Tochi Valley

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Tochi Valley, or Dawar, is one of the main routes into Afghanistan in the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan. It leads from the Bannu through tribal areas, and is inhabited by the Dawar (q.v). The valley is divided into two parts, known as Upper and Lower Dawar, by a narrow pass called the Taghrai Tangi, some three m. long. Between Dawar and Bannu is the low range of uninhabited hills, which skirt the Bannu district. It was by this route that Mahmud of Ghazni effected several of his raids into India and the remains of a road flanking the valley and of defensive positions are still to be traced. After the Waziristan Expedition of 1894, the Tochi was garrisoned by British troops; but when Lord Curzon reorganized the frontier in 1901, the British troops were withdrawn, and their place supplied by tribal militia. The chief posts are Saidgi, Idak, Miranshah, Datta Khel and Sheranni. The valley was the scene of action for the Tochi or Dawari Expedition under Brigadier-General Keyes in 1872, and the Tochi Expedition under General Corrie Bird in 1897.

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• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.