British policy in Afghanistan based on the materials of the office documentation of the headquarters of the Turkestan Military District (1870–1880)

The paper examines British policy in Afghanistan in 1870–1880 based on archival materials of the headquarters of the Turkestan Military District. The reports of the military agent, Major General Alexander Pavlovich Gorlov, regarding the actions of the British and Indian governments in Afghanistan are considered and analyzed, special points to which attention was paid are investigated. During the period under review, the Turkestan Military District played a special role in the policy of the Russian Empire in Central Asia. Within this chronological framework, the British begin to advance to the borders of Afghanistan and exert diplomatic and military pressure on it, and the actions of the Russian government depended on what position the headquarters of the Turkestan military district occupied, as well as on what information it received from military and political agents, as well as intelligence. The work also reveals the general situation in Afghanistan, the specifics of the formation of the Turkestan military district and its commanders, in order to better disclose the goals of the work. These events must be considered in the context of the confrontation between the Russian Empire and Great Britain, called the «Big Game», and the study will reveal the attitude of A.P. Gorlov and the mood of the headquarters, which did not completely coincide with the mood prevailing in St. Petersburg. For a better understanding, the paper reveals the specifics of the interaction between Russian and English representatives on the issue of defining the border.