The Battle of Maiwand is presented as an Afghan victory whose consequences extended beyond the battlefield: the British force retreated to Kandahar, where Prince Ayub Khan’s army began a siege. In Abdel Khader Khan’s account, the battle is also family history, linking the conflict to his own Afghan ancestry.

Background and Forces

Abdel Khader Khan places the battle within the British campaign in Afghanistan. The British officer responsible for Kandahar, Burrows, marched out of the city with 1,500 British and Indian soldiers to meet Prince Ayub Khan at Maiwand. Khader relates the event from a vantage point near the battlefield, describing Maiwand as visible from where he and Lin are sitting when the weather permits.

The Battle and Its Outcome

The two armies exchanged cannon fire before confronting each other at close range. The fighting caused hundreds of deaths. The British lost half their force; the Afghans lost 2,500 men. Despite those losses, the Afghans won, and the British survivors were forced to retreat to Kandahar.

The Siege and Family Memory

Prince Ayub Khan immediately surrounded Kandahar, beginning the siege. Khader’s account gives the battle a personal dimension: he identifies Ayub as an ancestor and says that many of his kinsmen served in the army Ayub raised. The victory is therefore recalled both as a decisive military outcome and as part of the family history through which Khader understands Afghanistan’s past.