Photograph of Sir Pierre Louis Napoleon Cavagnari (1841-79) with Afghan leaders. They are gathered on a patterned rug with a canvas tent behind. Sir Cavagnari is seated at the centre of the group with his arms and legs crossed and his head turned to the right. He is wearing military uniform and there is a helmet on the ground in front of him. Badshah Kunar Syed, a powerful local ruler, is seated beside him to the left and Sardar Kala Khan, a representative of the Emir Mohammad Yaqub Khan, is beside him to the right. The leaders are wearing traditional Afghan clothes including turbans and several are holding long guns.

Sir Cavagnari was the British representative in Kabul following the Treaty of Gandamak which ended the first phase of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-80). He was killed by Afghan forces a few months later. This photograph was taken in Jalalabad by John Burke, who travelled with the Peshawar Valley Field Force during the war.