Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/258

Rh 240 AFGHANISTAN [HISTORY. in making the king jealous of his minister; and with match less treachery, ingratitude, and cruelty, the latter was first blinded, and afterwards murdered with prolonged torture, the brutal Kamran striking the first blow. The Barakzai brothers united to avenge Fatteh Khan. The Saddozais were driven from Kabul, Ghazni, and Kan- ilahar, and with difficulty reached Herat (1818). Herat remained thus till Kamran s death (1842), and after that was held by his able and wicked minister Yar Mahom- med. The rest of the country was divided among the Barakzais Dost Mahommed, the ablest, getting Kabul. Peshawar and the right bank of the Indus fell to the Sikhs after their victory at Naoshera in 1823. The last Afghan hold of the Panjab had been lost long before Kashmir in 1819; Sind had cast off all allegiance since 1808; the Turkestan provinces had been practically independent since the death of Timur Shah. In 1809, in consequence of the intrigues of Napoleon in Persia, the Hon. Mountstewart Elphinstone had been sent as envoy to Shah Shuja, then in power, and had been well received by him at Peshawar. This was the first time the Afghans made any acquaintance with Englishmen. Lieut. Alex. Burnes visited Kabul on his way to Bokhara in 1832. In 1837 the Persian siege of Herat and the proceedings of Russia created uneasiness, and Burnes was sent by the Governor-General as resident to the Amir s court at Kabul. But the terms which the Dost sought were not conceded by the government, and the rash reso lution was taken of re-establishing Shah Shuja, long a refugee in British territory. Ranjit Singh, king of the Panjab, bound himself to co-operate, but eventually declined to let the expedition cross his territories. The &quot;Army of the Indus,&quot; amounting to 21,000 men, therefore assembled in Upper Sind (March 1838), and advanced through the Bolan Pass under the command of Sir John Keane. There was hardship, but scarcely any opposition. Kohandil Khan of Kandahar fled to Persia. That city was occupied in April 1839, and Shah Shuja was crowned in his grandfather s mosque. Ghazni was reached 21st July; a gate of the city was blown open by the engineers (the match was fired by Lieut, afterwards Sir Henry Durand); and the place was taken by storm. Dost Mahommed, finding his troops deserting, passed the Hindu Kush, and Shah Shuja entered the capital (7th August). The war was thought at an end, and Sir John Keane (made a peer) returned to India with a considerable part of the force, leaving behind 8000 men, besides the Shah s force, with Sir W. Macnaghten as envoy, and Sir A. Burnes as his colleague. During the two following years Shah Shuja and his allies remained in possession of Kabul and Kandahar. The British outposts extended to Saighan, in the Oxus basin, and to Mullah Khan, in the plain of Seistan. Dost Mahommed surrendered (Nov. 3, 1840), and was sent to India, where he was honourably treated. From the begin ning, insurrection against the new government had been rife. The political authorities were over-confident, and neglected warnings. On the 2d November 1841 the revolt broke out violently at Kabul, with the massacre of Burnes and other officers. The position of the British camp, its communications with the citadel, and the location of the stores were the worst possible; and the general (Elphinstone) was shattered in constitution. Disaster after disaster occurred, not without misconduct. At a confer ence (23d December) with the Dost s son, Akbar Khan, who had taken the lead of the Afghans, Sir W. Macnaghten was murdered by that chief s own hand. On 6th January 1842, after a convention to evacuate the country had been signed, the British garrison, still numbering 4500 soldiers (^f whom GOO were Europeans), with some 12,000 followers, marched out of the camp. The winter was severe, the troops demoralised, the march a mass of confusion and massacre ; for there was hardly a pretence of keeping the terms. On the 13th the last survivors mustered at Gan- damak only twenty muskets. Of those who left Kabul, Dr Brydone only reached Jalalabad, wounded and half dead. Ninety-five prisoners were afterwards recovered. The garrison of Ghazni had already been forced to sur render (10th December). But General Nott held Kan dahar with a stern hand, and General Sale, who had reached Jalalabad from Kabiil at the beginning of the out break, maintained that important point gallantly. To avenge these disasters and recover the prisoners preparations were made in India on a fitting scale; but it was the 16th April 1842 before General Pollock could relieve Jalalabad, after forcing the Khybar Pass. After a long halt there, he advanced (20th August), and gaining rapid successes, occupied Kabul (15th September), where Nott, after retaking and dismantling Ghazni, joined him two days later. The prisoners were happily recovered from Bamian. The citadel and central bazaar of Kabul were destroyed, and the army finally evacuated Afghanistan December 1842. Shah Shuja had been assassinated soon after the depar ture of the ill-fated garrison. Dost Mahommed, released, was able to resume his position at Kabul, which he retained till his death in 1863. Akbar Khan was made vazir, but died in 1848. The most notable facts in later history must be briefly stated. In 1848, when the Sikh revolt broke out, Dost Mahommed, stimulated by popular outcry and by the Sikh offer to restore Peshawar, crossed the frontier and took Attok. A cavalry force of Afghans was sent to join Sher Singh against the British, and was present at the battle of Gujerat (21st Feb. 1849). The pursuit of the Afghans by Sir Walter Raleigh Gilbert, right up to the passes, was so hot that the Dost owed his escape to a fleet horse. In 1850 the Afghans re-conquered Balkh. In January 1855, friendly intercourse, which had been renewed between the Dost and the British government, led to the conclusion of a treaty at Peshawar. In November 1855, after the death of his half-brother, Kohandil Khan of Kandahar, the Dost made himself master of that province. In 1856 came the new Persian advance to Herat, ending in its capture, and the English expedition to the Persian Gulf. &quot; In January 1857 the Dost had an interview at Peshawar with Sir J. Lawrence, at which the former was promised arms and a subsidy for protection against Persia. In consequence of this treaty a British mission under Major Lumsden proceeded to Kandahar. The Indian mutiny followed, and the Afghan excitement strongly tried the Dost s fidelity, but he maintained it. Lumsden s party held their ground, and returned in May 1858. In 1863, Dost Mahommed, after a ten months siege, captured Herat; but he died there thirteen days later (9th June), and was succeeded by his son Sher Ali Khan. Since then the latter has passed through many vicissi tudes in rivalry with his brothers and nephews, and at one time (1867) his fortunes were so low that he held only Balkh and Herat. By the autumn of 1868, however, ho was again established on the throne of Kabul, and his competitors were beaten and dispersed. In April 1869 Sher Ali Khan was honourably and splendidly received at Amballa by the Earl of Mayo, who had shortly before replaced Sir J. Lawrence. Friendly relations were con firmed, though the Amir s expectations were not fulfilled. He received the balance of a donation of 1 20,000 which had been promised and partly paid by Sir John Lawrence. A considerable present of artillery and arms was made to