'Camp of the 3rd Regiment Seikh [sic.] Infantry in the Umbeyla Pass', 1863

Photograph by Lieutenant HWJ Senior, India, North West Frontier (1860-1864), 1863.

The Ambela (or Umbeyla) campaign, undertaken between 20 October and 23 December 1863, was directed against Muslim tribesmen in Sittana and focused on the village of Malka. The tribesmen had harboured Indian mutineers in 1857 and were still resisting British rule over a decade later. The Yusafzai Field Force under General Sir Neville Chamberlain advanced up the Umbeyla Pass against strong opposition. Heavy casualties were sustained during attempts to hold the 'Eagle's Nest' and 'Crag Piquet'. The troops were organised into two brigades which drove the rebels out of the valley and a small party then burnt Malka. The expedition suffered 238 dead and 670 wounded.

Henry Senior, the son of Quarter-Master Sergeant John Senior, 3rd Battalion Bengal Artillery, served with the 73rd Bengal Native Infantry and the 2nd Gurkha Regiment. An amateur photographer and member of the Bengal Photographic Society, Senior photographed a variety of subjects in India, including the Ambela (Umbeyla) Expedition in 1863.

From a photograph album of photographs associated with Lieutenant William Adam Beaver Gillies (1839-1863), Royal Artillery and Hazara Mountain Battery, India, North West Frontier, 1860-1863 (c). killed in action at Umbeyla Pass - 22nd October 1863, aged 24.