Malalai of Maiwand, The Afghan Jeanne D'Arc

[Marwat Khan Lodhi]

Malalai, the Afghan heroine who inspired local fighters against the British at the Battle of Maiwand in 1880. A fixture of legends, poetry and song, Malalai is often referred to as the Afghan Joan of Arc.
As the teenage daughter of a Pashtun shepherd, Malalai joined Ayub Khan’s forces to carry up fresh ammunition and water to the battlefield. . According to local sources, this was also supposed to be her wedding day.

When the Afghan army was losing morale, despite their superior numbers, Malalai took the Afghan flag and shouted:

“Young love, if you do not fall in the Battle of Maiwand,
By God, someone is saving you as a symbol of shame.”

In her native language Pashto:
"Ka pa maiwand ki shaheed na shway..
Khudai julalaya, be-nangi ta di sateena!"

This inspired the Afghan fighters to redouble their efforts. When a leading flag-bearer was killed, Malalai went forward, stripped off her veil and used it as a flag, singing a landai:

With a drop of my sweetheart's blood,
Shed in defense of the Motherland,
Will I put a beauty spot on my forehead,
Such as would put to shame the rose in the garden!
But then Malalai was herself struck down and killed. However, her words had spurred on her countrymen to victory. After the battle, Malalai was honored for her efforts and buried in her native village of Khig, where her grave remains today. She was between 17-19 at her death. The Pashtun poet Ajmal Khattak wrote the following lines about Malalai:

"My Malalai is living, and they praise others' beauty.
Though they have eyes, they are blind."

Malalai died in the battle, but the result was a resounding victory for the Afghans. They had three times as many casualties as the British, but the foreigners were forced to retreat to Kandahar.
“During the retreat a number of British soldiers became incapably drunk after raiding the officers’ stores and had to be left behind to be slaughtered by the pursuing Afghans,” said one account. (The backstory of Dr. John Watson, Sherlock Holmes’s fictional sidekick, said he was wounded at the Battle of Maiwand, and his injuries forced his return to London.)

The Battle of Maiwand is “frequently referenced in Taliban poems” these days as a way to spur resistance against the foreign troops in Afghanistan, according to Benjamin Jensen, an assistant professor at American University’s School of International Service and at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College.

“As the subsequent events showed,” said Rahimullah Yusufzai, “Malala lived true to her name and used her pen and speech to accomplish the mission of freedom that Malalai achieved by fighting and nursing the wounded at the battleground of Maiwand.”

British army fleeing from Maiwand

Afghan commanders after their victory at the Battle of Maiwand.

 

[FunkyGen]

And what did "pukhtoons" do to her kind?

 

[Marwat Khan Lodhi]

And what did "pukhtoons" do to her kind?

What do you mean?

 

[FunkyGen]

What do you mean?

I am asking you what did "pukhtoons" do for the betterment of their women?
Did they give em education.... NO
Heck!.... basic rights?.... Hell NO!

 

[Marwat Khan Lodhi]

I am asking you what did "pukhtoons" do for the betterment of their women?
Did they give em education.... NO
Heck!.... basic rights?.... Hell NO!

But malalai of maiwand was not education activist. Are you confusing her with malala yousafzai?

 

[FunkyGen]

But malalai of maiwand was not education activist. Are you confusing her with malala yousafzai?

O lala i'm talking about the education of women as a whole, but as you can see Afghanistan is a shithole.

 

[Marwat Khan Lodhi]

O lala i'm talking about the education of women as a whole, but as you can see Afghanistan is a shithole.

Is this on-topic and relevant?

 

[FunkyGen]

Is this on-topic and relevant?

The topic is about a woman who led the Afghans to a victory in a war showing her extreme patriotism. I expected Afghanis to have praised their women and work for their betterment, what they actually did was put them into "bori band" veils and subjecting them to insult and terror. I wonder what her reaction would have been if she were to see the current Afghanistan, my guess, she would be ashamed.

 

[think@best]

Malalai, the Afghan heroine who inspired local fighters against the British at the Battle of Maiwand in 1880. A fixture of legends, poetry and song, Malalai is often referred to as the Afghan Joan of Arc.
As the teenage daughter of a Pashtun shepherd, Malalai joined Ayub Khan’s forces to carry up fresh ammunition and water to the battlefield. . According to local sources, this was also supposed to be her wedding day.

When the Afghan army was losing morale, despite their superior numbers, Malalai took the Afghan flag and shouted:

“Young love, if you do not fall in the Battle of Maiwand,
By God, someone is saving you as a symbol of shame.”

In her native language Pashto:
"Ka pa maiwand ki shaheed na shway..
Khudai julalaya, be-nangi ta di sateena!"

This inspired the Afghan fighters to redouble their efforts. When a leading flag-bearer was killed, Malalai went forward, stripped off her veil and used it as a flag, singing a landai:

With a drop of my sweetheart's blood,
Shed in defense of the Motherland,
Will I put a beauty spot on my forehead,
Such as would put to shame the rose in the garden!
But then Malalai was herself struck down and killed. However, her words had spurred on her countrymen to victory. After the battle, Malalai was honored for her efforts and buried in her native village of Khig, where her grave remains today. She was between 17-19 at her death. The Pashtun poet Ajmal Khattak wrote the following lines about Malalai:

"My Malalai is living, and they praise others' beauty.
Though they have eyes, they are blind."

Malalai died in the battle, but the result was a resounding victory for the Afghans. They had three times as many casualties as the British, but the foreigners were forced to retreat to Kandahar.
“During the retreat a number of British soldiers became incapably drunk after raiding the officers’ stores and had to be left behind to be slaughtered by the pursuing Afghans,” said one account. (The backstory of Dr. John Watson, Sherlock Holmes’s fictional sidekick, said he was wounded at the Battle of Maiwand, and his injuries forced his return to London.)

The Battle of Maiwand is “frequently referenced in Taliban poems” these days as a way to spur resistance against the foreign troops in Afghanistan, according to Benjamin Jensen, an assistant professor at American University’s School of International Service and at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College.

“As the subsequent events showed,” said Rahimullah Yusufzai, “Malala lived true to her name and used her pen and speech to accomplish the mission of freedom that Malalai achieved by fighting and nursing the wounded at the battleground of Maiwand.”

British army fleeing from Maiwand

Afghan commanders after their victory at the Battle of Maiwand.

Great work @Pak-one keep it up.

 

[Marwat Khan Lodhi]

Grave of Malalai