NARRATIVE OF VARIOUS JOURNEYS IN BALOCHISTAN, AFGHANISTAN, AND THE PANJAB 1826-1838 by Charles Masson
Volume 3 [146 of 332]
CHAPTER IX [9 of 11]
Immediately after the arrival of the Nawāb Jabār Khān, and the capture of Jelālabād, I directed my attention to the topes of Darūnta, and was engaged in their examination until the Nawāb Jabār Khān earnestly requested me to accompany his son, Abdūl Ghīās Khān, who it appeared was destined to be sent to India to receive an English education. I had much rather the request had not been made, yet knew not how to evade it, and consented to accompany the youth to Peshāwer at all events, and to Lahore, if necessary. I was soon informed that Dost Māhomed Khān by no means approved of the mission of Abdūl Ghīās Khān, if on no other account, that he beheld his brother, the nawāb, with jealousy, and disliked that he should form any connexion, however faint, with the British, or any other government. On the other hand, it need not be supposed that the nawāb had any but interested political motives in forwarding his son at the present conjuncture, when the interests of the family were threatened by Shāh Sūjāh al Mūlkh, who, it was generally believed, was supported by the British government. In his most extravagant expectations the nawāb had been encouraged by the British agent, Saiyad Karamat Alī, with whom the scheme of sending Abdūl Ghīās Khān originated. Through the medium of the saiyad also, he corresponded with the shah, being fearful in such a matter to confide to his own mīrzas. Dost Māhomed Khān would probably have detained the youth, nor have permitted him to proceed, but the nawāb delayed his departure until the time arrived when Dost Māhomed Khān was compelled, by the events transpiring at Kāndahār, to return towards Kābal, when Abdūl Ghīās Khān was sent for from Tātang, and secretly placed on a raft and floated down the river to Peshāwer, his horses and attendants being to follow him. I could not retract my promise, and in a few days started from Tātang, with a formidable cavalcade, the retinue of the young lad, for Peshāwer. The first march we made to Alī Bāghān, six cosses east of Jelālabād, and the second took us to Bāssowal. On the third we reached Daka at the eastern termination of the Jelālabād valley. Here, on the Momands claiming the customary passage-fees, the nawāb’s people talked largely, and refused to pay them. Some altercation followed, but at length it was conceded by the claimants, that as the nawāb’s people were Mūssulmāns as well as belonging to the nawāb, the fees should be remitted, and that I should be considered in the light of a guest, and not asked to pay anything, but that two or three Hindūs of the party must pay the usual sums, as they no farther belonged to us than as being in our company. The nawāb’s people refused to allow the Hindūs to be taxed, and on my professing willingness to pay for the men and for myself, horses and servants, according to custom, I was entreated not to mention such a thing, as it would be derogatory to the nawāb. The Momands then offered to commute the matter by acceptance of a sheep; but this in like manner was refused; when they waxed sore, and insisted on the payment of full fees. Many of them congregated, and but for the nāzir of Sādat Khān, who happened to be with them, we should all have been plundered, if not worse treated during the night. In the morning fresh debates ensued, and it was finally settled to refer the business to Sādat Khān himself, who we found was at Shelmān, a spot in the hills. My mīrza was sent as agent to our party, being personally known to the khān. On his return he reported, that Sādat Khān, after cursing Dost Māhomed Khān and the nawāb, affirmed that he could not interfere with the claims of his ūlūs, or tribe, but that he remitted his own share in the fees, or one-third. The nawāb’s people, I thought, were, very rightly served; but now there was another evil, for it proved they had no money to pay the fees, and after all they were compelled to draw on my funds. Sādat Khān had sent a very civil message to me, and requested me to wear country clothes, as my mīrza had told him I was clad, in European costume. The next morning, we marched for Shelmān, and, after passing Dāka Khūrd, commenced the ascent of a high and difficult pass. We had nearly reached the summit when a host of fire-lock men came with rapidity down the steep sides of the hill. It was Sādat Khān and his followers. I had a few minutes conversation with the khān, and while complaining of the losses Dost Māhomed Khān had inflicted upon him on the capture of Jelālabād, he consoled himself with the notion that if defeated by Shāh Sūjāh al Mūlkh, his rāh gūrēz, or the road by which he would fly, might bring him to the Momand hills, when he would retaliate upon him and remunerate himself. Sādat Khān was a man of very good address, and is a very respectable chief, contriving to keep a turbulent tribe in excellent order. Sādat Khān is now a fugitive, and rebel. I know not the causes leading to a result, which I may, however, regret, because I feel assured that nothing but ignorance and unfair treatment could have made him so. When I left Peshāwer, in 1838, he was aware of the intended restoration of Shāh Sūjāh al Mūlkh, expressed his satisfaction, and his readiness to aid in the views of the Indian government, and that he did not want money. Khān Bahādar Khān of Khaibar, and other chiefs of the neighbourhood, said the same thing, We want no money. It would not surprise me if more had been required of Sādat Khān than ought to have been, and that he has been punished to conceal the weakness and ill-judgment of others. I have heard as much from a Sadū Zai prince engaged in the transactions of that period. If unfortunate for Sādat Khān, it is no less so for his tribe, and for those who pass through their country, for never was tribe or country kept in better order than by him. Tūrabāz Khān, the nominee of the British, is a good man, and services he may have rendered deserve requital, but his supporters cannot give him ability or conduct, and both are required in the chief of a powerful ūlūs, and were possessed by Sādat Khān.