From the secretary to the government op india, foreign department to the resident in kashmir

11. I have been in favour for some time of formally installing the Mehtar; de facto, he is a feudatory of Kashmir, and I believe that his position and our hold on the country would be much strengthened by the formal act of installa­tion, which announces to all that no outside power will be permitted to exercise its influence in Chitral.

12. I agree with Mr. Robertson's estimate of the number of troops re­quired; an additional regiment would ensure our hold on the country. Small but strongly built forts would be absolutely impregnable. We can draw from Chitral and Yasin all supplies necessary for the garrison, with the exception of the extras given to troops on service, and- at a moderate rate.

13. But I do not consider that one additional regiment in sufficient, while we hold a line from Chilas to Ghizr. The normal garrison of Gilgit is three regiments; at present I have four, and I have only a couple of hundred men available to reinforce the Gupis post in case of a general coalition against us, which is, as usual, being discussed, and not a man to spare to reinforce the troops in Hunza. The normal garrison of Gilgit must be raised, in my opinion, by two regiments, that is, be composed, of a Kashmir Mountain Battery, two regiments Bengal Infantry, and three regiments Kashmir Imperial Service Troops. Then, and not till then, will be Gilgit frontier be really secure.

14. The question seems to me to be in a nut-shell. Are we to abandon our hold on Chitral and on the passes of the Hindu Kush, and to ensure trouble on our Punjab and Indus Valley frontier, and possibly in Hunzam and Nagar or are we not? If we do, we invite the Amir and the Russians to enter by an open door and prepare the way for enormous expenditure in future both in Gilgit and elsewhere. If we determine to strengthen our position in Gilgit it involves the slightly increased present expenditure which the additional of a couple of regiments to the Gilgit garrison entails. It is of course for Government to decide which course is preferable.
Dated Chitral, the 18th March 1893.

From - Surgeon-Major G. S. Robertson, C.S.I. Indian Medical Service, on Special duty in Chitral,

To - The Resident in Kashmir (through Lieutenant-Colonel a. Durand, C.B., British Agent at Gilgit).

I have the honour to send you my official report on the present state of affairs in Chitral with the request that, after perusal and due consideration, you will cause it to be forwarded to the Government of India in the Foreign Department, accompanied with an expression of your own views on the opinions and suggestions it contains.

2. An identical communication has been sent through Colonel A. Durand, C.B., British Agent at Gilgit, which in due course will reach you also. I intend to attempt to send this one through Dir and Peshawar, in the hope that thereby much time will be saved in your becoming acquainted with the grave questions which await solution in connection with the present unsatisfactory condition of Chitral politics.

3. As you are doubtless aware, the aged Mehtar Aman-ul-Mulk died some what suddenly on the 30^th of August 1892. His second legitimate son, Afzal-ul-Mulk who was at Chitral at the time, immediately seized the supreme author­ity, and so energetically pursued his schemes of ambition that he compelled his elder brother, Nizam-ul-Mulk, to leave Yasin, of which province he was then Governor, and seek safety in flight, lie found an asylum in Gilgit, where he was kindly received and honourably entertained.

4. Afzal-ul-Mulk appeared to be rapidly strengthening his position and consolidating his power, and had already received that acknowledgement of his rule from the Government of India which is expressed by a letter of congratu­lation and good wishes, when he was suddenly attacked and killed by his uncle Sher Afzal, a Chitrali refugee at Kabul, who made a stealthy descent from Badakhshan, and surprised and seized the Chitral fort by a well planned, accurately timed night attack.

5. Sher Afzal was received with genuine acclamations by all the people, for reasons which will be detailed subsequently. He in his turn seemed to have the whole of the country securely in his grasp, when he was told that Nizam-ul-Mulk was advancing from Gilgit to assert his claim to the Mehtarship, backed by an immense British army, and had already crossed the Shandur Pass and captured Mastuj. To meet this unexpected danger Sher Afzal detached his eldest son with a considerable force to hold Drasan and bar the road to Chitral, while he himself, as a means of strengthening his position; summoned all the Mullas to proclaim a religious war both against the English and also against Nizam-ul-Mulk as the friend and ally of that infidel power.

6. This was done, but its effect was very different from what Sher Afzal had anticipated. The extreme measure of proclaiming a "Jihad" against the English merely convinced the doubting Chitralis that a British army was actually marching to attack them. They became thoroughly alarmed, and while they assured Sher Afzal of their entire devotion to his cause, they at the same time pointed out the utter hopelessness of their attempting to withstand he armed forces of the Government of Indian.

7. Their earnestness and evident terror reacted on Sher Afzal himself Seize by the contagion of their fear he hurriedly sent away to Badakhshan such treasure as could be hastily collected, and lending a panic-stricken ear to false rumours of the death of his son at Darsan, of the destruction of his army and also believing himself to be in evident peril of capture he abandoned the country and fled precipitately by night to Asmar, only pausing to solemnly promise his downcast adherents that he would speedily return with many Afghan regiments, who securely replace him on the throne of Chitral.

8. Sher Afzal's son at the very moment he found himself face to face with Nizam-ul-Mulk at Drasan, heard of his father's fight. Quitting his army with a few followers he rapidly traversed the Lutkho Valley. Crossing the Bahadur Khan is not very wise, and has little influence.

Bahadur Shah is the Mehtar's most trusted adviser. He is a man of crafty disposition, and probably more fearful of Sher Afzal than devoted to Nizam-ul-Mulk, although he has attached himself to the fortunes of the latter for many years.

Kakan Beg is learned for a Chitrali and said to be clover, but be has never yet had an opportunity of displaying any force of character.

Abdullah Khan is Chief of the great Raza tribo of Adamzadas, but unfortunately seems to have little influence with its members, since they all, with the exception of Abdullah Khan, who fled to Gilgit, went over in a body to Sher Afzal. Abdullah Khan is perhaps the most straightforward man of rank in Chitral although this unfortunately is not very high praise. In the days of prosperity, us the close friend and adviser of Afzal-ul-Mulk, he abused his powers and made himself so detested for his excessive exactions, that when lately reappointed Hakim of Mastuj, the people of Laspur, a division of that district, bluntly refused to obey him any longer, as they thought they were under the protection of the British Mission, and would not be called to account. for their disobedience. Another Governor, a popular choice, was then placed over till-in. Abdulla Khan resents this very greatly, and blames the Mehtar for not supporting him, yet he is still the most faithful and valuable servant Nizam-ul-Mulk possesses.

Wazir Inayat Khan is a man of considerable ability, the oldest of the headmen of Chitral. He was a great favourite of Mehtar Aman-ul-Mulk, and-used that position to enrich himself at the expense of his neighbours. He is consequently most unpopular with all classes, and appears just now to be out of favour with Nizam-ul-Mulk also. This is probably on account of the influ­ence his half-brother and mortal enemy Wafadar Khan has with the latter.

Inayat Khan is an arch intriguer and in former days was the leader of the anti English party in Chitral, Now he is the most sincere supporter of the pro English party, since he could not remain a week in the country if it, were not in the ascendant.

Wazir Wafadar Khan, the acting Diwan Bagi, is brave and absolutely faithful to his master. But he is a rascal at heart, and has all the instincts for intriguing which Inayat Khan possesses, but without the undoubted ability of the latter. Wafadar Khan at present spends all ids time and all his influence with the Mehtar in attempts to worry his own private enemies, of whom, the chief are Nizam-ul-Mulk's foster relations and Wazir Inayat Khan, His per­manent ascendancy in the counsels of the Mehtar would mean the adoption of a policy of retaliation and injustice, in which he would be warmly supported by Mehtar Jan Ghulam Dastgir. Fortunately the latter is not in high favour at present.

15. In opposition to this small band of strangely brought together adhe­rents, the Mehtar had arrayed against him the secret hostility of the whole of the Adamzada or upper class of Chitral, who are united together both by their desire to have Sher-Afzal for their King and by their dislike to English influence predominating in the country; and, in addition to this party, he has against him the secret hostility of almost all the rest of the community who cordially dislike Nizam-ul-Mulk, but in contradiction to the Adamzadas place, all their hopes not in a change of Mehtars, but in the firm establishment in Chitral of the authority of the Government of India and the protection which they believe such a controlling power would afford them. They would greatly prefer Sher Afzal, or indeed any prince, to Nizam-ul-Mulk, or any other descendant or Mehtar Aman-ul-Mulk, but they desire a cessation of oppression rather than a change of oppressors.

16. It may be thought surprising that Nizam-ul-Mulk should have been able to crawl into his father's place on any terms, when such an overwhelming majority of the people were opposed to him and enthusiastic for his rival, but the enormous prestige of the English in Chitral must not be forgotten, not the Dorah he established himself near Zebak in a defensive position, which completely blocks the Chitral Road. There he is believed to still remain. He has made repeated attempts to communicate with Sher Afzal by letters sent through Kafiristan to Asmar, but heavy falls of snow having blocked all the passes, it is 5 is doubtful if any of his messages reached their destination.

9. In this manner Nizam-ul-Mulk obtained a bloodless victory. After same delay he marched to Chitral and assumed the Mehtarship. He is, however, a timid, weak, irresolute prince, and, although his road was clear of enemies, he wasted several valuable days vacillating at Drasan and eventually reached his capital in such a terror stricken state of mind as to earn for himself the well-merited contempt of his subjects.

10. He at once applied for a British mission to be sent to him from Gilgit. His object in making this request was not so much a desire on his part to cement the long standing friendship of his country with the Government of India, as the certain conviction he had that, unless British officers, with a suitable escort, quickly reached Chitral, he himself could not possibly remain there during the winter.

11. The unpopularity of Nizam-ul-Mulk and the extreme popularity of his rival Sher Afzal are due to one and the same cause, which will be explained hereafter. It is sufficient here to remark that the distrusted Nizam-ul-Mulk attained his father's throne and drove out of the country the universal admired Sher Afzal merely by reason of the prestige he obtained as the ally and supposed nominee of the Government of India. The people were sullenly resentful at the change, but accepted it, for the time at any rate, as an in­evitable decree of fate.

12. The mission applied for by Nizam-ul-Mulk was sent, and the Govern­ment of India honoured me by entrusting it to my care.

It is with a full sense of the responsibilities placed on my shoulders, and a thorough appreciation of the difficulties of the task set before me, that I now offer you my matured, carefully considered opinions on the political outlook in Chitral.

13. Nizam-ul-Mulk is generally disliked throughout the country. I do not believe there are twenty men of any position amongst his subjects, on whose personal devotion he could securely rely. Jamadar Sahib Rab Nawaz Khan Bahadur, the British news writer in Chitral, whose knowledge of the people is intimate and extensive, assures me that even this estimate is far too high, and that, with the exception of his own foster relations, there are not more than six of the Adamzadas, or noble class, who are sincerely desirous of Nizam-ul-Mulk retaining the Mehtarship. Ghulam Mohiuddin, the Hospital Assistant, who, like the Jamadar, has married Chitrali wives, and for that reason, as well as from his professional position, may be considered to fairly well acquainted with the sentiments of the people, declares that on this subject Rab Nawaz Khan's opinions are correct.

14. Amongst those who may be counted upon as thorough-going supporters of their present ruler, the chief are Mehtar Jans (Princes), Ghulam Dastgir, Bahadur Khan, Bahadur Shah, and Kakan Beg, Wazirs Inayat Khan and Waffadar Khan, and Hakim Abdulla Khan and Abdulla Khan were until quite recently Nizam-ul-Mulk's implacable enemies. Formerly they were the active supporters and firm adherents of the rival brother. Afzal-ul-Mulk, but, on the death of that prince, they fled the country from fear of Sher Afzal and joined the cause of the present Mehtar. Ghulam Dastgir is said to be able and energetic. He is vicious, cruel and oppressive by nature and was the chief instigator of Afzal-ul-Mulk to the murder of his three half-brothers .......................... Bahram and Wazir-ul-Mulk. He fled to Jandal when Sher Afzal seized Chitral and probably would again have to become a fugitive if there were another change of government. Although he commands a certain amount of respect and influence from his strength of will, he is much more liked general belief of the inhabitants that Nizam-ul-Mulk was being parried to power by an order, an irresistible order of the Government of India. The people hoped, moreover, and believed that their new Mehtar would soon be assassinated, and when he was dead, as there was no other prince of the hated family old enough to rule, they trusted that the destinies of the country would lead it in the direction of Kabul or in the direction of the Government of India, according ns they belonged to the Adamzadaor to the ordinary zemindar class. The former feared to oppose the supposed orders of the suzerain power however much they may have desired to do so, while the latter were well pleased at the presumed assertion by the Government of India, of its right to control the internal affairs of the State, although its first act was the unpopular one of put­ ting Nizam-ul-Mulk on the throne.

17. Outwardly favoured as he has been by nature, it must be admitted that Nizam-ul-Mulk has little to attract the hearts of his people or to delight their imagination. An almost hopeless debauchee, his appearance in public Durbar not uncommonly reveals him to be still suffering from his excesses over night. He is heedless silent, and stupid. His intellect, never very strong^ is often clouded by "Churrus" smoking, and drink: Although he is not with­out that kindliness of heart frequently to be found in the purely sensual, his selfishness is so extreme; that it hides or obscures any virtues be may possess, and makes it, impossible for the most charitable to endow him with the senti­ments of patriotism, honour, or trustworthy friendship. He is cowardly and miserly, equally afraid to punish his enemies and reluctant to reward his friends. When the Mission reached Chitral, it found the successful claimant of his father's throne scared and trembling, his followers downcast and sulky, while the defeated faction swaggered about everywhere, self confident if sullen, and with all the snider rifles plundered from the fort arsenal paraded openly in their possession. In his favour it may be said that Nizam-ul-Mulk is most impressionable, even if the emotions induced are of a fleeting nature. He can consequently be greatly influenced by those brought in contact with him, and at present he is so amenable to advice and so desirous of acting up to the imaginary wishes of the British Government, that the complaisance of the: anxiety he displays in these directions undoubtedly involve him in a considerable loss of dignity. Happily he seems curiously free from that inveterate cruelty of disposition so characteristic of Aman-ul-Mulk and his son Afzal, and which is clearly recognisable in several of the late Mehtar's surviving sons.

18. But it is not for any personal fault or failing, nor for anything has he done, that Nizam-ul-Mulk is so intensely disliked by his subjects. It is simply and solely because he is the son of his father, the late Aman-ul-Mulk, and because the people fear, sooner or later, any inheritor of the blood of that terrible man must inevitably follow in the footsteps of his sire.

19. To explain this feeling of the Chitralis against the sons of their late Mehtar, as well as the cause, which have given rise to it, a somewhat lengthy excursion into the recent history of the country will be necessary.

20. Informer times the Mehtar of Chitral was rather a Chief amongst his nobles than an absolute King. The head's of the Adamzada tribes were each on his own lands practically independent, arid ruled the villagers and the poorest classes leniently or cruelly each according to the dictates of his own heart.

The whole system seems to have been a microcosm of the old feudal institutions of Europe, where a country was parcelled out and governed by a number of little tyrants, or whom the chief, named king, was hardly more powerful than some of his nominal subjects, and frequently owned his very existence of the private jealousies and enmities which prevented a hostile combination of the greater feudatories against their lord and master.

21. There was indeed a special sanctity environing the kingship our in Chitral, where all the chief Adamzadas claimed common descent intermarrying amongst themselves and with the royal family as equals in blood and innate dignity, it more than once happened that an incapable ruler, if not thrust aside by a brother or a son, was removed and supplanted by the strong man of another powerful closely related family.

22. But with the accession to the throne of Aman-ul-Mulk a great change was gradually effected in the power and position of this large privileged class of Adamzada or Nobles. Aman-ul-Mulk was a man of subtle, and powerful intellect, of iron will, and ruthless determination. He probably only wanted greater opportunities to have graved for himself a prominent and unhappy page in general contemporary history. Originally a younger son of the ruler of Chitral, who governed a territory which only extended as far as Barnes, in the Mastuj direction, and which doubtfully included the Tarikho district, on the death of the atrocious Mahtaram Shah now only known by his nick name of Cannibal, Aman-ul-Mulk obtained for himself the Mehtarship, and in the course of a long rein gradually extended his authority over the whole of Chitral and Yasin until he was absolute king from Pailam in the Kunar Valley in one direction, to the Punyal frontier on the other. He also exercised considerable authority over the Bashgal and Veran Valleys of Kafiristan, and was respected and feared in Darel, Tangir, Kheli, and Boshkar. Never possessing anything like a standing army, he was also entirely without money until he entered into an agreement with Kashmir in 1877, whereby he received certain subsidies and other benefits in return for a nominal recognition of the suzerainty of his Highness Maharaja Ranbir Singh.

23. Aman-ul-Mulk achieved nearly all his successes without striking a single blow himself, and simply by his genius for unscrupulous intrigue. He set brother against brother, and son against father, playing on the evil passions of jealousy, suspicion, and revenge, with a skill only equalled by its remorselessness. A superb actor, he could enact the part of the generous candid Mehtar, the justly indignant judge, or the alms giving orthodox Mussulman, whenever it suited him to conceal his flinty heart and insatiable covetousness from his courtiers and people. He would shed bitter tears, refuse all food, and often pass the day in lamentation for the fate of a victim he had himself secret­ly murdered. Always of fine presence and with noble manners when he chose to assume them, he possessed quite up to the end of his long life, the power of influencing men against their own better judgment; indeed, so plausible and convincing was his crafty eloquence that he could even reattach to his interests some of those he had already deserted or betrayed.

24. His tyranny increased continually as his power extended, until at length he became as absolute a despot as it is possible to imagine. His iron band weighed on all heavily, if not with an equal pressure. The proud and in­dependent Adamzada not only found all his authority gone, but all his ancient privileges lost as well, for the people were so crushed down by the Mehtar that any added pressure by their ancient petty tyrants must have squeezed them out of existence altogether. All classes' joined together in hating their prince almost as much as they feared him, but none dared even murmur the man who carried in his hands the power of life and death, life hardly worth having, but death sudden, terrible, often mysterious. Yet such was the ascendance of Aman-ul-Mulk over men's minds that, his very victims in the midst of their horror and dread, could not withhold a tribute of admiration for his manhood and his indomitable will.

25. All longed eagerly for his death, and when that greatly hopes for event at length occurred, there was sudden era of hope in Chitral. There does not seem to have been any formulated conspiracy for the exclusion from the succession of all the late Mehtar's children, but men of every class appear, to have straightened their bending backs and raised their drooping heads and tacitly agreed, each in his own heart that the would have none of Nizam-ul-Mulk's son as his Mehtar if there were power to prevent it. The governing oppression of their late king, his disregard of the happiness or sorrows of his people, his contempt, for human life were to be avenged, if possible on his immediate descendants.

The Adamzadas determined to regain their lost authority; the mass of the people prayed that all their oppressions might perish together and looked with wistful eyes towards the Government of India, that strange power, which was reported to treat all alike, noble and simple, both rich and poor the Mullas, the Syads, and the Moghli Pirs desired chiefly the exclusion of Englishmen and there establishment of the ancient order of things.

20. In short, the whole of the Chitralis, with very few exceptions, desired

27. This was the position of affairs after Aman-ul-Mulk's death and when Afzal-ul-Mulk had seized the throne. The new Mehtar possessed all his father's innate savageness and dogged determination but none of his commanding ability. He at once pat to death three of his half-brothers, tortured unhappy women to make them disclose the supposed depositories of hidden treasure, and when not engaged in foolish ostentation, or prodigal but ill-considered liber­ality, comforted himself like a monster of cruelty.