Cabool; A Personal Narrative of a Journey to, and Residence in that City, in the Years 1836, 7, and 8

by Alexander Burnes

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: the lowest and most unhealthy sites: the wells and water are generally fetid: there is also much stagnant water; and even in the winter the mists of the morning are disagreeable. One of our first visitors was the chief of the Jokeeas, Jam Mihr Alee, who had come from the hills west of Tatta, where his tribe leads a nomade life, to provide us with a guard. The Jam was a stout man of advanced age, with a beard dyed with henna?an uncouth being, who seemed mightily delighted at hearing from me a few words in bad Sindee. Although this was a Jokeea of rank, it will be seen he retained the Hindoo title of Jam. On his taking leave some medicines were given to him, which secured his good offices; and he shortly sent a dozen of his tribe to escort us. Wild and uncouth-looking and long-haired as they are, they are famed for their fidelity. In the portrait of Peroz I shall present the tribe better to my readers than by description. With his men the Jam sent a fine buck, slung across the saddle of one of his horsemen, and in return we gave him powder to continue his sporting avocations. The specimen which these Jokeeas shortly gave us of their ball practice left no favourable opinion of their skill. At ninety yards every one of them missed a bottle: the distance was lessened, but the result was the .'-ffrtf ttf- PEEROZ, A .lOKEEA'SOLDitR same; and then it was gravely discovered that the shots had been fired in the direction of Mecca, which rendered success impossible. The practice was continued from an opposite point of the compass, but with equally bad success. We were vastly amused at this trait of superstition, and at the crestfallen looks of the mountaineers, who had been boasting loudly of their skill; but all Sindians are given to gasconade: if a dozen people live together...

88 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1842

About the author

Captain Sir Alexander Burnes, FRS was a Scottish traveller and explorer who took part in The Great Game. He was nicknamed Bokhara Burnes for his role in establishing contact with and exploring Bukhara, which made his name. His memoir, Travels into Bokhara, was a bestseller when it was first published in 1835.

He advised Lord Auckland to support Dost Mohammed on the throne of Kabul, but the viceroy preferred to follow the opinion of Sir William Hay Macnaghten and reinstated Shah Shuja, thus leading to the disasters of the First Afghan War. On the restoration of Shah Shuja in 1839, Burnes became regular political agent at Kabul, where he was attacked by the mob and killed in 1841. His Cabool: Being a Personal Narrative of a Journey to, and Residence in that City was published posthumously in 1842.

Reviews

[Mansoor Azam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The travelogue is magnificent to say the least. Sir Alexander Burnes style of writing is luscious. from the start one really gets to know the lay of the land, its people, the politics, economics and the intrigues in the air. as an observer his reports on trade on Indus and state of Sikh empire must have done good to his masters. he did a god job on that account. but the moment he entered Afghanistan his vision eroded him. I ve a feeling that he relaxed and took things for granted in that very treacherous air of Cabool. and might that be the reason of his later down fall in the same place as well as of the British expeditionary force. Its a pity that it contains no entries of his second sojourn to the same place .

Overall a good account for any one who wants to read of these places and times ....

[Qb · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are some mistakes in my earliar review which happened to due to some problem with the website.Probably i cant edit my review.One word is missing from the body,Puhtun mainland besides others.The author is no doubt one of those gallant and daring British officers who later on came to be known as 'soldier sahibs',Sahib means officer or gentleman.They were the pioneers and harbingers of British regime in the indian subcontinent now called india and Pakistan.Afghanistan they tried to swallow a few times but ultimately had to get rid of it being un-governable by foreign peoples.The same is also true as of today.....I would like to be corrected in respect of these views by any goodreads friends.It will of good educational value for me.

[Qb · Rating 5 out of 5]

A master piece.