Policies of the British Raj Government on Frontier Tribal Areas
The British Raj government has successively implemented the Closed-Border Policy,the Forward Policy and the Modified Forward Policy towards the frontier tribal areas.During the implementation of the Closed Border Policy,the British Raj government got along with the tribes mainly through appeasing and signing agreements,while also constructing a defense system against the tribes.But these policies didn't penetrate into the tribes,thus failing to govern the frontier tribal areas.After Russia extended its influence to the northern border of Afghanistan,the British Raj government adopted the Forward Policy for the frontier tribal areas.In the initial implementation of the policy,the British Raj government established the Political Agent system and the Malik(tribal leaders)system in the frontier tribal areas,maintaining military presence while using local people to form militias and recruit soldiers to maintain law and order.After Curzon took office as Governor General of British Raj,he adjusted the Forward Policy.On one hand,he adopted the strategy of"Retreat and Concentration"to reduce the use of military force.On the other hand,he created the North-West Frontier Province to unify the management of frontier defense and tribal affairs.The Forward Policy helped the British Raj government bring the frontier tribal areas under its control,but it was essentially security-oriented rather than development-oriented,and could not maintain local stability in the long term.After the Third Anglo-Afghan War,the British Raj government adopted the Modified Forward Policy for the frontier tribal areas,and the main measures included military occupation and direct management of the areas,mainly including military occupation and direct administration of the area,establishment of a formal militia system,improvement of allowances system,construction of roads,expansion of the scope of application of the Frontier Crimes Regulation to the area and so on.The Modified Forward Policy was constructive to some extent,but it relied too much on military intervention,undermining the independence of the tribes and leading to occasional tribal uprisings.
British Raj GovernmentFrontierPashtun Tribal AreasFrontier Policy
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