Chitral Expedition The Chitral Expedition ( Urdu : چترال فوجی مہم ) was a military expedition in 1895 sent by the British authorities to relieve the fort at Chitral which was under siege after a local coup . After the death of the old ruler power changed hands several times . An intervening British force of about 400 men was besieged in the fort until it was relieved by two expeditions , a small one from Gilgit and a large one from Peshawar . Background to the conflict . In the last phase of the Great Game attention turned to the unclaimed mountainous area north of British India along the later Sino - Soviet border . Chitral was thought to be a possible route for a Russian invasion of India , but neither side knew much about the local geography . The British sent people like George W . Hayward , Robert Shaw and probably some Pundits north to explore . The ruler of Chitral may have had some involvement in Hayward ' s murder . From 1871 there were Russian explorers in the Pamir Mountains to the north . Around 1889 some Russians entered Chitral territory as well as Hunza to the east and Gabriel Bonvalot reached Chitral from Russian territory . From around 1876 Chitral was under the protection of the Maharaja of Kashmir to the southeast and therefore in the British sphere of influence but there was no British resident . At this time Chitrali power extended east to the Yasin Valley about half way to Hunza . The British established the Gilgit Agency about 175 miles east in 1877 . In 1891 the British occupied Hunza north of Gilgit . From 1857 to 1892 the ruler ( Mehtar ) was Aman - ul - Mulk II of the Katoor Dynasty . When the old ruler died in 1892 one of his sons , Afzul - ul - Mulk , seized the throne and killed as many of his half - brothers as he could . The old ruler ' s brother , Sher Afzul Khan , who had been in exile at Kabul about 150 miles southwest , secretly entered Chitral with a few supporters and murdered Afzul . Another of the old ruler ' s sons , Nizam - ul - Mulk , who had fled to the British at Gilgit , advanced westward from Gilgit , accumulating troops as he went , including 1200 men Sher had sent against him . Seeing the situation was hopeless , Sher fled back to Afghanistan and Nizam took the throne with British blessing and a British political resident called Lieutenant Gurdon . Within a year Nizam was murdered by his brother , Amir - ul - Mulk , while the two were out hunting . Umra Khan , a tribal leader from Bajour to the south marched north with 3 , 000 Pathans either to assist Amir - ul - Mulk or replace him . George Scott Robertson , the senior British officer at Gilgit , gathered 400 troops and marched west to Chitral and threatened Umra Khan with an invasion from Peshawar if he did not turn back . Amir - ul - Mulk began negotiating with Umra Khan so Robertson replaced him with his 12 - year - old brother Shuja - ul - Mulk . At this point Sher Afzul Khan re - entered the contest . The plan seems to have been that Sher would take the throne and Umra Khan would get part of the Chitral territory . Robertson moved into the fortress for protection which increased local hostility . Since Umra Khan and Sher Afzul continued their march secret messengers were sent out requesting help . Siege of Chitral . The fort was 80 yards square and built of mud , stone and timber . The walls were 25 feet high and eight feet thick . There was a short covered way to the river , the only water source . The fort held 543 people of whom 343 were combatants including five British officers . The units were the 14th Sikhs and a larger detachment of Kashmiri Infantry . Artillery support was 2 seven - pounders without sights and 80 rounds of ammunition . There were only 300 cartridges per man and enough food for a month . There were trees and buildings near the walls and nearby hills from which sniping was possible with modern rifles . Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend of Mesopotamia fame commanded the troops , or part of them . On March 3 a party was sent out to determine the enemy strength . Its loss was 23 killed and 33 wounded . Harry Frederick Whitchurch won a Victoria Cross for aiding the wounded . At about the same time a small force from Gilgit was defeated and the ammunition and explosives they were carrying captured . By April 5 the Chitralis were 50 yards from the walls . On April 7 they set fire to the south - east tower which burned for 5 hours but did not collapse . Four days later the Chitralis began digging a tunnel in order to blow open the fort . The tunnel started from a house where the Chitralis held noisy parties to hide the sounds of digging . By the time sounds of digging were heard it was too late to dig a counter mine . One hundred men rushed out of the eastern gate , found the mouth of the tunnel , bayoneted the miners , blew up the explosives and returned with a loss of eight men . On the night of April 18 someone shouted over the wall that the besiegers had fled . The next morning a heavily armed party found that this was true . Kelly ' s relief force entered Chitral on April 20 and found the besieged " walking skeletons " . The siege had lasted a month and a half and cost the defenders 41 lives . Relief . When the British heard of Robertson ' s situation they began assembling troops around Peshawar , but they were not in a hurry since they assumed that Umra Khan would back down . When reports became more serious they ordered Colonel James Kelly at Gilgit to act . He gathered what troops he could : 400 Sikh Pioneers - mostly road - builders , 40 Kasmiri sappers with 2 mountain guns , 900 Hunza irregulars , all hearty mountain men , and a number of hired coolies to carry the baggage . Although his force was small he had the advantage that the Chitralis did not think that anyone would be fool enough to cross 150 miles of mountains in late winter . He left Gilgit on March 23 , probably up the valley of the Gilgit River , and by March 30 had crossed the snowline at 10 , 000 feet . Seeing what they were in for , the coolies deserted with their laden ponies but were soon rounded up and kept under guard . The main problem was the 12 , 000 foot Shandur Pass at the head of the Gilgit River which was crossed in the waist - deep snow dragging mountain guns on sledges ( April 1 to 5 ) . Fighting began the next day when the Chitralis became aware of them . By April 13 they had driven the enemy from two main positions and by April 18 the enemy seemed to have disappeared . Meanwhile the British had assembled 15 , 000 men at Peshawar under Major - General Sir Robert Low . They set off about a week after Kelly left Gilgit . Accompanying Low was Francis Younghusband who was officially on leave and serving as a special correspondent for the London Times . On April 3 they stormed the Malakand Pass which was defended by 12 , 000 local warriors . There were significant engagements 2 and 10 days later . On April 17 Umra Khan ' s men prepared to defend his palace at Munda , but finding themselves greatly outnumbered , they slipped away . Inside the fortress the British found a letter from a Scottish firm offering Maxim guns at 3 , 700 rupees and revolvers at 34 rupees each . The firm was ordered to leave India . Low was still crossing the Lowari Pass on the day Kelly entered Chitral . Although Kelly got to Chitral first , it was the massive size of Low ' s force that forced the enemy to withdraw . The first person from Low ' s force to reach Chitral was Younghusband who , without permission , rode out ahead of the troops ( Max Hastings performed the same stunt in 1982 ) . That night Younghusband , Robertson and Kelly shared the garrison ' s last bottle of brandy . Later . Umra Khan fled with eleven mule - loads of treasure and reached safety in Afghanistan . Sher Ali ran into one of his foes and was sent into exile in India . Robertson was knighted . Kelly was made an ADC to the queen and given a CB . Eleven DSOs were awarded along with Whitchurch ' s VC and all ranks were given 6 months extra pay and three months leave . Townshend became a Major General and at least nine participants became generals . There was talk of building a road from Peshawar , but this was rejected because of the expense and the fear that the Russians could use the road too . Two battalions were stationed at Chitral and two at the Malakand Pass . In the spring of 1898 Captain Ralph Cobbold was on " hunting leave " in the Pamirs and learned that the Russians had planned to occupy Chitral if the British abandoned it .