Ghilzais. See [AFGHANS].
Gilyaks. A Siberian Mongolic race of Saghalien.
Gipsies. A nomadic race, which was first described as appearing in Europe in the fifteenth century, and is now found in nearly all civilised countries. At first they were believed to come from Egypt, and their name is a corruption of “Egyptians.” They have a dark, tawny skin, black hair and eyes, are small-handed and often very handsome, and live by tinkering, basket-making, fortune-telling, and other arts which can be practised on the road. Their chief characteristic is independence and love of a wandering life. Their origin is still uncertain; though their language, Romany, is known to be a corrupt dialect of Hindi, which supports the older theory that they are of Indian descent. A later and well-supported theory is that they are the descendants of the prehistoric race which introduced metal-working into Europe. On this view they must have existed in Europe from time immemorial, without being noticed in literature. The gipsy problem still awaits solution.
Goajiris. See [TUPI-GUARANI].
Golden Hordes. See [KIPCHAKS].
Gonaquas. Hottentot Negro half breeds on Kafirland frontier.
Goads. See [DRAVIDAS].
Goths. One of the chief Teutonic races of ancient times, who played a great part in European history from the third to the eighth century, but have left no descendants as a distinct race. They first appear in history in the third century, as a confederation of German tribes who had made a settlement in the district north of the Lower Danube. They soon split up into two distinct peoples, the East Goths or Ostrogoths, and the West Goths or Visigoths. There was a third and unimportant race of Mœsogoths, settled in Mœsia, for whom Ulfilas made his famous translation of the Scriptures. The Goths were extremely warlike and aggressive, a typical race of German warriors. The Ostrogoths remained north of the Danube, where they were subjugated for a time by the Huns of Attila. Recovering their independence, they invaded Italy, destroyed the Western Empire, and established a new kingdom under Theodoric. This was conquered by the Byzantine Narses in 552, after which the Ostrogoths disappear from history. The Visigoths, unwilling to submit to the Huns, crossed the Danube and settled in the Roman Empire, where they furnished many recruits for the army. In 395 they rebelled, and under Alaric invaded Italy and besieged Rome. Afterwards they founded kingdoms in the south of Gaul and in Spain, where the Visigoths ruled till the invasion of the Saracens, and where their blood is still found incorporated with that of the older races. A branch of the Ostrogoths which settled in the Crimea preserved its nationality and language down to the sixteenth century, or even later. The Bastarnæ, Gepidæ, and perhaps the [Vandals] (q.v.), were branches of the Gothic race.
Greeks. (1) For ancient Greeks, see [HELLENES]. (2) The modern Greeks are partly descendants of ancient Greeks, with a large admixture of Albanian, Wallachian and Slavonic elements. They are great in commerce, but not warlike.
Griquas. A race of Hottentot-Dutch half-breeds, also known as Bastaards, in Griqualand.