LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
| To face page | ||
|---|---|---|
| Colonel Kelly and his Officers | ([Frontispiece]) | |
| Map of Chitral Expedition, 1895 | [x] | |
| The Westminster Abbey of Chitral | [15] | |
| Lieut. B. E. M. Gurdon, D.S.O. | [16] | |
| Diagrammatic Sketch of the Koragh Defile | [34] | |
| The Lowarai Pass | [66] | |
| The Lowarai Pass in May | [76] | |
| The Malakand Pass | [84] | |
| Constructing a Suspension Bridge over the | ||
| Panjkora River | [110] | |
| Dir Fort | [116] | |
| Head-quarter Camp, Dir | [124] | |
| Sir R. Low and Staff on the Janbatai Pass | [128] | |
| Chitral Fort, from the South | [142] | |
| Major Townshend, C.B. | [144] | |
| Lieut. H. K. Harley, D.S.O. | [166] | |
| Sketch of South (Gun) Tower, Chitral Fort | [169] | |
| Native Levy | [176] | |
| Sepoy 32nd Pioneers | [182] | |
| Captain J. McD. Baird | [226] | |
| Company of the 14th Sikhs, which formed part | ||
| of the Garrison of Chitral During the Siege | [228] | |
| House occupied by Sher Afzul during the Siege | ||
| Of Chitral Fort | [231] | |
CHITRAL EXPEDITION 1895.
THE RELIEF OF CHITRAL
CHAPTER I
THE CAUSES OF THE WAR
In the middle of March of the year 1895, people in England were suddenly made aware that grave trouble had arisen upon the northern frontier of India; that the representative of the British Government was besieged in the heart of a mountainous country, hundreds of miles from the nearest support; and that operations on a large scale were contemplated by the Government of India to effect his release, and restore British prestige. Some account of how this trouble arose is required, and of the causes which necessitated this campaign by which the honour of the British name was saved, and British officers were rescued from an untimely end.
India is bounded on the north by successive ranges of mountains of great height, and among these mountains is the State of Chitral, a country somewhat larger than Wales, and supporting a population of 70,000 or 80,000 rough, hardy hillmen. Both the capital and the state itself are called Chitral, and the principal place, where is the fort of Chitral, is situated at a distance of about forty-seven miles from the main water-shed of the range of the Hindu Kush, which divides the waters flowing down to India from those which take their way into the Oxus, and on to Turkestan and Central Asia. Chitral is an important state, because of its situation at the extremity of the territory over which the Government of India exerts its influence, and for some years past, it had been the object of the policy of the Government of India, to control the external affairs of Chitral, in a direction friendly to our interests; to secure an effective guardianship over its northern passes; and to keep watch over what goes on beyond those passes. With these objects in view, Major Biddulph was sent to the country in 1877, and the first attempt was made to enter into relations with the Ruler or Mehtar of the country. No very definite arrangement was come to at this time, but in 1885, when war between Russia and England was imminent, Lord Dufferin despatched Sir William Lockhart at the head of an important mission to enter into more definite and complete relations with the Mehtar, and to report upon the defences of the country. Colonel Lockhart spent more than a year in Chitral and the neighbouring states on the north, as well as on the south side of the Hindu Kush range, and from that time to this the relations of the Government of India with the Rulers of Chitral have been of a close and intimate nature. Chitral was then governed by old Aman-ul-Mulk, a strong, astute ruler, who, by the force of his character, by intriguing, by murdering those of his rivals whom he could ensnare with his wiles, and by fighting the remainder, had consolidated a number of small states incessantly at warfare with one another into the Chitral of the year of the campaign. Under his firm rule, the country was held together, and, so long as he lived, no one dared to rise against him, or dispute his authority. But he had seventeen sons, and those who knew the customs of Mohammedan countries foresaw that, on his death, these must infallibly commence a fratricidal struggle for the throne.
At the end of August 1892, old Aman-ul-Mulk died, and the long-expected scramble for the Mehtarship immediately commenced. Of the seventeen sons, there were two who by reason of the rank of their mother, were regarded as having the strongest claims to the Mehtarship. These two youths had been invited down to India on a visit to the Viceroy some years before, and they were in receipt of small subsidies from the Government of India. Nizam-ul-Mulk was the name of the elder, and the younger was named Afzul-ul-Mulk. At the time of the old Mehtar's death, the second son happened to be in Chitral, while his elder brother was away in Yasin, 160 miles distant, carrying out his duties as Governor of that outlying province. Afzul-ul-Mulk immediately seized the arms and treasure in the fort, attached a large following to himself, for he was decidedly the more popular of the two brothers, and then proceeded to murder all those of his other brothers who, in spite of their lower birth, might certainly be expected to make a bid for the throne. He killed a number of these, and then set off with an army to fight his elder brother, Nizam-ul-Mulk, in Yasin. Afzul was a bold and daring leader, while Nizam was never noted for his courage, and had none of his brother's personal popularity. He was therefore only able to make a very feeble show of resistance, and he then fled to Gilgit, to the head-quarters of the political agent, and of the troops stationed there for the protection of this part of the Indian frontier, to seek refuge under British authority.
Afzul-ul-Mulk returned to his capital elated and triumphant. He was recognised by all his people as the Mehtar of the country, and the Government of India, in accordance with their principle of recognising as ruler the man whom the people themselves chose, proceeded to congratulate him upon his accession to the throne of Chitral. The anticipated troubles seemed to have come to an end in the space of a very few weeks, and there appeared to be nobody now to oppose Afzul-ul-Mulk's rule. The British Government saw seated on the throne of this important state a man for whom British officers who had met him had considerable admiration, and a man who, having visited India, and become acquainted with our real strength and resources, and who was believed to be loyally attached to the alliance with the British Government, was likely to prove an almost model ruler for the country.
Everything then seemed to have settled down satisfactorily; but Afzul-ul-Mulk had only just received the recognition of the Government of India, and had not been two months on the throne, when without warning, and suddenly as the fall of a thunderbolt, appeared one upon the scene who, in the space of a single night, upset all these dreams of peace. Afzul-ul-Mulk had by one means and another ridded himself of those of his brothers who were likely to cause him trouble. He was reasonably safe as regards brothers, but there was an uncle who had been overlooked. This was Sher Afzul, who many years before had struggled for the throne with the old Mehtar, but who had long since been driven from the country, and forced to live in exile in Afghan territory. This prince suddenly appeared before the walls of the Chitral fort. He had successfully intrigued with a number of men in Chitral who were inimical to Afzul-ul-Mulk, and so secured an entrance to the country. The fort of Chitral is situated only forty-seven miles distant from the pass into Badakhshan, over which Sher Afzul advanced, and he had ridden rapidly in with a hundred or more of horsemen, collected a few followers on the way, killed the Governor of the valley through which he passed, and in the dead of night appeared before the walls of Chitral itself.
Success or failure now turned upon the action of a few hours. If he could gain an entrance to the fort, and hold it, he would secure the throne for himself; but if he were held at bay for even that one night, he could only expect to be swamped in the morning by the undoubtedly strong following of Afzul-ul-Mulk. Sher Afzul was making a bold and daring move, and fortune favoured his audacity. Afzul-ul-Mulk, hearing from the inside of the fort the clamouring at the gate as Sher Afzul appeared, rushed out to ascertain what was the matter. In so doing he exposed himself, was shot down, and died almost immediately.
One king being dead, the Chitralis, with that versatility of temperament so characteristic of them, immediately proceeded to recognise as their ruler the man who had killed him. In no other country is the principle, so dear to the heart of the British Government, of recognising the de facto ruler, more fully acted upon than in Chitral. There was now no attempt to turn the invader out of the country, and no one waited to call in from Gilgit the eldest son of their old ruler. The Chitralis simply recognised as their chief the man who was the last to say he intended to rule them. Sher Afzul was to be their Mehtar. They believed all the promises so utterly incapable of fulfilment which he made to them, and Sher Afzul, having now seized the rifles, ammunition, and treasure which had before been taken possession of by Afzul-ul-Mulk, assumed the reins of government, and by promising houses, lands, and fair wives to every one who asked for them, and by liberal gifts of money, speedily made himself the popular idol of the people. But his lease of power was a short one.
While these events were occurring, Nizam-ul-Mulk, the eldest son of the old Mehtar, had been living quietly at Gilgit, enjoying a daily allowance from the British Government. He had seen his younger brother succeed to the throne, and recognised as Mehtar by the Government of India, and his fortunes for the time seemed at their lowest ebb, but in these turbulent countries, where the wheel of fortune turns so rapidly, no claimant to a throne need despair, however remote his chances of succeeding may seem for the time. And now Nizam-ul-Mulk, hearing of the death of his younger brother, at once plucked up courage to make an attempt to gain the throne of Chitral. He wrote to Colonel Durand, the British agent at Gilgit, asking him for his support, and saying that, should he become Mehtar, he would agree to British officers being stationed in Chitral, and to the establishment of a telegraph line, and would carry out all the wishes of Government. Nizam also signified his intention of moving against Sher Afzul; and having come to Gilgit of his own accord, and being there as our guest and not under detention, Colonel Durand was unable to refuse him permission to leave Gilgit, and accordingly allowed him to go, while he despatched 250 rifles, 2 guns, and 100 levies, into the province of Yasin, in order to strengthen his own position, in the event of its becoming necessary to treat with Sher Afzul, and to preserve order in the western part of the Gilgit district and in Yasin.
Nizam-ul-Mulk on crossing the frontier, was joined by a large number of men from the upper valleys of Chitral, with whom he had been brought up as a youth, and who were always much attached to him, A force of 1,200 men, which Sher Afzul sent to oppose him, also went over to him, and he immediately marched on Mastuj, which he occupied without difficulty. Drasan fell into his hands on the 1st of December, and Sher Afzul, seeing the game was up, fled as rapidly as he had appeared, back into Afghan territory; where he remained, till at the commencement of the present year he again appeared upon the scene to set the whole of Chitral once more in a ferment.
Nizam-ul-Mulk felt that his success had been very largely due to the countenance which had been given him by the British authorities, and his first act on ascending the throne was to ask that a British officer might be sent to remain by his side. The Government of India directed that a mission under the charge of Surgeon-Major Robertson, and which consisted of Lieutenant The Honourable C. G. Bruce, Lieutenant J. H. Gordon, and myself, with fifty men of the 15th Sikhs should be deputed to proceed to Chitral to congratulate the new Mehtar on his succession, and to promise him the same subsidy and support as were given to his late father.
In the middle of January 1893, we crossed the Shandur Pass, 12,400 feet high, since rendered famous by the march of Colonel Kelly's column across it, and, in spite of the severity of the weather and the extreme cold, reached Chitral without mishap on the 25th of January. Here the mission remained till May, giving to the Mehtar that support which he so much required in the consolidation of his rule. Dr. Robertson and Lieutenant Bruce returned to Gilgit at the end of May, while Lieutenant Gordon and myself, with the whole of the escort, remained on in Chitral. As the months went by, the Mehtar gradually strengthened his position, and at the end of September, we were able to withdraw to Mastuj, a place sixty-five miles nearer Gilgit, which the Government of India desired should in future be the head-quarters of the political agent. During the following year, no event of importance occurred upon this frontier, though the restless Pathan chief, Umra Khan, the Mehtar's neighbour on the south, was constantly causing trouble by attacking the villages considered by the Mehtar to belong to Chitral. In the autumn of last year the Honourable George Curzon, M.P. (now Lord Curzon) entered Chitral territory from the direction of the Pamirs. He and I rode down together to the Mehtar's capital, and were received by him with every mark of hospitality. We had long conversations together, we dined with him and he with us, and we played polo together; and when on the 11th of October we rode away from Chitral, no one would have supposed it possible that in a few months' time the country, which then seemed so quiet, should be the scene of the bloody conflict which raged there in the first months of the ensuing year.
Nizam-ul-Mulk was by no means a pattern ruler, but, though deficient in courage, and unpopular with many of his people on account of his avaricious habits, was in many respects a good ruler, and he was certainly a firm ally of the British Government. He had been to India, had mixed with British officers, and had suffered adversity. At the same time he had no wild ambitions to lead him astray. His ruling passion was love of sport; and as long as he had the support of the Government of India to guard him from outside troubles, he felt that he could indulge his inclinations in that respect to his heart's content. The result, both to ourselves and to the Chitralis, was certainly satisfactory. The Chitralis were free from any gross oppression or misgovernment, they could enjoy life in their easy-going way as they would wish, and they could be ruled by their own ruler. At the same time, we had never to fear that the Mehtar would not be guided by us in any matter relating to his external affairs.
When, therefore, on the first day of January of the following year Nizam-ul-Mulk was shot dead while out hawking, by the directions of his half-brother, Amir-ul-Mulk, a characterless youth of about nineteen, every one who knew the country felt that a grave misfortune had occurred. At a stroke this miserable boy was able to sweep away the good results of two years' careful thought on the part of the Government and of their local officers, and to transform a peaceful state into the scene of a desperate struggle. The youth who had shattered the promising fabric, which had slowly been set up, was a son of the old Mehtar by one of his four legitimate wives, and Nizam-ul-Mulk would have liked to have murdered him, knowing that if he did not do so he ran the risk of himself being murdered by the youth. But knowing how averse the British authorities were to these murders, he had refrained from carrying out what he knew to be a prudent measure of self-defence, and he had now suffered for his leniency and his loyalty to the wishes of his allies.
The Westminster Abbey of Chitral
Where the Mehtars are buried
At the time of this unfortunate occurrence, Lieutenant B. Gurdon, who had succeeded me a few weeks before in the political charge of Chitral, was on a visit to the capital with an escort of eight Sikhs: the remainder of his escort of 100 men being posted at Mastuj, sixty-five miles north-east of Chitral. Amir-ul-Mulk immediately sent a deputation to him asking to be recognised as Mehtar; and it is significant of the prestige and authority which we then enjoyed, that a reckless youth, in the very excitement of his impetuous action, should have come cringing in to a young British officer with only eight native soldiers at his back, asking for his countenance and support. Lieutenant Gurdon told him that he could merely refer the matter to the Government of India and await their orders. This Lieutenant Gurdon now did, but it may be imagined that his position at this time was one of considerable anxiety which required all the tact and coolness which he now proved himself to possess. He had at once sent for a reinforcement of fifty Sikhs from his escort at Mastuj, and these reached him on the 8th; and that they were able to do so, and were not hindered or molested on the way, is another sign that at that time there was no defined spirit of hostility to the British.
Photo A. Esmé Collings. W. Brighton.
Lieutenant B. E. M. Gurdon, D.S.O.
In anticipation of trouble, however, 100 men were sent to reinforce Mastuj, 200 men were marched to Ghizr, and in the middle of January Surgeon-Major Robertson, the British agent at Gilgit, started for Chitral to report on the situation. Mr. Robertson arrived in Chitral at the end of January, and afforded timely relief to Mr. Gurdon, who, in the meantime had, in the words of the despatch of the Government of India on the subject, acted with admirable coolness and judgment, occupying a house in an excellent position for defence, if necessary, and quietly laying in supplies in case of trouble.
Meanwhile Umra Khan, chief of the Jandul State, immediately bordering Chitral on the south, had taken the opportunity which the troubles which were occurring in Chitral afforded to invade the country, ostensibly with the object of supporting Amir-ul-Mulk, but with the real intention of annexing it to his own dominions. This enterprising chief was the son of the ruler of the little Pathan State of Jandul, who, on the death of his father in 1879, had made an attempt to seize the throne from his eldest brother, but not being successful had prudently retired on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Having plucked up heart again two years later, he murdered his brother, seized the throne, and then commenced a series of wars against his neighbours, which only culminated in the disasters of the present year. Valley after valley he annexed to his country. Scarcely a month passed by without a fight, and with each success his ambitions only grew wider and stronger. His, indeed, was one of those uncontrollable spirits which feed upon high adventure, and tire of nought but rest.
He now thought he saw his opportunity of acquiring the more important and larger state of Chitral. He had dreamed one night that this should be his, and, to the excitable imagination of an Oriental, it seemed that his dream was a prophetic inspiration from on high. He was, undoubtedly, an accomplice with Amir-ul-Mulk in the murder of the late Mehtar; but it is not so certain whether he had done more than give that youth a general assurance that if he would murder the Mehtar he should be supported. Umra Khan at the time of Nizam's murder was preparing for an expedition elsewhere, and, had he been in direct communication with Amir-ul-Mulk as to the precise time of the murder, it is questionable whether he would have chosen the season of the year when the high pass between his own and Chitral territory was blocked with snow. However, seeing that the murder had occurred, and knowing that all the leading men in Chitral had previously been made away with, that the country had now no leaders, and must of necessity be split up into a number of opposing factions, he, without a moments hesitation, seized the opportunity, and in spite of the heavy snow on the pass, 10,000 feet in height, which separated him from Chitral, marched with 3,000 men into that country.
The Chitralis at first opposed this Pathan force. They had always looked upon the Pathans as their hereditary enemies, and had on many previous occasions resisted invasions by them. Had they now had any leader to keep them together, and to encourage them, the Chitralis would have been able to repulse the invaders. Could the British have supported them in their resistance, as Lieutenant Gurdon did with a few men in one of the preliminary skirmishes, they would have gained heart, and, with the spirit which they are capable of showing when once they are fairly aroused, would have beaten back Umra Khan's men; but Amir-ul-Mulk, their would-be leader, was incapable of exercising authority. He had not been recognised by the British officers as Mehtar, and it was doubtful whether he ever would be; and his hope lay therefore more with Umra Khan than with the British, and the British officers were unable to support the Chitralis in a quarrel of their own with this neighbouring chief without the direct instructions of their Government.
The resistance of the Chitralis therefore collapsed, Umra Khan succeeded in capturing Kila Drosh, the principal fort on the southern frontier of Chitral, and this he immediately commenced to strengthen, so as to form of it a firm "pied-Ã -terre" on Chitral territory. And just as affairs had taken this unfavourable turn, just when the Chitralis were divided and leaderless, when their country had an invader in its midst, once more appears upon the scene that evil spirit of Chitral and persevering aspirant for its throne, Sher Afzul. Scarcely more than two years previously he had killed one Mehtar, ruled the country for a month, and then been ousted by the elder brother, and now, after a further sojourn of two years in Afghan territory, in a confinement which the Amir of Kabul had most solemnly declared to the Government of India would be permanent, so that he might never again be allowed to disturb the peace of Chitral, he was allowed to escape from Afghan territory and join Umra Khan at Drosh in the latter half of February.
Mr. Robertson did not receive reliable information of his arrival in Chitral territory until the 24th of February, when he at once entered into communication with him. On the 27th of February, Mr. Robertson received from Sher Afzul a demand that he should go back to Mastuj at once. Sher Afzul promised to be friends with the Government on the same terms as previous Mehtars of Chitral, that is to say, that he was to receive subsidies from the Government, but that no British officer should reside in the country. But his promise was coupled with the threat that if his terms were not accepted, Umra Khan would at once advance. The two princes had, in fact, made an alliance, the basis of which was really hostility to the British Government. They were to induce or force the British officers from Chitral territory, and after that had been effected, they could then decide who should rule the country, one thing only being certain, that whoever should be the nominal Mehtar, Umra Khan would be the ruler practically. Mr. Robertson replied to Sher Afzul that the Maharajah of Kashmir was the Suzerain of Chitral, and that neither Umra Khan nor any one else could impose a Mehtar on Chitral without the permission of the Government; he added that Sher Afzul was wanting in respect to the Government of India, that he was informing the Government of Sher Afzul's demands, and would communicate their instructions to him, and that if in the meantime he attempted any overt act of hostility, he must take the consequences on his own head.
At the end of February, the Chitralis were still holding a position a dozen miles below Chitral, and Umra Khan was rapidly completing his preparations for the defence of Kila Drosh against an attack from the Chitralis, which he believed to be imminent. A few Chitralis of the lower class had gone over to Sher Afzul, but the principal men, though suspected of being partisans of Sher Afzul, did not openly defect. Suddenly, however, they now changed their minds and went over in a body to Sher Afzul. In that versatile and impulsive way so characteristic of them, they turned completely round, and, in place of joining the British and opposing Umra Khan, they now, under the impression that Umra Khan was the stronger, because the nearer power, and that the British were the weaker, because the more distant, joined the Pathan chief, and came surging on in a wave towards the fort of Chitral, which Mr. Robertson, with the escort of 400 men, which he had brought with him, had now occupied.
Amir-ul-Mulk had been deposed and was under the custody of the British officers, and Mr. Robertson had formally recognised Shuja-ul-Mulk, an intelligent, trustworthy little boy, nine or ten years old, as provisional Mehtar of Chitral, pending the orders of the Government of India.
On the 3rd of March, the combined Chitrali and Pathan forces appeared before Chitral, an action took place in which one British officer was mortally wounded, and another severely wounded, in which a General and a Major and twenty-one non-commissioned officers and sepoys of the Kashmir Infantry were killed, and twenty-eight wounded. The British force was then shut up within the walls of the fort, and no further news of them reached the Government of India for many weeks to come.
Information of the serious turn which affairs had taken in Chitral was received by the Government on the 7th of March, and they immediately decided that preliminary arrangements should be undertaken, in order to be prepared if necessary to operate against Umra Khan from the direction of Peshawur. It was believed that the garrison in the Chitral fort could resist an attack from Umra Khan and Sher Afzul's forces, and hold out as long as their ammunition and supplies lasted; but as communications were all interrupted, and as retreat was cut off, it appeared imperative that no effort should be spared to effect their relief by the end of April, if the investment was not otherwise removed before that date. On the 14th of March, in order that Umra Khan might have distinct notice of the decision to which the Government of India had thus come, a final letter of admonition was sent to him recounting the various warnings given to him against interfering with Chitral affairs, mentioning his various acts of aggression, directing him to at once quit Chitral territory, and telling him that if by the 1st of April he had not withdrawn, the Government of India would compel him to do so. The letter went on to say that the Government were making fresh preparations to send forward their forces for that purpose, and that he would only have himself to blame for any evil results that might fall upon him. At the same time a proclamation in the following terms was issued :—
To all the people of Swat and the people in Bajaur who do not side with Umra Khan.
Be it known to you, and any other persons concerned, that—
Umra Khan, the Chief of Jandul, in spite of his often repeated assurances of friendship to the British Government, and regardless of frequent warnings to refrain from interfering with the affairs of Chitral, which is a protected state under the suzerainty of Kashmir, has forcibly entered the Chitral valley, and attacked the Chitrali people.
The Government of India have now given Umra Khan full warning that, unless he retires from Chitral by the 1st of April, corresponding with the 5th day of Shawal 1312 H., they will use force to compel him to do so. In order to carry out this purpose, they have arranged to assemble on the Peshawur border a force of sufficient strength to overcome all resistance, and to march this force through Umra Khan's territory toward Chitral.
The sole object of the Government of India is to put an end to the present, and prevent any future, unlawful aggression on Chitral territory; and as soon as this object has been attained, the force will be withdrawn.
The Government of India have no intention of permanently occupying any territory through which Umra Khan's misconduct may now force them to pass, or of interfering with the independence of the tribes; and they will scrupulously avoid any acts of hostility towards the tribesmen so long as they on their part refrain from attacking or impeding in any way the march of the troops. Supplies and transports will be paid for, and all persons are at liberty to pursue their ordinary avocations in perfect security.
Orders were also now issued for the mobilisation of the 1st Division of the Field Army under Major-General Sir Robert Low.
While preparations were in progress of this force, news reached the Government of India of the disaster to a detachment of troops under Captain Ross on their way to Chitral, when Captain Ross had himself been killed, his Lieutenant, Jones, been wounded, and fifty-six men killed out of a total of seventy-one; another detachment under Lieutenants Edwardes and Fowler was also known to be surrounded; and finally communication with the supporting post of Mastuj was severed. This intelligence materially altered the situation again. It was now known to the Government of India that before they had taken the action described above, Umra Khan and Sher Afzul had actually waged war upon British Indian and Kashmir troops.
The necessity for relieving the little garrison in Chitral was more imminent than had been supposed, while the reason for giving Umra Khan a period of grace within which he might withdraw from Chitral had now disappeared. Colonel Kelly, commanding the 32nd Pioneers, the senior military officer in the Gilgit district, was placed in command of the operations in the Gilgit district. His orders permitted him to make such dispositions and movements as he might think best, provided he undertook no operations which did not offer reasonable prospects of success. It was, however, felt that the relief of Chitral from the side of Gilgit was probably impossible. Gilgit is 220 miles from Chitral, and at this season of the year was cut off from all support from India, by passes 13,000 feet in height, which were now covered deep in snow, and which would not become available for the passage of troops till June. On the other hand, the road from Peshawur to Chitral was less than 200 miles in length, and on it there was only one pass of 10,000 feet which would still have snow upon it. This pass was not altogether impracticable for an army. Orders were therefore issued for the despatch of the Chitral Relief Force under Sir Robert Low, as soon as it could be made ready.
Before describing General Low's advance it is necessary to relate the circumstances under which the detachments under Captain Ross and Lieutenant Edwardes had, as mentioned above, suffered such signal loss.
CHAPTER II
CAPTAIN ROSS AND LIEUTENANT EDWARDES
On the 1st of March, while Mr. Robertson with his escort was in Chitral and active hostilities had not yet commenced, a native officer had started from Mastuj with forty men and sixty boxes of ammunition for Chitral. He had proceeded for a couple of marches and had reached Buni, when he found the road broken and rumours reached him that he was to be attacked. He accordingly wrote to Lieutenant Moberly, the special duty officer with the Kashmir troops in Mastuj, telling him of the state of affairs and asking for instructions. Rumours had by now reached Mastuj that Sher Afzul had entered Chitral territory and that large numbers of the Chitralis had joined him. But he was said to have friendly intentions towards the British and all the local head men reported to Lieutenant Moberly that no organised attack upon a party of troops was at all likely.
Still there was evidently a feeling of unrest abroad, and as a detachment of the 14th Sikhs under Captain Ross and Lieutenant Jones were now at Laspur, two marches on the Gilgit side of Mastuj, on their way up, Lieutenant Moberly wrote to ask Captain Ross to come on into Mastuj in a single march instead of two. This Captain Ross did, and on the evening of the 4th of March he started from Mastuj with fifty men to reinforce the Subadar, who was blocked at Buni. On the same day a detachment of twenty Sappers and Miners under Lieutenant J. S. Fowler, R.E., accompanied by Lieutenant S. M. Edwardes also arrived in Mastuj. The party were on their way to Chitral with engineering stores, and without halting at Mastuj they left on the following morning, March 5th, with the intention of overtaking the Subadar at Buni and with the combined party continuing the march to Chitral.
That evening Captain Ross returned to Mastuj reporting that everything was quiet at Buni, and that Lieutenants Edwardes and Fowler were to leave Buni on the 6th for Chitral with the ammunition escort. On the evening of March 6th Lieutenant Moberly received a note from Lieutenant Edwardes dated noon of the same day from Koragh, a small hamlet a few miles below Buni, saying that he heard he was to be attacked near Reshun, the first stage beyond Buni. Upon hearing of this Captain Ross at once moved from Mastuj, and also wrote to the officer commanding at Ghizr, the nearest post on the Gilgit side of the Shandur Pass, asking him to send up as many men as he could possibly spare to reinforce Mastuj. The strength of Captain Ross's party was
| 2 | British Officers |
| 1 | Native Officer |
| 6 | Havildars (sergeants) |
| 3 | Naiks (corporals) |
| 2 | Buglers |
| 82 | Sepoys |
| 1 | Hospital-Assistant |
| 8 | Hospital followers |
| 2 | Cooks |
| 2 | Water-carriers |
| 1 | Lascar |
| 1 | Sweeper |
| 2 | Dhobis |
Nine days' rations and 140 rounds of ammunition per man were carried.
Leaving Mastuj on the morning of March 7th, Captain Ross reached Buni, eighteen miles distant, at 11 p.m. the same day. Here he left one native officer with thirty-three rank and file, while with the rest he and his subaltern, Lieutenant Jones, started for Reshun, the place, about thirteen miles lower down the valley, in which Lieutenant Edwardes' party were detained. Captain Ross's men took with them three days' cooked rations, and at about 1 p.m. the party reached the small hamlet of Koragh, about half way to Reshun, and a short halt was made here. What occurred after that may best be told in Lieutenant Jones's own words.
About half-a-mile after leaving Koragh [he says] the road enters a narrow defile. The hills on the left bank consist of a succession of large stone shoots, with precipitous spurs in between; the road at the entrance to the defile for about one hundred yards runs quite close to the river; after that it lies along a narrow maidan, some thirty or forty yards in width, and is on the top of the river bank, which is here a cliff; this continues for about half-a-mile; then at the Reshun end it ascends a steep spur. When the advanced party reached about half way up this spur, it was fired on from a sangar which is across the road, and at the same time men appeared on all the mountain tops and ridges, and stones were rolled down all the shoots. Captain Ross, who was with the advanced guard, recalled the point of the advanced guard and fell back, on the main body, with which I was. All our coolies dropped their loads and bolted as soon as the first shot was fired. Captain Ross, after looking at the enemy's position, decided to fall back upon Koragh, as it would have been useless to go on to Reshun, leaving an enemy in such a position behind us. With this object in view Captain Ross ordered me back with ten men to seize the Koragh end of the defile, to cover his retirement. By the time that I had reached within about one hundred yards of the sangar at this end I had only two sepoys left with me unwounded, and it was therefore impossible for me to proceed any further. I sent back and informed Captain Ross accordingly. Captain Ross in the meantime had occupied two caves in the river bank, and he ordered me to come back to him, which I did. Captain Ross then informed me that it was his intention to wait till the moon rose, and that he would then try and force his way out. We stayed in the caves till about 8 p.m., and then we started to try and force our way out to Koragh.
Diagrammatic Sketch of the Koragh Defile
When Captain Ross had got about half way across the stone shoot under the sangars at the Koragh end he decided to retire, as there was such a torrent of rocks coming down the shoot, that he thought that his party would be annihilated if he attempted to go on. Thereupon we again retired to the caves mentioned above. After reaching here, Captain Ross thought that he would try and get to the top of the mountain above us, and we started up the spur nearest above the caves. We had got some way up, when our road was completely barred by a precipice, and we could get no further, as we had no native of the country to guide us, and the ground was extremely dangerous. One of the sepoys, falling here, was killed. After looking about in vain for a path, Captain Ross again decided to retire to the caves, and we reached them about 3 a.m. As every one was now tired out, Captain Ross decided to remain here for the present. We remained in the caves all the day of the 9th. The enemy, meanwhile, did not molest us further than firing a few shots into the cave, and, as we had built up breastworks there, they could not do us much damage. During the 9th Captain Ross and myself both agreed that the only thing remaining for us to do was to cut our way out back to Koragh at all costs, and we decided to make the attempt about 2 a.m. On the 10th, when we thought that the enemy would least expect it, we started accordingly, and we attacked their sangars and drove them out of them; they retired a short distance up the hill and kept up a brisk fire from behind rocks. There was also a heavy fire kept on us from the sangars on the right bank of the river. A large number of sepoys were killed, or so severely wounded as not to be able to move, by the stones down the shoot which ran right into the river, and Captain Ross himself was killed in front of one of the sangars. I and seventeen rank and file reached the maidan on the Koragh side of the defile in safety, and when I got there I halted and re-formed the men, and stayed there some ten minutes, keeping up a heavy fire on the sangars on both banks of the river, in order to help any more of the men who could get through. While halting there, two bodies of the enemy's swordsmen attempted to charge us, but were checked by volleys and losing heavily. As the enemy now showed signs of again cutting our line of retreat, I considered that it was time to retire, especially as two more of my party were killed, and one mortally wounded, while I had been waiting here. Of the remaining fifteen, I myself and nine sepoys were wounded. We retired slowly to Buni, where we arrived about 6 a.m. It was quite impossible to bring any wounded men who were unable to walk with us, and it was equally impossible to bring their rifles, etc. Therefore a certain number, about forty of these, fell into the hands of the enemy. I estimate the enemy's numbers at about 1,000, and think that they must have lost heavily. I spent from the 10th to the 17th March at Buni, having occupied a house there and put it into a state of defence.
On the 17th he was relieved by Lieutenant Moberly, as will be subsequently told.
In concluding his report, Lieutenant Jones says that he cannot speak too highly of the steadiness and gallantry shown by the men of the detachment, whose behaviour throughout he considers above praise.
We now have to follow the fortunes of the party under Lieutenants Edwardes and Fowler, to whose assistance Captain Ross had set out. This party, as will be remembered, had marched from Mastuj on the 5th of March before any news of an outbreak of hostilities had reached that place. They were escorting ammunition and engineering stores for the troops at Chitral, and their party consisted of twenty Bengal Sappers and Miners, forty-two Kashmir Infantry, an orderly, three officers' servants, and two followers. On the 6th they reached Reshun, a large, but straggling village situated on a sloping plain between the left bank of the Chitral river and the steep mountain sides which rose behind. The houses are detached and dotted over the plain, each surrounded by an orchard. On the edge of a cliff which overhangs the river was a sangar, which the detachment now occupied, and here they stored their kit and ammunition, while a small party consisting of Lieutenants Edwardes and Fowler with twenty Bengal Sappers and Miners, and ten Kashmir Infantry started out to repair a break in the road a few miles below Reshun. Immediately after leaving the village the road to Chitral ascends a spur to a height of about 1,000 feet, and descending again to the level of the river passes for half-a-mile or so over a plain, and then enters a narrow defile with the unfordable river on one hand and inaccessible cliffs on the other.
The British officers were unaware, though the siege of Chitral had commenced three days ago, that the Chitralis had risen in arms against the British, but they saw sufficient evidence of a hostile spirit to induce them to take every precaution on entering this defile. All the hill-sides were carefully examined with telescopes, and, as some sangars were observed, Lieutenant Fowler was sent to scale the heights on the left bank so as from there to be able to look down into the sangars on the opposite bank. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Edwardes remained with the rest of the party close outside the defile. Lieutenant Fowler with some difficulty found a way up the hill-side, and was engaged in examining the opposite cliffs, when suddenly a shot came from them, and about two hundred men rushed out from a village where they had been concealed and began swarming into the sangars. Lieutenant Fowler kept up a heavy fire on them, as he was well above the sangars, and did considerable execution.
But the enemy had now begun climbing the hill-sides behind him so as to cut him off from Lieutenant Edwardes, and he was forced to retire. His position indeed was now a very precarious one, for the Chitralis had succeeded in getting above him, and were hurling down stones upon his party, besides firing upon them. Lieutenant Fowler himself was wounded in the back of the shoulder, the corporal of the party was also shot, and two other men wounded. Scrambling and jumping down he succeeded, however, in bringing his party with the wounded men down the hill-side again and on to the plain where Lieutenant Edwardes with the main body was covering his retreat. The Chitralis with Lieutenant Edwardes had been trying to induce him to enter the defile, in which case he would without doubt have suffered as Captain Ross's ill-fated party had done. But Edwardes had prudently waited till Fowler could report the hill-sides clear, and then, finding that instead of their being clear the enemy were now swarming on to them, he saw that his only plan was to retire to Reshun; and this, when Lieutenant Fowler had rejoined him, he accordingly did.
But they were nearly two miles from the village: they had an open plain to cross and the spur nearly a thousand feet high to climb. One British officer and several men were wounded, and the enemy were gaining ground along the hill-sides. Disaster seemed imminent, but by holding the crest of the spur, and by firing steadily on the enemy to keep them at a distance, the retirement was effected without serious loss, and the sangar near the village of Reshun, where the rest of the party had been left, was reached before the enemy could cut them off.
There is one little incident in this retirement which merits a very special mention. It has been said that Lieutenant Fowler was wounded. Now his pony was awaiting him in the plain at the foot of the hill-side up which he had been climbing; and as a steep hill, a thousand feet in height, had to be ascended on the way back to Reshun, it might have been supposed that Fowler would have mounted his pony and ridden up the hill. But there were also some sepoys wounded; and these in Fowler's opinion had to be looked after first. So he mounted a sepoy on his pony, and walked himself. It is not to be wondered at that when the native soldiers see their officers ready to make such sacrifices for them, they should be willing to follow them anywhere, and stand by them to the last, as indeed these very soldiers were now called upon to do.
For now the first blood was drawn the people rose excitedly and surrounded the little British party in the quarters they were occupying. The British officers found it impossible to hold the original sangar on the cliff by the river, for it was exposed to fire from the opposite bank, and had no head-cover. They therefore decided upon occupying some houses by the polo ground, the very spot where Mr. George Curzon and myself had camped without a single man as escort, only five months previously. In this batch of houses, cover and fire-wood could be obtained, and a certain amount of supplies also. The only drawback in occupying them was that they were more than a hundred yards from the river, and consequently there was considerable risk of their water supply being cut off. The officers hoped, however, to be able to keep the road to the river open by their fire.
Immediately upon returning to Reshun, the officers set to work to make the position defensible, and the following account of their brave resistance against overpowering numbers of the enemy is compiled from the report they subsequently submitted to Government. The first work to be done was the construction of sangars on the roofs of the houses (the houses being flat-roofed), the loopholing of the walls, blocking up entrances, and knocking out passages of communication. The materials available for making the sangars were the mud bricks of which the houses were built, roof timbers and other pieces of timber lying about, and boxes, grain bins, etc. An attack was fully expected that same night, and every possible precaution had to be taken before darkness set in. Before dusk the ammunition and the wounded had to be transported from the sangar near the river to the house. Some Kashmir sepoys volunteered for this work, and though they had to run the gauntlet of a heavy fire in crossing the space of a hundred yards which separated the sangar from the end of the garden-wall round the house, they carried it out without losing a single man. "Already dead tired, these men behaved splendidly," say the British officers in their report.
The enemy had been firing all day upon the party while they were at work, but at sunset their fire slackened and they went off to eat the evening meal, for this was the month of the Ramzan when Mohammedans have to fast all day and eat nothing between sunrise and sunset. Every man on the defending side was now posted in his place, and told to strengthen his cover for himself. And so the first night fell on the little party, now at bay, in the heart of an enemy's country, with their retreat cut off, and impossible defiles on either side of them. Out of the sixty-two men, they had already lost one corporal killed, two men mortally and eight others less severely wounded, and one of the two British officers was also wounded. The men had had hard work the whole day long, they had had no food and little water, and now at night they could take no rest, for the enemy commenced firing again, and the defenders had to expect a rush from the houses and garden walls close by at any moment. The defenders' position was indeed surrounded by these houses, walls, and trees, which gave ample cover to the enemy; and the demolition of these was undoubtedly a matter of the first importance. But beyond those immediately around the house, there was more cover occupied by the enemy's sharpshooters, and the British officers considered that it would have been too risky to have taken men from their places to demolish these, and so expose them where they might have been cut off at any moment. There was a difficulty, too, about burning the houses, for large quantities of kindling wood would have been required for the purpose, and from whichever side the defenders should burn fires, the enemy would attack from the other, and thus have them between themselves and the light.
All night long the garrison remained at their posts, and when day dawned on the morning of the 8th they were all utterly exhausted. But the fear of immediate attack being over, half the men were brought down from their posts, and a meal was cooked from the flour which had been found in the houses. Water, which had of course to be now carefully husbanded, was also served out; and after the men had refreshed themselves, they were allowed to sleep in turns. During the day the enemy kept up a continuous fire from sangars which they had thrown up on the hill-sides. At twilight the remainder of the baggage was brought in from the sangar, and the garrison then had to think of replenishing the water supply. Two large earthenware vessels were lashed on poles, and Lieutenant Fowler with the volunteers and a bhisti (water-carrier) set out for the river. The men carried water-bottles and the bhisti his mussuck (skin). Fortunately no enemy were met with, and the party were able to make two trips, and so fill up all the storage vessels at the disposal of the garrison.
That night, as on the previous one, the defenders stood to their posts expecting an assault at any moment; but the night passed by quietly until just before dawn on the morning of the 9th, when the moon had gone down and night was at its darkest. The enemy then charged down through the houses, and got behind the garden wall in large numbers. Lieutenant Edwardes and his party at once opened fire at about twenty yards range, while the enemy were shouting and urging each other on to the assault. There was a tremendous din of tom-toms as they were beaten furiously to encourage the assailants, but none of the men could approach to within twenty yards of the deadly fire poured out by the defenders, and as the dim light of early dawn grew clearer, it became evident to the garrison that the enemy had no stomach for further assault. Some Pathans among the assailants were still seen urging on the Chitralis and hurling abuse at the defenders, but at about 9 a.m. they all retired, and contented themselves for the rest of the day with beating tom-toms and howling in the village. During the attack the native soldiers of the defence showed the utmost steadiness, but four of them were killed and six others wounded. On account of the darkness, it was impossible to estimate the number of the enemy or their losses. But there must have been several hundreds, and a very large portion were armed with Snider and Martini-Henry rifles.
After the assault had been thus successfully repulsed water was served out, a meal was cooked, and the men allowed to sleep in turns. In the evening it was seen that the enemy had barred the road down to the water. At dusk the defenders still further strengthened their sangars, and fully expecting another attack, kept up a vigilant outlook. But "we and the men were terribly weary," say the officers, "and it was very difficult to keep the sentries awake, although they were posted double."
The night passed off quietly, however, and in the morning it was seen that the enemy had cleared off the hills, though sharpshooters still surrounded the defenders in sangars from fifty to two hundred yards distant. Lieutenant Edwardes dressed the wounded, who had so far only been bandaged. "Never a groan or complaint was heard," says the report, though there were no medical appliances, and though not sufficient water was available with which to thoroughly wash the wounds. Bandages, crutches, and splints had to be improvised, and the officers used a weak solution of carbolic and carbolic tooth-powder for the purpose of dressing the wounds. The corpses of the six dead men were also brought out and prepared for burning. At dusk an attempt was made to procure water again, and Lieutenant Fowler with twenty sepoys started down towards the river. But the enemy had now built and occupied sangars along the cliff at the river's edge, and the work of getting down to the river was one of extreme risk. Lieutenant Fowler succeeded in getting to within ten yards of the first sangar and within five yards of the sentry without being observed. About twenty men could be seen sitting round a fire in the interior with their rifles lying by their sides. A volley was poured into these men, and then Lieutenant Fowler charged down on the top of them. A few men only succeeded in escaping down the cliff to the river bed. Meanwhile the enemy in a second sangar, roused by the firing, lined the walls and began firing to their front. But Fowler had got round them behind a wall on their flank, and he now charged right up the wall, poured a second volley into these men over the fires, also knocked over about six of them, then bayoneted a few more, while the remainder fled. And so successful had Fowler been in surprising these parties, that not a single man of his was scratched. The way down to the water was open, but Fowler now heard heavy firing and the Pathan cry of attack in the direction of the post. So having collected his men, he retired at once to rejoin Lieutenant Edwardes. The enemy's attack was repulsed by this latter officer before Fowler's return, but the attempt to obtain water had to be abandoned for the night.
On the following day nothing of importance occurred, and that night the defenders succeeded in reaching the river and bringing back water, the supply of which was still further replenished by collecting the rain in waterproof sheets. A well was sunk to a depth of twelve feet, but as rock was then struck, the attempt to procure water in that manner had to be abandoned.
On the morning of the 13th a white flag was shown by the enemy, and a Pathan shouted out "Cease firing!" The defenders also hoisted a white flag, and sent out Jemadar Lal Khan to parley with the Pathan while every man stood to his post. After some talk, the Jemadar returned with the report that Mohamed Isa, Sher Afzul's right-hand man, had just arrived from Chitral with a following to stop the fighting and speak with the British officers. Lieutenant Edwardes sent word in reply that if Mohamed Isa would come to the defenders' side of a gap in the wall of the polo ground, situated only sixty yards from the wall of the houses held by the British officers, and entirely under fire from the defenders, one of the British officers would go out and meet him. Mohamed Isa agreed to do this: he came to the gap, and Lieutenant Edwardes then went out to talk with him, while Lieutenant Fowler remained inside the post with his men standing ready to arms in case of treachery.
When Lieutenant Edwardes met Mohamed Isa, that prince informed him that he had just arrived from Chitral, where Sher Afzul and Dr. Robertson were corresponding with a view to the former being recognised as Mehtar. Mohamed Isa said that all fighting had ceased, and that he was most anxious to be friends with the Indian Government. After some talk between the British officer and the Chitral prince, the conditions of an armistice were arranged, and it was stipulated that the British force should remain within their walls, that no firing should take place, that no Chitralis were to approach the walls, that water-carriers were to be allowed to go down to the river, and that supplies were to be provided by the Chitralis. Lieutenant Edwardes also wrote a letter to Dr. Robertson in Chitral, and to the officer commanding at Mastuj, stating in English that an armistice had been arranged, and adding in French what his losses had been, and expressing very great doubt of his being able to beat off any further assault. Having arranged these conditions, Lieutenant Edwardes returned to the post.
The bhistis were sent down to fetch water, and supplies were brought to the fort wall by the Chitralis. The night following passed in quiet, but vigilance was not relaxed. Rain fell heavily during the night, and a quantity of water was collected in waterproof sheets. In the afternoon of the 14th of March a further parley was asked for, and on the arrival of Mohamed Isa, accompanied now by another Chitrali prince named Yadgar Beg, at the former place of meeting, Lieutenant Edwardes again went out to confer with him, while Lieutenant Fowler remained, as before, inside the fortified post. Yadgar Beg confirmed to Lieutenant Edwardes the story previously told by Mohamed Isa, and both the princes were full of protestations of friendship. Yadgar Beg said he had a large following who desired to be friends, and not enemies, of the British. The same afternoon the bhistis were again sent to bring in water, and having to go some distance through the village, they reported that the houses were full of Pathans. They were not, however, ill-treated in any way, and Mohamed Isa sent in a sheep and other supplies to the British officers. Lieutenant Edwardes sent another letter to inform Dr. Robertson of the presumed strengthening of the enemy, and to let him know that the rations would not last beyond the 17th of March, i.e. three days hence.
So far the relations between the British officers and the Chitralis had been conducted upon an apparently friendly footing, the aim of the Chitralis being to lull the British into a sense of security. On the afternoon of the following day, the 15th of March, occurred that act of treachery by which the two officers were captured, and the greater number of their men lost their lives. In the afternoon, Mohamed Isa sent in word that now peace was restored, he and his men wished to amuse themselves, and he asked permission to play polo on the ground immediately outside the post which the British party were occupying. It seemed to the British officers that there could be no harm in granting this permission, for no man riding on the polo ground could escape their fire, and they therefore decided to grant Mohamed Isa's request. The Chitrali prince then sent to ask that both officers would come and look on, as so far he had only seen Lieutenant Edwardes. He also offered to lend the officers ponies on which to play polo. The British officers considered that as they had trusted the Chitralis so far, they might trust them further; so when Mohamed Isa and his men arrived upon the polo ground, both Lieutenant Fowler and Edwardes, having previously ordered their men to their posts which commanded the entire polo ground, went out to meet the Chitralis. A bedstead was placed in the gap in the wall of the polo ground, on the spot where the former meetings had taken place, and Mohamed Isa sat next to the officers until the men were ready to begin the game. The British officers were asked to play polo, but refused. Mohamed Isa, however, joined in the game, while Yadgar Beg sat with Edwardes and Fowler. A third arrival from Chitral, speaking to the British officers, confirmed the story of Mohamed Isa and Yadgar Beg, that peace between the British and the Chitralis had been made.
The polo ground at Reshun is about fifty yards broad and one hundred and twenty yards long, and slopes away from the post occupied by the British, the further side of the ground not being covered by the fire of the British garrison. Lieutenant Edwardes asked Mohamed Isa to order the men, who numbered about one hundred and fifty, and who were armed with rifles and swords, to go to the further side of the ground. The officers had some tea made and brought out for the Chitralis to drink. After the polo was over, Mohamed Isa asked if the men might dance, as is the custom of the country at the conclusion of a game. The British officers consented, and the dance began. Then under the excuse that there was a wet place in front of the officers, the bedstead on which they were seated was moved to the right, bringing it under cover of the end of the wall and the polo ground. The officers found it difficult to object to this, as it seemed impossible that any attempt at treachery could be unattended by heavy loss to the Chitralis. As the dance proceeded, more men began to collect and to press forward in a ring round the dancers, and the officers observed that a number had come over to the wall side of the polo ground. At a pause in the dance the officers stood up and said that they were tired, and would now go back to their post. On this Mohamed Isa himself suddenly seized the British officers, and a rush of men was made upon them, and they were dragged under cover of the wall. A volley was immediately fired by the British garrison; but the Chitralis kept under the wall, and none of them seemed to have been hit. Firing then became general for a short time, till it gradually died down into single shots fired at intervals. The officers in the meantime had their feet and hands bound, and were dragged by the legs along the ground away from the gap. All their buttons, badges, etc., were violently torn off and their pockets rifled, and Fowler's boots and stockings were taken off. In about half an hour the officers saw the enemy carry off some of their dead and wounded, and men came out laden with loot. They also saw at least one Kashmir sepoy being driven along with a load. With their arms still bound, the officers were taken off to the house in which Mohamed Isa lived, where they were seated in a verandah. What happened to the garrison of the post they could not at the time ascertain; but they subsequently met twelve of their men in Chitral, and it appears that the Chitralis rushed the place, killed numbers of the men, and carried these few off as prisoners.
In remarking upon the defence, the British officers say they had frequently considered the question of destroying a portion of the ammunition in their charge. This ammunition had now fallen into the hands of the enemy, and was a great advantage to them. It would have been well, therefore, if the British officers could have managed to have destroyed it; but they say that in the hurry of improvising the defence on the first night of the siege, they had been compelled to build the ammunition boxes up into a rude parapet, to afford a cover to their men. Subsequently these boxes had been covered up with beams, bricks, kits, and débris, and it was consequently very difficult to get them out without pulling down the cover so much needed. The moonlight nights, too, had rendered the removal of them very risky, as the long beams necessitated making large gaps, and any noise inside the post immediately drew the fire from the enemy, which was very effective in the moonlight. Moreover, the ammunition was intended for the use of local levies who were expected from Gilgit, and these levies without the ammunition would have been perfectly useless.
The British officers determined therefore to keep it till they could hold out no longer, and to then destroy it. Lieutenant Edwardes had also to consider the advisability of making sorties; but though he could have doubtless driven off the enemy for a time by such sorties, yet he recognised that he would have lost men in doing so, and with the small number at his disposal he could not afford to lose a single man.
The subsequent adventures of the two officers form a thrilling tale. After passing the night bound at Reshun, with a man holding on to a rope fastened to each of them, Lieutenant Fowler was sent towards Chitral, led at the end of a rope and under the escort of two Pathans and two Chitralis. On the following day Lieutenant Edwardes, who was at first to have been sent to Mastuj, was sent to join Lieutenant Fowler. On the way there they were met by a sergeant and ten men of Umra Khan, who, after quarrelling with the Chitralis, insisted upon taking them on as their prisoners. On the 19th of March the two officers reached Chitral, and were met there by a colonel and about a hundred men of Umra Khan's army. They were led into the presence of Majid Khan, Umra Khan's representative and half-brother, and now his successor in the rule of the Jandul State. The two officers were received civilly, and the Janduli prince expressed regret at the course of events, and of the treachery which had been practised on the British officers. He assured them of good treatment, and after a short interview the officers were marched with an escort of forty men to see Sher Afzul, the claimant to the throne of Chitral. The escort accompanied the British officers into the room in which they found Sher Afzul sitting, surrounded by a strong escort, and with a loaded rifle in his lap. He received the British officers civilly, and gave them tea and cakes. He also talked to them at great length of the negotiations which had taken place between him and Dr. Robertson. He further expressed sorrow at the treachery which had been used to them, and said that he would see to their comfort, and arrange supplies as far as possible, though supplies were difficult to obtain, as everything had been taken into the fort. Both Sher Afzul and Majid Khan, at the earnest request of Lieutenant Edwardes, promised to make strict search for all men of their party who might still be alive. The two officers were permitted to communicate with the British garrison besieged in the fort, but were not allowed to visit them. It was the object of the besiegers to let the defenders know, without doubt, the disaster which had befallen the British detachment, in order to depress as far as possible the spirit of the defence.
On the evening of March 20th, Lieutenants Edwardes and Fowler saw the native clerk of the political agent, who had been allowed to come out from the fort for the purpose of communicating with the officers, but all conversation had to be carried on in the presence of the Pathans and Chitralis. No talk in English was permitted, and the officers were only allowed to ask in Hindustani for clothing, plates, knives, forks, etc.
On the 21st of March the officers received from their beleaguered comrades in the fort some clothing and necessaries, and they again saw the political agent's native clerk in the presence of Sher Afzul and Majid Khan and others. These princes explained to the British officers their view of the situation, which was that they did not wish to fight the British if they would retire to Gilgit or Peshawur, and they asked Lieutenant Edwardes to ask one of the officers in the fort to come up and meet them. A letter was accordingly written to Lieutenant Gurdon inside the fort, telling him that if he met them under the walls of the fort they would give him some useful information. But no reply was received from Lieutenant Gurdon, and there is no doubt that the only object of the besiegers was to capture the other officers of the garrison in as treacherous a way as they had seized Lieutenants Fowler and Edwardes.
On the 24th of March the two captured British officers were sent towards Drosh to meet Umra Khan, the Pathan chief. Here on the following day they had a long interview with this important ruler. Umra Khan they found to be of a tall and manly appearance, with a straightforward, commanding manner of speaking, and with a great influence over his men. On these, and on all other occasions, he treated his captives with civility and consideration. He now gave them a choice of returning to Chitral, or of going with him to his native country of Jandul, some seven or eight marches to the south. As the chief would not allow the sepoys to go with the British officers to Chitral, they decided upon accepting the alternative of accompanying Umra Khan to Jandul, and started for that place on the following day.
Umra Khan had given orders that everything that could be obtained should be given to them before himself, but his followers did not carry out these orders, and the officers suffered much from bad food and bad quarters on the way. From the Chitral fort they had obtained a bag of sugar and a pound of tea, which they considered great luxuries, and they cooked food with the assistance of the sepoys who from Chitral onwards were accompanying them. The officers were never in any way threatened, but they knew that they were always liable to be killed by some fanatic who might have a blood feud against the British. A strong guard, armed with loaded rifles, accompanied them, however, and never for a moment allowed them to go more than a few yards from them, and this was doubtless as much for their protection as to prevent their escape. The guard always had in it some men who had served in our Indian army, and although many of them were extremely ruffian-like in appearance, and probably were thorough scoundrels, yet they mostly treated the officers in an easy and friendly manner, and were always willing to share with them the scanty rations they obtained on the march. The officers on the way occupied the ordinary country houses, which were very dark and dirty, and full of smoke and insects. The guard of ten men or more always slept and lived in the same room as the officers, and as most of them had colds and coughs, and were incessantly spitting on the floor, the prisoners had little quiet. The sepoy prisoners were given the same food as was served out to Umra Khan's men. But this ration on the march was a very small one.
The three Hindu prisoners were made to learn the Kalin, and their hair was cut; but they were not made to publicly declare themselves Mussulmans, and they never really changed their faith. No attempt was ever made to induce the officers to become Mohammedans, nor was any fanatical feeling displayed by the people whom they met. The men would eat the officers' bread, and gave them some of theirs. The Pathans would often ask the officers how they managed to exist without wine, and while in Chitral the officers were offered the contents of all the medicine bottles taken in the hospital outside the fort as a substitute. This delicate attention was however declined.
The prisoners were naturally an object of great curiosity to the people, and crowds gathered to see them. These people specially delighted to see the officers eat with knife and fork, and laughed at their attempts to eat with their fingers. This curiosity on the part of the populace the British officers found to be somewhat annoying, and the guard soon discovering that they did not like visitors at meal times, kept them off while the officers were eating; but at other times the prisoners received the public, and sat to be inspected whilst conversing with the people through interpreters. Umra Khan himself, as has been said, always treated his captives with civility, and was much interested in talking with them, and as long as he was with them and had leisure sent for them every day. He twice took them out hawking, and asked them to walk alongside him. The officers were not allowed to communicate with any one, except through the chief, nor were they allowed any writing materials, but they had obtained some paper and a pencil in Chitral and managed to keep a short diary of each day hid in their clothes. They were allowed to purchase materials with which to make clothes for themselves and their sepoys, and the traders gave them credit on their written acknowledgment.
Marching towards Jandul, the party on the 28th of March reached the Lowarai Pass, 10,000 feet in height, and now covered deep in snow. Leaving Ashreth, the last Chitrali village on the north side of the Pass, they ascended the deep narrow rocky valley to the Pass. At four miles from the summit they had to send back their ponies as the snow was now too soft to allow of their being taken over. They then had a very stiff pull up on foot, and on the top were caught in a violent storm of hail and snow. The wind was bitterly cold, and they were almost blinded by the driven snow. On the other side one of their sepoys complained of pain in the stomach, and he was left behind with another sepoy to look after him, but he died at night. Soon after dark the officers reached Dir, having marched twenty-four miles and crossed a difficult pass. Here at Dir, however, they were given better quarters and better food. On the 30th of March they marched to Barwa, Umra Khan's chief fort, crossing the Jhanbatai Pass, 7,000 feet high, from which they could obtain a view over the Pathan chief's own native valley. On the summit of the Pass, Umra Khan seated the British officers beside him, and, giving them food and sweetmeats, asked them how they liked his country. For a long time he sat there with the officers at his side gazing over his native valley stretched out at his feet, and then proceeding down the hill-side he was met by crowds of men on horseback and on foot as he marched into Barwa.
The Lowarai Pass.
The officers remained here about a fortnight; but on the 1st of April the Mussulman sepoys were told that they could consider themselves at liberty, and the guard over them was removed. A native officer accordingly left and proceeded to Peshawur, where he brought the news of the disaster to his party.
News now began to come in of the fighting between General Low's force and the Pathan tribes, and great excitement prevailed. Numbers of men began clearing out, taking all their goods with them to hide on the hill-sides. It is a remarkable point that as the panic increased, the officers received greater attention, and at the approach of our troops they were supplied with two fowls, flour, rice, butter and milk daily. On the 12th of April both of the officers were taken to Munda, Umra Khan's strongest fort. There they met a native political officer who had been sent by the British authorities to treat with Umra Khan. A long conversation took place between Umra Khan and the native official, the upshot of which was that Lieutenant Edwardes was made the bearer of two letters to the British General, and given his release. Umra Khan explained to him his views at great length, and under an escort he left at midnight. Taking a circuitous route to avoid a collection of ruffians in the valley, he arrived at 10 a.m. at Sadoo, the head-quarters of the British forces now advancing to the relief of Chitral. Umra Khan hoped by delivering up the British officer to stave off the punishment which the British forces were now at hand to inflict upon him. But General Low did not stay his advance for a moment. He pushed steadily on towards Umra Khan's stronghold at Munda, and on April the 16th Umra Khan played his second card, and released Lieutenant Fowler. But still General Low pressed on as will presently be described.
Both officers had now unexpectedly obtained their release. They had suffered the greatest hardships, and lived in daily peril of their lives, but they spoke with something like enthusiasm of the good treatment they had received at Umra Khan's hands. It was sometimes no easy matter for that chief to keep off those who had wished to injure the British officers; and on one occasion after Lieutenant Edwardes had left, Fowler had had an anxious time owing to the presence of many fanatics from outside striving to gain an entrance into the fort. There had nearly been a pitched fight between Umra Khan's men and these wild ruffians, and a few days afterwards when I stood with him in Umra Khan's fort, Lieutenant Fowler, standing in the doorway of the house he had occupied as a prisoner only three days before, had shown me the spot where these fanatics came clamouring round his guard, and trying to obtain access to him. But Umra Khan succeeded in protecting him throughout. He gave back to Lieutenant Edwardes his own sword which had been seized at Reshun, and which Umra Khan had received as a present from Chitral; and he promised to obtain Lieutenant Fowler's also, if it could be found. "We both consider," say the British officers, at the close of their report, "that Umra Khan treated us very well indeed, and that he never intended to be the direct cause of injury to us under any circumstance."
So ended the wonderful adventures of these two British subalterns. When they were holding out at Reshun, and making their last stand in a mere village house against overwhelming numbers of the enemy; and again, when they were treacherously captured by a deceitful foe; and lastly, when they were in the hands of men in the fever-heat of rebellion against the British, no one would have supposed that they could ever have escaped alive. But they had survived every peril, and were now once more in safety among their fellow-countrymen.
How General Low advanced to the Relief has now to be related.
CHAPTER III
GENERAL LOW'S ADVANCE
From the time that Lord Roberts made his famous march from Kabul to Kandahar, the Indian Army had hitherto taken part in no campaign so rapid, brilliant, and successful as the operations which resulted in the relief of the sorely pressed garrison of Chitral. No element was wanting to call forth the keenest instincts of the soldier, or to arouse the anxious interest of those who watched with breathless suspense the keen struggle, as the columns pushed forward over high mountain passes, girth deep in snow, across rivers broad and deep, swollen with rain and melting snow, and fiercely opposed by the desperate bravery of mountain warriors born and bred to the sword. When therefore within three short weeks the welcome news was flashed down the wire that Chitral was relieved, and that the British agent and his escort had been snatched from a horrible fate, there was perhaps hardly a corner of the British Empire which did not feel proud of the hardy leaders and brave men who had so signally upheld the proud standard of British resource, pluck, and endurance.
The general plan of operations was this. The 1st Division of all arms, some 15,000 strong, belonging to the 1st Army Corps was to mobilise at Peshawur, and moving from a southerly position as rapidly as possible, was to pass through Swat and Dir, falling on the rear of Umra Khan. At the same time a small column some 400 strong was to move from Chilas and taking the wide circuit through Gilgit and Mastuj, was to endeavour to force its way to Chitral from a north-easterly direction.
Before the opening of the campaign, our knowledge of that portion of the theatre of operations which lies between the Peshawur Valley and Chitral territory was limited almost entirely to such information as had been collated from the reports of natives. This information though defective in accuracy of detail, yet described with sufficient exactness, the main physical difficulties to be overcome. Speaking generally, the theatre of war was crossed transversely by ranges of high mountains and rapid rivers, each in itself a formidable obstacle, culminating in the lofty range through which a pass 10,450 feet high alone gave access to Chitral. Of the country which lies between Chilas and Chitral, by the route followed by Colonel Kelly's column, we had accurate knowledge, the route having been frequently traversed by troops and an accurate survey made. The stupendous task placed before Colonel Kelly, moving at this time of year, could therefore be fairly gauged beforehand.
With the fuller knowledge we now possess it is possible to give more in detail the physical features of the country through which the Relief column of Peshawur passed. Skirting the broad open plain in which Peshawur is situated is a range of mountains varying from 3,000 feet to 6,000 feet in height, and known locally and collectively as the "border hills," for, generally speaking, the British border runs along the foot of this range. Beyond the border range lies the richly cultivated Swat Valley, varying in width from two miles to three miles, and having an extent of some thirty-six miles lengthways. Down this valley flows the Swat River, a considerable stream at all times of the year, but after the snows begin to melt, and the summer rains burst, a large and rapid river. Some estimate of the size of the river may be gained by noting that at the point first bridged by our troops, it is about half-a-mile wide from bank to bank, being split up into seven channels each requiring a separate bridge. The north side of the Swat Valley is formed by the Laram range of mountains varying from 5,000 feet to 6,000 feet in height. Beyond the Laram range we come to the southern extremity of the Principality of Dir, down the main valley of which flows the formidable and treacherous Panjkora River. This river which one day is fordable may the next be found a roaring torrent, many feet deep; indeed on one occasion it rose fourteen feet within a few hours, with little or no warning. The Panjkora Valley throughout its length is narrow, with steep rocky spurs constantly running down to the water's edge, and except in the depth of winter when the water is at its lowest, was not suitable, without extensive road making, for the passage of troops.
Lying to the east of the Panjkora Valley, and separated from it by high ranges, we find the broad, open, fertile valleys of Jandul and Bajaur, the former of these being the original home and limited territory of the chief Umra Khan, against whose power the British expedition was mainly directed. Skirting the north end of the Jandul Valley comes the Janbatai range, varying from 6,000 feet to 10,000 feet in height, crossing which we drop into a series of narrow, rocky valleys which betoken the approaches to some great mountain range. Such are the Baraul and Upper Dir Valleys, with no room for cultivation on any scale, and barely capable of supporting a miserably poor and backward race. Running transversely across the north corner of Dir territory we come to the mighty range of mountains, from 10,000 feet to 20,000 feet in height, over which the Lowarai Pass alone gives military access to the Chitral Valley. The Chitral Valley is itself very narrow and rocky, much on a par with the Panjkora Valley, and was, till a track was cut, very difficult for the passage of troops.
Briefly it may be stated that four high ranges of mountains, and three considerable rivers, besides mountain torrents, had to be crossed by the Southern column of the Relief Force.
The country through which the small Northern column under Colonel Kelly had to pass was still more rough and rugged. Moreover he was practically isolated and had to depend entirely on his own resources for those necessities which are requisite for pushing an armed force through a difficult country under the most unfavourable climatic conditions. The highest pass which was crossed by this column was over 12,000 feet, the account of the passage of which will appear when the heroic struggle of this column is dealt with in detail.
Speaking generally then, the theatre of war may be described as a mass of mountains, amidst which wind deep and rapid torrents, whilst here and there may be found small open valleys with sufficient supplies only to maintain the inhabitants.
The Lowarai Pass in May.
As mentioned before, incidentally, the plan of operations for the Relief of Chitral consisted of a combined movement from north and south, the Southern column being a strong force capable of holding its own against any combination that might arise, whilst the Northern column consisted of a mere handful of men lightly equipped, whose errand it was to arrive as soon as possible, and by the moral effect of their arrival more than by actual force of arms, to prolong the siege sufficiently for the arrival of the main relief force. The Southern force was based on Nowshera (near Peshawur) whilst the Northern column was based on Gilgit.
The enemy's main base of operations was Jandul, the home of the ruling spirit in the camp of the besiegers of Chitral. Hence Umra Khan drew the pick of his men, his treasure lay here, and such arms and ammunition as he possessed were drawn from here. If we look at Jandul on the map and examine its relative position to Chitral and Peshawur we shall at once see that a decisive blow struck from the direction of Peshawur must inevitably jeopardize Umra Khan's base of operations, with the probable result that he would be compelled to leave Chitral and retreat hastily to defend his own country. The Peshawur column in fact by the nature of its march must take him directly in rear, and he must either abandon his own country to the invader in the hope of first striking a decisive blow at Chitral, afterwards turning on his tracks to meet Sir Robert Low, or else he must perforce abandon the siege and concentrate his forces to meet the British before they could gain a footing in his territory. The relative position of the belligerents being thus, it is apparent that the first objective of the main column of the Relief Force was Jandul. But though at first sight the advantage of position lay with the British, yet one important item entered into the problem which made the balance even, and that was the consideration of time. It was calculated that the Chitral garrison was only provisioned up to the end of April, and therefore to effect its relief a decisive blow must be struck before that date. Such a possibility Umra Khan and his lieutenant Sher Afzul were inclined to discountenance. An organised army moves slowly, immense physical difficulties stood in its way, and the inveterate animosity of 30,000 tribesmen could infallibly be counted upon. In a matter which depended upon days and even hours here lay a distinct advantage on the side of the besiegers.
Orders were issued for the mobilisation at Peshawur of the 1st Division of the 1st Army Corps on March 19th, the base being afterwards shifted to Nowshera as more convenient. This being the first occasion on which a serious mobilisation of any part of the army had been attempted, the experiment was watched with much interest by military critics. It must be remembered that to mobilise a force on the Indian frontier is a far more complicated and difficult problem than to mobilise a force at Metz or Strasburg. In Europe many railways lead to important points of concentration, the distances are comparatively short, and countries which are likely to become the theatre of war are intersected by numerous railways as well as roads suitable for heavy wheeled traffic. Large towns and flourishing villages are to be found at the end of every march, and the country invaded is capable of supplying to a very great extent the wants of the invaders in the matter of commissariat and transport. Far differently situated is a force on the Indian frontier destined to penetrate into the inhospitable mountains which frown along its whole length from the Bay of Bengal to the deserts of Beluchistan. For such a force in addition to food for the men, nearly all the grain, and much even of the hay for the animals, has to be carried up to the most advanced troops from the base in India, and carried not along macadamised roads in capacious carts, but by mountain paths where pack transport is alone possible.
There is a popular error that the impedimenta of an Indian Division is enormous; indeed, it has been gravely stated by a serious military critic that it is no uncommon thing for regiments in India to take their mahogany mess tables on service with them. Of course only ignorance of the country and its ways, with a hazy recollection of Chillianwallah and the historic mess table of the 24th Foot, could be responsible for such an erroneous statement. As a matter of fact during this campaign the allowance per man for everything was 10 lbs., and per officer 40 lbs., and no tents were allowed. When we consider that an ordinary soldier's blanket weighs 4 or 5 lbs., an allowance of 10 lbs. need not be called extravagant in a country where snow and ice, heavy rain, and the fiery heat of the sun had in turns to be encountered. Yet marching thus light 28,000 pack animals had to be collected to feed and maintain the force. It will be apparent, then, that the problem of mobilisation on the Indian frontier is very materially complicated by the conditions that exist. Not only the troops and their stores have to be concentrated, but also many thousands of pack animals, and the food for the entire force, man and beast, for as long as the campaign lasts. Add to this that units had in some cases to come immense distances, that the line of railway was a single one, and that the detraining station was a small roadside station without platforms, or conveniences, for disembarking troops, animals, and stores, and we have a compendium of difficulties which would try severely the most perfectly organised scheme of mobilisation.
It was therefore a source of gratification to the military authorities that the scheme and the railway stood so well the severe test applied to them. On the 1st of April the Division, fully equipped and provisioned, made the first march of the campaign. The force consisted of three Infantry Brigades, each of four regiments, two of which were British and two native; the Divisional troops consisted of two regiments of cavalry, four batteries of Mountain Artillery, one[1] regiment of Pioneers, and three[1] companies of Sappers and Miners. In addition, three regiments of infantry were told off as lines of communication troops. The command of the force was given to Lieutenant-General Sir Robert Low, K.C.B., with Brigadier-General Bindon Blood, C.B., Royal Engineers, as his chief staff officer. The three brigades were commanded by Brigadier-Generals A. A. Kinloch, C.B., H. G. Waterfield, and W. F. Gatacre, D.S.O.; whilst the lines of communication were entrusted to Brigadier-General A. G. Hammond, V.C., C.B., D.S.O., A.D.C.
The column under Colonel Kelly will be dealt with separately in a later chapter.