The First Afghan War

The First Afghan War remains one of the British Empire's most infamous military disasters, and Mowbray Morris's 1878 account captures a moment when imperial ambition collided with unforgiving terrain and fierce Afghan resistance. Written decades after the conflict, this history traces the political machinations that drew Britain into Afghanistan: fears of Russian expansion toward India, the jockeying for influence with Persian allies, and the fatal decision to install Shah Soojah on the throne in Kabul. Morris details the key figures, from diplomat Mountstuart Elphinstone to the formidable Dost Mahomed, showing how British miscalculations about Afghan politics led to a war the Empire would come to regret. The narrative builds toward the catastrophic 1842 retreat from Kabul, when nearly the entire British garrison was slaughtered in the mountain passes. This account remains essential reading for understanding how Victorian imperial confidence met its match in Afghanistan, and why that教训 echoes through history.