The Story of the Malakand Field Force | Page 8

used as a
habitation for the troops intended to hold Malakand, for whom there
was no room in the crater and fort. The north camp has now been
definitely abandoned.
Nobody, however--least of all those who selected the site--would seem
to have contemplated the possibility of an attack. Indeed the whole
situation was regarded as purely temporary. The vacillation, caused by
the change of parties and policies in England, led to the Malakand
garrison remaining for two years in a position which could not be well
defended either on paper or in reality. At first, after the Chitral
campaign if 1895, it was thought that the retention of the brigade in this
advanced post, was only a matter of a few weeks. But as the months
passed by the camp began, in spite of the uncertainty, to assume an
appearance of permanency. The officers built themselves huts and mess
rooms. A good polo ground was discovered near Khar, and under
careful management rapidly improved. A race-course was projected.
Many officers who were married brought their wives and families to
the camp among the mountains, and the whole place was rapidly
becoming a regular cantonment. No cases of Ghazi outrage broke the
tranquillity. The revolvers, which all persons leaving camp were by
regulations obliged to take, were either unloaded or carried by a native

groom. Shooting parties were organised to the hills. A well-contested
polo tournament was held in Christmas week. Distinguished
travellers--even a member of Parliament--visited this outpost of empire,
and observed with interest the swiftness and ease with which the
Anglo-Saxon adapts every situation to his sports and habits.
At the same time the station of the Malakand Brigade was far from
being a comfortable one. For two years they lived under canvas or in
rude huts. They were exposed to extremes of climate. They were
without punkahs or ice in the hot weather. They were nearly fifty miles
from the railway, and in respect of companionship and amusements
were thrown entirely on their own resources. When the British cavalry
officer succeeds, in spite of official opposition, expense and
discouragement, in getting on service across the frontier, he is apt to
look with envious eyes at the officers of the Frontier Force, who are
taken as a matter of course and compelled to do by command, what he
would solicit as a favour. But he must remember that this is their
compensation for long months of discomfort and monotony in lonely
and out-of-the-way stations, and for undergoing hardships which,
though honourable and welcome in the face of the enemy, become
obnoxious in times of peace.
After crossing the Malakand Pass the first turning to the right leads to
the Swat Valley. The traveller is now within the mountains. In every
direction the view is restricted or terminated by walls of rock. The
valley itself is broad, level and fertile. The river flows swiftly through
the middle. On either side of it, is a broad strip of rice fields. Other
crops occupy the drier ground. Numerous villages, some of which
contain large populations, are scattered about. It is a beautiful scene.
The cool breezes of the mountains temper the heat of the sun. The
abundant rains preserve the verdure of the earth.
In ancient times this region was the seat of a Buddhistic kingdom, and
was known as Woo-Chang or "Udyana," which means "the Park," and
proclaims the appreciation which its former possessors had of their
pleasant valley. "The people," says the Chinese pilgrim Fa-hien, who
visited the country in the fifth century, "all use the language of Central

India, 'Central India' being what we should call the 'Middle Kingdom.'
The food and clothes of the common people are the same as in that
Central Kingdom. The law of Buddha is very flourishing in Woo-
Chang." "The Park," which includes all the country on both banks of
the Swat River--then called the Subhavastu--but which perhaps applies
more particularly to the upper end of the valley, was famous for its
forests, flowers and fruit. But though the valley retains much of its
beauty, its forests have been destroyed by the improvidence, and its
flowers and fruit have declined through the ignorance, of the fierce
conquerors into whose hands it fell.
The reputation which its present inhabitants enjoy is evil. Their
treacherous character has distinguished them even among peoples
notoriously faithless and cruel. Among Pathans it is a common saying:
"Swat is heaven, but the Swatis are hell-fiends." For many years they
had lain under the stigma of cowardice, and were despised as well as
distrusted by the tribes of the border; but their conduct in the recent
fighting has cleared them at least from this imputation.
Several minor chieftains now divide authority in the Swat Valley, but
till 1870 it was governed by