htadar or principal officer of the judicial department
describing himself in an official return as Saiyad Hashimi Quraishi,
that is, of the family and lineage of the Prophet. His father, who was
living in obscurity in his native town, was discovered to be a Lohar
or blacksmith. [302] The term Shaikh means properly an elder, and
is freely taken by persons of respectable position. Shaikhs commonly
use either Shaikh or Muhammad as their first names. The Pathans were
originally the descendants of Afghan immigrants. The name is probably
the Indian form of the word Pushtun (plural Pushtanah), now given to
themselves by speakers of the Pushtu language. [303] The men add Khan
to their names and the women Khatun or Khatu. It is not at all likely
either that the bulk of the Muhammadans who returned themselves as
Pathans in the Central Provinces are really of Afghan descent. The
Mughals proper are of two classes, Irani or Persian, who belong to
the Shiah sect, and Turani, Turkish or Tartar, who are Sunnis. Mughals
use the title Mirza (short for Amirzada, son of a prince) before their
names, and add Beg after them. It is said that the Prophet addressed
a Mughal by the title of Beg after winning a victory, and since then
it has always been used. Mughal women have the designation Khanum
after their names. [304] Formerly the Saiyads and Mughals constituted
the superior class of Muhammadan gentry, and never touched a plough
themselves, like the Hindu Brahmans and Rajputs. These four divisions
are not proper subcastes as they are not endogamous. A man of one
group can marry a woman of any other and she becomes a member of her
husband's group; but the daughters of Saiyads do not usually marry
others than Saiyads. Nor is there any real distinction of occupation
between them, the men following any occupation indifferently. In fact,
the divisions are now little more than titular, a certain distinction
attaching to the titles Saiyad and Shaikh when borne by families who
have a hereditary or prescriptive right to use them.

5. Marriage.

The census returns of 1911 show that three-fourths of Muhammadan boys
now remain unmarried till the age of 20; while of girls 31 per cent are
unmarried between 15 and 20, but only 13 per cent above that age. The
age of marriage of boys may therefore be taken at 18 to 25 or later,
and that of girls at 10 to 20. The age of marriage both of girls and
boys is probably getting later, especially among the be