Produced by Eric Eldred Thomas Bergerand the Online Distributed Proofreading TeamIllustration Sir Frederick Roberts                                   THE AFGHAN WARS 183942 AND 187880by ARCHIBALD FORBESWith Portraits and Plans                                   CONTENTSPART ITHE FIRST AFGHAN WARCHAP   IPRELIMINARY  IITHE MARCH TO CABUL IIITHE FIRST YEAR OF OCCUPATION  IVTHE SECOND YEAR OF OCCUPATION   VTHE BEGINNING OF THE END  VITHE ROAD TO RUIN VIITHE CATASTROPHEVIIITHE SIEGE AND DEFENCE OF JELLALABAD  IXRETRIBUTION AND RESCUEPART IITHE SECOND AFGHAN WAR   ITHE FIRST CAMPAIGN  IITHE OPENING OF THE SECOND CAMPAIGN IIITHE LULL BEFORE THE STORM  IVTHE DECEMBER STORM   VON THE DEFENSIVE IN SHERPUR  VIAHMED KHEL VIITHE AMEER ABDURRAHMANVIIIMAIWAND AND THE GREAT MARCH  IXTHE BATTLE OF CANDAHAR                                   LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND PLANS  PORTRAIT OF SIR FREDERICK ROBERTS  _Frontispiece_  PLAN OF CABUL THE CANTONMENT  PORTRAIT OF SIR GEORGE POLLOCK  PORTRAIT OF SIR LOUIS CAVAGNARI AND SIRDARS  PLAN OF CABUL SHOWING THE ACTIONS DEC 1114  PLAN OF ACTION AHMED KHEL  PORTRAIT OF THE AMEER ABDURRAHMAN  PLAN OF THE ACTION OF MAIWAND  PLAN OF THE ACTION OF CANDAHAR_The Portraits of Sir G Pollock and Sir F Roberts are engraved bypermission   of Messrs Henry Graves  Co_                                   THE AFGHAN WARSPART I _THE FIRST AFGHAN WAR_CHAPTER I PRELIMINARYSince it was the British complications with Persia which mainly furnishedwhat pretext there was for the invasion of Afghanistan by an AngloIndianarmy in 1839 some brief recital is necessary of the relations betweenGreat Britain and Persia prior to that aggressionBy a treaty concluded between England and Persia in 1814 the formerstate bound itself in case of the invasion of Persia by any Europeannation to aid the Shah either with troops from India or by the paymentof an annual subsidy in support of his war expenses It was a dangerousengagement even with the _caveat_ rendering the undertaking inoperativeif such invasion should be provoked by Persia During the fierce struggleof 18257 between Abbas Meerza and the Russian General PaskevitchEngland refrained from supporting Persia either with men or with moneyand when prostrate Persia was in financial extremities because of the warindemnity which the treaty of Turkmanchai imposed upon her England tookadvantage of her needs by purchasing the cancellation of the inconvenientobligation at the cheap cost of about 300000 It was the natural resultof this transaction that English influence with the Persian Court shouldsensibly decline and it was not less natural that in conscious weaknessPersia should fall under the domination of Russian influenceFutteh Ali the old Shah of Persia died in 1834 and was succeeded byhis grandson Prince Mahomed Meerza a young man who inherited much of theambition of his gallant father Abbas Meerza His especial aspirationindustriously stimulated by his Russian advisers urged him to theenterprise of conquering the independent principality of Herat on thewestern border of Afghanistan Herat was the only remnant of Afghanterritory that still remained to a member of the legitimate royal houseIts ruler was Shah Kamran son of that Mahmoud Shah who after oustinghis brother Shah Soojah from the throne of Cabul had himself been drivenfrom that elevation and had retired to the minor principality of HeratThe young Shah of Persia was not destitute of justification for hisdesigns on Herat That this was so was frankly admitted by Mr Ellis theBritish envoy to his Court who wrote to his Government that the Shah hadfair claim to the sovereignty of Afghanistan as far as Ghuznee and thatKamrans conduct in occupying part of the Persian province of Seistan hadgiven the Shah a full justification for commencing hostilities againstHeratThe serious phase of the situation for England and India was that Russianinfluence was behind Persia in this hostile action against Herat MrEllis pointed out that in the then existing state of relations betweenPersia and Russia the progress of the former in Afghanistan wastantamount to the advancement of the latter But unfortunately thereremained valid an article in the treaty of 1814 to the effect that incase of war between the Afghans and the Persians the English Governmentshould not interfere with either party unless when called on by both tomediate In vain did Ellis and his successor MNeill remonstrate with thePersian monarch against the Herat expedition An appeal to St Petersburgon the part of Great Britain produced merely an evasive reply Howdiplomatic disquietude had become intensified may be inferred from thisthat whereas in April 1836 Ellis wrote of Persia as a Russian firstparallel of attack against India Lord Auckland then GovernorGeneral ofIndia directed MNeill in the early part of 1837 to urge the Shah toabandon his enterprise on the ground that he the GovernorGeneralmust view with umbrage and displeasure schemes of interference andconquest on our western frontierThe Shah unmoved by the representations of the British envoy marched onHerat and the siege was opened on November 23d 1837 Durand a capablecritic declares that the strength of the place the resolution of thebesiegers the skill of their Russian military advisers and thegallantry of the besieged were alike objects of much exaggeration Thesiege was from first to last thoroughly illconducted and the defencein reality not better managed owed its _éclat_ to Persian ignorancetimidity and supineness The advice of Pottinger the gallant Englishofficer who assisted the defence was