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Psychological
testing and
assessment
Second Edition

David Shum
John O’Gorman
Brett Myors
Peter Creed
vi Contents

Binet’s revolution 149

Spearman and ‘g’ 150
Terman and the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale 151
Wechsler scales 152
Thurstone and multiple mental abilities 154
Guilford: A different structure of intelligence 154
Vernon’s hierarchical view of intelligence 155
Cattell’s two-factor theory of intelligence 156
Cattell, Horn and Carroll extend the ‘Gf-Gc’ model of intelligence 157
The Cattell-Horn-Carroll (CHC) model of intelligence 159
The CHC model and modern tests of intelligence 159
A developmental conception of intelligence 162
An information-processing view of intelligence 163
Gardner and multiple intelligences 164
Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence 165
So, ‘what is intelligence?’ 166
Aptitude versus achievement tests 166
Group (rather than individual) testing 167
Group differences in intelligence 168
Chapter summary 171
Other key terms 172
Questions172
Further reading 172
Useful websites 172

8 Personality and Individual Differences 173

Introduction174
The psychoanalytic approach 174
The interpersonal approach 177
The personological approach 180
The multivariate (trait) approach 182
The empirical approach 186
The social-cognitive approach 189
Positive psychology 191
Chapter summary 194
Other key terms 194
Questions195
 Contents vii

Further reading 195

Useful websites 195

Part 4 Areas of Professional Application 197

9 Clinical and Mental Health Testing and Assessment 199

Introduction200
Clarifying the referral question 200
Case history data 201
Clinical interview 201
Mental status examination 202
Psychological tests 204
Psychological report 216
Chapter summary 221
Other key terms 222
Questions222
Further reading 222
Useful websites 222

10 Organisational Testing and Assessment 223

Introduction224
Performance appraisal 225
Theories of performance 230
Personnel selection 231
Selection as a social process 237
Some tests used in selection 239
Work attitudes 241
Chapter summary 243
Other key terms 244
Questions244
Further reading 244
Useful websites 244

11 Neuropsychological Testing and Assessment 245

Introduction246
What is clinical neuropsychology? 249
A brief history of neuropsychological assessment 250
What is neuropsychological assessment? 252
viii Contents

Purposes and procedures of neuropsychological assessment 252

Neuropsychological functions commonly assessed 253
Chapter summary 265
Other key terms 265
Questions265
Further reading 265
Useful websites 266

12 Forensic Psychological Testing and Assessment 267

Introduction268
Forensic psychology and forensic psychological testing and assessment 268
Settings of forensic assessment 270
Differences between forensic and therapeutic assessment 271
Psychological tests and assessment techniques commonly used in forensic assessment 273
Limitations of forensic assessment 279
Chapter summary 281
Questions282
Further reading 282
Useful websites 282

13 Educational Testing and Assessment 283

Introduction284
Role of assessment in education 285
Aptitude tests 288
General achievement tests 294
Applications of achievement and aptitude tests 296
Vocational interests 298
Strong vocational interest inventory 302
Chapter summary 304
Questions304
Further reading 305
Useful websites 305

Part 5 Prospects and Issues 307

14 The Future of Testing and Assessment 309

Introduction310
Content developments 310
 Contents ix

Technical and methodological developments 311

Contextual changes 318
Chapter summary 319
Questions319
Further reading 320
Useful websites 320

1 Answers to Exercises 321

1 Glossary326

1 References338

1 Index368
 Figures and Tables

List of Figures
Figure 1.1 Imperial examination in China 6
Figure 1.2 Group testing of American army recruits during the First World War 7
Figure 1.3 Drawing of migrants embarking from a ship, circa 1885 11
Figure 1.4 Sample passages of the dictation test used in 1925 12
Figure 2.1 Relationship between psychological assessment and psychological testing 22
Figure 2.2 Psychological testing: self-report versus performance 23
Figure 3.1 Plotting the raw scores in our example with the transformed scores 48
Figure 3.2 Percentage of cases below z of +1 in a normal distribution 51
Figure 3.3 Relationships among linear and nonlinear raw score transformations 66
Figure 6.1 Steps in test construction 122
Figure 6.2 Types of measurement 125
Figure 6.3 Empirical trace lines for two items from a (fictitious)
test of general mental ability 127
Figure 6.4 Possible measurement models 128
Figure 6.5 Three parameters of a trace line 130
Figure 6.6 Examples of curves with different parameters 130
Figure 6.7 Examples of item formats 133
Figure 7.1 Alfred Binet (1857–1911) 149
Figure 7.2 Charles Spearman (1863–1945) 150
Figure 7.3 Spearman’s theory of ‘g’ and ‘s’ 151
Figure 7.4 Lewis Terman (1857–1956) 151
Figure 7.5 David Wechsler (1896–1981) 152
Figure 7.6 Louis Thurstone (1887–1955) 154
Figure 7.7 Thurstone’s model of primary mental abilities 154
Figure 7.8 JP Guildford (1897–1987) 154
Figure 7.9 Guilford’s model of intelligence 155
x
 Figures and Tables xi

Figure 7.10 Philip Vernon (1905–1987) 155

Figure 7.11 Vernon’s hierarchical model of intelligence 156
Figure 7.12 Raymond Cattell (1905–1998) 156
Figure 7.13 The CHC model of intelligence 160
Figure 7.14 The fluid–crystallised dimension 167
Figure 8.1 An example of a blot similar to that used in the Rorschach 176
Figure 8.2 Example of an interpersonal circumplex 179
Figure 8.3 Intensity (left figure) and clustering (right figure) of behavioural dispositions
can be represented in the circumplex 179
Figure 8.4 The structure of personality 185
Figure 9.1 Structure of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale–Fourth Edition 205
Figure 9.2 Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–Second Edition (MMPI–2)
profile form211
Figure 10.1 The Validity Generalisation League Table 233
Figure 11.1 Midsagittal section of the human brain showing structures and locations
of the brain stem and midbrain 247
Figure 11.2 Structures and location of the between brain (inside view) 247
Figure 11.3 The four lobes of the forebrain 248
Figure 11.4 Structures and location of the basal ganglia (inside view) 248
Figure 11.5 Structures and location of the limbic system (inside view) 248
Figure 11.6 A neuropsychological model of human memory 257
Figure 11.7 Subtests and indices of the Weschler memory Scale-Fourth Edition 259
Figure 11.8 A simulated example of a Hooper Visual Organisation Test item 261
Figure 13.1 Structure of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children–Fourth Edition,
supplemental subtests shown in italics 292
Figure 13.2 The hexagonal model 301
Figure 13.3 The circumplex structure of vocational interests 302

List of Tables
Table 2.1 Name, address, and website of major test suppliers in Australia 25
Table 2.2 User levels used by Psychological Corporation, Australia and New Zealand
in supplying test materials 26
Table 2.3 General principles and ethical standards of the Australian
Psychological Society 35
Table 3.1 Calculating z scores from raw scores 50
Table 3.2 Area under the standard normal distribution 52
Table 3.3 Equal differences in z scores do not mean equal differences in percentiles 65
Table 3.4 Percentile ranges corresponding to stanine scores 66
xii Figures and Tables

Table 3.5 Bartram and Lindley’s recommendations for sample sizes for purposes of
test norming72
Table 3.6 Some examples of sampling methods and sample sizes for widely used
psychological tests 72
Table 4.1 Calculating Cronbach’s alpha for a five-item test 82
Table 4.2 Calculating Cronbach’s alpha for another five-item test 83
Table 6.1 Comparison of CTT and IRT statistics for item analysis 136
Table 6.2 Fictitious item data for a five-item test each with four options
administered to ten individuals 137
Table 6.3 Corrected and uncorrected item-total correlations for the data in Table 6.2 138
Table 7.1 Broad (Stratum II) abilities assessed by the Stanford-Binet and Wechsler
Adult Intelligence Scale 162
Table 8.1 The Five-Factor Model (FFM) 184
Table 8.2 The person variables identified by Walter Mischel 189
Table 8.3 Concepts and methods in personality assessment based on McAdams’
possible levels of knowing another person 193
Table 9.1 Subtests of the WAIS–IV 206
Table 9.2 Reliability of the WAIS–IV 208
Table 9.3 Sample items of the DASS 215
Table 10.1 Some performance indicators 225
Table 10.2 A behaviourally anchored rating scale for the role of customer
service operator 228
Table 10.3 Some examples of the behavioural observation scale 229
Table 10.4 Typical speed and accuracy test items 240
Table 11.1 Subtests of the WMS–IV 258
Table 11.2 Descriptions of tasks and functions measured by the nine subtests of
the D-KEFS 262
Table 12.1 Differences between forensic and therapeutic assessment 271
Table 12.2 Examples of commonly used risk assessment tools 275
Table 13.1 Subtests of the WISC–IV 289
Table 13.2 Reliability of the WISC–IV 291
Table 13.3 Reliability of standard progressive matrices: Australian edition 293
Table 13.4 WIAT–II composites and subtests 295
Table 13.5 Reliability of the WIAT–II 296
Preface

We were greatly encouraged by the positive response to the first edition of Psychological Testing and
Assessment and pleased when the publisher invited us to prepare a second edition. This gave us the
opportunity to update the work, to expand on areas that deserved a fuller treatment than we had
provided in the first edition and to take into consideration the feedback provided by colleagues and
readers. Given the dynamic and evolving nature of the field of psychological testing and assessment,
we believe that it is important and useful to regularly update the content and discussion.
In this second edition we have added two new chapters—one on intelligence and one on
personality—to provide a broader background to two substantive areas of research and theory that
are essential to psychological testing and assessment. We have expanded the coverage of cultural
differences and included a new section on factor analysis. The former is important because most
of the countries where the book will be read include people from many cultural backgrounds and
these differences influence the choice, administration and interpretation of tests and other assessment
devices. Factor analysis continues to be a major tool used by test developers in constructing and
analysing psychological tests, and some familiarity with it is necessary to make sense of the judgments
that are made about the validity of tests for particular purposes.
As well as adding new material, we have expanded the treatment of some of the topics covered
in the previous edition. In the chapter on test construction, for example, we have expanded the
discussion of item response theory (IRT) that is increasingly being used by test developers, and
have added to the section on item writing by outlining the salient principles followed in this
critical aspect of test construction. We also have extended the material included in the applied
chapters. For example, the testing in organisations chapter now includes a section on assessing work
attitudes covering job satisfaction, organisational commitment and perceptions of organisational
justice. The educational testing chapter now includes sections on the international (PISA) and
Australia-wide testing (NAPLAN) of school children, and what teachers need to know about
assessment procedures. Because new editions of some psychological tests have been published since
our last edition, we have also updated the description of these tests and for some areas we have
included new tests that were not in the first edition.
In this second edition, we have also included a number of new features to enhance learning and
understanding. These include a list of learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter, a list of
glossary terms at the end of the book and five practitioner profiles for each of the five professional
chapters.

xiii
xiv Preface

We trust these changes have added to the value of the book as an introduction to the art and
science of psychological testing and assessment, without limiting its accessibility to a wide audience
of students. Some subject areas are more difficult than others, but in writing this book we want
students to be aware of all the issues that bear on the use of tests and the formulation of assessments.
Many topics require a fuller treatment for their mastery than is possible in an introductory text
and we encourage students to seek that fuller treatment to expand their overview of the field. The
references, additional readings and websites included at the end of each chapter will assist students
in this task.
Acknowledgments

We would like to thank all the staff at Oxford University Press involved in the preparation of
this second edition for their assistance, which has materially improved our contribution.
In particular, we would like to thank the copyeditor, Pete Cruttenden. We thank Allana Canty,
James Ogilvie and Mitchell Shepherd for helping us with researching and preparing materials for
this new edition. Many thanks also go to the following contributors for sharing their practitioner
profiles in Part 4: Professor Amanda Gordon, Dr Elizabeth Allworth, Dr Jan Ewing, Dr Danielle
Schumack and Associate Professor Tim Hannan.
The author and the publisher wish to thank the following copyright holders for reproduction
of their material.
Figure 1.2: Getty Images/Time & Life Pictures; Figure 2.2: Shutterstock.com; David Weschler:
U.S. National Library of Medicine; B026174. Courtesy Light, LLC; Raymond Cattell: Cattell
Family; Louis Thurstone: Courtesy National Academy of Sciences; JP Guilford: University of
Southern California; Philip Vernon: Courtesy Pioneerfund.org. Every effort has been made to trace
the original source of copyright material contained in this book. The publisher will be pleased to
hear from copyright holders to rectify any errors or omissions.

xv
xvi
 The Context of
Psychological Testing
and Assessment

Part 1
 Psychological Tests:
What Are They and Why
Do We Need Them?

Key terms
criterion-referenced test

1
norm-referenced test
objective procedure
psychological test
psychometric properties
test obsolescence

Chapter objectives
By the end of this chapter you should be able to:
1 explain how psychological tests have developed over time
2 define what a psychological test is and explain its defining
characteristics
3 explain how psychological tests are better than other means used to
assist people to understand behaviour and to make decisions
4 explain the advantages and limitations of psychological tests.

3
4 PART 1 The Context of Psychological Testing and Assessment

Setting the scene

• The Chairperson of Air New Zealand was reported as insisting members of his board were to
undergo psychological testing as part of the selection process. (New Zealand Herald, 22 January 2002)
• The Medical Board of Australia released new guidelines that require children who want to undergo
cosmetic surgery, but who don’t have a medical justification, to undergo mandatory psychological
assessment. (Sunday Mail, 1 April 2012)
• A leading psychologist called for mandatory psychological testing of young drivers to ensure that
their brains are ‘mature’ enough to be granted driving licences. (Herald Sun, 14 February 2010)
• Staff in Australian Football League (AFL) clubs used results of neuropsychological tests to determine
when players who had suffered concussion should play for the team again. (Herald Sun, 22 July 2003)

Introduction
The development and application of psychological tests is considered one of the major
achievements of psychologists in the last century (Zimbardo, 2004).The news items above illustrate
some of the ways psychological tests have been applied in our societies. For the most part, tests are
used to assist in making decisions or promoting self-understanding by providing more accurate
information about human behaviour than is available without them. Psychological tests are also
important tools for conducting psychological research. In this book our focus is on the former
rather than the latter application.
The ability to select, administer, score and interpret psychological tests is considered a core skill for
professional psychologists (Australian Psychology Accreditation Council, 2010).Thus, the teaching of
this ability is usually included as one or more courses for undergraduate and postgraduate psychology
programs in Australia and other countries. Who developed the first psychological test and how has
psychological testing progressed through time? What are the advantages of using psychological tests
to promote understanding and to assist decision-making processes about people in our society?
What are psychological tests and what are their defining characteristics? What are the advantages and
limitations of psychological tests? These are the topics of the first chapter of this book.

A brief history of psychological testing

The history of psychological testing has been well documented by DuBois (1970), O’Neil (1987),
Keats and Keats (1988) and Ord (1977) have provided accounts of relevant developments in
Australia. The following section draws freely on these sources (Box 1.1 highlights some of these
historical developments).

Box 1.1
Timeline of major developments in the history of psychological testing
1890 The term ‘mental test’ is first used by James McKeen Cattell
1905 Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon devise the first test of intelligence for use with children
1916 Lewis Terman publishes the Stanford-Binet test, based on the pioneering work of Binet and Simon
1917 Robert Yerkes leads the development of the Army Alpha and Beta tests for selection for military
­service in the USA
 Chapter 1 Psychological Tests 5

1917 Robert Woodworth devises the first self-report test of personality

1921 Hermann Rorschach, a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, publishes Psychodiagnostics on the
use of inkblots in evaluating personality
1927 The first version of the Strong Vocational Interest Blank is published
1938 Oscar Buros publishes the first compendium of psychological tests, the Mental Measurements
Yearbook
1939 David Wechsler reports an individual test of adult intelligence
1942 The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is published to assist the differential
­diagnosis of psychiatric disorder
1948 Henry Murray and colleagues publish Assessment of Men and the term ‘assessment’ comes to
replace mental testing as a description of work with psychological tests
1957 Raymond Cattell publishes on performance tests of motivation
1962 Computer interpretation of the MMPI is introduced
1968 Walter Mischel publishes his widely cited critique of personality assessment
1970 Computers are used for testing clients; computerised adaptive testing follows
1971 The Federal Court in the USA challenges testing for personnel selection
1985 Publication in the USA of the first edition of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing
1988 Jay Ziskin and David Faust challenge the use of psychological test results in court
1993 The American Psychological Association publishes guidelines for computer-based testing
and interpretation
1993 John Carroll publishes Human Cognitive Abilities: A Survey of Factor-Analytic Studies, in which he
proposes his three-stratum theory of intelligence
1999 Publication of the second edition of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing
2001 Gregory Meyer and colleagues publish the results of a review of 125 earlier literature reviews
­indicating the value of psychological tests
Source: Based on a more extensive timeline in Sundberg (1977).

The origins of psychological testing can be found in the public service examinations used
by Chinese dynasties to select those who would work for them. These were large-scale exercises
involving many applicants and several days of testing, and from the era of the Han dynasty involved
written examinations (Bowman, 1989). Programs of testing were conducted from about 2000 bce
to the early years of the twentieth century when they were discontinued, at about the time the
modern era of psychological testing was being introduced in the USA. A major impetus to this
modern development of testing was the need to select men for military service when the USA
entered the First World War without a standing army. There were, however, a number of precursors
to this development, the most significant being the work of Alfred Binet (1857–1911) and his
colleagues in France in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Binet was asked by the Office of Public Instruction in Paris to provide a method for objectively
determining which children would benefit from special education. In responding to this request,
Binet devised the first of the modern intelligence tests, using problems not unlike those covered in
6 PART 1 The Context of Psychological Testing and Assessment

Figure 1.1 Imperial examination in China

a normal school program. In the process, he proposed a method for quantifying intelligence in terms
of the concept of mental age; that is, the child’s standing among children of different chronological
ages in terms of his or her cognitive capacity. For example, a child whose knowledge and problem-
solving ability was similar to that of the average 10 year old was described as having a mental age
of 10 years. The child’s chronological age may be in advance or behind that. Binet showed how
a test of intelligence might be validated by comparing the test performance of older with younger
children, or the performance of those considered bright by their teachers with those considered
dull. Given our understanding of ability, older children should do better than younger children
on a test purporting to be a test of intelligence, and bright children should perform better than
dull children. Determining the appropriate content, finding a unit of measurement and specifying
methods for validating tests of this sort were all significant achievements, with the result that Binet is
often thought of as the originator of psychological testing. Binet himself may not have been entirely
pleased with this honour, because he was more concerned with the remediation of difficulties than
with the classification process that has preoccupied many who adopted his procedures.
The assumption implicit in Binet’s work—that performance on a range of apparently different
problems can be aggregated to yield an overall estimate of, in his terms, mental age—was examined
by Charles Spearman (1863–1945) in the UK in a series of investigations that yielded the first
theory of intelligence. This theory proposed that there was something common to all tests of
cognitive abilities: g in Spearman’s terms. This proposal was to be sharply criticised by a number of
American researchers, chief among them Thurstone.
The theoretical arguments did not deter a number of researchers from adapting Binet’s test
to the cultural milieu in which they worked. Henry Goddard (1866–1957) in the USA, Cyril
Burt (1883–1971) in the UK and Gilbert Phillips (1900–1975) in Australia all developed versions
of Binet’s test, but it was Lewis Terman (1877–1956) at Stanford University who published the
most ambitious version for use with English speakers. His test was appropriate for children aged
 Chapter 1 Psychological Tests 7

from 3 years to 16 years. It was Terman’s version, which he termed the Stanford-Binet, that was to
dominate as a test of intelligence for individuals until David Wechsler (1896–1981) published a test
for the individual assessment of adult intelligence in 1948.
Binet’s test and the adaptations of it depended heavily on tapping skills that were taught in
school, which importantly included verbal skills. A number of researchers saw the need for practical
or performance tests of ability that did not depend on verbal skills or exposure to mainstream
formal schooling. One of the earliest of these researchers was Stanley Porteus (1883–1972), who in
1915 reported the use of mazes for assessing comprehension and foresight. Porteus was born and
educated in Australia, but spent most of his working life in the USA, first at the Vineland Institute
in New Jersey and then at the University of Hawaii. He returned to Australia from time to time to
study the abilities of Aboriginal Australians. His test required the test taker to trace with a pencil
increasingly complex mazes while avoiding dead ends and not lifting the pencil from the paper.
The test is still used by neuropsychologists in assessing executive functions. Porteus’s work was the
forerunner of the development in Australia of a number of tests of ability that are not dependent on
access to English for their administration, the most notable of which was the Queensland Test by
Donald McElwain (1915–2000) and George Kearney (1939–). The administrator of this test used
mime to indicate task requirements. In New Zealand, tests of cognitive ability for Maori children
were undertaken by St George (see Ord, 1977).
Binet’s test and its adaptations, and the early performance tests were individual tests of ability in
that they required administration to one person at a time. An individual test of intelligence was of little
use when thousands of individuals had to be tested in a short space of time-the situation in the First
World War. Arthur Otis (1886–1964) in the USA and Cyril Burt in England trialled a variety of group
tests of intelligence, but the most convincing demonstration of their usefulness was to come from
Clarence Yoakum (1879–1945) and Robert Yerkes (1876–1956) and their colleagues, who developed
two group tests of general mental ability for use with recruits to the US armed services during the

Figure 1.2 Group testing of American army recruits during the First World War
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
 Photo, Olufsen

a mountain village

[29] “Northern Afghanistan.” Major C. E. Yate.

[30] “Asia.” A. H. Keane.
 entrance to amir’s pavilion at jelalabad

CHAPTER XI

ADMINISTRATION, LAWS AND REVENUE

The task which presented itself to Abdur Rahman upon his accession to the throne,
was of such magnitude that few Asiatic potentates would have ventured to have
coped with it. The gravest confusion prevailed in every department of political, civil
and military administration, while the supremacy of the Amir of Kabul received no
very definite recognition from the Sirdars who were ruling over the several tribes
which together made up the State. Under Dost Mahommed, as also in the reign of
Shir Ali, the Sirdars, jealous, ambitious and turbulent, governed in their respective
districts each after his own fashion. The controlling authority of the Amir of Kabul
was not infrequently defied; and as no community of interests existed between
Kabul and the khanates there was no enduring form of government. Everything
depended upon the pleasure of chiefs who, regulated by no law, were always ready
to indulge in hostilities for their own gratification. The results of such a system of
government are illustrated by the civil war of 1863-1869, which distinguished the
early years of Shir Ali’s reign, the final triumph of that ruler securing the
paramountcy of the Amir of Kabul throughout Afghanistan. While Shir Ali founded a
certain despotic sovereignty over Afghanistan, it was Abdur Rahman who, by
establishing a military autocracy, guaranteed the absolutism of the Amir. The
continuation of such a form of government is possible only so long as the Amir is
able to rely upon the unswerving loyalty of his troops. But until the moment of
disunion arrives the ruler of Afghanistan is a dictator, whose absolute authority is
limited only by the calculations which prudence dictates. Religion is the one
counterpoise to his authority and the growing influence of the priests—an influence
which has increased decidedly since the accession of Habib Ullah—represents the
sole quarter from which might arise disturbing elements.
Under Abdur Rahman the power of the priests was held in check; his rugged
independence did not permit him to brook, even covertly, the exercise of priestly
authority. The Church restrained, he was able to proceed with the work of curtailing
the rights and privileges of the chiefs who, at one and the same time, had been a
source of strength or of danger to his predecessors. Prompt to defend the authority
of the Amir of Kabul when relations were cemented by a good understanding and
accustomed to a certain degree to participate in the affairs of government, the tribal
chiefs refused to resign any measure of their authority when such action threatened
to precipitate the disappearance of their powers. Dost Mahommed did not attempt
to interfere with the Sirdars; Shir Ali introduced into their position no perceptible
modification. The tribal system was in full swing at the time when Abdur Rahman
ascended the throne. At that moment each tribe together with its sub-divisions,
according to its numerical force and territorial dimensions, supported one or more of
the reigning chiefs. These leaders, whose existence may be compared with that
enjoyed by the dukes and barons of the Middle Ages in France, occupied so great a
position in the State that the enlistment of their services upon behalf of the throne
carried with it a weight, always sufficient to maintain the balance of the scales in
favour of the ruler of Kabul. Nevertheless, in order to fortify his own position, Abdur
Rahman decided to suppress them. One by one they were brought under
subjection, the gradual circumscription of their authority paving the way to the
subsequent solidarity which distinguished his own position. From this step he
proceeded to fasten upon the remains of the old system a new administration,
purging the Augean stable and curbing the rights of the chiefs no less than the
licence of the individual.
Hitherto in Afghanistan freedom of movement had been permitted. There was
nothing to prevent the entire population of a village from crossing the border if the
majority of its elders were so inclined. Abdur Rahman checked this liberty, instituting
a system which allowed none but the authorised to move between the great centres
of the country or to venture beyond its frontiers. It is not to be supposed that he was
able to maintain free from abuse his new order of government. Spoliation and
embezzlement had existed so long in Afghanistan that recourse to them had
become second nature to every functionary. Each official, whether he were the
product of the new order or a remnant of the old, was corrupt and regarded abuse
of office as the customary symbol of administrative power. The existence of such a
practice necessarily threw into confusion any attempt at reform; and, although
Abdur Rahman produced much elaborate machinery, departmental disorders
continued unabated. In Kabul, in spite of many high-sounding titles, the methods of
the new order were still regulated by the principles of the old.
To the ignorant or to the zealous this condition of affairs may perhaps be
disappointing; but in any Oriental government the first and only thought of the
official classes is the enhancement of their own interests and the enrichment of their
private coffers. Abdur Rahman put a stop to the sale of public offices, but he could
not control the disbursement and acceptance of bribes by which such offices can be
awarded; and, from the highest to the lowest, while success favours the delinquent,
his crime attracts no attention so long as he may distribute his favours. Even under
Abdur Rahman it was rarely that officials of importance were brought to book, while
to-day the Throne itself visits the avaricious by exacting the repletion of its privy
purse at the expense of justice.
 tomb of the emperor baber near kabul

It is of course to the credit of Abdur Rahman that he began his

task at the beginning. At the time of his succession the system of
government was so involved that the entire machinery of the civil
administration was carried on by a staff of ten clerks, who were
controlled by an official combining within himself the functions of
every executive officer.[31] There were no public offices and the seat
of government was the bedroom of this man. There were no books;
the statements of expenditure and the records of government
business were entered upon small slips of paper, 8 inches long and
6 inches wide, each sheet containing the briefest abstract of the
matter with which it was concerned. If any reference were required it
frequently happened that thousands of these pages had to be
examined. In order to remedy this system of keeping records Abdur
Rahman introduced ledgers and record books, the defacement of
which was an offence punishable by the amputation of the fingers.
From this, in due course, he proceeded to create a military and civil
administration. Under military administration, in addition to the armed
forces of the army, militia and levies, he included the departments
concerned with the manufacture of every variety of war material and
the industries associated with each. All workmen employed in these
concerns and all foreigners, whose services were retained by the
Government, were brought within the supervision of the military
bureau. Upon the military side, too, he arranged that pay-sheets
should be honoured monthly, while treasury disbursements, which
were incorporated in the revenue branch of the civil department,
were made annually or, in certain exceptions, bi-yearly.
The civil administration, as ordained by Abdur Rahman, still
continues. It embraces the Boards of Treasury and Trade, the
Bureaux of Justice and Police, the Offices of Records, Public Works,
Posts and Communications. The Departments of Education and
Medicine are a separate organisation. The Board of Treasury is
divided into four departments of Revenue and Expenditure—
northern, southern, eastern and western—in connection with which
there are the State Treasury and the Private Treasury. The State
Treasury is controlled by the State Treasurer and the Councillors of
the Exchequer, who render accounts to an Accountant-General.
Statements of revenue and expenditure are receipted daily and
every evening an abstract, showing the transactions of the day and
countersigned by the heads of the departments concerned, is
submitted to the Amir. The Private Treasury is occupied solely with
the income and monies of the Royal Family. Each Treasury is
divided into two branches, the one being set aside for payments in
cash and the other for the reception of transactions in kind. The
Board of Trade includes the Caravan Department and the Customs
House Department. Branches of these are established in the larger
centres and appeals from them pass through the chief bureau in
Kabul, where they are referred to the office of the Financial
Commissioner, Mirza Shah Beg Khan, for presentation to the Amir
when the necessity arises.
Government is conducted through the agency of a Supreme
Council and a General Assembly drawn from three classes. At
present these are certain Sirdars who take their seats as members
of the Royal Clan; the Khans, who are representatives of the
country; and the Mullahs, who are the representatives of the
Mahommedan religion. Abdur Rahman modified in some degree the
rights and privileges of the Sirdars in connection with the Royal
Durbars; nowadays only those who are the descendants of the Amir
Dost Mahommed Khan and his brothers, or who have received the
specific sanction of the Throne to bear the title, may occupy a place
at them. These three classes are divided into two parties. One of
them is known as the Durbar Shahi or the Supreme Council; the
other is called the Khawanin Mulkhi or General Assembly. These
representatives are convoked by a call from the Aishak Akasee,
whose position resembles that held by the Lord Chamberlain in
England. It is his duty to summon all the members of the Supreme
Council and to arrange their seats according to the order of their
merit. He has another subordinate officer, who is called Omla Bashi,
who notifies the General Assembly and takes a receipt for the
delivery of the notices of meeting. On their arrival outside the Durbar
Hall councillors are received at the gate by another officer, called
Kabchi Bashi, who is a deputy of the Aishak Akasee. The Kabchi
Bashi introduces members of the General Assembly to the Aishak
Akasee.
Upon the attendance of these three Estates of the Realm the Amir
reads a proclamation or makes a speech on the subjects which are
claiming the attention of the meeting and at the same time asks their
opinion. This usually results in the expression of the same views as
those held by the Amir, as this assembly has neither the capacity nor
the courage to detect anything wrong in the law or policy of their
sovereign. Another mode of introducing an alteration of the law is
that some member or members of this assembly may lay a petition
before the Amir, to which sanction may be given. The most important
factor in securing any change, consists in the daily reports from the
magistrates, the governors, the ecclesiastical and criminal courts,
the revenue department and other offices of the Government, who
forward their decisions for approval and sanction, or send in their
petitions or the petitions of tribes in the country requesting the Amir
to sign a new ordinance. If the Amir forms a favourable opinion upon
these documents they are enrolled in the Record Office of the
Government.
The Amir’s Supreme Council or Cabinet differs from the English
Cabinet in that there is no Prime Minister and that the Cabinet
cannot give any advice to the Crown without being asked to do so.
The Amir is seldom absent from his Council, but its assemblage
simply depends on the pleasure of the Crown. If the presence of any
member is unpopular in the country, the people have the power to
protest against it.
The following officials constitute the Cabinet:[32] the Aishak
Akasee; Lord of the Seal; Chief Secretary and several other
secretaries; the military officials of the bodyguard; Lord Treasurer of
the private treasury of the Sovereign; Secretary of State for War;
Secretaries of State for the North, South, East and West;
Postmaster-General; Commander-in-Chief or his deputy; Master of
the Horse; Kotwal or Home Secretary; Quartermaster-General;
Accountant-General; Groom of the Bed-chamber; Superintendent of
the Magazines; Heads of the Board of Trade and of the Board of
Education. In addition, there are sometimes those other officials or
chiefs who may be sufficiently in the confidence of the Amir to be
admitted to the meetings.

spinning cotton
 The following division of business is usually observed: Monday
and Thursday are devoted to postal despatches and to the
Exchequer; Tuesday is set aside for consideration of military cases
and the affairs of the War Office; Wednesday is devoted to the affairs
of the whole kingdom when public as well as private Durbars are
held; Friday is observed as a religious holiday; on Saturday the Amir
sits as a Court of Appeal and Supreme Court of Justice; Sunday is
devoted to the inspection of the army, magazines, war materials,
manufactories, industries and various miscellaneous matters.
The laws of Afghanistan at the present day may be placed under
three headings:
(1) Islamic laws.
(2) Those created by the Amir, which are based upon Islamic
laws, the opinions of the people and the personal views of Habib
Ullah as well as of his father, the late Amir.
(3) Tribal laws.
In criminal, revenue and political law the procedure was devised
by Abdur Rahman; but for the rest, Islamic law is the general
practice. The cases decided by the Amir himself are brought under
two headings:
Firstly, he sits as a Supreme Court of Appeal; in which capacity he
hears and decides the appeals from all the various courts, whether
civil, criminal or ecclesiastical.
Secondly, there are some cases which he hears himself from the
beginning and decides himself, just as do the inferior courts.
Commonly it is understood that when the Amir sits as an original
court to hear cases which are not appeals from any other court, such
cases must be of great importance: such as political disputes, cases
of high treason, offences against the Throne and matters of
Government revenue. This is merely a theory, since any person who
has even a trifling matter in dispute can have his case decided by
the Amir himself if he fears that the subordinate Court is prejudiced;
or if he chooses for any other reason to go before the Amir in
preference to going before the subordinate Courts. It is in the
pleasure of the Crown to refer such a plaintiff to the subordinate
Courts, unless the plaintiff can prove that he has reason to believe
that justice would not be equally meted out in such a court.
The rule of Appeal, unlike that of England, is that the superior
Court, instead of being satisfied with the investigation of the
subordinate Court, takes the case as if it were a new one. New
evidence, fresh inquiries and investigations are made from the very
beginning, as though the case had never previously been tried.
(1) Appeals.—These are brought before the Amir in the following
ways:
Firstly, the various courts forward for his approval such judgments
as they consider of great importance and do not like to take upon
themselves the responsibility of deciding.
Secondly, the same Courts forward to the Amir for his opinion
questions on which there is no definitely laid down law by which to
abide.
Thirdly, in cases where the spies of the Amir, who are supposed
to be everywhere, report to him that some kind of fraud or partiality
had been shown in a decision.
Fourthly, where a plaintiff or defendant is dissatisfied with the
judgment of any Court he can appeal to the Amir.
(2) Court of First Instance.—Occasionally the Amir sits as a Court
of First Instance, when it is permitted to all persons to approach him
with grievances, disputes or claims as they would any other
magistrate. Whether it is an appeal or an original case, the modes of
trial in civil law are the same. The plaintiff brings his witnesses with
him, if it is necessary to have any witness at all, and the defendant
brings his witnesses also. Both sides are heard and the case
decided upon the spot, the inordinate delay which distinguishes
judicial procedure in England being avoided.
The various codes of law are so numerous that they would fill at
least a dozen bulky volumes. Every official, the holders of all offices,
great or small, in Afghanistan has a manual signed or sealed by the
Amir, on which he acts. Instructions are so minute, moreover, that it
is a common saying in Afghanistan that there is not a donkey-driver
in the country who does not possess a signature of the Amir to some
document, giving him the law which he is to obey. All classes are
amenable to the law, and in theory there is no exemption or special
laws—not even for the nearest relatives of the Amir, as was once
proved when a favourite wife of the late Abdur Rahman was ordered
by him to answer in the courts to the summons of a firm of Parsee
milliners. Judicial corruption, however, makes evasion of the law
neither difficult nor infrequent, and bribery is the cause of a general
miscarriage of justice.
The condition of the Criminal Law is singularly barbarous; and no
attempt, even upon paper or in theory, has been made to mitigate its
crude severity. There is no fixed limit for the various punishments,
and, although sentences of death need to be confirmed by the Amir,
torture is invariably applied in all cases of criminal procedure. The
instrument more generally used is known as the Fanah, a
contrivance not unlike the “boot.” There are many things in the
Afghan code which are susceptible of improvement for the whim of
the Amir is law, and, at best, he is no better than an amiable despot
whose caprice demands immediate realisation. In this, Afghanistan
is far removed from the condition of the native States of India and
the territories of Bokhara, where, if justice is also tempered with
bribery and corruption, life is at least respected until the innocent are
proved to be guilty. Not so in the Amir’s country, where men are still
blown from guns and penalties of equal brutality exacted for
comparatively trivial offences.
Illustrations of the harshness of the law abound in Kabul itself. It is
a common spectacle to see prisoners, their ankles encircled by steel
bands, which are connected by a rod to a chain round their waists,
sitting by the wayside asking alms of passers-by. Under the
conditions which prevail in the Kabul prisons, unless the inmates
have money or friends who will interest themselves in their plight,
they are thrown upon the charity of the public for their means of
subsistence. Government provides nothing for them but bread and
prison quarters, where, chained and under close observation, they
lead a life of endless misery. Justice, too, is very slow-footed and
expedition is impossible until the officers of the Court, whose duty it
is to bring cases-in-waiting to the notice of the judge, have first been
bribed. Heavy tolls are levied by all officials for this service and, if the
payments are not forthcoming, the trial may never take place or it
may be protracted through several years. Even then, when prisoners
have been tried, their sentences pronounced and they are at the
conclusion of their terms of imprisonment, the rental charges for their
use of the prisons have still to be met. The system is iniquitous and
imposes upon poor captives the alternative of perpetual slavery, or
the necessity to cry for alms in the streets as they go to and from
their work. Employment in the workshops, the ordnance yards and
upon the Government buildings is the only description of labour with
which the prisoners are furnished. In a measure such work is popular
among them, as it affords opportunities for discussion with their
friends and gives them for a brief space somewhat greater liberty of
movement. Their tasks are of the hardest and roughest description,
but they have a chance to wash their clothes—even to take a bath in
the canal which runs through the factories. Sometimes, too, regular
workmen distribute their food among the prisoners or even present
them with a few pice. But at all times their fate is terrible and their
existence in prison accompanied by extreme privations. Again, if
death is the order of their lot, it is impossible to say whether it will be
short, sharp and sudden, or something a little lingering like the ends
which befel a robber, and an over-zealous student of political affairs,
of whom Abdur Rahman made such terrible examples.
The robber, the leader of a band of brigands whose exploits and
activity had won for the Lata Bund Devan an unenviable notoriety,
was captured by the police after many attempts, and repeated
warnings. The Amir, who had become exasperated at the robberies
of the band, determined to make a fitting example of their leader.
Upon the summit of the Lata Bund Pass, 8000 feet above sea-level,
he erected a flag-staff; from this he suspended an iron cage and in
the cage he placed the robber—where he left him, as an example! It
is said in Kabul that the fate of that highwayman determined the end
of the robber band. Certainly, since that day no further crimes of
violence have been committed in the pass.
 The other was a student who, brought before Abdur Rahman,
declared in a state of unrepressed excitement that the Russians
were advancing to invade Afghanistan.
“The Russians are coming?” said the Amir with grim deliberation;
“then you shall be taken to the summit of yonder tower and shall
have no food till you see them arrive.”
The theory of Justice in all Eastern countries aims at punishing
some one person for every indictable misdemeanour. In China, in
Japan, in Korea and in Africa, too, the autocrat measures the peace
of the country-side by the moral effect of his standard of punishment.
No crime escapes its levy against the liberty of the subject, although
the criminal himself may abscond. A precisely similar state of affairs
prevails in Afghanistan where, in the event of the offender escaping,
the hostage satisfies the findings of the law. Liberty of movement,
therefore, is denied to every one in Kabul beyond a six-mile radius
measured from the Kabul police station. For permission to go
beyond this point it is necessary to obtain at a cost of three rupees a
rahdari or road-pass and to leave Afghanistan without such a pass is
punishable with death. In point of fact, facilities are never granted
until hostages against the failure of the person to return have been
given. In the case of any one venturing to leave Afghanistan and
failing to come back, his property is at once confiscated, his family is
imprisoned and his more immediate surety is executed. Such a fate
befel the family of a soldier who was making a protracted stay in
India. Arrested and threatened with execution their release was
secured only by the man’s return and surrender, knowing when he
did so that he would be blown from a gun on the place of execution.
This was ultimately his fate. It is one so constantly meted out to
prisoners that, whenever the boom of the gun is heard in Kabul, only
those who are of the sternest disposition can suppress the sigh
which involuntarily escapes as the mournful sound falls upon the
ears. There are, of course, other ways of punishing the guilty than
that of blowing them from cannon. Yet the boom of a gun in Kabul
only denotes one of three things: the passing of the Amir, the mid-
day hour, and the release of a soul to Paradise from the horrors of
the Kabul prisons.
 In the city of Kabul the Amir does not give the enemies of law and
order a chance. The chief magistrate has become an object of public
execration and wholesome dread. His spies are believed to be
everywhere; and hardly a word can be spoken without its coming to
the ears of the Naib Kotwal and through him to the Amir himself. The
Kabul police code is curiously elaborate. It forbids evil speaking in
the streets. The vituperation of a Said (a reputed descendant of the
Prophet Mahommed through his daughter Fatima), of a man of
learning or of a civic elder renders the offender liable to twenty
lashes and a fine of fifty rupees. If the bad language is only aimed at
a common person ten lashes with a fine of ten rupees is the penalty
provided. Punishments are also laid down for dishonest tradesmen
who cheat with false weights or adulterate the food they sell, for the
indecorous bather, the gambler, the purveyor of charms; as also for
persons who misbehave in the mosque, forget to say their prayers or
to observe a fast day. The man who kisses some one else’s wife
receives thirty lashes and is sent to prison for further inquiry.
Careful directions are laid down in regard to administering the
lash. The instrument itself is made of three strips of camel, cow and
sheep skin, with a handle of olive wood. The stripes are laid on with
pious ejaculations and the police officer is exhorted to feel, if he
cannot show, sorrow for the wrong-doer, “since Mahommedans are
all of one flesh.” Special cognisance is taken of offences against
religion. If any free-thinking Kabuli omits to bend his head with due
reverence at the hour of prayer the police officer must at first
remonstrate gently. If the mild appeal fails, he must use harsh terms,
such as “O foolish, O stupid one.” In the event of continued
obstinacy the stick is to be applied; and, as a last resource, the Amir
is to be informed. He—“will do the rest.”
The departments for the administration of the Government in the
provinces are as follows:
(1) The Governor-General, the Governor together with the
Secretaries and Staffs.
Strictly speaking, there are no positive restrictions limiting and
separating the authority of any one official from that of another.
Cases go before any court to which the applicant may choose to
take them. As a rule the Governor-General of the province is the
executive head of all departments within his sphere and he is looked
upon as a Court of Appeal from the District Courts, which are
presided over by the District Governor or his subordinate officials.
The main duty of the Governor-General is to collect the revenues
from the landowners and to administer the province; of the District
Governor, to settle the disputes of landowners, to keep the peace in
his district, to circulate the Kabul proclamations and to forward from
time to time any orders which he may receive from his provincial
heads. The chief provinces are administered by Governors-General,
the more important centres by Governors and the smaller places by
District Governors, District Superintendents and Inspectors.
Commanders-in-Chief are associated with the Governors-General of
provinces and military officers of corresponding subordinate rank
assist the civilian officials. Governors, exercising full executive
powers locally, report to their Governors-in-Chief who, in turn,
despatch a monthly report to Kabul.
(2) The Kazi (Judge of the Ecclesiastical Court) with his subordinate.
The Ecclesiastical Court of the Kazi is looked upon as the highest
tribunal in the province and hence it is not limited to religious
subjects; all civil cases, whatever their nature, may be taken before
it. Generally speaking, business differences and religious disputes
are settled in the District Courts, cases concerning divorce, marriage
and inheritance passing before the Provincial Supreme Court. Cases
punishable by death seldom come within the jurisdiction of the
provincial courts. The Chief Judge of this court is called Kazi and his
subordinates are Muftis. Cases are decided by a majority.
(3) The Kotwal (Head of the Police Department) together with the
force of Police, Secretary and the officials of the Passport
Department.
The Kotwal exercises much greater authority in criminal cases
than any other criminal official whatever. He combines the duties of a
District Chief of Police and a judge of Petty Sessions, while he may
determine small criminal cases, forwarding the more serious to the
capital. He is also in charge of the local Intelligence Department and
is in each centre an official of whose tyranny, oppression and cruelty
stories and poems have been handed down from posterity.
(4) Kafila Bashi (an official of the Caravan Department) with a Board
of Commerce, a Revenue Office, Tax-Collector’s Office, Treasury
Office and a local military force.
The Kafila Bashi is an official who supplies transport to travellers;
in this respect he is responsible for the payment of all dues by
travellers, as well as for the treatment dealt out to the caravan
followers. He receives his commission from those who hire the
animals and renders an account of every transaction to the
Government. All expenses of this establishment are paid by the
Government and the balance passes into the District Treasury.
The Board of Commerce settles disputes between merchants.
The President of the Board presides over this court and its members
are elected from among the mercantile community, irrespective of
religion.
The Revenue Office settles the accounts of the revenue and
keeps a record of the taxes which every landowner must pay
annually to the Government. The land revenue is now fixed at one-
third of the produce of the soil and is to be collected by the
lambardar of each village. Associated with the Revenue Office are
officers who register and copy all documents issued in connection
with the collection and expenditure of revenue. Duties upon
commerce are levied at the rate of 2½ per cent. upon all exports and
imports, all such monies passing direct into the local treasury.
Abdur Rahman gave his closest attention to the revenue. One of
his earliest acts was to replace by tokens of his own the currency
which had existed under the Khans. Hitherto, the money in
circulation in Afghanistan had been represented by three varieties of
rupees—the Herat, the Kandahar and the Kabul which, although not
really of identical value, were reckoned at ten shahis. No gold tokens
had been struck by any of the dynasties reigning in the State, and
the gold coins which passed in the country were represented by the
ducat of Russia, the tilla of Bokhara and the toman of Persia. These
coins had been imported in the natural course of trade; but by a
strange coincidence the Persian token suffered a discount, while the
Russian and Bokharan coins enjoyed a premium of 10 per cent.
There were certain silver coins, also, which had been introduced by
merchants from beyond the borders. Among these were the silver
kran from Persia and the silver rupee from India, equally liable to the
vagaries of exchange. In detail, the currency of Afghanistan was as
follows:
200 dinars = 1 abbassi.
500 dinars or 10 shahis = 1 rupee kham.
600 dinars or 12 shahis = 1 rupee silver.
20 rupees kham = 1 toman (about £2).

The dinar, the rupee kham and the toman figured, in the main, in
accounts, the table of the coins actually in circulation being as
follows:
3-5 pice (copper) = 1 shahi (silver).
2 shahis (silver) = 1 abbassi (silver).
2 abbassis (silver) = 1 jindek Herat (silver).
3 jindeks (silver) = 1 rupee Kandahar (silver).
2 rupees Kandahar (silver) = 1 rupee Kabul (silver).
1 jindek = 4d.
1 rupee Kandahar = 1s.
1 rupee Kabul = 2s.

In order to re-establish the currency of the country upon a sound

basis Abdur Rahman opened a mint in Kabul. At the same time he
re-organised the methods of revenue collection, besides improving
the channels through which it was received.
The work of the mint was at first conducted by hand. It was not
until some years after he had ascended the throne that the late Amir
introduced minting machinery, at the same time requesting the
Government of India to loan the services of an Englishman to
superintend its erection. The official thus despatched was Mr.
McDermot, employed in the Calcutta mint; and under his supervision
Kabuli workmen learnt to cut the dies, to erect the stamps and to
strike off the coins. The capacity of the plant which was erected in
Kabul was limited to a silver and copper mintage of 100,000 coins a
day, made up of five and ten pice pieces, rupees, half-rupees and
third-rupees. In contradistinction to the rupees which had previously
been struck off at Kabul, each new rupee was worth only one
shilling. These coins bore upon their faces the inscription—a
translation of a title conferred upon Abdur Rahman by his people in
1896—“The Light of the Nation and of Religion”; the reverse side
bore his coat-of-arms. Until this superscription was adopted, coins
were engraved only with the date and place of casting upon one
side, and upon the reverse the name of the ruler—“Cast at the
Capital of Kabul: Amir Abdur Rahman.” Since Habib Ullah’s
accession Abdur Rahman’s coinage has been superseded by a new
issue bearing in Turkish characters the inscription “Amir Habib Ullah
Khan, Amir of Kabul, The Seeker of God’s help.” The engraving on
the obverse represents a mosque with pulpit and minarets, encircled
by rifles, standards, swords and cannon. Habib Ullah’s coins are of
lower standard to the previous issue; actual exchange against Indian
currency being:
R. A. P.
1 Kabuli rupee = 0 7 9
and
1 Kandahari rupee = 0 4 6

The Amir’s officials in levying duties maintain an arbitrary and

wholly fictitious rate of exchange under which
Indian.
R. A. P.
1 Kabuli rupee = 0 13 4
and
1 Kandahari rupee = 0 8 0

The income of Afghanistan has always been subject to serious

fluctuation. In 1839, at a moment when Kandahar, Herat, and Kabul
were separate territories, and there were ten rupees to the pound
sterling, the proceeds from each State were:
Herat 800,000 rupees = £80,000
Kandahar 800,000 ” = £80,000
Kabul 2,000,000 ” = £200,000
 Nearly twenty years later, in 1857, during a conference with the
Governor-General of India at Peshawar, Dost Mahommed submitted
an estimate of his returns which, excluding a million rupees which
had to be disbursed to tribal chiefs, was as follows:
Kabul 2,222,000 rupees = £222,200
Kandahar 444,000 ” = £44,400
Turkestan 342,800 ” = £34,280
Supplementary sources 1,000,000 ” = £100,000
Total 4,008,800 ” = £400,880

While the receipts of Afghan Turkestan were incorporated with

these figures, the Herat territory was still an independent sphere and
its income on that account is not included. A few years later, under
Shir Ali, the revenue from all sources rose to £710,000; which,
together with the very handsome subsidy annually paid by the
Government of India, and if it had been assisted by a liberal fiscal
policy under Abdur Rahman, well might have expanded to an annual
income of one million sterling.

a customs station in the plains

 Prior to their systematic collection under the arrangements which
were devised by Abdur Rahman, the monies of Afghanistan were
obtained by an elaborate process of taxation, which, if not altogether
excessive, was accompanied by much unauthorised exaction. Taxes
were imposed upon all live-stock, upon cultivated ground, upon all
varieties of produce, upon houses and upon certain classes of the
population, the apparent aim of the authorities, irrespective of their
actual needs, being to extract as much as possible from their
unhappy subjects. The following table represents the taxes which
were imposed in the territories of Herat, Kandahar and Kabul.
Article. Imposts. £ s. d.
Merchants’ shops 336 jindeks[33] per annum = 5 12 0
Nomads’ tent-tax 44 ” ” = 0 14 8
Afghans’ hut-tax 6 ” ” = 0 2 0
Camels and horses 16 ” ” = 0 5 4
Cows 3½ ” ” = 0 1 0
Sheep
} ewes ½ ” ” = 0 0 2
Goats
Farm produce 8 ” ” = 0 2 8
Fruit gardens 30 ” ” = 0 10 0
Kitchen gardens 37½ ” ” = 0 12 6
Poll-tax, Hindu 15 ” ” = 0 5 0
Horses exported 73 ” ” = 1 4 4

In addition to these taxes there were the inter-territorial levies

upon merchandise in transit from one principality to another. These
were upon—
s. d.
Every camel-load 36 jindeks = 12 2
pony
Every { } load 27 ” = 8 10
mule
Every donkey-load 6 ” = 2 0

Goods were exported from Afghanistan free from customs duties,

but all trade entering the country was charged as follows:
Territory. Nominal duty. Duty exacted.
Herat 5 per cent. 9 per cent.
Kandahar 2½ ” 10 ”