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1871.] The District of Dera Ismail Khan, Trans-Indus. 
The Mian Khel, like their neighbours, the Gandapurs, delight in 
complications of tenure. The primary division of their land is into 
‘tandobi,’ or irrigated, and ‘ vichobi,’ or unirrigated, in both of 
which, property is represented by fractions variously and fancifully 
expressed. 
The Bakhtiaris though spoken of as a distinct tribe, have now 
been absorbed by the Mian Khels, who have fifteen or sixteen sub¬ 
divisions of their own, each possessing a greater distinctive impor¬ 
tance than the Bakhtiaris. Among these the Mus&zais, the Sayyid 
Khel, the Shadi Khel, and the Shahi Khel, are the most powerful. 
The Mian Khels once had a great feud with the Gandapurs, and 
besieged them at Kohri. The quarrel was only appeased by a 
singular treaty to the effect that the Gandapurs should emigrate 
for one year, and that in the interim the Mian Khels should satisfy 
their desire for vengeance by burning Kohri to the ground. This 
was done, and at the end of the year the Gandapurs returned, and 
reoccupied the country. Probably this story is from a Mian Khel 
authority, as it is ignored by the Gandapurs. 
Next to the Mian Khels come the Babars, a gentlemanly and well- 
to-do tribe. There is but a small colony of them in British terri¬ 
tory, but they are numerous in Khurasan itself, in the neighbour¬ 
hood of Qandah&r. Their settlement in the Daman w T as subse¬ 
quent to that of the tribes previously named. In our territory, 
Chaudwan is their chief town. Edwardes borrows a good story 
from popular tradition to illustrate the acuteness of the Babars. 
Once on a time they entered into an agricultural partnership with 
the devil, and gave him his choice of the roots or stalks of the 
harvest. The devil chose the stalks, upon which the Babars sowed 
nothing but onions, carrots, and turnips. The devil, very natural¬ 
ly annoyed, insisted next harvest on getting the roots, so the Ba - 
bars grew wheat and sugar.* 
Beyond the Babars are the Ustaranfs. They live partly within 
and partly beyond the border, their chief town Kuf being in inde- 
* This story is also commonly related in Saxony and Silesia. The peasants 
made the same contract with Rubezahl, the spirit of the Sndetic Range. In 
fact, he got his name from the contract; for Rubezahl means ‘ turnip-counter.’ 
He came to count his turnips, and found that the peasants had sown rye. 
The Editor. 
