Second Afghan War
Afghan warriors, 1879. NAM 1972-02-9-7
In 1876 the British Government believed that the extension of Russian influence over Central Asia constituted a real threat to India. When the Emir of Afghanistan, Sher Ali, was visited by a Russian mission but refused to accept a British envoy, Lord Lytton, the Viceroy, decided to act. He ordered a diplomatic mission to set out for Kabul in September 1878. The mission was turned back at the eastern end of the Khyber Pass. The British decided to replace Sher Ali.
British invade
In November 1878 three British columns, consisting of 40,000 men, invaded Afghanistan. One column seized Kandahar and a second occupied the strategically vital Khyber Pass.
Attack on the Peiwar Kotal by 5th Goorkha Rifles, December 1878. NAM 1951-05-84
The third column, under Major-General Sir Frederick Roberts, advanced along the Kurram Valley towards Kabul. Roberts found his way blocked at Peiwar Kotal by an Afghan force of 18,000 men and 11 guns.
Goorkhas lead the way
He made a feint attack on the position, but led the 5th Goorkha Regiment and other troops in a night flanking movement that dislodged the Afghans. The British-Indian force inflicted heavy casualties and captured all the Afghan guns.
Afghan revolt
Sher Ali fled from Kabul and was replaced as Emir by his son, Yakub Khan, who signed the Treaty of Gandamak in May 1879. He accepted the presence of a British envoy and British control of Afghan foreign affairs. In September 1879, following a mutiny in the Afghan Army, the envoy Sir Louis Cavagnari and his escort were murdered.
The Emir Yakub Khan and the Sirdars of Kabul, 1880. NAM 1955-04-39-99
In response to this Roberts occupied Kabul and Yakub Khan was deposed before a popular rising forced Roberts to fall back to his base at Sherpur where he was besieged for three weeks by a huge Afghan force.
Abdur Rahman enthroned
Saving the guns of the Royal Horse Artillery at Maiwand, 27 July 1880. NAM 1978-08-14
On 23 December 1879, Roberts defeated a major Afghan attack and reoccupied Kabul. In May 1880 he was joined by Lieutenant-General Sir Donald Stewart, who had advanced from Kandahar and defeated an Afghan army at Ahmed Khel.
The vacant throne was offered to Abdur Rahman, a nephew of Sher Ali who agreed to abide by the terms of the Treaty of Gandamak.
Defeat at Maiwand
Warriors in Afghanistan, c1880.
NAM 1965-10-212-48
Trouble was brewing in Herat where Sher Ali’s son, Ayub Khan, launched a bid for the throne. On 27 July 1880 a British-Indian force sent to intercept him was overwhelmed by an army ten times its size at Maiwand. The survivors were pursued back into Kandahar, which was besieged by Ayub Khan’s victorious army.
Victory over Ayub Khan
The siege was lifted when Roberts led a force from Kabul to Kandahar. Despite the difficult terrain and the high temperatures he covered 280 miles (400km) in 20 days and hardly lost a man.
On 1 September 1880 he defeated Ayub Khan outside Kandahar and ended the siege. The British then left Afghanistan in the hands of Abdur Rahman who agreed to conduct his foreign policy through the Government of India.
