From the Black Mountain to Waziristan: Being an account of the border countries and the more turbulent of the tribes controlled by the north-west frontier province, and of our military relations with them in the pastWylly, H. C. (Harold Carmichael)
History
From the Black Mountain to Waziristan: Being an account of the border countries and the more turbulent of the tribes controlled by the north-west frontier province, and of our military relations with them in the past
_Amazais._—This people forms one of the two sub-divisions of the
Usmanzai division of Mandanr Yusafzais, and is sub-divided into the
Daulatzais and Ismailzais. The Amazai country is situated between that
of the Chamlawals and Hassanzais on the north and west, the Mada Khel
and Tinaolis on the east, and the Utmanzais, Gaduns, and Khudu Khel on
the south. Within British territory the Daulatzai occupy the Sudum
Valley, while the Ismailzai inhabit a strip of country in the Yusafzai
sub-division of the Peshawar district, south of the Karamar range and
east of the road from Mardan. The trans-frontier Amazais are divided
into the Saiyid Khel and Mobarak Khel, two sub-divisions which are
constantly at feud with one another. The Amazai country is divided into
two by a northern spur from the Mahaban Mountain; the villages lying to
the east of this spur, and between it and the Indus, belong to the
Saiyid Khel, and those to the west to both sub-divisions. The country is
narrow, rough, well watered and wooded. The strength of the
trans-frontier Amazais in fighting men is about 1500, and they have a
high reputation for courage, but while a number of the cis-frontier men
are enlisted, few come in for service from across the border.
The only occasion upon which we have come into direct conflict with the
Amazais was in the Ambela campaign of 1863.
_Bunerwals._—This clan inhabits the Buner Valley—an irregular oval—which
is bounded on the north-west by Swat, on the north-east by the Puran
Valley, on the south-east by the Mada Khel and Amazai territory, on the
south by the Chamla Valley, and on the south-west by Yusafzai. It is a
small mountain valley, and the Morah Hills and Ilam Range divide it from
Swat, the Sinawar Range from Yusafzai, the Guru Mountain from the Chamla
Valley, and the Duma Range from the Puran Valley. The Buner Valley is
drained by the Barandu, a perennial stream which joins the Indus above
Mahabara; the valley is about thirty miles in length. The term Bunerwals
includes the Iliaszai division, occupying the north-western portion of
the country, and the Malizais, who inhabit the south-eastern portion:
these two divisions are divided into seven sub-divisions. The hereditary
chiefs of the tribe are the Khans of Dagar and Bagra, but their
influence is nominal, and the different clans are entirely democratic.
Moreover, the Khan of Dagar does not belong to any of the Buner clans,
but his family is recognised as the leading or Khan Khel family. The
clan is neither so well armed nor so adept at hill fighting as other
trans-frontier tribes, but can turn out some 6800 fighting men. The few
who enlist with us—according to Enriquez just over 200—are well spoken
of. Their land is very fertile, and the Bunerwals are purely
agriculturists, the men of good physique, dark and swarthy, and
distinguishable by the dark blue clothes and pugarees which they wear.
[Sidenote: Bunerwals]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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