As an earnest of our goodwill, the Amir was given the second L60,000 promised him by Sir John Lawrence, besides a considerable supply of arms and ammunition,[6] and was made happy by a promise that European officers should not be required to reside in any of his cities.  Before the conference took place, Lord Mayo had contemplated British agents being sent to Kabul in order to obtain accurate information regarding events in Central Asia, but on discovering how vehemently opposed Sher Ali was to such an arrangement, he gave him this promise.  Saiyad Nur Mahomed, the Minister who accompanied the Amir, though equally averse to European agents, admitted that ’the day might come when the Russians would arrive, and the Amir would be glad, not only of British officers as agents, but of arms and troops to back them.’

One request which the Amir made towards the close of the meeting the Viceroy agreed to, which was that we should call Persia to account for her alleged encroachments on the debatable ground of Sistan.  This, which seemed but an unimportant matter at the time, was one of the chief causes of Sher Ali’s subsequent estrangement; for the committee of arbitration which inquired into it decided against the Amir, who never forgave what he considered our unfriendly action in discountenancing his claims.

The Umballa conference was, on the whole, successful, in that Sher Ali returned to his own country much gratified at the splendour of his reception, and a firm personal friend of Lord Mayo, whose fine presence and genial manner had quite won the Amir’s heart, although he had not succeeded in getting from him everything he had demanded.

[Footnote 1:  I should have mentioned that Sir John Lawrence was not the only instance of a Bengal civilian rising to the position of Governor-General, as a predecessor of his, Sir John Shore, afterwards Lord Teignmouth, was appointed Governor-General in 1792, and held that office until 1798.]

[Footnote 2:  Dost Mahomed had several sons.  Mahomed Akbar and Ghulam Haidar, the two heirs-designate in succession, died before their father.  Sixteen other sons were alive in 1863, of whom the following were the eldest: 

1.  Mahomed Afzal Khan, aged 52 years } By a wife not of Royal blood. 2.  Mahomed Azim Khan " 45 " } " " " " " " " 3.  Sher Ali Khan " 40 " } By a favourite Popalzai wife. 4.  Mahomed Amir Khan " 34 " } " " " " " 5.  Mahomed Sharif Khan " 30 " } " " " " " 6.  Wali Mahomed Khan " 33 " } By a third wife. 7.  Faiz Mahomed Khan " 25 " } " " " "

Afzal Khan had a son Abdur Rahman Khan, the present Amir of Afghanistan, and Sher Ali had five sons—­Ali Khan, Yakub Khan, Ibrahim Khan, Ayub Khan, and Abdulla Jan.]

[Footnote 3:  The headmen of villages in Afghanistan are styled maliks.]

[Footnote 4:  Azim Khan behaved well towards the Lumsden Mission, and it was reported that he encouraged his father, Dost Mahomed Khan, not to disturb the Peshawar frontier during the Mutiny.]