The town of Barkhan was occupied by Marri-Khetran forces and raids were made upon villages in the Sibi and Loralai districts; railways in the area were also attacked.

Miles inflicted a heavy defeat upon a Marri-Khetran force at Fort Munro on 15 March and then captured Barkhan, ending Khetran involvement in the rising.

The rising inspired rebellions by the Mengal and Gurgnari tribes, who killed their own sardars, and by the Musakhel, which was put down by part of the Marri Field Force.

[4][5] Marri Country, at an elevation of 800–3,000 metres (2,600–9,800 ft), is mountainous and difficult to traverse with few passes; it is surrounded by the flatter land of the Sibi and Indus basins.

[10] In October 1917 the Marri sardar, Mir Khair Bux Mari, visited Quetta to pay homage to the Viceroy of India, Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford.

During the visit the sardar and his chiefs seem to have been influenced by rumours, common at the time, that the British were losing battles in the First World War and were withdrawing troops from India.

[2] On 19 February McConaghey, with fifty sowars of the 3rd Skinner's Horse, arrived at Gumbaz, a pass in Marri country, where a British post and garrison was maintained.

[6][10][2] He found that the Marri tribal levies had deserted and the pass had been blocked by a force of tribesmen who had cut the telegraph line to Kohlu.

[6] At 1.30am on 20 February the British post at Gumbaz was attacked by a force of Marri, estimated as being 1,000 – 3,000 strong, equipped with scaling ladders, under the command of Mir Khudadad Mari.

[6][12][11] The British garrison of 75 sowars, in two parties under Lieutenant-Colonel Gaussen and Lieutenant Harold Watson, together with a number of Indian Imperial Police officers defended the post for the next six hours.

[6] Despite this, the British commander at Barkhan, a police officer, determined that the town could not be defended and withdrew his men to Dera Ghazi Khan on 5 March.

[12] Miles' column included infantry from the 55th Coke's Rifles and was reinforced by the Peshawar Battery of the Indian Mountain Artillery under Major EG Campbell on 9 March.

[18] Detachments of these units advanced to Fort Munro on 13 March where, two days later, they were attacked by a force of 3,000 Marri and Khetrans, armed largely with swords.

[12][10] The next day Hardy moved on Maiwand, by which time he considered that the main threat was over and the Marri limited to only minor raids against his men.

[14][16] The Royal Flying Corps, despite being hindered by poor weather, engine problems and mountainous terrain, operated with Hardy's column carrying out bombing and strafing attacks and aerial reconnaissance up to 20 miles (32 km) in advance of the British forces.

[12] The unit's commander, Captain George Roulston Travis, during a bombing raid was forced to land in Marri-held territory and walk the 21 miles (34 km) to Hardy's column; he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his contributions to the campaign.

[15] Hardy occupied Kahan without resistance and on 8 April Khair Bux Mari surrendered, marking the formal end of the British combat operations.

[27] At the campaign's conclusion a council of elders, led by the wazir of Las Bela, met at Harnai to decide peace terms.

[29] The council concluded that the rising had resulted from a feeling of self-importance among the Marri and Khetran tribes, with the immediate trigger being the rumoured reduction in British manpower.

A financial penalty, totalling 558,580 rupees, as compensation for damage to British government and private property was levied on the tribes; due for repayment in four instalments over the following years.

The excuse was that both leaders had agreed to provide recruits to the British, but both men were unpopular within their tribes for their attempts to curb raiding activities.

The Musakhel, a Pashtun tribe located north of Khetran territory, also rose in March 1918 but were subdued by units of the Marri Field Force in co-operation with militiamen from Zhob.

[14] Many units of the Marri Field Force, including the South Lancashire Regiment, Kent Cyclist Battalion, the Peshawar Mountain Battery, the Bengal Sappers & Miners, the Bombay Sappers & Miners and the 2nd King Edward's Own Gurkha Rifles (The Sirmoor Rifles) were also deployed in the 1919 Third Anglo-Afghan War.

[34] In his official dispatches at the end of the Marri Punitive Expedition Wapshare mentioned the good work of Hardy and Miles during the war and that of the Indian government agent Henry Dobbs.