Left: Major Cavagnari, C.S.I and chief Sirdars with Kunar Syud. (John Burke, 1878) (Courtesy of the National Media Museum, Bradford, UK)
Right: Strongly
pro-Taliban
refugees.
For the photograph, they chose to hide their faces.
Selected by the British precisely because of his hauteur and his belligerence, Cavagnari became the British ambassador to Kabul. Within a year he was killed by an angry mob and the British had the excuse for invasion for which they had been craving.
It's worth zooming on the Afghan's faces.
The man behind Cavagnari has the most honest face I ever saw.
