Mehsud

This article is about the Pakistani tribe. For the Taliban militant, see Baitullah Mehsud.

Mahsud (Pashto: مهسود، محسود، مسعود، مسید , also spelled Masood, Mahsood, Masud, Maseed or Mehsud (in Pashto) is a Pashtun tribe in South Waziristan, a tribal region in Pakistan. Mahsud are considered to be one of the bravest and toughest Pashtun Tribes. The Mahsud (Masood) tribe lives in the centre of South Waziristan valley, surrounded on three sides by the Darwesh Waziris, and being shut off by the Bhittanis on the east from the Derajat and Bannu districts. Two Pashtun tribes, Ahmadzai Wazir and Mahsud, inhabit and dominate South Waziristan. Mahsud are the second largest tribe of South Waziristan after Wazir. Within the heart of Mahsud (Masood) territory in South Waziristan lies the influential Burki (also known as Barak/Baraki/Urmar) tribe's stronghold of Kaniguram. The Burki are considered by other tribes/khels of South Waziristan to be close brethren of the Mahsud due to marital and other ties and the fact that the Burki have lived in and controlled Kaniguram for over a thousand years. Some Mahsuds (Masoods) live in Afghanistan, in particular in Loogar, Wardak, Ghazni, Kunduz, and Baghlan provinces, as well as in Germany and Great Britain.

The Mahsud (Masood) usually pronounce their name "Maseed." They are divided into three great clans or subtribes, namely Manzai, Bahlolzai, and Shaman Khel. Mahsuds (Masoods) usually call these Dre Maseed, meaning the Three Mahsuds. Each tribe has his own Khan.

In the words of Sir Olaf Caroe, who acted as the former governor of the British Indian Frontier, "The Mahsud tribe are a people who can never even think of submitting to a foreign power." From 1860 to 1937, the English forces repeatedly attacked Mahsud positions, but never got a foothold in the area.

History

In 1850, Lewat's tribesmen the Great Baromi's (Shabi Khel) defeated 3,000 British troops with only 300 fighters, using guerrilla tactics by attacking the British in the Valley of Bobar (Waziristan) from all sides with outdated rifles and swords. This attack demoralized the British and made them fearful of the Mehsuds. Survivors of this attack reported that the sight of the Mehsud tribesmen charging at them (with loud roars and wearing long hair and beards) affected them mentally.

In 1860, three thousand Mahsud (Masood) tribesmen attacked the British regiment base in Tank (present South Waziristan). The British struggled to defeat them.^{[citation needed]}

In 1897, Mujahed tribesmen again stood up against the British all the way from Chitral to Quetta kakar, and the British experienced difficulty when engaging them. It was during this time that the name of Mullah Powindah emerged. Powindah comes from the Pashto language, meaning "nomad".

Day after day, Mullah Powindah grew more popular and famous. He emerged as a legendary figure among the people of the region and beyond. There was even a time the British considered him to be the sole leader of the Waziristan country. His followers would sporadically kill individual British officers. However, the British were not able to capture the attackers, who would return to their mountain hideouts. All attempts to stop these attacks were unsuccessful.

In 1907, the Wazir and Mahsud (Masood) tribesmen were blocked from entry into any government-controlled territory. Economic sanctions were imposed, blocking even basic amenities, such as food and medicine. The British commander of that time blockaded the areas of Makin and Kaniguram. Various areas were searched to arrest Mullah Powindah without success. The British thought that the tribesmen were receiving weapons by sea, from the coast of Balochistan and responded by creating check posts, but no weapons were confiscated.

Mullah Powindah died in 1913. It could be said that he was the crownless emperor of one of the most fiercesome of the Pashtun Tribes, the Mahsuds. Upon his death, his son Shah Fazal Din was given leadership and his son-in-law, Mulla Abdul Hakeem kakar, was appointed his adviser.

When World War I started in 1915, the British were concerned that they would be engaged in battle on more than one front. This was a threat to their safety and economy, so they decided to close those fronts of lesser significance. They abandoned their ‘Forward Policy’ for the time being and sent a message of friendship and peace to the tribes. The tribes did not trust the British, and rejected these peace proposals. Instead, the Mahsuds assembled a militia to attack the British.

By this time, the British had established an air force in the subcontinent, which was used to harass the tribesmen, and as a result the tribe's hatred of the British increased. As a result of their suffering they were bent upon taking revenge, and hence their morale increased. A series of attacks were made by the Mahsuds, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy. The attack on the Marhatta Regiment resulted in the deaths of hundreds of sepoys and five British Officers. In the attack on the Punjab Regiment, the Mahsud warriors slaughtered everyone. The aerial bombardments had inflicted significant losses on the tribesmen, but they were content that they were also doing well and had killed around 250 of the enemy forces.

After the end of World War I, the British returned to Waziristan. This time, they built roads and forts throughout the land. The sophistication and constant patrols of the British Air Force helped create a secure atmosphere for their ground troops. With this sense of security, the British Army constructed a road from Jandola to Ladha. At Razmak, they constructed a cantonment for their army officers and soldiers.

By 1922-23, all the British forces had moved from Wana to Razmak. They had constructed an airport there and instead of flying all the way from India, their aircraft would fly from Razmak Airport and bomb the countryside. Because of this, the countryside of Makin was totally devastated. The Mahsuds deemed it appropriate at this time to agree to a ceasefire because this new British tactic was inflicting widespread losses on their side. The ceasefire, they imagined, would also enable them to devise a strategy for countering the latest British advances.

In 1925, the Royal Air Force successfully put down a Mahsud rebellion by strafing the tribes' mountain strongholds. The action, which came to be known as Pink's War led to the tribal leaders seeking peace terms.^[1]

In 1927 Ghazi Ramzan Khan Shaman Khel attacked Wana camp with a huge lashkar (tribal militia). The result was a big loss for the British army. In 1928 Ghazi Ramzan Khan re-assembled his lashkar again for his next attack, on Sararogha Fort. This time he attacked with a powerful force, killed all of the defending soldiers (numbering 300) and took hold of the Fort.

Recent history

Historically, the Wazirs and Mahsuds have always looked toward Afghanistan and throughout the British Colonial period, they supported Afghan kings in their wars against the British. On many occasions the Afghan throne was saved with the help of the Mahsud, Burki/Baraki, and Wazirs from Wazirstan. Of those who fought during this time, most came back to their homeland, but those who stayed were given high ranks of office, such as Faiz Muhammad Mahsud, who was granted a title the equivalent of prime minister during the 1970s. Today the majority of Mahsuds are still in Logar Province, with the title of Waziri, but by caste, they are Mahsuds. The majority of these are Manzai with a sub-caste of Dramankel, Faridi, etc. When the Soviet-Afghan War started, some of these families came back to Wazirstan but could not stay there, so they moved to cities like Peshawar and Karachi.

They are poor but brave… and although turbulent and difficult to deal with, still have a great love of their country and cherish their independence, possessing qualities that we admire ourselves, and which deserve consideration and respect. Mahsud are very good marksmen and have the reputation of trustworthiness. Mahsud is the most independent of all the tribes. Even their own maliks have a very limited control over them. However, Mahsuds have been increasingly integrated with the Pakistani society since independence. - John Ayde describes the Mahsud.

Since independence, many social, economic and demographic changes have occurred in Waziristan. A large number of Mahsuds have joined mainstream Pakistani society. When the Hindu traders of Tank left after the Partition of India in 1947, most of their shops were taken over by Mahsuds. Now Mahsuds are employed in the militia and regular army, state bureaucracy, and involved in business all around the country. Many of them are now living far away from their native lands.

Immediately after independence, Mahsuds raised a tribal lashkar which entered Kashmir to help the newly created state Pakistan to capture Kashmir. They quickly reached the outskirts of Srinagar Lashkar invasion of Kashmir.

Charles Chevenix Trench writes in his 'The Frontier Scouts' (1985):

In October 1947, the Hindu Maharajah of Kashmir, although the vast majority of his subjects were Moslems, joined his State to India, Pakistan was outraged, and from all over the Frontier tribal lashkars hastened in lorries - undoubtedly with official logistic support - into Kashmir. Scouts were instructed to see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing and do nothing in this matter, although at least one British Officer, Harvey-Kelly of the SWS, took part in the campaign. It seemed that nothing could stop these hordes of tribesmen taking Srinagar with its vital airfield. Indeed nothing did, but their own greed. The Mahsuds in particular stopped to loot, rape and murder; Indian troops were flown in and the lashkars pushed out of the Vale of Kashmir into the mountains. The Mahsuds returned home in a savage mood, having muffed an easy chance, lost the loot of Srinagar and made fools of themselves.

Lashkar invasion of Kashmir: the truth by Prof Farakh A Khan (19. 8. 2007):

A First Hand knowledge of the Lashkar Commander(Kashmir War 1948) (Lt Col (R ) Gaideen Khan Abdullai Mahsud

From one generation to the next we have created myths and ignored history. We know very little truth about the war in Kashmir in 1947-48 but we all know that the Pathan Lashkar from the Tribal Areas sent in to conquer Srinagar went on a looting spree after they were beaten back from the outskirts of Srinagar. It is also understood that the Lashkars on their way back resorted to further looting some say even raping. It is unfortunate that we the people of Pakistan were never told the real story of war in Kashmir' and have to rely on popular myths and propaganda handed over from one generation to the next.

Why the war in Kashmir was necessary in 1947 and the legal rigmarole is a long story which I shall reserve for the future. Here I shall briefly summarise the role of tribal Lashkar in the Kashmir war of 1947-48. From the outset let me make it clear that there were three fronts labeled as Kashmir war with almost no connection with each other. In the north (Northern Areas) it was a peoples uprising against Dogra rule. Here the Gilgit and Chitral scouts joined by Dogra Muslim regiments were fighting without any help from Pakistan (Dani, Ahmed Hasan. History of Northern Areas of Pakistan. Sang-e-Meel Pub. Lahore. 2001). In the south Poonch was surrounded by local forces (Poonch Brigade) under Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan again with little help from Pakistan. The Muzaffarabad Srinagar sector was where the tribal Lashkar was operating with some officers of the regular Pakistan army.

During the prelude to partition (1947) Kashmir State was disputed by India and Pakistan. There was unrest among the majority Muslim population of the State and the Hindu Maharaja was losing his authority in many areas. Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan was desperate to physically oppose the Maharajas decision to join India that he even wanted to get 100 year old muzzle loader guns for his people to fight the Dogra army (Khan, Sardar M Ibrahim. The Kashmir saga. Ripon Printing Press Ltd. 1965). On October 23, 1947 Lashkar of about 5000 tribesmen from FATA was launched through Muzaffarabad. We must remember that a spontaneous uprising of Gilgit Scouts had taken place in August 1947 in Gilgit area. This was triggered when the Maharaja appointed a new governor to Gilgit on July 30, 1947. The two actions in Kashmir were independent of each other. One was taking place in the Northern Areas and the other in Kashmir itself. When the Lashkar captured Baramulla located 35 miles from Srinagar Maharaja Hari Singh fled to Jammu (October 26) and on October 27, 1947 acceded Kashmir State to India asking for military help and the same day the Indian army was air lifted and was in place to defend Srinagar. Heavy armament took a week by road. The leadership in Pakistan were of the opinion that to commit regular troops was too risky and could result in an all out war between the two recently independent countries. The leadership in India was also afraid of starting a full-fledged war between the two new nations and wanted war in Kashmir limited to that area (Kaul, BM, 1967). Pakistani leaders decided that we should use tribesmen from FATA, Swat army, volunteers and retired army personnel to conquer Kashmir. The tribesmen formed the majority and the most feared component of the rag tag army sent into Kashmir. It was also hoped that the Muslims of Kashmir shall also rebel against Dogra rule but this did not happen except in Poonch. In fact Sheikh Abdullah had managed to raise a Militia, which was later commanded by Lt Gen BM Kaul (The untold story. Allied Pub. Bombay. 1967). Muslims in Kashmir were divided.

There are few authentic sources available to understand what happened in Kashmir in 1947-48. Book by Maj Gen Akbar Khan gave the source material for this article (Raiders in Kashmir. Pak Publishers Ltd. Karachi. 1970). I was fortunate to interview one of the few surviving Lashkar commanders two years back who gave the inside information on the frontline reality. The spectacular advance of the Lashkar on Muzaffarabad Srinagar road and equally rapid retreat needs to be explored.

Kashmir War Interview with Lashkar Commander Lt Col. (R) Gaideen Khan Abdullai Mahsud (2005)

Kursheed Anwar Commander of the Muslim League National Guards was made in-charge of the Lashkars for Kashmir by Abdul Qayum Khan. Sardar Shaukat Hayat Khan was the over all in-charge of operations in Kashmir. There was a clear understanding with the Lashkar that when they captured Srinagar they would be allowed to loot the treasury and the palace in lieu of payment. This was the accepted mode of warfare of not only for Tribal Pathans but all unpaid armies in the world since times immoral. In 1929 when the British against usurper in Kabul launched Nadir Shah he was allowed to recruit Wazir tribe from FATA. The Wazir tribes were allowed to loot the king's palace in Kabul in lieu of payment for their efforts. In case of Kashmir jihad in 1947 the Pakistan government was not responsible for their death or injury and only supplied some ammunition and rudimentary transport. Food and accommodation was also arranged by the Lashkar. This was called 'living off the land'. Despite all the drawbacks the Lashkars brushed aside the Dogra forces within the first week.

The Lashkar was launched from Muzaffarabad on October 23, 1947. When the Lashkar reached Baramulla and captured the town (October 26) after a stiff action they realized that they were now fighting the Indian regular army and hence knew that Indian reinforcements had reached the Valley. The Indian Commanding Officer was killed and one person from the Lashkar took off his jacket and wore it. Anwar addressed the Lashkar at Baramullah and told them that there was a change of plan and the treasury and the palace was not to be looted. The leaders of various Lashkars had earlier pleaded with him not to say this and matter could be resolved once they captured Srinagar. The Lashkars were enraged and showed their displeasure with Lashkar leaders, which was embarrassing for the leaders. Nevertheless some elements reached outskirts of Srinagar on October 29. Here Commander Gadeen Khan and his small group faced determined resistance. They overran opposition after a firefight but realised that they were now facing Indian armoured cars, artillery, air force and regular Indian ground troops. The Lashkar had no anti tank or anti air craft weapons. Small bands of the Lashkar when opposed by full Indian army in the open in sight of Srinagar did not stand a chance. The Lashkar started to disperse very rapidly. Of the 5000 tribesmen only 25 remained with Commander Gadeen Khan the rest went on a looting spree in the Valley and then headed home. The few remaining Pathans fought a rearguard action till some units of Pakistan army and volunteers arrived and stabilised the position at Chakoti.

According to Gen Akbar Khan (1970) by November 5 the lashkar had retreated to Uri 65 miles from Srinagar and small parties were pulling out of Kashmir altogether. The retreating lashkar mainly of Mahsud from South Waziristan and Afridi from Tirah were met by Gen Akbar Khan at Uri and was bombarded with questions such as:
“Who was I? I told them. Had the Pakistan Government sent me? No. Were any troops coming to help? No. Had I brought any weapons or ammunition? No. Did Pakistan want Kashmir or not? Yes. ”

Soon the apologetic tribesmen started negotiations for re-entering the fight for Kashmir. Large numbers again joined the battle. In April 1948 India launched its summer offensive. Facing Uri on the Muzaffarabad Srinagar road we had one regular battalion, Frontier Scouts, tribesmen and Azad units to stop the might of the Indian army supported by tanks, armoured cars, artillery and air cover. This rag tag force was able to stop the Indian army. The finest moment of the tribesmen was in the capture of Pandu and Chakoti where they distinguished themselves. We must remember that tribal volunteers were not a trained modern army. The natural ability of the tribesmen to use guerrilla tactics especially ambush was very affective. This second action by the FATA tribesmen is not remembered. On December 31, 1948 at midnight guns on both sides fell silent with the cease-fire (Khan, Akbar. 1970).

The Pathan 'volunteers' came at the call of Pir of Wana, South Waziristan Pir Ghulam Dastigir and Malik Akhya Jan (Izzatullah, Shaikh. Kashmir-Plebiscite: Part 1. Iqbal Company Ltd. Lahore). The people of FATA were encouraged to join the Lashkar by the Chief Minister of NWFP Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan despite- objections from the NWFP Governor Sir George Cunningham (Hussain, Ijaz. Kashmir dispute: an international law perspective. National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Islamabad. 1998). Sulemankhel tribesmen from Afghanistan also joined the fight as part of jihad (Khan, Sardar M Ibrahim. The Kashmir saga. Ripon Printing Press, Lahore. 1965). Sardar Mohammad Abdul Qayyum Khan called these 'volunteers' as Mujahideen/Tribal Volunteers (The Kashmir case. Published by Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan, Rawalpindi. 1970). Sheikh Izzatullah called the Pathans as 'raiders' working for Army of Liberation. Gen Akbar Khan also refers to them as 'raiders' . For the Indian side the Pathan Lashkar were invaders/raiders (Khalifa, Abdul Mannan. Kashmir story. ABKO, Lahore. 1970).

In the first wave of attack on the road to Srinagar the Lashkar had an incentive ie. to loot the Rajgarh palace and the treasury in Srinagar. However there were people amongst the Lashkar who opted to stay on and fight without material reward. Later the Lashkar rallied back for the Pando action and took valuable territory without material reward. I do hope we now have a balanced view of the contribution of people of Waziristan and other parts of FATA who put their life on line for Pakistan.

References

1. ^ "Royal Air Force History - RAF History Timeline 1918 to 1929". Royal Air Force. 2003. http://www.raf.mod.uk/history_old/line1918.html. Retrieved 2007-09-08. 

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