Herbert Benjamin Edwardes - Urges Treaty With Afghanistan

Urges Treaty With Afghanistan

Edwardes believed that the security of British India against the designs of Russia would be improved on the North-Western Frontier by the existence of a strong and independent Afghanistan and he urged the signing of a British Treaty of Friendship with the Amir Dost Mohammad Khan. Although opposed by Sir John Lawrence, then Chief Commissioner of the Punjab, as the new ruling magistrate was known following the 1849 British annexation of Punjab, Edwardes's suggestion received the approval of the Governor General of India Lord Dalhousie. The treaty was signed by Lawrence and the Amir on 30 March 1855. It contained a strict non-interference clause which turned out to be vital in maintaining calm in the Punjab during the Indian Mutiny 2 years later, thus allowing Punjab troops to be sent away to assist in the relief of Delhi and in subsequent operations. A second treaty was signed in January 1857.