British Forces crossing the Bolan Pass in 1879. A reaction to Russian encroachment on Afghanistan, an important buffer state to the north-west of British-ruled India
Illustration by Henry Marriott Paget (1857-1936) from Cassell's Century Edition History of England, pub circa 1901. Info from wiki: In the 19th century, Afghanistan was seen as an important buffer state to the north-west of British-ruled India. In 1866 Sher Ali Khan came to power and was initially well disposed towards Britain. During the next 10 years, relations between the two countries deteriorated, primarily over the issue of Russian encroachment on Afghanistan. In 1878, Sher Ali reluctantly allowed a Russian mission to Kabul, and refused entry to the Viceroy Lord Lytton. After this refusal, Britain sent him an ultimatum that demanded a British envoy be accepted into Afghanistan; when this was ignored, Britain sent in three columns of British troops.[5] The three British columns proceeded over the Bolan Pass to Kandahar, the Khyber Pass to Ali Masjid and through the Kurram Valley to Kabul. After several large victories for the British in 1878, fighting continued in the harsh mountainous terrain through the early months of 1879. As the British marched on Kabul, Sher Ali fled, leaving Yakub Khan to sign the Treaty of Gandamak on 26 May 1879 which required a British envoy in Kabul and the relinquishing of foreign affairs to the British. The Second Anglo-Afghan War was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Kha This was the second time British India invaded Afghanistan. The war ended after the British emerged victorious against various Afghan forces, and the Afghans agreed to let the British attain all of their geopolitical objectives from the Treaty of Gandamak. Most of the British and Indian soldiers withdrew from Afghanistan. The Afghan tribes were permitted to maintain internal rule and local customs but they had to cede control of the area's foreign relations to the British
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Photo credit: © Historical Images Archive / Alamy / Afripics
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