Beyond the Pir Panjal; life among the mountains and valleys of Kashmir . is, and someof the Pirs still bear that title. There are about 65,000 Brahmans in Kashmir. Nearlyhalf of these live in the city or larger towns. They aredivided up into clans and families, with distinctivenames, and intermarriage is not permitted within theclan. The Hindus of Kashmir are not nearly so particularabout caste observances as those in India. They will, forinstance, drink water which is brought by a Mussulman,and eat food which has been cooked on the boat of a Moham-medan, and will even allow Mussulmani foster-
Beyond the Pir Panjal; life among the mountains and valleys of Kashmir . is, and someof the Pirs still bear that title. There are about 65,000 Brahmans in Kashmir. Nearlyhalf of these live in the city or larger towns. They aredivided up into clans and families, with distinctivenames, and intermarriage is not permitted within theclan. The Hindus of Kashmir are not nearly so particularabout caste observances as those in India. They will, forinstance, drink water which is brought by a Mussulman,and eat food which has been cooked on the boat of a Moham-medan, and will even allow Mussulmani foster-mothers fortheir infants. On the other hand, curiously enough, theyrefuse to eat fruit of a red colour, such as rosy apples andtomatoes. The Brahmans have faces of the pure high Arian Mohammedans have well-shaped heads, with good broadand high forehead. The nose is rather prominent and tendsto be hooked, especially in the older people. The upperlip is rather deep. The average height of the Kashmiriis about five feet four inches to eight inches. It is commoner. 14- A MAHAMMEDAN VILLAGE, ZIARUT. THE PEOPLE 83 to find them below than above this. Their muscular develop-ment is good, especially the chest and arms. The legs areoften rather thin and spindle-shaped. Among the Mussulmans there are also clans, but these areonly nominal; and there are no restrictions placed uponintermarriage except with Saiyads at the top of the socialscale and menials at the bottom. There are still in the valley many families of the Chakclan, but they have settled down into quiet and peaceablecultivators. It was not always so. In the reign of SultanZain-ul-ab-ul-Din they gave much trouble and formedbands of marauders. It is thought that they came fromsome district to the north of Kashmir, and that perhapsthey were originally Dards. At the north-west end of thevalley there are the ruins of an old Chak city. And thebeautiful Tregam pool, where a clear stream issues from thelimestone rock, is belie
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectmountai, bookyear1912
