In spite of the excellent beginnings which had been made by Shir Ali, the condition of the army at the time of his accession placed a very heavy burden upon the shoulders of Abdur Rahman. Handicapped by internal dissensions, it was not until he had established as paramount his authority over the tribes that he was able to turn attention to the crude structure which had been built by his predecessor. Elaborating the handiwork of Shir Ali by many personal touches, he gradually shaped the whole system to his own mould. To every regiment of cavalry and infantry he attached complementary engineer, medical and commissariat details, so that each unit was complete in itself and independent of its brigade. In a measure and as the outcome of this initiative Abdur Rahman became the actual founder of the army of Afghanistan. Recognising the many deficiencies in the military system, he increased its potential significance by substituting for the old feudal levies one central army, paid, created and controlled directly by himself. With implacable severity he chastised his enemies, breaking up their powers of resistance and developing his own position, until the foundations of his earlier work became the permanent supports to a military autocracy. Regiment after regiment was added to the permanent strength of his military establishment as opportunity offered; while, in addition, 50,000 pack-mules and pack-ponies were set aside as a park of transport, and immense reserves of grain were stored in readiness at Herat, Kandahar and Kabul. Monthly pay-sheets were drawn up, by which generals of the first class received six hundred Kabuli rupees monthly, a brigadier two hundred and fifty, a colonel of cavalry two hundred, a major one hundred and twenty, captains of cavalry eighty, of infantry and artillery thirty, down to corporals of foot, who received ten rupees. The rank and file were paid partly in kind, a trooper getting sixteen rupees in cash and four rupees’ worth of grain, a private of foot five rupees in cash and three rupees’ worth of grain. Every regiment was to have a chaplain (_mullah_), a physician (_hakim_) and a surgeon (_yarrah_). To some extent bribery and corruption were suppressed. A corps of signallers was formed and a body of sappers and miners instructed in the art of entrenchment, bridge-building and road-making. Further, the gunners were taught the technique of their _matériel_, while the Kabul regiments were put through courses of musketry and the elemental mysteries of tactics and strategy were disclosed to their officers. [Illustration: INFANTRY IN PARADE STATE] So much was attempted by Abdur Rahman that he well may be forgiven for leaving to his successor execution of detail. Within a few months of his accession the strength of the army in Kabul, Kandahar, Herat and beyond the Hindu Kush consisted of 58,740 men with 182 guns. REGULARS.