The _Shilmanis_ look upon the trans-frontier Mohmands as their parent stock, but their origin is rather doubtful—it has been stated to be Turk or Indian, and the latter seems the more probable. Their ancient home appears to have been in Shilman on the banks of the Kurram River, whence they migrated to the Tartara Mountain north of the Khyber, and to Hastnagar during the fifteenth century. At the end of the same century the Yusafzais drove the Hastnagar section into Swat, since which time they have sought the protection of the Mohmands, who had also taken possession of the country north of the Kabul River, and thus have become affiliated with them. The tract of country occupied by the Shilmanis is to the north of the Loargai plain and between it and the Kabul River, being bounded on the east by the Dabbar Hill, and on the west by the Shilman Gakhe. It is divided into four portions: 1, the Kam Shilman Valley; 2, the Prang Darra Glen; 3, the Loi Shilman Valley; and 4, from Shinpokh to the mouth of the Kam Shilman Glen along the right bank of the Kabul River. The tribes bordering this tract of country are the Mullagoris on the east, the Shinwaris on the south, and the Mohmands on the west and north. About one-tenth of the Shilmani fighting men take service in the Khyber Rifles. CHAPTER X. MOHMANDS: OPERATIONS.[86] The British Government first came into contact with the Mohmands during the Afghan War of 1838–42, at which time one Saadat Khan was Chief of Lalpura. On the news of the approach of the British army, Turabaz Khan, his cousin and enemy, immediately started off to meet the army of the Indus at Jhelum. Saadat Khan thereupon espoused the cause of the Barakzais, and Turabaz Khan was installed as Khan of Lalpura by Colonel Wade, and seems to have done loyal service for Mackeson while we held Afghanistan. After the disasters at Kabul the whole country rose, and Turabaz Khan, at risk to himself, saved an English lady and her child from the Pesh-Bolak garrison, and took them down the river on a raft to Peshawar. The officers of the _Jazailchis_ stationed at Pesh-Bolak escaped over the Tartara hills, and Turabaz Khan himself took refuge in British territory. He returned with General Pollock’s force, but was ousted by Saadat Khan on the withdrawal of our troops. He subsequently made his peace with the Amir and received a _jaghir_, or grant of land, in Kama. During the early years of British rule in the Peshawar Valley, the Mohmands gave more trouble than almost any other tribe.