This photograph of captured Afghan artillery pieces at Peiwar Kotal is from an album of rare historical photographs depicting people and places associated with the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Mobile field guns of various sizes are arrayed in front of a line of British tents. In the foreground is a row of trees, probably watered from the irrigation ditch alongside. Peiwar Kotal was the site of a battle in late November 1878 between British forces under Sir Frederick Roberts (1832–1914), who outmaneuvered Afghan forces under an unknown commander. The result was a British victory and seizure of the Peiwar Kotal Pass. 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.
<br>Afghan Wars; Cannons; Great Britain. Army; Military camps; Soldiers; Tents
Burke, John, died 1900
between 1878 and 1880 <div style="display: none;">date QS:P571,+1850-00-00T00:00:00Z/7,P1319,+1878-00-00T00:00:00Z/9,P1326,+1880-00-00T00:00:00Z/9</div>
<p><a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://dl.wdl.org/11488.png">http://dl.wdl.org/11488.png</a>
</p>
<ul><li>Gallery: <a rel="nofollow" class="external free" href="http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11488/">http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11488/</a></li></ul>