Memoir on Thar and

12. There are no rivers or perennial streams in the Thurr and Parkur.
13. The remains of an old and populous town at Veerawow, on the confines of the Desert
over against Parkur, which will be noticed hereafter, and of some Jain temples, and of
another town on the site of the present village of Boodesir in Parkur, as also the remains
of many old tanks in Parkur, clearly show that this district was in bygone ages in a much
more civilized and populous state than it has been during the last two or three centuries.
Tribes and Castes.
14. The principal tribes and castes in the Thurr and Parkur are the Soda, Noray, Raoma,
Khosa tribes, besides some Nomad tribes; and Banians, Lowanas, and Mehmons forming
the mercantile community. There are also great numbers of Bheels or Coolees, not
acknowledged by either Mahomedans or Hindoos, though considering themselves
Hindoos, and exercising by force of numbers a considerable influence in the district. I
will shortly notice the leading tribes and castes in detail, commencing with the most
important of them— the Sodas.
15. The Sodas, who were the dominant race, are Rajpoots, descended from Purmar Soda.
The Purmars appear to have been, some eight hundred or a thousand years ago, the ruling
tribe at and about Oojein, in Malwa; about which period, from causes not distinguishable
at this distance of time, but probably of a social nature, Purmar Soda went forth from the
land of his birth with an armed band, to seek his fortunes in other lands.
16. The fort of Oomerkote, then as now the key to the Desert, and the highway between
Marwar and the valley of the Indus, was in the possession of the Soomras, one of the
ruling tribes in Sind. Whether, however, the erection of the fort, and of another of equal
importance by name Ruttakote, some 30 miles north of it, also on the confines of the
Desert, be attributable to their foresight or otherwise, is not known. Suffice it to say, that
the sagacity of some ruling power had already detected the advantages of erecting
strongholds on the confines of, and to a certain extent awing the Desert, while they
commanded the high-roads between the valley of the Indus and Central India.
17. These forts attracted the attention of Purmar Soda, who attacked, and after a desperate
struggle gained possession of both (Ruttakote and Oomerkote). A.D. 1226. The inherent
daring and valour of the Rajpoots, particularly in the palmy days of their chivalry, was
well suited for irregular warfare and single conflict, wherein they excelled. Individually,
they often showed the same gallantry that in after years our own countrymen displayed in
the wars of the Crescent and the Cross, before war had become a science, when all
depended on individual gallantry and chance. As the knowledge of war, however, and the
ad vantage of combination and discipline, became known, the Rajpoot system lost
ground, and with it, as a warlike people, the renown of the tribe retrograded; for though
still as brave as their ancestors, who conquered Oomerkote, they are too proud to submit
to discipline, without which, civilized nations are well aware, an army is but an armed
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