ABSTRACT
The period 1924-30 was a curious one for the Frontier in some respects. On the one hand, there was the restoration of civil authority in Waziristan, structural innovations in the shape of the Armed Civil Forces (ACF) as well as the increasing use of airpower, and a subsequent although predictably impermanent decline in the levels of tribal violence. On the other hand, there was a gradual growth in the level of nationalist political activism within the settled districts in the shape of the Khudai Khidmatgar (KK). This Pashtun nationalist movement threatened to push its influence into the tribal agencies, serving to reverse the decline in violence and cause some truly uncomfortable moments for the authorities as numerous tribal lashkars threatened the settled districts and the capital Peshawar for prolonged periods in the summer of 1930. Another innovation in the administration of the tribes during this period was the increasing use of airpower as a tool of influence and control.
