umaldini being entirely Rashkhanis. The Barechis formerly
inhabited Afghanistan, but migrated to the Nushki district three
generations ago. Bagag (south-west) is a village generally inhabited by
Mandais, a branch of the Jumaldini Rashkhanis.
Two big villages are to be found south, and they are called _Batto_,
which means "mixture," owing to the populations being composed of
Rashkhanis, Mingals, Samalaris, Kharanis, and other minor tribes; and
south of Batto are two more villages (east and west respectively of each
other). The one east is Harunis, a separate tribe from either the
Rashkhanis and the Mingals, who follow the head chief Rind. The second
village (west) is Ahmed Val, inhabited by Ahmed Zai Mingals. Besides
these villages, the remainder of the population is of nomads.
It may have been noticed that regarding the village of Bagag I said that
"generally" it was inhabited by Mandais. Certain villages are inhabited
by certain tribes during the summer, the people migrating for the winter
months, and other tribes come in for the winter and vacate their quarters
in the summer. The Beluch is not much burdened with furniture and can do
this without inconvenience.
The crops grown consist of wheat, barley and _jowari_ (millet). Where
good grazing is obtainable the younger folks are sent out with sheep,
horses and camels.
Almost each tribe has a different style of architecture for its
dwellings. Those near Nushki are usually rectangular in shape, domed over
with matting covered with plaster. The only opening is the door, with a
small porch over it. Wooden pillars are necessary to support the central
portion of the dome (semi-cylindrical), which is never higher than from
five to eight feet. The mangers for the horses, which form an annexe to
each dwelling--in fact, these mangers are more prominent than the
dwellings themselves--are cylindrical mud structures eight or nine feet
high, with a hole cut into them on one side to allow the horse's head to
get at the barley contained in the hollowed lower portion.
[Illustration: Beluch Huts and Weaving Loom.]
[Illustration: Cave Dwellers, Nushki.]
The weaving looms are the largest and principal articles of furniture one
notices--not inside, but outside the houses. The illustration shows how
the cloth and threads are kept in tension, from every side, in a
primitive but most effective manner. The women work with extraordinary
rapidity and with no pattern before them, bea
|