KHYBER : British India's North West Frontier: The Story of an Imperial Migrane

London: MacDonald and Jane's, 1977. If a single traveller, endeavours to make his way through (the Khyber Pass) the noise of his horses feet sounds up the long narrow valleys, and soon brings the Khyberees in troops from the hills and ravines.... If they expect a caravan, they assemble in hundreds and sit patiently, with their matchlocks in their hands, watching its approach. Such are their habits of rapine that they can never be entirely restrained from plundering passengers..... On the whole, they are the greatest robbers amongst the Afghauns. So wrote the honourable Mountstuart Elphinstone who in February 1809, was the first Englishman to visit Peshawar - the ancient, bustling winter capital of Afghanistan, displaying its exotic wealth in the midst of barren poverty, maintaining a luxurious court despite the constant bloody feuds that raged among the tribes surrounding it. Elpinstone and his red coated soldiers had arrived, with their magnificent caravan of 600 camels, from the east - from India. This was the first step in a sequence of events that would lead to British rule of Peshawar, the Khyber Pass, and all eastern Afghanistan. The country, that was to become known as the North West Frontier. It would prove the only part of the Empire that the British were never able to conquer. Canning, Curzon, Roberts, Churchill, Kitchener: the problems of the North West Frontier affected the careers of each of them, and of many less famous men. Charles Miller tells the history of this troubled area's labyrinthine politics and uncertain fortunes with zest and understanding. He recounts how the Indian mutiny of 1857 lead to the dismantling of the East India Company and the complete transfer of India's government to the crown; shows the disarray of the Indian army after the 1897 revolt, until it was 'pulled together' in 1902 by Kitchener. Long - forgotten battles are refought, and one can almost hear the walls of the 'narrow sword cut in the hills', the ancient gateway of invasion, ringing with the sound of firing and the cries of determined warriors. He takes the reader with him from the first tentative approach by the British, through their embroilment with savage Pathans and fierce Afridis, up to the present day when Kabul and Peshawar seem to have become oversize Casbahs to entice adventurous tourists. 393pp including index.Please Email for further details. . "B.S." Stamp to Front and Rear Endpapers. First Edition (Original). Tan Cloth Spine /Orange Cloth. Very Good (AVERAGE)/Very Good (AVERAGE). Illus. by Black & White Photographs & Diagrams. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾". HARDBACK.