British Empire In Afghanistan

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Introduction Afghanistan is a landlocked country located in the southern part of Central Asia. It has a population of 31.6 million people and can be a very hot and sandy country with its desert known as Registan. It is also famous for its mountain range called the Hindu Kush. According to the BBC news, “Afghanistan has suffered from such chronic instability and conflict during its modern history that its economy and infrastructure are in ruins, and many of its people refugees.” However, History has called it The Graveyard of Empires. All historians agree that every empire rises and falls. No empire lasts forever; they will always fall. There is nothing strange about that. The strange thing though is that almost every great empire in history…show more content…
British Empire 1. The British as an Empire The British empire spanned from the 16th century when Britain started colonizing the Americans. Over the course of the British empire, they conquered nine out of ten of the world’s countries, twenty-two of them in total. At the peak of the British empire, they had one- fifth of the world’s population and covered a quarter of the world’s land mass. The British empire conquered Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji, Western Samoa, India, Burma, Papa New Guinea, Malaya, Sarawak, Brunei, Oman, Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, Tanganyika, Zanzibar, Mauritius, the Maldives, South Africa, Swaziland, Nigeria, Gold Coast, and Sierra Leone, and held a portion of the present day United States and China.Image 4: The British flag The British built their empire on British sea power, India, and great colonialism in Africa. Britain at this time was known for moral superiority and great technology. Even though Britain was technically a small kingdom it grew into a gigantic empire ,and one of the most powerful empires in history. 2. Encounter with the…show more content…
Though the British were retreating, bands of Afghans surrounded them and the retreat turned into a bloodbath. The new Governor general of India, Lord Ellenborough, decided on an evacuation of Afghanistan. Because of this, in 1843 Dost Mohammad was freed and sent back to the throne. b. Second Anglo Afghan War Image 6: The Second Anglo-Afghan War On November 1875; the prime minister of Britain, Benjamin Disraeli, made Lord Lytton governor general of India. Lytton was mainly concerned with the relationship between India and Afghanistan. He was also concerned with the fact that there was great Russian influence in Afghanistan and wanted to take that away. Lord Lytton decided to launch the second Anglo Afghan war on November 21, 1878 with a British invitation. Shir Ali, the son of Dost Mohammad was forced to leave his capital and country. He died in exile in early 1879. The British occupied Kabul just like they did in the First Anglo Afghan war, and a treaty was signed in Gandamak on May 26, 1879. Thus making the British win and triumph. However the British triumph was short lived. Afterwards, boundaries and walls of modern Afghanistan were drawn up by the British and the Russians. c. Third Anglo Afghan War Image 7: The Third Anglo-Afghan
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