Before entering upon the affairs of Cabool, it becomes necessary that I should first touch on the events which have happened in that kingdom since the year 1809, when Mr. Elphinstone closed his history.

During that period the monarchy has been totally dismembered; the provinces have either declared themselves independent under different chiefs, or been seized by the Seiks. Two of the kings of Cabool live as exiles in a foreign land; and of the extensive empire of Ahmed Shah Dooranee, the city of Herat alone remains in the possession of his descendants. This speedy dissolution of a power which was so formidable merits attention, since these political changes, in a country which borders on British India, may ultimately influence her destinies.

Shah Shooja ool Moolk lost his throne on the field at Neemla in the year 1809, immediately after the British mission recrossed the Indus. His power had been gradually declining since the fall of his Vizier, and the murder of his comrade, the Meer Waeez. He had failed to conciliate the chief of the great house of Barukzye Futteh Khan, who espoused the cause of his brother Mahmood, and eventually placed him on the throne of Cabool. Never was the fortune of war more capricious than on this occasion. Shooja took the field with a well-appointed army of about 15,000 men: his Vizier, Akram Khan, was slain, and he was defeated by a force of 2000 men, headed by Futteh Khan. The troops of the King had not formed; and the rebels, led on by an experienced general, gained a complete victory on most disadvantageous ground. Shooja fled, with precipitation, to the Kyber country, leaving the greater portion of his jewels and treasure on the field, where they became the spoil of the victors. He made an attempt to regain his crown at Candahar, four months after his defeat; but, like all his succeeding endeavours, it proved unsuccessful.

Immediately the day had been decided, Mahmood mounted the elephant which had been caparisoned for Shooja, and the trumpets once more proclaimed him king. So great was the confusion in the camp, that many were ignorant of the result of the battle till this proclamation. The nobles and commanders of Mahmood then tendered their allegiance to him, and many of the court of Shooja did homage on the same occasion. Futteh Khan was promoted to the high rank of Vizier to the empire, which his services had so amply merited; and the whole of the Afghan country, with the exception of Cashmere, submitted to the dominion of Shah Mahmood. Mahmood submitted himself, without reserve, to the influence of his minister, whose conduct, added to his own dissolute character, held out no hopes of tranquillity or good government. Factions sprang up at the court, headed by the Prince Kamran, who was jealous of the power which the Vizier had acquired over his father.

The first object of the Government was the reduction of Cashmere. That province was held by Atta Mahommed Khan, a son of Shooja’s Vizier, who had hitherto succeeded in repelling the attacks even of the late king. Futteh Khan, in this difficulty, applied for the aid of the Seiks, and a passage for his troops into the valley, by way of the Punjab. League with the Seiks. In return for these favours, he promised to set aside nine lacs of rupees of the revenue of Cashmere to the ruler of the Seiks, Runjeet Sing. That potentate and the Vizier had an interview at Jelum, on the banks of the Hydaspes. Futteh Khan was accompanied by the whole of his brothers, eighteen in number, who stood during the ceremony. Some of them strongly advised the assassination of the King of the Seiks; and one of them is said to have tendered his services by a sign during the meeting. It did not, however, enter into the policy of Futteh Khan. The interview terminated by the army marching on Cashmere, reinforced by 10,000 Seiks, commanded by Mokum-chund. The Dooranees took the route of Beembur, and, crossing the Peer-Punjal hills, subdued the valley without opposition, and before the Seiks arrived. This happened in the year 1811. The Governor of Cashmere, after being blockaded in the citadel for a few days, surrendered himself, and was treated with distinction. The eldest brother of the Vizier, Mahommed Azeem Khan, was now appointed Governor of Cashmere.

When the valley had been subdued, the minister discovered no anxiety to fulfil his engagement towards his Seik allies, who left the country in disgust. At this time, the ruler of the Punjab received secret overtures from the Commandant at Attok, for the cession of that fortress. It was held by a brother of the ex-Governor of Cashmere, and the offer was at once accepted. Runjeet Sing acquired this valuable possession at the small sacrifice of a lac of rupees, and prepared to defend his new acquisition. These events aroused the attention of Futteh Khan, who quitted Cashmere with all expedition, and marched on Attok. He found the Seik army encamped on the plains of Chuch, about two miles from the fort: the heat of the season was oppressive, and the Seiks had both the advantage of position and water. The Vizier had a contempt for his opponents. The conflict commenced by the advance of his brother Dost Mahommed Khan, who headed a body of 2000 Afghans, and captured the whole of the Seik artillery. He had dismounted two of their guns, and was proceeding to improve his victory, when he found that he was without support, and that the whole of his brother’s army had fled. On the attack of Dost Mahommed Khan, some evil disposed persons brought a report to the Vizier, that he had been made prisoner, with the whole of his division; and an equally treacherous intimation was conveyed to Dost Mahommed Khan, that his brother had fallen. It only remained for him to retreat, which he effected with honour; and crossed the Indus, previously burning some of his camp equipage, but leaving the greater portion to be plundered by the Seiks. Since this disaster on the plains of Chuch, the power of the Afghans has ceased on the eastern side of the Indus, and that country has been ever since annexed to the dominions of Runjeet Sing.

The energies of the Vizier were soon called for in an opposite direction, as the King of Persia had demanded a tribute from Herat, the western province of the kingdom. The Government of that city was held by a brother of the King, named Hajee Feroz, who was requested to treat the demand with scorn; and the Vizier marched a force in that direction to oppose the Persians. On reaching Herat, Futteh Khan made himself at once master of the person of the Governor, though a brother of his sovereign, and not only extracted the whole of his wealth from him, but violated his harem on searching for it. He then seized Herat, and made every preparation for meeting the Persians, who advanced under Hoosein Ali Meerza, a son of the King. A battle ensued, which was undecisive. The Persians certainly fled, but the Afghans also left the field, and their victory, with the greatest precipitation. The Vizier was struck by a spent ball in the face, and fell on his horse’s neck. On seeing this, his troops became disheartened, and fled. The Vizier, however, reaped the full harvest of the campaign, since he refused the tribute which Persia had demanded, and beat off the army that had come to enforce it. He also strengthened the western frontier of the kingdom, by seizing the Governor of Herat, who, though he professed every allegiance to his brother Mahmood, was at best a dubious friend. By this war, however, the garrison in Cashmere was much weakened, since he drew levies from it, which in the end proved most injurious to the interests of Mahmood in that part of his kingdom.

The reign of Mahmood had thus far proceeded, with a success which the most sanguine of his partisans could scarcely have expected: he was restored to a throne which, to all appearance, had passed into other hands; he held Cashmere, and could turn the revenues of that rich valley to the protection of his other provinces; he exacted the usual tribute from the Talpoors of Sinde, and had now warded off an attack from Persia, the only quarter from which he had to apprehend danger. The King himself was but a silent spectator, and owed these successes to his Vizier, who managed the whole affairs of the kingdom, while the monarch himself was plunged into debauchery. Futteh Khan profited by his power, and distributed the different governments of the kingdom among his numerous list of brothers. He evinced, however, no want of respect and allegiance to the sovereign; and Mahmoud seemed satisfied, as he owed his life and his power to his minister. But, if the parent was content to govern on these terms, his son, the Prince Kamran, discovered the strongest discontent at the Vizier’s proceedings, and resolved to rid himself of a person so formidable, opposed as he was to some ambitious designs which he himself entertained. The prince at last worked upon his father, and succeeded in persuading him that he might govern his country, now that it was consolidated, without the assistance of his Vizier. He, therefore, determined on ridding himself of that powerful chief, his friend and benefactor. Kamran availed himself of an early opportunity, and seized Futteh Khan at Herat; and gave an immediate order for his eyes being put out. After a lapse of five or six months, Kamran put the Vizier to death, between Cabool and Candahar, with the full consent of the king. This rash act was perpetrated in the year 1818, and drove the whole of Futteh Khan’s brothers into rebellion.

The tragedy which terminated the life of Futteh Khan Barukzye is, perhaps, without parallel in modern times. Blind and bound he was led into the court of Mahmood, where he had so lately ruled with absolute power. The king taunted him for his crimes, and desired him to use his influence with his brothers, then in rebellion. Futteh Khan replied without fear, and with great fortitude, that he was now but a poor blind man, and had no concern with affairs of state. Mahmood, irritated at his obstinacy, gave the last orders for his death; and this unfortunate man was deliberately cut to pieces by the nobles of the court; joint was separated from joint, limb from limb, his nose and his ears were lopped off, nor had the vital spark fled, till the head was separated from the mangled trunk. Futteh Khan endured these cruel tortures without a sigh; he stretched out his different limbs to those who thirsted for his blood, and exhibited the same careless indifference, the same reckless contempt for his own life, which he had so often shown for that of others. The bloody remnants of this unfortunate man were gathered in a cloth, and sent to Ghuzni, where they were interred.

The reign of the king may be said to have terminated with the life of his minister. He had put him to death under pretext of misconduct at Herat, but really in the hope of appeasing some of the nobles of his court; in this the king and his son had most deeply erred. He was now even afraid to encounter a small party of the rebels; and, though in the field with his army, Mahmood precipitately fled to Herat, without even making the attempt. This flight involved a virtual resignation of his power, for though he retained Herat and the title of king, he sunk into a vassal of Persia. He died at that city in 1829, and his son Kamran succeeded to his limited power. The eldest survivor of the family of the Vizier was Mahommed Azeem Khan, who had been left to govern Cashmere. On the rebellion of his brothers he immediately joined them, and prepared to dethrone the murderer of his brother. The precipitate retreat of Mahmood had rendered any further measures unnecessary; and Azeem Khan now took the extraordinary step of recalling Shooja ool Moolk from his exile, in the territories of British India. He offered him the crown of Cabool, and sent a Koran to the ex-monarch, under his seal, according to the custom of the country, as proof of his sincerity. Shooja repaired with every despatch to Peshawur.

Since Shooja ool Moolk had been defeated at Neemla, he had wandered as a fugitive in various corners of his dominions; and his adventures, which have been detailed by himself in a small volume[35], are replete with interest. After his discomfiture at Candahar, he was seized by Ata Mahommed Khan, the son of his former Vizier; and subjected to much indignity. He was for some time confined in the fortress of Attok. The lancet was frequently held over his eyes; and his keeper once took him into the middle of the Indus, with his arms bound, threatening him with instant death. The object of such severity was to extract from him the celebrated diamond, called Koh-i-noor, or mountain of light, which he was known to possess. In the meanwhile Ata Mahommed Khan proceeded to Cashmere, and carried the captive monarch in his train. On the fall of that valley he was released by Futteh Khan, and joined his family at Lahore.

His queen, as I may well call the Wuffadar Begum, the most influential lady of his harem, had used every persuasion to prevent Shooja’s placing himself in the power of Runjeet Sing, but he disregarded her advice, and had in the end ample reason to regret his having neglected it. This lady was a woman of most bold and determined character; and her counsel had often proved valuable to her husband, both in his days of power and disaster.

At Lahore, while at the mercy of the Seiks, and absent from her husband, she preserved her own and his honour in a heroic manner. Runjeet Sing pressed her urgently to surrender the Koh-i-noor, or valuable diamond, which was in her possession; and evinced intentions of forcing it from her. He also sought to transfer the daughters of the unfortunate king to his own harem. The queen seized on the person who conveyed the message, and had him soundly chastised. She also intimated to the Maharaja, that if he continued his dishonourable demands, she would pound the diamond in a mortar, and first administer it to her daughters, and those under her protection, and then swallow it herself; adding, “May the blood of all of us be on your head!” This lady succeeded in the end in escaping from Lahore, disguised as a Hindoo; and planned the deliverance of her husband, which shortly followed. This was only effected at the expense of the great diamond. A narration of the circumstances relative to its surrender would prove interesting, but it would be out of place in this sketch. It is sufficient to mention, that an imprisonment of the closest nature, insult, and even hunger, fell to the lot of this unfortunate monarch.

The ungenerous part which the king of the Seiks was enacting towards her husband aroused the energies of the queen, who had settled herself at the British station of Lodiana. She arranged the placing of horses on the road; and Shooja, and his people, made every exertion in Lahore. They hired all the houses which adjoined those in which they were lodged; and opened a passage into the street by cutting through seven walls. A few hours after the household had retired to rest, the king descended by the aperture, and issued into the street in the dress of a native of the Punjab. The city wall had yet to be passed, and the gates were shut. Shooja creeped through the common sewer of the city, and fled, with two or three servants, towards the hill country of Kishtwar. Here he once more raised the standard of a monarch, and planned an attack on Cashmere, in which he was assisted by the Rajah of Kishtwar. The expedition would have been successful, for the governor of Cashmere had evacuated his frontier position, but an untimely season blocked the roads with snow, interrupted the supplies, and once more frustrated the hopes of Shah Shooja. Wandering by a cheerless and ungenial country, the Shah at length reached the British station of Sabathoo in the outer Himilaya, from which he repaired to Lodiana, where his family had found an asylum. He here joined them; and has since shared the bounty of the British Government. Few monarchs and few men have been subjected to greater reverses of fortune than Shooja ool Moolk; and we find our sympathies enlisted in his cause by a knowledge of his misfortunes.

Shooja, after all his misfortunes, might have now re-ascended and retained the throne of his ancestors; but before Azeem Khan had reached Peshawur, he prematurely displayed his notions of royal authority by insulting some friend of his benefactor, whom he considered to be encroaching on his dignity, by using a palankeen. The whole Barukzye family took offence at this inconsiderate attack; and determined to place a more compliant master on the throne.

A favourable opportunity presented itself in the person of Eyoob (or Job), a brother of Shooja. He entered the camp of Azeem Khan, and sued for the throne as the most abject of slaves. “Make me but king,” said he, “and permit money to be coined in my name, and the whole power and resources of the kingdom may rest with yourself; my ambition will be satisfied with bread, and the title of king.” His conditions were accepted; nor did this puppet monarch ever violate or attempt to infringe the terms by which he had gained the name and trappings of royalty. Eyoob continued as a tool in the hands of Azeem Khan, who was nominally his Vizier. So degraded was now the state of the royal house of Cabool, that the very robe of honour which installed the minister into the viziership of the empire was a portion of his own property, and had been sent privately to the Shah, who conferred it on the Vizier with all the pomp and display of royalty. Several of the young princes who aspired to the throne were delivered over to Eyoob, and put to death. Shooja was immediately driven from Peshawur, and retired to Shikarpoor in Sinde, which the Ameers of that country agreed to cede to him. A series of intrigues, set on foot by his enemies, expelled him even from this retreat; and he fled by the circuitous route of the desert and Jaysulmere to Lodiana. The conduct of Shooja while at Shikarpoor was ill calculated to support his falling fortunes. He forgot the dignity of a monarch in low intrigues with his subjects, in which he tarnished their honour as well as his own. The fitness of Shooja ool Moolk for the station of sovereign seems ever to have been doubtful. His manners and address are highly polished; but his judgment does not rise above mediocrity. Had the case been otherwise, we should not now see him an exile from his country and his throne, without a hope of regaining them, after an absence of twenty years; and before he has attained the fiftieth year of his age.

The death of Futteh Khan, which had drawn his brother, with the greater part of his troops, from Cashmere, left that rich province without protection. The Seiks availed themselves of the critical moment; routed the Afghans, and captured the valley, which they have ever since retained. The civil wars which followed in Afghanistan exhausted the power of the state; nor was it to be supposed that an active soldier, like Runjeet Sing, would fail to improve his opportunities of aggrandisement. The provinces of Cabool fell one by one into his hands; Mooltan, Cashmere, Leia, and Dera Ghazee Khan, with the whole country on the banks of the Indus and its eastern tributaries, owned him as conqueror. In 1823, he crossed the Indus, and fought the battle of Noushero, on the northern side of the river of Cabool, where he was opposed by a numerous population. They appeared in the field as “Ghazee” or champions of the Mahommedan religion. The conflict was most obstinate, and at last decided by the personal valour of Runjeet himself, who brought up his guards to a height from which his troops had been three times driven. Azeem Khan and all his brothers witnessed the action from the southern side of the river, and were unable to cross and assist their countrymen, since it is not fordable, and they had no boats.

This defeat was so much at variance with the hopes of the Dooranees, that their chief fled in the night, and left his guns and tents in the hands of the Seiks, who advanced on Peshawar, and burned its palace. As the battle with Futteh Khan on the plains of Chuch decided the supremacy of the Seiks eastward of the Indus, this campaign established their power between that river and Peshawur. That city has since paid an annual tribute to Runjeet Sing. It is said that Azeem Khan was urged to his precipitate retreat by apprehensions which he entertained for his treasure that had been left at Muchnee, higher up the river than the field of battle. It is also said that he was not satisfied of the fidelity of his brothers; and, besides, feared the increasing army of the Seiks. The disgrace of having submitted to infidels without firing a shot preyed upon his mind, and he did not survive it: he sickened on the road to Cabool, and died immediately on his arrival at that city. On his death-bed he summoned his wives to his presence, dispossessed them of their jewels, which he delivered with the whole of his property to Hubeeb Oollah Khan, his eldest son. He then charged him to wipe off the disgrace from a father’s name; and carry fire and sword into the Seik territories. A treasury which fell little short of three millions sterling might have furnished ample means to gratify the request of a dying parent; but since the capture of Cashmere, the Seiks were equally well supplied with the sinews of war. They had also been victorious in the field; and now, aware of their own strength, had become most formidable rivals. Even yet a confederacy of the Dooranee chiefs might have broken their rising power; but a season of discord and anarchy followed the death of Mahommed Azeem Khan. Since that period, Peshawur has been reduced to a state of vassalage; and Runjeet Sing is now confirmed in all the conquests which he had previously made.

Azeem Khan’s death became the signal for a scene of family strife. After a variety of cruelty and crime, his son, Hubeeb Oollah Khan, was deprived of his power and fortune. His uncles formed a cabal; and possessing themselves of his person, terrified his mother with the threat of blowing him from a gun, if the whole treasures were not surrendered. The youth had already squandered much of his wealth, and the remainder was now delivered up. Shere Dil Khan carried away with him about half a million sterling, and erected an independent chiefship at Candahar; another was formed at Peshawur; and Cabool itself, after having had several masters, ultimately fell into the hands of Dost Mahommed Khan, another of the Vizier’s brothers. Such dissension has sowed the seeds of everlasting discord among this family. The puppet king, Shah Eyoob, lost his son in these scenes of trouble, and fled into the Punjab, where he found an asylum at the court of Lahore, in which he still continues. The royal house of Cabool, which may be said to have disappeared before he acted the part of king, now no longer existed as an ostensible part of the government; and the different chiefs ruled independent of one another:—the Sindians threw off the yoke in the absence of any power to enforce their tribute; Herat was held by the exiled family of Mahmood; Balkh was annexed to the dominions of the King of Bokhara; but the richest share of the provinces had fallen into the hands of the Seiks. It has been said with some truth, that Cabool could never have existed as a kingdom without the possession of Cashmere. The revenues and resources of most of the provinces were expended in them, while the annual subsidy of that valley and Sinde enabled the Dooranee monarchs to extend their power, maintain their honour, and terrify the neighbouring nations. Thus fell the Dooranee monarchy, which existed for a period of seventy-six years, from the time Ahmed Shah was crowned at Candahar, A. D. 1747. We shall now proceed with an account of the different chiefships into which the kingdom has been divided.