Before Taliban

Introduction / 5
his hands, Thomas’s ever-fretful cameraman worried aloud about the
impending meeting. What, he asked in a whisper, was the proper way to
address an amir? A third member of their group replied ominously that it
was best “not to say anything at all....If you start talking out of turn to an
absolute monarch, you are liable to be turned over to the mad elephants or
blown from the mouth of a cannon.” No sooner were these dour comments
uttered, however, then the amir himself appeared before them, “a stocky
man of middle height, with a short mustache and protruding dark brown
eyes. You could see that he was a man of jolly and yet strong personality. He
also looked as though he enjoyed the good things of life.”
Not only was Amanullah’s appearance rather unexceptional, but “the
Ameer was not dressed nearly so magnificently as you expect a king to be.”
In fact, his garb was “rather shapeless and clumsy,” for it turned out that, as
an encouragement to home industry, he was sporting English-style clothing
made in a local factory. And if this attire were not enough to dissipate any
illusions that the travelers might have retained about the absolute amir,
there was also the evident ease and casualness with which he interacted with
his companions and they with him. This group included the two older
brothers whom Amanullah had displaced to become king. Thomas remembered
the “many dark legends of the Orient, where it has been the custom
for ages for a king to kill off all his near relatives for fear that they might try
to dethrone him.” However, such speculations were soon dispelled; the amir
donned sporting attire to play a set of tennis with a group of these same relatives
and later, while being photographed by Chase, relinquished his seat
on a noble charger so that various of his companions could have their pictures
taken on the same steed.
All these episodes diffused the air of mystery surrounding the Afghan
amir, but perhaps the most telling moment from Thomas’s point of view
was their first handshake, which was “firm and decisive.” As Thomas noted,
there was “nothing languid and Oriental about it,” a comment that signaled
the demise of the Arabian Nights fantasy Thomas had been constructing in
his mind. American to the bone, Thomas couldn’t help but like a man with
a firm handshake. Likewise, for Chase, Amanullah’s status as a regular Joe
was sealed in an equally convincing manner when he displayed his skill at
tennis. Chase noted that he had played some formidable tennis himself in
his day, but he was sufficiently impressed by the amir’s “cannonball service”
to offer the singular compliment that “this Oriental potentate is a regular
Oriental wizard at this Occidental pastime” (Fig. 1). The amir further
endeared himself to Chase when he willingly assumed whatever pose the
cameraman demanded of him. Despite the evident discomfort of his