The Battle of Ahmed Khel took place during the

Second Anglo-Afghan War The Second Anglo-Afghan War (Dari: جنگ دوم افغان و انگلیس, ps, د افغان-انګرېز دويمه جګړه) was a military conflict fought between the British Raj and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the l ...

. It was fought on 19 April 1880, on the road between

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

and

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

in central

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

between

Afghan Afghan may refer to: *Something of or related to Afghanistan, a country in Southern-Central Asia *Afghans, people or citizens of Afghanistan, typically of any ethnicity ** Afghan (ethnonym), the historic term applied strictly to people of the Pas ...

tribesmen and soldiers of the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

, including forces from both

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

and Indian armies. On 27 March 1880, Lieutenant General Donald Stewart, with a force of 7,200, left

in south Afghanistan to march to

, in order to reinforce General Roberts, the British commander in the Afghan capital. During the journey, the country was largely deserted, creating difficulties in supplying the troops, while the column was shadowed by a large force of Afghan tribesmen. On 19 April 1880, the column was near the village of Ahmed Khel, about 23 miles from

Ghazni Ghazni ( prs, غزنی, ps, غزني), historically known as Ghaznain () or Ghazna (), also transliterated as Ghuznee, and anciently known as Alexandria in Opiana ( gr, Αλεξάνδρεια Ωπιανή), is a city in southeastern Afghanistan ...

. Here, at a point where the road narrowed, a force of about 12–15,000 Afghan tribesmen was in place along the hills, threatening the column's flank. As Stewart began to reposition his men to respond, the mass of Afghan tribesmen rushed over the hills and attacked. While the British-led force had difficulty in holding their line, the Afghans were eventually driven back and, after an hour of fierce fighting, the tribesmen fled. The Afghans suffered heavy casualties – 2–3,000 killed – compared with British and Indian loses of 17 dead and 124 wounded.Lieut-Gen Stewart's despatches for Ahmed Khel: –4202 Following the battle, Stewart continued to advance and occupied Ghazni the next day, before marching on to Kabul without further substantial resistance. The victory helped strengthen the British position in Afghanistan, with General Roberts ordering a Royal salute fired in Kabul to proclaim the victory, "that it might have a quieting effect on the excitement which prevailed around Kabul." In August 1880, during their march to Kandahar, British forces passed Ahmed Khel, finding the graves of British soldiers desecrated, with their bones exposed and scattered.

Order of battle

The following British and Indian Army regiments were present, organised in three

brigade A brigade is a major tactical military formation that typically comprises three to six battalions plus supporting elements. It is roughly equivalent to an enlarged or reinforced regiment. Two or more brigades may constitute a division. Br ...

s: *

Royal Horse Artillery The Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) was formed in 1793 as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery (commonly termed Royal Artillery) to provide horse artillery support to the cavalry units of the British Army. (Although the cavalry link ...

( A Battery, B Brigade) *

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

* 19th Bengal Cavalry (Fane's Lancers) * 1st Punjab Cavalry *

2nd Punjab Cavalry The 12th Cavalry Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force) is an armoured regiment of Pakistan Army. It was formed in the British Indian army in 1922 by the amalgamation of 22nd Sam Browne's Cavalry (Frontier Force) and 25th Cavalry (Frontier Force) ...

* 59th Foot *2nd/

60th Rifles The King's Royal Rifle Corps was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army that was originally raised in British North America as the Royal American Regiment during the phase of the Seven Years' War in North America known in the United St ...

* 2nd Sikh Infantry * 3rd Gurkha Rifles * 15th Bengal Native Infantry (Ludhiana Sikhs) * 19th Bengal Native Infantry (Punjabis) * 25th Bengal Native Infantry (Punjabis) The Afghan tribesmen, both mounted and on foot, were of the Andarees, Tarkees, Suleiman Khels and other Afghan tribes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahmed Khel Conflicts in 1880 1880 in Afghanistan Battles of the Second Anglo-Afghan War Battles involving the United Kingdom Battles involving Afghanistan Battle honours of the King's Royal Rifle Corps April 1880 events