IOR/L/PS/7/47 ff.425-432

Description

Scope and content : Despatch from the Government of India, Foreign Department (Secret) to the Secretary, Political and Secret Department, India Office, dated Simla 22 June 1886, forwarding for the attention of the Secretary of State for India, Kabul newsletters 44-46, dated 1, 4 and 8 June 1886, respectively, written by Lieutenant-Colonel Sardar Bahadur Ataulla Khan, British Agent at Kabul.Letter no. 44 reports that 'The Amir sent bricklayers towards Bamian, where, it is rumoured, that he intends to build a fort and establishing a cantonment: because several passes converge there, and troops can be sent thence to Kandahar, Badakhshan, Kabul, Balkh, or China if necessary';l no. 46 reports the raising of the octroi on piece-goods from 12 to 18 per cent, 'because the receipts from the tax on merchandise had fallen.' On the attitude of the people towards the Amir: 'It is melancholy that nothing is thought of but grasping and beating, and it is a pity no one warns the Amir of the disaffection among the people. People began to entertain disaffection during the Amir's illness. There would immediately have been an insurrection if the Amir had died, and all the wealth that the Amir has amassed would have been given to plunder. Both troops and people are disaffected and without hope. No one dares either from fear or ignorance to represent the state of the country to the Amir...'