Image: Group of Afridis at Jamrūd, 1866 WDL11469

Description: This photograph of a group of Afridi tribesmen with rifles is from an album of rare historical photographs depicting people and places associated with the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The Afridi are Pashtun Afghans, part of the Karlani tribal confederacy, who both fought against and with the British in Afghanistan during all three Anglo-Afghan wars. The British frequently classified the peoples that they conquered with fixed personality or “racial” traits. They regarded both the Punjabi Sikhs and the Afghan Afridi tribesmen as “warlike” peoples. Different Afridi clans cooperated with the British forces in exchange for subsidies, and some even served with the Khyber Rifles, an auxiliary force of the British Indian Army. Here Jamrūd refers to Jamrūd Fort, which was strategically located at the eastern entrance to the Khyber Pass in present-day Pakistan. The Second Anglo-Afghan War began in November 1878 when Great Britain, fearful of what it saw as growing Russian influence in Afghanistan, invaded the country from British India. The first phase of the war ended in May 1879 with the Treaty of Gandamak, which permitted the Afghans to maintain internal sovereignty but forced them to cede control over their foreign policy to the British. Fighting resumed in September 1879, after an anti-British uprising in Kabul, and finally concluded in September 1880 with the decisive Battle of Kandahar. The album includes portraits of British and Afghan leaders and military personnel, portraits of ordinary Afghan people, and depictions of British military camps and activities, structures, landscapes, and cities and towns. The sites shown are all located within the borders of present-day Afghanistan or Pakistan (a part of British India at the time). About a third of the photographs were taken by John Burke (circa 1843–1900), another third by Sir Benjamin Simpson (1831–1923), and the remainder by several other photographers. Some of the photographs are unattributed. The album possibly was compiled by a member of the British Indian government, but this has not been confirmed. How it came to the Library of Congress is not known. Afghan Wars; Forts and fortifications; Khyber Pass (Afghanistan and Pakistan); Pushtuns; Weapons
Title: Group of Afridis at Jamrūd, 1866
Credit: http://dl.wdl.org/11469.png Gallery: http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11469/
Author: Shepherd, Charles, flourished 1858–1878
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No