afghanistanthe Italians they had to first recognize Britain’s ‘superior and predominant
political influence’ in the country. Tarzi’s response was to call all the foreign
diplomatic corps in Kabul to a meeting, where he proceeded to subject Sir
Henry Dobbs, who was in Kabul trying to negotiate a new Anglo-Afghan
Treaty, to a public dressing down. Curzon retaliated by refusing to meet
an Afghan delegation visiting London and denied them an audience with
the king. Tarzi’s riposte was to write Dobbs a letter of ‘studied insult’ and
blocked the British diplomatic mail. 22
The Mussoorie Conference and the Khilafat MovementThe second round of negotiations aimed at a permanent settlement
commenced in Mussoorie in April 1920. This time the Afghan delega-
tion was headed by Mahmud Tarzi and included other anti-British Young
Afghans, including ‘Abd al-Hadi Dawai. Tarzi too adopted an uncompro-
mising stance, demanding an unequivocal and unconditional recognition
of Afghanistan’s independence, the right to open embassies in London and
Delhi, and Afghan sovereignty over Waziristan and other tribal territories.
When Dobbs, who led the British negotiating team, rejected these demands
outright, Tarzi resorted to a naive attempt at political blackmail.
A few months before the Mussoorie Conference convened, Yakov
Zakharovich Suritz, a Russian envoy, had arrived in Kabul to negotiate a
treaty with Afghanistan, so Tarzi claimed Moscow was offering far better
terms than anything the British had put on the table. Dobbs called Tarzi’s
bluff and presented the Afghan delegation with a ‘series of fait accomplis
which whilst open to explanation cannot be modified and against which
it would be useless for them to protest’. 23 What Tarzi did not know was
that London was already negotiating with Moscow about the renewal of
the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 and Tarzi’s attempts to play Britain
and Russia off against one another was doomed to failure. The negotiations
were thus at an impasse and Dobbs suspended the meetings when he heard
that Nadir Khan and ‘Abd al-Quddus Khan had been supporting the rebel
Waziris. In an attempt to break the deadlock, Dobbs made a few minor
changes to the draft treaty but London rejected them as too conciliatory.
Finally, in July 1920, Dobbs terminated the negotiations and wrote another
aide-memoire to the Amir, in which he reassured ’Aman Allah Khan of
Britain’s ‘sincere goodwill’ and outlined the conditions under which Britain
would agree to a new treaty. 24
While the Mussoorie negotiations dragged on, ’Aman Allah Khan faced
a number of internal crises. In March 1919, shortly before the outbreak of