USHRUF ALI KHAN—PATHAN.
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LIGHT brown eyes, black hair, very sallow complexion, dressed in a rich blue satin coat, with silver spangles, blue Cashmere shawl, brown turban, and yellow Paejamahs; height five feet nine inches.
The Pathans are Mussulmans of the Shiah sect, and come from Afghanistan; but the family of Ushruf Ali Khan has resided in Allahabad for upwards of a century: they consume the ordinary food used by Mussulmans, but are particularly fond of two dishes which other Mussulmans hardly ever eat, they are called Kuree and Koolma; the first is composed of butter-milk, meat, and "basun" (or the flour of ground gram) mixed together, and boiled; the second consists of meat, mixed with spices enclosed in the clean gut of a sheep or goat like a sausage, and left in the sun till quite hard and dry; this is sent to their friends as a present in the cold weather.
The Pathans are a proud race, and rarely follow other than military employment. The ranks of the irregular cavalry of India are largely recruited from them.—Vide Article upon Pathans of Bareilly.
