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The First Anglo-Afghan War was fought between British India and Afghanistan from 1839 to 1842. It was one of the first major conflicts during the Great Game, the 19th century competition for power and influence in Central Asia between the United Kingdom and Russia, and also marked one of the worst setbacks inflicted on British power in the region after the consolidation of British Raj by the East India Company.
Shah Shujah-ul-Mulk (1785-1842) was the Amir of Afghanistan from 1802 until 1809 when he was driven out by his rival Mahmud Shah. During the First Afghan War (1838-42), the Governor-General of India Lord Auckland, attempted to restore Shah Shujah against the wishes of the Afghan people.<br/><br/> In summer of 1839 the British-Indian Army of the Indus, under the command of Sir John Keane, captured Kandahar and the fortress of Ghazni. They then advanced north towards Kabul. Amir Dost Mohammed fled from the capital and Shah Shujah was duly installed in his place in August 1839.<br/><br/> After his British backers were forced to retreat from Kabul in January 1842, Shah Shujah fled to the Bala Hissar fortress. In April he left this refuge and was killed by the supporters of Dost Mohammad's son, Muhammad Akbar Khan. Dost Mohammed was quietly restored to the throne.