"دليل بلاد فارس. مجلد III. جزء I: من A إلى K" [و‎‎١‎٢‎٠] (١٢٧٨/٢٤٤)

of their native hills. Alike in costume and complexion, darkness is the
prevailing hue of the external man. Their hair is black, with its
two long uncut tufts curled behind the ear ; black their bushy eyebrows
and flashing eyes beneath ; black the beard and moustache ; black the
crowning hula ; black the coat of the male ; and blue-black the indigo-
dyed cloak of the female. Those of the men who are robust and muscular
in appearance have a very manly bearing ; but, owing to exposure and
privation, a large percentage present the very opposite aspect. Fever,
assisted by dirt and neglect, has ravaged their systems ; and, as a rule, they
are not long-lived. They wear loose trousers and a long, full-skirted coat,
either a qabd or sirddri. Round the waist a cartridge-belt that holds the
ammunition for the rifle, usually of the description of a Martini carbine,
which is strung over the shoulder, while a dagger and pistol are carried
in the belt. The women are tall and dark, of shapely limbs and carriage
when in good health ; but they suffer, in this latter respect, more than the
men. Absolutely neglected and despised by their male sex, they exist
under the filthiest conditions ; old women before they are out of their teens
and hags by the time they reach thirty years of age. Left to themselves
and their own rude treatment, or more properly, neglect, the simplest
cases lead to loss of life or of limb. The people generally are most ignorant
of the simplest rudiments of hygiene ; and their chiefs, until quite recently,
have not been much concerned about it. The disease, which perhaps
wreaks most havoc among them, is that of the eyes. Nearly every man,
woman, and child in Bakhtiari country is a sufferer in this respect. Dirt
and neglect are undoubtedly the chief causes, assisted by the glare from
the rocks or snow from which their headdress affords no protection.
Besides this, the commonest affliction, which results in loss of sight in a
large number of cases, the commonest ailments from which they suffer
are ague, pneumonia, enteric, and typhus.
Produce and commerce .—Pasture is their chief occupation, their flocks
and herds being the principal sources of their wealth. They have engaged
very little in any form of commerce, beyond the sale of their sheep until
the acquisition in late years of the valuable property on the banks of
the Karun and in the plains about Shushtar and Dizful. In these
luxurious plains they have engaged in extensive cultivation of wheat,
barley, and tobacco ; and, as their annual assessment shows, they are taking
a much extended interest in agriculture as affecting commerce.
Sheep and cattle .—It is difficult to make any precise statement as to
the numbers of their sheep, goats, and cattle ; but it is probable that
of the two former, together, there is something little far short of half a
million head—while their herds of cattle are numerous.
Horses .—In former days a considerable amount of horse-breeding was
carried on ; and the Bakhtiari breed gained a repute that has not yet
perished. Those animals in evidence at the present day, however, are of
a weedy type, and, though probably admirably adapted to the country, being
nimble, sure-footed, and enduring, are not now found in sufficient numbers
to be serious’y considered.
Mules .—While very few mules are actually bred within the limits of
Bakhtiari land, the numbers to be found there, for carrying agricultural