TOCHI VALLEY, or DAWAR  , one of the

chief routes into Afghanistan in the North-West Frontier Province of India . It leads from the Bannu through tribal country, and is inhabited by the Dawari (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 British territory 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Tochi was garrisoned by British troops; but when Lord Curzon reorganized the frontier in 1901, the British troops were withdrawn, and their place supplied by tribal militia .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 .