Battle of Changhcaran
Date: September 12-18, 1830
Attacker: Persian Imperial Army (8 Infantry Brigades 8 Cavalry Brigades, 2 Artillery Brigades, Unknown Irregular Tribesmen)
Losses: 1 Infantry Brigade broken under attrition, 2 Cavalry brigades reassigned after the charge, 1 Cavalry Brigade lost in initial actions
Defender: Durrani Imperial Army (15 Infantry Brigades, 5 Cavalry Brigades)
Losses: 2 Infantry brigades broken under attrition, 3 Infantry brigades smashed by the Second Charge, 3 Infantry Brigades lost to rout, 2 Cavalry Brigades lost in rearguard actions
Leading to the Battle: The area of Changhcaran is in flux since April, when the tribal war exploded into all out civil war in the area between the supremacy of the Tajiks and the Kakars tribes. This is, of course, a simplification; for any tribal conflict in Afghanistan is as complicated as a game in CIV with 200 civilizations, or more. However, this action, as well as recent hostilities with the Kazak Khanate and the Maratha Confederacy has locked the Durrani Army on various peace-keeping powers.
The Persian Imperial Army saw their chance at gaining a greater empire, or at least securing the collapse of a rival. They marched into the borderland on June, and bought the allegiance of the local Tajik. While the Durrani Army scrambled to assemble at Kabul, the Persian Army calmly secured a logistics train and the bribery machine at the border.
It was July when both armies began stirring out of their bases, having finished regrouping and eager for battle. While the Persians were slowed by the Tribal Warfare, it also gained them various Irregular recuits when they stood to intervene. The Durrani Army was demoralized by the loss of the border garrison and the civil war ahead, but eager nonetheless for battle. After a month’s march, their scouts meet near Changhcaran in September 12, 1830.
Changhcaran was a rather strategetic town; it was almost perfectly halfway between the Persian Borders near Herat and the Durrani Capital at Kabul. In addition, it guarded the foothills of the Hindu Kush range, leading to a low-mountaion pass then led to Baluchistan. It is around this town which the first major battle started.
The Battle: Both Armies were not expecting to meet the other this early in the year, but neither were they surprised. They were, after all, marching on the same road towards each other. While the Persian Imperial Army secured the town and its fortress on September 13 in a hard-fought skirmish, the Durrani Imperial Army arrived first on the bluffs outside (September 14) of town and prepared for the enemy attack.
On September 15, infantry skirmishes begun while the Persian Artillery Train was being unloaded under the bluffs. It was during such skirmishes where the Tajik Guides of the Persians proved their worth, negating any defensive knowledge which the Durrani held and overrunning some forward positions crucial to the letter battle. In the mean time, the rearguard reinforcements of the Durrani Army was ambushed by a Kakar raid and wiped out, and although it was possibly the result of a minor tribal feud, it too will have major impact on the battle.
September 16 was the calm before the storm as the Persian Artillary began pounding Durrani positions on the bluff. Their commanding terrain is almost useless without long-ranged weapons, although they did easily defeat various probing assaults. Meanwhile, the forward bases were being stocked with Persian troops as well as more mobile guns and mortars.
September 17 is the first day of the ‘Actual Battle’. After a huge bombardment, the infantry of the Persian Army surged up the bluff, catching the complacent Durrani infantry unprepared. In a hardfought struggle the Persians were repulsed. However, while the Persians retreated in good order, the Durrani line was broken, and without reinforcements were forced to leave the back of the bluff unguarded to repulse the next day’s assault.
On September 18, the Persians once again attacked the line, this time at the steep northern flanks. With more infantry marching behind the assault. they seemed to be trying to break the Durrani supply camp behind the bluffs. Suddenly, from the forward positions, the bombardment shifted to the southern edge of the line, which caused the Durrani infantry stationed there to break from their formation. The Persian Cavalry, lead to the bluffs by a Tajik Guide, exploited the collapse and rolled up the line, smashing the Durrani flank.
Faced with these double threats, the Durrani General had no choice but to order a retreat. However, hard pressed by infantry near the road, cavalry rolling up the southern flank and relentless artillery, the rest of the army broke and fled, and might have been destroyed except for the 3rd Kizilbashes Cavalry Regiment. They fought a deadly rearguard action ,to the death, at the pass. Only after repeated charges, bombardments and flank attacks lead by Tajik guides they were broken. The damage was done, however, and the main Durrani army escaped in one fashion or another to Kabul.
*The Bluffs is a ridge leading from the south to the northern edge of Changhcaran. The northern edge is tall above the road to Kabul, but the southern edge slowly smoothes out, which eventually gave the Persian Cavalry the chance to sneak to the Durrani Flanks with their Tajik guides. The back of the bluffs leads to a plateau and foothills.
Aftermath: This battle had many short-term consequences for the Durrani Empire. At its most basic level, it destroyed the moral and the cream of the Durrani Imperial Army and may have even caused its defeat at the hands of Persia. In addition, the Durrani Imperial Army gained respect of the Islamic Organization Style epitomized by the Persians, who made better use of Gunpower, Cavalry, and Artillery compared to that of the Durrani army. Finally, as the small fragments of the Imperial Army regroup at Kabul, they had new feelings about either sticking to tradition or changing to meet their foes.