246 On the Sites of Nikaia and Boukephalon. [No. 3. 



its branches. But north of the Sootlej the Kuttri is exclusively a 

 merchant or a soldier : most generally the former. The Khethri 

 south of the Sootlej is often found at the plough but never behind the 

 counter. The Kuttri of the Punjaub is never a child of the soil, 

 although he may have been tempted occasionally, under Sikh patronage, 

 to dispossess the owner of land and settle down as a husbandman. 

 The Kuttri of the Punjaub is distinct in physical features from all 

 other races of India ; and, of those of Asia, he most nearly resembles 

 the Jew. This resemblance often extends to dress, and is almost 

 startling ; whether it be that devotion to similar pursuits begets 

 physical resemblance, or that he draws his origin directly from the 

 same Arab stock as the children of Israel. The features of the 

 male are high and often regular, he wears a long beard and moustache, 

 a large turban, and robes precisely similar to those depicted in drawings 

 of the ancient Israelites. The features of the female are delicate, but 

 seldom regular. She is much fairer than other females of the Punjaub, 

 and of more delicate proportions; circumstances which render the 

 Kuttrani an object of great attraction to Musulmans and the subject 

 of many an acted romance. She scarcely conceals her face. At fairs, 

 a husband with his wife and children will be seen making little social 

 groups of peculiar interest to an English eye : the wife being unveiled, 

 and displaying head ornaments of the purest gold, often of great 

 price. The women much affect the red phylacteries worn by the 

 Jews. The white gown of the children is curiously adorned with 

 embroidered lozenges and other quaint figures, half Mosaic, half savor- 

 ing of Free-masonry. 



The Kuttri is by religion Hindu, but he is the most liberal of that 

 faith. He is ready to swear upon the Grunth of the Sikhs* or the 

 Qoran of the Muhammedan. A Kuttri will take back an erring wife. 

 He will often refuse five or six hundred rupees damages in order to 

 recover her. She has nothing to fear from him on her return. He 

 appears to me by far the most humane in his family and social affec- 

 tions of all the mercantile tribes of India. 



In his connections he is most scrupulous. The laws by which 

 Hindu and other Asiatic tribes keep themselves distinct from the 

 tribes around them, are by none more rigidly observed than by the 

 * Baba Nanuk, founder of the Sikh religion, was a Kuttri. 



