The Forward Policy was advocated by Lord Auckland, who came to India as the governor general in 1836. By this policy, he implied that the Company government in India itself had to take the initiative to protect the boundary of the British India from a probable Russian attack. This objective was to be achieved either through treaties with neighbouring countries or by annexing them completely.

The Amir of Afghanistan, Dost Mohammed Khan, wanted friendship with the British but made it conditional on the British helping him recover Peshawar from the Sikhs—a condition which the British government in India rejected. Dost Mohammed then turned to Russia and Persia for support.

Consequently, the British government decided to go ahead with the forward policy, and a Tripartite Treaty (1838) was concluded by the British, the Sikhs, and Shah Shuja (who had been deposed from the Afghan throne in 1809 and had been living since then as a British pensioner at Ludhiana).

The treaty provided that:

• Shah Shuja would be enthroned with the armed help of the Sikhs, with the company remaining in the background, ‘jingling the money-bag’;
• Shah Shuja would conduct foreign affairs with the advice of the Sikhs and the British;
• Shah Shuja would give up his sovereign rights over Amirs of Sindh in return for a large sum of money;
• Shah Shuja would recognise the Sikh ruler, Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s claims over the Afghan territories on the right bank of the River Indus.

Soon after the treaty, there came about a drastic change in the political situation of the region because of the removal of the original irritants—Persia lifted its siege of Heart, and Russia recalled its envoy from Kabul. Nevertheless, the British decided to go ahead with their forward policy. This resulted in the First Anglo-Afghan War (1839–42). The British intention was to establish a permanent barrier against schemes of aggression from the north-west.