Indian Cavalry charging at the Battle of Maiwand, 1880

Pen and ink by T D Macfarlane, 1890 (c).

The Battle of Maiwand was one of the largest battles of the 2nd Afghan War (1878-1880). A British-Indian force under General Burrows had been sent to intercept Ayub Khan, who had launched a bid for the Afghan throne, as he advanced from Herat towards Kandahar. On 27 July 1880 Burrows' force was overwhelmed by an Afghan army ten times its size. It was one of the few instances in the 19th century of an Asian power defeating a Western one.