Ambela campaign

The Ambela campaign (also called Umbeyla, Umbeylah, and Ambeyla) of 1863 was one of many expeditions in the border area between the Emirate of Afghanistan and the Punjab Province of British India (renamed the North-West Frontier Province in 1901, present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) against the Hindustani Fanatics at Malka, a colony of malcontents or bigoted Muslims from Hindustan.

The Pashtuns had been a constant thorn to the British government since the annexation of the region, who had raided and ravaged until it invited expeditions to subdue them. However, in previous expeditions the Pashtun Tribesman had always managed to escape into the hills. In 1858, an expedition led by Sir Sydney Cotton drove them from their base.

By 1863, however, they had regrouped around the mountain outpost of Malka. A force led by Neville Bowles Chamberlain planned to destroy Malka. They set up an operational base in the Chamla Valley which could be reached via the Ambela Pass, but they were soon bogged down by a numerically superior local force, and were attacked by the Swati, Bunerwal and Hindustani tribesmen. Reinforcements drafted in by the local Commander-in-Chief eventually broke through the pass, received the surrender of the Bunerwals and went on to burn Malka. The expedition resulted in 1,000 British casualties and an unknown number of Indian casualties.