Across coveted lands : or, A journey from Flushing (Holland) to Calcutta, overland . esand habits would support this view, and theirlanguage undoubtedly bears traces of strongwestern influence if not of actual western being such much finer specimens of menthan the average Persians, may be accounted forby the fact that during the Arab invasion onlythe fittest and finest survived to get as far asthis, and that of these men the Beluch are thepresent descendants. Like all nomads the Beluch are most wonderfullinguists. I met a great many men who knewthree, four or five languages, such
Across coveted lands : or, A journey from Flushing (Holland) to Calcutta, overland . esand habits would support this view, and theirlanguage undoubtedly bears traces of strongwestern influence if not of actual western being such much finer specimens of menthan the average Persians, may be accounted forby the fact that during the Arab invasion onlythe fittest and finest survived to get as far asthis, and that of these men the Beluch are thepresent descendants. Like all nomads the Beluch are most wonderfullinguists. I met a great many men who knewthree, four or five languages, such as Brahui,Nharui, Persian, Afghan, and even Hindustani,and on experiment they showed remarkablefacility for picking up and correctly retainingwords of any foreign language. The theory that the Brahui—the mostnumerous class in Beluchistan—are Tartarmountaineers is, to my mind, incorrect. Theybelieve themselves to be the aboriginal peopleof Beluchistan, and this, I think, is more likelythe case. Their language is quite different fromany of the Nharui dialects. The Nharui tribes. XXXVI THE KHAN OF KELAT 383 are much given to raids and warfare, and evenlast year, when I was going through Beluchistan,a small war had just been settled by a Britishforce, sent to suppress the rebels, in conjunctionwith a Persian force from Kerman on the otherside. I cannot speak of the southern tribes as I didnot visit them, but the Brahui with whom Icame in contact, although very fond of a life oradventure, I invariably found extremely gentle-manly, hospitable and dignified in every were men of a splendid type who,combined determined bravery with the quietest,softest, most considerate and graceful manner. The Khan of Kelat is the most powerful ruler,and with him we have several important the time of Abdullah Khan, in theeighteenth century, Kelat had been a stateindependent of the Delhi Empire, and hadincorporated several provinces. To understandfully the evolution of Beluchi
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