In November 1878, the British invaded Afghanistan and began the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Six months later, the British signed the Treaty of Gandamak with Amir Yaqub Khan of Afghanistan, under which several Pashtun areas were surrendered to the British. The treaty also stipulated that the British representative, Louis Cavagnari, would be stationed in Kabul. In September 1879, the Herati soldiers of Amir Yaqub Khan mutinied due to not receiving their pay. Common citizens of Kabul also joined the rebellion, attacking the British Residency and killing Louis Cavagnari.
To respond to this crisis, the British, in October 1879, sent General Frederick Roberts to Kabul in command of the Kabul Field Force. General Roberts made the royal palace inside Bala Hissar his residence.
Inside the palace, Roberts found a painting created by an Afghan artist. The artwork depicted Yaqub Khan riding a horse, with an armed English soldier walking beside him like a servant. Instead of wearing the khaki uniform of 1879, the soldier was dressed in the red uniform of the British Army from the First Anglo-Afghan War. This painting was likely made when Yaqub Khan was still a prince, during the reign of his father, Amir Sher Ali Khan.
The painting enraged General Roberts. Amir Yaqub Khan had only recently been subdued and made subservient to British authority, yet here he was portrayed as magnificent—while the English soldier stood on the ground like a servant, on the same level as a dog. The old uniform of the English soldier must have rubbed salt into Roberts’ wounds, as the British had been badly defeated by the Afghans in the First Anglo-Afghan War. Roberts took the painting as a matter of British honour and national pride.
In a fit of pettiness, Roberts ordered a counter-painting to be made. In this new work, General Roberts was to be shown riding a horse, while Amir Yaqub Khan would be depicted running alongside on foot like a common servant. The commissioned painting was completed as ordered, but it turned out to be unimpressive and lacklustre.
Both the original Afghan painting and Roberts’ counter-painting are now housed in the National Army Museum, London.
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