"Following the annexation of the Punjab in 1849 the British quickly found themselves becoming concerned with the tribes inhabiting the neighbouring Swat Valley. Tribesmen would, either on foot or mounted on horses, pass through Ranizai onto the plains of Hashtnagar and Yusafzai near to the city of Peshawar. In doing so they paid little attention to their fellow tribesmen of other clans but increasingly mounted attacks on nearby farmers and traders. They would also kidnap Hindus, who they would later hold for ransom. In addition the tribes of the Swat Valley, it was believed, were wilfully harbouring known criminals, political activists and other enemies of the British. One such recorded criminal was Mukaram Khan, who had been dismissed from the Peshawar Police for some misnomer and fled to the Swat. Later it became known to the British authorities that this individual had not only been welcomed by the Swat tribes but also received a large grant of land from the tribesmen. The British also felt that the tribes actively encouraged villages under British influence to turn away from their new masters and look to the Swat for protection instead.
The Assistant Commissioner of Yusafzai, Lieutenant H.B. Lumsden, reported in October 1849 that the villages of the Utman Khel had, as a result of the growing influence from the Swat, had begun refusing to pay their tribute to the British. Lumsden also reported that the local revenue collector who visited the villages had been warned not to come back and that the villagers were now preparing themselves to do battle if necessary. Under the Sikh administration of the Punjab, prior to the British annexation, the authorities had sent an armed force of up to 1,500 men backed by artillery in order to collect the tribute. However, since the British did not send troops outside of the cantonment at Peshawar, so Colonel G. St. P. Lawrence, Deputy Commissioner of Peshawar, argued, the villagers did not believe the British would use military force, as the Sikhs would have done if payment was not forthcoming.
Despite the perhaps misguided beliefs of the villagers the Governor-General, James Broun-Ramsay, 1st Marquess of Dalhousie, had no hesitation in sending an armed force to ensure the obedience of the tribes. Following his agreement to the use of military force Dalhousie recorded…"
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Amicalement
Armand
reveals a long-lost Martian tripod.
