The East India Company, fearing increasing Russian influence in Afghanistan, has resolved to depose Dost Mohammad and restore Shuja Shah as amir.

The Company's actions bring about the First Afghan War, in which the British attempt to subdue the anarchic northwest.

From the British perspective, the Russian Empire's expansion into Central Asia threatens India, the "jewel in the crown" of the British Empire.

As the Tsar's troops begin to subdue one Khanate after another, the British fear that Afghanistan will become a staging post for a Russian invasion of India.

With the failure of Burnes's mission, Auckland, sets the British troops in motion against Dost Mohammad, with the object of restoring Shuja Shah to the throne.

The first British advance northward into the Khyber takes place in 1839 when General George Pollock fights against the Afridis during his march to Kabul.

In the opening campaign, the British army, assisted by Sikh allies and after enduring great privations, enters Qandahar (where Shuja is crowned shah, nearly almost thirty years after his deposition), ...

...Ghazni, and ...

...Kabul, while Dost Mohammad seeks refuge in the wilds of the Hindu Kush.

Having restored Shuja to the throne in August 1839, the British withdraw, leaving two envoys and a garrison in Kabul.

Dost Mohammed, closely followed by the British, escapes to ...

...Balkh, but not for long.

Upper South Asia (1840–1851 CE): Wars, Annexations, and Internal Transformations

British Expansion and Annexation

Between 1840 and 1851, the British East India Company aggressively expanded its territories, notably annexing Sindh in 1843 after defeating the local Talpur Mirs, and securing control of Punjab following two intense conflicts with the Sikh Empire. The decisive Second Anglo-Sikh War (1848–1849) resulted in the full annexation of Punjab, including present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, extending British rule to the borders of Afghanistan.

The Aftermath of Anglo-Afghan Conflict

Following the catastrophic First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–1842), British ambitions in Afghanistan were dramatically scaled back. The British retreat from Kabul in January 1842 ended in tragedy, with nearly the entire army perishing in the snowbound mountain passes. In retaliation, Britain launched a punitive expedition to Kabul but ultimately restored Dost Mohammad Khan as Emir, withdrawing thereafter and temporarily relinquishing direct control.

Kashmir and the Treaty of Amritsar

In 1846, the British signed the Treaty of Amritsar, transferring control of Kashmir to the Hindu Dogra Dynasty under Maharaja Gulab Singh, creating a princely state that would remain under British paramountcy until 1947. This decision shaped Kashmir’s distinct socio-political trajectory, laying the groundwork for future tensions.

Internal Power Shifts in Nepal

This period was pivotal for Nepal, marked by political turmoil and violent shifts in power. The dramatic Kot Massacre of 1846, orchestrated by Jang Bahadur Kunwar (later known as Jung Bahadur Rana), effectively annihilated rival aristocratic factions, consolidating his absolute authority. He established the hereditary rule of the Rana dynasty, sidelining the monarchy and dominating Nepalese politics for more than a century.

Bhutanese Territorial Adjustments

In Bhutan, increasing British influence led to territorial adjustments. In 1841, Britain annexed the formerly Bhutanese-controlled Assam Duars, paying annual compensation. Bhutan further relinquished portions of the Bengal Duars to British administration in 1842, setting the stage for ongoing boundary disputes.

Socioeconomic Changes and Military Reforms in Punjab

The annexed Punjab was efficiently administered by British officials, who respected local customs and introduced substantial administrative and economic reforms. These policies, alongside significant infrastructure investments, later facilitated the region’s transformation into the "granary of India." The Punjabi Sikhs and Muslims became crucial recruits for the British Indian Army, reinforcing Punjab’s central role in subsequent colonial conflicts.

Cultural and Religious Adaptations

Throughout Northern South Asia, the era saw significant religious and cultural adaptations. In regions like Afghanistan and Punjab, traditional structures began adapting to British colonial demands, leading to an interplay of cooperation and resistance. Indigenous groups, such as the Pashtuns, increasingly navigated pressures from both internal rulers and external colonial forces.

Legacy of the Era

The period from 1840 to 1851 set critical precedents for colonial governance, notably in the forms of direct annexation and indirect rule through princely states. Dramatic political events, such as Nepal’s Rana coup and British military campaigns, left profound legacies shaping the future socio-political and cultural landscape of Northern South Asia.

As the British increase their territory in India, so does Russia expand in Central Asia.

The East India Company had signed treaties with a number of Afghan rulers and with Ranjit Singh.

Russia backs Persian ambitions in western Afghanistan.

In 1838 the company's actions had brought about the First Anglo-Afghan War (1838-42).

Assisted by Sikh allies, the company has taken Kandahar and Kabul and made its own candidate amir.

The amir proves unpopular with the Afghans, however, and the British garrison's position becomes untenable.

The retreat of the British from Kabul in January 1842 is one of the worst disasters in British military history, as a column of more than sixteen thousand (about one-third soldiers, the rest camp followers) is annihilated by Afghan tribesmen as they struggle through the snow-bound passes on their way back to India.

The British later send a punitive expedition to Kabul, which it burns in retribution, but makes no attempt to reoccupy Afghanistan.

The British place Dost Mohammad Khan back into power and withdraw their military forces from Afghanistan

The Punjab, annexed in 1849, is governed a group of extraordinarily able British officers, serving first the company and later the British crown.

They avoid the administrative mistakes made earlier in Bengal.

A number of reforms are introduced, although local customs are generally respected.

Irrigation projects later in the century will help the Punjab become the granary of northern India.

The respect gained by the new administration can be gauged by the fact that within ten years Punjabi troops will be fighting for the British elsewhere in India to subdue the uprising of 1857-58.

The Punjab is to become the major recruiting area for the British Indian Army, recruiting both Sikhs and Muslims.

Ousted Afghan ruler Dost Mohammed had sought refuge in the wilds of the Hindu Kush with an influential local resistance leader, Mir Masjidi Khan.

Closely followed by the British, Dost Mohammad is driven to extremities and arrested in Bukhara.

The Afghans, however, will tolerate neither a foreign occupation nor a king imposed on them by a foreign power, and insurrections erupt.

Dost Mohammad escapes from prison and returns to Afghanistan to lead his partisans against the British.

In a battle at Parwan on November 2, 1840, Dost Mohammad gains the upper hand, but the next day he surrenders to the British in Kabul.

He is deported to India with the greater part of his family.

Outbreaks of violence continue throughout Afghanistan, and the British, beset by harsh winters and intractable tribal opposition, eventually find their position untenable.

Macnaghten tries to save the situation by negotiating with the Afghan chiefs and, independently of them, with Dost Mohammad's son, Akbar Khan, by whom he is captured and, on December 23, 1841, assassinated by Khan placing a pistol in Macnaghten's mouth.

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.