YUSAFZAIS AND GADUNS.[23]
The clansmen occupying the British border from the Black Mountain to the
Utman Khel territory belong, with the exception of the Gaduns, to the
important tribe of Yusafzai Pathans, of which the Hassanzais, Akazais
and Chagarzais, already described, are also branches.
[Sidenote: Arrival in Peshawar Valley]
The Yusafzais inhabit the division of that name in the Peshawar
district, as well as independent territory beyond the border. They are
the descendants of the original Gandhari, who in ancient days occupied
the Peshawar Valley, emigrating thence to the Helmand in the fifth
century, and becoming fused with the Afghans of Ghor. In the fifteenth
century, owing to pressure, the Yusafzais migrated with other tribes
northwards to Kabul, and from thence in the sixteenth century into the
Peshawar Valley, where they acquired the plain country north of the
Kabul River and west of Mardan. Meanwhile, the Mohmands of the Ghoria
Khel had followed the Yusafzais, and they in turn defeated the
Dilazaks—whom the Yusafzais had already dispossessed of their lands—and
forced them into the present Yusafzai plain, in the north-east corner of
the Peshawar Valley. The Yusafzais then, with the help of other tribes,
drove the Dilazaks across the Indus into Hazara. The Yusafzais, with the
Utman Khel and Tarkanris, now settled themselves in the Yusafzai plain,
and during the next few years these three tribes made themselves masters
of all the hill country along that border, from the Indus to the range
separating the Bajaur and Kunar Valleys. In a later division of the
country the Tarkanris took Bajaur; the Utman Khel the Swat Valley up to
the junction of that river with the Panjkhora; while the Yusafzais
occupied all the hills to the east as far as the Indus, including Lower
Swat, Buner, Chamla and the Peshawar Valley east of Hastnagar and north
of the Kabul River. At the present time the Yusafzais inhabit the
north-east of the Peshawar district, or the Yusafzai plain, Swat, Buner,
Panjkhora, and several strips of independent territory north and east of
the Peshawar Valley. They have also considerable settlements to the east
of the Indus as we have seen.
At the time of the final division of the country with the Tarkanris and
the Utman Khels, the Yusafzais were divided into two great branches, the
Mandanr and the Yusafzais, the whole race tracing its origin to Mandai,
who had two sons, Yusaf and Umar. From Yusaf sprang the Yusafzais, and
from a son of Umar called Mandan, the Mandanr took their name. On the
occupation of this tract of country, an equal division of both plain and
hill country was made between the Mandanr and the Yusafzais, but
quarrels arising, the Yusafzais gradually became owners of the hill
country, while the Mandanr were driven into the plains; it is thus
actually the Mandanr who now occupy the so-called Yusafzai plain in the
north-east of the Peshawar Valley, and who are generally known as
Yusafzais, while the real Yusafzais, who dwell in the hill country, are
usually called after the name of the territory they severally inhabit.
The Yusafzai is an agriculturist, generally a fine, well-limbed man, of
good physique and appearance, with a great deal of race-pride,
well-dressed and cheery, while his hospitality is proverbial. They have
an established and recognised gentry, and all blue-blooded Yusafzais
have a hereditary share in the land, their names appearing in the book
of hereditary land-owners kept by the village _patwari_. The Yusafzai
plain is very flat, and the soil, where properly irrigated, is very
fertile, but the chief interest of this district lies in the numerous
ruins of ancient Buddhist and Hindu cities, temples and inscriptions,
scattered broadcast about the plain and the adjoining hills.
The Yusafzais may conveniently be divided into Cis- and Trans-frontier
Yusafzais: under the former category come the
(1) Mandanr,
(2) Sam Baizais,
while the following are the clans of trans-frontier Yusafzais:
(1) Akozais,
(2) Amazais,
(3) Bunerwals,
(4) Chagarzais,
(5) Chamlawals,
(6) Isazais,
(7) Khudu Khel,
(8) Nasozais,
(9) Utmanzais.
[Sidenote: Geographical Position]
First in order of the independent tribes on the British border between
the Black Mountain and the Utman Khel territory, come the Mada Khel
division of the Isazais and the Amazais, adjoining the lands of our
feudatory the Nawab of Amb; to the south of the Amazais lie the
Utmanzais, to their west the Gaduns, and beyond them the Khudu Khel. To
the north of the Khudu Khel territory is the Chamla Valley, inhabited by
members of different clans, and separated from Buner by the Guru range
of mountains. Next come the Nurizai and Salarzai divisions of Buner,
which march with our border. Between Buner and the Utman Khel limits is
the district of Swat peopled by the Akozais, with the portion adjoining
British territory inhabited by the Baizai and Ranizai tribesmen of Swat.
Something can here fittingly be mentioned with regard to the position of
the Nawab of Amb on this border. His territory may be roughly described
as a square block in the north-west corner of the Hazara district,
separated on the west from the independent Pathan country by the Indus,
and having the Black Mountain and Agror to the north. The Tanawal chief
has also two or three villages beyond the Indus, and the largest of
these is Amb. The Nawab holds his cis-Indus territory as a perpetual
_jaghir_ from the British Government, while his trans-Indus villages are
independent. The existence of this little principality is, from its
situation, in many ways convenient.
_Cis-border Yusafzais. Mandanr._—These occupy the greater portion of the
Yusafzai plain in the north-eastern part of the Peshawar Valley, bounded
on the south by the Khattaks and the Kabul River, on the west by
Hastnagar and the Muhammadzais, and on the east and north by the Indus
River, and by the Gaduns and the independent Yusafzai tribes. The
district is divided into two sub-divisions (_tehsils_), Swabi and
Mardan. The Mandanr are divided into three divisions—the Usmanzai,
Utmanzai and Razar—of which the first named has its holdings in the
Mardan and the two latter in the Swabi tehsil. The family in each of the
three divisions, in which the Khan-ship is hereditary, is known as the
Khan Khel, and these families have a higher social standing than the
others.
A number of other Pathans live among the Mandanr, as do also many
persons of Indian race, some of them immigrants from the Punjab and
Kashmir, and some descendants of the original inhabitants of the
country. All these, however, speak Pushtu and greatly resemble Pathans
in appearance.
_Sam Baizai._—These are a portion of the Baizai division of the Akozai
Yusafzais, who formerly occupied the whole of the northern portion of
the Yusafzai plain to the foot of the hills below the Morah Pass. During
the sixteenth century they called in the Khattaks and Utman Khels to
assist them against the inroads of the Ranizais, and in return gave
their allies land in their country as tenants. In course of time the new
comers have practically ousted the Baizais, who now possess but few
villages of their own. In regard to numbers they are an insignificant
division.
_Trans-border Yusafzais. Akozais._—These, which form the largest clan of
trans-frontier Yusafzais, inhabit the whole of Swat proper, and will be
found described in greater detail in Chapter V.
[Sidenote: Amazais]
_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]
Although the Bunerwals have never been specially friendly with us, they
have proved themselves on the whole most satisfactory neighbours. Though
poor, they are not given to thieving; they discourage raiding into our
territory; and though they will give an asylum to outlaws from our side
of the border, they will not join with them in the commission of
outrages. Oliver says of them that “there are in many ways few finer
specimens of Pathans than the Bunerwals. Simple and temperate, they are
content with the plain wholesome food, the produce of their own cattle
and lands; courteous and hospitable to all who claim shelter, treachery
to a stranger seeking refuge among them being considered the deepest
reproach that could fall upon the clansmen, and such a case is almost
unknown. Upright in their dealings, with enemies as well as with
strangers, they have always been adverse to us, and though probably not
anxious to begin the war, they were among our most determined enemies
during the Ambela campaign.... Patriotic they certainly are, and in
their way, which is a pastoral and agricultural one, industrious, though
they hold all trade in the very lowest estimation; anything that savours
of the shop or of trading is anathema to a Bunerwal. Therefore they are
poor, but, for poor Pathans, have an exceptional regard for the law of
_meum_ and _tuum_. Their word, once given through the council of the
tribe, may, according to Warburton, be depended on with almost
certainty. Lastly, they are ‘distinguished for their ignorance,’ and
ignorance being the ‘mother of devotion,’ they are deeply religious;
greatly under the influence of the most bigoted of mullahs, saiyids, and
pirs, and the many varieties of the priestly class, which is probably
the most powerful and prosperous section of the community; while if
there is any section whose heritage ought to be one of woe it is this,
for it is from the priests most of the offences come throughout the
whole of Yusafzai.”
The winter climate in Buner is said to be very severe, snow falling
thickly on the hills and lying in the valleys, while malaria makes the
country unhealthy during the hot season.
Of the seven divisions into which the clan is divided, it will probably
be sufficient briefly to notice the two which are nearest to British
territory; these are the Salarzais and the Nurizais. The former are a
powerful community, and could bring nearly 2000 men into the field; they
have more intercourse with our subjects than any other section of the
Bunerwals. The Nurizais are also a strong division, and of the two
sub-divisions they contain, one is as favourably disposed towards the
British as the other is inimical and troublesome. The Nurizais adjoin
British territory to the south-east of the Salarzais, and are separated
from the Chamla Valley by the Guru Range.
From Swat three passes lead into Buner, the Kalel, the Jowarai and the
Karakar, and of these the last only is practicable for mule transport.
On the east, the Indus being crossed at Mahabara, it is possible to
enter Buner by the Barandu defile. From our territory two passes, both
practicable for pack animals, lead into Buner—the Malandri Pass and the
Ambela.
[Sidenote: Chagarzais and Chamlawals]
_Chagarzais._—These have already been dealt with in Chapter II. under
the Black Mountain tribes. They are divided into three divisions, and
one only is located in Buner, living on the western slopes of the Duma
Mountains. This division can turn out about one thousand fighting men.
_Chamlawals._—These are the inhabitants of the small valley of Chamla,
which lies to the south-east of Buner, and they are Mandanr Yusafzais.
When the Yusaf and Mandan clans, after they had subjugated the country,
began fighting among themselves, the Mandanr located their families in
the Chamla Valley, and retained it at the conclusion of the struggle.
The valley runs east and west, and is about seventeen miles long by two
and a half broad. It is bounded on the north by Buner, south by the
Khudu Khel country, east by the Amazai, and west by the British district
of Rustam, in Yusafzai. The Chamlawals number about 1400 fighting men,
but do not enjoy as such a very high reputation. They are divided into
three divisions. The valley can be approached from the north from Buner
by several passes, of which the easiest is said to be the Buner Pass,
leading from Barkilai to Ambela; it leads through the Guru range, and is
believed to be practicable for camels. From British territory it is
entered by the Ambela, Sherdara and Narinji passes, and it is also
approachable from the east and through the Khudu Khel country. Any
trouble which the Chamlawals may have given us in the past has usually
been the result of tribal pressure.
_Mada Khels._—This is a division of Isazai Yusafzais, of which the other
two, the Akazais and Hassanzais, have already been described among the
dwellers on the Black Mountain. The Mada Khel country is on the northern
slopes of the Mahaban Mountain down to the right bank of the Indus, and
is bounded on the north by the Hassanzais, on the east by the Indus, and
on the south and west by the Tinaolis and Amazais. Settled in the
country are a number of Dilazaks—the former occupiers of the Yusafzai
country and now settled in Hazara—and Gujars, the descendants of the
original Hindu population of the country. The Mada Khel have three
sub-divisions, and are considered more enlightened than the other Isazai
tribesmen. They can muster some 1500 men, very badly armed, and their
young bloods do not readily enlist in the native army. Most of the
villages are on the Mahaban Mountain, only two being on the banks of the
Indus. The easiest approaches to Mada Khel territory pass through the
Hassanzai country.
_Khudu Khels._—These are a sub-division of the Saddozai division of the
Utmanzai clan of the Mandanr Yusafzais. Their territory is bounded on
the north by Chamla, on the west by Yusafzai, on the south by Utmanama,
and on the east by the territory of the Gaduns and Amazai. Their country
is about twenty-two miles long and about fifteen wide. The Khudu Khel
contains two sections, is very much divided among its members, and could
probably, if united, furnish some 1600 fighting men, of no particular
value. Their country is very open to attack from British territory and
to blockade, and for this reason the Khudu Khels have not given us any
real trouble since 1847 and 1849, when a British force marched into
their country and surprised their villages.
The Khudu Khel have settlements also in British territory in the Mardan
district.
[Sidenote: Nasozais and Utmanzais]
_Nasozais._—This sub-division of the Iliaszai Yusafzais, though not
included among the Bunerwals proper, is practically identical with them.
It is located north-east of Buner in the Puran Valley on the eastern
slopes of the Lilban Mountains, and is divided into two sections. The
Nasozais can muster some 800 fighting men.
_Utmanzais._—These are a clan of Mandanr Yusafzais. They inhabit both
banks of the Indus, those on the right bank being independent and
occupying a narrow strip of land between the river and the Gadun
country, bounded on the north by the Tinaolis and on the south by the
British. The Utmanzais on the left bank inhabit the Torbela-Khalsa
tracts in British territory in the Hazara district. They contain four
divisions and do not number more than 400 fighting men of good quality.
About two-thirds of the original Utmanzai territory is now occupied by
the Gaduns, who in old days were invited to cross the Indus as
mercenaries, and were given in requital the lands they now hold on the
western and southern slopes of the Mahaban Mountain.
This clan is more or less dependent upon us, and their territory can be
reached by several routes.
[Sidenote: Gaduns and Hindustanis]
_Gaduns._—The origin of the tribe of Gaduns or Jaduns is not very clear,
but they certainly have no connection with the Yusafzais among whom they
dwell. They claim descent from the family of Ghurghusht, but are more
probably of Rajput origin. Many of the descendants of Jadu, the founder
of a Rajput dynasty, emigrated from Gujrat, some eleven hundred years
before Christ, to the hills of Kabul and Kandahar. When they moved to
the Mahaban range, the southern slopes of which some of them now occupy,
is uncertain, but in the sixteenth century a portion of the tribe
crossed the Indus into Hazara, where, about Sultanpur, Mansehra and
Abbottabad, their descendants are still to be found. These have,
however, lost all connection with their trans-frontier tribesmen, have
even forgotten Pushtu, and are to all intents and purposes Punjabis.
“From opposite Torbela on the Indus, and from the boundary of our border
on the right bank,” says Oliver, “the Gadun country extends right up to
the crest of the Mahaban Mountain, or rather that cluster of peaks and
ranges which, rising 7000 feet from the Indus, extend back as a great
spur of the Morah or Ilum. A thoroughly classic ground; ‘the Great
Forest’ of the early Aryans; the ‘Sinai’ of Sanskrit, where Arjuna
wrestled with God, and, like the Jewish Jacob, though defeated, still
won his irresistible weapon, ground that, if not identical with
Alexander’s Aornos, is probably not very distant, that was famous for
its numerous monasteries (Mahawana) when Hwen Tsang visited it in 630
A.D., and is studded with ruins to this day.”
The tribe has three clans—the Salar, Mansur and Hassazai—of which the
last is unrepresented among the trans-frontier Gaduns, while the other
two are continually at feud. The trans-frontier clans contain about 2000
fighting men; they do not enlist freely nor are they much in request,
being considered to be of smaller fighting value than other Pathans. The
trans-Indus Gaduns are bounded on the east by the Utmanzais, on the
north by the Amazais, on the west by the Khudu Khels, and on the south
by British territory. The tribesmen are all cultivators or
cattle-owners. They can be coerced by blockade or by means of an
expedition, and their country could be overrun without other tribes
being molested or too closely approached.
_The Hindustani Fanatics._[24]—Something has already been mentioned
about the colonies of religious adventurers which are found among the
hills and valleys of this part of the border; and a more detailed
description must now be given of the particular colony or colonies of
Hindustani fanatics, who have been responsible for, and have taken so
prominent a part in, most of the operations in which British troops have
here been engaged.
It was in the year 1823 that one Saiyid Ahmad Shah, of Bareilly, a
religious adventurer, made his appearance on the Yusafzai frontier. He
had been at one time a friend of the notorious Amir Khan Pindari—himself
a Pathan born in Buner, who had fled before James Skinner and his
“Yellow Boys” from Bhurtpore to the Himalayas. Saiyid Ahmad studied
Arabic at Delhi, and made a pilgrimage to Mecca via Calcutta, and it was
at this time that his doctrines gave him an influence over Bengali
Muhammadans, which led them thenceforth to supply with recruits the
colony which he founded. His doctrines at that time, whatever they may
have become thereafter, were those of the Wahabi sect, and inculcated
the original tenets of Islam, repudiating commentaries on the Koran and
the adoration of relics. In 1823 then he appeared upon the Yusafzai
border of the Peshawar district with some forty Hindustani followers,
having arrived there by way of Kandahar and Kabul.
At this time the Pathans of the frontier were generally depressed by the
crushing defeat which they and the Peshawar Sirdars had sustained at the
hands of Ranjit Singh at the battle of Nowshera, so that when the Saiyid
began to preach a _jehad_ many people flocked to his standard, the
number of his Hindustani followers grew to 900, and the Peshawar Sirdars
also joined him. In the spring of 1827 Saiyid Ahmad proceeded to
Nowshera with the intention of laying siege to Attock, but Ranjit Singh
was ready for him. The great Sikh general, Hari Singh, with one army,
awaited him on the Indus, while Budh Singh, crossing the river with
another, marched to and entrenched himself at Saidu. Here Saiyid Ahmad
surrounded his force, and in time reduced it to great straits, until
Budh Singh, resolving to fight, warned the Peshawar Sirdars of the
approach of another Sikh army under Ranjit Singh, and then joined
battle. The Sirdars fled, and the Musalmans were routed with great
slaughter. Saiyid Ahmad escaped with a handful of followers via
Lundkhwar to Swat and thence to Buner, where the Saiyid was able to
persuade the Pathans that treachery alone had been responsible for his
defeat, and he was soon again joined by thousands. He then went to
Panjtar, where he was cordially received by Fateh Khan, the chief of the
Khudu Khels, and his position thereby greatly strengthened. Eventually
he succeeded in getting the whole of Yusafzai and Peshawar under his
control; he subdued the chiefs of Hund and Hoti; levied tithes; defeated
a Barakzai force which had marched against him; took possession of Amb;
and finally, in 1829, he occupied Peshawar.
[Sidenote: Gaduns and Hindustanis]
He had now come to the end of his tether; his exactions had made him
unpopular with his Pathan following, and there was a general revolt
against his authority. The Sikhs organised expeditions against him and
his men, which, as Oliver says, “were exterminative rather than
punitive. The villagers turned out and hunted back the fugitives into
the mountains, destroying them like wild beasts. The history of the time
is a record of the bitterest hatred. The traditions tell of massacre
without mercy. Hunter quotes one instance in which the very land tenure
was a tenure by blood, certain village lands being held by the Hindu
borderer on payment to the Sikh grantees of an annual hundred heads of
the Hassan Khel. The decline of Saiyid Ahmad’s fame as an apostle came
after his ill-advised effort to reform the Pathan marriage customs,
which was really an attempt to provide wives for his own Hindustanis.
Something like the Sicilian Vespers was repeated, the fiery cross was
passed round the hills as the signal for the massacre of his agents, and
in one hour—the hour of evening prayer—they were murdered by the
tribesmen almost to a man.”
With the men who were left, Saiyid Ahmad crossed the Indus and proceeded
to Balakot, where the believers again rallied to him, and he gave battle
once more to a Sikh army under Sher Singh. He was, however, signally
defeated, he himself being slain, and, out of the 1600 Hindustanis who
had taken the field with him, only 300 escaping to Sitana. This was a
refuge for outlaws and for offenders of all kinds from Yusafzai and
Hazara, and belonged to one Saiyid Akbar, who had been Ahmad’s
counsellor and treasurer. Here the Hindustanis established a colony and
built a fort which they called Mandi.