Afghans Crush British at Maiwand: Empire's Worst Loss
Afghan forces under Ayub Khan ambushed a British brigade under Brigadier General George Burrows at Maiwand on July 27, 1880, in one of Britain's worst colonial defeats. The 66th Berkshire Regiment was virtually annihilated in a last stand that became a Victorian legend, with survivors later claiming their dog Bobbie had stayed beside the fallen colors. Nearly 1,000 British and Indian soldiers were killed. Arthur Conan Doyle gave his character Dr. John Watson a wound sustained at the Battle of Maiwand, making it one of the few 19th-century Afghan battles that English-speaking readers still recognize. The disaster forced Britain to dispatch reinforcements under Frederick Roberts, whose famous march to Kandahar restored British control.
July 27, 1880
146 years ago
Key Figures & Places
Afghanistan
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British Army
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Second Anglo-Afghan War
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Battle of Maiwand
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pyrrhic victory
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Ayub Khan (Afghan commander)
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Maiwand
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Mohammad Ayub Khan
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Second Anglo-Afghan War
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Battle of Maiwand
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Afghanistan
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Mohammad Ayub Khan (Afghanistan)
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Maiwand
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