ORAKZAIS.[126]
The tract of country inhabited by this tribe is some sixty miles long by
about twenty broad. It is bounded on the north by the Shinwaris and
Afridis, on the east by the Bangash and Afridis, on the south by the
Bangash and the Zaimukhts, and on the west by the Kharmana River and by
the country of the Chamkannis. The Orakzais also possess some
settlements in British territory in the Kohat district. The Orakzai
country proper is generally termed Orakzai Tirah, and it contains four
principal valleys—the Khanki, the Mastura, the Kharmana and the Bara;
but Holdich lays due stress upon the peculiarities of its position, when
he says that “the Orakzai geographical position differs from that of the
Afridis in some essential particulars.... It is through their country
that the way to the heart of the Afridi mountains lies. They keep the
front door to Maidan (which is near the Dargai Pass across the Samana),
whilst the back door is open to Afghanistan, but they possess no back
door themselves, so that once their valleys (Khanki and Mastura) are
held, they are in the power of the enemy and they must submit.”
[Sidenote: Origin of the Tribe]
The origin of the tribe is rather obscure, and local traditions vary
greatly. One version is that three brothers—Pridi, Wazir, and Warak—came
from Afghanistan to the Orakzai Hills, where they quarrelled over some
trifle—as their descendants have continued to do down to present
times—and Pridi then went north, Wazir to the south, while Warak
remained where he was. Another tradition is that they are descended from
a Persian prince who was exiled (“Wrukzai” in Pushtu) and who settled in
the Kohat district, marrying a daughter of the King of Kohat. Others,
again, say that the original home of the Orakzais was on the slopes of
the Suleiman Mountains; that they and the Bangash settled in the
Zaimukht country during the invasions of Sabuktagin and Timur, and were
driven thence into the Kurram, and from there, again, into the Miranzai
Valley. The occupation of the Kurram by the Turis, and their gradual
encroachment into the lower part of that valley, then held by the
Bangash, forced these in their turn to press the Orakzais. The struggle
came to an end with a great battle at Muhammadzai, near Kohat, towards
the end of the sixteenth century. The story goes that after three days’
fighting the victory remained with the Bangash, the actual issue being
materially assisted by the intervention of a supernatural figure garbed
in spotless white raiment, which appeared between the contending forces,
crying out—“the plains for the Bangash and the hills for the Orakzai.”
The Orakzais thereupon retired to their present holdings, while the
Bangash have ever since occupied the Miranzai Valley. Historically,
however, it is more than probable that the Orakzais are of an ancient
Indian stock, and that in process of time successive emigrations from
the west have brought to them an infusion of Turkish blood.
These tribesmen are wiry-looking mountaineers, but they are not such
fine men physically, their reputation for courage does not stand so
high, nor are they as formidable as their northern neighbours, the
Afridis, while they are prone to be influenced by fanaticism to a far
greater extent. Their mountains are barren, and they themselves are
often ragged, poverty-stricken and underfed in appearance,
distinguishable from their neighbours—and, incidentally, wholly
_indistinguishable_ when skirmishing on their hillsides—by reason of the
peculiar pearl-grey tint of their dress, dyed from an earth found in the
Tirah hills. Their chief source of wealth lies in their flocks and
herds, and they do a considerable trade with Peshawar, especially in the
_mazarai_, or dwarf palm, which is cut during August and September, and
which has a certain commercial value for the manufacture of ropes, grass
sandals, bed-strings, nets, matting, baskets and grain-bins. Many of the
Orakzais are weavers by trade.
Of their moral character the usual contradictory evidence is
forthcoming. It was against the Orakzais that Macgregor brought the
indictment already quoted, that “there is no doubt that, like other
Pathans, they would not shrink from any falsehood, however atrocious, to
gain an end. Money would buy their services for the foulest deed;
cruelty of the most revolting kind would mark their actions to a wounded
or helpless foe, as much as cowardice would stamp them against
determined resistance.” And Oliver, after saying that, if not better,
they are probably not much worse than their neighbours in the Pathan
qualities of deceit, avarice and cruelty, reminds us that “it must not
be forgotten that they have been embittered by centuries of bitter
religious feuds and the influence of fanatical teachers; they have never
had a government of any decent sort, its place being supplied by
superstition; and they do not understand our theory of tolerance or
non-interference.” On the other hand, it is said that as soldiers they
are, in general, quiet, well-behaved and intelligent, responding easily
to discipline. At home they are given, even more than other Pathans, to
internecine feuds, due to the fact that part of the tribe are Samil and
Sunnis, and part Gar and Shiahs. Their fighting men number, all told,
some 24,000, all tolerably well armed.
[Sidenote: Their Moral Character]
Of two out of their four main valleys the following descriptions are
given by Holdich: “The Khanki Valley offers no special attractions in
the matter of scenery. The flanking mountains are rugged and rough, and
unbroken by the craggy peaks and fantastic outlines which generally give
a weird sort of charm to frontier hills. The long slopes of the mountain
spurs gradually shape themselves downwards into terraced flats, bounded
by steep-sided ravines, along which meander a few insignificant streams,
and the whole scene, under the waning sun of late October, is a dreary
expanse of misty dust colour, unrelieved by the brilliant patchwork
which enlivens the landscape elsewhere. On a terraced slope between the
Khanki and the Kandi Mishti ravines, under the Pass of Sampagha, stands
a mud-built village with an enclosure of trees, called Ghandaki; and it
is through this village that the road to Sampagha runs after crossing
the Kandi Mishti declivities, ere it winds its devious course up a long
spur to the pass.... Beyond the Sampagha lay the elevated Valley of
Mastura (some 1500 feet higher than the Khanki, itself 4300 feet above
sea-level), and 700 feet below, the pass. The difference in elevation
was at once apparent in the general appearance of the landscape. Six
thousand feet of altitude lifts Mastura above the dust-begrimed and
heat-riddled atmosphere of Khanki or Miranzai, and gives it all the
clear, soft beauty of an Alpine climate. Mastura is one of the prettiest
valleys of the frontier. In spite of the lateness of the season, apricot
and mulberry trees had not yet parted with scarlet and yellow of the
waning year. Each little hamlet clinging to the grey cliffs, or perched
on the flat spaces of the bordering plateau below, was set in its own
surrounding of autumn’s gold-tinted jewellery; and in the blue haze born
of the first breath of clear October frost, the crowded villages and the
graceful watch-towers keeping ward over them were mistily visible across
the breadth of the valleys, tier above tier, on the far slopes of the
mountains, till lost in the vagueness of the shadows of the hills.”
[Sidenote: Kharmana and Bara Valleys]
The Kharmana Valley has been described as dotted with hamlets and
towers, well-wooded and cultivated, and abundantly watered. It is
entered from the south by the Kharmana defile, some seven miles in
length, the hills on either side being very steep and covered with scrub
jungle; and from the east over the Durbi Khel Kotal, a rough and
difficult pass, and by way of the Lozaka defile, a narrow ravine with
precipitous hills on either side.
Of such part of the Bara Valley as is occupied by the Orakzai, it may be
said to be that portion between the right bank of the Bara River and the
Mastura—formerly known as the Orakzai Bara—and enclosed between Bar And
Khel, where the Mastura makes a sharp bend to the south, and Mamanai,
where it joins the Bara on its entry into the Kajurai plain. From this
part of the Bara Valley the upper reaches of the Mastura are arrived at
by a very narrow, rocky gorge to Sapri and Kwaja Khidda, thence over the
Sapri Pass—an ascent of some 2000 feet—and thence by the stream bed or
over the Sangra Pass to Mishti Bazar and the upper Mastura.
The Orakzais are now usually considered to be divided into six clans,
since, of the original seven, one is practically extinct; these six
clans are again sub-divided into many divisions; the six clans are as
under:
1. Ismailzai.
2. Lashkarzai.
3. Massuzai.
4. Daulatzai.
5. Muhammad Khel.
6. Sturi Khel or Alizai.
In addition, however, to the Orakzai clans, there are four hamsaya
clans:
1. Ali Khel.
2. Malla Khel.
3. Mishtis.
4. Sheikhans.
The _Ismailzai_ are divided into six divisions; all of them are Sunnis
by faith, and the majority are Samil in politics. The clan is very
disunited, but can turn out some 1800 fighting men, chiefly from two of
the divisions, which are rather increasing in power and numbers at the
expense of the remaining four. One of these divisions, the Rabia Khel,
is remarkable for the fair hair, fair complexions and blue eyes of those
belonging to it. The Ismailzai, residing as they do rather nearer to our
territory than the rest of the Orakzais, have hitherto given us
considerably more than their share of tribal trouble.
Commencing from the east, the settlements of the Ismailzai extend along
the right bank of the Khanki River to near Shahu Khel, and include the
northern slopes of the Samana Range. This tract belongs to the Rabia
Khel and Akhel divisions, and they also own a small strip of ground on
the left bank of the river, while both have also settlements in the
British portion of the Miranzai Valley. Another division, the Mamazai,
live in the Daradar Glen, which drains into the Khanki on the left bank,
and here is the village of Arkhi, of more than local reputation for the
manufacture of rifles. The remaining three divisions of this clan are
scattered about in small settlements on the left bank of the Khanki
River, the Khadizais at Sadarai and Tutgarhi, the Sadakhel at Ghandaki,
at the foot of the Sampagha Pass leading to the Mastura Valley, and the
Isa Khel in hamlets on either side of the pass itself. The Isa Khel are
considered inviolable and are hamsayas of the Rabia Khel, Ali Khel and
Mishtis—the two last themselves hamsaya clans—while the curse of an Isa
Khel is said to possess particular potency, and is in consequence
dreaded by the neighbouring tribesmen.
[Sidenote: The Lashkarzai]
The _Lashkarzai_ consist of two divisions only, Alisherzais and
Mamuzais, the former Gar and the latter Samil, both being of the Sunni
sect, and each being at feud with the other. The clan can muster some
5800 fighting men, of which number the Alisherzais contribute the larger
half—all are fairly well armed. The country of the Alisherzai is
divided—like the seats at a Spanish bull-fight—into the “sunny” and the
“shady”—the former title applying to the country lying on the southern
slopes of the Tor Ghar, towards the Kurram Valley, and the latter to
that on the northern slopes at the head of the Khanki Valley. The
Alisherzais have a great reputation for bravery, and it is said that at
one time in their military history they employed mounted men in battle;
but if this was ever the case their taste for cavalry service would
appear to have weakened, since barely a dozen Orakzais all told are at
the present moment to be found serving in our regular regiments of the
Indian cavalry. In this division the Khan-ship is hereditary, being
vested in a family living at Tatang; in the year 1897 the then holder of
the office was greatly implicated in the risings on the Samana. The
Mamuzais live at the head of the Khanki Valley, to the north of the
Minjan Darra, in a tract called Sama, Khanki Bazar, a rich trading
centre, being the tribal headquarters. There is, perhaps, no other clan
between the Kabul and the Kurram Rivers, so much under the influence of
their mullahs and so fanatical as are these people; they also rather
take the lead among the Orakzais.
The _Massuzais_ are contained in three divisions, of which one is Gar
and the other two are Samil, while all three are Sunnis. They can put
2000 men in the field, but have not a great reputation for courage.
Their holdings are in the Kharmana Valley—the Kharmana River flows into
the Kurram near our frontier post at Sadda—and they have a number of
Afridi hamsayas settled amongst them.
The _Daulatzai_ clan consists of the Firoz Khel, the Bizotis, and the
Utman Khel,[127] all Sunnis and all Samil, but the Firoz Khel hold aloof
from the other two, who are leagued together against them. The three
divisions can turn out 1600 men between them, the Firoz Khel being the
most powerful, and the Bizotis the worst armed. The Bizotis and the
Utman Khel have given us a good deal of trouble since our first
occupation of the Miranzai Valley, while the Firoz Khel on the other
hand have been generally well-behaved, the reason no doubt being that
living further from our territory they have had less temptation to
transgress. The Firoz Khel, from which division the reigning family of
Bhopal is said to be descended, inhabit the Upper Mastura Valley and the
north-eastern slopes of the Mola Ghar as far west as the Sapri Pass; the
Utman Khel live in portions of the Upper and Lower Mastura Valley, as
far as the junction of that river with the Bara; while the Bizotis are
intermixed with them in the Upper Mastura, living in the lower reaches
of the river between the Ublan Pass and the Asman Darra.
[Sidenote: Muhammad and Sturi Khel]
The _Muhammad Khel_ comprise four divisions, all of which are Gar in
politics, and being of the Shiah sect, set in the midst of Sunni
neighbours, they are inclined to separate themselves to some extent from
the rest of the Orakzais and to turn to the British; they have always
been well-behaved and favourably disposed towards us. They number 2500
well-armed fighting men, and are accounted among the bravest of the
Orakzais. Their country is in the centre of the Mastura Valley, of which
it commands either end and turns the greater part of the Khanki Valley;
it is also easy of access from Kohat, and would furnish a convenient
advanced base for operations against the Afridi country directed from
the south. It was the Khan of one of the sections of the Muhammad Khel
who led the Orakzai lashkar which, in 1587, defeated, in a battle at the
Sampagha Pass, a Mogul army under Ghairat Khan which had attempted to
penetrate into Tirah.
The _Sturi Khel_ or _Alizai_ are divided into Tirah and Bara Sturi Khel,
who are at mortal feud with one another, half being Shiahs and half
Sunnis. The clan is only a small one, its fighting men numbering no more
than 500 all told, and but indifferently armed. The Tirah division
occupies both sides of the Mastura River from Shiraz Garhi to the Gudar
Tangi, while the Bara Sturi Khel inhabit the lower Bara Valley from
Galli Khel to Mamanai, thus commanding the approach to the Mastura
Valley by the way of the Sapri, or Walnut Tree, Pass.
_Hamsaya: Ali Khel._—This is by far the most important of these alien
clans, is very united, with a high reputation for courage, and mustering
from 2800–3000 fighting men. They are said to be descended from Yusafzai
emigrants, and being thus of the same origin as the Mishtis they form a
coalition with them, despite the fact that they belong to different
political factions, the Ali Khel being Gar while the Mishtis are Samil.
In religion the Ali Khel are partly Shiahs and partly Sunnis. Their
country extends from the Tor Ghar Range on the north, to the Khanki
River on the south, with summer settlements near the source of the
Mastura River and on either bank. This clan thus occupies in the Orakzai
country much the same position of command as do the Zakha Khels in
Afridi-land. They are consequently, by right of position, very
troublesome neighbours, both to their fellow tribesmen and to the Indian
Government.
_Hamsaya: Malla Khel._—A clan of Ghilzai origin, Sunni by persuasion and
Samil in politics. They occupy a strip of country in the Mastura Valley
between the Sampagha and Arhanga Passes. In the cold weather they
migrate to Darband in the Miranzai Valley, which they hold as a
perpetual gift from the Khan of Hangu—a family formerly possessing great
local influence—for having aided him in the eighteenth century against
the Khan of Kohat. They hold also, on a lease, the village of Turki in
British territory. The Malla Khel have a considerable reputation for
bravery, and their fighting men number 800, but the clan is much divided
against itself, and, as a clan, is to a great extent swayed by the
counsels of the Mishtis, who command the routes to and from the summer
quarters of the Malla Khel.
[Sidenote: Mishtis and Sheikhans]
_Hamsaya: Mishtis._—These are, as already stated, of Yusafzai descent,
Samil in politics, and of the Sunni sect. They are rather a scattered
clan, living in the Upper Mastura south of the Waran Valley, in the
Upper Khanki south of the Sampagha Range, and also in the Lower Khanki
Valley, while in the winter months many of them migrate to the Miranzai
Valley. The Mishtis rather take the lead among the Samil faction of the
Orakzai; they have 3000 warriors, are well off, and engage a good deal
in trade with British territory. One division of this clan is known
among the remainder as “the Dirty Ones”—their want of cleanliness must
consequently be something quite abnormal to render them thus conspicuous
among Pathans.
_Hamsaya: Sheikhan._—These are believed to have been originally Wazirs;
they are Sunnis and Samil in politics. Their possessions form a compact
tract, extending from the Mastura River on the north to the Khanki on
the south, and from Khangabur on the west to Talai on the border of the
Kohat district on the east. They trade but little, and come down to the
neighbourhood of Kohat to pasture their flocks in the winter. They can
muster from 2750–3000 fighting men of no great repute for courage, but
are a clan of some importance and not easy to control, though
susceptible to blockade.
As regards the question of the southern boundaries of the Orakzai
territory, it may be mentioned that as far back as 1865, the Rabia Khel
division of the Ismailzai clan formally acknowledged that the crest of
the Samana Range was the northern boundary of British territory; but the
strip of country in question does not then appear to have been marked on
our maps as British, although it was assessed as such, and was always
acknowledged by the clans as being within our borders. It was not,
however, until 1889 that the Government of India agreed to the proposals
of the Punjab Government that “the country up to the _foot_ of the
Samana Range should be declared to be British territory and dealt with
accordingly,” and not until two years later that posts were established
upon the Samana Range itself.
This chapter may fittingly be closed by a brief account of the
circumstances under which certain Orakzai clans and divisions petitioned
to be taken under British administration, and of the decision which was
then come to on the matter.
As has already been mentioned, the Orakzai tribe is partly Sunni and
partly Shiah by persuasion, the Sunnis predominating, and between these
two religious communities there exists a long-standing and bitter
animosity. In the summer of 1894 the Bar Muhammad Khel division of the
Muhammad Khel clan of Orakzais made a request through the Assistant
Political Officer, Kohat, that they might be allowed to come under
British rule, on the grounds that they could not much longer defend
themselves against their Sunni fellow-tribesmen, as they found
themselves cut off from local supplies of arms and ammunition by the
influence of Sunni mullahs. To some of the frontier officials the idea
of such voluntary annexation had a good deal to recommend it, but the
Government of India declined to meet the desire of the division
concerned that they or their country should be put under the control or
the protection of the British Government.
[Sidenote: Shiah and Sunni Animosity]
In the following year the Shiahs of the Ali Khel (hamsaya) clan of
Orakzais preferred a similar petition, but the annexation of their
country did not present advantages equal to that which had accompanied
the request put forward in the preceding year. The tract of country
offered us by the Bar Muhammad Khel was an undivided stretch of hills
with no inhabitants save Shiahs; while in the case of the Ali Khel,
although some of the villages concerned were large and powerful, yet
they were so mixed up with Sunni communities that annexation would have
been impracticable, even if desirable. The request of the Ali Khel was
consequently also refused, the Governments of the Punjab and of India
being very strongly against any extension of our responsibilities in the
tribal tracts beyond the Kohat district. So matters remained until the
frontier disturbances of 1897–98, during which these Shiah clans
maintained a uniformly friendly attitude towards us, as they had also
during the Miranzai expeditions, when they gave us material assistance.
In January 1898 the then Secretary of State for India laid down certain
principles for the conduct of frontier policy, whereby his successors
seem in the main to have since been guided. These were: (1) That no
fresh responsibility should be accepted unless absolutely required by
actual strategic necessities and for the protection of the British
border; (2) that interference with the tribes must when possible be
avoided; (3) that no countenance should be given to the idea that
Government intended to administer or enclose the tribal country; and,
finally, (4) that in view of the suspicion which the Durand demarcation
had aroused, one of the primary objects of our future actions should be
gradually to allay such doubts and misgivings.
[Sidenote: Shiah Friendship for British]
In 1904, however, an even more extended offer of annexation was made to
the Government of India, under circumstances differing from those of
1895. In the summer of 1903 a fakir from Ghazni created disturbances in
the Orakzai country, preached a jehad, and made an organised attack
against the Shiahs. The fakir’s Sunni forces were, however, twice
defeated, the fakir left the country, and hostilities came to an end.
But even while the fighting was still in progress, the Chappar Mishtis,
a Sunni division, applied to be taken over by the British Government,
but were informed that we could not interfere in a purely religious war,
and that no petition from them could be entertained until peace was
restored. When the war had come to an end, all the four Shiah divisions
of the Muhammad Khel clan—the Mani Khel, Bar Muhammad Khel, Sipaia and
Abdul Aziz Khel—with the Ibrahimzai and the Chappar Mishtis, at once
made overtures to be taken over, expressing their desire to come under
Government control somewhat on the same lines as the Kurram clans. The
fighting strength of these tribes represented approximately 2710 men,
the tract occupied by them containing some seventy villages, and being
about thirty miles in length with a maximum breadth of some fourteen
miles. The territory formed a complete block, bounded on the north by
the Mastura river, running down on the south to the broken and
undulating country within the limits of Kachai and Marai in British
territory; on the east it extended to within four miles of Kohat; while
on the west the boundary stopped just short of the point where the road,
made during the expedition of 1897, crosses the Sampagha Pass. The
strategical advantages conferred by the possession of this tract of
country are especially great in the event of the Afridi tribe being ever
again arrayed against us. These Shiah clans command one of the shortest
routes from the Kohat side to the centre of Tirah by the Landuki Pass;
there is access to the Bara Valley by the Maturi or the Uchpal Pass, and
by Waran to the Khyber Afridi settlements in Rajgal and Maidan. They
also overlook the territory of three of the hamsaya clans, and are in
rear of the country of some of the Ismailzai divisions.
On the 28th October, 1904, the Secretary of State for India expressed
himself as unwilling to take any steps which he was of opinion might add
appreciably to our frontier responsibilities, and therefore declined to
authorise any serious departure from the general policy laid down by his
predecessor in January 1898, or to incur the risk attaching to the
suggested extension of the tribal area under our control.