General Aspect and Configuration

The shape of the district may be very roughly compared with a figure of eight. Just as its narrowest point an off-shoot of the Salt range bisects the district into two nearly equal valleys, or more correctly hill-encircled plains. To the west of this dividing wedge, which runs from north to south, and is mainly in the Kohat district, lie the sandy Marwat plain, the green oasis occupied by the Bannuchis, the Waziri settlements, and some Thal country in the Jagir of the Khattak chief: Looking east-wards the eye first rests on the rain-watered clayey uplands of Isakhel furrowed by the sandy beds of two large hill torrents, the Chichali and the Biroch. Those uplands slope gently down to the low-lying alluvial tract known as the Kacha. The eye notes its level expanse, its cultivated laud, and the dark greenness of its clumps of shisham trees, and beyond them the silver brightness of the mighty Indus, and sees still further east the Mianwali plain with the Salt Range and the Sakesar hill (4,992 feet) in the background. Of the two great. valleys into which the district is thus divided, the western is the finer, because, besides containing the highly irrigated and well timbered Bannuchi country, it is entirely surrounded by mountains, amongst which Pirghal (11,583 feet) and Shiwidar (10,998 feet), Kafirkot (4,004 feet), Gabar (6,378 feet), and Sheikh Badin (4,516 feet) are conspicuous, while far away to the south appears the massive plateau-like crest of the Takht-i-Suleman (11,292 feet), and to the north the everlasting snows of the Sufaid Koh Range. The eastern valley commands a view of no lofty peaks, and to the south merges into an interminable flat Thal country, but it contains some charming park-like scenery in the alluvial bed of the Indus. Besides these two great valleys, two other tracts require passing mention, the network of hills north of Kalabagh, known as Bangikhel, and Pakhar, [1] the tract east of the Salt Range received from Jhelam in 1862.

Scenery

The absence of trees, except in parts irrigated from the Kuram or subject to Indus inundation, the bareness of the hills immediately surrounding the district, and the dazzling glare of the sun, are serious drawbacks to scenic effect. On these grounds Bannu as a district can hardly be called picturesque. Still about sunrise or sunset or in the spring time, when the rains have been seasonable, or on a cloudy day, there are few parts where one or more views would not be described by that comprehensive epithet. And here and there beautiful spots are to be found, and charming views to be obtained. Thus, nothing can be prettier or more idyllic than the scenery in Bannu proper [2] on a May morning, when every Bannuchi is out harvesting. The yellow corn, the green trees, the murmuring water, the reapers both men and women, the white pet-lambs or sheep with their tinkling bells in every field, and lastly the abrupt grey hills in the back-ground, make up as sweet a picture of peace and content as can be seen in any country. Then if you wish to see nature on a grand scale go into the Bhangikhel hills or ascend either Sakesar or Sheikh Badin and from the first your eyes will feast on snowy peaks and wild gloomy glens; from the second they will see views of rare beauty and softness; and from the third looking eastwards they will rest on a strange lifeless picture of weird desolation. Gazing west from Sheikh Badin on an August evening after a fall of rain you will see the portals of heaven open and close before your eyes, as the sun sinks behind the Suleman mountains, and the colours of his dying glory change and fade away into gloom. Amongst fine views should be included that of the Indus and the eastern valley from a little conical hill at Mari, where the "Kalabagh diamonds" (quartz crystals) are found and which is crowned by an old Hindu ruin, also that of a dust-storm seen from Sheikh Badin as it sweeps southwards over the Marwat plain. Amongst picturesque spots may be mentioned Nammal, just beyond the Dhak Pass in Mianwali, also Kalabagh and Mari on the Indus, and Kotki in the throat of Chichali Pass.

Physical Features; Mountains

Natives seem to have no one comprehensive name for a range of hills, hence each will here be referred to by what is its best known or most appropriate designation, some of the more common names being also noted where necessary.

Waziri Hills

The wall of mountains collectively termed the Waziri hills, which bound the district on the west, is independent Waziristan. The highest is the Gabar (6,378 feet). It is the natural sanitarium of the district, and though its summit is only about 30 miles south-west of Edwardesabad, it was never visited by an Englishman, until Captain St. Barbe Browne, 3rd Panjab Cavalry, ascended it in May 1878. [3]

Bitanni Range

A little south of the Gabar the Suleman Range throws out towards Sheikh Badin a low spur of crumbling sand stone hills known as the Bitanni Range. It is held by independent Bittanis as far south as the Kharoba torrent, whence it is in British territory, the watershed from the Bain Pass eastwards forming the boundarybetween the Dera Ismail Khan and Bannu districts. This Bitanni Range comes to an end at the Pezu Pass. Immediately to its east rises the Sheikh Badin mountain, which will be presently described.

Sheikh Badin Range

From Sheikh Badin, a low spur runs east-north-east as far as theKuram at the Tang Darra, and except towards its eastern extremity serves to separate this district from that of Dera Ismail Khan. Like the Bittanni Range, this Sheikh Badin Range is mostly composed of soft sandstone, and is rapidly disintegrating. No doubt much of the sandy surface soil of southern Marwat has been formed by denudation from this and other neighboring ranges. Of its several names the best known amongst us is the Sheikh Badin or Marwat Range, and among natives Shin Char or Saba Roh.

View of Sheikh Badin Range

View of Lakki Cement Factory & Lower Marwat Plains from Sheikh Badin Ghundai (half-way to the top)

Maidani Range & Bhangi Khel Salt Range

From Tang Darra northwards runs the spur or range already mentioned as dividing the district into two pretty equal halves. As far as the Mitha Khattak torrent, these hills are very low, and entirely in this district, their watershed separating the Marwat from the Isakhel tahsil. North of the Mitha Khattak torrent this spur rises to an average height of over 2,000 feet above the level of the plain, and breaks into two chief ridges, the eastern one of which separates Isakhel from the Khattak country, and trending in a north-east direction, curves round to Kalabagh. The whole spur has numerous names, the best known of which are the Khattak or the Maidani Pahar; the latter from the hamlet and valley of Maidan, near its centre and highest point (4,256 feet). The eastern face of this range forms a bold and almost impracticable scarpment of cliffs. Then beds of lignite and black shale (rol), from which latter alum is manufactured, are found throughout the range. Above Kalabagh are the Bhangi hills, a wild stony country of parallel ridges and deep gullies, with here and there small culturable glens between. From opposite the locally famous Dangkot hill, in Bhangikhel about six miles up the Indus from Kalabagh, that portion of the Salt Range which extends from the Indus to the Sakesar hill may be said to commence. It separates the Awans from the Pathans of Mianwali, contains some fairly good grazing and Urial (mountain sheep) shooting grounds, and in the hollows and glens, patches of cultivation are to be met with.

View of Bangi Khel Salt Range from Darra Tang

Sheikh Badin Mountain

The two existing sanitaria of the district remain to be described. Sheikh Badin [4] (4,516 feet) or as the natives call it ghund, i.e., "the hill," rises abruptly from the south-west end of the Sheikh Badin Range and owes the preservation of its original eminence to its being capped with a great mass of imperishable limestone. This mountain is on the extreme south of the district, and its top is 64 miles by road from Edwardesabad. Its summit, which is now both crowned and crowded with 15 bungalows, besides many other buildings, has been a hot weather retreat for Europeans from Dera Ismail Khan and Edwardesabad almost since annexation. A first class road runs from Pezu up to the station, and a made pathway, practicable for horses and laden oxen and donkeys, leads directly to and from the village of Khairakhel Sarga, and is much used by natives and active Englishmen. The hill itself is bare and ugly, and the amount of available space included within the limits of the station is very small. Besides grass; which in good years, notwithstanding the shallowness of the gravelly soil, is abundant; little else grows on the hill. A few stunted wild olives and some phulahi acacias and dwarf palms are to be seen amongst the rocks and in sheltered nooks. As a sanitarium Sheikh Badin is salubrious, but from the middle of June until the July or August rains come, the heat during the day is very great, the thermometer often ranging between 88° and 93° inside a bungalow. During the summer a steady breeze, usually springs up about 10 A.M. and blows from the south nearly all day long. This, in conjunction with the dryness of the atmosphere, makes the heat less perceptible than it otherwise would be. In June and July a punkah is, however; almost a necessity during the three or four weeks of greatest heat. The chief want of the station is water, there being no springs on the hill at all. Six large masonry tanks now partially obviate this want, but every third or fourth year the stored water is expended before the supply is replenished by rain, and the residents are for several weeks put to great expense in consequence, and the Marwat and Paniala villagers to great inconvenience. Though the tanks catch much of the drainage from the bungalows and other buildings, and their water must therefore be far from pure, no evil consequences have yet resulted. Doctor Verchere published an account of the sanitarium in the supplement to the Punjab Gazette, dated 11th February 1865, which maybe advantageously consulted. As a summer head-quarters for the Deputy Commissioner of Bannu, Sheikh Badin is quite as accessible and convenient as Edwardesabad for residents of any tahsil except that of Bannu; but whenever water is scarce, the people feel it a hardship going up there.

Sakesar Hill

The cis-Indus sanitarium is Sakesar (4,992 feet) at the extreme east of the district. Of the actual summit this district only possesses a small portion, all the rest being within the Shahpur district. Sakesar is a charming hill, and, unlike Sheikh Budin, has plenty of space and generally plenty of water derived from springs, tanks and one well near its summit. It is very grassy, and can boast of a number of small trees and shrubs. The climate resembles that of Sheikh Badin, but is not so dry, and is perhaps a trifle cooler. Sakesar is the summer head-quarters of the Assistant Commissioner, when there is one in charge of the Mianwali sub-division. His bungalow, owing to late additions is now a handsome roomy building. Unfortunately it is situated about 600 feet below the top of the hill, and about 300 feet below the shoulder on which the Shahpur station is built, hence the position is rather hotter and more isolated than it need have been. The well and several springs are, however, close by. [5]

Indus and Its Bed

Piercing the Salt Range immediately above Kalabagh through a narrow channel of its own boring, the Indus enters this district, and flows placidly on with a fall of about one foot to the mile in a southerly direction for the next forty miles of its course. Freed from its mountain barriers, it rapidly spreads out in the plain until its bed from bank to bank attains, a few miles above Isakhel, a maximum width of nearly thirteen miles. Within this bed are a network of shifting channels, in one or other of which the Main stream rolls on. About 40 years ago the great body of the Indus flowed on the Isakhel side, but yet sufficiently far from the high bank to leave between a strip of rich alluvial soil, varying from half a mile to two miles in width. By degrees the river encroached on this strip, until shortly after annexation the whole fertile zone had been submerged. About 1856 a change of course commenced, but was so gradual at first as almost to escape notice. Still the main stream was reverting to an old channel on the Mianwali side, and between 1863 and 1864 the process was completed. Hardly then was the important fact that a great river had capriciously shifted its bed about eight miles eastwards fully realized by the district officials. The cause of the reversion is popularly ascribed to the cutting in 1856 of a short canal below Kalabagh to connect an old and almost dry channel on the Mianwali side with the Indus. This diverted some water, and on the 26th August of the following year came down a tremendous flood, which converted this small cut into a broad deep channel. From 1864 to 1871 the Indus kept hugging its left bank closer and closer, engulfing village after village in its bed, and even undermining its old high bank and eroding the old villages which had crowned it for over one hundred years. Thus Pakki, Mochh, Rokhri, Shahbazkhel, Yarukhel, Mianwali (including part of the civil station), Ballukhel, Kundi and Piplan have partly or wholly been destroyed. But since 1873 the river has relaxed its pressure on its left bank, and has taken a central set against villages whose lands had been hitherto left untouched, and consequently the richest and best in its bed. Already about 25,000 acres of cultivated land have suffered diluvion. At the same time some of the channels on the Isakhel side are again becoming wider, and their volume of water seems year by year to be increasing. That the Indus is ever shifting its channels from side to side of its capacious bed is a fact; but why it does so, is very puzzling. Should its main stream a few years hence run midway between its banks, as seems not unlikely, the course will be a new one, and one which will destroy the oldest and best cultivated lands and shisham blocks in its bed. The depth of the Indus is given as follows:

• At Kalabagh, in summer: 48 feet; in winter: 30 feet
• At Mochh, in summer: 35 feet; in winter: 18 feet
• At Mianwali, in summer: 30 feet; in winter: 15 feet

The Kurram River

The Kurram rises in the southern slopes of the Sufed Koh, and after traversing the countries of the Tori and Bangash tribes, forms for a few miles the western boundary of the Kohat district, then rushes through mountains held by Kabulkhel and Darweshkhel Wazirs, and finally debouches into British territory about five miles north-west of Edwardesabad (Bannu). For the first ten miles of its course through this district its bed is filled with stones and boulders, its stiff clay banks rise abruptly on either side to a height of from 10 to 30 feet, and its width from bank to bank varies from a quarter to three-quarters of a mile. Below the point where the stony bed merges into one of clay and sand, the width increases, and the banks are less precipitous and composed of less cohesive materials. In places long stretches of marsh and swampy ground lie between the flowing stream and the uplands on either side. Such ground is not unsuited as pasture land for cattle, especially bufffaloes, and in places produces enormous quantities of reeds, which are highly prized for thatching purposes. After traversing the tahsils of Bannu and Marwat in a south-easterly direction, the Kurram breaks through some low sandstone hills at a point called Tang Darra or Darra Tang (narrow pass), and empties itself into a branch stream of the Indus by numerous channels a few miles further eastward. In its diagonal course of about 60 miles through the district the Kurram falls fully 700 feet. Its pace is consequently very rapid. Except in the winter and early spring months its water is always surcharged with a rich fertilizing silt, drawn down from an immense catchment area of hills and valleys. This river is therefore of the highest value as an irrigator, and is extensively used as such both in the hills and in this district. It is subject to sudden and prolonged rises, and, as it is nowhere yet bridged, crossing it is sometimes impossible for several days at a time. In April 1878 the 4th Punjab Infantry were detained on its left bank within a mile of cantonments for a whole week. The bottom, too, being very treacherous, except where it is stony, renders its passage by camels at Tang Darra and Daddiwala always more or less risky. The unwary beast which wanders a foot or two aside from the beaten track is sure to be embogged The Tang Darra crossing is that generally used except between June and September, when the only tolerably safe and practicable ford for laden camels is that opposite cantonments. A bridge at this point is the greatest commercial and military want of the district, but as it would cost not less than two lakhs of rupees, there is little prospect of one being made for many years to come.

Tochi or Gambila River

The only other perennial stream in the district containing more than a driblet of water is the Tochi. It emerges from the hills about six miles south of the point of entrance of the Kurram, and runs nearly parallel to that stream for some distance, but finally joins it three miles below Lakki. In the hills and within the limits of the Bannu Tahsil, the stream is locally termed Tochi, but once it enters the Marwat country, it is known as the Gambila. Compared to the Kurram it is a small mountain brook, its flood lasting seldom more than twelve hours after the cessation of rain in the hills, whilst those in the Kurram last for several days. As an irrigator it is of more value to the independent inhabitants of the Dawar valley, than to our fellow subjects in this district. The Bakkakhel Wazirs, and Miri and Barakzai Bannuchis depend on it for the irrigation of a large portion of their lands. In five years out of six the supply, though never superabundant, is sufficient, but occasionally when no rain falls in the hills in the spring and early summer months, it fails, and the rabi crops are burnt up. Its bed is generally narrow with steep precipitous banks on either side. Two miles east of the village of Hawed it is joined by a hill torrent, known as far as the Akra mounds as the Wuch Barn, but thence as the Lohra. At the point where the change of name takes place are numerous springs, owing to which and the discharge of spill from the Kachkot canal into its bed, the Tochi may be called a perennial stream.

View of Gambila River

View of Gambila River

Confluence of Kurram and Gambila Rivers

Trans-Indus Plains

The valley of the Kurram and Gambila, containing the tahsils of Bannu and Lakki, is in shape an irregular oval, its length from plates north to south about 60 miles, and its breadth from the Maidani hills to the western border about 40 miles. Surrounded on all sides by hills, the valley itself is open and comparatively level, its soil composed of thick deposits of Calcareous Lacustrine clay, often 40 and 50 Feet in depth, and underlain by coarse gravel, or in places by masses of rounded pebbles. Only here and there, as at Akra and at a few spots near the foot of the western hills, slight eminences have escaped erosion and stand out above the level of the plain. In the lower part of the valley there are a great admixture of sand in the soil. Indeed the eastern portion of the Marwat tahsil has been described as "in parts sandy with a tolerably productive soil beneath", and "in parts pure sand." Even from this Infertile soil, however, good crops are raised. Proceeding up the valley, the sand decreases, and the country assumes at every mile an appearance more and more smiling. Not a yard of land remains uncultivated, and the country is dotted thickly with villages, trees and gardens. Irrigation cuts from the Kurram flow between sloping grassy banks, and impart an air of freshness, and prettiness, unknown to other parts of the frontier districts. Round this fertile centre runs a zone of sandy waste, and beyond the sand again a circling zone of hills, while through its midst runs the stream of the Kurram and Gambila.

The Nar

The Nar is a tract of country lying on the boundary between the Bannu and Marwat sub-divisions, and its name signifies "fire". Prior to the annexation of the province it was a waste jungle, inhabited only by roving families of professional thieves; the continual enmity that existed between the Bannuchis and Marwats being sufficient to negative any attempt to bring it under cultivation. Major Edwardes and his successors in the district early directed their attention to it, connecting it by a new cut with one of the Kurram canals. The Bannuchis soon spread over the whole, and it is now for the most part under cultivation. Its area is about 10,000 acres. It lies partly in Marwat and partly in Bannu. At annexation it was declared Government property and granted to persons who had done good service. A part of it, known as Haram-i-tala, was given to the Bittannis. It is now extensively cultivated. From a social point of view, the reclamation of this waste has been of incalculable benefit, as affecting the safety of life and property in its neighbourhood. "When I was in Bannu in 1851," writes the officer who conducted one of the Summary settlements of the district, "the nar was a large jungly tract, a stronghold and ambuscade for thieves and murderers. During my present residence in the district (1857-58), there has hardly been a case of violence in this formerly lawless region."

The Trans-Indus Thal

Below the hills, and intervening on three sides between them The Trans-Indus and the cultivated plains, is a strip of country known as the Thal. It is bare and stony, receiving no irrigation from the mountain torrents, which sweep through it at a low level, having cut out deep courses for themselves below the surface. It is a wild undulating waste, not exactly a desert, because it affords pasturage to vast herds during the winter months, but to all intents and purposes a wilderness. Immediately below the hills its surface is a layer of gravel, dotted with loose stones washed down by the annual floods; as the circle contracts towards the plains, the gravel gives place to sand which extends to the limits of the alluvial soil that fills the central portion of the valley. But, barren though they appear, both sand and stony ground require only rain to render them productive of abundant crops; the rainfall, however, being scanty, the normal appearance of the Thal is, as described, a wilderness dotted with scrubby vegetation and prickly bushes of camel-thorn. Such are the characteristics of the Thal below the Khattak and Waziri hills. On the south, the scene at the foot of the Marwat hills is still more desolate. Here there is little or nothing for some miles below the hills but one expanse of sandy soil, which, however barren as it is to the eye, is extensively cultivated in good years. Water is far below the surface, so far that the people cannot afford to sink wells. Their water-supply is derived from tanks, in which a scanty store is caught during the rainy season; but these dry up invariably in hot weather, and the sole resource of the people lies in fetching their water from some distant spring. One village in particular is mentioned on the road to the Pezu Pass from Lakki, the inhabitants of which have to fetch water all the way from the Gambila, a distance of over 14 miles. Government has lately sunk two wells at Domeli and Mangiwala.

Domel Plains

To the south and east of the Khattak-Maidani hills lies the valley of the Indus. The river passes through the line of hills at Kalabagh, and from this point the hills rapidly recede from the river back, until at 20 miles from Kalabagh they reach a distance of 14 miles. From this point, the width intervening between the hills and the river gradually decreases again until opposite Isakhel it measures barely five miles. South of the river Kurram, the hills again project to the river bank. The semi-circle thus enclosed between the hills and river is level and open, the soil intrinsically good, and, where irrigated by hills streams, productive of the best crops. A strip of Thal land, resembling that of Bannu proper, skirts the hill. Towards the south a considerable area is irrigated from the Kurram.

Bangikhel District

North of Kalabagh, and between the termination of the Khattak hills and the Indus, is the outlying district of Bangikhel. It is a rugged tract, broken up by rough lines of hill, irregular, but having in the main a direction from north to south. It is inhabited by the Bangikhel Pashtoons, a hardy race, who make the best of an unkind soil; but to raise a crop of even the coarsest grain is a task requiring patient labor and a continuance of favorable weather. The highest point in their Bangikhel country is the peak of Bangalli, 2,864 feet above the sea.

Cis-Indus Plains

Beyond the Indus lies the tahsil of Mianwali. The river is skirted by a low alluvial tract, called the Kacha, ranging in width from nine miles to three, and met abruptly on its inner edge by the high bank of the Central Thal, a continuation of the Thal of Shahpur and Dera Ismail Khan. The Kacha is intersected everywhere by offshoots from the river, dry during the winter months, but flooded during the rains, sometimes moderately, but more often in excess of the wants of the country. Large portions of it are brought under cultivation, and the remainder is overgrown with, tall grass, giving fine pasturage to large herds of cattle. Trees, too, are plentiful, especially the ber (Zizyphus Jajaba), which here grows to a considerable size, while in the northern portion is a fine forest of Sissa. [6]

Saga Watan of Lower Marwat Plains

General account of the Hill Torrents of the district

Being surrounded by hills the plain-portion of the district receives the discharge of numerous hill torrents, most of which are more or less utilized as irrigators. None of these torrents have any perennial flow, but several are to a small extent constant during the cold weather. [7] The area so irrigated is, however, very insignificant. The supply of water, then, in the hill torrents of the district only continues whilst rain is falling within their catchment areas, and for at most a few hours after the rain has ceased. Again, as the catchment areas are not large, and as the rainfall of the district and surrounding hills is very scant, and condensed into heavy discharges now and again, it follows that the absolute amount of water drained off into the plains is not very large, and that much when it does come runs to waste, the humble contrivances of the zamindars being unequal to the stemming and storing of sudden floods. Then the beds of many of the streams in the plain have in the course of ages become so deepened that they now defy all the irrigation efforts of the peasantry. This is particularly the case in the two frontier tahsils. In them, once the water passes beyond the stony girdle skirting the hills, and enters the soft deep cohesive soil beyond, the bed of the stream sinks suddenly to from 40 to 150 feet and more below the surrounding level of the country, and defies all efforts to arrest and raise it. In such a soil the banks of the channels are abrupt, wall-like and unperceivable until you are on them. "As you ride along," Mr. Lyall has remarked about them, "in an apparently un-broken plain you are suddenly brought up by finding yourself on the verge of one of these canons." The hill torrents of the two Indus tahsils have, as a rule, broader and shallower beds, the reason probably being that the gravelly or sandy subsoil found at from ten to fifty feet below the surface tends to arrest degradation.

Hill Torrent Irrigation of Each Tahsil

Bannu: This tahsil has three great "Nalas". The largest is the Kashucum Fur, which flows from the Khattak country through the eastern Waziri Thal. Owing to the depth of its bed and brackishness of its water it is almost useless as an irrigator. The other two are the Khisor (Khesra) and the Shaktu from independent Waziristan. Both are utilized by the Bakkakhel and Janikhel Wazirs. Both are good torrents, and have a small but almost constant flow in the cold weather. When water is plentiful, it is applied on the Saroba-Paina principle; when scarce, by shares and turns. The cultivated Naladar or hill-torrent area of the tahsil is 17,421 acres.