Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 5.djvu/126

 BARUK KHUTTUKS. (252)

HE Photograph No. 251 showed the chief of the Barak Khuttuks and his son. The present plate is of a group of three Baruk Khuttuks in their ordinary dress, and bearing the customary weapons of their tribe. Two are armed with matchlock guns, both having the two-pronged fork attached to the muzzle, which can be let down to serve as a rest in firing, or as a bayonet at close quarters. These guns are long and heavy, and sometimes rifled; they carry a long distance with accuracy; and in the Afghan war, it was found that with the old musket, English troops were no match for the mountaineers, whose fire from great distances told with unerring effect. The Khuttuks carry also swords and shields, and a long knife in their girdles. The kneeling figure on the right hand of the plate has a long bow, usually made of bamboo, strengthened in the centre, with the use of which many of the Khuttuks are reported to be very expert. Altogether, the colours of the dresses and turbans, white, red, and dark blue, and their mode of wearing them, with the national weapons, and the fine, stalwart figures of the men, form a remarkable and most picturesque group. A general description of the tribe has been given in the preceding number.

The Khuttuk territory is remarkable for the salt mines which exist in the southern Khuttuk hills. During the period of the Sikh Government these mines were farmed out, and much mismanagement was the consequence. They are now managed by officers on the part of the British Government, for whose protection a fort was built near the principal mine at Bahadoor Kheyl. The salt is excavated and sold at the mine at a fixed rate of two, three, and four anas per manud of 80 lbs., according to quality, which covers all expenses, and yields a profit of about 80,000 rupees (£8,000 per annum). This salt is carried to Peshawur by the Kohat pass, and also into the Afghan mountains. When the fort of Bahadoor Kheyl was built, the Khuttuks and Wuzeerees threatened hostile proceedings; but the good sense of the Khuttuk chief (No. 251) prevented any outbreak, and since then there has been no disaffection. Indeed, the official report records, paragraph 93:—"On the whole, the Khuttuks have been loyal subjects. They are good soldiers, and can muster 12,000 fighting men. Many of them are in the British service, and they are considered the best conducted and most respectable tribe on the frontier."