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AFGHANISTAN. the Tajiks, Hindkis, Jats, Aimaks, and Hazaras (Mongolians) are not Afghans, while the Kizilbashes are largely Persianized Turks. The Afghans were already well established in their present habitat when the Greeks reached India in the fourth century B.C. Most of the Afghan and allied peoples are agriculturists, but the dominant tribes compel the inferior ones to do the work. Physically the Afghans are well developed, and are of a very warlike disposition. Nearly all the tribes scattered along the east of Afghanistan and the northwest frontier of India are within the sphere of British influence. The population, according to the statistics available, is about five millions.

The government of Afghanistan is a semi-feudal monarchy. The ruler is known as the Ameer. The country has but a loose governmental organization, and influenced by their fanatical devotion to Islam of the Sunni creed, many of the tribes still preserve a more or less turbulent and independent existence. The depredations of the border tribes on Indian territory have afforded the British Indian government excuse and opportunity for pushing forward the military frontier. The warlike Afridis and a considerable proportion of the Pathan tribes are now under British control. Frequent conflicts occur between the British troops stationed on the northwest frontier, particularly those of the Pashawar district in the Punjab, and the Pathan and Afridi tribes of Afghanistan. The latter are of greater political consequence because of their location, the importance of the Khyber Pass to India, and the necessity of maintaining a clear road from India to Kabul.

The Ameer is an hereditary prince, and his power is absolute. The whole country is divided for administrative purposes into the four provinces of Kabul, Turkestan, Herat, and Kandahar and the district of Badakhshan and its dependencies, administered by governors. The native code of laws is more or less equitable, but is not strictly enforced. The revenue is exacted in kind, and varies according to the condition of crops. The Ameer receives an annual subsidy of 1,800,000 rupees from the Indian government. Afghanistan has a regular army modeled after European fashion. Its strength is not accurately known, but it is estimated at 44,000, including 7000 cavalry. There is an arsenal, and an ammunition factory at Kabul is equipped with English machinery. The medium of exchange is the rupee. There is a mint at Kabul under the supervision of an Englishman, but its operation is very limited. Instruction is supplied by the Mohammedan schools. The chief cities of Afghanistan are Kabul, Kandahar, and Herat. Among the towns of Afghan Turkestan are Balkh, Kunduz, Maimene, Andkhui, Tashkurgan, Aktcha, and Mezar-i-Sherif.

The country now known as Afghanistan was embraced in the ancient Aria. It was a part of the conquests of Alexander the Great, who founded Alexandria Arion, the modern Herat, and also, it is supposed, the modern Kandahar and a settlement near Kabul. Its masters changed many times in the waves of conquest that rolled over Asia. On the decline of the Bagdad caliphate it was included in the domains of the Samanides, one of the many independent dynasties that then arose in the Mohammedan world. The Samanide princes were overthrown by a Turkish tribe, who founded the Ghaznevide dynasty, and Afghanistan was a part of their realm until the fall of the Ghaznevides in 1183. It was overrun by the conquering Mongols of Genghis Khan in the first quarter of the thirteenth century, and in the last quarter of the fourteenth it was subjugated by the great Tartar conqueror Timur. In 1504 Baber, a descendant of Timur and founder of the Mogul empire, made Kabul his first capital, and Afghanistan remained a part of that empire until its decline. In 1722 Mahmud, an Afghan chieftain, invaded Persia, captured Ispahan, and dealt a permanent blow to the prosperity of that famous capital; but a few years later the Afghans were defeated and driven out by Nadir Kuli, a Persian soldier of fortune, who became by his great ability Shah of Persia, and the last of the conquerors of Afghanistan. After the assassination of Nadir Shah (1747), one of his officers, Ahmed (see ), founded the Durani dynasty in Afghanistan, and that country has since maintained an independent existence. Ahmed made considerable conquests in India, and maintained a mastery over the Sikhs and Mahrattas, but established no permanent sovereignty. The Durani dynasty fell in 1809, and Shah Sujah, the grandson of Ahmed, became an exile.

Upon the fall of Shah Sujah anarchy ensued, a condition not unfamiliar to the warlike and restless Afghan tribes. In 1826 the statesman-like Dost Mohammed succeeded in establishing his authority as Ameer over the turbulent people. Shah Sujah from his asylum in India carried on intrigues for the restoration of his sovereignty, and succeeded in making an alliance with Runjeet Singh, the Sikh ruler. A small subsidy was also obtained from the Anglo-Indian government, and Afghanistan was invaded. The only result was to involve the Afghans and the Sikhs in unprofitable warfare, while Sujah soon returned to India. When Lord Auckland became Governor-General of India, he declared a policy of non-interference in questions concerning the native states; but in direct contradiction of this declaration, in 1838 his government actually undertook to restore Sujah, alleging that Dost Mohammed had attacked Great Britain's ally, Runject Singh: an attack, it may be noted, for which there had certainly been reason enough. It was further alleged that the military operations of the Afghans had betrayed a hostile purpose toward India; and that Shah Sujah, as the rightful heir to the Afghan throne, had placed himself under British protection. The British forces advanced through the Bolan Pass to Kandahar, where Shah Sujah formally claimed possession of the country. On July 21, 1839, the army encamped before Ghazni, and after some hard fighting that fortress was taken. On August 7, Shah Sujah, with the British forces, entered Kabul, and the conquest was regarded as complete.

In this, however, as in all their dealings with the Afghans, the British showed an entire misunderstanding of the nature of the country and the character of the people. The land had been invaded, but was by no means conquered. Dost Mohammed had surrendered to the English; but his son, Akbar Khan, was actively engaged in a conspiracy, of which the British envoy, Sir William Macnaghten, and his successor, Sir Alexander Burnes, were not aware until it was too late. Early in the winter of 1841, when help from