The treaty vested in the British Government
the control of the external relations of Afghanistan. The Ameer consented
to the residence of British Agents within his dominions, guaranteeing
their safety and honourable treatment, while the British Government
undertook that its representatives should not interfere with the internal
administration of the country. The districts of Pisheen, Kuram, and Sibi
were ceded to the British Government along with the permanent control of
the Khyber and Michnai passes, and of the mountain tribes inhabiting the
vicinity of those passes; all other Afghan territory in British
occupation was to be restored. The obligations to which the treaty
committed the British Government were that it should support the Ameer
against foreign aggression with arms, money, or troops at its discretion,
and that it should pay to him and his successor an annual subsidy of
L60,000. Commercial relations between India and Afghanistan were to be
protected and encouraged; a telegraph line between Cabul and the Kuram
was forthwith to be constructed; and the Ameer was to proclaim an amnesty
relieving all and sundry of his subjects from punishment for services
rendered to the British during the war.
That the treaty of Gundamuk involved our Indian Empire in serious
responsibilities is obvious, and those responsibilities were the more
serious that they were vague and indefinite, yet none the less binding on
this account.
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