Kurram

KURRAM, a river and agency on the Kohat border of the North-West Frontier province of India. The Kurram river drains the southern flanks of the Safed Koh, enters the plains a few miles above Bannu, and joins the Indus near Isa-Khel after a course of more than 200 miles. The agency has an area of 1,278 sq.m. ; pop. (1921), 103,142. It lies between the Miranzai valley and the Afghan border, and is inhabited by the Turis, a tribe of Turki origin who are supposed to have subjugated the Bangash Pathans five hundred years ago. It is highly irrigated, well peopled, and crowded with small fortified villages, orchards and groves. The beauty and climate of the valley attracted some of the Mogul emperors of Delhi, and the remains exist of a garden planted by Shah Jahan.

History and Military Operations.

Formerly the Kurram valley was under the government of Kabul, and every five or six years a military expedition was sent to collect the revenue, the soldiers living meanwhile at free quarters on the people. It was not until about 1848 that the Turis were brought directly under the control of Kabul, when a governor was appointed, who estab lished himself in Kurram. The Turis, being Shiah Mohammedans, never liked the Afghan rule. During the second Afghan War, when Sir Frederick Roberts advanced by way of the Kurram val ley and the Peiwar Kotal to Kabul, the Turis lent him every assistance in their power, and in consequence their independence was granted them in 1880. The administration of the Kurram

valley was finally undertaken by the British government, at the request of the Turis themselves, in 189o. Two expeditions in the Kurram valley also require mention : (I) The Kurram expedition of 1856 under Brig. Gen. Chamberlain. The Turis on the first an nexation of the Kohat district by the British had given much trouble. They had repeatedly leagued with other tribes to harry the Miranzai valley, harbouring fugitives, encouraging resistance, and frequently attacking Bangash and Khattak villages in the Kohat district. Accordingly in 1856 a British force of 4,896 troops traversed their country, and the tribe entered into engage ments for future good conduct. (2) The Kohat-Kurram expedi tion of 1897 under Colonel W. Hill. During the frontier risings of 1897 the inhabitants of the Kurram valley, chiefly the M assozai section of the Orakzais, were infected by the general excitement, and attacked the British camp at Sadda and other posts. A force of 14,230 British troops traversed the country, and the tribesmen were severely punished. In Lord Curzon's reorganization of the frontier in 190o-1901 the British troops were withdrawn from the forts in the Kurram valley, and were replaced by the Kurram militia, reorganized in two battalions, and chiefly drawn from the Turi tribe.