In 1877 the British government in India proposed reducing the allowance to the Jowaki Afridi tribe for guarding the Kohat Pass. In response the tribe cut the telegraph wire and raided into British territory, leading to two British sorties into its territory. The first sortie of three columns in 1877 was led by Colonel Frederic David Mocatta, 3rd Sikh Infantry and the second of two columns in 1877-1878 by two brigadier generals, Charles Patton Keyes and Campbell Claye Grant Ross.