~Awans.~--The home of the Awan in the Panjab is the Salt Range and the parts of Attock and Mianwali, lying to the north of it, and this tract of country is known as the Awankari. In the N.W.F. Province they are, after the Pathans, by far the largest tribe, and are specially numerous in Peshawar and Hazara. ~Shekhs.~--Of the Shekhs about half are Kureshis, Sadikis, and Ansaris of foreign origin and high social standing. The rest are new converts to Islam, often of the sweeper caste originally. ~Saiyyids.~--Saiyyids are unsatisfactory landowners, and are kept going by the offerings of their followers. They are mostly Shias. It is not necessary to believe that they are all descended from the Prophet's son-in-law, Ali. A native proverb with pardonable exaggeration says: "The first year I was a weaver (Julaha), the next year a Shekh. This year, if prices rise, I shall be a Saiyyid." ~Trading Castes.~--Aroras are the traders of the S.W. Panjab and of the N.W.F. Province. They share the Central Panjab with the Khatris, who predominate in the north-western districts. The Khatri of the Rawalpindi division is often a landowner and a first-class fighting man. Some of our strongest Indian civil officials have been Aroras. In the Delhi division the place of the Arora and Khatri is taken by the Bania, and in Kangra by the Sud or the Brahman. Khojas and Parachas are Muhammadan traders. ~Artizans and Menials.~--Among artizans and menials Sunars (goldsmiths), Rajes (masons), Lohars (blacksmiths), and Tarkhans (carpenters) take the first rank. ~Impure Castes.~--The vast majority of the impure castes, the "untouchables" of the Hindu religion, are scavengers and workers in leather. The sweeper who embraces Islam becomes a Musalli. The Sikh Mazhbis, who are the descendants of sweeper converts, have done excellent service in our Pioneer regiments. The Hindu of the Panjab in his avoidance of "untouchables" has never gone to the absurd lengths of the high caste Madrasi, and the tendency is towards a relaxation of existing restrictions. ~Mendicants.~--Men of religion living on charity, wandering _fakirs_, are common sights, and beggars are met with in the cities, who sometimes exhibit their deformities with unnecessary insistence. ~Kashmiris.~--According to the census return the number of Kashmiri Musulmans, who make up 60 p.c. of the inhabitants of the Jhelam valley, was 765,442. They are no doubt mostly descendants of various Hindu castes, perhaps in the main of Hill Brahmans, but Islam has wiped out all tribal distinctions. Sir Walter Lawrence wrote of them: "The Kashmiri is unchanged in spite of the splendid Moghal, the brutal Afghan, and the bully Sikh. Warriors and statesmen came and went; but there was no egress, and no wish ... in normal times to leave their homes. The outside world was far, and from all accounts inferior to the pleasant valley.... So the Kashmiris lived their self-centred life, conceited, clever, and conservative."