The Afghan War of 1879-80: Being a Complete Narrative of the Capture of Cabul, the Siege of Sherpur, the Battle of Ahmed Khel, the Brilliant March to Candahar, and the Defeat of Ayub Khan, with the Operations on the Helmund, and the Settlement with Abdur Rahman KhanHensman, Howard
History
The Afghan War of 1879-80: Being a Complete Narrative of the Capture of Cabul, the Siege of Sherpur, the Battle of Ahmed Khel, the Brilliant March to Candahar, and the Defeat of Ayub Khan, with the Operations on the Helmund, and the Settlement with Abdur Rahman Khan
in the living-room, and have near the bottom a small hole in which a
piece of rag is stuffed. This answers to the tap of a barrel, for when
the rag is withdrawn the grain pours out, and the daily supply can he
drawn just as we would draw a tankard of beer in an English farm-house.
Indian corn, from which rich _chupaties_ (unleavened cakes) are made, is
chiefly stored in this way, and near the bins stand the grinding-stones,
at which the women of the house prepare the flour for the household.
Generally an adjoining room is turned into a kitchen, the earthen floor
being skilfully burrowed to form ovens, and round holes cut out on which
to place the _dekchies_ which serve for Afghan pots and kettles. Such of
the rooms as I went into were dark and dirty enough, small square holes
in the walls serving as windows, and the roofs being made up of thick
logs laid a foot apart, and covered over with twigs, on which a foot of
mud had been plastered. The Sikhs fired house after house, and every
room was soon converted into a huge reverberating furnace, the fire
having no means of escape through the roofs, which were very strong.
Nearly all the houses were two-storied, with narrow wooden or mud
staircases, and many a sepoy in his haste first fired the lower rooms,
stored with wood or _bhoosa_, and then rushed upstairs intent on loot,
soon to be driven down again by the smoke and flames from below. The
search after household goods was varied by exciting chases after the
fowls, ducks, and donkeys of the village. Sikhs and _kahars_, who had
come up with the _dandies_ (stretchers for wounded men), scrambled over
housetops, and through blinding smoke, to capture the dearly-prized
_moorgie_, while below an unoffending donkey would be chased frantically
round awkward corners and over frozen watercourses, where pursuers and
pursued alike came to grief. A donkey when captured was laden with such
little loot as the men thought worth while carrying off. Each fowl had
its neck wrung on the spot, was thrown into a convenient bit of fire in
some blazing house, and having been singed clean of its feathers, was
cooked in a few minutes, and eaten with infinite enjoyment. The cavalry
were fortunate enough to secure fifty sheep and a few cows, which were
driven to camp. After two or three hours had been spent in firing the
various villages owned by Bahadur Khan, the order to fall in for the
homeward march was given, and leaving the valley draped in smoke and the
fire still working its will, the troops filed off for Maidan. They
reached camp by evening, having marched seventeen miles over difficult
ground and through half-frozen streams without mishap. As the rear-guard
left, a few men appeared on the heights of the north and fired a few
shots at long ranges, but these were merely in bravado.[27] We could
learn nothing of the body of tribesmen and the 200 sepoys, and it is
believed they have dispersed. The punishment of Bahadur Khan will have a
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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