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N0KFQ > TODAY 13.01.16 17:23l 45 Lines 1873 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 81646_N0KFQ
Read: GUEST
Subj: Today in History - Jan 12
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<7M3TJZ<JE7YGF<N9PMO<NS2B<N0KFQ
Sent: 160113/1513Z 81646@N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA BPQ1.4.65
1842
Sole British soldier escapes Kabul
On January 13, 1842, a British army doctor reaches the British
sentry post at Jalalabad, Afghanistan, the lone survivor of a
16,000-strong Anglo-Indian expeditionary force that was massacred
in its retreat from Kabul. He told of a terrible massacre in the
Khyber Pass, in which the Afghans gave the defeated Anglo-Indian
force and their camp followers no quarter.
In the 19th century, Britain, with a goal of protecting its
Indian colonial holdings from Russia, tried to establish
authority in neighboring Afghanistan by attempting to replace
Emir Dost Mohammad with a former emir known to be sympathetic to
the British. This blatant British interference in Afghanistan's
internal affairs triggered the outbreak of the first Anglo-Afghan
War in 1839.
Dost Mohammad surrendered to British forces in 1840 after the
Anglo-Indian army had captured Kabul. However, after an Afghan
revolt in Kabul the British had no choice but to withdraw. The
withdrawal began on January 6, 1842, but bad weather delayed the
army's progress. The column was attacked by swarms of Afghans led
by Mohammad's son, and those who were not killed outright in the
attack were later massacred by the Afghan soldiers. A total of
4,500 soldiers and 12,000 camp followers were killed. Only one
man, Dr. William Bryden, escaped to recount the details of the
military disaster.
In retaliation, another British force invaded Kabul in 1843,
burning a portion of the city. In the same year, the war came to
an end, and in 1857 Emir Dost Mohammad, who had been restored to
power in 1843, signed an alliance with the British. In 1878, the
Second Anglo-Afghan War began, which ended two years later with
Britain winning control of Afghanistan's foreign affairs.
73, K.O. n0kfq
N0KFQ @ N0KFQ.#SWMO.MO.USA.NA
E-mail: kohiggs@gmail.com
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