Under the absolute Amir

A long first-person account recounts eight years spent as engineer-in-chief at an Afghan court, beginning with an overland escort of a royal prince from the frontier through Kandahar to Kabul. It records camp life, military escorts, road conditions, landscape, and dangers encountered on marches. The narrative offers close observations of Kabul’s urban fabric — palaces, guest-houses, baths, bazaars, water supply, drainage, and everyday streets. The author details manners, customs, superstitions, ceremonies, weddings, funerals, prisons, and law and administration under the reigning amir, including court life and family dynamics. Sketches and photographs accompany practical reportage that blends travel memoir, administrative notes, and social description.