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KHYBER PASS , the most important of the passes which See also:lead from See also:Afghanistan into See also:India. It is a narrow See also:defile winding between cliffs of shale and See also:limestone 600 to l000 ft. high, stretching up to more lofty mountains behind. No other pass in the See also:world has possessed such strategic importance or retains so many historic associations as this gateway to the plains of India. It has probably seen See also:Persian and See also:Greek, Seljuk, Tatar, Mongol and See also:Durani conquerors, with the hosts of See also:Alexander the See also:Great, Iblahmud of See also:Ghazni, Jenghiz See also:Khan, Timur, See also:Baber, See also:Nadir Shah, Ahmed Shah, and numerous other See also:warrior chiefs pass and repass through its rocky defiles during a See also:period of 2000 years. The See also:mountain barrier which separates the See also:Peshawar plains from the Afghan See also:highlands differs in many respects from the mountain barrier which intervenes between the See also:Indus plains and the See also:plateau farther See also:south. To the south this barrier consists of a See also:series of flexures folded parallel to the See also:river, through which the plateau drainage breaks down in transverse lines forming See also:gorges and clefts as it cuts through successive ridges. See also:West of Peshawar the strike of the mountain systems is roughly from west to See also:east, and this formation is maintained with more or less regularity as far south as the Tochi River and See also:Waziristan. Almost immediately west of Peshawar, and stretching along the same parallel of See also:latitude from the See also:meridian of See also:Kabul to within ten See also:miles of the Peshawar See also:cantonment, is the great central range of the Safed Koh, which forms throughout its See also:long, straight See also:line of rugged peaks the See also:southern See also:wall, or See also:water-See also:divide, of the Kabul River See also:basin. About the meridian of 71 E. it forks, sending off to the See also:north-east what is locally known as a See also:spur to the Kabul River, but which is geographically only See also:part of that stupendous water-divide which hedges in the See also:Kunar and See also:Chitral valleys, and, under the name of the Shandur Range, unites with the See also:Hindu Kush near the See also:head of the Taghdumbash Pamir. The Kabul River breaks through this See also:northern spur of the Safed Koh; and in breaking through it is forced to the northward in a curved channel or trough, deeply sunk in the mountains between terrific cliffs and precipices, where its narrow waterway affords no foothold to See also:man or beast for,many miles. To reach the Kabul River within Afghan territory it is necessary to pass over this water-divide; and the Khyber stream, flowing down from the pass at Landi Kotal to a point in the plains opposite See also:Jamrud, 9 M. W. of Peshawar, affords the opportunity.
Pursuing the See also:main road from Peshawar to Kabul, the fort of Jamrud, which commands the See also:British end of the Khyber Pass, lies some 11 m. W. of Peshawar. The road leads through a barren stony See also:plain, cut up by water-courses and infested by all the worst cut-throats in the Peshawar See also:district. Some three miles beyond Jamrud the road enters the mountains at an opening called Shadi Bagiar, and here the Khyber proper begins. The See also:highway runs for a See also:short distance through the See also:bed of a See also:ravine, and then joins the road made by See also:Colonel Mackeson in 1839-1842, until it ascends on the See also:left-See also:hand See also:side to a plateau called Shagai. From here can be seen the fort of See also:Ali Masjid, which commands the centre of the pass, and which has been the See also:scene of more than one famous See also:siege. Still going westward the road turns to the right, and by an easy zigzag descends to the river of Ali Masjid, and runs along its See also:bank. The new road along this cliff was made by the British during the Second Afghan See also:War (1879-8o), and here is the narrowest part of the Khyber, not more than 15 ft. broad, with the Rhotas See also:- HILL
- HILL (0. Eng. hyll; cf. Low Ger. hull, Mid. Dutch hul, allied to Lat. celsus, high, collis, hill, &c.)
- HILL, A
- HILL, AARON (1685-175o)
- HILL, AMBROSE POWELL
- HILL, DANIEL HARVEY (1821-1889)
- HILL, DAVID BENNETT (1843–1910)
- HILL, GEORGE BIRKBECK NORMAN (1835-1903)
- HILL, JAMES J
- HILL, JOHN (c. 1716-1775)
- HILL, MATTHEW DAVENPORT (1792-1872)
- HILL, OCTAVIA (1838– )
- HILL, ROWLAND (1744–1833)
- HILL, SIR ROWLAND (1795-1879)
hill on the right fully 2000 ft. overhead. Some three miles farther on the valley widens, and on either side See also:lie the hamlets and some sixty towers of the Zakka Khel Afridis. Then comes the Loargi See also:Shinwari plateau, some seven miles in length and three in its widest part, ending at Landi Kotal, where is another British fort, which closes this end of the Khyber and overlooksthe plains of Afghanistan. After leaving Landi Kotal the great Kabul highway passes between See also:low hills, until it debouches on the Kabul River and leads to Dakka. The whole of the Khyber Pass from end to end lies within the See also:country of the Afridis, and is now recognized as under British See also:control. From Shadi Bagiar on the east to Landi Kotal on the west is about 20 M. in a straight line.
The Khyber has been adopted by the British as the main road to Kabul, but its difficulties (before they were overcome by British See also:engineers) were such that it was never so regarded by former rulers of India. The old road to India left the Kabul River near its junction with the Kunar, and crossed the great divide between the Kunar valley and See also:Bajour; then it turned southwards to the plains. During the first Afghan War the Khyber was the scene of many skirmishes with the Afridis and some disasters to the British troops. In See also:July 1839 Colonel See also:Wade captured the fortress of Ali Masjid. In 1842, when See also:Jalalabad was blockaded, Colonel Moseley was sent to occupy the same fort, but was compelled to evacuate it after a few days owing to scarcity of provisions. In See also:April of the same See also:year it was reoccupied by See also:General See also:Pollock in his advance to Kabul. It was at Ali Masjid that See also:Sir See also:Neville See also:- CHAMBERLAIN (0. Fr. chamberlain, chamberlenc, Mod. Fr. chambellan, from O. H. Ger. Chamarling, Chamarlinc, whence also the Med. Lat. cambellanus, camerlingus, camerlengus; Ital. camerlingo; Span. camerlengo, compounded of 0. H. Ger. Chamara, Kamara [Lat.
- CHAMBERLAIN, JOSEPH (1836— )
- CHAMBERLAIN, JOSHUA LAWRENCE (1828– )
- CHAMBERLAIN, SIR NEVILLE BOWLES (1820-1902)
Chamberlain's friendly See also:mission to the See also:amir Shere Ali was stopped in 1878, thus causing the second Afghan War; and on the outbreak of that war Ali Masjid was captured by Sir See also:Samuel See also:- BROWNE
- BROWNE, EDWARD HAROLD (18,1–1891)
- BROWNE, ISAAC HAWKINS (1705-1760)
- BROWNE, JAMES (1793–1841)
- BROWNE, MAXIMILIAN ULYSSES, COUNT VON, BARON DE CAMUS AND MOUNTANY (1705-1757)
- BROWNE, PETER (?1665-1735)
- BROWNE, ROBERT (1550-1633)
- BROWNE, SIR JAMES (1839–1896)
- BROWNE, SIR THOMAS (1605-1682)
- BROWNE, WILLIAM (1591–1643)
- BROWNE, WILLIAM GEORGE (1768-1813)
Browne. The treaty which closed the war in May 1879 left the Khyber tribes under British control. From that See also:- TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
- TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
- TIME, STANDARD
time the pass was protected by jezailchis See also:drawn from the See also:Afridi tribe, who were paid a See also:subsidy by the British See also:government. For 18 years, from 1879 onward, Colonel R. See also:Warburton controlled the Khyber, and for the greater part of that time secured its safety; but his See also:term of See also:- OFFICE (from Lat. officium, " duty," " service," a shortened form of opifacium, from facere, " to do," and either the stem of opes, " wealth," " aid," or opus, " work ")
office came to an end synchronously with the See also:wave of fanaticism which swept along the north-west border of India during 1897. The Afridis were persuaded by their mullahs to attack the pass, which they themselves had guaranteed. The British government were warned of the intended See also:movement, but only withdrew the British See also:officers belonging to the Khyber Rifles, and left the pass to its See also:fate. The Khyber Rifles, deserted by their officers, made a See also:half-hearted resistance to their See also:fellow-tribesmen, and the pass See also:fell into the hands of the Afridis, and remained in their See also:possession for some months. This was the See also:chief cause of the See also:Tirah Expedition of 1897. The Khyber Rifles were afterwards strengthened, and divided into two battalions commanded by four British officers.
See Eighteen Years in the Khyber, by Sir See also:Robert Warburton (19oo); See also:Indian Borderland, by Sir T. Holdich (1901). (T. H.
End of Article: KHYBER PASS
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