IOR/L/PS/5/133, ff 3-379

Enclosures no. 2-113 to dispatch no. 23 from the Secret Department, Bombay Castle, dated 24 September 1838. The enclosures are dated 3 July-24 September 1838.

The enclosures consist of copies of correspondence relating to preparations for the East India Company’s invasion of Afghanistan in order to depose Dost Mohamed [Dost Mohammad Khan] as Emir and replace him with former Emir Shah Shuja ul Mulk [Shah Shujah Durrani, also referred to as Shah Shooja ool Moolk and other variants]. Topics covered include:

• The arrival of Colonel Claude Martin Wade to serve as Political Agent, Loodianah [Ludhiana], and accounts of his meetings with Shah Shuja and members of his court
• Negotiations for a treaty between Shah Shuja and Runjeet Singh [Ranjit Singh], Maharajah of the Sikh Empire
• Attempts to recruit other adherents to Shah Shuja’s cause, including the Emir of Bokhara [Bukhara], the Chief of Koondooz [Kunduz] and the Khan of Kelat [Kalat]
• Shah Shuja's professed inability to pay for the raising of his own troops and request for further British aid
• Reports of arrangements made by Dost Mohamed to prepare for the invasion, including a prohibition of communications between his subjects and Shah Shuja or the British
• Appointments of British officers to serve in Shah Shuja’s force
• Practical arrangements relating to transport, equipment, stores and the suitability of roads and passes on the planned invasion route
• Arrangements for a meeting between the Maharajah and George Eden, Baron Auckland, Governor-General of India
• A mission to Peshawur [Peshawar] by Lieutenant Frederick Mackeson and a mission to Cabool [Kabul, also written as Caubul] by Captain Alexander Burnes to gain adherents to Shah Shuja’s cause
• Efforts by Dost Mohamed to gain the support of the Khaibar [Khyber] chiefs and their subsequent actions to cut off or contaminate the water supply for Fort Fattehgurh [Fort Jamrud]
• Reports of two Russian agents visiting Bokhara, Caubul, Lahore and Calcutta [Kolkata] and examining mountain passes in the Hindoo Koosh [Hindu Kush]
• Enquiries into the loyalties of the emirs of Sinde [Sindh] and the preparations of a force at Bombay [Mumbai] in case of an uprising there.

Folios 179-244 deal with the arrival of Lieutenant Mackeson to serve as Political Agent, Bhawalpur [Bahawalpur, also written as Bahawalpoor], accounts of his meetings with the Nawab Bhawul Khan Bahadur [Bahawal III] and members of his court, and negotiations for a treaty between the Nawab and the Company confirming the Nawab’s support of Shah Shuja.

Folios 122-136 and 257-281 deal with various intelligence reports from Afghanistan detailing the activities of Persia [Iran] and the siege of Herat, as well as discussions into the veracity and accuracy of such reports.

The primary correspondents are Colonel Wade, Captain Burnes, Lieutenant Mackeson, Shah Shuja, Lord Auckland and William Hay Macnaghten, Secretary to the Government of India.