'Handbook of Mesopotamia. Vol. I. 1918' [‎118] (127/568)

118
INHABITANTS
to number more than two or three thousand. On their religion
see p. 134. They are craftsmen—boat-builders, goldsmiths, &c.
Circassians. Very few are left of the Circassian Mohammedans
settled in Mesopotamia by the Turkish Government after the Kussian
war of 1877-8. Their numbers have been reduced by their failure
to adapt themselves to the climate and by quarrels with their neigh
bours. There are small Circassian villages at Eas el- c Ain and at
Kaqqah. There appear to be a few Circassians in the vilayet of
Diarbekr. They are a high-spirited, warlike people.
Indians, Afghans, Pathans. Mostly at Basra, Mohammareh, Baghdad,
Kerbela, and Nejef. They have been noticed on p. 95.
Unimportant groups are: the Shubbaks, of unknown origin, living
east of the middle Tigris, apparently in the region of Erbil ; they
are said to number about 500 families (see further p. 135); the
Bajwan east of Mosul, estimated at 800 families ; and the
[Nowar) near Hovek and Urfeh.
Lastly, in the Diarbekr vilayet there are a few Qizilbash com
munities. The Qizilbash, most of whom live on the Armenian
plateau and in eastern Anatolia South-east Turkey today. , speak a dialect of Kurdish. Their
origin is unknown.
Europeans. The total number of Europeans resident in the country
before the war was perhaps between two and three hundred; they
were missionaries (French, British, and Ameiican), representatives
of commercial enterprises and engineers (chiefly British and German),
consuls, and archaeologists. The missionaries were principally in
upper Mesopotamia ; the Europeans engaged in business or engineer
ing were mostly in Irak and Arabistan. The principal European
business communities were at Baghdad, Basra, and Mohammareh.
Except among the missionaries, there were hardly any Europeans
who were permanently settled in the country.
Peincipal Languages
In lower Mesopotamia Arabic, Lur dialects, Kurdish dialects,
and Persian are spoken, the distribution of languages following
the distribution of races described above.
Arabic naturally predominates in Irak and southern Arabistan,
but Persian has considerable importance for commerce, especially of
course in Arabistan and Kirmanshah.
In upper Mesopotamia, Arabic and Kurdish are the principal
languages ; of these Arabic is far the more important for commercial