nadir shah and the afghans, 1732–47map. As far as Nasr Allah Khan was concerned, Bukhara’s claim to sover-
eignty over Balkh was as important as the Durranis’ to Peshawar, and a
great deal more ancient. Britain’s refusal to discuss this claim was the real
reason why Stoddard was condemned to a vermin-infested prison and,
ultimately, execution.
Britain regarded Stoddard’s imprisonment as an insult to British power
and prestige and there were calls for military action against Bukhara,
despite the logistical impossibility of such a campaign and the fact that,
had Britain actually gone to war with Bukhara, it would have precipitated
a war with Russia – the very scenario that Britain was in Afghanistan to
prevent. Instead, in June 1840 Arthur Conolly, who was with the British
army in Kabul, volunteered to negotiate Stoddard’s release as well as to
explain British policy in Afghanistan to the Khan of Bukhara. His offer was
reluctantly accepted, even though neither Macnaghten, Auckland nor even
Conolly himself were optimistic about the chances of success. Conolly,
though, was prepared to take the risk. He had been planning an exped-
ition into Central Asia since 1838, he had powerful advocates in London
and the fact that he was a cousin of Macnaghten’s no doubt helped his
cause. Furthermore, Conolly’s journey presented an ideal opportunity to
gather more information about invasion routes, the political situation in
the Hazarajat, the Chahar Wilayat and Khiva, and the potential navigability
of the Amu Darya as a possible conduit for British merchandise.
Conolly set out in the autumn of 1840 accompanied by the Khivan
envoy in Kabul, an uncomfortable travelling companion since the ambas-
sador announced to all and sundry that Shah Shuja‘ was a puppet and that
the British hold on Afghanistan was tenuous. Conolly decided to take an
extremely difficult and uncharted route that passed through Bamiyan,
Yakaulang and Panjab, and then across the Tir Band-i Turkistan to
Maimana. His official report provides important historical and ethnological
data on a region which is still one of the least explored parts of Afghanistan.
Unfortunately his personal diaries and notes have not survived.
When he arrived in Khiva, Conolly sent reports on the situation in
the Khanate and mediated successfully in a dispute between Khiva and
Kokand. He then persuaded Macnaghten to let him travel to Bukhara, but
the timing could not have been more unfortunate. Just before he arrived
in Bukhara, Nasr Allah Khan heard that the British army in Kabul had
been massacred and the Khan knew that Britain was in no position to
threaten him. Furthermore, Bukhara was now free to invade Balkh and
reassert sovereignty without fear of military retaliation by Shah Shuja‘
or the British. Conolly ended up in the same dungeon as Stoddard. Nasr