المقاومه البلوشيه ضد الاستعمار البريطاني في بلوشستان Bugtis and Marri Baloch VS The British Empire The relations of Marri with the British commenced in 1840 CE with attacks made on the communications of Sir John Keanes army, after it had passed through the Bolan Pass. In March 1840 CE, Sir John Keane had decided that there is a dire need to capture the Kahan and its fort from Marri tribesmen Battles of Kahan An attempt was made by British Forces to punish the Marri tribe, which ended in disastrous failure. Major Claiborne was repulsed in an attempt to storm the Naffusak Pass, losing 179 killed and 92 wounded out of 650. Many of his force died of heat and thirst. The fort of Kahan, which he was trying to relieve at the time, was forced to capitulate with the honors of war Aftermath The Anglo Marri war proved to be a disastrous campaign for the Anglo forces. Although they held remain occupant in the fort of Kahan through whole of time but in efforts to establish a proper safe passage to Kahan and continuous reinforcing the Kahan Regiment in a form of fresh food and blood, they had got the taste of failure. On the other side, Marri tribesmen had faced no such difficulties in their chain of supplies in the area. They were the native of the region and they were very well aware about the terrain of their hilly areas and they played as according to their planning. After this war, in 1843 CE, Marri once again gone in uprising against the British forces and they gave much trouble. This time, the cause of clashes was the occupancy of Sindh by the forces of British Empire. Being a Baluch tribe, Marri feel worries about the fate of their neighboring state and their Baluch ruler. Richard Isaac Bruce wites about the Marris: The Marris were considered absolutely incorrigible, and were proclaimed out lawed and blockaded on all sides. A proclamation was issued on the Sind Frontier offering a reward of ten rupees for the capture of any Marri. The landlocked country of Afghanistan was seen by the British as a strategically important staging post with which to rebuff the ever expanding Russian machinations. The British initiation of the First Anglo-Afghan War, in 1839, signalled their intent to proactively change the political dynamic in the region by installing a puppet regime sympathetic to their overtures. During the march to Kandahar the British were repeatedly harassed and attacked by Baloch tribesmen including the Marris, Bugtis, Dombkis, Jakahanaris and others as they did not wish for the British to travel through their lands of Sind and Balochistan. Heavy casualties were inflicted on the British destabilising their efforts sparking a vicious reprisal attack by the Bombay column on the Baloch stronghold of Kalat on the 13th November 1839. Mehrab Khan II, the Khan of Kalat, was killed during fighting spreading outrage and increased anger right across Balochistan from Jhalawan to Sarawan. The Baloch declared open war against the British and soon came face to face with them on the battlefield in the Bugti Hills as the British moved to attack Dera Bugti and Kahan. John Jacob, the founder of Jacobabad and famous British East India Company Brigadier-General, wrote in a letter to his father about his trepidation of the task ahead saying: “We are out wandering about the country after plundering tribes of Baloch where never was European before. It is most harassing and disagreeable service we have taken and cut up a few of the scoundrels who are the most cruel blood thursty cowards imaginable, but the business will not be settled for a long time I fear, to make things worse, I have under taken to make a map of the country we pass through and have succeeded pretty well as yet, but it is no child’s play I assure you a little honest fighting, if I do not get shot, which is not improbable. I will shortly send you a full account of our deeds of our arms, together with many erudite criticisims on the policy of our great men in the East.” (Sind File. Gen. 218) The First Expedition of Major Billamore Major Thomas Richard Billamore led the British advance into the hills north of Cutchee in late 1839 where the fighting was fierce and relentless. After a prolonged battle, no outright victory was forthcoming for either side and by all accounts a stalemate had been reached. Major Billamore, cunningly, invited the Bugti Tumandar of the time, Bibarak Khan, to parle. However, Khan was arrested and imprisoned at Bukhar Fort in Sind by the British and with the life of their leader in jeopardy the Bugtis were forced to rescind, resulting in the British taking control and occupying their stronghold of Dera Bugti. Success for the British, however, was short lived as no sooner had Major Billamore left Dera Bugti than the Bugtis resumed their raids once again and continued to do so right up until the British left in 1947. Between 1840 and 1844 the Bugti raids became stronger and more ambitious as time passed. They raided Shikapur, from Larkana through to the Kachi Plains and even into the upper north frontier of Sind. Eventually the Bugti raiders numbered almost one thousand and they laid waste to the entire Sind frontier, often committing horrible atrocities. The repeated incursions and raids carried out by the Bugtis were destabilising for the British and control in the region and did not go unnoticed. When the Bugtis turned their attention to the rich area of Larkana and sacked the town of Kamber, the governor of Sind, General Charles Napier felt he was left with no option but take military action against the “wild” Bugtis. The Second Expedition of General Charles Napier “It may probably be most of advisable to combine measures of a permanent and preventive character with some of the retributory description which have first occurred to your Excellency. It was to be war to end war”. (General Charles Napier, 8th May 1844) General Charles Napier began his Hill Campaign and marched on Dera Bugti on January the 16th 1845. He was joined by several Baloch chiefs, Wallee Mahamod Chanadio, Ahmed Khan Magssi, Mir Ali Murad Talpur and thousands of others who wished revenge for their destroyed villages. The chief of the Marri tribe, Doda Khan, was also approached by the British and encouraged to help in the attack in return for gunpowder supplies. However, before Napier could reach Dera Bugti the Bugtis evacuated the entire settlement resulting in Dera Bugti being taken under British control without a single shot being fired in January 1845. After relocating to Kethan the Bugtis once again resumed their raids in Kachi, Sind and Punjab rendering the attempt to subdue them a resounding failure. Left with no alternative, Napier declared the Bugtis as outlaws and offered a reward of 10 shillings for every Bugti captured dead or alive. The declaration had little effect, however, as the Bugtis proceeded to execute their biggest and most profitable raid in Sind. The raid in question lasted a total of three days and rendered them a booty of over 15,000 head of cattle, at the expense of just one Bugti life. January 1847 and March 1947 saw a change of tact from the British in dealing with the Bugtti raiders. Instead of direct confrontation the British moved to starve them into submission by seizing their cattle and stopping the supply of grains from Sind. Furthermore, the British attempted to do the same from the Cutchee side driving the Bugtis to the verge of starvation, yet still they refused to surrender. Confrontation continued between both sides most notably at the Battle of the ZumaneeRiver in 1847. Charging the British, the Bugtis were cut down to a man with only two out of seven hundred Bugtis returning home. Many chieftains of note were slaughtered during the battle but still the Sardar Islam Khan Bugti offered no surrender. Skirmishes between the British and the Bugti raiders continued often resulting in fierce exchanges were quarter was repeatedly offered but never accepted by the Bugtis. General Charles Napier recalls one such exchange as such: “Twenty-five brave robbers on foot, well armed with swords, shields and matchlocks, meet twenty of the Scinde Horse patrolling in the desert. The robbers gave a volly and charged. The Scinde Horse had one man killed and two wounded, four horses were killed and two wounded, of the enemy, every man fell, sword in hand. Quarter was repeatedly offered to these stern gladiators, but they refused and every robber bit the dust. Honour, be to their courage; more honour to their conquerors. Another laurel leaf has been added to the rich wreath of Jacob’s Horse…..” By November 1847 a large portion of the Bugtis had settled near Larkana under the supervision of the Deputy Collector of the region. He was resolved to stop these Bugtis from ever returning to Dera Bugti as they were deemed a wrestless people who must be prevented from possessing horses and bearing arms lest they return to their former ways. Those who had remained behind in the Bugti Hills continued to raid under the leadership of Ghulam Murtaza Khan, son of Sardar Islam Khan, only adding further cause for the continuation of the internment that the Bugtis were placed under. However, a turn of events was to take place in 1851 whereby the Khan of Kalat was able to negotiate, under his own personal guarantee, for some of the Bugtis to return, once again, to Dera Bugti. As one might expect, later that year Bugti raids resumed in force especially within the territory of Sind. Sandeman and the Harrand Raid of 1867 After being appointed district officer of Dera Ghazi Khan by the British in 1866, Robert Groves Sandeman was faced with dealing with Ghulam Hussain Masori Bugti, a notorious raider responsible for numerous incursions across Katchi and Dera Ghazi. British troops travelling through the Bolan Pass were regularly attacked and harassed by his band of formidable outlaws. The surrounding tribal territory became known as “the country of rebellion” due to its refusal to be subdued. Sandeman immediately recognised that a different approach would have to be used in order to further British interests in the region saying: ‘The Bugtis and Marris are a people to themselves and to handle to them a very different understanding and technique from the normal Government dealing’. In an effort to put an end to the raiding (which was hurting the Afghan War effort greatly), Sandeman initiated contact with Ghulam Bugti summoning him to Dera Ghazi Khan. When asked to cease and return his plunder, Ghulam Bugti refused and vowed to continue his raids unperturbed, directly challenging the British in the process. As a result, Sandeman put all frontier outposts on alert and raised further defenders through help from the Gurchanis baloch, Tibbi-LundsHul-Ali-Mohammad baloch, Drigree, Thul Wair, Drishak baloch and the Mazari baloch to help repel the Bugti raids. Just before dawn on the 26th of January 1867 Ghulam Hussain Masori Bugti led an assault on Hurrand Fort with a band of 1200 outlaws. The initial attack was repelled and fighting continued into the hills. Two hundred and fifty seven outlaws were killed (ninety-two Bugtis, seventy Marris and ninety-five Khetrans). Their leader Ghulam Hussain Masori Bugti was also killed fighting to the death, refusing to surrender. This was a great blow to the outlaws but once again further raids resumed shortly thereafter in the surrounding region. Sandeman would go on to become a skilled negotiator and, through what was known as the Forward Policy, he was able to exploit rifts between tribal chiefs, the Khan of Kalat and various tribal chiefs to help further the British cause in the region (a form of “divide and rule” that the British had used to great effect throughout their vast empire). Often referred to as the “Peaceful Conqueror of Balochistan”, Sandeman was, however, moved to use force and crippling financial penalties to crush uprisings on occasion as he never had the luxury of subduing the whole of the Baloch nation. Conclusion The fact remains that the expeditions of Major Billmamore and General Charles Napier, in conjunction with the Forward Policy of Sandeman, all failed to subdue the Bugtis and Marri whether through use of force and arms or the application of divide and rule diplomacy. History stands as a witness that the Bugtis and Marri have never been beaten into submission, rather they are renowned for their bravery and stubbornness, even in the face of insurmountable odds. Time and numerous rulers have done little, if anything, to change this fact and one doubts if this will ever be the case. Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, Tumandar of the Bugti tribe, died like so many of his forefathers, fighting a seemingly impossible battle, but if history has taught us anything it is that the Bugtis do not bow down to any outside authority and will gladly lay down their own lives for the greater cause of the Baloch Nawab Bugti Sahib honoured the courage, bravery and resoluteness of all Bugtis preferring death than to surrender to a dictator General Parvez Musharraf. Sardar Ghulam Murtaza (centre) great grandfather of Nawab Akber Bugti, Sardar Shahbaz (left) grandfather of Nawab Akber Bugti, Khan Bahadur Bira Khan (right) son of Sardar Ghulam Murtaza & brother of Sardar Shabaz Sher Mohammad Marri with Marri Baloch Tribesmen
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 23:18:38 +0000
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