A 



am 



Bj LiEUT.-CoLOis'EL D. C. Phtllott, Secretary, Board of 



Examiners, 



Apart fi'om. the mercantile sign-langnasre and the horse- 



dealer*s j^'gon of India, mentioned in Nos. 7 and 10 of the Jour- 

 nal of 1906, are the signs, signals, and g-esfures, secret or other- 

 wise, used by the Persians in their everyday life. To the following, 

 in daily nse amongst the Persians, reference is frequently made in 

 tlie idioms of writers, ancient and modern : 



4 



Silence : AngnsM hi-sar-i dimagh zadan^ i^dj a^^djM KiJLt 



(1) The rii/ht hand is clo-^ed, with the exce[>tion of the fore- 



finger wliicli is placed perpendicnhady, point n[>\vai'ds, so that its 

 middle joint tomrhes the tip of the nose, the front of the finger 

 being to the left; or (2) the tip of the forefinger is laid on the 

 nose; or (8) very rarely the tif> of the forefinger is placed on 

 the closed lips as in England, (4) Biting the lower lip is a secret 

 sign to keep quiet. 



Come herk: Biya^ Uj. — As in India, /.e., the right arm is 

 raised and partially extended on a level with the shoulderj the 

 palm of the hand being downwards. The signal is then made 

 either by closing the fingers towards the palm a few times, or by 

 scooping the hand downwards and towards the speaker. 



IS'o: a5.— As in India. Either (1) the open right hand, 

 palm to the front, is held level Avith the head and ngitated 

 from side to side, additional emphasis being sometimes given by 



turning the bead to the left, chasing the eyes nnd smiling idioti- 

 cally witli closed lips; or (2) the head is slightly thrown back and 

 the eyes closed. This, also, whenKignalle*! f^ecvetly, =jnzV'i}iava ast 

 '' he's talking rot." (3 ) Secretly and slightly raising the eyebrows 

 signifies " Xo '' or " Don't do it, *' and also *' Ask him." In the 

 latter case the head is slightly turned towards the person to be 

 questioned. 



Yes: Dast har chashm nihadan.—(l) The dosed fingers 

 of the open right hand, back to the f ront, are placed on tbe 

 right eye : this action, often accompanied by the ref»ly " Chashm,'' 

 signifies implicit obedience. (2) The right hand is placed on the 

 left breast and a bow is made. (3) As a secret sign, by lowering 

 the eyelids. 



Astonishment : Angnsht gazidnn or angush{-i tahayyur, etc., 

 gaztdan. The tip of the forefinger of tlie right hand, is laid on 

 the front teeth of the lower jaw. This action is commonly 

 depicted in pnintings of the first meeting of Farhnd with 



Shlrin, 



