Abstract
The paper examines different colonial policies that the British
administration envisioned for India’s North West Frontier during
1849-1901. The policies were devised to bring the Pashtun
dominated areas of the North West Frontier under single central
authority. The paper argues that the British policies were
formulated for the defence of the Indian colony, while it did not
provide a chance to the Pashtuns to get integrated into the British
imperial system. Furthermore, the policies were framed purely
from a military perspective ignoring the political and economic
outlooks and the British administration used brutal force to
implement them. However due to the Pashtuns’ distinct tribal
social structure and lack of the concept of centralized rule, these
policies could not achieve the desired colonial objectives.
