First Anglo-Afghan War

Historical eventJanuary 131842

First Anglo-Afghan War

First Anglo-Afghan War: William Brydon, an assistant surgeon in the British Army, was the sole European of the 14,000 people retreating from Kabul to Jalalabad who evaded capture or death.

Everything on January 13Original source

In context

When
Thursday, January 13 1842184 years ago
Category
Historical eventA dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Era
19th century · 1840s
Recorded from
Wikipedia “On this day” feed

Russia, Greece and some other countries used the Julian calendar into the early 20th century, so local records may show a date up to 13 days earlier.

At a glance

Dates: From 1842.

What came before

Background Further information: History of Afghanistan Causes The 19th century was a period of diplomatic competition between the British and Russian empires for spheres of influence in South Asia known as the " Great Game " to the British and the "Tournament of Shadows" to the Russians. [ 1 ] With the exception of Emperor Paul (whose 1800 order to invade India was cancelled after his assassination in 1801), no Russian tsar ever seriously considered invading India. However, for most of the 19th century,

What happened

The First Anglo-Afghan War was fought between the Durranis backed by the British Empire and the Sikh Empire, and the Barakzais of Kabul and Kandahar, alongside their regional allies, from 1838 to 1842. The British intervened in a succession dispute stemming from the Durrani succession struggle and backed former king Shuja Shah Durrani, whom they restored to the throne after occupying Kabul in August 1839. It was one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game,

January 13 through the years

Other entries on the same calendar day, in order.

  1. 1842First Anglo-Afghan War
  2. 2000Short 360
  3. 2000Steve Ballmer
  4. 2001January 2001 El Salvador earthquake
  5. 2003208996 Achlys
  6. 2004Uzbekistan Airways Flight 1154
  7. 2012Cruise ship
  8. 2012Costa Concordia
  9. 20182018 Hawaii false missile alert
  10. 2020Ministry of Public Health (Thailand)
  11. 2021President of the United States

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Everything we record for 1842 →

Sources

Cite this page

“First Anglo-Afghan War”, What's On This Date, https://whatsonthisdate.com/app/event/first-anglo-afghan-war-1842-january-13, accessed October 29, 2026.

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Questions about this entry

When did First Anglo-Afghan War happen?

January 13 1842 — 184 years ago, on a Thursday.

Where does this text come from?

Wikipedia “On this day” feed. Summaries are short adaptations that link back to the source, not reprints.

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