478
HISTOR Y OF BRITISH R ULE.
The
winter
retreat.
Our
garrisonannihil-ated, 1842.
But Lord Auckland had another and more important objectin view. At this time the Russians were advancing rapidly inCentral Asia , and a Persian army, not without Russian support,was besieging Herat , then as now the bulwark of Afghanistan on the west. A Russian envoy was at Kabul at the sametime as our own envoy Burnes . The latter was unable tosatisfy the demands of Dost Muhammad in the matter ofPeshawar , and returned to India unsuccessful. Lord Auck-land forthwith resolved upon the hazardous plan of placing amore subservient ruler upon the throne of Kabul .
Shah Shuja , one of the two exiles of Ludhiana , was selectedfor the purpose. At this time both the Punjab and Sindwere independent kingdoms. Sind was the less powerful ofthe two, and accordingly a British army escorting Shah Shuja made its way by that route into southern Afghanistan throughthe Bolan Pass. Kandahdr surrendered; Ghazni was taken bystorm. Dost Muhammad fled across the Hindu Kush , andShah Shuja was triumphantly led into the Bala Hissar atKabul in August 1839. After one more brave struggle, Dost Muhammad surrendered, and was sent to Calcutta as a Stateprisoner.
But although we could enthrone Shah Shuja , we could notwin for him the hearts of the Afghans. To that nation heseemed a degenerate exile thrust back upon them by foreignarms. During two years Afghanistan remained in the militaryoccupation of the British. The catastrophe occurred inNovember 1841, when our Political Agent, Sir Alexander Burnes , was assassinated in the city of Kabul . The troopsin the cantonments were under the command of GeneralElphinstone (not to be confounded with the able civilian andhistorian, the Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone ). Sir William Macnaghten was the Political Officer . Elphinstone , an oldman, proved unequal to the responsibilites of the position.Macnaghten was treacherously murdered at an interview withthe Afghan chief , Akbar Khan , eldest son of Dost Muhammad .
After lingering amid disgraceful dissensions and with fatalindecision in cantonments for two months, the British army-set off in the depth of winter, under a fallacious guaranteefrom the Afghan leaders, to find its way back to India throughthe passes. When they started, they numbered 4000 fightingmen with 12,000 camp followers. A single survivor, Dr. Brydon,reached the friendly walls of Jalalabad , where General Salewas gallantly holding out. The rest perished in the snowydefiles of Khurd-Kabul and Jagdalak, from the knives and