The Anglo-Afghan Wars were three military conflicts fought between the British Empire and Afghanistan in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Afghan policy of the British Government arose out of direct fear of a Russian advance towards India through Herat and Kandahar. The embassy of Lord Minto I to Kabul and his treaty with Ranjit Singh were formulated to nullify a Russian design, and it was responsible for Lord William Bentinck to maintain friendship with the Sikhs.
First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842)
The Afghan policy of Lord Auckland (1836-42) was also directed by the same fear of the Russian advance in Central Asia. It was around this time that Russia was making a heavy build-up on the frontiers of the petty states of Central Asia and gained tremendous influence in the court of Persia! It was a matter of grave concern for Lord Auckland when a Persian army forcibly occupied Herat in 1837. The Governor-General sent Captain Sir Alexander Burnes to Kabul on a commercial mission, but with the aim of baffling the Russian scheme in Afghanistan. Kabul's ruler, Dost Muhammad of the Barakzai dynasty, cordially received the English mission and agreed to do all that the English demanded, provided the English would press upon Ranjit Singh to restore Peshawar to him. As the British were unwilling to affront the Sikhs, Dost Muhammad turned to Russia and received an informal Russian agent, who was accorded a warm reception and cordiality. Now there was sufficient cause for Auckland to dethrone Dost Muhammad and replace him with Shah Shuja, a grandson of Ahmad Shah Durrani of the Durrani dynasty, who had been deposed in 1809 and was in British prison at Ludhiana. It was the hope of Auckland that, as Shah Shuja was a puppet king, he would owe his restoration to British help. He would be friendly to the British and serve British interests on the North-West Frontier. With this aim in view, Auckland concluded the Treaty of Sihasan (1838) with both Ranjit Singh and Shah Shuja Durrani.
Although the necessity for which the war was fought was by then removed, Auckland carried on his design in Afghanistan. The British troops were dispatched through the Bolan and Khyber passes and occupied Kandahar and Ghazni in 1839. Dost Muhammad left Kabul, and Shah Shuja was triumphantly conducted into his capital and declared king ceremonially. Garrisons were stationed at Kandahar, Kabul, and Jalalabad to maintain British influence. Macnaghten and Burnes remained in charge of political affairs. Dost Muhammad, having no other option, surrendered and was sent down to Calcutta on a liberal allowance.
But the matter did not end this way. The Afghans did not like Shah Shuja, who had been installed on the throne of Afghanistan against the wishes of the people. The behaviour of Burnes and other British officers quartered at Kabul heightened the dislike between the British and the Afghans. Burnes was cruelly murdered, and the British troops were demoralised. Sir William Hay Macnaghten, the Political Resident, was compelled to sign a humiliating treaty, by which it was agreed that the British should leave Afghanistan and that Dost Muhammad should be released and brought to Kabul. But the Political Resident was killed on grounds of some suspicion. Despite all such happenings, the British entered into another treaty with the Afghan chiefs, and the British forces had to withdraw from Kabul. But the withdrawal proved to be an utter failure—all the men were killed except one man, Dr. Brydon, who made his escape to Jalalabad. Before the close of the war, Lord Auckland was succeeded by Lord Ellenborough (1842-44). The Governor-General immediately took steps to revive British prestige. He sent a strong regiment under General Pollock, who relieved Jalalabad and marched towards Kabul. The British prisoners were relieved, but despite his initial victory, General Pollock, with his army, was forced to leave Afghanistan. Shah Shuja was murdered, and Dost Muhammad was allowed to regain his throne in Afghanistan in 1843.
After this, there was a lull in the British attitude towards Afghanistan for a long period. Since 1858, the foreign policy of India was largely directed by European conditions, and this was especially applicable to the relations between England and Russia in North-West India for several years. We have seen that there was a considerable lull for some years after the First Anglo-Afghan War. However, the outbreak of the Crimean War (1853-56) made England and Russia hostile. At the end of the war, Russia sought to compensate for her losses in the West by gaining in the East. As a matter of fact, the conquest of Sind and the Punjab had brought the British Empire up to the border of Afghanistan, which virtually became a buffer state between the British Empire and Russia.
Sir John Lawrence, who was the Governor-General of India from 1864 to 1869, was a strict neutralist and refrained from intervening in the fratricidal war that broke out and lasted for five years after the death of Dost Muhammad. After the war was over, he recognised Sher Ali as the ruler of Afghanistan. Lawrence's policy of neutrality is acclaimed by some as 'one of masterly inactivity,' while others condemned it outright. It is, however, a truism that Lawrence's policy was highly successful in isolating the Afghan Civil War from international complications.
Lord Mayo (1869-72), who took office as the Governor-General after Sir John Lawrence, was a camp follower of his with regard to Afghan policy. One of his earliest works was to arrange a grand Durbar at Ambala, in which he accorded a hearty welcome to Sher Ali. He assured Sher Ali that the British would never cross the frontier to suppress his subjects but would give moral assistance in the form of money, arms, ammunition, and native workmen.
Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880)
When the Conservative Party Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, was returned to power, the inactivity on the frontier changed, and the frontier policy gained new momentum. The appointment of Governor-General Lord Lytton (1876-80) transformed Afghan policy from 'masterly inactivity' to 'intervention'. This was the result of two factors the growing estrangement between the British Government and Sher Ali, and the increasing menace of Russia. The main objective of Lytton was the maintenance of a strong and friendly power in Afghanistan. Lytton believed that, between Great Britain and Russia, Afghanistan was like 'an earthen pipkin between two iron pots.'
Lord Lytton offered the proposal to Sher Ali to receive a British Resident at Herat. This added strength to the conviction of Sher Ali that the best interests of British India demanded the 'disintegration and weakening of the Afghan power' and the security of Afghanistan from the control of Russia. Sher Ali, therefore, modestly disagreed with accepting the proposal on the ground that he could do so if it would grant similar facilities to Russia. Since Afghanistan rejected the offer from England, Lytton sent a stern warning to Sher Ali that the refusal would isolate Afghanistan from the alliance and support of the British Government. He looked to the Khan of Kalat and concluded a treaty which gave the British the right to occupy Quetta. This was a preliminary step to warlike activities against the Amir. Matters became rather grave when a Russian envoy, General Stoletoff, disregarding Sher Ali's opposition, arrived at Kabul and later persuaded the Amir to conclude a treaty of perpetual friendship.
This disquieting news to Lytton compelled him to send a British envoy to Kabul. However, the Amir refused to entertain the proposal and stopped the British mission sent by Lytton. This provoked the necessary reason for Lytton to act, and he sent an ultimatum on November 2, 1878, with the threat of war if the Amir did not recognise the British mission within a stipulated time. The British troops attacked Afghanistan when the ultimatum was not heeded, leading to the Second Anglo-Afghan War on November 21, 1878. In December 1878, Sher Ali, after several defeats, was forced to flee to Turkistan, where he died in 1879. His son Yakub started negotiations with the British, and this resulted in the peaceful conclusion of the war on May 26, 1879, by the Treaty of Gandamark.
By the terms of the Treaty of Gandamark, the new Amir was obliged to accept a British Resident at Kabul and to abide by the directions of the British Government concerning his foreign affairs. In return, the British promised to support the Amir against all foreign aggression and to pay him an annual grant of six lakh rupees. However, the freedom-loving people of Afghanistan did not approve of the Treaty, and on September 3, 1879, the British envoy, Sir Louis Cavagnari, and his escort were murdered in Kabul. This reopened hostilities. The British forces took control of Kandahar, and Yakub Khan was compelled to seek refuge in India. Lytton was willing to carry out his plan of dividing Afghanistan by separating Kandahar from Kabul. Thus, the Second Anglo-Afghan War did not resolve the British frontier policy; it merely postponed it.
In March 1885, the British Government was roused to a temper of war as a result of the Russian occupation of Panjdeh, which was situated within Afghan territories. This disaster was, however, averted mainly owing to the policy of Amir Abdur Rahman, who had no mind to allow 'the lion and the bear to fight with each other over the poor goat of Afghanistan.' In July 1887, an agreement was made according to which Russia retained Panjdeh and the Amir's possession of Zulfikar Pass was confirmed. For six years, there was silence on the frontier until disputes broke out again in 1892, over the claim of Russia relating to the whole of the Pamirs. Happily, a friendly understanding was achieved in 1885, and a boundary line was formally fixed up. This brought to an end, for the time being, the longstanding rivalry between England and Russia over Asiatic Empires. England kept a firm hold on Afghanistan, and Russia directed her energy further to the east.
The Afghan Boundary Commission, under the supervision of Sir Mortimer Durand, framed the demarcating line between Afghanistan and British India in 1893. This provided ample opportunities for the British to deal with the wild tribal people more effectively than before. The British aimed to strengthen their position by building roads and carving out a separate province, the North-West Frontier Province, from Punjab. Even then, the frontier remained troublesome for the British. However, the immediate danger was removed with the withdrawal of the Russian menace, proving that the final solution to the North-West Frontier was fundamentally tied to the new developments in international affairs, which led to the mitigation of Anglo-Russian tension when both England and Russia were forced to make common cause against Germany.
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