The report of Alexander
Burnes about the Qizilbashes of Afghanistan
(No. 45.)
From
Captain Alexander Burnes, on a Mission to Cabool, to W.H. Macnaghten, Esq.,
Secretary to the Government of India, Fort William.
Sir,
I
have now the honour to report the result of my inquiries on the subject of
Persian influence in Cabool, and the exact power which the Kuzzilbash (or
Persian) party, resident in this city, exercise over the politics of
Affghanistan. Since any ascendancy on the part of Persia, or her allies in this
quarter, must either have its origin, or be chiefly brought about by means of
the Persian faction in the country, it becomes highly important to note the
history of these tribes, their rise, progress, and present condition.
2.
In the beginning of last century the feebleness of the Persian monarchy excited
the cupidity of the Afghans, who overran the fairer portion of that kingdom,
and possessed themselves of Ispahan. Their successes called forth the energies
of the great Nadir, who not only drove the Afghans from Persia, but annexed
against India, with an army of Persians and Afghans, sacked it, precisely and
hundred years ago. During these wars the conqueror deemed it politic to fix
some native tribes in the lands he had subdued, and to this policy we owe the
colony of Persians now settled in Cabool, which, when first located, amounted
to less than 2,000 families.
3.
The people composing it consist of three divisions: 1st, the
Juwansheer; 2nd, the Ufsheers; and 3rd, the
Mooradkhanees, the whole being designated by the general name of Goolam Khanee,
or Ghoolam i Shah, servants of the king. The Juwansheers are a clan of Toorks
from Sheeshu. There are various divisions included among them, such as the
Koort, the Shah Sumund, the Syah Munsoor, &c., and they form the principal
portion of the Kuzzilbashes. They consist 2,500 families, and occupy a separate
quarter of Cabool, called the Chandoul, which is surrounded by high walls.
Their chief is Khan Sheereen Khan. The Ufshurs are also Toorks, and of the
tribe to which Nadir himself belonged. There are 300 families of them who live
in a strong fort about three miles from Cabool, under Ghoolam Hoosein Khan. The
last division, the Moorad Khanee, is comprised of all the Persians who have
from time to time settled in this country. 1,500 families of them reside
together under Mihr Alli Khan and five other chiefs. Besides these, there are
700 others in the fort of the Byats, a division of the tribe under Mahomed
Khan. It will be thus seen that there are at this time 4,000 Kuzzilbash
families in Cabool, from which a force of from 4,000 to 5,000 men could be
levied on an emergency for the purposes of war. The number has been generally
considered greater than this detailed statement, but the whole of the Shiah
population in and about Cabool is then included in the calculation, and among
these the Huzaras would furnish twice as many men as the Persians.
4.
On Nadir Shah’s assassination, many of the Persians fled from Cabool to their
native country, but Ahmed Shah Dooranee, who succeeded to the authority of
Nadir, conciliated a portion of them whom he retained in his pay and found of
eminent service throughout his active reign, in which they became an organized
body, acting under a Khan who was directly responsible to the Shah, while the
Kuzzilbashes themselves only acknowledged their own chief. Matters seem to have
continued in this state for about 53 years, during which the Persians acquired
such power that the kings found it necessary to favour them by large
stipendiary allowances, granted, in some instances, even to minors; and, as the
Sudozye monarchy declined, their support became indispensable to the
Juwansheers was put to death, and from that time a want of confidence in the
kings of Cabool, on the part of the Kuzzelbashes, is to be traced till they
almost cease to appear as a body in the affairs of the state. The superior
intelligence possessed by all Persians readily befits them for employment among
the Afghans, and from war many became secretaries (Meerzas) and stewards
(nazirs) to the different chiefs; others took to agriculture and merchandise,
and some are at present shopkeepers in Cabool. It would at one time have been
dangerous to entertain any Persians without their Khan’s permission; but with the
loss of military employment, or rather withdrawal from it, their pay ceased,
and the growing wants of many drove them to the occupations which I have
stated, though a portion of them have always continued in the service of the
ruler of Cabool, as is the case at the present time.
5.
Since the whole of the Persians in Cabool are Shiahs, and the national
persuasion of the Afghans is Soonnee, the position of the Kuzzilbashes was full
of danger; it was at any time possible to turn political dispute into religious
difference, and there are various instances in the history of the Cabool
monarchy in which these have threatened their very existence. Of late these
fears have not been diminished, and since the overthrow of the monarchy the
walls which surround the Juwansheer quarter of the city have been heightened
and improved, and I observe alterations even since 1832. At one time they were
not afraid to live outside of the city, but common interest has now led the
whole of the Persians to congregate together as the best means of warding off
danger. They would have willingly left the city of Cabool and fixed themselves
at a distance, like the Ufshurs, in a detached fort; but this they have found
impossible, and their situation in the Chundool, or quarter of the Juwansheers,
is now so completely commanded that an infuriated population might readily
overpower them. The Persians themselves are therefore intently bent on adding
to their own strength by intrigues around them, and though their military
influence has declined, their power in this way is more considerable than
before; since every man of rank has Persians for his secretaries, and all the
home and foreign correspondence is in their hands, by which their influence
ramifies in every direction.
6.
The Persians of Cabool attached themselves to the vizier, Futteh Khan, and
fought against Persia in his Herat campaign. They have long sought for a master
who would consolidate them, as in former times, and they have, at times,
entered into correspondence with Shah Shooja, but they have especially attached
themselves to the vizier’s brother, the present ruler of Cabool, and with the
greater avidity, as his mother was of their tribe. Dost Mahomed Khan availed
himself to the fullest extent of their support, and it was long considered by
many that he was even favourable to Shiah doctrines; but he has either had the
discrimination to see that these would be fatal to supremacy among his
countrymen, or never in sincerity entertained them. This he proclaimed to the
world, when about four years ago he took the title of Ameer, which has
religious signification, and from that time the Kuzzilbashees have ceased to
centre their hopes in him. He himself has also withdrawn much of his confidence
from the party, reduced the number of those in his pay to about 1,000 or 1,200
persons, and part of their salaries he has retrenched. The headmen receive
about 58,000 rupees per annum, and the total derivable from to State by the
rest may amount to about a lac of rupees, each horseman receiving 84 rupees per
annum. Even in public he does not conceal his contempt for their creed: and,
what is perhaps more bitterly felt, his avowed opinions of their wanting
courage in the field, as exhibited in his campaigns with the ex-king at
Candahar, and lately at Peshawar. In the former instance, he is stated to have
placed Afghans on both flanks of the Kuzzilbashes, with secret instruction to
fire on them if they fled. At Peshawar it is very certain that the party were
backward in fighting; none of them were killed, and a piece of pleasantry is
attributed to the Ameer, who said that he never remembered a Kuzzilbash to have
fallen in his service. But Dost Mahomed Khan may have mistaken a want of
inclination originating from disappointed hopes for a want of courage. Certain
it is that of late he has sought to raise a body of regular troops, disciplined
by Europeans; but he has hitherto completely failed, and if he consulted his
interests he would seek no other support than that which he may command from
the hill people about Cabool and the native Afghan tribes, who do now serve,
and would willingly, on good pay, devote themselves to him. It would also
undoubtedly add to his strength if he drew, at the same time, the Kuzzilbashes
nearer to him; for, according to a profound political maxim, he should put it
out of these men’s power to injure, before he insults them, and they may
materially promote his fortunes.
7.
While Persian influence is thus declining, it appears a strange contradiction
to record that Dost Mahomed Khan has sought for alliance with Persia, as the
best means which occurred to him to support his power. He admitted into his
councils a native Persian of some talent but bad character, the Naib Abdool
Sumut, who has since been disgraced and fled to Persia, and the advice of this
man, with that of Mahomed Khan Byat, a Kuzzilbash, raised by him and much in
his confidence, as well as that of several interested persons, induced the
Ameer to seek for support from Persia, and with this has revived the hopes of
the Kuzzilbash faction, though their support would probably be directed, under
Persian influence, to a master who more appreciated them than Dost Mahomed
Khan. The whole party see, however, in the alliance certain benefit to their
own condition, and in consequence, do what in them lies to promote the
intercourse. It is thus that the Persian community in Cabool have viewed the
arrival of an agent of the British Government in this quarter with suspicion,
if not open dissatisfaction. They would cling to the British or any power which
supported them, but it is more natural that they first seek to attach
themselves to the country from which they originally spring, to which they are
allied by a common religion, more dear as it is rendered to them by impending
danger. The Shah of Persia has not been slow in responding to Dost Mahomed Khan’s
desire for an alliance; and elchee has been sent with robes and presents in
return, and is now at Candahar, but he has appeared at a time most unfavourable
to his master, when the attention of the British Government is directed to
Afghanistan, and which goes far to discredit him with all parties, and even to
damp the hopes of the Kuzzilbashes. It is even doubtful if he will advance to
Cabool, and it is certain if he does so, that any offer which he may make will
never be placed in the balance against those of the British Government. The
King of Persia desires to add Herat to his dominions, and the Chiefs of
Candahar and Cabool might certainly aid him in his designs, but the
probabilities of a return for such good offices are more dubious; and it is
this which inclines the Chiefs of Afghanistan, of Cabool in particular, to seek
to improve their intimacy with the British Government. It is nearer to them,
far more powerful than Persia, and with it a connexion would not be viewed by
the Afghan nation in the unfavourable light which an alliance with a Shiah or a
Hindoo power would certainly be in this Soonee country.
8.
It is well known here that the young King of Persia has turned his earnest
attention to Herat. The most outrageous conduct of the ruler and his minister,
in having sold into slavery the greater part, or if not the whole Shiah
population of the city, would justify any attack on the part of Persia, but I
doubt the ability of that power, single-handed, to attack Herat. If she succeeds
in humbling Kamran without the co-operation of the Afghan Chief, it must be through
the influence of Russia, by whose counsels there can be very little doubt she
is directed to Herat. Persia itself, as I have observed, has grounds for
provocation, but I find Russia is not the less interested, and that she directs
her attention to Herat to improve her commerce with Toorkistan, and her
position in the East generally; and, it is seen, has not been dilatory in
availing herself of the openings lately given by messengers from the Afghan
Chiefs to the Shah, by whom her ambassador at Tehran transmitted
communications. I shall reserve what I have to say regarding the commercial
views of Russia in that quarter for an early and more fitting opportunity, when
I come to that portion of my instructions which directs me to report on the
measures adopted by that power to extend her commerce and influence in Central
Asia.
9.
In this country, however, the chiefs will have little mercy to except from a
King of Persia, if his influence extends to Herat, and the less so if it has
been established without any co-operation from them. It has been seen, too,
from the state of the Kuzzilbash faction, which has been described, that they
afford at all times facilities for intriguing in Cabool, and with a Persian
power so near as Herat, of a nature that may soon become dangerous. The only
counterpoise to it that could benefit British interests in this quarter, would
spring from the favour than they now enjoy, which, since they cannot be removed
from his country, would be a sound and safe policy. By pursuing it he might,
perhaps, contrive to live on friendly terms with Persia, and since the party is
too weak would to be turned against the native Afghan tribes, their jealousy
and their fear would be alike allayed. If, on the other hand, Persian influence
is allowed to be established in this country, that of Russia must follow;
should the attempt of Persia prove unsuccessful, we may look for some such fate
to the Kuzzilbashes in Cabool as befell the Janissaries under the Sultan
Mahomed, only that it will be more certain; since those soldiers held a power
in the Ottoman empire, which was never enjoyed by the Persians in this kingdom.
I have,
&c.
(signed)
Alex. Burnes,
Cabool,
14 October 1837. On a Mission to Cabool.
(True
copy.)
(signed)
H. Torrens,
Deputy
Secretary to the Government of India, with the Governor General.
East India (Cabul and Afghanistan) (1859)
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