h the district are the Kurram (which falls into the Indus) and its
tributary the Gambila. The valley of Bannu proper, stretching to the foot
of the frontier hills, forms an irregular oval, measuring 60 m. from north
to south and about 40 m. from east to west. In 1901 the population was
231,485, of whom the great majority were Mahommedans. The principal tribes
inhabiting the district are: (1) Waziri Pathans, recent immigrants from the
hills, for the most part peaceable and good cultivators; (2) Marwats, a
Pathan race, inhabiting the lower and more sandy portions of the Bannu
valley; (3) Bannuchis, a mongrel Afghan tribe of bad physique and mean
vices. The inhabitants of this district have always been very independent
and stubbornly resisted the Afghan and Sikh predecessors of the British.
After the annexation of the Punjab the valley was administered by Herbert
Edwardes so thoroughly that it became a source of strength instead of
weakness during the Mutiny. The inhabitants of the valley itself are now
peaceful, but it is always subject to incursion from the Waziri tribes in
the Tochi valley and the neighbouring hills. Salt is quarried on government
account at Kalabagh and alum is largely obtained in the same neighbourhood.
The chief export is wheat. A military road leads from Bannu town towards
Dera Ismail Khan. The Indus, which is nowhere bridged within the district,
is navigable for native boats throughout its course of 76 m. The chief
frontier tribes on the border are the Waziris, Battannis and Dawaris. All
these are described under their separate names.

BANSDA, a native state in the south Gujarat division of Bombay, India,
belonging to the Surat agency. Area, 215 sq. m. Pop. (1901) 40,382, showing
a decrease of 2% in the decade; estimated revenue L19,508. Its chief is a
rajput. About half the total area of the state is cultivable, but the bulk
is forested.

BANSHEE (Irish _bean sidhe_; Gaelic _ban sith_, "woman of the fairies"), a
supernatural being in Irish and general Celtic folklore, whose mournful
screaming, or "keening," at night is held to foretell the death of some
member of the household visited. In Ireland legends of the banshee belong
more particularly to certain families in whose records periodic visits from
the spirit are chronicled. A like ghostly informer figures in Brittany
folklore. The Irish banshee is held to be the distinction only of families
of pure Milesian descent. The Welsh have the banshee un