Afridi tribesmen at the Kohat Pass

This photograph of Afridi tribesmen at the Kohat Pass is from an album of rare historical photographs depicting people and places associated with the Second Anglo-Afghan War. The Kohat Pass links the town of Kohat with Peshawar further to north. The pass is the home territory of the Pashtun Afridi tribe, who were regarded by the British authorities as a strongly independent and “warlike” tribe. The Afridi men shown here are observing the photographer, who might have been John Burke. He was rejected as an official photographer but accompanied the 12,000-strong Peshawar Valley Field Force anyway as it crossed the pass.

Source: Library of Congress

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