BLACK MOUNTAIN, mountain range and district on the Hazara border of the North-West Frontier Province of India, in 3o' N., 73° E. Length, 25 to 50m. ; average height, 8,000ft. It rises from the Indus basin near the village of Kiara, and runs north parallel to the river. The tribes which inhabit the west of the Black Mountain are all sub-sections of the Yusafzai Pathans. The Black Mountain is chiefly notable for four British expeditions: I. Under Lt.-Col. F. IVlackeson, in 1852–J4, against the Hassanzais. The occasion was the murder of two British customs officers. A force of 3,80o British troops traversed their country, destroying their villages and grain, etc.
2. Under Maj.-Gen. A. T. Wilde in 1868. The occasion was an attack on a British police post at Oghi in the Agror Valley by all three tribes. A force of 12,500 British troops entered the country and the tribes made submission.
3. The first Hazara expedition in 1888. The cause was the constant raids made by the tribes on villages in British territory, culminating in an attack on a small British detachment, in which two English officers were killed. A force of 12,500 British troops traversed the country of the tribes, and severely punished them. Punishment was also inflicted on the Hindustani Fanatics of Palosi.
4. The second Hazara expedition of 18q1. The Black Moun tain tribes fired on a force within British limits. A force of 7,300 British troops traversed the country. The tribesmen made their submission and entered into an agreement with the Government to preserve the peace of the border.
The Black Mountain tribes took no part in the general fron tier rising of 1897, and after the disappearance of the Hindustani Fanatics they sank into comparative unimportance.