Victory of the Afghans in the Battle of Maiwand p5
The British evacuated Sherpur Cantonment, Bala Hisar Fort and other positions. The British handed over thirty cannons and all the royal treasure of Kabul to Amir Abdul Rahman. Apart from this, the British also gifted him one million rupees as promised. After handing over control of Kabul to Amir Abdul Rahman, the British turned their attention to Ayub Khan. The atmosphere of hatred towards Afghans in Britain after the battle of Maiwand is clearly evident from this cartoon published in the British press. Published on August 11, 1888,
This cartoon shows Afghan scorpions being crushed by Britain’s boots. So in this atmosphere of hatred, General Roberts was ordered to go from Kabul to Kandahar and confront Ayub Khan. Now Ayub Khan was going to face the most experienced general of Britain who also had the full support of the new Afghan emir. What was the outcome of this war? General Roberts left for Kandahar on August 8, two days before Amir Abdul Rahman’s arrival in Kabul.
They were accompanied by some representatives sent by Amir Abdul Rahman who ordered the Afghan tribes on the way not to harm this army. The tribes were also ordered to supply food to the British army. The Afghans responded to the order of their new emir and continued to support the British army all along the way. That is why General Roberts reached Kandahar safely. This helpful thing has been written by Ameer Abdul Rehman himself in his book, the references of which you are seeing on the screen. When General Roberts was going to Kandahar,
Ayub Khan had reached Kandahar before him and besieged it. However, due to the stiff resistance of the British army present in the city, they could not capture it. In the meantime, they received information about the arrival of General Roberts, so they ended the siege and took a defensive position. They had set up their camp under the cover of Pir Pimal, a village near Kandahar and some other settlements. Afghans also made fronts on the roofs of houses in these settlements. Now they were waiting for General Roberts.
General Roberts reached Kandahar with his army on 31st August. The next day, September 1, 1888, a decisive battle took place between General Roberts and Ayub Khan. General Roberts had fifteen thousand troops and thirty-six cannons. The army of Afghans was slightly more in number. When the fighting started, there was soon chaos both inside the settlements and in the open fields. Braves from both sides showed good character. However, this decisive and historic battle was decided in just three hours.
The British defeated the Afghan army and forced them to flee. The battle of Maiwand was also decided in three hours and the battle of Kandahar also ended in three hours only the result was different. This time the British won. After this victory, the British also occupied Ayub Khan’s camp. At that time, the women in the camp were preparing lunch, the pots full of meat were going to be put on the stoves, and the pots were also prepared with mixed flour. But the attack of the British army canceled the lunch program of the Afghans.
The campers left this food as it was and ran away, but the Afghans had left a surprise for the British along with the food while fleeing, which made the taste of their victory a bit crisp. In the camp lay the body of a British officer, Lt. MacLean, who was probably captured during the battle of Maiwand. He was killed by slitting his throat. The British claim that they buried the bodies of six hundred Afghan fighters from Kandahar to Pirpimal alone, meaning that the loss of Afghans was much higher. While only forty British soldiers were killed. By conquering Kandahar,
The British had avenged Mayvind’s defeat. Ayub Khan was defeated and escaped to Herat. The British did not pursue them, so the second war between Britain and Afghanistan also came to an end. After that, the British began to rapidly evacuate Afghanistan. In April 1881, the British surrendered the last area they occupied in Afghanistan, Kandahar, to the Afghans. Although some British wanted Kandahar to be part of British India. But Amir Abdul Rahman, an ally of the British, wanted to include it in his state.
As we showed you earlier they were asking the British about Kandahar. They used to say that Kandahar is the home of the royal family i.e. the Durrani tribe. Without such a city, their empire is incomplete and has no value. So the British handed over Kandahar to the Afghans to please Amir Abdul Rahman. Thus, the British occupation of Afghanistan was completely ended. had taken He was also the winner in the last battle of Kandahar.
