Faizal Maksum was one of the leaders of an anti-Soviet

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 group known as the Basmachi and led an organized resistance against the Soviet military occupation of Central Asia

Central Asia

Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...

 in the 1920s. Maksum was loyal to the ousted Emir of Bukhara

Emirate of Bukhara

The Emirate of Bukhara was a Central Asian state that existed from 1785 to 1920. It occupied the land between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers, known formerly as Transoxiana. Its core territory was the land along the lower Zarafshan River, and its urban centres were the ancient cities of...

 and operated primarily on the border of the Soviet republic of Tajikistan

Tajikistan

Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....

 and Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

. In 1929 Faizal Maksum led a raid from Afghanistan into Tajikistan during the short reign of the Afghan Emir

Emirate of Afghanistan

The Emirate of Afghanistan began with the end of the Durrani Empire and the reign of Dost Mohammad Khan in 1823 and ended when Amir Amanullah Khan became Shah in 1926. This period was characterized by the expansion of European colonial interests in Central Asia...

 Habibullah Ghazi

Habibullah Ghazi

Habībullāh Kalakānī , also known as Habībullāh Ghāzī, was Emir of Afghanistan from January to October 1929 after deposing Amānullāh Khān with the help of various Ghilzai tribes who opposed modernization of Afghanistan...

. In this raid his forces briefly captured the town of Garm

Garm, Tajikistan

Gharm, , is a district in the Rasht Valley area of central Tajikistan.From the 1920s until 1955 there was a Gharm Oblast in Tajikistan, which included the territory of the current Gharm Valley...

in central Tajikistan, until Soviet forces supplied by air expelled Basmachi forces from the town.