In this case the men who were brought before the Amir, after undergoing the “fanah” torture, were hardly able to stand, and their feet were swathed in bandages and rags, and one of them fell in a faint while the examination was on, but the Amir said he was shamming, and told the guards with them to make him stand up; so they struck him savagely with the butt ends of their rifles, and kicked him back to consciousness, but he looked ghastly ill, and swayed about as he stood. Eventually, after the hearing of much contradictory evidence, several were ordered to be hanged, and the others to be imprisoned, pending decision as to their punishment. One of the condemned men stopped as he was being led away, and cursed the Amir, wishing him every evil he could think of; but the guards struck him across the mouth several times, and dragged him out. The Amir looked at the man with his teeth showing in the savage grin he had when angered, but, after a few moments, smiled and turned to me, and spoke on other matters, apparently having dismissed all thought of what had taken place from his mind. But to sentence a few men to death, and listen to their views on the matter as they were led away, was no new experience for the Amir. Many men cursed him as they were being executed, for one of the national traits of character is vindictiveness. CHAPTER X TORTURES AND METHODS OF EXECUTION Amir’s iron rule—Hanging by hair and skinning alive—Beating to death with sticks—Cutting men in pieces—Throwing down mountain-side—Starving to death in cages—Boiling woman to soup and man drinking it before execution—Punishment by exposure and starvation—Scaffold scenes—Burying alive—Throwing into soap boilers—Cutting off hands—Blinding—Tying to bent trees and disrupting—Blowing from guns—Hanging, etc. The Amir once told me, when speaking of the unruly character of the people, and the difficulty of making them, by the example of others who were punished, become peaceful and law-abiding, that he had ordered over a hundred thousand to be executed since the beginning of his reign, and that there were still others who thought they could set his laws at defiance. The Amir ruled his people with an iron hand, and, considering their character, such is necessary, if order is to be maintained. I was one day in durbar at the Bagh-i-bala palace, and one of the soldiers committed some offence, and was ordered to be brought in by the Amir, who inquired into the circumstances, and then instructed one of his officers to take the man down the hill adjoining the palace, and cut his throat there. This was done, and two little slave boys, who went with the executioners to see the tamasha, came back with white faces and trembling limbs. It was the first time they had seen such a sight, but those who were attached to the Amir’s court, were not long in his service before becoming used to happenings of this sort.