'MILITARY REPORT ON PERSIA. VOL. IV, PART II.' [‎42r] (88/212)

71
%
bcrs togctlier with a number of smaller and less important ones,
are estimated at something under 77,000 tents, are described
in detail below.
Always lawless, and seldom completely under the control of
the Central Government, the nomads of Fars were nevertheless
seldom a souspc of serious anxiety to the Governor-General of
• Fars, until the last decade of the 19th Century : for they were ill-
armed, and in consequence unable to withstand Government
troops under proper leadership: they even furnished military
forces to Government; above all, their forces were uneducated
and disunited.
Khumseh .—The Khamseh (A rabx-Rvc) tribes are Klwmwti.
(1) The Arabs.
(2) The ’Ainalu.
(3) The Baharlu.
(4) The Baser!.
(5) The Nafar.
The Nafar tribe originally numbered some 1,000 families'
but these are now to a large extent dispersed and settled in
BakhtiarT country. Part of the tribe remains however, and is
still considered as a unit of the Khamseh tribes.
Of the above tribes, the Arabs and Baser! alone are migratory.
The ’Ainalu, Baharlu and Nafar are of Turkish origin, as also
are the Baser?, with the exception of one tbeh or sub-tribe the
Turbur Choharbuncheh, whose language is Persian. The Arabs
are, as their name implies, of Arabic origin and came originally /
from Najd and Oman.
The headship of the Khamseh is now hereditary in the
Qawami family.
The following is an approximate correct statement of the
strength of the Khamseh tribes in April, 1918.
Arabs
Ainalu
Baharlu
Baser!
Nafar
.. ..
Families.
10,130
1,200
1,200
4.500
300
Total
.. 17,330