Umbeyla Campaign

Ambela Expedition
Date 1863–64 Location Buffer zone between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the Punjab Province of British India Result British Indian victory
Belligerents
India	Afghan Pashtuns Yusufzai tribes
Commanders and leaders
Neville Bowles Chamberlain	Saidu Baba
Strength
6,000 men	15,000 men
Casualties and losses
1,000 casualties

The Ambela Campaign (also called Umbeyla; Umbeylah; Ambeyla) in 1863 was one of many expeditions in the border area between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the Punjab Province of British India (this area was formally renamed to North-West Frontier Province in 1901, present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa); this campaign was against local Pashtuns of Yusufzai tribes of the border region between British India and Afghanistan.

The local Pashtuns were vehemently opposed to British colonial rule and frequently attacked British forces. In 1858, an expedition led by Sir Sydney Cotton drove the Pashtuns from their base. By 1863, however, they had regrouped around the mountain outpost of Malka. A force led by Neville Bowles Chamberlain planned to destroy Malka. They set up an operational base in the Chamla Valley accessed by the Ambela Pass, but they were soon bogged down a numerically superior local force. Reinforcements drafted in by the local Commander-in-Chief eventually broke through the pass, received the surrender of the Bunerwals and went on to burn Malka. The expedition saw 1,000 British casualties and an unknown number of Indian casualties.

The Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab authorised an expedition of 6,000 men under Brigadier General Neville Bowles Chamberlain to destroy Malka. The Lieutenant Governor acted without consulting the Commander-in-Chief of the Frontier Force. Chamberlain chose the Chamla Valley as his operational base and the Ambela Pass as the main access. He chose this valley as the access as he believed that the local Bunerwal people were friendly to British forces; this turned out to be a false impression as the Pashtuns had persuaded them that the British would annex their land if they failed to put up a defence.

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