Siege of Malakand
Siege of Malakand | |||||
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Part of the Anglo-Afghan wars | |||||
South Malakand Camp, August 1897 | |||||
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Belligerents | |||||
British Empire |
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Commanders and leaders | |||||
William Hope Meiklejohn, Bindon Blood |
Saidullah[3] | ||||
Strength | |||||
10,630 on 26 July 1897[4] | 10,000[5] | ||||
Casualties and losses | |||||
Heavy | Heavy |
The siege of Malakand was the 26 July – 2 August 1897
The unrest caused by this division of the Pashtun lands of
The siege was lifted when a relief column dispatched from British positions to the south was sent to assist General
Background
The rivalry between the
After reaching a virtual stalemate with these two wars against the Afghans, the British imposed the Durand Line in 1893, which divided Afghanistan and
Malakand Field Force
The British Malakand
Churchill goes on to state that the camp was viewed as purely temporary and was indefensible, as a result of its cramped conditions and the fact that it was dominated by the surrounding heights. A nearby camp, North Malakand, was also established on the plains of Khar, intended to hold the large number of troops that were unable to fit into the main camp. Both of these positions were garrisoned for two years with little fear of attack by a 1,000 strong force.[8] Officers brought their families, and the camp held regular polo matches and shooting competitions.
Outbreak of the battle
Towards 1897, news of unrest in the nearby Pashtun villages had reached the British garrisons in Malakand. Major Deane, the British political agent, noted the growing unrest within the Pashtun sepoys[16] stationed with the British. His warnings were officially distributed to senior officers on 23 July; however, nothing more than a minor skirmish was expected.[16] Rumours of a new religious leader, Saidullah the Sartor Fakir (also known as Mullah of Mastun),[17][18] arriving to "sweep away" the British and inspire a jihad,[19][20] were reportedly circulating the bazaars of Malakand during July. Saidullah became known to the British as "The Great Fakir", "Mad Fakir"[21] or the "Mad Mullah",[19] and by the Pashtuns as lewanai faqir, or simply, lewanai, meaning "love-intoxicated".[18]
On July 26, while British officers were playing polo near camp Malakand North, indigenous spectators who were watching the match learned of an approaching Pashtun force and fled. Brigadier-General Meiklejohn, commander of the Malakand forces, was informed by Deane that "matters had assumed a very grave aspect" and that there were armed Pashtuns gathering nearby. Reinforcements from Mardan (32 miles (51 km) away) were requested, and Lieutenant P. Eliott-Lockhart departed at 1.30am. At 9.45pm, a final telegram was received informing the garrison that the Fakir had passed Khar and was advancing on Malakand. The telegram also stated that neither the levies nor the people would act against him, and that the hills to the east of the camp were covered with Pathans. Shortly after, the communication wire was cut.[22]
Night of July 26/27
South camp
During the night of 26 July, sometime after 10:00 pm, a messenger arrived with word that the enemy had reached the village of Khar, three miles from Malakand.
There is no doubt that the gallant resistance made by this small body in the gorge, against vastly superior numbers, till the arrival of the rest of the regiment, saved the camp from being rushed on that side, and I cannot speak too highly of the behaviour of Lieutenant-Colonel McRae and Major Taylor on this occasion.
Meanwhile, Pashtun forces had successfully assaulted the camp in three other locations, and the
As the night wore on, reinforcements arrived from a nearby British hill fort which had as yet been ignored by the Pashtun forces. At 4:15 pm, the attacking forces withdrew with their dead and wounded. The British had lost a large number of officers wounded, and recorded 21 deaths amongst the sepoys.
North camp
During the first night of the battle, the garrison at Malakand North had not seen much action despite being in the more exposed position,[27] and had spent much of the night firing flares and manoeuvring artillery units. In response Meiklejohn ordered a reconnaissance of the vicinity, whereupon Major Gibbs, the commander of the force, encountered large groups of tribesmen in the valley. Subsequently, he was eventually ordered to collect his forces and stores from Malakand North, and transfer them into the southern camp.
July 27
The last remaining forces from the now evacuated northern camp arrived in Malakand South at 8:30 am on the 27th, coinciding with the arrival of more Pashtun reinforcements. In Nowshera, the
At 7:30 pm the first of the British reinforcements arrived in the form of infantry from the
July 28
The daylight hours of 28 July saw continuous fire from the Pashtun sharpshooters established in the hills surrounding Malakand South. The garrison surgeon, Lieutenant J.H. Hugo, treated a number of British casualties including an officer from the Guides. Despite further attacks during the night of July 28/29, the British recorded only two killed from the sepoy ranks, and the severe wounding of a Lieutenant Ford. Churchill records that Ford's bleeding artery was clamped shut by Hugo despite being under fire.
July 29 – July 31
Having re-established communication on the morning of 29 July, the British garrison signalled the approaching relief forces via heliograph at 8:00 am – "Heavy fighting all night. Expect more tonight. What ammunition are you bringing? When may we expect you?"[28] During the day, the Pashtuns prepared for another night attack while the British destroyed the bazaar and the regions previously defended, and lost, by Subadar Syed Ahmed Shah and the men of the 31st. Trees were also cut down to improve fields of fire, attracting further attention from the Pashtun sharpshooters. Major Stuart Beatsen arrived at 4:00 pm on the 29th with the 11th Bengal Lancers who had been summoned from Nowshera two days previous. The 35th Sikhs and 38th Dogras arrived at the mouth of the pass leading to Malakand South, but after losing between 19[29] and 21 of their ranks through heat exhaustion, they were forced to halt.
At 2:00 a.m. on 30 July, the Pashtuns launched another attack, during which Costello, and the Pashtun
Relieving Chakdara
On 28 July, when word of the attacks were received, a division of "6800 bayonets, 700 lances or sabres, with 24 guns" was given to Major-General
Following this failed attempt, Blood arrived and appointed Reid commander of the forces at Malakand South, giving command of the rescue force to Meiklejohn. The rescue column of 1,000 infantry, two squadrons from the 11th Bengal Lancers, two of the Guides cavalry, 50 sappers, two cannons and a hospital detail, [35] rested on the night of August 1, despite a night attack by Pashtun forces. On the following day, the relief force advanced along the road to the abandoned Malakand North in order to avoid fire from the Pashtun sharpshooters who still occupied the heights around the Malakand South "cup".[36] With low morale, the relief force assembled at 4:30 am on 2 August; however, with the use of diversionary attacks, they were successful in breaking out of the Pashtun encirclement without loss. This led to confusion amongst the Pashtun forces, "like ants in a disturbed ant–hill" as observed Blood. The 11th Bengal Lancers and the Guides cavalry went on to relieve the threatened fort at Chakdara, while the 45th Sikhs stormed nearby Pashtun positions. The British recorded 33 casualties from the action on August 2.
Aftermath
The campaigns of the Malakand Field Force continued beyond the siege of Malakand South, North, and of the Chakdara fort. Immediately after the siege, two brigades of the British garrison were relocated to a new camp a few miles away to relieve the pressure in the overcrowded Malakand South. These received only light fire during 5 August; however, on 8 August, Saidullah rallied his surviving Pashtun forces and attacked the British garrison at Shabkadr fort near Peshawar. These attacks put the continued loyalty of friendly Pashtun levies guarding the British supply lines to Chitral at risk, thus endangering the supply convoys and their small escorts.[37] In response, on 14 August, the British advanced farther into Pashtun territory and engaged a force of "several thousand"[38] Pashtun tribesmen, with General Meiklejohn leading a flanking manoeuvre which split the Pashtun army in two, forcing it to pull back to Landakai.[39] The British continued to engage Pashtun tribesmen throughout the day, suffering two officers and 11 other ranks killed.[40]
The siege of Malakand was Winston Churchill's first experience of actual combat, which he later described in several columns for
The War Office authorized the award of the clasp Malakand 1897 to the India Medal for those of the British and Indian armies who participated in this action.[42][43] The battleground remained closed to visitors and under military control since the publication of Churchill's memoirs, and is the location of a Pakistani military base. However, in 2006 the Pakistani government began opening the area to foreign visitors.[8]
See also
- Bacha Khan
- Faqir of Ipi
- Pashtunwali
- Tirah Campaign
Notes
- ISBN 9781921719394.
- ISBN 9781859150337.
- ^ Edwards p. 263. also known as "Mullah Mastun" (Spain. 177, Easwaran p. 49) (Known by the Pashtun as: lewanai faqir, lewanai (Beattie p. 171), and by the British as "The Great Fakir", "Mad Fakir" (Hobday p. 13), or the "Mad Mullah", (Elliott–Lockhart p. 28)
- ^ Gore p. 403
- ^ a b A number of sources cite between 50,000–100,000 tribesmen as being present in the region during the siege (Wilkinson–Latham p. 20, Gore p. 405) while others give a figure of 10,000 for the actual siege (Easwaran p. 49)
- ^ a b Nevill p. 232
- ^ Lamb p. 93
- ^ a b c Wilkinson, Isambard (2006-12-01). "Pakistan asks tourists to Churchill's battlefield". London: Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2007-10-29. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
- ^ Hopkirk p. 1
- ^ Hopkirk p. 72
- ^ a b Curzon p. 426
- ^ Hussain p. 240
- ^ a b Lamb p. 94
- ^ Elliott–Lockhart p. 27
- ^ a b c "Winter 1896–97 (Age 22) – "The University of My Life"". Sir Winston Churchill. Archived from the original on 2007-05-29. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
- ^ a b c d Elliott-Lockhart p. 55
- ^ Spain p. 177
- ^ a b Beattie p. 171
- ^ a b Elliott-Lockhart p. 28
- ^ Beattie p. 137
- ^ Hobday p. 13
- ^ a b Elliott-Lockhart p. 31
- ^ Elliott–lockhart p. 30
- ^ Elliott-Lockhart p. 32
- ^ a b Elliott-Lockhart p. 33
- ^ a b Tottenham, Ben (2007-01-03). "Photograph collection". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-05-31.
- ^ Elliott-Lockhart p. 40
- ^ Hobday p. 18
- ^ Elliott–Lockhart p. 53
- ^ Hobday p. 22
- ^ Raugh p. 222
- ^ Hobday p. 32
- ^ Elliott–Lockhart p. 56
- ^ Hobday p. 30
- ^ Elliott–Lockhart p. 59
- ^ Elliott–Lockhart p. 58
- ^ Elliott–Lockhart p. 80
- ^ Elliott–Lockhart p. 90
- ^ Elliott–Lockhart p. 93
- ^ Elliott–Lockhart p. 100
- ^ Jablonsky p. 300
- ^ "United Kingdom: India Medal 1895–1902". Retrieved 2007-05-31.
- ^ Joslin p. 30
References
Printed sources:
- Beattie, Hugh Imperial Frontier: Tribe and State in Waziristan, 2002 ISBN 0-7007-1309-3
- Curzon, George Nathaniel Russia in Central Asia in 1889 & the Anglo-Russian Question, 1889
- Edwards, David B. Heroes of the age: Moral Fault Lines on the Afghan Frontier, 1996 ISBN 0-520-20064-0
- Elliott–Lockhart, Percy C. and Dunmore, Edward M. Earl of Alexander A Frontier Campaign: A Narrative of the Operations of the Malakand and Buner Field Forces, 1897–1898, 1898
- ISBN 1-888314-00-1
- Gore, Surgeon General at Nowshera, for The Dublin Journal of Medical Science, 1898
- Hobday, Edmund A. P. Sketches on Service During the Indian Frontier Campaigns of 1897, 1898
- ISBN 0-19-280232-1
- Hussain, Rizwan Pakistan And The Emergence Of Islamic Militancy In Afghanistan, 2005 ISBN 0-7546-4434-0
- Jablonsky, David Churchill and Hitler: Essays on the Political–Military Direction of Total War, 1994 ISBN 0-7146-4563-X
- Joslin, Edward Charles The Standard Catalogue of British Orders, Decorations and Medals, 1972 ISBN 0-900696-48-6
- Lamb, Christina The Sewing Circles of Herat: A Personal Voyage Through Afghanistan, 2004 ISBN 0-06-050527-3
- Nevill, Hugh Lewis Campaigns on the North–west Frontier, 1912 (2005 publication: ISBN 1-84574-187-0)
- Raugh, Harold E. The Victorians at War, 1815–1914: An Encyclopedia of British Military History, 2004 ISBN 1-57607-925-2
- Spain, James William The Pathan Borderland, 1963 ASIN B0000CR0HH
- Wilkinson–Latham, Robert North–west Frontier 1837–1947, 1977 ISBN 0-85045-275-9
Websites:
- A collection of photographs taken by Ben Tottenham, displayed on the BBC News retrieved 31 May 2007
- "Winter 1896 – 97 (Age 22) "The university of my life"". Sir Winston Churchill. Archived from the original on 2007-05-29. Retrieved 2007-03-17.
- United Kingdom: India Medal 1895 – 1902 retrieved 31 May 2007
- Pakistan asks tourists to Churchill's battlefield The Daily Telegraph retrieved 17 July 2007
Further reading
- OCLC 867972780.