State-Building and its limits in Waziristan, 1849-1914

What is it about?

This article explores British attempts to 'pacify' the Waziristan frontier in the period after 1849. We show how colonial authority was projected through violence and trace some of the many ways in which frontier populations responded to colonial ingress.

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Why is it important?

Our detailed reading of the Waziristan frontier challenges prevailing accounts' emphasis on the importance of 'grand strategy' and metropolitan decision-making. We show instead how local factors shaped the interactions of colonial forces and indigenous populations, and how attempts to coerce and to conciliate local peoples relied on broadly similar forms of engagement. These, we suggest, illustrate the key mechanisms through which colonial power in South Asia was constituted.