1'p in the fall of Shah Sujah anarchy ensiled, a condition not unfamiliar to the warlike and restless Afghan tribes. In 15213 the statesman like Dost succeeded in establishing Ids authority as Amcor over the turbulent peo ple. Shah Sujah from his asylum in India car ried on intrigues for the restoration of his ereil4rity, and succeeded in making an alliance with Runjeet Singh, the Sikh ruler. A small subsidy was also obtained from the Anglo-lndian government, and Afghanistan was invaded. The only result was to involve the Afghans and the Sikhs in unprofitable while Sujah soon returned to India. When Lord Auckland became Governor-General of India, he declared a policy of non-interference in questions concerning the native states: Ina, in direct contradiction of this declaration, in 1535 his government actually undertook to restore Sujah, alleging that Dost Mohammed had attacked Great Britain's ally, Ilitrticet an attack. it may be noted, for which there had eertainly been reason enough. It was further alleged that the military opera tions. of the Afghans had betrayed a hostile pur pose toward India; and that Shah Sujah, as the rightful heir to the Afghan throne, had placed himself under British protection. The British forces advanced through the Bolan Pass to Kan dahar, where Shah Sujah formally claimed pos session of the country. t .Tuly 21, 1539, the army encamped before Ghazni. and after some hard fighting, that fortress was taken. On Au gust 7. Shah Snjah, with the British forces. en tered and the conquest was regarded as complete.
In this, howeverg as in all their dealings with the Afghans, the British showed an entire mis understanding of the nature of the country and the eharaeter of the people. The land had been invaded. but was by no means conquered. Dost Mohammed had surrendered to the English: hut his son. Akbar Khan, was actively engaged in a conspiracy, of which the British envoy. Sir Wil liam Afaenaghten, and his suceessor, Sir Alexan der Burnes, were not aware until it was too late. Early in the winter of 1541, when help from India was impossible, the outbreak took place at Kabul. Burnes, Macnaghten, and several British officers were slain. It. was then agreed that the invaders should leave the country; while, on the other hand, Akbar Khan and his confederates stipulated to provide an escort and make other necessary arrangements for the re treat. Depending on these promises, the British army left Kabul on January 6, 1842, in order to return by the Khyber Pass into India; but neither escort nor provisions were supplied by the Afghan leaders, and the severity of the sea son increased the misery of the retreat. The fanatical tribes of the districts harassed the flanks and rear of the army. To escape total destruction, the women and children, together with the married men, surrendered to Akbar Khan, and out of the 16,000 souls that had set out from Kabul, only one man (Dr. Brydon) es caped to carry the dismal tidings to General Sale, who still held his position at Jelalabad. Almost against his own will, the new Governor-General. Lord Ellenborough, sent other forces into Afghanistan. General Nott held out at Kanda har, while General Pollock, at the head of the invading army. forced the Khyber Pass, relieved
General Sale, and effected a victorious march to Kabul, which he entered in September. The English officers and the women who had surrendered as prisoners to Akbar Khan were restored to liberty, and soon afterward the troops marched back to India. 1 t was believed that the Afghans were deprived of all power to con federate against the government of India: but this conclusion was too hasty, for in 1846 they formed an alliance with the Sikhs against the British, Dost Mohammed being released and permitted to reoccupy his throne. After the decisive battle of Gujerat (February 21, 1849), the Sikhs were forsaken by the Afghans, and Dost Mohammed, with about 16,000 men, fled over the Indus. After this period, Dost Mohammed devot ed his attention almost exclusively to the consoli dation of his dominions, governing well, and al ways seeking to maintain friendly relations with the Anglo-Indian government. He died in 1863, appointing Shere Ali, one of his younger sons, as his heir. At first the choice was acquiesced in by the sixteen sons of Dost Mohammed, a large number of whom were governors of prov inces; but disputes followed, which for many years kept Afghanistan in a state of anarchy. (See KABUL.) The British government of India had recognized Shere Ali at his accession, and it was the policy of Lord Lawrence's administration in India to abstain from any interference with Afghan affairs. Lord Mayo assumed a like attitude. The claims of Shere Ali's son Yakub to share in the government were ignored, and in 1870 he headed a rebellion against his father; but in the following year a reconciliation was effected through the intervention of England. In 1869 it was settled between England and Rus sia that all the territory between the Amu Dania and the Hindu-Kush should be treated as part of Afghanistan. The British conserva tive government which came into power in 1874 was totally opposed to the policy of non interference, and the Indian government was ordered to insist upon the reception of a British resident at Kabul. This demand was made im peratively in 187S, when a Russian mission had been received. The Afghans, remembering Burnes and Alacnaghten and their double deal ing, were bitterly opposed to any more British residents, and the refusal of the Ameer to receive the mission led to the second Afghan war, which in many ways was a repetition of the first, although the disasters were somewhat mitigated. The British invading columns forced the Khyber Pass and were victorious at the Peiwar Pass, and occupied Jelalabad before the end of 1878. In Jaunary, 1879, they entered Kandahar. A few weeks later Shere Ali died, and his rebel lious son, Yakub, whose cause had been taken up by the British, was proclaimed Ameer and con cluded the Treaty of Gandamak with them in May. It was provided that there should be a British resident at Kabul, and that Great Britain should defend Afghanistan against foreign aggression, the Ameer receiving a subsidy. The Kuram, Pisbin, and Sibi valleys became British terri tory, and the Khyber Pass came under British control.