This force was divided into two brigades, under Colonels Bright and Vaughan, the whole under command of Brigadier-General Wilde, C.B., C.S.I., and numbered some 9500 of all ranks. In addition, a contingent of 1200 troops was furnished by the Maharaja of Kashmir, but these, though present on the border, did not take any active part in the operations.
The overawing effect of the assembly of so large a force was immediately apparent in the petitions to be permitted to treat which now began to come in from the Swatis, the Hassanzais and the men of Tikari and Nandihar, and these were granted in the case of those clans which had not been specially hostile, or which it was considered particularly desirable to detach from the general coalition. The force which had been concentrated in Hazara had still, however, a sufficiently formidable task before it, having to deal with the Chagarzai and Akazai clans, with the Swatis of Deshi and Thakot, with the Pariari Saiyids, and not improbably with the Hindustani fanatics (of whom more will be said hereafter), and large bodies of trans-Indus Pathans.
On the 3rd October the force moved out from the camp at Oghi; Brigadier-General Vaughan, with the Second Brigade, advancing by Bagrian, occupied with but insignificant opposition the Kiarkot Mountain, and closed up his brigade to Kilagai. Brigadier-General Bright at the same time advanced on Kungali and thence on Mana-ka-Dana, which he occupied after some little fighting, and which was found to form an excellent temporary base for operations against the Chitabat and Machai peaks. The Second Brigade was now ordered to support the further advance of the First, leaving the levies to move up the Barchar spur. On the next day—the 4th—the Chitabat position was carried with small loss—the road having, however, been found to be almost impracticable—and was put in a state of defence. The Second Brigade closed up this evening to Mana-ka-Dana. On the following day the First Brigade advanced against the enemy holding the Machai peak. This was naturally a very strong defensible position, the ascent being steep and rugged in the extreme, only to be climbed on a narrow front, as the ground on the left was precipitous, and on the right thickly wooded. The accurate and effective covering fire of the mountain batteries enabled the troops to capture the position with only eight casualties, the enemy not holding out to the last, but flying down the spurs into the Indus Valley.
Major-General Wilde was now in possession of the most commanding plateau of the range, he had ample supplies, his communications were secure, and he was able to inflict considerable damage on the mountain villages of the neighbouring Pathan tribes. Jirgahs of the clans now began to come in and make formal submission, and by the 12th the Machai peak was evacuated, the force finally reaching Oghi, via Tikari and Nandihar, on the 22nd October, with the objects of the expedition satisfactorily attained.
Our casualties totalled five killed and twenty-nine wounded.
Raids and Outrages
Raids did not, however, entirely and immediately cease, and in the autumn of 1869 a force of some 700 men had to be moved out from Abbottabad to assist in the establishment of a blockade against the Hassanzais, Akazais and others who had raided into Agror. In April of the following year a party of Akazais attacked Barchar, and burnt Sambalbat and Bholu, despite the presence in the Agror valley of a small British garrison.
During the years 1871–75 offences continued to be committed on the Agror border by the tribesmen, and another expedition seemed inevitable, when, in September 1875, a settlement was arrived at, all the Black Mountain tribes agreeing in submitting to the British Government, and for some few years this part of the frontier was free from any serious trouble.
Up to 1884 there was no real cause for complaint; it had been found necessary in this year to blockade the Chagarzais, Akazais and Pariari Saiyids, and the same punishment was extended later to the Hassanzais; but it was not until June 1888 that a serious outrage occurring on the Agror frontier necessitated the despatch of another expedition to the Black Mountain. On the 18th of this month an attack was made upon a small party of British troops within British territory by Akazais, Hassanzais and Pariari Saiyids, and two British officers and four men were killed. Immediately upon this, large bodies of these tribesmen assembled with the intention of attacking Agror, but dispersed again without taking any further offensive action; the Indian Government now once more took into consideration the question of punitive measures against the Black Mountain tribes, and on the 29th August an expedition was decided upon.
Expedition of 1888