[3] The war had begun on 3rd May 1919 when the new Amir of the Emirate of Afghanistan Amanullah Khan invaded British India.

The Royal Air Force were also used in bombing and strafing attacks on the frontier tribes as well as targets within Afghanistan, including Kabul and Jalalabad.

The Afghans were not conciliatory, they demanded the restoration of the Amir's subsidy, the payment of a war indemnity and recognition of Afghanistan's sovereignty over the whole of the Tribal Territory.

[5] As a result, the talks foundered several times and Grant sent a final ultimatum on 1 August, or hostilities would resume.

[6] The Afghans reluctantly agreed; the treaty was signed on 8 August 1919 in Rawalpindi, Punjab, by the United Kingdom and the Emirate of Afghanistan.