One Man against the Empire

The Faqir of Ipi and the British in Central Asia on the Eve of and during the Second World War

Bibliographic Data

ID10073959
AuthorsMilan Hauner (corresponding author)
Year1981
Volume16
Issue1
Pages183-212
Publication date1981-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Contemporary History (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0022-0094 • E-ISSN: 1461-7250
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/002200948101600111
OpenAlexW2049232761
LanguageEN
Citations received11

Among the enemies of the British Empire on the eve of the Second World War the Faqir of Ipi was unique. He was the most determined, implacable single adversary the British Raj in India had to face amongst its own subjects, though he also utterly disregarded the logics of the international situation and unwittingly started a campaign when he had the least chance of attracting international support against the British. As a guerrilla leader he was uncompromising, unyielding, obstinate and unscrupulous in the choice of combat methods against his opponents. These included traditional methods of tribal warfare such as ambush, kidnapping and mutilation. His hatred of the British bore no relation to raison d'etat, though he was usually supported with money and military hardr ware by the Afghan authorities, especially so after the Partition, when he became the symbol of independent Pukhtunistan. The decision to attack was always his own; like the truces which he decided when his casualties had passed the accepted norm and it became necessary for him to retreat once again into the inaccessible hideouts of Waziristan. There he would wait for another opportunity to open hostilities, thus keeping the British army on the North-West Frontier fully mobilized. At one point nearly 40,000 British and Indian troops were reported to be in the field trying to capture him, while he remained elusive as ever, always succeeding

Ancient history · Archaeology · Central asia · Empire · First world war · World War II · Bangladesh Politics, Society, and Development · History · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · South Asian Studies and Conflicts

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub