﻿4S0 AN ACCOUNT OF THE BAZEEGURS, 



Urub Klian, ]\Ioonuwv/iir Khan Misree, Sunrlul 

 Khan, and Riijbee KJiaii, t'atlicr to the present chief 

 Munbjiungec. Jle aiiows tluit the family of the 

 Nardar Boutah of Chundurkona is descended from 

 the same stock, and that the boundaries of that de- 

 partment extend to Medtwejwor''", Burdwan, and 

 Moorshidabad ; that none of her people can enter 

 his distiicts with an intention of procuring money 

 by dancing or begging, without obtaining liis per- 

 mission and paying accordingly. The same system 

 holds good in respect to Ins dependents visiting her 

 comitiy. Tliose men and w(/nien who are not in 

 any of the sets, Meander about from place to place, 

 obtaining a precarious livelihood by begging, and 

 sometimes by disposing of little trinkcisf, which 

 they either fabricate themselves, or purchase in Cal- 

 cutta. 



These sects, viz. the Bazeegurs, liaving adopted, 

 if not the religion, at least tlie name, of Moosubnans, 

 are more civilized than the otlier Meandering tribes. 

 Their diet and apparel cojrespond with tlie A/oosid- 

 mans. Some of their women aie, I have heard, ex- 

 tremely handsome, and esteeu^ed as cou.rtezans in 

 the East accordinglv ; though I must confess, I 



have 



* Better known among iis under the deviation M'ldnapore, which 

 is very slight when coijiipared to the number we pervert in a way that 

 must hereafter create much contusion in the names of places vvhenever 

 we know enough of the language to write them properly. It will 

 then, perhaps, puzzle the geographers of the day to reconcile Jessorey 

 higclhe^ Sirajnpore, &c. with the true pronunciation of Jjisihury or 

 Jusur^ Hijlce, i^recrtinipoor^ Sec. by which alone the natives term 

 these places among themselves. 



+ A tribe, termed Bisaiee, supply these trinkets, and attend markets, 

 fairs, and such places, with their small wares, exactly as our pedlars 

 do. Baz,eechu and kihilovfia are commonly applied to the toys these 

 people sell, which in our and the oriental languages, are properly called 

 playthings. Those formed of tin are for the most part fabricated by 

 the strolling gipsies or players named buhroopee,d, from their dexterity 

 in assuming various forms, btih signifying many, and raop a lace or 

 shape. 



