[8] Following the end of the Second Anglo-Sikh War, Akram Khan was dispatched in the spring of 1849 to Bamyan with a large army, instructed to conquer "Lesser Turkestan".

[4] To further pressure Mir Wali into accepting this, Akram Khan marched to Khulm with 3,000 troops, six cannons and was also further reinforced with fifty-five camel loads of supplies.

[4] At the end of September 1849, Mir Wali responded to Dost Mohammad, rejecting his ultimatum on the grounds that Akram Khan's visit was not "convenient", and had to be postponed.

In order to collect money for his campaign, Akram Khan dispatched his forces to the semi-autonomous Hazara tribes in the area of the Saighan and Kahmard.

[12] After hearing of Akram Khan's tax collector oppressiveness towards the Ajari people, the residents of Saighan fled to the hills to avoid suffering the same fate.

[12] When Akram Khan resumed his march north at the end of November, he discovered the sizeable force of Mir Wali and Ishan Uraq well entrenched across his line of advance.

Akram Khan had two choices: he could battle his way across the Samangan plains or he could wait it out and run the danger of becoming stuck in the snow in the area between Khulm and Kahmard.

[14] Akram Khan ultimately came to the conclusion that it would be safe to make a face-saving arrangement in the hopes that he could withdraw south and that the troops he had sought from Kabul would arrive in time to start another battle the following spring.

[14] Dost Mohammad's mood did not change as a result of the Barakzai sardars' continued refusal to march in support of Akram Khan and his campaign.

[14] This happened because Mir Wali and Ishan Uraq dissolved their forces after accepting the deal and were completely unprepared when the Afghan army resumed its attack in the north.

Along with the severe cold, local shortage, and inadequate supply routes to the south, Balkh's remaining residents also refused to sell food to the Afghan troops.

[16] In an attempt to undermine their opponents, the Afghans propagated rumours that Mir Wali had been arrested and was being held captive in Kabul, but in fact, he had escaped over the Oxus.

Akram Khan spent the last several weeks of the winter rebuilding forts along the Amu Darya and pleading to Dost Mohammad to send more forces after seeing the dire situation and impending battle that was coming.

[17] Thus, Dost Mohammad's rule over the north was not yet consolidated, and had to face off with much of Lesser Turkestan's rulers, the threat of Bukharan incursions into his newly acquired territories, and internal rebellions.