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'ABSTRACT of DESPATCHES and MEMORANDA on Asiatic Politics and European Diplomacy in the countries between India and Russia, and especially in Afghanistan; and as to the establishment of a British Agent at Herat, to watch the progress of events on the Perso-Afghan frontier and in other parts of Central Asia; and further as to the continuance of the subsidy to Dost Muhammad.' [‎31v] (8/12)

The record is made up of 1 file (6 folios). It was created in Jul 1859. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .

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MAJOR LUMSDEN’S report.
Major Lumsdeii’s rnission arose out of the following circumstances :
On the 8th of January, 1857, Dost Muhammad* personally entered into
a treaty with the English Government, at Peshawar, at a conference with
the Chief Commissioner of the Panjab, binding himself, in consideration
of a monthly subsidy of Rs. 100,000 during the continuance of the war
with Persia, to keep up a certain number of regular troops for the defence
of Afghanistan, and agreeing that British officers should be deputed to
any part of his dominions to aid the Afghans, if required, and to see that
the subsidy was properly applied.
A mission, consisting of Major Lumsden, Lieutenant Lumsden, and
Dr. Bellew, with Ghulam Sarwar Khan Khagwani, and Nuwab Faujdar
Khan Bahadur, left Peshawar on the 13th of March, and reached Kan
dahar on the 26th of April, 1857. The news of the peace between
England and Persia was w'ell received by the Afghans, and the officers
of the mission exerted themselves to conciliate them; but the outbreak
of the great Indian rebellion caused much excitement, which was fanned
into a flame by the Peshawar chiefs, Sardars, Sultan Muhammad Khan,
and Pir Muhammad Khan. At last, the great mass of the Afghan nation
urged Dost Muhammad to put himself at their head, and commence a
holy war against the infidel English, and the Amir was on the point of
yielding to the cry, when his son, Muhammad Azim Khan, succeeded in
dissuading him. On the fall of Delhi the danger subsided.
The Persians, also, were anxiously watching the tide of events in
India, and even after the evacuation of Herat,f and hovered on the
frontier for a time in strong masses, ready to advance in case of reverses
to the English arms.
A demonstration of the fanatical spirit of the Afghans was given at
this timej; at Kandahar. A young Hindu, an alleged convert to Islam, was
said to have returned to idolatry, and the heir apparent, Sardar Leader of a tribe or a polity; also refers to a military rank or title given to a commander of an army or division. Ghulam
Haidar Khan, to have connived at this backsliding. The mullas or clergy
of Kandahar rose in open revolt, were joined by many of the chiefs and
soldiers, and the heir apparent was compelled to imprison the boy’s father,
as a guarantee that the boy would be given up when he returned from
Shikarpur, to which place he had absconded.
Trom this and many other proofs of the bigotry of the Afghans, from
the poverty and difficulty of their country, from their hatred to strangers,
and the impolicy of advancing beyond that natural base of operations
which belongs to us along the Indus and the Sulaiman mountains, Major
* Page 193.
t On the 27th July, 1857, p. 195.
X In February, 1858, p. 19(3.

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This file contains a memorandum which provides summaries of three despatches sent from Lord Stanley, Secretary of State for the Colonies, to the Governor-General of Khorassan, conveying the British Government's proposals both to send a mission to Herat in order to prevent its annexation by Persia, and to continue the subsidy to Dost Muhammad [Dōst Moḥammad Khān Bārakzay], Amir of Afghanistan, with a view to maintaining British influence in Afghanistan.

The memorandum also summarises a report by Major Peter Stark Lumsden and notes written by political advisers, in which the authors state their opinions and make proposals regarding the state of politics and diplomacy in the countries lying between India and Russia, and with a focus on Afghanistan.

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1 file (6 folios)
Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the first folio with 28 and terminates at the last folio with 33; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.

An additional foliation sequence exists in parallel throughout; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.

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English in Latin script
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'ABSTRACT of DESPATCHES and MEMORANDA on Asiatic Politics and European Diplomacy in the countries between India and Russia, and especially in Afghanistan; and as to the establishment of a British Agent at Herat, to watch the progress of events on the Perso-Afghan frontier and in other parts of Central Asia; and further as to the continuance of the subsidy to Dost Muhammad.' [‎31v] (8/12), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/C3, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100033397303.0x000009> [accessed 29 March 2024]

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