Maps and Plans-A collection of maps and plans, of several parts of the world, many military, various sizes, [17th-20th Century] (a quantity)

This lot contains a quantity of maps of Afghanistan, including twenty eight compiled under the direction of Major C W Wilson, CBRE, and others of Kabul and Ghazni. The Afghan maps are connected to two members of the Durand family, prominent in the affairs of the sub-continent. These were Sir Henry Marion Durand (1812-1871) and Sir Henry Mortimer Durand (1850-1924), close relatives of the Percy family, each spending a lifetime of service, both military and public, in India. The first Sir Henry served on the North West Frontier in the Royal Engineers and was responsible for blowing up the Kabul Gate at Ghazni (1839). Subsequently he took part in the Sikh Wars, acted as commissioner and political agent in various parts of India and finished his career as Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab. His son, Sir Henry Mortimer, was born in India, served as a civil servant there conducting a mission to Afghanistan in 1893 to create a line of demarcation between Afghan and British areas of control which became known as the 'Durand Line'. Subsequently he pursued a diplomatic career becoming Ambassador to Spain (1900-1903) and to the United States (1903-1906).