MACNAGHTEN, SIR WILLIAM HAY, BARONET

born August 1793 died Dec. 23, 1841, Kabul, Afg. British interventionist agent in Afghanistan during the First Anglo-Afghan War (183942). He was created a baronet in 1840. Macnaghten went to India in 1809, where he served as an administrator and a diplomat in Madras and Bengal, acquired a knowledge of Hindu and Muslim law, and became an expert in Oriental languages. Made an adviser to India's governor-general, Lord Auckland, in 1837, he advocated British intervention to counteract Russian influence in neighbouring Afghanistan, which led to the First Anglo-Afghan War. As political agent with the British invasion force in Kabul, he tried (unsuccessfully) to replace Afghan ruler Dost Mohammad Khan with his pro-British rival, Shah Shoja'. Suspected of treachery by the Afghans, Macnaghten was captured and slain by them while he was trying to arrange the withdrawal of British forces in 1841.