Publisher : Henry Graves & co.
James Atkinson’s stunning views of 19th century Afghanistan are strangely familiar to the modern eye. There are views of the cities such as Kandahar and Kabul, costumes and village scenes, but many of the plates show lines of troops and travelers winding their way across wild landscapes and through tortuous passes. The lithographs suggest that then, as now, Afghanistan was a land of spectacular but harsh terrain that did not easily welcome foreigners.
The views were drawn on stone by David Roberts’ lithographers, Louis and James Haghe from sketches made by the Persian scholar and doctor James Atkinson during his services as superintending surgeon to Sir George Pollock’s expedition to Kabul in 1838. “In 1838 Atkinson was appointed superintending surgeon to the army of the Indus, and accompanied it on its march to Kabul; but was relieved in the ordinary course of routine shortly after the surrender of Dost Mohammad, and, returning to Bengal in 1841, escaped the fate which awaited the army of occupation” (DNB).
The lithographs were published in July 1842, when British interest in Afghanistan was at a peak. Following a rising in Kabul in November 1841 and the disastrous annihilation of the British army in Khyber Pass in January 1842, Major-General George Pollock was given the task of leading an expedition “for the relief of Sale and his troops at Jalalabad” (DNB). By the time the present work was published the news that Pollock had succeeded would have reached Britain. Pollock went on to rescue the captives held in Kabul and returned to triumph late in 1842. Abbey, Travel 508. Tooley 73. Colas 173.
Sketches in Afghaunistan
