_Expedition against the Jawaki Afridis in August 1877._—Brigadier-General C. P. Keyes, C.B., commanding the Punjab Frontier Force, was to have had charge of the proposed operations, but in his absence through illness the command devolved upon Colonel Mocatta, commanding the 3rd Sikhs. The force employed was divided into three small columns, of which the first, consisting of a mountain battery, 45 sabres, and 625 bayonets, was to enter the Jawaki country by the Tortang defile, thence pushing forward, as rapidly as possible, until arrival at a central point at the northern end of the Gandiali ravine, so as to cut off the retreat in that direction of the enemy’s main body, which, it was anticipated, would be opposed to No. 2 Column in the Gandiali defile. The second column—621 bayonets—was to advance up the Gandiali Pass at daylight, and keep the enemy in play until the first column should be in position. The third column—201 bayonets of the Guides—advancing from Shadipur on the Indus, via Sheikh Aladad Ziarat, was to cut off the enemy’s retreat along the Tambal Hills, thereafter effecting a junction with the other two columns, the whole force retiring to British territory by the Gandiali Pass.
The operations were carried out as arranged, the junction with No. 3 Column being effected at the village of Lashkari Banda; but, owing to the difficulties of the road and the pressure of the enemy on the rear guard, the original intention of retiring by the Gandiali Pass had to be abandoned, and the whole force was withdrawn by the Kuka China Pass to the border village of Talanj, and thence to Gumbat on the Kohat-Khushalgarh road. The men had been under arms in a burning sun for twenty hours, had marched nearly thirty miles, and had sustained eleven casualties—one killed and ten wounded.
These operations did not have the quieting effect which had been anticipated, chiefly because the loss of the Jawakis in killed and wounded had been but trifling, while the actual destruction of property had fallen upon one small section of the division alone. Their hostile attitude consequently remained unchanged, and aggressions upon British territory did not cease. Outrages of all kinds continued throughout September and October, and another expedition into the Jawaki country became imperative.