eve of the festival held on the tenth day of the moon, in the
month of August, of the lights being extinguished, and
of their holding promiscuous intercourse till morning, has
every appearance of being a base calumny, assailing human
nature in general, while aimed against the poor Yezides in
particular. I have seldom seen a more respectable, benign,
good-looking Mullâ, than the one who superintends lÉtói
temple of Sheikh Adi. I inquired wh en the great bitumen
fires, of which I saw the traces, were lighted : * On the
night of the festival,’ was the answer. The lurid blaze of
numerous fires of mineral pitch, light up a scene which
the imagination of the ignorant and wilful- Easterns has
filled with horror. My informant, however, ' whatever
might be- his ' doctrines, had the look óf one-habituated to
a peaceful meditation and pious life ;-and, certainly not of
the leader of vicious and licentious orgues.” Mr, Ainsworth
informs us, that the Yezides, “ as a race of men, are mostly
tall, thin and well made, their bones large, and-^eatures
spare, but marked with' much earnestness and decision.
The brows advance over the eyes, the forehead is high but
retreating^the nose prominent, the lips moderate.” &
Various opinions have been maintained concerning the
origin of the Yezides, but nothing certain is known. They
are termed by the Mohammedan Kurds, Shaitanp’ere'st,~or
Devil-worshippers. It has been supposed by some, that
they are remains of the old Fire-worshippers, who pay
adoration to Ahriman, or the Evil Principle, and their
name is derived from Ized Ferfer, or Ferouèr, an Evil
Spirit of the Parsis, whose emblem is to be recognised in
the sculptured idol accompanying the serpent on.the gateways
of their chief temple. This is the opinion of Mr.
Ainsworth and of Major Rawlinson, who recognise the name
of the Yezides in Jesden, a place in Adiabene mentioned in
a letter of Heraclius preserved by Theophanes.* The
Mohammedan Kurds report, that the Yezides derive their
origin and name from Yezid, the son of Moawiyah, the
destroyer of, the race of Ali ; or from a saint of that name,
who lived about the same' period; and Mr. Fprbes thinks
there is no doubt that they are a corrupt Mohammedan sect.
Major Rawlinson and Dr. Grant supposed them to be of
Jewish origin. The argument for,this opinion is their observing
the rite of circumcision and a festival coinciding with the
passover in time and circumstances. It is said to be confirmed
by Syrian books in the hands of Mar Shimou, bearing
date a ,d . 1253, and givingtestimony to their Hebrew descent.;
It must I, he* observed, that; both eastern Christians and
Mohammedans ascribe a Jewish origin, not only to the
Yezides, but to many other nations. The notion of the
Hebrew origination ©f^the Affghans was* at on;e: time more
widely spread and/generally believed,; and yeffe it■) has long
ago been discarded .by all Well-informfed persons. Unless
a knowledge»,oft the Hebrew Scriptures-, and the Hebrew
language should?be^discovered among the Yezides, which
»seems very unlikely to >he the case,-their supposed Jewish
origin musfKhe looked upon as a. conjecture. The idiom of
the Yezides is said to be a peculiar (dialect of the Khrdish.
If this is: really the fact, the most probable conclusion will
be,^considering the wide dispersion of the, clans ij^lpnging
to thiS ffihe and their separation in so many distant parts,
that* they are a Kurdish race who have never been com .
verted to Islam, or whose adoption of the. .tejiets of that
.piped has been imperfect. Thpy seem to have* preserved
some ancient customs from the times of Paganism, or, - to
have adopted peculiar rites in subsequent periods, as the
Druses, and many other-easternsectsthave done. f A further
investigation of the dialect^ of the Kurdish tribes,, and, of
the relation which the idiom .of Yezides bears to the
language of the proper Kinds, is the resoursp;,to which we
may look for an elucidation of doubts connected with their
history.
Section X.—Of the PusMunek, Putans, dr Affghans.
This warlike and semi-barbarous people, who founded
the first Mohammedan empire in Hindustan, and were
powerful in that country till it was conquered by the Moguls,
Were termed in India Patans. That name is a corruption of
their national designation, which is Pdshtaneh.* By Eu-
VOL.IV. i