Their Towns And Villages Also Are On Lofty Hills, And In Very Strong Positions.[NOTE 8] They Are Excellent Archers, And Much Given To The Chase; Indeed, Most Of Them Are Dependent For Clothing On The Skins Of Beasts, For Stuffs Are Very Dear Among Them.

The great ladies, however, are arrayed in stuffs, and I will tell you the style of their dress!

They all wear drawers made of cotton cloth, and into the making of these some will put 60, 80, or even 100 ells of stuff. This they do to make themselves look large in the hips, for the men of those parts think that to be a great beauty in a woman.[NOTE 9]

NOTE 1. - "The population of Badakhshan Proper is composed of Tajiks, Turks, and Arabs, who are all Sunnis, following the orthodox doctrines of the Mahomedan law, and speak Persian and Turki, whilst the people of the more mountainous tracts are Tajiks of the Shia creed, having separate provincial dialects or languages of their own, the inhabitants of the principal places combining therewith a knowledge of Persian. Thus, the Shighnani [sometimes called Shighni] is spoken in Shignan and Roshan, the Ishkashami in Ishkasham, the Wakhi in Wakhan, the Sanglichi in Sanglich and Zebak, and the Minjani in Minjan. All these dialects materially differ from each other." (Pand. Manphul.) It may be considered almost certain that Badakhshan Proper also had a peculiar dialect in Polo's time. Mr. Shaw speaks of the strong resemblance to Kashmiris of the Badakhshan people whom he had seen.

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