Kaniguram and Makin
The Third Brigade, marching on the 17th, was at Razmak on the 23rd—the rearguard having been fired at from one village only—and arrived on the following day at Makin. The force was now split up into a number of smaller columns, and all parts of the country were visited—the Baddar, Shakto, Sheranna, Shinkai, Nargao, Tangai and Janjara Valleys—and only in the first of these was opposition experienced. Cattle were driven in, forage collected, and towers destroyed; nearly all the divisions implicated in the attack on Wana camp had been punished, our terms had to some extent been complied with, and by the last week in January the delimitation party was able to commence work. On the 4th March the last of the Mahsud hostages required were surrendered, and the force was then gradually reduced, troops remaining in occupation of Jandola, Barwand, Wana, and in the Tochi Valley—this last offering the means for maintaining a hold over the Darwesh Khels. By the end of the operations all concerned in the attack on Wana had been punished, our terms had been fully complied with, and the boundary from Domandi to Laram had been demarcated.
In 1895 there were several murderous attacks upon individuals, chiefly in the Tochi Valley, and it was evident that the establishment of military posts, and the permanent military occupation of the Tochi Valley, had done little to counteract the natural lawlessness of the inhabitants.
In the summer of 1896 a British subject had been murdered at Sheranni in the Tochi, and the Madda Khel, who inhabit Maizar in the lower part of the Shawal Valley, considered they had been unfairly treated in the apportionment of the blood money, levied according to tribal custom for the murdered man. The matter was still unsettled in June of the following year, when the Political Officer gave notice that he would visit Maizar to discuss the case, and further to select a site for a new levy post, the construction of which had been decided upon. On the 10th June, then, Mr. Gee, the Political Officer, left Datta Khel, which since the autumn of the year previous had been the civil and military headquarters of the district, with an escort of two mountain guns, twelve sabres, and 300 rifles under Lieutenant-Colonel Bunny, 1st Sikhs. On arrival at Maizar the maliks evinced every sign of friendship, pointing out a halting place, and, with an excess of treachery unusual even among Pathans, provided food for the Muhammadan soldiers of the escort. The halting place chosen was close to a Madda Khel village and commanded by other villages from 100 to 400 yards distant, but, so far as the position admitted, all possible precautions were taken. The meal promised was produced and partaken of, and then, while the pipers of the 1st Sikhs were playing for the benefit of the villagers, a hubbub suddenly arose in the village, from the top of a tower in which a man was seen to wave a sword. The villagers quickly drew off, and firing at once commenced on the escort from the houses on three sides.
The Maizar Outrage
Colonel Bunny and three officers were hit almost immediately, and the baggage animals, carrying most of the reserve ammunition, stampeded; but the guns at once came into action, driving back into the village the men who seemed upon the point of charging, and giving time for preparations for the retirement of the escort, now inevitable. The circumstances were trying in the extreme for the troops, and their staunchness is worthy of the highest praise. By this time every one of the British officers had been hit, two of them mortally, but the native officers of the 1st Punjab Infantry and 1st Sikhs nobly filled their places. Getting together a party of men, a most determined stand was made by a garden wall, whereby the first withdrawal was covered, the wounded were helped away, and the guns were able to retire to a fresh position, whence they fired “blank” to check the enemy, the small number of service rounds brought out having now been exhausted. The retirement was continued, the enemy coming on and enveloping the flanks, until the Sheranni plain was reached; and about 5.30 p.m., reinforcements coming out from Datta Khel, the enemy were at last beaten off, and the further withdrawal to camp was unmolested.
Operations of the Tochi Field Force, 1897–98.—The decision to send a punitive expedition into the Tochi was arrived at on the 17th June, and by the 8th July the concentration at Bannu was completed. The force was placed under command of Major-General Corrie-Bird, C.B., and comprised two brigades.
FIRST BRIGADE.
Colonel C. C. Egerton, C.B.
2nd Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. 1st Sikh Infantry. 1st Punjab Infantry. 33rd Punjab Infantry. One squadron 1st Punjab Cavalry. No. 3 Peshawar Mountain Battery. No. 2 Company Bengal Sappers and Miners.