North West Frontier Campaigns

North West Frontier Campaigns
1849-1947
Chronological list of Wars and Campaigns
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Location:
Combatants:
East India Company and British Army	North West Frontier tribes
Result: Suppression of border incursions
Medals: India General Service medal 1854 India Medal 1895-1902
Links:
Category: Category:North West Frontier Campaigns

Summary

From 1849 when the East India Company annexed the Punjab it became necessary to prevent incursion by the frontier Pakhtun tribes. Successive punitive expeditions subdued particular areas until further outrages occurred. Control of the region depended to a large extent on the Punjab Frontier Force recruited from local tribesmen commanded by British officers.

North West Frontier Expeditions

For a list of campaigns in order see

• Chronological list of North West Frontier Campaigns

British Library holdings

The following books are available at the British Library. Books available online, refer below, are not listed.

• Operations against the Orakzai tribe on the Miranzai frontier under the command of Brigadier-General Sir W.S.A. Lockhart, K.C.B., C.S.I., in 1891 compiled from official sources (under the orders of the Quarter-Master General in India) by A.H. Mason. 1891
• Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India Volume 2. North-West Frontier Tribes between the Kabul and Gumal Rivers by Intelligence Branch Army Headquarters India 1908
• Official History of operations on the N.-W. Frontier of India, 1920-35 by General Staff Army Headquarters, India 1945. Available through Amazon.co.uk from the FIBIS Shop
• Official History of operations on the N.W. Frontier of India, 1936-37 by General Staff Army Headquarters, India 1943. Available through Amazon.co.uk from the FIBIS Shop

External Links

• North West Frontier Military History Wikipedia
  
• The North-West Frontier of India www.king-emperor.com
  
• India Medal 1895 www.northeastmedals.co.uk
  
• NWF VCs www.northeastmedals.co.uk
  
• 1893 North West Frontier Map Rootsweb
  
• 1909 NWF Map Digital South Asia Maps
  
• British Raj post dated 12 February 2010 about 1930s maps of the North West Frontier region, recommending those in the Official History 1920-35 and 1936-37, refer above
• Story of the Pakhtoons [Pathans] Khyber.org
  
• British Governance of the North-West Frontier (1919 to 1947): A Blueprint for Contemporary Afghanistan? by Andrew M. Roe, Maj, British Army. Master’s Thesis Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 2005 html version original pdf
• Six blogs by Thomas E. Ricks The British experience in Waziristan, 9 March 2010, 10 March 2010, 11 March 2010, 12 March 2010, 15 March 2010, 16 March 2010 from foreignpolicy.com, with comments on the book Waging War in Waziristan: The British Struggle in the Land of Bin Laden, 1849-1947, by Andrew M. Roe, a British infantry officer, published 2010. This book may be purchased through Amazon.co.uk from the FIBIS Shop.
• Military Operations in Waziristan: From a Historical Perspective (1849-1947) by Col. (Retd.) Muhammad Yahya Effendi Issue 62, [2008?] Central Asia Research Journal of the Area Study Center, Univeristy of Peshawar, Pakistan (A biannual publication)
• The limits of power by 'Richard' 20 October 2009. Surveys the policies to subdue the warring tribes on the North West Frontier. Defenceofthe realm.blogspot.com
  
• Northwest Frontier Expeditions - 1849-1902 Globalsecurity.org
  
• "Why was the North-West frontier of India the scene of so much conflict in the period 1849-1901?" by R.A. Johnson from Soldiers of the Queen issue 97, Victorian Military Society
  
• Pathan Revolt – 1897 Globalsecurity.org
  
• "The 1897 Revolt and Tirah Valley Operations from the Pashtun Perspective" by Robert A Johnson November 2009 Tribal Analysis Center html version Original pdf
  
• Operations in Mekran: Baluchistan 1898-1902 from Harry’s Sideshows by Harry Fecitt (kaiserscross.com)
• The Life and Death of Lieutenant Neville Rudd Thompson of the 21st (Empress of India’s) Lancers by Ross Dix-Peek. Lieutenant Thompson and the 21st Lancers, and their part in the Battle at Shabkadar on the 5 September 1915 on the North West Frontier.
• Capt George Theodore Gill and the 2/6th Gurkha Rifles on the North West Frontier 1915 from David Gill’s gillww1
• War in the Switzerland of Asia: Swat Valley. Online papers from part of the collection of General Sir Frederick Campbell charting two key campaigns in Swat 1915. King’s College London Collections: The Serving Soldier.
  
• Waziristan Campaign 1917 from 25th County of London Cyclist Battalion: The London Regiment
• Colonial Control On A Shoestring — The RAF Experience by Maj Michael J. Petersen includes a section "The Third Afghan War and the Northwest Frontier, 1919-1920"
• The Bombing of Waziristan (c 1924-1939) by Graham Chandler Air & Space magazine, July 2011
• Pink’s War 1925 Wikipedia
  
• Details of the book North West Frontier 1908:The Zakka Khel and Mohmand Campaigns by Peter Duckers , published by Spink ( Medal Dealers) 2006. Contains detailed listings of Honours and Awards to both British and Indian units, detailed Casualty lists etc. Available through some Medal dealers, eg Dixons Medals.
  
• Savannah Publications have published Taming the Tiger: The Story of the India General Service Medal 1908–1935 by Richard G.M.L. Stiles. Includes Medal Rolls and Rolls of Honour
• The kidnapping of Mollie Ellis from Kohat cantonment by Afridi tribesmen from the Khyber Pass region 14 April 1923 and the rescue expedition which included Mrs Lilian Starr matron at the Peshawar Mission Hospital: Article by Michael E Lambert, from his website html version, original pdf; Article from Lookand learn.com, Photographs from the Illustrated London News (26 May 1923 pages 894-895 ) Flickr.com. An account of her rescue mission Tales of Tirah and Lesser Tibet by Lilian A Starr, published 1924 is available at the British Library
• Randolph Bezzant Holmes Photographs, 1910-1919. Northern India and the North-West Frontier Province Duke University Libraries
• Northwest Frontier Photograph Collection flickr.com Contains 105 photographs taken from 1888 to c 1933
• Photograph of camels carrying wounded men to safety on the North West Frontier of India 1917 Imperial War Museum

Historical books online

• Nine Years on the North-West Frontier of India from 1854 to 1863 by Sir Sydney Cotton 1868 Google Books
  
• Indian frontier policy: an historical sketch by General Sir John Adye 1897 Archive.org
• The Pathan Revolt in North-West India by H. Woosnam Mills 1897 Archive.org
  
• The Risings on the North-west Frontier being a complete narrative, with specially prepared maps of the various risings of the frontier tribes in the Tochi Valley, the Swat Valley, the country of the Mohmands and Mamunds, and the country of the Afridis and Orakzai... from the middle of June, 1897 to the end of January, 1898 Special War Correspondence of the "Pioneer" 1898 (archive.org)
  
• A Dictionary of the Pathan Tribes on the North-west Frontier of India Asstistant QMG Intelligence Branch 1899 (archive.org)
  
• The Story of the Malakand Field Force: an Episode of Frontier War by Winston L. Spencer Churchill 1916 First published 1898 Archive.org
  
• The Indian Frontier War being an account of the Mohmund and Tirah expeditions, 1897 by Lionel James 1898 Archive.org
  
• Sketches on service during the Indian frontier campaigns of 1897 by Major E.A.P. Hobday. Containing fifty-seven full page engravings from original drawings, and fourteen photographic portraits of the commanding officers and their staffs. 1898 Archive.org
• "Summary of Operations on the North-West Frontier of India, from 19th June 1897 to 6th April 1898" by Surgeon General AA Gore MD page 446 Army Medical Department Report for the Year 1897 Volume 39 1898 Archive.org
• Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India: Volume 1 Tribes north of the Kabul River by Intelligence Branch Army Headquarters India 1907 Archive.org. There is a supplement Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India Volume 1, supplement A: Operations against the Mohmands (including operations in the Khaiber, 1st-7th May) which is available to read online on the Digital Library of India website, under the title Operations against the Mohmands. Unfortunately the file is somewhat unsatisfactory. There is no Contents page and many pages are duplicated. For Chapter 2, go to computer page 21, and for Chapter 3, cp 29. At least the following pages appear to be missing in addition to the Contents: (actual) p 34-35 and Appendix page i. This book is available at the British Library and through Amazon.co.uk from the FIBIS Shop as a reprint. Look Inside the Book(amazon.co.uk) Includes Contents pages.
  
• Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India Volume 2. North-West Frontier Tribes between the Kabul and Gumal Rivers by Intelligence Branch Army Headquarters India 1908 is available partially online to page 97 on the Digital Library of India website. It is catalogued without volume number simply as Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India 1908 and has barcode 99999990229429. It is also available as Snippet view Google Books which viewers in some countries may be able to access as full view. It is available at the British Library and through Amazon.co.uk from the FIBIS Shop as a reprint of 461 pages. There is a supplement Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India Volume 2 Supplement A ,Operations against the Zakka Khel Afridis Intelligence Branch Army Headquarters India 1908 Archive.org. (Requires a Djvu plug in)
  
• The Pathan borderland: a consecutive account of the country and people on and beyond the Indian frontier from Chitral to Dera Ismail Khan by C.M. Enriquez 2nd edition 1921 (First published 1909) Archive.org
• Gun-running and the Indian north-west frontier by the Hon. Arnold Keppel 1911 Archive.org
• From the Black Mountain to Waziristan being an account of the border countries and the more turbulent of the tribes controlled by the North-west frontier province, and of our military relations with them in the past by H. C. Wylly 1912 Archive.org
  
• Campaigns on the North-West Frontier by Capt H.L.Nevill DSO 1912 (archive.org)
  
• Operations in Waziristan, 1919-1920 Compiled by the General Staff Army Headquarters, India 1921 Archive.org
  
• Waziristan 1919-1920 by H De Watteville 1925 (one of eight in the series Campaigns and Their Lessons) is available to read online on the Digital Library of India website
  
• The Problem Of The North-West Frontier 1890-1908 by Collin C Davies 1932 is available to read online on the Digital Library of India website. Alternatively, it may be downloaded as a pdf from OUDL Osmania University Digital Library
  
• Passing It On: Short Talks on Tribal fighting on the North-West Frontier of India by General Sir Andrew Skeen , 3rd edition 1934 (originally published 1932) is available to read online on the Digital Library of India website.
  
• Waziristan 1936- 1937: The problems of the North-West Frontiers of India and their Solutions by Lieut Colonel C. E. Bruce 1938 Archive.org
  
• The History of the Indian Mountain Artillery by Brigadier-General C A L Graham 1957 Archive.org. This book is also available to read online on the Digital Library of India website, where the print quality is better.

Recommended Reading

Campaigns on the North-West Frontier by Capt H.L.Nevill DSO 1916
Reprinted by The Naval & Military Press Ltd 2005
ISBN 1-845741-87-0
Imperial Frontier: Tribe & State in Waziristan by Dr Hugh Beattie
Routledge 2001
ISBN 0700713093 and ISBN 978-0700713097