Chapter III: Preface: To the Original Edition

Circumstances having placed at my disposal a number of very interesting and important letters and papers, illustrative of the History of the War in Afghanistan, I undertook to write this Work. There was nothing that peculiarly qualified me for the task, beyond the fact that I enjoyed the confidence of some of the chief actors in the events to be narrated, or—for death had been busy among those actors—their surviving relatives and friends. I had been in India, it is true, during the entire period of the War; but I never took even the humblest part in its stirring scenes, or visited the country in which they were enacted.

It was not, therefore, until I considered that no more competent person might be disposed to undertake the Work; that the materials placed in my hands might not in the same number and variety be placed in the hands of any other writer; and that those best qualified by a full knowledge of the subject to write the History of the War, were restrained by the obligations of official position from that fulness of revelation and freedom of discussion, which a work of this kind demands—that entered upon the perilous undertaking. The necessities of the subject have rendered the task peculiarly painful, and, but for the encouragement I have received in the progress of its execution, alike from strangers and from friends who have freely placed new materials in my hands, and expressed a lively interest in my labours, I might have shrunk from its completion. I now lay before the public the result of much anxious thought and laborious investigation, confident that, although the Work might have been done more ably, it could not have been performed more conscientiously, by another.

I have been walking, as it were, with a torch in my hand over a floor strewn thickly with gunpowder. There is the chance of an explosion at every step. I have been treading all along on dangerous ground. But if I cannot confidently state that I have asserted nothing which I cannot prove, I can declare my belief that, except upon what I had a right to consider as good and sufficient authority, I have advanced absolutely nothing. It will be seen how careful I have been to quote my authorities. Indeed, I have an uneasy misgiving in my mind that I have overburdened my Work with quotations from the letters and documents in my possession. But this has been done with design and deliberation. It was not sufficient to refer to these letters and documents, for they were singly accessible only to a few, and collectively, perhaps, to no one but myself. They have, therefore, been left to speak for themselves. What the Work has lost by this mode of treatment in compactness and continuity, it has gained in trustworthiness and authenticity. If the narrative be less animated, the history is more genuine. I have had to deal with unpublished materials, and to treat of very strange events; and I have not thought it sufficient to fuse these materials into my text, and to leave the reader to fix or not to fix his faith upon the unsupported assertions of an unknown writer.[1]

I would make another observation regarding the execution of this Work. The more notorious events of the War, which stand fully revealed in military despatches and published blue-books, have not been elaborated with the care, and expanded into the amplitude, which their importance may seem to demand. These Volumes may be thought, perhaps, rather deficient in respect of military details. Compelled to condense somewhere, I have purposely abstained from enlarging upon those events, which have already found fitting chroniclers. The military memoir-writers, each one on his own limited field, have arrayed before us all the strategical operations of the Campaign from the assemblage of Fane’s army in 1838, to the return of Pollock’s at the close of 1842; but the political history of the War has never been written. For information on many points of military interest, not sufficiently dwelt upon in these volumes, I would therefore refer the reader to the works of Havelock, Hough, Barr, Eyre, Stacy, Neill, and other soldierly writers. The progress of events in Upper Sindh after the capture of Khelat, I have not attempted to narrate. The military operations in that part of the country have found an intelligent annalist in Dr. Buist.

I need only now, after gratefully acknowledging my obligations to all who have aided me with original papers, or with information otherwise conveyed (and I have largely taxed the patience of many during the progress of this work), offer one more word of apology. I know that my scholarly Oriental friends will revolt against my spelling of Oriental names. I have only to bow beneath their correcting hand, and fling myself upon their mercy. I have written all the names in the old and vulgar manner, most familiar to the English eye, and, in pronunciation, to the English ear; and I believe that the majority of readers will thank me for the barbarism.

BLETCHINGLEY,

_October, 1851_.

CONTENTS.

BOOK I.—INTRODUCTION.

[1800-1837.]

CHAPTER I.

[1800-1801.]

PAGE

Shah Zemaun and the Douranee Empire—Threatened Afghan
Invasion—Malcolm’s First Mission to Persia—Country and People
of Afghanistan—Fall of Zemaun Shah 1

CHAPTER II.

[1801-1808.]

The Early Days of Soojah-ool-Moolk—Disastrous Commencement of his
Career—Defeat of Shah Mahmoud—Reign of Shah Soojah—The
Insurrection of Prince Kaysur—Tidings of the British Mission 25

CHAPTER III.

[1801-1808.]

France and Russia in the East—Death of Hadjee Khalil Khan—The
Mission of Condolence—Aga Nebee Khan—Extension of Russian
Dominion in the East—French Diplomacy in Persia—The pacification
of Tilsit—Decline of French influence in Teheran 36

CHAPTER IV.

[1808-1809.]

The Second Mission to Persia—Malcolm’s Visit to Bushire—Failure
of the Embassy—His Return to Calcutta—Mission of Sir Harford
Jones—His Progress and Success 55

CHAPTER V.

[1808-1809.]

The Missions to Lahore and Caubul—The Aggressions of Runjeet
Singh—Mr. Metcalfe at Umritsur—Treaty of 1809—Mr. Elphinstone’s
Mission—Arrival at Peshawur—Reception by Shah Soojah—Withdrawal
of the Mission—Negotiations with the Ameers of Sindh 77

CHAPTER VI.

[1809-1816.]

The Mid-Career of Shah Soojah—His Wanderings and
Misfortunes—Captivity in Cashmere—Imprisonment at Lahore—Robbery
of the Koh-i-noor—Reception of the Shah by the Rajah of
Kistawar—His Escape to the British Territories 97

CHAPTER VII.

[1816-1837.]

Dost Mahomed and the Barukzyes—Early days of Dost Mahomed—The
fall of Futteh Khan—Defeat of Shah Mahmoud—Supremacy of the
Barukzyes—Position of the Empire—Dost Mahomed at
Caubul—Expedition of Shah Soojah—His Defeat—Capture of Peshawur
by the Sikhs 107

CHAPTER VIII.

[1810-1837.]

Later Events in Persia—The Treaty of Goolistan—Arrival of Sir
Gore Ouseley—Mr. Morier and Mr. Ellis—The Definitive Treaty—The
War of 1826-27—The Treaty of Toorkomanchai—Death of Futteh Ali
Shah—Accession of Mahomed Shah—His Projects of Ambition—The
Expedition against Herat 139

BOOK II.

[1835-1838.]

CHAPTER I.

[1835-1837.]

The Commercial Mission to Caubul—Arrival of Lord Auckland—His
Character—Alexander Burnes—His Travels in Central
Asia—Deputation to the Court of Dost Mahomed—Reception by the
Ameer—Negotiations at Caubul—Failure of the Mission 166

CHAPTER II.

[1837-1839.]

The Siege of Herat—Shah Kamran and Yar Mahomed—Return of the
Shah—Eldred Pottinger—Preparations for the Defence—Advance of
the Persian Army—Progress of the Siege—Negotiations for
Peace—Failure of the Attack—The Siege raised 211

CHAPTER III.

[1837-1838.]

Policy of the British-Indian Government—Our Defensive
Operations—Excitement in British India—Proposed Alliance with
Dost Mahomed—Failure of Burnes’s Mission considered—The
claims of the Suddozye Princes—The Tripartite Treaty—Invasion
of Afghanistan determined—Policy of the Movement 300

CHAPTER IV.

[July-October: 1838.]

The Simlah Manifesto—The Simlah Council—Influence of Messrs.
Colvin and Torrens—Views of Captains Burnes and Wade—Opinions
of Sir Henry Fane—The Army of the Indus—The Governor-General’s
Manifesto—Its Policy considered 350

BOOK III.

[1838-1839.]

CHAPTER I.

The Army of the Indus—Gathering at Ferozepore—Resignation of
Sir Henry Fane—Route of the Army—Passage through Bahwulpore—The
Ameers of Sindh—The Hyderabad Question—Passage of the Bolan
Pass—Arrival at Candahar 388

CHAPTER II.

[April-August: 1839.]

Arrival at Candahar—The Shah’s Entry into the City—His
Installation—Nature of his Reception—Behaviour of the
Douranees—The English at Candahar—Mission to Herat—Difficulties
of our Position—Advance to Ghuznee 437

CHAPTER III.

[June-August: 1839.]

The Disunion of the Barukzyes—Prospects of Dost Mahomed—Keane’s
Advance to Ghuznee—Massacre of the Prisoners—Fall of
Ghuznee—Flight of Dost Mahomed—Hadjee Khan, Khaukur—Escape of
Dost Mahomed—Restoration of Shah Soojah—Success of the Campaign 454

APPENDIX 481

THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN.