skills- and familiarity with both the local conditions. Similarly, the Scouts of the Frontier Corps understood both the local terrain and the local political minefields, that is, who could be trusted (e.g. the Turi), and who could never (almost invariably, this would mean the Mahsuds); who was currently nursing a grievance and therefore best avoided, and who had just had a claim settled to their satisfaction and might be uncharacteristically friendly. Like many things British, the development of the units of Scouts into the Frontier Corps was organic, unplanned and initially unsystematic. It began, in the British manner, as an improvisation to meet a need; it was maintained because it guaranteed certain unique skills at an acceptable price (the great Empire may have vaunted its 'pomp and circumstance' to wow the impressionable, but behind the scenes the deciding factor was often simply the acceptability or otherwise to HM Treasury) and only then was the principle regularised, standardised and systemised (cf. the development of the Frontier Force, from irregulars to a corps d'elite). Chronology 1878: the Khyber Rifles 1889: the Zhob Militia 1892: the Kurram Militia 1900: the Chitral Scouts 1900: the North Waziristan Militia 1900: the South Waziristan Militia 1913: the Gilgit Scouts 1914–18: the Great War in Europe and the Near East 1917: the Mohmand Militia 1919: Third Anglo-Afghan War 1919: Khyber Rifles disbanded 1921: South Waziristan Militia disbanded 1921: Mohmand Militia disbanded 1922: the Tochi Scouts 1922: the South Waziristan Scouts 1939–45: the Second World War 1946: the Pishin Scouts 1946: Khyber Rifles reformed 1947: independence of Pakistan in 1947 1948: the Chagai Militia 1949: the Northern Scouts 1949: the Thal Scouts 1960: the Mahsud Scouts 1961: the Bajaur Scouts 1964: the Karakoram Scouts 1965: the Kalat Scouts 1973: the Shawal Scouts Location Geographically, the Scouts were located, from north to south, as follows: The Gilgit Scouts. HQ: Gilgit The Chitral Scouts The Khyber Rifles The Kurram Militia. HQ: Parachinar The North Waziristan Militia, then: The Tochi Scouts. HQ: Miranshah. The South Waziristan Militia, then: The South Waziristan Scouts. HQ: (Militia): Wana, then (Scouts): Jandola. The Zhob Militia. HQ: Fort Sandeman (The Pishin Scouts) Tribal affiliations The Frontier Corps were not founded expressly on a tribal basis, but the older corps drew their recruits from the local tribal area: the Khyber Rifles from the tribes bordering the Khyber; namely the Afridi, Shinwari, and Mullagori the Kurram Militia from