The First Anglo-Afghan Wars: A Reader

Published by Duke University Press 2014

The First Anglo-Afghan Wars

A Reader

Edited by: Antoinette Burton

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780822376699

Overview
Contents

About this book

Designed for classroom use, The First Anglo-Afghan Wars gathers in one volume primary source materials related to the first two wars that Great Britain launched against native leaders of the Afghan region. From 1839 to 1842, and again from 1878 to 1880, Britain fought to expand its empire and prevent Russian expansion into the region's northwest frontier, which was considered the gateway to India, the jewel in Victorian Britain's imperial crown. Spanning from 1817 to 1919, the selections reflect the complex national, international, and anticolonial interests entangled in Central Asia at the time. The documents, each of which is preceded by a brief introduction, bring the nineteenth-century wars alive through the opinions of those who participated in or lived through the conflicts. They portray the struggle for control of the region from the perspectives of women and non-Westerners, as well as well-known figures including Kipling and Churchill. Filled with military and civilian voices, the collection clearly demonstrates the challenges that Central Asia posed to powers attempting to secure and claim the region. It is a cautionary tale, unheeded by Western powers in the post–9/11 era.

Author / Editor information

Antoinette Burton is Professor of History and Catherine C. and Bruce A. Bastian Professor of Global and Transnational Studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She has written and edited many books, including A Primer for Teaching World History: Ten Design Principles; Empire in Question: Reading, Writing, and Teaching British Imperialism; Archive Stories: Facts, Fictions, and the Writing of History; and After the Imperial Turn: Thinking with and through the Nation, all published by Duke University Press.

Reviews

"The reader illustrates the importance of finding elusive local perspectives on the first Anglo–Afghan wars to achieve a nuanced understanding

of the conflicts."

-- Robert Eric Colvard Itinerario

"Current Western leaders could definitely benefit from reading the essays in this volume."

-- Harold E. Raugh, Jr. International Journal of Military History

"Overall, Burton’s impressive collection of documents offers a great deal to students and scholars alike. It will enliven classroom debate in courses on imperialism, warfare, and South and Central Asia. The book provides a much-needed history of recent and contemporary warfare, especially in Afghanistan, South Asia, and the Middle East."

-- Kate Imy H-War, H-Net Reviews

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vi
Foreword Andrew J. Bacevich Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Introduction. The Anglo- Afghan Wars in Historical Perspective Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
PART I. Strategic Interests on the Road to Kabul
1. A Sketch of the Military and Po liti cal Power of Rus sia (1817) Robert Wilson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
2. Journey to the North of India (1838) Arthur Conolly Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	24
3. The Court and Camp of Runjeet Sing (1840) W. G. Osborne Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
4. A Narrative of the Rus sian Military Expedition to Khiva, under General Perofski (1839) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	39
PART II. The First Anglo- Afghan War, 1839– 1842: Occupation, Rout, Defeat, Captivity
5. Narrative of the War in Aff ghanistan (1840) Henry Havelock Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
6. To Herat and Cabul: A Story of the First Afghan War (1902) G. A. Henty Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	57
7. A Journal of Disasters in Aff ghanistan (1843) Florentia Sale Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
8. “English Captives at Cabul” (1843) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	86
9. The Life of the Amir Dost Mohammed Khan (1846) Mohan Lal Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	105
10. The Afghan Wars (1896) Archibald Forbes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	118
PART III. The Second Anglo- Afghan War, 1878– 1880: Imperial Insecurities, Global Stakes
11. “Gorchakov Circular” (1864) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
12. “The Rus sian Foreign Policy in Asia” (1877) Eugene Schuyler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	131
13. “The Afghan War: A Lecture” (1878) Handel Cossham Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	144
14. “Af ghan i stan and Its Peoples” (1878) and “Afghan Women and Children” (1880) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
15. “India and Afghanistan” (1879) R. D. Osborn Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
16. From the Spectator “The Magnitude of the Afghan War,” “The Disaster in Candahar,” “Abdurrahman Khan,” “The First Lesson of Candahar,” “The Rumour from Cabul,” and “The Death of Abdurrahman Khan” Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	175
PART IV. The Great Game, 1880– 1919
17. Russia in Central Asia (1889) George Nathaniel Curzon Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
18. “The Amir’s Homily” (1891) Rudyard Kipling Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	198
19. The Life of Abdur Rahman, Amir of Af ghan i stan (1900) and “The Ameer’s Memoirs” (1900) Mohammed Khan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	201
21. The Campaign Towards Af ghan i stan (1885) Andrei Bolandin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
22. The Story of the Malakand Field Force (1901) Churchill Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	222
23. “The Indian Frontier Troubles,” The Graphic (1897) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	233
24. The Judgment of the Sword (1913) Maud Diver Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	234
25. “Our Relations with Afghan istan” (1919) Demetrius C. Boulger Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	245
26. “Third Afghan War” (1919) Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	251
Selected Bibliography of Secondary Sources Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	255
Reprint Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	257
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	259

Language: English
Publisher: Duke University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 288
Illustrations
- Other: 1 photograph

eBook

Published: June 24, 2014
ISBN: 9780822376699