Landi Kotal: History
Landi Kotal was the westernmost part of the Khyber held by the British during their rule of the Indian subcontinent. In 1897 the Afridis attacked Landi Kotal and other posts in the Khyber Pass. Although the Khyber Rifles put up a stiff defence, Landi Kotal was overrun, as the Rifles lacked water. The British counter-attacked with a force of 34,500 men under Sir William Lockhart, defeating the Afridis, although the Afridis took the town again during the second Anglo-Afghan War.
The Landi Kotal fort during the period of British rule was of the ordinary type, consisting of a keep and an outer fort with accommodation for 5 British officers and 500 native officers and men. From 1899, like the other posts in the Khyber, it had been garrisoned by the Khyber Rifles, an irregular corps of militia recruited from the tribes of the Khyber Agency.
In 1925 the heavily engineered Khyber Pass Railway was opened, linking Jamrud to Landi Kotal.