1862.] An account of Tipper and Lower Suwdt. 229 



he considered our going into Suwat, at present, a very diffi- 

 cult matter. This message, however, did not satisfy the Khan 

 Sahib ; and Muhammad iEali was again sent to the Pala'i chief, 

 Amir-ullah Khan, with another message, to the effect, that " This 

 feud between yourselves will take a long time to settle amicably ; 

 and as you are all of one family, if you do not hinder my going, the 

 other party will throw no obstacle in my way." Amir-ullah replied, 

 that he would conduct us, and be answerable for our safety within 

 his own boundary ; but he would not be responsible for any injury 

 we might sustain at the hands of Khurasan Khan, the Shir-khana'i 

 chief. The Khan Sahib accepted these terms ; and, next morning, 

 we set out by way of the village of Ghazi Baba ; and in the evening, 

 before dark, reached Pala'i in safety. We found the Pala'i people, 

 with their loins girded, sitting in their sangars or breast works, and 

 occupying the roads and paths by which the enemy from Shir-kha- 

 na'i and Zor-mandda'i might come upon them. Some of the men 

 too had advanced a short distance from the village, and had placed 

 themselves in ambush amongst the fields, in order to fall upon any 

 of the Zor-mandda'f people who might venture out of their strong- 

 hold. 



That night we remained at Pala'i as guests of the chief, Amfr- 

 ullah, who did all he could to persuade the Khan Sahib to give up 

 his journey ; but he would neither listen to any excuses, nor admit of 

 any obstacles. At length it was agreed on by Amir-ullah, that he 

 should send one of his most trusty followers to his brother, Mir 

 iEealam Khan, one of the Tarmah chiefs, to let him know, that the 

 Khan Sahib, (mentioning his name) was on his way to Suwat for 

 the purpose of paying his respects to the Akhund Sahib ; and that 

 it was necessary he should treat him with all honour, and perform 

 towards him the rights of service and hospitality, and not allow him 

 to sustain any injury on account of the feud between themselves. 

 The indefatigable Muhammad iEali, who had also come with us 

 to Pala'i, now went with a message to Khurasan Khan, chief of 

 Shir-khana'i and Zor-mandda'i, to let him know that the Khan 

 Saiiib was coming to his village as a guest, and that he should not 

 be treated as the guest of the preceding day, who had been acci- 

 dentally killed. This person was a traveller who had been enter- 

 tained at Pala'i the previous night. In the morning, about dawn, 



