Battle of Ali Masjid (1672)

Battle of Ali Masjid
Part of the Mughal–Afghan Wars
DateApril 1672
Location
Ali Masjid, Khyber Pass (present-day Pakistan)
Result Afghan tribes victory
Belligerents
Pashtun tribes
• Afridi
• Mohmand
• Shinwari		 Mughal Empire
Commanders and leaders
Aimal Khan Mohmand
Darya Khan Afridi		 Muhammad Amin
Khushal Khan Khattak
Strength
10,000–20,000 40,000 cavalry
200,000 infantry
Total: 240,000[1]
Casualties and losses
Minor 40,000+ killed
20,000+ captured

In April 1672, the Afghan leader Aimal Khan Mohmand, supported by Darya Khan Afridi, declared war against the Mughal Empire.[2][3] The Mughal governor of Kabul, Muhammad Amin, alongside Khushal Khan Khattak was attacked by the tribal Pashtuns.[4][5] Although he was accompanied by a large Mughal force, he was decisively defeated by the Pashtun tribesmen.[6][7] More than 40,000 Mughal soldiers were killed and over 20,000 were taken prisoner.[8][9]

Aftermath

Hundreds of Mughal officers were killed, and the governor of Kabul retreated to Peshawar with only a small number of survivors.[10] The daughter, sister and mother of Muhammad Amin were taken as prisoners, but his wife committed suicide.[5] Khushal Khan was still confused if he should be on the side with the Afghans or the Mughals, but would later join the Afghan rebellion in 1673.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Storia do Mogor; or, Mogul India 1653–1708". 1907.
  2. ^ Edwardes, Stephen Meredyth; Garrett, Herbert Leonard Offley (1995). Mughal Rule in India. Atlantic Publishers & Dist. p. 111. ISBN 978-81-7156-551-1.
  3. ^ Khan, Mohammad Nawaz (2004). Khyber: The Treasure Land of History. p. 28.
  4. ^ Sandhu, Gurcharn Singh (2003). A Military History of Medieval India. Vision Books. p. 627. ISBN 978-81-7094-525-3.
  5. ^ a b c Shahbaz Khan & Himayatullah (2020). Understanding the anti Mughal. p. 71.
  6. ^ Sinha, Narendra Krishna; Banerjee, Anil Chandra (1958). History of India. A. Mukherjee. p. 412.
  7. ^ Rashid, Haroon (2002). History of the Pathans: The Sarabani Pathans. Haroon Rashid. p. 437.
  8. ^ The Indian Historical Quarterly. Ramanand Vidya Bhawan. 1985. p. 496.
  9. ^ Agrawal, Ashvini (1983). Studies in Mughal History. Motilal Banarsidass Publ. p. 188. ISBN 978-81-208-2326-6.
  10. ^ Ahmad, Laiq (1976). The Prime Ministers of Aurangzeb. Chugh Publications. p. 105.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.