Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 7.djvu/38

KHAN ZADAS. The Khan Zadas were originally Goojurs, but were converted to the Mussulman faith in the time of the Emperor Aurungzeeb, and are said to have taken their rise from the issues of the Pathans' intercourse with Goojur women. Khan is the title which every Pathan (or Afghan) assumes; hence Khan Zada, the khan's offspring, or literally, sons. . The locality of the tribe is principally Mewat, which borders upon Rajpootana, and lies between those provinces and the Jumna, in 27° or 28° north latitude. The tribe is not migratory, and is well conducted and industrious as cultivators, though many of them take service, especially in the irregular cavalry, where they have always behaved well. Almost, as a rule, the Mewattee Khan Zadas are fine, handsome men, combining the sturdy figure of the Goojur with the grace of their Pathan progenitors, and they are hardy and brave. Their religion is ordinary Mahomedan, and in which they are believed to be bigoted, though not over strict in performance of it, showing, however, no difference in the observance of fasts and ceremonies. They are almost, as a rule, healthy and long lived, and they seclude their women, in accordance with Mussulman customs. It is not stated whether they intermarry with other Mussulman sects; but the probability is that they confine themselves to their own tribe, for in this respect all tribes of converted Hindoos appear to hae the same custom.