European style. This is the uniform report of those who
have seen, them in Bombay, and it has been confirmed by
the testimony of Parsees who have visited England, as well
as by their own persons, considered as specimens of their
countrymen.
The Baluches, who are a Persian tribe near the confines
of India, are, as Pottinger informs us, a tall, active, handsome
race of men, not possessing great physical strength,
but adapted to induré the changes of climate and season.
He adds, “ that they have good features and expressive
countenances.”
The other tribe of people in Baluchistan, the Brahfii,
are, according to Pottinger, a people of cold mountains,
where they- dwell and feed their flocks. Their name is
said to signifymountaineers, or people of the hills,”
while that of the Nharui or Baluches meanslowlanders.”
The Brahfii have no knowledge of their history previous
to their conversion to Islàm, and look upon themselves; as
aborigines of the country which they inhabit. Their re%b
origin is unknown. /Pottinger found their language very
remote from the Persian and the Balfiche, and says that
it contains a great many words derived from the -ancient
Hinduvi.
We are assured by the traveller to whom we are indebted
for the information obtained respecting them, that the
“ Braliooes,” as he terms them, “ instead of the tall figure,
long visage, and raised features, of the Bal fiches, «have
short thick bones, with round faces, and flat lineaments.”
Flat noses and broad faces, are the most striking characters
of the Turanian nations. In their complexion they display
the influence of a cold climate. Pottinger says, that
“ many of them have brown hair and beards.”
In the northern parts of Persia, and in the countries
bordering on it towards the north, it appears that the
complexion of the people is much more fair. Reineggs,
a well-known writer, who travelled in ' the countries
between Caucasus and Persia, and who was acquainted
with the people of this frontier, mentions a slender form
and blue eyes as characteristic of the female Persians.
The Hiyfihs are not, at least the north-western tribes,
o.f!‘genuine Persian descent. Many of them may be considered
as Turkish races, naturalised in the climate of Persia
by an abode of many 'centuries,' for Turks had possession of
Khorasan long before they-conquered or even invaded Roum,
or the Byzantine empire. vThe following description,- by
Mr; Fraser, may, probably, be cpnsidered as applicable to
<j$ie Turkish Iliyfihs of Northern Persia
The natural com p le x ion ,o f the- Eels is fair, “ for when a
child is/s'epn naked^ i't^isfja%rly-as w h ite as dn European
infant.’/ “ Exposure to fth e sun/- and* weather turns their
sk in /fo b 'd e e p mahogany *hue, often approaching to b la ck .”
“ The men,” he odds, “ have, wPfi-Hiade, powerful frames,
piercing bla ck e y e # h o |ek rg |^ e ra lly - in c lin ed 'to aquiline,
frequently overhanging thick mustachios^ and black bushy
-beards. A deep ruddy hfie> glows through th e ir dark brown
skins, an d /th e ir appeaknee^s^"altogether strongly characteristic'of
health, hardihood, and mdependarice|jp '.“ The
young women haV% quite tfibf gipsy character o f - counter;
nance, and are'often handsoWe/**
This may hs-a description of'the physical’
character ofitbe-Iliyahs, one-of the t^drnla&sexpf inhabitant?'
who constitute,the population of modern Persia. The other
. are the Tajiks. '■
The Tfijiks, or genuine Persians, called by the Turks,
Kisilbashes, are well known ak a remarkably handsome
people, with regular features, long oval faces,r blapk, lon'g,
and well marked eyebrows-, and fargb black ,eygS> which
their poets compare to the eyes o f the «g^efrey a |eature-
which among the Orientals is esteemed the greatest con-
ktituent of beauty.
* Narative of a Journey to Khorasan, by James B. Fraser, author of a Tour
in the Himala Mountains, pyl71.