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Imperial Gazetteer of India, v. 17, p. 25.

MAM UDS 25 Apozai (Fort Sandeman), which were revised after the attack made by them on the Delimitation Commission at Wand in November, 1894. . The Mahsüd country is a tangled mass of mountains and hills of every size, shape, and bearing, and is intersected in all directions by ravines generally flanked through their course by high hills. At first sight the whole region appears to be occupied by hills and mountains running irregularly in all directions; but there are well-defined ranges which protect the interior of the country by double barriers, and make penetration into it a matter of extreme difficulty. The Mahsûds claim descent from Mahsad, son of Mahmtrd, son of Khizri, son of Wazir, and are divided into three main branches: namely, Alizai, Shaman Khel, and Bahlolzai, each of which is subdivided into countless sections and sub-sections. The fighting strength of the three branches is estimated at-Alizai, 4,042 ; Shaman Khel (including Urmars), 2,466 ; and Bahlolzai, 4,088: a total of 10,596. Notwith- standing the differences in their fighting strengths, the three branches divide the tribal profits and liabilities into three equal shares among themselves. The Punjab Government described the Mahsûds in' 1881 as follows :-- `Notorious as the boldest of robbers, they are more worthily admired for the courage which they show in attack and in hand-to-hand fighting with the sword. From the early days of British rule in the Punjab' few tribes on the frontier have given greater or more continuous trouble, and none have been more daring or more persistent in disturbing the peace of British territory. It is no exaggeration to say that for the first twenty years after annexation not a month passed without some serious crime, such as cattle-lifting, robbery accompanied by murder, being committed by armed bands of marauders from the Mahstid hills.' The description is still applicable, though the behaviour of the tribe has been good since the blockade of 1goi. The redistribution of the allowances granted to the tribe in 1895, after the close of the Mahsad - expedition, was made with special reference to the reorganization of the whole scheme of rnaliks. The principle which underlies the new arrangement was that the power and influence of a limited number of leading naaliks in the tribe, and more particularly in their respective sections, should be enhanced by every possible means, so as in the first place to enable them to control their respective sections as effectively as possible, and secondly to enable Government to deal with a definite number of tribal representatives. The plan broke down completely, for Government was unable to protect the malihs, and the nialiks consequently were reluctant to exert such authority as they had. The state of the border went from had to worse between 1895 and 1goo, when the tribe was put under