From the Black Mountain to Waziristan / Being an account of the border countries and the more turbulent of the tribes controlled by the north-west frontier province, and of our military relations with them in the past

From the year 1857 onwards the Khyber Pass Afridis have given the Punjab Government a good deal of trouble, and it has been necessary to carry out many raids and expeditions against one or other of the clans, and, at times, against all of them. Just before the outbreak of the Mutiny, when the Amir Dost Muhammad was encamped at Jamrud after his interview with Sir John Lawrence, a party of Kuki Khels fired upon some British officers near the mouth of the Khyber, and mortally wounded one of them. The blockade then established was maintained throughout that troublous year, and was so injurious to the interests of the clan that they paid up a fine and agreed to other terms proposed by us. The Zakha Khels were at the same time under blockade for innumerable highway robberies, but they also early made their submission.

They broke out again in 1861, and raided British territory in the neighbourhood of Kajurai—a tract of country occupied during the winter by the remainder of the clans of the Khyber Pass Afridis, and it was found necessary to put the usual pressure on these to induce them for the future to refuse passage through their lands at Kajurai to Zakha Khel and other robbers.

The Zakha Khel and Kuki Khel continued to give trouble, and maintained their reputation as the most inveterate and audacious of robbers, whose depredations up to the very walls of Peshawar, and even within the city and cantonments, have been notorious since the days of Sikh rule. In those days, moreover, the Sikh governors cultivated methods of repression and punishment such as we have never practised. In General Thackwell’s diary, dated Peshawar, 23rd November, 1839, he writes, “Called on General Avitabili to take leave. They say Avitabili is a tiger in this government, he has been known to flay criminals alive and to break the bones of poor wretches on the wheel previous to hanging them in chains, and at our conference to-day very gravely wondered we did not put poison in sugar to send in traffic among the Khyberees.”

In December 1874, the bandmaster^[113] of the 72nd Highlanders, stationed at Peshawar, was carried off by some Zakha Khel raiders and taken to the Khyber, being subsequently released uninjured; and during the operations against the Jawakis in 1877–78 the Zakha Khels sent to their aid a contingent of from 300–400 men, who fired on some British troops in the Kohat Pass and then turned back.

Expedition against the Zakha Khels of the Bazar Valley, December 1878.—From the very commencement of the second Afghan war in 1878, the Afridis of the Khyber Pass began to give trouble. At the end of November a signalling party on the Shagai Heights, east of Ali Musjid in the Khyber, was attacked by some Kuki Khels from the village of Kadam, two men being killed and one wounded, but for this outrage punishment was inflicted by the tribal jirgah. Annoyance did not, however, cease; our communications in the Khyber were continually harassed, and the camp at Ali Musjid was fired into regularly every night, the culprits belonging chiefly to the Zakha Khel clan. One or two small raids upon tribal villages proving ineffectual, a punitive expedition into the Bazar Valley was decided upon, the troops composing it being drawn from the 2nd Division of the Peshawar Valley Field Force, the headquarters of which were then at Jamrud, and from the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Division then at Dakka. The following composed the two columns:

3

guns, D/A. R.H.A.

300

bayonets, 1/5th Fusiliers.

200

bayonets, 51st Foot.

1

troop, 11th Bengal Lancers.

1

troop, 13th Bengal Lancers.

500

bayonets, 2nd Gurkhas.

400

bayonets, Mhairwara Battalion.

2

guns, 11/9th R.A.

300

bayonets, 1/17th Foot.

41

bayonets, 8th Company Bengal Sappers and Miners.

263

bayonets, 27th Punjab Native Infantry.

114

bayonets, 45th Sikhs.

The Jamrud column, starting at 5 p.m. on the 19th December, and moving by Chora, a village inhabited by friendly Malikdin Khels, reached Walai in the Bazar Valley by midday on the 20th, and from here communication was established with the Dakka column, which had then reached the Sisobi Pass^[114]—about three miles to the east—and expected to effect a junction with the Jamrud Column next day.

On the 21st the Jamrud Column marched to China, and visited every village of any importance in the valley, destroying all the towers, returning that night to Walai, and withdrawing thence unopposed to Ali Musjid on the 22nd.

The Dakka troops destroyed the towers in the vicinity of their bivouac, marching later to Nikai, which was also burnt. It being then too late to arrive at the Sisobi Pass on the return march before nightfall, the General (Tytler) halted, owing to difficulties as to water, in the Thabai Pass, with the intention of retiring on Dakka by this route. During the night the tribesmen assembled in strength about the camp, and when the march was resumed at daybreak it was seen that the enemy meant disputing every foot of it. The Afridis notoriously attack the baggage guard in preference to any other part of a force, and it was therefore determined to change the usual order of march. Orders were consequently issued for each corps to take its own baggage with it; the artillery and sappers, being most encumbered with mules, followed close to the advanced guard; while a very strong rearguard was left behind, which, being wholly relieved from the charge of baggage, was able to resist the pressure from the rear.

The road was winding, steep, and very difficult for mules, and from the moment the force started a lively but ineffective fusillade was opened on the column. The heights were taken and held by flanking parties; the rearguard was hotly engaged; the enemy seized the positions of the rearguard and of the flanking parties as soon as they were abandoned; and Dakka was not reached by the whole column until 11.30 p.m., when the force had marched 22 miles, and had lost two men killed and twenty wounded.

Second Expedition against the Zakha Khels of the Bazar Valley, January 1879.—After the expedition of December 1878, the Khyber Pass Afridis continuing to give trouble, every effort was made to break up the tribal combination, and the Kuki Khels and Kambar Khels came in and tendered their submission. The attitude of the Zakha Khels was, however, so unsatisfactory that the political officer, Major Cavagnari, recommended a temporary occupation of the Bazar Valley, coupled with visits to all the recusant villages in that and the Bara Valley. In consequence, Lieutenant-General Maude, commanding the 2nd Division, Peshawar Valley Field Force, applied on the 16th January for sanction for the proposed operations, in concert with a force furnished from the 1st Division. Sanction was accorded by the Commander-in-Chief, but a time-limit of ten days was laid down within which the operations were to be concluded. The following troops were placed at the disposal of Lieutenant-General Maude:

2

guns, D/A Royal Horse Artillery.

2

guns, 11/9th Royal Field Artillery.

315

bayonets, 5th Fusiliers.

316

bayonets, 25th Foot.

145

sabres, 13th Bengal Lancers.

55

bayonets, Madras Sappers and Miners.

356

bayonets, 24th Punjab Native Infantry.

2

guns, 11/9th Royal Artillery.

361

bayonets, 1/17th Foot.

210

bayonets, 4th Battalion Rifle Brigade.

32

sabres, Guides Cavalry.

43

bayonets, Bengal Sappers and Miners.

201

bayonets, 4th Gurkhas.

2

guns, 11/9th Royal Artillery.

213

bayonets, 51st Foot.

31

bayonets, Madras Sappers and Miners.

312

bayonets, 2nd Gurkhas.

320

bayonets, Mhairwara Battalion.

311

bayonets, 6th Native Infantry.^[115]

52

bayonets, 1/17th Foot.

104

bayonets, 27th Punjab Native Infantry.

257

bayonets, 45th Sikhs.

Leaving Jamrud on the 24th January, the Jamrud Column marched by way of the Khyber Stream and the Chora Pass to Berar Kats, arriving there late on the following afternoon. There was some firing at the baggage escort en route and at the camp after dark, but it soon ceased.

The Ali Musjid Column started on the 25th, and, moving by Alachi, reached Karamna the same afternoon, being there joined by the 6th Native Infantry, which had marched thither from Lundi Kotal by way of the Bori Pass, the southern foot of which is in the north-west corner of the Karamna Valley. On this day the towers of the Karamna villages were destroyed, as were those of Barg, to which place the column marched on the 27th.

The Basawal Column reached China on the afternoon of the 25th January, and was here joined by the Dakka force, the united columns moving on to Kasaba and Sisobi on the 26th; the Sisobi Pass was occupied on the 27th, and made practicable. Here a junction was effected with the Jamrud force, and on the afternoon of this day all the columns were united in the Bazar Valley under Lieutenant-General Maude, who early that morning had secured possession of the China hill.

During all these movements the Zakha Khel had shown great hostility; the force had been fired on night and day from the moment of entry into the country, while the inhabitants had deserted their villages and had, in many instances, themselves set fire to them. In a reconnaissance on the 28th of the Bukar Pass leading to the Bara Valley a good deal of opposition was experienced, and in the destruction on the 29th of the towers of Halwai the enemy disclosed their presence in large numbers. It was now clear that any invasion of the Bara Valley would bring on an Afridi war, and it subsequently transpired that other tribes, as well as other clans of Afridis, were assembling to oppose our further advance—detachments from the Shinwaris and Orakzais, as well as from the Kuki Khel, Aka Khel, Kambar Khel, Malikdin Khel, and Sipah Afridis, gathering together and holding the passes over the Bara hills.

The responsibility of Lieutenant-General Maude as to further operations was not lightened by the receipt on the 29th January of a circular letter from Army Headquarters, reminding column commanders in Afghanistan that the operations then in progress were directed against the Amir and his troops alone, and that unnecessary collisions with the tribes were to be as far as possible avoided. Lieutenant-General Maude therefore telegraphed for more explicit instructions, especially as to whether he should force an entrance to the Bara Valley.

Before any reply could be expected, an urgent demand was received from the General Officer commanding First Division, Peshawar Valley Field Force, for the immediate return of his troops, in view of an expected attack upon Jalalabad and Dakka by Mohmands and Bajauris; but the awkwardness of such a request in the middle of operations was smoothed by the Afridis of the Bazar Valley now evincing a disposition to open negotiations, while a deputation from all divisions of the Bara Valley Zakha Khels actually arrived in camp. On the 2nd February the Political Officer reported that he had made satisfactory terms with the jirgah; and although the same evening General Maude was informed that the words of the circular above referred to did not preclude his carrying out an expedition into the Bara Valley should he consider such to be necessary, he decided that the whole force under his command should commence its withdrawal on the 3rd; and on that date accordingly the different columns left the Bazar Valley, the Dakka force by the Sisobi Pass and the troops of the Second Division via Chora for Jamrud and Ali Musjid. There was no molestation by the Afridis during the retirement of any of the columns, which, during the operations described, had sustained a loss of five killed and thirteen wounded.

The effect of this expedition did not last more than a few weeks, for by the end of March the Zakha Khels had again begun to give trouble, continuing to do so until the termination in May of the first phase of the second Afghan war. On the withdrawal from Afghanistan in June, the Khyber Afridis made only one insignificant attempt to molest our troops; and, fortunately for us, the trials of what has been called “the Death March”^[116] were not aggravated by the attacks of fanatical tribesmen, during the retirement India-wards through the Khyber of the Peshawar Valley Field Force.

After the close of the first phase of the campaign in Afghanistan, arrangements, which worked generally satisfactorily, were made with the Afridis for the safety of the Khyber; while the agreement come to in 1881, and honourably kept on both sides for sixteen years, will be found in Chapter XI.

It has been said that the Afridis of the Khyber kept faithfully to their treaty engagements during the sixteen years which followed the events which have been just described, but in 1892 there was one comparatively minor case of misconduct, when a Kuki Khel malik, smarting under a grievance connected with the deprivation for misbehaviour of a portion of his allowances, collected a body of 500 or 600 men and attacked three of the Khyber posts. The Tirah mullahs made an unsuccessful attempt to persuade other Afridi clans to join, and the prompt despatch of troops to Jamrud was sufficient to cause the dispersal of the lashkar.

Five years afterwards there was a sudden, unaccountable, and widespread display of hostility towards the government, in which almost all the border tribes from the Malakand to the Tochi were concerned; and it seems necessary to make something of the nature of a statement of the causes which have been put forward, at various times and by different persons, for an outbreak so serious and so wholly unexpected. It must, however, from the outset be borne in mind that, when we made our agreement for the safeguarding of the pass with and by the Khyber Afridis, they put the recognition upon record of the independence of their responsibility for the security of the road from any government aid in the matter of troops; while it was further by them admitted that “it lies with the Indian Government to retain its troops within the pass or withdraw them and to re-occupy it at pleasure.” In face of this admission it is not easy to see how the Afridis can justify their complaint (made to the Amir of Afghanistan), that our hold on the Khyber was an infringement of treaty rights.

It may be admitted that a strong case is presented by those who hold that the real cause of the general Pathan revolt of 1897 is traceable to the policy which dictated the Afghan Boundary agreement of 1893. It is indisputable that one of the results of this measure—imperatively demanded by the difficulty, always present and ever increasing, of controlling the tribes immediately beyond our border—aroused a sense of distrust and uneasiness among the Pathans of the frontier. ‘They watched in impotent wrath the erection of the long line of demarcation pillars; they were told that henceforth all to the east of that line practically belonged to the British, and that the allegiance of all who dwelt within it must be to us; they saw their country mapped and measured; they witnessed the establishment of military posts, not merely on their borders, but in their very midst, as at Wana; and they came to a conclusion, not unnatural to an ignorant people ever hostile to any form of settled and civilised government, that their country was annexed and their independence menaced.’ The tribesmen themselves put forward many pretexts for their action—after the event; but religious fanaticism undoubtedly furnished the actual incentive, while there are not wanting indications that the discomfiture of the infidel (the Greek) at the hands of the followers of Islam (the Turk), furnished the spur which incited the tribesmen to try and throw off the yoke of the unbeliever.

Then, again, there seems no doubt that the men of the border believed that they might safely rely upon the support, moral and material, of the Amir of Afghanistan. It was known that the Durand Boundary Agreement was not particularly palatable to the Ruler of the Unruly; he had lately written a book on Jehad; he had recently assumed a title^[117] which seemed to include all Muhammadans under his sovereignty; for years he had been a personal friend of the Hadda Mullah, one of the chief apostles of insurrection. As a matter of fact, however, subsequent revelations proved that the Amir’s attitude towards his ally had been perfectly correct, throughout a situation which for him was both difficult and dangerous; he issued proclamations enjoining neutrality; he caused Afghan reinforcements moving eastward to be stopped and dispersed; the Afridis themselves admitted that “His Highness advised us not to fight with the British Government;” but the Amir was not able effectively to control the active sympathies with the insurrectionary movement of some of his people in general, and of Ghulam Haidar, his Commander-in-Chief, in particular.

The initial outbreaks, preceding that of the Afridis, occurred on the 10th June, 1897, in the Tochi Valley, on the 26th July at the Malakand, and on the 7th August at Shabkadar in the Peshawar Valley; and shortly after this latter date the possibility of the rising, already sufficiently formidable, spreading to the Afridis and Orakzais, caused the concentration at Rawal Pindi of two brigades, in addition to those which had already been formed for service against other tribes on the frontier. At the same time a movable column, composed of the three arms, was formed at Peshawar, intended for the protection of the frontier immediately adjacent to that cantonment, but not intended to carry on operations in the Khyber; the garrison of Jamrud was doubled, and regular troops occupied the frontier forts at Michni and Abazai. For some reason, not readily apparent, the authorities on the spot, military and civil, do not seem to have felt any real apprehension for the safety of the Khyber; and, as has been said elsewhere, reports sent from Kohat, emphasising the serious and widespread character of the rising, and pointing out the extent to which Afridis and Orakzais seemed to be implicated, appear to have been discredited or were considered to be exaggerated.

On the 17th August, definite information reached Peshawar from the Khyber that an Afridi force, reported 10,000 strong, had left Bagh in Tirah on the 16th, with the intention of attacking the Khyber posts on the 18th. Both the General Officer commanding and the Commissioner of Peshawar decided against any occupation of the Khyber forts by regular troops, for the reason that such a course would imply distrust of the tribesmen holding to their treaty obligations. This decision, and the resultant abandonment of the Khyber, and the failure to support the Khyber Rifles holding its different posts, have been widely criticised and greatly condemned. Holdich says: “But, alas! whilst the Afridi fought for us, we failed to fight for ourselves; 9500 troops about the Peshawar frontier looked on, whilst 500 Afridis maintained British honour in the Khyber.” And those who were present at a lecture given at Simla in 1898, on “the Campaign in Tirah,” will not have forgotten the general chorus of approval which there greeted the remarks of a prominent Punjab civilian, that “the 23rd of August was a day of pain and humiliation for every Englishman in India. We had 12,000 troops at the mouth of the Pass or within easy reach of Ali Musjid, marking time as it were, or held in leash, and we allowed these forts to fall one after the other.”

But whatever opinion may be held in regard to the reasons of policy which held back the troops of the regular army, there seems no question that at the time any forward movement on anything like a large scale was practically out of the question; pack transport especially was very scarce, all immediately and locally available having already been requisitioned for military operations elsewhere in progress. At the same time, it cannot be denied that the military authorities in Peshawar had been in receipt of at least a fortnight’s definite notice of what might be expected, while, for any operations in the Khyber Pass itself, wheeled transport, contrary to ordinary frontier experience, could have been utilised practically throughout.

The following precautionary measures were taken: Ali Musjid and Fort Maude were reinforced by 100 tribesmen each; the Zakha Khel and Shinwari maliks were reminded of their obligations; additional troops were sent to Fort Bara, and a column of all arms to Jamrud; while—a step which aroused, perhaps, more adverse comment than any other—the British commandant of the Khyber Rifles was recalled from Lundi Kotal to Peshawar, the Commissioner considering that his presence at the former place might hamper the action of the Indian Government.

On the 23rd August, when the storm finally broke over the Khyber, the distribution of the Khyber Rifles was as under:

Fort Maude was attacked at 10 in the morning, but in the afternoon Brigadier-General Westmacott, commanding at Jamrud, moved out to the entrance to the Khyber, and thence shelled the enemy about Fort Maude.

The attackers thereupon dispersed, and, on General Westmacott withdrawing again to Jamrud, Fort Maude, Bagiar and Jehangira were evacuated by their garrisons and then destroyed by the enemy. The Afridi lashkar then attacked Ali Musjid, and by evening the garrison, short of ammunition and hearing of the fall of the three posts above mentioned, escaped to Jamrud, having lost three of their number killed and wounded. From Ali Musjid the tribesmen marched on the morning of the 24th for Lundi Kotal, their numbers being swelled en route, and being unmolested in their passage, since the garrisons of Katta Kushtia and Gurgurra early abandoned their posts and took to the hills. The attack on the fortified serai at Lundi Kotal began at 8 a.m., and during the whole of that day and the night that followed, the defence was resolutely maintained under Subadar Mursil Khan, who had two sons in the attacking force and one with him in the Khyber Rifles. The garrison consisted of five native officers, and 369 men of the Khyber Rifles. Of these, 120 belonged to miscellaneous clans—Shilmani Mohmands, Peshawaris, and Kohat Pass Afridis; of the remaining 249, 70 were Loargai Shinwaris, 50 were Mullagoris, the remainder being Zakha Khel and Malikdin Khel Afridis. During the 24th the fire from the walls kept the attack at a distance; but on the morning of the 25th, a Shinwari jemadar being wounded, his men seemed to think they had done enough for honour, scaled the north wall, and deserted to their homes—the Afridis of the garrison, it is said, sending a volley after them. It is not clear exactly what proportion of the besieged gave friendly admittance to the besiegers and what proportion remained true to their salt; but negotiations were opened, Mursil Khan was killed, and about 11 a.m. the gate was opened from inside by treacherous hands and the tribesmen swarmed in. The Mullagori and Shilmani sepoys fought their way out and escaped—the Native Officer of the Mullagori company eventually bringing his little command back to Jamrud without the loss of a rifle. It was estimated that in the attacks on the Khyber posts the enemy had sustained some 250 casualties, and immediately after the fall of Lundi Kotal they dispersed to their homes, promising to reassemble on the 15th September.

One of the most serious results of the capture of the Lundi Kotal serai was that fifty thousand rounds of ammunition fell into the hands of the enemy.

The Tirah Expedition of 1897–98 against the Khyber Pass and Aka Khel Afridis.—On the 3rd September the necessary orders were issued for the formation and concentration of the Tirah Expeditionary Force, the actual date for the expedition to start being fixed as the 12th October. By this date it was hoped that the operations, then in progress in other parts of the frontier and elsewhere described, would have ceased, and that both troops and transport there in use would be available for the larger expedition now projected. These anticipations, however, were not altogether justified by events, only one brigade with its accompanying transport being set free for employment under Sir William Lockhart, who was recalled from leave in England to command the Tirah Field Force, consisting of some 44,000 men. (For composition of the force see note at end of chapter.)

Kohat was made the base of operations, with an advanced base at Shinawari, thirty miles from Maidan. This route was on the whole considered an easier and shorter one into Tirah than those from Peshawar by the Bara and Mastura valleys, or from Kohat via the Khanki, despite, too, the fact that the nearest railway terminus was at Khushalgarh on the left bank of the Indus, and thirty miles to the east of Kohat.

The troops were divided into a main column of two divisions, each of two brigades of infantry with divisional troops; two subsidiary columns; line of communication troops; and a reserve mixed brigade at Rawal Pindi.

The main column, operating from Kohat and Shinawari, was to move on Tirah via the Chagru Kotal, Sampagha and Arhanga Passes; while of the two subsidiary columns one was to operate from Peshawar, and the other from the Miranzai and Kurram Valleys, as circumstances might require. From railhead at Khushalgarh to Shinawari, the advanced base, the road was practicable for carts, thence onwards the troops could only be served by pack animals, and of these some 60,000 were required for the use of the Tirah Expeditionary Force alone, not counting those already engaged with other frontier expeditions still in progress.^[118] The collection of so vast an amount of transport naturally caused delay, and it was not until the 20th October that any forward movement could take place.

With the arrival of troops at Shinawari a commencement had been made at improving the road from thence over the Chagru Kotal to Kharappa, and by the 15th October it was fit for transport animals as far as the top of the pass. In order, however, to work on the north side of the kotal, and so complete the road construction in readiness for the advance on the 20th, it was necessary to drive the enemy from the vicinity so as to prevent them from disturbing our working parties.

On the 18th, then, Lieutenant-General Sir A. P. Palmer, temporarily commanding at Shinawari, moved out with troops of the 2nd Division, distributed in two columns. The main column was composed of Brigadier-General Kempster’s 1st Brigade of the 2nd Division:

 

1st Battalion Gordon Highlanders.

 

1st Battalion Dorsetshire Regiment.

 

1st Battalion 2nd Gurkhas.

 

15th Sikhs.

To which were added

 

No. 4 Company Madras Sappers and Miners.

 

No. 8 Mountain Battery.

 

Machine Gun Detachment, 16th Lancers.

 

Scouts, 5th Gurkhas.

The second column was under Brigadier-General Westmacott, who had either with him, or was joined by on reaching the Chagru Kotal, three of the battalions of his own, the 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Division, viz.:

 

2nd Battalion King’s Own Scottish Borderers.

 

1st Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment.

 

1st Battalion 3rd Gurkhas,

supplemented for this day by

 

No. 5 Mountain Battery.

 

No. 9 Mountain Battery.

 

Rocket Detachment Royal Artillery.

The two columns left camp at Shinawari, the one at 4.30 a.m., the other half an hour later. The main column moved along the foothills to the north-west of camp and, then, making a wide circle to the east, was to operate against the right flank and right rear of the enemy occupying the cliffs about Dargai. The second column was to make a frontal attack upon Dargai from the Chagru Kotal; and on its arrival here about 8.30, and seeing few of the enemy on the Dargai position, it was decided to at once attack without awaiting the turning movement of the main column. Some description of the famous position must now be given. ^[119] “The Chagru Kotal is at the top of the hill, 5525 feet high, between the plain on the southern or Shinawari side of the Samana Range and the Khanki Valley, but at the lowest point of the gap between the Samana Sukh, or western extremity of that part of the Samana Range on which stand Forts Gulistan, Saraghari and Lockhart, and the heights above Dargai. These heights, continued to the north beyond the village of Dargai, form what is called the Narikh Sukh, from which a rough track drops down into the Narikh Darra a short distance above its junction with the Chagru defile, which again meets the Khanki River almost at right angles some two miles further on. The road from Shinawari to the Khanki Valley runs very nearly due north. At the Chagru Kotal it is overlooked on the east by the Samana Sukh, a steep cliff rising precipitously to a height of some 700 feet above it, at a distance of from 700 to 800 yards. Opposite and nearly parallel to this on the western side of the kotal, but 1000 yards from it, are the Dargai heights, which attain an elevation of slightly over 6600 feet, 1100 feet above the Chagru Kotal. Although the range from the kotal to the enemy’s sangars on the top of the heights was only 1800 yards, the distance to be traversed on foot was about a couple of miles. For the first mile or more the track followed a more or less level course, until, passing through the village of Mamu Khan, it took a sharp turn to the right and began to zigzag up a very steep watercourse, which became gradually narrower as it neared the top of a small wooded, rocky ridge running roughly parallel to the enemy’s position and connected with it by a narrow col or saddle. This ridge was 400 feet lower than the crest of the position, and some 350 yards from the foot of it. The angle of descent from the position to the top of the ridge, or rather to the narrow gap at which alone it was possible to cross the ridge—which elsewhere was precipitous on the side nearest the position—was less steep than the slope from the gap downwards—or rearwards. Consequently, except at a point not far beyond the village of Mamu Khan, which was too distant from the position to be of any importance, the attacking force was not exposed to the enemy’s fire until it reached the gap. The approach to the gap was, as has been already stated, up a watercourse which narrowed at the top until it formed a sort of funnel, not wide enough to admit of the passage of more than two or three men abreast, who, as they issued from it, found themselves at the edge of a narrow ledge, 350 yards long to the foot of the position, exposed every inch of the way to a fire from half a mile of sangared crest.”

The cliffs of Dargai are everywhere almost sheer, the final ascent being made by a rough track, which climbs up at a point where the cliff is rather more broken and shelving than elsewhere.

The advance commenced about 9 a.m., the 3rd Gurkhas leading, followed by the King’s Own Scottish Borderers and Northamptons; and just before midday the position had been taken, the enemy, chiefly Orakzai Ali Khels, at the last only offering a comparatively feeble resistance, as they were beginning to feel the pressure of the main column. These fled towards the Khanki Valley, leaving twenty dead behind them. The attacking force had sustained but fifteen casualties—two killed and thirteen wounded. The advance of the main column had been greatly delayed by the impracticable character of the ground, which had necessitated the return of the mountain battery and all other pack animals; and it was after 3 p.m. before the junction of the two columns was effected at Dargai, by which time parties of the enemy had commenced to harass the rear of the main column, and some 4000 Afridis appeared to be advancing from the direction of the Khanki Valley, with the intention of attempting a re-occupation of the position.

No operation of this campaign has been more criticised, either by those who took part in it or by historians, than the evacuation on the 18th October of the Dargai position and its recapture thereby necessitated only two days later. The matter is barely touched upon in Sir William Lockhart’s despatch, appearing in the Gazette of India of January 22nd, 1898, beyond a remark that “the track to the water supply was afterwards found to be about three miles in length, so commanded from the adjacent heights that water could not have been obtained in the presence of an enemy unless these heights as well as Dargai itself had been held.” The inference is that, to hold the position won on the 18th, and safeguard the water supply, a far larger force would have been required than could at the time be spared. “Colonel (now Lieutenant-General) Hutchinson in his book, the Campaign in Tirah, states^[120] as the principal excuse for the failure to hold the Dargai heights when they had once been captured, that ‘the water supply of Dargai was at a place called Khand Talao, nearly three miles away to the west, and the road to it was commanded throughout by adjacent heights, so that, in the presence of an enemy, water could not have been obtained for the troops, unless these heights, as well as the village of Dargai, had been held in force.’ This statement is all the more remarkable in view of the fact that, on the excellent map of the position which he gives three pages before, are clearly marked both the small Talao (or tank), 100 yards below the village, containing muddy but not undrinkable water, which we used at first on the morning of the 21st, but also the larger tank some 500 yards further to the east.... The summit of the Narikh Sukh completely dominates the village of Dargai and the reverse slope of the enemy’s position, and commands an extensive view of the country for miles round. It is strewn with large rocks, very much like a Dartmoor Tor, and abounds in natural cover. A battalion left there on the 18th could have set at defiance any number of tribesmen, and, supported by another battalion on the kotal to connect it with the base and furnish it with supplies, could with little difficulty, in conjunction with the troops already in possession of the Samana across the valley, have effectually prevented any attempt of the Afridis to come up to meet us from the Khanki Valley.”

Immediately the junction of the two columns had been effected the retirement to camp commenced; a mountain battery was posted at the Chagru Kotal, and another, with a battalion, on the Samana Sukh, to cover the withdrawal—a difficult operation and attended with considerable loss, for the path was very steep and broken, and the enemy pressed the rearguard closely. They do not, however, appear to have pursued beyond the heights, and the further retirement of Sir Power Palmer’s force to Shinawari via the Chagru Kotal was unmolested. Our total casualties this day amounted to one officer and seven men killed, five officers and twenty-nine men wounded.

The reports which he had received, as to the relation of the Dargai position in occupation by the enemy to the use of the road over the Chagru Kotal, seem to have convinced General Yeatman-Biggs, now again commanding his division, that passage could not safely be attempted unless the tribesmen were dislodged from the heights on the left flank. He, therefore, proposed to Sir William Lockhart on the 19th, that the advance be made by way of Gulistan, the Samana Sukh, and the Talai Spur;^[121] but this suggestion was negatived, and the previous arrangement for the advance to Kharappa over the Chagru Kotal was to stand, Sir William considering that the well-known anxiety of the enemy as to their flanks, would cause them to evacuate the Dargai position on our troops arriving at the junction of the Narikh and Chagru ravines; at the same time the G.O.C.-in-Chief admitted that “it would be necessary to clear the Dargai heights overlooking the road to the west.” It seems, then, that what Sir William Lockhart suggested was a frontal attack on the Dargai position, combined with a threatening of the flanks by continuing the advance towards Kharappa.

The force placed at the disposal of General Yeatman-Biggs on the 20th, was composed of the troops of his own division, which had already taken the Dargai position on the 18th, less the 36th Sikhs, but strengthened by the inclusion of the 21st Madras Pioneers (divisional troops) and by the loan of two infantry battalions (2nd Battalion Derbyshire Regiment and 3rd Sikhs) from the 1st Division. The whole force left camp at Shinawari at 4.30 a.m. on the 20th by the direct road to the Chagru Kotal: no flank attack was attempted as on the previous occasion, but, fortunately, the expectation of such a movement kept a large contingent of the enemy from the actual point of attack during the whole day. As might have been expected with the passage by a single narrow road of so large a body of troops and transport, the block, inevitable under ordinary conditions, was accentuated by the opposition experienced; and, while some of the baggage was unable even to leave the Shinawari camp that day, late on the 21st the Shinawari-Chagru Kotal road was for quite half its length still absolutely choked with transport of all kinds—many of the animals had been standing loaded up for upwards of thirty-six hours.

The Dargai position, which on the 18th had been held by a limited number of Orakzais, was now occupied by a gathering of tribesmen estimated to number 12,000, partly Orakzais, but more than half consisting of Afridis from the Malikdin Khel, Kambar Khel, Kamar Khel, Zakha Khel, Kuki Khel, and Sipah clans.

The advanced troops, under Brigadier-General Kempster, reached the kotal about 8 a.m., and, on being joined there by Major-General Yeatman-Biggs, were at once ordered to take the position; the remainder of the force being halted on the summit or the south side of the pass, and no attempt being made to threaten the enemy’s flanks by continuing the advance. The assault on Dargai was led by the Gurkha Scouts and 1st Battalion 2nd Gurkhas, with the Dorsets in support and the Derbyshire Regiment in reserve, covered by the long-range fire of the Gordons and Maxim gun from a ridge immediately west of the kotal, of three mountain batteries on the pass, and of another on the Samana Sukh. The whole of the infantry of the attack was able to mass, without loss and under cover, within less than 500 yards of the position, and from here the Gurkhas dashed out, and, with something over fifty casualties, succeeded in establishing themselves in shelter in the broken and dead ground immediately under the cliffs. The enemy now concentrated a rapid, accurate, and well-sustained fire upon the narrow col or saddle described on page 322. The remainder of the Gurkhas were unable to get across, and attempts made, first by the Dorsets and then by the Derbyshires, to rush forward in driblets (necessitated both by the narrow exit from the “funnel” and the congested state of the ground whereon these regiments were massed) were beaten back with considerable loss. About 2.30 p.m. the colonel of the Dorsets, the senior officer on the spot, signalled for reinforcements. The Gordon Highlanders and 3rd Sikhs were then sent up, and, under a rapid concentrated fire from all the batteries, the Gordons led a dash, which was joined by all the other troops in the position, and the enemy, not waiting for the final assault, fled towards the Khanki Valley.

By this time it was too late to continue the advance; consequently, while the bulk of the force bivouacked about the Chagru Kotal, the Narikh Sukh was held by the Derbyshires, the position at Dargai by the Gurkhas and Dorsets, with the Gordon Highlanders lower down the hill. The total casualties sustained in this, the second assault on Dargai, amounted to four officers and thirty-four men killed, fourteen officers and 147 men wounded. It may here be mentioned that the troops now holding these heights remained wholly unmolested, even when, after the 23rd, the position was occupied by no more than one battalion—the 30th Punjab Infantry.

On the 21st the Second Division resumed its march; on the 24th the First Division began to move from Shinawari; and by the evening of the 27th the whole of the main force under Sir William Lockhart’s command, was, with its supplies and transport, concentrated at Kharappa ready for a further advance. During this time the Sampagha Pass to the north was reconnoitred, foraging parties were sent out, camps were strengthened and communications improved; the enemy was always active, following up reconnoitring and foraging parties, and “sniping” nightly into camp, whereby several casualties were sustained.

By the 28th a force of some 17,600 fighting men, nearly as many followers, and 24,000 animals, was concentrated in camp, and marched out this day to Ghandaki, a short four miles from Kharappa, proceeding by two roads; and in the afternoon a reconnaissance by the 1st Brigade of the First Division was pushed to the foot of the Sampagha Pass. On the following day the same brigade moved out while it was still dark; the Devons seized a village and some spurs on the right of the road to the pass, the Derbyshire Regiment occupied a mass of small brown hills in the centre—afterwards the first artillery position, and the 1st Gurkhas moved against the Kandi Mishti villages on the left. The Sampagha was captured by direct attack, the opposition not being very serious, and by 11.30 a.m. was in our hands, at a cost of two killed and thirty wounded. Three brigades were that same day pushed forward into the Mastura Valley, where up to this date no European had ever penetrated, the 1st Brigade remaining on the south of the Sampagha to help forward the transport, and eventually joining the main body on the night of the 30th.

On the 31st the force moved against the Arhanga Pass leading into Afridi Tirah, but the general expectation that the tribesmen would here make a real stand proved unfounded. The pass was captured practically by a single brigade—General Westmacott’s—at the expense of only three casualties, and the 2nd Brigade, First Division, with the whole of the Second Division, hurried on to Maidan, leaving the 1st Brigade of the First Division in the Mastura Valley.

Arrived in Maidan, expeditions were now made into the settlements of the different tribesmen in arms against us. As a preliminary, Bagh was visited on the 1st November. This was about three miles to the west of the Maidan camp, is the political centre of Tirah, and the meeting place of the Afridi jirgahs. On the 9th, a reconnaissance was made of Saran Sar, a pass into the Bara Valley, a number of defensive villages of the Zakha Khel were destroyed, and grain and forage supplies were removed; we sustained a considerable number of casualties in the retirement, the Northampton Regiment especially losing heavily. On the 13th, a force under General Kempster visited the Waran Valley to overawe and punish the Aka Khels, and the house of the notorious mullah, Saiyid Akbar, was destroyed. In the retirement our rearguard was again heavily handled, over 70 casualties being sustained at the hands of the Aka Khel, Zakha Khel, Kamar Khel and Sipah Afridis who took part in the action.