Nature and Scope
Introduction
‘This collection of documents sheds a remarkable light on British and Anglo-Indian foreign policy and intelligence across the Persianate world - Russian Central Asia, Qajar Persia and Afghanistan. It contains a wealth of diplomatic correspondence and memoranda - much of it intercepted from Britain’s rivals and neighbours in the region - which include much ethnographic, religious and cultural material alongside the purely political. It will be an essential resource for scholars and students alike.’
Dr Alexander Morrison, University of Oxford
For over a century, the region covered by this collection was the scene of the ‘Great Game’, a struggle for supremacy between the British and Russian Empires across a vast region from the Black Sea in the west to the Pamir Mountains in the east. Diplomats, agents, and military officers representing the two powers all competed for political influence, territory and trade.
This essential collection of British Foreign Office files explores the history of Persia (Iran), Central Asia and Afghanistan from the decline of the Silk Road in the first half of the nineteenth century to the establishment of Soviet rule over parts of the region in the early 1920s, and then continues to follow Afghanistan into the aftermath of World War II. The outcomes of the diplomatic confrontations covered in the collection continue to shape modern geopolitics, and the region is now the focus of a new, 21st-century ‘Silk Road’, driven this time by China.
Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan, 1834-1949 facilitates the study and understanding of a region that has long been contested by major powers. It showcases multiple facets of the region’s history, exploring imperial rivalries, political and diplomatic developments, conflicts, military expeditions, espionage, road and railway construction, changing patterns of trade, economic development, and a diverse range of cultures and societies in often minute detail.
The collection brings together a diverse range of materials and provides researchers with access to multiple viewpoints: not only those of diplomats and politicians, but also monarchs, military officers, intelligence agents and journalists. British diplomatic documents are complemented by extensive correspondence from other governments, including those of Imperial Russia, British India, Afghanistan, Persia and various polities within what are now the Central Asian republics. Often, these have been translated into English.
Introduction
‘This collection of documents sheds a remarkable light on British and Anglo-Indian foreign policy and intelligence across the Persianate world - Russian Central Asia, Qajar Persia and Afghanistan. It contains a wealth of diplomatic correspondence and memoranda - much of it intercepted from Britain’s rivals and neighbours in the region - which include much ethnographic, religious and cultural material alongside the purely political. It will be an essential resource for scholars and students alike.’
Dr Alexander Morrison, University of Oxford
For over a century, the region covered by this collection was the scene of the ‘Great Game’, a struggle for supremacy between the British and Russian Empires across a vast region from the Black Sea in the west to the Pamir Mountains in the east. Diplomats, agents, and military officers representing the two powers all competed for political influence, territory and trade.
This essential collection of British Foreign Office files explores the history of Persia (Iran), Central Asia and Afghanistan from the decline of the Silk Road in the first half of the nineteenth century to the establishment of Soviet rule over parts of the region in the early 1920s, and then continues to follow Afghanistan into the aftermath of World War II. The outcomes of the diplomatic confrontations covered in the collection continue to shape modern geopolitics, and the region is now the focus of a new, 21st-century ‘Silk Road’, driven this time by China.
Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan, 1834-1949 facilitates the study and understanding of a region that has long been contested by major powers. It showcases multiple facets of the region’s history, exploring imperial rivalries, political and diplomatic developments, conflicts, military expeditions, espionage, road and railway construction, changing patterns of trade, economic development, and a diverse range of cultures and societies in often minute detail.
The collection brings together a diverse range of materials and provides researchers with access to multiple viewpoints: not only those of diplomats and politicians, but also monarchs, military officers, intelligence agents and journalists. British diplomatic documents are complemented by extensive correspondence from other governments, including those of Imperial Russia, British India, Afghanistan, Persia and various polities within what are now the Central Asian republics. Often, these have been translated into English.
The documents
The files included in this collection form one of the greatest existing sets of historical documents relating to the region. Included here are:
Section I: From Silk Road to Soviet Rule, 1834-1922
- 188 volumes from FO 65 and all 11 volumes of FO 106, comprising original correspondence, drafts and enclosures which detail ‘Proceedings in Central Asia’ from 1858 to 1905
- 30 volumes of general correspondence relating to Central Asia from FO 371, 1920-1922
- 118 Confidential Print files for Central Asia from the FO 539 series, 1820-1912
- Maps previously included in these volumes and extracted to form part of the MFQ, MPK and MPKK series
Section II: Afghanistan From Civil War to World War II, 1923-1949
- 508 volumes of general correspondence relating to Afghanistan from FO 371, dated 1923-1949
The documents begin with materials relating to Britain and Russia’s relations with regional powers in the 1830s, and continue with volumes which can be used to explore the Anglo-Afghan Wars, conflicts between Russia and its neighbours to the south, the construction of strategic infrastructure, border disputes and confrontations including the Panjdeh Crisis, and sustained competition between Britain and Russia for influence and territory into the early twentieth century. Following the Russian revolution, files document fears of communist subversion in British India and growing Soviet influence over the governments of Afghanistan and Persia, and British attempts to combat these.
Major themes covered in the 1920s files are the influence of new and emerging political ideologies in Afghanistan, international relations with global superpowers, and internal and neighbouring disturbances. This was a period of modernisation; Amanullah Khan (emir of Afghanistan 1919-26) brought in a range of reforms, increasing international trade, seeking to improve the legal and social status of women and introduce universal male conscription. These attempts at rapid modernisation created friction with tribal and religious leaders, who saw their traditional way of life under threat, and the files cover the subsequent issues of tribal conflicts, including the Khost Rebellion of 1924.
Files after 1936 cover the increasing international influence of Nazi Germany and the build-up to World War II. By the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939, Germany had sent hundreds of experts to Afghanistan and was willing to provide long-term trade and investment, most obviously in the form of road and rail infrastructure. Whilst Afghanistan maintained its neutrality during the war, the FO 371 files from the period cover the increasing tensions between Britain, Germany, the Soviet Union and the United States, which sometimes played out on Afghan soil.
Foreign Office files contain:
- Correspondence
- Telegrams
- Intelligence reports and agents’ diaries
- Newspaper cuttings and translations of foreign-language articles, most often Russian
- Maps and plans
- Government reports and memoranda
- Copies of treaties and agreements
- Photographs, sketches and landscapes
The documents
The files included in this collection form one of the greatest existing sets of historical documents relating to the region. Included here are:
Section I: From Silk Road to Soviet Rule, 1834-1922
- 188 volumes from FO 65 and all 11 volumes of FO 106, comprising original correspondence, drafts and enclosures which detail ‘Proceedings in Central Asia’ from 1858 to 1905
- 30 volumes of general correspondence relating to Central Asia from FO 371, 1920-1922
- 118 Confidential Print files for Central Asia from the FO 539 series, 1820-1912
- Maps previously included in these volumes and extracted to form part of the MFQ, MPK and MPKK series
Section II: Afghanistan From Civil War to World War II, 1923-1949
- 508 volumes of general correspondence relating to Afghanistan from FO 371, dated 1923-1949
The documents begin with materials relating to Britain and Russia’s relations with regional powers in the 1830s, and continue with volumes which can be used to explore the Anglo-Afghan Wars, conflicts between Russia and its neighbours to the south, the construction of strategic infrastructure, border disputes and confrontations including the Panjdeh Crisis, and sustained competition between Britain and Russia for influence and territory into the early twentieth century. Following the Russian revolution, files document fears of communist subversion in British India and growing Soviet influence over the governments of Afghanistan and Persia, and British attempts to combat these.
Major themes covered in the 1920s files are the influence of new and emerging political ideologies in Afghanistan, international relations with global superpowers, and internal and neighbouring disturbances. This was a period of modernisation; Amanullah Khan (emir of Afghanistan 1919-26) brought in a range of reforms, increasing international trade, seeking to improve the legal and social status of women and introduce universal male conscription. These attempts at rapid modernisation created friction with tribal and religious leaders, who saw their traditional way of life under threat, and the files cover the subsequent issues of tribal conflicts, including the Khost Rebellion of 1924.
Files after 1936 cover the increasing international influence of Nazi Germany and the build-up to World War II. By the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939, Germany had sent hundreds of experts to Afghanistan and was willing to provide long-term trade and investment, most obviously in the form of road and rail infrastructure. Whilst Afghanistan maintained its neutrality during the war, the FO 371 files from the period cover the increasing tensions between Britain, Germany, the Soviet Union and the United States, which sometimes played out on Afghan soil.
Foreign Office files contain:
- Correspondence
- Telegrams
- Intelligence reports and agents’ diaries
- Newspaper cuttings and translations of foreign-language articles, most often Russian
- Maps and plans
- Government reports and memoranda
- Copies of treaties and agreements
- Photographs, sketches and landscapes
Key themes
The ‘Great Game’
A nineteenth-century cold war between two simultaneously European and Asiatic powers – the British and Russian Empires – the Great Game was a fierce struggle for political, military and commercial supremacy spread across a vast swathe of central Asia. Although Britain and Russia never engaged in direct military confrontation during the period covered by this resource, the competition engendered between them and the resulting national borders continue to shape the geopolitics of the region to the present day. Documents included in this collection can be used to survey competition for influence at the Persian and Afghan courts, trading rights, concessions to operate various enterprises, military supremacy, and the occupation of various territories.
British relations with Russia, Persia (Iran) and Afghanistan
The shifting alliances, rivalries and politics of the region can all be charted in the wealth of diplomatic correspondence which is published here. This includes correspondence between the Foreign Office in London, and British diplomatic missions in both capitals and provincial centres; original and contemporary copies of correspondence from Russian diplomatists such as Karl Robert Nesselrode, Alexander Gorchakov and Nikolay Girs; copies of exchanges between the Foreign Department of British India, and its agents in Afghanistan and elsewhere beyond the Northwest Frontier; correspondence between the UK Foreign Office and the London diplomatic missions of Russia, Persia and Afghanistan; and, after the foundation of the Soviet Union, the activities of Soviet representatives in Afghanistan and agreements and treaties made between the Soviet and Afghan governments, on issues such as commercial relations, air transport and mutual non-aggression. Through the inclusion of extensive minutes, memoranda and drafts, generally organised in strict chronological order, the collection offers insight into the everyday workings of international relations during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Conflict, uprisings, military expeditions and intelligence-gathering
During the period covered by this resource, wars were fought between the armed forces of Britain and Afghanistan (1839-1842, 1878-1880, 1919) and Britain and Persia (1856-1857); British forces also engaged in ‘military expeditions’ to territories bordering India, including Tibet (1903-1904). The army of imperial Russia, meanwhile, carried out a series of campaigns and ‘military expeditions’ against various polities in the Caucasus and Central Asia. The region also saw extensive fighting between the ‘Reds’, ‘Whites’, and the various ephemeral states which came into being during the Russian Civil War, and in the late 1920s Afghanistan erupted into civil war, a conflict which also saw the intervention of Soviet troops in the north in support of Amanullah Khan. The strategic importance of the region is underlined by the wealth of military and political intelligence which can also be found in reports compiled by agents in the service of British India, and the UK Foreign and War Offices. These are accompanied by a selection of shared, intercepted, copied, photographed and/or purloined Russian military and diplomatic papers.
Peoples, cultures, and economies of the region
Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan contains dispatches, diaries, reports, journals and other documents produced by travellers, explorers, military officials and government administrators which focus upon more than just strategic and diplomatic concerns. These include comment on agriculture, irrigation, climate, religious and cultural practices, political relations, governmental and military organisation, trade caravans, and other facets of everyday life – often recorded in meticulous detail.
Border incidents and the demarcation of frontiers
During the nineteenth century, many of the region’s borders were porous and thus often disputed. Frontier incidents were common, and often the source of diplomatic crises. Rival claims to the city of Herat were among the causes of the Anglo-Persian War of 1856-57, and the 1885 Panjdeh Incident (in which Russian forces captured an Afghan border fort after a brief skirmish) threatened hostilities between Russia and Britain. Disputes continued through the early twentieth century and into the 1940s, now augmented by the possibility of violations of airspace, as documented in the files. Negotiations over the borders of Russia, Persia, Afghanistan, China, British India and other polities can be traced through the range of diplomatic correspondence, treaties, protocols, drafts, minutes, and maps included in this collection.
Trade, railways and international finance
The proposal and construction of railways, including the Transcaspian Railway, the Baghdad Railway, the Trans-Siberian Railway, and various routes in India and Persia often created concern for policymakers. Railway lines carried troops and arms as well as passengers and goods and could thus be exploited strategically as well as commercially. The construction of railway lines in territories administered by Russia and British India, with the potential for being linked through Afghanistan, and competition for railway concessions in Persia, China and the Ottoman Empire, were thus often a serious concern for diplomats and military planners as well as engineers and financiers seeking their fortunes.
The Russian Civil War and early Soviet rule in Central Asia
The Russian Civil War, fought between pro- and anti-revolutionary forces between 1917 and 1923, saw various territories declare independence from the Russia: these included Georgia, Armenia and Kokand, all of which were subsequently occupied by the Bolsheviks or their allies. The emirate of Bukhara, nominally independent from Russia, also saw conflict between pro- and anti-Soviet groups, and the city of Bukhara was eventually captured by the Red Army in 1920. As already noted, Soviet forces also made an incursion into Afghanistan in 1929, aimed at both supporting the side of Amanullah Khan in the civil war there and checking the influence and activities of exiles from Soviet Central Asia belonging to the Basmachi movement, which aimed to expel the Soviets in the name of Islam and pan-Turkism.
World War II
Under King Zahir Shah, son of Amanullah Khan’s former minister of war, Afghanistan pursued a policy of neutrality in World War II. Like many other neutral capitals, Kabul became a hotbed of diplomatic intrigue and propagandising by both sides; there is content in the files on the activities of foreign representatives, on trade with both Allied and Axis powers, and on inadvertent incursions by the belligerents into neutral Afghan territory. German plans for Afghanistan included the restoration of Amanullah Khan as the face of a puppet pro-Nazi government, but the ex-king himself never left his exile in Rome.
Key themes
The ‘Great Game’
A nineteenth-century cold war between two simultaneously European and Asiatic powers – the British and Russian Empires – the Great Game was a fierce struggle for political, military and commercial supremacy spread across a vast swathe of central Asia. Although Britain and Russia never engaged in direct military confrontation during the period covered by this resource, the competition engendered between them and the resulting national borders continue to shape the geopolitics of the region to the present day. Documents included in this collection can be used to survey competition for influence at the Persian and Afghan courts, trading rights, concessions to operate various enterprises, military supremacy, and the occupation of various territories.
British relations with Russia, Persia (Iran) and Afghanistan
The shifting alliances, rivalries and politics of the region can all be charted in the wealth of diplomatic correspondence which is published here. This includes correspondence between the Foreign Office in London, and British diplomatic missions in both capitals and provincial centres; original and contemporary copies of correspondence from Russian diplomatists such as Karl Robert Nesselrode, Alexander Gorchakov and Nikolay Girs; copies of exchanges between the Foreign Department of British India, and its agents in Afghanistan and elsewhere beyond the Northwest Frontier; correspondence between the UK Foreign Office and the London diplomatic missions of Russia, Persia and Afghanistan; and, after the foundation of the Soviet Union, the activities of Soviet representatives in Afghanistan and agreements and treaties made between the Soviet and Afghan governments, on issues such as commercial relations, air transport and mutual non-aggression. Through the inclusion of extensive minutes, memoranda and drafts, generally organised in strict chronological order, the collection offers insight into the everyday workings of international relations during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Conflict, uprisings, military expeditions and intelligence-gathering
During the period covered by this resource, wars were fought between the armed forces of Britain and Afghanistan (1839-1842, 1878-1880, 1919) and Britain and Persia (1856-1857); British forces also engaged in ‘military expeditions’ to territories bordering India, including Tibet (1903-1904). The army of imperial Russia, meanwhile, carried out a series of campaigns and ‘military expeditions’ against various polities in the Caucasus and Central Asia. The region also saw extensive fighting between the ‘Reds’, ‘Whites’, and the various ephemeral states which came into being during the Russian Civil War, and in the late 1920s Afghanistan erupted into civil war, a conflict which also saw the intervention of Soviet troops in the north in support of Amanullah Khan. The strategic importance of the region is underlined by the wealth of military and political intelligence which can also be found in reports compiled by agents in the service of British India, and the UK Foreign and War Offices. These are accompanied by a selection of shared, intercepted, copied, photographed and/or purloined Russian military and diplomatic papers.
Peoples, cultures, and economies of the region
Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan contains dispatches, diaries, reports, journals and other documents produced by travellers, explorers, military officials and government administrators which focus upon more than just strategic and diplomatic concerns. These include comment on agriculture, irrigation, climate, religious and cultural practices, political relations, governmental and military organisation, trade caravans, and other facets of everyday life – often recorded in meticulous detail.
Border incidents and the demarcation of frontiers
During the nineteenth century, many of the region’s borders were porous and thus often disputed. Frontier incidents were common, and often the source of diplomatic crises. Rival claims to the city of Herat were among the causes of the Anglo-Persian War of 1856-57, and the 1885 Panjdeh Incident (in which Russian forces captured an Afghan border fort after a brief skirmish) threatened hostilities between Russia and Britain. Disputes continued through the early twentieth century and into the 1940s, now augmented by the possibility of violations of airspace, as documented in the files. Negotiations over the borders of Russia, Persia, Afghanistan, China, British India and other polities can be traced through the range of diplomatic correspondence, treaties, protocols, drafts, minutes, and maps included in this collection.
Trade, railways and international finance
The proposal and construction of railways, including the Transcaspian Railway, the Baghdad Railway, the Trans-Siberian Railway, and various routes in India and Persia often created concern for policymakers. Railway lines carried troops and arms as well as passengers and goods and could thus be exploited strategically as well as commercially. The construction of railway lines in territories administered by Russia and British India, with the potential for being linked through Afghanistan, and competition for railway concessions in Persia, China and the Ottoman Empire, were thus often a serious concern for diplomats and military planners as well as engineers and financiers seeking their fortunes.
The Russian Civil War and early Soviet rule in Central Asia
The Russian Civil War, fought between pro- and anti-revolutionary forces between 1917 and 1923, saw various territories declare independence from the Russia: these included Georgia, Armenia and Kokand, all of which were subsequently occupied by the Bolsheviks or their allies. The emirate of Bukhara, nominally independent from Russia, also saw conflict between pro- and anti-Soviet groups, and the city of Bukhara was eventually captured by the Red Army in 1920. As already noted, Soviet forces also made an incursion into Afghanistan in 1929, aimed at both supporting the side of Amanullah Khan in the civil war there and checking the influence and activities of exiles from Soviet Central Asia belonging to the Basmachi movement, which aimed to expel the Soviets in the name of Islam and pan-Turkism.
World War II
Under King Zahir Shah, son of Amanullah Khan’s former minister of war, Afghanistan pursued a policy of neutrality in World War II. Like many other neutral capitals, Kabul became a hotbed of diplomatic intrigue and propagandising by both sides; there is content in the files on the activities of foreign representatives, on trade with both Allied and Axis powers, and on inadvertent incursions by the belligerents into neutral Afghan territory. German plans for Afghanistan included the restoration of Amanullah Khan as the face of a puppet pro-Nazi government, but the ex-king himself never left his exile in Rome.
Where to start?: A guide to documents on some key topics
The Russian advance into Central Asia
FO 65/868: Includes correspondence relating to the Russian occupation of Tashkent, and documents concerning Russian ‘assurances’ given to Britain regarding its expansion into Central Asia, in 1865.
FO 65/877-FO 65/878: Two volumes which cover the Russian military operations against the Khanate of Khiva, and the implications of this conflict for British policymakers.
FO 65/927: Extensive documentation relating to Russian military activity in Central Asia and relations between Russia and Persia, including copies of Russian official papers.
FO 65/1068: Documentation relating to a series of military operations, including the Russian defeat at Geok Tepe.
FO 65/1129: Documents concerning ‘General Kuropatkin's march’, and Russian incursions into Persia.
FO 65/1131: Includes the petition of the ‘Merve Chiefs’ [sic], appealing to Queen Victoria for aid against the Russians. Both the original petition and a covering letter (with English translations) are included.
The Anglo-Afghan Wars
FO 539/1: Annotated volume of Confidential Print concerning elements of the origins of the First Anglo-Afghan War. Pencilled notes in the hand of Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston denote passages to be cut from, and/or modified for the version to be presented to Parliament.
FO 65/1034, FO 65/1060-FO 65/1071, FO 65/1097-FO 65/1105: Valuable military and Foreign Office dispatches relating to all aspects of the Second Anglo-Afghan War can be found in FO 65 volumes dating from the time of the conflict.
FO 65/1066: Includes a series of documents relating to the implementation of the Treaty of Gandamak between Britain and Afghanistan.
The Panjdeh Incident and the Afghan Boundary Commission
FO 65/1237-FO 65/1244: Extensive documentation relating to the advance of Russian forces towards Panjdeh, the skirmish itself, and the subsequent diplomatic confrontation between Britain and Russia. A detailed diary of the Panjdeh Incident, with copies of related documents, can be found at ff. 220-232v in FO 65/1244.
FO 65/1283: Includes an extended dispatch (ff. 1-53) and memoranda (ff. 54-73) on the state of the Afghan boundary negotiations.
FO 65/1289: Includes transcripts of witness statements from residents of border regions of Afghanistan, intended for presentation to the Border Commissioners, copies of draft protocols, and copies of official Russian memoranda relating to the Commission (in English and French).
Concessions, business interests and economic development
FO 65/876: Includes petitions from Chambers of Commerce in the UK, regarding prospects for the sale of manufactured goods in Central Asia.
FO 65/1317: Extensive documentation on the expansion, traffic, and revenue of Transcaucasian Railway, and Russo-Persian discussions on railway construction (and the benefits of a railway service for pilgrims travelling to Mashhad).
FO 65/1324: Features documents relating to the Transcaspian Railway, railway construction in Persia, and Russian trade with Central Asia.
FO 65/1347: Documents relating to the terms of a railway concession in Persia (including copies of the draft concession), British and Russian trade with Persia, the route of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and British investments in river trade.
FO 65/1392: Includes documentation relating to various concessions in Persia.
FO 539/10: Correspondence 1872-1875 concerning the implementation of the vast Reuter Concession to operate a wide range of public works in Persia, and its eventual cancellation.
FO 539/108: Extensive documentation on the Baghdad Railway project, and the official British response. Includes copies of memoranda printed for Cabinet meetings.
FO 539/115: Irrigation report of the Perso-Afghan Arbitration Commission, 1902-1905. Extensive documentation on agricultural development in Seistan.
FO 371/9277: Anglo-Afghan trade convention of 1927.
FO 371/18245: Competition between British, Indian and Soviet enterprises for trade in oil, pharmaceuticals, skins and fruit.
FO 371/52282, FO 371/61469: Discussions around Afghan orders and payments for British-made aircraft, including Spitfires and Tiger Moths, and the suggestion that payment might be in lambskins.
FO 371/63255, FO 371/63256: Development of telecommunications in Afghanistan.
Peoples and cultures
FO 65/1132: Includes an English translation of ‘The Turcomans’ by Major-General Petrusevitch.
FO 65/1248: A copy of ‘Explorations in part of Eastern Afghanistan and Kafiristan’ by W. W. McNair is included at ff. 62-87. This official report describes multiple aspects of everyday life in eastern Afghanistan, including infrastructure, agriculture, and local cultures and beliefs.
FO 65/1377: Includes detail on everyday life in the Ural Region and Tobolsk, and Colonel R. A. J. Talbot’s report on a ‘Trip through Transcaspia and Turkestan’.
FO 539/111: Collected documentation relating to the various Turkmen tribes, and their military conflicts with Russia.
FO 539/116: Asia: Report on the tour in Afghanistan of HM Amir Habib-Ulla (Habibullah) Khan, 1907. A detailed report of a royal progress through Afghanistan, which lasted several months, written by the British representative in Kabul (who accompanied the Amir.) Includes information on the country’s political leadership and governance, and its peoples; the volume also features a selection of photographs.
FO 371/61486: Discussion of support for Afghan students wishing to study economics at British universities.
FO 371/23628, FO 371/23629: Provision of British teachers in Afghanistan.
FO 371/27041, FO 371/34912: French archaeologists in Afghanistan and German interest in the excavations.
Espionage and intelligence-gathering
FO 65/1102: Includes intelligence on Russian forces, supplied to a British diplomat in Italy.
FO 65/1105: Includes surreptitiously-obtained Russian official documents detailing the day-to-day activities of military officers.
FO 65/1352: A translation of a Russian report on the state of affairs in Transcaspia can be found at ff. 224r-267v (manuscript copy) and 270v-279v (printed copy).
FO 65/1394: Documents concerning a Russian officer’s offer to act as a secret political agent in Central Asia (in English and German) can be found at ff. 245-50.
FO 371/17193: Intelligence reports relating to tribal politics and an uprising in Khost.
FO 371/21066: Extracts from diary of UK military attache in Kabul, with intelligence summaries.
FO 371/23632: Polish diplomats in Afghanistan sending intelligence to government of India.
FO 371/31331: British concerns relating to radio traffic between Afghanistan and Japan; communications with Free French government-in-exile over activities of Vichy legation in Kabul; desire of Vichy French and Italian missions in Kabul to defect to Allies.
The Russian Civil War
FO 371/5381-FO 371/5383, FO 371/6740-FO 371/6752, FO 371/8073-FO 371/8085: These three sub-series of FO 371 (the main series for the Political Department of the Foreign Office, 1906-1966) detail the various implications of the Red Army’s advances into Central Asia, and the diplomatic efforts of the early Soviet regime as it established control over the former Russian Empire – including its relations with Persia and Afghanistan.
The Afghan Civil War
FO 371/13280: Reports of the Queen of Afghanistan, Soraya Tarzi, adopting European dress and urging Afghan women to reject purdah and the veil (opposition to increasing women’s freedom was one of the causes of the uprising against her husband, Amanullah Khan).
FO 371/13990: Evacuation of foreign civilians from Kabul following Amanullah Khan’s abdication and flight.
FO 371/13993: Withdrawal of British legation from Afghanistan.
World War II
FO 371/24769: Activities of Polish government-in-exile in Kabul and Polish intelligence operations there and in Tehran.
FO 371/24773: German propaganda in Afghanistan and Afghan-Soviet trade.
FO 371/27038: Afghan relations with Germany, including trade agreements.
FO 371/34923: Violation of Afghan neutrality by British aircraft, with information on British airmen interned in Afghanistan.
FO 371/34939: Establishment of diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and the Republic of China.
FO 371/34929-FO 371/34932: Axis activities in Afghanistan, including revelations by the Italian minister in Kabul of the extent of covert Axis activities in Afghanistan after the overthrow of Mussolini, repatriation of Axis diplomats to Europe and Axis intrigues in Persia.
FO 371/39955, FO 371/39958: Training of Afghan air force pilots and army officers in India.
Where to start?: A guide to documents on some key topics
The Russian advance into Central Asia
FO 65/868: Includes correspondence relating to the Russian occupation of Tashkent, and documents concerning Russian ‘assurances’ given to Britain regarding its expansion into Central Asia, in 1865.
FO 65/877-FO 65/878: Two volumes which cover the Russian military operations against the Khanate of Khiva, and the implications of this conflict for British policymakers.
FO 65/927: Extensive documentation relating to Russian military activity in Central Asia and relations between Russia and Persia, including copies of Russian official papers.
FO 65/1068: Documentation relating to a series of military operations, including the Russian defeat at Geok Tepe.
FO 65/1129: Documents concerning ‘General Kuropatkin's march’, and Russian incursions into Persia.
FO 65/1131: Includes the petition of the ‘Merve Chiefs’ [sic], appealing to Queen Victoria for aid against the Russians. Both the original petition and a covering letter (with English translations) are included.
The Anglo-Afghan Wars
FO 539/1: Annotated volume of Confidential Print concerning elements of the origins of the First Anglo-Afghan War. Pencilled notes in the hand of Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston denote passages to be cut from, and/or modified for the version to be presented to Parliament.
FO 65/1034, FO 65/1060-FO 65/1071, FO 65/1097-FO 65/1105: Valuable military and Foreign Office dispatches relating to all aspects of the Second Anglo-Afghan War can be found in FO 65 volumes dating from the time of the conflict.
FO 65/1066: Includes a series of documents relating to the implementation of the Treaty of Gandamak between Britain and Afghanistan.
The Panjdeh Incident and the Afghan Boundary Commission
FO 65/1237-FO 65/1244: Extensive documentation relating to the advance of Russian forces towards Panjdeh, the skirmish itself, and the subsequent diplomatic confrontation between Britain and Russia. A detailed diary of the Panjdeh Incident, with copies of related documents, can be found at ff. 220-232v in FO 65/1244.
FO 65/1283: Includes an extended dispatch (ff. 1-53) and memoranda (ff. 54-73) on the state of the Afghan boundary negotiations.
FO 65/1289: Includes transcripts of witness statements from residents of border regions of Afghanistan, intended for presentation to the Border Commissioners, copies of draft protocols, and copies of official Russian memoranda relating to the Commission (in English and French).
Concessions, business interests and economic development
FO 65/876: Includes petitions from Chambers of Commerce in the UK, regarding prospects for the sale of manufactured goods in Central Asia.
FO 65/1317: Extensive documentation on the expansion, traffic, and revenue of Transcaucasian Railway, and Russo-Persian discussions on railway construction (and the benefits of a railway service for pilgrims travelling to Mashhad).
FO 65/1324: Features documents relating to the Transcaspian Railway, railway construction in Persia, and Russian trade with Central Asia.
FO 65/1347: Documents relating to the terms of a railway concession in Persia (including copies of the draft concession), British and Russian trade with Persia, the route of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and British investments in river trade.
FO 65/1392: Includes documentation relating to various concessions in Persia.
FO 539/10: Correspondence 1872-1875 concerning the implementation of the vast Reuter Concession to operate a wide range of public works in Persia, and its eventual cancellation.
FO 539/108: Extensive documentation on the Baghdad Railway project, and the official British response. Includes copies of memoranda printed for Cabinet meetings.
FO 539/115: Irrigation report of the Perso-Afghan Arbitration Commission, 1902-1905. Extensive documentation on agricultural development in Seistan.
FO 371/9277: Anglo-Afghan trade convention of 1927.
FO 371/18245: Competition between British, Indian and Soviet enterprises for trade in oil, pharmaceuticals, skins and fruit.
FO 371/52282, FO 371/61469: Discussions around Afghan orders and payments for British-made aircraft, including Spitfires and Tiger Moths, and the suggestion that payment might be in lambskins.
FO 371/63255, FO 371/63256: Development of telecommunications in Afghanistan.
Peoples and cultures
FO 65/1132: Includes an English translation of ‘The Turcomans’ by Major-General Petrusevitch.
FO 65/1248: A copy of ‘Explorations in part of Eastern Afghanistan and Kafiristan’ by W. W. McNair is included at ff. 62-87. This official report describes multiple aspects of everyday life in eastern Afghanistan, including infrastructure, agriculture, and local cultures and beliefs.
FO 65/1377: Includes detail on everyday life in the Ural Region and Tobolsk, and Colonel R. A. J. Talbot’s report on a ‘Trip through Transcaspia and Turkestan’.
FO 539/111: Collected documentation relating to the various Turkmen tribes, and their military conflicts with Russia.
FO 539/116: Asia: Report on the tour in Afghanistan of HM Amir Habib-Ulla (Habibullah) Khan, 1907. A detailed report of a royal progress through Afghanistan, which lasted several months, written by the British representative in Kabul (who accompanied the Amir.) Includes information on the country’s political leadership and governance, and its peoples; the volume also features a selection of photographs.
FO 371/61486: Discussion of support for Afghan students wishing to study economics at British universities.
FO 371/23628, FO 371/23629: Provision of British teachers in Afghanistan.
FO 371/27041, FO 371/34912: French archaeologists in Afghanistan and German interest in the excavations.
Espionage and intelligence-gathering
FO 65/1102: Includes intelligence on Russian forces, supplied to a British diplomat in Italy.
FO 65/1105: Includes surreptitiously-obtained Russian official documents detailing the day-to-day activities of military officers.
FO 65/1352: A translation of a Russian report on the state of affairs in Transcaspia can be found at ff. 224r-267v (manuscript copy) and 270v-279v (printed copy).
FO 65/1394: Documents concerning a Russian officer’s offer to act as a secret political agent in Central Asia (in English and German) can be found at ff. 245-50.
FO 371/17193: Intelligence reports relating to tribal politics and an uprising in Khost.
FO 371/21066: Extracts from diary of UK military attache in Kabul, with intelligence summaries.
FO 371/23632: Polish diplomats in Afghanistan sending intelligence to government of India.
FO 371/31331: British concerns relating to radio traffic between Afghanistan and Japan; communications with Free French government-in-exile over activities of Vichy legation in Kabul; desire of Vichy French and Italian missions in Kabul to defect to Allies.
The Russian Civil War
FO 371/5381-FO 371/5383, FO 371/6740-FO 371/6752, FO 371/8073-FO 371/8085: These three sub-series of FO 371 (the main series for the Political Department of the Foreign Office, 1906-1966) detail the various implications of the Red Army’s advances into Central Asia, and the diplomatic efforts of the early Soviet regime as it established control over the former Russian Empire – including its relations with Persia and Afghanistan.
The Afghan Civil War
FO 371/13280: Reports of the Queen of Afghanistan, Soraya Tarzi, adopting European dress and urging Afghan women to reject purdah and the veil (opposition to increasing women’s freedom was one of the causes of the uprising against her husband, Amanullah Khan).
FO 371/13990: Evacuation of foreign civilians from Kabul following Amanullah Khan’s abdication and flight.
FO 371/13993: Withdrawal of British legation from Afghanistan.
World War II
FO 371/24769: Activities of Polish government-in-exile in Kabul and Polish intelligence operations there and in Tehran.
FO 371/24773: German propaganda in Afghanistan and Afghan-Soviet trade.
FO 371/27038: Afghan relations with Germany, including trade agreements.
FO 371/34923: Violation of Afghan neutrality by British aircraft, with information on British airmen interned in Afghanistan.
FO 371/34939: Establishment of diplomatic relations between Afghanistan and the Republic of China.
FO 371/34929-FO 371/34932: Axis activities in Afghanistan, including revelations by the Italian minister in Kabul of the extent of covert Axis activities in Afghanistan after the overthrow of Mussolini, repatriation of Axis diplomats to Europe and Axis intrigues in Persia.
FO 371/39955, FO 371/39958: Training of Afghan air force pilots and army officers in India.
Note on names, spelling and transliteration
Many of the settlements and polities mentioned in documents featured in Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan have been referred to by a variety of different names since the nineteenth century. Place names were often transcribed or transliterated in multiple ways; sometimes European languages developed their own distinct names; and in other cases, governments have re-named settlements as they have seen fit. Spellings and transliterations of individuals’ names also vary.
For example:
- Europeans commonly referred to the state of Iran as ‘Persia’ during the period covered by this collection. This word is derived from Greek, based on the name of a province in the south of the country (Fars/Pars).
- The city of Saint Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург) is often referred to as ‘Saint Petersburgh’ in English-language documents featured in this collection. The city was also renamed twice by Russian governments during the twentieth century: it was officially known as Petrograd from 1914 to 1924 and Leningrad from 1924 to 1991, when its original name was restored.
- Mirza Malkam Khan (also transliterated as Mirza Melkum Khan), Persian minister to Britain between 1872 and 1889, is often referred to as ‘Malcom Khan’ in original documents featured in this collection.
- Prince Alexander Gorchakov (Алекса́ндр Горчако́в), Russian foreign minister from 1856 to 1882, is referred to by various spellings in original documents, including ‘Prince Gortchakow’ and ‘Prince Gortchakoff’.
See the Popular Searches page for examples of commonly found people and places, often with multiple variant spellings encompassed in each one-click search.
Throughout the AM Archives Direct portal, documents are tagged with the current names of countries to allow for cross-searching across collections. Documents relating to Iran/Persia are thus tagged with the term ‘Iran’; however, searches for the term ‘Persia’ will still produce results, as this term is generally used in the original text.
Note on names, spelling and transliteration
Many of the settlements and polities mentioned in documents featured in Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan have been referred to by a variety of different names since the nineteenth century. Place names were often transcribed or transliterated in multiple ways; sometimes European languages developed their own distinct names; and in other cases, governments have re-named settlements as they have seen fit. Spellings and transliterations of individuals’ names also vary.
For example:
- Europeans commonly referred to the state of Iran as ‘Persia’ during the period covered by this collection. This word is derived from Greek, based on the name of a province in the south of the country (Fars/Pars).
- The city of Saint Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург) is often referred to as ‘Saint Petersburgh’ in English-language documents featured in this collection. The city was also renamed twice by Russian governments during the twentieth century: it was officially known as Petrograd from 1914 to 1924 and Leningrad from 1924 to 1991, when its original name was restored.
- Mirza Malkam Khan (also transliterated as Mirza Melkum Khan), Persian minister to Britain between 1872 and 1889, is often referred to as ‘Malcom Khan’ in original documents featured in this collection.
- Prince Alexander Gorchakov (Алекса́ндр Горчако́в), Russian foreign minister from 1856 to 1882, is referred to by various spellings in original documents, including ‘Prince Gortchakow’ and ‘Prince Gortchakoff’.
See the Popular Searches page for examples of commonly found people and places, often with multiple variant spellings encompassed in each one-click search.
Throughout the AM Archives Direct portal, documents are tagged with the current names of countries to allow for cross-searching across collections. Documents relating to Iran/Persia are thus tagged with the term ‘Iran’; however, searches for the term ‘Persia’ will still produce results, as this term is generally used in the original text.