compensated them for losing caste. The Sepoys mistrusted the
Government from that time forward, and were always fearing that
their caste would be destroyed; besides, the Kabul disaster taught
them that Europeans were not invincible."

The departure of the English forces was followed by the
reestablishment of Dost Mohammed's authority in Afghanistan. Once,
at the time of the Sikh insurrection, the Dost crossed the Indian
border with two thousand horsemen, and narrowly escaped falling into
the hands of the British in the affair of Gujrat, February 21, 1849,
where the speed of his horse alone saved him from capture. In 1855 a
better understanding was effected between the son of Dost Mohammed
and his powerful European neighbor. He reconquered Balkh in 1850,
and gained Kandahar by inheritance in 1855, while he lost Herat to
the Persians in 1856. With the aid of Great Britain, in 1857, Persia
relinquished all claims to Herat, but the Dost had eventually to
besiege that city, occupied by a rebellious faction, in 1863, and
after a siege of ten months reduced the place, only to find a tomb
within its walls. After the usual struggle for the throne, peculiar
to a change of dynasty in Afghanistan, Shere Ali, one of the Dost's
sons, prevailed, and was recognized in 1868. The next decade was
notable for a series of diplomatic manoeuvres between England and
Russia for Afghan friendship. Shere Ali now leaned toward the Lion,
now in the direction of the Bear, with the regularity of a pendulum.
The advances were received with presents and promises on the one
hand, and promises, powerful embassies, and imposing military
expeditions on the other. On September 21, 1878, a British
ambassador was turned back by the Afghan commandant of the frontier
fort of Ali Musjid, and on the 20th of November, of the same year,
war was declared against Shere Ali by the Anglo-Indian Government.