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AMANULLAH

no purpose. Amanullah, ex-King of Afghanistan, tastes
the bitterness of the ineffective as he idles away the
prime of his life in a strangely lazy land.

" Peace of God " he was called. The name survived
wars, tumult, revolt, country-wide bloodshed. The
irony strikes deep. Even more bitter a wound is that
inflicted by forced inactivity. Failure docs not come
easily to a man who had staked his future on success.
He had never dreamed of failure. He finds himself now
not only purposeless, but without fame. Of the kings
who wander round the globe to-day, their thrones
smashed by the anger of revolutionary mobs, there can
be none so deeply wounded and humiliated as this man
who walks along the sunny street, now halting in his steps.

For he was an ambitious man, and will never forget
the homage that was paid him in the Courts of the
Western world.

Amanullah need not fear poverty. After sundry
rumours that he was on the verge of destitution, that
he had left the East with little or no wealth, it was
virtually admitted that during his last flight from Kabul
he had been able to bring with him sufficient valuables
to ensure at least his comfort and that of his family for
a number of years*

The value of the diamonds, rubies, and emeralds
brought out of flaming Kabul may have totalled
£100,000* Reports differ, but it is certain that attempts
have already been made to dispose of some of the more
valuable of the gem$ to European dealers. On the
proceeds of those sales, Amanullah and Souriya are now
living in a modest way, trying their hand at occasional
farming, interesting themselves in various industries for
a time, and generally living fairly comfortably without
the need for undue anxiety.

It is said that Amanullah, with his perhaps natural

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