Mss Eur F111/56

Description

Scope and content : 53 folios. Handwritten memorandum, dated November 1894 and marked 'Very Private & Confidential.' Written by Lord Curzon and addressed to Lord Elgin, his predecessor as Viceroy of India. The memorandum covers the period of his visit to Afghanistan between 12 November and 2 December 1894. These notes include descriptions of his meetings with the Amir, Abdul Rahman Khan and members of his court, Sir Salter Pyne (a businessman and engineer, who also served as the Amir's unofficial ambassador to the Viceroy), and the Amir's personal physician Lillias Anna Hamilton ('the one perfectly sensible and trustworthy person here'). Curzon's account also includes much information on life at the court of Kabul and on the city's resident European community ('the squalid maze of backbiting and lies of which European society here appears to be made up...'). He describes in detail his meetings with the Amir and his attempts to resolve the latter's complaints, particularly in matters of diplomatic protocol, such as not being permitted to correspond directly with the British Government or to reply directly to the Prince of Wales in relation to a proposed visit to England.