Description
Group of Afridi fighters in 1878.jpg
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Afridi picket near Jumrood, Khyber & Rotass in distance.
Photograph of a group of Afridis taken by John Burke in 1878. Burke accompanied the Peshawar Valley Field Force, one of three British Anglo-Indian army columns deployed in the Second Afghan War (1878-80), despite being rejected for the role of official photographer. He financed his trip by advance sales of his photographs 'illustrating the advance from Attock to Jellalabad'. Coming to India as apothecary with the Royal Engineers, Burke turned professional photographer, in partnership at first with William Baker. Travelling widely in India, they were the main rivals to the better-known Bourne and Shepherd. Burke's two-year Afghan expedition produced an important visual document of the region where strategies of the Great Game were played out.
With the spread of Russia's sphere of influence in Central Asia, British foreign policy in the 19th century was motivated by fears of their Indian Empire being vulnerable to Russian moves southwards. The Anglo-Russian rivalry in Asia, termed the Great Game, precipitated the Second Afghan War. The British were trying to establish a permanent mission at Kabul which the Amir Sher Ali, trying to keep a balance between the Russians and British, would not permit. The arrival of a Russian diplomatic mission in Kabul in 1878 increased British suspicions of Russian influence and ultimately led to them invading Afghanistan.
The Afridis were a powerful, independent Pashtun tribe inhabiting the Peshawar border of the North West Frontier Province, who defended their mountainous strongholds with tenacity and courage, impressing the British who took them on as troops. They had a reputation for being first rate soldiers and particularly good skirmishers. The Afridi soldiers are pictured with their jezails, long and heavy Afghan muskets, with which they were excellent sharpshooters.
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This work is in the
public domain
in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the
copyright term
is the author's
life plus 70 years or fewer
.
You must also include a
United States public domain tag
to indicate why this work is in the public domain in the United States. Note that a few countries have copyright terms longer than 70 years: Mexico has 100 years, Jamaica has 95 years, Colombia has 80 years, and Guatemala and Samoa have 75 years. This image may
not
be in the public domain in these countries, which moreover do
not
implement the
rule of the shorter term
. Honduras has a general copyright term of 75 years, but it
does
implement the rule of the shorter term. Copyright may extend on works created by French who died for France in
World War II
(
more information
), Russians who served in
the Eastern Front of World War II
(known as the Great Patriotic War in Russia) and posthumously
rehabilitated
victims of Soviet repressions (
more information
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This file has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.
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