Gazetteer Of The Peshawar District 1883-84

· 1883 · Public domain (published pre-1930) · archive.org ↗

1Poshawar District. ]

2CHAP. I.—THE DISTRICT. 13

3tamarisk, jujube, &c., and willows: along the water-courses. Away from

4the river, the land rises into the matrd which is used asa common grazing

5ground for the cattle of the district. The tract along the eastern side of

6the plain as well as along the whole extent of its northern boundary pre-

7sents a picturesque mountain scenery. Here hill and dale succeed each other

8in every variety of arrangement. At distant intervals, great spurs project

9on to the plain and gulf off the mountain skirts into a series of close valleys

10which, by varying combinations of glen and gorge, rock and precipice,

11meadow and water-course, scattered groves ani compact villages, present a

12variety of scenery seldom met with in one -district ; and which to be duly

13appreciated, must be seen. The general surface along this tract, although

14very stony, and much cut up by the drainage of the hills, is nevertheless

15well cultivated. Not unfrequently the cultivation is carried high up the

16hill slopes, on which for the most part the cattle are dependent for

17pasture. On the lower spurs this is at bast but scanty; for such ridges are

18mostly bare ledges of rock in their lower heights, though more or less well

19covered with a stunted brushwood and varied herbage at their higher eleva-

20tions. The very general absence of large trees, and of pines especially, on

21these spurs is a notable feature ; for on the highest ranges the splendid and

22extensive pine forests form an essential element in the beauty of the scenery,

23as well as in the virtues of the climate.

24‘‘ There is no perennial stream flowing all through the Yusafzai plain ;

25but the drainage from the hills, aswell as that from the plain itself, is carried

26off by a number of ravines, the extent, magnitude, and ramifications of which

27constitute a remarkable feature of the country, whilst they are objects of

28importance on account of the sudden floodings they are at certain seasons

29subject to, rendering them for a while obstacles to free communication be-

30tween the different portions of the district they traverse. Most of the ravines

31have one or more springs, in some part or other of their course, though most-

32ly.near their origin in the hills. The water from these springs, to a limited

33extent, is more or less constant throughout the year ; and, as a general rule,

34in seasons of unusual droucht, when the springs disappear from the surface,

35water is generally to be obtained by digging down a few feet in the beds of

36their former streams. According to native accounts, the water in all these

37ravines has greatly diminished during the past half century, and several

38permanent springs, itis reported, have entirely disappeared. At the

39present day, thore is certainly a scarcity of water in the district generally,

40and several circumstances combine to lead to the belief that this was not

41the case in former ages. The majority of the ruins and other remains of

42the former habitations of man are now desert wastes from this very cause ;

43for those of them that still retain facilities for water-supply are at this day

44inhabited, new buildings having risen on the ruins of the old. History also

45describes this tract of country as far more populous, better wooded, and

46more plentifully supplied with water, than itis at the present day. At

47the present day the nallah, ravine, or natural water-course, is the only

48reliable source of water-supply in all that portion of the district not directly

49on the river’s bank. To this there are but few exceptions, and it will

50be found as a consequence that the bulk of the population are settled along

51their courses, or else in their vicinity, for in such positions wells are remu-

52nerative, and supply water as well for agricultural as domestic purposes.

53On the flanks of the main channel of drainage, between it and the river

54boundaries on the other hand, as well as between its more distant branches,

55the land is moro eor less clevated and dry, as in the central tracts, the

56Hashtnagar and Khattak mairds, &c. In such tracts there are but few, if

57‘Chapter I, A.

58Descriptive.

59The great Yusafzai

60plain,