TheNorth-West Frontier (present-dayKhyber Pakhtunkhwa) was a region of theBritish Indian Empire. It remains the western frontier of present-dayPakistan, extending from thePamir Knot in the north to the Koh-i-Malik Siah in the west,[2] and separating the modern Pakistani frontier regions ofNorth-West Frontier Province (renamed as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa),Federally Administered Tribal Areas andBalochistan from neighbouringAfghanistan in the west. The borderline between is officially known as theDurand Line and dividesPashtun inhabitants of these provinces from Pashtuns in eastern Afghanistan.
The two main gateways on the North West Frontier are theKhyber andBolan Passes. Since ancient times, the Indian subcontinent has been repeatedly invaded through these northwestern routes. With the expansion of theRussian Empire intoCentral Asia in the twentieth century, stability of the Frontier and control of Afghanistan became cornerstones of defensive strategy for British India.
Much of the Frontier was occupied byRanjit Singh in the early 19th century, and then taken over by theEast India Company when it annexed thePunjab in 1849.[3]
Between 1849 and 1947 the military history of the frontier was a succession of punitive expeditions against offendingPashtun (orPathan) tribes, punctuated by three wars against Afghanistan. Many British officers who went on to distinguished command in theFirst andSecond World Wars learnt their soldiering on the North-West Frontier, which they called theGrim.[4]
In 1747 when Ahmad Khān Abdālī seized control ofKandahar,Kabul, andPeshawar, and, asAhmad Shah Durrani, was proclaimedShah of theAfghans.[5] He went on to conquerHerat andKhorassan, and established an empire from theOxus to theIndus.[6] On his death in 1773, the Afghan domain includedBaluchistan,Sindh, thePunjab, andKashmir.[5] Ahmad Shah was succeeded by his sonTimur Shah Durrani, whose rule of twenty years saw the Afghan tide begin to ebb. Timur left many sons but no heir, and the resultant internecine struggles for the throne lasted more than thirty years. During this period the Punjab was effectively ceded to its erstwhile governorRanjit Singh, Iran recovered Khorassan, and Sindh broke away.[5] In 1813Sikh forces from the Punjab crossed the Indus and seized the oldMughal fort atAttock. In 1819 Kashmir was lost, and west of the IndusDerajat also. Four years later the winter capital at Peshawar came under attack.[7]
In 1826Dost Mohammad Khan emerged as undisputed ruler in Kabul, and was there proclaimedEmir.[8] He defeated a further attempt to oust him by his exiled rivalShuja Shah Durrani in 1833; however the Sikhs seized all of Peshawar the following year. In 1837 Dost Mohammad launched a counter-attack through the Khyber, but the Afghan force was halted atJamrud Fort.[9] Dost Mohammad had sought assistance from theEast India Company against the resurgent Punjab, but was rebuffed. So Dost Mohammad turned toImperial Russia for help.[8]
Maharaja Ranjit Singh was a Sikh ruler of the sovereign country of Punjab and the Sikh Empire. His Samadhi is located in Lahore, Pakistan.
He then spent the following years fighting the Afghans, driving them out of western Punjab, taking opportunity of the Afghans being embroiled in civil war. The deposed Afghan kingShah Shuja rallied a significant number of tribes and received British backing in the form of the Sikh army against theBarakzai kingDost Muhammad. The civil war in Afghanistan coupled with a British backed assault meant that the Sikhs could virtually walk into Peshawar. They managed to capture some Pashtun territory including Peshawar which was under direct British supervision and control.
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, theEast India Company controlled southern India,Bengal,Bihar, andOrissa (modern Odisha). Dominance was gained at the expense of its successive French equivalents. Britain and France were atwar, and theFranco-Persian alliance of 1807, followed the same year by the Franco-RussianTreaty of Tilsit, alerted theHEIC to the external threat posed from the north-west.[10]
By 1819 onlySindh and thePunjab remained outside the company's control.Napoleon was vanquished, but theEmpire of the Tsars had begun to expand south and east. Russian influence grew likewise, and by the early 1830sQajar Irān was within the Tsar's sphere. Attempts by Irān to recoverHerat in 1834, and again in 1837, raised the spectre of Russian armies on the road toKandahar, whence direct access to India through theKhojak andBolan passes.[11]
Meanwhile, the conflict between Afghanistan and the Punjab focused on theKhyber route. Dost Mohammad appealed to the HEIC for aid in recovering Peshawar, but the company could not help him without alienating its treaty ally Ranjit Singh. When Dost Mohammad redirected his appeal to Russia, theGovernor-GeneralLord Auckland resolved to depose Dost Mohammad, and replace him with Shuja Shah Durrani. Restored to his throne in Kabul, the exiled former ruler would accept the Sikh gains west of the Indus, and the Company controlling his foreign policy. The agreement was formalised with theTreaty of Simla signed in June 1838 between Shah Shuja, the HEIC, and Ranjit Singh.[12]
In the period following theannexation of the Punjab in 1849 until theSepoy Mutiny of 1857, several expeditions were undertaken against almost every tribe along the whole of the North-West Frontier, most notably underSir Charles Napier andSir Colin Campbell, under orders from the governor-general,Lord Dalhousie. Disgusted at being instructed to burn Pathan villages, first Napier and then Campbell resigned and returned to England. Campbell had already decided that the best method of dealing with the tribesmen on the frontier was through bribery.[13]
When theSepoy Rebellion broke out AmirDost Mohammad Khan came under internal pressure to seize the advantage and attack India. However he stood by his treaty obligations. This allowed Indian troops on the frontier to deploy toDelhi and deal with the revolt centered there.[3]
In 1877,AmirSher Ali received a Russian mission in Kabul, but refused to accept one from the British. The following year Sher Ali signed a treaty with Russia. The British sent a mission anyway, but the mission and its armed escort were denied passage through the Khyber Pass. The British threatened to invade, and when no apology was forthcoming, did so. Sher Ali died while fleeing to Russian territory, and his sonYakub succeeded him. On May 26, 1879,Amir Yakub signed theTreaty of Gandamak, whereby Afghanistan surrendered its foreign policy to the British Empire, which in turn promised protection from aggression. Afghanistan ceded some territory and accepted aBritish Resident in Kabul until 1894.[14]
In September 1879, some six weeks after establishing his residency,Sir Louis Cavagnari and his escort were murdered. Hostilities promptly resumed. Yakub's army was defeated in September 1880, and his throne was offered to, and accepted by,Abdur Rahman, who agreed to surrender all claims on the Khyber, theKurram,Sibi, andPishin.[15]
In support of the British war effort, theIndian Army deployedexpeditionary forces to theWestern Front,East Africa,Gallipoli,Mesopotamia,Sinai and Palestine.[18] India was thus vulnerable to hostile attention from Afghanistan. A Turco-German mission arrived inKabul in October 1915 with obvious strategic purpose. However, AmirHabibulla abided by his treaty obligations and maintained Afghanistan's neutrality, in the face of internal opposition from factions keen to side with theOttoman Sultan.[15] Hostilities on the frontier remained local.
Having upheld Afghan neutrality while India was engaged in theGreat War, Habibulla sought full independence for Afghanistan in February 1919.[21] Such a reward might have consolidated his rule, but later that month he was murdered.[22]
His successorAmanullah pursued a similar policy by different means. With India's Army de-mobilising, and its Government preoccupied with violent unrest in western India, Amanullah sent his troops across the Frontier in early May. At the end of the month he sought an armistice, which was granted on 3 June.[23] By theTreaty of Rawalpindi signed in August, Afghanistan gained control of its foreign affairs, and in turn, recognised theDurand Line as its border with India.[24]
The short-lived war had long-term consequences inWaziristan, where tribesmen rallied to Amanullah's cause. The western militiaposts were abandoned. Many of the militia deserted, taking their modern weapons and joining their fellow tribesmen in attacking the remaining posts. As a result, the Indian Army'sWaziristan Force was fully engaged in re-establishing the posts and restoring the lines of communication from November until May 1920. The western base atWana was finally reoccupied in December 1920.[25]
The long-term plan for control of the district entailed buildingmetalled roads along the lines of communication to a new central base to be established atRazmak. In 1921 work began on the southern road up theTank Zam fromJandola, under the protection of the Waziristan Force. The following year work on the northern road from theTochi began atIdak, shielded by theRazmak Force advancing to its objective. The two roads met in 1924, linkingNorth andSouth Waziristan, and enabling the Indian Army to reorganise both areas as one military district.[26] The Waziristan and Razmak Field Forces then devolved into brigades based permanently atManzai, Razmak,Gardai, andBannu.[27]
The following year the few tribal sections in South Waziristan remaining openly hostile were subdued by aircraft alone. For this operation theNo. 2 (Indian) Wing of theRAF under Wing CommanderRichard Pink was based atTank andMiranshah.[28] Aircraft comprising theWana Patrol maintained regular weekly contact with the posts at Wana andTanai until 1929, when the road fromSarwekai was completed, and the Manzai brigade relocated to Wana.[29]
From 1940 to 1947,Waziristan and indeed most of the Frontier remained relatively calm[32] and the British were able to divert most of their military effort to more important theatres. There were, however, brief periods of trouble[33] on the frontier, which required the British to continue to maintain a military presence in the region, although for the main they were able to employ mainly garrison or rear-area troops during this time, thus allowing them to free up front-line units for active service elsewhere.
Trained regular troops were desperately needed for the war against Germany and Japan.
Razmak, Wana and Bannu were garrisoned with half-trained units which suffered serious reverses, losing men, rifles, and light machine-guns.[34]
In 1944, a British committee under Lieutenant-General SirFrancis Tuker was set up to review future policy for the region.[35] As part of its findings, it recommended a return to theCurzon Plan, which advocated the withdrawal of all regular forces from tribal territory into outposts, or cantonments, along the administrative border from where they could keep an eye on things. The unadministered districts would then once again become the responsibility of the local militias.[35]
In 1947, following theindependence, the North-West Frontier region became a part of the newly formed nation ofDominion of Pakistan.[36] Based upon the recommendations of the Tucker committee in 1944 (see above), the newly formed Pakistani government decided to move away from the previous British policy of 'forward defence' in the North-West Frontier region and ordered the withdrawal of forces from Waziristan, as it was felt that the presence of a regular military force in the region was provoking tensions with the local tribesmen.[35] This withdrawal began on December 6, 1947 and was successfully completed by the end of the month under the codename Operation Curzon.[36]
According to the British officerJohn Masters,Pashtun women in theNorth-West Frontier Province (1901–1955) of British India during theAnglo-Afghan Wars would brutally castrate non-Muslim soldiers who were captured, especially British and Sikhs.[37][38] Pashtun women urinated into prisoners' mouths.[39] A method of execution by this is recorded: captured British soldiers were spread out and fastened with restraints to the ground, then a stick, or a piece of wood was used to keep their mouth open to prevent swallowing. Pashtun women then squatted and urinated directly into the mouth of the man until he drowned in the urine, taking turns one at a time.[40][41][42][43][44][45][46] This method of execution was reported to have been practiced specifically by the women of theAfridi tribe of the Pashtuns.[47]
Corps ofcavalry andinfantry, raised at Peshawar in 1846 by Lt.Harry Lumsden, and later based atHotiMardan.[48] Originally onetroop of cavalry and twocompanies of infantry,[49] the cavalry component later expanded to 2½squadrons, and the infantry to 4½ companies.[48] Two further infantrybattalions were raised in 1917.[50]
From its inception the corps was clothed in native style, with smock, baggy trousers and turban of home-spun cotton, and jerkin of sheepskin. The cotton was dyed grey with a derivative of adwarf palm known asmazari, while the leather was dyedkhaki withmulberry juice. Thus was military dress first coloured khaki for itscamouflage effect, and the Guides were the first troops to wear it.[51][unreliable source?] The drab colour is well suited to the barren rocky terrain of the North-West Frontier, and all but one of the other Punjab frontier units soon followed the Guides example.[52]
In 1848 theSecond Sikh War broke out and the corps won its firstbattle honours; 'MOOLTAN','GOOJERAT', and 'PUNJAUB'. Thereafter the Guides were engaged in most frontier affairs, and from 1857 the corps was included in thePunjab Irregular Force, and subsequently in thePunjab Frontier Force.
That same year the Corps of Guides was ordered to Delhi, covering the 930 km from Mardan in twenty-two days and famously going into action on arrival.[53] They were duly honoured withDELHI 1857.[54]
At the beginning of theSecond Afghan War in 1878, the Guides Infantry, together with the 1st Sikh Infantry, PFF, took part in forcing theKhyber, and were prominent in seizing the fortress ofAli Masjid.[55] For this and subsequent efforts the Corps of Guides was awarded the battle honoursALI MASJID,KABUL 1879, and AFGHANISTAN 1878–80.
The last decade of the 19th century saw the Guides employed in theChitral campaign of 1895, and thePunjab Frontier Revolt of 1897–8. Thus was the corps awarded the battle honours 'CHITRAL','MALAKAND', and 'PUNJAB FRONTIER'.
The reforms of 1903 gave to theQueen's Own Corps of Guides (Lumsden's) a subsidiary title in the form of its founders name, but left it numberless. In 1911 the corps took upFrontier Force as its first subsidiary title.[48]
During the First World War the cavalry branch of the Corps was deployed overseas toMesopotamia, but not before winning a further honour in its own territory; 'N.W. FRONTIER INDIA 1915'.[49]
In 1922 the separation became permanent, when the mounted branch was redesignated the10th Queen Victoria's Own Corps of Guides Cavalry (Frontier Force),[56] and the infantry was amalgamated as the5th Battalion,12th Frontier Force Regiment (Queen Victoria's Own Corps of Guides).[57]
Formed in 1846 to guard the southern part of the North-West Frontier. Initially consisting of just theScindeIrregular Horse, the force under Capt.John Jacob was part of theBombay Army.[58]
TheScinde Irregular Horse was raised atHyderabad in 1839 by Capt. Ward.[59]
The regiment earned its first battle honour during theOperations in Scinde 1839-42, when it was awarded the unique distinction 'CUTCHEE'.[60]For the subsequentScinde Campaign of 1843 it was awarded'MEEANEE' and'HYDERABAD'.[61]
A second regiment was raised at Hyderabad in 1846 by Capt. J. Jacob.[62]
During theSecond Sikh War both the 1st and 2nd Irregular Horse earned further distinction with 'MOOLTAN', 'GOOJERAT', and 'PUNJAUB'.[63]
A third regiment was raised in 1857,[64] and in 1860 the regiments were designated simplyScinde Horse.[59][62]
The 1st Scinde Horse was deployed to suppress theSepoy Revolt of 1857–8, and was duly awarded CENTRAL INDIA.[65]
All three regiments were rewarded for their part in theSecond Afghan War:-
Its hard-won honours notwithstanding, the third regiment was disbanded in 1882.[64]
The 1st and 2nd Regiments joined the Bombay line in 1885 as the5th and6th Bombay Cavalry respectively.[59][62]
In the reformed Indian Army in 1903 they were likewise redesignated35th Scinde Horse[59] and36th Jacob's Horse.[62]
Jacob's Rifles, raised in 1858 by Maj. John Jacob.[67]
In 1861 the rifles joined the Bombay line as the30th Regiment of Bombay Native Infantry.[67]
The regiment was honoured for its part in the Second Afghan War with AFGHANISTAN 1878-80[66]
Designated130th Baluchis in 1903, the subsidiary title was restored in 1910.[67]
The force was augmented with No. 2 Coy. Bombay Native Artillery in 1875, when that company relieved the men of Jacob's Rfles manning the guns of the force headquarters atJacobabad.[68]
Converted to amountain battery the following year, the company was accordingly redesignatedNo. 2 Bombay Mountain Battery.[69]
For its part in the Second Afghan War the battery was awarded the honour AFGHANISTAN 1878-80[66]
Later re-numbered asNo. 6 (Bombay) Mountain Battery, and then briefly renamed the Jullundur Mountain Battery, the unit took its place in the reformed Indian Army of 1903 as26th Jacob's Mountain Battery.[69]
Created in 1846 to police the newly acquired Punjab border against the Pakhtun hill tribes.[70]
The brigade was formed by Lt. Col.Henry Montgomery Lawrence from four regiments of infantry raised in 1846 from veterans of theSikh forces disbanded after theFirst Anglo-Sikh War:-
The brigadesFrontier designation was discontinued in 1847, and the four regiments becameSikh Local Infantry.
For their part in theSecond Sikh War the 1st and 2nd (or Hill) regiments were awarded the battle honour 'PUNJAUB'.[71][72]
Formed by Col. Henry Lawrence in 1849.
Five cavalry regiments were raised in 1849 and designatedPunjab Cavalry:-
Five infantry regiments were raised in 1849 from SikhDarbar regiments disbanded after theSecond Anglo-Sikh War, and designatedPunjab Infantry:-
Formed in 1851 by combining theCorps of Guides, the four regiments ofSikh Local Infantry, theTransfrontier Brigade, and fivebatteries of artillery.[58] The units of the force came to be known collectively from its initials asPiffers.
The Punjab Cavalry regiments were redesignatedCavalry, Punjab Irregular Force.[84]
While the 3rd and 4th regiments remained on the frontier,[85][86] the 1st, 2nd, and 5th were employed in suppressing theSepoy Revolt, and later rewarded with the battle honours DELHI 1857, and LUCKNOW.[54]
Batteries were raised from various sources:-
The Horse Light Field Batteries were generally known asPunjab Light Field Batteries.[87][88]
Later the force gained two further batteries:-
In 1857 the four regiments of Sikh Local Infantry becameSikh Infantry, Punjab Irregular Force.[91]
The six Punjab Infantry regiments were simply redesignatedInfantry, Punjab Irregular Force.[92]
The 4th Regiment of Sikh Infantry served in theSecond Burma War, winning the honour PEGU, and then marched 900 km from Abbottabad in thirty days to help suppress the revolt in Delhi, and like the Guides going into action on arrival.[53] There it won also DELHI 1857.[54] The other Sikh Infantry regiments remained in the Punjab.[93]
Leaving the 3rd, 5th, & 6th Punjab Infantry Regiments to guard the frontier, the 1st, 2nd, and 4th were sent to put down the revolt inDelhi.[94] There they earned the honour DELHI 1857. The 2nd and 4th regiments were also rewarded with LUCKNOW.[54]
From 1861 the force included a 7th Infantry Regiment, formed from the HazaraGurkha Battalion, which later that year joined theGurkha Line as the5th Gurkha Regiment.[95]
In 1865 thePunjab Irregular Force was renamed thePunjab Frontier Force, and the constituent units were redesignated accordingly.
During peacetime the Force was under the direct control of the Lt.-Governor of the Punjab,[96] but in war it came under theCommander-in-Chief, India.[70]
After the threePresidency armies, it was the most important military force at theGovernor-General's disposal.Deployed andengaged in numerous borderexpeditions, it became the most experienced body of fighting troops in India.[70]Most of the force saw action during the Second Afghan War. The designationPunjab Frontier Force was dropped in 1901, but with the Kitchener Reforms of theBritish Indian Army two years later, the former distinction was restored to the newly re-numbered regiments in the form of the subsidiary titleFrontier Force.
Officially designatedCavalry, Punjab Frontier Force, the earlier style endured, and was restored in 1901.[84]
Four of the regiments were honoured for service in theSecond Afghan War:-
The 4th regiment served on the frontier before being disbanded in 1882.[98]
In 1903 the four remaining regiments were brought into the new Indian Army line by adding twenty to their original numbers:-
The two mountain trains were redesignatedmountain batteries in 1865.[90]
In 1876 the three Punjab Light Field Batteries were reduced to form two further mountain batteries,[58] and the four were then renumbered according to their relative precedence, and designatedPunjab Mountain Batteries, Punjab Frontier Force.[99]
The former Garrison Company was also renumbered in the same sequence to become theNo. 5 Garrison Battery, Punjab Frontier Force.[89]
All four mountain batteries were honoured for their part in the Second Afghan War:-
In 1895 the Derajat and Hazara Mountain Batteries were part of the relief expedition that was rewarded with the honourCHITRAL.[100]
TheFrontier Revolt of 1897-8 saw the Kohat and Derajat batteries in action again, earning the honoursTIRAH and PUNJAB FRONTIER.[101]
In 1901 the battery numbers were dropped, and they became known by name only.[102] Two years later the four mountain batteries were re-numbered from twenty-one, and the formerPiffer batteries were thus:-
The four Sikh regiments were simply redesignatedSikh Infantry, Punjab Frontier Force.[91]
The six former Punjab Infantry regiments were officially redesignatedInfantry, Punjab Frontier Force, but the earlier style lingered and was restored in 1901.[92]
Although never designated as such, the5th Gurkha Regiment was brigaded with the force in practice.[70]
All but two of the infantry regiments took the field in theSecond Afghan War, and their subsequent awards were:-
Spending cuts after the war resulted in the disbandment of the 3rd Punjab Infantry in 1882.[103]
Spared the same fate, the 4th Sikh Infantry was employed in the expedition of 1895 earning the honourCHITRAL.[100]
The Frontier Revolt of 1897-8 saw the 3rd Sikh and 2nd Punjab Infantries employed in theTirah Campaign, earning them the honors TIRAH and PUNJAB FRONTIER. The 5th Gurkha Rifles was also awarded PUNJAB FRONTIER.[101]
In 1903 the four Sikh Infantry regiments were brought into the new Indian Army Line by adding fifty to their original numbers:-
The five remaining regiments of Punjab Infantry were consecutively renumbered in the same sequence to become:-
The5th Gurkha Rifles (Frontier Force) took on the subsidiary title denoting their origin.[95]
Although the units of the Frontier Corps operated under a variety of titles, from Rifles to Militia to Scouts, it was the latter term that came to stand as the generic term, and as new units were formed, it was the word 'Scouts' that became fixed and formalised for the regimental titles. The expression 'Scouts' was a militarily neutral term, conveying neither the "crack" reputation associated with the word 'Rifles' (cf.: 60th Rifles [HM], Gurkha Rifles [IA], etc.), nor the rather second-rate expectations of the term 'Militia'. As General Baden-Powell noted, when he was looking, many years later, for a suitably inspiring term to adopt for his youth movement to train young boys in fieldcraft and other 'para-military' activities, the word Scouts encapsulated a spirit of 'dash' (enthusiasm), expertise - within a defined set of skills- and familiarity with both the local conditions. Similarly, the Scouts of the Frontier Corps understood both the local terrain and the local political minefields, that is, who could be trusted (e.g. the Turi), and who could never (almost invariably, this would mean the Mahsuds); who was currently nursing a grievance and therefore best avoided, and who had just had a claim settled to their satisfaction and might be uncharacteristically friendly.
Like many things British, the development of the units of Scouts into the Frontier Corps was organic, unplanned and initially unsystematic. It began, in the British manner, as an improvisation to meet a need; it was maintained because it guaranteed certain unique skills at an acceptable price (the great Empire may have vaunted its 'pomp and circumstance' to wow the impressionable, but behind the scenes the deciding factor was often simply the acceptability or otherwise to HM Treasury) and only then was the principle regularised, standardised and systemised (cf. the development of the Frontier Force, from irregulars to a corps d'elite).
Geographically, the Scouts were located, from north to south, as follows:
The Frontier Corps were not founded expressly on a tribal basis, but the older corps drew their recruits from the local tribal area:
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