It was known that many
of the disbanded and fugitive soldiers had returned to their homes in the
villages around Cabul, and early in November General Baker took out a
force and suddenly encircled the village of Indikee, on the edge of the
Chardeh valley--a village reported full of Afghan sepoys. A number of men
were brought out by the scared headmen and handed over, answering to
their names called over from a list carried by Baker; and other villages
in the vicinity yielded a considerable harvest of disbanded soldiers.
Before the Commission the prisoners made no attempt to conceal their
names, or deny the regiments to which they had belonged; and forty-nine
of them were found guilty and hanged, nearly all of whom belonged to the
regiments that had assailed the Residency.
On 12th November Sir Frederick Roberts proclaimed an amnesty in favour of
all who had fought against the British troops, on condition that they
should surrender their arms and return to their homes; but exempted from
the benefit were all concerned in the attack on the Residency. The
amnesty was well timed, although most people would have preferred that
fewer sepoys and more Sirdars should have been hanged.
Our relations with the Ameer during the earlier part of his residence in
the British camp were not a little peculiar. Nominally he was our guest,
and a certain freedom was accorded to him and his retinue.
Pages:
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233