Cite
MLA
“Second Anglo-Afghan War.” Hindu History, 2026, https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/second-anglo-afghan-war-1878/. Accessed .
APA
Hindu History. (2026). Second Anglo-Afghan War. Retrieved , from https://www.hinduhistory.in/battles/second-anglo-afghan-war-1878/
Britain won control of Afghanistan’s foreign relations and the Khyber and Kurram passes, then withdrew its armies and recognised Abdur Rahman as Amir.
01Gandamak and Cavagnari
In November 1878 columns crossed by the Khyber, the Kurram and the Bolan. Roberts forced the Peiwar Kotal in the Kurram, and Ali Masjid in the Khyber fell. Sher Ali fled north and died early in 1879. His son Yaqub Khan signed the Treaty of Gandamak on 26 May 1879, handing over the conduct of foreign affairs and accepting a British envoy at Kabul. That envoy, Sir Louis Cavagnari, was killed with his escort of the Guides when Afghan troops stormed the Residency in September 1879.
02Kabul, Maiwand and Kandahar
Roberts marched on Kabul, beat the Afghans at Charasiab and occupied the city in October 1879; Yaqub Khan abdicated. That winter Roberts was besieged in the Sherpur cantonment and beat off a great assault in December. In the south, Ayub Khan, Yaqub’s brother, destroyed a British brigade at Maiwand on 27 July 1880 and shut the rest up in Kandahar. Roberts marched from Kabul to Kandahar in August and routed Ayub Khan there on 1 September 1880. The British then backed Abdur Rahman and left the country.
The war left Afghanistan a buffer under British control in foreign affairs, and Indian regiments of the Bengal, Bombay and Punjab armies did much of the fighting.
