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Gorge Below Ali Masjid

1879
This photograph of the gorge below Ali Masjid is from an album of rare historical photographs depicting people and places associated with the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Ali Masjid is located at the narrowest point in the Khyber Pass and contains a shrine to ʻAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (circa 600–661), the nephew and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, one of the first converts to Islam and held to be particularly holy for his being born inside the Kaaba at Mecca. The fortress above the shrine was built in 1837 by the Afghan amir, Dōst Moḥammad Khān (1793–1863), and was the site of fierce battles between British and Afghan forces in 1842 and in 1878. The figures in the foreground are not identified. The Second Anglo-Afghan War began in November 1878 when Great Britain, fearful of what it saw as growing Russian influence in Afghanistan, invaded the country from British India. The first phase of the war ended in May 1879 with the Treaty of Gandamak, which permitted the Afghans to maintain internal sovereignty but forced them to cede control over their foreign policy to the British. Fighting resumed in September 1879, after an anti-British uprising in Kabul, and finally concluded in September 1880 with the decisive Battle of Kandahar. The album includes portraits of British and Afghan leaders and military personnel, portraits of ordinary Afghan people, and depictions of British military camps and activities, structures, landscapes, and cities and towns. The sites shown are all located within the borders of present-day Afghanistan or Pakistan (a part of British India at the time). About a third of the photographs were taken by John Burke (circa 1843–1900), another third by Sir Benjamin Simpson (1831–1923), and the remainder by several other photographers. Some of the photographs are unattributed. The album possibly was compiled by a member of the British Indian government, but this has not been confirmed. How it came to the Library of Congress is not known.

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11472.jpg
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acku Afghanistan
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1800x1486 / 545.3KB
Contained in galleries
PAKISTAN
1879<br /> This photograph of the gorge below Ali Masjid is from an album of rare historical photographs depicting people and places associated with the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Ali Masjid is located at the narrowest point in the Khyber Pass and contains a shrine to ʻAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (circa 600–661), the nephew and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad, one of the first converts to Islam and held to be particularly holy for his being born inside the Kaaba at Mecca. The fortress above the shrine was built in 1837 by the Afghan amir, Dōst Moḥammad Khān (1793–1863), and was the site of fierce battles between British and Afghan forces in 1842 and in 1878. The figures in the foreground are not identified. The Second Anglo-Afghan War began in November 1878 when Great Britain, fearful of what it saw as growing Russian influence in Afghanistan, invaded the country from British India. The first phase of the war ended in May 1879 with the Treaty of Gandamak, which permitted the Afghans to maintain internal sovereignty but forced them to cede control over their foreign policy to the British. Fighting resumed in September 1879, after an anti-British uprising in Kabul, and finally concluded in September 1880 with the decisive Battle of Kandahar. The album includes portraits of British and Afghan leaders and military personnel, portraits of ordinary Afghan people, and depictions of British military camps and activities, structures, landscapes, and cities and towns. The sites shown are all located within the borders of present-day Afghanistan or Pakistan (a part of British India at the time). About a third of the photographs were taken by John Burke (circa 1843–1900), another third by Sir Benjamin Simpson (1831–1923), and the remainder by several other photographers. Some of the photographs are unattributed. The album possibly was compiled by a member of the British Indian government, but this has not been confirmed. How it came to the Library of Congress is not known.