Colonel HjRRioT on the Oriental Origin of the Gypseys. 531 



additional light on this subject, coming from a quarter of the world which he 

 visited under peculiarly favourable circumstances, I trust I shall have his 

 pardon for its insertion : — " You are, I believe, the first who has traced them 

 home to India through Persia and Kabul : in the latter country they are now 

 unknown. There are many words in the vocabulary not Hindustani ; but 

 being Asiatic, a comparison of them with the other languages of India, 

 and even with the Zend and Pehlevi, might throw further light on the age 

 in which the Gypsey emigration took place." 



For the following detail of the Deccan Gypsey, I am indebted to the 

 Abbe Dubois : — Kuraver, Kurii-meru, hambadi, Sukater, — these appear to 

 be the usual terms by which the Gypseys of southern India are known : 

 they live under little tents constructed of woven bamboos, about three feet 

 high by five or six feet in length and breadth. 



Kanoji is another class of Gypseys, who are said to be equally formidable 

 as their brethren. Those again called Dumbaru, are jugglers and mounte- 

 banks ; they keep tame serpents, and are initiated in occult and necromantic 

 arts. Another race exhibit comedies, farces, and puppet-shows. 



The Paka-Nati are a set of wanderers who sojourn in the open fields as 

 the others do, and employ themselves in hunting, fishing, and begging ; 

 the heads of this tribe or family decide disputes and hold Vanchayats, or 

 juries : but the palm of ingenuity and dexterity must be conceded to the 

 Kalla-bantru, who are, or at least were, such complete robbers, thieves, and 

 sharpers, and were so well trained, that the Mysorean prince Tippoo had 

 a regular battalion of them on service with his army in time of war ; not 

 for the purpose of fighting, but, far otherwise, to infest the enemy's camp 

 at night, to steal away horses and other necessaries of the officers, to spike 

 cannon, and to act as spies, in a manner similar, in some degree, to what 

 has been reported of the Turkish and Hungarian Gypsey. 



From the same writer, I am led to suppose that the Indian Gypsey may 

 be the bastard offspring, not only of the Chatriya, but of all those who 

 were driven out from the other tribes ; and finding themselves a class sepa- 

 rated from and despised by every other, they lost all respect for themselves. 

 In the Deccan, their use of carrion may be derived from necessity ; to kill 

 a cow being a crime which the Hindu law punished with death. 



The tribe called NcW, or dancers, is numerous in Bengal, Behar, Bundel- 

 kand, Malwah, and Guzerat ; they are commonly known by three names, viz. 



1. Nat', a rogue ; one who leads a wandering life. 



