AFGHANISTAN 161 was to seize upon the booty which his late chief had gathered in India. His kingdom extended from Khorasan to Delhi, and he even measured swords with the Mahratta pow- ers. He died in 1773, and left his crown to his son Timour, who was unequal to the weighty charge. He abandoned the city of Candahar, and removed the seat of government back to Cabool. During his reign the internal dissensions of the tribes, which had been re- pressed by Ahmed, were revived. In 1793 Timour died, and Zemaun succeeded him. This prince conceived the idea of consolidating the Mohammedan power of India, and this plan was thought so important by the English that Sir John Malcolm was sent to the frontier to keep the Afghans in check in case of their making any movement, and at the same time negotiations were opened with Persia, by whose assistance the Afghans might be placed between two fires. Zemaun's plans were, however, frus- trated by a contest between him and his bro- thers, which ended in Mahmoud's accession to the throne. The latter was compelled to abdi- cate in 1823, and died in 1829, the last of the Durrani dynasty. Afghanistan was now ruled by three brothers, the ablest of whom, Dost Mohammed, was in possession of Cabool, the most important of the three divisions of the country. He was soon involved in war with Lahore on the east, and on the west with the Persian invaders of Herat, who were be- lieved to be abetted by Eussia. In 1838 Eng- land declared war against Afghanistan, upon the ground that Dost Mohammed had attacked her ally Kunjeet Singh, who had established an in- dependent kingdom in the Punjaub, and that Shujah, whom the English regarded as the lawful heir to the throne of Afghanistan, had placed himself under British protection. In December, 1838, the Anglo-Indian army, under Sir John Keane, marched toward Sinde, which country was coerced into submission and the payment of a contribution for the benefit of the Sikhs and Shujah. On Feb. 20, 1839, the Brit- ish army passed the Indus. It was about 12,000 strong, with 40,000 camp followers, besides the new levies of Shujah, and suffered severely on the march. They penetrated through the Bo- Ian pass, and on April 25 entered Candahar, which the brothers of Dost Mohammed had abandoned. After a rest of two months, Ghuzni, the impregnable stronghold of Afghanistan, was takten, July 22, by blowing open the only gate which had not been walled up. After this dis- aster the army which Dost Mohammed had collected at once disbanded, and Cabool opened its gates Aug. 6. Shah Shujah was installed in due form, but the real direction of government remained in the hands of the British envoy, Sir William McNaghten, who also paid all Shujah's expenses out of the Indian treasury, as well as those of the principal chiefs. Dost Mohammed | surrendered in October, 1840, and was sent to India. The conquest of Afghanistan seemed accomplished, and a considerable portion of the | 12 VOL. i. 12 troops were sent back. But during the whole of 1840 and 1841 insurrection followed insur- rection in every part of the country. The Anglo-Indian troops had to be constantly on the move. The occupation of Afghanistan cost the Indian treasury 1,250,000 per annum. McNaghten was informed of the impossibility of going on at this rate of expenditure. He attempted retrenchment, but the only possible way to enforce it was to cut down the allow- ances of the chiefs. The very day he attempted this, the chiefs formed a conspiracy for the ex- termination of the British. The English in Cabool were commanded by Gen. Elphinstone, who had been sent as English envoy in 1835 to counteract the alleged anti-English Perso-Rus- sian intrigues. He was a gouty, irresolute, helpless old man, whose orders constantly con- tradicted each other. The defences and com- missariat were neglected, and everything was in confusion. On Nov. 2, 1841, the insurrec- tion broke out in Cabool. The house of the British resident, Sir Alexander Burnes, was attacked, and he himself murdered. On Nov. 3 the forts near the camp were occupied by the insurgents. On the 9th the commissariat fort, garrisoned by only 80 men, was taken, and the British were thus reduced to starvation. In the middle of November negotiations began, during which McNaghten was murdered in a conference with Afghan chiefs. On Jan. 1, 1842, a capitulation was concluded, the Brit- ish agreeing to evacuate the country, paying a large amount of money, and surrendering nearly all their artillery and ammunition. The chiefs, on the other hand, promised a safe conduct, provisions, and baggage cattle. On Jan. 5 the British marched out, 4,500 combatants and 12,000 camp-followers. The march, through cold and snow, and with scanty food, soon be- came completely disorganized, while they were harassed by infuriated Afghan marksmen, arm- ed with long-range matchlocks, occupying every height. The chiefs who signed the capitulation neither could nor would restrain the moun- tain tribes. The Kurd-Cabool pass became the grave of nearly all the army, and the remnant, less than 200 Europeans, fell at the entrance of the Jugduluk pass. Only one Englishman, Dr. Brydon, reached Jelalabad to tell the tale. Many officers, however, had been seized by the Afghans, and kept in captivity. Jelalabad was held by Sale's brigade. He was summoned to surrender, but refused, and made a most gal- lant defence ; so did Nott at Candahar. Ghuzni had fallen ; there was not a man in the place that understood anything about artillery, and the sepoys of the garrison had succumbed to the climate. In the mean time, the British authorities on the frontier, at the first news of the disaster of Cabool, had concentrated at Peshawer the troops destined for the relief of the regiments in Afghanistan, which were long detained by lack of transportation. Gen. Pol- lock received the command, and at the end of March, 1842, forced the Khyber pass, and ad-
