Jalalabad during the first Anglo-Afghan war part ii∗

IN ACCEPTING the Sikh proposals in this modified form, the GovernorGeneral initiated a broad new policy for partial solution of the Afghan affair. The burning question in the minds of the British field officers at Jalalabad and Peshawar, and in the minds of the Sikh leaders in Lahore, however, concerned British intentions for the immediate future in Afghanistan. The statements issuing from the councils of the supreme government did not sing with forthright determination. On 19 April 1842 the Governor-General issued a ringing proclamation praising the Illustrious Garrison at Jalalabad. On the very same day, however, he issued a secret order to Sir Jasper Nicolls, Commander-in-Chief, to instruct General Pollock, in Jalalabad, and General Nott, in Kandahar, to withdraw their forces from Afghanistan. Paragraph 3 of Nicolls's order to Pollock, issued on 29 April, instructed him: You are to destroy the fort and any useless guns. Only a week later, however, on 6 May, the Governor-General suddenly amended his order to Pollock and sent new instructions to the General setting the ground-work for the proposal he had sent Clerk just IO days before

Afghan · Ancient history · Political science · History · Law · Military History and Strategy · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · South Asian Studies and Diaspora

• Shah Shuja's 'Hidden History' and its Implications for the Historiography of Afghanistan

  Open Access•Shah Mahmoud Hanifi•South Asia Multidisciplinary…•2012

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