afghanistanAnglo-Afghan Treaties, Britain had demanded substantial concessions,
while offering very little in return. Curzon’s draft even restricted the Amir’s
right to import arms from India, for Britain continued to be concerned
about the number of modern rifles that had found their way into the hands
of rebellious Afghan tribes on the Indian side of the frontier.
The Amir then wrong-footed Dane by arguing that, in his view, the 1880
and 1893 agreements had been made with the nation rather than personally
with his father so there was no need for a new one. He then made Dane
even more uncomfortable by pointing out that if, as the Viceroy believed,
these agreements were personal he was under no legal obligation to uphold
his father’s undertakings until a new treaty was agreed. Furthermore, he
was technically an independent monarch and free to communicate directly
with whatever foreign power he chose. Having driven Dane into a corner,
Amir Habib Allah Khan stated his willingness to negotiate a new treaty,
but Dane had to allow time for the Amir’s council to draw up an official
response to Curzon’s draft.
Dane fell into the trap and instead of insisting the Amir negotiate
solely on the basis of Curzon’s draft, as per his official terms of reference, he
agreed to the Amir’s terms and so surrendered the initiative to the Afghans.
When Dane was finally presented with the Council’s counterproposals in
January 1905, none of Curzon’s key demands were mentioned and Dane
found himself negotiating on what in effect was a completely different
treaty. One of the key preconditions of the Afghan draft was for Britain to
cover the cost of constructing a series of fortifications throughout northern
and western Afghanistan, as well as pay for the increase in Afghan military
personnel that would be required to man these outposts.
When Curzon read the Amir’s draft treaty, he was furious. Not only
had Dane breached his terms of reference, the Afghan demands were un -
acceptable and included none of Britain’s key requirements. If this were not
bad enough, the Amir continued to maintain that since the British believed
all former agreements had lapsed on his father’s death, Afghanistan was
now technically an independent sovereign state. This had serious impli-
cations for Britain since Amir Habib Allah Khan would be legally entitled
to reassert sovereignty over territory ceded to Britain under the Durand
Agreement, as well as his right to influence over the Afridis of the Khyber
and even ignore the frontier demarcations.
Curzon now faced an extremely difficult dilemma. His treaty had been
drafted in order to enhance Britain’s military options in the event of a
Russian invasion of Afghanistan, but Dane had been suckered into letting
the Afghans turn the tables on him and advance unacceptable and costly