Retreat from Kabul - One European returns

It may sound like an adventure, and it certainly was, but it turned bad for the British who were involved. On 13 January 1842 a British Doctor, William Brydon, the only European of 16.500 people who left Kabul arrived in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. 

The British invaded Afghanistan from India in 1839 to block the Russian empire from taking the country, in the so called “Great Game”. It was not so great for the Afghans, but they were not asked for an opinion. So the British put Shah Shuja on the Afghan throne as king. The Afghans were annoyed to be ruled by an unpopular Amir propped up on foreign, or farangi, bayonets. The British were the real rulers; they were rather harsh and fraternized with local women as they wished. The Afghans found this to be a complete lack of respect, and harassed them violently. 

The Durrani leader Mohammad Akbar offered the British a safe retreat. But they rushed out from Kabul towards Jalalabad in the middle of winter. Another tribe, the Ghilzai, who did not agree with the Durrani, attacked the column. Brydon’s report is chilling to read. If Brezhnev, Andropov and the other members of the Soviet Politburo, or President Bush and his staff had read it, I think they would have reconsidered to invade Afghanistan. That would have saved a few million lives, from the Soviet invasion in 1979 until today. 

Remnants of an Army by Elizabeth Butler.

  Last stand of the 44th at Gandamak, by William Barnes Wollen.

Aftermath

Brydon became famous as the only survivor, but some Sepoys (Indian soldiers) and about 20 Afghan soldiers also reached Jalalabad. In addition 35 British officers, fifty one of other ranks, 12 wives and 22 children had been captured, and were later released. But Brydon was the only European to reach Jalalabad.

Brydon’s report is printed in Louis Dupree’s book Afghanistan.

Revenge came, as it used to do during the British Empire except in the American Revolution, and the British reconquered Kabul. They left again, and came back. Finally they set a border, the Durand Line between British India and Afghanistan, cutting the Pashtun area in the middle in 1893. And they accepted Afghan independence in 1919. The Afghans have not quite accepted the Durand Line as a border, today dividing Afghanistan with Pakistan. There is need for more knowledge about what happened in Afghanistan and India during the British rule, so that more peaceful solutions can be found for the future.

Map of the march-route Kabul-Jalalabad.     

A pass in the Kabul - Jalalabad road, Afghanistan.

To conquer and maintain an empire is a costly enterprise, both in human and financial terms. Most so for the conquered of course, but they don’t have a say. The violence has a tendency to turn back on the conquerors sooner or later. Many armies and soldiers have learned these basic lessons, but few emperors seem to have. So it seems like history continues to repeat certain stories, until enough people become conscious and change the course of events.

Sources and more information

Afghanistan, Louis Dupree, 1980 edition, Princeton University Press, New Jersey.

http://www.britishbattles.com/first-afghan-war/kabul-gandamak.htm

http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1251826/history-of-Afghanistan

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Bjarte Bjørsvik