Edge of Empire: The British Political Officer and Tribal Administration on the North-West Frontier 1877-1947

Created in the late eighteenth century by the East India Company to manage relations with the princely rulers of the Indian States, political officers developed into a mechanism by which Britain could manage remote territories through relations with local power brokers. In this study, the role of the political officer on the Western Frontier of India between 1877–1947 is examined in detail. Providing an account of the personalities and mechanisms of colonial influence/tribal control in what...