First Anglo-Afghan War

The First Anglo-Afghan War was fought from 1839 to 1842, when Britain, fearing growing Russian influence in the region, invaded Afghanistan to depose its ruler and install the more pliable former ruler Shah Shuja on the throne. British and Indian forces initially occupied Kabul with little resistance, but a major uprising broke out in 1841, and the subsequent retreat of a British and Indian garrison from Kabul in January 1842 turned into a disaster, with nearly the entire column of some sixteen thousand soldiers and camp followers killed or captured during the retreat through the mountain passes. A British punitive force later recaptured Kabul briefly to avenge the disaster before withdrawing entirely, and the war ended with the previously deposed emir Dost Mohammad Khan restored to the Afghan throne.