In  Burma  are  to  be  found  some  almost  pure  Mon-
golian people,  who  exhibit  the  broad,  flat,  yellow
face,  with  slanting  eyes,  prominent  cheek-bones  and
straight,  black  hair  akin  to  the  Chinese.  When  they
entered  the  country  is  uncertain,  but  the  trend  of
the  natural  features  of  the  land  undoubtedly  facili-
tated their  entrance  from  Eastern  Central  Asia  in
early  times.
In  other  parts  of  the  country  mingling  of  these  three
racial  types  has  taken  place.
In  the  Upper  Ganges  Valley  the  people  are  of  Aryo-
Dravidian  type,  the  higher  castes  being  more  akin
to  the  former  and  the  lower  to  the  latter  family.  In
Bengal  and  Assam  the  Mongolo-Dravidian  type  is
common,  the  Bengalis  being  broad-headed  and  dark-
skinned  and  showing  no  trace  of  Aryan  features.
The  short,  hardy  and  warlike  Ghurkas  and  Nepalese
are  of  this  type,  their  life  among  the  mountains  of
the  north  having  had  considerable  influence  upon
their  character.
The  Mahrattas  of  the  Western  Deccan,  who  gave
much  trouble  to  the  British  in  the  early  days  of  occu-
pation, seem  to  be  related  to  the  Dravidians  and  to
the  Tartar  or  Scythian  steppe-dwellers  of  Central
Asia,  hordes  of  whom  are  known  to  have  broken
through  the  northern  mountain  barrier  during  the
Aryan  occupation  of  the  northern  plain,  and  passed
southward  down  the  Indus  Valley  towards  the  Deccan.
The  inhabitants  of  the  western  mountain  border,  the
warlike  tribesmen  of  the  North- West  Frontier,  have


POPULATION,   CITIES,    GOVERNMENT     155

somewhat  Semitic  features  and  seem  to  be  a  mixture
of  Turk  and  Persian.
Religions  are  almost  as  many  and  various  as  races
and  languages.  About  two-thirds  of  the  people  pro-
fess Hinduism,  a  curious  mixture  of  religious  beliefs
and  social  observances,  the  chief  of  which  are  the
transmigration  of  souls  and  the  rigid  caste  system.
