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
The Baizais inhabit the country on the left bank of the Swat River from
the borders of Kohistan as far as and including Thana; the division
contains three sub-divisions, and of these certain sections live beyond
the limits of the Swat Valley, in the Ghurban, Kana, Puran and Chakesar
Valleys, the drainage of which finds its way into the Indus. In addition
to the Baizai there are also the Sam, or lowland, Baizai, who occupy the
land from our border to the foot of the hills below the Morah Pass. The
villages in this territory formerly belonged to the Baizai maliks, and
were occupied by their tenants and servants, but have now become
independent.
The Ranizais occupy the left bank of the Swat River from the district of
the most southerly sub-division of the Baizais at Thana to the Utman
Khel boundary, which is about three miles above the junction of the Swat
with the Panjkora. To the north their territory extends to the river,
and includes the islands between the different channels, while the
southern boundary is formed by the watershed of the hills on that side.
The importance of the division lies mainly in their possession of the
Malakand and Shakot Passes; the Digar Pass, which is further to the
west, also leads into the Ranizai country, but the pass itself is partly
in the hands of the Utman Khels.
Formerly the whole of the country from the hills to the British border,
now held by the Sam Ranizais, belonged to the Ranizai division, as the
people known as Sam Ranizais, and who are now independent, were
originally servants and tenants of the Ranizais.
The Ranizais contain five sub-divisions, and their principal village is
Aladand, at the mouth of the Shakot Pass.
The Khadakzais are on the right bank of the Swat River, extending from
Abazai territory to the country of the Dusha Khel; the principal village
is Barangola.
The Abazais inhabit a small valley on the right bank of the Swat River
immediately below the Adinzai sub-division of the Khwazozais. Both the
Abazais and the Khadakzais are insignificant divisions of the Akozai
tribe, numbering between them no more than 750 fighting men, and within
recent years these divisions and the Adinzai sub-division of the
Khwazozai, which is stronger than the two combined, have been handed
over to the Khan of Dir. The importance of the Adinzai sub-division
consists in their possession of the village of Chakdara, where the river
is bridged, and which is on the main route from India to Bajaur and
Chitral. The Swat River runs here in six channels, covering about
three-quarters of a mile of ground; the village is on a bank 60 feet
high, and some 600 yards from the nearest branch of the river. An iron
girder bridge crosses the river three-quarters of a mile below the
village, and there is a fort on the right bank.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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