page_title: Waziristan campaign (1936–1939)
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Waziristan campaign (1936–1939) / Background
caption_attribution_description: August 1938, Waziristan. Razani Military Camp. Taken from the Razmak side.
context_page_description: The Waziristan campaign 1936–1939 comprised a number of operations conducted in Waziristan by British and Indian forces against the fiercely independent tribesmen that inhabited this region. These operations were conducted in 1936–1939, when operations were undertaken against followers of the Pashtun nationalist Mirzali Khan, also known by the British as the "Faqir of Ipi", a religious and political agitator who was spreading anti-British sentiment in the region and undermining the prestige of the Indian government in Waziristan at the time.
context_section_description: In 1919–1920, the British had fought a campaign against the Wazir tribes. Minor skirmishes had continued into 1921, but after the establishment of a permanent garrison at Razmak there had been a period of relative peace in the region. Throughout 1921–1924 the British undertook a road construction effort in the region that led to further conflict during the 1921–1924 campaign.  In 1936, trouble again flared up in Waziristan in the form of a political and religious agitation by Mirzali Khan. For some time, there had been growing unrest in the region, fueled by a perception of a weakening of British resolve to govern following a number of constitutional changes in India; however, following a trial of a Muslim student on a charge of abducting a Hindu girl, Mirzali Khan began spreading anti-British sentiment in earnest, claiming that the government was interfering in a religious matter.
caption: August 1938, Waziristan. Razani Military Camp. Taken from the Razmak side
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