536 Govern ment and regal etiquette. SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS ON THE STATE OF GOVERNMENT AND MANNERS IN KÁBUL As the course of events has brought us to the reign of The government was such as might be expected from a body of foreigners settling themselves by force in a country, with the inhabitants of which they had no sympathy but that of a common religion, and was necessarily military. Everything was directed by the will of the King, who was surrounded by his Amírs and great officers. He was nominally absolute, as in all Asiatic states. His court exhibited, or affected, a great appearance of splendour, and had nearly the same establishment of officers that had existed under the powerful princes of Samarkand and Khorásán. We find the Master of the Household, Master of the Horse, Grand Huntsman, Master of Requests and Chamberlains, with body and night guards-besides all the officers of the harem and female apartments. The prince, whether in the capital or the camp, held daily levees-in the one case, in the Great Hall; in the other, in the Pavilion or Tent of Audience, at which the Amírs and men of note, and all such as were desirous of favour and attention, presented themselves. The Sovereign generally sat at the further end on cushions, or, on more ceremonious occasions, on a throne placed on a platform raised some steps above the rest of the hall or tent; and the places to be occupied by his sons and brothers, by his near relations, by foreign ambassadors, by his Amírs, by men of saintly reputation, by men of letters, and by all the various classes of his subjects, were fixed by the Master of Ceremonies with a most scrupulous nicety, according to their supposed rank or importance. The upper classes were in general allowed to be seated; the inferior remained standing. All, on entering, made their obeisance to the prince; but such as were introduced for the first time, or after an absence from court, were attended by the Master of Ceremonies, made their obeisance, first at a considerable distance, and afterwards nearer to the throne, according to their supposed dignity. This obeisance, among all the greater Oriental nations, was originally the act of prostration before the Monarch, to which the Mongol tribe added the ceremony of beating the head upon the ground nine times; but this had been softened, in the course of time, and by the progress of civilisation, into a grave and respectful inclination of the body, and a slight kneeling or bending of the knee. The court etiquette was loaded with forms, which, in quiet times, were strictly observed. On some festivals, and on grand occasions, there were magnificent banquets. The feast consisted of many courses of numerous dishes of all kinds: soups, roast, pillau, sometimes of animals dressed entire (stuffed with almonds, raisins and currants, and smothered in rice), stews, meat and game of every sort, carved and sent about on trays, fruits, preserves and sweetmeats, with sherbet, but no wine-a forbidden enjoyment which was indulged only in private, but, where enjoyed, indulged in to excess. The attendants were often arrayed in rich and showy The court. dresses. During the dinner, the guests were entertained by music, vocal and instrumental, by wrestlers, posture makers and jugglers; rarely perhaps, if ever, at that period to the west of the Indus, by dancers. It was usual, on such grand occasions, to invest with khiláts those who had performed important public services, or whom it was meant to distinguish by the royal favour. These khiláts generally consisted of a dress of honour, sometimes made of rich stuffs, of satin, velvet, cloth of gold, or adorned with embroidery; sometimes even of dresses that had been worn by the Sovereign himself, with various additions according to circumstances; shawls, sabres of fine workmanship with enamelled hilts, often enriched with jewels and precious stones, daggers, coats of armour, horses, and, occasionally, sums of money. The charm which the courts of happier countries derive from the presence of female society, was of course entirely wanting to that of Kábul. The ladies of every rank were kept strictly to private apartments, which were accessible only to females, and eunuchs, and, at times, to very near relations. The court was composed chiefly of the Amírs and Begs, who held the different provinces and districts of the kingdom, and of the officers of state and of the household. Though the usual and official language was that of unreserved obedience to the prince, yet they formed a real check upon his power. The army which had effected the conquest was composed of many bodies of men of different races, who each followed a particular leader, generally the chief person of a tribe or family. They were all soldiers of fortune, and regarded themselves as entitled to their share in the success. Many of them had joined the King voluntarily with their tribe or followers, and considered themselves at liberty to withdraw, or to shift their allegiance, when displeased. By means of combinations among themselves, they were even able, on occasion, to overpower the monarch, who found it convenient, and indeed necessary, to keep them in good humour. Much, therefore, depended on the talents of the Sovereign. But even the romantic bravery and generous temper of Báber were not always sufficient to keep within the limits of duty haughty and ambitious tribesmen, who set a high, sometimes an inordinate, value on their own services; and dangerous revolts and rebellions occurred under both him and his son. There existed no hereditary nobility except in the heads of tribes; all was personal, and proceeded from the monarch. And even the men of tribes, when they had left their wilds, and, for a series of years, had lived in towns, or followed their individual pursuits, scattered over the country, felt less connection with their chief, who was compelled to look to local influence of another description for the support of his consequence. The power possessed by the leader of the tribe was thus gradually exchanged for that of governor of a province. This change was, of course, extremely favourable to the royal authority. But, though nobility was not hereditary, it generally continued to run very much in the same families; for the sons of Amírs and officers of note were generally, early in life, introduced at court by their fathers, and gradually promoted to situations of trust and influence. provinces. The information we possess concerning the state of State of the the provinces under the Kábul government is but scanty. They would seem to have been governed very much according to the form ascribed to the early feudal states. The leading men in the conquering army, or at court, were sent to the various provinces, attended by their old followers, and districts were assigned to them. Of the state of landed property we have few details. The former inhabitants were not expelled from their lands. The labour and skill of the peasant and farmer are necessary under every government; there were no The army. capitalists who farmed on a large scale. Every village had probably, as in Persia, a kilanter or head man, and some village counsellors, who afforded a certain degree of protection and succour. The person appointed to the jágír settled himself on the spot, took possession of the forts and public buildings, and placed his immediate retainers in offices of trust within his government; probably, at the same time, assigning to them some allotments of land. Through them, though rarely by them, he collected the rents, or, more properly speaking, a share of the produce of the lands, and the public taxes, the measure and extent of which were often much at his discretion. As all powers, military, civil, and criminal, were vested in his person, the comfort, or misery, of the inhabitants was in his power, and was essentially influenced by his character. The complaint of a despised boor did not easily reach the court, and, if it did, was not likely, except in cases of crying and flagrant injustice, to be much attended to: and woe to the unhappy wretch who made a complaint, and afterwards returned under the power of his oppressor! Every governor was like an absolute prince while his power lasted. His chief danger arose from intrigues at court, where he was constantly obliged, either by his personal presence or through his friends, to maintain his influence. He was liable to be removed at any time at the pleasure of the King. It is plain that this system exposed the inhabitants to great extortions, and was, in many ways, unfavourable to the prosperity and improvement of the country. The governor, who held his office by an uncertain, and probably a short tenure, was anxious to make the most of his time, and apt to regard the possessions and property of the governed merely as the means of enriching himself and his dependents. The hen was too often killed for the golden egg. The army did not resemble that of European governments, divided into regular regiments and troops, with |