598 Notes relative to Iskardoh, [Nov. 



little hair on their body, and scarcely any beard. It is said, they are 

 deficient in enterprise, and of a treacherous and designing disposi- 

 tion. Barley, wheat, and flesh are the chief articles of food ; rice is 

 not generally used. All those who can afford it are in the habit of 

 drinking tea at their breakfast, and in the course of the day, it is usual 

 with them, as with their neighbours of Laddkh, to greet their visitors 

 with a cup of tea. The use of this luxury is becoming more general 

 than it was, though it bears a high price. There is little variation in 

 the dress of the people from their neighbours of Laddkh. The wealthy 

 classes generally wear qdbas, (a kind of coat, with skirted margin all 

 round,) and caps, &c. ; while the dress of the peasantry consists of 

 jamahs, (another kind of coat, formerly much used in India.) It resem- 

 bles the vest worn by the Indian dancing girls, and is made of pattu, 

 which is manufactured both of a coarse and fine quality, from goat's 

 wool. They wear caps of the same stuff*. Cotton is not produced 

 here. It is imported from Ydrqand to Kashmir, but very few people 

 shew a desire to wear cotton clothes. Their houses are mostly made 

 of layers of stones and wood, with flat roofs, and are two or three 

 stories high, with far projecting roofs, somewhat similar to those on 

 the southern face of the Himalaya range. 



Religion, language, and means of exchange. — The common religion of 

 the people is Muhammedan, of the Shia sect, and the followers of the 

 Imam Jafar ; but towards Gilget, there is a race of people which does 

 not seem to possess any well-defined religious system : some of them 

 are idolators, and worship trees ; while others, like the Hindus, do not 

 eat the flesh of kine, and yet profess to be Muhammedans. Tibetan is 

 the common language of the country, but the people have no books 

 in it. They are beyond the influence of the Lamas, and receive 

 their education, which is exclusively confined to the chiefs and 

 priesthood, in Persian. They have no system of coinage in the shape 

 of rupees, pice, or kouris. The only means of exchange known 

 among them is in small pieces of unwrought gold, which is found in 

 the country both in mines and in the beds of rivers. 



Government, military establishment, and revenue. — The government 

 of Iskardoh is absolute, but the ruler Ahmad Shah, who claims his 

 descent from Joseph the prophet of the Israelites, is mild and benevo- 

 lent ; his title is Ergh mayum, signifying the Lord of the mountains ; 

 but among his people he is called " Gelpo," or king, and his tributaries 

 and petty chiefs, Ju. He usually resides in the fort of Iskardoh. It 



* It is not customary to milk the goat in this country, which is supposed to 

 add to the softness of the wool. 



