The British Campaign
In 1838 the British East India Company feared an increased Russian influence in Afghanistan after Dost Mohammad Khan had seized power from former ruler Shuja Shah Durrani in 1834. Dost Mohammad had rejected earlier overtures from Russia, but after Lord Auckland, the Governor-General of India, tried to force Afghan foreign policy under British guidance, he renewed his relationship with the Russians. Lord Auckland followed the advice of State Secretary William Hay Macnaghten to support Shuja Shah, dismissing the advice of Alexander Burnes that Dost Mohammad should be supported, and resolved to seek a military solution. He began to assemble his forces in late 1838.
The army, under the command of General Sir Willoughby Cotton with Macnaghten as his chief adviser, consisted of 20,000 soldiers and were accompanied by 38,000 civilian camp followers (craftsmen, stretcher bearers, cooks, servants, barbers, tailors, armourers, cameleers, etc. plus the families of both Indian and British soldiers). In March 1839 they crossed the Bolan Pass and began their march to Kabul. They advanced through rough terrain, crossing deserts and mountain passes at a height of 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) but made good progress and took Kandahar on 25 April. They also captured the until-then impregnable fortress of Ghazni on 22 July in a surprise attack, suffering 200 men killed and wounded while the Afghans lost nearly 500 men and 1,600 were taken prisoner with an unknown number wounded. An Afghan had betrayed his sovereign and the British troops managed to blow one city gate and marched into the city in a euphoric mood. The fact that Ghazni was well supplied eased the further advance considerably, if not made it possible at all.
Dost Mohammed fled and sought refuge in the wilds of the Hindu Kush. Shuja Shah was proclaimed emir and Kabul fell on 6 August 1839, without a fight. Dost Mohammed surrendered to Macnaghten on 4 November 1840, and was exiled to India.
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