Battle of Ghazni - Invasion of Afghanistan

Invasion of Afghanistan

The British assembled two divisions from their Bengal Army led by Sir Harry Fane and another force of a single division led from Bombay by Sir John Keane. The Bombay Army, numbering some 6,000 men, would sail by sea and land near the Indus river and then march into Afghanistan to join Fane's forces. Before the invasion was set to begin, news had reached India that the Persians and the Russians had abandoned the siege of Herat. Many British officers then believed that there was no longer a reason to invade Afghanistan. However, Lord Aukland was adamant and pressed on. The size of the invasion force was reduced from three divisions to two because there was no longer any prospect of confronting Persian and Russian forces. The second Bengal division which was originally supposed to take part in the invasion was now relegated as a reserve force and would remain in India. The quickest route to Kabul was to march across the Punjab and enter Afghanistan by way of Peshawar and the Khyber Pass, but Ranjit Singh, the ruler of Punjab would never consent to such a large force crossing the Punjab. The invasion route had to be through the southern passes, with the approach to Kabul via Kandahar and Ghazni; a journey three times the distance of the direct route.

The Bengal Army, which now numbered some 9,500 men, would march inland towards Quetta after assembling in Ferozpur. In Quetta, it would link up with the Bombay Army and then invade Afghanistan. The Bengal Army would also be accompanied by 6,000 men led by Shuja Shah Durrani. The men under Durrani's command were Afghan exiles who believed that he was the rightful ruler of Afghanistan. The total size of the invasion force now numbered some 20,500 men. Sir Harry Fane refused to take part in the invasion because the Russians and Persians had abandoned the siege of Herat and the pretext for the invasion of Afghanistan was no longer there and so the command of the invasion force passed to Sir John Keane.

The Bombay Army landed near the Indus river in December in 1838 and continued to march where it met with the Bengal Army in Quetta. However, the Invasion force was short on supplies as taking the longer Southern route into Afghanistan had caused supplies to be exhausted and also many British supply convoys were lost due to harassing attacks by tribesman in Baluchistan.

Many soldiers were starving and there was only enough water to feed the men which caused many horses to die. However, Sir John Keane pressed on with the advance into Afghanistan through the Bolan and Kojuk passes. His forces marched 147 miles into Afghanistan and reached Kandahar on May 4, 1839. The local city leaders escaped to Western Afghanistan and the city was captured without the British even firing a shot. The Army next objective was the fortress city of Ghazni as it commanded the trade routes and roads leading into Kabul. Before a final advance towards Kabul could be made, Ghazni had to be captured.