The Mutineers of the 55th
The Yusafzai country was then controlled by the fort at Mardan, usually garrisoned by the Corps of Guides; in the middle of May, however, this regiment had started upon its famous march to Delhi, and its place at Mardan had been taken by part of the 55th Native Infantry. On the night of the 21st May news reached General Cotton at Peshawar that some companies of the 55th, stationed at Nowshera, had mutinied, and that some of these had joined their comrades at Mardan. On the night of the 23rd a small force, accompanied by John Nicholson as political officer, quitted Peshawar for the purpose of disarming the 55th Native Infantry at Mardan. At sunrise on the 25th the disaffected regiment saw the column approaching Mardan; “and then all but a hundred and twenty, who were restrained by the threats and persuasions of the officers, broke tumultuously from the fort, and fled. The column pressed on in pursuit; but the mutineers were far ahead; the ground was so heavy that the artillery could not get within range; and the chase was all in vain until Nicholson, taking with him a few of the police sowars, dashed to the front and rode into the fugitive masses. Breaking before his charge, they scattered themselves over the country in sections and companies; but all day long he pursued them, hunted them out of the villages in which they sought for refuge, drove them over ridges, cut down their stragglers in ravines, and never rested till, having ridden over seventy miles, slain a hundred and twenty, and wounded between three and four hundred of the traitors, taken a hundred and fifty prisoners, and recovered two hundred and fifty stand of arms and the regimental Colours, he was forced by the approach of night to draw rein, while those who had escaped him fled across the border into the hills of Swat.”[[26]]
The virtual ruler of Swat at that time was one whom Oliver has called “A Border Pope”—an aged priest, known as the Akhund, and he decided that these fugitives should not be accorded an asylum. They were accordingly guided to the Indus and put across the stream, whence they intended to endeavour to make their way to Kashmir. The majority of them succumbed, however, to the perils of the journey by way of Hazara or Kohistan, but a few took refuge in the country of the Khudu Khels, whose Khan was hostile to us, and in whose territory a settlement of Hindustanis had been established at a place called Mangal Thana, as a branch of the parent colony at Sitana. The presence of the Hindustanis was the cause of some trouble in July 1857 at Shekh Jana, and a fortnight later the fanatics, under the leadership of one Maulvi Inayat Ali Khan, crossed the border and raised the standard of religious war at a border village called Narinji, where some 650 desperadoes had collected. A small force was moved out from Mardan and Nowshera, and, marching at first in another direction so as to conceal the object of the expedition, arrived unexpectedly before Narinji. The position of the village was very strong, and in the days of Sikh rule it had more than once been unsuccessfully attacked, but under cover of the fire of the mountain guns, it was now speedily taken and destroyed. The enemy had lost very severely, and the retirement, which now took place, was quite unopposed. Our casualties had been five killed and twenty-one wounded.
The chief object of the operations—the capture of the Maulvi—had not, however, been attained; cattle were raided from British territory; and the enemy were being daily reinforced by men from Buner, Chamla and Swat. Major J. L. Vaughan, who had charge of the operations, now received additional troops from Peshawar, and early on the 1st August he left his camp at Shewa with the following force:
2 24–pounder Howitzers. 4 guns, Peshawar Mountain Train Battery. 50 bayonets, 27th Foot. 50 bayonets, 70th Foot. 50 bayonets, 87th Foot. 150 sabres, 2nd Punjab Cavalry.[[27]] 50 bayonets, 21st Native Infantry.[[28]]
Expedition of 1857
Three hundred and fifty rifles were detached to take Narinji in flank and rear, and reached their position about half an hour after the main body had appeared in front of the village. The flanking party was vigorously opposed, but the frontal attack had a comparatively easy task, many of the defenders withdrawing early—among them being the Maulvi. The retreat was to some extent cut off, and many were killed, among the slain being several of the mutineers of the 55th Native Infantry. Our losses were only one killed and eight wounded.
The village was then completely destroyed and the troops retired.
The spirit of the people was not, however, by any means broken, for less than three months later the Assistant-Commissioner of Yusafzai, while encamped at Shekh Jana with a small escort, was attacked by the Hindustanis and Khudu Khels, assisted by the men of Shekh Jana and Narinji. The Assistant-Commissioner escaped with his life, but five of his party were killed, and the whole of his baggage was looted.
Expedition against the Hindustanis and Khudu Khels, 1858.—On the 22nd April, 1858, a force was assembled, for the punishment of this outrage, on the left bank of the Kabul River opposite Nowshera. It numbered 4877 of all ranks, was commanded by Major-General Sir Sydney Cotton, K.C.B., and was divided into two brigades, respectively under Lieutenant-Colonel Renny and Major Alban, both of the 81st Foot, but before crossing the frontier, was divided into three columns as under: