Dictionary of Indian Biography/Auckland, George Eden, Earl of
AUCKLAND, GEORGE EDEN, EARL OF (1784–1849)
Governor General: second son of the first Lord Auckland: born Aug. 25, 1784: educated at Christ Church, Oxford: called to the bar, 1809: President of the Board of Trade and Master of the Mint, 1833: First Lord of the Admiralty, 1834–35: G.C.B.: appointed Governor-General of India, April 4, 1836. In 1836–7 he sent Burnes (q.v.) on a mission to Kabul: in distrust of the Amir, Dost Muhammad, who received in 1837 the Russian officer, Vitkievitch, at Kabul, and with a view to counteract Russian influence there, Auckland, under pressure of the English Government, decided to dethrone Dost Muhammad (q.v.) and reinstate Shah Shuja (q.v.) as Amir: his declaration of war was issued on Oct. 1, 1838: the facts of the first Afghan War are well known: Dost Muhammad fled in Aug., 1839: Shah Shuja, though set up in 1839, and supported till 1841, was unpopular as a ruler: the British force was reduced: the subsidies were diminished: the Afghans rose in 1841: Sir A. Burnes was murdered on Nov. 2, 1841, and the envoy. Sir W. Macnaghten on Dec. 23,: the British army was destroyed in its retreat from Kabul to the Khyber. Lord Auckland was made an Earl in 1839, on the capture of Kabul: he had left India on March 12, 1842, before Pollock's avenging Army had advanced beyond Jalalabad. Afghan affairs chiefly engaged Auckland's attention. In 1840 the British Resident at Ava was expelled by the King of Burma and not re-estabished. Auckland was again First Lord of the Admiralty in 1846: died Jan. 1, 1849.