The disaster in the First Afghan War led to the return of Dost Mohammad on the throne of Kabul. To the distinct advantage of England, he maintained absolute neutrality when England was fighting against Russia in the Crimean War (1854-56) or was facing in India the revolt of 1857. 

Soon after the Crimean War, the Russians advanced swiftly in Central Asia. Making the Russian intention clear Prince Gortchadoff wrote in his memorandum of 1864 that in approaching Afghanistan Russia was influenced by the same imperious law that had led the British armies across the plains of India and Punjab till they reached the mountains

In pursuance of this aim Russia extended its frontier by 1864 to Bokhara, to Samarkand in 1868 and to Khiva in 1873. In 1867 a new province of Russian Turkestan was formed and reduced Bukhara ‘to the position of a vassal state. 

In 1873 Khiva fell to their control. In defence of their policy Russians argued that, British could always pose a threat to them through continental alliances, as had happened in the Crimean War. It was for this reason, the Russians argued that they had secured a strong military position in Central Asia to keep England in check by the threat of intervention in India.

The British reaction to this Russian posture was two-fold, One move was to occupy advanced stations in Central Asia and to secure commanding influence in Afghanistan. This came to be known as “Forward Policy” which was generally held by the members of the Conservative Party. The other move known as ‘The Policy of Masterly Inactivity’ or ‘Stationary School’ generally supported by the Liberals aimed at reaching a diplomatic understanding with Russia and adopting the policy of watchful nonintervention as far as Afghanistan was concerned. 

In the case of Russian attack, the British Government of India, under this second policy during 1863-75 preferred to meet the danger on the Indian frontier itself since it was dangerous to strive for political domination over Afghanistan . 

Russian military base being far away from the expected scene of conflict, it was better to engage them at the Indian frontier. Opposed to this line of thinking were the protagonists of Forward Policy who believed that the imminent threat of Russian invasion should be met beyond the Indo-Afghan frontier to avoid dangerous repercussions on the disaffected Indian people.  It implied that the British Indian government should go forward to establish their control over Afghanistan and check the Russian advance on the Hindukush frontier .

In 1874 the Gladstone ministry fell due to the defeat of the Liberal Party at the polls. The new ministry was headed by the Conservatives. Disraeli firmly believed in the ‘Forward Policy’ and gradually forced the Indian Government to the Second Afghan War. 

The results of this war were not strikingly different from those of the First Afghan War. While on the other side of the Hindukush, the Russian imperial expansion continued unabated, their occupation of Merv caused tremendous nervousness in Calcutta and London.

A year later they extended control over Punjab and in 1893 they overtook Pamir Plateau which bordered directly on Kashmir. By 1890 the European diplomatic scene began to experience restructuring of relations. 

 Germany after the fall of Bismarck, alienated Russia forcing a bipolarization of powers. In this process the old , enemies of England -France and Russia- came closer to each other, leading finally to the formation of Triple Entente in 1907. Thus they resolved their political differences relating to their conflicting interests in different continents. 

When Russian diplomatic efforts in Afghanistan appeared to be gaining strength in 1879, the British felt the need to expand their influence beyond the existing settled areas in order to create a stronger buffer against Russian invasion. 

The British government in London was unwilling to enter into any defensive alliances with the Afghan government and did not want to escalate the situation by responding to Russian aggression in Persia and northeast Afghanistan. 

The only message the British government wished to send the Afghan leadership was that it respected Afghan independence and that it had no intention of interfering in matters within Afghan borders. 

British administrators in India needed a new policy that would inspire Afghan confidence in Britain by demonstrating that the British intended to permanently occupy the territory on the NWF   .

To strengthen the buffer between India and Afghanistan, the British began to expand their influence along the Afghan border, focusing primarily in Baluchistan , under the new Forward Policy. 

 Designed by Sir Henry Rawlinson ten years earlier, it had three main objectives: 1) to occupy Quetta, 2) to gain control of the Afghan area east of the Hindu Kush mountain range , and 3) to establish permanent relations with the government in Kabul. 

To accomplish this, the Forward Policy sought to increase the infrastructure of the NWF, facilitate the mobilization of British troops, and speed reaction to areas where British control was weak. 

Based on the previous success of the Forward Policy in Baluchistan , under the direction of Major Robert Sandeman, the British elected to extend the use of this policy into the NWF  .

The Policy specifically aimed to co-opt the tribes within designated settlement areas  .

Tribes accepted responsibility for border security as assigned by British authorities and agreed to deny sanctuary to tribal members deemed as outlaws by British law. 

As in Baluchistan, the British promised an annual allowance based on the tribe’s adherence to these agreements. In later years, this allowance (money) was replaced by appointments for tribal members in the British-India Army, the local militia, or tribal police. 

In 1893, London demanded that punitive expeditions in Afghanistan be cancelled and emphasized that the Forward Policy only applied to the region east of the border agreed upon by Sir Mortimer Durand and the Afghan Emir, Abdur Rahman.

British troops were not to be used in Afghanistan unless the Amir agreed that British forces were necessary to instill or restore order. Annexation was to be abandoned in order to guarantee that the treaties signed by the Afghan and Russian governments promising to respect the borders and sovereign territories of each respective country would remain in effect . 

When the British opted for the Forward Policy, they did not adequately consider the reasons for its success in Baluchistan. First, the tame nature of the terrain allowed British forces to establish dependable networks for transporting both goods and soldiers. Second, Major Sandeman had an advantage working in Baluchistan because the introduction of the Forward Policy was the first administrative contact between the British and the tribes of Baluchistan.

The British had already learned that the local administrative policies utilized in the Close Border policy were ineffective. “Sandeman had a clean slate on which to write; there were many scribblings on the board recording dealings with the Yusufzais, Mohmands, or Wazirs, and they could not be wiped out overnight.” 

The tribes in Baluchistan were neither as fierce nor as war-like as the hill tribes on the NWF and they had an existing, recognized hierarchy in the tribe, which meant that the Baluchistan tribes were less effective in their resistance and would follow the tribal leader if he was co-opted by the British. 

The British learned that the Forward Policy was only effective when British forces could penetrate the tribal areas in order put down any group that challenged its authority.  

Though the British did have some measure of success in establishing order among the plains tribes, they still were unable to establish their authority in the region. Because the plains tribes were clearly outmatched by British forces and did not have the luxury of being able to relocate, they were forced to accept British authority and resist in a more subversive manner.

As the Forward Policy pulled the British deeper into the NWF, resistance increased among Pashtun tribes. The establishment of the Durand line, settled areas, and permanent lines of communication were all signals perceived as “a deliberate menace to a long cherished independence. 

The policy of Indirect Rule was enacted at the same time as the Forward Policy. Indirect Rule allowed tribes to manage their own affairs and directed British administrators to settle any official grievances through tribal custom .

 The British also created the Maliki System, modeled after the Sikh tradition of working through selected Pashtun agents within the settled areas to communicate with trans-border tribes. 

Under this policy, agreements acknowledging British authority were signed by tribal elders or Maliks. Declarations of goodwill and friendship were signed by both parties. It involved British agents administering their respective tribal regions through the Maliks and was intended to improve the legitimacy of British authority by delegating administrative duties to tribal Maliks.

The British dependence on the Maliki System prevented the British from directly engaging the tribes in the ways initially used by the Paladins that allowed them to establish the beginnings of authority over the Pashtun.