Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
TIRAH
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: THE-TOO
del.icio.us it!
|
TIRAH , a mountainous See also:tract of See also:country on the See also:Peshawar border of the See also:North-See also:west See also:Province of See also:India. It lies between the Khyber Pass and the Khanki Valley, and is inhabited by the See also:Afridi and See also:Orakzai tribes. It is chiefly notable as the See also:scene of the Tirah See also:Campaign of 1897 (see below). It is a cul-de-See also:sac in the mountains, lying off all the roads to India, and the difficulty of its passes and the fierceness of its inhabitants had hitherto preserved it inviolable from all invaders. Tirah comprises an See also:area of some six to seven See also:hundred square See also:miles and includes under this See also:general name all the valleys lying See also:round the source of the Bara See also:river. The five See also:chief valleys are See also:Maidan, Rajgul, Waran, Bara and Mastura. Maidan, the summer See also:home of the Afridis, lies See also:close under the See also:snow-See also:bound ridges of the Safed Koh at an See also:elevation of about 6400 ft. It is an See also:oval See also:plain about seven to eight miles See also:long, and three or four wide, and slopes inwards towards the centre of its See also:northern See also:side, where all the drainage gathered from the four corners of the plain is shot into a narrow corkscrew outlet leading to the Bara Valley. Centuries of detritus accumulated in this See also:basin have filled it up with See also:rich alluvial See also:soil and made it one of the most fertile valleys on the frontier. All its alluvial slopes are terraced and revetted and irrigated till every yard is made productive. Here and there dotted about in clusters all over the plain are square-built two storeyed mud and See also:timber houses, See also:standing in the shade of gigantic See also:walnut and mulberry trees. Up on the hillsides surrounding the Maidan basin are See also:wild See also:olives in wide-grown clumps, almost amounting to See also:forest, and occasional pomegranates. Higher still are the See also:blue pines; but below on the shelving plains are nothing but See also:fruit trees. Rajgul Valley lies north of Maidan, from which it is separated by a steep valley and well-wooded See also:spur, eight to nine thousand feet high, and west of the Bara Valley, which it joins at Dwatoi. It is ten miles long, four to five miles at its widest, and has an elevation of 5000 ft. It is inhabited by the Kuki Khel Afridis. The Waran Valley is another valley about the same See also:size as Maidan, lying See also:east of it, and separated from it by the Tseri-Kandao Pass. It was the home of the Afridi See also:mullah See also:Sayad See also:Akbar. and is the country of the Aka Khels. After the junction of the Rajgul and Maidan drainage at Dwatoi, the See also:united stream receives the name of Bara, and the valley through which it flows down to its exit in the Peshawar Valley is also known by this name. The elevation of the valley is from 5000 ft. at Dwatoi to 2000 at Kajurai; on the north side it is hemmed in by the Surghar range, which divides it from the Bazar Valley; on the See also:south lies another range dividing it from Maidan and the Waran Valley. The See also:heat of the Bara Valley in summer is said to be excessive, See also:malaria is prevalent, and mosquitoes very troublesome, so the hamlets are deserted and the Afridis migrate to the pleasant heights of Maidan. The Mastura Valley occupies the See also:southern See also:half of Tirah, and is inhabited by the Orakzais. It is one of the prettiest valleys on the frontier, lying at an elevation of 6000 ft. The Orakzais live, for the most See also:part, in the Miranzai Valley, in the See also:winter, and See also:retreat to Mastura, like. the Afridis, during the summer months. The chief passes in Tirah are the Sampagha Pass (6500 ft.), separating the Khanki Valley from the Mastura Valley; the Arhanga Pass (699E ft.), separating Mastura Valley from Maidan; See also:Saran Sar (865o ft.), leading from the Zakka Khel portion of Maidan into the Bara Valley; the Tseri Kandao (8575 ft.), separating Maidan from the Waran Valley, and the Sapri Pass (5190 ft.), leading from the east of the Mastura Valley into the Bara Valley in the direction of Mamanai. The whole of Tirah was thoroughly explored and mapped at the See also:time of the Tirah Expedition. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] TIRABOSCHI, GIROLAMO (1731—1794) |
[next] TIRAH CAMPAIGN |