Lord Auckland, the Viceroy of India, had sent Captain (afterwards Sir Alexander) Burnes on a Mission to Cabul, and the Ameer had received him hospitably at first, but subsequently dismissed him from his Court.

Lord Auckland thereupon resolved to restore Shah Sooja, and in the autumn of 1838 issued a manifesto dethroning Dost Mahommed.

Operations were accordingly directed against him under Sir John (afterwards Lord) Keane, who, on August 6, 1839, entered Cabul and placed Shah Sooja on the throne.

However open to criticism, the news of this result was enthusiastically received in England, and Lord Auckland was promoted to an Earldom.
In China a dispute of long standing became acute.

With the renewal of the East India Company's charter, in 1834, the Chinese ports had been thrown open, and the opium trade became a source of great profit to private traders.