He was soon involved in war with Lahore on the east, and on the west with the Persian invaders of Herat, who were believed to be abetted by Russia. In 1838 England declared war against Afghanistan, upon the ground that Dost Mohammed had attacked her ally Runjeet Singh, who had established an independent kingdom in the Punjaub, and that Shujah, whom the English regarded as the lawful heir to the throne of Afghanistan, had placed himself under British protection. In December, 1838, the Anglo-Indian army, under Sir John Keane, marched toward Sinde, which country was coerced into submission and the payment of a contribution for the benefit of the Sikhs and Shujah. On Feb. 20, 1839, the British army passed the Indus. It was about 12,000 strong, with 40,000 camp followers, besides the new levies of Shujah, and suffered severely on the march. They penetrated through the Bo-lan pass, and on April 25 entered Candahar, which the brothers of Dost Mohammed had abandoned. After a rest of two months, Ghuzni, the impregnable stronghold of Afghanistan, was taken, July 22, by blowing open the only gate which had not been walled up.

After this disaster the army which Dost Mohammed had collected at once disbanded, and Cabool opened its gates Aug. 6. Shah Shujah was installed in due form, but the real direction of government remained in the hands of the British envoy, Sir William McNaghten, who also paid all Shujah's expenses out of the Indian treasury, as well as those of the principal chiefs. Dost Mohammed surrendered in October, 1840, and was sent to mdia. The conquest of Afghanistan seemed accomplished, and a considerable portion of the troops were sent back. But during the whole of 1840 and 1841 insurrection followed insurrection in every part of the country. The Anglo-Indian troops had to be constantly on the move. The occupation of Afghanistan cost the Indian treasury £1,250,000 per annum. McNaghten was informed of the impossibility of going on at this rate of expenditure. He attempted retrenchment, but the only possible way to enforce it was to cut down the allowances of the chiefs. The very day he attempted this, the chiefs formed a conspiracy for the extermination of the British. The English in Cabool were commanded by Gen. Elphinstone, who had been sent as English envoy in 1835 to counteract the alleged anti-English Perso-Rus-sian intrigues.

He was a gouty, irresolute, helpless old man, whose orders constantly contradicted each other. The defences and commissariat were neglected, and everything was in confusion. On Nov. 2, 1841, the insurrection broke out in Cabool. The house of the British resident, Sir Alexander Burnes, was attacked, and he himself murdered. On Nov. 3 the forts near the camp were occupied by the insurgents. On the 9th the commissariat fort, garrisoned by only 80 men, was taken, and the British were thus reduced to starvation. In the middle of November negotiations began, during which McNaghten was murdered in a conference with Afghan chiefs. On Jan. 1, 1.842, a capitulation was concluded, the British agreeing to evacuate the country, paying a large amount of money, and surrendering nearly all their artillery and ammunition. The chiefs, on the other hand, promised a safe conduct, provisions, and baggage cattle. On Jan. 5 the British marched out, 4,500 combatants and 12,000 camp-followers. The march, through cold and snow, and with scanty food, soon became completely disorganized, while they were harassed by infuriated Afghan marksmen, armed with long-range matchlocks, occupying every height. The chiefs who signed the capitulation neither could nor would restrain the mountain tribes.

The Kurd-Cabool pass became the grave of nearly all the army, and the remnant, less than 200 Europeans, fell at the entrance of the Jugduluk pass. Only one Englishman, Dr. Brydon, reached Jelalabad to tell the tale. Many officers, however, had been seized by the Afghans, and kept in captivity. Jelalabad was held by Sale's brigade. He was summoned to surrender, but refused, and made a most gallant defence; so did Nott at Candahar. Ghuzni had fallen; there was not a man in the place that understood anything about artillery, and the sepoys of the garrison had succumbed to the climate. In the mean time, the British authorities on the frontier, at the first news of the disaster of Cabool, had concentrated at Peshawer the troops destined for the relief of the regiments in Afghanistan, which were long detained by lack of transportation. Gen. Pol-lock received the command, and at the end of March, 1842, forced the Khyber pass, and advanced to the relief of Sale at Jelalabad; but Sale had a few days before completely defeated the investing Afghan army.

It was not till July that Lord Ellenborough, now governor general of India, authorized an advance on Cabool, both from Candahar and Jelalabad; and on Sept. 15 Gen. Pollock, after several battles, encamped under the walls of Cabool. On the 17th he was joined by Nott, who had also fought several battles, and had taken and destroyed Ghuzni. Shah Shujah had long before been murdered by some of the chiefs, and since then no regular government had existed in Afghanistan; nominally, Futteh Jung, his son, was king. Pollock despatched a body of cavalry after the Cabool prisoners, but these had succeeded in bribing their guard, and met him on the road. As a mark of vengeance, the bazaar of Cabool was destroyed, on which occasion the soldiers plundered part of the town and massacred many inhabitants. Oct. 12, the British left Cabool and marched by Jelalabad and Peshawer to India. Futteh Jung, despairing of his position, followed them. Dost Mohammed was now dismissed from captivity, and returned to his kingdom. Thus ended the attempt of the British to set up a prince of their own making in Afghanistan. Dost Mohammed on his return to Cabool was received with ovations as the liberator of Afghanistan both from English and Perso-Russian hostility.