~Hangu~ contains in Upper and Lower Miranzai the most fertile land in the district, but the culturable area of the _tahsil_ is small and only one-tenth of it is under the plough. Perennial streams run through the Miranzai valleys, and the neighbouring hills support large flocks of sheep and goats. Kohat contains a number of salt quarries, the most important being at Bahadur Khel near the Bannu border. The Thal subdivision consisting of the Hangu _tahsil_ is in charge of an Assistant Commissioner who manages our political relations with transfrontier tribes living west of Fort Lockhart on the Samana Range. The Deputy Commissioner is in direct charge of the Pass Afridis and the Jowakis and Orakzais in the neighbourhood of Kohat. He and his Assistant between them look after our relations with 144,000 trans-border Pathans. The Samana Rifles, one of the useful irregular corps which keep the peace of the Borderland, have their headquarters at Hangu. [Illustration: Fig. 130.] [Illustration: Fig. 131.] [Sidenote: Area, 2611 sq. m. Cultd area, 1398 sq. m. Pop. 865,000 Land Rev Rs. 11,37,504 = L75,834.] ~Peshawar~ is a large basin encircled by hills. The gorge of the Indus separates it from Attock and Hazara. The basin is drained by the Kabul river, whose chief affluents in Peshawar are the Swat and the Bara. The district is divided into the five _tahsils_ of Peshawar, Charsadda, Naushahra, Mardan, and Swabi. The last two form the Mardan subdivision. Nearly 40 p.c. of the cultivation is protected by irrigation mainly from canals large and small. The most important are the Lower Swat, the Kabul River, and the Bara River, Canals. The irrigated area will soon be much increased by the opening of the Upper Swat Canal. The cold weather climate is on the whole pleasant, though too severe in December and January. The three months from August to October are a very unhealthy time. The soil except in the stony lands near the hills is a fertile loam. The cold weather rainfall is good, and the Spring harvest is by far the more important of the two. Wheat is the chief crop. Half of the people are Pathans, the rest are known generically as Hindkis. The principal Hindki tribe is that of the Awans. Besides managing his own people the Deputy Commissioner has to supervise our relations with 240,000 independent tribesmen across the border. The Assistant Commissioner at Mardan, where the Corps of Guides is stationed, is in charge of our dealings with the men of Buner and the Yusafzai border. The N.W. Railway runs past the city of Peshawar to Jamrud, and there is a branch line from Naushahra to Dargai at the foot of the Malakand Pass. [Sidenote: Area, 2858 sq. m. Cultd area, 673 sq. m. Pop. 603,028. Land Rev. Rs. 512,897 = L34,193.] [Illustration: Fig. 132.]