1st Afghan War

1st Afghan War
1839-42
Chronological list of Wars and Campaigns
Location: Afghanistan
Combatants:
East India Company	Afghan tribes
Result: Disastrous defeat of first invasion Qualified success of second invasion
Medals: Ghuznee 1839 Jellalabad 1841-42 Defence of Kelat-I-Ghilzie 1842 Candahar Cabul and Ghuznee 1842-43
Links:
Category: 1st Afghan War
Invasion of the HEIC Army General Sale's March from Kabul to Jalalabad Kabul Uprising Retreat from Kabul to Gandamak The Army of Retribution March to Kabul The Withdrawal from Afghanistan

	See our interactive map of Invasion of the HEIC Army locations and routes on Google Maps

	See our interactive map of The March from Kabul to Jalalabad locations and routes on Google Maps

	See our interactive map of Kabul Uprising and The Retreat from Kabul to Gandamak locations and routes on Google Maps

	See our interactive map of The Captivity of the Hostages locations and routes on Google Maps

	See our interactive map of General Nott at Kandahar locations and routes on Google Maps

	See our interactive map of The Army of Retribution March to Kabul locations and routes on Google Maps

	See our interactive map of The Evacuation of Kandahar locations and routes on Google Maps

	See our interactive map of Withdrawal from Afghanistan locations and routes on Google Maps

THE 1ST ANGLO-AFGHAN WAR 1839-42

Synopsis

In the face of a perceived threat of expansion of the Russian Empire, Britain sought to secure the northwestern borders of British India by establishing Afghanistan as an ally and buffer. The Governor-General of India, Lord Auckland, knew little of the politics of India or Afghanistan. Despite advice from Alexander Burnes in Kabul to support Amir Dost Mohammed, he was persuaded by William Macnaghten and Claude Wade that regime change was necessary. Under the pretext of restoring the former ruler Shah Shuja to the throne the British assembled an invading army. 21,000 troops under Sir John Keane entered Afghanistan via Quetta occupying Kandahar and Kabul. The ruling Amir Dost Mohammad Khan was defeated and exiled to India. Shah Shujah was installed but it became clear that he did not have popular support and he was subsequently murdered.

In January 1842 there was a general uprising in Kabul and the invaders were besieged in the military cantonment. With only a few days supplies left, the Britsh were forced to agree terms dictated by Mohammad Akbar Khan the son of Dost Mohammad.This led to the disastrous retreat to Gundamak and the Siege of Jalalabad. A second invasion by the Army of Retribution was launched under Maj-Gen George Pollock. General William Nott advanced from Kandahar meeting Pollock and recapturing Kabul. After releasing British prisoners and destroying Kabul bazaar the British returned to India.

Related articles

For the sequence of events see 1st Afghan War Timeline
For further details see the following main articles:

• Invasion of the HEIC Army
• Wade's Expedition to Kabul
• General Sale's March from Kabul to Jalalabad
• Kabul Uprising
• Retreat from Kabul to Gundamak
• Captivity of the Hostages
• General Nott at Kandahar
• Affairs in Beloochistan
• The Army of Retribution March to Kabul
• Withdrawal from Afghanistan
• The Final Exit

Troop Strength

1st	Army of the Indus (Bengal) under Maj-Gen Sir Willoughby Cotton	9,500
2nd	Reserve Division at Ferozepore under Maj-Gen Duncan	4,250
3rd	Shah Shooja ul Mulk’s Contingent	6,000
4th	Bombay Force under HE Lt-Gen Sir John Keane	5,600
5th	Bombay Reserve (Sind Force)	3,000
		_______
	To act in Sind & Afghanistan	28,350
6th	The Shahzada’s Force	4,800
7th	Sikh Contingent	6,000
	To move from Peshawar to Kabul	10,800
		_______
	Total	39,150
8th	Sikh Army of Observation at Peshawar	10,800
		_______
	Grand total	54,150

Casualties

Names of fallen officers from the British Army and native forces can be found on Stephen Lewis' Officers Died site.
(Note: this link refers wrongly to Maj-Gen Sir Howard Elphinstone. It should be Maj-Gen William Elphinstone.)

Biographies

Entries in the Dictionary of Indian Biography 1906:

Augustus Abbott (1804-1867)
James Airey (1812-1898)
Mahommed Akbar Khan (1813?-1849)
Thomas Anquetil (1781-1842)
Lord Auckland (1784-1849)
Paolo Avitabile (1791-1850)
Captain George Broadfoot (1807-1845)
William Brydon (1811-1873)
Alexander Burnes (1805-1841)
Willoughby Cotton (1783-1860)
William Dennie (1785?-1842)
Richard England (1793-1883)
Lord Ellenborough (1790-1871)
William Elphinstone (1782-1842)
Vincent Eyre (1811-1881)
John Haughton (1817-1887)
John Keane (1781-1844)
George Lawrence (1804-1884)
George Macgregor (1810-1883)
Colin Mackenzie (1806-1881)
William Macnaghten (1793-1841)
John McCaskill (?-1845)
Thomas Monteath (Douglas) (1787-1868)
William Nott (1782-1845)
George Pollock (1786-1872)
Eldred Pottinger (1811-1843)
Henry Rawlinson (1810-1895)
Abraham Roberts (1784-1873)
John Shelton (?-1845)
Shah Shuja (1780?-1842)
Robert Sale (1782-1845)
Claude Wade (1794-1861)
Thomas Willshire (1789-1862)
George Wymer (1788-1868)

Recommended Reading

• "Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan" by William Dalrymple 2013 ISBN 978 1 4088 1830 5
• "The First Afghan War 1838-1842" by J A Norris 1967 ISBN 0521130964
• "First Afghan War" by H Durrand 1879 ISBN 818650530X. Also available to read online, refer below
  

Images

Portraits of the principle protagonists - plates from Return of a King www.williamdalrymple.uk.com

External Links

	The FIBIS Google Books Library has books tagged: 1st Afghan War Afghanistan

• 1st Anglo-Afghan War Wikipedia
• The First Afghan War - Disaster for the British www.jmhare.com
• British Victorian War Medals www.acepilots.com
• Listen to an interview with author William Dalrymple as he discusses the 1st Afghan War with the ABC’s Richard Glover on 20 May 2013. (21:53 minutes) www.abc.net.au

Historical books online

• [Foreign Office:] Correspondence relating to Persia and Affghanistan 1839 (524 pages) Contents Google Books
• ‪Indian Papers‬: ‪Papers relating to the war in Affghanistan : Ordered ... to be printed 21. January 1840‬ Contents Google Books
• Papers relating to military operations in Affghanistan: Presented to both Houses of Parliament: 1843 Contents Google Books
• Accounts and Papers Afghanistan. Session 2 February-24 August 1843 Volume XXXVII. [Also numbered Eighth volume] Further Papers relating to Military Operations in Affghanistan Contents Google Books
• Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India:Volume 3 Baluchistan and the First Afghan War by Intelligence Branch Army Headquarters India 1910 Archive.org
• Affghanistan: Official Despatch dated 4th October 1840 page 6 ‪The Asiatic journal and monthly register for British and foreign India, China and Australasia‬, Volume 34 January-April 1841 Google Books
• History of the War in Afghanistan Vol I (1800-1841) by John William Kaye (1851)
• History of the War in Afghanistan Vol II (1841-1842) by John William Kaye (1851)
• History of the War in Afghanistan Vol III (1841-1842) by John William Kaye Revised Edition (1858)
• Narrative of the war in Affghanistan in 1838-39, Volume 1 by Sir Henry Havelock 1840 (Google Books)
• Narrative of the war in Affghanistan in 1838-39, Volume 2 by Sir Henry Havelock 1840 (Google Books)
• A narrative of the march and operations of the army of the Indus, in the expedition to Affghanistan in the years 1838-1839 by William Hough (1841) including:

• Details of the Army of the Indus
• Table of Routes of Army of the Indus 1838-39

• Outline of the Operations of the British Troops in Scinde and Afghanistan‬: ‪Betwixt Nov. 1838 and Nov. 1841; with Remarks on the Policy of the War‬ ‪by George Buist, Editor of the Bombay Times 1843 Google Books
• History of the War in Affghanistan: From Its Commencement to Its Close edited by Charles Nash 1843 Google Books
• History of the Afghans by J.P.Ferrier 1858 Chapter XXIII et seq 1st Anglo-Afghan War
• The first Afghan war and its causes Sir Henry Durand 1879 (archive.org)
• The Afghan Wars 1839-42 and 1878-80 by Archibald Forbes 1892 (archive.org)
• Memorials of Affghanistan by J H Stocqueler 1863 (Google Books)
• Cabool: a personal narrative of a journey to and residence in that city in the years 1836, 7 and 8 by Sir Alexander Burnes 1842 Google Books
• Narrative of the Campaign of the Indus in Sind and Kaubool in 1838-9 by Richard Hartley Kennedy M.D. Chief of the Medical Staff of the Bombay Division of the Army of the Indus. 1840 Volume 1, Volume 2 Google Books
• ‪The Expedition Into Affghanistan‬: ‪Notes and Sketches Descriptive of the Country, Contained in a Personal Narrative During the Campaign of 1839 & 1840, Up to the Surrender of Dost Mahomed Khan‬ by James Atkinson, Superintending Surgeon of the Army of the Indus, Bengal Establishment 1842 Google Books.

Note: The Sketches were published as a separate book Sketches in Afghaunistan, 1842 consisting of 26 lithographs. NYPL Digital Gallery. The British Library Online Gallery also contains many works including a watercolour of plate 7 "The opening into the narrow Pass above the Siri Bolan" ( Search for other images)

• The Campaign in Affghanistan, Journal of an Officer of the Army of the Indus by Captain Ogle HM 4th Lt Drags published 1840 and 1841 in the Asiatic Journal (Google Books). The author died of cholera 29 November 1839, towards the end of the campaign.
  

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3 Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7

• Journal of a March from Delhi to Peshawur, and from thence to Cabul, with the Mission of Lieut-Col. Sir C. M. Wade, etc. [With plates] by William Barr, Lieutenant, Bengal Horse Artillery. 1844 Google Books. Covers the period December 1838 to December 1839.
• The military operations at Cabul: which ended in the retreat and destruction of the British army, January 1842. With a journal of imprisonment in Affghanistan by Lieut. Vincent Eyre, Bengal Artillery 1843 Google Books
• A Journal of the Disasters in Affghanistan 1841-2 by Lady Sale 1844
• Sale's Brigade in Afghanistan: with an Account of the Seizure and Defence of Jellalabad by George Robert Gleig 1846 Google Books
  

• Campaign of the Indus in a series of letters by an officer in the Bombay Division (Gutenberg.org) Google Books edition 1840. The author, T.W.E. Holdsworth, was an officer in the 2nd Regiment of Foot
• Part 1: Affghanistan, 1839—Gwalior, 1843-44 from "Memoir of Major-General Sir Henry Marion Durand, K.C.S.I., C.B., R.E." by Lieutenant C.R, Low, (late) Indian Navy, page 221 Colburn's United Service Magazine and Naval and Military Journal, 1871 Part 1 Google Books
• Memoirs and Corresponence of Major-General Sir William Nott GCB Vol I by J H Stocqueler 1854 (archive.org)
• Memoirs and Corresponence of Major-General Sir William Nott GCB Vol II by J H Stocqueler 1854 (archive.org)
• ‪Diary of a March Through Sinde and Affghanistan‬: ‪With the Troops Under the Command of General Sir William Nott, and Sermons Delivered on Various Occasions During the Campaign of 1842 by Rev Isaac Nicholson Allen‬, Assistant Chaplain on the Hon. East India Company’s Bombay Establishment ‪ 1843 Google Books
• ‪Rough Notes of the Campaign in Sinde and Affghanistan‬, ‪In 1838-39‬ by Captain James Outram, Political Agent in Sinde. 1840 Google Books
• Narrative of Services in Beloochistan & Affghanistan in the Years 1840, 1841 & 1842 by Colonel Lewis Robert Stacy, Bengal Native Infantry 1848 Google Books
• Scenes and Adventures in Affghanistan by William Taylor, Troop Serjeant Major of the Fourth Light Dragoons 1842 Google Books
• The Diary of Sergeant William Hall, …, late of Her Majesty’s Forty-First Regiment, containing The Incidents connected with two years campaign in Scinde and Affghanistan during the late War c 1848 Google Books. The book covers the period 1837 to 1842.The regiment sailed from the south of India in October 1840, to Karachi, from where the regiment proceeded to Afghanistan page 36
• Scenes in a Soldier's Life by J H Wilton 1848 (Google Books)
• Zeila, the fair maid of Cabul. A tale of the Affghan insurrection and the massacre of the British troops in the Khoord-Cabul passes by Charles Finch Mackenzie 1850 (archive.org)
• A Narrative of the Affghan War , in a series of letters of the late Colonel Dennie: Part I, Part II-Conclusion page 327 and pages 459-484 The Dublin University Magazine, Volume 20, July –December 1842 Google Books

Personal Narrative of the Campaigns in Affghanistan, Sinde, Beloochistan, etc. Detailed in a series of letters of the late Colonel William H. Dennie, C.B. 1843 Google Books. Includes additions and corrections to the content appearing in the Dublin University Magazine.

• Life of the Amîr Dost Mohammed Khan, of Kabul Volume 2 by Mohan Lal 1846 Events relating to the 1st Afghan War Google Books
• Recollections of Four Years Service in the East with H M Fortieth Regiment- Afghanistan from 1841, page 133 by John Martin Bladen Neill (1845) Google Books. The title of the book includes the wording "The Operations of the Candahar Division of "The Avenging Army Of Affghanistan" in 1841 and 1842"
• Military service and adventures in the Far East: including sketches of the campaigns against the Afghans in 1839 and the Sikhs in 1845-6, Volume 1 by Capt. Daniel Henry Mackinnon, late of the 16th Lancers, 2nd edition 1849
• Ten years in India, in the 16th Queen's Lancers by WJD Gould (1880). Chapter 2, covering the Afghan Campaign (Archive.org) (Volume 2) Google Books
• Char-ee-kar and service there with the 4th Goorkha Regiment (Shah Shooja's force) in 1841: an episode of the first Afghan War by Colonel Haughton 1879 Archive.org
• The Career of Major George Broadfoot, C. B., Governor General’s Agent, NW Frontier 1844-45, in Afghanistan and the Punjab by Major W. Broadfoot 1888 Archive.org
• Papers on subjects connected with the duties of the Corps of Royal Engineers Volume 4 1840 Google Books
  • "Letter from Captain George Thomson, E. I. C. Engineers, to Colonel Pasley, Royal Engineers", page 1 includes
    • "Memorandum of the Engineer Operations at the Taking of Ghuznee, in July, 1839 by George Thomson, Captain, Chief Engineer, Army of the Indus page 3
  • "Passage of the Indus by the Bengal portion of the Army of the Indus" by Lieut. H. M. Durand, Bengal Engineers page 92
• "British India: Affghanistan" The Annual Register, or a View of the History and Politics of the year 1839, page 317 Google Books
• Historical geography of the British Dependencies Vol VII India, Part I - First Afghan War by P E Roberts 1916 (archive.org)
• Nott's Brigade in Afghanistan, 1838-42, being the private diary of an officer who served in it from first to last by John Samuel Knox, published 1880 in Bombay, may be read online on the Digital Library of India website. Also available at the British Library.
• "Memoir of Major-General Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson" Chapter VI archive.org

Map

Map of Afghanistan Imperial Gazetteer Atlas 1909

Podcast

1st Afghan War - Lecture by Jules Stewart National Archives