How Afghans Defeated The British Empire | Full Anglo-Afghan Wars Documentary

by the start of the 19th century the british east india company had become the dominant power across the subcontinent expanding in every direction britain came to realize the vast productive potential of india and sought to protect this asset by any means necessary at the same time russia's imperial expansion started to gain real momentum by the 1820s as it sought to make its way south beyond the caucus mountains although not anywhere near the indian border russia's rise worried the british this great game rivalry placed the mountainous kingdom of afghanistan in the middle emerging out of the dying embers of the durani empire afghanistan fought hard for its existence under the capable stewardship of amir dos muhammad khan the country was on a steady but troubled path towards political stability but their destiny would be disrupted with multiple invasions from the british in the south and a wariness of russian incursions in the north over the course of three wars starting in the 1830s and extending until 1919 we'll learn of the greatest military disaster faced by the british empire the intrigues of an afghan ruler who tried to play european powers against one another and even an invasion of british india by the afghans this is the story of the anglo-afghan wars [Music] [Music] the beginning of the 19th century was a time of great turmoil in afghan politics the durani empire established by ahmad shah durrani had descended into civil wars as his grandsons fought one another for supremacy as the brothers competed with one another the empire established by their grandfather dwindled until all that was left was afghanistan in the east the sikhs had become formidable foes to the afghans resting control of punjab from them under the leadership of ranjit singh the sikh kausa had even threatened the city of peshawar the winter capital of the durani empire in the backdrop of all this internal conflict the muhammad zai family rose to important positions of power within the royal court although they were from the ruling durani confederacy they came from a different tribe called the barak zai by 1823 the barak zai dynasty had toppled the durani dynasty and asserted their control over the realm under the helm of amir dos muhammad khan the afghans enjoyed greater stability and were even focused on addressing the sikh threat from the east [Music] as afghanistan was sorting out its internal issues neighboring india was going through its own radical changes long gone were the days of mughal supremacy by the 1820s the marathas who had confined the mughal emperor to delhi had themselves been sidelined by the british as the dominant force on the subcontinent under the auspices of the east india company the british colonial presence in india went from strength to strength as they created a sprawling bureaucracy and disciplined army that formed the bedrock of their political power and they were well rewarded for it india was rich with resources which could help the brits bankroll their industrialization on the british isles as well as their colonial projects overseas britain's main competitor in europe in this period was russia which had similar aims of colonial expansion the russians had pushed their borders southward into the caucasus mountains but were yet to make forays into central asia nevertheless the british still feared russian designs on india regardless of their feasibility there were worries in london that russia's desire for a warm water port could see it expand its presence towards the indian ocean through persia or afghanistan thus bringing them into direct conflict with british interests in india in such a political atmosphere afghanistan became a powder keg for the british and any russian interference in the country would be a cause for concern for the viceroy in india this rivalry was later dubbed as the great game of course the afghans were not passive bystanders in all of this dost muhammad or the dost as he was known by the british tried to benefit from the rivalry which threatened his realm by politically maneuvering between the two european powers he could use the situation to his advantage and tried to solicit the return of pier shawar to afghan control which by the mid-1830s had definitively fallen to the sikhs considering their proximity to the sikh empire dost muhammad preferred to side with the british over the russians in 1837 he wrote to lord auckland the british viceroy of india proposing an alliance if the british would support his quest to regain peshawar auckland responded with a message that would come back to haunt him stating my friend you are aware that it is not the practice of the british government to interfere with the affairs of other independent states in order to placate the emir auckland sent a delegation to kabul headed by alexander burns burns had previously met the emir five years before on his journey towards central asia and the two got along very well unbeknownst to the afghan ruler burns had been given explicit instruction to not agree to any formal alliance he was in kabul to try to learn more about the russian involvement in afghanistan with his advances being constantly rejected by burns the dost started to get frustrated at the same time a russian arrived in kabul by the name of jan vitkovich who claimed to be an envoy of the tsar oddly enough vitkovic was never confirmed to be an official russian envoy and would later commit suicide under mysterious circumstances his presence in the afghan court did however terrify the british even more so when vitkovic proposed the establishment of a russian diplomatic mission stationed in kabul in a bid to force the british viceroy's hand dost muhammad leaked details of the meeting so that he could push the british into granting him the alliance that he wanted viceroy auckland did not like what he heard especially since his trusted and hawkish advisor william hey magnatan urged him to take action against dos muhammad the british demanded that dos muhammad stop all communication with the russians the afghan ruler asked the viceroy to put the terms in writing and sign a formal alliance to which he had no response from india so he met with vikkovich again this was the last straw determined to stop afghanistan from being drawn into the russian orbit viceroy auckland decided to depose the dost the british position was strengthened by the fact that shah shuja a grandson of ahmad shah durrani and a former ruler of afghanistan had been living on a british pension in india and was therefore a suitable replacement for dos muhammad in october 1838 the order was given to invade afghanistan so that dors muhammad could be dethroned and afghanistan could be saved from foreign intervention the irony was obviously lost on the viceroy the army of the indus consisted of just over 30 000 soldiers with an even greater number of camp followers prior to moving on afghanistan the british had to deal with the fact that the sikh empire lay between it and dos muhammad's realm thankfully for the british ranjit singh was more than glad to see his old afghan rival undermined therefore he had no qualms with the invading army of the indus going through his realm passing through the bolan pass in march 1839 the british were delighted that the former afghan capital of kandahar was taken without a fight the following month in july the intimidating fortress of razny was taken when a young british officer named henry marion durand laid satchel charges which blew the gates open interestingly enough his son henry mortimer durand would be the person that the famous durand line would be named after by august dos muhammad had fled the capital and the british triumphantly entered kabul with shah shuja [Music] having established him on the throne the british soon found out that shah shuja was a largely incapable ruler stories of his brutality became well known nonetheless the shah's power was limited by magnatan who had accompanied the expedition as britain's chief representative in kabul burns had also accompanied the mission as magnatan's number two british garrisons were created in kandahar razny jalalabad and of course kabal certain sub-tribes within the rilse confederacy were paid off by the british to keep the supply lines between kabal and the khaibar pass open for the time being there seemed to be an eerie sense of acceptance from the afghans of the new foreign occupiers this was not lost upon the british who called for their families to come to kabul bringing amenities such as cigars and whiskey with them the british cantonment in the capital was walled and a community arose that sought to establish a british way of life inside of it they had cricket matches tea parties and theater shows as for dos muhammad he was nowhere to be seen after his initial escape in 1839 the dorst had fled north to bukhara where he was imprisoned by the local ruler eventually escaping he re-entered afghanistan with a small force of uzbeks the british were disturbed by these reports but they were pleasantly surprised in november 1840 when dos muhammad personally appeared before mahnathan and voluntarily surrendered on the back of such a commanding position british policymakers in london felt that their reims had been achieved in afghanistan and there was no point in further draining the indian treasury much of their forces were ordered to withdraw leaving only a force of 8 000 in afghanistan in the summer of 1841 magnatan had written to a colleague in india that afghanistan was perfectly quiet not everyone in the british camp believed this though the british commander of the armed forces major general roberts whose son would play a leading role in the second anglo-afghan war resigned in protest of the actions taken by the british political administration he was replaced by the elderly figure of william elphinstone the honeymoon period soon unraveled for the british by 1841 afghan discontent began to rise to the surface the general state of security started to decline as robbers and outlaws increased their activities to confound matters wazirak barchan the capable and charismatic son of dos muhammad soon became a leader of the resistance he looked to disturb the supply lines and raided roads connecting the cities as 1841 progressed there were episodes of attacks on british personnel in the cities as well the gradual increase in tension and crime was an omen of the future in a bid to save money the british payments to the jose tribesmen for keeping the eastern supply routes open had also been cut the tribesmen did not take this well and began routine attacks on the british supply lines brits inside of afghanistan were not safe not even in kabbal in november 1841 there was an attack on alexander burns's residence in the months before rumors abounded across kabul that british soldiers were fraternizing with afghan women in such a highly patriarchal society this was considered absolutely unacceptable by the afghans so a crowd gathered outside the house of burns who had chosen to live outside the british cantonment the angry mob wanted to express their disapproval of the foreigners on that day however burns had been hosting a few local women in his house the crowd became incensed by this contempt for their culture and became violent burns was caught and beaten to death by the angry mob these developments forced the british leadership in kabul to realize the danger of the situation magnatan reached out to azerak barchan in order to negotiate thinking that the afghan uprising was under the prince's control at the same time he secretly asked the british garrison and kandahar to come with their forces to kabul somehow akbar khan found out about this plan to double cross him and ended up killing makhnatan when they met in december the elderly and ineffective elfin stone was now in charge of the british in kabul he agreed to surrender kabul to akbar khan in return for safe passage to the british garrison in jalalabad at the beginning of january 1842 the british evacuated kabul and set upon their journey eastward more than 16 000 people with four and a half thousand being military personnel and the rest civilians they had to travel 140 kilometers across the snow-capped hindu kush mountains in the midst of the harsh afghan winter what the british failed to firmly understand was that the afghan insurrection was not engineered by or under the control of a single figure whilst akbar khan was an influential leader the uprising was a natural outgrowth of afghan resentment at the british occupation of their country therefore the revolt was far more decentralized and unstructured than the british assumed as a result akbar khan was never in a position to guarantee the safety of the british journey from karbal to jalalabad because the tribes on that route did not necessarily take their orders from the prince over the next week the local tribes took up positions along the mountain range with their effective long-range gizao rifles and intermittently opened fire on the retreating british between the tribesmen and the harsh cold weather the british column was completely wiped out the episode is often considered as the greatest humiliation faced by the british during the 19th century and has helped afghanistan gain a reputation as a graveyard of empires the lone figure of dr william briden in this painting has popularized the mistaken belief that he was the only survivor from the ordeal when in reality several indian suppoys reached jalalabad over the coming weeks despite this disaster the british still had garrisons in kandahar razny and jalalabad the afghans were able to take ghazni but the brits held out in jalalabad and kandahar giving them enough time for relief forces to arrive from india in the spring of 1842 by this time lord ellenboro had replaced lord auckland as the viceroy in india and had been given instructions by london to bring an end to the war in afghanistan after punishing the afghans and reclaiming some lost glory the already present contingent of british troops inside the country were aided by a relief column referred to as the army of retribution which was instructed to march upon the capital and secure the release of british prisoners taken on the retreat from kabul along the way the british committed many acts of reprisals against villagers and their inhabitants in september the historic bazaar of kabul was burnt down having exacted their revenge and achieved their revised aims the british completely withdrew from afghanistan in october 1842 shah shuja had been assassinated earlier in the spring of 1842 and so the position for the ruler of afghanistan was open a position which was filled by none other than dos muhammad who was released from captivity by the british at the end of the year and warned against opening up to the russians again over the next 20 years dos muhammad would spread his authority to all the major cities in afghanistan peshawar however was never regained again by the afghans in 1863 he was succeeded by his son shirali who would find himself in a similar predicament to his father when his country once again faced the specter of a british invasion in the late 1870s in the years following britain's withdrawal from afghanistan in 1842 the russians had steadily expanded their border southward in central asia during the 1860s and 70s the russian empire had swallowed up the city-states of kiva khokhand bohara and tashkent by 1876 all that remained between the russian empire in central asia and the british in india was the emirate of afghanistan this was a huge problem for the british there had been british politicians who criticized the exaggerated fear of russian expansion that led up to the first anglo-afghan war but by the 1870s those criticisms seemed irresponsible in light of russian aggression in the region the british were well aware of the russian desire for a warm water port something which would have required them to gain access to the indian ocean a move that would undoubtedly have undermined the british position in india to give further impetus to the prospect of a showdown in the great game key changes took place within british politics in the 1870s benjamin disraeli of the conservative party had defeated william gladstone of the liberals in the 1874 british elections the new prime minister held a much more adventurous outlook on foreign policy than his predecessor and sought to take a more head-on approach to countering russian expansion the british were not the only ones worried by these developments the afghan emir shiralikhan was keen on maintaining neutrality in the rivalry between the two colonial powers he had shown signs of being interested in bringing reforms to afghanistan such as a basic postal service and military modernization but the 19th century was a dangerous time to be an afghan ruler large parts of his reign were focused on him just maintaining the security of his position he had come to power in 1863 after the long reign of his father amir dos muhammad khan but just three years into his reign shiralikhan was forced into exile by his brother muhammad afzalchan crucially sharalichan spent his time in exile in bukhara where with the help of russian aid he was able to recapture his throne in 1868 this detail would prove problematic for the british to stomach when the emir would later profess his neutrality even upon regaining his throne sherali's internal security woes continued his sanya kub had organized a failed revolt against him for which he landed in prison bashirali's other son abdullah had proven himself to be capable and was favored by his father to succeed him the first obvious step on the path to the second anglo-afghan war occurred in 1878 when lord leighton the new viceroy of india and prime minister disraeli's protege sent the emir a letter insisting that the rebellious yakub be announced as his heir instead of abdullah why the british preferred one son over the other is unclear but nevertheless leighton suffixed the request with a dire threat saying we can pour an army into your country before any russian soldier can help you the letter also informed the emir that an envoy was coming to kabul to talk over the matter shirali after deliberately waiting an infuriating amount of time informed the british that he would choose his own successor and that no such envoy shall come but instead he would send his own men to calcutta to talk over these demands when the afghan amir's men arrived in the capital of the raj the british had no interest in a discussion instead they listed a harsh set of demands that would have essentially transformed afghanistan into an autonomous region within the british empire shirali apparently flew into a rage upon hearing the terms immediately rejecting them he tried to reinforce his expressed desire to remain neutral and independent of the russian and british rivalry but his words were undermined by the fact that unbeknownst to him an uninvited russian delegation had crossed into afghanistan in july of 1878 and wanted to meet with the emir directly even though sherali tried to get the russians to turn back and leave his country his efforts proved futile this confirmed the suspicions of the british in calcutta as shirali was watching his country edge closer to war tragedy hit his house his son and favorite successor abdullah died sending the ruler into a state of grief which he never really recovered from regardless of this the british demanded that the emir should accept an envoy of their own to kabul sher ali ordered that the british mission be turned back at the khaibar pass if it arrived and that's exactly what happened in september 1878. with a russian delegation in kabul and a refusal to accept a british one lord lyton was now convinced that the emir had chosen a side this episode and the subsequent refusal of the emir to apologize for his actions was the spark to the pile of gun powder and triggered the official declaration of war from britain [Music] in november 1878 a british force of roughly 40 000 men mainly indians prepared to invade afghanistan the army was to be split into three columns with one being tasked to march through the bolan pass and seize kandahar in the west a second column was responsible for securing the khaibar pass before advancing on jalalabad in the east whilst the third column advanced along the kuram valley towards kabal in the center in the khaibar the invading column was met with resistance by afghan forces at the fortress of ali masjid the result was a swift british victory something which was replicated at the battle of pewar kothal in the quran valley a few weeks later just these two battles alone more or less ensured that the british path to kabul was secure and so amir sher al-ikhan decided to go north and ask the russians for help a request that was turned down by the tsar's men who instead encouraged him to seek peace talks with the invading force at this point the beleaguered amir gave up he came down with a fever and had a leg injury that turned gangrenous the whole while he refused any medical aid food and water he would die a few weeks later in february 1879. the afghan throne then passed to his rebellious son yakub immediately he repaid the british trust in him he ordered the afghan troops to stand down and let the british peacefully march to kabul the first phase of the second anglo-afghan war had been concluded the emir went in person to meet the british before they reached the capital in the small town of gundamak where he famously signed the notorious treaty of gandamak in may 1879. according to this agreement the emir was to receive an annual subsidy from the british as well as assurances of assistance in case of foreign aggression in return the afghans had to pay a steep price yakubchan was to relinquish control of afghan foreign affairs to the british viceroy in india he also had to accept a british mission to reside in kabul and perhaps most seriously give the british jurisdiction over strategic chunks of territory such as the quran pass pishin and sibi in what would eventually become the north western frontier province and balochistan the british mission was headed by two individuals neville bowles chamberlain an ancestor of the future british prime minister in the 1930s and sir louis cavanaugh in july both men along with the entire british mission entered kabul on elephants waving to the unimpressed crowd and took up residence near the historic balahisar the emir ensured that his british allies were doted upon lavishly and given the utmost hospitality but the ordinary of hrans who were witnessing foreigners entering their capital triumphantly were not so warm and welcoming this feeling extended to the afghan troops who had gone unpaid for months because they were told there was a lack of funds while they stood helplessly and watched the emir spend money on his new foreign friends even at this stage kavanaugh had noticed the discontented murmurings of the afghan natives even so on september the 2nd 1879 he sent a letter back to calcutta reporting everything to be well in afghanistan one day later he was dead it all began with a rumor a contingent of unhappy soldiers had gone to kavanaugh because they were told he had the funds to pay them the soldiers broke into the british residency and began looting this was seen by kabuli civilians who promptly joined in as the dislike for the british had reached its boiling point kavanaugh who for all intents and purposes seemed like quite a pompous man believed he was well equipped to deal with the tribal of france considering his previous experience with the pashtuns of the frontier so he decided to exhibit a show of strength that he thought would impress the efrans by climbing onto the roof and shouting down at the crowd the angry crowd was not impressed by this lame display of courage now kavanaugh switched gears and ordered his few troops to fire on the angry mob the 70 or so members of the british residency were cut down by the thousands of angry avranz and so began the second phase of the war one of the three columns of british troops that had invaded the country led by major general frederick roberts stormed towards the capital dispatched any tribal forces that had gathered around and took control of kabul there was some confusion as to whether ameriya kubran was to be allowed to remain as amir for all they knew he conspired in the assassination of cavanari which was not the case the amir resolved this debate himself asking to be relieved of his position and so he was sent to india to live on a modest pension the former amir supposedly said i would rather cut grass in the british camp than to be amir of afghanistan the union jack was hoisted over the balahisar fort the british were going to rule directly until a new puppet amir could be found then began the retribution major general roberts took it upon himself to punish the afghans for the killing of kavanaugh and so the citizens of kabul were fined some imprisoned and several hung for their crimes forts and villages were raised in order to reinforce to the afghan chieftains who was in charge in hindsight this caused the swelling of anger in the country instead of the desired effect of instilling fear whispers of islam itself being attacked had started to circulate and the british consummation of pygmy was a common way to get the crowds riled up it was clear that the war was not over yet but afghanistan did not have an effective army the army they did have was handily defeated at almost every corner and so the use of regimented lines and order was thrown out of the window instead the use of guerrilla warfare was the adopted strategy of farmers and tribesmen for whom fighting was not a profession but a way of life their fighting spirit was boosted by clerics across the countryside such as the 90-year-old mushki alam who urged afghans to defend islam by ridding the country of the british even though the guerrilla warfare was largely ineffective in terms of winning battles it was still a grave annoyance to the british army for instance major general roberts once traveled 300 miles in 20 days with 10 000 men in the afghan summer to relieve an afghan siege of kandahar this was an amazing achievement of organization and endurance the only issue is when roberts got to kandahar the afghans had already lifted the siege so the problem for the british was not winning battles because they had won almost every single one the problem was the afghans kept fighting regardless of losing battles therefore the war in afghanistan just became a money pit which was swallowing up british india's resources at this stage the british started entertaining the idea of partitioning afghanistan in a way that would benefit them several plans were proposed which included the annexation of kandahar or handing herat over to persia ultimately the plan to partition afghanistan was shelved for a variety of reasons chief amongst them being the return of the liberals to power in britain in the spring of 1880 the returning prime minister william gladstone had been a vocal critic of benjamin disraeli's policy towards afghanistan and favored a less aggressive solution but before all of that was to be decided upon ayub khan another son of sharalihan stormed down from herat and led eight thousand men into the field of maiwand near kandahar where his forces attacked a two and a half thousand strong british force in the west maiwand is best known as the battle in which the fictional dr watson was wounded before he met sherlock holmes in the famous stories by arthur conan doyle in afghanistan the battle has become a symbol of national pride since the afghans won decisively inflicting almost a thousand casualties on the british according to afghan folklore it is said that as the afghan line began to give way a young woman named malali aged 18 or 19 grabbed the bloodied flag of her people raised it high and shouted and pushed her young love if you do not fall in the battle of maiwand by god someone is saving you as a symbol of shame in the midst of the battle malali was killed but her words and actions had spurred on her countryment victory since then malali has become afghanistan's iconic heroine it's joan of arc ayub khan tried to use the momentum of this victory to retake the city of kandahar but major general roberts had made his incredible journey to defend the city that we mentioned previously when the battle of kandahar finally did take place on september 1st 1880 it ended with a decisive british victory and a youbrand's army was in retreat the second anglo-afghan war was now over [Music] the british had to decide what to do with afghanistan in the end they settled on keeping the country whole and selecting abdulrahman khan as the new amir son of a former amir and cousin to ayub khan abdul rahman was a somewhat surprising candidate considering he had spent 11 years exiled in russian-controlled central asia but he was going to be a perfect fit the new ruler who would go on to become known as the ayan emir accepted all the key british conditions he did however express that the british must not interfere with the internal affairs of his country as a result of reinforcing the treaty of gundamac the new emir forfeited control of his country's foreign affairs so the british were happy to oblige to his demand the very next year in 1881 ayub khan tried to retake kandahar from his cousin but was defeated and subsequently fled the country just like his brother yakub ayub would eventually be exiled in india where he became a pensioner of the british as for the russians besides the potentially dangerous panchder incident in 1885 they never again mingled with afghanistan's affairs in terms of who won the war it's tough to tell both sides gained something from the conflict the afghans gained clarity and a peace of mind that the british would not intervene in its domestic affairs whilst the british gained a neutral buffer state between itself and its rival russia but both sides paid dearly for what they received as well the british lost men and resources whilst the afghans had their sovereignty undermined by the loss of control over its foreign affairs not to mention the loss of territory in the south and east which the iron emir would put pen to paper on to make an official border in 1893 under the durand agreement throughout the 19th century britain and russia engaged in what historians refer to as the great game whereby the two sides vied for domination over persia and afghanistan for britain india was the jewel in the crown so a potentially hostile neighboring afghanistan was unacceptable twice during the 19th century britain invaded the rugged country both times getting their fingers burnt the retreat from kabul in 1842 at the end of the first anglo-afghan war was arguably the worst british military disaster of the 19th century during the second anglo-afghan war the british enforced the treaty of gundamac upon the afghans in 1879. this treaty stipulated that whilst the afghan emir could maintain his own internal rule control of the country's foreign affairs would be the prerogative of british india in return the afghan emir would receive british protection as well as an annual subsidy thereby essentially being reduced to a dependency in this time the british were eager to officially demarcate afghanistan's borders in 1893 amir abdul rahman khan the man known as the ayan emir signed a contentious agreement with the british that produced the border between afghanistan and british india aka the durand line as a result of this line the pashtuns the dominant ethnic group in afghanistan was split across two political entities like so many other colonial partitions the arbitrariness of this line ensured that the spillover of tension still continues to this day between afghanistan and the successor of british india pakistan in 1901 amir habibullah came to power much softer than his father he allowed the return of prominent exiled families this is significant because returning families brought with them new ideas that the afghanistan closed off by amir abdulrahman khan did not yet have access to chief amongst this group was mahmoud tarzi who spent almost two decades in the ottoman empire through the editorship of his newspaper siraju lakhbar tarzi propagated ideas that were wildly popular amongst the intellectuals of the colonised world everything from anti-imperialism to nationalism to islamic modernism tarzi even developed a mental protege relationship with prince amanullah who would go on to become his son-in-law issues of serenity and anti-imperialism were so popular in afghanistan at this time that they were the uniting force bringing together the progressives and the conservative factions at the afghan royal court it wasn't hard to be annoyed if you were an afghan nationalist in this time considering the existence of things like the anglo-russian convention of 1907 this was the agreement between britain and russia which officially brought an end to the great game by clearly demarcating zones of influence in central asia and persia [Music] all of this was done however without the consent of the countries they were acting on behalf of even amir habibullah was enraged that the agreement had been made without his nation say-so world war one proved to be a big test even though the german allied ottoman sultan called for muslims to start a jihad against the allies amir habibullah held out despite the outcry of the staunchly muslim and anti-imperialist afghan society the amir wanted independence but was much more politically conservative than many of those at his court he would pay for his conservatism with his life because shortly after world war one he was assassinated after a few days of rule from nasrullah habibullah's brother the enigmatic amanullah would depose his uncle and accuse him of complicity in his father's murder although habibullah's killers have never been revealed amanullah is as likely a suspect as anybody but who killed habibullah is not as important as why he was killed because the y would reveal the course taken by his successor you see almost the entire royal court was united in their desire for complete independence from british india and habibullah was seen as an obstacle to that his son amanullah under the guidance of the modernist-minded reformer mahmoud tarzi immediately set about to regain complete sovereignty over afghan affairs pragmatically amanullah needed a way to unite the nation against the common foe considering elements of the conservative status quo were unhappy about their new king for his modernist disposition and for the way he threw his uncle the foremost conservative leader in the country in prison nonetheless it should not be undermined that there was widespread one could almost say a national desire for independence the historian vartan gregorian writes in 1919 no ruler could have succeeded in establishing a stronghold over the afghan nation without pledging himself to the cause of total afghan independence and so in his very first royal proclamation amanullah vowed to lead his nation to total independence a promise which was received very positively by the afghan populace by this time the third anglo-afghan war was inevitable amanola sent a letter to the viceroy of india that proclaimed the independence of his country the response showed that the british did not take the new emir seriously being slow to reply and vague in their response and so in early may 1919 amanullah gave the order to invade british india in the past afghan invasions of india had resulted in vast conquests and plunder their invasion this time came at a few different points along the frontier amanullah had hoped for a wide-scale pashtun rebellion from his fellow pashtun brethrens across the durand line in british india against their european colonizers some tribal support was forthcoming from the waziris and massouds especially after the success of nadarkhan commander in chief of the afghan forces and future king who was able to capture the fortress of tal across the frontier in british india but the british always on their toes for a tribal pashtun uprising had adequately prepared for this in the months leading up to the war and prevented large pashtun tribes such as the afridis and muhammad from mobilizing after initial afghan success the british were able to neutralize the afghan threat the british had more men with better training and better weaponry to the horror of the afghans they even bombed major afghan cities like kabul and jalalabad however the british had just finished fighting in world war one and did not have the stomach for renewed conflict in the face of stiff afghan resistance and the almost perennial danger of an uprising among the pashtuns on the frontier the british found it expedient to be on peaceful terms with the afrans so when the afrans approached with an offer of an armistice in late may the british gladly accepted both sides claimed victory but considering the overwhelming disparity in the military capabilities of the two sides it's clear that the afghans had more to cheer about in light of the fact that they had forced the mighty british to the negotiating table the end to the war was not as smooth sailing as it is often depicted negotiations dragged on for more than two years nonetheless the treaty of raul pindi was signed on august 8 1919 and signaled a formal armistice the afrans under their energetic foreign minister mahmoud tarzi almost immediately began a vigorous campaign of establishing bilateral relations with various states thus raising their political legitimacy in the international community the british would only come to recognize afghanistan's independence years later the anglo-afghan treaty was signed in 1921 with the complete recognition from the british that afghanistan was now a sovereign and independent nation but the afghans had to pay a price the juran line was upheld as the official border delineating the two states nevertheless even the final agreement itself was considered to be a temporary arrangement the issue of the duran line was in no way shape or form put to rest indeed it still plagues afghan-pakistani relations today but the anglo-afghan war of 1919 had resulted in afghanistan becoming one of if not the only muslim country at the time that was independent thank you guys for watching i want to thank my patrons for always supporting if you want to financially support hikmah history there's a link to my patreon in the description to this video until next time peace

Channel: Hikma History

Views: 392,150

Keywords: History of Afghanistan, British vs Afghans, afghanistan taliban, افغانستان, مجاهدين, Graveyard of Empires, Great Game, kabul history, afghanistan war documentary, afghanistan map, talibanes afganistán, Afghan Independence, Afghan History, afghanistan news, Panjshir Resistance, Amir Amanullah Khan Afghanistan, Afghanistan War, Afghan Guerrilla Warfare, soviets invade afghanistan, Pashtun History, Soviet Afghan War, Zahir Shah Afghanistan, King of Afghanistan, Durand Line

Id: Y1TQEW9NBMo

Length: 52min 18sec (3138 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 01 2022