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North Waziristan Agency was an agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas until the region was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018. [1]
The agency was created in 1910 [2] during the British Raj and lay between 32°45′ and 33°15′N. and 69°30′ and 70º40'E with an area of about 2,310 square miles. [3]
| Northern | ||
|---|---|---|
| 33°15′N70°05′E / 33.250°N 70.083°E | ||
| Western | Eastern | |
| 33°00′N69°30′E / 33.000°N 69.500°E | 33°00′N70°40′E / 33.000°N 70.667°E | |
| Southern | ||
| 32°45′N70°05′E / 32.750°N 70.083°E | ||
The agency was bounded on the north and east by the Districts of Kohat and Bannu, and on the south by the Shaktu stream, from the point where it enters Bannu to Shuidar at its head. From Shuidar the boundary followed the eastern watershed of the Shawal valley as far as Drenashtar Sar, and then ran north-east along the Durand Line to Kohisar in the country of the Kabul Khel Wazīrs and Biland Khel. [3] [4]
The Agency therefore encompassed four broad and fertile valleys. To the north lay the Lower Kurram Valley, situated between the upper reaches of the Kurram River and Bannu District. Adjacent to it was the Kaitu Valley, followed by Daurset in the Tochi Valley—which was the most open and agriculturally rich of the four. To the south stretched the Khaisora Valley. [3]
Between the Kaitu and Tochi valleys lay two arid plains: the Sheratulla and, further north near Miram Shah, the Dande—each covering roughly 30 square miles. Another plateau, known as the Spereragha, smaller but similar in character to the Sheratulla, was located between the Kurram and Kaitu valleys. [3]
Apart from these exceptions, the valleys were divided by high, barren hills. The highest point in the region was Shuidar, rising to 11,000 feet at the western end of the Khaisora Valley. These hills were primarily composed of Eocene-era sandstone and conglomerate, interspersed with prominent limestone outcrops. Their surfaces were layered with loose, friable soil that, during floods, washed into the streams and enriched the valley floors with fertile silt. [3]
The lowlands were prone to malaria and generally unhealthy from August through October. During the summer, people would migrate to the Shuidar highlands, where the climate was quite pleasant. [3]
In contrast to South Waziristan (where the Mehsuds were in the majority), the North Waziristan Agency was dominated by the Wazir tribe. [5]
Apart from the Daurs inhabiting the Daur Valley, the population of Northern Waziristan largely consisted of members of the Darwesh Khel branch of the Wazir tribe. This branch was divided into two principal sections: the Utmanzai and the Ahmadzai, each comprising numerous sub-clans. [3]
British colonial authorities regarded the Darwesh Khel as among the most difficult of the Pashtun tribes to control. Their persistent raids against the Daurs culminated in a formal appeal for protection in 1894, prompting the Daurs to petition the British Government. As a result, the Daur region was placed under direct administrative control, whereas the Wazirs remained subject only to political oversight. [3]
Under the agreement made with Abdur Rahman Khan, the Amir of Afghanistan in 1893, the boundary of that State was demarcated [3] in 1894-5 without apparent opposition from the Darwesh Khel. Raids into British territory, however, continued, and in 1897 troops were sent from Datakhel to enforce the collection of a fine which had been imposed on the village of Maizar. The villagers then attacked this force, killing five British officers and men, and as a punishment their lands were laid waste by a military expedition. The tribe then submitted, and the Wazirs held aloof from the subsequent risings on the north-west frontier, though their raids continued. For some years the tract between Thal and the Tochi in the Lower Kurram valley inhabited by the Kabul Khel section of the Utmanzai remained a safe have, in which a number of outlaws from British territory found a refuge. [4]
Finally, in November, 1902, columns entered it from the Tochi Valley, Bannu, and Thal. The tribesmen offered little opposition, but at Gumatti a gang of men made a desperate resistance. All towers were blown up and their rebuilding had not been permitted. Large numbers of rebels (about 250) surrendered themselves after the operations, and the country has since been opened by the tribe to the passage of troops and British officers. Roads have been made from Thal to Idak in the Tochi and to Bannu. Peace was then kept in the Tochi valley, the only portion of the Agency which had been administered, by a militia corps of 1,318 men, of whom 106 are mounted, the regular troops having been withdrawn in 1904. [6] [4]
After Pakistan became independent in 1947, North Waziristan Agency became part of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas - it eventually became the district of North Waziristan in 2018 when FATA was merged into the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. [7]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .This article incorporates text from the Imperial Gazetteer of India , a publication now in the public domain.