Photo of a Pashtun belonging to the Utmanzai sub-tribe of Yousafzai, 1861

 

Photo of a Pashtun belonging to the Utmanzai sub-tribe of Yousafzai, 1861. From "The People of India" by John Watson and John Kaye.

"The subject of the Photograph is nearly as fair as an Englishman, with dark eyes, and is five feet nine inches in height. His dress consists of a green cotton turban, with border and ends of crimson silk and gold; a dark blue loongee or waist cloth, sometimes worn over the shoulders as a scarf, and sometimes as a girdle, with a border of crimson silk, and ends of crimson silk and gold. This, with loose trousers of cotton cloth, completes the costume. In cold weather a sheep-skin choga or pelisse, or a tunic of quilted cotton, is worn over all. The "Rohilla" costume in the Deccan is a blue cotton shirt, white or blue drawers, and white, red, or blue turban, with a blue quilted jacket for cold weather." 

 "..They make excellent soldiers, and their valour and endurance are beyond question. Many of them, from time to time, have entered the service of native princes, under the designation of Rohillas; and at one period they were numerous, with members of other Afghan frontier tribes, in the service of His Highness the Nizam. In the Deccan, however, they were found turbulent and lawless, and their numbers have been gradually reduced. They are in general bad shots, though they carry guns; and their favourite weapons are a broad, heavy sabre, and knife or dagger, with which, protected by a large black shield, they are undoubtedly formidable antagonists. Many of the Ootmanzyes, and Yoosufzyes in general, are as fair and ruddy as Europeans, with light brown hair and beards, and blue, grey, or hazel eyes; and they are a strikingly handsome, athletic race, capable of immense endurance of fatigue. Their women are said to be very beautiful in youth, though often coarse and masculine as they grow old, and in comparison with others."