This article is about the specific polity Emirate of Afghanistan and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.
If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics
Was an emirate in Central Asia and South Asia that encompassed present-day Afghanistan and parts of present-day Pakistan (before 1893). The emirate emerged from the Durrani Empire.
Establishment
January 1824: The Emirate of Afghanistan emerged from the Durrani Empire, when Dost Mohammed Khan, the founder of the Barakzai dynasty in Kabul, became Emir in 1826.
Chronology
Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation
An unsuccessful attack on the Afghan city of Herat by the Qajar dynasty.
January 1838: In 1837, the Qajar dynasty attacked the city of Herat in Afghanistan.
January 1839: The attack on the Afghan city of Herat by the Qajar dynasty was unsuccessful.
Were a series of wars fought by the British East India Company in the Indian Subcontinent that resulted in the British conquest and colonial rule of the region.
2.1.Anglo-Afghan Wars
Were three wars in which the British Empire tried to extend its influence in modern-day Afghanistan.
2.1.1.First Anglo-Afghan War
Was a war between the British Empire and the Emirate of Afghanistan. As the British wanted to extend their influence to Afghanistan, they invaded and occupied the country. An uprising in Kabul led the British to the decision of leaving the country. The whole British army but one man was slaughtered during its retreat.
2.1.1.1.British Invasion (First Anglo-Afghan War)
Was the British invasion of Afghanistan during the First Anglo-Afghan War.
April 1839: In 1839, British forces led by Sir John Keane crossed the Bolan Pass and captured Quetta, a strategic city in southern Afghanistan. This marked the beginning of British military occupation in the region.
April 1839: British forces camped at Kandahar on 25 April 1839.
July 1839: In 1839, during the First Anglo-Afghan War, British-led forces under the command of General Sir John Keane launched a surprise attack and captured the fortress of Ghazni. This strategic victory allowed for the military occupation of Ghazni by Great Britain.
August 1839: In 1838 British viceroy Lord Auckland, restored Shah Shojāʿ to the Afghan throne in Kabul on August 1839 and made Afghanistan a British protectorate.
2.1.1.2.1842 retreat from Kabul
After an uprising in Kabul, the british-indian army was allowed to leave Afghanistan but was then massacrated during the retreat.
January 1842: After an uprising in Kabul, the British-Indian army was allowed to leave Afghanistan but in reality the British forces were massacrated at Gandamak (January 13 1842).
2.1.1.3.Punitive Expedition to Kabul
The Battle of Kabul was part of a punitive campaign undertaken by the British against the Afghans following the disastrous retreat from Kabul of 1842.
September 1842: The Battle of Kabul in 1842 was led by British General William Elphinstone against Afghan forces, seeking retribution for the massacre of British troops during the retreat from Kabul. The British occupation of Kabul was a response to the Afghan uprising against British rule.
November 1842: After the Kabul Expedition, the British demolished parts of Kabul before withdrawing to India, concluding the First Anglo-Afghan War.
2.1.2.Second Anglo-Afghan War
Was a war between Afghanistan and the British Empire. At the end of the war, Afghanistan became a British protectorate.
2.1.2.1.First British Invasion
Was the British invasion of Afghanistan at the beginning of the Second Anglo-Afghan War.
November 1878: Battle of Peiwar Kotal.
2.1.2.1.1.Treaty of Gandamak
Was signed on 26 May 1879 to officially end the first phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Under the treaty, the Afghan Emir, Mohammad Yaqub Khan, ceded various frontier areas to the British Raj and the country became a British protectorate.
May 1879: A peace treaty was signed on 26 May 1879 to officially end the first phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Under its terms, the Afghan Emir, Mohammad Yaqub Khan, ceded various frontier areas to the British Raj, including Quetta, Pishin, Harnai, Sibi, Kurram, and Khyber, while retaining sovereignty over the rest of Afghanistan.
May 1879: With British forces occupying Kabul, Afghan Amir Yaqub Khan, signed the Treaty of Gandamak on 26 May 1879. According to this agreement and in return for an annual subsidy and vague assurances of assistance in case of foreign aggression, Yaqub relinquished control of Afghan foreign affairs to Britain.
2.1.2.2.Afghan Revolt
Was an uprising in Kabul, agains the British forces that had occupied Afghanistan at the beginning of the Second Anglo-Afghan War.
September 1879: An uprising in Kabul led to the slaughter of Sir Louis Cavagnari, the British representative, along with his guards.
2.1.2.3.Second British Invasion (Second Anglo-Afghan War)
Was the second invasion of Afghanistan during the Second Anglo-Afghan War, after a revolt in Kabul had forced the British to leave the country.
October 1879: British forces defeated the Afghan Army at Charasiab.
October 1879: In 1879, during the Second Anglo-Afghan War, Kabul was occupied for two days by British forces led by General Frederick Roberts and Sir Donald Stewart. This military occupation marked a significant moment in the conflict between Afghanistan and Great Britain.
July 1880: Battle of Maiwand.
August 1880: Siege of Kandahar.
September 1880: The Battle of Kandahar brought a close to the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Emir Ayub Khan had been decisively beaten. The British appointed Abdur Rahman as emir of Afghanistan, under a protected state which gave Britain control of Afghanistan's foreign policy.
October 1880: After the British victory against Afghan forces in the Battle of Kandahar (1880), the British appointed Abdur Rahman as the ruler and left the occupied territories in Afghanistan. Afghanistan became a protectorate with British control over the country's foreign policy.
2.1.3.Third Anglo-Afghan War
Was a conflict that began in 1919 when the Emirate of Afghanistan invaded British India.
August 1919: The Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 brought the Third Anglo-Afghan War to an end. It was signed on 8 August 1919 in Rawalpindi by Great Britain and Afghanistan. Britain recognised Afghanistan's independence (as per Article 5 of the treaty), agreed that British India would not extend past the Khyber Pass and stopped British subsidies to Afghanistan. Afghanistan also accepted all previously agreed border arrangements with British India.
Was a war between Great Britain and Qajar Iran caused by disputes over territories in western Afghanistan.
October 1856: Herat conquered by persia (modern).
March 1857: The Treaty of Paris was signed in 1857, ending the Anglo-Persian War. The Persians, led by Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, agreed to withdraw from Herat, which was then incorporated into the Emirate of Afghanistan under Dost Mohammad Khan.
Was the conquest of the Central Asian Emirate of Bukhara by the Russian Empire.
February 1870: Afghan forces leave Badakhshan.
Was a conflict between the Soviet Union and the Emirate of Afghanistan in the mid-1920s over the control of the island of Urtatagai.
January 1921: When remnants of the Imperial Russian Army evacuated the island of Urtatagai to aid the White Movement in the Russian Civil War, in 1920 Afghan forces were finally able to capture the island unopposed.
November 1925: On 27 November 1925, due to repeated incursions into Soviet territory by Basmachi rebels using the island as a base, as well as the Soviet claim to the Island, 340 Soviet troops landed on the island of Urtatagai.
February 1926: Western press took interest in the conflict, and supported the Afghan government. With potential war looming, the Soviet leadership decided to let a joint commission decide Urtatagai's fate, which ruled in favour of Afghanistan. On 28 February 1926, the Soviets transferred the island to Afghanistan in a ceremony.
January 1829: The Phulra State was founded in 1828, when Mir Painda Khan Tanoli, the ruler of Amb, granted the area of Phulra as a small principality to his brother, Madad Khan Tanoli.
January 1831: The Muslim khanate was a minor 'Frontier State' in the colonial Northwest Frontier Province, founded circa 1830.
January 1847: In 1846, after the First Anglo-Sikh War, the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was established from territories that were previously part of the Sikh Empire. This marked the beginning of the rule of Maharaja Gulab Singh and the Dogra dynasty in the region.
January 1850: The Islamic State of Swat was established in 1849 under Sayyid Akbar Shah with Sharia law remaining in force. The state was in abeyance from 1878 to 1915, during which time it was under British control.
January 1851: In 1850, parts of the Khanate of Kalat were leased or ceded to form the province of British Baluchistan. This territory later became a Chief Commissioners province under British rule.
January 1870: Afghan forces attacked Badakhshan and burned fort Zang Kila.
January 1873: Asheberghan was alotted to Afghanistan by the 1873 Anglo-Russian border agreement.
January 1877: In 1876, under Sher Ali Khan, the Maymana Khanate fell to the kingdom of Kabul and was put in ruins.
August 1919: With the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919, the Afghans were able to resume the right to conduct their own foreign affairs as a fully independent state.
June 1926: Amanullah Khan began the reformation of the country and was crowned 1926 Padshah (king) of Afghanistan and founded the Kingdom of Afghanistan.
Disestablishment
February 1926: Western press took interest in the conflict, and supported the Afghan government. With potential war looming, the Soviet leadership decided to let a joint commission decide Urtatagai's fate, which ruled in favour of Afghanistan. On 28 February 1926, the Soviets transferred the island to Afghanistan in a ceremony.
June 1926: Amanullah Khan began the reformation of the country and was crowned 1926 Padshah (king) of Afghanistan and founded the Kingdom of Afghanistan.
Selected Sources
Showalter, D. (2013): Imperial Wars 1815-1914, Amber Books Ltd, p. 1839
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Emirate of Afghanistan
