His elder brother, Fatteh Khan, had been assassinated by Mahmud Shah Durrani, the very ruler of Afghanistan he had restored to his throne. Mahammad had spent much of his life fighting to preserve his kingdom. With these words, Amir Dost Mahammad bade farewell to the British Governor General of India at the end of the First Afghan War (1839-42). I have been down to Calcutta, and have been astonished with your wealth, your palaces, your marts, and your mint but to me the most wonderful thing of all is that so wise and wealthy a nation could have ever entertained the project of occupying such a country as Kabul, where there is nothing but rocks and stones.
Your forts, your arsenals, your ships, all are admirable. I have seen a great deal of your government since I came to India. This is a slightly corrected Perspective on Afghanistan published in 2010.
