The three main clans of the tribe, now recognised, are as under:
The first-named live for the most part in Upper Miranzai—that is to say, west of Kai, but some of them inhabit villages nearer to Kohat, and a few, again, live in the Kurram. The Samilzai are to be found some in the Kurram and some in Lower Miranzai; while the Baizai live chiefly in the Kohat Valley proper. The Baizai claim that in the days of the Mogul emperors they received an allowance for holding the crest of the Kotal of the Kohat Pass; and as a solution of the difficulties about the pass in 1853, to which allusion is made elsewhere, they petitioned to be allowed to resume their ancient responsibilities. Their request was granted, but they proved unable to hold the position against Afridi attack, and an arrangement was come to under which four different clans, the Baizai Bangash included, received grants for keeping open the pass. These they still retain, and up to 1882, when the management of the pass was transferred to the Deputy-Commissioner, the chief of the Baizai was in charge of the Kohat Pass arrangements. The Bangash have themselves given us little or no trouble, but have suffered much by being unusually exposed to the raids of neighbouring tribes.
_The Zaimukhts._—This tribe are also known as Zwaimukht and Zaimusht; they are of Afghan stock and live on the southern slopes of the Zawa Ghar Range, having for their neighbours, on the north-west the Turis, on the north and east the Orakzais, and on the south and south-west the Bangash. With every one of these the Zaimukhts are at feud. Their country is very fertile, and they own, too, a number of villages in the Kurram and Miranzai valleys in British territory. They are strong, well-built men with pleasing features, and can muster some 2300 armed men, who appear to possess good fighting qualities, but so far none of the tribesmen have taken service either in the Indian Army or in the local militia. They are all Sunni in religion and Samil in politics.
The country of the Zaimukhts may be described as a triangle, with the Zawa Ghar Range as its base, and the village of Thal as the apex; this includes a tract of country on its western side, occupied by the Alisherzai Orakzais. The northern range rises to a height of over 9000 feet above the village of Zawo, and from 7000 to 8000 feet elsewhere. The crest is in some parts covered with pine forests, in others it is bare of trees. From this main range several streams run southward between precipitous and rocky spurs whose sides are quite inaccessible; from the crests, here and there, rise steep, craggy peaks, which render the ridges also very difficult, if not impracticable. Among these glens lie many hamlets of small size, the village of Zawo being composed of several hamlets. This village was considered the chief stronghold of the Zaimukhts, and, from its position, impregnable, nestling close under the mountain range, and from the south only approachable up a ravine several miles in length, hemmed in by precipitous spurs rising to 8000 feet in elevation. The spurs of the Zawa Ghar Range are steep and rugged for about six to seven miles; as they run southward they fall away, and form a succession of small plateaux, intersected by ravines, 4000 to 5000 feet in elevation. Across these runs the route from Torawari, in Upper Miranzai, to Balish Khel, near the junction of the Kharmana River with the Kurram—a route formerly used by kafilas. The drainage divides into three parts—one running westward into the Kharmana and Kurram, near Balish Khel and Sadda; a second, collecting below Chinarak, forms the Sangroba, which falls into the Kurram near Thal; while the remainder runs eastward into the Ishkali which drains into the Kurram River. Dividing these are two passes at the villages of Manatu (5200 feet) and Urmegi (4300 feet), which also form the connecting links between the Zawa Ghar hill, and a second series of hills, that rise abruptly from 4000 feet to 8000 feet in two groups—one round the peak of Dingsar west of the Sangroba, the other round Dondo Ghar, east of that stream. The crests and spurs of these two groups are rugged, rocky and almost treeless. Amongst them lie several secluded glens, in which are other hamlets of the Zaimukhts, very difficult of access. The country is, as a rule, devoid of timber trees; water is plentiful; the soil is fertile and there are large numbers of cattle, sheep, goats and poultry.