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i'lCTURE i.

Maatan Gul— Kala Khel, Afridi,

THE

PATHAN BOEDERLAND

A consecutive account of the country and people on and beyond the Indian
frontiei from Chitral to Dera Ismail Khan

WITH MAP AND ILLUSTRATIONS

BY

C. M. ENRIQUEZ

^lat Punjabis

SECOND EDITION

CALCUTTA AND SIMLA

THACKER, SPINK & CO

1921

•I'lM^i!^! EL

PRINTED BT

THAOKBB, SPINK fc CO

OALOVTrA

.1.1 il'iUtJ.' o

]l3el)tcateti

TO

ilf y FATHER
OOLONEL A. O. EHBIQUSZ, I.&.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

The Pathan Borderland is a picture of the North- West
Frontier of India as it was before the upheavals of the
late war. Vast changes have taken place since the book
was first written. Conditions have changed both in the
Military and Political sense, and the recruiting areas are
no longer what they were. Our ideas as to the values of
various races as soldiers have changed with more intimate
experience. Nevertheless, it seems desirable that the
original character of this book should be retained now
that a demand is made for a second edition. Writers
more in touch with recent events will write of the frontier
as it is. The Pathan Borderland represents it as it was
at the period of its maximum efficiency and stability before
the present state of transition supervened. The notes on
the distribution of our forces, the table showing the state
of recruiting in 1908, and especially the Appendix giving
the strength of our Levies and Militias as they originally
existed, are of special interest now that a Pathan War,
an Afghan War and two Waziri Wars have intervened.
I have therefore reproduced them here.

Considerable additions have been made in the present
edition, and Chapters IV and VIII to XIV have been
entirely re- written.

July 1920 C. E.

PREFACE.

The absence of any work dealing consecutively with
that part of the Indian Frontier described in the following
pages, has encouraged me to arrange and publish the notes
which I have collected during three years. My position
as Assistant Recruiting Staff Officer for Pathans has
enabled me to come in close contact with the natives, and
to travel leisurely amongst them, along the ' Pathan
Borderland.' A writer of more ability and experience
than myself will doubtless one day undertake the task
I have attempted, of describing, in succession, the districts
along the border, from Chitral to Dera Ismail Khan, and
will do the subject fuller justice. In the meanwhile, if
I succeed in interesting even a small section of the public,
I shall consider myself well repaid for the time I have
devoted to producing this book. I most earnestly hope
that my readers will regard my work with a kindly and
indulgent spirit and overlook the many errors which no
doubt these pages contain. I must take this opportunity
of expressing my thanks to the Editors of the Civil and
Military Gazette and the Pioneer for their courtesy in
allowing me to republish many notes and articles which
have already appeared in their respective papers. My
thanks are also due to my father, Colonel A. D. Enriquez,
whose help has been invaluable, and whose intimate
knowledge of the frontier and of Oriental languages has
always been placed generously at my disposal.

Jhelum, Punjab : ^ CM. ENRIQUEZ, Lieut.,

-}

1909. f 21st Punjabis.

CONTENTS.

Chapter

Paoe.

I.

CMtral

1

II.

Yusufzai ..

27

III.

Peshawar . .

53

IV.

Jalozai

83

V.

Kohat

89

VI.

Samana

. 106

VII.

Kurram

. 120

VIII.

A Tale from Tirah . .

. 134

IX.

Bannu

. 143

X.

Frontier Field Firing . .

. 154

XI.

Toclii

. 159

XII.

Shahbash Ham Din . .

. 167

XIII.

Sheikli Budin

. 177

XIV.

Derajat and Waziristan

. 185

And he shall desire loneliness, and his desire shall bring

Hard on his heels a thousand wheels, a people and a king ;

And he shall come back o'er his own track and by his scarce cool camp ;

There he shall meet the roaring street, the derrick, and the stamp.

For he must blaze a nation's ways with hatchet and with brand

Till on his last won wilderness an empire's bulwarks stand.

RUDYABD KiPLINO.

. ILLUSTEATIONS.

Picture

I. Mastan Gul — K&XA Khel, Afbisi Frontispiece.

Page.
n. The Euins of Takht-i-Bahi ,. .. 38

III. A Colossal Buddha excavated at Sam-

Bahlol, neab Peshawak . . . . 41

IV. A Buddha Image of the Gandhaba period,

DUG UP NEAR PeSHAWAB . . . . 42

V. Hassan Gul — Kala Khel, Afridi . . 54

VI. Sepoy Nub Haidab — ^Adam Khel, Afeddi . . 89

VII. Lance Naik Nub Khan — ^Adam Khel, Afridi 94

106
112

VIII. Amin Shah — ^A Khattak,
IX. Sepoy Lala Jan — ^Ali Khel, Orakzai
X. Lance Naik Rakhman Shah — Mishti,

Orakzai
XI. Sepoy Tokheb — Rabia Khel, Orakzai

134
143

THE

PATHAN BORDERLAND.

CHAPTER I.
Chiteal.

The North-West Frontier— Its consolidation— Malakand—Chakdara
— Excavations in Swat — ^The Talash Valley — Massaga — Alexander
the Great — Wayside monuments — Pathan graveyards — Mian
Gul Jan— Badshah Khan, of Dir— The Panjkora Valley— Dir—
Lowarai Pass — Chitralis — Ziarat — Chitral — ^Tirich Mir — Polo —
Dancing — ^Kafirs — ^Tambuk.

Before exploring from top to bottom the Pathan

Borderland, it may be interesting to survey the methods

which have been adopted during recent years for the

establishment of a safe and permanent frontier. Lord

Curzon's economic reforms for efficient military control,

along this turbulent section of the marches of British

India, have had in view the withdrawal, as far as possible,

of regular troops from advanced trans-frontier positions,

and their concentration in large centres within easy reach.

Their place on the border has been taken by various

corps of Military Police, Levies and Militia, raised

locally ; while four movable columns are always

E, PB ]

2 PATHAN BOEDEELAND.

ready to operate at a moment's notice from tlieir
respective cantonments of Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu,
and Dera Ismail Khan. Thus the garrison of regular
troops in Gilgit has been entirely replaced by Kashmir
Imperial Service troops. In the Chitral district there
is now but one regular regiment, which has its head-
quarters in Killa Drosh. The irregular Chitral Scouts,
numbering nearly one thousand men, are located in Chitral
itself, and they are further reinforced by a small body
of Levies, one hundred and ten strong. A single
battalion of Native Infantry is divided between
Chakdara and Dargai, and there is another regiment
in Malakand. About two hundred Swat Levies have
recently been raised. The Khyber Pass, the historic
road to India for all invading armies,* is held solely
by the Khyber Rifles, who are 1,691 strong. A chain
of fortified posts held by Border Military Police acts
as a screen in front of Peshawar. On the Samana,
Fort Lockhart is garrisoned by five companies of regulars,
there being only two companies in Hangu and one in
Thai, the terminus of the Miranzai Valley Railway. The
Samana Rifles, a corps of Militia, composed chiefly of
Afridis, Orakzais and Khattaks, hold the important
forts of Gulistan and Shinawari. From the Kurram

•Persians, Greeks, Seljuks, Tartars, Mongols, Pathans, Duranis
and Afghans — ^the hosts of Darius and Alexander, of Mahmud of
Ghazni, Taimur Lung, Babar and of Ahmad Shah, all marched to
India through the -Khyber defile. Nadir Shah outflanked the pass
and used a route through Tirah.

CHITEAL. O

all regular troops have been likewise withdrawn, and a
force of 1,372 Turis and other Pathans raised to replace
them. Means are also available for arming the Turi
Ioshkar in an emergency. The able assistance the Turis
rendered in the Khost expedition, and again in the action
of Peiwar Kotal, has placed their loyalty beyond doubt.
In Waziristan two corps of local irregulars, the North
and South Waziristan Militias, numbering respectively
1,276 and 1,495 rifles, hold the Tochi and Gomul Valleys,
and act as a check on the troublesome Mahsuds. The
number of regular troops serving beyond the administrative
border has thus been reduced from 10,200 in 1899 to
5,000 in 1909, and the considerable body thus released
is now massed in central localities. The Militias, Border
Military Police and Levies along the Pathan frontier
amounted to 10,440 in July 1908, and of these all but ,
1,150 are Pathans. Innumerable petty expeditions have
taught us where to select sites for forts, and where to
push forward roads and railways most advantageously.
Not the least wonderful of the many marvellous methods
employed in keeping our fickle and excitable neighbours
in order is the use made of the Pathans themselves to
protect our marches.*

A glance at the net work of road and railway commu-
nications, which forms an essential feature in the

* Note to Second Edition — It is obviously still undesirable to
show what changes have occurred in recent times. Nor can such
changes be considered permanent until our future attitude towards
Afghanistan, Waziristan and the Pathan Tribes has been decided.

4 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

scheme for efficient control, shows how comprehensive
are the detailed arrangements for the protection of the
North-West Frontier. The extension of the Pindi-
Kashmir cart-road from Bandipur to Gilgit is one of
the finest mountain roads in the world, and negotiates
some difficult and lofty passes. Chitral is connected by
telegraph with India by a line running round via Gilgit ;
that route being less exposed to mischievous interrup-
tions than would be the more direct one through Dir.
The road from Chakdara, over the Lowarai Pass to Chitral,
is everywhere six feet wide, and is bridged throughout
by wire bridges. Communication between Gilgit and
Chitral is now much improved, and telephones are exten-
sively used in Killa Drosh. Information regarding the
routes beyond Chitral is always available, and the passes
are visited and reported on yearly. The outbreak of
1897, and the consequent isolation of the Malakand, showed
the necessity of a railway line from Nowshera to Dargai,
though a broad gauge hne would certainly help better to
develop the trade which is yearly increasing, and which
in 1910 amounted to 23 lakhs of rupees. The road up the
Khyber Pass has been so far improved that heavy guns
can go with ease as far as Torkham, on the Afghan border.
The broad gauge line extends now to Jamrud. Work
on the still incomplete Loi Shilman railway came to a
standstill during the late Mohmand expedition. It is
finished and ready for use as far as Shahid Miana, about
six miles up the Cabul River gorge, beyond Warsak.
The Khyber Pass is further outflanked by the excellent

CHITRAL. 5

Malagori road, whicli leaves the Peshawar vale near Shahgai.
Reliable communication between Kohat and Peshawar
through the Kohat Pass has been estabhshed at last, and
an excellent tonga road, through the projecting neck of
Afridi country, is now quite safe for travellers. Kohat
is further linked to the main line by the recent completion
of the railway bridge over the Indus at Kushalgarh ; and
the Samana and Kurram have been placed within easy
reach of Kohat by the Miranzai Valley liae. A road fit for
big guns runs throughout the length of the Kurram to
the foot of the Peiwar Kotal, on the Afghan border ;
and the Tochi is similarly provided with a tonga road
to Datta Khel. The once inaccessible Bannu is now
connected by road with both Kohat and Dera Ismail
Khan. So, not only within the administrative border
is there a complete system of road and telegraph communi-
cations, but long feelers have been thrown right forward
through independent territory towards the Durand line,
in the directions of Chitral, Lundi Kotal, the Kurram
and Waziristan, thus enabling us to maintain a footing
amongst our troublesome neighbours. Further, intimate
and direct political intercourse with the trans-frontier
tribes has been facilitated by the creation, in August
1900, of the North-West Frontier Province.

Let us now join the annual Chitral Relief Column
on its way along the dusty road which quits the hospit-
able oasis of Mardan, and runs across the glaring 'put of
Jalala to Dargai. From thence we ascend the Malakand
ridge by the old Budhist track which leads more directly

b PATHAN BOEDEELAND.

to the Kotal, while the baggage winds its way slowly
along the graded road. A very early, start is usually
made on these first marches, as the heat, even in early
October, is severe towards midday. The view over the
Yusufzai plain from the Malakand, at sunrise, is most
imposing. Dargai nestles at the foot of the hills. The
groves of Mardan can be seen beyond the Takht-i-Bahi
ridge, whose summit is crowned with the extensive ruins
of a once flourishing Budhist city.* From the Takht-i-
Bahi many fine specimens of Greeko-Budhist statuary
have been excavated at intervals during the last sixty
years. The outline of the Cherat hills is indistinctly
visible through the yellow haze which foretells the approach-
ing heat of another day. Near the summit of the Kotal
is the grave of " Ginger," a gentleman who distinguished
himself as a bold standard-bearer during the attack on
the Malakand, and who appeared to have a charmed life,
until, at last, a bullet laid him low. A fresh wind usually
blows across the Malakand Pass, and we were glad to
descend the far side to North Camp, passing en route
such historical places as Crater Camp and Gibraltar
Hill. From the camp itself can be seen the spot where
Major Taylor was shot, while making his gallant sortie.
The whole country-side teems with memories of the 1895
and 1897 troubles. In 1895 the Malakand was taken
by assault, after having been shelled for five hours. On
that occasion the tribesmen were tempted away by a

* See picture IL

CHITEAL. I

feint towards the Shahkot, which is a pass further to the
east, leading across the mountains into Swat. North
Camp played an important part ia the events of the 1897
outbreak. It is a grateful haven of refuge for the Chitral
Relief Column ; and here, for the first time during the
march, existence, with only eighty-pound tents as a
protection from the fierce sun, is endurable.

The march to Chakdara is an easy one. A gentle
descent leads to the valley of the Swat River. Amandara
Pass, near which the Guides Cavalry made their famous
charge, is passed on the way. The Swat River is crossed
by a substantial iron bridge, from the further end of which
rises the fortress of Chakdara looking from a little distance
not unlike a great battleship. A halt of one day is usually
made here, which affords an opportunity for fishing in the
river, or shooting chicore on the surrounding heights.
About three miles distant up the valley lies Thana village,
which is worthy of a visit, not only on account of its
picturesqueness, but for its historical interest. It was
the first village to respond to the exhortations of the
Mad Mullah, and so became the birthplace of the
Great Pathan Revolt. Thana still retains a bad
reputation, and ugly wounds are constantly being brought
in from there for treatment in the Chakdara hospital.
Next to fighting and quarrelling, the chief occupation',
of its inhabitants is the weaving of the well-known 1
Swati blankets. These are handsome woollen rugs of/
a deep maroon colour, ornamented in black, green and
white.

O PATHAN BORDERLAND.

From the archseological point of view, the upper
part of the Swat Valley, above Thana, is full of interest.
It contains a great number of stupas, which, owing
to the unfriendly attitude of the Swatis, are never likely
to be explored. During the 1895 occupation, however,
most of these topes and ruins were mapped ; but time
and funds admitted of only one or two being excavated.
These were found to contain great quantities of coins and
statuary, bearing unmistakable signs of Grecian origin.
One building, in particular, which had apparently been
added to by Budhists and Hindus successively, was with-
out doubt a Greek temple. It was a square building,
supporting a hemispherical dome. Two ionic pillars upheld
the archway, through which the shrine was entered. The
entire porch and the pillars have been removed to the
British Museum. In this temple were foimd several Greek
lamps, and two statues, the one of a Greek dancing
girl, and the other of a Greek soldier, fully armed. An
important find in one of the topes was a frieze, illustrating
the life of Budha. The last scene depicted the cremation
of The Master after his death. A large subterranean
monastery was also explored ; and during some excava-
tionsj the working party came by accident upon a tomb.
Through the small hole made by a pickaxe, the outline
ef a shrouded figute with its arms folded, and its head
turned on one side, could be distinguished ; but as soon
as light and air got into the grave, the figure collapsed
into an outline of thin dust. From this tracing, the body
was found to measure five feet, seven inches. The best of

CHITRAL. y

nese relics have been placed in various museums. In many
of the Swat ruins, as well as in those of Yusufzai, the
use of the Gothic arch is frequent. Architecture had
reached a high standard even in those ancient days,
and the square, the pyramid and the hemisphere are all
represented.

Chakdara is the last outpost of civiHzation. Beyond
this point various military precautions, such as erecting
sangas and picqueting heights, have to be taken, and'
the day's march is never begun until it is quite light.
Along the road crowds of suspicious but highly picturesque-
looking, ruffians collect to watch the column go by. They
carry cartridge bandoliers, and are armed to the teeth
with knives, swords and every imaginable kind of fire-arm.
Their rifles are particularly interesting, and range from
the most antiquated old blunderbusses to more modern
weapons such as Martini-Henry's, and an occasional
London-made sporting rifle, doubtless stolen from some
Sahib. The tough hide Pathan shields are gettiiig rare ;
but as they are no longer of any use, their owners can
usually be induced to part with them for a few rupees.
These wayside watchers are chiefly zamindars, though
many cut-throats are ordered down to the road to be kept
under healthy observation while the column is passing.
The rifle in these parts cannot be discarded even to follow
the peaceful occupation of sowing and reaping, but must
be kept ever handy against a surprise visit from the
dushman. Other good-looking devils are the Swat Levies,
who, consoled with hookah and charpoi, carry out their not

10 PATHAN BORDEELAND.

too exacting duties of picqueting the adjacent heights.
The heights by the way, according to the Levies'
estimation, consist of any hillocks not more than twenty
yards from the road. Dressed in their white uniforms and
belts, and wearing their hair in exaggerated sidelocks,
they lounge about their mud forts looking hardly less
ferocious than their zamindar brothers.

A few miles beyond Chakdara, the road, now no
longer metalled, turns abruptly to the west and enters,
the TJch Valley which terminates in the Katgola Pass
(3,000 feet above sea-level) ; and beyond this point there
opens out the fertile vale of Talash. There are some
shady chenar trees at the head of this low pass, and we
halted here for a while to have breakfast, and to examine
the extensive ruins which cover the hills to the south
for a distance of several miles. Indeed, there seems
every reason to believe that the Talash Valley is classic
ground, and that the ruins are those of the ancient city of
Massaga, which Alexander the Great destroyed on his
way to India. According to Arrian, Alexander divided
his forces into two armies at Kdph^ne or Kophes (Cabul).
One-half marched by the direct route through the Khyber
to Peucelaotis (Peshawar). Thence it advanced and cross-
ed the Indus. The exact point at which the Greek army
crossed that river is much disputed. Some believe it was
at Nilab, and others are in favour of Attock. A native
tradition holds that Sikundar crossed from Amb to
Darband in Yusufzai. This supposition would strengthen
the theory of Abbott who locates the famous rock Aomos

CHITEAL. 11

in the Mahaban mountains, or of Cunningham who believes
that the position of the ruins at Eanigat, in the Swabi
district, agrees best with the vague descriptions of Alexan-
der's famous monumental altars. Alexander himself
marched towards the same goal through the difficult
country of Kunar, Bajaur, Swat and Buner. Curtiua
describes how " Alexander fording the Guroeus, entered
the coimtry between it and the Suastus, the chief city
of which was Massaga. This was captured, but not
without considerable difficulty. Its garrison fought with
obstinate courage till the death of their leader, when
they surrendered and evacuated the citadel."

" The scene of these occurrences," writes Bellew,
" can, I believe, be recognised in the valley of Talash
where are extensive ruins of massive fortffications and
other buildings that are described as covering the sur-
face for some miles along the brow of a steep range of
hills. These ruins are still called Guri, and the natives
have many legendary tales of Kafirs who built and dwelt
in them. They are on the south side of the Talash Glen,
and eight or nine ihiles from the left bank of the Guroeus,
which, there can be no doubt, is the modem Panjkora,
whilst the Suastus is evidently the Swat stream. The
route from Bajaur, from the remotest ages, has been through
^he Talash Glen over the hill pass on its northern boundary,*
and down to the village of Shukowli on the bank of the
Panjkora River." On the fall of Massaga, Arrian tells us

*Kamranai Pass, 3,300 teet.

12 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

■that Alexander summoned Bazira and Ora, which Vigne
.suggests, may be the ancient names of Bajaur and Darora
{" perhaps the ' darrah,' or valley of Ora "). While he
was on the point of marching to Bazira, Alexander was
informed that Abissarus * had reinforced the garrison of
Ora, and he, therefore, turned his attention to that place
■first, and afterwards proceeded to Dyrta or Thyrce, which
as most probably the modern Dir. Vigne makes a further
.suggestion which may be worthy of attention. " From
Aomos, " he says, " Alexander is said to have made a
second incursion to the territories of the Assacani, for
the purpose of getting some elephants, and arrived at
Dyrta which he found deserted. Dir is not more than
five or six marches from Derabund (Darband on the
Indus) ; and the accounts I have heard of the Lowarai
Mountains behind it would justify an opinion that the
Aomos may be found at or near it." It may, however,
be mentioned that Vigne wrote the above remarks in about
1839, and had never himself visited the Lowarai Pass.
It is nevertheless not improbable that if Alexander did
penetrate as far as Dir, he may have pushed on over the
Dowarai Pass, which is only fifteen miles distant.

There are other wayside objects of interest during
"these early stages of the Chitral road. Large heaps
■of stones known as shahid or " witness stones " are

*Abissarus is called by Airian the " King of the Indian Moun-
-taineers." His territories probably included Hazara and a part of
Kashmir, and he was a prince of as much importance as Porus or
Taxiles. He afterwards made peace with Alexander,

CHITEAL. IS

to be seen beside the path, upon which the Mahome-
dan sepoys throw a few pebbles as they pass. Thes&
heaps i\iark the spot where a man has been murdered^
and usiially also cover his remains. It is not uncom-
mon to ct>me upon places where it is the custom for every
passer-by to pile up two or three stones, one upon the-
other, to propitiate some spirit, or to commemorate somfr
event of local interest. There is such a spot in the Kohat
Pass, where travellers always collect a few pebbles in
remembrance of a bride who was kidnapped on her wedding
day. The Pathan cemeteries, which are met with very
frequently, are also worthy of notice. Tall slanting-
slabs of stone protrude from the head and foot of th&
graves, and in some cases are elaborately decorated with,
carvings. Gay-coloured flags flutter from poles ani
bushes. The graves lie north and south, and the body
is placed on its side in a niche with the face turned towards
Mecca. The niche, which is cut into one of the walls of thfr f
trench, is called the ladh. It is usually made sufficiently
high to allow the deceased to sit up during the first night of
interment, while the angels Nakir and Munkir are question-
ing him about his deeds in life. If there is not sufficient
time, or if the ground is too hard, to dig the ladh,
the grave is called sami. Usually the burial-grounds-
are shaded by the thorny palosa tree, and are reverently
called Khan-garh or " the House of the Khans." In.
Swat, it is said that the graves of the dead are not long
resjiected, and that they are often obliterated after a few
years by the plough. Amongst the Khattaks the opposite:

14: PATHAN BOEDEELAND.

is the case. A traveller, if on a horse, always dismoimts
on passing a graveyard, and salutes the dead with a
salam alicum. A study of the different kinds of tombs
throughout the Pathan districts is very interesting.
Amongst the trans-frontier Mohmands it is the custom to
«rect a head and a foot stone of grey shale rock, which is
specially quarried for the purpose. These stones, which
resemble tall thin pillars, are often found standing
upright ten and twelve feet above the ground. Excellent
•examples of this type of grave are to be seen in the Gandab
Valley and at Mutta Mogul Khel, near Shabkadar. A
similar kind is also found in parts of the Yusufzai Plain,
where there are stony hills in the neighbourhood. About
Peshawar the graves are composed of roim.d stones, roughly
built together. The Muhamedzais of the Charsadda
district are fond of working intricate geometrical designs
in black and white pebbles on the tombs of their dead.
The Teri and Seni Khattaks put up handsomely carved
upright slabs. In the Kojiat Pass the style varies in each
■cemetery. In some, the grave is adorned with only
a couple of carved wooden pegs, about two feet high.
In others, there are little stones shaped like targets ;
but more often any rock, however rough, serves the
purpose. In the case of Afridi cemeteries it is possible
to tell the sex of the occupants of the graves. Those
I of the men have two upright stones with the longer axis
I placed parallel to the length of the grave. Those of the
women have three uprights, placed lengthwise across
the mound. Children of both sexes have two stones.

CHITRAL. 15

In the Kurram the horns of an ooricd are sometimes
placed on a tall pole amongst the tombs, and in the Tochi
the ill-kept graves are hardly recognisable from the surround-
ing litter of rocks. It is remarkable that a very small
village often owns an extensive cemetery, and one is quite
at a loss to imagine how there came to be so many dead
people among such a small community. Although no
effort is made to keep the tombs in repair, or to preserve
them from the ravages of jackals and lizards, yet all
Pathans, and most Afghans, are always anxious to find a
last resting-place in their own village Khan-garh. It
is no uncommon thing to see a corpse tied to a cha/rfoi,
being conveyed a great distance back to its own village
for burial. I once met a sepoy carrying his deceased
brother in a box, on a donkey all the way from Dera
Ismail Khan to Kiunda in Yusufzai. Where it is necessary
to bury a dead man at once, a vow is often made to remove
the corpse within so many months ; ?ind after an expedi-
tion, sepoys very frequently go back to exhume the bodies
of their comrades killed in action.* From my own ob-
servations I am incUned to believe that Pathans are
afraid of passing graveyards at night, and even in broad
daylight they often sing loudly to keep themselves company.
On the other hand, I have heard that the village cemetery
is frequently used as a place of refuge in times of danger.

Two miles beyond the Katgola Pass is Sarai camp-
ing ground, a dusty ploughed field surrounded by broken

» After the Mohmand expedition of 1908, the Mohmands refused
to allow relatives to eome back and reclaim their dead.

16 PATH AN BOEDEELAND.

sangas, the remains of the last year's camp. Hard
by is a Levy Post, and behind this is a clump of trees
which gives a little shade. A motor-car has been driven
as far as Serai Levy Post, but henceforward the path
degenerates into a mere mountain track. The ascent
to the Kamranai Pass (3,300 feet) is very stiff, and
there were constant checks along the column, which,
on this narrow road was spread out to a length of six
or eight miles. However, from the summit we had a
superb view down into the Panjkora Valley. Mundah,
the stronghold of Mian Gul Jan, the truculent younger
brother of the Khan of Dir, lies in a nullah to the north-
east. The troops on their way to the relief of the belea-
guered garrison of Chitral, went up the Mundah Valley.
It was on the hilh to the South-west that Colonel Batty
was killed in 1897, during the retirement of the Guides
to the bridge, which the suddenly rising river had swept
away behind them. The descent to Khungai is also
steep, and the narrow approach to the camp became
so congested with troops and transport, that it was twO'
or three in the afternoon before the rear-guard got in.

At Khungai, which is also known as Sadu, Mian Gul
Jan, the Khan of Mundah, came to pay his respects tO'
the General. Mian Gul is the stormy petrel of these
parts, and spends most of his leisure hours in making
war on his elder brother, Badshah Khan, the Khan of
Dir. On this occasion he was accompanied by an escort
of his own cavalry, as picturesque a body of cut-throats,
as ever existed. They were all armed to the teeth, and

CHITRAL. 17

wore extravagant uniforms and velvet coats heavily
ornamented with gold lace. The harness of their ponies
was covered with scarlet cloth, and most of the fittings
were of silver. Everything, even their gay, ill-tied turbans,
denoted swagger and dare devilry. The Khan of Dir
was also present. The period during which the relieving
colunm is in Dir territory is regarded as a time of truce. In
his courtly manner and quiet dress, the Khan was a
striking contrast to the sulky Mian Gul Jan, who wore a
costly black astrachan uniform. In the afternoon our troops
gave a display of machine gun practice against some
targets. Afterwards the maxims were allowed to traverse
over a dry ploughed field, which was soon hidden in a cloud
of dust. It was a study to watch the faces of the specta-
tors. The entertainment concluded by bringing a mountain
battery into action, and bursting a few shells on a distant
mountain side.

Mian Gul refused to be present anywhere with his
brother, and was therefore allowed to watch the display
in solitary grandeur from a neighbouring tower. After
a short interview with the political officer, whoj I believe,
told him to behave himself better, he rode away at simset
to his own fort at Mundah, accompanied by his picturesque
followers.

The march along the valley of the Panjkora occupied
the next three days. A few stunted chenars were to
be seen here and there, and at intervals we passed strips
of cultivation, irrigated by small canals, taken out from
the river. Otherwise, except for a rampant growth

E, PB 2

18 PATHAN BOEDBELAUD.

of ilex, nothing but a waste of boulders and dreary
mountains met the eye. On the fourth day from Khungai,
we crossed the Panjkora at Chutiatan by a wire bridge,
and ascended for a few miles along the right bank of the
Dir stream to Dir. Here, situated on a low hill, is the
stronghold of Badshah Khan. The fort has three towers,
each surmounted with a loopholed fighting-top. It is
composed of mud and stone, interspersed with layers of
wood. A salute of guns was fired from it as the head
of the column entered the valley. The vale of Dir is well
cultivated, and numbers of chenars are scattered about it,
so that its greenness is refreshing after the wearying
aridity of the Panjkora. The little town of Dir occupies
a steep khud abreast of the fort. Its crazy huts are built
one above the other, so that the roof of one forms the prom-
enade or front garden of the one above. A good deal
of rice is grown in the valley. In a small enclosure we
found the tomb of Mahomed Sharif, the late Khan of
Dir, who, together with the famous Umra Khan, played
so consipcuous a part in the local politics in 1895.

Henceforth we entered the region of higher moun-
tains. The marches were short, but there was a good
deal of climbing to be done. The scenery for the first
time since leaving Nowshera becomes beautiful. Grassy-
slopes and pine-fringed precipices rise imposingly from
the narrow valleys, and entirely shut them in. At
Mirga, there is hardly space to pitch a large camp ; and so
enclosed is the gorge, that there are less than six hours
of sunlight in the day. Twilight in October sets in at 3-30

CHITEAL. 19

P.M., and a long, cMlI, wintry evening follows. Mirga
has an elevation of about 7,000 feet. Directly ahead is
the Lowarai Pass, 10,200 feet. It is the chief obstacle
of the march, and an early start has to be made. The
distance from Mirga camp to the summit of the pass is
five miles and the rise in elevation is about 3,200 feet.
It is a stiff pull for the transport mules. Soon we were
well into the region of pines, whose dark-colouring con-
trasted strikingly with the pink masses of moimtain
which towered ahead. Everywhere were traces of last
winter's avalanches, whose meltiag remains still (in mid
October) lay in the valley, and whose track down the
hill-side was traceable by the debris of splintered trees.
The pine zone here extends from 7,500 to 9,000 feet.
Presently we toiled over a spur and entered the paSs
proper. Another two miles brought us to the summit
of the ridge, from which position we got a fine view of the
Hindu Kush and the valley of the Chitral river. Here a
halt was made for breakfast, and we tried to distinguish
from among the sea of snowy peaks, the great ranges of
Shandur, Mustagh and Sarikol, upon which meet the
three Empires of India, Afghanistan and China. At this
point the Methar of Chitral, Shuja-ul-Mulk, met the Political
Officer and conducted him down into Chitral territory.
The descent of 2,800 feet through the pines to Ziarat is
down a steep zig-zag path. This valley is often 40 feet
deep in snow in winter, and evidence of avalanches was
everywhere visible. At one place, about a quarter of a
mile from the pass, an avalanche swept down on the

20 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

Methar's party some years ago. Fifteen men and 22
ponies were overwhelmed, and the Methar himself had a
narrow escape. A few years ago the " relieved " regiment
expressed its satisfaction at quitting Chitral territory
by making its band play on the top of the pass. The
vibration of the music brought down a great mass of
snow which blocked up the road, and buried some of the
men. None of these dangers, however, beset the Reliefs
in October, though on the return journey considerable
difficulty is sometimes experienced, if the winter happens
to be an early one.

The difference between the inhabitants of the southern
slopes of the Lowarai mountains and those of the northern
is very marked. We had now left behind us the tructilent
Pushtoo-speaking races. The ChitraUs belong to the
same Dard family as the people of Astor and Gilgit,
whom they much resemble in appearance. Their dress
consists of thick dark-coloured smocks and pants, and a
cloth waistband. They swathe their feet in rags and
wear putties and Astori roll-up caps, which (like the
Gilgitis) they frequently decorate with yellow and purple
flowers. Their complexion is pink and olive, and their
hair is worn in a fringe four inches long round the neck and
ears. The Chitralis are a timid race, and have always
suffered violence at the hands of their warlike Pathan
and Afghan neighbours. They are, however, keen sports-
men. Hawking is a favourite pastime. Polo, shooting
the popinjay, dancing and other games are constantly
indulged in in Chitral.

CHITBAL. 21

The camp at Ziarat, where the supporting troops
remained for ten days, while the relief of the garrison
of Chitral took place, was situated in a grand pine forest,
at a height of 7,400 feet above sea-level. Imposing
precipices frowned down upon the narrow vaUey. A
fall of snow whitened the Lowarai on the evening after
we had crossed it. Huge log fires were kept blazing
day and night, and around these the Pathan sepoys and
the Kafir coolies danced after dark. On our arrival,
Ziarat was connected up with Killa Drosh by telephone.
During the first evening a rifle was let ofE accidentally
in camp. The news was transmitted by a sepoy working
the telephone to Killa Drosh. Thence it was reported
to Chitral, and by the early morning anxious messages
from Simla were received asking for details of the attack on
our camp.

But Chitral is forty-five miles further on. Under
the escort of a couple of Chitrah Levies — ^who carried
their loaded rifles pointed at our heads with the utmost
unconqern all the way — a small party of us pushed on
to Killa Drosh, where the about-to-be-reUeved regiment
treated us to that open hospitaUty which is only to be
found in such isolated places. On the second night
we stopped in the comfortable rest-house at Gariat.
The following morning we crossed the Chitral river by a
frail wire bridge which spanned a chasm some hundred
and fifty feet deep. And now the scenery was truly
Central Asian. A thousand times more bleak and barren
was it than the Panjkora, but it possessed a boldness

22 PATHAN BOEDEKLAND.

and magnificence which filled one with unbounded admira-
tion.

Hali way between Gariat and Chitral we came upon
the village of Ayun, which proved to be a gorgeous oasis
in the treeless valley. Its chenars, walnuts and pomegra-
nates, its sparkling streams and grassy lawns, would not
have been unworthy of Kashmir itself.

Arrived at Chitral, we first partook of the hospitality
of the inmates of the Fort, and learned from them what
objects to see. We visited the old Fort, now the residence
of the Methar, about which cling the memories of that
gallant and stem defence which in 1895 estabhshed British
prestige on the southern slopes of the Hindu Kush. The
Fort is surrounded by gardens, in which the Methar has
two tennis courts. The famous Water Tower can now
only be looked at from a distance, since it forms a portion
of the private apartments. No trace remains of the
trench, which was formed by the blowing up of the mine.
The Chitral river sweeps round two sides of the Fort, and
there are groves of trees on the remaining two sides.
The bazaar is full of interest. In it are found varied
types of humanity. Badakshanis, Gilgitis, Hanzas, Nagaris,
Punialis, Pathans, Kafirs and Chitralis all rub shoulders
in its single street. We visited Baird's grave, a sadly
dilapidated and \mcared-for monument of the siege.
They pointed out the nullah in which he was shot. Captain
Baird was first buried beside the gateway of the old Fort,
but when the Methar again took up his residence there,
it was found desirable to remove the remains to their present

CHITEAL. 23

resting-place. It is a curious fact that, after a period of
two years, the body was almost intact. The same thing
was found to have occurred quite lately in the case qi a lady,
whose remains were exhumed in Gilgit for removal to
India. The rarity and dryness of the atmosphere in
these high regions, seems to preserve the tissues of the
body from decomposition for a remarkably long time. '

The valley in which Chitral lies is little more than
two miles wide. It is shut in by high reddish moun-
tains, whose bases are hidden in great shelving slopes
of shale, which only an experienced mountaineer can
negotiate. The new Fort is at the southern end, and
below it a suspension bridge, 87 yards long, spans the
river. The bazaar, the Methar's Fort and the Polo
grounds are about two miles further up. The magni-
ficent snowy dome of Tirich Mir fills up the end of the
valley, and thrusts its dazzling white head 25,000 feet
into the turquoise vault of the Central Asian heavens.
The country folk have strange legends regarding this peak.
They say it is guarded by fairies and spirits, and that
anyone who attempts to climb it goes mad.

On the day following our arrival we called on the
Political Officer, passing en route the graves of Aman-
ul-Mulk, and his two ill-fated sons, Afzul-ul-Mulk and
Nizam-ul-Mulk. During our stay in Chitral a game of polo
was arranged for our entertainment. At simset we
repaired to the polo ground full of interest, to see the game
played in its primitive form. A goodly crowd had collect-
ed. Shahzada Lais was pointed out to me as being the

24 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

cMef religious leader of the country. The Wazir was
present, but the Methar was not in Chitral. One fellow
in the crowd wore a Eoyal Humane Society medal. He
gained it by pluckily attempting to rescue a drowning
man from the Chitral river. Among the players was the
Methar 's half-brother, one of the seventeen sons of Aman-
ul-Mulk. A band consisting of surnais* tom-toms and
kettle-drums, played without ceasing all through the game.
Their efforts reached a climax whenever a goal was scored.
There were many curious rules to the game. When a
goal was made, the captain of the opposite party carried
the ball in his hand at full gallop, and struck it forward
from the middle of the ground. There were here and
there a few hillocks and ditches, but they did not seem to
signify much. The ponies were left to deal with such
obstacles as they liked, and they certainly justified the
confidence placed in them. The Methar is a good rider
and often plays. I was told that whenever he fell off
it was a point of etiquette that all the other players should
also fall off some time during the game. The play was fast
and reckless, and in most of its details resembled the polo
which I have witnessed in Ladakh and Baltistan. A
new polo ground has quite recently been laid out in Chitral.
At the conclusion of the game, the vanquished team
had to dance before the winners.

Afterwards followed Chitrali and Kafir dances.
The men of Chitral are passionately fond of dancing.

Pipes.

CHITRAL. 25

though during the last few years the practice has been
discouraged by the Methar, who considers it an unmanly
pastime. The Kafirs' dancing was a poor performance
consisting of a sort of jig accompanied by whistling and
clapping of hands. In their own country their danceg
are said to be most elaborate and picturesque. The
Kafirs are an unfortunate race, who have been much
persecuted by the Amirs of Afghanistan, who have taken
considerable interest in converting them to Islam. Those
we saw in Chitral were practically slaves of the Methar
and had left their own homes partly to look for work
and partly to escape being forcibly converted. They
occupy a vast extent of country to the West and North
of Chitral. The transfer of Kafiristan to the dominions
of Afghanistan took place during the early part of the
leign of the late Amir Abdur Rahman. The country
was taken after a hard struggle, and the Kafirs displayed
considerable bravery in defending their native mountains.
I do not doubt but that the Kafirs we met in Chitral were
not a fair sample. They certainly put up a spirited rebel-
lion against the Afghans in 1919 shortly after the murder
of Amir HabibuHah. Sir T. Holdich speaks highly of
their independence and their many manly characteristics.
The entertainment concluded with a display of Tambuk,
or shooting the ' Popinjay.' An explosive gourd was tied
to a high pole. The competitors rode past at full gallop,
and fired at it with a shot gun. The feat appeared to
require a good deal of skill, but the Methar's half-brother
proved himself a very excellent shot, and frequently

26 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

exploded the gouid. What the Chitralis lack in personal
bravery, they make up for to a certain extent in being good
sportsmen, and they possess many characteristics which
the Englishmen in the valley would find pleasing, if more
intimate relations were encouraged. Unfortunately, the
feeling against the garrison is rather unfriendly, and those
Chitralis who have any dealings with Europeans are subject
to all manner of petty persecutions.

At the invitation of the Wazir, we partook of refresh-
ments in his quarters in the Fort after the entertainment.
Two quaint old guns stood in the gateway, and in the
courtyard were displayed a number of markhor and ibex
heads. I also saw two ovis poli horns, which I was told
were picked up on the Pamirs.

I do not think I shall easily forget the Chitral Valley
as seen in the gathering dusk from the walls of that historic
fort. The chenar trees, and the tangled mass of petunias
in the garden below, the Chitral river racing by, and the
sublime snows of Tirich Mir flushed with the last rays of the
setting sun, all combined to form a scene of surpassing
grandeur and beauty.

CHAPTER II.

YUSUFZAI.

Maidan — Bock inscriptions — A strange relic — An earthquake — Autumn
fever — ^The Yusufzai plain — Ranigat — An old Subadar-Major —
Hot springs — A money-lender's grave — Takht-i-Bahi — Former
Civilization — Sari Bahlol — Jamalghari — The Malakand Canal —
Kashmir-Smuts — A primitive meal — Ghulam Haidar Khan — The
Yusufzais — ^Their Wanderings— Pathan occupation of the Pesha-
war Vale — Settlement of tribes.

Let us now return to Mardan, and tour through the
country of the Yusufzais. There is not another district
in the North- West Frontier Province so full' of interest,
from the archaeological point of view, as this. The ruina
of ancient Budhist and Hindu cities, which are scattered
broadcast about the plain and the neighbouring hills,
give special charm to every march. The Yusufzais
themselves are a pleasant and cheery race, whose hospitality
is proverbial. Although on occasions isolated for weeks
at a time from the society of Englishmen, \ seldom had
cause to feel dull or lonely while travelling amongst them.
They are vivacious and amusing companions, always
ready for sport, or an excursion. They have an established
and recognised gentry, many of whom have built and
furnished rest-houses for the special use of Europeans.
They make their visitors heartily welcome, and invariably

28 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

regale them with tea and refreshments on their arrival.
I have heard the sincerity of their motives questioned,
but personally I am inclined to think that we are often
over-suspicious, and too ready to look for some hidden
meaning, where none exists. I am sure my host of Kundah,
jSubadar-Major Kushal Khan, late of the 55th Coke's
Rifles, whose guest I remained for some days while
recruiting Yusufzais, could have had no ulterior motives
for his hospitality. It was with real regret that, two
months later, I heard of his sudden death.

Mardan itself lies amongst groves and gardens. Its
trees radiate from it in all directions along the various
foads. Its comfortable bungalows are the result of the
jsettled existence of their owners, and may well raise
•envy in the hearts of those of us who are wanderers all our
lives in India.

Of the monuments of Yusufzai, none are of greater
archaeological value than the two rock inscriptions on
the hills, a quarter of a imle to the south-west of the
"village of Shahbazgarhi. The longest of these inscrip-
tions is on the face of a block of stone, which has fallen
in past ages to its present position. The writing, which
occupies a space of some twenty-four feet long by ten
broad, is still fairly clear. It is an edict of the great
Budhist King Asoka. Fifty yards from it is a smaller
inscription, now surrounded by a low wall, which has been
■erected for its protection. It is a repetition of Asoka's
" Toleration Edict " (No. XII), which in the following
words inculcates forbearance towards all religious views : —

YUSUFZAI. 2^

" A man must not do reverence to his own sect by dispara-
ging that of another man for trivial reasons. Deprecation
should be for adequate reasons only, because the sect of
other people is deserving of reverence for one reason
and another, etc." It is supposed that the edict decrees
the good treatment of animals and also gives the namea
of contemporary kings ; but I am unable to say whether
this is the case or not.

These edicts are believed to have been written about
B. C. 250, on the establishment of Budhism iu the Peshawar
Vale. Shahbazgarhi is supposed to stand on the site
of the ancient city of Po-lu-sha, which the Chinese pilgrim,
Huien Tsiang, visited and described in A. D. 640. Frag-
ments of carved stones and low ruins still cover the groimd.
Near the rock inscriptions is a hollowed out boulder, which,
appears to have been the cell of an ascetic. The edicts
are written in Karoshthi or Syrian. These characters
were introduced in about B. C. 500 from Babylon, by
Darius, son of Hystaspes, who is said to have conquered
this part of India. The Peshawar valley was probably
under Persian or Mesopotamian rule until the advent of
Alexander the Great in B. C. 326. Accordiag to the
translation of the Pseudo Callisthenes from the S5rrian
text, Darius, King of Babylon, applied for help to his
vassal Porus, the King of the Indians, to stem the advance
of Alexander. Porus actually started with an army,
and only retired on hearing of the defeat and death of
Darius. The country folk have a curious superstition
with regard to these two inscriptions. They believe

30 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

them to be written in a now unintelligible language, and
imagine that they have reference to the whereabouts of a
great golden horse, whieh is buried beneath the hill. But
€ven if these Pathans could read the inscriptions, they
would be incapable of comprehending the lofty philosophy
of their Budhist predecessors.

About a mile from the village of Rustum, is a curious
semi-circle of tall upright pillars, which stand ten or
twelve feet above the ground. Stumps of stones and
fallen pillars, now deeply embedded in the turf, show
that the circle was origiaally a complete one, and that
its diameter was not less than 19 paces. The monument
very much resembles a Druid relic, but there is hothing
to lead one to suppose that horizontal boulders ever
rested on the uprights. It is within sight of, and only
nine miles distant from, Ranigat. This latter ruin, as
has already been mentioned, is supposed by Cunningham
to be the site of Alexander's Aornos. The nearest hills
irom which the pillars could have been quarried, are a
mile away and the task of transporting the blocks to their
present site must have been a feat worthy of Alexander
himself, and could only have been undertaken for some
important purpose. The pillars are deserving of expert
archaeological inspection. Siace no other known locality
corresponds with the description of the Aornos as given
by Herodotos, the claim of this spot to being classic
groimd may be as strong as that of any other. The local
tradition with regard to the pillars is curious. It is said
that ages and ages ago {" Agle Zamanah men "), a party

YUSUFZAI. 31

of women were chased by thieves. They prayed to God
for deliverance, and as an answer were all turned to stone,
much, no doubt, to the disgust of the pursuers and
pursued alike.

Swabi is the chief village of the district of the same
name, and I spent a few days there in the comfortable
Tahsil bungalow. A severe earthquake occurred during
the early hours of the morning of the 24th of October
1908, which woke up the whole town. The oscillations
lasted for nearly fifty seconds, during which the Tahsil
buildings cracked and groaned, and a rain of cement
and white-wash fell from the roof. The disturbance
was felt in Kashmir and Cabul, and did considerable
damage in Samarkand. At almost precisely the same
hour on the following morning, an even more alarming
succession of shocks, lasting over a minute, brought
the villagers running out again into the darkness, and
some of them refused to return to their houses until dawn.

The autumn is an exceedingly unhealthy season in
Yusufzai, and a malignant fever gets a firm grip amongst
the peasants, and carries off many victims. It was
quite sad to see the people digging graves in almost every
cemetery that I passed. The excellent system of distri-
buting anna packets of quinine through the postmasters,
which has proved so beneficial in certain districts, has
not been introduced here, though the people would willingly
buy medicine. Many applications were made to me
for quinine. It is a pity that something is not done to
check this autumnal fever, as its effects must tend seriously

32 PATHAN BOEDEBLAND.

to deteriorate tlie physique of the rural population, who
are so far a fine race, and who supply the ranks of the
Indian Army with many good sepoys.

The Yusufzai plain is very flat, and is little broken up
by nullahs. In many parts the country is under cultivation,
which is especially luxuriant in the vicinity of the
villages. The clay soil is remarkably fertile wherever
it is properly watered. The great tracks of submontane
uplands are, however, quite unproductive. It is to
irrigate, and so bring these deserts under cultivation, that
the Malakand canal was constructed. Large detached
hills, eight or nine hundred feet high, crop up here and
there, either as single mounds, or in small ranges. Of
these the Takht-i-Bahi Ridge is the most extensive. On
the north the plain is bounded by the mass of mountains
of Swat, Buner and the Mahaban. The country is at
present dependent for its water-supply on rainfall
and on a few wells. Mahai (Indian-corn) and johwar
(millet) are the two most important crops. Very little
bajra (spiked com) is grown, and the cultivation of cotton
is inconsiderable. Of the minor crops the most important
are sharsham, a plant used as fodder for cattle, and as a
vegetable ; and hunzalah, a small bean, whose seeds
are employed in the manufacture of sweets {raories), and
from which also oil is extracted. There are a number
of kunzalah oil presses, worked by bullocks in Peshawar
city, near the Gor Khatri.

Whilst in the vicinity of Kalu Khan I took the opportu-
nity to lide out to the ruins of Ranigat, which occupy

YUSUFZAI. 33

a commanding position on the Khudu Khel liills, a few
miles across the border, near the village of Naogram.
The inhabitants of Naogram are occupied almost entirely
in agricultural pursuits. A couple of young fellows showed
me the way up the steep path, which ascends to the crest
of the ridge, some five hundred feet above the plain. On
the summit are numerous hollows and knolls, about
which are scattered the ruins of a city. Enormous round
boulders lie all about the place, and many of them are
hollowed out to form cells. One rock in particular is so
completely scooped out, that only a thin shell remains.
On the highest part of the ridge stands the Ranigat Stone,
which gives its name to the locality. It is a tall upright
boulder, and is the conspicuous land-mark of the country-
side. There is a legend to the effect that it was the throne
of a Queen, who used to address her court from it. Hence
the name the " Queen's Stone."

The structure of the buildings is even more solid, and
the blocks more regular, than is generally the case amongst
the ancient buildings of Yusufzai. They are here built
of granite, quarried locally. As a rule, thin chips of
shale intervene between the big oblong stones, but in this
case the blocks are so well cut that there are no interstices
which require fiUing up. Quantities of broken statuary
litter the groimd, but it is all defaced, and the shepherd
lads, who are iconoclasts by instinct, love to smash up
what little renjains of the images. The spirit of vandalism
is strong all over the Pathan hills, and it is only within
the last few years that the people have begun to realise

B, PB 3

34f PATHAN BORDERLAND.

that these beautiful and exceedingly ancient Budhas have
their money value. Of the religion of which these monu-
ments are a relic, they have no conception.

The most curious and complete structure in Ranigat
consists of a square plinth, about twelve feet high, in
which are two vaulted chambers, entered by means of
massive archways. The larger of these chambers is ten
or twelve paces in length. The further end is blocked
up with a mound of earth, and the place is now used as a
shelter for cattle.

A number of curious shafts, about twelve feet deep,
and of varying width, are found at Ranigat. The biggest
is not more than four feet square. Archaeologists have
expressed an opinion that these shafts were used for
storing grain. The natives ridicule the idea, and declare
that they were wells ; and I am inclined to agree with them.
There are no other traces of a water-supply, and the pits
are sunk in the lowest hollows. A shaft of that depth,
carefully faced with granite all the way down, must have
been difficult to sink, and its extraordinary narrowness
would have made it capable of holding only a limited
amount of grain. In one of the shafts I found the bones
of a camel. The wretched animal had fallen ia and died.

Of the history of Ranigat but little is known. We
can only suppose that it belongs to the same period as
all the rest of the Budhist ruins of Yusufzai ; or we may
imagme, if it so pleases us, that this is indeed the place
where Alexander built the Aornos. There is a native
tradition that Bagram (the ancient site of Peshawar)

YUSUFZAI. 35

Sita Ram (on the Indus near Topi), and Naogram (which
is Ranigat) were built by three brothers, and named after
them.

Topi is a village not far from the Indus, and situated
at the foot of the Mahaban mountains. I was enter-
tained there by the Khan, Mohamed Umar Khan, a dear
little fellow of five or six, whose father had died a couple
of years before. He behaved admirably at the meal
he had had prepared for me, although a band of devoted
grey-beards were doing their best to spoil him.

I also accepted the hospitality of Subadar Major
Mansur Khan, late of the 21st Punjabis. He was an
antiquarian in his way, and had collected many curious
local legends. He assured me that old coins and images
were constantly being found, and that there were many
fine ruins, notably those of Banj, in the Mahaban moun-
tains, across the border. Stucco figures were sometimes
dug up in Topi itself. He said that his father used to tell
of a camel driver who had accompanied Ahmad Shah to
India. This camel driver dug out a handsome stone
well from the sands of the Indus, which he remembered
having used in his own childhood. The old Subadar
Major knew all about Sikundar, Jangiz Khan, Taimur
Lang, Babar, and other notable figures in the history of the
country. Mansur Khan died shortly after my visit from
the results of an attack of the virulent autumnal fever,
already referred to.

There is a spring in Topi which is marked on the
map as being hot. It comes up into a reservoir beside

36 PATHAN BOEDEELAND.

the village mosque. I was informed from several different
sources that in the hot weather the water is cold, and that
in cold weather it is hot. In winter, it is said, dense
clouds of steam are given ofE. I saw it in October, while
the weather was still warm, and I found the waters quite
cold then. There is said to be a spring at Tsappar Khel
in the Jowaki country, which behaves in the same
way.

There are copious springs too in Meni, a pretty little
village some three miles distant from Topi. The ride
there is a pleasant one, and the view over the low Gadun
hills, to the Mahaban mountains, is very fine. On the
way, I passed a shahid, or memorial heap, over the
grave of a man, who, in his life-time, had been an extor-
tionate money-lender. Every passer-by threw a handful
of stones on to the pile, and muttered a curse as he did so.
The money-lender had a more imposing shahid than
many a saint can boast of.

The most accessible as well as the most important
Budhist ruin in Yusufzai, is that of the Takht-i-Bahi,
which is only about six miles north of Mardan. It stands
high above the plain on the extremity of a low and broken
range of hills, which is an offshoot from the main mass
of the Buner mountains. Takht-i-Bahi means, " the hill
of springs." There are two springs on the summit of the
ridge, and others at its base. The drying up of these is
an example of the failing of the natural water-supply
of the vale, which has been remarkably rapid even in
recent times. It is stated in one of the leading works on

YUSUFZAI. 37

the Yusufzai country, that the valley has always been
as dry as it is now. In refutation of this statement
mention may be made of the failing of the springs at
Takht-i-Bahi, Jamalgarhi and elsewhere, in our own
day. There is besides abundant evidence that the vale
was formerly very well watered, and even swampy in
parts ; and that originally it was a lake bed. At that
period the deep layer of rich surface clay was deposited-
There was, until quite recent times, a large lake at Topi,
and the name " Ambela," which is an obscure Persian
word for rhinoceros, was probably derived from the fact
that those animals frequented the swamps about Rustum.
The Emperor Babar in his memoirs mentions hunting
the rhinoceros in 1519 near the mouth of the Khyber
Pass, and these animals existed in the vicinity, until
the time of Akbar.

The former civilization of Yusufzai was of course
a far higher one than now exists. The miserable mud
hovels in which the population of to-day is content to
live, compare very unfavourably with the massive walls,
graceful arches and finished domes of the ancient Budhist
cities, whose ruins are scattered everywhere. The modern
Pathan with his miserable feuds and fanaticism now
treads under foot the monuments of a wonderful religion
of which he has no conception. The reader who would
understand something of the philosophy once known in
Yusufzai will find an account of it in a chapter on Buddhism
in my Burmese Enchantment. It was a civilization
first introduced by the Greeks, subsequently improved

38 PATHAN BOEDEELAND.

on by.'the Budliists, and further dieveloped by the Hindus,
to be finally destroyed, and utterly wiped oiit.of existence,
by Mahomedtos. The destructive conquests of Mahmud
of Ghazni in A.D. 1001 and 1004, and the subsequent
devastations of Jangiz Khan and Taimur Lang in the
13th and '14th centuries, reduced the once prosperous
and populous country to an absolute waste, where hardly
the ca:ttle grazers dared to -venture. "By this dreadful
series of' events," writes Sir Eichard Temple, "there
came about that which the historians eloquently and
truly describe ' a shipwreck of nations.' There was not
only a dislocation but a disruption of society. Morally
as wdl as materially every root was torn up, every founda-
tion dug out,- every landmark swept away, everything
that pertained to civilization was flung into a vortex of
barbarism. The damage then done to countries, at that
time among the fairest on earth, has proved irreparable
during' the succeeding. centuries." The period of desertion
must have lasted many generations to admit of the- " garden
of India " as described by Fa Hian degenerating into a
jungle capable of sheltering tigers and rhinoceros.

It is a good climb to the summit of the Takht-i-
Bahi, but the remains of the Budhist causeway up the
Boutherh slope is still in a moderately good state of preser-
vaticfti.* The western end of the hill at the point where
it falls to the plain forms a high knoll, which was evidently
used as a defens^ive work. On the least steep sides, the

* See picture II.

YUSUFZAl.

39

mound is built round with massive walls, which, though
eighteen or twenty feet high, do not project above the
summit of the knoll. A httle further, along the narrow
ridge, is the tracing of a court-yard containing rows of
cells along its inner walls ; and close by is the base of a
' stupa.' The structure of the walls is the same throughout^
and is identical with that of Jamalghari, Charsadda
Kashmir-Smuts and Guri, the supposed Massaga. That
is to say, the spaces between the blocks of stone are ela-
borately filled in with thin wedges of shale. After probably
more than twenty centuries, the walls of Takht-i-Bahi
in places still stand twenty feet high, and the corners and
angles remain quite true and well defined. Here and there
the coarse plaster, with which the buildings were originally
covered, still adheres in patches to the walls.

A road six feet wide winds along the crest of the
ridge past some reservoirs, for some three hundred yards,
and then leads down the northern slope to the main
city, whose buildings come quite suddenly into view
Ruined and decayed though these monuments of a departed
religion are, they still remain imposing and dignified
relics. They stand on a plateau some two hi^dred
feet below the top of the ridge, and on its northern face.
On three sides the plateau falls away precipitously, and
is built round with vast masonry works, so that the outer
walls of the buildings along its edge, though standing
only from sixteen to twenty feet above the level of the
plateau, are really sixty or seventy feet high, being in
fact a continuation of the massive masonry envelope

40 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

which encases the cliffs. The effect is most imposing.
All the buildings on the central plateau appear to have
been devoted to religious purposes, and though packed
closely together, form four distinct groups or courts.
The first of these is a square enclosure, with recesses for
images rtmning round three of the walls. Some of the
niches are still domed, but none of the images remain stand-
ing. The best of them have been recently removed to
the Peshawar Museum. A low platform occupies the
centre of the court.

Mr. Spooner of the Archaeological Department has
done much to rescue the ruin from its own debris, to
buttress up tottering walls and domes, and to tidy up
the place generally. Thus, while Bellew in 1860 descended
into the second enclosure by only six steps, and found
it an open space, one has now to go down ten steps deeper
to the floor of the court, which is occupied by a number
of plinths of various heights. These, the traveller from
Tibet or Burma easily recognises as being the bases of
chortens or pagodas. Many of them still retain ornamental
panels. There are fine recesses all round this court, which,
to judge from the fragments of gigantic limbs foimd
littered about, must have contained statues not less than
twelve feet high.* To the west is a subterranean passage
seventeen paces in length. It has an arched roof. Dark
cells, into which it would be unsafe to venture without a

* The walls of these recesses lean in towards each other, and
appear to be copied from the Scythian or Syrian arch. The same
structure is to be found in the ruins of Babylon.

t^CTURB til.

A colossal Budha excavated at Sari-Bahlol, near Poahawar.

YUSUFZAI. 41

lantern, open out from each side of this underground
passage. The place, I- imagine, was probably a retreat
of meditation for the, monks.

From the second court a flight of half a dozen' steps
leads up to a third enclosure, whose buildings are still
well preserved: The walls are at least five and' twenty
feet high. Rows of cubicles, in which probably • the
monks lived, run round its four sides. Of the . fourth
court, only the outer shell remains.

On either side of the main plateau, and separated
from it by shallow ravines, are other ridges, thickly covered
with dwelling-places. Of these, many are two-storied,
with flights of stairs ascending the outer walls. Ornamental
niches and arched doorways again relieve, the blank
spaces, and testify to the reflned taste of the former
nhabitants. ; . . ,

Recent finds of. statuary amongst the ruins of the
Takht-i-Bahi have dispelled the belief .that, its treasures
are exhausted. Even more successful, however, have
been excavations at Sari-BahloL* Besides fine images,
a beautiful carved panel was found there. Unfortunately
it was smashed up during the night by the 'fanatical
inhabitants of a neighbouring village. The statuary of
ancient Gandharahas a special interest. It was created
''y the contact of Greek art with the, intense .religious
enthusiasm then prevailing in Budhist. .India. The
images of Buddha thus evolved, became, the -prototype of

.* See picture III.

42 PATHAN BORDEELAND.

all Buddlia images in India, Tibet, Burma, China and
Japan.*

There is much that is of interest in the ruins of the
city, qi Jamalgarhi, which occupy a site on the same
ridg© as the Takht-i-Bahi, but some miles further to
the east. But, for fear of beiag wearisome on the subject
of these deserted cities, I will only mention that on the
extreme summit of the hill is a circular court containing
the base of a stupa, and that from it a flight of steps leads
to other imposing buildings. In its details Jamalghari
resembles the Takht-i-Bahi, though it is far more dilapi-
dated. Its situation is, however, finer, and from the ruins
the view over the Yusufzai plain, and to the mountains
of Swat and Buner, is very pleasing.

,. Proceeding to Katlang, I enjoyed several days of
chicore shooting in the neighbouring foot hills, and flushed
a good number of quail in the crops.

I was persuaded to make an expedition from Katlang
to, the famous caves at Kashmir-Smuts. This necessitated
a start at 3 o'clock on a moon-light morning. The caves
are situated high up amongst the Paja hills. At dawn
I reached Babozai, where the Malik, Gulam Haidar Khan^
provided me with coolies and guides. A crowd of villagers
attached themselves to me of their own accord, so that
we made a large and merry party.

A mile's walk along an execrable path, brought us to
the mouth of a valley, whose head lies among the precipices

* See picture IV.

Picture IIV.

.^-s*"". .. ^--y _

-Z^,' <,*!•. -j^^-

The images of Gandhara are thepiototype of all Budha images.

YUSUFZAI. 45

of the Paja. Those mountains now towered above us to a
height of several thousand feet. One of the chief attrac-
tions of the excursion, to my mind, lay in the almost
terrifying scenery of this wild glen. Very soon, we were
picking our way up a torrent bed, between naked and
sinister precipices. The usual shrub jungle of the Pathan.
hill-side grew luxuriantly in the nullah bed ; and higher
up we found sweetly scented jessamine. Presently, the
path threaded its way across the face of an ugly-looking
clifi along a shelving ledge, not more than six feet broad.
Above us rose a straight wall of rock, and below gaped a,
deep chasm.

Beyond this obstacle we again dropped to a nullah
bed, where invisible water was trickling noisily under
the boulders. I was much struck with the beauty of
this glen. Ivy, vines and other creepers covered the
rocks and trees. The ravine was densely wooded, and
the smell of fallen autumn leaves delicious. More-
over, after the weariness produced by hard climbing,
it was refreshing to enter gorges, where the sun's,
rays can only penetrate for an hour or so during the
day, and where now the chill and gloom of dawn still
lingered. Steep grassy slopes rose on the one hand and
terrific naked precipices on the other. Clusters of palm
trees clinging to the steep walls greatly added to the
pleasing effect. Along the very edge of the clifEs stood
the ruined walls of a decayed Budhist city. The castle
of the wicked dragon, as depicted in the fairy books,,
could scarcely have been more fantastically situated.

44 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

The cave of Kashmir-Smuts has its opening in the face
of a precipice. The ascent up to it by a narrow and
much ruined causeway was not pleasant ; and the descent
from it later was still less so, since in glancing down to find
a footing, the eye could not ignore the sixty feet of void
immediately below. The Archaeological Department might
well expend a little money on restoring the broken causeway
which, in its present state, has proved too difficult a climb
ior a good many explorers.

The entrance to the cavern is through a natural '
portal forty feet square. Here we lit our lanterns and
prepared plates and torches of magnesium powder, with
which the Manager of the Mayo Salt Mines had kindly
supplied me. The main cave is best described as being
one enormous chamber, with three turns in it. It is
«xceedingly lofty and spacious. The first section is dimly
lit from the entrance arch. Along either wall lie the
ruins of what appear to have been the cloisters of monks,
who used the cave as their temple. A deep deposit
of bat's dung covered the floor ; and great flocks of
bats and blue rock-pigeon, disturbed by our entrance,
fled silently to and fro beneath ths high vaulted
Toof.

The turn to the second section brought us to inky
darkness. The bright white blaze of the magnesium
flares disclosed a broad flight of stone steps, with a low
and semi-ruinous balustrade leading up the centre of
the cavern, and disappearing round the next turning.
Beside us a stone tank, sixteen feet long by ten feet wide

YUSUFZAI. 45

and ten deep, stood empty and ruined. The floor of the
cave shelved slightly upwards.

Mounting this stairway cautiously, we turned into a
big hall, faintly lit by a hole far, far up in the roof. A
handsome and well preserved shrine stood in the middle
of the shelving earthy floor. A dim religious light pervaded,
the vast chamber, suggestive of prayer and meditation.
The place was, indeed, a perfect natural cathedral. I
could well imagine processions of bygone Lamas bearing^
torches, ascending the broad stairs, and proceediag to thft
shrine in the hall beyond.

To the left more steps led to a side cave, which soon
became so low and confined that we were nearly choked
by the fumes from the torches. It has never been explored
to the end.

A legend that this tunnel has an exit in Kashmir, is
responsible for the name of " Kashmir-Smuts " or
" Kashmir caves."*

On leaving the gloomy cavern I halted for an hour
on a plateau across the glen, and had breakfast amongst
the ruins of the city. A troop of monkeys were play-
ing the most perilous games on the face of an apparently
perpendicular precipice, and their antics astonished even
the Pathans of my party.

A heavy meal awaited me on my return to Babozai,
where the Malik, Ghulam Haidar Khan, and Khadi Khan,

♦ There is » tradition amongst the natives that Budha himself
spent a short period of retirement and meditation in this cave. Ther»
ia probably no truth in the story.

46 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

Ms brother, had prepared a feast of hard boiled eggs,
grilled chicken, and sweet chwpaties. The arrangements
were, perhaps, a trifle primitive, but the Malik showed a
delicate attention for my comfort by straining the milk
for me through his own fingers. However, to my relief,
it was subsequently poured into the kettle along with the
tea, water and sugar and subjected to a good boiling.
Given a really keen appetite, the eatables provided on
such occasions are by no means unpalatable, but the tea
is almost undriakable on account of the quantity of sugar
which is heaped into it.

Ghulam Haidar Khan is an old man now, whose
beard would be white but for the scarlet dye. In his
day he did excellent work in connection with the collecting
of supplies, rifles and fines from the neighbouring Buner-
wals. He received a khelai in 98, in recognition of his
services.

The Yusuf zais, strictly speaking, do not occupy the
plain of Yusufzai, but live in the neighbouring hills of
Swat and Buner. The iuhabitants of the plain, who
are generally known as Yusufzais because they live in
Yusufzai, should really be called Mandanr. They trace
their descent from Mandan the brother of Yusuf. The
Baizais who occupy the plain of Lundkhwar are the only
true Yusufzais left in the lowlands.

The Mandanr Yusufzais are divided into three great
branches, viz., the Utmanzai, Usmanzai, and Razar. They
are a big-limbed, handsome race, and are largely enlisted
in the Indian Army.

YxrsuFZAi. 47

Their history as a nation is not lacking in interest.
They are believed to be the descendants of the Gandhari,
who occupied the Peshawar vale at the time of the advent
of the Greeks. In the fifth or six century a general emigra-
tion occurred of the natives of Gandhara, brought about
most probably by the irruption of the Scythic hordes.
As a Budhist community they travelled to, and settled
on, the banks of the Helmimd, and founded the city of
Gandhara or Kandahar. During their stay in Khorasan
they adopted the doctrines of Mohamed, and as a
Mussulman nation commenced their return journey in the
early portion of the fifteenth century. " What induced
them," writes Bellew, " to make direct for the Peshawar
Valley, the ancient Gandhara, is a subject for enquiry.
Whether they were guided by mere chance, or whether some
tradition still lingered in the memory of their grey-beards
that the country towards which they had set their faces
with kith and kin was their true fatherland, is imcertain
though the latter would seem highly probable."*

* The claim of the Afghan and Pathan nations to being descended
from Saul, and from the wandering Hebrew Colony converted to
Al-Islam in Ghaur near Herat, by Khalid-bin-Walid, in A.D. 622,
appears in many cases to be well founded. The Yusufzais, however,
as has been shown in the text, have no common origin with the rest
of the Pathans ; having merely adopted their religion and language
from long and close association. " As an instance of the danger "
says Bellew, " of drawing conclusions from mere names, it may here
be stated that the Yusufzais reckon themselves true Afghans, and
call themselves Bani Israil. Their name means ' descendants of
Joseph,' and their country abounds with Israelitish names such as
are found in the Scriptures. In fact, by the hasty enquirer, their

48 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

They appear to have settled for a while in Ningrahar
which is the vale of Jalalabad, and to have formed only a
part of a great community restlessly searching for a home.
The Gigianis and Muhammedzais who have since again
become their neighbours, settled near them for a while in
Ningrahar, while the Tarklanris, the present Bajauris.
whose original home appears to have been the Guma
Valley, found a temporary halting place in Lugman.*

The Yusufzais, accompanied by the Utman Khel,
forced their way through the Khyber and occupied the
plain lying between the Cabul and Swat rivers. Their
aggressions brought them into conflict with the inhabitants
of the Peshawar Vale, the Dilazaks, a race of whose origin
little is known. It is supposed that they derived their
name from the " Saki " which word was used to denote
the early Budhist disciples of Sakia Muni (Budha). During
the reign of Akbar a portion of the Dilazaks were deported
to Hindustan, and the Emperor Jehangir removed the rest
from Peshawar, and Hazara, and formed them into a
colony in the Dakhan. Only a few families now remain,

claims would be at once admitted, and their country be considered
a second Palestine ; for in support of the belief there is the hill Peor
(Pehor), the mount Moriah (Morah), the peaks Ham and Dumah, the
Valley of Sodom (Sudhum), the stream of the Gadarenes (Oadhar),
the plain of Galilee (Jalala), etc., whilst for the tribesthere are the
Amazites (Amazai), the Moabites (Muhibwal), the Hittites (Hotiwal),
etc."

* The present occupants of Lugman are supposed to be the most
shrewd business men in Afghanbtan. It is said their deceitfulness
is due to the fact that the Devil spent his first night on earth amongst
them, on his expulsion from Heaven.

YUSUFZAI. 49

and wten I made enquiries I found that there was only
one Dilazak serving in the Indian Aimy.*

In the meanwhile the great Mohmand irruption
was also moving eastwards towards the Peshawar Vale.
The bulk of this tribe found its permanent home in
the mountainous regions north of the Cabul River,
while a small section, now known as the Bar Mohmands,
became detached and settled in the plains due south
of Peshawar, between the Bara River and the Afridi
Hills.

The Yusufzais assisted by the Tarklaniis,
Muhammedzais and Gigianis in the meantime gradually
became masters of the Yusufzai plains. The
Muhammedzais are now settled in Hastnagar, and the
Gigianis in the Doab of the Swat and Cabul rivers. In
the succeeding revolutions the Tarklanris moved into
their present holding in Bajaur ; the Utmankhel occupied
the lower portion of Swat ; and the Yusufzais retained
the whole plain between the Cabul river and the Indus,
and made besides considerable acquisitions in the Swat
Valley, in Buner and in Chamla.

The final struggle for territory ensued, and as a
result the Mandanr clans overran the whole of the Yusufzai
plaiuj :and the Chamla Valley. The senior Yusufzai
branches of the tribe retired to Swat and Bimer, retaining
in the lowlands only the Lundkhwar plain, still occupied
by the Baizais.

* There is a village called Dilazak north-east of I'eshawar, near
Muhammedzai. It is inhabited by Khalilt,

E, PB 4

50 PATHAN BOEDEELAKD,

About 1553, at the period when Humayun, King of
Cabul, was marching to re-establish the Moghul Empire
in Delhi, the Khalils and Daudzais moved down the
Khyber, and respectively occupied the districts west
and north of Peshawar, thus completing the Pathan
settlement of the Peshawar Vale.

Of all the Pathan tribes the Afridis alone seem to
be able to claim the distinction of having been long estab-
lished in their present country. They have been identified
with the Aparytse of Herodotos, and appear to have
remained stationary for twenty-three centuries, although
their territories have been so much encroached upon by
Khattaks and Bangash that nothing but the hilly regions
remain to them.

While we are on the subject of the settlement of
the Pathan races on and beyond the administrative
border, it may not be out of place to follow the peregrina-
tions of the remaining tribes who live in or near the North-
West Frontier Province.

The Orakzais are believed to come of the same stock
as the Afridis, Bangash, Turis, and Waziris, and their
original home is said to have been on the slopes of the
mountains of Suliman. The Orakzai and Bangash
settled in the Zaimukht country during the successive
invasions of Subaktagin and Taimux, and were thence
driven into Kurram, and again from there into the Miranzai
Valley. The occupation of the Kurram by the Turis
and their gradual encroachment into the lower part of the
Valley, then held by the Bangash, forced the Bangash

YUSUFZAI. 51

in their turn to press the Orakzais. In these aggressions
they were assisted by their neighbours the Khattaks.
The struggle was settled by a general action in the vicinity
of Muhammedzai near Kohat, towards the end of the 16th
century. The battle is said to have raged for three days
and to have resulted in a victory for the Bangash, who
have ever since occupied Miranzai. The Orakzais then
retired to their present holdings in Tirah, Khanki and
Mastura.

The settlement of the Khattaks in their present
territories along the right bank of the Indus probably
took place some three hundred years previous to the
expulsion of the Orakzais from Miranzai. They originally
came from the Suliman mountaias, and have been identified
with the Sattagyddse of Herodotos. They were driven
out on to the plains of the Indus by the Waziris
who themselves occupied the place thus vacated. An
irruption of certaia Baluch tribes, probably the same
Baluchis who still occupy Dera Ismail Khan, and who
are now entirely separated from the rest of the Baluch
nation, forced the Khattaks northwards. Thus pressed,
they gradually spread all over the Teri, Lachi, and
Chautra districts. The Sagir section struck out an
independent line, and a few of them are still found
across the Indus. The Akora Klattaks have pushed
up beyond the Cabul river and iuto the Yusufzai
plain, and colonies of them are found as far north
as Jamalghari and Lundkhwar. The Bannuchis of Baimu
appear to have shared to a limited extent the wanderings

52 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

of the Khattaks, and have now surrendered much of their
land to the all-grasping Waziris.

The latest arrivals are the Shinwaris, who came from
Persia with Nadir Shah in A. D. 1738.

CHAPTER III.

Peshawar.

Peshawar City — ^The Caravans — ^Trade with Afghanistan — Fruit —
Carpets — ^Markets — Coins — ^The Trans-Frontier tribes — Cis-Frontier
tribes — Trees — Jamrud — Blood feuds — ^A truce — ^The Khyber Pass
— Ali Musjid — A picturesque Warden — Lundi Kotal — Affair of
the 4th May, 1908 — Shinwaris — Charsadda — Mir Ziarat Dheri —
Hashtnagar — ^The Gandab Valley — Dand — Torkai — The

Mohmands — Multan.

I doubt whether there is a more fascinating city in
the East than Peshawar, or one requiring greater local
knowledge to be thoroughly appreciated. "What it lacks
in the way of fine buildings is amply made up for by
its unique human element. In its streets India meets
Central Asia, and of the crowds which throng its bazaars
fully thirty per cent, are travellers on their way to and
from Hindustan, or are strangers from the neighbouring
Pathan mountains. Not the least picturesque are the
sulky Afghans, who, to judge from their truculent manners,
have forgotten that they no longer walk the streets of Cabul.
It is the peculiarity of the Afghans that they are always
thoroughly at home everywhere, and never seem to realize
the necessity of dropping any of their swagger when in
foreign lands. In pleasing contrast are the cheery, laughing
Pathans, many of whom are ' in town ' for a holiday, and
,who, like trippers all the world over, are determined to

54 PATHAN BOEDERLAND.

enjoy themselves. Each tribe has its own Caravansarai
where its members hire a charpoi, and deposit their belong-
\ ings. Swatis swathed in gay Malakand blankets, hand-
some featured Afridis from the neighbouring hills, spot-
lessly clad Yusuizais with flowing pyjamas and exquisite
love-locks, jostle each other in the main thoroughfares
of the city, and percolate through the motley crowd of
Peshawaris. Occasionally one sees a group of Mohmands,
perhaps on their way to the Kohat Darrah to purchase
rifles ; or ragged, underfed Orakzais distinguishable by
the peculiar pearl grey chuddars they affect. These latter
engage in the mazarai* trade. Quantities of mazarai
are grown in Miranzai and in the lower Orakzai valleys,
and there is a large demand for it in Peshawar. Even
more poverty-stricken than the Orakzais are the Uttle
Tartar-featured, slit-eyed Hazaras, who, in early winter,
come down in crowds to the Punjab to escape the rigours
of their own climate, and to find employment on railway
and canal constructions.! On the same errand are the

* Dwarf palm.

I'The Hazaras hold the strongest valleys and mountains in the
heart of Afghanistan, extending westward from Cabnl, Ghazni and
Kalat-i-Ghilzai to the neighbourhood of Herat and Balkh. They
are besides widely distributed throughout Afghanistan, and are found
in every town and village. They are an industrious race and are
employed as servants in nearly every Afghan family. Indeed, there is
a proverb to the effect that " Afghans would have to work like don-
keys but for the Hazaras." There is a difierence of opinion as to their
origin. Abdul Fazal, a historian of the 16th century, states that
they are the remains of the Army of Maryn Khan, the grandson of
Chengiz Khan. According to another theory, they originated from

t'iCTURE V.

Hassan Gul— Kala Khel, Afrid.

PESHAWAR. 55

GMlzais, who, however, go much further a-field in search
of labour than the Hazaras. Occasionally may be seen
Usbegs, Russian subjects from Kokhand, in quilted,
long-sleeved coats. The merchants of Bokhara and
Samarkand carry on an important trade with Peshawar.
Last of all come the fair-skinned Chitralis, representing
an entirely different type. They saunter about in their
embroidered Chogas or cloaks, with the usual yellow
or purple flower stuck gaily in their roll-up caps. It
is an interesting crowd to study, for it is essentially cosmo-
politan. It is amusing to watch a young Afridi buck,
supported and advised by half a dozen friends, selecting
a gold and velvet waistcoat,^ beneath which his heart
will beat proudly for months to come.*

It is nothing short of an education to witness the
arrival of one of the bi-weekly caravans, which come

the military colonies established by Chengiz Khan himself, to consoli-
date his lines of communication, much in the same way as Alexander
the Great strengthened hia communications, by distributing colonies
of Kafirs from Kokand and Badakshan, in Chitral. Each colony is
supposed to have consisted of one thousand (Hazar) men. Hence the
name Hazara. Nine of the colonies were placed in the Hazara of
Cabul, and one was located east of the Indus as an advanced post.
It may be mentioned, however, that the Hazaras of the Indus (Abbot-
tabad districts) in no way resemble those of Afghanistan. Yet
a, third tradition ascribes to them a Mogul origin. The Hazaras of
Aighanistan are without exception Shiahs, and they speak a bastard
Persian, and not Pushtoo. Their enlistment in the Indian Army
as pioneers is quite a new experiment.

* " So strong is personal vanity in the breasts of Oriental men
and women, young and old, that from Cairo to Calcutta, it would be
difficult to find a sad heart under a handsome coat." — Sir Kichard
Burton.

56 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

down from Cabul all through the winter. They are
conducted by an Afghan escort as far as Torkham, and
are there taken over by the Khyber Eifles, and passed
down the Khyber defile to Jamrud. There they spend
the last night of their long march. All next day the
caravan, consisting perhaps of three thousand camels
and a host of men, women and children, streams into
Peshawar city. The entrance of the Bajauri Gate is
packed with transport, and here a handful of customs
officials fight, to all appearances hopelessly, in a desperate
cause. The confusion is indescribable.

Once within the city, and the danger of being trampled
on over, it is possible to take stock of one's surroundings.
The strong-Umbed, bubbling camels, relieved of their
heavy loads, squat everywhere. Their heads, throats
and quarters are covered with bunches of black hair
which, by the way, is cut once a year and is of great com-
mercial value. They are remarkably fine beasts, and are
much larger and stronger than those of the Punjab, or
those which the Ghilzais bring down to India over the
Peiwar Kotal. The Afghan camel drivers are shaggy
and powerful in proportion, and the pleasure of arriviflg
at their destination iaduces them to throw off much of
their usual sulkiness. They are tall, broad-shouldered
fellows, with fair skins and black locks, and wear untidy
pugrees and hairy poshteens.

Hundreds of ponies accompany a caravan. They
are bull-necked, straight-pastemed, savage-eyed brutes,
whose chief recommendation is their obvious strength

PESHAWAR. 57

and hardiness. Amongst them, however, are animals
of a finer breed, which look as if they might develop
into handsome creatures with good food and grooming.
Dealers are at work picking out the most likely looking
ones, as soon as the ' Kafila '* arrives. It is, however,
not easy to judge them, for they are almost completely
hidden in gay cloths, carpet saddle-bags, beads and swagger
trappings. As soon as they are unloaded, they are wrapped
up again in several thick ' numhnas,''f and tied to a
' charpoi,' with which they easily walk off to settle a
quarrel with, or take a bite out of, a neighbour. Conse.
quently the Mewa Bazaar is a scene of confusion and
strife. The same conditions reign in all the numerous
' sarais ' which lead out of it on every side.

The chief imports from Afghanistan are wheat, hides,
skiQS, ghee, asafcetida, horses, ponies and mules. The
import trade has grown very considerably, and statistics
before the war showed a yearly expansion of over
Rs. 900,000. The development of the export trade points
to a spreading desire in Afghanistan for British-made
goods. Chief amongst these commodities are cloths,
manufactured leather goods, articles of apparel, china,
procelain, glass beads, petroleum, corrugated iron and
kerosine oil. In 1908 the Khyber Pass was twice closed
by the British authorities : the first time because of a
disagreement about the springs at Torkham, and on the
second occasion on account of the misbehaviour of the
SarhangofDakka. An unexpected result of these measures
* Caravan. | t Blankets.

58 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

was that the Amir was personally inconvenienced. The
supply of kerosine oil ran short in the palace, and no
more was procurable till the disagreement with the British
Government had been adjusted. Amongst other exports
is silver which in the shape of rupees, is flowing steadily
from India into Afghanistan. The reason for this is that
there is a growing demand for British rupees in Balkh,
Bukhara and Cabul, in all of which places there is profit
to be made on the exchange. Besides this, the caravan
merchants, as they grow prosperous, are carrying back
more and more cash with them every year.

Whole caravans of fruit frequently come down to
Peshawar. They carry quantities of melons, grapes,
pomegranates, chilgosas and pistachios. The alluring
fruit-shop windows of Piccadilly, where the well-polished
apples and pears of Kent look so tempting, have their
counterpart in Peshawar. An inspection of the fruit
shops affords a good deal of interest. The best melons
are imported from Cabul and even from Samarkand and
are priced at from two to three rupees each.* Small

* " In Farghana," writes Lane Poole, " grew such apricots and
pomegranates that a man would journey from afar to taste them.
Many years after he was banished from this land, the Emperor Babar
recalled with a sigh the flavour of the dried apricots stuffed with
almonds, which were so good in Marghinan. The luscious pomegra-
nates of Khojend were not to be despised, but the melons of Akhsi ■
who could resist the melons of Akhsi ? which had not their equal in
the world, not even in the spreading melon fields of Bokhara, and
the Ismail Shaikhi melons with a yellow skin, mottled-like shagreen,
' a wonderfully delicate and toothsome melon.' " — Lane Poole'a
Babar.

PESHAWAR. 5&

pomegranates also colne from Cabul, but are inferior to
the luscious, deep-red variety brought down at considerable
trouble and risk from Kandahar, Mustang and Samarkand.
For one of these latter, the Peshawari LucuUus, will
pay as much as seven annas. The pomegranates of
Peshawar too have a great reputation, and during the early
summer months find a large market in Delhi and Agra,
where they are sent every morning in a special train.
The beautiful white grapes of Cabul are brought down
in cotton wool, and sold for one rupee eight annas a seer.
The walnuts of Tirah are, if anything, superior to those of
Kashmir, and both are found in the Peshawar bazaar.
From Tirah and from the Suliman mountains come the
insidious chllgosas, which the Peshawar folk nibble all
day.*

Peshawar is the chief centre of a very important
trade in carpets between Persia, Central Asia and India,
and the rug fancier may spend many engrossing hours
in the carpet shops. I tried hard to come in direct commu-
nication with the Afghan traders, but in this I was
unsuccessful, for they have little to do with the disposal
of carpets in detail. A caravan of rugs starting from
Bokhara, Merv, Panjdeh, Samarkand or Kokhand is
always preceded by an agent, who carries an invoice and
description of the goods. The dealers in Peshawar buy
up the whole consignment before it arrives. This is why
the European has to pay such long prices for even a very
small prayer carpet. The merchants too know full well
* The chilgosa is the kernel of a certain pine cone.

60 PATHAN BOEDEELAND.

how to sway the rug gently before a purchaser to fascinate
him with the moving lights and shades, playing over the
deep brown and maroon colours. It is interesting to note
that the long, narrow carpets are giving place to ones of a
more convenient shape — a concession perhaps to European
tastes, on the part of the Central Asian weavers. But
even now they are often faulty in having one end broader
than the other.*

Every trade has its own separate quarter. In the
' chirya hazaar,' or bird market, all kinds of gaily plumed
little birds, whose home is in Cabul, may be bought.
Thrushes, goldfinches, linnets and other European birds
are procurable in Peshawar, but they rarely survive the

* The prayer carpet has two functions : to protect the worshipper
from actual contact with the ground, and to assist in concentrating
his thoughts on holy things. The first ohject which the craftsman
would naturally desire to introduce into his artistic scheme would
be the ' Mihrdb,' which is that part of the mosque where the priest
stands when reciting public prayers ; and this is the dominant charac-
teristic of every prayer rug. It is, roughly, in the shape of an arch,
the top being sometimes pointed and sometimes rounded, but the
apex is nearly always well indicated, and is invariably pointed towards
Mecca or Medina when the rug is spread on the ground for use. Near
the apex, and just beneath' it, is sometimes found a triangular patch
which is intended to represent the little packet of sacred earth, which
some Mahomedans place on the ground and touch with their fore-
heads when prostrating themselves. Within the apex of the Mihrab,
and beneath the triangular patch, the weaver frequently introduces
the representation of a comb, to remind the worshipper that his beard
should be well kept when he is engaged in his devotions. Within the
niche can often be traced the rude representation of a rosary for the
devout Mussulman carries on his person a, string of 99 beads, each
of which represents one of the " beautiful names of Allah." — Civil
and Military Gazette.

PESHAWAR. 61

Indian hot weather. In one quarter are situated the
braziers, in another shoemakers, embroiderers and uniform
dealers. Elsewhere a whole street is devoted to making
up the mazarai, or dwarf palm, into its various commercial
forms. Amongst other stalls are those of the money
changers, where it is by no means uncommon to pick up a
copper or silver Grecian coin, or a Bactrian " Menandar,"
or " Eucratides."

From the coins found in different parts of the North-
West Frontier Province, a great deal of the early history
of the country has been ascertained. Little is known
of the various Greek and Greeko-Bactrian Kings who
succeeded Seleukos Mkator in the heritage of Alexander
the Great. It is'certain that Greek influence existed
ofE and on for upwards of three centuries. Professor
Wilson, who made a careful study of the coins he collected,
has given the following list of rulers — ^Demetrius, B. C.
190 : Antimachus, B. G. 150 : Menandar, B. C. 126 : ApoUo-
dotus, B. C. 110 : Hermseus, B. 0. 98 : and Strabo, A. D.
80. The copper Menandar, which is still common, has the
bust of a Greek soldier on one side, and on the reverse a
mounted horseman. The silver Menandar is not so
frequently seen, and bears the head and shoulders of a
typical Greek, with the inscription " Menandar."* •

•Others say that Menandar ruled from B. 0. 165 to B. C. 148,
and was succeeded by Eucratides. " According to Strabo," says
Wilson, " Menandj,r was one of those Bactiian Kings by whose victories
the boundaries of the kingdom were chiefly extended towards the
east." He crossed the Sutlej and passed eastward as far as the Jumna ;
but Professor Wilson comes to the conclusion " that he never was

62 PATHAN BOEDEELAND.

Another common coin is that of Kadphises. It
represents the Scythian period, which succeeded the
Bactrian. Of the Hiadu dynasties which followed the
Scythians, a silver coin displaying on one side a saddled
bull, and on the other a horseman, is found in large quanti-
ties, as too is a copper coin bearing a lion rampant and an
elephant, with Sanskrit characters. This latter is also
found in the Suki Sultan Surak ruins near Kawal Pindi.
Coins are constantly being turned up by the plough in the
Peshawar district. A number were discovered buried
in an earthen jar a short wMle ago, but it is said that the
finder consigned them to the ground again, to avoid trouble
with the Pohce.

There are not many notable buildings in Peshawar
city. The most elegant is the mosque of Mohabat Khan,
so named after its founder, who was a governor here
in the days of Shah Jehan. Its slender minarettes rise
high above the mass of meaner houses. On occasions
General Avitable, the Neapolitan Governor of Ranjit
Singh, did not scruple to use these same miuars as gibbets,
from which to hang half a dozen " true believers," at one
time. The Fort, which stands on the site of the Bala
Hissar Palace of the Durani Kings, was built by the Sikhs.*
The Gor-khatri, now a tahsil office, was formerly the

King of Bactria, but that he reigned (B. C. 126) over an extensive
tract from the foot of the Paropamissan mountains to the sea " and
was " a conqueror of the neighbouring provinces." — Extract from
" A year on the Frontier."

* Peshawar was used for many years by the Durani Princes as a
winter residence, in the same way that the present Amir of Afghanistan
now uses Jalalabad.

PESHAWAR. 63

residence of General Avitable. It was visited by the
Emperor Babai in 1519, who made mention of it in his
memoirs.

The Gor-khatri stands on the summit of a consider-
able eminence, and on a clear winter day the view from
its roof is really magnificent. You see from here one-
third of the arc of hiUs enclosing the Peshawar vale>
backed with glistening snowy ranges, extending from
those east of the Kunar river to the Mohmand, Bajaur
and Lowarai mountains, and so on westwards to the
white ridges of Swat and the Mahaban. Due west of
Peshawar lie the Khyber hills, with fort Maud visible
in the throat of the pass. The main peaks of this knot
of mountauis are Tartara (6,764 feet) and Rotas (5,423
feet) ; while to the right of these, the sugar-loaf poiut
of Toratsuka (4,453 feet) is very prominent. To the
left of the Khyber, the hills rise steeply to the uplands
of Tirah, and almost above Jamrud are the twin peaks of
Zera, which were used as a signalling station in the Zakha
Khel expedition of 1908.

From the Gor-khatri the geography of the neighbouring
Pathan tribes is laid open as on a map. Away east
where the Mahaban hills reach the Indus, lie the territories
of the Utmanzais*; next to them those of the Gadunsf and

* The Utmanzais are a Mandanr tribe. They lie along the Indus,
south of Amb, and also extend cis-Indus into Hazara, in the Haripur
Tahsil. Ihe majority of them are in British Territory, notably around
Swabi.

t The Oaduna are a non-Afghan race whose original home is
believed to have been near Abbottabad in Hazara. Numbers are still

64 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

Khudu Khel ; and in succession, travelling westward along
the mountain wall come the countries of Buner,* Chamlaf
Swat, J Ranizai, Utman Khel§ and Bajaur.|| Then turning

located in that vioinity. Others suggest that they may be descended
from the Yadu, a tribe expelled from Gujrat in B. C. 1100.

* The BunerwaU are a magnificent, deep-chested, dark-skinned
race, who are now coming forward for enlistment. Their fighting
qualities were proved in the Ambeyla Campaign of 1863, and again
in Swat and Malakand in 1897. They have a reputation for truthful-
ness and honesty. The chief sub-divisions of the clan are the Ashazais,
Nasozais, Doulatzais, Oadaizais and Xurazais. Of these all except
Nasozais ' weak ' every tenth year, that is, they interchange their
property amongst themselves. There are about 290 Bunerwals at
present in the ranks of the Indian Army.

f Chamla is inhabited by Chamlawals, a Mandanr Yusufzai clan.
They are, however, now absorbed into Buner and often enlist as
Bunerwals.

{ Swat is separated from the Yusufzai plain by the Malakand
and Mora mountains. Upper Swat is known as Kohistan. Its
inhabitants are not Pathans, but belong to the same Dard family as
the Chitralis and Gilgitis. Swat proper is a low-lying and enclosed
valley, where much rice is grown. It has consequently an unhealthy
climate, and the Swatis suffer from severe fevers, which must tend
to deteriorate them as a fighting race. The sub-divisions of the Swatis
are the Baizais, who also own the northern portion of the Yusufzai
Plain, the Khwazozais, Khadakzais, the Abazais and the Banizais.
Certain sections of the tribe ' wesh,' or exchange lands periodically.

§ The Vtman Khels are believed to have had their original home in
the Gumal Valley. Only a small portion of the tribe is cis-Prontier.
This section was given lands about Lundkhwar and the Paja moun-
tains in Yusufzai, together with certain Khattaks, in return for services
they both rendered to the Baizai against the Ranizai. They speak
enthusiastically of their beautiful vale of Ambahar.

II The Bajauris are also known as Tarklanris. Their wanderings
and final settlement have already been traced in Chapter II. The
three ruling chiefs amongst them are the Khans of Jhandul, Khar

PESHAWAE. 65

south, the uplands of the Mohmands pass in review. South
of them again the Mullagoris occupy the foot hills, and the
Mullagori road may be seen crossiag the low spurs, beyond
the little post of Shahgai. Then follows the great sweep
of Afridi hills, from the Khyber right round to Cherat.
The KuM Khels inhabit the nearer ridges of the Khyber ;
beyond them are the Aka Khels, and to the south the
Adam Khels occupy the Kohat Pass. Thence, the Khattak
hills run back into the distance towards the Indus again,
thus completing this wonderful panorama.

Cis-frontier tribes occupy the intervening plain. Of
these the Khalils live between Peshawar and the Khyber.*
Due north are the Daudzais, an unimportant little section.
In the Doah between the Swat and Cabul rivers are the
Gigianis, and on the left bank of the Swat, in the district
of Hashtnagar, are the Muhammedzais. The Yusufzais
inhabit the plain of Mardan ; while to the south of
Peshawar, between the Bara river and the Adam Khel
hills, the country is occupied by the Kuz Mohmands,
a branch of those same Mohmand tribes now settled in the
mountains beyond Michni and Shabkadar. The history
of how these various tribes migrated here, and distributed

and Nawagai. They are a tribe who certainly make good soldiers
and might be much further drawn upon for recruits for the Indian
Army. In 1908 only 250 were enlisted. The Mamun, Ibrahim Khel,
Maidani and Jhanduli are the chief sub-divisions of the tribe.

* The Khalils enlist in considerable numbers in the cavalry. They
are fond of styling themselves Khalil Mohmands, but have no
right to do so. The chief sub-sections of the tribe are the Jillarrai,
Ishaqzai, Muttezai and Baiozai,

E, PB 5

66

PATHAN BORDERLAND.

themselves over mountain and plain, has already been
described in the concluding pages of the last chapter.

Peshawar cantonment is jpar excellence the favourite
station of Northern India. Its gardens and roads are
full of flowers, and in season roses, chrysanthemums
and violets make a great display. The variety of trees
in the neighbourhood could hardly fail to attract the
attention of even the least observant person. The com-
monest kinds, which line the Mall in its entire length,
are the Farash (Tamarix Articulata), Mulberry (Moms
Indica), Siris {ATbizzia Lehbele), Toon (Cedrela Toona),
Shisham (Dalbergia Sisso), Pipal (Ficus Religiosa) and
the Jaman tree (Eugenia Jambolana). The Cheel (Pinus
Longifolia) grows to a great size, in spite of the unsuitability
of the climate, and Chenars (Platanus Orientalis) appear
to thrive, though, as a rule, four thousand feet is their
lowest limit. The specimens found in Peshawar are
as yet young. Their leaves wither quite early in the
summer.

Peshawar was once famous for a Budha tree, which
in many hundred years grew to an immense size. Its
foliage " completely blotted out the sunshine." Mention
is made of this remarkable peepul tree by the Emperor
Babar in about 1520 A.D. There appears to be no record
of what eventually happened to it, but it probably fell
to bits from sheer age, or was cut up for firewood by
the unsentimental Sikhs. Practically all the fruit trees
and flowering shrubs which grow in the south of Italy,
thrive in Peshawar too.

PESHAWAR. 67

The Khyber Pass on ' Kafila ' day, and the Khyber
Pass during active service, are two very different places.
In the former case it is deeply interesting to watch the
great caravan passing through the defile, on its way from
Cabul. It is a scene of picturesque confusion, and one not
easily forgotten. Under service conditions the confusion
is equally great, but the picturesqueness is lacking. Clouds
of dust, armies of flies, congested transport, overpowering
heat and troublesome snipers, are only a few of the
discomforts.

Fort Jamrud is a large mud enclosure perched on a
low mound about two miles from the mouth of the Khyber.
The present post stands on the site of the ill-fated fortress
built in 1836 by Hari Singh. It is a lonely spot to be
quartered in. The only possible recreation, namely
that of shooting along the foot hills, is even forbidden.
A water-supply was laid on after the '97 expedition and
proved a great blessing. It has since been improved.

The defensive towers of Kuki Khel tribesmen occupy
undulating ground immediately beyond the border. The
last time I saw the Khyber, was during the Mohmand
Expedition in May 1908. There was then a remarkable
scarcity of human life in the pass. Doubtless the Afridis
were as uncertain about our intentions as we were ourselves.
As a rule, however, the inhabitants, when not employed
in stalking, or being stalked by, a neighbour, may be
seen working in their fields. But even then the rifle
cannot safely be put aside. I doubt very much whether
the Pathan reaUy appreciates the stormy mode of life

68 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

te is expected, as a matter of course, to endure. A trouble-
some and highly inconvenient blood feud is often the only
heritage his parents leave him. I have heard many
Afridi and Orakzai sepoys complain bitterly that they
had spent the whole of their furlough close prisoners in
their own towers, without once stirring out in the day
time. " Conceal," says the Arab proverb, " thy tenets,
thy treasure, and thy travelling." A sepoy with a blood
feud has to employ considerable strategy when proceeding
on leave to his home. His comrades in the Regiment
who, when across the border, may be his deadly enemies,
will take care to give timely warning of his coming. The
route and time of departure is, therefore, in such cases,
kept a profound secret. No mercy is shown in these blood
feuds, and amongst only a few tribes are the women and
children exempt from barbarous vengeance.* The high
road is considered neutral ground. Feuds cease during
times of national danger, and sepoys, whUe serving in
the ranks of the Indian Army, sink their hereditary
quarrels. In the Regiment the parties concerned may
with safety be the best of friends, though neither side
can trust the other sufficiently not to shoot him on sight
across the border.f Newly-joined Pathan recruits have

* The Waziris are said not to injure the women and children of
their enemies. Family feuds have their origin usually in matters
relating to " Zar, Zan and Zamin " (gold, women and land).

f I may mention a case where a Malik Din and a Kambar Khel,
whose respective tribes were at war, decided to remain friends across
the border. They were members of the same recruiting party, and
declined my offer to issue warrants by different routes. As a rule>

PESHAWAR. 69

to be taught by tlie older sepoys not to quarrel, and after
about six months begin to realise the advantages of living
peaceably. At first, however, there are tremendous
battles in the lines amongst the young bloods, in which
fists and sticks are freely used.

A feud may be settled occasionally by a money
payment, or be silenced temporarily by a truce. Some
time ago the entire Adam Khel tribe agreed to have
a,n armistice for twelve months, and they set up pillars
to witness the ' sulah ' or peace. The truce was scrupu-
lously respected, except in one case, where a man shot
his enemy. As soon as this outrage was known, the
Jowaki jirga* consisting of six hundred elders, imme-
diately assembled, and quartered themselves on the
offender. They refused to do business for a week, during
which time the wretched man had to feed them. They
then tried him, burnt his house and property, and fined
him two thousand rupees. This money had to be raised
quickly, and the Jirga gave one thousand rupees to the
murdered man's relatives, and divided the rest amongst
themselves. There is no doubt but that the greater
part of the comnlunity is heartily sick of constant strife,
and is always glad to arrange a truce whenever possible.
There was some talk of prolonging the period of the
armistice in this case. Negotiations were not, however,
successful, and the ' sulah ' ended on the day of the

however, a feud amongst members of a recruiting party is highly-
detrimental to recruiting.
* Council.

70 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

Id (October 1908). Within a week, five men were shot
in the Kohat ' darrah,'* and two more in the JowakL
hills. It may well be asked why the Pathans adhere
to such inconvenient customs. Most probably they do so
as a concession to pubUc opinion. A Pathan who does
not take up his family feud is as much discredited as an
Englishman would be, who failed to meet his debts of
honour. Besides he is bound, for very existence sake,
to deal summarily with his hereditary foes. The introduc-
tion of accurate and long range rifles has rendered blood
feuds still more intolerable.

Some people disbelieve the existence of these vendettas ;
but how very real and disastrous they are, is shown by the
fact that large numbers of Pathans are exiles from their
native villages. I may quote, as only one instance of the
many I know, the case of a Khudu Khel family, of whom
only three males remain. They still have to pay the
penalty for twenty-eight murders, some of which were
committed by since deceased relatives. In consequence
the family has had to leave its home and will probably
never be able to return.

The two ■ favourite methods of waging feuds are
either to lay an ambush on the road for an enemy while
he is travelling : or else to gather round a village at night,
and shoot down the inhabitants as they come out in the
early morning. In the latter case the aggressors arrange
themselves in groups of four, and retire one group at a

Fa33.

PESHAWAR. 71

time under cover of fire, if they are pursued. If a man
is killed in action and Ms whole body cannot be carried
away, at least his head is cut off and removed, to deprive
the enemy of the pleasure of recognizing their victim.

, The hills of the Khyber Pass are gaunt, arid and
broken. The road, in many places double, runs along the
bed of the ravine. High shale mountains tower up on either
hand, and the lower spurs which command the road
are crowned with small stone forts, from which the Khyber
Rifles throw out a screen of picquets when the pass is
opened for traffic.

At Ali Masjid the valley narrows to a forbidding
gorge. The Fort is situated high up above the road
and is approached by a zig-zag path. A small white
Musjid, or shrine, in the nullah bed gives its name
to the place. At all seasons there is water in the stream,
in which we caught a few fish. There are pools too,
where one can bathe, and I have pleasant recollections
of enjoying a much needed wash, while my orderly kept
a look-out for snipers from a neighbouring bluff. I can
conceive nothing more trying than the flies and heat at
Ali Masjid in May and June. The dust was swirled about
with every gust of wind for us to inhale. The flies were
well nigh intolerable, and were with difficulty kept from
the spoon as it was raised from the plate to the mouth.
The camp, in spite of its two exits, was a most difficult
one to move in and. out of, and the confusion into which
the long lines of mules and camels fell, resulted in much
tedious delay. The fine peak of Rhotas rises above this

72 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

confined valley. It appears to stand back considerably,
but there is a story told of bow, to settle a discussion
as to how far distant the summit really was, a party
of levies in Ali Mas j id Fort sent a comrade up Rhotas
to fire a rifle in their direction. The bullet hit and killed
one of the party. A sad mishap occurred on the afternoon
of our departure. Major Coape Smith went out into
the hills with an armed escort, to try and recover some
straying camels. His party was attacked, and he himself
mortally wounded. He died shortly after being brought
back to the Fort.

The Khyber must once have had a picturesque warden
in the person of Colonel Leslie {alias Rattray), who was
one of Ranjit Singh's British officers. This adventurer
had his head-quarters at Ali Masjid Fort, and also occupied
certain caves in the vicinity, from whence he levied black-
mail on all passing caravans. Captain Woods describes
him in 1837 as " an ill-conditioned, dissolute-looking
Englishman, slipshod, turbaned, and robed in a sort
of Afghan deshabille — having more the look of a dissipated
priest than a military man." " The Sikh fortress of
Jamrud," he continues, " depended for water on the
stream that rims through the Khyber, and the chief occupa-
tion of the young Lieutenant-Colonel, for so he styled
himself, was to stop the supply, and again to permit it to
flow on being bribed to do so." Major Pearse tells how
" this reprobate turned Mussulman and assumed the
name of Fida Mahomed Khan, much to the disgust of
Amir Dost Mahomed, who expressed in strong terms the

PESHAWAR. 73

contempt he felt for men who could change their religion
to improve their fortune."

Beyond Ali Mas] id, and for a distance of five miles,
the pass assumes magnificent proportions. The defile
which is only a few hundred yards broad, is flanked by
imposing walls of rock which tower up precipitously,
and end in phantastic pinnacles. This is now Zakha
Khel country. At the village of Zintara is a large
mud fort, with the usual high defensive towers. Near it,
on a spur above the road, are the somewhat dilapidated
remains of a Budhist ' stupa,' upon which the Pathans,
with their ready appreciation of a ' position,' have
built a sangar. . From this point onwards, the valley
becomes a mile or more broad, and forts, vUlages
and plots of cultivation are scattered about it. The
defile ends at Lundi Kotal, where the road debouches
on to a rolling plain, surrounded on all sides by mountains.
In the centre of this amphitheatre of hills, stands the in-
significant-looking, but far-famed, fortress of Lundi Kotal.*

Two miles beyond Lundi Kotal is the outpost of
Michni Kandas, where on the 2nd of May, the evening

* " The tribal limits in the Khyber Pass are : — The Kuki Khels
from Jamrud to where the Mackeson road begins.

The Sipah Afridis from the beginning of the Mackeson road to

The Kamber Khel from Sultan Tarra to the white mosque of
Ali Masjid.

The Malikdin Khel from Ali Masjid mosque to Gurgurra.

The Zakha Khel from Gurgurra to Kandar ravine near Garhi-
Lala Beg.

The Shinwaris westward of Torkhan." — Rankeu.

74 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

previous to our arrival, a small party of Khyber Rifles
had made a, gallant stand against enormous odds. The
Ghazis had brought scaling ladders and had actually
succeeded in planting them against the walls of the block-
house, before their onslaught could be arrested. From
a ridge above the post I got an interesting view, on the 3rd
of May, of that strange Afghan lashkar, the reason of whose
appearance and disappearance remains still a mystery to
the uninitiated. It paraded just before dusk with five
banners, outside the line of fortified villages at Khairgalai,
across the ravine. It consisted chiefly of Afghans from
across the border, and of Shinwaris, and a great collection
of local hudmasJies. Headed by that restless spirit, the
late Sufi Mullah, it had wrested Khairgalai and the
neighbouring villages from their peaceful inhabitants.

The Lundi Kotal affair of 1908 should be regarded as a
separate business altogether from the Mohmand rising.
What caused it, and why it came to nothing, has never
been satisfactorily explained. Perhaps it can be
attributed to the general unrest which had followed the
Zakha Khel expedition of the preceding March. Be
this as it may, Lundi Kotal was threatened, and British
territory actually invaded by a great hostile gathering.
The strength of the lashkar has been much exaggerated,
but on the 3rd of May 1908 it numbered at least eight
thousand men. Many of the enemy decamped during
the night, and the remainder were easily driven off by
our troops next morning, after a few hours' fighting
about the Khairgalai heights.

PESHAWAR. 75

The Shinwaris, whose country lies beyond Lundi
Kotal, and all along the northern slopes of the Safed
Koh, are, as has already been mentioned, the latest
arrivals on our frontier. Their ancestors accompanied
Nadir Shah from Persia in 1738. They have always
been a troublesome and turbulent tribe, especially fond
of interrupting the caravan trade between Cabul and
the Punjab.* Their behaviour has, however, much
improved since 1883 and 1884 when Abdur Rahman
sent Ghulam Haidar (afterwards the Commander-in-
Chief of the Afghan army) to chastise them. The late
Amir had a very poor opinion of the honesty of the
Shinwaris. There is a well-known proverb to the effect
that " you may try kindness for hundreds of years,
but it is impossible to make friends of scorpions, snakes
and Shinwaris." From the high ridges of Khargalai
the view into Afghanistan is very fine. .The road is
seen winding down the valley from Torkhan to Dakka,
and through the buttress of mountains a glimpse is
obtained of the Cabul river and of Lalpura. Extensive
snowy ranges form the distant background.

:{: ^ ^ :{: 3j: ^

But to return to the Peshawar district. I can well
understand people being disappointed with the ruins

* The Shinwaris are also fond of raiding the Turis in the Kurram.
On one occasion they made a daring expedition against them by crossing
the Safed Koh in a fierce snow storm. They carry on a considerable
fruit trade with Peshawar. Their sub-sections are the Manduzai,
Sangu Khel, Sipah and Ali Sher Khel. This last section is situated
nearest the Khyber.

76 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

at Charsadda. Still, the locality is not without some
interest, and a good deal of money has been spent on
excavations as recently as 1902. Charsadda was visited
in A.D. 640 by the Chinese Pilgrim Huien Tsiang. He
described it as being then a flourishing centre of Budhism,
abounding in topes and monuments. The most notable
finds have been the ' Hashtnagar pedestal ' which is now
in the British Museum, and an inscribed image which has
been taken to Lahore. There are several mounds in the
vicinity, which appear to have accumulated through the
ages about the ruins which form their core. Most of them
have been dug into. The tumulus, on the right bank of
the Swat river, opposite Charsadda, is known as the Balla
Hissar. It must have been a place of some importance,
as the mound is full of fragments of old-time masonry.
Quantities of images, coins, rings, and pottery have also
been found there. Some eight feet from the surface, a
massive stone wall has been unearthed. It was found to
be three-and-a-half feet thick and from eighteen to twenty
feet high. It stands in perfect condition, and is built of
solid stone. This buried wall may have been part of a
Budhist monastery.

Mir Ziarat Dheri, which derives its name from the
little shrine at its foot, is another mound near the village
of Utmanzai. Archaeological experts have identified it
as the city of Shahr-i-Napursan or ' the city without
asking.' The natives still caU it the ' Khaneh-i-Napiorsan.'
If Mir Ziarat Dheri is indeed the Shahr-i-Napursan,
it is the site of the ' Eye Gift ' stupa, one of the four

PESHAWAK. 77

important topes mentioned by Huien Tsiang. A
great deal, however, is conjecture, and no remains of
masonry are visible now. It is a lamentable fact, that
until quite recently bricks and stones from all the ruins
in the neighbourhood were habitually removed by
villagers for building purposes. Not far ofE is the Ghaz
Dheri or ' tamarisk mound.' It contains the base of a
' stupa,' and traces of flag pavements.* Fragments of
statuary still litter the ground. There is now no doubt
as to the religious nature of the buildings of Ghaz Dheri
as a small stone relic-box was found beneath the ruins of
the ■ stupa ' in 1902. There are also walls, still protruding
two feet above ground, in the adjacent hillock of Palatu.
Dheri. There is little reason to doubt but that these
Budhist settlements were destroyed by Mussulman hands
at the same period as the other ancient monuments of
Yusufzai-t

* There are also remains of flag pavements in Takht-i-Bahi, Sari
Bohlol, Jamalghari and Ranigat. In all cases the flag stones are
oblong. The natives particularly covet them for their own houses
and it is only by posting chowkidara, or watchmen, that they can
be prevented from removing them. However, we are hardly in a.
position to condemn their vandalism, for the great Herbert Edwardes
himself confesses to having broken up ruins, reputed to be of Greek
origin, to obtain brick to build the fort in Bannu.

"t" The recent discovery of a relic casket containing some fragments
of the bones of Budha himself is probably the most important archaeo-
logical find ever made in the Peshawar Vale. The casket was un-
earthed, early in 1909, in the Shahji Dheri mounds which lie amongst
the tamarisk shaded graveyards on the east side of Peshawar CSty,
The history of these relics, and an account of the dramatic manner
in which they were found, is described in detail in chapter 18 of my
* Burmese Enchantment.'

78 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

Charsadda is the chief village of Hashtnagar. The
district most probably derives its name from ' Hast Nagar,'
or the ' eight villages ' of Charsadda, Prang, Abazai,
Tangi, Tarangzai, Umarzai, Sherpai and Rajar. Cunning-
ham suggests that King Astes, a prince of Pushkalavati,
may have named the locality ' Astes Nagar ' (the village of
Astes) after himself. The former theory, however, seems
the most reasonable. Hashtnagar lies along the left bank
of the Swat river, and is inhabited by the Muhammedzais,*
who came down from the Jalalabad Valley, as before stated,
during the first westerly irruption of the Pathan tribes_
They have lately begun to take kindly to sepoy life, and
there were in 1908 about one hundred and fifty of them
in the regular Indian Army.

A good many Mohmands live amongst the Muham-
medzais, and a few used to enlist. Army service was at
one time popular amongst the transfrontier Mohmands,
who came forward in large numbers immediately the
Mohmand Expedition of 1908 was over. In fact, several
young lads came to Peshawar, and presented themselves
for service with their wounds still unhealed.

The interior of the Mohmand country is said to
contaiu many rich valleys and flourishing settlements.
The Gandab Nullah is the only part of the country I
have visited, and that certainly is a hopeless wilderness.
Mile after mile the scenery offers nothing but dreary
boulder-strewn mountains. The streams ia summer

* " Zai " at the termination of a proper noun raeans " son of,"
i.e., Yusuf zai, son of Joseph ; Mussazai, son of Moses.

PESHAWAR. 79

disappear underground, and only rise to the surface at inter-
vals. The purity of the water is not above suspicion.
In the deeper pools there are quantities of little fish, which
can be caught in a sheet, and which make a very tolerable
substitute for whitebait. Small eels are also quite common
and can be hooked. The hardy pink oleander thrives
in the ravines, and lends the only touch of colour to the
desolate landscape.

In- June the climate of the Gandab Valley is detestable.
The excessive heat is intensified by radiation. The
narrow glen acts as a funnel for the scorching wind, which
blows hard for days on end. No tent can stand against
the storm, and I have seen half a camp collapse when
struck by a sudden blast. Dust and even small pebbles
are blown about with great violence.

The village of Dand, where, during the Mohmand
Expedition, we endured, in early June, three weeks of
wind, heat, cholera and flies, had been deserted before
our arrival. It was said that its occupants had inter-
fered with the trafi&c along the road and had in consequence
been annihilated by the other Mohmands. The Halimzais
in whose country we were, were supposed to be friendly.
However, they left the valley to a man, having first taken
the precaution to remove all the woodwork from their
houses. The roads in the valley were in a shocking state.
This will be the more readily understood when I mention
that on the early marches it was not uncommon for the
head of the column to reach its destination before the tail
had left camp. At Hafiz Kor and Dand a considerable

80 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

part of the transport, after standing loaded for fourteen
tours, was not able to move off before dusk.

From Torkai we got a good view of the Karappa
Pass. The road to Galanai can be seen climbing up
to the difficult hotal. Southwards, too, the panorama
over Shabkadar and Peshawar to the Cherat Hills is
magnificent.*

The Bar, or transfrontier Mohmands, occupy the moun-
tains north of the Cabul river from Dakka and Lalpura
to our Michni, Shabkadar, and Abazai border. The
greater part of the tribe is under Afghan influence. Its
subdivisions are the Baizai, Khwaizai, Tarakzai, Dawezai,
Kukuzai, Utmanzai and Halimzai. This latter clan is
the nearest to British territory. It is said that the
Mohmands did not show much inclination to rebuild the
villages destroyed by the Mohmand Field Force. They
have since received large consignments of arms from the
Persian Gulf via Cabul, and have also purchased numbers
of rifles from factories in the Kohat Pass. They have
gained for themselves a reputation as brave fighters, as
well as troublesome raiders, but are thoroughly mistrusted
and detested by their neighbours, who accuse them of the
grossest treachery. During the latter part of the Mohmand
Expedition, the Mohmands induced half a dozen Afridi
sepoys to desert with their arms and accoutrements*
As soon as the deserters joined them they were immediately

* At Torkai the up and down convoys crossed each other.
Lieutenant Wells, of the Guides, who died of cholera at Galanai, had
written the word " Torquay " on the hill-side, in white stones.

PESHAWAE, 81

relieved of their rifles, ammumtion and clothes, and
were left naked to find their way back to Tirah as best
they could. Most Afridis had no sympathy with the-
deserters, who were disloyal to their salt, or, as the Pathans-
express it, " had defiled the ground where they had been
fed " ; but at the same time they were greatly incensed by
the action of the Mohmands. The Mohmands, moreover,
are vindictive, and frequently exhume the bodies
of even Mussulman enemies, and bum them. Soldiers-
who died or were killed in the Mohmand country were;
buried about the hill-sides, and not in cemeteries, and
their graves were carefully disguised. As I have already-
mentioned, the Mohmands refused to allow relatives,
to remove the dead, for proper burial, after the war. They,,
as well as the Orakzais and Waziris, mutilate in a very-
peculiar way the bodies of those who have committed,
ofiences against women. The Waziris also exhume and
bum their enemies sometimes. The Afridis do not mutilate,
the corpses of their foes ; but, on the other hand, they da
not spare the women and children, and I have heard some
ghastly tales of butchery of young boys.

One of the best known outlaws who has ever troubled
the Mohmand border was Multan. He was himself a
Zaldia Khel, and had at one time been a sepoy in the
26th Punjabis. His military education gave hitn a
thorough insight of the habits of picquets and sentries,
and enabled him on more than one occasion to disguise
himself and his followers as sepoys, or border police.
In this way he carried out several successful expeditions.

E, PB 6

62 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

His most daring exploit was to raid Peshawar city itself.
On another occasion he attacked Jalozai ; and it was his
gang which shot Major Coape Smith at Ali Musjid in May,
1908, and which fired into Ali Musjid camp a few nights
later and nearly hit me. Multan met his fate near Peshawar
in 1909, while leading a raiding party of Shinwaris. Timely
warning was given of his approach, and his gang was
caught in the open by a squadron of cavalry. He retired
into some ravines, where he was held in check until a
company of infantry came up. He and a few choice
shots detached themselves from the rest of the party
and put up a gallant fight, in which one sowar was killed,
and an officer badly wounded. Eventually Multan was
killed by a bullet which struck him in the face. This
Tuffian is said to have had great faith in the power of charms,
and a number were found tied to his rifle. The members
of his gang who were captured on this occasion were
executed shortly afterwards.

CHAPTER IV.
Jalozai.

Jalozai — British Monaments — ^Khattaks — ^Multan the Outlaw — Death o£
Multan — Rifle Theft — ^Tombs — Fanoiama of Hills.

Jalozai recalls to many a soldier the memory of
those ' dear dead days ' when winter wars were waged,
and battles were intimately associated with sunshine and
sandwiches.

At first sight perhaps Jalozai may not appear an
attractive subject to write about. But as a matter of fact
there is quite a lot to be said concerning this tangle of
ravines and low stony hills below the Cherat range.
Jalozai has been the training ground of the Peshawaj.
garrison for half a century, and is scattered over with the
sangars and trenches of generations of budding soldiers.
The hills are yellow, stony, and uninviting, but amongst
them deep nullahs ynnd in and out, starting as hot, arid
ravines, but often turning to pretty, shaded glades lower
down, where springs suddenly gush from the river bed,
and flow on beneath palosa trees, besides terraces of green
turf, and through beds of watercress. The tired soldier,
returning heated from the assault of * savage enemies,'
finds these dells most inviting.

There are two rather interesting monuments away to
the east of the road. One is a brick obelisk, the inscription

84 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

on whidi reads " Sacred to the memory of Lieutenant-
Colonel William Donald MacDonald, Deputy Lieutenant,
and Justice of the Peace of the County of Caithness'
Scotland, who died of cholera when commanding the 93rd
Sutherland Highlanders at Camp Jalozai on the 29th
October, 1862, aged 35 years." The other monument
is " Sacred to the memory of Major U. G. A. Middleton,
Ensign J. St. Drysdale, Assistant Surgeon S. Hope, sixty
one rank and file, thirteen women, and fifteen children,
all of the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders who died of cholera
at or near this spot during the month of October, 1862."
There are three walled enclosures containing only thirteen
graves, in which this unhappy company appear to have
been buried together.

The inhabitants of Jalozai are Akora Kha'ttaks, with
the curious exception of Dag, Selli Khan, and one other
village, which, though in the Peshawar district,: are
Teri Khattaks. In the hills above live the Jalozai and
Ashu Khel section of the Adam Khel Afridis, as far east
along the ridge as Cherat. After Afridi Point, Cherat
and the ridge towards the Indus, is British territory. A
rough path leads direct from Jalozai to Cherat, and thence
to Kohat. It is occasionally used when the Kohat Pass
road is closed by the Adam Khel, or when a man wishes
to avoid enemies in independent territory. At one time
Multan, the famous outlaw, was the terror of Jalozai. On
one occasion he dressed Ms gang as police, and being
himself an ex-sepoy of the 26th Punjabis, easily deceived
the sentry in the chowhi, raided the thana, and carried off

JALOZAI. 85

twenty-eight Government mules and a quantity of loot
from the village buniahs. The mules were eventually
recovered through the mediation of the Adam Khels.
Another time he remained three days in disguise in Pabbi
village, quite close to the military picquet. Having
matured his plans, he looted Pabbi and made good his
■escape past the picquet. A sentry challenged him, " Halt,
who goes there ? " " I'm Multan," replied the outlaw
coolly, loosed off his rifle into the post, and so escaped
leaving the sepoys to fumble for their ammimition. Even-
tually Multan, as described in the last chapter, was rounded
•up by the 19th Cavalry in 1909, and killed in the Fandu
Nullah, twelve miles from Jalozai. Jaffar, an equally-
well-known outlaw, paid Jalozai two or three visits.

At one time rifle stealing from camps in Jalozai became
so common that British Tommies used to bury their arms
in the middle of their tents and sleep over them. An
enterprising Pathan wormed his way one night between
the sentries, and actually dug out a rifle from beneath
its owner. But luckily just as he was securing his prize
the soldier woke, and a desperate tug-of-war for the rifle
ensued. The whole tent woke up alarmed and dazed,
bumped their heads together, seized each other by the
throat, and were soon a struggling mass beneath the
heaving canvas. The thief got away, but had to leave
go of the rifle. Up in Cherat a rifle thief was once unlucky
enough to be noticed by a sentry who happened to be
the regimental boxer. The Pathan was handed over
to the police next day in a much battered condition.

86 PATHAN BOBDEELAND.

Near Jalozai there is a large cemetery, the burial
ground of all the neighbourhood, where dead generations
sleep peacefully under the pcdosa ■ trees. No one cuts,
the palosa of the ' House of the Khans,' and the trees
there grow to a good size. The most conspicuous tomb
occupies a hillock. It is hung with flags and peacock
feathers, and for tactical purposes is known by soldiers
as ' flag grave.' This is the shrine of the Mullah Shirki.
Two beautifully carved slabs of slate rise slanting from the
head and foot, and the body of the grave is also encased
in carved blocks, boimd together with iron clamps. The
delicate geometrical designs frequently used in tomb-
decorations on this frontier are well illustrated in this case.
No name may be written on a Mussulman tomb, but
inscriptions are allowed on the slabs above. In
this instance the inscription is in Persian, and being
translated reads : — ' In the name of God the bountiful and
merciful, the date of death of the revered and much loved
Mulah Sahib Shirki, whose standing is known, a master,
was on Friday night, the 22nd of Shadr, of the year of
Hijera 1328 (1900 A.D.). The disc of the sun has become
darjcened. Jonah has entered into the mouth of the
fish.'

Still more notable is the tomb of Mirza Gul in this
same khan-garh. Mirza Gul it was who produced water
in the ravine, and in the well by the camp, by sticking
his staff into the ground. Near his tomb is a spring
which is said to be hot. It is very slightly so, and is
probably only of deep origin. It is claimed that to bathe

JALOZAI. 87

in its waters is a cure for eye diseases. This saint, Mirza
Gul, was a disciple of Sheikh Baba, whose white cement
shrine is such a conspicuous landmark on the hills near
Dag, Sheikh Baba again was a disciple of the celebrated
Kaka Sahib, at whose tomb a festival is held yearly in
Nowshera.

Sheikh Baba's tomb at Dag is worth visiting. It
is a well-kept cement building, and stands amidst a cluster
of palosa trees. The ground all round is covered with
tombs, and the place is much frequented by sick people.
We met one man being carried there on a bed ; and another
poor old man was lying in the ravine below, too exhausted
to continue his pilgrimage. The palosa trees about the
shrine are hea\Tly laden with stones of aU sizes, which
pilgrims have placed on the branches. The Sheikh and
his son and grandson are buried inside the building.
He lived about two hundred years ago. People visit the
shrine from as far away as Swat and Buner. Sunday is
the great day for pilgrimages to local shrines everywhere
on the North- West Frontier. It appears to be the next
most holy day in the week with Mussulmans after Friday.
The reason they give is that Simday is the day set apart
by Isa Ali-e-Salaam (Christ). It is also the day on which
the earth was created, a hot day, and therefore a lucky
one for a pilgrimage or journey.

There are certain tombs of great length on this frontier
which have a habit of growing. Habib Ullah Shah's
tomb near Kurram Ghari in Bannu is 22 yards long.
He was a Syed from Balkh. His mother's grave is 18

S8 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

yards long. One in Peshawar City is 20 yards long, and
there is a very lengthy one on the Jamrud road. But
most celebrated of all is the No Gaz Zyrat (the Nine Yards
■Grave) in Peshawar Cantonment. Hindus reverence it
almost as much as do Mussulmans. The Amir of Kabul
sent Rs. 50 to the shrine at the time of his visit to India.

After rain Jalozai assumes a new aspect. The whole
panorama of Pathan hills becomes dark and soft in colour.
Behind them rise the noble snows of Kafiristan, Chitral and
Kaj Nag. Snow even lies for a few hours on the lower
ridges. Eastward, the smoke of Jamrud fort and the fine
entrance of the Khyber below Tartara, are easily visible
thirty miles away. Looking north, the road and the fort
of Malakand can just be distinguished above the low ridge
of Takht-i-Bhai. And westward rise Mahaban, and the
uplands of Buner, the Udyana of the ancients.

PlCTURB VI.

Sepoy Kur Haidar— Adam Kbel, Afiidi,

CHAPTER V.

KOHAT.

Kohat — ^The Kohat Pass — Matanni — Rifle-factories— The traffic in
fire-arms — ^The Afridis — The Pathan Character-^His treatment
of women — ^The Khan of Teri— Two outlaws— A raid that failed
— Behaviour of Khattaks — ^Khattak dances — Narai — ^A haunted
mountain.

KoHAT is situated at a point where several different
tribes meet. Directly to the north it is separated from
Peshawar by an arm of Afridi country, which protrudes
into British territory. The Khattak hills stretch away
•east and south: the Bangash occupy the valley of
Miranzai to the west : and Bizoti Orakzais live in the
mountains to the north-west. Kohat is a charmiug little
tiantonment nestling amongst rugged Pathan hills, and
it can have no better redommendation than that everyone
who' has lived there has a good word to say for it.

The station is well wooded, and possesses some fine
■old banyan trees. Water is plentiful, and rivulets run
beside all the important roads. In these streams live
curious little green crabs, which the sepoys have
nicknamed ' half rights.'* The water-supply is derived
from springs which rise at the foot of the hills, near
Mohamipaedzai. The compounds of the houses are small

* These fresh- water crabs are found also in Jammu.

90 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

and stony, but nevertheless there are many pretty gardens,
and with such an abundance of water much can be done
even with unpromising soil. Unsightly mud boundary
walls are a great disfigurement to the place, but an attempt
has been made to replace them by senetta hedges. The
main street of the city is picturesque. It is three-quartera
of a mile long, and is usually crowded with transfrontier
Pathans from the neighbouring Afridi and Orakzai hill s.

Quick and easy communication between Peshawar
and Kohat by way of the Kohat Pass has been estab-
lished in comparatively recent times ; and then only
by alternately chastising and coaxing the Adam Khels,
through whose territory the road runs. The Pass is
in many repects not unlike the Khyber, but is a good
deal smaller. From Peshawar to the British border
at Chitta Thana is a drive of twenty miles over the plain.
Along the road numbers of funny little tuft-tailed rats
are to be seen. Flocks of rooks, which migrate to the
Peshawar vale from Cabul nearly every winter, occasionally
rise in dense masses into the air ; and bleary-eyed lizards,
who burrow for fopd into graves, lie basking in the sun.
There is a fortified post at Matanni, which is said to have
been captured some years ago by the well-known outlaw
JafEar. He laid an ambush near the gate at dawn, and
then himself raised a cry that the village was being attacked
by thieves. When the sepoys rushed out to assist the
villagers, Jaffar overpowered them, and seized the post.
This bandit was killed some years ago while attacking
a house quite near to the Peshawar railway station.

KOHAT. 91

Directly "after crossing^ the border beyond Chitta.
Thana, the road enters the defile. I was again struck
with the size of the cemeteries which seemed out of all;
proportion to the population of the Adllages to which
they belong. As [is usually the case across the frontier^
all the villages in the Kohat Pass are protected loy high loop-
holed towers and walls. In several of them — ^notably in
Khani-mela, Shahedatalab * and Sahib-ud-din — ^there are-
rifle factories which supply fire-arms not only to the Afridis-
of the Kohat Darrah, but even to such distant tribes
as the Mohmands. I visited most of the factories near the=
road, and found the men employed in them willing enough
to show me how the work was done. In the larger work-
shops a complete plant of machinery for boring out and<
turning rifie barrels has been set up. It is all worked
by hand. As a rule Punjabi gimsmiths are employed.
They keep secret the art of grooving the barrel as far as-
possible ; but the local Pathans are quick at learning-
how to make all the difEerent parts of a rifle, and now do a
great deal of work for themselves. The wood for stocks
and handguards comes from Tirah. It is good walnut, but
not always very well seasoned. Powder is only manu-
factured in certain villages. I have heard that an inferior-
kind of cordite is also produced, though I doubt whether
this is really the case. The weapons are made to resemble
Government rifles as nearly as possible, and are even
stamped with V. R., and ' Enfield.' The word ' Enfield '

* This name ia derived from ' sJiahed,' a grave : and ' talab ' a tank
Both tank and grave are passed on the road near the village.

'92 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

^is, however, nearly always misspelt. I once found a
Government Martini whose parts had been completely
substituted by parts copied in the Kohat Pass. The
dishonest sentry who effected the exchange must have done
so bit by bit, replacing a different portion each night that
the rifle came into his hands. Kohat Pass rifles sell for

■eighty or a hundred rupees, but are acknowledged to be
very inaccurately sighted.*

There was at one time an active traffic in fire-arms
from the Persian Gulf and Cabul. A single-loading rifle

fcost only Es. 14 on the Persian border of Afghanistan in
1908, and a magazine rifle Ks. 50. In Cabul these same
■weapons were worth Rs. 240 and Rs. 500, respectively.
By the time they reached the Afridi tribes the price had

^again risen, and the Adam Khels gave as much as Rs. 800
for a magazine rifle. Similarly a (ten) clip revolver, which
on the Persian border cost Rs. 50, and in Cabul Rs. 100,

.ietched Rs. 300 in the Kohat Darrah. As may be
imagined, the prospect of such a large profit encouraged

.a brisk trade in fire-arms.

Water is very scarce in the Kohat Pass. There
are a few wells, but the chief supply is from large tanks.
When these dry up, as they do in summer, the women
have often to go long distances for water. There is

♦There are similar rifle factories in Orakzai villages in the
Khanki Valley. It is not uncommon for Pathans from the Kohat
Darrah to work with gun-smiths in the Punjab in order to learn
•the trade of rifle-making. They are content to begin with merely
blowing the bellows, and sometimes feign poverty in order to get
oemployment in workshops.

KOHAT. 93"

always a certain amount of traffic through the pass, and
a good deal of salt goes by this route to Peshawar. The-
Akora Khattaks are the great salt carriers. During the
summer of 1908, a dispute between the British and Afghan.
Governments over the possession of the springs at Torkhan
led to the dosiag of the Khyber road. Trade between.
Cabul and India was temporarily diverted into the Kurram
and Kohat Valleys.

After traversing the pass for eleven miles, the road
rises to a hotal, or ridge, occupied by a British post^
The hotal has been the site of many a fight. From it,
the view over the Kohat vale is admirable.

The Afridis, a portion of whose territory we have
just traversed, are the most important tribe on the
North- West Frontier. Their strength is estimated at
25,000 fighting-men. There were 2,680 Afridis serving
in the regular Indian Army at the end of 1907. The
Orakzais, who are said to muster 30,000 fighting men,
only supplied our regulars with 550 sepoys. Indeed, the
Afridis even in those days were over-recruited. They are a,
formidable people when they combine, and they have
learned a good deal of the art of war from us through
the sepoys we have trained.*

* Many Afridis were employed in Militias, Border Military Police,
etc. In 1907 there were 1,031 Afridis in the Khyber Rifles alone.
The eight sub-divisions of the clan are the Kuki Khel, Kambar Khel,.
Kamar Khel, Malikdin Khel, Aka Khel, Zakha Khel, ijipah and Adamr
Khel. Of these, the latter occupy the Kohat Darrdh. The Kuki
Khel, Malikdin Khel, and Zakha Khel are the three chief tribes in
the Khyber, though others have small holdings there too, and 8har&

"94 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

The character of the unfortunate Pathan has been
torn to bits by the writers of half a century, who have
lavishly applied to him the adjectives " treacherous,"
■*' blood-thirsty " and " cruel," until it has become fashion-
able to regard the Pathan as the worst kind of savage.
I once knew a military officer who declined on principle
to Write the word " trustworthy " on any Afridi sepoy's
•discharge certificate, no matter how loyal and meritorious
his selvices had been. But the Pathan is not as black
^s he is painted. It should not be overlooked that most
•of the tribes have only been established three hundred
years in their present territories, and that their habits
are not really much worse than were those of the various
English tribes during the first few centuries after their
final settlement. The conditions of a feudal system,
under which each baron lived in his own castle, and waged
'Constant private wars with his neighbours over disputes
relating to land and women, are simply being repeated
sagain across our border. For stories of gross treachery,
•of cold-blooded murder, and inter-family strife, we have
•only to turn back the pages of our own history book. In
fact, it seems quite unfair to judge the Pathan according
to twentieth centiiry standards. For him it is still the
tenth century. Moreover, it is ungenerous to assert that
there are not many noble exceptions amongst them.
' Distrust of all mankiad and readiness to strike the first

the annual Government subsidy. All these tribes, even the Adam
Khel, have land in Tirah. The Adam Khel, however, do not migrate
as extensively as the rest in summer.

PlCTtTRE VIl.

Lance Kaik Nui- Khan— Adam Khel, Afridi.

KOHAT. 95

blow for the safety of his own life have become the maxims
■of the Afridi. If you can overcome this mistrust, and
be "kind in words to him, he will repay you by great devo-
tion,' This is the opinion expressed by Warburton
after many years of intimate experience. No European
who has travelled amongst the Yusufzais or Khattaks
can fail to be struck with the amenability of these same
tribes to a fixed system of law aad order. Cis-frontier
Pathans are under effective control. Trans-frontier ones
are not. That is the whole crux of the matter.

The picturesque pen of Lepel Griffin has immor-
talised the Pathan as the embodiment of all the known
vices, held loosely together by one or two minor and
utterly unredeeming good points. One is tempted to
think, however, that effect, rather than useful informa-
tion, has been the object in view. The vices attributed
to the Frontier tribesmen are more or less common to
all humanity. It is easy to make a blood-curdling selection
of them and concentrate them in one siagle individual,
easier still to introduce the resulting amalgam to a
prejudiced public as a type of the race. But in the
end you only get a Comic Opera Pathan, — an overdrawn
caricature of the real thing. In truth the tribesman
of fact and his brother of fiction are two widely different
beings, and if the latter is to be found at all, it is in the
Andamans, and he no more represents his people than the
rest of the jail population of those attractive islands repre-
sent theirs '. Not that the Pathan is by any means a
sheep in wolf's clothing. Indeed, his best friends are

96 PATHAN BOKDEELAND.

bound to admit that there is more of the wolf in him thaa
is absolutely necessary for self-preservation. Yet, on the
whole> he is more siimed against than sinning, and the-
world has scarcely dealt fairly by him. To begin with, a.
malevolent fate has fixed his habitation on a scientific-
frontier between a suspicious Mussulman principality and
a mighty and very grasping Kafir Empire.

It is an inconvenient thing to be converted into a
bufEer State, and very exasperatiag when you are saddled
with the responsibilities of the ticklish situation against-
your will. You may avenge yourseH temporarily by
playing off a Viceroy against an Amir, but the game i»
played in your own yard, and ia the long run you have to
realise that the piper has to be paid by yourself. A
political character is forced on this poor savage unsolicited,
and he is constantly on the stage of Indian politics. Even
his most intimate private affairs are treated as events of
international importance, more or less requiring rater-
ference from outside.

Nature, too, has cursed him with the countenance,
figure and physique of a stage brigand and noblesse oblige.
Does not his bold dare-devU, cut-throat appearance saddle-
him with a terrible responsibility ? There is nothing
degrading in a bam fowl leading the life of poultry, but
what would the birds say if the hawk did the same ?
Why, the very sparrows would point the beak of scorn
at him ! But what is the Pathan to do ? If, being born^
with the beak and talons of a hawk, he fulfils Nature's^
mandate and goes a-hawking, an unromantic British Sirkar

KOHAT. 97

promptly hangs him ; if, on the other hand, he seeks
peaceful occupation, say, on the railway, he is either
scorned as degenerate, or mistrusted as a wolf in sheep's
clothing. But even here one is more or less dealing with
the Pathan of fiction. Yet there does exist the Pathan
of sober fact, who, in spite of his clothing, is neither wolf
nor sheep — ^the Pathan with whom we rub shoulders daily
in our frontier stations — ^whom we like and to a very
great extent admire. It is he who really represents his
race. But being the plain matter-of-fact Pathan of every-
day life, literature knows him not, and only those are
acquainted with him whom duty casts in his midst. To
Buch he is full of interest, and his real picturesqueness
lies in the fact that, in spite of his surroundiags, he is
more like the Briton than any other native of India.

When you meet a Pathan, you meet a man like your-
self. Ask him a question and he does not, like many
other natives of this country, assume you only do it to
amuse yourself, and say " malum ndhin" or walk on
without answering. No, a Pathan is always practical,
and as he credits the Sahib with his own commonsense,
he always answers a question sensibly and to the point.
There is nothing finicking about him. He will never
allow you to abuse him, but makes up for it amply by never
making you wish to do so. There is perhaps no native
of India who is less irritating to our nerves, and his ideas
of tact seem to run on quite the same lines as our own;
Contrast the demeanour of the man in the street in Bannu
or Kohat with that of his fellow subject in Calcutta or

E, PB 7

98 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

Patna. You seldom get a polite answer from a Babu
unless you are his official superior. Yet he has the
organism of a jelly-fish, and if it contains a heart at aU, it
is a Penal Code. He has only that to save him from the
consequence of the impertinence which he mistakes for
independence of character. But the Pathan, who is equally
protected by the law, never requires it. His heart, being
of the same stout material as his body, he takes his
independence for granted, and very seldom parades it
in the garb of rudeness.

In the matter of their treatment of women, the
Pathans have again been maligned to a great extent.
It is true that they value them as marketable goods, but
the common phrase that they sell their women as cattle
is scarcely correct. They sell them only to those who
will honourably wed them, and as a rule only to men
of their own tribe or section. The honour of his wife,
and his women-folk generally, is of first importance to
a Pathan, and abduction is the commonest cause of
feuds.*

I once knew a trans-frontier Yusufzai woman, who
in the capacity of friend rather than servant was taken to
England by a lady. With education Babu Jan very quickly
developed a ready wit, and easily overcame the shyness
which a life-time of seclusion had engendered. She
told me that the Yusufzai women visit each other in their
houses, and have their own social amusements, but that

*A Pathan will pay as much as Bs. 800 for a wife. It is an
inTestment. She is to him not only a wife, but a seivant.

EOHAT. 99

they strongly resent intrusion. She remembered that
on one occasion a party of girls stoned a lad to death for
interfering with them. The employment of the women
depends on the conditions of life in any particular locality.
In Yusufzai the women spin, cook and draw water. The
Khattak women reap in the fields, but seldom plough.
In the more mountainous and poverty-stricken regions
they labour hard at grass-cutting and water-carrying,
and through excessive work quickly lose their looks and
youthfulness.

The Khattak hills south of Kohat, in the vicinity of
Lachi, Teri and Banda Daud Shah, are very pleasant
to tour in. The Khan of Teri, Ghafur Khan, is one of the
few hereditary Khattak chiefs still remaining. He was,
when I visited him, eighty years old, but still showed
signs of having been a fine man. The poor old gentleman
was totally blind, and had long since resigned the care of
his estates to his son Hakim Khan. I partook of tea and
cigarettes with him in a pavilion overlooking the Teri
Towe stream. The Khan maintains about sixty levy
sepoys, and as many sowars. They often do useful
work against outlaws who trouble the Waziri border.
Four of these sowars were attached to me while I was
recruiting in the vicinity of Teri.

The little village of Kot Banda near Teri is the
home of Asil, a notorious Khattak outlaw, who, with

100 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

a kindred spirit Mir Ahmad, was terrorising the country
while I was there. They had both abducted women and
murdered villagers, and the local authorities were doing
all in their power to bring them to book.

Troops were out after them from Kohat, Bannu and
Thai ; and the police and village chigas, or patrols, were
searching the hills in every direction. I was interested
in watching the hunt. Asil and his companion easily
evaded the troops in such broken country. The police,
however, headed them off successfully, and laid an ambush
for them on a little-frequented track, leading over into the
Waziri hills. The outlaws came upon it in the dawn, but
escaped unscathed in a storm of bullets. The kidnapped
women were, however, recovered. In the end, Asil got
away safe, and is still at large. Mir Ahmad was driven
by hunger to enter a Waziri village where he was taken
prisoner. He escaped, recovered possession of his rifle,
and made a plucky fight until his ammunition ran short.
He was then seized and handed over to the police.

On the whole, the action of the Khattak villagers,
for whose sole benefit the outlaws were being hunted
down, was not creditable. Either from feelings of
sympathy or fear, the chigas, or patrols, worked badly,
and in some cases had to be driven out by the police to
search the hills. It was even reported that Asil sat down
and smoked a pipe in a village, where an unsuspecting
Militia picquet was stationed. If this is true, it shows
the desirability of recruiting MUitia sepoys from the
locality they are to serve in.

KOHAT. 101

Here is another illustration of Khattak apathy.
A dog, in the last stages of rabies, made its appearance
in the village of Banda Daud Shah.* The Chief Commis-
sioner happened to be travelling on the road, so there were
a dozen armed policemen sitting about. Not one of them
would shoot the animal till I gave a written authority
for the expenditure of ammunition. Eventually the
marksman of the party came forward and missed the dog
twice at five yards. Luckily the poor brute was too busy
biting itself to take any heed, and a third shot, from a
rest, at ten yards, finished him.

In the February of 1909, just after I left this part
of the country, an exciting incident occurred in the
village of Tabbi Khwa, not far from Teri. A party of
outlaws, most of whom were Khattaks, entered the Teri
district, apparently with the intention of carrying out a
daring raid upon Kalabagh. They were accompanied
from their retreat in the Khost mountains by a young
fellow who was all the while carefully planning their
destruction, but who himself feigned to be an outlaw.
bn arrival at Tabbi Khwa this man pretended to receive
information of a police ambiish near Kalabagh, and
induced his associates to hide for two days in a small mud
hut. In the meantime he managed to warn the thanadar
of Teri, who summoned a jemadar and twenty sepoys
of the Border Military Police from Kohat.

• " He comes from Daud Shah " is an old Pathan saying, which
means He is a born fool.

102 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

The hut was successfully surrounded, and it was
discovered that three of its walls were blank. This
enabled the besiegers to creep up and push great heaps
of dry brush-wood in front of the only door. When a
goodly pile had been collected, it was fired, and seven
of the outlaws were shot one by one as they tried to
escape through the flames. The eighth ran out, surren-
dered, and was taken prisoner. The remaining two came
out together and threw down their rifles : but as soon
as the police approached to capture them, they whipped
out knives, and were not finally cut down until one of the
besiegers had been killed, and two others seriously wounded. '

To draw a knife after feigning surrender is a common
Pathan trick, and it is wonderful how incautious their
foes often are. I remember a case which occurred not
long ago in the Khyber, where an acquaintance of mine,
Azim Khan, a Zakha Khel Jemadar of the 20th Infantry,
shot a friend of his in the heat of a quarrel. BeUeving
his opponent to be stone-dead, he approached him, and
received one knife slash on the hand which nearly severed
three fingers, and another on the head which rendered him
imconscious, and nearly killed him. The two were found
a little later lying one upon the other in a pool of blood.
They were dragged apart and conveyed to the hospital
in Lundi Kotal, where both recovered.

The Barak section of the Khattaks, who live about
Gurguri, are particularly thick-headed and uninteresting.
The Teris are nearly as bad, but the Seni and Khwaram
tiibes are more vivacious. The Khattaks are fond of

KOHAT. 103

litigation, and a large percentage of the people I met
on tke road were travelling in connection with law-suits.
If there is any part of British India which is utterly unsuited
to modern methods of administration, it is the North-
West Frontier Province. Unable any longer to take the
law into their own hands, the cis-frontier Pathans flock
to the courts. Certainly one man in ten has a suit pending,
and it is almost a point of honour to appeal against
an adverse decision. The result is most injurious, as the
peasantry beggar themselves over these petty legal pro-
ceedings. The underlings about the courts are notoriously
corrupt, and the ease with which the law can be resorted to
leads to a good deal of injustice in cases where a wealthy
man can trump up a case and produce unlimited witnesses
against a poorer neighbour. Quick justice, crushing
punishment, and no appeal, is what would suit the Pathans
far better. They would like it and understand it, and it
would save their pockets.

After the month of the Ramzan, the Khattaks indulge
a great deal in dancing at night. They form a circle
about a blazing log-fire, and dance round it with their
swords in their hands. At first the step is slow and stately,
but as the dancers warm to it, the pace improves, till the
figures are flying madly to and fro, while the dhol and
surtMi players work themselves into a frenzy.

Often this performance is followed by siagle
dances, when young fellows in white hurtas* and gold

* Shirts.

104 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

waistcoats run out and execute a pas seul. Their figures
seem to skim over the ground, spinning at incredible
speed, with their robes floating about them. Now the
dancer approaches the dhols* and goes through a mimic
attack, flinging himself on his knees and whirling his
two swords about him, till they look like circles of fire.
Dancing amongst Khattaks and Bangash is regaining
popularity, but it was for a time discountenanced by the
MuUahs. Khattak sepoys, after a hard day's work, will
often dance for an hour, while other natives sit down and
rest.

The hills in the vicinity of Narai and Bahadur Khel
are full of salt. I rode out to Narai from Banda Daud
Shah through broken hilly country, where even tufts of
grass grew scantily. The hard, thin strata of sand-stone
was tilted up at an angle of seventy degrees with the
horizontal ; and as the soft soil imder it had been washed
away, it formed jagged ridges, running parallel to each
other across the country for miles. Narai is a scattered
village amongst the hills. The salt mines are just beyond
it. Masses of white salt lie on the surface, embedded
in the reddish soil of the mountains. The deposit has not
been worked for fifteen years on account of the difficulties
of transport, but it is carefully guarded by watchmen.

There is a lot of salt, too, further along this same
ridge at Bahadur Khel. A path leads from there over
the Manzalai Hills to the Gurguri Valley. It is a lonely

* Diums.

KOHAT. 105

ride, for the track is but little used. There is a small
police post on the crest of the Manzalai, from which a good
view is obtained of Kafir Kot, a mountain rising from
the uplands of Waziristan. The rocks on its summit
are heaped up into natural bastions and curtains, which
have the appearance of a gigantic ruined fortress. Kafir
Kot has an elevation of 3,729 feet. It is also known
as Jumeh Lakeh. It is as grotesque a peak as could
well be imagined, and there are stories told of its being
haunted. So strong is the superstition, that no native
will go near it at night.

CHAPTER VI.

Samana.

The Miranzai Valley Bailway — ^aiirly Wars of Miranzai — Crops and
Trees — Dwarf Palm — The Khan of Hangu — ^The Bangash —
Samana — ^The Inhabitants — ^The Khanki Valley — Climate of
Samana — The Orakzai — ^A Pathan War— Chinarak — ^Fighting at
Zanga Khel — ^Fort Lockhart — Gulistan — ^View from Samana Suk —
Dargai Battle-field.

Samana is a summer retreat^a blessed, breezy refuge
far removed from the suffocating heat of Kohat.

The journey to this little sanitorium, perched upon
the Pathan hill tops, is a curious experience. A toy train
crawls slowly up the Miranzai Valley from Kohat. Punc-
tuality on this railway is of no consequence. It is not
uncommon for the train to be delayed an hour, because the
engine happens to be lost, or the guard oversleeps himself !
Passengers join and leave the train while it is going at
full speed ; and when the engine runs dry, they help to
refill it with a bucket from a way-side stream.

The Miranzai Valley was originally peopled with
Dilazaks and other races, of whose early history nothing
definite is known. The Orakzais conquered it, and
remained in occupation for some time, until the Bangash
tribes gradually encroached upon them, as they in turn
were driven out of the Kurram by the more warlike
Turis. In their expulsion of the Orakzai from Miranzai,

PlCTTJRB Vttt,

Amiii Shah— A.Khattak, Mirasi.

SAMANA. . 107

the Bangash were assisted by the Khattaks. As already
mentioned, the final struggle took place in about the 16th
century at Muhammedzai. After three days fighting, the
victory fell to the Bangash, and the Orakzais were driven
into the mountain regions which they now occupy. The
country people have a tradition to the effect that, during
this battle, a youth, dressed in spotless white, ran between
the contending forces crying " Daida, Samda Bangasha,
Gharda Orahzo " (" It is this — the plains for the Bangash,
and the hills for the Orakzai "). The story concludes
that this was regarded as a divine intervention, and that
the various tribes forthwith withdrew to the land indicated
by the youth. Muhammedzai can be seen from the
train. There is a small fort there to guard the mouth
of the Ublan Pass, which leads to the winter settlements
of the Bizoti Daulatzais, a warlike clan of Orakzais,
belonging to the Samil political faction.

The Miranzai Valley here and there closes in and
forms gorges only some 300 yards broad, with imposing
bluffs projecting into the stream. More often, however,,
it expands to a vale from two to three miles wide, shut
in by low hills, and producing crops of Indian-corn, bajra,*
cotton and rice. All these grow luxuriantly in the rich
soil. No wonder the poverty-stricken Orakzai, in their
barren mountains, regret their former home and occasion-
ally indulge in raids into Miranzai. The valley is well
wooded with mulberry, sMsham, neem and poplar, and

* MiUet.

108 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

there are fruit trees, vines and well-filled kitchen gardens
around all the villages. The homely blackberry has
its place in every hedge. A great variety of birds inhabit
Miranzai. The most common are the dove, Indian jay,
king crow, green Kashmir fly-catcher, crane and a bird
like a seagull, which feeds exclusively on frogs. Of game
birds, chicore, blue rock, imperial pigeon and sisi are
plentiful, while higher up the valley above Hangu, par-
tridges are also found. Hares and a few pheasants are
met with here and there ; and in season, quail abound
in lower Miranzai. Each field has a machan, from
which radiate dozens of grass ropes, propped on sticks,
which communicate to every part of the cultivated area.
By this clever arrangement the watchman in the machan
can frighten away the birds from every corner by pulling
or shaking one or other of the ropes.

One of the most profitable products of the country
is mazarai, or dwarf palm, which is cut during late
August and early September. The leaves of mazarai
grow straight out of the ground, and not from a parent
stem as do those of the ordinary ornamental palm. It is
of great commercial value, and here sells for about fifteen
Beers for the rupee. In Peshawar it fetches a good deal
more. From it are made chuplis,* ropes, bed strings,
nets, matting, baskets, grain-bins and other receptacles.
In the summer every man carries a bundle of it about
with him, and weaves it into rope as he walks along, and

* Sandals*

SAMANA. 109

the boys make themselves slings of it for throwing stones.
The dwarf palm is largely exported, and its value has
greatly increased since the advent of the railway. It is.
said to grow in the Tirah Valleys also. Weaving is one
of the few occupations not considered derogatory by
Pathans, ..ad many of the Orakzai tribes, notably the
Mamozai and the trucident Ali Khels, are weavers by
trade.

Hangu was in former days the seat of the Khans of
Hangu, who ruled the Miranzai Valley for a period of three
centuries previous to British occupation. The family was
deported some years ago to Lahore, for political reasons.
At present, only the Khan himself is kept under restraint.

The Bangash, who inhabit Miranzai and lower
Kurram, are said to have originally come from the Suliman
Mountains. They are descended from Samil and Gar,,
the two sons of Ismail. From the violent quarrels of
these two brothers have risen the political factions of the
Samils and Gars. The whole Orakzai nation has arranged
itself on one side or the other, and Samil-Gar quarrels are
always sufficient excuse for a fight when no better reason
can be found. The Bangash are nearly all ' Sunnis,*
but there are important ' Shiah ' communities in Hangu
and in lower Kurram.

From Hangu, a ten-mile drive along the foot hills
over a bad unmetalled road, brings one to Patdarband,*
where mules are waiting to take one up the hill. Fort

* Patdaiband means ' the plain at the mouth of the gorge.' It
exactly describes the place.

110 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

Lockhart frowns grimly down into the rocky glen over
the line of limestone cliffs, which form a precipitous wall
along the south side of the crest of the Samana ridge.
The ascent is a steep climb of fire miles, and entails many
a weary zig-zag. The boulder-strewn khuds are covered
with a variety of shrubs, such as the palosa, hanger,
chirai, chikri, senatta and gurguri. The gurguri is
of a deeper green than the rest, and in July produces
a purple berry which the natives eat, and from which
very excellent sole gin is distilled. As one rises, the
shrubs give place to grasses which, after the rains, clothe
the mountains in a fresh green garb. The heart is rejoiced
by light breezes, and the heat of the plains decreases in
proportion as the scenery opens out beneath one. Now
villages appear, hidden in all sorts of unexpected folds
of the ground, and around these are large patches of
maize. The red tulip adorns the hills in spring, and
the deep blue gentian in late autumn ; while there are
not less than one hundred varieties of wild flowers, many
of which are to be found along an English roadside. In
the stony nullahs grows the pink Oleander, which so
often lends colour to a sombre Pathan landscape. The
Rubia Albicaulis and the Onosma Echiodes are found,
and used by the natives for dyeing purposes.

The inhabitants of the Samana here are Rabia Khel,
who were formerly extremely hostile to the British. They
are noted for their clear complexions, blue eyes and brown
hair. Many of the young lads are good-looking, and,
though rather short, are wiry and well-knit. Further

SAMANA. Ill

along the ridge, towards Gulistan, live the Akhels. From
the summit of the Samana Ridge an extensive view is
obtained of the Khanki Valley. The high limestone walls
of the Tsappa Range confront one across the ravine, and
hide the sacred retreats of Tirah from inquisitive eyes.
From the northern crest of the Samana, the hills drop
away steeply into independent Orakzai territory. Forti-
fied towers are dotted here and there about the hill-
sides as usual.

The Khanki Nullah is about six miles broad. Its
river enters the Miranzai Valley near Raisan Station.
The bottom of the Khanki seems to be well cultivated.
In many of the villages there are regular rifle factories.
The upper Khanki is permanently inhabited by the
Mamuzai and Alisherzai clans of the Lashkarzai, and
in the lower portions the Ismailzai, Mishti, Sheikhans
and AU Khels have their winter settlements. The road
made by our troops in 1897 can be seen zig-zagging up
the opposite slopes to the Sampagga Pass. The Sampagga
has an elevation of 6,550 feet, and besides its associations
with the 1897 war, when it was taken by assault, it is
historically interesting as being the site of a battle in
A. D. 1587, when the Orakzais defeated a Mogul punitive
army which had attempted to penetrate into Tirah tmder
Ghairat Khan. The Sampagga was then called the ' Loe
Sangpajah Ghakai.' Directly beyond it is the fair Mastura
Valley, rich in apple orchards and walnut groves.

During the winter, the Samana Range is completely
deserted. Only a small detachment of Sikhs remains to

112 PATHAN BOEDEELAND.

garrison the fort. The Babia Khel betake themselves
to either the Khanki or Miranzai Valleys. Food stores
are only obtainable with the greatest difficulty until the
tribesmen come up again and re-occupy their villages in
the spring. Then, meat and excellent milk are procurable.
The honey the Pathans bring in is very good, and they
produce Tirah walnuts for sale in October. Mushrooms
are plentiful in autumn.

The elevation above sea-level of Fort Lockhart is
6,496 feet, and the climate in winter is severe. Blizzards
rage for days on end, during which the sentries have to be
relieved hourly. The snow lies many feet thick, and the
road is only kept open for foot passengers with difficulty.
In summer the heat is tempered with cool breezes, and
the nights are never unpleasant. The average rainfall is
said to be 21*43 inches. The rainy season lasts off and
on for three months, during which time mists envelop
the ridge in impenetrable whiteness, obliterating the
scenery, except when temporary rifts disclose for a few
fleeting moments the sunlit valleys below.

" 'Sow melting in mists, and now breaking in gleams.
Like the glimpses a saint has of heaven in his dreams."

The Orakzai are, as a rule, very poor, and most of
the lads I saw looked thin and imderfed. Their average
height is about 5 feet 6 inches. The tribe is divided
into twenty-five sections, and numbers some 30,000
fighting-men. They could be utilised for recruiting

Picture IX.

Sepoy Lala Jan— Ali libel, Orakzai.

SAMANA. 113

purposes much more than they are. As already men-
tioned, there were in 1908 only 550 of them in the regular
army. Though they make good soldiers, only four regi-
ments enlist them.* They are usually dressed in pearl
grey cloth. The dye is produced from an earth found
in the mountains of Tirah. The colour does not fade,
and has the extra advantage of being quite invisible from
a short distance on a hill side.f

Amongst the Orakzai inter-tribal quarrels are con-
tinually disturbing the peace of the community and ren-
dering the highways unsafe. I collected from recruiting
parties who came into Samana from Tirah, the following
details of a little war which was waged all through the
summer of 1908. The cause of hostilities arose from a
disagreement between the Ali Khel and Mala Khel, as
to which of them should assist the Khoidad Khel in expel-
ling the Waziris from Chinarak. Chinarak was the estate
of the late Malik Sarwar KJian. The Khoidad Khel
ofEered the Ali Khel such a large sum of money for their
assistance, that the cupidity of the Mala Khel was roused ,
and they in their turn insisted on being allowed to help,
so as to secure a share of the subsidy. The result was a

* The following regiments enlist Orakzais : — 21st Punjabis, 40th
Pathans, 46th Punjabis, and 127th Baluch Light Infantry.

t The following are the most important divisions of the Orakzai:—
Ismailzai (chief sub-sections Babia Khel, Akbel and Mamazak ;
Lashkaizai (chief sub-section Alisherzai) ; Daulatzai, Stuii Khel and
Masuzai, Besides these are the Mishti, Ali Khel, Mala Khel, and
Sheikhan, who were really hamsayas, or serfs, but who, by virtue
of their acquired strength, have come to be regarded as Orakzais.

E, PB 8

114 PATHAN BOEDEELAND.

violent quarrel between the would-be allies. In the
meanwhile Chinarak was lost sight of altogether, and left
to its fate. The Ali Khel belong to the Gar political
faction, and the Mala Khel to the Samil. Various other
tribes attached themselves to one side or the other, and in
consequence the whole country was thrown into tumult.
As may be imagined, recruiting for the Indian Army
suffered a good deal.

The centre of strife was the Ali Khel stronghold of
Zanga Khel, against which the Mala Khel brought their
only cannon. At first a Sikh worked the gun, but he
was soon superseded by a well-known character, Jemadar
Mir Khan, late of the 40th Pathans. The Jemadar con-
tracted to demolish Zanga Khel for one thousand rupees.
The amount was to be paid him only after the place had
been taken. To supply the gun, shells were collected
from Dargai and Sampagga and other places where British
batteries had fired in the 1897 expedition. An attempt
was made to refill the empty projectiles with explosives,
but this was not successful. They were instead fitted
with wooden plugs, wMch it was believed would expand
on contact with the fort walls, and do more damage
than empty shells would. The entire cost of supplying
powder was borne by the Jemadar, who lost a good deal
of money over the business, as he failed to reduce Zanga
Khel, and consequently never received any of his thousand
rupees. He placed his cannon in an epaulement at about
one hundred and fifty yards from the fort, leaving only
a small hole through which the muzzle of the gun was

SAMANA. 115

pushed when it was ready to fire. The defenders of Zanga
Khel kept a sharp lookout, and as soon as the gun appeared
at the aperture, they poured a heavy musketry fire from
500 rifles into the opening. So disconcerting was the
storm of bullets, and so many men were killed and wounded
serving the gun, that the Jemadar at last gave up the
contest in despair. A heavy fall of rain disheartened both
parties who forthwith dispersed to their homes. The
Chinarak quarrel was, however, too convenient an excuse
for fighting to be allowed to die out, and has since been
the cause of much strife. The gun used before Zanga
Khel was originally captured from the Durani Governor
of Kohat, at some time antecedent to British rule.

There is another cannon, known as the ' Mishti Gun,'
which was fired constantly in the Khanki Valley, and
which could be distinctly heard from Fort Lockhart.
This firing was in connection with a dispute of long stand-
ing between the Malik Din Khel and Kambar Khel, over
the possession of territories in Kajurai. It gave rise to
a good deal of fighting in Afridi Tirah all through the
summer of 1908.

Fort Lockhart is a strong fort perched on the
narrow crest of the Samana Range. There is scarcely
sufficient flat space inside it to pitch a tent. In summer
there is usually a Civilian Camp near the Saragarhi
obelisk, and the fatal hill of Saragarhi, with a monumental
cairn on its summit, is a mile to the west, along the ridge.
Two tennis courts, over which a sentry stands while a
game is in progress, and where the band plays twice a

116 PATHAN BORDEELAND.

week, are situated within fifty yards of the British
frontier ; and close by Crag Picquet stands boldly out
on a spur of rock, a sentinel on the " Edge of the
Empire."

Gulistan, or Fort Cavagnari, is four-and-a-half miles
distant from Fort Lockhart along the Samana ridge. It
is a narrow building, lying lengthwise along a ' coll.' At
one end it has a high tower, from which signalling com-
munication is kept up with Fort Lockhart. By adding
a few feet to the height of the tower of Fort Lockhart,
the intermediate signalling station of Saragarhi has been
rendered unnecessary : so that that ill-fated post has
never been rebuilt since its destruction in 1897 by the
Orakzai lashkar. One or two Akhel villages lie near
Gulistan. Their site has been cleverly chosen so that
no one can fire into them from the Orakzai side without
the risk of peppering and outraging the occupants of
the British fort as well.

Dargai is only about eight miles beyond Gulistan
across the Orakzai border. An expedition to the scene
of the action of the 20th October, 1897, entails a hard
climb, but is very well worth the trouble. A visit to a
battlefield, where the eye meets with peaceful pastures
and. smiling crops, in place of the turbulent scenes
of strife which the imagination has conjured up, is a
singularly disappointing pastime. But there is that about
the stern precipices of Dargai which, I found, satisfied my
expectations, and filled me with an awe that Chillianwallah
and Gujrat had failed to arouse.

SAMANA. 117

An excellent bird's-eye-view is obtained from the
summit of the Samana Suk,* which is a high hill rising
behind Gulistan to a height of 6,750 feet above sea-level.
On the evening of my visit a thunderstorm had previously
dispelled the heavy rain clouds, leaving the panorama
fresh and lovely. The view is as extensive and grand as
any bit of scenery along the whole frontier. Samana Suk
fell away in an imposing precipice for several hundred
feet, to the depths of the Chagru glen. The Chagru is a
narrow nullah whose stream is a tributary to the Khanki
Eiver. It is cut in two by a ridge, known as the Chagru
Kotal, which joins the Samana Suk to the mass of moun-
tains on which the Dargai cliffs are situated. Villages,
each possessing at least one fortified tower, and each
surrounded by a little patch of Indian-corn, lie hidden
here and there. In front rise the historic uplands of
Dargai, culminating in Narik Suk (6,890 feet) which on
that side of the Chagru glen corresponds with Samana
Suk on this. Karappa lies away down in the Khanki
Valley, and beyond it, the road leading up to the Sampagga
can be seen. Khanki was still illuminated with a flood
of sunlight while the rest of the picture was already fading
away into the gloom of twilight. Behind the Sampagga
rose the walls of the Safed Koh, already whitened by the
first fall of snow, and to the right of it the Tsappa Moun-
tains, with their steep grassy slopes, terminating in a
formidable line of precipices, formed the far wall of the

* Suk means " fist."

118 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

Khanki glen. The fringe of the famed pine forests of
Tirah was easily distinguishable along the sky-line. The
mountainous country directly in rear of Narik Suk is part
of the territories of the Zaimusht. To the south lay the
vale of Miranzai, with the post of Shinawari nestling
amongst the foot hills. It was, indeed, a wonderful
panorama this, and one worthy of Kashmir itself.

On the following morning, my way to Dargai lay
along the road to Shinawari round the shoulder of Samana
Suk, and then branched off and followed the narrow ridge
of the Chagru Kotal across the Chagru Valley. There is
one fortified village called Dar on the kotal, and beyond
is a considerable descent, which necessitates a stiff climb
up the far slopes. I had an escort of half-a-dozen Samana
Rifles, who were kindly supplied by the commandant of
Fort Gulistan, but the Akhel Orakzais, in whose territory
I was trespassing, seemed friendly enough, and were
pleased to give me any information about the action of
1897. The ascent to the Dargai heights which were held
by the Pathan lashkars is under cover from fire to within
a distance of 80 yards from the base of the position. It
was this last part of the climb which had to be crossed by
the attacking troops, through a hail of bullets. The cliffs
which the enemy occupied form an obtuse angle, jutting
out towards the Miranzai. Those to the west are
perpendicular, and absolutely unscalable. Only a few
shrubs protrude here and there from an otherwise clean,
smooth face of tock. In. height the precipice is about
two hundred feet ; but so steep are the grassy slopes which

SAMANA. 119

they cap, that slopes and cliff i Beem to form one continuous
drop, right down, two thousand feet, into the Miranzai
Valley. The eastern wall of the position is less steep.
A path goes up it, but is wholly exposed ; and had the
Pathans remained on the heights, instead of retreating as
soon as the troops began to collect in the dead ground
at the base of the precipices, it seems very doubtful
whether British bayonets could ever have reached the
summit. There is one tree on the crest which marked
the extreme left of the enemy's sangas, and which proved
a valuable object for the gunners to range on to, from
the batteries co-operating from Samana Suk. A local
Orakzai, who took part in the action, told us that the
shells were falling low and bursting upon the face of the
cliffs. The ground behind the crest line of the position
falls for a few hundred yards at an angle of thirty degrees,
and then rises again to Dargai village, which is a quarter
of a mile in rear of the position.

Dargai might very easily have been turned by
descending straight down into the Khanki Valley, either
from Fort Lockhart or from Gulistan. It was probably the
desire to come immediately in contact with an elated
enemy that induced the generals to attack a position which,
if stoutly held, might well have proved impregnable.

CHAPTER VII.

KUERAM.

A Foul Murder — Ghilzai Traders — Burial Customs — Lower Kurram —
Upper Kurram — ^The Turis — Their Dress — Hazaras — Jajis and
Jadrans — Neighbouring Tribes — Parachinar — Roberts' Bagh —
Shalozan — Cholera — ^Teri Mungal — Peiwar Kotal — Mungala —
Sport — Ahmadzai — Kalaohi.

Beyond the little station of Hangu, on the Miianzai
Valley Railway, the line passes through Upper Miranzai.
From the train the various localities of the Samana Range
pass in review. First come Dar and Sanga posts. Beyond
them is Fort Lockhart, which crowns the main Samana
Hill. The Cairn of Saragarhi stands out against the sky-
line, a monument to the tragedy of 1897 ; Fort Gulistan
lies on its narrow hotal ; Samana Suk raises its ' fist '
to the heavens ; and the historic cliffs of Dargai frown
down over Miranzai.

It was at the village of Sarozai near Kai Station, that
Lieutenant Macaulay, R.E., the Garrison Engineer at
Samana, was murdered in February 1909. He happened
to be bicycling along the road when he was stopped by a
coolie who made a petition about his pay. Lieutenant
Macaulay dismounted to look up the case amongst his
papers. He was set upon by three men from the village
who thought he was carrying a large sum of Government
money. A violent fight must have ensued, for Lieutenant

KUERAM. 121

Macaulay's body, when found, was badly bruised. His
knees were cut, his arm bitten, and he had a bullet wound
through the left breast. He was moreover tied up, and
gagged with his own handkerchief. The three culprits
who were subsequently captured, also carried marks of
the struggle upon them. Unfortunately one of them made
good his escape into Afghanistan.

The six and fifty miles of road from Thai to Parachinar
are now comfortably covered in a tonga. The road is,
generally speaking, a good one, but is unmetalled, and
therefore easily damaged by rain. Kurram territory is
entered at about the eighth milestone. I met long strings
of camels which their Ghilzai owners were bringing down
from Khost and Afghanistan, laden with grain, to be
disposed of at Thai. These Ghilzai traders are rough,
weather-beaten fellows. They wear loose pyjamas, a shirt,
and a cloth waistband, all of which are a grey colour
from excessive dirt. On their feet they have grass shoes.
An imtidy scrap of pugree, tied round their high-peaked
Tchulas* completes their attire. They are not allowed
to cross the Peiwar Kotal into Kurram until the 1st of
November, as their camels encroach upon the best grazing
grounds of the Turis. They have also to leave their
rifles and other arms behind. I passed two large Ghilzai
encampments near the villages of Alizai and Sadda, where
the men had left their families, while they themselves
had gone on to Thai with the laden camels. These camps

* Peaked caps.

122 PATHAN BOEDEELAND.

are curious places. The tents are made of black camel-
hair cloth stretched over a rough wooden framework. The
shelters are rarely more than four feet high, and look
unspeakably dirty and imcomfortable. The men and
women with their large families share their tents with
Ghilzai dogs, with all the baby camels, and I doubt not
with a host of insect life too. The Ghilzais are very
particular about carrying back with them, for burial in
their own homes, any of their numbers who happen to die
during the journey. I saw one corpse tied to a
charpoi, and slung across a camel, making its homeward
march. It swayed helplessly along the road, and we
had some difficulty in getting past the camel with its
[ghastly load. The Turis object very strongly to this
system of carrying dead bodies about their country,
I and complain, very rightly, that much disease is
spread in this way. They themselves, however, do not
set a good example, and they are, if anything, even
more particular than the Ghilzais in the matter of
burying the dead in their own village graveyards. On one
occasion permission was refused on medical grounds for
the removal of a cholera-infected body. The relatives broke
open the grave at night, and carried the dead man away
to what they considered was his proper resting-place.

Lower Kurram, that is, as far as Alizai, differs very
essentially from the Upper Kurram, and in appearance
resembles the Miranzai. The villages are built of rough
and irregular blocks of stone interspersed with layers of
brushwood. Towers and defensive walls are the exception,

KUERAM. 123

and the inhabitants are but poorly armed. The fodder
is collected in ricks inside the villages, and great stacks
of hay and johwar are also grouped together in large
numbers on rising ground near by. The valley is narrow,
and there is little room for cultivation. The trees are few
and stunted, and the general appearance of the coimtry
is of low hills and broken nullahs, where the usual palosa,
her a, senetta and mazarai bushes form a thin scrub jungle.

Upper Kurram, on the other hand, is wider, and the
mountains containing it more imposing. There is a
good deal of cultivation. The villages are larger and
far more prosperous, and are built chiefly of mud.
The more important ones have from eight to ten good
fortified towers, and are besides protected by high loop-
holed walls. A very successful attempt is made to decorate
these forts by means of patterns in the brickwork, and
by crenelations along the upper parapets. They are,
moreover, neatly built, and kept in good repair. Chenar
trees abound and grow to as fine a size as they do in
Kashmir. To judge by their girth, many of them must
be very old. There are willows, mulberries and palosa
in the valley, and the walnuts of Kurram rival those of
Tirah itself.

The Kurram is inhabited by Turis. They are all
' Shiah ' Mahommedans. There are a good many Bungash
in Lower Kurram too, who are also ' Shiahs ' ; while the
Bxmgash of Miranzai, with the exception of a few com-
munities such as in Hangu and Thai, are ' Sunnis.' The
Turis, unlike all other Pathans, have actually invited/

124 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

Government to take over their valley. They are on the
most friendly terms with the Englishmen who live amongst
them ; and the heartiness of their salutation when they
meet a * sahib ' is quite refreshing to listen to. The
Turis look upon the British Government as their deliverer
from the oppression of their rapacious ' Smmi ' neighbours,
and even consider that their ' Shiah ' religion resembles,
to a certain extent, Christianity. They are not forgetful
that Christians fought and died for them in their wars
against the ' Sunnis,' and are even in a few cases buried
in the most sacred ' Shiah ' shrines. In the Second
Afghan War the Turis sided with us openly, and delivered
an effective flank attack on the Afghan lashkar in the
action of Peiwar Kotal. In the Khost Expedition they
again assisted Lord Eoberts, and in the recent Afghan War
of 1919 they continued to support us loyally. There were
in 1908 some nine hundred of them in the Kurram Militia.
So certain is their loyalty to the Sirkar, that a syste-
matic effort has been made to arm them better. Their
weapons are now all registered, and means are available
on the spot for arming the Turi lashkar on an emergency.

Their dress is distinctive, though many Mungals have
adopted it too. The sleeves of their shirts have blue
cuffs, and there is a thin red piping or ornamental border
round the neck. In the cold weather they wear a coat
made out of a cloth called sharai which is woven from
sheep's wool.*

* The Turis are divided into five sub-divisions, namely, the Hamza
Ehel, Mastu Kbel, Ghundi Khel, Alizai, and Duparzai.

KURRAM. 125

Various interesting people migrate through the
Kurram down to India during the early months of winter
to escape the severity of their own climate, and to search
for employment. I met many Hazaras on the road.
They take work as out-of-door servants in Parachinar,
and also as road-menders on the tonga road. The Jajis,
who are an Afghan race inhabiting parts of the adjoining
districts of Hariob and Khost, also pass through the
Kurram in great numbers. They travel in large bands,
and are a fine-looking folk, though their poverty is as
proverbial as that of the Hazaras. These two people
together with a third tribe of Afghans, the Jadrans,
all come in search of manual labour, and in this
respect differ from the Ghilzais, whose sole object is
trading.

One of the minor forms of trade along the road is
in walnut bark, which Afridis bring down on donkeys
from Tirah, and sell as teeth-cleaning sticks in Kohat.
There is a small breed of black cattle in the valley which
seems to be peculiar to Kurram.

The Kurram Valley became detached from Afghan-
istan at the conclusion of the Second Afghan War. It
was not, however, finally taken over by us until 1892.
Its status is now that of an ' administered ' territory. It
forms a thin wedge sixty miles long, and in parts not
more than ten miles broad, running into Afghanistan, and
giving us a footing on the Durand line. Khost and Hariob,
both Afghan districts, hem it in on the west. Its borders
on the south march with those of Waziristan ; and on

126 PATHAN BOEDERLAND,

the east lie the successive Pathan tribes, of Chamkanis,
Zaimukht, and the Orakzai sub-sections of the Ali Sherzai
and Massuzai. On the north, Kurram is separated
from the Shinwaris by the great Safed Koh Range, which
towers up sublime and white above Parachinar. Its
peaks are Bazurgachuka and Bodeena, respectively 14,020
feet and 13,007 feet high, and it terminates in Sikaram, a
great snowy giant who raises his massive head to a height
of 15,620 feet above sea-level.* The Safed Koh is called
' Shpina Ghar ' here, which has the same meaning as
' Safed Koh,' i.e., ' The White Mountains.' The scenery
of Upper Kurram is extremely beautiful. Dark pine
forests cover the lower ranges, and naked cliffs and snowy
peaks rise high above them. The chain is so situated
that the rays of the setting sun fall full upon it. The
effect on a chill winter evening when the pale snows flush
pink and crimson, while darkness is already gathering
in the valley below, is very fine.

There seems to be some doubt as to the origin of the
word Parachinar. Some people say it means ' single
chenar,' and others that it is derived from ' china,' which
is a common village name in Tirah. Several natives,
however, told me that the big chenar tree, which still
flourishes beside the Fort, was planted about two hundred
years ago by ' Pari,' an influential maliJc, or chief, of the
Pari Khel section of the Hamza Khel, and that the locality
is named after Pari and his chenar tree. The Turis call

* The word ' Sikaram ' is most probably the clipped form of
• Sir-e-Kurram.' — ' The Head of Kurram.'

KUREAM. 127

the cantonment ' Totki,' but this particular chenar tree
they call Parachinar, and it is usual for them to arrange
a meeting ' under Parachinar.' This outpost of civiliza-
tion consists of a dozen bungalows, a fort, two streets of
bazaar, and the lines of the Kurram Militia. Numbers
of young trees have been planted everywhere, and many
already yield fruit in season. Parachinar lies out in the
middle of a dry plain at the foot of the Safed Koh. In
former times the garrison used to occupy a site higher up
on the spurs of the mountains. The present cantonment
has an elevation of 5,600 feet. In summer the heat is
never excessive, and in a very hard winter three feet of
snow have been known to lie for a month.

The Peiwar Kotal is the chief place of historic and
geographic interest in the Kurram. A short distance out
of Parachinar along the Peiwar Kotal road, is a pretty
tope, . or grove, of trees known as ' Roberts' Bagh,' or
' Roberts' Folly.' Lord Roberts purchased it, believing
it to be adjacent to the site of a future military canton-
ment. He afterwards gave the property to the Govern-
ment of India. Shalozan is a village of some eight or
ten towers, which supplies as many as two hundred men
to the Kurram Militia. It is a well-wooded village, and
though it was gaunt and dreary enough in Decem-
ber, I can well believe the enthusiastic accounts told o!
it, when autumn has turned the chenar leaves scarlet.
Shalozan is noted for the beauty of its women. One of'
its families has always supplied ladies for the royal harem
in Kabul. The grandmother of Amir Abdur Rahman was

128 PATHAN BOEDEKLAND.

a Shalozani woman. The Turis pride themselves that the
Kurram produces four remarkable commodities, namely,
the Sang-i-Malana, the stone of Malana ; the Brinj-i-
Karman, the rice of Karman ; the Chauh-i-Peiwar, the
wood of Peiwar ; and the Dakhtar-i-ShcUozan, the women
of Shalozan.

This village suffered very severely in 1907 from
cholera, and lost nearly 300 of its inhabitants. On such
occasions the Turis are very sensible, for they move away

I from their homes and go into camps on the mountains.
They have a curious custom of burying the victims of
cholera with a large stone on the chest, and a pebble
between the teeth. They think this procedure stamps out
the disease. The custom sometimes gives rise to trouble,
when a solitary Ghilzai stranger dies of cholera amongst
them, for the relatives, when they reclaim the body later,
look upon the breaking of the tooth, for the insertion of
the pebble, as equal to mutilation.

At the single grave called the ' Dwalas Imam Ziarat '
I got a change of horses. About this time Sikaram dis-
appeared into threatening clouds, and soon after mists
came hurrying up, and obliterated the entire Safed Koh.
The Peiwar Ridge is an off-shoot of Sikaram which
runs southward and ends the Kurram Valley. As I
advanced, the valley became undulating, and the sterile
open plain gave place to a dense ilex scrub. The ilex
is called tsarai. Its fruit is a berry, very much like an
acorn. The natives eat the kernel, but to my mind its

taste is uncommonly bitter and nasty.

EUBBAM. 129

The panorama of hills in front would have been very
fine but for the lowering clouds which partly hid it. The
lowest depression in the ridge is the Peiwar Kotal, where
the road, one of the two great trade routes between Kabul
and India, crosses. Along the ridge lay the main line of
Afghan trenches, barring Eoberts' advance in the Second
Afghan War. To the left of the gap is a deep declivity
known as the ' Devil's Punch Bowl,' a trap in which the
5th and 29th Punjabis were caught on the 28th of Novem-
ber, 1878. To the right of the Kotal,* narrow, rolling
pine ridges run towards Sikaram ; and it was along these
hills that Roberts made his memorable night march and
fiank attack.

In the jaws of the gorge which lead to the pass ia
the little post of Teri Mungal which derives its name
from a small Mungal village in the vicinity. Here I left
my ponies, and changed the sowars for an escort of
four men from the post. Already it had begun to snow,
and I was glad of a chance of getting warm by walking.
There was ice everywhere, even on running streams, and
the cold was intense. The path lies up a ravine till it
bifurcates, after which it rises sharply up a spur to the
Kotal. It was by now snowing hard, and on nearing the
summit I found a good six inches of snow all over the
hills. The Peiwar Kotal Pass is so much shut in by
projecting mountains that the view is liinited, and those
who, even in fine weather, expect anything but a gUmpse

♦Ridge.
E, FB 9

130 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

of Afghanistan, will be disappointed. The deep depression
of the Kotal forms a fitting gateway to the forbidden
land. The road passes through it, crosses the Durand
Line, and drops gently into Afghanistan, on its way to
Alikhel. Alikhel is only sixteen miles distant and is the
head-quarters of an Afghan Brigade. Pine woods cover
the Peiwar Eidge ; and the ilex bushes, which resembled
holly, were very much in keeping with its wintry aspect.
A knoll to the right is known as ' General's Hill,' and
from a higher one to the left called ' Batteri Sar ' a peep
into Hariob can be obtained. A walk along the ridge
to ' Picnic Hill ' leads to the various places where there
was hard fighting during the attack on the position, and
an Afghan post may be seen on an open plain to the west.
But on the occasion of my visit a keen wind was driving
across the pass, and the snow was swirling silently down,
obscuring what little view there was of the Afghan moun-
tains. I was glad, therefore, to return to Teri Mungal,
where the Havildar in command of the Fort gave me a
meal of tea and eggs. The hot tea was most acceptable,
even though eighty per cent, of its composition was, as
usual, sugar. The Pathans have a curious custom of
painting eggs black or red. Down in the plain, the dry-
snow turned to a cold soaking sleet, and I was thankful
when I had covered the sixteen miles back to Parachinar,
and was seated again by a big log-fire in the hospitable
mess of the Kurram Militia.

The Mungals are a race who occupy Garbar. Num-
bers of them, however, become hcmisayas, or serfs, to

EUBBAM. 131

the Turis, and now occupy villages above the Tuns on the
mountains around Totki. Quite lately they made an
attempt to throw ofE their hamsaya yoke, and claimed
representation in the Turi Jirga. The movement was
sternly repressed. The Mungals are great cattle-grazers
and wood-cutters. Their indiscriminate cutting has done
much to deforest the Kurram, but tree-felling is now very
carefully supervised.

A good deal of timber is floated down the Kurram
stream in summer. Along both banks of the river there
are numbers of well-wooded villages, below which a little
lice is sometimes grown. There are a lot of snipe to be
shot in these low-lying tracks. The bag for 1907 registered
over eleven hundred snipe. The natives are themselves
keen sportsmen, and get the best of the chicore and sisi
shooting. They also shoot duck and teal on the river,
where they use clever decoy birds made of mud. Nearly-
all Pathans are born poachers. Their bird traps usually
consist of fine nets, or of a horse-hair noose attached
to a wooden peg. They sometimes wear a mask with
horns, in which disguise they approach chicore and other
game. The birds collect and await the advance of the mask,
to inspect it, and when they are well bunched together the
stalker fires into the brown of them.

At Ahmadzai are the ruins of an Afghan Post,
which was occupied by the Amir's troops until we took the
Kurram under our protection. From these ruins a pretty
path leads along the left bank of the river to Agra, crossing
on the way many stony bluffs and willow-lined streams.

132 PATHAN BOEDEELAND.

To the south is the Jaji Maidan, and further on, under a
high ridge running down from the Khost Mountains, the
Darwarzargai route branches ofE to Thai vid Tigar. At the
end of the ridge above mentioned, where it overlooks
the Kurram river, is a tall rock, beneath which two shafts
have been driven by certain villagers, in the belief that
treasure is hidden there. The other Turis were much
amused at the credulity of those who undertook the
digging operations ; and the mullah, at whose instigation
the search was made, had to decamp for a while.

One of the most interesting rides from Parachinar
is to Khalachi, where the British post, which is situated
on a low hillock, is confronted by three Afghan forts.
The nearest of these is not more than 500 yards distant.
The Afghan posts are collectively known as ' Patan ' and
at this time were commanded by a venerable, grey-haired
Captain, whose monthly pay of forty Cabuli rupees was
kept in a chronic state of arrears. He came out accom-
panied by a dozen Afghan soldiers, who each carried a
couple of cartridges between the first, second and third
fingers of the left hand, in case of accident. The Afghan
garrison had one bugler who blew ' stables ' when the
Captain's horse was fed. This little post of Khalach*
was the scene of a good deal of fighting in the June of 1908,
when the mullahs were disturbing the Khostwals with
inflammatory preaching. Their ardour was, however,
somewhat damped by a message from the Amir, promising
to cut out the tongue of anyone attempting a Jehad ;
and also by the fact that one of the mullahs who was

KURRAM. 133

distributing charms against hostile bullets had his horse
shot under him. Still, fighting did take place between
the Khostwals and Tuxis, in which six Afghans and one
Turi were killed. The quarrel was about some springs
which belong to the Turis, and which are very necessary
to them for their cultivation. It is a' dispute of long
standing, and is always a convenient excuse for scrapping.
A truce was proclaimed in Jirga, to last for two years,
but it was soon violated. The commandant of Khalachi
Post, an Afridi Subadar, gave me tea according to custom,
but I was luckily in time to regulate the sugar. He
pointed out to me Khushka Ram and other localities
in the uplands of Khost, and showed me the mountains
of Garbar where the Mungals live. The ride back to
Parachinar in the brilliant sunshine, with the Safed Koh
resplendent in a new coating of snow, and with ice crackling
under the horse's hoofs at every stream, was most
enjoyable.

CHAPTEE VIII.

A Tale from Tibah.

" Are you going to help me clean the Sahib's
topak ?"*

I saw the verandah-chick thrust open, and Sonny-
staggered out bearing my gun case, which was all but too
heavy for him.

Minaur took it from him, and together they unfastened
the straps and pulled out the cleaning materials.

I dropped into a verandah chair beside them and
watched the operation. The tender care of my gun
occupied much of Minaur's spare time. I associated the
weapon with him as much for his continuoiis solicitude
for it as for the many happy days we had spent' together
with the snipe on Ghoriwalla jhed.

" Minaur is very kind to you," I said to Sonny,
who was taking full advantage of the orderly's good
nature, by getting in the way.

" Sonny will be a real Sahib one day," said Minaur
quietly. " He reminds me of my own boy, who was just
twice as old as Sonny is now when he died."

Minaur was a .constant source of wonder to me.
The more I imagined that at least I understood this one

• Gun.

PiCTUKE X.

liance I^aik Bakbman Shah— Hishti, Orakzai.

TALE ^ROM TIEAH. 135

Pathan intimately, the more abruptly did I happen upon
some side of his character and life of which I was as yet
altogether ignorant. Minaur as a married man and
a father was a thing new to me. I had known him as a
recruit when first he came down from his Orakzai hUls
and joined the Eegiment. That was when I was Adjutant
four years ago. I had known him since as a good sepoy,
and an excellent shot, and I had known him long and
intimately as my orderly. And as I watched him now in
his spotless raiment and flowing skirts with the long tassel
of his black pugree thrown up over his head to be out of
his way, the thought came to me that he was a credit
to the work I had spent on him. In matters of dress
he was very particular. He had worked two little triangles
of yellow and red beads into the strands of his phulla fringe,
and it struck me that the design was particularly pictu-
resque and altogether unexpected in one who, four short
years ago, had joined us in his grey Orakzai rags.

" You never told me you were a married man,"
I said, in the hopes of drawing him on to tell a
story.

" We don't talk of such things to the Sahibs till we
know them well," he said. " It is an old story. Sahib :
six years old. But there — I have learnt to forget about
it. You taught me to forget, Sahib, when you filled my
head with ' right turn ' and ' left turn ' on the recruits'
square, and that gave me new things to think about.
No, Sonny Sahib, not that oil bottle, or the Memsahib
will be angry."

136 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

" The reason of my enlisting at all," he continued,
•• arose from the feud that my father Haidar had with Mir
Ahmad. You must remember Mir Ahmad, Sahib. He
was a Havildar in the Orakzai Company, who went on
pension last year. He did not enjoy his pension long
though. He was ambushed and stabbed, you know, on his
way home, soon after he passed Gulistan fort on the
Samana. Did you never hear about it ? Well, this
quarrel arose from a very foolish thing. Haidar and Mir
Ahmad were the best of friends until one day Mir Ahmad's
dog killed a goat belonging to us. In the heat of the
moment my father shot the dog, and so the quarrel began.
Mir Ahmad said he prized the dog greatly as a watch-
dog. My father said he should be kept in better order,
and that he would always shoot any dog, or man too
for that matter, who touched his goats. It may sound
foolish, Sahib, but what I tell you is true when I say
that twelve men have since died on account of that dog.
Mir Ahmad was the first to start the killing. He shot
my father's brother's son, and then of course for honour's
sake we had to go on with it. Mir Ahmad's death has
balanced the account — six on each side — so we have made
a solah, or peace, and the feud is stopped for a year. I
expect we shall make it perpetual after that, as we have
both other enemies besides, but we shall arrange all that
when I go on furlough month after next.

" The feud began very well for us, and my father's
brother's son was quickly avenged. Following up his
first advantage, Mir Ahmad organised an attack on our

TALE PROM TIBAH. 137

house. Our house is a three-storied mud tower, with
strong loop-holed walls. It stands on a bluff of the
mountains overlooking the Khanki Valley ; and in a fold
in the ground close by, we raise a crop of makai, or Indian
corn, every year. There was a bright moon on the night
chosen, but I suppose Mir Ahmad was tempted by the
mists and clouds which lay banked up about us like
masses of white wool. These clouds hang around us all
through July on the Samana, blotting out the view over
the Khanki, except at intervals for a few fleeting minutes
when the mists flow away and melt, only to come bowling
down over us again. My son Tokheb happened to be
keeping watch at the time with a double-barrel rifle
beside him. Though he was only nine summers old, he
had already shown great aptitude for sport, and was
quite a good shot. He was my eldest son. I had another,
but he was born dead because my wife had before his
birth sat under a mulberry tree, not knowing that it was
overgrown with jal. You know the jal, Sahib ? Don't
you ? It is that yellow stringy parasite which has no
root of its own but lives by sucking the sap of mulberry
and rose trees. They call it Banoocha here in Bannu.
Anyway, if its shade falls on a woman about to bear a
child, the child nearly always dies. So it was in our
case ; and because Tokheb was my only living son, I was
proud of him. He acquitted himself well that night.
An unexpected rift in the sodden white mists flooded
the valley with moonlight and disclosed Mir Ahmad's
party within a few yards of our tower. My son instantly

138 PATHAN BOEDEELAND.

fired and when I ran up to him lie pointed me out two
figures lying on the ground. One was dead. The other
was badly wounded, and though we missed him as he
staggered down the hill he died that same night.

" Now I was by no means inclined to make little of
my son's splendid feat, and his prowess was soon known,
all through the Khanki. But that I see now was unwise.
The little fellow was not sufficiently versed in the ways
of men, and one day to our horror we discovered that
he had been ambushed and carried off alive to Mir Ahmad's
tower. I strove to hope that he might be recovered
somehow, and my father Haidar, who was as distressed
as I was myself, ofEered a large sum of money as a ransom
for the lad. All overtures were, however, met with
derision, and so we decided to make a return attack
on Mir Ahmad's tower in the hope of surprising it and
regaining possession of my boy. We crept close up one
very dark night and lay there waiting for the dawn within
a few yards of the fort. No one discovered us, and the
watch-dog, who had begun to bark, became quiet after
he had been rebuked two or three times by the sentry.
All was quiet, until the first light appeared in the eastern
sky, and then the bolts of the door were drawn back,
and the ladder leading up to it was let down. Breathless
we waited, every nerve braced for the rush. Haidar gave
the signal, and we all fired at the figure in the open door-
way. It pitched forward and fell amongst us as we ran
towards the tower. I tried to seize the ladder, but as
I reached it, it was wrenched upwards and the door

TALE rROM HEAH. 13^

slammed above us. One of our party had the presence
of mind to fire at the door while it was being bolted, and
we heard afterwards that it was Mir Ahmad himself
behind it, and that he was hit in the shoulder. That,,
of course, was one of the reasons why he was late-
in returning to the Regiment after his furlough that
year.

" Our coup having failed, there was nothing for it
but to retire while it was still fairly dark. This we did.
safely, and took up a position behind some rocks about
400 yards off, taking with us the man we had killed afr
the door, who we found to be Rab Nawaz, Mir Ahmad'a
younger brother.

" Then Mir Ahmad took his revenge, and a horrible
one it was too. We saw Tokheb, my brave, beloved son,,
hoisted to the parapet of the tower. His hands were tied.
in front of him, and there was a rope round his neck. I
rose and ran forward shouting to Mir Ahmad to have:
mercy. Several of our party seized me and dragged me-
down again. Then I saw Tokheb drop. In speechless;
horror I watched his convulsions against the_^tower waif
at the end of the rope till at last he became still, and
I knew he was dead. It was not breaking the neck, whicL
is merciful and quick ; it was a dreadful strangulation..
Then I wept and laughed in turn, and at last a blacknesss
came over me, and after many days I awoke wasted witK
fever on a bed in our own tower." Minaur squinted
scrutinizingly up the bore of my gun, and wiped out.
some oil.

140 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

" After that, Sahib, nothing happened for many
months. I vowed a vow to Allah on the Koran that I
would take revenge ; and the thoughts and the plans
1 revolved in my mind all that time alone saved me from
igoing mad with sorrow for my son. And when Mir Ahmad
rejoined the Regiment there was peace for a while, but
after six months two more of our men were surprised and
tilled and both their rifles were taken from them. And
at that time the hand of fate was very heavy on us, and
my wife, for whom I had paid over eight hundred rupees,
•died. And because we were short-handed, and our feud
was more than we could manage, we went down into the
Miranzai valley (which is the SirJoar's territory) and
remained there for the next two summers, instead of
Teturning as usual to Khanki. It was then that I enlisted.
I came to this Regiment because all of our tribe from
Tirah always select it. I avoided Mir Ahmad in the
company and he avoided me ; and the Subadar, who
knew our story, arranged that I should be in a different
section. He also impressed upon me, what I already
knew, that in British territory, and especially in the
Regiment, all feuds ceased. So I served three years and in
time became your orderly. Sahib. And one day I heard
that Mir Ahmad was going on pension. I waited till he
iad started and that same hour I came to youi bungalow.
You were asleep. Sahib, and I waited burning with impa-
-tience till you woke, and then I told you that my house
"had been burnt and that there was no one at home to
look after the cattle and women, I said that I must go

TALE FROM TIBAH. 141

on. urgent leave now at once, and I prayed that my going;
might be kept secret, because I feared my enemy would
lay an ambush for me. Do you remember all that, Sahib,
and how you took me to the Colonel Sahib, and how I
went ofE quietly on leave four days before it was published
in orders ? Well, I left Bannu that same afternoon^
travelling up the bed of the Kurram Nullah towards Thai
through the Waziri country. It was a hard race. Mir
Ahmad I knew would take two days by tum-tum to Kohafr
and one by rail to Kai. I met no one, of which I was-
glad, since the Waziris are unfriendly towards travellers
passing through their country. And so, God helping me,
I was several miles on my way towards Shinawari when
I saw the smoke of the train at Kai Station and knew
I was in front of my enemy. Next morning I passed
Gulistan and left British territory. I selected a quiet
place and hid myself behind a rock above the road, where
I could not be seen and where I could myself see any one-
coming from both directions. I waited there about half
a day, and at last saw the Havildar coming down the hill
towards me. I slipped down on to the path and waited.
Mir Ahmad must have sat down to rest, for he was so-
long in coming that I feared he had escaped me after all.
But at last I heard him come. For one moment we
confronted each other in the road. He made an effort to
disengage his rifle which was slung over his shoulder, but
he was too slow. I leapt on him, and seizing him by the
throat bore him to the ground. I scarcely recollect what
happened, but I remember a fierce overpowering flame

142 PATHAN BOBDERLAND.

■of rage which burned my soul while it lasted, but left me
afterwards more content than I had been for two years.
I remember striking several times with my fists before
1 used any weapon, and then I plunged my knife home
and home and home till tears of fury blinded me, and I
desisted."

There were tears in Minaur's eyes when he finished,
Sonny was already closing up the straps of the gun case.
I rose and lit a cigarette to hide my confusion. A keen
Tcsentment against the part I had myself unwittingly
played in the tragedy possessed me ; and then a strong
wave of pity came over me, pity for this fine, handsome,
misguided savage.

Minaur turned to me from the doorway and said,
" Are you going on the Manoeuvres next week. Sahib ? "

" Yes," I replied, " but ." I hesitated. Surely

I could not continue to entrust my wife to the care of a
murderer in my absence.

" Do you want me to go or remain ? "

" Yes," I said. " Stay and take care of the Memsahib
and Sonny as usual."

PICTURE XI,

Sepoy Tokheb— Babia Ehel, Orakzai.

CHAPTER IX.
Bannu.

Bannu — Banda Baud Shah — A Valley of Salt — ^Dante's Inferno —
Eafli Kot — Latamma — Fertility of Bannu — ^The Market — ^The
Kuiram River — The meaning of Bannu — Panorama of Hills —
Ruins of Akra— The Mullah Powindah — Raids — ^Attack on Lakkhi
— General O'Donnel — ^Reprisals.

Bannu is an obscure little frontier station out on the
plains below the hills of Waziristan. It is distant eighty
miles from Dera Ismail Khan and seventy-nine from
Kohat. A narrow-guage railway has reached Bannu, but
the route is so roundabout that even now it is preferable
to drive by tonga from Kohat vid Banda Daud Shah and
Bahadur Khel. At Bahadur Khel you enter through a
tunnel into a curious salt valley. The low, deformed,
dreary hills are seamed with glistening pockets of salt.
A briny stream deposits saltpetre all over its bed. A
solitary chowhidar, keeping guard over such vast mineral
wealth, is the only living thing, animal or vegetable, in
sight. And if you pass through this valley, white and
blistering in the July noontide, you will believe that here
is a scene from Dante's Inferno. Thence through more
hills, and so out on to the plains of Bannu. Kafir Kot,
the moim,tain which dominates the scenery of this frontier,
lies to the north. Its bastions and curtains, which

144 PATHAN BOEDEBLAND.

have been in view all day, look more than ever like a
huge ruined castle when viewed from the Bannu side.
The Latamma Nullah revives a flagging interest in the
journey. It is crossed near hills, to which raiders can
beat an easy retreat, and for this reason the place is
dangerous and has an evil reputation. Besides this, the
dry nullah bed after a few hours' rain turns into a swirling
torrent which no tonga can face.

And then of a sudden all this desolation ceases and
gives place to luxuriant crops. The villages are buried
in trees and plantain-groves. Date-palms grow every-
where, and together with the plantains give a tropical
appearance to the place. The date-palms out along the
D. I. K. road are quite one of the sights of Bannu. It is
hard to determine which season of the year is most attrac-
tive. Some say November, when the sugarcane is high
and the Indian corn, but lately cut, is being flayed on the
threshing-floors. Others prefer Bannu in early spring
when the apple and peach blossoms make a great display
of colour. Others again, and with these I agree, believe
that this frontier paradise is most lovely in early summer
when a green sea of young wheat covers the whole country
to the foot of the mountains. Then rambling roses smother
the hedges, hang in festpons from the trees, and invade
the water mills and mosques. At that season natives
pluck roses and stick them into their turbans.

In Bannu everyone has a stake in the agricultural
proceedings. In April you dismiss your * grass cuts *
and become the owner of so many karnals of wheat, which

BANNU. 145

the syces cut for the horses. After a couple of cuttings
shaftala (a kind of clover) comes up under the wheat,
and that crop is then used. All through the summer vast
quantities of hhusa or chopped straw have to be bought,
and there are few Europeans in cantonments who cannot
estimate the contents of a four or five charpoi stack
with tolerable accuracy. The land seldom gets a rest.
The same field yields crops of rice, shaftala, wheat and
millet all in a twelvemonth. Sugarcane is slow-growing
and therefore occupies the ground for six months, but in
nearly all other cases a second crop is sown before the
first is ready to cut.

Friday is market day in Bannu, and for this reason
is the weekly holiday for the garrison instead of Thursday.
Throngs of people pour in from the country, round, bringing
with them horses, sheep, goats, cattle, vegetables and fire-
wood for sale. The fair is held all round the city walls.
It presents an animated and picturesque scene. The
crowd consists of Bannuchis, Waziris, Marwats, Tochiwals,
Khattaks, Khatris and many other people. It is not
easy to distinguish between these different tribes, because
the Bannuchis themselves are a mixture of all. Also the
maroon-coloured turban, by which at first one hopes to
differentiate, is not in fact distinctive, but is used by all
classes indiscriminately ; and the Marwat sheet, which
they wear instead of pyjamas, is also adopted by many
who are not Marwats. Lastly, a large proportion of
the agricultural classes, who one might imagine to be
Mussulmans, are in fact Hindus. The Waziris alone

E, PB 10

146 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

are easy to recognise because of their short pleated kurtas,
or shirts, embroidered with scarlet thread, and their long,
ill-kept hair.

The shisham trees of Bannu are a drooping variety.
Plates, boxes, bed-posts, doors and drums are made of
shisham, and are often carved or covered with bands of
lacquer and sold in the market. A weird selection of
evil-tempered Waziri horses are brought to the Friday
fairs. Wall-eyed brutes, known as Sulamani, are parti-
cularly to be avoided. There are, however, many fine
animals for sale, especially amongst those whose sires
belong to Government studs. The prices asked are
rather high, but it is worth knowing that an animal
with a white star, or a white patch on its forehead, is
considered unlucky, and may be bought cheap on that
account.

Like the Latammar Nullah, the Kurram River, which
flows close to Bannu, is given to heavy flooding after rain.
Quantities of drift wood are washed down, and, in trying
to capture this, the natives frequently lose their lives.
Small mahseer are numerous, and near Kurram Ghari,
where the river comes out into the plain, there are deep
pools where good bathing can be had.

Kurram Ghari post is a lonely spot surrounded by
fantastic, sterile hills. On the way there, a tree is passed
called ' Nicholson's tree.' Under this grand old peepul
Nicholson used to hold durbar. It has one horizontal
branch, which was used as a gallows in those good days
of shirt-sleeve justice.

BANNU. 147

Some say the name of ' Baimu ' is derived from a
Persian word meaning * well-wooded.' But tte usually
accepted theory is that Bannu was the name of the wife
of the Waziri Chief who first conquered the plain. Each
district was then named after Bannu's sons. That across
the Kurram River is called Shirani. It is luxuriantly
cultivated. All the more striking, therefore, is the deso-
lation of the Gumatti Pass beyond it. A small post com-
mands the entrance of the pass. This is known as Old
Gumatti. New Gumatti is right inside the pass, and
Gumatti village lies in a belt of trees near it. The native
fort, which so stoutly resisted artillery fire when we
attacked it, has since been demolished. The Gumatti
defile, which till the construction of these posts was a
veritable thorn in our flesh, and which cost us many lives
in '99 and '03, is an imposiug ravine, flanked with high
rugged mountains which it is impossible to picquet
thoroughly, without a big force.

So much for Bannu itself. But a word must be said of
the panorama of mountains which surround it. Working
from the south, round by the west, we begin with distant
low hills occupied by the Bhitannis, who are a friendly
people, except when the prospect of gain tempts them
into allowing Mahsuds to pass through their country.
Next comes an inhospitable upland known as Ghabaristan
where live the Ghabars, who should not be confused with
the tribe of the same name in Kurram. The first high
mountain to the south-west is Seogar, which hides the
Mahsud country from view, excepting one dark spur

148 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

occupied by the Shobia Khels and Jalal Kliels. Jani Khel
and Wall are two posts below the foot of Seogar. The
well-known outlaw Salim, who was a Wall Khel Waziri,
came from Jani Khel, where he was once a peaceable
blacksmith. The Shakhtu Darrah and the Khaisora are
two narrow defiles leading into the fastness of Waziristan.
Of these the Shakhtu is said to be shut in by such narrow
mountain Walls that even a camel cannot pass through.
Almost above it, but standing well back, is the wooded
and often snow-capped peak of Pirgul or Pregul. The
long four-gabled mountain is Shui-dar, and next to it is
Vezdeh. These are the three chief peaks of Waziristan.
The Showal district is well-wooded, and timber used for
buildings in Bannu is all brought down from there. Next
come an array of low and unattractive hills occupied by
the Jani Khels, Bakka Khels and Muhamad Khels, tiU
nearly north rise the jagged Umarzai and Hathi Khel lulls
behind Kurram Ghari, from which the Kurram river
issues after having just been joined by the Kaitu stream.
In a deep cleft of the mountains between Kurram Ghari
and Gumatti, the majestic snows of the Safed Koh are
visible all the winter ; and one has only to go a little
way out into the middle of the plain to have a grand
view of Sikaram, Bazurgachuka, and Bodeena. North-
east, behind Gumatti PosJ;, rise the Kabul Khel hills,
culminating in the weird bastions of Kafir Kot. All round
by the east run the distant spurs of the Maidan and
Salt HjIIs, amongst and behind which dwell Khattaks,
Niazais and Jats. The Sheikh Budin ridge fills up the

BANNU. 149

south of the panorama, dividing Marwat from the
Derajat.

The most interesting archaeological remains near
Bannu are those buried beneath mounds near the village
of Akra. Like many other ruins on this frontier, Akra
is ascribed to Alexander the Great.

There seems, however, little reason for believing the
stories which connect him with these ancient moimds,
though there is no doubt but that Akra is of Greek or
Grseco-Bactrian origin, and came into existence in the
early part of the three centuries of Greek iafluence. Round
about the mounds are several villages, and if you go and
sit in the hujra, or guest-house, the little Pathan boys
will quickly produce what they have found in the mounds.
They bring in quantities of coins, many of which are
defaced beyond recognition, but amongst which the silver
Menandar and some copper coins bearing the head of a
Greek soldier are to be seen. In this way the age of the
mounds is estimated to be at least twenty-one hundred
years. Many Kadphises coins are found too, showing that
the city survived to be ruled by Hindu Kings. Clay and
earthen-ware idols of a Hindu type are found in great
numbers, but there is a remarkable paucity of stone
images such as were popular at that period in the cities
of Peshawar and Yusufzai. The few stone relics which
have been found at Akra are not of any great size or
artistic value, but they are often distinctly Greek, and
are older than the pottery figures. The absence of£any
valuable artistic remains tends to prove that Akra was

150 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

not a centre of religion or learning, but was more probably
a fort or outpost of the newly formed Empire, about
whicb subsequent generations built an extensive settle-
ment. That no building of any kind survives shows that
the ancients were content to use the same excellent clay
bricks which we, and our Waziri neighbours, still utilise
or our frontier posts.

The mounds themselves are not very interesting.
They stand about eighty feet high on the left bank of the
Baran Nullah, seven miles to the south of Bannu. They
are being constantly excavated by the villagers, who
throw the rich ash soil on to their fields. The crops in
the vicinity are consequently more flourishing than else-
where. The story of an awful destruction and social up-
heaval is clearly written in these mounds. One is left to
picture the appearance of a ruthless Mussulman Army
on the plain, and to suppose that the inhabitants lowered
their choicest images into the wells to save them from
being broken up, as also did the people of Yusufzai. Then
the place must have been given over to rapine, pillage
and flames. All these events are recorded by layers of
ash, charred wood and bone fragments. Pottery, beads,
trinkets, signets and bits of polished jade and agate
are washed out every year by the rains. The signets are
usually of a black substance, resembling vulcanite in
appearance and weight. They have on them figures of
antelopes, lions and elephants. A little while ago a bin
full of rice was dug up, which, though remarkable, is
after all less wonderful than the discovery of grain and

BANNU. 151

foodstufEs in Egyptian tombs after far greater lapses
of time.

I spent nearly two years in Bannu in 1910 and 1911.
At that time the late Mullah Powindah was still alive,
and the hatred he felt towards the British Government
resulted in frequent raids on Bannu. These were sub-
sequently stopped by General O'Donnel, C. B., who
deported those sections of the population responsible for
allowing raiders to pass. This strong action brought to a
close a regular reign of terror during which we were never
sure of a night in bed.

The Mullah Powindah was not a Mahsud by birth.
He was a native of Bannu, and spent his youth there.
He also underwerit a short period of imprisonment in
Bannu jail. What education he had he obtained in
Bannu city. A disagreement with the jemadar of the
jail, whom he shot dead, necessitated his hasty retirement
from British territory at the age of about eighteen. He
fled into Mahsud Waziristan, where he established himself
at Makin. He there set up as a mullah and a seeker
after knowledge, and soon assumed the title of Badshah-i-
Talihan or The King of Knowledge Seehers. After the
blockade of 1901-02, which was very largely brought
about by his evil influence, the Mullah Powindah lost a
good deal of his popularity. He nevertheless maintained
himself by misappropriating money which was formerly
paid by Government into Waziristan, and with this he
bought arms and ammimition. He took full advantage
of the boom in the rifle trade in Kabul in 1907, and sent

152 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

a large party into Afghanistan to purchase firearms. In
this, and in the natural strength of Makin, lay his power.
Makin, however, is by no means impregnable, and the
village was gutted by British troops more than once even
before it became the object of aeroplane attacks. The
Mullah, fully aware of his rising unpopularity, used to
take every possible precaution and had an escort when-
ever he stirred from his house. He was always elaborately
armed himself. In appearance he was tall and well set up.

The activities of this pestilential fellow gave us a
great deal of trouble in Bannu for many years. He was
responsible for all the worst raids into British territory.
The most serious of these was an attempt to loot the
Civil Treasury at Lakkhi (20 miles from Bannu) on the
12th March, 1910. The raiders, forty strong, were led
by the Mullah's nephew. They sheltered openly for the
day in a mosque, trusting to the terror of their reputation
to save them as usual from interference. However, news
of their visit was wired to Bannu and a force was sent
out in tum-tums. It reached the mosque at dusk and
surrounded it just as the Mahsuds were going to leave it.
A violent collision ensued, in which Captain Stirling, six
men and six horses were killed on our side. The raiders
had six killed. Five more were captured, who subsequently
all died or were hanged.

It was, however, seldom that a decision like this was
reached. Eaids occurred all over the district. Eich
Hindi's were carried off, tongas held up, posts attacked,
and travellers murdered — the raiders escaping across the

BANNU. 153

border with ease by a thousand obscure paths. In all
this, of course, they were assisted by tribesmen in our
own territory who gave them free passage. As a rule,
troops from Baimu arrived much too late after an all-
night march in heat and choking dust. Nothing could
have been more harassing than life in Bannu until at last
General O'Donnel took over command. By instituting a
system of reprisals, he reduced the tribesmen to order in
a few weeks.

CHAPTER X.

Frontier Field Firing.

The Bannu Brigade — Camp — Field firing — The Bakka Khel — ^Their
craving for fire wood and spent bullets — ^A Baramta.

FiElD MANOEUVRES of the Bannu Brigade differ from
those of any other Brigade. There is an essence of reality
about them and a grim sense of humour which the Waziri
cannot learn to appreciate. I remember in particular
the annual field firing of the year 1911. Things began
quietly enough. A camp was selected a couple of miles
across the Waziri border in a weird and desolate spot.
Stony, treeless hills and broken nullahs lay around us,
intensely ugly and yellow in the sunlight ; but at dusk
there is a strange beauty about the rugged walls of Waziris-
tan, which then assume restful violet tints. After dark
the battery threw some star shells which illuminated the
nearest ridges with a faint silvery light, against which
targets were indistinctly visible. Amongst other things
we nearly shot a follower, who, contrary to all orders, was
wandering about outside the perimeter, but so sharp was
he at taking cover as soon as we opened fire, that we
thought he was one of the Bakka Khel Waziris who
inhabit these parts, and who have a great weakness for
spent bullets.

FRONTIER FIELD FIRING. 155

Our troubles began on the following day when we
moved out to attack a village which had been specially
built for our benefit. The columns became entangled in
winding nullahs ; and it was already hot before the troops
reached the stony ridge of hills which was known to
overlook the battlefield, and from which it was proposed
to launch an attack on the village. Glasses were loosened
as we reached the summit. The village was seen a mile
away on the edge of a plateau. It consisted of three for-
midable towers connected together by low walls. Targets
covered the whole countryside. ' Falling plates ' formed
an advanced line : ' running men ' covered the further
heights : and cavalry represented by cloth screens charged
from right and left.

Now when every preparation was ready an imcanny
thing happened. The ' falling plates ' began to fall. The
' running men ' began to run ; and before glasses could be
properly adjusted, the cavalry screens turned tail and
fled, and were soon disappearing over the horizon into
Waziristan. In fact the targets were alive, and were
streaming away towards the hills as hard as they could ^
go. The language on the ridge need not be repeated here.
The Staff said bitter things — things which they must have
been sorry for afterwards. Some one ordered the cavalry
out, and we lay for an hour sweltering under the noon-day
sun, watching the squadron round up the runaway
targets, which presently began reluctantly to return to
their forsaken trenches. And when they had returned
there emerged from behind each — a Bakka Khel Waziri.

156 PATH AN BORDERLAND.

They were collected in a bunch and hustled from the
ground to a neighbouring bluff ; and though they were in
imminent peril, they were permitted to remain there as
they refused to retire further, and the morning was too
far spent to start an argument. In the meantime whisky
and soda had been tactfully handed round on the ridge,
after which things looked a little brighter.

So at last the attack began, though the artistic atti-
tudes of the targets were not restored, and they lay in
despairing attitudes before us. The battery opened fire
on the towers. The shells could be seen behind the
village, bounding and ricochetting across the plain, raising
spurts of dust where they skimmed the ground. And
each shell as it sped away was pursued by a shrieking
mob of Bakka Khels.

And now the battle became general. The flank attack
on the right was beginning to make itself felt and the
whole of the bullet-swept area was dancing with puffs of
dust. The lines of infantry, bending low over their fixed
bayonets, were steadied for the final assault. Bugles were
blown. Someone began to cheer, and the line heaved
forward for the charge — ^when suddenly from the groimd
before it sprang up another line — a gray line of ragged
men, shouting and fighting. They charged the position,
and, long before the infantry could reach it, were tearing
down beams and targets from the debris of the towers, and
grubbing up spent shot and shell from beneath the walls.

What a day that was for the Bakka Khel ! What
treasures of firewood and ammunition lay before them !

FRONTIER FIELD FIRING. 157

But they were destined to be disappointed. The General,
to punish them, issued orders that the sepoys might have
the wood. In a moment the ridge was ours ; and the
Waziris were driven off out of stone-throw range. In
ten minutes the towers were demolished, and with beams
and boughs waving high, like the moving woods of
Dunsinane, the Bannu Brigade marched back to camp.

Next evening we made a night attack with blank
ammunition, the noise of which must have lulled the
suspicions of the whole district. Certainly it was a
complete surprise even to us when, after re-assembling and
heading for camp, we were suddenly turned aside in our
march. Blank ammunition was rapidly withdrawn and
ball issued. Orders were read by the light of electric
torches. Units slipped away into the night, and by
dawn had drawn a complete cordon round a troublesome
area several miles away.

The inhabitants of this area had been issued with
rifles with which to repel raiders. But instead of doing
so, they had given raiding parties free passage, and had
even shared in the loot. Now they slept before us iimocent
as babes, while the first glimmer of dawn had not yet
challenged the brilliance of the stars. Orion and his
splendid attendants shone low down in the west. A chill
night wind shivered over the crops. Village dogs barked,
but not more than usual, and presently a stark naked i
Wazir (they always sleep naked) stumbled amongst us.
and was downed with only a smothered exclamation.
Presently the mullahs began to call the faithful to prayer

158 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

until in a few minutes the growing light revealed to them
the surrounding cordon of troops.

Wazirs are pretty expert at hiding themselves. But
we knew by this time all their weaknesses for com bins,
dung heaps, straw and firewood. One man took refuge
inside his wife's skirts. The lady played her part well
by loudly abusing us. Having failed to save her man,
she first stoned us, and then tried to grip us. by where
the beard should have been.

We caught several men that morning who were badly
wanted : but that ended the trouble in the neighbour-
hood for months. Ever afterwards the villagers slept out
on the hard stones whenever they heard ' field firing.'
Only once again did they offend — and on that occasion
the round-up was repeated, and all their camels driven
off to Bannu and auctioned. They tasted then the
bitterness which we for months had had to endure until
General O'Donnel invented the Baramta or ' reprisal,'
which in a few brief weeks reduced the Bannu frontier
to order.

I suppose few troops have ever been so alert and
efficient as the Bannu Brigade of those days. It was
never possible to say what force would be required, or in
what direction. Yet even on dark nights it seldom took
a column more than 15 minutes to turn out complete with
transport, ammunition, rations and medical equipment.
Without hurry, without a sound, the troops slipped away
and were gone, and by dawn were surrounding some village,
holding some post, or blocking some pass into the hills.

CHAPTER XI.

TOCHI.

Bannu — ^Kajauri — Lower Dawar — Treatment of Waziris — ^Lower Tochi
— Trade— Miranshah — ^Trees — Boia — Raiders — ^Tutnarai — ^A grand
view — ^Mahsuds.

TocHi makes no pretence at rivalling the Kurram in
either beauty or local interest. It is none the less a
fascinating locality, and there is a wildness about its scenery
which lends great attraction to this strip of administered
territory, thrust into the heart of Waziristan.

There was never a more un-get-at-able place than
Bannu, and Bannu is the base from which the journey
to the Tochi must be made, unless one is lucky enough
to obtain permission to travel via Thai, through inde-
pendent territory.

The distance from Bannu to Miranshah in Tochi is
37 miles. The road is a good one, and has the advantage
over that leading up the Kurram of being metalled through-
out. The cultivation of Bannu stops abruptly on the
left bank of the Baran Nullah. Beyond this, a stony
and treeless plain rises gently to the foot hills of Waziristan.
The border is crossed just beyond the small fortified post
of Aslam Chowki, and a little further on the Tochi river
comes in sight. In summer it is a considerable stream.
It rises in Afghanistan and, flowing south of Bannu, joins

160 PATHAN BOEDEELAND.

the Kurram river near Laki. The lower reaches of the
Tochi Valley consist of dreary defiles through rugged and
unimposing mountains, with no villages, cultivation, or
trees to break the monotony for nearly twenty miles.
The prospect, however, improves very much at Kajauri,
where the valley opens out into a broad and fertile plateau,
studded over with kajur, or date palms {Phcenix sylvestris),
from which the place derives its name. The plain, which
is several miles long, is divided into fields, which in sum-
mer are said to produce rich crops ; but in early January,
when I visited it, the country was looking drab and sombre
enough. Small fortified towers are scattered about it for
the protection of the crops. The villages are, as usual,
mud forts, and are enclosed by high defensive walls. The
valley, as far as Miranshah, is known as Lower Dawar,
and above Miranshah as Upper Dawar.

The people of Dawar are comparatively prosperous
and well-to-do, and are in consequence the victims of
constant raids from their more needy and manly neigh-
bours in the hills. They are now no longer enlisted in the
local Militia, being considered soft and effete. They suffer
a good deal from fevers, caused no doubt by the extensive
cultivation of rice. Fevers, enlarged spleens, eye diseases
and gun-shot wounds are all treated free of charge in the
Miranshah Hospital. The inhabitants of Dawar do not
migrate in summer, in which respect they differ from
nearly all other Waziris, who move up into the mountains
with their belongings as soon as the hot weather
sets in.

TOCHI, 161

Every five or six miles along the road are strong

Militia posts. Oui position here is entirely different to

what it is in the Kurram. The Waziris, unlike the Turis,

resent British interference, and consequently the happy

relations existing between Pathans and Englishmen in

Parachinar are not to be found in Tochi. Indeed, both

sides are always hard at work, the one devising fresh

devilries, the other exacting retribution. The struggle is,

however, conducted with humour. It has been the popular

custom amongst Waziri budmashes to carry ofE Hindus

from their homes in order to ransom them afterwards.

Some six or seven Hindus were thus kidnapped while I

was there. But this time the game did not work

out as profitably as usual. In retaliation, all Bizan

Khels and Hati Khels within reach of British authority

were seized and confined in Baimu and Miranshah till the

Hindus were released, and proper security for future good

behaviour furnished. On the prison gate in the civil post

in Miranshah are inscribed the well-known words ' Agar

firdaus ha rou-e-zamin ast, hamin ast, hamin ast.' (Oh !

if there be an elysium on earth, it is this, it is this) : and

above the doorway of a cell, within which a dozen sulky

Wazirs languish, is written a hearty word of welcome

Khosh amded.'

The narrow strip of the Tochi, sixty-three miles long,
now brought under British administration, lies due south
of the Afghan province of Khost, which is thus sand-
wiched in between the Kurram and the Tochi. The chief
town of Khost is Matun, which was occupied by our troops

E, PB 11

162 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

for a short while during the early part of the second
Afghan war. I believe an Afghan Brigade is now stationed
there. The political advantages of holding the Tochi and
of thus having a footing in Waziristan are very great,
even though we have no posts further west than Datta
Khel towards the Durand line. The presence of British
arms in Tochi and the Gumal has done much to overawe
the troublesome Mahsuds.

Tochi is not a trade route, like either the Kurram
or Gumal valleys. They say that the road into Afghan-
istan, even beyond Datta Khel, is an excellent one. It
leads to Ghazni. Few travellers, however, use it. I met
only one large caravan (known locally as a ' hirhi '), which
was bringing down ' chilgosas ' to Bannu. The ' chilgosa '
is the kernel of a certain pine cone, which has a consider-
able market in the Punjab.

Miranshah is situated in a stony plain, well above
and away from the Tochi river. It was removed to its
present site in about 1906, because the former fort was
too near the hills. The old cantonment was demolished.
The new fort is a fine building, though rather too large
for its garrison. It contains the comfortable mess of the
officers of the North Waziristan Militia, as well as the
civil post and other buildings. Nothing that could give
cover to snipers can be erected outside the walls, and even
the ' sticky court ' is sunk in a hollow. Half a mile away
is another big enclosure, in which are the hospital, bazaar,
and various native quarters. Water is brought to Miran-
shah all the way from Boia by means of a little canal

TOCHI. 163

wMch follows every bend of the hill-sides for miles. There
is besides a fine well, 115 feet deep inside the fort. Out-
side the post a big garden has been made in which quan-
tities of young trees have been planted. These in time
are to be put out all about the valley, which is at present
very poorly wooded. Amongst other trees so introduced
are the safeda or poplar, the Australian ilex, the peepul,
various fruit trees, the rubber tree and the chenar. This
latter shows signs of doing well. It is found in many
Pathan districts, notably in Kurram, in the Palijkora
Valley and in Dir. I saw one remarkably fine chenar
in Tochi in the village of Kharok Ali, opposite Ahmad
Khel, which must be quite 250 years old. I was assui
that there was another quite as big near Datta Khe
These seem to be the only two large trees in Tochi. There
are, of course, extensive forests on the mountains, parti-
cularly on the slopes of Shui-dar and Vez Deh, which
are the two most prominent peaks to the south. The
timber for building the new Infantry lines in Bannu
was cut in the Showal district.

An attempt has also been made to improve the horses
and donkeys of the country. A stallion and a donkey
are kept at Miranshah for serving the mares of the
neighbourhood.

The elevation of Miranshah above sea-level is 3,200
feet. The cold in winter is severe. In January I found
aU the brooks ice-bound until midday, and a large fire
in one's room was a necessity at night. Amongst other
curious objects in the Fort are some iron ' alarm drums.

164 PATHAN BORDEELAND.

which now fulfil more peaceful duty as flower-
pots.

Perhaps the 'most interesting excursion from Miran-
shah is that to the outpost of Tutnarai. The mountains
about Upper Dawar are rather more imposing than those
of the lower portions of the valley. The country is besides
a little better wooded with mulberry and willow. Below
Boia we splashed through the waters of the Tochi river.
A strong fort occupies the far bank, and near it a small
mill is worked by the stream. There are important springs
in the vicinity, in which I saw quantities of watercress.

At Muhammed Khel I found some ponies and an
escort, waiting to conduct me to Tutnarai. The main
road can hardly be called safe. A tonga driver and syce
were captured on the 15th March 1909, and were only
restored after a month. Major Graves was wounded in
May of '09 while driving from Miranshah to Bannu. It
was only a few weeks previous to my visit that the tonga
was held up by a couple of Madda Khel Waziris. They
murdered the driver, looted the tonga, and only> spared
a Waziri boy, who was a Naik ia the Militia. This lad
was one of the members of my escort to Tutnarai. We
immediately left the road and struck up a level nullah
bed, leading towards the mountains to the south. Gradu-
ally the ravine becomes a well-defined defile, with high
containing walls, and an easy grit bed, up which we could
gallop at intervals.

Tutnarai occupies a saddle, or pass, between two
hills which are themselves each crowned with a small

TOCHI. 165

post. The Fort was built here to prevent Mahsud raiders
from making forays into Upper Dawar, along this easy
route. There is a pond below Tutnarai, formed by an
artificial dam. A stream escapes over it, runs down the
defile a little way, and then mysteriously disappears under
ground. The Afridi Subadar in charge of the post, treated
me to the usual hospitality of sweet tea, eggs and fruit,
and then supplied me with a few men to take me up to
the highest of the flanking towers. The climb is a stifE
one of five hundred feet, but is rewarded by a glorious
panoramic view over Tochi. To the north, rising majesti-
cally above the uplands of Khost, tower the dazzling
snows of the mighty Safed Koh. I suppose that it would
not be possible to obtain anywhere a better view of those
white walls of Afghanistan than from Tutnarai.

To the west, the spurs of the ridge on which we
stood fell to the broad, barren plain of Datta Khel. That
post lay out in the open, and a little white dot near it
marked the graves of the victims of the Maizar affair
of '97. Maizar itself was visible in the distance,
situated between two low ridges ; and close by was
Sheranni, a village which also played an important part
in the Maizar incident. To the south of us Shui-dar,
and a mass of other mountains, some of which were
already capped with snow, hid the view into Mahsud
Waziristan.

The Mahsuds in Tochi do not bear the evil reputation
that they have in Dera Ismail Khan. They are caught
young for the Militia, and have proved themselves not

166 PATHAN BOEDEELAND.

only men of pleasant manners, but of steady, and even
reliable, character.

The dress of the Waziris is most distinctive. Their
shirt, or kurta, is quite short, and reaches to only just
below the hips. It is fully pleated, and the neck, back,
and upper part of the sleeves are usually prettily embroi-
dered with scarlet thread. The pyjamas are exceedingly
loose ; and maroon-coloured pugrees are much affected.
They wear their black hair about four inches long, and
brush it^in a curl around the neck and ears. The Waziris
are not so torn by internal feuds as most of the other
trans-frontier races. To the poor of their own community,
they are said to be charitable, and they do not offer
violence to the wives and children of their personal foes.
Their barbarity to all strangers, however, is such that
every Pathan Sepoy ia the Indian Army longs for nothing
60 keenly as a Waziri War. " Of the Waziri," says
Edwards, "it is Kterally true that his hand is against
every man, and every man's hand against him."

CHAPTER XII.
Shahbash Ilam Din.

Haved — A^ mixed population — Water Supplies — Harvest — Pathan
legends of the Stars — A harvest quarrel — Superstitions regarding
a certain grass-hopper — Madat-i-Fakir , Ziarat — Destruction of
corpses.

This is a tale told me^one night at Haved by a
Bannuchi villager : —

"It is tlie cutting of crops wMch causes half the
trouble in our part^of the world. Every one is so exacting
and quarrelsome over his water rights, that hardly a
summer goes by without some one getting hurt. But it
is a glad time too. Even as a child I loved the harvest,
and now that I am a man and toil from dawn to sunset
under the hot May sun, I^^enjoy the season more than
ever. The harvest I am speaking of now was for us a
particularly fortunate one. We had several times early
in the year turned streams on to our fields in Haved,
instead of letting them flow on into Landidak village as
they should have done, and although the quarrel which
arose between ourselves and the Landidak people resulted
in our being fined in the Bannu court, the affair had
nevertheless been profitable to us.

" There is little good feeling amongst the neighbours
of any Pathan country-side, but around Haved there is

168 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

even less than usual, because in almost every village
there is a distinct and separate community. The land
has been distributed in past years to all sorts of tribes.
We in Haved are Bannuchis. In Multani they are Mar-
wats, and in Landidak they are Mahsuds. What could
have induced the Sahibs ever to have given land and
water to these Shabia Khels who have always been their
enemies it is hard to say. In the old days we used to
shoot a Mahsud on sight, and so much do we distrust
them, that we have a saying about them that they would
kill you for the sake of your pugree."

" Well, thanks to the extra supply of water, our crops
were good, and we engaged many men to help us reap
them. We even employed a number of nomads, who had
pitched their camp of blanket tents near us. On such
occasions, when many of us work together in one field,
we hire mirasis* to play their dhols and surnais'f to
encourage the reapers, and every now and then we shout
and dance and then resume our toil. Our fields lie near
those of Landidak, and the Landidak people took great
ofEence at our noisy proceedings. Their Malik tried to
restrain them, but headed by an influential man called
Ham Din, they sent us insulting messages and told us to
stop our drums. At this we laughed, and beat the dhols
louder than ever, but that night we left sentries in the
fields to guard the crops, for these dogs of Waziris, even
when tamed by living in the Sirkar's territory, are not

* Musicians.

t Diums and pipes.

SHAHBASH ILAM DIN. 169

to be trusted. In tlie evening we returned home, and
at dusk tarried to pray at the Musjid beneath the peepul
tree. They have made a mud platform before the shrine,
and there is a pool of water for ablutions.

" After the evening meal we gathered in the village
hujra, or guest house, and sat talking and smoking late
into the night, for we knew that there was little work
left in the fields for the morrow. The married men went
off one by one to their houses, but we bachelors always
sleep in the hujra. We talked long of the stars which
shone so brilliantly above us, and some one told the
story of Lila and Majrum (Venus and Jupiter) and of
how the two lovers meet once a year. And another told
of the Horse's Eoad (the Milky Way), and of Kui (Carona)
which is so called because it looks like the mouth of a
well, and of Cfiarpoi, the bed, which is the name we give
to the Great Bear. Near the Charpoi there is an old
woman, and a stick and a jackal. And we discussed the
great fiery star with a long tail, which had of late appeared
in the heavens before the dawn.* Some one said he had
heard the Mullah remark that it foretold a war or a famine
or the death of a great king. He is a wise man, our Mullah,
for the next time I went to Bannu every one was talking
of how the great King of the Sirkar had died.| Next
morning we made a gay and joyful party and started late
to cut the remainder of the crop. The mirasis led the

* Halley's Comet,
t King Edward VII.

170 PATHAN BORDEELAND.

way and we danced and sung and flourished our swords.
My father and several others signed papers at the Thana
that we would behave well, and we were then given per-
mission to fire our rifles into the air, which is a thing
which pleases us a great deal.

" The Landidak people, headed by Ham Din, met us
near their village. They appeared more angry than ever
at our festival, which they thought was due to the successful
use we had made of their water cuts. They ordered us
not to use the road which passed near their village. And
at this our men became angry too. The music stopped.
The procession came to a standstill, and discussions and
recriminations followed. At last we warned the Landidak
people to stand aside and allow us to pass. Upon this
Ham Din, who was the moving spirit against us, said he
would shoot if we advanced. So many lies have since
been told in the courts that I hardly know who fired
first,* but after the first shot many more followed, and
five of our men were killed and one of the Mahsuds was
badly wounded. We used the rifles lately distributed to
us by the Sirkar for our protection, and it mortified us
exceedingly when afterwards we had to pay a rupee for
each bullet expended. The Mahsuds had, of course, been
given no Sirkari rifles, but they had many of their own.
When we saw so many men dead on the ground, a panic
seized us, for we Bannuchis greatly dread the Mahsuds
in fight, though we can always get the better of them in

* This fight occurred between two villages near Naurang, Bann
District, in May 1910.

SHAHBASH ILAM DIN. 171

any court of law. So we fled across the fields back to
Haved. Luckily there was a shrine by the way, which
is sacred as a local sanctuary, and there we threw down
our bundles, knowing that they would be quite safe within
the enclosure of the shrine. Even the Landidak people
would never violate the sacredness of our sanctuary.

" Now it happened that the Ishtant Sahib,* who is
called Laram Sahib, arrived in Haved that afternoon, and
as we could not agree amongst ourselves what to do, and
as the Jemadar of the post had been away all day, we
went to the Sahib. He quickly ordered the eight Border
Militia sepoys to get ready and rode over with them
to Landidak. Most of us had recovered from our fright,
so we followed him too. At Landidak the Malik came
out to Laram Sahib. He had collected our dead and
protested that Ham Din was alone responsible for what
had occurred. He told us that Ham Din and six whole
families who had been dissatisfied over the legal decision
about the water had left the village half an hour before
with all their property.f Ham Din, the Malik said, was
in a dangerous mood. He was sure to come back sooner
or later to raid, for after this affair the Sirkar's territory
was of course no longer open to him. Then Laram Sahib
followed up Ham Din, and overtook him two miles out
on the waste land which extends to the foot of the moun-
tains of Waziristan and Ghabaristan. Ham Din and his

1910.

* Assistant Political Officer.

t An evacuation sucli as this took place at Jani Khel in April

172 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

^arty were greatly impeded with their flocks and their
•families, for their flight, as the Malik had truly assured
lis, was unpremeditated.

" Then Laram Sahib rode up to Ham Din and told
tim to stop and speak with him. So Ham Din, trusting
the Ishtant Sahib, waited. He was a fine-looking fellow of
twenty-four or twenty-five summers. He possessed
powerful limbs, and square shoulders. His skin was very
•clear and white, and he had blue eyes, which even our
Tivomen of Haved admired. Moreover he was careful of
Tiis appearance. His black hair was well oiled and combed,
and he wore round his throat a necklace of beads which
had been picked up from the mounds of Akra, which are
■not far from Landidak. He wore a short and fully pleated
shirt, which reached only to his hips, after the Waziri
fashion, and the neck and sleeves were richly embroidered.
On his head he had a red pugree ; and little black and
green tassels ornamented his sandals.

" Laram Sahib at once ordered him to surrender, but
to this Ham Din would not agree, so he rode back and
Tejoined his own people. Then the Militia sepoys opened
fire. But the Mahsuds, to save their animals and women,
xan back upon us and drove the Militia before them.
Then Laram Sahib himself took a rifle and stood his
■ground and shot three of Ham Din's men, and remained
fihooting till the sepoys took heart and rejoined him.

" By that time it was nearly dark, and Ham Din
.and most of his people escaped under cover of night. We
caught three, who were hanged by the judge sahib when

SHAHBASH ILAM DIN. 173^

he came to Bannu three months later. Ham Din was-
the last to continue firing, and before he went he called
out ' Laram Sahib ! Oh ! Laram Sahib, shahbash, you are
a good fighter. Won't you say " shahbash " to Ham Din.!
But the Sahib made no reply.'*

" That same night, when no one was about, my
father sent me towards Landidak on a mission of great
importance. He gave me a grass-hopper which he had
bought that day for twenty-five rupees from a wandering
Swati falcir. He told me to place the grass-hopper in my
rifle and fire it in the direction of Landidak : but he desired
me to go up so close to the village that the noise of the
explosion would be heard by all the inhabitants. It is
well known that if any wounded man hears the noise of
the rifle fired in such a way, or if he even hears the ping
of the bullet, his wounds from that moment begin to
fester, and he dies. So I went close up to Landidak,
stuffed the grass-hopper up the barrel, put a cartridge in
behind it, and fired. We heard two days later that the
man we had wounded had died. These grass-hoppers are
infallible, provided the wounded man hears the noise.
The Afridis have the greatest faith in them and frequently
employ them in their blood-feuds, and my father was
lucky to buy one so cheap.

" Then followed a tedious attendance in the Bannu
courts again, and very little good came of it all. The

* The story of Laram Sahib and Dam Din was told mo by the-
jjalik of Jani Khel, and is, I believe, true. I never discovered who
< Laram Sahib ' could have been.

174 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

Landidak people told a mass of lies, and we Bannuchis,
of course, only spoke truth. We had to go several times
to Bannu which was a great inconvenience because we
had our crops to thresh.

" It was many months after all this that Ham Din
suddenly paid us a visit. He came at dusk one evening
after we had prayed, and were eating the evening meal.
His visit was short, but he left the bazaar a wreck, and
carried away with him a Hindu, and a runner from the
Militia post called Dilawar, who, by the way, should by
rights have been back in the post before dark. The
Militia sepoys chased the raiders a little way, and next
morning the Hindu, who was much too fat to run any
distance, was found murdered near Madat-i-Pakir Ziarat,
which is a shrine out on the waste two miles across the
Tochi river. Dilawar was carried off into the hills, but
because he was a very poor Mussulman, Ham Din fixed
his ransom at only one hundred rupees, two English knives
and two china cups and saucers.* Of course, the Sirkar
has learnt its lesson by now, and absolutely declines to
pay ransoms, but for some inexplicable reason, which we
have never been able to understand, Laram Sahib sent
Ham Din six times the number of cups and saucers he had
asked for. Shortly after, Dilawar escaped, and came
back to us. It now began to be known that Ham Din
was frequenting the Madat-i-Fakir Ziarat, and people said
he meant to loot Bannu itself. But late one night Laram

* This ransom was demanded by Khostwals who captured the
chotukidar of the Munsif 's Court, Bannu. It was not paid.

SHAHBASH ILAM DIN. 175

Sahib with twelve sowars* suddenly arrived in Haved.
It was whispered that he had information of Ham Din's
whereabouts, and one of the sowars told my father that
the Sahib had been sent some message by the chowkidar
who is posted in Landidak to see that no trans-frontier
Mahsuds come into that village. Anyway Laram Sahib
and his sowars moved on before dawn, and a dozen of us
went with them. We surrounded Madat-i-Fakir, and as
it began to grow light we moved closer to the tomb from
all directions. Ham Din was there sure enough. A
severe fight followed, in which several of our men were
hit, and two died afterwards. Ham Din was shot four
times before he was killed. As soon as he was dead his
gang lost heart and surrendered. Some one ran to Ham
Din's body and spurned it with his foot ; but Laram Sahib
went up to it and patted it on the shoulder and said,
' Shahbash Ham Din ; shahhash ! shahhash ! ' Then we
remembered what ' Ham Din had cried out to the Sahib
long ago, at the time of his flight.

" Then the Sahib told us to take the body back to its
own village of Landidak for burial. But as soon as he was
gone we collected wood and burned the pig of a Mahsud,
for that has always been our custom. They say that the
Powindahs, when they catch a live Mahsud, lay him out,
cut ofE his head with one blow and quickly place it on a hot
iron plate. The features jibber and twitch for quite a
long time in a way that is very diverting. Next day,

* Mounted men.

176 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

of course, we accused the Landidak people of having
stolen the body. But Laram Sahib, when he heard of it,
was very angry, and believed the report that we had
destroyed Ham Din's corpse. He fined us, but we have
appealed against this gross injustice."

CHAPTER XIII.
Sheikh Budin.

Sheikh Budin — Marwat Couutry — ^Fezu — Water — Paniala — Reser-
voirs — Dante's Inferno — Game — ^A Hoodlesa Cobra — Superstitions
regarding Trees — Olives — Dust-storms — Climate — ^The Shrine o£ a
Saint — High Places.

Now the journey was past.

They had landed at last

With their boxes, portmanteaus and bags ;

But at first sight the crew

Were not pleased with the view.

Which consisted of chasms and crags.

These lines fittingly describe my sensations as I
scrambled up the last bit of stony road to Sheikh Budin ,
and looked down with severe disapproval upon the desola-
tion of Dante's Inferno. Sheikh Budin is the Hill Station
for the Derajat. It lies about half-way between Bannu and
Dera Ismail Khan, at the end of a spur thrown"rout by the
Indus hills towards the mountain system of Waziristan.
It is desert nearly all the way from Dera Ismail Ehan
to Pezu. The sand is with difficulty kept from over-
flowing across the road. Nor is the fifty-one-mile drive
from Bannu, over the dried-up Marwat country, any more
attractive. You cross the hills through deep defiles, which
fling back the summer heat upon you. One side of the
hills, being composed of hard, black sandstone, slopes up
gently, only to fall to the next valley in precipices, where

E, PB 12

178 PATHAN BOEDEKLAND.

soft clays are exposed to the surface. Above these ravines
and nullahs rises the main mass of Sheikh Budin. People
have died of heat at Pezu before now, and it is question-
able whether the subsequent delights of Sheikh Budm
ever make amends for the burning hours one is forced
to spend in Pezu. It is a fourteen-mile climb up a rough
zig-zagging path to the top of the hill. Sheikh Budin
has an elevation of 4,560 feet, and is, therefore, about the
same height as Cherat. It is rather like Cherat in some
ways. You suffer the same sinking of heart, when you
first look down upon it, that is experienced upon reaching
Cherat.

Even in the best years. Sheikh Budin is threatened
with drought. There is not a drop of water on the hill,
unless a little happens to have collected in some tanks.
But they usually run dry. Water is carried fourteen
miles from Pezu at the foot of the hill, and the wretched
mules which bring it up in the afternoon to Sheikh Budin
cannot get a drink until they return next morning to the
plain. Europeans can afford to take a bath, but master's
horse and master's cow have to drink it afterwards, so
master does not make it too soapy. The servants never
get aTtub at all imless they can make surreptitious use
of the bath water, before the cow gets it. Thirsty crows
make desperate efforts to dislodge the covers of the water

I ghurras. A jar of water costs two annas, which is why
( somejpeople take so little of it with their whiskey. The

^j Pezu water is supplied by springs, and is excellent. There
is, however, a slightly sulphurous spring at Paniala, and

SHEIKH BUDIN. 179

the natives prefer this as it is only nine miles ofE, instead
of fourteen. The word, Paniala, means " the place of
water."

When such a rare thing occurs as a good year of rain
a great deal of water can be stored in the tanks, which
are 20 feet deep. They are four in number, and by a
clever system of drains are supplied by the drainage
of all the surrounding hills, including the drainage from
the reverse slopes. Once, and not so very long ago either,
there was a fine spring at the very summit of Sheikh
Budin. In an evil hour the P. W. D. submitted estimates
concerning it. They would blast the rock, and make a
well. They did so, but blasted all the water out of the
spring ; so that what few drops now flow hardly suffice
to nourish an imhappy bunch of maiden-hair. They say
there is a connection between this spring and the one at
Pezu. If the P. W. D. could be turned on to Pezu too,
they could quickly benefit humanity by rendering Sheikh
Budin altogether iminhabitable.

Sheikh Budin lies in a cup on the summit of the hill.
The houses, though unpretentious outside, are wonderfully
airy and comfortable within. From the verandahs of
some, the hills fall away hundreds of feet. It is supposed
to be a purely civil station, but the military, who are
there on sufEerance, really make it. The glittering Staffs
of the Baimu and D. I. K. Brigades reside there in the
summer, and write circulars exhorting the fever-laden and
heat-distracted to further labour. Being situated on the
exact top of the hill, half of Sheikh Budin belongs to

180 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

Bannu, and half to D. I. K., a scheme which involves
several subtle conveniences. A circular road makes a
figure of eight round the two peaks. The view over the
plain after rain is noble. The Takht-i-Suliman can easily
be seen rising from the uplands of Baluchistan. . Pirgul
and Shui-dar tower above the rest of Waziristan, and on
a fine day you can even see the signal hill above Miranshah
in Tochi. Sand deserts and palm groves stretch eastwards
to where the waters of the Indus flash in the sunshine.
In nearly the same direction, too, you look down upon a
wonderful tangle of ravines and broken hills, split and
twisted and riven by some awful convulsion of Nature.
This they call Dante's Inferno. There is another Dante's
Inferno near the tunnel on the Bannu-Kohat road, but
this one at Sheikh Budin is the nethermost Hell of all.
Nothing lives there. There is no water. No shrubs grow.
Even the birds shun it, as if they feared gasses would
rise and kill them. It is ugly, and dry, and utterly
damned.

There are marhkor on the Indus hills, but they are
shy, and their heads are too smaU to seriously attract
sportsmen. Still, they are shot occasionally, and may be
regarded as a distinct and smaller species of the Himalayan
marhkor. A few foxes live round about, and jackals
come quite close up to the houses every night. The only
other creatures deserving notice are the reptiles, which
are both numerous and deadly. The viper family is
represented by the Krait (Echis carinata). Cobras are
abundant. The most interesting is Naia tripandians

SHEIKH BUDIN. 181

a rare, hoodless species. It has no spectacles and no
hood, but is, in all other respects, a true cobra, and is
very deadly. Specimens have been sent to the Natural
History Society in Bombay, where it has been identified
with another similar one sent from Chitral. The bite of
a small grey lizzard, with black spots, is said by the natives
to be fatal. Cases of death from it are reported from
Paniala. The Bombay Natural History Society declareij
it harmless. In Pushtu it is called Mar Chiraka and in
Punjabi Kari. Several harmless snakes are also found.
The light-coloured scorpion is not very poisonous.

Sheikh Budin seems to have been founded in 1852.
John Nicholson stayed there in 1856. Before Murree and
Kashmir were as accessible as they are now, it was a
popular hill resort for Derajat. In those days a whole
regiment was stationed there, and the terraces on which
its tents were pitched still exist. A cement skating rink
has now fallen into disrepair. One cannot admire the old
frontier institutions, which existed almost unamended in
Bannu and Kohat to within recent years. They were
not generous institutions, and it is lucky all India was
not run on the same strictly commercial lines. However,
Sheikh Budin actually possesses a racquet court, tennis
court, library, residential club, and even a church and a
cemetery, which do not appear to be encumbered by any
one's prehistoric money claim. No doubt the owners
were expensively bought out years ago. The church is a
quaint little building, very much like those in Bannu and
Montgomery.

182 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

Somehow or other, the absence of trees always pro-
vokes one to speak sympathetically of the few unhappy
shrubs which do exist. At first sight you would imagine
that the flora of Sheikh Budin was not worth worrying
about except for boiling bath water. But if you look
carefully — very carefully — ^you will find a hardy palosa
struggling bravely against wind and drought. The mazarai>
or dwarf palm, so rare in the Bannu district, but usually so
typical of the frontier, grows here freely. It is used for
matting. The date-palms down at Paniala, which grow
in fine groves, are noted all up and down the country for
the flavour of their fruit. Finely woven baskets are made
from the leaves. The industry is now unfortunately
decaying, and only a few old women are employed in it.
There are wild olives on the stony ridges, but their fruit
never ripens. One olive, now growing up well, was brought
from the Mount of Olives. A single vine produces good
grapes, and there are several mulberry trees, eucalyptus
and blue gum, all more or less tortured into agonized
attitudes by the wind.

Two of the olive trees possess supernatural powers.

It is the custom to wish under one of them, and to register

the wish by hammering in a nail. The trunk is now

thickly studded with nails of all sizes, from tin tacks and

broad-headed chuppli nails, to large iron tent pegs. A

Mullah is sometimes in residence under the second holy

I tree. Here, to earn the fulfilment of your wish, you must

1 hold your nose, and run seven times round the tree without

'-^ breathing. This is no easy feat, as there are big rocks

SHEIKH BUDIN. 183

and low boughs to avoid, and the pilgrim has to give up
time after time. The performance is well worth watching
through a pair of good field glasses. It is a peculiarity
of these trees that their benefits are not limited to
Mussulmans. There is nothing in the world to prevent the
reader from driving in his nail, or leaping round the
tree.

The climate of Sheikh Budin is not very good. A
thermometer in a northern verandah registers a hundred
degrees in summer. But the nights are cool, and a fresh
breeze blows continually from the south-east. A storm
in the north-west over Bannu usually means rain for
Sheikh Budin too. Dust-storms are common, which
envelop the place in total darkness for a few minutes.
People suffer from fits of sickness which have not yet
been accoimted for. There are sudden changes of tem-
perature which are apt to lead to chills. But when all
this is admitted, it is really delightful to come up from
the overwhelming heat of Derajat, and pull a couple of
blankets over yourself at night. That is real luxury.
Moreover, though the climate is bad, the oldest native
inhabitant is believed to have endured it for over a hundred
years — ^poor devil. There are 25 graves in the little
cemetery down the hhud. Of these only 12 are occupied
by adults. The remaining thirteen graves are those of
children, of whom all but one died before reaching the
age of one year. The one exception died when thirteen
months old. It would therefore appear that Sheikh
Budin does not exactly suit children. Many of tb-a deaths

184 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

occurred in one year, which was afterwards spoken of as
"Babies' Year."

Old man Sheikh Ba-u-din, to whose residence this
hilltop owes its sanctity, was a Kashmiri, and a Syed, or
descendant of the Prophet. His shrine is perched on the
highest peak, and is tended by a holy man who receives
a small Government allowance for stopping. Other-
wise no native servant would ever be induced to live
there. Even the barber, the butcher and other necessary,
but unwilling, functionaries, have to be subsidized. The
shrine reminds one forcibly of the high places of Israel,
where " The King went to Gideon to sacrifice there, for
that was a great high place."

CHAPTER XIV.

Deeajat and Waziristan.

Dera Ismail Khan — Gundapurs — ^Powindahs — The Indus — Derajat —
Tonk the Unspeakable — A Mountain^^Spate — Conclusion.

Dera Ismail Khan is the most important city of
Derajat, and is the chief centre of trade between the Punjab
and Southern Afghanistan. It is enclosed within high
walls, and has two or three busy bazaars, which present
a lively scene when the Powindah caravans are passing
through. The shops which line the streets are backed
with four-storied brick houses, which are adorned with
picturesque wooden balconies. Braziers, cloth merchants,
sweet sellers, fruiterers, and leather workers ply their crafts,
and hakims, with their rows of medicine bottles, do a fine
trade with unsuspectiag Powindahs. Some of these doctors
specialise in eye diseases, and also sell surma and other
cosmetics. Weather-beaten, black-locked Powindahs,
magnificent specimens of humanity, lounge about the
streets enjoying the first civilization of India. There are
many Hindus too, and a few Marwats. In the surrounding
district there is a confusing variety of races, whose presence
is difficult to account for. There are whole communities
of Baluchis, who must have settled here many centuries

186 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

ago, and who are now entirely cut off from tiie Baluch
tribes of Baluchistan. With them, often sharing the same
villages, are Jats. In Kulachi, eighteen miles distant, live
the Gundapurs, celebrated in days gone by for their
fighting qualities. These Gundapurs, by the way, em-
ployed the wesh or " exchange of land " system until
1812. The Marwats of the Bannu district retained the
wesh until still later, and it only finally disappeared
after the first proper revenue settlement. There are
besides in many of the villages Khatris, and such obscure
people as Vail, Khokar and Dawe, of whom I was unable
to gather any information.

The Powindahs, who are the most interesting people
met with in Derajat, are worthy of further notice. They
are a great race of militant merchants, who for centuries
have fought their way, with their families and caravans,
through the Mahsud Moimtains. They bring down on their
camels the grain and fruit of Cabul and Ghazni, which
they exchange for cloth goods destined for Bokhara and
Samarkand. On their arrival in British territory they
leave their families and the sick camels in large encamp-
ments in the neighbourhood of Tohk. They themselves
push on to the furthest corners of India, returning again
at the close of winter, preparatory to fighting their
way home again. They are as uncouth and highly scented
as their own camels, but are cheery fellows, always ready
with a smile and a passing salutation.

Dera Ismail Khan as a station is not without its
good points. Lying though it does in a desert, it is itself

DERAJAT AND WAZIRISTAN. 18T

buried in a mass of siris, safeda, tamarix, shisham,
peepul and date-palm. These latter trees are very
abundant, and add greatly to the picturesqueness of the
cantonment.

In summer the broad flood of the Indus does much
to isolate Dera Ismail, and the crossing of the river not
infrequently occupies a whole day. I shall never forget
crossing on my return from the Waziristan Expedition of
1917. The whole country was under water for miles and
miles. The ferry steamer set us down in what appeared
to be an inland sea, and we waded for nearly a whole
day. The water was knee-deep always, and often
breast-deep. I was never more glad in my life to reach
dry ground and a first class railway carriage at Darya
Khan, just as dusk was falling. In winter, however, the
thirteen-mile drive in the sandy bed, along a rush-strewn,
road, and over innumerable crazy boat-bridges to Darya
Khan, is an easy matter. Darya Khan is a disconsolate
little village amongst the sand-hills.

Derajat is a miserable district. Around Dera Ismail
Khan scarcely one per cent, of the land is under cultivation.
Little patches of mustard show up green here and there,
and in summer, if the rainfall is sufficient, a certain amoimt
of johwar and bajara is grown. For the rest, the dreary
sand-blown desert produces nothing better than tantalizing
mirage lakes.

Derajat was, in about 1469, governed by Hussain
Khan, who divided out the district to three subordinates.

188 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

Ismail Khan and Fatteh Khan (the sons of Sohrab, a
Baluch from Makram), and Ghazi Khan. Each founded
a city and named it after himself, and a strange fate has
ioUowed the towns of the Dera. Dera Ismail Khan was
washed away by the Indus in 1825, when its inhabitants
moved to the present site. Dera Fatteh Khan has twice
iallen into the river, and Dera Ghazi Khan is similarly
threatened.

Beyond Dera Ismail Khan lies Tonk, which for general
beastliness is without equal — ^the limit — the last
word !

Before Tonk lies Waziristan, but Waziristan does not
€ome within the scope of this book. I will, however,
conclude with an experience of the Waziri Expedition of,
1917 which has left a deep impression on my mind. The
narrow valleys of the frontier, and particularly of Waziris-
tan, are subject to sudden ' spates,' or floods, of which
no words can give an adequate conception. In the case
I am now describing we had had a long spell of intense
Tieat, It was June, and the columns moved up the beds
of absolutely dry nullahs. These nullahs were, in fact,
the only roads. Heavy rain must have fallen somewhere
in the hiUs, though we were quite ignorant of it when we
set out that morning to escort a convoy.

DERAJAT AND WAZIEISTAN. 189

All of a sudden the Advance Guard came running
back upon us, and almost immediately a wave of water
tore down the ravine. I never saw anything so terrifyihg
in my life. There was no gradual rise of water, but it
advanced like a wall ten feet high, filling the ravine com-
pletely. It travelled at ten miles an hour which was
twice as fast as we could run. Great boulders were driven
before it, and we could feel the shock of their progress as
they bumped slowly along.

Most of us found safety on the hill slopes, but where
the nullah walls were steep escape was impossible. Several
men were drowned, including five who sought refuge in a
little cave : and, of course, many mules and camels were
lost. Two hours later the flood had abated and the
boulders lay drjring in the hot sun.

These pages are a picture of the border as it was
before great changes were brought about by the late War.
In essential features the North- West Frontier will always
be what it always has been. Heat, flies, the absence of
roads, the unreliability of the tribesmen, are factors which
will endure. But science has modified conditions. We
have yet to learn the exact effects of bombs, aeroplanes
and motor transport. Weapons have changed. But the

190 PATHAN BORDERLAND,

people of our Pathan Borderland will remain — at least in
our time — what they always have been — ^brave and
debonair, fickle and inflammable — men with many virtues
and many faults.

THE END

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_222

APPENDIX B.

Table showing the approximate strength of Border Military
Police, Militias and Levy Corps along the North-West
Frontier on 1st January, 1908.

Corps.
Gliitral Scouts
Chitral Levies
Dir Levies
Swat Levies
Bhittani Levies

Head-Quarters.

Chitral

Chitral

Dir

Malakand

Jandola

Peshawar Border Military Peshawar

Police.
Kl^yber Rifles . . . . Lundi Kotal

2Dd Bn., Kohat Border Mili- Kohat

tary Police.
1st Bn., Border Military Police Hangu

(Samana Rifles).
Kurram Militia . . . . Parachinar

N. Waziristan Militia . . Miranshah

S. Waziristan Militia . . Wana

Hazara Border Military Police Tochi
Bannu Border Military Police Bannu
D. I. K. Border Military Police Tonk

Total

990
110
390
200
74
580

1,691
550

480

1,370

1,270

1,500

250

410

580

0,445*

* Of these only about 1,160 are not Pathansi

192 PATHAN BORDE ELAND.

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

A Burmese Enchantment. — " One of the most attractive
features of Captain Enriquez's book on Burma is the
genuine pleasure he takes in the country and its
people. Books have been written of Burma which
have struck the note of romantic attractiveness, but
which leave a suspicion that romance was introduced
more as a paying proposition than as a real quality
of the country. There is no question of that with a
book by Captain Enriquez. He has lived in the
country for many years, and has made a first-hand
study of what he writes.

" It is impossible for the reader not to be convinced that
the author has found a deep attraction in Burma, a
conviction which is sustained by the matter of fact
and humorous way in which most of the descriptions

are given His powers of concise description

are considerable Graphic touches are

numerous The author has picked up many

quaint and interesting items of information. His
sympathy extends to the wild life of nature, and
he has some lively and engaging passages on this

topic The illustrations are photographs taken

by himself, and are well chosen.

" To many readers, especially those who know Burma well
already, the most interesting part of the book will be
the account of the north-eastern frontier, the political

PATHAN BORDERLAND. 193

situation there, the people, and the life of the Military
Police in these outposts of empire. His description is
the best yet published, in the sense of being the most
easily accessible, the most up-to-date, and the most
generally informative." — Rangoon Gazette.
Thaoker, Spink & Co., Calcutta. Price, Rs. 6.

A Burmese Loneliness. — " Captain Enriquez's new book
on Burma represents the fruit of his wide knowledge
of the land of the Pagoda and its peoples. His
almost native sympathy and insight at once stamps
' A Burmese Loneliness ' with the Fieldiug Hall mark
of super-excellence." — Rangoon Times.

" Born of solitude, the book bears several marks of ^that
' inward eye ' which is the bliss of solitude." — Rangoon
Gazette.

" The references to bird life are made the more interesting
by the author's way of relating the Burmese, Shan or
Chiaese legend about them and their cries. Almost
every bird has some story attached to it, and some
strongly resemble those in Ovid's Metamorphosis." —
Rangoon Gazette.

" Captain Enriquez in his new book combines the
versatility of a Shwey Yoe and the subtle charm of a
Fielding Hall." — Rangoon Times.

Thaokbb, Spink & Co., Caloutta. Price, Rs. 6.

Pagan. — " Full of interest and information for students
of Burmese and Buddhist archaeology, and for all

B, PB 13

194 PATHAN BORDERLAND.

who have fallen under the spell of this beautiful
Province. It is well illustrated." — Press Critique.
Hanthawaddy Press, Rangoon. Price, Rs. 2-8.

Colloquial Yunnanese. — Being a practical guide to the
Yiinnanese language as spoken on parts of the
Burmese frontier. There is at present no other book
on Yiinnanese in print. " Colloquial Yiinnanese "
teaches the language in a way that is easy and simple.

Thackek, Spink & Co., Simla. Price, Rs. 8.

The Realm of the Gods. — A tale of travel in Kulu,

Kashmir, Ladakh, and Baltistan.
•* There is natural spirit ia these pages, and grace of

form and charm of fancy." — Pioneer.
Illustrated, and with map. '

Thaoker, Spink & Co., Simla. Price, Rs. 6.

The Pathan Borderland. — " I can strongly recommend
this book to those who have an interest in this
strenuous section of the Frontier." — Pioneer.

With map.

Thaoker, Spink & Co., Simla. Price, Rs. 6.

^yy

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