Image: Engagement in the Khost Country from a Drawing WDL11494

Description: This photograph of a drawing of a military engagement near Khost (now Khowst), Afghanistan, is from an album of rare historical photographs depicting people and places associated with the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The identity of the artist is unknown. The image appears to show a skirmish in late 1878–January 1879 that involved the Kurram Valley Field Force fighting against unidentified Afghan adversaries. In the foreground are massed British cavalry and dragoons (mounted infantry), while ahead of them infantrymen fire upon the enemy in the distance. A section of the Hindu Kush mountain range rises up in the far background of the drawing. The Second Anglo-Afghan War began in November 1878 when Great Britain, fearful of what it saw as growing Russian influence in Afghanistan, invaded the country from British India. The first phase of the war ended in May 1879 with the Treaty of Gandamak, which permitted the Afghans to maintain internal sovereignty but forced them to cede control over their foreign policy to the British. Fighting resumed in September 1879, after an anti-British uprising in Kabul, and finally concluded in September 1880 with the decisive Battle of Kandahar. The album includes portraits of British and Afghan leaders and military personnel, portraits of ordinary Afghan people, and depictions of British military camps and activities, structures, landscapes, and cities and towns. The sites shown are all located within the borders of present-day Afghanistan or Pakistan (a part of British India at the time). About a third of the photographs were taken by John Burke (circa 1843–1900), another third by Sir Benjamin Simpson (1831–1923), and the remainder by several other photographers. Some of the photographs are unattributed. The album possibly was compiled by a member of the British Indian government, but this has not been confirmed. How it came to the Library of Congress is not known. Afghan Wars; Battles; Cavalry; Great Britain. Army; India. Army; Soldiers
Title: Engagement in the Khost Country from a Drawing
Credit: http://dl.wdl.org/11494.png Gallery: http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11494/
Author: Burke, John, died 1900
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No