'The Expedition for the survey of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, carried on by order of the British government, in the years 1835, 1836, and 1837; preceded by geographical and historical notices of the regions situated between the rivers Nile and Indus. In four volumes. With fourteen maps and charts, and embellished with ninety-seven plates, besides numerous wood-cuts. Volume the first.' [‎249] (314/905)

CHAP. XI.] STATE OF THE 1'LYATS . 249
Europe; and at times they have been raised by their personal
talents, aided by fortuitous circumstances, to the throne
itself. 1
The smaller communities are governed by the Rish-Safid, Their
or elders (grey-beards), who have patriarchal authority i n property '
deciding disputes, and much influence in other respects, par
ticularly in the formation of marriages, which are almost
invariably confined to the members of the tribe. Their wealth
consists in camels, horses, asses, mules, cows, goats, and
sheep, with which they move at a certain time from the
Kishlak, a warm tract, to the Yailak, or that which is
cooler; but the locality is not changed without the shah's
permission. They pay a moderate tax upon their cattle and
sheep, both of which many of them possess in abundance,
and they are besides called upon to equip and furnish his
majesty with one horseman and two foot soldiers for every
ten families. 2
The I'lyat communities usually consist of twenty or thirty ^ g occupa "
families. They make carpets and tents, and have all things
within themselves except clothes, copper utensils, pack-
saddles, and personal ornaments for their dress, and these
they obtain from the Persians. Being entirely a pastoral
people, their property is calculated by the number of animals
(more particularly sheep) which they possess. These con
stitute the ordinary medium of traffic, and they are sheared
twice in each year. 3
Though much concerning this people has been collectedTheAfsMr
of late, and many tribes have been visited, 4 yet a great deal
remains to be done before the number of these wanderers can
be ascertained with any degree of precision. It may be ob
served, however, that in those parts which have been explored,
the population proves to be more numerous than had been
1 Fat-h 'AH Shdli, grandfather of the present sovereign, was an instance of
this sudden elevation.
2 Morier on the I'lyats of Persia, Vol. VII. Part II., p. 237 of the Royal
Geographical Journal.
8 Ibid., pp. 241, 242.
4 By Morier, Rich, Colonel Shiel, Major Rawlmson, and others.