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The Battle of Maiwand (
Dari Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī � ...
: نبرد میوند,
Pashto Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani (). Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...
: د ميوند جگړه), fought on 27 July 1880, was one of the principal battles of 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 ...
. Under the leadership of
Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced ...
, the Afghan forces defeated a much smaller British force consisting of two brigades of British and Indian troops under Brigadier-General George Burrows, albeit at a high price: between 2,050 and 2,750 Afghan
warriors A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been ...
were killed, and probably about 1,500 wounded. British and Indian forces suffered 969 soldiers killed and 177 wounded.


Prelude

Before the battle, the campaign had gone well for the British. They had defeated Afghan tribesmen at Ali Masjid, Peiwar Kotal,
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. Acc ...
, and the
Battle of Ahmed Khel The Battle of Ahmed Khel took place during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. It was fought on 19 April 1880, on the road between Kandahar and Kabul in central Afghanistan between Afghan tribesmen and soldiers of the British Empire, including forces fr ...
, and they had occupied numerous cities and towns, including
Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a 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 of about 614,118. It is the c ...
, Dakka, and
Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jala ...
.
Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced ...
,
Sher Ali Khan Sher Ali Khan (); c. 1825 – 21 February 1879) was Amir of Afghanistan from 1863 to 1866 and from 1868 until his death in 1879. He was one of the sons of Dost Mohammed Khan, founder of the Barakzai dynasty in Afghanistan. Life Sher Ali Kh ...
's younger son, who had been holding
Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safē ...
during the British operations at Kabul and Kandahar, set out towards Kandahar with a small army in June, and a brigade under Brigadier-General Burrows was detached from Kandahar to oppose him. Burrows' brigade, some 2,500 strong with about 500 British troops including a battery of 9-pounder cannons (), advanced to
Helmand Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...
, opposite
Gereshk Grishk ( ps, ګرِشک, translit=Grishk; fa, گِرِشک, translit=Gereshk), also spelled Gereshk, is a town in Grishk District of Helmand province, geographically located along the Helmand River in Afghanistan, some northwest of Kandahar, ...
, to oppose Ayub Khan, but was there deserted by the levies of Shere Ali, the British-appointed wali of Kandahar. Burrows's troops engaged and defeated the rebellious levies and captured 4 smoothbore 6-pounder guns and 2 smoothbore 12-pounders
howitzer A howitzer () is a long-ranged weapon, falling between a cannon (also known as an artillery gun in the United States), which fires shells at flat trajectories, and a mortar, which fires at high angles of ascent and descent. Howitzers, like ot ...
s (). Burrows then fell back to a position at Kushk-i-Nakhud, halfway to Kandahar where he could intercept Ayub Khan if he headed for either
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 ...
or Kandahar. He remained there a week, during which time the captured guns were added to his force with additional gunners drawn from the British infantry.


The battle (27 July 1880)

On the afternoon of 26 July information was received that the Afghan force was making for the
Maiwand Maiwand is a village in Afghanistan within the Maywand District of Kandahar Province. It is located 50 miles northwest of Kandahar, on the main Kandahar–Lashkargah road. The area is irrigated by the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority.
Pass a few miles away (half-dozen km). Burrows decided to move early the following day to break-up the Afghan advance guard. At about 10 am horsemen were seen and engaged, and the brigade started to deploy for battle. Burrows was not aware that it was Ayub's main force. The Afghans numbered 25,000 including Afghan regular troops and five batteries of artillery, including some very modern Armstrong guns. The Afghan guns gradually came into action and a three-hour artillery duel ensued at an opening range of about , during which the British captured smoothbore guns on the left expended their ammunition and withdrew to replenish it. This enabled the Afghans to force the left battalion back. The left flank comprising Indian infantry regiments gave way and rolled in a great wave to the right; the 66th Regiment, as a result of this pressure was swept away by the pressure of the Ghazi attack. E Battery of B Brigade
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 r ...
(Captain Slade commanding) and a half-company of
Bombay Sappers and Miners The Bombay Engineer Group, or the ''Bombay Sappers'' as they are informally known, are a regiment of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The Bombay Sappers draw their origin from the erstwhile Bombay Presidency army of the British Raj. ...
under Lieutenant Henn (Royal Engineers) stood fast, covering the retreat of the entire British Brigade. E Battery kept firing until the last moment, two sections (four guns) limbering up when the Afghans were away, but the third section (Lieutenant Maclaine) was overrun. Maclaine was captured and held as a prisoner in Kandahar, where his body was found at Ayub Khan's tent during the British attack on 1 September, apparently murdered to prevent his liberation. The British guns captured during the action were also recovered at Kandahar. E Battery came into action again some . The Sappers and Miners retreated as the guns withdrew. Henn and 14 of his men afterwards joined some remnants of the 66th Foot and Bombay Grenadiers in a small enclosure at a garden in a place called Khig where a determined last stand was made. Though the Afghans shot them down one by one, they fired steadily until only eleven of their number (two officers and nine other ranks) were left, and the survivors then charged out into the masses of the enemy and perished. Henn is the only officer who has been positively identified in that band and he led the final charge. No Englishman lived to tell the story of the Last Eleven at Maiwand. It was reported to the British later that year by a former officer of Ayub Khan's army, who said that the Afghans had been truly impressed by the bravery of those men.


The retreat to Kandahar (27–28 July 1880)

Word of the disaster reached Kandahar the following day and a relief force was dispatched. This met the retreating force at Kokeran. The British were routed, but managed a withdrawal due to their own efforts and the apathy of the Afghans. Of the 2,476 British troops engaged, the British and Indian force lost 21 officers and 948 soldiers killed, and eight officers and 169 men were wounded: the Grenadiers lost 64% of their strength and the 66th lost 62%, including twelve officers, of those present (two companies being detached); the cavalry losses were much smaller. British and Indian regimental casualties (listed by brigade) were: * 1st Infantry Brigade ( Brigadier-General George Burrows, commanding) **
66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot The 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1756. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 49th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) (Hertfordshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Princess Char ...
: 286 dead, 32 wounded. ** 1st Bombay Native Infantry (Grenadiers): 366 dead 61 wounded. ** 30th Bombay Native Infantry (Jacob’s Rifles): 241 dead, 32 wounded. **
Bombay Sappers and Miners The Bombay Engineer Group, or the ''Bombay Sappers'' as they are informally known, are a regiment of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army. The Bombay Sappers draw their origin from the erstwhile Bombay Presidency army of the British Raj. ...
(No.2 Company): 16 dead, 6 wounded. * 1st Cavalry Brigade (Brigadier-General Thomas Nuttall, commanding) ** E Battery / B Brigade,
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 r ...
: 19 dead, 16 wounded. ** 3rd Bombay Light Cavalry: 27 dead, 18 wounded. ** 3rd Scinde Horse: 15 dead, 1 wounded. One estimate of Afghan casualties is 3,000, reflecting the desperate nature of much of the fighting, although other sources give 1,500 Afghan "regulars" and up to 4,000 Ghazis killed, and 1500 seriously wounded.


Awards for bravery

Two
Victoria Crosses The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
were awarded for acts of valour performed during the battle and during the retreat to Kandahar. Both medals went to members of E/B Battery, RHA. One was awarded to Sergeant Patrick Mullane, for attempting to save the life of a wounded colleague during the withdrawal of their battery from the field; the other went to Gunner James Collis, who during the retreat to Kandahar drew the attention of enemy fire upon himself instead of upon wounded colleagues.


Aftermath

The battle dampened morale for the British side, but was also partly a disappointment for
Ayub Khan Ayub Khan is a compound masculine name; Ayub is the Arabic version of the name of the Biblical figure Job, while Khan or Khaan is taken from the title used first by the Mongol rulers and then, in particular, their Islamic and Persian-influenced ...
, Governor of Herat and commander of the Afghans in this battle, because he had lost so many men to gain a small advantage. Ayub Khan did manage to shut the British up in Kandahar, resulting in General Frederick Roberts's famous relief march from Kabul to Kandahar in August. The resulting Battle of Kandahar on 1 September was a decisive victory for the British. The loss of the
Queen's Colour In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours (or colors), standards, flags, or guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt som ...
and
Regimental Colour In military organizations, the practice of carrying colours (or colors), standards, flags, or guidons, both to act as a rallying point for troops and to mark the location of the commander, is thought to have originated in Ancient Egypt som ...
of the
66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot The 66th (Berkshire) Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army, raised in 1756. Under the Childers Reforms it amalgamated with the 49th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) (Hertfordshire) Regiment of Foot to form the Princess Char ...
at the Battle of Maiwand, following so soon upon the loss of the Colours of the 2nd/24th (2nd Warwickshire) Regiment at the
Battle of Isandlwana The Battle of Isandlwana (alternative spelling: Isandhlwana) on 22 January 1879 was the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Eleven days after the British commenced their invasion of Zulul ...
(22 January 1879) during the
Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coup ...
, resulted in colours no longer being taken on active service.


Maiwand in poetry, art, and fiction


Poetry

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)'' The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...
, who had researched this battle in 1892, included the small yet dramatic poem entitled "That Day" about the action at
Maiwand Maiwand is a village in Afghanistan within the Maywand District of Kandahar Province. It is located 50 miles northwest of Kandahar, on the main Kandahar–Lashkargah road. The area is irrigated by the Helmand and Arghandab Valley Authority.
in his ''
Barrack-Room Ballads The Barrack-Room Ballads are a series of songs and poems by Rudyard Kipling, dealing with the late-Victorian British Army and mostly written in a vernacular dialect. The series contains some of Kipling's best-known works, including the poems " Gun ...
'' collection: :''"There was thirty dead an' wounded on the ground we wouldn't keep -'' :''No, there wasn't more than twenty when the front began to go;'' :''But, Christ! along the line o' flight they cut us up like sheep,'' :''An' that was all we gained by doing so.'' :''I 'eard the knives be'ind me, but I dursn't face my man,'' :''Nor I don't know where I went to, 'cause I didn't 'alt to see,'' :''Till I 'eard a beggar squealin' out for quarter as 'e ran,'' :''An' I thought I knew the voice an' - it was me!'' :''We was 'idin' under bedsteads more than 'arf a march away;'' :''We was lyin' up like rabbits all about the countryside;'' :''An' the major cursed 'is Maker 'cause 'e lived to see that day' '' :''An' the colonel broke 'is sword acrost, an' cried."'' The events of the battle were also commemorated in a poem by Scottish poet
William McGonagall William Topaz McGonagall (March 1825 – 29 September 1902) was a Scottish poet of Irish descent. He gained notoriety as an extremely bad poet who exhibited no recognition of, or concern for, his peers' opinions of his work. He wrote about 2 ...
entitled "The Last Berkshire Eleven"''.'' Poems of the victory at Maiwand have passed into
Pashtun Pashtuns (, , ; ps, پښتانه, ), also known as Pakhtuns or Pathans, are an Iranian ethnic group who are native to the geographic region of Pashtunistan in the present-day countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. They were historically r ...
and Afghan folklore. As Afghan legend would have it, the battle created an unlikely hero in the shape of an Afghan woman called
Malalai Malalai of Maiwand ( ps, د ميوند ملالۍ), also known as Malala ( ps, links=no, ملاله), or Malalai Anna ( ps, links=no, ملالۍ انا, meaning ''Malalai the "Grandmother"'') is a national folk hero of Afghanistan who rallied ...
, who on seeing the Afghan forces falter, used her veil as a standard and encouraged the men by shouting out: :''Young love if you do not fall in the battle of Maiwind;'' :''By God someone is saving you as a token of shame;'' She also spoke the following landay (Pashto Poetry): :''With a drop of my sweetheart's blood,'' :''Shed in defense of the Motherland,'' :''Will I put a beauty spot on my forehead,'' :''Such as would put to shame the rose in the garden''.


Art

The battle was the subject of several paintings and was covered extensively in the illustrated press. Frank Feller, a Swiss artist domiciled in England painted ''The Last Eleven at Maiwand'' in 1882 depicting a small group of men from the 66th Regiment making a last stand. The events surrounding E/B Battery
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 r ...
were portrayed by
Godfrey Douglas Giles Godfrey Douglas Giles (9 November 1857 Karachi - 1 February 1941) was a painter of horses, military scenes and battles, many experienced firsthand while on service with the British Army in India, Afghanistan, Egypt and South Africa. He produced nu ...
,
Richard Caton Woodville Richard Caton Woodville (30 April 1825 – 13 August 1855) was an American artist from Baltimore who spent his professional career in Europe, after studying in Düsseldorf under the direction of Karl Ferdinand Sohn. He died of an overdose of mo ...
and Stanley Wood. A cast iron statue of a lion (the
Maiwand Lion The ''Maiwand Lion'' is a sculpture and war memorial in the Forbury Gardens, a public park in the town of Reading, in the English county of Berkshire. The statue was named after the Battle of Maiwand and was unveiled in December 1886 to comme ...
) was built by
George Blackall Simonds George Blackall Simonds (6 October 1843 – 16 December 1929) was an English sculptor and director of H & G Simonds Brewery in Reading in the English county of Berkshire. Biography George was the second son of George Simonds Senior of Readi ...
in
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling) ...
and unveiled in 1886 to commemorate those who died in battle. A monument was built in the 1950s on the Maiwand Square in Kabul in commemoration of the battle by an Afghan architect Is-matulla Saraj. A memorial was erected in central London to a remarkable canine survivor of the engagement: Bobbie, the Berkshires' regimental mascot. Bobbie was wounded during the fighting, but was spotted the following day by survivors, making his way back to the fort.


Fiction

The fictional
Doctor Watson John H. Watson, known as Dr. Watson, is a fictional character in the Sherlock Holmes stories by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Along with Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson first appeared in the novel '' A Study in Scarlet'' (1887). The last work by Doyle f ...
, companion of
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and l ...
, was wounded in the Battle of Maiwand (as described in the opening chapter of ''
A Study in Scarlet ''A Study in Scarlet'' is an 1887 detective novel by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle. The story marks the first appearance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who would become the most famous detective duo in literature. The book's title deri ...
''). He may have been based upon the 66th regiment's Medical Officer, Surgeon Major Alexander Francis Preston. The Battle of Maiwand is also mentioned in
Jeffery Deaver Jeffery Deaver (born May 6, 1950) is an American mystery and crime writer. He has a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a J.D. degree from Fordham University and originally started working as a journalist. He late ...
's short story ''The Westphalian Ring''. The main character, Peter Goodcastle, had served in the Royal Horse Artillery there and had turned to burglary to avenge the shoddy treatment he had suffered on his return to Britain. In the short story, he was arrested by none other than Dr. Watson, but later managed to escape suspicion by outsmarting Sherlock Holmes, so the two men may have already met earlier. The battle has also been documented in
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Hol ...
's short story ''The Summer''. The fictional John Garrideb, a London landlord in the video games '' The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures'' and its sequel, is stated to have been a
second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army until ...
who was shot in the knee during the battle.


See also

* Battles of the Second Anglo-Afghan War * Bobbie


References


Citations


Sources

* * * * * *


External links


Malalai of MaiwandMaiwand Lion, Reading, Berkshire, UKProject Gutenberg edition of "A Study in Scarlet" by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleRemember the battle of Maiwand by Eric Margolis, 15 April 2007Online Afghan Calendar with Historical dates (also Battle of Maiwand)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maiwand 1880 in Afghanistan Battles involving Afghanistan Battles involving the United Kingdom Battles of the Second Anglo-Afghan War Conflicts in 1880 July 1880 events