The Afghan Wars 1839-42 and 1878-80Forbes, Archibald
History
The Afghan Wars 1839-42 and 1878-80
Forbes, Archibald
Afghan Wars
Keane, having garrisoned Ghuznee, and left there his sick and wounded,
resumed on July 30th his march on Cabul. Within twenty-four hours after
the event Dost Mahomed heard of the fall of Ghuznee. Possessed of the
adverse intelligence, the Dost gathered his chiefs, received their
facile assurances of fidelity, sent his brother the Nawaub Jubbar Khan
to ask what terms Shah Soojah and his British allies were prepared to
offer him, and recalled from Jellalabad his son Akbar Khan, with all the
force he could muster there. The Dost's emissary to the allied camp was
informed that 'an honourable asylum' in British India was at the service
of his brother; an offer which Jubbar Khan declined in his name without
thanks. Before he left to share the fortunes of the Dost, the Sirdar is
reported to have asked Macnaghten, 'If Shah Soojah is really our king,
what need has he of your army and name? You have brought him here,' he
continued, 'with your money and arms. Well, leave him now with us
Afghans, and let him rule us if he can.' When Jubbar Khan returned to
Cabul with his sombre message, the Dost, having been joined by Akbar
Khan, concentrated his army, and found himself at the head of 13,000
men, with thirty guns; but he mournfully realised that he could lean no
reliance on the constancy and courage of his adherents. Nevertheless, he
marched out along the Ghuznee road, and drew up his force at Urgundeh,
where he commanded the most direct line of retreat toward the western
hill country of Bamian, in case his people would not fight, or should
they fight, if they were beaten.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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