Massacre of Elphinstone's Army - British Occupation

British Occupation

Kabul at that time was a clean, pleasant city with spacious wooden houses surrounded by gardens. Macnaghten was established as political agent. He soon sent most of his troops back to their garrisons in India and quickly established a Victorian era lifestyle. The occupying forces enjoyed themselves arranging cricket matches, horse races and hunting parties. In the evenings amateur dramatics were staged, where officers and their wives performed William Shakespeare's play A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was considered a special honour to be invited to Lady Florentia Sale's evening companies, at which salmon and stew with madeira wine, port wine and champagne was served.

The Afghan people chafed under the British occupation and were not willing to be colonised. Britain had replaced a (relatively) popular ruler with a weak puppet who was seen as much more cruel and vindictive to his enemies than Dost Mohammed. Akbar Khan, the son of Dost, assembled new followers amongst the tribesmen in the rural areas, where British influence was slight. He soon started a guerrilla war, which kept the British forces permanently on the move.

The British government back in India soon became frustrated with the costs of maintaining the large garrison in Kabul, and eliminated the subsidies, actually bribes, they had been paying to the various tribes in the area around Kabul and the Khyber Pass to keep the peace. Once the subsidies ended, there was no more reason to remain under the thumb of the British invaders.

Macnaghten dismissed all warnings from his officers and instead wrote to his superiors that, "this is the usual state of Afghan society". The British freedom of movement was more and more restricted during spring and summer 1841. Despite this, Sir Willoughby Cotton was replaced as commander of the remaining troops by the aging and infirm William Elphinstone. Brigadier Robert Henry Sale, the husband of Lady Sale, was called to Jalalabad, on the line of communication between Kabul and Peshawar with his brigade in the autumn of 1841, but left his wife behind.