The Jowaki Expedition was a British

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beh ...

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 Kohat Pass ( ur, ) is a mountain pass in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, between the cities of Kohat and Peshawar. The pass traverses the Khigana Mountains, which stretch from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas towards Attock. ...

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 The Afrīdī ( ps, اپريدی ''Aprīdai'', plur. ''Aprīdī''; ur, آفریدی) are a Pashtun tribe present in Pakistan, with substantial numbers in Afghanistan. The Afridis are most dominant in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal ...

tribe a tribute payment to guard the

. 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 Cherat (Pashto: چېراټ) is a hill station dating from the 1860s that is located immediately above the villages of Chapri, Saleh Khana, Kotli Kalan and Dak Ismail Khel in the Nowshera District of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan. Cherat lie ...

), killed almost all of the Sepoy 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,

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 Battalio ...

. Shortly afterwards they were joined by a larger force of 5,900 troops in two columns under the command of

brigadier general Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Charles Patton Keyes General Sir Charles Patton Keyes, (25 November 1822 – 5 February 1896) was a British Indian Army officer. Career He was commissioned into the 30th Madras Native Infantry in 1843, and was promoted to the rank of captain in 1858. He served as co ...

and Campbell Claye Grant Ross.Sothebys - Album of watercolours, pen-and-ink sketches and a manuscript account by Radford recording the Jowaki Expedition in the Kohat Pass
/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. In January 1878 the 3rd Sikh Infantry returned to Jummu. At the end of that same month, 50 men of the Jowaki tribe met with British commanders in the Paiah Valley for peace talks. However, they refused the British conditions and continued guerrilla assaults. Guerrilla assaults included the burning of the disputed road in Kohat pass. Even though peace was never made, that was the end of the Jowaki Expedition.

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