'Report of Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Edward Stewart, Bengal Staff Corps, on Special Duty on the Perso-Afghan Frontier.' [‎126v] (8/80)

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., rt f wplrnme. They came out about three miles to meet me. Amongst the
or pait} , |‘i n of the Hindu traders settled at Khat.
horsemen was the headma , * 1()Irie8 were ma de that a house could not he pro.
• , 717m,-. thai day I was asked to sleep one night at a yillage about a mile and a
halnrom The town! m enable a house to be prepared for me. On the 21st I rode mto
if i f ■« dmilar narty of horsemen being sent out to meet me, and all the Hindu traders
fettled in Kha faying also corne out to welcome me. I was conducted to the quarters
provided for me, which were the best the town could furmsh, though they were really
P icueh They consisted of three small rooms built round a courtyard. One
i g A /» A r. rv^r- fltfi Iritntmn Npvt dnnr
roomTvas for myseYf, nnotheVVor m'y servants, and a third for the kitchen. Next door
there was an immense palace of a place, mostly >“ bu,lt n ^? U "f Y
courtyard, and with a large tank for water m the middle.
This great half-ruined
building was also at my disposal, if I could have used it, but I only used two rooms,
one of which had formerly been a prison, as stables. The room I myself occupied was
a mere open shed, the front being filled in with open lattice work, closed by wooden
shutters There was no glass in the windows, and if I wanted light 1 had to open the
wooden shutters and sit by the open window. It was rather trying in the winter
which was considerably colder than an English winter. But Dervish Aly Khan had
given me the best place he had, and was most civil. I sent to ask what time I should
call upon him, he answered that he wished to visit me first. He came about an
hour after my arrival, accompanied by his elder brother, Luti Aly Khan, who had come
from Nasrabad and was on a visit. Dervish Aly Khan is the Chief of the Peisian
branch of the Timuri tribe, and is Governor of the Khaf district. He is a most in
telligent man, knows something about Europe generally, and a-great deal about
Russia. He one day told me the story of Peter the Great, and his travels in search
of instruction in England and other countries. After staying about an hour they went
away. I found that the family of Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Ayub Khan, consisting of two wives, was
here, having fled from Herat when it was occupied by Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Abdul Kudus Khan.
Ayub Khan himself was at Gazik, in the Kaian district of Persia. He had with him
about a thousand of his most faithful followers, almost all horsemen, and more of his
followers were scattered about the Perso-Afghan, border. Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Hashim Khan, with
the wife and daughter of Amir Shere Aly Khan, was also with him, as also a young
son of Shere Aly Khan, named Abdul Raman Jan. Dervish Aly Khan was very
anxious that Ayub Khan and his followers should not come to Khaf, as they were a
very turbulent set, and the beaten Afghan army was very unruly and hard to keep in
any sort of order. Also, if Ayub Khan should come, Dervish Aly Khan would have to
feed him and all his followers gratis for at least two or three days, costing a con
siderable sum of money, which he could ill afford. He had to make a large present to
Mirza Husain Khan Sipah Salar, G.C.S.I., as an offering to that individual on his
being appointed Governor General of Khurasan, and had not much to spare, as Khaf
is a poor district and the revenue assessment very high.
Dervish Aly Khan sent a messenger to me to tell me privately that he had sent out
horsemen to watch Ayub Khan’s movements, and that when Ayub Khan approached
he would leave the town on a shooting excursion, and asked me to accompany him,
as he was anxious lest any evil should befall me during his absence, from the
unruly followers of Ayub Khan. He warned me the last time I saw him that there
would be, he considered, a good deal of risk in my remaining in the town during his
absence, as Khaf has no garrison of Persian troops, beyond a small number of mounted
militia. I was very unwilling to leave the town, but considered I was bound to accept
the warning given me by Dervish Aly Khari, and not to increase his difficulties,
which were already considerable, by insisting upon staying in the town during Avub
Khan’s visit. " ° *
About 40 of Ayub Khan’s followers were already here, in attendance upon his
wives, and these men we.e very angry because Dervish Aly Khan gave me the best
place he had turning Ayub Khan’s wives into another house to make room for me.
On the Hth December Dervish Aly Khan and I proceeded to a village called Mangab,
weT e;t i"l /r OI ?r K,,a . f ’.° n Sh00ting excur3iori - Thi s place was nearly as
wen situated as Khaf for getting information, while it had the advantage of not being
nfested by a large body of defeated Afghan soldiers. In this village the Khan had
built himself a very nice upper-storied house, which we occupied, but as the doors and
windows had not yet been put m, and the weather was bitterly cold, with a sharp frost
our quarters were not luxurious. Dervish Aly Khan, however, did all in his power to
ma„e my stay with him pleasant, and furnished me with all the information he