Vol. X, No. 11.] The Language of the Gypsies of Qainat. 443 

 [N.S.] 



their lives and I have never heard of there being any der wishes 

 or saints among them. "Kerbelai", i.e. persons who have 

 undertaken the pilgrimage to Kerbela, the shrine of Imam 

 Huseyn, are almost as rare. Their standard of morality is 

 low, and many women are reputed to be occasional prostitutes. 



They are mostly copper- and iron-smiths or carpenters. 

 They also make a special kind of felt cap. Their productions 

 are of a simple kind, requiring no particular skill, reaping- 

 hooks, chains, shovels, etc., qalydn-^'ipe^ of onnab- wood, the 

 apparatus for weaving and other domestic utensils. Women 

 prepare a kind of guimp lace, called " bendi shalivdr " , which 

 is chiefly used for cloth belts by them. 



The Gypsies are known everywhere for their clever singing 

 and dancing. But in this province they show no particular 

 -kill. 



All Persians despise them; to eat with them is considered 

 derogatory even by the lowest persons. 



Their customs, in short, are much the same as those of 

 the ordinary Persian peasants, though tending to a greater 

 simplicity owing to their poverty. As an example I may cite 

 their wedding ceremonies, which are celebrated with great merry- 

 making, much music and dancing. Even their women and girls 

 take part in the last, and they are joined by hundreds of 

 spectators. For the traditional bridegroom's walk to the bath 

 is substituted a ceremony, in which the bridegroom, accom- 

 panied by all the people, with girls dancing at intervals of a 

 few paces is taken to the nearest spring or pool. Then the 

 crowd stops, and he quickly performs the ritual of " ghusl '', 

 or bathing the whole body. I was assured that this custom is 

 observed even in winter. The traditional washing of the 



bride's right hand and left foot by the bridegroom is often 



omitted. 



They are of course, strictly speaking, endogamous. The 

 rates of £t mahr", i.e. bride's price, or "shir-behd", i.e. the 

 price of milk, are very low. An old man boasted to me that 

 he had given all his daughters in marriage and " had made a 

 good thing out of it ", receiving no less than 10 tumans (Rs 

 25) <c per head"! The girls are married at from 13 to 16 



years of age, the boys later. 



It is very difficult to discover the real numerical strength 

 of the Gypsies, thev live so scattered in the remotest corners 

 all over the province. I am inclined to believe that they can- 

 not be very numerous. 



III. 



Gypsy jargon has lost its own grammar and uses only that 

 of the Persian as spoken in Qainat. Abounding in many 

 kindred original forms, Gypsy language easily melted into 

 Persian. (Even the language of English Gypsies retains a 



