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1878-1880 Second Anglo-Afghan War

The Second Anglo-Afghan War was a tough colonial campaign fought across some of the harshest terrain in Central Asia. These battlefield studies use British military correspondence, period sketches, and first-hand battlefield exploration to examine how the British and Afghan forces adapted their tactics in a war shaped by geography, politics, and empire.

Sher Pur 1879

⚔️ Battle of Kabul, Afghanistan,
11-24 December 1879

The Second Anglo-Afghan War of 1878-1880, was part of the ‘Great Game’ between Great Britain and Russia as both sought greater influence and to undermine the other in Central and South Asia. In 1878, Russia sent a diplomatic mission to the court of Sher Ali Khan, the Amir of Afghanistan. The British mission was refused entry into Afghanistan. Fearing that the Russians had gained an advantage, the British used this as justification to invade Afghanistan, ostensibly to secure India’s northwest frontier.