Hazara Expedition of 1888

Last updated

Hazara Expedition of 1888
Tribesman in Hazara with the Enfield Musket, Black Mountain Expedition 1888.jpg
DateOctober 1888 – November 1888
Location
Hazara (modern-day Pakistan)
Result British victory
Belligerents

Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British Empire

Tribes of the Tor Ghar
• Pariari Sayyids (Swatis)
• Tikariwals (Swatis)
• Nandiharis (Swatis)
• Allaiwals (Swatis)
• Thakotis (Swatis)
Hassanzai (Yousafzai)
Akazai (Yousafzai)
• Hindustanis
[1]
Commanders and leaders
  • Brigadier-General J.W. McQueen CB
  • Khan Arsala Khan Bebal Swathi (Malik of Allaiwals & Chief of Swathis)
  • Khan Abdul Qadir Khan Arghushal Swathi (Malik of Thakot)
Strength
9,416 British and Indian troops [2]
  • Around 10,000 [2]
    • 6,500 Swathis
    • 2,000 Hassanzais
    • 1,500 Akazais
Casualties and losses
2 officers
23 soldiers
54 wounded
Around 400

The Hazara Expedition of 1888, [3] also known as the Black Mountain Expedition [4] or the First Hazara Expedition, was a military campaign by the British against Swati and Yousafzai tribes of Kala Dhaka and Battagram District (then known as the Black Mountains of Hazara and northern areas around it) in the Hazara region of what is now Pakistan.

On 18 June 1888, two British officers and four Gurkha soldiers were killed in an altercation between British reconnaissance patrols and antagonistic tribes. As a response, the Hazara Field Force was assembled and began its march on 4 October 1888, after an ultimatum had not been satisfied by the tribes by October 2, 1888. [5]

The first phase of the campaign targeted Yousafzai tribe of Black mountain such as Hassanzais and Akazais and ended with the Hassanzai and Akazai tribes requesting an armistice on October 19, 1888.

The second phase of the campaign targeted the Swati tribe that lived north of Black Mountain such as the Allaiwals, Thakotis, Parari Sayyids and the Tikariwals. [6] The campaign ended when the Allaiwal village of Pokal was occupied and destroyed by the British on November 2 and 3, 1888 and Swatis tribal chief Arsala Khan Swathi temporary left his capital village Pokal without surrendering to British. [5]

The then Commander in Chief in India General Sir Frederick Roberts viewed the Black Mountain Expedition as:

a success from a military point of view, but … the determination of the Punjab Government to limit the sphere of action of the troops, and to hurry out of the country, prevented our reaping any political advantage. We lost a grand opportunity for gaining control over this lawless and troublesome district; no survey was made, no roads opened out, the tribesmen were not made to feel our power, and, consequently, very soon another costly expedition had to be undertaken. [7]

1891 expedition

The failure of the tribes to honour the agreements that ended the 1888 campaign led to a further two-month expedition by a Hazara Field Force in 1891. [8] General Roberts observed that

the Black Mountain tribes, [having been] quite unsubdued by the fruitless expedition of 1888, had given trouble almost immediately afterwards. [The second expedition] was completely successful in political results as in its military conduct. The columns were not withdrawn until the tribesmen had become convinced that they were powerless to sustain a hostile attitude towards us, and that it was in their interest, as it was our wish, that they should henceforth be on amicable terms with us. [9]

British and Indian Army forces who took part in these expeditions received the India General Service Medal with the clasps Hazara 1888 and Hazara 1891 respectively. [10]

Subedar Kishanbir Nagarkoti of the 5th Gurkha Rifles received his fourth and final Indian Order of Merit for gallantry in the 1888 expedition. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Military history of the North-West Frontier</span> Historical aspect of modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

The North-West Frontier was a region of the British Indian Empire. It remains the western frontier of present-day Pakistan, extending from the Pamir Knot in the north to the Koh-i-Malik Siah in the west, and separating the modern Pakistani frontier regions of North-West Frontier Province, Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Balochistan from neighbouring Afghanistan in the west. The borderline between is officially known as the Durand Line and divides Pashtun inhabitants of these provinces from Pashtuns in eastern Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Ahmed Khel</span> 1880 battle of the Second Anglo-Afghan War

The Battle of Ahmed Khel took place during the Second Anglo-Afghan War. It was fought on 19 April 1880, on the road between Kandahar and Kabul in central Afghanistan between Afghan tribesmen and soldiers of the British Empire, including forces from both British and Indian armies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Torghar District</span> District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Torghar District formerly known as Kala Dhaka is a district in the Hazara Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. It was officially separated from Mansehra District in 2011 under Article 246 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agror Valley</span> Valley in Pakistan

The valley of Agror is located in the Hazara region of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of northern Pakistan. Its territory makes up Oghi Tehsil, an administrative unit of Mansehra District. Khans of Agror belonging to Begal subsection of Mitravi Swatis are ruling this area since 1703 conquest of Pakhli. Agror is the Pashto speaking area where Swatis speak pashto as their mother tongue.

The Hassanzai is a sub-clan of Yousafzai, which is a Pakhtoon/Pashtoon/Pathan tribe. It is one of the divisions of the Isazai clan of the Yousafzai tribe. Yousafzai tribe is regarded as one of the most powerful, famous, and respected tribes of Pashtoons. Colonel H. C. Wylly (1858–1932) described these people in the following words:

The Yousafzai is an agriculturist, generally fine, well-limbed man, of a good physique and appearance with great deal of race-pride, well dressed and cheery, while his hospitality is proverbial.

The Chagharzais or Chagarzais are a division of the Malaizai clan of the Yousafzai tribe. Colonel Harold Carmichael Wylly, 1858–1932, a British military historian described these people in the following words:

The Yousafzai is an agriculturist, generally fine, well-limbed man, of a good physique and appearance with great deal of race-pride, well dressed and cheery, while his hospitality is proverbial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Peiwar Kotal</span> 1878 battle of the Second Anglo-Afghan War

The Battle of Peiwar Kotal was fought on 2 December 1878 between British forces under Major General Frederick Roberts and Afghan forces under Karim Khan, during the opening stages of the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The British were victorious, and seized the strategic Peiwar Kotal Pass leading into the interior of Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">India General Service Medal (1854)</span> Award

The India General Service Medal was a campaign medal approved on 1 March 1854, for issue to officers and men of the British and Indian armies. It was awarded for various minor military campaigns in India and nearby countries, between 1852 and 1895.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">India General Service Medal (1936)</span> British campaign medal awarded for service on the North-West Frontier of Inidia

The Indian General Service Medal was a campaign medal approved on 3 August 1938, for issue to officers and men of the British and Indian armies, and of the Royal Air Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Army of India Medal</span> Award

The Army of India Medal (AIM) was a campaign medal approved in 1851 for issue to officers and men of the British Army and the Army of the Honourable East India Company. A retrospective award following the precedent set by the Naval General Service Medal and the Military General Service Medal, it served to reward service in various actions from 1803 to 1826.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">India Medal</span> Award

The India Medal was a campaign medal approved in 1896 for issue to officers and men of the British and Indian armies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East and West Africa Medal</span> Award

The East and West Africa Medal, established in 1892, was a campaign medal awarded for minor campaigns that took place in East and West Africa between 1887 and 1900. A total of twenty one clasps were issued.

The Peshawar Valley Field Force was a British field force. It was the largest of three military columns created in November 1878 at the start of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878–1880), each of which invaded Afghanistan by a different route. The Peshawar force initially consisted of around 16,000 men, a mix of both British and Indian Army regiments, under the command of Lieutenant General Sir Samuel J. Browne.

Akazai is a Pakhtoon tribe hailing from northern Pakistan. Specifically, it is a subdivision of the Isazai clan within the larger Yousafzai tribe. The Yousafzai tribe is widely recognized as one of the most influential, renowned, and esteemed Pashtoon tribes. Military historian Colonel Harold Carmichael Wylly offers a personal perspective on the vast Yousafzai tribe, stating:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egypt Medal</span> Award

The Black Mountain (Tor Ghar), is located in the Hazara Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Tor Ghar is a Pashto phrase which means Black (Tor) Mountain (Ghar). It is also called Kala Dhaka, which means the same as its Pushto name; in Hindko a local language spoken by the people of Tanawal and Agror which are located on eastern side of Tor Ghar. Tor Ghar lies to the east of the River Indus from Thakot to Darband. The total length of this mountain is about twenty five to thirty miles and its average height about 8,000 feet (2,400 m) feet above sea level. Machai Sar is the highest peak, which is 9,817 ft (2,992 m) above sea level. It ascends from the River Indus basin at its southern end near the village of Kiara and goes up to its watershed near the village Baradar; then it runs north-east by north to the point on the crest known as Chitabat. From here the range runs due north, finally descending to the Indus by two large spurs, at the foot of the easternmost of which lies Thakot. The Indus, after passing Thakot, turns westward along the northern foot of the mountain until it washes the western of the two aforementioned spurs, when it takes a sharp bend to the south, and runs below and parallel to the western foot of this mountain range.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Charasiab</span> 1879 battle of the Second Anglo-Afghan War

The Battle of Charasiab was fought on 6 October 1879 during the Second Anglo-Afghan War between British and Indian troops against Afghan regular forces and tribesmen.

The Afridi Redshirt Rebellion was a military campaign conducted by British Indian Army against Afridi tribesmen Ajab Khan Afridi in the North West Frontier region of the Indian Empire, now in Pakistan in 1930–1931.

The Second Black Mountain Expedition was a punitive expedition by the British Army against the Black Mountain tribes in the North-West Frontier Province of British India.

Kishanbir Nagarkoti, IOM was a Nepalese soldier in the British Indian Army who was awarded the Indian Order of Merit (IOM) four times. He served in the 1st Battalion of the 5th Gurkha Rifles. He is the only person to have been awarded the IOM award four times.

References

  1. Black Mountain Expedition 1888.{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  2. 1 2 "Black Mountain Expedition of 1888". BritishBattles.com. Chalfont Web Design. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  3. Lee, Sidney, ed. (1912). "McQueen, John Withers"  . Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). Vol. 2. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  4. Roll of Honour - Sussex - Eastbourne - Royal Sussex Regiment Memorial
  5. 1 2 Raugh, Harold E. The Victorians at War, 1815-1914: An Encyclopedia of British Military History. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2004, pp. 163-164, ISBN   978-1-57607-925-6.
  6. H. E. Weekes (2011). History of the 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles1858 to 1928. p. 90.</ref
  7. Field Marshal Lord Roberts, Forty-one Years in India 1897, page 524.)
  8. Joslin, Litherland and Simpkin. British Battles and Medals. p. 124. Published Spink, London. 1988.
  9. Field Marshal Lord Roberts, Forty-one Years in India 1897, page 531.)
  10. Joslin, Litherland and Simpkin. British Battles and Medals. p. 123. Published Spink, London. 1988.
  11. Weekes, H. E. (2011). History of the 5th Royal Gurkha Rifles : 1858 to 1928. Luton : Andrews UK. ISBN   978-1-78149-333-5.