From the Black Mountain to Waziristan / Being an account of the border countries and the more turbulent of the tribes controlled by the north-west frontier province, and of our military relations with them in the past

by H. C. Wylly

The Advance Commences

While halted on the pass, representatives came in from the people of Chamla and Buner expressing feelings of friendship, and no opposition seems therefore to have been anticipated from these tribes when the force again moved forward on the morning of the 22nd. To prevent any misunderstanding, a full explanation of our intentions was sent to the Buner maliks, and careful instructions were given to our reconnoitring party of cavalry and infantry, now sent on, to follow a road avoiding Buner territory as far as possible. The descent from the top of the Kotal was found to be tolerably good going, and the rest of the pass was unoccupied by any of the tribesmen.

From the foot of the range on the northern side, two roads passed through the Chamla Valley; one skirted the village of Ambela and lay under the hills dividing Chamla from Buner on the north side of the valley, while the other went by Koga on the south; and as Ambela, though actually in Chamla, was regarded by the Bunerwals as one of their own villages, the advance guard was ordered to proceed by the Koga road so as to avoid all possibility of offence or misunderstanding.

Passing the kotal leading into Buner it was seen to be crowded by Bunerwals, but they did not come down into the valley, which appeared to be quite unoccupied. The reconnoitring party pushed on through Koga to Kuria and then returned towards the Ambela; by this time it was seen that numbers of Bunerwals had come down from the hills with the evident intention of cutting off the retreat of the party. The tribesmen were charged by the cavalry and driven back, and the infantry—the 20th Punjab Infantry[^[46]] under Major Brownlow—then formed the rearguard. Daylight had now gone, the enemy came on again and pressed the 20th very closely, rushing in among them sword in hand. As the retiring troops drew near camp, the picquets became engaged, and there was a general attack upon them in the front and on the flanks of the camp, which was kept up until midnight.

Hostility of the Bunerwals

That the Bunerwals should thus have taken a decidedly hostile part against us was very serious, and our position now required to be strengthened and the plan of operations to be changed. The line of communications was secured by calling up additional infantry and levies, but it was evident that the Hindustani settlements on the Mahaban Mountain could not now be reached by the Chamla Valley, with a powerful and hostile tribe on the left flank of the line of march.

On the 24th all sick, superfluous baggage and spare transport were passed down the pass to the rear, and the troops—on this date about 6000 in number—were employed in improving the communications. The Bunerwals remained quiet, but it was noticed that they were joined by large bodies of the Hassanzais, Chagarzais, Mada Khels and Hindustanis.

Shortly after daylight next morning the enemy were observed on a ridge opposite and close to the advanced picquets of the right defence, and Major Keyes, who was there in command, advanced and dislodged them. He took up a position on a ridge commanding the plain over which the enemy had retired, and found he was then himself commanded, at a range of 700 yards, from a conical hill on which the tribesmen were collecting. He sent into camp for reinforcements, but these did not reach him until 2 p.m., when the hill was attacked and captured. It afterwards transpired that the enemy had intended to attack both sides of the camp, but one force did not come on.

The attention of the General commanding was now drawn to the left side of the camp, where was the Guru Mountain separating the Ambela Pass from Buner. The enemy had collected here in large bodies, and it was necessary to meet any attack from that quarter, and to provide for the security of a sick convoy which it was proposed to send to the rear. On the morning of the 26th, therefore, the left picquets, under Lieutenant-Colonel Vaughan, were reinforced with the following:

Hazara Mountain Battery. 30 marksmen, 71st and 101st Regiments. 200 rifles, 71st Regiment. 5th Punjab Infantry. 6th Punjab Infantry.