How the Research Is Empirically Examined 135
break out sooner or later, at that time it was just a matter of when and
where.^169 Great Britain launched the first Anglo-Afghan War (1838–1842)
in 1838.
Why Did Britain Invade Afghanistan?The source of the British involvement in Afghanistan may be assigned to
the Russian expansion into northwestern Persia in the 1820s. Ahmad Shah
Qajar, the leader of Persia, was encouraged by the Russians to accept com-
pensation for his losses in the country’s northwest by occupying Herat,
which at that time was controlled by Kamran, the grandson of Timur Shah
Sadduzai. In 1837, the Russians backed the Persian army in attacking and
besieging Herat. The siege of the city led to total resistance against the Per-
sians. While the Persians were busy besieging the city, a Russian delega-
tion arrived in Kabul to form commercial relations with the Afghan ruler
Amir Dost Mohammad Khan. Great Britain interpreted the Persian attack
on Herat and the dispatch of the Russian delegation to Kabul as a prelude
to a Russian invasion of India through Afghanistan.^170
The InvasionThe British responded by conquering Kharak, the Persian island in
the Persian Gulf, forcing the Persians to concede their claims to Herat.
Afterward, the British tried to expand their control northward to prevent
broader Russian maneuvers. The best way of preventing the Russian influ-
ence in Afghanistan was in their opinion installing a leader in Kabul who
would be committed to British interests. In 1838, Lord Auckland, the Brit-
ish governor general of India, started to negotiate with Shah Shujah, the
ousted leader of Afghanistan (1804–1809), who was then in exile in India,
and with the ruler of Panjab, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, for cooperation in a
military move against the leader of Afghanistan at the time, Amir Dost
Muhammad Khan. In 1838, the three parties signed the agreement that
promised Shah Shujah the throne in Afghanistan on the condition that he
would consent to the permanent presence of British forces in Kabul. Parts
of Afghanistan, including areas that were later intended as the northwest-
ern border of the province of British India, were promised to Maharaja
Ranjit Singh. In 1839, the combined forces, known as the Hindus Army,
departed toward Kabul, and on August 7, they reinstated Shah Shujah to
the Afghan throne with very little resistance, forcing Amir Dost Moham-
mad Khan, Afghanistan’s acting leader, to move to Bukhara.^171
The Systemic Pressures for the British Pullout from AfghanistanInitially, the British invasion of Afghanistan did not encounter any strong
resistance,^172 and the First Anglo-Afghan war enjoyed slight successes and