At the Court of the Amîr: A NarrativeGray, John Alfred
History
At the Court of the Amîr: A Narrative
Gray, John Alfred
'Abd al-Rahman Khan, Amir of Afghanistan, -1901; Afghanistan -- History
He told me that both coal and iron had been found in the country, and
he said that it was his intention soon to visit England himself. He
referred to the death of Prince Albert Victor, and spoke highly of him,
and I remember he told me an anecdote in the life of the Prince. He
spoke some little time on other matters, and then tea and cigarettes
were brought. There had been no one in the room with His Highness
during the interview, except myself, the Armenian, and one of the
Page boys. After being with His Highness four or five hours, I asked
permission to withdraw, and then visited Malek, the Page, who was ill.
He seemed very pleased to see me.
The next day, Tuesday, was a military Durbar, and I visited His
Highness again, taking with me the rifles I had brought, as I wished to
present them to him. His Highness received me kindly, and accepted the
present I laid before him. I had also brought for Prince Habibullah a
plumed helmet, such as an officer in India would wear. The Prince was
at the Durbar, and His Highness, after examining the helmet, kindly
allowed me to present it to the Prince.
There were a great many of the Afghan military officers present:
they were seated along the side of the room, and among them was the
new British Agent, the Sirdar Mahomed Afzal Khan. The former agent,
Colonel Attaullah Khan, having been long a resident at the Amîr’s
Court, had withdrawn. Lunch was served, and at five o’clock I came away.
The next day the fast of Ramazàn commenced, and I got to work at the
Hospital.
A few days afterwards I rode out to the country house where Her
Highness, the Sultana, was living, and sent in my salaams with a
present of silks and so on that I had brought for her and the little
Prince Mahomed Omer. A kind message was received in reply, and after
the usual tea, cigarettes, and sweets, I rode back to Kabul.
[Sidenote: Salaam to the Prince.]
A day or two afterwards, I paid a formal visit to Prince Habibullah. He
was living in the bungalow of the Bâbur Gardens.
It was a pretty garden with fountains, flowers and trees, situated
on the slope of the mountains outside Kabul, in a sort of natural
concavity in the hills.
The Prince received me most kindly, and talked for some time, asking
me many questions about London. He desired me also to paint another
portrait of himself; which, by the way, I never had the opportunity of
doing.
One afternoon in the next week I again visited His Highness, the Amîr,
taking with me the letter of the lady missionary who desired to enter
the Amîr’s service.
While I was waiting in the great hall, smoking cigarettes, my old
friend, General Nassir Khan, came and chatted with me, saying how
pleased he was to see me back again. Another friend also came and
spoke to me, the Brigadier Hadji Gul Khan. I do not know if he was as
pleased to see me as the General, for he had been living in my house
while I was in London, and had to turn out when I came back; however,
he expressed himself as delighted.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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