Second Anglo-Afghan War

Britain invaded Afghanistan in 1878 after Amir Sher Ali resisted the admission of a British diplomatic mission while receiving a Russian delegation. Three British columns crossed the frontier, producing battles, negotiations and the temporary Treaty of Gandamak.

The killing of the British resident at Kabul renewed the war. Campaigns included the defence of Kandahar, the defeat at Maiwand and Frederick Roberts’s march from Kabul to Kandahar before British forces withdrew under a new political settlement.

This context supports military fiction about the Great Game, Afghan politics, frontier warfare, long-distance marches and the limits of imperial occupation.