Jangi Gorge in the Khyber, 1919

Photograph by Randolph Bezzant Holmes (1888-1973), 3rd Afghan War, 1919.

Holmes was a commercial photographer who continued the photographic business established by his father William Holmes in Peshawar in the 1890s. The firm continued until the 1940s and was best known for its views of the people and places of the North West Frontier of British India. Holmes also took a fine series of photographs during the 3rd Afghan War (1919) that provide us with one of our best visual records of the campaign.

The Khyber Pass is a 53-kilometer (33-miles) passage through the Hindu Kush. It connects the northern frontier of what is now Pakistan with Afghanistan. During the three Afghan Wars the pass was the scene of numerous skirmishes between Anglo-Indian soldiers and local tribesmen who tried to control access to it.

From an album of 43 photographs, 1920 (c)-1925 compiled by Major G A Clarke, 12th Pioneers (The Kelat-i-Ghilzie Regiment).