The Afghan Wars, 1839-42 and 1878-80 (1892)
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University of Nebraska - Lincoln DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln Digitized Afghanistan Materials in English from Afghanistan: The Arthur Paul Afghanistan the Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection Collection at the University of Nebraska-Omaha March 2007 The Afghan wars, 1839-42 and 1878-80 (1892) Archibald Forbes Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/afghanenglish Part of the Asian Studies Commons Forbes, Archibald, "The Afghan wars, 1839-42 and 1878-80 (1892)" (2007). Digitized Afghanistan Materials in English from the Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection. 16. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/afghanenglish/16 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Afghanistan: The Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection at the University of Nebraska-Omaha at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Digitized Afghanistan Materials in English from the Arthur Paul Afghanistan Collection by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. THE AFGHAN WARS BY ARCHIBALD FORBES LONDON SEELEY AND CO., LIMITEI) ESSEX STREET, STRAND r Sgz PART I.-TI-IE FIRST AFGHAN WAR CllAP, I.-PRELIXIINARV, . 11.-THE MARCH TO CAEUL, . 111.-THE FIRS'I' YEAR OF OCCUPATION, 1V.-THE SECOND YEAR OF OCCUPATION, V.-THE BEGINNING OF THE END, . V1.-THE ROAD TO RUIN, VI1.-THE CATASTROPHE, V1II.-THE SIEGE AND DEFENCE OF J&I,LALARI\D, IX.-RETRIBUTION AND RESCUE, PART 11.-'rHE SECOXL) AFGHAN WAR I.-THE FIRST CAhlPAIGN, . 11.-THE OPENING OF THE SECOND CAMPAIGN, 111.-'1'MIC LULL 15EFORE THE STORM, . IV.-THE DECEMBER STORM, . V.-ON THE DEFENSIVE IN SHEI<PUR, . VI.-AMMED KIIEL, . VI1.-THE AhIEER ABDURIZAHMAN, VII1.-MAIWAND AND THE GREAT AlhRCH, 1X.-THE BATTLE OF CANDAHAR) LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND PLANS 1'ORTRAIT OF SIR PREDERICI< ROBERTS,. TLAN OF CABUL, THE CAN'I'ONMBNT, . I'ORTRAIT OF SIR GEORGE POLLOCK, . PORTRAIT OF SIR LOUIS CAVAGNAPI AND SIRDAI:S, . I'LAN OF CABUL SHOIVING '1'1IE ACTIONS, DEC. 11-14, I'LAN OF ACTION, AHXfED ICllBL, . I'ORTRAIT OF THE AhIEEIt ABI)URRAIIRlAN, . I'LAN OF TlIE AC'I'ION OF BIAl\VAND, . I1I.AN OF THE ACI'ION OF CANDAIIAR, . The Fiirst Afghan War THE AFGHAN WARS I PART I CHAPTER I PRELIMINARY SINCEit was thc British complications with Persia which mainly furnished what pretest there was for thc invasion of Afghanistan by an Anglo-Indian army in 1839,some brief recital is necessary of the relations between Great I Britain and Persia prior to that aggression. By a treaty, concluded between England and Persia in 1814, the former state bound itself, in casc of the in- vasion of l'ersia by any European nation, to aid the Shah either with troops from India or by the payment of an annual subsidy in support of his war expenses. It was a dangerous engagement, even with the caved rendering thc unclcrtaltir~ginoperative if such invasion should be provoltecl by Persia. During the fierce struggle of 1825-7, between Abbas Meerza and the Russian General Paslie- vitch, England refrained from supporting Pcrsia either \\lit11 mcn or with money, and when prostrate Persia was in financial extremities because of the war indemnity which the treaty of Turlc~nanchai imposed upon her, A England took advantage of her needs by purchasing the cancellation of the inconvenient obligation at the cheap cost of about A;3oo,ooo, It was the natural result of this transaction that English influence with thc Persian Court should sensibly declinc, and it was not less natural that in conscious weakness Persia should fall under the domina- tion of Russian influence. Futteh Ali, thc old Shah of Pcrsia, died in I 834, and was succeeded by his grandson Prince Mahomed Mccrza, a young man who inhcritecl much of the ambition of his gallant father Abbas Meerza. His especial aspiration, industriously stimulated by his Russian advisers, urged him to the enterprise of conqucring the indcpcndcnt principality of I-Ierat, on the wcstern border of Afghan- istan. Herat was thc only remnant of Afghan territory that still remained to a member of the legitimate royal house. Its rulcr was Shah Kamran, son of that Mahmoud Shah who, after ousting his brother Shah Soojall from thc throne of Cabul, had himself bcen driven from that eleva- tion, ancl had retired to the minor principality of Herat. The young Shah of Pcrsia was not destitute of justifica- tion for his designs on Herat. That this was so was frankly admitted by Mr Ellis, the British cnvoy to his Court, who wrote to his Government that the Shah had fair claim to the sovereignty of Afghanistan as far as Ghuznee, ancl that KamranJs conduct in occupying part of the Persian province of Seistan had given the Shah 'a full justification for commencing hostilities against I-Ierat.' The serious phasc of the situation for England and India was that Russian influence was bchincl Persia in this hostile action against I-Icrat. Mr Ellis pointed out that in the thcn existing statc of relations bctwcen Persia and Russia, the progress of thc former in Afghanistan was tantamount to the advancement of the latter. But unfortunately thcre remained valid an articlc in the treaty of 1814 to the effect that, in case of war between the Afghans and the Persians, the English Government should no7 interfere with either party unless when callccl on by both to mediate. In vain did Ellis and his successor McNeill remonstrate with the Persian monarch against the Ilcrat especlition. An appcal to St Yeters- burg, on thc part of Grcat Britain, produced tnercly an evasive reply. How diplomatic disquictudc hacl become intcnsified may be inferred from this, that whcrcas in April 1836 Ellis wrote of Persia as a Russian first parallel of attack against India, Lord Auclcland, then Govcrnor-General of India, directed McNeill, in the early part of 1837, to urge thc Shah to abandon his cnterprisc, on the ground that he (thc Govcrnor-General) ' must vicw with umbrage and displeasure schemes of interferencc ancl conquest on our wcstern frontier.' Thc Shah, unrnovecl by thc reprcscntations of the British cnvoy, marched on Herat, and the siege was opened on November 23d, 1837. Durand, a capable critic, clcclares that the strength of the place, the resolution of the besiegers, the skill of their Russian military advisers, ancl the gallantry of the besieged, were alike objccts of much exaggeration. ' Thc siege was from first to last thoroughly ill-conducted, and the clefencc, in reality not better managed, owed its r'clad to Pcrsian ignorance, timidity and supineness. Thc advicc of Pottingcr, the gallant English officer who assistccl thc defence, was scldom asked, and still more seldom taken ; ancl no one spolce more plainly of thc conduct of both besieged ancl besiegers than did Pottingcr hirnself,' M'Neill effcctcd nothing definite during a long stay in the l'crsian camp before Herat, the counteracting influence of the Russian envoy being too strong with the Shall; and the British representative, wcary of continual slights, at length quitted the Persian camp complctcly foilcd. Aftcr six days' bombardment, the l'crsians and their Russian auxiliaries dclivcrccl an assault in force on June 23dl I 838. It failccl, with hcavy loss, and the dispirited Shah detcrmincd on raising thc sicgc. His resolution was quickened by the arrival of Coloncl Stoddart in his camp, with the information that a military forcc from 1301nbay, supported by ships of nw, had landed on the island of ICarrack in the Persian Gulf, and with thc peremptory ultimatum to thc Shah that he must retire from Herat at once. Lord Palmcrston, in ordering this diversion in the Gulf, had thought hirnself justified by circumstances in overriding the clear and prccise terms of an article in a treaty to which England had on several occasions engaged to adhere. As for thc Shah, he appears to have been relieved by thc ultimatum. On the 9th September he mounted his horsc and rode away from Hcrat. The siege had lasted nine and a half months. To-day, half a century after Simonich the Russian envoy followcd Mahomed Shah from battcrcd but unconquered Herat, that city ii still an Afghan place of arms. Shah Soojah-ool Moolk, a grandson of the illustrious Ahmcd Shah, reigned in Afghanistan from 1803 till 1809. His youth had bcen full of trouble and vicissitude. He had becn a watrderer, on the vergc of starvation, a pedlar and a bandit, who raised money by plundering caravans. His courage was lightly reputed, and it was as a mere creature of circumstance that he reached the throne. His rcign was perturbed, and in 1809 he was a fugitive and an exile. Runjeet Singh, the Sikh ruler of the Punjaub, defrauded him of the famous Koh-i-noor, which is now the most precious of the crown jewels of England, and plundered and imprisoned the fallen man. Shah Soojall at length escaped from Lal!ore. .After furthcr misfortunes. he at Icngth reached the 13ritish frontier station of Loodi- anah, and in 1816bccarne a pensioncr of the East India Company. After the downfall of Shah Soojah, Afghanistan for many years was a prey to anarchy. At length in 1826, Dost Mahomcd succeeded in making himself supreme at Cabul, and this masterful man thenceforward held sway until his death in 1863, uninterruptedly save during the thrce years of the British occupation. Dost Mahomed was neither kith nor kin to the legitimate dynasty which he displaced. I-Iis fathcr Poyndah Khan was an able statcsman and gallant soldier. He left twenty-one sons, of whom Futteh Khan was the eldest, and Dost Mahomed one of the youngest. Futteh Khan was the Warwick of Afghanistan, but the Afghan ' Kingmaker ' had no Barnet as the closing scene of his chequered life.