Between Loh and Dras, three distinct dialects of the same language are in use. The people and their language are called Bhot by the Kashmiri. It is entirely different from Kashmiri and its cognate dialects of Dardistan and Kafiristan, or of Badakh shan and Wakkitn, and bears no resemblance to the Turki and Kalmaghi spoken in Kashgar.
In the lower country, the people near the debouchure of the Kashgar river speak a mixed tongue, called Lughmani.
The men of all castes in the hills are short and of poor physique ; they look worn, and get deep lined on the face at a comparatively early age.
The young women are often extremely pretty, those living in the higher and colder villages having, at 15 or 16, a complexion as fair as many Spaniards or Italians, and with very regular fea tures. But they grow darker as they advance in years, and become very plain.
Most of the traders of the snow valleys have some members of their families residing at Daba or Gyani on the Nuna-khar lake.
The natives of Sukeyt, Mundi, and Kulu, in the Kohistan of the Jalandhar, have sallow com plexions, and appear to be of the same race as the inhabitants of Bussahir. In fact, many of the coolies employed as carriers between Simla and Kalka are men from these states, who are attracted there by the wages, which average one anna a day in their own districts, but from four to six annas on the left bank of the Sutlej. The men are generally tall and strong, but few of them are handsome. Many of the young women are -pretty, but at the age of 20 or 25 become coarse and stout. The dress of both sexes is nearly the same. It consists of a drab-coloured woollen frock, trousers of the same or of leather, and a flat skull-cap, generally black, with sandals made of coarse grass. The woollen cloth called puttoo is manufactured by themselves, and resembles thick coarse blanketing. It is sold in pieces of 10 inches in width and about 21 feet in length, at 2 rupees 8 annas or 3 rupees a piece, according to the quality. Both sexes wear a girdle around the waist, and the men generally go bare-legged during the hot weather. They seldom, if ever, wear shoes ; the richer classes, however, wear worsted stockings and shoes when they go out. The women, instead of the cap, sometimes have a coloured piece of cloth tied round their bead, and occasionally twist their hair into one long plait. the end of which is ornamented with slips of coloured cloth or shreds of worsted.
Sati was greatly followed in Mundi by the rajas, and by the principal Rajput families, but by the treaty with the British in 1846 it was discon tinued. When raja Tori Sain died in 1826, 17 women, mostly slaves, were burned with his body, and 18 with that of Zalim Sain, who died in 1839. Infanticide also was very common.
The Chumba-gaddi race of the Chumba Hills say they are Rajputs, and of the Gaddi-jat. They are somewhat short, but strong, and cleanly in their habits. They are sharp, and able to impose on their less knowing neighbours. Most of the witch-finders are of the Chumba-gaddi race, and the race may always be known by their peculiar conical caps, with lappets to turn down over their ears, like an English travelling cap. When Euro peans made their first appearance in the Kangra valley, these men had very slight notions of caste, and would eat or drink anything the Europeans gave them, but . since their contact with the natives of the plains they have become as bigoted as any Hindu. The Gaddi are hill shepherds about Kangra and elsewhere.
The Lahuli people are a race distinct from the people of Kulu or of the Chumba range. The Lahuli men are short, but sturdy, very ugly and very dirty. Their women are decidedly plain. The dress of both sexes is a black woollen frock with drawers, and a woollen plaid, with black circular caps of felt. The women let their hair fall from the back of the head in long plaits.
Chitral, .Upper and Lower.—An independent state, consisting of the upper part of the Kunar valley, Afghanistan. It is bounded on the N. by the Hindu Kush, dividing it froM Wakhan and Badalchshan ; a crest on the E. separates it from Gilgit and the parallel tributary valleys of the Indus ; on the S. it is separated from Panjkora, and on the W. from Kafiristan. The population is Muhammadan, Kafirs of the ICamuz, Askin, and Ashpin tribes. They are the Dhangar race. The men are tall and well made, but exceedingly cowardly ; the women are remarkable for their beauty and their immorality. They bear a strong resemblance in their features and colour to the hill people of Chumba and Kaugra, symmetry of form, black eyes and hair. They speak a dialect of Dardu, but generally use Persian, Pushtu, and Turki. The soil is fertile, climate severe in winter. The rulers of both Chitrals are Sunni in faith. They capture their own Shiah subjects and the Siah Posh, and sell them as slaves ; sometimes whole families are sold. Boys and girls are the most prized of all the slaves brought to the Turkestan market, and fetch from Rs. 100 to Rs. 500; but the more comely women, Rs. 500 to Rs. 1000. The exports are korah kashkari or unbleached silk; choga, made of shawl-wool, with which all animals, dogs, and particularly goats, are provided.