabile declared that the 
 milk of the daughter-in-law was stronger than that of the 
 daughter, and that consequently she must be the mother 
 of the boy. The wisdom of the judge astonished every 
 one, and his decision was universally admired." 
 
 It is also related that on one occasion General Avitabile 
 quelled a mutiny among his troops by releasing and arm- 
 ing a number of prisoners, by which means he took his 
 troops by surprise and reduced them to subjection. 
 
 It is an interesting fact that the best account of Avita- 
 bile, after that of Sir Henry Lawrence, is contained in 
 the 'History of the War in Afghanistan' of Captain 
 (afterwards Sir) Henry Havelock. Captain Havelock had 
 marched to Kabul in 1839 with the ' army of the Indus/ 
 in the capacity of aide-de-camp to Sir Willoughby Cotton, 
 and in November of that year arrived at Peshawar on his 
 return to India. 
 
 Havelock confirms all that is written by others concern- 
 ing the lavish hospitality shown to all comers by Avita- 
 bile, and his description is worth transcribing, giving, as it 
 does, a curious picture of the life of the adventurer in 
 high places : 
 
 " In the ' Serai/ mentioned by Elphinstone as one of the
 
 GENERAL AVITABILE. 323 
 
 glories of Peshawar in 1809, the present governor of the 
 city has established his military headquarters, and his 
 civil and fiscal tribunals. It is called the 'Gorkhatra,' 
 and is a vast quadrangle, the length of each side being 
 250 yards. This has been rendered habitable, first by 
 building a suite of apartments over the gateway nearest 
 to the country, and next by erecting a very handsome 
 dwelling in the Persian fashion, consisting of three storeys 
 and a rez-de-chaussde, on the side nearer the city. 
 
 " The governor is a man of princely habits. His dress, 
 chargers, and equipages all partake of a splendour well 
 calculated to uphold his authority amongst a people like 
 the Afghans. He particularly, and very justly, piques 
 himself on the excellence of his table, and keeps an 
 establishment of not fewer than eight cooks, who are 
 well versed in all the mysteries of Persian, English, and 
 French gastronomy. He is, moreover, a frank, gay, and 
 good-humoured person, as well as an excellent ruler and 
 skilful officer." 
 
 As Captain Havelock passed a complete month in close 
 association with Avitabile, this very favourable picture 
 of the redoubtable Italian possesses much value. 
 
 On the occasion of the advance of the British army in 
 1842, under General Pollock, to avenge the destruction of 
 Elphinstone's army in Afghanistan, Avitabile was again 
 brought in contact with a large number of English officers. 
 From what motives he acted it would perhaps be un- 
 gracious to inquire too closely, but it is undeniable that 
 General Avitabile rendered very important services to 
 England at that critical juncture. No stone was left 
 unturned by him to facilitate the movement of our troops 
 through the Peshawar province, and the General also
 
 324 RANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 lavished personal kindnesses and hospitality on the Eng- 
 lish officers. 
 
 Among other friendly actions of Avitabile may be 
 mentioned the advance of large sums of money to the 
 British field - treasury. This, however, was at least as 
 convenient to the lender as to the borrower, for Avitabile 
 was thus enabled to transmit to England a considerable 
 portion of his fortune. No less than ten lakhs of rupees 
 were advanced in this manner by the General. 
 
 After Avitabile's return to Europe he asked for some 
 mark of the satisfaction of the East Indian Company, and 
 in due course the Court of Directors resolved (27th August 
 1845) "that the eminent services of General Avitabile, 
 while governor of Peshawar, in co-operation with the 
 British troops during the Afghanistan campaign, fully 
 entitle him to some enduring testimonial of the Court's 
 grateful sense of his conduct." Avitabile was subse- 
 quently presented by the Court with a sword worth 300 
 guineas. 
 
 Eeference has already been made to Avitabile's kindness 
 to European travellers. Like Generals Ventura and Al- 
 lard, he ever received such wanderers with princely hos- 
 pitality, and he behaved generously also to those natives 
 of the Panjab whom he ruled with such iron severity. 
 Sir Kichard Burton relates that, when passing through 
 Egypt on his celebrated pilgrimage to Mecca, he was in 
 some way mistaken for Avitabile; and that a party of 
 Indian Muhammadan pilgrims travelled a long distance 
 to see him, relying on the well-known liberality of " Abu- 
 Tabile " for assistance. 
 
 Avitabile's government of Peshawar came to an end 
 during the disturbed year of 1843. He was compelled to
 
 GENERAL COURT. 325 
 
 leave the city and to take refuge at Jalalabad. Eventually 
 he retired to British India, and thence made his way to 
 his native Naples. 
 
 General Avitabile received the same rate of pay as 
 General Ventura viz., 3000 per annum, in addition to 
 ajaffir worth 2000 per annum, as governor of Peshawar. 
 His further emoluments are supposed to have been very 
 great, more particularly after the death of Maharaja 
 Eanjit Singh, when all business fell into confusion. 
 
 After his retirement from the Sikh service General 
 Avitabile built a fine house at Castellamare near Naples, 
 but did not long live to enjoy it. An over-devotion to 
 champagne carried him off, and his large fortune soon 
 found its way into the pockets of the lawyers so many 
 soi-disant relations asserting their claims to a share of 
 the General's goods as to make " Avitabile's cousins" 
 a byword in Italy. Thus for the hundredth time did the 
 pen profit by that which the sword had earned. 
 
 IV. GENERAL COURT. 
 
 The fourth and last of Eanjit Singh's white generals is 
 less known to history than the three whose record has 
 been briefly sketched. 
 
 It appears from the official records of the French War 
 Office that Claude Auguste Court was born on the 26th 
 September 1793, and entered the cole Polytechnique of 
 Paris on the 24th April 1812. He was appointed sub- 
 lieutenant in the 151st Eegiment of the Line in 1813, and 
 was transferred to the 68th Eegiment in the following 
 year. He was permitted to resign his commission in
 
 326 RANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 July 1818 ; but his service in the French army, though 
 short, had not been undistinguished, for he served the 
 campaign of 1813 in Saxony, of 1814 and of 1815, and 
 was wounded by a musket-shot in the left leg on the 
 28th March 1813 at the skirmish at Halle. 
 
 Court next took service in Persia, when he made the 
 acquaintance of Avitabile, and finally travelled to the 
 Panjab in company with him. This journey to Kabul 
 was performed in the autumn of 1826, and in the spring 
 of 1827 Court and Avitabile entered the service of Maha- 
 raja Eanjit Singh. The Maharaja was anxious to im- 
 prove and increase his artillery, and appointed Court to 
 the command of that arm a duty for which his very 
 considerable talents and scientific attainments fitted him. 
 The striking improvement in the Sikh artillery which 
 was effected in the twelve remaining years of the Maha- 
 raja's life must be largely attributed to Court's exertions, 
 for all accounts of the Sikh army agree in stating that 
 he was an excellent officer, and entirely devoted to his 
 professional duties. 
 
 It would probably be wearisome to the readers to give 
 a long description of the artillery of the Khalsa army as 
 perfected by General Court. It may be found by the 
 curious in Barr's 'Journal of a March through the 
 Punjab.' Barr, an officer of the Bengal Horse Artillery, 
 concludes his remarks with the following words : " When 
 it is considered that all we saw was the work of the 
 General's own knowledge, and when we reflect on the 
 difficulties he had to surmount, it is a matter almost of 
 wonder to behold the perfection to which he has brought 
 his artillery." How staunchly this artillery fought against 
 us is well known.
 
 GENERAL COURT. 327 
 
 As an instance of Maharaja Eanjit Singh's fitful gener- 
 osity, it is stated that the first shell constructed by General 
 Court was worth 30,000 rupees to him probably a record 
 reward to an artillery officer. 
 
 In the agreements signed by Court and the other 
 European officers it was stipulated that they should 
 abstain from eating beef, should grow their beards, and 
 should marry native wives. This last clause was not 
 insisted on in the case of Ventura, who married a 
 European lady ; but Allard, Avitabile, and Court fell in 
 with their master's wishes. Avitabile, indeed, married 
 with oriental profusion ; Allard married a charming lady 
 of Kashmir, by whom he had a large family ; and Court 
 twice married natives of India. 
 
 In addition to his domestic amenities General Court 
 took much interest in archaeology. The results of his 
 researches in the antiquities of the Panjab frequently 
 adorned the pages of the Journal of the Asiatic Society 
 of Bengal, and his cabinet of coins and other treasures 
 is said to have been superb. " He is at all times," says 
 M'Gregor the historian, "ready to exhibit them with a 
 politeness which reflects equal credit on him as a 
 gentleman and a savant." 
 
 Barr describes Court as a short, thick-set man, pitted 
 with smallpox, and with the appearance of a rough-and- 
 ready sailor. His uniform consisted of an open horse- 
 artillery jacket, displaying beneath it a red waistcoat 
 profusely ornamented with lace. Like Avitabile, he wore 
 a handsome sabre attached to an embroidered belt ; but, 
 unlike him, Court was a man of very simple habits. He 
 was accustomed to live in a small house in the garden 
 of the larger building occupied by his family.
 
 328 RAN JIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 General Court received 2400 a-year in pay, in addition 
 to &jagir worth 100 a-year. 
 
 During the lifetime of Kanjit Singh the foreign generals 
 were enabled to keep clear of the conflicting factions of 
 the Court, but after the Maharaja's death such conduct 
 was impossible. All who served Karrak Singh and his 
 successors were compelled to form part of one faction or 
 the other. Thus when Prince Sher Singh was about to 
 march to Lahore in January 1841, to assert his claim to 
 the throne, he called General Ventura to his side. Ven- 
 tura's influence was great, and over none was it stronger 
 than his friend Court. The two Generals therefore ac- 
 companied Sher Singh to Lahore, and took part in the 
 siege of the fort of Lahore, in the defence of which 
 Colonel Gardner took so prominent a share. 
 
 As has been related by Gardner, the accession of Sher 
 Singh to the throne was followed by an outburst of 
 violence on the part of the Sikh army which threatened 
 to wreck the great fabric which had been created by the 
 genius of Kanjit Singh. A large number of officers who 
 had incurred the enmity of the soldiery were murdered in 
 cold blood ; and General Court, for some reason, was 
 among those held to be most obnoxious. Court's house 
 was attacked by his own troops, and the General was 
 compelled to seek refuge in the camp of General Ventura, 
 who had to use his artillery to protect himself and his 
 friend. 
 
 General Court subsequently left Lahore and took up his 
 abode on the British side of the Sutlej, where he remained 
 for several months, repeatedly claiming his discharge 
 from the Sikh Government. It was refused. So, disdain- 
 ing to decamp without leave, he returned to Lahore ; but
 
 DR HARLAN. 329 
 
 foreseeing the probability of some such bouleversement as 
 afterwards took place, the General wisely left his zenana 
 in safe quarters at Ludiana. 
 
 General Court eventually returned to France, where 
 his wife was formally christened and remarried to him, 
 according to Catholic ceremonies, by the Archbishop of 
 Marseilles. After General Court's death a jagir worth 
 480 a-year was settled on Madame Court. The General 
 appears to have been an honourable and highly amiable 
 man, and a good soldier. 
 
 V. DE HARLAN. 
 
 In addition to General Ventura, Allard, Avitabile, and 
 Court, whose claims to the rank of general are indubit- 
 able, that position is also claimed by one Josiah Harlan, 
 usually described by historians as Dr Harlan. The doctor 
 himself prefers the rank of general, a fancy in which he is 
 followed by some of* his profession at the present day ; 
 and although his claim to that title may be doubtful, it is 
 a positive fact that Maharaja Eanjit Singh not only made 
 him governor of an important province, but conferred on 
 him the command of a body of troops. 
 
 Those whose good fortune it is to have read that truly 
 delectable book ' The Travels and Adventures of Dr "Wolff,' 
 may remember that when Wolff entered the Panjab he 
 arrived " at Attock, when he crossed a suspension bridge 
 on the back of an elephant. According to his custom, 
 whenever he crosses water, Wolff screamed out, which he 
 did on this occasion in crossing the Indus." 
 
 Then, journeying on, this most valiant of cowards (for
 
 330 EANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 a right brave man he was, as all who know his history 
 will testify) proceeded to the pleasant city of Gujrat, 
 "a considerable town, which also belonged to Eanjit 
 Singh." He arrived there late at night, and was brought 
 to the palace of the governor, who had expected him; 
 when, " to his great surprise, he heard some one singing 
 " Yankee Doodle," with all the American snuffle. It was 
 his Excellency the Governor himself. He was a fine tall 
 gentleman, dressed in European clothing, and with an 
 Indian hookah in his mouth." Wolff asked how he came 
 to know "Yankee Doodle." He answered, in nasal 
 tones, " I am a free citizen of the United States, from the 
 State of Pennsylvania, city of Philadelphia. I am the 
 son of a Quaker. My name is Josiah Harlan." As this 
 man's history seemed romantic to Wolff, he recorded it 
 (as far as it then went) with sufficient accuracy in the 
 following words: 
 
 " Harlan," he said, " had in his early life studied sur- 
 gery, but he went out as supercargo in a ship to Canton. 
 He then returned to America, where he had intended to 
 marry a lady to whom he was engaged; but she had 
 played him false. He then went to India, and came to 
 Calcutta, whence Lord Amherst, at that time Governor- 
 General of India, sent him as assistant-surgeon with the 
 British army to the Burmese empire. Afterwards he 
 quitted the British army, and tried to make himself king of 
 Afghanistan ; but, although he actually took a fortress, he 
 was defeated at last by a force sent against him by Eanjit 
 Singh, which made him a prisoner. Eanjit Singh, seeing 
 his talents, said to him, 'I will make you governor of 
 Gujrat, and give you 3000 rupees a-month. If you behave 
 well I will increase your salary ; if not, I will cut off your
 
 DR HARLAN. 331 
 
 nose.' So Wolff found him, and his nose being entire 
 was evidence that he had behaved well." 
 
 Such was the story told by Harlan to Wolff, and 
 recorded by the latter with his inimitable simplicity of 
 manner, and it was fairly accurate. It is worth mention- 
 ing that Harlan's service in the first Burmese war was in 
 the capacity of assistant-surgeon to the battery of artillery 
 commanded by Major (afterwards Field - Marshal Sir) 
 George Pollock. 
 
 Harlan did not distinguish himself in the British ser- 
 vice, and soon left it, finding his way eventually to the 
 Panjab frontier. It was not in Afghanistan (as he told 
 Dr Wolff, or as the latter wrongly understood him) that 
 Harlan set up the star-spangled banner, but on the 
 debatable land south of the river Sutlej, over which 
 Eanjit Singh claimed sovereignty and the British Indian 
 Government exercise protection. 
 
 Whether or not Harlan crossed the Sutlej is doubtful, 
 but he fell into the hands of Eanjit Singh, who took him 
 into favour and gave him employment. Harlan now 
 entered on the dangerous career of a secret agent doubly 
 dangerous in his case ; for not only did he act as envoy 
 from Eanjit Singh to Dost Muhammad, visiting Afghanis- 
 tan twice at least in that capacity, but he also was the 
 agent in the Panjab of the exiled Shah Shuja, the 
 legitimate king of Afghanistan. 
 
 In 1828 Harlan visited Kabul, travelling in the disguise 
 of a dervish, and while ostensibly employed by Eanjit 
 Singh, secretly intriguing in the interests of Shah Shuja. 
 His mission was, in fact, to revolutionise Afghanistan, 
 and with that object Harlan took up his abode in the 
 house of one of the Amir's brothers.
 
 332 RAN JIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 Harlan evidently feels that some apology for his con- 
 duct is required, and exclaimed : " Let no Christian be 
 deceived by the fraternal appellation. Amongst the 
 customs of Orientals we meet with strange perversions of 
 our commonest received principles, and the term 'brother' 
 in a community which springs from a system of polygamy 
 means a natural enemy, a domestic adversary, expectant 
 heir of a capricious parent, contending for mastery in the 
 disturbed arena of family feuds." 
 
 Harlan found Dost Muhammad too firmly established 
 in power for his intrigues to meet with success, but his 
 visit to Kabul was by no means wasted. He obtained 
 the confidence of Dost Muhammad, who admitted him to 
 great intimacy. Harlan seems to have understood the 
 greatness of his host's character, and in his ' Memoir ' 
 describes the Amir's manner of life in a most interesting 
 way ; indeed his sketch of Dost Muhammad's daily 
 round is the most vivid that has been recorded. Harlan' s 
 style is turgid, but by no means devoid of power, and in 
 his pages we see described Dost Muhammad's neglected 
 childhood and dissolute youth ; his unexpected rise to 
 power ; his public renunciation of the follies and crimes 
 which had hitherto marked him ; his wisdom, strength, 
 justice, and moderation when in power ; and his calm 
 endurance in the day of adversity. 
 
 While thus observing and admiring the qualities of a 
 great ruler, Harlan felt that life in the Panjab was more 
 lucrative as well as more congenial than a precarious 
 existence in Afghanistan. He returned, therefore, to 
 Lahore, with a mission to act there as the agent of Dost 
 Muhammad. His life at this time must indeed have been 
 somewhat complicated.
 
 DR HAKLAN. 333 
 
 For the next seven years Harlan was governor of 
 Jasrata and Nurpore, and subsequently of Gujrat, gain- 
 ing the confidence of Maharaja Eanjit Singh, and serving 
 him for a time with zeal and ability ; but at the end of 
 this period, it is stated by Sir Henry Lawrence that " any 
 regard that may have obtained between them was con- 
 verted into hate." 
 
 In 1835 Harlan was removed from his governorship. 
 It is stated that Eanjit Singh found that Harlan was 
 coining base money under the pretence of studying 
 alchemy. Be this as it may, the Maharaja considered 
 Harlan an eminently suitable person to act as his am- 
 bassador to Dost Muhammad, who was now threatening 
 the town and province of Peshawar, so long in dispute 
 between the Sikhs and Afghans. Harlan was sent with 
 Fakir Azizuddin, the confidential barber and minister 
 (oriental combination) of the Maharaja, with instructions 
 to delay the Afghans until the Maharaja had gained 
 sufficient time to assemble the Sikh army on the northern 
 frontier. 
 
 Harlan states, with evident pride, that while ostensibly 
 an ambassador, his real mission was to corrupt the Amir's 
 chiefs, and sow distrust and disloyalty among them. An 
 excuse for Harlan may be found in the conduct of Dost 
 Muhammad, who, with all his merits as a ruler, was a 
 consummate scoundrel if judged by the European standard 
 of honour. He proposed on this occasion to seize Harlan 
 and Azizuddin, the latter being known to be indispensable 
 to the Maharaja (as he alone could prepare the mysteri- 
 ously compounded cordial which gave the paralysed 
 monarch fictitious strength), and to make use of them 
 to compel Eanjit Singh to abandon Peshawar. This
 
 334 RAN JIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 intended treachery towards the sacred persons of am- 
 bassadors perhaps justified Harlan's line of conduct : he 
 knew the man he had to deal with. 
 
 To escape the odium which, even in the East, would 
 have followed on the seizure of the envoys, the Amir 
 made his brother, Sultan Muhammad Khan, swear many 
 oaths on the Koran to make Harlan and the fakir 
 prisoners. Harlan, however, found means to induce 
 Sultan Muhammad Khan, who was the Afghan governor 
 of the Peshawar province, to come to terms with Eanjit 
 Singh and desert Dost Muhammad ; and the prince was 
 the more readily led to that course of conduct by the 
 feeling that the Amir would reap the benefit if the envoys 
 were seized, while the odium would fall on himself, they 
 being his guests. 
 
 Sultan Muhammad Khan, therefore, marched his fol- 
 lowers, amounting to some 10,000 men, to the vicinity of 
 the Sikh forces (which now confronted the Afghan army), 
 and wrote to the Amir to announce his defection. 
 
 Masson, another adventurer, who was with Dost 
 Muhammad at the time, gives a most amusing account 
 of the transaction ; and states that Sultan Muhammad's 
 letter to his brother was couched in such abusive terms 
 that when it was read in open durbar before the Amir 
 many of those who heard it were obliged to go out from 
 " the presence " to conceal their mirth. It was a case of 
 "the biter bit"; but it is somewhat humiliating to find 
 that the most successful knave in so choice a collection 
 was the white man. In consequence of this diplomatic 
 success of Harlan, the Afghan army shortly melted away, 
 Dost Muhammad was compelled to return to Kabul, and 
 Peshawar was finally lost to the Afghans.
 
 DK HAUL AN. 335 
 
 Harlan, however, had lost Eanjit Singh's favour, and 
 soon left his service, whether by resignation or dismissal 
 is not quite clear. Harlan himself writes : " Monarch as 
 he was, absolute and luxurious, and voluptuous in the 
 possession of treasured wealth and military power, I 
 resolved to avenge myself and cause him to tremble 
 in the midst of his magnificence." With this benevolent 
 intention he left the Panjab and entered Dost Muhammad's 
 service towards the end of the year 1836. He states that 
 the Amir " received him with much the same feeling of 
 exultation that the King of Persia is known to have 
 indulged when his Court was visited by Themistocles." 
 
 Dost Muhammad, he states, received him as a brother 
 and addressed him by that title, seated him in durbar at 
 his side, gave him the command of his regular troops, and 
 at his instigation again declared war against the Sikhs, 
 who had recently annoyed him by erecting a fort at Jam- 
 rud, which commanded the mouth of the Khaibar Pass. 
 
 In the battle which took place before this fort in April 
 1837 the Sikh general, Hari Singh, was slain, and, as 
 Harlan puts it, " the proud King of Lahore quailed on his 
 threatened throne, as he exclaimed with terror and de- 
 spair, ' Harlan has avenged himself this is all his work.' " 
 However, as a matter of history, the Afghans shortly 
 afterwards retreated from the frontier without again 
 giving battle. 
 
 In the following year (1838) Harlan was sent in charge 
 of a military expedition, despatched by Dost Muhammad 
 against the Prince of Kunduz. His account of his ex- 
 ploits is too good to lose. "In the execution of this 
 enterprise," he writes, " I surmounted the Indian Caucasus, 
 and there upon the mountain heights unfurled my coun-
 
 336 RANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 try's banner to the breeze under a salute of twenty-six 
 guns. On the highest pass of the frosty Caucasus, that of 
 Kharzar, 12,500 feet above the sea, the star-spangled 
 banner gracefully waved amid the icy peaks and soil- 
 less rugged rocks of a sterile region, seemingly sacred to 
 the solitude of an undisturbed eternity. We ascended 
 passes through regions where glaciers and silent dells, and 
 frowning rocks, blackened by ages of weather-beaten 
 fame, preserved the quiet domain of remotest time, 
 shrouded in perennial snow. "We struggled on amidst 
 the heights of these alpine ranges until now supposed 
 inaccessible to the labour of man, infantry and cavalry, 
 artillery, camp-followers, and beasts of burden" and so 
 forth. The General was, in fact, a poet as well as a doctor 
 and a soldier. 
 
 During this expedition he became also a sovereign 
 prince, the crown of Ghor having been secured to him 
 and his heirs by a voluntary act of the then prince, 
 Muhammad Eeffi Bey, although, as he writes, he " looked 
 upon kingdoms and principalities as of frivolous import, 
 when weighed in the balance of the more honourable and 
 estimable title of American citizen." 
 
 It is not recorded that the General met with any strik- 
 ing military successes ; but there is some interest for us in 
 the personality of a youthful prince, who was intrusted to 
 his care and tuition, and who was the nominal commander 
 of the expedition. This was Akram Khan, son of the 
 Amir "by a Highland lassie, whom he married to 
 strengthen his authority in the Kohistan," or hill 
 country. Akram Khan subsequently commanded the 
 contingent sent by Dost Muhammad to strengthen the 
 Sikhs against us in 1848.
 
 DB, HARLAN. 337 
 
 Harlan made bis last appearance as a negotiator in 
 August 1839, when Lord Keane's army approached Kabul. 
 The General tells us that Dost Muhammad and bis chiefs 
 unanimously decided to depute him to meet Sir Alexander 
 Burnes, with absolute power to make any settlement that 
 he might think advisable. An official was, he says, de- 
 spatched to Burnes's secretary (the worthy Mohan Lai), 
 conveying an intimation of the appointment of Harlan 
 as plenipotentiary, and by return of the messenger an 
 official response was received, indirectly declining the 
 proposition by deferring the measure to a more con- 
 venient opportunity. 
 
 Eventually Burnes, or more probably the envoy, Sir 
 William M'Naughton, declined to treat in any way with 
 the Amir, who consequently withdrew from the neighbour- 
 hood of Kabul. 
 
 Harlan gives a dramatic account of the abandonment of 
 Dost Muhammad by all his principal followers, which, in 
 the words of Kaye, only wants a conviction of its entire 
 truth to be most interesting and valuable. 
 
 Harlan's last appearance at Kabul is eminently char- 
 acteristic. On the arrival of the British army at that city 
 Dost Muhammad fled to the mountain country in the 
 north, and was promptly deserted by Harlan, who is 
 last mentioned as having breakfast with Sir Alexander 
 Burnes on the morning after the latter arrived at the 
 capital. 
 
 Of how Harlan found his way to India, and thence to 
 Philadelphia, we are told nothing, yet we cannot but ad- 
 mire the adroitness with which he must have managed 
 his journey through the Panjab. Doubtless the death of 
 Kanjit Singh, who had expired on the 27th June, spared 
 
 Y
 
 338 RANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 the General an awkward meeting. As to the later days 
 of this strange character history is silent. 
 
 VI. GENERAL VAN CORTLANDT. 
 
 Henry Charles Van Cortlandt was the son of Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Henry Clinton Van Cortlandt of the 31st Eegiment. 
 He was educated in England, and entered the service of 
 Maharaja Eanjit Singh in 1832. He served in the various 
 frontier campaigns that occurred yearly during the life- 
 time of the Maharaja, and was present at the battle of 
 Jamrud, in which the Sikh general, Hari Singh Nalwa, 
 was killed. 
 
 Van " Cortlandt, then a colonel, served with the Sikh 
 contingent which shared in Sir George Pollock's operations 
 in the Khaibar Pass, and he was also present (as is men- 
 tioned by Colonel Gardner) at the siege of Lahore by 
 Maharaja Sher Singh. 
 
 Sher Singh gave Colonel Van Cortlandt charge of Ms 
 eldest son, Prince Partab Singh ; but Van Cortlandt was 
 shortly afterwards sent away from Lahore on military 
 duty, and during his absence the Maharaja and Partab 
 Singh were murdered by the Sindhanwalia sardars, as is 
 related by Colonel Gardner. 
 
 When the first Sikh war with the British broke out 
 Van Cortlandt was on leave at Mussoorie, and not being 
 allowed to return to Lahore, proceeded to Ferozepur. 
 Finally he was employed with the British army as Poli- 
 tical Agent, and in that capacity was present at the 
 battles of Ferozeshah and Sobraon. After the war Van 
 Cortlandt returned to the Sikh service with the rank of
 
 GENERAL VAN CORTLANDT. 339 
 
 general, and was made governor of the province of Dera 
 Ishmail Khan. 
 
 On the outbreak at Multan, which was the first symptom 
 of the second Sikh war, General Van Cortlandt loyally 
 supported Lieutenant (afterwards Sir) Herbert Edwardes, 
 and took an honourable part in the gallantly fought 
 actions of Kinari and Sadusam. It deserves mention 
 that Mrs Van Cortlandt showed herself on this, as on 
 other occasions, the fit wife of a soldier suppressing by 
 her own vigour and courage an incipient mutiny. 
 
 On the annexation of the Panjab in 1849 General Van 
 Cortlandt was transferred to the British service, and was 
 employed in a civil capacity ; but on the outbreak of the 
 Indian Mutiny the General again drew the sword, raised a 
 field force in the district in which he was employed, and 
 with it rendered valuable service, fighting several suc- 
 cessful actions with the rebels. For this service General 
 Van Cortlandt was made a Companion of the Bath. 
 
 Particular importance was attached to the conduct of 
 Van Cortlandt's force, as it was then considered doubtful 
 if the Sikhs, so recently conquered, were to be trusted. 
 However, the old soldiers of the two regiments (the Suruj 
 Mukhi and Katur Mukhi) which Van Cortlandt had long 
 commanded in the Panjab remained staunch. 
 
 General Van Cortlandt's last civil post was that of 
 Commissioner of Multan, where he remained till his 
 retirement in March 1868. 
 
 He survived his retirement twenty years, dying in 
 London on March 15, 1888, at the age of seventy-four.
 
 340 RAN JIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 VII. COLONEL FORD. 
 
 Colonel Matthew William Ford, whose melancholy fate 
 will presently be related, entered the English army as 
 ensign in the 8th West India Regiment in the year 1803. 
 He became a lieutenant in the 70th Regiment in the fol- 
 lowing year, and captain in the same regiment in 1812. 
 He remained eleven years in this rank, serving succes- 
 sively in the 70th, 7th Fusiliers, and 1st Royals, from 
 which regiment he exchanged to the half-pay list of the 
 24th Light Dragoons. 
 
 In 1823 he became paymaster of the 16th Regiment, 
 and leaving the British service in 1837, entered the Sikh 
 army towards the end of that year or early in 1838. He 
 is shown by the Khalsa Durbar Acquittance Rolls to 
 have drawn pay at 800 rupees per mensem, in the latter 
 year. 
 
 There are occasional references to Colonel Ford in 
 books and magazines of the period, and it is recorded that 
 the regiment of the Khalsa army which he commanded 
 was one of those which lined the streets of Lahore at the 
 funeral of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. 
 
 On the occasion of the mutiny of the Sikh army during 
 the reign of Maharaja Sher Singh, recorded by Gardner, 
 Colonel Matthew Ford was one of the victims. He was 
 plundered by his men of everything that he possessed, 
 even to the ring on his finger, and so maltreated that he 
 died at Peshawar, which place he barely contrived to 
 reach alive. He is said to have been an estimable and 
 very amiable man.
 
 COLONEL FOULKES CAPTAIN ARGOUD. 341 
 
 VIII. COLONEL FOULKES. 
 
 The fate of this officer was even worse than that of 
 Colonel Ford. I have been able to discover nothing 
 concerning his antecedents, and but a brief statement that 
 he entered the Sikh service in the year 1835. The Khalsa 
 Durbar Acquittance Eolls bear that his pay was 500 
 rupees per mensem, and he is shown in Gardner's list of 
 the European officers as employed in the infantry branch. 
 
 At the time of the mutiny of the Sikh army under 
 Maharaja Sher Singh, Colonel Foulkes was, however (it is 
 stated by Steinbach), stationed at Mandi, in command of 
 a large body of cavalry, where he fell a victim to the 
 ferocity of his men. 
 
 Colonel Foulkes, who was universally beloved, was 
 warned of his peril and urged to escape, but, with a spirit 
 worthy of his English birth, he resolved to remain at his 
 post and take the consequences. During the night he was 
 attacked by the Sikh soldiers, who cut him down, and 
 with demoniacal ferocity threw him on a blazing fire 
 before life was extinct. 
 
 IX. CAPTAIN ARGOUD. 
 
 This officer, .who is said to have been the best drill- 
 instructor in the Sikh army, was for a considerable time 
 in the service of Eanjit Singh, but unfortunately quar- 
 relled with both Sikhs and Europeans, and being also of 
 very intemperate habits, was eventually compelled to 
 leave the Panjab and seek employment in Afghanistan. 
 
 While travelling thither, by way of Sind, Argoud fell
 
 342 RAN JIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 in with a small party of wayfarers, who afterwards became 
 famous. These were Alexander Burnes and his com- 
 panions Wood and Lord, who were proceeding from 
 Bombay to Kabul, and had reached Bhawalpur on the 2nd 
 May 1837. Captain Wood, in his delightful ' Journey to 
 the Source of the Oxus,' tells the tale of the encounter so 
 amusingly that I present the narrative precisely as he 
 wrote it : 
 
 " While here, we had an amusing visitor in the person 
 of a Monsieur Argoud. He had quarrelled with Eanjit 
 Singh and his countrymen in the Panjab, and was pro- 
 ceeding to join Dost Muhammad Khan of Kabul. 
 
 "We were at dinner when the Frenchman arrived, 
 but no sooner was a European announced than Captain 
 Burnes ran out to bring him in, and before many minutes 
 had elapsed Monsieur Argoud had taken wine with every 
 one at table. 
 
 "The poor man's failing was soon apparent, for he 
 proceeded to beat the tattoo with his elbows on the table, 
 and as a tenor accompaniment he made a knife vibrate 
 between its under surface and his thumb. It was really 
 done very cleverly, and the performance being highly 
 applauded, the complaisant Frenchman knew not when 
 to desist. Fatigue, sleep, and wine at length got the 
 mastery, and we saw him safely to bed. 
 
 "Next morning at an early hour our guest was astir, 
 roaming up and down the courtyard till he chanced to 
 stumble on Lord, engaged in dissecting and stuffing birds. 
 
 "Watching him for some time, he exclaimed, 'Quelle 
 patience!' and with a shrug of the shoulders passed 
 into Captain Burnes's room. 
 
 " That officer was not yet dressed, on which Monsieur
 
 CAPTAIN ARGOUD. 343 
 
 Argoud called out, ' Why, sare, the battle of Wagram was 
 fought before this hour, and you are still in dtshdbilU. 
 Vill you take vine vith me ? ' ' No/ replied Captain 
 Burnes ; ' I never take wine before breakfast, but I shall 
 order you some claret, as your countrymen, I am aware, 
 like light wine in the morning.' 'Then, sare,' replied 
 Argoud, ' you insult me, you refuse to take vine vith me, 
 and I demand de satisfaction.' 
 
 " He ran out, and soon reappeared armed with a rapier, 
 and asked Captain Burnes to send for his small-sword; 
 but the latter thought that, considering the shortness of 
 their acquaintance, he had already sufficiently humoured 
 this fiery little Frenchman, and Monsieur Argoud was 
 politely requested to continue his journey, which he ac- 
 cordingly did that same evening. 
 
 " This unfortunate gentleman had many good points in 
 his character, but they were unknown to us at the time 
 of his first visit. As a soldier and drill-officer he was 
 the first in the Panjab; but his drunken habits and 
 violent temper made him disliked by his brother- 
 officers. 
 
 " At Kabul in October following we fell in with him 
 a second time, so that his journey from the Indus 
 had occupied him fully five months. Whilst on the 
 road his dislike to Mussulmans had nearly cost him his 
 life. It was only spared on his repeating the Kulmah 
 or Mahomedan creed. 
 
 "Immediately on his arrival being known to us, 
 Captain Burnes sent him a kind note, inquiring if 
 he could be of any service to him; but the good- 
 hearted Frenchman was so ashamed of his conduct 
 at Bhawalpur, and so oppressed by this unexpected
 
 344 RAN JIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 return, that he could not be persuaded to visit us, and 
 on his failing to obtain employment from Dost Muham- 
 mad Khan, he set out for Peshawar without our having 
 met him. 
 
 "We, however, learned that the day previous to his 
 departure he had been employed in moulding leaden 
 bullets, and that he had sworn to be revenged on 
 the Mussulmans for the ill-treatment on his former 
 journey. 
 
 " The cause of Monsieur Argoud's failure in obtaining 
 service was his ignorance of the Persian language. 
 
 "Dost Muhammad Khan was partial to him, and 
 though regretting his attachment to the bottle, offered 
 him a regiment. 
 
 " Unfortunately for the Frenchman, the interpreter 
 took advantage of his ignorance of the language, and in 
 reply to a question on Argoud's qualifications for com- 
 mand, reported as his answer that if the Amir wanted a 
 drummer, he could not suit himself better. The French- 
 man required but little pressing to beat a tattoo, and the 
 result was that he got his discharge that evening, and 
 next day the interpreter (a brother adventurer) obtained 
 the regiment." 
 
 Sir Alexander Burnes adds to the above account that 
 "Benoit Argoud was a red-hot Eepublican; his father 
 had been killed at the battle of Wagram. He reached 
 Kabul by way of the Bolan Pass and Kandahar no easy 
 feat." 
 
 I can only add to the above the information that 
 Argoud not only found his way back to the Panjab from 
 Afghanistan in 1838, but that he actually returned to 
 Kabul in 1839, as appears from the following letter to
 
 COLONEL CANORA. 345 
 
 Sir Claude Wade, which has been kindly lent to me by 
 MrC. F. Wade:- 
 
 (Translation.) 
 
 KABUL, 12th August 1839. 
 
 TEES AIMABLE COLONEL, A terrible destiny has again 
 brought me to this savage country, and no better off than 
 on the first occasion. 
 
 I found myself at Calcutta quite without money, and it 
 was therefore impossible for me to return to France. I 
 returned to Kurnal, where I was deceived by false 
 rumours. I set out for Kandahar, but on arriving there 
 I found that King Shuja-al-Mulk was prevented, by 
 treaty with Great Britain, from employing foreigners. 
 Colonel Burnes truly treated me more like a father than 
 a stranger ; he is a most worthy man, and I shall never 
 forget him. 
 
 I hope to have the pleasure of seeing you soon. 
 
 Agre"ez, Monsieur le Colonel, 1'assurance de la parfaite 
 consideration avec laquelle j'ai 1'honneur de vous saluer, 
 
 ARGOUD. 
 
 We may hope that the generosity of Burnes and Wade 
 provided Argoud with a passage to " la belle France," at 
 any rate, he appears no more in Afghanistan or the 
 Panjab. 
 
 X. COLONEL CANORA, 
 
 When Colonel Canora entered the service of Eanjit 
 Singh I do not know, nor is there any record of the early 
 days of his service in the Panjab, nor of his previous life. 
 The story of his death is, however, an honourable one.
 
 346 RAN JIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 In the year 1848 Canora was serving in the province of 
 Hazara, in command of a battery of artillery. The troops 
 in this province were notoriously mutinous, and Sardar 
 Chattar Singh, the governor, shared in their disaffection, 
 and even encouraged it. On the 6th of August Colonel 
 Canora, an American by birth, described to me by 
 General Sir James Abbott as " a rude, uncultured man, 
 but brave and loyal," was ordered by Chattar Singh to 
 bring his guns out of the fort of Harripur, and to encamp 
 on the open ground outside the city. This, Colonel 
 Canora, who suspected the treasonable intentions of 
 Chattar Singh, refused to do, unless with the sanction of 
 Captain Abbott, the British Commissioner in Hazara. 
 Sir James Abbott, in a letter to me, thus relates the 
 sequel : 
 
 " Canora replied that the guns had been posted by me, 
 and begged permission to refer to me previous to altering 
 their position ; and immediately despatched a letter to me, 
 asking what he was to do. 
 
 " The sardar sent a company of infantry to storm his 
 guns. Canora ordered his men to load them with double 
 charges of grape, and to fire. The men, overawed, refused. 
 He seized and applied the port-fire ; the guns burnt 
 priming they had not been loaded. Canora stood at 
 bay, pistol in hand. An armed servant of the sardar 
 crept behind him and shot him through the back ; then, 
 cutting off his head, carried it to Chattar Singh and 
 received from him a reward of 100. 
 
 " The Eesident, Sir Frederick Currie, declared that it 
 served him right; but I pronounced it murder, and the 
 Governor-General and his Council backed my verdict. 
 
 " I raised a rude monument to Canora's memory, with
 
 COLONEL THOMAS. 347 
 
 an inscription, on the spot where he fell. A small pension 
 was allotted to his family." 
 
 So died a brave and determined soldier in the perform- 
 ance of his duty. 
 
 The rebellion of Chattar Singh was followed by that of 
 his son Sher Singh, and the results were the second Sikh 
 war and the consequent annexation of the Panjab. 
 
 XI. COLONEL THOMAS. 
 
 All who love to read romances of real life should know 
 the strange story of George Thomas, the Irish sailor who 
 by sheer courage and enterprise rose to be a reigning 
 sovereign. His story may be found in the work by Mr 
 Herbert Compton, ' The European Military Adventurers 
 of Hindostan.' 
 
 Colonel Jacob Thomas, who commanded a najib, or 
 foreign (i.e., non-Panjabi) regiment in Eanjit Singh's army, 
 was the son of George Thomas, but a man of a very 
 different character. 
 
 Sir Claude Wade and his officers found Jacob Thomas 
 and his regiment at Peshawar in March 1839, and Barr, 
 the historian of the party, describes Thomas as " a dull 
 and heavy man." Thomas was quite unable to exercise 
 authority over his regiment, which mutinied on the 14th 
 April, and turned Thomas and his adjutant out of their 
 camp. As a mark of contempt for Thomas they inverted 
 his chair on the spot where he usually sat. Sir Claude 
 Wade informed the regiment that they could no longer 
 remain with his troops ; but how the matter ended is not 
 recorded, nor have I found any further mention of Colonel 
 Thomas.
 
 348 KAN JIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 XII. LESLIE OR RATTRAY. 
 
 This individual is mentioned by Gardner as one of 
 Eanjit Singh's officers, but I have found no other mention 
 of him in connection with the Panjab. Sir Alexander 
 Burnes and his companions found him, however, serving 
 under the name of Eattray, as commandant of Fort Ali 
 Masjid in the Khaibar Pass. This was in September 
 1837, soon after the battle at Jamrud, a few miles distant, 
 in which the Sikhs had been defeated by the Afghans. 
 
 Captain Wood describes Eattray as " an ill-conditioned, 
 dissipated-looking Englishman, slipshod, turbaned and 
 robed in a sort of Afghan deshabilU having more the 
 look of a dissipated priest than a military man. His 
 abode was a cave in the mountain, from which he 
 and his hungry followers levied blackmail on the passing 
 kafilas. 
 
 " The Sikh fortress of Jamrud depended for water on 
 the stream that runs through the Khaibar, and the chief 
 occupation of the young lieutenant - colonel, for so he 
 styled himself, was to stop the supply, and again to permit 
 it to flow on being bribed to do so." 
 
 Wood amusingly describes Eattray's attempt to man- 
 oeuvre his corps, which speedily resulted in a cudgel 
 attack by the lieutenant-colonel on his men. Before the 
 day was over he had modestly requested a loan of 50 
 to defray the expenses of the march to Kabul, and, by the 
 simple process of dividing his men into guards on the 
 mission, succeeded in inducing Burnes to supply them all 
 with food. 
 
 Soon afterwards, during the stay of the mission at 
 Kabul, Colonel Leslie, alias Eattray, changed his name
 
 COLONEL MOUTON. 349 
 
 for the second time and his religion with it. He de- 
 clared himself a convert to the Muhammadan faith, 
 and took the name of Fida Muhammad Khan, much 
 against the wish of Dost Muhammad Khan, who thought 
 him a disgrace to any creed, and expressed in strong 
 terms the contempt he felt for men who could change 
 their religion to improve their fortune. 
 
 The Khaibar commandant, says Wood, was altogether 
 a singular character, void of all principle, but clever 
 and well informed. 
 
 His biography, which he wrote at the request of Sir 
 Alexander Burnes, is said to have afforded another proof 
 of how often the real events of life exceed in interest 
 the wildest conceptions of fiction. I have not been able 
 to discover this biography, if it ever was published, but 
 some of my readers may possibly be able to inform me 
 about it. 
 
 XIII. COLONEL MOUTON. 
 
 An officer of a very different stamp was Colonel 
 Frangois Henri Mouton, who was born on the 17th 
 August 1804, and entered a French cavalry regiment 
 as a volunteer at the age of eighteen. Four years later 
 Mouton was a " garde de troisieme classe," ranking as 
 a sub -lieutenant in the royal body-guard. In October 
 1838 Mouton was a captain of Spahis of three years' 
 standing, and finding himself unemployed, obtained per- 
 mission to live in India for three years. This he did 
 at the suggestion of General Ventura, who was about 
 to return to the Panjab from leave of absence. Captain 
 Mouton, who was accompanied by his charming and
 
 350 KANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 courageous wife, accompanied General Ventura to India, 
 travelling from Bombay by the most direct road to 
 Lahore, that by Ajmir and Hansi. 
 
 Colonel Mouton was employed as a commandant of 
 cavalry, and having entered on a second period of ser- 
 vice, he and Madame Mouton narrowly escaped death 
 in the mutiny of the Sikh army during the reign of 
 Maharaja Sher Singh. Nothing deterred, Colonel Mouton, 
 who had visited France in 1844, returned to India in the 
 month of September of that year, and remained in the 
 Pan jab until the outbreak of the first Sikh war. 
 
 The official record of his services states that Colonel 
 Mouton returned to France in July 1846, and in the 
 April following was restored to full pay. 
 
 Colonel Mouton received the decoration of the Legion 
 of Honour in 1848, and was promoted to the grade of 
 "officer" in 1856 for services in the Crimean campaign, 
 for which he received also the Order of the Medjidis of 
 the 4th class. The gallant colonel was finally placed en 
 retraite on account of length of service in January 1865, 
 and died in Algiers in November 1876. 
 
 XIV. COLONEL HURBON. 
 
 Another gallant soldier was Colonel Hurbon, a Spanish 
 officer, who was employed as an engineer. He is said to 
 have been the first man in the assaults on the fortress of 
 Lahore during its siege by Maharaja Sher Singh, and 
 Gardner states that Hurbon planned the earthworks at 
 Sobraon. Cunningham, the historian of the Sikhs, who 
 was himself an engineer, says that the lines showed no
 
 COLONEL STEINBACH CAPTAIN DE LA FONT. 351 
 
 trace whatever of scientific skill or of unity of design. In 
 his opinion Colonel Hurbon's influence and authority did 
 not extend beyond a regiment or a brigade. 
 
 Colonel Hurbon is chiefly interesting as having been 
 the only European officer who actually served with the 
 Sikh army against the British. 
 
 XV. COLONEL STEINBACH. 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Steinbach commanded an 
 infantry regiment in the Sikh army, and wrote a little 
 book about the Panjab. In the mutiny of the Sikh army 
 in 1843 Colonel Steinbach narrowly escaped with his life. 
 It is related that the men of his regiment adopted a most 
 unpleasant method of showing their dislike and contempt 
 for him. 
 
 He subsequently entered the service of Maharaja Gulab 
 Singh, and commanded his army at the time of the second 
 Sikh war. 
 
 XVI. CAPTAIN DE LA FONT. 
 
 Auguste de la Font was aide-de-camp to G-eneral 
 Ventura, and in that capacity was in attendance on the 
 General at Peshawar in 1839. When Ventura was pre- 
 vented by the intrigues which followed the death of Eanjit 
 Singh from proceeding to Kabul in command of the 
 Muhammadan contingent of the Khalsa army, Captain 
 de la Font acted as staff officer to Colonel Wade. In this 
 capacity he rendered good service both in action at the 
 taking of Fort Ali Masjid, and subsequently in aiding to
 
 352 RANJIT SINGH AND HIS WHITE OFFICERS. 
 
 keep the peace between the Khalsa contingent and 
 Colonel Wade's somewhat unruly force. 
 
 At the siege of Lahore (described by Colonel Gardner) 
 De la Font is said to have nearly gained access to the 
 fortress by mining, when the operations were brought to 
 a termination by Dhyan Singh. 
 
 XVII. CAPTAIN M'PHERSON. 
 
 This gentleman, described as " a respectable officer," 
 after serving in Eanjit Singh's army, entered the service 
 of the Nawab of Bhawalpur, who gave him command of 
 a regiment of regular infantry. 
 
 Captain M'Pherson served with the Bhawalpur con- 
 tingent in Sir Herbert Edwardes's campaign against 
 Multan, and was killed at the head of his regiment at the 
 battle of Sadusam on July 1, 1848. He was buried on 
 the following morning with military honours. 
 
 XVIII. AND XIX. MESSES CAMPBELL AND GAEEON. 
 
 These gentlemen are mentioned by Masson the traveller 
 as commanding regiments in the Sikh army. They are 
 included in Gardner's list, but there is no further infor- 
 mation concerning them. 
 
 Mr Campbell is very probably identical with the gal- 
 lant officer of that name who raised Shah Shuja-ul-Mulk's 
 Hindustani regiment, and was deserted by the Shah at 
 Kandahar on the occasion of his defeat by Dost Mu- 
 hammad. Mr Campbell's conduct was most gallant :
 
 OTHER OFFICERS. 353 
 
 he was severely wounded, and was succoured by Dost 
 Muhammad, whose service he entered. It is stated that 
 his daughter is still living at Kabul. 
 
 Mr Garron may stand for Carron, a secret agent of the 
 British Government, and a man of strange adventures. 
 
 Of the remaining officers but few particulars are to be 
 gleaned. 
 
 Messrs Alvarine (23), Hommus (24), and Amise (25) 
 died at Lahore at different periods. Hest (26), the Greek 
 officer, was murdered in the streets of the same city. 
 Captain De la Eoche (27) was killed there by a fall from 
 his horse. 
 
 Dubuignon (28), described as an estimable young man, 
 was in the service of the Begum Sumroo. There he was 
 picked up by General Ventura, who was visiting India for 
 the good of his health. Ventura treated him with great 
 kindness, and eventually married him to his own sister- 
 in-law. 
 
 John Holmes, No. 29 on the list, and the last of whom 
 any particulars were given, was a man of mixed parentage. 
 He was a worthy old soldier, and passed for a Christian, 
 at Peshawar, when Sir Herbert Edwardes was there, though 
 he had more than one wife: John Holmes did good ser- 
 vice with Edwardes and Van Cortlandt in the advance on 
 Multan in 1848, and was eventually murdered by some of 
 his own men. His family sent in a claim for compensa- 
 tion to the Indian Government, in which were specified, 
 among other dependants, two mothers.
 
 354 
 
 LIST OF CHARACTERS IN PANJAB HISTORY, FROM THE 
 DEATH OF RANJIT SINGH TO THE BRITISH ANNEXATION. 
 
 SOVEREIGNS. 
 
 No. 
 
 1. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, died June 27, 1839. 
 
 2. it Kharrak Singh (son of No. 1), deposed, and subse- 
 
 quently poisoned, November 5, 1840. 
 
 3. it Nao Nihal Singh (son of No. 2), killed, Nov. 5, 1840. 
 
 4. Maharani Chand Kour (widow of No. 2 and Regent), murdered 
 
 by order of No. 5, June 1842. 
 
 5. Maharaja Sher Singh (son of No. 1), murdered by No. 15, Sep- 
 
 tember 15, 1843. 
 
 6. Maharaja Dhulip Singh (son of No. 1), deposed, March 29, 1849. 
 
 PRINCES, MINISTERS, ETC. 
 
 7. Kashmira Singh (son of No. 1), killed by the Sikh army, July 
 
 1843. 
 
 8. Peshora Singh (son of No. 1), murdered, August 1844. 
 
 9. Partab Singh (son of No. 5), murdered by No. 15, Sept. 15, 1843. 
 
 10. Chet Singh (Minister to Kharrak Singh), murdered by No. 11, 
 
 October 8, 1839. 
 
 11. Raja Dhyan Singh (Prime Minister), mur-' 
 
 dered by No. 15, September 15, 1843, 
 
 12. Raja Gulab Singh, afterwards Maharaja 
 
 of Jammu and Kashmir, 
 
 13. Raja Suchet Singh, killed by the Sikh 
 
 army, March 1843, 
 
 14. Hira Singh (son of No. 11), killed by the Sikh army, December 
 
 21, 1844. 
 
 15. Ajit Singh, Sindhanwalia, ) brothers, killed by the Sikh army, 
 
 16. Lehna Singh, Sindhanwalia, ) September 1843. 
 
 17. Pandit Julia (Secretary to No. 14), killed by the Sikh army, 
 
 December 21, 1844. 
 
 18. Jawahir Singh (uncle of No. 6), killed by the Sikh army, Sep- 
 
 tember 21, 1845. 
 
 19. Maharani Jindan (mother of No. 6), banished. 
 
 the Dogra brothers.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ' Abode of Snow, the,' by Andrew 
 
 Wilson, quoted, 280. 
 ' Adventures of an Officer, ' by Sir 
 
 Henry Lawrence, referred to, 
 
 179. 
 Afghanistan, the kingdom of, 54 
 
 et seq. 
 
 Afghans or Pathans, the, 55. 
 Aga Beg, 47, 49, 51, 60. 
 Ahmad Khan, 54. 
 Ajit Singh, 245 et seq. 
 Akalis or Immortals, the, 171, 199 
 
 et fn., 235 et fn., 257, 299. 
 Akas, the, 147, 148. 
 Alai valley, the, 146. 
 Al-Biruni, 99. 
 Allard, General, 185 et fn., 300, 
 
 311-315. 
 
 Aral Sea, crossing the, 45. 
 Arb Shah, nom de voyage of Colonel 
 
 Gardner, 37, 45. 
 Argoud, Captain, 341-345. 
 Asp-i-Dheha, or flying horse, the, 
 
 90 et seq. 
 
 Astrakhan, 22, 43. 
 Attar Singh, 245 et seq. 
 Avitabile, General, 172 et fn., 176 
 
 et fn., 178 et fn., 185, 264, 316- 
 
 325. 
 Aylmer, Mr, Colonel Gardner's 
 
 fellow-traveller, 19. 
 
 Badakshan, 7, 107, 108, 110. 
 Bajaur, 164, 166, 173, 177. 
 Bannuite tribe, the, 184, 190, 196. 
 
 Barakzai chiefs of Peshawar, the 
 
 three, 179, 189, 190. 
 Barakzais, the, 55. 
 Bhai Ram Singh, 263. 
 Bolor, 52 note on the name, 99. 
 Bolor Kash, 137. 
 Botha, Mrs, daughter of Colonel 
 
 Gardner, 279. 
 Bride, a race for a, 141. 
 British and Sikh armies, grand 
 
 review of, 243. 
 Bull, Sir John, of England, letter 
 
 from John Bull of India to, 282 
 
 et seq. 
 Burial, mode of, in Kafiristan, 
 
 89. 
 Burnes, Sir Alexander, 4, 159. 
 
 Campbell, Mr, one of Ranjit 
 Singh's white officers, 352. 
 
 Canora, Colonel, 345. 
 
 Carmichael-Smyth, Colonel, 208, 
 277. 
 
 Cave, a wonderful, in Badakshan, 
 109. 
 
 Chet Singh, 215, 217. 
 
 Chitral, 7, 157. 
 
 Cockerell, Lieutenant, 101. 
 
 Cooper, Frederick, C.B., 1 in- 
 terviews Colonel Gardner at 
 Srinagar, 2-4. 
 
 Court, General, 178 et fn., 180, 
 185, 325-329. 
 
 Crystal hookah, incident of a, 60 
 fn., 161.
 
 356 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 "Dal Khalsa," or army of God, 
 
 the, 301. See afeo'Khalsa army. 
 Dallerwitz, M., 20, 24. 
 De la Font, Captain, 351. 
 Defence of Lahore, the, 231 et seq. 
 Delaroche, M., 43. 
 Dhulip Singh, 259, 274. 
 Dhyan Singh. See Raja Dhyan 
 
 Singh. 
 
 Diwan Dina Nath, 263. 
 Dogra brothers, the, cruel scheme 
 
 of, 212 et seq. terms of peace 
 
 arranged by, 237. 
 Dogras, the, 215 et fn., 228 et seq. 
 Dost Muhammad Khan, 51, 53, 58, 
 
 62, 63 et seq. passim. 
 Dubuignan, M., 353. 
 Dunchu or Dunchai, 151, 154. 
 Durand, Sir Henry, 10, 165, 280. 
 
 Earthquake at Srinagar, effects of 
 
 a, 156. 
 Eastern justice, anecdotes of, 204 
 
 et seq. 
 Edgeworth, Mr, abstract of Colonel 
 
 Gardner's travels by, 6. 
 Edwardes, Sir Herbert, 191 fn., 
 
 244. 
 Elias, Ney, 8, 99, 100. 
 
 Faizabad, 107, 108 fn. 
 
 Fakir Azizuddin, 186 et fn., 187, 
 
 267. 
 
 Fathi Jang, 55. 
 Ferozeshah, the battle of, 266. 
 First Sikh war, the, 263 et seq. 
 Flying horse, tradition regarding 
 
 a, 91. 
 
 Ford, Colonel, 340. 
 ' ' Fouj Khas," or model brigade of 
 
 the Khalsa army, the, 178 fn., 
 
 185 fn., 305. 
 Foulkes, Colonel, 341. 
 "Francesco Campo," or French 
 
 division of the Sikh army, the, 
 
 185, 217. 
 
 Gardner, Colonel Alexander, par- 
 entage and boyhood of, 13 et 
 seq. sets out for Astrakhan, 
 19 leaves Astrakhan for Herat, 
 
 24 proceeds to Khiva, 28 et 
 seq. returns to Astrakhan, 43 
 enters the service of Habib- 
 ulla Khan, at Kabul, 59 et seq. 
 marries an Afghan lady, 64 
 murder of his wife, 74 again 
 sets out on his wanderings, 81 
 et seq. joins the holy standard, 
 169 settles at Peshawar, 175 
 enters the service of Maha- 
 raja Ran jit Singh at Lahore as 
 colonel of artillery, 182 et seq. 
 becomes commander of artil- 
 lery to Raja Dhyan Singh, 191, 
 214 marries a native wife, 191 
 fn., 244 fn. transfers his ser- 
 vices to Gulab Singh, 256 et 
 *eq., 277 his last years, 278. 
 
 Gardner, Dr, 13 et seq. death of, 
 18. 
 
 Garron, or Carron, Mr, one of 
 Ranjit Singh's white officers, 
 353. 
 
 Gateway of Lahore, defence of the, 
 235. 
 
 Gem, a remarkable, 132. 
 
 Ghakkar tribe, the, 188. 
 
 Ghaur-i-Pir Nimchu, 84. 
 
 Ghazis, prowess of the, 188. 
 
 Ghorian, 25, 26. 
 
 Gilgit valley, the, 7, 156. 
 
 Girishk, Colonel Gardner's im- 
 prisonment at, 162. 
 
 Gold, washing river-sand for, 126. 
 
 Golden fleeces, the value of, 127. 
 
 "Gordana," Sikh name for Col- 
 onel Gardner, 183, 278. 
 
 Govind Singh, 297. 
 
 Griffin, Sir Lepel, 4, 186 fn., 211, 
 302. 
 
 Grums, the tribe known as, 147. '', 
 
 Gulab Singh, 193 et fn., 204, 208, 
 228, 242, 254 et seq. passim 
 appointed Maharaja of Kashmir 
 and Jammu, 275, 277. 
 
 Gurkhas, forcing the Sepoy cap on 
 the, 200. 
 
 Habib-ulla Khan, 53, 56, 57, 59, 
 
 61 et seq. passim. 
 Hardinge, Sir Henry, 274.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 357 
 
 Harlan, Dr, 178 et fn., 183, 202, 
 329-338. 
 
 Hazaras, the, 29. 
 
 Hazrat Imam, 81. 
 
 Herat, 25. 
 
 Hindu Kush, a journey over the, 
 28 et seq., 90. 
 
 Hindustani fanatics, or Indian fol- 
 lowers of Syad Ahmad, the, 172 
 et fn. 
 
 Hira Singh, 212. 
 
 ' History of the Reigning Family 
 of Lahore,' by Colonel Car- 
 michael - Smyth, extract from, 
 regarding character of Gulab 
 Singh, 208 et seq. referred to, 
 277. 
 
 Holmes, John, one of Ran jit 
 Singh's white officers, 353. 
 
 Honigberger, Dr, 202. 
 
 Hurbon, Colonel, 268, 350, 
 
 Hwen-Thsang, 99. 
 
 Imam-ud-din, 277, 278. 
 Inderab, 9, 52, 88. 
 
 Jalalabad, 240, 243. 
 
 Jammu, the army contingent of, 
 191, 214 Gulab Singh ap- 
 pointed Maharaja of Kashmir 
 and, 275, 277 death of Col- 
 onel Gardner at, 291. 
 
 Jawahir Singh, 252, 259 murder 
 of, 261. 
 
 Jey Ram, 105, 113, 138, 145, 156. 
 
 Julien, M., 20. 
 
 Kabul, 161, 163, 240, 244. 
 
 Kafir Ghesh Durrah Pass, the, 111. 
 
 Kafiristan, 111, 112, 159. 
 
 Kafirs, the, 34, 110, 146. 
 
 Kameh or Kafir- Ab river, 160. 
 
 Kandahar, 161. 
 
 Karakoram Pass, the, 155. 
 
 Kashgar, original inhabitants of, 
 147. 
 
 Kashmir, Gulab Singh made Ma- 
 haraja of Jammu and, 275, 277. 
 
 Keiaz tribe, the, 141, 150. 
 
 Khalsa army, the, 199, 275, 278, 
 301. 
 
 Khalzais, the, 31 et fn., 32 et seq. 
 Kharrak Singh, 214, 220, 222 
 
 the cremation of, 223. 
 Khilti race, the, 85. 
 Khiva, 40. 
 
 Kipchaks, a camp of the, 47, 51. 
 Kirghiz encampment, visit to a, 
 
 128. 
 Kirghiz tribes, the, 129, 130 et 
 
 fn., 136, 140, 153 beauty of 
 
 the women of, 130 et fn. 
 Kirghiz wedding, a, 135 et seq. 
 " Koh-i-nur," the, 230, 237. 
 Kohistan campaign, the, 56 et seq. 
 Kokcha river, the, 102, 105. 
 Koran, novel use for the, 173. 
 Kunduz, 28. 
 
 Lahore, 178, 229, 265, 274, 298. 
 
 Lai Singh, 263, 267. 
 
 Lawrence, Sir Henry, 179, 241 et 
 fn., 243, 245, 271, 273, 274, 
 281. 
 
 Leh, 155. 
 
 Lehna Singh, 245 et seq. 
 
 Leslie, Lieut. -Colonel, alias Rat- 
 tray, 348. 
 
 ' Life of a Soldier of the Olden 
 Time : An unwritten Page of 
 History,' by Sir Henry Durand, 
 quoted, 10. 
 
 " Lion of the Pan jab, the." See 
 Ranjit Singh. 
 
 Mahan Singh, 297. 
 
 Maharaja Ranjit Singh. See 
 
 Ranjit Singh. 
 
 Maharani Chand Kour, 227. 
 Maharani Jindan, 259, 261, 263, 
 
 267. 
 
 Mahmud Shah, 54. 
 " Manjha " country, the, 230 et fn. 
 Marriage ceremony, curious, among 
 
 the Keiaz, 149. 
 Metcalfe, Lord, 199, 299. 
 Mian Udam Singh, 194 et fn. 
 Mir Alam Khan, 164, 166, 168, 
 
 177. 
 Mir AH Shah, or the Syad, 105, 
 
 107, 114, 115, 119, 138, 145. 
 Misr Lai Singh, 263.
 
 358 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 ' Monograph on the Oxus,' by Sir 
 Henry Rawlinson, quoted, 7, 
 156. 
 
 Mouton, Colonel, 349. 
 
 M'Pherson, Captain, 352. 
 
 Nanak, 297. 
 
 Nao Nihal Singh, 194 fn., 195, 
 
 216, 222 et seq. tragic death 
 
 of, 225. 
 
 Napier, Sir Robert, 273. 
 Nimchu Kafirs, the, 82 et fn. 
 
 Oriental duplicity, a striking ex- 
 ample of, 269. 
 
 Paddle-boat, General Ventura con- 
 structs a, for Maharaja Ranjit 
 Singh, 202 et seq. 
 
 Paindah Khan, 177. 
 
 Pamir region, 5, 7, 8, 9 cross- 
 ing the, into Eastern Turkestan, 
 123 et seq. 
 
 Panchthar, 172. 
 
 Pandit Julia, 251 et seq. death 
 of, 257. 
 
 Panjab, the, 176 et fn. Colonel 
 Gardner's journey to, 177 et seq. 
 his settlement and adventures 
 in, 182 et seq. the Lion of, 
 see Ranjit Singh. 
 
 Partab Singh, 245, 247. 
 
 Parwan, 66 et fn., 69, 73. 
 
 Pathans or Afghans, the, 55. 
 
 Peshawar, 175, 176 final con- 
 quest of, by the Sikhs, 188. 
 
 Pir-i-Nimcha, 104. 
 
 Polo, Marco, 100. 
 
 Raj Kour, 298. 
 
 Raja Dhyan Singh, 168, 179, 180, 
 
 181, 191 et fn., 192 et seq. pas- 
 sim murder of, 248. 
 
 Raja Gulab Singh. See Gulab 
 Singh. 
 
 " Ranbir" regiment, Colonel Gard- 
 ner receives command of the, 
 278. 
 
 Rani Jindan, 252, 263, 272, 273. 
 
 Ranjit Singh, 173, 176efn., 180, 
 
 182, 199 et seq. passim Euro- 
 
 pean officers of, 295 et seq. 
 list of characters in Panjab his- 
 tory from the death of, to the 
 British annexation, 354. 
 
 Ranjit Suchet Singh, 194 et fn., 
 195. 
 
 Raverty, Captain, 160. 
 
 Rawlinson, Sir Henry, 7, 124 fn., 
 156. 
 
 Robber gang, some members of a, 
 116 et seq. 
 
 Robertson, Sir George, 160. 
 
 Rossaix, M., 20. 
 
 Ruby mines of Shighnan, a visit 
 to the, 134. 
 
 Russian service, Colonel Gardner's 
 experiences of, 22 et seq. 
 
 Sada Kour, 298 et fn. 
 
 Salt, value of, in Central Asia, 
 
 77. 
 
 Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa, 192. 
 Sardar Muhammad Akbar Khan, 
 
 192. 
 Sati of Raja Dhyan Singh's widow, 
 
 the, 249. 
 
 Segrave, Captain, 281. 
 Shah Bahadur Beg, 142, 145. 
 Shah Duri Duran, 54. 
 Shah Shujah, 54. 
 Shah Zaman, 54. 
 Shakh Dara valley, the, 124. 
 Sheep-tails, snow - preserved, 76, 
 
 78. 
 
 Sheheid Ghaur-i-Zaruth, 110. 
 Sher Singh, 228, 234, 238, 246. 
 Shighnan valley, the, 123. 
 Siah Posh Kafirs, the, 33. 
 Sialkot, Colonel Gardner's grave 
 
 at, 291. 
 Sikh -Afghan war of 1836, the, 
 
 184 et seq. 
 
 Sikh deputation, remarkable re- 
 sults of a, 271 et seq. 
 Sikh war, the first, 263 et seq. 
 Sindhanwalia family, the, alliance 
 
 of the Dogra family with, 217 
 
 defection of, 234, 245. 
 Slave-dealers, a party of, 35. 
 Slave- markets of Turkestan, the, 
 
 103.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 359 
 
 Smyth, Colonel Carmichael-, 208, 
 
 277. 
 Sobraon, events after the battle 
 
 of, 270. 
 
 Srinagar, 155, 156. 
 St Xavier, Gardner sent to a Jesuit 
 
 school at, 16. 
 Steinbach, Colonel, 351. 
 Strathnairn, Lord, 280. 
 Sturzky, M., 24, 25, 41, 42, 44. 
 Suchet Singh, 254 heroic death 
 
 of, 255. 
 Sultan Muhammad Khan, 173, 
 
 175. 
 "Swapping" news, an interesting 
 
 case of, 244. 
 
 Syad Ahmad, 166 et seg. 
 Syad, the. See Mir Ali Shah. 
 
 "Talleyrand of the Panjab, the," 
 
 263. 
 
 Tej Singh, 263, 267, 277. 
 Therbah, the faithful servant of 
 
 Colonel Gardner, 35, 42, 46, 
 
 96, 114, 156, 162, 164. 
 Therbahs, the, 33 et seq. 
 Therman Khan, 34. 
 Thomas, Colonel, 347. 
 Turkoman marauders, a party of, 
 
 38. 
 
 Ura-tube, 46, 60. 
 Urd Khan, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 
 45. 
 
 Usbuk Beg, 87. 
 Uskumbak, 151. 
 Ustum valley, the, 150. 
 
 Van Cortlandt, General, 338, 339, 
 Ventura, General, 178 et fn., 180, 
 
 183, 185, 202, 264, 300, 304- 
 
 311. 
 
 Wazirabad, 178. 
 
 Waziris, the, 196. 
 
 White officers, the, of Maharaja 
 Ranjit Singh, list of, 295 
 some account of, 297 et seq. 
 
 Wholesale murder, a striking in- 
 stance of, 247. 
 
 Wild, General, 241. 
 
 Wilson, Andrew, author of ' The 
 Abode of Snow,' 280. 
 
 Wolves, attack by a pack of, 115. 
 
 Women of Kafiristan, beauty of 
 the, 124 et fn. 
 
 Wood, Captain John, 130 fn. 
 
 Yak, herds of, 152, 153 tail of 
 the, held in high estimation in 
 India, 153. 
 
 Yamunyar river, the, 151, 154 
 et fn. 
 
 Yarkand, 154. 
 
 Younghusband, Captain, 100. 
 
 Yule, Sir Henry, 7, 100. 
 
 Zaruth Nao, 106, 108. 
 
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 . A. Hay ward, Q.C."\ 
 . The Editor and F. \July. 
 Tarver, M.A. J 
 
 LA FONTAINE, AND OTHER FRENCH \Nov. 
 FABULISTS, . . Rev. W. Lucas I 
 Collins, M.A. ) 
 
 MONTAIGNE, . 
 RABELAIS, . 
 
 Rev. W. L. Collins. ) , 
 Sir Walter Besant. j M 
 
 SCHILLER, . . James Sime, M.A. ) n ,,, 
 TASSO E. J. Hasell. j Uec - 
 
 CALDERON, . 
 SAINT SIMON, 
 
 . . . E. J. Hasell. -\ 
 Clifton W. Collins, \-Sept. 
 M.A. J 
 
 ROUSSEAU, . Henry Grey Graham. ") , 
 ALFRED DE MUSSET, . . C. F. / Tl ^' 
 Oliphant. } Jan - 
 
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