1879 Quartermaster General's Department City Plan or Map of Kabul, Afghanistan

This is an 1879 Quartermaster General's Office (QMG) and Royal Engineer Institute city plan or map of Kabul, Afghanistan and environs published during the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880) to illustrate the 1879 Siege of the Sherper Cantonment. This map is cartographically derived from an earlier survey completed in 1842 during the First Anglo-Afghan War under Captain Frederick Abbott of the 1842 Kabul Expedition. General Pollack's camp established during the 1842 Kabul Expedition is marked by a flag.

The Sherpur Cantonment and the Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment

Red overprinting marks the Sherpur Cantonment, a British military encampment established during the Second Anglo-Afghan War and the site of the 1879 Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment by Afghan forces under Mohammed Jan Khan Wardak. The siege took place between December 15 and December 23, 1879 with the goal of overthrowing the British puppet Emir Mohammad Yaqub Khan and replacing him with the anti-British Mohammed Jan Khan Wardak. Jan's forces outnumbered the British and initially posed a major threat to fortified the British cantonment. Nonetheless, British officers were able appeal for rapid reinforcement. When news of an incoming British relief column reached Mohammad Jan, he made a desperate bid, storming the cantonment. Jan's assault was repulsed and, fearing the relief force, the Afghan army dispersed. Any armed Afghan subsequently found in the area was hunted and killed. The Sherpur Cantonment has survived to the present day as a British cemetery.

The First Anglo-Afghan War (1839 – 1842) in Kabul

The First Anglo-Afghan War began in 1839 as a 'check' on Russian expansion into South Asia. The British, fearing Russian incursions into Afghanistan (and thus India), sought to conquer Afghanistan as 'buffer zone'. The British invaded and captured Kabul in November 1840, then spent the next year attempting to pacify the restless population. By November 1841, a popular uprising had broken out in Kabul leading to the murder of William Hay Macnaghten, British Minister to puppet emir Shah Shujah. Macnaghten's murder, and the untenable tactical situation outside Kabul, led British commander General William George Keith Elphinstone to surrender Kabul on presumption of safe passage to Jalalabad. His force, numbering over 16,000 soldiers and their families, were ambushed and massacred en route.. Only a British surgeon and a few Indian sepoys reached Jalalabad.

The Kabul Expedition (August – October 1842)

The Kabul Expedition was a punitive campaign fought to avenge the massacre of the British army retreating from Kabul. The British had several garrisons in Afghanistan in 1841, many of which were attacked during the winter of 1841 - 42. A force, led by Major General George Pollock, successfully broke through the Khyber Pass from India under orders to raise the siege at Jalalabad. Arriving, they found that the Jalalabad garrison had broken the siege on it own. Nonetheless, by August British authorities decided to abandon Afghanistan. British generals, commanded to retreat but hungry for revenge ordered the garrison at Kandahar to 'retreat' via Kabul, a detour of over 300 miles. Likewise, the garrison at Jalalabad was given permission to cover the retreat, meaning that they too could advance. Both forces encountered fierce resistance and won costly victories. When Pollock and his men arrived at Kabul, they found the British hostages had been freed and the city was deserted. Pollock ordered that Kabul's covered bazaar be destroyed in retribution, but the discipline of his army broke down, and besides the destruction of the bazaar there was widespread looting and destruction. The retreat from Kabul proved to be arduous, as the column was ceaselessly harassed by guerrilla snipers until within sight of Jamrud, at the foot of the Khyber Pass. The Kabul Expedition was the last engagement of the First Anglo-Afghan War.

The Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878 – 1880)

The Second Anglo-Afghan War was fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan, which was ruled by Sher Ali Khan. Split between two campaigns, the first took place between November 1878, when the British invaded Afghanistan, and May 26, 1879, when the British signed the Treaty of Gandamak. The second campaign began with the October 6, 1879 defeat of the Afghan Army at Charasiab by the Kabul Field Force under Sir Frederick Roberts. Roberts occupied Kabul two days later and made camp at the Sherpur Cantonment. The Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment, discussed above, followed. Yaqub Khan was forced to abdicate, and, after some indecision, the British installed his cousin Abdur Rahman Kahn as a puppet emir. Enraged, Ayub Khan, Yaqub's brother, led a revolt in Herat and defeated a British detachment at the July 1880 Battle of Maiwand, then proceeded to besiege Kandahar. In response, Roberts led the main British force out of Kabul and defeated Ayub Khan at the September 1 Battle of Kandahar, officially ending the war. Abdur Rahman Kahn confirmed the Treaty of Gandarmak, which granted the Afghans British protection and a subsidy in exchange for ceding Britain Afghan territory and control over Afghan foreign policy.

The Great Game – The Struggle for Afghanistan

Perhaps no other artifact that we have come across better encapsulates the Great Game between the British and Russian Empires since it stretches across two of the proxy wars fought by the British during this era. 'The Great Game' was a diplomatic confrontation between the British and Russian Empires over Afghanistan and other territories in Central and Southern Asia. The conflict, rooted in long-standing animosity between Russia and Britain, revolved around Afghanistan, which, while lacking significant resources, was strategically situated. For its part, Russia feared Britain was making commercial and military inroads into Central Asia, an area that had long fallen within the sphere of St. Petersburg. Britain, conversely, feared Russian incursions into India, 'the jewel in the crown' of British Asia. The escalating tensions led to several wars and proxy wars: The First Anglo-Afghan War (1839 – 1842), the First Anglo-Sikh War (1845 – 1846), the Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848 – 1849), and the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878 – 1880), along with the Russian annexations of Khiva, Bukhara, and Kokand. Then as now, Afghanistan proved a grinding stone on which the great empires of the world diminished themselves, none achieving a definitive victory while wasting massive resources. The Great Game ended on September 10, 1895 with the signing of the Pamir Boundary Commission Protocols, which stabilized the border between Afghanistan and the Russian Empire.

Publication History and Census

This map was created and published by the Royal Engineer Institute in 1879 'from a retransfer supplied by the Intelligence Branch of the Quartermaster General's Department'. The base map was surveyed and drawn by Captain Frederick Abbott in 1842. One example is catalogued in the OCLC and it is part of the institutional collection at The British Library.