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Guardians of the Frontier

I think the units in which officers can get the best training in this kind of self-reliance
KP Express Tribune News and initiative are the battalions of Militia or Scouts on the North- West Frontier...it was
Aljazeera News for this reason that I made my son, after a few years with the Regiment, do a tour of
duty with the Kurram Militia..
BBC News
The Frontier tribes were the toughest adversaries of the British in India. The
BBC Urdu News inhospitable terrain called "a gigantic slag-heap" merely compounded their
BBC KP News difficulties. Between the "administered border" of the Province and the Durand Line
is the tribal territory which was "ungoverned, untaxed, ungarrisoned." "Never having
Deewa News called any man master and preserving an obdurate independence from the rulers
CNN World News of the Punjab and of Afghanis,tan alike", the tribes were not willing to submit to
another foreign invader. For the British these border tribesmen were raiders who Biography
CNN Health News Aitzaz Hasan: Tributes to
forayed into the settled areas, where the British exercised a semblance of control,
kidnapped Hindu money-lenders and stole cattle. In return the tribes saw the Pakistan teenager killed
representatives of the British Government as a scourge, who came to burn and kill, when he stopped a bomber
practising the policy of "Butcher and Bolt",a policy that Lord Curzon, Viceroy of Pervez Khattak Inaugrates
India (1899-1905), was later to find "undignified, unproductive and unacceptable." branch of Chinese Motor
KP Divisional & Districts This policy consisted of punitive expeditions: killing men of the offending tribe, Company
burning down their villages, destroying standing crops on terraced fields and then Buner officials found absent
News
withdrawing. During the first decades of the twentieth century even aircrafts of the from duty
Frontier Regions News 'Education, employment and
Royal Air Force were inducted to bomb villages. First white leaflets of warning were
equality imperative for
FATA Agencies News dropped. The day before the bombardment, red leaflets were dropped. Then the
RAF, later the Indian Air Force, went into action. In the early days, however, it also peace in FATA & KP'
Kurram Agency
meant, as Rudyard Kipling versified in "Arithmetic on the Frontier" :
Mohmand Agency
A scrimmage in a Border Station -
Khyber Agency A canter down some dark defile -
Two thousand pounds of education 17 per cent rise in infant
N. Waziristan
Drops to a ten-rupee jezail mortalities: Report
Governor vows to eliminate
Orakzai Agency And polio
The flying bullet down the Pass, Shaukat asks hospital heads
S. Waziristan
to ensure transparent use of
That whistles clear: "All flesh is grass."
funds
Bajaur Agency To deal with this volatile belt, Political Agents - or PAs -were appointed. One of the
most colourful was Col. Sir Robert Warburton. Son of an Irish father and Afghan
KP Health News mother, he was the Political Agent of Khyber for almost seventeen years in the 1880's
Education News & 1890's. Beyond the administrative line of the districts, the PAs were to keep
rudimentary order in accordance with local codes of conduct. Within the Agency, Legislation urged to make
Political News their job was to attend to trouble of all kinds: inter tribal fights, raids into settled education common
districts, highway robbery, kidnapping, murder and mayhem.Then there was the PhD scholarship for FATA
Sports News
threatening fact that the Russian Empire had moved nearly a thousand miles closer newsmen: Tomorrow last day
Religious News to apply
in the course of the previous century.So the PA had at his disposal a striking force,
whose constant duty was "to proclaim the presence of the Government and its right Only 7.8pc youth have
Wild Life News
to go up to the Durand Line." The British misadventure in Afghanistan, the Second access to higher education
Tourism News
Afghan War (1878-80), had led to the demarcation of the Durand Line. The PA's
Literature News reaction to any disturbances was first to activate the Scouts and only as a last resort,
the Army. Scouts, therefore, were raised as a first line of defence. They "move up
Weather News
and down from one little desolate post to another; they are ready to take the field Kurram Agency, NWA reach
Articles at ten minutes notice; they are always half in and half out of a difficulty somewhere semi-finals of Soccer League
along the monotonous line; their lives are as hard as their muscles and papers never
say anything about them". So wrote Rudyard Kipling admiringly in "The Lost Legion".
Their presence was particularly crucial along the mountain passes. The basis of their
security operations was "piqueting" or known by the more picturesque term of
"crowning the heights". Any column was accompanied by an immensely long "train We have 88guests and no
of camels, horses and mules, carrying artillery and machine-guns, rations and members online
ammunition, blankets, greatcoats and tents, barbed wire, picks and shovels,
picketing ropes and stakes and telephone wire, water-pumps and canvas troughs,
clerks and field post-offices and cooks - all the clutter and impedimenta and
non-combatants which seemed just as necessary to an Indian Army column." The
Scouts were deployed in small forts. These out posts served as base for gashts, a
term more descriptive than "patrol" because it conveyed the impression of speed.
The Scouts were not regular soldiers but organized and trained like them. They kept
the roads open and lent "fire-power and muscle to the persuasion..[of] the Political
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Agent" .Lightly armed they became known for their "speed and endurance". Except
for the very small number of British officers, the Scouts were all Pathans who relished
danger. To them war was the supreme sport. Thrown together in such close
interaction, which became all the more intense in crises, personal liking, trust,
affection, overcome differences of religion and culture.
Among the first Scouts to be raised, in November 1878, was an irregular corps
consisting mainly of local tribesmen, the Afridis, by Captain Gais Ford. They were to
protect the traffic moving through the Khyber Pass. With no uniform but a red tag
sewn on to the back of the pagri / turban to distinguish them, they were at first
known as the Khyber jezailchis. 16 Each member of this semi-Khassadars force was
armed with his own jezail or rifle. It was raised to prevent the tribes molesting the
columns of the Second Afghan War expeditionary force. Captain Gais Ford
commanded them upto 1881. Sardar Muhammad Aslam Khan, the first Muslim
Commandant, succeeded him and commanded the corps from 1881 to 1897. He
was later promoted Lieutenant Colonel and honoured with the titles of "Nawab"
and "Sir". The Khyber Jezailchis served only in Khyber Agency upto 1887, when they
were redesignated as the Khyber Rifles. By the end of the nineteenth century, other
levy units had been raised: Kurram Militia, initially called Turi Militia, raised in
1892,Tochi Scouts (1894), South Waziristan Scouts (1900), Zhob Militia (1883), initially
Zhob Levies and Chitral Scouts. These units collectively were known as the Frontier
Corp. Today, besides these Frontier Corps units, the levy forces exist in all the tribal
agencies of the Frontier.
The formation of Turis Militia started under Captain CM. Dallas on October 18,1892
was completed by Captain LW.5.K. Maconchey of the 4th Punjab Infantry.
The headquarter was originally at Balish Khel but later shifted to Parachinar. Around
1902 the Turi Militia was renamed Kurram Militia. These Scouts were to guard and
police the 90 km. long Kurram Valley.
The danger of invasion from Russian Turkestan, through the narrow panhandle of the
Afghan Wakhan and over the Hindu Kush prompted, in 1900, the raising of
a part-time militia of "trained cragsman" from the tough mountaineers of Chitral, the
Chitral Scouts. They were "a tripwire which could a least delay an incursion".The
Mehtar of Chitral was installed as the Honorary Commander. The Scouts were
trained to defend the passes in the region and along with the levies in Dir and Swat
maintain order on the Chakdarra-Chitral road. 21 In 1913 the Gilgit Scouts were
raised on similar lines for similar roles.
Parching Drought and Raging Flood,

Months of Dust and Days of Mud
Mixed Monotony and Blood
That's Waziristan
SO J.M. Ewart about the Agency he was posted in 1922.Tochi Scouts of North
Waziristan Agency were headquartered at Miranshah, about twelve miles from the
Durand Line. Upto 1904 regular troops occupied the outposts in Tochi Valley. Their
replacement, the North Waziristan Militia was raised on June 1, 1900 at Idak by
Captain A. Fergusson Davie.A post was built in 1905 and occupied by the Tochi
Scouts. Gradually it enlarged to a fort. A small fortified township was built in 1925 for
the Royal British Air Force and an airfield for carrying out operations in Waziristan. A
duty pilot was always on stand-by to help a gasht of the Tochi Scouts, Kurram Militia
or southwaziristan Scouts in trouble. "So efficient were the communications - a carrier
pigeon from gasht to fort, thence by telephone or radio to Miranshah - that within
half an hour of calling for help a gasht could expect a plane overhead." After
Independence 5th and 9th squadrons of Pakistan Air Force, in turn for a tour of 15
days each, were located at Miranshah to support the Tochi Scouts.
Before Independence several military operations were carried out: during

1902-1919, 1936-1939 and 1942-1945. In 1910 the North Waziristan Militia was spread
over eighteen posts with 70 to 80 men each. The only outpost with a resident British
officer was Spin Wana. On january 7, 1915 Captain Eustace jotham of North
Waziristan Militia and 12 mounted infantry rode out of Miranshah to locate raiders
from Khost, Afghanistan. At Spina Khaisora, fifteen miles west of Miranshah, they
were ambushed in a deep nullah and almost surrounded by some 1500 tribesmen.
Jotham and his men galloped to safety, but then the horse of one of his sawars was
shot down. He turned back to rescue him and using his sword killed several
tribesmen before he was shot dead, riddled with the bullets and bleeding with
dozens of slashes. Almost at the same time his daffadar, a Wazir named Darim Khan,
dismounted to give covering fire to the remainder of the patrol and remounted
and got away safely. Darim Khan received the Indian Order of Merit and
subsequently the Croix de Guerre. Darim Khan lived to become one of the Frontier's
most famous characters. Jotham was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.
Another posthumous VC was conferred during the campaign of 1919 on Captain
Henry Andrews in charge of the Khajeri Post.
Pathans distinguished themselves as magnificient warriors even outside the home

territories. Many won medals in wars from the Western Front to East Africa, from
China to Egypt. The Pathans' love-hate relationship with the British is illustrated by
two Afridi brothers, Mir Mast and Mir Dast. During World War I, Mir Mast deserted the
2 of 22 3/11/17, 2:42 PM
British Indian Army on the Western Front in France, was awarded the German Iron
Cross and sent back with a Turkish mission to Tirah where he made much "mischief'
for the British. From a different perspective, he expressed the Pathan's innate
independent spirit. Mir Dast was awarded the Victoria Cross in France and never
wavered in his loyalty.
During World War II also the Germans planned to compel the British to commit a
large number of troops along its frontiers in India. Throughout the War there were
never less than five regular brigades in Waziristan. Sir George Cunningham,
Governor of the Province and Agent to the Governor-General for the Tribal Areas
(1937 - 1944) was instrumental in preventing the Frontier from going up in flames, as it
had in 1919. General Wavell, the Commander-in-Chief, said that Cunningham was
"worth a division of regular troops on the border". Competent and calm, "his physical
presence - he had played rugby eight times for Scotland - was persuasive, and its
impact softened but not weakened by a warm, slow smile."
Culture & Heritage

Pathan is not merely a race but in fact a state of mind there is a Pathan inside
every man
No oral lore or even written record of Alexander's passage through this country in the
local languages is available. It is only through Arrian, a military historian who wrote
the Anabasis, and other classical Greek and Latin sources that his passage through
this country is documented. The Hellenic influence seems to have persisted and
come into its own under the Graeco-Bacterian kings. Arrian the main authority was a
contemporary of the Roman Emperors Hadrian, Antonius Pious and Marcus Aurelius
and served as Counsel. He probably lived to 175 A.D. and was thus writing five
hundred years after the event.
According to Wheeler it was not Greek but Roman influence that had "the most
penetrating and enduring impact" upon "the Eastern world". A major source of
Western influence on Gandhara sculpture has been traced to Roman Alexandria.
Gandhara civilization and Mahayana school of Buddhism in turn served" as the
source of much that is fundamental in the ecclesiastical art of Tibet, China and
Farther Asia generally." The earliest cultural impact on the Province was, arguably, of
Buddhism mixed with Kushan mores.Though Hinduism had been widespread prior to
the rise of the more egalitarian Buddhism, the latter rapidly found acceptance
among the people. Under Hinayana Buddhism, Buddha was a man of, not a, God. In
Mahayana Buddhism, Buddha the wise human being became divine. This elevation
found full creative expression during the reign of Kanishka .
Under Asoka and Kanishka numerous stupas and major monastery-complexes were
built across the empire. When Kanishka converted to Buddhism and raised a
commemorative tower at Shahji Ki Dherij "The King's Mound" outside the Ganj Gate
of Peshawar, the royal stamp of approval. was given. Buddhism which has started as
a doctrine based on ideas and symbolism began to manifest in the visual and the
tactile. From the religion of the intellect it also evolved into a religion of the masses.
Prompted by imperial patronage, the Golden Path of the Enlightened One found
extensive expression in the chisel of the sculptors. He became the "focus of every
composition." These images, perhaps more than the sacred Sutras, helped spread
Buddhism among the common man who could more readily relate to these tangible
objects than the rigours of ascetic life and philosophical discourse. From a symbolic
icon he metamorphosed into an idol. From being venerated as a sage, he began to
be worshipped in all his godly manifestations.
The Fasting Siddhartha, one of the greatest sculptures of the world, belongs to this
period when the Greek chisel met and merged with South Asian spirit. Found in the
Frontier, it was transported to the only museum at that time, the Lahore Central
Museum where it now sits in splendid display.
When the Chinese pilgrim Fa-Hien visited Gandhara in 404 A.D, he found 500
monasteries. In the seventh century his counyrtyman Hiuen-Tsang lamented the
decline. A hundred years later U-K'ong found only 300 monasteries.7 The more
famous ruins of these centres of learning can still be seen at Charsadda, Naogram,
Jamal Garhi, Kharaki, Takht-i Bahi, Sehri Bahlol or the Fort of Bahlol, the Lodhi ruler,
Therali in the Peshawar district; at Adh-i Samudh near Kohat, the Akra mound in
Bannu and Kafir Kot in Dera Ismail Khan. The most valuable of inscription relics are the
Kharoshti rock-inscriptions at Shahbazgarhi in Peshawar district and at Mansehra. The
ruins of the monastery at Takht-i Bahi show how developed the tangible and
intangible culture was. There are meditation cells and communal living quarters
integrated into the overall scheme, and constructed not to impose on, but blend
with, the terrain looking out and down to the plains. A natural setting that engenders
detachment and provides perspective on life and living.
The Peshawar Museum also has a fine collection of images related to the Buddha in
stone, terracotta and plaster. These reliefs and free-standing works narrate the life
story of Buddha from his birth and princely upbringing to his fruitless fasting and
asceticism, meditation, ultimate enlightenment or nirvana and subsequent
preaching and death. These core subjects are supported and supplement by
Buddhisatvas, the deities, monks and votaries. Some of the figures support turbans
and headgears which in modified forms can still be spotted in the Frontier. The loose
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pants or shalwar, introduced by the Kushans and reflected in some Gandharan

works, have now become a part of the national dress of Pakistan. The type of
footwear and musical instruments, the jewellery and ornaments, the agriculture
implements depicted in these works are in use to this day.
The dominant language of the Province, Pashto, belongs to the Irani branch of the
Aryan family of languages. It has two main dialects: Pakhto and Pashto. Pakhto is the
hard or north-eastern version spoken in Bajaur, Swat and Buner, by the Yusufzai,
Bangash, Orakzai, Afridi and Momand tribes. Pashto is the soft or south-western
version spoken by the Khattaks, Wazirs, Murwats and other tribes in the south.8The
earliest Pashto works were composed in the Yusufzai dialect which is considered
classical. It is the purest and the clearest form of the language.
Pashto Literature is illuminated by the works of Khushhal Khan Khattak (1613-89), a

chief of the powerful Khattak tribe. This "renaissance" man was known not only for his
prowess as a warrior but also for wielding the pen. He is reputed to have authored
about 350 works of poetry and prose on subjects as wide-ranging as ethics,
philosophy, religion, jurisprudence, medicine, sports and falconry.
Khushhal Khan's father had been confirmed by the Mughal Emperor Shah jahan as
chief of the tribe as well as entrusted with the responsibility of protecting the Grand
Trunk Road from Attock to Peshawar. Khushhal accompanied the imperial armies
on various expeditions, succeeded his father as chief of the tribe in 1640 and also
served the Emperor Awrangzeb. Victim of court intrigue, he soon fell out of favour
and was imprisoned in the Fort of Gwalior. During his incarceration he composed
many poems. His poetry remains a high-point in Pashto literature and gives eternal
expression to Pathan values and the intellectual collective. Sensitive to the impact of
nature on body and soul, in many ways he has much in common with the English
Romantic poets.
His patriotic poems, however, are inspired by two passions: his hatred and contempt
for Emperor Awrangzeb and his own pride, which he calls the nang, the honour of
the Pakhtun. He celebrates the fortitude and simple manliness of the Pathan and
sees life as a clash of opposite. The tyranny he suffered at Awrangzeb's hands is
attacked bitterly. Awrangzeb had deprived him of the ferry and highway tolls
enjoyed by his forefathers since they were granted by Akbar to Akoray. He speaks at
length about contemporary history and his own experiences in the great current of
contemporary affairs. Many of his sayings were collected by his grandson Afzal
Khan in Tarikh-i Murassah / "jewel-studded History". In his works Khushhal refers
admiringly of the emperors jahangir and Shah jahan. While he did not know jahangir,
for the emperor died while Khushhal was still in his the teens, Shah Jahan he had
served and knew personally. to He died a lonely man at seventy-eight at Dambara
and was buried at the foothills of Cherat.
The other great luminary is.Abdur Rahman (1650-1715). Popularly known as Rahman
Baba, he is renowned for his poetry and also venerated as a Sufi, though there is no
evidence he was ordained in any formal Sufi silsilah / "order". He was born in a
village south of Peshawar called Bahadur Kalal. He later shifted to another village,
Hazar Khawani, where he lived and died. Unlike his contemporary Khushhal Khan, he
did not travel far and wide. He was influenced by the immortal Persian poets, Rumi,
Hafiz and Sa'adi and preferred to compose on, and sing of, the inward. His verse is
imbued with the spiritual and the longing for the Divine. His only extant work is a
collection of poems, the Diwan-i Rahman.
With the coming of the British and the establishment of educational institutions
along European lines, both the colonists and the colonized worked for the spread of
Pashto language and literature. The rich oral tradition was accorded written form
subject to the standards of western scholarship of the time. During this period the
most comprehensive work on the language was undertaken by Henry George
Raverty, a Lieutenant in the Bombay Army. Posted in the Frontier from 1849 to 1850,
he wrote an account of the Peshawar district. He is also credited with introducing
the tradition of compiling the Gazetteers of the newly conquered territories. He
published A Grammar of Pukhto, Pushto or Language of the Afghans (1855), A
Dictionary of the Puk'hto, Pus'hto, or Language of the Afghans (1860), The
Gulistan-Roh: Afghan Poetry and Prose (1860), Selections from the Poetry of the
Afghans (1862), Gospels (1864), Fables of Aesop AI-Hakim in Pashto ( 1871 ) and The
Pashto Manual (1904). The pioneering work of Raverty laid the academic
foundations for others. With the spread of education, textbooks in Pashto were
written for the Munshi Fazil and Adeeb Fazil courses by Mir Ahmad Shah Rizwani,
while Rev. T.B. Hughes' Ganj-i Pashto (1897) was used for lower classes. Later scholars
not only produced practical manuals and linguistic works to facilitate the
administrative machinery, but also explored history and undertook translations from,
and into, Pashto. Maulvi Abdur Rahman Khan Muhammadzai was prompted to
translate the Old Testament and John Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress into Pashto, thus
adding to, and opening new areas of interest in, Pashto prose.
.
Education played a pivotal role in the evolving culture. The two institutions which
acted as catalysts were Edwardes College and Islamia College. They not only
provided a common platform to all clans and tribes but were instrumental in
projecting common Pathan identity and cultural underpinning. They shaped
generations of Pathans who were to spearhead the struggle for freedom and take
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on the responsibilities of the new nation and contribute to its cultural vibrancy. The
Islamia College and the Collegiate School were founded in 1911 on the site where
the battle between Akbar Khan and the Sikh General Hari Singh Nalwa had taken
place. The impressive foundation-stone laying ceremony, held in March, was
attended by elite of the Province. Tribal leaders in their traditional dresses and
turbans, mixed with high-ranking civil officers, both British and Pakhtun, religious
divines in their flowing robes, mingled with bemedalled and beribboned officers of
the armed forces on the dusty flat near the mouth of the Khyber Pass. That historic
day in spring marked the realization of a vision shared by two unusual individuals.
One was Sir George Roos-Keppel, the Chief Commissioner of the NWFP who was
fluent in Pashto. Of mixed Dutch-Swedish-English blood, he had an impressive
administrative record and cut a dashing figure. The other, a distinguished son of the
soil, was Nawab Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qaiyum Khan K.C.S.I.E., K.B. (1863-1939). He
came from a religious family of the Topi village in the Swabi area. After his basic
education he joined the Edwardes Collegiate Mission School, passed the
vernacular and English examinations, and in 1887 joined the Commissioner's office
as a translator and reader. From here his dedication to work and sound and timely
advice to his British superiors led him from one honour to another. It was not long
before his innate qualities placed him amongst the leading figures of the Frontier.
Together with Sir George, he saw the necessity of an education in which traditional
disciplines and Western arts and sciences were imparted.
In 1908 or 1909 Sir George and Sir Sahibzada had visited the Muslim University at
Aligarh. The Pathan students there had raised about sixty rupees as a token towards
the establishment of a College in Peshawar. That token took root. Over the next few
years Sahibzada Qaiyum worked tirelessly to realize the desire of those farsighted
students. Donations were solicited and pledges cashed. Appeals were published in
Pashto, Persian and Urdu. Then a site spread over 121 acres, three miles from the
cantonment of Peshawar, was purchased. It was a great undertaking and one
which was to spawn a full-fledged University in decades to come. The first Principal
was Mr. L. Tipping. His wife rendered a water-colour of the College building, as it
stood in those early years in splendid isolation, as if challenging the Khyber
mountains, with its meticulously executed details in man-made, kiln-baked bricks. The
library of the Islamia College has a fine collection of rare manuscripts. It is now
housed in the original College for the Ulema/ "religious scholars" and the Oriental
Hostel, their boarding house. One of the College hostels, Grant Hostel is named after
Sir Hamilton Grant, Chief Commissioner in 1919.
The Quaid-i Azam had declared: "You will get your University sooner than you can
imagine" on one of his visits to Peshawar. "This was a promise and a prophecy". Two
years later the first Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaqat Ali Khan inaugurated the
University of Peshawar on October 13,1950. Over the years this University has hosted
students and scholars from many countries including China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq
and Afghanistan.
The first Vice-Principal, and later first Muslim Principal, was Allama Hayatullah
Mashriqi. A brilliant graduate of Cambridge University, England, he aquired four
triposes (B.A's) with distinctions in five years in such diverse subjects as Mathematics,
Natural Sciences, Mechanical Sciences and Oriental Languages (1907-1912). He was
elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Art (F.R.S.A.) in 1923, Fellow of the
Geographical Society of France (F.G.S.) and Fellow of the Society of Arts of France
(F.S.A.). He was offered an ambassadorship in 1920 and a Knighthood in 1921 by the
British Indian Government but being a man of simple living and high ideals he
refused these and several subsequent offers of political and administrative import.
Instead he founded a Muslim militia, the spade-weilding "Khaksars" during the
freedom movement.
Among educationists who acquired a lasting reputation in the Frontier was Prof. LA.
Thakurdas, a much-loved teacher of English literature, lawyer, poet, musician, singer,
badminton champion and a fine cricketer. Born a Brahmin, he converted to
Christianity in 1913. He started teaching in 1936 and continued to do so, at Edwardes
College and later privately in Peshawar till 1980 when he died. His lectures became
famous for continued disregard of the stipulated periods to the consternation of his
colleagues and the amusement of his students. He is still remembered as an
academic who could be seen riding a bicycle clutching Shakespeare. As a lawyer
he graciously accepting bread or chicken from the poor as his legal fees. As a radio
broadcaster during World War II he had the lover's temerity to dedicate a song to his
beloved despite the highly conservative society.He cut an eccentric, amiable figure.
Another was the Englishman, H.M. Close. A Cambridge graduate, he was teaching
at St. Stephan's College, Dehli when World War II commenced. In 1940 he got a
regular commission in the army. During the Independance period he was. active in
the rehablitation of refugees. He came to NWFP in 1947 and dedicated himself to
the cause of education. He taught at the Islamia College for three long decades
and then at Edwardes College from 1982 to 1996. Besides being an academic, he
was a historian, author of several books, social worker and a Missionary. He died in
Peshawar, widely mourned, in 1999. Dr. Phil Edmonds, another devoted teacher, was
an Australian. His twenty-three years (1955-1978) at Edwardes College are
remembered for his keen endeavour and personal interest in raising the academic
standards of the institution and to produce well-rounded students.
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With the importation of the printing press from the Punjab to Peshawar, the
technology spawned an interest in current affairs and popular literature. Newspapers
printed in Urdu and Pashto gave impetus to journalists. The first newspaper Murtazai a
weekly was published in 1853 but ceased in 1858. Pioneers of journalism include
Hakim Syed Abdullah Shah of Afghan, a newspaper current in 1909.Other early
Pashto publications include the magazine Sarhad (1926) and Pakhtoon (1927).
The printing process involved the lithographic technique and created thriving work
schools of calligraphers. Amongst the more famous Ustad / "Master" calligraphers
was M. M. Sharif. He designed the currency notes of the State of Swat and also
rendered newspaper mastheads and titles for Urdu and Pashto magazines. The mast
head for the Daily Tarjuman-i Afghan is not only reflective of the Pathan' s love of
arms but is a most innovative interpretation of the nasta'liq style.
Qazi Ahmad Jan is reputed to have introduced a "lucid style" and prompted'the
"new genre of short story" in Pashto. Amir Hamza Khan Shinwari (b.1910) trained in the
Bombay film industry, acted in, and directed, the .first Pashto film "Laila Majnu". Soon
however, the spirit turned to other calling. He became a Sufi, wrote prose, plays and
poetry and introduced new facets in the Pashto ghazal. Maulana Abdul Qadir laid
the foundations of the Pashto Academy in Peshawar University. He was born in the
backward area of Gadoon Amazai in the village of Pabinin of Swabi district. A
graduate of Islamia College Peshawar, he joined the Aligarh University and obtained
degrees in English, Arabic and Law. After World War II, he joined the All India Radio.
Following the Independence of Pakistan, he served as a diplomat in the Pakistan
Embassy in Kabul. A polyglot he spoke and wrote in five languages: Pashto, Urdu,
English, Arabic and Persian.
Kalandar Mohmand is one of the leading intellectuals of the Frontier. He was born in
the village of Bazikhel and worked as a journalist for many years acquiring a
reputation in several literary genres. His lasting contribution is the compilation of a
comprehensive Pashto dictionary called Samander. Khatir Ghaznavi was a moving
spirit behind the literary and cultural activities in the Province and is the author of
several books of poetry and prose. He started his professional career from Radio
Pakistan Peshawar, then joined the Urdu department of Peshawar University and also
worked as a Director in the Pakistan Academy of Letters, Islamabad. He taught at
the University of Malaysia and the Beijing University, China.
Mohsin Ahsan is another front-rank poet of Urdu and has published several volumes
of verse. Dr. Raj Wali Khattak who head the Pashto Academy is a poet and
well-known critic. G.J. Pareshan Khattak (b. 1930), an accomplished scholar was the
Vice-Chancellor of the Gomal University, Dera Ismail Khan, the Chairman of the
Pakistan Academy of Letters, Islamabad, the Vice-Chancellor of Azad Jammu and
Kashmir University, Muzaffarabad and Chairman of the University Grants Commission.
He has published numerous books and received national and international awards
and honours.
Dr. Ahmad Hassan Dani (b. 1920) is the country's leading authority on
paleolography and archaeology. A polyglot, he was the first Muslim student at the
Benaras Hindu University and also the first Muslim student to receive a gold medal for
topping in the M.A. He later trained under the legendary archaelogist Sir Mortimer
Wheeler in Taxila. In 1955 he obtained a Ph.D from the University of London. He has
explored the region extensively, studied ancient cultures along the Karakoram
Highway and has written prolifically on the proto-history in Gandhara,
anthropology, history and allied subjects. He established the Taxila Institute of Asian
Civilizations and has long been associated with UNESCO. He is probably the most
decorated scholar in the country whose work has been recognised by numerous
countries through honours and awards.
Ahmad Faraz (b. 1931) ranks amongst the foremost Urdu poets of the post
Independence generation and has published thirteen volumes of poetry. Born in
Kohat to a father who was himself a poet of Urdu and Persian, Faraz became known
at a young age. He began his career as a lecturer in Urdu at Islamia College,
Peshawar. Later he joined the Central Government's National Centres network, like
many intellectuals, to promote national cohesion, between the provinces
especially East Pakistan, through the arts and culture. His anti-establishment poems
landed him in jail but the Supreme Court came to his rescue. He was the Chairman
of the Pakistan Academy of Letters. A most sought-after poet, he has won several
national and international awards. His work has been translated into Chinese, Dutch,
English, French, German, Hindi, Macedonian, Russian and Swedish. Amongst the
poets who adopted English as their medium of expression, the most well-known is
the late Daud Kamal, a professor of English at the Peshawar University. He published
several volumes, translated the work of eminent Urdu poets into English and won
international awards.
Western education and technology opened out new ways of expression. One
important area of creative realization was western-style painting. Abdul Ghani Khan
(1914-1996) was a man of many parts: poet, philosopher, painter, politician. Eldest
son of Abdul Ghaffar Khan, he joined the Indian National Congress like his father and
was active in the political struggle against the British. Yet he is now remembered for
6 of 22 3/11/17, 2:42 PM
his book Pathan, written in English and as a pioneering practitioner of the modern
idiom in poetry and painting. He joined Rabindranath Tagore's Shantiniketan College
of Arts in 1934, where he "discovered" himself both as a poet and a painter. The
subjects of his five volumes of Pashto poetry range from "freedom, love of God, land
and people, nationalism, fate, the mysteries of life and death, the joys of
communion, and the woes of separation." 16aln his paintings the influence of the
Bengal School and pre-Islamic heritage of the Frontier make bold and contemporary
.statements.
Amongst the most well-known and versatile artists of the country is Gulgee. Born in
Peshawar in 1926 he has, over the decades, acquired an international reputation
both as a painter and Calligraph-artist. He trained as an engineer but acquired fame
as an artist during Ayub Khan's rule. He started with realistic work, acquired
remarkable facility in draftsmanship, executed some of the most memorable works
in lapis lazuli mosaic including the portraits of the present Aga Khan and his
grandfather Aga Khan III, rendered abstract murals in free gestural expressionism for
many public and private collections. His contribution to the new international
movement in the visual arts, Calligraph-art is phenomenal.
Other contemporary painters of standing include Tayyeba Aziz, a fine water-colourist
who is also an academic. The paintings of Naveed Shabbir and Naheed Saleem
figure in several military and public collections. Sabir Nazar who trained as a painter
is known for his cartoons. Nasir ud-Din Mohmand, a senior artist, has for several
decades painted the people and places of his Province.
Another new medium was the motion picture. The Frontier's contribution though
often over-looked, is substantial. During the early twentieth century, a centre of film
industry emerged in Bombay attracting talent in all branches of movie-making.
Actors, with and without stage experience, gravitated to the dream-factory
emulating Hollywood. The legendary Prithviraj Kapoor, the incomparable Dilip Kumar
and the screen siren Madhubala all hailed from the Frontier. They went on to
conquer the South Asian silver screen as no character actor, hero or heroine has
done since.
Prithviraj Kapoor was born in Samundari, near Lyallpur now called Faisalabad, in
Punjab. After schooling in Lyallpur and Lahore, he went to Peshawar where his father
was a Police official. He graduated from Edwardes College, studied Law for a year
before the celluloid lured him to Bombay in 1928. An interesting anecdote is told of
his racial tenacity. Baburao Patel, editor of the top cinema magazine of the 1930's,
Film India remarked to him: 'There is no place in the films for uncouth brawny Pathans
who think they can make it as actors!" To this the young Prithviraj replied: "Baburao
do not provoke this Pathan. If there is no place for me in the Indian films, I shall swim
across the seven seas to Hollywood!" But there was no need to undertake such a
tiring swim. He not only became a successful actor and producer but spawned the
Kapoor dynasty that for five generations is involved with cinema.
The other male actor who dominated Bollywood like a colossus was Dilip Kumar.
Born in Peshawar in 1922 as Yusuf Khan, he ruled the South Asian silver screen from
the late t 940's till well into the t 980's. Unmatched in the clarity of dialogue delivery,
master of various rustic dialects, chaste Urdu of Lucknow and Dehli, and the vast
repertoire of expressions, he came to be celebrated as 'The Monarch of Tragedy".
From lead romantic roles - tragic or swashbuckling, rustic or comic - to character
parts, his repertoire and charismatic presence remains unparalleled. He is the Olivier
of Bollywood.
Widely acknowledged as "the most beautiful actress of her generation", Madhubala

hailed from Mardan. In the epic romance "Mughal-e-Azam" these three Pathans, the
greatest actors of their time, were immortalized in leading roles: Prithjviraj as
Emperor Akbar the Great, Dilip Kumar as the rebellious son, Prince Saleem later to
inherit the empire as Emperor Jahangir, and Madhubala as the tragic Anar-kali /
"Pomegranate-blossom", the dancing-girl who dared to love the Prince. Even the
current Bollywood icon Shahrukh Khan (b. t 965), lOVingly called "King Khan", has his
ancestral house in Peshawar.
In the years after Independence, Radio Pakistan Peshawar and theatres played vital
roles in training performers and actors. Some of the early luminaries include Khalil
Khan, F.R.Qureshi, Kazim AIi, Sheikh Shareef and Ms. Santosh Russell, a Christian lady
popularly known as Santoshi. Qavi Khan began his professional career in 1952 from
Radio Pakistan, Peshawar, where he learnt his craft from some of them. When
television came to Pakistan in 1964 he was the lead in the first television play
"Nazarana". Since then he has continued to perform on radio, stage, film and
television in ' tragic and comic roles with equal facility, and win numerous national
awards. His younger contemporary Firdous Jamal (b. 1954) also began as a radio
artiste in Peshawar. His first television play was from the Rawalpindi Station. Since
then he has performed in all the languages of Pakistan on radio, stage, film and
television and received awards like his senior colleague. Rangeela, the versatile
comedian of the Pakistani silver screen, who delighted audience for over three
decades, was also a Pathan.
7 of 22 3/11/17, 2:42 PM
Singers such as Muzaffar Khan, the late Gulnaar Begum, Khiyal Muhammad and
Zarsanga have acquired a lasting following and reputation in the Province. Their
senior contemporaries who contributed to Pashto music and singing included Ustad
Abdullah Jan, Ahmed Gul, Ahmed Khan, Qamro Jan, Baacha Zareen Jan. Rafiq
Shinwari pioneered the fusion of folk singing with ghazal rendering and so created a
new style. The musician Muneer Sarhadi is a master of the Saranda, an indigenous
stringed instrument played with a bow. On the current pop-culture scene, Rahim
Shah has emerged as a major vocalist. His songs have been plagiarized by
Bollywood movies.
Predictably traditional sports such as hawking, hunting with dogs and shooting hare
and partridge have waned. The traditional sports such as ram-fighting, wrestling,
cock-fighting are only occasionally seen. However, horse riding, polo and shooting
remain popular as ever. Polo in its traditional form still draws large crowds when it is
played annually at the Shandoor festival in mid-summer.
This widely attended festival takes place at the highest polo ground in the world.
Nine hours by winding road from Chitral, in the Shandoor Pass at about 11 ,000ft, the
six best teams, three from Chitral and three from Gilgit continue the tradition which
was formalized in the 1920's. The game is played following the centuries old rules set
by a descendant of Chengiz Khan. Unlike his blood-thirsty ancestor who played the
game with the heads of vanquished enemies, Ali Sher Khan tamed the game to set
rules. It consists of two chukkars, in which each player is allowed only one pony and if
one player ceases to play, so would the player from the opposing team. Smaller
than the standard polo-field, the shandoor ground is 60 yards by 220 yards
Contribution of a different kind came from the village of Naway Kallay, now
subsumed in the growing Peshawar cantonment. It has acquired international fame
for producing a string of world champions in squash. The first generation of
champions such as Roshan Khan (1927-2006) and Hashim Khan groomed the next
generation of champions: Azam Khan, Mohibullah Khan, Qamar Zaman, Jahangir
Khan and Jan Sher Khan. These world-class players, for many decades dominated
the intense sport. Roshan Khan won the British Open, Dunlop Open, Canadian Open
and Egyptian Open in one big sweep in 1956. The following year he won the Pakistan
Professional Championship and the Australian World Series. In 1958 and 1960 he won
the US Open and in 1962 the Canadian Open. He rounded up his carreer by winning
the Pakistan Professional Championship for the last time in 1967. His son Jahangir
Khan, was the youngest ever winner of the International Squash Raquet Federation
World Amateur Championship in Australia. In 1981 he defeated the great Australian
Geoff Hunt in the World Open in Toronto and lifted the British Open trophy in 1982 in
a historic win. He remains a record-holder with ten successive wins at the British Open
and six wins at the World Open Championships.
Qamar Zaman having won the Pakistan Open in 1973 went on playing the
international circuit till 1989, winning numerous championships including the World
Open Championship in 1975 and the World Masters' Open Championship in 1997
and 1978. During 1975, 1978 and 1980 he was number one in the world ranking.
These men not only put Pakistan on the map of the squash world, but helped
strengthen and spread the game in the country.
For skiers and mountaineers, the Province is a challenge. The only ski resort of the
country is at Malam Jabba, Swat but many peaks continue to beckon the more
adventurous climbers. Every year the daring come from all over the world to test their
stamina, strategy and tenacity against the slopes and summits. In the summer of
1939 there was an unsuccessful attempt to climb Trich Mir. On the expedition's
departure, two of the Sherpa porters, Everest "tigers" named Anten Sing and Tensing,
remained with the Chitral Scouts for four years, though for different reasons. They
were to carry out reconnaissance of all possible invasion routes from Russian
Turkestan, through the Wakhan. Tensing who was to attain fame as one of the first
two men to reach the summit of Everest in 1953 was a very good coole "His souffles
concocted at 12,000 feet on a bleak mountainside were out of this world, and his
coffee- and chocolate-gateaux scrumptious.
Bill White, the leader of the expedition, the Sherpas and selected Scouts were sent to
reconnoitre fourteen passes over the Hindu Kush, of which only two had been visited
by Europeans in the previous forty years. They varied in height from Bang Gol (15,600
ft.) to Kot Gaz (17,939 ft.). For this exploit Bill White was awarded the medal of the
Royal Geographical Society.
For the Frontier's material culture the Kissa Khwani Bazaar in Peshawar provides a
collective view. A broad artery, crisscrossed by narrow lanes and bye-lanes, it is an
important economic and cultural nucleus of the Province. Here are found vessels in
beaten brass and copper, fine hand-woven woollen fabrics, leather-work,
hand-knotted rugs, namdas of beaten wool, and carpets, caps made of
mountain-sheep wool and lamb-skin, the karakuli, finest quality woven fabrics with
richly worked end-pieces in bands of gold / tilla for lungis/ turbans, Chitrali cloaks of
handspun and hand-woven wool, and leather chappals in a range of traditional
styles besides a hundred other products, all vying for space and attention. Not only
native designs and forms but influence of Greek and Arab, Kashmiri and Persian,
Central Asian and Tartar, European and Far Eastern motifs are visible. All testifying to
8 of 22 3/11/17, 2:42 PM
Peshawar's reputation as the place where cultures meet.
The cottage industry consists mainly of fine embroideries of phulkari variety from
Hazara, chikan doz from Peshawar, wood-carving with characteristic motifs of each
region especially from Swat and Kafiristan, marble inlay, glazed earthenware or
faience from Bannu, lacquer-turnery from Dera Ismail Khan and lacquer-ware of
Bannu, metal-work and leather.
The Frontier has also spawned the true Pakistani" Pop Art". Peshawar is the centre of
the highly popular 'Truck-art". The painters with bright enamel colours cover almost
every conceivable surface of the heavy vehicles, decorating each like a bride.
Bold and naive renderings of local fauna and flora, calIigraphed verses, traditional
or folk motifs, portraits of male and female film stars and political leaders are
rendered with such unrestained abandon that the result is the most eyecatching art
galleries on the road. This has led to exhibitions in museums at home and abroad.
The Frontier is seismically an active area and the people over the ages have evolved
their indigenous architectural styles which are earthquake resistant. The traditional
architecture of mud bricks reinforced with timber beams and supports seen in many
of Burke's nineteenth century photographs can still be seen in Peshawar's old city.
Some structures are several storeys high. Up-country the Kalash, the herdsmen and
the peasants generally employ the traditional construction methods which rely
heavily on the use of logs, shaped timber and rocks held in place by adobe and
plastered with mud and straw.
The Pathan celebrates social and political occasions with verve and vigour. Firing
guns into the air is a common expression of joy. Another is the Khattak sword-dance.
This most popular and representative dance involves loud music of drums and pipes
and flashing of blades while young men in full white shirts swirl and toss their hair back
and forward or flick them from side to side in wild abandon. The cultural facets of the
Frontier are many, and many remain unexplored.
History - The March of Time
Every rock, every hill has its story.
Even before this crossroad of the East and West became prominent in Western
annals through the work of the Greek geographer and chronicler Hecataeus of
Miletus writing in 500 B.C., the historian Herodotus (485 B.C-425 B.C.), and the
campaigns of Alexander, a long history of civilizations unfolds amongst the ageless
contours of the Frontier.
That man roamed these parts since

Palaeolithic times has been confirmed by
evidence scattered across the Province. In
the Sanghao cave, Mardan, early Stone
Age implements, flakes, core tools, blade
flakes, awls, hammer tools and scrapers of
various shapes with a sharpened edge for
scraping materials such as hide or wood
have been discovered. Similarly in Lewan, Bannu district, core tools, blade flakes,
end scrapers, pebble tools, hand-axes, knife blades of hard stone give evidence of a
culture that thrived between 3,500 B.C.-3,000 B.C. Remains from the later Stone Age
or Neolithic period, when animals were first domesticated and agriculture
introduced, have been found at Jhandi Balar in the Dera Ismail Khan district. These
consist of terracotta toys, human and animal figures, painted pottery shards and
beads.
Apart from the pre-historic sites, the

Province was home to the developed,
Harappan culture (2,700 B.C.-2,000 B.C.)
which was not a natural continuum of the
earlier settlements but comparable in
urbanization to Mesopotamia and Egypt.
Pottery decorated with fish motifs,
geometric designs and horizontal bars,
human figures and animal shapes have been found at Rehman Dheri, Dera Ismail
Khan. These link it to the better known sites of Moenjo Daro in Sindh and Harappa in
Punjab. The spread of the Indus Valley Civilization to these more northerly areas
brought with it the same repertoire of subjects and symbols: female figures with
elaborate headdresses, mothers holding babies (a subject that was to find its finest
expression in European Renaissance painting and sculpture), snake goddesses,
humped bulls, dogs, bird-toys, toy carts and bone seals engraved with animal and
insect symbols. The Rehman Dheri site shows that the Indus Valley Civilization initiated
a tradition of square seals that matured with its climax. One Rehman Dheri seal
depicts two mountain-goats and another two scorpions and a frog. These seals point
to trade connexions with Mesopotamia. Remains from the mature Harappan period
9 of 22 3/11/17, 2:42 PM
discovered at Maru, Dera Ismail Khan, consist of perforated ware, bangles, jewellery,
buttons, gems, cornelian beads and shell ladles.
Aryans, a semi-nomadic people of Central Asia, whose main occupation was cattle-
raising, came to South Asia betweent ,800 B.C.- t ,200 B.C. and settled along the
Indus. Their legends are incorporated in Mahabharata, an ancient Sanskrit epic,
reflective of centuries of collective beliefs. In that sacred scripture this region and
people are mentioned: Panjkora watershed appears as Gauri in the sixth book2 and
the tribe of Asvaka as inhabiting the far north. The latter probably refers to the
people of Swat, Kunar and Bajaur.3 The Rg Veda, another book of the Aryans,
mentions the Pukhtuns as Pakhtu and Paktium because of their affiliations with
Paktia, a province of Afghanistan.
Part of the Achaemenian empire founded

by Cyrus the Great, this area remained a
Persian dominion for over two centuries. At
a date after 516 B.C., Darius Hystaspes
sent Skylax, a Greek seaman, to explore
the course of the Indus4. The inscriptions of
Darius recorded on rocks or dressed stone
list Gandhara - present Peshawar Valley -
and India5 as one of the fourteen countries he ruled. In 331 B.C. this mighty empire
fell to Alexander the Macedonian, who invaded the mountains and valleys of the
present NWFP and fought his way to Punjab. By the spring of 327 B.C. Alexander's
armies were ready for the Indus Valley. At the Nawagai Pass, which links Afghanistan
to the present Bajaur Agency, Alexander divided his army. One section marched
towards Charsadda, while the other, led by him, entered this region through Swat.
Here he met stiff resistance from the Kamboja clans: the Aspasios of Kunarj Alishang
valleys, the Guraeans of the GuraeusjPanjkora Valley and the Assakenois of the Swat
and Buner valleys. It was during this march that he received an arrow wound on his
shin. He captured Ora, identified by Aurel Stein in the early twentieth century with a
place now called Raja Giras Kasal, in the Swat Valley above Birkot. When the
Massaga chief was killed, his aged mother, known as Cleophis in Western annals,
took over the command of the army and mounted a stubborn defence. The role of
Cleophis is still not researched, but it is indicative of the mettle of the women of the
NWFP. Alexander left his garrisons and went to join his General and favourite
Hephaestion in the Peshawar plains where he accepted the surrender of
Peucelaotis, modern Charsadda. Gandhara has been identified as the Greek
Paktuike6. "Darius, Herodotus, Alexander, Pompey, Horace, Trajan, would certainly
have thought of India in the geographical terms of what is now... Pakistan".
The impact of Alexander's presence was

short but pervasive. His total stay in the
Frontier was less than twelve months and
during all this time he faced very spirited
opposition by the inhabitants. As such he
was continuously engaged either in
capturing fortresses or fighting his way
forward.
Things fell apart on Alexander's death. The empire fragmented. His General Seleucus
took over the eastern part but the vigorous resistance of Chandra Gupta, founder of
the Maurya dynasty (323-190 B.C.), stayed his attempts to expand southward. Under
Asoka (264-227 B.C.), one of the great Mauryan monarchs, Buddhism flourished.
Many rock edicts propagating Buddhist ideals were erected across the empire and
several were installed in this region.
Around 75 A.D. the Kushan of Indo-Scythian stock established another great empire.
During the intervening period dynasties of the Graeco-Bactrians, the Sakas and the
Indo-Parthians, all from Central Asia, ruled Gandhara. The Graeco-Bactriankingdom
of Taxila and Sakal a fell to Saka invasion which started around 97 B.C. These
nomadic invaders entered a kingdom which had been absorbing Persian, Indian, as
well as Hellenic influences. The Saka ruled Gandhara for about a century upto 5 A.D.
The Parthians who succeeded the Sakas were also nomads and extended their
authority down to the Indus. By 19 A.D. Gondophares (d.48 A.D.) was ruling over
Gandhara and northern Punjab. The magnificent Parthians were celebrated in the
Odes of Horace (b. 65 B.C.) as fine horsemen:
The Kushans were replaced by the

Sassanians, also from Central Asia.
Gandhara, the Derajaat, Sindh and large
parts of Afghanistan fell to them. By 365
A.D. these provinces temporarily collapsed
under the invading White Huns. The third
invasion of the fifth century was so
devastating that it destroyed all memory
of previous reigns. By the end of the sixth century A.D. a group of tribes with Irani
background
and language settled in Gandhara, ushering in the return of Persian influence.
10 of 22 3/11/17, 2:42 PM
Chinese pilgrims, Fa-Hien (399-414 A.D.) and Hiuen-Tsang (629-645 A.D.), through their
historical records shed light on Gandhara and its main city of Paskapuros. Fa-Hien
found five hundred monasteries devoted to the flourishing Buddhist faith. But
Hiuen-Tsang visiting Peshawar and Swat in 644
A.D. found that Buddhism was suffering at the hands of Hinduism which was in the
ascent. Almost a hundred years later, U-K'ong (757-764 A.D.) found only three
hundred Buddhist monasteries. The last monarchs of the Kushan dynasty had
submitted to relentless Hinduism which soon eliminated the quietist Buddhism from
this entire area. Deserted were the enlightened centres of learning like Taxila. Gone
was the glory of Gandhara.
The Persian hold was beginning to weaken because of the challenges of Generals
who had begun to act like independent satraps and Persia's military commitments in
the west to meet the march of Muslims. With swift victories in the Middle East and
Persian defeats in the plains of Nihawand, south of Hamadan, the Muslims
established themselves in Persia. During this period and till the arrival of Muslims in the
Indus area, the Hindu Shahi dynasty ruled the region.
During the last decades of the first

millennium, Sabuktagin, (d.997),
established at Ghazni, turned southward
to Peshawar, Punjab and Upper Sindh. By
the time his valiant son Mahmud (d. 1030)
succeeded him, the Sultanate consisted
of a sizeable area of modern Iran, Punjab
and the valleys of the present North-West
Frontier Province. Then for the first time in the annals appears the name "Afghan" for
the people living in the hills between Ghazni and the Sulaiman Range.9 Between 999
A.D. and 1026 A.D. Mahmud undertook twelve campaigns. These met with repeated
success. He defeated Raja Jaipal in the decisive battle fought near Peshawar in 1000
A.D. The next battle fought with his son Anandpal, in 1008 A.D. was the last nail in the
coffin of Hindu Shahi hold.
With Mahmud Islam began to cast its pervasive, transforming light. A great flowering
of Muslim culture began. A man of refined taste, many a famous scholar, Sufi and
poet, including the great Persian poet, author of the epic Shahnama, Firdausi (940- 1
020), gravitated to his court and migrated to the newly conquered areas. The
unifying call of Islam which negated the caste system - perpetrated and per-
petuated by Hinduism - struck a chord in the heart of the populace. The Pathan
began to embrace Islam en mass thus cementing military force with religious unity.
This dynamic combination initiated a "tide of Pathan infiltration into every part of the
Indian peninsula reached by Muslim arms."
The enlightened Ghaznavid dynasty ruled for almost a hundred years before it was
succeeded by the Ghorids. Muhammad Ghori ruled till 1206 A.D. when he was
assassinated in his tent on the banks of the Indus River. Several dynasties such as the
Khiljis (1290- 1321) followed. Frontier-men were attracted to their banner for suddenly
the whole of South Asia lay open. In the early thirteenth century Mongols under
Chengiz Khan (r. 1 196- 1227) created great turmoil. One of the armies penetrated as
far south as Lahore and destroyed it in 1240 A.D. Timur (1369-1405) or Tamerlane,
celebrated in a play by the English playwright Christopher Marlowe (1564- 1593),
subdued Kator, now Chitral and made his "devastating inroad into the Punjab,
returning via Bannu in March, 1399."11 He pushed as far as the Ganges at Hardwar
upsetting the Tughlaq dynasty which had succeeded the Khiljis in Dehli.
Other dynasties such as the Lodhis (1451-1526) and the Surs (1539-1555) also
exercised periodic control.
A new era dawns with the coming of Babur (1482-1530). Babur-namah, his memoir, is
an incisive record of the Frontier region. Founder of a most powerful and
long-enduring empire, he was a renaissance man: a man of sword and the pen. Of
keen sensibility and not without poetic and calligraphic accomplishments, he
invented a new form of writing which unfortunately did not acquire popularity.
He was able to marshal the Frontier tribes for his several forays into India. The most
prominent were the Yusafzais who marched in his armies. His successors too
depended on Pathan prowess to expand their empire. It was not surprising that
Khushhal Khan Khattak should declare:
Who owed his place to the Pathans...

I hear the story of Bahlol and Sher Shah;
That in days gone by Pathans were Kings in Hind; For six
or seven generations theirs was the Kingdom, And all the
world wondered at them!
And After him was Babur King of Delhi,
Babur's account lists tribes spread from

Swat to the Daman. Like Alexander, he
endeavoured to secure a firm base for the
11 of 22 3/11/17, 2:42 PM
conquest of India. As such his adminis-

trative control was flexible. Following the
death of Babur, Kamran his younger son,
proclaimed himself ruler of the region as
far as the Indus. But conflict with his elder brother, Humayun (1508-1556), led to the
weakening of the Mughal power and afforded Sher Shah Suri (d. 1545), a Pathan,
the opportunity to capture the empire easily.
The few short years of Sher Shah Suri were years of far-reaching consequences. A
man of vision and action, ,he bequeathed many administrative measures, which
continue to this day: the land revenue system being one. He also established a
sound security syst~m which ensured the safety of travellers and traders along the
highways including the Grand Trunk Road. He turned the hardihood of tribes to the
advantage of the State. His realization that Pathan future lay with the Indus Valley
region and not with Central Asian principalities14 was to reverbate for centuries
afterwards and found expression as the North-West Frontier Province within the
"Malik" called Akoray was presented to

him. In return for a land grant / "jagii'
between the Attock Bridge and
Nowshera, Akoray was entrusted with the
responsibility to protect the road from
Attock to Peshawar. This man was the
ancestor of Khushhal Khan Khattak, the
celebrated poet. With heavy losses, the
Mughal forces reached Ali Masjid. Imperial communication on the Khyber route met
repeated setbacks. Campaigns against the northern tribes were even more
disastrous. In the battle at Buner 800 men lost their lives. But Akbar persisted. In 1587
another campaign was launched against Bajaur and Swat. For the next five years
(1587 -1592) varying success met the imperial armies. 'The fact is," says Raverty, "the
Mughal rulers never obtained a permanent footing in these parts, notwithstanding
the slaughter of the people and the devastation of their lands."15 Akbar was unable
to subjugate the southern Pathan districts also and no Great Mughal seriously
attempted to control Swat or the mountain region after his death in 1605.
The Khattaks and the Yusufzais had been at daggers drawn and the tribal feud
continued for almost a century. The Yusafzais had opposed Mughal predominance
but the Khattak had aligned themselves with the imperial power during Shah Jahan's
reign (1627-1658). The Emperor confirmed Khushhal Khan as chief of the tribe and
guardian of the King's Highway to Peshawar. Khushhal Khan went to the Dehli court
and participated in various campaigns in Kangra, Balkh and Badakhshan where he
won considerable distinction. However he fell out with the Mughal Governor of
Kabul, during Aurangzeb's reign (1658-1707), over toll collection of the Indus. He was
sent to Delhi and incarcerated for two years in the Ranthambhor Fortress. Even after
his release he was not permitted to return home until 1668. Tribal resistance to the
Mughals persisted and the Mughal arms met disaster in 1673 in Gandab and in
Khapak Pass in 1674. In 1674, the Emperor went north to personally supervise the
operations. Khushhal not only refused help, despite imperial request, but galvanized
active opposition which led to a successful attack on the Nowshera Fort.
Subsequently Khushhal Khan transferred the chieftainship to his elder son Ashraf, and
took to the freer life of a rebel, till he died in 1689.
Peshawar, under a Mughal Deputy

Governor, was part of the Province of
Kabul till the death of Aurangzeb in 1707.
Then the centre could not hold. The
imperial fabric fragmented into
competing kingdoms. Nadir Shah, the
Persian, seized the opportunity and
invaded India with Pathan and Afghan
backing in material and men. His murder in 1 747, opened the gates of gain to
Ahmad Shah Abdali (1 74773). During the twenty-six years of his reign, Abdali led
eight campaigns across the Indus. The Frontier, particularly Peshawar, was used
mainly as a staging point for his invasions. He ravaged Punjab as far as Dehli,
annexed Lahore and Multan and extended his empire to all of western Punjab and
Kashmir. In 1761, he routed the large army of the Maratha confederacy at Panipat.
This decisive battle paved the way for the marauding Sikh misls / "confederacies" to
subject the Punjab to their fickle whims. Not until the wily Ranjit Singh conquered
Lahore and styled himself Maharaja in 1799, did semblance of peace return to
Punjab. But Punjab's peace was Frontier's strife.
The defeat of Shah Shuja in 1809 by his brother, accelerated Sikh ascendancy and
whet Maharaja Ranjit Singh's appetite for northward expansion. When the deposed
Shuja sought sanctuary in Lahore he was treated cruelly, imprisoned and deprived of
the legendary Koh-i Noor / "Mountain of Light" diamond by Ranjit Singh.
The defeat of Shah Shuja in 1809 by his brother, accelerated Sikh ascendancy and
whet Maharaja Ranjit Singh's appetite for northward expansion. When the deposed
Shuja sought sanctuary in Lahore he was treated cruelly, imprisoned and deprived of
the legendary Koh-i Noor / "Mountain of Light" diamond by Ranjit Singh
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After the Battle of Nowshera in 1823, Ranjit

Singh advanced on Peshawar. He killed
and plundered mercilessly. The Bala Hissar
palace, where fourteen years earlier Shah
Shuja had received the British envoy,
Mountstuart Elphinstone (1799-1859) so
regally, was reduced to ruins. The
sprawling royal gardens were destroyed
and the extensive orchard axed. Lt. Col. Sir Alexander Burnes, who visited the city
during 1836-37, remarked:
I found that the Sikhs had changed everything: many of the fine gardens round the
town had been converted into cantonments; trees had been cut down; and the
whole neighbourhood was one vast camp, there being between 30,000 and 40,000
men stationed on the plain.
Sikha Shahi became synonymous with mis-government and terror. Even the original
mosque of Mahabat Khan erected by Aurangzeb's Governor in about 1670, was
destroyed. 'That Peshawar contains no architectural monuments of any value is due
mainly to the devastations of 1823."17 Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu, and the Derajaat
came under tentative Sikh rule. Sikh armies repeatedly campaigned against the
tribes matching their valour with unchecked cruelty. Ranjit Singh's favourite General
and first Sikh Governor of Peshawar, Hari Singh Nalwa - celebrated in a Punjabi
ballad by Qadir Yar - passed into Pathan folklore for his barbarity and savagery.
Unable to subjugate them, he unleashed a reign of terror and built the Jamrud Fort,
which rises above the surrounding flat like a "battleship", to control the mouth of the
Khyber Pass.
In response to the northward push of the Sikhs, Sayyid Ahmad Shah of Bareilly
launched a religio-political movement. He hoped to unite the disparate tribes under
the banner of Islam. The Pathan hatred for Sikh oppression proved a catalyst. He was
perceived as a divinely blessed deliverer. His spirited attacks engaged the Sikh forces
under Nalwa and the Frenchman, General Allard. He even occupied Peshawar in
1830 for two months and struck a coin in his name. But soon differences between the
tribes surfaced and the fragile unity Sayyid Ahmad had forged, gave way. The more
organized Sikhs surprised and slew him in Balakot at the mouth of Kaghan Valley in
1831. His body is buried at Balakot while his head thrown in the river was retrieved by
his followers and buried down-river at Garhi Habibullah. The heroes of the Pathan
struggle against the Sikh were the Yusafzai and Khattak tribesmen. With Sayyid
Ahmad's martyrdom a movement that was to remain a landmark in local struggle
against oppression suffered a set-back. His campaigns were both the acme and
nadir of Pathan military acumen. While the tribes united to defeat the Sikh forces
time and again, ultimately they fell victim to their own discord. Sikhs then
consolidated their position in Peshawar, Bannu and the Derajaat. They made no
attempt to occupy the hill territories and never entered Swat, Buner, Bajaur, the
Kurram Valley or Waziristan.
During the battle at the Jamrud Fort in April 1837, Nalwa fell mortally wounded near
the spot where the lslamia College and the University of Peshawar now stand.
A daring warrior Arbab Muhammad Khan

dashed on horseback right up to Nalwa's
elephant and delivered the blow. Nalwa
fell and Arbab was cut to pieces. The
place of Nalwa's death is still known as Burj
Hari Singh / "Tower of Hari Singh". Nalwa
was succeeded by the Italian, General
Avitabile as the Governor of Peshawar
(18381842). Popularly referred to as "Abu Tabela", his cruelty is still remembered: he
had a habit of hanging people from the minarets of the Mahabat Khan Mosque. For
his residence a fort was erected around the Hindu shrines of Gor Khatri within the city
wall. It was here that many Englishmen on their way to and from Kabul, during the
First Afghan War, visited him. More recently preservation and conservation efforts
have been initiated to convert this large area in the centre of the congested old city
into a public garden.
The death of Ranjit Singh in 1839 and the ensuing infighting between his successors
set the stage for the British East India Company which had, for decades, been
knocking at the doors of the Kingdom of Lahore. In 1847 after the First Sikh War,
the Sikh Durbar continued to exist but was subordinate to the British East India
Company. Styled as "Company Bahadur", it installed a Resident, who acted as the
agent for control, at the titular Maharaja's court at Lahore.
As Russia recovered from Napoleon's disastrous invasion, her imperial attention

turned to Central Asia where chieftains gradually began to come under Russian
influence. It was evident from reports of early British travellers such as Captain
Alexander Burnes that Russia had designs in lands beyond its traditional boundaries.
The turmoil in Afghanistan, the occupation of Kabul, the restoration of Shah Shuja,
13 of 22 3/11/17, 2:42 PM
the killing of two envoys Macnaghten and Burnes, the disaster of the retreat of 1841 ,
the murder of Shah Shuja by his subjects and the reoccupation of Kabul in 1842 by
General Pollock give some idea of the struggle and strife of this period. By the
proclamation of March 29, 1849, the British annexed the territories of the
Frontier. Punjab, which had fallen to the British, was now used as a base to consol-
idate their position in the Frontier districts. The districts of Peshawar, Kohat and
Hazara were placed under the direct control of the Board of Administration in
Lahore. In 1850 they were formed into a regular division under a Commissioner. Dera
Ghazi Khan and Bannu, under one Deputy Commissioner, formed part of the Layyah
division till 1861 when a Deputy Commissioner was appointed in each district and
both the districts were included in the Derajaat division. 19 No attempt was made to
advance into the highlands or to even secure the Khyber Pass. The administered
border was coterminous with the old Sikh one which divided several districts from the
Kabul area. A special group, the Punjab Frontier Force was raised to meet the
security requirements in those early years.
The first thirty years of British rule were marked by campaigns against various tribes
and their territories. These were the years that engendered countless heroic adven-
tures and exploits. Such high adventures were in turn fed to the popular imagination
of Victorian Britain through newspapers and weeklies. Reinforced by the popular
fiction of Henty and Wren, they fired and conditioned the young minds of public-
school boys and students in British educational institutions from which the British
empire drew its finest administrators and soldiers keen on a life of the great outdoors
and to shoulder the "White Man's Burden" of an expanding empire.
Nicholson so struck the popular imagination that a branch of Sikhs who served with
him, worshipped him as a Guru and came to be known as "Nikalsainis". This extraor-
dinary man died at the age of 34 when storming Dehli in the Uprising of 1857.
The commemorative obelisk erected in 1868 near the Margalla Pass celebrates his
valour during the Second Sikh War, of 1848. Herbert Edwardes, Nicholson's superior
officer, had preceded him at Bannu and was Commissioner of Peshawar with
Nicholson as his Deputy. Edwardes' memoir, A Year on the Punjaub Frontier, gives
insight into the early period (1847-1848) when Edwardes and others came to the
North-West Frontier as assistants to Henry Lawrence, the Resident at Lahore. In sharp
contrast to Sikha Shahi whose armies were sent to raise revenue through plunder and
oppression, these young blades won the confidence of the Pathan tribes, raised
levies from among them and secured their consent and goodwill. Edwardes was
trusted by the people and was instrumental in raising an army from the Bannu region
to march upon Multan during the Second Sikh War.20 Frederick Mackeson the
Commissioner of Peshawar, assassinated in 1853, was the most experienced of the
early British officers. He served on the Frontier during the 1839-42 period of the First
Afghan War. He kept the Khyber Pass open and was popular amongst the Afridis. It
was he who advised the establishment of pickets on hill-tops to provide security to
moving columns of troops. This enabled General Pollock to force the Khyber Pass in
1842. The Pathans of Peshawar and the Khyber referred to him affectionately as
"Kishin Kaka". Edwardes succeeded Mackeson as the Commissioner Peshawar.
Frederick Mackeson the Commissioner of Peshawar, assassinated in 1853, was the

most experienced of the early British officers. He served on the Frontier during the
1839-42 period of the First Afghan War. He kept the Khyber Pass open and was
popular amongst the Afridis. It was he who advised the establishment of pickets on
hill-tops to provide security to moving columns of troops. This enabled General
Pollock to force the Khyber Pass in 1842. The Pathans of Peshawar and the Khyber
referred to him affectionately as "Kishin Kaka". Edwardes succeeded Mackeson as
the Commissioner of Peshawar.
The last of this quadrumvirate was James Abbot whose fame rests in the district of
Hazara. Its major town is named after him: Abbottabad. During the Second Sikh War
Abbott repaired to this area and was able to hold ground till the decisive battle of
Gujrat, when the Sikh army finally surrendered on March 14, 1849. His Mashwani
levies at Margalla Pass contributed to the capitulation of the Sikhs. After
1849 James Abbott became Hazara's first Deputy Commissioner and remained so for
four fruitful years
Sir Colin Campbell, later Lord Clyde, who won fame as a commander in the Crimea
and for the relief of Luknow during the Uprising of 1857, took over the command of
the Frontier region.2t Naming of the town and district of Campbellpur, now Attock,
on the border of the present Punjab and Frontier Province, after him was an
acknowledgement of his eminent role. .
Following the First Sikh War (1846), on the instructions of Henry Lawrence the Resident
at Lahore, Harry Lumsden raised an irregular corps called "The Guides" in Peshawar.
Consisting of both horsemen and footmen it drew from trustworthy locals, mostly
Yusafzais and Khattaks who acted as eyes and ears of regular troops. Their
dust-coloured or khaki, loose uniform, meant for rough service became the combat
dress of all the land forces of the Commonwealth.22 After a few years Guides
moved to Mardan and served in various parts of South Asia to great distinction. The
Guides "are of the warp and woof of the Frontier fabric."
Harry Lumsden commanded the Guides until 1862 and was the first Assistant
14 of 22 3/11/17, 2:42 PM
Commissioner of the Yusafzai country in Mardan. He left an indelible mark on the

Guides and was known for his bravery and ability to get on with his tribesmen. The
Guides subsequently came to be known as the Punjab Frontier Force or the Pfiffers.
Their march from Mardan to Dehli during the Uprising or "Mutiny" of 1857 is celebrated
in the annals of British Indian army. In 27 days, 580 miles were covered including five
days campaigning on the roads at the height of the hot season. After a final
thirty-mile march, the Guides entered the Dehli camp on the morning of June 9, 1857
and in half an hour they went into action remaining on the front line for the following
three months until Dehli fell on September 20,24
To imperial desire and design the brotherhood of these remarkable men reshaped
the Frontier. Each in his own way was a man of action cast in the heroic mould. Olaf
Caroe pays them the ultimate compliment by saying that they "were more than half
Pathans themselves."IS As the British settled into the new frontier, the business of its
organization was given serious attention. The Paladins in the eight years that
preceded the Uprising of 1857 laid the foundation of border control. No less than
seventeen campaigns were launched against the locals during this period.16
However, with the march of time different systems had to be worked out. The task
was made more difficult for
three reasons. Firstly, there had never been any real control over this area. Secondly,
there was no exact limit to which the new authority could run and finally the Pathans
were distinct from the rest of India. The British brought different types of pressures to
bear on the region. The colonial, judicial and magisterial courts, .police, lawyers, the
appellate system, revenue collection and land administration etc. were all of a kind
alien to the Pathan ethos. The laws implemented were also different from the
traditional Pathan custom which required "satisfaction of the aggrieved rather than
the punishment of the aggressor."17
Waziristan, later divided for administrative reasons into North and South districts,
posed one of the toughest challenges to the British. Neither the Mughal nor the
Durranis had been able to subjugate or control Waziristan inhabited by the fierce
Waziri and Mahsud tribes. All during the Raj till Pakistan's Independence in 1947,the
Mahsuds were "the most intransigent. "28 The tribe raided Tank, a British outpost. The
response came in the form of military penetration of their area in 1860. The uneasy
relationship began to spread in this sphere of competing influences.
The Mahsud lands were subjected to military occupation during 1919-1921 when
several strategic points including Razmak were captured. The advance was fiercely
opposed and it took two long months for the British to occupy the Razmak plateau.
The battle at Ahnai Tangi lasted five days and the British sustained 2,000 casualties
including 43 officers. Then followed the re-occupation of Wana. Following fierce
battles and six full-scale expeditions, the British consolidated their foothold through
roads, posts and forts. The people unwilling to accept this occupation rose again in
1930, 1933 and during 1937-1940.
After the Durand Line came into existence, a Punjab Works Department officer at
Zhob in Baluchistan and five indigenous troops in the Gomal Pass were murdered.
The five Mahsuds held responsible were handed over to Bruce, the Political Agent. In
reaction Mulla Powinda (d.1913), a Mahsud, a leader amongst the Maliks
demanded their return and that no troops be stationed at Wana. Bruce's refusal led
to the attack on Wana camp in 1894 by Jaggar of the the Mahsud and his swords-
men. Many Mahsuds lost their lives. The British followed in 1894-1895 with extensive
punitive expeditions. No negotiative or administrative solution proved permanent
and the shifting British position added to uncertainty. The "determined and astute"
Mulla Powinda and his followers continued to challenge British hegemony in
Waziristan for several long decades. He continued to exhort his tribesmen to unity
and to fight for freedom, against the British on the one frontier and the Amir of
Afghanistan on the other. According to Sir Evelyn Howell the Resident in Waziristan
(1924-1926), he made "so large dn instalment of frontier history in effect but a series
of chapters in his own biography."
Amongst the early military operations which highlight Pathan chivalry at its best was
the Ambela campaign of 1863. The Uprising .of 1857 had been prompted by the
general discontent with the East India Company. Mutiny in some native units had
spread and acquired the dynamic of a mass movement. The ruthlessness with which
this Uprising was suppressed, prompted the freer spirits to repair to parts less
accessible to British arm. Many of these early freedom fighters took refuge in the
Yusufzai land and along the Mardan and Swabi border. These Mujahideen caused
enough concern to the British to launch the Ambela campaign under Neville
Chamberlain in autumn 1863. The tribesmen responded with zeal. Not since Emperor
Akbar's time had anyone - neither later Mughals nor Afghans nor Sikhs dared to
venture into the Yusufzai valleys. The Pathans attacked daily for almost a month and
"fierce desultory engagements continued for another month."3o Their gallantry was
acknowledged by their enemies, as the account in Roberts', autobiography shows)!
The British army with a well-equipped, disciplined force of 60,000 reinforced by
supplies and ordnance was "pinned down on the summit of the pass and had to
fight for its life. "32 Six weeks of conflict, finally resulted in the submission of the Buner
tribes. The British army suffered 900 casualities. Though the Pathans suffered many
more, never did the gallant spirit waver. Their high standard of courage was
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matched by utmost courtesy; their fight for freedom upheld the high ideals of
combat devoid of cruelty and barbarism. During this campaign two English
Lieutenants, George V. Fosbery and Henry W. Pitcher won Victoria Crosses for
re-capturing the Craig Piquet.
The border between Afghanistan and the north-western frontier of the British South
Asian empire had remained undetermined even after the Second Afghan War and
the Gandamak Treaty of May, 1879. By this Treaty the Amir, Yaqoob Khan renounced
his claim over the Khyber and the Mohmand Passes, the tribes along the main routes,
Kurram Valley as far as the Shutargardan Pass and the districts of Pishin and Sibi in
Baluchistan.33 The negotiations between Sir Mortimer Durand, a fine Persian scholar,
and the Amir, Abdur Rahman in Kabul in 1893 resulted in an agreement whereby the
Afghan ruler ceding Cham an and Chagai in Baluchistan and the territories of Waziri,
BiIand Khel, Kurram, Afridi, Bajaur, Swat, Buner, Dir, Chilas and Chitral to the British.
Thus the Durand Line - the border between Afghanistan and
modern Pakistan was finalized. This treaty prompted the British to consolidate their
position in these territories. As such in 1895, the formation of Malakand Agency, or
the Agency of Dir, Swat and Chitral was undertaken)4 The de jure hold had now to
translate into de facto rule. To do so the British now pushed into some of the toughest
terrain, into the heart of some of the greatest mountains in the world.
Between the outbreak of the Second Afghan War and the Path an uprising of 1897,
sixteen expeditions were sent against the tribesmen.35 Till this time Chitral was
approached through the 12,000 ft Shandoor Pass and little was known of the shorter
route through Dir over the 10,000 ft Lowarai Pass. The Great Game being played by
expansionist Russia in Central Asia led to the annexation of the Central Asian
Khanates: of Tashkent in June 1865, Samarkand in 1868, Bokhara in 1869 and Khiva
1873. Imperialist Britain responded by first securing its hold along the borders of this
strategic area. Matters came to a head when a claimant to the Chitral throne
attacked Chitral in 1895 and besieged Robertson, the British Resident. Action
became urgent. Chitral was attacked from two sides: the Malakand route through
Dir and from Gilgit in the North. The Malakand advance was valiantly opposed by
the tribesmen resulting in heavy fighting for the Pass. But the daring initiative of the
Guides to climb and hold the hill-crest was decisive. This was the first time since the
days of Emperor Akbar that an army from the south was able to enter the Swat
Valley and advance to Chakdarra. After the initial fight at Malakand with, and
submission by, Muhammad Sharif - ruler of Dir state Khyber, Kurram, North and South
Waziristan.
Predictably the thrust of the British arm into the tribal valleys, the establishment of
imposing military stations, Malakand, Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan,
the network of pickets, the movement of the troops into and through their land
caused concern. This was compounded by tax on Kohat salt and the news of Turkish
successes against the Greeks in Europe. The wide-spread anxiety soon ignited into
the war of 1897-98 from a small incident in the Wazir village of Maizar in Upper Tochi.
The Political Agent and officers leading a punitive expedition were killed or wounded
in June. The news spread and Saad Ullah urged the Swatis to act in the interest of
freedom. Known as Mulla Mastan, he led Malakand tribes and attacked the British
garrisons on Malakand and Chakdarra passes. By August the Mohmand joined in,
followed by the Afridi and Orakzai, leading to the capture of Khyber posts, attack on
Sam ana forts and the Kurram. Military operations began on an unprecedented
scale. Repeated campaigns were undertaken to quell the uprisings in Upper Swat,
Bajaur, Buner, the Mohmand country and Tirah. The severity of Pathan resistance
during these campaigns can be judged from the Victoria Crosses awarded. Four
were given for the Tirah campaign alone to Privates Edward Lawson and Samuel
Vickery, piper of the Gordon Highlanders, George Findlater and Lt. Henry S. Pennell.
Similarly during the Malakand campaign, Lt. Edmond W. Costello was awarded a
V.c. For the Mohmand Valley campaign four V.c.s were conferred: on Corporal
James Smith, Lt. Thomas C. Watson, Captain Godfrey Meynell and Lt. James Colvin,
who had also served in the Chitral Relief Force in 1895. The Upper Swat campaign
resulted in three v.c.s being awarded: to Lt. Col. Robert B. Adam, Lt. Alexander
Fincastle and Lt. Hector Maclean who was killed in action. By the spring of 1898 a
semblance of peace was restored. Each theatre of war not only helped the Pathan
and the British to appreciate each other better as adversaries but also passed their
heroic exploits into the annals of military history and to whet the appetite of
adventurous young men. The Khyber was re-taken, the Khyber Rifles re-established
and the building of new roads and forts initiated.
These campaigns strengthened the impression that the North-West Frontier could not
be administered effectively from Lahore. The novel configuration of five political
Agencies, settled districts, tribal territory, and its peculiar affairs, the porous Durand
Line, Russian expansion into Central Asia and ensuing issues of foreign policy and
defence, necessitated a more concerted and focused attention. When Lord Curzon
became Viceroy in 1899, the issue was addressed in right earnest. From the
annexation till
1901 the region was under the control of the Punjab Government. The well-tested
policy of "divide and rule" was put into operation. Punjab was truncated, as Muslim
majority areas would be in 1947 by the British. Now five districts, Peshawar, Kohat,
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Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Hazara were separated from the Punjab to form on
November 9, 1901, a separate Pathan administrative entity, the North-West Frontier
Province under a Chief Commissioner. Added to the territories were the Malakand
which consisted of three princely State of Dir, Swat, Chitral and the four tribal agen-
cies: Khyber, Kurram, North and South Wazirstan. The formal inaguration of the
Province took place five and half months later, on April 26, 1902. A splendid "durbar"
was held by Lord Curzon in the Shahi Bagh at Peshawar. Harold Deane was the first
Chief Commissioner. The NWFP was upgraded to a Governor Province in 1935.
While the creation of the new Province was engendered by various concerns, it
gradually shaped Pathan identity to transcended tribal loyalties. From 1936 onwards
the charismatic Faqir of Ipi (d. 1960) spearheaded a popular movement against the
colonial power. Born Mirza Ali Khan, he was a Wazir from the village of Ipi in northern
Waziristan. Deeply
religious and spiritual, his wisdom and counselling the common people led to his
widespread popularity. Gradually the injustices of the rulers goaded him to political
action. One was the incident of the Masjid Shaheed Ganj in Lahore. On July 5, 1935,
the mosque was destroyed by the Sikhs. The other, in Bannu, was that of a Hindu girl
who became a Muslim as Islam Bibi, but the British authorities forcibly returned her to
her parents. These led to civil disobedience. The British moved troops to valleys and
hills alive with the sound of agitation by the followers of the Faqir. During the
operation of November 1936, an estimated 20 British officers and 1 ,800 soldiers were
killed. The Faqir lost only 50 followers known as Mujahideen.36 The heavy casualties
inflicted spread the Faqir's fame far and wide in the tribal belt and across the Afghan
border. The British continued in their punitive measures for the next twelve months
even employing the Royal Air Force to bombard the Mujahideen strongholds.
Sporadic action continued through 1937 to 1942. This fermented the popular
antagonism against the British and was an important factor in the movement for
freedom across the whole of the Frontier Province.
On a more organized level, two brothers

acquired particular prominence in the
freedom struggle. Dr. Khan Sahib and his
younger brother Abdul Ghaffar Khan
came from a land-owning family. Dr.
Khan, had joined the Indian Medical
Service and served with the Guides. His
brother turned politician and became an
active member of the Indian National Congress. He organized the Khudai
Khidmatgars / "Servants of God" who sported red coloured garments and came to
be known popularly as Surkhposhan / "Red Shirts". This movement rose because of
the lack of representative institutions under the British during the 1920s. In 1932 the
Frontier was raised from a Chief-Commissionerate to Governor's Province with
political rights and institutions at par with those in other Provinces. In 1935 the
Province was given limited self-government and in 1937 full self-government. The
elected Provincial Government, labelled "Congress", was headed by Dr. Khan Sahib
who made an admirable Chief Minister.3? His brother continued to work amongst
the villages of the Frontier representing the Indian National Congress. During the War
years British authority remained firm despite the increasing influence of the Muslim
League. With the end of World War II, the Freedom Movement took on a snowball
dynamic. By the eve of Independence the Frontier, almost to the man, was in favour
of Pakistan, as proved by the referendum in early 1947. The tribes upto the Durand
Line and the Chiefs of the States of Dir, Swat, Chitral and Amb gave their allegiance
in November 1947 to the new country, Pakistan.
About Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is one of the most legendary places on earth. The Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa, as it is and was popularly known, of all Pakistan's Provinces, is arguably
the most diverse ethnically, the most varied in terrain and sports a vigorous cultural
spectrum.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa conjures up a world of valour and war, of rugged men and
mountains, of tribesmen shaped in a heroic, hospitable mould. Gateway to the
Subcontinent, since times immemorial, it has witnessed migration-waves of
peoples,campaigns of conquerors, flow of innumerable caravans of commerce,
influx of intellectuals, artists, poets and saints from the north into its fertile valleys and
onwards to the plains of the Punjab, Sindh and beyond the Indus to South Asia.
The routes which figured as corridors of invasion and arteries of international traffic
brought not only men and material but also ideas which fertilized all of India. Over
the centuries this area was instrumental in the spread of many concepts and
intellectual thought. Buddhism found its finest expression here in the Gandhara
civilization. And from here it spread northwards to pollinate Central Asia, north-east
to China, Japan and the Far East. Then came Islam with its unique transforming
sweep.
Throughout the ages, Pukhtun tribes, the Afridi, the Bangash, the Durrani, the Khattak,
17 of 22 3/11/17, 2:42 PM
the Mahsud, the Orakzai, the Toori, the Wazir and the Yusufzai, have left their
indelible imprints on the pages of history. Other tribes are the Marwat, Mohmand,
Gandapur, Swati, Tareen, Tanoli, Jadoon and Mashwani. The Afghan, the Pukhtun
and the Pathan are three names of the same people despite shifting political
bound aries. In this terrain many civilizations have mixed and mingled, risen and
were razed. Its inhabitants have excelled in countless fields of endeavour.
Perhaps this area has seen more invasions during the course of history than any other
region in the world. In the more recent past Sikh and British invaders from the south
met their toughest adversaries in the Frontier. The unsure hold of Sikha Shahi "Sikh
Rule", and the uneasy control of the British Raj speak volumes for these intrepid and
freedomloving people. It was a contentious extension of the Kingdom of Lahore
under Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Then for almost five decades it remained a part of the
Punjab Province during the Raj. In 1902 it was finally accorded separate status. This
was the one Province in which the imperial enterprise seemed to falter and fray.
The Pathans have been conquered by many an imperial authority but never truly
vanquished.
And yet these valiant men and women of the Frontier gave their all to the
Independence Movement and a sovereign Pakistan.
Apart from the Pathan tribes, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is home to diverse ethnic
groups and languages. In the northern highlands such languages as Khowar, Hindko,
Kohistani, Shina, Torwali,Kashmiri, Kalasha and Kaghani are spoken. The influx of
Afghan refugees has brought Ghilzai and Durrani tribes and hundreds and thousands
of Farsi speaking Tajiks and Hazaras who have settled here. Nearly all the inhabitants
of the Province are Muslim with a Sunni majority, a minority of Shias and Ismailis and a
sprinkling of Animists or Shamanists.
Today Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, spread over 74,521 sq km, has a population of over 22
million. It comprises of three major administrative parts. One part, composed of
settled areas, consists of the districts of Abbottabad, Bannu, Battagram, Charsadda,
Dera Ismail Khan, Hangu, Haripur, Kohistan, Kohat, Karak, Lakki Marwat, Mansehra,
Mardan, Nowshera, Swabi, Peshawar and Tank. The second known as PATA
(Provincially Administered Tribal Areas) has a population of 831 ,000 and consists of
Malakand Agency and the districts of Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Chitral, Swat, Buner,
Shangla, and the pocket of Kala Dhaka / "Black Mountains", Kohistan (previously part
of Swat State) and the State of Amb, now submerged in the Tarbela Dam reservoir.
The third part, FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), is spread over 27,220 sq km
and has a population of 3,764,000. It comprises of seven Tribal Agencies and six
Frontier Regions. The Tribal Agencies are Bajaur, Mohmand, Khyber, Orakzai, Kurram,
North Waziristan and South Waziristan. The Frontier Regions include F.R. Bannu,
Central Kurram, F.R. Dera Ismail Khan, F.R. Kohat, F.R. Lakki, F.R. Peshawar and F.R.
Tank. These are directly controlled by the Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Pashtunwali ( ) or Pakhtunwali
Pashtunwali (Pashto: ) or Pakhtunwali is a concept of living or philosophy for
the Pashtun people and is regarded as an honour code and a non-written law for
the people. Though Pashtunwali dates back to the pre-Islamic era of Bactria, its
practice by the pashtuns does not not necessarily contravene Islamic principles. It is
practiced by Pashtuns in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and by members of the Pashtun
diaspora around the world.
Overview
Pashtunwali is an ancient "code of honor" that belongs to Pashtuns of Afghanistan

and Pakistan, including the Pashtun communities around the world. It is a set of rules
guiding both individual and communal conduct. Pashtunwali is socially practiced by
the majority.
Pashtuns embrace an ancient traditional, spiritual, and communal identity tied to a

set of moral codes and rules of behavior, as well as to a linear record of history
spanning over five thousand years[citation needed].
Flexible and dynamic, containing modern and ancient principles, Pashtunwali

promotes self-respect, independence, justice, hospitality, love, forgiveness, revenge
and tolerance toward all (especially to strangers or guests). All these codes of
conduct are helpful in maintaining social and moral checks and balances within
Pashtun Society. Aside from its tenets that are rooted in Islam, it is considered a
personal responsibility of every Pashtun to discover and rediscover Pashtunwali's
essence and meaning.
The code of Pashtunwali
Pashtunwali is an unwritten law and ideology of the Pashtun society inherited from
their forefathers. It is a dominant force of Pashtun culture and identity. Pashtunwali is
conservative, oligarchic, centuries old but still a young phenomenon in the Pashtun
18 of 22 3/11/17, 2:42 PM
culture and socio-economic structure.[citation needed]
It has been able to maintain a powerful dialectical balance of the Pashtun society.
Pashtunwali, a complement of the Pashtun society, has undergone various legal,
political, economic and cultural changes for its perfection and reform. It has
developed into an accepted constitution.[citation needed]
Pashtunwali consists of qualifications such as Khpelwaki (self authority), Sialy

(Equality), Jirga (Assembly), "Mishertob'( Elders) 'Ezaat" (Repect of all people) Roogha
(reconciliation or compromise), Badal (revenge), Barabari (equivalence),
Teega/Nerkh (Law), Aziz/Azizwale (clan, clanship), Terbor/Terborwali (cousin and
tribal rivalries), Nang (Honour), Ghairat (Pride), Oogha Warkawel (giving a lift to
persons in need), Pannah Warkawel (offering asylum), Ashar (shared co-operative
work), Zhamena (commitment), Melayter (patrons), Chegha (call for action), Soolah
(truce), Panah (protection) and others.[citation needed]
Pashtunwali is a oligarchic structure emphasizing of Jirga, Sialy and Barabary. It is a

defensive system in terms of Jirga, Chegha and Arbakai (system of village militias). It
is a legal system in terms of Jirga, Teega/Nerkh, Pannah and Roogha. This system has
managed all social and internal affairs of the Pashtun/Pakhtun society before and
after Islam. It has created small and large local governments in Central and South
Asia.[citation needed]
Pashtunwali is the sum of the collective expectations of the group from its members
to conform to the norms and customs that ensure the group's survival as a distinct
socio-cultural entity. There are no state institutions to ensure the implementation of
this unwritten code of life but Pashtun members of the society internalize these social
norms to such an extent that they directly become a matter of ones conscience
rather than an executive order of a authority.[citation needed]
Pashtunwali is based on the collective wisdom of its people. It does not spring from
one authority, temporal or divine, and is, therefore, open to debate and
re-interpretation according to the needs of the society and the changing times.
Although it is rigid in constitution because of historical reasons, in its social philosophy,
Pashtunwali is cosmopolitan, egalitarian and oligarchic. Hence, it has been able to
absorb waves of outsiders in Pashtun society.[citation needed]
Pashtunwali embodies all the principles of a self-sufficient social group. Its two
principles of Siali (Competition) and Mailmastia (Hospitality) embody two social
principles that ensure a societys progress through competition; and survival through
co-operation. The elements of conflict and co-operation are evenly balanced in the
make-up of Pashtunwali. Concepts like Nang (honour), Siali (competition) and Badal
(retribution) are open to interpretation as the social needs and the collective
perception of the group change with regard to objective realities in the space-time
continuum.[citation needed]
The codes
Faith - trust in God (known as "Allah" in Arabic and "Khudai" or "Sekhtan" in Pashto).
The notion of trusting in the one creator generally comports to Islamic monotheism
and tawheed.
Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds - A Pashtun always strive towards
thinking good thoughts, speaking good words and doing good deeds.
[citation needed]
Behaviour - Pashtuns must behave respectfully towards all creations including
people, animals and plants.
Unity - above the languages they speak, above the blood they keep, above the
amount of money they make, Pashtunwali keeps them in due bounds with all
fellow Pashtuns and humankind as well as God. Pashtunwali unites the Pashtuns as
one people across the world. Where there is true unity, every effort to disunite
them will only serve to strengthen the unity they have. What happens to one -
happens to all.
Equality - every man is equal within the tribe. It is this concept which has
necessitated the development of a Jirga system, whereby decision making takes
place with the participation of all members of the society or tribes. Every man
wants a say in his future and he will fight for his right to have his opinions heard. All
people must therefore deal with each other, with the proper civility or respect and
no one can try to impose their will on to another.
Freedom and independence - the belief that freedom in physical, mental,
religious, spiritual, political and economic realms is for all to pursue, man and
woman, so long as it is done without bringing harm to others. The free have
nothing to gain of freedom without discipline.
Proselytizing - No individual has the right to place demand upon others who are
not their children regarding what to believe.
Hospitality and sanctuary - Being hospitable to all mankind, especially to guests,
even the most hostile of enemies may (if asked for) be provided sanctuary, asylum
or protection as well as food and other aid.
Justice and forgiveness - If one intentionally wrongs another, the victim has the
right, even an obligation, to avenge this injustice in equal proportion. If one has
intentionally wronged you, and you did not seek justice nor did the wrongdoer ask
you for his/her forgiveness, then a debt, is owed to you by him/her, which can only
19 of 22 3/11/17, 2:42 PM
be fulfilled once justice (through an act of revenge or the decision of the tribal
Jirga) has been provided to recompense the wrong done.
Brotherhood and trust - the belief that fellow Pashtun brothers or sisters should be
trusted and assisted to the greatest extent possible.
Honour - Pashtuns must maintain their independence and human dignity. Honour
has great importance in Pushtun society and most other edicts and codes of life
are aimed towards the preservation of one's honour or pride.
Self respect - Individuals must respect themselves and others in order to be able to
do so, especially those they do not know. Respect begins at home, among family
members and includes all relatives.
Compassion and cooperation - The poor, the weak, and the challenged must be
supported. Inclusion must be preferred to exclusion. To defend against tyranny,
fascism and overzealous groups and to work smart first and then hard.
Family - The family must be glorified under a sacred conviction of responsibility
and duty with respect for wives, daughters, elders, parents, sons, and husbands.
We are one family - Fellow Pashtun must be cared for. There may be hundreds of
tribes, but they have one destiny in union with each other.
Knowledge - Pashtuns seek objective knowledge in life, art, science, and culture,
which are considered fruits granted by God.
Pashtun history - Great value is placed in Pashtun history, with all its depth and
pluralism, tragedies and victories. It teaches Pashtuns "to keep the mind open, to
continue the search for the truth, much of which has vanished under history itself".
Fight evil - Evil is at constant war with good. Evil must be fought and good must
prevail over evil. It is a Pashtun's duty to fight evil when he/she comes face to face
with it.
Honesty and Promise - A pashtun is known for keeping their promises and being
honest at all situations and times. A true Pashtun will never break their promise.
Hospitilaty- Pashtuns treat all guests and people who enter their houses with great
respect and always go by one saying. "Mailma de khuday milgaray day" ( A guest
is god's friend...) So making guests happy is making god happy.
Primary concepts
Some useful words that signify individual or collective Pashtun tribal functions are
given below in Pushto language. The first four form the major components of
Pashtunwali.
Melmastia (hospitality) - to show hospitality to all visitors, regardless of whom they

are, their ethnic, religious, or national background, without hope of remuneration
or favour. Pushtuns are widely considered to be the most hospitable people in the
world, a pushtun will go to great extents to show his hospitality, so much so, that in
very many recorded cases it has been observed that a pushtun has even
provided his deadly enemy with sanctuary when he was asked for sanctuary by
his rival. But in return, those guests who are accorded this are expected to do the
same for their host.
Badal (justice/revenge) - to seek justice over time or over space to avenge a
wrong. This applies to injustices committed yesterday or 1000 years ago if the
wrongdoer still exists. Justice in Pashtun lore needs elaborating: even a mere taunt
(or "Paighor") is regarded as an insult - which can only usually be redressed by
shedding of the taunter's blood (and if he isn't available, then his next closest male
relation). This in turn leads to a blood feud that can last generations and involve
whole tribes with the loss of hundreds of lives. Normally blood feuds in this all male
dominated setup are then settled in a number of ways.
Nanawateh (asylum) - derived from the verb meaning to go in, this is used for
protection given to a person who requests protection against his/her enemies. The
person is protected at all costs. It can also be used when the vanquished party is
prepared to go in to the house of the victors and ask for their forgiveness. (Is a
peculiar form of "chivalrous" surrender, in which an enemy seeks "sanctuary" at his
enemies house).
Zmeka (land) - A Pashtun must defend his land/property from incursions wherever
he or she might reside.
Nang (honour) - the various points below that a tribesman must observe to ensure
his honour, and that of his family, is upheld. The preservation of honour entails the
defence of one's family and one's independence, while upholding cultural and
religious requirements.
Namus (Honor of women) - A Pushtun must defend the honor of Pashtun women
at all costs and must protect them from vocal and physical harm.
Hewad (nation) - Love for one's nation in Pashtun culture isn't just important, it's
essential. A Pashtun is always indebted to their nation and must strive to perfect
and improve it. A Pushtun considers it his obligation to defend his country Pakhtara
("Pakhtun-khwa" in modern colloquial Pashto) against any type of foreign
incursion. Defence of nation means defence of honor, values, culture, tradition,
countrymen and self.
Dod-pasbani (Protecting Pashtun culture) - It is obligatory for a Pashtun to protect
Pashtun culture from dilution and disintegration. Pashtunwali advises that in order
to successfully accomplish this, a Pashtun must retain the Pashto language since
Pashto is the prime source of Pashtun culture and its understanding is therefore
essential. Not being able to speak Pashto to Pashtun society often translates to the
inability to understand the Pashtun culture, values, history and community.
20 of 22 3/11/17, 2:42 PM
Tokhm-pasbani (Protecting the Pashtun race) - Pashtuns with their distinct Iranic
features are often immediately recognizable. Pashtuns must take another Pashtun
as a marriage partner. This stems from the general belief that 'half-Pashtuns' do not
retain Pashtun language, culture, and physical features.
De Pashtunwali Perawano (Adhering to Pashtunwali) - In order to keep one's
descendants from becoming "durvand" (Non-Pashtuns), a Pashtun must adhere to
the Pashtunwali principles of culture, kin and pedigree. Those who do not will
ultimately face revulsion and expulsion from Pashtun society.
Secondary concepts
Lashkar - the tribal army. It implements the decisions of the jirga.

Jirga or Loya Jurga - an assembly of tribal elders called for various purposes
whether waging war or composing peace, tribal or inter-tribal.
Tsalweshti ( ) - derived from the word for forty, this refers to the tribal force
that would implement the decision of a jirga. Every fortieth man of the tribe would
be a member. A shalgoon is a force derived from the number twenty.
Badragga - a tribal escort composed of members of that tribe through which the
travelers are passing. If a badragga is violated a tribal feud will follow.
Hamsaya - a non-Pashtun dependent group who attaches themselves to a
Pashtun group, usually for protection. The Pashtun protector group is called a naik.
Any attack on a hamsaya is considered an attack on the protector.
Mlatar ( )- literally, tying the back or "support". This refers to those members of
the tribe who will actually fight on behalf of their leaders.
Nagha - a tribal fine decided by the council of elders and imposed upon the
wrongdoer.
Rogha - settlement of a dispute between warring factions.
Hujra - a common sitting or sleeping place for males in the village. Visitors and
unmarried young men sleep in the hujra.
Lokhay Warkawal - Literally means 'giving of pot'. The idea that the tribe will do
everything to protect an individual from an enemy.
Comments Suggestions are always Welcomed
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Sher Bibi About KPT Sign In Contact Us

Guardians of the Frontier

Parching Drought and Raging Flood,

Before Independence several military operations were carried out: during

Pathans distinguished themselves as magnificient warriors even outside the home

Culture & Heritage

pants or shalwar, introduced by the Kushans and reflected in some Gandharan

Pashto Literature is illuminated by the works of Khushhal Khan Khattak (1613-89), a

Widely acknowledged as "the most beautiful actress of her generation", Madhubala

Peshawar's reputation as the place where cultures meet.

History - The March of Time

Every rock, every hill has its story.

That man roamed these parts since

Apart from the pre-historic sites, the

Part of the Achaemenian empire founded

The impact of Alexander's presence was

The Kushans were replaced by the

During the last decades of the first

Who owed his place to the Pathans...

Babur's account lists tribes spread from

conquest of India. As such his adminis-

"Malik" called Akoray was presented to

Peshawar, under a Mughal Deputy

After the Battle of Nowshera in 1823, Ranjit

A daring warrior Arbab Muhammad Khan

As Russia recovered from Napoleon's disastrous invasion, her imperial attention

Frederick Mackeson the Commissioner of Peshawar, assassinated in 1853, was the

Commissioner of the Yusafzai country in Mardan. He left an indelible mark on the

On a more organized level, two brothers

About Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Pashtunwali is an ancient "code of honor" that belongs to Pashtuns of Afghanistan

Pashtuns embrace an ancient traditional, spiritual, and communal identity tied to a

Flexible and dynamic, containing modern and ancient principles, Pashtunwali

The code of Pashtunwali

culture and socio-economic structure.[citation needed]

Pashtunwali consists of qualifications such as Khpelwaki (self authority), Sialy

Pashtunwali is a oligarchic structure emphasizing of Jirga, Sialy and Barabary. It is a

Melmastia (hospitality) - to show hospitality to all visitors, regardless of whom they

Lashkar - the tribal army. It implements the decisions of the jirga.

Comments Suggestions are always Welcomed

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Khyber Pakhtukhwa Tribune Most Viewed Posts

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