Sale's Brigade in Afghanistan - 1846 Author:George Robert Gleig Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. Early Negotiations with Afghanistan—Preparations for its Invasion. Ever since the foundations of British power in the East were laid, there ha... more »s been more or less of intercourse between the rulers of Cabul and the representatives of the British government. For a while, indeed, this seems to have been on our part the effect rather of our fears, than of a higher motive. Nadir Shah had left a terrible name behind, which ,Shah Ahmed did his best to emulate; and in Shah Zemaun's time it was found necessary to assemble an army of observation on the frontier, lest the Afghan should march, as he had engaged to do, to the assistance of Tippoo Saib, with whom the Anglo-Indian empire was then at war. There followed this movement repeated missions—now to the court of Persia for the purpose of negotiating a diversion, as often as an inroad of the mountaineers towards Delhi was apprehended—now to Cabul when the prevailing cause of alarm chanced to be, that the French would contract an alliance with the Persians, and pass, by their help, through Central Asia, to the invasion of British India. It is not necessary to particularize the whole of these, nor yet to describe in detail the results to which they led. Enough is done when we state, that either because of the diplomatic skill with which they were managed, or that the dangers which they were designed to obviate proved more imaginary than real, the territories of the English in India have suffered no violation, though they have been continually extending themselves, and bid fair ere long to comprehend the entire Peninsula, from Cape Comorin to the Indus. As the fear of invasion subsided there arose a laudable ambition to enter with the natives of Central Asia into more intimate commercial relations. The opening of the Ind...« less