down, and an Afghan force threatening to advance into his country, Aman-ul-Mulk found extraneous assistance imperative, and sought the protection of Kashmir. In the same year, Captain Biddulph was the first Englishman to visit his country. Lord Lytton, who, in view of the continuous advance of Russia in Central Asia, was wisely anxious to secure an indirect control of the Hindu Kush states, advised the Maharaja of Kashmir to accept the proffered allegiance, and promised him, if by such action he became involved in military operations, to afford him countenance and military aid. In the following year an agreement was signed between Chitral and Kashmir, by which the latter undertook to protect Chitral from Afghan aggression, receiving an acknowledgement of allegiance, and a nominal tribute of horses, hawks, and hounds, and giving a subsidy of 8000 rupees in return, this being a price which Kashmir was nothing loth to pay in order to purchase immunity for Gilgit from Chitral raids. Thus strengthened, Aman-ul-Mulk made short work of his opponents, and acquired the undisputed rule of a dominion that stretched from Ishkumman almost to Asmar. It must not be supposed that any motives other than those of self-interest were responsible for the loyalty of Aman-ul-Mulk to this new connection. He was constantly trimming between the rival allegiances, and even intriguing with Afghanistan. No one, however, knew better on which side his bread was really buttered; and when Captain Biddulph (who had in the meantime been appointed British Political Officer at Gilgit) was

invested by Pahlwan Bahadur at Sher Kila in Punial in 1880, he advanced to his assistance, and crushed his son-in-law and ancient foe. In 1881 he applied to be admitted to direct political relationship with the Indian Government, but was refused. The Kashmir subsidy was, however, doubled in that year.

Such was the state of affairs until the imminence of war between England and Russia in the spring of 1885 rendered it desirable that the British Government should know a little more of what was passing in those distant regions, and should exercise over the inclinations of their rulers a rather less fortuitous control. In 1881 Major Biddulph had been withdrawn from his post of observation at Gilgit. But in 1885 an imposing Mission, consisting of Colonel (afterwards Sir W.) Lockhart, who was destined thirteen years later to be my first Commander-inChief in India, Colonel Woodthorpe, Captain Barrow, and Dr. Giles, was dispatched to Chitral to enter into a definite agreement with Aman-ul-Mulk. The Mission met with a most friendly reception from the Mehtar, and remained at Chitral from September to November, returning again after a visit to Hunza and an exploration of the upper Oxus Valley in the spring of the ensuing year. In the agreement which was concluded Aman-ul-Mulk thus expressed himself: "I, an eater of the salt of the English, will serve them body and soul. Should any enemy of theirs attempt to pass through this quarter I will hold the roads and passes with my loins girt until they send me help." The Mehtar received corresponding assurances, and a present of Sniders in

return. Early in 1886 he sent his eldest son, Nizamul-Mulk, and late in 1887 his second son, Afzul-ulMulk, down to India. Both young men were greatly impressed by what they saw, and carried back to their native country a very different conception of the British power from that which had hitherto prevailed. The British Mission when they retired left a native officer as British Agent at Chitral.

Colonel Lockhart had reported in favour of the acquisition of Gilgit by the Indian Government, and of the formation of a British cantonment there. As these proposals, however, were found to involve a considerable expenditure of money they were not adopted in that form; but in 1888 the late Colonel A. Durand was sent on a mission to Gilgit and Chitral to work out a plan for the re-establishment of a British Agency on a more moderate scale. The result was his own appointment as British Agent at Gilgit in the following year. The relations between the Indian Government and Chitral now assumed a more definite shape, the former henceforward sharing with the Kashmir Durbar the obligations of a suzerainty which the vassal-state was not less anxious to recognise. Visiting Aman-ul-Mulk in the same year (1889), Colonel Durand and Dr. Robertson found the Mehtar very ready that roads should be made through his country, and desirous to fortify the defensive positions. A further present of Sniders was made to him, and the Kashmir subsidy was supplemented by an annual allowance of 6000 rupees from the Indian Government. Meanwhile events were marching rapidly on the Pamirs, and the