JONATHAN L. LEE BRmsiI INSTITUTE OF PERSIA~ ~J:UPIES

I.
:..:,·,
'·. •,
BY
JONATHAN L. LEE
•.
'~·~
iry
. ~...
,'~
··.
Reprintedfrom
IRAN XXV 1987
Publishedby
{
' i·
~ BRmsiI INSTITUTEOF PERSIA~ ~J:UPIES
THE HISTORY
OF l\li\ll\L\N:\
IN NORTIIWESTERN
1n1
i\FCIIANISTAN
1wn
/~r .Jo11atlia11 L. Lee
(.'1011·h,n,111.!:h.
Fu,I
Su11t\
The I0\\'11 or \laima11a
is at prc-Sl'lll thl' pro,·i11cial capital or the Al~ha11 prn\'illC!' (u•ilii_rat) of
Fary:tli ('.\laps 1-2) . 1 I II I !158 i I was ('SI i Illa !('d to mil tai II :m,ooo
pnso11s (II u111lu111,I !l:i8)' hut hy 1978
thl' population had risl'll and was proh;1hly mTr ·10,IHIO, with around I ,!HHl shops i11lin1r 111ai11hazaars. 1
The pll'Sl'lll ll'gio11al l1011111hri1·sol" F;11yal, also i111"li11ktlw l<l\\'11and dis11i1 t 111'
.\11dkhni, h11t this is a
recent arrangement,
since historically
l\laima11a and Andkhoi \\TIT ruled by separate dynasties which
were established
in control or these regions hy N;idir Sh;ih. 1
During the eighteenth
and ni11ctc1·11th centuries,
l\laimana,
under its Uzhck Mali/ was the
paramount tmrn of the Cha/1111
ll"ilrI1·at("Four Pro\·inn:s") which also included Shibarghan,
Sar-i-Pul
and Andkhoi. Although each region was independently
ruled by Uzh('k or Afsh~ll'-, dynasties, \Vhich
frequently squabbled
amongst themsch-es,
whrn faced with an !'xtcrnal threat thC"y sank their diflerrnrl's and worked tog;ctll!'r to 111ai111;1i11thl'ir i1ulq1l'11d1·11n· 1111dn tlw kadl'rship
of l\1aimana.
qcha
(
)
Shtbar
hen
.....,
(
I
/
I
.....
' .. ---. ..- .
:"""-
. ..,,,,,,..
---.
---·
---·
0
.lla/i. I . . l.f~l,11111.1/11,,,11'1/h lht'
250
1111·11
11ro11111/
,\/ai1111111,1i1111·/.
107
500km
IUB
.J<l l ' R N A L o
International
inc ia I
All
wealhtH
weather
•etllemenls
Prov
1nce(Wdt1vat)
Coulou,
at
\
I
AOC HA
towns
Olhe,
Khwal
(JllO
r
S T l I ll I E S
(
-
road
River
Main
I' I·. R S I A N
bounda_ries
Prov
Fair
F
I
~·
I
b.OOOfl
(
1 :1.000,000.
I
:·, u
I
a n
I
/
I
I
,,.../
Jar
•
Ouduq
y
a
-. '\; \
I
I
\
b
\
' ' ,,
/"i .
•
_..,,,
I
'
... ,·~
o ,.
.lll/f!. 2.. \/11i111111111
,1111l
11or//11,·nta11
.l_/~haui,/1111.
\lai111a11a·s i111pi>r1;t111Tin T11rkista11 (sl' .. i11 1his l'Olltl'xl, the laq1;d\' <'th11ically Turkish region of
,1()1IIH'111.\fglr.111isL111I) i11g 111ill<' ,()11tl1111111<'
( h11s ;111dIll<' 111<Hln11lion In \,·i1li llil' USSR) was also
due t<, i1s stratcgi<· position. Sir u.itnl 011 tlw 11or1h-\,·1·sll'l'II cdgl' "" tlw T1r-Ba11d-i-Turkist:m
(or
Turkis1a11 111otmlai11sJ, ii L,,. acrnss 1111'
1llai11 11adc mute between Pnsian Khurasan,
Turkistan and
T1a11,1J,i;111;1. 11 als" l1ad s1m,1g links ,,·ill, \lc-1\'. ;11Jd wi1h l\.;,l11il 11tn,ngh Cht1r and B:uniyan. 1; hs
citadel g11anlnl 1lw IH11llrn1J <·1111a11tT
lo lbdgl11s ;11111
;11tlw sallll' 1i111<·
n11111·11llnla1Tess lo Turkistan
from 1111'
so11tlr-w1·s1. ( :011s!'qll('JJtly, '.\lai111a11;1pLl\ s .111i111p11r1a11t
mil' in 1lre history ol'Turkistan,
and
011 snTral occasions was rcspo11sil,lc li,r i11dil'l'l'tly i111lucnci11g en:11ts n1ud1 l'urtlrer afield.
l\lairnana's
origins arc ohsn11T, as little al'l"haeological survey work or excavations
have been
undertaken
in tlw im111ecliatc area. Dupree ( 1q70: IGIOlf.) found lithir and ceramic materials from the
l\liddle Palaeolithic a,1d late N('()lithil'-Bron1.e ,\ge, in a l'a\'e near Biklrcraglr in Gurziwan (Map 2),
and early lrnn Age ceramics (late second lo early first millcnium B.C.) were recovered from the citadel
mound ill the crn I tT of l\ I ai rnana (Ball, I !lB'.!.I: I 7B). It is 011ly ill llw I slamir era that the town assumes
7
any character, under its formn name, al-Yal11-1diyya or al-Yahttdiyall,
the city ofthejews.
In the tenth
century A. D. this town was tlw sel'o11d most important ol't he an'.a, a 11dwas the residence of the A,f alik of
Guzg:111 (Minorsky,
1~)70: 107). During tlris pniod, tlH· region of'Guzg:111 (mJt11'Jan), now known by
the na111e of Gurziw;111, was the scat of' the nati\'!· Faright111id dynasty. It would appear that until the
:'\longol rnnqucst of Turkista11 in the thirteenth <Tntury the city of F:iryah overshadowed
all other
towns, and was till' trading and ad111i11is1rati,T l'cntrc of\\'estern
T11rkisL111. Once this tmvn had been
T II L
II I S To R Y O F
1\1:\ I 1\1A N A
IN
:',Io R T
11W
EST F R N :\ F c; II A N I ST :\ N
109
cl<-\tl«J\C'CI
I)\ tlw :\lcmgols. ;dong ,,itli tlw IIC'lwc,rk or hill ;111cl C:.l\T liJl'llTSSC'Sin Gharchistan and
Curziwa11. ,t d1a11gc i11the sc·ttk111c11tp.tt ln11s oftllC' rq.~ion appears to l1avc occurred. ThesC' fortresses
.11,cl towns \\'CIT
1101g('lll'r,tlly n·l,i1il1. 11 ""' tlll'r«' \\';Is ll«Td li,r SOIi!(' (TlltLil lll«Tti11g a11clga1heri11g
~rn1111cbfi,r tllC' \l1111g«d,;11ulJ.11n l lzlwk l11ml1·s,\\'lll'n· Ill<')' \\TIT 111';1rc·11011gh10 raid into the settled
.tn-a~ oflkrat and Khurasa11, a11d yet s11llicic111hfar ;1way to prc-C'lllpt a surprise attack. The valley of
tll(' \lai111a11a ri\'C'r offcrC'd both tl1csc· .id\'antag"s, as wtll as access 10th<' pasturages of Badghis and
Gurziw;"in, and conscq11e·11tly1\lai111a11;1
;ill(I otlwr s111alkr towns i11 B;1dgh1s lwcanw cc·1111-cs
of tentclwclli11g:\lo11gol ;111dTurkic g11,1qis, \\'lir>gr.1d11.dh lw,g;111to cul ti, .itc· th«· krtik lcwss dud soils, and at
a latn cla11·involved tl1e111sd\'cs with 111c:rca11tikacti,·itiC's or all sorts.
L'zlil'k im·ol\'cmcnt in 1\Iaimana co111mc11ccclu11d<'rthe Shaibanid Mul.1amrnad Khan, who by the
liq.;i1111ingof tlir sixteenth crntury had begun to send l,is fr>rces into F{iryab and Maimana. 9 1111605
.\laimana's governor was a cntai11 Tahir Bi, who ruled for the IViiH 1\l 111.iamniad, who defeated the
1 (f\Ltp '.!). B) Iii! I \\'C' rT,tcl of.in Uzbek ruler actually in
Uzlwks at :\1111;11,
to tliC' south of f\lai111.i11.1"
\laimana, a11d UzlJC'k i11fhw11CT
co11ri11uc:dto expand i11Turkis1a11 generally throughout this and the
liillowi11gcrntury. 11Nadir Shah's ccmqucst of He rat i111731 brought l\taimana under his control, as he
srnt a dctachmrnt uf troops to s u bduc the: region ( Lock ha rt, 1939: 5'.-3).U zlicks also formed a major part
ofl,is arniy, but mi his assassination i111717, th('sc l'zlJC'k troops returned to thl'irTurkistan
homelands
whilst the :\lghans established :\lunad Shiih Durri111i as tlwir leader.
'1 lw 111ocl«T11
lii\lon ol'.\L1i111.111a
11111st
rc·.tlh IJI' c,111\iclnnl to st.irl fr«1111
tllC'nJ11q11c·stc,l'tll<' n-gi«Jll
II\ \.ulir Slial1. ;111cltlil' stilJ\C''Jlll'III app"i11t111C·111
IJ\ . \l_1111acl
Sh.ti, orl.Ltjji Khii11 .\ling\ as his gm·ernor
1
i11.\L1in1.111.1.
's l!'J'flrl
()JI .\Lti111a11;1.
\\Tittc·11 i11 IHIO. ILi.jji Kliii.11,,as mack
' .\ccrncli11g '" ( :c,1111lh
~11,n111110IIH1ll1
lblkl1 ;111cl:\Lti111;i11;1
;is ;11n,;ml li11L1itl11'11I
sc·nic«· to .\l.1111;1cl
Sktl1. l:J;"ijjiKki.11 had
,1·1IC'clin .\.iclir's .11111,1111clc-r
.\1_1111.icl.
;111clc·11listnl tlw p.1tro11agl' «lliis 111.istn lo scT11rc·fiir hi,nsell'a
i11.sc'\Tt,tl 11.1,s 1dw11 c·o111pan·clto lll<JIT
11111.iti\l·p11siti1111.
ll11\\1·\IT, C:01111lh·s rl'J'11rl is i11;1cn1r.11<·
1111111·111puran
som««·s. Tlw 1ii11!.h 1. l/1111,/1/Sl///!11
ol.\Ltl_111111cl
,tl-l.l11s;1i111
«011firn1stit.it I_Lt_iji1kg, ;tlong
\\itlt utllC'r 11ili;tl IC'aclns .111cl11Cit.tlill'sl1c,111llalkl, and T11rkista11. c;1111c·
tu .\l_1111;tcl
Sh;,h's co11rt to ask
'"' b\l,urs .111clto ni111plai11.tl,0111tit«· c·,.w1i«>11s
«il'R.d11111
Kli;111B11klt.1r.in, tllC'. lt11/i1/olTurkista11. He
.ipp«·,11, 111li.l\c· rl'l1ci,·nl th«· title 111llitl1n /111/l.lt;11this pC'riocl. ;t11cll'r11111
l1e·1Hdiir1h was k11uwn as
ILijj, Kl1.i11i11l10111,11r
11fl1is'11n1,1;1111\.11,· 11;" ;tlsogin·11 tl!C'1i1leul'S1if1ih-i//,lttirrir. orCliicfColkctor
"' l'.1,c·s. hll Turki,tall. llltl tlil' 111ili1.in pm11T \\;ts ill\TS(C'CIin a11otl1n pnsoll, ':\\;i 'Allah Khan
I 11rk111;111.
.\t tlw \dill«' 1i111C'.
;1 c;1111p;1ig11
,1;1s L11111d1«·cl
to IC'-«·st;tlilisli .\l_1n1;1clKkin's n>1llrol o\Tr
I 111
ki,1;111.\\ l1ic11i1111111!«-cl
( :l1idi.1k111.\l.1i111;111.1
;111cl.\11clkh(li. TllC' .i1e-;1,,as finalh rqionecl subdued
i11111,I: I ,-ii. li111.tltlu>11gl1l_f;1)jiKli.111is« .tllnl II iii, of Balkh liir ;1 short ti11H';tltn. it appears lie was
1qib« l'CI;I', II ii/i ,111cl
rn,h ;ill1111C'cl
to :1cl111i11i,tnthC' t.i,c·s oftlw T11rki,1;111ll',l.~io11.
11 itl1 '.\lai111a11a
as his
p11J,i11cialSC':tl(.\Lil111l11cl.IIJ71: l'.!B. l1i7).
Hiiiji Khan was f;,r liolll lwi11~~.Ill i«l«·;il;illy or :\l_1111;tcl
Sltali. TIii' '/;11,J.ltrq,orts hitll ,IS hcing
lrcq1w11tlyin rdwllilll1, ;111clllC' was 11otC'Cl
liir his exactions and oppressions in respect of realising the
n·,Tnues (Mahmud, 197-1-:35311'.).Alter m,111yc:oruplaints, Al.nuacl Kkin appointed ajudicial investigator CJ! Dariigh/i'Adiilat. the nigh l_hijji Klia11 ;111clhis ,ti lies 111.111;1gC'd lo frusrratc· ltis dforts to bri11g him
10 hcl'l. Instead, lw a11cll1is c:cJ11fi·clcTat«·s
s11pportC'CIa Bukharan i11\'asiu11ofAqcha allll forced At,1mad
Khan's forces to retire 011Balkh (Mahmud, I ~fr!: 3.55ff., 51,Hl.). Although a nominal ally of the Afghan
ruler, l:lajji Khan was essentially involved in furthering his own interests and that of the Turkmans and
Uzbeks at the expense of the Afghans at Balkh. It is clear that, although l:lajj'i Khiin may have been
llali ofBalkh for a short time after 1751, his 111ai11
involvcml'nt in this area was as the tax collector, and
that his actual governorship
was based mi l\laima11a. This is mnsistc11t with the geography of
Turkista11, too, as it is dillicult to sec how J:ELijlKhiin could haw been the actual governor of both
\laimana and Balkh, given th<' 11umernus petty stat<'s, such as Aqcha, Shibargha11, A11dkhoi and Sari-Pu! which lay between thrlll. As the lririkh informs us of'separatc rulers ol'A11dkhoi and Shibarghan, it
is perhaps misleading to think ofhilll as the actual civil governor uf Balkli. Had he been so, he would
haYe doubtless lived in the town.
Conolly, although he gives no dates, lists a series of periods ol'timc for the reigns ol'f:laiji Khan's
inimediate successurs. He clairns that J:la_ii•Khan dic·cl lwfon: Al_11nadShah, i.e. lieforc 1773, and was
I Io
JOIIJC">;.\J
Ill·
l'Fl{Sl,\N
ST(lJJ(FS
sucnTdcd l1y his so11.Ja11 Klta11. 'I'll<' 'ft111l.h1111·111io11s
a l't'l'lai11 Shalt Na{.ar Khan (op. ril., 51 tiff.) as
being the sun of' l:fajji Khan J\.lingi, whu as his representative
at peace negotiations
would have
doubtless IJl'l'll the hl'ir. \;\'h<'tlll'r Sh,-111Na{ar dinl lwfort· his fathn is lllJt knlJwn, and we have to rely
. on Conolly's rl'port that J;u1 Khan was tht· nl'xl rnkr. .\l.1111adShi"th Dt11T,-1nidied in 177'3, and was
succeeded by his son, Timur Sh;1h, whlJ gradually lost control uf'Turkistan with the exception ofBalkh.
l\1aimana continued tlJ send in trih1111·in cash and kind, according to Serwar, 13 and was comparatively
prosperous. Howc\'Cr, at this period Maimana controlled ,1 larger area of territory than it did in the
nineteenth century, as it included Sar-i-Pul in the cast and probably Bal;1 Murghab to the southwest.
Conolly informs us that.Jan Kh;rn lost contrul ofBalkh at some puint during 'Timur Shah's reign.
\\' e have seen that e\'('11 l:{;1_ijiKhan did not haw civil control over Balkh, and we assume that it was the
right and ability to collect the revenues of the Balkh area which was lost to his son. 11 This event
undoubtedly occurred in 1789, when Balkh revolted against Timur Shah at the instigation of the Amir
of Bukhara (Vambc'.:ry, 1873: 358; Dupree, 1978: '.H4). Although a treaty was eventually patched up
between Timur and the A mfr, the real authority in Balkh lay with the Uzbeks and Bukhara. 15 Timur
Shah still had the right to appoint a governor to the town, but the terms of the agreement permitted the
local people to choose their own nominee, restricted his retinue to a mere handful and refused him the
rights to raise any JT\Tnu1· liy 1ax;11io11.As a 1·1111sl'qtH'JHT,Balkh was virtually free to pursue its own
interests without Al~han rnntrul, and the rductancc of'Alghan ollicials to accept the position of Wali of
Balkh was a subject uf'considerahk
mirth thruughout Turkistan (Ferrier, 1858: 19Ilf.).
Conolly's n·p!1rt on the history of' l\laimana was very extcnsiv<'ly used by the Political and Secret
Ollice in India wllcn it came to writing about the earlier period of Maimana's
history, and using the
information which he gave on the span of individual ruler's reigns, a chronology was developed which
reports, such as those by
is in fact quite inaccurate. These tables took 1w account of more contemporary
Ghulam Serwar ( 171)3-5) and Edward Stirling in 1828-9.'" This is quite surprising, since Serwar's
report is filed in the Records of th!' East 1ndia Company and was available; and though Stirling was
never asked to submit a report, Calrntta had only itsdfto blame since he was employed by the Civil
Bra11!'h of till' st·n·itT and was undl'r thl' imprl'ssion, latn tu Ill' rdi.Jtl'd, that his travels in Turkistan
w1·n· olli('ially sa,wl i()Jll'd l>y tlll' ( ;o\'l'l'Jlllll'lll. 1' l Ising till' inliJl'luation supplied by these two individuals, we discm·n tha11.Jii11 Kh,in was still aliu· in I 7q:>and did not die in I 7YU. Ral)im Khan, who
s11u:c1·1lc-dhi 111, wa~ ass111111·dlo li;1\'<' IHTII killl'd in I 7'1H,hut Stirling states in 1828 that Ral)im's son,
'Ali Y<1rK!if111,was at tlw 111osttw1·111y-fo11ror tWC'llly- fiVl· years old and therefore could not have been
born IHfon· I BO'.}--,J.Cons1·q11<·111ly,his Eitlwr's tkatlt !'an only I)(' placnl at the earliest in rn. 1804.
Conolly also claimed that' Ali Yiir Khan "di1·d l<1urtern years ago", 111which would give us a date of 1826
for the end of his reign. HowC\TI', Stirling visited l\laimana in November 1828, and 'Ali Yar Khan was
still alivl', so l\lizriih Kh;111 rnuld 1101ha\'<' n·ignl'!I as long as Conolly thought. Burnes states in 1838
that M izr;1h had l'l'igned "slJn1c six years", whil'h would giw us the date of 1831-2/ 1 this is consistent
with Stirling's journals,
and would place the death of'Ali Yar around 1830. Using the information of
Scrwar, Stirling and Burn!'s, it is still possible to reconcile their accounts with Conolly's estimates for
the reigns of individual rulers in Maimana, prn\·id!'d we dismiss the later and inaccurate dating used by
Gaz.eteer( 1895). The following revised chronolWheeler ( I 8G9), J\.lacGregor ( 1871) and the Aj~lw11i.1la11
ogy and the line of succession in l\laimana, frlJm 1-.Ei_iFKh:m to the removal of the last ofMaimana's
hereditary
IVi'lli"s,also shuws tht'. "ollirial" dates as given hy British I n<lia11 sources from the last
century.
Ruler'; name and co111111mt.1
lf ajjf Khan .\fiT1g1:died naturall, ( ')
Jan Khan, sun of H;i_ijiKhan: dil'd natmallyU)
F.ldt1t;on 1!f.J1i11
Klui11:ckposl'd and lili11dl'd
Ral!1111
l<lui11.
son ofJiin Kh;-111:111mdn,·d
.-lhmad Khan, anothrr son ol'.Jan Kh:u1: 11111nlt-n·d
',1/1 }',i, Kha11.SOIi of Rahim Khan: d. ol cholrra
Rtign (Co110IIJ·)
"Ojjicial" dates
l'OlllllH'l]('('d prior to Timur Shah
1101long-, if at all
''son1t·
) cars··
"tl'n or t\\'dn·"
I 7!JO-I 7'J8
17!.JB-1810
1751-<a. 1773
1773--ca. 1795
ca. 1795
1795-ca. 1804
1804-1814
·'six1t·,·11y«·ars,,
"dinl H
1Ts. ai.:o"
IHI0-18:.16
1814-1830
1830
18:.16
1830-1831
Penian R<'gmt,murdned
,lfuhmind Khan, SOil of Alrn,ad Kh:111:
poisoned
Revised dales
"fi1·c· or six months"
TIIE
IIISTOI<\'
<JI·
1\1.-\IM,\NA
IN
NORTll\\'ESTl·:l{N
,\t this point, Co11olly's chronology IHTOIIH'Srcclu11da111,and there is nillt<'lllporary
all of the fiillowing datc·s, which arC' gl'nnally agrn·d to lw acn1ralc·:
/(u/o.
,1,
evidence for
I >ato
.\/1~111/,
A:lui11,
lraJl'.brotll<'1"' ·~l11l1111i11d:
P"is111u·d
llu~um,11Ah,i11,ddc-r ,011111"!\lii,-.-,1,
Kli.-111.o111ds;,,.,A."l11m.
li.ol11.'l-lu"tlw1 1" 111,k,1111.11
. .'il11·1Kli.111dq,os,·d
llu~um,11A:l11i11,
sole rnk: ,nunlrrt'd 1>1lnotl1n, l lusai11
1/uwin A."h1i11,
son of !\lizri"1b Khan: d ..·pos ..d by .-\f~ha11,
.lj~l,1111(;mmwri
111
,·\H;IJ.-\NISTAN
n·mm"t'd at bq.;inning
0J"S,·co11d .\n.(\lo-.-\(14han \\'ar
Dilau·,irAlufo, son of Hukiinial Kh;111: d('pos,·d h, .\(14haJJS
llu.111111
A:l11i11,
sr("olfd rdgn: dcposnl by ,\Jghans and <'XtTuted( ))
Shari/K/11111,
son ol" l:{usain Khan, dq>os<·d after ,"!'!,cl
lion against Afghan ruk
ll;i/i .\lulu1111111ad
.lfg/11111
(;uumurs in !\laimana, \\'hich become.~ a prn,·in<T of Al:14hanisun, u11d('r dir<"ct rule
111'.il-llll:l
IBl:1-IIH7
llll7-1862
lllli'.!-lll7(i
lll?ti-1879
I 87!)-1881
1881-1889
1888-1893
1893 onwards
\\'c rclurn to the chronological c·,-cnls in l\lai111a11a from the accession of.Pn Kh;m, son off:liijji
Khii.n. Though little is k11ow11about the situation in ;\faimana during the latter part of the eighteenth
and rarly years of the nineteenth century, \\T arc given some details of Mai111a11a's economy in the
stork items sent to Timur
information supplied by Glwla111 Snwar.'!" I lorsl's and shC'cp ,,·cTt' !IIC'111ai11
Shah, and the expenses and n·,·cnucs arc gin·n as:
Taxation from land
I 00,000 rupees
ll'aqfor rdigiuus cmlowme11ts
10,000
35,000
Expenses of the "king"
65,000
;\mount sent to A(1sha11 treasury
The expenses ufthc WalzUa11 Kh;u1) arc given as 100,000 rupec·s. The tTHllltes
of Balkh at the same
period ,,·c·n· approximatrly
four times as great. Despite the re,·cnuc·s sent to T1111ur Shah in Kabul,
during the 1790s l\faimana became virtually i11dcpc11de11tin respect of internal policy.
Jin Khan died rn. 1795, but his eldest son and heir was depusC'd and blinded by another son,
Ral.1im Khan, who reigned u 111
ii rn. I HOI. I k had a son called 'AII Y;ir K hiin whu was c·vcn tually to
~uccrcd lo the throne oL\laimana.
llo\\'C\Tr, this did not occur in1mediatcly on his death. Ral,lim Khan
was murdered in his tum by another of his brothers, Al.1111adKhii11, who 111anagrd to 111ai11tain his
position fin some tell )'l'ars lwl<irc· lw loo w;1s 1111mlnnl. 'l'IIC'sc dcall1s ;1ppl'ar to have promoted
considnalilc hatred lwtwccn the falllilics oftlw two lirntlwrs, f\lpnad and Ral.11111,and AIJmad's sons
lied to '.\lazar-i-Sharff in order to avoid falling into tlH' hands of' tl!C'ir unrll''s family.~'
On the death ofAl.11nad Kh:rn, Rah1111Kl1.-111'sson 'J\I, Yiir Khan was SC'I11pas 1111/i.As he was a
boy ofabuut IC'nyears of age at lht' lime·, he was doubtless 1111dcrthe nmtrol oft he Ral.11m1family, who
ha,ing deposed the murdern ol"'AII Yar's father, saw in this child an opportunity to fi.1rther their own
ends. It was early in 'Ari Yar's rc'ig11 that Zultic(1r Shc:r Kh;"u1, the gon·rnor of Sar-i-Pul for the
~laimana Khanate, broke away and established his own kingdom around tht' town, thereby causing
considerable loss to the Maimana tn·asury. 2 ~ Dttt' tu the internal strife among the ruling family in
~laimana, very little could be done about this defection, though this did not prevent 'All Yar marrying
a daughter of'Zulliq;"1r Shi.:·r Khii II la In in his reign, and indeed Zulfiqii r's sistt'r was' AIJ Ya r's mother.~ 3
The first European eye-witness acrnunt \\T ha\T of l\lainiana is tlia1 givc11 liy Edward Stirling
( 1797-1873), who \\·as in ~lai111a11aat the rncl of IB'.W. Prior lo his \'isit, only' lzzat Allah (Meer lzzat
Vllah), a British nati\'e .igent, had actually visited the area, but although he reported extensively on the
other Uzbek Khanatcs such as Andkhoi, his report 011 Ivla imana is disappointing,
as he does not
mention the ruler's name.~ 1 M ai111a11a,at t lw ti me' f zzat Allah was I here ( I H13), was lit tk more than a
"large village", but was already developing into a comnH·rcial ccntrl', and doubtless coinage was now
being used instead of the barter employed in the town at the time of Al.unad Shiih.r, 'Jzzat Allah's visit
was made just before 'Ali Yar succeeded to the rule oft he area, Stirling's \'isit in 11328came towards the
end of'AII Yar's reign; by that time Mai111a11a had a population oft<"n to filiccn tho11sa11d/'i and new
grants ufland had been made, which i11turn indicates an increased tendency towards a sedentary life
style, even in the outlying areas. Bukharan currc·nry was in general use in the town, and Hindu
merchants had taken up residence, presumably acting as money lenders for the traders. More than half'
112
JOl'RNAI.
OF
PERSIAN
STUDIES
the population, ltowrvcr, \\TH' !I'll! d\\'l'llns, and hartl'r \\'as still in Usl' in the upper Shirin Tagao,
around Bikher;-igh. Amongst thl' prndun·, grai11 and various fruits appear to have been the most
important, and horses, slic<'p and goats aho1111d1·d.Thnl' was a \\·1·1·kly bazaar in l\Iaimana. The
Khanatl' stn·tclll'd fi,,111tlll' l,011lns ol'.\11dkl11,i ;11111 thl' T11rkista11 dcsnt lands, north of the modern
Daulatiibf1d (i.l'. Fiiryfdi). To thl' south till" areas around Qunuarch
and the Murghab were semiindependent but had close links with their Uzbek neighbours. In the east, Maimana's borders reached
as far as the l\lirzii \Vula11g pass which is the watershed between the Shirin Tagao and the Sar-i-Pul
river systems.
'Ali Var Kh;1.n was gc1H-rally well spoken of as a rukr, 27 and under him the town had obviously
prospered and grown. No douht the stability which the fourteen years or his reign created assisted
trading co11fidc11n· enormously, aided by the increased trallic in Persian slaves from Khurasan, many
of whom passed throu.gh l\faimana en route to Bukhara and other cities of'Transoxiana.
During cAli
Ya.r's reign two such Persian slaves, from the sa111efamily, rose to high office, and indeed, on his death
from cholera in IB30, it was a Pnsian who was lllade Rq~e11t fill''Ali Ya.r's "infant" heir. 28 However, this
individual did not last long as lw g1Tw too sclf~illlporta11t, and was soon murdered. 29 The two sons of A
l_1mad Kh;-1n, who had h1"e11 Ii, ing i11 l\lazfir-i-Sharff
si11\:c th1·ir father's death, had moved to
Shibarghan ot1 the passing of'Ali Y;-ir Khan, hoping that the situation in Maimana would allow them
to return and claim thl'ir rights/' all(I it could well havl' been that a faction loyal to them disposed of the
R1·gc11t, fiir-till' two hrnthrrs w1·11·im·itnl tn n·turn and take l'olltrol of affairs.
l\lizrab Khan was tlH· cider oftlH' two, hut because he was tlH· soil ofa Persian slave woman, and
thus only half~Uzlwk, his you11gn half~hrntlwr, l\luhmind Kh;-in, was prcf<:rred as rukr, and Mizrab
had to lw u111tc11twitl1 tlw position of llii.:ir. 11 ;\luhlllind survi\'l·d for about six months, dying from
poison administned
by an unknown ha11d. l\lizri"ib took over, and i11order to deflect strong rumours
that he had had his half~lnothn IT111ovedso that he could rule in his stead, he had a slave girl ofcAli
\\1r's lllothn tortnred, and 1·xlract('{I a n,11fi·ssio11 that she had administned
the poison at the
instigation oflll"r mistress.' 1'11isprovided a11idl'al opportunity to exterminate the family of'Ali Var and
tints remove all rivals to the thnJJH'. 'Ali Y;-1r'smother and his infant son were put to the sword, and the
child's mother, the da ugh tcr off ulfiqi"ir ShtT Kh;'i 11,was placed i II the harem of Mizrab Khan. 32 As a
result of this Zulficp'ir Sher Kh;-111declared war rn1 l\Iizrab, set up another son of AIJmad Khan, a halfbrother to l\lizrali, and marrl1rd his armies to within a kw miles of the citadel, but was eventually
pushed back by l\,lizr,1.b Kkrn. Although this war continued until the death ofZulfiqar Sher in 1840
and beyond, the th rcat was IH"vc-ras snious as it had been in the first frw years of l'v1izrab's reign. 33
Mizrab ruled from I WlI to I fH.'i, a p<'riod or growi11g ('Xternal pressure 011 Maimana with the
involvement of Pi'lsia, Bukhara, 1lcrat, and later A(ghanistan and Britain in the affairs ofTurkistan.
l\l izrab had to learn how to "st and \\'i th his legs in two boa ts"/' playing one power off against the other,
a11d making toke11 submissions to whoever was most in the ascendancy at the time. The growing
interest of the East India Compa11y in the affairs of Central Asia was shown by the mi~.sion of Burnes to
Bukliara in 1832, and later hy the presence of Pottinger during the siege of Heral by the Persians
(1837-8). During this siq~c, a Persian force n1ardlC'd to the Murghiib to subdue a confederacy of
Uzbek, Turkman, and Aimaq tribesmen whom Mi:i.rab Khan had gathered together to assist Kamran
at Hcrat.i·, The Persians defratcd Mizrab, who retired to the Maimana citadel
and Yar Muhammad
and ('\'('11t11ally \\'.Is obliged lo s11lilllit to Pnsi,111 dl'111a11ds.1"Tlw possibility of Persian forces marching
into Turkistan proper and attacki11g Balkh caused considerable alarm i11Kabul, as well as making the
siege of Herat more sccurl'. 17 TIH· thrl'atcncd invasion IH'\Tr materialized, and although l'v1izrab was
obliged to send his son as a hostage to the Pnsian camp at Herat, the protracted operations before
H1Tat kept till' PC'rsian arllly fully IJCl'Upicd. So llllH'h so that in the followi11g yea,· ( 1838), rvtizrab was
able to send a delegation to tlH· ilmfr of Bukhara, who had come to Balkh and had replaced the
i11comp1:ll·11tgo\'l'rnor who had allo\\'cd tlH' powerful Uzbek ruin of'Qunduz, l\lurad Beg, to occupy
sonH' or I,is t l" rri t my ( ( :a::_el/ar,I WI:>.11: J~J). The son of tlH' deposed Governor, the A ish<111
U ruk, fled to
(J11nd11zand latn 1T-1·stalilislll'd hin1s1·lfi11Aqd1;1 ;is its rnkr. I le \\'as to play a major part in the Uzbek
wars against thl' Afghans in thl' I B:iOs.
THE
HISTORY
OF
MAIMANA
IN
NORTHWESTERN
AFCIIANISTAN
113
I
In 1839 Miirab was host to Eldred Pottinger. After his successful defence ofHerat, Pottinger had
Ileen replaced by Major Todd and recalled to Kabul. His journey took him via the northern route,
hence through Maimana. His visit c.t11H·al a critical junction in Afghanistan's history, when the
.combined East Indian and Sikh army had captured Kabul, and had replaced Dost Mu~1ammad Khan
with Shah Shujac al-Mulk (Dupree et al., 1978). A year later, 1840, a further official envoy, Captain
Arthur Conolly, was also received in Maimana after crossing the Tir-Band-i-Turkistan
via Chaghcheran, the upper Murghiib and Hashtiimin.m Both men were anxious to gain Miirab Khan's
support for British policy, and to prevent him and the other U:1.lwks of the Chahar 1Vilayalfrom siding
with Dost Mul.1ammad Khan who, ousted from his rule in Kahul, was raising a11army in Turkistan
(Yapp, 1962). Both Pottinger and Conolly submitted recommendations that Maimana, and indeed the
rest ofTurkistan, should be annexed to Shah Shuja,.'s domains. In the short term, Maimana was urged
to submit to Yar Mul.iammad in Heral, whos<· claim to the right of sovereignty over the Chahar Wilayat
had been supported eagerly by Todd and his superiors.:N
Pottinger and Conolly's reports give a detailed picture of Maimana at the turn of the decade.
Although there were still no regular accounts kept, and everything was left in the hands of Miirab's
DiwanBegi,Conolly estimated the rcalisahlc tTvcnuc of the area in excess of 150,000 rupees. Four
district governors had been appointed in the Khanate,·'° and many of the old Uzbek landlords who were
opposed to his rule, had been forced to live in the capital or to send their sons in as hostages. 41 The total
estimated produce of the agricultural lands was in excess uf22,000 kharwars,'12 and Conolly remarks on
the increase in agricultural activity and population since the time of AQmad Shah Durrani Gardens,
houses, shops, transit goods, land, and livestock were all being taxed on a regular assessment, and there
was also a personal, turban and cloak tax, as well as the protection tax for Jews and Hindus. 43
~Iizrab Khan died from poison administered hy one of the women in his harem, and was
succeeded by two of his sons, J-:lukumat Khan, the eldest, and Shc'.r Khan (Ferrier, 1857: 197ff.).
ijukumat Khan was addicted to wine (Ferrier, Loe nt.) and was reluctant to assume his responsibilities,
but was persuaded to do so l,y a 111hi tious friends. His weak 11ess gave his younger brother the
opportunity to assert himself, and disturbances followed until Yar Mul.1ammad at Heral intervened as
arbitrator (Ferrier, op. cit.). Under the settlement terms, Shfr Khiin was given the major responsibility
of the army and citadd, whilst ~luk111nat was de11101cdlo ovnsn·ing the agricultural and mercantile
affairs of state. It was whilst these negotiations wnc under way, that the Frenchman, J.P. Ferrier,
passed through the town. By 18-15 the popula1io11 of'thc Khanate was 15,000-18,000 families, or from
75,000 to 90,000 souls. Some territorial losses had been sustained in the south-western regions of
Maimana, towards the Murghi"tb river. When Stirling was in the area, the Aimaq tribes of the region
were a dependency of the ll'iili of l\lai111a11a, but by I IM5 they had broken away and become
autonomous, and l'vlaimana's border was drawn al <.lal' a-yi Walt (Map 2). This loss of territory cannot
be dated specifically, hut the disagrec111e11ts bet ween l~Iukumat Khan and his brother following _the
death of Miirab Khan, which must have weakened the power uf Maimana to influence events in these
remote regions, may well have given these Aimaq tribes the opportunity to declare their independence.
The death of Mizrab Khan brought about a change of foreign policy in Mairnana. Previously,
Z:ulfiqiir Khan of
Maimana had supported Rustam Khan of'Shiharghi"m against their 111utual e11e111y
Sar-i-Pul. Zulfiqar had died in 1840 11 and had been succeeded by his eldest son MaQmiid, who struck
fear into Uzbek and Aimaq alike (Ferrier, 1857: 225). Under J-:lukumat Khan and Sher Khan,
Maimana shifted from the support of Rustam Khan to siding with MalJmiid Khan. As a consequence
of this, Rustam Kh~rn, who in ca. l 8·H had invaded Andkhoi and deposed Ghaianfar Khan the Afshar
ruler, was faced with a combination of Uzbek states which included his former ally, Sar-i-Pul, and
Aqcha, with the tacit support of the Mir Wiilt at Klmlm and the Amir of Bukhara, who endorsed
Ghaianfar's claims to Andkhoi. As a consequence, Rustam was deposed for a while, and MaQmiid took
over the running of Shibarghan until Rustam Khan was eventually allowed to return from Bukhara
where he had been imprisoned, and reclaim his territory (Ferrier, 1857: 202ff.).
By 1847 the political situation in Maimana had again deteriorated. J:Iukt11nat Khan and Sher
Khan, after jointly ruling the Klianalc for two y<·ars, were again lighting each other. This gave Yiir
11,1
l1Jl'IC,
\I
<>I· l'FRSI.\'.',;
STl'JJIJ,.S
1\1ul.1amn1ad at Heral a f111tl1n oppor11111i1, to i11ln\'C11e, this 1i111cmilitarily, After subdui11g the
I laz:ira ;u1d /\i111;iq trilH's i11tl1<'I Ltr1 R1-1d;i1HI.\I 11r~li;-tl,ar<';1s()f'( ;11<-,r
.ind ILidghi.s, he marrhrd with a
st1011g anny .t!'J'()SS tlw J\l111gl1;il1to i11t!'n1·111i11 ill(' ;tfL1i1s ()f' J\L1i111,111;1
(J\Iad;l'l'gor,
IB71: 9:.!).
tlitllll<', \\.IS t111alik lo raise sullicic11!
J.l11kw11atKl1;111,d<'spit<· l)('i11gtll<' 1iglitl1il li,i1 111tli<' ,\lai111;111;1
support to oust l1is 1,rntlin, and app<',ilrd lo Y;11\lul,1arn111ad li,r liclp. 1' As tlrr ruin ol'Herat had long
desired to co11trol 11otonly the Clw/1111
II 'i/1~ratln1! lo froid Turkistan as wdl, he was only too willing to
assist. Yar J\luharmnad's first objn:tin'. ,,as C:hid1aktt'i (J\lap I) which he put to the sword, and this
111ad<'I.Juk1-llli;rt Khi-111l111rry tr, his c;1111pfi-0111\Lii111;111.i(!l 1T111011s1ral<'
\\'ith his ally about the harm
1'' I la,·ing s<·!!lnl !lrl' alfairs ol'Chid1aktu, the
whic:h his army vvas doing to Iii~ c;1usr· ;ind rc-pt1L1!io11.
co111bi11cdUzbek and lfrra!i anni<·s 111()\'('d()JI Shc·r Khan's fortress of Khairabad, Oil the MaimanaAndkhoi road ( J\lap 2). Fal't'd \\'itl1 s1qwrio1 11u111lwrs,Slfrr Kh:1n fled, but was later captured.47
f:lukumat Kh;in thC'H'upon assu11H·d contrnl of !lw whole of Maimana, as a vassal and ally of Yar
1\Iul.1an1mad.
\Vhilst in Khair;1bfrd, ljukfrma! Klr;i11 and Y;ir 1'1ul.1am111adwere visited by Ghaza11far Kharrof
Andkhoi, who had again 1><'<'11
011s1('(Ilio111his pms!'ssio11 by his arc-Ii-rival ~111iKhan_·rn 111return for an
annual tribute. (;haza11l;1r asked li,r th<' ;dli!'s' assistance in ffmoving ~ufi Kh;rn, who was immediately
ordered to appear before Yar l\luha111111ador far<· all attack. )tdi Khi.'rn had little option, and went to
Khairi.'1hiid, only to hr irnprisotH·d and ffpla<nl by Ghazanfor. The Heral. army then marched to
:\ndkhoi, and in onfrr to realise tll<' 1riln1te which Cliazanfar had pro111isectto Yar Mul.1ammad, the
arm,· \\Till oil all orgy ol'loo1i11g ;111dl'l111Hlni11g,stripping !lw !own l,a1T of'cvcrythi11g portable and
plunged it into a serious <'CUll<JIIJic
dedirw frrn11 which it IH'\'CT recovered (Vambhy, 1863: 239).
Y;tr J\l11l,1an1111ad
pushed 011wiil1 his tr<rops <111
to :\qd1a with !lw goal or taking llalkh, but was
prc,Tnted from conquering i1. 1'1 B~ this 1i11H·"i111n \\;1s apprnachi11g; th<' large anny was running short
of prm·isions and \\·as lwgi1rning to sulfrr fron1 tlw cold. A11dkhoi was devastated, and was unable to
s11pply tli<' ar111y. Shih;1rgh;1n also r<'f'11scdto open its gales, and Yiir Mul.1ammad, faced with
ol' 111ou111
i11ga s icgl' of' II1c to\\' 11.I It- ordl'rcd his troops to retire on
st an·a t io11,was i 11capa IJlc by I Ii is l i 111<'
!\lai111a11a, IJ1l! al1lio11gh l.l11ktll11;1rKki11 \\ ;rs his all~·, tlw people of l\lai111a11a,havi11p;heard of what
had happcrl<'d lo A11dkhoi, shut !II<'g;tt<·s ol!II<' <i1y <JII!II<'I Jn;1! .muy ;ind their own ll"iili, forcing Yiir
f\lul.iamn1ad to 1;1kc·a cirn1i1011s route ann111d !Ill' !0\\11. It \\as JHJ\\'mid-vvi11tcr, and snow, ice, wind,
and shortage ()f fuel ;111dfoddn <i<-ci111;1tnlrll(' <)11!'<'-pmvcrfiilfor('(· as it struggled across the passes
~tJ11Jl,,,f J\l;1i111;i11;i
,,,w.11,h ILd.1 \1111.v,11.tl)Tl11H1·
..111ch11111,11111s
;i11dllll'ir 1•.t1·k;1ni111,dsperished, 1111d
Yar :\.l11l.1a111111ad's
s11ccT~~c·s\\T11· ru1111'!!'1dj 1wg;11i,Td, ;1s 11<'\\'Sol his <kkat l,y tlic clc111c·n1sspread
throughout Turkista11, leading to IT\'olts and 111assac1Tsof' the Hera ti garrisons.''" Thus, by the early
rno111hs of I }l-'IB,Y:ir J\lul.1;1m11wdl1;1d 11<1!11in~
to shm,· for his ambitious invasion.
Hukf1111at Kh;111, IH>\\' in sol<· ('(1111rnl<11'l\Iai111a11a, ;rlso look ach·;1ntage of Yi.'1rJ\lul_1ammad's
oflH·l!I that the rulerofHerat
\\Tak11!'ss and witlill('ld pmn1is<'d trih11!!'. IJ1tt it \\';1s nol t1111illll<'at1!1111111
was able lo IIHJUnt a f'urtlHT (lfk11si\'!', !Iris ti111<';1i111('dal bringing J\Lii111a11alo heel.'' 1 Although his
arniy im·c·stcd ti)(' city and ha1 \TS!<'d the l<l(';ilprndun·, tli<'y were u11;1l>lcto make an impression 011 the
walls or citadel. The siege dragged on for cl<·,·c11months until Yar Mul,iamrnad replaced his general,
who opened negotiations and c·xac!cd a rC'duced tribute fro111ljukfm1at Kh;111in return for removing
his force to the l\lurghali .. ~
By the time this occurred, a11otlwr im·asio11 of'J'urkistan was under \.Vay, this time in the east. Dost
Mul.1am111ad Khan, thC' .,lmir of KalJlil, had ordcrl'd his troops into Tmkis1a11, and by January 1850,
Khul111 a11d Balkh had fallrn . .: l lzlw~ n·sisl.111<Tw;1s finn·, and th<' Afghan garrison suffrred severely
fro111cold a11d hunger duri11g the firs! tlm·c wi11tns of tl1e campaig11 si11ce the Uzbeks had refused to
of Bukhara, who regarded Balkh
supply their army. ',I The Afghans i11cnrr<'d ! he dis pl<-asure of the :I 11111
and Turkistan as his mv11 spline of i111l11<·11c<·.
B111although on several occasions during the 1850s
Bukkrra threate11C'd a11d nrmTd ;1nnics lo !II(' ( h11~, Ill(' :l111tr 1wvcr i11vadcd 'J'urkistan i11force, and
thereby made it inevitable that the Uzbek Khanates ofTurkistan would fall one-by-one to the Afghans.
Aq,ha finally fell to Dost M1d,1ammad i11the <'arly months of 18:JI .'" after a bloody and protracted
campaign. The Ai.1/zii11s
Uruk and ~11d11r.th<' ruins ofAqcha and Balkh, were exiled to Kabul along
with their famili<"~, hut ShilJarghitn and th<' other areas generally remained under their own Uzbek
THE
HISTORY
OF
MAIMAN
A IN
NORTHWESTERN
AFGHANISTAN
l 15
rulers, who submitted to Dost Mul)amrnad
(MacGregor,
1871: 148). In 1854, however a small
Bukharan force, led by the deposed Mir Walt of Khulm, entered Shibarghiin and 1-:lakim Khan, the son
of Rustam Khan, joined in rebelling against Afghan control of Turkistan. 56 It was not until several
months later that Afzal Khan, the Afghan governor ofTurkistan and son of Dost Mul)ammad Khan,
was able to regain possession of the town.'' 7 During this rebellion, Maimana actively supported 1-:lakim
Khan. 58
Shibarghan's fall, and the imposition of an Afghan garrison to watch over J:Iakim Khan's
administration of the area, was of great concern to Maimana. In four years, I-:Iukiimat Khan had seen a
series of Afghan successes that had reduced formerly independent Uzbek states into subject territory.
Andkhoi had tendered its submission, and possibly Sar-i-Pul, though the latter was not garrisoned
until later in the decade. Of the major Uzbek states in the Chahar Wilayat, Maimana alone remained
independent. In an effort to find allies, Mairnana turned to Persia and Herat, and in 1855 Persian forces
marched into Herat and crossed the Murghab. 59 J:Iukumat Khan, despite his flirting with a Persian
alliance, had not reckoned on a Persian invasion and occupation of Maiman a, and he resisted. After a
month's siege, the Persians took over the town and imposed their own Persian nominee in 1-:lukumat's
placc. 60 However, the Persian force in Hcrat was subsequently obliged to withdraw, their control in
Maimana was lost, and J:Iukiimat was able to reassert himself.
At about the same time, l:lakim Kh~rn of Shibarghan once more rebelled and fled to J:Iukiimat
Khan, who assisted him in raising an army against Afzal Khan.Ii' Supported by a Bukharan force
which had crossed the Oxus in November 1855, 61 l:Jakim Khan marched against the Afghans but was
defeated in February 1856.';3 Although this demoralised the Uzbek allies, hopes were soon raised by the
appearance of the Aishiin Uruk in Maimana. He had escaped from captivity in Ghazni, made his way to
Turkistan, and had soon rallied several thousand Uzbcks around his banner (MacGregor, 1871: 97,
155). They marched on Shibarghan, received a check from the Afghans, but regrouped near Andkhoi
and mounted a two-pronged attack 011 Aqcha and Shibarghan which dispersed the Afghan forces, 64
and obliged the garrisons in both towns to retire inside the fortresses. Faced with the fall of these two
strategic positions, Afzal Khan resorted to guile and sent an agent to sow dissent amongst the Uzbeks
(MacGregor, 1871: 155), and when they had started quarrelling amongst themselves, he ordered his
generals on to the offensive. The Aishan Uruk decided to make a stand near Aqcha, but was defeated.
He was captured, and was lucky to escape being put to death (MacGregor, loc. cit.; Wheeler, 1869:
78ff.).
Throughout the remaining years of the 1850s, various rulers of the Chahiir Wilayat rebelled and
wne subdued; each time they were defeated, more of their independent rights were removed, until by
1860 Shibarghan, Andkhoi and Sar-i-Pul, though still nominally ruled by their Uzbek Mfrs, were in fact
under the control of Afghan governors backed with a garrison. The subjection of Herat by Dost
Mul_1ammad, in 1863, left Maimana as the only area in Western Afghanistan not to have fallen under
Afghan control, and had the Amir of Afghanistan not died soon after his conquest of Herat, Maimana
would doubtless have soon succumbed.
The death of Dost MulJammad Khan gave rise to civil war between two rival sons, Sher <Ali and
Afi.al Khan, which plunged Afghanistan into a period of civil disorder and unrest. Maimana at the
same time had its own traumas, for in the spring of 1862 J:Iukiimat Khan had been brutally slain by his
death
brother J:Iusain Khan, 65 who set himself up as ruler instead. 66 The year of Dost Muliammad's
also saw Vambery in Maimana. He found the territory had again decreased in size since Ferrier's day;
Khairabad in the north was now an A(~han stronghold, and in the south-west QaJ<a-yi Wali had been
lost and the border was some thirty or forty kilometres nearer Maimana, at Chichaktii. 67 Turkman
raids in these outlying areas had also increased considerably. The insecurity of the times was reflected
by a strengthening of the Maimana citadel with ditches, a necessary precaution since J:Iusain Khan
had gone onto the offensive against A(~han positions in Turkistan which bordered on his domains
(Vambery, 1864: 244ff.). The Khanate's population had risen to I 00,000 individuals, about 1,500
houses were to be found in Maimana, three mosques, two madrasas, and a brick-built bazaar, all
demonstrating the growth of the town's trade and influence in the region.
116
JOURNAL
OF
PERSIAN
STUDIES
Maimana and the Uzbeks of Turkistan played an important part in the civil war of 1863-8.
Although Dost Mul.1ammad had nominated Sher 'Alt as his heir, Afzal Khan rebelled and set himself
up as Amir in Turkistan, and in I 8(i(i he s11cceedcd in defrating Sher 'Ali and taking over control in
Kabul. Sher 'Ali fled to Qandahar and thence to Heral and Turkistan, where he began to regroup after
th<: U zbeks had declared in his favour. 1n rct urn fi,r thci r support, Sher 'Ali promised to return the
Chahiir Wiliiyat and other provinces of Turkistan to their hereditary rulers, provided they continued
loyal to his cause throughout
the war. "8 1-1
is most loyal Uzbek ally was 11usain Khan of Maimana
(MacGregor,
1871: I G'.lff.), wl10 i II the wi ntcr of I !Hi7-B escorted Slfrr ·Ali th rough his territory en route
to Herat.w Sher 'Ali had arranged that the Uzl,cks in Tmkistan would try and tie down 'A'.?im Khan's
general, 'Abd al-Ral~man Khan, in Turkistan, whilst he would march on Qandah~1r via Maimana and
Heral. 70 The success of this vast pincer movement depended on the ability of the forces in Turkistan,
but the early weeks ufthe invasion ofTurkistan l>y'Abd al-Ral.1111an did not augur well for ShercAJi and
his Uzbek allies, for by the middle of February Balkh, Aqcha and Shibarghan had fallen to cAbd alRai)man Khan, 71 and only Maimana lay between him and Herat, Sher 'Ali's stronghold. Both sides ,
knew that ifMaimana
fell quickly, Shi:·r 'f\li would be obliged to rccall his forces from their advance on
Qandahar,
and there would be little i111111ediatehope of him regaining possession of his capital.
Through a series of negotiating manurn\Tes,
whereby 1.1usain Kh~m skilfully held out sufficiently
tempting offers to induce 'Abel al-Ral,1111ii11to believe .Maimana was on the verge of capitulating,
f:l usain Khan managed to delay an Afghan ad van cl" on l'v1aim an a for over a mo1J.(h.71 When it became
obvious that Maimana was playing for time, 'Abel al-Ral_1man moved his entire army on the town and
attempt<:d tu storm it, hut was rl'pulsed. C:onsl'cp1e11tly, h<' was obligl'd to mount a siege, which delayed
him even further. Finally, news of the fall of'Qamlahiir to Sher 'Ali reached him and the Afghan general
knew that the only way to oppose Sher rAli was to march to Heral. To risk withdrawal from before
Maimana would imply a defeat and would provoke a general uprising in Turkistan which he would be
obliged to quell. At the same time, 11usain Khan had also heard from Sher 'Ali of his success, 73 and
prepared himself for the final confrontation.
Early on the morning of 17 May 1868, the Afghans
attacked the walls of Maimana from all sides, and fierce hand-to-hand
fighting took place in the
breaches, with women throwing rocks and stones down on the attackers. 71 By the evening the Afghans
had failed to enter the town, and the next day Wl'l'l" obliged to retire 011 Takhtapul and abandon their
march on Heral. l\laimana's
brave resistance ensured that Sher 'Ali's army took Kabul without much
trouble, and re-established the Amzr 011 his throne.' A,{im Khan and ·Abd al-Ral.1man were obliged to
flee to Bukhara until after the death or Sher 'Alt in 1879. r,
Maimana's loyalty to Sher 'Ali waned alter he had taken Kabul, mainly due to the oppressive rule
of'Alam Khan, his governor in Turkistan. Despitl' numerous complaints from all the Uzbek A-firs, who
had been restored to their former territories, ShcT Ali continued tu support ·Alam Khan since he
managed to realise considerably lllotT IT\Ttlll<'
fi,r the Amir than previous Malis had done. 76 After a
period of coolness, Maiman a was found in rorresponclcncc with exiles in Bukhara, and the decision was
finally made to su bduc the territory. In 1875 N:-1'ih ·Alam Khan marched a force in excess of ten
thousand troops to l\faimana, and laid siege to the town (Maitland,
1888.II: 1051[). After long and
fierce resistance, Maimana finally fell to the A(~hans on H March 1876, 77 f:Iusain Khan and his family
and property were taken prisoner, and the town given over to loot and pillage in which an estimated
.15,000 men, women and children were put to the sword. 7n For a while Ij usain Khan's life hung by a
'thread, but he was eventually confined in Kabul under strict surveillance. 7' 1 Na'ib •Alam also took the
opportunity to implicate the other Mfrs or the Chahiir Wiliiyat in Maimana's resistance, and deposed
them too. 80 An A(~han governor, with a large garrison, was given charge ofMaimana. 81
Maimana was under direct rule hy the Af14hans until the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Afgh~n
.\Var in 1879. \Vhen it became ob\'ious in Kabul that a British invasion was inevitable, the garrisons in
l\laimana and elsewhere in Turkistan \\Tl'<' \\'ithdr,nn1 to Herat, Qandahar and Kabul, and the son of
f:lukumat Khan, Dilawar Khi"tn, was allowed to control the affairs of Maimana on conditio11 that he
would maintain the peace. However, on his arri\'al in l\laimana he appears to have turned on the
Afghan garrison, massacred them, and reasserted l\laimana's
indcpcndence. 11~ The reappearance
of
'Abd al-Rahm~tn Khan in Turkistan, following the flight and subsequent death of Sher •Ali in Mazar-i1
THE
HISTORY
OF
MAIMANA
IN
NORTHWESTERN
AFGHANISTAN
117
Sharif i111879, led to further disturbances in Turkistan in which Mairna11a was directly involved. 83
'Abd al-Ral.1n1a11was eventually recognised as Afghanistan's Amir by General Roberts in July 1880
··(Hall, 1981: 19), and Dilawar Khan was, in Maimana, left in control of its affairs until 1884.
In the spring of this year, lsl.1f1qKhan, the Afghan governor ofTurkistan, marched on Maimana
which had again proved rec a lei tran t. The memories of the previous conquest were still fresh in the
people's minds, and the unpopularity ofDilawiir Khan in the town itselflcd to the quick and bloodless
submission of the area (Merk, 1888). Dilawar Khan was sent to Kabul, and replaced by the former Wali"
l:fusain Khan, but his power was severely reduced, as he had an Afghan governor as well as a military
garrison placed in the town. It was during his second reign that the Afghan Boundary Commission
(1884-6) was engaged to survey the area, and its work is still regarded as su!liciently authoritative for
the main Gazetteers to be reprinted. 84 However, by far the most imformative of the Commission's work
is contained in the highly restricted work entitled Reports of the IntelligenceParty, the five volumes of
which contain the diaries of Major l\faitland and Captain Peacocke, reports 011 the tribes of western
Afghanistan and various miscellaneous reports on routes and surveys. Amongst the latter is Merk's ~
report on ~_laimana. Both Maitland and Peacocke, as well as Merk and others of the party, visited
II
$ketch Plan
oJ
MAI MANA
;,"""°4J.,.,,_.Y.,._,,4.1,.;.."-"'<
C,,v~
.
:~J<:,c..4
~'"'"°~~ 'o~
v...t..-'.'" c::;....t., .
.S.:,-.,)M,C
-~
:x:r.,........,._,e:,->-4
Map. 3. Maima11ai111888,from Peacocke'sDiary.
118
JOURNAL
OF
PERSIAN
STUDIES
l\1aimana, and Peacocke's map of the town is the earliest we have of the town and citadel ofMaimana
(!\lap 3). When compared with the, town plans of 1949 ( Map 4), 1964 (!\lap 5) and 1973 (Map 6), we
can sec how much Maimana has cxpanckd and has hcen IT-designed over a hundred years, with the
addition of new bazaars, the destruction of tlu· citadel,w, and the expansion of the residential areas at
the expeilse of agriculture.
The Commission reported cxtensivcly 011 thl' trade, administration, revenues and geography of
the Maimana area. The town itself was reported to have had 4,000 houses, or a population in excess of
20,000 persons, with the total ovaall estimate of 10,000 families for the whole region (Maitland,
1888. II: 532ff.). It should IH' renH·mhernl that M aimana was still recovering from the effects of the
massacre in 1876, and the region under its control had once morc been reduced, since Gurziwan and
the region known as Bandar in the south, bordrring on the middle reaches of the· Murghab, were no
longer considered as under Maimana's control (Maitland, 1888). Maimana had also become ethnically more diverse; the population of the town included not only Uzbeks but Turkmans, Aimaqs,
Arabs and Baluch (~1aitland op. cit.). In tl~e ~ater years of the 1880s, numbers o~ Afghans (Pushtuns)
were also relocated 111 the area, and grew m mfluence and power over the ensumg decades (Tapper,
1973).
Merk ( 1888: 266) states that the bazaar of Maimana contained 235 shops, 86 with Jewish and
Hindu traders amongst them.H7 Merk lists the following as the main items of trade: Bukhara and
Mashhad silk, Russian leather, sugar (from France via Russia), Russian paper, English cottons, tea
from Bombay, indigo from India, lungis from Peshawar, as well as knives, needles, etc. Wheat, barley,
tobacco, pounded mulberries, rice (from Aqcha), cotton, raisins, walnuts and fruit of every description
Maymana
~
?·
,
.
i
;
'.
.
[
f
.,\.
i
~
I
.i
f
f:
,;
1949
:
~he,un••"'•••t•b
f,
F
; I
•••
I
I
'
fl
{,u,.u11
(
• n•c" r,n•m
-
G~u/l0,10,
•rnll
Pt•n won 19491
Uberwiegend
L:·:>::<J
Uberw1egend
LJ
t:l1ll
d1chte. trad,t,onelle
neue lockere
Garlenland
mlf emzelnen
Ollenll,che
Gebaude
Wohnbebauung
Wohnbebauung
Hausern
U
Starke
Ummauerung
[SSJPark-
u Grunanlagen
\Q. Wall
kunst11cher
~ S1e11e Boschung
Alap. -I. ,\laim,ma in 19-19,J;.omGrot::_bac/1
(/976).
Hugel
THE
HISTORY
OF
MAIMANA
IN
NORTHWESTERN
--
---
"."-°"'"-r
' ' ''
119
AFGHANISTAN
.
1
\
I
\\
~
'
I
I
'
.-aao
)
\
/
~t
a
t,Q~,,...._-
--
....
~ A
•
~
::-,
Map 5. Maimana in ca. 1959. S. T.S. I: 100,000 mies, Map 405B, enlarged 2.25X.
are given as the main agricultural produce oflhe arl'a. The main manufactured goods in the area were a
coarse sort of cotton and a thick cloth called barak or kurk madl' of goat's hair. Thl'rl' is no mention in his
report of the famous carpet or karakul industry, and considC'rable rC'venue must havl' been derived from
the breeding and sak of sheep and other cattk. He dismisses the horses of .Maimana as "miserable
specimens".
In 1888 cAbd al-Rab man's governor in Tmkistan, I sl.1aq Khan, rebelled and declared himself
Amirof Afghanistan (Khalfin, 1888: 257-8) and in order to encourage the Uzbeks to support his cause,
he pledged that the ChahiirWila;•atwould be independent of Afghanistan, an announcement received
with considerable enthusiasm by the inhabitants of the area (Khalfin, 1888). However, I:Iusain Khan
refused to acknowledge Isl)aq's rebellion, aml was imprisoned for his pains, 811 but his son, who
remained in .Maimana, continued to resist all attempts to win him to the rebel's side. 89 Indeed, he and
the Afghan governor in .Maimana, who was also loyal to 'Abd al-Ral.1man, sent recalcitrant members of
the Afghan army to Heral, where they were exccuted. 90 On Isl)aq's defeat, Turkistan once more
experienced severe reprisals for its rebellion, and prisoners were exiled to Kabul for aiding lsl~aq's
cause.91 I:Iusain Khan did not, however, live to sec his loyalty rewarded, as lsbaq executed him 92 before
matters were settled in the area. He was succeeded by his son, l\Jubammad Sharif, who signed a treaty
with cAbd al-Rabman Khan whom he acknowledged as "my king and master". 93
Muryammad Sharif kept the treaty until 1892, when he was ordered by the Amir to send troops into
the Hazarajat to assist with operations there. The troops rebelled and attacked the Afghan garrison,
120
JOURNAL
Mayrnana
(n1 ... .,,,
l
OF
PERSIAN
1973
G10,rtuc1>
Ub~rw161.J"nd d1chle 1red1t1onulle Wohnbeb1uung
T ,m Umba1.J oder abger1ssen I
-
l,
E
LJ
~
WJI
STUIJIES
Uberw,egend
neue
lockere
Uberw1egend
lockere
Bebauung
m,f groBen
Ottenlllche
Gebaude
Trinkwasserreser
...o,r
-
8111rl1denzeil1
~
Markt
B
Bank
Wohnbebauung
trad1honelle
I land he he
Kullurlendflachen
E Moschee
I
U
§
0
und Sar1ya
K
Kmo
S1arke Umm11uerung
Park u Grunanlagen
Kunatltcher
~ Slede
Hugel
Boachung
.\lap. 6 .. llai111a11a
in 1973,.fiom Grot::.bach(1976).
but were thcmsrlvcs soon ckka tnl ncar Al mar, and l\l ul.1am111a<l
Sharif deposnl ( Gazetteer, 1895: 221
2). He was sent to Kabul, and Maiman a was placed under direct rule from Kabul, and the line of}:la'h
Khii11 J\li11g1t'<·asnl to rnk th<"ar<"a.
Under the rule or 1\1ul,1a111maclN ~idir Shah ( I ~1'2Y-:n), Mai man a was made a minor province or
lfukm-i a'Lii,under a chief administrator (Gregorian, 1969: 298), and it was probably during this peri
i11hahi1ants kf't thr town either for Persia or to live in Herat or Kabul (Byro
that the rcmainingjcwish
1937: 294--5; Gregorian, 1969: 4'2Y-3U). In I Y'.HJ\lai111a11awas visited by Robert Byron, who witness
the construction ofa new bazaar of2UO shops being built in the southern part of the town (Byron, 193
269ff.); by 195 7 a hotel had been built to accommodate foreign guests and the few tourists who ventu
to the area (Douglas, 1958) The governor at this time, Ghulam f:Iaidar 'Adalat, had expended a lot
energy in improving the area, and had begun to encourage local cottage industries.
Maimana in l 978 remained relatively underdeveloped
when compared to other areas
Afghanistan which had benefited considerably from foreign aid. At that time, Faryab did not have
single kilometre of paved road, and the journey from Andkhoi to Maimana, and from Maimana to
outlying a!"l'as was long, arduous and frcqu<"ntly hazar<lousY 4 The bazaar had grown to around
thousand active shops, though the bazaar to the west of'the citadel and central park seemed to be Josi
out to the more prospernus ones to the north and south. The citadel had been destroyed, and a cine
and teashop had replaced the former IJa/i's palace. The Afghan governor's residence was next door
the tourist hotel. There was little trace of the former walls of the town. The outlying areas, especi
Gurziwan, proved particularly rich in archaeological terms, and several large and unrecorded si
were discovered (Grenet et al., 1980: 811f.).
·
THE
HISTORY
OF
MAIMANA
IN
NORTHWESTERN
AFGHANISTAN
121
In conclusion, it can be generally stated that Maimana's economy has undergone considerable
change since the time ofNadir Shah, as the emphasis of the settlement has moved from the nomadic life
style inherited from ithe Mongol, and more directly, from the Shaibanid Uzbek invasions. The
plundering raids into Khurasan gave rise to a slave trade which provided considerable opportunities
for enrichment without Maimana's being directly involved with the risks. At the same time, and
directly related to this, was the transit trade between various states which passed through Maimana.
The growth in the bazaar and in trade also went hand-in-hand with the cultivation and later the
irrigation of land, and a trend towards a more sedentary life style can be discerned throughout the
nineteenth century. There is still much semi-sedentary farming in the outlying areas, and during the
summer many villages in Gurziwan are empty except for older men and the sick, the rest of the
community have moved to the summer pastures and lalmi or non-irrigated lands where they grow their
summer wheat and pitch their yurts and tents near a convenient source of water. The only true nomads
in the area are the Pushtun maldars who are permitted to graze their flocks in designated areas.
Historically, Maimana appears as the most important and strategic area of western Turkistan,
and was a major influence in the whole of the area from the time of Nadir Shah onwards. Generally
speaking, its significance in influencing the course of the history ofTurkistan and Afghanistan has been
more or less completely ignored by modern historians, though during the last century-despite
a
considerable amount of misinformation about the place-its strategic importance was well-known, so
much so that many claims and counter-claims were forwarded by rival powers for the right to control its
affairs. Despite this pressure, its Wiilfs managed to maintain their own position. The conquest ofHerat
by Dost Mul:iammad Khan in 1863, which isolated Maimana as the only independent state in
Turkistan, was the beginning of the end for its rulers. The final conquest was delayed due to the civil
war, but once the town had fallen and large numbers of its citizens and soldiery were killed, it had little
hope of regaining its independence.
ADDENDUM
Ad Map 3. Since this article was written, an earlier drawing of the citadel of Maimana, done by <Abd
al-Rahman Khan, has come to light in the Political and Secret Department Records.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Adamec, L. W. ( 1973), lfotorical and Political Ga~elleeroJAfgha11i1ta11, Record, of the fottlligence Party of the Af.~han Bou11daryCommiHion. I'.
II I. Heral and Northwutem Ajghani.<tan, Gratz (rrpr. or Afghan
Mi,cel/aneou, Report,, Simla, pp. 185-215.
Boundary Commission Gazet!cers 1907-14).
Grotzbach, E. ( 1976), "Aktuelle Probleme der Regionalentwicklung
Ball, W. ( 1982), ArchaeologicalGazetteerof Afghani1ta11,2 vols. Paris.
und Stadtgeographie Arghanistan," Afghani,che Studien, XIV, pp.
225-44.
Burnes, A. ( 1834 ), Travel, into B1Jkhara,beingthe Affount ofajourneyfrom
India to Cabool, Tartary and Penia. 2 vols. London.
Idem. (1979), Stadt und Barnre in A.fgha11i1ta11,
ei11eStadtgeographie.Die
Untenuchung, Ucihcfi Zlllll TAVO, Reihe U.Nr.16, Wiesbaden.
Byron, R. (1937), The road to Oxiana, London.
Hall, L. ( 1981 ), A Brief Guideto Sourmfor the Study of Afghani,tan in the
Delavand, C. C. (1960), "1\lise tn valeur d'un Piedmont clans le
Turkistan Arghan province de Maimana," ,tnnale, de Geo,1?,raphie, India OfficeRecord,, 1.0.L.R. Official Publications Dept., London.
pp. 135-56.
Humlum, J. el al. ( 1959), La giographie de I 'Afghani,tan, Copenhagen.
Douglas, W. (1958), H,,1 of the Indus. New Yo1k.
Izzat Ullah, Meer (1872) Travel, in Central A,ia /8/2-13, trans. Henderson, Calcutta.
Dupree, L. ( 1969), "Archaeology: Recent Research in Afghanistan."
Explorm'journal, XLVII/2, pp. 84-93.
Kakar, M. (1968), Afghani,tan, /880-/896, London.
Idem, (1970), "Ghar-i-Mordch Gosphand," Scie11ce,
CLXVII.
Kaye, Sir J. (1904), LivtJ of the Indian O.fficm, 2 vols. London.
Idem. (1978), AfghaniJtan. Princeton.
Khalfin, N. A. (1958), "The Rising or Ishaq Khan in Southern
Turkistan 1888, a Translation," Central A,ian Review, VI/3, pp.
Elphinstone, Mountstuart ( 1839), An Accountof the Kingdomof Caboul,
253-63.
2 vols. Oxford in Asia repr. 1972, Karachi.
Lee, .Jonathan L. ( 1980), "Arghanistan's Artisan Tanners," Lia/her
Ferrier, J. P. (1857), Carav1111
Joum~)'J and Wa11deri11g1
in l'mia,
Magazine, London, vol. CLXXXII, no. 4457, March.
Afghani,tan, 1urki,tan and Balu(hiJtan. London.
Idem. (1858), Hi,tory of the Afgham. London.
Le Strange, G. (1905), The Land, of the Ea,tern Caliphate, Cambridge.
Lockhart, L. (1938), Nadir Shah, a Critical Stut[y Ba<td Mainly on
Gazettem of Afghani,tan compiled by General Staff of India, Simla.
ContemporarySource,, London.
Part II. Afghan Turki,tan, 1895 (also 1907 and 1919). Part Ill. Heral,
1910.
MacGregor, Lt. Col. C. M. ( 1871). CentralA1iJ r 1r1 II, Afghani,tan, a
ContributionToward, the Better Knowledgeof th,. ' .6 ,,1phy,Ethnology,
Gregorian, V. ( 1969), The Emergenceof ModernAfghani1ta11,Stanford.
Re,ourceJand Hi,tory of Afghani,tan. Calcutta.
Grenet, F., Pinder-Wilson, R., Lee, J. L. ( 1980), "Les monuments
anciens du Gorzivan (Arghanistan du nord-ouest)," Studia lranica,
Ma~miid al-f:lusaini al-Munshi (1974), TiiriA:h-i Al/mad-Shahi,
IX, pp. 69-104.
Moscow.
Griesbach, C. L. (1888), journey from Chahanhamba throu,(hMaima11a, Maitland, Major (1888), The Diary of Major Maitland. Record, oftlte
Btlcheragh and the Hill Country South of Bilcheragh-Sar-i-l'ul Road, in
IntelligenceParty of the Afghan Boundary CommiJJion,2 vols, Simla.
122
JOURNAL
OF
PERSIAN
STUDIES
Marvin, C. ( 1880), Colonel Grodekojf's Ride f,om SamarAandto llerat
throughBalkh and the Uzbek States of Afghan T111kista11
etc. London.
Merk, C. S. ( 1888), Report on the city ~/ .l.1aimana,in Records of the
IntelligenceParty Afghan BoundaryCommission.I'. MiscellaneousReports.
Simla, pp. 2621T.
Minorsky, Y. (trans.) (1970), f!udiid a/-<.4/am,the Regionsof the World,
A Pmian Geograpkv, 372-982 A.D., Gibb Memorial Series, XI,
London.
Peacocke, Captain ( 1887), Dia~v of Captain Peacock, R.E. etc., in
Recordsof the llltelligena Part;•,A./J.C., III. Simla.
Singh, G. (1959), Ahmad Shah Durrani, Father of Modem Afg
Bombay.
Stirling, E. H. (1835), Some Comideratiom on the Political Statof
Intermediate Countries between Penia and India, with &ftrena It
Prosptct ofRuHia Marching an Amtv throughthem. London.
Tapper, N. ( 1973), "The advent or the Push tun Maldars in N
Western Afghanistan." BSOAS, XXXVI, pp. 55-79.
Vambery, A. ( 1864), Travels in Central Asia. London.
Wheeler, T. ( 1869), Memorandumon Afghan Turkistan, Calcutta.
Yapp, M. E. ( 1962), "Disturbances in Eastern Afghanistan I
1842," BSOAS, XXV, pp. 4991T.
1The paper is intended as a summary of research on Mai111ana
which has been pursued since 19!!1. It also draws on lidd work
done in Maimana and Northern A(1shanistan in 1977-8 umkr the
auspices or the British Institute of Afghan (now South Asian)
Studies and in co-operation with the Alkhanistan Government. A
full study oft he history ol"Maimana for this period, which draws
extensively on the India Ofiice Records li,r the pniod, will appear
at a later date in the Serie.1Alinor of the lnstituto Italiano per ii
Mrdio rd Estremo Orientr.
'Information from a survey done in.Jum· 1978 by the author.
1
Cf. Lt. Arthur Conolly, Accou11/o(Joume_v.from /Jam(1•a11
tu Mm,·,
dated lli Novrmbrr 1840, to Sir Wm. Ma,·Naugl1tr11, Envoy a11d
Minister at thl' Court of Shah Shooja-ool Mnolk. India Ollicc
Library and Records, Enclosum lo Secret l.ellm, L/PS/5/156 (no
pagination). The report is also reproduced in MacGregor ( 1871)
and 1.0.L.R. Y/'27/69/3, p. ll.
1
The Tarikh-i A~mad-Shiihi is unclear about whether Hajji Khan, the
founder of the Maimana dynasty undn Ah mad Sh,,h Durrani, was
an Uzbek or a Turkrnan. He is depicted as the kadn of tlw Aq
SaqalanU) (i.e. ''white beards", gt·nerally a designation ofddrrs
and tribal leaders; hence this may not br a tribal na111r but an
honorific title) Turkmans, but Conolly and all other authorities
refer to thr rulers or Mai111ana as Uzbeks.
·,Thr rulers of Andkhoi were Alshars, andjudging from their nanws,
were Shi'is.
,; Information in 197B regarding forme,· tra,k routes from Maimana
indicated that caravans to Kabul often used this latter route during
the nint'lecnth century, which took some forty days' journt'y to
reach Kabul. Conolly, op. cit.. pp. 1-7, following another route,
passed across the Murghiib further to the East.
; There arr no .Jews lefi in Mairnana at the prestnt day.
• A large number of illlprt·gnablt· fortrt'ss,·s were found throughout
the Gharchistiin, Guzgan and Biidghis regions, and thrsr gavr the
~1ongol hordes considerable opposition. They arc still in e\"idrncc
in Gurziwiin region cf. Grenet (1980): 77-BO; Tabaqiit-i Nii./iri, tr.
H. G. Rawrty, London 1881, II, pp. I072fT.; and Ra\"l'rty's
unpublished work in 7 vols. The Histo~vof llirat.Jrom the Foundationof
the Old Ci~v in the Time of the Kai-anian Kin.~sof Iran, and A11nal.iof
Khurasanjiom its Co11quutkvthe Arab.1etc., India Ofiice and Library
C83-89; especially vols. II I-IV which deal in detail with the
Mongol invasions and their aftermath. In II I, p. !096, he claims
that Maimana's name was previously Maihand, but was changed
by the Mongols to Maimana, or "left bank''.
1
' Raverty, Heral V: 17781T.
10 Ibid.
'' Ibid.
12 Conolly, Account oj a .Joum~v.JromBam(v,111
to Afrrw, p. B.
11Report of Chu/am Serum, Native Agmt of the lion. f.'mt fodia Co., 011
Special Afo,ion to the Cou11t~vofShahZemaun, March 1793-Feb. 1795,
India Office Records, Bengal Secret Comu(tation,, XLI, 12 .Jun<--4
August 1797, no pagination.
"Conolly, op. cit., p. 9.
15 A small garrison of Afghan troops remained in Balkh until well into
next century, and were known as the ki5nahni5karor "old retainers''.
These men had married and settled in tht' Balkh area, and were
gradually reduc,·d to a ceremonial rok. er.Elphinstom·, 1972. II,
198; lzzat Ullah, 1872, p. 85; Ross, F. E. (ed.) Pmonal Narralill
Gene,a/Josiah Harlan, 1823-184/, London, 1939, p. 31.
u; Five volumes of Stirling's Journals and miscellaneous papen
vive in the Archives or the Royal Geographical Society,
and include details of his visit to Maimana and a descriptionoC
Chahiir Wiliiyat. An edition or these Journals is currently ·
undertaken.
" Mr Edward Stirling to Chief Secretary to Govt. Fort Will'
Chandenaugore, 2July 1830, 1.0.L.R. Bengal ProceedingsP/126/
n.p., under date 23 July 1830; G. Swinton, Chief Secretary
Govt., Fort William, 23July 1830, to E. Stirling, 1.0.L.R.
l'roceedingi,loc. cit.; Stirling ( 1835).
'" Conolly, op. cit., p. 9.
'" Burnes, A., Report011the Cou11triuBetweenIndia and Rwsia, /83J-/
Political and Secret Dept. Library and Misc. East India Co. R,
L/PS/20/H misc. 78-82.
"'Scrwar, op. cit., nc, pagination.
11 Conolly, op. cit., p. 9.
11 MacGregor ( 1871: II .645), but no other source states this.
ever, by the time Stirling was in Maimana, Sar-i-Pul was ind
dent. Prior to this neither lzzat Ullah, Elphinstone nor
mention Sar-i-Pul, though Andkhoi, Shibarghan and Mai
a re described.
·
n Major E. Pottinger, Memoir on the CountryBetween Heral and
the Paropamirn11Mountains, and the River Amoo, Camp Peshawar,
December 1839, 1.0.L.R. SecretEnclosures.fromBengal, L/PS/~/1
enc. 6 of Jan. 1840, no pagination; also in L/PS/20/GIO,
53-60; Conolly, op. cit., p. 9.
11 Major G. E. Malleson, Heral, the Grana~yand GardenofCmtral
London, 1880, p. 159, confuses lzzat Ullah's description of
ana as a "large village" with Stirling's. Apart fro°' mentioning
latter's travels, he appears to have had no access to S · ·
.Journals or papers.
r, Cl: Conolly, op. cit., p. 8: "Micminna at that time was not aplaa
importance enough to have a money currency, its substitute
the Kcrbus, or the common cotton cloth or the native ha
as at this day alllong the Huzerahs ... ".
,i; E. Stirling, Journal,, IV, no pagination.
"Ibid.
"'Conolly, op. cit., p. 9.
;,i Ibid.
'"' Ibid.
'II /bid.
"1 Pottinger, op. cit., p. 56, claims that 'Ali Yir's wire, thedaugh
~ulliqar Sher Khan, was also murdered, but I have p
Conolly who relies on his Mirza or clerk, who had livtd in
ana for several years as an employee of Mizrib Khan.
nconolly, /or. cit.; Pottinger, loc. cit.
:II Conolly, op. cit., p. 7.
:,.;Conolly, loc. cit.; Dr. P. B. Lord to A. Burnes, KoondOOI,
Dec<"mher 1837, 1.0.L.R. Enclosures to Secret ltlltrs from
L/PS/5/ 134.
·•, Lt. E. Potting,·r t~ Sir Wm. MacNaughtetJ, Heral, 25 May
1.0.L.R., ESLB, L/PS/5/141, no pagination; Sir A. Burncsw
Wm. MacNaughten, Bart., Kabul, 10 February 1838; 1.0
ESLB, L/PS/5/130, no pagination ..
17 Dr. P. B. Lord to A. Burnes, Koondooz, 27 December 1837,
THE
HISTORY
OF
MAIMANA
IN
"'Conolly, op. cit., p. 17. He passed from Chaghcheran through the
Darra-yi Khargosh ("Hare's valley") to the Zungan valley, Misi,
and on to Hashtiimin.
"Pottinger to MacHaughtcn, Heral, :Z.'iMay IB'.19; l\lajor I>'Arc-y
Todd tu Sir Wm. MacNaughten, Bart., :ZOFebruary 1840 (with
map). 1.0.L.R., ESLB, L/PS/5/149.
0
• Pottinger, p. 56.
"Ibid.
"Conolly, op. cit., p. I 0.
13 Pottinger, op. cit., p. 57.
H Conolly, /oc. cit., but he was alive when Pottinger was in Maimana
the previous year. Pottinger calls ?:ulfiqar's eldest sun "Muhammad", but Ferrier ( 1857: 225), who was the only European tu visit
Sar-i-Pul during the reign, calls him Ma~miid.
,; Mtmorandum on Meimenehby Major R. L. Taylor, Commissioner at
Herat, I February 1858. 1.0.L.R., ESLB, L/PS/5/253, fols. 86571.
16 Op. cit., fols. 867-8.
17 Op. cit., fol. 868. Sher Khan was employed by }:lukiimat Khan as
commander of a military contingent at the siege of Shibarghan in
1854. Translation ofa letter from Sirdar Muhammad Alzal Khan
to Dost Muhammad Khan, 28 November 1854. 1.0.L.R., ESLB,
L/PS/5/222:
"'Taylor, op. cit., fol. 867.
'"Tayor, op. cit., fol. 868, and others arc vague about how far Yar
Muhammad managed to march towards Balkh, but it se,·ms cer·
lain.that he took Aqcha (cf. Ferrier, Caravanjourney<and Wandering,
in Penia, A.fghani,tan, Turki,tan and Baluchi,tan, p. 203).
w Taylor, op. cit., fol. 869.
"Ibid., fols. 869--70.
"Ibid., fols. 87~1. He extracted twelve thousand tillas, and
J-:lukiimat Khan's heir was sent as hostage tu Herat.
"Peacocke, 1887: 324; MacGregor (1871: 93); el al.; but by far the
most informative source for the Afghan invasion ofTurkistan is the
various items of Kabul Intelligence in the India Office Records,
ESLB, L/PS/5 vols. 200 onwards. The individual Agents' reports
are too numerous tu list here.
"Cf. Translation of Cabul Intelligence up to 16 March 1850,
1.0.L.R., ESLB, L/PS/5/204, no. 6 of 15 May 1850, and other
similar reports for the period. In the winter of 1850, the Bukharan
Amir had ordered all citizens of Balkh and Tashqurghan to leave
the area and take their winter supplies with them, an order which
was universally obeyed.
55 MacGregor ( 1871: 1471f.); Memorandumon the NorthernBoundarieJof
Afghani<lan, 1.0.L.R., ESLB, L/PS/5/263, fols. 71-77; Items of
Kabul News, I May 1851, ESLB, L/PS/5/207, encl. no. 35 of25
June 1851.
"'MacGregor (1871: 149). Details of the invasion of Turkistan,
Shibarghan's rebellion and the Afghan siege occupy the Kabul
News from September to the end of December 1854.
;; The siege ofShibarghan by Afghan forces is reported in some detail
by the Kabul News I terns and other information sent from Kabul.
Cf. Abstracts from the Cabul News Letters, 6-25 October 1854,
and translation ofa letter from Sirdar Muhammad Afzal Khan to
Dost Muhammad Khan, Balkh, 28 Nov~mber 1854. 1.0.L.R.,
ESLB, L/PS/5/222, no. 3, 8 January; no. 13, 8 February 1855.
,e Afzal Khan to Dost Muhammad Khan, 25 November 1854.
;9 Extracts from the Cabui News, 18 October-15 November 1855.
1.0.L.R., ESLB, L/PS/5/226, fols. 52~34.
"'Ibid. The Persian nominee was a certain Mirza Muhammad Beg
"who formerly ruled" Maimana. He may have been a relative of
one of'Ali Yar Khan's Persian administrators, otherwise there is
no record of any Persian ruling Maimana.
61 MacGregor (1871: 97, 155ff.)j Extracts from the Caimi News, 20
January-13 February 1856. 1.0.L.R., ESLB, L/PS/5/227, fols.
298-309.
6, Extracts from the Cabul News, 20January-13 February 1856.
1
6 Extracts from a Cabul Newsletter, 18 Fe\)ruary-23 March 1856.
1.0.L.R., ESLB, L/PS/5/227, fols. 60~10. Cf. also Wheeler ( 1869:
NORTHWESTERN
AFGHANISTAN
123
78-80) and MacGregor ( 1871: I 5'.:1--4)for summaries of these
events.
•• Extract from Cabul Newsletters, 25 March-22 April, and extracts
from Cabul Nrws, 23 April-4 May 1854. 1.0.L.R., ESLB, LIPS/
5/2'27, fols. 805-16, 816-21.
•,;The death ofJ-:lukiimat Khan is reported in Extract<fromthe Diary of
the Cabul Vakeelfor the week ending 2 March 1862. 1.0.L.R., India,
Foreign (Political) Cormpondence, P/204/60, fols. 151-2. Cf. also
Vambery (1864: 249); Merk (1888: 263).
""Vambery, Loe.cit., says that f:lusain Khan was J-:lukiimat's son, but
another more contemporary source, Diary of the Cabul Vakeel,week
ending 2 March 186:Z,says that he was his brother, as does Merk,
/oc.cit., who makes the point that the account he had received from
the Wtili's own officials differed from the accepted version. Vamb·
fry is wrong in several respects in his description of the Chahtir
Wiltiyat.
61
Qal'a-yi Wali, according to Vambery ( I 864: 256), had been
destroyed by Turkmans two years previously ( 1861), the inhabitants massacred or sold as slaves, and the place deserted. Turkman
raids into areas formerly under Maimana's control continued to
increase right into the 1880s, when the Boundary Commission
reported that vast areas ofBadgliis, Murghab and Maimana had
been completely destroyed.
611 Extract from the Kabul Diary, 29 April-5 May 1864, 1.0.L.R.,
IF(l')C, P/204/73, no. 40, pp. 102-3. Afzal Khan also offered the
Uzbcks similar terms, but in general they all supported Sher 'Ali
unless obliged to submit to Afi.al Khan by force of arms.
,,.,Kabul Diary, 2~30 January 1868, inc. 1.0.L.R., ESLB, LIPS/
5/261, fol. 173. Cf. also]. W. Wyllie, Summa~vofEvenlJin Afghani<lan
from Do,t Muhammad', Death to the Battle of Shekhabad 1863-1872,
1.0.L.R., Political and SecretDept. Library, L/PS/20/B9.
10
Afzal Khan had died in September 1867 and had been succeeded
by 'A~m Khan. However, it was 'Abd al-Ra~man Khan, son of
Alzal Khan, who organized and led the military campaigns against
Sher 'Ali and his allies.
11 'Abd al-Ra~man's
campaign in Turkistan receives extensive
notice in the Kabul Diaries. Aqcha fell on 14 February 1868, and
by 8 March Shibarghan was also subdued. Cf. 1.0.L.R.,
IF(P)C/P/438 I and ESLB/PS/5/261.
n From ca. 8 March to 12 April. He finally arrived outside Maimana
on 28 April.
11 Kabul Diary, 11-18 May 1868. 1.0.L.R., ESLB, L/PS/5/261, fols.
335-6.
"Kabul Diary, 4-8 June 1868, Appendix A, 1.0.L.R., IP(F)C/
P/438/2, no. 191, pp. 167-8 of July 1868.
1
' "The siege of Mymeneh by Abdur Rahman Khan in May 1868 is
one of the great events of modern Alghan History," Sir H. Rawlinson, Memorandaon the.frontierof Alffhani,tan, London, 18June 1869,
llmballa Papen etc. 1869, 1.0.L.R., Political & SecretDept. Library,
L/PS/20/817A (these papers are mistakenly listed under Burnes,
Sir A., but this is an error of classification). The successful resis·
tance of Maimana receives hardly any mention in modern European histories of Afghanistan; they prefer instead to concentrate on
the fall ofQandahar. The latter would never have occurred had not
f:Iusain Khan held his ground against overwhelming pressure to
capitulate. All the other Uzbek rulers had been subdued, and he
could expect little help from them or from Heral, but he remained
loyal to Sher 'Ali and ensured his conquest of Qandahar and
Kabul.
16 The Kabul Diaries through the years 11169-76,when <Alam Khan
died and his family was disgraced, are full of the Mirs' complaints
ahout the situation in Turkistan, which was exacerbated by a
severe famine caused by the devastation of the civil war. Cf. Kabul
Diary, 26-29 June 1874, 1.0.L.R., ESLB, PS/5/276, fol. 305.
11 Kabul Diary, 17-20 March
1876. 1.0.R.L., Secret Lettm and
EncloJUmfrom India, L/PS/717, p. 638.
1B Estimates of the number of dead vary from 8,000 to 15,000; I have
preferred Merk 's figures.
124
7'Cf
JOURNAL
OF
PERSIAN
Kabul Diary, 26---29 May 1876. 1.0.L.R., SLU, L/PS/7/9, p.
320.
'"/hid.Nii 'ib 'Alam had persistently asked Slfrr •Ali fi.r pnrnission to
depose all the Mirs of th .. Chahiir IViliiyat, hut Sher •Ali had maintain<'d the agreemn1t which he had signed with thrm in 11Hi7.
•Alam Khan used the rt·bellion ofMai111ana as an excuse to remo,..them. He was also responsible for the misappropriation of several
millions of rupees which were the private fortune ofH usain Kh,"in.
It was over this issue that he was finally disgraced by the Amir.
8 1 Kabul
Diary, 4-6 April 1876. 1.0.L.R., SLEI, L/l'S/7/8, pp.
986---7.
•2Gilgit Diary, 18-25 February 1879, 1.0.I..R., SU,1, L/PS/7/:1:1,
pp. 163-4. Research on the period 1876---93is as yet only partially
completed. The situation of l\iaimana during the Second AngloAfghan War is still uncertain.
R3.Journal of Political Events etc., from May 1879, 1.0.L.R., SLE/,
L/PS/7/22, p. 1307.
84 Adamec (1973) reprinted
the main Gazetteers with lcw alterations, and with the inclusion of photocopied aerial survey maps.
STUDIES
The Reportsof the /11tellige11re
Party have not been reprinted, and can
be found in the 1.0.L.R. under CurzonAdditional Mss., Eur. 371/1.
The mound, however, remains, and the modern park in the centre
of the town was th<' resid,·ntial 4uarter of the citadel.
'"• l\laitlaml (IIJBB/ ~33) giv,·s th,· figure as 150 shops.
1
• S,·,·en llintlu
and l'i~l,t .Jewish shops, according to Merk ( 1888),
l\laitland ( lllllB: ~1:1'.1)
gives th<' ligure as fifteen Hindu and twentyfive Jewish ones.
HHC. L. Griesbach, .Journey.,
in Afghanistan, 2 vols., 1.0.L.R., Political
and SecretDept. Library, L/PS/20, Misc. private papers, fols. 3031T.
85
89
/hid.
"" /hid.
" /hid., fol. 5·11
92 Jhid., fol. 55 7
93
/hid.
"At that time, there was a paved road under construction between
Shibarghiin, Andkhoi and l\laimana, eventually intended to link
Balkh with Heral via Maimana. It is unclear how far this road has
been completed.