Charles Masson – an excerpt from Afghanistan

If any fool this high samootch explore,
Know Charles Masson has been here before.

In the first half of the 19th century, no Briton spent more time in Afghanistan than Charles Masson (1800–53), the pseudonym of James Lewis. He enlisted in the British East India Company’s Bengal Artillery regiment in July as a soldier, but deserted from Agra in 1827, joined up with American Josiah Harlan (inspiration for Kipling's 'The Man who would be King' before falling out, and setting off exploring, living off his wits as he wandered, joining caravans when he could. He was often ill, frequently robbed and once falsely imprisoned, but more was often treated with respect and kindness.

When he came in contact with the East India Company again, he claimed to be an American from Kentucky to cover up his deserter past. In 1833, the company began to fund his archaeological explorations around Kabul and Jalalabad. He travelled with his books, a stout stick, dervish drinking cup, compass, map, astrolabe and a camera lucida which enabled him to accurately sketch the sites. He bought up ancient coins and antiquities in the bazaars of Kabul; he identified the ruins at Bagram as ancient Alexandria in the Caucasus.

In 1835, after his ex-friend Harlan blew his cover, Masson was compelled to become a spy in return for an official pardon for his desertion. It was a role he hated, feeling that he was betraying his Afghan friends. He duly warned his superiors that British machinations in the Great Game would lead to disaster, but his accurate warnings went unheeded, and he resigned in disgust after the First Anglo–Afghan War.

When he returned to Britain in 1842 it was with a trove of 7,417 coins and 1,970 other relics for the East India Company Museum, most of which is now in the British Museum. He married, had two children, and until his death carried on writing about his finds, always dreaming of returning to Afghanistan. Masson’s methods of cataloguing antiquities were ahead of his time. They preserve a unique record of Afghanistan’s archaeological sites and early history, especially as so much has since been lost to wars and looters.