PREFACE

 This book is the outcome of my own experience of the want of something of the kind in the early autumn of 1897, when the Second Battalion¹ of my old Corps², the Sherwood Foresters, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Regiment³, then serving at Bareilly, was ordered to join the Tirah Expeditionary Force. The Battalion had then been in India for nearly fifteen years, but only one or two of the officers, and none of the other ranks, had ever been west of the Indus, and few of us therefore knew anything of the wild men against whom we were to fight, or of the equally wild country in which the operations were to be conducted.

The fault for such ignorance cannot fairly be said to have been ours. There was at that time no single book, generally procurable⁴ and of an up-to-date character, describing the country immediately beyond the North-West border, the men who inhabited it, and the campaigns which, since the decline of the Sikh power, have there become our natural and our troublous inheritance. Paget and Mason’s monumental work, Expeditions against the North-West Frontier Tribes, published in 1885, was wholly admirable, but much of it was ancient history; it was viiian enormous volume; it had for long been “confidential,” and had never been placed on general sale. Mr. Oliver’s most fascinating book, Across the Border, or Pathan and Biluch, had been published in 1890, but it contained little more than a general mention of certain campaigns. It was therefore almost inevitable⁵ that British officers—and especially those serving in India in British regiments—had no idea where, in regard to the Frontier, they could draw their knowledge or inspiration.

Even in the present day matters have not greatly improved. The cream has been drawn⁶ from Paget and Mason’s book, it has been brought up-to-date, and re-christened Frontier and Overseas Expeditions from India; but the material is now contained in several large volumes, of which seven have already appeared, and it does not seem to be intended that these should be generally available, since each is labelled “For Official Use only.”

It seemed then to me that there was room for a single volume, compiled from official and other sources, describing the more turbulent of the tribes beyond our Border, the countries they inhabit, and the campaigns which the Indian Government has undertaken against them during the last sixty-five years; and up to the time of completing the chapters which follow, I believe this to have been the first attempt which has been made to put such a record before the Army in one handy volume.

I wish to express my thanks to my old comrade, Sir Horace, for so kindly⁷ acceding⁸ to my request to ixwrite an introduction to my book; to my brother, Major Wylly, Librarian at the Royal United Service Institution, for much help in research; and to Mr. J. H. Harper, of the staff of the same Institution, for preparing nearly all the maps.

The appearance of this book has been delayed some four and a half months by the request of the Government of India that it should be submitted to Simla for scrutiny⁹ prior to publication; the delay is to be regretted, but it has admitted of advantage being taken of certain suggestions offered by the Indian authorities for adding to the instructional value of the work.

H. C. W.

March, 1912.

1 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

2 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

3 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

4 procurable   

adj.可得到的，得手的

参考例句：

• Just began, 3 suspects rob the vanity of effeminate woman technically, procurable hind sneak away. 刚开始，三名疑犯专门抢劫柔弱女子的手袋，得手后就溜之大吉。

5 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

6 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

8 acceding   

v.（正式）加入( accede的现在分词 )；答应；（通过财产的添附而）增加；开始任职

参考例句：

• After all, political careers depend acceding tothe demands the central government. 毕竟政治事业是要满足中央政府的要求的。 来自互联网
• Shall you have any problem acceding the folders, please let me knows. 如果存取文件有任何问题请和我联系。 来自互联网

9 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。