Multán occupies the south of the Bárí Doáb. The Ráví flows from east to west across the north of the district and falls into the Chenáb within its boundary. The Sutlej meets the combined stream of the Jhelam, Chenáb, and Ráví at the south-west corner of the district.

A part of the Kabírwála tahsíl lies beyond the Ráví. The other four tahsíls are Multán, Shujábád, Lodhran, and Mailsí. In a very hot district with an average rainfall of six inches cultivation must depend on irrigation or river floods. The present sources of irrigation are inundation canals from the Chenáb and Sutlej supplemented by well irrigation, and the Sidhnai Canal from the Ráví. The district consists of the river valleys, older alluvial tracts slightly higher than these valleys, but which can be reached by inundation canals[14], and the high central Bár, which is a continuation of the Ganjí Bár in Montgomery. Part of this will be served by the new Lower Bárí Doáb Canal. The population consists mainly of miscellaneous tribes grouped together under the name of Jats, the ethnological significance of which in the Western Panjáb is very slight. They are Muhammadans. The district is well served by railways.

Muzaffargarh is with the exception of Kángra the biggest Panjáb district. It forms a large triangle with its apex in the south at the junction of the Indus and Panjnad. On the west the Indus forms the boundary for 180 miles. On the east Muzaffargarh has a river boundary with Baháwalpur and Multán, but, where it marches with Jhang, is separated from it by the area which that district possesses in the Sind Ságar Doáb. There are four tahsíls, Leia, Sinánwan, Muzaffargarh, and Alipur, the first being equal in area to a moderately sized district. The greater part of Leia and Sinánwan is occupied by the Thal. The southern tongue of the Thal extends into the Muzaffargarh tahsíl. The rest of that district is a heavily inundated or irrigated tract, the part above flood level being easily reached by inundation canals. Dry cultivation is impossible with a yearly rainfall of about six inches. The chief crop is wheat. In the south of the district the people live in frail grass huts, and when the floods are out transfer themselves and their scanty belongings to wooden platforms.

Dera Ghází Khán district.—When the N. W. Frontier Province was separated from the Panjáb, the older province retained all the trans-Indus country in which Biluches were the predominant tribe. The Panjáb therefore kept Dera Ghází Khán. It has a river frontage on the Indus about 230 miles in length and on the west is bounded by the Sulimán Range, part of which is included within the district. The Deputy Commissioner of Dera Ghází Khán and the Commissioner of Multán spend part of the hot weather at Fort Munro. The wide Indus valley is known as the Sindh. The tract between it and the Hills is the Pachádh. It is seamed by hill torrents, three of which, the Vehoa, the Sangarh, and the Kahá, have a thread of water even in the cold season. The heat in summer is extreme, and the luh, a moving current of hot air, claims its human victims from time to time. The cultivation in the Sindh depends on the river floods and inundation canals, helped by wells. In the Pachádh dams are built to divert the water of the torrents into embanked fields. The cultivated area is recorded as 1723 square miles, but this is enormously in excess of the cropped areas, for a very large part of the embanked area is often unsown. The encroachments of the Indus have enforced the transfer of the district headquarters from Dera Ghází Khán to a new town at Choratta. Biluches are the dominant tribe both in numbers and political importance. They with few exceptions belong to one or other of the eight organized clans or tumans, Kasránis, Sorí Lunds, Khosas, Laghárís, Tibbí Lunds, Gurchánís, Drishaks, and Mazárís. The most important clans are Mazárís, Laghárís, and Gurchánís. Care has been taken to uphold the authority of the chiefs. The Deputy Commissioner is political officer for such of the independent Biluch tribes across the administrative frontier as are not included in the Biluchistán Agency. Regular troops have all been removed from the district. The peace of the borderland is maintained by a tribal militia under the command of a British officer.

CHAPTER XXVI

Phulkian States.—The three Phulkian States of Patiála, Jínd, and Nábha form a political agency under the Panjáb Government. They occupy, with Baháwalpur and Hissár, the bulk of that great wedge of light loam and sand which Rájputána, physically considered, pushes northwards almost to the Sutlej. In the Phulkian States this consists of two tracts, the Powádh and the Jangal Des. The former, which occupies the north and north-east of their territory, possesses a light fertile loam soil and a very moderate natural water level, so that well irrigation is easy. The Jangal Des is a great tract of sandy loam and sand in the south-west. Water lies too deep for the profitable working of wells, but the harvests are far less insecure than one would suppose looking to the scantiness of the rainfall. The soil is wonderfully cool and drought-resisting. The dry cultivation consists of millets in the Autumn, and of gram and mixed crops of wheat or barley and gram in the Spring, harvest. The three states have rather more than a one-third share in the Sirhind Canal, their shares inter se being Patiála 83·6, Nábha 8·8, and Jínd 7·6. Portions of the Powádh and Jangal Des are irrigated. In the case of the Powádh there has been in some places over irrigation considering how near the surface the water table is. The Nirwána tahsíl in Patiála and the part of Jínd which lies between Karnál and Rohtak is a bit of the Bángar tract of the south-eastern Panjáb, with a strong loam soil and a naturally deep water level. The former receives irrigation from the Sirsa, and the latter from the Hánsi, branch of the Western Jamna Canal. The outlying tracts to the south of Rohtak and Gurgáon, acquired after the Mutiny, are part of the dry sandy Rájputána desert, in which the Kharíf is the chief harvest, and the millets and gram the principal crops. In addition Patiála has an area of 294 square miles of territory immediately below and in the Simla Hills. The territory of the Phulkian States is scattered and intermixed, and they have islands in British districts and vice versa, a natural result of their historic origin and development.

The century and more which elapsed between the grant and Phul's death in 1652 were filled with continual fighting with the Bhattís. Phul's second son Ráma obtained from the Governor of Sírhind the Chaudhráyat of the Jangal Des. When Ahmad Sháh defeated the Sikhs near Barnála in 1762, Ráma's son, Ála Singh, was one of his prisoners. He was a chief of such importance that his conqueror gave him the title of Rája and the right to coin money. But Ála Singh found it prudent to join next year in the capture of Sirhind. From the division of territory which followed the separate existence of the Phulkian States begins. The manner in which they came in 1809 under British protection has already been related. The Rája of Patiála was our ally in the Gurkha War in 1814, and received the Pinjaur tahsíl. The active loyalty displayed in 1857 was suitably rewarded by accessions of territory. The right of adoption was conferred, and special arrangements made to prevent lapse, if nevertheless the line in any state failed.

Patiála occupies five-sevenths of the Phulkian inheritance The predominant agricultural tribe is the Játs, over three-fourths of whom are Sikhs. The cultivated area is four-fifths of the total area. Over one-fourth of the former is irrigated, 27 p.c. from wells, and the rest from the two canals. In an area extending with breaks from Simla to the Rájputána desert the variations of agriculture are of course extreme. The state is excellently served by railways.

Nizámats.—There are five nizámats or districts, Pinjaur, Amargarh, Karmgarh, Anáhadgarh, and Mohindargarh. Their united area is equivalent to that of two ordinary British districts. The Pinjaur nizámat with headquarters at Rájpura covers only 825 square miles. Of its four tahsíls Pinjaur contains the submontane and hill tract, part of the latter being quite close to Simla. The other three tahsíls Rájpura, Bannur, and Ghanaur are in the Powádh. The Amargarh nizámat with an area of 855 square miles comprises the three tahsíls of Fatehgarh, Sáhibgarh, and Amargarh. The first two are rich and fertile well tracts. Amargarh is in the Jangal Des to the south-west of Sáhibgarh. It receives irrigation from the Kotla branch of the Sirhind Canal. The Karmgarh nizámat with an area of 1835 square miles contains the four tahsíls of Patiála, Bhawánigarh, Sunám, and Nirwána. The headquarters are at Bhawánigarh. The first three are partly in the Powádh, and partly in the Jangal Des. Nirwána is in the Bángar. There is much irrigation from the Sirhind and Western Jamna Canals. The Anáhadgarh nizámat lies wholly in the Jangal Des. It has an area of 1836 square miles, and is divided into three tahsíls, Anáhadgarh, Bhikhi, and Govindgarh. The headquarters are at Barnála or Anáhadgarh. The Mohindarpur nizámat lies far away to the south on the borders of Jaipur and Alwar (see map on page 226). Its area is only 576 miles and it has two tahsíls, Mohindargarh or Kánaud and Narnaul. Kánaud is the headquarters.

The history down to 1763 has already been related. Rája Ála Singh died in 1765 and was succeeded by his grandson Amar Singh (1765-1781), who was occupied in continual warfare with his brother and his neighbours, as became a Sikh chieftain of those days. His son, Sáhib Singh (1781-1813), came under British protection in 1809. Karm Singh (1813-1845), his successor, was our ally in the Gurkha War. Mahárája Narindar Singh, K.C.S.I. (1845-1862), was a wise and brave man, who gave manful and most important help in 1857. His son, Mahárája Mohindar Singh (1862-1876), succeeded at the age of ten and died 14 years later. His eldest son, Mahárája Rajindar Singh (1876-1900), was only four when he succeeded and died at the age of 28. Another long minority, that of the present Mahárája Bhupindar Singh, only came to an end a few years ago. In the last fifty years Patiála has in consequence of three minorities been governed, and as a rule successfully governed, for long periods by Councils of Regency. The State in 1879 sent a contingent of 1100 men to the Afghán War. It maintains an Imperial Service Force consisting of two fine regiments of infantry and one of cavalry. Mahárája Rajindar Singh went with one of these regiments to the Tirah Expedition.

Jínd.—A third of the population of Jínd consists of Hindu and Sikh Játs. There are two nizámats, Sangrúr and Jínd, the latter divided into the tahsíls of Jínd and Dádrí (map on page 226). The Sangrúr villages are interspersed among those of the other Phulkian States, and form a part of the Jangal Des. Jínd is in the Bángar, and Dádrí, separated from Jínd by the Rohtak district, is partly in Hariána and partly in the sandy Rájputána desert. The rainfall varies from 17 inches at Sangrúr to ten inches at Dádrí. Sangrúr is irrigated by the Sirhind, and Jínd by the Western Jamna, Canal. Dádrí is a dry sandy tract, in which the Autumn millets are the chief crop. The revenue in 1911-12 was 19 lákhs (£126,700). For imperial service Jínd keeps up a fine battalion of infantry 600 strong. The real founder of the state was Gajpat Singh, who was a chief of great vigour. He conquered Jínd and in 1774 deprived his relative, the chief of Nábha, of Sangrúr. He died in 1789. His successor, Rája Bhág Singh, was a good ally of the British Government. He died after a long and successful career in 1819. His son, Fateh Singh, only survived him by three years. Sangat Singh succeeded to troublous times and died childless in 1834. His second cousin, Rája Sarúp Singh, was only allowed to inherit the territory acquired by Gajpat Singh, from whom he derived his claim. But the gallant and valuable services rendered by Rája Sarúp Singh in 1857 enabled him to enlarge his State by the grant of the Dádrí territory and of thirteen villages near Sangrúr. He died in 1864. His son Raghubír Singh (1864-1887) was a vigorous and successful ruler. He gave loyal help in the Kúka outbreak and in the Second Afghán War. His grandson, the present Mahárája Ranbir Singh, K.C.S.I., was only eight when he succeeded, and Jínd was managed by a Council of Regency for a number of years. Full powers were given to the chief in 1899.

The State is well served by railways, Nábha itself being on the Rájpura-Bhatinda line. The Mahárája maintains a battalion of infantry for imperial service. Hamír Singh, one of the chiefs who joined in the capture of Sirhind, may be considered the first Rája. He died in 1783 and was succeeded by his young son, Jaswant Singh. When he grew to manhood Jaswant Singh proved a very capable chief and succeeded in aggrandising his State, which he ruled for 57 years. His son, Deoindar Singh (1840—47), was deposed, as he was considered to have failed to support the British Government when the Khalsa army crossed the Sutlej in 1845. A fourth of the Nábha territory was confiscated. Bharpur Singh, who became chief in 1857, did excellent service at that critical time, and the Báwal nizámat was his reward. He was succeeded by his brother, Bhagwán Singh, in 1863. With Bhagwán Singh the line died out in 1871, but under the provisions of the sanad granted after the Mutiny a successor was selected from among the Badrúkhan chiefs in the person of the late Mahárája Sir Hira Singh. No choice could have been more happy. Hira Singh for 40 years ruled his State on old fashioned lines with much success. Those who had the privilege of his friendship will not soon forget the alert figure wasted latterly by disease, the gallant bearing, or the obstinate will of a Sikh chieftain of a type now departed. His son, Mahárája Ripudaman Singh, succeeded in 1911.

Kapúrthala.—The main part consists of a strip of territory mostly in the valley of the Biás, and interposed between that river and Jalandhar. This is divided into the four tahsíls of Bholath, Dhilwan, Kapúrthala, and Sultánpur. There is a small island of territory in Hoshyárpur, and a much larger one, the Phagwára tahsíl, projecting southwards from the border of that district into Jalandhar. Two-thirds of the area is cultivated and the proportion of high-class crops is large. The chief agricultural tribes are the Muhammadan Arains and the Játs, most of whom are Sikhs.

The real founder of the Kapúrthala house was Sardár Jassa Singh Ahluwália, who in 1763, when Sirhind fell, was the leading Sikh chief in the Panjáb. He captured Kapúrthala in 1771 and made it his headquarters, and died in 1783. A distant relative, Bágh Singh, succeeded. His successor, Fateh Singh, was a sworn brother of Ranjít Singh, with whom he exchanged turbans. But an alliance between the weak and the strong is not free from fears, and in 1826 Fateh Singh, who had large possessions south of the Sutlej, fled thither and asked the protection of the British Government. He returned however to Kapúrthala in 1827, and the Mahárája never pushed matters with Fateh Singh to extremities. The latter died in 1836. His successor, Nihál Singh, was a timid man, and his failure to support the British in 1845 led to the loss of his Cis-Sutlej estates. In 1849 he took the English side and was given the title of Rája. Randhír Singh succeeded in 1852. His conspicuous services in the Mutiny were rewarded with the grant of estates in Oudh. The present Mahárája, Sir Jagatjít Singh Bahádur, G.C.S.I., is a grandson of Randhír Singh. He was a young child when he succeeded in 1877. The State maintains a battalion of infantry for imperial service.

Farídkot is a small wedge of territory which almost divides the Ferozepore district in two. The population is composed of Sikhs 42½, Hindus and Jains 29, and Musalmans 28½ p.c. Sikh Játs are the strongest tribe. The country is flat. In the west it is very sandy, but in the east the soil is firmer and is irrigated in part by the Sirhind Canal. The Chief, like the Phulkians, is a Sidhu Barár Ját, and, though not a descendant of Phul, unites his line with the Phulkians further back. The present Rája, Brijindar Singh, is 17 years of age, and the State is managed by a Council of Regency.

Kalsia consists of a number of patches of territory in Ambála and an enclave in Ferozepore known as Chirak. The founder of the State was one of the Játs from the Panjáb, who swept over Ambála after the capture of Sirhind in 1763, and carved out petty principalities, of which Kalsia is the only survivor (page 180). The capital is Chachraulí, eight or nine miles north-west of Jagádhrí. The present Chief, Sardár Ráví Sher Singh, is a minor.

3. The Muhammadan States

Baháwalpur is by far the largest of the Panjáb States. But the greater part of it is at present desert, and the population, except in the river tract, is very sparse. Baháwalpur stretches from Ferozepore on the north to the Sindh border. It has a river frontage exceeding 300 miles on the Sutlej, Panjnad, and Indus. The cultivated area in 1903-4 was 1451 square miles, and of this 83 p.c. was irrigated and 10 p.c. flooded. The rainfall is only five inches and the climate is very hot. South and east of the rivers is a tract of low land known as the "Sindh," which widens out to the south. It is partly flooded and partly irrigated by inundation canals with the help of wells. Palm groves are a conspicuous feature in the Sindh. Behind it is a great stretch of strong loam or "pat," narrow in the south, but widening out in the north. It is bounded on the south-east by a wide depression known as the Hakra, probably at one time the bed of the Sutlej. At present little cultivation is possible in the pat, but there is some hope that a canal taking out on the right bank of the Sutlej in Ferozepore may bring the water of that river back to it. South of the Hakra is a huge tract of sand and sand dunes, known as the Rohí or Cholistán, which is part of the Rájputána desert. There are three nizámats, Minchinábád in the north, Baháwalpur in the middle, and Khánpur in the south. The capital, Baháwalpur, is close to the bridge at Adamwáhan by which the N.W. Railway crosses the Sutlej. The ruling family belongs to the Abbásí Dáudpotra clan, and came originally from Sindh. Sadik Muhammad Khán, who received the title of Nawáb from Nádir Sháh, when he invaded the Deraját in 1739, may be considered the real founder of the State. The Nawáb Muhummad Baháwal Khan III, threatened with invasion by Mahárája Ranjít Singh, made a treaty with the British Government in 1833. He was our faithful ally in the first Afghán War, and gave valuable help against Diwán Mulráj in 1848. The next three reigns extending from 1852 to 1866 were brief and troubled. Nawáb Sadik Muhummad Khán IV, who succeeded in 1866, was a young child, and for the next thirteen years the State was managed by Captain Minchin and Captain L. H. Grey as Superintendents. The young Nawáb was installed in 1879, and henceforth ruled with the help of a Council. In the Afghán War of 1879-1880 Baháwalpur did very useful service. The Nawáb died in 1899. A short minority followed during which Colonel L. H. Grey again became Superintendent. The young Nawáb, Muhammad Baháwal Khán V, had but a brief reign. He was succeeded by the present Chief, Nawáb Sadik Muhummad Khán V, a child of eight or nine years. The State is managed by a Council aided by the advice of the political Agent. From 1903 to 1913, the Agent for the Phulkian States was in charge, but a separate Agent has recently been appointed for Baháwalpur and Farídkot. An efficient camel corps is maintained for imperial service.

Mandí is a tract of mountains and valleys drained by the Biás. With Suket, with which for many generations it formed one kingdom, it is a wedge thrust up from the Sutlej between Kángra and Kulu. Three-fifths of the area is made up of forests and grazing lands. The deodár and blue pine forests on the Kulu border are valuable. At Guma and Drang an impure salt, fit for cattle, is extracted from shallow cuttings. A considerable part of the revenue is derived from the price and duty. The chiefs are Chandarbánsí Rájputs. The direct line came to an end in 1912 with the death of Bhawání Sen, but to prevent lapse the British Government has chosen as successor a distant relative, Jogindar Singh, who is still a child.

Suket lies between Mandí and the Sutlej. Its Rája, Ugar Sen, like his distant relative, the Rája of Mandí, came under British protection in 1846. His great-grandson, Rája Bhim Sen, is the present chief.

Sirmúr (Náhan) lies to the north of the Ambála district, and occupies the greater part of the catchment area of the Girí, a tributary of the Jamna. It is for the most part a mountain tract, the Chor to the north of the Girí rising to a height of 11,982 feet. The capital, Náhan (3207 feet), near the southern border is in the Siwálik range. In the south-east of the State is the rich valley known as the Kiárda Dún, reclaimed and colonized by Rája Shamshér Parkásh. There are valuable deodár and sál forests. A good road connects Náhan with Barára on the N.W. Railway. In 1815 the British Government having driven out the Gurkhas put Fateh Parkásh on the throne of his ancestors. His troops fought on the English side in the first Sikh War. His successors, Rája Sir Shamsher Parkásh, G.C.S.I. (1856-98), and Rája Sir Surindar Bikram Parkásh, K.C.S.I. (1898-1911), managed their State with conspicuous success. The present Rája, Amar Parkásh, is 25 years of age. In the second Afghán War in 1880, Sirmúr sent a contingent to the frontier, and the Sappers and Miners, which it keeps up for imperial service, accompanied the Tirah Expedition of 1897.

Chamba lies to the N. of Kángra from which it is divided by the Dhauladhár (map, p. 284). The southern and northern parts of the State are occupied respectively by the basins of the Ráví and the Chandrabhágá or Chenáb. Chamba is a region of lofty mountains with some fertile valleys in the south and west. Only about one-nineteenth of the area is cultivated. The snowy range of the Mid-Himálaya separates the Ráví valley from that of the Chandrabhágá, and the great Zánskár chain with its outliers occupies the territory beyond the Chenáb, where the rainfall is extremely small and Tibetan conditions prevail. The State contains fine forests and excellent sport is to be got in its mountains. There are five wazárats or districts, Brahmaur or Barmaur, Chamba, Bhattoyat, Chaura, and Pángí.

The authentic history of this Súrajbansí Rajput principality goes back to the seventh century. It came into the British sphere in 1846. During part of the reign of Rája Shám Singh (1873-1904), the present Rája, Sir Bhure Singh, K.C.S.I., C.I.E., administered the State as Wazír, filling a difficult position with loyalty and honour. He is a Rájput gentleman of the best type. The Rája owns the land of the State, but the people have a permanent tenant right in cultivated land.

Simla Hill States.—The Deputy Commissioner of Simla is political officer with the title of Superintendent of nineteen, or, including the tributaries of Bashahr, Keonthal, and Jubbal, of 28 states with a total area of 6355 square miles, a population of 410,453, and revenues amounting to a little over ten lákhs (£66,000). The States vary in size from the patch of four square miles ruled by the Thákur of Bija to the 388r square miles included in Bashahr. Only four other States have areas exceeding 125 square miles, namely, Biláspur (448), Keonthal (359), Jubbal (320), and Hindúr or Nalagarh (256). Excluding feudatories the revenues vary from Rs. 900 (or a little over £1 a week) in Mangal to Rs. 190,000 (£12,666) in Biláspur. The chiefs are all Rájputs, who came under our protection at the close of the Gurkha War.

The watershed of the Sutlej and Jamna runs through the tract. The range which forms the watershed of the Sutlej and the Jamna starts from the Shinka Pass on the south border of Bashahr and passes over Hattu and Simla. In Bashahr it divides the catchment areas of the Rupín and Pábar rivers, tributaries of the Tons and therefore of the Jamna, from those of the Báspa and the Noglí, which are affluents of the Sutlej. West of Bashahr the chief tributary of the Jamna is the Girí and of the Sutlej the Gámbhar, which rises near Kasaulí. In the east Bashahr has a large area north of the Sutlej drained by its tributary the Spití and smaller streams. In the centre the Sutlej is the northern boundary of the Simla Hill States. In the west Biláspur extends across that river. The east of Bashahr is entirely in the Sutlej basin.

Biláspur.—This is true also of Biláspur or Kahlúr (map, p. 284), which has territory on both banks of the river. The capital, Biláspur, is on the left bank only 1455 feet above sea level. The present Rája Bije Chand, C.S.I., succeeded in 1889.

Bashahr.—The chain which forms the watershed of the Sutlej and Jamna rises from about 12,000 feet at Hattu in the west to nearly 20,000 feet on the Tibet border. Two peaks in the chain exceed 20,000 feet. Further north Raldang to the east of Chíní is 21,250 feet high, and in the north-east on the Tibet border there are two giants about 1000 feet higher. Generally speaking the Sutlej runs in a deep gorge but at Chíní and Saráhan the valley widens out. The main valley of the Pábar is not so narrow as that of the Sutlej, while the side valleys descend in easy slopes to the river beds. The Báspa has a course of 35 miles. In the last ten miles it falls 2000 feet and is hemmed in by steep mountains. Above this gorge the Báspa valley is four or five miles wide and consists of a succession of plateaux rising one above the other from the river's banks. Bashahr is divided into two parts, Bashahr proper and Kunáwar. The latter occupies the Sutlej valley in the north-east of the State. It covers an area of about 1730 square miles and is very sparsely peopled. In the north of Kunáwar the predominant racial type is Mongoloid and the religion is Buddhism. The capital of Bashahr, Rámpur, on the left bank of the Sutlej is at an elevation of 3300 feet. The Gurkhas never succeeded in conquering Kunáwar. They occupied Bashahr, but in 1815 the British Government restored the authority of the Rája. The present chief, Shamsher Singh, is an old man, who succeeded as long ago as 1850. He is incapable of managing the State and an English officer is at present in charge.

CHAPTER XXVII

The Province.—The N. W. F. Province consists of five British districts, Dera Ismail Khán, Bannu, Kohát, Pesháwar, and Hazára with a total area of 13,193 square miles, of which rather less than one-third is cultivated. Of the cultivated area 70 p.c. depends solely on the rainfall. In addition the Chief Commissioner as Agent to the Governor General controls beyond the administrative boundary territory occupied by independent tribes, which covers approximately an area of 25,500 square miles. In 1911 the population of British districts was 2,196,933 and that of tribal territory is estimated to exceed 1,600,000. In the districts 93 persons in every hundred profess the creed of Islam and over 38 p.c. are Patháns.

Dera Ismail Khán lies to the north of Dera Gházi Khán and is very similar to it in its physical features. It is divided into the three tahsíls of Tánk, Dera Ismail Khán, and Kuláchi. It has a long river frontage on the west, and is bounded on the east by the Sulimán Range. The Kachchhí of Dera Ismail Khán corresponds to the Sindh of Dera Gházi Khán, but is much narrower and is not served by inundation canals, except in the extreme north, where the Pahárpur Canal has recently been dug. It depends on floods and wells. The Dáman or "Skirt" of the hills is like the Pachádh of Dera Ghází Khán a broad expanse of strong clayey loam or pat seamed by torrents and cultivated by means of dams and embanked fields. The climate is intensely hot in summer, and the average rainfall only amounts to ten inches. Between one-fourth and one-fifth of the area is cultivated. The Pachádh is a camel-breeding tract.

Patháns predominate in the Dáman and Jats in the Kachchhí. The Bhittannís in the north of the district are an interesting little tribe. The hill section lies outside our administrative border, but like the Lárgha Sheránís in the south are under the political control of the Deputy Commissioner. A good metalled road, on which there is a tonga service, runs northwards from Dera Ismail Khán to Bannu.

Bannu.—The small Bannu district occupies a basin surrounded by hills and drained by the Kurram and its affluent, the Tochí. It is cut off from the Indus by the Isakhel tahsíl of Mianwálí and by a horn of the Dera Ismail Khán district. Bannu is now connected with Kálabágh in Mianwálí by a narrow gauge railway. An extension of this line from Laki to Tánk in the Dera Ismail Khán district has been sanctioned. There are two tahsíls, Bannu and Marwat. The cultivated area is about one-half of the total area. About 30 p.c. of the cultivation is protected by irrigation from small canals taking out of the streams. Most of the irrigation is in the Bannu tahsíl. The greater part of Marwat is a dry sandy tract yielding in favourable seasons large crops of gram. But the harvests on unirrigated land are precarious, for the annual rainfall is only about 12 inches. The irrigated land in Bannu is heavily manured and is often double-cropped. Wheat accounts for nearly half of the whole crops of the district. The Marwats are a frank manly race of good physique. The Bannúchís are hard-working, but centuries of plodding toil on a wet soil has spoiled their bodily development, and had its share in imparting to their character qualities the reverse of admirable. The Deputy Commissioner has also political charge of some 17,884 tribesmen living across the border. There are good metalled roads to Dera Ismail Khán and Kohát, and also one on the Tochí route.

Kohát is a large district, but most of it is unfit for tillage and only one-sixth is actually cultivated. The chief crops are wheat, 44, and bájra, 26 p.c. The district stretches east and west for 100 miles from Khushálgarh on the Indus to Thal at the mouth of the Kurram valley. The two places are now connected by a railway which passes through the district headquarters at Kohát close to the northern border. There are three tahsíls, Kohát, Hangu, and Terí, the last a wild tract of bare hills and ravines occupying the south of the district and covering more than half its area. Two small streams, the Kohát Toi and the Terí Toi, drain into the Indus. The rainfall is fair, but very capricious. The cold weather lasts long and the chill winds that blow during part of it are very trying. The chief tribes are the Bangash Patháns of Hangu and the Khattak Patháns of Terí. The Khán of Terí is head of the Khattaks, a manly race which sends many soldiers to our army. He enjoys the revenue of the tahsíl subject to a quit rent of Rs. 20,000.

Hangu contains in Upper and Lower Miranzai the most fertile land in the district, but the culturable area of the tahsíl 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. Kohát contains a number of salt quarries, the most important being at Bahádur Khel near the Bannu border. The Thal subdivision consisting of the Hangu tahsíl is in charge of an Assistant Commissioner who manages our political relations with transfrontier tribes living west of Fort Lockhart on the Samána Range. The Deputy Commissioner is in direct charge of the Pass Afrídís and the Jowákís and Orakzais in the neighbourhood of Kohát. He and his Assistant between them look after our relations with 144,000 trans-border Patháns. The Samána Rifles, one of the useful irregular corps which keep the peace of the Borderland, have their headquarters at Hangu.