Waziristan campaign (1936–39)

Waziristan campaign 1936–39
Date 1936–39 Location Waziristan and North-West Frontier of India Result British-Indian Army suppression of insurrection by independent Wazir tribes
Belligerents
Waziristan	British Empire  India
Commanders and leaders
Fakir of Ipi	John Coleridge
Strength
4,000 tribesmen	Up to 60,000 regular and irregular troops
Casualties and losses
?	?

British Empire

The Waziristan campaign 1936–39 comprised a number of operations conducted in Waziristan by British and Indian forces against the fiercely independent tribesmen that inhabited this region. These operations were conducted in 1936–1939, when operations were undertaken against followers of the mysterious Fakir of Ipi, a religious and political agitator who was spreading anti-British sentiment in the region and undermining the prestige of the Indian government in Waziristan at the time.

In 1936, trouble again flared up in Waziristan in the form of a political and religious agitator known as the Fakir of Ipi. There had been for some time growing unrest in the region, fueled by a perception of a weakening of British resolve to govern following a number of constitutional changes in India, however, following a trial of a Muslim student on a charge of abducting a Hindu girl, the Fakir of Ipi began spreading anti-British sentiment in earnest, claiming that the government was interfering in a religious matter.

In late November 1936, in order to reassert the perception of control over the region, with the approval of the Tori Khel maliks, the government of India decided to move troops through the Khaisora Valley. This would be achieved by marching a column from the garrison at Razmak to the east, to join up at the village of Bichhe Kashkai with a column from the Bannu Brigade, which would advance from the south from Mir Ali. By this stage of British rule in India there were strict rules governing such expeditions on the North West Frontier, and as the purpose of the expedition was only as a demonstration to the tribesmen of government resolve, the decision was made that no offensive action was to be taken unless troops were fired upon.

...
Wikipedia