78 Further Information regarding the Siah Posh Tribe. [Feb. 



females are such liberals as to satisfy the heart of every man, who is 

 the best creature of God in the world. 



Kumbir, Save, and Kulman are the largest towns in the country of the 

 Kafirs. They are well erected, having long and broad streets without 

 a single shop. The Siah Posh have very few she-goats in their coun- 

 try. 



I could not extend my inquiries much farther about the Kafirs, as the 

 Mvfci left us soon on his route to Kabul. 



The Siah Posh claim their descent from the Arabs, and some of them 

 acknowledge to be descended from the Macedonian soldiers. For my 

 own part, the names of the Siah Posh males seem to be quite differ- 

 ent from all nations in the world, except the Europeans, namely Shaul- 

 lah and Jankken. 



The artists in that part of the country are called Pari. They are 

 not civilly treated by other Siah Posh who are known by the name 

 of Sahu, and they are not even allowed to sit before them. 



Many of the Siah Posh call themselves Maliks, or Princes, who use 

 their force to sell the children of the Baris to the neighbouring 

 Muhammedans. They call them the descendants of those slaves which 

 their lion -figured fathers brought at the invasion of India ; but the Mufti 

 says, that they do not mention particularly the name of Sikandar. 



In our late journey to Bokhara, we had one Badakhshdni pil- 

 grim in the caravan, to whom we are highly indebted for his valuable infor- 

 mation. He mentioned, that the rulers of his neighbouring regions, 

 besides the chief of Durvaz, Kator Shah, Suleiman Shah, and Gha- 

 zub Shah, being Muhammedans, still derive their origin from the hero 

 son of the Macedonian Philip. He adds also, that the soldiers under 

 them, whose nativity runs to that of the Siah Posh, extract their genea- 

 logy from the warriors of the great conqueror. 



In my opinion, the Siah Posh soldiers, who claim also the same de- 

 scent, were the countrymen of those of Badakhshdn ,• but when the 

 violent invasion of Muhammed subverted the rich valley of theOxus, many 

 of the Macedonian descendants were converted to Islam, and many, 

 avoiding that religion, left the valley and chose their ground upon the 

 mountains near Hindu Kush. They live there now independently, 

 keeping their former principles of worshipping the idols, (as the Macedo- 

 nians did their heathen deities,) and calling themselves the hero descend- 

 ants of Alexander's soldiers. They put on the black skin of the 

 goat, and do not believe in Muhammed ; therefore they are called 

 Kafir Siah Posh (or black-dressed infidels). 



I shall remain in great anxiety till the time I either examine with my 

 own eyes the customs and manners, and the renowned features of this 



