afghanistanThe siege of MaimanaFollowing his defeat at Qal‘a-yi Allahdad, Sher ‘Ali Khan retired to
Takhtapul where he decided to return to Herat, raise a new army and
march on Kabul via Kandahar. The amirs of the Chahar Wilayat meanwhile
were ordered to oppose ‘Abd al-Rahman Khan’s advance and hold out as
long as possible and buy Sher ‘Ali Khan enough time to take Kandahar.
This was an extremely ambitious plan, but Sher ‘Ali Khan gambled that
‘Abd al-Rahman Khan would not set out for Balkh until the spring, for the
snow had already fallen on the passes of the Hindu Kush. ‘Abd al-Rahman
Khan, however, surprised him and marched north immediately. Despite
many of his men suffering from frostbite, in January 1868 he reached Aibak
with his troops still battle ready.
Within a matter of weeks all the Uzbek amirs from Aqcha to
Badakhshan had sworn fealty to ’Azam Khan, 11 but the amirs of the Chahar
Wilayat refused to submit, forcing ‘Abd al-Rahman Khan to march against
them and so being drawn even further away from Kabul. His first obstacle
was Minglik, a strong fortress on the old Balkh–Aqcha road and a citadel
that was reputed to be impregnable. Its Uzbek defenders had sworn an
oath to fight to the death, but the citadel’s medieval construction was not
strong enough to withstand the power of nineteenth-century artillery and
siege guns. Following a four-hour bombardment, the main gate shattered
and ‘Abd al-Rahman Khan ordered his troops to fill the ditch with bales
of straw and grass, which the defenders set alight. Despite this, storming
parties were sent into the breaches where they were met with fierce resist-
ance. When they finally broke into the citadel more than 1,000 defenders
were slaughtered; casualties were also high on the Afghan side with some
seven hundred men killed and many more wounded.
Ishan Sudur and his son Qara Sultan, along with Ahmad Khan, son
of Ishan Uruq, were captured alive. Ishan Sudur and Ahmad Khan were
condemned to be buried alive, but Qara Sultan was set free in order that
he could tell the amirs of the Chahar Wilayat the fate that awaited them
if they refused to submit. Instead of capitulating, however, the Uzbeks
concentrated their forces in Maimana and only Mir Hakim Khan, hakim
of Shibarghan, who had long been at odds with the other rulers of the
Chahar Wilayat, tendered his submission. The alliance was sealed by the
marriage of one of his daughters to ‘Abd al-Rahman Khan.
‘Abd al-Rahman Khan had no choice but to attack Maimana, even
though his troops were on the verge of mutiny. Their wages were six
months in arrears and they demanded ‘Abd al-Rahman Khan pay all that