Battle of Kabul (1842)
Encyclopedia
for other uses of the term see Battle of Kabul
The Battle of Kabul was fought from August to October, 1842, between British and Afghan forces. It was the concluding engagement of the First Anglo-Afghan War
. The British advanced on Kabul from Kandahar and Jalalabad to avenge the earlier Massacre of Elphinstone's Army
. Having recovered several prisoners captured in that event, the British demolished parts of Kabul before evacuating Afghanistan and retreating to India.
became obsessed with the idea that Emir Dost Mohammed of Afghanistan was courting Imperial Russia. They arranged passage through Sindh
for an army which invaded Afghanistan and restored the former ruler Shuja Shah Durrani
, who had been deposed by Dost Mohammed thirty years earlier and who had been living as a pensioner in India. They also agreed safe passage for supplies and reinforcements with Maharaja Ranjit Singh
of the Sikh Empire, in return for inducing Shah Shuja to formally cede the disputed region of Peshawar
to him.
The British captured Kabul, and Dost Mohammed surrendered himself into British custody. Over the next year and a half, complacent British commanders withdrew some of their forces even as popular resistance grew, led by Dost Mohammed's son Akbar Khan
. In November, 1841, General William George Keith Elphinstone, commanding the depleted garrison at Kabul, asked for reinforcements from Major General William Nott
, commanding at Kandahar
. Nott unwillingly dispatched a brigade under Brigadier MacLaren but it was turned back by heavy snowfalls.
Elphinstone let the murders of Political Agent Alexander Burnes
and William Hay Macnaghten
pass without exacting retribution, and signed a convention with Akbar Khan by which his army was to evacuate Kabul, and was guaranteed safe passage to Jalalabad
, on the road to Peshawar. The result was the slaughter of Elphinstone's army of 4,500 British and Indian soldiers and 12,000 camp followers by tribesmen. Only one British surgeon and a handful of Indian sepoy
s reached Jalalabad. Elphinstone and several officers and their families surrendered themselves as hostages and were taken prisoner.
, the Governor General of India, was said to have aged ten years overnight on hearing of the disaster. He nevertheless dispatched Major General George Pollock
with reinforcements to Peshawar. Here, a brigade of Bengal units commanded by Brigadier Wild, with a Sikh
contingent, had made an ineffectual attempt to break through the Khyber Pass in late December. The Sikhs had deserted and the Bengal units were demoralised by cold, lack of clothing and rumours of the disaster to Elphinstone's army. Pollock's orders were to restore the efficiency of the troops at Peshawar and relieve the besieged garrison of Jalalabad. Auckland was already due to be replaced as Governor General by Lord Ellenborough
, whose ship arrived off Madras on 21 February. Before officially taking up his appointment, Ellenborough wrote that he intended to restore British prestige and honour.
The British still held several garrisons in Afghanistan: at Kandahar under Nott, at Ghazni
on the route between Kandahar and Kabul, and at Jalalabad under Brigadier Robert Sale. The captive General Elphinstone had sent orders to the other garrison commanders that they were to evacuate their positions under the terms of the capitulation he had agreed with Akbar Khan. (Elphinstone later died in captivity.) Nott and Sale ignored Elphinstone's order, but Colonel Palmer at Ghazni obeyed it, withdrawing from the easily-defended citadel into vulnerable buildings in the city. Shah Shuja still held the fortress of Bala Hissar
in Kabul and was attempting to bribe chiefs and tribes to his cause, although he was no longer supported by the British. He even attempted to improve his standing within Afghanistan by demanding that the British comply with the terms Elphinstone had agreed with Akbar Khan.
On 10 February, Nott had led a force from Kandahar against the tribes blockading him. The Afghans, under a wily chief named Mirza Ahmed, bypassed him and attacked the city, setting fire to a gate to gain entry. They were driven off by the small garrison left by Nott, suffering heavy casualties. Nott's supplies were running short, and a brigade under Brigadier England
which tried to reach him from Quetta
with supplies was repulsed. With Kandahar no longer threatened, Nott sent a substantial detachment to rendezvous with England and escort him to Kandahar.
On 6 March, the troops at Ghazni came under attack in their temporary quarters. After resisting for two and a half weeks, they were forced to surrender. The sepoys who refused to convert to Islam were murdered, and the British officers and their families also became prisoners of Akbar Khan.
On 31 March, Pollock completed restoring the morale of his sepoys and forced his way through the Khyber Pass
. He sent his troops up the heights on either side of the pass to outflank the defenders, and succeeded with very few casualties. He reached Jalalabad on 14 April, to find the siege already lifted. After wavering for some weeks, Sale had led sorties by the garrison of Jalalabad on 19 February. They repeated the sortie on 7 April, defeating the besiegers and forcing them to raise the siege.
At the end of March however, Shah Shuja had emerged from the Bala Hissar for parleys or to review levies supposedly loyal to him, and was assassinated, being riddled with bullets by the troops he believed to be loyal in some accounts. His son Futteh Jung proclaimed himself his successor, but had even less support than his father.
wrote that, "No change had come over the views of Lord Ellenborough, but a change had come over the meaning of certain words in the English language."
Nott began his "retreat" on 9 August. He sent the bulk of his troops and camp-followers back to Quetta but began advancing north to Kabul with two British regiments (the 40th Foot
and the 41st Foot
), some sepoy regiments which had earlier distinguished themselves and four batteries of artillery. On 30 August, he defeated a force of 10,000 Afghans at Khelat-i-Ghilzai near Ghazni. He captured Ghazni itself without opposition, and looted the city in retaliation for the attack on Palmer. Lord Ellenborough had specifically ordered him to recover a set of ornate gates, known as the Somnath Gates, which had been looted from India by the Afghans and hung at the tomb of Sultan Mahmud II
. A whole sepoy regiment, the 43rd Bengal Native Infantry (which later became the 6th Jat Light Infantry after the Indian Rebellion of 1857
), was detailed to carry the gates back to India. Nott's force arrived at Kabul on 17 September.
Pollock's army, which was widely termed the "Army of Retribution", meanwhile advanced from Jalalabad. The army consisted of four brigades, one of which was made wholly of British troops. After a sharp engagement on 13 September, they defeated some 15,000 tribesmen deployed by Akbar Khan, and the way to Kabul was clear. Pollock's troops came across many skeletons and unburied bodies from Elphinstone's army and, in spite of orders from Ellenborough and Pollock to show restraint, they committed many savage reprisals against villages and their inhabitants. Pollock reached Kabul on 15 September, two days before Nott.
As the British had advanced, the hostages in Akbar Khan's hands were treated less severely than previously, although they were moved to Bamian to keep them out of reach of the British armies. Nott was urged to send cavalry to rescue the hostages, but he declined to do so (possibly as a result of a minor disaster on 29 August, when his cavalry had suffered heavy losses in a mishandled attack). Instead, Pollock sent Qizilbashi irregular cavalry under Richmond Shakespeare (his Military Secretary
) and infantry under Brigadier Sale to rescue them. They found that when news of the Afghan defeats reached their guards, the hostages, including Sale's own wife, had negotiated their own release in return for payments.
A detachment from Pollock's army laid waste to Charikar
, in revenge for the destruction and massacre
of an irregular Gurkha
unit there the previous November. Finally, Pollock ordered the historic covered bazaar of Kabul to be destroyed. Although he issued orders that the rest of the city was to be spared, discipline in the army broke down and there was widespread looting and destruction. Even the Qizilbashis, who were opposed to Akbar Khan, and many Indian merchants were ruined.
The withdrawal from Kabul was an arduous march, harassed all the way by Afghan tribesmen. Although the march was far better organised than Elphinstone's retreat, large numbers of stragglers were left behind to be rescued by the rearguard or abandoned to die. Part of one division commanded by General McGaskill was ambushed near Ali Masjid
at the narrowest point of the Khyber Pass on 3 November and destroyed. Casualties were suffered to snipers and ambushes until the troops were within sight of Jamrud Fort
and safety.
in return for a promise that Peshawar would be restored to Afghan rule, but the British never abandoned the city and the Sikhs were defeated. He remained neutral when the Indian Rebellion of 1857
broke out. British policy was to avoid expeditions into Afghanistan for nearly forty years.
The supposed Somnath Gates which had been laboriously carried back to India were paraded through the country, but were declared to be fakes by Hindu scholars. (Henry Rawlinson, a political agent attached to Nott's force, had already warned Ellenborough that this was the case.) They were eventually installed at Agra
.
An infantry battalion and an artillery battery from Shah Shuja's army retreated to India with the British armies. They were taken into the East India Company's army and the artillery unit eventually became part of the British army. (It survives to this day as T (Headquarter) Battery, 12th Regiment Royal Artillery
.)
Battle of Kabul
Battle of Kabul may refer to:* The Battle of Kabul , during the Muslim conquests* The Battle of Kabul , during the First Anglo-Afghan War...
The Battle of Kabul was fought from August to October, 1842, between British and Afghan forces. It was the concluding engagement of the First Anglo-Afghan War
First Anglo-Afghan War
The First Anglo-Afghan War was fought between British India and Afghanistan from 1839 to 1842. It was one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century competition for power and influence in Central Asia between the United Kingdom and Russia, and also marked one of the worst...
. The British advanced on Kabul from Kandahar and Jalalabad to avenge the earlier Massacre of Elphinstone's Army
Massacre of Elphinstone's Army
The Massacre of Elphinstone's Army was the destruction by Afghan forces, led by Akbar Khan, the son of Dost Mohammad Khan, of a combined British and Indian force of the British East India Company, led by Major General William Elphinstone, in January 1842....
. Having recovered several prisoners captured in that event, the British demolished parts of Kabul before evacuating Afghanistan and retreating to India.
Background
In the late 1830s, the British government and the British East India CompanyBritish East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
became obsessed with the idea that Emir Dost Mohammed of Afghanistan was courting Imperial Russia. They arranged passage through Sindh
Sindh
Sindh historically referred to as Ba'ab-ul-Islam , is one of the four provinces of Pakistan and historically is home to the Sindhi people. It is also locally known as the "Mehran". Though Muslims form the largest religious group in Sindh, a good number of Christians, Zoroastrians and Hindus can...
for an army which invaded Afghanistan and restored the former ruler Shuja Shah Durrani
Shuja Shah Durrani
Shuja Shah Durrani was ruler of the Durrani Empire from 1803 to 1809. He then ruled from 1839 until his death in 1842. Shuja Shah was of the Sadozai line of the Abdali group of Pashtuns...
, who had been deposed by Dost Mohammed thirty years earlier and who had been living as a pensioner in India. They also agreed safe passage for supplies and reinforcements with Maharaja Ranjit Singh
Ranjit Singh
Maharaja Ranjit Singh Ji was the first Maharaja of the Sikh Empire.-Early life:...
of the Sikh Empire, in return for inducing Shah Shuja to formally cede the disputed region of Peshawar
Peshawar
Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....
to him.
The British captured Kabul, and Dost Mohammed surrendered himself into British custody. Over the next year and a half, complacent British commanders withdrew some of their forces even as popular resistance grew, led by Dost Mohammed's son Akbar Khan
Akbar Khan
Amir Akbar Khan Amir Akbar Khan Amir Akbar Khan (1816 – 1846;, born as Mohammad Akbar Khan and famously known as Wazir Akbar Khan, was an Afghan Prince, a general, a tribal leader and Emir. He was active in the First Anglo-Afghan War, which lasted from 1839 to 1842...
. In November, 1841, General William George Keith Elphinstone, commanding the depleted garrison at Kabul, asked for reinforcements from Major General William Nott
William Nott
Sir William Nott GCB was a British military leader in British India.- Early life :Nott was born in 1782, near Neath in Wales, the second son of Charles Nott, a Herefordshire farmer, who in 1794 became an innkeeper of the Ivy Bush Inn at Carmarthen in Wales...
, commanding at Kandahar
Kandahar
Kandahar is the second largest city in Afghanistan, with a population of about 512,200 as of 2011. It is the capital of Kandahar Province, located in the south of the country at about 1,005 m above sea level...
. Nott unwillingly dispatched a brigade under Brigadier MacLaren but it was turned back by heavy snowfalls.
Elphinstone let the murders of Political Agent Alexander Burnes
Alexander Burnes
Captain Sir Alexander Burnes was a Scottish traveller and explorer who took part in The Great Game. He was nicknamed Bokhara Burnes for his role in establishing contact with and exploring Bukhara, which made his name.-Early life:He was born in Montrose, Scotland, to the son of the local provost,...
and William Hay Macnaghten
William Hay Macnaghten
Sir William Hay Macnaghten, 1st Baronet was a British civil servant in India, who played a major part in the First Anglo-Afghan War....
pass without exacting retribution, and signed a convention with Akbar Khan by which his army was to evacuate Kabul, and was guaranteed safe passage to Jalalabad
Jalalabad
Jalalabad , formerly called Adinapour, as documented by the 7th century Hsüan-tsang, is a city in eastern Afghanistan. Located at the junction of the Kabul River and Kunar River near the Laghman valley, Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar province. It is linked by approximately of highway with...
, on the road to Peshawar. The result was the slaughter of Elphinstone's army of 4,500 British and Indian soldiers and 12,000 camp followers by tribesmen. Only one British surgeon and a handful of Indian sepoy
Sepoy
A sepoy was formerly the designation given to an Indian soldier in the service of a European power. In the modern Indian Army, Pakistan Army and Bangladesh Army it remains in use for the rank of private soldier.-Etymology and Historical usage:...
s reached Jalalabad. Elphinstone and several officers and their families surrendered themselves as hostages and were taken prisoner.
British situation
Lord AucklandGeorge Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland
George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland, GCB, PC was a British Whig politician and colonial administrator. He was thrice First Lord of the Admiralty and also served as Governor-General of India between 1836 and 1842....
, the Governor General of India, was said to have aged ten years overnight on hearing of the disaster. He nevertheless dispatched Major General George Pollock
George Pollock
Field Marshal Sir George Pollock, 1st Baronet, GCB, GCSI was a British soldier.-Military career:Educated at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, Pollock was commissioned into the Bengal Artillery in 1803....
with reinforcements to Peshawar. Here, a brigade of Bengal units commanded by Brigadier Wild, with a Sikh
Sikh
A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...
contingent, had made an ineffectual attempt to break through the Khyber Pass in late December. The Sikhs had deserted and the Bengal units were demoralised by cold, lack of clothing and rumours of the disaster to Elphinstone's army. Pollock's orders were to restore the efficiency of the troops at Peshawar and relieve the besieged garrison of Jalalabad. Auckland was already due to be replaced as Governor General by Lord Ellenborough
Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough
Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough GCB, PC was a British Tory politician. He was four times President of the Board of Control and also served as Governor-General of India between 1842 and 1844.-Background and education:...
, whose ship arrived off Madras on 21 February. Before officially taking up his appointment, Ellenborough wrote that he intended to restore British prestige and honour.
The British still held several garrisons in Afghanistan: at Kandahar under Nott, at Ghazni
Ghazni
For the Province of Ghazni see Ghazni ProvinceGhazni is a city in central-east Afghanistan with a population of about 141,000 people...
on the route between Kandahar and Kabul, and at Jalalabad under Brigadier Robert Sale. The captive General Elphinstone had sent orders to the other garrison commanders that they were to evacuate their positions under the terms of the capitulation he had agreed with Akbar Khan. (Elphinstone later died in captivity.) Nott and Sale ignored Elphinstone's order, but Colonel Palmer at Ghazni obeyed it, withdrawing from the easily-defended citadel into vulnerable buildings in the city. Shah Shuja still held the fortress of Bala Hissar
Bala Hissar
Bala Hissar is an ancient fortress located in the city of Kabul, Afghanistan. The estimated date of construction is around the 5th century A.D. Bala Hissar sits to the south of the modern city centre at the tail end of the Kuh-e-Sherdarwaza Mountain...
in Kabul and was attempting to bribe chiefs and tribes to his cause, although he was no longer supported by the British. He even attempted to improve his standing within Afghanistan by demanding that the British comply with the terms Elphinstone had agreed with Akbar Khan.
Developments in March and April
During the late winter and spring, there was fighting around all the British enclaves.On 10 February, Nott had led a force from Kandahar against the tribes blockading him. The Afghans, under a wily chief named Mirza Ahmed, bypassed him and attacked the city, setting fire to a gate to gain entry. They were driven off by the small garrison left by Nott, suffering heavy casualties. Nott's supplies were running short, and a brigade under Brigadier England
Richard England (general)
Sir Richard England was a general.England was the son of Lieutenant-general Richard England of Lifford, co. Clare, a veteran of the War of American Independence, colonel of the 5th regiment, lieutenant-governor of Plymouth, and one of the first colonists of Western Upper Canada, by Anne, daughter...
which tried to reach him from Quetta
Quetta
is the largest city and the provincial capital of the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Known as the "Fruit Garden of Pakistan" due to the diversity of its plant and animal wildlife, Quetta is home to the Hazarganji Chiltan National Park, which contains some of the rarest species of wildlife in the...
with supplies was repulsed. With Kandahar no longer threatened, Nott sent a substantial detachment to rendezvous with England and escort him to Kandahar.
On 6 March, the troops at Ghazni came under attack in their temporary quarters. After resisting for two and a half weeks, they were forced to surrender. The sepoys who refused to convert to Islam were murdered, and the British officers and their families also became prisoners of Akbar Khan.
On 31 March, Pollock completed restoring the morale of his sepoys and forced his way through the Khyber Pass
Khyber Pass
The Khyber Pass, is a mountain pass linking Pakistan and Afghanistan.The Pass was an integral part of the ancient Silk Road. It is mentioned in the Bible as the "Pesh Habor," and it is one of the oldest known passes in the world....
. He sent his troops up the heights on either side of the pass to outflank the defenders, and succeeded with very few casualties. He reached Jalalabad on 14 April, to find the siege already lifted. After wavering for some weeks, Sale had led sorties by the garrison of Jalalabad on 19 February. They repeated the sortie on 7 April, defeating the besiegers and forcing them to raise the siege.
At the end of March however, Shah Shuja had emerged from the Bala Hissar for parleys or to review levies supposedly loyal to him, and was assassinated, being riddled with bullets by the troops he believed to be loyal in some accounts. His son Futteh Jung proclaimed himself his successor, but had even less support than his father.
British "retreat"
In India, Lord Ellenborough had softened his earlier attitude. His primary objective was to avoid the expense of a long war. He ordered Nott and Pollock to retreat, arguing that once the British had evacuated Afghanistan, negotiations with Akbar Khan for the release of the hostages could proceed calmly. Ellenborough was opposed by his generals and by the government in Britain, all of whom insisted that stern retribution was required. He accordingly modified his orders. Pollock and Nott were again ordered to retreat, but Nott was allowed to retreat by way of Kabul if he chose, making a detour of over 300 miles (482.8 km), and Pollock was also permitted to move to Kabul to cover Nott's retreat. The late nineteenth-century historian John William KayeJohn William Kaye
Sir John William Kaye was a British military historian.The son of Charles Kaye, a solicitor, he was educated at Eton College and at the Royal Military College, Addiscombe. From 1832 to 1841 he was an officer in the Bengal Artillery, afterwards spending some years in literary pursuits both in...
wrote that, "No change had come over the views of Lord Ellenborough, but a change had come over the meaning of certain words in the English language."
Nott began his "retreat" on 9 August. He sent the bulk of his troops and camp-followers back to Quetta but began advancing north to Kabul with two British regiments (the 40th Foot
40th (2nd Somersetshire) Regiment of Foot
The 40th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1717 and amalgamated into The Prince of Wales's Volunteers in 1881.-Formation:...
and the 41st Foot
41st (Welsh) Regiment of Foot
The 41st Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, formed in 1719 and amalgamated into The Welch Regiment in 1881....
), some sepoy regiments which had earlier distinguished themselves and four batteries of artillery. On 30 August, he defeated a force of 10,000 Afghans at Khelat-i-Ghilzai near Ghazni. He captured Ghazni itself without opposition, and looted the city in retaliation for the attack on Palmer. Lord Ellenborough had specifically ordered him to recover a set of ornate gates, known as the Somnath Gates, which had been looted from India by the Afghans and hung at the tomb of Sultan Mahmud II
Mahmud II
Mahmud II was the 30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1808 until his death in 1839. He was born in the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul, the son of Sultan Abdulhamid I...
. A whole sepoy regiment, the 43rd Bengal Native Infantry (which later became the 6th Jat Light Infantry after the Indian Rebellion of 1857
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...
), was detailed to carry the gates back to India. Nott's force arrived at Kabul on 17 September.
Pollock's army, which was widely termed the "Army of Retribution", meanwhile advanced from Jalalabad. The army consisted of four brigades, one of which was made wholly of British troops. After a sharp engagement on 13 September, they defeated some 15,000 tribesmen deployed by Akbar Khan, and the way to Kabul was clear. Pollock's troops came across many skeletons and unburied bodies from Elphinstone's army and, in spite of orders from Ellenborough and Pollock to show restraint, they committed many savage reprisals against villages and their inhabitants. Pollock reached Kabul on 15 September, two days before Nott.
As the British had advanced, the hostages in Akbar Khan's hands were treated less severely than previously, although they were moved to Bamian to keep them out of reach of the British armies. Nott was urged to send cavalry to rescue the hostages, but he declined to do so (possibly as a result of a minor disaster on 29 August, when his cavalry had suffered heavy losses in a mishandled attack). Instead, Pollock sent Qizilbashi irregular cavalry under Richmond Shakespeare (his Military Secretary
Military Secretary
The Military Secretary is the British Army appointment of which the incumbent is responsible for policy direction on personnel management for members of the British Army. It is a senior British Army appointment, held by an officer holding the rank of Major-General. The Military Secretary's...
) and infantry under Brigadier Sale to rescue them. They found that when news of the Afghan defeats reached their guards, the hostages, including Sale's own wife, had negotiated their own release in return for payments.
A detachment from Pollock's army laid waste to Charikar
Charikar
Charikar is the main town of the Kohdaman Valley and the capital of Parwan Province in northern Afghanistan. The city lies on the road 69 km from Kabul to the northern provinces. Travelers would have to pass by the city when going to Mazari Sharif, Kunduz or Puli Khumri. Charikar is at the...
, in revenge for the destruction and massacre
Massacre
A massacre is an event with a heavy death toll.Massacre may also refer to:-Entertainment:*Massacre , a DC Comics villain*Massacre , a 1932 drama film starring Richard Barthelmess*Massacre, a 1956 Western starring Dane Clark...
of an irregular Gurkha
Gurkha
Gurkha are people from Nepal who take their name from the Gorkha District. Gurkhas are best known for their history in the Indian Army's Gorkha regiments, the British Army's Brigade of Gurkhas and the Nepalese Army. Gurkha units are closely associated with the kukri, a forward-curving Nepalese knife...
unit there the previous November. Finally, Pollock ordered the historic covered bazaar of Kabul to be destroyed. Although he issued orders that the rest of the city was to be spared, discipline in the army broke down and there was widespread looting and destruction. Even the Qizilbashis, who were opposed to Akbar Khan, and many Indian merchants were ruined.
Final evacuation
Pollock's army then retired through Jalalabad to Peshawar. Futteh Jung handed over power to another nominee and accompanied the retreating army.The withdrawal from Kabul was an arduous march, harassed all the way by Afghan tribesmen. Although the march was far better organised than Elphinstone's retreat, large numbers of stragglers were left behind to be rescued by the rearguard or abandoned to die. Part of one division commanded by General McGaskill was ambushed near Ali Masjid
Ali Masjid
Ali Masjid is the narrowest point of the Khyber Pass. It is located in the Khyber Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas , Pakistan. It is located around east of the city of Landi Kotal and has an elevation of...
at the narrowest point of the Khyber Pass on 3 November and destroyed. Casualties were suffered to snipers and ambushes until the troops were within sight of Jamrud Fort
Jamrud Fort
Located at the entrance to the Khyber Pass, Jamrud Fort was built by the Sikhs in 1823.In 1837, it was here that the Afghans attacked the Sikhs during the Battle of Jamrud and Sardar Hari Singh Nalwa, the Sikh Commander, was killed. But Sikhs won the war....
and safety.
Aftermath
Within three months of the final British retreat, the British allowed Dost Mohamed to return from India to resume his rule. Akbar Khan died shortly afterwards. (It was sometimes supposed that he had been poisoned by his father, who feared his ambition.) Dost Mohamed's subsequent relations with the British were equivocal until his death. He half-heartedly supported the Sikhs during the Second Anglo-Sikh WarSecond Anglo-Sikh War
The Second Anglo-Sikh War took place in 1848 and 1849, between the Sikh Empire and the British East India Company. It resulted in the subjugation of the Sikh Empire, and the annexation of the Punjab and what subsequently became the North-West Frontier Province by the East India Company.-Background...
in return for a promise that Peshawar would be restored to Afghan rule, but the British never abandoned the city and the Sikhs were defeated. He remained neutral when the Indian Rebellion of 1857
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...
broke out. British policy was to avoid expeditions into Afghanistan for nearly forty years.
The supposed Somnath Gates which had been laboriously carried back to India were paraded through the country, but were declared to be fakes by Hindu scholars. (Henry Rawlinson, a political agent attached to Nott's force, had already warned Ellenborough that this was the case.) They were eventually installed at Agra
Agra
Agra a.k.a. Akbarabad is a city on the banks of the river Yamuna in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India, west of state capital, Lucknow and south from national capital New Delhi. With a population of 1,686,976 , it is one of the most populous cities in Uttar Pradesh and the 19th most...
.
An infantry battalion and an artillery battery from Shah Shuja's army retreated to India with the British armies. They were taken into the East India Company's army and the artillery unit eventually became part of the British army. (It survives to this day as T (Headquarter) Battery, 12th Regiment Royal Artillery
12th Regiment Royal Artillery
12th Regiment Royal Artillery is a regiment of the Royal Artillery in the British Army. It currently serves in the air defence role, and is equipped with the Starstreak HVM missile...
.)