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9. ATMARĀN, HINDOO, PRIME MINISTER OF KOONDOOZ.
IN September, 1841, I was engaged in sketching Caubul from a Fukeer’s Zearrut (a place of pilgrimage) , situate on a low range of hills called Seeah Sung(black rock) , half a mile east of the city, when I received a note from my friend Sir Alexander Burnes, requesting me to prepare myself for a visit from no less a person than the Prime Minister of Meer Mooraud Beg, Ruler of Koondooz. I had scarcely read it, when I observed a train of Oosbeg horse, preceded by a bright scarlet object on a milk-white mule, threading their way through the winding roads and thickly-wooded orchards which lay between the temple and the city. Descending from the richly-ornamented saddle, and stumping up the rickety stairs, which made the boards resound with the clatter of his own and his attendants’ ironshod boots, like the noise of a grimalkin host in walnut-shells, the great man stood before me. After the usual salutations, and the Maunda na baushee (May you not be tired), on my part, and his return compliment of Zinda baushee ( May you live long) , his Excellency arranged himself for a sitting. He was splendidly attired, with a magnificent white cashmere wound round his pointed silken skull-cap, ending in the true Oosbeg tie under the left ear. His portly person was enveloped in several Choghahs (pelisses), of which the inner ones were of striped and mottled silks; but the outer one, which in its brilliancy might have shamed the sun, was of the richest scarlet English broadcloth, decorated with frogs and tassels of pure gold down the front, and covered from collar to skirt with one entire sheet of massive golden broidery of shawl patterns. His legs were encased in the boots peculiar to the Oosbeg, and elsewhere described, into which his nether garments were stowed away. He was a sly-looking old fellow, his countenance beaming with cunning and intellectual fire; and his small eye, ever restless and observant, was rendered even more than usually piercing by the abundant application of antimony by which it was encircled, and by the bright red paint which, smeared horse-shoe shape down his wrinkled forehead, denoted his caste and family. But for that last addition, who could have distinguished a Hindoo, in the strictly Mahomedan attire, the long moustaches, and grisly uncut beard of the Minister?
Atmarān was a Hindoo of Peshawur, of the lowest origin; but by his talents and skill he obtained such a footing at the Court of Mooraud Beg, Meer or Prince of Koondooz, as to become sole manager of his Highness’s government and possessions, with the title of Dewaun Begee ( Minister of Lords, or Prime Minister) . He possesses immense influence, owing to the policy he pursuers, and was the means of rescuing Sir Alexander Burnes from imprisonment, if not death, during that much-lamented officer’s travels into Bokhara, in 1831. He was the kind friend of Moorcroft and Trebeck, whose death had been determined on by the same chief, and from whose hands they escaped only to meet with disappointments and treachery from the hordes of barbarians around them. Added to this, they were poisoned by a noxious climate, cut off from all hope of return, and, drooping, died of fever in 1824. The late Dr Lord also, in 1837, acknowledged receiving the most valuable assistance, during his mission to Koondooz, from the faithful Hindoo. From this we may judge of the influence he exerts over his master, who is proverbial for his hatred of Englishmen, and for the treachery, barbarity, and blood-thirstiness with which he was ever pursued them.
Atmarān is reputed to have saved enormous riches, and was the first Hindoo permitted to wear a turban and Kummerbund, the use of which had always been interdicted, in consequence of the contempt in which this nation is held by the Oosbegs. He obtained this indulgence not only for himself, but also for his family, tribe, and slaves, amounting to five hundred souls. Toorkistaun is not the only Mahomedan country that is intolerant towards the Hindoo. In Persia their condition is truly wretched. In Afghaunistaun, though despised for their religion, insulted and taunted for their mercenary dealings and fawning address, they are allowed their places of worship and their idols, but forbidden the exercise of the former, or the exposure of the latter in public, on pain of death. Neither are they permitted to form or join in a religious procession; nor dare they give the usual salutations of the faithful, use the name of Allah or the saints, or indeed make mention of anything held by their rulers as sacred. They are not allowed to wear either Kummerbund, or turban, a rope supplying the place of the former; instead of the latter, they wear a peculiarly high conical cap. However, during our short rule, the Hindoo gradually summoned courage, and assumed the full dress of the Mussulman. Notwithstanding the persecution of this harmless, plodding people, their love of trading and speculation carries them on through everything and everywhere. Where there is the smallest and dirtiest village, be sure you will find there a still dirtier Hindoo, doing trader, banker, and money-lender. In every large city or town, an Atmarān, holding high government places or situations of trust, is to be met with, and they tell you they were emigrants from India in ancient times. Thousands of Hindoos, with their wives and families, threw themselves at our feet, to claim our protection, and leave to follow us to Hindoostaun. Perhaps, poor people, the fate of their kinsfolk at Ghuznee, who were all murdered by the Afghauns when the garrison surrendered in 1842 to Shumsoodeen, induced them to take such a step as to abandon their adopted country. Atmarān’s first step to rank and power was his learning; he could read and write, which no Oosbegs can, for, excepting their Moollahs, they are totally illiterate. He was in consequence advanced from a menial to the position of a powerful prime minister; nor, like most Asiatics, has he betrayed the power entrusted to him by his Oosbeg master.
[Keywords]
divan-begi/ Atmaram/ Faqir/ Ziyarat/ Siyah Sang/ Mir Murad Beyg/ Qunduz/ Uzbek/ Chogha/ Hindu/ Peshawar/ Turkistan/ kamarband/ Musalman
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