Afzalids Total: 10,000 dead[6] Total fatalities are unknown The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, Pashto: د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Khan.

[9] The second campaign began when Ayub Khan, the governor of Herat, rebelled in July 1880 and marched on Kandahar, defeating the British at the battle of Maiwand.

Abdur Rahman Khan, now the sole ruler, created the buffer the British wanted between the Raj and the Russian Empire.

[13] Following his defeat, the Afghan governor of Balkh, Muhammad Khan, purged much of the province of Afzalid supporters, seizing lands and exacting imprisonment and execution on those thought to be sympathizers.

Districts that had aided the rebellion faced hefty fines, and the rulers of the Chahar Wilayat were mandatorily forced to re-affirm their allegiance to Sher Ali Khan by traveling to Kabul every year.

The rebellion was quelled, however when the leaders of the insurrection were brought before Sher Ali, he refused to execute them in honour of their former oaths, and instead had Muhammad Khan killed.

A day before the deadline, Sher Ali sent a messenger to Peshawar but failed to arrive on time, and turned away after news of the British invasion began.

[17][18] The first campaign began in November 1878 when a British force of about 50,000 fighting men, mostly Indians, was distributed into three military columns which penetrated Afghanistan at three different points.

The British victories at the battles of Ali Masjid and Peiwar Kotal meant that the approach to Kabul was left virtually undefended by Afghan troops.

[21][22] Before leaving for Afghan Turkestan, Sher Ali released the surviving governors of the Chahar Wilayat that he had previously imprisoned.

In Mazar-i-Sharif, Yaqub Khan's son, Muhammad Musa, assembled a force and seized Takhtapul, sending the leader of the mutineers to Kabul, where he was executed.

[24] With British forces occupying Kabul, Sher Ali's son and successor, Yaqub Khan, signed the Treaty of Gandamak on 26 May 1879.

British representatives were installed in Kabul and other locations, and their control was extended to the Khyber and Michni passes, and Afghanistan ceded various North-West Frontier Province areas and Quetta to Britain, including the strategic fort of Jamrud.

In return, Yaqub Khan only received an annual subsidy of 600,000 rupees, with the British pledging to withdraw all forces from Afghanistan excluding Kandahar.

[25][26] However, on 3 September 1879 an uprising in Kabul led to the slaughter of Sir Louis Cavagnari, the British representative, along with his guards, and staff – provoking the next phase of the Second Afghan War.

However, Ghulam Haidar Khan, Yaqub's governor of Balkh, attacked Kunduz, occupying it, and forcing Sultan Murad to flee to Fayzabad.

However, both sides continued to differ, with the British wishing to keep Kandahar under their control with Sardar Sher Ali as governor, while Abdur Rahman saw it imperative as a part of Afghanistan.

[9] Ayub Khan, who had been serving as governor of Herat, rose in revolt, defeated a British detachment at the Battle of Maiwand in July 1880 and besieged Kandahar.

Roberts then led the main British force from Kabul and decisively defeated Ayub Khan on 1 September at the Battle of Kandahar, bringing his rebellion to an end.

[15] The Afghan tribes maintained internal rule and local customs, and provided a continuing buffer between the British Raj and the Russian Empire.

Despite attempts from the British to dissuade Afghanistan from Russian influence, Abdur Rahman Khan adopted an autocratic government similar to the Tsars of Russia, inspired by Peter the Great from his time in exile in Turkestan.

Abdur Rahman also wrote in pamphlets, encouraging Jihad against the British and the Russians, claiming both wished to end Afghanistan as a state.

Senior British officials found it extremely difficult to further cooperate with Abdur Rahman Khan and Afghanistan due to the Turkestan atrocities, as well as his actions against the Hazaras.

The Russians kept well out of Afghan internal affairs, with the exception of the Panjdeh incident three years later, resolved by arbitration and negotiation after an initial British ultimatum.

[38] In 1893, Mortimer Durand was dispatched to Kabul by British India to sign an agreement with Rahman for fixing the limits of their respective spheres of influence as well as improving diplomatic relations and trade.