Mohmand campaign of 1935

Second Mohmand campaign
Part of the Anglo-Afghan wars
Date August - October, 1935 Location Peshawar border of the North West Frontier, modern day Pakistan Result Mohmand - KOA victory
Belligerents
Mohmand Kingdom of Afghanistan	British Army India
Commanders and leaders
Haji of Turangzai King Zahir Shah	Claude Auchinleck Sir John Smyth, 1st Baronet Godfrey Meynell Philip F. Fullard Basil Embry Alan Brown Charles Hamilton Boucher Harold Alexander
Units involved
Royal Afghan Army	Royal Air Force
Strength
Mohmand 6,600 Kingdom of Afghanistan: 1,000 soldiers	30,000

The Second Mohmand campaign of 1935 was a British military campaign against the Mohmand tribes in the Northwest Frontier area of British India, now Pakistan. The campaign began in August 1935 where Tanks were used, their first operational use India, and with help from the Royal Air Force the revolt was suppressed and the Mohmands submitted in October 1935.

Background

The Mohmand are a Pashtun hill tribe who lived north-west of Peshawar in the Mohmand Agency, North-West Frontier Province of British India; now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. They moved annually across the border to the hills of Afghanistan to escape the summer heat; the border was delineated by the Durand Line in 1893 but was poorly defined.

The First Mohmand campaign in 1897–98 followed earlier military expeditions in 1851–1852, 1854, 1864, 1879, 1880. After the First Mohmand campaign, there was the Mohmand expedition of 1908 and the Mohmand and Bajaur operations of 1933, taking about a month in August.

In 1935 the Mohmand, influenced by the Haji of Turangzai and his three sons the Badshah Guls, were marauding in the plains. At the end of July about 2000 tribesmen were disrupting working parties repairing the Mohinand–Gandab road.

Campaign

In 1935, the British launched a military campaign against the Mohmand tribes in response to their continuous resistance and raids. The operation involved significant British Indian Army forces, including infantry, artillery, and air support, aimed at penetrating the Mohmand territory and quelling the tribal unrest.

The campaign saw several skirmishes and confrontations, with the British forces attempting to assert control over the region. Despite their military superiority, the Mohmand tribes put up stiff resistance, using their knowledge of the difficult mountainous terrain to their advantage.

The campaign resulted in considerable casualties among the British forces. The Mohmands managed to maintain their resistance and, ultimately, forced the British to withdraw. The British withdrawal marked a significant victory for the Mohmand tribes, underscoring the challenges of maintaining control over the fiercely independent tribal regions on the Northwest Frontier.

This military effort was part of the broader context of British attempts to control the tribal areas, which frequently resisted colonial rule through guerrilla tactics and intermittent uprisings.

Aftermath

After the campaign, the Mohmands and the British convened a Jirga (tribal assembly) to negotiate a settlement and bring an end to the hostilities. The Jirga allowed both parties to address their grievances and establish terms for peace. The agreement reached at the Jirga put an end to the campaign and established a temporary peace in the region.

See also

• Category:British military personnel of the Second Mohmand Campaign

References

Bibliography

• Connell, John (1959). Auchinleck: A Critical Biography. London: Cassell. pp. 58–61. ISBN 0-7509-1837-3.
• Lansford, Tom, ed. (2017). Afghanistan at War From the 18th-Century Durrani Dynasty to the 21st Century. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 9781598847604.