Atlas of Battles

battle, major, nineteenth century

Battle of Maiwand

Battle of Maiwand was a battle fought on 27 July 1880 at Maiwand, in what is now Afghanistan. It was part of Second Anglo-Afghan War, which ran from 1878 to 1880. The recorded result: Afghan victory. Recorded strength: 2,500; 12 cannons against 12,000; 36 cannons.

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E Battery Royal Horse Artillery escaping from the overwhelming Afghan attack at the Battle of Maiwand, from "Maiwand: Saving the Guns" by Richard Caton Woodville.
E Battery Royal Horse Artillery escaping from the overwhelming Afghan attack at the Battle of Maiwand, from "Maiwand: Saving the Guns" by Richard Caton Woodville.. Richard Caton Woodville, Sr., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought27 July 1880
WhereMaiwand, Afghanistan31.733N, 65.133E
OutcomeAfghan victory
BelligerentsBritish Empire; British RajagainstEmirate of Afghanistan
Part ofSecond Anglo-Afghan War1878 to 1880

Where it sits in Second Anglo-Afghan War

Battle of Ali Masjid, 1878Battle of Peiwar Kotal, 1878Siege of the British Residency in Kabul, 1879Battle of Charasiab, 1879Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment, 1879Battle of Ahmed Khel, 1880Second Battle of Charasiab, 1880Battle of Maiwand, 1880Battle of Kandahar, 188018781880Battle of Maiwand, 1880
9 placed engagements of Second Anglo-Afghan War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date27 July 1880
PlaceMaiwand, Afghanistan
31.733N, 65.133E
KindBattle, nineteenth century
Strength2,500; 12 cannons12,000; 36 cannons
Casualties and losses21 officers killed; 948 men and 800 camp followers killed; 169 men and 8 officers wounded2,500–3,000 killed and wounded
Commanders
  • Mohammad Ayub Khan (Afghanistan)
Battle of MaiwandBattle of MaiwandFall of KandaharSiege of KandaharSiege of KandaharSiege of KandaharBattle of KandaharFall of KandaharChamanQalatLashkar GahTarin Kowt100 km31.733N, 65.133E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Maiwand
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 25 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Maiwand today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2024-07-07. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024.

The recorded site stands at about 1,048 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 997 to 1,263 m, 266 m of relief, hilly country and today it is 74% cropland, 26% bare ground.

cropland: 74%bare ground: 26%cropland 74%bare ground 26%
west to east, 10.0 km1,022 to 1,096 mnorth to south, 10.0 km1,031 to 1,093 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1880

Battle of Maiwand is one of 3,507 engagements of the 19th century in the atlas and one of 74 in present-day Afghanistan.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q548625, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Maiwand, revision 1385714029, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.