J 862.] An account of Upper and Lower Suwdt. 235 



gives about 5,000 inhabitants. The people are Afghans of the 

 Ba-i-zi branch of the powerful and numerous tribe of the Yusufzis. 

 About a hundred houses are inhabited by Hindus, Paranchahs, and 

 other traders, who also follow such occupations as that of shoemakers, 

 smiths, barbers, &c. 



The town of Tarmah lies a short distance from the skirt of the 

 mountains bounding Suwat to the south, and on the eastern bank of 

 the river of the same name, the Suastus of the Greeks, from which 

 it is distant about half a mile. 



The village of Nal-Banddah, which was previously referred to, lies 

 at the very skirt of the Morah mountains, on a spur which has be- 

 come separated from the higher range and runs about three, or three 

 and half miles a little to the mouth of Tarmah. 



After passing Nal-Banddah, the land slopes down to the river, but 

 not in such a manner that anything set a-going will, of itself, ride 

 down to the river. The land of the whole of Suwat, in fact, is like 

 a boat, the sides of the boat are the mountains, and the bottom part 

 the land, as different materially from the mountains. The lowest 

 land in the valley is that portion through which the river flows ; and 

 it gradually rises until close up to the mountains. It may also be 

 compared to the two hands placed together like as when one wishes 

 to drink out of them ; but only just sufficiently raised so as to pre- 

 vent the water from running out. 



I found, from what I heard of the most respectable inhabitants of 

 Tarmah, that Shaykh Mali was a Yusufzi Afghan, and that his 

 descendants still dwell in Suwat ; but they could not give me 

 full particulars as to what village they might be found in ; neither 

 could tbey inform me regarding the place where the Shaykh was 

 buried. Khan Kajii, or Kachu belonged to the Barrnizi branch of 

 the Yusufzi tribe ; and his descendants also dwell in the valley, at 

 the village of Allah Ddaud, and will be mentioned in the notice of 

 that place, further on. 



The historical work written by Shaykh Mali is not in the possession 

 of the Tarmah chiefs ; and they, moreover, informed us, that the 

 work would not be found in the whole country, save in the possession 

 of Khan Kajii's family. 



We now prepared to start from Tarmah towards Upper Suwat, 

 On the morning of the 22nd August, we left Tarmah, bending our 



