"The Sarsat or Sarsudh (properly Sariswatiya, as derived from the vicinity of the Saraswati River), belongs to the Panja-Gaur race. Of this tribe there are about forty pure families in Sindh; they abstain from all irregular practices, and call the rest of the caste Sindhur, because they allege the others were originally Numryo Belochies made Brahmans by Rama Chandra, who when in want of a priest, applied a tilak of vermillion to the Mlenchha’s forehead. The Sarsat are supposed to have emigrated to Sindh about two centuries ago. They worship Mahes (Mahadeva or Shiva) and Bhawani his Sakti. The latter deity is known to them by many names and under a plurality of forms, as Devi, Durga, Kali, Parwati and Singhawani (the “rider of the lion”). She presides over most of the Hindoo sacred spots as Hinglaj, the Mekli Hills near Tatta, Dhara Tirth near Sehwan, &c., &c. The Sarsat abstains from certain impure meats, as beef and fowls: he eats fish, wild birds, onions and the flesh of the deer, kid and sheep, because ordered to do so by the Mountain Goddess in a time of famine. The meat is always bought, as the higher castes of Hindoos here as elsewhere will not kill animals themselves. Most of the Sarsat tribe drink wine and marry widows, though only those of the same caste. They shave the beard and wear the dress of a common Sahukar, namely, a white turban, Angarkha (long cotton coat), Dhoti (cloth round the waist instead of trowsers), Bochan (kerchief or shawl thrown over the shoulders), and cloth slippers: in the hand a Mala or rosary of sandal wood, with twenty-seven beads is usually carried. Sometimes a Sarsat will assume the dress of an Anil (revenue officer) whereas the Pokarna rarely, if ever, do. There are considerable numbers of the Sarsat class, settled at Hyderabad and Sehwan. They seldom learn Persian, or enter into the service of Government: their principal occupations being the study of Sanscrit and the Gurumukhi writings. The Sarsat, having but a modicum of astrological learning, make up for their deficiency in that kind of imposture by rather a rude invention. Their peculiar mode of prediction is called “Nashkan Karanu:” it is done by fixing the mind upon any question proposed, at the same time inhalation is stopped, and the nostrils tightly pressed with the fingers. After due meditation, the issue of an event is pronounced upon ex cathedra and a fee duly claimed."