almost equally divided between Hindus and Muhammadans. In the large towns of the south and central districts there is a considerable Mussulman element, but, generally, it may be said that the districts east of the Chenáb river are Hindu, and those to the west are Muhammadan. As we approach the North-West frontier and the mountain ranges, the percentage of Hindu residents continually diminishes, until, in the frontier districts, the population is almost entirely Muhammadan, the exceptions being the traders and money-lenders who are almost always Hindus, and who flourish even in the fanatical cities of Central Asia. Many of the Muhammadan tribes are of great importance and antiquity, and special mention may be made of the Ghakkars, Jodrahs, Janjoahs, Awáns, Tiwánas, Siáls, Kharrals, Khattars, Ghebas and Kokhars who inhabit the plain country west of Lahore, or the broken and hilly regions between the Indus and the Chenáb rivers[1]. Some few of these claim a foreign descent; the Ghakkars from Persia; the Awáns from Afghánistán or from the Bactrian Greeks; but it is doubtful whether this signifies more than may be affirmed of all the Aryan races of India who were the product of successive waves of foreign conquest. Little is to be found in the records of these tribes to show that their antecedents differ in any important particular from the Rájputs or the Játs. They are, in as true and complete a sense, children of
- ↑ The detailed history of these tribes is given in the Punjab Chiefs pp. 502 to 606.
