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Coll 7/4 'Afghanistan: purchase of arms from Great Britain' [‎263r] (530/1146)

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The record is made up of 1 volume (568 folios). It was created in 2 Jan 1930-19 Feb 1935. 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. .

Transcription

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ammunition into tribal territory is by being able to bring
home to the Afghan Government themselves the ultimate
responsibility for all arms and ammunition found there.
Incidentally it is in the interest of the Afghan Government,
whatever they may do on their own account, to prevent
leakage through the negligence or dishonesty of their
officials and they have in the past welcomed, and even
suggested, strict adherence to the procedure of letter II.
9. Although this procedure is well known to the
Afghan Government and should be well known oo their
representatives abroad, applications for exporu licences
may still be received from time to time without the
necessary notification having already teen made by the
Afghan Government. It is therefore desirable that working
rules should be adopted for dealing with them. The details
of these as agreed upon between the Departments concerned
are given in appendix Ho.d.
10. These rules must, however, be interpreted
in the light of the following considerations; firstl;;,
communicating their decisions to the Government of India
and His Majesty’s Minister at Kabul His Majesty's
Government have reserved the right to waive prior
notification at Kabul when Afghan diplomatists desire to
send or take arms to Afghanistan for their personal use.
?or tiiis there are special reasons. The difficulties
of interfering with diplomatic privilege are considerable
and His Majesty's Government cannot ordinarily preven
^ 4 -alr-i nxr with frim rilS
a departing foreign aiplomatisu i
of rifles or
private property, whether Ciiis ^ ^ -oea^ing
. . ^ « -vni ies strictly speaking
anythin^ else The same principle Pf
any tnmg else. . f he is returning
to his passage through India, especi ^
hile/effort will be made to
from his post. Accordingly,
■v-h- nf arms under Giie
•educe to a minimum the movemen
. .gViiie the working rules
guise of diplomatic privilege -nu indicate

About this item

Content

The volume contains correspondence regarding the purchase by the Afghan Government of arms, ammunition and explosives from a number of sources, including the War Office and British and French firms.

It includes communications between British officials (HM Minister in Kabul and the Foreign Office) and the Afghan Foreign Ministry and Afghan legations to Paris and London, regarding: requests to purchase and transport materials; negotiations over customs dues and transport costs; requests for the recommendation of arms firms; and the quality of materials supplied by private companies.

Folios 552-567 consist of a memo titled 'Applications for the Export of Arms and Munitions to Afghanistan', providing details of the procedures to be followed, and a copy of the Anglo-Afghan Treaty (1921).

The file also contains correspondence between British and Indian officials (the War Office, the Board of Trade, 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, the Government of India Political Department, the Collector of Customs at Karachi) and a number of British firms, regarding: informal requests for permission to sell or transport munitions to the Afghan Government; applications for export licences; concerns over the quality and source of munitions; and details of alleged attempts by a German firm to supply arms, in possible violation of Article 170 of the Treaty of Versailles. The firms include: Messrs A Fleming; Gray, Dawes & Company; Mackinnon Mackenzie & Company; Imperial Chemical Industries Limited; and Machine Tools (India) Limited. The correspondence also includes information on the involvement of the French firm L'Office Générale de l'Air, and its dealings with Messrs A Fleming.

The volume includes a divider which gives a list of correspondence references contained in the volume by year. This is placed at the end of the correspondence (folios 4-5).

Extent and format
1 volume (568 folios)
Arrangement

The papers are arranged in rough chronological order from the rear to the front of the volume

Physical characteristics

Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 570; 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 7/4 'Afghanistan: purchase of arms from Great Britain' [‎263r] (530/1146), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2173, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100056050957.0x000083> [accessed 28 March 2024]

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