If so—the nation that is at one and the same time Asiatic and Indo-Germanic, remains to be discovered; it being remembered that it is only Indo-Germanic through its relations with the speakers of the Sanskrit.
The divisions (more or less artificial) of the Persian family are—
1. The Persians of Northern and Western Persia.—Mahometans. Occupants of elevated plateaux, the alluvial banks of great rivers being exceptional.
2. The Kurds of Kurdistan.—Mountaineers. Mahometans.
3. The Beluchi of Beloochistan.—Dark-complexioned, occupants of sandy steppes.
4. The Patans (Affghans).—Physiognomy frequently Semitic or sub-Semitic.
5. The Tajiks of Bokhara.—Here the dominant population is that of the Uzbek Tartars.
6. The Siaposh.—Fair-complexioned; pagan mountaineers, speaking a language with a great per centage of slightly-altered Sanskrit words.
I have no wish to undervalue the import of this last fact—a fact to which great prominence has been given.