>BrownHairedGirl: tag with {{Cleanup bare URLs}}

2021-05-29T16:50:21Z

New page

{{Cleanup bare URLs|date=May 2021}}

{{distinguish|Henry Marion Durand}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2018}}
[[File:Portrait of Henry Mortimer Durand.jpg|thumb|Sir Mortimer Durand, 1903]]
'''Sir Henry Mortimer Durand''', {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|sep=,|GCMG|KCSI|KCIE|PC}} (14 February 1850 – 8 June 1924) was a British [[Anglo-Indian]] diplomat and member of the [[Indian Civil Service]].

==Background==
Born at [[Sehore]], [[Bhopal State|Bhopal]], [[British India|India]], he was the son of Sir [[Henry Marion Durand]], the [[Resident (title)|Resident]] of [[Baroda]] and he was educated at [[Blackheath Proprietary School]], and [[Tonbridge School]].<ref>John F. Riddick, ''The history of British India'', p258</ref>

==Career==
Durand entered the [[Indian Civil Service]] in 1873. During the [[Second Anglo-Afghan War]] (1878–1880) he was Political Secretary at [[Kabul]]. From 1884 to 1894, he was Foreign Secretary of India. Durand was appointed [[List of Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to Iran|Minister plenipotentiary at Tehran]] in 1894 although despite being a Persian scholar and speaking the language fluently he made little impression either in [[Tehran]] or on his superiors in London. He left Persia in March 1900,<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |articlename=Court Circular|day_of_week=Friday |date=9 March 1900 |page_number=6 |issue=36085| }}</ref> by which time owing to the illness of his wife [[Ella R. Durand|Ella]] he had withdrawn from social life and the legation was in a depressed and disorganised state. From 1900 to 1903 he served as [[List of Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to Spain|British Ambassador to Spain]], and from 1903-1906 as [[List of Ambassadors from the United Kingdom to the United States|Ambassador to the United States]]. He was appointed a CSI in 1881<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/24944/pages/976 London Gazette, 1 March 1881]</ref> knighted a KCIE in 1888 and a KCSI in 1894<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/26472/pages/2 London Gazette, 2 January 1894]</ref> and appointed a GCMG in 1900.<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/27198/pages/3497 London Gazette, 1 June 1900]</ref>

{{Election box begin |
|title=[[January 1910 United Kingdom general election|General election January 1910]]: Plymouth<ref name="The Liberal Year Book, 1907">The Liberal Year Book, 1907</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">British Parliamentary Election Results, 1885-1918 FWS Craig</ref><ref name="ReferenceC">Debrett's House of Commons & Judicial Bench, 1916</ref>
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party = Liberal Party (UK)
|candidate = [[Charles Mallet]]
|votes = 8,091
|percentage = 25.8
|change = −3.2
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party =Liberal Party (UK)
|candidate = [[Aneurin Williams]]
|votes = 7,961
|percentage = 25.5
|change = −3.9
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party = Conservative Party (UK)
|candidate = [[Waldorf Astor, 2nd Viscount Astor|Waldorf Astor]]
|votes = 7,650
|percentage = 24.5
|change = +3.2
}}
{{Election box candidate with party link|
|party = Conservative Party (UK)
|candidate = Mortimer Durand
|votes = 7,556
|percentage = 24.2
|change = +3.9
}}
{{Election box majority|
|votes = 311
|percentage = 1.0
|change = −6.7
}}
{{Election box turnout|
|votes =
|percentage = 87.9
|change = +2.6
}}
{{Election box registered electors|
|reg. electors = 18,085
}}
{{Election box hold with party link
|winner = Liberal Party (UK)
|swing = −3.2
}}
{{Election box hold with party link
|winner = Liberal Party (UK)
|swing = −3.9
}}
{{Election box end}}

==Literary works==
From 1906, after his return to England, he devoted his time to writing.

He also published the biography of his father, General [[Henry Marion Durand]] (1812–1871), and also had ambitions as a novelist, often with his wife, Lady [[Ella R. Durand|E. R. Durand]] (1852–1913), as a co-author. Some of his publications are:
* ''An Autumn Tour in Western Persia'' (1902)
* ''Nadir Shah: An Historical Novel'' (1908)
* ''The Life of Sir [[Alfred Comyn Lyall]]'' (1913)
* ''The Life of Field-Marshal Sir [[George White (British Army officer)|George White]], V.C.'' (1915)
*''The Thirteenth Hussars in the Great War'' (1921)

==Legacy==

===Durand Line===
The [[Durand Line]] is named after Sir Mortimer and remains the international border between [[Afghanistan]] and modern-day Pakistan that is officially recognized by all countries apart from [[Afghanistan]]. The border is an ongoing point of contention between the two countries, as Afghanistan unilaterally disputes the legitimacy of the border.

In 1884 Durand informed [[Abdur Rahman Khan]], the [[Amir]] of [[Afghanistan]], the frontier between modern-day [[Pakistan]] (the successor state of [[British Raj|British India]]) and Afghanistan that the garrison of [[Pandjeh]] had been slaughtered on the orders of the Russian General Komarov. The Russians wished to stop British occupation of Herat, so Durand was despatched to prevent "the strained relations which then existed between Russia and ourselves, wrote the Viceroy, [[Lord Dufferin]], might in itself have proved the occasion of a long miserable war." Tensions at home in British newspapers heightened the urgency of the incident, threatening war in Central Asia, which Rahman was desperate to avoid. A telephone line was kept open between Lord Granville and Count Giers in St Petersburg.<ref>Hopkirk, The Great Game, pp.430-1</ref>

Sir Mortimer was deputed to Kabul by the government of British India for the purpose of settling an exchange of territory required by the demarcation of the [[Durand Line|Joint Boundary Commission]] between northeastern Afghanistan and the Russian possessions along the same lines as in 1873, except for the southward salient at Pandjeh. The British made it clear that any further extension towards Herat would be amoun to a declaration of war. Rahman showed his usual ability in diplomatic argument, his tenacity where his own views or claims were in debate, with a sure underlying insight into the real situation. A Royal Commission was established to demarcate the boundary between Afghanistan and the British-governed India. The two parties camped at [[Parachinar]], now part of [[FATA]] Pakistan, near [[Khost]] Afghanistan. From the British side the camp was attended by Mortimer Durand and [[Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum]], the [[Political officer (British Empire)|Political Agent]] for [[Khyber Agency|Khyber]]. The [[Afghan]]s were represented by [[Sahibzada Abdul Latif]] and Governor [[Sardar Shireendil Khan]] representing Amir Abdur Rahman Khan.<ref>http://www.aaiil.org/aaiil/ra/jalsa/2003/sahibzadaabdullatifshaheed100anniversary/08sahibzadazahoorahmad_sahibzadaabdullatifshaheed.mp3</ref> The territorial exchanges were amicably agreed upon; the relations between the British Indian and [[Afghan]] governments, as previously arranged, were confirmed. The Durand Road in Lahore is also named after him.

==Death==
Durand died at [[Quetta]], [[Baluchistan Agency]], [[British Raj|British India]], in 1924. According to Abdus Sattar, a high school headmaster at D.I.Khan, His grave is in Christian graveyard near NOL Bagh tank Adda Dera Ismail Khan. However, his father is buried in a Church at [[Dera Ismail Khan]], [[Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]] (now a province of Pakistan).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://wikimapia.org/17227149/ur/Grave-Sir-Henry-Mortimer-Durand|title=Grave Sir Henry Mortimer Durand - Wikimapia|website=wikimapia.org|access-date=2016-09-26}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Durand Cup]] - a football tournament started by Mortimer Durand at [[Shimla|Simla]] in 1888.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

;Bibliography
*{{cite book | first=Gen Sir John | last=Adye | title=Indian Frontier Policy | url=https://archive.org/details/indianfrontierp01adyegoog | date=1897 }}
*{{cite book | first=T.C. | last=Coen | title=The Indian Political Service | url=https://archive.org/details/indianpoliticals0000crea | url-access=registration | date=1971 }}
*{{cite book | first=Col Algernon | last=Durand | title=The Making of a Frontier Five Years' Experiences and Adventures in Gilgit, Hunsa, Nagar, Chitral and the Eastern Hindu - Kush | date=1899 }}
*{{cite book | first=Charles | last=Marvin | title=The Russians at the Gate of Herat | date=1885 }}
*{{cite book | first=John F. | last=Riddick | title= The history of British India }}

== External links ==
{{commons category|Henry Mortimer Durand}}

* [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/author/51604 Works by H. Mortimer Durand] at [[Project Gutenberg]]
{{wikisource|Sir Mortimer Durand}}
* The papers of Henry Marion Durand, including diaries, correspondence, memoranda, literary papers, photographs and presscuttings are held by [http://archives.soas.ac.uk/CalmView/TreeBrowse.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&field=RefNo&key=PP+MS+55 SOAS Special Collections]. Digitised items from the collections may be viewed online [https://digital.soas.ac.uk/ppms55 here].

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durand, Mortimer}}
[[Category:1850 births]]
[[Category:1924 deaths]]
[[Category:Administrators in British India]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Star of India]]
[[Category:Knights Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to the United States]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United Kingdom to Spain]]
[[Category:British people of the Second Anglo-Afghan War]]
[[Category:Durand line]]
[[Category:Indian civil servants]]
[[Category:People educated at Blackheath Proprietary School]]
[[Category:People from Sehore]]
[[Category:Indian members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Conservative Party (UK) parliamentary candidates]]

Mortimer Durand - Revision history

>BrownHairedGirl: tag with {{Cleanup bare URLs}}