The Battle of the Malandari Pass was fought on 16 February 1586 in what is now the

Buner District Buner District (, ) is a district in the Malakand Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Before receiving the status of a district in 1991, it was a tehsil within Swat District. Buner's elevation starts at 1200 ft in the S ...

in Pakistan's

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ; , ; abbr. KP or KPK), formerly known as the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), is a province of Pakistan. Located in the northwestern region of the country, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the fourth largest province of Paki ...

. The army of the

Mughal Empire The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...

, led by Raja Birbal, was attacked by Afghan

Yusufzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai (, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ), or Yusufzai Afghans historically, are one of the largest tribes of Pashtuns. They are natively based in the northern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ( Malakand, Dir, Swat, Shangl ...

tribesmen, led by

Malik Malik (; ; ; variously Romanized ''Mallik'', ''Melik'', ''Malka'', ''Malek'', ''Maleek'', ''Malick'', ''Mallick'', ''Melekh'') is the Semitic term translating to "king", recorded in East Semitic and Arabic, and as mlk in Northwest Semitic d ...

Kalu Khan Yousafzai Kalu Khan Yusufzai (Pashto: کالو خان یوسفزئی) was an Afghan warrior and military leader in the 16th century who inflicted one of the greatest defeats of the Mughal Empire. He is known for leading the Afghan Yusufzai rebellion again ...

. It was one of the greatest defeats of Mughal history and under the reign of

Akbar the Great Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor exp ...

Birbal is believed to have died in the battle alongside 8,000 to 50,000 Mughal soldiers.

Background

The

Mughals The Mughal Empire was an early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to the highlands of pre ...

had annihilated the whole

Yousafzai The Yusufzai or Yousafzai (, ), also referred to as the Esapzai (, ), or Yusufzai Afghans historically, are one of the largest tribes of Pashtuns. They are natively based in the northern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa ( Malakand, Dir, Swat, Shangl ...

tribe after Mullah Meru's defeat and death in 1581 AD, and Kalu Khan Yusufzai decided to take over the task of restoring the Yousafzai's organisation and unity. In the jirga that

organised after consulting his friends and supporters, Ayub son of Rusi, Babu son of Saifu Aba Khel Mandanr, Mirwais son of Mullah Meru, and other individuals associated with Yousafzai took part. Yousafzai's country was visited by this jirga as it preached about togetherness and issued ominous warnings about the consequences of divide. Ain-i-Akbari claims that Kalu Khan travelled to

Agra Agra ( ) is a city on the banks of the Yamuna river in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, about south-east of the national capital Delhi and 330 km west of the state capital Lucknow. With a population of roughly 1.6 million, Agra is the ...

with the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

Emperor

Akbar Akbar (Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar, – ), popularly known as Akbar the Great, was the third Mughal emperor, who reigned from 1556 to 1605. Akbar succeeded his father, Humayun, under a regent, Bairam Khan, who helped the young emperor expa ...

went to the Kabul region to chastise Mirza Muhammad. Kalu Khan was treated well, but he eventually left Agra. Khwaja Shamsuddin Khwafi detained Kalu Khan close to

Attock Attock ( Punjabi, ), formerly known as Campbellpur (Punjabi, ), is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, not far from the country's capital Islamabad. It is the headquarters of the Attock District and is 36th largest city in the Punjab and 61st largest c ...

and then took him to court. Kalu Khan ran away once more, went back home, and eventually became the leader of the seditious elements. Abu Fazal does not specifically state how Akbar took Kalu Khan to Agra or why or under what circumstances. Yusufzaiflag

The

had selected Ghazi Khan Malezai to serve as their leader while Kalu Khan was away. But soon after, Ghazi Khan was killed in

Bajaur Bajaur District (, ), formerly Bajaur Agency, is a district in the Malakand Division of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan. Prior to 2018, Bajaur Agency was the northernmost component of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), a semi-a ...

in a battle with the Mughals. Kalu Khan, who had just returned from Agra, also joined the fight. He was once again chosen by Yousafzais to lead the tribe in Damghar, Swat.

Battle

According to historians Jadunath Sarkar and Raghubir Sinh, there were quarrels between the leaders of the Mughal troops, with Birbal, Abul Fath and Zain Khan disagreeing on the course of action, and "On 16th February, (1586), during a disorderly march, the Afghans attacked in a Swat defile. Panic seized the disunited Imperial army and 8000 men lost their lives, including Rajah Birbal and many other high officers, while all their camp and equipage were plundered. The fugitives straggling in the hills were cut off."Jadunath Sarkar and Raghubir Sinh
History of Jaipur, c. 1503-1938'' (Orient Longman, 1984)
pp. 68-69 Between the

Karakar Pass Karakar Pass (; el. 1336 m./4384 ft.) is a mountain pass in the Hindu Kush, connecting Swat and Buner in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. From the top of the pass, one can view Buner Valley. It was at this pass in February 1586 where about 8, ...

and the Malandari Pass, the Yusufzai Afghans under the command of Kalu Khan routed the combined forces of Zain Khan and Raja Birbal. Birbal lost his life in this battle. According to Mughal historian

Khafi Khan Muhammad Hashim (c. 1664–1732), better known by his title Khafi Khan, was an Indo-Persian historian of Mughal India. His career began about 1693–1694 as a clerk in Bombay. He served predominantly in Gujarat and the Deccan regions, including the ...

, 40,000–50,000 Mughal men perished in this battle. However,

Badayuni Badayuni or Badauni is an Indian toponymic surname ( nisba) for people from Budaun (formerly Badayun and Badaun) in Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With o ...

claims that around 8000 Mughal men perished as a result of the entire episode.

Aftermath

Akbar learned about the disaster two days later and an army under Rajah Todar Mal set off on 19 February to exact retribution against the Yusufzais, killing a large number of them and selling many survivors to

Turan Turan (; ; , , ) is a historical region in Central Asia. The term is of Iranian origin and may refer to a particular prehistoric human settlement, a historic geographical region, or a culture. The original Turanians were an Iranian tribe of th ...

and

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, as "the countries of Swat, Bajaur and Buner were cleansed of evildoers."

Notes

References

{{reflist Conflicts in 1586 Buner District Afghan-Mughal Wars History of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 16th century in the Mughal Empire Battles involving Afghanistan Battles involving the Mughal Empire 1586 in India

Background

Battle

Aftermath

See also

Notes

References