afghanistancould theoretically still be hanged, drawn and quartered. As for public
executions, they were an extremely popular event in Victorian Britain.
Keane did not seem to have realized how strong the fortress of Ghazni
was, so when he saw its formidable walls, he doubtless regretted having left
his siege guns behind. However, the General was aided by the defection of
Sardar ‘Abd alRashid, a grandson of Pur Dil Khan, who provided Keane
with ‘minute and correct information’ about the town’s defences. 71 When
he identified the Kabul Gate as the weakest and least defended position,
Keane ordered an immediate attack. Under cover of darkness, and with a
diversionary bombardment and feint by the infantry on another section of
the wall, sapping parties laid charges and blew down the gate and part of
the bastion. The storming party then overwhelmed the defenders and by
dawn the Union Jack flew from the top of the citadel. Ghazni had fallen in
less than two days at the cost of just seventeen British lives, but more than
five hundred Afghans had perished in the assault and a further hundred,
including civilians, had been cut down by a cavalry charge as they fled the
slaughter. When Afzal Khan heard that Ghazni had fallen he fled back to
Kabul, abandoning his baggage and pack animals.
Ghazni was the high point of the Afghan campaign and was celebrated
as a great victory, though imperial histories attribute its fall almost solely to
the gallantry of the storming party and the two officers who led the assault,
Brigadier Robert Sale and Lieutenant Colonel Dennie. Yet had not Sardar
The medieval walls of Ghazni are still impressive, but in 1839 they proved no defence against
British artillery and gunpowder.