WAZIRISTAN, a mountain tract in the North-west Frontier Province of India within the British sphere of influence, the boundary with Afghanistan having been demarcated in Only a portion, consisting of the Tochi valley, with an area of about 70o sq.m. and a population (1903) of 24,670, is directly administered. Northern and Southern Waziristan together had an area of 5,218 sq.m. and 201,783 inhabitants in 1931.
The Tochi and the Gomal rivers enclose the central dominat ing range of Waziristan from north-east to south-west, geo logically connected with the great limestone ranges of the Suli man hills to the south, and dominated by the great peaks of Shui dar (Sheikh Haidar) and Pirghal, both of them between i 1,000 and I 2,00o ft. above the sea. From these peaks westwards a view is obtained across the grass slopes and cedar woods of Birmal and Shawal (lying thousands of feet below) to the long, serrated ridges of the central watershed which shuts off the plains of Ghazni. To the eastward several lines of drainage strike away for the Indus, and are, as usual, the main avenues of approach to the interior of the country. They are the Khaisora and the Shakdu on the north, which, uniting, join the Tochi south of Bannu, and the Tank Zam (which is also called Khaisor near its head) on the south. The two former lead from the frontier to Razmak and Makin, villages of some local importance, situated on the slopes of Shuidar; and the latter leads to Kaniguram, the Waziri capital, and the centre of a considerable iron trade. Kani guram lies at the foot of the Pirghal mountain.
The Waziri tribes are the largest on the frontier, but their state of civilization is very low. They are a race of robbers and murderers, and the Waziri name is execrated even by the neigh bouring Mohammedan tribes, who seem inclined to deny their title to belong to the faith. Their physique is excellent.
Except in a few of the highest hills, which are well-wooded, the Waziri country is a mass of rock and stones, bearing a poor growth of grass and thinly sprinkled with dark evergreen bushes; progress in every direction is obstructed by precipices or by toilsome stony ascents, and knowledge of the topography comes only as the result of long acquaintance. Broken ground and tortuous ravines, by making crime easy and precaution against attack difficult, have fostered violence among the people and developed in them an ex traordinary faculty of prudence and alertness. The Waziri has de veloped into a raider, and a highwayman. The women enjoy more freedom than amongst most Pathan tribes. The blood-feud is a national institution.
The Waziris, who number some 48,000 fighting men altogether, are divided into two main sections, the Darwesh Khel (30,000), referred to as "Wazirs," and the Mahsuds (i8,000), with smaller sections and attached tribes numbering 18,000 more.
The Darwesh Khel are the more settled and civilized of the two, and inhabit the lower hills bordering on Kohat and Bannu districts and the ground lying on both sides of the Kurram river, between Thal on the north and the Tochi Valley on the south. The Mahsuds, who inhabit the tract of country lying between the Tochi Valley on the north and the Gomal river on the south, have earned for themselves an evil name as the most confirmed raiders on the border. The Mahsud country, especially that part within reach of British posts, is more difficult even than Tirah. The Tochi Valley is inhabited by a degraded Pathan tribe, known as Dauris, who have placed themselves under British protection since 1895.
British expeditions were needed against various sections of the Waziris in 1852, 1859, 186o, 188o, 1881, 1894, 1897 and 1902.
The success of Sir Robert Sandeman in subduing the wild tribes of Baluchistan had led to a similar attempt to open up Waziristan to British civilization; but the Pathan is much more democratic and much less subject to the influence of his maliks than is the Baluchi to the authority of his chiefs; and the policy finally broke down in 1894, when the Waziris made a night attack upon the camp of the British Delimitation Commission at Wana. The attack was delivered with such determination that the tribes men penetrated into the centre of the camp, and it was only with the greatest difficulty that friend could be distinguished from foe. A large force of ii,000 British troops subsequently traversed the tribal country, destroyed their towers and dictated terms, one of which was that the Tochi Valley should be occupied by British garrisons. But still there was trouble, which led to the Tochi ex pedition of 1897; and, in spite of the further lessons taught the Waziris in two expeditions in 1902, the attempt to "Sandemanise" Waziristan was given up by Lord Curzon. The British garrisons in the Tochi and Gomal valleys were withdrawn, and two corps of tribal militia, from 1,300 to 1,50o strong, were gradually formed to replace the British troops. During the Great War, the Mahsuds gave constant trouble and during the third Afghan war the militia were withdrawn, portions going over to the enemy. Three years of war succeeded the invasion, and it was not till a motor road was driven from Jandola through the heart of the country to Bannu, and a large cantonment built at Razmak, close to the centre of the Mahsud country that order was restored.
See Grammar and Vocabulary of Waziri Pashto, by J. G. Lorimer (Calcutta, 1902) ; Paget and Mason's Frontier Expeditions (1884) ; Mahsud Waziri Operations (1902) , Blue-book.