John Coke (EICo) - Appointed Deputy Commissioner of Kohat

Appointed Deputy Commissioner of Kohat

In 1850 he was appointed Deputy Commissioner of Kohat, with civil and military charge of the district on the frontier of Afghanistan, then in a very critical and disturbed state, the Hill Tribes making constant raids on the villages. Kohat at this time was the most law- less district in the Punjaub. During the five years it was under his charge it became distinguished for its loyalty and good government. When Lord Napier of Magdala, as Commander-in-Chief in India, lately visited the district in his tour of inspection, he assured Major-General Coke that he was by no means forgotten by the inhabitants, whom he had endeavoured to rule to their own benefit and the advantage of the State.

Colonel G. B. Malleson, C.S.I., in his " History of the Indian Mutiny," writes —

" Colonel Coke was one of the best known and most distinguished officers of the Punjaub Frontier Force. To a thorough knowledge of his profession he added an acquaintance with the natives of India not to be surpassed, and a rare power of bending them to his will. He had seen much service. He had been with Sir Charles Napier in Upper Sind, with Gough at Chilianwala and Gujrat, with Gilbert in pursuit of the Sikhs. After the conclusion of the second Sikh War, he served continuously, up to the outbreak of the Mutiny, on the frontier. There his name became a household word. Scarcely an expedition was undertaken against the wild border tribes but Coke bore a part in it. Twice was he wounded ; but his unflinching demeanour, his power of leadership, whilst it gained the supreme confidence of his men, extorted respect and admiration from his enemies. Wherever he might, be his presence was a power."

He was first wounded in the Kohat Pass in 1853. In September, 1855, he received the thanks of the Governor-General, Lord Dalhousie, for the conduct of his regiment at the capture of the intrenchments on the Summana Mountains, 5,000 feet high. The regiment commenced the ascent at ten o'clock on the night of the 1 September, and did not get back until about the same hour on the 2nd, being twenty-four hours at work. Lord Dalhousie wrote : —

" Brigadier Chamberlain has remarked that any man might be proud to command such troops. He has ample ground for the remark, and the Government may be both proud and happy in the knowledge that it possesses troops able and willing to perform so gallant a service, and an officer capable of planning, leading, and executing such attacks as are described in the papers under notice."