HARLAN J. A MEMOIR OF INDIA AND AVGHANISTAUN

HARLAN J. A MEMOIR OF INDIA AND AVGHANISTAUN [sic] with observations on the present exciting and critical state and future prospects of those countries. Philadelphia: Dobson, 1842. First edition, 8vo., engraved portrait frontispiece of Dôst Mo??ammad, engraved folding map of Cabul and map of Djillalabad, later calf, gilt, bookplate of Charles Crofton-Atkins Note: Josiah Harlan (1799?1871) was an adventurer and soldier of fortune who possibly was the first American to travel to Afghanistan. He found employment as a surgeon with the British East India Company. In 1827 he entered the service of Shah Shooja-ool-Moolk, the former leader of Afghanistan who had been deposed in 1810. Following later intrigues with various Afghan leaders, he was later expelled by the British. The book begins with a discussion of the disastrous defeat of the Anglo-Indian force at the hands of Afghan tribesmen in January 1842. Six of the book's seven chapters deal with British India, its foreign policy, and its relationship to Afghanistan. The seventh, and by far the longest, chapter is a detailed description of Amir Dôst Mo??ammad Khân (1793-1863), based in part on Harlan's service to and interactions with the Amir.