Ambela campaign

The Ambela campaign (also called Umbeyla, Umbeylah, and Ambeyla) of 1863 was one of many expeditions in the border area between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the North-West Frontier of British India against the 'fanatics' at Malka, a colony of malcontents or muslims in the Yusufzai country.

A force led by Neville Bowles Chamberlain planned to destroy Malka. They set up an operational base in the Chamla Valley which could be reached via the Ambela Pass, but they were soon bogged down by a numerically superior local force, and were attacked by the Jadoon,Swati Bunerwal and Hindustani tribesmen. Reinforcements drafted in by the local Commander-in-Chief eventually pursued a diplomatic resolution, they approached the Bunerwals and various Khans and leaders to accept peace and went on to burn a house in Malka with tribal permission and were conditioned to withdraw from the territory of Buner. The expedition broke the power of the 'fanatics' but resulted in the loss of 1,000 British casualties and an unknown number of Indian casualties.

The Pashtuns had been a constant thorn to the British government since the annexation of the region, who had raided and ravaged until it invited expeditions to subdue them. However, in previous expeditions the Pashtun tribesman had always managed to escape into the hills. In 1858, an expedition led by Sir Sydney Cotton drove them from their base.

By 1863, however, the 'Hindustani fanatics' had regrouped around the mountain outpost of Malka.

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 the Bunerwals that the British would annex their land if they failed to put up a defence.

The first Peshawar column reached the Ambela Pass on 20 October, after struggling on rough terrain, and the rear of the column took another two days to reach the base.

On 22 October a reconnaissance was attacked by some Bunerwal tribesman. As a result, Chamberlain proceeded to fortify his position in the pass on two rocky outcrops, but Eagle's Nest and Crag Piquet could only hold small numbers of men. The locals had amassed a force of some 15,000 tribesmen consisting of Swatis, Bunerwals and Hindustanis. On 30 October Crag Piquet was the scene of fierce hand-to-hand fighting that saw two Victoria Crosses awarded, to George Fosbery and Henry Pitcher. It fell to the Pashtuns three times in the next four weeks, but was retaken by British forces on each occasion. On 18 or 20 November, Chamberlain was seriously wounded whilst attempting to take Crag Picquet. Due to the lowered British morale and high casualties, a repeat of the 1841 disaster at Kabul was feared so a decision was made to withdraw, but still refused by Chamberlain.

Reinforcements were gradually drafted in on the orders of Commander-in-Chief Sir Hugh Rose, who replaced Chamberlain with Major General John Garvock on 6 December.