Sul¿An Mu¿Ammad Khan
Published: 2013-09
Total Pages: 42
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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1900 edition. Excerpt: ... chapter X Comments on Private Law That remarkable man, Abdurrahman, has been called by some writers the "Napoleon of Afghanistan," from the fact that he rose from the position of a lowly soldier to become the most powerful monarch in the East. Others call him " Peter the Great," because, like that ruler, he has worked with his own hands as a carpenter, a blacksmith, a riflemaker, and a bricklayer, that he might teach his people and set them a good example. He has also introduced engineering and mechanical industries into the country. In my opinion steam-power is the predominant force in pushing forward the civilisation of a nation; and by introducing modern appliances into Afghanistan the Amir has shown a keen grasp of the part this measure would play in the position his nation would occupy in the future history of Asia. Other writers call the Amir " an heir to Alexander the Great," from his love of extending his dominions and subduing the wild races of the hills, who never lived under such peaceable conditions before under any Sovereign in the whole history of the world. But I, his humble servant, who have had the honour of enjoying his confidence for twelve years, as Lord Curzon says, in one of his friendly letters to me, prefer to call the Amir the "Justinian of Afghanistan," which is a title worthier of him, and yet has not been bestowed upon him by any previous writer. It would be impossible to compress into one short thesis--much less into one chapter of it--all the improvements that the Amir has introduced into the Private Law of Afghanistan. The various particular codes of law made by the Amir are so numerous that even in Afghanistan, in the language of the country itself, they have not been put together in one volume, and...
