Third Anglo-Afghan War - Outcome

Outcome

Casualties during the conflict amounted to approximately 1,000 Afghans killed in action, while the British and Indian forces lost 1,751. Of these, 236 were killed in action, 615 wounded, 566 died from cholera, and 334 died as a result of other diseases and accidents. In this regard, the outcome of the Third Anglo-Afghan War is contentious. Ostensibly, the result of the conflict was a British tactical victory. This is by virtue of the fact that the British repulsed the Afghan invasion and drove them from Indian territory, while Afghan cities were subjected to attack by Royal Air Force bombers. However, in achieving this, the British and Indian troops suffered almost double the amount of casualties that the Afghans suffered and the Afghans were ultimately able to secure their strategic political goals in the aftermath of the conflict. Thus the extent of the British tactical victory was limited and the Afghans also made strategic gains.

The circumstances behind the war were complicated as was the final settlement. In going to war in 1919 against British India, Amir Amanullah's war aims were complicated. Even up against a depleted Indian Army a tactical victory was unlikely; however, the war served the dual purpose of deflecting domestic criticism and also offering the opportunity for strategic political gains. As a result of the peace treaty that was negotiated, the British ceased payment of the Afghan subsidy. They also stopped arms sales from India to Afghanistan. But, as British influence declined, the Afghans were able to gain control their own foreign affairs and in the aftermath emerged as a fully independent state. The British also made some political gains, most notably the reaffirmation of the Durand Line – which had long been a contentious issue between the two nations – as the political boundary separating Afghanistan from the North-West Frontier, and the undertaking that the Afghans made to stop interference on the British side of the line.

Although the fighting concluded in August 1919, its effects continued to be felt in the region for some time afterwards. The nationalism and disruption that it had sparked stirred up more unrest in the years to come, particularly in Waziristan. The tribesmen, always ready to exploit governmental weakness, whether real or perceived, banded together in the common cause of disorder and unrest. They had become well-armed too, as a result of the conflict, as they had benefitted greatly from the weapons and ammunition that the Afghans had left behind as well as from the influx of manpower in the large numbers of deserters from the militia that had joined their ranks. With these they launched a campaign of resistance against British authority on the North-West Frontier that was to last until the end of the Raj.