History of the War in Afghanistan, Volume 1R. Bentley, 1851 - Afghan Wars The First Anglo-Afghan War began in early 1839 when the British undertook an invasion of Afghanistan from India with the aim of overthrowing the Afghan ruler, Amir Dost Mohammad Khan, and replacing him with the supposedly pro-British former ruler, Shah Shujaʻ. The British were at first successful. They installed Shah Shujaʻ as ruler in Jalalabad and forced Dost Mohammad to flee the country. But in 1841 Dost Mohammad returned to Afghanistan to lead an uprising against the invaders and Shah Shujaʻ. In one of the most disastrous defeats in British military history, in January 1842 an Anglo-Indian force of 4,500 men and thousands of followers was routed by Afghan tribesmen. The British then sent a larger force from India to exact retribution and to recover hostages, before finally withdrawing in October 1842. History of the War in Afghanistan is a two-volume study of the war, based on unpublished letters and journals by British political and military officers who served in the conflict. The author, Sir John William Kaye (1814-76), was a onetime officer in the army of the East India Company who resigned in 1841 to devote himself full time to the writing of military history. The book begins with a detailed analysis of the events of 1800-1837 that led up to the war and of the "Great Game of Central Asia"--the rivalry between Russia and Britain for influence in the region that spurred British intervention in Afghanistan. This is followed by detailed accounts of the major battles and military campaigns. Kaye joins other authors in concluding that the war was a disaster for Britain: "No failure so total and overwhelming as this is recorded in the page of history. No lesson so grand and impressive is to be found in all the annals of the world." Kaye also wrote a novel based on the war, Long Engagements: a Tale of the Affghan Rebellion (1846), and several other major historical works, including The Life and Correspondence of Major-General Sir John Malcolm (1856) and the three-volume The History of the Sepoy War in India, 1857-8, published in 1864-76. |
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advance affairs Afghan Afghanistan agent alliance Ameer Arthur Conolly artillery Balla Hissar Barukzye Sirdars Bengal Bokhara Bombay brigade British Government Burnes Calcutta Candahar Captain Caubul cavalry chiefs Colonel command declared despatched dominions Dost Mahomed Khan Douranee Empire Eldred Pottinger enemy English Envoy expedition force frontier Futteh Khan garrison Ghilzyes Ghuznee Governor-General guns Hadjee hands Herat honour horse India Indus infantry Jellalabad Kamran Khelat Khiva Khybur King Lahore lakhs letter Loodhianah Lord Auckland M'Neill Maharajah Mahomed Shah Majesty Malcolm Meerza ment military minister Mission monarch negotiations party Persian army Persian camp Peshawur political Pottinger Pottinger's Prince Punjaub received regiments ruler Runjeet Singh rupees Russian says sent Shah Soojah Shah's Shikarpoor siege Sikh Simlah Sindh Sir Henry Fane Sir John Keane Sir W. H. Macnaghten Soojah-ool-Moolk soon Suddozye Sultan Mahomed Teheran tion treaty tribes troops whilst Willoughby Cotton wrote Wuzeer Yar Mahomed Zemaun
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Page 357 - The Governor-general deems it in this place necessary to revert to the siege of Herat, and the conduct of the Persian nation. The siege of that city has now been carried on by the Persian army for many months. The attack upon it was a most unjustifiable and cruel aggression, perpetrated and continued, notwithstanding the solemn and repeated remonstrances of the...
Page 319 - Whereas a treaty was formerly concluded between Maharajah Runjeet Singh and Shah Soojah-ool-Moolk, consisting of fourteen articles exclusive of the preamble and the conclusion ; and whereas the execution of the provisions of the said treaty was suspended for certain reasons ; and whereas at this time Mr. W. H. Macnaghten, having been deputed by the Right Honourable George Lord Auckland...
Page 498 - Asia the lawful influence to which Russia has a right, and which alone can insure the maintenance of peace. This is the purpose of the present JUSTICE OF THE RUSSIAN EXPEDITION. 499 expedition; and as soon as it shall be attained, and an order of things conformable to the interests of Russia and the neighbouring Asiatic states shall be established on a permanent footing, the body...
Page 358 - His attention was naturally drawn at this conjuncture to the position and claims of Shah Soojah-ool-Moolk, a monarch who, when in power, had cordially acceded to the measures of united resistance to external enmity, which were at that time judged necessary by the British Government, and who, on his empire being usurped by its present rulers, had found an honourable asylum in the British dominions.
Page 323 - Soojah-ool-Moolk binds himself, his heirs, and successors, to refrain from entering into negotiations with any foreign state, without the knowledge and consent of the British and Sikh Governments, and to oppose any power having the design to invade the British and Sikh territories by force of arms, to the utmost of his ability.
Page 357 - Governor-general would yet indulge the hope that their heroism may enable them to maintain a successful defence, until succours shall reach them from British India. In the meantime, the ulterior designs of Persia, affecting the interests of the British government, have been, by a succession of events, more and more openly manifested. The Governor-general has recently ascertained, by an official despatch from Mr.
Page 357 - M'Neill, her Majesty's Envoy, that his Excellency has been compelled, by a refusal of his just demands, and by a systematic course of disrespect adopted towards him by the Persian Government, to quit the Court of the Shah, and to make a public declaration of the cessation of all intercourse between the two Governments. The necessity under which Great Britain is placed of regarding the present advance of the Persian arms into Afghanistan as an act of hostility towards herself, has also been officially...
Page 323 - ... deviation from them, and in that case the present Treaty shall be considered binding for ever, and this Treaty shall come into operation from and after the date on which the seals and signatures of the three contracting parties shall have been affixed thereto.
Page 9 - Sketches, p. 30. gagements it was provided, that, " should an army of the French ' nation, actuated by design and deceit, attempt to settle with a ' view of establishing themselves on any of the Islands or shores
Page 356 - After much time spent by Captain Burnes in fruitless negotiation at Cabool, it appeared that Dost Mahomed Khan, chiefly in consequence of his reliance upon Persian encouragement and assistance, persisted, as respected his misunderstanding with the Sikhs, in urging the most unreasonable pretensions...