raised but slightly above the river level. A “raghza” differs from
a “wam” in being on a higher level and often beyond the reach of
irrigation. Pasture is found abundantly in the hills, but cultivation
only on the borders of the main streams. Passing up and down these
main water-courses, there is an appearance of great fertility and
wealth, which is entirely due to these thriving strips of verdure,
their restricted and narrow limits being hardly visible from the river
beds. From above, when viewed from the flanking ridges, the vast
extent of hill country, neither high, nor imposing, nor difficult of
access, but invariably stony and rough, compares strongly with the
narrow bands of enclosed cultivation winding about like green
ribbons, and marking the course of the main streams from the
snow-covered peaks to the plains. The physiography of Waziristan is
that of the Kurram to the north rather than that of the Suliman
hills to the south.
The Waziris are the largest tribe on the frontier, but their state of civilization is very low. They are a race of robbers and murderers, and the Waziri name is execrated even by the neighbouring Mahommedan tribes. Mahommedans from a settled district often regard Waziris as utter barbarians, and seem inclined to deny their title to belong to the faith. They have been described as being “free-born and murderous, hot-headed and light-hearted, self-respecting but vain.” The poverty of their country and the effort required to gain a subsistence in it have made the Waziris a hardy and enduring race. Their physique is uncommonly good, and though on the average short of stature, some extremely tall and large men are to be found amongst them. They are generally deep-chested and compact of build, with a powerful muscular development common to the whole body, and not confined to the lower limbs as is the case with some hill tribes of the Himalayas. As mountaineers the Waziris would probably hold their own with any other Pathan tribe of the frontier.
Except in a few of the highest hills, which are well-wooded, the Waziri country is a mass of rock and stones, bearing a poor growth of grass and thinly sprinkled with dark evergreen bushes; progress in every direction except on devious paths known to the natives is obstructed by precipices or by toilsome stony ascents; and knowledge of the topography, a mere labyrinth of intricate ranges and valleys, comes only as the result of long acquaintance. Broken ground and tortuous ravines, by making crime easy and precaution against attack difficult, have fostered violence among the people and developed in them an extraordinary faculty of prudence and alertness. In consequence of his isolation the Waziri has become independent, self-reliant and democratic in sentiment. Through the inaccessibility of his own country to low-landers, combined with the proximity of open and fertile tracts inhabited by races of inferior stamina, he has developed into a confirmed raider; and the passage through his country of mountain footpaths, connecting India with Afghanistan, has made him by frequent opportunity a hereditary highwayman as well. The women enjoy more freedom than amongst most Pathan tribes, and are frequently unfaithful. The ordinary punishment of adultery is to put the woman to death, and to cut off half the right foot of the man. Amongst Waziris also, as amongst other Pathans, the blood-feud is a national institution.
The Waziris, who number some 40,000 fighting men altogether, are divided into two main sections, the Darwesh Khel (30,000) and the Mahsuds (8000), with two smaller sections. The Darwesh Khel, the more settled and civilized of the two, inhabit the lower hills bordering on Kohat and Bannu districts, and the ground lying on both sides of the Kurram river, between Thai on the north and the Tochi Valley on the south. The Mahsuds, who inhabit the tract of country lying between the Tochi Valley on the north and the Gomal river on the south, have earned for themselves an evil name as the most confirmed raiders on the border; but they are a plucky race, as active over the hills as the Afridis, and next to them, the best-armed large tribe on the frontier. The Mahsud country, especially that part within reach of British posts, is more difficult even than Tirah. To the south and east it is girt by an intricate belt of uninhabited, generally waterless hills and ravines. To the north a zone of Darwesh Khel territory, not less than 20 m. in width, hilly and difficult, separates the Mahsuds from the Tochi. The Tochi Valley is inhabited by a degraded Pathan tribe, known as Dauris, who have voluntarily placed themselves under British protection since 1895. In deahng with the Mahsuds it must be remembered that from Wana to Tank, from Tank to Bannu, and from Bannu to Datta Khel, or for a distance of over 200 m., British territory is open to Mahsud depredations. This length of frontier is equal to the whole Thal-Kohat-Peshawar-Malakand line, covering the eight or ten tribes that took part in the frontier risings of 1897. So that the Mahsuds should really be compared with the whole of those ten tribes, and not with any single one.
British expeditions were needed against various sections of the Waziris in 1852, 1859, 1860, 1880, 1881, 1894, 1897 and 1902.
The success of Sir Robert Sandeman in subduing the wild tribes of Baluchistan had led to a similar attempt to open up Waziristan to British civilization; but the Pathan is much more democratic and much less subject to the influence of his maliks than is the Baluchi to the authority of his chiefs; and the policy finally broke down in 1894, when the Waziris made a night attack upon the camp of the British Delimitation Commission at Wana. The Commission had been appointed to settle the boundary with the Afghans, and the Waziris regarded it as the final threat to their independence. The attack was delivered with such determination that the tribesmen penetrated into the centre of the camp, and it was only with the greatest difficulty that friend could be distinguished from foe. A large force of 11,000 British troops subsequently traversed the tribal country, destroyed their towers and dictated terms, one of which was that the Tochi Valley should be occupied by British garrisons. But still there was trouble, which led to the Tochi expedition of 1897; and, in spite of the further lessons taught the Waziris in two expeditions in 1902, the attempt to “Sandemanise” Waziristan was given up by Lord Curzon. The British garrisons in the Tochi and Gomal valleys were withdrawn, and two corps of tribal militia, from 1300 to 1500 strong, were gradually formed to replace the British troops.
See Grammar and Vocabulary of Waziri Pashto, by J. G. Lorimer (Calcutta, 1902); Paget and Mason's Frontier Expeditions (1884); Mahsud Waziri Operations (1902), Blue-book.
WAZZĀN, a small hillside town, 60 m. N.W. by N. of Fez, Morocco. It has a considerable trade with the country round, and manufactures a coarse white woollen cloth with rough surface from which the hooded cloaks (called jellábs) are made. Its proudest name is Dár D'manah—House of Safety—as it is sanctuary for any who gain its limits, on account of the tomb of a sainted Idrisi Sharif, who lived there in 1727. It is the headquarters of his descendants.
WEALD, THE, a district in the south-east of England. It includes the portions of Sussex, Kent and Surrey which are enclosed between the North and South Downs—a district of Lower Cretaceous rocks encircled by Upper Cretaceous hills. It extends from Frensham and Petersfield on the Hampshire borders to the English Channel between Folkestone and Eastbourne. With the exception of the easternmost part, it drains by rivers running northward and southward through gaps in the Downs, the origin of which is considered under that heading. The Weald was formerly covered by the forest of Andredesleah or Andredsweald (“the wood or forest without habitations”), which was 120 m. in length and about 30 in greatest breadth. About 1660 the total area under forest was estimated at over 200,000 acres. The chief remains of the ancient forests are Ashdown, St Leonards and Tilgate, and the nomenclature often indicates the former extent of woodland, as in the case of Hurstpierpoint (hurst meaning wood), Midhurst, Fernhurst, Billingshurst, Ashurst and many others. The forests were interspersed with lagoons, and the rainfall being very great caused marshes, but it abated in consequence of the cutting down of the Wealden forests for fuel in the extensive ironworks that formerly existed in the district. The locality best preserving the ancient character of the Weald is the hilly district in the centre, forming a
