What was the 1842 retreat from Kabul?
In January 1842 a British-led column withdrew from Kabul toward Jalalabad and was largely destroyed through fighting, exposure, hunger, and breakdown of agreements.
What this adds to the history
Later imperial memory often simplified a complex column that included soldiers, camp followers, families, and people from several communities.
The most useful way to place this topic is within anglo-afghan wars, borders & the great game, then compare chronology, geography, and the kinds of evidence each source uses.
Names and spellings vary across Dari, Pashto, Persian, Arabic, Greek, Latin, and modern English sources. Search common variants without assuming that spelling differences describe different subjects.
Use the linked institutional sources as a starting point and follow their bibliographies or catalog records when a date, quotation, or disputed interpretation matters.
How to read the evidence responsibly
Nineteenth-century Afghanistan was shaped by Afghan political struggles as well as British, Russian, Qajar, and Central Asian imperial competition.
Colonial archives are extensive but partial. Their labels, maps, casualty figures, and judgments must be read alongside Afghan and regional perspectives.
Check the underlying information.
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