New proposals of Dost Ma homed to the British A. D. 1838. tions, embodying the terms on which, if then agreed to, the Ameer would decide in favour of a British connection. They consisted chiefly "of a promise to protect Cabool and Candahar from Persia; of the surrender of Peshawer by Runjeet Sing; of the interference of our government to protect at that city those who might return to it from Cabool, supposing it to be restored to Sultan Mahomed Khan." The British envoy, as if he had now thoroughly imbibed the supercilious spirit of which Lord Auckland's letter had set him the example, took high ground. "I at once informed the Nawab that I would agree to none of the terms proposed; that I was astonished to hear a race as illustrious as the Dooranees, who had carried their sword to Ispahan and Delhi, imploring protection against Persia; that as for Peshawer, it belonged to our ancient ally the ruler of Lahore, and he alone could surrender it; and that as for protecting those who returned from Cabool, supposing the Maharajah to make a settlement, it was an after concern which it was now useless to discuss, as well as the other matters stated, since the Ameer seemed so little disposed to attend to the views of the British government, and, what was of more importance, his own interests." Shortly after Jubbar Khan's departure, the envoy addressed a formal note to the Ameer, in which, after affirming that the only object originally proposed in the correspondence opened with the British government, was an arrangement with the Sikhs, whereas demands, “quite unconnected with the Sikhs" were now made, he stated that he "has no power or authority to speak on other matters, as is well known from his lordship's letter, and he would therefore be deceiving the Ameer by listening to them. Under these circumstances, as there is a Russian agent here, and he is detained by the Ameer's request, it is clearly evident that the Ameer does not approve of the offers of the British, but seeks the aid of others; Mr. Burnes feels it due to himself and his government, to ask leave in consequence to return to Hindoostan." The Ameer, not yet prepared to relinquish the hope he had so long entercontinued. tained of an advantageous British connection, sent two counsellors on the following day with proposals "somewhat modified," and "with many expressions of regret" at the resolute rejection of "all that had been urged." Ultimately after a long discussion, Captain Burnes accepted the Ameer's invitation to visit him at the Bala Hissar in the evening. In his account of the interview he says, "I lost no time in entering upon business, and said I was sorry to hear he had not taken the governor-general's letter in the spirit it was written, and that he had deemed it harsh, when the very fact of his lordship sending such a letter proved the interest taken in him, and that I had perused the document in English and Persian without finding a single expression to offend him. It was true it was a very explicit paper, but the Afghans were a nation famed for their straightforward proceedings, and it was most important to act toward him with a clear good faith, and let him know at once what might be expected of the British government." The Ameer's reply consisted chiefly of a reiteration Negotiation fruitlessly 1 fruitlessly Mahomed. of his high admiration for the British government, and his willingness to make A.D. 1838. any sacrifice in order to secure its friendship. At last he even went so far as to say, "I throw myself upon the generosity of the Governor-general of India, Negotiation and I rely on the sympathy which his lordship has expressed." "On this," continued says Burnes, "I congratulated the Ameer on his having seen his own interest with Dost better than to permit of friendship being interrupted between him and a nation so well disposed towards him; but that it was now my duty to tell him clearly what we expected of him, and what we could do in return. You must never receive agents from other powers, or have aught to do with them without our sanction; you must dismiss Captain Vikovich with courtesy; you must surrender all claim to Peshawer on your own account, as that chiefship belongs to Maharajah Runjeet Sing; you must live on friendly terms with that potentate; you must also respect the independence of Candahar and Peshawer; and co-operate in arrangements to unite your family. In return for this I promise to recommend to the government that it use its good offices with its ancient ally, Maharajah Runjeet Sing, to remove present and future causes of difference between the Sikhs and Afghans at Peshawer, but as that chiefship belongs to the Maharajah, he may confer it on Sultan Mahomed Khan or any other Afghan whom he chooses, on his own terms and, tribute, it being understood that such arrangement is to preserve the credit and honour of all parties." Dost Ma the governor-general. Empty as these professions of friendship on the part of the British govern- Letter from ment must have appeared to the Ameer, he had the policy to speak of them as homed to important concessions, and to request that they might be immediately reduced to writing, in order that he might "fairly see what is expected, and what is to be done in return." No written document being given at the time, he sent two of his counsellors a few days after to renew his request for it. It is difficult to see what use he could have made of it, but his anxiety made the British envoy suspicious, and he refused to commit himself. It is scarcely necessary to follow the negotiations further. On the 21st of March the Ameer made apparently a last effort to gain over the governor-general to his views, by addressing him in a letter which, consisting chiefly of unmeaning phrases and compliments, may be regarded as an Afghan mode of intimating that the negotiation was at an end. He says indeed, "To make known objects in the hope of profit to those personages who can do some good to the man in want, is consistent with propriety. Your lordship is the source of generosity and favour; therefore I take the liberty to repeat my grievances, expecting that your lordship will release the Afghans from distress, and enlarge their possessions;" and he concludes with saying, “As I rely on your lordship's favour, I have freely laid open my feelings in the hope of better fortune, since delays raise up fear of danger." How little these expressions conveyed his real sentiments was made apparent only two days afterwards, when he paid Captain Burnes a visit, and talked in a tone which he had never used to him before. He stated that he had been received Dost Ma homed's statement A.D. 1838. by our government as no one; that his friendship was worth little; that he was told to consider himself fortunate at our preventing the Sikhs coming to Cabool, of which he himself had no fear; that he had applied to us for a cure of affairs in Peshawer, but our remedy was beyond his comprehension; and that though he felt honoured and grateful for the governor-general's sending a mission to him, he had now lost every description of hope from us; that he saw little or no probable benefit to the Afghans as a people, and less to himself.” To all this Burnes could only reply "that our government had no desire to guide him, and if he did not approve of its offers, he need not accept of them." to Captain Burnes. ture of the British mission. Though the crisis was now evidently approaching, the British mission lingered for another month, and on the 21st of April had the mortification of seeing the Russian agent in the ascendant. On that day "he was conducted through the streets of Cabool, and received a greater degree of respect than had hitherto been shown him." On the following day, Burnes, still unwilling to believe that his mission was to terminate in failure, renewed his correspondence with the Ameer, not, he says, "from any hope that advantage could be derived from it in my negotiations, but to place as distinctly as possible before him how much he might have himself to blame for what followed." The Ameer in his reply, which was returned on the following day, made no secret Final depar- of his intention to secure himself by new alliances. "Mankind," he observed, "have no patience without obtaining their objects, and as my hopes on your government are gone, I will be forced to have recourse to other governments. It will be for the protection of Afghanistan to save our honour, and, God forbid, not from any ill design towards the British." He concluded thus: "In making friendship with any government my object will be to save and enlarge Afghanistan; and during these last seven months I have told you everything of note, and you know the good and bad. Now I have consigned myself to God, and in this no government can blame me. All the Afghans will be grateful to the government which obliges them. There is no more to say which is not said. If you like to speak in person, or examine all the correspondence that has passed between us, there will be no objection. I am very obliged to you for the trouble you took to come so far. I expected very much from your government, and hoped for the protection and enlargement of Afghanistan; now I am disappointed, which I attribute not to the ill favour of the English, but my own bad fortune. Creatures must rely on the Creator." Burnes understood this letter, as it was obviously meant to be, "a clear dismissal of the mission." On the 25th of April, he had by the Ameer's appointment his audience of leave; the following day he quitted Cabool, and by the 30th he had reached Jelalabad, from which he addressed a letter to Mr. Macnaghten, stating that he had received good information that the Ameer had been constantly with Vikovich since he himself left, and repeating as his "most deliberate conviction, founded on much reflection regarding the passing events much decided counteraction." tions of government Afghanistan. in Central Asia, that consequences of the most serious nature must in the end A.D. 1837. flow from them, unless the British government applies a prompt, active, and What this should be he does not venture to hint, but Deliberathe subject was already engaging the earnest attention both of the Indian and British the home governments. Their deliberations, almost unconsciously to themselves, regarding gradually developed a gigantic scheme, which, neither founded in sound policy nor prosecuted with any due regard to the rights of other states, was justly punished by a disaster, to which the previous history of British India presents no parallel. Before entering on the details, some notice must be taken of the siege of Herat, and of the means by which that so-called key of India was prevented from falling into the hands of Persia. CHAPTER III. The siege of Herat-Lord Auckland's policy-Demonstration in the Persian Gulf-The Tripartite E His progress expedition Herat. NCOURAGED by the Russian, and regardless of the remon- New Persian strances of the British ambassador, Persia had again resolved against on the siege of Herat. Having made the necessary preparations, Mahomed Shah set out at the head of an army on the 23d of July, 1837. The distance to be accomplished exceeded 600 miles, across a country of a difficult and forbidding character. was therefore necessarily slow, and nearly three months elapsed before he reached Nishapoor, still more than 200 miles to the north-west of Herat. As the difficulties of the country were however his only obstruction, he continued to advance, and in the beginning of November, having crossed the Afghan frontier, arrived at the fort of Ghorian, belonging to the Heratee territory. This was considered a place of great strength, and having recently been garrisoned with a large body of picked troops, was expected to make a protracted resistance. Through cowardice or treachery it proved otherwise, and Ghorian fell almost without a struggle. Elated with this success the Shah hastened forward, and on the 22d of November took up a position before Herat on a plain at a short distance to the north-west. Herat. The city now about to be subjected to a siege, stands in an elevated but Position of beautiful and fertile valley, 370 miles nearly due west of Cabool. Its population was estimated at only 45,000, but its position near the point where the great routes from Persia, Turkestan, and India intersect each other, added greatly to its importance, both commercial and military. Its means of resist Herat. A.D. 1837. ance were not very formidable. The defences consisted chiefly of a broad and deep ditch, well supplied with water from springs, which being situated Defences of within the town itself, could not be cut off; a mound, formed out of the materials obtained in excavating the ditch; a lofty wall of unburned brick crowning the mound, and a citadel, sufficiently strong to be capable of defence even if the city were taken. The wall was pierced by five gates, four of them giving access to as many leading thoroughfares. These intersected each other at a common centre, and thus left a large space which had a domed roof, and formed the terminus of the principal bazaars. The streets were narrow and filthy in the extreme. Tyrannical character of its government. Prince Kamran, who had succeeded on the death of his father, was now sovereign of Herat. In early life he had repeatedly given proof of a cruel blood-thirsty temper, and as he advanced in years had added other vices, which made him still less capable of conducting the government. Indulgence in every species of debauchery had made him feeble and indolent, and thrown all real power into the hands of his prime minister. This was Yar Mahomed, a man of no mean talents, but utterly devoid of principle. His own interest was his only end, and his usual methods of promoting it were violence, oppression, and extortion. The inhabitants, while thus alienated from their rulers by misgovernment, were unhappily divided among themselves. Composed of different races, Afghans, Persians, Beloochees, &c., they had no common bond of union, and were even at deadly enmity on religious grounds, the two leading parties, though professed followers of Islamism, belonging to the hostile sects of Soonees and Sheeahs. In the quarrels and jealousies thus produced, the Afghans being the dominant race had greatly the advantage, and tyrannized without mercy. MAHOMED, SHAH OF PERSIA. After a portrait by J. H. Twigg. Where so much misgovernment and division prevailed, there was little reason to expect that Herat would make a successful defence, and the general impression therefore was that it would prove a comparatively easy conquest. It could only be on this ground that the British envoy, acting on instructions from home, had exerted himself to the utmost to prevent the Persian expedition from being undertaken. Not only had he remonstrated with the Shah and his ministers in terms approaching to menace, but he had also entered into |