Photograph of the key figures involved in the signing of the Treaty of Gandamak. They are seated in a row with the interior of a tent visible behind them. Sir Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari (1841-79), the British representative, is sitting second from the left with his legs crossed and a sword in his left hand. A British officer called Jenkins is beside him to the far left. Both are wearing military uniform and helmets. Mohammad Yaqub Khan (1849-1923), the Emir of Afghanistan, is sitting at the centre of the group facing partly left. He is wearing an ornate military uniform with fringed epaulets. He is holding a helmet in his right hand and a sword in his left. His Commander-in-Chief Daoud Shah is sitting beside him to the right and the Prime Minister Habibullah Khan is seated to the far right. The Treaty of Gandamak ended the first phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-80) and was signed in the small village of Gandamak in May 1879. Emir Mohammad Yaqub Khan conceded territory to British control and Sir Cavagnari became the British representative in Kabul. Cavagnari was killed by Afghan forces a few months later and fighting resumed. This photograph was taken by John Burke, who travelled with the Peshawar Valley Field Force during the war.
From the collection of King Edward VII when Prince of Wales
