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Coll 7/37 'Afghanistan: sale of 25,000 1914 pattern rifles from War Office stocks and 7 million rounds of ammunition from Government of India stocks; negotiations with Afghan Government' [206r] (411/1201)
The record is made up of 1 file (598 folios). It was created in 13 Jul 1935-28 Mar 1941. It was written in English. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
Minute Paper.
4o6)
P.Z.686/38 .
political Department.
TV^-f <*.
-^4v uA ^
tx^ &Kl'
The previous submission is at P.2*6909/37.
The War Office are taking a long time to reply
to our letter of the 22nd November. This is partly
due to the fact that they have to consult the Treasury
before replying. I understand informally from the
War Office that they have only quite recently v/ritten
to the Treasury and that there may still be some further
delay before they are in a position to reply to us.
In any case I understand that the War Office are not
in favour of agreeing finally to compensate the Afghan
Government until the latter put forward their final
claims for the replacement of breakages and
**
deficiencies in the later consignments of rifles,
although it appears from^Kabul Despatch of 4th January
at P.Z.686/38 that reasonable claims by the Afghan
Government in respect of these later consignments could
not amount to very much.
Meanwhile we are still in the awkward and somev/hat
immoral position of concealing from the Afghans the fact
that the firing test (for which they are paying 2/6d
per rifle) was not in fact carried out by the War
Office. In view of the delay and of the probable
attitude of the War Office tov/ards the question of
compensation^it is suggested that the least
objectionable course would probably be to inform the
Afghan Government at once about the omission of the
oa* o- L+jct
firing test. They receive this information badly
but their attitude may to some extent be affected by
the prospect of a reduction of over 115,000 in the price
of the rifles. We also know that these War Office
rifles arrived quite opportunely for the Afghan
/
6474b Wt 22530/P 114 10,000 9.37 JOP
Government/
About this item
- Content
This file is a continuation of Collection 7/36, reference IOR/L/PS/12/2203.It contains correspondence between the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Secretary of State for India, HM Minister at Kabul, the War Office, the Government of India Foreign and Political (later External Affairs) Department, and the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Political Department.
Much of the early correspondence duplicates that found in IOR/L/PS/12/2203, and concerns the Afghan Government's request for an additional 25,000 rifles plus ammunition, debates over the division of liability between British and Indian revenues, and discussion of possible payment options.
The rest of the correspondence concerns arrangements for shipping the arms and ammunition, and is accompanied by delivery invoices and reports on the quality inspections conducted prior to shipping. Details of the procedures, including examples of examiners' marks, and a sketch of the packing crates used, can be found at folios 262, and 234-238.
Prior to sale, the War Office had undertaken to perform firing tests on all the rifles for an additional charge. These tests were not conducted, and the file contains correspondence between the India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. and the War Office, discussing the best options for presenting this fact to the Afghan Government, options for conducting the tests or reducing the price of the order, and the potential damage that would be caused to Britain's reputation, and Anglo-Afghan relations.
The correspondence also concerns complaints by the Afghan Government that a number of rifles were damaged in transit or badly corroded. It documents the disagreement between the War Office, India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. and the Government of India over the provision of replacement rifles and parts, and contains details of the eventual arrangements and final agreement with the Afghan Government (found at folios 117-122).
The file includes dividers which give lists of correspondence references contained in the file by year. These are found at the end of the correspondence (folios 2-3).
- Extent and format
- 1 file (598 folios)
- Arrangement
The papers are arranged in approximate chronological order from the rear to the front of the file.
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: the foliation sequence commences at the inside front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 599; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio.
- Written in
- English in Latin script View the complete information for this record
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Coll 7/37 'Afghanistan: sale of 25,000 1914 pattern rifles from War Office stocks and 7 million rounds of ammunition from Government of India stocks; negotiations with Afghan Government' [206r] (411/1201), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/12/2204, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100036310619.0x00000c> [accessed 29 November 2024]
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- Reference
- IOR/L/PS/12/2204
- Title
- Coll 7/37 'Afghanistan: sale of 25,000 1914 pattern rifles from War Office stocks and 7 million rounds of ammunition from Government of India stocks; negotiations with Afghan Government'
- Pages
- front, front-i, 2r:121v, 123r:244r, 246r:367v, 370r:490v, 491ar, 491r:491v, 492ar, 492r:599v, back
- Author
- East India Company, the Board of Control, the India Office, or other British Government Department
- Usage terms
- Open Government Licence