Anglo-Tibetan and Anglo-Afghan Relations

At a Glance

• What it is British dealings with Tibet and Afghanistan, driven by fear of Russia
• Tibet Younghusband’s mission and the Treaty of Lhasa, 1904, under Curzon
• Afghanistan Forward policy of Auckland; wars of 1839-42 and 1878-80
• Key treaties Ranjit Singh with the East India Company from 1807 to 1839 Key treaty…">Tripartite Treaty (1838), Gandamak (1879)
• Exam link UPSC Prelims, Modern History: Extension of British Paramountcy

Where Does It Fit?

This is the seventh topic of the category on the extension of British paramountcy. The previous topic covered Burma. This topic covers the other two neighbours where Russia was feared, Tibet and Afghanistan. The next and last topic covers the frontier policies of masterly inactivity and proud reserve and the North-West Frontier. Previous topic: Anglo-Burmese Relations.

Why Did the British Look to Tibet?

Tibet was ruled by a theocracy of Buddhist monks, the lamas, under the nominal suzerainty of China. British efforts to establish friendly and commercial relations with Tibet had not yielded any result in the past, and a deadlock had been reached by the time of Curzon’s arrival in India. Chinese suzerainty over Tibet was ineffective, and Russian influence at Lhasa was increasing. There were reports of Russian arms and ammunition coming into Tibet.

Curzon felt alarmed and sent a small Gorkha contingent under Colonel Younghusband on a special mission to oblige the Tibetans to come to an agreement. The Tibetans refused to negotiate and offered non-violent resistance. Younghusband pushed his way into Lhasa in August 1904 while the Dalai Lama fled. The Gorkha troops in the mission came from the settlement described in Anglo-Bhutanese and Anglo-Nepalese Relations.

What Did the Treaty of Lhasa (1904) Provide?

Younghusband dictated terms to the Tibetan officials.

Later, on the insistence of the Secretary of State and true to the pledge given to Russia, the treaty was revised. The indemnity was reduced from Rs 75 lakh to Rs 25 lakh, and the Chumbi Valley was to be evacuated after three years. It was actually evacuated only in January 1908.

The chapter’s judgment is that only China gained in the end, because the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907 provided that the two powers would not negotiate with Tibet except through the Chinese government. However, Curzon’s policy counteracted all Russian schemes in Tibet.

How Did Russia Change British Policy Towards Afghanistan?

In the early nineteenth century, increased Russian influence in Persia replaced British influence and thwarted an English scheme for a new route by the River Euphrates to India. Especially after the Treaty of Turkomanchai (1828), the English were alarmed about possible Russian plans regarding India. Soon there was a search for a scientific frontier from the Indian side. The passes of the north-west seemed to hold the key to enter India, and the need was felt for Afghanistan to be under a ruler friendly to the British.

What Was Auckland’s Forward Policy and the First Afghan War?

Auckland, who came to India as Governor-General in 1836, advocated a forward policy. This implied that the Company government in India had to take initiatives itself to protect the boundary from a probable Russian attack, either through treaties with the neighbouring countries or by annexing them completely.

The Amir of Afghanistan, Dost Mohammed, wanted British friendship but made it conditional on British help to recover Peshawar from the Sikhs, a condition the British rejected. He turned to Russia and Persia for help. This prompted the British to go ahead with the forward policy, and the Tripartite Treaty was entered into in 1838 by the British, the Sikhs and Shah Shuja, who had been deposed from the Afghan throne in 1809 and was living as a British pensioner at Ludhiana. It provided that Shah Shuja would be enthroned with the armed help of the Sikhs, the Company remaining in the background, jingling the money-bag. He would conduct foreign affairs with the advice of the Sikhs and the British, give up sovereign rights over the Amirs of Sindh for a large sum and recognise Ranjit Singh’s claims over Afghan territories on the right bank of the Indus, as seen in Ranjit Singh and the English.

Persia had lifted its siege of Herat and Russia had recalled its envoy from Kabul, the original irritants, but the British went ahead anyway. The First Afghan War cost India one-and-a-half crore rupees and nearly 20,000 men. The Tripartite Treaty and the Sindh arrangement are also told in Rise of the Talpur Amirs and the Conquest of Sindh.

What Happened in the Second Afghan War?

Lord Lytton, who became Viceroy in 1876, started a new foreign policy of proud reserve aimed at scientific frontiers and the safeguarding of spheres of influence, as taken up in Masterly Inactivity, Proud Reserve and the North-West Frontier. He made an offer of a favourable treaty to Sher Ali, but the Amir wanted friendship with both Russia and British India while keeping both at arm’s length. Sher Ali refused to keep a British envoy in Kabul after granting a similar concession to the Russians. When the Russians withdrew their envoy, Lytton decided to invade Afghanistan. Sher Ali fled, and the Treaty of Gandamak was signed in May 1879 with his eldest son Yakub Khan. The chapter dates the war 1870-80; the usual dates are 1878-80.

The treaty provided that the Amir would conduct his foreign policy on the advice of the Government of India, that a permanent British Resident would be stationed at Kabul, and that the Government of India would give the Amir all support against foreign aggression and an annual subsidy.

Soon Yakub had to abdicate under popular pressure, and the British had to recapture Kabul and Kandahar. Abdur Rahman became the new Amir. Lytton chalked out a plan for the dismemberment of Afghanistan but could not carry it out. Ripon abandoned the plan and decided on a policy of keeping Afghanistan as a buffer state.

After the First World War and the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Afghans demanded full independence. Habibullah, who succeeded Abdur Rahman in 1901, was killed in 1919, and the new ruler Amanullah declared open war on the British. Peace came in 1921, when Afghanistan recovered independence in foreign affairs.

What Is the Pattern?

As an analytical point, both Tibet and Afghanistan show the same logic: a rival power (Russia) was feared, a ruler who dealt with that rival was punished, and the settlement tried to place British influence at the court. Tibet ended with the 1907 convention that left China as the go-between, and Afghanistan ended with a buffer state rather than a protectorate.

Why Is This Topic Important?

• Direct facts The terms of Lhasa and Gandamak and the policies of Auckland and Lytton are asked often
• Mains theme Fear of Russia shaped British frontier policy
• Link to frontier policy They lead to the policies of masterly inactivity and proud reserve

What Came Next?

The next and last topic of this category covers the frontier policies of masterly inactivity and proud reserve and the North-West Frontier. Next topic: Masterly Inactivity, Proud Reserve and the North-West Frontier.

Key People and Terms

• Forward policy Taking initiatives beyond the frontier to meet a feared attack
• Tripartite Treaty The 1838 treaty among the British, the Sikhs and Shah Shuja
• Treaty of Lhasa The 1904 treaty dictated by Younghusband to Tibet
• Treaty of Gandamak The May 1879 treaty with Yakub Khan
• Chumbi Valley Territory between Bhutan and Sikkim occupied under the 1904 treaty
• Buffer state A state between two rival powers that keeps them apart

Exam Corner

Mains Angle

Questions ask why the British interfered in Afghanistan and Tibet. These points add depth.

• Russian fear Both policies were responses to real or feared Russian moves
• Costly forward policy The First Afghan War cost 20,000 men and Rs one-and-a-half crore
• Limited result Afghanistan became a buffer; Tibet came under the 1907 arrangement