AND ITS FOUNDER. 371 



hardy, but ignorant mountaineers, who, prote6led by their natural fast- 

 nesses, have been able to brave the tempests of war, which have often 

 swept like a whirlwind the plains of Asia; the Tdji'c are distinguished 

 every where by superior industry, and often engross the little learning 

 which is to be found in the country. The Tdji'c extend, from the moun- 

 tains of Chetdr in Cashgdr, as far as Kandahar and Balkh; and generally 

 speaking, wherever the soil is more than usually fertile, or displays traces 

 of superior cultivation, there may the habitations of the Tdjic be traced. 

 In the mountains of Chetdr, and where the country is naturally strong, the 

 Tdjic live in a state of independence, under their own chiefs, but for the 

 most part, they are subject to the Afghan, Turkman, or Vzbec tribes, 

 among whom they reside, and to whom tliey are bound to pay a certain 

 proportion of the produce of their grounds, which often amounts to an 

 half, a third, or a fourth part, according to the nature of the soil, besides 

 furnishing a certain quota of armed men. The races of Tdjic .^ve very 

 numerous, and they ar« distinguished from each other by various charac- 

 teristics. Some affe61: to derive their origin from the Arabs, while others 

 are reckoned of Moghul extraction ; but no doubt can possibly be enter- 

 tained that they are of a very mixed origin, considered as a people, and 

 though generally of peaceable and industrious habits, in some distri^s, 

 such as Cashgar and Khoten, they are distinguished for their valour, and 

 martial prowess. Though the great mass of the Tdji'cs are industrious 

 cultivators, yet various tribes of roving and unsettled habits, and uncertain 

 origin, are commonly comprehended under the same general dcnomina- 

 .tion. Thus the roving tribes of Sidibdi, and Tukbcii, of Cdi.mgi and 

 Ibranchi, Kdkshdl, and Khwajeh Kh{-ri , of Mucrczi, Tilbu:ji, B.ihsndi, 

 Arab-Galahban , Tnfac-andaz, and several otlicrs, are generally included 

 .under the name of Tdjic. It is difficult to determine when the term 



