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.
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.
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.