KOHAT, a British district in the Panjab, lying between lat. 32° 47' and 33° 53' N., and between long. 70° 34' and 72° 17' E. Kohat lies to the south and south-west of Peshawur. Its valley is 35 miles long, and, on an average, four miles broad. From Peshawur, through the Afridi Hills, it is reached by two passes, the Jowaki and the Gulli or Kohat ; and from the Indus it is also approached by two passes, the Koshalgurh and the Kalabagh, through the Khatak Hills. Again, it is connected with Bannu to the south by two passes, the Surduk, seven miles long, and the Khoon-i-gao, from Nurri to Khurruk, a less direct but safer route. Up to 1848, Kohat was held as a fief from the Kabul Government. It was then taken possession of by the British on account of hostility to them during the second Sikh war. The khan of Hungu in the Bangash country was in the British service as revenue collector, but he was murdered by one of his own relatives, and the khanship descended to his son. The Bangash suffered much from the raids of their hill neigh bours, Orakzai, Turi, Kabul Khel, Wazili. The inhabitants of the Miranzai valley are also Ban gash. This valley belonged to the fief of Sultan Muhammad, but, being an outlying locality, was overlooked when Kohat was taken possession of. The Kabul Government then lost no time in arrang ing for the occupation of Miranzai, which appeared to have been vacated, so Sirdar Azim Khan, the governor of the Kliurrtun province, in 1851, summoned the Miranzai to surrender ; but they petitioned the British to include them in Kohat. Under the circumstances, this request was acceded to.
Along the north-west boundary of Kohat, from the lands of the Sipah tribe as far as those occupied by the Zainausht Afghans, lies the country of the Orakzai. These are one of the largest frontier tribes, and, if necessary, are able to muster up wards of twenty thousand fighting men. Some of the principal clans are the Samilzai, the Hungu, the Miranzai, the Shekhan, the Mishti, and the Raabeah Khel. The first three of these clans reside in the hills adjoining the Kohat district. The remaining three are those which have come more especially in contact with the British Government. There are a few Orakzai living at Peshawur, Amritsar, and in some other parts of the Panjab. The cool table-land of Terah is situ ated in the midst of the Orakzai Hills. This is the resort of the people with their cattle in the summer season. In the winter they return to the lower hills on the Kohat frontier. The Hungu valley is twenty miles long, by two or three broad; and the plains of Miranzai, into which it opens, are about nine miles square, and are held by seven fortified villages, which have been taken in charge by the British Government. Formerly
each village was a commonwealth, and all were at feud with one another. , .
The Khatak and Bangash Pathans constitute together more than 60 per cent. of the population. The latter occupy the Miranzai valley, with the western portion of Kohat proper, while the Khatak hold the remainder of the eastern territory up to the bank of the Indus. The Khatak, who occupy the eastern half of the district, are an important tribe, holding the west bank of the Indus for a distance of 120 miles from Hund, north of the Kabul river in Peshawur, to Kalabagh in Bannu. The Khatak are tall and good-looking mountaineers, and have settled, honest habits. The Bangash are not brave. The other inhabitants are Sikhs, Arora, Brahman, Ahir, Jat, and Kshatriya. Hungu is a dependency of the pro vince of Kohat. The inhabitants of the villages in the valley leading from Hungu to Kohat are principally Shish, as are all the tribes of the Turi, their neighbours, although not so bigoted as these. The plain of Kohat and the valley of Hungu are well cultivated and populous. Wheat is grown, but the stony soil in many parts seems more adapted to the culture of maize, here called jowari, the :quality of which is excellent, and the returns large; while its flour makes admirable bread, and is the general food of the inhabitants. The great command of water, in many situations, is made available for the irrigation of rice lands. Near Kohat indifferent coal is found, generally on the surface. Asbestos occurs in veins parallel with the coal strata at Kanigoram. Sulphur abounds in the northern range, and petroleum exudes from a rock at Panoba, 23 miles E. of Kohat. The valley is famous for its salt mines, the chief of which, at Ba.hadur Khel, is guarded by a fort. The salt rocks are in the line of low hills crossing the valley of the Teri Toi, and extending for 40 and a quarter of a mile wide along either ik of that river. It occurs as a solid rock of b ish - grey colour, 1000 feet thick, and with hi is rising 200 feet high. A bituminous substance called Momyai, deemed in India a useful and valuable medici is dug out of the hills of Kohat; it is black, and r mbles gum.—Mohun Lal's Travels, p. 358; Ad. hl.; Rec. of G. of I., No. ii. ; Masson's Tournt 1, i. pp. 114 – 117 ; Cunningham's Sikhs, p. 6; In Gaz.