They still appear to suffer from the evil reputation they bore for many years. “The very name Dawari,” says Oliver, “is a byword of reproach.... An object of supreme contempt to his warlike neighbours, the Wazirs, he is even looked upon as a bad character by a Bannuchi. Worse, probably, could not be said of him. To call him dirty would be almost a compliment; his clothes, usually black cotton to start with, are worn till they would be considered malodorous by a Ghilzai.... His complexion naturally inclines to yellow. He is essentially a non-fighting man and an unenterprising man; he is ready for any robbery and to back up any villainy, but he has not energy or pluck enough to venture out of his valley to attempt it.... The fringe of warlike tribes by which the valley is surrounded has, however, really been its protection from annexation over and over again. It seems to have been included in the Mogul Empire during the time of Aurangzebe, whose son, Bahadur Shah, is said to have levied in person some heavy arrears from the wealthy inhabitants. The Durani lieutenants occasionally used their armies from Khost to extort revenue; and there are stories of a shadowy Sikh jurisdiction, but which really relate to mere forays. Though Dawar has at different times been nominally subject to the Kabul authorities, practically it has been perfectly independent. In 1855 the Government of India renounced any rights in favour of the Amir, Dost Muhammad, though neither he nor his successors were ever strong enough to enter into possession, and the sovereign rights of Kabul remained just as imaginary as before.”

The Dawar country is entered from British territory by the valleys of the Tochi, Baran and Khaisora Rivers.

The tribe has the following clans:

1. The Tappizad. 2. The Idak. 3. The Mallizad.

Trouble with the Dawaris

After the annexation of the Punjab, the first occasion on which we came into collision with the Dawaris was in 1851, when they attacked a police guard in charge of camels belonging to the Latammar post. They were quiet for twenty years, and then in 1870 they gave shelter and assistance to the Muhammad Khel Wazirs, then in open rebellion against the British Government; and subsequent inquiry revealed the fact that, while outwardly aiding the local civil authorities, they were advising the Wazirs to oppose us. There was a general settlement in September 1871, when all those tribes who had assisted the Muhammad Khels were fined. The men of Upper Dawar paid their share of the tribal fine, but the men of Lower Dawar declined to do so, and insulted and assaulted our messengers. Subsequently they sent a specially insulting letter to the district officer.

Such conduct from a petty tribe could not, of course, be tolerated, and Brigadier-General C. P. Keyes, C.B., commanding the Punjab Frontier Force, was directed to march to the Tochi Pass on the 6th March, 1872, taking with him all the troops available in garrison at Bannu. The operations were not to be protracted over twenty-four hours. On the 6th, then, General Keyes moved out towards the Tochi Pass with a force of two guns, 149 sabres and 1412 bayonets, having previously sent on 1000 friendly levies to seize and hold the Shinkai Kotal at the western end of the pass. These levies were, however, but indifferently armed, and being attacked by the hostile tribesmen, they abandoned the position before General Keyes could send them any support. It was now expected that the Dawaris would hold the pass against us, and the alternative of advancing by the longer route through the Khaisora Pass was considered; but fortunately it was resolved to keep to the original plan, for, when the advance was resumed, the crest of the pass was found to be unoccupied, and the Shinkai Kotal was gained on the morning of the 7th without opposition.

The guns were with difficulty dragged up the ascent, and then the General, pushing on with the cavalry, found himself, at the end of an hour’s ride up the rocky bed of the stream, at the edge of a broad plateau with the three refractory Dawari villages—Haidar Khel, Hassu Khel and Aipi—in front. Some of the Hassu Khel maliks came forward to beg for terms, the nature of which was communicated to them; they agreed to our demands but asked for time; but while the amount of the fines was being collected, the men of Haidar Khel became very defiant in their demeanour and were evidently preparing for an attack upon the advanced troops. The infantry and guns now arrived and assurances of submission were repeated, but on the force advancing to destroy some of the towers—the destruction of which was part of our conditions of peace—the enemy suddenly opened fire on the troops from behind walls and houses. The 1st Sikhs at once stormed the closed gates of the village of Haidar Khel, the 4th Sikhs and 1st Punjab Infantry took the defenders on either flank, while the cavalry, moving round in rear, sabred the men who were now evacuating the village. The rest then surrendered, and all three villages yielded unconditionally to our demands, when the force retired, no opposition of any kind being encountered during the return march.

Alarms and Excursions

After this punishment the conduct of the Dawaris was satisfactory up to 1876, when several serious offences were committed, and the Dawaris evading surrender of the offenders, a blockade of Lower Dawar was instituted, and was kept up until the tribe submitted in June 1878. During the Afghan war, the men of both Upper and Lower Dawar were concerned in raids on the Thal-Bannu and Thal-Kurram roads. In April 1880 Dawaris joined with the Wazirs in an attack upon the Baran militia post, and on the Chapri post in the following month; and it was suggested that opportunity should be taken of the operations of 1881 against the Mahsud Wazirs, to visit the Dawar Valley and inflict punishment on its inhabitants. Eventually these measures were not sanctioned by the Government of India; the mere threat of coercion, however, appears to have been sufficient, and the conduct of the Dawaris at once improved and has since remained very fairly satisfactory.