1 9G PANJAB CASTES.
2 following of Saiyad Jalal mentioned in section 41:3.^ They occupy the whole
3 of the Mausahra taJisil of the Haziira district excejiting the south-western
4 corner which forais part of Tanawal, and extend into the hills lieyond its
5 western border. The Pakhli tract is their chief seat. But the population of
6 his tract is very mixed, Gujars forming- by far tlie largest element, while
7 Awiins and Saiyads are niimerous. The Gujars are chiefly graziers in the
8 frontier glens of the northern mountains, the Awiins lie chiefly to the south,
9 while the Saiyads of K%an are well known to fame. The Swatis are coward-
10 ly, deceptive, cruel, grasping, and lazy, and of miserable physique. Their
11 bad faith is a proverb in the count ry ; and they are credited with even attempt-
12 ing to cheat the devil by the old device, famous in European folklore, of
13 dividing the crop above and below ground. They are all Musalmans of the
14 Sunni sect. They are divided into three great clans, Ghel)ari, Mamiali, and
15 Mitniwi, of which the first claims Tajik, the Mamiali Yusufzai, and the
16 Mitrawi Durrani origin ; but all three claims are almost certainly unfoTinded.
17 At present the Mamiali and Mitrawi, known as the sections of the Tarli or
18 lower Pakhli, hold the southern and south-western portions of their tract, while
19 the Ghebari, a section of the Utli or upper Pakhli, occupy Kagan and the [P-
20 north-eastern portion. The Swati are often wrongly confused with the
21 Degan, another branch of the original Hindu inhabitants of north-eastern
22 Afghanistan, now only found in Kunar, Bajaur, Lughmau, and Ningrahar.
23 419. The Shilmani. — The Shilmani are probably of Indian origin,
24 and had their homes in Shilman on the Vianks of the Kurram. From there
25 they migrated to the Tiitara mountains north of the Khaibar, whence a section
26 of them moved on via Peshawar to Hashtnaghar. About the end of the 15th
27 century the Yusufzai drove them out into Swat, where they found a refuge
28 with Sultan Wais and presently became sub jects of the advancing Yusufzai.
29 A few of them are scattered through the Hazara district, and they still hold a
30 village in the Tiitara range. But they are fast dying out of existence as a
31 distinct people. They are often confounded with the Degan in the early
32 Afghan histories. I am afraid that some who are not realy Shilmani have been
33 included in our figures. The tribe is sometimes called Sulemani, a name also
34 applied to Afgh.ans proper, while there is a separate tribe called Suleman
35 Khel ; and it is not impossible tliat there has been some confusion. The
36 Shilmani have all returned themselves as Pathans, and their numbers are
37 1,557, of whom 969 are in Hazara, 174 in Rawalpindi, and 200 in Dehli.
38 'At the Hazara settlement genealogical trees were prepared for tlie Swatis only for tbe last
39 four or live generations ; and this at their own request, as to have gone back further would have
40 exposed in too public a manner their miscellaneous origin.