Darwesh Khels.—Immediately after the annexation of the Punjab, the Umarzai sub-division of the Ahmadzai Wazirs began and continued to give trouble on our border. A dispute which commenced with a disagreement with a Bannuchi chief, responsible for the collection of the revenue from Wazir villages in our territory, gradually developed into a grievance against the local British authority, and finally, early in 1850, men from several divisions of the Ahmadzai, to the number of 1500, attacked our post at Gumatti, immediately north of Bannu, but were repulsed. Later in the same year the Umarzais, joined by the Mahsud Wazirs, collected a force of several thousand men, intending to make an attack upon Bannu itself, but finding it too strongly defended, they dispersed. During the next two years the outposts of Bannu were constantly engaged in skirmishes with the Wazirs, who came down almost daily, occupying the foothills and firing at long range into Gumatti. Attempts were made to effect a settlement with them, but they resisted all overtures, and 436operations were then decided upon against them. Before, however, these could be undertaken, the southern Umarzais, living between the Tochi River and the Gabar Mountain, made a raid towards the Kurram, but were headed off by Major John Nicholson, then Deputy-Commissioner of Bannu, who at once made arrangements for the punishment of this particular section. Expedition against the Umarzai Wazirs, 1852.—The punitive force was divided into three columns. One column, composed of the 2nd Punjab Infantry, was to leave Bannu at 10 p.m. on the 20th December, and march through the Gumatti Pass upon Derabina and Garang, distant respectively fourteen and seventeen miles, attacking both places simultaneously at daybreak. Garang was at the foot of a narrow precipitous chasm in the Kafirkot Range, through which ran the road to Sappari, near the summit of the ridge. The Gumatti Pass was entered at midnight, the valley and a low range of hills were crossed, and Derabina was reached and destroyed. The hills above the Garang ravine were occupied just as the head of the second column was seen emerging from the village of Garang.
This force—two companies 1st Punjab Infantry and 350 men 4th Punjab Infantry, and accompanied by Major Nicholson—had moved from Latammar on Sappari by the Barganatu Pass, which was entered at midnight, the crest of the Kafirkot Range being reached about daybreak. Sappari was taken by surprise and destroyed, as were other encampments of 437the Umarzais in the Garang Pass. The surprise had been complete and but small resistance was made, but none the less the force suffered a loss of twenty-three men killed and wounded.
The third column—forty sabres, 2nd Punjab Cavalry, fifty Mounted Police, and 400 of the 6th Punjab Police Battalion—moved on the Umarzai settlements at the north of the Khaisora and Sein Passes, and these were destroyed and the cattle captured, the whole force returning to Bannu on the 22nd by the Kurram Pass. The Umarzais now appeared thoroughly humbled, and made complete submission.
Expedition of 1859–60
Expedition against the Kabul Khel Wazirs, 1859–1860.—The Ahmadzai were not the only clan of the Darwesh Khel Wazirs which gave trouble in those early days, for in 1850 the Kabul Khel sub-division of the Utmanzai clan made an audacious attack—in conjunction with some of the Khattaks—upon Bahadur Khel and the salt mines. Our troops being quickly brought up they dispersed, but they did not fail to collect again for the harassment of the working parties engaged in building a fort at Bahadur Khel. They joined the Umarzais in 1851 in their various raids against our posts, and gave some annoyance to our troops during Captain Coke’s Miranzai expedition of 1851. During the next two years they were particularly aggressive, committing nineteen raids and carrying off cattle, but on Captain Coke commencing reprisals they made terms, and for a time were more careful in their behaviour. They, however, cut up some of our cavalry 438grasscutters near Thal during the Miranzai expedition of 1855–6, and in 1859 some of the Hathi Khel sub-division of the Ahmadzais, having murdered a British officer near Latammar, took refuge with the Kabul Khels. As was only to be expected, these refused to hand over the murderers, and a force of nearly 4000 men was assembled in December of this year at Kohat and marched to Thal, where, on the 19th, it was joined by Bangash and Khattak levies, raising the strength of the force to some 5400 men: the whole was under the command of Brigadier-General N. B. Chamberlain, C.B. On the 20th December the force crossed the Kurram River and encamped at Biland Khel, then in Afghan territory, the ruler of which had sanctioned our movements; and it was found that the main body of the Kabul Khels had taken their stand on a high range of hills called Maidani, whither they had removed their belongings, and where they had stored grain, and raised defences. Maidani is about eight miles south-west of Biland Khel, near Zakha Narai, and consists of two parallel ranges contiguous to each other, terminating at either end in a gorge and enclosing a long, narrow valley; the inward slopes of both mountains are tolerably easy, and covered with grass and bushes, but the outward sides or faces are rugged and precipitous. The two gorges, forming the water channels, were the entrances to the valley—the one facing east being called Gandiob, the one to the south Zakha. The enemy were believed to be from 2000–3000 strong.
It was resolved to attack before other clans could 439join the enemy, or before the tribesmen should be led to evacuate the position by seeing the preparations made to assault it.
Operations about Gandiob
At 6 a.m. on the 22nd the following marched upon Gandiob:
 
Four guns, Peshawar Mountain Battery.
 
Three guns, Hazara Mountain Battery.
 
Guides Infantry.
 
4th Sikh Infantry.
 
1st Punjab Infantry.
 
3rd Punjab Infantry.
 
4th Punjab Infantry.
The enemy had evidently expected the advance upon Maidani by the Zakha gorge, where most of the defenders had taken post, and the defences at Gandiob were incomplete, consequently the resistance was comparatively feeble; the heights were taken with but small loss, and after destroying the defences, the force returned unmolested to its camp at Gandiob. Next day the advantage gained was followed up; the bulk of the force returned to Maidani, marched down the valley near to the Zakha exit, and crossed over the range into the Durnani Valley, where the night was passed; a large amount of Kabul Khel stock was captured, and on the return to Shiwa, whither the camp had been moved from Gandiob, representatives of the clans came in asking for terms. The Utmanzais were directed to give up two of the murderers or the actual leader of the gang. On the 29th the main body moved to Spinwam, whence the tribesmen could more easily be coerced, while the remainder marched 440up the river nearer to Biland Khel. The tribesmen now brought in a man who had harboured the murderers, and on the 2nd January the troops moved back to Karera in the Kurram, having now satisfactorily settled with the Wazirs on the left bank of that river.
On the 4th January, while two battalions and a mountain battery remained on the right bank of the Kurram to keep open communications, the Brigadier-General marched to Sappari with the Hazara Mountain Battery, a detachment of Sappers and Miners, the 3rd and 6th Punjab Infantry, and one company 24th Punjab Infantry. There was no opposition, the Ahmadzai maliks were told they must assist in the capture of the murderers, and the force was then broken up. As might, however, have been expected, the dispersal of the troops did not facilitate the attainment of the object for which the expedition had mainly been undertaken; but eventually, through the personal influence of Lieutenant-Colonel Reynell Taylor, the Commissioner, the tribesmen were induced themselves to assemble a force, and capture and bring in one of the murderers, who was ultimately hanged on the very spot where he had committed the crime.
Trouble in 1869
The next occasion when we came in contact with the Darwesh Khels was in 1869, when in retaliation for an attack made upon a party of them by the Turis, they came down upon the village of Thal, and carried off about 7000 head of cattle. They refused restitution, but on Lieutenant-Colonel Keyes, commanding the Kohat district, collecting and moving a 441strong force out to Thal in April, the chief men of the division implicated tendered their submission and paid up the fines demanded. In the year following, the Muhammad Khel section of the Ahmadzai, hitherto a well-behaved community, began to give a good deal of trouble. Beginning with a grievance about a fine, and a judgment against them in regard to water-rights—Oliver tells us that across the border more than half the trouble arises about women, money, land or water—it culminated in ambuscading and shooting down seven sepoys of a party marching from Bannu for the relief of the Kurram outpost, by a raiding party of 140 Muhammad Khels. The section concerned was at once outlawed; all members found in British territory were arrested, and their lands in the Bannu district were sequestered until the whole clan submitted, and gave up the men who had committed this last outrage. This they refused to do, and for some fifteen months they lived among other clans, who sympathised with, and befriended them in their exile. They committed several further raids, but eventually expressed their anxiety to come to terms and surrendered unconditionally. Their six headmen were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment, and the fines inflicted on the section had to be paid up before they were permitted to return to their holdings in British territory. Nor did the lesson taught end here; every division which had harboured or befriended the Muhammad Khels was called to account, and punishments suitable to the degree of their offences were inflicted.
442For some years after this the Darwesh Khel Wazirs gave but little trouble, but this unusual abstinence was not due to any consideration for the British Government, but was necessitated by the tedious war they were engaged in against the Mahsuds, and which endured—to the general disadvantage of the Darwesh Khels—until September 1878, when the feud was patched up.
On the outbreak of the war in Afghanistan a convoy route was opened between Thal and Bannu, and which, following for the most part the line of the Kurram River, passed through the independent territory of the Utmanzais and Ahmadzais; it had been traversed during the Kabul Khel expedition of 1859, but had not since been used by us. Many detachments and contingents of all arms marched by this route during the winter of 1878–79, and Wazir camels were extensively used in the carriage of supplies for the Kurram Valley Field Force. For assisting in these arrangements, allowances amounting to Rs. 1000 per mensem were made to the more important Utmanzai and Ahmadzai chiefs, and the route remained open until the latter part of March 1880, when, in view of a fanatical excitement fanned by the Mullah Adkar, the road was closed.
During the time the Thal-Bannu route was in use, the number of offences or raids committed was particularly small, considering the number of valuable convoys passed through; but almost immediately the road was closed, a serious raid was committed on a Turi caravan near Thal by a mixed band of Darwesh 443Khels, Mahsuds and Dawaris, and on a Khattak labour camp on the Thal-Kurram road. A few weeks later—on the night of the 1st–2nd May—a determined attack was made on the military post at Chupri, eight miles to the north-west of Thal, garrisoned by fifty bayonets and thirty sabres. The raiders were some 200 men of the Darwesh Khels, Mahsuds and Dawaris; and forty of these, having by some means gained access to the enclosure of the post, inflicted upon our troops a loss of eleven killed (including a British officer), and sixteen wounded before they were beaten off. No reparation for this outrage ever appears to have been exacted.
Expedition of 1880
Expedition against the Malik Shahi Wazirs, October 1880.—By October 1880, the fines due from the Kabul Khel and Malik Shahi Wazirs had amounted to a considerable sum, chiefly on account of thefts committed by them in the Kurram and near Thal during the Afghan war; and there appearing to be some difficulty in collecting the amount, a force, under Brigadier-General J. J. H. Gordon, C.B., entered the Kabul Khel Hills on the evening of the 27th October. The force was composed of:
 
Two guns, 1/8th Royal Artillery.
 
250, 85th King’s Own Light Infantry.
 
250, 18th Bengal Cavalry.
 
250, 20th Punjab Infantry.
The object of the expedition was to seize men and cattle of the Malik Shahi section as security for their share of the fine. These people are almost entirely nomadic, spending the summer on the slopes of the 444Siah Koh Mountains, and wintering on both banks of the Kurram River between the ninth and sixteenth milestones on the Thal-Bannu road. In order to reach them it was necessary to traverse the whole of the Kabul Khel settlements; and the difficulty, therefore, of the enterprise lay in moving through Kabul Khel country without warning reaching the Malik Shahi section, and so giving them time to escape from the comparatively open country watered by the Kurram River, into the more intricate hill country to the west in the direction of the Siah Koh.
The force left Thal at 9.30 p.m.; the advance party surrounded the Malik Shahi encampment at the south-west of the valley, another party, detached to the left, surrounded other settlements on the Charkhanai plateau; while a third small party went to the right to try and capture some noted Wazir thieves; the supports remained at Drozanda on the Thal-Bannu road. The surprise was complete, 2000 head of cattle and 109 prisoners were taken, and the force returned to Thal on the 28th, where, two days later, the jirgahs came in, and within a few weeks the whole of the fines due had been realised from the Malik Shahi and Kabul Khels; their conduct did not, however, materially improve, despite the punishment they had received and the knowledge they had acquired of our ability to exact reparation from them whenever it should suit us to do so.
Our later dealings with the Darwesh Khel Wazirs will be described further on in this chapter.
The Mahsud Wazirs
Mahsud Wazirs.—The reputation of the Mahsuds 445has never been good; they have from the earliest days been notorious robbers, and their raids upon British territory have been frequent and serious. The Powindah caravans of the warrior traders, mostly Ghilzais, which pass to and fro by the Gomal Pass between Afghanistan and India, bringing Central Asian merchandise as far as the markets of Benares and Patna, have ever been the objects of constant attack and harassment by the Mahsuds, whose country commands the Gomal; and both in 1855 and 1857 John Lawrence, the Chief Commissioner, urged the Government to undertake retributive measures against them. Again, in 1859 and 1860, Brigadier-General Chamberlain, Commanding the Punjab Frontier Force, made similar appeals, but Lord Canning, to whom the matter was then referred, decided against an expedition as not being actually urgent at the moment.
In March 1860, however, the Mahsuds committed a most serious and unprovoked act of aggression. This was nothing less than the arrival before Tank of some 3000 Wazirs, under one Jangi Khan, with the intention of sacking the town, which stands on the plains some five miles from the foot of the hills. Warning of the intended attack had, however, been received, and Ressaldar Saadat Khan, of the 5th Punjab Cavalry, commanding the post, had taken the necessary steps to oppose the tribesmen. He had called in mounted men from other posts in the neighbourhood, and had collected levies and horsemen in the service of the Nawab of Tank, and on the 13th March he moved out towards the hills at the head of 158 sabres of his regiment and 446thirty-seven mounted levies. He found the Wazir lashkar drawn up near the mouth of the Tank Pass, and, feigning retreat, he drew the enemy after him into the plains. The cavalry then turned and, having cut off the enemy’s retreat, Saadat Khan charged in the most dashing manner. The Wazirs were cut down, ridden over and put to flight, leaving 300 dead on the ground, including six leading maliks, and having many more wounded. The Ressaldar’s force had only one man killed and sixteen wounded.[137]
Expedition of 1860
Expedition against the Mahsud Wazirs, 1860.—It was now felt that operations must be undertaken against the Mahsuds, and Brigadier-General Chamberlain was accordingly ordered to take a force into their hills. The general decided to advance by way of Tank; this line was better known than that via Bannu, and it led more directly to the country of the tribesmen concerned in the recent outrage; he intended, moreover, should the Mahsuds not early come to terms, to advance to their chief places, Kaniguram 447and Makin, returning to British territory by the Khaisora defile debouching near Bannu. It was expected that the Mahsuds would probably make a stand, either at an advanced position at Hinis Tangi or at the more retired Shingi Kot, protecting the actual entrance to their country. As a matter of fact, however, they did not seriously defend either position, and as this was the first occasion upon which operations in the Mahsud country had been undertaken, there was no precedent to guide the commander and troops as to the amount of resistance which was to be expected, or where it would most probably be met.
A large number of levies—about 1600,—chiefly drawn from the hereditary enemies of the Mahsuds, were called up to take part in the expedition, while the regular portion of the force, assembled on the 16th April at Tank, was composed as under:
 
Three guns, No. 2 Punjab Light Field Battery.[138]
 
Three guns, No. 3 Punjab Light Field Battery.[139]
 
Four guns, Peshawar Mountain Battery.
 
Three guns, Hazara Mountain Battery.
108
sabres, Guides Cavalry.
131
sabres, 3rd Punjab Cavalry.
100
sabres, Multani Cavalry.[140]
60
bayonets, 1st Company Sappers and Miners.
407
bayonets, Guides Infantry.
427
bayonets, 4th Sikh Infantry.
448
397
bayonets, 1st Punjab Infantry.
684
bayonets, 2nd Punjab Infantry.
373
bayonets, 3rd Punjab Infantry.
381
bayonets, 4th Punjab Infantry.
400
bayonets, 6th Punjab Infantry.
207
bayonets, 14th Punjab Infantry.[141]
418
bayonets, 24th Punjab Infantry (Pioneers).[142]
464
bayonets, Hazara Gurkha Battalion.[143]
394
bayonets, 6th Police Battalion.
The force started on the 17th, and arrived unopposed at Palosin Kach next day, a party being detached to destroy Shingi Kot. A halt was made during the 20th to give the Mahsuds an opportunity for submission; but nothing resulting, the Headquarters and main column moved on the 20th to Haidari Kach, so as to survey the country and punish certain especially troublesome sections, leaving a small force at Palosin and at Jandola (the latter a Batanni village) to keep open communications with the plains. From Haidari Kach the Brigadier advanced as far as Barwand, meeting with no opposition and seeing few of the enemy; and on the morning of the 24th returned to Palosin, where in the meantime the camp under Colonel Lumsden, with six guns, some 200 sabres and about 1400–1500 bayonets, had been very seriously attacked.
The camp had been placed on the Kach[144] land, on the left bank of the Tank stream, with its right resting 449on an old tower (distant some 800 yards) overlooking the stream; the left was protected by a picquet on an abrupt peak to the south-east, having the scarped bank of the river in its front and the edge of the high table-land immediately in the rear. On the night of the 22nd, the outlying picquets were at their posts on the ridge behind the camp; a complete company occupied the tower, three other parties, each of a havildar and eight sepoys, were posted along the rear, while one of thirty men was on the high peak above mentioned. Each picquet had a support of equal strength close in rear.
A Night Attack
No information as to any tribal gathering had been received, and the night had passed quietly enough, when just at reveille the rear picquet fired a volley, and a rush of 3000 Wazirs overpowered and nearly destroyed the picquets holding the high bank. Fortunately the whole body did not come on; some 500 swordsmen stormed into the camp, while the remainder kept up a heavy fire from the ridge. For some little time confusion reigned in the camp, but then discipline prevailed, and the Guides, 4th Sikhs and Gurkhas drove out the enemy at the point of the bayonet, pursuing them for three miles and punishing them heavily. Our losses had been serious—63 killed and 166 wounded—but those of the enemy were even more so. The attack had been a complete surprise, and was carried out with great gallantry and determination: we shall see another instance of such an attack further on in this chapter.
450It had been intended to commence the march on Kaniguram on the 2nd May, forcing en route the position at the Ahnai Tangi, which the Wazirs were said to have occupied; but on the 1st some Mahsud maliks arrived in camp, purporting to represent the whole tribe, and expressing their anxiety to make terms. They were offered the option of a heavy fine, with security for its payment and hostages for good behaviour, or the unopposed passage of the force to their capital, Kaniguram. Neither alternative recommended itself to the maliks, who asked for a day to consider the matter, and the General decided to move the camp on to Shingi Kot for greater convenience of supply, and here the maliks were to bring their decision on the 2nd. Nothing, however, was heard from them this day, and on the 3rd the onward march was resumed, the Ahnai gorge being found abandoned, and the force encamped at Zeriwam, where another, and an unsuccessful, attempt was made to effect a peaceful settlement with the Mahsuds. Next day the troops moved on, the defile becoming narrower and the Barari gorge turning out to be the most difficult of any that had been yet seen, being a narrow cleft cut by the Tank stream through a chain of mountains crossing its course at right angles. Both sides of the passage are perpendicular cliffs of forty or fifty feet in height, from which the mountains slope upwards at a considerable incline, while the actual mouth of the pass was hidden by a thick grove of trees.
It was soon abundantly evident that here the enemy 451had made every preparation for defence, while the position itself was one of great natural strength. Both sides of the pass-mouth were very steep, while everywhere sangars had been placed in terraces, and there was a safe line of retreat, but the ground to the north seemed just practicable for infantry and mules. There was, however, a ravine which joined the Tank stream at the mouth of the pass on this side, and there was no means of knowing whether, after the northern heights had been seized, the actual position might not still be inaccessible owing to the presence of this ravine.
General Chamberlain’s Operations
General Chamberlain decided to attack on both sides, and formed two columns for this purpose, the left under Colonel Lumsden, the right or northern under Colonel Green. On the right the attack was at first conducted without loss, but thereafter the advance became difficult, the ground was much cut up by ravines, the fire was very heavy, and the men attacking became a good deal exposed and dispersed. There was something of a check, and the Wazirs, leaping out of their sangars, charged down upon the 3rd Punjab Infantry sword in hand. These gave way and fell back upon the support, which also retired, and the Mahsuds prepared to charge the guns and the reserve. The 1st Punjab Infantry, under Captain Keyes, now stemmed the tide; the enemy, met by these men and by the fire of the guns, fell back in their turn hotly pursued. The 1st Punjab Infantry followed them into the breastworks, the other troops rallied, and the right of the position was now taken.
452Colonel Lumsden’s party had an easier task; disheartened at seeing the northern part of their position in our hands, and fired on by Colonel Green’s guns, the Mahsuds on this flank offered but a feeble resistance, and the force marched through the gorge and camped three miles beyond it. Our losses in this affair were thirty killed and eighty-six wounded.
On the 5th the force arrived, unopposed, at Kaniguram, remaining there until the 8th, and receiving the expression of a desire for peace from the Mahsud maliks, but nothing satisfactory was arranged. On the 9th a move was then made to Makin, which was reached with but little opposition on the following day. Next to Kaniguram, Makin is the most important and best built town in the Mahsud country, the seat of their iron trade; it is situated at the point where the mountains of Shuidar and Pirghal close in upon each other, a spur from each forming its northern and southern face. As the Mahsuds still failed to come to terms, towers were destroyed and villages burnt; but the state of the supplies rendering it impossible for the force to remain longer in the country, the General directed the return march on Bannu to commence on the 12th. Moving by Razmak, Razani and Saroba, on the 20th Bannu was reached, and the force was broken up.
Although the operations had been successful, they had not resulted in the submission of the Mahsud Wazirs; the tribe was therefore put under blockade, thus inflicting increased financial loss on them, and at last in June 1862 they gave in, agreed to the 453principle of sectional responsibility for outrages committed, and gave hostages, but they had hardly concluded this treaty before they broke it.
The next sixteen years form a continuous record of raids on the Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan borders; attacks on posts, cattle-lifting, highway robbery, abduction, murder and wounding. The offenders were punished when they could be met with, and the divisions and sections to which they belonged were made to suffer for their misdeeds; blockades were imposed, additional posts were built for the overawing of the Mahsud Wazirs, service was offered to them in the frontier militia, and at last, in 1878, it was reported that the Tank border had never before been in so settled a condition, or life and property so secure. Within a year, however, the peace of this part of the frontier was rudely broken by a raid on a large scale and of a particularly audacious character.
Descent upon Tank
About Christmas 1878 rumours of an intended attack upon Tank reached the local authorities, and precautions were accordingly taken. All the posts on this border were doubled, and in some of the more important the strength of the garrison had been trebled, so that when, on New Year’s Day 1879, the attack, instigated by emissaries of the Amir Sher Ali, actually commenced, nearly half the available force in the district was concentrated in the Tank Valley. All the villages had also been warned.
On the 1st January, however, the Mahsuds descended from their hills to the number of between 2000 454and 3000, brushed aside the opposition met with from the post at the mouth of the pass, and, descending upon Tank, burnt the bazaar and many houses, and finally regained the hills before they could be intercepted, carrying off a considerable amount of property with them.
The Mahsuds engaged in this affair belonged chiefly to the Alizai clan; but men from all the country round, within and without our border, joined the marauders, being unable to resist so unusually favourable an opportunity for fomenting disorder and obtaining plunder, and lawless and predatory bands destroyed and robbed several border villages.
The news of the outrage did not reach Dera Ismail Khan until the morning of the 2nd, when a force of cavalry and infantry at once moved out to Tank, came up with some clansmen about four miles from that place, took a number of prisoners, recovered a certain amount of plunder, and reached Tank the following night, having marched nearly fifty miles. During the next fortnight minor operations were carried out from Tank and from the border posts with the comparatively small force available, and the enemy were everywhere driven from the positions they took up and suffered considerable loss, order being eventually restored on this border. All the local tribesmen implicated in the recent attacks had now been punished, with the exception of the Mahsuds, and these were offered certain terms............