440 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [December, 1914. 



themselves. The Arab geographers of X-XII cent, mention 

 a race, living in Mekran — az-Zut or al-Jat (ipt) or cu^Jf). 



It is known, that the Massagetoi of Herodotus, corres- 

 ponding to ' ■ Da-Yueti " or ' ■ Yueji ' * of Chinese, and ' ■ Getae ' ' 

 of later Greek historians, and ■ ■ Ephtalites ' ' (diix£) of European 

 and Muhammadan writers, followed the Scythians at the time 

 of their invasion of S. Persia and India (" Scythians '* =** Se 9y , 

 ' Sey ' ' of Chinese, ' ' Sakas J * of Indian, " Segzi, Seji * 9 

 [Sejestan^Seyistan-Sakastan-Seistdn] of Persian historians) . 

 Chinese and Greek historians often notice the Da-Yueti, and it 

 appears that they sprang originally from the same stock as 

 the Scythians, with whom they lived in close connection. In 

 India their name can be recognized in " J at " (King Kanishka 

 was of this tribe). According to many accounts they were of 

 Aryan race, although Dr. Tomaschek in his Centralasiatischen 

 Studien (1877) calls them "a tribe of Tangut origin." 



Now those Jatts are still a numerous tribe (78,400 ace. 



the last census) in British Baluchistan, not to mention many 



other tribes with the same name throughout India. And the 



likeness between the name of the above-mentioned Az-zut or 



Al-jat of Arab Geographers, and the contemporary Jatts and 



Syrian zatts, zotts (Nawars) is very striking. Besides the name 



" jat " is still applied in some places of Eastern Persia to the 

 Gypsies. 



Against the opinion of Mr. Sykes (a note in the Journal 

 of Gypsy Lore Soc. v. Ill (new series), p. 320) I believe this 

 likeness is not fortuitous. It must mean that the Gypsies lived 

 a long time among the Jatts, as they did among other peoples. 

 This may throw some light on the enigma: what road did 

 they take on their way from India ? 



It is tempting to suppose that the Gypsies were originally 

 but a tribe of the same Jatts, the most western of them, 

 inhabiting the south-eastern part of the Iranian plateau. We 

 know, that Seistan and the neighbouring countries to the south 

 were in ancient times not so desolate as now. There were 

 numerous towns and villages with a thick population. Is there 

 no relation between the migration of the Gypsies and the 

 gradual decay of these countries? And were they simply 

 pushed out by the growing dryness of the lands ? This would 

 be a very simple explanation of a fact not so common in 

 history, viz. the migration of an isolated tribe from the centre 

 of India to the coasts of the Atlantic. 



A comparative study of the affinities linguistic and anthro- 

 pological between the Kanjar tribe of India and the Jatts and 

 Gypsies of Baluchistan might yield much of interest. 



There were many other peoples in ancient times who might 

 have influenced the Gypsies. The modern name of Mekran, as 

 is proved, is not of Aryan origin, but seems to be derived from 

 the name of a tribe, perhaps of Dravidian stock, whom the 



