The North-West Frontier
THE vexed problem of the North-West Frontier engaged the serious attention of Lord Curzon, who found on his arrival in India in January, 1899, that about 10,000 British troops had been quartered on the farther side of the British frontier. The new Viceroy followed in regard to the tribal tracts a course of policy, which has been described as ” one of withdrawal and concentration “. He ably defended the retention of Chitral and the construction of the road from that town to Peshawar, but in other respects differed from the policy of the “forward ” school. Under his orders large numbers of British troops were gradually withdrawn from the Khyber Pass, the Kurram valley, Waziristan and the tribal area generally, but some posts were retained and fortified at Chakdarra, Malakand and Dargai. The place of the British troops withdrawn was filled by tribal levies under British officers, or by military police. British forces were, however, concentrated within British lines, and strategic railways were constructed up to Dargai at the base of the Malakand, Jamrud, at the entrance to the Khyber Pass, and Thal, at the mouth of the Kurram valley. At the same time Lord Curzon was careful to regulate and limit the importation of arms to tribesmen and also to encourage the important tribes to maintain peace and tranquillity and check crime by granting them allowances at regular intervals.
Another aspect of Lord Curzon’s policy was the creation of the North-West Frontier Province in 1901 in the teeth of much opposition from the Punjab officials. Formerly the north-west frontier districts had been under the control of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab, subject only to the indirect control of the Government of India. The new Frontier Province, extending over an area of 40,000 square miles, included the political agencies of the Malakand, the Kurram, the Khyber, the Tochi and Wana, and all the trans-Indus districts of the Punjab, excepting the settled district of Dera Ghazi Khan which remained under the control of the Punjab Government. It was placed under a Chief Commissioner, directly responsible to the Government of India. The old North-Western Provinces were given the name of ” the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh”.
The civil and military reforms of Lord Curzon on the North-West Frontier gave comparative peace after a period of severe fighting and reduced to some extent the heavy expenditure caused by frontier wars. It was, of course, necessary to blockade the Mahsuds in 1900-1902, and deal with the risings of the Mohmands and Zakka Khel in 1908-1909, but Lord Curzon claimed that during his seven years of office, he had spent only 248,000 pounds on military activities on the North-West Frontier as against 4,584,000 pounds in the years 1894-1898.
Lord Curzon did not, however, finally solve the Frontier problem. His system could not thoroughly check the spirit of restlessness so prominent among the local tribes, and administrative difficulties regarding justice and revenue continued to trouble both the settled districts and the tribal areas. The pillars of his system fell under the strain of general unrest engendered by the Great War of 1914-1918. The changed conditions made the Government of India pursue a vigorous policy in the North-West Frontier, marked by the retaining of commanding posts at important points, opening up the country by roads, entrusting the regular troops with the duties of the Militia for policing the tribal lines, and by attempts to introduce among the tribes the elements of a new civilisation. The influence of the Indian National Movement, and the attempts of the Government to introduce social and educational reforms, not to the liking of the tribes, complicated the problem to a great extent. In fact, the Government of India had to resort to extensive military preparations in suppressing frontier outbreaks in recent times, such as the rising of the Waziris in 1919, that of the Mahsuds in 1925, the serious rising of the Waziris, Mohmands and Afrids in 1930-1931, the Mohmand outbreak in 1933 and the Tori Khel rebellion of 1936-1937.
British Relations with Afghanistan and Persia
Afghanistan
The relations of the Government of India with Afghanistan were influenced considerably by the political, commercial and constructional activities of Russia in the Persian Gulf and Central Asia and also by the intrigues of the German, Austrian and Turkish missions at Kabul during the war of 1914-1918. On the death of the Amir, ‘Abdur Rahman, who had concluded a friendly treaty with the British Government, in September 1901, Lord Curzon had some trouble with his successor, Amir Habibullah, over the renewal of the treaty. Habibullah claimed that it was an agreement between the two countries and did not require renewing on the death of the Amir; but Lord Curzon argued that the treaty with the late Amir was a personal one and insisted on its renewal. For some years all communications with the Government of India were stopped by Amir Habibuilah, who refrained from drawing his subsidy and claimed the title of “His Majesty “. He was undoubtedly encouraged by the anti-English activities of Russia. But in November, 1904, during Lord Curzon’s absence from India, the acting Viceroy, Lord Ampthill, sent a mission to Kabul under Sir Louis Dane. A treaty was concluded in March, 1903, by which all the engagements between the British Government and ‘Abdur Rahman were renewed and Amir Habibullah’s claim to the title of ” His Majesty ” conceded.
The tables were, however, turned two years later after the signing of the Anglo-Russian Convention in August, 1907. According to this Russia agreed to treat Afghanistan as outside her sphere of influence and equal commercial facilities were provided for England and Russia in that kingdom. The Amir, who ” regarded this union of the two great neighbors with natural suspicion “, refused to give his consent to the clauses of the Convention. But this counted for nothing, as Russia stood by the agreement. Henceforth Habibullah remained aloof, but during the First World War he rendered England valuable service by maintaining a policy of strict neutrality in spite of the incitement of hostile parties.
The combination of the European powers, and their attempts to introduce Western civilisation in Afghanistan, gave an impetus to Pan-Islamic forces in that country, which became formidable after the fall of the Tsarist Government in Russia in 1917 and the consequent disappearance of Anglo-Russian friendship. Amir Habibullah made himself unpopular with the orthodox and anti-British party in Afghanistan by his attempts to introduce European manners and customs into his land and was assassinated on 20th February, 1919.
