where are the heights of dargai, which are subject to a bagpipe tune?

Answer 1

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Tunes of Glory:
The Heights of Dargai

MIDI File: The Heights of Dargai

The Heights of Dargai tune commemorates an important Battle Honour of the Gordon Highlanders, now part of The Highlanders (Gordons, Seaforths & Camerons). But before the piping, a bit of background to the battle.
Background: The Tirah campaign of 1897 on India's notorious North-West frontier was part of what was known at the time as the "Great Game" between Britain and Russia. Throughout the last half the 19th century Russia's territorial and colonial ambitions rivalled those of Britain and nearly brought the two Empires to war. (In the 1880s the "Russian threat" was even taken seriously as far away as New Zealand where coastal batteries such as Fort Kelburn in Wellington were established).

Afghanistan was the crucible of this strategic conflict. The north of India, the jewel in the Imperial crown, is bordered by the Himalayas, and to the north west by a spur of the Hindu Kush range. Afghanistan was situated across this range with the inhospitable deserts of central Asia to its north and Persia (i.e. Iran and Iraq) to its east.

However this natural barrier could not be relied upon for India's security. Several passes existed through the range, including the famous Khyber and Bolan passes, the former of which for centuries had been the trading route between India and the Orient and middle east. The strategic importance of the passes cannot be overstated. The termini of these passes fell in what, by the latter half of the 19th century were Britain's possessions in greater India (i.e. the Punjab and Kashmir, now mainly Pakistan). The entrance to the north-western ends of the passes was in Afghanistan - a country into which at the beginning of the 19th century no "infidel" white man had hitherto entered.



The Drum Major and
Pipe Major of the
Gordon Highlanders
prior to amalgamation
in 1994

Throughout the 19th century Britain oscillated between "close" and "forward" defence policies, each change of Government seemingly also changing the defence policy. The Indus river, which separated the Punjab and frontier provinces from central India, was eventually acknowledged to be inadequate to halt an army invading through the passes. The critical question in north-west frontier policy was always to what degree Britain should attempt to extend its control beyond its immediate Indian territories to thwart any encroachments by Russia which had begun to extend its influence in both central Asia and Persia.

For this reason Afghanistan and the north-west frontier were always foremost among the Imperial Government's concerns. The first Afghan War of 1839 ended in disaster for the East India Company's Army of the Indus. Having entered Afghanistan through the Bolan pass and occupied Kabul, the army became complacent. Opposition was mobilized, and the army was surrounded at Kabul and forced into a humiliating retreat through Afghanistan. Only one man of the 30,000 army was allowed to survive the harrowing ordeal - and only then so he would be able to tell the story.

Britain kept away from Afghanistan until 1879 when the Russian threat could no longer be ignored. Territorial encroachments and the advance through Afghanistan of a Russian sponsored army on a "Jihad" (holy war) against the British forced the Government's hand - but not before the British Residency in Kabul was stormed by Afghan troops who killed all its valiant defenders. Afghanistan was invaded for a second time, but by a very different British Army. After the Indian Mutiny of 1857 the East India Company's powers were diminished with administration of the colony now overseen directly by the British Government through the Vice Roy of India. The Army was reformed, with many Sikhs now forming its backbone. Replacing the "Brown Bess" flintlock of the Napoleonic era was the Martini-Henry breach loading rifle, which would be pitted against the match-lock "jezails" of the Afghans.

It was the first time the Khyber pass had been carried by force (Alexander the Great is thought to have entered India in the fourth century BC through the Bolan pass to the south). After the tremendous successes of the early campaign, the catastrophic defeat at Maiwand in the south of Afghanistan was redeemed by the triumph of the march from Kabul to Kandahar. After the War the British were able to establish a relatively stable and not entirely hostile regime, and Britain retained control of the passes and mountain provinces to prevent further threats. Needless to say, Scottish soldiers (the 78th Rossshire Buffs, later the Seaforth Highlanders) featured prominently in these actions.


Officers of the Gordon Highlanders in their

Answer 2

NW Pakistan where the Gordon Highlanders charged the heights and took command of the pass.