THE LONDON GAZETTE, NOVEMBER 15, 1895. 6l?3

advance of the Force, as it bears considerably on viz., the 1st Battalion of "The Buffs," No. 2 the-main object of the expeditipn,—namely, the (Derajat) Mountain Battery, No. 4 Company; relief of Fort. Bengal Sappers and Miners, a detachment of the Mahomed Sharif Khan, the Khan of Dir, some 2nd Battalion, 4th Gurkha Rifles, arid .my escort years ago was dispossessed of the whole of his of one company of the Seaforth Highlanders ;' territory by Umra Khan, and at the time of the the whole parade being under the command of mobilisation of the Chitral Belief Force he was a Brigadier - General Gatacre, D.S.O. • After refugee in Upper Swat. On hearing .that the inspecting the troops, I formed them into three Government of India intended to send a force sides of a square and, addressing them, pointed against Umra Khan, he joined me at the front, out that the parade was a very remarkable one, avowedly with the object of regaining his lost in that every man present had received the con- terrritory and position, but offering his services at gratulations of Her Majesty the Queen-Empress ; the same time,—services which, as will be seen, that the gallantry of the besieged garrison of were afterwards of great importance. Chitral was the pride and admiration of all their After the action of the 4th April, on the de- comrades in the array ; as was also the deter- scent from the to the Swat Valley, mined march of Lieutenant-Colonel Kelly and the Khan of Dir was sent on in advance across his troops, who were the first to reach Chitral. the Laram Pass into Dir territory, with orders to 6. Prior to my departure from Chitral, the raise his tribes and recapture, if possible, all the British Agent heard rumours of disturbances in forts in Dir territory then held by detachments of Kohistan, and asked that the troops of this Force Umra Khan's men, and then to push men across should hold the valley and relieve Lieutenant- the Lowarai Pass to the assistance of the besieged Colonel Kelly's troops. This was sanctioned by • garrison of Chitral. Government, and Chitral was occupied by the The delay to the advance of the Force caused 2nd Battalion, 4th Gurkha Rifles, and the whole by the floods in the Panjkora River, the washing line from Chitral to our frontier in India has away of the first bridge, and the necessity of since been held by the troops of this Force. building a suspension bridge, have been duly 7. During the operations of the month of April" reported in my Despatch of which this is a con- the troops of the Force under my command tinuation. At that time it was believed that the advanced .from our Indian frontier into Chitral garrison of Chitral had food only till the 20th territory, crossing five mountain passes, three' of April, and, after the defeat of Umra Khan on the which—the Malakand (2,900 ft.), the. Janbatai 17th, and his flight, it was clear that, using the (7,400 ft.), and the Lovvarari (10,200 ft.)—were; utmost exertions, the leading troops could hardly of the most difficult character ; and having also reach Chitral before the 25th, and that the action to throw bridges over two large rivers, the Swat of the Khan of Dir might have an important and the Panjkora, besides innumerable smaller effect on the fate of the besieged garrison. streams. The tracks across the mountains were The Khan carried out his instructions most so narrow and difficult that it is no exaggeration loyally, not only in capturing the different forts to say that the troops had to make them passable in Dir territory, in doing which, it may be said, for baggage animals every yard of the way. he acted as much for himself as for us, but also in 8. During the first advance of the .Force the pushing forward men into the Chitral Valley, object was speed, and the labour of "the troops which is outside his territory, and which was done was spent in making the mountain tracks passable; entirely in our interests. Since the 1st May the troops have been employed He captured the Fort of Dir from Umra Khan's in improving these tracks into roads, over which troops on the 12th April, with the lost of sixty the transport can work without exhaustion. of his own men, and he pushed forwarded men From the first the Gwalior'and Jeypore trans^. under his brother, who took and occupied the port rendered services which may honestly be fort of Kila Drosh, the most important fort in described as invaluable at a time of great pres- the Chitral Valley, on the 18th April. Kila sure, when sufficient transport had not yet been Drosh is two marches south of Chitral Fort, and collected. They lifted a very large amount of on the same date Colonel Kelly's troops were two commissariat stores from Nowshera to DargaL marches north of Chitral Fort, while Brigadier- After this, at the request of the General of Com- General Gatacre's brigade had reached Barwa, munications, they parked their carriages at Now- five marches south of Kila Drosh. The siege of shera and brought their ponies up to Dir, where Chitral was raised that night, the garrison finding they undertook the daily convoy duties, working themselves free on the morning of the 19th April, as pack transport. When no longer required at It is due to the Khan of Dir that the active • Dir they returned to the Nowshera-Dargai stage j part he took should be recognised, since, if he did and, finally, when the Chakdara suspension nothing more, he heralded our arrival in the bridge was completed, they brought their carts' Chitral Valley. over the Malakand Pass and worked between Khar 5. Leaving Dir on the 9th of May, I marched and Sarai. Probably they are the first wheeled to Chitral and reached it on the 16th. The transport ever employed on this route. Thus troops were drawn up to receive me, and in front wherever their services were most required they of them I met the British Agent, Surgeon-Major have alway been to the front and eager to meet G. S. Robertson, C.S.I., and the provisional all requirements. The greatest credit is due to . Mehtar, the boy Shujah-ul-Mulk. Captain Tate, of the Jeypore transport, and to The parade was made as impressive as possible, Captain Edwards, of the Gwalior transport,' for for the Chitralis had never seen British soldiers, their thorough efficiency, and the native officers, and as a matter of fact did not believe that we non-commissioned officers and men deserve all had any. A portion of' the garrison that had that can be said in their praise, for their willing"-' defended the fort during the siege, viz., one com- ness and cheery good conduct. . ; pany of the 14th Sikhs, was in the centre, sup- 9. The heat in the valleys has been intense ported on the right by the Field Force, during May and June, but posts have been found consisting of the 32nd Pioneers and two guns of on or close to the line of communications for''the''" the Kashmir Mountain Battery, the whole under British soldiers of the Force, namely, on the Lieutenant-Colonel J. G. Kelly, 32nd Pioneers ; Laram, the Janbatai and Lowarai Passes, where, on'the left were-the troops of-the 3rd Brigade, they have had a comparatively cool climate • -:>-'J: