The Battle of the Malandari Pass was fought on 16 February 1586 in what is now the Buner District in Pakistan's Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

Ain-i-Akbari claims that Kalu Khan travelled to Agra with the Mughal Emperor Akbar went to the Kabul region to chastise Mirza Muhammad.

[8] According to historians Jadunath Sarkar and Raghubir Sinh, there were quarrels between the leaders of the Mughal troops, with Birbal, Abul Fath and Zain Khan disagreeing on the course of action, and "On 16th February, (1586), during a disorderly march, the Afghans attacked in a Swat defile.

Panic seized the disunited Imperial army and 8000 men lost their lives, including Rajah Birbal and many other high officers, while all their camp and equipage were plundered.

[14][15] Akbar learned about the disaster two days later and an army under Rajah Todar Mal set off on 19 February to exact retribution against the Yusufzais, killing a large number of them and selling many survivors to Turan and Persia, as "the countries of Swat, Bajaur and Buner were cleansed of evildoers.