These may be considered the established and civilized inhabitants of Central Asia, and they have retained only feeble traces of the Mongolian-Turkish race, owing to considerable intermixture with the ancient Persian elements, and also the great number of slaves, who are brought there out of the present Iran. In their broad faces, sound of voice, the sharp angle which the temples form, and especially the eyes, we recall their Tartar origin. The Œzbegs were always pointed out by the Tadjiks by the nickname of Yogunkelle (thick skull), and really this part of their body is thicker and coarser than that of the rest of their Turanian fellow races. Besides the diversity that reigns among them in the three Khanats and in Chinese Tartary, you may further observe that the dwellers in villages generally possess more signs of the national type than townsmen. For instance: Œzbegs of Khiva are to be recognised by the broad, full face, low, flat forehead, large mouth; the Œzbegs of Bokhara, by the somewhat more arched foreheads, more oval faces, and long, pointed, oblong chin, and the great majority by black hair and eyes. Also in colour there are some shades of resemblance. In the neighbourhood of Kashgar and Aksu yellowish-brown to blackish tint prevails; in Khokand, brown; in Khiva, white is the reigning colour. Indeed, the Œzbegs are bastards of the Turanian race, in the same manner as the Tadjik and Sarts (the aborigines of the ancient Transoxiana, Sogdia, and Fergana[45]). Of the origin, immigration, and settlement of the Œzbegs, we have but little information, and that highly confused. Whilst some maintain that the name of Œzbeg was the name of one of their most renowned princes, who, in the time of Djingis, ruled over the whole desert; others discover, in the etymology of the word Œzbeg (independent prince, independent head), the signification of that actual independence for which the tribe was distinguished, as it disengaged itself from any ruler, and attempted, on its own account, its march of conquest toward the west. The name becomes prominent with the family of Sheibani, viz., with Ebul Kheir Khan, as founder, in the foreground; for, although Taimur may belong to the same tribe, still the Turkish state is more prominent than the Œzbeg. [45] "Gibbon;" edited by Dr. W. Smith. London, 1862, page 296. Here it is justly remarked, "The Œzbegs are the most altered from their primitive manners. 1st.,--by the profession of the Mohammedan religion; and, 2nd.,--by the possession of the cities and harvests of Great Bucharia. If I am not deceived, it appears to me, at least, that the Œzbegs of to-day form a tribe, which, as a colony, highly inconsiderable in numbers, only increased after it had received into its bosom contingents of the various nomadic tribes passing from the north to the south. This assertion is, perhaps, bold, still the following circumstances render it not impossible.