British diplomat Sir William Hay Macnaghten is shot dead at close quarters at a meeting with the Afghan general Akbar Khan.

Created a baronet in 1840, Macnaghten had been nominated to the governorship of Bombay in August 1841.

As the British political agent at Kabul, he had come into conflict with the military authorities and subsequently with his subordinate Sir Alexander Burnes.

Macnaghten had attempted to placate the Afghan chiefs with heavy subsidies, but when the drain on the Indian exchequer become too great, and the allowances are reduced, this policy led to an outbreak.

Burnes had been murdered on November 2, 1841; and under the elderly General William Elphinstone, the British army in Kabul has degenerated into a leaderless mob.