Chitral Campaign

Chitral Campaign
January-April 1895
Chronological list of Wars and Campaigns
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Location: Chitral, NWF
Combatants:
British & Indians	Chitrali tribesmen
Result: Submission of tribes
Medals: India General Service Medal (1895-1902) Clasps: Defence of Chitral 1895, Relief of Chitral 1895
Links:
Category: North West Frontier Campaigns

	See our interactive map of Chitral Campaign locations and routes on Google Maps

Summary

The British sent political agent Surgeon Major George Robertson to Gilgit to report on a dispute between rival claimants to the throne of Chitral. Sher Afzal attacked the force in Chitral Fort which was then besieged. Colonel James Kelly made an arduous journey through the snowy passes from Gilgit fighting two actions on the way. He arrived at Chitral to find that the Chitralis have discontinued the siege. Maj-Gen Sir Robert Low's larger force from Nowshera stormed the Malakand Pass and broke the Chitrali resistance. The region remained tranquil until further unrest led to the Malakand Field Expedition.

Campaign Actions

See Category Page Chitral Campaign

Chitral Relief Force

15,249 troops under the command of Brig-Gen Sir Robert Low

First Brigade
Brig Gen A.A.Kinloch CB

• 1st Batt Bedfordshire Regt
• 1st Batt King's Royal Rifles
• 15th Sikhs
• 37th Dogras
• No 1 British Field Hospital
• No 14 Native Field Hospital

Second Brigade
Brig Gen H.G.Waterfield

• 1st Batt King's Own Scottish Borderers
• 1st Batt Gordon Highlanders
• 4th Sikhs
• Guides Infantry
• No 2 British Field Hospital
• No 35 Native Field Hospital

Third Brigade
Brig Gen W.F.Gatacre DSO

• 1st Batt East Kent Regt
• 2nd Batt Seaforth Highlanders
• 25th Punjab Infantry
• 2nd Batt 4th Gurkha Rifles
  
• No 8 British Field Hospital
• No 19 Native Field Hospital

Divisional Troops

• 11th Bengal Lancers
• Guides Cavalry
• 13th Bengal Infantry
• 23rd Punjab Pioneers
• 15th Field Battery Royal Artillery
• 3rd Mountain Battery Royal Artillery
• 8th Mountain Battery Royal Artillery
• No 2 Dejarat Mountain Battery
• 3 Companies Sappers & Miners
• Engineer Field Park from Roorkee
• No 4 British Field Hospital
• No 17 & 18 Native Field Hospitals
• No 1 Veterinary Field Hospital
• Maxim Gun Detachment 1st Batt Devonshire Regt

External links

North West Frontier Military History Wikipedia
NWF Expeditions www.antiquesatoz.com
Chitral Campaign Google Books
Chitral Expedition Wikipedia
Forts of the Chitral Campaign www.khyber.org
British military personnel Wikipedia
Photographs: View of Chitral Fort, 1895 and Chitral Fort, 1895 from an album of photographs compiled by Colonel Joseph Hume Balfour, 13th Lancers, Indian Army. National Army Museum NAM. 2001-02-335-57 and NAM. 2001-02-335-58

Historical books online

• An Offical Account of the Chitral Expendition 1895 by Captain W R Robertson 1898. Compiled under the Orders of the Quarter Master General in India. Archive.org.
• Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India Vol I - "Chitral"

"Chitral Relief Expedition" page 521, same volume. Both Archive.org

• The Relief of Chitral by Captain G.J. Younghusband and Captain Frank E. Younghusband 1897 (originally published October 1895) Archive.org

"The Relief of Chitral" page 161 The Story of the Guides by Col G J Younghusband 1908 Archive.org

• With Kelly to Chitral by Lt W G L Beynon, 1st Battallion 3rd Goorka Rifles, Staff Officer To Colonel Kelly's Relief Force, 1896 Archive.org
• The Chitral Campaign: a Narrative of Events in Chitral, Swat and Bajour by H.C. Thomson 1895 Archive.org
• Chitral: the Story of a Minor Siege by Sir George S Robertson 1898 HathiTrust Digital Library. Archive.org version.
• "The Chitral Campaign" page 164 Campaigns on the North-West Frontier by Capt H.L. Nevill 1912. Archive.org.
• Townshend of Chitral and Kut: Based on the diaries and private papers of Sir Charles Vere Townshend by Erroll Sherson 1928. Archive.org, mirror from Digital Library of India.
• Chitral Memories. Events leading up to the Siege by Lieut. Colonel B E M Gurdon. Originally published in Himalayan Journal No 5, 1933.

Chitral Memories. The Siege of Chitral Lieut. Colonel B E M Gurdon. Originally published in Himalayan Journal No 6, 1934. Both Archive.org, mirror from PAHAR: Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset.

• Much Sounding of Bugles - The Siege of Chitral 1895 by John Harris 1975. Archive.org, mirror from PAHAR: Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset
• "Chapter 14. Finis Dardarum" page 240 The Gilgit Game: The Explorers of the Western Himalayas 1865-95 by John Keay 1979. Archive.org, mirror from PAHAR: Mountains of Central Asia Digital Dataset
• "Chapter 35 The Race for Chitral" page 483 fromThe Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia by Peter Hopkirk 1992. Book File 1. Book File 2 Archive.org Lending Library. Published in the UK with title The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia. "The Great Game between Victorian Britain and Tsarist Russia…"
• Through Three Campaigns: a Story of Chitral, Tirah, and Ashanti by G. A. Henty , illustrated by Wal Paget. c 1904 Archive.org. An adventure story for younger readers.