THE GATE OF AFGHANISTAN.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 115, 12 June 1909, Page 4

THE GATE OF AFGHANISTAN.

4 LIT™-: HISTORY OF THE KHYBER PASS. There must lie some very grave reason . lor closing the Khyber Pass to caravans, for it is the chief trade route between India ami Afghanistan, and its closure for any length of time will paralyse trade between the two countries. The history of the Khyber Pass is practically the story of Anglo-Afghan relations," and it has been the scene of some of the most thrilling scenes in the .history ol the Britiah Empire, i We commenced our serious interference in Afghanistan aiiout eighty years ago, when we took Shah Sujah under out wing. Almost immediately the Khyber tribes began to give trouble, they were dissatisfied with the amount of annual blackmail paid them for the right of way through the 'Pass. It appeared that when the Shah was a fugitive they .had concealed and protected him, and in return he promised them a subsidy. Their demands not being satisfied, the tribes rose, and there was a good deal of fighting round AH Jlusjid, a fort that was regarded las the key of the gloomy defile. From that time onward it is a tale of British political missions, (murder, guerilla warfare, and punitive expeditions.

By the end of 1841 the British occupation of Afghanistan had resulted in the murder of Sir Alexander Burnes, Sir William Macnulighten, and a number of other British officials. It was decided that the country must be evacuated.

The evacuation began on a dreary win tcr morning in January, 1*42. The snov. lay deep on'the ground when the troops, with their .wives and children, set off on their journey.

It was rclnted afterwards that the Afghan chiefs had sworn to annihilate every soldier of the British army with the exception of one who was to be spared that he might tell the story of the massacre of all .his comrades. The oath was fulfilled with relentless' fidelity. Of nearly four thousand soldiers and twelve thousand camp .followers, only Dr. Brydone and four or five natives escaped massacre.

The details of the retreat are horrifying. Baggage abandoned to the pursuing Afghans; soldiers slaughtered ami plundered as they fell from the ranks; babies deserted in the snow by their mothers, themselves dying. Relief expeditions were sent from India across the KJvyber. That led by Wild, owing to the desertion of some of his native troops, failed to cross the pass, and it was not until April that Sir George Pollock forced his way across at the head of a British force, defeated the Afghans, and rescued Lady Sale and others who had been kept prisoners in i Kabul.

After inflicting punishment on the Arghans, General Pollock again left Afghanistan to its fate. During the years that followed, Russian agents {began to have too much influence in the country, and it was decided, to send another British mission to tin* Ameer. Sir Neville Clianruerlnin started from Peshawur, but halfway across the Pass, lat the fort of Ali' Musjid, lie was stopped and compelled to retire. A few months later he attacked and occupied the fort. Then he marched into Afghanistan.

A treaty was made with the Afghans in May, 187'J, and in June Chamberlain and his army retired. Next mouth Sir Louis Cavagn-iri and a British escort were honorably received at Kabul, but by the middle of August the mission had been massacred.

Punishment was again inflicted, and the British took possession of the Pass. But to this dav those who use the Pass in travelling between India and Afghanistan are at the mercy of innumerable

warlike hill tribes. The Viceroy, Lord Ldnsdowne, rode through the Pass in 188!); and in the following year it was visited bv Prince Albert Victor of Wales (the late Duke of Clarence). The last Royal visitors to the Pass were the Duke and Duches's Of Connaught— Pearson's Weekly.