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First Anglo-Afghan War

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In the 1830s the British Empire was firmly entrenched in India, but by 1837 Lord Palmerston and John Hobhouse, fearing the instability of Afghanistan, the Sindh, and the increasing power of the Sikh kingdom to the north, raised the spectre of a possible Russian invasion of India through Afghanistan. The Russian empire was slowly extending its domain into central Asia, and this was seen as an encroachment south that might prove fatal for the British Company rule in India. The British sent an envoy to Kabul to form an alliance with Afghanistan's Emir Dost Mohammad Khan against Russia.

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1839

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23 William Elphinstone border|25px Dost Mahommed Khan * Akbar Khan

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A British-Indian force attacks Ghazni fort during the First Afghan War, c.1839.

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4700 1500 Around 500 soldiers

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British withdrawal from Afghanistan Afghan victory

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Afghanistan

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First Anglo-Afghan War

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In the 1830s the British Empire was firmly entrenched in India, but by 1837 Lord Palmerston and John Hobhouse, fearing the instability of Afghanistan, the Sindh, and the increasing power of the Sikh kingdom to the north, raised the spectre of a possible Russian invasion of India through Afghanistan. The Russian empire was slowly extending its domain into central Asia, and this was seen as an encroachment south that might prove fatal for the British Company rule in India. The British sent an envoy to Kabul to form an alliance with Afghanistan's Emir Dost Mohammad Khan against Russia. Dost Mohammad had recently lost Afghanistan's second capital of Peshawar to the Sikh Empire and wanted support to retake it, but the British were unwilling. When Governor-General of India Lord Auckland heard about the arrival of a supposed Russian envoy in Kabul and the possibility that Dost Mohammad might turn to Russia for support, his political advisers exaggerated the threat. British fears of a Russian invasion of India took one step closer to becoming a reality when negotiations between the Afghans and Russians broke down in 1838. The Persians, with Russian support, attempted the Siege of Herat (1838) but backed down when Britain threatened war. Russia, wanting to increase its presence in South and Central Asia, had formed an alliance with Persia which had territorial disputes with Afghanistan as Herat had been part of the Safavids before 1709. Lord Auckland's plan was to drive away the besiegers and replace the ruler of Afghanistan with one who was pro-British, Shuja Shah Durrani. "To justify his plan, Lord Auckland issued the Simla Manifesto in October 1838, setting forth the necessary reasons for British intervention in Afghanistan. The manifesto stated that in order to ensure the welfare of India, the British must have a trustworthy ally on India's western frontier. The [official] British [position] that their troops were merely supporting [Shah] Shuja's small army in retaking what was once his throne" was generally seen as pretext for incorporating Afghanistan into the British empire. "Although the Simla Manifesto stated that British troops would be withdrawn as soon as Shuja was installed in Kabul, Shuja's rule depended entirely on British arms to suppress rebellion and on British funds to buy the support of tribal chiefs. The British denied that they were invading Afghanistan, claiming they were merely supporting its legitimate Shuja government "against foreign interference and factious opposition."

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