The Jowaki Expedition was a British
punitive expedition in India, occurring between 1877 and 1878. It started when the British government in India proposed to reduce the payment of the
Jowaki Afridi tribe in the
Northwest Frontier. The Jowaki were paid to guard in the
Kohat Pass and in retaliation for a reduction in payment they raided British territory. The expedition ended in January 1878 when tensions died down.
Background
In the 1870s, the
British colonial government in India gave the Jowaki
Afridi tribe a tribute payment to guard the
Kohat Pass. At the time the Jowaki were the most powerful Pathan tribe in the
northwest frontier. In 1875, local tribes in the area of the Kohat Pass, including the Jowaki, objected to the building of a road through the pass. The final straw for the Jowaki came in 1877 when they had their payment reduced by the colonial government.
In response the Jowaki cut the telegraph wire, entered the village of
Shakkote (located on the Cherat road beneath the hill fort of
Cherat), killed almost all of the
Sepoy
''Sepoy'' () was the Persian-derived designation originally given to a professional Indian infantryman, traditionally armed with a musket, in the armies of the Mughal Empire.
In the 18th century, the French East India Company and its oth ...
guard of 18 men, and made off with British rifles. The same day the colonial government issued a war proclamation against the Jowaki, stating that if they did not give up the Shakkote murderers, return the stolen British rifles, and pay an indemnity of 30,000 rupees as a guarantee of their future good behaviour, the British would advance into their territory. The Jowaki said they were not going to agree to any terms and were ready to fight.
[{{Cite book, last=Commons, first=Great Britain Parliament House of, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qUsTAAAAYAAJ&q=Jowaki+Expedition&pg=PA205, title=Parliamentary Papers, date=1879, publisher=H.M. Stationery Office, language=en]
Course
In 1877, the first British sortie against the Jowaki consisted of 1,500 troops of the British Punjab Frontier Force in three columns under the command of
Frederic David Mocatta Frederic may refer to:
Places United States
* Frederic, Wisconsin, a village in Polk County
* Frederic Township, Michigan, a township in Crawford County
** Frederic, Michigan, an unincorporated community
Other uses
* Frederic (band), a Japanese r ...
,
3rd Sikh Infantry
The 53rd Sikhs (Frontier Force) was an infantry regiment of the British Indian Army. It was raised in 1847 as the 3rd Regiment of Infantry The Frontier Brigade. It was designated as the 53rd Sikhs (Frontier Force) in 1903 and became 3rd Battalion ...
. Shortly afterwards they were joined by a larger force of 5,900 troops in two columns under the command of
brigadier generals,
Charles Patton Keyes and
Campbell Claye Grant Ross
General Sir Campbell Claye Grant Ross (18 May 1824 – 20 June 1892) was a Scottish officer in the British Indian Army. He fought in the Jowaki Expedition.
Ross was born in Saugor, British India,''1891 England Census'' the second son of Lt Col ...
.
[Sothebys - Album of watercolours, pen-and-ink sketches and a manuscript account by Radford recording the Jowaki Expedition in the Kohat Pass](_blank)
/ref>
On 9 November, the 3rd Sikh Infantry advanced on the Paiya Valley where they met little resistance from the Jowaki. After some skirmishes in the area, they moved on to the Shindai Valley, pushing back a Jowaki force stationed there. By 1 December they had pushed the Jowaki out of their stronghold in Jummu and chased them through the Naru Khula gorge.
References
19th-century military history of the United Kingdom
1877 in India
1878 in India
Conflicts in 1877
Conflicts in 1878
Military history of British India