Machine transcription
157
unrighteous war beyond the boundaries of India, shedding the
blood, and interfering with the independence of a people with
whom we had not a pretext of quarrel.......The terrible Afghan
expedition made an indelible impression on the minds of the
Afghans. It is certainly true that so far as the military honour
and reputation of England is concerned, these were speedily
reasserted and vindicated, but it was impossible for the Indian
Government to win the confidence of the Afghans".
Dost Mohammad reigned till 1863, and during these twenty
years he was able to establish peace throughout the country. He
died at Herat, thirteen days after the capture of the city, and
was succeeded by his third son, Sher Ali Khan.
Amir Sher Ali Khan: His elder brothers, Afzal Khan
and Azam Khan, rose against him and for five years the Amir
led a life of extraordinary vicissitude—now an outcast flying for
his life, now a ruler in a solitary outlying province, now the de
facto ruler of the greater part of the country. At last, in 1868,
he was able to establish his authority throughout Afghanistan.
The British, meanwhile, in pursuance of their Forward
Policy, were moving slowly ahead into the tribal area bordering
Afghanistan. Advocates of this policy wished to see Afghanistan
absorbed within the British Indian Empire. In 1874, the For-
ward Policy gained the upper hand, and a series of negotiations
with Sher Ali Khan ensued during the following years. Finally,
when the British saw that they could not achieve their object by
peaceful means, they resorted to force and declared war on the
Amir. Late in 1878, the British once more invaded Afghanistan.
This was the beginning of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-
1881).
Roughly two thirds of characters agree with a modern printed edition of the same text. Much of the disagreement is editorial, not misreading. Treat the transcription as a finding aid and read the page image before quoting. How this was measured.
