THE ORIENTAL RACES AND TRIBES, A SERIES OF PHOTOGRAPHS, WITH LETTER-PRESS DESCRIPTIONS. BY WILLIAM JOHNSON. BOMBAY CIVIL SERVICE (UNCOV.) VOL. I.-GUJAEAT, KUTOH, kItHIAWAE. LONDON : W. J. JOHNSON, 83 AND 121, FLEET STREET ; AND BOLTON AND BARN ITT, 146, HOLBORN BAES. 1863. [ ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL. J iprintcO !)g JOHNSON, 121, FLEET ILLUSTRATIONS. I. OWDICH BRAHMINS H. NAQUR BRAHMINS III. NAGAR BRAHMIN WOMEN IV. VALLABHACHA.RYA MAHARAJAS .... V. RAJPOOTS VI. BHATS VII. KHUWAS AND GO LAS VIII. BANIANS OF SURAT, GOGO, AND AHMBDABAD IX. BANIANS Or POREBUNDER X. BANIANS AND SONEES OF DAMNUGGUR XI. BANIAN WOMEN XII. GHUR BAREE (HOUSE-HOLDING) GOSAEES . XIII. BHATIAS DK9CBIPTIOS. Page . 15 . L9 . 23 31 35 39 S3 57 XIV. LOWANA WOMEN . XV. SADHOOS .... XVI. KHUMBARS OF IvUTCH XVII. KHARAVAS XVIII. THE DHEDS OF GUJARAT XIX. WAGHUREES . XX. PARSIS XXI. PARSI WOMEN XXII. MEHMANS . XXIII. MEHMAN WOMEN XXIV. KHOJAHS . XXV. MUHAMMAD AN WOMEN OF SURAT XXVI. BOHORAS 61 65 69 77 81 . 101 . 105 9 PREFACE, F Bombay, more than of London in the eye of the poet Cowper, it may be trnthfully said — " Ob, thon resort and mart of all the earth, Chequered with all complexions of mankind." In that great and wealthy city, supposed to be now the most populous in India, faces are to be seen of every variety of hue, from that of the fair northern European to that of the tropical African, nearly as black as ebony. It contains numerous representatives of almost all the races and tribes of the Indian Continent and Islands. It has, every season, numerous visitors from the countries of Central Asia, and from even remoter lands. "It is not only from its commercial prosperity," says Sir John Malcolm, "that such persons resort to it, but from its being the port to which all the inhabitants of Arabia, Persia, Mekran, and part of Affghanistan, first come ; as also that by which all pass that either go from India to those countries, or who proceed on a pilgrimage to Mecca, Eerbola, or Nijif. In the wholo course of my inquiries regarding the present state of the different provinces of Persia, Arabia, Affghanistan, Tartary, and even China, I have always been able to find a person in this city that was either a native of, or had visited, the country regarding which I desired information." Photographic delineations of the numerous Peoples and Tribes frequenting — " (This) Bombay's wealthy isle and harbour fam'd ; Supine beneath the shade of cocoa groves " — have long been desiderata both among the students of Geography and Ethnography, and the lovers of Art, notwithstanding partial attempts to supply them made by various local amateurs. The present endeavour to meet the wants of the public in this matter will, it is hoped, meet with indulgence and acceptance. The Collection of Negatives procured for the present work was made with great labour, and in many instances with no little persuasion addressed to the scrupulous personages, whoso effigies have been successfully delineated by the solar ray. For most of the Letterpress Descriptions the Editor is indebted to friends in India, of whom he would venture to name two in particular, the Eev. Dr. "Wilson, F.B.S., Honorary President of the Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society; and the Hon. Alex. Kinloch FoitBES, one of the judges of Her Majesty's High Court of Judicature in the Bombay Presidency. The Series of Photographs will be comprised in Three Volumes, the First Volume embracing Natives of Gujarat, Eutch, and Eathiawar; the Second, those of the Maratha Country; and the Third, a Miscellaneous Collection, not properly admissible under the headings of the two first Books. It will, perhaps, be remarked, as a peculiarity in this Volume, that two different modes of spelling Indian names and words occur in it. In explanation of this seeming inconsistency, the Editor would beg of the reader to remember that the descriptive portion of the work is composed principally of contributed articles, and that different Oriental writers adopt different modes of spelling. Dr. Wilson's contributions embrace the more correct, and to scholars of Asiatic languages perhaps the more acceptable form. In the other articles, especially those which contain extracts from the "Eas Mala," the more popular form adopted by Mr. Forbes has been adhered to. c 11 ON THE RACES AND TRIBES OF INDIA. MONG the Hindus who form the bulk of both the permanent and transient population of Bombay there are, with many varieties, at least two Japhetan or Caucasian races, considerably distant from one another — the darker and the lighter ; and a Hamite race, represented by the Mahars and Pariahs, now much degraded, and others of a similar status. The darker races are those which have been longest in India. Their religion, generally speaking, is the same now as that of the lighter race — the Brakmanical. All their peoples or tribes, however, preserve traces of an earlier corruption of religion. They are exceedingly addicted to the worship of demons, embodied often in shapeless stones, bedaubed or besmeared with red lead (the symbol of blood), which is considered pleasing to them ; to the veneration of the ghosts of their own ancestors and deceased acquaintances ; and to the worship of the spirits of the wild beasts which traverse the forests in which they not unfrequently reside. Small bodies of them in certain districts, as in the case of the Waralis of the Northern Konkan, stand altogether aloof from Brahmanism. Certain classes of them, like the Bhills and Gonds, are, on account of their unsettled state of life, denominated the Wild Tribes. The darker race, inhabiting towns and villages, are generally the Cultivators and lower Artizans of the country. Those of them who systematically lead an erratic life, though to some extent pursuing industrial occupations, are called the Wandering Tribes. Those of them who, like the Pariahs, are settled in distinct localities, but are not permitted by the Hindu system to live within the walls of villages and towns, may be denominated the Degraded Tribes. Of the latter class considerable numbers are rising in importance in the Indian community. The Fairer Race of the Hindus has generally for the last three thousand years had civil and religious dominion over the darker races, among whom it still maintains its religious authority. Its history is remarkably interesting, though by no means satisfactory either in a religious or philanthropic point of view. It possesses a curious but interesting literature, portions of which are nearly as ancient as the books of Moses. It is intimately connected with the European nations, as proved by the affinities of language ; its ancient tongue, the Sanskrit as it has been called, having many striking agreements with the Greek, Latin, German, English, and other languages. Its original seat, shortly after the flood, appears to have been a district of highland country, lying between the eastern portions of the rivers Oxus and Jaxartes, and called in the ancient wi-itings of the Parsis Airya-Vaejo, or the Pure Airya, their original paradise. The denomination of the race, from the mountainous locality now mentioned, was that of the A'ryas (the Ariani of the Greeks), or the people of A'rya. The A'ryas extended their migrations and settlements to the south and west, particularly to the south. Exterior to India, they possessed several districts of country, which are mentioned in the first chapter of the ancient law book of the Parsis, called the Vandidad. By the Khaibar and Bolan and Himalayan Passes they reached the banks of the various affluents of the Indus about sixteen or seventeen hundred years before the Christian era ; and then formed their- settlements in the land of the Panchanada, or Five Rivers, called by us the Panjab, fighting against and subduing the races already darker in their skins than themselves, by whom they had been preceded. In the Panjab, their poets, some three thousand years ago, often in fbrgctfulness of the great Creator and upholder of heaven and earth, sang religious songs and hymns, hundreds of which are still in existence (forming the Vedas), to the objects and agencies observed by them in the firmament above and the earth below, the principal objects of their worship 12 being their imaginary gods of light. Though then principally a pastoral and agricultural, they were also a military people, considerably advanced in the arts of civilised -life, in which they were certainly superior to the blacker peoples who had got to India before them. They gradually spread to the south and south-east, going by the former course along the banks of the Indus, and by the navigation of that great river to its mouths, reaching the ocean. Extending by the latter course, they reached the fertile country lying between the upper Ganges and the Yamuna. Here, before spreading further over the country, they had long their principal settlements ; and here their religious and civil polity were developed. They gradually divided themselves into three classes, or castes, according to the occupations required by the particular circumstances of their community — that of the priest, or Brahman; that of the ruler, or warrior, the Kshatriya J and that of the cattle-keeper, the field cultivator, and the merchant, the Vaishja. The peoples whom they enslaved they called Shitdras, from a tribe of the name of Sudra, early conquered by them on the banks of the Indus. To all artizans they ultimately gave a rank inferior to that of Shiulras; and this with little appreciation of labour, skilled or unskilled. The distinctions now referred to still exist among the Hindus, though with certain modifications ; while multitudes of other distinctions, embraced in the laws of caste, have been added to them. The Brahman, in religion and rank, is still at the head of Hindu society, holding, however, at the same time, that the classes intermediate between him and the Shudra have mostly disappeared. The Indians, composed, then, as they really are, of different tribes, have great differences in their physiognomy, by which it is not difficult for near observers to recognise them. It is not difficult even for strangers to distinguish them from the people of other tribes, when certain marks which they bear on their persons are attended to. The people who are seen with bedaubments and spots and lines, horizontal and vertical, on their foreheads, and sometimes on their arms and breasts, and with the lower portions of their heads shaven, and a tuft of hair on their crowns, are all Hindus. The spots and lines on their brows are the symbols of their sects and of their castes. They have so many gods, that, despairing to do justice to them all, they choose a favourite one, and set themselves to wearing his marks ; and they have so many divisions of class and rank among themselves, that they adopt artificial signs of theso classes and ranks. By the tuft on the crown of their heads they distinguish themselves from all other religionists. It is called the shondl. They very seldom wear trowsers or breeches. Such of them as do this (except when riding) belong to the lower classes. The higher classes among them wear what is called a dkotar, a " washable cloth," which, going round their loins, is suspended in front. These higher classes also, when not Brahmans, or priests, often wear long stockings, imported from Europe. The people who are seen with a fairish complexion, with hard and sloping turbans, with their outer vestment like a nccklcss shirt above then- clothes, with wide trousers, with European shoes, or shoes pointed like a curled horn, are Parsis, or Zoroastrians. They all have an inner as well as an outer shirt. It is called their sadar, and is viewed by them as a coat of mail, preserving them from the arrows and darts of the devil, who, according to many of them, divides the sovereignty of the universe with God. It is pulled together round their loins by a sacred cincture called the kusti, by which they consider themselves bound over to the rites and ordinances which they ascribe to Zoroaster. The Parsis, as merchants, shipbuilders, contractors, and so forth, are the most enterprising natives of India. Most of the people of India who are not Hindus or Parsis are Muiiamhadans. They are the descendants of the conquerors of India who preceded the European nations, and who came from the countries lying to the north of India, and of numerous converts — such as Mehmans, Khojahs, and Boharas — made by them from among the Hindus. Their costumes are of very varied form. The Converts from the natives, made by the Portuguese to Roman Catholicism, have generally adopted, though in a spare form, the European dress. The Converts to Protestantism from all classes of the natives, in the main preserve, with some slight modifications, their original dress, abandoning, however, all the marks and emblems of the religion which they have forsaken. Their object in keeping pretty near their original costume is that of showing their countrymen that religion does not consist in food and apparel. The Bene-Israel — for in their wide dispersions they, too, have reached India — are distinguished by their wearing a lock of hair above each of their ears. Their dress is like that of the Mercantile Muhammadans. 13 The Chinese are easily distinguished by the small opening of their eyes, by their high cheek-bones and flat cheeks, by their thin beards, by their long cues or hair-tails, by their open breasts, by their wide jackets, commodious trowscrs, and clog-looking shoes. Then- long cues are an exaggeration of the shendt, introduced into their native country by the propagation there of the Buddhist religion, which originated in India. The other mysteries of their dress and clothing we profess not to be able to expound, though the following lines of the poet Cowper occur to us : — " Once on a time, an Emperor, a wise man, No matter where, in China or Japan, Decreed that whosoever should offend Against the well-known duties of a friend, Convicted once, should ever after wear But half a coat and show his bosom bare, The punishment importing this, no doubt, That all was naught within, and all found out." The liberty and ease of dress which they enjoy are not, however, to be despised and ridiculed. The Malays somewhat resemble the Chinese, being, like them, of the race of Ham. To use a Hibernian bull (or as wo should say in India a bhul, a happy blunder), they are something like white Negroes. Some think that the Psalmist, when he realised Kush, or Ethiopia, stretching forth her bands unto God, had both an African and Asiatic extension in view. It is the Asiatic Ethiopia which is referred to in Gen. ii. 13. By religion the Malays are Muhammadans. The Arabs have very sharp, intelligent countenances, and often high foreheads and long faces. When in their proper costumes they wear a Kafieh, or handkerchief, tied round their brow, and flowing over their shoulders. Thoir outer garment is a capacious cloak. One of the most celebrated anatomists of France speaks of their skulls as the best developed of the human race. The Persians wear long cylindrical sheepskin caps, with an opening at the side on the top. The sleeves of their outer vestment, have a slit extending to the elbow, and so their arms are bared when raised for action, illustrating to us the figure of God's making bare His holy arm in the sight of the nations. They are a little taller and fairer than the Parsis. They belong, generally speaking, to the Moghal race. The blackest people frequenting the shores of India are Africans. There are, howover, great varieties of shade and form among them. Those of them who, under the names of Sidis, Habshis, and Negroes, present themselves to view, are a laborious, intelligent, and kindhearted people. The peculiarities of other peoples to be seen in Bombay will be alluded to in the respective descriptions which are given of them in the progress of this work. J. •w. D 15 OWDICH BRAHMIKS. (No. 1.) jjflX GREATER variety of Brahmins is found in Gujarat than in any other province in India. In the current lists no fewer than eighty-four castes of them are specified. These, too, have their own subdivisions, as in the case of the Owdich (so- called from Chide), of whom there are three sections refraining from intermarriage with one another— the Owdich of Sihor, the Tolikya Owdich, and the Sidhapur Owdich. They are sometimes called the Bahama Owdich (or the Owdich of the thousand), from the number of individual families who arc said to have been attracted to Gujarat from the north of India by King Mulraj, reigning at Anhilvada rattan, upwards of 900 years ago. Though they are a pretty numerous body, they have not the standing in the country of some other classes of Brahmins. Considerable numbers of them are employed as clerks, and not a few of them (especially in the opulent city of Bombay) are procurers of water for the higher classes of native families, who contract no defilement from receiving it at their hands. Some of them, from acting as priests to Mochis and Dirjis (shoemakers and tailors), are called Mochigors, Dirjigors, &e. When they first settled in Gujarat large endowments in land were conferred upon them; but these have been mostly all resumed by the native princes. They are worshippers of Shiva, and generally wear, especially when they wish to be thought to be in a state of purity, the horizontal sectarial marks of that deity. The Shrimali Brahmins of Marwar will not take water at their hands, from doubts entertained about their strictness in observing the rules of caste. Great numbers of them go about as Bhikshaks, or mendicants ; but this is not reckoned a matter of humiliation to them, as the begging of alms is, by Hindu legislation, an inalienable privilege of the priestly caste. Mann, the legislator, orders the Brahmin to salute the prince with outspread hands and palms, in the expectation of his getting a reward for his politeness. The causes which led to the subdivisions referred to are thus explained by the author of "Has Mala." :— "Mod Raj Solunkheo reigned at TJnhilpoor, in Goozerat, from 042 to 997 of the Christian era. As the time of his death approached he retired, for the purpose of religious purification, to the holy city of Sidhpoor, on the banks of the Suruswutcc river, near his capital. But personal austerities alone, he had been taught, were not sufficient. 'Fasting, vows, bathing, pilgrimages, and penances, when ratified by Brahmins, are fruitful, not otherwise.' Mool Raj, therefore, prepared, as the scripture of the Owdich caste relates, 'for the reception of holy Brahmins, with their families, whom ho brought, by his intreaties, from the mountains of the north, or from good places of pilgrimage near founts of water, or in the forest. The sons of the sages, well skilled in the Veds, married, youthful, worthy to be served, agreed to repair to the banks of the Virgin river. One hundred and five came from where the Yumona mingles with the Ganges, a hundred readers of the Sam Ved came from Chyuwun Ashrum, two hundred from Kunyacoobj, one hundred bright as the sun from Benares, two hundred and seventy-two from Kooroo-Kshetra, one hundred from Gtmgadwar, one hundred from Naimcech Arunya. A further hundred and thirty-two the King sent for from Kooroo-Kshetra. The smoke of their sacrifices ascended in clouds into the sky.' Mool Raj- is said to have conferred upon these Brahmins lands in the neighbour-hood of Sidhpoor, and also to have presented them with the town of Seehore, near Gogo, in the peninsula, and with several villages in the vicinity of both these places. A party of six priests for a long time refused the King's gifts, even after their friends had accepted them, but was at length prevailed upon to receive lands in Cambay and twelve adjacent villages. From the places of their residence the Owdich Brahmins subsequently assumed the names of Sidhpoorea and Seehoreei Owdich. The party who continued to refuse the gifts of Mool Baj formed a separate caste, called Tolukeea Owdich. Smce that time, some members of the caste falling into poverty, and being compelled to accept the office of family priest to cobblers, tailors, minstrels, and others, and even to Koolees, have been excommunicated, and have formed so many further subdivisions. Others settling m the city of Surat, or passing into the countries of Kutch, Wagur, or Marwar, and there gradually adopting distinct customs from those authorised at home, have separated from the main body of the caste, and assumed such local names as that of Marwar Owdich Brahmins."* In the background of our picture we have a glimpse of the well-known Temple of Shiva, at Walkeshwar, Malabar Hill, Bombay. . m. » Bfa Mali ; « or, Hindoo Annals of the Province of Qoorer.t, in Western Mi.. Br Alexander Kinloch Forbes, of the Hon. East India Company Civil Service. With Illastrations, principally architectural, from drawings bj the Author. In two vol, London: Richardson Brother., 23, Corukill. I860. Vol. I., pp. 62—0. Vol II., p. 33.. 17 L9 (No. 2.) jL EAHMINS will usually cat together, though they decline intermarriages. There is, however, one caste of Brahmins in Goozerat, \ the Nagur, which will not even eat with another caste. The original seat of the Nagur Brahmins in Goozerat was Wurnuggur, one of the oldest cities in the province. It is said that Veesul Dev Chohan, King of TJjmcr, invaded Goozerat in the eleventh century, and, holding possession for a time of part of the province, founded there the city of Teesulnuggur. At this time he caused a sacrifice to be performed which was attended by many Wurnuggur Brahmins. These refused to receive alms from the King, but Veesul Dev, resorting to a stratagem, forced upon somo of them the acceptance of grants of land. They were excommunicated by the body of the caste, and founded the Vcesulnuggur Nagur sect. Similar occurrences at Satod and other places produced the Satodra, the Cheetroda, the Prushunora, and the Krushunora. Nagur Brahmins. Of this caste there is a division called " Bftrod," composed of persons who, finding themselves unable to procure a wife in their own caste, have taken one from another. They are much despised after such a marriage, and compelled to quit their native place; but the sect continues to increase. The Barud women, contrary to ordinary practice, are permitted to remarry in case they lose their husbands.* " Brahmins frequently consider it necessary that they should observe practices of peculiar difficulty, in order to maintain their superiority over the other castes. Of these the most strict is an observance of the Nagur Brahmins, called 'Nuven,' or 'purity in regard to food.' The Brahmin having bathed, dresses himself in silk or woollen clothes ; or if he require to use cotton garments, these must be dipped in water, wrung out, and dried in some place where nothing impure can touch them. Thus habited, he sits down to dinner, but he must preserve himself from numerous accidents which would render him impure, and compel him to desist from his meal. If he touch an earthen vessel he is denied, unless the vessel have never contained water. The touch of a piece of cotton cloth, or of a piece of leather or paper, which he may accidentally have sat down upon, renders him impure; but if Hindoo letters have been written on the paper they preserve him from defilement, because they represent 1 Suruswutee.' If, however, letters be written on cloth or leather, these remain impure. Thus if the Gecta, or any other portion of Scripture, bo required for use at the time, it must bo bound with silk, and not with cotton; leather must bo avoided, and instead of common paste of flour and water, the binder must employ paste of pounded tamarind seed. A printed book will not answer the Brahmin's purpose, because printing-ink contains impure matter. Some think that the touch of deer-skin or tiger-skin docs not defile. Eaw cotton docs not render the Brahmin impure, but if it have been twisted for the wick of a lamp, by a person not in the state of ' Nuven,' it does ; and again, if it have been dipped in oil or clarified butter it docs not. Bones defile, but women's ivory armlets do not, except in thoso parts of the country where they are not usually worn, and then they do. The touch of a child of the same caste who has not learned how to eat grain does not defile, but if the child have eaten grain it does. Tho touch of a donkey, a dog, or a pig, defiles ; some say that the touch of a cat also defiles; others are inclined to think that it does not, because, in truth, it is not easy to keep the cat out. If a Brahmin who is in 'Nuven' be eating, or if he have risen from eating, the touch of his person defiles another Brahmin who is in 'Nuven,' but has not begun his dinner.""]" The Nagur Brahmins form a numerous and influential class both in Goozerat and in Bombay, and occupy positions of trust and responsibility in mercantile and Government offices. They are generally considered men of talent and ability. In our group we have Vukeels (native advocates), schoolmasters, an accountant, bill and share brokers, and last, not least, a poet of some celebrity amongst the Goozcratee population of Bombay. Our group of Nagur Brahmins presents, it will be observed, a great variety of head-dress, ranging from the full white turban of Katiawar, and the rounded one of Ahmedabad, to the half-Moguliscd costume of Surat, and the broad, flat head-dress which the Nagur resident in Bombay sometimes adopts from the Brahmins of the Deccan. » Vide " Ris Mala." Vol. II., p. 233. t " Mb Mala." Vol. II., pp. 258-9. 21 23 KAGAE BHAHMAEf WOMEIT. (No. 3.) pBS word f%ar is the adjective form of nagar, a city. It is applied to a class of Brahnians in Goozerat, which again has six divisions— the Vadnagar, Visalnagar, Sathodra, Prashnora, Krishnora, and Chitroda, so named from the villages in which they fast settled when they cstahlished themselves in the province. They arc a very intelligent people, and large numbers of them arc devoted to secular employment, particularly in connexion with the agencies of the different native chiefs of Kathiawar. The duties and services which they exact of their females are the same as those practised by Brahman females in general— such as the management of the younger children, cooking, and keeping the house clean and orderly. They have made a commencement of female education in a few of their families, and in schools lately established §af at Bhavanagar, Surat, and Ahmadahad. The parties represented in our photograph arc but young in years. They have on the graceful and modest costume worn by tho better classes of their caste, with a moderate supply of ornaments— noselots, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, and toelets. Though not allowed to learn or repeat any of the sacred mantras or verses of the Vedas, or to touch the idols in their houses or temples, the Brahmanis make offerings to the gods through tho hands of the officiating priests, take and fulfil vows, perform perambulation round sacred trees and images, listen to tho recitation of the Puranas and other legendary works, tend the sacred tulasi plant (Ocymum sanctum), make ready wicks for lamps to enlighten them on the path to heaven, prepare pigments for family and personal use, and draw ornamental figures at their thresholds and on the floors of their houses. They never go to market to make purchases, or carry loads or hundles. Neither do they ride on horschack, as is sometimes done hy the Brahmanis of the Dakhan. Their social morality is well guarded hy their families. They seldom leave their houses, oven for exercise, though they occasionally exchange visits with their female friends. It will be seen on a microscopic examination of the picture that, in addition to the various ornaments already enumerated, the lady on the left is adorned with what wo suppose would be termed a toothlet — a gold button screwed on to a front tooth, which is bored to receive it. This is a species of ornament peculiar, we wore told, to this class of Hindu women. "Wo certainly never remember to have seen it on the person of any other female. J. W. 25 27 YALLABHACHAEYA MAHARAJAS. (No. 4.) j^ALLABHA was the son of a Brahman of Telingina, who nourished towards the end of the fifteenth and the beginning of the M sixteenth century of the Christian era. Ho was patronised by Krishna Deva, King of Vijayanagar ; but it was in the north of H, India that he eame into special notice as an A'charya, or religious teacher. He became a devotee of the god Krishna, who, though a king, was soon viewed by the Hindus as the personification of love and lust; and of this god, either ho himself, or his early followers acting for him, pretended that he was an incarnation. Ho became the founder of a sect, tho principles of which may be learned from the following notices: "Amongst other articles of the new creed, Vallabha introduced one which is rather singular for a Hindu religious innovator or reformer: He taught that privation formed no part of sanctity, and that it was the duty of tho teacher and his disciples to worship their deity, not in nudity and hunger, but in costly apparel and choice food; not in solitude and mortification, but in the pleasures of society and the enjoyment of the world. The Gosahu, or teachers, are almost all family men, as was the founder Vallabha; for, after he had taken off the restrictions of the monastic order to which ho originally belonged ho married, by the particular order, it is said, of his new god. The Gosains arc always clothed with the best raiment, and fed with the daintiest viands by their followers, over whom they have unUmited influonce."-(" Essays on the Hindu Eeligion," by Professor H. H. Wilson) "The sect of Vallabhacharya is a new sect, inasmuch as it has selected the god Krishna in one of his aspects-that of his adoleseence-and raised him to supremacy in that aspect. It is a new sect, in as far as it has established the PusMi-M.irya, or way of enjoyment in a natural and carnal sense. The god Krishna is worshipped by its members in the form of images, and in the form of the persons of their Gurus, the so-called Maharajahs.''-(Exanvmation of Eev. Dr. John Wilson before the Supreme Court of Bombay, 8th Feb., 18620 These Gurus, or Maharajas (for they have usurped a royal title) comprehend all the descendants of Vallabha. They are viewed by a great many of their followers as incarnations of the head of Krishna, and as intermediate between Krishna and his worshippers. In their alleged religions authorities it is said, "We should regard our Guru as God; for if God get angry, tho Guru Deva is able to save from the effects of God's anger; whereas, if the Gum is displeased, nobody is able to save from the effects of the Gum's displeasure." To Krishna, through the Maharajas, the Vallabhacharyas dedicate their body, soul, and property (tan, man, and than), and large numbers of them hive allowed them access to their wives and daughters. The practice of gross immorality (with the supposed sanction of religion) has been the consequence. A calm reprobation of this immorality by Karsandas Mulji, the enlightened and able editor of a native paper advocating reform, lately brought a prosecution upon him for libel, whieh occupied the attention of the Supreme Court of Bombay for twenty-four days, but which issued in his justification. On this occasion the prosecutor was a Maharaj, named Jadunathji, who was himself accused of perjury, in denying his own loathsome practices, by both the judges, Sir M. Sausse and Sir J. Arnould. The disclosures made in the case were of a most extraordinary character-the most astounding, in some respects, perhaps, ever made in a court of justice. It was long before the prosecution was commenced that the photograph, given in this volume, of five of the Maharajas, was made. A peculiar interest is to be attached to it, as will be readily understood from the preceding notices. It will be observed that the parties whom it represents wear their hair as women, and have such ornaments on their persons, extending to their toes, as in India are worn only by the female sex. Their object in this is to characterise themselves as Gopls (hcrdswomen devoted to Krishna), and to indicate that women united to them are joined only to the god himself. The system of faith and practice with which the Vallabhacharyas are connected was warmly and powerfully reprobated by the Bombay judges, especially by Sir J. Arnould. It is professed by several hundred thousands of Hindus in the north-west of India; but it is now attacked by a hopeful body of determined reformers, including several individuals of great influence in the native community. In the meantime the Maharajas (of whom seven or eight-a tithe of the whole fraternity-were wont to be in Bombay) have, with a single exception, left the city Its streets are certainly not less clean and safe since they have been forsaken by these "Brahminy Bulls." For anything we know to the contrary, the five whose shadows were caught before their departure may be better than their neighbours. Then- names (beginning with that of him on the left hand of the spectator) are Gopkeshji, Jivanji, Maganlal, Gokuladhish, and Ch.manji. We are indebted to Br. Narrain Dajee, a medical practitioner in Bombay, and an accomplished photographer, for the original photograph, or negative, from which our picture is made. 31 (No. 5.) T is stated in the ' Bhagwut Pooran ' that llurecchee Reeshee, the sou of Bramha, had a son, Kusyup, whoso sod, Soorya (the sun), or Veevuswan, became a Kshutruya. Mureechee's brother, Utree, had also a sou named Som, or Chimdra (names of the moon), and he, too, was a warrior. The great majority of the Rajpoot clans deduce their descent from either Soorya, or Chimdra. In the commentary on a Sanskrit work called 'Eutun Kosh,' it is said that the first of the Kshutruya race was ftlunoo, and that from him sprung thirty-six tribes, of whom some acqiiired surnames by valiant exploits, some attained the rank of kings, others fell to that of cultivators, or even became lost in the Skudra caste. Chund Bharot states that when the sages dwelt on Mount Aboo, and were annoyed by the TJsoors, or demons, Wushist, one of their number, created from a sacrificial pit of fire four Kshutruyas— Pureehar, Solunkhee, Purmar, and Chohan. Prom these sprung the thirty-six Rajpoot clans, which he thus enumerates : — "The Sun, the Moon, the Jaduv 1 races, Kukoosth, Purmar, and Tonwur, Chahoowan, 1 Chalook, J Chind,' Silar, Abheewur, Doyumutt,* Mukwan, s Gurooa, Gohill, Gahiloot, Chiipotkut, 7 Pureehar, Riiv Eathor the angry, Deora, Thank, Sindhuv, Unig, Yotik, rruthcehiir, Dudheekuth, Karutpal, Kotpal, Hoon, Hureetuth, Gor, Kumad, Jutt, Dhyanpaluk,. Nikoombh, great, Kajpiil, lords of earth, Kaluchur, last of all. I have named the thirty-six races. " The common version now given by bards is that five Rajpoots — Purmar, Rathor, Jaduv, Chahoowan, and Solunkhee — sprang from the fire-pit, and that from these descend ninety-nine clans. The Rajpoot tribes still maintain that they are true Kshutruyas, though the Brahmins deny that the warrior caste has any longer an existence. The reason is to be found in the affected purity, as regards food and other matters, which has crept upon the Brahmins, and in the compulsory marriage of Rajpoot ladies with the Mohumuiedan princes. The Kshutruya caste is now uo longer considered by other Hindoos to be next in rank to the Brahmin ; its place has been usurped by the Waneeas, a branch of the Vai'shya caste, who will not even drink water with Rajpoots, and ( Brahmin- "Waueca ' is now a synonymous expression for ' oojulcc-wustee,' or high-caste population. The Rajpoots use animal food and spirituous liquor, both unclean in the last degree to their puritanic neighbours, and are scrupulous in the observance of only two rules — those which prohibit the slaughter of cows, and the re-marriage of widows. The clans are not forbidden to eat together or to intermarry, and cannot be said in these respects to form different castes. " In times of peace and ease the Rajpoot leads an indolent and monotonous life. It is some time, usually after sunrise, before he bestirs himself, and begins to call for his hookah; after smoking, he enjoys the luxury of tea or coffee, and commences his toilet and ablutions, which dispose of a considerable part of the morning. It is soon breakfast time, and after breakfast the hookah is again in requisition, with but few intervals of conversation, until noon. The time has now arrived for a siesta, which lasts until about three in the Chohan. ' The Jaduv, or Yaduv, to which the Ras of Sorcth belonged. 3 Solunkhee. ' Chundel. a Dahecma. " Mukwanii, or Jbfttt, Chowrj. 32 afternoon afternoon. At tins nour ins uuiei b rtJL3 U F <*6^"*j — — ' - - distribution of the red cup, kusoomba, or opium. He calls together his friends into the public hall, or perhaps retires with them to a garden-house. Opium is produced, which is pounded in a brass vessel and mixed with water; it is then strained into a dish with a spout from which it is poured into the chiefs hand. One after the other the guests now come up, each protesting that kusoomba is " ' _____.„. ■.-..■< ■ n__A 3 tH,MH n T-i i-i f linv +niif>lioa +lm filial wholly repugnant to his taste, and very injurious to Us health, but after a little pressing, first one and then another touches the chiefs hand in two or three places, muttering the names of Devs, friends or others, and drains the draught. Each, after drinking, washes the chiefs hand in a dish of water which a servant offers, and wipes it dry with his own scarf; ho then makes way for his neighbour. After this refreshment the chief and his guests sit down in the public hall, and amuse themselves with chess, draughts, or games of chance; or perhaps dancing-iris are called in to exhibit their monotonous measures, or musicians and singers, or the never-failing favourites-the Bhats and Ckaruns. At sunset the torch-bearers appear, and supply the chamber with light; upon which all those who are seated therein rise and make obeisance towards the chieftain's cushion. They resume their- seats, and playing and singing, dancing, story-telling, go on as before. At about eight the chief rises to retire to his dinner and his hookah, and the party is broken up. « The Eajpoot chief has always several ladies, eaeh of whom is maintained in a separate suite of apartments. He dines and s the evening alternately in the apartments of eaeh of the ladies, who, with her attendants, prepares dinner for him, and waits upon him while he "eats it, waving the punkah or fan behind him, and entertaining him with her remarks, which, if report speak true (for no stranger is admissible on such occasions), frequently constitute a pretty severe curtain lecture." Bombay was visited last year by two of the Eajpoot chiefs of Goozerat, who, with their attendant noblemen, form the subject of our picture. Muharaja Jowan Singh, Eajah of Eedur, the central figure in our group, is the head of the Ehator clan-the present Eajah of Marwar being the son of his father's younger brother. The principality of Eeduf is in the hilly country in the north of Goozerat. This chief is tributary to the Guikowar, and his lands are not included in the British territory. There are many Eajpoot chiefs, however, in British Goozerat, commonly known by the name of Talookdars. Their affairs have generally fallen into confusion from causes which will be hinted at in our description of the Waneea caste; and the newly-revwed Legislature of Bombay was employed during its first Session in discussing the provisions of an Encumbered Estates Bill, intended to remedy the disadvantages under which they have fallen. « TO, "Ras IBM," Vol. II., pp. 233, 235, 261, 262. - 35 (No. 6.) LOSELY connected with the Rajpoots are the Bards, the Bhats, and the Charuns. Of their origin nothing is known, but they assert themselTes to have sprung from Muha Dev or Shiva. They are in somo places cultivators, iu others bankers, but their more legitimate occupations are those of acting as securities for the performance of engagements, and of recording the genealogies of their Rajpoot clients. " During the anarchy which has more or less prevailed in Goozerat from the time when the dynasty of Unhilpoor was overthrown by the Mohummedans to the time when, under British influence, the settlement was effected which wo have described, the security of a bard was one of the few available means of ensuring the performance of both political engagements and private agreements, and of providing for the safe transaction of commercial operations. Whether the paramount power sought a guarantee from the half-independent principalities for the payment of their tribute, or a private individual desired assurance of oblivion and personal safety from the chief whom ho had offended — whether the money-lender looked for a pledge of repayment, or the merchant for the safe transit of his goods through a country infested with robbers — the bard was alike resorted to as the only person whose security could bo accepted without danger. As the descendant and favourite of the gods, his person was sacred in the eyes of men who reverenced but little else, and he had at his command means of extorting compliance with his demands which were seldom used in vain. Theso were the rites of ' Traga ' and ' Duurna,' which consisted — the former, in the shedding by the bard of the blood of himself, or of some member of his family, and the calling down upon the offender whose obstinacy necessitated the sacrifice the vengeance of heaven ; and the latter in placing around the dwelling of the recusant a cordon of bards, who fasted, and compelled the inhabitants of the house also to fast, until their demands were complied with. It was not until the establishment of British supremacy rendered the performance of these barbarous rites impossible that the custom of employing bardic security fell into disuse. " In his heraldic and poetical capacity, however, it is that the bard has been longest and most favourably distinguished. When the rainy season closes, and travelling becomes practicable, the bard sets off on his yearly tour from his residence in the ' BMtwara ' of somo city or town. One by one he visits each of the Rajpoot chiefs who are his patrons, and from whom he has received portions of land, or annual grants of money, timing his arrival, if possible, to suit occasions of marriage, or other domestic festivals. After he has received the usual courtesies, he produces the ' "Wye ' — a book written in his own crabbed hieroglyphics, or in those of his father's, which contains the descent of the house, if the chief be the 1 Teelayut,' or head of the family, from the founder of the tribe ; if ho be a ' Phutayo,' or cadet, from the immediate ancestor of the branch, interspersed with many a verse or ballad, the 'dark sayings' contained in which are chanted forth in musical cadence to a delighted audience, and are then orally interpreted by the bard, with many an illustrative anecdote or tale. The ' Wye ' is not, however, merely a source for the gratification of family pride or even of love of song. It is also a record of authority by which questions of consanguinity are determined, when marriage is on the tapis, and disputes relating to the division of ancestral property are decided, intricate as these last necessarily are, from the practice of polygamy, and the rule that all the sons of a family are entitled to a share. It is the duty of the bard at each periodical visit to register the births, marriages, and deaths which have taken place in the family since his last circuit, as well as to chronicle all the other events worthy of remark which have occurred to affect the fortunes of his patron; nor have we ever heard even a doubt suggested regarding the accurate, much less the honest, fulfilment of this duty by the bard. " The manners of the bardic tribe are very similar to those of their Rajpoot clients ; their dress is nearly the same, but the bard seldom appears without the 'Kutar,' or dagger, a representation of which is scrawled beside his signature, and often rudely engraved upon G 36 his monumental stone, in evidence of his death in the sacred duty of £ Traga.' The heraldic occupation is hereditary, and as the bard goes forth on his annual circuits, attended not only by his servants and retinue (the females only being left at home), but also by his sons, the latter have numerous opportunities of becoming acquainted with the history of their patrons, and of learning beside the funeral monuments of the race, all that traditionary lore which forms their ancestral wealth."* * B&a Mali*., Vol. II., pp. 262—5. 37 39 KHUWAS Al'D SOLAS, (So. 7.) LAVERY— though not now a recognised institution in India— has left traces over many parts of the country of its existence at Xlfe ) ' n» very distant period. This is specially the case in Katheawar and Kutch, where we have a people who are only known there V^Wfi\ and e i sewllere by names which imply a condition of slavery, and who form amongst themselves a distinct portion of the varied population of those provinces. These are the Golas, or, as they arc sometimes called, Khuwas, the latter term merely representing those who had attained to some hotter position in the household of their masters than that ordinarily assigned to the members of their community. Descendants of women who had been purchased as slaves, these peoplo still regard themselves as "hereditary slaves," and are perhaps so regarded by a large majority of their neighbours. They are to be found in the household of every chief or man of note in Katheawar and Kutch. They arc generally well treated, well fed, and well clothed, rising at times to positions of trust and responsibility. Their costume is usually that of the district in which they may be residing, and they arc either Hindoos or Mahomedans, according to the religion of their masters. Those whom we have illustrated were amongst the personal attendants who accompanied the Rajpoot chief of Eidur on his visit to Bombay last year- one of them, the central figure, being a man of some consequence amongst his fellows. Forbes' " Ras Mala » contains the following brief allusion to these people : — "At the residence of every Rajpoot chief are to be found a number of female servants, either themselves purchased as slaves when young, or the descendants of women who have been thus purchased. They are of all castes, and arc frequently even Abyssinians— in Katewar the usual name for them is Cliokree, in the Myhee Kanta it is Wuihirm. These women are reputed to be of easy virtue, and are hardly ever married at all; but if they are, it is with a member of their own caste. An intrigue with them is considered disgraceful to a member of another class. When a WudMrun is found to be with child, the Ranee, her mistress, will send for her, and compel her to disclose the name of the father, who, if a wealthy person, is compelled to pay a fine. No fault, however, is imputed to the woman. The children bear the name of Gola, or, if they have been employed in high situations by the chief, that of Khuwas. They remain, however, the slaves of the chief, notwithstanding their promotion. On the marriage of a chief's daughter, a certain number of male and female slaves form part of the young lady's dowry. They perform the menial duties of the household, and used sometimes to accompany the corpse of their chief to the funeral pile, and burn themselves thereupon." 41 13 BANIABFB, WAKE AS. (Nos. 8, 9, 10, and 11.) E have here four pictures, in which Banians, as they are usually called, or Waneeas, as they are more correctly styled, are depicted. The first picture represents the Waneea costume of Ahmedabad, in the centre figure, with those of Surat on the right hand, and Gogo and the surrounding country on the left. The second exhibits Waneeas from Porebunder, a port on the south-west coast of Kateewar ; the third, the same class of people from Damnuggur, in the east of the Peninsula, hardly distinguishable from the two Sonees, or goldsmiths (the right and left figures), by whom they are accompanied ; and the fourth, a group of Banian Women. As these people are so intimately related that the one can 7pY hardly be considered without the other, we propose to treat of them together ; and, at the same time, to show how the necessity arose for the Encumbered Estates enactment, to which we have already alluded in our description of the Rajpoots "In Goozerat and Kateewar Vaishyas are still employed principally in agriculture and commerce. Of the trading classes, the principal are the Waneeas, already mentioned, who form eighty-four distinct castes, deriving names principally from districts or towns. These castes are again suhdivided, its into right and left hand, or into Dusha. and Yeesha, names implying degrees of rank, and derived from words signifying ten and twenty. The Waneeas are still further divided by religious differences, as into Meshrees, or Vaishnavite Hindoos, and Shrawuks, or Jains. The genealogists of the Wanceiis, Jain monks, or bards, as the case may be, derive their descent commonly from some Rajpoot clan. Intermarriage is not allowed where the parties are reputed to be of the same descent. . . . "Waneeas and trading people generally set off early in the morning to have a sight of the Dev in his temple. Some persons entertain a superstitious notion that everything will prosper with them during the day if they behold a particular person's face the first thing in tho morning; so they keep their eyes as completely closed as they can, and set off to see this person of good omen. It is very unlucky, they believe, to see a man who has no son, an outcast, a donkey, or a quarrelsome person. Others worship the first thing in the morning the sacred basil, or the holy fig tree. After they have eaten breakfast and chewed betel, they set off to the public market, where they follow their occupation until evening time, when they return home to dinner, paying, perhaps, on their way, a second visit to the temple. " It is the men's business to make what purchases are necessary for the household in the market, and to keep the accounts. All other domestic duties devolve upon the women. " The wives of the poorer class of householders rise at three in tho morning frequently to grind grain ; and are occupied, perhaps, for three hours in preparing as much flour as will last until the third day. When they have no grain to grind they must still rise at the Bame early hour to milk the cows, churn, and extract clarified butter. At sis o'clock, after arranging their costume, they set off with their vessels to the river side, where they bathe and fill water, and then return home. Some women bathe at home, and fetch water afterwards; and rich men's wivos have a servant specially for attendance on the bath. When the women return with their water-vessels filled they must set to work to prepare breakfast. The males of the family, when breakfast is ready, sit down in a line at short intervals, and eat; when they rise, the women sit down. Breakfast finished, and the men off to their various duties, the women are busily employed in cleaning the house, the fireplace, the plates and dishes, and other vessels, and in preparing grain for grinding. About three in the afternoon they have a little leisure, which they employ in attending to their children or in combing out their own long hair and oiling it. In the evening they are again busy getting ready lights, preparing dinner, and spreading the beds. " When a caste entertainment takes place the guests either wash at home, and dress themselves in silk clothes, or, if the distance be considerable, carry their dining drees with them to the house of their host, who provides them with water to bathe in. When they are dressed, the men sit down in two lines outside the entertainer's house, and take their dinner; as soon as they have finished their repast, the women sit down in a similar manner. In some places the women dine at the same time as the men, but at a short distance from them. Tho persons who prepared the dinner set it before the guests, and dine themselves when the rest have finished. On the west of the Sabhurmutee River the women dress for dinner in cotton, which practice is the subject of much contemptuous remark among the people of tho eastern districts, whose wives wear silk dresses. In some places no person, not even a man of the caste, unless he have bathed and dressed himself in silk, can pass between the two lines of guests at a public feast without defiling the company, and it becomes therefore necessary that the entertainer should procure permission to barricade the street in which he lives. In other parts of tho country a person of the same, or of higher caste, may pass without removing his clothes, but he must leave his shoes behind him, and carry his turban in his hand ; and, above all, he must be particular not to carry with him a book bound in leather, or any other leathern article. Five or six of the caste are usually stationed on either side of the lines to keep off the dogs— a task in which they arc not always successful; and when a dog gets in, his appearance creates quite a scuffle ; hands are raised on all sides to drive him away, and it generally ends in his putting his foot into sonic man's plate, and jumping over him, or else in his rushing between two men, rendering them both impure. Tho sufferers, however, put up with the affront quietly for the time being, and finish what is in their plates, that they may not be gmlty of disrespect to TTnn Dev (food personified as a deity), or sometimes they call to the sentinels, who remove their plates, and bring them fresh ones. "It is, unfortunately, matter of notoriety that, speaking generally, all the cultivators and holders of land in Goozerat are in debt to such an extent, that they have no means of their own of extricating themselves from their difficulties. The creditors are for the most part Goozerat Waneeas of the Meshree (Vaishnavite) or Shrawuk (Jain) classes. A Waneeo commencing life spends his time partly in a large town, and partly in some remote country vUla<*e. 44 lie borrows a few rupees at interest in the town, with which he purchases small supplies of clarified batter, oil, molasses, and other such articles, and thus stocks his village shop. The cultivators having' no money at hand, barter small quantities of their grain or cotton for as much oil as will keep their evening lamp burning for an hour, or for little supplies of groceries. They are perfectly unaware of the market value of their raw produce, and arc quite satisfied that they have made a bargain if the W&neoo, with a politic show of liberality, throws in a little more of the article he is selling under the name of a bonus. Having collected a sufficient quantity of raw produce, the trader carries it to the town, and sells it there at a favourable rate ; and, his capital thus augmented, he returns to the village to commence operations on a larger scale. A cultivator, perhaps, has lost Ins bullock; the Waneeo steps forward immediately to lend him money, at interest, to supply his loss. Or, perhaps, the Koonbeu is engaged in marrying his child, or in performin"- tho funeral rites of his parent ; the trader will advance him money to supply him with the clarified butter, molasses, clothes, or other articles which are indispensable on these occasions, charging for them twice their value. Sometimes the cultivator prefers to make his own purchases in tho town, but he must then take the Waneeo with him to act as broker between him and the town dealer, for he feels that the latter will otherwise charge him anything he pleases; and, besides, he has no money, and cannot borrow it except from the village lender; for the curious feeling in regard to rights, which is so prevalent among the Hindoos, applies here, and the village Waneeo will consider his property invaded if any other trader propose to deal with his constituents. On these transactions the Waneeo, of course, gains largely. Sometimes, however, he will say to the cultivator, 'I have no ready money; but if you will tell me what you want, we will go together and purchase it, and it shall be put down to my account.' Ho takes care, moreover, to hint to his victim what praises he has heard of the liberality of the family, and how necessary it is that their honour should be maintained by a largo expenditure on the present occasion. He adds that such celebrations do not happen every day, hut only once or twice in a lifetime, that the money will not be thrown away, and that nothing is easier than to make it up again. He will also say, ' I have every confidence in you, and am ready to advance you any sum you wish.' In this way, flattering his pride, he easily plunges him deeply into debt. " When the occasion for all this extravagant expenditure has passed away, the Wiineco demands his bond. He tells the cultivator, ' You have so much to pay to the ghee-dealer, so much to the cloth-aeller,' and so on; to all of which the cultivator assents The Waneeo says, 'Now give me my kothulee choramun,' meaning a fee for loosening the purse-strings, which must be paid in ready money, for luck, or as a good omen. The cultivator procures one per cent, in ready money from wherever he can, and pays it. He has further, also, to make a present, not only to the person who writes, but also to those who attest the bond. Interest is stipulated fur at two per cent, per mensem, or, if the terms are unusually moderate, at one. The bond prepared, the cultivator scrawls beneath it bis mark — a rude representation of a plough. When tho next crop is ready, and the Government share has been paid, the creditor exerts himself to carry off all that remains. The cultivator, with much intreaty, obtains enough to subsist upon for a short time, and he is credited, on account of the remainder, with whatever the Waneeo may be pleased to allow him. Sometimes the trader carries off nearly the whole, and when the cultivator talks about a subsistence, says, ' What need you care ? when yours is done, you can have as much as you like from my shop.' Thus the cultivator is driven to the Waueeo's shop for grain to eat, and grain to sow bis field with. Tho terms of lending are, that the borrower shall repay twice the quantity of grain he takes away, when his crop ripens. Tho next harvest comes round, but now all the grain which is left, after the payment of the Government demands, goes to pay for that which was borrowed last year, and there is nothing left to pay the interest of the bond. This, then, must bo added to the principal ; and so the bond goes on swelling year by year — the trader (who is well aware of tho practice of tho courts of justice) taking care to have it periodically renewed, and carefully closing every loop-hole through which his victim might escape. " The creditor will now probably reside principally in the town, and on his occasional visits to the village he puts up at the house of his debtor, who is obliged to maintain him as long as he remains there. If the Waneeo have a son to marry, or a pilgrimage to perform, tho debtor is obliged to lend him his cart and bullocks, and on such occasions he must also come forward with the usual present. The money-lender has by this time begun to assume a very high tone, and to demand payment, threatening to sell the cultivator's house or his bullocks ; in fact, as a villager would say, ' He becomes more oppressive than a raja.' " In a few years the Waneeo, having thus made himself the master of numerous cultivators, amasses a large sum of money. He now turns his attention to a higher prey, and seeks to become the creditor of local chiefs and landowners. His first step is to get himself introduced to the chief's man of business, whom he gains over by gifts and promises. This agent accordingly takes the first opportunity of praising tho trader in tho chief's presence, and intimating his readiness to advance as much money as may be wished for. When occasion arrives, money is accordingly borrowed from tho Sowkar, or Shot (at which dignity the Waneeo has now arrived), " and the man of business prepares a bond and brings it to tho landowner for his (signature. The chief haggles like a child for a sum of ready money to be presented to him as the price of his affixing his seal, but cares littlo or nothing about what there is in the bond ; never reflecting for a moment that he is likely to be called upon to fulfil his agreement. A few transactions of this kind lead to the inevitable termination The Sowkar sues in the court of justice ; the man of business (who has carefully abstained from keeping any account, lest his own peculations should bo exposed) deserts his master in the hour of need. The chief attempts to defend his suit ; and while he admits that he has signed the bond, urges that he is not really indebted to one-tenth of the extent asserted. Ho is informed that ho must produce his accounts, in order to prove his defence ; and when he states that his agent never kept any, is told further that this is merely a false statement, made because the production of the books called for would prove the validity of the plaintiff's claim. The chief has, of course, no further defence ; a decree is therefore passed, and his estate is attached."' •B&B Mi'da, Vol. II., pp, 236—2-18—2,52—259—201. OrixntnJ $BO0 unb tribes. N= 11. 5:5 GHUJI (HO USE- HOLDING) & OS A EES, (No. 12.) UR present picture exhibits a group of house-holding Gosaees, or Utects, of whom a considerable number reside at Eedur, Sidhpoor, and other places in Goozcrat, and occupy the position of wealthy bankers. The following description, of himself and his caste was furnished to us some years ago by a Gosaee, named Vishnoogurjoe, and as it is tolerably comprehensive, as well as authentic, we give it in full " I am an inhabitant of Tirhoot, in NepauL My father, Oopadya Mohunram, a Shunkuldwccpee liralimin, on account of JkV his having no offspring, made a vow at the temple of Chutra-bhooj, in Moozufurpoor, that if ho should have two sons he would devote one of them ; so I was born soon after, and when I was about five years old my mother had a second son, and my father resolved to consecrate me to the god. The Muhanunt, or high-priest of the temple, cut off the lock of hair that was on my head, and thus became my goroo. He also instructed me. I have since wandered about from one Ilindoo sacred place to another, and have visited Kashec, Jwala-mookb.ee, Ilurdwar, Dwarka, and other shrines. I live at any temple, or 'Ukharo,' which is frequented by naked Gosaees. I have been lately staying at Neelkunt Muha Dev's, at Ahmedabad, with Heerapuree Muhanunt. Three months ago I left that, and I am now on my way to the temple of TJmba Bhuwanee. In the rainy season I take shelter anywhere where I can find a person to support me. My occupation is pilgrimage (' Chuktaee '), and I live upon alms. Shree Skunkur (Shiva) is the deity I worship. Before the time of the English Government people of my caste did not marry, for fear of their caste- fellows revenging this breach of rules. Some now marry, but not those who travel about naked, with their hair arranged in a conical form on their heads, which head-dress is called ' Jutta.' When they become house-holders they let down the ' Jutta ' and wear clothes, and they must also divest themselves of the copper ear-ornament called 'Moondra.' There arc four sects of Utects, each of which is divided into three branches: — I. Josiiee-mtjt,. II. SlNGIIEItEE-MUT. 1. Gur branch. 2. Purbut. 3. Sagur. . 1. Pooree. 2. Bhartee. 3, Suruswutee. III. BOGHOKDUN-MUT . . . 1 . Bun. 2. Orun. '•I. Jutee. IV. Sa'rda-mut 1. Jot. 1, Bamadutcc. 3. Dundee. I am a Gur of the Joshce-mut. The house-holding members of the four sects intermarry, but members of the same branch do not intermarry. If an Uteet take a woman of another caste into his house, she is unclean until she has received the rites of initiation. The naked Gosaees are all of the Brahmin caste. In many places Uteets are employed as Sepoys; they then, but not otherwise, bear arms, and they generally wear an orange-tawny cloth round their heads instead of a turban. Whatever clothes they wear must be of this colour. They obey a chief called a Mookbee as long as the service lasts. Uteets are not burned on the funeral pyre, but buried in the position in which Hindoos usually sit, with the arms folded, wearing a close-fitting orange-tawny cap and a cloak of the same colour, with a staff, an earthen vessel upon the head, wooden sandals, a wallet, and a drinking gourd. As much salt as can bo procured is poured over the body; and if money be forthcoming, Utects, Sadhoos, Brahmins, &c, are entertained on the twelfth day after death. Uteets frequently cause themselves to be buried alive in this manner when they believe their death to be near." A. K. F. 57 £ S A T IAS. (No. 13.) ^ ^j-HE Bhatias (or Bhatyas) are originally from the country of Bhatiner, between Sindh and Eajputana. Their first emigrations n A I - were to Kutch and Kathiawar. Multitudes of them aro now in Bombay, in which they form a very important portion of its diversified native community, being greatly distinguished for their industry and enterprise. Many of them, too, are gL found as mercantile agents in the seaports of the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, and even of the coasts of Africa. They «* reckon themselves to bo Kshatriyas, or the descendants of the princely casto; but they aro generally viewed by the Brahmans as only Vaishyas, members of the mercantile body. They wear the tunic, zone, and pendant front-cloth common among the Hindus ; but they are at onco cognizable by their high and pointed turbans of printed cotton, with bright colours, which, contrasted with the head-dresses of many other classes of natives, give them rather an imposing appearance. Comparatively, they are of a fair complexion. They are devotees of the god Krishna, and followers of the soctarial teacher Vallabhacharya, the Y ' licentious tenets and practices of whom and his descendants have lately mot with such a disgusting (but, it is to be hoped, salutary) exposure in the Supreme Court of Bombay, in the celebrated great Maharaj Libel Case, directed against Karsandas Mulji, whose able pen had been engaged in their reprobation in the Satya Prakdsh, a Gujarat! newspaper published in Bombay. Having alluded to this fact, it is right for us to mention that a powerful reforming party exists among the Bhatias, headed by such intelligent and influential men as Messrs. Lakhmidas Khimji and Mathuradas Lowji, from whose vigour and decision of character improvements may bo expected both in the creed and moral conduct of the people of the tribe. It is to bo regretted that education, properly so called, has made but little progress in their community. Almost all the names of the Bhatias are designations of the god Krishna. J. W. I 61 LOWIIi W 0 M £ (No. 14.) OWANAS, or rather Lohanas (for they derive their designation from the fort of Loha), are a Hindu tribe, originally from the Province of Sindh. Their present head-quarters are in Kutch. Speaking of them as connected with that country, the late Captain James Macmurdo thus describes them in the third volume of the "Transactions of the Bombay Literary Society" : i! In Kutch they are labourers, cultivate the soil, or speculate in trade. They were for many years ^Ministers of the Kutch Government ; but the principal men having been cruelly put to death by one of the Raos, the caste, since that time, has declined iu consequence and respectability. The Lowanas eat flesh and drink spirits in a public manner. They are of industrious habits, and, being naturally a robust and strong race of men, perform very severe labour. They arc, nevertheless, licentious in their manners, and much importance is not attached [by them] to chastity. The Lowanas wear the Brahmatiical string or Janave [the badge of Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, as well as of Briihrnans]. Polygamy is permitted and practised by them, and widowhood is not ordered to be preserved." In Bombay, in which considerable numbers of them have settled of late years, the Lowanas are principally traders and carriers of goods. Nothing peculiar is here observed as to the treatment of their women, except in the wise permission of second marriages. Their women, as will be seen from our photograph, share in the vigour of their race. Then' costume is of a modest and graceful character, and numbers of them dispense with the noselet, which of native ornaments is least admired by Europeans. Their industry in Bombay is principally confined to their families, in which they enjoy more liberty than many of the females of other classes of the Hindus. We have illustrated the costumes of the women, both of the upper and lower classes (the latter being represented by the figure on the left), as being the most characteristic. The men of the better class are scarcely distinguishable in their style of dress from the Bhatias, except that the turbans of the former are a trifle smaller. A few of them have also adopted the broad flat head-dress worn by the Brahmans of the Dakhan. The dress of the two women on the right is not unlike that of the Bhatia female. J. W. 63 65 S A d E 0 0 s. (No. IS.) MfcUMEBOUS monastic orders exist in Goozcrat, as in the other provinces of India. The Gosaces follow Shiva; they wear ' irange-tawny clothes, and the UeUk, or sectarian mark upon their foreheads, is horizontal. The Wairagee is a Vaishnavite %SM>, monk, and wears a white dress and a perpendicular tceluh Those who are servants of the Devees, or local goddesses, add to iaSO the teeluk a chundlo, or red spot, made. with a preparation of turmeric. The Jain monk is commonly called a Jutee, but tho general name applying to all these orders is that of Sunyasee, or anchorite. The Sunyasees are now, for the most part, persons who have lost their property, have been deprived of their children, or suffered some other calamity, against which they have not had resolution to bear up. Tho intended recluse having arranged with a (ham, or monkish dignitary, for his reception into the order, and having ascertained the favourable day by astrological calculation, breaks the sacred cord, if he be of the regenerate classes, removes the hair of his head, assumes the monastic dress, and with alms and prayers receives initiation. Sunyasees are, however, sometimes consecrated at an early age; a person who despairs of having children not unfrequently vows to consecrate one son, if two be granted to his prayers; and among the Jains, when disciples are scarce, as they frequently are, the monks purchase children for the purpose of initiating them. of ascetics called Sadhoos, one of whom gave the following account of « I was born a Kimojeea Brahman, at Mynpoorec, on the Jumna. My father was Eaniprusadjeo, a Sham Vedist. About fifteen years ago I formed acquaintance with a Sadhoo, and from what I heard from him, I was seized with a desire for 'Chuktaeo,' or religious wandering, and so I joined his fraternity, and have since performed pUgrimagc to most of the Hindoo holy places. ^ I am at present on my way to Beyt and Dwarka, and I intend afterwards to visit Wairag-Kshetra and the Bhal-Koond, near Prubhas, where Shree-Krishn was slain. Sadhoos employ themselves entirely in performing pilgrimages. They worship Shrec-Krishn, and also other Hindoo deities. Marriage is customary among us; a Sadhoo's daughters are given to Sadhoos. If a Sadhoo take any other woman to wife than one of these, her hair is cut off, and she is admitted into the order. It is our custom to burn the dead, as is usual with other Hindoos. The Gooroo is the ruler of the order, and he has authority to exact whatever ho pleases from his disciples. We dress as other Hindoos do, in tho main, but we always wear while turbans and necklaces of toolshee. Occasionally Sadhoos wear a cap (topee), or wind a white cloth round their heads. Some Sadhoos play the Mouwur, or Morlee, musical instruments made of gourds, and employed in snake-charming. Some are Moonees, or speechless. They generally go about begging in parties of four or five, of whom the elder is treated as Mookhee, or Headman, but without perquisites." A. E. F. The accompanying picture presents to view a group himself: — ©rirtttal gates tttb ffribrs. N9 15. 69 XflMBHARS ®T (No. 16.) UMBHABS, or, in Sanskrit, Kumbhakaras, arc the potters of India. In caste tbey rank somewhat below the Skudras, or cultivators; hut they have, nevertheless, a respectable position in the industrial community of India. In most villages (in the West of India, at any rate) they have an official connexion with the municipality, being obligated, on account of certain privileges and perquisites which they enjoy, to furnish earthen vessels on easy terms to the inhabitants, and to wait upon strangers, to supply them with water and appurtenances for holding it. They are generally very expert at their work, their appliances for which— a loaded moulding wheel (running horizontally on a pivot, which they turn rapidly by a stick), a knife, a string, with a quantity of kneaded olay-are extremely simple. Many of the vessels which ^^fp they make are very neat, and partially ornamented. The Kutch potters are noted for the excellence of their work, sometimes applying smalt to such of the vessels which leave their hands as they do not wish to bo porous. Sometimes they discharge the duties of the brickmaker, to which a separate caste (still existing in some parts of India) was assigned by the Hindus in ancient times. Our photograph gives specimens of their men, women, and children, in their better apparel, part of which they dispense with when at the wheel or kiln. The potters are not so friendly to the early formation of domestic establishments as some other castes ; and they have more strength and vigour about them than many other parties originally of the same race. The females share in the' work of their husbands, particularly in the matter of preparing the clay. It is only of late years that the Kutch potters began to settle in Bombay and its neighbourhood, where they arc now much patronised. They have a small settlement at Bandora, in the island of Salsette. J. W. 73 K m A » A * ? A S . (No. 17.) HE Kharavas arc a clan of Kolis from Gujarat, deriving their name from Kharo, salt, in the making of which they engage themselves in their native country. Many of them arc hoatmen and fishermen. "Within the present century numbers of them have settled in Bombay, where they are engaged principally as cultivators (by the hoe, pickaxe, and billhook), and as layers and turners of tiles used in the roofing of houses. Our group represents five of them in their working costume, with some of their usual implements of labour. The Kolis, or Kulis (literally clansmen, from Kul, a clan), to which class of natives they belong, are closely allied to the Kulanbis, or Shudra race ; but many of them are but yet partially connected with Brahmanism. The Kharavas, however, generally profess to be observers of Hinduism. They drink ardent spirits and freely use flesh and fish for food, but abstain from the slaughter of the cow, so sacred in the estimation of the modern Indians. L 77 TEE DEEDS 03? (No. 18.) HE population of India Proper (overlooking the later immigrations) may be classed at least under three distinguishable races — that of the Japhetan A'rya, or ruling race, embracing the descendants of the Brahmans, Kshatriyas, and Vaishyas, and the mixed classes which originated with it ; the ShvTdra, or servile race, probably cognate witli toe A'rya, and readily submitting to subordinate assimilation to it, but located in India before it ; and the degraded Hamitic race, represented by the Dheds or Dhers, of Gujarat, the Miliars or Parwaris, and Mangs, of the Maratha country, the Pariahs of the Madras Presidency, and their congeners in other provinces, whose ancestors were probably the first immigrants into India. The appellation of Dhed, applied to the tribe in Gujarat now alluded to, is probably a nickname, the precise meaning jvt, Eribcs. Nfl 18. sea is bsebs as esjasis!; 81 w k & U< & E E S . (No. 19.) LgHUKEBS are a low caste of Hindoos, most of them originally from Marwar; but who are now found wandering about in every part of Gooserat under various mendicant disguises, the most common of which is that of the Sadhoo. Then- legitimate occupation is hunting or snaring game; when disguised, however, they follow the occupation of the memhcants whom they represent. In the rains they betake themselves to Ahmedabad, or some one of the other large c.faes » Goozerat which contain within their walls open spaces of ground fit for monsoon cultivation. In these pos.t.ons the Waghurees throw up little huts, which they soon surround with a garden of pumpkins, gourds, and the other vegetables which spring up rapidly during the rains, and which they sell in the market. The Ahmedabad Waghurees are » the habit of hiring carts, with which they convey into the city for sale bricks dug up by them from among the rums „f old buildings, which extend for miles around the present city. It is commonly believed that wmle engaged m this occupation they frequently find and appropriate valuable hidden treasure, and that they are, in consequence, very wealthy The ordinary dress of the Waghurees, in their hunting capacity, is given in the accompanying p.cture. They are follower^ a Bhugut, who founded a religious sect called that of the Beej Punt. The object of then- worsh.p .s the ,nonkey-god Hunooman. They do not intermarry with other castes, and are careful to have their marnages celebrated by a Brahman • but they permit of the second marriage of women. They bury the dead. Numbers of them have been long settled » Bombay Is beggars and street musicians; but it rs from among the few who annually visit the .sland to drspose of the peacocks and wild fowls they have snared alive that our illustration has been drawn. ^ 85 ? jSl Ji S 2 , (Nos. 20 and 21.) HE word Parsee, or rather Parsi, as it is written by our Orientalists, is the Eastern word for a Persian. It is I" not applied in India, however, to the present natives of Persia — who are most commonly denominated Irani (Iranians), or Moghals, from their dominant tribe — but to the descendants of a portion of Zoroastrians, who hare now tfor many centuries been settled on our own shores. "The ancestors of the Parsls of Western India," says Dr. Wilson, in one of his works on their religion, " were a portion of the followers of Zoroaster, who fled from their homes in Persia ^ on its invasion by the Musalman Khalifs in the middle of the seventh century of the Christian era. It appears (from th™' own accounts) that they retreated, in the first instance, to the mountains of Khorasdn, where they continued for a hundred years ; that they^ afterwards proceeded to Hormazd, or Ormus, in the Persian Gulf, where they remained 'Kf^ j for fifteen years, during which they prepared several vessels intended for facilitating their further emigration ; that ^ ' { after finally leaving the shores of their native country, they first landed in Diva, or Dieu, a small island to the south-west of the Peninsula of Gujarat, where they were contented to remain for nineteen years, during which they acquired a knowledge of the Hindu languages and handicrafts ; and that on the expiry of that time they set sail for Sanjan, at the southern extremity of the Gujarat province." They were not long in India before they connected themselves with its arts, agriculture, and commerce. The attachment of the Parsls to commercial business, indeed, is so strong, that Professor Westergaard thinks that it was one of the principal motives which originally brought them to these shores. The commerce of Surat made that city for a considerable time their head-quarters, which haije now, however, been removed to Bombay, where they occupy a very prominent place in the native community, as merchants, bankers, shipbuilders, brokers, shopkeepers, contractors, and mechanics. The first native of India on whom Her. Majesty conferred the honour of knighthood and a baronetcy, as all the world knows, was a Pars! — the late munificent Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy. The Parsls, too, have been among the first to enter the learned professions in India. They have proved not the least successful students of medicine at the Grant Medical College ; and the first commission in the regular Medical Service of the East India Company was gained, through honourable competition, by one of their number. Two of them, converted to Christianity, were, a few years ago, ordained to the Christian ministry in connexion with the Free Church of Scotland. Several of them are at present vigorously prosecuting the study of law. A few of them have established themselves as mercantile agents in London, where one of them is a professor of the Gujarat! language in University College. It augurs well for them, as a body, that they are beginning to estimate aright the benefits of female education and elevation. Their priests have scarcely kept pace in advancement with the lay-members of their community. These priests, properly speaking, are divided into two orders, Mobeds and Herbads, though Dasturs (corresponding with our doctors in divinity) are also recognised by them. The matter which divides the Parsis has reference merely to the observance, or non-observance, of an intercalary month, leading to the choice of different days for their religious festivals. The word Mobed, we should add, in further explanation, is derived from the Zend word Maoghipaiti, a Master-Magus ; and Herbad from the Zend word Airyapaiti, a master of the Airyas. The word Airya is the name, or denomination, of the ancient seat of the Zoroastrians. For information on the faith and practices of the Zoroastrians, see " The Pars! Religion " by the Rev. Dr. Wilson ; and " Essays on the Sacred Language, Writings, and Religion of the Parsis," by Dr. Martin Haug. Orient;:! "iitucs nnb Eriiirs. NS 20. Oriental ^atcs iinb ffribes. NS 21 91 If E H 111,1 (Nos. 22 and 23.) 'HE Mehmans, or rather Mihmans — for the word is derived from the Persian Milnnan, a stranger or guest — are converts to the Suni form of the Muhammadan religion, principally from the agricultural and mercantile classes of the Hindus of Kutch and Kathiawar. Their position in the native community is very similar to that of the Khojas, who are Shias. In Kutch and Kathiawar many of them are cultivators ; but in Bombay, with the exception of a few who have acquired wealth and risen to the position of shipowners and merchants, they are mostly shopkeepers and pedlars. The parties in our photograph are principally vendors of books, the comparative value of which they know only from the existing demand. The Mehmans make pilgrimages to Mecca and other shrines in Arabia sacred to Muhammadans, and the title of Haji (pilgrim) may be found prefixed to a great many Mehman names in Bombay. The females frequently accompany them on these pilgrimages. There is nothing peculiar in the costume of the Mehmans, though, of course, the green turban — the symbol of professed descent from the Prophet — is not to be seen among them. They appear more vigorous than the Hindu races, with whom they are on a level. Education, properly so called, has made but comparatively little progress among them. In Bombay they speak the Gujarat! and Kutchi languages. The Mehman women are often rather gaily dressed. They have adopted the izar, or trousers, of Musalman females. Their Indian origin is pretty distinctly marked by their soft countenances and clear eyes. They walk about the streets without the reserve and envelopement of Muhammadan women in general ; but they seldom undertake outdoor work for hire. They maintain a good deal of intercourse with their Hindu neighbours, when they are permitted to do so by the etiquette of caste. School education has as yet made no progress among them, though it is making rapid advancement among various classes of Indian females. J. W. A&nfal $wh anb C ribrs. N° S3. 97 (No. 24.) HE Khojahs of the West of India are converts to the Shia form of the Muhammedan faith from the Hindu natives of Gujarat, Kathiawar, and Kutch, made principally within the last three centuries. They take their name from one of the titular appellations of one of their earlier instructors: properly it means a eunuch, or party in authority. The present religious head of the majority of their community is Agha Khan Mahomed Husein Huseini, the son-in-law of the late Fatteh Ali, Shah of Persia. He is much reverenced by his followers ; but the reform party, which is daily becoming more and more influential in Bombay, is not altogether satisfied with his administration. The Khojah population of Bombay amounts to 6,000 ; of Gujarat, to 5,000 ; of Kathiawar, to 20,000 ; of Kutch, to '$S§<$ j 3,000. Some of its members are settled in the Persian Gulf and at Zanzibar. The Khojahs are principally employed Vvy as merchants and petty dealers. Shoemaking is the only handicraft followed by any of them. They have lately showed a charitable spirit, and some of them, headed by Dharamsl Punjabhai, a wealthy merchant, and a man of most liberal mind, are doing much in support of education, though not without serious opposition from the olden school. They had for some time a Gujarati newspaper of their own called the Khojah Dost, or Khojah Friend, but this has been lately amalgamated with the Satya Dipika, or Lamp of Truth. His Highness the Agha has answered the complaints made against himself as an anti-reformer, by sending his son-in-law to the Free General Assembly's Institution, in Bombay, where he is regarded with interest by all his teachers. This well-known patriarch is a great patron of the turf, and deals largely in race-horses of the finest breeds, which he imports from Persia and Arabia. The central figure in our group is Nansi Parpia ( " Old Nancy," as he is called at times), of shopkeeping celebrity in Bombay, whose kind, accommodating disposition is known to many of our British youths in the commencement of their Indian career. His companion in the honours of the chair is the founder of one of the Khojah firms recently established in London. In the elder of the two youths represented in our picture we have an excellent type of "Young Bombay." Eveiy article of his dress bears unmistakable evidence of the anxiety of his class to assimilate the Oriental to the English costume. J. W. •lintel gates anil Cnbcs. N? 24, 101 M IT H A M M A D A K WOMBF OF SUE AT. (No. 25.) ^HE position of Surat, about 180 miles north of Bombay, is well known. It is a very ancient city ; for long it was the principal seaport on the West of India of the Great Moghal, and the principal commercial mart of the European nations. In consequence of this circumstance, it contains more than the usual proportion of Muhammadans. They |nj are of various countries and provinces ; but of late years they have begun to amalgamate by intermarriage. Their females, except in the few higher families of the place, are not so secluded as Musalman women are in many other parts of India ; and few or no inconveniences are the result, notwithstanding the legal facilities of divorce and polygamy of the community to which they belong. Our photograph represents individuals of the middle classes of society, in then- ordinary dress, which is of a much more modest character than that of many Indian females. The ornamented frontlet will be noticed as a peculiarity. Such parties as those who are here set forth are by no means destitute of intelligence, though they have not the advantage of a school education. It is to be regretted that while female education is making great progress among both Parsls and Hindus in the West of India, it is but little regarded by the Muhammadans. A movement in its favour is much to be desiderated. J. W. o 105 ft 0 H 0 E Jl 8 . (No. 26.) I HE Bohoras, properly so called, are a sect of Muhammadans, corresponding in many respects with the Ismailiyah, *KB>T *'' e '^■ nsa ' r 'y a ' 1 ' tae Mutawilah, and the Drasis of SjTia. They pay particular regard to the tenets of Ismail ibn J afar, ^'TFcT tne Sixth Imam, and hold, like the Shias, but in a more exaggerated form, the mystical doctrine of the union of the Deity its! with 41i Thev are amongst the first converts to Muhammadanism in the West of India, but the exact time of their abandonment of Hinduism is unknown. Their earliest teachers are said to have come to India — to Khambat, or Cambay E3ST ( m Qujar4t) — in the first instance, in the eleventh century of the Christian era. Their present Mullahs, or pontiffs, are of " Arabian descent, and claim to be of the offspring of Muhammad himself. Most of the Bohoras are pedlars, shopkeepers, and workers in iron and tin. Numbers of them, however — 'y particularly in the district of Broach — are agriculturists, whoso ancestors, under the patronage of the Muhammadan princes of Gujarat, seceded from Shiahism, and became Sunis. The mercantile Bohoras — the real original Bohoras — are divided into three sects, which derive their names — the Suleiman!, the Aliyah, and the Dawudiyah — from certain lines of the Mullahs to whom they adhere. The Suleimanfs are not a numerous body. In Surat they had only fifty families a few years ago. In Baroda they had, at the same time, 250 houses, while at Haidarabad, in the Dakhan, they were still more numerous. The Chief Mullah of this sect resides in Arabia, but he has a representative in India, who travels about the country, having his head-quarters at Baroda. The Aliyah are a still smaller sect than the Suleimanfs. The Dawudiyah is by far the largest sect of Bohoras. In Surat, in 1829, they had 2,500 houses. They are to be found in other towns of Gujarat and Kutch, and in Bombay, Puna, Ahmadnagar, Burhanpor, Aurangabad, Haidarabad, Indor, Ujjayin, &c. &c. Their Mullah is a person of much consequence, receiving honorary titles short of those of the Divinity. His deputies too, enjoy much respect, and even act for him at some of the Arabian ports. He encourages Arabic learning, but he has not yet shown any great countenance to the progress of general enlightenment among his flock. He appoints his successor after the professed revelation of the name of the proper party in a dream. Notwithstanding the religious enthusiasm by which the Bohoras are characterised, and their devotion to their Mullahs, they are a very peaceable class of the Indian community, and in this respect very unlike their co-religionists in other Muhammadan countries. The dress of the Bohoras is generally pretty uniform ; as far, especially, as the male portion of their community is concerned. The men generally wear plain white turbans, and angrakhas, or coats, and striped trousers. In the photograph they are represented in their ordinary dress. On great occasions the angrakha is exchanged for the jama (coat) and waistband, or zone, worn by the Darbar attendants of Muhammadan princes and nobles ; and this dress, it may here be remarked, is the holiday costume alike of Parsfs, Muhammadans, Parbhus, and other classes of the Hindu community. For the dress of the women we must refer to our illustration. Their aversion to the mir, or trousers, worn by Muhammadan women in general, is supposed to be connected with their Indian descent. Various interesting notices of the Bohoras are to bo found in Briggs' " Cities of Gujarashtra," and in the Oriental Christian Spectator for April, 1848. J- w - 107 Oriental $acrs Hub £nbcs. N9 26