NAM.1964-07-111-1

Major Eldred Pottinger CB (1811-1843), Bombay Artillery, 1840. Oil on canvas by Beechey after George Duncan Beechey (1789-1852), 1848. Bust portrait, wearing turban and Indian dress; gilt wood frame. Associated with 1st Afghan War (1838-1842). Pottinger (1811-1843) joined the Bombay Artillery in 1827 and after several years of regimental duty transferred to the Political Service. He first visited Afghanistan in 1837 and helped Emir Dost Mohammed’s army defend Herat from the Russian-backed Persians. For these services he was thanked by the Governor-General, Lord Auckland, and awarded the CB. During the 1st Afghan War (1839-1842) he served as a political officer at Herat. When the uprising against Shah Shuja broke out in November 1841, Pottinger took refuge with the 4th Gurkha (Light Infantry) of Shah Shujah’s Force at Charikar. This unit was eventually destroyed and Pottinger escaped with a handful of survivors to Kabul. Soon after his arrival Sir William Macnaghten was murdered and Pottinger succeeded to his position as envoy to the Afghan court. After helping to negotiate the withdrawal of the British garrison to Jellalabad, Pottinger was held as a hostage by Akbar Khan, thus escaping the subsequent massacre. He was released in September 1842 when Major-General Sir George Pollock’s Army of Retribution arrived in Kabul. Pottinger returned to India, but died a year later while visiting Hong Kong.

1st Afghan War (1838-1842)