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Coll 7/37 'Afghanistan: sale of 25,000 1914 pattern rifles from War Office stocks and 7 million rounds of ammunition from Government of India stocks; negotiations with Afghan Government' [‎505r] (1012/1201)

The record is made up of 1 file (598 folios). It was created in 13 Jul 1935-28 Mar 1941. 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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-^—1*

1
4.
future liabilities under this head. They consider that it is
necessary that they should be able to calculate with some
decree of certainty the maximum amount of expenditure of this
nature to which they will be -committed in any given year, as
it is important in present circumstances that they s hould not
be faced with heavy unexpected expenditure under this head in
any particular year which would impose a severe strain onthe
Indian Exchequer, burdened as it is already with the heavy
costs of Defence.
7. The Government of Iindia therefore propose to set aside
a fixed annual sum for the purpose of ,T subsidy in kind" to
Afghanistan from Indian funas in audition to bearing the
annual expenditure under head (a) above. They propose to
fix tills annual appropriation at He*5 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees a year (i.e.xaore
than the average of the past 13 years/. The balance of this
annual appropriation over the actual expenditure in any one
year would be taken t,o reserve, where it would accumulate up
to a maximum of Ks. £5 lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees , this high maximum of the
proposed reserve being allowed for the purpose of |rovid-.ng
against emergencies such as that of lS£l-2. as a corollary
of the establishment of this special fund the Government of
India would naturally expect that in future, if expenditure
which could not be met from the fund were required on some
object of policy in relation to Afghanistan which both His
Majesty’s Government and the Government of india agreed was
desirable, its incidence would form the subject of discussion
between the two Governments, which would proceed on the
ir esumption that India had already, by the voluntary
establishment of the special fund, fulfilled her own
obligations in respect of additional expenditure of an ordinary
kind; and the Government of India would therefore trust that,
in the event of further expenditure (beyond the capacity of
their fund) being required, the case for its being borne or
shared/

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Content

This file is a continuation of Collection 7/36, reference IOR/L/PS/12/2203.It contains correspondence between the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of State for India, HM Minister at Kabul, the War Office, the Government of India Foreign and Political (later External Affairs) Department, and the 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. Political Department.

Much of the early correspondence duplicates that found in IOR/L/PS/12/2203, and concerns the Afghan Government's request for an additional 25,000 rifles plus ammunition, debates over the division of liability between British and Indian revenues, and discussion of possible payment options.

The rest of the correspondence concerns arrangements for shipping the arms and ammunition, and is accompanied by delivery invoices and reports on the quality inspections conducted prior to shipping. Details of the procedures, including examples of examiners' marks, and a sketch of the packing crates used, can be found at folios 262, and 234-238.

Prior to sale, the War Office had undertaken to perform firing tests on all the rifles for an additional charge. These tests were not conducted, and the file contains correspondence between the 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. and the War Office, discussing the best options for presenting this fact to the Afghan Government, options for conducting the tests or reducing the price of the order, and the potential damage that would be caused to Britain's reputation, and Anglo-Afghan relations.

The correspondence also concerns complaints by the Afghan Government that a number of rifles were damaged in transit or badly corroded. It documents the disagreement between the War Office, 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. and the Government of India over the provision of replacement rifles and parts, and contains details of the eventual arrangements and final agreement with the Afghan Government (found at folios 117-122).

The file includes dividers which give lists of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are found at the end of the correspondence (folios 2-3).

Extent and format
1 file (598 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 599; 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.

Written in
English in Latin script
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Coll 7/37 'Afghanistan: sale of 25,000 1914 pattern rifles from War Office stocks and 7 million rounds of ammunition from Government of India stocks; negotiations with Afghan Government' [‎505r] (1012/1201), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2204, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036310622.0x00000c> [accessed 24 April 2024]

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