AFGHANISTAN. AFGHANISTAN is a country of Asia lying between parallels 30° and 38° 20' of north latitude, and 60° 30′ and 74° 30' of east longitude. On the north it is bounded, roughly speaking, by the river Oxus, from the Pamir to Khamiab Saleh, whence the line, as drawn by the Afghan Boundary Commission, runs in a south-westerly direction to Zulfikar, on the river Har-i-rud, and thence south to Kuh Malik-i-Siah, a conspicuous peak southeast of the Helmand river. Here the boundary turns round and runs generally eastwardly to the Kwaja Amran range. The eastern boundary of Afghanistan is difficult, if not impossible, to define exactly, for though geographically it may be said to march with the north-western boundary of British India, from a political point of view there are a number of tribes inhabiting the Zhob Valley and the Wazin country, besides the region between the Hindu Kush and the western confines of Kashmir, embracing Kafiristan, Chitral Swat, and part of the Indus basin, who own little or no allegiance to the Amir. Extreme breadth from north to south is about 500 miles; its length from the Herat frontier to the Khyber Pass, about 600 miles. The surrounding countries are, on the north, the Central Asian States, under the influence of Bokhara and Russia; on the west, Persia; on the south, British Baluchistan; and on the east, as already mentioned, the mountain tribes scattered along the north-western frontier of India. Abdul Rahman Khan, G.C.S.I., the reigning sovereign or Amir, is son of Afzal Khan, and grandson of Dost Mahomed Khan. He was recognised as Amir by the British Government in July 1880, after the events following on the massacre of Sir L. Cavagnari. The origin of the Afghans is involved in obscurity. The Pathan dynasties of Delhi form part of Indian history. The whole of Afghanistan was conquered by Timur, Cabul remaining in the hands of his descendants, and Candahar being added to it by Sultan Babu in 1522. For the next two centuries Cabul was held by the Mughal Emperors of Delhi, and Herat by Persia, while Candahar. repeatedly changed hands between the two. Nadir Shah, the Persian, held the Afghan provinces till his assassination in 1747, after which the different provinces were formed into a single empire under Ahmed Shah Durani, including the Punjab and Kashmir on the east, and extending to the Oxus on the north. The restoration of Shah Shuja by the British forces under Sir John Keane in 1838 led to continued insurrections against the new ruler, culminating in the terrible revolt of 1841. In 1878 war was declared by England, and her troops eventually captured Cabul. Sher Ali fled and died in Afghan Turkistan, his son Yakub Khan being acknowledged as Amir, while a British envoy and escort was installed in the citadel of Cabul. On September 3 a serious riot developed into a massacre of the envoy and his followers, and a fresh invasion of the country took place. In 1880 the British forces were withdrawn from the Khaibar and the Kuram, and from Candahar to Quetta. Abdul Rahman has since successfully maintained his position. The government of Afghanistan is monarchical under one hereditary prince, whose power varies with his own character and fortune. The dominions are politically divided into the four provinces of Cabul, Turkistan, Herat, and Candahar, to which may be added the districts of Badakshan and Wakhan, as they are also at present in the position of separate provinces. Each province is under a hakim or governor (called Naib in Sher Ali's time), under whom nobles dispense justice after a feudal fashion. Spoliation, exaction, and embezzlement are almost universal. The Amir's subjects number about four millions, the most numerous tribe being the Ghilzars, who must amount to at least a million; then follow the Tajiks, Duranis, Hazarahs, and Aimaks, and Uzbegs. The Tajiks, who are found scattered all over the country, are presumably of Arab or Persian descent, and though they are found intermingled with Afghans, they are more settled, and prefer agricultural or industrial occupations. The Ghilzais occupy the country south-east of Cabul, while the Duranis inhabit the country north and south of the road between Herat and Candahar; north of these lie the Paropamisan Mountains, inhabited by the Aimakhs and Hazaras, who are said to be the descendants of Tartar colonies left by Chinging Khan, and who have undoubted Tartar lineaments. With the exception of the Kizilbashes and most of the Hazarahs, who are Shiahs, the inhabitants are Muhammadans of the Suni sect. Justice in ordinary cases is supposed to be administered by a kazi, or chief magistrate, assisted by muftis, or muta assibs (the latter a species of detective officers), and regulated by laws, which, if rightly acted on, would be tolerably equitable. The revenue of Afghanistan is subject to considerable fluctuations. One of the late Amir Sher Ali's ministers estimated the average annual revenue of the five years 1872-76 at 712,9687., but subsequent events have made it impossible to estimate the present revenues. The Government share of the produce recoverable is said to vary from one-third to onetenth, according to the advantages of irrigation. Abdul Rahman is said to have re-introduced the regular army, which had been originally founded on a European model by Sher Ali on his return from India in 1869. In addition to his regular army the Amir's military forces are largely supplemented by local levies of horse and foot. The mounted levies are simply the retainers of great chiefs, or of the latter's wealthier vassals. The Amir's Government grants 200 Cabuli rupees a year for each horseman. The foot levies are now, under Abdul Rahman, permanently embodied, and as irregulars form a valuable auxiliary to the regular infantry. The artillery branch is very weak, as there are few trained gunners, the force being made up by infantry drafts when required. There are no engineers, but a few regiments have a company equipped with spades and axes. The total disposition of the forces in June 1882 was as follows: There are five classes of cultivators-1st, proprietors, who cultivate their own land; 2nd, tenants, who hire it for a rent in money or for a fixed proportion of the produce; 3rd, buzgurs, who are the same as the metayers in France; 4th, hired labourers; and, 5th, villeins, who cultivate their lord's land without wages-e. slaves. There are two harvests in the year in most parts of Afghanistan. One of these is sown in the end of autumn and reaped in summer, and consists of wheat, barley, Ervum lens, and Cicer arietinum, with some peas and beans. The other harvest is sown in the end of spring and reaped in autumn. It consists of rice, millet, |