KARACHI or Kara-tchi, a people in Northern Persia who resemble gypsies in many respects, besides the use of a particular dialect or jargon among themselves. They prefer tents to houses, pilfer eggs, poultry, linen, and other things ; tell fortunes by inspecting the palm of the hand, and are nearly, or perhaps altogether, without any religion. A man, with whom Sir W. Ouseley con versed, acknowledged that most of his taifah or tribe had not any certain form of worship or system of faith ; but, some Muhammadans being present, he loudly thanked God that he was himself a true believer, a very orthodox disciple of their prophet. The Turkish couriers from Constantinople recog nised this man and his companions to be a Chingani or Jingani ; and Mustafa, who had been in England, whispered to him that they were the same as the gypsies. Porter tells us that the words mean black race. The men, finely limbed, with countenances sufficiently bold and watchful of what was going forward. The complexions of both sexes appear much darker than the native Persians. Their physiognomy generally seemed to agree with that of most of their brethren and sisters he had met wandering about in various parts of Europe. The men steal, make sieves,
hair ropes, etc., from the produce of which they pay an annual tribute to the Government of two tomauns per family or tent. The women, when not occupied in the little domestic affairs of their canvas household, beg and tell fOrtunes, the latter being generally muttered over a few torn leaves from a Faringi book, or the blade-bone of a sheep, and accompanied with the thread of your life. The general expression of their faces, both in men and women, is that of deep thought, interrupted with rapid turns of observation flash ing from their bright and powerful eyes. In some parts they are called Kanli and Susman. Their women, in one respect, differ widely from gypsy females in Europe. Mr. Barrow, in phis account of this extraordinary race, has commendsck the strict chastity of the gypsy women ; but the Kara-chi women of Persia are quite independent of any such rigid virtue, and one and all earn money in other ways than by telling fortunes.— Ouseley's Travels, iii. 40 ; Porter's Travels, ii. 528.