The last suggestion was accepted by the Government of India, and the agent (Nawab Ata Mahomed Khan) arrived in Simla early in October.  The Nawab gave it as his opinion that the Amir’s attitude of estrangement was due to an accumulation of grievances, the chief of which were—­the unfavourable arbitration in the Sistan dispute; the want of success of Saiyad Nur Mahomed’s mission to India in 1873, when it was the desire of the Amir’s heart to enter into an offensive and defensive alliance with the British Government; the interposition of Lord Northbrook’s Government on behalf of Yakub Khan;[1] the recent proceedings in Khelat,[2] which the Amir thought were bringing us objectionably near Kandahar; the transmission of presents through Afghanistan, to his vassal, the Mir of Wakhan, without the Amir’s permission;[3] and, above all, the conviction that our policy was exclusively directed to the furtherance of British interests without any thought for those of Afghanistan.

As regarded the proposed Mission to Kabul, the Envoy said that His Highness objected to it for many reasons.  Owing to local fanaticism, he could not insure its safety, and it seemed probable that, though of a temporary nature to begin with, it might only be the thin end of the wedge, ending in the establishment of a permanent Resident, as at the courts of the Native Rulers in India.  Furthermore, the Amir conceived that, if he consented to this Mission, the Russians would insist upon their right to send a similar one, and finally, he feared a British Envoy might bring his influence to bear in favour of the release of his son, Yakub Khan, with whom his relations were as strained as ever.

In answer, the Viceroy enumerated the concessions he was prepared to make, and the conditions upon which alone he would consent to them; and this answer the agent was directed to communicate to the Amir.

The concessions were as follows: 

  (1) That the friends and enemies of either State should be those of
  the other.

(2) That, in the event of unprovoked aggression upon Afghanistan from without, assistance should be afforded in men, money, and arms; and also that to strengthen the Amir against such aggression, the British Government was willing to fortify Herat and other points on the frontier, and, if desired, to lend officers to discipline the army.

(3) That Abdulla Jan should be recognized as the Amir’s successor to the exclusion of any other aspirant; and that the question of material aid in support of such recognition should be discussed by the Plenipotentiaries.

  (4) That a yearly subsidy should be paid to the Amir on the
  following conditions: 

    That he should refrain from external aggression or provocation of
    his neighbours, and from entering into external relations without
    our knowledge.

    That he should decline all communication with Russia, and refer
    her agents to us.