ORIGIN OF THE WAR IN AFFGHANISTAN.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume I, Issue 47, 28 January 1843, Page 188

ORIGIN OF THE WAR IN AFFGHANISTAN.

Amongst other letters from India just received, which throw light more or less upon the state of affairs there, and the occurrences which brought matters in Cabul to such a melancholy pass, one of an extremely singular character may be mentioned, which, from its curious details, is really worthy of attention, more especially as the lady writer asserts that the facts may be relied upon, and are well known in the uigher circles in India. It would seem, according to this statement, that woman, the 'fcause of all man's woe," was the cause (in perfect innocence, however) of the late disasters in Affghanistan. The story runs thus : — Some time after the arrival of Lady Macnaughten in Cabul, to join her husband, Sir William, he received the news of his appointment as Governor of Bombay. When considering the necessary arrangements for proceeding to take possession of his government, Sir William, of course, could not but look to the safety of his journey and the comforts of his lady and the other officers' ladies who proposed to accompany her. At that time the passes through the Ghilzie territory, through which lay the route, were still infested and rendered dangerous by the unruly tribes inhabiting them. Previously, in order to restore tranquillity and insure order among those tribes, Sir William Macnaughten, on concluding a treaty with the chiefs, had taken the precaution of making the condition that some of the influential among them should take up their residence at Cabul, so as to be tinder the surveillance of the British authorities. The ladies proposing to accompany Sir "William to Bombay, well aware of the troubled state of the Ghilzie distiicts in the mountain passes, expressed naturally great anxiety about the perils of the passage, and in fact a disinclination to proceed without the best security for safety. In consequence, as the most ready means, Sir William summoned the Ghilzie chiefs in Cabul to a conference, at which he intimated to them his desire, equivalent to c command, that they should accompany his party through the unruly districts, 6O as by their presence and influence to secure the peaceful behaviour of their tribes. On retiring from the conference, the Ghilzie chiefs held a parley amongst themselves, and expressed their distrust of the proposition as being a snare for carrying them off prisoners, and confining them in Hindostan, as was the case with the Kakeer chief, Hadji Khan. They formed the resolution, in consequence, not to proceed with Sir William ; but, as disobedience would, of course, subject them to punishment, they resolved, also, as the only way to escape the alternative, to raise an insurrection, the plan of which was formed on the spot; and this was to attack the residence of Sit Alexander Btu-uet, as the 'more formidable party they had to deal with, and to plunder the treasury, which, strange enough, was held in the next house to his, and unguarded. Sir Alexander Burnes murdered, the treasury plundered, the population, already discontented, rose as one man to support this improvised insurrection.

The result is known. At the news, every district, valley, and hamlet in Cabul poured forth its man and horse, contributed its sword and' musket, to join in the plunder of Cabul and the expulsion of the Feringhees. The moral to be drawn from this lesson (for the facts can hardly be doubted) would seem to point to the impolicy and inexpediency of permitting the accompaniment of the wives or other female relatives of officers in an expeditionary force, not destined for the permanent occupation of a conquered country. — English paper.