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
From the 28th of October until his departure for India this morning,
Yakub Khan had been a close prisoner in our camp, the tent in which he
was confined being always strongly guarded, and no one beyond our own
officers being allowed access to him. The monotony and solitude have
told upon him, of course, and he is now thinner and more worn than when
he first took refuge with General Baker at Kushi. Before the closing day
of the inquiry he was contented and placid enough; but of late he has
displayed some anxiety as to his probable fate, the irksomeness of the
restraint under which he was placed having, no doubt, largely
contributed to this. He could hear all the busy life in camp about him,
but was as much shut out from it as if a prisoner again in the Bala
Hissar. The bayonets of the sentries who quartered the ground day and
night about his tent were a barrier beyond which he could not pass. The
departure for India, Malta, or London, which he had expressed himself so
willing to undertake nearly two months ago, must have seemed to him
hopeless, even so late as six o’clock last night, when Major Hastings,
Chief Political Officer, paid his usual visit to the tent, then guarded
by fifty men of the 72nd Highlanders. Major Hastings said nothing of the
orders which had been received from the Government, as it had been
resolved to give as short a notice as possible of the intended journey,
for fear of complications on the road to Peshawur. Not that it was at
all likely an effort would be made to rouse the tribes to attempt a
rescue, but that nothing was to be gained by an open parade of the
departure. At eight o’clock Major Hastings sent word to Yakub Khan that
he intended paying him a second visit; and, accompanied by Mr. H. M.
Durand, Political Secretary to the Lieutenant-General, he again went to
the tent. Yakub Khan was a little astonished at the unusual hour chosen
for the visit; but when told that he would have to leave Cabul for India
at six o’clock the next morning, he kept his composure admirably. He
expressed surprise that such short notice should be given, but beyond
this did not question the arrangements. He asked that his father-in-law,
Yahiya Khan, and two other sirdars now in confinement should be released
and allowed to accompany him. This, of course, could not be granted, and
he then asked to what place in India he was to be taken, and where the
Viceroy was. This was all the concern he showed. The orders received
here are to convey him safely to Peshawur; so but little information as
to his final resting-place could be vouchsafed him. I may here
incidentally mention that he will probably go on to Umritsar or Lahore,
where, perhaps, the decision of the Government will be made known to
him.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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