110

JOURNEYS IN PERSIA

LETTER XX

subdivisions, among which are the Bosakis, Hajwands,
Isawands, and Hebidis, numbering 2800 families.1

He is a tall, big, middle-aged man with a very wide
mouth, and a beard dyed auburn with henna—very

YAHYA KHAN.

intelligent, especially as regards his own interests, and
very well off, having built his castle himself.

He asked me if I thought England would occupy
south-west Persia in the present Shah's lifetime ? Which

1 I am inclined to estimate the Bakhtiari population at a higher figure
than some travellers have given. I took forty-three men at random from
the poorest class and from various tribes, and got from them the number
of their families, wives and children only being included, and the average
was eight to a household.