Kabul Uprising

Kabul Uprising
Part of 1st Afghan War 1839-42
Date:	2-23 November 1841
Location:	Kabul, Afghanistan
Presidency:	Bengal
Co-ordinates:	34.528456°N 69.171705°E
Result:	British defeat
Combatants
British & Indians	Afghans
Commanders
Maj Gen William Elphinstone	Mohammed Akbar Khan
Strength
Casualties

Summary

After a winter in Jalalabad Shah Shuja, restored as Amir of Afghanistan, returned to Kabul in the spring of 1841 with Sir William Macnaghten as British Envoy and Minister at the Afghan Court. A reduced force of British and Indian troops moved out of the Bala Hissar fortress into a cantonment where their families joined them. The cantonment at Sherpur was poorly located and difficult to defend. Sir Willoughby Cotton was replaced as military commander by William Elphinstone. Described as an elderly invalid, though in fact barely 60 years old, Elphinstone was unfitted to cope with the increasingly grave situation.

In October 1841 Sir Robert Sale took his brigade out of Kabul (see General Sale's March from Kabul to Jalalabad) and a general uprising began on 2 November and Sir Alexander Burnes the senior political agent and his assistant Major William Broadfoot were murdered. Elphinstone took no decisive action. Attacks and reprisals continued until on 23 December Sir William Macnaghten was lured to a meeting with Mohammad Akbar Khan on the promise of a new treaty. He and Captain Trevor were murdered and their heads paraded through the city.

Recommended Reading

"Lady Sale" by P MacRory 1958 ISBN 0208008306
"W. Bryden's Account" by P MacRory 1969

External Links

1st Afghan War Wikipedia
Somerset Record Office - 1st Afghan War Wikipedia
History of the War in Afghanistan Google Books
Afghan Uprising Wikipedia
The Battle of Kabul and the Retreat to Gandamak BritishBattles.com
The Battle of Kabul 1842 BritishBattles.com
Map of Kabul Cantonment www.history.navy.mil

Historical Books on-line

The Kabul Insurrection of 1841-42 by Maj-Gen Sir Vincent Eyre 1879 (archive.org)