The chief condition imposed, was the surrender of
rifles. A fixed number, based on calculation of wealth and population,
was demanded from each clan. This method of punishment is peculiarly
galling to people whose life is so full of war. No other course was,
however, open but submission, and, promising that the terms should be
complied with, the deputations departed. To stimulate their efforts and
zeal in collecting their arms, the combined movements were delayed for
three days, and the forces remained encamped at Ghosam, near Manda.
I avail myself of this halt to touch, albeit with no little trepidation,
the tangled and obscure subject of tribal politics in Dir and Bajaur.
All the people, incited by their priests, are bitterly hostile to the
British Government, except those benefited by the subsidies paid. They
were now anxious to fight, and were only restrained by a fear which fury
or fanaticism might at any moment overcome. Four principal khans
exercise an authority which varies locally, from absolute dominion to a
shadowy suzerainty, over the whole region.
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