A folder containing a set of coloured lithographs after watercolour portraits of British prisoners, over one hundred of whom were taken by Wazir Akber Khan as the British retreated from Kabul during the First Anglo-Afghan war, 1839-42. 

Conflict in Afghanistan resulted essentially from rivalry between Britain and Russia over control of Central Asia, and the percieved threat to British dominion over India, its most important colony. Britain aimed to overthrow the Amir of Kabul, Dost Mohmmad Khan who had been negotiating with the Russians. In April 1839 British East India Company forces under Major General Sir William Elphinstone entered Kandahar, and Shujah Durrani was proclaimed shah. The Afghan peoples would countenance neither foreign occupation nor an imposed ruler, and rebellions resulted. Dost Mohammad, who had escaped captivity, fought the invaders at the Battle of Parwan on 2nd November 1840. Though his army surrendered, the uprisings against the British continued until they found their position untenable. Terms for the withdrawal of British and Indian troops were discussed with Dost Mohammad's son Wazir Akbar Khan. On 6 January 1842 the British garrison troops, together with several thousand camp followers, marched out of Kabul. The column came under continuous attack from Afghan forces resulting in the death of thousands who were killed in the fighting or perished due to starvation and exposure. Only one European and a few Indian soldiers reached the safety of the British outpost at Jalalabad, about 130 km from Kabul.

Vincent Eyre arrived in India in 1829. While serving as a commissary of ordnance in Afghanistan, Eyre and his family were taken prisoner by Akbar Khan's forces in January 1842, and spent nearly nine months in captivity. During this time he kept a diary and made portraits of his fellow prisoners. The captives were rescued in September 1842 when Major-General Sir George Pollock's Army of Retribution entered Kabul. In 1857 Eyre took part in the Relief of Lucknow during the Indian Rebellion of 1857, and was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel for his services during the campaign.