Historedia
Asia PacificEvent

Battle of Maiwand: Ayub Khan defeats British forces

When
1880
Where
Maiwand, Kandahar Province
Episodes
1

The Battle of Maiwand occurred on 27 July 1880 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. Afghan forces under Ayub Khan defeated British and Indian troops commanded by Brigadier General George Burrows near Maiwand. The engagement resulted in significant casualties for both sides, dampening British morale while imposing heavy losses on the Afghan army despite their tactical victory.

Episodes

  1. 27 July 1880 · Maiwand, Kandahar ProvinceBattle of Maiwand

    Afghan forces under Ayub Khan defeated British troops under Burrows near Maiwand, resulting in heavy casualties for both sides.

Background and detail

Background. Ayub Khan, governor of Herat, rebelled in July 1880 and marched toward Kandahar. A British brigade under Brigadier-General Burrows was detached from Kandahar to oppose him. Burrows advanced to Helmand but was deserted by local levies. His troops engaged and defeated the rebellious levies, capturing four smoothbore 6-pounder guns and two smoothbore 12-pounder howitzers.

The Engagement. The battle involved an Afghan army of 25,000 regulars and irregulars against 2,476 British and Indian troops. Burrows' force included about 500 British soldiers and artillery. The Afghans suffered 2,500 to 3,000 casualties, while Burrows' force suffered possibly as high as 1,200 killed. The loss of regimental colours influenced future military practices.

Aftermath. The battle dampened British morale but was a disappointment for Ayub Khan due to heavy losses. Ayub Khan then shut the British up in Kandahar, prompting General Frederick Roberts's famous relief march from Kabul in August. Subsequent developments, including the siege of Kandahar and the later battle outside that city, are covered by separate Events.

People involved

Sources

  1. Battle of Maiwand Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-21
  2. Second Anglo-Afghan War Wikipedia, revision of 2026-10-05

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.