In both games, the Pathans showed characteristic cunning in their ploys to escape from the market place. In the first game, Amanullah Shah was ordered by Bahram Khan, in a hurried discussion before the start of the first move, to sidle unconspicuously to Storehouse A, pick up a rope, then set fire to the building to create a diversion and make his way out over the South Wall using the rope. Mohammed Khan was told to saunter over to the guardhouse and to set fire to it if possible - a rather dangerous undertaking -- and then to escape as best he could. Hashim Shah was delegated to walk out of the Mandi Gate whilst Zahir Shah, Rhum Baba, and Shahwali were detailed to get to Storehouse B, get a rope, and make their exit via the two window spaces in the North Wall. Nasrullah Shah, Jaggar Shah, and Babram Khan himself were to steal horses from the horse market and were then either to ride out of the marketplace or to stampede the horses to cause as much confusion as possible. The remaining Pathan, Shahzar, was to hide in the wagon on the Kissa Khani, ready to pick up any of the Pathans who were detected by the Sikhs.
For their part, the Sikhs at the Mughal Gate were ordered by Sub-Lieutenant Allardyce to shout at all tribesmen to stop still so that they could be questioned. Captain Hardyman gave similar orders to his men at the Mandi Gate. Havildar Hari Singh and Sepoy Vishnu Singh were ordered to climb to the battlements of the West Wall, ready to fire on any tribesman who made a suspicious action, whilst Ranbir Singh, Mehnat Singh, and Ramdass Singh ascended a tower at the Mandi Gate. Jemadar Godse Singh and two Sepoys were told to secure the horse pound to prevent any of the outlaws escaping on horseback. Once the tribesmen had stopped and had been briefly questioned, they were to be rounded up in small groups for detailed questioning by the Political Officer.
The first Pathan to run into trouble was Hashim Shah, who had been told by Bahram Khan to walk out of the Mandi Gate. He was stopped by the bayonets of Captain Hardyman's detachment and promptly pushed into the Government House for Native Gentlemen, with a guard on the door, whilst the rest of the Sikhs advanced into the market place. Under the Colonial Skirmish Rules, every action has to be detailed and unfortunately for the Imperial forces, the order to disarm Hashim Shah was not given. The surprised Pathan found himself imprisoned with a loaded jezail and he immediately fired out of a window at the sepoy on guard at the door. The shot missed but, being a novice, the sepoy took some time to react and Hashim Shah was able to rush out of the door and through the Mandi Gate, whilst the sepoy was still suffering from shock. Thus one was away.
Meanwhile, Amanullah Shah's efforts to set fire to Storehouse A had been of little avail (the dice throw was unsuccessful three times running). Eventually, he managed to start a small fire and rushed out of the building with his rope, only to be wounded in the leg by a shot from Ramdass Singh, who was now in firing position at a tower above the Mandi Gate. Amanullah Shah fell to the ground, where he lay clasping his leg until he was captured and carried away.
Various innocent bystanders were now being questioned by the Sikhs and herded together in the middle of the market place. Seeing this and fearing capture, Mohammed Khan took out a dagger and thrust the point into the back of the nearest bystander, who happened to be Wazir Dadu, and told him to move across to the guardhouse. Havildar Pir Singh and Naik Parasiya Singh became suspicious and apprehended the two Pathans. Mohammed Khan protested that he was a loyal tribesman and that Gunga Din was really, Bahram Khan in disguise. Seeing that the two NCOs were not convinced, he pushed Wazir Dadu into Pir Singh land rushed at Parasiya Singh. The latter, being a veteran of considerable experience, reacted instantly and shot the Pathan in the chest at close range. Pir Singh then began to kick Mohammed Khants prostrate body (rather brutally, the umpire thought) to try and get further information. However, the Pathan stuck to his story and this was reported to Sub-Lieutenant Allardyce, who spent the rest of the game nervously edging away from his faithful water carrier (an excellent ploy by the Pathan leader). In the excitment, Rhum Baba, Zahir Shah and Shahwali suceeded in escaping undetected from Storehouse B with a rope and they were soon dropping down from the two window spaces in the North Wall to safety. On the way, Shahwali took a snap shot at Sepoy Baksh Singh advancing through the trees in front of the Missionaries? house, hitting the Sikh in the leg.
All this time, Babram Khan had remained calmly in a group of tribesmen at the grain market, whilst two of his henchmen, Jaggar Shah and Nasrullah Shah untied three horses at the posts in the horse market. When challenged by Jamadar Godse Singh and his two sepoys Sher Dil and Narain Singh, they mounted, brought up the third horse for Bahram Khan, and charged for the Mandi Gate. Nasrullah, Shah's horse was hit by a shot from Sepoy Sher Dil and the Pathan was thrown to the ground, suffering an incapacitating leg-wound. However, Babram Khan and Jaggar Shah burst through the Sikhs advancing from the Mandi Gate, knocking Captain Hardyman unconscious to the ground, and escaped through the Gate, to the fury of Ramdass Singh who had not had time to reload after firing at Amanullah Shah.
The remaining Pathan, Shahzar, who was hiding in the wagon on the Kissa Khani road, whipped his horse on artd began a wild dash for the Mughal Gate. Sub-Lieutenant Allardyce fired his revolver at close range, killing the horse, and Shahzar was thrown from the overturned wagon, his body rolling lifeless right up to the feet of the surprised officer.
Thus, of the ten Pathans in Bahram Khan's band, six had escaped. Mohammed Khan had been finished off by the bayonet of an angry Havildar Pir Singh and the other two rebels, Amanullah Shah and Nasrullah Shah were captured (at their trial, they were sentenced to death but this was later commuted to life imprisonment, on the grounds that they had been led astray by Bahram Khan. They were exiled to the Andaman Islands). All in all, the Pathans had suffered a considerable shock dueto the alerting of the Sikh Guard by Gunga Din. Nevertheless, Bahram Khan had escaped to carry on his campaign against the British and this had been the main point of the game. On the Imperial side, Sub-Lieutenant Allardyce had emerged creditably from his first action, with only one man wounded, and his disgruntlement at missing his luncheon in the mess was somewhat abated.
The second enactment was fought as a demonstration game and did not count as a "real" action. The Pathans won a resounding moral victory by getting most of their men away very quickly; their tactics included stampeding horses towards the Mandi Gate and they managed to shoot the Political Officer, wounding him in the arm. The Sikhs adopted an amazing plan of shooting indiscriminately at all the tribesmen, whether they were hostile or friendly and they killed one friendly tribesman and wounded several others. This happened after the Sikhs had shouted at all the Pathans to lay down ~c their weapons; most of the tribesmen had resented this interference with what they considered to be their natural right to carry arms and had refused to comply unless they were so close to the fixed bayonets of the Sikhs that they had had little choice. One suggestion considered by the British forces, by the way, was the idea of shooting all the tribesmen in the market place, in order to make sure of getting all the rebels and of leaving no survivors to tell the story of the massacre! Perhaps readers may have more subtle ideas - in any case why not try out a skirmish game to see how it works?
NOTE: Bahram Khan was a real-life Pathan who, after his murder of Major Macdonald, was sought by the British forces in India from 1873 onwards. He survived until at least 1883, although some of his followers were captured and hung at Dakka in 1879.
Historical
Utman Khel are a tribe of Pathans who occupy the hills to the north of Peshawar, neighbours of the Rainzais of Swat. In 1852, they sheltered Ajun Khan, the fugitive Khan of Tangi, and constantly raided into the Peshawar Valley. Colin Campbell with a force of artillery, cavalry and infantry, including the 32nd Foot, Gurkhas, Sappers and Miners and Guides Infantry, marched out on the 11th of May 1852, and attacked the village of Pranghar on a hill flanked by spurs and heights. After the artillery, the village was carried at a run, it was found abandoned and was destroyed. The official account reads:
"Considering that ten pieces of artillery opened on their deserted village, it must be owned that its inhabitants made a gallant defence. But for our guns we should have sustained heavy loss - walls and flanking defences being formidable."
The 8-inch howitzer played a notable part in most of the field operations carried out in India during the 19th century, being particularly effective at Lucknow and during the siege of Delhi. Firing spherical case and common shell to a range of 1700 yards,it was often used as heavy field artillery as an alternative to the 18 pdr gun. Two of these guns, drawn by elephants accompanied Sir Colin Campbell at the end of 1851 when he led an expedition into the Swat Valley on the North-West Frontier of India.
Victorian Campaigns on the Northwest Frontier
Part II: If Anyone Can, Bahram Khan (WN 155)
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© Copyright 1975 by Donald Featherstone.
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