IOR/L/PS/7/47 ff.461-474

Description

Scope and content : Despatch from the Government of India, Foreign Department (Secret/Frontier) to the Secretary of State for India, dated Simla, 25 June 1886, forwarding correspondence regarding restrictions placed on the movements of the Afghan Boundary Commission.No. 3, a letter from the Amir to the Viceroy, dated 28 May 1886, argues that the Kazi has a right to interfere with the proceedings of British officers on the frontier and complain of their movements in his territory and the consequent requirement that they should be escorted: 'what presents great difficulty is that each officer rides from the Commission Camp, and without obtaining my permission or consulting Kazi Sad-ud-din Khan goes from Herat to Balkh and from Balkh to Badakhshan. Some of the officers travel by public roads, and some by private roads, their object being unknown, and they being free and unrestrained in their wanderings and movements, while the Afghan Government holds itself responsible for any harm or injury that befalls them anywhere in Afghan territory...'No. 9, telegram of 9 June 1886, reports that the Amir has refused permission for suveyors to proceed to Badakhshan.No. 11, letter from the Viceroy to the Amir, dated 19 June 1886, protests that it appears that Kazi Sad-ud-din was 'attempting to influence Sir West Ridgeway in the matter of the pending demarcation by unnecessarily restricting the movements of his party ... If he cannot do all that is required, and Your Highness's interests consequently suffer hereafter, the Government of India will not be responsible.' Dufferin states that British officials must be given 'reasonable facilities for gaining full knowledge of the country' and not treated like spies, concluding with a strongly worded paragraph regarding the Amir's attitude and the tone of his letters:'You accuse Colonel Ridgeway, who has done more for you than any of your own officials, of making malicious statements; you uphold the proceedings of Kazi Sad-ud-din, who retains Your Highness's favor by a show of great zeal in defending your dignity, that is to say by continually thwarting the British Commissioner and impeding the satisfactory settlement of your frontier; and you even go so far as to write words of defiance, informing me that the Afghans are not afraid of the resentment of the British Government. I do not attach much importance to these words, because I know that it is the custom of oriental rulers to use them, and that in your heart Your Highness is fully aware of the strength of the British Government; but I am afraid they may be differently viewed by Her Majesty's Ministers, who are accustomed to the forms of correspondence in use among the civilised States of Europe. It would be unfortunate if your language were taken as a real and deliberate indication of your feelings, for in that case the confidence of Her Majesty's Government in your good will would be seriously shaken.''I would advise Your Highness in your own interests to write in future with more calmness and self-control, in order that Her Majesty's Government may feel that they have in Your Highness an ally upon whose temper and good sense they can depend.'