got that permission, he could
not come either into Turkestan or Kabul without an invitation from us,
but that, if he received such an invitation, he would obey it as an
order. He concluded by advising Ayub Khan to make his submission to
the British, as opposition was useless. Sir Donald Stewart telegraphed
the substance of this communication to the Foreign Secretary, adding
that Abdur Rahman's family were well disposed towards us, and that
there would be no difficulty in communicating with the Sirdar through
them.

In the meantime, I had been careful to acquaint the Government of
India with my failure to come to any conclusion with the Ghazni
faction as to the future government of the country, and the
hopelessness of finding anyone of sufficient strength of character to
set up as Ruler of Kabul; and I had suggested, failing a really strong
man, the alternative of letting the Afghans choose for themselves some
Ruler, other than Yakub Khan, and thus leave us free to evacuate the
country.

About this time Mr. Lyall, the Foreign Secretary, came to Kabul on
a visit to me, and Captain West Ridgeway[4] took the place of my
Political Secretary, Mr. Durand, who left me to join the Foreign
Office at Simla, Mr. (now Sir) Lepel Griffin, Secretary to the Punjab
Government, being appointed Chief of the political staff at Kabul.

Lyall told me that the Indian Government fully appreciated the
difficulty I was in about finding a Ruler for the province, and that,
unless Abdur Rahman could be brought within negotiable distance, the
alternative I had suggested would have to be acted upon.

Lord Lytton, however, was very sanguine about Abdur Rahman, and he
warned Mr. Griffin, before he started for Kabul, that the Sirdar's
letter to Ayub Khan indicated possibilities that might have the most
important bearing on the solution of the difficult problem to be dealt
with in northern Afghanistan. It was Lord Lytton's wish to place Abdur
Rahman on the throne of Kabul, or, at least, to afford him the best
opportunity of winning his own way to that position. The difficulty
was to get at him, in the first instance, and, in the second, to
convince him of our wish and power to help him; while a not unnatural
hesitation on the Sirdar's part to enter Afghanistan without Russia's
permission had to be considered.

Lord Lytton impressed upon Mr. Griffin the necessity for overcoming
these difficulties in time to enable us to withdraw from northern
Afgha