When, in 1878, the Government of India called upon the Commander-in-Chief to put forward proposals for the conduct of a campaign in Afghanistan, Sir Frederick Haines offered the suggestion, _inter alia_, that “a demonstration should be made early in the operations of an advance by the Khyber, by encamping out a certain proportion of the Peshawar troops, making arrangements with the Khyberis for their passage through the pass.”[103] In consequence of the above, Major Cavagnari was instructed to come to a friendly understanding with the Khyber Pass Afridis, and to arrange for the passage of troops through the defiles at certain rates. Major Cavagnari based his estimate of the money payments to be made to the headmen of the clans, on the sums paid by Colonel Mackeson for the same purpose during the latter period of the first Afghan War; and he finally compounded with the six clans of Khyber Afridis for a payment of Rs. 5950 per mensem, which sum was willingly accepted. When, in September 1880, northern Afghanistan was finally evacuated by our troops, the Indian Government, recognising the undesirability of maintaining any regular force in the Khyber, expressed a wish to hand the pass over entirely to the independent charge of the neighbouring clans, provided some wholly satisfactory arrangement could be come to for keeping the road open, and for safeguarding the caravans passing to and fro between Afghanistan and India. Early in 1881 a complete jirgah of all the Khyber clans assembled in Peshawar, and an agreement was arrived at whereby the independence of the Afridis was recognised, and they engaged, in consideration of certain allowances, to maintain order throughout the Khyber; the Government of India reserved the right of re-occupation of the pass, and was to take all tolls; the Afridis providing a force of Jazailchis paid for by the Indian Government, and were to deal by a general jirgah with all offences committed on the road. The allowances were fixed at Rs. 85,860 per annum for the six clans immediately concerned with the policing of the pass, and for the Shinwaris of Loargai; and a further sum of approximately the same amount was guaranteed by the Government of India for the upkeep of the Jazailchis—since improved into the Khyber Rifles—a body about 550 strong. As a set-off against these money grants the tolls on caravans amounted to some 60,000 rupees per annum. The allowances then granted are to-day substantially the same; the pass is again in charge of the Khyber Afridis, and is again guarded, from Jumrud to Lundi Kotal, by the Khyber Rifles, who have, however, been completely reorganised, and are now a body 1700 strong, with six British officers. [Sidenote: The Khyber]