Soldier Sahibs: The Daring Adventurers Who Tamed India's Northwest Frontier

by Charles Allen

Drawing extensively on diaries, letters and family mementos as well as his own frequent travels in the northwest region of India, the author offers an illuminating study of British colonial history and the prominent role played by his own ancestor, Brigadier General John Nicholson.

Genres: History, India, Nonfiction, Military History, 19th Century, Historical, Pakistan

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Charles Allen is a British writer and historian. He was born in India, where several generations of his family served under the British Raj. His work focuses on India and South Asia in general. Allen's most notable work is Kipling Sahib, a biography of Rudyard Kipling. His most recent work, Ashoka: the Search for India's Lost Emperor, was published in February 2012.

Selected works:

Plain Tales from the Raj: Images of British India in the Twentieth Century (1975)
Raj: A Scrapbook of British India 1877–1947 (1977)
Tales from the Dark Continent: Images of British Colonial Africa in the Twentieth Century (1979)
A Mountain in Tibet: The Search for Mount Kailas and the Sources of the Great Rivers of India (1982)
Tales from the South China Seas: Images of the British in South-East Asia in the Twentieth Century (1983)
Lives of the Indian Princes, with co-author Sharada Dwivedi (1984)
Kipling's Kingdom: His Best Indian Stories (1987)
A Glimpse of the Burning Plain: Leaves from the Journals of Charlotte Canning (1986)
A Soldier of the Company: Life of an Indian Ensign 1833–43 (1988)
Architecture of the British Empire, Ed. R. Fermor-Hesketh (1989)
The Savage Wars of Peace: Soldiers' Voices 1945–1989 (1990)
Thunder and Lightning: The RAF in the Gulf War (1991)
The Search for Shangri-La: A Journey into Tibetan History (1999)
India Through the Lens: Photography 1840–1911, Ed. Vidya Dehejia (2000)
Soldier Sahibs: The Men who Made the North-west Frontier (2000)
The Buddha and the Sahibs: The Men who Discovered India's Lost Religion (2002)
Duel in the Snows: The True Story of the Younghusband Mission to Lhasa (2004)
Maharajas: Resonance from the Past (2005)
God's Terrorists: The Wahhabi Cult and the Hidden Roots of Modern Jihad (2006)
Kipling Sahib: India and the Making of Rudyard Kipling (2007)
The Buddha and Dr Führer: An Archaeological Scandal (2008)
The Taj at Apollo Bunder: The History of the Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai, with co-author Sharada Dwivedi (2011)
Ashoka: The Search for India's Lost Emperor (2012)

Reviews

['Aussie Rick' · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soldier Sahibs is an exciting story of a few of those great men in the British Empire's history who served in India and helped make the North-West Frontier what it is today. This area now forms the boundary between Pakistan and Afghanistan and has seen some of the most violent wars and battles in the 19th and 20th Centuries. Each of the young men portrayed in this book served with the British East India Company and had seen active service in the Punjab in the 1840's. They were known as 'Henry Lawrence's young men' and this book tells the story of how and why that came to be.

The author, Charles Allen, was himself born in India and he brings to the story the local feel and knowledge of one who has been there. You can sense his passion for these men and this area reflected in the narrative. And what an exciting story he tells! From minor skirmishes to full scale battles, from raids and ambushes to terrifying accounts of the style of fighting practiced by those most cunning of warriors that the British had to fight against. Throughout the story you read about the amazing courage and dignity that these young men had. As a reader you tend to believe that these men actually wanted to do the best for the people of this region regardless of what their hierarchy or the local rulers and princes wanted.

The narrative moves along quickly and draws you into the story as you follow the paths of these men from becoming young officers and learning the ways of the North-West Frontier until their demise and the passing of this era. The author utilises diaries, journals and letters of the participants and the book abounds with individual stories from these 'Soldier Sahibs'. This is a great story and I am sure that readers who love a good book or decent history will find this book a gem.

The author provides a number of black & white photographs and a few maps although I would have liked more maps within the book.

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone with an interest in the history of the North-West Frontier during the period of British Rule will enjoy this detailed retrospective of the accomplishments of the men known collectively as Henry Lawrence's "Young Men".
Names such as Lawrence, Abbott, Edwardes, Hodson, Lumsden, Coke, and of course, Nicholson will be familiar to those with an interest in the Anglo-Sikh Wars, Anglo-Afghan Wars, and the 1857 Mutiny. Usually these men are mentioned as individual characters who appear in wider accounts of the various conflicts so it is especially pleasing to have a book dedicated solely to this group of legendary officers.
The political officers and District Commissioners in question were by necessity a tough breed, with strong personalities and an even stronger sense of authority, backed up by severe punishments when warranted but always with an eye to dealing with the various tribal groups in a fair and even manner.
The success of their approach was reflected in the respect shown to them by the tribes, whose way of life was largely based on honour and strength.
Nicholson was actually so venerated by the tribes in his area of influence that a cult was developed around him which survived well into the 20th century. He could also be extremely severe and during times of crisis had no time for the 'rules' of war; his way was always to strike fast and with such severity as to put an end to any further rebellion, such as the time during the Indian Mutiny when he supposedly quietly strode into the British mess tent and said "I am sorry, gentlemen, to have kept you waiting for your dinner, but I have been hanging your cooks."

Of course none of the officers were without their faults, both public and private, with some such as Hodson enduring a particularly scandal plagued career, and all had numerous run ins with their superiors whose response was often to accuse them of insubordination and having gone 'native'.

The author has produced a work that is both informative and readable, with a narrative that is fast paced and flows seamlessly. Each man is covered in detail, with biographical details and background information that helps to present a well-rounded portrait of who they were and how they achieved so much in such a short space of time.
All the major conflicts are covered in depth, as well as the multitude of smaller punitive expeditions that were deemed necessary to keep the region as pacified as possible, and the author does an excellent job of describing the geography of the region and the origins of each tribe in the area.

The only negative concerning the book was the total absence of footnotes. I think this is restricted to the Kindle edition only and so is not the fault of the author but of the transfer to electronic form. Also with the Kindle edition there were no photos and only two basic maps which was a disappointment as the area covered is huge and more detailed maps would have helped immensely in locating and following the path laid down by the Soldier Sahibs.

Nevertheless, an excellent book and a worthy addition to any enthusiasts collection.

[Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fantastic read for anyone who is interested in this area of the world for whatever reason. In some ways it explains why the area is what it is today and gives the background that shows in some ways the more things change the more they stay the same. I have been to Afghanisan twice now. This makes me the third generation of my family to serve in a military capacity in this region. My grandfather served seven years in the Queen's Own Fourth Hussars in Bangalore from 1895 to 1902. His son, my uncle served as an UNMO in 1957/58 on the Pakistan/Indian border. And I was in Kandahar province in 2007 and 2009. This book crossed my path outside the wire in 2009 and I brought it home with me, a souviner. I have not had a chance to read it until now while I am at sea with the RCN. It makes me feel a little closer to my grandfather and uncle as I too have now walked the same walk as they did.

[Lewis Woolston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting factoid i learnt from this book: the town of Abbottabad in Pakistan where Osama Bin Laden was hiding out when Seal Team 6 finally caught up with him and killed him was actually named after and founded by a British General named Abbott who fought the frontier wars in the 1850's.
This is a rollicking adventure tale of derring-do by British soldiers and the native men who served with them when the sun never set on the Empire. It is also serious history but honestly, the "Biggles" style adventure writing wins out most of the time. That's not always a bad thing.
If you have romantic notions of gallant British gentlemen fighting in far flung outposts of empire this book will be right up your alley.

[Omar Ali]

(this was written way back in 2002)
Soldier Sahibs is an old-fashioned and unapologetically imperialist book. And writer Charles Allen makes sure you know what you are getting into by giving it the flagrantly politically incorrect subtitle: The Daring Adventurers Who Tamed India's Northwest Frontier. But imperialist does not necessarily mean inaccurate and Allen has taken a good deal of trouble to get his facts right. The book claims to tell "The astonishing story of a brotherhood of young men who together laid claim to the most notorious frontier in the world, India's North-West Frontier,
which today forms the volatile boundary between Pakistan and Afghanistan."
The men in question include John Nicholson, Harry Lumsden (founder of the Guides), Herbert Edwardes, William Hodson, James Abbot and Neville Chamberlain. Protégés of Sir Henry Lawrence, these men were responsible for laying the foundations of British rule in the Punjab and the Northwest Frontier. The author's intent is to tell the story of these young men and through their adventures, give the reader an idea of how the British conquered - or, as he would prefer, "pacified" - the 'wild' Northwest Frontier of India.
But while Soldier Sahibs gives a very readable account of the adventures of these (surprisingly) young men, it is not possible to piece together the broader history of those times from his book. Why the British were here in the first place and what were the factors that made a small island in Europe more powerful than any kingdom in India do not form any part of Allen's concerns. Nor does he waste much time explaining the situation in the Punjab or of the East India Company at that time. In fact, the author does not even provide a map of the vast area over which his protagonists established their rule. If you are totally at sea about those times, then you may have to read a few other books to fully appreciate the goings-on in this one. But if you are one of those enthusiasts who cannot get enough of the Raj, the mutiny and all that jazz, then you will definitely enjoy this book. Its written in authentic 'Flashman' style, with wit and verve and loads of 'local color'.
The English heroes may appear larger than life but by all accounts some of them indeed were larger than life. And being Englishmen, they left us a veritable storehouse of laconic and understated wisecracks. These include Nicholson walking into the mess to tell his fellow officers: "I am sorry gentlemen, to have kept you waiting for your dinner, but I have been hanging your cooks." (The cooks had apparently poisoned the food but were detected and hanged, and dinner was served half an hour late).
Though Nicholson gets the most lines in the book, the stories of Edwardes of Peshawar and Bannu and Abbot of Abbotabad are also told in some detail. William Hodson, the villain who executed Bahadur Shah Zafar's sons, also gets a sympathetic hearing. We are told surprisingly little about Sir Henry Lawrence, who is supposedly the godfather of this fraternity. And it is not always clear why certain officer's lives are described in detail and others get only cursory mention. Lack or availability of sources may be the explanation for that .
In these times, it is impossible to read such a book and not look for parallels with the current efforts at "pacifying" Afghanistan. But these British adventurers and their peculiar code of life are poles apart from the westerners who are now coming to bring us into the civilised world. Occasionally, Madison Avenue will try to create a suitable heroic image for some American colonel or diplomat but the substance of this new empire is very different from the last one and so are its agents.
Nicholson and company may have been bigoted, male chauvinist psychopaths, yet they also had undoubted personal courage and their own peculiar brand of love of justice. In the Pakhtuns and the Punjabis, they found not just enemies, but also friends and fellow adventurers. It is fashionable these days to describe their local supporters as 'traitors' who took the side of a 'foreign power'. But to the Sikhs, Punjabi Muslims and Pakhtuns who fought under Nicholson to reconquer Delhi, the capital was also a foreign power and one they did not remember fondly. And these British officers had always respected their honour and treated them fairly. They provided an administration that was in many ways a big improvement over the 'locals' they had replaced. In fact, it would not be remiss to say that the Punjabis and Pakhtuns who fought for the British may have been men of higher character and personal courage than most of their current detractors. Many things have improved since Nicholson rode across the plains of the Punjab blowing mutineers from canons but it is hard to avoid the suspicion that some things have also deteriorated.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just read this book for the second time, the last time was a few years ago before going to Afghanistan. Now, after having spent more time in Afghanistan as well as in Pakistan, I think I got a lot more out of it, since I have been to, and recognize, most of the places in the book. The author does a great job of making sure that he doesn't make any of the officers in the book out to be all good or all bad. He presents a fair portrait of each of them, noting their strengths and weaknesses, mistakes and accolades, as well as a pretty good analysis of how their actions affected their own times along with the future. It was most interesting for me to see how a lot of the conflicts of opinion among the British officers are still the same topics that arise today, although the situation is different, a lot of the subtleties of cultural interaction and geographic challenges remain the same.

[Qb · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book about the 19th century British officers who ventured in to the semi tribal heartlands of North West Frontier Province ( now Khyber Pakhtunkwa) of then united India.Leaving aside the colonial aspect of these dare devil adventurers , the courage ,devotion to mission and stead fastness of these men are really inspiring.It clearly shows that great empires ultimately depends on their dedicated individuals.

[W]

Picked it up out of curiosity,but didn't like it because it is about colonial times and glorifies the colonisers.

[Dave Clarke · Rating 3 out of 5]

My second by this author, inspired by his warts and all account of the British Invasion of Tibet under Col. Younghusband.

This book, again centered around the subcontinent during its occupation by the British, is an account of the retaking of Delhi during the period some tend to call mutiny, while others call it the first war of independence, it’s told from the perspective of key players in the British military hierarchy, who had coalesced in the area that would come to be known as the north west frontier, during the Sikh rebellion and notably that of John Nicholson who died from wounds sustained in battle, just as the British were celebrating Delhi’s recapture.

[Leonid · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows exploits of a dozen young English officers and administrators whose daring and skills secured the future of the British Raj. The main focus is on a larger than life figure of John Nicholson, who played a crucial role in the expanding of the frontier and, later, turning the tide in the aftermath of the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857. I highly recommend this book to any history enthusiast.

[Old-Barbarossa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great historical yarns. Public school boys let loose on the North West Frontier in the mid-1800s. If you ever read a Flashman book you will recognise these characters as the type he would have despised, ran from, and possibly cuckolded. Also a great insight into the historical background to the more current Afghan situation. Any book that has someone enter a mess hall late then say sorry for the delay in dinner, explaining it all by remarking "I was hanging your chefs."…well it can't be bad.

[Tony Mulqueen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone with an interest in the military history of the NW Frontier Provinces knows Charles Allen as a fluent and authorative narrator. Then known as the Great Game, the endemic power struggles of the region continue to be topical as the Global War on Terror. Allen's tale focuses on the talented and driven operatives of the East India Company who alterately cajoled and coerced the fiercely independant and combative tribal chieftains into a fragile Pax Brittanica.

[Homer H Blass]

Popular readable and accurate account of the British Indian Army and their wars against Afghanistan and Russian influence from 1839 to the end of the Raj in 1948. Allen, a direct descendant of one of those old Anglo-Indian families, tells of the real soldiers immortalized by Kipling and by Earl Flynn

[Sandeep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating historic insight into the North West Frontier Province, old Punjab, Sikh Army and EICo's earlier days in India specially in the north west region.
Before reading the book, I didn't know Sikh Army commanded such respect from the EICo's Army and how disciplined it really was.

[Commander Law · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quiet enjoyed that. However, any one of the 'young men' could have filled a book on their own. Extraordinary times.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book when visiting the Astley Book-Farm in Warwickshire. My gg grandfather sailed to Madras in 1841 as assistant surgeon in the East India Company’s 45th Native Infantry, Madras, hence my interest. The book covers the period 1839 to 1857 the period of the Sikh wars and the Indian Mutiny. The narrative relates the stories of ‘Henry Lawrence’s young men’, junior officers of the Bengal Army, chosen and trained by him. The book relies on primary sources, memoirs and letters. These men, based in the Punjab, thought and acted outside the box, and were often at odds with the British Army and the civil administration. I found the accounts of the relationships between the young men and their Pakhtun and tribal allies and opponents fascinating. I had not heard of the Sikh empire until a month ago, but this is an important part of this account. The Corps of Guides, raised and led by Henry (Joe) Lumsden, remains an elite Pakistani force and features in many novels from Kipling’s Kim to M M Kayes The Far Pavilions.

I am struck by apparent similarities between the Taliban and their predecessors of 170 years ago.

There is an index, bibliography and glossary and 23 illustrations. There is a map of the Punjab and one of the siege of Delhi. I think the book would be improved with more maps showing clearer information of individual actions.

[Robert Day · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has all the elements of a great novel - interesting characters, galloping pace, intense action, riveting dialogue, a tight plot and a happy ending.

The only trouble is that it's not a novel - it's a dry, historian's account of events. It goes like this: we know from x that y happened and that z said w about it (repeat to fade).

Shame really, because I would have quite enjoyed the novel that it could have been. As it was, I didn't. Not really.

Read it if you like somewhat dry accounts of things that happened in the past.

[Adam Colby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really sure how to rate this book. It is somewhere between 2-3 stars. It follows the stories of the EIOC officers in the northwest frontier. In ways, it is dry history. It recites dates and bureaucratic decrees. In other ways, it tells the wild tales of adventure and war. It can be a difficult read or fast paced. It does offer some historical insights to why the northwest frontier is still considered "tribal" today.

[Marek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read by one of the classic historians of the Raj and British colonial history. Well-written, vivid, full of interesting details.
However, the book is based only on British sources and the author somewhat glosses over the worst aspects of his protagonists, especially atrocities committed when fighting the 1857 uprising. The Indian perspective is almost entirely omitted. To have a more comprehensive picture it is definitely recommended to read also William Dalrymple's "The Last Mughal".

[Rajesh Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

A terrific account of the lives and adventures of the handful of hardy and daredevil men of the East India Company who annexed and administered the North West Frontier Province and Punjab in the first half of the 19th century. A must read for anyone interested in modern Indian history.

[Maverick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classical history memoir with gallantry sacrifices. A must read for history lovers.

[Daniel Polansky]

I read this book.

[Vee Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book most useful for my research. What a loss to the writing world.

[Fahd Bangash · Rating 5 out of 5]

An essential masterpiece for anyone associated with the subcontinent

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This well-written, easy-to-read book was read as a supplement for the Great Game section of the DYOD on South and Central Asia, though the events described actually fall more into the period and history explored in the first section on the Raj. It is an ideal read BEFORE Farwell’s Armies of the Raj, but that was not the way this reader read them as he discovered this book after the books on the Raj. The book focuses on the times of July 1839 to September 1857 when British Indian history centered on events taking place in the Punjab on India's northwest frontier. Allen shapes his narrative around the lives of a swashbuckling coterie of British civil and military leaders, including John and Henry Lawrence, John Nicholson, Neville Chamberlain, William Hodson, Reynell Taylor, and James Abbott. The theme coursing through these British leaders' lives is action first, thought later. Beginning with the First Afghan War and continuing through two Sikh wars to the retaking of Delhi during the Indian Mutiny, Allen follows the intertwined lives of these heroes as they explore/blunder about Afghanistan, conquer, annex, and administer the Punjab, and subsequently break the Indian Mutiny at Delhi. This book, like those written by Farwell, will not be everyone’s taste as Allen views the men in the context of their times and thus is more sympathetic to them than a historian who looks back at the past through the values of today. (In this reader’s opinion, that makes Allen a far better historian than the current crop who have taken history hostage with “post-modernism” and “text-analysis”.)

[Jim Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite simply brilliant. A boy's own adventure. A time and a situation that is impossible to conceive of now. (More's the pity). I gave this five stars because Goodreads doesn't permit six. It is the most entertaining history I have read, ever.

[Mark Thuell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great unsentimental insight into the Raj and how Britain ruled India from brilliance through to crass stupidity.The British created modern India but also sew the seeds of many of that areas current problems . Well worth reading

[Dgoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent history, reads like a novel. Gives one a better understanding of some of what is going on in that part of the world today.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating insight into the NW Frontier. Very relevant for contemporary events.

[Mahesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

its a good work of non fiction