Niedermayer-Hentig Expedition - Afghan Intrigues

Afghan Intrigues

At Kabul, the group was accommodated as state guests at the Emir's palace at Bagh-e Babur. Despite the comfort and the welcome, it was soon clear that they were all but confined. Armed guards were stationed around the palace, ostensibly for "the group's own danger from British secret agents", and armed guides escorted them on their journeys. For nearly three weeks, Emir Habibullah, reportedly in his summer palace at Paghman, responded with only polite noncommittal replies to requests for an audience. An astute politician, he was in no hurry to receive his guests; he used the time to find out as much as he could about the expedition members and liaised with British authorities at New Delhi. It was only after Niedermayer and von Hentig threatened to launch a hunger strike that meetings began. In the meantime, von Hentig learnt as much as he could about his eccentric host. Emir Habibullah was, by all measures, the lord of Afghanistan. He considered it his divine right to rule and the land his property. He owned the only newspaper, the only drug store, and all the automobiles in the country (all Rolls Royces).

The Emir's brother, Prime Minister Nasrullah Khan, was a man of religious convictions. Unlike the Emir, he fluently spoke Pashto (the local language), dressed in traditional Afghan robes, and interacted more closely with the border tribes. While the Emir favoured British India, Nasrullah Khan was more pro-German in his sympathies. Nasrullah's views were shared by his nephew, Amanullah Khan, the youngest and most charismatic of the Emir's sons. The eldest son, Inayatullah Khan, was in charge of the Afghan army. The mission therefore expected more sympathy and consideration from Nasrullah and Amanullah than from the emir.