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The Panjdeh incident (spelled Penjdeh in older accounts, and known in Russian historiography as the battle of the Kushka) was an armed engagement between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the Russian Empire in 1885 that led to a diplomatic crisis between Great Britain and the Russian Empire regarding the Russian expansion south-eastwards towards the Emirate of Afghanistan and the British Raj (India). After nearly completing the Russian conquest of Central Asia (Russian Turkestan), the Russians captured an Afghan border fort, threatening British interests in the area. Seeing this as a threat to India, Britain prepared for war but both sides backed down and the matter was settled diplomatically, with the Russians and Afghans exchanging territories. The incident halted further Russian expansion in Asia, except for the Pamir Mountains, and resulted in the definition of the north-western border of Afghanistan.
Most of Turkmenistan is desert but irrigation supports a fairly dense population on the north slope of the Kopet Dag (Geok Tepe and Ashgabat). East of this are the oases of and Merv, the latter being one of the great cities of central Asia. Tejend was much smaller and to the south of Tejend and Merv is a grassy region sometimes called Badghis which is bounded by the Hari-Rud river on the west and the Murghab River to the east. The Hari-Rud flows north along the modern Iranian border, enters Turkmenistan and spreads out forming the oasis before drying up in the desert. The Murghab flows north through what is now Afghanistan and Turkmenistan, reaches Yoloten and spreads out, forming the Merv oasis. Where the Murghab crosses the current border, the irrigated area of Panjdeh (Five Villages) existed. Badghis was about wide and long from north to south, depending on where the boundaries are set. South of Badghis is the important Afghan city and border fort of Herat.
At the time of the Panjdeh incident, it was generally agreed that the northern frontier of Afghanistan began from the Persian border at Serakhs, running about east-north-east to meet the Oxus at Khoja Sale, an old name for the point where the Oxus now leaves Afghanistan. This border had never been properly defined.
The Afghans sent troops to Bala Murghab and in June began building a fort at the north end of Panjdeh at the mouth of the Kushk River, which they called Ak-Tepe (White Hill; probably the old fort visible from space at ). The Russians thought that the Afghans had done this with British connivance but the Afghans and the British claimed that the people of Panjdeh had always paid tribute to the Afghans or whoever controlled Herat. The Russians claimed that Panjdeh had never been garrisoned and that its people were part of a tribe that had submitted to Russia.
On 8 November, Lumsden arrived at Serakhs with 250 and 200 Bengal Lancers, having crossed little-known country in Baluchistan. Komarov avoided meeting him, claiming he was "occupied with other affairs." In mid-November, Komarov made a move up the Murghab toward Panjdeh and more Afghan troops were shifted up to counter this. The Russians built an advanced post at Sanduk Kuchan (Sandykgachy?) on the Murghab. Alikhanov went to parley with the Ak Tepe commander but was driven away with threats. The Afghans then sent a detachment to occupy Sary Yazy south of the Russian outpost.
On 30 (18) March 1885, Russians attacked the Afghans and defeated them, putting them to flight, the Russians got all the artillery, the convoy and they occupied Panjdeh.Kuropatkin, Zavoevanie Turkmenii, page 217 Komarov himself described his actions as a pre-emptive strike, It is noted that the Afghans pursued the Russian rearguard and constantly insulted it with shouts of "get out of here, there are no Merv and Turkmens, there are only Afghans here, we defeated the British and we will defeat you" this greatly offended Komarov and he got involved in the battle. That's what he reported to St. Petersburg: The news reached England on 7 April and preparations for war began. On 27 April, William Gladstone asked the Commons for a credit of £11 million (£4.5 million for the Mahdist War in the Sudan (where Khartoum had fallen a few months earlier) and the rest for Russia). Alexander III of Russia suggested arbitration and negotiations which the British accepted. The crisis was partly averted by the initiative of Abdur Rahman Khan, the Amir of Afghanistan, who was then at Rawalpindi engaged in talks with the British. Having no desire to see two foreign armies fighting in his country, when told of Panjdeh, he pretended to regard it as a mere border skirmish.
In mid-summer, Lord Salisbury replaced Gladstone, which may have made British threats more credible. By 10 September, it was roughly agreed that Russia would keep Panjdeh, give up Zulfikar, and that the border would be approximately where it is now. The border commissioners started at Zulfikar on 10 November, reached the Murghab by Christmas, and went into winter quarters. In 1886, the line was run from the Murghab to the Oxus. Some minor problems had to be resolved by diplomats and the final protocol was signed on 22 July 1887. Persia somehow retained the Atak country north-west of Serakhs into which Russian patrols had penetrated.
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