Upwards Of A Hundred Indian Families
(Chiefly From Surat, And A Few From Bombay,) Have Also Established
Themselves Here; And To These May Be Added Some Malays And People Of
Maskat.
The settlers from Egypt, Syria, Barbary, European Turkey, and
Anatolia, may be still recognised in the features of their descendants,
who are all mixed in one general mass, and live and dress in the same
Arab manner.
The Indians alone remain a distinct race in manners, dress,
and employment. There are no Christians settled in Djidda; but a few
Greeks from the islands of the Archipelago occasionally bring
merchandize to this market from Egypt. In the time of the sherifs they
were much molested, compelled to wear a particular dress, and prohibited
from approaching the Mekka gate; but the Turks having become
[p.15] masters of the Hedjaz, abolished these restrictions, and a
Christian now enjoys complete liberty here: if he dies, he is not buried
on shore, (this being sanctified ground, belonging to the holy city,)
but upon some one of the small islands in the bay of Djidda. Jews were
formerly the brokers of this town; but they were driven out, about
thirty or forty years since, by Serour, the predecessor of Ghaleb, some
of them having offended by their misconduct. They all retired to Yemen
or to Sanaa. During the monsoons some Banians visit Djidda in the Indian
ships; but they always return with them, and none are settled here.
The mixture of races in Djidda is an effect of the pilgrimage, during
which rich merchants visit the Hedjaz with large adventures of goods:
some of these not being able immediately to settle their accounts, wait
till another year; during this period, they cohabit, according to the
custom of the country, with some Abyssinian slaves, whom they soon
marry; finding themselves at last with a family, they are induced to
settle in the country.
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