IOR/L/PS/5/130, ff 20-51

This item comprises copies of enclosures to a despatch from the Government of India Secret Department (Camp at Kurnaul [Karnal]) to the East India Company Secret Committee, Number 4 of 1838, dated 7 March 1838. The enclosures are dated 26 January-7 March 1838.

The papers relate to the views of Captain Alexander Burnes, on a Mission to Cabool [Kabul; this spelling also used in this item], Captain Claude Martine Wade, Political Agent in Lodiana [Ludhiana, also spelled Lodianah and Loodeeana in this item], and William Hay Macnaghten, Secretary to the Government of India, regarding the overtures made by Dost Mahomed Khan [Dūst Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy], Ruler of Cabool, for the ‘adjustment of his difference’ with the Sikhs [the Sikh Empire] over Peshawur [Peshawar].

The papers notably cover:

• Dost Mahomed’s wish to prevent the restoration of his brother, Sultan Mohamed Khan [Sulṭān Muḥammad Khān Bārakzāy], to the governorship of the territory, and his proposals that either Peshawur be ceded to him and in return he becomes a tributary of Maharaja Ranjit [also spelled Runjeet in this item] Singh, or that the territory is divided between himself and Ranjit Singh and they receive equally a fixed tribute, with Nawab Jabbar Khan [Nawwāb Jabbār Khān] placed at Peshawur
• Burnes’s support for Dost Mahomed (ff 39-46) and forwarding of a letter to the Governor-General of India from the Ruler of Cabool who professes confidence in the ‘favourable disposition which your Lordship entertains towards supporting and strengthening my Government’ (f 37)
• Wade’s disagreements with parts of Burnes’s analysis, including his: belief that Dost Mahomed has exaggerated the threat from Ranjit Singh; scepticism regarding allegations that Sultan Mohamed conspired with Shah Shuja ul Mulk [Shujā‘ al-Mulk Durrānī] against Dost Mahomed; emphasis on the superiority of British relations with the Sikhs; belief that Ranjit Singh will neither cede Peshawur to Dost Mahomed nor restore it to Sultan Mahomed; and insistence that Burnes adhere to his instructions to preserve the present distribution of power on the Indus and discourage any ‘extravagant pretensions’ of Dost Mahomed (ff 23-35)
• The Governor-General’s claim to favour any arrangement as long as it is agreeable to Ranjit Singh whose rights in Peshawur ‘cannot be questioned’, and preference that Dost Mahomed open direct negotiations with Lahore rather than through British officers (ff 48-50).

The correspondents are Wade, Macnaghten and Burnes.