1 HlNDOOa
2 81?
3 . eonndtnd at a Mpnate people in Btebei^s tima : tlMjjr an mm otfy
4 nmaikable ht bcnig gnat OBiian, and oondndcns of caisfaiia.
5 T!he;flinilVofii are nmneraitt found Fealiamr and m Btj/aatf and
6 ■omedassesof tfaam are fbandm the rmititrj of thnPiniinftyftj mdiH^hra-
7 tribes in the nortb-eart af the Afghaun country. Their hmguaga ia
8 a kind of Hindostaimee, resembling the dialect of the Punjaub.
9 Hie Hindoos ou^it^ perhaps, to be enumerated with this class.
10 They are .to be found over the whole kingdom of .Caubul*. In
11 towns they are in considerable numbers as broken, mexchanta* ban-
12 kers, goldsmiths, sellers of grain, &c. There is scarce a vUlage in
13 the country without a family or two. who exercise the above trades,
14 and act a*? accountants, monev t haii<j;ers, &c. They spread into the
15 north of Persia, but in small nuniiu is. owing to the bad treatment
16 tlicy receive. They are encouraged iu Bokhaura, uid other towns ia
17 Tartary.
18 They are all, or almost all, of the military class of Koiietrce, but
19 it must not be supposed that they are, therefore, soldiers ; on the
20 conliary, the idea of a Hindoo soldier would be thought ludicrous in
21 Caubul. They retain tlie Hiiidoo leatures, and some of thein liave
22 nearly the Hindostaunee dress ; but most allow their beards to grow,
23 and wear a dress n^ly r^embling that of the oo«intiy« - They have
24 got rid of manj of their ffindoo prejudices, so Hut they do not
25 scruple to eat bread baked at a oonunon oven s still leea do tfaej
26 attend to therule^ which enjoins bathing after bemg poUoted hy
27 the touch of a Mnaswlman, an injunction never intended finr cold
28 . riKmatas. hk most respectSt indecdi th^ mix weU with the Muaiul-
29 mans, though tfaeur tunidil^* tbehr craft, aUd their parsimony, eipoae
30 * They are, indeed, to be found as far west as Astrachan, and they are niuneroiM in
31 Arabia; while on the eaat, they extend as &Lr as Pcldn, where they are said to have a
32 tMiplik Thiir rdigioo has spread cfea beyond these liinits. Thewondaipof BooA,
33 umk-r the name of Fo, i;* known to be very general throughout China; mid in the go<!s
34 of the CalBWicin, «■ rq>rc«e&ted by Dr. Oaxife, m at once ttcogum the idioU of the
35 Digrtized by Google