In August a 400 strong force of the Chitral Bodyguard, under Mata ul-Mulk, arrived in Skardu, backed by four light Mountain Guns.
[citation needed] The Gilgit Scouts left Skardu and pushed on into Ladakh, while the Bodyguard, with the help of artillery, took the Kharpoche Fort within weeks.
[14][15] Following the death of Mehtar Muzaffar ul-Mulk and the constitutional crisis which subsequently erupted in Chitral State, the powers of the Bodyguard were curtailed.
The Bodyguard also had a Russian PM M1910 machine gun which had been donated by a Central Asian refugee prince fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution.
The Chitral Bodyguard followed the ancient Chitrali tradition of going into battle with the accompaniment of musicians playing war tunes [18] or Jhang Waar.
During the capture of Birkot, the Afghans were surprised when they heard the Jhang Waar playing at dawn, as they did not have a tradition of martial music.