Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Afghanistan

AFGHANISTAN, an inland country of Asia, bounded on the W. by Persia, on the S. by British Baluchistan, on the E. by territory under British influence (determined 1893–1895), and on the N. by Russian Central Asia. Its area is about 250,000 square miles, or about twice the size of Great Britain and Ireland. The country, called Urlayat by its inhabitants, consists of elevated table-lands, diversified by mountains, and there is a great variety of climate. At Ghazni the winter is extremely rigorous; the climate of Seistan, in the S. W., is hot and trying; while, in other parts, it is temperate. The country may be divided into the five provinces of Kabul (Cabul), Herat, Ghazni, Seistan, and Kandahar. To the N. lie the still disputed regions of Turkestan and Badachshan, with their dependencies. Each province is ruled by a governor, under whom the nobles and kazis (magistrates), assisted by muftis, administer justice after a feudal fashion. The monarch of the whole country is styled the Ameer.

The population of Afghanistan is composed of a variety of nationalities, and is estimated at about 6,380,000. The Afghans proper, or Pathans, number about 3,000,000, and are divided into tribes, or clans—Duránis, Ghilzánis, Yúsufzáis, and others. In religion, they are Sunni-Mohammedans. In character, they are proud, vain, cruel, perfidious, extremely avaricious, revengeful, selfish, merciless, and idle. “Nothing is finer than their physique or worse than their morale.” The Afghans do not, as a rule, inhabit towns, except in the case of those attached to the court and heads of tribes. The townsmen are mostly Hindkis and other non-Afghan races, who practice various trades and handicrafts considered derogatory by men of rank. The principal towns are Kabul (pop. about 150,000), the seat of government, and center of a fertile district; Ghazni, a strong fortress; Kandahar, the chief city of southern Afghanistan, with about 30,000 inhabitants; and Herat, formerly considered the key of India. Among the natural productions of Afghanistan is the plant yielding the asafœtida. The castor oil plant is everywhere common, and good tobacco is grown in the district of Kandahar. The cultivated area round Herat produces magnificent crops of wheat, barley, cotton, grapes, melons, and the mulberry tree. In special localities are forests of pistachio. The industrial products are silk, chiefly for domestic use, and carpets, those of Herat being of admirable quality. The manufacture of postins, or sheepskins, is one of the most important occupations.

History.—The history of Afghanistan, as an independent state, only dates from the middle of the 18th century. For two centuries before, Herat and Kandahar had been in the possession of Persia; while Kabul was included in the mogul empire of Delhi. Upon the death of Nadir Shah, in 1747, Ahmed Shah Duráni subjugated the different provinces, and, when he died in 1773, left an empire to his son, Timur Shah. The chief events in the history of Afghanistan are the expedition, in 1839, which established Shah Soojah on the throne; the rebellion of 1841, in which the Residents, Burnes and Macnaghten, were killed and the Anglo-Indian troops perished in the retreat; the punitive expedition, in 1842; the defeat of Dost Mohammed, in 1849; the war with Shere Ali, in 1878–1879, and installment of Yakub Khan; the rising at Kabul and murder of Cavagnari, the English Resident; the punitive expedition under Roberts; the establishment, by British assistance, of Abd-ur-Rahman as Ameer, and the constantly recurring alarms as to encroachments on the part of Russia. The yearly pension granted the Ameer by the Indian Government was raised to 18 lacs of rupees. Moreover, the Indian Government yielded all its claims on Kafaristan. The result of this was that, in 1895, the Ameer's troops thoroughly devastated the land of these brave mountaineers. Abd-ur-Rahman, by means of his shrewd policy and decisive measures, succeeded in suppressing all insurrections and strengthening his power. In regard to the insurrection that broke out between the tribes of the Afridi and the Orakzai, on the Indian-Afghanistan frontier, he remained neutral.

Abd-ur-Rahman died Oct. 1, 1901, and was succeeded by Habib-Ullah Khan. The treaty with Great Britain was renewed, and by a compact drawn up in 1907 the latter country acknowledged Afghanistan's independence. In 1910 it was agreed that all disputes between Afghanistan and the Indian Government should be left to a joint commission. Relations were not cordial, however, and in 1919, after Habib-Ullah had been assassinated while sleeping in his tent, war broke out between the Afghans and the British. It was, however, of short duration, although some of the fighting was severe, and resulted in a triumph for the British arms. A treaty of peace was signed Aug. 8, 1919, one of the provisions of which was that Afghanistan should have entire freedom in its foreign relations. This was taken advantage of shortly afterward by the Afghans, who sent an embassy to the Soviet Russian Government at Moscow, where it was received with great consideration and met with an offer of alliance. Despite the peace treaty with the British, two Afghan tribes, the Waziris and Mahsuds, continued outpost actions on the frontier and at the beginning of 1920 had not been entirely subdued. The present Ameer is Amanullah Khan, the third son of Habib-Ullah Khan, whom he succeeded in 1919.

Source: Collier's New Encyclopedia 1. (1921) New York: P.F. Collier & Son Company. 56-57 (text) and after 60 (illustration).