The Bedmanai Pass lies some five miles west-south-west of Khazina. The track leading thence to the pass runs along the bed of a broad dry nullah, and about a mile and a half further on, a narrow gap, between the Gharibai Hill and the northern end of a spur jutting out from the Yari Sar Mountain, gives entrance to a broad valley. Crossing this, four small villages are passed, and the path winds upwards along the nullah through a narrow gorge, until the summit of the pass, commanded from the highest point of Yari Sar, is reached.

On the morning of the 23rd the troops moved forward and, after some opposition, carried the Bedmanai Pass, the capture of which, contrary to expectation, proved tolerably easy of accomplishment, as not more than 700 or 800 Mohmands, chiefly Baizais, were present. As to the actual assault, the 20th Punjab Infantry led and were opposed on every ridge, and the men of this regiment particularly distinguished themselves in clearing the heights, well supported by the fire of the guns and Maxims. The attached brigade meanwhile moved in support of General Westmacott up the centre and guarding the right flank, and was only slightly engaged, our casualties totalling no more than four. This easy victory was attributable to the heavy losses which the men led by the Hadda Mullah, had already experienced in their attack upon General Blood before described. That, their real effort, had failed, and they had very little heart for further fighting; also General Elles had previously so disposed his cavalry as to prevent any help reaching the defenders of the Bedmanai Pass from the Mitai and Suran Valleys.

During the two following days these valleys were visited and towers were destroyed. The attached brigade now left to join the Tirah Expeditionary Force, marching via Nahaki and Gandab to Peshawar; and General Elles prepared to move on Jarobi, where, in the most rugged and inaccessible part of the Baizai Mohmand country, a glen at the head of the Shindarra Valley, was the home of the Hadda Mullah. The road thither was found to be very difficult, but the opposition was not formidable, only some nineteen casualties being experienced.

The Clans give in

During the next few days the troops were employed in marching through the Bohai Dag and adjacent valleys, demolishing the defences of the Baizai Mohmands and exacting submission. The opposition here was rather more formidable but was easily broken down. The clans now began to give in: the Khwaezai, Halimzai, Utmanzai, Dawezai jirgahs arrived asking for terms, the acceptance of which was expedited by the troops continuing to visit the uttermost parts of the country; and by the 3rd October all our claims had been met and the force returned to Peshawar, where, on the 7th, it was broken up.

The objects of the expedition had been accomplished. All concerned in the raid on Shabkadar had been punished; the Hadda Mullah had been discredited, his dwelling destroyed and he himself driven into Afghan territory; and the Mohmand country had been traversed from end to end.

That these operations did not, however, immediately initiate a period of absolute quiet on the Border, goes without saying. There were outbreaks and raids upon villages close to our frontier and within the territories of tribes which had come under our protection; and it was very apparent that the Indian Government could exercise but little more than a nominal authority over any of the clans of the Mohmand tribe. Still, some advance had been made, and when in 1906 an extension of the railway was commenced from Peshawar to the Afghan frontier through Shilman, the Mohmands did not offer any really serious opposition to the undertaking.[[100]]

In March, 1908, three rather serious raids were carried out in our territory by Mohmand tribesmen—at the village of Marozai, six miles north-east of Shankargarh (Shabkadar); at Mirzadhar, two miles from Marozai; and at Chikkar, nine miles south-east of Shankargarh.

All three raids were believed to be the work of men of the Mohmand gathering which collected at the end of the Zakha Khel expedition, as mentioned in Chapter XIII.; in consequence of these outrages the posts at Abazai and Shabkadar were strengthened. Early in April, however, the mullahs began to preach against the British in Ningrahar, and within a few days had succeeded in collecting a large following of Mohmands with the reported object of attacking Shabkadar. The movement spread, villagers in masses joined the force, and by the 17th it was computed that some 5000 men, including 2000 Afghans, were gathered together under Hazrat Mullah in Kamali, to the north-west of Halimzai territory. It is not surprising under the circumstances that the Chief Commissioner, North-West Frontier Province, detected danger of a fanatical outbreak.

Fresh Trouble