General Roberts and staff [inspecting captured Afghan artillery, Sherpur Cantonment, Kabul]. --Photographer: Burke, John Medium: Photographic print Date: 1879----

Photograph taken by John Burke in 1879, showing rows of captured Afghan field pieces drawn up inside the cantonment at Sherpur, situated a mile north of the city of Kabul, and General Roberts and his officers inspecting the guns. Following the killing of the British Resident Sir Louis Cavagnari and his mission at Kabul in September 1879, General Roberts and his forces entered the city and occupied the cantonment in October. Roberts was tasked with launching punitive action against the Afghans, securing his force at Kabul and establishing a line of communication with British forces via the Khyber Pass. The cantonment, set up by the Amir Sher Ali as winter quarters for his troops, offered a secure and easily defendable position close to the city; it was large enough to accommodate the troops and provided easy access eastwards through the Khyber Pass towards Peshawar, northwards towards Kohistan and westwards into the Chardeh Plain.