My first visit to Yakub Khan was of a formal character.  Nevertheless, he seized the opportunity to urge strongly upon me the advisability of delaying my advance, that he might have time, he said, to restore order amongst his troops, and to punish those who had participated in the attack on the Embassy.  I replied that my orders were peremptory, and that it was my duty, as it was my determination, to press on to Kabul with all possible speed.  Finding that his arguments had no effect, he changed his tactics, and declared that he was much alarmed for the safety of his family, whom he had left in the Bala Hissar; that he had only one regiment on which he could depend; that he feared when the others should hear of our approach they would break out and attack the citadel; and that the innocent people in Kabul, not considering it possible that a British force could get there so quickly, had made no arrangements to convey their families away.

Feeling that anxiety for the safety of the families was not the true cause for the Amir’s efforts to delay us, and that his sole object was to gain time for the development of plans for opposing our advance—­which subsequent events proved had been made with great care—­I told him it was impossible to accede to his wishes, but that time would be given for all women and children to clear out of the city if it should prove necessary to attack it.  This necessity, however, I was most anxious to avoid, and earnestly hoped that our fighting would be over before we entered Kabul, for I had not forgotten Delhi, and I dreaded the idea of the troops having to force their way through narrow streets and crowded bazaars.

Yakub Khan was evidently much chagrined at my decision.  He had left Kabul hurriedly, his movements probably being hastened by hearing that his uncle, Wali Mahomed Khan, and several other Sirdars with whom he was at enmity, were on their way to join me.  He had not even brought a tent with him, and, had he succeeded in inducing me to delay our advance, he would without doubt have returned to Kabul at once.  As it was, he was accommodated with a tent in the centre of the camp, and the best arrangements possible, under the circumstances, made for his entertainment.

When his own tents arrived, he asked leave to have them pitched outside camp limits.  To this I consented, at the same time ordering that a guard of the same strength as my own should be detailed as his escort, ostensibly to do him honour, but in reality that I might be kept informed as to his movements.  Unwelcome guest as he was, I thought the least of two evils was to keep him now that we had got him, as his presence in Kabul would be sure to increase the opposition I felt certain we should encounter.

In response to the fears expressed by the Amir as to the safety of the non-combatants, I issued the following Proclamation to the people of Kabul: