Welsh Newspapers

Search 15 million Welsh newspaper articles

Hide Articles List

9 articles on this Page

A POVERTY-STRICKEN BOARD.

LONDON FOGS.

NEW COUNTY-COURT RULES.

THE PHIDIAS STATUE.

ATTEMPTED MURDER AT PESTff.

IAFGHANISTAN.

News
Cite
Share

AFGHANISTAN. THE EVACUATION OF CANDAHAR. With regard to the expected evacution of Oand ihar, the Times' correspondent in that city telegraphs :— The road to Cabul is already blocked by snow, and if, as 'i pretlicted by the weatherwise, we are to have a long and hard v inter, Abdurrahman's troops will hardly be able to get here before the middle of April in the event of it being decided to make Can- dahtir over to him. That would bring the heats of Id ay on the army before it could get to India —not a pleasant prospect. The assumption of power by Abdurrahman would be a still more risl;y ex- periment for himself. If he can spare 3,000 or 4,000 me. 1 and a dozen guns, he would, no doubt, lie able to hold Candahar for the time, and I do not believ°, as some do, that the extension of dominion would u < aken his hold on Cabul. But it is impossible to the fact that he has no partisans here, and that Avub K.ban will have the entire Durani nation with hun in the attack he is sure to make next July at ;thela.f..t. The residt would b3 another siege-on the hug list of sieges of Canrïabar, which would probably fall if not relieved from Qu-tU or Cabul —a t t.gher job than even on the last occasion. The other candidate, Avub Kh->n, as I anticipated, impio^ed his position by the execution of the Khan Ara, and the transfer of the Candahar to him could be ell cted without friction but the objections to this course are so many and obvious that it can oniy, I fear, be looked on as pis (dlcr. In any circnm- stances, anything like a peaceful solution "f tho Afghan question after our departure is looked on by the people as hopeless. The exAVali writes to his friends that he has re- ceived most kind and honourable treatment in India, and has 5,000 rupees a month allotted for his expendi- ture. Tho Calcutta correspondent of the same paper writes :— Tolerably full details have now been received re- garding the disturbance which occurred in Calmllast October. The excitement which then prevailed ap- pears to have been chiefly due to the intrigues of tic two widows of Ameer Shete Ali, namely, the mother of Yakub Khan and the mother of Ibrahim Khan. These ladies induced the Mollah Khalif, with several other m"lbhs and the principal Momund chiefs, to visit the city, nominally to pay their re- sp- cts to Abdurrahman, but really to agitate on be- half of Yakub. Incessant street tights occurred be- tween the retainers of these visitors and the Ameer's troops. The Ameer was then absent on an amour, and hence arose the rumour of his assassination. When matters a-sumed a serious aspect he returned to the Bala Hissar, but almost at the same time the arrival of Mahomed Jan with a large follow- ing gave fresh hopes to the Yakub faction. The excitement spread beyond the city, and the tribes on the Khyber route, especially the Shinwarris and the Khu,'ianis, took advantage of it to resume their practice of plundering travellers and stopping the road. Luckily for Abdurrahman, Mahomed Jan did not de- clare for Yakub, but waited on the Ameer, who gave him a friendly reception. This had the immediate effect of quieting the disturbance. Since then Cabul has been fairly peaceful, but no one can foretell what a day may bring forth, seeing that Mahomed Jan has not yet openly sided with either party and that the attitude of the principal tribes continues uncertain. The new arrangements with the Khyber Afridis have not been favourably received by the Indian public. It is generally considered to be a mistake to trust solely to these faithless hillmen for the safety of the pass, and a still greater mistake to leave intact the fortifications erected by us at Lundi Kotal and elsewhere, but the greatest blot on the arrange- ments is that they were concluded in the absence of the representatives of the Zakka Khel and Kuki Khel sections of the tribe. These hold the entire pass from Jamrud to Lundi Kotal, and are able to defy all the other sections combined. A correspondent at Lahore writes under date of the 14th nIt. :—We hear from Cabul a report that Abdurrahman has begged our Government not to relinquish Candahar for the present, as Ayub Khan is sure to seize on it the moment we leave, and then menace Cabul with invasion. The Ameer begs that we will at least retain our hold of the capital of southern Afghanistan until his hands are sufficiently strengthened to enable him to hold his own on our departure. There can be no doubt that, troubled though his kingdom be throughout its length and breadth with intrigues, every day that passes without seeing Abdurrahman's power at Cabul weakened will help to strengthen it. There has been much opposition to his rule among the Wardaks as well as among the Momunds; but the exodus of Musa J an and family to Herat will have tended to lessen apprehension from the former tribe, while so long as we hold Ali Musjid and Lundi Kotal the latter tribe will be sufficiently kept in check by the knowledge that in a few hours we could despatch a column to Dakka, exactly opposite, on the Cabul river, to their headquarters, Lalpura; Again, when we evacuate the Khyber, as it seems now decided we are to do, the Ameer may continue his hold on the same turbulent race by establishing garrisons at Jeltalabad and Dakka. With regard to the aban- donment of the Khyber, it appears that this event only awaits the completion of our understanding with the local tribes, and that arrangements are being made with these for holding the pass in our interest against all comers. This is to be an extension of the arrangement which worked so well under the agreement of Major Hastings with the Afridis when the second campaign was undertaken. The Khyder was then, and indeed until the termination of the war, the safest bit of road between Peshawur and Cabul. In return for a subsidy the Maliks are to guard the road, and to give us timely warning of any hostile movement on the part of outside clans. They will also be encouraged to keep the road in a good state of repair. Jamrud will probably be our outpost, instead of, as in former days, Peshawur. It is to be hoped the railway will soon be opened up to the former place whilst the garrison of the latter extremely unhealthy station need not be in- creased, as reinforcements could speedily be brought up in case of need from Rawul Pindi and Meanmeer.

AFFAIRS OF TURKEY. -

[No title]

Advertising