Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

BRAHUI

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 391 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

BRAHUI , a See also:

people of See also:Baluchistan, inhabiting the Brahui mountains, which extend continuously from near the Bolan Pass to Cape Monze on the Arabian See also:Sea. The See also:khan of See also:Kalat, the native ruler of Baluchistan, is himself a Brahui, and a lineal descendant of Kumbar, former See also:chief of the Kumbarini, a Brahui tribe. The origin of the Brahuis is an ethnological See also:mystery. See also:Bishop See also:Robert Caldwell and other authorities declare them Dravidians, and regard them as the western borderers of See also:Dravidian See also:India. Others believe them to be Scythians,' and others again connect them with Tatar 1 Compare Mountstuart See also:Elphinstone's (See also:History of India, 9th ed., 1905, p. 249) description of Scythians with physique of Brahuis. A relationship between the See also:Jats (q.v.) and the Brahuis has been suggested, and it is generally held that the former were of Scythic stock. The Mengals, Bizanjos and Zehris, the three largest Brahui tribes, are called Jadgal or Jagdal, i.e. Jats, by some of their neighbours. The Zaghar Mengal, a See also:superior See also:division of the Mengal tribe, believe they themselves came from a See also:district called Zughd, somewhere near See also:Samarkand in central See also:Asia. Gal appears to be a collective mountaineers who See also:early settled in See also:southern parts of Asia. The origin of the word itself is in doubt.

It is variously derived as a corruption of the See also:

Persian Ba Rohi (literally " of the hills "); as an eponym from Braho, otherwise Brahin or See also:Ibrahim, a legendary See also:hero of alleged Arab descent who led his people " out of the See also:west," while Dr Gustav See also:Oppert believes that the name is in some way related to, if not identical with, that of the Baluchis. He recognizes in the name of the Paratas and Paradas, who dwelt in See also:north-eastern Baluchistan, the origin of the See also:modern Brahui. He gives reasons for regarding the Bra as a contraction of Bara and obtains " thus in Barahui a name whose resemblance to that of the See also:ancient Barrhai (the modern Bhars), as well as to that of the Paratas and Paravar and their kindred the Maratha Paravari and Dravidian Parheyas of Palaman, is striking." The Brahuis declare themselves to be the See also:aborigines of the See also:country they now occupy, their ancestors coming from See also:Aleppo. For this there seems little See also:foundation, and their See also:language, which has no See also:affinities with Persian, See also:Pushtu or Baluchi, must be, according to the most eminent scholars, classed among the Dravidian See also:tongues of southern India. Probably the Brahuis are of Dravidian stock, a See also:branch See also:long isolated from their kindred and much Arabized, and thus exhibiting a marked See also:hybridism. Whatever their origin, the Brahuis are found in a position of considerable See also:power in Baluchistan from earliest times. Their See also:authentic history begins with Mir Ahmad, who was their chief in the 17th See also:century. The See also:title of " khan " was assumed by Nasir the See also:Great in the See also:middle of the 18th century. The Brahuis are a confederacy of tribes possessing See also:common lands and uniting from See also:time to time for purposes of offence or See also:defence. At their See also:head is the khan, who formerly seems to have been regarded as semi-divine, it being customary for the tribesmen on visiting Kalat to make offerings at the Ahmadzai See also:gate before entering. The Brahuis are a nomadic See also:race, who dwell in tents made of goats' See also:hair, See also:black or striped, and live chiefly on the products of their herds. They are Sunnite Mahommedans, but are not fanatical.

In physique they are very easily distinguished from their neighbours, the Baluchis and Pathans, being a smaller, sturdier people with rounder faces characterized by the See also:

flat, See also:blunt and coarse features of the Dravidian races. They are of a dark See also:brown See also:colour, their hair and beards being often brown not black. They are an active, See also:hardy race, and though as avaricious as the Pathans, are more trustworthy and less turbulent. Their See also:ordinary See also:dress is a See also:tunic or See also:shirt, See also:trousers gathered in at the ankles and a cloak usually of brown See also:felt. A few See also:wear turbans, but generally their headgear is a See also:round skullcap with tassel or See also:button. Their See also:women are not strictly veiled. Sandals of See also:deer or See also:goat skin are worn by all classes. Their weapons are rifles, swords and See also:shields. They do not use the Afghan See also:knife or any spears. Some few Brahuis are enlisted in the Bombay Native See also:Infantry. See Dr Bellew, See also:Indus to See also:Euphrates (See also:London, 1874) ;Gustav Oppert, The See also:Original Inhabitants of India (1893); Dr See also:Theodore Duka, See also:Essay on the Brahui See also:Grammar (after the See also:German of Dr Trumpp of See also:Munich University).

End of Article: BRAHUI

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
BRAHMS, JOHANNES (1833–1897) 		[next]
BRAID (from the O. Eng. bregdan, to move quickly to...

Site © 2006 - Net Industries