Page:The Imperial Gazetteer of India - Volume 10 (2nd edition).pdf/72



60 MUZAFFARGARH. Christians, 33. The principal Muhammadan tribes include-Sayyids, 6928; Pathans, 3959; Baluchís, 58,356; and Shaikhs, 5046. These are the Muhammadans by race descent. The following tribes and castes are mainly Muhammadans by conversion in the times of the early Musalmán invasion, and most of them still contain a proportion of Hindus. The Játs, the most numerous class in the District, forming the great mass of the agricultural population, number 109,352; Rajputs, 1961; Kumbhárs, 6629; Juláhas, 13,625; Churas, 11,312; Mochis, 11,103 ; Tarkháns, 8024; Mallahs, 7967 ; Charhoas, 6318; Arains, 3991 ; and Mirásís, 3634. According to sect, the Muhammadans consist of-Sunnís, 290,054; Shiás, 2378; Wahábis, 28; Faráizis, 14 ; and others,' 2. The Sayyids and Pathans rank highest in general estimation among the Muhammadan population, owing to the influence of Muzaffar Khán, who gave estates to many of his compatriots. The Balúchís form the bulk of the population along the Indus, where they cultivate the soil, and also raise large herds of cattle and camels; many of them bear a bad reputation for predatory habits. The mass of the agricultural community, especially in t eastern portion of the District, consists of Játs, but the word here hardly possesses any ethnical significance, being indiscriminately applied to all the lower Muhammadan cultivating castes. As a rule, the Muhamınadans, especially the Balúchís and Játs, are very lax in their religious observances. Some of their ceremonies are borrowed from Hindu ritual, and among certain tribes a Bráhman priest as well as a mulla assists on certain occasions. The Shaikhs and Patháns are the strictest Muhammadans, but even they are said to have become a good deal Hinduized. The worship of the Muhammadans has been diverted from Allah the One God to that of their pirs or saintly men, who are credited with the ability to procure the objects of the disciples' vows. Saints' shrines are very numerous in Muzaffargarh, and pilgrimages to them are very common, being made both as a religious duty and for an usement. Throughout the District, the Hindus have sunk into a position of complete social insignificance, with the exception of the Arorás or Kárárs, numbering 33,827, who form the shopkeeping class in all the villages, and have done much to develop agriculture by sinking wells. The other castes, exclusively or almost exclusively Hindus or Sikhs, are— Bráhmans, 1841; Mahtams, 2943; Labanas, 2315: Od, 1862; and Khattris, 1608. The form of Hinduism most prevalent is that of the worship of Vishnu in his Krishna incarnation. Town and Rural Population. — Muzaffargarh does not contain a single town with upwards of five thousand inhabitants; but the following nine places have been constituted municipalities— MUZAFFARGARH, 2720; KHANGARH, 3417; KHAIRPUR, 2609; ALIPUR, 2555 ; SHAIR