On the outbreak of the war in Afghanistan a convoy route was opened between Thal and Bannu, and which, following for the most part the line of the Kurram River, passed through the independent territory of the Utmanzais and Ahmadzais; it had been traversed during the Kabul Khel expedition of 1859, but had not since been used by us. Many detachments and contingents of all arms marched by this route during the winter of 1878–79, and Wazir camels were extensively used in the carriage of supplies for the Kurram Valley Field Force. For assisting in these arrangements, allowances amounting to Rs. 1000 per mensem were made to the more important Utmanzai and Ahmadzai chiefs, and the route remained open until the latter part of March 1880, when, in view of a fanatical excitement fanned by the Mullah Adkar, the road was closed. During the time the Thal-Bannu route was in use, the number of offences or raids committed was particularly small, considering the number of valuable convoys passed through; but almost immediately the road was closed, a serious raid was committed on a Turi caravan near Thal by a mixed band of Darwesh Khels, Mahsuds and Dawaris, and on a Khattak labour camp on the Thal-Kurram road. A few weeks later—on the night of the 1st–2nd May—a determined attack was made on the military post at Chupri, eight miles to the north-west of Thal, garrisoned by fifty bayonets and thirty sabres. The raiders were some 200 men of the Darwesh Khels, Mahsuds and Dawaris; and forty of these, having by some means gained access to the enclosure of the post, inflicted upon our troops a loss of eleven killed (including a British officer), and sixteen wounded before they were beaten off. No reparation for this outrage ever appears to have been exacted. [Sidenote: Expedition of 1880] _Expedition against the Malik Shahi Wazirs, October 1880._—By October 1880, the fines due from the Kabul Khel and Malik Shahi Wazirs had amounted to a considerable sum, chiefly on account of thefts committed by them in the Kurram and near Thal during the Afghan war; and there appearing to be some difficulty in collecting the amount, a force, under Brigadier-General J. J. H. Gordon, C.B., entered the Kabul Khel Hills on the evening of the 27th October. The force was composed of: Two guns, 1/8th Royal Artillery. 250, 85th King’s Own Light Infantry. 250, 18th Bengal Cavalry. 250, 20th Punjab Infantry.