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First Anglo-Afghan War

The First Anglo-Afghan War (1838-42) was fought between the British East India Company (EIC) and, the Emirate of Afghanistan, the ultimate victor. The British were keen to control Afghanistan as they feared Russian expansion into South Asia, but the local tribesmen were fierce fighters. The war was extremely costly and included the disastrous retreat from Kabul in 1842.

Causes: The Great Game

In the 19th century, Ranjit Singh (1780-1839), leader of the Sikh Empire, had greatly increased his territory in several military campaigns, which included defeating Afghan raiders and taking control of Lahore. Singh went on to take over Multan and Kashmir (1819), Ladakh (1833), and Peshawar (1834). The British East India Company, meanwhile, controlled much of the rest of India – either via direct rule or through a network of subsidiary alliances with Indian princely states. The EIC had also won a string of victories in conflicts like the four Anglo-Mysore Wars (1767-1799), the three Anglo-Maratha Wars (1775-1819), and the Anglo-Nepalese War (1814-1815). The EIC, effectively the colonial arm of the British government in Asia, next turned its attention to the very north of the Indian subcontinent and the frontier with Afghanistan.

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