The Fighting Spirits of Afghan People

For a few thousand years, Afghanistan was Moa crossroads for conquerors, with the countryside being overrun by Aryans, Greeks, Indians, Persians, Arabs, and Mongols. Over time, this constant influx of conquerors created a population of tough, independent-minded fighters that adopted a policy of maximum resistance to invaders. After the Sassanid Persians were removed from power, a local ruler, Ahmad Shah Durani, assumed control in 1747. He founded a ruling family that remained in power for 100 years before they-as do so many dynasties-became complacent and vulnerable. In 1824 Dost Mohammed overthrew this dissolute dynasty and became amir of Afghanistan, but soon began to feel pressure from major international powers both north and south of him. The Persians, supported by the Russians, invaded Afghanistan in the 1830s.

By chance, Eldred Pottinger, a British spy operating in Afghanistan, broke his cover, offered his assistance to the amir, and led the Afghan army in a successful defense of the country. Rather than establishing closer ties with Great Britain, which currently dominated India to the south, this incident instead provoked a British invasion. Britain did not fear Afghanistan itself, but worried that its domination by Russia would pose a potential threat to India. When Dost Mohammed refused to grant Britain the concessions it demanded, the British decided to put in place a more amenable ruler instead. Shah Shuja, Britain’s chosen nominee, was of the ruling line Dost Mohammed had overthrown, but he was weak and therefore despised by the Afghan population. British forces invaded in late 1838 and by August 1839, Dost Mohammed was in exile and Shah Shuja was on the throne. The British army proceeded to put down pockets of resistance around the capital city of Kabul, and the tribes they did not defeat, they pacified with bribery. When in 1841 the bribes stopped, so did tribal cooperation. The British forces in Afghanistan found themselves surrounded in isolated forts, and the Afghans proved themselves able snipers, picking off unwary defenders. This uprising, coupled with the murder of the British ambassador, provoked another invasion.

The British in Kabul decided to flee for India. In January 1843, 4,500 British and Indian soldiers and civilians, along with some 10,000 Afghan supporters, abandoned the city. Only one British soldier made it to the border fort at Jelalabad; the rest were killed by the Afghans. The First Afghan War (as it came to be known) set a pattern for future intervention in the rugged country. A relief army from India forged the Khyber Pass, a feat no other power had ever accomplished, relieved the besieged Jelalabad, and then marched on Kabul. They released British prisoners held in Afghan confinement and burned the Great Bazaar, then marched home. Afghanistan was once again free of outside occupation, and Dost Mohammed returned to power.