The Malakand Levies is a

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

force in the Pakistani province of

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (; ps, خېبر پښتونخوا; Urdu, Hindko: خیبر پختونخوا) commonly abbreviated as KP or KPK, is one of the Administrative units of Pakistan, four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, ...

Malakand Division Malakand Division is an administrative division of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa of Pakistan. It contains the following districts: Districts * Bajaur District * Buner District * Upper Chitral District * Lower Chitral District * Lower Dir District * ...

. It operates as the primary law enforcement agency tasked with maintaining law and order within the division. The force has its origins back in the days of the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

, and has continued to function for over a century.

History

The Malakand Levies Force was established in 1895 with an initial strength of 192 personnel. Its main duties were to protect key government installations and communication routes. Over time this force was given additional duties. It is the only law enforcement agency in Malakand and performs the same duties as the

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police (), formerly known as the Frontier Police, is the provincial law enforcement agency of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. History British colonial era In 1849, the land corresponding to modern-day Khyber Pakhtunkh ...

. These include lodging of first incident reports, criminal investigation, writ executions, etc.

Mission creep Mission creep is the gradual or incremental expansion of an intervention, project or mission, beyond its original scope, focus or goals, a ratchet effect spawned by initial success. Mission creep is usually considered undesirable due to how each s ...

expanded their responsibilities into VIP Escort, foreigner escort, duty with security forces, recovery of government dues, prisoner transportation and Highway Patrol. The Malakand Levies Force has a Federal

Ministry of States and Frontier Regions The Ministry of States and Frontier Regions ur, , ''wazarat-e- reyasti o sarhadi umoor'' (abbreviated as SAFRON) is a federal ministry in Pakistan. The main responsibilities of the ministry are the administrative affairs and development a ...

(SAFRON) budget for 2018-19 of Rs 551,587,000. Sometime later the Malakand Levy became part of the Swat Levies and in 1920, when the Swat Levies were reorganized, Sadullah Khan (known as Khan Sahib) was appointed

Subedar Major Subedar Major is the senior-most rank of junior commissioned officer in the Indian and Pakistani Armies, formerly known as the Viceroy's commissioned officer in the British Indian Army. History During the British Raj, Subedar-Major was the hi ...

and thus became the first Subedar Major of Swat Levies. In 1950 regular police were introduced in

Swat In the United States, a SWAT team (special weapons and tactics, originally special weapons assault team) is a police tactical unit that uses specialized or military equipment and tactics. Although they were first created in the 1960s to ...

by conversion of the Levies personnel. In Chitral, the border police force was reorganized and separated from Swat Levies while in Dir district and Malakand Agency Levies personnel were given separate designations as Dir Levies and Malakand Levies. That personnel of Swat Levies who were serving in Malakand Agency formed the nucleus for the Malakand Levies. In Dir district, the police force was introduced in addition to the Levies but in Malakand, no additional force was recruited. Thus Malakand Levies continued to perform the dual tasks of the Levies and police. The Malakand Levies worked on ad hoc and temporary bases and therefore were not entitled to the pension, except for a negligible gratuity.

SSG relationship

The Levies have an important relationship to the elite

Special Services Group , colors = Maroon, sky blue , colors_label = Colours , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , equipment = , ...

commandos of the

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

. For the first two years when the SSG training base at Cherat was formed, 2

Naib Subedar Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) is a term used for a group of military ranks which is higher than havildar ( non commissioned officer) and lower than lieutenant ( commissioned officer). The term is only used by Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Se ...

s, 6

Havildar Havildar or havaldar ( Hindustani: or (Devanagari), (Perso-Arabic)) is a rank in the Indian, Pakistani and Nepalese armies, equivalent to sergeant. It is not used in cavalry units, where the equivalent is daffadar. Like a British sergeant, ...

s and 18 Naiks of the Malakand Levies served as drill staff for the new SSG recruits from the

Baloch Regiment The Baloch Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Pakistan Army. The modern regiment was formed in May 1956 by the merger of 8th Punjab and Bahawalpur Regiments with the Baluch Regiment. Since then, further raisings have brought the strength of ...

. Until the 1990s Levies troops and NCOs trained SSG personnel in long-range reconnaissance patrolling in mountain conditions.

Organization

The Malakand Levies comes under the administrative control of SAFRON Division, Government of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

. The Commandant of Malakand Levies is the commanding officer of 1835 strong force while the Subedar Major is the second high-ranking officer after the commandant. When the strength of Levies was sanctioned in the first instance, the pay of a

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 ...

was Rs. 9 per month. It was increased to Rs. 121 per month later. After World War II, Rs. 11 per month were sanctioned as clothing allowance.

References

{{Khyber Pakhtunkhwa topics Organisations based in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan Levies Military units and formations of British India

History

SSG relationship

Organization

See also

References