‘The Entry of Shah Soojah into Cabool [sic]’, 1839 (colour litho)

‘The Entry of Shah Soojah into Cabool [sic]’, 1839. Lithograph from a volume of 14 coloured lithographs 'The Storming of Ghuznee and Kelat' by W Taylor after Lieutenant T Wingate, 2nd Queen’s Royal Regiment, 1839 (c). After Dost Mohammed had received a Russian envoy to Kabul, Lord Auckland, the Governor-General of India, took the decision to replace him as Emir with a former ruler, Shah Shuja who was considered to be more pro-British. In spring 1839 a 12,000 strong British-Indian force, the Army of the Indus under Sir John Keane, forced the Bolan Pass and captured Kandahar without a fight. Soon after the fortress of Ghazni was seized. Dost Mohammed fled from Kabul and Shah Shuja was duly installed as Emir in August. An unpopular choice of Emir among the residents of Kabul, he is shown here at the head of a column of East India Company troops.