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  THE
  FIRST AFGHAN WAR.

  BY
  MOWBRAY MORRIS.

  London:
  SAMPSON LOW, MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON,
  CROWN BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET.
  1878.

  [_All rights reserved._]




PREFACE.


The following pages pretend to give nothing more than a short summary
of events already recorded by recognised authorities.




THE FIRST AFGHAN WAR.


It was in the year 1808, when the power of Napoleon was at its height,
that diplomatic relations were first opened between the Courts of
Calcutta and Cabul. Napoleon, when in Egypt, had meditated on the
chances of striking a fatal blow at England through her Indian
dependencies; some correspondence had actually passed between him and
Tippoo Saib on the subject, and subsequently, in 1801, he had concluded
a treaty with the Russian Emperor Paul for an invasion of India by
a force of 70,000 men, to be composed of equal parts of French and
Russian troops. The proposed line of march was to lie through Astrakhan
and Afghanistan to the Indus, and was to be heralded by Zemaun Shah,
who then ruled at Cabul, at the head of 100,000 Afghans. There was but
little danger indeed to be apprehended from Afghanistan alone, but
Afghanistan with Russia and France in the background was capable of
proving a very troublesome enemy. In such circumstances the attitude
of Persia was of the last importance, and Marquess Wellesley, then
Viceroy of India, at once proceeded to convert a possible enemy into
a certain and valuable ally. A young officer who had distinguished
himself under Harris at Seringapatam was selected for this delicate
service. How the young captain, whom Englishmen remember as Sir John
Malcolm, fulfilled his mission is matter of history. A thorough master
of all Oriental languages, and as skilful in council as he was brave in
the field, Malcolm soon pledged the Court of Persia to the interests
of England, and not only was it agreed that the two contracting
parties should unite to expel any French force that might seek to gain
a footing on any of the islands or shores of Persia, but the latter
Government bound itself to "slay and disgrace" any Frenchman found
in the country. This treaty, which may be thought to have somewhat
dangerously stretched the bounds of diplomatic hostility, was, however,
never formally ratified, and internal dissensions, culminating in the
deposition of Zemaun Shah by his brother Mahmoud, removed all danger
from our frontier for a time.

But the idea still lived in Napoleon's restless heart. The original
treaty with Paul was discussed with his successor Alexander, and in
1808 a French mission, with the avowed design of organizing the
proposed invasion, was despatched, not to Cabul, but to Teheran. The
magic of Napoleon's name was stronger even than British eloquence and
British gold, and Malcolm, once all-powerful in Iran, when he sought
to renew the former pledges of amity, was turned back with insult from
the Persian capital. A second mission, however, despatched direct from
London under the guidance of Sir Harford Jones, was more fortunate.
Napoleon had been defeated in Spain, and the news of his defeat had
spread. Russia was something less eager for the French alliance than
she had been in 1801, while between the Muscovites and the Persians
there had long existed a hereditary feud, which the proposed league
had by no means served to extinguish. The English envoy, skilfully
piecing together these broken threads to his own ends, was enabled with
little loss of time to conclude an offensive and defensive alliance
between Great Britain and Persia, the earliest result of which was the
immediate dismissal of the French mission. By this treaty the Persian
King bound himself not to permit the passage through his dominions
of any force hostile to India, and, in the event of war arising
between England and Afghanistan, to invade the latter at the cost of
the former; furthermore, he declared null all treaties previously
concluded by him with any other European power. The English, in their
turn, pledged themselves to assist him, should his kingdom be invaded,
either with men or money and arms, but should the war be one only with
Afghanistan, they were not to interfere unless their interference was
sought by both parties. Though this treaty was concluded in 1808-9, it
was not formally ratified till November 15, 1814.

Not on Persia alone, however, was the English Government content to
rely. In a friendly Afghanistan was a second most serviceable string
which it had been the