afghanistanunprophetic conclusion’ that reflected more Britain’s vision of its Manifest
Destiny beyond the Indus than ground realities. 14 Like Ellenborough,
Conolly and Trevelyan failed to evaluate properly the consequences of
Britain lessening its influence in Persia, which would increase the risk of
more Persian territory being annexed by Russia, and force the Shah further
into the Russian camp in order to prevent the country from complete
collapse. Conolly and Trevelyan’s Persian policy thus increased the risk of
a Russian invasion of India, rather than reduce it. As for their advocacy
for a united Afghanistan, Claude Wade, the political officer in Ludhiana
responsible for relations with the Sikhs, did not welcome this, nor did this
policy agree with the views of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Both men believed
that a unified Afghanistan, whether ruled by a Barakzai or a Saddozai,
risked renewal of the war with the Sikhs and threatened the Punjab. After
all, it had been Shah Kamran’s ancestor, Ahmad Shah, who first went to
war with the Sikhs, while the Muhammadzais too cherished the hope that
one day they would regain control over Peshawar, Kashmir and Lahore.
‘Bukhara Burnes’ and Britain’s Afghanistan policyWhen Burnes returned from his Indus survey, he recommended that he
should undertake a second mission to explore the invasion routes through
Afghanistan and make contact with Dost Muhammad Khan and the Khan
of Bukhara. His recommendation was accepted and a second expedition
was assembled disguised as a purely personal expedition undertaken by
Burnes’s love of exploration, but most of the rulers of the regions through
which he passed suspected there was a great deal more behind his jour-
ney. If there was any doubt about the political nature of Burnes’s travels,
prior to setting out he met with Wade and Shah Shuja‘ in Ludhiana and
then travelled to Lahore to see Ranjit Singh. During his stay in Peshawar,
Burnes also met with the Sikh governor and Sultan Muhammad Khan
Tela’i, who did all in their power to persuade Burnes not to go to Kabul.
Burnes disregarded them and pushed on up the Khyber and reached the
Afghan capital in April 1832, where he was hosted by Nawab Jabbar Khan.
A few days after he arrived, Burnes was amazed to hear that a farangi
had just arrived in the Afghan capital from Bukhara. The Rev. Dr Joseph
Wo l ff , a German Jewish convert who had been granted British citizenship,
was a brilliant but eccentric Orientalist, missionary and controversialist. 15
He was a leading light of the Albury Circle, a movement concerned with
the interpretation of biblical prophecy and millenarianism that was having
a profound influence on British and American Evangelicalism. Wolff had