In Kolkata, we are fortunate to have many War Memorials, and recently I was collaborating with a national print media to document all the war memorials in this city. I realized that out of all the names in the name there was one name that I did not have the opportunity of visiting and that was the Afghan War Memorial Kolkata in Dum Dum. This war memorial is not a mark of victory instead it marks a dark history of defeat. It was built more as a memorial to the dead than to praise their valiant victory.
A short history of the First Anglo-Afghan War
This war was fought between 1839 – 1842 between British (East India Company) forces and the Afghan & Baloch Tribes. The British forces saw victory in the beginning but it ended with a tragedy of epic proportions.
Timeline:-
1837 – The British were seemingly getting worried about the ever-increasing reach of the Russian Empire. With a fear that they might take over provinces in and around Afghanistan. To quell this fear they decided to make the Afghan tribes ally with them. Kabul was the principal capital of Afghanistan and was ruled by Emir Dost Mohammad Khan.
Emir Dost Mohammad Khan wanted the British to help them squash the land occupied by Sikhs which they did not and this angered Dost Mohammed Khan. Instead, he went to the Russian empire for help. Now, this spooked the British into thinking that they will lose control over this region.
1839 – The British under the leadership of General Sir John Keane head towards Afghanistan along with 20,000 men. It is to be noted here that the majority of all the sepoys were native Indians.
By April of that year, Kandahar was captured and installed their dummy, Shah Shuja Durrani, there. While some troops remained back in Kandahar the rest marched on towards Kabul.
On the way, they met resistance at Ghazni where there was a large fort being protected with a strong defensive wall.
By July the fort was breached and the forces took over the fort. After this, the forces marched towards Kabul. Seeing an inevitable incoming attack Dost Mohammed fled the city this made it easy for the advancing British forced to capture Kabul.
1840 – By November Dost Mohammad handed himself over to the British and was exiled and taken to Calcutta (Kolkata).
1841 – After the victory in Kabul, a part of the force was kept back in Kabul while the rest marched back to India. Things do not go down well with the new ruler and soon there were revolts especially when it was back by one of Dost Mohammad’s sons Muhammad Akbar Khan. Sir William MacNaghten was killed in this onslaught while most of the forces were captured.
1842 – A surrender was negotiated by General Sir William Elphinstone according to which the troops had to surrender all of their gunpowder and cannons. In total, over 4,500 British troops and 12,000 support staff started their journey back to India.
It was winter so the icy roads were a death trap and along with that, the return journey was an open field for the local scattered tribesmen to keep attacking the convoy. With no gunpowder the defense was weak and the troops especially Indian sepoys were either killed or captured.
Dr. William Brydon was one of the few who survived the journey back to Jalalabad where he informed of this ordeal to Major General Sir Robert Sale who had left earlier from Kabul to clear the path back to Kandahar but was unable and decided to base at Jalalabad.
Major-General George Pollock set out from India as a reinforcement for Jalalabad. A counter-offensive was also started by Major General Sir Robert Sale on Muhammad Akbar Khan and his men to ease the passage for Pollock and his men. With the combined forces Muhammad Akbar Khan was finally defeated and the British forces went back to Kabul by September of that year.
By October that year, the British decided to withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan and set the remaining men back to India.
The entire fiasco of British forces going all the way to Afghanistan with native Indian sepoys and suffering heavy casualties was a major disaster for the British. Shah Shuja Durrani was murdered following an uprising by various factions and tribes. Ironically Dost Mohammad Khan became an ally of the British and went back to rule Afghanistan till his death. Muhammad Akbar Khan died of cholera after a few years which many believe was poisoned by his father fearing the dominance that he had created while he was in exile.
Afghan War Memorial in Kolkata
Calcutta being the main capital city for East India Company it was decided to construct a memorial for the fallen British officers. It is to be noted that even though the troops comprised of nearly 20,000 native sepoys they find no spot in this memorial. The memorial plaques around the memorial column only have the names of English men.
The design of the column is rather simple with a tapering square base having memorial plaques on two sides originally. The third plaque was put up after restoration. The column is a having a simple round structure with grooves at the base and the top. The top portion has a designed finish with honeycomb-like grooves.
This Afghan War Memorial in Kolkata was erected in the year 1844 two years after the end of the First Anglo-Afghan War.
Location of Afghan War Memorial
It is located right next to another iconic building that is the Ordnance Factory Dum Dum. Back then when the memorial was constructed the factory was not present and it came up much later in 1846. The reason the factory was built was to ensure a steady supply of ordinance, weapons which the British troops lacked the most. The forces could not breach the walls of Ghazni Fort as they did not have enough cannons and the ones that they had were not that powerful. It was only by chance when one of the doorways that protected the citadel was found to be weak and was attacked.
So, in a way it was more like a reminder for the British to start the ordinance factory in India that too next to the newly constructed Afghan War Memorial.
How to Visit the Afghan War Memorial
This monument is located right next to the Dum Dum Ordnance Factory and can be seen from the main road. However, the main gate to this monument remains locked. To access this monument, one must take prior permission from Dum Dum Ordnance Factory. You need to send them an application stating the reason for your visit and submit that to their office. You will be notified once you have the clearance to visit this place.
Note: No drone video is allowed at the monument since it shares the same boundary wall with Dum Dum Ordnance Factory.
Vlog on Afghan War Memorial in Kolkata
Location On Map
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References
British Library
Times of India
United States Library of Congress
National Army Museum UK
Art Council England