CHARACTER
In character the people of this
country appear to differ but little execept in one respect from other Pathans .
They possess all the vices common to other Pathan races , and are not behind
them in pride , cupidity , revengefulness or treachery . In treachery they may
undisputedly be given the first place among Pathans . Their virtues are the
same also , and they do not compare unfavourably with other Pathans in
manliness , bravery or hosputality . Their superstition is perhaps more marked
than in other Pathan races .
Among themseleves they differ but little
. The Bajour people of the Tarkanri tribes are perhaps as a whole a braver and
more manly race than the people of either Dir or Swat . It was the custom in
recent times to disparage the valour and martial instincts of the people of
Swat , but the events of 1895 and 1887 have taught us that in these respects
the Swati has been curiously misjudged .
The Utman Khel have a reputation for a
keener spirit of revengefulness than the people of Bajour , Dir or Swat . Their
feuds are very bitter .
In one respect , however , judging the
people of Dir and Swat as a whole , as compared with Pathan tribes elsewhere
they appear to differ mantrially from their neighbours , I e,, in the spirit of
discipline which they possess . To some extent this extends to the Bajour
people also , but to a less degree , and to a still less , degree to the Utman
Khel . The discipline which controls the
members of a village community , and the effective control which thereby the
Jirgas wield in all matters of village or tribal insterest is remarkable .
Their long-standing system of communal Government has doubtless inculcated this
spirit , and so has the complicated system in vogue of periodically
redistributing all tribal lands . Unless a very strong spirit of discipline was
inborn in the people , it would be impossible to work either of these systems
in the manner in which they are worked .
Were it not for the superstitions of
the people , which make it so easy for the religious classes to stir them up
for mischief , the people of Dir , Swat and even Bajour would be a
comparatively easy people to rule and manage .
As
mentioned above under the head of religion , they are by no means individually
fanatical . Cases of Ghazi-ism [religious militancy ] are practically unknown
in this country , which is all the more remarkable when the numbers and the
hatred towards us of the priesthood in this country are considered . the
collective fanaticism of which they are capable when roused is a remarkable
trait in the character of this people . It is doubtless due to their innate
spirit of discipline above referred to , by which the fanaticism , which is
instilled into the lesders , takes effect on the whole community ,
notwithstanding the absence of individual fanaticism on the part of the
comonent member
