PARTS BEYOND THE INDUS.
The Punjâb is the most western locality of the Indian stock, whether we call the members of it Hindú or Tamulian. On crossing the Indus we reach a new ethnological area, only partially, and only recently British; viz., the country of the Bilúch, and the country of the Afghans. And here we must prepare for new terms; for hearing of tribes rather than castes; and for finding a polity more like that of the Jews and Arabs than the institutions of the Brahmins.
The Bilúch.—Biluchi-stan means the country of the Bilúch, just as Hindo-stan and Afghani-stan mean that of the Hindús and Afghans. It is the south-western quarter of Persia, that is the chief area of the tribes in question. Hence, however, they extend into Kutch Gundava, Scinde, and Múltan, and the northern parts of Gujerat.[176] Between Kelat, the Indus, and the sea, they are mixed with Brahúi.
The Biluchi is a dialect of the Persian—sufficiently close to be understood by a Persian proper.
There are no grounds for believing the Bilúch to have been other than the aborigines of the country which they occupy; as their advent lies beyond the historical period; beyond the pale of admissible tradition. We may, perhaps, be told that they came from Arabia; an origin which their Mahometanism, their division into tribes, and their manners, suggest; an origin, too, which their physiognomy by no means impugns. Yet the tradition is not only unsupported, but equivocal. The Arabia that it refers to is, probably, the country of the ancient Arabitæ; and that is neither more nor less than a part of the province of Mekran, within—or nearly within—the present Bilúch domain. Hence, they may be Arabite, though not Arabian; or rather the old Arabitæ of the Arabius fluvius were Bilúch.
But the Arabs are not the only members of the Semitic family with which the Bilúch have been affiliated. A multiplicity of Jewish characteristics has been discerned. These are all the more visible from their contrast to the manners of the Hindús. Intermediate in appearance to the Hindú and the Persian, the Bilúch "cast of[177] feature is certainly Jewish;"[49] his tribual divisions are equally so; whilst the Levitical punishment of adultery by stoning, and the transmission of the widow of a deceased brother to the brothers who survive, have been duly recognized as Hebrew characteristics. We know what follows all this; as surely as smoke shows fire. Levitical peculiarities suggest the ubiquitous decad of the lost tribes of Israel. We shall soon hear of these again.
Tribes under chiefs—hereditary succession—pride of blood—clannish sentiments—feuds between tribe and tribe—the sacro-sanctity of revenge as a duty—the suspension of private wars when foreign foes threaten—greater rudeness amongst the mountains—comparative industry in the plains—the business of robbery tempered by the duties of hospitality—black mail, &c. All this is equally Bilúch, Arabian, and Highland Scotch; and it all shows the similarity of details which accompanies similarity of social institutions. Ethnological relationship it does not show.
The word Bilúch is Persian. The bearer of the designation either calls himself by the name of his tribe, or else glorifies himself by the term Usul or Pure. The tribes or khoums are numerous.[178] Sir H. Pottinger gives the names of no less than fifty-eight; without going into their subdivisions.
If, however, instead of details, we seek for classes of greater generality we find that three primary divisions comprise all the ramifications of the Bilúch. The first of these is the Rind; the other two are the Nihro and the Mughsi. The daughter of a Rind may be given to a Rind as a wife; but to marry into a tribe of Nihro or Mughsi extraction is a degradation. Here the elements of caste intermix with those of tribe or clan.
Afghans.—Afghani-stan means the country of the Afghans, just as Hindo-stan and Biluchi-stan mean that of the Hindús and Biluchi, respectively.