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The Second Anglo-Afghan War refers to a war between the United Kingdommarker and Afghanistanmarker that lasted from 1878 to 1880.

War

After tension between Russia and Britain in Europe ended with the June 1878 Congress of Berlin, Russia turned its attention to Central Asia. That same summer, Russia sent an uninvited diplomatic mission to Kabul. Sher Ali tried, but failed, to keep them out. Russian envoys arrived in Kabul on 22 July, 1878, and on 14 August, the British demanded that Sher Ali accept a British mission too.

The Amir not only refused to receive a British mission but threatened to stop it if it were dispatched. Lord Lytton, the viceroy, ordered a diplomatic mission to set out for Kabul in September 1878 but the mission was turned back as it approached the eastern entrance of the Khyber Passmarker, triggering the Second Anglo-Afghan War. A British force of about 40,000 fighting men was distributed into military columns which penetrated Afghanistan at three different points. An alarmed Sher Ali attempted to appeal in person to the Tsar for assistance, but unable to do so, he returned to Mazari Sharifmarker, where he died on 21 February 1879.


With British forces occupying much of the country, Sher Ali's son and successor, Mohammad Yaqub Khan, signed the Treaty of Gandamak in May 1879 to prevent a British invasion of the rest of the country. According to this agreement and in return for an annual subsidy and vague assurances of assistance in case of foreign aggression, Yaqub relinquished control of Afghan foreign affairs to Britain. British representatives were installed in Kabul and other locations, British control was extended to the Khyber and Michni passes, and Afghanistan ceded various frontiermarker areasmarker and Quetta to Britain. The British Army then withdrew. An uprising in Kabul led to the slaughter of Sir Pierre Cavagnari, his guards, and staff, on 3 September, 1879, provoking the next phase of the Second Afghan War.

Major General Sir Frederick Roberts led the Kabul Field Force over the Shutargardan Pass into central Afghanistan, defeated the Afghan Army at Char Asiab on 6 October, 1879, and occupied Kabulmarker. Ghazi Mohammad Jan Khan Wardak staged an uprising and attacked British forces near Kabul in the Siege of the Sherpur Cantonmentmarker in December 1879, but his defeat there resulted in the collapse of this rebellion. Yaqub Khan, suspected of complicity in the massacre of Cavagnari and his staff, was obliged to abdicate. The British considered a number of possible political settlements, including partitioning Afghanistan between multiple rulers or placing Yaqub's brother Ayub Khan on the throne, but ultimately decided to install his cousin Abdur Rahman Khan as emir instead.

Ayub Khan, who had been serving as governor of Herat, rose in revolt, defeated a British detachment at the Battle of Maiwand in July 1880 and besieged Kandahar. Roberts then led the main British force from Kabul and decisively defeated Ayub Khan in September at the Battle of Kandahar, bringing his rebellion to an end. Abdur Rahman had confirmed the Treaty of Gandamak, leaving the British in control of the territories ceded by Yaqub Khan and ensuring British control of Afghanistan's foreign policy in exchange for protection and a subsidy. Abandoning the provocative policy of maintaining a British resident in Kabul, but having achieved all their other objectives, the British withdrew.

Timeline of battles

There were several decisive actions in the Second Anglo-Afghan War, from 1878 to 1880. Here are the battles and actions in chronological order. An asterisk (*) indicates a clasp was awarded for that particular battle with the Afghanistan Medal.

1878
  1. Battle of Ali Musjid* (Decisive British victory)
  2. Battle of Peiwar Kotal* (Decisive British victory)


1879
  1. Action at Takht-i-Pul
  2. Action at Matun
  3. Battle of Khushk-i-Nakud
  4. Battle of Fatehbad
  5. Battle of Kam Dakka
  6. Battle of Charasiab*
  7. Battle of Shajui
  8. Battle of Karez Mir
  9. Battle of Takht-i-Shah
  10. Battle of Asmai Heights (Afghan victory)
  11. Siege of Sherpurmarker* (Decisive British victory)
Durban Maidan of Sherpur Cantonment in 1879.
1880
  1. Battle of Ahmed Khel* (British victory)
  2. Battle of Arzu
  3. Second Battle of Charasiab
  4. Battle of Maiwand (Afghan victory)
  5. Battle of Deh Koja
  6. Battle of Kandahar* (Decisive British victory)


1881
  1. Kandahar (and Afghanistan) Evacuation


Order of battle

  • Peshawar Valley Field Force Lt Gen Sir Samuel Browne












  • Kurram Valley Field Force Major General Roberts


Royal Artillery Col A. H. Lindsay





  • Kandahar Field Force
  • First Division Lt Gen Donald Stewart


Royal Artillery Brig Gen C. G. Arbuthnot





  • 2nd Division Maj Gen M A Biddulph


Artillery Col Le Mesurier





Popular Culture

Sherlock Holmes' friend (and story narrator) Dr. Watson briefly served in the Second Afghan War, as described in the first chapter of A Study in Scarlet. In subsequent books, occasional reference is made to the wound Watson suffered from a Jezail bullet.

See also



References



Bibliography

  • Barthorp, Michael. 2002. Afghan Wars and the North-West Frontier 1839-1947 Cassell. London. ISBN 0-304-36294-8
  • Wilkinson-Latham, Robert. 1977. North-West Frontier 1837-1947. Osprey Publishing. London. ISBN 0-85045-275-9


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