Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c40.18

v3.c40.18

flocks or cultivating these little oases for food. He may discern a long line of camels (called kitar, a name better known than either kafila or karwan), anxiously toiling through the often doubtful path, and the Charan conductor, at each stage, tying a knot on the end of his turban. He may discover, lying in ambush, a band of Sahariyas, the Bedouins of our desert (sahra),¹ either mounted on camels or horses, on the watch to despoil the caravan, or engaged in the less hazardous occupation of driving off the flocks of the Rajar or Mangalia shepherds, peacefully tending them about the tars or bawas, or hunting for the produce stored amidst the huts of the ever-green jhal,² which serve at once as grain-pits and shelter from the sun. A migratory band may be seen flitting with their flocks from ground which they have exhausted, in search of fresh pastures :