sia and India, marked in our maps as Cabul and Candahar, has been inhabited, from time immemorial, by the Afghans, a rude and warlike race, claiming, in their own traditions, to be descended from Saul, king of Israel, and considered by some Euro. peau writers to have probably sprung from the ten tribes of Israel. From these mountains descended the successive swarms of fanatical warriors, who, in the eleventh and twelfth centuries of our era, gradually reduced India under Moslem domination; and the throne of Delhi was filled for three hundred years by princes of Afghan race, till their ascendency was subverted by the house of Timur in the early part of the sixteenth century. For 200 years from this period, the Afghans of Čabul and Candahar were subject alternately to the courts of Delhi and Ispahan, occasionally availing themselves of their position between the two empires to re-assert a brief independence during a period of war and confusion; till in the reign of the last Soofavi king of Persia, Shah Hassein, an insult offered to the family of one of their chiefs by the Persian governor, led to the murder of the offender, and the revolt of all the Afghan tribes; and the spectacle of weakness and decay presented by the Persian monarchy encouraged them to assume the offensive. The capture of Ispahan, and the conquest of Persia by the Shilji Afghans, and the scenes of earnage and desolation which followed, till their expulsion and subjugation by Nadir Shah, have been made familiar, by the pages of Hanway and Malcolm, to every reader of Oriental history. The Abdallis, another Afghan tribe, who had possessed themselves of Herat and its territory, also yielded to the Persian conqueror, who retook Herat in 1731, but retained most of the Abdallis chiefs in his service-his predilection for the Sooni sect leading him to surround himself principally with officers of that persuasion. On the assassination of Nadir in 1747 (an event to which Persian jealousy of the favour shown to the Afghans is said to have greatly contributed), Ahmed Khan Doceauni, one of the Abdallio chiefs, and head of the sacred clan of the Suddozyes, seized the opportunity of the panic and confusion to withdraw his troops from the Persian camp, and marching to Candahar, proclaimed

himself king of Afghanistan, to which, two years afterwards, he re-united Herat and great part of Khorassan; the anarchy in which Persia was plunged preventing his encountering any effectual opposition. During a victorious reign of twenty-six years, the Afghan king five times invaded India, inflicted on Delhi a second sack, even more severe than that it had ex.. perienced from Nadir, and routed the Mahrattas at Paniput with such fearful slaughter, that scarcely a fourth of their host of 80,000 men escaped from the battle and pursuit. At the death of Ahmed Shah, in 1773, his dominions comprehended, in addition to the territories already enumerated, Balkh, Cashmere, Sind, and the Punjab: but with his life the power and prosperity of the Afghan monarchy may be considered to have terminated; and the usual course of degeneracy, discord, and decay, which seems inseparable from the history of an Asiatic dynasty, was run with more than usual rapidity. His indolent and luxurious son, Timur, was deficient in the energy and ability necessary for the preservation of union in his disjointed kingdom; in the course of his reign of twenty years, he lost Sind and others of the frontier provinces; and after his death in 1793, the discords of his numerous sons precipitated the fall of the Doorauni dynasty. The short reign of his successor, Shah Zemaun, a weak and cruel prince, was rendered memorable by the wild scheme which he formed for invading India, subduing the Mahrattas and English, and recovering the ascendency in that country, which had been held by his grandfather; but this enterprise was frustrated in the outset by the attacks which the Persians (now settled under the Kajar dynasty) began to make on his western frontier, and by the continual revolts of his half-brother, Mahmood, by whom he was at length dethroned and blinded in 1800. The rule of Mahmood was, however, unpopular, and, in little more than two years, he was expelled by a revolt of the populace of the capital against his Persian guards. Shooja-al-mulk, an uterine brother of Shah Zemaun, was now placed on the throne. The administration of this prince (the present ex-king) was marked by some ability and success; but the royal prerogative was greatly circumscribed by the

power of the chieftains of the different clans, who had availed themselves of these fraternal contentions to regain the feudal authority of which the introduction of royalty had deprived them; civil wars also arose from the efforts of the Ghilji tribes to throw off the yoke of the Abdallis; and the rapid rise of the power of the Seiks under the Rajah Runjeet Singh at length compelled the Afghans to evacuate the Punjab, and confine themselves to the right bank of the Indus. The state of the Cabul monarchy at this period is described in detail in Elphinstone's interesting narrative of his mission in 1808-9 to the court of Shooja; but scarcely had the embassy repassed the Indus, when the sovereign who had received it was driven from his throne by one of the revolutions common in Asia, headed by Futtah Khan, the chief of the powerful clan of Barukzye, who restored Mahmood as nominal king, retaining the administration, under the title of vizier, entirely in his own hands. After nine years' precarious reign, Mahmood, with the cooperation of his son Kamran, rid himself of his powerful minister by murdering him under circumstances of great cruelty; but, finding himself unable to withstand the instantaneous revolt of the unfortunate vizier's numerous brothers and clansmen, pusillanimously abandoned his kingdom, and fled, with his treasures and crown jewels, to Herat, of which he had been governor in the lifetime of his father Timur. By acknowledging himself a vassal of Persia, he remained in undisturbed possession of this city and its territory till his death in 1829, when his son Shah Kamran, the late antagonist of the Persians, succeeded him.

The abdication of Mahmood left the throne at the absolute disposal of Azem Khan, who had succeeded his brother Futteh as chief of the Barukzye. He offered it, in the first instance, to Shah Shooja, and this prince, accordingly, left Loodiana, where he had for some time resided, in order to resume his crown; but having imprudently given offence to the nobles by some ill-timed acts of arrogance, he was compelled to return into exile before he had reached the camp; and Ayub, another prince of the Doorauni family, was invested with the empty title of king, having been previously in such a state of destitution, that the robe of honour,

which he conferred on Azim Khan on installing him in the office of vizier, had been privately sent by the destined minister to the royal tents. The shadow of a kingdom, torn to pieces by civil war, and dismembered by the attacks of the sheiks, continued, from this time, little more than four years, when it received a final blow from the decisive victory gained at Nushrow in 1823 by Runjeet Singh, who led on his guards in person to the capture of the Afghan artillery. Azem Khan, who, from the opposite bank of the river of Cabul, had beheld the defeat of the Moslem army, without being able to cross with his division to their assistance, died shortly after, broken-hearted at the triumph of the infidels; and with his death the dissolution of the kingdom was complete. The puppet king Ayub disappeared from the scene, and became a pensioner at the court of Lahore; Dost Mohammed Khan, the most influential of the brothers of Azim, established himself at Cabul, while two less powerful branches of the family ruled at Candahar and Peshawur; Balk, &c., fell to the Ozbegs; Cashmere and Moultan had been subdued by Runjeet Sing, who did not extend his conquests to the west of the Indus; the Balooch and Sind chiefs relapsed into the state of petty independence in which the invaluable work of Sir Alexander Burnes describes them; and of all the widelyextended dominions acquired by Ahmed Shah Doorauni, only the single fortress of Herat remained in the possession of any of his descendants.

Thus fell the Doorauni kingdom in Afghanistan, the re-establishment of which as an outwork to our Indian dominions is at present the predominant object of our policy in that quarter; but it appears very questionable whether that desirable object might not have been more easily and securely attained a few years since, by strengthening the interests of the present ruler of Cabul, Dost Mahommed, who was then anxious to secure our alliance, than by attempting, at the present juncture, to restore a weak monarch, whose family has no remaining partisans in the country, to a throne from which he has been twenty-nine years an exile.

The sacred clan of the Suddozyes, of which the late royal family is a branch, is insignificant in point of numbers:

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the power of the monarch was there. fore entirely dependent on popular opinion, and on the allegiance of the chiefs of the more influential races, among whom the Barukzyes have long been pre-eminent. Hadji Jumal, one of their former chiefs, was the principal supporter of Ahmed Shah in his assumption of the regal title and in the present day the different branches are said to be able on an emergency to bring 30,000 horse into the field: a force which, in the conflicts among the sons of Timur Shah, gave them virtually the disposal of the throne. To this powerful tribe both the existing branches of the dethroned family are odious: Kamran is more especially detested as the murderer of their renowned chief, the Vizier Futteh Khan and they have every thing to dread from the restoration to power of Shah Shooja, who owes to them both the loss of his throne in the first instance, and the frustration of his hopes of again regaining it on the abdication of Mahmood. The sons of Shah Zemaun, who, according to European notions, would have a claim to the succession prior to either Kamran or Shooja, have been apparently passed over by all parties, though the eldest of them, Mirza Kyser, bore a distinguished part in the transactions of the reign of Shooja, and would at least have the negative merit of not being personally obnoxious to the Afghans. The concluding remarks of Burnes on the political aspect of Afghanistan, derive additional value from having been written in 1834, at a period when little anticipation was entertained of the importance which that country would speedily assume in oriental relations after a summary of the present position of the different chiefs, he continues" it is evident, therefore, that the restoration of either Shooja or Kamran is an event of the most

improbable nature. The dynasty of the Suddozyes has passed away, unless it be propped up by foreign aid; and it would be impossible to reclaim the lost provinces of the empire, without a continuation of the same assistance.

It is more difficult to revive than to raise a dynasty: and in the common chain of events, if the country is to be ruled by another king, we must look for another family to establish its power in Cabul, and this in all probability will be the Barukzyes." The temper of the Afghan people, moreover, has been in all ages essentially republican; and though the genius of Ahmed Shah succeeded in uniting for a time all the clans under one su. preme head, the impatience with which the nobles bore the rule of his weak successors, proves that the original establishment of monarchical government was successful, solely through the personal qualifications of the founder, and the favourable opportu nity for asserting the national independence, which was presented by the death of Nadir Shah. The patriarchal sway, too, of the Barukzye chiefs, particularly of Dost Mohammed Khan, has endeared them to the people:the character of the last-named ruler is painted in the following colours, by Burnes, who had good opportunities of observing him:-" His justice affords a constant theme of praise to all classes: the peasant rejoices in the absence of tyranny, the citizen at the safety of his home, and the strict municipal regulations regarding weights and measures; the merchant at the equity of his decisions and the protection of his property, and the soldier at the regular manner in which his arrears are discharged. * The merchant may travel, without guard or protection, from one frontier to another-an unheard of circumstance in the times of the kings.' It can hardly be supposed, on consideration of all these circumstances, that a warlike and spirited people will tamely submit to receive, at the hands and for the purposes of a foreign power, a monarch whom they have already twice declared unworthy to reign, and whose only claim consists in such a degree of hereditary right as an elevation to the throne, of very recent date, may be supposed to have imparted to his family.

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The situation of Dost Mohammed and his brothers, pending the late occurrences in Khorassan, was sufficient. ly embarrassing. If Herat had submitted, or fallen after a short resistance, as was expected, its surrender would have been immediately followed by the irruption of Persian forces into Afghanistan, in pursuance of the object openly declared by the Shahthe re-conquest of all the provinces which had been subject to the Persian monarchy under the Soofavi kings. At the same time, the blood-feud of the Barukzye family with Kamran forbade the affording him aid against the common enemy: and in the event of Kamran repulsing the attack, it was probable that he might avail himself of the reputation for prowess thus acquired to collect to his standard the Western Afghans, and perhaps the Ghiljies (a race of Afghans distinct from, and often at variance with the Abdallis), and attempt the recovery of his father's kingdom-an intention which he is said by Lietenant Conolly, and other travellers, to have announced on more than one occasion. In this perplexing dilemma, and frustrated in the various attempts which he had made to gain our effective alliance, Dost Mohammed followed the only course which remained open to him, in breaking off his relations with us, and concluding a treaty, by the mediation of the Russian envoy, with the Shah, then encamped before Herat:his brother, the chief of Candahar (whose territory lay nearer the scene of action, and who had been engaged in hostilities with Kamran, previous to the appearance of the Persians), had anticipated him in this movement, having, as some reports state, joined the Persians with a convoy of a thousand camel-loads of provisions. As British influence is again in the ascendant at Teheran, we presume that the Shah will be required, as one of the preliminaries of reconciliation, to sacrifice this new ally, to whom, indeed, he is no longer in a condition to afford any effectual assistance :-and thus the chief of Cabul (between whom and his brothers of Candahar and Peshawar there exists much jealousy), will be left to resist single-handed the invasion of the English and Seiks on his eastern and southern frontier, and probably an attack from Kamran on the west. There can be little doubt but

that the first-named expedition (the English portion alone of which, exclusive of the Seik contingent, amounts to nearly 30,000 men, English and sepoys), will succeed in occupying, at least temporarily, Cabul and Candahar, and replacing Shah Shooja on the throne: but his rule can have but little chance of permanence, unless secured by the continued presence of a large subsidiary force; a measure to which Runjeet Singh, whose territory would then be nearly surrounded by British cantonments, will not be likely to assent:-and when once the invading troops are withdrawn, nothing but extensive support from the other Afghan chiefs, whom Shah Shooja is not likely to succeed in conciliating, can prevent Dost Mohammed, popular as he is described to be, from resuming his authority: and in this undertaking he would doubtless be supported by Russia, as it is confidently stated in the Supplement to the Asiatic Journal for December, that " a letter has been intercepted from the Emperor Nicholas to Dost Mohammed, offering him ample assistance of men and money on the part of the Russians, to sustain him in his conflict with the English. In this case, our occupation of Cabul will involve us in greater difficulties than the capture of Herat would have done, as it may bring the Russians, foiled in attempting to establish themselves, by force of arms, in Western Afghanistan, in immediate contact with the Punjab and our frontier.

It must also be remembered that in this proposed settlement of the country, the claims of Kamran, whose pretensions to the crown are at least equal to those of Shooja, have been altogether overlooked; his interests, in opposing the tide of Russo-Persian arms and intrigue, have hitherto been identical with our own; and he has done us good service in bearing the first brunt with a degree of gallantry and resolution of which his previous life had given no promise. Still the restoration of Shooja will be ineffectual for any purpose of our policy, unless Herat, which has been justly characterised as the gate of the road to Hindostan, he included in the limits of his kingdom; and this re-union, it is evident, can only be effected by wresting it forcibly from Kamran ; an enterprise, the success of which, from the strength and distant situation of

the city, can only be ensured by a disproportionate expenditure of blood and treasure; and which, whether successful or not, must attach to the British name such an ineffaceable stain of ingratitude and violence, as will be eagerly blazoned forth and disseminated throughout Asia by the emissaries of Russia. In every point of view, our future position in Afghanistan affords grounds for doubt and anxiety; our edifice of policy, if left to itself, will, in all probability, speedily fall to pieces; and, if we are to support it by quartering subsidiary troops in the country, such an extension of our vastly overgrown territory (for to this it will, in fact, amount), will be an evil scarcely less to be deprecated than the other alternative. Had the authorities in India inclined a favourable ear a very few years, or even months back, to the overtures of the different chiefs who were then well disposed to us, the necessity for our present arbitrary and precipitate measures would not have occurred; and a tenth of the sums which we have fruitlessly lavish ed on a faithless and fickle monarch in Persia, would have secured us honest and able allies in the immediate vicinity of our frontier. The whole story of our recent transactions in Afghanistan, indeed, cannot be more justly and concisely summed up than in the following pithy sentences of the United Service Journal:—“ Russia and Persia each sent an envoy to this ruler of Cabul. He implored our friendship, and a little money-we refused, and threatened him. Russia and Persia promised aid and money. He, of course, accepted their offers. Here was a gross political blunder, which, as usual, must be repaired at the point of the sword. A little aid would have relieved Herat, which was making so firm a resistance. The Afghan rulers were most desirous of our friendship, and the people, to a man, are inveterately opposed to their 'infidel' neighbours, as they style the Persians" (the Afghans being of the Sooni, or orthodox sect of Islam,-the Persians Sheahs, or heretics). "The dispositions both of prince and people were thus in our favour, while their country lines our entire frontier, intervening between us and our foes. £20,000 and fair words might have secured their co-operation and averted this crisis."

Our advance into Cabul will place us in a new position with reference to the Seik kingdom in the Punjab. It is well known that the Afghans regard their expulsion from that country, and the proscription of the Moslem faith in the territory where it was first planted in India by the swords of their ancestors, as both a national and religious disgrace: and the promise of support in attacking Runjeet Singh, was one of the principal incentives to the alliance which, unfortunately for himself, Dost Mohammed lately concluded with Persia. It might be anticipated that the security from aggression in this quarter, which our acquir ing a paramount influence in Afghanistan would afford him, would insure the hearty co-operation of the old "Lion of the Punjab" in our favour; but recent accounts from India state, that he has shown symptoms of pique and dissatisfaction at being assigned what he considers a secondary part in the campaign, and has in consequence broken off an interview which had been arranged between him and the Governor-general. His interest, however, coincides too nearly with our own in the present case, to admit of any serious misunderstanding arising: and the alliance will probably remain intact during his life-time: but his death, which, from his age and the ravages made in his constitution by excessive indulgence in spirits, cannot be far distant, will be the signal for a scene of anarchy and confusion of which our close neighbourhood will not permit us to remain indifferent spectators. Like Ahmed Shah Doorauni, Runjeet Singh has established an absolute monarchy on the ruins of a republic: but the revolution has extended to the religious as well as the civil administration: he has abolished the convocations, or national diets, at the holy city of Amritsir, thirty miles from Lahore, at which the affairs of the Seik nation were formerly discussed and settled, and destroyed every vestige of that liberty and equality on which the followers of Gooroo Govind used in former days to pride themselves. He has established a disciplined force of 25,000 infantry "fully equal," in the opinion of Burnes," to the troops of the Indian army," with a due proportion of regular cavalry, and a formidable train of one hundred and fifty pieces of artillery: but this system