1871.J The District of Dera Ismail Khan, Trans-Indus. 
15 
The frontier outrages which have given the Mas’uds their had 
name, are organised by a few professional brigands who distinguish 
themselves by the name ‘ payawars’ or ‘ dilawars.’ Small parties 
of ten or twenty men under these leaders lurk at the mouths of the 
mountain passes till the sun is down, and the night moonless. Their 
onslaught on a village, 1 halla’ as it is termed, is generally made 
before midnight, and frequently begins with a discharge of stones 
which they hurl with great force and precision. They slash and 
stab indiscriminately—but as a rule spare the women—and carry¬ 
ing off the village cattle, regain their mountain fastnesses before 
daylight. 
The Shiranis occupy the Takht i Sulaiman itself. Under a leader 
named Katal Khan, they gave much trouble in the early years of 
our administration ; but since the expedition which was sent against 
them in 1853, they have been peaceably disposed. 
Passing from these tribes, which are beyond our jurisdiction to 
those which are wholly or partially British subjects, we come first 
to the Battannis, who are allied to us, and are conveniently inter¬ 
posed between ourselves and the Wazhis. They formerly lived on 
the other side of the Takht i Sulaiman, but were driven thence by 
the Grhiljis in the reign of Sikandar Lodi. They are of three sub¬ 
divisions, Tatta, Danna and Wraspun. Then we may mention the 
Mianis, a nomadic and mongrel race of Pawindah squatters. 
They are found chiefly in the Tank sub-division near the mouths 
of the passes. Tank is a small : aldqa in the north-east corner 
of the district, which is under the management of a nawab, 
though entirely subordinate to British authority. It is now 
fresh in our memories as the scene of the accident which proved 
fatal to Sir Henry Durand. The ruling tribe is the Daulat Khel. 
This tribe together with some of its neighbours, dates its occu¬ 
pation from the reigns of Babar and Humayun. It seems proba¬ 
ble that adherents of the Lodi dynasty were ousted from their lands 
by followers of the conquering Mughuls, and this perhaps accounts 
for some of the convulsions which have transplanted several tribes 
in the Daman. The leader of the Daulat Khel, Shah Baz or Khan 
Zaman by name, formed a league with the Gandapdr tribe, and 
succeeded in driving out the Marwatis and other rivals from Tank. 
