1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Samana Range

SAMANA RANGE, a mountain ridge in Kohat district of the N.W. Frontier Province of India, commanding the S. boundary of Tirah. The ridge lies between the Khanki Valley on the N. and the Miranzai Valley on the S., and extends for some 30 m. W. from Hangu to the Samana Suk. It is some 6000 to 7000 ft. high. Beyond the Samana Suk lies the pass, known as the Chagru Kotal, across which the Tirah Expedition marched in 1897. On the opposite hill on the other side of this road is the famous position of Dargai (see Tirah Campaign). After the Miranzai Expedition of 1891 this range was occupied by British troops and eleven posts were established along its crest, the two chief posts being Fort Lockhart and Fort Gulistan. In 1897 all the forts on the Samana were attacked by the Orakzais, and this and the Afridi attack on the Khyber Pass were the two chief causes of the Tirah Expedition. When Lord Curzon reorganized the frontier in 1900, British garrisons were withdrawn from the Samana forts, which are now held by a corps of tribal police 450 strong, called the Samana Rifles.