less. The other tribes pay much more in proportion sbe-
causethey are not so powerful or so well protected.
The Sheikh Ismaili, five hundred families!;- Kelhore,
two hundred families; Mendrini, three hundred families ;
Kelo Gawani, two hundred and fifty families; Mergink,
eighty or ninety families,:—this was originally a part of
Balbassis; Tileko, one hundred families*;, Koosa, sixty
families; Hamadavent, two hundred families ; Sofia vend,
forty or fifty families,—these are part of the Lak nation.
Ketchili, forty families; Tebigeni, forty families'; Yem
geneh, four hundred families, scattered in villages ; Zend,
sixty families,—the tribe of Kerim Khan, king of Persia,
whose’ dynasty was overthrown by the Kajars' , the tribe
of the-present king. When they came;; first into -these
parts they were wandering, but now are* settled in..villages.
There are a great many besides established in Zengabad,
and many in the Pasha of Bagdad’s ariny/És^ïlurwin,
sixty families ; Lor, sixty families^—these are of-the bVili
tribe. Bedeni, one hundred families; Goorgei, onë hundred
families. None of these tribes depend on the Jafs,
though the Jafs have many families from among them
under their protection, which are not reckoned hero. The
Jafs, being strong and well-protectfed; are daily acquiring
additions to their numbers from persecuted 'members
of other tribes..
None óf the above tribes are entirer They are only
fragments of tribes, of which part exist also in the territory
of Senna, of Kirmanshah, or of Lfiristhn.
The four great tribes of northern Kurdistan are, as we
are informed by Mr. Ainsworth, the Bahdinfin, B fill tan,
Hakkari and Rowfindiz.# The Bahdinfin coinprehends the
lesser tribes of the Sindl, or Sindiyah; "2 . Sleivfini;
3. Goli; 4. Goyi; 5. Artfishi; 6 . Derrfin; 7. Kaïdi ;
8 . Sheikh An (Yezidis); 9. Navkfir; 10. Bowfit; 1 1 .
Nfijfikfir; 12. Kal’a ti; 13. Kal’ah Dei’r; 14. Serfiji; 15.
Shirwhn; 16. Baradós; 17. Gerdl; 18. Misfiri; 19.
Berrawi; 20. Dóski; 21. Kerk!; 22. Rekfini; 23. Nerwi;
* Mr. Ainsworth, Visit to the Chaldeans. Population of- Hakkarfyah.—
Journal of the Royal Geographical Society^ vol. xi., part 1,, p. 95.
24; Bar raw i ^Jfir ; l,25. Govi; 26. Teli; 27. Zitk; 28.
Sherm;' 29. Zobar.
. The Hakkari; comprehend, 1. The Tiyfiri 2 . The T6b i;
3. The Jellhwf'; 4. Piniyaniski; 5 . A1Toshi*; 6 . Artoshi
Bashi; Bazi; SkSaft; 9; Oramavi; 10. Jfilfimergi;
11. Jellfi; 12.' Dez; 13. Miyahi-; 14. Berrfiwi.
In “’the districts ahelongifeg tq each of the tribes of the
Hakkfiri them- are a great many villages inhabited by
Nestofian Christians, whoiare termed Kaldani, or Chaldeans.
Dr. Walshufetima’ted the-" wfiol^numberofi Christians at
five hundred thousand.5 W.^Ahgdrdin’g to*Mr. Ainsworth^ this
is-i gJea-tfiyt exaggerated*; This last traveller, to whom we
are indebted!; for the most ample and accurate^ecount of the
Chaldean communitibs'- in Kurdistan, dbmf)utesvthe whole
’ Christian population at twenty^sevenMthousand eight hund
red and twenty souls
Paragraph 3.—Language and Origin of the Kurds.
The language pf the Kurds is merely oral, and. has neyer
vet^qen reduced toypyiting ; the only writte^n ^»mUositions
known among theiqj,m in Persian., or Turkish. The pupn-
cipal document^existing, whichcpela^s. to the^hi story of the
Kurds, is the “ Tarikh al Akrad,” said to have hpempom-
posed by Sherefeddin. Mr. Rich obtained aJPepsian paanu.-
script^ giving the series of the chieftains who have ruled at
Kirmfinshfih since the Bebfieh family, who are now in power'
and haye even obtained the rank of .Pasha, gaine^the ascendancy
by victories over the Turks and Persians in the year .of
the Hejira MCXI. But no chroniclp, written or traditional,
that is extant among ,tl^.§,wild and unlearned people carriies
back the memory of events beyond a comparatively late
period, and fpr all Satisfactory light, on the history of the
race we must lookup others sources of information,..
The Greek historians, and particularly Xenophon, make
us acquainted ipjth a nation; of barbarians'inhabiting the
* The Chaldeans/so termed, of Kurdistan, are a Syro-Arabian people, and
will be described jn"a following chapter on the Syro-Arabian race. J»
VOL. IV. H