File 3443/1914 Pt 3 'German War: Afghanistan and Persia; German agents; British troops in East Persia' [‎143r] (296/345)

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1 HIS dociiiucid in Lhe property o f lk e Secretari/ „
SECRET.
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"f State for India.
The i " Ti ™ 1 of a party of (term;
tns, &c., in Afglmnistan
presence 2 SLSSSmSSST 1 » “ »» n^i
A. HirtS'Htm i“ke ™Ei"nrf sf f f *'><« h S,
Office. lomicdl and Secret Department of the India
The following (Quotations from private letters ,+' .l,, tt-
be of interest in this connection. f the ^ 10er °y to me will
30th December 1915.
A. C.
1916
Memorandum.
In the course of June the German movement eastwards across Persia
assumed serious proportions, and on 6 th July the Viceroy informed the
Armeffians^sTidh! 0 ™ 111 ^ Germaus and A ^trians, 43 Turks and
Ar mans, _3 Indians, and hi Persians, armed with rifles and with
-machine guns, were moving towards Afghanistan, and asked him to arrest
disarm and mtern any that might cross the frontier. The Amir replied
officially on 31st July that it had never been the rule to allow armed parties
of foreigners to tour about m Afghanistan, and that he had instructed the
Governor o Herat to disarm any such and send them to Kabul. He added
in his own handwriting that the Viceroy need have no anxiety, and that such
parties would at once be disarmed, and, would not interfere with the
neutrality ot Afghanistan.
In July arrangements were concerted with the Russians for the patrol of
the frontier; but m August a German party slipped through, and crossed
ua A± jr an irontier at ^hah having travelled 255 miles in seven days.
1 he olhcer commanding the Afghan frontier guard admitted them (for
winch he is said to have been called to account by the Amir) and sent them
to Herat, where they_ arrived on 24th August. The party consisted
apparently of between 70 and 80, composed as follows :—Six Germans ; two
or three Turks ; and a Mullah ; two Indians/the Afridi deserter from France,
Jemadar Mir Mast; 00 Arab soldiers from Bagdad, one Persian, and 50
transport mules. I he two Indians were a well-known Moslem anarchist,
and an Oudh talukdar who had been educated at Aligarh. The party were
taken to the Bagh-i-Shah, w^ere a military guard was placed over them, but
wheie they were treated with unnecessary consideration by the Governor,
who called upon them and received them in durbar A public or private audience held by a high-ranking British colonial representative (e.g. Viceroy, Governor-General, or member of the British royal family). . The Military Com
mandant, on the other hand, showed little respect for them, and they
contrived to make themselves extremely unpopular by their tactless criticism
ol the Afghan Army. The British Agent at Herat seems to have done good
service in turning a number of small incidents to their disadvantage, with
the result that they gradually became somewhat discredited. They are said
to have promised to Afghanistan India as far as Bombay and Turkestan as
far as Samarkand. They were apparently allowed to visit the bazar, but
not to talk to the people or collect crowds, and the Governor ordered that
any purchases should be made for them by their guards.* The Commandant
refused the Germans permission to inspect the troops, but they were allowed
to visit shrines in and near Herat.
The Amir had been warned of the advent of the party by the Viceroy on
27th August, and on the 8 th September replied that he had summoned them
to his presence, that he would hear what they had to say, but that their entry
into Afghanistan would have no detrimental effect whatever on his neutrality.
They left Herat on 7th September, and arrived at Kabul some time before
S.S. 423.