Subedar Fateh Ali and men of 'C' Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Jat Regiment, in Waziristan 1923

Photograph, India, North West Frontier, 1923.

Subedar Fateh Ali and a section of Indian soldiers man a position overlooking a road in Waziristan. They are armed with rifles and a Lewis machine-gun. The battalion (formerly the 10th Jats) moved into Waziristan in 1923 to help guard communication routes in the area.

In 1921, it had changed from an entirely Jat unit to include a company each of Punjabi and Rajpput Muslims. Fateh Ali and his men were most likely from one of these Muslim companies. Ali had joined the 113th Infantry in 1903 and served as an officer with them in Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) during 1917-1921 before joining the 3rd Battalion, 9th Jat Regiment.

From an album of 154 photographs compiled by T M Layng, 10th Jats.