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🗓️ 13 January 2025
⏱️ 18 minutes
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January 13, 1842. William Brydon is the last man standing after a disastrous British army retreat during the First Anglo-Afghan War.
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0:10.6 | or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at IntoHistory.com. |
0:30.6 | Thank you. It's the early hours of November 2, 1841, at a mansion in Kabul, Afghanistan. 36-year-old diplomat Sir Alexander Burns peaks over the balcony and grimaces at what he sees below. |
0:42.6 | A few dozen Afghan men carrying torches and large knives are marching along the street, |
0:46.6 | and Sir Alexander is sure he knows their destination, his house. |
0:50.1 | The British invaded Afghanistan three years ago. |
0:55.1 | Their plan was to install a puppet ruler in the country to safeguard their colonies in neighboring India. Ever since, the British have occupied Afghanistan to prop up their chosen leader, |
1:00.5 | but the British are not popular here, and there have been whispers that the Afghans may rise |
1:04.9 | up in revolution. As the most prominent British official in Kabul, Sir Alexander knows he'll be |
1:10.6 | at the top of any |
1:11.5 | list of targets for retribution. At the sound of splintering wood, Sir Alexander risks another |
1:17.8 | glance over the balcony. The mob has broken into the stables next door. Soon, the accurate |
1:24.0 | smell of burning timber fills the air. They've set fire to the stables. |
1:28.3 | Knowing that his house might be next, Sir Alexander takes a deep breath, then stands up in full view. |
1:35.3 | He hopes that showing himself will calm the crown. |
1:38.3 | And inspired by his bravery, another British official also steps forward from his hiding place and joins Sir Alexander on the balcony. |
1:45.7 | Then Sir Alexander holds his hands up in the air, gesturing for calm, but the crowd isn't in the mood. |
1:52.1 | Gunshot echoes through the street. |
1:54.4 | The official next to Sir Alexander slumps to the ground, a bright red stain blossoming over his white shirt. |
2:00.6 | Sir Alexander ducks and scurries |
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