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.
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.”
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.