Page:Provincial geographies of India (Volume 1).djvu/25

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I]
AREAS AND BOUNDARIES
5

on in a south-westerly direction to the Safed Koh, and then strikes west along it to the Sikaram mountain near the Paiwar Kotal at the head of the Kurram valley. From Sikaram the frontier runs south and south-east crossing the upper waters of the Kurram, and dividing our possessions from the Afghan province of Khost. This line was demarcated in 1894.

At the south of the Kurram valley the frontier sweeps round to the west leaving in the British sphere the valley of the Tochi. Turning again to the south it crosses the upper waters of the Tochi and passes round the back of Waziristan by the Shawal valley and the plains about Wana to Domandi on the Gomal river, where Afghanistan, Biluchistan, and the North West Frontier Province meet. The Waziristan boundary was demarcated in 1895.

Political and Administrative Boundaries.—The boundary described above defines spheres of influence, and only in the Kurram valley does it coincide with that of the districts for whose orderly administration we hold ourselves responsible. All we ask of Wazirs, Afridis, or Mohmands is to leave our people at peace; we have no concern with their quarrels or blood feuds, so long as they abide in their mountains or only leave them for the sake of lawful gain. Our administrative boundary, which speaking broadly we took over from the Sikhs, usually runs at the foot of the hills. A glance at the map will show that between Peshawar and Kohat the territory of the independent tribes comes down almost to the Indus. At this point the hills occupied by the Jowaki section of the Afridi tribe push out a great tongue eastwards. Our military frontier road runs through these hills, and we actually pay the tribesmen of the Kohat pass for our right of way. Another tongue of tribal territory reaches right down to the Indus, and almost severs the Peshawar and Hazara districts. Further