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The Khagan Expedition of 1852 was a British campaign targeting the Sayyids of Kaghan Valley, allies of Sayyid Ahmed Barelvi. [1]
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The Khagan Expedition of 1852 was a British campaign targeting the Sayyids of Kaghan Valley, allies of Sayyid Ahmed Barelvi. [1]
Khagan is a mountainous valley in the northernmost part of the Hazara district, consisting of Sayyids and Gujjars, neighbouring the Kohistanis and Swatis to the west. The Sikhs had previously sent almost 10,000 troops to subdue the Sayyids, but had left the Sayyids to administer the land themselves, which the Sayyids had expected of the British. [2] The British used the pretext of the Gujjar hostility with the Sayyids for the expedition, but their real reason was the Deputy Commissioner Abbott's suspicion that the Sayyids were in league with the Hindustani Fanatics, who had been stirring up other tribes, such as the Pothwari Dhund tribe of Hazara.
A force comprising six regiments, six guns, and numerous tribal levies (5,320 men in total) were sent against the Sayyids. The latter retreated to near Sum, Paras and Jaraid. Syed Zamin Shah was exiled and the Khagan valley was brought under British control. [3] [4]
Murree is a mountain resort city, located in the Galyat region of the Pir Panjal Range, within the Murree District of Punjab, Pakistan. It forms the outskirts of the Islamabad-Rawalpindi metropolitan area, and is about 30 km (19 mi) northeast of Islamabad. It has average altitude of 2,291 metres (7,516 ft). The British built this town during their rule to escape the scorching heat in the plains of Punjab during the summer.
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.
Mansehra is a city in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan and the headquarters of Mansehra District. It is the 71st largest city in Pakistan by population and the 7th largest city in the province.
Syed Nazeer Husain Dehlawi was an Islamic scholar and leader of the reformist Ahl-i Hadith movement in India. Earning the appellation shaykh al-kull for his authority among early Ahl-i Hadith scholars, he is regarded, alongside Siddiq Hasan Khan (1832–1890), as the founder of the movement and has been described as "perhaps the single most influential figure in the spread of the Ahl-i-Ḥadīth".
Hazara is a region in northern Pakistan, falling administratively within Hazara Division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. It is dominated mainly by the Hindko-speaking Hindkowan people, who are the prominent people group of the region and often called the "Hazarewal".
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.
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.
Syed Ahmad Barelvi, also known as Sayyid Ahmad Shahid, (1786–1831) was an Indian Islamic revivalist, scholar, and military commander from Raebareli, a part of the historical United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. He launched the Indian jihad movement that waged a decades-long Islamic revolt against colonial rule across various provinces of British India. Sayyid Ahmad is revered as a major scholarly authority in the Ahl-i Hadith and Deobandi movements. The epithet 'Barelvi' is derived from Raebareli, his place of origin.
Kashmiri Muslims are ethnic Kashmiris who practice Islam and are native to the Kashmir Valley, an area that includes the India-administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, the Pakistan-administered territories of Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, and the Chinese-administered territories of Aksai Chin and the Trans-Karakoram Tract. The majority of Kashmiri Muslims are Sunni. They refer to themselves as "Koshur" in their mother language.
Shah Ismail Dehlvi was an Indian Islamic scholar and Salafi-oriented Sufi reformer. He was an active member in the jihad proclaimed by Sayyid Ahmad of Raebareilly with the support of Pashtun tribes against the Sikh Empire, which ruled northwest India with their base in Punjab in the early half of the 19th century. He is considered as an important influence on the Ahl-i Hadith reform movements.
The Hazara Expedition of 1888, also known as the Black Mountain Expedition or the First Hazara Expedition, was a military campaign by the British against Swati and Yousafzai tribes of Kala Dhaka and Battagram District in the Hazara region of what is now Pakistan.
The Ambela campaign of 1863 was one of many expeditions in the border area between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the North-West Frontier of British India against the 'fanatics' at Malka, a colony of malcontents or bigoted muslims in the Yusufzai country.
Painda Khan Tanoli was a powerful chief and warrior in Tanawal area of North-West Frontier region of India. Painda Khan's rebellion against the Sikh empire cost him much of his kingdom, leaving only the tract around Amb, with its twin capitals of Amb and Darband.
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:
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.
Utmanzai is a Pashtun sub-tribe of the larger Yusufzai Mandanr clan in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
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.
The British expedition against the Hindustani Fanatics in 1857–1858 was part of a long relationship since their first discovery of the Fanatics in 1852. The Expediiton in 1857–1858 also coincided with the 1857 Mutiny, as mutineers of the 55th Infantry had taken refuge and joined Sayyid Mubarak Shah, the son of Sayyid Akbar Shah of Hazara, who was linked to the Hindustanis as the former treasurer and counselor under Syed Ahmed Barelvi, and had later been proclaimed the king of Swat and Hazara. Sayyid Mubarak Shah raised an army for the purposes of war in Panjtar, but the instability of his rule also meant he could not venture far for fear of losing control of his kingdom. The mutineers fought for Mubarak Shah in a battle, which increased his influence. Mubarak Shah borrowed a sum of money from a grey-haired Jamadar of the rebels, but the sum was soon exhausted and he was unable to pay them more. Thus the mutineers were unwilling to fight for him. At the same time, Mubarak Shah's usage of the mutineers was seen as a threat to the influence of Saidu Baba, the Gujjar herdsman turned religious leader, who expelled Mubarak Shah. Thus the advent of the mutineers in the region brought a political change in Swati politics. At the same time, a separate Hindustani Fanatic colony at Mangal Thana under Inayat Ali had become an 'asylum of bad characters'. The Hindustani Fanatics were invited by Mubaraz Khan who invited the Hindustanis to the village of Chinglai. It was at this moment that a few border villages had asked appealed to the Hindustanis and Mubaraz Khan to come down and begin a way for Islam. The fighting of the Hindustanis was marked with fanaticism; they came boldly and doggedly on. They were all dressed in white, while some of the leaders wore velvet cloaks. Inayat Ali's attacks were initially successful, and occupied both Nawakilla and Sheikh Jana. The British expeditions included the battle of Shekh Jana in July 1857, Battle of Naranji in August 1857, Battle of Chinglee in April 1858. The British again sent an expedition storming the heights of Mangal Thana where they found a citadel built of large stone and fine timber to house a permanent and sizeable garrison. Finally the battle of Sittana was fought at May 1858. The British reported Hindustani volunteers from Rampur as well as Bengal among the dead. The Hindustanis who survived fled to the village of Malka, where they furnished to accommodate upwards of 3,000 men.
Early Encounters with the British Forces ... Following the annexation of the Punjab, the Hazara area came under the control of the British by virtue of an exchange of territories with Gulab Singh and James Abbott became its first Deputy Commissioner. Abbott gave early attention to the existence of a 'remarkable nest of emigrants from Hindoostan', whose activities, he thought, might provide to be dangerous in case of trouble from the south, or from Durranis in the west. He also came into conflict with Sayyid Zamin Shah of the Khagan valley, a staunch supporter of the Wahhabis. Apparently, the cause of the action against the Sayyids was the complaint of the Gujar tenants against the high-handedness, but that was only a pretext. The real reason was Abbott's suspicion that the Sayyids were in league with the Wahhabis, who were stirring up some other tribes, such as the Dhunds