mountaineers who early settled in southern parts of Asia. The origin of the word itself is in doubt. It is variously derived as a corruption of the Persian Ba Rohi (literally “of the hills”); as an eponym from Braho, otherwise Brahin or Ibrahim, a legendary hero of alleged Arab descent who led his people “out of the west,” while Dr Gustav Oppert believes that the name is in some way related to, if not identical with, that of the Baluchis. He recognizes in the name of the Paratas and Paradas, who dwelt in north-eastern Baluchistan, the origin of the modern Brahui. He gives reasons for regarding the Bra as a contraction of Bara and obtains “thus in Barahui a name whose resemblance to that of the ancient Barrhai (the modern Bhars), as well as to that of the Paratas and Paravar and their kindred the Maratha Paravari and Dravidian Parheyas of Palaman, is striking.” The Brahuis declare themselves to be the aborigines of the country they now occupy, their ancestors coming from Aleppo. For this there seems little foundation, and their language, which has no affinities with Persian, Pushtu or Baluchi, must be, according to the most eminent scholars, classed among the Dravidian tongues of southern India. Probably the Brahuis are of Dravidian stock, a branch long isolated from their kindred and much Arabized, and thus exhibiting a marked hybridism.
Whatever their origin, the Brahuis are found in a position of considerable power in Baluchistan from earliest times. Their authentic history begins with Mir Ahmad, who was their chief in the 17th century. The title of “khan” was assumed by Nasir the Great in the middle of the 18th century. The Brahuis are a confederacy of tribes possessing common lands and uniting from time to time for purposes of offence or defence. At their head is the khan, who formerly seems to have been regarded as semi-divine, it being customary for the tribesmen on visiting Kalat to make offerings at the Ahmadzai gate before entering. The Brahuis are a nomadic race, who dwell in tents made of goats’ hair, black or striped, and live chiefly on the products of their herds. They are Sunnite Mahommedans, but are not fanatical. In physique they are very easily distinguished from their neighbours, the Baluchis and Pathans, being a smaller, sturdier people with rounder faces characterized by the flat, blunt and coarse features of the Dravidian races. They are of a dark brown colour, their hair and beards being often brown not black. They are an active, hardy race, and though as avaricious as the Pathans, are more trustworthy and less turbulent. Their ordinary dress is a tunic or shirt, trousers gathered in at the ankles and a cloak usually of brown felt. A few wear turbans, but generally their headgear is a round skullcap with tassel or button. Their women are not strictly veiled. Sandals of deer or goat skin are worn by all classes. Their weapons are rifles, swords and shields. They do not use the Afghan knife or any spears. Some few Brahuis are enlisted in the Bombay Native Infantry.
See Dr Bellew, Indus to Euphrates (London, 1874); Gustav Oppert, The Original Inhabitants of India (1893); Dr Theodore Duka, Essay on the Brahui Grammar (after the German of Dr Trumpp of Munich University).
BRAID (from the O. Eng. bregdan, to move quickly to and fro, hence to weave), a plait, especially a plait of hair, also a plaited tape woven of wool, silk, gold thread, &c., used for trimming or binding. A particular use is for the narrow bands, bordered with open work, used in making point lace.
BRAIDWOOD, THOMAS (1715–1806), British teacher of the deaf and dumb, was born in Scotland in 1715, and educated at Edinburgh University. He became a school teacher, and in 1760 opened in Edinburgh, with one pupil, the first school in Great Britain for the deaf and dumb, following the system of Dr John Wallis, described in Philosophical Transactions nearly a hundred years before. This school was the model for all of the early English institutions of the kind. Dr Johnson visited it in 1773, and describes it as “a subject of philosophical curiosity . . . which no other city has to show,” and Braidwood’s dozen pupils as able “to hear with the eye.” In 1783 Braidwood moved to Hackney, where he died on the 24th of October 1806.
BRAILA (in Rumanian Braǐla, formerly Ibraila), the capital of the department of Braila, Rumania; situated amid flat and dreary country on the left bank of the river Danube, about 100 m. from its mouth at Sulina. Pop. (1900) 58,392, including 10,811 Jews. Southward, the Danube encircles a vast fen, tenanted only by waterfowl and herds of half-wild swine, while the plain which extends to the north-east and east only grows fertile at some distance inland. Braila itself is plainly built on a bank rising about 50 ft. above sea-level; but partly on a narrow strip of ground which separates this bank from the water’s edge. Along the crest of the bank a public park is laid out, commanding a view of the desolate Dobrudja hills, across the river.
On the landward side, Braila has the shape of a crescent, the curve of its outer streets following the line of the old fortifications, dismantled in 1829. Few houses, among the older quarters, exceed two storeys in height, but the main streets are paved, and there is a regular supply of filtered water. A wide avenue, the Strada Bulivardului, divides the town proper from the suburbs. The principal church, among many, is the cathedral of St Michael, a large, ungainly building of grey sandstone. Electric tramways intersect the town, and are continued for 3 m. to Lacul Sărat (Salt Lake), where there are mineral springs and mud-baths, owned by the state. The waters, which contain over 45% of salt, iodine and sulphur, are among the strongest of their kind in Europe; and are of high repute, being annually visited by more than a thousand patients. Braila is the seat of a chamber of commerce. It is the chief port of entry for Walachia, and the headquarters of the grain trade; for, besides its advantageous position on the river, it is connected with the central Walachian railways by a line to Buzeu, and with the Russian and Moldavian systems by a line to Galatz. Quays, where ships drawing 15 ft. of water can discharge, line the river front; and there are large docks, grain elevators and warehouses, besides paper mills, roperies, and soap and candle works. Over 20 steamers, maintained by the state, ply between Braila and Rotterdam. Among the vessels of all nations, the British are first in numbers and tonnage, the Greek second. Grain and timber form the chief articles of export; textiles, machinery, iron goods and coal being most largely imported.
Many events connected with the history of Walachia took place in the neighbourhood of Braila. In 1475 Stephen the Great, having dethroned the voivode Radu, burned the town. In 1573 another Moldavian prince took the city by storm, and massacred the Turkish garrison. In 1659 it was again burned by the Walachian prince Mircea, and for the time the Turks were expelled, but afterwards returned. In the latter part of the 18th century Braila was several times captured by the Russians, and in 1770 it was burned. By the peace of Bucharest (1812) the Turks retained the right of garrisoning Braila. In 1828 it was gallantly defended by Soliman Pasha, who, after holding out from the middle of May until the end of June, was allowed to march out with the honours of war. At the peace of Adrianople (1829) the place was definitely assigned to Walachia; but before giving it up, the grand-duke Michael of Russia razed the citadel, and in this ruinous condition it was handed over to the Walachians. Braila was the spot chosen by the Russian general Gorchakov for crossing the Danube with his division in 1854. On the banks of the Danube, a little above the city, are some remains of the piles of a bridge said by a very doubtful tradition to have been built by Darius (c. 500 B.C.).
BRAIN (A.S. braegen), that part of the central nervous system which in vertebrate animals is contained within the cranium or skull; it is divided into the great brain or cerebrum, the hind brain or cerebellum, and the medulla oblongata, which is the transitional part between the spinal cord and the other
