View of City, from Signal Tower looking West, 1880 (c)

Photograph by Benjamin Simpson (1831-1923), 2nd Afghan War (1878-1880), 1880 (c).

Kandahar, in south-east Afghanistan, had been captured by the British without a struggle on 8 January 1879. Until the summer of 1880 the occupation was relatively uneventful but following Ayub Khan's victory at Maiwand on 27 July, the Kandahar force was besieged. The siege was lifted when Major-General Sir Frederick Roberts led a force from Kabul to Kandahar. Despite the difficult terrain and the high temperatures he covered 280 miles (400 km) in 20 days and hardly lost a man. On 1 September 1880 he defeated Ayub Khan outside Kandahar and relieved the garrison.