'Tochi Valley 03. Jan. N.W Militia Sports Idak', North Waziristan Militia sports day, 1903

Photograph, Idak, North Waziristan, 1903.

Waziristan was split into two administrative areas, North and South, in 1895. In 1900 paramilitary militias were raised to maintain law and order in both regions, allowing regular British forces to withdraw to more settled areas. The North Waziristan Militia was raised at Idak on 1 June 1900, formed of infantry and a small unit of mounted infantry, totalling around 520 men, with three British officers.

The militia was a mobile unit, well suited for the operations against Waziri tribes and bands of bandits, and tasked with protecting the strategically important Tochi Pass.

The unit was heavily involved in the conflict on the frontier that culminated in the 3rd Afghan War (1919). The North Waziristan Militia was renamed the Tochi Scouts in 1922.

From an album of 93 photographs compiled by C A Milward, 1st Battalion, Wiltshire Regiment and 3rd Regiment of Sikh Infantry Punjab Frontier Force, 1897-1903.