Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Part 3.: The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century — John Shaqi
Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Part 3.: The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth CenturyVerne, Jules
History
Celebrated Travels and Travellers, Part 3.: The Great Explorers of the Nineteenth Century
Verne, Jules
Discoveries in geography; Explorers; Voyages and travels
"Kelat," says Pottinger, "the capital of the whole of Beluchistan,
whence it derives its name, Kelat, or _the city_, is situated upon a
height to the west of a well-cultivated plain or valley, eight miles
long and three wide. The greater portion of this is laid out in
gardens. The town forms a square. It is surrounded on three sides by a
mud wall about twenty feet high, flanked, at distances of 250 feet, by
bastions, which, like the walls, are pierced with a large number of
barbicans for musketry. I had no opportunity of visiting the interior
of the palace, but it consists merely of a confused mass of mud
buildings with flat roofs like terraces; the whole is defended by low
walls, furnished with parapets and pierced with barbicans. There are
about 2500 houses in the town, and nearly half as many in the suburbs.
They are built of half-baked bricks and wood, the whole smeared over
with mud. The streets, as a rule, are larger than those in towns
inhabited by Asiatics. They usually have a raised footway on either
side for pedestrians, in the centre an open stream, which is rendered
very unpleasant by the filth and rubbish thrown into it, and by the
stagnant rainwater which collects, for there is no regulation insisting
upon it being cleaned. Another obstacle to the cleanliness and comfort
of the town exists in the projection of the upper stories of the
houses, which makes the under buildings damp and dark. The bazaar of
Kelat is very large, and well stocked with every kind of merchandize.
Every day it is supplied with provisions, vegetables, and all kinds of
food, which are cheap."
According to Pottinger's account, the population is divided into two
distinct classes--the Belutchis and the Brahouis, and each of these is
subdivided into a number of tribes. The first is related to the modern
Persian, both in appearance and speech; the Brahoui, on the contrary,
retains a great number of Hindu words. Intermarriage between the two
has given rise to a third.
The Belutchis, coming from the mountains of Mekram, are "Tunnites,"
that is to say, they consider the first four Imans as the legitimate
successors of Mahomet.
They are a pastoral people, and have the faults and virtues of their
class. If they are hospitable, they are also indolent, and pass their
time in gambling and smoking. As a rule, they content themselves with
one or two wives, and are less jealous of their being seen by strangers
than are other Mussulmen. They have a large number of slaves of both
sexes, whom they treat humanely. They are excellent marksmen, and
passionately fond of hunting. Brave under all circumstances, they take
pleasure in "razzias," which they call "tchepaos." As a rule, these
expeditions are undertaken by the Nherouis, the wildest and most
thievish of the Belutchis.
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