This study is an account explaining how the British and Indian armies adapted to the peculiar demands of fighting an irregular tribal opponent in the mountainous no man's land between India and Afghanistan. It does so by discussing how a tactical doctrine of frontier fighting was developed and "passed on" to succeeding generations of soldiers. The book demonstrates that this form of colonial warfare always exerted a powerful influence on the organization, equipment, training and ethos of the army in India.

For generations of British and Indian Officers and men, the North-West Frontier was the scene of repeated skirmishes and major campaigns against the trans-border Pathan tribes who inhabited the mountainous no-man's land between India and Afghanistan. This scholarly study explains how units of the Army in India adapted to particular requirements of this distinctive form of colonial warfare which represented an enduring military problem for these guardians of the Raj. Frontier fighting during the nineteenth century prompted the development of a unique doctrine for operations in mountainous terrain against an irregular tribal opponent. This book traces how these specialized principles and minor tactics were refined and passed on to later generations of soldiers between 1849 and 1947 as a written doctrine and system of training.