Rebellion of Mohammad Yaqub Khan [‎179v] (48/174)

90
ARMY ORGANIZATION.
[ 1870-71.
415. On the 8th July the agent wrote that the Ameer was engaged in
compiling a manual on platoon exercise in Pushtoo, and an army list; on
the 18th July 1870, that he was following up this work by a manual on
artillery, and that he was also training, himself, a company of infantry.
416. On the 17th June 1870 he wrote that uniforms had been prepared
and distributed to one infantry and one cavalry regiment, and one battery
of artillery, and that more were being prepared.
416A. On the 23rd March the Ameer wrote to the Commissioner of
Peshawur saying that he was deputing two of his blacksmiths to Pesbawur
with a view of learning all the particulars of the construction and use of an
Armstrong gun, and that he biped this object would be facilitated. And Govern
ment, by letter of 22nd April, gave the Commissioner authority to do this.
417. On the 30th June the agent wrote that the Ameer had directed the
gun-makers of Cabul to make a battery of mule guns, and one of very light
Armstrong guns. On the 18th July he sent Meer Akhor Ahmed, the Governor
of Jellalabad, to Peshawur, to fetch the sample Armstrong shells given by the
British Government.
418. On the 5th ilugust he sent Gholam
* Diary ending 8th August 1870. HuSSUn K^han to Peshawur to buy^—
“ (1.)—Rifles of three grooves [seh ruJcha) used in infantry regiments,—1,200.
“ (2.)—Cavalry regiment three-grooved guns or carbines,—1,200.
“ (3.)—Pistols with nipples (i. e., percussions),—1,000 pairs.
ff (4.)—Percussion caps, one crore Equivalent to ten million, or one hundred lakhs. Used especially in connection with money (rupees). , equal to ten millions.
“ (5.) „ „ for six and three-pounder Armstrong guns, one lakh One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees .”
On learning of the Ameer’s wants, the Government of India, after ascer
taining what arms could be spared from the Peshawur Arsenal, authorized the
Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab by telegram of the 27th August to make
a present to the Ameer of 1,200 two-grooved Brunswick rifles, 1,200 three-
grooved carbines, 3,000 smooth-bore pistol, 50,000 friction tubes, for shells,
and 10 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees percussion caps. [S. M. Nos. 34-44.]
In the diary of the 5th January 1871 there is the following entry:
The Naib Oommander-in-Chief has reported to the Ameer that the one thousand cavalry
carbines procured last year from the workmen of Peshawur at a cost of ten thousand Rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf.
have not been prepared according to the specimen given to* them, and many of them have burst
at time of discharge. His Highness having sent the above report to the Agency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, headed by an agent. Office, with
a view to its being sent to Peshawur, to the Commissioner and Superintendent, for disposal by
hand of one Azeezoolla Khan, the said report has this day been forwarded to Colonel Pollock
for adjustment of the matter.”
419. On the 8th August 3870—
“ ^The Ameer held a review of five cavalry regiments who have lately received uniforms
* Diary ending 8tli August 1870 . an(J arm ^ as wel1 as °f a battery of artillery, m
the plain of Beenee Hissar. The review was
not successful, as there is no officer who could manoeuvre them properly. The guns were, how
ever, well worked, as, with few exceptions, all shots hit the proper mark.”
On the 21st March* 1871 the Ameer tried the Armstrong guns prepared
* Diary ending 23rd March. at ^Ut finding that “ Smoke Came
from them from the breech” ordered
thdr amendment. This ivas apparently successfully effected, for on the 30th
Maich three of these guns were tried again, and threw shells a great distance,
“without any escape of smoke at the breech.”
On the same day the agent wrote, that the regular troops in Cahul had
received eleven months pay for the last year, and now found ground for grum
bling in the fact that one month’s pay had been deducted on account of the
cost of their uniforms.