r86 ST~f1T STAT
Khàn .(Muhamtnad Sharif) béing in exile in Swàt. Ever since x884
Umrà Khàn had been coquétting with the British authorities, in the
hope of being furnished with rifles and ammunition. - In r89a he-
accepted, in return for a subsidy, thé task of keeping postaY commun -
cations open with Çhitràl, and thereafter began to intrigue, on the death ,
of the great lVlehtar Amàn-ul-mulk, in the affairs of that country. Thé
Asmàr boundary commission in r8g4 augménted the coolness between
the Government and Umrâ Khàn, which came to open hostility in the
next year (see CHITRAL), and as a result of his defeat Umrâ Khàn fled
in r896 to Kàbul. The Khàn of Dir at once returned to power and
entered into agreements with the Government for keeping the Chitrâl
road open, without toll, as also did the élans of Swàt, subsidies being
granted to both. In the~year aftér the Chitràl expédition, thé Political
Agency of Dir and Swàt was constituted, and posts were built at~
Chakdarra, in Lower Swàt, the Malakand, and lOargai in the Rànizai
country. Chitràl was shortly added as an apanage of . the Agency,
having hitherto been connected with Gilgit. 1'he disturbance of the
country caused by the events of r8g5, the intrigues of Afghàn officials,
and the natural animosity of the religious classes after a period of
apparent calm, during which the title of Nawàb was conferred on thé
Khàn of Dir, led to the rising of î89q, in which a determined effort
was made by thé tribesmen, mustered by the Mullà Mastàn (` Mad
Mullà') of Swàt, to storm the posts at Chakdarra and the Malakand:
Théir attacks were repulsed, though not without difficulty ; and' in the
punitive operations which followed columns wére sent to enforce the
submission of the Mâmunds in Bàjaur, the Yùsufzai of Swàt, and thë
Bunerwàls: No action against Dir was necessary, for the Nawàb had
been able to réstrain his people from overt hostility.
In rgona railway was opened from Naushahra to Darga at the foot
of the Malakand Pass. Tribal fighting has continued intermittently,
but no event of importance took place in the Agency after r8gq,-
until the death of the Nawàb of Dir in rgo4. His eldest son Aurang-
zeb {Bàdshàh Khàn) has been recognized as the successor, but the
succession is disputed by Miàn Gul Jàn, his younger brother.
Swàt proper is now peopled by the Akazai branch of thé Yùsufzai
Pathàns (about r so,ooo in number), and the Kohistàn by Torwàls and
Garhvis (estimated at zo,ooo). The Yùsufzai comprise various clans.
On the left bank of the river lié the Rànizai and Khàn Khel in
Lower Swàt, and the Sulizai and Bàbuzai in -Upper Swàt. On the
right bank are the Shamizai, Sabujni, Nikbi Khel, and Shamozai in:
Upper Swàt, and in Lower Swàt the Adinzai, Abâzai, and Khadakaai
clans. All the clans on thé right bank, except the two last named, are,
collectively known as the Khwazozai ; and all except the Rànizai on
the left are collectively called the Baezai. 'The whole valley aird the
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