First Anglo-Afghan War

The first Anglo-Afghan War began in March 1839 when British forces from India invaded Afghanistan. It was a component of a bigger cold war that Russia and Britain were brewing over the majority of the 19th century. They worried that if Russia invaded Afghanistan, it may be used as a springboard for an invasion of British-held India, which was at the time one of the most successful colonial ventures in history.

A total of 20,000 soldiers made up the invading force, and they were joined by a caravan of roughly 38,000 citizens who intended to settle the nation after the British had taken it over peacefully. At least during the initial period, that is what took place. By August 1839, the British war machine had successfully overthrown the incumbent emir, Dost Mohammad, and installed the puppet, pro-British monarch Shuja Shah in his place.

Afghanistan was a simple place to take over, but it would be difficult to keep onto it. Over the course of more than two years, British forces in Kabul battled a bloody insurgency on all fronts, which included the assassinations of a few prominent British officers inside Kabul. As most of the original caravan's members had already returned to their homes in India, the British force, which had a total of roughly 16,000 people, started to retire in January 1842.

As the entire column was harassed and attacked by Afghan fighters until they reached Jalalabad, it would develop into a massacre. We refer to "them" as "him" because only one British officer was able to escape this tragedy because the entire column was wiped off en route.

Date: 1 October 1838 – October 1842
Location: Afghanistan
Result: Afghan victory

• British withdrawal
• Dost Mohammad Khan reinstalled to the throne of Kabul