CHAP. VI.] WILD TRIBES SUBDUED. 121 Another Baluch tribe, which has now strange- Nohani The tribe. ly declined and almost disap- peared, is the Nohani,* the hereditary enemy of the Hots. But their power in the 17th century was strong enough to cause anxiety to the government. Aurangzib at first tried to win over Alam, the Nohani chief, whose lands adjoined those of the Hots and lay across one of the shortest roads from Multan to Qandahar. But his friendly letter produced no effect; the proud chieftain refused to wait on the Governor at Multan. So Aurangzib took steps to expel him by force, after getting sanction from the Emperor. In the Kirthar and Lakhi hills separating Sindh from Baluchistan, dwelt many lawless men of the Nahmardi and Jukia tribes. In Akbar's time the former clan could place in the field more than 7,000 men.f Their strongholds were Bela, (the capital of the district of Las), and Kahra, from which au- Imperial thority recognis- ed in the Baluch hills beyond the Indus,
- "Noh or Nuhani.-Not now found. Said to have been
on the side of the Lasharis against the Rinds" (Dames's Baloch Race, p. 56). "Throughout the Brahui, Baloa, and Lasi tribes, and even among the Sibi Afghans, sections or sub-sections called Nodh, Nodhani, and Nothani, &c. are to be found" (H. Buller's Census of Baluchistan, p. 83). † Adab-i-Alamgiri, 3a, 3b, 4a, 5a. Ain, ii. 337. The Adab-i-Alamgiri mentions Kahra and Bela as 10 stages from the frontier of Tatta, and as the Digitized by Microsoft Ⓡ
