late 1940s a Tribal Lashkar from former FATA had descended on the occupied Kashmir valley after a call for jihad given by Pir of Wana, a spiritual elder of Wana who had a great following among the tribesmen of South Waziristan thus giving many sleepless nights to Indian army stationed in occupied valley. There are many tribal chieftains who try to claim credit for performing heroic feats during this war against Indian army, known in history as Kashmir war but the fact of the matter is that a majority of tribesmen that formed tribal Lashkar which invaded Kashmir to get it liberated from Dogra Raja belonged to the Mehsud tribe of South Waziristan. A sizable number of tribesmen belonging to Sulemankhel, a section of the Ghaljai tribe living in South Waziristan had also participated in that Lashkar in a big way. The followers of Pir of Wana of South Waziristan formed a big portion of that Lashkar. It is in the evidence that the number of the tribesmen forming lashkar was 70000 out which 20000 alone were from Mehsud tribe of SWA. Ghiljai tribesmen of Afghanistan one of whose section known as Suleman khels which lives in South Waziristan had also participated in that Lashkar in a large number.
The names of noteworthy leaders of that Lashkar were Malik Gulab Khan Mehsud , popularly named as Gulabi Malik and Mir Badshah Manzai. Pir Mohammad Yousaf Gilani of Wana a spiritual leader of Wana had given a fatwa for liberation of Kashmir who had a large following among the FATA tribesmen.
The official war documents bill the tribesmen forming this lashkar as indomitable. It is written in them that in chilly winter it fought Indian army valiantly tooth and nail and forced it to retreat. The Indian Air force subjected this lashkar to heavy bombardment but it could not halt its advance. These tribesmen had almost reached at the doors of Srinagar when a conspiracy ,which the leaders of this lashkar, allege deprived them to taste fruit of victory .
The official papers of the period when these tribesmen were knocking the door of occupied valley speak of extraordinary military skill of these tribesmen and bravery with which they had beaten the hell out of Indian army’s contingents in Kashmir.
The perusal of war documents also reveal that the march of tribal Lashkar toward Srinagar could not be halted by bombardment on then by Indian Air force.
Major General Akbar Khan in his book Raiders in Kashmir mentions the bravery of one Khonay Khan Mehsud who belonged to Wazir Gai section of Mehsud tribe. He has written that as far as military skill of Mehsud tribesmen of that lashkar was concerned, it was strictly in accordance with text books on warfare skills, which we have been training our army with for years but which was inborn among the tribesmen.
