Historedia
Episode 1 of 2

Ambush on the Road to Jalalabad

When
January 1842
Where
Departure point of the retreat
Part of
Massacre of Elphinstone's army at Gandamak

Afghan tribesmen attacked the retreating British column shortly after it left Kabul in early January 1842, initiating the destruction of the force.

The retreat began in early January 1842. As the army and camp followers marched, they came under attack from Afghan tribesmen. The column was vulnerable, and the attacks intensified, leading to significant casualties among the British and Indian dependants.

Sources

  1. 1842 retreat from Kabul Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-27
  2. Wazir Akbar Khan Wikipedia, revision of 2026-06-11

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.