For 200 years of its brief existence, Mussoorie has been host to the rulers of Afghanistan. These include those who have either been interned or exiled from their homes to these backwaters of the hills. Our list begins with Emir Dost Mohammed Khan, the founder of the Barakzai dynasty and one of the prominent rulers of Afghanistan during the First Anglo-Afghan War, who was housed in Bala Hisar in 1840.Amir Dost Mohammed Khan. Photo: Chandigarh Museum.Emir Dost Mohammed Khan had been brought to be kept safely in Dehradun by the British. However he was keen to go up to the nearby Himalayan foothills where game was plentiful and he could while away the hours pursuing his favourite hobby. This arrangement suited the British rulers, for all they had to do was ensure his security. Consequently, the seven mile long bridle-path bristled with troops. No one could sneak in and no one could sneak out. Two years later, he was restored to the throne in Kabul, but by then he had introduced the aromatic basmati rice (baas and maati or ‘scent of the earth’) from his home in Kunar, Afghanistan to the Doon valley.In that very area, 40-odd years later, the Allen Memorial School was built.In the spring of 1880, the 50-acre Bellevue estate, beyond the Mussoorie Library, housed another Emir of Afghanistan, Mohammed Yaqub Khan, a grandson of Dost Mohammed, and his entourage. They had travelled outside Jalalabad to sign the Treaty of Gandamak, whereby he ceded his territory to British control, famously saying: ‘I would rather work as your servant, cut grass and tend your garden than be the ruler of Afghanistan.’ He left behind his son Sher Ali on the throne as the Emir. It was Sher Ali’s refusal to accept a British Mission in Kabul that sowed the seed for the second Anglo-Afghan war.Also read: The Afghan Story in the History of Indian GeopoliticsWalking around the looming ruins, the fallen columns of stone, I think of a 30-something-year-old, dressed in shimmering white (if you ignore the gold tassels dangling from his epaulettes) chafing at the bit. It is true that while he was granted access to the hot spots, there was always an escort or a detail of troopers trailing after him. They were the finest pick of the Northumberland Fusiliers (or the 5th Foot) led by J.C. Fisher, a British Political Officer.Emir of Afghanistan, Mohammed Yaqub Khan, at the signing of the Treaty of Gandamak. Photo: Author provided/Ganesh SailiFisher could not figure out his charge’s habit of suddenly spurring his pony into a gallop, without any warning to his companions. These bursts of speed became more and more frequent but the officer dismissed it as a mere quirk.Till one fine day when the import of what was happening hit him when he stopped at the fork in the road near the old Library to chit-chat with a friend. To his abject horror, he saw his charge hightailing it at a gallop down the road to Rajpur and perhaps to freedom. A whirlwind pursuit ensued, involving the taking of many a precarious shortcut, but eventually Fisher managed to block the escaper, thus avoiding what might have been the biggest blot on his hitherto unblemished career.Bala Hisar were Emir Dost Mohammad was interned. Photo: Author provided/Ganesh SailiOn his return, a detailed report of the incident was submitted to the Governor-General.‘Don’t hurt one hair on his head,’ came the laconic reply. And that was that. Orders were orders that had to be obeyed.Towards the end of the 1960s, the delicate blue-and-white Cantonese tiles, brought all the way from China to decorate the colonial verandahs of the Bellevue mansion, had begun to chip where vandals had tried to pry them loose for mementos. In a fit of pique, the owners, living in Calcutta, decided to demolish the building.Also read | The Travails of Afghanistan: A Contemporary HistoryStanding a moment on this wind-swept spur, I wonder if the Emir Yaqub Khan, his sirdars and risaldars had dreamt of their mountain home in the sun-singed Hindu Kush. Had they heard the muffled sounds of a caravan of wizened traders shuffling along on rock strewn paths through the Hindu Kush? While wintering in the warmer climes of Dehradun, where he had built for himself a smaller replica of Bala Hisar on East Canal Road – that is where final release from human bondage came in November 1923.His lockdown had lasted 43 years.It must have broken his heart when in 1920 he was not even an invitee to the Third Anglo-Afghan Conference underway at Mussoorie’s Savoy Hotel. Another Afghan King, the diminutive Amanullah Khan signed the treaty. There are two pictures that were taken by the famous photographer Julien Rust with his large-format camera to mark the solemn occasion. In one (header image above) there are seven Afghan leaders and four British officers gathered outside the steps of the Motilal Nehru block. The other (below) was taken the next day inside the ballroom with the Afghan flag draped alongside the Union Jack over the balcony.The Indo Afghan Conference 1930 in the ballroom of the Savoy Hotel in Mussoorie. Photo: Julien Rust/Author provided Later on the Afghan King commemorated the occasion by building the Masjid-a-Amania off the Mall Road. You will find it next to the Press Club in Library Bazaar.What must it have been like for all of them, to be torn away from their home cultures, from the familiar, and be left to weave a forlorn tapestry of memories all on their own?At the end of the day, it is evident that the “Sceptre and crown must tumble down and in the dust be equal made with the poor crooked scythe and spade.”Ganesh Saili was born and grew up in the hills. He is the author of two dozen books, some translated into 20 languages.