The documents in this volume were brought together by me when I was Director of Records, Bombay Government. They have been buried in the archives of that Government or in old journals not easily accessible. To bring them to light and to preserve them "from the groody and devouring jaws of oblivion" is the object of this work. They have been printed, letter for lotter, exactly as they are in the original papers. Many words occur which are not easily accounted for, many names are spelt contrary to orthodox rules, many sentences war against the laws of grammar. It has been suggested that the text should be edited and the geographical information brought down to the present time. To alter the text would, however, destroy the old flavour of these travels and their main charm. It was proposed to give a list of errata, but after much labour it was abandoned as an impossible task. No two experts agreed as to what the list should contain. Under these circumstances, being but an amateur student of Central Asian geography, I sought the advice of Sir Thomas Holdich, one of the greatest living authorities on the subject, and he most kindly read the volume for me and came to the decision that it should be published exactly sa it has been printed. He writes: "I am glad to find that so useful a series is now put together under one cover. They are all of them most valuable, although there is hardly any part of the regions dealt with that has not been recently either explored thoroughly or actually surveyed." If the lands which these adventurous pioneers first opened have now become familiar fields of enterprise, the freshness of the tales of their exploits still remains, for they are as simple, strong and masculine as the great men who wrote them.
I have to thank Professor Margoliouth for having kindly read the proofs of the Introduction and for having provided me from his vast store of knowledge with notes essential to the quotations from some of the travels.
It affords me much pleasure to acknowledge the valuable assistance rendered me in the preparation of this volume by my former Head Assistant Mr. Balvant Mahadev whose labours as Custodian of the Bombay Records can only be appreciated by those who have seen their results, The introduction has no official character or authority.
The first record in these selections is an Itinerary from Yead to Herst and from Herit to Kabul eid Kandahar. In a letter, dated Kabul, 20th August 1839, Major Neil Campbell, Acting Quartermaster-General of the Army, requests the Secretary to the Bombay Government to submit to the Honourable the Governor in Council the journal of a ride from Yend to Herát and again from Herát to Kabul vid Kandahar. The journey, he informs us, was under taken in 1826 by a French Officer now in the Sikh service at the request, I believe, of Count Yermal, the Russian Governor of Georgia." The translation was made by Major Camp bell himself. The journal gives a graphic account of the places visited by the traveller, and though nearly eighty years have rolled on since it was written, the information has not been superseded by modern travellers, The second paper in the volume is the account of a journey made by Major D'Aray Todd from Simla to Herst in the year 1838. Major D'Aroy Todd accompanied John McNeill, the British Envoy at the Court of Persis, on the march to Horst from Tehrin. The object of the mission was to dissuade the Shah from continuing the siege of Herst. The story of that long siege is of perennial interest to Englishmen, because a single young British subaltern was the life and soul of the defence. Early in 1887, Eldred Pottinger, a Lieutenant in the Bombay Artillery, started in the disguise of a Cutch horse-dealer to explore the then unknown regions of Afghanistan. On roaching Kabul he determined to push through the wild mountainous country inhabited by fanatic hordes to Herst, the famous frontier city of Afghanistan. He assumed the disguise of a Syad or holy man from Hindustan, and, accompanied by a guide, started forth on his perilous venture. Through hardships and imprisonments, suspected of being an infidel (which if confirmed meant death), the valiant English lad held his way, and on the 18th of August he reached Herat. A month later the news came that the Shah of Persia acting under Russian influence was about to advance on Herit. The fall of that city, Pottin-ger saw, would be calamitous to the Afghan people and inimical to British interests. As an Artillery Officer he might be of service to the defenders. He therefore made himself known to the ruler of the state, Shah Muhammad, and his Vuzier Yar Muhammad, who saw the advantage of having the advice and assistance of a skilled English officer. The Persians invested Horát, and it was mainly due to the fortitude, ability and judgment of the young artillery officer that it did not fall into their hands. The siege had gone on for some weary month when the English Minister arrived in the Persian Camp. He at once sent Major Todd to negotiate with the Heratoes, and as it was the first time a British officer had appeared in Horst in full uniform, "a vast crowd went out to gaze at him. The tight fitting cost, the glittering epaulettes and the cooked-hat all excited unbounded admiration." The negotiations failed and Todd was sent by McNeill to convey despatches to the Governor-General and to inform him what was the actual state of affairs.
Hindu (935)
Agriculture (118)
Ancient (1086)
Archaeology (753)
Architecture (563)
Art & Culture (910)
Biography (702)
Buddhist (544)
Cookery (167)
Emperor & Queen (565)
Islam (242)
Jainism (307)
Literary (896)
Mahatma Gandhi (372)
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