THE valley of Tirah is located in the northwestern Pakistan in Khyber district. It is a scenic and fertile valley. The historians trace Tirah’s rich history to the Sammis race, which settled in parts of Hindukush area along with a few other tribes. One of them was Apreday; the present-day Afridis.

The history of the Afridis is full of gallantry and epics, but a rich account of two brothers hailing from the Afridi sub-tribe Qamberkhel has somehow remained untold. The two brothers, Mir Dast Afridi (pictured above; left) and Mir Mast Afridi (pictured above; right), were decorated in World War I while fighting for opposing forces; the former was awarded Victoria Cross by the Great Britain, while the latter was decorated with Iron Cross by Germany. This is rather unique even in world history.

They were born in Kharkay village in Maidan area and their father Muhammad Ameer Khan had seven sons and a daughter. Mir Dast was born in December 1874 and Mir Mast in March 1876. Both were students of Botan seminary, with Maulana Ilyas as their head teacher. They joined the British Indian Army in 1894 and 1898, respectively.

In 1914, when almost 1.2 million Indian soldiers joined the Allied coalition in World War I, Mir Dast was serving in 55 Coke’s Rifles. Eight officers, 43 non-commissioned officers and 330 soldiers had been selected to reinforce the newly-formed 57 Wild’s Rifles. The remaining soldiers were kept in India, but Mir Dast joined the elite group meant for fighting in the War.

He participated in the battle near the Belgium-France border area of Ypres, and fought bravely even when the Germans used chlorine gas against the British soldiers on April 22, 1915. Fighting without masks in the area, the British army suffered 6,000 fatalities. Mir Dast, injured and in severe pain, continued fighting despite wave after wave of chlorine gas attacks.

In the evening, Mir Dast, after repulsing the enemy attack, took the lead and marched his way to safety along with the remaining soldiers, winning commendation for rescuing the life of eight soldiers despite his own injuries.

On Aug 25, 1915, King George V personally decorated Mir Dast with Victoria Cross at the Royal Pavilion Military Hospital in London. In addition, the British gave him the title of ‘Khan Bahadur’ and promoted him to the rank of subedar. Before World War I, Indians serving in the military were given only the Indian Order of Merit, which was awarded to Mir Dast in 1909 after the Mohmand expedition.

His younger brother, Mir Mast, also joined the British India Army and was sent to France as a member of 58 Vaughans’ Rifles to take part in the War. He fought in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle against the Germans.

He had his own tales of bravery, but on the chilly night of March 4, 1915, he led 22 other soldiers from the Afridi Qamberkhel tribe, in abandoning their army and joining the Germans. Their argument was simple; they could not be part of the forces that were fighting against the Turks, their own Muslim brethren. That band of mutinous soldiers was later transported to another city away from the warfront.

On April 24, 1915, German Kaiser Wilhelm II decorated Mir Mast with Iron Cross, the highest German gallantry award. He was sent to Turkey where he met the then chief religious scholar and was awarded the title of Mujahid-i-Millat and the Islamic flag as an emblem.

He was later dispatched to Afghanistan as a Turkish envoy to persuade the Afghans to join the fight against the Allied forces. This mission to Afghanistan, however, did not accomplish the goal.

Before leaving Kabul in May 1915, Mir Mast got assurance from Afghan military chief and Prince Nasrullah Khan for financing military expeditions from the Tirah valley.

But the British got an early warning and reacted through Peshawar Commissioner Ross Keppel, who along with tribal leaders, burnt down the houses of Mir Mast and his companions. Mir Mast later died in the Spanish influenza epidemic while the War was still raging.

The descendants of these Afridi brothers live around Shagai and Warsak in the outskirts of Peshawar, where, Alamgir Afridi, one of the great-grandsons, has retained all the historic documents of his ancestors.

Zubair Khan
Peshawar

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2021