transition from that of a low Indian caste to the condition
in which they are known in Europe;
lliyahs of Persian Origin.
Other tribes are included under the designation of Blit,
who appear to be aboriginal Persians, and _cannpt be
referredtio any foreign race, who speak dialects more or
less closely associated with the native language of Iran.*
The following • are the principal of the tribes, according
to the most accurate authorities :—•
1 st.—The Feiltare the most numerous tribe, consisting,
according to Morier,. of one hundred thousand houses;.,: or
khanehs^r They inhabit the western side ©f.-the mountains
of Luristan, are nomadic, and a part of them live in
barbarous independence, protected by the natives of^tlife
country. ‘
2nd.—The Bakhtiy&ri are a tribe of mountaineers; inhabiting
the neighbourhood of Lur,—hardy > andv brave,'—
about one hundred thousand houses; They suppose themselves
not to be of Persian origin, but^to .have come from
Roum, that is from the Turkish' empire. Theirlanguage,
however, has a great affinity with the old Fcirsi, and resem-
bles that of the Laks, who are a native Persian race.
live in villages, have many peculiar customs, are spread
from Kirman to Khzerun, and from Kom to SMsfer,' along
the southern border of the plateau of Iran.
Besides these last, Jouannin enumerates several other
tribes of Iliyht Lur-zeban, as the Kerrous, near Kamse ;
the Pairahmet, Noui, Memessani, who are spread, through
Luristan, Farsistan, and Deshtstan, to the westward of
Shiraz. The Memassani are, doubtless, the tribe termed
by Morier Memacenni, a wild predatory people in the
fastnesses of Fars, who pretend to be descended from
Rustam.
3rd.—The Laks are a very numerous tribe, spread
through Persia but inhabiting chiefly the country' about
Kazwin, and Fars, and Mazanderan; they | are native
Persians, and partly nomadic, partly settled; they have
a religion of their own, founded upon Isldm, but deny the
mission of .Mohammed.
4 th.—The Baluch are reckoned, by Morier, as a tribe
of Persian lliyahs. They are the principal inhabitants
of the extensive .region of Baluchistan, including the
extensive table-land of Kelht, in the south-eastern part
of the Persian empire. Baluchistan, according to Mr.
.Elphinstone, is six hundred, miles >in length, having Sind
on. the east, Persia on the west, AffgMnistan to the northward,,
and the Indian Ocean tot the; south. In this expensive
region two races of .people are spread. The
Baluches - obtained additional territories from Nadir as
-defenders of the;; country against, the Affghans. They
have been described, by; Pottinger, who says, | that they
are subdivided unto ..three principal tribes*,-f-the Nharooes,
Jtinds, and Mughsefesu The first inhabit that part of
Balfichistan, which* ,is to: 1fie westward of-the desert; the
• two.v lattei^rcr-settled in Kuteh Gundava, a low fertile
plain to the westward of the,mountains, and some of them
to* the northward iof, Kel&t and Seistan. They are pastoral
people and reside under tents of black-felt;: Their
language isin/peculiar dialect" feE the Persian.%
^.^th.^rln order to- render this enumeration at all complete,
we must mention the Brahfii^ who .are divided "into
a number of different tribes:*, and'are a still , more wandering
unsettled: race than the Baluches.' They areoperpetually
roaming about from bne. part of Baluchistan to another
jn quest of pasturage, but principally feed their flocks on
cold lofty mountains, Their language is supposed to be
a dialecfeof the Panjabi. I t is probable, therefore, that
they are nearly related to the people of the Panj6b, who
axe Hindoos dr-Iats. > They are, very unlike the Baluches
in their physical characters.
* Pottinger vas able to understand them through Ills acquaintance with
tbe Persian. Klaproth has givfch1$Woif to the same fact, by specimens of the
Baluchi published in his Asia Polyglotta.