Scenes and Adventures in Affghanistan

by William Taylor

FROM THE DELHI GAZETTE EXTRAORDINARY, OCTOBER 1, 1842.

"The Right Hon. the Govenor-General of India having with the concurrence of the Supreme Council, directed the assemblage of a British force for service across the Indus, his Lordship deems it proper to publish the following exposition of reasons which have led to this important measure.

"It is a matter of notoriety that the treaties entered into by the British Government in the year 1832 with the Ameers of Scinde, the Nawab of Bahawulpore, and Maharaja Runjeet Singh, had for their object, by opening the navigation of the Indus, to facilitate the extension of commerce, and to gain for the British nation in Central Asia that legitimate influence which an interchange of benefits would naturally produce.

"With a view to invite the aid of the de facto rulers of Afghanistan to the measures necessary for giving full effect to those treaties, Captain Burnes was deputed, towards the close of the year 1836, on a mission to Dost Mahomed Khan, chief of Cabul: the original objects of that officer's mission were purely of a commercial nature.

"Whilst Captain Burnes, however, was on his journey to Cabul, information was received by the Governor-General that the troops of Dost Mahomed Khan had made a sudden and unprovoked attack on those of our ancient ally, Maharaja Runjeet Singh. It was naturally to be apprehended that his Highness the Maharaja would not be slow to avenge this aggression, and it was to be feared that the flames of war being once kindled in the very regions into which we were endeavouring to extend our commerce, the peaceful and beneficial purposes of the British Government would be altogether frustrated. In order to avert a result so calamitous, the Governor-General resolved on authorising Captain Burnes to intimate to Dost Mahomed Khan, that if he should evince a disposition to come to just and reasonable terms with the Maharaja, his Lordship would exert his good offices with his Highness for the restoration of an amicable understanding between the two Powers. The Maharaja, with the characteristic confidence which he has uniformly placed in the faith and friendship of the British nation, at once assented to the proposition of the Governor-General, to the effect that in the mean time hostilities on his part should be suspended.

"It subsequently came to the knowledge of the Govenor-General that a Persian army was besieging Herat; that intrigues were actively prosecuted throughout Affghanistan, for the purpose of extending Persian influence and authority to the banks of, and even beyond, the Indus; and that the Court of Persia had not only commenced a course of injury and insult to the officers of Her Majesty's mission in the Persian territory, but had afforded evidence of being engaged in designs wholly at variance with the principles and objects of its alliance with Great Britain.

"After much time spent by Captain Burnes in fruitless negotiation at Cabul, it appeared that Dost Mahomed Khan, chiefly in consequence of his reliance upon Persian encouragement and assistance, persisted, as respected his misunderstanding with the Sikhs, in urging the most unreasonable pretensions, such as the Governor-General could not, consistently with justice and his regard for the friendship of Maharajah Runjeet Singh, be the channel of submitting to the consideration of his Highness; that he avowed schemes of aggrandizement and ambition injurious to the security and peace of the frontiers of India; and that he openly threatened, in furtherance of these schemes, to call in every foreign aid which he could command. Ultimately, he gave his undisguised support to the Persian designs in Affghanistan, of the unfriendly and injurious character of which, as concerned the British power in India, he was well apprised; and by his utter disregard of the views and interests of the British Government compelled Captain Burnes to leave Cabul without having effected any of the objects of his mission.

"It was now evident that no further interference could be exercised by the British Government to bring about a good understanding between the Sikh ruler and Dost Mahomed Khan; and the hostile policy of the latter chief showed too plainly that so long as Cabul remained under his government we could never hope that the tranquillity of our neighbourhood would be secured, or that the interests of our Indian empire would be preserved inviolate.

"The Governor-General deems it in this place necessary to revert to the siege of Herat and the conduct of the Persian nation. The siege of that city had now been carried on by the Persian army for many months. The attack upon it was a most unjustifiable and cruel aggression, perpetrated and continued notwithstanding the solemn and repeated remonstrances of the British Envoy at the Court of Persia, and after every just and becoming offer of accommodation had been made and rejected. The besieged have behaved with gallantry and fortitude worthy of the justice of their cause, and the Govenor-General would yet indulge the hope that their heroism may enable them to maintain a successful defence until succours shall reach them from British India. In the mean time the ulterior designs of Persia, affecting the interests of the British Government, have been by a succession of events, more and more openly manifested. The Governor-General has recently ascertained, by an official despatch from Mr. M'Neil, Her Majesty's Envoy, that his Excellency has been compelled, by the refusal of his just demands, and by a systematic course of disrespect adopted towards him by the Persian Government, to quit the court of the Schah, and to make a public declaration of the cessation of all intercourse between the two Governments. The necessity under which Great Britain is placed of regarding the present advance of the Persian arms into Affghanistan as an act of hostility towards herself, has also been officially communicated to the Schah, under the express order of Her Majesty's Government.

"The chiefs of Candahar (brothers of Dost Mahomed Khan, of Cabul) have avowed their adherence to the Persian policy, with the same full knowledge of its opposition to the rights and interests of the British nation in India, and to have been openly assisting in the operations against Herat.