reform and repression, 1901–19asked the Amir for permission to extend the rail network to Jalalabad and
Kandahar, Habib Allah Khan, like his father before him, refused.
To add to Britain’s geostrategic problems, the Dobbs mission to Herat
took place with the threat of war between Russia and Japan looming in
Manchuria. In early February 1904 Japan launched a pre-emptive strike on
the Russian naval base of Port Arthur and so dragged Britain into a proxy
war, for Britain had recently signed a treaty of mutual defence with Japan.
Russia responded to the invasion of Manchuria by moving large numbers
of troops nearer to the frontier with Afghanistan, a military build-up that
Britain feared might be a precursor to an invasion designed to tie down
British forces in India. In the first half of 1904, Britain expected Russia
to win the war and hence it was even more imperative to ensure Amir
Habib Allah Khan was bound to Britain’s strategic interests by a new treaty.
Unexpectedly, however, the Japanese were victorious and Russia’s ability
to invade India was undermined.
In order to keep an eye on Russian troop movements, Curzon encour-
aged Dobbs to drag out his mission to Herat as long as possible. When
Habib Allah Khan eventually demanded his recall, Curzon sent Dobbs to
Kabul, using the excuse that he needed to brief the Amir on his activities.
In fact, Dobbs’s primary object was to report on the political situation in
the Afghan capital and to persuade the Amir to renew the Anglo-Afghan
alliance. When he reached Kabul, Dobbs received a very cordial reception
and the Amir, who was equally worried about the Russian threat, verbally
assured Dobbs that he was willing to negotiate a renewal of the Anglo-
Afghan Treaty.
In response, Curzon sent Sir Louis Dane, India’s foreign minister, to
Kabul with a draft treaty. Its terms embraced most of the long-standing
demands of the Forward Policy, including the right of British officers to
conduct military surveys of Afghanistan, the extension of the Indian rail-
way to Kabul and the stationing of native news writers in all of Afghanistan’s
main provincial centres. Dane reached the Afghan capital in December
1904 and a few weeks later, in January 1905, the Russian commander
surrendered Port Arthur to the Japanese. With Russian forces in retreat,
troops were shifted from the Afghan frontier and sent to Manchurian. As
a consequence it was no longer so vital for the Amir to sign a new treaty
since the imminent threat of invasion had dissipated. Dane then proceeded
to botch his mission. When he presented Habib Allah Khan with Curzon’s
draft treaty it was rejected by most of the Amir’s inner council, including
Nasr Allah Khan and ‘Abd al-Quddus Khan, while Muhammad Yusuf
Khan threatened to shoot the Amir if he signed it. As with all previous