Events in Afghanistan and the Neighbouring Countries

Title:

Events in Afghanistan and the Neighbouring Countries

Date:

1838/1838

Description:

Abstract: This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of India Secret Department to the East India Company Secret Committee, Number 5 of 1838, dated 5 April 1838. The enclosures are dated 29 January-5 April 1838.The item comprises: despatches between Captain Claude Martine Wade, Political Agent in Loodiana [Ludhiana, also spelled Lodhiana in this item], and William Hay Macnaghten, Secretary to the Governor-General of India; and letters from Captain Alexander Burnes, on a Mission to Cabool [Kabul, also spelled this way and Kabool in this item] to Macnaghten.The despatches concern: British policy towards and relations with the ruling parties in Afghanistan and with the Sikh Ruler Maharajah Runjeet Singh [Ranjit Singh, Ruler of the Sikh Empire, also spelled Maharajah and Maha Raja in this item]; the latter two’s relations with each other, notably over Peshawur [Peshawar, also spelled this way in this item]; and the Afghan rulers’ relations with each other and with Russia and Persia [Iran]. The correspondence takes place during the Persian siege of Herat.The papers cover the following matters in detail:The activities of the Russian Envoy, Captain Vitkievitsch [Jan Prosper Witkiewicz, various spellings used in this item] in Cabool, including: Vitkievitsch’s alleged pressure on the Ameer [Amir] of Cabool, Dost Mahomed Khan [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy], to respond to friendly overtures from the Russian Emperor and the Russian Ambassador at Tehran and promises of money and aid in return for aid to Persia and Russia against Herat; Burnes’s attempts to influence Dost Mahomed’s replies to the letters brought by Vitkievitsch (ff 164-173); and Wade’s opinion of Vitkievitsch’s status and the aims of Persia and Russia in Afghanistan, and his belief that Dost Mahomed is playing a ‘double-game’ (f 188) with Britain and Russia and should be made fully aware of his weak position and the undependability of Russian and Persian promises (ff 188-194)Burnes’s analysis of the commercial prospects of Russia in Central Asia (ff 120-125), and Wade’s doubts regarding Burnes’s conclusions (ff 178-179)The purported intention of Vitkievitsch to proceed to Lahore [also spelled Lahor in this item] with letters desiring the Sikhs to withdraw from Peshawur (ff 223-224) and the conversations between Runjeet Singh and Lieutenant Frederick Mackeson (deputed by Burnes to the Maharaja’s Court) concerning whether Runjeet Singh should receive the Russian EnvoyWade’s opinion that to avert Persian and Russian ‘intrigue’ in Lahore the Government of India should announce that it does not recognize Vitkievitsch’s authority to ‘interfere’ in the Maharaja’s affairs (ff 235-238), and Wade’s later report that the Maharaja has banned Vitkiewitsch from entering Peshawur territory (f 279)The report by Burnes of a failed conspiracy involving Sultan Mahomed Khan (allegedly encouraged by Runjeet Singh) to overthrow Dost Mahomed (ff 139-143), and Wade’s observations highlighting that such projects by the ‘ruler of Lahore’ have been occurring for years (ff 180-184)Runjeet Singh’s disclosure to Mackeson that he has obtained treaties of alliance with the former Governor of Peshawur, Sultan Mahomed Khan [Sulṭān Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy, also spelled Sooltan in this item] and former Afghan Ruler Shah Shuja ul Mulk [Shujā‘ al-Mulk Durrānī] both resigning all legal rights in Peshawur (ff 247-256)British relations with the three Sirdars [sardars, leaders or rulers] of Candahar [Kandahar], including: the conversations of Lieutenant Robert Leech, deputed by Burnes to Candahar, with the Sirdars, covering his efforts to prevent them allying with Persia out of fear of that country and the Ruler of Herat, reassure them of Britain’s purely commercial interests in the area and support for their independence, and discourage any belief in the Russian Envoy’s pecuniary promises (ff 112-119, 149-152); and following reprobation by the Governor-General, Burnes’s withdrawal of his offer of British assistance to Candahar if Persia attacks the city (ff 202-206)The siege of Herat, including: Burnes’s assessment of the geo-political situation in Herat and the neighbouring countries up to early February 1838 and the possible effects of Persian ascendancy (ff 128-137); intelligence from Burnes and Leech regarding the Persian military advance in Afghanistan, including reports of Lieutenant Eldred Pottinger and Lieutenant-Colonel Stoddart based in Herat and the Shah of Persia’s camp outside the city (ff 145-147, ff 174-175, f 186, and ff 261-276); and Wade’s speculations on the potential political outcomes of Persian success or failure in HeratThe effect of the Governor-General’s khurreeta [kharita] to Dost Mahomed urging the Ameer to make friendly approaches to Runjeet Singh regarding Peshawur, including: Burnes’s advice to the Ameer to ‘reflect deeply’ before replying and potentially losing the ‘good offices’ of the British (ff 208-215); Dost Mahomed’s dissatisfaction with the apparent British indifference to his ‘suffering’ (f 228) with regard to Sikh ‘aggression’, his deep reluctance towards the restoration of his estranged brother Sultan Mahomed Khan to Peshawur, and disappointment at the lack of a British promise of protection from Persia; Burnes’s realisation that he may have to leave Cabool to save ‘national honour’ due to dwindling hopes for a suitable connection with the Ameer (ff 225-232); and Wade’s observations on Dost Mahomed, criticism of his ‘extravagant expectations’, and belief that he ‘will endeavour to temporise [between Persia and Britain] until the fate of Herat is decided’ (ff 239-245)The progress of Dr Percival Lord and Lieutenant John Wood in Koondooz [Kunduz] in connection with treating the eye ailment of the Koondooz Ruler’s brother, the improvement of British commercial prospects in the area, and Wood’s exploratory field work (ff 154-161).Physical description: 1 item (207 folios)

Language:

English

Type:

Archival item

Type (Narrower):

Other Texts

Type (Broader):

Text

Subject:

Jan Prosper Witkiewicz
Maharajah of the Punjab

Geographic region:

Peshawur
Koondooz
Afghanistan

Rights:

غير معروف

Identifier:

81055/vdc_100145096900.0x000005_ar
81055/vdc_100145096900.0x000005_en
IOR/L/PS/5/130, ff 76-282
IOR/L/PS/5/130, ff 76-282

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