{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_13127/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_13127","id":"gutenberg_13127","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13127","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: History - Other","Category: Religion/Spirituality","India -- Social life and customs","Islam","Muslims -- India"],"text":"OBSERVATIONS ON THE MUSSULMAUNS OF INDIA\n\nDescriptive of Their Manners, Customs, Habits and Religious Opinions\nMade During a Twelve Years' Residence in Their Immediate Society\n\nby\n\nMRS. MEER HASSAN ALI\n\nSecond Edition, Edited with Notes and an Introduction by W. Crooke\n\n1917\n\n\n\n\nWITH SENTIMENTS OF GRATITUDE\nAND PROFOUND RESPECT\nTHE FOLLOWING PAGES ARE HUMBLY DEDICATED,\nWITH PERMISSION,\n\nTO HER ROYAL HIGHNESS\nTHE PRINCESS AUGUSTA;\n\nBY HER ROYAL HIGHNESS'S\nMOST OBEDIENT,\nFAITHFULLY ATTACHED,\nAND VERY HUMBLE SERVANT,\n\nB. MEER HASSAN ALI.\n\n[1832.]\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION\n\nIn the present reprint the text of the original edition of this work has\nbeen reproduced without change, even the curious transliterations of the\nvernacular words and phrases having been preserved. The correct forms of\nthese, so far as they have been ascertained, have been given in the Notes\nand in the Index-Glossary. I have added an Introduction containing an\naccount of the authoress based on the scanty information available, and I\nhave compiled some notes illustrating questions connected with Islam\nand Musalman usages. I have not thought it necessary to give detailed\nreferences in the notes, but a list of the works which have been used will\nbe found at the end of the text. As in other volumes of this series, the\ndiacritical marks indicating the varieties of the sound of certain letters\nin the Arabic and Devanagari alphabets have not been given: they are\nunnecessary for the scholar and serve only to embarrass the general reader.\n\nI have to acknowledge help from several friends in the preparation of this\nedition. Mr. W. Foster, C.I.E., has supplied valuable notes from the India\nOffice records on Mir Hasan 'Ali and his family; Dr. W. Hoey, late\nI.C.S., and Mr. L.N. Jopling, I.C.S., Deputy-Commissioner, Lucknow, have\nmade inquiries on the same subject. Mr. H.C. Irwin, late I.C.S., has\nfurnished much information on Oudh affairs in the time of the Nawabi.\nSir C.J. Lyall, K.C.S.I, C.I.E., and Professor E.G. Browne, M.A., have\npermitted me to consult them on certain obscure words in the text.\n\nW. CROOKE.\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nVery little is known about the authoress of this interesting book. She is\nreticent about the affairs of her husband and of herself, and inquiries\nrecently made at Lucknow, at the India Office, and in other likely\nquarters in England, have added little to the scanty information we\npossess about her.\n\nThe family of her husband claimed to be of Sayyid origin, that is to say,\nto be descended from the martyrs, Hasan and Husain, the sons of Fatimah,\ndaughter of the Prophet, by her marriage with her cousin-german, 'Ali.\nThe father-in-law of the authoress, Mir Haji Shah, of whom she\nspeaks with affection and respect, was the son of the Qazi, or\nMuhammadan law-officer, of Ludhiana, in the Panjab. During his\nboyhood the Panjab was exposed to raids by the Mahrattas and incursions of\nthe Sikhs. He therefore abandoned his studies, wandered about for a time,\nand finally took service with a certain Raja--where she does not tell\nus--who was then raising a force in expectation of an attack by the Sikhs.\nHe served in at least one campaign, and then, while still a young man,\nmade a pilgrimage thrice to Mecca and Kerbela, which gained him the title\nof Haji, or pilgrim. While he was in Arabia he fell short of funds,\nbut he succeeded in curing the wife of a rich merchant who had long\nsuffered from a serious disease. She provided him with money to continue\nhis journey. He married under romantic circumstances an Arab girl named\nFatimah as his second wife, and then went to Lucknow, which, under the\nrule of the Nawabs, was the centre in Northern India of the Shi'ah\nsect, to which he belonged. Here he had an exciting adventure with a tiger\nduring a hunting party, at which the Nawab, Shuja-ud-daula, was\npresent. He is believed to have held the post of Peshnamaz, or 'leader\nin prayer', in the household of the eunuch, Almas 'Ali Khan, who\nis referred to by the authoress.\n\nHis son was Mir Hasan 'Ali, the husband of the authoress. The\ntradition in Lucknow is that he quarrelled with his father and went to\nCalcutta, where he taught Arabic to some British officers and gained a\nknowledge of English. We next hear of him in England, when in May 1810 he\nwas appointed assistant to the well-known oriental scholar, John\nShakespear, professor of Hindustani at the Military College, Addiscombe,\nfrom 1807 to 1830, author of a dictionary of Hindustani and other\neducational works. Mention is made of two cadets boarding with Mir\nHasan 'Ali, but it does not appear from the records where he lived.\nAfter remaining at the College for six years he resigned his appointment\non the ground of ill-health, with the intention of returning to India. He\nmust have been an efficient teacher, because, on his resignation, the East\nIndia Company treated him with liberality. He received a gift of \u00a350 as a\nreward for his translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew, and from the\nCourt minutes it appears that on December 17, 1816, it was resolved to\ngrant him 100 guineas to provide his passage and \u00a3100 for equipment.\nFurther, the Bengal Government was instructed to furnish him on his\narrival with means to reach his native place, and to pay him a pension of\nRs. 100 _per mensem_ for the rest of his life.[1]\n\nA tradition from Lucknow states that he was sent to England on a secret\nmission, 'to ask the Home authorities to accept a contract of Oudh direct\nfrom Nasir-ud-din Haidar, who was quite willing to remit the money\nof contract direct to England instead of settling the matter with the\nBritish Resident at Lucknow'. It is not clear what this exactly means. It\nmay be that the King of Oudh, thinking that annexation was inevitable, may\nhave been inclined to attempt to secure some private arrangement with the\nEast India Company, under which he would remain titular sovereign, paying\na tribute direct to the authorities in England, and that he wished to\nconduct these negotiations without the knowledge of the Resident at\nLucknow. There does not seem to be independent evidence of this mission of\nMir Hasan 'Ali, and we are told that it was, as might have been\nexpected, unsuccessful.\n\nNo mention is made of his wife in the official records, and I have been\nunable to trace her family name or the date and place of her marriage.\nMir Hasan 'Ali and his wife sailed for Calcutta, and travelled to\nLucknow via Patna. She tells little of her career in India, save that she\nlived there for twelve years, presumably from 1816 to 1828, and that\neleven years of that time were spent in the house of her father-in-law at\nLucknow. In the course of her book she gives only one date, September 18,\n1825, when her husband held the post of Tahsildar, or sub-collector\nof revenue, at Kanauj in the British district of Farrukhabad. No\nrecords bearing on his career as a British official are forthcoming.\nAnother Lucknow tradition states that on his arrival at the Court of Oudh\nfrom England he was, on the recommendation of the Resident, appointed to a\npost in the King's service on a salary of Rs. 300 per annum. Subsequently\nhe fell into disgrace and was obliged to retire to Farrukhabad with\nthe court eunuch, Nawab Mu'tamad-ud-daula, Agha Mir.\n\nWith the restoration of Agha Mir to power, Hasan 'Ali returned\nto Lucknow, and was granted a life pension of Rs. 100 _per mensem_ for his\nservices as Darogha at the Residency, and in consideration of his\nnegotiations between the King and the British Government or the East India\nCompany.\n\nFrom the information collected at Lucknow it appears that he was known as\nMir Londoni, 'the London gentleman', and that he was appointed\nSafir, or Attach\u00e9, at the court of King Ghazi-ud-din Haidar,\nwho conferred upon him the title of Maslaha-ud-daula, 'Counsellor of\nState'. By another account he held the post of Mir Munshi, head\nnative clerk or secretary to the British Resident.\n\nOne of the most influential personages in the court of Oudh during this\nperiod was that stormy petrel of politics, Nawab Hakim Mehndi. He\nhad been the right-hand man of the Nawab Sa'adat Ali, and on the\naccession of his son Ghazi-ud-din Haidar in 1814 he was dismissed on\nthe ground that he had incited the King to protest against interference in\nOudh affairs by the Resident, Colonel Baillie. The King at the last moment\nbecame frightened at the prospect of an open rupture with the Resident.\nNawab Hakim Mehndi was deprived of all his public offices and of\nmuch of his property, and he was imprisoned for a time. On his release he\nretired into British territory, and in 1824 he was living in magnificent\nstyle at Fatehgarh. In that year Bishop Heber visited Lucknow and received\na courteous letter from the Nawab inviting him to his house at\nFatehgarh. He gave the Bishop an assurance 'that he had an English\nhousekeeper, who knew perfectly well how to do the honours of his\nestablishment to gentlemen of her own nation. (She is, in fact, a singular\nfemale, who became the wife of one of the Hindustani professors at\nHertford, now the Hukeem's dewan,[2] and bears, I believe, a very\nrespectable character.)' The authoress makes no reference to Hakim\nMehndi, nor to the fact that she and her husband were in his employment.\n\nThe cause of her final departure from India is stated by W. Knighton in a\nhighly coloured sketch of court life in the days of King Nasir-ud-daula,\n_The Private Life of an Eastern King_, published in 1855. 'Mrs. Meer\nHassan was an English lady who married a Lucknow noble during a visit to\nEngland. She spent twelve years with him in India, and did not allow him\nto exercise a Moslem's privilege of a plurality of wives. Returning to\nEngland afterwards on account of her health, she did not again rejoin\nhim.'[3] The jealousy between rival wives in a polygamous Musalman\nhousehold is notorious. 'A rival may be good, but her son never: a rival\neven if she be made of dough is intolerable: the malice of a rival is\nknown to everybody: wife upon wife and heartburnings'--such are the common\nproverbs which define the situation. But if her separation from her\nhusband was really due to this cause, it is curious that in her book she\nnotes as a mark of a good wife that she is tolerant of such arrangements.\n'She receives him [her husband] with undisguised pleasure, although she\nhas just before learned that another member has been added to his\nwell-peopled harem. The good and forbearing wife, by this line of conduct,\nsecures to herself the confidence of her husband, who, feeling assured\nthat the amiable woman has an interest in his happiness, will consult her\nand take her advice in the domestic affairs of his children by other wives,\nand even arrange by her judgement all the settlements for their marriages,\n&c. He can speak of other wives without restraint--for she knows he has\nothers--and her education has taught her that they deserve her respect in\nproportion as they contribute to her husband's happiness.'[4]\n\nIt is certainly noticeable that she says very little about her husband\nbeyond calling him in a conventional way 'an excellent husband' and 'a\ndutiful, affectionate son'. There is no indication that her husband\naccompanied her on her undated visit to Delhi, when she was received in\naudience by the King, Akbar II, and the Queen, who were then living in a\nstate of semi-poverty. She tells us that they 'both appeared, and\nexpressed themselves, highly gratified with the visit of an English lady,\nwho could explain herself in their language without embarrassment, or the\nassistance of an interpreter, and who was the more interesting to them\nfrom the circumstance of being the wife of a Syaad'.[5]\n\nFrom inquiries made at Lucknow it has been ascertained that Mir\nHasan 'Ali had no children by his English wife. By one or more native\nwives he had three children: a daughter, Fatimah Begam, who married a\ncertain Mir Sher 'Ali, of which marriage one or more descendants\nare believed to be alive; and two sons, Mir Sayyid 'Ali or Miran\nSahib, said to have served the British Government as a Tahsildar,\nwhose grandson is now living at Lucknow, and Mir Sayyid Husain, who\nbecame a Risaldar, or commander of a troop, in one of the Oudh\nIrregular Cavalry Regiments. One of his descendants, Mir Agha 'Ali\nSahib, possesses some landed property which was probably acquired by\nthe Risaldar. After the annexation of Oudh Mir Hasan 'Ali is\nsaid to have been paid a pension of Rs. 100 _per mensem_ till his death in\n1863.\n\nIt is also worthy of remark that she carefully avoids any reference to the\npalace intrigues and maladministration which prevailed in Oudh during the\nreigns of Ghazi-ud-din Haidar and Nasir-ud-din Haidar, who\noccupied the throne during her residence at Lucknow. She makes a vague\napology for the disorganized state of the country: 'Acts of oppression may\nsometimes occur in Native States without the knowledge even, and much less\nby the command of, the Sovereign ruler, since the good order of the\ngovernment mainly depends on the disposition of the Prime Minister for the\ntime being'[6]--a true remark, but no defence for the conduct of the weak\nprinces who did nothing to suppress corruption and save their subjects\nfrom oppression.\n\nLittle is known of the history of Mrs. Mir Hasan 'Ali after her\narrival in England. It has been stated that she was attached in some\ncapacity to the household of the Princess Augusta, who died unmarried on\nSeptember 22, 1840.[7] This is probable, because the list of subscribers\nto her book is headed by Queen Adelaide, the Princess Augusta, and other\nladies of the Royal Family. She must have been in good repute among\nAnglo-Indians, because several well-known names appear in the list: H.T.\nColebrooke, G.C. Haughton, Mordaunt Ricketts and his wife, and Colonel J.\nTod.\n\nThe value of the book rests on the fact that it is a record of the\nfirst-hand experiences of an English lady who occupied the exceptional\nposition of membership of a Musalman family. She tells us nothing of\nher friends in Lucknow, but she had free access to the houses of\nrespectable Sayyids, and thus gained ample facilities for the study of the\nmanners and customs of Musalman families. Much of her information on\nIslam was obtained from her husband and his father, both learned,\ntravelled gentlemen, and by them she was treated with a degree of\ntoleration unusual in a Shi'ah household, this sect being rigid and\noften fanatical followers of Islam. She was allowed to retain a firm\nbelief in the Christian religion, and she tells us that Mir Haji\nShah delighted in conversing on religious topics, and that his happiest\ntime was spent in the quiet of night when his son translated to him the\nBible as she read it.[8]\n\nHer picture of zenana life is obviously coloured by her frank admiration\nfor the people amongst whom she lived, who treated her with respect and\nconsideration. It is thus to some extent idyllic. At the same time, it may\nbe admitted that she was exceptionally fortunate in her friends. Her\nsketch may be usefully compared with that of Mrs. Fanny Parks in her\ncharming book, _The Wanderings of a Pilgrim in Search of the Picturesque_.\nMrs. Parks had the advantage of having acquired a literary knowledge of\nHindustani, while Mrs. Mir Hasan 'Ali, to judge from the way in\nwhich she transliterates native words, can have been able to speak little\nmore than a broken patois, knew little of grammar, and was probably unable\nto read or write the Arabic character. Colonel Gardner, who had wide and\npeculiar experience, said to Mrs. Parks: 'Nothing can exceed the quarrels\nthat go on in the zenana, or the complaints the begams make against each\nother. A common complaint is \"Such a one has been practising witchcraft\nagainst me\". If the husband make a present to one wife, if it be only a\nbasket of mangoes, he must make the same exactly to all the other wives to\nkeep the peace. A wife, when in a rage with her husband, if on account of\njealousy, often says, \"I wish I were married to a grass-cutter,\" i.e.\nbecause a grass-cutter is so poor that he can only afford to have one\nwife.'[9] Mrs. Parks from her own experience calls the zenana 'a place of\nintrigue, and those who live within four walls cannot pursue a straight\npath; how can it be otherwise, when so many conflicting passions are\ncalled forth?'[10] She adds that 'Musalmani ladies generally forget\ntheir learning when they grow up, or they neglect it. Everything that\npasses without the four walls is repeated to them by their spies; never\nwas any place so full of intrigue, scandal, and chit-chat as a zenana.'[11]\nWhen she visited the Delhi palace she remarks: 'As for beauty, in a whole\nzenana there may be two or three handsome women, and all the rest\nremarkably ugly.'[12] European officers at the present day have no\nopportunities for acquiring a knowledge of the conditions of zenana life;\nbut from the rumours that reach them they would probably accept the views\nof Mrs. Parks in preference to those of Mrs. Mir Hasan 'Ali.\n\nThough her opinions on the life of Musalman ladies is to some extent\nopen to criticism, and must be taken to apply only to the exceptional\nsociety in which she moved, her account of the religious feasts and fasts,\nthe description of the marriage ceremonies and that of the surroundings of\na native household are trustworthy and valuable. Some errors, not of much\nimportance and probably largely due to her imperfect knowledge of the\nlanguage, have been corrected in the notes of the present edition. It must\nalso be understood that her knowledge of native life was confined to that\nof the Musalmans, and she displays no accurate acquaintance with the\nreligion, life or customs of the Hindus. The account in the text displays\na bias in favour of the Shi'ah sect of Musalmans, as contrasted with\nthat of the Sunnis. For a more impartial study of the question the\nreader is referred to Sir W. Muir, _Annals of the Early Caliphate, The\nCaliphate_, and to Major R.D. Osborn, _Islam under the Khalifs of Baghdad_.\n\n\n[1] Col. H.M. Vibart, _Addiscombe_, pp. 39, 41, 42.\n\n[2] _Diwan_, chief agent, manager.\n\n[3] p. 208.\n\n[4] p. 182.\n\n[5] p. 290.\n\n[6] p. 227.\n\n[7] _Calcutta Review_, ii. 387.\n\n[8] pp. 80, 422.\n\n[9] Vol. i, pp. 230, 453.\n\n[10] i. 391.\n\n[11] i. 450.\n\n[12] ii. 215.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\nINTRODUCTORY LETTER\n\n\nLETTER I\n\n  Introductory Remarks.--The characteristic simplicity of manners\n  exhibited in Native families.--Their munificent charity.--The Syaads.\n  Their descent, and the veneration paid to them.--Their pride of\n  birth.--Fast of Mahurrum.--Its origin.--The Sheahs and\n  Soonies.--Memorandum of distances.--Mount Judee (Judea), the\n  attributed burying-place of Adam and Noah.--Mausoleum of Ali.--Tomb\n  of Eve.--Meer Hadjee Shah.\n\n\nLETTER II\n\n  Celebration of Mahurrum.--The Tazia.--Mussulmaun Cemeteries.--An\n  Emaum-baarah.--Piety of the ladies.--Self-inflicted abstinence and\n  privations endured by each sex.--Instances of the devotional zeal of\n  the Mussulmauns.--Attempted infringement on their religious\n  formalities.--The Resident at Lucknow.--Enthusiastic ardour of the\n  poor.--Manner of celebrating the Mahurrum in opposition to the\n  precepts of the Khoraun.--Mosque and Emaum-baarah contrasted.--The\n  supposition of Mussulmauns practising idolatry confuted.\n\n\nLETTER III\n\n  Continuation of Mahurrum.--Consecration of Banners.--Durgah at\n  Lucknow.--Its origin explained.--Regarded with peculiar\n  veneration.--The Nuwaub vows to build a new one.--Its\n  description.--Procession to the Durgah.--Najoomies.--Influence\n  possessed and practised by them.--Eunuchs.--Anecdotes of some having\n  attained great honours and wealth.--Presents bestowed upon them\n  generally revert to the donor.--Rich attire of male and female\n  slaves...Page 32\n\n\nLETTER IV\n\n  Mahurrum concluded.--Night of Mayndhie.--Emaum-baarah of the King of\n  Oude.--Procession to Shaah Nudghiff.--Last day of\n  Mahurrum.--Chattahs.--Musical instruments.--Zeal of the Native\n  gentlemen.--Funeral obsequies over the Tazia at\n  Kraabaallah.--Sentiments of devout Mussulmauns.--The fast followed by\n  acts of charity.--Remarks on the observance of Mahurrum...Page 42\n\n\nLETTER V\n\n  Time.--How divided in Hindoostaun.--Observances after\n  Mahurrum--Luxuries and enjoyments resumed.--Black dye used by the\n  ladies.--Their nose-ring.--Number of rings worn in their ears.--Mode\n  of dressing their hair.--Aversion to our tooth-brushes.--Toilet of\n  the ladies.--The Pyjaamahs.--The Ungeeah (bodice).--The Courtie.--The\n  Deputtah.--Reception of a superior or elder amongst the\n  ladies.--Their fondness for jewels.--Their shoes.--The state of\n  society amongst the Mussulmaun ladies.--Their conversational\n  endowments.--Remark upon the fashion and duty of beards...Page 55\n\n\nLETTER VI\n\n  The Mussulmaun religion.--Sectarians.--Their difference of\n  faith.--History of the Soonies.--The Caliphas Omir, Osman, Aboubuker,\n  &c.--Mahumud's parting charge to Ali.--Omir's jealousy of Ali.--The\n  Khoraun.--How compiled.--The Calipha Omir held in detestation.--Creed\n  of the Sheahs.--Funeral service.--Opinions of the Mussulmauns\n  respecting the Millennium.--The foundation of their faith\n  exhibited.--Sentiments of the most devout followers of\n  Mahumud.--Bridge of Sirraat, the Scales, &c., explained.--Emaum\n  Mhidhie.--Prophecy of his reappearance.--Its early fulfilment\n  anticipated.--Discourse with Meer Hadjee Shaah on this\n  subject...Page 66\n\n\nLETTER VII\n\n  Namaaz (daily prayer).--The Mussulmaun prayers.--Their different\n  names and times.--Extra prayer-service.--The Mosque.--Ablutions\n  requisite previous to devotion.--Prostrations at prayers.--Mosque\n  described.--The Mussulmaun's Sabbath.--Its partial observance.--The\n  amusements of this life not discontinued on the Sabbath.--Employment\n  of domestics undiminished on this day.--Works of importance then\n  commenced.--Reasons for appropriating Friday to the Sabbath.--The\n  Jews opposed to Mahumud.--The Prophet receives instructions from the\n  angel Gabriel.--Their import and definition.--Remarks of a\n  Commentator on the Khoraun.--Prayer of intercession.--Pious\n  observance of Christmas day by a Native Lady.--Opinions entertained\n  of our Saviour.--Additional motives for prayer.--David's Mother's\n  prayer.--Anecdote of Moses and a Woodcutter.--Remarks upon the piety\n  and devotion of the female Mussulmauns...Page 82\n\n\nLETTER VIII\n\n  The Fast of Rumzaun.--Motives for its strict observance.--Its\n  commencement and duration.--Sentiments of Meer Hadjee Shaah on the\n  day of fasting.--Adherence of the females to the observing this\n  fast.--How first broken.--Devout persons extend the term to forty\n  days.--Children permitted to try their zeal.--Calamitous effects of\n  the experiment.--Exemptions from this duty.--Joyful termination of\n  the fast.--Celebration of Eade on the last day.--The\n  Nuzza.--Nautchwomen and Domenie.--Surprise of the Natives at European\n  dancing.--Remarks on their Music.--Anecdotes of Fatima.--The\n  Chuckee...Page 98\n\n\nLETTER IX\n\n  The Hadje (Pilgrimage to Mecca).--Commanded to be performed by\n  Mahumud.--Eagerness of both, sexes to visit the Prophet's\n  tomb.--Qualifications requisite for the undertaking.--Different\n  routes from India to Mecca.--Duties of the pilgrims at the Holy\n  House.--Mecca and its environs.--Place of Abraham.--The\n  Bedouins.--Anecdote of a devotee and two pilgrims.--A Bedouin Arab\n  and the travellers to Mecca.--The Kaabah (Holy\n  House).--Superstitious regard to a chain suspended there.--Account of\n  the gold water-spout.--Tax levied on pilgrims visiting the tomb of\n  Mahumud by the Sheruff of Mecca.--Sacred visit to the tombs of Ali,\n  Hasan, and Hosein.--The importance attached to this duty.--Travellers\n  annoyed by the Arabs.--An instance recorded.--The Nudghiff\n  Usheruff.--Anecdotes of Syaad Harshim...Page 112\n\n\nLETTER X\n\n  The Zuckhaut (God's portion).--Syaads restricted the benefit of this\n  charity.--The Sutkah.--The Emaum's Zaumunee (protection).--The Tenths,\n  or Syaads' Due.--Mussulmauns attribute thanks to God only, for all\n  benefits conferred.--Extracts from the 'Hyaatool Kaaloob'.--Mahumud's\n  advice.--His precepts tend to inculcate and encourage\n  charity.--Remarks on the benevolence of Mussulmauns...Page 135\n\n\nLETTER XI\n\n  Mussulmaun festivals.--Buckrah Eade.--Ishmael believed to have been\n  offered in sacrifice by Abraham and not Isaac.--Descent of the\n  Mussulmauns from Abraham.--The Eade-gaarh.--Presentation of\n  Nuzzas.--Elephants.--Description of the Khillaut (robe of\n  honour).--Customs on the day of Buckrah Eade.--Nou-Roze (New Year's\n  Day).--Manner of its celebration.--The Bussund (Spring-colour).--The\n  Sah-bund.--Observances during this month.--Festival of the New\n  Moon.--Superstition of the Natives respecting the influence of the\n  Moon.--Their practices during an eclipse.--Supposed effects of the\n  Moon on a wound.--Medicinal application of lime in\n  Hindoostaun.--Observance of Shubh-burraat.\n\n\nLETTER XII\n\n  The Zeenahnah.--Its interior described.--Furniture, decorations,\n  &c.--The Purdah (curtains).--Bedstead.--The Musnud (seat of\n  honour).--Mirrors and ornamental furniture disused.--Display on\n  occasions of festivity.--Observations on the Mussulmaun\n  Ladies.--Happiness in their state of seclusion.--Origin of secluding\n  females by Mahumud.--Anecdote.--Tamerlane's command prohibiting\n  females being seen in public.--The Palankeen.--Bearers.--Their\n  general utility and contentedness of disposition.--Habits peculiar to\n  Mussulmaun Ladies.--Domestic arrangements of a Zeenahnah.--Dinner\n  and its accompanying observances.--The Lota and Lugguns.--The\n  Hookha.--Further investigation of the customs adopted in\n  Zeenahnahs...Page 163\n\n\nLETTER XIII\n\n  Plurality of wives.--Mahumud's motive for permitting this\n  privilege.--State of society at the commencement of the Prophet's\n  mission.--His injunctions respecting marriage.--Parents invariably\n  determine on the selection of a husband.--First marriages attended by\n  a public ceremony.--The first wife takes precedence of all\n  others.--Generosity of disposition evinced by the Mussulmaun\n  ladies.--Divorces obtained under certain restrictions.--Period of\n  solemnizing marriage.--Method adopted in choosing a husband or\n  wife.--Overtures and contracts of marriage, how regulated.--Mugganee,\n  the first contract.--Dress of the bride elect on this occasion.--The\n  ceremonies described as witnessed.--Remarks on the bride.--Present\n  from the bridegroom on Buckrah Eade... Page 179\n\n\nLETTER XIV\n\n  Wedding ceremonies of the Mussulmauns.--The new or full moon\n  propitious to the rites being concluded.--Marriage settlements\n  unknown.--Control of the wife over her own property.--Three days and\n  nights occupied in celebrating the wedding.--Preparations previously\n  made by both families.--Ostentatious display on these occasions.--Day\n  of Sarchuck.--Customs on the day of Mayndhie.--Sending Presents.--Day\n  of Baarraat.--Procession of the bridegroom to fetch the bride.--The\n  bride's departure to her new home.--Attendant ceremonies\n  explained.--Similarity of the Mussulmaun and Hindoo\n  ceremonies.--Anecdote of a Moollah.--Tying the Narrah to the\n  Moosul...Page 195\n\n\nLETTER XV\n\n  On the birth and management of children in Hindoostaun.--Increase of\n  joy on the birth of a Son.--Preference generally shown to male\n  children.--Treatment of Infants.--Day of Purification.--Offerings\n  presented on this occasion to the child.--The anniversary of the\n  birthday celebrated.--Visit of the father to the Durgah.--Pastimes of\n  boys.--Kites.--Pigeons.--The Mhogdhur.--Sword-exercise.--The Bow and\n  Arrows.--The Pellet-bow.--Crows.--Sports of Native\n  gentlemen.--Cock-fighting.--Remarks upon horses, elephants, tigers,\n  and leopards.--Pigeon-shooting.--Birds released from captivity on\n  particular occasions.--Reasons for the extension of the royal\n  clemency in Native Courts.--Influence of the Prime Minister in the\n  administration of justice...Page 210\n\n\nLETTER XVI\n\n  Remarks on the trades and professions of Hindoostaun.--The\n  Bazaars.--Naunbye (Bazaar cook).--The Butcher, and other\n  trades.--Shroffs (Money-changers).--Popular cries in Native\n  cities.--The articles enumerated and the venders of them\n  described.--The Cuppers.--Leechwomen.--Ear-cleaners.--Old\n  silver.--Pickles.--Confectionery.--Toys.--Fans.--Vegetables and\n  fruit.--Mangoes.--Melons.--Melon-cyder.--Fish.--Bird-catcher.--The\n  Butcher-bird, the Coel, and Lollah.--Fireworks.--Parched\n  corn.--Wonder-workers.--Snakes.--Anecdote of the Moonshie and the\n  Snake-catcher.--The Cutler.--Sour curds.--Clotted\n  cream.--Butter.--Singular process of the Natives in making\n  butter.--Ice.--How procured in India.--Ink.--All writing dedicated to\n  God by the Mussulmauns.--The reverence for the name of God.--The\n  Mayndhie and Sulmah...Page 228\n\n\nLETTER XVII\n\n  Seclusion of Females.--Paadshah Begum.--The Suwaarree.--Female\n  Bearers.--Eunuchs.--Rutts.--Partiality of the Ladies to Large\n  retinues.--Female Companions.--Telling the Khaunie.--Games of the\n  Zeenahnah.--Shampooing.--The Punkah.--Slaves and\n  slavery.--Anecdote.--The Persian Poets.--Fierdowsee.--Saadie, his\n  'Goolistaun'.--Haafiz.--Mahumud Baarkur.--'Hyaatool\n  Kaaloob'.--Different manner of pronouncing Scripture names...Page 248\n\n\nLETTER XVIII\n\n  Evils attending a residence in India.--Frogs.--Flies.--Blains.--\n  Musquitoes.--The White Ant.--The Red Ant.--Their destructive\n  habits.--A Tarantula.--Black Ants.--Locusts.--Superstition of the\n  Natives upon their appearance.--The Tufaun, or Haundhie\n  (tempest).--The rainy season.--Thunder and lightning.--Meteors.--\n  Earthquakes.--A city ruined by them.--Reverence of the Mussulmauns\n  for saints.--Prickly heat.--Cholera Morbus.--Mode of\n  Treatment.--Temperance the best remedy.--Recipe...Page 258\n\n\nLETTER XIX\n\n  Kannoge.--Formerly the capital of Hindoostaun.--Ancient\n  castle.--Durability of the bricks made by the aborigines.--Prospect\n  from the Killaah (castle).--Ruins.--Treasures found therein.--The\n  Durgah Baallee Peer Kee.--Mukhburrahs.--Ancient Mosque.--Singular\n  structure of some stone pillars.--The Durgah Mukdoom\n  Jhaunneer.--Conversions to the Mussulmaun Faith.--Anecdote.--Ignorance\n  of the Hindoos.--Sculpture of the Ancients.--Mosque inhabited by\n  thieves.--Discovery of Nitre.--Method of extracting it.--Conjectures\n  of its produce.--Residence in the castle.--Reflections...Page 274\n\n\nLETTER XX\n\n  Delhi.--Description of the city.--Marble hall--The Queen's Mahul\n  (palace).--Audience with the King and Queen.--Conversation with\n  them.--Character of their Majesties.--Visit to a\n  Muckburrah.--Soobadhaars.--The nature of the office.--Durgah of Shah\n  Nizaam ood deen.--Tomb of Shah Allum.--Ruins in the vicinity of Delhi.\n  --Antique pillars (Kootub).--Prospect from its galleries.--Anecdotes\n  of Juangheer and Khareem Zund...Page 289\n\n\nLETTER XXI\n\n  Natural Productions of India.--Trees, shrubs, plants, fruits,\n  &c.--Their different uses and medicinal qualities.--The Rose.--Native\n  medical practice.--Antidote to Hydrophobia.--Remedy for the venom of\n  the Snake.--The Chitcherah (Inverted thorn).--The Neam-tree.--The\n  Hurrundh (Castor-tree).--The Umultass (Cassia-tree).--The\n  Myrtle.--The Pomegranate.--The Tamarind.--The Jahmun.--The\n  Mango.--The Sherrefah.--White and red Guavers.--The Damascus Fig.--The\n  Peach, and other Fruits.--The Mahdhaar (Fire-plant).--The Sirrakee and\n  Sainturh (Jungle-grass).--The Bamboo, and its various uses\n  enumerated...Page 304\n\n\nLETTER XXII\n\n  Monkeys.--Hindoo opinions of their Nature.--Instances of their\n  sagacity.--Rooted animosity of the Monkey tribe to the\n  snake.--Cruelty to each other when maimed.--The female remarkable for\n  affection to its young.--Anecdotes descriptive of the belief of the\n  Natives in the Monkey being endowed with reason.--The Monkeys and the\n  Alligator.--The Traveller and the Monkeys.--The Hindoo and the\n  Monkey...Page 324\n\n\nLETTER XXIII\n\n  The Soofies.--Opinion of the Mussulmauns concerning Solomon.--The\n  Ood-ood.--Description of the Soofies and their sect.--Regarded with\n  great reverence.--Their protracted fasts.--Their opinion esteemed by\n  the Natives.--Instance of the truth of their predictions.--The Saalik\n  and Majoob Soofies.--The poets Haafiz and Saadie.--Character and\n  attainments of Saadie.--His 'Goolistaun'.--Anecdotes descriptive of\n  the origin of that work.--Farther remarks on the character and\n  history of Saadie.--Interesting anecdotes illustrative of his virtues\n  and the distinguishing characteristics of the Soofies...Page 331\n\n\nLETTER XXIV\n\n  The Soofies continued.--Eloy Bauxh.--Assembly of Saalik\n  Soofies.--Singular exhibition of their zeal.--Mystery of Soofeism.--The\n  terms Soofie and Durweish explained.--Anecdote of Shah Sherif.--Shah\n  Jee and the Paltaan.--Dialogue on death between Shah Jee and his\n  wife.--Exemplary life of his grandson.--Anecdote of a Mussulmaun\n  lady.--Reflections on modern Hindoos.--Anecdotes of Shah ood Dowlah\n  and Meer Nizaam...Page 348\n\n\nLETTER XXV\n\n  Mussulmaun Devotees.--The Chillubdhaars.--Peculiar mode of\n  worship.--Propitiatory offerings.--Supposed to be invulnerable to\n  fire.--The Maadhaars or Duffelees.--Character of the\n  founder.--Pilgrimage to his tomb.--Females afflicted on visiting\n  it.--Effects attributed to the violation of the sanctuary by a\n  foreigner.--Superstition of the Natives.--Anecdote of Sheikh Suddoo\n  and the Genii.--The way of the world exemplified, a Khaunie\n  (Hindoostaunie fable).--Moral fable.--The King who longed for\n  fruit...Page 370\n\n\nLETTER XXVI\n\n  Superstition of the Natives.--Fair annually kept by Hindoos.--Supposed\n  practice of witchcraft by an old woman.--Assaulted by an infuriated\n  populace.--Rescued by a Native gentleman.--He inquires their reasons\n  for persecuting her.--Is instrumental in appeasing their\n  malignity.--Endeavours to remove their prejudice.--Proneness of\n  Asiatics to superstition.--Opinion of a Mussulmaun on the influence\n  of evil spirits.--Account of a woman possessed by an evil\n  spirit.--Dialogue with her during the paroxysms of her\n  affliction.--Means used for her recovery.--Further allusions to the\n  false notions of the Natives respecting supernatural agency...Page 387\n\n\nLETTER XXVII\n\n  Memoir of the life of Meer Hadjee Shah.--His descent.--Anecdote of a\n  youthful exploit.--His predilection for the army.--Leaves his home to\n  join the army of a neighbouring Rajah.--Adventures on the way.--Is\n  favourably received and fostered by the Rajah.--His first pilgrimage\n  to Mecca.--Occurrences during his stay in Arabia.--Description of a\n  tiger-hunt.--Detail of events during his subsequent pilgrimages.--The\n  plague.--Seizure by pirates.--Sketch of the life of Fatima, an\n  Arabian lady.--Relieved from slavery by Meer Hadjee Shah.--He marries\n  her.--Observations on the piety of his life.--Concluding\n  remarks...Page 400\n\n\nINDEX...Page 427\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTORY LETTER\n\n\nActuated by a sense of duty to the people with whom twelve years of my\nlife were passed on terms of intimacy and kindness, I was induced to write\nthe principal number of the following Letters as faithful sketches of the\nManners, Customs, and Habits of a people but little known to the European\nreader. They were at first designed merely for the perusal of private\nfriends; who, viewing them with interest, recommended my bringing them\nbefore the public, considering that the information they contained would\nbe acceptable from its originality, as presenting a more familiar view of\nthe opinions and the domestic habits of the Mussulmaun community of\nHindoostaun than any hitherto presented through other channels.\n\nI have found (and I believe many will coincide with me in the opinion)\nthat it is far easier to think with propriety than to write our thoughts\nwith perspicuity and correctness; but when the object in view is one which\nconscience dictates, the humblest effort of a female pen advances with\ncourage; and thus influenced, I venture to present my work to the public,\nrespectfully trusting they will extend their usual indulgence to a first\nattempt, from the pen of a very humble scribe, more solicitous for\napprobation than applause.\n\nThe orthography of Asiatic words may differ in some instances in my pages\nfrom those of other writers--this, however, is from error, not design, and\nmay be justly attributed to my own faulty pronunciation.\n\nI have inserted in these Letters many anecdotes and fables, which at the\nfirst view, may be considered as mere nursery tales. My object, however,\nwill I trust plead my excuse: they are introduced in order to illustrate\nthe people whom I have undertaken to describe; and, primarily strengthened\nby the moral tendency of each anecdote or fable selected for my pages, I\ncannot but consider them as well suited to the purpose.\n\nWithout farther apology, but with very great deference, I leave these\nimperfect attempts to the liberality of my readers, acknowledging with\ngratitude the condescending patronage I have been honoured with, and\nsincerely desiring wherever anticipations of amusement or information from\nmy observations have been formed, that the following pages may fulfil\nthose expectations, and thus gratify my wish to be in the smallest degree\nuseful in my generation.\n\n[B. MEER HASSAN ALI]\n\n\n\n\nOBSERVATIONS, ETC.\n\nLETTER I\n\n  Introductory Remarks.--The characteristic simplicity of manners\n  exhibited in Native families.--Their munificent charity.--The\n  Syaads.--Their descent, and the veneration paid to them.--Their pride\n  of birth.--Fast of Mahurrum.--Its origin.--The Sheahs and\n  Soonies.--Memorandum of distances.--Mount Judee (Judea), the\n  attributed burying-place of Adam and Noah.--Mausoleum of Ali.--The\n  tomb of Eve.--Meer Hadjee Shaah.\n\n\nI have promised to give you, my friends, occasional sketches of men and\nmanners, comprising the society of the Mussulmauns in India. Aware of the\ndifficulty of my task, I must entreat your kind indulgence to the\nweaknesses of a female pen, thus exercised for your amusement, during my\ntwelve years' domicile in their immediate society.\n\nEvery one who sojourns in India for any lengthened period, will, I believe,\nagree with me, that in order to promote health of body, the mind must be\nemployed in active pursuits. The constitutionally idle persons, of either\nsex, amongst Europeans, are invariably most subject to feel distressed by\nthe prevailing annoyances of an Indian climate: from a listless life\nresults discontent, apathy, and often disease. I have found, by experience,\nthe salutary effects of employing time, as regards, generally, healthiness\nof body and of mind. The hours devoted to this occupation (tracing remarks\nfor the perusal of far distant friends) have passed by without a murmur or\na sigh, at the height of the thermometer, or the length of a day during\nthe season of hot winds, or of that humid heat which prevails throughout\nthe periodical rains. Time flies quickly with useful employment in all\nplaces; in this exhausting climate every one has to seek amusement in\ntheir own resources, from sunrise to sunset, during which period there is\nno moving from home for, at least, eight months out of the twelve. I have\nnot found any occupation so pleasant as talking to my friends, on paper,\nupon such subjects as may admit of the transfer for their acceptance--and\nmay I not hope, for their gratification also?\n\nThe patriarchal manners are so often pictured to me, in many of the\nevery-day occurrences exhibited in the several families I have been most\nacquainted with in India, that I seem to have gone back to that ancient\nperiod with my new-sought home and new friends. Here I find the master and\nmistress of a family receiving the utmost veneration from their slaves and\ndomestics, whilst the latter are permitted to converse and give their\nopinions with a freedom (always respectful), that at the first view would\nlead a stranger to imagine there could be no great inequality of station\nbetween the persons conversing. The undeviating kindness to aged servants,\nno longer capable of rendering their accustomed services; the remarkable\nattention paid to the convenience and comfort of poor relatives, even to\nthe most remote in consanguinity; the beamings of universal charity; the\ntenderness of parents; and the implicit obedience of children, are a few\nof those amiable traits of character from whence my allusions are drawn,\nand I will add, by which my respect has been commanded. In their\nreverential homage towards parents, and in affectionate solicitude for the\nhappiness of those venerated authors of their existence, I consider them\nthe most praiseworthy people existing.\n\nOn the spirit of philanthropy exhibited in their general charity, I may\nhere remark, that they possess an injunction from their Lawgiver, 'to be\nuniversally charitable'.[1] This command is reverenced and obeyed by all\nwho are his faithful followers. They are persuaded that almsgiving\npropitiates the favour of Heaven, consequently this belief is the inducing\nmedium for clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, supporting the weak,\nconsoling the afflicted, protecting the fatherless, sheltering the\nhouseless traveller, and rendering the ear and the heart alive to the\ndistresses of the poor in all situations. A good Mussulmaun never allows\nthe voice to pass unheeded where the suppliant applies, 'In the name of\nGod', or 'For the love of God'.\n\nI have often been obliged to hear the Mussulmauns accused of an\nostentatious display of their frequent acts of charity. It may be so in\nsome instances; human nature has failings common to all complexions. Pride\nmay sometimes open the purse of the affluent to the poor man's petition;\nbut when the needy benefit by the rich, it is unjust to scrutinize the\nheart's motive, where the act itself alleviates the present sufferings of\na fellow-creature.\n\nImposition is doubtless often practised with success by the indolent, who\nexcite the good feelings of the wealthy by a tale of woe; the sin rests\nwith him who begs unworthily, not with him who relieves the supposed\ndistresses of his poorer neighbour. The very best of human beings will\nacknowledge they derive benefits from the bounty of their Maker, not\nbecause they are deserving, but that 'He is merciful'.\n\nI shall have occasion to detail in my Letters some of the Mussulmaun\nobservances, festivals, &c., which cannot be accomplished without feeding\nthe poor; and, in justice to their general character, be it acknowledged,\ntheir liberality is not confined to those stated periods.\n\nThe Syaads[2] (Meers[3]) are descendants from Mahumud, the acknowledged\nProphet and Lawgiver of the Mussulmauns; and, as might be expected, are\npeculiar objects of respect and favour amongst the true believers (as\nthose who hold their faith are designated). 'The poor Syaad's family' are\nthe first to be considered when the rich have determined on dispensing\ngifts in charity. The Syaads, however, are under peculiar restrictions as\nregards the nature of those gifts which they are permitted to accept.\nMoney obtained by unlawful means, as forbidden in the Khoraun[4] (usury\nfor instance[5]), is deemed polluted, and must neither be offered to, nor\naccepted by, these 'children of the Prophet'.\n\nThe Syaads are the Lords of Mussulmaun society, and every female born to\nthem is a Lady (Begum[6]). Heralds' offices they have none, but genealogy\nis strictly kept in each Mussulmaun family, who can boast the high\nprivilege of bearing the Prophet's blood in their veins. The children of\nboth sexes are taught, from the time of their first speaking intelligibly,\nto recount their pedigree, up to Hasan, or Hosein, the two sons of Ali, by\nhis cousin Fatima, the daughter of their Prophet: this forms a striking\npart of their daily education, whilst they continue in their mother's\nzeenahnah[7] (lady's apartment); and, from the frequent repetition, is so\nfirmly fixed in the memory, that they have no difficulty in tracing their\npedigree whenever called upon to do so, unaided by the manuscript\ngenealogy kept with care in the parental treasury.\n\nThis method of retaining lineage is not always a check against impostors;\nmany have taken upon themselves the honourable distinction of the Syaad,\nwithout having the slightest claim to the title; but when the cheat is\ndiscovered such persons are disgraced, and become aliens to the\nrespectable. So many advantages are enjoyed by Syaads, that it is not\nsurprising there should be some, which have no right, anxious to be\nnumbered with those who are truly the Mussulmaun lords; though such men\nare taught to believe that, by the usurpation, they shut themselves out\nfrom the advantages of their Prophet's intercession at the great day of\njudgment.\n\nThe Syaads are very tenacious in retaining the purity of their race\nunsullied, particularly with respect to their daughters; a conscientious\nSyaad regards birth before wealth in negotiations for marriage: many a\npoor lady, in consequence of this prejudice, lives out her numbered days\nin single blessedness, although--to their honour be it told--many\ncharitably disposed amongst the rich men of the country have, within my\nrecollection of Indian society, granted from their abundance sufficient\nsums to defray the expenses of a union, and given the marriage portion,\nunsolicited, to the daughters of the poorer members of this venerated race.\nA Syaad rarely speaks of his pecuniary distresses, but is most grateful\nwhen relieved.\n\nI am intimately acquainted with a family in which this pride of birth\npredominates over every advantage of interest. There are three unmarried\ndaughters, remarkable for their industrious habits, morality, and strict\nobservance of their religious duties; they are handsome, well-formed women,\npolite and sensible, and to all this they add an accomplishment which is\nnot by any means general amongst the females of Hindoostaun, they have\nbeen taught by their excellent father to read the Khoraun in Arabic--it is\nnot allowed to be translated,[8]--and the Commentary in Persian. The fame\nof their superiority has brought many applications from the heads of\nfamilies possessing wealth, and desirous to secure for their sons wives so\neminently endowed, who would waive all considerations of the marriage\ndowry, for the sake of the Begum who might thus adorn their untitled house.\nAll these offers, however, have been promptly rejected, and the young\nladies themselves are satisfied in procuring a scanty subsistence by the\nlabour of their hands. I have known them to be employed in working the\njaullie[9] (netting) for courties[10] (a part of the female dress), which,\nafter six days' close application, at the utmost could not realize three\nshillings each; yet I never saw them other than contented, happy, and\ncheerful,--a family of love, and patterns of sincere piety.\n\nThe titles and distinctions conferred by sovereigns, or the Hon. East\nIndia Company in India, as Khaun,[11] Bahadhoor,[12] Nuwaub,[13] &c., are\nnot actually hereditary honours, though often presumed on, and indulged in,\nby successors. The Syaads, on the contrary, are the Meers and Begums\n(nobility) throughout their generations to the end of time, or at any rate,\nwith the continuance of the Mussulmaun religion.\n\nHaving thus far explained the honourable distinction of the Syaads, I\npropose giving you some account of the Mahurrum,[14] a celebrated mourning\nfestival in remembrance of their first martyrs, and which occupies the\nattention of the Mussulmauns annually to a degree of zeal that has always\nattracted the surprise of our countrymen in India; some of whom, I trust,\nwill not be dissatisfied with the observations of an individual, who\nhaving spent many years of her life with those who are chief actors in\nthese scenes, it may be expected, is the better able to explain the nature\nof that Mahurrum which they see commemorated every year, yet many, perhaps,\nwithout comprehending exactly why. Those strong expressions of grief--the\nsombre cast of countenance,--the mourning garb,--the self-inflicted\nabstinence, submitted to by the Mussulmaun population, during the ten days\nset apart for the fulfilment of the mourning festival, all must have\nwitnessed who have been in Hindoostaun for any period.\n\nI must first endeavour to represent the principal causes for the observance\nof Mahurrum; and for the information of those who have witnessed its\ncelebration, as well as for the benefit of others who have not had the same\nopportunity, describe the manner of celebrating the event, which occurred\nmore than twelve hundred years ago.\n\nHasan and Hosein were the two sons of Fatima and Ali, from whom the whole\nSyaad race have generated; Hasan was poisoned by an emissary of the\nusurping Calipha's;[15] and Hosein, the last sad victim of the family to\nthe King Yuzeed's[16] fury, suffered a cruel death, after the most severe\ntrials, on the plains of Kraabaallah,[17] on the tenth day of the Arabian\nmonth Mahurrum; the anniversary of which catastrophe is solemnized with\nthe most devoted zeal.\n\nThis brief sketch constitutes the origin of the festival; but I deem it\nnecessary to detail at some length the history of that period, which may\nthe better explain the motives assigned by the Mussulmauns, for the deep\ngrief exhibited every year, as the anniversary of Mahurrum returns to\nthese faithful followers of their martyred leaders, Hasan and Hosein, who,\nwith their devoted families, suffered innocently by the hands of the\nguilty.\n\nYuzeed, the King of Shawm,[18] it appears, was the person in power,\namongst the followers of Mahumud, at that early period of Mussulmaun\nhistory. Of the Soonie sect,[19] his hatred to the descendants of Mahumud\nwas of the most inveterate kind; jealousy, it is supposed, aided by a very\nwicked heart, led him to desire the extirpation of the whole race,\nparticularly as he knew that, generally, the Mussulmaun people secretly\ndesired the immediate descendants of their Prophet to be their rulers.\nThey were, however, intimidated by Yuzeed's authority; whilst he, ever\nfearing the possibility of the Syaads' restoration to their rights,\nresolved, if possible, on sacrificing the whole family, to secure himself\nin his illegal power.\n\nAli had been treacherously murdered through the contrivances of the\nusurping Calipha; after his death, the whole family removed from Shawm,\nthe capital, to Medina, where they lived some years in tranquillity,\nmaking many converts to their faith, and exercising themselves in the\nservice of God and virtuous living. Unostentatious in their habits and\nmanners, they enjoyed the affection of their neighbours, their own good\nname increasing daily, to the utter dismay of their subtle enemy.\n\nIn the course of time, the devout people of Shawm, being heartily tired of\nYuzeed's tyrannical rule, and fearing the true faith would be defamed by\nthe excesses and abuses of power committed by him, they were desirous of\ncalling to their aid a leader from the Prophet's family, who would secure,\nin its original purity, the performance of that religion which Mahumud had\ntaught. Some thousands of respectable Mussulmauns, it is related, signed a\npetition to Hosein, requesting his immediate presence at Shawm, in order,\nas the petition stated, 'that the religion his grandsire taught might be\nsupported and promoted'; and declaring 'the voluptuousness and infamy of\nYuzeed's life to be so offensive and glaring, that the true faith was\nendangered by his vicious examples'; and entreating him to accept his\nlawful rights as 'Emaum'[20] (Leader of the Faithful).\n\nHosein received the petition, but declined accepting the proposed\nrestitution of his family's rights at that time; yet he held out hopes in\nhis reply, that he might eventually listen to their entreaties, should he\nbe convinced his presence was essential to their welfare; and, as a\nprelude to this, he sent his cousin Moslem,[21] on whom he could rely, to\nmake personal observation of the real state of things at Shawm; expecting\nto learn, from his matured knowledge, the real causes of complaint, and\nthe wishes of the people, and by whose report he would be guided, as to\nhis final acceptance or rejection of the proposed measure for his becoming\ntheir leader.\n\nMoslem, accompanied by his two sons, mere youths, left Medina on this\nimportant mission, and having accomplished the tedious march without\naccident or interruption, he delivered Hosein's letters to those persons\nof consequence in Shawm, who were at the head of the party petitioning his\nappearance there, and who proffered their influence and support for the\nrecovery of the rights and privileges so long withheld from the\ndescendants of Mahumud.\n\nMoslem was kindly greeted by them, and multitudes flocked to his quarters,\ndeclaring Hosein the lawful leader of true Mussulmauns. Elated with these\nflattering indications, he too promptly despatched his messengers to\nHosein, urging his immediate return to Shawm.\n\nIn the mean time, and long before the messengers could reach Medina,\nYuzeed, learning the state of things in the capital, was seriously alarmed\nand greatly enraged; he issued orders for the seizure of Moslem and his\nchildren, and desiring to have them brought to his presence, offered\nimmense sums of money for their capture. The friends of Moslem, however,\nsucceeded, for a time, in secreting his person from King Yuzeed's\nemissaries, trusting the darkness of night would enable him to escape. But\nthe slaves and dependants of the tyrant being despatched into all quarters\nof the city, Moslem's retreat was eventually discovered; and, through the\ninfluence of a purse of gold, his person was given up to the King's\npartizans.\n\nThe unfortunate agent of Hosein had confided the charge of his two sons to\nthe Kauzy[22] of the city, when the first report reached him of the tyrant\nYuzeed's fury. This faithful Kauzy, as the night advanced, intended to get\nthe poor boys conveyed to the halting place of a Kaarawaun,[23] which he\nknew was but a few miles off, on their route for Medina. The guide, to\nwhom the youths were intrusted, either by design or mistake, took the\nwrong road; and, after wandering through the dreary night, and suffering\nmany severe trials, they were taken prisoners by the cruel husband of a\nvery amiable female, who had compassionately, at first, given them shelter\nas weary travellers only; but, on discovering whose children they were,\nshe had secreted them in her house. Her husband, however, having\ndiscovered the place of their concealment, and identified them as the sons\nof Moslem, cruelly murdered the innocent boys for the sake of the reward\noffered for their heads. In his fury and thirst for gold, this wicked\nhusband of the kind-hearted woman spared not his own wife and son, who\nstrove by their united efforts, alternately pleading and resisting, to\nsave the poor boys from his barbarous hands.\n\nThis tragic event is conveyed into pathetic verse, and as often as it is\nrepeated in the families of the Mussulmauns, tears of fresh sympathy are\nevinced, and bewailings renewed. This forms the subject for one day's\ncelebration during Mahurrum; the boys are described to have been most\nbeautiful in person, and amiable in disposition.\n\nAfter enduring ignominy and torture, and without even being brought to\ntrial, Moslem was cast from a precipice, by Yuzeed's orders, and his life\nspeedily terminated, to glut the vengeance of the tyrant King.\n\nAs the disastrous conclusion of Moslem's mission had not reached the ear\nof Hosein, he, elated with the favourable reception of his cousin, and the\nprospect of being received at Shawm in peace and good will, had without\ndelay commenced his journey, accompanied by the females of his family, his\nrelations, and a few steady friends who had long devoted themselves to his\nperson and cause. The written documents of that remarkable period notice,\nthat the whole party of Hosein, travelling from Medina towards Shawm,\nconsisted only of seventy-two souls: Hosein having no intention to force\nhis way to the post of leader, had not deemed it necessary to set out with\nan army to aid him, which he undoubtedly might have commanded by his\ninfluence with the people professing 'the Faith'.\n\nYuzeed, in the mean time, having by his power destroyed Moslem and the two\nyouths his sons, and receiving positive intelligence that Hosein had\nquitted Medina to march for Shawm, as his fears suggested, with an army of\nsome magnitude, he ordered out an immense force to meet Hosein on the way,\nsetting a price on his head, and proclaiming promises of honours and\nrewards, of the most tempting nature, to the fortunate man who should\nsucceed in the arduous enterprise.\n\nThe first detachment of the Shawmies (as they are designated in the\nmanuscript of Arabia), under a resolute chief named Hurrh,[24] fell in\nwith Hosein's camp, one day's march beyond the far-famed ground, amongst\nMussulmauns, of Kraabaallah, or Hurth Maaree,[25] as it was originally\ncalled.\n\nHurrh's heart was subdued when he entered the tent of the peaceable Hosein,\nin whose person he discovered the exact resemblance of the Prophet; and\nperceiving that his small camp indicated a quiet family party journeying\non their way, instead of the formidable force Yuzeed's fears had\nanticipated, this chief was surprised and confounded, confessed his shame\nto Hosein that he had been induced to accept the command of the force\ndespatched against the children of the Prophet, and urged, in mitigation\nof his offences, that he had long been in Yuzeed's service, whose\ncommission he still bore; but his heart now yearning to aid, rather than\npersecute the Prophet's family, he resolved on giving them an opportunity\nto escape the threatened vengeance of their bitterest enemy. With this\nview, he advised Hosein to fall with his party into the rear of his force,\nuntil the main body of the Shawmies had passed by; and as they were then\non the margin of a forest, there to separate and secrete themselves till\nthe road was again clear, and afterwards to take a different route from\nthe proposed one to Shawm.\n\nHosein felt, as may be supposed, grateful to his preserver; and, following\nhis directions, succeeded in reaching the confines of Kraabaallah\nunmolested.\n\nThe ancient writings of Arabia say, Mahumud had predicted the death of\nHosein, by the hands of men professing to be of 'the true faith', at this\nvery place Kraabaallah, or Hurth Maaree.\n\nHosein and his family having concluded their morning devotions, he first\ninquired and learned the name of the place on which their tents were\npitched, and then imparted the subject of his last night's dream, 'that\nhis grandsire had appeared to him, and pronounced that his soul would be\nat peace with him ere that day closed'. Again he fell on his knees in\ndevout prayer, from which he rose only to observe the first warnings of an\napproaching army, by the thick clouds of dust which darkened the horizon;\nand before the evening closed upon the scene, Hosein, with every male of\nhis small party capable of bearing arms, had been hurried to their final\nrest. One son of Hosein's, insensible from fever at the time, was spared\nfrom the sacrifice, and, with the females and young children, taken\nprisoners to the King's palace at Shawm.\n\nThe account given by historians of this awful battle, describes the\ncourage and intrepidity of Hosein's small band, in glowing terms of praise;\nhaving fought singly, and by their desperate bravery 'each arm (they say)\nlevelled his hundreds with their kindred dust ere his own gave way to the\nsway of death'.\n\nAmongst the number of Hosein's brave defenders was a nephew, the son of\nHasan: this young man, named Cossum,[26] was the affianced husband of\nHosein's favourite daughter, Sakeena Koobraah;[27] and previous to his\ngoing to the combat on that eventful day, Hosein read the marriage lines\nbetween the young couple, in the tent of the females. I mention this here,\nas it points to one particular part of the celebration of Mahurrum, which\nI shall have occasion to mention in due order, wherein all the outward\nforms of the wedding ceremony are strictly performed, annually.\n\nDuring the whole of this terrible day, at Kraabaallah, the family party of\nHosein had been entirely deprived of water; and the river Fraught[28]\n(Euphrates) being blockaded by their enemies, they suffered exceedingly\nfrom thirst. The handsome Abass,[29] another nephew of Hosein, and his\nstandard-bearer, made many efforts to procure water for the relief of the\nalmost famishing females; he had, at one attempt, succeeded in filling the\nmushukh,[30] when, retreating from the river, he was discovered by the\nenemy, was pursued and severely wounded, the mushukh pierced by arrows,\nand the water entirely lost ere he could reach the camp.\n\nIn remembrance of this privation of the sufferers at Kraabaallah, every\ngood Mussulmaun, at Mahurrum, distributes sherbet in abundance, to all\npersons who choose to accept this their favourite beverage (sugar and\nwater, with a little rosewater, or kurah,[31] to flavour it); and some\ncharitable females expend large sums in milk, to be distributed in the\npublic streets; for these purposes, there are neat little huts of\nsirrakee[32] (a reed, or grass, resembling bright straw) erected by the\nroad side of the Mussulmauns' houses; they are called saabeels,[33] where\nthe red earthen cups of milk, sherbet, or pure water are seen ranged in\nrows, for all who choose to call for drink.\n\nHosein, say their historians, was the last of the party who suffered on\nthe day of battle; he was surrounded in his own camp--where, by the usage\nof war, at that time, they had no right to enter--and when there was not\none friendly arm left to ward the blow. They relate 'that his body was\nliterally mangled, before he was released from his unmerited sufferings'.\nHe had mounted his favourite horse, which, as well as himself, was pierced\nby arrows innumerable; together they sank on the earth from loss of blood,\nthe cowardly spearmen piercing his wounded body as if in sport; and whilst,\nwith his last breath, 'Hosein prayed for mercy on his destroyers,\nShimeear[34] ended his sufferings by severing the already prostrate head\nfrom the mutilated trunk'.--'Thus they sealed (say those writers) the\nlasting disgrace of a people, who, calling themselves Mussulmauns, were\nthe murderers of their Prophet's descendants.'\n\nThis slight sketch gives but the outline of those events which are every\nyear commemorated amongst the zealous followers of Ali, the class\ndenominated Sheahs.\n\nThe Mussulmaun people, I must here observe, are divided into two distinct\nsects, viz. the Sheahs and the Soonies. The former believe Ali and his\ndescendants were the lawful leaders after Mahumud; the latter are\npersuaded that the Caliphas, as Aboubuker, Omir, &c., were the leaders to\nbe accredited 'lawful'; but of this I shall speak more fully in another\nLetter.\n\nPerhaps the violence of party spirit may have acted as an inducement to\nthe Sheahs, for the zealous annual observance of this period, so\ninteresting to that sect; whatever the motive, we very often find the two\nsects hoard up their private animosities and dislikes until the return of\nMahurrum, which scarcely ever passes over, in any extensively populated\ncity of Hindoostaun, without a serious quarrel, often terminating in\nbloodshed.[35]\n\nI could have given a more lengthened account of the events which led to\nthe solemnization of this fast, but I believe the present is sufficient to\nexplain the motives by which the Mussulmauns are actuated, and my next\nLetter must be devoted to the description of the rites performed upon the\ncelebration of these events in India.\n\nP.S. I have a memorandum in my collection which may here be copied as its\nproper place.\n\nFrom Mecca, 'The Holy City', to Medina the distance is twelve stages (a\nday's march is one stage, about twenty miles of English measurement). From\nMedina to Kraabaallah there are twenty-one stages; this distance is\ntravelled only by those who can endure great difficulties; neither water\nnor provisions are to be met with on the whole journey, excepting at one\nhalt, the name of which is Shimmaar. From Kraabaallah to Koofah is two\nstages.\n\nIn the vicinity of Koofah[36] stands Mount Judee[37] (Judea), on which is\nbuilt, over the remains of Ali, the mausoleum called Nudghiff Usheruff.[38]\nOn this Mount, it is said, Adam and Noah were buried. Ali being aware of\nthis, gave directions to his family and friends, that whenever his soul\nshould be recalled from earth, his mortal remains were to be deposited\nnear those graves venerated and held sacred 'by the faithful'. The ancient\nwriters of Arabia authorise the opinion that Ali's body was entombed by\nthe hands of his sons, Hasan and Hosein, who found the earth open to\nreceive their sire, and which closed immediately on his remains being\ndeposited.\n\nHere, too, it is believed Noah's ark rested after the Deluge. When\npilgrims to Mecca make their zeearut[39] (all sacred visits are so called)\nto this Mount, they offer three prayers, in memory of Adam, Noah, and All.\n\nThe grave of Eve is also frequently visited by pilgrims, which is said to\nbe situated near Jeddah; this, however, is not considered an indispensable\nduty, but, as they say, prompted by 'respect for the Mother of men'.[40]\n\nThese remarks, and many others of an interesting nature, I have been\nfavoured with from the most venerable aged man I ever knew, Meer Hadjee\nShaah,[41] the revered father of my excellent husband; who having\nperformed the Hadje[42] (pilgrimage) three several times, at different\nperiods of his eventful life--returning after each pilgrimage to his home\nin Lucknow--and being a person of strict veracity, with a remarkably\nintelligent mind and retentive memory, I have profited largely by his\ninformation, and derived from it both amusement and instruction, through\nmany years of social intercourse. When he had numbered more than eighty\nyears he dwelt with hope on again performing the Hadje, where it was his\nintention to rest his earthly substance until the great day of restitution,\nand often expressed his wishes to have me and mine to share with him the\npilgrimage he desired to make. But this was not allowed to his prayer; his\nsummons arrived rather unexpectedly to those who loved and revered him for\nvirtues rarely equalled; happily for him, his pure soul was prepared to\nmeet his Creator, in whose service he had passed this life, with all\nhumility, and in whose mercy alone his hopes for the future were centred.\n\n\n[1] 'Whatsoever alms ye shall give, of a truth God knoweth it.... Give ye\n    your alms openly? it is well. Do ye conceal them and give them to the\n    poor? This, too, will be of advantage to you, and will do away your\n    sins: and God is cognizant of your actions' (_Koran_, ii. 274-5).\n\n[2] _Sayyid_, 'lord', 'chief, the class of Musalmans who claim descent\n    from Fatimah, daughter of the Prophet, and 'Ali, his\n    cousin-german and adopted son; they are divided into two branches\n    descended from Hasan and Husain, sons of 'Ali and Fatimah.\n\n[3] _Mir_, a contraction of _Amir_, 'lord'.\n\n[4] _Koran, Qur'an_.\n\n[5] 'They who swallow down usury shall arise in the resurrection only as\n    he ariseth whom Satan hath infected by his touch' (_Koran_, ii.\n    276). But this is rather theory than practice, and many ingenious\n    methods are adopted to avoid the prohibition.\n\n[6] _Begam_, feminine of _Beg_, 'lord', used to denote a Sayyid lady, like\n    Khanam among Pathans.\n\n[7] Here, as elsewhere, _zenanah, zananah_, Persian _zan_, 'woman'.\n\n[8] This is incorrect. The Koran has been translated into various\n    languages, but the translation is always interlineary with the\n    original text. In Central Asia the Musalman conquerors allowed the\n    Koran to be recited in Persian, instead of Arabic, in order that it\n    might be intelligible to all (Arnold, _The Preaching of Islam_, 183).\n\n[9] _Jali_.\n\n[10] _Kurti_, a loose, long-sleeved jacket of muslin or net, among rich\n    women embroidered on the neck and shoulders with gold, and draped down\n    to the ankles in full, loose folds. It is made of red or other\n    light-coloured fabrics for girls and married women; dark blue, bronze,\n    or white for old ladies; bronze or black for widows.\n\n[11] _Khan_, 'lord', 'prince', specially applied to persons of Mughal\n    or Pathan descent.\n\n[12] _Bahadur_, 'champion', a Mongol term; see Yule,\n     _Hobson-Jobson_[2], 48 ff.\n\n[13] _Nawab_, 'a deputy, delegate': the Anglo-Indian Nabob (ibid.,\n    610 ff.).\n\n[14] _Muharram_, 'that which is forbidden', the first month of the\n    Musalman year, the first ten days of which are occupied with this\n    mourning festival.\n\n[15] By his wife Ja'dah, who was suborned to commit the deed by Yazid.\n\n[16] Yazid, son of Mu'awiyah, the second Caliph of the house of\n    Umaiyah, who reigned from A.D. 679 to 683. Gibbon (_Decline and Fall_,\n    ed. W. Smith, vi. 278) calls him 'a feeble and dissolute youth'.\n\n[17] Kerbala, Karbala, a city of Iraq, 50 miles south-west of Baghdad,\n    and about 6 miles from the Euphrates.\n\n[18] Syria.\n\n[19] _Sunni_, Ahlu's-Sunnah, 'one of the Path', a traditionalist. The\n    Sunnis accept the first four Caliphs, Abu Bakr, 'Umar, 'Usman,\n    'Ali, as the rightful successors of Muhammad, and follow the six\n    authentic books of the traditions. The Shi'ahs, 'followers' of\n    'Ali, maintain that he was the first legitimate Imam or Caliph,\n    i.e. successor of the Prophet. For a full account of the martyrdom of\n    Husain see Simon Ockley, _History of the Saracens_ (1848), 287 ff.;\n    Sir L. Pelly, _The Miracle Play of Hasan and Husain_ (1879), Preface,\n    v ff.\n\n[20] _Imam._\n\n[21] Muslim.\n\n[22] _Qazi_, a Muhammadan law officer.\n\n[23] _Karwan_, a caravan.\n\n[24] al-Hurr.\n\n[25] This term is obscure. Jaffur Shurreef (_Qanoon-e-Islam_, 107) says\n    the plain of the martyrdom was called 'Mareea'. For 'Hurth' Prof. E.G.\n    Browne suggests _hirth_, 'a ploughed field', or _ard_, 'land'. Sir C.\n    Lyall suggests Al-hirah, the old Arabian capital which stood near\n    the site of the later Kufah.\n\n[26] Qasim.\n\n[27] Sakinah, Hebrew Shechinah; Koobraah, _Kibriya_, 'noble'.\n\n[28] The Euphrates is called in Sumerian _pura-num_, 'Great water', whence\n    Purat, Purattu in Semitic Babylonian; Perath in Hebrew; Frat or\n    Furat in Arabic.\n\n[29] 'Abbas, son of 'Ali.\n\n[30] _Mashk_, _Mashak_, the Anglo-Indian Mussuck, a leathern skin for\n    conveying water, in general use amongst Musalmans at this day in\n    India; it is composed of the entire skin of a goat, properly prepared.\n    When filled with water it resembles a huge porpoise, on the back of\n    the beeshtie [Bhishti] (water-carrier). [_Author._]\n\n[31] _Kora_, the fresh juice of _Aloe vera_, said to be cathartic and\n    cooling.\n\n[32] _Sirki_ (_Saccharum ciliare_).\n\n[33] _Sabil_: see Burton, _Pilgrimage_, Memorial ed., i. 286.\n\n[34] Shimar, whose name now means 'contemptible' among Shi'ahs.\n\n[35] This statement is too wide. 'Among Muhammadans themselves there is\n    very little religious discussion, and Sunnis and Shi'ahs, who\n    are at such deadly feud in many parts of Asia, including the Punjab\n    and Kashmir, have, in Oudh, always freely intermarried' (H.C. Irwin,\n    _The Garden of India_, 45).\n\n[36] Kufah, four miles from Najaf, the capital of the Caliph 'Ali,\n    which fell into decay when the government was removed to Baghdad.\n\n[37] Confused with Al-judi, Mt. Ararat, on which the Ark\n    rested.--_Koran_, xi. 46.\n\n[38] Najaf al Sharif, or Mashhad 'Ali, 50 miles south of Karbala,\n    the tomb and shrine of 'Ali.\n\n[39] _Ziyarat_, 'visitation', especially to the tomb of the Prophet or\n    that of a Muhammadan saint. The pilgrim says, not 'I have visited the\n    Prophet's tomb', but 'I have visited the Prophet'. (Burton,\n    _Pilgrimage_, i. 305.)\n\n[40] The grave is said to be nine yards long: according to others, much\n    longer. See the flippant remark of Burton, ibid., ii. 273 ff.\n\n[41] Mir Haji Shah.\n\n[42] _Hajj_, 'setting out'.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER II\n\n  Celebration of Mahurrum.--The Tazia.--Mussulmaun Cemeteries.--An\n  Emaum-baarah.--Piety of the ladies.--Self-inflicted abstinence and\n  privations endured by each sex.--Instances of the devotional zeal of\n  the Mussulmauns.--Attempted infringement on their religious\n  formalities.--The Resident at Lucknow.--Enthusiastic ardour of the\n  poor.--Manner of celebrating the Mahurrum in opposition to the\n  precepts of the Khoraun.--Mosque and Emaum-baarah contrasted.--The\n  supposition of Mussulmauns practising idolatry confuted.\n\n\nMy former Letter prepares you for the celebration of Mahurrum, the\nobservance of which is at this time going forward here (at Lucknow) with\nall that zealous emulative spirit and enthusiasm which I have before\nremarked the Mussulmaun population of India entertain for their Emaums\n(leaders), and their religion.\n\nThis annual solemn display of the regret and veneration they consider due\nto the memory of departed excellence, commences on the first day of the\nMoon (Mahurrum). The Mussulmaun year has twelve moons; every third year\none moon is added, which regulation, I fancy, renders their years, in a\nchronological point of view, very nearly equal with those of Europe. Their\nday commences and ends when the stars are first visible after sunset.\n\nThe first day of Mahurrum invariably brings to my recollection the\nstrongly impressed ideas of 'The Deserted Village'. The profound quiet and\nsolemn stillness of an extensively populated native city, contrasted with\nthe incessant bustle usual at all other times, are too striking to\nEuropeans to pass by unheeded. This cessation of the animated scene,\nhowever, is not of long duration; the second day presents to the view vast\nmultitudes of people parading backwards and forwards, on horseback, in\npalkies, and on foot, through the broad streets and roadways, arrayed in\ntheir several mourning garbs, speeding their way to the Emaum-baarahs[1]\nof the great men, and the houses of friends, to pay the visit of respect\n(zeearut), wherever a Tazia is set up to the remembrance of Hasan and\nHosein.\n\nThe word Tazia[2] signifies grief. The term is applied to a representation\nof the mausoleum at Kraabaallah, erected by their friends and followers,\nover the remains of Hasan and Hosein. It is formed of every variety of\nmaterial, according to the wealth, rank, or preference, of the person\nexhibiting, from the purest silver down to bamboo and paper, strict\nattention being always paid to preserve the model of Kraabaallah, in the\nexact pattern with the original building. Some people have them of ivory,\nebony, sandal-wood, cedar, &c., and I have seen some beautifully wrought\nin silver filigree. The handsomest of the kind, to my taste, is in the\npossession of his Majesty the King of Oude, composed of green glass, with\nbrass mouldings, manufactured in England (by whom I could not learn). All\nthese expensive Tazias are fixtures, but there are temporary ones required\nfor the out-door ceremony, which, like those available to the poor and\nmiddling classes, are composed of bamboo frames, over which is fixed\ncoloured uberuck[3] (lapis specularum, or tulk); these are made in the\nbazaar, of various sizes and qualities, to suit the views of purchasers,\nfrom two rupees to two hundred each.\n\nThe more common Tazias are conveyed in the procession on the tenth day,\nand finally deposited with funeral rites in the public burial-grounds, of\nwhich there are several outside the town. These cemeteries are denominated\nKraabaallah,[4] and the population of a large city may be presumed on by\nthe number of these dispersed in the suburbs. They do not bury their dead\nin the vicinity of a mosque, which is held too sacred to be allowed the\npollution. Any one having only touched a dead body, must bathe prior to\nentering the mosque, or performing their usual prayer-service at\nhome;--such is the veneration they entertain for the name of God.\n\nThe opulent people of Mussulmaun society have an Emaum-baarah erected in\nthe range of buildings exclusively denominated murdanah[5] (men's abode).\nThe habitation of all Mussulmauns being composed of separate departments\nfor the males and the females, communicating by private entrances, as will\nbe explained hereafter.\n\nThe Emaum-baarah is a sacred place, erected for the express purpose of\ncommemorating Mahurrum; the founder not unfrequently intends this also as\nthe mausoleum for himself and family. But we generally find Mukhburrahs[6]\n(mausoleums) built in conspicuous situations, for the remains of kings,\nprinces, nobles, and sainted persons. Of the latter, many are visited, at\nstated periods, by the multitude, with religious veneration, the\nilliterate attaching considerable importance to the annual pilgrimage to\nthem; and where--to secure the influence of the particular saint's spirit,\nin furthering their views--mothers present their children, in numbers\nbeyond all calculation; and each having something to hope for who visits\nthe shrine, presents offerings of money and sweetmeats, which become the\nproperty of the person in charge of the tomb, thus yielding him a\nprofitable sinecure, in proportion as the saint is popular amongst the\nignorant.\n\nAn Emaum-baarah is a square building, generally erected with a cupola top,\nthe dimensions guided by the circumstances of the founder. The floor is\nmatted with the date-leaf mats, in common use in India, on which is spread\na shutteringhie[7] (cotton carpet), and over this a clean white calico\ncovering, on which the assembled party are seated, during the several\nperiods of collecting together to remember their leaders: these meetings\nare termed Mudgelluss[8] (mourning assemblies). It would be esteemed\nindecorous or disrespectful to the Emaums, if any one in error called\nthese assemblies Moollakhaut,[9] the usual term for mere worldly visiting.\n\nThe Tazia is placed against the wall on the side facing Mecca, under a\ncanopy of rich embroidery. A reading-desk or pulpit (mhembur[10]) is\nplaced in a convenient situation, for the reader to face Mecca, and his\nvoice to be heard by the whole assembly of people; it is constructed of\nsilver, ivory, ebony, &c. to correspond with the Tazia, if possible: the\nsteps are covered sometimes with gold-cloth, or broad-cloth of black, or\ngreen,[11] if a Syaad's property, being the colour worn by that race for\nmourning. The shape of a mhembur is a flight of steps with a flat top,\nwithout any railing or enclosed place; the reader, in his recitings,\noccasionally sitting on the steps, or standing, as may be most convenient\nto himself.\n\nOn the walls of the Emaum-baarah, mirrors and looking-glasses are fixed in\nsuitable situations to give effect to the brilliant display of light, from\nthe magnificent chandeliers suspended from the cupola and cornices. The\nnobles and the wealthy are excited with a desire to emulate each other in\nthe splendour of their display on these occasions;--all the mirrors, glass,\nlustres, chandeliers, &c. are brought together to this place, from their\nseveral stations in the mansion; and it is due to them to admit the effect\nto be often imposingly grand, and the blaze of light splendid. I have\nfrequently been reminded in these scenes of the visionary castles conjured\nto the imagination, whilst reading 'The Arabian Nights' Entertainments'.\n\nOn each side the Tazia--the whole length of the wall--banners are ranged,\nin great variety of colour and fabric; some of them are costly and\nsplendid. I have seen many constructed of the richest embroidery, on silk\ngrounds, of gold and silver, with massy gold fringes, cords, and tassels;\nthe staff is cased with gold or silver, worked into figures of birds and\nother animals, in every variety; the top of which has a crest, in some a\nspread hand,[12] in others a sort of plume, and not unfrequently a crest\nresembling a grenade, formed of the precious metals, and set with stones\nof great value.\n\nOn the base of the Tazia the several articles are placed conceived likely\nto have been used by Hosein at Kraabaallah; a turban of gold or silver\ntissue, a splendid sword and belt, the handle and hilt set with precious\nstones, a shield, the Arabian bow and arrows. These ancient emblems of\nroyalty are indispensable in order to do honour to Hosein, in the view\nthey take of his sovereign right to be the head or leader of the true\nMussulmauns. Wax lights, red and green, are also placed in great numbers\nabout its base, in silver or glass candlesticks; and censers of gold and\nsilver, burning incense perpetually during Mahurrum. Many other minor\ntributes to the Emaums are discovered near the Tazia, as choice fruits and\ngarlands of sweet-scented flowers, the offerings of ladies of the family\nto their relative's Tazia.\n\nAmongst the poorer classes of the people an equal proportion of zealous\nspirit is evinced; and according to their several abilities, so they\ncommemorate the period, interesting alike to all. Those who cannot compass\nthe real splendour of an Emaum-baarah, are satisfied with an imitative one\nin the best hall their habitation affords; and, where mirrors and\nchandeliers are not available, they are content to do honour to the Emaums\nwith lamps of uberuck, which in truth are pleasing substitutes at a small\nprice: these lamps are made in a variety of pretty shapes, curiously\npainted, and ingeniously ornamented with cut paper; they burn oil in them,\nand, when well arranged, and diversified with their wonted taste, produce\na good light, and pleasing effect.\n\nThe banners of Hosein, in the houses of the poor, are formed of materials\naccording to their humble means, from tinsel imitations down to dyed\nmuslin; and a similar difference is to be perceived in their selection of\nthe metal of which their crests are made.\n\nMourning assemblies are held in the Emaum-baarahs twice every day during\nMahurrum; those of the evening, however, are the most attractive, and have\nthe fullest attendance of visitors. The master of the house, at the\nappointed hour, takes his seat on the floor near the pulpit, surrounded by\nthe males of his family and intimate friends, and the crowd of strangers\narrange themselves--wherever there is sitting room--without impeding the\nview of the Tazia.\n\nOne of the most popular Maulvees[13] of the age is engaged to recite the\nparticular portion appointed for each day, from the manuscript documents,\ncalled Dhie Mudgelluss,[14] in the Persian language. This work is in ten\nparts and contains a subject for each day's service, descriptive of the\nlife and sufferings of the Emaums, their friends, and children,\nparticularly as regards the eventful period of Mahurrum in which they were\nengaged. It is, I am assured, a pathetic, fine composition, and a faithful\nnarrative of each particular circumstance in the history of their leaders,\nthe heroic bravery of their friends, &c. They are particularly anxious to\nengage an eloquent reader for this part of the performance, who by his\nimpressive manner compels his hearers to sympathise in the affecting\nincidents which are recited by him.\n\nI have been present when the effect produced by the superior oratory and\ngestures of a Maulvee has almost terrified me, the profound grief, evinced\nin his tears and groans, being piercing and apparently sincere. I have\neven witnessed blood issuing from the breast of sturdy men, who beat\nthemselves simultaneously as they ejaculated the names 'Hasan!'\n'Hosein!'[15] for ten minutes, and occasionally during a longer period, in\nthat part of the service called Mortem.[16]\n\nThe portion of Dhie Mudgelluss concluded, sherbet is handed round to the\nassembly; and as they voluntarily abstain from luxuries at this season, a\nsubstitute for pawn[17]--the green leaf in general use amongst the\nnatives--has been introduced, consisting of dried coffee, cocoa-nut shreds,\nbetel-nut, cardimuns,[18] dunyah,[19] and a proportionate quantity of\ntobacco-leaf and lime; these are mixed together and handed to the\nvisitors, on small silver trays. The hookha[20] is introduced to the\nsuperiors of the assembly; you are perhaps aware that inferiors do not\nsmoke in the presence of superiors without their command or permission.\n\nThis ceremony terminated, the Murseeah[21] is chanted, by several\nwell-practised voices, with good effect. This part of the service is,\nperhaps, the most impressive, as the very ignorant, even, can comprehend\nevery word,--the Murseeah being in the Hindoostanic tongue, a poetical\ncomposition of great merit, and embracing all the subjects they meet to\ncommemorate. The whole assembly rise up afterwards, and, as with one voice,\nrecount the names of the lawful leaders after Mahumud, entreating\nblessings and peace to their souls. They then repeat the names of the\nhated usurpers (Caliphas), on whose memory they invoke curses, &c. Mortem\nfollows, beating of breasts in unison with the voices, and uttering the\nnames of Hasan and Hosein; this performance concludes each day's\nMudgelluss, either of the morning or evening.\n\nThe ladies celebrate the returning season of Mahurrum with as much spirit\nand zeal as the confinement, in which they exist, can possibly admit of.\nThere are but few, and those chiefly princesses, who have Emaum-baarahs at\ncommand, within the boundary of the zeenahnah; the largest and best\napartment in their establishment is therefore selected for the purpose of\nan Emaum-baarah, into which none but females are admitted, excepting the\nhusband, father, son, or brother, of the lady; who having, on this\noccasion, full liberty to invite her female acquaintance, those who are\nher nearest male relatives even are not admitted until previous notice is\ngiven, in order that the female guests may secrete themselves from the\nsight of these relatives of their hostess.\n\nIn commemorating this remarkable event in Mussulmaun history, the\nexpressions of grief, manifested by the ladies, are far greater, and\nappear to me more lasting than with the other sex; indeed, I never could\nhave given credit to the extent of their bewailings, without witnessing,\nas I have done for many years, the season for tears and profound grief\nreturn with the month of Mahurrum. In sorrowing for the martyred Emaums,\nthey seem to forget their private griefs; the bereavement of a beloved\nobject even is almost overlooked in the dutiful remembrance of Hasan and\nHosein at this period; and I have had opportunities of observing this\ntriumph of religious feeling in women, who are remarkable for their\naffectionate attachment to their children, husbands, and parents;--they\ntell me, 'We must not indulge selfish sorrows of our own, whilst the\nProphet's family alone have a right to our tears'.\n\nThe religious zeal of these people is evinced, likewise, in a stern,\nsystematic, line of privations, during the period of Mahurrum; no one is\nobliged by any law or command; it is voluntary abstinence on the part of\neach individual--they impose it on themselves, out of pure pity and\nrespect for their Emaums' well-remembered sufferings. Every thing which\nconstitutes comfort, luxury, or even convenience at other times, on these\noccasions are rigidly laid aside. The pallungh and the charpoy[22] (the\ntwo descriptions of bedsteads in general use), on which the females love\nto lounge for some hours in the day and night, are removed from their\nstandings, and, in lieu of this comfort, they take their rest on a common\ndate mat, on the floor. The musnud,[23] and all its cushioned luxuries,\ngive place, on this occasion, to the simply matted floor. The indulgence\nin choice dainties, at other times so necessary to their happiness, is now\nforegone, and their meal limited, throughout Mahurrum, to the coarsest\nfood--such as barley bread, rice and peas boiled together (called\nkutcher),[24] without even the usual additions to make it palatable\nketcherie,[25] as ghee, salt, pepper, and spices; these ingredients being\nconsidered by the zealous females too indulgent and luxurious for humble\nmourners during Muhurrum.\n\nThe pawn leaf, another luxury of no small moment to Asiatic tastes, is now\nbanished for the ten days' mourning. A very poor substitute has been\nadopted, in the mixture described at the gentlemen's assembly--it is\ncalled goattur.[26] The truth is, their health would suffer from any long\ndisuse of tobacco-leaf, lime, and a bitter gum,[27] which are in general\nuse with the pawn; the latter is of a warm aromatic nature, and imparts a\nfine flavour to the other ingredients; but, as it is considered a great\nindulgence to eat pawn, they abstain from it altogether during\nMahurrum;--the mixture, they say, is only allowed for health's sake.\n\nWhen visitors call on the Mussulmaun ladies at Mahurrum, the goattur is\npresented on trays, accompanied by bags, neatly embroidered in silver and\ngold, of many different shapes and patterns, mostly their own work and\ninvention; they are called buttooah[28] and jhaumdanies.[29]\n\nThe variety of ornaments, which constitute the great delight of all\nclasses of females in India, are entirely laid aside, from the first hour\nof Mahurrum, until the period for mourning concludes. I never heard of any\npeople so thoroughly attached to ornaments as the females of India are\ngenerally. They are indulged in this foible--pardonable it may be--by\ntheir husbands and parents. The wealthiness of a family may often be\njudged by a single glance at the principal lady of the zeenahnah, who\nseldom omits doing honour to her husband, by a full display of the\nprecious metals, with a great variety of gems or jewels on ordinary\noccasions. The men of all ranks are proud of their wives' finery; even the\npoorest hold in derision all ornament that is not composed of sterling\nmetal, of which they seem excellent judges. The massy chains of gold or\nsilver, the solid bangles for the arms and ancles, the nut[30] (nose-ring)\nof gold wire, on which is strung a ruby between two pearls, worn only by\nmarried women; the joshun[31] (armlet), of silver or gold, often set with\nprecious stones; the many rings for the fingers, thumbs, and toes, form\nthe daily dress of a lady;--but I must not digress further. These are all\nremoved from the person, as soon as the moon is seen, when the first day\nof Mahurrum commences; the hair is unloosed from its usual confinement,\nand allowed to flow in disorder about the person; the coloured\npyjaamahs[32] and deputtahs[33] are removed, with every other article of\ntheir usual costume, for a suit that, with them, constitutes\nmourning--some choose black, others grey, slate, or green, and the widow\nwears white from the day her husband dies.\n\nA widow never alters her style of dress, neither does she wear a single\nornament, during her widowhood, which generally lasts with her life. I\nnever heard of one single instance, during my twelve years' residence\namongst them, of a widow marrying again--they have no law to prohibit it;\nand I have known some ladies, whose affianced husbands died before the\nmarriage was concluded, who preferred a life of solitude and prayer,\nalthough many other overtures were made.[34]\n\nMany of the rigidly zealous, among the females, mortify themselves by\nwearing their suit of mourning, during the ten days, without changing; the\ndress is worn next the skin, and, in very warm weather, must be\ncomfortless after the first day--but so it is; and so many are the\nvarieties of self-inflicted privations, at this period, that my letter\nmight be filled with the observations I have made. I cannot, however, omit\nto mention my old woman-servant (ayah[35]), whose mode of abstinence, in\nremembrance of Hosein, is rigidly severe; my influence does not prevail in\ndissuading her, although I fear the consequences to her health will be\nseriously felt if she persist in the fulfilment of her self-imposed trial.\nThis poor old creature resolves on not allowing one drop of water, or any\nliquid, to pass her lips during the ten days' mourning; as she says, 'her\nEmaum, Hosein, and his family, suffered from thirst at Kraabaallah, why\nshould such a creature as she is be indulged with water?' This shows the\ntemper of the people generally; my ayah is a very ignorant old woman, yet\nshe respects her Emaum's memory.[36]\n\nThe Tazia, you are to understand, graces the houses of all good\nMussulmauns in India, who are not of the sect called Soonies. This model\nof their Emaum's tomb is an object of profound respect. Hindoos, even, on\napproaching the shrine, bow their heads with much solemn gravity; I often\nfancied they mistook the Tazia for a Bootkhanah[37] (the house of an idol).\n\nIt is creditable to the Mussulmauns, that they do not restrict any\nprofession of people from visiting their assemblies; there is free\nadmission granted when the Emaum-baarah is first lighted up, until the\nhour of performing the service, when strangers, that is the multitude, are\ncivilly requested to retire. Every one is expected, on entering the\noutward verandah, to leave their shoes at the threshold of the\nsanctuary;[38] none but Europeans have any occasion to be reminded of this,\nas it is a well known and general observance with all degrees of natives\nin Asia. The servants, in charge of the Emaum-baarah, are responsible for\nthe due observance of respect to the place, and when any foreigners are\nadvancing, they are politely requested to leave their shoes outside; which\nmust be complied with, or they cannot possibly be admitted.\n\nSome few years since, a party of young gentlemen, from cantonments, had\nmade up their minds to evade the necessity for removing their boots, on\nthe occasion of a visit to one of the great men's Emaum-baarahs, at a\nNative city; they had provided themselves with white socks, which they\ndrew over their boots before leaving their palkies. The cheat was\ndiscovered by the servants in attendance, after they had been admitted;\nthey made a precipitate retreat to avoid the consequences of a\nrepresentation to the Resident, by the proprietor of the Emaum-baarah; who,\nhearing of the circumstance, made all possible inquiry, without, however,\ndiscovering the names of the gentlemen, who had thus, in his opinion,\nviolated the sanctuary.\n\nThe Natives are aware that the Resident sets the bright example of\nconforming to the observances of the people, over whom he is placed as\ngovernor and guardian; and that he very properly discountenances every\nattempt of his countrymen to infringe on their rights, prejudices, or\nprivileges; and they have, to my knowledge, always looked up to him as to\na parent and a friend, from the first to the last day of his exalted\nstation amongst them. Many a tear marked the regret of the Natives, when\ntheir best, their kindest, earthly friend quitted the city he had blessed\nby his presence; and to the latest page of their history, his memory will\ndoubtless be cherished with sincere veneration and respectful\nattachment.[39]\n\nThe poor people vie with their rich neighbours, in making a brilliant\nlight in their little halls containing the Tazia; the very poorest are\nliberal in the expenditure of oil and tallow candles--I might say\nextravagantly so, but for the purity of their intentions, supposing it to\nbe a duty--and they certainly manifest their zeal and respect to the\nutmost of their power; although many, to my knowledge, live all the year\nround on the very coarsest fare, to enable them to show this reverence to\ntheir Emaum's memory.\n\nThe ladies assemble, in the evening, round the Tazia they have set up in\ntheir purdahed privacy--female friends, slaves, and servants, surrounding\nthe mistress of the house, in solemn gravity.\n\nThe few females who have been educated are in great request at this season;\nthey read the Dhie Mudgelluss, and chant the Musseeah with good effect.\nThese women, being hired for the purpose, are detained during the ten days;\nwhen the Mahurrum ceases, they are dismissed to their own homes, loaded\nwith the best gifts the good lady their employer can conveniently spare,\ncommensurate with the services performed. These educated females are\nchiefly daughters of poor Syaads, who have not been married for the lack\nof a dowry; they live devoutly in the service of God, according to their\nfaith. They are sometimes required, in the families of the nobility, to\nteach the Khoraun to the young ladies, and, in that capacity, they are\ncalled Oustaardie, or more familiarly Artoojee.[40]\n\nAs I have mentioned before, the Musseeah narrative of the sufferings at\nKraabaallah is a really pathetic and interesting composition; the work\nbeing conveyed in the language of the country, every word is understood,\nand very deeply felt, by the females in all these assemblies, who, having\ntheir hearts softened by the emphatic chantings of the readers, burst into\nviolent tears and sobbings of the most heart-rending description. As in\nthe gentlemen's assembly, they conclude with Mortem, in which they\nexercise themselves until they are actually exhausted; indeed, many\ndelicate females injure their health by the violence and energy of their\nexertions, which they nevertheless deem a most essential duty to perform,\nat all hazards, during the continuance of Mahurrum.\n\nThis method of keeping Mahurrum is not in strict obedience to the\nMahumudan laws; in which code may be found prohibitions against all\nviolent and excessive grief--tearing the hair, or other expressions of\nungovernable sorrow.[41]\n\nI have observed that the Maulvees, Moollahs,[42] and devoutly religious\npersons, although mixing with the enthusiasts on these occasions, abstain\nfrom the violent exhibition of sorrows which the uninformed are so prone\nto indulge in. The most religious men of that faith feel equal, perhaps\ngreater sympathy, for the sufferings of the Emaums, than those who are\nless acquainted with the precepts of the Khoraun; they commemorate the\nMahurrum without parade or ostentatious display, and apparently wear\nmourning on their hearts, with their garb, the full term of forty\ndays--the common period of mourning for a beloved object; but these\npersons never join in Mortem, beating breasts, or other outward show of\nsadness, although they are present when it is exercised; but their quiet\ngrief is evidently more sincere.\n\nI have conversed with many sensible men of the Mussulmaun persuasion on\nthe subject of celebrating Mahurrum, and from all I can learn, the pompous\ndisplay is grown into a habit, by a long residence amongst people, who\nmake a merit of showy parades at all their festivals. Foreign Mussulmauns\nare equally surprised as Europeans, when they visit Hindoostaun, and first\nsee the Tazia conveyed about in procession, which would be counted\nsacrilegious in Persia or Arabia; but here, the ceremony is not complete\nwithout a mixture of pageantry with, the deeply expressed and public\nexposure of their grief.[43]\n\nThe remarkable plainness of the mosque, contrasted with the superb\ndecorations of an Emaum-baarah, excited my surprise. I am told by the most\nvenerable of Syaads, 'The Mosque is devoted only to the service of God,\nwhere it is commanded no worldly attractions or ornaments shall appear, to\ndraw off the mind, or divert the attention, from that one great object for\nwhich the house of prayer is intended'. An Emaum-baarah is erected for the\npurpose of doing honour to the memory of the Emaums, and of late years the\nemulative spirit of individuals has been the great inducement to the\ndisplay of ornamental decorations.\n\nIt is rather from their respect to the Founder of their religion and his\ndescendants, than any part of their profession of faith, that the\nMussulmaun population of Hindoostaun are guided by in these displays,\nwhich are merely the fashion of other people whom they imitate; and with\nfar different motives to the weak-minded Hindoos, who exalt their idols,\nwhilst the former thus testify their respect to worthy mortals only. This\nis the explanation I have received from devout Mussulmauns, who direct me\nto remark the strong similarity--in habit only, where 'the faith' is not\nliable to innovations--between themselves and the Hindoo population;--the\nout-of-door celebrations of marriage festivals, for instance, which are so\nnearly resembling each other, in the same classes of society, that\nscarcely any difference can be discovered by the common observer.\n\nIdolatry is hateful to a Mussulmaun, who acknowledges 'one only true God',\nand 'Him alone to be worshipped'.[44] They respect, venerate, love, and\nwould imitate, their acknowledged Prophet and the Emaums (who succeeded\nMahumud in the mission), but they never worship them, as has been often\nimagined. On the contrary, they declare to me that their faith compels\nthem 'to believe in one God, and that He alone is to be worshipped by the\ncreature; and that Mahumud is a creature, the Prophet sent by God to make\nHis will known, and declare His power. That to bow down and worship\nMahumud would be gross idolatry; and, although he is often mentioned in\ntheir prayers, yet he is never prayed to. They believe their Prophet is\nsensible of whatever passes amongst his true disciples; and that, in\nproportion as they fulfil the commands he was instructed by God to leave\nwith them, so will they derive benefit from his intercession, on that\ngreat and awful day, when all mankind shall appear before the judgment\nseat of God.'\n\n\n[1] _Imambara_, 'enclosure of the Imam', the place where the\n    Muharram rites are performed, as contrasted with Masjid, a mosque, and\n    'Idgah, where the service at the 'Id festivals is conducted.\n\n[2] _Ta'ziya_, 'consoling'. The use of these miniature tombs is said to\n    date from the time of Amir Taimur (A.D. 1336-1405), who on his\n    return from Karbala made a model of Husain's tomb. See a good account\n    of them in Sir G. Birdwood, _Sva_, 173 ff.\n\n[3] _Abrak_, tale.\n\n[4] From Karbala, the place of pilgrimage.\n\n[5] _Mardanah_.\n\n[6] _Maqbarah_, 'place of graves'.\n\n[7] _Shatranj[-i]_, a chequered cloth, from _shatrang_, the game of chess.\n\n[8] _Majlis_.\n\n[9] _Mulaqat_.\n\n[10] _Mimbar_, sometimes a wooden structure, sometimes of masonry.\n\n[11] Green is the Sayyid colour (E.W. Lane, _Modern Egyptians_, i. 38).\n    But it is an innovation in Islam, and Sayyids in Al-Hijaz, as a\n    general rule, do not wear a green turban (Burton, _Pilgrimage_, ii. 4).\n\n[12] The spread hand designates the Sheah sect. There are times when\n    holding up the spread hand declares the Sheah, whilst the Soonie is\n    distinguished by his holding up three fingers only. In villages, the\n    spread hand is marked on the walls where Sheahs reside during Mahurrum.\n    [_Author_.]\n\n    [The five spread fingers are regarded as emblematical of the Prophet,\n    F\u00e2timah, 'Ali, Hasan, and Husain. The Sunnis prefer three\n    fingers, signifying the first three Caliphs. In its ultimate origin,\n    the spread hand is a charm against demons and evil spirits.]\n\n[13] _Maulavi_, a Muhammadan doctor of law, a judge.\n\n[14] From Dhie, ten; Mudgelluss, assembling together for sacred purposes.\n    [_Author_.] or [_Dah_, or _Dahha majlis_ denotes the ten days of\n    Muharram; see Sir L. Pelly, _The Miracle Play of Hasan and Husain_,\n    i. 74.]\n\n[15] Corrupted by Anglo-Indians into _Hobson-Jobson_, the title of Sir H.\n    Yule's _Anglo-Indian Glossary_.\n\n[16] _Matam_, 'mourning'.\n\n[17] _Pan_, 'betel leaf'.\n\n[18] Cardamom.\n\n[19] _Dhaniya_ (_Coriandrum sativitm_).\n\n[20] _Huqqah_, 'a water tobacco pipe'.\n\n[21] _Marsiyah_, 'a funeral elegy'.\n\n[22] _Palang_, a more pretentious piece of furniture than the\n    _charpai_, or common 'cot'.\n\n[23] _Masnad_, 'a thing leaned on', a pile of cushions; the throne of a\n    sovereign.\n\n[24] _Khichar_.\n\n[25] _Khichri_, the 'Kedgeree' of Anglo-Indians.\n\n[26] _Gota_.\n\n[27] Catechu, Hindi _Kath_.\n\n[28] _Batua_.\n\n[29] _Jamdani_, properly a portmanteau for holding clothes\n    (_Jama_): a kind of flowered cloth.\n\n[30] _Nath_.\n\n[31] _Joshan_, an ornament worn on the upper arm.\n\n[32] _Pa[~e]jama_, 'leg clothing', drawers.\n\n[33] _Dopatta_, a sheet made of two breadths of cloth.\n\n[34] Amongst the Muhammadans the proportion of widows has declined\n    steadily since 1881, and is now only 143 per mille compared with 170\n    in that year. It would seem that the prejudices against\n    widow-marriages are gradually becoming weaker.--_Report Census of\n    India_, 1911, i. 273.\n\n[35] [~A]y[~a], from Portuguese _aia_, 'a nurse'.\n\n[36] After much, entreaty, this humble zealot was induced to take a sweet\n    lime, occasionally, to cool her poor parched mouth. She survived the\n    trial, and lived many years to repeat her practised abstinence at the\n    return of Mahurrum. [_Author_.]\n\n[37] _Butkhanah_.\n\n[38] This was a primitive Semitic taboo (Exodus iii. 5; Joshua v. 15, &c.).\n    The reason of this prohibition is that shoes could not be easily\n    washed.--W.R. Smith, _Religion of the Semites_[2], 453.\n\n[39] Mordaunt Ricketts was Resident at Lucknow between 1821 and 1830, when\n    he was 'superannuated' owing to financial scandals, for the details of\n    which see Sir G. Trevelyan, _Life and Letters of Lord Macaulay_, cap.\n    x; H.G. Keene, _Here and There_, 10; on November 1, 1824, he was\n    married at Lucknow by Bishop Heber to the widow of George Ravenscroft,\n    the civilian who was Collector of Cawnpore, and there embezzled large\n    sums of money, the property of Government. He fled with his wife and\n    child to Bhinga in Oudh, where, on May 6, 1823, he was murdered by\n    Dacoits. The strange story is well told by Sleeman, _A Journey through\n    the Kingdom of Oudh_, i. 112 ff.\n\n[40] Persian _ustad, ustadji_, 'an instructor'.\n\n[41] Lamentation for the dead was strictly prohibited by the Prophet; but,\n    like all orientals, the Indian Musalmans indulge in it.\n    (_Mishkat_, i, chap, vii.)\n\n[42] _Mulla_, the Persian form of Maulavi, 'a doctor of law'.\n\n[43] It is a mistake to suppose that the procession of the Ta'ziya or\n    Tabut is peculiar to India. It is practised in Persia and Egypt.\n\n[44] The Prophet was obliged to make some compromise with idolatry, as in\n    the case of the Black Stone at Mecca. But he protested against idols\n    in one of the earliest Suurahs of the Koraan (lii 35-43), and in\n    other passages.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER III\n\n  Continuation of Mahurrum.--Consecration of Banners.--Durgah at\n  Lucknow.--Its origin explained.--Regarded with peculiar\n  veneration.--The Nuwaub vows to build a new one.--Its\n  description.--Procession to the Durgah.--Najoomies.--Influence\n  possessed and practised by them.--Eunuchs.--Anecdotes of some having\n  attained great honours and wealth.--Presents bestowed upon them\n  generally revert to the donor.--Rich attire of male and female slaves.\n\n\nAfter the Tazia is brought home (as the temporary ones are from the bazaar\non the eve of Mahurrum, attended by a ceremonious display of persons,\nmusic, flags, flambeaux, &c.), there is little to remark of out-door\nparade beyond the continual activity of the multitude making the sacred\nvisits to their several Emaum-baarahs, until the fifth day, when the\nbanners are conveyed from each of them in solemn procession, to be\nconsecrated at the Durgah[1] (literally translated, 'The threshold' or\n'Entrance to a sanctified place').\n\nThis custom is perhaps exclusively observed by the inhabitants of Lucknow,\nwhere I have had the privilege of acquiring a knowledge of the motives\nwhich guide most of their proceedings; and as there is a story attached to\nthe Durgah, not generally known to European visitors, I propose relating\nit here, as it particularly tends to explain the reasons for the\nMussulmauns conveying their banners for consecration to that celebrated\nshrine.\n\n'A native of India--I forget his name--remarkable for his devotion and\nholy life, undertook the pilgrimage to Mecca; whilst engaged in these\nduties at the \"holy house\", he was visited with a prophetic dream. Abass\nAli (the standard-bearer and relation of Hosein) appeared to him in his\ndream, commanding him, that as soon as his duties at Mecca were fulfilled\nhe should, without delay, proceed to Kraabaallah, to the tomb of Hosein;\ndirecting him, with great precision, how he was to find the exact spot of\nearth where was deposited the very Allum[2] (banner) of Hosein, which he\n(Abass Ali) had, on the great day of Kraabaallah, carried to the field.\nThe man was further instructed to possess himself of this relic secretly,\nand convey it about his person until he should reach his native country,\nwhen he would be more fully directed by the orderings of Providence how\nthe relic should be disposed of.\n\n'The Hadjee followed all the injunctions he had received punctually; the\nexact spot was easily discovered, by the impressions from his dream; and,\nfearing the jealousy of the Arabs, he used the utmost precaution, working\nby night, to secure to himself the possession of so inestimable a prize,\nwithout exciting their suspicion, or attracting the notice of the numerous\npilgrims who thronged the shrine by day. After several nights of severe\nlabour he discovered, to his great joy, the metal crest of the banner; and\nconcluding the banner and staff to have mouldered away, from their having\nbeen so long entombed in the earth, he cautiously secreted the crest about\nhis person, and after enduring the many vicissitudes and privations,\nattendant on the long journey from Arabia to India, he finally succeeded\nin reaching Lucknow in safety with his prize.\n\n'The Nuwaub Asof ood Duolah[3] ruled at this period in Oude; the pilgrim\nmade his adventures known to him, narrating his dream, and the\ncircumstances which led to his gaining possession of the crest. The Nuwaub\ngave full credence to his story, and became the holder of the relic\nhimself, rewarding the Hadjee handsomely for his trouble, and gave\nimmediate orders for a small building to be erected under the denomination\nof \"Huzerut Abass Ali Ke Durgah\",[4] in which the crest was safely\ndeposited with due honours, and the fortunate pilgrim was appointed\nguardian with a liberal salary.\n\n'In the course of time, this Durgah grew into great repute amongst the\ngeneral classes of the Mussulmaun population, who, venerating their Emaum\nHosein, had more than common respect for this trifle, which they believed\nhad been used in his personal service. Here the public were permitted to\noffer their sacrifices and oblations to God, on occasions of importance to\nthemselves; as after the performance of the rite of circumcision in\nparticular, grand processions were formed conveying the youthful\nMussulmaun, richly attired, attended by music, &c. and offering presents\nof money and sweetmeats at the shrine which contains their Emaum's sacred\nrelic. On these occasions the beggars of every denomination were benefited\nby the liberality of the grateful father, and the offerings at the shrine\nbecame the property of the guardian of the Durgah, who, it was expected,\nwould deal out from his receipts to the necessitous as occasions served.'\n\nThis custom is still observed, with equal veneration for the shrine and\nits deposit; and when a lady recovers from the perils attendant on giving\nto her husband's house a desired heir, she is conveyed, with all the pomp\nand parade due to her rank in life, to this Durgah, attended by her female\nrelatives, friends, domestics, eunuchs, and slaves, in covered conveyances;\nin her train are gentlemen on horseback, in palkies, or on elephants, to\ndo honour to the joyful event; the Guardian's wife having charge on these\noccasions of the ladies' visits; and the Guardian, with the gentlemen and\nall the males, guarding the sanctuary outside; for they are not permitted\nto enter whilst it is occupied by the ladies, the eunuchs alone having\nthat privilege where females congregate.\n\nRecovery from sickness, preservation from any grievous calamity, danger,\nor other event which excites grateful feelings, are the usual inducements\nto visiting the Durgah, with both males and females, amongst the\nMussulmaun population of Lucknow. These recurrences yield ample stores of\ncash, clothes, &c. left at the disposal of the Guardian, who, if a good\nman, disperses these charitable donations amongst the indigent with a\nliberality equal to that of the donors in their various offerings.\n\nThe Durgah had grown into general respect, when a certain reigning Nuwaub\nwas afflicted by a severe and tedious illness, which baffled the skill of\nhis physicians, and resisted the power of the medicine resorted to for his\nrecovery. A confidential Najoom[5] (astrologer), in the service of his\nHighness, of great repute in his profession, advised his master to make a\nvow, that 'If in the wisdom of Divine Providence his health should be\nrestored, he would build a new Durgah on the site of the old one, to be\ndedicated to Abass Ali, and to be the shrine for the sacred deposit of the\ncrest of Hosein'. The Nuwaub, it appears, recovered rapidly after the vow\nhad been made, and he went in great pomp and state to return thanks to God\nin this Durgah, surrounded by the nobles and officers of his Court, and\nthe whole strength of his establishment accompanied him on the occasion.\nSo grand was the spectacle, that the old people of the city talk of it at\nthis day as a scene never equalled in the annals of Lucknow, for splendour\nand magnificence; immense sums of money were distributed on the road to\nthe populace, and at the Durgah; the multitude, of all classes, hailing\nhis emancipation from the couch of sickness with deafening cheers of\nvociferous exultation.\n\nIn fulfilment of his vow, the Nuwaub gave immediate orders for erecting\nthe magnificent edifice, which now graces the suburbs of Lucknow, about\nfive miles from that part of the city usually occupied by the Sovereign\nRuler of the province of Oude. By virtue of the Nuwaub's vow and recovery,\nthe before-respected Durgah has, thus newly built, increased in favour\nwith the public; and, on account of the veneration they have for all that\nconcerns their Emaums, the banners which adorn the Tazias of Hosein must\nbe consecrated by being brought to this sacred edifice; where, by the\ncondescending permission of the Sovereign, both the rich and the poor are\nwith equal favour admitted, at that interesting period of Mahurrum, to\nview the crest of their Leader, and present their own banners to be\ntouched and thus hallowed by the, to them, sacred relic. The crest is\nfixed to a staff, but no banner attached to it; this is placed within a\nhigh railing, supported by a platform, in the centre of the building; on\neither side splendid banners are exhibited on these occasions.\n\nThe Durgah is a square building, entered by flights of steps from the\ncourt-yard; the banner of each person is conveyed through the right\nentrance, opposite the platform, where it is immediately presented to\ntouch the revered crest; this is only the work of a few seconds; that\nparty walks on, and moves out to the left again into the court-yard; the\nnext follows in rapid succession, and so on till all have performed this\nduty: by this arrangement, confusion is obviated; and, in the course of\nthe day, perhaps forty or fifty thousand banners[6] may have touched the\nEmaum's consecrated crest. On these occasions, the vast population of\nLucknow may be imagined by the almost countless multitude, of every rank,\nwho visit this Durgah: there is no tax levied on the people, but the sums\ncollected must be immense, since every one conscientiously offers\nsomething, according to his inclination or his means, out of pure respect\nto the memory of Hosein.\n\nThe order of procession, appointed by each noble proprietor of banners, to\nbe consecrated at the Durgah, forms a grand spectacle. There is no\nmaterial difference in their countless numbers; the most wealthy and the\nmeanest subjects of the province make displays commensurate with their\nability, whilst those persons who make the most costly exhibitions enjoy\nthe greatest share of popular favour, as it is considered a proof of their\ndesire to do honour to the memory of Hosein and Hasan, their venerated\nEmaums.\n\nA description of one, just passing my house, will give you a general idea\nof these processions,--it belongs to a rich man of the city:--A guard of\nsoldiers surrounds four elephants on which several men are seated, on pads\nor cushions, supporting the banners; the staffs of several are of\nsilver,--the spread hand, and other crests, are formed of the same metal,\nset with precious stones. Each banner--they all resemble--is in the shape\nof a long scarf of rich silk, of bright florid colours, embroidered very\ndeep at the ends, which are finished with gold and silver bullion fringes;\nit is caught together near the middle, and tied with rich gold and silver\ncords and tassels to the top of the staff, just under the hand or crest.\nThe silks, I observe, are of many different colours, forming an agreeable\nvariety, some blue, purple, green, yellow, &c. Red is not used; being the\nSoonies' distinguishing colour at Mahurrum it is carefully avoided by the\nzealous Sheahs--the Soonies are violently opposed to the celebration of\nthis festival. After the elephants, a band of music follows, composed of\nevery variety of Native instruments, with drums and fifes; the trumpets\nstrike me as the greatest novelty in their band; some of them are very\nlong and powerful in their effect.\n\nNext in the order of procession I observe a man in deep mourning,\nsupporting a black pole, on which two swords are suspended from a bow\nreversed--the swords unsheathed glittering in the sun. The person who owns\nthe banners, or his deputy, follows next on foot, attended by readers of\nthe Musseeah, and a large party of friends in mourning. The readers select\nsuch passages as are particularly applicable to the part Abass Ali took in\nthe affair at Kraabaallah, which is chanted at intervals, the procession\npausing for that purpose.\n\nThen comes Dhull Dhull,[7]--the name of Hosein's horse at\nKraabaallah;--that selected for the present purpose is a handsome white\nArab, caparisoned according to the olden style of Arabia: due care is\ntaken to represent the probable sufferings of both animal and rider, by\nthe bloody horsecloth--the red-stained legs--and the arrows apparently\nsticking in several parts of his body; on the saddle is fixed a turban in\nthe Arabian style, with the bow and arrows;--the bridle, &c. are of very\nrich embroidery; the stirrups and mountings of solid silver. The horse and\nall its attire are given after Mahurrum, in charity, to a poor Syaad.\nFootmen, with the afthaadah[8] and chowrie[9]--peculiar emblems of royalty\nin India--attend Dhull Dhull. The friends of the family walk near the\nhorse; then servants of all classes, to fill up the parade, and many\nfoot-soldiers, who occasionally fire singly, giving to the whole\ndescription a military effect.\n\nI have seen many other processions on these fifth days of Mahurrum--they\nall partake of one style,--some more splendid than others; and the very\npoor people parade their banners, with, perhaps, no other accompaniment\nthan a single drum and fife, and the owner supporting his own banner.\n\nMy next letter will contain the procession of Mayndhie, which forms a\ngrand feature of Mahurrum display on the seventh night.\n\nP.S.--The Najoomee are men generally with some learning, who, for their\nsupposed skill in astrology, have, in all ages since Mahumud's death, been\nmore or less courted and venerated by the Mussulmaun people;--I should say,\nwith those who have not the fear of God stronger in their hearts than the\nlove of the world and its vanities;--the really religious people\ndiscountenance the whole system and pretended art of the astrologer.\n\nIt is wonderful the influence a Najoom acquires in the houses of many\ngreat men in India;--wherever one of these idlers is entertained he is the\noracle to be consulted on all occasions, whether the required solution be\nof the utmost importance, or the merest trifling subject. I know those who\nsubmit, with a childlike docility, to the Najoom's opinion, when their\nbetter reason, if allowed to sway, would decide against the astrologer's\nprediction. If Najoom says it is not proper for Nuwaub Sahib, or his Begum,\nto eat, to drink, to sleep, to take medicine, to go from home, to give\naway or accept a gift, or any other action which human reason is the best\nguide to decide upon, Najoom has said it,--and Najoom must be right.\nNajoom can make peace or war, in the family he overrules, at his pleasure;\nand many are the houses divided against themselves by the wicked influence\nof a bad man, thus exercising his crafty wiles over the weakness of his\ncredulous master.--So much for Najoomee; and now for my second notice of\nthe Eunuchs:--[10]\n\nThey are in great request among the highest order of people, and from\ntheir long sojourn in a family, this class of beings are generally\nfaithfully attached to the interest and welfare of their employer; they\nare much in the confidence of their master and mistress, and very seldom\nbetray their trust. Being frequently purchased, whilst children, from the\nbase wretches who have stolen them in infancy from the parental roof, they\noften grow up to a good old age with the family by whom they are adopted;\nthey enjoy many privileges denied to other classes of slaves;--are\nadmitted at all hours and seasons to the zeenahnahs; and often, by the\nliberality of their patrons, become rich and honourable;--still 'he is but\na slave', and when he dies, his property reverts to his owner.\n\nIn Oude there have been many instances of Eunuchs arriving to great honour,\ndistinctions, and vast possessions. Al Mauss Ali Khaun[11] was of the\nnumber, within the recollection of many who survive him; he was the\nfavoured Eunuch of the House of Oude; a person of great attainments, and\ngifted with a remarkably superior mind, he was appointed Collector over an\nimmense tract of country, by the then reigning Nuwaub, whose councils he\nbenefited by his great judgment. He lived to a good old age, in the\nunlimited confidence of his prince, and enjoyed the good will and\naffection of all who could appreciate what is valuable in honest integrity.\nHe died as he had lived, in the most perfect resignation to whatever was\nthe will of God, in whose mercy he trusted through time, and for eternity.\nMany of the old inhabitants speak of him with veneration and respect,\ndeclaring he was the perfect pattern for good Mussulmauns to imitate.\n\nAnother remarkable Eunuch, Affrine Khaun,[12] of the Court of Oude, is\nwell remembered in the present generation also,--the poor having lost a\nkind benefactor, and the rich a sensible companion, by his death. His vast\nproperty he had willed to others than the sovereign ruler of Oude (whose\nproperty he actually was), who sent, as is usual in these cases, to take\npossession of his estate, immediately after his death; the gates were\nbarred, and the heirs the Eunuch had chosen to his immense wealth had\ntaken possession; which I am not aware was disputed afterwards by the\nreigning Nuwaub, although by right of the Mussulmaun law, the Nuwaub owned\nboth the slave and the slave's wealth.\n\nThis accounts, perhaps, for the common practice in the higher circles of\nthe Mussulmaun population, of heaping ornaments and riches on favourite\nslaves; the wealth thus expended at one time, is but a loan in the hands\nof safe keepers, to revert again to the original proprietor whenever\nrequired by the master, or no longer of service to the slave, who has\nneither power to bestow, nor heirs to benefit from the property he may\nleave when he dies.\n\nI have frequently observed, among the most exalted ladies, that their\nfemale slaves are very often superbly dressed; and, on occasions of\nmarriage ceremonies, or other scenes of festivity, they seem proud of\ntaking them in their suite, handsomely dressed, and richly adorned with\nthe precious metals, in armlets, bangles, chains, &c.; the lady thus\nadding to her own consequence by the display of her attendant slaves. The\nsame may be observed with regard to gentlemen, who have men-slaves\nattending them, and who are very frequently attired in costly dresses,\nexpensive shawls, and gold ornaments.\n\n\n[1] _Dargah_, '(sacred) door-place'.\n\n[2] '_Alam_. For illustrations of those banners see Hughes,\n    _Dictionary of Islam_, 408 ff.; Mrs. Parks, _Wanderings of a\n    Pilgrim_, ii. 18.\n\n[3] Asaf-ud-daula, eldest son of Nawab Shuja'-ud-daula, on whose\n    death in 1775 he succeeded. He changed the seat of government\n    from Faizabad to Lucknow, where he died in 1797, and was\n    buried in the Imambara. He is principally remembered for\n    his liberality. The merchants, on opening their shops, used to\n    sing:\n\n      _Jisko na de Maula,\n      Tisko de Asaf-ud-daula_.\n      Who from Heaven nought receiveth,\n      To him Asaf-ud-daula giveth.\n\n[4] Mr. H.C. Irwin informs me that the Dargah is situated on the\n    Crommelin Road, rather more than a mile south-west of the\n    Machhi Bhawan fort. It was here that Nawab Sa'adat\n    'Al'i, on his accession, vowed that he would reform his\n    ways--an intention which was not realized.\n\n[5] _Nujumi_, 'an astrologer'; '_ilm-i-nujum_, 'astrology,\n    astronomy'.\n\n[6] The numbers are greatly exaggerated.\n\n[7] Duldul was the name of the Prophet's mule which he gave to\n    'Ali. It is often confounded with Buraq, the\n    Assyrian-looking gryphon on which he alleged that he flew to\n    Mecca.\n\n[8] _Aftabgir_, 'a sun-screen'; see p. 47.\n\n[9] _Chaunri_, the bushy tail of the yak, used as a fly-flapper.\n\n[10] Writing in 1849, General Sleeman remarks that Dom singers and eunuchs\n    are the virtual rulers of Oudh.--_A Journey through Oudh_, i, introd.\n    lxi, 178.\n\n[11] Almas ['the diamond'] 'Ali Khan, known as Miyan ['Master']\n    Almas, according to General Sleeman, was 'the greatest and best man\n    of any note that Oude has produced. He held for about forty years\n    Miyanganj and other districts, yielding to the Oude  Government an\n    annual revenue of more than eighty lacs of rupees [about \u00a3850,000].\n    During this time he kept the people secure in life and property, and\n    as happy as people in such a state of society can be; and the whole\n    country under his charge was during his lifetime a garden. He lived\n    here in great magnificence, and was often visited by his sovereign.'\n    (Ibid., i. 320 f.). Lord Valentia more than once speaks highly of him\n    (_Travels_, i. 136, 241). He also notes that the Nawab was\n    anxiously watching for his death, because, being a slave, under\n    Muhammadan law his estates reverted to the Crown.--See N.B.E. Baillie,\n    _Digest of Moohummudan Law_ (1875), 367 f.\n\n[12] Afrin Khan, 'lord of praise', Mr. Irwin informs me, is\n    mentioned in the _Tarikh Farahbakhsh_ (tr. W. Hoey, 129) as\n    engaged in negotiations when Nawab Asaf-ud-daula, at the\n    instigation of Warren Hastings and Haidar Beg, was attempting to\n    extort money from the Nawab Begam.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER IV\n\n  Mahurrum concluded.--Night of Mayndhie.--Emaum-baarah of the King of\n  Oude.--Procession to Shaah Nudghiff.--Last day of Mahurrum.--Chattahs.\n  --Musical instruments.--Zeal of the Native gentlemen.--Funeral\n  obsequies over the Tazia at Kraabaallah.--Sentiments of devout\n  Mussulmauns.--The fast followed by acts of charity.--Remarks on the\n  observance of Mahurrum.\n\n\nThe public display on the seventh Mahurrum is by torch-light, and called\nthe night of Mayndhie,[1] intending to represent the marriage ceremony for\nCossum, who, it will be remembered, in the sketch of the events of\nKraabaallah, was married to his cousin Sakeena Koobraah, the favourite\ndaughter of Hosein, on the morning of the celebrated battle.\n\nThis night presents to the public all the outward and showy parade which\nmarks the Mayndhie procession of a real wedding ceremony, of which I\npropose speaking further in another place. This display at Mahurrum is\nattended with considerable expense; consequently, the very rich only\nobserve the out-door formalities to be exhibited on this occasion; yet all\nclasses, according to their means, remember the event, and celebrate it at\nhome.\n\nThe Mayndhie procession of one great personage, in Native cities, is\ndirected--by previous arrangement--to the Emaum-baarah of a superior. I\nwas present, on one occasion, when the Mayndhie of the Prime Minister of\nOude was sent to the King's Emaum-baarah, called Shaah Nudghiff,[2]--from\nthe mausoleum of Ali, of which it is an exact representation, on a small\nscale.\n\nIt is situated near the banks of the river Goomtie,[3] some distance from\nthe palace at Lucknow; the entrance to the outer court, or quadrangle, is\nby a handsome gateway of brickwork plastered and polished, resembling\nmarble. On each side of the gateway, and carried up the two sides, in a\nline with the building, are distinct apartments, designed for the abode of\nthe distressed and houseless poor; the back of these apartments forms a\nsubstantial wall or enclosure. The Shaah Nudghiff faces the gateway, and\nappears to be a square building, on a broad base of flights of steps, with\na cupola roof; the interior is paved with black and white marble\ntesselated, the walls and dome neatly ornamented with plaster and gold in\nrelief, the beading, cornices, &c. of gold, to correspond on a\nstone-colour ground. The cupola and cornices on the outside are richly\nornamented with plaster designs, relieved with gold; on the summit of the\ndome is placed a crown, of pure silver, gilt, of an immense size.\n\nThe decorations of the interior, for the season of Mahurrum, were on a\nscale of grandeur not easily to be conveyed by description. The walls were\nwell covered with handsome glasses and mirrors; the splendid\nchandeliers,--one containing a hundred wax lights,--in every variety, and\nrelieved with coloured lamps--amber, blue, and green,--mellowing the light,\nand giving a fairy-like effect to the brilliant scene. In the centre of\nthe building stood the green glass Tazia, surrounded by wax lights; on\nthe right of which was placed an immense lion, and on the left, a fish,[4]\nboth formed of the same bright emerald-green glass as the Tazia. The\nrichness and elegance of the banners,--which were numerous and well\narranged,--could be equalled only by the costliness of their several\nmountings.\n\nIn Asiatic buildings niches and recesses prevail in all convenient\nsituations, and here they are appropriated for the reception of the relics\nof antiquity and curiosities; such as models of Mecca, the tent of Hosein,\nthe gate of Kraabaallah, &c.; these three are made of pure silver, and\nrest on tables of the same metal. Many curious sabres, of all ages,\nshields, chain armour of the ancients, lances, &c., arranged with much\ntaste, adorn the interior.\n\nThe pulpit (mhembur) is of silver, and of very handsome workmanship; the\nwhole of the fitting up and arrangements had been made under the eye of\nhis Majesty, and to his good taste may be ascribed all the merit of the\nwell-ordered display for these occasions. He delighted in visiting this\nplace, which he not only designed as a tribute of his respect to the\nEmaums, but as the future repository for his own remains, when this world\nshould cease to be his place of joy, or anxious care. His intention has\nbeen fulfilled--he died in 1827, aged fifty years, much and justly beloved\nand regretted by all who knew him; his funeral obsequies were impressively\ngrand, according to Mussulmaun custom. This good and amiable King was\nsucceeded by his only son Nusseer ood deen Hyder,[5] who had just\ncompleted his twenty-second year when he began to reign.\n\nOn the evening of Mayndhie, the crowds of admiring people were admitted to\nview their Paidshah's (King's) exhibition; until the distant sounds of\nmusketry announced the approach of the spectacle, when the multitude were\ndesired to quit the Emaum-baarah. Hundreds still lingering, could not be\nprevailed on to depart, except by the stripes dealt out unsparingly from\nthe whips of the hurkaarahs[6] and peons, appointed to keep order on the\noccasion. The place cleared, and quiet restored, I had leisure to view the\nfairy-like palace of splendour, before the bustle of the procession\nreached the building. I could hardly persuade myself the picture before me\nwas not a dream, instead of a reality.\n\nI stood at the entrance to watch the approach of the minister's train,\nthrough the gateway into the illuminated quadrangle. Spacious as this\ncourt-yard is, it was nearly filled with the many people forming the\nMayndhie parade. I should imagine there could not be less than three\nthousand souls engaged in this service, including the match-lock soldiery.\nSeveral trays of Mayndhie are brought, with the other requisites for the\nusual forms of marriage gifts, such as sweetmeats, dried fruits, garlands\nof sweet jasmine, imitative beds of flowers, composed of uberuck: in some\nof the flowers, fireworks were concealed, to be let off in the quadrangle.\nAn imitative tomb on a bier is also paraded, together with the palkie and\nchundole of silver, which are the covered conveyances for females of the\nroyal family, or such of the nobility as are privileged by grants from the\ncrown; all other females use the covered palkie, mahanah, dhollee, and the\nrutt.[7] Several bands of music follow, and torches out of number. The\nelephants, camels, cavalry, &c., are left in the open space, outside the\ngateway--the gentlemen, dismounting, enter with Dhull Dhull and the trays\nof Mayndhie.\n\nI trembled for the probable destruction of the brilliant ornaments in the\nEmaum-baarah, when I heard the noble animal was to make the circuit round\nthe Tazia. Dhull Dhull, being led in, went up the steps with little\ndifficulty; and to my astonishment, the gentle creature paced the\ntesselated floor, in very slow time, without once slipping, or seeming\nconcerned at the novelty of his situation; indeed, this docile animal\nseemed to me the only living thing present that felt no interest in the\nscene--rendered more attractive and conspicuous by the gentle manners of\nthe pretty Dhull Dhull himself. The circuit being made, he was conducted\nback into the court-yard, without the slightest accident or confusion\noccurring during his visit to the Emaum-baarah.\n\nThe model of the tomb of Cossum, the chundole and palkie, the trays of\nMayndhie, sweetmeats, &c. were deposited here until the tenth day, when\nthey accompany the King's temporary Tazia cavalcade to Kraabaallah for\ninterment.\n\nThe ceremonies performed on this night of Mayndhie resemble, in every\nparticular, those of the same rank of persons on the actual solemnization\nof a wedding, even to the distribution of money amongst the populace who\ncrowd in multitudes on such occasions, though apparently more eager for\nthe prize than the sight.\n\nThe most imposing spectacle in the celebration of Mahurrum, is reserved\nfor the last day;[8] and, judging from the activity of all classes, the\nzealous exertions of the multitude, the deep interest marked on every face,\nmale and female, a mere spectator might well imagine this morning to be of\nmore importance than any other in the Mussulmaun's catalogue of days.\n\nAt the earliest hour of the dawning day, the preparations for the march\nbeing complete,--which had occupied the hours usually devoted to\nsleep,--the streets and roads present a very animated picture. From the\nbustle and outpouring of the multitude, on this one absorbing engagement,\na stranger might be led back in imagination to the flight from Egypt; the\nobject, however, is very different from that of the children of Israel.\nThe order of the day being to commemorate the death of Hosein, a grand\nmilitary funeral is pourtrayed in each person's cavalcade, all pressing\nforward to their chosen Kraabaallah,--the poor man, with his humble Tazia\nand flags, falling in the rear of the more affluent person's display, as\nwell for protection as for speed. There is so much of similarity in these\nprocessions, that the description of one will be sufficient to convey the\nidea of the whole, as they pass on in succession to the chosen place of\nburial.[9]\n\nThe consecrated banners take the precedence, in the order of march,\ncarried by men on elephants; then a band of music. Next comes the\njillewdhar[10] (sword-bearer), supporting, on a black staff, the bow\nreversed, with brilliant swords suspended; on each side of him are men\nbearing black poles, on which are fixed immense long streamers of black\nunspun silk,--designed to symbolize grief, despair, &c.\n\nThen follows the horse, caparisoned as on the day of consecrating the\nbanners; it is attended by servants, in the same order as when a prince\nrides out,--viz. a man with the afthaadah[11] (or sun),--the well-dressed\ngrooms, holding the bridle rein on either side,--a man with the chowrie of\npeacock's feathers in a silver handle,--chobdhaahs[12] with long silver\nand gold staffs,--sota badhaahs,[13] with short staffs resembling fish, of\nthe same materials,--hurkaarahs (running-footmen, or messengers), bearing\nsmall triangular banners with silver handles,--shoe-bearers, &c.\n\nThe royal chattah[14] (umbrella), of embroidered velvet, is supported over\nthe head of Dhull Dhull. This article in its plain garb, so generally used\nin Europe, is, in Hindoostaun, an original distinguishing mark of royalty,\ngracing the King's throne in lieu of a canopy. In Oude, the chattah cannot\nbe used by the subject when in view of the sovereign; if the King's\ndunkah[15] be heard abroad, the people hide their chattahs, and even\ndescend from their carriages, elephants, horses, or palkies, standing with\ntheir hands folded, in all humility, to make obeisance to the\nKing,--resuming them only when the royal cort\u00e8ge has moved out of sight. I\nhave known many of the first nobility in the Court of Oude, and English\ngentlemen in the King's suite, exposed to the rays of the morning sun,\nduring the hottest season of the year; in these airings, the King alone\nhas the benefit of a chattah, except the Resident happens to be of the\nparty, who being always received as an equal, is privileged to the chattah,\nthe chowrie, and the hookha; indulgences of which those only who have\nlived in India can possibly estimate the true value.\n\nBut to my subject:--The saddle is adorned with Hosein's chain armour, gold\nturban, a richly set sword, with an embroidered belt: some of the family\nand friends attend respectfully near the horse. Then follow the bearers of\nincense, in gold censers, suspended to chains, which they wave about,\nfumigating the air with the refreshing smell of lahbaun,[16]--a\nsweet-scented resin from the cedar of Lebanon, I imagine, though some\nsuppose it to be the frankincense noticed in Scripture.\n\nNext in the cavalcade is a chanter or reader of the Musseeah, who selects\npassages from that well-arranged work suited to the time when Hosein's\nperson was the mark for Yuzeed's arrows, and which describe his conduct on\nthe trying occasion; one or two couplets being chanted, the procession\nadvances in slow time, halting every five minutes on the way from the\nbeginning to the end of the march. The reader is attended by the\nproprietor of the Tazia display, and his many relatives and friends,\nbare-footed, and without any covering on their heads;--many of these\npersons throw chaff on their heads,[17] expressive of grief, and whilst\nthe Musseeah is chanted, their boisterous expressions of sorrow are\npainfully severe to the mere observer of the scene.\n\nThe Tazia then follows, surrounded by banners, and covered with a canopy\nupheld by silver poles in the hands of the supporters, according to the\ngeneral style of conveying their dead at the funerals of the Mussulmauns.\nThe canopy is of green, bordered and embroidered with gold. The model of\nCossum's tomb follows in succession, which is covered with gold cloth, and\nhas a canopy also supported over it, in the same way, by poles carried by\nseveral men. The palkie and chundole of silver and tissue are next seen;\nthe trays of Mayndhie, the flowers of uberuck, and the other paraphernalia\nof the marriage ceremony, follow in due order. Then the camels and\nelephants, conveying the tent equipage and luggage of Hosein, form a long\ntrain, representing the supposed style of his march from Medina to\nKraabaallah.\n\nThe last and most judicious feature in the arrangement is the several\nelephants with confidential servants, distributing bread and money to the\npoor, who are thus attracted to the rear in countless numbers, leaving the\ncavalcade in quiet possession of the space of roadway uncrowded by the\nmultitude. The bread given on these occasions is in great esteem amongst\nthe females, who receive a small portion from the followers on their\nreturn from Kraabaallah with veneration, for the Emaum's sake, in whose\nname it is given. I have often been led to the remembrance of past times\nby this act of theirs, when the cross-buns of Good-Friday were esteemed by\nthe aged women as possessing virtues beyond the mere substance of the cake.\n\nThe whole line of march is guarded in each procession by burkhandhars[18]\n(matchlock men), who fire singly, at intervals on the way. Several bands\nof music are dispersed in the cavalcade, performing solemn dirge-like airs,\npeculiar to the style of composition in Hindoostaun and well-suited to the\noccasion--muffled drums and shrill trumpets, imitating the reiteration of\n'Hasan, Hosein', when Mortem is performed. I remember a fine female\nelephant, belonging to King Ghauzee ood deen Hyder, which had been so well\ninstructed, as to keep time with the soundings from her proboscis with the\noccasional Mortems. I cannot say that she clearly pronounced the names of\nthe two sons of Ali, yet the regularity of keeping time with the music and\nthe human voices was of itself sufficient to excite admiration--the\nNatives declare that she pronounces the names distinctly. Her name is\nHoseinie, the feminine of Hosein.\n\nAmongst the many varieties of Native musical instruments I have seen in\nIndia, the kettle-drum is the most simple and singular, which I will take\nthe liberty of describing:--It is of well-baked earth, moulded in the\nusual way, and very similar in shape to those of the Royal Horse Guards. A\nglobe of the common size, divided into exact halves, would be about the\ndimension and shape of a pair of Indian manufacture; the parchment is\nstrained over the open mouth, with a thin hoop to fix it firm; the\nslightest pressure with the fingers on this hoop draws it into tune. The\nsimplicity of this accompaniment to the human voice, when touched by the\nfingers, very much in the way Europeans use the tambourine, is only to be\nappreciated by those who have been long acquainted with the sound. The\nonly time when it is beaten with sticks is, when used as dunkahs, before\nthe King and Queen, on their appearing in public--a sort of alarum to warn\nobstructing hackeries, or carriages, to move out of the way.\n\nI have occasionally observed a singular mode of imitating the sound of\ncavalry going over hard ground, adopted in the processions of great men on\nthe tenth of Mahurrum; the contrivance is called chuckee,[19] and composed\nof ebony, or some equally hard wood, the shape and size of a pocket globe,\ndivided into halves; each person, having the pair, beats them with a\nparticular tact on the flat surface, so as to produce the desired sound of\nhorses galloping; and where from fifty to a hundred men, or more, are\nengaged in this performance, the resemblance may be easily conceived.\n\nThere are many little observances, not of sufficient importance to make\nthem general to all who keep Mahurrum, that need not here be\ndetailed;--but one must not be omitted, as it is a feature in the domestic\nobservances of Mussulmauns. On the Tazias, when about to be conveyed to\nKraabaallah, I discovered small portions of corn, rice, bread, fruits,\nflowers, cups of water, &c.;--this is in keeping with the Mussulmaun\nfunerals, who invariably convey food to the tomb with their dead.[1] For\nthe same reason, at Mahurrum, camphor and rosewater are always carried\nwith the Tazia to Kraabaallah, although there is not the same occasion for\nthe articles, as will be observed when the burial service is explained.\n\nI have seen females of rank, with their own hands, place red and green wax\nlights in front of the Tazia in their halls, on the night of Mayndhie. I\nwas told, in answer to my inquiry, What was meant by the solemn process I\nhad witnessed?--that these ladies had some petition to make, for which\nthey sought the Emaum's intercession at the throne of mercy. The red light\nwas for Hosein, who died in battle; the green for Hasan, who died by\npoison,--which these colours symbolize; and that those females place great\ndependance on the fulfilment of their desires, who thus present to their\nEmaums the wax lights on the night of Mayndhie.\n\nI have remarked that the noblemen and gentlemen generally engaged in the\nservice of celebrating Mahurrum, walk on the tenth morning with their\nheads bare and their feet uncovered from their homes to the burial\nground[2] called Kraabaallah, whatever may be the distance,--perhaps four\nor five miles,--exposed to the fiery rays of the sun: some persons, who on\nthis occasion are very scrupulous in thus humbling their nature, walk back\nagain in the same manner, after the funeral ceremony has been duly gone\nthrough at Kraabaallah. The magnitude of this undertaking can be only well\nunderstood by those who have experienced the state of an atmosphere in the\nshady rooms of a large house, when the thermometer ranges from eighty-four\nto eighty-eight, or even ninety degrees; and when, if you venture to the\nverandah for a few seconds, the flames of heated wind are not only\ninsupportable to Europeans, but frequently produce severe attacks of fever.\nThe luxurious habits of the Eastern great men may be well recollected when\ncounting over the proofs of zeal exhibited in this undertaking, where\nevery selfish consideration for the time is banished. The nobility (or\nindeed any one who lays the slightest claim to gentility) never walk from\none house to another during their lives, but at this particular season;\neven in their gardens indulging in whatever luxury they may boast, by\nbeing conveyed round in their palkie, or thonjaun[22]--a chair with poles,\nsupported by bearers. On the tenth day, the good Mussulmauns rigidly fast\nuntil after the third watch; not even a drop of water, or the hookha,\nenters their mouths;--as they believe Hosein's sufferings only concluded\njust before the third watch, they cautiously abstain from indulgences,\nuntil that hour has passed.\n\nThe procession having reached Kraabaallah, the whole ceremony of a funeral\nis gone through. The Tazia is committed to the grave with equal solemnity\nto that which is observed when their dead are deposited in the tomb: this\noccupies some time. I never witnessed the movements at Kraabaallah,--the\nseason of the year, the confusion, and the anticipated feuds between\nSheahs and Soonies, ever deterred me from gratifying my curiosity. It is\nalways expected that the bad feelings between the two sects, amongst the\nlower orders of the people, may produce a real battle on the imitative\nground of Kraabaallah; and I have heard of many such terminations of the\nMahurrum at Lucknow, where the enthusiastic Sheahs and Soonies--having\nreserved their long hatred for a favourable opportunity of giving it\nvent,[23]--have found an early grave on the very ground to which their\nTazia has been consigned. Private quarrels are often reserved for decision\non the field of Kraabaallah.\n\nI may here remark, swords form a part of every man's daily costume, from\nthe king to the poorest peasant; save only the devout men, who having\nforsaken the world have no occasion for a sword. I have often heard them\nsay, 'My trust is not resting on a morsel of steel, but on the great mercy\nof my God'.--'What shall I defend? my life? Where is the arm that can\nassault me without the permission of my God; if He ordains it, should I\nmurmur, or ward off the blow?'--'Is it my worldly goods I am to defend?\nFrom whose bounty have I received them? Is not the great Giver able to\ndefend His gifts? and if He wills that I should lose them, what shall I\nsay, but as Yoube[24] (Job) said, \"It is the Lord, to do His own will\";\nblessed be His great name for ever.' These are the sentiments of the\ndevout men of all creeds; and these are likewise the exemplary opinions of\nsome good Mussulmauns I have known in India.\n\nReturned to their home, the rich men are occupied in dispensing benefits\namong the poor. Food, money, and clothes, are distributed in nearly as\ngreat proportions as when they have to mourn over a recent separation by\ndeath from a beloved relative. The clothes worn during Mahurrum are never\nretained for the next occasion, but always distributed amongst the poor,\nwho derive so many advantages from the annual commemoration of Mahurrum,\nthat the philanthropic heart will rather be pleased than vexed at the zeal\nwhich produces such a harvest of benefits to the necessitous.\n\nThe riches of a native city may be calculated by the immense sums expended\nat Mahurrum every year; and if no greater advantage be derived from the\ngorgeous display of the wealthy, than the stimulus to honest industry\namongst the several trades, whose labour is brought into use on these\noccasions, there is enough in the result to excuse the expenditure of\nsurplus cash in apparent trifles. This, however, is strictly the result,\nnot the design, of those expensive displayers at Mahurrum, who are\nactuated solely by fervent zeal, in keeping a continued remembrance of the\nsufferings of their Emaums, and doing honour to their memory.\n\nIt is not my province either to praise or condemn, but merely to mark out\nwhat I observe of singularity in the habits, manners, and customs of the\nMussulmauns, in whose domestic circles I have been so many years a\nsojourner. On the subject which my pen has faintly traced to your\nview,--the celebration of Mahurrum,--I cannot refrain from offering one\nremark; I think them to be actuated by so fervent a zeal, that if they\ncould believe with me, that whatever we do in this life is for Eternity,\nthey would still persevere in this their supposed duty of honouring their\nEmaums.\n\n\n[1] _Mendhi_ in its primary sense is the plant _Lawsonia alba_, the\n    leaves of which are used for dyeing the hands and feet of the bride\n    and bridegroom; hence, the marriage rites on this occasion.\n\n[2] This edifice was built under the superintendence of Ghauzee ood deen\n    Hyder, first King of Oude; and it is here his remains are deposited.\n    May his soul rest in peace! [_Author_.] [This building was named after\n    Shah Najaf or Najaf Ashraf, the scene of the martyrdom of 'Ali,\n    120 miles south-west of Baghdad. The capture of the Shah Najaf, in\n    which the guns of Captain Peel played a leading part, was a notable\n    incident in the relief of Lucknow by Sir Colin Campbell.--T.R.E.\n    Holmes, _History of the Indian Mutiny_ (1885), 398 ff.]\n\n[3] The Gumti, Gomati, 'abounding in cattle'.\n\n[4] The fish is a symbol of sovereignty, or authority emanating from the\n    sovereign, in Hindoostaun, since the period of Timour.--Possessors of\n    Jaghires, Collectors of Districts, &c., have permission to use the\n    fish, in the decorations on their flags, in the way similar to our\n    armorial bearings. In Oude the fish is represented in many useful\n    articles--pleasure boats, carriages, &c. Some of the King's Chobdhaars\n    carry a staff representing a gold or silver fish. [_Author_.] [The\n    Order of the Fish (_mahi maratib_) is said to have been founded\n    by Khusru Parviz, King of Persia (A.D. 591-628), and thence\n    passed to the Moghul Emperors of Delhi and to the Court of Oudh.--W.H.\n    Sleeman, _Rambles and Recollections_, ed. V.A. Smith, 135 ff.]\n\n[5] Nasir-ud-din Haidar, son of Ghazi-ud-din Haidar, whom\n    he succeeded in 1827, died, poisoned by his own family, in 1837. 'He\n    differed from his father, Ghazi-ud-din Haidar, in being\n    considerably more debauched and disreputable. His father had been an\n    outwardly decent hedonist and voluptuary, but the son was under no\n    restraints of any sort or kind, and it is probable that his character\n    was not unfavourably depicted in that highly coloured sketch, \"The\n    Private Life of an Eastern King\" (by W. Knighton, 1855). \"Any one\", we\n    are told, \"was his friend who would drink with him,\" and his whole\n    reign was one continued satire upon the subsidiary and protected\n    system.'--H.C. Irwin, _The Garden of India_, p. 117.\n\n[6] _Harkara_, 'a messenger, orderly'.\n\n[7] _Palki_, the common palanquin or litter; _chandol_, usually carried\n    by four men at each end (a drawing representing one carried by twelve\n    men will be found in N. Manucci, _Storia do Mogor_, iv. 32, and see ii.\n    76 f.;) _miyana_, a middle-sized litter out of which the type used\n    by Europeans was developed; the Anglo-Indian 'dhooly', properly\n    _duli_; the _rath_ is a kind of bullock-carriage, often with\n    four wheels, used by women and by portly merchants.\n\n[8] Known as 'Ashura.\n\n[9] See a graphic account of the procession at Bombay in Sir G. Birdwood,\n    _Sva_, 177 ff.\n\n[10] _Jilaudar, Jalaudar_, properly an attendant holding the bridle\n    of a mounted officer or magnate.\n\n[11] The afthaadah is a sun embroidered on crimson velvet, both sides the\n    same, and fixed on a circular framework, about two yards in\n    circumference; this is attached to a silver or gold staff, the circle\n    deeply and fully flounced with gold brocade, or rich silk bound with\n    silver ribands. The person riding is sheltered from the rays of the\n    sun by the afthaadah being carried in an elevated position.\n    [_Author_.] (See p. 38.)\n\n[12] _Chobdar_, 'a stick-or staff-bearer'.\n\n[13] _Sontabardar_, 'a bearer of the silver stick or mace'.\n\n[14] _Chhata_, a mark of dignity in the East.\n\n[15] _Danka_, 'a kettle-drum'.\n\n[16] _Loban_, _luban_, frankincense, olibanum, procured from various\n    species of _Boswellia_.\n\n[17] As early as A.D. 1000 the people of Baghdad used to throw dust and\n    ashes about the streets, and dress in black sackcloth on the\n    anniversary of the death of Husain (Ockley, _History of the Saracens_,\n    418). The custom was common among the Hebrews (Isaiah iii. 26, xlvii.\n    1; Job ii. 8, & c.). Robertson Smith suggests that the dust was\n    originally taken from the grave, and the ashes from the funeral pyre\n    (_Religion, of the Semites_, 413).\n\n[18] _Barqandaz_, 'lightning-darter'.\n\n[19] _Charkhi_; the description is reproduced, without acknowledgement,\n    by Mrs. Parks, _Wanderings of a Pilgrim_, i. 299.\n\n[20] The practice of offering food to the dead is an Indian innovation on\n    Musalman practice; it is based on the Hindu custom of offering\n    flour-balls (_pinda_) to the spirit of the dead man.\n\n[21] This was a Hebrew practice, condemned by the prophets (2 Samuel\n    xv. 30; Ezekiel xxiv. 17).\n\n[22] _Tamjhan, thamjan_, the Anglo-Indian 'tonjon' or\n    'tomjohn', the derivation of which is obscure. See Yule,\n    _Hobson-Jobson_[2], 930 f.\n\n[23] Ill-feeling between Sunnis and Shi'ahs is not universal in\n    India. 'Though the Sunnis consider the Shi'ah observances as\n    impious, they look on with the contempt of indifference. The fact that\n    the British Government punishes all who break the peace may have\n    something to do with this. Still the Sunni and the Shi'ah in\n    India live on much better terms, and have more respect for each other\n    than the Turk has for the Persian, or the Persian for the Turk. Some\n    Musalman poets, indeed, are both Sunnis and Shi'ahs.'--E.\n    Sell, _The Faith of Islam_, 292 f.; cf. p. 14.\n\n[24] Aiyub.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER V\n\n  Time.--How divided in Hindoostaun.--Observances after\n  Mahurrum.--Luxuries and enjoyments resumed.--Black dye used by the\n  ladies.--Their nose-ring.--Number of rings worn in their ears.--Mode\n  of dressing their hair.--Aversion to our tooth-brushes.--Toilet of\n  the ladies.--The Pyjaamahs.--The Ungeeah (bodice).--The Courtie.--The\n  Deputtah.--Reception of a superior or elder amongst the\n  ladies.--Their fondness for jewels.--Their shoes.--The state of\n  society amongst the Mussulmaun ladies.--Their conversational\n  endowments.--Remarks upon the fashion and duty of beards.\n\n\nIn my last I alluded to the 'third watch'; it will now, perhaps, be\nnecessary to explain the divisions of time, as observed by the Mussulmauns\nof Hindoostaun.\n\nThe day is divided into four equal parts, or watches, denominated\npurrhs[1]; as, first purrh, second purrh, &c. The night is also divided\ninto four purrhs, each of which is subdivided into ghurries[2] (hours),\nvarying in number with the changes of season; the longest days require\neight ghurries to one purrh; the shortest, only six. The same division is\nobserved for the night. The day is reckoned from the earliest dawn to the\nlast decline of light:--there is very little twilight in the Upper\nProvinces of India.\n\nBy this method of calculating time, you will understand that they have no\noccasion for those useful, correct, mechanical time-keepers, in general\nuse in Europe; but they have a simple method of measuring the hour, by\nmeans of a brass vessel, with a small aperture at the bottom, which, being\nfloated on a tank or large pan of water, one drop to a second of time\nforces its way through the aperture into the floating vessel, on which\nmarks are made outside and in, to direct the number of ghurries by the\ndepth of water drawn into it; and in some places, a certain division of\ntime is marked by the sinking of the vessel. Each hour, as it passes, is\nstruck by the man on duty with a hammer on a broad plate of bell-metal,\nsuspended to the branch of a tree, or to a rail;--the gong of an English\nshowman at the country fairs is the exact resemblance of the metal plates\nused in India for striking the hours on, and must, I think, have been\nintroduced into England from the East.\n\nThe durwaun (gate-keeper), or the chokeedhars (watchmen), keep the time.[3]\nIn most establishments the watchmen are on guard two at a time, and are\nrelieved at every watch, day and night. On these men devolves the care of\nobserving the advance of time by the floating vessel, and striking the\nhour, in which duty they are required to be punctual, as many of the\nMussulmauns' services of prayer are scrupulously performed at the\nappointed hours, which will be more particularly explained when their\ncreed is brought forward in a future Letter; and now, after this\ndigression, I will pursue my subject.\n\nWhen a member of the Mussulmaun family dies, the master of the house\nmourns forty days, during which period the razor is laid aside.[4] In the\nsame manner the devout Mussulmaun mourns every year for his martyred\nEmaums; this, however, is confined to the most religious men; the general\npractice of the many is to throw off their mourning garb and restore the\nrazor to its duties on the third day after the observances of Mahurrum\nhave terminated.\n\nIt is stated, on the authority of ancient Arabian writers, on whose\nveracity all Mussulmauns rely, that the head of Hosein being taken to\nYuzeed, one of his many wives solicited and received the head, which she\ngave to the family of the martyred leader, who were prisoners to the King,\nand that they contrived to have it conveyed to Kraabaallah, where it was\ndeposited in the same grave with his body on the fortieth day after the\nbattle.[5]\n\nWhen a death occurs in a Mussulmaun family, the survivor provides dinners\non the third, seventh, and fortieth days succeeding, in memory of the\ndeceased person; these dinners are sent in trays to the immediate\nrelatives and friends of the party,--on which sacred occasion all the poor\nand the beggars are sought to share the rich food provided. The like\ncustoms are observed for Hosein every year. The third day offering is\nchiefly composed of sugar, ghee, and flour, and called meetah[6]; it is of\nthe consistence of our rice-puddings, and whether the dainty is sent to a\nking or a beggar there is but one style in the presentation--all is served\nin the common brown earthen dish,--in imitation of the humility of Hosein\nand his family, who seldom used any other in their domestic circle. The\ndishes of meetah are accompanied with the many varieties of bread common\nto Hindoostaun, without leaven, as sheah-maul,[7] bacherkaunie,[8]\nchapaatie,[9] &c.; the first two have milk and ghee mixed with the flour,\nand nearly resemble our pie-crust. I must here stay to remark one custom I\nhave observed amongst Natives: they never cook food whilst a dead body\nremains in the house;[10] as soon as it is known amongst a circle of\nfriends that a person is dead, ready-dressed dinners are forwarded to the\nhouse for them, no one fancying he is conferring a kindness, but\nfulfilling a duty.\n\nThe third day after the accomplishment of the Mahurrum ceremonies is a\nbusy time with the inmates of zeenahnahs, when generally the mourning garb\nis thrown off, and preparations commence at an early hour in the morning\nfor bathing and replacing the banished ornaments. Abstinence and privation\nbeing no longer deemed meritorious by the Mussulmauns, the pawn--the dear\ndelightful pawn, which constitutes the greatest possible luxury to the\nNatives,--pours in from the bazaar, to gladden the eye and rejoice the\nheart of all classes, who after this temporary self-denial enjoy the\nluxury with increased zest.\n\nAgain the missee[11] (a preparation of antimony) is applied to the lips,\nthe gums, and occasionally to the teeth of every married lady, who emulate\neach other in the rich black produced;--such is the difference of taste as\nregards beauty;--where we admire the coral hue, with the females of\nHindoostaun, Nature is defaced by the application of black dye. The eyelid\nalso is pencilled afresh with prepared black, called kaarjil[12]: the\nchief ingredient in this preparation is lampblack. The eyebrow is well\nexamined for fear an ill-shaped hair should impair the symmetry of that\narch esteemed a beauty in every clime, though all do not, perhaps,\nexercise an equal care with Eastern dames to preserve order in its growth.\nThe mayndhie is again applied to the hands and feet, which restores the\nbright red hue deemed so becoming and healthy.\n\nThe nose once more is destined to receive the nutt[13] (ring) which\ndesignates the married lady; this ring, I have before mentioned, is of\ngold wire, the pearls and ruby between them are of great value, and I have\nseen many ladies wear the nutt as large in circumference as the bangle on\nher wrist, though of course much lighter; it is often worn so large, that\nat meals they are obliged to hold it apart from the face with the left\nhand, whilst conveying food to the mouth with the other. This nutt,\nhowever, from ancient custom, is indispensable with married women, and\nthough they may find it disagreeable and inconvenient, it cannot possibly\nbe removed, except for Mahurrum, from the day of their marriage until\ntheir death or widowhood, without infringing on the originality of their\ncustoms, in adhering to which they take so much pride.\n\nThe ears of the females are pierced in many places; the gold or silver\nrings return to their several stations after Mahurrum, forming a broad\nfringe of the precious metals on each side the head; but when they dress\nfor great events,--as paying visits or receiving company,--these give\nplace to strings of pearls and emeralds, which fall in rows from the upper\npart of the ear to the shoulder in a graceful, elegant style. My ayah, a\nvery plain old woman, has no less than ten silver rings in one ear and\nnine in the other,[15] each of them having pendant ornaments; indeed, her\nears are literally fringed with silver.\n\nAfter the hair has undergone all the ceremonies of washing, drying, and\nanointing with the sweet jessamine oil of India, it is drawn with great\nprecision from the forehead to the back, where it is twisted into a queue\nwhich generally reaches below the waist; the ends are finished with strips\nof red silk and silver ribands entwined with the hair, and terminating\nwith a good-sized rosette. The hair is jet black, without a single\nvariation of tinge, and luxuriantly long and thick, and thus dressed\nremains for the week,--about the usual interval between their laborious\nprocess of bathing;--nor can they conceive the comfort other people find\nin frequent brushing and combing the hair. Brushes for the head and the\nteeth have not yet been introduced into Native families, nor is it ever\nlikely they will, unless some other material than pigs' bristles can be\nrendered available by the manufacturers for the present purposes of\nbrushes. The swine is altogether considered abominable to Mussulmauns; and\nsuch is their detestation of the unclean animal that the most angry\nepithet from a master to a slave would be to call him 'seur'[15] (swine).\n\nIt must not, however, be supposed that the Natives neglect their teeth;\nthey are the most particular people living in this respect, as they never\neat or drink without washing their mouths before and after meals; and as a\nsubstitute for our tooth-brush, they make a new one every day from the\ntender branch of a tree or shrub,--as the pomegranate, the neem,[16]\nbabool,[17] &c. The fresh-broken twig is bruised and made pliant at the\nextremity, after the bark or rind is stripped from it, and with this the\nmen preserve the enamelled-looking white teeth which excite the admiration\nof strangers; and which, though often envied, I fancy, are never surpassed\nby European ingenuity.\n\nAs I have rather prematurely introduced the Native ladies' style of dress\ninto this Letter, I may as well conclude the whole business of their\ntoilet under the present head, instead of reserving the detail of the\nsubject for a future Letter when the zeenahnah is to be described, and\naccordingly proceed to tell you that the ladies' pyjaamahs are formed of\nrich satin, or gold cloth, goolbudden,[18] or mussheroo[19] (striped\nwashing silks manufactured at Benares), fine chintz,--English manufacture\nhaving the preference,--silk or cotton ginghams,--in short, all such\nmaterials are used for this article of female dress as are of sufficiently\nfirm texture, down to the white calico of the country, suited to the means\nof the wearer. By the most fashionable females they are worn very full\nbelow the knee, and reach to the feet, which are partially covered by the\nfulness, the extremity finished and the seams are bound with silver riband;\na very broad silver riband binds the top of the pyjaamah; this being\ndouble has a zarbund[20] (a silk net cord) run through, by which this part\nof the dress is confined at the waist. The ends of the zarbund are\nfinished with rich tassels of gold and silver, curiously and expressly\nmade for this purpose, which extend below the knees: for full dress, these\ntassels are rendered magnificent with pearls and jewels.\n\nOne universal shape is adopted in the form of the ungeeah[21] (bodice),\nwhich is, however, much varied in the material and ornamental part; some\nare of gauze or net, muslin, &c., the more transparent in texture the more\nagreeable to taste, and all are more or less ornamented with spangles and\nsilver trimmings. It is made to fit the bust with great exactness, and to\nfasten behind with strong cotton cords; the sleeves are very short and\ntight, and finished with some fanciful embroidery or silver riband. Even\nthe women servants pride themselves on pretty ungeeahs, and all will\nstrive to have a little finery about them, however coarse the material it\nis formed of may happen to be. They are never removed at night but\ncontinue to be worn a week together, unless its beauty fades earlier, or\nthe ornamental parts tarnish through extreme heat.\n\nWith the ungeeah is worn a transparent courtie (literally translated shirt)\nof thread net; this covers the waistband of the pyjaamah but does not\nscreen it; the seams and hems are trimmed with silver or gold ribands.\n\nThe deputtah is a useful envelope, and the most graceful part of the whole\nfemale costume. In shape and size, a large sheet will convey an idea of\nthe deputtah's dimensions; the quality depends on choice or circumstances;\nthe preference is given to our light English manufacture of leno or muslin\nfor every-day wear by gentlewomen; but on gala days, gold and silver gauze\ntissues are in great request, as is also fine India muslin manufactured at\nDecca--transparent and soft as the web of the gossamer spider;--this is\ncalled shubnum[22] (night dew), from its delicate texture, and is procured\nat a great expense, even in India; some deputtahs are formed of\ngold-worked muslin, English crape, coloured gauze, &c. On ordinary\noccasions ladies wear them simply bound with silver riband, but for dress\nthey are richly trimmed with embroidery and bullion fringes, which add\nmuch to the splendour of the scene, when two or three hundred females are\ncollected together in their assemblies. The deputtah is worn with much\noriginal taste on the back of the head, and falls in graceful folds over\nthe person; when standing, it is crossed in front, one end partially\nscreening the figure, the other thrown over the opposite shoulder.\n\nI should say they rarely stand; but when distinguished guests, or their\nelders amongst relatives, are announced, this mark of respect is never\nomitted. It is an interesting sight, as they have much ease and grace in\ntheir manner, which no tutoring could impart; they rise and arrange their\ndrapery, advance a few steps from their place in the hall, and embrace\ntheir visitor thrice in due form, ending by salaaming, with the head bowed\nvery low towards the ground and the open hand raised to the forehead,\nthree times in succession, with solemnity and dignity.\n\nI have told you, in a former Letter, how many precious ornaments were laid\naside on the eve of Mahurrum, and need hardly describe them again. Their\nfondness for good jewellery perhaps exceeds the same propensity in any\nother females on the globe: the rude workmanship of Native jewellers is\nnever an object of weighty consideration, provided the precious metals are\nunalloyed in quality. The same may be remarked in their selection of\njewels: pearls of the largest size, even when discoloured or misshapen,\nare selected in preference to the most regular in form and colour, of a\nsmaller size; large diamonds, having flaws, are often preferred to smaller\nones most perfect. The gentlemen are good judges of precious stones, and\nevince some taste in their style of ornaments; they are worn on their\nturbans, and in necklaces or harrhs[23]--rings, armlets, &c.; but these\nare all laid aside at seasons of devotion, when they are restricted\nwearing, not only ornaments, but mixed articles of silk and wool in their\napparel. The most religious men and women invariably abstain from\nornamental dress in every way, deeming it frivolous vanity, and\ninconsistent with that they profess--'to be seeking God, and forsaking\nworldly things'.\n\nThe ladies never wear stockings,[24] and only cover the feet with shoes\nwhen pacing across their court-yard, which bounds their view and their\nwalks. Nevertheless, there is a fashion and taste about the ladies' shoes,\nwhich is productive of much emulation in zeenahnah life;--they are\nsplendidly worked in many patterns, with gold and silver spangles,\nvariously-coloured small seed beads and embroidery--the whole one mass of\nglittering metal;--they are made with sharp points curling upwards, some\nnearly reaching half-way to the knees, and always worn down at the heel,\nas dressing slippers; the least costly for their every-day wear are of\ngold embroidery on velvet; the less opulent condescend to wear tinsel work,\nand the meanest servants yellow or red cloth with silver binding. The same\nstyle of shoes are worn by the males as by the females; I have seen some\nyoung men with green shagreen slippers for the rainy season; these are\nmade with a high heel and look unseemly. The fashion of shoes varies with\nthe times in this country, as well as in others--sometimes it is genteel\nto have small points to the shoes; at another, the points are long and\nmuch curled; but they still retain the preference for pointed shoes\nwhatever be the fashion adopted.\n\nThe greatest novelty in the way of shoes, which came under my observation\nin India, was a pair of silver embroidery, small pointed, and very neatly\nmade: on the points and round the instep small silver bells were fastened,\nwhich produced harmony with every step, varied by the quick or more gentle\npaces of the wearer; these were a present to me from a lady of distinction\nin Oude. Upon visiting this lady on one occasion, my black silk slippers,\nwhich I had left at the entrance (as is the custom here), had most likely\nattracted the curiosity of the Begum's slaves, for when that lady attended\nme to the threshold, they could nowhere be found; and I was in danger of\nbeing obliged to soil my stockings by walking shoeless to my palkie,\nacross the court-yard. In this dilemma the lady proffered me the pair here\ndescribed; I was much amused with the novelty of the exchange, upon\nstepping into the musical shoes, which, however they may be prized by\nNative ladies, did not exactly suit my style of dress, nor convenience in\nwalking, although I must always remember the Begum's attention with\ngratitude.\n\n\nThe ladies' society is by no means insipid or without interest; they are\nnaturally gifted with good sense and politeness, fond of conversation,\nshrewd in their remarks, and their language is both correct and refined.\nThis, at first, was an enigma to me, considering that their lives are\nspent in seclusion, and that their education was not conducted on European\nprinciples; the mystery, however, has passed away upon an intimate\nacquaintance with the domestic habits of the people. The men with whom\ngenteel women converse, are generally well educated, and from the\nnaturally inquisitive disposition of the females, not a word escapes the\nlips of a father, husband, or brother, without an inquiry as to its\nmeaning, which having once ascertained, is never forgotten, because their\nattention is not diverted by a variety of pursuits, or vain amusements.\nThe women look up to the opinions of their male relatives with the same\nrespect as children of other climes are accustomed to regard their tutor\nor governess,--considering every word pronounced as worthy of imitation,\nand every sentiment expressed, as a guide to their own. Thus the habit of\nspeaking correctly is so familiar to the females of Mussulmaun society,\nthat even women servants, long accustomed to serve in zeenahnahs, may be\nreadily distinguished by their language from the same class of people in\nattendance on European ladies.\n\nP.S. All good Mussulmauns are expected to wear their beards, by command of\nthe Prophet; so says my informant, who is of 'the faith', and wears his\nbeard, in accordance with the injunction of his Lawgiver. In modern times,\nhowever, the Mussulmauns have seen fit to modify the strict letter of the\nlaw, and we perceive generally, mustachios only reserved on the upper lip.\nThis ornament is trained with the nicest care amongst the fashionable\nyoung men of the present day, and made to creep over the lip at each\ncorner of the mouth with curling points; well-trained mustachios being\nwith them much esteemed.\n\nThe religious Mussulmauns become more scrupulous as they advance in\nknowledge of their faith, when they allow their beards to grow and their\nheads to be shaven; if the hair turns white--while to look well is an\nobject of interest--a dye is resorted to, composed of mayndhie and indigo,\nwhich restores its youthful appearance, and the beard retains its black\nglossy hue for about six weeks, when the process of dyeing is again made\nthe business of a convenient hour.[25] The vanities of the world ceasing\nto charm (the heart being fixed on more important subjects), the beard is\npermitted to retain its natural colour; and, truly, the venerable\ncountenance of an aged Mussulmaun, with a silvery-white beard flowing\nnearly to his girdle, is a picture that would interest every beholder well\nacquainted with Bible history.\n\nWhen the Mussulmaun determines on fulfilling the command of his Lawgiver,\nin making the pilgrimage to Mecca, the beard is allowed to grow whatever\nbe his age; and this may be considered a badge of their faith, none being\nadmitted at 'the Holy House' who have not this passport on their chin.\n\n\n[1] _Pahar_.\n\n[2] _Ghari_, about twenty-four minutes.\n\n[3] _Darwan, chaukidar_.\n\n[4] See p. 64.\n\n[5] According to the Shi'ahs, Zainu-l-'Abidin obtained from Yazid,\n    after forty days, the head of Husain, and brought it to Karbala. They\n    deny that the head is at Cairo and the body at Karbala. Others say\n    that the head was sent to Medina, and buried near the grave of\n    Fatimah.--Burton, _Pilgrimage_, ii. 40; Ockley, _History of the\n    Saracens_, 412, 415 note.\n\n[6] _Mitha_, 'sweet'.\n\n[7] _Shirmal_, bread made with milk.\n\n[8] _Baqirkhani_, a kind of crisp bread or cake, like piecrust,\n    made of milk, sugar, and flour.\n\n[9] _Chapati_, the griddle cake, the standard food of the people.\n\n[10] No food should be cooked in the house of a Musalman during the\n    forty days of mourning. Sir J.G. Frazer thinks that this is due to\n    the risk of eating the ghost clinging to the food (_Journal\n    Anthropological Institute_, xv. (1886) 92 ff.).\n\n[11] _Missi_, from _mis_, 'copper', because copper-filings form its\n    chief ingredient, to which are added myrobalan, gall-nuts, vitriol, &c.\n    The custom is based on the Arab admiration for the rose-red colour of\n    the inner lip.--Burton, _A Thousand Nights and A Night_, iii. 365.\n\n[12] _Kajal_.\n\n[13] _Nath_, a love-token presented to the bride by the bridegroom. The\n    very mention of it is considered indelicate.\n\n\n[14] They generally adopt an odd number.\n\n[15] _Suar_.\n\n[16] _Nim_ (_Melia Azidirachta_).\n\n[17] _Babul_ (_Acacia arabica_).\n\n[18] _Gulbadan_, 'with body like a rose', a fine silk fabric.\n\n[19] _Mashru_ 'conformable to law', a silk-cotton cloth, which--but not\n    pure silk--a Musulman can wear during prayer.\n\n[20] _Zerband_, 'fastening below', 'a girth'.\n\n[21] _Angiya_.\n\n[22] _Shabnam_. The finest varieties of these cloths were made at Dacca.\n    Aurungzeb is said to have remonstrated with his daughter for wearing\n    what he thought to be a _Coa vestis_. She answered that she wore seven\n    folds of this cloth.\n\n[23] _Har_, a necklace, an embroidered garland thrown round the neck of\n    a visitor on his departure, as a mark of respect. These garlands were\n    substituted for the pearl necklaces which, in former days, were\n    presented to guests.\n\n[24] 'Stockings are never worn [in the Zenana]: but I have seen little\n    coloured stockings, made of the wool from Cashmir, worn at times\n    during the cold season.'--Mrs. Parks, _Wanderings of a Pilgrim_,\n     i. 456.\n\n[25] According to the traditions, the Prophet said, 'Change the whiteness\n    of your hair, but not with anything black'. The first Caliph is said\n    to have dyed his beard red with henna. Nowadays indigo is largely used.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER VI\n\n  The Mussulmaun religion.--Sectarians.--Their difference of\n  faith.--History of the Soonies.--The Caliphas Omir, Osman, Aboubuker,\n  &c.--Mahumud's parting charge to Ali.--Omir's jealousy of Ali.--The\n  Khoraun.--How compiled.--The Calipha Omir held in detestation.--Creed\n  of the Sheahs.--Funeral service.--Opinions of the Mussulmauns\n  respecting the Millennium.--The foundation of their faith\n  exhibited.--Sentiments of the most devout followers of\n  Mahumud.--Bridge of Sirraat, the Scales, &c. explained.--Emaum\n  Mhidhie.--Prophecy of his reappearance.--Its early fulfilment\n  anticipated.--Discourse with the Meer Hadjee Shaah on this subject.\n\n\nI do not presume to offer opinions on the nature, substance, or character,\nof the Mussulmaun Faith; but confine myself to the mere relation of such\nfacts as I have received from the best possible authority, viz. the\nreligious men who are of that faith, and live in strict accordance with\nthe tenets they profess.\n\nThere are two sects of the Mussulmaun persuasion, as I have before\nremarked, viz. the Sheahs and the Soonies. The leaders of the former are\ncalled Emaums; and those of the latter Caliphas. The Sheahs acknowledge\nAli and his immediate descendants (eleven in number) 'the right and only\nlawful Emaums', in succession, after Mahumud. The Soonies declare the\nCaliphas--as Omir, Aboubuker, &c.--to be their lawful leaders after\nMahumud.\n\nI do not find that there is any great difference in the points of faith\nbetween the two sects; they are equally guided by the same laws and\nordinances inculcated by Mahumud in the Khoraun;--the Sheahs pursuing the\npattern of observances traced out in the life and manners of Ali and his\ndescendants;--and the Soonies taking their examples from the manners of\nthe Caliphas. There is a distinguishing method in ablutions before prayers,\nand also in the manner of bowing and prostrating in their devotional\nexercises;[1] this difference, however, has nothing to do with their\nfaith,--the subject and form of their daily prayer is one; but both sects\nhave extra services for particular occasions, agreeable to the instruction\nof their favourite leaders. The Namaaz (daily prayer) was taught by\nMahumud to his followers, every line of which is religiously reverenced by\nMussulmauns, and cannot be altered by sectarian principles.\n\nThe Mussulmaun faith is founded on three roots; from these spring, with\nthe Sheahs, six branches; with the Soonies, five. The roots are as\nfollows:--\n\nFirst.--'There is but one God, self existing; ever was, and ever will be;\nin Whom is all Power, Majesty, and Dominion; by Whom all things are, and\nwere created. With Whom is neither partner or substance:[2] and He alone\nis to be worshipped.'\n\nSecond.--'The Prophets were all true; and all their writings to be relied\non, with a true faith.'\n\nThird.--'The resurrection of the dead is certain.'\n\nThe Sheahs' branches, or emanations, from the three roots of their faith,\nare as follow:--\n\n1st.--'Namaaz,'[3] (prayer five times daily); a necessary duty, never to\nbe omitted.\n\n2nd.--'Rumzaun,'[4] (fasting) the whole thirty days of that month; a\nservice acceptable to God from His humble creatures.\n\n3rd.--'The Hadje,'[5] (pilgrimage to Mecca); commanded by Mahumud, and\ntherefore to be obeyed.\n\n4th.--'Zuckhaut;'[6] the fortieth portion of all worldly goods to be set\napart every year (an offering to God) for the service of the poor.\n\n5th.--To fight in the road of God, or in His service, against the\nidolaters.\n\n6th.--To believe that the twelve Emaums were the true and lawful leaders,\nafter Mahumud; to follow in their path, or example, and to succour and\ndefend the Syaads, their descendants.\n\nThe Soonies omit the last branch in their profession of faith; with this\nsolitary exception, the creed of the two sects, from all I can understand,\nis the same. The Sheahs are those who celebrate Mahurrum: in my\ndescription of that event will be seen the zealous partizans of the sect;\nand here may be introduced with propriety, some account of the opposite\nparty denominated Soonies.\n\nThe word Calipha[7] implies the master or head of any trade, profession,\nor calling,--as the master of the tailors, the head master of a college or\nschool, &c. Omir was the first to usurp the title after Mahumud's death,\nand to him succeeded Aboubuker, and then Ausmaun (Osman).[8]\n\nAboubuker may have claimed some relationship to Mahumud;--he was converted\nby his preaching from idolatry to the faith;--he gave his daughter in\nmarriage to Mahumud, by whom two sons were born to him, Ishmael and\nIbrahim.[9] 'An angel appeared to Mahumud, saying, Which of thy family\nshall be taken from thee, Oh, Mahumud! such is the command of God; two of\nthy youth must die, and I am sent to demand of thee whether it is thy wish\nIshmael and Ibrahim, thine own sons, shall be taken from this world, or\nHasan and Hosein, the sons of Fatima thy daughter?' The historian\ncontinues, after dwelling much on the virtues of the Prophet's only\ndaughter, 'Such was the affection of Mahumud for his daughter Fatima and\nher children, and so well he knew the purity of their hearts, that he\nhesitated not a moment in replying, \"If the Lord graciously permits His\nservant to choose, I freely offer my two sons Ishmael and Ibrahim; that\nHasan and Hosein may live by His mercy \"'.\n\nOmir was also a convert to the faith Mahumud taught: he likewise gave a\ndaughter in marriage to Mahumud;[10] by whom, however, the same historian\nremarks, his house was not peopled. His only daughter, Fatima, lived to\nadd numbers to his family: she was born to him by the pious female (a\nwidow) who was his first wife[11] and to whom he was united before he\ncommenced his work of conversion. Ali, to whom Fatima was married, was the\nnephew of Mahumud, and from this union the Syaad race descend to the\npresent day. The Prophet observing real piety in Ali, designed him not\nonly to be the most suitable husband for his amiable daughter, but the\nbest qualified person to be chosen as his successor, when he should be\ncalled by 'the hand of death'; and in the most public manner gave charge\nof his flock to Ali, not long before that event occurred. Mahumud's speech\nto Ali on that occasion is much reverenced by the Sheah sect;--it has been\ntranslated for me by my husband, and is as follows:--\n\n'You, my son, will suffer many persecutions in the cause of religion; many\nwill be the obstructions to your preaching, for I see they are not all as\nobedient and faithful as yourself. Usurpers of the authority, delegated to\nyou, will arise, whose views are not pure and holy as your own; but let my\nadmonitions dwell on your mind, remember my advice without swerving. The\nreligion I have laboured to teach, is, as yet, but as the buds shooting\nforth from the tree; tender as they are, the rude blasts of dissension may\nscatter them to the winds, and leave the parent tree without a leaf:--but\nsuffered to push forth its produce quietly, the hand of Time will ripen\nand bring to perfection that which has been the business of my awakened\nlife to cultivate. Never, my son, suffer your sword to be unsheathed in\nthe justice of your cause; I exhort you to bear this injunction on your\nmind faithfully; whatever may be the provocations you receive, or insults\noffered to your person,--I know this trial is in store for my\nson,--remember the cause you are engaged in; suffer patiently; never draw\nyour sword against the people who profess the true faith, even though they\nare but by name Mussulmauns.\n\n'Against the enemies of God, I have already given you directions; you may\nfight for Him--the only true God,--but never against Him, or His faithful\nservants.'\n\nWhen Mahumud was numbered with the dead, Omir soon set himself forward as\nthe lawful successor; he was of good address, and insinuating manners, and\nsucceeded in drawing 'numbers to his threshold'. He preached the same\ndoctrine Mahumud had taught, but sensual indulgence and early developed\nambition were more strong in his heart than the faith he preached. Omir\ngrew jealous of Ali's virtues and forbearance, under the various trials of\noppression and injustice he chose to visit him with; and resolved that, if\npossible, he would destroy not only Ali, but his whole family. Omir caused\nhis house to be fired treacherously, but as the historians say, 'the mercy\nof God watched over the sanctified family'; they escaped from the flames,\nwith no other loss than that of their small property.\n\nThe Khoraun was not the work of any particular period in the life of\nMahumud. It was not compiled into a book until after Mahumud's death, who\nwas totally unacquainted with letters; each chapter having been conveyed\nby the angel Gabriel[12] to Mahumud, his inspired memory enabled him to\nrepeat, verbatim, the holy messenger's words to his disciples and converts\nwhen assembled as was their daily custom. To as many as committed verse,\nchapter, or portion to memory, by this oral communication, Mahumud\nrewarded with the highest seats in his assembly (meaning nearest his\nperson); and to those who wished for employment, he gave the command of\ndetachments sent out against the infidels.\n\nThe whole Khoraun was thus conveyed to Mahumud by the angel Gabriel, at\nmany different periods of his mission; and by daily repetition, did he\ninstil into the memory of his followers that mental scripture. But when\nOmir usurped the right to lead, he ambitiously planned for himself a large\nshare of popularity by causing the Khoraun to be committed to paper, and\nhe accordingly gave orders, that the best scribes should be employed to\nconvey its precepts to writing.\n\nAli had been engaged in the same employment for some time, perceiving the\nfuture benefit to the faith which would accrue from such a labour, and on\nthe very day, when Omir was seated in form to receive the work of his\nscribes, Ali also presented himself with his version of the Khoraun. It is\nasserted that Omir treated him with some indignity, and gave the\npreference to the volume his own scribes had prepared, desiring Ali,\nnevertheless, to leave that he had transcribed with him, though he\ncandidly told him he never intended it should be 'the Book for the People'.\nAli found, on this trying occasion, the benefit of Mahumud's advice, to\nkeep his temper subdued for the trial, and withdrew with his book clasped\nto his heart, assuring Omir, that the volume should only be the property\nof his descendants; and that when the twelfth Emaum, prophesied by Mahumud,\nshould disappear from the eye of man, the Khoraun he had written should\nalso disappear, until that Emaum returned, with whom the book he had\nwritten should again be found.\n\nThe name of Omir is detestable to all lovers of literature, or admirers of\nancient history and valuable records. By his orders, the bath was heated\nwith the valuable collection of manuscripts, which it had been the work of\nages to complete.[13] Omir was told that the people valued the writings of\nthe ancients, and that they were displeased at this irreparable\ndestruction of valuable records; he asked if the people were not satisfied\nwith the Khoraun? and if satisfied, why should they seek for other\nknowledge than that book contained? declaring it to be an useless\nemployment of time, to be engaged in any other readings. They say the\ncollection of books thus destroyed was so vast, that it served the purpose,\nto which it was applied, for many successive days. I have thus far given\nthe accounts I have received of the origin of the two sects amongst the\nMussulmauns from good authority. My husband says, that in Hindoostaun the\ntwo sects may be nearly equal in number;[14] in Persia the Sheahs\ncertainly prevail; in Turkey all are Soonies; and in Arabia the Sheahs are\nsupposed to preponderate. On the whole, perhaps, the two sects are about\nequally divided.\n\nThe Mussulmauns' Creed, of the Sheah sect, is as follows:--\n\n'I believe in one God, supreme over all, and Him alone do I worship.\n\n'I believe that Mahumud was the creature of God, the Creator; I believe\nthat Mahumud was the messenger of God, (the Lord of messengers); and that\nhe was the last of the prophets. I believe that Ali was the chief of the\nfaithful, the head of all the inheritors of the law, and the true leader\nappointed of God; consequently to be obeyed by the faithful. Also I\nbelieve that Hasan and Hosein, the sons of Ali, and Ali son of Hosein, and\nMahumud son of Ali, and Jaufur son of Mahumud, and Moosa son of Jaufur,\nand Ali son of Moosa, and Mahumud son of Ali, and Ali son of Mahumud, and\nHasan son of Ali, and Mhidhie (the standing proof) son of Hasan; the mercy\nof God be upon them! these were the true leaders of the faithful, and the\nproof of God was conveyed by them to the people.'[15]\n\nThis creed is taught to the children of both sexes, in Mussulmaun families,\nas soon as they are able to talk; and, from the daily repetition, is\nperfectly familiar to them at an early age.\n\nI propose describing the funeral service here, as the substance of their\nparticular faith is so intimately connected with the appointed service for\nthe dead.\n\nThe dead body of a Mussulmaun, in about six hours after life is extinct,\nis placed in a kuffin[16] (coffin) and conveyed to the place of burial,\nwith parade suited to the rank he held in life.\n\nA tent, or the kaanaut[17] (screen), is pitched in a convenient place,\nwhere water is available near to the tomb, for the purpose of washing and\npreparing the dead body for interment. They then take the corpse out of\nthe coffin and thoroughly bathe it; when dry, they rub pounded camphor on\nthe hands, feet, knees, and forehead, these parts having, in the method of\nprostrating at prayer, daily touched the ground; the body is then wrapped\nneatly in a winding-sheet of white calico, on which has been written\nparticular chapters from the Khoraun:[18] this done, it is taken up with\ngreat gentleness and laid in the grave on the side, with the face towards\nMecca. The officiating Maulvee steps solemnly into the grave (which is\nmuch deeper and wider than ours), and with a loud voice repeats the creed,\nas before described; after which he says, 'These were thy good and holy\nleaders, O son of Adam! (here he repeats the person's names). Now when the\ntwo angels come unto thee, who are the Maccurrub[19] (messengers) from thy\ngreat and mighty God, they will ask of thee, \"Who is thy Lord? Who is thy\nProphet? What is thy faith? Which is thy book? Where is thy Kiblaah?[20]\nWho is thy Leader?\"\n\n'Then shalt thou answer the Maccurrub thus:--\n\n  '\"God, greatest in glory, is my only Lord; Mahumud, my Prophet; Islaaim,\n  my faith, (Islaaim means true faith); the Khoraun, my book; the Kaubah\n  (Holy House at Mecca), my Kiblaah;\n\n  '\"Emaum Ali, son of Aboutalib,\n    \"   Hasan and Hosein,\n    \"   Ali, surnamed Zynool Auberdene,\n    \"   Mahumud,  \"   Baakur,\n    \"   Jaufur,   \"   Saadick,\n    \"   Moosa,    \"   Khazim,\n    \"   Ali,      \"   Reezah,\n    \"   Mahumud,  \"   Ul Jawaad,\n    \"   Ali,      \"   Ul Hoodah,\n    \"   Hasan,    \"   Ul Ushkeree,\n    \"   Mhidhie, the standing proof that we are waiting for.[21]\n\n  '\"These are all my leaders, and they are my intercessors, with them is my\n  love, with their enemies is my hatred, in the world of earth and in the\n  world to come eternal.\"'\n\nThen the Maulvee says:--\n\n'Know ye for a truth, O man (repeating his name), that the God we worship\nis One only, Great and Glorious, Most High and Mighty God, who is above\nall lords, the only true God.\n\n'Know ye also, That Mahumud is the best of the Lord's messengers.\n\n'That Ali and his successors (before enumerated, but always here repeated)\nwere the best of all leaders.\n\n'That whatever came with Mahumud is true, (meaning the whole work of his\nmission);--Death is true; the Interrogation by Moonkih and Nykee[22] (the\ntwo angels) is true; the Resurrection is true; Destruction is true; the\nBridge of Sirraat[23] is true; the Scales are true; Looking into the Book\nis true; Heaven and Earth are true; Hell is true; the Day of Judgment is\ntrue.\n\n'Of these things there is no doubt--all are true; and, further, that God,\nthe great and glorious God, will raise all the dead bodies from their\ngraves.'\n\nThen the Maulvee reads the following prayer or benediction, which is\ncalled Dooar[24] prayer:--\n\n'May the Lord God, abundant in mercy, keep you with the true speech; may\nHe lead you to the perfect path; may He grant you knowledge of Him, and of\nHis prophets.\n\n'May the mercy of God be fixed upon you for ever. Ameen.'\n\nThis concluded, the Maulvee quits the grave, and slowly moves forty\nmeasured paces in a line with it; then turning round, he comes again to\nthe grave, with the same solemnity in his steps, and standing on the edge,\nhe prays,\n\n'O great and glorious God, we beseech Thee with humility make the earth\ncomfortable to this Thy servant's side, and raise his soul to Thee, and\nwith Thee may he find mercy and forgiveness.'\n\n'Ameen, Ameen,' is responded by all present.\n\nThis ends the funeral service: the earth is closed over by the servants,\n&c. and, except with the very poor, the grave is never entirely forsaken\nday or night, during the forty days of mourning; readers of the Khoraun\nare paid for this service, and in the families of the nobility the grave\nis attended for years by those hired, who are engaged to read from that\nbook perpetually, relieving each other at intervals day and night.\n\nThey believe that when the Maulvee quits the grave, the angels enter to\ninterrogate the dead body, and receive the confession of his particular\nfaith; this is the object of the Maulvee's retiring forty paces, to give\nthe angels time to enter on their mission to the dead.\n\nThe Mussulmauns all believe that Mhidhie, the standing proof as he is\ncalled, will visit the earth at a future period; they are said to possess\nprophecies, that lead them to expect the twelve hundred and sixtieth year\nof the Hegirah, as the time for his coming. The Soonies say, this Emaum\nhas yet to be born:--the Sheahs believe that Emaum Mhidhie is the person\nto reappear. Some believe he is still on earth, dwelling, as they\nconjecture, in the wilds and forests; and many go so far as to assert,\nthat Mhidhie visits (without being recognized) the Holy House of Mecca\nannually, on the great day of sacrifice; but I cannot find any grounds\nthey have for this opinion.[25]\n\nThey also possess a prophecy, on which much dependance is placed, that\n'When the four quarters of the globe contain Christian inhabitants, and\nwhen the Christians approach the confines of Kaabah, then may men look for\nthat Emaum who is to come'. And it is the general belief amongst\nMussulmauns, founded on the authority of their most revered and valued\nwriters, that Emaum Mhidhie will appear with Jesus Christ at his second\ncoming; and with whom, they declare and firmly believe, he will act in\nconcert to purge the world of sin and wickedness. When, they add, 'all men\nshall be of one mind and one faith'.\n\nOf the three principal Roots of the Mussulmauns' faith, little need be\nfurther said in explanation. I have had various opportunities of learning\ntheir undisguised thoughts, and wish only to impart what the people are,\nwho are so little known to the world in general. All persons having had\nthe opportunity of studying the peculiarities of their particular faith,\nwill, I think, give them due credit, that reverence for, and belief in God,\nforms a prominent trait in their character and faith: 'The English\ntranslation of the Khoraun by Sale, (imperfect as all works must be, where\nthe two languages are inadequate to speak each other's meaning,) will tell\nwithout a commentary, that the worship of God was the foundation on which\nMahumud built his code of laws; and that the prophets were all\nacknowledged by him as messengers sent from God to His people, in every\nage of the world; and, lastly, that Mahumud was the Prophet, who came when\nthe people of the earth, vicious and profane, had fallen into the most\ndissolute habits, worshipping idols instead of God.' This passage is the\nsentiment expressed to me by a worthy man, and a true Mussulmaun; I have\ntraced it out for the sake of explaining what is in the hearts of the\nMussulmauns of the present day.\n\nWhen I have conversed with some of them on the improbability of Mahumud's\nprophetic mission, I have been silenced by a few words, 'How many prophets\nwere sent to the Israelites?'--'Many.'--'You cannot enumerate them? then,\nis it too much to be probable that God's mercy should have been graciously\nextended to the children of Ishmael? they also are Abraham's seed. The\nIsraelites had many prophets, in all of whom we believe; the Ishmaelites\nhave one Prophet only, whose mission was to draw men from idolatry to the\ntrue God. All men, they add will be judged according to their fidelity in\nthe faith they have professed. It is not the outward sign which makes a\nman the true Mussulmaun; neither is it the mere profession of Christianity\nwhich will clear the man at the last day. Religion and faith are of the\nheart.'\n\nIn their collection of writings, I have had access to a voluminous work,\nentitled 'Hyaatool Kaaloob'[26] (Enlightener of the Heart). My husband has\ntranslated for me, occasionally, portions of this valuable work, which\nbears a striking similarity to our Holy Scriptures, though collected after\na different manner; I have acquired, by this means, a more intimate\nacquaintance with the general character of the Mussulmaun's belief. This\nbook contains all the prophets' lives, at every age of the world. It was\ncompiled by Mahumud Baakur, first in Arabic, and afterwards translated by\nhim into the Persian language, for the benefit of the public; and is of\ngreat antiquity--I cannot now ascertain the exact date.\n\nThe Mussulmaun belief on the subject of the resurrection is, 'When the\nfulness of time cometh, of which no man knoweth, then shall the earth be\ndestroyed by fire--and after this will be the resurrection of the dead'.\n\nThe branches emanating from the roots of the Mussulmaun faith will require\nfurther explanation which shall follow in due course. I will in this\nletter merely add what is meant by the Bridge of Sirraat,[27] the\nScales,[28] and Looking into the Book as noted in the burial service.\n\n'The Bridge of Sirraat', they understand, is to be passed over by every\nperson in their passage to eternity, and is represented sharp as the\nkeenest sword.[29] The righteous will be gifted with power to pass over\nwith the rapidity of lightning, neither harm nor inconvenience will attend\nthem on the passage. The wicked, on the contrary, will be without help,\nand must be many times injured and cut down in the attempt. An idea has\ncrept into the minds of some, that whoever offers up to God, at different\nperiods of his life, such animals as are deemed clean and fitting for\nsacrifice, the same number and kind, on their day of passing Sirraat,\nshall be in readiness to assist them on the passage over.\n\nOn this supposition is grounded the object of princes and nobles in India\noffering camels in sacrifice on the day of Buckrah Eade.[30] This event\nanswers our Scripture account of Abraham's offering, but the Mussulmauns\nsay, the son of Abraham so offered was Ishmael, and not Isaac. I have\ndisputed the point with some of their learned men, and brought them to\nsearch through their authorities; in some one or two there is a doubt as\nto which was the son offered, but the general writers and most of the\nMussulmauns themselves believe Ishmael was the offering made by Abraham.\n\n'The Scales are true;' the Mussulmauns believe, that on the day of\njudgment, the good and the bad deeds of every mortal will be submitted to\nthe scales prepared in Heaven for that purpose.\n\n'Looking into the Book is true;' the Mussulmauns believe that every human\nbeing from their birth is attended by two angels,[31] one resting on the\nright shoulder the other on the left, continually; their business is to\nregister every action of the individual they attend; when a good action is\nto be recorded, they beseech the Almighty in His mercy to keep the person\nin the good and perfect way; when evil ways are to be registered, they\nmourn with intercessions to God that His mercy may be extended, by\ngranting them repentant hearts, and then, His forgiveness. Thus they\nexplain 'Looking into the Book is true', that whatever is contained in\nthis book will be looked into on the day of judgment, and by their deeds\ntherein registered shall they be judged.\n\nIn the 'Hyaatool Kaaloob' is to be found the lives of the Emaums, from\nwhich is gleaned the following remarks:--\n\nThe Emaum Mhidhie was an orphan at nine years old. Alrouschid,[32] the\nKing of Bagdad, advised by his wicked minister, resolved on destroying\nthis boy (the last of the Emaums), fearing as he grew into favour with the\npeople, that the power of his sovereignty would decrease.\n\nThe King sent certain soldiers to seize Mhidhie, who was at prayers in an\ninner room when they arrived. The soldiers demanded and were refused\nadmittance they then forced an entrance and proceeded to the room in which\nthe Emaum was supposed to be at prayers, they discovered him immersed to\nthe waist in a tank of water; the soldiers desired him to get out of the\nwater and surrender himself, he continued repeating his prayer, and\nappeared to take no notice of the men nor their demand. After some\ndeliberations amongst the soldiers, they thought the water was too shallow\nto endanger their lives, and one entered the tank intending to take the\nEmaum prisoner, he sank instantly to rise no more, a second followed who\nshared the same fate; and the rest, deterred by the example of their\nbrother soldiers, fled from the place, to report the failure of their plan\nto the King at Bagdad.\n\nThis writer reports that Emaum Mhidhie was secretly conveyed away,\nsupposed by the interposition of Divine Providence, and was not again seen,\nto be recognized, on earth; yet it is believed he still lives and will\nremain for the fulfilment of that prophecy which sayeth:--'When Mecca is\nfilled with Christian people Emaum Mhidhie will appear, to draw men to the\ntrue faith; and then also, Jesus Christ will descend from heaven to Mecca,\nthere will be great slaughter amongst men; after which there will be but\none faith--and then shall there be perfect peace and happiness over all\nthe world.'\n\nThe Mussulmauns of the present age discourse much on the subject of that\nprophecy--particularly during the contest between the Greeks and Turks, of\nwhich however they had no very correct information, yet they fancied the\ntime must be fast approaching, by these leading events, to the fuller\naccomplishment; often, when in conversation with the most religious men of\nthe country, I have heard them declare it as their firm belief that the\ntime was fast approaching when there should be but one mind amongst all\nmen. 'There is but little more to finish;' 'The time draws near;' are\nexpressions of the Mussulmauns' belief, when discoursing of the period\nanticipated, as prophesied in their sacred writings;--so persuaded are\nthey of the nearness of that time. In relating the substance of my last\nserious conversation with the devout Meer Hadjee Shaah, I shall disclose\nthe real sentiments of most, if not every religious reflecting, true\nMussulmaun of his sect in India.\n\nMeer Hadjee Shaah delighted in religious conversations; it was his\nhappiest time when, in the quiet of night, the Meer, his son, translated,\nas I read, the Holy Bible to him. We have often been thus engaged until\none or two, and even to a later hour in the morning; he remembered all he\nheard, and drew comparisons, in his own mind, between the two authorities\nof sacred writings--the Khoraun and Bible; the one he had studied through\nhis long life, the other, he was now equally satisfied, contained the word\nof God; he received them both, and as the 'two witnesses' of God. The last\nserious conversation I had with him, was a very few days before his death;\nhe was then nearly in as good health as he had been for the last year; his\ngreat age had weakened his frame, but he walked about the grounds with his\nstaff, as erect as when I first saw him, and evinced nothing in his\ngeneral manner that could excite a suspicion that his hours had so nearly\nrun their course.\n\nWe had been talking of the time when peace on earth should be universal;\n'My time, dear baittie[33] (daughter), is drawing to a quick conclusion.\nYou may live to see the events foretold, I shall be in my grave; but\nremember, I tell you now, though I am dead, yet when Jesus Christ returns\nto earth, at His coming, I shall rise again from my grave; and I shall be\nwith Him, and with Emaum Mhidhie also.'\n\nThis was the substance of his last serious conversation with me, and\nwithin one short week he was removed from those who loved to hear his\nvoice; but he still lives in the memory of many, and those who knew his\nworth are reconciled by reflecting on the 'joy that awaits the righteous'.\n\n'Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring,\nand they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and one\nshepherd.' Also, 'In My Father's house are many mansions'. These were\nparticularly pleasing passages to him, and often referred to in our\nscriptural conversations.\n\n\n[1] The Shi'ahs only wipe or rub the feet, instead of washing them, as\n    do the Sunnis. In the standing posture (_qiyam_) in prayer, the\n    Sunnis place the right hand over the left below the navel; the\n    Shi'ahs keep their hands hanging on both sides of the body.\n\n[2] I have met with the creed of the modern Jews, some time in the course\n    of my life, in Hurd's _History of all Religions_; the belief of the\n    Mussulmauns, as regards the unity of God, strictly coincides with that\n    of the Jews, described in the first four articles of their creed.\n    [_Author_.]\n\n[3] _Namaz_, liturgical prayer, as contrasted with _du'a_, ordinary\n    prayer.\n\n[4] _Ramzan, Ramazan_.\n\n[5] _Hajj_.\n\n[6] _Zakat_.\n\n[7] Khalifah, 'successor,' 'lieutenant,' 'viceregent.'\n\n[8] 'Umar, Abu Bakr, 'Usman.\n\n[9] No son named Ishmail is recorded. Ibrahim, his son from\n    his slave girl, Mary the Copt, died A.D. 631, and was buried at Medina.\n    The daughter of Abu Bakr was 'Ayishah.\n\n[10] The Prophet married Hafsah, daughter of 'Umar, as his third wife.\n\n[11] Khadijah.\n\n[12] 'Whoso is the enemy of Gabriel--for he has by God's leave caused to\n    descend on thy heart the confirmation of previous\n    revelations.'--_Koran_, ii. 91.\n\n[13] 'The story of the destruction of the library at Alexandria is first\n    told by Bar-hebraeus (Abulfaragius), a Christian writer who lived six\n    centuries later: it is of very doubtful authority.'--_Encyclopaedia\n    Britannica_, i. 570.\n\n[14] This is incorrect, Sunnis very largely preponderating over\n    Shi'ahs. According to the latest information there were in the\n    United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, nearly 6-1/2 million Sunnis and\n    183,000 Shi'ahs (_Imperial Gazetteer_ (1908), xxiv. 172). This\n    information was not collected in recent census reports. In the whole\n    of India, in 1881, there were 46-3/4 million Sunnis, as compared\n    with 809,561 Shi'ahs.\n\n[15] The correct list of the Imams recognized by the Imamiya or\n    orthodox Shi'ahs is as follows: 'Ali, son-in-law of the Prophet;\n    Al-Hasan, son of 'Ali, Al-Husain, second son of 'Ali; 'Ali\n    Zain-ul-'Abidin, son of Al-Husain; Muhammad Al-Baqir, son of\n    Zain-ul-'Abidin; Ja'afar as-Sadiq, son of Muhammad Al-Baqir;\n    Ar-Raza, son of Musa; Muhammad At-Taqi, son of Ar-Raza;\n    'Ali-an Naqi, son of Muhammad At-Taqi; Al-Hasan Al-Askari,\n    son of 'Ali-an Naqi; Muhammad, son of Al-Hasan Al-Askari, or\n    the Imam Al-Mahdi, who is believed to be still alive, and will\n    appear in the last days as the Mahdi.\n\n[16] _Kafn_, properly 'a winding-sheet'.\n\n[17] _Qanat_.\n\n[18] The religious man generally prepares his own winding-sheet, keeping\n    it always ready, and occasionally taking out this monitor to add\n    another verse or chapter, as the train of thought may have urged at\n    the time. I have seen this done by the Meer Hadjee Shaah, who\n    appropriated a piece of fine white cambric muslin, he had received\n    from me, to this sacred purpose. I have often been a silent observer\n    of my revered friend whilst he was engaged in writing passages from\n    the book whose rules he lived by. The anticipated moment when he\n    should require this his kuffin dress, was never clouded by dread, but\n    always looked forward to with cheerfulness and fervent hope; for he\n    trusted in the mercy of God whom he loved and worshipped. [_Author_.]\n    [Many pilgrims buy at Mecca the shroud in which they desire to be\n    buried, and wash it in the well Zamzam, supposing that the holy water\n    will secure the repose of the soul after death.]\n\n[19] Maccurrub means those angels who are at all times privileged to\n    appear in the presence of God;--they are supposed to have eyes of\n    great brilliance. In order that the Mussulmauns may have the reply\n    ready for that awful moment, they have a custom of repeating the\n    responses to the angel every evening, when the lamp is first lighted,\n    as they say this sudden light resembles the angels' eyes. I had\n    noticed the custom for some time, and fancied the Mussulmaun people\n    worshipped light, until I was made acquainted with the real motive for\n    this general observance both with the men and women. [_Author._]\n    [_Muqarrab_, 'those allowed to come near'.]\n\n[20] Kiblaah is the holy place to which men turn their face when offering\n    up their prayer to God, as the Jews face Jerusalem. Literally,\n    'worshipping place'. [_Author._] [_Qiblah_: the direction of prayer\n    was changed by the Prophet from Jerusalem to Mecca (_Koran_, ii.\n    138-9, with Sale's note).]\n\n[21] See p. 72.\n\n[22] Munkir, or Munkar, and Nakir are the two recording angels.\n\n[23] See p. 78.\n\n[24] _Du'a_.\n\n[25] Al-Mahdi, 'the directed one', who will appear in the last day.\n    According to the Shi'ahs, he has already appeared in the person of\n    Muhammad Abu'l-Qasim, the 12th Imam. Later claimants are\n    Sayyid Ahmad, who fought against the Sikhs in 1826; Muhammad Ahmad ibn\n    Sayyid Abdulla, who fled after the fatal day of Omdurman, and was\n    killed in battle in 1899.\n\n[26] _Hayat[u']l-Qulub_ compiled by Muhammad Baqir, whose last\n    work was published A.D. 1627. It has been partly translated into\n    English by J.L. Morrick, Boston, 1850.\n\n[27] Sirat, the bridge over which the soul must cross on its way to\n    Paradise.\n\n[28] Mizan, the Balance, with which the deeds of the dead man are\n    weighed.--_Koran_, xxi. 47.\n\n[29] May not this be a poetical symbol, similar to the scythe? [_Author._]\n\n[30] Baqarah 'Id, 'cow festival,' held on the 10th of the month\n    Zu'l-Hijjah, the month of pilgrimage, the attempted sacrifice of\n    Ishmael having, it is said, occurred at Mount Mina, near Mecca.\n\n[31] Kiramu'l-Katibin, one recording the good, the other the\n    evil actions of the dead.\n\n[32] Harun-al-Rashid, 'Aaron the Orthodox', fifth Abbasid Caliph,\n    of Baghdad (A.D. 763 or 776-809), best known from _The Arabian Nights_.\n\n[33] _Beti_.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER VII\n\n  Namaaz (daily prayer).--The Mussulmaun prayers.--Their different names\n  and times.--Extra prayer-service.--The Mosque.--Ablutions requisite\n  previous to devotion.--Prostrations at prayers.--Mosque\n  described.--The Mussulmauns' Sabbath.--Its partial observance.--The\n  amusements of this life not discontinued on the Sabbath.--Employment\n  of domestics undiminished on this day.--Works of importance then\n  commenced.--Reasons for appropriating Friday to the Sabbath.--The Jews\n  opposed to Mahumud.--The Prophet receives instructions from the angel\n  Gabriel.--Their import and definition. Remarks of a Commentator on the\n  Khoraun.--Prayer of intercession.--Pious observance of Christmas Day\n  by a Native Lady.--Opinions entertained of our Saviour.--Additional\n  motives for prayer.--David's Mother's prayer.--Anecdote of Moses and\n  a Woodcutter.--Remarks upon the piety and devotion of the female\n  Mussulmauns.\n\n\nThe Mussulmaun Lawgiver commanded Namaaz (daily prayer) five times a day:\n\n1st. 'The Soobhoo Namaaz,' to commence at the dawn of day.\n\n2nd. 'The Zohur,' at the second watch of the day, or mid-day.\n\n3rd. 'The Ausur,' at the third day watch.\n\n4th. 'The Muggrib,' at sunset; and,\n\n5th. 'The Eshaa,' at the fourth ghurrie of the night.[1]\n\nThese are the commanded hours for prayer. Mahumud himself observed an\nadditional service very strictly, at the third watch of the night, which\nwas called by him, 'Tahujjoot,'[2] and the most devout men, in all ages of\ntheir faith, have imitated this example scrupulously.\n\n'The Soobhoo Namaaz' is deemed a necessary duty, and commences with the\nearliest dawn of day. The several prayers and prostrations occupy the\ngreatest part of an hour, with those who are devout in their religious\nexercises; many extend the service by readings from an excellent\ncollection, very similar to our Psalms, called 'The Vazefah'.[3]\n\n'The Zohur Namaaz', an equally essential duty, commences at mid-day, and\noccupies about the same time as 'The Soobhoo'.\n\n'The Ausur Namaaz' commences at the third day watch. The religious men are\nnot tempted to excuse themselves from the due observance of this hour; but\nthe mere people of the world, or those whose business requires their time,\nattach this service to the next, and satisfy their conscience with\nthinking that the prayer-hours combined, answers the same purpose as when\nseparately performed.\n\n'The Muggrib Namaaz'. This is rigidly observed at sunset; even those who\ncannot make it convenient at other hours, will leave their most urgent\nemployment to perform this duty at sunset. Who that has lived any time in\nIndia, cannot call to mind the interesting sight of the labouring classes,\nreturning to their home after the business of the day is over? The sun\nsinking below the Western horizon, the poor man unbinds his waist, and\nspreads his cummerbund on the side of the road; he performs his ablutions\nfrom his brass lota of water, and facing Mecca, bows himself down under\nthe canopy of heaven, to fulfil what he believes to be his duty at that\nhour to his merciful God.\n\n'The Eshaa Namaaz' commences at the fourth ghurrie of the night. The form\nof prayer for this Namaaz is much longer than the rest. The devout men\nextend their prayers at this still hour of the night; they tell me that\nthey feel more disposed at this time to pour out their hearts to God in\npraise and thanksgiving, than at any other period of the day or night; and\nI have known many of them to be at silent prayer for hours together.\n\nMany persons in their early life may have neglected that due obedience\nexpected in the commanded daily prayers; in after life, they endeavour to\nmake up the deficiency, by imposing on themselves extra services, to\nfulfil the number omitted. By the same rule, when a member of the family\ndies, and it is suspected the due performance of Namaaz had been neglected\nby him, the survivor, who loved him or her in life, is anxious for the\nsoul's rest, and thus proves it by performing additional prayers for the\nbenefit of the soul of that beloved individual.\n\nIf a Mussulmaun falls from affluence to penury, twelve devout men of his\nfaith engage to fast and pray, on a day fixed by themselves, to make\nintercession for their friend:--they believe in the efficacy of good men's\nprayers; and Meer Hadjee Shaah has often declared to me, that he has\nwitnessed the benefit of this exercise by the happiest results, in many\nsuch cases.\n\nThe Khoraun, it is commanded, shall be read. A person perhaps dies before\nhe has been awakened to a love of sacred things; his friends therefore\nengage readers to attend his grave, and there to read the Khoraun for the\nbenefit of the departed soul.[4]\n\nThey have a firm belief in the efficacy of prayer by proxy; and the view\nthey have of departed spirits is still more singular. They believe the\nsoul hovers over the body in the grave for some time, and that the body is\nso far animated, as to be sensible of what is passing; as when the Maulvee\nis repeating the service, the angels visit in the grave, or when the\nKhoraun is read; hence the belief in the efficacy of prayer and reading as\nsubstitutes for neglected or omitted duties whilst on earth. There are in\nall the mosques men retained to do the requisite service there,[5] that is,\nto keep it clean, and to prevent any thing that could pollute the\nsanctuary from entering; to call at the stated hours for Namaaz, with a\nloud voice, so that all the neighbourhood may hear and go to prayers; he\nmounts the minaret as the hour is striking, and pronounces, 'Allah wo\nuckbaar!' 'Mahumudoon Russool Allah!'[6]--God alone is true! Mahumud is\nGod's Prophet!--with a voice, the extent of which can only be imagined by\nthose who have heard it; this summons is repeated many times over.\n\nThe mosque is open day and night for all who choose to enter for the\npurpose of prayer. The Mussulmauns, however, in their prayer-services are\nnot restricted to the mosques; all places are deemed holy where no unclean\nanimal has been to defile the spot, as dogs or swine, nor any idol been\nset up for worship. The person coming to Namaaz must not have contaminated\nhimself by touching the dead, or any other thing accounted unclean, until\nhe has bathed his whole body and changed his clothes. This resembles the\nMosaic law.\n\nAblutions are regarded as essentially necessary: if any one is ill, and to\nuse water would be dangerous, or if there be no water to be found where\nthe Mussulmaun is about to pray, there is an allowed substitute, merely to\nrub the hands, feet, knees, and head with the dry dust of clay, and this\nis counted to them for ablutions. Thus prepared, the devotee spreads his\nprayer-carpet[7] (generally of fine matting) in the most convenient place\nto himself, if not in the mosque;--perhaps under a tree, in the verandah,\nor in a room, no matter where, taking care, under all circumstances, that\nthe carpet is spread to face the Kaabah (Holy House at Mecca).\n\nAt the commencement of his prayers, he stands erect, his hands lifted up,\nthe palms held out towards heaven, where the eyes are also turned whilst\nexpressing adoration and praise to God. This ended, he prostrates himself\nbefore the Almighty, his forehead touching the ground; the form of words\nhere used expresses the unworthiness of the creature permitted to approach\nand worship the Creator; again he stands to repeat the glorious\nperfections of God; he then kneels in worship and prayer, after which\nprostrations are resumed, &c. In the performance of some of the services\nthey prostrate five times, standing up and kneeling an equal number of\ntimes; the shortest services have three, and all the prayers and praises\nare arranged in Arabic,--that most expressive language,--which to\ntranslate, they say, is to corrupt the meaning of the prayers. For this\nreason the Khoraun is not allowed in any other than the original language;\nand for the benefit of the unlearned in Arabic, it is commented upon,\npassage by passage, in the Persian language.\n\nThe mosques are all erected on one plan; the entrance to the outer court\nis secured by a gate or door always on the latch, without locks, bars, or\nbolts; in the paved yard a tank or reservoir for bathing or ablutions is\nusually provided. The mosque itself is square, with a dome and two\nminarets; the side next the court-yard is the entrance, and generally this\nfront is entirely open; the back of the mosque faces Mecca, in which\ndirection the prayer must be offered to be effectual. These houses of\nprayer are generally kept clean and neat, but not the slightest ornament\nallowed within the walls; the floor is matted, and a plain wooden mhembur\n(pulpit) is provided. Shoes never enter within the precincts of the mosque;\n'Put off thy shoes' is strictly observed by Mussulmauns in all sacred\nplaces--a man praying with shoes on his feet would be accounted mad or a\nheathen.[8]\n\nThe Sabbath of the Mussulmauns is kept on Friday, commencing on the\npreceding night, after the manner of the Jews, only with the difference of\nthe day.[9]\n\nAs a religious rest, the Sabbath is but partially observed with\nMussulmauns. The Soonies, I have remarked, pay much more attention to its\ninstitutions than the Sheahs; but with either sect, the day is less\nstrictly kept, than might have been expected from people who really seem\nto make religion their study, and the great business of their lives. Both\nsects have extra prayers for the day besides the usual Namaaz, which, the\nreligious people perform with, great punctuality, whether they carry their\ndevotions to the mosque, or offer their prayers in due form in their own\nabode. On the Sabbath they make it a point to bathe and change their\napparel; the public offices are closed, and the shops partially shut until\nmid-day; the rulers,--as Kings or Nuwaubs,--distinguish the day by not\nreceiving their courtiers and the public visitors, as on other days.\nCharitable donations are likewise more bountifully dispensed from the rich\nto the poor on Friday.\n\nThese observances serve to convince us that they believe in the\nconstituted Sabbath; still there is not that strict respect for the holy\nday which could satisfy the scrupulous feelings of a Christian; the\nservants are quite as much employed on Friday as on any other day;--the\ndhurzie[10] (tailor), dhobhie[11] (washerman), and indeed the whole\nestablishment of servants and slaves, male and female, find their work\nundiminished on the Sabbath. The ladies amuse themselves with cards or\ndice, the singing women even are quite as much in request as on other days;\nand all the amusements of life are indulged in without once seeming to\nsuspect that they are disobeying the law of God, or infringing on their\nactual duties. Indeed, I believe they would keep the day strictly, if they\nthought doing so was a necessary duty: but I have often observed, that as\nFriday is one of their 'fortunate days', works of any importance are\ncommenced on this day;--whether it be building a house,--planting a garden\nor field,--writing a book,--negotiating a marriage,--going a\njourney,--making a garment, or any other business of this life which they\nwish should prosper. With them, therefore, the day of rest is made one of\nthe busiest in the calendar; but I must do them the justice to say, that\nthey believe their hearts are more pure after the ablutions and prayers\nhave been performed. And that as nothing, however trifling or important,\naccording to their praiseworthy ideas, should ever be commenced without\nbeing first dedicated to God,--from whose mercy they implore aid and\nblessings on the labour of their hands,--they set apart Friday for\ncommencing whatever business they are anxious should prosper. This was the\nexcuse made by the pious Meer Hadjee Shaah.\n\nMahumud's biographers notice in many instances the strict observance of\nthe Sabbath, at the period in which he flourished; they also say he\nselected Friday to be observed as the Mussulmaun Sabbath in distinction\nfrom the Jews, who it would seem were jealous of Mahumud's teaching, and\nannoyed both him and his followers in every way they could possibly devise.\nAnd the Khoraun commentators, on the subject of Mahumud's mission, declare,\nwhen speaking of the place to which the Mussulmaun bow in prayer, 'That\nwhen Mahumud first commenced his task of teaching the ignorant Arabians to\nforsake their idol worship, and to turn to the only true God, he was often\nreviled and insulted by the Jews; who even ridiculed the presumption of\nthe Mussulmauns in daring to bow down, in their worship, towards Jerusalem,\nin the same direction with them. Mahumud was sadly perplexed whether to\nabstain or continue the practice, as he was unwilling to offend the Jews:\nin this trial he was visited by the angel Gabriel, who brought the\nfollowing command to him from God:--\n\n'Turn from Jerusalem; and when thou bowest down to Me, face that Holy\nHouse of Abraham, the place of sacrifice: that shall be thy Kiblaah, O\nMahumud.'\n\nKiblaah is the point to which men bow in worship.[12] Kaabah is the 'Holy\nHouse' where Abraham's sacrifice was offered. Mecca is the city or tract\nof country surrounding the house.\n\nThus they will say: 'I am making my pilgrimage to Mecca, to visit the\nKaabah, which in my Namaaz, has been my Kiblaah when worshipping my God.'\n\nA Commentator on the Khoraun writes, in allusion to the prevailing\nworldly-minded men of his day, the following expressive definition of the\nobjects most worshipped by them, and concludes with the one only Kiblaah\ndeserving men's attention.\n\n'The Sovereign's Kiblaah is His well-ornamented crown.'\n\n'The Sensualist's Kiblaah, The gratification of his appetites.'\n\n'The Lover's Kiblaah, The mistress of his heart.'\n\n'The Miser's Kiblaah, His hoards of gold and silver.'\n\n'The Ambitious Man's Kiblaah, This world's honours and possessions.'\n\n'The mere Professor's Kiblaah, The arch of the Holy House.'\n\nAnd\n\n'The Righteous Man's Kiblaah, The pure love of God,--which may all men\nlearn and practise.'\n\nThe Mussulmaun Faith directs them to believe, not only in the prophets and\ntheir writings, but also that they are intercessors at the throne of grace;\nfor this reason Mahumud taught his followers to call on God to hear them\nfor the sake of,--\n\n'1st. Adam, Suffee Ali (\"the Pure\" is the nearest possible translation).'\n\n'2nd. Noah, the Prophet of God.'\n\n'3rd. Abraham, the Friend of God.'\n\n'4th. Moses, who Conversed with God.'\n\n'5th. Jesus, the Soul of God.'\n\n'6th. Mahumud, the Prophet of God.'[13]\n\nThose persons who are devout in the exercise of their religious duties day\nby day, in the concluding part of the morning Namaaz strictly observe the\npractice of Mahumud and the Emaums, in the prayers of intercession; and\nthe 'Salaam-oon-ali Khoom',[14] (peace or rest be with thee) O Adam Suffee\nAli! and to thee, O Noah, the Prophet of God! and to thee, O Abraham! &c.\n&c. going through the line in the manner and rotation above-described,\nconcluding with the several Emaums, twelve in number (as in their Creed).\n\nIt will be seen by this, that they have reverence for all who came from\nGod, to teach mankind His will. They believe also, that the Holy Prophets\nare sensible of the respect paid to them by existing mortals, as also when\non earth they knew what was in the hearts of those men they conversed with.\nI have the honour to be acquainted with a lady of the Mussulmaun Religion,\nwho lives in accordance with the Faith she professes. There was a period\nin her life, within my recollection, when she had very severe trials of a\ndomestic nature. She trusted in God for relief, and followed in the way\nshe had been instructed, keeping fasts and holy days; testifying her\nrespect for the prophets, by observing those days for extra prayer and\ngiving alms, which the Khoraun and commentaries represent as worthy to be\ndone, by the devout Mussulmauns.\n\nAmongst the number of days strictly observed by this pious lady during her\ntroubles, was the Nativity of Jesus Christ, for whose sake she fed the\nhungry, clothed the naked, and gave alms to the necessitous. I was the\nmore delighted when first hearing of this circumstance, because I had\njudged of the Mussulmaun faith by common report, and fancied they rejected,\nwith the Jews, our Redeemer having come. They, on the contrary, believe,\naccording to their Prophet's words, 'that He was born of the Virgin Mary;\nthat He worked miracles; that He ascended after His earthly commission had\nceased, to the seventh heaven; that He will again visit the earth (when\ntheir Emaum Mhidhie will also appear), to cleanse the world of its corrupt\nwickedness, when all men shall live in peace, and but one faith shall\nprevail, in the worship of the true God'.\n\nThe Mussulmaun work, 'Hyaatool Kaloob' (which I have so often referred to),\ncontains, with the lives of all the prophets, the Life of Jesus Christ,\nHis acts, and the Ungeel[15] (Gospel). The Gospel they have is in many\nthings different from ours; it is not formed into books by the apostles,\nneither are the miracles united with the Gospel, but are detailed as the\nacts of Christ Jesus. What they understand by the Ungeel, is, 'the Word of\nGod by the mouth of Jesus';--for instance, the Sermon on the Mount, or, in\nother words, the precepts of Jesus. I am indebted to the Meer for this\ninformation.\n\nThe Mussulmauns say, 'All power belongs to God.--Who would dare dispute\nthe miracle of Christ's birth? Is there any thing difficult with God? God\nfirst formed Adam from the dust; and by His word all things were created.\nIs there any thing too great for His power? Let no man, then, dispute the\nbirth of Christ by a pure Virgin.' They believe that Jesus Christ was the\nProphet of God, but they believe not that He is God; and they deem all who\nthus declare Christ to be God, as unfaithful both to God and to Christ.\n\nI have said the Mussulmauns of each sect have extra prayers, beside the\nNamaaz, or daily services of prayer. I suppose there are a greater variety\nof prayers amongst these people than with those of any other religion.\nVery few, if any, of the devout men, in the early ages of their religion,\nhave omitted to leave behind them some testimony of their regard for\nposterity in the form of 'prayers', dictating the words most likely to\nlead the heart of the creature to the worship of the Creator; and also\ndirections how to pray for any particular object they may desire to\naccomplish by the aid of God, in whom they are instructed and believe the\nfulness of power, as of glory, ever was, is, and will be to all eternity.\n\nIf the Mussulmaun suffers by persecution, by sickness, by loss of property,\nor any other distress of mind or body, he applies himself to the\nparticular prayer of a favourite Emaum, or holy scribe, suited to his\nexact case. I cannot do better here than copy the translation my husband\nhas made of the leading causes for the use of that prayer called\n'Daaood's[16] (David's) Mother's Prayer', in which I have known so many\npeople to be engaged, when under difficulties, at the appointed period,\nviz. the fifteenth day of the month Rujub. The prayer itself occupies\nabout sixteen closely written pages, and the person intending to make use\nof it, is expected to bathe and fast, as commanded by Mahumud, who\ninstructed his followers in this prayer, which was then called 'The\nOpening of Difficulties',[17] afterwards, and to the present day 'David's\nMother's Prayer', by reason of a miraculous occurrence which followed her\nhaving fulfilled the task of fasting, preparation, and the prayer alluded\nto.\n\n'A very poor woman had been engaged in the family of the Emaum Jaffur\nSaadick,[18] as wet-nurse to his son; she was much respected in the family,\nwho wished to have retained her with them, when the child was weaned; but\nshe would return to her own village, where her son was living, at some\ndistance from the city of Koofah.\n\n'Her son, named Daaood, grew up under her maternal care, and proved the\ngreat comfort and solace of her life, by his dutiful and affectionate\nbearing towards her. At that period the reigning King of Arabia was a most\ncruel man, and an idolater; he persecuted all the professors of the \"True\nFaith\" whenever they came within his reach, with the most barbarous\nbrutality.\n\n'One day, at an early hour, Daaood's mother presented herself at the house\nof the Emaum, in great distress of mind, and related the heavy affliction\nwhich had befallen her, in the loss of her dearly loved son (then a fine\nyouth), who had been decoyed by the wicked emissaries of the King, for the\npurpose, it was feared, of immolation--as it was known to be his custom,\nwhen, laying the foundation of a building, to deposit living victims of\nthe Mussulmaun faith beneath it. The poor woman had no hope her eyes would\never again be blessed with the sight of her fondly-loved son, and still\nmore agonizing were her fears, that his protracted sufferings would be of\nthe same terrible description with numbers of the faithful who had fallen\ninto the hands of that wretched heathen King.\n\n'Her friends in the Emaum's family grieved over the sad affliction with\nwhich their favourite had been visited. The Emaum strove to comfort her,\nand proposed that she should perform the prayer in which Mahumud had\ninstructed his followers for \"The Opening of Difficulties\". \"Alas!\"\nreplied the woman, \"poor ignorant that I am, how shall I repeat that\nprayer; I cannot read: knowest thou not, my Emaum, that I am not\nacquainted with letters?\" \"But I will teach you the prayer,\" answered the\nEmaum; \"you shall repeat it after me, and by diligence you will acquire it\nperfectly by that day, on which our Prophet commanded his followers to\nperform the fast and offer this prayer, that God might be pleased to\nremove their calamities.\"\n\n'The poor woman obeyed all the injunctions and advice of the Emaum Jaffur\nSaadick punctually; acquired, by her diligence, the words of the prayer;\nstrictly observed the preparation by fast; and, on the fifteenth \"day of\nRujub\", the prayer was duly performed, with sincere devotion and perfect\nfaith in God's power, and His infinite mercy.\n\n'In the mean time, it appears, the King having been much troubled in a\ndream, he was warned to release his prisoner from captivity without delay,\nat the peril of destruction to himself and all he possessed. The warning\ndream presented him with a view of the gulf to which he was condemned, if\nhe delayed the release of Daaood from his confinement. The person of the\nyouth was so clearly represented to the King in his dream, that there\ncould be no possible mistake in the particular captive to be freed, out of\nthe many he held in bondage. The King awakening from his troubled sleep,\ndemanded of his attendants where the young man was confined; and learning\nfrom the chief officer of his court that Daaood was sent to a distant\nplace, to be the offering buried under the foundation of a house, erecting\nby his command: the swiftest camels were ordered immediately, to convey\nmessengers with two bags of gold, and the King's mandate, peremptorily\nordering the release of the youth, if happily he yet existed; and if the\nbuilding was proceeding with, the superintendent was cautioned to pull it\ndown with the utmost care and dispatch, so that nothing should be omitted\nwhich could be done to preserve that life now so dear to the hopes of the\nKing.\n\n'The messengers reached the place on the third day after Daaood had been\nimmured in the foundation of the building. Small, indeed, were the hopes\nthat the King's desires would be gratified. The builder, however, more\nhumane than his employer, had so raised the work round the person of\nDaaood, as to leave him unhurt by its pressure, and having left a small\naperture for air, his life was preserved;--the masonry being removed\npromptly, and with caution, the youth was discovered not only alive, but\neven uninjured by the confinement. The courier mounted the boy on the\ncamel, with the present of gold contained in two bags, and conveyed Daaood,\nwithout loss of time, to his mother's abode.\n\n'All the particulars having undergone due investigation, it was clearly\nproved that it was on that very day when the poor woman was occupied in\nher fast and prayer, that her son Daaood was released from the foundation\nof the King's house and restored to his home. From this time forward the\nprayer of \"Opening Difficulties\" was denominated \"Or of Daaood's Mother\".'\n\nTurning over my collection of curiosities for the story of Daaood's Mother,\nwhich the Meer translated for me many years since, I met with an ancient\nanecdote which. I received from the same dear revered friend I must often\nquote as my author when I am detailing the particulars of things which I\nhave heard and not seen,--Meer Hadjee Shaah,--who tells me he has found\nthe following anecdote in the 'Commentary on The History of Moses'.--It is\ntranslated by my husband.\n\n'When Huzerut[19] Moosa (Moses), \"to whose spirit be peace!\" was on earth,\nthere lived near him a poor yet remarkably religious man, who had for many\nyears supported himself and his wife by the daily occupation of cutting\nwood for his richer neighbours; four small copper coins (equivalent to our\nhalfpence) proved the reward of his toil, which at best afforded the poor\ncouple but a scanty meal after his day's exertions.\n\n'The prophet Moosa passed the Woodcutter one morning, who accosted him\nwith \"O Moosa! Prophet of the Most High; behold I labour each day for my\ncoarse and scanty meal; may it please thee, O Huzerut! to make a petition\nfor me to our gracious God, that He may in His mercy grant me at once the\nwhole supply for my remaining years, so that I shall enjoy one day of\nearthly happiness, and then, with my wife, be transferred to the place of\neternal rest\". Moosa promised and made the required petition; his prayer\nwas answered from Mount Tor, thus:--\n\n'\"This man's life is long, O Moses! nevertheless, if he be willing to\nsurrender life when his supply is exhausted, tell him thy prayer is heard,\nthe petition accepted, and the whole amount shall be found beneath his\njhaawn namaaz[20] (prayer-carpet) after his early prayers.\"\n\n'The Woodcutter was satisfied when Moosa told him the result of his\npetition, and when the first duties of the morning were concluded, he\nfailed not in looking for the promised remittance, where, to his surprise,\nhe found a heap of silver coins. Calling his wife, the Woodcutter told her\nwhat he had required of the Lord through his Holy Prophet Moosa; pointing\nto the result, they both agreed it was very good to enjoy a short life of\nhappiness on earth and depart in peace; although they could not help again\nand again recurring to the number of years on earth they had thus\nsacrificed. \"We will make as many hearts rejoice as this the Lord's gift\nwill admit,\" they both agreed, \"and thus we shall secure in our future\nstate the blessed abode promised to those who fulfil the commands of God\nin this, since to-morrow our term of life must close.\"\n\n'The day was spent in providing and preparing provisions for the meal. The\nwhole sum was expended on the best sorts of food, and the poor made\nacquainted with the rich treat the Woodcutter and his wife were cooking\nfor their benefit. The food was cooked for the indigent, and allotments\nmade to each hungry applicant, reserving for themselves one good\nsubstantial meal, to be eaten only when the poor were all served and\nsatisfied. It happened at the very moment they were seated to enjoy this\ntheir last meal, as they believed, a voice was heard, \"O friend! I have\nheard of your feast,--I am late, yet may it be that you have a little to\nspare, for I am hungry to my very heart. The blessing of God be on him who\nrelieves my present sufferings from hunger!\" The Woodcutter and his wife\nagreed that it would be much, better for them to go to heaven with half a\nbellyful, than leave one fellow-creature on earth famishing for a meal;\nthey, therefore, determined on sharing their own portion with him who had\nnone, and he went away from them rejoicing. \"Now,\" said the happy pair,\n\"we shall eat our half-share with unmixed delight, and with thankful\nhearts. By to-morrow eve we shall be transferred to paradise.\"\n\n'They had scarcely raised the savoury food to their opening mouths, when a\nvoice of melancholy bewailing arrested their attention, and stayed the\nhands already charged with food;--a poor wretched creature, who had not\ntasted food for two whole days, moaned his piteous tale in accents that\ndrew tears from the Woodcutter and his wife--their eyes met and the\nsympathy was mutual; they were more willing to depart for heaven without\nthe promised benefit of one earthly enjoyment, than suffer the hungry\ncreature to die from want of that meal they had before them. The dish was\npromptly tendered to the bewailing subject, and the Woodcutter and his\nwife consoled each other by thinking that, as their time of departure was\nnow so near at hand, the temporary enjoyment of a meal was not worth one\nmoment's consideration. \"To-morrow we die, then of what consequence to us\nwhether we depart with full or empty stomachs!\" And now their thoughts\nwere set on the place of eternal rest. They slept, and arose to their\nmorning orisons with hearts resting humbly on their God, in the fullest\nexpectation that this was their last day on earth: the prayer was\nconcluded, and the Woodcutter in the act of rolling up his carpet, on\nwhich he had bowed with gratitude, reverence, and love to his Creator,\nwhen he perceived a fresh heap of silver on the floor;--he could scarcely\nbelieve it was not a dream. \"How wonderful art Thou, O God!\" cried the\npoor Woodcutter; \"this is Thy bounteous gift that I may indeed enjoy one\nday before I quit this earth.\" And when Moosa came to him, he (Moosa) was\nsatisfied with the goodness and power of God; but he retired again to the\nMount to inquire of God the cause of the Woodcutter's respite. The reply\ngiven to Moosa was, \"That man has faithfully applied the wealth given in\nanswer to his petition. He is worthy to live out his numbered years on\nearth, who, receiving My bounty, thought not of his own enjoyments whilst\nhis fellow men had wants he could supply.\" And to the end of the\nWoodcutter's long life, God's bounty lessened not in substance; neither\ndid the pious man relax in his charitable duties of sharing with the\nindigent all that he had, and with the same disregard to his own\nenjoyments.'\n\nI have but little to add, as regards the manner of worship amongst my\nMussulmaun acquaintance; but here I cannot omit remarking, that the women\nare devout in their prayers and strict in their observance of ordinances.\nThat they are not more generally educated is much to be regretted; this,\nhowever, is their misfortune, not their fault. The Mussulmaun faith does\nnot exclude the females from a participation in the Eternal world,[21]--as\nhas so often been assorted by people who could not have known them,--and\nthe good Mussulmaun proves it by his instruction of the females under his\ncontrol in the doctrines of Mahumud, and who he believes to be as much\ndependent on him for guidance on the road to heaven, as for personal\nprotection from want or worldly dangers.\n\nThe pure life of Fatima, Mahumud's only daughter, is greatly esteemed as\nan example of female excellence, whom they strive to imitate as much as\npossible, as well in religious as in moral or domestic duties. They are\nzealous to fulfil all the ordinances of their particular faith,--and I\nhave had the best possible opportunity of studying their\ncharacter,--devotion to God being the foundation on which every principal\naction of their lives seems to rest.\n\nIn my delineation of character, whether male or female, I must not be\nsupposed to mean the whole mass of the Mussulmaun population. There are\ngood and bad of every class or profession of people; it has been my good\nfortune to be an inmate with the pious of that faith, and from their\npractice I have been aided in acquiring a knowledge of what constitutes a\ntrue disciple of Mahumud.\n\n\n[1] The writer mixes up the Persian and Arabic names of the hours of\n    prayer. The proper names, according to this list, are: i,\n    Namaz-i-Subh, from dawn to sunrise; ii, Salatu'l-Zuhr, when the\n    sun has begun to decline; iii, Salatu'l 'Asr, midway between\n    Nos. ii and iv; iv, Sala tu'l-Maghrib, a few minutes after sunset;\n    v, Salatu'l 'Isha, when night has closed in.\n\n[2] _Namaz-i-Tahajjid_, the prayer after midnight.\n\n\n[3] _Wazifah_, 'a daily ration of food', a term used for the daily\n    lesson or portion of the _Koran_ read by devout Musalmans. The\n    _Koran_ is divided into thirty lessons (_siparah_) for use\n    during the month Ramazan.\n\n[4] Special readers (_muqri_) of the _Koran_ are needed, owing to\n    the want of vowels in the Arabic character (Sale, _Preliminary\n    Discourse_, 47). Readers are often employed to recite the _Koran_\n    over a corpse on the way to Karbala.\n\n[5] Known as Khadim.\n\n[6] _Allahu akbar ... Muhammadan rasulu'llah._ In English the\n    entire call runs: 'Allah is most great (four times), I testify that\n    there is no God but Allah (twice), I testify that Muhammad is the\n    Apostle of Allah (twice), Come to prayer (twice), Come to salvation\n    (twice), Allah is most great (twice), There is no God but Allah!'\n\n[7] Known as _Ja'e-namaz,_ 'place of prayer'.\n\n[8] See p. 27.\n\n[9] The _Salatu'l-Juma'_, the Friday prayer, is obligatory. Friday was\n    appointed a Sabbath to distinguish Musalmans from Jews and\n    Christians.\n\n[10] _Darzi_.\n\n[11] _Dhobi_.\n\n[12] See p. 74.\n\n[13] The correct titles are as follows: Adam, _Safiyu'llah,_ 'The\n    Chosen One of God'; Noah, _Nabiyu'llah_, 'The Prophet of God';\n    Abraham, _Khalilu'llah_, 'The Friend of God'; Moses,\n    _Kalimu'llah_, 'He that spoke with God'; Jesus, _Ruhu'llah_,\n    'A Spirit from God'; Muhammad, _Rasulu 'Illah,_ 'The Prophet of\n    God'.\n\n[14] _Salam-'alai-kum._\n\n\n[15] _Injil, [Greek: e'uagg\u00e9lion]_, the Gospel, as opposed to\n    _taurat_, the Pentateuch.\n\n[16] Daud.\n\n[17] The Fatiha, or opening chapter of the _Koran_, used like the\n    Pator-noster.\n\n[18] Ja'afar as-Sadiq.\n\n[19] _Hazrat_, 'Reverend', or 'Superior'.\n\n[20] _Ja'e-namaz_, known also as _sajjadah_, or _musalla_.\n\n[21] The assertion that the Koran teaches that women have no souls is\n    incorrect. See the texts collected by Hughes, _Dictionary of Islam_,\n    pp. 677 ff.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER VIII\n\n  The Fast of Rumzaun.--Motives for its strict observance.--Its\n  commencement and duration.--Sentiments of Meer Hadjee Shaah on the\n  duty of fasting.--Adherence of the females to the observing this\n  fast.--How first broken.--Devout persons extend the term to forty\n  days.--Children permitted to try their zeal.--Calamitous effects of the\n  experiment.--Exemptions from this duty.--Joyful termination of the\n  fast.--Celebration of Eade on the last day.--The Nuzza.--Nautchwomen\n  and Domenie.--Surprise of the Natives at European dancing.--Remarks on\n  their Music.--Anecdotes of Fatima.--The Chuckee.\n\n\n  'The poor man fasts, because he wanteth meat;\n  The sick man fasts, because he cannot eat.\n  The miser fasts, with greedy mind, to spare;\n  The glutton fasts, to eat a greater share.\n  The hypocrite, he fasts to seem more holy;\n  The righteous man, to punish sinful folly.'\n\nThe secret motive of the heart, man cannot fathom in his neighbour's deeds.\nThere are some actions so praiseworthy in themselves, that the charitably\ndisposed will pass over the probable actuating motive, when looking only\nto the fair example. I have, however, reason to think that the Mussulmauns\ngenerally, in fulfilling the commanded fast of Rumzaun, have an\nunexceptionable motive. They are taught by their Lawgiver, that the due\nperformance of this rigid fast is an acceptable service to God the Creator,\nfrom man the creature: they believe this, and therefore they fast?\n\nAmongst the well-informed it is persevered in as a duty delightful to be\npermitted to perform; the ignorant take some merit to themselves in having\nfaithfully observed the command; yet all the fasting population are\nactuated more or less by the same motive,---the desire to please God by\nfulfilling His commands, delivered to them by their acknowledged Prophet.\n\nThe severity of a Mussulmaun's fast can alone be understood by those who\nhave made the trial, as I frequently have, of the strict rules of\nabstinence which they observe; and with the additional privations to be\nendured at the period of the hottest months and the longest days in the\nsame climate, as will sometimes be the case with all their movable fasts.\n\nThe Mussulmaun fast commences when the first streak of light borders the\nEastern horizon, and continues until the stars are clearly discerned in\nthe heavens. During this period not the slightest particle of food, not\none single drop of water, or any other liquid, passes the lips; the hookha,\neven, is disallowed during the continuance of the fast, which of itself\nforms not only a luxury of great value, but an excellent antidote to\nhunger.\n\nAmongst the really religious Mussulmauns the day is passed in occasional\nprayer, besides the usual Namaaz, reading the Khoraun, or the Lives of the\nProphets. I have witnessed some, in their happy employment of these\nfatiguing days, who evinced even greater animation in their conversation\nthan at other times; towards the decline of a day, when the thermometer\nhas stood at eighty-nine in the shade of a closed house, they have looked\na little anxious for the stars appearing, but,--to their credit be it\ntold,--without the slightest symptom of impatience or fretfulness at the\ntardy approach of evening.\n\nMy revered friend, Meer Hadjee Shaah, always told me that the great secret\nof a fast, to be beneficial, was to employ time well, which benefited both\nsoul and body; employment suited to the object of the fast being the best\npossible alleviation to the fatigue of fasting. He adds, if the temper be\nsoured either by the abstinence or the petty ills of life, the good\neffects of the fast are gone with the ruffled spirit, and that the person\nthus disturbed had much better break his fast, since it ceases to be of\nany value in the sight of Him to whom the service is dedicated; the\ninstitution of the fast having for its object to render men more humble,\nmore obedient to their God; all dissensions must be forgotten; all vicious\npursuits abandoned, to render the service of a fast an acceptable offering\nto God.\n\nIn the zeenahnah, the females fast with zealous rigidness; and those who\nhave not the happiness to possess a knowledge of books, or a husband or\nfather disposed to read to them, will still find the benefit of employment\nin their gold embroidery of bags and trimmings, or other ornamental\nneedle-work; some will listen to the Khaaunie[1] (tales), related by their\nattendants; others will overlook, and even assist in the preparations\ngoing forward for opening the fast. Ladies of the first quality do not\nthink it a degradation to assist in the cooking of choice dishes. It is\none of the highest favours a lady can confer on her friends, when she\nsends a tray of delicate viands cooked by her own hands. So that with the\nprayers, usual and occasional, the daily nap of two hours, indulged in\nthroughout the year, occupation is made to fill up the day between dawn\nand evening; and they bear the fatigue with praiseworthy fortitude. Those\nwho are acquainted with letters, or can afford to maintain hired readers,\npass this month of trials in the happiest manner.\n\nThe fast is first broken by a cooling draught called tundhie[2]; the same\ndraught is usually resorted to in attacks of fever. The tundhie is\ncomposed of the seeds of lettuce, cucumber, and melon, with coriander, all\nwell pounded and diluted with cold water, and then strained through muslin,\nto which is added rose-water, sugar, syrup of pomegranate, and kurah[3] (a\npleasant-flavoured distilled water from the blossom of a species of aloe).\nThis cooling draught is drank by basins' full amongst the Rozedhaars[4]\n(fasters), and it is generally prepared in the zeenahnah apartments for\nthe whole establishment, male and female. Some of the aged and more\ndelicate people break their fast with the juice of spinach[5] only, others\nchoose a cup of boiling water to sip from. My aged friend, Meer Hadjee\nShaah, has acquired a taste for tea, by partaking of it so often with me;\nand with this he has broken his fast for several years, as he says, with\nthe most comforting sensations to himself. I have seen some people take a\nsmall quantity of salt in the first instance, preparatory to a draught of\nany kind of liquid. Without some such prelude to a meal, after the day's\nfast, the most serious consequences are to be apprehended.\n\nAfter indulging freely in the simple liquids, and deriving great benefit\nand comfort from a hookha, the appetite for food is generally stayed for\nsome time: many persons prefer a rest of two hours before they can\nconveniently touch the food prepared for them, and even then, seldom eat\nin the same proportion as they do at other meals. Many suffice themselves\nwith the one meal, and indulge in that very sparingly. The servants and\nlabouring classes, however, find a second meal urgently necessary, which\nthey are careful to take before the dawning day advances. In most families,\ncold rice-milk is eaten at that early hour. Meer Hadjee Shaah, I have\nbefore noticed, found tea to be the best antidote to extreme thirst, and\nmany are the times I have had the honour to present him with this beverage\nat the third watch of the night, which he could enjoy without fear of the\nfirst streaks of light on the horizon arriving before he had benefited by\nthis luxury.\n\nThe good things provided for dinner after the fast are (according to the\nmeans of the party) of the best, and in all varieties; and from the\nabundance prepared, a looker-on would pronounce a feast at hand; and so it\nis, if to feed the hungry be a feast to the liberal-hearted bestower,\nwhich with these people I have found to be a part and parcel of their\nnature. They are instructed from their infancy to know all men as brothers\nwho are in any strait for food; and they are taught by the same code, that\nfor every gift of charity they dispense with a free good will, they shall\nhave the blessing and favour of their Creator abundantly in return. On the\npresent occasion, they cook choice viands to be distributed to the poor,\ntheir fellow-labourers in the harvest; and in proportion to the number fed,\nso are their expectations of blessings from the great Giver of all good,\nin whose service it is performed. In my postscript you will find several\nanecdotes of the daughter of Mahumud on the subject of charity.\n\nWhen any one is prevented fulfilling the fast of Rumzaun in his own person\nhe is instructed to consider himself bound to provide food for opening the\nfast of a certain number of poor men who are Rozedhaars. The general food\nof the peasantry and lower orders of the people--bread and dhall[6]--is\ndeemed sufficient, if unable to afford anything better.\n\nWhen any one dies without having duly observed the fast, pious relatives\nengage some devout person to perform a month's fast, which they believe\nwill be accepted for the neglectful person. Many devout Mussulmauns extend\nthe fast from thirty to full forty days, by the example of Mahumud and his\nfamily; and it is no unusual thing to meet with others who, in addition to\nthis month, fast every Thursday through the year; some very rigid persons\neven fast the month preceding and the following month, as well as the\nmonth of Rumzaun.\n\nSome very young people (children we should call them in happy England) are\npermitted to try their fasting powers, perhaps for a day or two during the\nmonth of Rumzaun. The first fast of the noviciate is an event of no small\nmoment to the mother, and gives rise to a little festival in the zeenahnah;\nthe females of the family use every sort of encouragement to induce the\nyoung zealot to persevere in the trial when once commenced, and many are\nthe preparations for the opening last with due \u00e9clat in their\ncircle--sending trays of the young person's good things to intimate\nfriends, in remembrance of the interesting event; and generally with a\nparade of servants and music, when the child (I must have it so) belongs\nto the nobility, or persons of consequence, who at the same time\ndistribute money and food to the poor.\n\nThese first fasts of the young must be severe trials, particularly in the\nhot season. I have heard, it is no uncommon thing for the young sufferers\nto sink under the fatigue, rather than break the fast they have had\ncourage to commence. The consolation to the parents in such a case would\nbe, that their child was the willing sacrifice, and had died 'in the road\nof God', as all deaths occurring under performances of a known duty are\ntermed.\n\nWithin my recollection a distressing calamity of this nature occurred at\nLucknow, in a very respectable family. I did not know the party personally,\nbut it was the topic in all the houses I visited at that period. I made a\nmemorandum of the circumstance at the time, from which the following is\ncopied:\n\n'Two children, a son and daughter of respectable parents, the eldest\nthirteen and the youngest eleven years of age, were permitted to prove\ntheir faith by the fast, on one of the days of Rumzaun; the parents,\nanxious to honour their fidelity, expended a considerable sum of money in\nthe preparations for celebrating the event amongst their circle of friends.\nEvery delicacy was provided for opening their fast, and all sorts of\ndainties prepared to suit the Epicurean palates of the Asiatics, who when\nreceiving the trays at night would know that this was the testimony of the\nchildren's perseverance in that duty they all hold sacred.\n\n'The children bore the trial well throughout the morning, and even until\nthe third watch of the day had passed, their firmness would have reflected\ncredit on people twice their age, making their first fast. After the third\nwatch, the day was oppressively hot, and the children evinced symptoms of\nweariness and fatigue; they were advised to try and compose themselves to\nsleep; this lulled them for a short time, but their thirst was more acute\nwhen they awoke than before. The mother and her friends endeavoured to\ndivert their attention by amusing stories, praising their perseverance, &c.\nThe poor weak lady was anxious that they should persevere; as the day was\nnow so far gone, she did not like her children to lose the benefit of\ntheir fast, nor the credit due to them for their forbearance. The children\nendeavoured to support with patience the agony that bowed them down--they\nfainted, and then the mother was almost frantic, blaming herself for\nhaving encouraged them to prolong their fast against their strength. Cold\nwater was thrown over them; attempts were made to force water into their\nmouths; but, alas! their tender throats were so swollen, that not a drop\npassed beyond their mouths. They died within a few minutes of each other;\nand the poor wretched parents were left childless through their own\nweakness and mistaken zeal. The costly viands destined for the testimony\nof these children's faith, it may be supposed, were served out to the\nhungry mendicants as the first offerings dedicated to the now happy\nspirits of immortality.'\n\nThis is a sad picture of the distressing event, but I have not clothed it\nin the exaggerated garb some versions bore at the time the circumstance\nhappened.\n\nThere are some few who are exempt from the actual necessity of fasting\nduring Rumzaun; the sick, the aged, women giving nourishment to infants,\nand those in expectation of adding to the members of the family, and very\nyoung children, these are all commanded not to fast.[7] There is a\nlatitude granted to travellers also; but many a weary pilgrim whose heart\nis bent heavenward will be found taking his rank amongst the Rozedhaars of\nthe time, without deeming he has any merit in refraining from the\nprivileges his code has conferred upon him; such men will fast whilst\ntheir strength permits them to pursue their way.\n\nTowards the last week of Rumzaun the haggard countenances and less\ncheerful manners of the fasting multitude seem to increase, but they\nseldom relax unless their health is likely to be much endangered by its\ncontinuance.\n\nThe conclusion of the month Rumzaun is celebrated as an Eade[8] (festival),\nand, if not more splendid than any other in the Mussulmaun calendar, it is\none of the greatest heart-rejoicing days. It is a sort of thanksgiving day\namongst the devout people who have been permitted to accomplish the task;\nand with the vulgar and ignorant, it is hailed with delight as the season\nof merriment and good living--a sort of reward for their month's severe\nabstinence.\n\nThe namaaz of the morning, and the prayer for Eade, commence with the dawn;\nafter which the early meal of Eade is looked forward to with some anxiety.\nIn every house the same dainties are provided with great exactness (for\nthey adhere to custom as to a law): plain boiled rice, with dhie[9] (sour\ncurd) and sugar, forms the first morning repast of this Eade; dried dates\nare eaten with it (in remembrance of the Prophet's family, whose greatest\nluxury was supposed to be the dates of Arabia).[10] A preparation of flour\n(similar to our vermicelli)[11] eaten with cold milk and sugar, is amongst\nthe good things of this day, and trifling as it may appear, the indulgence\nis so great to the native population, that they would consider themselves\nunfortunate Rozedhaars, if they were not gratified, on this occasion, with\nthese simple emblems of long-used custom. The very same articles are in\nrequest in Mussulmaun society, by this custom, from the King to the\nmeanest of his subjects.\n\nThe ladies' assemblies, on this Eade, are marked by all the amusements and\nindulgences they can possibly invent or enjoy, in their secluded state.\nSome receiving, others paying visits in covered conveyances; all doing\nhonour to the day by wearing their best jewellery and splendid dresses.\nThe zeenahnah rings with the festive songs and loud music, the cheerful\nmeeting of friends, the distribution of presents to dependants, and\nremembrances to the poor; all is life and joy, cheerful bustle and\namusement, on this happy day of Eade, when the good lady of the mansion\nsits in state to receive nuzzas from inferiors, and granting proofs of her\nfavour to others.\n\nNuzza[12] is an offering of money from inferiors to those who rank in\nsociety above the person presenting; there is so much of etiquette\nobserved in Native manners, that a first visit to a superior is never made\nwithout presenting a nuzza. When we arrived in India, an old servant of my\nhusband's family, named Muckabeg, was sent to meet us at Patna to escort\nus to Lucknow; on entering our budgerow[13] he presented fourteen rupees\nto me, which were laid on a folded handkerchief. I did not then understand\nwhat was intended, and looked to the Meer for explanation; he told me to\naccept Muckabeg's 'Nuzza'. I hesitated, remarking that it seemed a great\ndeal more than a man in his situation could afford to give away. My\nhusband silenced my scruples by observing, 'You will learn in good time\nthat these offerings are made to do you honour, together with the certain\nanticipation of greater benefits in return; Muckabeg tenders this nuzza to\nyou, perhaps it is all the money he possesses, but he feels assured it\nwill be more than doubly repaid to him in the value of a khillaut[14]\n(dress of honour) he expects from your hands to-day. He would have behaved\nhimself disrespectfully in appearing before you without a nuzza, and had\nyou declined accepting it, he would have thought that you were either\ndispleased with him, or did not approve of his coming.' This little\nincident will perhaps explain the general nature of all the nuzzas better\nthan any other description I could offer.\n\nKings and Nuwaubs keep the festival in due form, seated on the throne or\nmusnud, to receive the congratulations and nuzzas of courtiers and\ndependants, and presenting khillauts to ministers, officers of state, and\nfavourites. The gentlemen manage to pass the day in receiving and paying\nvisits, all in their several grades having some inferiors to honour them\nin the presentation of offerings, and on whom they can confer favours and\nbenefits; feasting, music, and dancing-women, filling up the measure of\ntheir enjoyments without even thinking of wine, or any substitute stronger\nthan such pure liquids as graced the feasts of the first inhabitants of\nthe world.\n\nThe Nautchwomen in the apartments of the gentlemen, and the Domenie[15] in\nthe zeenahnahs are in great request on this day of festivity, in every\nhouse where the pleasures and the follies of this world are not banished\nby hearts devoted solely to the service of God. 'The Nautch' has been, so\noften described that it would here be superfluous to add to the\ndescription, feeling as I do an utter dislike both to the amusement and\nthe performers. The nautchunies are entirely excluded from the female\napartments of the better sort of people; no respectable Mussulmaun would\nallow these impudent women to perform before their wives and daughters.\n\nBut I must speak of the Domenie, who are the singers and dancers admitted\nwithin the pale of zeenahnah life; these, on the contrary, are women of\ngood character, and their songs are of the most chaste description,\nchiefly in the Hindoostaunie tongue. They are instructed in Native music\nand play on the instruments in common use with some taste,--as the\nsaattarah[16] (guitar), with three wire strings; the surringhee[17]\n(rude-shaped violin); the dhome or dholle[18] (drum), in many varieties,\nbeaten with the fingers, never with sticks. The harmony produced is\nmelancholy and not unpleasing, but at best all who form the several\nclasses of professors in Native societies are indifferent musicians.\n\nAmateur performers are very rare amongst the Mussulmauns; indeed, it is\nconsidered indecorous in either sex to practise music, singing, or dancing;\nand such is the prejudice on their minds against this happy resource\namongst genteel people of other climates, that they never can reconcile\nthemselves to the propriety of 'The Sahib Logue',--a term in general use\nfor the English people visiting India,--figuring away in a quadrille or\ncountry dance. The nobles and gentlemen are frequently invited to witness\na 'station-ball'; they look with surprise at the dancers, and I have often\nbeen asked why I did not persuade my countrywomen that they were doing\nwrong. 'Why do the people fatigue themselves, who can so well afford to\nhire dancers for their amusement?' Such is the difference between people\nof opposite views in their modes of pleasing themselves: a Native\ngentleman would consider himself disgraced or insulted by the simple\ninquiry, 'Can you dance, sing, or play?'\n\nThe female slaves are sometimes taught to sing for their ladies' amusement,\nand amongst the many Hindoostanie airs there are some that would please\neven the most scientific ear; although, perhaps, they are as old as the\ncountry in which they were invented, since here there are neither\ncomposers of modern music, nor competitors for fame to bring the amusement\nto a science. Prejudice will be a continual barrier to improvement in\nmusic with the natives of India; the most homely of their national airs\nare preferred at the present day to the finest composition of modern\nEurope.\n\nMy promised postscript is a translation from the Persian, extracted from\n'The Hyaatool Kaaloob'. The author is detailing the manner of living\nhabitual to Mahumud and his family, and gives the following anecdotes\n'hudeeth' [19] (to be relied on), which occurred at the season of Rumzaun;\nthe writer says:--\n\n'It is well known that they (Mahumud's family) were poor in worldly wealth;\nthat they set no other value on temporal riches (which occasionally passed\nthrough their hands) but as loans from the great Giver of all good, to be\nby them distributed amongst the poor, and this was done faithfully; they\nkept not in their hands the gifts due to the necessitous. The members of\nMahumud's family invariably lived on the most simple diet, even when they\ncould have commanded luxuries.\n\n'At one season of Rumzaun,--it was in the lifetime of Mahumud,--Fatima,\nher husband Ali, and their two sons, Hasan and Hosein, had fasted two days\nand nights, not having, at that period, the means of procuring the\nsmallest quantity of food to break their fast with. Habitually and from,\nprinciple, they disguised from the world or their friends all such\ntemporal trials as it seemed good in the wisdom of Divine Providence to\nplace in their chequered path; preferring under any circumstances of need,\nto fix their sole trust in the mercy and goodness of God for relief,\nrather than by seeking aid from their fellow-creatures lessening their\ndependence on Him.\n\n'On the evening above mentioned, Mahumud went to the cottage of Fatima,\nand said, \"Daughter, I am come to open my fast with thee.\"--\"In the name\nof the most merciful God, be it so,\" was the reply of Fatima; yet secretly\nshe sorrowed, that the poverty of her house must now be exposed to her\nbeloved father.\n\n'Fatima spread the dustha-khawn[20] (a large square of calico) on the\nfloor of the room near her father, placed empty plates before him, then\nretired to her station for prayers; spreading her mat in the direction of\nKaabah, she prostrated herself to the earth before God in the humblest\nattitude, imploring His merciful aid, in this her moment of trial.\nFatima's fervent prayer was scarcely finished, when a savoury smell of\nfood attracted her attention; raising her head from the earth, her anxious\neye was greeted with the view of a large bowl or basin filled with\nsulleed[21] (the Arabian food of that period). Fatima again bowed down her\nhead, and poured out in humble strains that gratitude to God with which\nher heart overflowed. Then rising from her devotions, she took up the\nsavoury food and hurried with it to her father's presence, and summoned\nher husband and the children to partake of this joyous meal, without even\nhinting her thoughts that it was the gift of Heaven.\n\n'Ali had been some time seated at the meal, when he, knowing they had no\nmeans of procuring it, looked steadily on Fatima, and inquired where she\nhad secreted this delicious food; at the same time recurring to the two\ndays' fast they had endured. \"Rebuke her not, my son,\" said Mahumud;\n\"Fatima is the favoured of Heaven, as was Myriam[22] (Mary), the mother of\nEsaee[23] (Jesus), who, living in her uncle Zechareah's[24] (Zachariah's)\nhouse, was provided by God with the choicest of fruits. Zechareah was poor,\nand oft he hungered for a meal; but when he entered Myriam's apartment, a\nfresh supply of rare fruits was wont to greet his eye. Zechareah asked,\nWhence had ye these precious gifts? Myriam answered, An angel from God\nplaces the fruit before me; eat, my uncle, and be satisfied.\"'\n\nThe writer thus leaves the story of the miraculous food to Fatima's prayer,\nand goes on as follows:--\n\n'At another season of the fast, this family of charity endured a severe\ntrial, which was miraculously and graciously rewarded. Fatima had a female\nslave, who shared with her equally the comforts and the toils of life.\n\n'The food allotted to every member of Ali's family was two small barley\ncakes for each day; none had more or less throughout the family. The\nlabour of domestic affairs was shared by Fatima with her female slave, and\neach took their day for grinding the barley at the chuckee,[25] with which\nthe cakes were made.\n\n'On the--day of Rumzaun, the corn was ground as usual, the cakes made, and\nthe moment for opening the fast anxiously anticipated, by this abstemious\nfamily. The evening arrived, and when the family had fulfilled their\nprayer-duty, the party assembled round the homely dustha-khawn with\nthankful hearts, and countenances beaming with perfect content. All had\ntheir allotted portions, but none had yet tasted of their cakes, when the\nvoice of distress caught their ears. \"Give me, oh, give me, for the love\nof God! something to relieve my hunger and save my famishing family from\nperishing.\" Fatima caught up her barley cakes, and ran out to the\nsupplicant, followed by her husband, the two children, and the slave. The\ncakes were given to the distressed creature, and as they comprised their\nwhole stock, no further supply awaited their returning steps, nor even a\nsubstitute within the bare walls of their cottage; a few grains of salt\nhad been left from cooking the barley cakes, and each took a little of the\nsmall quantity, to give a relish to the water they now partook of freely;\nand then retired to sleep away the remembrance of hunger.\n\n'The next day found them all in health, and with hearts at peace; the day\nwas passed in useful occupation, and when evening drew nigh, the same\nhumble fare was ready for the fasting family, whose appetites were doubly\nkeen by the lengthened abstinence. Again they meet to partake in gratitude\nthe great gift of Divine goodness, wholesome sustenance; when, lo! the\nsound of sorrowing distress, petitioning in the holy name adored by these\npious souls,--\"For the Love of God!\"--arrested their attention. An appeal\nso urgently made carried with it a command to their devout hearts, and the\nmeal so long delayed to their own necessities was again surrendered to the\nbeggar's prayers.\n\n'This family of charity had returned to their empty hut, and were seated\nin pious conversation to beguile their sufferings; not a murmuring word or\nsigh escaped their sanctified mouths. As the evening advanced thus\noccupied, a pleasing joy seemed to fill the heart of Fatima, who secretly\nhad sorrowed for her good dear children's privations; presently a bright\nand powerful light filled the room, an angel stood before them; his\nappearance gave them no alarm;--they beheld his presence with humility.\n\"Thy good deeds\", said the angel (Gabriel), \"are acceptable to God, the\nAll Merciful! by whose command I come to satisfy the demands of mortal\nnature; this fruit (dates) is the gift of Him you serve; eat and be at\npeace.\" The meal was ample which the angel brought to this virtuous family,\nand having placed it before them, he vanished from their sight.'\n\nThe Chuckee, before mentioned, is two flat circular stones (resembling\ngrindstones in England), the upper stone has a peg or handle fixed in it,\nnear the edge, with which it is forced round, by the person grinding, who\nis seated on the floor; the corn is thrown in through a circular hole on\nthe upper stone, and the flour works out at the edges between the two\nstones. This is the only method of grinding corn for the immense\npopulation throughout Oude, and most other parts of Hindoostaun even to\nthe present day. The late King of Oude, Ghauzieood deen Hyder, was at one\ntime much pressed by some English friends of his, to introduce water-mills,\nfor the purpose of grinding corn; he often spoke of the proposed plan to\nthe Meer, and declared his sole motive for declining the improvement was\nthe consideration he had for the poor women, who by this employment made\nan excellent living in every town and village, and who must, by the\nintroduction of mills, be distressed for the means of support. 'My poor\nwomen', he would often say, 'shall never have cause to reproach me, for\ndepriving them of the use and benefit of their chuckee.'\n\nI have before said it is not my intention to offer opinions on the\ncharacter of the Mussulmaun people, my business being merely to relate\nsuch things as I have heard and seen amongst them. The several\ntranslations and anecdotes I take the opportunity of placing in these\nletters, are from authorities the Mussulmauns style, hudeeth\n(authentic),--that are not, cannot, be doubted, as they have been handed\ndown either by Mahumud or by the Emaums, whose words are equally to be\nrelied on. When any passages in their sacred writings are commented on by\ndifferent authors, they give their authority for the opinion offered, as\nEmaum Such-a-one explains it thus. You understand, therefore, that the\nMussulmauns believe these miracles to have occurred to the members of\ntheir Prophet's family as firmly as we believe in the truth of our Holy\nScripture.\n\n\n[1] _Kahani_.\n\n[2] _Thandi_.\n\n[3] See p. 13.\n\n[4] _Rozadar_, 'one who keeps fast' (_roza_).\n\n[5] _Spinacea oleracea_, or _Basella alba_.\n\n[6] Dhall [_dal_] is a sort of pea, sometimes cooked in a savoury way\n    with garlic, salt, ghee, pepper and herbs. It is about the consistence\n    of thick pea-soup--but without meat. [_Author_.]\n\n[7] But it is directed that infirm people, unable to fast, should feed a\n    poor person when the fast is over. Women in child and those suckling\n    children are advised to fast at some other more convenient season.\n\n[8] 'Idu'l-fitr, 'the Festival of the Breaking of the Fast'.\n\n[9] _Dahi_.\n\n[10] The Ajwah date is never sold in Arabia, because the Prophet advised\n    that whosoever break the fast every day with, six or seven of those\n    fruits need fear neither poison nor magic.--Burton, _Pilgrimage_,\n    i. 401 f.\n\n[11] Known as _siwayan_, which Musalman servants present on this day\n    to their European masters in India.\n\n[12] _Nazr, nazar_.\n\n[13] A lumbering, keelless barge, formerly much used by Europeans\n    travelling on the Ganges and its tributaries: _bajra_ meaning\n    'heavy'.\n\n[14] _Khil'at._\n\n[15] _Domni_, a woman of the Dom or singer class.\n\n[16] _Sitara_, 'three-stringed', but often possessing four or more\n    strings of steel and brass wire, played with a steel wire frame.\n\n[17] _Saranyi_.\n\n[18] _Dhol_: 'dhome' is a mistake.\n\n[19] _Hadis_, the sayings of the Prophet, not of an uninspired divine or\n    teacher.\n\n[20] _Dastarkhwan_, a modification of the Arab leathern table-spread\n    (_sufra_).\n\n\n[21] _Tharid_, bread moistened with broth and mixed with scraps of meat.\n\n[22] Maryam.\n\n[23] 'Isa'l-Masih.\n\n[24] Zakariya (_Koran_, iii. 32, vi. 85, xix. 1-12, xxi. 89).\n\n[25] _Chakki_.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER IX\n\n  The Hadje (Pilgrimage to Mecca).--Commanded to be performed by\n  Mahumud.--Eagerness of both sexes to visit the Prophet's\n  tomb.--Qualifications requisite for the undertaking.--Different\n  routes from India to Mecca.--Duties of the pilgrims at the Holy\n  House.--Mecca and its environs.--Place of Abraham.--The\n  Bedouins.--Anecdote of a devotee and two pilgrims.--A Bedouin Arab,\n  and the travellers to Mecca.--The Kaabah (Holy House).--Superstitious\n  regard to a chain suspended there.--Account of the gold\n  water-spout.--Tax levied on pilgrims visiting the tomb of Mahumud by\n  the Sheruff of Mecca.--Sacred visit to the tombs of Ali, Hasan, and\n  Hosein.--The importance attached to this duty.--Travellers annoyed by\n  the Arabs.--An instance recorded.--The Nudghiff Usheruff.--Anecdotes\n  of Syaad Harshim.\n\n\n'The Pilgrimage to Mecca' is commanded by Mahumud to his followers at\nleast once during their lifetime, provided the obstacles are not\ninsurmountable. Indulgences are made for the sick, or individual poverty.\nAll who have the means at command, whatever may be their distance from the\nplace, are expected to perform the Hadje themselves if possible; or, if\nprevented by any circumstances they cannot control, they are required to\npay the expenses of other persons willing to be their proxies.\n\nWhatever information I have acquired on the subject of this pilgrimage has\nbeen gleaned from frequent conversations with Meer Hadjee Shaah, who, as I\nhave before remarked, performed the Hadje from Hindoostaun to Mecca, at\nthree different periods of his eventful life.\n\nIf the fatigues, privations, and difficulties of the pilgrimage to Mecca\nbe considered, the distance from Hindoostaun must indeed render the Hadje\na formidable undertaking; yet, the piously disposed of both sexes yearn\nfor the opportunity of fulfilling the injunctions of their Lawgiver, and\nat the same time, gratifying their laudable feelings of sympathy and\ncuriosity--their sympathy, as regards the religious veneration for the\nplace and its purposes; their curiosity, to witness with their own eyes\nthose places rendered sacred by the words of the Khoraun in one instance,\nand also for the deposits contained in the several tombs of prophets, whom\nthey have been taught to reverence and respect as the servants of God.\n\nEvery year may be witnessed in India the Mussulmauns of both sexes forming\nthemselves into Kauflaahs[1] (parties of pilgrims) to pursue their march\non this joyous expedition, believing, as they do, that they are fulfilling\na sacred duty. The number of women is comparatively few, and those chiefly\nfrom the middling and lower classes of the people, whose expenses are\ngenerally paid by the rich females. The great obstacle to the higher\nclasses performing the pilgrimage themselves is, that the person must at\ntimes be necessarily exposed to the view of the males. The lower orders\nare less scrupulous in this respect, who, whilst on the pilgrimage, wear a\nhooded cloak[2] of white calico, by which the person is tolerably well\nsecreted, so that the aged and youthful have but one appearance; the\nbetter sort of people, however, cannot reconcile themselves to go abroad,\nunless they could be permitted to have their covered conveyances, which in\nthis case is impossible.\n\nThe qualifications necessary for all to possess, ere they can be deemed\nfit subjects for the Hadje, are, as I learn, the following:\n\n'They must be true Mussulmauns in their faith; that is, believe in one\nonly true God, and that Mahumud is His Prophet.\n\n'They must strictly obey the duties commanded by Mahumud; that is, prayer\nfive times daily, the fast of Rumzaun, &c.\n\n'They must be free from the world; that is, all their debts must be paid,\nand their family so well provided for, according to their station, that no\none dependent on them may be in want of the necessaries of life during the\nabsence of the pilgrim from his home and country.\n\n'They must abstain from all fermented or intoxicating liquors, and also\nfrom all things forbidden to be eaten by the law (which is strictly on the\nMosaic principle).\n\n'They must freely forgive their enemies; and if they have given any one\ncause of offence, they must humble themselves, and seek to be forgiven.\n\n'They must repent of every evil they have committed, either in thought,\nword, or deed, against God or their neighbour.'\n\nThus prepared, the pious Mussulmaun sets out on his supposed duty, with\nfaith in its efficacy, and reliance on the goodness of Divine Providence\nto prosper him in the arduous undertaking.\n\nMany Kauflaahs from the Upper Provinces of India, travel overland to\nBombay; others make Calcutta their place of embarkation, in the Arab ships,\nwhich visit those ports annually with returning pilgrims from Arabia,\ncargoes of coffee, Arabian fruits, and drugs. Some few enterprising people\nmake the whole pilgrimage by land; this is, however, attended with so many\nand severe difficulties, that but few of the present day have courage to\nattempt it. In those cases their road would be from Delhie to Cashmire,\nthrough Buckaria,[3] making a wide circuit to get into Persia. This is the\nmost tedious route, but possesses the advantages of more inhabited places\non the line of march, and therefore provisions are the more readily\nprocured. There is one route from the Lahore Province,--the English\nterritory here is bounded by the river Suttledge, which the traveller\ncrosses into the Sikh country,--through Afghastaan and Persia. I have not\nheard of the Kauflaahs making this their road of late; there seems to be\nalways a disposition to fear the Sikhs,[4] who are become a powerful\nnation under Runjeet Singh; but I am not aware what ground the pilgrims\nhave for their distrust, except that they can scarcely expect the same\ncourtesy from these people as from the Mussulmauns, who would naturally\naid and assist the pilgrims, and respect the persons thus labouring to\naccomplish the command of their Prophet.\n\nWhatever may be the chosen route, the pilgrims must make up their minds to\nmany trials necessarily incident to the undertaking; and to the habits of\nthe Mussulmauns of India, I cannot suppose any fatigue or trial greater\nthan the voyage by sea, in an Arab vessel. It is well for those persons\nwhose hearts have undergone that thorough change, which by the law fits\nthem for the Hadje; with such men, earthly calamities, privations, or any\nother mere mortal annoyances, are met with pious fortitude, having\nconsolations within which strengthen the outward man: in all their trials\nthey will say, 'It is in the road of God, by Him cometh our reward'.\n\nThe duty of the pilgrims, on their arrival at the Holy Place, is to\nworship God, and visit the tombs of the Prophets. There are forms and\nregulations to be observed in the manner of worship; certain circuits to\nbe made round the Kaabah; saluting with the lips the sacred stone therein\ndeposited; and calling to remembrance the past wonders of God, with\nreverence and piety of heart. I have often heard Meer Hadjee Shaah speak\nof the comfort a humble-minded pilgrim enjoys at the time he is making his\nvisit to the Holy House; he says, 'There the heart of the faithful servant\nof God is enlightened and comforted; but the wicked finds no rest near\nKaabah'.\n\nThe pilgrims visit the tombs of every prophet of their faith within their\nreach; as the mausoleum of Hasan and Hosein, the Nudghiff Usheruff of Ali,\nand, if it be possible, Jerusalem also. At Dimishk (Damascus) they pay\nrespect to the burying-place of Yieyah[5] (St. John), over whose earthly\nremains is erected, they say, the Jumna Musjud[6] (mosque), to which the\nfaithful resort on Fridays (their Sabbath) to prayer.\n\nWithin the confines of the Holy House, life is held so sacred that not the\nmeanest living thing is allowed to be destroyed; and if even by accident\nthe smallest insect is killed, the person who has caused the death is\nobliged to offer in atonement, at the appointed place for sacrificing to\nGod, sheep or goats according to his means.[7]\n\nAccording to the description of Meer Hadjee Shaah the city of Mecca is\nsituated in the midst of a partially barren country; but at the spot\ncalled Taaif,[8]--only one day's journey from Mecca,--the soil is\nparticularly fertile, producing all kinds of fruit and vegetables in great\nabundance, and the air remarkably pure and healthy. The word Taaif implies\nin the Arabic 'the circuits completed'. It is recorded 'that the angel\nGabriel brought this productive soil, by God's command, and placed it at a\nconvenient distance from Mecca, in order that the pilgrims and sojourners\nat the Holy House might be benefited by the produce of the earth, without\nhaving them sufficiently near to call off their attention from the solemn\nduty of worshipping their God, which they are expressly called upon to\nperform at Mecca'.\n\nMy informant tells me that there is a stone at Mecca known by the\nappellation of 'Ibraahim Mukhaun' (Place of Abraham):[9] on this is seen\nthe mark of a human foot, and believed by pilgrims, on good authority, to\nbe the very stone on which Abraham rested his foot when making occasional\nvisits to his son Ishmael: at the performance of this duty he never\ndismounted from his camel, in compliance with his sacred promise made to\nSarah the mother of Isaac.\n\nThe pilgrimage to Mecca is most securely performed by those persons who\ntravel in a humble way; riches are sure to attract the cupidity of the\nBedouins. A poor pilgrim they respect, and with him they will share their\nlast meal or coin. The Bedouin Arab delights in hospitably entertaining\nmen of his own faith, provided they are really distressed; but the\nconsequence of deception would be a severe visitation on the delinquent.\nThe two following stories I have received from Meer Hadjee Shaah,\ndescriptive of some of the incidents that occur to pilgrims, and therefore\nmay be acceptable here.\n\n'A good Mussulmaun of Hindoostaun resolved on undertaking the Hadje, being\nunder the strong impression of a warning dream that his earthly career\nwould speedily terminate. He travelled on foot, with one companion only,\nwho was a faithfully-attached friend; they had no worldly wealth, and\njourneyed on their way as mendicants, trusting for each day's food to the\nbountiful care of Divine Providence: nor was their trust in vain, since\nthe hearts of all who saw these pious travellers were moved by the power\nof God to yield them present relief.\n\n'On a certain day these pilgrims had journeyed from the dawn until eve\nwithout a meal, or meeting any one to assist them, when they were at last\nencountered by a religious devotee of another nation, with whom they\nconversed for some time. Their new acquaintance having found they were\nindeed poor, not even possessed of a single coin to purchase corn or food\nof any kind, expressed his hearty sympathy, and desired to be of service\nto the pilgrims; he therefore disclosed to them that he was in possession\nof a secret for the transmutation of metals,[10] and offered some of his\nprepared powder to the elder Hadjee, by which he would have persuaded him\nwant should never again intrude; adding, \"You will with this be\nindependent of all future care about subsistence on your pilgrimage.\"\n\n'The pious Hadjee, however, was of a different mind from the devotee, and\npolitely rejected the offer of the powder by which he was to acquire\nriches, declaring that the possession of such an article would rob him of\nthe best treasure he enjoyed, namely, the most perfect reliance on Him, by\nwhom the birds of the air are fed from day to day without labour or care,\nand who had hitherto fed him both in the city and in the desert; and that\nin this trust he had comforts and consolations which the whole world could\nnot grant him: \"My God, in whom I trust, will never desert me whilst I\nrely on Him alone for succour and support.\"'\n\nMy excellent friend says, such pilgrims as the one described may pass\nthrough the haunts of the Bedouins without fear or sorrow, and they are\nalways respected. The next anecdote I am about to relate will develop more\nparticularly the Arab's natural disposition, and how necessary it is for\nmen really to be that they would seem, when placed by circumstances within\ntheir reach. Some of the parties were known to my venerable relative.\n\n'Six Mussulmauns from India were travelling on foot in Arabia; they\nassumed the title of pilgrim mendicants. On a certain day they drew nigh\nto the tent of a Bedouin Arab, who went out to meet them, and entering\ninto conversation, soon discovered by their talk that they were poor\npilgrims from India, who depended on casual bounties from men of their\nfaith for their daily meal. The Bedouin, though a robber, had respect for\nthe commands of his religion; and with that respect he boasted a due share\nof hospitable feeling towards all who were of his own faith; he\naccordingly told them they were welcome to his home, and the best meal he\ncould provide for them, which offers they very gladly accepted, and\nfollowed him to the tent.\n\n'The Arab desired his wife to take water to his guests and wash their feet\nafter the fatigue of their day's march, and told her in secret to divert\ntheir attention whilst he went out in search of plunder, that the\nhospitality of an Arab might be shown to the strangers. Then mounting his\nfleet-camel, he was quickly out of sight. Many a weary circuit the Arab\nmade, his ill stars prevailed; not a Kauflaah nor a traveller could he\nmeet, whence a supply might be extracted, to be the means of providing for\nhis guests; his home was penniless, and with the Bedouins, none give\ncredit. His bad success dispirited him, and he returned to the back of his\ntent, to consult what was best to be done in this emergency. The only\nthing he possessed in the world fit for food was the animal on which he\nrode, from day to day, to levy contributions upon the passing traveller.\n\n'His only immediate resource was to kill his favourite camel. His honour\nwas at stake; the sacrifice would be great; he was attached to the beast;\nthe loss would be irreparable, he thought:--yet every weighty argument on\none side to preserve the camel's life, was as quickly overturned in the\nreflection of his Arabian honour;--his visitors must be fed, and this was\nthe only way he could contrive the meal. With trembling hands and\nhalf-averted eyes, the camel's blood was shed; with one plunge his\nfavourite ceased to breathe. For some minutes, the Arab could not look on\nhis poor faithful servant; but pride drove pity from her haunt, and the\nanimal was quickly skinned and dressed in savoury dishes, with his wife's\nassistance. At length, the food prepared, the Arab and his wife placed the\nmost choice portions before their guests, and whilst they dined attended\nthem with respectful assiduity; selecting for each the most delicate\npieces, to induce the travellers to eat, and evince the cordial welcome\ntendered by the host.[11]\n\n'The travellers having dined; the Arab and his wife took their turn at the\nfeast with appetites most keen,--forgetful even, for the time, whence the\nsavoury dishes were procured; and if an intruding thought of his favourite\ncamel shot across the mind of the Arab, it was quickly chased in the\nreflection that his prided honour was secured by the sacrifice, and that\nreflection was to him a sufficient compensation.\n\n'The pilgrims, refreshed by food, were not inclined to depart, and as they\nwere urged to stay by their friendly host, they slept comfortably in the\nArab's tent, on coarse mats, the only bed known to the wandering Bedouins.\nThe morning found them preparing to pursue their march; but the Arab\npressed their continuance another day, to share with him in the abundance\nhis camel afforded for the whole of the party. The travellers were not\nunwilling to delay their departure, for they had journeyed many days\nwithout much ease, and with very little food; their host's conversation\nalso was amusing, and this second day of hospitality by the Arab was an\naddition to the comfort and convenience of the weary pilgrims.\n\n'The following morning, as was fixed, the travellers rose to take leave of\ntheir benevolent host and his attentive wife; each as he embraced the Arab,\nhad some grateful word to add, for the good they had received at his hands.\nThe last of the pilgrims, having embraced the Arab, was walking from the\ntent, when the dog belonging to the host seized the man by his garment and\nheld him fast. \"What is this?\" inquired the Arab, \"surely you must have\ndeceived me; my dog is wise as he is trusty,--he never yet lied to his\nmaster. This labaadhar of yours he has taken a fancy to it seems; but you\nshall have my coat of better-looking stuff for your old chintz garment. We\nwill exchange labaadhars,[12] my friend,\" said the Arab, throwing his own\ntowards the hesitating traveller. His fellow-pilgrims, hearing altercation,\nadvanced, and with surprise listened to the parley going on between the\nhost and guest.--\"I have a veneration for my chintz, old as it is,\" said\nthe pilgrim; \"it has been my companion for many years, brother; indeed I\ncannot part with it.\" The dog held fast the garment, and the Arab, finding\npersuasion was but loss of words, cast a frown of deep meaning on the\ntravellers, and addressed them:--\"Ye came to me beggars, hungry and\nfatigued; I believed ye were poor, and I sheltered ye these two days, and\nfed ye with my best; nay, more, I even killed my useful camel, that your\nhunger might be appeased. Had I known there was money with any of ye, my\npoor beast's life might yet have been spared; but it is too late to repent\nthe sacrifice I made to serve you,\" Then, looking steadfastly at the\nchintz-robed traveller, he added, in a tone of sharp authority, \"Come,\nchange garments!--here, no one disputes my commands!\"\n\n'The trembling pilgrim reluctantly obeyed. The Arab took up the garment\nand proceeded with it to where the fire was kindled. \"Now we shall see\nwhat my trusty dog discovered in your tattered chintz,\" said the Arab, as\nhe threw it on the fire. All the pilgrims hovered round the flames to\nwatch what would result from the consuming garment, with intense anxiety.\nThe Arab drew from the embers one hundred gold mohurs, to the surprise and\nwonder of all the travellers, save him who owned the chintz garment; he\nhad kept his treasures so secretly, that even in their greatest distress\nhe allowed his brother pilgrims to suffer, with himself, want and\nprivations which, owing to his lust for gold, he had no heart to relieve.\n\n'The Arab selected from the prize he had obtained, by the exchange of\ngarments, ten gold mohurs, and presented them to the owner with a sharp\nrebuke for his duplicity, alluding to the meanness he had been guilty of\nin seeking and accepting a meal from a Bedouin, whilst he possessed so\nmuch wealth about his person; then adding,--\"There is nothing hidden from\nGod; I killed my sole treasure to give food to the poor hungry travellers;\nmy deed of charity is rewarded; deceit in you is punished by the loss of\nthat wealth you deserved not to possess.--Depart, and be thankful that\nyour life is spared; there are some of my tribe who would not have\npermitted you to go so easily: you have enough spared to you for your\njourney; in future, avoid base deceptions.\"'\n\nOf the Kaabah (Holy House) many wonderful things are recorded in the\nseveral commentaries on the Khoraun, and other ancient authorities, which\nit would fill my letter to detail. I will, however, make mention of the\nmystic chain as a sample of the many superstitious habits of that age.\n\nIt is said, 'A chain was suspended from the roof of Kaabah, whither the\npeople assembled to settle (by the touch) disputed rights in any case of\ndoubt between contending parties.'\n\nMany curious things are related as having been decided by this mystic\nchain,[13] which it should seem, by their description, could only be\nreached by the just person in the cause to be decided, since, however long\nthe arm of the faulty person, he could never reach the chain; and however\nshort the person's arm who was in the right, he always touched the chain\nwithout difficulty. I will here relate one of the anecdotes on this\nsubject.\n\n'Two pilgrims travelled together in Arabia; on the way one robbed the\nother of his gold coins, and secreted them carefully in the hollow of his\ncane or staff. His companion missing his cash, accused him of the theft,\nand when disputes had risen high between them, they agreed to visit the\nmystic chain to settle their difference. Arriving at Kaabah, their\nintentions being disclosed to the keepers of the place, the thief claimed\nthe privilege, being the accused, of first reaching to touch the chain; he\nthen gave the staff in which he had deposited the money into his\nfellow-pilgrim's hands, saying, \"Keep this, whilst I go to prove my\ninnocence.\" He next advanced and made the usual prayer, adding to which,\n\"Lord, whatever I have done amiss I strive to remedy; I repent, and I\nrestore\"; then raising his arm, he touched the chain without difficulty.\nThe spectators were much surprised, because all believed he was actually\nthe thief. The man who lost his gold, freely forgave his fellow-traveller,\nand expressed sorrow that he had accused him wrongfully; yet he wished to\nprove that he was not guilty of falsehood--having really lost his\ngold,--and declared he also would approach the chain to clear himself from\nsuch a suspicion. \"Here,\" said he to the criminal, \"take back your staff;\"\nand he advanced within the Kaabah, making the required prayer, and adding,\n\"Now my Creator will grant me mercy and favour, for He knoweth my gold was\nstolen, and I have not spoken falsely in that, yet I know not who is the\nthief.\" He raised his hand and grasped the chain, at which the people were\nmuch amazed.'\n\nIt is presumed, by writers of a later period, that this circumstance threw\nthe mystic properties of the chain out of favour; for it was soon after\nremoved secretly, these writers add, and its disappearance made the\nsubject of much conjecture; no one could ever ascertain by whom it was\ntaken, but the general belief is, that it was conveyed away by\nsupernatural agency. Another marvellous story is recorded of the Kaabah,\nas follows:\n\n'A poor pilgrim, nearly famishing with hunger, while encircling the Holy\nHouse, on looking up towards the building observed the water-spout of\ngold[14] hanging over his head. He prayed that his wants might be relieved,\nadding, \"To Thee, O God, nothing is difficult. At thy command, that spout\nof gold may descend to my relief;\" holding the skirt of his garment to\nreceive it, in answer to his faithful address. The spout had been firmly\nfixed for ages, yet it fell as the pilgrim finished his prayer. He lost no\ntime in walking away with his valuable gift, and offered it to a merchant\nfor sale, who immediately recognizing the gold spout of Kaabah, accused\nthe pilgrim of sacrilege, and without delay handed him over to the\nSheruff[15] of Mecca, to answer for his crime. He declared his innocence\nto the Sheruff, and told him how he became possessed of the treasure. The\nSheruff had some difficulty in believing his confession, yet perceiving he\nhad not the appearance of a common thief, he told him, if what he had\ndeclared was true, the goodness of God would again be extended towards him\non the trial he proposed to institute. The spout was restored to its\noriginal position on the Kaabah, and made secure. This done, the pilgrim\nwas required to repeat his faithful address to God, in the presence of the\nassembled multitude; when, to their astonishment, it again descended at\nthe instant his prayer was finished. Taking up the spout without\nhesitation, he was walking away with it very quietly, when the people\nflocked round him, believing him to be some sainted person, and earnestly\nrequested him to bestow on them small portions of his raiment as relics of\nhis holy person. The Sheruff then clothed him in rich garments, and in\nlieu of the gold spout--which none could now dispute his right to,--the\nsame weight of gold in the current coin of Arabia was given to him, thus\nraising him from beggary to affluence.'\n\nI have often heard Meer Hadjee Shaah speak of this gold spout which adorns\nthe Kaabah, being held in great veneration by the pilgrims who make the\nHadje to that place.\n\nAll Mussulmauns performing the pilgrimage pay a kind of tax to the Sheruff\nof Mecca. The present possessors of power in Mecca are of the Soonie sect.\nThe admission money, in consequence, falls heavy on the Sheahs, from whom\nthey exact heavy sums, out of jealousy and prejudice. This renders it\ndifficult for the poor Sheah pilgrim to gain admittance, and it is even\nsuspected that in many cases they are induced to falsify themselves, when\nit is demanded of them what sect they belong to, rather than be denied\nentrance after their severe trial to reach the confines of Mecca. The tax\nlevied on the Soonies is said to be trifling in proportion to that of the\nSheahs.\n\nAmongst the different places visited by each Hadjee,--after the circuit is\nmade,--a zeearut to the tomb of Ali at Nudghiff Usheruff, and the\nfar-famed Kraabaallah of Hasan and Hosein are esteemed indispensable\nengagements, if it be possible; there is not, however, any command to this\neffect in the Mussulmaun law, but the Sheahs, zealous for their leaders,\nare willing to think they do honour to their memory, by visiting those\ntombs which contain the mortal remains of their respected Emaums.\n\nTravelling through this part of Arabia, Meer Hadjee Shaah says, is\nattended with much inconvenience and fatigue; but he failed not at each\npilgrimage he made, to pay a visit to the mausoleums of his forefathers.\nHe tells me that Kraabaallah was for a long time almost an interdicted\nvisit, through the power of the Soonies, who were so jealous of the\nrespect paid to the Emaums, that the Turks (who are Soonies) raised the\nprice of admission within the gates to one hundred gold pieces. At that\ntime very few people could gratify their yearnings beyond the outside view\nof the mausoleum; and even now that the entrance-money is much reduced the\nsums so collected yield a handsome revenue to the Turks.\n\nI will here introduce an anecdote which proves the value certain\nindividuals set on the zeearut (sacred visit) to Kraabaallah, which I have\nreceived from my revered pilgrim-friend and relative.\n\n'Amongst the applicants for admission at the gates of Kraabaallah was an\naged woman clothed in ragged garments. The gate-keeper, judging from her\nappearance, that she was destitute of money, scoffed at her presumption;\nshe, however, produced the price of admission with much confidence of\nmanner, and demanded entrance without further delay. The keepers now\nsuspected the old woman to be a thief, and commenced interrogating her how\nshe became possessed of so large a sum. The poor old woman answered them,\n\"I have laboured hard for thirty years at my spinning-wheel, and have\ndebarred myself during those years of all superfluities, contenting myself\nwith a bare subsistence; I have done this that the dearest wish of my\nheart might once in my lifetime be gratified, to visit and weep over the\ntomb of my Emaums. Here, take the fruits of my labour, and let me have my\nreward; every moment delayed is agony to me.\"'\n\nIn journeying through Arabia, pilgrims are much annoyed with the intrusion\nthey so frequently meet with from the idle Arabs, who force their way into\nevery stranger's place of sojourn without ceremony, to strain the nerves\nof charity from 'brethren of the faith'.\n\nThere is a maxim well known amongst Mussulmauns,--the words of\nMahumud,--'With the faithful, all are brothers'; and this is the pass-word\nwith those idle men who pretend to have too much pride to beg, and are yet\ntoo indolent to labour for their support.\n\nA Mussulmaun,--however great his rank,--is seated with his friends and\nattendants; an Arab, who lives by this method, stalks into the tent or\napartment, salutes the master with, 'Salaam-oon-ali Koom!' (health or\npeace be with you!) and unbidden takes his seat on the nearest vacant spot\nto the head person of the assembly. After the first surprise excited by\nthe stranger's intrusion, he looks at the master and says, 'I claim the\nprivilege of a brother'; by which it is to be understood the Arab requires\nmoney from the richer man of his faith. A small sum is tendered, he\nreceives it without indicating any sense of obligation, rises from his\nseat, and moves off with no other than the familiar salute which marked\nhis entrance, 'Salaam-oon-ali Koom!'[16]\n\nA rich Eunuch, of Lucknow, accompanied Meer Hadjee Shaah on one of his\npilgrimages, with a large Kauflaah. Upon one occasion, when the whole\nparty were seated in friendly conclave, some of these idle Arabs entered\nin the way described; the Eunuch was unacquainted with the language, or\nthe manners of Arabia, and expressed his dislike to their freedom in warm\nlanguage, and evident anger in his countenance; many had claimed the\ntribute of brotherhood, when the Eunuch, who was accustomed in his own\ncountry to receive respect and deference from inferiors, lost all patience\nwith the uncourtly intrusion of the Arabs, and evinced his wrath to the\nproud Arab then present, who understood by his violent manners, if not by\nhis language, that he was offended with him. The good sense and kindly\nmanner of Meer Hadjee Shaah restored tranquillity in the assembly; he gave\nmoney to the man, and apologized for his friend's ignorance of the customs\nof Arabia: thus preventing the enraged Arab from fulfilling his threat of\nforcing the Eunuch to appear before the Sheruff of Mecca.\n\nNudghiff Usheruff, the burying-place of Ali, is the resort of many pious\nmen of the Mussulmaun persuasion, as well as the shrine to be visited by\n'the faithful' of the Sheah sect. Amongst the many singular stories I have\nheard of the devout men of that religion, I select one from the number\nrelating to a man whose abode was--through choice--near the shrine of\ntheir beloved Emaum Ali. I shall give it in exactly the style I have\nreceived it, through my husband's translation, from an old work in the\nPersian language.\n\n'In the reign of Nadir Shaah,[17] a devout man of the faith took up his\nabode in the vicinity of Nudghiff Usheruff in Arabia. He was a Syaad,\nnamed Harshim;[18] a man of great learning, whose heart was set on seeking\nwith love the most merciful God, whom he served faithfully. Syaad Harshim,\nconscious that the riches and honours of this world are inadequate to\nprocure eternal happiness, and feeling convinced that the more humble a\nman's mode of living is, the greater are the prospects of escaping\ntemptations in this life of probation, resolved on labouring for his daily\nbread, and relinquished with his paternal home, the abundance and riches\nwhich his ancient house had long boasted.\n\n'Syaad Harshim selected Nudghiff Usheruff for his sojourn, and the\nbusiness of a woodman for a calling. The piety of his life, and the\ngoodness of his heart, drew upon him the respect of the inhabitants of the\ncity. It was his practice to spend every day in the jungle (wilderness)\ncutting fire-wood, of which he gave a light burthen to his ass; and\nreturning towards evening to the populated city, he found ready customers\nfor the load which his day's labour produced. His honesty and love of\ntruth were proverbial: he asked the price for his wood which he intended\nto take; if more was offered, it was rejected,--if less, he would not\naccept it.\n\n'One evening, a man of superior address to his usual customers, but poorly\nclad, met him at the entrance of the street, and bargained for the load of\nwood. Syaad Harshim was penetrating, and could not help expressing his\nsurprise at the circumstance of one, evidently moving in a higher sphere,\nbeing there to purchase wood. \"I see,\" said the Syaad to the purchaser,\n\"that your station is superior to your circumstances!--How is this?\"--\"My\nstory,\" replied the stranger, \"is not, I fear, uncommon in this age of the\nworld. I will relate it briefly:--I was once a rich man, and my mind was\nset on making the pilgrimage. Aware that valuables and money would be an\nincumbrance to me on my journey, I applied to the Kauzy of this city to\ntake charge of all my worldly riches during my absence, to which he\nreadily consented, and having packed my jewels, money, and valuables in a\nstrong chest with a good lock, I gave it into his charge and departed.\n\n'\"My pilgrimage accomplished, and tired of a wandering life, I returned\nhome after a few years' absence, waited on the Kauzy, and applied for the\ntreasure I had deposited in his care; he denied all knowledge of me or my\nvaluables, pretended not to understand me, called me an impostor, and\neventually drove me from his house with violence. I again tried the Kauzy\nby expostulation, and sent my friends to him, but all without benefit; for\nhere I am as you see me, Syaad Harshim, reduced to penury by the Kauzy's\ninjustice. The world esteems him a person of great character, and condemns\nme as the unjust one. Well! I can say no more; I know that God is merciful,\nI put my trust in Him!\" \"Ameen,\" responded the Syaad, \"do you so, and it\nwill yet be well with you.\"\n\n'The stranger lingered with the sympathizing Woodman, and after some time\nhad elapsed he asked him if he would interest himself with the Kauzy to\neffect a restitution of his rights, adding, \"All are willing to give you,\nO Syaad, great credit for superior virtues.\" Harshim replied he had no\nmerit to call for his fellow-mortals' good opinion, but as he felt\ninterested in the affair he would certainly visit the unjust man, and\nrequested the stranger to meet him at the Kauzy's door on the following\nmorning.\n\n'Arrived at the Kauzy's residence, Harshim was received with evident\npleasure, for though but a woodman, he yet was known to be a person of\nsuperior rank, and a man universally respected for his great piety. After\nthe common salutations, the Syaad stated the object of his visit, assuring\nthe Kauzy he was actuated purely by good feelings towards him in the part\nhe had undertaken;--being desirous only of preserving his soul from the\nevil that attended the unjust men of this world, who die without\nrepentance and restitution to those whom they have injured. Then calling\nthe stranger forward, he said with firmness of voice and manner, \"Behold\nthis man! he left money and jewels in your charge whilst he went on his\nduty to the pilgrimage; he comes now to demand his property, give back his\nchest of treasures without delay, honestly and justly, as you hope for\nmercy in a future state!\"\n\n'The Kauzy answered, \"I have it not, Syaad Harshim, you may believe me;\nthis fellow wickedly raises the falsehood to injure me, and it is as much\nto his own dishonour as to my discredit. I beg, therefore, you will\nneither give credit to his base assertions, nor think so meanly of me; my\nstation as Kauzy of this district should, methinks, screen me from such\nimputations.\"--\"True,\" said Harshim, \"the station you occupy in the world,\nand the place you hold as Kauzy, prevent suspicion from attaching to you;\nhence this poor man has not yet found redress to the justice of his claims.\nI would have you believe me sincerely your friend, in desiring to bring\nyour heart to repentance, and thus only can your soul's safety be secured.\nI know you to have this man's property, and your own heart even now\nconvicts you of the injustice you practise. Nothing is hidden from\nGod;--reflect on the punishment prepared for the unrepenting hypocrite.\nListen, whilst I relate to you my own convictions, or rather experience,\nof that terrible punishment which is prepared for the impenitent hardened\nsinner beyond the grave.\n\n'\"I have been a woodman for several years, and by my daily labour have\nearned my coarse food. Some years since, I was sick and unable to pursue\nmy usual occupation; my supply was thus cut off. Requiring temporary\nrelief, I applied to a rich Banker of this city for a trifling loan; my\nrequest was promptly complied with, and I engaged to repay the sum by two\npice each day upon again resuming my employment. By the mercy of God I\nrecovered; and on the evening of each day, as I sold the wood my day's\nlabour produced in the market, I paid the Banker two pice. On the very day,\nhowever, that the last two were to have been paid, the Banker died. Thus I\nremained his debtor still. Often had I thought of the circumstance that I\nwas his debtor, and with real regret; yet the sum was small, and with this\nI became reconciled.\n\n'\"Not long after his decease I was visited with a dream, important to all\nthe world to know, and I therefore desire to make it public. Judgement was\nopened to my view; the beauty of heaven was displayed on one side, and the\ntorments of hell on the other. My dream presented many people waiting\ntheir award, whom I had known in life, and amongst the number my creditor\nthe Banker; he was standing on the brink of that fiery yawning gulf which\nis prepared for the wicked and unjust. His attendant angels produced the\ndocuments of their faithful keeping,--good and evil actions of every\nmortal are thus registered,--one exhibited a small blank book in which not\none good deed had been recorded, and that presented by the other,\ncontaining the evils of his ways on earth, appeared to me an immense\nvolume filled throughout.\n\n'\"'Take him to his merited torments!' was pronounced in an awful tone of\ncommand.--'Have mercy! have pity!' cried the Banker, in a supplicating\nvoice.--'Produce one claim for pity,' was heard.--The Banker in agony\nlooked wildly round, as if in search of something he might urge in\nextenuation, when casting his eyes on me he exclaimed, 'There! oh, there\nis one! who when in trouble I relieved, and he is still my debtor!'\n\n'\"In my dream this appeared too slender a benefit to draw forth the\nslightest remission of the punishments awarded to his deserts. 'Away with\nhim!' was heard.--'Oh!' cried the Banker's soul, 'draw near to me, thou\ngood, virtuous, and humble Woodman, that the reflected light of thy\nvirtues may give one instant's ease to my present torture. Let me but\ntouch the righteous Harshim, and I will depart to my just punishment with\nsubmission!'\n\n'\"I was permitted to gratify the unhappy spirit, wondering at the same\ntime what benefit he could derive from touching me. Advancing near the\ntortured soul he stretched forth his hand and touched me on the knee; it\nwas like a firebrand; I drew back hastily and found my knee was scorched.\n'Return to men with warnings,' said the wretched spirit. 'Tell them of my\nunhappy state; tell them what are the tortures of the wicked; that touch\nyou have received on your knee, is of the same nature my whole body\nsuffers in eternal flames.'--The pain I suffered in my knee disordered my\nsleep; I awoke in agony, and here it is to this day,\" said the Woodman,\nuntying a bandage from his knee. \"Examine the place, and be warned, O\nKauzy, by the terrible certainty I have brought from that Banker whom you\nknew, and who is now suffering for his injustice on earth. I have been\nlame from that night of my dream,\" continued Syaad Harshim, \"but I shall\nrejoice in the pain, if the example influence one hardened sinner to\nrepent, whilst repentance may avail.\"\n\n'During the recital of the dream, Syaad Harshim watched the countenance of\nthe Kauzy, who tried in vain to hide the guilty changes of his face. The\nSyaad at last fixed his keen eyes on him, \"Now, friend,\" said he, \"it\nwould be great folly to add guilt to guilt by farther subterfuge. I know\nthe day, the hour, you ingeniously substituted a false key to this man's\nchest; I could tell you what you wickedly took out; the place where it is\nsecreted, even, is not hidden from my knowledge; go, bring it from your\nwife's apartment; a little labour will remove it from the corner near the\nbedstead.\"\n\n'The Kauzy was now subdued by the commanding truths of the Syaad, and his\nheart being softened by the fearful relation of the Banker's torment, he\nsank to the earth with shame and remorse,--\"I acknowledge my sin, thou\nholy man of truth;--forgive me!\" he cried, \"forgive me, oh my God! I am\nindeed repentant, and by this holy man's means I am brought to a sense of\nmy guilt!\" He then went to the women's apartment, brought out the chest\nand delivered it to the owner, entreating Syaad Harshim to forgive him.\n\n'The Syaad replied, \"I have nothing to forgive, nor power to remit; my\nadvice you have freely, and may it serve you! Seek pardon from God who\nloves to be sought, and whose mercy never faileth. He is not the God of\nrevenge, where repentance is sincere; but He is the God of mercy to all\nwho seek Him faithfully. His mercy is already extended to you, for He has\ngiven you time to repent:--but for His mercy, you had been taken to your\npunishment, whilst you had no thoughts of repentance in your guilty heart.\nFarewell! let me know by your future life, that Syaad Harshim's lost\nlabour in the jungle of this day, has produced something to the better\nharvest--awakening one sinner to a sense of his danger.\"'\n\nMeer Hadjee Shaah has related to me many singular anecdotes of this Syaad\nHarshim, which are generally spoken of, and believed to be true by the\nsojourners at Nudghiff Usheruff. His memory is much respected by the\nMussulmauns, and the acts of his life are registered with the veneration\npaid to saints, amongst people of more enlightened nations. They\nconfidently assert, that whenever Syaad Harshim presented himself at the\nentrance to Nudghiff Usheruff, the gates, which are always kept locked,\nflew open to receive him.\n\nIn proof that he disregarded worldly possessions, the following is related\nof him in the ancient works both of Arabia and Persia:--\n\n'The great conqueror, Nadir Shaah, on one occasion visited the shrine of\nAli, with a vast retinue of his chiefs, courtiers, and followers. The King\nheard, whilst at Nudghiff Usheruff, of the sainted life led by the Woodman,\nSyaad Harshim, in that neighbourhood, and he felt disposed to tender a\npresent of money and valuables, to induce the Syaad's prayer for his\nfuture prosperity. Accordingly, the King commanded trays to be filled from\nhis Indian spoils, which were sent with a message, humbly couched,\nentreating the good Syaad would accept his offering of respect, and make\nprayers to God for him.\n\n'The trays were conveyed by servants of the King, who arrived at the\nSyaad's hut at the moment he was satisfying the demands of nature with a\nmeal of coarse barley bread and pure water. \"What is all this?\" inquired\nthe Syaad, on seeing the valuables before him. \"An humble offering from\nthe great Nadir Shaah,\" replied the messenger, \"who entreats you will\nhonour him by the acceptance of his presents, and offer your pious prayer\nfor God's mercy in his behalf.\" \"My prayers\", said the Syaad, \"I can\npromise shall be made duly and truly, but not my acceptance of his gifts.\nTake back these hateful, useless things! Tell Nadir Shaah, Syaad Harshim\nwill not even touch them.\" The messenger tried persuasions without avail;\nhe was constrained to return to his royal master, with his loaded trays.\n\n'No sooner were the King's servants out of sight, than the wife of Syaad\nHarshim vented her disappointment in no measured strain of anger towards\nher husband. \"Here am I,\" said the old lady, \"a very slave in consequence\nof our poverty, a very beggar in appearance, and my scanty meal of coarse\nbread is scarce sufficient to keep me in bodily strength; surely you ought\nto have remembered me, when the King's offering was before you--even if\nyou liked not to accept it for yourself.\"--\"I might indeed\", he replied,\n\"have done as you say, wife, had I known your sentiments sooner; but I\nbelieved you were as contented as myself with homely fare and honest\nlabour; but be comforted, you shall have a share of the next offering made\nby the King to Syaad Harshim, provided your present inclination remains\nunchanged by time.\" This promise quieted the wife's angry humour, and\npeace was again restored between them.\n\n'\"Wife,\" said the Syaad, \"this al-kaulock[19] (Arab's coat of calico) of\nmine requires a little of thy labour: as I have now no other garment to\nchange with, I trust you may please to wash it whilst I take my\nsleep;--one caution you must observe,--I have occasion for the water in\nwhich this dress is to be washed; preserve it carefully for me, my good\nwife;\" and he laid him down on his mat to sleep. The wife, obedient to her\nhusband's wishes, washed his dress, and took care to preserve the dirty\nwater; when he awoke, she brought him the clean garment, and received his\nwarm commendations for her diligence. She then produced the pan of dirty\nwater, in which she had cleansed the garment, saying, \"There, Syaad\nHarshim, I have done as you desired.\"--\"Very good,\" replied her husband,\n\"now you must farther oblige me by drinking it--you know there is nothing\nin this water but the sweat of my body produced by my daily labour.\" The\nwife, disgusted at the strange request of her husband, looked with\namazement, and fancied he must have lost his senses. \"What is this you\nrequire of me? would you poison your wife, O Syaad Harshim, with the filth\nfrom your skin, the accumulation of many days' labour in the jungles? art\nthou mad, to ask thy wife a request so unheard of?\"\n\n'\"Listen to me, wife,\" said the Syaad, in gentle terms; \"you profess to\nlove, honour, and respect me, as your faithful, lawful husband; pray can\nthe dirt from my body be more offensive to your palate than the scum of\nNadir Shaah, whom you only know by name? You would have accepted the\nfilthy offerings of a cruel man, who plundered and sacrificed his victims\nto obtain the treasures he possesses;--you would not have scrupled to\nobtain your future sustenance by the coins of Nadir Shaah, gained as they\nwere by the spilling of human blood? Is this your love for Syaad Harshim?\"\nThe wife threw herself at her husband's feet, when his speech was finished:\n\"Pardon me, my dear husband! pardon my ignorance and self-love; I see\nmyself disgraced by harbouring one wish for more than is gained by honest\nindustry. No longer have I any desire for the gold of Nadir Shaah.\nContented as yourself, my dear, good husband! I will continue to labour\nfor the honest bread that sustains, nor ever again desire my condition to\nbe changed.\"'\n\nThe Woodman, Syaad Harshim, lived to a great age; many a tear hath fallen\non his grave from the good pilgrims visiting the shrine of Ali, near which\nhe was buried; and his resting place is reverenced to this day by the\npassing traveller of his own faith.\n\n\n[1] _Kafilah_.\n\n[2] The _burqa'_: see drawing in Hughes, _Dictionary of Islam_, p. 95.\n\n[3] Bokhara.\n\n[4] _The Origin of the Sikhs_, by H. Colebrooke, Esq., gives a faithful\n    picture of those warlike people. [The best account of their beliefs\n    is by M. Macauliffe, _The Sikh Religion_, Oxford, 1909.]\n\n\n[5]  Yahya. On the capture of Damascus by the Muhammadans, the\n    churches were equally divided between the Christians and their\n    conquerors. The great Cathedral of St. John was similarly divided,\n    and for eighty years the two religions worshipped under the same\n    roof.--Arnold, _The Preaching of Islam_, p. 50.\n\n[6] A vulgar corruption of Jame' Masjid, the Cathedral Mosque.\n\n[7] On the taboos attached to the sanctuary, see Burton, _Pilgrimage_,\n    i. 379 f.\n\n[8] At-Ta'if, meaning 'circumambulation'. When Adam settled at Mecca,\n    finding the country barren, he prayed to Allah to supply him with a\n    piece of fertile land. Immediately a mountain appeared, which, having\n    circumambulated the Ka'aba, settled itself down eastward of Mecca.\n    Hence it was called Kita min Sham, 'a piece of Syria,' whence it\n    came. (Burton, ii. 336.) 'Its fertile lands produce the fruits of\n    Syria in the midst of the Arabian desert' ( Gibbon, _Decline and Fall_,\n    vi. 255).\n\n[9] At Mecca are 'evident signs, with the standing place of Abraham; and\n    he who enters it is safe' _(Koran_, iii. 90). On the north side of\n    the Ka'aba, just by its door, is a slight hollow in the ground, lined\n    with marble. The spot is called Mi'jan, and it is supposed to be the\n    place where Abraham and Ishmael kneaded the chalk which they used in\n    building the Ka'aba: the stone, with the mark of Abraham's feet, is\n    shown.--Burckhardt, quoted by Hughes, _Dictionary of Islam_, p. 337;\n    Burton, ii. 311; Sale, _Preliminary Discourse_, p. 84.\n\n[10] The Asiatics, generally, have faith in certain properties of chemical\n    productions to alter the nature of the common to the precious metals.\n    I have often witnessed the anxious exertions of Natives in India, who\n    try all sorts of experiments in alchemy, expecting to succeed; but I\n    have never known any other issue from the many laborious efforts of\n    individuals than waste of time and property in these absurd schemes.\n    [_Author_.]\n\n[11] One of the best-known versions of this famous tale is found in _The\n    Decameron_ of Boccaccio, Day 5, novel 9. It goes back to Buddhist\n    times, and is told of Hatim Tai, the model of Oriental\n    liberality. For numerous parallels, see A.C. Lee, _The Decameron of\n    Boccaccio, its Sources and Analogues_, 1909, pp. 170 ff.\n\n[12] _Labada_, 'a rain coat, wrapper'.\n\n\n[13] This is probably some local tradition, of which no record appears in\n    travellers' accounts of the Ka'aba.\n\n[14] On the north-west side of the Ka'aba is a water-spout, called\n    Mi'zabu'r-Rahmah, 'the spout of Mercy'. It is made of gold, and was\n    sent from Constantinople in A.D. 1573. It carries the rain-water from\n    the roof, and discharges it on the grave of Ishmael.--Hughes,\n    _Dictionary of Islam_, pp. 257, 337.\n\n[15] The Sharif, 'honourable,' is the local ruler of Mecca and the\n    Hajaz: see _Encyclopaedia Britannica_, xvii. 952; Burton,\n    _Pilgrimage_, ii. 3.\n\n[16] _As-Salamu-'alai-kum_, 'Peace be with you!'\n\n[17] Nadir Shah, born a shepherd, A.D. 1687, aided Shah Tahmasp\n    against Ashraf, leader of the Afghans, defeated him, and restored\n    his master in 1730. Afterwards he deposed Tahmasp, and raised his\n    infant son to the throne of Persia, under the title of 'Abbas III.\n    But he continued to rule the country, and on the death of 'Abbas in\n    1736 he became king. He marched on India in 1739, defeated the Emperor\n    Muhammad on the historic field of Panipat, sacked Delhi, and\n    perpetrated a horrible massacre. He returned to Persia laden with\n    spoil, but his tyranny excited the hostility of the nobles, and he was\n    assassinated in 1747, and buried at Mashhad.\n\n[18] Sayyid Hashim.\n\n[19] _Alkhalaq_, Turkish, 'a coat with sleeves'.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER X\n\n  The Zuckhaut (God's portion).--Syaads restricted the benefit of this\n  charity.--The Sutkah.--The Emaum's Zaumunee (protection).--The Tenths,\n  or Syaads' Due.--Mussulmauns attribute thanks to God only, for all\n  benefits conferred.--Extracts from the 'Hyaatool Kaaloob'.--Mahumud's\n  advice.--His precepts tend to inculcate and encourage\n  charity.--Remarks on the benevolence of Mussulmauns.\n\n\nOn the subject of Zuckhaut, commanded by Mahumud to his followers, I shall\nhave little to remark;--the nature of the institute is intended to oblige\nmankind to share with the poor a due portion of those benefits they have\nreceived through the bounty of Divine Providence. Every Mussulmaun is\nexpected by this law to set apart from his annual income one-fortieth part,\ndenominated Zuckhaut (God's portion), for the sole benefit of the poor. I\nbelieve there are not many,--judging by what I have witnessed among the\nMussulmaun population of Hindoostaun,--who do not expend a much larger\nportion of their yearly income in charitable donations, than the enjoined\nfortieth part.\n\nThe poor Syaads are not allowed to receive any relief from 'the\nZuckhaut'[1]; they being of the Prophet's blood, are not to be included\nwith the indigent for whom these donations are generally set apart. The\nstrict Mussulmaun of the Sheah sect usually deducts one-tenth[2] from\nwhatever money comes into his possession as 'the Syaads' due', to whom it\nis distributed, as proper objects present themselves to his knowledge;\nmuch in the same way as the tribe of Levi are entitled to the tenth of the\nproduce from their brethren of Israel by the Mosaic law.\n\nThe Syaads are likewise restricted from accepting many other charitable\nofferings,--sutkah for instance--by which is meant the several things\ncomposing peace-offerings, offerings in atonement, &c. The better to\nexplain this I must here describe some of the habits of the Mussulmaun\npopulation:--When any person escapes from a threatened danger, or accident,\ntheir friends send offerings of corn, oil, and money; all that is thus\nsent to the person preserved, must be touched by his hand and then\ndistributed amongst the poor and needy.\n\nIf any member of a family be ill, a tray is filled with corn, and some\nmoney laid on it: it is then placed under the bed of the sick person for\nthe night; in the morning this is to be distributed amongst the poor. Some\npeople cook bread, and place it in the same way with money under the bed\nof the sick. All these things are called Sutkah[3] in whatever form they\nare planned, which is done in a variety of ways; and, when distributed to\nthe poor, are never to be offered to, nor allowed to be accepted by, the\nSyaad race. The scapegoat, an animal in good health and without blemish,\nis another offering of the Sutkah denomination: a Syaad is not allowed to\nbe one of the number to run after the goat released from the sick chamber.\n\nWhen any one is going a journey, the friends send bands of silk or riband,\nin the folds of which are secured silver or gold coins; these are to be\ntied on the arm of the person projecting the journey, and such offerings\nare called 'Emaum Zaumunee',[4] or the Emaum's protection. Should the\ntraveller be distressed on his journey, he may, without blame, make use of\nany such deposits tied on his arm, but only in emergencies; none such\noccurring, he is expected, when his journey is accomplished in safety, to\ndivide all these offerings of his friends amongst righteous people. The\nSyaads may accept these gifts, such being considered holy,--paak[5] is the\noriginal word used, literally clean.\n\nThey believe the Emaums have knowledge of such things as pertain to the\nfollowers of Mahumud and his descendants. Thus they will say, when\ndesiring blessings and comforts for another person, 'Emaum Zaumunee,\nZaumunee toom kero!'[6] may the Emaums protect you, and give you their\nsafe support!\n\nThe tenths, or Syaads' dues, are never appropriated to any other use than\nthe one designed. Thus they evince their respect to the descendants of\nMahumud; by these tenths the poorer race of Syaads are mainly supported;\nthey rarely embark in trade, and never can have any share in banking, or\nsuch professions as would draw them into dealings of usury. They are\nchiefly employed as writers, moonshies,[7] maulvees, and moollahs, doctors\nof law, and readers of the Khoraun; they are allowed to enter the army, to\naccept offices of state; and if they possess any employment sufficient to\nsupport themselves and family, the true Syaad will not accept from his\nneighbours such charitable donations as may be of service to the poor\nbrethren of his race. The Syaads, however poor, are seldom known to\nintrude their distresses, patiently abiding until relief be sent through\nthe interposing power of divine goodness.\n\nSuch is the way in which they receive the blessings showered by the\norderings of the Almighty, that one never hears a Mussulmaun offer thanks\nto his earthly benefactor, in return for present benefits; but 'Shooghur\nAllah!'[8] all thanks to God! I was somewhat surprised when first\nacquainted with these people, that they accepted any kind of service done\nthem with the same salutation as when first meeting in the morning, viz.\nsalaam, and a bow. I inquired of the Meer if there was no word in\nHindoostaunie that could express the 'Thank you!' so common to us in\nEngland? He bade me remark that the Mussulmauns return thanks to God\nwhenever they receive a benefit from mortals, whom they consider but as\nthe agents appointed by God to distribute His gifts. 'All thanks to God!'\nis repeated with every benefit received; and this follows every meal or\ncup of water as naturally, as to eat or to drink is preceded by 'Bis ma\nAllah!'[9]--In the name, or to the praise of God!\n\nAmongst the many choice things I have gleaned from the work so often\nquoted in my Letters, viz. 'Hyaatool Kaaloob', the following, through my\nMeer's aid in translation, may here be inserted.\n\nMAHUMUD'S ADVICE\n\n'Observe, ye faithful, there are five things most acceptable to God the\nCreator, from man, His creature:--\n\n1st. 'A generous gift, made when you have the greatest necessity yourself\nfor that which you give away.\n\n2nd. 'All gifts that are free-will offerings of the heart, neither\nexpecting nor desiring your bounty, should be rewarded, either by returns\nor acknowledgements.\n\n3rd. 'To be most humble, when in the enjoyment of the greatest prosperity.\n\n4th. 'To promote peace, when the reason for indulging your anger is most\nenticing.\n\n5th. 'To forgive freely from the heart, when the power to revenge is\npresent with you.'\n\nYou perceive a system of charitable feeling is inculcated by the laws of\nMahumud; and in every-day practice it is found to be the prominent feature\nin their general habits. It is common with the meanest of the people to\noffer a share of their food to any one calling upon them at meal-time. I\nhave seen this amiable trait of character in all classes of the people;\nand often on a river voyage, or a land journey, when the servants cook\ntheir dinner under a tree or by the bank of the river, if a dog, which\nthey consider an unclean animal, advances within their reach, a portion of\ntheir food is thrown to him with that kindliness of feeling which induces\nthem to share with the hungry, whatever gifts they receive from the Author\nof all good.[10] Except in seasons of famine, no one need despair of\nhaving sufficient to support nature, wherever the Mussulmauns congregate.\nI speak it to their credit, and in justice to their character.\n\n\n[1] See p. 67.\n\n[2] Known among Indian Musalmans as _dasaundh_, 'tithes'.\n\n[3] _Sadaqah_, used in the Koran (ii. 265) for almsgiving. In India the\n    term is applied to the custom by which money, clothes, grain, &c., are\n    waved over a patient, or only shown to him, and then given away to\n    beggars; or they are placed near the foot of a tree, on the bank of a\n    river, or where four roads meet, and are then supposed to carry away\n    the disease with them.--Jaffur Shurreef, _Qanoon-e-Islam_, p. 252.\n\n[4] _Imam zamini_, 'a gift to the guardian saint'. When about to\n    go on a journey, or when any misfortune befalls a person, a coin or\n    metal ring is tied up in a cloth coloured with turmeric, in the name\n    of the Imam Zamin, and worn on his left arm. When the traveller\n    reaches his destination, or gets rid of his affliction, it is taken\n    off, and its value, with some money in addition, is spent in food or\n    sweetmeats, which are offered in the name of the saint.--Jaffur\n    Shurreef, p. 182.\n\n[5] _Pak_.\n\n[6] _Imam Zamani, Zamani tum karo_.\n\n[7] _Munshi_, 'a writer, secretary'.\n\n[8] _Shukr Allah_.\n\n[9] _Bi'smi'llah_: the full form is\n    _bi'smi'llah'r-rahmani'r-rahim_, 'In the name of Allah,\n    the Compassionate, the Merciful!' These latter titles are omitted when\n    going into battle, or when slaughtering animals.\n\n[10] The Prophet ordered that when a dog drinks from a vessel, it must be\n    washed seven times, the first cleansing being with earth. But the dog\n    of the Seven Sleepers will be admitted into Heaven.--_Koran_,\n    xviii. 17.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XI\n\n  Mussulmaun festivals.--Buckrah Eade.--Ishmael believed to have been\n  offered in sacrifice by Abraham and not Isaac.--Descent of the\n  Mussulmauns from Abraham.--The Eade-gaarh.--Presentation of\n  Nuzzas.--Elephants.--Description of the Khillaut (robe of\n  honour).--Customs on the day of Buckrah Eade.--Nou-Roze (New Year's\n  Day).--Manner of its celebration.--The Bussund (Spring-colour).--The\n  Sah-bund.--Observances during this month.--Festival of the New\n  Moon.--Superstition of the Natives respecting the influence of the\n  Moon.--Their practices during an eclipse.--Supposed effects of the\n  Moon on a wound.--Medicinal application of lime in\n  Hindoostaun.--Observance of Shubh-burraat.\n\n\nAn account of the Mussulmaun festivals, I imagine, deserves a Letter; for\nin many of them I have been able to trace, not only the habits and manners\nof the people with whom I was sojourning, but occasionally marks of their\nparticular faith have been strongly developed in these observances, to\nmost of which they attach considerable importance. Buckrah Eade, for\ninstance, is a festival about as interesting to the Natives, as\nChristmas-day is to the good people of England; and the day is celebrated\namongst all classes and denominations of Mussulmauns with remarkable zeal\nand energy.\n\nThe particular event which gives rise to Buckrah Eade[1] is the well-known\ncircumstance of Abraham offering his son in sacrifice to God. The\nMussulmauns, however, insist that the son so offered was Ishmael, and not\nIsaac, as our Scriptures declare. I have before remarked that I had\nfrequent arguments with the learned men of that persuasion on this subject,\nwhich provoked a minute investigation of their most esteemed authors, to\ndecide between our opinions. The author of 'The Hyaatool Kaaloob' advances\nmany authorities, which the Mussulmauns deem conclusive, all of whom\ndeclare that Ishmael was the son demanded and offered in sacrifice; and\ntwo only, I think, of the many names that author quotes, were disposed to\ndoubt whether it was Isaac or Ishmael. An evident proof, I think, that on\nsome former occasion there had existed a difference of opinion on this\nsubject among men of their persuasion. The result of the present inquiry,\nhowever, is that they believe Ishmael was the offering and not Isaac;\nwhilst I remain equally convinced of the correctness of our sacred book.\n\nThe Mussulmauns, I should remark, as well as the Jews, trace their origin\nto Abraham, the former through Ishmael, and the latter through Isaac; and\nit is more than probable that to this circumstance may be attributed the\ndecided prejudice of opinion, in favour of Ishmael being the person\noffered in sacrifice. Whether this be the case or not, these children of\nAbraham annually testify their reverence for their progenitor, and respect\nfor his faith towards God, in the way most congenial to their particular\nideas of honouring the memory of their forefathers.\n\nI have thus attempted to sketch the origin of the festival, it shall now\nbe my task to describe the way in which the Mussulmauns of Hindoostaun\ncelebrate Buckrah Eade.\n\nOn this day all classes of people, professing 'the faith' sacrifice\nanimals, according to their circumstances; some offer up camels, others\nsheep and goats, lambs or kids. It is a day of religious veneration, and\ntherefore by the pious prayers are added to sacrifice;--it is also a day\nof joyful remembrances, consequently one of festivity amongst all ranks of\nthe Mussulmaun population.\n\nKings, Princes, or Nuwaubs, with the whole strength of their\nestablishments, celebrate the event, by going in great state to an\nappointed place, which is designated 'The Eade-Gaarh'[2] where the animals\ndesigned for immediate sacrifice are previously conveyed. On the arrival\nof the cavalcade at the Eade-gaarh, the head Moollah reads the form of\nprayer appointed for the occasion, and then presents the knife to the\nroyal personage, who with his own hand sheds the blood of the camel he\noffers in sacrifice, repeating an impressive prayer as he presents the\nsteel to the throat of the animal. The exact moment of the King's\nsacrifice is announced by signal, when a grand salute from the artillery\nand infantry commences the day's rejoicing.\n\nAn account of the procession on these occasions may be interesting to my\nreaders, though no description can give an adequate idea of its imposing\nappearance. I have witnessed the Buckrah Eade celebrations at Lucknow,\nwhere expense and good taste are neither wanted nor spared, to do honour\nto the great occasion.\n\nThe several persons forming the King's suite, whether nobles or menials,\ntogether with the military, both horse and foot, are all dressed in their\nbest apparel. The elephants have undergone a thorough cleansing in the\nriver, their hides have been well oiled, which gives a jetty hue to the\nsurface, and their heads painted with bright colours, according to the\nfancy of their keepers; their housings and trappings are the most costly\nand brilliant the possessors can procure, some with gold, others with\nsilver howdahs (seats), and draperies of velvet or fine cloth embroidered\nand fringed with gold.\n\nThe horses of individuals, and those of the irregular troops, are, on this\noccasion, caparisoned with embroidered horsecloths and silver ornaments,\nnecklaces of silver or gold; or in the absence of these costly adornings,\nthe less affluent substitute large coloured beads and tufts of variegated\nsilk on their horses' necks. Many of the horses have stars and crescents\npainted upon the chest and haunches: the tail and mane are dyed red with\nmayndhie.[3]\n\nThe procession is formed in the following order: Fifty camels, in pairs,\ncarrying swivels, and each attended by two gunners and a camel-driver; the\nmen dressed in clean white dresses, with turbans and sashes of red and\ngreen: the trappings of the camel are composed of broadcloth of the same\ncolours. Next to these is a park of artillery, the men in new regimentals\nof blue, faced with red and yellow lace. Two troops of horse soldiers, in\nnew regimentals, scarlet cloth unrurkas[4] (coats) and white trousers,\nwith high-crowned caps of lambskin, similar to the Persian caps: these\nhorsemen have black belts, and are armed with pistols in the holsters, a\nsabre and lance.\n\nThen follows a regiment of nujeebs[5] (foot soldiers), their jackets red,\nwith small cap turban of black leather ornamented with the kirrich[6] or\ndirk (part of the armorial bearings of the House of Oude): their trousers\nreach no lower than the hams, where they are ornamented with black points\nturning upwards on the white, leaving the thighs and legs perfectly bare.\nThe dunkah[7] (kettle drums) on a horse, richly ornamented with scarlet\ncloth drapery, embroidered and fringed with gold, the rider dressed in\nscarlet and gold, with a turban to correspond, both being ornamented with\nthe royal insignia,--a fish.[8]\n\nThe elephant carriages, containing first his Majesty and the Resident, the\nothers conveying the Prime Minister and the favoured nobles of his\nMajesty's suite, form an impressive feature in the cort\u00e8ge, from their\nsplendour and novelty. The King's carriage is composed chiefly of silver,\nopen on every side, with a canopy of crimson velvet, embroidered and\nfringed with gold, the curtains and lining to correspond; this carriage is\ndrawn by four elephants, exactly of one size (the rest have but two), each\nvery richly attired in velvet and gold coverings. The King and his suite\nare very splendidly dressed in the Native costume. The chowries and\nafthaadah are flourished before him, and on each side; the royal carriage\nis guarded by the irregular horse in great numbers, and immediately\nfollowed by led horses, very richly caparisoned, their grooms neatly\ndressed in white, with turbans of red and green. To these succeed the\nroyal naalkie,[9] a species of conveyance supported by bearers,\nconstructed of beautifully wrought gold; the bearers in loose scarlet\ncoats, embroidered with gold, bearing the royal insignia on their coats\nand turbans. A gold palkie, supported in the same style; an elegant state\ncarriage, with eight black horses in hand, the coachman (a European)\ndressed in scarlet, with a cocked-hat and staff feather.\n\n\nHurkaarahs (running messengers), chobdhaahs with gold and silver staffs,\nare seen on either side and in front of the King's carriage, reiterating\nthe King's titles and honours as they proceed. Then follow the English\ngentlemen composing the King's suite, in their court dresses, on elephants.\nTo them succeed the Native nobility, great officers of state, &c., on many\nelephants,--I should think more than fifty,--and the whole followed by\nmilitary, both horse and foot. The procession has an imposing effect,\nparticularly when viewed from an open space. The regiments have each their\ncolours unfurled, and their bands of music playing English pieces. I have\noften thought if our theatrical managers could witness some of these\nsplendid processions, they might profit by representing on the stage the\ngrand exhibition of an Eastern monarch, which loses much of its splendour\nby my indifferent powers of description.\n\nAfter the ceremony at the Eade-gaarh has concluded, the King and his suite\nreturn in the same well-arranged order, and arriving at his palace, enters\nthe throne-room, where being seated, he receives nuzzas in due form,\npresented in turn by every person belonging to the court, whether\nrelations, nobles, courtiers, dependants, servants, or slaves; every\nperson observing a proper etiquette in their approach to the throne, the\ninferiors keeping back until their superiors retire,--which each one does\nimmediately after presenting his nuzza; thus confusion is prevented in the\nhall of audience.\n\nAs a description of the ceremony of presenting nuzzas, on such occasions,\nmay be acceptable to some of my friends, I will describe that which I\nwitnessed at the Court of Oude.\n\nThe King was seated on his throne of pure gold, dressed in a very costly\nhabit of Persian velvet, embroidered with gold; on his neck, valuable\nhaarhs (necklaces) of diamonds, pearls, rubies and emeralds, were\nsuspended in many rows, reaching from the neck nearly to the waist.\n\nThe throne is a flat surface, about two yards square, raised about two\nfeet from the floor, upon three sides of it is a railing; a square canopy,\nsupported by poles, is attached to the four corners of the throne, which,\ntogether with the poles, are formed of wood, and cased over with pure gold,\ninto which are set precious stones of great value. The canopy and cushions,\non which the King takes his seat, are of crimson velvet, very richly\nembroidered with gold and pearls; a deep fringe of pearls of a good size\nfinishes the border of the canopy. The chattah is of corresponding costly\nmaterials (crimson velvet and gold), fringed also with red pearls.\n\nThe King's crown is elegantly formed, richly studded with diamonds, and\nornamented with handsome plumes of the birds of Paradise. Over his head\nwas supported the velvet chattah. On either side of the throne stood a\nnobleman with chowries of peacock's-feathers in gold handles, which they\nkept waving continually over the King's person.\n\nTo the right of the throne were gilt chairs with velvet seats placed for\nthe accommodation of the Resident and his lady, who were accompanied by\nmany English ladies and gentlemen standing, as also by the European\ngentlemen attached to the King's suite: the latter, in their court dresses\nof puce cloth, richly embroidered with gold, had a very good effect,\nmingled with the well-dressed lady-visitors of the Resident.\n\nTo the left of the throne stood the Native gentlemen holding high offices\nin the Court of Oude, each richly dressed in the Asiatic costume.\n\nAt the King's feet stood the Vizier (Prime Minister), whose business it is,\non such occasions, to deposit the nuzzas on the throne after they have\nbeen accepted by his Majesty.\n\nAs the company advanced the head Chamberlain announced the name and rank\nof each person in the presence of the King. The second Chamberlain\ndirected such persons, after presenting the nuzza, the way they must\nretire from the hall.\n\nThe nuzzas of the first nobility consisted of twenty-one gold mohurs[10];\nthose of less exalted persons were proportioned to their rank and\ncircumstances; whilst servants and slaves, with inferior dependants of the\nCourt, tendered their humble tribute of respect in rupees of silver.\n\nThe person presenting has the offering placed on a clean white folded\nkerchief; he advances with his head bowed low, until within ten paces of\nthe throne; he then stands erect for a few seconds, with his hands folded\nand held forward, after which he bows his head very low three times, and\neach time places his open hand to his forehead,--this is called\n'salaaming'; this done, he advances to the foot of the throne, repeats the\nthree salaams, then presents with both hands the nuzza on the kerchief,\nwhich the King touches with, his hand, and the Vizier receives and\ndeposits with the collected heap by the side of his Majesty.\n\nWhen the ceremony of presenting nuzzas has concluded, the King rises and\nadvances with the Resident to the centre of the audience hall, where the\nperson in charge of the haarhs[11] is in attendance with several of these\nmarks of distinction, one of which the King selects and places with his\nown hands over the head of the Resident; the Resident then takes one and\nplaces it on the King in a similar way. Should the Vizier be in favour at\nthis time, he is invested with the haarh, both by his Majesty and the\nResident; but if, unfortunately for him, he does not enjoy his royal\nmaster's confidence, he takes this opportunity of testifying his\ndissatisfaction by omitting the favour to his Vizier. The haarh is\nactually of very little value but as a badge of distinction peculiar to\nNative courts, to which the Natives attach so much importance, that I\nwonder not at their anxiety to be honoured with this distinguishing mark\nof the King's satisfaction.\n\nEuropean visitors, both male and female, are generally adorned with haarhs\non these occasions. The King then conducts the Resident to the\nentrance,--when taking leave, he pours otta[12] on his hands, with the\n'Khodah Afiz!'[13] (God be with you!) and sometimes out of compliment to\nthe Resident, his Majesty offers otta also to each of the English visitors,\nas they pass him at the door.\n\nOn these great court days, the Vizier's nuzza is usually of great\nvalue,--sometimes a lac of rupees has been presented, when the Vizier is\nmuch in favour, who is sure to receive ten times the value of his nuzza\nere the day is passed. When this large sum is presented, the Minister has\nhis one hundred bags (each containing a thousand rupees), covered with\ncrimson silk, and tied with silver ribands, placed on each side the throne\nprior to the King's arrival; who, on seeing this proof of his faithful\nservant's attachment, condescends to embrace him in the presence of the\nassembled court--an honour of vast magnitude in the estimation of Natives.\n\nThe King confers favour on, as well as receives homage from, his subjects,\non the day of Buckrah Eade. On some, titles or other distinctions are\nconferred; to others presents, according to his good will and pleasure:\nmany receive khillauts; and should there be an unfortunate omission, in\nthe distribution of princely munificence, that person understands to his\nsorrow, that he is out of favour, without needing to be told so by word of\nmouth.\n\nThe title of Khaun, Nuwaub, Rajah, or any other distinction conferred by\nthe King, is accompanied by the dress of honour, and often by elephants,\nhorses, or the particular kind of Native palkie which are alone used by\nprinces and the nobility. The elephant is always given ready furnished\nwith the several necessary appendages, as silver howdah, embroidered\njhewls[14] (draperies), &c.; and the horse richly caparisoned for riding.\n\nThe naalkie and palkie are vehicles conferred on Native gentlemen with\ntheir titles, which cannot be used by any persons than those who have\nreceived the grant from their Sovereign; and there is quite as much\nambition to be thus distinguished in a Native Court, as may be traced\namongst the aspirants for 'the orders' in the several European states.\n\nThough the naalkie and palkie are restricted to the use of privileged\npersons, all are allowed the services of the elephant. I knew a professed\nbeggar, who made his diurnal tour through the city of Lucknow on one. A\nbeggar, however, in Native estimation, is not the despicable creature he\nis in European opinion; a degree of veneration is always evinced towards\nmen, who live on the casual bounty of their fellow mortals, and profess\nnot to have either a worldly calling or other means of support. The beggar,\nI allude to, was called Shaah Jhee[15]; he had originally been a\ntravelling mendicant, and made a visit to Lucknow, when the late King was\na young man, whom he met by accident outside the town; and, I believe,\nwithout knowing to whom he was speaking, predicted some favourable\ncircumstances which should attend him eventually; the young prince then\ndisclosed himself to the beggar, and promised him if his predictions were\nverified, he would reward him in the way he wished. Shaah Jhee left the\nOude district, and travelled over most parts of Hindoostaun. Returning\nafter many years' absence to Lucknow, he found the prince seated on the\nthrone of his ancestors, and watching for a favourable opportunity to\npresent himself, made his claims to the sovereign, who, remembering the\ncircumstance and his promise, conferred the required reward--to be allowed\nto demand five cowries daily from every shopkeeper in the city of Lucknow.\nThe King added to this humble demand a house to reside in, and the\nelephant on which he went to collect his revenue. Eighty-five cowries\n(shells) are valued at one pice, or a halfpenny; yet so vast is this\ncapital of Oude, that Shaah Jhee was in the receipt of a handsome daily\nallowance, by this apparently trifling collection.\n\nMost of the respectable gentlemen in Lucknow maintain an elephant for\ntheir own use, where it is almost as common to meet them as horses. Though\nmost persons, I observe, avoid falling in with, the royal cort\u00e8ge, (which\nis always announced by the sound of the dunkah), unless they are disposed\nto court the King's observation; then they draw up their elephant, and\noblige the animal to kneel down whilst the King passes on, the owner\nstanding in his howdah to make salaams; others, I have seen, dismount in\ntime, and stand in a humble posture, with the hands folded and the head\nbowed low, doing reverence and attracting his Majesty's notice as he\npasses on. These little acts of ceremonious respect are gratifying to the\nKing, and are frequently the means of advancing the views of the subject\nto his favour.\n\nThe khillauts, presented by the King, vary in the number of the articles\ncomposing the gift, as well as in the quality. The personal rank, and\nsometimes the degree of estimation in which the receiver is held, is\ndefined by the value and number of an individual's khillaut. I have known\nsome gentlemen tenacious to a foible, about the nature of the khillaut\nthat could consistently be accepted; I have heard it even expressed, 'I\nshall be disgraced in the eyes of the world, if my khillaut has not the\nfull complement usually conferred on men of my rank'. It is the honour\nthey value, not the intrinsic worth of the articles, for it is no uncommon\nthing to find them distributing the dress of honour amongst their\ndependants, on the same day they have received it.\n\nThe splendid articles composing khillauts are as follows: swords with\nembroidered belts, the handle and scabbard either enamelled or embossed\nsilver, often set with precious stones; the most inferior have silver\nmountings and velvet scabbards; shields studded with silver; kirrich\n(dirk), the handle and sheath equally as rich as the swords; embroidered\nor gold cloth chupkunds[16] (coats); shawl-stuff labaadahs[17] (pelisses),\ntrimmed with sable; turbans of shawl or muslin; ornaments for the turban\nof diamonds and emeralds, the inferior of paste; strings of pearls and\nemeralds for the neck; shawls, always in pairs, of more or less value;\nshawl-kerchiefs; shawl cummerbunds[18] (girdles); shawl lahaafs[19]\n(counterpanes); gold cloth, gold and silver muslins, and shawl stuff, in\npieces, each being sufficient to form a dress; Benares silks, or rich\nsatin for trousers; pieces of fine embroidered muslin for shirts. These\nare the usual articles of value given in khillauts to the most exalted\nfavourites. In some instances the King confers one hundred and one pieces\nin a khillaut; in others seventy-five, and down to five articles, which is\nthe lowest number given in this much-prized dress of honour. In a khillaut\nof five pieces, I have observed, generally, a coarser kind of gold cloth\ndress, a coloured muslin turban, a pair of coarse shawls, a coarse shawl\nromall[20] (kerchief), and a girdle. I have also observed, that the higher\nthe numbers rise, the quality of the articles increased in value;\nconsequently, when we hear of any one being invested with the highest\nnumber, we calculate that each piece is of the very best quality and\nfabric.\n\nWhen khillauts are conferred, the investiture usually takes place in the\nKing's presence, who sometimes condescends to place one of the articles on\nthe receiver with his own hands; at other times he merely touches the\nturban with his hand, and the individuals are clothed by the Prime\nMinister. After receiving the khillaut, each person approaches the throne\nand does homage to the King, presenting a nuzza in accordance with his\nrank, and the value of the khillaut.\n\nThe Revenue Collectors and Zemindhaars[21] (landlords of farms) crowd to\nthe Court on these days, to testify their respect and share in the honours\ndistributed with a liberal hand. These persons may well be solicitous to\nreceive this badge of distinction, which they find increases their\ninfluence over the Ryotts[22] (cultivators).\n\nOn the morning of Buckrah Eade, the King gives a public breakfast at\nLucknow, to the Resident and his suite, and to such of the Native nobility\nas are privileged to 'the chair'[23] at the royal banquets. The breakfast\nconcluded, many varieties of sports commence, as elephant-fighting, tiger\nsports, &c.[24] The entertainment is got up with great magnificence,\nneither expense nor trouble being spared to render the festivities of the\nday conspicuous.\n\nAfter the Resident and his party have retired, the King returns to his\nprivate apartments, where the forms of state are thrown aside with the\nsplendid robes; and the ease and comfort of real Asiatic life is again\nindulged in, without the parade so studiously observed in public, as being\nessential to the sovereign's dignity. The trammels of state must indeed be\nirksome to those who indulge in that sort of luxurious ease which forms\nthe chief comfort of Native life.\n\nThe evening at Court is passed by the King and his favourite courtiers,\nwith music and the performances of dancing-girls; a variety of fire-work\nexhibitions; the witticisms of the Court-jesters, and such other\namusements as are suited to Asiatic taste.\n\nThe magnificent style of celebrating Buckrah Eade at Lucknow is perhaps\nunequalled by any other Native Court now existing in Hindoostaun. The\nrejoicings on this festival are not confined to the higher classes alone;\nbut it is a period of equal interest to every individual of the Mussulmaun\ncommunity. The custom of the Court is imitated by the subjects in their\nseveral grades, each striving to do honour to the day according to their\nability. The religious classes add, to their usual Namaaz, the appointed\nprayer for the occasion of Buckrah Eade.\n\nThe rich send presents of goats and sheep to their neighbours and to the\npoor, so that the meanest of the people are enabled to offer sacrifice and\nrejoice in the good things of which they partake: new suits of clothes are\nalso distributed to the dependants of the family and to the poor. In short,\non this day, there seems a spirit of benevolence abroad, that is even\nremarkable beyond the general generosity of their natural character, as\nall who have any thing to share will assuredly, on this occasion, impart a\nblessing to the needy, and gratify their friends and acquaintances.\n\nThe bride and bridegroom elect exchange presents of goats, &c.; the tutor\nwrites a copy of verses on the day, and presents it to his pupil; the\npupil in return sends his tutor a dress and money to enable him to keep\nEade with his family.\n\nThe ladies dress in their most costly jewels and apparel to receive or pay\nvisits. The children have their sports and amusements. Whenever I have\nentered a Native house on these days, all seemed cheerful and happy, and\nenjoying themselves in whatever way was most congenial to their particular\ntastes; 'every one must be cheerful (they say) on Buckrah Eade'.\n\nOn this day, millions of animals are sacrificed in remembrance of\nAbraham's faith. I have often thought how striking is the similarity\nbetween the Mosaic and Mussulmaun institutes,--indeed my recollections of\nScripture history have frequently been realized in the views I have had of\nthe domestic habits of the Mussulmauns. They are forbidden the use of\nunclean animals; the swine is equally abominable to Mussulmauns as to the\nJews; neither are they less scrupulous in discarding from their kitchen\nany kind of animal food prohibited by their laws, or which has not been\nkilled by one of their faith. In this process the person, who is to slay,\nturns the animal's head towards Mecca, repeats the short appointed prayer,\nand with one plunge the animal has ceased to feel: they are expert in the\nart of despatching life, so that the animal's sufferings may not be\nprotracted unnecessarily;--an amiable trait of character and worthy of\nimitation.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n'Nou-Roze'[25] (New Year's Day) is a Festival of Eade of no mean\nimportance in the estimation of Mussulmaun society.\n\nThe exact period of commencing the Mussulmaun new year is the very moment\nof the sun's entering the sign Aries. This is calculated by those\npractical astronomers, who are in the service of most great men in Native\ncities;--I should tell you they have not the benefit of published\nalmanacks as in England,--and according to the hour of the day or night\nwhen the sun passes into that particular sign, so are they directed in the\nchoice of a colour to be worn in their garments on this Eade: if at\nmidnight, the colour would be dark puce, almost a black; if at mid-day,\nthe colour would be the brightest crimson. Thus to the intermediate hours\nare given a shade of either colour applicable to the time of the night or\nthe day when the sun enters the sign Aries; and whatever be the colour to\nsuit the hour of Nou-Roze, all classes wear the day's livery, from the\nKing to the meanest subject in the city. The King, on his throne, sits in\nstate to receive congratulations and nuzzas from his nobles, courtiers and\ndependants. 'Mabaarukh Nou-Roze!'[26] (May the New Year be fortunate!) are\nthe terms of salutation exchanged by all classes of society, the King\nhimself setting the example. The day is devoted to amusements, a public\nbreakfast at the palace, sending presents, exchanging visits, &c.\n\nThe trays of presents prepared by the ladies for their friends are\ntastefully set out, and the work of many days' previous arrangement. Eggs\nare boiled hard, some of these are stained in colours resembling our\nmottled papers; others are neatly painted in figures and devices; many are\nornamented with gilding; every lady evincing her own peculiar taste in the\nprepared eggs for 'Nou-Roze'. All kinds of dried fruits and nuts,\nconfectionary and cakes, are numbered amongst the necessary articles for\nthis day's offering: they are set out in small earthen plates, lacquered\nover to resemble silver, on which is placed coloured paper, cut out in\ncurious devices (an excellent substitute for vine leaves) laid on the\nplate to receive the several articles forming 'Nou-Roze' presents.\n\nAmongst the young people these trays are looked forward to with child-like\nanxiety. The ladies rival each other in their display of novelty and good\ntaste, both in the eatables and the manner of setting them off with effect.\n\nThe religious community have prayers read in their family, and by them it\nis considered both a necessary duty and a propitious commencement to bring\nin the new year by 'prayer and praises'.\n\nWhen it is known that the Nou-Roze will occur by daylight, the ladies have\na custom of watching for the moment the year shall commence by a fresh\nrose, which being plucked from the stalk is thrown into a basin of water,\nthe eye downwards. They say, this rose turns over of itself towards the\nsun at the very moment of that luminary passing into the sign Aries. I\nhave often found them thus engaged; but I never could say I witnessed the\nactual accomplishment of their prediction.\n\nThe Nou-Roze teems with friendly tokens between the two families of a\nbride and bridegroom elect, whose interchange of presents are also\nstrictly observed. The children receive gifts from their elders; their\nnurses reap a harvest from the day; the tutor writes an ode in praise of\nhis pupil, and receives gifts from the child's parents; the servants and\nslaves are regaled with dainties and with presents from the superiors of\nthe establishment; the poor are remembered with clothes, money and food;\nthe ladies make and receive visits; and the domenie attend to play and\nsing in the zeenahnah. In short, the whole day is passed in cheerful\namusements, suited to the retirement of a zeenahnah and the habits of the\npeople.\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\nThere is a festival observed at Lucknow called Bussund[27] (spring-colour).\nI should remark here, that almost all the trees of India have perpetual\nfoliage; as the season approaches for the new leaves to sprout, the young\nbuds force off the old leaves; and when the trees are thus clothed in\ntheir first delicate foliage, there is a yellow tinge in the colour which\nis denominated Bussund (Spring). A day is appointed to be kept under this\ntitle, and then every one wears the Bussund colour: no one would be\nadmitted at Court without this badge of the day. The elephants, horses and\ncamels of the King, or of his nobles, are all ornamented with the same\ncolour on their trappings.\n\nThe King holds a Court, gives a public breakfast, and exhibits sports with\nferocious animals. The amusements of this day are chiefly confined to the\nCourt: I have not observed much notice taken of it in private life.\n\nThe last month of the periodical rains is called Sahbaund.[28] There is a\ncustom observed by the Mussulmaun population, the origin of which has\nnever been clearly explained to me; some say it is in remembrance of the\nProphet Elisha or Elijah, and commences the first Friday of Sahbaund, and\nis followed up every succeeding Friday through this concluding month of\nthe rainy season.[29]\n\nThis ceremony may have had its origin with devout persons willing to\nhonour or to invoke the Prophet Elijah, who, as our Scripture informs us,\n'prayed, and the clouds gave no rain for the space of three years; and\nagain he prayed and the heavens were opened to his prayer'. Or in that of\nElisha parting the waters with the mantle of Elijah, after succeeding him\nin the Prophetic office, 2 Kings ii. 14; or a still more probable event,\ncalculated to excite the pious to some such annual notice as is observed\nwith these people, in the same chapter, the twentieth and following verses,\nwhere we find it said of Elisha, 'And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and\nput salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the\nspring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the\nLord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more\ndearth or barren land. So the waters were healed unto this day, according\nto the saying of Elisha which he spake.'\n\nThe learned men call it a zeenahnah, or children's custom; but it is\ncommon to see children of all ages amongst the males, partake of, and\nenjoy the festival with as much glee as the females or their juniors.\n\nA bamboo frame is formed to the shape of a Chinese boat: this frame-work\nis hidden by a covering of gold and silver tissue, silk, or coloured\nmuslin, bordered and neatly ornamented with silver paper. In this light\nbark many lamps are secreted, of common earthenware. A procession is\nformed to convey the tribute, called 'Elias ky Kishtee[30]', to the river.\nThe servants of the family, soldiers, and a band of Native music attend in\ndue order of march: the crowd attracted by this childish play is immense,\nincreasing as they advance through the several streets on the way to the\nriver, by all the idlers of the place.\n\nThe kishtee (boat) is launched amidst a flourish of trumpets and drums,\nand the shouts of the populace; the small vessel, being first well lighted,\nby means of the secreted lamps, moves down gently with the stream. When at\na little distance, on a broad river, in the stillness of evening, any\none--who did not previously know how these little moving bodies of light\nwere produced--might fancy such fairy scenes as are to be met with in the\nwell-told fables of children's books in happy England.\n\nThis custom, though strongly partaking of the superstitious, is not so\nblameable as that which I have known practised by some men of esteemed\ngood understanding, who having a particular object in view, which they\ncannot attain by any human stratagem or contrivance, write petitions to\nthe Emaum Mhidhie on Fridays, and by their own hands commit the paper to\nthe river, with as much reverence as if they thought him present in the\nwater to receive it. The petition is always written in the same respectful\nterms, as inferiors here well know how to address their superiors; and\nevery succeeding Friday the petition is repeated until the object is\naccomplished, or the petitioner has no further inducement to offer one.\n\nI have made particular inquiries whether such sensible people (as I have\nseen thus engaged) placed any dependence on this mode of petitioning. The\nonly answer I have received, is, 'Those who think proper thus to petition,\ncertainly believe that it will be effectual, if they persevere in it.'\n\nThe New Moon is a festival in the family of every good Mussulmaun.[31]\nThey date the new moon from the evening it first become visible, and not\nas we do--from the moment it changes. The event is announced in Native\ncities by firing salutes from the field-pieces of Kings, Nuwaubs, &c.\n\nAmongst the religious people there is much preparation in bathing and\nchanging the dress against the evening the moon is expected to be visible,\nand when the guns have announced that it is visible, they have the Khoraun\nbrought, which they open at the passage where Mahumud praises God for this\nparticular blessing. A small looking glass is then brought, on which\npassage it is placed, and the book held in such a position that the moon\nmay be first seen by the person reflected in the glass. They then repeat\nthe prayer, expressly appointed for this occasion, and that done, the\nwhole family rise and embrace each other, making salaams and reverence to\ntheir superiors and elders. The servants and slaves advance for the same\npurpose, and nothing is heard for some minutes, but 'May the new moon be\nfortunate!' reiterated from every mouth of the assembled family.\n\nI cannot answer for the motives which actuate the ignorant people to bow\nwhen they first see the new moon; but the pious Mussulmaun, I am assured,\nbows to the Creator for the visible blessing, and not to the object.\n\nThe first eatables handed round to secure good luck and health throughout\nthe month are sugar-candy and cheese. I fancy this is a mere zeenahnah\ncustom, for I do not find the males so particular about eating this most\nextraordinary mixture as the females.\n\nThe servants' wages are paid by the month, and in well-regulated families\nthe first day of the moon is hailed by dependants and domestics with no\nsmall share of anxiety. Indeed, these people make the moon of much more\nimportance in the regulation of domestic affairs than the inhabitants of\nmore polished countries, for they attribute the influence of that planet\nover the inhabitants of the earth in many extraordinary ways. It may be\ndeemed superstitious, but as my business is to relate the most material\nceremonies among this people, I cannot well omit noticing some of their\nobservances at this time.\n\nIf any person is ill, and bleeding is the only good remedy to be pursued,\nthe age of the moon is first discussed, and if it happens to be near the\nfull, they are inflexibly resolute that the patient shall not lose blood\nuntil her influence is lessened. And should it happen at the commencement\nof the second quarter, or a few days after the full, the difficulty is to\nbe overcome by deprecating the evil influence of the moon over the patient,\nby burning a brand of straw which is flourished about the sick person's\nhead, who is brought out into the moon's presence for this important\noperation.[32] Many equally extraordinary things of this sort I have been\nobliged to witness in the zeenahnah.\n\nThe full moon is deemed propitious for celebrating the marriage festivals.\nIf this be not possible, care is always to be taken that the ceremony does\nnot fall at the period when she is in the unfavourable sign; they say the\nhappiness of the young couple depends on this being carefully avoided, as\nin the opinion of every Mussulmaun 'the moon in Scorpio' is unpropitious\nfor any business of moment.[33]\n\nWhen a journey is contemplated the moon's age is the first consideration;\nindeed, the favourable signs of Madam Luna's movements are not only\nselected for commencing a journey, but for all undertakings of like\nimportance;--whether to build, to write, to plant, to take medicine, &c.\n\nWhat will be said of the singular custom, 'drinking the moon at a\ndraught'? A silver basin being filled with water is held in such a\nsituation that the full moon may be reflected in it; the person to be\nbenefited by this draught is required to look steadfastly at the moon in\nthe basin, then shut his eyes and quaff the liquid at one draught.[34]\nThis remedy is advised by medical professors in nervous cases, and also\nfor palpitations of the heart. I have seen this practised, but I am not\naware of any real benefit derived by the patient from the prescription.\n\nWhen the planet Venus is in conjunction with the moon, they say the time\nis most favourable to offer prayers to God for any particular object they\nmay have in view. At this time they write charms or talismans to be worn\nby children. I remember having witnessed a gentleman thus occupied, who\nwrote little scraps in the Arabic character to distribute amongst the\nchildren of his friends, who wore them enclosed in silver cases on their\narms.\n\nAn eclipse of the moon is an event of great interest, both with the\nMussulmaun and the Hindoo population, although they have very opposite\nideas of the causes of an eclipse.\n\nMany of the notions entertained by the lower classes of Mussulmauns upon\nthe nature of an eclipse are borrowed from the Hindoos.[34] Some think\nthat it is caused by the anger of God towards the people of the earth;\nothers say the moon is in debt, and many other equally odd conceits exist\namongst the ignorant people, and among them only. Yet a sensation of awe\nis felt by most; and where is the intelligent creature who can view an\neclipse or any other phenomenon of Nature without the same feeling of awe,\nalthough all are not equally ready to express the sensation?\n\nLoud cries from the mixed population, Mussulmauns and Hindoos, announce\nthe commencement of an eclipse, whether it be of the sun or the moon. The\nvoice of the Mussulmaun is distinguished by the Namaazies'[35] call to\nprayers--'Allah wo uckbaar![36] (God alone is great!) To this summons the\nfaithful attend diligently, and they are generally occupied in the form of\nprayer appointed by Mahumud until the shadow has passed over the sun or\nmoon eclipsed.\n\nThe ladies prepare offerings of corn, oil, and money to be distributed\namongst the poor. The gentlemen give presents to the needy. The astronomer\nwho predicts to his royal or noble master the exact period of an eclipse,\nis rewarded, when it is over, with money, a dress, and a crescent of pure\ngold in some instances. A bride elect sends sutkah[38] to her intended\nhusband, accompanied by a goat or kid, which must be tied to the leg of\nhis bedstead during the continuance of an eclipse: these offerings are\nafterwards distributed in charity. Women expecting to become mothers are\ncarefully kept awake during an eclipse, as they declare the infant's\nsecurity depends on the mother being kept from sleep; they are not allowed\nto use a needle, scissors, knife, or any other instrument during an\neclipse, for fear of drawing blood, which would be injurious at that\nperiod, both to the mother and child; neither are the animals in a similar\nstate neglected; a mixture of cow-dung and drugs is rubbed over the belly\nof such animals, whether cows, sheep, goats, &c., and all these are\nsecurely housed until the planet is again resplendent: they fancy that\nboth the animal and its young would be endangered by exposure during the\ntime of the eclipse.\n\nThe power of the moon on wounded persons is believed universally to be of\ndangerous tendency. I have heard many extraordinary relations by people\nwho, as they tell me, have suffered from exposure to the moon whilst a\nwound was fresh. One person had received a severe sabre-cut on his arm;\nthe place was sewed up by the barber (the only surgeon amongst the\nNatives), and being much exhausted he laid down to sleep in the open air.\nThe moon was near the full, and after some hours' exposure to her\ninfluence he awoke in great agony; the barber examined the arm early in\nthe morning and found the cut in a state of corruption, the sewing having\nburst; the wound was cleansed, and dressed with pounded camphor; the place\neventually healed, and the man lived many years to tell his story, always\ndeclaring his belief that the moon had been the cause of his sufferings;\nhe was the more certain of this as he dreamed whilst exposed to her\ninfluence, that a large black woman (an inhabitant of the moon) had\nwrestled with him, and hurt his wound.\n\nThe usual application in India to a fresh wound is that of slacked lime. A\nman in our employ was breaking wood, the head of the hatchet came off, and\nthe sharp edge fell with considerable force on the poor creature's foot;\nhe bled profusely and fainted, lime was unsparingly applied, to the wound,\nthe foot carefully wrapped up, and the man conveyed to his hut on a\ncharpoy (bedstead), where he was kept quiet without disturbing the wound;\nat the end of a fortnight he walked about, and in another week returned to\nhis labour.[39]\n\nLime is an article of great service in the domestic economy of the Natives.\nI have experienced the good effects of this simple remedy for burns or\nscalds: equal proportions of lime, water, and any kind of oil, made into a\nthin paste, and immediately applied and repeatedly moistened, will\nspeedily remove the effects of a burn; and if applied later, even when a\nblister has risen, the remedy never fails: I cannot say how it might act\non a wound, the consequence of a neglected burn.\n\nThe lime used with pawn by the natives of India is considered very\nbeneficial to health; and they use it in great quantities, considering\nthat they never eat pawn without lime, and the most moderate pawn eaters\nindulge in the luxury at least eight times in the course of the day. The\nbenefit of lime is worth the consideration of the medical world--as a\npreventive in some climates, as a renovater in others.\n\nShubh-burraat,[40] is the designation of one of the months of the\nMussulmauns (you are aware their month is the duration of the moon). The\nnight of the full moon Shubh-burraat is a period of great and interesting\nimportance to the Mussulmaun people of every degree; for on this night\nthey are persuaded the fate of every human being is fixed in heaven; and\nthat whatever is to be their doom is then registered in the Book of Life.\nThose who are to retain health, life, prosperity, or any other blessing,\nand those who are to be visited by sickness, sorrows, adversity or death;\nin short, whatever is to occur throughout the year is on this night\nassuredly noted in heaven for each individual on earth.\n\nOn this night they are instructed also to remember their friends and\nrelatives who have been separated from them by death, and the injunction\nis followed up with much pious respect and marked veneration. Food is\ncooked and portioned out in the name of each departed object of their\nregard, over which the elder of the family,--if a Maulvee is not\navailable,--reads a certain form of prayer called Fahteeah[41]; this done,\neach portion (if convenient) is conveyed to the several tombs wherein\nthose friends are deposited; or if not convenient to send the food to the\nburying ground, it is distributed amongst the poor of the city and the\nsuburbs; the beggars congregating in those places to indulge in the\nluxuries prepared to the memory of the dead. The food prepared on this\noccasion must not contain any animal food. Bread of various kinds, sweet\nrice, and meetah[42] (a mixture of sugar, ghee, and flour), are the usual\ndainties I have observed in these offerings. Fireworks are in universal\nrequest on the night of Shubh-burraat, which is required to be passed in\nwakefulness; and to this may be ascribed the never-varying custom of\nletting them off: it is an amusement these people take delight in at all\ntimes, and on this occasion most usefully, to keep them awake. The younger\nbranches, at all events, derive this benefit from the pastime.\n\nThe religious community make it a night of strict devotion; they offer\nprayers and intercessions for the souls of their departed friends, since\nthey imagine that this period, of all others, is most favourable to prayer,\nas they believe the heart is more open to the throne of mercy, the prayer\nmore effectual, and that the real penitent suing for pardon on the night\nof Shubh-burraat, is certainly heard and his sins forgiven.\n\nThe Sheah sect attach still greater importance to this night, as the\nanniversary of the birth of Emaum Mhidhie.[43] They also remember Hasan\nand Hosein as martyrs; and in memory of their sufferings the zeearut[44]\n(circuit as at Mahurrum), is performed by walking round the ground in front\nof their apartments, repeating the burial service, with some trifling\nalterations; likewise the salaams to the Prophets and Emaums are duly\nperformed during this night of fate.\n\nThere is a singular opinion current amongst the Mussulmauns, that the\ntrees hold converse at this momentous period.[45] The really pious\ncharacters amongst the Mussulmauns declare that they discountenance\nsuperstition in every way; but they strictly adhere to every habit or\ncustom on record which was the practice of Mahumud and his family, the\nEmaums. Of course, they do not think the observances of Shubh-burraat are\nat all bordering on superstition, whatever may be thought of the practice\nby others.\n\n\n[1] See p. 78.\n\n[2] 'Idgah, the place where the rites of the 'Id festival are\n    conducted. It generally consists of a pavement, with a wall to the\n    west, facing east.\n\n[3] See p. 42.\n\n[4] _Angarkha_.\n\n[5] _Najib_, 'noble'; the half-disciplined militia of Native States.\n\n[6] _Kirch_, a straight thrusting sword.\n\n[7] See p. 48.\n\n[8] See p. 43.\n\n[9] _Nalki_, a kind of litter, the use of which was regarded as a\n    mark of dignity: see Sleeman, _Rambles_, p. 135.\n\n[10] A coin worth, about Rs. 16.\n\n[11] Haarh is a name given to any sort of ornament which we should\n    designate a necklace. The haarhs presented on these occasions at the\n    Oude court are composed of silver ribands very prettily platted and\n    confined at each division of plats by knobs covered with silver riband.\n    The prices of these haarhs are from five to twenty-five rupees each,\n    depending on the size. [_Author_.] See p. 62.\n\n[12] _'Itr_, essence of roses.\n\n[13]_Khuda hafiz_.\n\n[14] _Jhul_.\n\n[15] _Shahji_, 'my lord'.\n\n[16] _Chapkan_, the cassock-like frock, which is the usual dress of\n    respectable natives.\n\n[17] _Labada_, a sort of overcoat.\n\n[18] _Kamarband_, 'loin-band'.\n\n[19] _Lahaf_, a corruption of _ghilaf_, 'a wrapper'.\n\n[20] _Rumal_, 'face-wiper'.\n\n[21] _Zamindar_, 'a landowner'.\n\n[22] _Ra'iyat_.\n\n[23] Many native gentlemen are allowed to be seated in the king's presence\n    at court daily, but not at the banquet, which is a distinction\n    reserved only for the nobility and favourites. [_Author_.]\n\n[24] For an account of the animal fights before Lord W. Bentinck in 1831\n    see Mrs. F. Parks, _Wanderings of a Pilgrim_, i. 176 ff.; W. Knighton,\n    _Private Life of an Eastern King_, p. 147 ff.\n\n[25] _Nauroz_. Specially a Persian feast: see Sir J. Malcolm, _History of\n    Persia_,[2] ii. 341 _n_., 404; S.G.W. Benjamin, _Persia and the\n    Persians_, p. 198; O.J. Wills, _The Land of the Lion and the Sun_, ed.\n    1891, p. 48.\n\n[26] _Nauroz mubarak_.\n\n[27] Basant or spring feast, held at the vernal equinox.\n\n[28] Sawan, the fourth month of the Hindu year, July-August.\n\n[29] The feast is held in honour of the mythical Khwaja Khizr, 'the\n    green one', a water spirit identified with the Prophet Elisha (see\n    Sale on _Koran_, xviii. 63). The launching of the little boats is,\n    in essence, a form of magic intended to carry away the evils which\n    menace the community, and to secure abundant rainfall.\n\n[30] _Ilyas ki kishti_.\n\n[31] This is known as Hilal.\n\n[32] The Semites, like other races, believed in the influence of the moon.\n    'The sun shall not strike thee by day, nor the moon by night' (Ps.\n    cxxi. 6). It was believed to cause blindness and epilepsy. Sir J.G.\n    Frazer has exhaustively discussed the question of the influence of the\n    moon. The harvest moon, in particular, brings fertility, and hears the\n    prayers of women in travail: the moon causes growth and decay, and she\n    is dangerous to children. Many practical rules are based on her\n    influence at the various phases (_The Golden Bough_[3] Part I, vol. ii,\n    p. 128; Part IV, vol. ii, p. 132 ff.).\n\n[33] 'The sixth house is Scorpio, which is that of slaves and servants,\n    and of diseases' (Abul Fazl, _Akbarnama_, tr. H. Beveridge, ii. 12).\n\n[34] Here the moon is supposed to exert a curative influence.\n\n[35] Hindus believe that during an eclipse the moon is being strangled by\n    a demon, Rahu. Cries are raised, drums and brazen pans are beaten\n    to scare him.\n\n[36] Properly the Mu'azzin or official summoner to prayer.\n\n[37] _Allahu akbar_.\n\n[38] All offerings of intercession or thanksgivings are denominated sutkah\n    [_Author_] (_sadaqah_, see p. 136).\n\n[39] Lime liniment, composed of equal parts of lime-water and a bland oil,\n    is recognized in surgical practice.\n\n[40] _Shab-i-bara'at_, 'the night of record', is a feast held on the\n    15th of the month Sha'ban, when a vigil is kept, with prayers and\n    illuminations. On this occasion service in memory of the deceased\n    ancestors of the family is performed. On this night the fortunes of\n    mortals during the coming year are said to be recorded in Heaven. See\n    p. 51.\n\n[41] Al-Fatihah, 'the opening one', the first chapter of the Koran.\n\n[42] _Mitha, mithai_, 'sweetmeats'.\n\n[43] Imam Mahdi, see pp. 72, 76.\n\n[44] _Ziyarat_, see p. 15.\n\n[45] Compare the oracular trees of the Greeks (Sir J.G. Frazer,\n    _Pausanias_, ii. 160). For legends of speaking trees in India,\n    W. Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folklore of N. India_,[2] ii. 89.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XII\n\n  The Zeenahnah.--Its interior described.--Furniture, decorations,\n  &c.--The Purdah (curtains).--Bedstead.--The Musnud (seat of\n  honour).--Mirrors and ornamental furniture disused.--Display on\n  occasions of festivity.--Observations on the Mussulmaun\n  Ladies.--Happiness in their state of seclusion.--Origin of secluding\n  females by Mahumud.--Anecdote.--Tamerlane's command prohibiting\n  females being seen in public.--The Palankeen.--Bearers.--Their\n  general utility and contentedness of disposition.--Habits peculiar\n  to Mussulmaun Ladies.--Domestic arrangements of a Zeenahnah.--Dinner\n  and its accompanying observances.--The Lota and Lugguns.--The\n  Hookha.--Further investigation of the customs adopted in Zeenahnahs.\n\n\nBefore I introduce the ladies of a Mussulmaun zeenahnah to your notice, I\npropose giving you a description of their apartments.\n\nImagine to yourself a tolerably sized quadrangle, three sides of which is\noccupied by habitable buildings, and the fourth by kitchens, offices,\nlumber rooms, &c.; leaving in the centre an open court-yard. The habitable\nbuildings are raised a few steps from the court; a line of pillars forms\nthe front of the building, which has no upper rooms; the roof is flat, and\nthe sides and back without windows, or any aperture through which air can\nbe received. The sides and back are merely high walls forming an enclosure,\nand the only air is admitted from the fronts of the dwelling-place facing\nthe court-yard. The apartments are divided into long halls, the extreme\ncorners having small rooms or dark closets purposely built for the\nrepository of valuables or stores; doors are fixed to these closets, which\nare the only places I have seen with them in a zeenahnah or mahul[1]\n(house or palace occupied by females); the floor is either of beaten earth,\nbricks, or stones; boarded floors are not yet introduced.\n\nAs they have neither doors nor windows to the halls, warmth or privacy is\nsecured by means of thick wadded curtains, made to fit each opening\nbetween the pillars. Some zeenahnahs have two rows of pillars in the halls\nwith wadded curtains to each, thus forming two distinct halls, as occasion\nmay serve, or greater warmth be required: this is a convenient arrangement\nwhere the establishment of servants, slaves, &c., is extensive.\n\nThe wadded curtains are called purdahs[2]; these are sometimes made of\nwoollen cloth, but more generally of coarse calico, of two colours, in\npatchwork style, striped, vandyked, or in some other ingeniously contrived\nand ornamented way, according to their individual taste.\n\nBesides the purdahs, the openings between the pillars have blinds neatly\nmade of bamboo strips, wove together with coloured cords: these are called\njhillmuns or cheeks.[3] Many of them are painted green; others are more\ngaudy both in colour and variety of patterns. These blinds constitute a\nreal comfort to every one in India, as they admit air when let down, and\nat the same time shut out flies and other annoying insects; besides which\nthe extreme glare is shaded by them,--a desirable object to foreigners in\nparticular.\n\nThe floors of the halls are first matted with the coarse date-leaf matting\nof the country, over which is spread shutteringhies[4] (thick cotton\ncarpets, peculiarly the manufacture of the Upper Provinces of India, wove\nin stripes of blue and white, or shades of blue); a white calico carpet\ncovers the shutteringhie, on which the females take their seat.\n\nThe bedsteads of the family are placed, during the day, in lines at the\nback of the halls, to be moved at pleasure to any chosen spot for the\nnight's repose; often into the open courtyard, for the benefit of the pure\nair. They are all formed on one principle, differing only in size and\nquality; they stand about half-a-yard from the floor, the legs round and\nbroad at bottom, narrowing as they rise towards the frame, which is laced\nover with a thick cotton tape, made for the purpose, and platted in\nchecquers, and thus rendered soft, or rather elastic, and very pleasant to\nrecline upon. The legs of these bedsteads are in some instances gold,\nsilver gilt, or pure silver; others have enamel paintings on fine wood;\nthe inferior grades have them merely of wood painted plain and varnished;\nthe servants' bedsteads are of the common mango-wood without ornament, the\nlacing of these for the sacking being of elastic string manufactured from\nthe fibre of the cocoa-nut.\n\nSuch are the bedsteads of every class of people. They seldom have\nmattresses; a soojinee[5] (white quilt) is spread on the lacing, over\nwhich a calico sheet, tied at each corner of the bedstead with cords and\ntassels; several thin flat pillows of beaten cotton for the head,--a\nmuslin sheet for warm weather, and a well wadded ruzzie[6] (coverlid) for\nwinter, is all these children of Nature deem essential to their comfort in\nthe way of sleeping. They have no idea of night dresses; the same suit\nthat adorns a lady, is retained both night and day, until a change be\nneeded. The single article exchanged at night is the deputtah,[7] and that\nonly when it happens to be of silver tissue or embroidery, for which a\nmuslin or calico sheet is substituted.\n\nThe very highest circles have the same habits in common with the meanest,\nbut those who can afford shawls of cashmere prefer them for sleeping in,\nwhen the cold weather renders them bearable. Blankets are never used\nexcept by the poorest peasantry, who wear them in lieu of better garments\nnight and day in the winter season: they are always black, the natural\ncolour of the wool. The ruzzies of the higher orders are generally made of\nsilk of the brightest hues, well wadded, and lined with dyed muslin of\nassimilating colour; they are usually bound with broad silver ribands, and\nsometimes bordered with gold brocaded trimmings. The middling classes have\nfine chintz ruzzies, and the servants and slaves coarse ones of the same\nmaterial; but all are on the same plan, whether for a queen or the meanest\nof her slaves, differing only in the quality of the material.\n\nThe mistress of the house is easily distinguished by her seat of honour in\nthe hall of a zeenahnah; a musnud[8] not being allowed to any other person\nbut the lady of the mansion.\n\nThe musnud carpet is spread on the floor if possible near to a pillar\nabout the centre of the hall, and is made of many varieties of\nfabric,--gold cloth, quilted silk, brocaded silk, velvet, fine chintz, or\nwhatever may suit the lady's taste, circumstances, or convenience. It is\nabout two yards square, and generally bordered or fringed, on which is\nplaced the all-important musnud. This article may be understood by those\nwho have seen a lace-maker's pillow in England, excepting only that the\nmusnud is about twenty times the size of that useful little article in the\nhands of our industrious villagers. The musnud is covered with gold cloth,\nsilk, velvet, or calico, with square pillows to correspond, for the elbows,\nthe knees, &c. This is the seat of honour, to be invited to share which,\nwith the lady-owner, is a mark of favour to an equal or inferior: when a\nsuperior pays a visit of honour, the prided seat is usually surrendered to\nher, and the lady of the house takes her place most humbly on the very\nedge of her own carpet.\n\nLooking-glasses or ornamental furniture are very rarely to be seen in the\nzeenahnahs, even of the very richest females. Chairs and sofas are\nproduced when English visitors are expected; but the ladies of Hindoostaun\nprefer the usual mode of sitting and lounging on the carpet; and as for\ntables, I suppose not one gentlewoman of the whole country has ever been\nseated at one; and very few, perhaps, have any idea of their useful\npurposes, all their meals being served on the floor, where dusthakhawns[9]\n(table-cloths we should call them) are spread, but neither knives, forks,\nspoons, glasses, or napkins, so essential to the comfortable enjoyment of\na meal amongst Europeans. But those who never knew such comforts have no\ndesire for the indulgence, nor taste to appreciate them.\n\nOn the several occasions, amongst Native society, of assembling in large\nparties, as at births and marriages, the halls, although extensive, would\nbe inadequate to accommodate the whole party. They then have awnings of\nwhite calico, neatly flounced with muslin, supported on poles fixed in the\ncourtyard, and connecting the open space with the great hall, by wooden\nplatforms which are brought to a line with the building, and covered with\nshutteringhie and white carpets to correspond with the floor-furniture of\nthe hall; and here the ladies sit by day and sleep by night very\ncomfortably, without feeling any great inconvenience from the absence of\ntheir bedsteads, which could never be arranged for the accommodation of so\nlarge an assemblage--nor is it ever expected.\n\nThe usually barren look of these almost unfurnished halls is on such\noccasions quite changed, when the ladies are assembled in their various\ndresses; the brilliant display of jewels, the glittering drapery of their\ndress, the various expressions of countenance, and different figures, the\nmultitude of female attendants and slaves, the children of all ages and\nsizes in their variously ornamented dresses, are subjects to attract both\nthe eye and the mind of an observing visitor; and the hall, which when\nempty appeared desolate and comfortless, thus filled, leaves nothing\nwanting to render the scene attractive.\n\nThe buzz of human voices, the happy playfulness of the children, the\nchaste singing of the domenies fill up the animated picture. I have\nsometimes passed an hour or two in witnessing their innocent amusements,\nwithout any feeling of regret for the brief sacrifice of time I had made. I\nam free to confess, however, that I have returned to my tranquil home with\nincreased delight after having witnessed the bustle of a zeenahnah\nassembly. At first I pitied the apparent monotony of their lives; but this\nfeeling has worn away by intimacy with the people, who are thus precluded\nfrom mixing generally with the world. They are happy in their confinement;\nand never having felt the sweets of liberty, would not know how to use the\nboon if it were to be granted them. As the bird from the nest immured in a\ncage is both cheerful and contented, so are these females. They have not,\nit is true, many intellectual resources, but they have naturally good\nunderstandings, and having learned their duty they strive to fulfil it. So\nfar as I have had any opportunity of making personal observations on their\ngeneral character they appear to me obedient wives, dutiful daughters,\naffectionate mothers, kind mistresses, sincere friends, and liberal\nbenefactresses to the distressed poor. These are their moral\nqualifications, and in their religious duties they are zealous in\nperforming the several ordinances which they have been instructed by their\nparents or husbands to observe. If there be any merit in obeying the\ninjunctions of their Lawgiver, those whom I have known most intimately\ndeserve praise, since 'they are faithful in that they profess'.\n\nTo ladies accustomed from infancy to confinement this is by no means\nirksome; they have their employments and their amusements, and though\nthese are not exactly to our taste, nor suited to our mode of education,\nthey are not the less relished by those for whom they were invented. They\nperhaps wonder equally at some of our modes of dissipating time, and fancy\nwe might spend it more profitably. Be that as it may, the Mussulmaun\nladies, with whom I have been long intimate, appear to me always happy,\ncontented, and satisfied with the seclusion to which they were born; they\ndesire no other, and I have ceased to regret they cannot be made partakers\nof that freedom of intercourse with the world we deem so essential to our\nhappiness, since their health suffers nothing from that confinement, by\nwhich they are preserved from a variety of snares and temptations; besides\nwhich, they would deem it disgraceful in the highest degree to mix\nindiscriminately with men who are not relations. They are educated from\ninfancy for retirement, and they can have no wish that the custom should\nbe changed, which keeps them apart from the society of men who are not\nvery nearly related to them. Female society is unlimited, and that they\nenjoy without restraint.\n\nA lady whose friendship I have enjoyed from my first arrival in India,\nheard me very often speak of the different places I had visited, and she\nfancied her happiness very much depended on seeing a river and a bridge. I\nundertook to gain permission from her husband and father, that the treat\nmight be permitted; they, however, did not approve of the lady being\ngratified, and I was vexed to be obliged to convey the disappointment to\nmy friend. She very mildly answered me, 'I was much to blame to request\nwhat I knew was improper for me to be indulged in; I hope my husband and\nfamily will not be displeased with me for my childish wish; pray make them\nunderstand how much I repent of my folly. I shall be ashamed to speak on\nthe subject when we meet.'\n\nI was anxious to find out the origin of secluding females in the\nMussulmaun societies of Hindoostaun, as I could find no example in the\nMosaic law, which appears to have been the pattern Muhumud followed\ngenerally in domestic habits. I am told by the best possible authority,\nthat the first step towards the seclusion of females occurred in the life\nof Mahumud, by whose command the face and figure of women were veiled on\ntheir going from home, in consequence of some departure from strict\npropriety in one of his wives (Ayashur,[10] the daughter of Omir); she is\nrepresented to have been a very beautiful woman, and was travelling with\nMahumud on a journey in Arabia.\n\n'The beautiful Ayashur, on her camel, was separated from the party; she\narrived at the serai (inn, or halting-place) several hours after they had\nencamped, and declared that her delay was occasioned by the loss of a\nsilver bangle from her ankle, which after some trouble she had discovered,\nand which she produced in a bruised state in testimony of her assertion.\nMahumud was displeased, and her father enraged beyond measure at his\ndaughter's exposing herself to the censure of the public, by allowing any\nthing to detach her from the party.' Mahumud assuaged Omir's anger by a\ncommand then first issued, 'That all females, belonging to the faithful,\nshould be compelled to wear a close veil over their face and figure\nwhenever they went abroad.'\n\nIn Arabia and Persia the females are allowed to walk or ride out with a\nsort of hooded cloak, which falls over the face, and has two eye-holes for\nthe purpose of seeing their way.[11] They are to be met with in the streets\nof those countries without a suspicion of impropriety when thus habited.\n\nThe habit of strict seclusion, however, originated in Hindoostaun with\nTamerlane the conqueror of India.\n\nWhen Tamerlane[12] with his powerful army entered India, he issued a\nproclamation to all his followers to the following purport, 'As they were\nnow in the land of idolatry and amongst a strange people, the females of\ntheir families should be strictly concealed from the view of strangers';\nand Tamerlane himself invented the several covered conveyances which are\nto the present period of the Mussulmaun history in use, suited to each\ngrade of female rank in society. And the better to secure them from all\npossibility of contamination by their new neighbours, he commanded that\nthey should be confined to their own apartments and behind the purdah,\ndisallowing any intercourse with males of their own persuasion even, who\nwere not related by the nearest ties, and making it a crime in any female\nwho should willingly suffer her person to be seen by men out of the\nprescribed limits of consanguinity.\n\nTamerlane, it may be presumed, was then ignorant of the religious\nprinciples of the Hindoos. They are strictly forbidden to have intercourse\nor intermarry with females who are not strictly of their own caste or\ntribe, under the severe penalty of losing that caste which they value as\ntheir life. To this may be attributed, in a great degree, the safety with\nwhich female foreigners travel daak[13] (post) in their palankeens, from\none point of the Indian continent to another, without the knowledge of\nfive words of the Hindoostaunie tongue, and with no other servant or\nguardian but the daak-bearers, who carry them at the rate of four miles an\nhour, travelling day and night successively.\n\nThe palankeen is supported on the shoulders of four bearers at once,--two\nhaving the front pole attached to the vehicle, and two supporting the pole\nbehind. The four bearers are relieved every five or six minutes by other\nfour, making the set of eight to each palankeen,--this set conveys their\nburden from eight to ten miles, where a fresh party are in waiting to\nrelieve them, and so on to the extent of the projected journey; much in\nthe same way as relays of horses are stationed for post-travelling in\nEngland. Perhaps the tract of country passed through may not present a\nsingle hut or habitation for miles together, often through jungles of\ngloomy aspect; yet with all these obstacles, which would excite fear or\ndistrust in more civilized parts of the world, females travel in India\nwith as perfect security from insult as if they were guarded by a company\nof sepoys, or a troop of cavalry.\n\nI am disposed to think that the invention of covered conveyances by\nTamerlane first gave rise to the bearers. It seems so probable that the\nconqueror of the Hindoos should have been the first to degrade human\nnature, by compelling them to bear the burden of their fellow-creatures. I\ncan never forget the first impression, on my mind, when witnessing this\nmode of conveyance on my landing at Calcutta; and although I am willing to\nagree that the measure is one of vast utility in this climate, and to\nacknowledge with gratitude the benefit I have derived by this personal\nconvenience, yet I never seat myself in the palankeen or thonjaun[14]\nwithout a feeling bordering on self-reproach, as being one amongst the\nnumber to perpetuate the degradation of my fellow-mortals. They, however,\nfeel nothing of this sentiment themselves, for they are trained from\nboyhood to the toil, as the young ox to the yoke. It is their business;\nthe means of comfort is derived to them by this service; they are happy in\nthe employment, and generally cheerful, and form a class of people in\nthemselves respected by every other both for their services and for their\ngeneral good behaviour. In the houses of foreigners they are the most\nuseful amongst the whole establishment; they have charge of property, keep\nthe furniture in exact order, prepare the beds, the lamps, and the candles,\nwhere wax is used. Tallow having beef-fat in its manufacture is an\nabomination, to the Hindoos, by whom it is considered unholy to slay, or\neven to touch any portion of the slaughtered cattle of their respect: for\nbelieving in transmigration, they affirm that these animals receive the\nsouls of their departed relations. The bearers make the best of nurses to\nchildren, and contribute to the comfort of their employer by pulling the\npunkah night and day: in short, so necessary are these servants to the\ndomestic economy of sojourners in the East, that their merits as a people\nmust be a continual theme of praise; for I know not how an English\nestablishment could be concluded with any degree of comfort without these\nmost useful domestics. But I have allowed my pen to stray from the subject\nof female seclusion, and will here bring that part of my history to a\nclose in very few words.\n\nThose females who rank above peasants or inferior servants, are disposed\nfrom principle to keep themselves strictly from observation; all who have\nany regard for the character or the honour of their house, seclude\nthemselves from the eye of strangers, carefully instructing their young\ndaughters to a rigid observance of their own prudent example. Little girls,\nwhen four years old, are kept strictly behind the purdah, and when they\nmove abroad it is always in covered conveyances, and under the\nguardianship of a faithful female domestic, who is equally tenacious us\nthe mother to preserve the young lady's reputation unblemished by\nconcealing her from the gaze of men.\n\nThe ladies of zeenahnah life are not restricted from the society of their\nown sex; they are, as I have before remarked, extravagantly fond of\ncompany, and equally as hospitable when entertainers. To be alone is a\ntrial to which they are seldom exposed, every lady having companions\namongst her dependants; and according to her means the number in her\nestablishment is regulated. Some ladies of rank have from two to ten\ncompanions, independent of slaves and domestics; and there are some of the\nRoyal family at Lucknow who entertain in their service two or three\nhundred female dependants, of all classes. A well-filled zeenahnah is a\nmark of gentility; and even the poorest lady in the country will retain a\nnumber of slaves and domestics, if she cannot afford companions; besides\nwhich they are miserable without society, the habit of associating with\nnumbers having grown up with infancy to maturity: 'to be alone' is\nconsidered, with women thus situated, a real calamity.\n\nOn occasions of assembling in large parties, each lady takes with her a\ncompanion besides two or three slaves to attend upon her, no one expecting\nto be served by the servants of the house at which they are visiting. This\nswells the numbers to be provided for; and as the visit is always for\nthree days and three nights (except on Eades, when the visit is confined\nto one day), some forethought must be exercised by the lady of the house,\nthat all may be accommodated in such a manner as may secure to her the\nreputation of hospitality.\n\nThe kitchen and offices to the zeenahnah, I have remarked, occupy one side\nof the quadrangle; they face the great or centre hall appropriated to the\nassembly. These kitchens, however, are sufficiently distant to prevent any\ngreat annoyance from the smoke;--I say smoke, because chimneys have not\nyet been introduced into the kitchens of the Natives. The fire-places are\nall on the ground, something resembling stoves, each admitting one\nsaucepan, the Asiastic style of cooking requiring no other contrivance.\nRoast or boiled joints are never seen at the dinner of a Native: a leg of\nmutton or sirloin of beef would place the hostess under all sorts of\ndifficulties, where knives and forks are not understood to be amongst the\nuseful appendages of a meal. The variety of their dishes are countless,\nbut stews and curries are the chief; all the others are mere varieties.\nThe only thing in the shape of roast meats, are small lean cutlets bruised,\nseasoned and cemented with pounded poppy-seed, several being fastened\ntogether on skewers: they are grilled or roasted over a charcoal fire\nspread on the ground, and then called keebaab,[15] which word implies,\nroast meat.\n\nThe kitchen of a zeenahnah would be inadequate to the business of cooking\nfor a large assembly; the most choice dishes only (for the highly favoured\nguests), are cooked by the servants of the establishment. The needed\nabundance required on entertaining a large party is provided by a regular\nbazaar cook, several of whom establish themselves in Native cities, or\nwherever there is a Mussulmaun population. Orders being previously given,\nthe morning and evening dinners are punctually forwarded at the appointed\nhours in covered trays, each tray having portions of the several good\nthings ordered, so that there is no confusion in serving out the feast on\nits arrival at the mansion. The food thus prepared by the bazaar cook\n(naunbye,[16] he is called), is plain boiled-rice, sweet-rice, kheer[17]\n(rice-milk), mautungun[18] (rice sweetened with the addition of preserved\nfruits, raisins, &c., coloured with saffron), sallons[19] (curries) of\nmany varieties, some cooked with vegetables, others with unripe fruits\nwith or without meat; pillaus of many sorts, keebaabs, preserves, pickles,\nchatnees, and many other things too tedious to admit of detail.\n\nThe bread in general use amongst Natives is chiefly unleavened; nothing in\nthe likeness of English bread is to be seen at their meals; and many\nobject to its being fermented with the intoxicating toddy (extracted from\na tree). Most of the Native bread is baked on iron plates over a charcoal\nfire. They have many varieties, both plain and rich, and some of the\nlatter resembles our pastry, both in quality and flavour.\n\nThe dinners, I have said, are brought into the zeenahnah ready dished in\nthe Native earthenware, on trays; and as they neither use spoons or forks,\nthere is no great delay in setting out the meal where nothing is required\nfor display or effect, beyond the excellent quality of the food and its\nbeing well cooked. In a large assembly all cannot dine at the dustha-khawn\nof the lady-hostess, even if privileged by their rank; they are, therefore,\naccommodated in groups of ten, fifteen, or more, as may be convenient;\neach lady having her companion at the meal, and her slaves to brush off\nthe intruding flies with a chowrie, to hand water, or to fetch or carry\nany article of delicacy from or to a neighbouring group. The slaves and\nservants dine in parties after their ladies have finished, in any retired\ncorner of the court-yard--always avoiding as much as possible the presence\nof their superiors.\n\nBefore any one touches the meal, water is carried round for each lady to\nwash the hand and rinse the mouth. It is deemed unclean to eat without\nthis form of ablution, and the person neglecting it would he held unholy;\nthis done, the lady turns to her meal, saying, 'Bis ma Allah!'--(In the\nname or to the praise of God!) and with the right hand conveys the food to\nher mouth, (the left is never used at meals)[20]; and although they\npartake of every variety of food placed before them with no other aid than\ntheir fingers, yet the mechanical habit is so perfect, that they neither\ndrop a grain of rice, soil the dress, nor retain any of the food on their\nfingers. The custom must always be offensive to a foreign eye, and the\nhabit none would wish to copy; yet every one who witnesses must admire the\nneat way in which eating is accomplished by these really 'children of\nNature'.\n\nThe repast concluded, the lota[21] (vessel with water), and the luggun[22]\n(to receive the water in after rinsing the hands and mouth), are passed\nround to every person, who having announced by the 'Shuggur Allah!'--All\nthanks to God!--that she has finished, the attendants present first the\npowdered peas, culled basun,[23]--which answers the purpose of soap in\nremoving grease, &c., from the fingers,--and then the water in due course.\nSoap has not even yet been brought into fashion by the Natives, except by\nthe washermen; I have often been surprised that they have not found the\nuse of soap a necessary article in the nursery, where the only substitute\nI have seen is the powdered pea.\n\nLotas and lugguns are articles in use with all classes of people; they\nmust be poor indeed who do not boast of one, at least, in their family.\nThey are always of metal, either brass, or copper lacquered over, or zinc;\nin some cases, as with the nobility, silver and even gold are converted\ninto these useful articles of Native comfort.\n\nChina or glass is comparatively but little used; water is their only\nbeverage, and this is preferred, in the absence of metal basins, out of\nthe common red earthen katorah[24] (cup shaped like a vase).\n\nChina dishes, bowls, and basins, are used for serving many of the savoury\narticles of food in; but it is as common in the privacy of the palace, as\nwell as in the huts of the peasantry, to see many choice things introduced\nat meals served up in the rude red earthen platter; many of the delicacies\nof Asiatic cookery being esteemed more palatable from the earthen flavour\nof the new vessel in which it is served.\n\nI very well remember the first few days of my sojourn at Lucknow, feeling\nsomething bordering on dissatisfaction, at the rude appearance of the\ndishes containing choice specimens of Indian cookery, which poured in (as\nis customary upon fresh arrivals) from the friends of the family I had\nbecome a member of. I fancied, in my ignorance, that the Mussulmaun people\nperpetuated their prejudices even to me, and that they must fear I should\ncontaminate their china dishes; but I was soon satisfied on this point: I\nfound, by experience, that brown earthen platters were used by the\nnobility from choice; and in some instances, the viand would have wanted\nits greatest relish if served in China or silver vessels. Custom\nreconciles every thing: I can drink a draught of pure water now from the\nearthen katorah of the Natives with as much pleasure as from a glass or a\nsilver cup, and feel as well satisfied with their dainties out of an\nearthen platter, as when conveyed in silver or China dishes.\n\nChina tea sets are very rarely found in the zeenahnah; tea being used by\nthe Natives more as a medicine than a refreshment, except by such\ngentlemen as have frequent intercourse with the 'Sahib Logue' (English\ngentry), among whom they acquire a taste for this delightful beverage. The\nladies, however, must have a severe cold to induce them to partake of the\nbeverage even as a remedy, but by no means as a luxury.[25] I imagined\nthat the inhabitants of a zeenahnah were sadly deficient in actual\ncomforts, when I found, upon my first arrival in India, that there were no\npreparations for breakfast going forward: every one seemed engaged in pawn\neating, and smoking the hookha, but no breakfast after the morning Namaaz.\nI was, however, soon satisfied that they felt no sort of privation, as the\nearly meal so common in Europe has never been introduced in Eastern\ncircles. Their first meal is a good substantial dinner, at ten, eleven, or\ntwelve o'clock, after which follow pawn and the hookha; to this succeeds a\nsleep of two or three hours, providing it does not impede the duty of\nprayer;--the pious, I ought to remark, would give up every indulgence\nwhich would prevent the discharge of this duty. The second meal follows in\ntwelve hours from the first, and consists of the same substantial fare;\nafter which they usually sleep again until the dawn of day is near at hand.\n\nIt is the custom amongst Natives to eat fruit after the morning sleep,\nwhen dried fruits, confectionery, radishes, carrots, sugar-cane, green\npeas, and other such delicacies, are likewise considered wholesome\nluxuries, both with the ladies and the children. A dessert immediately\nafter dinner is considered so unwholesome, that they deem our practice\nextremely injudicious. Such is the difference of custom; and I am disposed\nto think their fashion, in this instance, would be worth imitating by\nEuropeans whilst residing in India.\n\nI have been much amused with the curious inquiries of a zeenahnah family\nwhen the gardener's dhaullie is introduced. A dhaullie,[26] I must first\ntell you, is a flat basket, on which is arranged, in neat order, whatever\nfruit, vegetables, or herbs are at the time in season, with a nosegay of\nflowers placed in the centre. They will often ask with wonder--'How do\nthese things grow?'--'How do they look in the ground?'--and many such\nchild-like remarks have I listened to with pity, whilst I have relieved my\nheart by explaining the operations of Nature in the vegetable kingdom, a\nsubject on which they are perfectly ignorant, and, from the habits of\nseclusion in which they live, can never properly be made to understand or\nenjoy.\n\nI have said water is the only beverage in general use amongst the\nMussulmaun Natives. They have sherbet, however, as a luxury on occasions\nof festivals, marriages, &c. This sherbet is simply sugar and water, with\na flavour of rose-water, or kurah[27] added to it.\n\nThe hookha is almost in general use with females. It is a common practice\nwith the lady of the house to present the hookha she is smoking to her\nfavoured guest. This mark of attention is always to be duly appreciated;\nbut such is the deference paid to parents, that a son can rarely be\npersuaded by an indulgent father or mother to smoke a hookha in their\nrevered presence;--this praiseworthy feeling originates not in fear, but\nreal genuine respect. The parents entertain for their son the most tender\nregard; and the father makes him both his companion and his friend; yet\nthe most familiar endearments do not lessen the feeling of reverence a\ngood son entertains for his father. This is one among the many samples of\npatriarchal life, my first Letter alluded to, and which I can never\nwitness in real life, without feeling respect for the persons who follow\nup the patterns I have been taught to venerate in our Holy Scripture.\n\nThe hookha, as an indulgence of a privilege, is a great definer of\netiquette. In the presence of the King or reigning Nuwaub, no subject,\nhowever high he may rank in blood or royal favour, can presume to smoke.\nIn Native courts, on state occasions, hookhas are presented only to the\nGovernor-General, the Commander-in-Chief, or the Resident at his Court,\nwho are considered equals in rank, and therefore entitled to the privilege\nof smoking with him; and they cannot consistently resist the intended\nhonour. Should they dislike smoking, a hint is readily understood by the\nhookha-bahdhaar[28] to bring the hookha, charged with the materials,\nwithout the addition of fire. Application of the munall[29] (mouth-piece)\nto the month indicates a sense of the honour conferred.\n\n\n[1] _Mahall._\n\n[2] _Parda._\n\n[3] _Jhilmil, chiq,_ the Anglo-Indian 'chick'.\n\n[4] _Shatranji_, see p. 19.\n\n[5] _Sozani_ (_sozan_, 'a needle'), an embroidered quilt.\n\n[6] _Razai_, a counterpane padded with cotton.\n\n[7] _Dopatta_, a double sheet: see p. 26.\n\n[8] See p. 24.\n\n[9] _Dastarkhwan_, see p. 108.\n\n[10] 'Ayishah, daughter of Abubakr, third and best loved wife of the\n    Prophet, though she bore him no child. The tale of the scandal about\n    her is historical, but it is treated as a calumny (_Koran_, xxiv.\n    II, 22, with Sale's note).\n\n[11] Known as the _burqa_.\n\n[12] Amir Taimur, known as Taimur Lang, 'the lame', was born A.D.\n    1336; ascended the throne at Balkh, 1370; invaded India and captured\n    Delhi, 1398; died 1405, and was buried at Samarkand. There seems to be\n    no evidence that he introduced the practice of the seclusion of women,\n    an ancient Semitic custom, which, however, was probably enforced on\n    the people of India by the brutality of foreign invaders.\n\n[13] _Dak_.\n\n[14] See p. 32.\n\n[15] _Kabab_, properly, small pieces of meat roasted on skewers.\n\n\n[16] _Nanbai_, a baker of bread _(nan)_.\n\n[17] _Khir_, milk boiled with rice, sugar, and spices.\n\n[18] _Mutanjan_, a corruption of _muttajjan_, 'fried in a pan'; usually in\n    the form _mutanjan pulao_, meat boiled with rice, sugar, butter,\n    and sometimes pine-apples or nuts.\n\n[19] _Salan_, a curry of meat, fish, or vegetables.\n\n[20] The left hand is used for purposes of ablution.\n\n[21] The Musalman _lota_, properly called _badhna_, differs from\n    that used by Hindus in having a spout like that of a teapot.\n\n[22] _Lagan_, a brass or copper pan in which the hands are washed: also\n    used for kneading dough.\n\n[23] _Besan_, flour, properly that of gram (_chana_). The prejudice\n    against soap is largely due to imitation of Hindus, who believe\n    themselves to be polluted by fat. Arabs, after a meal, wash their\n    hands and mouths with soap (Burton, _Pilgrimage_, ii. 257). Sir G.\n    Watt (_Economic Dictionary_, iii. 84 ff.) gives a long list of other\n    detergents and substitutes for soap.\n\n[24] _Katora_.\n\n[25] The prejudice against the use of tea has much decreased since this\n    book was written, owing to its cultivation in India. Musalmans and\n    many Hindus now drink it freely.\n\n[26] _Dali_, the 'dolly' of Anglo-Indians.\n\n[27] See p. 13.\n\n[28] _Huqqahbardar_.\n\n[29] _Munhnal_.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XIII\n\n  Plurality of wives.--Mahumud's motive for permitting this\n  privilege.--State of society at the commencement of the Prophet's\n  mission.--His injunctions respecting marriage.--Parents invariably\n  determine on the selection of a husband.--First marriages attended by\n  a public ceremony.--The first wife takes precedence of all\n  others.--Generosity of deposition evinced by the Mussulmaun\n  ladies.--Divorces obtained under certain restrictions.--Period of\n  solemnizing marriage.--Method adopted in choosing a husband or\n  wife.--Overtures and contracts of marriage, how regulated.--Mugganee,\n  the first contract.--Dress of the bride elect on this occasion.--The\n  ceremonies described as witnessed.--Remarks on the bride.--Present\n  from the bridegroom on Buckrah Eade.\n\n\nThe Mussulmauns have permission from their Lawgiver to be pluralists in\nwives, as well as the Israelites of old.[1] Mahumud's motive for\nrestricting the number of wives each man might lawfully marry, was, say\nhis biographers, for the purpose of reforming the then existing state of\nsociety, and correcting abuses of long standing amongst the Arabians.\n\nMy authority tells me, that at the period of Mahumud's commencing his\nmission, the Arabians were a most abandoned and dissolute people, guilty\nof every excess that can debase the character of man: drunkards,\nprofligate, and overbearing barbarians, both in principle and action.\nMahumud is said unvariedly to have manifested kindly feelings towards the\nweaker sex, who, he considered, were intended to be the companion and\nsolace of man, and not the slave of his ungovernable sensuality or caprice;\nhe set the best possible example in his own domestic circle, and\ninstituted such laws as were then needed to restrain vice and promote the\nhappiness of those Arabians who had received him as a Prophet. He forbade\nall kinds of fermented liquors, which were then in common use; and to the\nfrequent intoxication of the men, were attributed their vicious habits,\nbase pursuits, and unmanly cruelty to the poor females. Mahumud's code of\nlaws relating to marriage restricted them to a limited number of wives;\nfor at that period they all possessed crowded harems, many of the\ninhabitants of which were the victims of their reckless persecution; young\nfemales torn from the bosom of their families and immured in the vilest\nstate of bondage, to be cast out upon the wide world to starvation and\nmisery, whenever the base master of the house or tent desired to make room\nfor a fresh supply, often the spoils of his predatory excursions.\n\nBy the laws of Mahumud his followers are restrained from concubinage; they\nare equally restricted from forced marriages. The number of their wives\nmust be regulated by their means of supporting them, the law strictly\nforbidding neglect, or unkind treatment of any one of the number his\nfollowers may deem it convenient to marry.\n\nAt the period when Mahumud issued these necessary laws for the security of\nfemale comfort and the moral habits of the males, there existed a practice\nwith the Arabs of forcing young women to marry against their inclination,\nadding, year by year, to the many wretched creatures doomed, for a time,\nto all the miseries of a crowded hut; and at last, when tired of their\npersons or unable to provide them with sustenance, turning them adrift\nwithout a home, a friend, or a meal. To the present day the law against\nforced marriages is revered, and no marriage contract can be deemed lawful\nwithout the necessary form of inquiry by the Maulvee, who, in the presence\nof witnesses, demands of the young lady, 'whether the contract is by her\nown free will and consent?' This, however, I am disposed to think, in the\npresent age, is little else than a mere form of 'fulfilling the law' since\nthe engagement is made by the parents of both parties, the young couple\nbeing passive subjects to the parental arrangement, for their benefit as\nthey are assured. The young lady, from her rigid seclusion, has no prior\nattachment, and she is educated to be 'obedient to her husband'. She is\ntaught from her earliest youth to look forward to such match as her kind\nparents may think proper to provide for her; and, therefore, can have no\nobjection to accepting the husband selected for her by them. The parents,\nloving their daughter, and aware of the responsibility resting on them,\nare cautious in selecting for their girls suitable husbands, according to\ntheir particular view of the eligibility of the suitor.\n\nThe first marriage of a Mussulmaun is the only one where a public display\nof the ceremony is deemed necessary, and the first wife is always\nconsidered the head of his female establishment. Although he may be the\nhusband of many wives in the course of time, and some of them prove\ngreater favourites, yet the first wife takes precedence in all matters\nwhere dignity is to be preserved. And when the several wives meet--each\nhave separate habitations if possible--all the rest pay to the first wife\nthat deference which superiority exacts from inferiors; not only do the\nsecondary wives pay this respect to the first, but the whole circle of\nrelations and friends make the same distinction, as a matter of course;\nfor the first wife takes precedence in every way.\n\nShould the first wife fortunately present her husband with a son, he is\nthe undisputed heir; but the children of every subsequent wife are equals\nin the father's estimation. Should the husband be dissolute and have\noffspring by concubines--which is not very common,--those children are\nremembered and provided for in the distribution of his property; and, as\nvery often occurs, they are cherished by the wives with nearly as much\ncare as their own children; but illegitimate offspring very seldom marry\nin the same rank their father held in society.\n\nThe latitude allowed by 'the law' preserves the many-wived Mussulmaun from\nthe world's censure; and his conscience rests unaccused when he adds to\nhis numbers, if he cannot reproach himself with having neglected or\nunkindly treated any of the number bound to him, or their children. But\nthe privilege is not always indulged in by the Mussulmauns; much depends\non circumstances, and more on the man's disposition. If it be the happy\nlot of a kind-hearted, good man to be married to a woman of assimilating\nmind, possessing the needful requisites to render home agreeable, and a\nprospect of an increasing family, then the husband has no motive to draw\nhim into further engagements, and he is satisfied with one wife. Many such\nmen I have known in Hindoostaun, particularly among the Syaads and\nreligious characters, who deem a plurality of wives a plague to the\npossessors in proportion to their numbers.\n\nThe affluent, the sensualist, and the ambitious, are most prone to swell\nthe numbers in their harem. With some men, who are not highly gifted\nintellectually, it is esteemed a mark of gentility to have several wives.\n\nThere are some instances of remarkable generosity in the conduct of good\nwives (which would hardly gain credit with females differently educated),\nnot necessary to the subject before me; but I may here add to the praise\nof a good wife among these people, that she never utters a reproach, nor\ngives evidence by word or manner in her husband's presence that she has\nany cause for regret; she receives him with undisguised pleasure, although\nshe has just before learned that another member has been added to his\nwell-peopled harem. The good and forbearing wife, by this line of conduct,\nsecures to herself the confidence of her husband; who, feeling assured\nthat the amiable woman has an interest in his happiness, will consult her\nand take her advice in the domestic affairs of his children by other wives,\nand even arrange by her judgment all the settlements for their marriages,\n&c. He can speak of other wives without restraint,--for she knows he has\nothers,--and her education has taught her, that they deserve her respect\nin proportion as they contribute to her husband's happiness. The children\nof her husband are admitted at all times and seasons, without restraint or\nprejudice; she loves them next to her own, because they are her husband's.\nShe receives the mothers of such children without a shade of jealousy in\nher manner, and delights in distinguishing them by favours and presents\naccording to their several merits. From this picture of many living wives\nin Mussulmaun society, it must not be supposed I am speaking of women\nwithout attachment to their husbands; on the contrary, they are persons\nwho are really susceptible of pure love, and the generosity of their\nconduct is one of the ways in which they prove themselves devoted to their\nhusband's happiness. This, they say, was the lesson taught them by their\namiable mother, and this is the example they would set for the imitation\nof their daughters.\n\nI do not mean to say this is a faithful picture of all the females of\nzeenahnah life. The mixture of good and bad tempers or dispositions is not\nconfined to any class or complexion of people, but is to be met with in\nevery quarter of the globe. In general, I have observed those females of\nthe Mussulmaun population who have any claim to genteel life, and whose\nhabits are guided by religious principles, evince such traits of character\nas would constitute the virtuous and thoroughly obedient wife in any\ncountry; and many, whom I have had the honour to know personally, would do\ncredit to the most enlightened people in the world.\n\nShould the first wife prove a termagant or unfaithful--rare occurrences\namongst the inmates of the harem,--the husband has the liberty of\ndivorcing her by paying down her stipulated dowry. This dowry is an\nengagement made by the husband on the night of Baarraat[2] (when the\nbridegroom is about to take his bride from her parents to his own home).\nOn which occasion the Maulvee asks the bridegroom to name the amount of\nhis wife's dowry, in the event of separation; the young man is at liberty\nto name any sum he pleases. It would not prevent the marriage if the\nsmallest amount were promised; but he is in the presence of his bride's\nfamily, and within her hearing also, though he has not yet seen her;--it\nis a critical moment for him, thus surrounded. Besides, as he never\nintends to separate from the lady, in the strict letter of the law, he\ncannot refrain from gratifying those interested in the honour he is about\nto confer by the value of the promised dowry, and, therefore, he names a\nvery heavy sum, which perhaps his whole generation never could have\ncollected in their joint lives. This sum would of itself be a barrier to\ndivorce; but that is not the only object which influences the Mussulmaun\ngenerally to waive the divorce; it is because they would not publish their\nown disgrace, by divorcing an unfaithful or undutiful wife.\n\nIf the first wife dies, a second is sought after on the same principle\nwhich guided the first--'a superior to head his house'. In this case there\nwould be the same public display which marked the first wife's marriage;\nall the minor or secondary wives being introduced to the zeenahnah\nprivately; they are in consequence termed Dhollie[3] wives, or brought\nhome under cover.\n\nMany great men appear to be close imitators of King Solomon, with whose\nhistory they are perfectly conversant, for I have heard of the sovereign\nprinces in Hindoostaun having seven or eight hundred wives at one time in\ntheir palaces. This is hearsay report only, and I should hope an\nexaggeration.[4]\n\nThe first marriage is usually solemnized when the youth is eighteen, and\nthe young lady thirteen, or fourteen at the most; many are married at an\nearlier age, when, in the opinion of the parents, an eligible match is to\nbe secured. And in some cases, where the parents on both sides have the\nunion of their children at heart, they contract them at six or seven years\nold, which marriage they solemnly bind themselves to fulfil when the\nchildren have reached a proper age; under these circumstances the children\nare allowed to live in the same house, and often form an attachment for\neach other, which renders their union a life of real happiness.\n\nThere are to be found in Mussulmaun society parents of mercenary minds,\nwho prefer giving their daughters in marriage as dhollie wives to noblemen\nor men of property, to the preferable plan of uniting them with a husband\nof their own grade, with whom the girl would most likely live without a\nrival in the mud-walled tenement; this will explain the facilities offered\nto a sovereign or nobleman in extending the numbers of his harem.\n\nSome parents excuse themselves in thus disposing of their daughters on the\nscore of poverty, and the difficulty they find in defraying the expenses\nof a wedding: this I conceive to be one great error in the economy of the\nMussulmaun people,--unnecessary expense incurred in their marriage\nceremonies, which hampers them through life in their circumstances.\nParents, however poor, will not allow their daughter to be conveyed from\ntheir home, where the projected union is with an equal, without a\nseemingly needless parade of music, and a marriage-portion in goods and\nchattels, if they have no fortune to give beside; then the expense of\nproviding dinners for friends to make the event conspicuous, and the\nuseless articles of finery for the girl's person, with many other ways of\nexpending money, to the detriment of the parents' finances, without any\nvery substantial benefit to the young couple. But this dearly-loved custom\ncannot be passed over; and if the parents find it impossible to meet the\npecuniary demands of these ceremonies, the girl has no alternative but to\nlive out her days singly, unless by an agent's influence she is accepted\nas a dhollie wife to some man of wealth.\n\nGirls are considered to have passed their prime when they number from\nsixteen to eighteen years; even the poorest peasant would object to a wife\nof eighteen.\n\nThere has been the same difficulty to encounter in every age of Mussulmaun\nhistory in Hindoostaun; and in the darker periods of civilization, the\nobstacles to settling their daughters to advantage induced the villagers\nand the uneducated to follow the example of the Rajpoots, viz., to destroy\nthe greater proportion of females at their birth. In the present age, this\nhorrid custom is never heard of amongst any classes of the Mussulmaun\npopulation[5]; but by the Rajpoot Hindoos it is still practised, as one of\ntheir chiefs very lately acknowledged in the presence of a friend of mine.\nI have often heard Meer Hadjee Shaah declare that it was a common\noccurrence within his recollection, among the lower classes of the people\nin the immediate vicinity of Loodeeanah,[6] where he lived when a boy; and\nthat the same practice existed in the Oude territory, amongst the\npeasantry even at a much later date. One of the Nuwaubs of Oude,--I think\nAsoof ood Dowlah,--hearing with horror of the frequent recurrence of this\natrocity in the remote parts of his province, issued a proclamation to his\nsubjects, commanding them to desist from the barbarous custom[7]; and, as\nan inducement to the wicked parents to preserve their female offspring\nalive, grants of land were to be awarded to every female as a\nmarriage-portion on her arriving at a proper age.\n\nIt is generally to be observed in a Mussulmaun's family, even at this day,\nthat the birth of a girl produces a temporary gloom, whilst the birth of a\nboy gives rise to a festival in the zeenahnah. Some are wicked enough to\nsay, 'It is more honourable to have sons than daughters', but I believe\nthe real cause is the difficulty to be encountered in settling the latter\nsuitably.\n\nThe important affair of fixing upon a desirable match for their sons and\ndaughters is the source of constant anxiety in the family of every\nMussulmaun, from the children's earliest years to the period of its\naccomplishment.\n\nThere is a class of people who make it the business of their lives to\nnegotiate marriages. Both men and women of this description are of course\ningeniously expert in the art of talking, and able to put the best\ncolouring on the affair they undertake; they occupy every day of their\nlives in roving about from house to house, and, as they have always\nsomething entertaining to say, they generally gain easy admittance; they\nmake themselves acquainted with the domestic affairs of one family in\norder to convey them to another, and so continue in their line of\ngossiping, until the economy of every person's house is familiar to all.\nThe female gossip in her researches in zeenahnahs, finds out all the\nexpectations a mother entertains for her marriageable sons or daughters,\nand details whatever she learns in such or such a zeenahnah, as likely to\nmeet the views of her present hostess. Every one knows the object of these\nvisits, and if they have any secret that the world may not participate in,\nthere is due caution observed that it may not transpire before this Mrs.\nGad-about.\n\nWhen intelligence is brought, by means of such agency, to the mother of a\nson who happens to be marriageable, that a lady of proper rank has a\ndaughter to be sought, she consults with her husband, and further\ninquiries are instituted amongst their several friends, male and female;\nafter due deliberation, the connexion being found desirable, the father\nwill consult an omen before negotiations are commenced. The omen to decide\nthe important step is as follows:--Several slips of paper are cut up, on\nhalf the number is written 'to be', on the other half, 'not to be'; these\npapers are mixed together and placed under the prayer-carpet. When the\ngood Mussulmaun is preparing for his evening Namaaz he fails not in his\ndevotions to ask for help and guidance in an affair of so much importance\nto the father as the happiness and well-being of his son. At the portion\nof the service when he bows down his head to God, he beseeches with much\nhumility, calling on the great power and goodness of God to instruct and\nguide him for the best interest of his child; and then he repeats a short\nprayer expressive of his reliance on the wisdom of God, and his perfect\nsubmission to whatever may be His wise decree in this important business.\nThe prayer concluded, he seats himself with solemn gravity on the\nprayer-carpet, again and again imploring Divine guidance, without which he\nis sure nothing good can accrue: he then draws one slip from under his\ncarpet; if 'to be' is produced, he places it by his left side;--a second\nslip is drawn out, should that also bear the words 'to be' the business is\nso far decided. He then offers thanks and praises to God, congratulates\nhis wife on the successful issue of the omen, and discusses those plans\nwhich appear most likely to further the prospects of their dearly-loved\nson. But should the second and third papers say 'not to be' he is assured\nin his heart it was so decided by 'that Wisdom which cannot err:' to whom\nhe gives praise and glory for all mercies received at His hand: after this\nno overture or negotiation would be listened to by the pious father from\nthe same quarter.[8]\n\nThe omen, however, proving favourable, the affair is decided; and in order\nto gain the best possible information of the real disposition of all\nparties concerned, a confidential friend is sent to the zeenahnah of the\nyoung lady's mother to make her own observations on what passes within;\nand to ascertain, if possible, whether the report brought by the female\nagent was true or exaggerated; and finally, to learn if their son would be\nreceived or rejected as a suitor, provided advances were made.\n\nThe female friend returns, after a day or two's absence, to the anxious\nparents of the youth, and details all she has seen or heard during her\nvisit. The young lady may, perhaps, have been seen (this is not always\nconceded to such visitors), in which case her person, her manners, her\napparent disposition, the hospitality and good breeding of the mother and\nother members of the zeenahnah, are described; and lastly, it is hinted\nthat, all other things suiting, the young lady being yet disengaged, the\nprojected offer would not be disagreeable to her parents.\n\nThe father of the youth then resolves on sending a male agent in due form\nto negotiate a marriage, unless he happens to be personally acquainted\nwith the girl's father; in which case the lady is desired to send her\nfemale agent on the embassy, and the father of the youth speaks on the\nsubject in the meantime to the girl's father.\n\nA very intimate friend of mine was seeking for a suitable match for her\nson, and being much in her confidence, I was initiated in all the\nmysteries and arrangements (according to Mussulmaun rule) of the affair\npending the marriage of her son.\n\nThe young lady to be sought (wooed we should have it), had been described\nas amiable and pretty--advantages as much esteemed as her rank;--fortune\nshe had none worth mentioning, but it was what is termed in Indian society\na good and equal match. The overture was, therefore, to be made from the\nyouth's family in the following manner:\n\nOn a silver tray covered with gold brocade and fringed with silver, was\nlaid the youth's pedigree, traced by a neat writer in the Persian\ncharacter, on richly embossed paper ornamented and emblazoned with gold\nfigures. The youth being a Syaad, his pedigree was traced up to Mahumud,\nin both paternal and maternal lines, and many a hero and Begum of their\nnoble blood filled up the space from the Prophet down to the youthful Meer\nMahumud, my friend's son.\n\nOn the tray, with the pedigree, was laid a nuzza, or offering of five gold\nmohurs, and twenty-one (the lucky number) rupees; a brocaded cover,\nfringed with silver, was spread over the whole, and this was conveyed by\nthe male agent to the young Begum's father. The tray and its contents are\nretained for ever, if the proposal is accepted: if rejected, the parties\nreturn the whole without delay, which is received as a tacit proof that\nthe suitor is rejected: no further explanation is ever given or required.\n\nIn the present instance the tray was detained, and in a few days after a\nfemale from their family was sent to my friend's house to make a general\nscrutiny of the zeenahnah and its inmates. This female was pressed to stay\na day or two, and in that time many important subjects underwent\ndiscussion. The youth was introduced, and everything according with the\nviews entertained by both parties, the fathers met, and the marriage, it\nwas decided, should take place within a twelvemonth, when the young lady\nwould have accomplished her thirteenth year.\n\n'Do you decide on having Mugganee[9] performed?' is the question proposed\nby the father of the youth to the father of the young maiden. In the\npresent case it was chosen, and great were the preparations of my friend\nto do all possible honour to the future bride of her son.\n\nMugganee is the first contract, by which the parties are bound to fulfil\ntheir engagement at an appointed time.\n\nThe dress for a bride[10] differs in one material point from the general\nstyle of Hindoostaunie costume: a sort of gown is worn, made of silver\ntissue, or some equally expensive article, about the walking length of an\nEnglish dress; the skirt is open in front, and contains about twenty\nbreadths of the material, a tight body and long sleeves. The whole dress\nis trimmed very richly with embroidered trimming and silver riband; the\ndeputtah (drapery) is made to correspond. This style of dress is the\noriginal Hindoo fashion, and was worn at the Court of Delhi for many\ncenturies; but of late years it has been used only on marriage festivals\namongst the better sort of people in Hindoostaun, except Kings or Nuwaubs\nsending khillauts to females, when this dress, called a jhammah,[11] is\ninvariably one of the articles.\n\nThe costly dresses for the present Mugganee my friend prepared at a great\nexpense, and with much good taste; to which were added a ruby ring of\ngreat value, large gold ear-rings, offerings of money, the flower-garlands\nfor the head, neck, wrists, and ankles, formed of the sweet-scented\njessamine; choice confectionery set out in trays with the pawns and fruits;\nthe whole conveyed under an escort of soldiers and servants with a band of\nmusic, from the residence of Meer Mahumud to that of his bride elect,\naccompanied by many friends of the family. These offerings from the youth\nbind the contract with the young lady, who wears his ring from that day to\nthe end of her life.\n\nThe poorer sort of people perform Mugganee by the youth simply sending a\nrupee in a silk band, to be tied on the girl's arm.\n\nBeing curious to know the whole business of a wedding ceremony amongst the\nMussulmaun people, I was allowed to perform the part of 'officiating\nfriend' on this occasion of celebrating the Mugganee. The parents of the\nyoung lady having been consulted, my visit was a source of solicitude to\nthe whole family, who made every possible preparation to receive me with\nbecoming respect; I went just in time to reach the gate at the moment the\nparade arrived. I was handed to the door of the zeenahnah by the girl's\nfather, and was soon surrounded by the young members of the family,\ntogether with many lady-visitors, slaves, and women-servants of the\nestablishment. They had never before seen an English-woman, and the\nnovelty, I fancy, surprised the whole group; they examined my dress,\nmy complexion, hair, hands, &c., and looked the wonder they could not\nexpress in words. The young Begum was not amongst the gazing throng;\nsome preliminary customs detained her behind the purdah, where it may\nbe supposed she endured all the agony of suspense and curiosity by her\ncompliance with the prescribed forms.\n\nThe lady of the mansion waited my approach to the dulhaun[12] (great hall)\nwith all due etiquette, standing to receive and embrace me on my advancing\ntowards her. This ceremony performed, I was invited to take a seat on the\nmusnud-carpet with her on the ground; a chair had been provided for me,\nbut I chose to respect the lady's preference, and the seat on the floor\nsuited me for the time without much inconvenience.\n\nAfter some time had been passed in conversation on such subjects as suited\nthe taste of the lady of the house, I was surprised at the servants\nentering with trays, which they placed immediately before me, containing a\nfull-dress suit in the costume of Hindoostaun. The hostess told me she had\nprepared this dress for me, and I must condescend to wear it. I would have\ndeclined the gaudy array, but one of her friends whispered me, 'The custom\nis of long standing; when the face of a stranger is first seen a dress is\nalways presented; I should displease Sumdun Begum by my refusal;--besides,\nit would be deemed an ill omen at the Mugganee of the young Bohue[13] Begum\nif I did not put on the Native dress before I saw the face of the bride\nelect.' These I found to be weighty arguments, and felt constrained to\nquiet their apprehensions of ill-luck by compliance; I therefore forced\nthe gold dress and the glittering drapery over my other clothes, at the\nexpense of some suffering from the heat, for it was at the very hottest\nseason of the year, and the dulhaun was crowded with visitors.\n\nThis important point conceded to them, I was led to a side hall, where the\nlittle girl was seated on her carpet of rich embroidery, her face resting\non her knees in apparent bashfulness. I could not directly ascertain\nwhether she was plain, or pretty as the female agent had represented. I\nwas allowed the privilege of decorating the young lady with the sweet\njessamine guinahs,[14] and placing the ring on the forefinger of the right\nhand; after which, the ear-rings, the gold-tissue dress, the deputtah were\nall in their turn put on, the offering of money presented, and then I had\nthe first embrace before her mother. She looked very pretty, just turned\ntwelve. If I could have prevailed on her to be cheerful, I should have\nbeen much gratified to have extended my visit in her apartment, but the\npoor child seemed ready to sink with timidity; and out of compassion to\nthe dear girl, I hurried away from the hall, to relieve her from the\nburden my presence seemed to inflict, the moment I had accomplished my\nlast duty, which was to feed her with my own hand, giving her seven pieces\nof sugar-candy; seven, on this occasion, is the lucky number, I presume,\nas I was particularly cautioned to feed her with exactly that number of\npieces.\n\nReturning to the assembly in the dulhaun, I would have gladly taken leave;\nbut there was yet one other custom to be observed to secure a happy omen\nto the young people's union. Once again seated on the musnud with Sumdun\nBegum,[15] the female slaves entered with sherbet in silver basins. Each\nperson taking sherbet is expected to deposit gold or silver coins in the\ntray; the sherbet-money at this house is collected for the bride; and when\nduring the three days' performance of the marriage ceremony at the\nbridegroom's house sherbet is presented to the guests, the money collected\nthere is reserved for him. The produce of the two houses is afterwards\ncompared, and conclusions drawn as to the greatest portion of respect paid\nby the friends on either side. The poor people find the sherbet-money a\nuseful fund to help them to keep house; but with the rich it is a mere\nmatter to boast of, that so much money was collected in consequence of the\nnumber of visitors who attended the nuptials.\n\nAfter the Mugganee ceremony had been performed, and before the marriage\nwas solemnized, the festival of Buckrah Eade occurred;--in the eleventh\nLetter you will find it remarked, the bride and bridegroom elect then\nexchange presents;--my friend was resolved her son's presents should do\nhonour to both houses, and the following may give you an idea of an\nEade-gift.\n\nThirty-five goats and sheep of the finest breed procurable, which I\nsucceeded in having sent in their natural dress, instead of being adorned\nwith gold-cloth and painted horns: it was, however, with some persuasion\nthe folly of this general practice was omitted in this instance.\n\nThe guinah or garland, of flowers on a tray covered with brocade. The\nguinah are sweet-scented flowers without stalks, threaded into garlands in\nmany pretty ways, with great taste and ingenuity, intermixed with silver\nribands; they are formed into bracelets, necklaces, armlets, chaplets for\nthe head, and bangles for the legs. There are people in Lucknow who make\nthe preparing of guinahs a profitable business, as the population is so\nextensive as to render these flower-ornaments articles of great request.\n\nA tray filled with pawns, prepared with the usual ingredients, as lime,\ncuttie[16] (a bitter gum), betel-nut, tobacco, spices, &c.; these pawns\nare tied up in packets of a triangular form and covered with enamelled\nfoil of many bright colours. Several trays of ripe fruits of the season,\nviz., kurbootahs[17] (shaddock), kabooza[18] (melons), ununas[19] (pine\napple), guavers,[20] sherreefha[21] (custard-apple), kummeruck,[22]\njarmun[23] (purple olives), orme[24] (mango), falsah,[25] kirhnee,[26]\nbaer,[27] leechie,[28] ormpeach,[29] carounder,[30] and many other kinds\nof less repute.\n\nConfectionery and sweetmeats, on trays, in all the varieties of Indian\ninvention; a full-dress suit for the young lady; and on a silver tray the\nyouth's nuzza of five gold mohurs, and twenty-one rupees.\n\nThe Eade offering of Meer Mahumud was escorted by servants, soldiers, and\na band of music; and the young lady returned a present to the bridegroom\nelect of thirty-five goats and sheep, and a variety of undress skull-caps,\nsupposed to be her own work, in spangles and embroidery. I may state here,\nthat the Natives of India never go bare-headed in the house. The turban is\nalways worn in company, whatever may be the inconvenience from heat; and\nin private life, a small skull-cap, often of plain white muslin, just\ncovers the head. It is considered disgraceful in men to expose the head\nbare; removing the turban from the head of an individual would be deemed\nas insulting as pulling a nose in Europe.\n\nWhatever Eade or festival may occur between the Mugganee and the final\ncelebration of nuptials, presents are always interchanged by the young\nbride and bridegroom; and with all such observances there is one\nprevailing custom, which is, that though there should be nothing at hand\nbut part of their own gifts, the trays are not allowed to go back without\nsome trifling things to keep the custom in full force.\n\n\n[1] The _Koran_ (iv. 3) allows Musalmans to marry 'by twos, or\n    threes, or fours'; but the passage has been interpreted in various\n    ways.\n\n[2] _Barat_.\n\n[3] _Duli_, 'the Anglo-Indian 'dhooly'. Such wives are so called\n    because they are brought to the houses of their husbands in an\n    informal way, without a regular marriage procession.\n\n[4] The King of Vijayanagar had twelve thousand wives: four thousand\n    followed him on foot and served in the kitchen; the same number\n    marched with him on horseback; the remainder in litters, and two or\n    three thousand of them were bound to burn themselves with his corpse\n    (Nicolo Conti, _India in the Fifteenth Century_, part iii, p. 6). In\n    Orissa a palm-leaf record states that one monarch died prematurely\n    just as he had married his sixty-thousandth wife, and a European\n    traveller speaks of a later prince who had four thousand ladies (Sir\n    W. Hunter, _Orissa_. ii, 132 f.). Manucci states that there were more\n    than thirty thousand women in the palace of Shah Jahan at Dheli,\n    and that he usually had two thousand women of different races in his\n    zenana (_Storia de Major_, i. 195, ii. 330). Tippoo Sultan of\n    Mysore married nine hundred women (Jaffur Shurreef, _Qanoon-e-Islam_,\n    93).\n\n[5] There in evidence that infanticide did prevail among some Musalman\n    tribes. Where actual infanticide has disappeared, it has often been\n    replaced by neglect of female infants, except in those castes where,\n    owing to a scarcity of girls, they command a high price.--_Reports\n    Census of India_, 1911, i. 216 ff; _Panjab_, 1911, i. 231.\n\n[6] Ludhiana.\n\n[7] No record of this proclamation has been traced in the histories of the\n    time.\n\n[8] The bride is often selected by praying for a dream in sleep, by\n    manipulating the rosary, or by opening the _Koran_ at random, and\n    reading the first verse which comes under the eye. Another method is\n    to ascertain to which of the elements--fire, air, earth, water--the\n    initials of the names of the pair correspond. If these agree, it is\n    believed that the engagement will be prosperous.--Jaffur Shurreef,\n    _Qanoon-e-Islam_, 37.\n\n[9] _Mangni_, 'the asking'.\n\n[10] Compare the full account of brides' dress in Mrs. F. Parks,\n    _Wanderings of a Pilgrim_, i. 425.\n\n[11] _Jama_.\n\n[12] _Dalan_.\n\n[13] _Bahu_, properly a son's wife or daughter-in-law: commonly applied\n    to a bride or young wife.\n\n[14] Probably the _genda_ or French marigold (_Tagetes erecta_).\n\n[15] Sumdun is always the title of the bride's mamma; Bohue, that of the\n    young wife, and, therefore, my thus designating her here is premature.\n    [_Samdhan_ means a connexion by marriage. The mothers of bride and\n    bridegroom are _samdhan_ to each other.]\n\n[16] _Kuth, kuttha_, the gum of _Acacia catechu_.\n\n[17] The shaddock (_Citrus decumana_) is called _chakoira_; possibly\n    confused with the next.\n\n[18] _Kharbuzah, Cucumis melo_.\n\n[19] _Ananas, Ananassa saliva_.\n\n[20] Guava.\n\n[21] _Sharifah, Anona squamosa_.\n\n[22] _Kamrak, Averrhoa Carambola_.\n\n[23] _Jamun, jaman, Eugenia Jambolana_.\n\n[24] _Am, Mangifera indica_.\n\n[25] _Falsa, phalsa, Greuria asiatica_.\n\n[26] _Kirni, Canthium parviflorum_.\n\n[27] _Ber, Zizyphus Jujuba_.\n\n[28] _Lichi, Nephelium Lichi_.\n\n[29] Possibly some confusion between _um_, the mango, and _alu,\n    aru_, the peach.\n\n[30] _Karaunda, Carissa Carandas_.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XIV\n\n  Wedding ceremonies of the Mussulmauns.--The new or full moon\n  propitious to the rites being concluded.--Marriage settlements\n  unknown.--Control of the wife over her own property.--Three days and\n  nights occupied in celebrating the wedding.--Preparations previously\n  made by both families.--Ostentatious display on those occasions.--Day\n  of Sarchuck.--Customs on the day of Mayndhie.--Sending presents.--Day\n  of Baarraat.--Procession of the bridegroom to fetch the bride.--The\n  bride's departure to her new home.--Attendant ceremonies\n  explained.--Similarity of the Mussulmaun and Hindu\n  ceremonies.--Anecdote of a Moollah.--Tying the Narrah to the Moosul.\n\n\nWhen the young lady's family have made all the necessary arrangements for\nthat important event (their daughter's nuptials), notice is sent to the\nfriends of the intended bridegroom, and the gentlemen of both families\nmeet to settle on what day the celebration is to take place. They are\nguided in the final arrangement by the state of the moon--the new or full\nmoon has the preference; she must, however, be clear of Scorpio, which, as\nI have before stated, they consider the unfortunate sign.[1] There are\nsome moons in the year considered very unpropitious to marry in. At\nMahurrum, for instance, no emergency as to time or circumstance would\ninduce the female party to consent to the marriage solemnities taking\nplace. In Rumzaun they have scruples, though not equal to those which they\nentertain against fulfilling the contract in Mahurrum, the month of\nmourning.\n\nMarriage settlements are not known in Mussulmaun society. All contracts\nare made by word of mouth; and to their credit, honourable reliance is\nusually followed by honourable fulfilment of agreements. The husband is\nexpected to be satisfied with whatever portion of his wife's fortune the\nfriends may deem consistent or prudent to grant with their daughter. The\nwife is at liberty to keep under her own control any separate sum or\nallowance her parents may be pleased to give her, over and above the\nmarriage portion granted to the husband with his wife.[2]\n\nThe husband rarely knows the value of his wife's private property unless,\nas sometimes happens, the couple in after years have perfect confidence in\neach other, and make no separate interests in worldly matters.\nOccasionally, when the married couple have not lived happily together, the\nwife has been known to bury her cash secretly; and perhaps she may die\nwithout disclosing the secret of her treasure to any one.\n\nIn India the practice of burying treasure is very common with females,\nparticularly in villages, or where there are fears entertained of robbers.\nThere is no difficulty in burying cash or other treasure, where the ground\nfloors of the houses are merely beaten earth--boarded floors, indeed, are\nnever seen in Hindoostaun--in the houses of the first classes of Natives\nthey sometimes have them bricked and plastered, or paved with marble.\nDuring the rainy season I have sometimes observed the wooden tuckht[3] (a\nportable platform) in use with aged or delicate females, on which they\nmake their seats from fear of the damp from the mud floor; but they\ncomplain that these accommodations are not half so comfortable as their\nordinary seat.\n\nThe division of personal property between married people has the effect of\nrendering the wife much more independent than the married lady of other\ncountries. The plan is a judicious one in the existing state of Mussulmaun\nsociety, for since the husband could at his pleasure add other wives, the\nwhole property of the first wife might be squandered on these additions.\nIn the middling classes of society, and where the husband is a religious\nperson, this division of property is not so strictly maintained; yet every\nwife has the privilege, if she chooses to exercise it, of keeping a\nprivate purse, which the good wife will produce unasked to meet her\nhusband's emergencies; and which the good husband is never known to demand,\nhowever great may be his necessities. There are many traits of character\nin the Mussulmaun world that render them both amiable and happy, wherever\npoliteness of behaviour is brought to bear. I have seen some bright\nexamples of forbearance and affectionate solicitude in both sexes, which\nwould do honour to the most refined societies of the civilized world.\n\nThe marriage ceremony occupies three days and nights:--The first is called,\nSarchuck;[4] the second, Mayndhie;[5] and the third, Baarraat,[6] (fate or\ndestiny is the meaning of this word).\n\nI am not aware that three days are required to accomplish the nuptials of\nthe young couple in any other society of Mussulmauns distinct from those\nof Hindoostaun. Judging by similar usages among the Hindoo population, I\nam rather disposed to conjecture that this is one of the customs of the\naborigines, imitated by the invaders, as the outward parade and publicity\ngiven to the event by the Mussulmauns greatly resemble those of the\nsurrounding Hindoos.\n\nThere are no licences granted, nor any form of registry kept of marriages.\nAny person who is acquainted with the Khoraun may read the marriage\nceremony, in the presence of witnesses if it be possible; but they usually\nemploy a professed Moollah or Maulvee, in consideration of such persons\nbeing the most righteous in their lives; for they make this engagement a\nreligious, as well as a civil contract.[7]\n\nThe day being fixed, the elders, male and female, of the two families,\ninvite their several relatives, friends, and acquaintances to assemble,\naccording to their means and convenience for entertaining visitors. The\ninvitations are written in the Persian character on red paper, describing\nthe particular event which they are expected to honour. During the week\nprevious to Sarchuck, both families are busily engaged in sending round to\ntheir several friends trays of ready-cooked dinners. Rich and poor share\nequally on these occasions; the reason assigned for which is, that the\npersons' nuptials may be registered in the minds of those who partake of\nthe food, who in the course of time, might otherwise forget that they had\never heard of the young couple's nuptials.\n\nThe mother of Bohue Begum actively employed the intervening time, in\nfinishing her preparations for the young lady's departure from the\nparental roof with suitable articles, which might prove the bride was not\nsent forth to her new family without a proper provision. There is\ncertainly too much ostentation evinced on these occasions; but custom,\nprided custom, bids defiance to every better argument; and thus the mother,\nfull of solicitude that her daughter should carry with her evident marks\nof parental affection, and be able to sustain her rank in life, loads her\nchild with a profusion of worldly goods. The poorest people, in this\ninstance, imitate their superiors with a blameable disregard to\nconsequences. Many parents among the lower orders incur heavy debts to\nenable them to make a parade at their children's wedding, which proves a\nsource of misery to themselves as long as they live.\n\nIt may be presumed the Sumdun Begum prepared more suits of finery than her\ndaughter could wear out for years. A silver bedstead with the necessary\nfurniture, as before described; a silver pawn-dawn,[8] round, and shaped\nvery like a modern spice-box in England; a silver chillumchee[9]\n(wash-hand basin), and lota (water-jug with a spout, nearly resembling an\nold-fashioned coffee-pot); a silver luggun[10] (spittoon); silver\nsurraie[11] (water-bottle); silver basins for water; several dozens of\ncopper saucepans, plates and spoons for cooking; dishes, plates, and\nplatters in all variety needful for the house, of metal or of stone. China\nor glass is rarely amongst the bride's portion, the only articles of glass\nI remember to have seen was the looking-glass for the bride's toilette,\nand that was framed and cased in pure silver. Stone dishes are a curious\nand expensive article, brought from Persia and Arabia, of a greenish\ncolour, highly polished; the Natives call them racaab-puttie,[12] and\nprefer them to silver at their meals, having an idea that poisoned food\nwould break them; and he who should live in fear of such a calamity, feels\nsecure that the food is pure when the dish of this rare stone is placed\nbefore him perfect.\n\nAmongst the various articles sent with the bride to her new home is the\nmuch prized musnud, cushions and carpet to correspond; shutteringhies, and\ncalico carpets, together with the most minute article used in Native\nhouses, whether for the kitchen, or for the accommodation of the young\nlady in her apartments; all these are conveyed in the lady's train when\nshe leaves her father's house to enter that of her husband. I am afraid my\ndescriptions will be deemed tediously particular, so apt are we to take\nthe contagion of example from those we associate with; and as things\nunimportant in other societies are made of so much consequence to these\npeople, I am in danger of giving to trifles more importance than may be\nagreeable to my readers.\n\nOn the day of Sarchuck the zeenahnahs of both houses are completely filled\nwith visitors of all grades, from the wives and mothers of noblemen, down\nto the humblest acquaintance of the family. To do honour to the hostess,\nthe guests appear in their best attire and most valuable ornaments.\n\nA wedding in the family of a respectable Mussulmaun is very often the\nmedium of reconciling long standing estrangements between friends. Human\nnature has the same failings in every climate; there will be some who\nentertain jealousies and envyings in all societies, but a wedding with\nthese people is a perfect peace-maker, since none of the invited can\nconsistently stay away; and in such an assembly, where is the evil mind to\ndisturb harmony, or recur to past grievances?\n\nThe day of Sarchuck is the first time the young lady receives the\nappellation of Dullun,[13] at which time also the bridegroom is designated\nDullha.[14] Dullun is kept in strict confinement, in a dark room or closet,\nduring the whole three days' merriment going forward under the parental\nroof; whilst the bridegroom is the most prominent person in the assembly\nof the males, where amusements are contrived to please and divert him, the\nwhole party vieing in personal attentions to him. The ladies are occupied\nin conversation and merriment, and amused with the native songs and music\nof the dominie, smoking the hookha, eating pawn, dinner, &c. Company is\ntheir delight, and time passes pleasantly with them in such an assembly.\n\nThe second day, Mayndhie, is one of bustle and preparation in the Sumdun\nBegum's department; it is spent in arranging the various articles that are\nto accompany the bride's Mayndhie, which is forwarded in the evening to\nthe bridegroom with great parade.\n\nIt is so well known that I need hardly mention the fact, that the herb\nmayndhie[15] is in general request amongst the natives of India, for the\npurpose of dyeing the hands and feet; it is considered by them an\nindispensable article to their comfort, keeping those members cool and a\ngreat ornament to the person.\n\nLong established custom obliges the bride to send mayndhie on the second\nnight of the nuptials to the bridegroom; and, to make the event more\nconspicuous, presents proportioned to the means of the party accompany the\ntrays of prepared mayndhie.\n\nThe female friends of the bride's family attend the Mayndhie procession in\ncovered conveyances, and the male guests on horses, elephants, and in\npalkies; trains of soldiers, servants, and bands of music swell the\nprocession (among people of distinction) to a magnitude inconceivable to\nthose who have not visited the Native cities of Hindoostaun, or witnessed\nthe parade of a marriage ceremony.\n\nAmongst the bride's presents with mayndhie, may be noticed every thing\nrequisite for a full-dress suit for the bridegroom, and the etceteras of\nhis toilette; confectionery, dried fruits, preserves, the prepared pawns,\nand a multitude of trifles too tedious to enumerate, but which are\nnevertheless esteemed luxuries with the Native young people, and are\nconsidered essential to the occasion. One thing I must not omit, the\nsugar-candy, which forms the source of amusement when the bridegroom is\nunder the dominion of the females in his mother's zeenahnah. The artush\nbajie,[16] (fireworks) sent with the presents, are concealed in flowers\nformed of the transparent uberuck:[17] these flowers are set out in frames,\ncalled chumund,[18] and represent beds of flowers in their varied forms\nand colours; these in their number and gay appearance have a pretty effect\nin the procession, interspersed with the trays containing the dresses, &c.\nAll the trays are first covered with basket-work raised in domes, and over\nthese are thrown draperies of broadcloth, gold-cloth, and brocade, neatly\nfringed in bright colours.\n\nThe Mayndhie procession having reached the bridegroom's house, bustle and\nexcitement pervade through every department of the mansion. The gentlemen\nare introduced to the father's hall; the ladies to the youth's mother, who\nin all possible state is prepared to receive the bride's friends.\n\nThe interior of a zeenahnah has been already described; the ladies crowd\ninto the centre hall to witness, through the blinds of bamboo, the\nimportant process of dressing the young bridegroom in his bride's presents.\nThe centre purdah is let down, in which are openings to admit the hands\nand feet; and close to this purdah a low stool is placed. When all these\npreliminary preparations are made, and the ladies securely under cover,\nnotice is sent to the male assembly that, 'Dullha is wanted'; and he then\nenters the zeenahnah court-yard, amidst the deafening sounds of trumpets\nand drums from without, and a serenade from the female singers within. He\nseats himself on the stool placed for him close to the purdah, and obeys\nthe several commands he receives from the hidden females, with childlike\ndocility. The moist mayndhie is then tied on with bandages by hands he\ncannot see, and, if time admits, one hour is requisite to fix the dye\nbright and permanent on the hands and feet. During this delay, the hour is\npassed in lively dialogues with the several purdahed dames, who have all\nthe advantage of seeing though themselves unseen; the singers occasionally\nlauding his praise in extempore strains, after describing the loveliness\nof his bride, (whom they know nothing about), and foretelling the\nhappiness which awaits him in his marriage, but which, in the lottery, may\nperhaps prove a blank. The sugar-candy, broken into small lumps, is\npresented by the ladies whilst his hands and feet are fast bound in the\nbandages of mayndhie; but as he cannot help himself, and it is an omen of\ngood to eat the bride's sweets at this ceremony, they are sure he will try\nto catch the morsels which they present to his mouth and then draw back,\nteasing the youth with their banterings, until at last he may successfully\nsnap at the candy, and seize the fingers also with the dainty, to the\ngeneral amusement of the whole party and the youth's entire satisfaction.\n\nThe mayndhie supposed to have done its duty, the bandages are removed; his\nold unnah,[19] the nurse of his infancy (always retained for life),\nassists him with water to wash off the leaves, dries his feet and hands,\nrubs him with otta,[20] robes him in his bride's presents, and ornaments\nhim with the guinah. Thus attired he takes leave of his tormentors, sends\nrespectful messages to his bride's family, and bows his way from their\nguardianship to the male apartment, where he is greeted by a flourish of\ntrumpets and the congratulations of the guests, many of whom present\nnuzzas and embrace him cordially.\n\nThe dinner is introduced at twelve amongst the bridegroom's guests, and\nthe night passed in good-humoured conviviality, although the strongest\nbeverage at the feast consists of sugar and water sherbet. The\ndancing-women's performances, the display of fireworks, the dinner, pawn,\nand hookha, form the chief amusements of the night, and they break up only\nwhen the dawn of morning approaches.\n\nThe bride's female friends take sherbet and pawn after the bridegroom's\ndeparture from the zeenahnah, after which they hasten away to the bride's\nassembly, to detail the whole business of their mission.\n\nI have often heard the ladies complain, that the time hangs very heavy on\ntheir hands whilst the party have gone to perform Mayndhie, until the\ngood ladies return with their budget of particulars. Hundreds of questions\nare then put to them by the inquisitive dames, how the procession passed\noff?--whether accident or adventure befel them on the march?--what remarks\nwere made on the bride's gifts?---but most of all they want to know, how\nthe bridegroom looked, and how he behaved under their hands? The events of\nthe evening take up the night in detailing, with the occasional\ninterruptions of dinner, pawn, and sherbet; and so well are they amused,\nthat they seldom feel disposed to sleep until the crowing of the cock\nwarns them that the night has escaped with their diversified amusements.\n\nThe eventful Baarraat arrives to awaken in the heart of a tender mother\nall the good feelings of fond affection; she is, perhaps, about to part\nwith the great solace of her life under many domestic trials; at any rate,\nshe transfers her beloved child to another protection. All marriages are\nnot equally happy in their termination; it is a lottery, a fate, in the\ngood mother's calculation. Her darling child may be the favoured of Heaven\nfor which she prays; she may be, however, the miserable first wife of a\nlicentious pluralist; nothing is certain, but she will strive to trust in\nGod's mercy, that the event prove a happy one to her dearly-loved girl.\n\nI have said the young bride is in close confinement during the days of\ncelebrating her nuptials; on the third she is tormented with the\npreparations for her departure. The mayndhie must be applied to her hands\nand feet, the formidable operations of bathing, drying her hair, oiling\nand dressing her head, dyeing her lips, gums, and teeth with antimony,\nfixing on her the wedding ornaments, the nut (nose-ring) presented by her\nhusband's family: the many rings to be placed on her fingers and toes, the\nrings fixed in her ears, are all so many new trials to her, which though a\ncomplication of inconveniences, she cannot venture to murmur at, and\ntherefore submits to with the passive meekness of a lamb.\n\nTowards the close of the evening, all this preparation being fulfilled,\nthe marriage portion is set in order to accompany the bride. The guests\nmake their own amusements for the day; the mother is too much occupied\nwith her daughter's affairs to give much of her time or attention to them;\nnor do they expect it, for they all know by experience the nature of a\nmother's duties at such an interesting period.\n\nThe bridegroom's house is nearly in the same state of bustle as the\nbride's, though of a very different, description, as the preparing for the\nreception of a bride is an event of vast importance in the opinion of a\nMussulmaun. The gentlemen assemble in the evening, and are regaled with\nsherbet and the hookha, and entertained with the nuutch-singing and\nfireworks until the appointed hour for setting out in the procession to\nfetch the bride to her new home.\n\nThe procession is on a grand scale; every friend or acquaintance, together\nwith their elephants, are pressed into the service of the bridegroom on\nthis night of Baarraat. The young man himself is mounted on a handsome\ncharger, the legs, tail, and mane of which are dyed with mayndhie, whilst\nthe ornamental furniture of the horse is splendid with spangles and\nembroidery. The dress of the bridegroom is of gold-cloth, richly trimmed\nwith a turban to correspond, to the top of which is fastened an immense\nbunch of silver trimming, that falls over his face to his waist, and\nanswers the purpose of a veil,[21] (this is in strict keeping with the\nHindoo custom at their marriage processions). A select few of the females\nfrom the bridegroom's house attend in his train to bring home the bride,\naccompanied by innumerable torches, with bands of music, soldiers, and\nservants, to give effect to the procession. On their arrival at the gate\nof the bride's residence, the gentlemen are introduced to the father's\napartments, where fireworks, music, and singing, occupy their time and\nattention until the hour for departure arrives.\n\nThe marriage ceremony is performed in the presence of witnesses, although\nthe bride is not seen by any of the males at the time, not even by her\nhusband, until they have been lawfully united according to the common form.\n\nIn the centre of the hall, in the zeenahnah, a tuckht (platform) six feet\nsquare is placed, on which the musnud of gold brocade is set. This is the\nbride's seat when dressed for her nuptials; she is surrounded by ladies\nwho bear witness to the marriage ceremony. The purdahs are let down, and\nthe Maulvee, the bridegroom, the two fathers, and a few male friends are\nintroduced to the zeenahnah court-yard, with a flourish of trumpets and\ndeafening sounds of drums. They advance with much gravity towards the\npurdahs, and arrange themselves close to this slender partition between\nthe two sexes.\n\nThe Maulvee commences by calling on the young maiden by name, to answer to\nhis demand, 'Is it by your own consent this marriage takes place\nwith ----?' naming the person who is the bridegroom; the bride answers,\n'It is by my consent.' The Maulvee then explains the law of Mahumud, and\nreads a certain chapter from that portion of the Khoraun which binds the\nparties in holy wedlock.[22] He then turns to the young man, and asks him\nto name the sum he proposes as his wife's dowry. The bridegroom thus\ncalled upon, names ten, twenty, or perhaps a hundred lacs of rupees; the\nMaulvee repeats to all present the amount proposed, and then prays that\nthe young couple thus united may be blessed in this world and in eternity.\nAll the gentlemen then retire, except the bridegroom, who is delayed, as\nsoon as this is accomplished, entering the hall until the bride's guests\nhave retreated into the side rooms: as soon as this is accomplished he is\nintroduced into the presence of his mother-in-law and her daughter by the\nwomen servants. He studiously avoids looking up as he enters the hall,\nbecause, according to the custom of this people, he must first see his\nwife's face in a looking-glass, which is placed before the young couple,\nwhen he is seated on the musnud by his bride. Happy for him if he then\nbeholds a face that bespeaks the gentle being he hopes Fate has destined\nto make him happy; if otherwise he must submit; there is no untying the\nsacred contract.\n\nMany absurd customs follow this first introduction of the bride and\nbridegroom. When the procession is all formed, the goods and chattels of\nthe bride are loaded on the heads of the carriers; the bridegroom conveys\nhis young wife in his arms to the chundole (covered palankeen), which is\nin readiness within the court, and the procession moves off in grand style,\nwith a perpetual din of noisy music until they arrive at the bridegroom's\nmansion.\n\nThe poor mother has perhaps had many struggles with her own heart to save\nher daughter's feelings during the preparation for departure; but when the\nseparation takes place the scene is affecting beyond description. I never\nwitnessed anything to equal it in other societies: indeed, so powerfully\nare the feelings of the mother excited, that she rarely acquires her usual\ncomposure until her daughter is allowed to revisit her, which is generally\nwithin a week after her marriage.\n\nP.S.--I have remarked that, in important things which have nothing to do\nwith the religion of the Mussulmauns, they are disposed to imitate the\nhabits of the Hindoos; this is more particularly to be traced in many of\ntheir wedding customs.\n\nIn villages where there are a greater proportion of Hindoos than\nMussulmauns the females of the two people mix more generally than is\nusually allowed in cities or large towns; and it is among this mingled\npopulation that we find the spirit of superstition influencing the female\ncharacter in more marked manner than it does in more populous places,\nwhich the following anecdote, will illustrate. The parties were known to\nthe person who related the circumstance to me.\n\n'A learned man, a moollah[23] or head-teacher and expounder of the\nMahumudan law, resided in a village six koss (twelve miles English)\ndistant from Lucknow, the capital of Oude. This moollah was married to a\nwoman of good family, by whom he had a large progeny of daughters. He\nlived in great respect, and cultivated his land with success, the produce\nof his farm not only supporting his own family, but enabling the good\nmoollah to distribute largely amongst the poor, his neighbours, and the\npassing traveller. A hungry applicant never left his door without a meal\nof the same wholesome, yet humble fare, which formed his own daily\nsustenance. Bread and dhall he preferred to the most choice delicacies, as\nby this abstemious mode of living, he was enabled to feed and comfort the\nafflicted with the residue of his income.\n\n'This moollah was one of the most pious men of the age, and alive to the\ninterests of his fellow-mortals, both temporal and eternal. He gave\ninstruction gratis to as many pupils as chose to attend his lectures, and\ndesired to acquire from his matured knowledge an introduction to the\npoints of faith, and instruction in the Mussulmaun laws. Numbers of young\nstudents attended his hall daily, to listen to the expounding of the rules\nand maxims he had acquired by a long life devoted to the service of God,\nand his duty to mankind. In him, many young men found a benefactor who\nblended instruction with temporal benefits; so mild and persuasive were\nthis good moollah's monitions, that he lived in the affection, venerations\nand respect of his pupils, as a fond father in the love of his children.\n\n'The wife of this good man managed the domestic affairs of the family,\nwhich were very little controlled by her husband's interference. On an\noccasion of solemnizing the nuptials of one of their daughters, the wife\nsent a message to the moollah, by a female slave, requiring his immediate\npresence in the zeenahnah, that he might perform his allotted part in the\nceremony, which, as elder of the house, could not be confided to any other\nhands but his. This was to \"tie the naarah to the moosul\".[24]\n\n'The moollah was deeply engaged in expounding to his pupils a difficult\npassage of the Khoraun when the slave entered and delivered her message.\n\"Coming\", he answered, without looking at the messenger, and continued his\nexposition.\n\n'The good woman of the house was in momentary expectation of her husband's\narrival, but when one hour had elapsed, her impatience overcame her\ndiscretion, and she dispatched the slave a second time to summon the\nmoollah, who, in his anxiety to promote a better work, had forgotten the\nsubject of tying the naarah to the moosul. The slave again entered the\nhall, and delivered her lady's message; he was then engaged in a fresh\nexposition, and, as before, replied \"coming\", but still proceeding with\nhis subject as if he heard not the summons.\n\n'Another hour elapsed, and the wife's ordinary patience was exhausted; \"Go\nto your master, slave!\" she said with authority in her voice and manner;\n\"go ask your master from me, whether it is his intention to destroy the\npeace of his house, and the happiness of his family. Ask him, why he\nshould delay performing so important a duty at this ceremony, when his own\ndaughter's interest and welfare are at stake?\"\n\n'The slave faithfully conveyed the message, and the moollah, finding that\nhis domestic peace depended on submitting to the superstitious notions of\nhis wife, accompanied the slave to the zeenahnah without further delay.\n\n'The moollah's compliance with the absurd desires of his wife surprised\nthe students, who discussed the subject freely in his absence. He having\nalways taught them the folly of prejudice and the absurdity of\nsuperstition, they could not, comprehend how it was the moollah had been\nled to comply with a request so much at variance with the principles he\nendeavoured to impress upon them.\n\n'On his return, after a short absence, to his pupils, he was about to\nre-commence the passage at which he had left off to attend his wife's\nsummons; one of the young men, however, interrupted him by the inquiry,\n\"Whether he had performed the important business of tying the naarah to the\nmoosul?\"--\"Yes,\" answered the moollah, very mildly, \"and by so doing I\nhave secured peace to my wife's disturbed mind.\"--\"But how is it, reverend\nSir,\" rejoined the student, \"that your actions and your precepts are at\nvariance? You caution us against every species of superstition, and yet\nthat you have in this instance complied with one, is very evident.\"--\"I\ngrant you, my young friend,\" said the moollah, \"that I have indeed done so,\nbut my motive for this deviation is, I trust, correct. I could have argued\nwith you on the folly of tying the naarah to the moosul, and you would\nhave been convinced by my arguments; but my wife, alas! would not listen\nto anything but the custom--the custom of the whole village. I went with\nreluctance, I performed the ceremony with still greater; yet I had no\nalternative if I valued harmony in my household: this I have now secured\nby my acquiescence in the simple desire of my wife. Should any evil\naccident befall my daughter or her husband, I am spared the reproaches\nthat would have been heaped upon me, as being the cause of the evil, from\nmy refusal to tie the naarah to the moosul. The mere compliance with this\nabsurd custom, to secure peace and harmony, does not alter my faith; I\nhave saved others from greater offences, by my passive obedience to the\nwishes of my wife, who ignorantly places dependance on the act, as\nnecessary to her daughter's welfare.\"\n\n'The students were satisfied with his explanation, and their respect was\nincreased for the good man who had thus taught them to see and to cherish\nthe means of living peaceably with all mankind, whenever their actions do\nnot tend to injure their religious faith, or infringe on the principles of\nmorality and virtue.'\n\n\n[1] See p. 158.\n\n[2] For the right of the bride to her private property, see N.E.B. Baillie,\n    _Digest of Moohummudan Law_ (1875), 146 ff.\n\n[3] _Takht._\n\n[4] _Sachaq_, the fruits and other gifts carried in procession in\n  earthen pots ornamented with various devices.--Jaffur Shurreef,\n  _Qanoon-e-Islam_, 73.\n\n[5] _Menhdi_.\n\n[6] _Barat, barat_: meaning 'bridegroom's procession'.\n\n[7] Among the Khojas of West India a person from the lodge to which the\n    parties belong recites the names of the Panjtan-i-pak, the five\n    holy ones--Muhammad, 'Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, Husain--with the\n    invocation: 'I begin the wedding of ---- with ----, to wed as did\n    Fatimah, the bright-faced Lady (on whom be peace!) with the Lord and\n    Leader, the Receiver of the Testament of the Chosen and Pure, the Lord\n    'Ali, the son of Abu-Talib.'--_Bombay Gazetteer_, ix, part ii,\n    45.\n\n[8] _Pandan_.\n\n[9] _Chilamchi_.\n\n[10] _Lagan_.\n\n[11] _Surahi_.\n\n[12] _Rikab_, 'a cup'; _patthari_, 'made of stone'. China dishes are\n    also supposed to betray poison: see J. Fryer, _A New Account of East\n    India and Persia_ (Hakluyt Society's edition), i. 87.\n\n[13] _Dulhin_.\n\n[14] _Dulha_.\n\n[15] _Menhdi_: the henna plant, _Lawsonia alba_.\n\n[16] _Atishbazi_, fire-play.\n\n[17] _Abrak_, talc.\n\n[18] _Chaman_, a flower-bed.\n\n[19] _Anna_.\n\n[20] Otto, _'itr_ of roses.\n\n[21] 'The dress of the bridegroom consisted entirely of cloth of gold;\n    and across his forehead was bound a sort of fillet made of an\n    embroidery of pearls, from which, long strings of gold hung down all\n    over his face to his saddle-bow; and to his mouth he kept a red silk\n    handkerchief closely pressed to prevent devils entering his\n    mouth.'--Mrs. F. Parks, _Wanderings of a Pilgrim_, i. 438 f. This\n    fillet is called _sihra_, and it is intended to avert the influence\n    of the Evil Eye and of demons.\n\n\n[22] The officiating Mulla or Qazi lifts the bridegroom's veil,\n    makes him gargle his throat three times with water, and seating him\n    facing Mecca, requires him to repeat a prayer to Allah for forgiveness\n    (_istighfarullah_); the four Qul, or chapters of the _Koran_\n    commencing with the word _qul_, 'say' (cix, cxii, cxiii, cxiv); the\n    Kalima or Creed: 'There is no deity but Allah: Muhammad is the\n    Apostle of Allah'; the Articles of Belief (_Sifat-i-iman_) in\n    Allah, his Angels, the Scriptures, the Prophets, the Resurrection,\n    and Day of Judgement. His absolute decree and predestination of Good\n    and Evil; the Prayer of Obedience, said standing\n    (_du'a'l-qunut_). If he be illiterate, the meaning of all these\n    should be explained to him.--Jafnir Shurreef, _Qanoon-e-Islam_, 86.\n\n[23] Mulla.\n\n[24] The naarah is a cord of many threads dyed red and yellow; the moosul\n    the heavy beam in use where rice is to be cleansed from the husks. The\n    custom is altogether of Hindoo origin. [_Author_.] [When the condiment\n    (_ubtan_), made of the flour of gram, mixed with oil and perfumes,\n    which is rubbed on the bride and bridegroom, is being ground, the\n    handle of the hand-mill is smeared with sandalwood paste, powder of a\n    kind of nut ( _Vangueira spinosa_), and some betel leaves; betel-nuts\n    wrapped in a piece of new red cloth are tied to it. Then seven women,\n    whose husbands are living, sit down to grind the condiment. Some raw\n    rice is put in a red cloth, and with a parcel of betel-leaf is tied to\n    the mill-handle with a thread (_nara_). Women pretend to beat it,\n    and sing a marriage song. The rite is a form of fertility magic. The\n    handle of the mill here represents the rice-pounder (_musal_) in\n    the rite described in the text.--_Bombay Gazetteer_, ix, part i, 101;\n    part ii, 163 f.[7]]\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XV\n\n  On the birth and management of children in Hindoostaun.--Increase of\n  joy on the birth of a Son.--Preference generally shown to male\n  children.--Treatment of Infants.--Day of Purification.--Offerings\n  presented on this occasion to the child.--The anniversary of the\n  birthday celebrated.--Visit of the father to the Durgah.--Pastimes of\n  boys.--Kites.--Pigeons.--The Mhogdhur.--Sword-exercise.--The Bow and\n  Arrows.--The Pellet-bow.--Crows.--Sports of Native\n  gentlemen.--Cock-fighting.--Remarks upon horses, elephants, tigers,\n  and leopards.--Pigeon-shooting.--Birds released from captivity on\n  particular occasions.--Reasons for the extension of the royal\n  clemency in Native Courts.--Influence of the Prime Minister in the\n  administration of justice.\n\n\nThe bustle of a wedding in the family of a Mussulmaun having subsided, and\nthe bride become familiar with her new relatives, the mother also\nreconciled to the separation from her child by the knowledge of her\nhappiness,--for they are allowed frequent intercourse,--the next important\nsubject which fills their whole hearts with hope and anxiety, is the\nexpected addition to the living members of the family. Should this occur\nwithin the first year of their union, it is included in the catalogue of\n'Fortune's favours', as an event of no small magnitude to call forth their\njoy and gratitude. Many are the trifling ceremonies observed by the\nfemales of this uneducated people, important in their view to the\nwell-being of both mother and infant, but so strongly partaking of\nsuperstition that time would be wasted in speaking of them; I will\ntherefore hasten to the period of the infant's birth, which, if a boy, is\ngreeted by the warmest demonstrations of unaffected joy in the houses both\nof the parents of the bride and bridegroom. When a female child is born,\nthere is much less clamourous rejoicing at its birth than when a son is\nadded to honour the family;[1] but the good mother will never be\ndissatisfied with the nature of the gift, who can appreciate the source\nwhence she receives the blessing. She rests satisfied that unerring Wisdom\nhath thus ordained, and bows with submission to His decree. She desires\nsons only as they are coveted by the father, and procure for the mother\nincreased respect from the world, but she cannot actually love her infant\nless because it is a female.\n\nThe birth of a son is immediately announced by a discharge of artillery,\nwhere cannon are kept; or by musketry in the lower grades of the Native\npopulation, even to the meanest peasant, with whom a single match-lock\nproclaims the honour as effectually as the volley of his superiors. The\nwomen say the object in firing at the moment the child is born, is to\nprevent his being startled at sounds by giving him so early an\nintroduction to the report of muskets; but in this they are evidently\nmistaken, since we never find a musket announcing the birth of a female\nchild.[2] They fancy there is more honour attached to a house where are\nmany sons. The men make them their companions, which in the present state\nof Mussulmaun society, girls cannot be at any age. Besides which, so great\nis the trouble and anxiety in getting suitable matches for their daughters,\nthat they are disposed to be more solicitous for male than female children.\n\nAmongst the better sort of people the mother very rarely nourishes her own\ninfant; and I have known instances, when a wet-nurse could not be procured,\nwhere the infant has been reared by goals' milk, rather than the good lady\nshould be obliged to fatigue herself with her infant. The great objection\nis, that in Mussulmaun families nurses are required to be abstemious in\ntheir diet, by no means an object of choice amongst so luxurious a people.\nA nurse is not allowed for the first month or more to taste animal food,\nand even during the two years--the usual period of supporting infancy by\nthis nourishment--the nurse lives by rule both in quality and quantity of\nsuch food only as may be deemed essential to the well-being of the child.\n\nThe lower orders of the people benefit by their superiors' prejudices\nagainst nursing, and a wet-nurse once engaged in a family becomes a member\nof that house to the end of her days, unless she chooses to quit it\nherself.\n\nOn the fourth day after the birth of a son, the friends of both families\nare invited to share in the general joy testified by a noisy assembly of\nsinging-women, people chattering, smell of savoury dishes, and constant\nbustle; which, to any other females in the world would be considered\nannoyances, but in their estimation are agreeable additions to the\nhappiness of the mother, who is in most cases screened only by a curtain\nfrom the multitude of noisy visitors assembled to rejoice on the important\nevent. I could not refrain, on one of these occasions, remarking on the\ninjudicious arrangement at such a time, when I thought quiet was really\nneeded to the invalid's comfort. The lady thought otherwise; she was too\nmuch rejoiced at this moment of her exaltation to think of quiet; all the\nworld would know she was the mother of a son; this satisfied her for all\nthat she suffered from the noisy mirth and increased heat arising from the\nmultitude of her visitors, who stayed the usual time, three days and\nnights. The ladies, however, recover their strength rapidly. They are\nattended by females in their time of peril, and with scarcely an instance\nof failure. Nature is kind. Science has not yet stepped within the\nconfines of the zeenahnah. All is Nature with these uneducated females,\nand as they are under no apprehension, the hour arrives without terror,\nand passes over without weakening fears. They trust in God, and suffer\npatiently. It may be questioned, however, whether their pains at that\njuncture equal those of females in Europe. Their figure has never been\ntortured by stays and whalebone; indeed, I do not recollect having met\nwith an instance of deformity in the shape of any inhabitant of a\nzeenahnah.\n\nOn the ninth day the infant is well bathed,--I cannot call any of its\nprevious ablutions a bath,[3]--then its little head is well oiled, and the\nfillet thrown aside, which is deemed necessary from the first to the ninth\nday. The infant from its birth is laid in soft beaten cotton, with but\nlittle clothing until it has been well bathed, and even then the dress\nwould deserve to be considered more as ornamental covering than useful\nclothing; a thin muslin loose shirt, edged and bordered with silver\nribands, and a small skull-cap to correspond, comprises their dress.\nBlankets, robes, and sleeping-dresses, are things unknown in the nursery\nof a zeenahnah. The baby is kept during the month in a reclining position,\nexcept when the nurse receives it in her arms to nourish it; indeed for\nmany months the infant is but sparingly removed from its reclining\nposition. They would consider it a most cruel disturbance of a baby's\ntranquillity, to set it up or hold it in the arms, except for the purpose\nof giving it nourishment.\n\nThe infant's first nourishment is of a medicinal kind, composed of\numultass[4](cassia), a vegetable aperient, with sugar, and distilled water\nof aniseed; this is called gootlie,[5] and the baby has no other food for\nthe first three days, after which it receives the nurse's aid. After the\nthird day a small proportion of opium is administered, which practice is\ncontinued daily until the child is three or four years old.\n\nThe very little clothing on infants in India would of itself teach the\npropriety of keeping them in a reclining position, as the mere natural\nstrength of the poor baby has nothing to support it by the aid of bandages\nor clothing. The nurse receives the baby on a thin pillow of calico\nquilted together, called gooderie;[6] it is changed us often us required,\nand is the only method as yet introduced amongst the Natives to secure\ncleanliness and comfort to their infants. In the cold season, when the\nthermometer may range from forty-five to fifty, the method of inducing\nwarmth is by means of cotton or wadded quilts; flannel, as I have said\nbefore, they know not the use of. The children, however, thrive without\nany of those things we deem essential to the comfort of infancy, and the\nmamma is satisfied with the original customs, which, it may be supposed,\nare (without a single innovation) unchanged since the period of Abraham,\ntheir boasted forefather.\n\nOn the fortieth day after the infant's birth, the same rites are observed\nas by the Jews (with the exception of circumcision), and denominated, as\nwith them, the Day of Purification. On this day the infant is submitted to\nthe hands of the barber, who shaves the head, as commanded by their law.\nThe mother bathes and dresses in her most costly attire. Dinner is cooked\nfor the poor in abundance. Friends and relatives call on the mother to\npresent nuzzas and offerings, and to bring presents to the child, after\nthe manner of the wise men's offerings, so familiar to us in our\nScriptures. The offerings to the child are often costly and pretty;\nbangles and various ornaments of the precious metals. The taawees[7] of\ngold and silver are tablets on which engraved verses from the Khoraun are\ninscribed in Arabic characters; these are strung on cords of gold thread,\nand suspended, when the child is old enough to bear their weight, over one\nshoulder, crossing the back and chest, and reaching below the hip on the\nopposite side; they have a remarkably good effect with the rich style of\ndressing Native children. In some of the offerings from the great people\nare to be observed precious stones set in necklaces, and bangles for the\narms and ankles. All who visit at these times take something for the baby;\nit would be deemed an omen of evil in any one neglecting to follow this\nimmemorial custom; not that they are avaricious, but that they are anxious\nfor their infant's prosperity, which these tributes are supposed to\nindicate.[8]\n\nThe mother thus blessed with a darling son is almost the idol of the new\nfamily she has honoured; and when such a person happens to be an agreeable,\nprudent woman, she is likely to remain without a rival in her husband's\nheart, who has no inducement to add dhollie[9] wives to his establishment\nwhen his home is made happy to him by the only wife who can do him honour\nby the alliance.\n\nThe birthday of each son in a family is regularly kept. The term used for\nthe occasion is Saul-girrah[10]--derived, from saul, a year, girrah, to\ntie a knot. The custom is duly maintained by tying a knot on a string kept\nfor the purpose by the mother, on the return of her boy's birthday. The\ngirls' years are numbered by a silver loop or ring being added yearly to\nthe gurdonie,[11] or silver neck-ring. These are the only methods of\nregistering the ages of Mussulmaun children.\n\nThe Saul-girrah is a day of annual rejoicing through the whole house of\nwhich the boy is a member; music, fireworks, toys, and whatever amusement\nsuits his age and taste, are liberally granted to fill up the measure of\nhis happiness; whilst his father and mother have each their assemblies to\nthe fullest extent of their means. Dinner is provided liberally for the\nguests, and the poor are not neglected, whose prayers and blessings are\ncoveted by the parents for their offspring's benefit; and they believe the\nblessings of the poor are certain mediations at the throne of mercy which\ncannot fail to produce benefits on the person in whose favour they are\ninvoked.\n\nThe boy's nurse is on all occasions of rejoicing the first person to be\nconsidered in the distribution of gifts; she is, indeed, only second in\nthe estimation of the parents to the child she has reared and nourished;\nand with the child, she is of more consequence even than his natural\nparents. The wet-nurse, I have said, is retained in the family to the end\nof her days, and whatever children she may have of her own, they are\nreceived into the family of her employer without reserve, either as\nservants or companions, and their interest in life regarded and watched\nover with the solicitude of relations, by the parents of the boy she has\nnursed.\n\nAt seven years old the boys are circumcised, as by their law directed. The\nthanksgiving when the child is allowed to emerge from confinement, gives\nrise to another jubilee in the family.\n\nAt Lucknow we see, almost daily, processions on their way to the Durgah\n(before described),[12] where the father conveys the young Mussulmaun to\nreturn thanks and public acknowledgements at the sainted shrine. The\nprocession is planned on a grand scale, and all the male friends that can\nbe collected attend in the cavalcade to do honour to so interesting an\noccasion.\n\nWhen the prayer and thanksgiving have been duly offered in the boy's name\nat the Durgah, money is distributed amongst the assembled poor; and on the\nway home, silver and copper coins are thrown to the multitude who crowd\naround the procession. The scrambling and tumult on these occasions can\nonly be relished by the Natives, who thus court popularity; but they\nrarely move in state without these scenes of confusion following in their\ntrain. I have witnessed thousands of people following the King's train, on\nhis visiting the Durgah at Lucknow, when his Majesty and his Prime\nMinister scattered several thousands of rupees amongst the populace. The\nnoise was deafening, some calling blessings on the King, others\nquarrelling and struggling to force away the prize from the happy one who\nhad caught, in the passing shower, a rupee or two in his drapery. Some of\nthe most cunning secure the prize in their mouths to save themselves from\nthe plunderer; some are thrown down and trampled under foot; the sandy\nsoil, however, renders their situation less alarming than such a calamity\nwould be in London, but it is altogether a scene of confusion sufficient\nto terrify any one, except those who delight in their ancient customs\nwithout regarding consequences to individuals.\n\nThe amusements of boys in India differ widely from the juvenile sports of\nthe English youth; here there are neither matches at cricket nor races;\nneither hoops nor any other game which requires exercise on foot. Marbles\nthey have, and such other sports as suit their habits and climate, and can\nbe indulged in without too much bodily exertion. They fly kites at all\nages. I have seen men in years, even, engaged in this amusement, alike\nunconscious that they were wasting time, or employing it in pursuits\nfitted only for children. They are flown from the flat roofs of the houses,\nwhere it is common with the men to take their seat at sunset. They are\nmuch amused by a kind of contest with kites, which is carried on in the\nfollowing manner. The neighbouring gentlemen, having provided themselves\nwith lines, previously rubbed with paste and covered with pounded glass,\nraise their kites, which, when brought in contact with each other by a\ncurrent of air, the topmost string cuts through the under one, when down\nfalls the kite, to the evident amusement of the idlers in the streets or\nroadway, who with shouts and hurrahs seek to gain possession of the toy,\nwith as much avidity as if it were a prize of the greatest value: however,\nfrom the numerous competitors, and their great zeal to obtain possession\nof it, it is usually torn to pieces. Much skill is shown in the endeavours\nof each party to keep his string uppermost, by which he is enabled to cut\nthat of his adversary's kite.\n\nThe male population are great pigeon-fanciers, and are very choice in\ntheir breed, having every variety of the species they can possibly procure;\nsome are brought from different parts of the world at an enormous expense.\nEach proprietor of a flock of pigeons knows his own birds from every other.\nThey are generally confined in bamboo houses erected on the flat roofs of\nthe mansions, where at early dawn and at sunset the owner takes his\nstation to feed his pets and give them a short airing. Perhaps a\nneighbour's flock have also emerged from their cages at the same time,\nwhen mingling in the circuit round and round the buildings (as often\nhappens), one or more from one person's flock will return home with those\nof another; in which case, they are his lawful prize for ever, unless his\nneighbour wishes to redeem the captives by a price, or by an exchange of\nprisoners. The fortunate holder, however, of such prize makes his own\nterms, which are perhaps exorbitant, particularly if he have any ill-will\nagainst the proprietor, or the stray pigeon happen to be of a peculiarly\nrare kind.[13] Many are the proofs of good breeding and civility, elicited\non such occasions between gentlemen; and many, also, are the perpetuated\nquarrels where such a collision of interests happens between young men of\nbad feelings, or with persons having any previous dislike to each other.\n\nThe chief out-door exercise taken by the youth of India, is an occasional\nride on horseback or the elephant. They do not consider walking necessary\nto health; besides which, it is plebeian, and few ever walk who can\nmaintain a conveyance. They exercise the moghdhur[14] (dumb-bell) as the\nmeans of strengthening the muscles and opening the chest. These moghdhurs,\nmuch resembling the club of Hercules, are used in pairs, each weighing\nfrom eight to twenty pounds; they are brandished in various ways over the\nhead, crossed behind, and back again, with great ease and rapidity by\nthose with whom the art has become familiar by long use. Those who would\nexcel in the use of the moghdhurs practise every evening regularly; when,\nafter the exercise, they have their arms and shoulders plastered with a\nmoist clay, which they suppose strengthens the muscles and prevents them\nfrom taking cold after so violent an exercise. The young men who are\nsolicitous to wield the sabre with effect and grace, declare this practice\nto be of the greatest service to them in their sword exercise: they go so\nfar as to say, that they only use the sword well who have practised the\nmoghdhur for several years.\n\nAt their sword exercise, they practise 'the stroke' on the hide of a\nbuffalo, or on a fish called rooey,[15] the scales of which form an\nexcellent coat of mail, each being the size of a crown-piece, and the\nsubstance sufficient to turn the edge of a good sabre. The fish is\nproduced alive from the river for this purpose; however revolting as the\npractice may appear to the European, it does not offend the feelings of\nthe Natives, who consider the fish incapable of feeling after the first\nstroke; but, as regards the buffalo, I am told the most cruel inflictions\nhave been made, by men who would try their blade and their skill on the\nstaked animal without mercy.\n\nThe lance is practised by young men of good family as an exercise; and by\nthe common people, as the means of rendering them eligible to the Native\nmilitary service of India. It is surprising to witness the agility of some\nof the Natives in the exercise of the lance; they are generally good\nhorsemen, and at full speed will throw the lance, dismount to recover it,\nand remount, often without stirrups, with a celerity inconceivable. I have\nseen them at these exercises with surprise, remembering the little\nactivity they exhibit in their ordinary habits.\n\nThe Indian bow and arrow has greatly diminished as a weapon of defence in\nmodern times; but all practise the use of the bow, as they fancy it opens\nthe chest and gives ease and grace to the figure; things of no trifling\nimportance with the Mussulmaun youth. I have seen some persons seated\npractising the bow, who were unable to bear the fatigue of standing; in\nthose cases, a heavy weight and pulley are attached to the bow, which\nrequires as much force in pulling as it would require to send an arrow\nfrom sixty to a hundred yards from the place they occupy.[16]\n\nThe pellet-bow is in daily use to frighten away the crows from the\nvicinity of man's abode; the pellets are made of clay baked in the sun,\nand although they do not wound they bruise most desperately. Were it not\nfor this means of annoying these winged pests, they would prove a perfect\nnuisance to the inhabitants, particularly within the confines of a\nzeenahnah, where these impudent birds assemble at cooking-time, to the\ngreat annoyance of the cooks, watching their opportunity to pounce upon\nanything they may incautiously leave uncovered. I have often seen women\nplaced as watchers with the pellet-bow, to deter the marauders the whole\ntime dinner was preparing in the kitchen. The front of these cooking-rooms\nare open to the zeenahnah court-yard, neither doors, windows, nor curtains\nbeing deemed necessary, where the smoke has no other vent than through the\nopen front into the court-yard.\n\nThe crows are so daring that they will enter the yard, where any of the\nchildren may be taking their meals (which they often do in preference to\neating them under the confinement of the hall), and frequently seize the\nbread from the hands of the children, unless narrowly watched by the\nservants, or deterred by the pellet-bow. And at the season of building\ntheir nests, these birds will plunder from the habitations of man,\nwhatever may be met with likely to make a soft lining for their nests;\noften, I am told, carrying off the skull-cap from the children's heads,\nand the women's pieces of calico or muslin from their laps when seated in\nthe open air at work.\n\nMany of the Natives are strongly attached to the brutal practice of\ncock-fighting; they are very choice in their breed of that gallant bird,\nand pride themselves on possessing the finest specimens in the world. The\ngay young men expend much money in these low contests: the birds are\nfought with or without artificial spurs, according to the views of the\ncontending parties.[17] They have also a small bird which they call 'the\nbuttaire',[18] a species of quail, which I hear are most valiant\ncombatants; they are fed and trained for sport with much care and\nattention. I am told these poor little birds, when once brought to the\ncontest, fight until they die. Many are the victims sacrificed to one\nmornings amusement of their cruel owners, who wager upon the favourite\nbird with a spirit and interest equal to that which may be found in more\npolished countries among the gentlemen of the turf.\n\nHorse-racing has very lately been introduced at Lucknow, but I fancy the\nNatives have not yet acquired sufficient taste for the sport to take any\ngreat delight in it. As long as it is fashionable with European society,\nso long it may be viewed with comparative interest by the few. But their\nviews of the breed and utility of a stud differ so much from those of a\nEuropean, that there is but little probability of the sport of\nhorse-racing ever becoming a favourite amusement with them,[19] When they\nare disposed to hunt, it is always on elephants, both for security and to\nsave fatigue.\n\nA horse of the finest temper, form, or breed, one that would be counted\nthe most perfect animal by an English connoisseur, would be rejected by a\nNative if it possessed the slightest mark by them deemed 'unfortunate'. If\nthe legs are not all of a colour, the horse is not worthy; if an unlucky\nturn of the hair, or a serpentine wave of another colour appears on any\npart of the animal, it is an 'omen of ill-luck' to the possessor, and must\nnot be retained on the premises. A single blemish of the sort would be\ndeemed by a Native gentleman as great a fault in an otherwise perfect\nanimal, as if it could only move on three legs. The prejudice is so\nstrongly grounded in their minds to these trifling marks, that they would\nnot keep such horses in their stables one hour, even if it belonged to\ntheir dearest friend, fearing the evil consequences that might befall\ntheir house.[20]\n\nThe swiftness of a good English hunter would be no recommendation to a\nNative gentleman; he rides for pleasant exercise and amusement, and the\npace therefore never exceeds the gentlest canter of an English lady's\njennet. Many of their horses are trained to a pace I have never remarked\nin other countries; it is more than a walk but not quite a canter, the\nsteps are taken very short, and is, I am assured, an agreeable exercise to\nthe rider. I was once in possession of a strong hill pony, whose walk was\nas quick as the swiftest elephant; very few horses could keep up with him\nat a trot. The motion was very easy and agreeable, particularly suited to\ninvalids in that trying climate.\n\nThe Native method of confining horses in their sheds or stables appears\nsomewhat remarkable to a European. The halter is staked in the ground, and\nthe two hind legs have a rope fastened to each; this is also staked in the\nground behind. The ropes are left sufficiently long to allow of the animal\nlying down at his pleasure.\n\nThe food of horses is fresh grass, brought from the jungles daily, by the\ngrass-cutters, who are kept solely for this purpose. In consequence of\nthese men having to walk a distance of four or more miles before they\nreach the jungles, and the difficulty of finding sufficient grass when\nthere, one man cannot procure more grass in a day than will suffice for\none horse; the consequence is, that if a gentleman keep twenty horses,\nthere are forty men to attend them; viz., twenty grooms, and as many\ngrass-cutters. The grass of India, excepting only during the rainy season,\nis burnt up by the heat of the sun, in all exposed situations. In the\njungles and forests of mango-trees, wherever there is any shade, the men\nsearch for grass, which is of a different species to any I have seen in\nEurope, called doob-grass,[21] a dwarf creeper, common throughout India;\nevery other kind of grass is rejected by the horse; they would rather eat\nchaff in the absence of the doob-grass. The refuse of the grass given for\nfood, answers the purpose of bedding; for in India straw is never brought\ninto use, but as food for the cows, buffaloes, and oxen. The nature of\nstraw is friable in India, perhaps induced by climate by the wise ordering\nof Divine Providence, of which indeed a reflecting mind must be convinced,\nsince it is so essential an article for food to the cattle where grass is\nvery scarce, excepting only during the season of rain.\n\nWhen the corn is cut, the whole produce of a field is brought to one open\nspot, where the surface of the ground is hard and smooth; the oxen and\ntheir drivers trample in a continued circuit over the whole mass, until\nthe corn is not only threshed from the husks, but the straw broken into\nfine chaff. They winnow it with their coarse blankets, or chuddahs[22]\n(the usual wrapper of a Native, resembling a coarse sheet), and house the\nseparate articles in pits, dug in the earth, close to their habitations.\nSuch things as barns, granaries, or stacks, are never seen to mark the\nabode of the Native farmers as in Europe.\n\nAn invading party could never discover the deposits of corn, whilst the\nNatives chose to keep their own secret. This method of depositing the corn\nand chaff in the earth, is the only secure way of preserving these\nvaluable articles from the encroachment of white ants, whose visits to the\ngrain are nearly as destructive, and quite as much dreaded, as the flights\nof locusts to the green blades.\n\nThe corn in general use for horses, sheep, and cattle, in called gram;[23]\nthe flavour resembles our field pea much more than grain. It is produced\non creepers, with pods; and bears a pretty lilac blossom, not unlike peas,\nor rather vetches, but smaller; the grain, however, is as large as a pea,\nirregularly shaped, of a dark brown skin, and pale yellow within. There\nare several other kinds of grain in use amongst the Natives for the use of\ncattle; one called moat,[24] of an olive green colour. It is considered\nvery cooling in its nature, at certain seasons of the year, and is greatly\npreferred both for young horses and for cows giving milk.\n\nHorses are subject to an infectious disease, which generally makes its\nappearance in the rainy season, and therefore called burrhsaatie.[25] Once\nin the stable, the disorder prevails through the stud, unless timely\nprecautions are taken to prevent them being infected--removal from the\nstable is the most usual mode adopted--so easy is the infection conveyed\nfrom one animal to the other, that if the groom of the sick horse enters\nthe stable of the healthy they rarely escape contagion. It is a tedious\nand painful disorder and in nine cases out of ten the infected animal\neither dies, or is rendered useless for the saddle. The legs break out in\nulcers, and, I am informed, without the greatest care on the part of the\ngroom, he is also liable to imbibe the corruption; if he has any cut or\nscratch on his hands, the disease may be received as by inoculation.\n\nThe Natives have the greatest aversion to docked-tailed horses, and will\nnever permit the animals to be shorn of the beauty with which Nature has\nadorned them, either in length or fulness; besides which, they think it a\nbarbarous want of taste in those who differ from them, though they fancy\nNature is improved when the long tail and mane of a beautiful white Arab\nare dyed with mayndhie; his legs, up to the knees, stained with the same\ncolour, and divers stars, crescents, &c., painted on the haunches, chest,\nand throat of the pretty gentle creature.[26]\n\nWhen the horses are looking rough, the Natives feed them with a mixture of\ncoarse brown sugar and ghee, which they say gives sleekness to the skin,\nand improves the constitution of the horse. When their horses grow old,\nthey boil the gram with which they feed them, to make it easy of digestion;\nvery few people, indeed, give corn at any age to the animal unsoaked, as\nthey consider it injudicious to give dry corn to horses, which swells in\nthe stomach of the animal and cannot digest: the grain swells exceedingly\nby soaking, and thus moistened, the horse requires less water than would\nbe necessary with dry corn.\n\nThe numberless Native sports I have heard related in this country would\ntake me too long to repeat at present; describe them I could not, for my\nfeelings and views are at variance with the painful tortures inflicted on\nthe brute creation for the perverted amusements of man, consisting of many\nunequal contests, which have sickened me to think they were viewed by\nmortals with pleasure or satisfaction. A poor unoffending antelope or stag,\nperhaps confined from the hour of its quitting its dam in a paddock,\nturned out in a confined space to the fury of a cheetah[27] (leopard) to\nmake his morning's repast. Tigers and elephants are often made to combat\nfor the amusement of spectators; also, tigers and buffaloes, or alligators.\nThe battle between intoxicated elephants is a sport suited only for the\ncruel-hearted, and too often indulged. The mahouts[28] (the men who sit as\ndrivers on the neck of the elephant) have frequently been the victims of\nthe ignoble amusement of their noble masters; indeed, the danger they are\nexposed to is so great, that to escape is deemed a miracle. The\nfighting-elephants are males, and they are prepared for the sport by\ncertain drugs mixed up with the wax from the human ear. The method of\ntraining elephants for fighting must be left to abler hands to describe. I\nhave passed by places where the animal was firmly chained to a tree, in\nsituations remote from the population of a city, as danger is always\nanticipated from their vicinity; and when one of these infuriated beasts\nbreak from their bonds, serious accidents often occur to individuals\nbefore they can again be secured.\n\nAmongst the higher classes tigers and leopards are retained for field\nsports, under the charge of regular keepers. In many instances these wild\ninhabitants of the jungle are tamed to the obedience of dogs, or other\ndomestic animals. I have often seen the young cubs sucking the teats of a\ngoat, with which they play as familiarly as a kitten with its mother. A\nvery intimate acquaintance of ours has several tigers and leopards, which\nare perfectly obedient to his command; they are led out by their keepers\nnight and morning, but he always feeds them with his own hands, that he\nmay thereby make them obedient to himself, when he sports in the jungles,\nwhich he often does with success, bringing home stags and antelopes to\ngrace the board, and distribute amongst his English friends.\n\nThe tigers and cheetahs are very generally introduced after breakfast,\nwhen Native noblemen have European visitors. I remember on one of these\noccasions, these animals were brought into the banqueting-room, just as\nthe self-performing cabinet organ had commenced a grand overture. The\ncreatures' countenances were terrifying to the beholder, and one in\nparticular could with great difficulty be reined in by his keepers. The\nNatives are, however, so accustomed to the society of tigers, that they\nsmiled at my apprehension of mischief. I was only satisfied when they were\nforced away from the sounds that seemed to fill them with wonder, and\nperhaps with rage.\n\nPigeon-shooting is another amusement practised among the sporting men of\nHindoostaun. I, of course, allude to the Mussulmauns, for most Hindoos\nhold it criminal to kill a crow, or even the meanest insect; and I have\nknown them carry the principle of preserving life to the minutest insects,\nwearing crape or muslin over their mouths and noses in the open air,\nfearing a single animalcule that floats in the air should be destroyed by\ntheir breath. For the same reason, these men have every drop of water\nstrained through muslin before it is used either for drinking or for\ncooking.[29]\n\nThere are people who make it a profitable means of subsistence to visit\nthe jungles with nets, in order to collect birds, as pigeons, parrots,\nminas, &c.; these are brought in covered baskets to the towns, where they\nmeet with a ready sale.\n\nMany a basket have I delighted in purchasing, designing to rescue the\npretty creatures from present danger. I am annoyed whenever I see birds\nimmured in cages. If they could be trained to live with us, enjoying the\nsame liberty, I should gladly court society with these innocent creatures;\nbut a bird confined vexes me, my fingers itch to open the wicket and give\nthe prisoner liberty. How have I delighted in seeing the pretty variegated\nparrots, minas, and pigeons fly from the basket when opened in my verandah!\nI have sometimes fancied in my evening walk that I could recognize the\nbirds again in the gardens and grounds, which had been set at liberty in\nthe morning by my hand.\n\nThe good ladies of India, from whom I have copied the practice of giving\nliberty to the captive birds, although different motives direct the action,\nbelieve, that if a member of their family is ill, such a release\npropitiates the favour of Heavenly mercy towards them.[30] A sovereign\n(amongst the Mussulmauns) will give liberty to a certain number of\nprisoners, confined in the common gaol, when he is anxious for the\nrecovery of a sick member of his family; and so great is the merit of\nmercy esteemed in the creature to his fellow-mortal, that the birth of a\nson, a recovery from severe illness, accession to the throne, &c., are the\nprecursors to royal clemency, when all prisoners are set at liberty whose\nreturn to society may not be deemed cruelty to the individual, or a\ncalamity to his neighbours. I may here remark, the Mussulmaun laws do not\nallow of men being confined in prison for debt.[31] The government of Oude\nis absolute, yet to its praise be it said, during the first eight years of\nmy sojourn I never heard of but one execution by the King's command; and\nthat was for crimes of the greatest enormity, where to have been sparing\nwould have been unjust.[32] In cases of crime such as murder, the nearest\nrelative surviving is appealed to by the court of justice; if he demand\nthe culprit's life, the court cannot save him from execution. But it is\nrarely demanded; they are by no means a revengeful people generally; there\nare ambitious, cruel tyrants to be found, but these individuals are\nexceptions to the mass of the people. Examples of mercy set by the King in\nall countries have an influence upon his subjects; and here the family of\na murdered man, if poor, is maintained by the guilty party or else\nrelieved by royal munificence, as the case may require. Acts of oppression\nmay sometimes occur in Native States without the knowledge even, and much\nless by the command, of the Sovereign ruler, since the good order of the\ngovernment mainly depends on the disposition of the Prime Minister for the\ntime being. There is no check placed in the constitution of a Native\ngovernment between the Prime Minister and his natural passions. If cruel,\nambitious, or crafty, he practises all his art to keep his master in\nignorance of his daily enormities; if the Prime Minister be a\nvirtuous-minded person, he is subjected to innumerable trials, from the\nwiles of the designing and the ambitious, who strive by intrigue to root\nhim from the favour and confidence of his sovereign, under the hope of\nacquiring for themselves the power they covet by his removal from office.\n\n\n[1] When, a boy is born, the midwife, in order to avert the Evil Eye and\n    evil spirits, says: 'It is only a girl blind of one eye!' If a girl is\n    born, the fact is stated, because she excites no jealousy, and is thus\n    protected from spirit attacks.\n\n[2] This is intended to scare evil spirits, but has become a mere form of\n    announcing the joyful event.\n\n[3] After the first bath pieces of black thread are tied round the child's\n    wrist and ankle as protection.\n\n[4] _Amaltas, Cassia fistula_\n\n[5] The purgative draught (_guthl_) is usually made of aniseed,\n    myro-bolans, dried red rose leaves, senna, and the droppings of mice\n    or goats.--_Bombay Gazetteer_, ix, part ii, 153.\n\n[6] _Gudri_.\n\n[7] _Ta'awiz_.\n\n[8] Among the Khojahs of Bombay a stool is placed near the mother's bed,\n    and as each, of the female relatives comes in she strews a little rice\n    on the stool, lays on the ground a gold or silver anklet as a gift for\n    the child, and bending over mother and baby, passes her hands over\n    them, and cracks her finger-joints against her own temples, in order\n    to take all their ill luck upon herself.--_Bombay Gazetteer_, ix, part\n    ii, 45.\n\n[9] _Duli_: see p. 184.\n\n[10] _Salgirah_ or _barasganth_, 'year-knot'.\n\n[11] _Gardani_.\n\n[12] P. 36.\n\n[13] The Mahomedans are very keen on breeding pigeons in large numbers;\n    they make them fly all together, calling out, whistling, and waving\n    with a cloth fastened to the end of a stick, running and making\n    signals from the terraced roofs, with a view of encouraging the\n    pigeons to attack the flock of some one else.... Every owner is\n    overjoyed in seeing his own pigeons the most dexterous in misleading\n    their opponents.'--Manucci, _Storia do Mogor_, i. 107 f.\n\n[14] _Mugdar_.\n\n[15] _Rohu_, a kind of carp, _Labeo rohita_.\n\n[16] The use of the bow and arrow has now disappeared in northern India,\n    and survives only among some of the jungle tribes.\n\n[17] A curious relic of the custom of cock-fighting at Lucknow survives in\n    the picture by Zoffany of the famous match between the Nawab\n    Asaf-ud-daula and Col. Mordaunt in 1786. The figures in the picture are\n    portraits of the celebrities at the Court of Oudh, whose names are\n    given by Smith, _Catalogue of British Mezzotint Portrait_, i. 273.\n\n[18] _Bater, Coturnix communis_.\n\n[19] Lucknow is now an important racing centre, and the Civil Service Cup\n    for ponies has been won several times by native gentlemen.\n\n[20] The feather or curl is one of the most important marks. If it faces\n    towards the head, this is a horse to buy; if it points towards the\n    tail, it is a 'female snake' (_sampan_), a bad blemish, as is a\n    small star on the forehead. A curl at the bottom of the throat is very\n    lucky, and cancels other blemishes. A piebald horse or one with five\n    white points, a white face and four white stockings, is highly valued.\n    The European who understands the rules can often buy an 'unlucky'\n    horse at a bargain.\n\n[21] _Dub, Cynodon Dactylon_.\n\n[22] _Chadar._\n\n[23] _Cicer arietinum_: the word comes from Port, _gr\u00e3o_, a grain.\n\n[24] _Moth_, the aconite-leaved kidney-bean, _Phaseolus aconitifolius_.\n\n[25] _Barsati_ from _barsat_, the rainy season; a pustular\n    eruption breaking out on the head and fore parts of the body.\n\n[26] The Native gentleman's charger, with his trained paces, his\n    henna-stained crimson mane, tail, and fetlocks, is a picturesque sight\n    now less common than it used to be.\n\n[27] _Chita_, the hunting leopard. _Felis jubata_.\n\n[28] _Mahawat_, originally meaning 'a high officer'.\n\n[29] This specially applies to the Jain ascetics, who keep a brush to\n    remove insects from their path, and cover their mouths with linen.\n\n[30]  A common piece of imitative magic: as the bird flies away it carries\n    the disease with it. The practice of releasing prisoners when the King\n    or a member of his family was sick, or as a thanksgiving on recovery,\n    was common.--Sleeman, _Journey_, ii. 41.\n\n[31] This is incorrect. Imprisonment for debt is allowed by Muhammadan\n    Law.--Hughes, _Dictionary of Islam_, 82.\n\n[32] This gives a too favourable account of the administration of justice\n    in Oudh. 'A powerful landlord during the Nawabi could evict a\n    tenant, or enhance his rent, or take away his wife from him, or cut\n    his head off, with as much, or as little, likelihood of being called\n    to account by Na zim or Chakladar for one act as for another'\n    (H.C. Irwin, _The Garden of India_, 258). Gen. Sleeman points out that\n    Musalmans wore practically immune from the death penalty,\n    particularly if they happened to kill a Sunni. A Hindu, consenting\n    after conviction to become a Musalman, was also immune (_Journey\n    Through Oudh_, i. 135). Executions used constantly to occur in Lucknow\n    under Nasir-ud-din (W. Knighton, _Private Life of an Eastern\n    King_, 104).\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XVI\n\n  Remarks on the trades and professions of Hindoostaun.--The\n  Bazaars.--Naunbye (Bazaar cook).--The Butcher, and other\n  trades.--Shroffs (Money-changers).--Popular cries in Native\n  cities.--The articles enumerated and the venders of them\n  described.--The Cuppers.--Leechwomen.--Ear-cleaners.--Old\n  silver.--Pickles.--Confectionery.--Toys.--Fans.--Vegetables and\n  fruit.--Mangoes.--Melons.--Melon-cyder.--Fish.--Bird-catcher.--The\n  Butcher-bird, the Coel, and Lollah.--Fireworks.--Parched\n  corn.--Wonder-workers.--Snakes.--Anecdote of the Moonshie and the\n  Snake-catcher.--The Cutler.--Sour curds.--Clotted\n  cream.--Butter.--Singular process of the Natives in making\n  butter.--Ice.--How procured in India.--Ink.--All writing dedicated to\n  God by the Mussulmauns.--The reverence for the name of God.--The\n  Mayndhie and Sulmah.\n\n\nThe various trades of a Native city in Hindoostaun are almost generally\ncarried on in the open air. The streets are narrow, and usually unpaved;\nthe dukhauns[1] (shops) small, with the whole front open towards the\nstreet; a tattie[2] of coarse grass forming an awning to shelter the\nshopkeeper and his goods from the weather. In the long lines of dukhauns\nthe open fronts exhibit to the view the manufacturer, the artisan, the\nvender, in every variety of useful and ornamental articles for general use\nand consumption. In one may be seen the naunbye[3] (bazaar cook) basting\nkeebaubs[3] over a charcoal fire on the ground with one hand, and beating\noff the flies with a bunch of date-leaves in the other; beside him may be\nseen assistant cooks kneading dough for sheermaul[3] or other bread, or\nsuperintending sundry kettles and cauldrons of currie, pillau, matunjun,[3]\n&c., whilst others are equally active in preparing platters and trays, in\norder to forward the delicacies at the appointed hour to some great\nassembly.\n\nThe shop adjoining may probably be occupied by a butcher, his meat exposed\nfor sale in little lean morsels carefully separated from every vestige of\nfat[4] or skin; the butcher's assistant is occupied in chopping up the\ncoarser pieces of lean meat into mince meat.[5] Such shops as these are\nactually in a state of siege by the flies; there is, however, no remedy\nfor the butcher but patience; his customers always wash their meat before\nit is cooked, so he never fails to sell even with all these disadvantages.\nBut it is well for the venders of more delicate articles when neither of\nthese fly-attracting emporiums are next door neighbours, or immediately\nopposite; yet if it even should be so, the merchant will bear with\nequanimity an evil he cannot control, and persuade his customers for\nsilver shoes or other ornamental articles, that if they are not tarnished\na fly spit or two cannot lessen their value.\n\nThe very next door to a working goldsmith may be occupied by a weaver of\nmuslin; the first with his furnace and crucible, the latter with his loom,\nin constant employ. Then the snake-hookha manufacturer,[6] opposed to a\nmixer of tobacco, aiding each other's trade in their separate articles.\nThe makers and venders of punkahs of all sorts and sizes, children's toys,\nof earth, wood, or lakh; milk and cream shops; jewellers, mercers,\ndruggists selling tea, with other medicinal herbs. The bunyah[7]\n(corn-dealer) with large open baskets of sugar and flour, whose whiteness\nresembles each other so narrowly, that he is sometimes suspected of mixing\nthe two articles by mistake, when certain sediments in sherbet indicate\nadulterated sugar.\n\nIt would take me too long were I to attempt enumerating all the varieties\nexposed in a Native street of shops. It may be presumed these people make\nno mystery of their several arts in manufacturing, by their choice of\nsituation for carrying on their trades. The confectioner, for instance,\nprepares his dainties in despite of dust and flies, and pass by at what\nhour of the day you please, his stoves are hot, and the sugar simmering\nwith ghee sends forth a savour to the air, inviting only to those who\ndelight in the delicacies he prepares in countless varieties.\n\n\nThe most singular exhibitions in these cities are the several shroffs[8]\n(money-changers, or bankers), dispersed in every public bazaar, or line of\nshops. These men, who are chiefly Hindoos, and whose credit may perhaps\nextend throughout the continent of Asia for any reasonable amount, take\ntheir station in this humble line of buildings, having on their right and\nleft, piles of copper coins and cowries.[9] These shroffs are occupied the\nwhole day in exchanging pice for rupees or rupees for pice, selling or\nbuying gold mohurs, and examining rupees; and to all such demands upon him\nhe is entitled to exact a regulated per centage, about half a pice in a\nrupee. Small as this sum may seem yet the profits produce a handsome\nremuneration for his day's attention, as many thousands of rupees may have\npassed under his critical eye for examination, it being a common practice,\nboth with shopkeepers and individuals, to send their rupees to the shroff\nfor his inspection, always fearing imposition from the passers of base\ncoin. These shroffs transact remittances to any part of India by\nhoondies,[10] which are equivalent to our bills of exchange, and on which\nthe usual demand is two and a half per cent at ninety days, if required\nfor any distant station.\n\nThe European order is here completely reversed, for the shopkeeper sits\nwhilst the purchasers are compelled to stand. The bazaar merchant is\nseated on the floor of his dukhaun, near enough to the open front to\nenable him to transact business with his customers, who, one and all,\nstand in the street to examine the goods and to be served; let the weather\nbe bad or good, none are admitted within the threshold of the dukhaun. In\nmost places the shops are small, and look crowded with the articles for\nsale, and those where manufactories are carried on have not space to spare\nto their customers.\n\nVery few gentlemen condescend to make their own purchases; they generally\nemploy their confidential domestic to go to market for them; and with the\nladies their women servants are deputed. In rich families it is an office\nof great trust, as they expend large sums and might be much imposed upon\nwere their servants faithless. The servants always claim dustoor[11]\n(custom) from the shopkeepers, of one pice for every rupee they lay out;\nand when the merchants are sent for to the houses with their goods, the\nprincipal servant in the family is sure to exact his dustoor from the\nmerchant; and this is often produced only after a war of words between the\ncrafty and the thrifty.\n\nThe diversity of cries from those who hawk about their goods and wares in\nstreets and roadways, is a feature in the general economy of the Natives\nnot to be overlooked in my brief description of their habits. The\nfollowing list of daily announcements by the several sonorous claimants on\nthe public attention, may not be unacceptable with their translated\naccompaniments.\n\n'Seepie wallah deelie sukha'[12] (Moist or dry cuppers).--Moist and dry\ncupping is performed both by men and women; the latter are most in request.\nThey carry their instruments about with them, and traverse all parts of\nthe city. The dry cupping is effected by a buffalo's horn and resorted to\nby patients suffering under rheumatic pains, and often in cases of fever,\nwhen to lose blood is either inconvenient on account of the moon's age, or\nnot desirable by reason of the complaint or constitution of the patient.\n\n'Jonk, or keerah luggarny wallie'[13] (The woman with leeches).--Women\nwith leeches attend to apply the required remedy, and are allowed to take\naway the leeches after they have done their office. These women by a\nparticular pressure on the leech oblige it to disgorge the blood, when\nthey immediately place it in fresh water; by this practice the leeches\ncontinue healthy, and may be brought to use again the following day if\nrequired.\n\n'Kaan sarf kerna wallah'[14] (Ear-cleaner).--The cleansing of ears is\nchiefly performed by men, who collecting this article make great profits\nfrom the sale of it, independent of the sums obtained from their employers.\nIt is the chief ingredient in use for intoxicating elephants previous to\nthe furious contests so often described as the amusement of Native Courts.\n\n'Goatah chandnie bickhow'[15] (Sell your old silver trimmings).--The\nseveral articles of silver trimmings are invariably manufactured of the\npurest metal without any alloy, and when they have served their first\npurposes the old silver procures its weight in current rupees.\n\n'Tale kee archah wallah'[16] (Oil pickles).--The method of pickling in oil\nis of all others in most request with the common people, who eat the\ngreasy substance as a relish to their bread and dhall. The mustard-oil\nused in the preparation of this dainty is often preferred to ghee in\ncurries.\n\nThe better sort of people prefer water pickle, which is made in most\nfamilies during the hot and dry weather by a simple method; exposure to\nthe sun being the chemical process to the parboiled carrots, turnips,\nradishes, &c., immersed in boiling water, with red pepper, green ginger,\nmustard-seed, and garlic. The flavour of this water pickle is superior to\nany other acid, and possesses the property of purifying the blood.\n\n'Mittie wallah'[17] (Man with sweetmeats).--The many varieties of\nsweetmeats, or rather confectionery, in general estimation with the\nnatives, are chiefly composed of sugar and ghee, prepared in countless\nways, with occasional additions of cocoa-nut, pistachias, cardimuns,\nrose-water, &c., and constantly hawked about the streets on trays by men.\n\n'Kallonie wallah'[18] (Man with toys).--Toys of every kind, of which no\ncountry in the world I suppose exhibits greater variety, in wood, lakh,\nuberuck[19] (tulk), paper, bamboo, clay, &c., are constantly cried in the\nstreets and roadways of a Native city.\n\n'Punkah wallah'[20] (Vender of fans).--The punkahs are of all descriptions\nin general use, their shape and material varying with taste and\ncircumstances, the general form resembling hand-screens: they are made for\ncommon use of date-leaf, platted as the common mats are; some are formed\nof a single leaf from the tor[21]-tree, large or small, the largest would\ncover a tolerable sized round table; many have painted figures and devices,\nand from their lightness may be waved by children without much labour. I\nhave seen very pretty punkahs made of sweet-scented flowers over a frame\nof bamboo. This, however, is a temporary indulgence, as the flowers soon\nlose their fragrance.\n\n'Turkaaree', 'Mayvour'[22] (The first is vegetables; the last,\nfruit).--Vegetables of every kind and many sorts of fruits are carried\nabout by men and women, who describe the name and quality of the articles\nthey have to sell. It would occupy too large a space to enumerate here the\nseveral productions, indigenous and foreign, of the vegetable world in\nIndia. The Natives in their cookery, use every kind of vegetable and fruit\nin its unripe state. Two pounds of meat is in general all that is required\nto form a meal for twenty people, and with this they will cook several\ndishes by addition of as many different sorts of vegetables.\n\nHerbs, or green leaves, are always denominated saag,[23] these are\nproduced at all seasons of the year, in many varieties; the more\nsubstantial vegetables, as potatoes, turnips, carrots, &c., are called\nturkaaree.\n\nThe red and green spinach is brought to the market throughout the year,\nand a rich-flavoured sorrel, so delicious in curries, is cultivated in\nmost months. Green peas, or, indeed, vegetables in general, are never\nserved in the plain way in which we see them at our tables, but always in\nstews or curries. The green mango is used invariably to flavour their\nseveral dishes, and, at the proper season, they are peeled, cut, and dried\nfor the year's consumption. They dislike the acid of the lemon in their\nstews, which is never resorted to when the green mango or tamarind can be\nprocured.\n\nThe fruits of India in general estimation with the Natives are the mango\nand the melon. Mangoes are luscious and enticing fruit; the Natives eat\nthem to an excess when they have been some hours soaked in water, which,\nthey say, takes away from the fruit its detrimental quality; without this\npreparatory precaution those who indulge in a feast of mango are subject\nto fevers, and an increase of prickly heat, (a fiery irritable rash, which\nfew persons are exempt from, more or less, in the hot weather); even biles,\nwhich equally prevail, are less troublesome to those persons who are\ncareful only to eat mangoes that have been well soaked in water. The\nNatives have a practice, which is common among all classes, and therefore\nworthy the notice of foreigners, of drinking milk immediately after eating\nmangoes. It should be remembered that they never eat their fruit after\ndinner, nor do they at any time indulge in wine, spirits, or beer.\n\nThe mango in appearance and flavour has no resemblance to any of the\nfruits of England; they vary in weight from half an ounce to half a seer,\nnearly a pound; the skin is smooth, tough, and of the thickness of leather,\nstrongly impregnated with a flavour of turpentine; the colour, when ripe,\nis grass green, or yellow in many shades, with occasional tinges and\nstreaks of bright red; the pulp is as juicy as our wall-fruit, and the\nkernel protected by a hard shell, to which fine strong silky fibres are\nfirmly attached. The kernel of the mango is of a hot and rather offensive\nflavour; the poor people, however, collect it, and when dried grind it\ninto flour for bread, which is more wholesome than agreeable; in seasons\nof scarcity, however, it is a useful addition to the then scanty means of\nthe lower orders of the people. The flavour of the fruit itself differs so\nmuch, that no description can be given of the taste of a mango--even the\nfruit of one tree vary in their flavour. A tope (orchard) of mango-trees\nis a little fortune to the possessor, and when in bloom a luxurious resort\nto the lovers of Nature.\n\nThe melon is cultivated in fields with great ease and little labour, due\ncare always being taken to water the plants in their early growth. The\nvarieties are countless, but the kind most esteemed, and known only in the\nUpper Provinces, are called chitlahs,[24] from their being spotted green\non a surface of bright yellow; the skin is smooth and of the thickness of\nthat of an apple; the fruit weighing from half-a-pound to three pounds.\nThe flavour may be compared to our finest peaches, partaking of the same\nmoist quality, and literally melting in the mouth.\n\nThe juice of the melon makes a delicious cider; I once tried the\nexperiment with success. The Natives being prohibited from the use of all\nfermented liquors, I was induced by that consideration to be satisfied\nwith the one experiment; but with persons who are differently situated the\npractice might be pursued with very little trouble, and a rich beverage\nproduced, much more healthy than the usual arrack that is now distilled,\nto the deterioration of the health and morals of the several classes under\nthe British rule, who are prone to indulge in the exhilarating draughts of\nfermented liquors.\n\nAt present my list of the indigenous vegetables of India must be short; so\ngreat, however, is the variety in Hindoostaun, both in their quality and\nproperties, and so many are the benefits derived from their several uses\nin this wonderful country, that at some future time I may be induced to\nfollow, with humility, in the path trodden by the more scientific\nnaturalists who have laboured to enrich the minds of mankind by their\nresearches.\n\nThe natives are herbalists in their medical practice. The properties of\nminerals are chiefly studied with the view to become the lucky discoverer\nof the means of transmuting metals; seldom with reference to their\nmedicinal qualities. Quicksilver, however, in its unchanged state, is\nsometimes taken to renew the constitution.[25] One gentleman, whom I well\nknew, commenced with a single grain, increasing the number progressively,\nuntil his daily close was the contents of a large table-spoon; he\ncertainly appeared to have benefited by the practice, for his appetite and\nspirits were those of a man at thirty, when he had counted eighty years.\n\n'Muchullee'[26] (Fish).--Fish of several kinds are caught in the rivers\nand tanks; the flavour I can hardly describe, for, since I knew the\npractice of the Hindoos of throwing their dead bodies into the rivers the\nidea of fish as an article of food was too revolting to my taste. The\nNatives, however, have none of these qualms; even the Hindoos enjoy a\ncurrie of fish as a real delicacy, although it may be presumed some of\ntheir friends or neighbours have aided that identical fish in becoming a\ndelicacy for the table.\n\nThere are some kinds of fish forbidden by the Mussulmaun law, which are,\nof course, never brought to their kitchens, as the eel, or any other fish\nhaving a smooth skin;[27] all sorts of shell-fish are likewise prohibited\nby their code. Those fish which have scales are the only sort allowable to\nthem for food.\n\nThe rooey[28] is a large fish, and in Native families is much admired for\nits rich flavour; the size is about that of a salmon, the shape that of a\ncarp; the flesh is white, and not unlike the silver mullet. The scales of\nthis fish are extremely useful; which, on a tolerable sized fish, are in\nmany parts as large as a crown-piece, and of a substance firmer than horn.\nIt is not uncommon to see a suit of armour formed of these scales, which,\nthey affirm, will turn the edge of the best metal, and from its lightness,\ncompared with the chain armour, more advantageous to the wearer, though\nthe appearance is not so agreeable to the eye.\n\n'Chirryah wallah'[29] (Bird-man).--The bird-catcher cries his live birds\nfresh caught from the jungles: they seldom remain long on hand. I have\nbefore described the practice of letting off the birds, in cases of\nillness, as propitiatory sacrifices. The Natives take delight in petting\ntalking-birds, minas and parrots particularly; and the bull-bull,[30] the\nsubzah,[31] and many others for their sweet songs.\n\nThe numberless varieties of birds I have seen in India, together with\ntheir qualities, plumage, and habits, would occupy too much of my time at\npresent to describe. I will here only remark a few of the most singular as\nthey appeared to me. The butcher-bird,[32] so called from its habit, is\nknown to live on seeds; yet it caters for the mina and others of the\ncarnivorous feathered family, by collecting grasshoppers, which they\nconvey in the beak to the thorny bushes, and there fix them on sharp\nthorns, (some of which are nearly two inches in length), and would almost\nseem to have been formed by Nature for this use only. The mina[33] follows\nhis little friend's flight as if in the full assurance of the feast\nprepared for him.\n\nThe coel[34] is a small black bird, of extreme beauty in make and plumage;\nthis bird's note is the harbinger of rain, and although one of the\nsmallest of the feathered race, it is heard at a considerable distance.[35]\nThe coel's food is simply the suction from the petals of sweet-scented\nflowers.\n\nThe lollah,[36] known to many by the name of haverdewatt, is a beautiful\nlittle creature, about one-third the size of a hedge sparrow. The great\nnovelty in this pretty bird is, that the spots of white on its brown\nplumage change to a deep red at the approach of the rainy season; the\nNatives keep them by dozens in cages with a religious veneration, as their\nsingle note describes one of the terms in use to express an attribute of\nthe Almighty.\n\nBut enough--I must hasten to finish my list of popular cries by the Indian\npedlars, who roar out their merchandize and their calling to the inmates\nof dwellings bounded by high walls, whose principal views of the works of\nNature and art are thus aided by those casual criers of the day.\n\n'Artush-baajie'[37] (Fireworks).--Fireworks are considered here to be very\nwell made, and the Native style much extolled by foreigners; every year\nthey add some fresh novelty to their amusing pastime. They are hawked\nabout at certain seasons, particularly at the Holie[38] (a festival of the\nHindoos,) and the Shubh-burraat[39] of the Mussulmauns. Saltpetre being\nvery reasonable, fireworks are sold for a small price. Most of the\ningenious young men exercise their inventive powers to produce novelties\nin fireworks for any great season of rejoicing in their families.\n\n'Chubbaynee'[40] (Parched corn).--The corn of which we have occasionally\nspecimens in English gardens, known by the name of Indian corn, is here\nused as a sort of intermediate meal, particularly amongst the labouring\nclasses, who cook but once a day, and that when the day's toil is over.\nThis corn is placed in a sort of furnace with sand, and kept constantly\nmoved about. By this process it is rendered as white as magnesia, crisp,\nand of a sweet flavour; a hungry man could not eat more than half-a-pound\nof this corn at once, yet it is not as nutritious as barley or wheat. I\nhave never heard that the Natives use this corn for making bread.\n\n'Tumaushbeen'[41] (Wonder-workers).--This call announces the rope-dancers\nand sleight-of-hand company; eating fire, swallowing pen-knives, spinning\ncoloured yarn through the nose, tricks with cups and balls, and all the\narts of the well-known jugglers. I have seen both men and women attached\nto these travelling companies perform extraordinary feats of agility and\nskill, also most surprising vaultings, by the aid of bamboos, and a\nfrightful method of whirling round on the top of a pole or mast. This pole\nis from twenty to thirty feet high; on the top is a swivel hook, which\nfastens to a loop in a small piece of wood tied fast to the middle of the\nperformer, who climbs the pole without any assistance, and catches the\nhook to the loop; at first he swings himself round very gently, but\nincreasing gradually in swiftness, until the velocity is equal to that of\na wheel set in motion by steam. This feat is sometimes continued for ten\nor fifteen minutes together, when his strength does not fail him; but it\nis too frightful a performance to give pleasure to a feeling audience.\n\n'Samp-wallah'[42] (Snake-catchers).--These men blow a shrill pipe in\naddition to calling out the honourable profession of snake-catcher. I\nfancy it is all pretence with these fellows; if they catch a snake on the\npremises, it is probably one they have let loose secretly, and which they\nhave tutored to come and go at the signal given: they profess to draw\nsnakes from their hiding-place, and make a good living by duping the\ncredulous.\n\nThe best proof I can offer of the impositions practised by these men on\nthe weakness and credulity of their neighbours, may be conveyed in the\nfollowing anecdote, with which I have been favoured by a very intelligent\nMussulmaun gentleman, on whom the cheat was attempted during my residence\nin his neighbourhood at Lucknow.\n\n'Moonshie Sahib,[43] as he is familiarly called by his friends, was absent\nfrom home on a certain day, during which period his wife and family\nfancied they heard the frightful sound of a snake, apparently as if it was\nvery near to them in the compound (court-yard) of the zeenahnah. They were\ntoo much alarmed to venture from the hall to the compound to satisfy\nthemselves or take steps to destroy the intruder if actually there. Whilst\nin this state of mental torture it happened (as they thought very\nfortunately) that a snake-catcher's shrill pipe was heard at no great\ndistance, to whom a servant was sent; and when the ladies had shut\nthemselves up securely in their purdahed apartment, the men servants were\ndesired to introduce the samp-wallahs into the compound, to search for and\nsecure this enemy to their repose.\n\n'The snake-catcher made, to all appearance, a very minute scrutiny into\nevery corner or aperture of the compound, as if in search of the reptile's\nretreat; and at last a moderate sized snake was seen moving across the\nopen space in an opposite direction to the spot they were intent on\nexamining. The greatest possible satisfaction was of course expressed by\nthe whole of the servants and slaves assembled; the lady of the house was\nmore than gratified at the reported success of \"the charmers\" and sent\nproofs of her gratitude to the men in a sum of money, proportioned to her\nsense of the service rendered on the occasion; the head samp-wallah placed\nthe snake in his basket, (they always carry a covered basket about with\nthem) and they departed well satisfied with the profits of this day's\nemployment.\n\n'The Moonshie says, he returned home soon after, and listened to his\nwife's account of the event of the morning, and her warm commendation of\nthe skilful samp-wallahs; but although the servants confirmed all the lady\nhad told her husband of the snake-charmers' diligence, still he could not\nbut believe that these idle fellows had practised an imposition on his\nunwary lady by their pretended powers in charming the snake. But here it\nrested for the time; he could not decide without an opportunity of\nwitnessing the samp-wallahs at their employment, which he resolved to do\nthe next convenient opportunity.\n\n'As might have been anticipated, the very same snake-catcher and his\nattendant returned to the Moonshie's gateway a very few days after their\nformer success; Moonshie Sahib was at home, and, concealing his real\nintentions, he gave orders that the two men should be admitted; on their\nentrance, he said to them, \"You say you can catch snakes; now, friends, if\nany of the same family remain of which you caught one the other day in\nthis compound, I beg you will have the civility to draw them out from\ntheir hiding-places.\"[44]\n\n'The Moonshie watched the fellows narrowly, that they might not have a\nchance of escaping detection, if it was, as he had always suspected, that\nthe snakes are first let loose by the men, who pretend to attract them\nfrom their hiding-places. The two men being bare-headed, and in a state of\nalmost perfect nudity (the common usage of the very lowest class of Hindoo\nlabourers), wearing only a small wrapper which could not contain, he\nthought, the least of this class of reptiles, he felt certain there could\nnot now be any deception.\n\n'The samp-wallah and his assistant, pretending to search every hole and\ncrevice of the compound, seemed busy and anxious in their employment,\nwhich occupied them for a long time without success. Tired at last with\nthe labour, the men sat down on the ground to rest; the pipe was resorted\nto, with which they pretend to attract the snake; this was, however,\nsounded again and again, without the desired effect.\n\n'From the apparent impossibility of any cheat being practised on him, the\nMoonshie rather relaxed in his strict observance of the men: he had turned\nhis back but for an instant only, when the two fellows burst out in an\necstasy of delight, exclaiming, \"They are come! they are come!\"--and on\nthe Moonshie turning quickly round, he was not a little staggered to find\nthree small snakes on the ground, at no great distance from the men, who,\nhe was convinced, had not moved from the place. They seemed to have no\ndread of the reptiles, and accounted for it by saying they were\ninvulnerable to the snakes' venom; the creatures were then fearlessly\nseized one by one by the men, and finally deposited in their basket.\n\n'\"They appear very tame,\" thought the Moonshie, as he observed the men's\nactions: \"I am outwitted at last, I believe, with all my boasted vigilance;\nbut I will yet endeavour to find them out.--Friend,\" said he aloud, \"here\nis your reward,\" holding the promised money towards the principal; \"take\nit, and away with you both; the snakes are mine, and I shall not allow you\nto remove them hence.\"\n\n'\"Why, Sahib,\" replied the man, \"what will you do with the creatures? they\ncannot be worth your keeping; besides, it is the dustoor[45] (custom); we\nalways have the snakes we catch for our perquisite.\"--\"It is of no\nconsequence to you, friend, how I may dispose of the snakes,\" said the\nMoonshie; \"I am to suppose they have been bred in my house, and having\ndone no injury to my people, I may be allowed to have respect for their\nforbearance; at any rate, I am not disposed to part with these guests, who\ncould have injured me if they would.\"\n\n'The principal samp-wallah, perceiving it was the Moonshie's intention to\ndetain the snakes, in a perfect agony of distress for the loss he was\nlikely to sustain, then commenced by expostulation, ending with threats\nand abuse, to induce the Moonshie to give them up; who, for his part, kept\nhis temper within bounds, having resolved in his own mind not to be\noutwitted a second time; the fellow's insolence and impertinent speeches\nwere, therefore, neither chastised nor resented. The samp-wallah strove to\nwrest the basket from the Moonshie's strong grasp, without succeeding; and\nwhen he found his duplicity was so completely exposed, he altered his\ncourse, and commenced by entreaties and supplications, confessing at last,\nwith all humility, that the reptiles were his own well-instructed snakes\nthat he had let loose to catch again at pleasure. Then appealing to the\nMoonshie's well-known charitable temper, besought him that the snakes\nmight be restored, as by their aid he earned his precarious livelihood.\n\n'\"That they are yours, I cannot doubt,\" replied the Moonshie, \"and,\ntherefore, my conscience will not allow me to detain them from you; but\nthe promised reward I of course keep back. Your insolence and duplicity\ndeserve chastisement, nevertheless I promise to forgive you, if you will\nexplain to me how you managed to introduce these snakes.\"\n\n'The man, thankful that he should escape without further loss or\npunishment, showed the harmless snakes, which, it appears, had been\ndeprived of their fangs and poison, and were so well instructed and docile,\nthat they obeyed their keeper as readily as the best-tutored domestic\nanimal. They coiled up their supple bodies into the smallest compass\npossible, and allowed their keeper to deposit them each in a separate bag\nof calico, which was fastened under his wrapper, where it would have been\nimpossible, the Moonshie declares, for the quickest eye to discover that\nanything was secreted.'\n\n'Sickley ghur'[46] (Cutler and knife-grinder).--These most useful artisans\nare in great request, polishing articles of rusty steel, giving a new edge\nto the knives, scissors, razors, or swords of their employer, in a\nmasterly manner, for a very small price.\n\n'Dhie cuttie'[47] (Sour curds).--This article is in great request by\nscientific cooks, who use it in many of their dainty dishes. The method of\nmaking sour curd is peculiarly Indian: it is made of good sweet milk, by\nsome secret process which I could never acquire, and in a few hours the\nwhole is coagulated to a curd of a sharp acidity, that renders it equally\nuseful with other acids in flavouring their curries. The Natives use it\nwith pepper, pounded green ginger, and the shreds of pumpkins or radishes,\nas a relish to their savoury dishes, in lieu of chatnee; it is considered\ncooling in its quality, and delicious as an accompaniment to their\nfavourite viands.\n\n'Mullie'[48] (Clotted cream).---This article is much esteemed by the\nNatives. I was anxious to know how clotted cream could be procured at\nseasons when milk from the cow would be sour in a few hours, and am told\nthat the milk when brought in fresh from the dairy is placed over the fire\nin large iron skillets; the skin (as we call it on boiled milk) is taken\noff with a skimmer, and placed in a basket, which allows all the milk to\nbe drained from it; the skin again engendered on the surface is taken off\nin the same way, and so they continue, watching and skimming until the\nmilk has nearly boiled away. This collection of skin is the clotted cream\nof Hindoostaun.\n\n'Mukhun'[49] (Butter).--Butter is very partially used by the Natives; they\nuse ghee, which is a sort of clarified butter, chiefly produced from the\nbuffalo's milk. The method of obtaining butter in India is singular to a\nEuropean. The milk is made warm over the fire, then poured into a large\nearthen jar, and allowed to stand for a few hours. A piece of bamboo is\nsplit at the bottom, and four small pieces of wood inserted as stretchers\nto these splits. A leather strap is twisted over the middle of the bamboo,\nand the butter-maker with this keeps the bamboo in constant motion; the\nparticles of butter swimming at the top are taken off and thrown into\nwater, and the process of churning is resumed; this method continues until\nby the quantity collected, these nice judges have ascertained there is no\nmore butter remaining in the milk. When the butter is to be sold, it is\nbeaten up into round balls out of the water. When ghee is intended to be\nmade, the butter is simmered over a slow fire for a given time, and poured\ninto the ghee pot, which perhaps may contain the produce of the week\nbefore they convey it to the market for sale; in this state the greasy\nsubstance will keep good for months, but in its natural state, as butter,\nthe second day it is offensive to have it in the room, much less to be\nused as an article of food.\n\n'Burruff wallah'[50] (The man with ice).--The ice is usually carried about\nin the evening, and considered a great indulgence by the Natives. The\nice-men bring round both iced creams, and sherbet ices, in many varieties;\nsome flavoured with oranges, pomegranates, pine-apple, rose-water, &c.\n\nThey can produce ices at any season, by saltpetre, which is here abundant\nand procured at a small price; but strange as it may appear, considering\nthe climate, we have regular collections of ice made in January, in most\nof the stations in the Upper Provinces, generally under the\nsuperintendence of an English gentleman, who condescends to be the\ncomptroller. The expenses are paid by subscribers, who, according to the\nvalue of their subscription, are entitled to a given quantity of ice, to\nbe conveyed by each person's servant from the deposit an hour before\nday-break, in baskets made for the purpose well wadded with cotton and\nwoollen blankets; conveyed home, the basket is placed where neither air\nnor light can intrude. Zinc bottles, filled with pure water, are placed\nround the ice in the basket, and the water is thus cooled for the day's\nsupply, an indulgence of great value to the sojourners in the East.\n\nThe method of collecting ice is tedious and laborious, but where labour is\ncheap and the hands plenty the attempt has always been repaid by the\nadvantages. As the sun declines, the labourers commence their work; flat\nearthen platters are laid out, in exposed situations, in square\ndepartments, upon dried sugar-cane leaves very lightly spread, that the\nfrosty air may pass inside the platters. A small quantity of water is\npoured into the platter; as fast as they freeze their contents are\ncollected and conveyed, during the night, to the pit prepared for the\nreception of ice. The rising sun disperses the labourers with the ice, and\nthey seek their rest by day, and return again to their employ; as the lion,\nwhen the sun disappears, prowls out to seek his food from the bounty of\nhis Creator. The hoar frost seldom commences until the first of January,\nand lasts throughout that month.\n\n'Roshunie'[51] (Ink).---Ink, that most useful auxiliary in rendering the\nthoughts of one mortal serviceable to his fellow-creatures through many\nages, is here an article of very simple manufacture. The composition is\nprepared from lampblack and gum-arabic; how it is made, I have yet to\nlearn.\n\nThe ink of the Natives is not durable; with a wet sponge may be erased the\nlabour of a man's life. They have not yet acquired the art of printing,[52]\nand as they still write with reeds instead of feathers, an ink, permanent\nas our own, is neither agreeable nor desirable.\n\nThere is one beautiful trait in the habits of the Mussulmauns: when about\nto write they not only make the prayer which precedes every important\naction of their lives, but they dedicate the writing to God, by a\ncharacter on the first page, which, as in short-hand writing, implies the\nwhole sentence.[53] A man would be deemed heathenish amongst Mussulmauns,\nwho by neglect or accident omitted this mark on whatever subject he is\nabout to write.\n\nAnother of their habits is equally praiseworthy:--out of reverence for\nGod's holy name (always expressed in their letters) written paper to be\ndestroyed is first torn and then washed in water before the whole is\nscattered abroad; they would think it a sinful act to burn a piece of\npaper on which that Holy name has been inscribed. How often have I\nreflected whilst observing this praiseworthy feature in the character of a\ncomparatively unenlightened people, on the little respect paid to the\nsacred writings amongst a population who have had greater opportunities of\nacquiring wisdom and knowledge.[54]\n\nThe culpable habit of chandlers in England is fresh in my memory, who\nwithout a scruple tear up Bibles and religious works to parcel out their\npounds of butter and bacon, without a feeling of remorse on the sacrilege\nthey have committed.\n\nHow careless are children in their school-days of the sacred volume which\ncontains the word of God to His creatures. Such improper uses, I might say\nabuses, of that Holy Book, would draw upon them the censure of a people\nwho have not benefited by the contents, but who nevertheless respect the\nvolume purely because it speaks the word 'of that God whom they worship'.\n\n'Mayndhie' (A shrub).--The mayndhie and its uses have been so fully\nexplained in the letters on Mahurrum, that I shall here merely remark,\nthat the shrub is of quick growth, nearly resembling the small-leafed\nmyrtle; the Natives make hedge-rows of it in their grounds, the blossom is\nvery simple, and the shrub itself hardy: the dye is permanent.\n\n'Sulmah.'[55]--A prepared permanent black dye, from antimony. This is used\nwith hair-pencils to the circle of the eye at the root of the eye-lashes\nby the Native ladies and often by gentlemen, and is deemed both of service\nto the sight and an ornament to the person. It certainly gives the\nappearance of large eyes, if there can be any beauty in altering the\nnatural countenance, which is an absurd idea, in my opinion. Nature is\nperfect in all her works; and whatever best accords with each feature of a\ncountenance I think she best determines; I am sure that no attempt to\ndisguise or alter Nature in the human face ever yet succeeded, independent\nof the presumption in venturing to improve that which in His wisdom, the\nCreator has deemed sufficient.\n\nIt would occupy my pages beyond the limits I can conveniently spare to the\nsubject, were I to pursue remarks on the popular cries of a Native city to\ntheir fullest extent; scarcely any article that is vended at the bazaars,\nbut is also hawked about the streets. This is a measure of necessity\ngrowing out of the state of Mussulmaun society, by which the females are\nenabled to purchase at their own doors all that can be absolutely\nrequisite for domestic purposes, without the obligation of sending to the\nmarkets or the shops, when either not convenient, or not agreeable. And\nthe better to aid both purchasers and venders, these hawkers pronounce\ntheir several articles for sale, with voices that cannot fail to impress\nthe inhabitants enclosed within high walls, with a full knowledge of the\narticles proclaimed without need of interpreters.\n\n\n[1] _Dukan_.\n\n[2] _Tatti_.\n\n[3] See pp. 57, 173, 174.\n\n[4] The fat of meat is never eaten by the Natives, who view our joints\nof meat with astonishment, bordering on disgust. [_Author_.]\n\n[5] Many Hindoostaunie dishes require the meat to be finely minced.\n    [_Author_.]\n\n[6] Known as _gargarasaz_.\n\n[7] Baniya.\n\n[8] _Sarraf_.\n\n[9]: Cowries are small shells imported from the Eastern isles, which pass\n    in India as current coin, their value fluctuating with the price of\n    corn, from, sixty to ninety for one pice. [_Author_.]\n\n[10] _Hundi_.\n\n[11] _Dasturi_.\n\n[12] _Sipiwala gila sukha_.\n\n[13] _Jonk_, a leech; _kira_, a worm, _laganewali_.\n\n[14] _Kan saf karnewala_: more usually _Kanmailiya,\n    kan_, the ear; _maila_, dirt.\n\n[15] _Gota, chandni bikau_, silver lace to sell! The dealer is\n    _Gota, kinari farosh_.\n\n[16] _Tel ka acharwala_.\n\n[17] _Mithaiwala_.\n\n[18] _Khilaunewala_.\n\n[19] _Abrak_, talc.\n\n[20] _Pankahwala_.\n\n[21] _Tar_, the palmyra palm.\n\n[22] _Tarkari, mewa_.\n\n[23] _Sag_.\n\n[24] _Chitra_, spotted, speckled.\n\n[25] Quicksilver is used by Native physicians as the first of alternative\n    tonics.\n\n[26] _Machhli_.\n\n[27] Being considered to be like snakes.\n\n[28] _Rohu_, a kind of carp, _Labeo rohita_.\n\n[29] _Chiryawala_.\n\n[30] _Bulbul, Daulias hafizi_, the true Persian nightingale.\n\n[31] _Sabza, sabzak_, green bird, usually a jay, _coracias_.\n\n[32] A shrike, one of the _laniadae_.\n\n[33] _Maina_, a starling, _Aeridotheres tristis_.\n\n[34] The black cuckoo, _Eudynamys orientalis_.\n\n[35] The note of the bird at night, detested by Anglo-Indians, gives it\n    the name of the brain-fever bird.\n\n[36] _Lal, Estrelda amandava_, the avadavat, is so called because it\n    was brought to Europe from Ahmadabad.\n\n[37] _Atishbazi_, fire-play.\n\n[38] Holi, the spring festival of the Hindus, at which bonfires are\n    lighted, coloured water thrown about, and much obscenity is practiced.\n\n[39] See p. 161.\n\n[40] _Chabena, chabeni_, what is munched or chewed (_chabna_).\n\n[41] _Tamashawala: tamashabin_, a spectator of wonders.\n\n[42] _Sampwala_.\n\n[43] 'Mr. Secretary.'\n\n[44] It is generally believed snakes do not live apart from their species;\n    if one is destroyed in a house, a second is anticipated and generally\n    discovered. [_Author_.]\n\n[45] _Dastur, dasturi_, the percentage appropriated on purchase\n    by servants.\n\n[46] _Saiqalgar_, corrupted into _sikligar_, a polisher.\n\n[47] _Dahi khatai_. There is no mystery about the preparation.\n    Milk is boiled and soured by being poured into an earthen vessel in\n    which curds have previously been kept. Sometimes, but less frequently,\n    an acid or rennet is added to precipitate the solid ingredients of the\n    milk.\n\n[48] _Malai_.\n\n[49] _Makkhan_.\n\n[50] _Burfwala_.\n\n[51] _Roshanai_, 'brightness', made of lampblack, gum-arabic, and\n    aloe juice. Elaborate prescriptions are given by Jaffur Shurreef\n    (_Qanoon-e-Islam_ 150 f.).\n\n[52] Lithography and printing are now commonly done by natives.\n\n[53] Letters usually begin with, the invocation,\n    _Bi'-smi'illahi'r-rahmani'r-rahim_, 'In the name of Allah,\n    the Compassionate, the Merciful.' The monogram 'I' is often\n    substituted, as being the initial of Allah, and the first letter of\n    the alphabet.\n\n[54] If the Koran were wrapped in a skin and thrown into fire, it would\n    not burn, say the Traditions (Hughes, _Dictionary of Islam_, 521).\n    Compare the care taken by the Chinese to save paper on which writing\n    appears (J.H. Gray, _China_, i. 178).\n\n[55] _Surma_, a black ore of antimony, a tersulphide found in the\n    Panjab, often confused by natives with galena, and most of that\n    sold in bazars is really galena. It is used as a tonic to the nerves\n    of the eye, and to strengthen the sight.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XVII\n\n  Seclusion of Females.--Paadshah Begum.--The Suwaarree.--Female\n  Bearers.--Eunuchs.--Rutts.--Partiality of the Ladies to Large\n  retinues.--Female Companions.--Telling the Khaunie.--Games of the\n  Zeenahnah.--Shampooing.--The Punkah.--Slaves and\n  slavery.--Anecdote.--The Persian Poets.--Fierdowsee.--Saadie, his\n  'Goolistaun'.--Haafiz.--Mahumud Baarkur.--'Hyaatool\n  Kaaloob'.--Different manner of pronouncing Scripture names...Page 248\n\n\nThe strict seclusion which forms so conspicuous a feature in the female\nsociety of the Mussulmauns in India, renders the temporary migration of\nladies from their domicile an event of great interest to each individual\nof the zeenahnah, whether the mistress or her many dependants be\nconsidered.\n\nThe superior classes seldom quit their habitation but on the most\nimportant occasions; they, therefore, make it a matter of necessity to\nmove out in such style as is most likely to proclaim their exalted station\nin life. I cannot, perhaps, explain this part of my subject better than by\ngiving a brief description of the suwaarree[1] (travelling retinue) of the\nPaadshah Begum[2] which passed my house at Lucknow on the occasion of her\nvisit to the Durgah of Huzerut Abas Ali Kee, after several years strictly\nconfining herself to the palace.\n\nBy Paadshah is meant 'King';--Begum, 'Lady.' The first wife of the King is\ndistinguished by this title from every other he may have married; it is\nequivalent to that of 'Queen' in other countries. With this title the\nPaadshah Begum enjoys also many other marks of royal distinction; as, for\ninstance, the dunkah (kettle-drums) preceding her suwaarree; a privilege,\nI believe, never allowed by the King to any other female of his family.\nThe embroidered chattah (umbrella); the afthaadah (embroidered sun); and\nchowries of the peacock's feathers, are also out-of-door distinctions\nallowed only to this lady and the members of the royal family. But to my\ndescription:--\n\nFirst, in the Paadshah Begum's suwaarree I observed a guard of cavalry\nsoldiers in full dress, with their colours unfurled; these were followed\nby two battalions of infantry, with their bands of music and colours. A\ncompany of spearmen on foot, in neat white dresses and turbans, their\nspears of silver, rich and massive. Thirty-six men in white dresses and\nturbans, each having a small triangular flag of crimson silk, on which\nwere embroidered the royal arms (two fish and a dirk of a peculiar shape).\nThe staffs of these flags are of silver, about three feet long; in the\nlower part of the handle a small bayonet is secreted, which can be\nproduced at will by pressure on a secret spring. Next followed a full band\nof music, drums, fifes, &c.; then the important dunkah, which announces to\nthe public the lady's rank: she is enclosed within the elevated towering\nchundole, on each side of which the afthaadah and chowries are carried by\nwell-dressed men, generally confidential servants, appointed to this\nservice.\n\nThe chundole is a conveyance resembling a palankeen, but much larger and\nmore lofty; it is, in fact, a small silver room, six feet long, five broad,\nand four feet high, supported by the aid of four silver poles on the\nshoulders of twenty bearers. These bearers are relieved every quarter of a\nmile by a second set in attendance: the two sets change alternately to the\nend of the journey. The bearers are dressed in a handsome royal livery of\nwhite calico made to sit close to the person; over which are worn scarlet\nloose coats of fine English broad-cloth, edged and bordered with gold\nembroidery: on the back of the coat a fish is embroidered in gold. Their\nturbans correspond in colour with the coats; on the front of the turban is\nfixed diagonally a fish of wrought gold, to the tail of which a rich gold\ntassel is attached; this readies to the shoulder of the bearer, and gives\na remarkable air of grandeur to the person.\n\nThe chundole is surrounded by very powerful women bearers, whose business\nit is to convey the vehicle within the compound (court-yard) of the\nprivate apartments, or wherever men are not admitted at the same time with\nfemales. Chobdhaars and soota-badhaars walk near the chundole carrying\ngold and silver staffs or wands, and vociferating the rank and honours of\nthe lady they attend with loud voices the whole way to and from the Durgah.\nThese men likewise keep off the crowds of beggars attracted on such\noccasions by the known liberality of the ladies, who, according to\nestablished custom, make distributions to a large amount, which are\nscattered amongst the populace by several of the Queen's eunuchs, who walk\nnear the chundole for that purpose.\n\nThe chief of the eunuchs followed the Queen's chundole on an elephant,\nseated in a gold howdah; the trappings of which were of velvet, richly\nembroidered in gold; the eunuch very elegantly dressed in a suit of\ngold-cloth, a brilliant turban, and attired in expensive shawls. After the\neunuch, follow the Paadshah Begum's ladies of quality, in covered\npalankeens, each taking precedence according to the station or the favour\nshe may enjoy; they are well guarded by soldiers, spearmen, and chobdhaars.\nNext in the train, follow the several officers of the Queen's household,\non elephants, richly caparisoned. And, lastly, the women of inferior rank\nand female slaves, in rutts (covered carriages) such as are in general use\nthroughout India. These rutts are drawn by bullocks, having bells of a\nsmall size strung round their neck, which as they move have a novel and\nnot unpleasing sound, from the variety of tones produced. The rutt is a\nbroad-wheeled carriage, the body and roof forming two cones, one smaller\nthan the other, covered with scarlet cloth, edged, fringed, and bordered\nwith gold or amber silk trimmings. The persons riding in rutts are seated\non cushions placed flat on the surface of the carriage (the Asiatic style\nof sitting at all times) and not on raised seats, the usual custom in\nEurope. The entrance to these rutts is from the front, like the tilted\ncarts of England, where a thick curtain of corresponding colour and\nmaterial conceals the inmates from the public gaze; a small space is left\nbetween this curtain and the driver, where one or two women servants are\nseated as guards, who are privileged by age and ugliness to indulge in the\nliberty of seeing the passing gaiety, and of enjoying, without a screen,\nthe pure air; benefits which their superiors in rank are excluded from at\nall ages.\n\nIn the Paadshah Begum's suwaarree, I counted fifty of these Native\ncarriages, into each of which from four to six females are usually crowded,\ncomprising the members of the household establishment of the great lady;\nsuch as companions, readers of the Khoraum, kaawauses[3] (the higher\nclasses of female-slaves), muggalanie[4] (needle-women), &c. This will\ngive you a tolerable idea of the number and variety of females attached to\nthe suite of a lady of consequence in India. The procession, at a walking\npace, occupied nearly half an hour in passing the road opposite to my\nhouse: it was well conducted, and the effect imposing, both from its\nnovelty and splendour.\n\nA lady here would be the most unhappy creature existing, unless surrounded\nby a multitude of attendants suitable to her rank in life. They have often\nexpressed surprise and astonishment at my want of taste in keeping only\ntwo women servants in my employ, and having neither a companion nor a\nslave in my whole establishment; they cannot imagine anything so stupid as\nmy preference to a quiet study, rather than the constant bustle of a\nwell-filled zeenahnah.\n\nMany of the Mussulmaun ladies entertain women companions, whose chief\nbusiness is to tell stories and fables to their employer, while she is\ncomposing herself to sleep; many of their tales partake of the romantic\ncast which characterizes the well-remembered 'Arabian Nights'\nEntertainments', one story begetting another to the end of the collection.\nWhen the lady is fairly asleep the story is stayed, and the companion\nresumes her employment when the next nap is sought by her mistress.\n\nAmongst the higher classes the males also indulge in the same practice of\nbeing talked to sleep by their men slaves; and it is a certain\nintroduction with either sex to the favour of their employer, when one of\nthese dependants has acquired the happy art of 'telling the khaunie'[5]\n(fable) with an agreeable voice and manner. The more they embellish a tale\nby flights of their versatile imaginations, so much greater the merit of\nthe rehearser in the opinion of the listeners.\n\nThe inmates of zeenahnahs occasionally indulge in games of chance: their\ndice are called chowsah (four sides), or chuhsah[6] (six sides); these\ndice are about four inches long and half an inch thick on every side,\nnumbered much in the same way as the European dice. They are thrown by the\nhand, not from boxes, and fall lengthways.\n\nThey have many different games which I never learned, disliking such modes\nof trifling away valuable time; I am not, therefore, prepared to describe\nthem accurately. One of their games has a resemblance to draughts, and is\nplayed on a chequered cloth carpet, with red and white ivory cones.[7]\nThey have also circular cards, six suits to a pack, very neatly painted,\nwith which they play many (to me) indescribable games; but oftener, to\ntheir credit be it said, for amusement than for gain. The gentlemen,\nhowever, are not always equally disinterested; they frequently play for\nlarge sums of money. I do not, however, find the habit so general with the\nNatives as it is with Europeans. The religious community deem all games of\nchance unholy, and therefore incompatible with their mode of living. I am\nnot aware that gaming is prohibited by their law in a direct way,[8] but\nall practices tending to covetousness are strictly forbidden; and, surely,\nthose who can touch the money called 'winnings' at any game, must be more\nor less exposed to the accusation of desiring other men's goods.\n\nShampooing has been so often described as to leave little by way of\nnovelty for me to remark on the subject; it is a general indulgence with\nall classes in India, whatever may be their age or circumstances. The\ncomfort derived from the pressure of the hands on the limbs, by a clever\nshampooer, is alone to be estimated by those who have experienced the\nbenefits derived from this luxurious habit, in a climate where such\nindulgences are needed to assist in creating a free circulation of the\nblood, which is very seldom induced by exercise as in more Northern\nlatitudes. Persons of rank are shampooed by their slaves during the hours\nof sleep, whether it be by day or by night; if through any accidental\ncircumstance the pressure is discontinued, even for a few seconds only,\nthe sleep is immediately broken: such is the power of habit.\n\nThe punkah (fan) is in constant use by day and night, during eight months\nof the year. In the houses of the Natives, the slaves have ample\nemployment in administering to the several indulgences which their ladies\nrequire at their hands; for with them fixed punkahs have not been\nintroduced into the zeenahnah:[9] the only punkah in their apartments is\nmoved by the hand, immediately over or in front of the person for whose\nuse it is designed. In the gentlemen's apartments, however, and in the\nhouses of all Europeans, punkahs are suspended from the ceiling, to which\na rope is fastened and passed through an aperture in the wall into the\nverandah, where a man is seated who keeps it constantly waving, by pulling\nthe rope, so that the largest rooms, and even churches, are filled with\nwind, to the great comfort of all present.\n\nThe female slaves, although constantly required about the lady's person,\nare nevertheless tenderly treated, and have every proper indulgence\nafforded them. They discharge in rotation the required duties of their\nstations, and appear as much the objects of the lady's care as any other\npeople in her establishment. Slavery with them is without severity; and in\nthe existing state of Mussulmaun society, they declare the women slaves to\nbe necessary appendages to their rank and respectability. The liberal\nproprietors of slaves give them suitable matches in marriage when they\nhave arrived at a proper age, and even foster their children with the\ngreatest care; often granting them a salary, and sometimes their freedom,\nif required to make them happy. Indeed, generally speaking the slaves in a\nMussulmaun's house must be vicious and unworthy, who are not considered\nmembers of the family.\n\nIt is an indisputable fact that the welfare of their slaves is an object\nof unceasing interest with their owners, if they are really good\nMussulmauns; indeed, it is second only to the regard which they manifest\nto their own children.\n\nMany persons have been known, in making their will, to decree the liberty\nof their slaves. They are not, however, always willing to accept the boon.\n'To whom shall I go?'--'Where shall I meet a home like my master's house?'\nare appeals that endear the slave to the survivors of the first proprietor,\nand prove that their bondage has not been a very painful one. It is an\namiable trait of character amongst the Mussulmauns, with whom I have been\nintimate, and which I can never forget, that the dependence of their\nslaves is made easy; that they enjoy every comfort compatible with their\nstation; and that their health, morals, clothing, and general happiness,\nare as much attended to as that of their own relatives. But slavery is a\nharsh term between man and man, and however mitigated its state, is still\ndegrading to him. I heartily trust there will be a time when this badge of\ndisgrace shall be wiped away from every human being. He that made man,\ndesigned him for higher purposes than to be the slave of his fellow-mortal;\nbut I should be unjust to the people of India, if I did not remark, that\nhaving the uncontrolled power in their hands, they abstain from the\nexercise of any such severity as has disgraced the owners of slaves in\nother places, where even the laws have failed to protect them from cruelty\nand oppression. Indeed, wherever an instance has occurred of unfeeling\nconduct towards these helpless beings, the most marked detestation has\ninvariably been evinced towards the authors by the real Mussulmaun.\n\nI have heard of a very beautiful female slave who had been fostered by a\nNative lady of high rank, from her infancy. In the course of time, this\nfemale had arrived to the honour of being made the companion of her young\nmaster, still, however, by her Begum's consent, residing with her lady,\nwho was much attached to her. The freedom of intercourse, occasioned by\nthe slave's exaltation, had the effect of lessening the young creature's\nformer respect for her still kind mistress, to whom she evinced some\nungrateful returns for the many indulgences she had through life received\nat her hands. The exact nature of her offences I never heard, but it was\ndeemed requisite, for the sake of example in a house where some hundreds\nof female slaves were maintained, that the lady should adopt some such\nmethod of testifying her displeasure towards this pretty favourite, as\nwould be consistent with her present elevated station. A stout silver\nchain was therefore made, by the Begum's orders, and with this the slave\nwas linked to her bedstead a certain number of hours every day, in the\nview of the whole congregated family of slaves. This punishment would be\nfelt as a degradation by the slave; not the confinement to her bedstead,\nwhere she would perhaps have seated herself from choice, had she not been\nin disgrace.\n\n'Once a slave, and always a slave,' says Fierdowsee the great poet of\nPersia; but this apophthegm was in allusion to the 'mean mind' of the King\nwho treated him scurvily after his immense labour in that noble work, 'The\nShah Namah.' I have a sketch of Fierdowsee's life, which my husband\ntranslated for me; but I must forbear giving it here, as I have heard the\nwhole work itself is undergoing a translation by an able Oriental scholar,\nwho will doubtless do justice both to 'The Shah Namah' and the character\nof Fierdowsee, who is in so great estimation with the learned Asiatics.[10]\n\nThe Mussulmauns quote their favourite poets with much the same freedom\nthat the more enlightened nations are wont to use with their famed authors.\nThe moral precepts of Saadie[11] are often introduced with good effect,\nboth in writing and speaking, as beacons to the inexperienced.\n\nHaafiz[12] has benefited the Mussulmaun world by bright effusions of\ngenius, which speak to successive generations the wonders of his\nextraordinary mind. He was a poet of great merit; his style is esteemed\nsuperior to the writers of any other age; and, notwithstanding the world\nis rich with the beauties of his almost inspired mind, yet, strange as it\nmay appear, he never compiled a single volume. Even in the age in which he\nlived his merit as a poet was in great estimation; but he never thought of\neither benefit or amusement to the world or to himself beyond the present\ntime. He wrote the thoughts of his inspired moments on pieces of broken\npitchers or pans, with charcoal; some of his admirers were sure to follow\nhis footsteps narrowly, and to their vigilance in securing those scraps\nstrewed about, wherever Haafiz had made his sojourn, may to this day be\nascribed the benefit derived by the public from his superior writings.\nSaadie, however, is the standard favourite of all good Mussulmauns; his\n'Goolistaun'[13] (Garden of Roses), is placed in the hands of every youth\nwhen consigned to the dominion of a master, as being the most worthy book\nin the Persian language for his study, whether the beauty of his diction\nor the morality of his subjects be considered.\n\nThe 'Hyaatool Kaaloob'[14] (Enlightener of the Heart), is another Persian\nwork, in prose, by Mirza Mahumud Baakur, greatly esteemed by the learned\nMussulmauns. This work contains the life and acts of every known prophet\nfrom the Creation, including also Mahumud and the twelve Emaums. The\nlearned Maulvee, it appears, first wrote it in the Arabic language, but\nafterwards translated it into Persian, with the praiseworthy motive of\nrendering his invaluable work available to those Mussulmauns who were not\nacquainted with Arabic.\n\nI have some extracts from this voluminous work, translated for me by my\nhusband, which interested me on account of the great similarity to our\nScripture history; and if permitted at some future time, I propose\noffering them to the public in our own language, conceiving they may be as\ninteresting to others as they have been to me.\n\nThe Persian and Arabic authors, I have remarked, substitute Y for J in\nScripture names; for instance, Jacob and Joseph are pronounced Yaacoob and\nYeusuf.[15] They also differ from us in some names commencing with A, as\nin Abba, which they pronounce Ubba (Father); for Amen, they say Aameen[16]\n(the meaning strictly coinciding with ours); for Aaron, Aaroon; for Moses,\nMoosa.[17] I am told by those who are intimate with both languages, that\nthere is a great similarity between the Hebrew and Arabic. The passage in\nour Scripture 'Eloi, Eloi, lama sabaethani,' was interpreted to me by an\nArabic scholar, as it is rendered in that well-remembered verse in the\nEnglish translation.\n\n\n[1] _Sawari_.\n\n[2] The Padshah Begam was the widow of Ghazi-ud-din Haidar,\n    King of Oudh. On his death, in 1837, she contrived a plot to place his\n    putative son, Munna Jan, on the throne. After a fierce struggle in\n    the palace, the revolt was suppressed by the Resident, Colonel Low,\n    and his assistants, Captains Paton and Shakespear. The pair were\n    confined in the Chunar Fort till their deaths. See the graphic\n    narrative by Gen. Sleeman (_Journey Through Oudh_, ii. 172 ff.); also\n    H.C. Irwin (_The Garden of India_, 127 f.); Mrs. F. Parks (_Wanderings\n    of a Pilgrim_, ii. 114).\n\n[3] _Khawass_, 'distinguished': special attendants.\n\n[4] _Mughlani_, a Moghul woman: an attendant in a zenana, a\n    sempstress.\n\n[5] _Kahani_.\n\n[6] _Chausa, chhahsa_, not to be found in Platt's _Hindustani\n    Dictionary_.\n\n[7] The game of Pachisi, played on a cloth marked in squares: see\n    _Bombay Gazetteer_, ix, part ii, 173.\n\n[8] Gambling is one of the greater sins.--Sale, _Koran: Preliminary\n    Discourse_, 89; Sells, _Faith of Islam_, 155.\n\n[9] Fixed punkahs were introduced early in the nineteenth century.--Yule,\n    _Hobson-Jobson_, 744.\n\n[10] Firdausi, author of the Shahnama, died A.D. 1020 or 1025,\n    aged 89 years. An abridged translation, to which reference is made, by\n    J. Atkinson, was published in 1832. It has since been translated by\n    A.G. and E. Warner (1905), and by A. Rogers (1907).\n\n[11] Shaikh Sa'di, born at Shiraz A.D. 1175, died 1292, aged 120\n    lunar years. His chief works are the _Gulistan_ and the _Bostan_.\n\n[12] Khwaja Hafiz, Shams-ud-din Muhammad, author of the\n    Diwan Hafiz, died at Shiraz A.D. 1389, where his tomb at\n    Musalla is the scene of pilgrimage; see E.G. Browne, _A Year amongst\n    the Persians_, 280 f.\n\n[13] _Gulistan_.\n\n[14] See p. 77.\n\n[15] Ya'qub, Yusuf.\n\n[16] _Amin_.\n\n[17] Harun, Musa.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XVIII\n\n  Evils attending a residence in India.--Frogs.--Flies.--Blains.--\n  Musquitoes.--The White Ant.--The Red Ant.--Their destructive\n  habits.--A Tarantula.--Black Ants.--Locusts.--Superstition of the\n  Natives upon their appearance.--The Tufaun, or Haundhie\n  (tempest).--The rainy season.--Thunder and lightning.--Meteors.--\n  Earthquakes.--A city ruined by them.--Reverence of the Mussulmauns\n  for saints.--Prickly heat.--Cholera Morbus.--Mode of\n  Treatment.--Temperance the best remedy.--Recipe.\n\n\nA residence in India, productive as it may be (to many) of pecuniary\nbenefits, presents, however, a few inconveniences to Europeans independent\nof climate,--which, in the absence of more severe trials, frequently\nbecome a source of disquiet, until habit has reconciled, or reflection\ndisposed the mind to receive the mixture of evil and good which is the\ncommon lot of man in every situation of life. I might moralise on the duty\nof intelligent beings suffering patiently those trials which human\ningenuity cannot avert, even if this world's happiness were the only\nadvantage to be gained; but when we reflect on the account we have to give\nhereafter, for every thought, word, or action, I am induced to believe,\nthe well-regulated mind must view with dismay a retrospect of the past\nmurmurings of which it has been guilty. But I must bring into view the\ntrials of patience which our countrymen meet while in India, to those who\nhave neither witnessed nor [Transcriber's note: illegible] them; many of\nthem present slight, but living, op[Transcriber's note: illegible] those\nevils with which the Egyptians were visited for their impiety to Heaven.\n\nFrogs, for instance, harmless as these creatures are in their nature,\noccasion no slight inconvenience to the inhabitants of India. They enter\ntheir house in great numbers and, without much care, would make their way\nto the beds, as they do to the chambers; the croaking during the rainy\nseason is almost deafening, particularly towards the evening and during\nthe night. Before the morning has well dawned, these creatures creep into\nevery open doorway, and throughout the day secrete themselves under the\nedges of mattings and carpets, to the annoyance of those who have an\nantipathy to these unsightly looking creatures.\n\nThe myriads of flies which fill the rooms, and try the patience of every\nobserver of nice order in an English establishment, may bear some likeness\nto the plague which was inflicted on Pharaoh and his people, as a\npunishment for their hardness of heart. The flies of India have a property\nnot common to those of Europe, but very similar to the green fly of Spain:\nwhen bruised, they will raise a blister on the skin, and, I am told, are\nfrequently made use of by medical gentlemen as a substitute for the\nSpanish fly.[1]\n\nIf but one wing or leg of a fly is by any accident dropped into the food\nof an individual, and swallowed, the consequence is an immediate\nirritation of the stomach, answering the purpose of a powerful emetic. At\nmeals the flies are a pest, which most people say they abhor, knowing the\nconsequences of an unlucky admission into the stomach of the smallest\nparticle of the insect. Their numbers exceed all calculation; the table is\nactually darkened by the myriads, particularly in the season of the\nperiodical rains. The Natives of India use muslin curtains suspended from\nthe ceiling of their hall at meal times, which are made very full and long,\nso as to enclose the whole dinner party and exclude their tormentors.\n\nThe biles or blains, which all classes of people in India are subject to,\nmay be counted as amongst the catalogue of Pharaoh's plagues. The most\nhealthy and the most delicate, whether Europeans or Natives, are equally\nliable to be visited by these eruptions, which are of a painful and\ntedious nature. The causes inducing these biles no one, as yet, I believe,\nhas been able to discover, and therefore a preventive has not been found.\nI have known people who have suffered every year from these attacks, with\nscarce a day's intermission during the hot weather.[2]\n\nThe musquitoes, a species of gnat, tries the patience of the public in no\nvery measured degree; their malignant sting is painful, and their attacks\nincessant; against which there is no remedy but patience, and a good gauze\ncurtain to the beds. Without some such barrier, foreigners could hardly\nexist; certainly they never could enjoy a night's repose. Even the mere\nbuzzing of musquitoes is a source of much annoyance to Europeans: I have\nheard many declare the bite was not half so distressing as the sound. The\nNatives, both male and female, habitually wrap themselves up so entirely\nin their chuddah[3] (sheet) that they escape from these voracious insects,\nwhose sounds are so familiar to them that it may be presumed they lull to,\nrather than disturb their sleep.\n\nThe white ant is a cruel destroyer of goods: where it has once made its\ndomicile, a real misfortune may be considered to have visited the house.\nThey are the most destructive little insects in the world doing as much\ninjury in one hour as a man might labour through a long life to redeem.\nThese ants, it would seem, have no small share of animosity to ladies'\nfinery, for many a wardrobe have they demolished, well filled with\nvaluable dresses and millinery, before their vicinity has even been\nsuspected, or their traces discovered. They destroy beams in the roofs of\nhouses, chests of valuable papers, carpets, mats, and furniture, with a\ndispatch which renders them the most formidable of enemies, although to\nappearance but a mean little insect.\n\nThere is one season of the year when they take flight, having four\nbeautiful transparent wings; this occurs during the periodical rains, when\nthey are attracted by the lights of the houses, which they enter in\ncountless numbers, filling the tables, and whilst flitting before the\nlights disencumber themselves of their wings. They then become, to\nappearance, a fat maggot, and make their way to the floors and walls,\nwhere it is supposed they secrete themselves for a season, and are\nincreasing in numbers whilst in this stage of existence. At the period of\ntheir migration in search of food, they will devour any perishable\nmaterials within their reach. It is probable, however, that they first\nsend out scouts to discover food for the family, for the traces of white\nants are discovered by a sort of clay-covered passage, formed as they\nproceed on their march in almost a direct line, which often extends a\ngreat distance from their nest.\n\nTo mark the economy of ants has sometimes formed a part of my amusements\nin Hindoostaun.[4] I find they all have wings at certain seasons of the\nyear; and more industrious little creatures cannot exist than the small\nred ants, which are so abundant in India. I have watched them at their\nlabours for hours without tiring; they are so small that from eight to\ntwelve in number labour with great difficulty to convey a grain of wheat\nor barley; yet these are not more than half the size of a grain of English\nwheat. I have known them to carry one of these grains to their nest at a\ndistance of from six hundred to a thousand yards; they travel in two\ndistinct lines over rough or smooth ground, as it may happen, even up and\ndown steps, at one regular pace. The returning unladen ants invariably\nsalute the burthened ones, who are making their way to the general\nstorehouse; but it is done so promptly that the line is neither broken nor\ntheir progress impeded by the salutation.\n\nI was surprised one morning in my breakfast parlour to discover something\nmoving slowly up the wall; on approaching near to examine what it was, I\ndiscovered a dead wasp, which the khidmutghar[5] (footman) had destroyed\nwith his chowrie during breakfast, and which, falling on the floor, had\nbecome the prize of my little friends (a vast multitude), who were\nlabouring with their tiny strength to convey it to their nest in the\nceiling. The weight was either too great, or they had quarrelled over the\nburthen,--I know not which,--but the wasp fell to the ground when they had\nmade more than half the journey of the wall; the courageous little\ncreatures, however, were nothing daunted, they resumed their labour, and\nbefore evening their prize was safely housed.\n\nThese ants are particularly fond of animal food. I once caught a tarantula;\nit was evening, and I wished to examine it by daylight. I placed it for\nthis purpose in a recess of the wall, under a tumbler, leaving just\nbreathing room. In the morning I went to examine my curiosity, when to my\nsurprise it was dead and swarming with red ants, who had been its\ndestroyers, and were busily engaged in making a feast on the (to them)\nhuge carcass of the tarantula.\n\nThese small creatures often prove a great annoyance by their nocturnal\nvisits to the beds of individuals, unless the precaution be taken of\nhaving brass vessels, filled with water, to each of the bed-feet; the only\nmethod of effectually preventing their approach to the beds. I was once\nmuch annoyed by a visit from these bold insects, when reclining on a couch\nduring the extreme heat of the day. I awoke by an uneasy sensation from\ntheir bite or sting about my ears and face, and found they had assembled\nby millions on my head; the bath was my immediate resource. The Natives\ntell me these little pests will feed on the human body if they are not\ndisturbed: when any one is sick there is always great anxiety to keep them\naway.\n\nThe large black ant is also an enemy to man; its sharp pincers inflict\nwounds of no trifling consequence; it is much larger than the common fly,\nhas long legs, is swift of foot, and feeds chiefly on animal substances. I\nfancy all the ant species are more or less carnivorous, but strictly\nepicurean in their choice of food, avoiding tainted or decomposed\nsubstances with the nicest discrimination. Sweetmeats are alluring to them;\nthere is also some difficulty in keeping them from jars of sugar or\npreserves; and when swallowed in food, are the cause of much personal\ninconvenience.\n\nI have often witnessed the Hindoos, male and female, depositing small\nportions of sugar near ants' nests, as acts of charity to commence the day\nwith;[6] and it is the common opinion with the Natives generally, that\nwherever the red ants colonize prosperity attends the owners of that house.\nThey destroy the white ants, though the difference in their size is as a\ngrain of sand to a barley-corn; and on that account only may be viewed\nrather as friends than enemies to man, provided by the same Divine source\nfrom whence all other benefits proceed.\n\nThe locusts, so familiar by name to the readers of Scripture, are here\nseen to advantage in their occasional visits. I had, however, been some\nyears in India before I was gratified by the sight of these wonderful\ninsects; not because of their rarity, as I had frequently heard of their\nappearance and ravages, but not immediately in the place where I was\nresiding, until the year 1825, which the following memorandum made at the\ntime will describe.\n\nOn the third of July, between four and five o'clock in the afternoon, I\nobserved a dusky brown cloud bordering the Eastern horizon, at the\ndistance of about four miles from my house, which stands on an elevated\nsituation; the colour was so unusual that I resolved on inquiring from my\noracle, Meer Hadjee Shaah, to whom I generally applied for elucidations of\nthe remarkable, what such an appearance portended. He informed me it was a\nflight of locusts.\n\nI had long felt anxious to witness those insects, that had been the food\nof St. John in the Desert, and which are so familiar by name from their\nfrequent mention in Scripture; and now that I was about to be gratified, I\nam not ashamed to confess my heart bounded with delight, yet with an\noccasional feeling of sympathy for the poor people, whose property would\nprobably become the prey of this devouring cloud of insects before the\nmorning's dawn. Long before they had time to advance, I was seated in an\nopen space in the shade of my house to watch them more minutely. The first\nsound I could distinguish was as the gentlest breeze, increasing as the\nliving cloud approached; and as they moved over my head, the sound was\nlike the rustling of the wind through the foliage of many pepul-trees.[7]\n\nIt was with a feeling of gratitude that I mentally thanked God at the time\nthat they were a stingless body of insects, and that I could look on them\nwithout the slightest apprehension of injury. Had this wondrous cloud of\ninsects been the promised locust described in the Apocalypse, which shall\nfollow the fifth angel's trumpet; had they been hornets, wasps, or even\nthe little venomous musquito, I had not then dared to retain my position\nto watch with eager eyes the progress of this insect family as they\nadvanced, spreading for miles on every side with something approaching the\nsublime, and presenting a most imposing spectacle. So steady and orderly\nwas their pace, having neither confusion nor disorder in their line of\nmarch through the air, that I could not help comparing them to the\nwell-trained horses of the English cavalry.[8] 'Who gave them this order\nin their flight?' was in my heart and on my tongue.\n\nI think the main body of this army of locusts must have occupied thirty\nminutes in passing over my head, but my attention was too deeply engrossed\nto afford me time to consult my time-piece. Stragglers there were many,\nseparated from the flight by the noises made by the servants and people to\ndeter them from settling; some were caught, and, no doubt, converted into\ncurrie for a Mussulmaun's meal. They say it is no common delicacy, and is\nranked among the allowed animal food.\n\nThe Natives anticipate earthquakes after the visitation or appearance of\nlocusts. They are said to generate in mountains, but I cannot find any one\nhere able to give me an authentic account of their natural history.\n\nOn the 18th of September, 1825, another flight of these wonderful insects\npassed over my house in exactly a contrary direction from those which\nappeared in July, viz. from the West towards the East. The idea struck me\nthat they might be the same swarm, returning after fulfilling the object\nof their visit to the West: but I have no authority on which to ground my\nsupposition. The Natives have never made natural history even an amusement,\nmuch less a study, although their habits are purely those of Nature; they\nknow the property of most herbs, roots, and flowers, which they cultivate,\nnot for their beauty, but for the benefit they render to man and beast.[9]\n\nI could not learn that the flight had rested anywhere near Futtyghur, at\nwhich place I was then living. They are of all creatures the most\ndestructive to vegetation, licking with their rough tongue the blades of\ngrass, the leaves of trees, and green herbage of all kinds. Wherever they\nsettle for the night, vegetation is completely destroyed; and a day of\nmournful consequences is sure to follow their appearance in the poor\nfarmer's fields of green com.\n\nBut that which bears the most awful resemblance to the visitations of God's\nwrath on Pharaoh and the Egyptians, is, I think, the frightful storm of\nwind which brings thick darkness over the earth at noonday, and which\noften occurs from the Tufaun or Haundhie,[10] as it is called by the\nNatives. Its approach is first discerned by dark columns of yellow clouds,\nbordering the horizon; the alarm is instantly given by the Natives, who\nhasten to put out the fires in the kitchens, and close the doors and\nwindows in European houses, or with the Natives to let down the purdahs.\nNo sound that can be conceived by persons who have not witnessed this\nphenomenon of Nature, is capable of conveying an idea of the tempest. In a\nfew minutes total darkness is produced by the thick cloud of dust; and the\ntremendous rushing wind carries the fine sand, which produces the darkness,\nthrough every cranny and crevice to all parts of the house; so that in the\nbest secured rooms every article of furniture is covered with sand, and\nthe room filled as with a dense fog: the person, dresses, furniture, and\nthe food (if at meal times), are all of one dusky colour; and though\ncandles are lighted to lessen the horror of the darkness, they only tend\nto make the scene of confusion more visible.\n\nFortunately the tempest is not of very long continuance. I have never\nknown it to last more than half an hour; yet in that time how much might\nhave been destroyed of life and property, but for the interposing care of\nDivine mercy, whose gracious Providence over the works of His hand is seen\nin such seasons as these! The sound of thunder is hailed as a messenger of\npeace; the Natives are then aware that the fury of the tempest is spent,\nas a few drops of rain indicate a speedy termination; and when it has\nsubsided they run to see what damage has been done to the premises without.\nIt often occurs, that trees are torn up by their roots, the thatched\nhouses and huts unroofed, and, if due care has not been taken to quench\nthe fires in time, huts and bungalows are frequently found burnt, by the\nsparks conveyed in the dense clouds of sand which pass with the rapidity\nof lightning.\n\nThese tufauns occur generally in April, May, and June, before the\ncommencement of the periodical rains. I shall never forget the awe I felt\nupon witnessing the first after my arrival, nor the gratitude which filled\nmy heart when the light reappeared. The Natives on such occasions gave me\na bright example: they ceased not in the hour of peril to call on God for\nsafety and protection; and when refreshed by the return of calm, they\nforgot not that their helper was the merciful Being in whom they had\ntrusted, and to whom they gave praise and thanksgiving.\n\nThe rainy season is at first hailed with a delight not easily to be\nexplained. The long continuance of the hot winds,--during which period\n(three months or more) the sky is of the colour of copper, without the\nshadow of a cloud to shield the earth from the fiery heat of the sun,\nwhich has, in that time, scorched the earth and its inhabitants, stunted\nvegetation, and even affected the very houses--renders the season when the\nclouds pour out their welcome moisture a period which is looked forward to\nwith anxiety, and received with universal joy.\n\nThe smell of the earth after the first shower is more dearly loved than\nthe finest aromatics or the purest otta. Vegetation revives and human\nnature exults in the favourable shower. As long as the novelty lasts, and\nthe benefit is sensibly felt, all seem to rejoice; but when the intervals\nof clouds without rain occur, and send forth, as they separate, the bright\nglare untempered by a passing breeze, poor weak human nature is too apt to\nrevolt against the season they cannot control, and sometimes a murmuring\nvoice is heard to cry out, 'Oh, when will the rainy season end!'\n\nThe thunder and lightning during the rainy season are beyond my ability to\ndescribe. The loud peals of thunder roll for several minutes in succession,\nmagnificently, awfully grand. The lightning is proportionably vivid, yet\nwith fewer instances of conveying the electric fluid to houses than might\nbe expected when the combustible nature of the roofs is considered; the\nchief of which are thatched with coarse dry grass. The casualties are by\nno means frequent; and although trees surround most of the dwellings, yet\nwe seldom hear of any injury by lightning befalling them or their\nhabitations. Fiery meteors frequently fall; one within my recollection was\na superb phenomenon, and was visible for several seconds.\n\nThe shocks from earthquakes are frequently felt in the Upper Provinces of\nIndia;[11] I was sensible of the motion on one occasion (rather a severe\none), for at least twenty seconds. The effect on me, however, was attended\nwith no inconvenience beyond a sensation of giddiness, as if on board ship\nin a calm, when the vessel rolls from side to side.\n\nAt Kannoge, now little more than a village in population, between Cawnpore\nand Futtyghur, I have rambled amongst the ruins of what formerly was an\nimmense city, but which was overturned by an earthquake some centuries\npast. At the present period numerous relics of antiquity, as coins, jewels,\n&c., are occasionally discovered, particularly after the rains, when the\ntorrents break down fragments of the ruins, and carry with the streams of\nwater the long-buried mementos of the riches of former generations to the\nprofit of the researching villagers, and to the gratification of curious\ntravellers, who generally prove willing purchasers.[12]\n\nI propose giving in another letter the remarks I was led to make on\nKannoge during my pleasant sojourn in that retired situation, as it\npossesses many singular antiquities and contains the ashes of many holy\nMussulmaun saints. The Mussulmauns, I may here observe, reverence the\nmemory of the good and the pious of all persuasions, but more particularly\nthose of their own faith. I have sketches of the lives and actions of many\nof their sainted characters, received through the medium of my husband and\nhis most amiable father, that are both amusing and instructive; and\nnotwithstanding their particular faith be not in accordance with our own,\nit is only an act of justice to admit, that they were men who lived in the\nfear of God, and obeyed his commandments according to the instruction they\nhad received; and which, I hope, may prove agreeable to my readers when\nthey come to those pages I have set apart for such articles.\n\nMy catalogue of the trying circumstances attached to the comforts which\nare to be met with in India are nearly brought to a close; but I must not\nomit mentioning one 'blessing in disguise' which occurs annually, and\nwhich affects Natives and Europeans indiscriminately, during the hot winds\nand the rainy season: the name of this common visitor is, by Europeans,\ncalled 'the prickly heat'; by Natives it is denominated 'Gurhum dahnie'[13]\n(warm rash). It is a painful irritating rash, often spreading over the\nwhole body, mostly prevailing, however, wherever the clothes screen the\nbody from the power of the air; we rarely find it on the hands or face. I\nsuppose it to be induced by excessive perspiration, more particularly as\nthose persons who are deficient in this freedom of the pores, so essential\nto healthiness, are not liable to be distressed by the rash; but then they\nsuffer more severely in their constitution by many other painful attacks\nof fever, &c. So greatly is this rash esteemed the harbinger of good\nhealth, that they say in India, 'the person so afflicted has received his\nlife-lease for the year'; and wherever it does not make its appearance, a\nsort of apprehension is entertained of some latent illness.\n\nChildren suffer exceedingly from the irritation, which to scratch is\ndangerous. In Native nurseries I have seen applications used of pounded\nsandal-wood, camphor, and rose-water; with the peasantry a cooling earth,\ncalled mooltanie mittee,[14] similar to our fuller's-earth, is moistened\nwith water and plastered over the back and stomach, or wherever the rash\nmostly prevails; all this is but a temporary relief, for as soon as it is\ndry, the irritation and burning are as bad as ever.\n\nThe best remedy I have met with, beyond patient endurance of the evil, is\nbathing in rain-water, which soothes the violent sensations, and\neventually cools the body. Those people who indulge most in the good\nthings of this life are the greatest sufferers by this annual attack. The\nbenefits attending temperance are sure to bring an ample reward to the\npossessors of that virtue under all circumstances, but in India more\nparticularly; I have invariably observed the most abstemious people are\nthe least subject to attacks from the prevailing complaints of the country,\nwhether fever or cholera, and when attacked the most likely subjects to\nrecover from those alarming disorders.\n\nAt this moment of anxious solicitude throughout Europe, when that awful\nmalady, the cholera, is spreading from city to city with rapid strides,\nthe observations I have been enabled to make by personal acquaintance with\nafflicted subjects in India, may be acceptable to my readers; although I\nheartily pray our Heavenly Father may in His goodness and mercy preserve\nour country from that awful calamity, which has been so generally fatal in\nother parts of the world.\n\nThe Natives of India designate cholera by the word 'Hyza', which with them\nsignifies 'the plague'. By this term, however, they do not mean that\ndireful disorder so well known to us by the same appellation; as, if I\nexcept the Mussulmaun pilgrims, who have seen, felt, and described its\nravages on their journey to Mecca, that complaint seems to be unknown to\nthe present race of Native inhabitants of Hindoostaun. The word 'hyza', or\n'plague', would be applied by them to all complaints of an epidemic or\ncontagious nature by which the population were suddenly attacked, and\ndeath ensued. When the cholera first appeared in India (which I believe\nwas in 1817), it was considered by the Natives a new complaint.[15]\n\nIn all cases of irritation of the stomach, disordered bowels, or severe\nfeverish symptoms, the Mussulmaun doctors strongly urge the adoption of\n'starving out the complaint'. This has become a law of Nature with all the\nsensible part of the community; and when the cholera first made its\nappearance in the Upper Provinces of Hindoostaun, those Natives who\nobserved their prescribed temperance were, when attacked, most generally\npreserved from the fatal consequences of the disorder.\n\nOn the very first symptom of cholera occurring in a member of a Mussulmaun\nfamily, a small portion of zahur morah[16] (derived from zahur, poison;\nmorah, to kill or destroy, and thence understood as an antidote to poison,\nsome specimens of which I have brought with me to England) moistened with\nrosewater, is promptly administered, and, if necessary, repeated at short\nintervals; due care being taken to prevent the patient from receiving\nanything into the stomach, excepting rosewater, the older the more\nefficacious in its property to remove the malady. Wherever zahur morah was\nnot available, secun-gebeen[17] (syrup of vinegar) was administered with\nmuch the same effect. The person once attacked, although the symptoms\nshould have subsided by this application, is rigidly deprived of\nnourishment for two or three days, and even longer if deemed expedient;\noccasionally allowing only a small quantity of rose-water, which they say\neffectually removes from the stomach and bowels those corrupt adhesions\nwhich, in their opinion, is the primary cause of the complaint.\n\nThe cholera, I observed, seldom attacked abstemious people; when, however,\nthis was the case, it generally followed a full meal; whether of rice or\nbread made but little difference, much I believe depending on the general\nhabit of the subject; as among the peasantry and their superiors the\ncomplaint raged with equal malignity, wherever a second meal was resorted\nto whilst the person had reason to believe the former one had not been\nwell digested. An instance of this occurred under my own immediate\nobservation in a woman, the wife of an old and favourite servant. She had\nimprudently eaten a second dinner, before her stomach, by her own account,\nhad digested the preceding meal. She was not a strong woman, but in\ntolerable good health; and but a few hours previous to the attack I saw\nher in excellent spirits, without the most remote appearance of\nindisposition. The usual applications failed of success, and she died in a\nfew hours. This poor woman never could be persuaded to abstain from food\nat the stated period of meals; and the Natives were disposed to conclude\nthat this had been the actual cause of her sufferings and dissolution.\n\nIn 1821 the cholera raged with even greater violence than on its first\nappearance in Hindoostaun; by that time many remedies had been suggested,\nthrough the medium of the press, by the philanthropy and skill of European\nmedical practitioners, the chief of whom recommended calomel in large\ndoses, from twenty to thirty grains, and opium proportioned to the age and\nstrength of the patient. I never found the Natives, however, willing to\naccept this as a remedy, but I have heard that amongst Europeans it was\npractised with success. From a paragraph which I read in the Bengal papers,\nI prepared a mixture that I have reason to think, through the goodness of\nDivine Providence, was beneficial to many poor people who applied for it\nin the early stages of the complaint, and who followed the rule laid down\nof complete abstinence, until they were out of danger from a relapse, and\neven then for a long time to be cautious in the quantity and digestible\nquality of their daily meal. The mixture was as follows:\n\nBrandy, one pint; oil or spirit of peppermint, if the former half an\nounce--if the latter, one ounce; ground black pepper, two ounces; yellow\nrind of oranges grated, without any of the white, one ounce; these were\nkept closely stopped and occasionally shook, a table-spoonful administered\nfor each dose, the patient well covered up from the air, and warmth\ncreated by blankets or any other means within their power, repeating the\nclose as the case required.\n\nOf the many individuals who were attacked with this severe malady in our\nhouse very few died, and those, it was believed, were victims to an\nimprudent determination to partake of food before they were\nconvalescent,--individuals who never could be prevailed on to practise\nabstemious habits, which we had good reason for believing was the best\npreventive against the complaint during those sickly seasons. The general\nopinion entertained both by Natives and Europeans, at those awful periods,\nwas, that the cholera was conveyed in the air; very few imagined that it\nwas infectious, as it frequently attacked some members of a family and the\nrest escaped, although in close attendance--even such as failed not to pay\nthe last duties to the deceased according to Mussulmaun custom, which\nexposed them more immediately to danger if infection existed;--yet no\nfears were ever entertained, nor did I ever hear an opinion expressed\namongst them, that it had been or could be conveyed from one person to\nanother.\n\nNative children generally escaped the attack, and I never heard of an\ninfant being in the slightest degree visited by this malady. It is,\nhowever, expedient, to use such precautionary measures as sound sense and\nreason may suggest, since wherever the cholera has appeared, it has proved\na national calamity, and not a partial scourge to a few individuals; all\nare alike in danger of its consequences, whether the disorder be\nconsidered infectious or not, and therefore the precautions I have urged\nin India, amongst the Native communities, I recommend with all humility\nhere, that cleanliness and abstemious diet be observed among all classes\nof people.\n\nIn accordance with the prescribed antidote to infection from scarlet fever\nin England, I gave camphor (to be worn about the person) to the poor in my\nvicinity, and to all the Natives over whom I had either influence or\ncontrol; I caused the rooms to be frequently fumigated with vinegar or\ntobacco, and labaun[18] (frankincense) burnt occasionally. I would not,\nhowever, be so presumptuous to insinuate even that these were preventives\nto cholera, yet in such cases of universal terror as the one in question,\nthere can be no impropriety in recommending measures which cannot injure,\nand may benefit, if only by giving a purer atmosphere to the room\ninhabited by individuals either in sickness or in health. But above all\nthings, aware that human aid or skill can never effect a remedy unaided by\nthe mercy and power of Divine Providence, let our trust be properly placed\nin His goodness, 'who giveth medicine to heal our sickness', and humbly\nintreat that He may be pleased to avert the awful calamity from our shores\nwhich threatens and disturbs Europe generally at this moment.\n\nWere we to consult Nature rather than inordinate gratifications, we should\nfind in following her dictates the best security to health at all times,\nbut more particularly in seasons of prevailing sickness. Upon the first\nindications of cholera, I have observed the stomach becomes irritable, the\nbowels are attacked by griping pains, and unnatural evacuations; then\nfollow sensations of faintness, weakness, excessive thirst, the pulse\nbecomes languid, the surface of the body cold and clammy, whilst the\npatient feels inward burning heat, with spasms in the legs and arms.\n\nIn the practice of Native doctors, I have noticed that they administer\nsaffron to alleviate violent sickness with the best possible effect. A\ncase came under my immediate observation, of a young female who had\nsuffered from a severe illness similar in every way to the cholera; it was\nnot, however, suspected to be that complaint, because it was not then\nprevailing at Lucknow: after some days the symptoms subsided, excepting\nthe irritation of her stomach, which, by her father's account, obstinately\nrejected everything offered for eleven days. When I saw her, she was\napparently sinking under exhaustion; I immediately tendered the remedy\nrecommended by my husband, viz. twelve grains of saffron, moistened with a\nlittle rose-water; and found with real joy that it proved efficacious;\nhalf the quantity in doses were twice repeated that night, and in the\nmorning the patient was enabled to take a little gruel, and in a\nreasonable time entirely recovered her usual health and strength.\n\nI have heard of people being frightened into an attack of cholera by\napprehending the evil: this, however, can only occur with very weak minds,\nand such as have neglected in prosperity to prepare their hearts for\nadversity. When I first reached India, the fear of snakes, which I\nexpected to find in every path, embittered my existence. This weakness was\neffectually corrected by the wise admonitions of Meer Hadjee Shaah, 'If\nyou trust in God, he will preserve you from every evil; be assured the\nsnake has no power to wound without permission.'\n\n\n[1] The _Cantharis resicatoria_ is imported into India for use in blisters.\n    But there is a local substitute, _mylabris_, of which there are\n    several varieties (Watt, _Economic Dictionary_, ii. 128, v. 309).\n\n[2] The reference is perhaps to what is known as the Dehli Boil, a form\n    of oriental sore, like the Biskra Button, Aleppo Evil, Lahore and\n    Multan Sore (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_, 302); possibly only to\n    hot-weather boils.\n\n[3] _Chadar_.\n\n[4] For a good account of the ways of Indian ants, see M. Thornton,\n    _Haunts and Hobbies of an Indian Official,_ 2 ff.\n\n[5] _Khidmatgar_.\n\n[6] The habit of laying sugar near ants' nests is a piece of fertility\n    magic, and common to Jains and Vishnu-worshippers; see J. Fryor, _A\n    New Account of East India and Persia_, Hakluyt Society ed., I, 278.\n\n[7] _Pipal, Ficus religiosa_.\n\n[8] An esteemed friend has since referred me to the second chapter of the\n    prophet Joel, part of the seventh and eighth verses, as a better\n    comparison. [_Author._]\n\n[9] The variety of locust seen in India is _acridium peregrinum_, which is\n    said to range throughout the arid region from Algeria to N.W. India.\n    They have extended as far south as the Kistna District of Madras (Watt,\n    _Economic Dictionary_, VI, part i, 154).\n\n[10] _Tufan_, storm, _andhi_, darkness.\n\n[11] Earthquakes tend generally to be more frequent in the regions of\n    extra-peninsular India, where the rocks have been more recently folded,\n    than in the more stable Peninsula. Serious earthquakes have occurred\n    recently in Assam, June, 1897, and in Kangra, Panjab, April,\n    1907. (_Imperial Gazetteer of India_, 1907, i. 98 f.)\n\n[12] Kanauj, in the Farrukhabad District, United Provinces of Agra\n    and Oudh. The ruin of the great city was due to attacks by Mahmud\n    of Ghazni, A.D. 1019, and by Shihab-ud-din, Muhammad Ghori,\n    in 1194.\n\n[13] _Garm dahani_, hot inflammation, prickly heat.\n\n[14] _Multani mitti_, 'Multan Earth', a soft, drab-coloured\n    saponaceous earth, like fuller's earth, used in medicine and for\n    cleansing the hair.\n\n[15] Cholera (_haiza_) was known to the Hindus long before the arrival of\n    the Portuguese, who first described it (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_[2], 586\n    ff.). The attention of English physicians was first seriously called\n    to it in 1817, when it broke out in the Jessore District of Bengal,\n    and in the camp of Marquess Hastings in the Datiya State, Central\n    India. (See Sleeman, _Rambles_, 163, 232.)\n\n[16] _Zahr-mohra_, 'poison vanguard': the bezoar stone, believed to be\n    an antidote to poison (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_[2], 90 f.).\n\n[17] _Sikanjabin_, oxymel, vinegar, lime-juice, or other acid, mixed\n    with sugar or honey.\n\n[18] _Loban_.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XIX\n\n  Kannoge.--Formerly the capital of Hindoostaun.--Ancient\n  castle.--Durability of the bricks made by the aborigines.--Prospect\n  from the Killaah (castle).--Ruins.--Treasures found therein.--The\n  Durgah Baallee Peer Kee.--Mukhburrahs.--Ancient Mosque.--Singular\n  structure of some stone pillars.--The Durgah Mukdoom\n  Jhaunneer.--Conversions to the Mussulmaun Faith.--Anecdote.--Ignorance\n  of the Hindoos.--Sculpture of the Ancients.--Mosque inhabited by\n  thieves.--Discovery of Nitre.--Method of extracting it.--Conjectures\n  of its produce.--Residence in the castle.--Reflections.\n\n\nKannoge, now comparatively a Native village, situated about midway between\nCawnpore and Futtyghur, is said to have been the capital of Hindoostaun,\nand according to Hindoo tradition was the seat of the reigning Rajahs two\nthousand years prior to the invasion of India by the Sultaun Timoor. If\ncredit be given to current report, the Hindoos deny that the Deluge\nextended to India[1] as confidently as the Chinese declare that it never\nreached China.\n\nThese accounts I merely state as the belief of the Hindoos, and those\nthe least educated persons of the population. The Mussulmauns, however,\nare of a different opinion; the account they give of the Deluge\nresembles the Jewish, and doubtless the information Mahumud has conveyed\nto his followers was derived from that source.\n\nSome of the people are weak enough to conjecture that Kannoge was founded\nby Cain.[2] It bears, however, striking features of great antiquity, and\npossesses many sufficient evidences of its former extent and splendour to\nwarrant the belief that it has been the capital of no mean kingdom in ages\npast. The remarks I was enabled to make during a residence of two years at\nKannoge may not be deemed altogether uninteresting to my readers, although\nmy descriptions may be 'clouded with imperfections'. I will not, therefore,\noffer any useless apologies for introducing them in my present Letter.\n\nKannoge, known as the oldest capital of the far-famed kingdom of\nHindoostaun, is now a heap upon heap of ruins, proclaiming to the present\ngeneration, even in her humility, how vast in extent and magnificent in\nstyle she once was, when inhabited by the rulers of that great empire. The\nearth entombs emblems of greatness, of riches, and of man's vain-glorious\npossessions; buildings have been reared by successive generations on\nmounds which embowelled the ruined mansions of predecessors.\n\nThe killaah[3] (castle) in which during two years we shared an abode with\nsundry crows, bats, scorpions, centipedes, and other living things, was\nrebuilt about seven hundred years ago, on the original foundation which,\nas tradition states, has continued for more than two thousand years. The\nmaterials of which the walls are constructed are chiefly bricks.\n\nIt is worthy of remark, that the bricks of ancient manufacture in India\ngive evidence of remarkable durability, and are very similar in quality to\nthe Roman bricks occasionally discovered in England. At Delhi I have met\nwith bricks that have been undoubtedly standing six or seven centuries;\nand at Kannoge, if tradition speak true, the same articles which were\nmanufactured upwards of two thousand years ago, and which retain the\ncolour of the brightest red, resemble more the hardest stone than the\nthings we call bricks of the present day. After the minutest examination\nof these relics of ancient labour, I am disposed to think that the clay\nmust have been more closely kneaded, and the bricks longer exposed to the\naction of fire than they are by the present mode of manufacturing them;\nand such is their durability, that they are only broken with the greatest\ndifficulty.\n\nThe killaah was originally a fortified castle, and is situated near the\nriver Kaullee Nuddie,[4] a branch or arm of the Ganges, the main stream of\nwhich flows about two miles distant. During the periodical rains, the\nGanges overflows its banks, and inundates the whole tract of land\nintervening between the two rivers, forming an extent of water more\nresembling a sea than a river.\n\nAt the time we occupied the old castle, scarcely one room could be called\nhabitable; and I learned with regret after the rains of 1826 and 1827,\nwhich were unusually heavy, that the apartments occupied since the\nHonourable East India Company's rule by their taasseel-dhaars,[5]\n(sub-collectors of the revenue), were rendered entirely useless as a\nresidence.\n\nThe comfortless interior of that well-remembered place was more than\ncompensated by the situation. Many of my English acquaintance, who\nhonoured me by visits at Kannoge, will, I think, agree with me, that the\nprospect from the killaah was indescribably grand. The Ganges and the\nKaullee Nuddee were presented at one view; and at certain seasons of the\nyear, as far as the eye could reach, their banks, and well-cultivated\nfields, clothed in a variety of green, seemed to recall the mind to the\nrivers of England, and their precious borders of grateful herbage. Turning\nin another direction, the eye was met by an impenetrable boundary of\nforest trees, magnificent in growth, and rich in foliage; at another\nglance, ruins of antiquity, or the still remaining tributes to saints; the\ndetached villages; the sugar plantations; the agriculturists at their\nlabour; the happy peasantry laden with their purchases from the bazaars;\nthe Hindoo women and children, bearing their earthen-vessels to and from\nthe river for supplies of water:--each in their turn formed objects of\nattraction from without, that more than repaid the absence of ordinary\ncomforts in the apartment from which they were viewed. The quiet calm of\nthis habitation, unbroken by the tumultuous sounds of a city, was so\ncongenial to my taste, that when obliged to quit it, I felt almost as much\nregret as when I heard that the rains had destroyed the place which had\nbeen to me a home of peaceful enjoyment.\n\nThe city of Kannoge has evidently suffered the severities of a shock from\nan earthquake: the present inhabitants cannot tell at what period this\noccurred, but it must have been some centuries since, for the earth is\ngrown over immense ruins, in an extensive circuit, forming a strong but\ncoarse carpet of grass on the uneven mounds containing the long-buried\nmansions of the great. The rapid streams from the periodical rains forcing\npassages between the ruins, has in many places formed deep and frightful\nravines, as well as rugged roads and pathways for the cattle and the\ntraveller.\n\nAfter each heavy fall of rain, the peasantry and children are observed\nminutely searching among the ruins for valuables washed out with the loose\nearth and bricks by the force of the streams, and, I am told, with\nsuccessful returns for their toil; jewels, gold and silver ornaments,\ncoins of gold and silver, all of great antiquity, are thus secured; these\nare bought by certain merchants of the city, by whom they are retailed to\nEnglish travellers, who generally when on a river voyage to or from the\nUpper Provinces, contrive, if possible, to visit Kannoge to inspect the\nruins, and purchase curiosities.\n\nThere is a stately range of buildings at no great distance from the\nkillaah (castle), in a tolerable state of preservation, called 'Baallee\nPeer Kee Durgah'.[6] The entrance is by a stone gateway of very superior\nbut ancient workmanship, and the gates of massy wood studded with iron. I\nobserved that on the wood framework over the entrance, many a stray\nhorseshoe has been nailed, which served to remind me of Wales, where it is\nso commonly seen on the doors of the peasantry.[7] I am not aware but that\nthe same motives may have influenced the two people in common.\n\nTo the right of the entrance stands a large mosque, which, I am told, was\nbuilt by Baallee himself; who, it is related, was a remarkably pious man\nof the Mussulmaun persuasion, and had acquired so great celebrity amongst\nhis countrymen as a perfect durweish, as to be surnamed peer[8] (saint).\nThe exact time when he flourished at Kannoge, I am unable to say; but\njudging from the style of architecture, and other concurring circumstances,\nit must have been built at different periods, some parts being evidently\nof very ancient structure.\n\nThere are two mukhburrahs,[9] within the range, which viewed from the main\nroad, stand in a prominent situation: one of these mukhburrahs was built\nby command, or in the reign (I could not learn which), of Shah Allumgeer\n[10] over the remains of Ballee Peer; and the second contains some of the\npeer's immediate relatives.\n\nFrom the expensive manner in which these buildings are constructed, some\nidea may be formed of the estimation this pious man was held in by his\ncountrymen. The mausoleums are of stone, and elevated on a base of the\nsame material, with broad flights of steps to ascend by. The stone must\nhave been brought hither from a great distance, as I do not find there is\na single quarry nearer than Delhi or Agra. There are people in charge of\nthis Durgah who voluntarily exile themselves from the society of the world,\nin order to lead lives of strict devotion and under the imagined presiding\ninfluence of the saint's pure spirit; they keep the sanctuary from\npollution, burn lamps nightly on the tomb, and subsist by the occasional\ncontributions of the charitable visitors and their neighbours.\n\nWithin the boundary of the Durgah, I remarked a very neat stone tomb, in\ngood preservation: this, I was told, was the burying-place of the Kalipha\n[11] (head servant) who had attended on and survived Baallee Peer; this man\nhad saved money in the service of the saint, which he left to be devoted\nto the repairs of the Durgah; premising that his tomb should be erected\nnear that of his sainted master, and lamps burned every night over the\ngraves, which is faithfully performed by the people in charge of the\nDurgah.\n\nAfter visiting the ruins of Hindoo temples, which skirt the borders of the\nriver in many parts of the district of Kannoge, the eye turns with\nsatisfaction to the ancient mosques of the Mussulmauns, which convey\nconviction to the mind, that even in the remote ages of Hindoostaun, there\nhave been men who worshipped God; whilst the piles of mutilated stone\nidols also declare the zealous Mussulmaun to have been jealous for his\nCreator's glory. I have noticed about Kannoge hundreds of these broken or\ndefaced images collected together in heaps (generally under trees), which\nwere formerly the objects to which the superstitious Hindoos bowed in\nworship, until the more intelligent Mussulmauns strayed into the recesses\nof the deepest darkness to show the idolaters that God could not be\nrepresented by a block of stone.\n\nIn a retired part of Kannoge, I was induced to visit the remains of an\nimmense building[12], expecting the gratification of a fine prospect from\nits towering elevation; my surprise, however, on entering the portal drove\nfrom my thoughts the first object of my visit.\n\nThe whole building is on a large scale, and is, together with the gateway,\nsteps, roof, pillars, and offices, composed entirely of stone: from what I\nhad previously conceived of the ancient Jewish temples, this erection\nstruck me as bearing a strong resemblance. It appears that there is not\nthe slightest portion of either wood or metal used in the whole\nconstruction; and, except where some sort of cement was indispensable, not\na trace of mortar is to be discovered in the whole fabric. The pillars of\nthe colonnade, which form three sides of the square, are singular piles of\nstone, erected with great exactness in the following order:--\n\nA broad block of stone forms the base; on the centre is raised a pillar of\nsix feet by two square, on this rests a circular stone, resembling a\ngrindstone, on which is placed another upright pillar, and again a\ncircular, until five of each are made to rest on the base to form a pillar;\nthe top circulars or caps are much larger than the rest; and on these the\nmassy stone beams for the roof are supported. How these ponderous stones\nforming the whole roof were raised, unacquainted as these people ever have\nbeen with machinery, is indeed a mystery sufficient to impress on the\nweak-minded a current report amongst the Natives, that the whole building\nwas erected in one night by supernatural agency, from materials which had\nformerly been used in the construction of a Hindoo temple, but destroyed\nby the zeal of the Mussulmauns soon after their invasion of Hindoostaun.\n\nThe pillars I examined narrowly, and could not find any traces of cement\nor fastening; yet, excepting two or three which exhibit a slight curve,\nthe whole colonnade is in a perfect state. The hall, including the\ncolonnade, measures one hundred and eighty feel by thirty, and has\ndoubtless been, at some time or other, a place of worship, in all\nprobability for the Mussulmauns, there being still within the edifice a\nsort of pulpit of stone evidently intended for the reader, both from its\nsituation and construction; this has sustained many rude efforts from the\nchisel in the way of ornament not strictly in accordance with the temple\nitself; besides which, there are certain tablets engraved in the Persian\nand Arabic character, which contain verses or chapters from the Khoraun;\nso that it may be concluded, whatever was the original design of the\nbuilding, it has in later periods served the purposes of a mosque.\n\nIn some parts of this building traces exist to prove that the materials of\nwhich it has been formed originally belonged to the Hindoos, for upon many\nof the stones there are carved figures according with their mythology;\nsuch stones, however, have been placed generally upside down, and attempts\nto deface the graven figures are conspicuous,--they are all turned inside,\nwhilst the exterior appearance is rough and uneven. It may be presumed\nthey were formerly outward ornaments to a temple of some sort, most likely\na 'Bootkhanah'[13] (the house for idols).\n\nI have visited the Durgah, called Mukhdoom Jhaaunneer[14], situated in the\nheart of the present city, which is said to have been erected nearly a\nthousand years ago, by the order of a Mussulmaun King; whether of\nHindoostaun or not, I could not learn. It bears in its present dilapidated\nstate, evidences both of good taste and superior skill in architecture, as\nwell as of costliness in the erection, superior to any thing I expected to\nfind amongst the ancient edifices of Hindoostaun.\n\nThe antique arches supporting the roof, rest on pillars of a good size;\nthe whole are beautifully carved. The dome, which was originally in the\ncentre of this pavilion, has been nearly destroyed by time; and although\nthe light thus thrown into the interior through the aperture, has a good\neffect, it pained me to see this noble edifice falling to decay for the\nwant of timely repairs. Notwithstanding this Durgah is said to have been\nbuilt so many years, the stone-work, both of the interior and exterior, is\nremarkably fresh in appearance, and would almost discredit its reputed age.\nThe walls and bastions of the enclosure appear firm on their foundations;\nthe upper part only seems at all decayed.\n\nThe side rooms to the Durgah, of which there are several on each side of\nthe building, have all a fretwork of stone very curiously cut, which\nserves for windows, and admits light and air to the apartments, and\npresents a good screen to persons within; this it should seem was the only\ncontrivance for windows in general use by the ancient inhabitants of\nHindoostaun; and even at the present day (excepting a few Native gentlemen\nwho have benefited by English example), glazed windows are not seen in any\nof the mansions in the Upper Provinces of India.\n\nI noticed that in a few places in these buildings, where the prospect is\nparticularly fine, small arches were left open, from whence the eye is\ndirected to grand and superb scenery, afforded by the surrounding country,\nand the remains of stately buildings. From one of these arches the killaah\nis seen to great advantage, at the distance of two miles: both the Durgah\nand the killaah are erected on high points of land. I have often, whilst\nwandering outside the killaah, looked up at the elevation with sensations\nof mistrust, that whilst doing so it might, from its known insecure state,\nfall and bury me in its ruins; but viewing it from that distance, and on a\nlevel with the Durgah, the appearance was really gratifying.\n\nAt Kannoge are to be seen many mukhburrahs, said to have been erected over\nthe remains of those Hindoos who at different periods had been converted\nto the Mussulmaun faith. This city, I am informed, has been the chosen\nspot of righteous men and sainted characters during all periods of the\nMussulmaun rule in Hindoostaun, by whose example many idolators were\nbrought to have respect for the name of God, and in some instances even to\nembrace the Mahumudan faith. Amongst the many accounts of remarkable\nconversions related to me by the old inhabitants of that city, I shall\nselect one which, however marvellous in some points, is nevertheless\nreceived with full credit by the faithful of the present day:--\n\n'A very pious Syaad took up his residence many hundred years since at\nKannoge, when the chief part of the inhabitants were Hindoos, and, as\nmight be expected, many of them were Brahmins. He saw with grief the state\nof darkness with which the minds of so many human beings were imbued, and\nwithout exercising any sort of authority over them, he endeavoured by the\nmildest persuasions to convince these people that the adoration they paid\nto graven images, and the views they entertained of the river Ganges\npossessing divine properties, were both absurd and wicked.\n\n'The Syaad used his best arguments to explain to them the power and\nattributes of the only true God; and though his labours were unceasing,\nand his exemplary life made him beloved, yet for a long period all his\nendeavours proved unsuccessful. His advice, however, was at all times\ntendered with mildness, his manners so humble, and his devotion so\nremarkable, that in the course of time the people flocked around him,\nwhenever he was visible, to listen to his discourse, which generally\ncontained some words of well-timed exhortation and kind instruction. His\ngreat aim was directed towards enlightening the Brahmins, by whom, he was\naware, the opinions of the whole population were influenced, and to whom\nalone was confined such knowledge as at that remote period was conveyed by\neducation.\n\n'Ardently zealous in the great work he had commenced, the Syaad seemed\nundaunted by the many obstacles he had to contend with. Always retaining\nhis temper unruffled, he combined perseverance with his solicitude, and\ntrusted in God for a happy result in His good time. On an occasion of a\ngreat Hindoo festival the population of the then immense city were\npreparing to visit the Ganges, where they expected to be purified from\ntheir sins by ablution in that holy river, as they term it. The Ganges, at\nthat period, I understand, flowed some miles distant from the city.\n\n'The Syaad took this occasion to exhort the multitude to believe in God;\nand after a preliminary discourse, explaining the power of Him whom he\nalone worshipped, he asked the people if they would be persuaded to follow\nthe only true God, if His power should be demonstrated to them by the\nappearance of the river they adored flowing past the city of Kannoge,\ninstead of, as at that moment, many miles distant. Some of his auditory\nlaughed at the idea, and derided the speaker; others doubted, and asked\nwhether the God whom the Mussulmauns worshipped possessed such power as\nthe Syaad had attributed to Him; many Brahmins, however, agreed to the\nterms proposed, solemnly assuring the holy man he should find them\nconverts to his faith if this miracle should be effected by the God he\nworshipped.\n\n'It is related that the Syaad passed the whole day and night in devout\nprayers; and when the morning dawned the idolators saw the river Ganges\nflowing past the city in all the majesty of that mighty stream.[15] The\nBrahmins were at once convinced, and this evidence of God's power worked\nthe way to the conversion of nearly the whole population of Kannoge.'\n\nThe number of the inhabitants may be supposed to have been immensely great\nat the period in question, as it is related that on the occasion of their\nconversion the Brahmins threw away the cords which distinguish them from\nother castes of Hindoos, (each cord weighing about a drachm English),\nwhich when collected together to be consigned to the flames, were weighed,\nand found to be upwards of forty-five seers; a seer in that province being\nnearly equal to two pounds English.[16]\n\nThe Brahmins, it will be recollected, form but a small portion of that\ncommunity, and are the priesthood of the Hindoos, very similar in their\norder to the Levites among the children of Israel.\n\nThere are still remaining traces of monuments erected over the remains of\nconverted Hindoos, which have been particularly pointed out to me by\nintelligent men, from whom I have received information of that great work\nwhich alone would render Kannoge a place of interest without another\nobject to attract the observation of a reflecting mind.\n\nNotwithstanding that the Ganges continues to water the banks of Kannoge,\nand that other proofs exist of idolatry having ceased for a considerable\ntime to disgrace the inhabitants, it is still partially occupied by\nHindoos, who retain the custom of their forefathers according to the\noriginal, whether descendants of the converted, or fresh settlers is not\nin my power to determine; but I may remark, without prejudice, from what I\nhave been enabled to glean in conversation with a few Hindoos of this city,\nthat they have a better idea of one over-ruling Supreme power than I have\never been able to find elsewhere in the same class of people.\n\nI was much interested with an old blacksmith, who was employed at the\nkillaah. On one occasion I asked him what views he entertained of the\nSource from whence all good proceeds--whether he believed in God? He\nreplied promptly, and as if surprised that such a doubt could exist, 'Yes,\nsurely; it is to Allah (God) the supreme, I am indebted for my existence;\nAllah created all things, the world and all that is in it: I could not\nhave been here at this moment, but for the goodness of Allah!'\n\nThere are amongst them men of good moral character, yet in a state of\ndeplorable ignorance, a specimen of which may be here noticed in a person\nof property employed in the service of Government, at the killaah; he is\nof the caste denominated Burghutt[17],--one of the tribe which professes\nso great reverence for life, as to hold it sinful to destroy the meanest\nreptile or insect; and, therefore, entirely abstain from eating either\nfish, flesh, or fowl:--yet, when I pressed for his undisguised opinion, I\nfound that he not only denied the existence of God, but declared it was\nhis belief the world formed itself.\n\nI was induced to walk three miles from the killaah, on a cool day in\nDecember, to view the remains of a piece of sculpture of great antiquity.\nI confess myself but little acquainted with Hindoo mythology, and\ntherefore my description will necessarily be imperfect. The figure of\nLuchmee is represented in relief, on a slab of stone eight feet by four,\nsurrounded by about a hundred figures in different attitudes. Luchmee, who\nis of course the most prominent, is figured with eight arms; in his right\nhands, are sabres, in his left, shields; his left foot upon the hand of a\nfemale, and the right on a snake.[18] This figure is about four feet high,\nand finely formed, standing in a martial attitude; his dress (unlike that\nof the modern Hindoo) is represented very tight, and, altogether, struck\nme as more resembling the European than the Asiatic: on his head I\nremarked a high-crowned military cap without a peak: the feet were bare.\nThere can be no doubt this figure is emblematical; the Hindoos, however,\nmake it an object of their impure and degrading worship.\n\nI could not help expressing my surprise on finding this idol in such\nexcellent condition, having had so many samples throughout Kannoge of the\nvengeance exercised by Mussulmaun zeal, on the idols of the Hindoos. My\nguide assured me, that this relic of antiquity had only been spared from\nthe general destruction of by-gone periods by its having been buried,\nthrough the supposed influence of unconverted venerating Brahmins; but\nthat within the last thirty years it had been discovered and dug out of\nthe earth, to become once more an ornament to the place. My own ideas lead\nme to suppose that it might have been buried by the same convulsion of the\nearth which overturned the idolatrous city.\n\nI observed that a very neat little building, of modern date, was erected\nover this antiquity, and on inquiry found that the Hindoos were indebted\nto the liberality of a lady for the means of preserving this relic from\nthe ravages of the seasons.\n\nThere is in the same vicinity a second piece of mythological sculpture, in\na less perfect state than Luchmee, the sabred arm of which has been struck\noff, and the figure otherwise mutilated by the zealous Mussulmauns, who\nhave invariably defaced or broken the idols wherever they have been able\nto do so with impunity. On a platform of stone and earth, near this place,\na finely-formed head of stone is placed, which my guide gravely assured me\nwas of very ancient date, and represented Adam, the father of men!\n\nI heard with pain during my sojourn at Kannoge, that the house of God had\nbeen made the resort of thieves; a well-known passage of Scripture struck\nme forcibly when the transaction was related.\n\nI have before stated that the mosque is never allowed to be locked or\nclosed to the public. Beneath the one I am about to speak of (a very\nancient building near to Baallee Peer's Durgah), is a vaulted suite of\nrooms denominated taarkhanah[19], intended as a retreat from the intense\nheat of the day; such as is to be met with in most great men's residences\nin India. In this place, a gang of thieves from the city had long found a\nsecure and unsuspected spot wherein to deposit their plunder. It happened,\nhowever, that very strict search was instituted after some stolen property\nbelonging to an individual of Kannoge; whether any suspicions had been\nexcited about the place in question, I do not recollect, but thither the\npolice directed their steps, and after removing some loose earth they\ndiscovered many valuable articles,--shawls, gold ornaments, sabres, and\nother costly articles of plunder. It is presumed,--for the thieves were\nnot known or discovered,--that they could not possibly be Mussulmauns,\nsince the very worst characters among this people hold the house of God in\nsuch strict veneration, that they, of all persons, could not be suspected\nof having selected so sacred a place to deposit the spoils of the\nplunderer.\n\nThe process of obtaining nitre from the earth is practised at Kannoge by\nthe Natives in the most simple way imaginable, without any assistance from\nart. They discover the spot where nitre is deposited by the small white\nparticles which work through the strata of earth to the surface. When a\nvein is discovered, to separate the nitre from the earth, the following\nsimple method is resorted to:--large troughs filled with water are\nprepared, into which the masses of earth containing nitre are thrown; the\nearth is allowed to remain undisturbed for some time, after which it is\nwell stirred, and then allowed to settle; the water by this means becomes\nimpregnated with the nitre, and is afterwards boiled in large iron pans,\nfrom which all the dirt is carefully skimmed, until the water is\ncompletely evaporated, and the nitre deposited in the pans.\n\nI know not how far the admixture of animal bodies with the soil may tend\nto produce this article, but it is a fact, that those places which bear\nthe strongest proofs of having received the bodies of both men and beasts,\nproduce it in the greatest abundance.[20]\n\nThe retirement of Kannoge afforded me so many pleasant ways of occupying\ntime, that I always look back to the period of my sojourn at the old\nkillaah with satisfaction. The city is sufficiently distant from the\nkillaah to leave the latter within reach of supplies, without the\nannoyance of the bustle and confusion inseparable from a Native city. In\nmy daily wanderings a few peasantry only crossed my path; the farmers and\ncitizens were always attentive, and willing to do us such kind offices as\nwe at any time required. They respected, I may say venerated my husband;\nand I must own that my feelings oblige me to remember with gratitude the\nplace and the people whence I drew so many benefits.\n\nHere I could indulge in long walks without incurring the penalty of a\ndeparture from established custom, which in most well-populated parts of\nHindoostaun restrains European ladies from the exercise so congenial to\ntheir health and cherished habits. Should any English-woman venture to\nwalk abroad in the city of Lucknow, for instance,--to express their most\nliberal opinion of the act,--she would be judged by the Natives as a\nperson careless of the world's opinion. But here I was under no such\nconstraint; my walks were daily recreations after hours of quiet study in\nthe most romantic retirement of a ruined killaah, where, if luxury\nconsists in perfect satisfaction with the objects by which we are\nsurrounded, I may boast that it was found here during my two years'\nresidence.\n\n\n[1] This is incorrect. Hindu traditions refer to a deluge, in which Manu,\n    with the help of a fish, makes a ship, and fastening her cable to the\n    fish's horn, is guided to the mountain, and then he, alone of human\n    beings, is saved.--J. Muir, _Original Sanskrit Texts_, part ii (1860),\n    p. 324.\n\n[2] This is merely a stupid folk etymology, comparing Kanauj with Cain.\n\n[3] _Qil'a_.\n\n[4] Kali Nadi, 'black stream', a corruption of the original\n    name, Kalindi.\n\n[5] _Tahsildar_.\n\n[6] In the southern centre of the ruined citadel stand the tombs of\n    Bala Pir and his son, Shaikh Mahdi. Shaikh Kabir,\n    commonly called Bala Pir, is said to have been the tutor of\n    the brother Nawabs, Dalel and Bahadur Khan. The former\n    ruled Kanauj in the time of Shah Jahan (A.D. 1628-1651), and\n    died after his deposition in 1666.--A. F\u00fchrer, _Monumental Antiquities\n    and Inscriptions of the N.W. Provinces and Oudh_, 1891, p. 80.\n\n[7]  Horseshoes are often nailed on the gates of the tombs of Musalman\n    saints, as at the mosque of Fatehpur Sikri.\n\n[8] _Pir_, 'a saint, a holy man'.\n\n[9] _Maqbara_, 'a sepulchre'.\n\n[10] The Emperor Aurangzeb, A.D. 1658-1707.\n\n[11] Khalifah, Caliph, one of the terms which have suffered degradation,\n    often applied to cooks, tailors, barbers, or other Musalman\n    servants.\n\n[12] This may be the building known as Sita ki Rasoi, the kitchen\n    of Sita, heroine of the Ramayana epic. It is described and\n    drawn by Mrs. F. Parks (_Wanderings of a Pilgrim_, ii. 143).\n\n[13] Butkhana.\n\n[14] The tomb of the Saint Sa'id Shaikh Makhdum Jahaniya\n    Jahangasht of Multan (A.D. 1308-81). F\u00fchrer, _op. cit._, p. 81.\n\n[15] Many saints are credited with the power of changing the courses of\n    rivers: see instances in W. Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folklore of\n    N. India_, 2nd ed., ii. 218.\n\n[16] This may be a variant of the story that after the capture of Chitor,\n    Akbar weighed 74-1/2 _man_ (8 lbs. each) of cords belonging to the\n    slain Rajputs.--J. Tod, _Annals of Rajasthan_, 1884, i. 349.\n\n[17] The name has not been traced. The reference is to Jains, who are\n    specially careful of animal life.\n\n[18] If this is a male figure it cannot represent the goddess Lakshmi.\n    Mrs. Parks (_Wanderings of a Pilgrim_, ii. 144) speaks of images of\n    Rama and his brother Lakshmana, one of which may possibly be that\n    referred to in the text.\n\n[19] _Tahkhana_, an underground cellar.\n\n\n[20] This account is fairly correct. 'Although active saltpetre is met\n    with under a variety of conditions, they all agree in this particular,\n    that the salt is formed under the influence of organic matter.'--(G.\n    Watt, _Economic Dictionary_, VI, part ii, 431 _ff_).\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XX\n\n  Delhi.--Description of the city.--Marble hall--The Queen's Mahul\n  (palace).--Audience with the King and Queen.--Conversation with\n  them.--Character of their Majesties.--Visit to a\n  Muckburrah.--Soobadhaars.--The nature of the office.--Durgah of Shah\n  Nizaam ood deen.--Tomb of Shah Allum.--Ruins in the vicinity of Delhi.\n  --Antique pillars (Kootub) .--Prospect from its galleries.--Anecdotes\n  of Juangheer and Khareem Zund...Page 289\n\n\nMy visit to Delhi, once the great capital of Hindoostaun, and the\nresidence of the great Sultauns, has made impressions of a lasting kind,\nand presented a moral lesson to my mind, I should be sorry to forget in\nafter years; for there I witnessed the tombs of righteous men in perfect\nrepair after the lapse of many centuries, standing in the midst of the\nmouldering relics of kings, princes, and nobles, many of whose careers, we\nlearn from history, was comparatively of recent date; yet, excepting in\none solitary instance of Shah Allum's grave, without so much of order\nremaining as would tell to the passing traveller the rank of each\nindividual's mausoleum, now either entirely a ruin or fast mouldering to\ndecay.\n\nThe original city of Delhi presents to view one vast extent of ruins;\nabounding in mementos of departed worth, as well as in wrecks of greatness,\ningenuity, and magnificence. Why the present city was erected or the\nformer one deserted, I cannot venture an opinion, neither can I remember\ncorrectly in what reign the royal residence was changed; but judging from\nthe remnants of the old, I should imagine it to have been equally\nextensive with the modern Delhi. A part of the old palace is still\nstanding, whither the present King, Akbaar Shah,[1] occasionally resorts\nfor days together, attracted perhaps by sympathy for his ancestors, or by\nthat desire for change inherent in human nature, and often deemed\nessential to health in the climate of Hindoostaun.\n\nThe city of Delhi is enclosed by a wall; the houses, which are generally\nof brick or red stone, appear to good advantage, being generally elevated\na story or two from the ground-floor, and more regularly constructed than\nis usual in Native cities. Mosques, mukhburrahs, and emaum-baarahs, in all\ndirections, diversify the scene with good effect; whilst the various shops\nand bazaars, together with the outpourings of the population to and from\nthe markets, give an animation to the whole view which would not be\ncomplete without them.\n\nThe palace occupies an immense space of ground, enclosed by high walls,\nand entered by a gateway of grand architecture. On either side the\nentrance I noticed lines of compact buildings, occupied by the military,\nreaching to the second gateway, which is but little inferior in style and\nstrength to the grand entrance; and here again appear long lines of\nbuildings similarly occupied. I passed through several of these formidable\nbarriers before I reached the marble hall, where the King holds his durbar\n(court) at stated times; but as mine was a mere unceremonious visit to the\nKing and Queen, it was not at the usual hour of durbar, and I passed\nthrough the hall without making any particular observations, although I\ncould perceive it was not deficient in the costliness and splendour suited\nto the former greatness of the Indian empire.\n\nAfter being conveyed through several splendid apartments, I was conducted\nto the Queen's mahul[2] (palace for females), where his Majesty and the\nQueen were awaiting my arrival. I found on my entrance the King seated in\nthe open air in an arm chair enjoying his hookha; the Queen's musnud was\non the ground, close by the side of her venerable husband. Being\naccustomed to Native society, I knew how to render the respect due from an\nhumble individual to personages of their exalted rank. After having left\nmy shoes at the entrance and advanced towards them, my salaams were\ntendered, and then the usual offering of nuzzas, first to the King and\nthen to the Queen, who invited me to a seat on her own carpet,--an honour\nI knew how to appreciate from my acquaintance with the etiquette observed\non such occasions.\n\nThe whole period of my visit was occupied in very interesting conversation;\neager inquiries were made respecting England, the Government, the manners\nof the Court, the habits of the people, my own family affairs, my husband's\nviews in travelling, and his adventures in England, my own satisfaction\nas regarded climate, and the people with whom I was so immediately\nconnected by marriage;--the conversation, indeed, never flagged an instant,\nfor the condescending courtesy of their Majesties encouraged me to add to\ntheir entertainment, by details which seemed to interest and delight them\ngreatly.\n\nOn taking leave his Majesty very cordially shook me by the hand, and the\nQueen embraced me with warmth. Both appeared, and expressed themselves,\nhighly gratified with the visit of an English lady who could explain\nherself in their language without embarrassment, or the assistance of an\ninterpreter, and who was the more interesting to them from the\ncircumstance of being the wife of a Syaad; the Queen indeed was particular\nin reminding me that 'the Syaads were in a religious point of view, the\nnobles of the Mussulmauns, and reverenced as such far more than those\ntitled characters who receive their distinction from their fellow-mortals'.\n\nI was grieved to be obliged to accept the Queen's parting present of an\nembroidered scarf, because I knew her means were exceedingly limited\ncompared with the demands upon her bounty; but I could not refuse that\nwhich was intended to do me honour at the risk of wounding those feelings\nI so greatly respected. A small ring, of trifling value, was then placed\nby the Queen on my finger, as she remarked, 'to remind me of the giver.'\n\nThe King's countenance, dignified by age, possesses traces of extreme\nbeauty; he is much fairer than Asiatics usually are; his features are\nstill fine, his hair silvery white; intelligence beams upon his brow, his\nconversation gentle and refined, and his condescending manners hardly to\nbe surpassed by the most refined gentleman of Europe. I am told by those\nwho have been long intimate with his habits in private, that he leads a\nlife of strict piety and temperance, equal to that of a durweish[3] of his\nfaith, whom he imitates in expending his income on others without\nindulging in a single luxury himself.\n\nThe Queen's manners are very amiable and condescending; she is reported to\nbe as highly gifted with intellectual endowments as I can affirm she is\nwith genuine politeness.\n\nI was induced to visit the mukhburrah of the great-great-grandfather of the\npresent King of Oude,[4] who, at his death,--which occurred at Delhi, I\nbelieve,--was one of the Soobadhaars[5] of the sovereign ruler of India.\nThis nobleman, in his time, had been a staunch adherent to the descendants\nof Timoor, and had been rewarded for his fidelity by public honours and\nthe private friendship of the King. The monument erected over his remains,\nis in a costly style of magnificence, and in the best possible condition,\nstanding in the centre of a flower-garden which is enclosed by a stone\nwall, with a grand gateway of good architecture. The mukhburrah is\nspacious, and in the usual Mussulmaun style of building mausoleums; viz.,\na square, with a dome, and is ascended by a flight of broad steps. This\nbuilding stands about three miles from the city, in a good situation to be\nseen from the road. I was told that the family of Oude kept readers of the\nKhoraun in constant attendance at the mukhburrah; and I observed several\nsoldiers, whose duty it was to guard the sacred spot, at the expense of\nthe Oude government.\n\nIn explanation of the word Soobadhaar, it may not be uninteresting to\nremark in this place, that when the government of Hindoostaun flourished\nunder the descendants of Timoor, Soobadhaars were appointed over districts,\nwhose duty, in some respects, bore resemblance to that of a Governor; with\nthis difference, that the soobadhaaries were gifts, not only for the life\nof the individuals, but to their posterity for ever, under certain\nrestrictions and stipulations which made them tributary to, and retained\nthem as dependants of, the reigning sovereign:--as for instance, a certain\nannual amount was to be punctually transferred to the treasury at Delhi;\nthe province to be governed by the same laws, and the subjects to be under\nthe same control in each Soobadhaarie as those of the parent sovereignty;\nthe revenue exacted in the very same way,; each Soobadhaar was bound to\nretain in his employ a given number of soldiers, horse and foot, fully\nequipped for the field, with perfect liberty to employ them as occasion\nserved in the territory which he governed, whether against refractory\nsubjects, or encroachments from neighbouring provinces; but in any\nemergency from the Court at Delhi, the forces to be, at all times, in\nreadiness for the Sultaun's service at a moment's notice.\n\nThe gift of a Soobadhaarie was originally conferred on men who had\ndistinguished themselves, either in the army, or in civil capacities, as\nfaithful friends and servants of the Sultaun. In the course of time, some\nof these Soobadhaars, probably from just causes, threw off their strict\nallegiance to their Sovereign, abandoned the title of Soobadhaar, and\nadopted that of Nuwaub in its stead, either with or without the consent of\nthe Court of Delhi.\n\nAs it is not my intention to give a precise history of the Indian empire,\nbut merely to touch on generalities, I have confined my remarks to a brief\nexplanation of the nature of this office; and will only add, that whilst\nthe Soobadhaars (afterwards the Nuwaubs) of Oude swayed over that\nbeautiful province under these titles, they continued to send their usual\nnuzzas to the King of Delhi, although no longer considered under his\ndominion; thus acknowledging his superiority, because inferiors only\npresent nuzzas. But when Ghauzee ood deen Hyder was created King of Oude,\nhe could no longer be considered tributary to the House of Timoor, and the\nannual ceremony of sending a nuzza, I understood, was discontinued. The\nfirst King of Oude issued coins from his new mint almost immediately after\nhis coronation, prior to which period the current money of that province\nbore the stamp of Delhi.[6]\n\nShah Nizaam ood deen[7] was one of the many Mussulmaun saints, whose\nhistory has interested me much. He is said to have been dead about five\nhundred years, yet his memory is cherished by the Mussulmauns of the\npresent day with veneration unabated by the lapse of years, thus giving to\nthe world a moral and a religious lesson, 'The great and the ambitious\nperish, and their glory dieth with them; but the righteous have a name\namongst their posterity for ever.'\n\nI was familiar with the character of Nizaam ood deen long prior to my\nvisit at the Court of Delhi, and, as maybe supposed, it was with no common\nfeeling of pleasure I embraced the opportunity of visiting the mausoleum\nerected over the remains of that righteous man.\n\nThe building originally was composed of the hard red stone, common to the\nneighbourhood of Delhi, with an occasional mixture of red bricks of a very\nsuperior quality; but considerable additions and ornamental improvements\nof pure white marble have been added to the edifice, from time to time, by\ndifferent monarchs and nobles of Hindoostaun, whose pious respect for the\nmemory of the righteous Shah Nizaam ood deen is testified by these\nadditions, which render the mausoleum at the present time as fresh and\norderly as if but newly erected.\n\nThe style of the building is on the original, I might say, only plan of\nMussulmaun mukhburrahs--square, with a cupola. It is a beautiful structure\non a scale of moderate size. The pavements are of marble, as are also the\npillars, which are fluted and inlaid with pure gold; the ceiling is of\nchaste enamel painting (peculiarly an Indian art, I fancy,) of the\nbrightest colours. The cupola is of pure white marble, of exquisite\nworkmanship and in good taste; its erection is of recent date, I\nunderstand, and the pious offering of the good Akbaar Shah, who, being\nhimself a very religions personage, was determined out of his limited\nincome to add this proof of his veneration for the sainted Nizaam to the\nmany which his ancestors had shown.[8]\n\nThe marble tomb enclosing the ashes of Shah Nizaam ood deen is in the\ncentre of the building immediately under the cupola; this tomb is about\nseven feet long by two, raised about a foot from the pavement; on the\nmarble sides are engraved chapters from the Khoraun in the Arabic\ncharacter, filled up with black; the tomb itself has a covering of very\nrich gold cloth, resembling a pall.\n\nThis tranquil spot is held sacred by all Mussulmauns. Here the sound of\nhuman feet are never heard; 'Put off thy shoes', being quite as strictly\nobserved near this venerated place, as when the mosque and emaum-baarah\nare visited by 'the faithful'; who, as I have before remarked, whenever a\nprayer is about to be offered to God, cast off their shoes with scrupulous\ncare, whether the place chosen for worship be in the mosque, the abode of\nmen, or the wilderness.\n\nI was permitted to examine the interior of the mausoleum. The calm\nstillness, which seemed hardly earthly; the neatness which pervaded every\ncorner of the interior; the recollection of those virtues, which I so\noften heard had distinguished Shah Nizaam's career on earth, impressed me\nwith feelings at that moment I cannot forget; and it was with reluctance I\nturned from this object to wander among the surrounding splendid ruins,\nthe only emblems left of departed greatness; where not even a tablet\nexists to mark the affection of survivors, or to point to the passing\ntraveller the tomb of the monarch, the prince, or the noble,--except in\nthe instance of Shah Allum,--whilst the humble-minded man's place of\nsepulture is kept repaired from age to age, and still retains the\nfreshness of a modern structure in its five hundredth year.\n\nThere are men in charge of Shah Nizaam ood deen's mausoleum who lead\ndevout lives, and subsist on the casual bounties gleaned from the\ncharitable visitors to his shrine. Their time is passed in religious\nduties, reading the Khoraun over the ashes of the saint, and keeping the\nplace clean and free from unholy intrusions. They do not deem this mode of\nexistence derogatory; for to hold the situation of darogahs, or keepers of\nthe tombs of the saints, who are held in universal veneration amongst\nMussulmauns, is esteemed an honourable privilege.\n\nIn this sketch of my visit to the tombs at Delhi, I must not omit one very\nremarkable cemetery, which, as the resting place of the last reigning\nsovereign of Hindoostaun, excited in me no small degree of interest,\nwhilst contrasting the view it exhibited of fallen greatness, with the\nmany evidences of royal magnificence.\n\nThe tomb I am about to describe is that erected over the remains of Shah\nAllum;[9] and situated within view of the mausoleum of the righteous\nplebeian, Shah Nizaam. It is a simple, unadorned grave; no canopy of\nmarble, or decorated hall, marks here the peaceful rest of a monarch, who\nin his life-time was celebrated for the splendour of his Court; a small\nsquare spot of earth, enclosed with iron railings, is all that remains to\npoint to posterity the final resting place of the last monarch of\nHindoostaun. His grave is made by his favourite daughter's side, whose\naffection had been his only solace in the last years of his earthly\nsufferings; a little masonry of brick and plaster supports the mound of\nearth over his remains, on which I observed the grass was growing,\napparently cultured by some friendly hand. At the period of my visit, the\nsolitary ornament to this last terrestrial abode of a King was a luxuriant\nwhite jessamine tree, beautifully studded with blossoms, which scented the\nair around with a delightful fragrance, and scattered many a flower over\nthe grave which it graced by its remarkable beauty, height, and luxuriance.\nThe sole canopy that adorns Shah Allum's grave is the rich sky, with all\nits resplendent orbs of day and night, or clouds teeming with beneficent\nshowers. Who then could be ambitious, vain, or proud, after viewing this\nstriking contrast to the grave of Shah Nizaam? The vain-glorious humbled\neven in the tomb;--the humble minded exalted by the veneration ever paid\nto the righteous.\n\nI was persuaded to visit the ruins of antiquity which are within a morning'\ns drive of Delhi. Nothing that I there witnessed gave me so much pleasure\nas the far-famed Kootub, a monument or pillar, of great antiquity, claimed\nequally by the Hindoo and Mussulmaun as due to their respective periods of\nsovereign rule. The site is an elevated spot, and from the traces of\nformer buildings, I am disposed to believe this pillar, standing now erect\nand imposing, was one of the minarets of a mosque, and the only remains of\nsuch a building, which must have been very extensive, if the height and\ndimensions of the minaret be taken as a criterion of the whole.[10]\n\nThis pillar has circular stairs within, leading to galleries extending all\nround, at stated distances, and forming five tiers from the first gallery\nto the top, which finishes with a circular room, and a canopy of stone,\nopen on every side for the advantage of an extensive prospect. Verses from\nthe Khoraun are cut out in large Arabic characters on the stones, which\nform portions of the pillar from the base to the summit in regular\ndivisions; this could only be done with great labour, and, I should\nimagine, whilst the blocks of stone were on the level surface of the earth,\nwhich renders it still more probable that it was a Mussulmaun erection.\n\nThe view from the first gallery was really so magnificent, that I was\ninduced to ascend to the second for a still bolder extent of prospect,\nwhich more than repaid me the task. I never remember to have seen so\npicturesque a panorama in any other place. Some of my party, better able\nto bear the fatigue, ascended to the third and fourth gallery. From them I\nlearned that the beauty and extent of the view progressively increased\nuntil they reached the summit, from whence the landscape which fell\nbeneath the eye surpassed description.\n\nOn the road back to Delhi, we passed some extensive remains of buildings,\nwhich I found on inquiry had been designed for an observatory by Jhy\nSing,[11]--whose extraordinary mind has rendered his name conspicuous in\nthe annals of Hindoostaun,--but which was not completed while he lived. It\nmay be presumed, since the work was never finished, that his countrymen\neither have not the talent, or the means to accomplish the scientific plan\nhis superior mind had contemplated.\n\nAt the time I visited Delhi, I had but recently recovered from a serious\nand tedious illness; I was therefore ill-fitted to pursue those researches\nwhich might have afforded entertaining material for my pen, and must, on\nthat account, take my leave of this subject with regret, for the present,\nand merely add my acknowledgments to those kind friends who aided my\nendeavours in the little I was enabled to witness of that remarkable place,\nwhich to have viewed entirely would have taken more time and better health\nthan I could command at that period. I could have desired to search out\namongst the ruined mausoleums for those which contain the ashes of\nillustrious characters, rendered familiar and interesting by the several\nanecdotes current in Native society, to many of which I have listened with\npleasure, as each possessed some good moral for the mind.\n\nIt is my intention to select two anecdotes for my present Letter, which\nwill, I trust, prove amusing to my readers; one relates to Jhaungeer,[12]\nKing of India; the other to Kaareem Zund, King of Persia. I am not aware\nthat either has appeared before the public in our language, although they\nare so frequently related by the Natives in their domestic circles. If\nthey have not, I need hardly apologise for introducing them, and on the\nother hand, if they have before been seen, I may plead my ignorance of the\ncircumstance in excuse for their insertion here.\n\nI have already noticed that, among the true Mussulmauns, there are no\nreligious observances more strictly enforced than the keeping the fast of\nRumzaun, and the abstaining from fermented liquors. It is related, however,\nthat 'A certain king of India, named Jhaungeer, was instructed by his\ntutors in the belief, that on the day of judgment, kings and rulers will\nnot have to answer either for the sin of omission or commission, as\nregards these two commands; but that the due administration of justice to\nthe subjects over whom they are placed, will be required at the hands of\nevery king, ruler, or governor, on the face of the earth.\n\n'Jhaungeer was determined to walk strictly in the path which he was\nassured would lead him to a happy eternity; and, therefore, in his reign\nevery claim of justice was most punctiliously discharged. Each case\nrequiring decision was immediately brought to the foot of the throne; for\nthe King would not allow business of such importance to his soul's best\ninterest to be delegated to the guardianship of his Vizier, or other of\nhis servants; and in order to give greater facility to complainants of\nevery degree, the King invented the novel contrivance of a large bell,\nwhich was fixed immediately over his usual seat on the musnud, which bell\ncould be sounded by any one outside the palace gate, by means of a stout\nrope staked to the ground. Whenever this alarum of justice was sounded in\nthe King's ear, he sent a trusty messenger to conduct the complainant into\nhis presence.[13]\n\n'One day, upon the bell being violently rung, the messenger was commanded\nto bring in the person requiring justice. When the messenger reached the\ngate, he found no other creature near the place but a poor sickly-looking\nass, in search of a scanty meal from the stunted grass, which was dried up\nby the scorching sun, and blasts of hot wind which at that season\nprevailed. The man returned and reported to the King that there was no\nperson at the gate.\n\n'The King was much surprised at the singularity of the circumstance, and\nwhilst he was talking of the subject with his nobles and courtiers, the\nbell was again rung with increased violence. The messenger being a second\ntime despatched, returned with the same answer, assuring the King that\nthere was not any person at or within sight of the gate. The King,\nsuspecting him to be a perverter of justice, was displeased with the man,\nand even accused him of keeping back a complainant from interested motives.\nIt was in vain the messenger declared himself innocent of so foul a crime;\na third time the bell rang, \"Go,\" said the King to his attendants, \"and\nbring the supplicant into my presence immediately!\" The men went, and on\ntheir return informed the King that the only living creature near the gate\nwas an ass, poor and manged, seeking a scanty meal from the parched blades\nof grass. \"Then let the ass be brought hither!\" said the King; \"perhaps\n_he_ may have some complaint to prefer against his owner.\"\n\n'The courtiers smiled when the ass was brought into the presence of the\nmonarch, who upon seeing the poor half-starved beast covered with sores,\nwas at no loss for a solution of the mysterious ringing at the bell, for\nthe animal not finding a tree or post against which he could rub himself,\nhad made use of the bell-rope for that purpose.\n\n\"Enquire for the owner of the ass!\" commanded the King, \"and let him be\nbrought before me without delay!\" The order promptly given, was as readily\nobeyed; and the hurkaarahs (messengers, or running footmen) in a short\ntime introduced a poor Dhobhie[14] (washerman) who had owned the ass from a\nfoal. The plaintiff and defendant were then placed side by side before the\nthrone, when the King demanded, \"Why the sick ass was cast out to provide\nfor itself a precarious subsistence?\" The Dhobhie replied, \"In truth, O\nJahaum-punah![15] (Protector or Ruler of the World), because he is grown\nold and unserviceable, afflicted with mange, and being no longer able to\nconvey my loads of linen to the river, I gave him his liberty.\"\n\n'\"Friend,\" said the King, \"when this thine ass was young and healthy,\nstrong and lusty, didst thou not derive benefits from his services? Now\nthat he is old, and unable from sickness to render thee further benefits,\nthou hast cast him from thy protection, and sent him adrift on the wide\nworld; gratitude should have moved thee to succour and feed so old and\nfaithful a servant, rather than forsake him in his infirmities. Thou hast\ndealt unjustly with this thy creature; but, mark me, I hold thee\nresponsible to repair the injury thou hast done the ass. Take him to thy\nhome, and at the end of forty days attend again at this place, accompanied\nby the ass, and compensate to the best of thy power, by kind treatment,\nfor the injury thou hast done him by thy late hard-hearted conduct.\"\n\n'The Dhobhie, glad to escape so well, went away leading the ass to his\nhome, fed him with well-soaked gram (grain in general use for cattle), and\nnicely-picked grass, sheltered him from the burning sun, poured healing\noil into his wounds, and covered his back to keep off the flies; once a\nday he bathed him in the river. In short, such expedients were resorted to\nfor the comfort and relief of the ass, as were ultimately attended with\nthe happiest effects.\n\n'At the expiration of the forty days, the Dhobhie set off from his home to\nthe palace, leading his now lively ass by a cord. On the road the\npassers-by were filled with amazement and mirth, at the manners and\nexpressions of the Dhobhie towards his led ass. \"Come along,\nbrother!--Make haste, son!--Let us be quick, father!--Take care, uncle!\"\n\n'\"What means the old fool?\" was asked by some; \"does he make his ass a\nrelation?\"--\"In truth,\" replied the Dhobhie, \"my ass is a very dear old\nfriend, and what is more, he has been a greater expense to me than all my\nrelations latterly: believe me, it has cost me much care and pains to\nbring this ass into his present excellent condition.\" Then relating the\norders of the King, and his own subsequent treatment of the beast, the\npeople no longer wondered at the simple Dhobhie's expressions which had\nprompted them at first to believe he was mad.\n\n'The King, it is related, received the Dhobhie graciously, and commended\nand rewarded him for his careful attention to the animal; which in his\nimproved condition became more useful to his master than he had ever been,\nthrough the King's determination to enforce justice even to the brute\ncreation.'\n\nThe second anecdote, translated for me by the same kind hand, is often\nrelated, with numerous embellishments, under the title of 'Khareem\nZund'.[16]\n\n'Khareem Zund ruled in Persia. One day he was seated in the verandah of\nhis palace smoking his hookha, and, at the same time, as was his frequent\npractice, overlooking the improvements carried on by masons and labourers,\nunder the superintendence of a trusty servant. One of the labourers, who\nwas also named Khareem, had toiled long, and sought to refresh himself\nwith a pipe. The overseer of the work, seeing the poor man thus engaged,\napproached him in great wrath, rated him severely for his presumption in\nsmoking whilst he stood in the presence of his sovereign, and striking him\nseverely with a stick, snatched the pipe from the labourer and threw it\naway. The poor wretch cared not for the weight of the blow so much as for\nthe loss of his pipe: his heart was oppressed with the weight of his\nsorrows, and raising his eyes to Heaven he cried aloud, \"Allah\nKhareem!\"[17] (God is merciful!), then lowering his eyes, his glance\nrested on the King, \"App Khareem!\" (thou art named merciful!), from whom\nwithdrawing his eyes slowly he looked at his own mean body, and added,\n\"Myn Khareem!\" (I am called merciful!).\n\n'The King, who had heard the labourer's words, and witnessed with emotion\nthe impressive manner of lifting his eyes to Heaven, had also seen the\nseverity of the overseer to the unoffending labourer; he therefore\ncommanded that the man should be brought into his presence without delay,\nwho went trembling, and full of fear that his speech had drawn some heavy\npunishment on his head.\n\n'\"Sit down,\" said the King.--\"My sovereign pardon his slave!\" replied the\nlabourer.--\"I do not jest; it is my pleasure that you sit down,\" repeated\nthe King; and when he saw his humble guest seated, he ordered his own\nsilver hookha to be brought and placed before the poor man, who hesitated\nto accept the gracious offer; but the King assured him in the kindest\nmanner possible it was his wish and his command. The labourer enjoyed the\nluxury of a good hookha, and by the condescending behaviour of the King\nhis composure gradually returned.\n\n'This King, who it would seem delighted in every opportunity that offered\nof imparting pleasure and comfort to his subjects of all ranks and degrees,\nseeing the labourer had finished his second chillum[18] (contents of a\npipe) told him he had permission to depart, and desired him to take the\nhookha and keep it for his sake. \"Alas, my King!\" said the labourer, \"this\ncostly silver pipe will soon be stolen from me; my mud hut cannot safely\nretain so valuable a gift; the poor mazoor[19] inhabits but a chupha (or\ncoarse grass-roofed) hut.\"--\"Then take materials from my store-houses to\nbuild a house suited to your hookha,\" was the order he received from the\nKing; \"and let it be promptly done! I design to make you one of my\noverseers; for _you_, Khareem, have been the instrument to rouse _me_ to\nbe Khareem (merciful); and I can now approach Allah with increased\nconfidence. Who is the only true Khareem!\"'\n\n\n[1] Akbar Shah II, King of Delhi, A.D. 1806-37.\n\n[2] _Mahall_.\n\n[3] _Darvesh_, 'a religious mendicant'.\n\n[4] Mansur 'Ali Khan, Safdar Jang, Nawab of Oudh\n    (A.D. 1739-56), his successors being--his son, Shuja-ud-daula\n    (1756-75); his son, Asaf-ud-daula (1775-97); his reputed son Wazir\n    'Ali (1797-8); Sa'a dat 'Ali Khan, half-brother of\n    Asaf-ud-daula (1798-1814); his son, Ghazi-ud-din Haidar\n    (1814-37). The tomb of Safdar Jang is near that of the Emperor\n    Humayun. 'This tomb in one of the last great Muhammadan\n    architectural efforts in India, and for its age it deserves perhaps\n    more commendation than is usually accorded to it. Though the general\n    arrangement of the tomb in the same as that of the Taj, it was not\n    intended to be a copy of the latter' (H.C. Fanshawe, _Delhi Past and\n    Present_, 1902, 246 f., with a photograph). For a different\n    appreciation, see Sleeman, _Rambles_, p. 507.\n\n[5] _Subahdar_, the Viceroy or Governor of a Subah or Province of\n    the Moghul Empire.\n\n[6] Ghazi-ud-din announced his independence of Delhi under the\n    advice of his Minister, Agha Mir.\n\n[7] Shaikh Nizam-ud-din. Auliya, one of the noblest disciples of\n    Shaikh Farid-ud-din Shakkarganj; born at Budaun, A.D. 1236,\n    died at Delhi, 1325.\n\n[8] The entrance to the Dargah was built by Firoz Shah, and bears\n    the date A.D. 1378. The structure over the tomb has been rebuilt by\n    many pious donors, and little of the original work is left (Fanshawe,\n    op. cit., 235 ff.; Sleeman, _Rambles_, 490 ff., 507).\n\n[9] Shah 'Alam II, King of Delhi, A.D. 1759-1806. 'Three royal graves\n    in the little court to the south side of the mosque lie within a\n    single marble enclosure--that on the last is the resting-place of\n    Akbar Shah II (died 1837 A.D.); the next to it is that of Shah\n    Alam II (died 1806), and then beyond an empty space, intended for\n    the grave of Bahadur Shah, [the last King of Delhi], buried at\n    Rangoon, comes the tomb of Shah Alam Bahadur Shah, a plain\n    stone with grass on it' (Fanshawe, 281 f.; Sleeman, _Rambles_, 500).\n\n[10] Qutb, 'the polar star'. The pillar, 238 feet in height, was begun by\n    Qutb-ud-di Aibak (A.D. 1206-10), and there are inscriptions of\n    Altamsh or Iltutmish, his son-in-law. It is entirely of Muhammadan\n    origin, and was primarily intended to serve as a minaret to\n    Qutb-ud-din's mosque adjoining it; but its name refers to the saint\n    Qutb-ud-din, buried close by. (Fanshawe, 265 ff.; Sleeman,\n    _Rambles_, 492 ff.)\n\n[11] This observatory was built by Raja Jai Singh of Jaipur (A.D.\n    1693-1743) in 1724. He also erected similar observatories at Benares,\n    Multan, Ujjain, and Jaipur (Fanshawe, 247).\n\n[12] Jahangir, eldest son of the Emperor Akbar, reigned A.D. 1605-27.\n\n[13] 'The first order that I issued was for the setting up of a Chain of\n    Justice, so that if the Officers of the Courts of Justice should fail\n    in the investigation of the complaints of the oppressed, the injured\n    person might come to this chain and shake it, and so give notice of\n    their wrongs. I ordered that the chain should be made of pure gold,\n    and be thirty _gaz_ [yards] long, with sixty bells upon it. The\n    weight of it was four Hindustani _mans_ [8 lb.] of 'Irak.\n    One end was firmly attached to a battlement of the fort of Agra, the\n    other to a stone column on the bank of the river' (_Memoirs of\n    Jahangir_ in Sir H.M. Elliot, _History of India_, vi. 284). It\n    does not appear that this silly contrivance was ever used, and it was\n    meant only for parade. Raja Anangpal had already set up a\n    similar bell at Delhi (ibid. vi. 262, iii. 565).\n\n[14] _Dhobi_.\n\n[15] _Jahan-panah_.\n\n\n[16] Karim Khan, of the Zand tribe, defeated the Afghans and\n    secured the Kingdom of Fars or Southern Persia, with his capital at\n    Shiraz. He died at an advanced age, A.D. 1779 (Sir J. Malcolm,\n    _History of Persia_, 1829, ii. 58 ff.).\n\n[17] _Allah Karim, Ap Karim, Main Karim_.\n\n\n[18] _Chilam_, the clay bowl of a water-pipe: its contents.\n\n[19] _Mazdur_, a day labourer.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XXI\n\n  Natural Productions of India.--Trees, shrubs, plants, fruits,\n  &c.--Their different uses and medicinal qualities.--The Rose.--Native\n  medical practice.--Antidote to Hydrophobia.--Remedy for the venom of\n  the Snake.--The Chitcherah (Inverted thorn).--The Neam-tree.--The\n  Hurrundh (Castor-tree).--The Umultass (Cassia-tree).--The\n  Myrtle.--The Pomegranate.--The Tamarind.--The Jahmun.--The\n  Mango.--The Sherrefah.--White and red Guavers.--The Damascus Fig.--The\n  Peach, and other Fruits.--The Mahdhaar (Fire-plant).--The Sirrakee and\n  Sainturh (Jungle-grass).--The Bamboo, and its various uses\n  enumerated.\n\n\nIn Europe we are accustomed to cultivate the rose merely as an ornament of\nthe garden. This is not the case with my Indian acquaintance; they\ncultivate the rose as a useful article, essential to their health, and\nconducive to their comfort.\n\nThe only rose I have ever seen them solicitous about is the old-fashioned\n'hundred-leaf' or cabbage-rose'.[1] Where-ever a Mussulmaun population\ncongregate these are found planted in enclosed fields. In the month of\nSeptember, the rose trees are cut down to within eight inches of the\nsurface of the earth, and the cuttings carefully planted in a sheltered\nsituation for striking, to keep up a succession of young trees. By the\nfirst or second week in December the earliest roses of the season are in\nbloom on the new wood, which has made its way from the old stock in this\nshort period. Great care is taken in gathering the roses to preserve every\nbud for a succession. A gardener in India is distressed when the Beeby\nSahibs[2] (English ladies) pluck roses, aware that buds and all are\nsacrificed at once. I shall here give a brief account of the several\npurposes to which the rose is applied.\n\nRose-water is distilled in most Mussulmaun families as a medicine and an\nindispensable luxury. For medicine, it is administered in all cases of\nindigestion and pains of the stomach or bowels,--the older the rose-water\nthe more effectual the remedy. I have been accustomed to see very old\nrose-water administered in doses of a wine-glass full, repeated frequently,\nin cases of cholera morbus and generally with good effect, when the\npatient has applied the remedy in time and due care has been observed in\npreventing the afflicted person from taking any other liquid until the\nworst symptoms have subsided. This method of treatment may not accord with\nthe views of professional men generally; however, I only assert what I\nhave repeatedly seen, that it has been administered to many members of my\nhusband's family with the best possible effect. On one occasion, after\neating a hearty dinner, Meer Hadjee Shaah was attacked with cholera;\nrose-water was administered, with a small portion of the stone called zahur\nmorah. In his agony, he complained of great thirst, when rose-water was\nagain handed to him, and continued at intervals of half-an-hour during the\nday and part of the night. In the morning, the pain and symptoms had\ngreatly subsided; he was, notwithstanding, restrained from taking any\nliquid or food for more than forty-eight hours, except occasionally a\nlittle rose-water; and when his Native doctors permitted him to receive\nnourishment, he was kept on very limited portions of arrow-root for\nseveral days together. At the end of about eight days (the fever having\nbeen entirely removed) chicken-broth was allowed, and at first without\nbread; solids, indeed, were only permitted when all fears of a relapse had\nceased, and even then but partially for some time, fearing the\nconsequences to the tender state of the bowels. Such persons as are\nabstemious and regard the quality of their daily food are most likely to\nrecover from the attack of this awful scourge. Very young children are\nrarely amongst the sufferers by cholera; the adults of all classes are\nmost subject to it in India; indeed, I do not find the aged or the\nyouthful, either male or female, preponderate in the number attacked; but\nthose who live luxuriously suffer most. Amongst the Natives, it is\ndifficult to prevail on them to forego their usual meals, particularly\namongst the lower orders: if they feel rather inconvenienced by heartburns\nor other indications of a disordered stomach, they cannot resist eating\nagain and again at the appointed hours, after which strong symptoms of\ncholera usually commence. I never heard of one case occurring after a good\nnight's rest, but invariably after eating, either in the morning or the\nevening.\n\nMy remarks have drawn me from my subject, by explaining the supposed\nmedicinal benefits of rose-water, which as a luxury is highly valued in\nIndia. It is frequently used by the Natives in preparing their sweet\ndishes, is added to their sherbet, sprinkled over favoured guests, used to\ncleanse the mouth-piece of the hookha, and to cool the face and hands in\nvery hot weather. Although they abstain from the use of rose-water,\nexternally and internally, when suffering from a cold,--they fancy\nsmelling a rose will produce a cold, and I have often observed in India,\nthat smelling a fresh rose induces sneezing,[3]--yet, at all other times,\nthis article is in general use in respectable Mussulmaun families. Dried\nrose-leaves and cassia added to infusions of senna, is a family medicine\nin general request.\n\nThe fresh rose-leaves are converted by a very simple process into a\nconserve, which is also used as a medicine; it is likewise an essential\narticle, with other ingredients, in the preparation of tobacco for their\nluxurious hookha.\n\nA syrup is extracted from the fresh rose, suited admirably to the climate\nof India as an aperient medicine, pleasant to the taste and mild in its\neffects. A table-spoon full is considered a sufficient dose for adults.\n\nThe seed of the rose is a powerful astringent, and often brought into use\nin cases of extreme weakness of the bowels. The green leaves are\nfrequently applied pounded as a cold poultice to inflamed places with much\nthe same effect as is produced in England from golard-water.[4]\n\nThe oil or otta of roses is collected from the rose-water when first\ndistilled. Persons intending to procure the otta, have the rose-water\npoured into dishes while warm from the still: this remains undisturbed\ntwenty-four hours, when the oily substance is discovered on the surface as\ncream on milk; this is carefully taken off, bottled, the mouth closed with\nwax, and then exposed to the burning rays of the sun for several days. The\nrose-water is kept in thin white glass bottles, and placed in baskets for\na fortnight, either on the roofs of houses or on a grass-plot; or wherever\nthe sun by day and the dew by night may be calculated on, which act on the\nrose-water and induce that fragrant smell so peculiar to that of India.\n\nI have elsewhere remarked that the Native medical practice is strictly\nherbal; minerals are strongly objected to as pernicious in after\nconsequences, although they may prove effectual in removing present\ninconvenience. Quicksilver[5] is sometimes resorted to by individuals, but\nwithout the sanction of their medical practitioners. They have no notion\nof the anatomy of the human body, beyond a few ideas suggested in the old\nGrecian school of medicine, in favour of which they are strongly\nprejudiced. They, however, are said to perform extraordinary cures by\nsimple treatment, many cases of severe fever occurred under my own\nobservation, which were removed, I really believe, by strict attention to\ndiet, or rather starving the enemy from its strong hold, than by any of\nthe medicines administered to the patients. If any one is attacked by\nfever, his medical adviser inquires the day and the hour it commenced, by\nwhich he is guided in prescribing for the patient. On the borehaun[6]\n(critical days) as the third, fifth, and seventh, after the fever\ncommences, nothing could induce the medical doctor to let blood or\nadminister active medicines; there only remains then for the patient to be\ndebarred any kind of food or nourishment, and that duly observed, the\nfever is often thrown off without a single dose of medicine. By three or\nfour days of most strict abstinence, and such simple nourishment as the\nthinnest gruel or barley water,--the latter made from the common field\nbarley, very sparingly allowed, the patient is rendered convalescent.\n\nThe Natives of India profess to have found an antidote to, and cure for,\nhydrophobia in the reetah[7] berry, described as a saponaceous nut. I have\nnever seen a case of hydrophobia, but it is by no means uncommon, I\nunderstand. They always advise that the person bitten by a rabid animal,\nshould have the limb promptly tied up with a bandage above and below the\nbite; the wound, as speedily as possible, to be seared with a red-hot iron,\nand a few doses of the reetah berry with a portion of soap administered.\nThe berry is well known for its good property in cleansing and softening\nthe hair, for which purpose it is generally found in the bathing-rooms\nboth of the European and Native ladies.\n\nThe Native remedy for snake bites, is called neellah tootee[8] (blue\nvitrol): if from eight to twelve grains be administered in ghee or butter\nimmediately after the bite is received, the happiest results will follow.\nA person in our family was bitten by a snake, but neglected to apply for\nthe remedy for more than half an hour after the accident, when his own\nexpressions were, that 'he suffered great uneasiness in his body, and his\nfaculties seemed darkened;' half a masha, about eight grains of blue stone,\nwas now given in ghee. In a few hours he was apparently quite well again,\nand for several days he found no other inconvenience than a slight\nnumbness in the hand which had been bitten by the snake.\n\nThis person had occasion soon after to leave home, and had exerted himself\nunusually by walking, when he found the same symptoms of uneasiness return;\nhe hurried to a house where he was known, and requested to be supplied\nwith a certain quantity of blue stone without delay. He had sense enough\nremaining to explain for what purpose he required it, when the person\napplied to objected to furnish him with the poisonous article. The remedy,\nhowever, was ultimately procured, taken, and in a few hours he was\nrecovered sufficiently to return home. He never found the symptoms return\nagain to my recollection.\n\nThe chitcherah[9] (inverted thorn), is a shrub common to India, which\nbears small grains not unlike rice; these seeds are poisonous in their\nnatural state, but when properly prepared with a portion of\nurzeez[10]--(tin), it becomes a useful medicine; and in particular cases\nof scrofula, which have resisted all other remedies offered by the medical\npractitioners, the Natives tell me this has proved an effectual remedy;\nand my informant, a Native doctor, assures me that three doses, of three\ngrains each, is all he finds necessary to give his patient in scrofula\ncases.\n\nThe chitcherah in its green state is resorted to as a remedy for the sting\nof scorpions: when applied to the wound, which is often much inflamed and\nvery painful, the cure is prompt. The scorpion runs from this shrub when\nheld to it, as if it were frightened: many people declare scorpions are\nnever met with in the grounds where the chitcherah grows.\n\nThe neam-tree[11] is cultivated near the houses of Natives generally, in\nthe Upper Provinces, because, as they affirm, it is very conducive to\nhealth, to breathe the air through the neam-trees. This tree is not very\nquick of growth, but reaches a good size. When it has attained its full\nheight, the branches spread out as luxuriantly as the oak and supplies an\nagreeable shelter from the sun. The bark is rough; the leaves long, narrow,\ncurved, pointed, and with saw teeth edges; both the wood and leaves\npartake of the same disagreeable bitter flavour. The green leaves are used\nmedicinally as a remedy for biles; after being pounded they are mixed with\nwater and taken as a draught; they are also esteemed efficacious as\npoultices and fomentations for tumours, &c. The young twigs are preferred\nby all classes of the Natives for tooth-brushes.\n\nThe hurrundh,[12] or castor-tree, is cultivated by farmers in their\ncorn-fields throughout Hindoostaun. This tree seldom exceeds in its growth\nthe height of an English shrub. The bark is smooth; the leaf, in shape,\nresembles the sycamore, but of a darker green. The pods containing the\nseed grow in clusters like grapes, but of a very different appearance, the\nsurface of each pod being rough, thorny, and of a dingy red cast when ripe.\nThe seed produces the oil, which is in common use as a powerful medicine,\nfor men and animals. In remote stations, where any difficulty exists in\nprocuring cocoa-nut oil, the castor oil is often rendered useful for\nburning in lamps; the light, however, produced by it is very inferior to\nthe oil of cocoa-nut. The green leaves are considered cooling to wounds or\ninflamed places, and therefore used with ointment after the\nblister-plaster is removed.\n\nAs I have seen this tree growing in corn-fields, I may here remark that\nthe farmer's motives for cultivating it originate in the idea that his\ncrops are benefited by a near vicinity to the hurrundh. It is also very\ncommon to observe a good row of the plant called ulsee[13](linseed),\nbordering a plantation of wheat or barley: they fancy this herb preserves\nthe blade healthy, and the corn from blight.\n\nThe umultass[14] (cassia) is a large and handsome forest tree, producing\nthat most useful drug in long dark pods, several inches long, which hang\nfrom the branches in all directions, giving a most extraordinary\nappearance to the tree. The seed is small and mixed with the pulp, which\ndissolves in water, and is in general use with the Natives as a powerful\nand active medicine in bilious cases. I am not, however, aware that the\nseed possesses any medicinal property: it certainly is not appropriated to\nsuch cases in Hindoostaun.\n\nMyrtle-trees,[15] under many different names, and of several kinds, are\nmet with in India, of an immense size compared with those grown in Europe.\nThey are cultivated for their known properties, rather than as mere\nornaments to the garden. The leaves, boiled in water, are said to be of\nservice to the hair; the root and branches are considered medicinal.\n\nThe pomegranate-tree[16] may be ranked amongst the choicest beauties of\nAsiatic horticulture; and when its benefits are understood, no one wonders\nthat a tree or two is to be seen in almost every garden and compound of\nthe Mussulmaun population in India.\n\nThe finest fruit of this sort is brought, however, from Persia and Cabul,\nat a great expense; and from the general estimation in which it is held,\nthe merchants annually import the fruit in large quantities. There are two\nsorts, the sweet and the acid pomegranate, each possessing medicinal\nproperties peculiar to itself. Sherbet is made from the juice, which is\npressed out, and boiled up with sugar or honey to a syrup; thus prepared\nit keeps good for any length of time, and very few families omit making\ntheir yearly supply, as it constitutes a great luxury in health, and a\nreal benefit in particular disorders. The Natives make many varieties of\nsherbet from the juices of their fruits, as the pine-apple, falsah,[17]\nmango, or any other of the same succulent nature, each having properties\nto recommend it beyond the mere pleasantness of its flavour.\n\nAn admirer of Nature must be struck with the singular beauty of the\npomegranate-tree, so commonly cultivated in India. The leaves are of a\nrich dark green, very glossy, and adorned at the same time with every\nvariety of bud, bloom, and fruit, in the several stages of vegetation,\nfrom the first bud to the ripe fruit in rich luxuriance, and this in\nsuccession nearly throughout the year. The bright scarlet colour of the\nbuds and blossoms seldom vary in their shades; but contrasted with the\nglossy dark green foliage, the effect excites wonder and admiration. There\nis a medicinal benefit to be derived from every part of this tree from its\nroot upwards, each part possessing a distinct property, which is employed\naccording to the Native knowledge and practice of medicine.\n\nEven the falling blossoms are carefully collected, and when made into a\nconserve, are administered successfully in cases of blood-spitting.\n\nThe tamarind-tree may often be discovered sheltering the tomb of revered\nor sainted characters; but I am not aware of any particular veneration\nentertained towards this tree by the general population of India, beyond\nthe benefit derived from the medicinal properties of the fruit and the\nleaves.[18]\n\nThe ripe fruit, soaked in salt and water, to extract the juices, is\nstrained, and administered as a useful aperient; and from its quality in\ncleansing the blood, many families prefer this fruit in their curries to\nother acids. From the tamarind-tree, preserves are made for the affluent,\nand chatnee for the poor, to season their coarse barley unleavened cakes,\nwhich form their daily meal, and with which they seem thoroughly contented.\n\nFrom what cause I know not, but it is generally understood that vegetation\ndoes not thrive in the vicinity of the tamarind-tree. Indeed, I have\nfrequently heard the Natives account for the tamarind being so often\nplanted apart from other trees, because they fancy vegetation is always\nretarded in their vicinity.\n\nThe jahmun-tree[19] is also held in general estimation for the benefit of\nthe fruit, which, when ripe, is eaten with salt, and esteemed a great\nluxury, and in every respect preferable to olives. The fruit, in its raw\nstate, is a powerful astringent, and possesses many properties not\ngenerally known out of Native society, which may excuse my mentioning them\nhere. The fruit, which is about the size and colour of the damson-plum,\nwhen ripe is very juicy, and makes an excellent wine, not inferior in\nquality to port. The Natives, however, are not permitted by their law to\ndrink wine, and therefore this property in the fruit is of no benefit to\nthem; but they encourage the practice of extracting the juice of jahmun\nfor vinegar, which is believed to be the most powerful of all vegetable\nacids. The Native medical practitioners declare, that if by accident a\nhair has been introduced with food into the stomach, it can never digest\nof itself, and will produce both pain and nausea to the individual. On\nsuch occasions they administer jahmun vinegar, which has the property of\ndissolving any kind of hair, and the only thing they are aware of that\nwill. Sherbet is made of this vinegar, and is often taken in water either\nimmediately after dinner, or when digestion is tardy.\n\nThe skin of the jahmun produces a permanent dye of a bright lilac colour,\nand with the addition of urzeez (tin), a rich violet. The effect on wool I\nhave never tried, but on silks and muslins the most beautiful shades have\nbeen produced by the simplest process possible, and so permanent, that the\ncolour resisted every attempt to remove it by washing, &c.[20]\n\nThe mango-tree stands pre-eminently high in the estimation of the Natives,\nand this is not to be wondered at when the various benefits derived from\nit are brought under consideration. It is magnificent in its growth, and\nsplendid in its foliage, and where a plantation of mango-trees, called 'a\ntope', is met with, that spot is preferred by travellers on which to pitch\ntheir tent. The season of blooming is about February and March; the\naromatic scent from the flowers is delightful, and the beautiful\nclustering of the blossoms is not very unlike the horse-chestnut in\nappearance and size, but branching horizontally. The young mangoes are\ngathered for preserves and pickles before the stone is formed; the\nfull-grown unripe fruit is peeled, split, and dried, for seasoning curries,\n&c. The ripe fruit spoken of in a former Letter requires no further\ncommendation, neither will it admit of comparison with any European fruits.\nThe kernels, when ripe, are often dried and ground into flour for bread in\nseasons of scarcity. The wood is useful as timber for doors, rafters, &c.,\nand the branches and leaves for fuel; in short, there is no part of the\nwhole tree but is made useful in some way to man.\n\nThe sherrefah[21] (custard-apple) is produced on a very graceful tree, not,\nhowever, of any great size; the blossom nearly resembles that of the\norange in colour and shape; the fruit ripens in the hottest months, and is\nsimilar in flavour to well-made custards. The skin is of a dusky pea-green\nrough surface, in regular compartments; each division or part containing a\nglossy black seed covered with the custard. This seed is of some utility\namongst the lower order of Natives who have occasion to rid themselves of\nvermin at the expense of little labour; the seed is pounded fine and when\nmixed in the hair destroys the living plague almost instantly. The same\narticle is often used with a hair-pencil to remove a cataract of the eye\n(they have no idea of surgical operations on the eye). There is one thing\nworthy of remark in this tree and its fruit, that flies are never known to\nsettle on either; ants of every description feed on the fruit without\ninjury, so that it cannot be imagined there is anything poisonous to\ninsects, generally, in the quality of the fruit; yet, certain it is, the\nsherrefah is equally obnoxious to flies as the seed is destructive to\nvermin. The leaves and tender twigs are considered detrimental to health,\nif not actually poisonous to cattle.\n\nThe guaver,[23] white and red, are produced in the Upper Provinces; but\nthe fruit is seldom so fine as in the Bengal district. The strong aromatic\nsmell and flavour of this fruit is not agreeable to all tastes; in size\nand shape it resembles the quince.\n\nThe Damascus fig ripens well, and the fruit is superior to any I have met\nwith in other countries. The indigenous fig-tree of Hindoostaun is one of\nthe objects of Hindoo veneration. It has always been described to me by\nthose Natives, as the sacred burbut,[24]--why? they could not explain. The\nfruit is very inferior.\n\nThe peach is cultivated in many varieties, and every new introduction\nrepays the careful gardener's skill by a rich and beautiful produce. They\nhave a flat peach,[24] with a small round kernel (a native of China), the\nflavour of which is delicious, and the tree prolific.\n\nI may here remark, that all those trees we are accustomed in Europe to\ndesignate wall-fruit, are in India pruned for standards. The only fruit\nallowed to trail on frames is the vine, of which they have many choice\nvarieties; one in particular, of late introduction from Persia, has the\nremarkable peculiarity of being seedless, called 'Ba daanah'[25] (without\nseeds); the fruit is purple, round, and sweet as honey.\n\nPeach, nectarine, and apricot trees, are cut down early in February, much\nin the same way as willows are docked in England: the new wood grows\nrapidly, and the fruit is ready for the table in the month of June. A tree\nneglected to be pruned in this way annually, would the first year yield\nbut little, and that indifferent fruit, the tree become unhealthy, and, in\nmost cases, never again restored to its former vigour.\n\nApple-trees are found chiefly in the gardens of Europeans; they are not\nperhaps as yet understood by Native gardeners, or it may be the climate is\nnot favourable to them; certain it is, that the apples produced in\nHindoostaun are not to be compared with those of other countries. Singular\nas it may seem, yet I have never met with more than one species of apple\nin my visits to the gardens of India. I have often fancied a fresh\nimportation of English apple-trees would be worth the trouble of the\ntransfer.[26]\n\nThe apple-trees grow tall and slender, the blossoms break out on the top\nof each branch in a cluster; the fruit, when ripe, is about the size of\nsmall crabs, and shaped like golden-pippins, without any acidity, but the\nsweetness rather resembles turnips than the well-flavoured apple. In the\nbazaars are to be met with what is called apple-preserve, which, however,\nis often a deception,--turnips substituted for apples.\n\nMulberries are indigenous, and of several varieties. The Native gardeners,\nhowever, take so little pains to assist or improve the operations of\nNature, that the mulberry here is seldom so fine as in other countries.\nThe common sort is produced on an immense tree with small leaves; the\nberry is long, and when ripe, of a yellow-green, very much resembling\ncaterpillars in colour and form.\n\nPlum-trees would thrive in Hindoostaun if introduced and cultivated,[27]\nsince the few, chiefly the bullace-plum, I have seen, produce tolerably\ngood fruit.\n\nCherries, I have never observed; they are known, however, by the name of\n'glass'[28] to the travelling Natives, who describe them as common to\nCashmire, Cabul, and Persia.\n\nGooseberries and currants are not known in India, but they have many good\nsubstitutes in the falsah, American sorrel, puppayah,[29] and a great\nvariety of Chinese fruits--all of which make excellent tarts, preserves,\nand jellies. Strawberries and raspberries repay their cultivation in the\nUpper Provinces: they thrive well with proper care and attention.\n\nThe melon I have described elsewhere as an indigenous fruit greatly valued\nby the Natives, who cultivate the plant in the open fields without much\ntrouble, and with very little expense; the varieties are countless, and\nevery year adds to the number amongst the curious, who pride themselves on\nnovelty in this article of general estimation.\n\nThe pine-apple requires very little pains to produce, and little demand on\nart in bringing it to perfection. The Bengal climate, however, suits it\nbetter than the dry soil of the Upper Provinces. I have frequently heard a\nsuperstitious objection urged by the Natives against this fruit being\nplanted in their regular gardens; they fancy prosperity is checked by its\nintroduction, or to use their own words,--'It is unfortunate to the\nproprietor of the garden.'\n\nThere is a beautiful shrub, called by the Natives, mahdhaar, or\narg,[30]--literally, fire-plant,--met with in the Upper Provinces of India,\ninhabiting every wild spot where the soil is sandy, as generally as the\nthistle on neglected grounds in England.\n\nThe mahdhaar-plant seldom exceeds four feet in height, the branches spread\nout widely, the leaves are thick, round, and broad; the blossom resembles\nour dark auricula. When the seed is ripe, the pod presents a real treat to\nthe lover of Nature. The mahdhaar pod may be designated a vegetable bag of\npure white silk, about the size of large walnuts. The skin or bag being\nremoved, flat seeds are discovered in layers over each other, resembling\nscales of fish; to each seed is affixed very fine white silk, about two\ninches long; this silk is defended from the air by the seed; the texture\ngreatly resembles the silky hair of the Cashmire goat. I once had the\nmahdhaar silk collected, spun, and wove, merely as an experiment, which\nanswered my full expectation: the article thus produced might readily be\nmistaken for the shawl stuff of Cashmire.[31]\n\nThe stalks of mahdhaar, when broken, pour out a milky juice at all seasons\nof the year, which falling on the skin produces blisters. The Natives\nbring this juice into use both for medicine and alchymy in a variety of\nways.\n\nThe mahdhaar, as a remedy for asthma, is in great repute with the Natives;\nit is prepared in the following way:--The plants are collected, root,\nstalks, and leaves, and well dried by exposure to the sun; they are then\nburnt on iron plates, and the ashes thrown into a pan of water, where they\nremain for some days, until the water has imbibed the saline particles; it\nis then boiled in an iron vessel, until the moisture is entirely absorbed,\nand the salt only left at the bottom. The salt is administered in\nhalf-grain doses at the first, and increasing the quantity when the\npatient has become accustomed to its influence: it would be dangerous to\nadd to the quantity suddenly.[32]\n\nAnother efficient remedy, both for asthma and obstinate continuance of a\ncough, is found in the salt extracted from tobacco-leaves, by a similar\nprocess, which is administered with the like precaution, and in the same\nquantities.\n\nThe sirrakee and sainturh[33] are two specimens of one genus of\njungle-grass, the roots of which are called secundah,[34] or khus-khus,[35]\nand are collected on account of their aromatic smell, to form thatch\ntatties, or screens for the doors and windows; which being kept constantly\nwatered, the strong wind rushing through the wet khus-khus is rendered\nagreeably cool, and produces a real luxury at the season of the hot winds,\nwhen every puff resembles a furnace-heat to those exposed to it by\nout-of-door occupation.\n\nThis grass presents so many proofs of the beneficent care of Divine\nProvidence to the creatures of His hand, that the heart must be\nungratefully cold which neglects praise and thanksgiving to the Creator,\nwhose power and mercy bestows so great a benefit. The same might be justly\nurged against our insensibility, if the meanest herb or weed could speak\nto our hearts, each possessing, as it surely does, in its nature a\nbeneficial property peculiar to itself. But here the blessing is brought\nhome to every considerate mind, since a substitute for this article does\nnot appear to exist in India.\n\nI have seen the sainturh stalks, on which the bloom gracefully moves as\nfeathers, sixteen feet high. The sirrakee has a more delicate blossom,\nfiner stalk, and seldom, I believe, exceeds ten feet; the stalk resembles\na reed, full of pith, without a single joint from the shoot upwards; the\ncolour is that of clean wheat straw, but even more glossy. The blossom is\nof a silky nature possessing every variety of shade, from pure white to\nthe rainbow's tints, as viewed in the distance at sunrise; and when\nplucked the separated blossoms have many varieties of hue from brown and\nyellow, to purple.\n\nThe head or blossom is too light to weigh down the firm but flexible stalk;\nbut as the wind presses against each patch of grass, it is moved in a mass,\nand returns to its erect position with a dignity and grace not to be\ndescribed.\n\nI have watched for the approaching season of the blooming sirrakee with an\nanxiety almost childish; my attention never tired with observing the\nprogressive advances from the first show of blossom, to the period of its\narriving at full perfection; at which time, the rude sickle of the\nindustrious labourer levels the majestic grass to the earth for domestic\npurposes. The benefits it then produces would take me very long to\ndescribe.\n\nThe sirrakee and sainturh are stripped from the outward sheltering blades,\nand wove together at the ends; in this way they are used for bordering\ntatties, or thatched roofs; sometimes they are formed into screens for\ndoors, others line their mud-huts with them. They are found useful in\nconstructing accommodations after the manner of bulk-heads on boats for\nthe river voyagers, and make a good covering for loaded waggons. For most\nof these purposes the article is well suited, as it resists moisture and\nswells as the wet falls on it, so that the heaviest rain may descend on a\nframe of sirrakee without one drop penetrating, if it be properly placed\nin a slanting position.\n\nI cannot afford space to enumerate here the variety of purposes which this\nproduction of Nature is both adapted for and appropriated to; every part\nof the grass being carefully stored by the thrifty husbandman, even to the\ntops of the reed, which, when the blossom is rubbed off, is rendered\nserviceable, and proves an excellent substitute for that useful invention,\na birch-broom. The coarse parent grass, which shelters the sirrakee, is\nthe only article yet found to answer the purposes for thatching the\nbungalows of the rich, the huts of the poor, the sheds for cattle, and\nroofs for boats. The religious devotee sets up a chupha-hut,[36] without\nexpense,--(all the house he requires,)--on any waste spot of land most\nconvenient to himself, away from the busy haunts of the tumultuous world,\nsince bamboo and grass are the common property of all who choose to take\nthe trouble of gathering it from the wilderness. And here neither rent or\ntaxes are levied on the inhabitant, who thus appropriates to himself a\nhome from the bounteous provision prepared by Divine goodness for the\nchildren of Nature.\n\nThis grass is spontaneous in its growth, neither receiving or requiring\naid from human cultivation. It is found in every waste throughout\nHindoostaun, and is the prominent feature of the jungle, into which the\nwild animals usually resort for shelter from the heat of the day, or make\ntheir covert when pursued by man, their natural enemy.\n\nThe beneficence of Heaven has also exacted but little labour from the\nhusbandman of India in procuring his daily provision. Indeed the actual\nwants of the lower order of Natives are few, compared with those of the\nsame class in England; exertion has not, therefore, been called forth by\nnecessity in a climate which induces habits of indulgence, ease, and quiet;\nwhere, however it may have surprised me at first, that I found not one\nsingle Native disposed to delight in the neat ordering of a flower-garden,\nI have since ascertained it is from their unwillingness to labour without\na stronger motive than the mere gratification of taste.[37] Hence the\nuncultivated ground surrounding the cottages in India, which must\nnaturally strike the mind of strangers with mingled feelings of pity and\nregret, when comparing the cottages of the English peasantry with those of\nthe same classes of people in Hindoostaun.\n\nThe bamboo presents to the admirer of Nature no common specimen of her\nbeautiful productions; and to the contemplating mind a wide field for\nwonder, praise, and gratitude. The graceful movements of a whole forest of\nthese slender trees surpass all description; they must be witnessed in\ntheir uncultivated ground, as I have seen them, to be thoroughly\nunderstood or appreciated, for I do not recollect wood scenery in any\nother place that could convey the idea of a forest of bamboo.\n\nThe bamboos are seen in clusters, striking from the parent root by suckers,\nperhaps from fifty to a hundred in a patch, of all sizes; the tallest in\nmany instances exceed sixty feet, with slender branches, and leaves in\npairs, which are long, narrow, and pointed. The body of each bamboo is\nhollow and jointed, in a similar way to wheat stalks, with bands or knots,\nby which wonderful contrivance both are rendered strong and flexible,\nsuited to the several designs of creative Wisdom. The bamboo imperceptibly\ntapers from the earth upwards. It is the variety of sizes in each cluster,\nhowever, which gives grace and beauty to the whole as they move with every\nbreath of air, or are swayed by the strong wind.\n\nWhere space allows the experiment, the tallest bamboo may be brought down\nto a level with the earth, without snapping asunder. In the strong tempest\nthe supple bamboo may be seen to bow submissively,--as the self-subdued\nand pliant mind in affliction,--and again rear its head uninjured by the\nstorm, as the righteous man 'preserved by faith' revives after each trial,\nor temptation.\n\nThe wood of the bamboo is hard, yet light, and possesses a fine grain,\nthough fibrous. The outward surface is smooth and highly polished by\nNature, and the knot very difficult to penetrate by any other means than a\nsaw. The twigs or branches are covered with sharp thorns, in all\nprobability a natural provision to defend the young trees from herbaceous\nanimals. I have heard of the bamboo blossoming when arrived at full age;\nthis I have, however, never seen, and cannot therefore presume to\ndescribe.[38]\n\nIn the hollow divisions of the bamboo is found, in small quantities, a\npure white tasteless substance, called tawurshear,[39] which as a medicine\nis in great request with the Native doctors, who administer it as a\nsovereign remedy for lowness of spirits, and every disease of the heart,\nsuch as palpitations, &c. The tawurshear when used medicinally is pounded\nfine, and mixed up with gold and silver leaf, preserved quinces and apples,\nand the syrup of pomegranates, which is simmered over a slow fire until it\nbecomes of the consistence of jam. It is taken before meals by the patient.\n\nThe bamboo is rendered serviceable to man in a countless variety of ways,\nboth for use and ornament. The chuphas (thatched-roofs) of huts, cottages,\nor bungalows, are all constructed on frames of bamboo, to which each layer\nof grass is firmly fixed by laths formed of the same wood.\n\nThe only doors in poor people's habitations are contrived from the same\nmaterials as the roof: viz., grass on bamboo frames, just sufficient to\nsecure privacy and defend the inmates from cold air, or the nightly\nincursions of wolves and jackals. For the warm weather, screens are\ninvented of split bamboos, either fine or coarse, as circumstances permit,\nto answer the purpose of doors, both for the rich and poor, whenever the\nhouse is so situated that these intruders may be anticipated at night.\n\nThe bamboo is made useful also in the kitchen as bellows by the aid of the\ncook's breath; in the stable, to administer medicine to horses; and to the\npoor traveller, as a deposit for his oil, either for cooking or his lamp.\nTo the boatman as sculls, masts, yards, and poles; besides affording him a\ncovering to his boat, which could not be constructed with any other wood\nequally answering the same varied purpose of durability and lightness.\n\nThe carriers (generally of the bearer caste), by the help of a split\nbamboo over the shoulder, convey heavy loads suspended by cords at each\nend, from one part of India to the other, many hundred miles distant. No\nother wood could answer this purpose so well; the bamboo being remarkably\nlight and of a very pliant nature lessens the fatigue to the bearer,\nwhilst almost any wood sufficiently strong to bear the packages would fret\nthe man's shoulder and add burden to burden. The bearers do not like to\ncarry more than twelve seer (twenty-four pounds) slung by ropes at each\nend of their bamboo for any great distance; but, I fear, they are not\nalways allowed the privilege of thinking for themselves in these matters.\n\nWhen a hackery[40] (sort of waggon) is about to be loaded with of corn or\ngoods, a railing is formed by means of bamboos to admit the luggage; thus\nrendering the waggon itself much lighter than if built of solid wood, an\nobject of some moment, when considering the smallness of the cattle used\nfor draught, oxen of a small breed being in general use for waggons, carts,\nploughs, &c. I have never seen horses harnessed to any vehicle in India,\nexcept to such gentlemen's carriages as are built on the English principle.\n\nThe Native carriages of ladies and travellers are indebted to the bamboo\nfor all the wood used in the construction of the body, which is merely a\nframe covered with cloth, shaped in several different ways,--some square,\nothers double cones, &c.\n\nBaskets of every shape and size, coarse or fine, are made of the split\nbamboo; covers for dinner trays, on which the food is sent from the\nkitchen to the hall; cheese-presses, punkahs, and screens, ingeniously\ncontrived in great varieties; netting-needles and pins, latches and bolts\nfor doors; skewers and spits; umbrella sticks, and walking canes; toys in\ncountless ways, and frames for needle-work.\n\nA long line of etceteras might here be added as to the number of good\npurposes to which the bamboo is adapted and appropriated in Native economy;\nI must not omit that even the writing-paper on which I first practised the\nPersian character was manufactured from the bamboo, which is esteemed more\ndurable, but not so smooth as their paper made from cotton. The young\nshoots of bamboo are both pickled and preserved by the Natives, and\nesteemed a great luxury when produced at meals with savoury pillaus, &c.\n\nI am told, a whole forest of bamboo has sometimes been consumed by fire,\nignited by their own friction in a heavy storm, and the blaze fanned by\nthe opposing wind; the devouring element, under such circumstances, could\nbe stayed only when there ceased to be a tree to feed the flame.\n\n\n[1] The Indian rose-water is made principally from _Rosa damascena_ about\n    Ghazipur in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh. It has no\n    medicinal value, but is used as a vehicle for other mixtures (Watt,\n    _Economic Dictionary_, VI, part i. 560 ff.).\n\n[2] _Bibi Sahiba_. 'On the principle of the degradation of titles\n    which is general, this word in application to European ladies has been\n    superseded  by the hybrid _Mem Sahib_ or Madam Sahib, though it\n    is often applied to European maid-servants or other Englishwomen of\n    that rank of life' (Yule, _Hobson-Jobson_[2], 78).\n\n[3] It is one of the flowers which produce pollen catarrh. Pope's\n    suggestion that a man with a hypersensitive nervous system might 'die\n    of a rose in aromatic pain', is not an impossible contingency.\n\n[4] Goulard water, named after Thomas Goulard, a French surgeon: a\n    solution of sub-acetate of lead, used as a lotion in cases of\n    inflammation (_New English Dictionary, s.v._).\n\n[5] P. 235.\n\n[6] Not in Platts' _Hindustani Dictionary_: probably _barhan_,\n    increasing.\n\n[7] _Ritha_, the berry of the soap-nut tree, _Sapindus trifoliatus_\n    or _mukorossi_. (Watt, _Economic Dict_., vol. vi, part ii, 468.)\n\n[8] _Nila tutiya_, copper sulphate: used as an emetic in cases\n    of poisoning, but not now recognized as a remedy for snake-bite.\n\n[9] _Chichra, Achryanthes aspera_ (Watt, i. 81).\n\n[10] _Arziz_.\n\n[11] _Nim, Melia Azadirachta_. The belief that it is a prophylactic\n    against fever and cholera is held even by some Europeans\n    (Watt, v. 217).\n\n[12] _Arand, Ricinus communis_.\n\n[13]  Alsi, _Linum usitatissimum._\n\n[14] _Amaltas, Cassia fistula_. The pulp of the fruit and the root-bark\n    form the most useful domestic medicine, a simple purgative.\n\n[15] _Myrtus communis_.\n\n[16] _Punica Granatum_. The best varieties of the fruit come from\n    Afghanistan and Persia.\n\n[17] _Phalsa, falsa, Grewia asiatica_.\n\n[18] The shade of the tree is supposed to be unhealthy to men, animals,\n    and plants, as it is believed to be haunted by spirits, and it is\n    worshipped on a day known as 'Tamarind Eleventh'.\n\n[19] See p. 194.\n\n[20] Watt, however, writes: 'Tin is a highly important metal in dyeing as\n    practised in Europe, but in this respect is apparently unknown to the\n    natives of India.' (Watt, _Economic Dictionary_, vol. vi, part iv, 60.)\n\n[21] _Sharifa, Anona squamosa_.\n\n[22] Guava.\n\n[23] _Bargat_, the banyan-tree.\n\n[24] _Pyrus persica_.\n\n[25] _Be-danah._\n\n[26] Excellent apples are now grown on the lower Himalayas.\n\n[27] _Prunus communis_ grows in the lower Himalayas and as far down as\n    Saharanpur, but the fruit is inferior.\n\n[28] The sweet or wild cherry, _Prunus avium_, is called _gilas_ in the\n    Hills.\n\n[29] _Papaiya_, the papau tree, _Carica papaya_, has the curious\n    property of making meat tender, if placed near it.\n\n[30] _Madar, ak._ The latter term is derived from Sanskrit _arka_,\n    'the sun', on account of the fiery colour of its flowers.\n\n[31] The plant yields a silk cotton from the seeds and a rich white bass\n    fibre from the bark, both likely to be of commercial value (Watt, ii.\n    38 ff.)\n\n[32] Used in equal proportions with black pepper, the fresh blossoms are a\n    useful and cheap remedy for asthma, hysteria, and epilepsy (_ibid_. ii.\n    44 ff).\n\n[33] _Sirki_ is the upper portion of the blossoming stem, and\n    _sentha_ the lower portion of the reed grass _Saccharum ciliare_\n    (_ibid_. vi, part ii, 2.)\n\n[34] _Sarkanda_ is the Panjab name for the grass _Saccharum\n    arundinaceum_, but it is also applied to _Saccharum ciliare_ in last\n    note (_ibid_. vi, part ii, 1 f.).\n\n[35] _Khaskhas_, used for screens, is the root of the grass _Andropogon\n    muricatus_ (_ibid_. i, 245 ff.)\n\n[36] _Chhappar_.\n\n[37] This is true of the higher class Musalmans; but there were\n    splendid gardens in the palaces of the Moghul Emperors: see C.M.\n    Villiers Stuart, _The Gardens of the Great Mughals_, 1913.\n\n[38] The subject of the flowering of the bamboo has been investigated by\n    Sir G. Watt, who writes: 'A bamboo may not flower before it has\n    attained a certain age, but its blossoming is not fixed so arbitrarily\n    that it cannot be retarded or accelerated by climatic influences. It\n    is an undoubted fact that the flowering of the bamboo is decided by\n    causes which bring about famine, for the providential supply of food\n    from this source has saved the lives of thousands of persons during\n    several of the great famines of India.' Hence the provision of the\n    edible seeds by the extension of bamboo cultivation has been\n    recommended as a means of mitigating distress (_Economic Dictionary_,\n    vol. i, 373 ff., 386).\n\n[39] _Tabashir_, bamboo manna, is a siliceous substance found in the\n    joints of the bamboo: considered cooling, toxic, aphrodisiac and\n    pectoral, but as a medicinal agent it is inert (_ibid_. i. 384, Yule,\n    _Hobson-Jobson_[2], 887).\n\n[40] A bullock carriage, Hindustani _chhakra_ (Yule,\n    _Hobson-Jobson_[2], 407 f.).\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XXII\n\n  Monkeys.--Hindoo opinions of their Nature.--Instances of their\n  sagacity.--Rooted animosity of the Monkey tribe to the\n  snake.--Cruelty to each other when maimed.--The female remarkable for\n  affection to its young.--Anecdotes descriptive of the belief of the\n  Natives in the Monkey being endowed with reason.--The Monkeys and the\n  Alligator.--The Traveller and the Monkeys.--The Hindoo and the\n  Monkey.\n\n\nThe Natives of India, more particularly the Hindoos, are accustomed to pay\nparticular attention to the habits of the varied monkey race, conceiving\nthem to be connecting links in the order of Nature between brutes and\nrational creatures; or, as some imagine and assert, (without any other\nfoundation than conjecture and fancy), that they were originally a race of\nhuman beings, who for their wicked deeds have been doomed to perpetuate\ntheir disgrace and punishment to the end of time in the form and manner we\nsee them, inhabiting forests, and separated from their superior man.\n\nI have had very few opportunities of acquainting myself with the general\nprinciples of the Hindoo belief, but I am told, there are amongst them\nthose who assert that one of their deities was transformed to a particular\nkind of monkey, since designated Hummoomaun,[1] after the object of their\nadoration; whence arises the marked veneration paid by Hindoos of certain\nsects to this class of monkeys.\n\nThe Natives firmly believe the whole monkey race to be gifted with reason\nto a certain extent, never accounting for the sagacity and cunning they\nare known to possess by instinctive habits; arguing from their own\nobservations, that the monkeys are peaceable neighbours, or inveterate\nenemies to man, in proportion as their good will is cultivated by kindness\nand hospitality, or their propensity to revenge roused by an opposite line\nof conduct towards them.\n\nThe husbandman, whose land is in the vicinity of a forest, and the abode\nof monkeys, secures safety to his crops, by planting a patch of ground\nwith that species of grain which these animals are known to prefer. Here\nthey assemble, as appetite calls, and feast themselves upon their own\nallotment; and, as if they appreciated the hospitality of the landlord,\nnot a blade is broken, or a seed destroyed in the fields of corn to the\nright and left of their plantation. But woe to the farmer who neglects\nthis provision; his fields will not only be visited by the marauders, but\ntheir vengeance will be displayed in the wasteful destruction of his\ncultivation. This undoubtedly looks more like reason than instinct; and if\ncredit could be given to half the extraordinary tales that are told of\nthem, the monkeys of India might justly be entitled to a higher claim than\nthat of instinct for their actions.\n\nMonkeys seem to be aware that snakes are their natural enemies. They never\nadvance in pursuit of, yet they rarely run from a snake; unless its size\nrenders it too formidable an object for their strength and courage to\nattack with anything like a prospect of success in destroying it. So great\nis the animosity of the monkey race to these reptiles, that they attack\nthem systematically, after the following manner:--\n\nWhen a snake is observed by a monkey, he depends on his remarkable agility\nas a safeguard from the enemy. At the most favourable opportunity he\nseizes the reptile just below the head with a firm grasp, then springs to\na tree, if available, or to any hard substance near at hand, on which he\nrubs the snake's head with all his strength until life is extinct; at\nintervals smelling the fresh blood as it oozes from the wounds of his\nvictim. When success has crowned his labour, the monkey capers about his\nprostrate enemy, as if in triumph at the victory he has won; developing,\nas the Natives say, in this, a striking resemblance to man.\n\nVery few monkeys, in their wild state, ever recover from inflicted wounds;\nthe reason assigned by those who have studied their usual habits is, that\nwhenever a poor monkey has been wounded, even in the most trifling way,\nhis associates visit him by turns, when each visitor, without a single\nexception, is observed to scratch the wound smartly with their nails. A\nwound left to itself might be expected to heal in a short time, but thus\nirritated by a successive application of their sharp nails, it inflames\nand increases. Mortification is early induced by the heated atmosphere,\nand death rapidly follows.\n\nThe monkeys' motives for adding to their neighbour's anguish, is accounted\nfor by some speculators on the score of their aversion to the unnatural\nsmell of blood; or they are supposed to be actuated by a natural\nabhorrence to the appearance of the wound, not by any means against the\nwounded; since in their domestic habits, they are considered to be\npeaceable and affectionate in their bearings towards each other. The\nstrong will exercise mastery over the weak where food is scarce, but, in a\ngeneral way, they are by no means quarrelsome or revengeful amongst\nthemselves. They are known to hold by each other in defending rights and\nprivileges, if the accounts given by credible Natives be true, who add\nthat a whole colony of monkeys have been known to issue forth in a body to\nrevenge an injury sustained by an individual of their tribe; often firing\na whole village of chupha-roofs, where the aggressor is known to be a\nresident, who in his anger may have maimed or chastised one of their\ncolony.\n\nThe female monkey is remarkable for her attachment to her progeny, which\nshe suckles until it is able to procure food for its own sustenance. When\none of her young dies, the mother is observed to keep it closely encircled\nin her arms, moaning piteously with true maternal feelings of regret, and\nnever parting with it from her embrace until the dead body becomes an\noffensive mass: and when at last she quits her hold, she lays it on the\nground before her, at no great distance, watching with intense anxiety the\ndead body before her, which she can no longer fold in her embrace, until\nthe work of decomposing has altered the form of the creature that claimed\nher tender attachment. What an example is here given to unnatural mothers\nwho neglect or forsake their offspring!\n\nI shall here insert a few anecdotes illustrative of the opinions of the\nNatives on the subject of monkeys being possessed of reasoning faculties.\nThey shall be given exactly as I have received them, not expecting my\nreaders will give to them more credit than I am disposed to yield to most\nof these tales; but as they are really believed to be true by the Natives\nwho relate them, I feel bound to afford them a place in my work, which is\nintended rather to describe men as they are, than men as I wish to see\nthem.\n\nIn the neighbourhood of Muttra is an immense jungle or forest, where\nmonkeys abound in great numbers and variety. Near a village bordering this\nforest, is a large natural lake which is said to abound with every sort of\nfish and alligators. On the banks of this lake are many trees, some of\nwhich branch out a great distance over the water. On these trees monkeys\nof a large description, called Lungoor,[2] gambol from spray to spray in\nhappy amusement: sometimes they crowd in numbers on one branch, by which\nmeans their weight nearly brings the end of the bough to the surface of\nthe water; on which occasion it is by no means unusual for one or more of\ntheir number to be lessened.\n\nWhether the monkeys told their thoughts or not, my informant did not say,\nbut the retailers of this story assert, that the oldest monkey was aware\nthat his missing brethren had been seized by an alligator from the branch\nof the tree, whilst they were enjoying their amusement. This old monkey,\nit would seem, resolved on revenging the injury done to his tribe, and\nformed a plan for retaliating on the common enemy of his race.\n\nThe monkeys were observed by the villagers, for many successive days,\nactively occupied in collecting the fibrous bark of certain trees, which\nthey were converting into a thick rope. The novelty of this employment\nsurprised the peasants and induced them to watch daily for the result.\nWhen the rope was completed, from sixty to seventy of the strongest\nmonkeys conveyed it to the tree: having formed a noose at one end with the\nnicest care, the other end was secured by them to the overhanging arm of\nthe tree. This ready, they commenced their former gambols, jumping about\nand crowding on the same branch which had been so fatal to many of their\nbrethren.\n\nThe alligator, unconscious of the stratagem thus prepared to secure him,\nsprang from the water as the branch descended but instead of catching the\nmonkey he expected, he was himself caught in the noose; and the monkeys\nmoving away rather precipitately, the alligator was drawn considerably\nabove the surface of the water. The more he struggled the firmer he was\nheld by the noose; and here was his skeleton to be seen many years after,\nsuspended from the tree over the water, until time and the changes of\nseason released the blanched bones from their exalted situation, to\nconsign them to their more natural element in the lake below.\n\nOn one occasion, a Hindoo traveller on his way to Muttra, from his place\nof residence, drew down the resentment of the monkeys inhabiting the same\nforest, by his inattention to their well-known habits. The story is told\nas follows:--\n\n'The man was travelling with all his worldly wealth about his person: viz.,\nfifty gold mohurs, (each nearly equal to two pounds in value[3]), and a\nfew rupees, the savings of many a year's hard service, which were secreted\nin the folds of his turban; a good suit of clothes on his back; a few gold\nornaments on his neck and arms; and a bundle of sundries and cooking\nvessels.\n\n'The Hindoo was on foot, without companions, making his way towards the\nhome of his forefathers, where he hoped with his little treasury to be\nable to spend his remaining years in peace with his family and friends,\nafter many years' toil and absence from his home. He stopped near to the\nlake in question, after a long and fatiguing march, to rest himself\nbeneath the shade of the trees, and cook his humble meal of bread and\ndhall. I ought here, perhaps, to say, that this class of Natives always\ncook in the open air, and, if possible, near a river, or large body of\nwater, for the purpose of bathing before meals, and having water for\npurifying their cooking utensils, &c.\n\n'The man having undressed himself, and carefully piled his wardrobe\nbeneath the tree he had selected for shelter, went to the lake and bathed;\nafter which he prepared his bread, and sat himself down to dine. As soon\nas he was comfortably seated, several large monkeys advanced and squatted\nthemselves at a respectful distance from him, doubtless expecting to share\nin the good things he was enjoying. But, no: the traveller was either too\nhungry or inhospitable, for he finished his meal, without tendering the\nsmallest portion to his uninvited visitors, who kept their station\nwatching every mouthful until he had finished.\n\n'The meal concluded, the traveller gathered his cooking vessels together\nand went to the bank of the lake, in order to wash them, as is customary,\nand to cleanse his mouth after eating; his clothes and valuables were left\nsecurely under the tree as he imagined,--if he thought at all about\nthem,--for he never dreamed of having offended the monkeys by eating all\nhe had cooked, without making them partakers. He was no sooner gone,\nhowever, than the monkeys assembled round his valuables; each took\nsomething from the collection; the oldest among them having secured the\npurse of gold, away they ran to the tree over the very spot where the man\nwas engaged in polishing his brass vessels.\n\nThe Hindoo had soon completed his business at the lake, and unconscious of\ntheir movements, he had returned to the tree, where to his surprise and\nsorrow, he discovered his loss. Nearly frantic, the Hindoo doubted not\nsome sly thief had watched his motions and removed his treasures, when he\nheard certain horrid yells from the monkeys which attracted his attention:\nhe returned hastily to the lake, and on looking up to the tree, he\ndiscovered his enemies in the monkeys. They tantalized him for some time\nby holding up the several articles to his view, and when the old monkey\nshook the bag of gold, the poor man was in an agony; they then threw the\nwhole into the lake, the coins, one by one, were cast into the deep water,\nwhere not a shadow of hope could be entertained of their restoration, as\nthe lake was deep and known to be infested with alligators.\n\n'The man was almost driven mad by this unlooked-for calamity, by which he\nwas deprived of the many comforts his nursed treasure had so fairly\npromised him for the remainder of life. He could devise no plan for\nrecovering his lost valuables, and resolved on hastening to the nearest\nvillage, there to seek advice and assistance from his fellow-men; where\nhaving related his unfortunate adventures, and declaring he had done\nnothing to anger the creatures, he was asked if he had dined, and if so,\nhad he given them a share? He said, he had indeed cooked his dinner, and\nobserved the monkeys seated before him whilst he dined, but he did not\noffer them any.\n\n'\"That, that, is your offence!\" cried the villagers in a breath; \"who\nwould ever think of eating without sharing his meal with men or with\nanimals? You are punished for your greediness, friend.\"--\"Be it so,\" said\nthe traveller; \"I am severely used by the brutes, and am now resolved on\npunishing them effectually in return for the ill they have done me.\"\n\n'He accordingly sold the gold ornaments from his arms and neck, purchased\na quantity of sugar, ghee, flour, and arsenic, returned to his old\nquarters, prepared everything for cooking, and, in a short time, had a\nlarge dish filled with rich-looking cakes, to tempt his enemies to their\nown ruin.\n\n'The feast was prepared in the presence of the assembled multitude of\nmonkeys. The Hindoo placed the dish before his guests, saying, \"There, my\nlords! your food is ready!\" The old monkey advanced towards the dish, took\nup a cake, raised it to his nose, and then returning it to the dish,\nimmediately ran off, followed by the whole of his associates into the\nthick jungle.\n\n'The man began to despair, and thought himself the most unlucky creature\nexisting; when, at length, he saw them returning with augmented numbers;\nhe watched them narrowly, and observed each monkey had a green leaf in his\npaw, in which he folded a cake and devoured the whole speedily. The man\nexpected of course to see them sicken immediately, for the quantity of\narsenic he had used was sufficient, he imagined to have killed twenty\ntimes their number. But, no: his stratagem entirely failed; for the leaf\nthey had provided themselves was an antidote to the poison put into their\nfood. The traveller thus sacrificed even that little which would have\ncarried him on his journey, had he been satisfied with his first loss; but\nthe Hindoo cherished a revengeful disposition, and thereby was obliged to\nbeg his way to his family.'\n\nThe next monkey story is equally marvellous, the Natives believe that it\nactually occurred; I am disposed, however, to think all these stories were\noriginally fables to impress a moral upon the ignorant.\n\n'Near a small town in the province of Oude there is a jungle of some\nextent, inhabited by monkeys. A certain man of the Hindoo class, residing\nin the town, resolved upon enjoying himself one day with a bottle of\narrack he had procured by stealth, and since it is well known that spirits\nor fermented liquors are prohibited articles in the territories governed\nby Mussulmaun rulers, the man betook himself with his treat to the\nneighbouring jungle, where in private he might drink the spirit he loved,\nand escape the vigilance of the police.\n\n'Arriving at a convenient spot, the Hindoo seated himself under a tree,\nprepared his hookha, drew from his wrapper the bottle of spirits, and a\nsmall cup he had provided; and if ever he knew what happiness was in his\nlife, this moment was surely his happiest.\n\n'He drank a cup of his liquor, smoked his hookha with increased relish,\nand thought of nothing but his present enjoyment. Presently he heard the\nsound of rustling in the trees, and in a few minutes after, a fine sturdy\nmonkey, of the Lungoor tribe, placed himself very near to him and his\nbottle.\n\n'The Hindoo was of a lively temper, and withal kindly disposed towards the\nliving, though not of his own species. Having a cake of dry bread in his\nwaistband, he broke off a piece and threw it to his visitor; the monkey\ntook the bread and sniffed at the cup. \"Perhaps you may like to taste as\nwell as to smell,\" thought the Hindoo, as he poured out the liquor into\nthe cup, and presented it to his guest.\n\n'The monkey raised the cup with both paws to his mouth, sipped of its\ncontents, winked his eyes, appeared well satisfied with the flavour, and\nto the surprise of the Hindoo, finished the cup, which was no sooner done,\nthan away he sprang up the tree again.\n\n'\"Had I known you would run away so soon, my guest, I should have spared\nmy arrack;\" thought the Hindoo. But the monkey quickly returned to his old\nposition, threw down a gold mohur to his entertainer, and sat grinning\nwith apparent satisfaction. The Hindoo, astonished at the sight of gold,\nthought to repay his benefactor by another cup of spirits, which he placed\nbefore the monkey, who drank it off, and again mounted the tree, and\nshortly returned with a second gold mohur.\n\n'Delighted with the profit his arrack produced, the Hindoo drank sparingly\nhimself, for each time the monkey took a cup, a gold mohur was produced,\nuntil the man counted eight of these valuable coins on his palm. By this\ntime, however, the monkey was completely overcome by the strength of his\npotations, and lay apparently senseless before the Hindoo, who fancied now\nwas his turn to mount the tree, where he found, on diligent search, in a\nhollow place, a small bag of gold mohurs, with which he walked off,\nleaving the monkey prostrate on the earth.\n\n'The Hindoo determined on going some distance from his home, in a\ndifferent direction, fearing his secret treasure might be the means of\ndrawing him into difficulties amongst the people of his own town, who had\nprobably been robbed by the monkey at some previous period.\n\n'In the meanwhile the monkey is supposed to have recovered from his stupor,\nand the next morning on discovering his loss, he set up a horrid yell,\nwhich brought together all his fellow-inhabitants of the jungle; and some\nneighbouring villagers saw an immense number of monkeys of all sorts and\nsizes, collected together in a body. The story runs that this army of\nmonkeys was headed by the one who had recovered from his drunken fit, and\nthat they marched away from the jungle in pursuit of the robber.\n\n'Their first march was to the adjacent village, where every house was\nvisited in turn by the monkeys, without success; no one ever venturing to\nobstruct or drive away the intruders, fearing their resentment. After\nwhich they sallied out of the village to the main road, minutely looking\nfor footsteps, as a clue, on the sandy pathway; and by this means\ndiscovering the track of the Hindoo, they pursued the road they had\nentered throughout the day and night. Early in the morning of the\nfollowing day, the monkeys advanced to the serai (inn, or halting place\nfor travellers) soon after the Hindoo himself had quitted it, who had\nactually sojourned there the previous night.\n\n'On the road, when the horde of monkeys met any traveller, he was detained\nby them until the chief of them had scrutinized his features, and he was\nthen liberated on finding he was not the person they were in pursuit of.\nAfter having marched nearly forty miles from their home, they entered one\nof the halting places for travellers, where the Hindoo was resting after\nhis day's journey.\n\n'The monkey having recognized the robber, immediately grasped him by the\narm, and others entering, the frightened robber was searched, the purse\ndiscovered in his wrapper, which the chief monkey angrily seized, and then\ncounted over its contents, piece by piece. This done, finding the number\ncorrect, the monkey selected eight pieces, and threw them towards the\nHindoo; and distributing the remaining number of gold mohurs amongst the\nmonkeys, who placed each his coin in the hollow of his cheek, the whole\nbody retired from the serai to retrace their steps to the jungle.'\n\n\n[1] Hanuman, the divine monkey of the Ramayana epic, who helped\n    Rama to recover his abducted wife, Sita.\n\n[2] _Langur, Semnopithecus entellus_.\n\n[3] Now worth a little more than a sovereign.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XXIII\n\n  The Soofies.--Opinion of the Mussulmauns concerning Solomon.--The\n  Ood-ood.--Description of the Soofies and their sect.--Regarded with\n  great reverence.--Their protracted fasts.--Their opinion esteemed by\n  the Natives.--Instance of the truth of their predictions.--The Saalik\n  and Majoob Soofies.--The poets Haafiz and Saadie.--Character and\n  attainments of Saadie.--His 'Goolistaun'.--Anecdotes descriptive of\n  the origin of that work.--Farther remarks on the character and\n  history of Saadie.--Interesting anecdotes illustrative of his virtues\n  and the distinguishing characteristics of the Soofies.\n\n\nThe life of King Solomon, with all his acts, is the subject of many an\nauthor's pen, both in the Arabic and Persian languages; consequently the\nlearned Mussulmauns of Hindoostaun are intimately acquainted with his\nvirtues, his talent, and the favour with which he was visited by the great\ngoodness of the Almighty. In the course of my sojourn amongst them, I have\nheard many remarkable and some interesting anecdotes relating to Solomon,\nwhich the learned men assure me are drawn from sources of unquestionable\nauthority.\n\nThey affirm that the wisdom of Solomon not only enabled him to search into\nthe most hidden thoughts of men, and to hold converse with them in their\nrespective languages, but that the gift extended even to the whole brute\ncreation; by which means he could hold unlimited converse, not only with\nthe animate, as birds, beasts, and fish, but with inanimate objects, as\nshrubs, trees, and, indeed, the whole tribe of vegetable nature; and,\nfurther, that he was permitted to discern and control aerial spirits, as\ndemons, genii, &c.\n\nThe pretty bird, known in India by the name of Ood-ood,[1] is much\nregarded by the Mussulmauns, as by their tradition this bird was the\nhurkaarah of King Solomon; and entrusted with his most important\ncommissions whenever he required intelligence to be conveyed to or from a\nfar distant place, because he could place greater confidence in the\nveracity of this bird, and rely on more certain dispatch, than when\nentrusting his commands to the most worthy of his men servants.\n\nThe ood-ood is beautifully formed, has a variegated plumage of black,\nyellow, and white, with a high tuft of feathers on its head, through which\nis a spear of long feathers protruding directly across the head for\nseveral inches, and is of the woodpecker species. The princes, Nuwaubs,\nand nobility of Hindoostaun, keep hurkaarahs for the purpose of conveying\nand obtaining intelligence, who are distinguished by a short spear, with a\ntuft of silk or worsted about the middle of the handle, and the tail of\nthe ood-ood in the front of their turban, to remind them of this bird,\nwhich they are expected to imitate both in dispatch and fidelity. I am\ntold, these men (from their early training) are enabled to run from fifty\nto sixty miles bare-footed, and return the same distance without halting\non the same day.\n\nThe religious devotees of the Mussulmaun persuasion, who are denominated\nSoofies,[1] are conjectured, by many, to have a similar gift with Solomon\nof understanding the thoughts of other men. By some it is imagined that\nSolomon was the first Soofie; by others, that Ali, the husband of Fatima,\nimparted the knowledge of that mystery which constitutes the real Soofie.\nI am acquainted with some Natives who designate the Soofies 'Freemasons'\nbut I imagine this to be rather on account of both possessing a secret,\nthan for any similarity in other respects, between the two orders of\npeople.\n\nMy business, however, is to describe. The Soofies then are, as far as I\ncan comprehend, strictly religious men, who have forsaken entirely all\nattachment to earthly things, in their adoration of the one supreme God.\nThey are sometimes found dwelling in the midst of a populous city, yet,\neven there they are wholly detached from the world, in heart, soul, and\nmind, exercising themselves in constant adoration of, and application to\nGod; occasionally shutting themselves up for several weeks together in a\nhut of mud, thatched with coarse grass, with scarce sufficient provision\nto support the smallest living animal, and water barely enough to moisten\ntheir parched lips during the weeks thus devoted to solitary retirement\nand prayer.\n\nWhen these recluses can no longer support their self-inflicted privation,\nthey open the door of their hut, a signal anxiously watched for by such\npersons as have a desire to meet the eye of the holy man, of whom they\nwould inquire on some (to them) interesting matter; probably regarding\ntheir future prospects in the world, the cause of the ill-health and\nprospects of recovery of a diseased member of their family, or any like\nsubject of interest to the inquirer.\n\nThe Soofie, I am told, does not approve of being thus teased by the\nimportunities of the thronging crowd, who beset his threshold the instant\nhis door is heard to open. Being weak in body, after the fatigue of a\nprotracted fast of weeks together, his replies to the questions (preferred\nalways with remarkable humility) are brief and prompt; and the Natives\nassure me dependence may always be placed on the good Soofie's reply being\nstrictly the words of truth. On this account, even if the oracle's reply\ndisappoint the hopes of the questioner, he retires without a murmur, for\nthen he knows the worst of his calamity, and if God orders it so, he must\nnot complain, because Infinite Wisdom cannot err, and the holy man will\nassuredly speak the truth.\n\nThe practice so long prevailing in Europe of visiting the cunning man, to\nhave the hidden mysteries of fate solved, occurred to my recollection when\nI first heard of this custom in India.\n\n'Will my son return from his travels during my lifetime?'--was the inquiry\nof a truly religious man, whom I knew very intimately, to one of the\nprofessed Soofie class, on his emerging from his hut. The reply was as\nfollows:--'Go home!--be happy;--comfort your heart;--he is coming!' By a\nsingular coincidence it happened, that the following day's daak produced a\nletter, announcing to him that his son was on his way returning to his\nhome and his father, who had for some years despaired of ever again seeing\nhis son in this life.\n\nIt is needless to say, that the veneration shown to this Soofie was much\nincreased by the singular coincidence, because the person who consulted\nhim was a man of remarkable probity, and not given to indulge in idle\nconversations with the worldly-minded of that city.\n\nThere are many men in this country, I am told, who make Soofieism their\nprofession, but who are in reality hypocrites to the world, and their\nMaker: actuated sometimes by the love of applause from the multitude, but\noftener, I am assured, by mercenary motives. A Soofie enjoying public\nfavour may, if he choose, command any man's wealth who gives credit to his\nsupposed power. All men pay a marked deference to his holy character, and\nfew would have the temerity to withhold the desired sum, however\ninconvenient to bestow, should the demand be made by one professing to be\na Soofie.\n\nThe real Soofie is, however, a very different character, and an object of\ndeserved veneration, if only for the virtue of perfect content with which\nhis humble mind is endued: respect cannot be withheld by the reflecting\npart of the world, when contemplating a fellow-creature (even of a\ndifferent faith) whose life is passed in sincere devotion to God, and\nstrictly conforming to the faith he has embraced. My Native friends inform\nme,--and many reprobate the notion,--that the Soofies believe they resolve\ninto the Divine essence when their souls are purified from the animal\npropensities of this life by severe privations, fervent and continual\nprayer, watchings, resisting temptations, and profound meditation in\nsolitude. When they have acquired the perfection they aim at, and are\nreally and truly the perfect Soofie, they rarely quit the hut they have\nfirst selected for their retirement, and into which no one ever attempts\nto intrude, without the Soofie commands it. He enjoys the universal\nrespect and veneration of all classes of people; he has no worldly rewards\nto bestow, yet there are servants always ready to do him any kindness,\namongst the number of his admirers who flock to catch but a glimpse of the\nholy man, and fancy themselves better when but the light of his\ncountenance has beamed upon them. Proudly pre-eminent, in his own eyes, is\nthe one amongst the multitude who may be so far honoured as to be allowed\nto place a platter of food before the Soofie, when the imperative demands\nof Nature prevail over his self-inflicted abstinence.\n\nSome Soofies shut themselves in their hut for a few days, and others for\nweeks together, without seeing or being seen by a human being. Their\ngeneral clothing is simply a wrapper of calico, and their only furniture a\ncoarse mat. They are said to be alike insensible to heat or cold, so\nentirely are their hearts weaned from the indulgence of earthly comforts.\n\nI must explain, however, that there are two classes of the professedly\ndevout Soofies, viz. the Saalik, and the Majoob.[3] The true Saalik\nSoofies are those who give up the world and its allurements, abstain from\nall sensual enjoyments, rarely associate with their fellow-men, devote\nthemselves entirely to their Creator, and are insensible to any other\nenjoyments but such as they derive from their devotional exercises.\n\nThe Majoob Soofies have no established home nor earthly possessions; they\ndrink wine and spirits freely, when they can obtain them. Many people\nsuppose this class have lost the possession of their reason, and make\nexcuse for their departure from the law on that score. Both classes are\nnevertheless in great respect, because the latter are not deemed guilty of\nbreaking the law, since they are supposed to be insensible of their\nactions whilst indulging in the forbidden juice of the grape.\n\nHaafiz,[4] the celebrated poet of Persia, it is related, was a Soofie of\nthe Majoob class, he lived without a thought of providing for future\nexigencies, accepted the offerings of food from his neighbour, drank wine\nfreely when offered to him, and slept under any shed or hovel he met with,\nas contented as if he was in the palace of a king.\n\nSaadie,[5] the Persian poet, was, during the latter years of his life, a\nSaalik Soofie of the most perfect kind. Many of the inspirations of his\npen, however, were written in that part of his life which was devoted to\nthe world and its enjoyments; yet most of these indicate purity of thought\nin a remarkable degree. Saadie's life was subject to the most\nextraordinary vicissitudes; he possessed an independent mind, scorning\nevery allurement of wealth which might tend to shackle his principles. He\nis said to have repeatedly rejected offers of patronage and pecuniary\nassistance from many noblemen, whilst he still loved the world's\nenticements, declaring he never could submit to confine himself to\nattendance on an earthly master for any lengthened period. His wit,\npleasing deportment, and polite manners, together with the amiable\nqualities of his heart, rendered him a general favourite, and they who\ncould boast most intimacy with Saadie were the most honoured by the world;\nfor, though but the poor Saadie, he shed a lustre over the assemblies of\nthe great and noble in birth or station, by his brilliant mind.\n\nThe 'Goolistaun'[6] of Saadie has been so often eulogized, as to render it\nunnecessary for me to add a single word in commendation of its style and\nmorality; but I will here take leave to insert an anecdote translated for\nme by my husband, in allusion to the incident which prompted Saadie to\nwrite that work, under the title of 'Goolistaun' (Garden of Roses). I will\nalso here remark, that in the principal cities of Persia, the Mussulmauns\nof that age were not equally rigid in their observance of the law\ninterdicting the use of fermented liquors, as are those of the present day\nin Hindoostaun. Many young men among the higher orders indulged freely in\nthe 'life-inspiring draught', as they were wont to call the juice of the\ngrape.\n\n'Shiraaz was the abode and the presumptive birth-place of Saadie. In his\nearly years he was led by a love of society to depart from the rigid\ncustoms of his forefathers, and with the wild youth of his acquaintance to\nindulge freely in nightly potations of the forbidden juice of the grape.\nHe had long delighted his friends and favourites by sharing in their\nnocturnal revels, and adding by his wit and pleasantry to the mirthful\nmoments as they flew by unheeded.\n\n'At a particular season of the year, a convivial party were accustomed to\nassemble in a garden of roses, from midnight to the rising sun, to indulge\nin the luxury of wine during that refreshing season; as to receive the\nfirst scent from the opening roses as they expand with the dawn of the\nmorning, constituted a delight, proverbially intoxicating, amongst the\nsons of Persia. Saadie composed many airs for the occasion, and gifted by\nNature with a voice equalled only by his wit, he sang them with a melody\nso sweet as to render him almost the idol of his companions.\n\n'At one of these seasons of enjoyment, the festival was prepared by his\ncircle of friends as usual, but Saadie delayed his visit. The whole party\nwere lost in surprise and regret at an absence as unexpected as deplored.\nSome time was passed in fruitless conjecture on the cause of his delay,\nand at last it was agreed that a deputation from his well-beloved\nassociates should go in quest of their favourite. They accordingly went,\nand knocked at the door of his room, which they found was securely\nfastened within. The poet inquired \"Who is it that disturbs my repose, at\nthis hour, when all good subjects of the King should be at rest?\"--\"Why,\nSaadie, Saadie!\" they replied, \"it is your friends and associates, your\nfavourites!--have you forgotten our enjoyments and this season of bliss?\nCome, come, open the door, Saadie! away with us! our revels await your\npresence. Nothing gives enjoyment to our party until you add your smiles\nto our mirth.\"\n\n'\"Let me alone,\" replied Saadie; \"enjoy your pastime, if such it be to ye;\nbut for me, I am heartily ashamed of my late wanton pursuits. I have\nresolved on mending my ways, whilst yet I have time; and be ye also wise,\nmy friends; follow Saadie's example. Go home to your beds, and forsake the\nsinful habits of the world!\"\n\n'\"Why Saadie, what aileth thee! art thou mad?--or has the study of\nphilosophy drawn thee from thy former self, whilst yet thine hairs are jet\nwith youth? These reflections of thine will suit us till far better when\ntime hath frosted our beards. Come, come, Saadie, away with us! let not\nthe precious moments escape in this unprofitable converse. You must come,\nSaadie; our hearts will break without you!\"\n\n'\"Nay, nay,\" responded Saadie, \"my conscience smites me that I have erred\ntoo long. It suits not my present temper to join in your mirth.\"--\"Open\nthe door to us at any rate,\" sounded from the many voices without; \"speak\nto us face to face, our dear and well-beloved friend! let us have\nadmission, and we will argue the subject coolly.\"--Saadie's good-nature\ncould not resist the appeal, the door was unbarred, and the young men\nentered in a body.\n\n'\"We have all wickedly broken the law of the faithful,\" said Saadie to his\nguests; and he tried to reason with his unreasonable favourites, who, on\ntheir part, used raillery, bantering, argument, and every power of speech,\nto turn Saadie from his steady purpose of now fulfilling the law he had\nwilfully violated. They effected nothing in moving him from his purpose,\nuntil one of the young men, to whom Saadie was much attached, spoke\ntenderly to him of the affection both himself and friends entertained for\nhim, adding, \"It is written in our law, that if a Mussulmaun be guilty of\nany sin, however great, (and all kinds of sin are therein enumerated), and\nhe afterwards sincerely repents before God, with fasting and prayer, his\nsins shall be forgiven. Now you, Saadie, who are deeply versed in the way\nof wisdom, and better acquainted with the words of the Khoraun than any\nother man on earth, tell me, is there in that holy book a promise made of\nforgiveness for that man who breaks the hearts of his fellow-creatures?\nWith us there are many hearts so devotedly attached to you, that must\nassuredly burst the bonds of life by your complete and sudden desertion of\nthem, so that not one sin but many shall be hurled by their deaths on your\nconscience, to be atoned for how you may.\"\n\n'Saadie loved them all too dearly to resist their persevering proofs of\naffection, and he suffered himself, after a little more argument, to be\nled forth to the scene of their revels, where, however, he argued strongly\non the impropriety of their habits and refused to be tempted by the\nalluring wine. He then promised to prepare for them a never-fading garden\nof roses which should last with the world; every leaf of which, if plucked\nwith attention, should create a greater and more lasting bliss about their\nhearts than the best wine of Shiraaz, or the most refined aromatic had\nhitherto conveyed to their sensual appetites.'\n\nAfter the evening in question, Saadie abstained from all participation in\nthe revels of his friends, and devoted his hours to retirement that he\nmight accomplish the 'Goolistaun' he had pledged himself to cultivate for\ntheir more substantial benefit and perpetual enjoyment. The simplicity,\nelegance, purity of style, and moral precepts conveyed in this work, prove\nthe author to have been worthy the respect with which his name has been\nreverenced through all ages, and to this day, by the virtuously disposed\nhis work is read with unabated interest.\n\nSaadie did not remain very long at Shiraaz after his conversion, nor did\nhe settle any where for any long period. The Persian writers assert that\nhe disliked the importunities of the world, which, sensible of his merits\nas a poet and companion, constantly urged him to associate with them. He,\ntherefore, lived a wandering life for many years, carefully concealing his\nname, which had then become so celebrated by his writings, that even\nbeyond the boundaries of Persia his fame was known.\n\nAs his manner of life was simple, his wants were few; he depended solely\non the care of Divine Providence for his daily meal, avoiding every thing\nlike laying by from to-day's produce for the morrow's sustenance. He\nconsidered that provision alone acceptable, which the bounty of Divine\nProvidence daily provided for his need, by disposing the hearts of others\nto tender a suitable supply. In fact, he is said to have been of opinion\nthat the store laid up by men for future exigencies lessened the\ndelightful feeling of dependance on the bounty of God, who faileth not,\nday by day, to provide for the birds and beasts of the forest with equal\ncare as for the prince on his throne; he would say, 'I shall be tempted to\nforget from whom my bread is received, if I have coins in my purse to\npurchase from the vender. Sweet is the daily bread granted to my prayers\nand dependance on the sole Giver of all good!'\n\nTo illustrate the necessity of perfect content, he relates, in his\nwritings, the following interesting anecdote:--'I was once travelling on\nfoot, where the roads were rugged, my shoes worn out, and my feet cut by\nthe stones. I was desirous of pursuing my journey quickly, and secretly\nmourned that my feet pained me, and that my shoes were now rendered\nuseless; often wishing, as I stepped with caution, that I possessed the\nmeans of replenishing these articles so useful to a traveller.\n\n'With these feelings of dissatisfaction, I approached the spot where a\npoor beggar was seated, who, by some calamity, had been deprived of both\nhis feet. I viewed this sad object with much commiseration, for he was\ndependant on the kindness of his fellow-beggars to convey him daily to\nthat public spot, where the passing traveller, seeing his misery, might be\ninduced to bestow upon him a few coins to provide for his subsistence.\n\"Alas! alas!\" said I, \"how have I suffered my mind to be disturbed because\nmy feet pained me, and were shoeless. Ungrateful being that I am! rather\nought I to rejoice with an humble heart, that my gracious Benefactor hath\ngranted me the blessing of feet, and sound health. Never let me again\nmurmur or repine for the absence of a luxury, whilst my real wants are\namply supplied.\"'\n\nOne of my objects in detailing the anecdotes of Saadie in this place, is\nto give a more correct idea of the Soofie character of that particular\nclass called Saalik, to which he ultimately belonged.\n\nThe next translation from the life of Saadie will show how beautifully his\nwell-tempered spirit soared above those difficulties which the common mind\nwould have sunk under. His fame, his superior manners, were of that rare\nkind, that distance from his birth-place could be no obstacle to his\nmaking friends, if he chose to disclose his name in any city of Asia.\n\nI have no dates to guide me in placing the several anecdotes in their\nproper order; this, however, will be excused, as I do not pretend to give\nhis history.\n\n'On one occasion, Saadie was journeying on foot, and being overtaken by\nthe Arabs, (who, or a party of, it may be presumed, were at war with\nPersia), he was taken prisoner, and conveyed by them, with many others, to\nAleppo. The prisoners, as they arrived, were all devoted to the public\nworks (fortifying the city), and obliged to labour according to their\nability.\n\n'Saadie, unused to any branch of mechanical labour, could only be employed\nin conveying mortar to the more scientific workmen. For many months he\nlaboured in this way, degrading as the employment was, without a murmur,\nor a desire that his fate had been otherways ordained. Hundreds of men\nthen living in Aleppo would have been proud of the honour and the good\nname they must have acquired from the world, by delivering the Poet from\nhis thraldom, had they known he was amongst them, a slave to the Arabs;\nfor Saadie was revered as a saint by those who had either read his works,\nor heard of his name, extolled as it was for his virtues. But Saadie\nplaced his trust in God alone, and his confidence never for an instant\nforsook him; he kept his name concealed from all around him, laboured as\ncommanded, and was contented.\n\n'Many months of degrading servitude had passed by, when one day, it so\nhappened that a rich Jew merchant, who had formerly lived at Shiraaz, and\nthere had been honoured by the regard of the idolized Saadie, visited\nAleppo, on his mercantile concerns. Curiosity led him to survey the\nimprovements going on in the city; and passing the spot where Saadie was\nthen presenting his load of mortar to the mason, he thought he recognized\nthe Poet, yet deemed it impossible that he should be engaged in so\ndegrading an employment, who was the object of universal veneration in\nPersia. Still the likeness to his former friend was so striking, that he\nfelt no trifling degree of pleasure, whilst contemplating those features\nwhose resemblance recalled the image of that holy man who was so dear to\nhim, and brought back to his recollection many delightful hours of\nfriendly converse, which at Shiraaz had cheated time of its weight, and\nleft impressions on his heart to profit by during life.\n\n'\"I will talk with this man,\" thought the Jew; \"surely he must be related\nto my friend; the face, the form, the graceful manner, and even in that\nrude garb and occupation, he so strongly resembles my friend, that I\ncannot doubt he must be of the same kindred.\"\n\n'Drawing near to Saadie, the Jew accosted him with, \"Who are you,\nfriend,--and whence do you come?\" Saadie's voice dispelled every doubt of\nthe Jew, their eyes met, and in a few seconds they were clasped in each\nother's warm embrace, the Jew lamenting, in terms of warm sympathy, the\ndegradation of the immortalized poet, and sainted man; whilst he in turn\nchecked his friend's murmurings, by expressing his conviction that the\nwisdom of God knew best how to lead his confiding servants to himself,\ndeclaring his present occupation did not render him discontented.\n\n'The Jew went without delay to the superintendant of the public works, and\ninquired the sum he would be willing to receive in lieu of the labourer\nwhom he desired to purchase, carefully avoiding the name of Saadie lest\nthe ransom should be proportioned to the real value of such a slave. The\nman agreed to take one hundred and ten pieces of silver (each in value\nhalf a dollar). The sum was promptly paid, and the Jew received an order\nto take away his purchase when and wherever he pleased. He lost no time in\npossessing himself of his treasured friend, conveyed him to the city,\nwhere he clothed him in apparel better suited to his friend, and on the\nsame day Saadie accompanied the benevolent Israelite to his country\nresidence, some miles distant from the city of Aleppo.\n\n'Arrived here, Saadie enjoyed uninterrupted peace of mind for a long\nseason, his heart bounding with gratitude to God, who had, he felt assured,\nworked out his deliverance from slavery and its consequences; and as may\nbe supposed from such a heart, Saadie was truly sensible of the benevolent\nJew's kindness, with whom he was constrained to remain a considerable time,\nfor the Jew indeed loved him as a brother, and always grieved at the bare\nprobability that they might ever again be separated; and desiring to\nsecure his continuance with him during their joint lives, he proposed that\nSaadie should accept his only daughter in marriage with a handsome dowry.\n\n'Saadie resisted his friend's offer for some time, using arguments which,\ninstead of altering his friend's purpose, only strengthened the desire to\nsecure this amiable man as the husband of his daughter. Saadie assured him\nhe was sensible of the offence his friend might give to the opinions of\nhis people, by the proposal of uniting his daughter to a man of another\nfaith, and that their prejudices would bring innumerable evils on his good\nname by such an alliance. \"No,\" said Saadie, \"I cannot consent to such a\nmeasure. I have already been a great trouble to you, if not a burden; let\nme depart, for I cannot consent to draw down on the head of my friend the\ncensures of his tribe, and, perhaps, in after-time, disappointments. I\nhave, indeed, no desire to marry; my heart and mind are otherways engaged.\"\n\n'The friends often discussed the subject ere Saadie gave way to the\nearnest solicitations of the Jew, to whose happiness the grateful heart of\nSaadie was about to be sacrificed when he reluctantly consented to become\nthe husband of the young Jewess. The marriage ceremony was performed\naccording to the Jewish rites, when Saadie was overpowered with the\ncaresses and munificence of his friend and father-in-law.\n\n'A very short season of domestic peace resulted to him from the alliance.\nThe young lady had been spoiled by the over-indulgence of her doating\nparent, her errors of temper and mind having never been corrected. Proud,\nvindictive, and arrogant, she played the part of tyrant to her meek and\nfaultless husband. She strove to rouse his temper by taunts, revilings,\nand indignities that required more than mortal nature to withstand\nreplying to, or bear with composure.\n\n'Still Saadie went on suffering in silence; although the trials he had to\nendure undermined his health, he never allowed her father to know the\nmisery he had entailed on himself by this compliance with his well-meant\nwishes; nor was the secret cause of his altered appearance suspected by\nthe kind-hearted Jew, until by common report his daughter's base behaviour\nwas disclosed to the wretched father, who grieved for the misfortunes he\nhad innocently prepared for the friend of his heart.\n\n'Saadie, it is said, entreated the good Jew to allow of a divorce from the\nJewess, which, however, was not agreed to; and when his sufferings had so\nincreased that his tranquillity was destroyed, fearing the loss of reason\nwould follow, he fled from Aleppo in disguise and retraced his steps to\nShiraaz, where in solitude his peace of mind was again restored, for there\nhe could converse with his merciful Creator and Protector uninterrupted by\nthe strife of tongues.'\n\n\n[1] _Hudhud_, the lapwing, hoopoe. In the Koran (xxvii. 20, with Sale's\n    note) the bird is described as carrying a letter from Solomon to the\n    Queen of Sheba. On another occasion, when Solomon was lost in the\n    desert, he sent it to procure for him water for ablution.\n\n[2] The term _sufi_, derived from _suf_, 'wool', in allusion to\n    the garments worn by them, was applied in the second century of Islam\n    to men or women who adopted the ascetic or quietistic way of life. See\n    Hughes, _Dictionary of Islam_, 608 ff.: D.B. Macdonald, _The\n    Development of Muslim Theology_, 1903: E.G. Browne, _A Year Amongst\n    the Persians_, 1893.\n\n[3] If a Sufi becomes, by devotion, attracted to God, he is called\n    _Salik-i-majzub_, 'an attracted devotee': if he practises\n    complete devotion, but is not influenced by the special attraction of\n    God, he is called _Salik_, 'a devotee' (Hughes, _Dictionary of\n    Islam_, 612: Jaffur Shurreef, _Qanoon-e-Islam_, 197).\n\n[4] See p. 255.\n\n[5] See p. 255.\n\n[6] Gulistan.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XXIV\n\n  The Soofies continued.--Eloy Bauxh.--Assembly of Saalik\n  Soofies.--Singular exhibition of their zeal.--Mystery of Soofeism.--The\n  terms Soofie and Durweish explained.--Anecdote of Shah Sherif.--Shah\n  Jee and the Paltaan.--Dialogue on death between Shah Jee and his\n  wife.--Exemplary life of his grandson.--Anecdote of a Mussulmaun\n  lady.--Reflections on modern Hindoos.--Anecdotes of Shah ood Dowlah\n  and Meer Nizaam...Page 348\n\n\nMy last Letter introduced the Soofies to your notice, the present shall\nconvey a further account of some of these remarkable characters who have\nobtained so great celebrity among the Mussulmauns of India, as to form the\nsubjects of daily conversation. I have heard some rigid Mussulmauns\ndeclare they discredit the mysterious knowledge a Soofie is said to\npossess, yet the same persons confess themselves staggered by the singular\ncircumstances attending the practice of Soofies living in their vicinity,\nwhich they have either witnessed or heard related by men whose veracity\nthey cannot doubt; amongst the number I may quote an intimate acquaintance\nof my husband's, a very venerable Syaad of Lucknow, who relates an\nanecdote of Saalik Soofies, which I will here introduce.\n\n'Meer Eloy Bauxh,[1] a Mussulmaun of distinguished piety, who has devoted\na long life to the service of God, and in doing good to his fellow-men,\ntells me, that being curious to witness the effect of an assembly of\nSaalik Soofies, he went with a party of friends, all equally disposed with\nhimself to be amused by the eccentricities of the Soofies, whose practice\nthey ridiculed as at least absurd,--to speak in no harsher terms of their\npretended supernatural gifts.\n\n'This assembly consisted of more than a hundred persons, who by agreement\nmet at a large hall in the city of Lucknow, for the purpose of\n\"remembering the period of absence\", as they term the death of a highly\nrevered Soofie of their particular class. The room being large, and free\nadmittance allowed to all persons choosing to attend the assembly, Meer\nEloy Bauxh and his party entered, and seated themselves in a convenient\nplace for the more strict scrutiny of the passing-scene.\n\n'The service for the occasion began with a solemn strain by the musical\nperformers, when one of the inspired Soofies commenced singing in a voice\nof remarkable melody. The subject was a hymn of praise to the great\nCreator, most impressively composed in the Persian language. Whilst the\nSoofie was singing, one of the elders in particular,--though all seemed\nsensibly affected by the strain,--rose from his seat, in what the Soofies\nthemselves call, \"the condition changed,\" which signifies, by what I could\nlearn, a religious ecstasy. This person joined in the same melody which\nthe other Soofie had begun, and at the same time accompanied the music by\ncapering and sobbing in the wildest manner imaginable. His example had the\neffect of exciting all the Soofies on whom his eyes were cast to rise also\nand join him in the hymn and dance.\n\n'The singularity of this scene seemed, to Meer Eloy Bauxh and his party,\nso ludicrous that they could not refrain from laughing in an audible\nmanner, which attracted the attention of the principal Soofie engaged in\nthe dance, who cast his eyes upon the merry party, not, however,\napparently in anger. Strange as he confesses it to be,--and even now it\nseems more like a dream than a reality,--at the moment he met the eye of\nthe Soofie, there was an instant glow of pure happiness on his heart, a\nsensation of fervent love to God, which he had never before felt, in his\nmost devout moments of prayer and praise; his companions were similarly\naffected, their eyes filled with tears, their very souls seemed elevated\nfrom earth to heaven in the rapture of their songs of adoration, which\nburst forth from their lips in unison with the whole Soofie assemblage.\n\n'Before they had finished their song of praise, which lasted a\nconsiderable time, the chief of the Soofie party sunk exhausted on the\ncarpet, whilst the extraordinary display of devotion continued in full\nforce on the whole assembly, whether Soofies or mere visitors, for many\nminutes after the principal devotee had fallen to the floor. Water was\nthen procured, and animation gradually returned to the poor exhausted\ndevotee, but with considerable delay. Meer Eloy Bauxh says he waited until\nthe Soofie was perfectly restored to sense, and saw him taken to his place\nof abode; he then returned to his own home to meditate on the events of a\nday he never can forget.'\n\nSoofeism, it appears, (by the accounts I have received,) is a mystery; the\nsecret of which can only be imparted by the professor to such persons as\nhave been prepared for its reception, by a course of religious instruction.\nNo one can be initiated into the mystery who has not first renounced all\nworldly vanities and ambitious projects--who is not sincerely repentant of\npast offences--who has not acquired perfect humility of heart, and an\nentire resignation to the Divine Will--a lively faith in God, and a firm\ndetermination to love and serve Him, from a conviction, 'That God alone is\nworthy to be served, loved, and worshipped by His creatures.' Thus\nprepared, the person is to receive instruction from a Calipha, (head or\nleader of the Soofies), who directs the pupil in certain exercises of the\nheart, which constitute the secrets of their profession. What these\nexercises are, I am not competent to give an opinion, but judging by the\nway a real Soofie conducts himself, it may be presumed his practices are\npurely religious; for I am assured that he is devoted to all good ways;\nthat he carefully avoids worldly vanities, and every species of temptation\nand alluring gratification of the senses; that he is incessant in prayer,\nand in fasting severe; free from all prejudice, as regards the belief or\npersuasion of other men, so long as they worship God alone; regarding all\nmankind as brothers, himself the humblest of the race; claiming no merit\nfor the ascendancy he has acquired over earthly wishes, he gives glory\nalone to God, whom he loves and worships.\n\nAll the Durweish are of the Mussulmaun persuasion. Many are devout\nDurweish, who are, nevertheless, unacquainted with the mystery of Soofeism;\nand, to use their own words, (by which the Natives distinguish them),\n'Every real Soofie is undoubtedly a Durweish, but all Durweishes are not\nSoofies,' although their lives may be devoted much in the same holy way,\nboth in the practice of religion and abstinence from worldly enjoyments;\nand if the writers on these subjects may be believed, many wonderful cures\nhave been effected by the prayers of the devout Durweish.\n\nThere are some pretenders, I am told, who put themselves forth to the\nworld in the character of a Durweish, who are not, in fact, entitled to\nthe appellation,--hypocritical devotees, who wear the outward garb of\nhumility, without the feeling of that inward virtue which is the\ncharacteristic principle of the true Durweish. The distinction between the\nreal and the pretended Durweish, may be illustrated by the following\nanecdote which I have received from the mouth of Meer Hadjee Shaah:--\n\n'In the last century,' he says, 'there lived at or near Delhi, a very\npure-minded Durweish, named Shah Sherif ood deen Mah-mood,[2] (he was\nknown in his latter years by several of my aged acquaintance at Lucknow,\nand his son and grandson both lived, at different periods, in that city).\nThis person forsook the world whilst in the prime of manhood, and devoted\nhimself to prayer, fasting, and good deeds. He was esteemed the most\nhumble-minded of human beings, and his devotion to his Maker sincere and\nardent. His principal abode was Delhi, where his wife and children also\nresided, to whom he was tenderly attached; yet so tempered were his\naffections, that he never allowed any earthly endearments to interfere\nwith his devotions, or to separate him from his love to his Creator.\n\n'It was announced by the Soofies and Durweish, that on a certain day a\nfestival or assembly of holy men would meet for the service of God, at the\nJummah musjud[3] (Friday mosque), situated in the city of Delhi.\n\n'Shah Sherif ood deen was disposed to attend the meeting, which consisted\nof the heads or superiors of several classes of the religious, with their\ndisciples and followers. At this meeting, as was expected, were assembled\nthe Soofies, Durweish, and religious mendicants of all ranks and\nconditions, from those clothed in gold-cloth and brocade, down to the\nalmost naked Faakeer;[4] and amongst the latter number may be classed the\nhumble-minded Shah Sherif ood deen. A small wrapper girt about his loins\nby a girdle of black wool spun into small ropes, and a similar article\nwound round his head, with a coarse white sheet over his shoulders for his\nsummer apparel; and a black blanket to shelter his naked limbs from the\ncold winter, formed his sole wardrobe.\n\n'This holy man took his station in the most humble spot of the assembly,\n\"sitting amongst the shoes\" of the more esteemed or more aspiring\npersonages. As there was nothing remarkable in his appearance, he remained\nunobserved, or unnoticed by the multitude present. Many of the assembly\nmade great display of their right to pre-eminence, by the costliness of\ntheir robes, the splendour of their equipage, and the number of their\nservants; striving to command respect, if possible, by their superior\nexternal habiliments.\n\n'This meeting had been convened to celebrate the death of one of their\norder, which had occurred some years prior. After prayers had been read,\nsuited to the occasion, a poor man, whose very appearance might excite\ncompassion, addressed the heads of the devotees with folded hands,\nbeseeching them, who were accounted so truly holy in their lives, to offer\nup a prayer for him who had so long suffered severe affliction, by reason\nof his neck and face being drawn awry, from a paralytic attack, or some\nlike calamity. The sufferer said, \"I am a poor merchant, and have a large\nfamily dependant altogether on my personal exertions for support; but,\nalas! this illness prevents me from attending to the business of life. I\nam wasting both in body and in substance through this grievous affliction.\"\n\n'The sick man's address was heard by the whole assembly in silence; many\npresent, both Soofies and Durweish, were really pious men, and were\nwilling to allow the person who seemed to be the head of this assembly, to\nintercede in behalf of the sufferer. To him they all looked, expecting he\nwould commence a prayer in which they might join; but he, it is suspected,\nconscious of his own duplicity in assuming only the character of a Soofie\nwithout the virtues, was anxious to dismiss the supplicant, with a promise\nthat prayer should certainly be made for him in private, adding, \"This is\nnot a proper season for your application; it is disrespectful to disturb\nour meeting with your requests; we came not here to listen to your\nimportunities, but on more important, business.\"\n\n'\"True, my Lord,\" answered the afflicted man; \"I am sensible of all you\nsay; but, I do assure you, private prayer has been tried for my relief by\nmany individuals of your holy profession, and I have still to mourn my\ncalamity. I thought when so many holy persons were assembled together, the\nunited prayer--in accordance with our Prophet's commands--offered up at\nthis time, would certainly be received at the throne of Mercy. I entreat\nthen, at the hands of this venerable assembly, the aid I require.\"\n\n'The pretended Soofie looked haughtily on the sick man, and bade him\nretire to his home; he should have a prayer offered, he might depend, but\nit must be in private. The sufferer was still importunate, and urged every\nargument he could command, to induce the inexorable Soofie to allow the\npresent assembly to offer a prayer on the spot for his recovery; but\nnothing he could urge availed with the proud Soofie, who at length grew\nangry even to the use of bitter words.\n\n'Shah Sherif ood deen observed in silence the scene before him; at length\nhe ventured (in the most respectful terms) to suggest to the heads of the\nassembly the propriety of vouchsafing the poor man's request; and hinted\nthat, the prayer of some one more pure of heart than the rest might\neffectually reach the throne of Mercy in behalf of the supplicant.\n\n'\"And pray,\" said the leader, rising haughtily, \"who gave you leave to\nsuggest or recommend to your superiors in knowledge and virtue? Is not our\ndetermination sufficient, that you, insignificant being! should presume to\nteach us what we ought to do?--you can know nothing of the Durweish's\npowerful prayers, nor the mystery of a Soofie's holy calling.\"\n\n'\"I am, indeed, a very ignorant and unworthy creature,\" replied Shah\nSherif, \"and acknowledge my great presumption in daring to speak before so\nmany of my superiors in knowledge and virtue; but we are told in our\nhudeeths (true speech) that the prayers of many hearts may prevail in a\ngood cause, whilst singly offered the same prayer might fail,\" The proud\nSoofie's anger seemed to increase as the Durweish spoke; he bade him keep\nsilence, and reviled him with many bitter words, which the good Shah\nreceived with his usual humility and forbearance. At length, the Shah\nlooked attentively at the Soofie, who had thus rebuked and insulted him,\nand said, \"I will believe, Sir, you are the Soofie you aspire to be\nthought among your fellow-men, if you will immediately offer up your\nsingle prayer, by which the suffering man may be relieved; for we know\nsuch prayers have been answered by the gracious Giver of all good.\"\n\n'\"What do you know of the powerful prayer of the Soofie?\" replied the\nproud man, \"I suspect you to be an impostor in your humble exterior.\"--\"No,\n\" said the Shah, \"I am but a poor beggar, and a humble, the very humblest\nservant of God.\"--\"You pretend to much humility,\" retorted the Soofie,\n\"suppose we see one of your miraculous works in answer to your prayer; it\nwould please us to witness what you can do.\"\n\n'Shah Sherif ood deen raised his eyes to Heaven, his heart went with his\nprayer, and in a dignified manner he stretched forth his hand towards the\nafflicted person. The man was instantly restored; then drawing his hand\ninto a direct line with the proud Soofie, and pointing his finger to him,\nhe said, \"What more, friend, dost them now require of me? The man's\naffliction is removed, but the power which is delegated to me rests still\non my finger; command me, to whom shall I present it; to you, or any one\nof your people?\"\n\n'The proud Soofie hung his head abashed and confounded, he had not power\nto answer. The Shah observed his confusion and said, \"It is not well to\npray for relief to one poor weak fellow-creature, and then to afflict\nanother; to the mountain's retreat, I will consign this malady.\" Then\nshaking his hand as if to relieve himself from a heavy weight, he uttered\nin a solemn tone, \"Go to the mountains!\" and resumed that humble seat he\nhad first chosen with a smile of composure beaming on his countenance.'\nThis miracle is actually believed by the Natives to be true.\n\nShah Sherif ood deen, say the people who know him, spent the principal\npart of each day and night in silent prayer and meditation; no one ever\nventured to intrude within his small sanctuary, but hundreds of people\nwould assemble outside the building, in front of which he occasionally sat\nfor an hour, but scarcely ever conversed with any one of his visitors.\nDuring the time he was thus seated, he generally raised his eyes once or\ntwice, and looked round on the faces of his audience. It was generally\nremarked, that no one could meet the eye of Shah Jee--that familiar\nappellation by which he was known--without an indescribable sensation of\nreverential awe, which irresistibly compelled them to withdraw their eyes.\nThe talismanic power of Shah Jee's eyes had become proverbial throughout\nthe city of Delhi. A certain Pattaan,[5] however, of warlike appearance, a\nman remarkable for his bravery, declared amongst his associates that he\nwould certainly out-stare Shah Jee, if ever they met, which he was\nresolved should be the very first opportunity; he accordingly went with\nhis companions at a time when this Durweish was expected to appear in\npublic.\n\nThe Pattaan was seated on the floor with many other people; when the Shah\nissued from his sanctuary, the people rose to make their salaams, which\nShah Jee either did not, or would not observe, but seated himself\naccording to his custom on the mat which had been spread for him; where,\nhis eyes fixed on the ground, he seemed for some time to be wholly\nabsorbed in silent meditation. At length, raising his head, he turned his\nface to the long line of spectators, saluting with his eyes each person in\nthe row, until he came to the Pattaan, who, according to his vow, kept his\nlarge eyes fixed on the Durweish. Shah Jee went on with his survey, and a\nsecond time cast a glance along the whole line, not omitting the Pattaan\nas before, whose gaze, his companions observed, was as firmly settled on\nthe Durweish as at the first. A third time the eyes of the Shah went round\nthe assembly and rested again on the Pattaan.\n\nObserving the immoveable eyes of their Pattaan acquaintance, the visitors\nsmiled at each other, and secretly gave him credit for a piety and\npureness of heart which he was not before supposed to be blessed with;\n'How else,' said they, 'would he have been able to withstand the\npenetrating glance of the revered Durweish.' Shah Jee rose from his seat,\nand retired, thus giving to the company a signal for their departure from\nthe place.\n\nThe associates of the Pattaan congratulated him on his success, and\ninquired by what stratagem he had so well succeeded in fulfilling his\npromise; but his eyes being still fixed in a wild stare, he replied not to\nhis questioners. They rallied him, and tried by a variety of means to\ndissolve his reverie; but the Pattaan was insensible, all the boasted\nenergies of his mind having forsaken him. His friends were now alarmed at\nhis abstractedness, and with considerable difficulty removed him from the\nplace to his own home, where his family received him, for the first time,\nwith grief, as he was their whole stay and support, and the kind head of a\nlarge family.\n\nThe Pattaan continued staring in the same state throughout the night and\nfollowing day, talking wildly and incoherently. 'The Pattaan is paid for\nhis presumption,' said some; others recommended application to be made to\nthe Durweish, Shah Jee, who could alone remove the calamity. The wife and\nmother, with many female dependants, resolved on pleading his case with\nthe benevolent Shah Jee; but as access to him would be difficult, they\nconceived the idea of making their petition through the agency of the wife\nof the Durweish, to whom they accordingly went in a body at night, and\nrelated their distress, and the manner in which they supposed it to have\noriginated, declaring, in conclusion, that as the excellent Durweish had\nbeen pleased to cast this affliction on their guardian, they must become\nslaves to his family, since bread could no longer be provided by the\nlabour of him who had hitherto been their support.\n\nThe wife of the Durweish comforted the women by kind words, desiring them\nto wait patiently until her dear lord could be spoken with, as she never\nventured to intrude on his privacy at an improper moment, however urgent\nthe necessity. After a few hours' delay, passed with impatient feeling by\nthe group of petitioning females, they were at length repaid by the voice\nof Shah Jee. His wife going to the door of his apartment, told him of the\ncircumstance attending the Pattaan, and the distressed condition of the\nfemales of his family, who came to supplicate his aid in restoring their\nrelative to reason; adding, 'What commands will you be pleased to convey\nby me? What remedy do you propose for the suffering Pattaan?'\n\nThe Durweish answered, 'His impure heart, then, could not withstand the\nreflected light. Well, well! tell the poor women to be comforted, and as\nthey desire to have the Pattaan restored to his former state, they need\nonly purchase some sweetmeats from the bazaar, which the man being induced\nto eat, he will speedily be restored to his wonted bodily and mental\npowers.'\n\nUpon hearing the commands of Shah Jee, the women speedily departed,\nejaculating blessings on the Durweish, his wife, and family. On their\nreturn they purchased the sweetmeats and presented them to the Pattaan,\nwho devoured them with eagerness, and immediately afterwards his former\nsenses returned, to the no small joy of his family circle. They inquired\nof him, what had been the state of his feelings during the time he was in\nthat insensible state from which he was now happily relieved? He replied,\nthat the first gaze of the Durweish had fixed his eyes so firmly that he\ncould by no means close or withdraw them from the object; the second\nglance detached his thoughts from every earthly vanity or wish; and that\nthe third look from the same holy person, fixed him in unspeakable joys,\ntransports pure and heavenly, which continued until he had eaten the\nsweetmeats they had presented, with a kind intention, he had no doubt, but\nwhich nevertheless, must be ever regretted by him whilst life remained;\nfor no earthly joy could be compared with that which he had experienced in\nhis trance.\n\nThe Durweish Shah Sherif ood deen, was asked by some one why he had\nselected the bazaar sweetmeats as a remedy in the Pattaan's case? He\nanswered, 'Because I knew the man's heart was corrupt. The light which had\nbeen imparted to him could alone be removed by his partaking of the\ndirtiest thing mortals hold good for food, and surely there cannot be any\nthing more dirty than the bazaar sweetmeats, exposed as they are to the\nflies and dust of the city; and how filthily they are manufactured\nrequires not my aid in exposing.'\n\nThis Durweish is said,--and believed by the good Mussulmaun people I have\nconversed with,--to have foreseen the hour when he should be summoned from\nthis life into eternity; and three weeks prior to the appointed time, he\nendeavoured to fortify the minds of his wife and family, to bear with\nresignation that separation he had been warned should take place. He\nassembled his affectionate relatives on the occasion, and thus addressed\nthem, 'My dear family, it is the will of God that we should part; on such\na day (mentioning the time), my soul will take flight from its earthly\nmansion. Be ye all comforted, and hereafter, if ye obey God's holy law, ye\nshall meet me again in a blessed eternity.'\n\nAs may be supposed, the females wept bitterly; they were distressed,\nbecause the good Durweish had ever been kind, indulgent, affectionate, and\ntender in all the relative situations he held amongst them. He tried many\nsoothing arguments to comfort and console them for some hours, but without\nin the least reducing their grief, or moderating their bewailings: they\ncould not, and would not be comforted.\n\n'Well,' said the Durweish, 'since the separation I have predicted causes\nyou all so much sorrow, it would be better, perhaps, that we part not. I\nhave thought of another method to avoid the pangs of separation; I will\noffer my prayers this night to the gracious Giver of all good, that He may\nbe pleased to permit ye all to bear me company in death.'\n\n'Oh! stay your prayer!' said the wife of the Durweish; 'this must not be;\nfor if we all die at once, who will perform the funeral rites, and deposit\nour bodies in the earth?' The Durweish smiled at his wife's objection, and\nanswered, 'This is of no consequence to us, dear wife: the body may be\nlikened to a garment that is thrown off when old; the soul having worn its\nearthly covering for a season, at the appointed time shakes off the\nperishable piece of corruption, to enter into a purer state of existence.\nIt matters not if the body have a burial or not; the soul takes no\ncognizance of the clay it has quitted. Yet, if it be a matter of great\nconsideration with you, be assured that many pious men and Durweish, whose\nrespect we have enjoyed in life, will not fail to give decent interment to\nthe remains of those they have loved and respected.'\n\nThis for a moment baffled the wife in her argument; but presently she\npersuasively urged that her daughters were all young, that they had as yet\nseen but little of this world, and therefore it would be cruel to take\nthem away so soon; they must desire to see more of this life ere they\nentered on another state of existence. 'Oh, my wife,' said the Durweish,\n'you reason badly; this life hath no joys to be compared with those which\nthe righteous man's hopes lead him to expect in the world beyond the grave.\nI will assuredly make my promised prayer, if I find a semblance of\nremaining grief upon separating from me at the appointed time, for our\nremoval to perfect happiness.'\n\n'No, no!' was cried by all the assembled family; 'do let us remain a\nlittle longer here, we are not in a hurry to quit this world.'--'Well,\nwell, be satisfied then,' responded the Durweish, 'if such is your desire;\nand hereafter let me not hear a sigh or a murmur from one of you, for my\nappointed time is drawing to a close; if you will not accompany me, let me,\nat least, depart in peace.'\n\nThe people who relate this (and I have heard the anecdote from many) add,\nthat the Durweish Shah Sherif ood deen Mah-mood died at the close of the\nthird week, and on the day and hour he had predicted.\n\nA grandson of this Durweish I have been writing about is still living in\nIndia, remarkable for a very retentive memory and propriety of life. I\nhave not met with this gentleman during my residence in India, but have\noften heard his name mentioned with respect by Meer Hadjee Shaah who knew\nhim well. He says that this Syaad, when but a boy, learned the whole\nKhoraun by heart[6] in the short space of forty days; he adds, that this\nperson is exemplary in his life, and in his habits and manners humble;\nthat he is truly a servant of God; rejects the mystic tenets of Soofieism;\npossesses an enlightened mind, and is a Moollah or Doctor of the\nMussulmaun law. I have heard many singular anecdotes of his life, proving\nhis disregard for riches, honours, and the vain pursuits of the\nworldly-minded. If I recollect right, he once was engaged in the\nconfidential office of Moonshie to a highly talented gentleman at Fort\nWilliam, from which employment he retired and took up his abode for some\ntime at Lucknow; from whence, it was said, he went to Hydrabaad, where, it\nis probable, he may still be found in the exercise of a religious course\nof life. His name is respected by all the good men of his own persuasion,\nwith whom I have been most intimately acquainted.\n\nConceiving the subject may be interesting to my friends, I will not offer\nany apology for introducing to your notice a female character of great\nmerit, whose death occurred during my residence in the vicinity of her\nabode. I was induced to make memorandums of the circumstances which\nbrought the knowledge of her virtues more immediately before the public.\n\nMaulvee Meer Syaad Mahumud[7] succeeded, on the death of his father, in\n1822, to the exalted position amongst Mussulmauns of head leader and\nexpounder of the Mahumudan law in the city of Lucknow; he is a person of\nunassuming manners and extreme good sense, is an upright, honest-hearted,\nreligious man, meriting and receiving the respect and good opinion of all\nhis countrymen capable of appreciating the worthiness of his general\ndeportment. He is esteemed the most learned person of the present age\namongst Asiatic scholars; and occupies his time in study and devotion, and\nin giving gratuitous instruction to youth, at stated hours, in those laws\nwhich he makes his own rule of life. Neither is the good Maulvee's fame\nconfined to the city in which he sojourns, as may be gathered from the\nfollowing anecdote, which exhibits the upright principles of this worthy\nman, at the same time that it discloses the character of a very amiable\nfemale, whose charity was as unbounded as her memory is revered in\nFurrukhabaad.\n\n'The late Nuwaub of Furrukhabaad[8] was first married to a lady of birth\nand good fortune, Villoiettee Begum,[9] by whom he was not blessed with a\nson; but he had other wives, one of whom bore him an heir, who at the\npresent time enjoys the musnud of his father.\n\n'Villoiettee Begum was beautiful in person, and possessed a heart of the\nmost benevolent and rare kind; her whole delight was centred in the\nexercises of those duties which her religion inculcated; she spent much of\nher time in prayer, in acquiring a knowledge of the Khoraun, in acts of\nkindness to her fellow-creatures, and in strict abstinence.\n\n'It was her unvaried custom at meals before she touched a morsel herself,\nto have twelve portions of food, selected from the choicest viands\nprovided for her use, set apart for as many poor people; and when they had\nbeen served, she humbly and sparingly partook of the meal before her. She\nwas possessed of great wealth, yet never expended any portion of it in the\nextravagances of dress; indeed, so humble was her appearance, that she\nmight have been mistaken for the meanest of her slaves or domestics. It\nwas her usual custom, whenever she purchased new clothing for her own wear,\nto lay in a large store for the poor; and it is affirmed, by those who\nwere long intimate with the family, that a supplicant was never known to\npass her door without relief. She even sought out, with the aid of a\nfaithful domestic, the modest poor who were restrained by their feelings\nfrom intruding their necessities; and her liberal donations were\ndistributed in so kind a manner, that even the pride of birth could never\nfeel distressed when receiving her charitable assistance.\n\n'This lady was much attached to the duties of her religion, and delighted\nin acquiring instruction from righteous persons of her own faith. She\nshowered favours on all the poor who were reported to live in the fear of\nGod; indeed, such was the liberality, benevolence, and unvaried charity of\nthis good lady, that the news of her death was received by hundreds of\npeople as their greatest earthly calamity. The example of this lady's\ncharacter is the more enhanced by reflecting on the retired way in which\nshe was reared and lived, restrained by the customs of her people within\nthe high walls of a zeenahnah, without the advantages of a liberal\neducation or the immediate society of intelligent people. She seems, by\nall accounts, to have been a most perfect pattern of human excellence.\n\n'In forming her will (Villoiettee Begum had been a widow several years\nbefore her death), she does not appear to have wished a single thing to be\ndone towards perpetuating her name,--as is usual with the great, in\nerecting lofty domes over the deposited clay of the Mussulmaun,--but her\nimmense wealth was chiefly bequeathed in charitable gifts. The holy and\nthe humble were equally remembered in its distribution. She had been\nacquainted with the virtues of the good Maulvee of Lucknow, to whom she\nleft a handsome sum of money for his own use, and many valuable articles\nto fit up the Emaum-baarah for the service of Mahurrum, with a, desire\nthat the same should be conveyed to him as soon after her death as\nconvenient. Her vakeel (agent) wrote to Meer Syaad Mahumud very soon after\nthe lady's death, to apprise him of the bequest Villoiettee Begum had\nwilled to him, and at the same time forwarded the portable articles to him\nat Lucknow.\n\n'The Maulvee was much surprised, and fancied there must be some mistake in\nthe person for whom this legacy was intended, as the lady herself was\nentirely unknown to him, and an inhabitant of a station so remote from his\nown residence as not likely ever to have heard of him. He, however,\nreplied to the vakeel, and wrote also to a gentleman in the neighbourhood,\ndesiring to have a strict inquiry instituted before he could venture to\naccept the riches of this lady's bounty, presuming that even if he was the\nperson alluded to in her will, that the Begum must have intended him as\nher almoner to the poor of Lucknow. The good, upright Maulvee acted on the\nintegrity of his heart and desired a strict scrutiny might be instituted\ninto the will of the deceased, which was accordingly made, and he was\nassured in reply, that Villoiettee Begum had been long acquainted with his\nworth, and in her liberal bequest she had decidedly intended the money for\nhis sole use and benefit, in testimony of her respect for his virtuous\ncharacter. The Maulvee again wrote and requested to be informed by those\nmost intimate with the Begum's way of life, whether she had left\nunperformed any of the duties incumbent on a member of the faithful, as\nregards zuckhaut[10], pilgrimage, the fast, &c.? which not having\naccomplished, and having ample means, he felt himself bound, in the\nsituation he held, to devote her legacy to the purpose of such duties by\nproxy (which their law commands) in her name. He was in reply assured that\nthe good Begum had not omitted any part of her duty; she had regularly\napplied zuckhaut, duly performed the fast, had paid the expenses for poor\npilgrims to Mecca (her substitutes); and not until all the scruples of the\njust Maulvec had been removed would he hear of, or accept the Begum's\nlegacy.'\n\nThe anecdote I have now given will serve to illustrate the character of\nsome good people of Hindoostaun of the present day; indeed, the veneration\nand respect paid by all classes to those men who lead religious lives, is\nbut little changed from the earlier pages of the Mussulmaun history. I\nhave just met with a Durweish anecdote, of former times, that may be worth\ntranscribing, as I have received it from Meer Hadjee Shaah, whose aid I am\nso much indebted to for subjects with which to amuse my friends.\n\n'Shaah ood Dowlah[11] was a Durweish who flourished in the reign of King\nShah Jaluui at Delhi, but whose fame is known throughout India to the\npresent day. The Durweish was remarkable for his activity of body. It is\nrelated, that he was often to be seen at prayer in Delhi, and in three\nhours after he had transported himself eighty miles oil without any\nvisible assistance but his own personal activity on foot. This\nextraordinary rapidity of movement rendered him an object of veneration;\nand the general belief was, that he was highly favoured of Heaven, and\ngifted with supernatural power; the life he led was purely religious, with\na total disregard of earthly riches.\n\n'The King, Shah Jahan, was a very sensible person, and a great admirer of\nall that is counted good and excellent in his fellow-men; he was\nparticularly friendly to such men as the Durweish, or others who devoted\ntheir lives to religious exercises. He had often heard of Shah ood Dowlah,\nwithout ever meeting with him, and on hearing of some singular acts of\nthis Durweish, he was desirous of seeing him, and gave orders accordingly\nto his Minister, that messengers should be sent in search of the holy man,\nbut as often as they appeared before the Durweish's hut he was invisible;\nthis statement even added to the King's curiosity. On a certain day the\nKing was seated on the story of his palace which overlooked the town and\nthe outskirts beyond the walls, in conversation with his Minister and\nfavourites, when the Durweish was espied at no great distance standing on\nthe broadway; which, when the King knew, he desired messengers might be\ndispatched to convey the holy man to his presence. \"Your royal will shall\nbe obeyed\", replied the Minister; \"but your Majesty must be aware that the\nextent of the circuit from the palace to the outer gate is so great that\nlong before a slave can get to that road, Shah ood Dowlah will be beyond\nthe reach of our summons. With all due submission to your Majesty's better\njudgement, would it not be more prudent to call him from hence, and\npersuade him to ascend the wall in a basket suspended to a rope.\" The King\nagreed, and the Durweish was hailed. \"Our King, the Protector of the World,\ncommands Shah ood Dowlah's attendance?\"--The Durweish, looking up at the\nsummoner, inquired, \"Where is the King?\"--\"In this apartment,\" he was\nanswered.--\"How am I to get near him? he is too far off: an old man does\nnot well to climb.\"--\"Wait a minute\", replied the servant, \"your\nconveyance shall be prepared.\"\n\n'In a few minutes the basket descended from the upper story, by a strong\nrope, well secured against the probability of accident. The Durweish,--who\nwas covered with a chudha[12], or sheet, to keep him from giddiness in the\nascent,--seated himself firmly in the basket, and the servants drew him up\nin safety. He was immediately conveyed to the King's apartment; who,\ncontrary to precedent, rose at his entrance to receive this respected and\nmuch-desired guest.\n\n'\"Pray be seated, my friend\", said the King, leading him to the most\nhonoured part of the royal carpet. The Durweish obeyed without a moment's\nhesitation, to the astonishment of the Vizier, nobles, courtiers, &c., who\nhad never before seen a human being seated in the King's presence, not\neven one of the most exalted of the nobles. \"I have long desired this\nhappiness,\" said the King to the Durweish, \"that I might converse with you.\n\"--\"Your Majesty is very gracious to the poor Durweish\", was responded. \"I\nhear much of your great virtue and good life,\" said the King, \"from the\nworld, my subjects.\"--\"They do but flatter the poor Durweish,\" was his\nreply; adding, \"none can tell what passes in my heart, when they view only\nmy face. I am but a poor Durweish.\"\n\n'\"I have many questions to ask you,\" said the King, \"which I hope to have\nresolved from your own mouth; but, first, I beg to be informed, what\nmethods you have used in order to acquire that command over selfish\nfeelings, which is displayed in your intercourse with the world? and by\nwhat means you have become so enlightened in the ways pleasing to God?\"\n\n'The Durweish with a smile of pleasure, and in language calm as respectful,\nanswered in the following words:--\"Your Majesty, the Protector of the\nWorld, was desirous of becoming personally known to the very meanest of\nyour subjects, the poor Durweish; the opportunity arrived, and you\ncondescended to let down a line of rope to assist your poor subject in the\nascent to your presence. With equal condescension you have seated me by\nyour side; and I, the poor Durweish, feel a due sense of the honour\nconferred on me. Had I been anxious to gain admittance to the Protector of\nthe World, many would have been the difficulties to surmount; your castle\nis well guarded, your gates innumerable to be passed ere this place could\nbe reached, and who would have aided the poor Durweish's wishes? But your\nMajesty had the will, and the power to effect that will; whilst I, who had\nneither, might have exerted myself for ages without effect. Such then, O\nKing! is the way God draws those whom He wills unto Him. He sees into the\nhidden recesses of the human heart, and knows every working of mortal\nminds; He has no difficulty to surmount; for to whom in His mercy He\ngrants evidence of His love, He draws them to Himself in heart, in soul,\nin mind, with infinitely less effort than thou hast exerted to draw my\nmortal body within thy palace. It is God who in love and mercy throws the\nline to man; happy that soul who accepts the offered means, by which he\nmay ascend!\"'\n\nMeer Nizaam ood deen[13] lived many years at Lucknow, where he was much\nesteemed by the religious men of the time; some who survived him have\nfrequently entertained me with anecdotes of that respected Durweish. Out\nof the many I have heard detailed by them, I have selected for this place\na few of the most interesting:--\n\nA certain King of Delhi (whose name has escaped my recollection) having\nheard of the remarkable piety of this Durweish, expressed a great desire\nto see him, and the message was conveyed by a confidential person,\ninstructed to say to the holy man, that his presence was solicited as a\nfavour at Court. The person intrusted with the royal message, remarked to\nMeer Nizaam, when he had agreed to accompany him, that his mean apparel\nwas not suited to appear in the presence of majesty, and offered to\nprovide him with a superior dress.\n\nThe Durweish looked steadily in the face of the proposer, and addressed\nhim, 'Friend! know you not, that clad in these very garments you deride, I\nmake my daily prayers to Him who is the Creator and Lord of the whole\nearth, and all that therein is? If I am not ashamed to appear in the\npresence of my God thus habited, canst thou think I shall deem it needful\nto change my garments for one who is, at best but the creature of my\nCreator? Thinkest thou I would pay more deference to my fellow-man than I\nhave done to my God? No, no; be assured the clothes I wear will not be\nchanged for earthly visits.'\n\nThis Durweish had a mind and heart so entirely devoted to his Creator, and\nwas so thoroughly purified from earthly vanity, that his every wish was\ngranted as soon as it had been formed in his heart, says one of his many\nadmirers, Meer Eloy Bauxh[14]; who, in proof that he was so gifted, relates\nthe following anecdote which I give in his own words:--\n\n'One day I was conversing with the Durweish, Meer Nizaam, when he told me\nhe could bring me to his door, from my own home, at any hour or time he\npleased. I was a little wavering in my belief of his power to do so, and\noffered some remarks that indicated my doubts. \"Well,\" said he in reply,\n\"you shall be convinced, my friend, ere long, I promise you.\"\n\n'A few evenings after this conversation had been held, I was seated on my\ncharpoy, in meditation,--my usual practice after the evening namaaz,--when\na sudden impulse seized my mind, that I must immediately go off to the\nDurweish who lived at the opposite extremity of this large city (Lucknow).\nI prepared to set out, and by the time I was ready, the rain burst forth\nin torrents from the over-charged clouds. Still the impulse was so strong\nthat I cared not for this impediment even, which under ordinary\ncircumstances would have deterred me from venturing out on a dark evening\nof storm; I wrapped myself up in my labaadah[15], took a stick and\numbrella, and sallied forth in great haste. On reaching the outer gate of\nmy premises, the strong, feeling that had impelled me to proceed, vanished\nfrom my mind, and I was as strongly urged by an opposite impulse to retire\nagain within my own habitation, where, if I reasoned at all, it was on the\nunusual changeableness of my fixed resolution, for I never thought about\nthe subject of the Durweish's prediction at the time.\n\n'Some few days after this, I paid Meer Nizaam a visit, and after our usual\nembrace and salutations were over, he said to me, \"Well, my friend, are\nyou convinced by this time, that I have the power to bring you to me\nwhenever I wish, by the preparations you made for coming on the evening of\nsuch a day?\" (mentioning the time and hour accurately).\n\n'\"I remember well my desire to visit you, but why was I deterred from my\npurpose?\" I asked. The Durweish replied, \"Out of pure compassion for the\nfatigue and pains it would have given you, had you come so far on such a\nnight of rain and tempest. My pity for you altered my wishes, and thereby\nyour purposes. I only wished you to be convinced, and perhaps you are so\nnow.\"'\n\nMeer Eloy Bauxh often speaks of this circumstance, and declares he has\nfull confidence that the Durweish in question possessed the power of\ninfluencing the minds of others, or attracting them by his wishes to\nappear before him.\n\n'This Durweish was once applied to by a Mussulmaun, who went regularly for\nmany days in succession, to watch a favourable moment for soliciting\nadvice and assistance in his then uneasy state of mind. The Mussulmaun's\nname was Hummoon[16], since designated Shah, a native of the Upper\nProvinces of Hindoostaun, in the Lahore district. Hummoon occasionally\npassing near the river, had frequently observed, amongst, the number of\nHindoo women, on their way to and from the place of bathing, one young\nfemale whose charms riveted his attention. He sometimes fancied that the\ngirl smiled on him; but aware of the strong prejudices of her caste, which\nprohibits intercourse even, much less marriage, with men of another\npersuasion, he loved therefore without hope; yet he could not resist, as\nthe opportunity offered, of again and again watching for a glance at the\nbeautiful Hindoo whose person had won his entire affections. Not a word\nhad ever passed between them, but he fancied she sometimes returned his\nlooks of love in her smiles.\n\n'The passion of Hummoon increased daily; he could with difficulty restrain\nhimself within the prescribed bounds; he longed to address her, and in\nvain puzzled his imagination for the proper means to adopt, for he knew\nthe edict of her caste had placed a barrier between them of an\ninsurmountable nature. For months he endured all the torments of his\nperplexing state, and at last resolved on applying to the good Durweish\nfor advice and assistance, whose famed powers had been long the subject of\nadmiration among the Mussulmauns.\n\nHummoon went daily to the threshold of the Durweish, and seated himself\namong the many who, like him, had some favour to ask of the holy man, at\nthe propitious moment when he chose to be visible and disposed to look\nround upon his petitioning visitors. All waited for a look with the most\nintense anxiety (for a Durweish does not always notice his courtiers), and\nhappy did he deem himself who was encouraged by the recognition of his eye,\nto offer his petition by word of mouth. Many such applicants had been\nfavoured by the Durweish, yet Hummoon visited daily without being noticed\nby the holy man. At length, however, a look of inquiry was given to the\nalmost despairing Hummoon; thus encouraged, he folded his hands, and bent\nthem forward in a supplicating attitude, told his distresses as briefly as\nthe subject would permit, and concluded his tale of sorrow, by entreating\nthe Durweish would instruct him in the exercise of some prayer by which he\nmight be made happy with the object of his love.\n\n'The Durweish listened attentively to Hummoon's tale; and more, he pitied\nhim, for he felt at all times a due proportion of sympathy for the misery\nof his fellow-creatures, and the singularity of Hummoon's case affected\nhim. He told him he could teach the way to become deserving of having his\nwishes in this world granted to him, but more he could not answer for; but\nit would take him a considerable time to practise the devotions necessary\nto his future peace, which were of the heart, not the mere repetition of a\nprayer by the lips. Hummoon readily assured the Durweish, he was willing\nto be guided by his advice and instruction; adding, that he would\npatiently persevere for any length of time necessary, so that at last his\nobject might be accomplished.\n\n'Hummoon commenced under the tuition of the Durweish the practice of\ndevotional exercises. He forsook (as was required of him) all vain\npursuits, worldly desires, or selfish gratifications; day and night was\ndevoted to religious study and prayer, and such was the good effect of his\nperseverance and progressive increase of faith, that at the end of some\nfew months he had entirely left off thinking of the first object of his\nadoration, his whole heart and soul being absorbed in contemplation of,\nand devotion to, his Creator. At the end of a year, no trace or\nremembrance of his old passion existed; he became a perfect Durweish,\nretired to a solitary place, where under the shade of trees he would sit\nalone for days and nights in calm composure, abstracted from every other\nthought but that of his God, to whom he was now entirely devoted.'\n\nI am told that this Durweish, Hummoon Shah, is still living\nin the Lahore province, a pattern of all that is excellent in\nvirtue and devotion.\n\n\n[1] Mir Ilahi Bakhsh.\n\n[2] Shah Sharif-ud-din, Mahmud.\n\n[3] Jame' Masjid, the Congregational mosque.\n\n[4] Faqir, a poor man, one poor in the sight of God.\n\n[5] Pathan, a frontier tribe, many of which reside in British India.\n\n[6] Such a person is called Hafiz.\n\n[7] Maulavi Mir Sayyid Muhammad.\n\n[8] Early in the eighteenth century Farrukhabad, now a district of\n    this name in the United Provinces of Agra and Oudh, became an\n    independent State during the decay of the Moghul Empire. The line of\n    Nawabs was founded by Muhammad Khan, an Afghan of the Bangash\n    tribe. It was annexed by Oudh in 1749 and ceded to the British in 1801,\n    on which event the Nawab ceased to be independent. The last Nawa\n    b joined the rebels in the mutiny of 1857.\n\n[9] Wilayati Begam, the foreign lady.\n\n[10] See p. 67.\n\n[11] Shah-ud-daula.\n\n[12] _Chadar_.\n\n[13] Mir Nizam-ud-din.\n\n[14] Mir Ilahi Bakhsh.\n\n[15] _Labada_, a rain-coat.\n\n[16] Hamun.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XXV\n\n  Mussulmaun Devotees.--The Chillubdhaars.--Peculiar mode of\n  worship.--Propitiatory offerings.--Supposed to be invulnerable to\n  fire.--The Maadhaars or Duffelees.--Character of the\n  founder.--Pilgrimage to his tomb.--Females afflicted on visiting\n  it.--Effects attributed to the violation of the sanctuary by a\n  foreigner.--Superstition of the Natives.--Anecdote of Sheikh Suddoo\n  and the Genii.--The way of the world exemplified, a Khaunie\n  (Hindoostaunie fable).--Moral fable.--The King who longed for\n  fruit...Page 370\n\n\nThere are many classes of men amongst the Mussulmauns, who either abjure\nthe world or seem to do so, independent of those denominated Durweish;--\nsuch us the religions mendicants, &c., who have no earthly calling, and\nderive their subsistence from the free-will offerings of their neighbours,\nor the bounty of the rich, who from respect for their humble calling, and\na hope of benefit from their prayers, or rather from the veneration of\nMussulmauns towards such of their faith as have renounced the world for\nthe service of God.\n\nThe Chillubdhaars[1] are a well-known class of wanderers; their founder\nwas a Syaad, Ahmud Kaabeer,[2] of whom many wonderful things are related\nsufficient to impress on the weak mind a belief in his supernatural\nascendancy. His presumed powers are said to have been chiefly instrumental\nin curing the sick or in removing temporal afflictions; but his effectual\nprayers in behalf of people in difficulty, they say, surpassed those of\nany other of the whole tribes of devotees that have at any age existed.\nHis admirers and followers speak of him as having been invulnerable to\nfire. In his lifetime he had forty disciples or pupils constantly with him;\nat his death these forty separated, each in the course of time\naccumulating his forty pupils, after the pattern of their founder, who\nalso eventually became leaders, and so on, until at the present time, it\nis conjectured, there are few places in Asia exempt from one or more\ndetachments of these Chillubdhaar practical beggars who are much admired\nby the weak; and although they profess the same tenets and rules of life\nwith their founder, Syaad Ahmud Kaabeer, yet, I believe, no one gives the\nChillubdhaars of the present period credit for possessing either the\nvirtues or the power of that man who set them so many bright examples;\nnevertheless, they are applied to on emergencies by the ignorant and the\ncredulous of the present day, courted by the weak, and tolerated by all.\n\nThey all practise one plan whenever called upon to remove the difficulty\nof any person who places sufficient confidence in their ability. On such\noccasions, a young heifer, two years old, is supplied by the person having\na request to make, after which a fire of charcoal is made in an open space\nof ground, and the animal sacrificed according to Mussulmaun form. The\ntender pieces of meat are selected, spitted, and roasted over the fire, of\nwhich when cooked, all present are requested to partake. Whilst the meat\nis roasting, the Chillubdhaars beat time with a small tambourine to a song\nor dirge expressive of their love and respect to the memory of the\ndeparted saint, their founder and patron, and a hymn of praise to the\nCreator.\n\nThe feast concluded, whilst the fire of charcoal retains a lively heat,\nthese devotees commence dancing, still beating their tambourines and\ncalling out with an audible voice, 'There is but one God!--Mahumud is the\nProphet of God!' Then they sing in praise of Ali, the descendants of the\nProphet, and, lastly, of Syaad Ahmud Kaabeer their beloved saint. Each\nthen puts his naked foot in the fire: some even throw themselves upon\nit,--their associates taking care to catch them before they are well\ndown,--others jump into the fire and out again instantly; lastly, the whole\nassembly trample and kick the remaining embers about, whilst a spark\nremains to be quenched by this means.[3] These efforts, it is pretended,\nare sufficient to remove the difficulties of the persons supplying\nthe heifer and the charcoal.\n\nThese mendicants live on public favour and contributions; they wear\nclothes, are deemed harmless, never ask alms, but are always willing to\naccept them, and have no laws of celibacy, as is the case with some\nwandering beggars in India, who are naked except the wrapper; sometimes\nthey settle, making fresh converts, but many wander from city to city,\nalways finding people disposed to administer to their necessities. They\nare distinguished from other sects, by each individual carrying a small\ntambourine, and wearing clothing of a deep buff colour.\n\nThere are another set of wandering mendicants, who are called Madhaar[4]\nbeggars, or the Duffelees,[5] by reason of the small hand-drum they carry\nwith them. These are the disciples of the sainted Maadhaar, whose tomb is\nvisited annually by little short of a million of people, men, women, and\nchildren, at a place called Muckunpore, about twenty koss from Cawnpore.\n\nMaadhaar was esteemed in his lifetime a most perfect Durweish, and his\nadmirers speak of the power he then possessed as still existing; in that\nhis pure spirit at stated periods hovers near his last earthly remains,\nwhere the common people make a sort of pilgrimage to entreat his influence\nin their behalf. A mayllah[6] (fair) is the consequence of this annual\npilgrimage, which continues, I think, seventeen days in succession, and\nbrings together, from many miles distant, the men of business, the\nweak-minded, and the faithful devotees of every class in the Upper\nProvinces.\n\nFrom the respect paid to the memory of Maadhaar, and the expected\ninfluence of his spirit at the shrine, the ignorant people bring their\nsons to receive the saint's blessing on their tender years. The man of\nbusiness also presents himself before it, desirous to insure a share of\nsuccess at the fair, and ultimate prosperity at home. The devotee visits\nthe shrine from a desire to increase in true wisdom by the reflected light\nof the Maadhaar Durweish's purer spirit. Women having made vows to visit\nthe shrine, come to fulfil it at this period, if their hopes be realized\nin the birth of a son; and others to entreat his influence that their\ndaughters may be suitably married; in short, all who assemble at this\nmayllah have some prayer to offer, or acknowledgments to make, for they\ndepend on the abundant power and influence of the saint's spirit to supply\ntheir several wants or desires.\n\nAt the shrine of this saint, a descendant, or as is suspected often in\nsuch cases, a pretended relative, takes his station to collect, with all\nthe appearance of sanctity and humility, the nuzzas offered at the shrine\nof Maadhaar. The amount so collected is enormous, if credit be given to\nthe reports in circulation; for all visitors are expected to present an\noffering, and most of the pilgrims do it for conscience sake. I knew a\nMussulmaun who went from curiosity to this mayllah; he was accosted rather\nrudely as he was quitting the tomb, without leaving a nuzza; he told the\nguardian of the tomb he had presented the best nuzza he possessed, in a\nprayer for the soul of the departed; (as commanded every Mussulmaun should\noffer when drawing near the tomb of one of his own faith).\n\nI have conversed with a remarkably devout person, on the numerous\nextraordinary stories related of Maadhaar's life, and the subsequent\ninfluence of his tomb. He told me that women can never, with safety to\nthemselves, enter the mausoleum containing his ashes; they are immediately\nseized with violent pains as if their whole body was immersed in flames of\nfire. I spoke rather doubtingly on this subject, upon which he assured me\nthat he had known instances of one or two women who had imprudently defied\nthe danger, and intruded within the mausoleum, when their agony was\nextreme, and their sufferings for a long time protracted, although they\neventually recovered.\n\nAnother still more remarkable circumstance has been related to me by the\nNatives, for the truth of which I cannot venture to vouch, although I have\nno reason to doubt the veracity of the narrators.\n\n'A party of foreigners, encamped near the fair, wished to see what was\ngoing on at this far-famed mayllah, and for the purpose of gratifying\ntheir curiosity, halted on a certain day in the vicinity of the Durgah,\nwhen the place was much thronged by the various pilgrims to that shrine.\nThe party dined in their tent, but drank more wine than was consistent\nwith propriety, and one was particularly overcome. When they sallied forth,\nat the close of the day, to visit this saint's tomb, their approach was\nobserved by the keepers, who observing how very unfit the strangers\nappeared to enter the sanctuary of other men's devotions,--the hallowed\nground that was by them respected,--the head-keeper very civilly advanced\nas they moved towards the entrance, requesting that they would desist from\nentering in their apparent condition, contrary to the rules of the place\nand people. The convivial party then drew back, without contesting the\npoint, excepting the one most disguised in liquor, who asserted his right\nto enter wherever and whenever he thought good, nor would he be controlled\nby any man in India.\n\n'The keepers spoke very mildly to the tipsy foreigner, and would have\npersuaded him he was doing wrong, but he was not in a state to listen to\nany argument dissuading him from his determined purpose; they warned him\nthat a severe punishment must follow his daring, as he pushed past them\nand reeled into the mausoleum, triumphing at his success. He had\napproached the tomb, when he was immediately seized with trembling, and\nsank senseless on the floor; his friends without, observing his situation,\nadvanced and were assisted by the keepers in removing the apparently\ninanimate body to the open air: water was procured, and after considerable\ndelay, returning symptoms of life were discovered. When able to speak, he\ndeclared himself to be on the eve of death, and in a few short hours he\nbreathed his last.' The unhappy man may have died of apoplexy.\n\nThe ignorant part of the population of Hindoostaun hold a superstitious\nbelief in the occasional visitations of the spirit of Sheikh Suddoo.[7] It\nis very common to hear the vulgar people say if any one of their friends\nis afflicted with melancholy, hypochondria, &c., 'Ay, it is the spirit of\nSheikh Suddoo has possessed him.' In such cases the spirit is to be\ndislodged from the afflicted person by sweetmeats, to be distributed among\nthe poor; to which is added, if possible, the sacrifice of a black goat. I\nam not quite sure that the night blindness, with which the lower orders of\nNatives are frequently attacked, has not some superstitious allusion\nattached to it; but the only remedy I have ever heard prescribed for it is,\nthat the patient should procure the liver of a young kid, which must be\ngrilled over the fire, and eaten by the afflicted person. The story of\nthis Sheikh Suddoo, which is often related in the zeenahnahs of the\nMussulmauns, is as follows:--\n\n'Sheikh Suddoo was a very learned man, but a great hypocrite, who passed\ndays and nights in the mosque, and was fed by the charitable, his\nneighbours, from such viands as they provided daily for the poor traveller,\nand those men who forsake the world. The Sheikh sometimes wandered into a\nforest seldom penetrated by the foot of man, where, on a certain day, he\ndiscovered a copper cup, curiously engraved with characters which he tried\nin vain with all his learning to decipher. The Sheikh returned with the\ncup to the mosque, regretting that the characters were unknown to him; but\nas he had long desired to have a good-sized lamp, he fancied from the\npeculiar shape of his prize, that it would answer the very purpose, and\nthe same night he exultingly prepared his charaagh[8] (a light) in the\nengraved vessel.\n\n'The moment he had ignited one wick, he was surprised by the appearance of\na figure, resembling a human being, standing before him, \"Who art thou,\"\nhe demanded, \"intruding at this hour on the privacy of a\nhermit?\"--\"I come\", replied the figure, \"on the summons from your lamp.\nThat vessel, and whoever possesses it, has four attendants, one of whom\nyou see before you, your slave. We are Genii, and can only be summoned by\nthe lighting up of the vessel now before you; the number of your slaves\nwill be in due attendance, always guided by as many wicks as it may be\nyour pleasure to light up for our summons. Demand our attendance, at any\nhour you please, we are bound to obey.\"\n\n'The Sheikh inquired if he or his companions possessed any power. \"Power\",\nreplied the Genii, \"belongs to God alone, the Creator of all things\nvisible and invisible; but by His permission we are enabled to perform, to\na certain extent, any reasonable service our master requires.\"\n\n'The Sheikh soon put their abilities to the test, and satisfied himself\nthat these agents would aid and assist him in raising his character with\nthe world (for he coveted their praise), \"They would\", he thought,\n\"assuredly believe he was a pious Durweish, when he could convince them by\na ready compliance with their requests, which must seem to follow his\nprayers, and which he should be able to further now by the aid of the\nGenii.\"\n\n'The pretended holy man employed his attendant Genii fully; many of his\ndemands on their services were difficult, and too often revolting to them;\nyet whilst he retained the lamp in his possession, they were bound to obey\nhis commands. He once heard of a king's daughter, who was young and\nbeautiful; he therewith summoned the Genii, and required that they should\nconvey the princess to him. They reluctantly obeyed his command, and the\nprincess was the Sheikh's unwilling companion in the mosque. On another\noccasion, he desired the Genii to bring without delay, to the ground in\nfront of his present abiding place, a very curious mosque situated many\nleagues distant, the stones of which were so nicely cemented together,\nthat no trace of the joining could be discovered. The Genii received this\ncommand with regret, but they were obliged to obey, and departed from the\nSheikh's presence to execute his unworthy orders.\n\n'It happened that the mosque which the Sheikh coveted was the retreat of a\nrighteous man, who had separated from the world to serve his God,\nvenerable in years and devout in his duties. The Genii commenced their\nlabour of removing the mosque; the good man who was at his devotions\nwithin, fancied an earthquake was shaking the building to its foundation,\nbut as he trusted in God for preservation, he breathed a fervent prayer as\nhe remained prostrate before Him.\n\n'The shaking of the mosque continued, and he was inspired by a sudden\nthought that induced him to believe some supernatural agency was employed\nagainst the holy house; he therefore called out, \"Who and what are ye, who\nthus sacrilegiously disturb the house of God!\" The Genii appeared, and\nmade known to what order of beings they belonged, whose servants they were,\nand the purpose of their mission.\n\n'\"Begone this instant!\" replied the pious man, with a tone of authority\nthat deprived them of strength: \"a moment's delay, and I will pray that\nyou be consumed by fire! Know ye not that this is a mosque, holy, and\nerected wherein to do service to the great and only God? Would Sheikh\nSuddoo add to his enormities by forcing the house of God from its\nfoundation? Away, ye servants of the wicked Sheikh, or meet the fire that\nawaits you by a moment's further delay!\"\n\n'The Genii fled in haste to their profane employer, whose rage was\nunbounded at their disobedience, as he termed their return without the\nmosque; he raved, stormed, and reviled his slaves in bitter sarcasms, when\nthey, heartily tired of the Sheikh's servitude, caught up the copper\nvessel, and, in his struggle to resist the Genii, he was thrown with\nviolence on the ground, when his wicked soul was suddenly separated from\nhis most impure body.'\n\nThis story receives many alterations and additions, agreeable to the\ntalent and the inclination of the person relating it in Native society;\nbut as there once was a person on whose history it has been founded, they\ndo not denominate it fabulous or khaunie.[9] The following, which I am\nabout to copy from a translation of my husband's, is really a mere fable;\nand, however trifling and childish it may appear, I feel bound to insert\nit, as one among those things which serves to illustrate the character of\nthe people I have undertaken to describe; merely adding, that all these\nfables prove an unceasing entertainment in the zeenahnah, with females who\ncannot themselves read, either for amusement or instruction:--\n\n'A certain man was travelling on horseback through an immense forest; and\nwhen he came to a particular spot, he observed fire consuming some bushes,\nin the centre of which was a monstrous large snake. The Snake was in\ndanger of being destroyed by the flames, so he called to the Traveller, in\na voice of despair--\"Oh! good Sahib, save me, or I perish!\"[10]\n\n'The Traveller was a very tender-hearted creature, prone to pity the\npainful sufferings of every living creature, whether man or animal; and\ntherefore began to devise some scheme for liberating the Snake from the\ndevouring flames. His horse's corn bag, which was made of leather, hung\ndangling by a rope from the crupper; this, he thought, would be the best\nthing he could offer to the distressed Snake. Accordingly, holding fast by\nthe rope, he threw the bag towards the flames, and desired the Snake to\nhasten into it, who immediately accepted the offered aid, and the\nTraveller drew him out of his perilous situation.\n\n'No sooner was the Snake released from danger, than, ungrateful for the\nservices he had received from the Traveller, he sprang towards him, with\nthe purpose of wounding his deliverer. This, however, he failed to\naccomplish, for the Traveller drew back in time to escape the attack; and\ndemanded of his enemy his reasons for such base ingratitude, saying--\"Have\nI not saved your life by my prompt assistance? What a worthless reptile\nart thou! Is this thy mode of rewarding benefits?\"--\"Oh!\" said the Snake,\n\"I am only imitating the way of the world; who ever thinks of returning\ngood for good? No, no! every benefit received by the creature of this\nworld is rewarded to the donor by an ungrateful return. I tell you, good\nTraveller, I am only following the example set me in the way of the world.\"\n\n'\"I shall not take your word for it,\" said the Traveller in reply; \"but if\nI can be convinced that what you say is true, you shall be welcome to bite\nme.\"--\"Agreed,\" said the Snake; and off they set together in search of\nadventures.\n\n'The first object they met was a large Pepul-tree[11] whose branches spread\nout an inviting shelter to the weary traveller to repose under, without\nrent or tax. The Pepul-tree was asked, \"Whether it was consistent with the\nway of the world for the Snake to try to wound the man who had preserved\nhim from destruction.\"\n\n'The Pepul-tree replied, \"To follow in the way of the world, I should say\nthe Snake was justified. A good return is never now-a-days tendered for a\nbenefit received by mere worldlings, as I can bear witness by my own\nsufferings. Listen to my complaint:--Here in this solitary jungle, where\nneither hut nor mansion is to be found, I spread forth my well-clothed\nbranches,--a welcome shelter to the passing traveller from the burning\nheat of the noontide sun, or the deluge poured out from the over-charged\ncloud;---under my cover they cook their meal, and my falling leaves supply\nthem with fuel, as also with a bed on which they may recline their weary\nlimbs. Think you, when they have thus profited by the good I have done\nthem, that they are grateful for my services?--Oh, no! the ingrates\ndespoil the symmetry of my form, break off my branches with violence, and\ntrudge off triumphantly with the spoil which may serve them for fuel for\ncooking at their next stage. So you see the Snake is right; he has but\nfollowed the way of the world.\"\n\n'The Snake exultingly led the way in search of other proofs by which he\nshould be justified. They fell in with a man who was by occupation a\ncamel-driver. The Man being made acquainted with the point at issue,\ndesired to be heard, as he could prove by his own tale that the Snake's\ningratitude was a true picture of the way of the world:--\"I was the sole\nproprietor of a very fine strong camel, by whose labour I earned a\nhandsome competence for each day's provision of myself and family, in\nconveying goods and sometimes travellers from place to place, as my good\nfortune served me. On a certain day, returning home through an intricate\nwood, I drew near to a poor blind man who was seated on the ground\nlamenting his hard fate. Hearing my camel's feet advance, he redoubled his\ncries of distress, calling loudly for help and assistance. His piteous\ncries won upon the tender feelings of my heart; so I drew near to inquire\ninto his situation, he told me with tears and sobs, that he was travelling\non foot from his home to visit his relations at the next town; that he had\nbeen attacked by robbers, his property taken from him by violence, and\nthat the boy, his guide, was forced from him by the banditti as a slave;\nand here, added the blind man, must I perish, for I can neither see my way\nhome, nor search for food; in this lone place my friends will never think\nto seek me, and my body will be the feast for jackals ere the morning\ndawns.\n\n'\"The poor man's story made so deep an impression on my mind, that I\nresolved on assisting him; accordingly my camel was made to kneel down, I\nseated the blind man safely on my beast, and set off with him to the city\nhe called his home. Arrived at the city gates, I lowered my camel, and\noffered to assist the poor man in descending from his seat; but, to my\nastonishment, he commenced abusing me for my barefaced wickedness,\ncollected a mob around us, by his cries for help from his persecutor,\ndeclared himself the master of the camel, and accused me of attempting to\nrob him now as I had done his brother before.\n\n'\"So plausible was his speech--so apparently innocent and just his\ndemands--that the whole collected populace believed I was actually\nattempting to defraud the blind man of his property, and treated me in\nconsequence with great severity. I demanded to be taken before the Kauzy\nof the city. 'Yes yes,' said the blind man, 'we will have you before the\nKauzy'; and away we went, accompanied by the crowd who had espoused the\nblind man's cause against me.\n\n'\"The blind man preferred his claim, and advocated his own cause with so\nmany arguments of apparent justice, that I was not allowed a voice in the\nbusiness; and in the end I was sentenced to be thrust out of the city as a\nthief and vagabond, with a threat of still greater punishment if I dared\nto return. Here ends my sad tale; and you may judge for yourself, oh,\nTraveller! how truly the Snake has proved to you that he follows but the\nway of the world!\"\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n'As they pursued their way in search of further conviction, they met a Fox,\nwhose wisdom and sagacity was consulted on the important question. Having\nheard the whole history with becoming gravity, the Fox addressed the\nTraveller:--\"You can have no good reason to suppose, Mr. Traveller, that\nin your case there should be any deviation from the general rule. I have\noften been obliged to suffer the vilest returns from friends whom I have\nbeen active to oblige; but I am rather curious to see the way you effected\nthe release of the Snake from the fire, for I will candidly confess myself\nso stupid as not clearly to understand the description you have both\nattempted to give. I shall judge the merits of the case better if I see it\nperformed.\"\n\n'To this proposal the Snake and Traveller agreed: and when the corn bag\nwas thrown towards the Snake, he crept into it as before. The Fox then\ncalled out to the Traveller \"Draw quickly!\" he did so, and the Snake was\ncaught by a noose in the cord which the Fox had contrived unperceived, by\nwhich the Snake was secured fast round the middle. \"Now,\" said the Fox,\n\"bruise your enemy, and thus relieve the world of one base\ninhabitant!\"'[12]\n\nThis fable is frequently enlarged and embellished by the reciter to a\nconsiderable extent, by introducing many different objects animate and\ninanimate, to elucidate the question before the Fox arrives, who is\ngenerally brought in to moral the fable.\n\nI trust to be excused for transcribing the following moral fable which was\ntranslated from the Persian by my husband for my amusement, bearing the\ntitle of 'The King who longed for an unknown fruit:'--\n\n'A certain King was so great a tyrant, that his servants and subjects\ndreaded each burst of anger, as it were the prelude to their own\nannihilation. The exercise of his will was as absolute as his power; he\nhad only to command, and obedience followed, however difficult or\ninconvenient to the people who served under him.\n\n'This tyrant dreamed one night that he was eating fruit of an\nextraordinary flavour and quality. He had never in his whole life seen\nfruit of the kind, neither had he heard such described by travellers; yet\nwhen he ruminated on the subject in the morning he was resolved to have\nfruit of the same sort his dream presented, or his people should suffer\nfor his disappointment.\n\n'The King related his dream, and with it his commands to his Vizier, his\ncourtiers, and attendants, that fruit of the same description should be\nbrought before him within seven days; in default of which he vowed\nsolemnly that death should be the portion of his Vizier, his courtiers,\nand servants. They all knew the King meant to be obeyed, by the\nearnestness of his manner, and they trembled under the weight of his\nperplexing orders; each, therefore, was speedily engaged in the\nall-important search. The whole empire was canvassed, and all the business\nof the Court was suspended to satisfy the whim of the Monarch, without\navail; terror and dismay marked the countenance of the whole city--for\ncertain death awaited these servants of the Court--and there was but now\none day left to their hopes. The city, the suburbs, the provinces, had\nbeen searched; disappointment followed from every quarter, and the\nthreatened party gave up their hearts to despair.\n\n'A certain Durweish, knowing the consternation of the people, and feeling\npity for their unmerited sufferings, sent for the Vizier privately. \"I am\nnot\", said the Durweish, \"by any means anxious to please the vanity and\nsilly wishes of your master, the King, but I do hear with pity the state\nof despair you and your fellows are reduced to, by the unsuccessful\nresults of your search after the fruit, and the certain consequences which\nare to follow your failure.\"\n\n'Then giving the Vizier a fragment of a broken pitcher, on which was\nciphered unknown characters, he told him to take it with him to a certain\ntomb, situated in the suburbs of the royal city, (directing him to the\nspot with great exactness), and casting the fragment on the tomb, to\nfollow the directions he would there receive; he further desired him to be\nsecret, to go alone, and at midnight.\n\n'The now hope-inspired Vizier went as desired at midnight, and cast the\nfragment on the tomb, which instantly opened to him. He then descended a\nflight of steps, from the foot of which, at a little distance, he first\nespied a light not larger than a taper, but which increased as he went on\nuntil the full splendour of noonday succeeded. Proceeding with confidence,\nrevived hope cheered his heart, anticipating that by success so many lives\nbesides his own would be preserved through his humble endeavours; and that\nlife would be more than doubly dear, as the prospect of losing the gift\nhad embittered the last few days so severely.\n\n'The Vizier passed on courageously through halls, corridors, and\napartments of magnificent structure, decorated and furnished in the most\nperfect style of elegant neatness. Everything he saw bore marks of\nsplendour. The King's palace was then remembered in all its costliness, to\nbe as much inferior to the present scene as could be detected by the\nlapidary's correct eye, when comparing the diamond with the pebble.\n\n'He was perfectly entranced as he gazed on the emerald gate, through which\nhe had to pass to enter a garden of luxuriant beauty, where every shrub,\nplant, flower, and fruit teemed with richness. In the centre of a walk an\nold man was seated in a chair of burnished gold, clad in the costume of\nthe country, who seemed to be engaged in breathing the sweet odours by\nwhich he was surrounded with a calm and tranquil countenance of joy. \"I\nknow your business,\" said the possessor of this paradise, to the Vizier as\nhe advanced towards him; \"you are come to obtain fruit from this tree,\nwhich bows its branches to the earth with the weight and number of its\nburden. Take one only; this is the fruit your master's dream pictured to\nhis fancy.\"\n\n'Full of joy at the prospect of release from the dreaded anger of his\nroyal master, the Vizier hastily plucked the fruit, and retreated by the\nway he came, without waiting to inquire what the old man meant by an\nexclamation he uttered at parting, which at the time seemed of lesser\nimport than he afterwards imagined; but \"Alas, the world\" was recalled to\nhis memory on his way back to the palace, and haunted his mind so strongly\nthat he became restless and uneasy, even after the King had conferred\nhonours and favours innumerable on him for his successful efforts in\nprocuring that fruit which had never before been seen by any creature on\nearth but by the King, and by him only in a dream. \"Alas, the world!\" was\nlike a dark envelope over every attempt to be cheerful; an impenetrable\ncloud seemed to pervade the Vizier's mind; he could think of nothing but\nthe parting words of the old man, and his own folly in not inquiring his\nmeaning.\n\n'The Vizier at last went to the same Durweish who had befriended him in\nhis hour of need, and related to him the obstacle to his enjoyment of the\nblessings and honours which had crowned his success, and hoped from this\nholy-minded man to ascertain the meaning of that perplexing sentence,\n\"Alas, the world!\" The Durweish could not, or would not explain the old\nman's meaning; but willing to do the Vizier all possible service, he\nproposed giving him again the necessary passport to the inhabitant of the\ngarden.\n\n'The fragment of a pitcher was again traced with the mystic characters,\nand with this in his hand the Vizier at midnight sought the tomb, where he\nfound as easy access as on the former occasion. Everything he saw seemed\ndoubly beautiful to his imagination since his former visit. He entered by\nthe emerald gate and found the old man enjoying the magnificent and\nsense-devouring scene, with as much delight as mortals are wont to show\nwhen content fills the heart of man.\n\n'\"I know your second errand, my friend,\" said the old man, \"and am quite\nas willing to oblige you as on your first visit. Know then, Vizier, that\nwhilst an inhabitant of earth, I followed the humble occupation of a\nvillage barber; by shaving and paring nails I earned my daily bread, and\nmaintained my family. Sometimes I collected ten pice in my day of labour\nfrom house to house, and if twelve crowned my efforts I was fortunate.\n\n'\"Many years passed over my head in this way, when one day I was less\nsuccessful in my calling, and but half my usual earnings was all I had\ngained. On my way home I was ruminating on the scantiness of the meal\nlikely to be procured by five pice for my family of seven people; the\nseason was one of such great scarcity, that ten pice on other days had\nbeen of late barely sufficient to procure our daily food; and even with\ntwelve we thought our wants had been but inadequately supplied. I went on\ngrieving,--more for my family than myself, it is true,--and could have\ncried at the thought of the small portion of bread and dhall I should see\nallotted to each individual dependant on me.\n\n'\"In my progress towards home, whilst regretting my poverty, I saw an\nunfortunate beggar, whose earnest entreaty seemed to make no impression on\nthose who passed him by; for, in truth, when money is scarce and corn dear,\npeople's hearts grow somewhat cold to the distresses of those who have no\nclaim by kindred ties. But with me it was otherways: my scantiness seemed\nto make me more tender to the sorrows of my fellow-creatures. Poor soul,\nsaid I to myself, thou art starving, and no one gives ear to thy\ncomplaints; now if I take home this scanty produce of my day's labour, it\nwill not give a meal to all my household; besides, they dined with me\ntolerably well yesterday. We shall not starve by one day's fasting;\nto-morrow Divine Providence may send me in the way of more bearded men\nthan I have met to-day. I am resolved this poor man shall have the\nbenefit of a good meal for once, which he supplicates for in the name of\nGod.\n\n'\"I then went to the beggar and threw the five pice into his upheld\nwrapper. 'There, brother,' said I, 'it is all I have; go, make yourself\nhappy in a good meal, and remember me in your prayers.' 'May Heaven give\nyou plenty in this world and bless your soul in the next!' was his only\nresponse. That prayer was heard, for during my further sojourn on earth\nabundance crowned my board; and here, it is unnecessary to remark on the\nbounties by which you perceive I am surrounded.\n\n'\"That I said _Alas, the world!_ was from the reflection that I did but\none act of real charity whilst I remained in it, and see what an abundance\nrewards me here. Had I known how such things are rewarded hereafter, I\nshould have been more careful to have embraced the passing opportunities,\nwhile I walked with my fellow-man on earth. That I said, _Alas, the\nworld_! to you, was an intended admonition to mankind; to convince them of\nthe blessings bestowed in this world of bliss eternal, in reward for every\nproper use to which the benefits they received in their probationary state\nof existence may have been devoted. Go, friend! and profit by the example\nI present of heavenly rewards! Persevere in a course of practical charity\nin that world you still inhabit; and secure, whilst you may, the blessed\nrewards of eternity!\"'\n\n\n[1] This term does not appear in the ordinary dictionaries or Census\n    reports. Sir C. Lyall, with much probability, suggests that the\n    correct form is Chalapdar, 'a cymbal player'.\n\n\n[2] A saint, Sayyid Ahmad Kabir, is buried at Bijaimandil, Delhi.\n    T.W. Beale, _Oriental Biographical Dictionary, s.v._\n\n[3] Fire-walking is practised by many Musalman devotees. In a case\n    recorded on the NW. frontier, a fakir and other persons walked\n    through a fire-trench and showed no signs of injury; others came out\n    with blistered feet and were jeered at as unorthodox Musalmans; a\n    young Sikh, shouting his Sikh battle-cry, performed the feat, and as\n    he escaped uninjured, a riot was with difficulty prevented.--T.L.\n    Pennell, _Among the Wild Tribes of the Afghan Frontier_, 1909, p. 37,\n    See M.L. Dames, 'Ordeals by Fire in the Punjab' (_Journal\n    Anthropological Society, Bombay_, vol. iv). The subject is fully\n    discussed by Sir J. Frazer, _The Golden Bough_[3], part vii, vol. ii,\n    1913, pp. 5 ff.\n\n[4] Madari fakirs, who take their names from Badi-ud-din Madar\n    Shah, a disciple of Shaikh Muhammad Taifuri Bastami, who\n    died A.D. 1434 at the ago of 124 years, and is buried at Makanpur in\n    the Cawnpur District, where an annual fair is held at his tomb. On the\n    anniversary of his death food is offered here, and amulets\n    _(baddhi)_ are hung round the necks of children. Some light a\n    charcoal fire, sprinkle ground sandalwood on it, and jumping into it,\n    tread out the embers with their feet, shouting out _dam Madar_, 'by\n    the breath of Madar!' the phrase being regarded as a charm against\n    snake-bite and scorpion stings. After the fire-walk the feet of the\n    performers are washed and are found to be uninjured. Others vow a\n    black cow, sacrifice it, and distribute the meat to beggars. The rite\n    is of Hindu origin, and Hindus believe that the saint is an\n    incarnation of their god Lakshmana.--Jaffur Sharreef, _Qanoon-e-Islam_,\n    158 f.: W. Crooke, _Tribes and Castes of the NW. P. and Oudh_, iii.\n    397 ff.\n\n[5] Dafali, from _daf_, a drum.\n\n[6] _Mela_.\n\n[7] Shaikh Saddu is the special saint of women. His name was\n    Muhi-ud-din, and he lived at Amroha or Sambhal, in the United\n    Provinces of Agra and Oudh. Some unorthodox Musalmans offer food in\n    the name, and hold a session, in which a female devotee becomes\n    possessed. A woman who wants a child says to her: 'Lady! I offer my\n    life to you that I may have a child', whereupon the devotee gives her\n    betel which she has chewed, or sweets, and this is supposed to bring\n    about the desired result (Jaffur Shurreef, _Qanoon-e-Islam_, 184 f: W.\n    Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folklore of Northern India_, i. 204). In\n    Bihar it is said that he had a lamp with four wicks, on lighting\n    which, four Jinns appeared, and he used them for the purpose of\n    debauchery. Finally, another Jinn slew him. People become possessed in\n    his name, and when summoned in cases of illness or trouble, announce\n    that a goat or a cock must be sacrificed to the saint (_Census Report,\n    Bengal_, 1901, i. 180).\n\n[8] _Chiragh_, an earthenware cup in which a wick is lighted.\n\n[9] _Kahani_, a folk-tale.\n\n[10] This tale comes from the Nala-Damayanti Saga. Nala finds a snake\n    in danger of death from a jungle fire, saves it, and is bitten by the\n    reptile, in the forehead, which causes him to become weak, deformed,\n    and black in colour. The snake turns out to be the King Snake,\n    Karkotaka. He says to Nala: 'I gave you this bite for your good, as\n    you will soon learn, in order that your deformity may conceal you in\n    carrying out your plans' (C.H. Tawney, _Katha-saral-Sagara_, i.\n    564 f.: C.H. Bompas, _Folklore of the Santal Parganas_, 149 ff.).\n\n[11] _Pipal, Ficus religiosa_.\n\n[12] A common Indian folk-tale. In one of the most common versions the\n    jackal tricks the ungrateful tiger, and induces him to go back to his\n    cage.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XXVI\n\n  Superstition of the Natives.--Fair annually kept by Hindoos.--Supposed\n  practice of witchcraft by an old woman.--Assaulted by an infuriated\n  populace.--Rescued by a Native gentleman.--He inquires their reasons\n  for persecuting her.--Is instrumental in appeasing their\n  malignity.--Endeavours to remove their prejudice.--Proneness of\n  Asiatics to superstition.--Opinion of a Mussulmaun on the influence\n  of evil spirits.--Account of a woman possessed by an evil\n  spirit.--Dialogue with her during the paroxysms of her\n  affliction.--Means used for her recovery.--Further allusions to the\n  false notions of the Natives respecting supernatural agency...Page 387\n\n\nAll the Natives of Hindoostaun appear to me to be, more or less, tinctured\nwith superstitious notions, which, in many instances, are so grafted in\ntheir nature as to resist every attempt made to root out by arguments the\nfolly of this great weakness.\n\nI hope to be forgiven for introducing in this Letter a few anecdotes and\noccurrences, which may illustrate that faulty side of the character of a\npeople who have not derived those advantages which are calculated to\ndisplace superstition from the mind of man;--in a word, they are strangers\nto that Holy volume which teaches better things.\n\nA fair had been held at Lucknow one afternoon, not immediately within our\nview, but the holiday folks passed our house on the road to and from the\nscene of action. This fair or mayllah is visited by all ranks and classes\nof Natives; but it is strictly a Hindoo festival annually kept up in\nremembrance of the celebrated Kornea,[1] of Hindoo mythologic celebrity,\nwho according to their tradition, when but a child, on a certain day\nkilled with his slender arm a great tyrant, the giant Khaunce. Had there\never existed a suspicion that the Hindoos sprang from any of the tribes of\nIsrael, I should have imagined the event they celebrate might have\nreference to the act of David, who with his single arm destroyed Goliath\nof Gath. This, however, can hardly be supposed, although the similarity is\nremarkably striking.\n\nThe figure of Khaunce is made up of bamboo and paper, representing a human\nbeing of gigantic stature, and bearing a most fierce countenance, with\nsome certain appendages, as horns, tail, &c., to render the figure more\ndisgusting. It is placed near the bank of the river Goomtie, in a\nconspicuous situation, for the wonder and admiration of some, the terror\nof the weak, and the satisfaction of the believers in the fabled story of\nKornea and his supposed supernatural power.\n\nKornea is represented by a little boy, dressed in costly apparel, who is\nconveyed in grand procession, seated on an elephant, and surrounded by\nattendants on horseback, with bands of music and a multitude of followers,\nthrough the principal streets of the city to the chosen spot where Khaunce\nis placed to be attacked by the child.\n\nWhen the farce is properly prepared for the attack, the child, I am\ntold,--for I have never seen the ceremony,--takes aim from his\nwell-ornamented bow, and with a single arrow sends the monstrous giant\ninto the river, whilst the shouts of the multitude declare the victory of\nKornea, and the destruction of the enemy to the repose of mankind. The\nfigure, I should have remarked, is made up of parts merely placed on each\nother, so that the force of an arrow is sufficient to dislodge the lofty\nerection as readily as a pack of cards in a mimic castle may be levelled\nby a breath. The mayllah concludes when the floating members of the figure\nhave glided with the stream out of sight.\n\nA party of poor weak-minded mortals, pedestrians, but by their dress\nrespectable people, returning from this day's mayllah when the evening was\nwell advanced, suddenly halted near my house; my attention was soon\naroused by violent screams, and exclamations of 'Seize her! seize her! she\nis eating my heart!' accompanied by all those indications of fear and pain,\nthat did not fail to excite my sympathy; for I could not comprehend what\nwas the matter and imagined the poor man had been wounded by the hand of\nan assassin.\n\nA crowd quickly assembled, and a great bustle ensued; I was really alarmed,\nand the tumult of voices continuing for some minutes, we distinctly heard\nthe loud cries of a coarse female voice who seemed to be in great danger\nof losing her life by the rough treatment of a lawless rabble; this\ninduced a Native gentleman of our family to venture out, to ascertain if\npossible the cause of the excitement, and also to endeavour to assuage the\nangry feelings of the turbulent party. His appearance amongst them\nproduced the desired effect, they were silenced by his command; and when\nthe man whose alarming screams had first assailed us, was brought before\nhim, he found that he was a man of great respectability amongst the\nshop-keepers of the city, with a child of four years old in his arms, or\nrather I should say the child was seated astride on his father's hip, the\narm encircling the child's body, as is the general manner of nursing\namongst all classes of the Natives.\n\nOn being questioned as to the cause of his raising the tumult, he declared\nthat he was walking quietly on the roadway with his party, when the old\nwoman (who was in custody) had touched him as he passed, when immediately\nhis heart sickened, and he was sensible she had bewitched him, for she was\nstill devouring his heart and feasting on his vitals.[2] 'I will certainly\nkill her!' he added, 'if she does not restore me to myself and my child\nlikewise!'--'When was your child attacked?'--'About four days since,'\nanswered the angry father.\n\n'Good man!' replied my friend; 'you must be under the influence of\ndelusion, since you told me just now, the woman is a stranger to you, and\nthat you never saw her before; how could she have bewitched your child\nthen four days ago? I am sure weakening fears or illness has taken\npossession of your better feelings; the poor creature looks not like one\nwho possesses the power you ascribe to her.'\n\nThe old woman threw herself at the feet of my friend, and implored his\nprotection, reiterating her gratitude to him as her preserver from the\nfury of an angry populace, who had already beaten her with slippers on her\nhead, as a prelude to their future harsh intentions towards her. She\nstretched out her hands to touch him and bless him, as is the custom with\nthe lower orders of women to their superior of either sex, but the\nmultitude insisted she should not be allowed to let her unhallowed hands\nfall on the good Mussulmaun gentleman; in a second was to be heard the\ninvocations of Hindoos and Mussulmauns, on their several sources of\nsupreme aid, to save the gentleman from her power, for all the mob felt\npersuaded the old woman was a witch.\n\n'Be assured you are mistaken, I, at least, have no fears that her touch\ncan harm me;' responded my friend. 'Exercise your reason--is she not a\nhuman being like ourselves? True she is old and ugly, but you are really\nwicked in accusing and ill-treating the poor wretch.' They were silenced\nfor a few minutes, then declared she must be a witch, for her feet were\ncrooked, she was desired to exhibit them, and they were found to be\nperfectly good straight feet.\n\nMy friend inquired of the old woman who she was; she answered, 'A poor\nmazoorie[3] (corn-grinder), my husband and my sons are grass-cutters, our\nabode is in the serai (inn for travellers), we are poor, but honest\npeople.' 'You see, Sir,' said my friend to the accusing person, 'your own\nweak fears have imposed upon your mind. This woman cannot have done you any\ninjury; let her depart quietly to her home without farther annoyance.'\n\n'No!' replied the accuser, 'she must satisfy me she is not a witch, or\nworse than that, by allowing me to pluck a few hairs from her head.'--'\nWhat benefit do you propose to yourself by this measure?'--'Why I shall\nrelieve myself from her power over me, by possessing hairs plucked from\nher head, on which my friends will exercise certain prayers, and thus the\ncraft she has used to bewitch me will be dissolved, and I shall be\nrestored to myself again.'[4]\n\nWilling as my friend was to get the poor woman released from the hands of\nthe accusing party, and finding reason or argument of no avail in turning\nthem from their purpose to detain her, the terms were acceded to on the\none part, provided the woman herself was willing to comply, to which, when\nshe was asked, she replied, 'I am not the wretched creature my accuser\nimagines, and therefore can have no objection, on condition that I may be\nallowed afterwards to return to my home in peace.'\n\nThe poor old head was now in danger of being plucked of its white hairs by\nthe surrounding crowd, whose extravagant desire to possess the, to them,\ninvaluable specific against witchcraft--for they still believed she was\nactually a witch--led them to overlook humanity and feeling; but the\npeacemaker's voice was again heard, commanding the crowd to desist, and\nthey should all be gratified, when the scissors he had sent a servant to\nfetch, might enable them to possess the prize without inflicting pain on\nthe poor persecuted woman.\n\nWhilst this was in agitation, and before the scissors were used, several\nwell-armed soldiers, attracted by the appearance of a riot, had made their\nway to the scene of contention, who recognizing the old woman as the\nmother and wife of their three grass-cutters, immediately took the poor\nold soul under their protection, and conveyed her safely from her\ntormentors. My friend was very well satisfied to resign his charge to\ntheir guardianship, and not a little pleased that he had been instrumental\nin preserving a fellow-creature from the lawless hands of the foolishly\nsuperstitious of his countrymen.\n\nIt is lamentable to witness how powerful an ascendancy superstition sways\nover the minds of Asiatics generally. The very wisest, most learned, most\nreligious, even, are more or less tinctured with this weakness; and, I may\nadd, that I have hardly met with one person entirely free from the opinion\nthat witchcraft and evil agency are in the hands of some, and often\npermitted to be exercised on their neighbours. The truly religious people\ndeclare to me, that they only are preserved from such calamities who can\nplace their whole reliance on the power and goodness of God alone; Who,\nthey are persuaded, will never suffer His faithful servants to be\npersecuted by the evil one in any shape, or under any mysterious agency.\nPerfect dependance on Divine Providence is the Mussulmaun's only safeguard,\nfor they declare it to be their belief that evil agency exists still, as\nit did in the first ages of the world. Faith and trust in God can alone\npreserve them; when that fails, or if they have never learned to rely on\nHim for protection, they are necessarily exposed to the influence of that\nevil agency by which so many have suffered both in body and soul amongst\ntheir country-people.\n\nThe return of our friend, with the explanation of the scene I had\nwitnessed from my window, led me to inquire very minutely into the opinion\nand general belief of the Mussulmauns on such subjects. A sensible, clever\ngentleman of that persuasion then present, told me that there could be no\ndoubt witchcraft was often practised in Lucknow, detailing things he had\noften heard, about the wicked amongst human beings who practised muntah[5]\n(incantations); and perhaps would have explained the motives and the\nacquired power if I had been disposed to listen. I inquired of my friend,\nas he had always appeared a religious person, whether he really believed\nin magic, genii, evil agency, &c. He told me, that he did believe\ncertainly that such things still existed; but he added, 'such power can\nonly work on the weak or the wicked, for that heart whose dependance is\nwholly fixed on God, has a sure protection from every evil, whether of man\nor spirit. You have in your sacred book a full and ample delineation of\nthe works of magic, in the period of Moses, and also of Saul. In later\nperiods you have proofs of greater weight with you, where Christ cast out\ndevils and gave the same power to His disciples. My opinion,' he added,\n'will not alter yours, nor do I wish it; neither would I argue or dispute\nwith you on subjects become obsolete in the enlightened world of which you\nare a member, but as far as my own individual opinion is concerned, it is\nmy belief that all things are possible to the Almighty power and will of\nGod. And I see no right we have either to inquire why, or to dispute about\nthe motives by which His wisdom permits the weak to be afflicted for a\nseason, or the wicked to be punished in this life.'\n\nI inquired if he had ever witnessed any of the strange events I\ncontinually heard his people speak of, as having occurred in their\nneighbourhood, such as people possessed with unclean spirits, sufficient\nto confirm his belief in their probability. He replied, 'I have not only\nwitnessed but have, under Divine Providence, been the instrument to convey\nrelief to several different women, who suffered from being possessed by\nevil spirits.' He then related the following, which I copy from the notes\nI took at the time of his relation:--\n\n'When I was a very young man, my mind was bent on inquiring into the truth\nof the generally believed opinion, that some righteous men of our faith\nhad power granted to them to remove evil spirits from their victims. I\ntook the advice of a certain venerable person, who was willing to impart\nhis knowledge to me. Preparatory to my own practice, I was instructed to\nforsake the haunts of man, and give myself wholly to prayer. Accordingly I\nabsented myself from my home, family, and friends, and led the life you\nwould call a hermit's; my food was simply herbs and fruits, and\noccasionally an unleavened cake of my own preparing, whilst the nearest\ntank of water supplied me with the only beverage I required; my clothing a\nsingle wrapper of calico; my house a solitary chupha (a thatch of coarse\ngrass tied over a frame of bamboo), and this placed on the margin of a\nwood, where seldom the feet of man strayed to interfere with, or disturb\nmy devotion. My days and nights were given to earnest prayer; seeking God\nand offering praises with my mouth to Him, constituted my business and my\ndelight for nearly two whole years, during which time my friends had\nsought me in vain, and many a tear I fear was shed at the uncertain fate\nof one they loved so well in my father's house.'\n\n'The simplicity of my mode of life, added to the veneration and respect\nalways paid to the Durweish's character, raised me in the opinion of the\nfew who from time to time had intruded on my privacy, to ask some boon\nwithin my limits to give as a taawise[6] (talisman), which is in fact a\nprayer, or else one of the names or attributes of God, in such a character\nas best suited the service they required; for you must be told, in the\nMussulmaun faith, we count ninety-nine different names or titles to the\ngreat merciful Creator and only true God. In many cases the taawise I had\nso given, had been supposed by the party receiving them, to have been\ninstrumental in drawing down upon them the favour of God, and thus having\ntheir difficulties removed; this induced others influenced by their report,\nto apply to me, and at last my retirement was no longer the hermit's cell,\nbut thronged as the courtyard of a king's palace. My own family in this\nway discovered my retreat, they urged and prevailed on me to return\namongst them, and by degrees to give up my abstemious course of life.\n\n'The fame of my devotion, however, was soon conveyed to the world; it was\na task to shake off the entreaties of my poor fellow-mortals who gave me\nmore credit for holiness of life than I felt myself deserving of. Yet\nsympathy prevailed on me to comfort when I could, although I never dared\nto think myself deserving the implicit confidence they placed in me.\n\n'On one occasion I was induced, at the urgent entreaties of an old and\nvalued friend, to try the effects of my acquired knowledge in favour of a\nrespectable female, whose family, and her husband in particular, were in\ngreat distress at the violence of her sufferings. They fancied she was\ntroubled by a demon, who visited her regularly every eighth day; her\nravings when so possessed endangered her health, and destroyed the\ndomestic harmony of the house.\n\n'The day was fixed for my visit, and the first exercise of my acquirements;\neven then I had doubts on my mind whether the demons so often quoted did\nreally exist, or were but the disordered wanderings of imagination; and if\nthey did exist, I still was doubtful as to the extent of my knowledge\nbeing sufficient to enable me to be the instrument for effecting the\ndesired benefit. Trusting faithfully, however, in God's help, and desiring\nnothing but His glory, I commenced my operations. The woman was seated on\na charpoy (bedstead) behind a wadded curtain, which hid her from my view.\nRespectable females, you are aware, are not allowed to be seen by any\nmales except very near relatives. I took my seat opposite the curtain with\nthe husband of the suffering woman, and entered into conversation with him\non general subjects.\n\n'I soon heard the wild speeches of the woman, and my heart fully\nsympathized in her sufferings. After preparing the sweet-scented flowers\nfor my purpose (it is believed all aerial beings feed on the scent of\nflowers), fire was brought in a chafing-dish, at my request, and a copper\nplate was placed on this fire, on which I strewed my prepared flowers\nmixed up with drugs. Instantly the demon became furious in the woman,\ncalling out to me, \"Spare me! spare me!\"\n\n'I should remark that the woman was so entirely hidden by the curtain as\nto leave it beyond a doubt that she could not see what I was doing on the\nother side, but she seemed, by the instinct of the evil spirit which\npossessed her, to be thoroughly acquainted with the nature of my visit,\nand the exertion I was making by prayer, for her release from the intruder.\nThe women attending her, her friends and relatives, had no power to\nrestrain her in the violence of her paroxysms; she tore the curtain with\nmore than human force, and it gave way, leaving her and the other women\nexposed to my gaze.\n\n'I would, from modesty, have retired, but her husband, having confidence\nin my ability to help his afflicted wife, whom he loved most tenderly,\nentreated me not to retire, but to think of the woman as my own sister.\nThe woman, or rather the demon in the woman, told me what I was going to\ndo was not withheld from her knowledge, desiring me immediately to leave\nthe place.\n\n'\"Who are you?\" I inquired.--\"I am the spirit of an old woman, who once\ninhabited this house;\" was answered by a coarse harsh voice.--\"Why have\nyou dared to possess yourself of this poor female? she never could have\ndone you any injury.\"--\"No,\" was answered, \"not the female, but her\nhusband has taken possession of this house, and I am here to torment him\nfor it, by visiting his wife.\"\n\n'\"Do you know that I am permitted to have power to destroy you in this\nfire?\"--\"Yes, but I hope you will shew mercy; let me escape and I will\nflee to the forest.\"--\"I cannot agree to this, you would then, being at\nliberty, fasten yourself on some other poor mortal, who may not find one\nto release him from your tyranny; I shall destroy you now;\" and I was\nactually preparing my methods for this purpose, when the screaming became\nso violent, the poor woman's agony so terrific, that I dreaded her instant\ndeath from the present agony of her ravings.\n\n'\"How am I to know you are what you represent yourself to be?\" said I,\ntrying the softest manner of speech; (the poor victim appeared at ease\nimmediately).--\"Ask me any question you please,\" was replied, apparently\nby the woman, \"and I will answer you.\" I rose and went into the front\nentrance of the house, which is divided from the zeenahnah by a high wall,\nas are all our Mussulmaun houses, and returned with something closely\nconcealed in my hand. I asked, \"What is enclosed in my clenched hand?\"--\"A\npiece of charcoal,\" was the prompt reply. It was so in truth; I could no\nlonger doubt.\n\n'Another of the party was sent to the outer house; and, again I inquired,\n\"What is in this person's hand?\"--\"Grains of corn.\"--\"Of what\nnature?\"--\"Wheat.\" The hand was opened, and the contents were really as\nwas said;--confirming to all present, if they had ever doubted, that the\npoor woman was possessed by the demon, as I have before represented.\nNearly two hours were spent in the most singular conversations, which,\nwhilst they amused me exceedingly, convinced me by my own observations of\nthe truth of that which I had but imperfectly believed before these trials.\n\n'\"I will certainly destroy you in this fire, unless you give me ample\nassurances that you will never again annoy or torment this poor\ninoffensive woman;\" and, as I presented my preparation, the screams, the\ncries of \"Spare me! oh, spare me this fiery torment!\" were repeated with\nredoubled force. I asked, \"What is your belief?\"--\"I believe in one God,\nthe Creator of all things;\" was promptly answered.--\"Then away to the\nforest, the boon you first craved from me, nor again venture to return to\nthis house.\"\n\n'The instant my command was given, the woman was calm, her reason restored\nimmediately; her shame and confusion were beyond expressing by words, as\nshe awoke from what she termed a dream of heavy terror that had\noverpowered her. The appearance of a strange man,--herself but half clad,\nfor in the moments of raving she had torn off parts of her clothing,\nleaving the upper part of her person entirely uncovered--nearly deprived\nher again of returning reason; her husband's presence, however, soothed\nher mind; but it was some time before her confusion was sufficiently\nbanished to enable her to converse freely with me. In answer to the\nquestions I asked of her, she replied that she had not the least\nrecollection of what had occurred. She fancied herself overpowered by a\ndreadful dream which had agitated her greatly, though she could not\nrecollect what was the nature of that dream. I ordered some cooling\nbeverage to be prepared for my patient, and recommending rest and quiet,\ntook my leave, promising to visit her again in my professional character,\nshould any return of the calamity render my visit necessary. The whole\nfamily heaped blessings and prayers on my head for the benefit they\nbelieved I had been the instrument of Providence in rendering to their\nhouse.\n\n'This was my first attempt at the practice I had been instructed in; and,\nyou may believe, I was gratified with the success with which my endeavours\nhad been crowned. For several months the lady continued quite well, when\nsome symptoms of irritability of temper and absence of mind warned her\nhusband and family of approaching danger upon which, they urged and\nentreated my second visit. I went accompanied by several friends who were\ncurious to witness the effect expected to be produced by my prayer. It\nappeared the poor woman was more calm on my first entrance, than when _I_\nhad previously visited her; but after repeating my form of prayer, the\nmost violent ravings followed every question I put to her.\n\n'Many hours were spent in this way. The replies to my questions were\nremarkable; she always answered, as if by the spirit with which she was\npossessed. I demanded, \"Why have you dared to return to this poor\ncreature? do you doubt my ability to destroy you?\" The reply was, \"had no\npower to fix myself again on the woman, until you entered the house, but I\nhave hovered over her.\"--I said, \"I do not believe that you are the soul\nof a deceased old woman as you represent yourself to be; perhaps you may\nwish to convince me, by answering the questions that will be made by me\nand my friends.\" The several questions were then put and answered in a way\nthat surprised all present.\n\nAfterwards, I said, \"You professed when here on a former occasion, to\nbelieve in God. Answer me now, to what sect of people did you\nbelong?\"--\"Sheikh,\" was the reply, \"and I believe in one God of mercy and\nof truth,\"'--\"Then you are my brother,'\" I said, rising, and holding out\nmy hand to the woman, \"we will shake hands.\"---\"No, No!\" replied the woman,\nwith great agitation and terror, \"I beseech you not to touch me; the fire\nwhich I dread would then torment me more than I could bear. I would\nwillingly shake hands with all here present, that would give me no pain,\nbut with you the case is different; one touch of yours would destroy me\nimmediately. Not to prolong my story, at the husband's earnest entreaty,\nthe evil soul was destroyed by the practice I had learned, and the poor\nwoman, restored to health and peace, was no more troubled by her enemy.\"\n\nWhen this story was related, I fancied it a mere fable of the relator's\nbrain to amuse his audience; but on a more intimate acquaintance with him,\nI find it to be his real opinion that he had been instrumental in the way\ndescribed, in removing evil spirits from the possessed; nor could I ever\nshake his confidence by any argument brought forward for that purpose\nduring many years of intimate acquaintance; which is the more to be\nregretted as in all other respects he possesses a very superior and\nintelligent mind, and as far as _I_ could judge of his heart by his life,\nalways appeared to be a really devout servant of God.\n\nIt is not surprising that the strongly grounded persuasion should be too\ndeeply rooted to give way to my feeble efforts; time, but more especially\nthe mercy of Divine goodness extended to them, will dissolve the delusion\nthey are as yet fast bound by, as it has in more enlightened countries,\nwhere superstition once controlled both the ignorant and the scholar, in\nnearly as great a degree as it is evident it does at this day the people\nof India generally. Here the enlightened and the unenlightened are so\nstrongly persuaded of the influence of supernatural evil agency, that if\nany one is afflicted with fits, it is affirmed by the lookers on, of\nwhatever degree, that the sick person is possessed by an unclean spirit.\n\nIf any one is taken suddenly ill, and the doctor cannot discover the\ncomplaint, the opinion is that some evil spirit has visited the patient,\nand the holy men of the city are then applied to, who by prayer may draw\ndown relief for the beloved and suffering object. Hence arises the number\nof applications to the holy men for a written prayer, called taawise (\ntalisman) which the people of that faith declare will not only preserve\nthe wearer from the attacks of unclean spirits, genii, &c., but these\nprayers will oblige such spirits to quit the afflicted immediately on\ntheir being placed on the person. The children are armed from their birth\nwith talismans; and if any one should have the temerity to laugh at the\npractice, he would be judged by these superstitious people as worse than a\nheathen.\n\n\n[1] Kanhaiya, a name of the demigod Krishna, whom Kansa, the wicked King\n    of Mathura, tried to destroy. For the miracle-play of the\n    destruction of Kansa by Krishna and his brother Balarama, see Prof.\n    W. Ridgeway, _The Origin of Tragedy_, 140, 157, 190. The author seems\n    to refer to the Ramlila festival.\n\n[2] For cases of witches sucking out the vitals of their victims, see\n    W. Crooke, _Popular Religion and Folklore of N. India_, ii. 268 ff.\n\n[3] _Mazdurni_, a day labourer.\n\n[4] On the efficacy of shaving or plucking out hair from a witch in order\n    to make her incapable of bewitching people, see W. Crooke, _Popular\n    Religion and Folklore of N. India_[2], ii. 250 f.\n\n[5] _Mantra_.\n\n[6] _Ta'wiz_, see p. 214.\n\n\n\n\nLETTER XXVII\n\n  Memoir of the life of Meer Hadjee Shah.--His descent.--Anecdote of a\n  youthful exploit.--His predilection for the army.--Leaves his home to\n  join the army of a neighbouring Rajah.--Adventures on the way.--Is\n  favourably received and fostered by the Rajah.--His first pilgrimage\n  to Mecca.--Occurrences during his stay in Arabia.--Description of a\n  tiger-hunt.--Detail of events during his subsequent pilgrimages.--The\n  plague.--Seizure by pirates.--Sketch of the life of Fatima, an\n  Arabian lady.--Relieved from slavery by Meer Hadjee Shah.--He marries\n  her.--Observations on the piety of his life.--Concluding\n  remarks...Page 400\n\n\nThe name of Meer Hadjee Shah has so often occurred in my Letters, that I\nfeel persuaded a brief sketch of his life may be acceptable here, more\nparticularly as that venerated man presented to my immediate observation a\ncorrect picture of the true Mussulmaun. I can only regret my inability to\ndo justice to the bright character of my revered father-in-law, whose\nconduct as a devout and obedient servant to his Maker, ruled his actions\nin every situation of life, and to whom my debt of gratitude is boundless,\nnot alone for the affectionate solicitude invariably manifested for my\ntemporal comforts, but for an example of holy living, which influences\nmore than precept. This much valued friend of mine was the mouth of wisdom\nto all with whom he conversed, for even when intending to amuse by\nanecdotes, of which his fund was inexhaustible, there was always a moral\nand religious precept attached to the relation, by which to benefit his\nauditor, whilst he riveted attention by his gentle manners and\nwell-selected form of words.\n\nBefore we met, I had often heard him described by his dutiful son, but\nwith all that affection had prompted him to say of his father, I was not\nprepared to expect the dignified person I found him,--a perfect model of\nthe patriarchs of old to my imagination, nor could I ever look at him\nthrough our years of intimacy, without associating him in my mind with\nAbraham, the father of his people.\n\nHis form was finely moulded, his height above six feet, his person erect,\neven in age, his fine cast of countenance beamed with benevolence and\npiety, and his dark eye either filled with tears of sympathy or\nbrightening with joy, expressed both superior intelligence and intensity\nof feeling. His venerable flowing beard gave a commanding majesty to the\nfigure before me, whilst his manners were graceful as the most polished\neven of European society. Raising his full eyes in pious thankfulness to\nGod (whose mercy had thus filled his cup of earthly happiness to the brim),\nhe embraced us both with a warmth of pressure to his throbbing heart, that\npronounced more than his words, the sincerity of our welcome. Never have I\nforgotten the moment of our meeting. The first impression lasted through\nour long acquaintance, for he proved indeed a real solace during my\npilgrimage in a strange land.\n\nThe subject of my present Letter, Meer Mahumud Hadjee Shah, was a native\nof Loodeeanah,[1] the capital city of the Punjaab territory, so called\nfrom the five rivers which water that tract of country, and derived from\npunje (five), aab (water). He descended through a long line of pure Syaad\nblood, from Mahumud, many of his ancestors having been remarkable for\ntheir holy lives, and his grandsire in particular, a singularly devout\nDurweish, of whom are related in the family many interesting incidents and\nextraordinary escapes from peril which distinguished him as a\nhighly-favoured mortal. On one occasion, when attacked by a ravenous tiger,\nhis single blow with a sabre severed the head from the carcase: the sabre\nis still retained in the family with veneration, as the instrument by\nwhich the power and goodness of God was manifested to their sire.\n\nThe father of Meer Hadjee Shah was a Kauzy (Judge) of the city of\nLoodeeanah, a man greatly admired for his extensive knowledge of the\nMahumudan law, respected for his general worthiness, and venerated for his\nholy life. He had a large family, of whom the subject before me was the\neldest son; his father designed to instruct and prepare him as his\nsuccessor in the same honourable employment, whenever old age or\ninfirmities should render his own retirement from the office necessary.\nBut,--as the son always regretted when talking over the circumstance, with\nbecoming remorse that his mind was differently swayed,--through an\nenterprising spirit he preferred the adventurous to the more sober calling\nfor which his father had originally destined him.\n\nTo illustrate the temper of his youth, his often repeated anecdote of an\nevent which occurred when he was but twelve years old may here be\npresented:--\n\n'After our hours of study, boys of my own age were allowed to meet\ntogether for exercise and amusement, without the controlling presence of\nour Maulvees (tutors). Many an enterprising feat had been performed during\nour hours of play, but none that has impressed me with so keen a\nremembrance of my youthful follies as the one I am about to relate. We had\nlong observed the wild pigeons, which owned not any earthly master, take\nrefuge for the night in an old and dilapidated well outside the town; a\nplan was laid between my companions and myself to possess ourselves of\nsome of these pigeons, and one evening we assembled by agreement to put\nour project in force.\n\n'A strong rope was procured, to which we fastened a piece of board, so as\nto form a seat; a bag was provided, into which the game was to be\ndeposited as fast as it was caught; and a thick stick, with which to\nascertain in the holes the situation of each pigeon, which was to be\nseized by the neck when thus discovered. Everything was arranged when,\n\"Who will be lowered first?\" was inquired by the head of our party. Meer\nMahumud was not a little pleased when it was suggested, that he was the\nbravest boy among them; and with a proud feeling of ecstasy my young heart\nbounded whilst I seated myself on the board and was lowered from the\nsummit for several yards down the well, my young companions holding fast\nthe rope outside from which I was suspended; the bag conveniently slung\nacross my left shoulder, with the open mouth in front, to enable me to\ndeposit my gleanings without delay.\n\n'I had collected several pigeons in this way; and, at last, my stick was\npresented to search in a new aperture, where it seemed to be resisted by\nsomething more than the soft feathers of a bird; fearless as I was, my\nyoung hand was thrust into the hole, and I caught at something with a firm\ngrasp, which at once convinced me could not be a pigeon; but I resolved\nnot to part from my prize very readily, and drawing my hand and arm from\nthe hole with great difficulty (putting all my youthful strength and\nenergy to the task), I discovered my prize was a living snake of rather a\nlarge size.\n\n'Fearful to announce the nature of my present prisoner to the youngsters,\nat whose mercy I then was, lest they, through terror, should let the rope\ngo, and thus precipitate me to the bottom of the well, I called out, \"Draw\nup! draw up quickly! delay not, brothers!\" and I was soon brought to the\nmouth of the well with the snake coiled round my arm, and firmly grasped\njust under the head, so that it could not extricate itself or injure me.\nThe boys soon assisted me off the top of the well, and brought pieces of\nstone, with which they bruised the snake's head until I was relieved from\nits pressure on my arm by its death. I should remark, that I had presence\nof mind to rub the head against the wall on my ascent, which had\nconsiderably lessened the snake's pressure on my arm, and I believe it was\nmore than half dead before I had reached the top.\n\n'My arm pained me dreadfully, but still my greatest agony was for fear my\nfather should hear of my exploit, which I felt convinced would not only\nexcite his present anger, but be the means of preventing my having another\nopportunity of enjoying the society and amusements of my young companions.\nStrict secrecy was therefore enjoined by my command upon the whole party;\nand returning to my home, I thought to disguise my real feelings by\nseeking repose instead of the evening dinner which was prepared for me. My\naffectionate mother had no suspicion that I was ill, although she was much\ndistressed that play had destroyed the appetite of her son. I had dozed\nfor some hours, when the agony of my arm awoke me as from an uneasy dream;\nI could hardly recollect the last evening's adventure, for my mind seemed\nmuch bewildered. My groans, however, brought my mother to my bed-side,\nwhose tender care was exercised in fomenting my arm, which she found much\nswollen and inflamed.\n\n'The secret of my enterprize was never divulged by me until the news of my\nsudden illness was reported in the neighbourhood; when some of my young\nfriends told the tale, and it was conveyed by one of the gossiping old\nwomen, of the city to the zeenahnah of my mother. My arm was for a long\nperiod rendered useless, and I was under the care of doctors for many\nmonths; the whole skin peeled off, and left me cause for remembering the\ncircumstance, although it did not cure me of that preference for\nenterprize, which afterwards drew me from my home to visit other places,\nand to search for new adventures. Often did I remonstrate with my father\non the subject of my future profession: how often did I declare my\ndisinclination to pursue those studies (deemed essential to fit me for the\noffice I was in due time to be appointed to), and avow my predilection for\na military life!'\n\nAt that period of Indian History, the Punjaab district was disturbed by\nthe depredations of the Mahrattas.[2] Hordes of those lawless banditti\nwere in the habit of frequent encroachments on the Mussulmaun possessions,\ncommitting frightful enormities in their predatory excursions against\ntowns and villages, spreading terror and desolation wherever they\napproached. On this account military ardour was encouraged by the heads of\nfamilies, and the youth of respectable Mussulmauns were duly instructed in\nthe use of defensive weapons, as a measure of prudence by which they were\nenabled, whenever called upon, to defend the lives and property of their\nneighbours as well as of their individual families.\n\nIn describing this period of his life, I have often heard Meer Hadjee Shah\nconfess with remorse, that he was wont to pay far greater attention to his\nmilitary instructors than to the Maulvee's lectures on law or other dry\nsubjects of books, as he then often thought them, and at fourteen years\nold he was perfect master of the sabre, spear, matchlock, and the bow;\nable even then to defend himself against an enemy, or take the palm of\nvictory, when practising those arts with the youth of his own standing.\n\nAt seventeen, his love of enterprize drew him from the calm study of his\ntutors under the parental roof, to seek amongst strangers employment\nbetter suited to his inclination. His early adventures were attended with\nmany vicissitudes and trials, which would (however interesting to those\nwho have loved him) appear tedious to the general reader; I shall,\ntherefore, but digress occasionally with such anecdotes as maybe generally\ninteresting. One which presents him in the early part of his career\namongst strangers in a position which marks the bravery of his youth, I\nshall take the liberty of introducing in his own words:--\n\n'After a good night's repose, I was desirous of pursuing my march, and\nprepared to take leave of my hospitable entertainer (a Kauzy of the\nvillage), from whom I had received the utmost attention and civility. This\nkind-hearted man was unwilling to allow of my journeying alone, and\ninsisted that two of his menservants should accompany me that day's march\nat least. I had no fears, nor much to lose beside my life, and for some\ntime resisted the offer, but without avail. The men therefore accompanied\nme, and after six hours' walk, I prevailed on them to take refreshment and\nrest at the serai of the village, through which we had to pass, with leave\nto retrace their way home afterwards with my duty to their master.\n\n'Released from their guardianship, I felt my own independence revive, and\nbounded on as lively as the antelope, full of hope that I might yet reach\nthe Rajah's territory by nightfall, who, I had heard, was willing to give\nemployment to the enterprising youth of Loodeeanah, in the army he was\nthen raising. I must have walked since the morning near twenty koss (forty\nmiles) without food or water; but I neither felt hunger nor fatigue, so\ndeeply was my heart engaged in the prospect of a military life. At length\nhunger awakened me to a sense of my forlorn condition, for I had left home\nwithout a coin in my possession; and although I passed through many\ninhabited villages where relief would have been gladly tendered, if I had\nonly applied for it, yet my pride forbade the humble words of supplicating\nfor a meal; hungry as I was, death even would have been preferable at that\ntime to breathing out a want amongst strangers.\n\n'I was overjoyed on approaching a cultivated tract of country to find a\nfield of wheat, ripe for the harvest, evincing the great Creator's\nbountiful hand, and hesitated not, without a scruple, to possess myself of\nan occasional handful as I passed along, rubbing the ears and eating as I\nwent, to save that time I deemed so precious; for my anxiety to reach the\nRajah and employment, increased as the day advanced. I had traversed near\nthirty koss on foot, scarcely having halted since the dawning day; this to\na young man who had been through life indulged by the luxury of a horse\nfor exercise, whilst under the parental roof, may be imagined to have been\nno trifling undertaking. But buoyant youth, filled with hopes of honour\nand preferment is regardless of those difficulties which must subdue the\nindolent or less aspiring spirit.\n\n'At the extremity of a large field through which I had to pass, my eye\nrested on a man with two oxen, certain indications, I imagined, of a well\nof water being adjacent for the purpose of irrigation, towards whom I\napproached sufficiently near to inquire if a draught of pure water could\nbe obtained for a thirsty traveller. The sturdy farmer-looking man seemed\nto view me with scrutiny, without deigning to reply; my question was\nrepeated with civility, but no answer was given, and I then fancied his\nlooks foreboded no good meaning; he held in his hand a large heavy stick\nstudded at the top with iron rings (in common use with the lower orders of\npeople as a weapon of defence against robbers, tigers, wolves, or\nreptiles), but as I stood far enough off to be out of immediate danger of\na sudden attack, if such was premeditated, the surly look of his\ncountenance gave me little concern until he called out in a commanding\ntone, \"Youngster! off with your garments; lay down those bow and arrows\ninstantly, or I will fell you to the earth with this staff that is in my\nhand!\" which he raised in a position to prove himself in earnest.\n\n'My surprise was great, but it did not put me off my guard, and I replied\nwith courage, that his insolent demand would not meet with a willing\ncompliance; I was able to defend myself, young as I was, against his\ntreacherous intentions on an unoffending traveller; and I prepared my bow\nin the expectation that he would either be deterred, or leave me no\nalternative but to use it in self-defence. Two arrows were promptly\nprepared, one placed in my bow, the other in my girdle, as he advanced\nrepeating his demand, with the countenance of a ruffian, and his club\nelevated; he no doubt fancied that the bow was a plaything in the hand of\na mere ignorant stripling. I warned him repeatedly not to advance, or my\nbow should teach him that my young arm was well instructed.\n\n'He however dared my vengeance, and advanced still nearer, when seeing I\nhad no alternative, I aimed at his legs, not desiring to revenge but to\ndeter my enemy; the arrow entered his thigh, passing completely through:\nhe was astonished and stood like a statue. I then desired him to throw\ndown his club, with which I walked away, or rather ran a sufficient\ndistance to relieve myself from further expectation of annoyances from my\nenemy or the villagers.\n\n'Much time had been spent in that contest, which had left me the victor; I\nwaited not however to witness his further movements, but with hastened\nsteps in half an hour I reached the Rajah's palace. Several soldiers were\nguarding outside the gate, where stood, as is usual, charpoys for their\nuse, on one of which, uninvited, I seated myself, fatigued by my long and\nunusual exercise. The men with great civility offered me water and their\nhookha, and when refreshed I answered their many inquiries, founded very\nnaturally on my appearance, my youth, and travelling without an attendant.\n\n'I frankly told them that the Rajah's famed liberality had drawn me from\nLoodeeanah to seek employment as a soldier under his command. One of my\nnew acquaintance recommended my immediately going into the palace, where\nthe Rajah was seated in Durbar (holding his Court) for the express purpose\nof receiving applicants for the army now raising, under the expectation of\na hostile visit from the Sikhs. I followed my guide through several\navenues and courts until we arrived at the Baarah Daree[3] (twelve doors),\nor state apartments.'\n\nI must, however, here abstain from following Meer Hadjee Shah through the\nwhole detail of his intimacy with the Rajah, which continued for some\nyears, and by whom he was fostered as a favourite son; he accompanied the\nRajah to the field against the Sikhs, whose singular habits and manners,\nboth in battle and in their domestic circle, he has often amused his\nfriends by relating.\n\nHis first pilgrimage to Mecca was undertaken whilst a very young man,\ntravelling the whole way by land, and enduring many trials and hardships\nin what he deemed 'The road of God'. On one occasion he was beset by\nwolves whilst on foot; but as he always confessed his preservation was by\nthe power and goodness of Divine Providence, so in the present instance\nthe wolves even ran from the blows of his staff, howling to their dens.\n\nDuring his stay in Arabia, when on his pilgrimage, his funds were\nexhausted, and he had no knowledge of a single individual from whom he\ncould condescend to borrow, but as he always put his sole trust in God, a\nway was made for his returning prosperity in rather a singular and\nunexpected manner.\n\nA rich Begum, the widow of a wealthy Arab merchant, had long suffered from\na severe illness, and had tried every medical prescription within her\nreach without relief. On a certain night she dreamed that a Syaad pilgrim\nfrom India, who had taken up his abode at the serai outside the town,\npossessed a medicine which would restore her to health. She had faith in\nher dream, and sent a polite message to the Syaad, who was described\nminutely by the particulars of her dream. Meer Hadjee Shah attended the\nsummons, but assured the lady who conversed with him, that he was not\nacquainted with medicine; true, he had a simple preparation, which enabled\nhim to benefit a fellow pilgrim, when by circumstances no better adviser\ncould be found: he then offered her the powder, giving directions how to\nuse it, and left her. In the evening a handsome dinner was conveyed by\nthis lady's orders to Meer Hadjee Shah, which he accepted with gratitude\nto God, and for several days this was repeated, proving a sensible benefit\nto him, and to others equally destitute of the means of present provision,\nwho were abiding at the serai.\n\nIn the course of a week he was again summoned to attend the Begum, who was\nentirely cured of her long illness, which she attributed solely to the\nmedicine he had left with her, and she now desired to prove her gratitude\nby a pecuniary compensation. He was too much gratified at the efficacy of\nhis simple remedy, to require further recompense than the opportunity he\nhad enjoyed of rendering himself useful to a fellow-creature, and would\nhave refused the reward tendered, but the lady had resolved not to be\noutdone in generosity; and finding how he was circumstanced by another\nchannel, she made so many earnest appeals, that he at last consented to\naccept as much as would defray his expenses for the journey to the next\nplace he was on the point of embarking for, where he expected to meet with\nhis Indian friends, and a supply of cash.\n\nOn one occasion, he was exposed to danger from a tiger, but, to use his\nown words, 'as my trust was placed faithfully in God, so was I preserved\nby Divine favour'. The anecdote relative to that event, I cannot pass over,\nand therefore I relate it, as near as I recollect, in his own words:--'I\nwas at Lucknow during the reign of the Nuwaub, Shujah ood Dowlah,[4] who\ndelighted much in field sports; on one occasion it was announced that he\nintended to hunt tigers, and orders were issued to the nobility and his\ncourtiers, requiring their attendance on elephants, to accompany him on a\ncertain day. The preparations were made on a grand scale, and excited a\nlively interest throughout the city. I had never been present at a tiger\nhunt, and I felt my usual ambition to share in the adventures of that day\ntoo irresistible to be conquered by suggestions of prudence; and\naccordingly I went, on horseback, accompanied by a friend about my own age,\nfalling into the rear of the Nuwaub's cavalcade which was far more\nsplendid than any thing I had before witnessed, the train of elephants\nrichly caparisoned, on which were seated in their gold or silver howdahs,\nthe whole strength of the Court in rich dresses.\n\n'The hunting party had penetrated the jungle a considerable distance\nbefore a single trace of a tiger could be discovered, when, at length it\nwas announced to the Nuwaub that the sheekaarees[5] (huntsmen) had reason\nto believe one at least was concealed in the high grass near which the\nparty approached. The order was then given to loosen the led buffaloes,\nand drive them towards the grass which concealed the game, a practice at\nthat time common with Native sportsmen to rouse the ferocious animal, or\nto attract him, if hungry, from his lurking place; but it seemed as if the\nbuffaloes were scared by the number of elephants, for with all the goading\nand whipping, which was dealt to them unsparingly, they could not be\npressed into the service for which they were provided.\n\n'The Nuwaub was remarkable for bravery, and prided himself on his\nsuccessful shot; he therefore caused his elephant to advance to the edge\nof the high grass, that he might have the satisfaction of the first fire,\nwhen the animal should be roused. Some delay in this, induced the Nuwaub\nto order the dunkah-wallah (kettle-drummer) on horseback to be guarded on\neach side by soldiers with drawn sabres, to advance in front and beat his\ndrums. The first sounds of the dunkah roused the tiger: this being\ninstantly perceived, the horsemen wheeled round, and were in a second or\ntwo cleared from danger. The tiger sprang towards the elephant, but was\ninstantly thrown back by her trunk to a good distance, the Nuwaub taking\naim at the same instant, fired and slightly wounded the animal, only\nhowever sufficiently to add to its former rage.\n\n'My friend and myself were at this time (attracted by our eagerness to\nwitness the sports) not many paces from the spot, when perceiving our\ndangerous position, retreat was the thought of the moment with us both: my\nfriend's horse obeyed the signal, but mine was petrified by fear; no\nstatue ever stood more mute and immoveable; for a second I gave myself up\nfor lost, but again my heart was lifted up to the only Power whence safety\nproceeds, and drawing my sabre as the tiger was springing towards me (the\nsame sabre which had been the instrument of safety to my grandsire in a\nlike danger) as my arm was raised to level the blow, the animal curved his\nspring as if in fear of the weapon, brushed close to my horse's nose, and\nthen stuck its sharp talons in the neck of another horse on which a\nPattaan soldier was seated: his horse plunged, kicked, threw his rider on\nthe ground with a violence that left him senseless, his open sabre falling\non the handle, which, like a miracle, was forced into the earth leaving\nthe point upwards in a slanting position, just clearing his neck by a few\ninches.\n\n'The tiger turned on the man with fury and wide-extended jaw, but was met\nby the sabre point, and the Pattaan's red turban, which fell at the\ninstant; the tiger endeavouring to extricate himself from the entanglement,\nthe sabre entered deeper through his jaw, from which he had but just\nreleased himself, when a ball from the Nuwaub's rifle entered his side and\nhe slank into the grass, where he was followed and soon dispatched.'\n\nIn his travels Meer Hadjee Shah had often been exposed to the dangerous\nconsequences of the plague; but (as he declares), he was always preserved\nfrom the contagion through the same protecting care of Divine Providence\nwhich had followed him throughout his life. He has been often in the very\ncities where it raged with awful violence, yet neither himself nor those\nwho were of his party, were ever attacked by that scourge. On one occasion,\nhe was, with a large party of pilgrims, halting for several days together\nat a place called Bundah Kungoon[6] (the word Bundah implies the\nsea-shore), preparatory to commencing their projected journey to Shiraaz;\nhe relates, that the mules and camels were provided, and even the day fixed\nfor their march; but, in consequence of a dream he had been visited with,\nhe was resolved to change his course, even should his fellow-travellers\ndetermine on pursuing their first plan, and thereby leave him to journey\nalone in an opposite direction.\n\nHe made his new resolution known to the pilgrims, and imparted to them the\ndream, viz., 'Go not to Shiraaz, where thou shalt not find profit or\npleasure, but bend thy steps towards Kraabaallah. His companions laughed\nat his wild scheme, and as their minds were fixed on Shiraaz, they would\nhave persuaded Meer Hadjee Shah to accompany them; but, no, his dream\nprevailed over every other argument, and he set out accompanied by two\npoor Syaads and fifteen mendicant pilgrims, embarking at Kungoon on a\nsmall vessel for Bushire, which by a favourable wind they reached on the\nthird day. Here they first learned the distressing intelligence that the\nplague had raged with frightful consequences to the population; and during\ntheir few days' sojourn at Busserah, he says, many victims fell by that\nawful visitation. The city itself was in sad disorder, business entirely\nsuspended, and many of the richer inhabitants had fled from the scene of\nterror and dismay. No accommodation for travellers within his means could\nbe procured by Meer Hadjee Shah, and he was constrained to set out on foot\nwith his companions, after providing themselves with provisions for a few\ndays.\n\nUnused to walk any great distance of late, and the effects of the short\nvoyage not being entirely removed, he grew weary ere the first day's march\nwas ended; 'But here', he says, 'I found how kind my Creator was to me,\nwho put it into the hearts of my companions to take it by turns to carry\nme, until we arrived within sight of Feringhee Bargh[7] (Foreigners'\nGarden), where we found many of the healthy inhabitants from Bushire had,\nwith permission, taken refuge, some in tents, others without a shelter;\nand in their haste to flee from danger, had forsaken all their possessions,\nand neglected provision for present comfort; a change of garments even had\nbeen forgotten in their haste to escape from the pestilential city.\n\n'Never', he says, 'shall I forget the confusion presented at this place\nnor the clamorous demands upon us, whom they esteemed religious men, for\nour prayers and intercessions that the scourge might be removed from them.\nI could not help thinking and expressing also, \"How ready weak mortals are\nto supplicate for God's help when death or affliction approaches their\nthreshold, who in prosperity either forget Him entirely or neglect to seek\nHim or to obey His just commands.\"\n\n'The next day our march led us to the vicinity of a large populated town.\nWe halted near a plantation of date-trees, and one of our mendicant\npilgrims was dispatched with money to purchase bread and dates for our\nsustenance, with instructions to conceal, if possible, our numbers and our\nhalting-place, fearing that the inhabitants might assail us with stones if\nit were suspected that we came from the infected city. The quantity of\nfood, however, required for so large a party excited suspicion, but our\npreservation was again secured by Divine interference.\n\n'A Dirzy[9] from the city visited our resting-place, and finding we were\npilgrims, asked permission to travel with us to Kraabaallah, which was\nreadily agreed to, and when a host of men were observed issuing from the\ntown, this man, who was an inhabitant, ran towards them, explained that we\nwere all healthy men, and interested several Arab-Syaads to come forward\nand befriend me and my party, which they readily assented to on finding\nthat brother Syaads were in danger. The Kauzy of the town hearing all the\nparticulars attending us, came to the spot which we had selected for our\nhalt, presented his nuzza of twenty-one dinars to me, entreated pardon for\nthe intended assault he had in ignorance authorized, obliged me to accept\nhis proffered civilities, and we remained several days in the enjoyment of\nhospitality in that town, where we had at first such strong reasons to\nanticipate violence and persecution; but this could not be whilst the arm\nof the Lord was raised to shelter His confiding servants. To Him be the\npraise and the glory for every preservation I have been favoured with! and\nmany were the perils with which I was surrounded in my walk through life,\nyet, always safely brought through them, because I never failed putting my\ntrust in His mercy and protection who alone could defend me.'\n\nOn one occasion of his pilgrimage to Mecca, Meer Hadjee Shah, with all his\ncompanions on board a trading ship, off the coast of Arabia, were attacked\nby pirates, and taken prisoners; but, as he always declared, the goodness\nof Divine Providence again preserved him and those with him from the hands\nof their enemies. In the event in question, he undertook to speak for all\nhis party to the Arab chief, before whom they were taken prisoners, and\nhaving a thorough knowledge of the Arabic language, he pleaded their joint\ncause so effectually, that the chief not only liberated the whole party,\nbut forced presents upon them in compensation for their inconvenient\ndetention.\n\nThe most interesting, if not the most remarkable incident which occurred\nto Meer Hadjee Shah in his journey through life, remains to be told. The\nstory has been so often related by his own lips, that I think there will\nbe little difficulty in repeating it here from memory. It may be deemed\nprolix, yet I should not do justice by a farther abridgement.\n\n\n\nFATIMA'S HISTORY\n\n'Fatima was the daughter of Sheikh Mahumud,[9] an Arab, chief of a tribe,\ndwelling in the neighbourhood of Yumen, who was a wealthy man, and much\nesteemed amongst his people. His wife died when Fatima, their only child,\nwas but six years old, and two years after her father also was taken from\nthis world, leaving his whole estate and possessions to his daughter, and\nboth to the guardianship of his own brother, Sheikh ----, who was tenderly\nattached to the little girl, and from whom she received the fostering care\nof parental solicitude.\n\n'This uncle was married to a lady of no very amiable temper, who seized\nevery opportunity of rendering the orphan daughter of his brother as\ncomfortless as possible, but her uncle's affection never slackened for an\ninstant, and this consoled her whenever she had trials of a domestic\nnature to distress her meek spirit.\n\n'When Fatima had reached her sixteenth year, an eligible match being\nprovided by her uncle, it was intended to be immediately solemnized; for\nwhich purpose her uncle went over to Yumen to make preparations for the\nnuptials, where he expected to be detained a few days; leaving with his\nniece the keys of all his treasuries, whether of money or jewels.\n\n'On the very day of his departure from home, a brother of his wife's\narrived at the mansion, and required, in Fatima's presence, a loan of five\nhundred pieces of silver. This could only be obtained by Fatima's consent,\nwho firmly declared her resolution not to betray the trust her uncle had\nreposed in her. The wife was severe in her censures on her husband's\nparsimony, as she termed his prudence, and reviled Fatima for being the\nfavoured person in charge of his property. This woman in her rage against\nthe unoffending girl, struck her several times with violence. Situated as\ntheir residence was, apart from a single neighbour, she feared to stay\nduring her uncle's absence, and left the house not knowing exactly where\nto seek a temporary shelter; but recollecting a distant relation of her\nmother's resided at Bytool Faakere,[10] no great distance off (within a\nwalk as she imagined), she left her home without further reflection,\nunattended by a single servant.\n\n'When within a mile of her destined place of refuge, she was observed by a\nparty of Bedouin robbers, who descended from their hill to arrest her\nprogress, by whom she was conveyed to their retreat, almost in a state of\ninsensibility from terror and dismay. Arriving at their hut, however, she\nwas cheered by the sight of females, one of whom particularly struck her\nas being very superior to her companions, and in whose countenance\nbenevolence and pity seemed to indicate a sympathizing friend in this hour\nof severe trial. The women were desired to relieve the prisoner Fatima of\nher valuables, which were, in accordance with their station, very costly\nboth in pearls and gold ornaments.\n\n'Fatima overheard, during the night, some disputes and debates between the\nrobbers, about the disposal of her person, one of whom was single, and\ndeclared his willingness to marry the girl, and so retain her with them;\nbut Fatima had, when she was seized, recognized his countenance, having\nseen him before, and knew that his connexions lived in the town of Bytool\nFaakere, which she had unguardedly declared. The robbers, therefore,\ndreaded detection if her life was spared; they were not by nature\nsanguinary, but in this case there seemed no medium between their\napprehension and the death of Fatima.\n\n'The female, however, who had at first sight appeared so amiable and\nfriendly, fulfilled the poor girl's impressions, by strenuously exerting\nher influence, and eventually prevailed, in saving the orphan Fatima from\nthe premeditated sacrifice of life; and as no better arrangement could be\nmade to secure the robbers from detection, it was at length agreed she\nshould be sold to slavery. This decided on, the swiftest camel in their\npossession was prepared at an early hour, a few short minutes only being\nallowed to Fatima, to pour out her gratitude to God, and express her\nacknowledgements to her humane benefactress, when she was mounted on the\ncamel's back, with the husband of that kind-hearted female.\n\n'With the prospect of continued life, poor Fatima ceased to feel acute\nagony, and bore the fatigue of a whole day's swift riding without a murmur,\nfor the Bedouin's behaviour was marked with respect. Towards the evening,\nas they drew near to a large town, the Bedouin halted by the margin of a\nforest, and the long night was passed in profound silence, with no other\nshelter than that which the forest afforded; and at the earliest dawn the\nmarch was again resumed, nor did he slacken his speed, until they were in\nsight of Mocha, where he designed to dispose of his victim. She was there\nsold to a regular slave-merchant, who was willing to pay the price\ndemanded when he saw the beautiful face and figure of the poor girl,\nexpecting to make a handsome profit by the bargain.\n\n'The Bedouin made his respectful obedience and departed in haste, leaving\npoor Fatima in almost a state of stupor from fatigue. Left however to\nherself in the slave-merchant's house, she seemed to revive, and again to\nreflect on the past, present, and future. Her escape from death called\nforth grateful feelings, and she felt so far secure that the wretch who\nhad bought her, had an interest in her life, therefore she had no further\nfear of assassination. But then she reverted to her bonds; painful indeed\nwere the reflections, that she who had been nobly born, and nursed in the\nlap of luxury, should find herself a slave, and not one friendly voice to\nsoothe her in her bondage. She resolved however (knowing the privilege of\nher country's law) to select for herself a future proprietor.\n\n'Her resolution was soon put to the test; she was summoned to appear\nbefore a fisherman, who had caught a glimpse of her fine figure as she\nentered Mocha, and who desired to purchase her to head his house. The poor\ngirl summoned all her courage to meet this degrading offer with dignity. A\nhandsome sum was offered by the fisherman, as she appeared before him to\nreject the proposal. \"Here is your new master, young lady,\" said the\nslave-merchant; \"behave well, and he will marry you.\"\n\nFatima looked up, with all her native pride upon her brow; \"He shall never\nbe my master!\" she replied, with so much firmness, that (astonished as\nthey were) convinced the bargainers that Fatima was in earnest. The\nmerchant inquired her objection, us she had betrayed no unwillingness to\nbe sold to him; she answered firmly, whilst the starting tear was in her\neye, \"My objection to that man is our inequality: I am of noble birth. My\nwillingness to become your slave, was to free me from the hands of those\nwho first premeditated my murder; and sooner than my liberty should be\nsold to the creature I must detest, this dagger\", as she drew one from her\nvest, \"shall free me from this world's vexations\".\n\n'This threat settled the argument, for the slave-merchant calculated on\nthe loss of three hundred dinars he had paid to the Bedouin; and Fatima,\naware of this, without actually intending any violence to herself, felt\njustified in deterring the slave-merchant from further importunities.\nSeveral suitors came to see, with a view to purchase the beautiful Arab of\nnoble birth, but having acted so decidedly in the first instance, the\nmerchant felt himself obliged to permit her to refuse at will, and she\nrejected all who had made their proposal.\n\n'Meer Hadjee Shah, in the fulfilment of his promise to his wife at parting,\nto take home a slave for her attendant, happening at that time to be\npassing through Mocha, inquired for a slave-merchant: he was conducted to\nthe house where Fatima was still a prisoner with many other less noble,\nbut equally unhappy females. Fatima raised her eyes as he entered the hall;\nshe fancied by his benevolent countenance that his heart must be kind; she\ncast a second glance and thought such a man would surely feel for her\nsufferings and be a good master. His eye had met hers, which was instantly\nwithdrawn with unaffecting modesty; something prepossessed him that the\npoor girl was unhappy, and his first idea was pity, the second her\nliberation from slavery, and, if possible, restoration to her friends.\n\n'When alone with the slave-merchant, Meer Hadjee Shah inquired the price\nhe would take for Fatima. \"Six hundred pieces of silver (dinars),\"[11] was\nthe reply.--\"I am not rich enough,\" answered the pilgrim; \"salaam, I must\nlook elsewhere for one:\" and he was moving on.---\"Stay,\" said the merchant,\n\"I am anxious to get that girl off my hands, for she is a stubborn subject,\nover whom I have no control; I never like to buy these slaves of high\nbirth, they always give me trouble. I paid three hundred dinars to the\nBedouin for her, now if she will agree to have you for her master (which I\nvery much doubt, she has so many scruples to overcome), you shall add\nfifty to that sum, and I will be satisfied.\"\n\n'They entered the hall a second time together, when the merchant addressed\nFatima. \"This gentleman desires to purchase you; he is a Syaad of India,\nnot rich, he says, but of a high family, as well as a descendant of the\nEmaums.\"--\"As you will,\" was all the answer Fatima could make. The money\nwas accordingly paid down, and the poor girl led away from her\nprison-house, by the first kind soul she had met since she quitted her\nbenefactress in the Bedouins' retreat.\n\n'Fatima's situation had excited a lively interest in the heart of Meer\nHadjee Shah, even before he knew the history of those sufferings that had\nbrought her into bondage, for he was benevolent, and thought she seemed\nunhappy; he wanted no stronger inducement than this to urge him to release\nher. Many a poor wretched slave had been liberated through his means in a\nsimilar way, whilst making his pilgrimages; and in his own home I have had\nopportunities of seeing his almost paternal kindness invariably exercised\ntowards his slaves, some of whom he has, to my knowledge, set at liberty,\nboth male and female, giving them the opportunity of settling, or leaving\nthem to choose for themselves their place of future servitude.\n\n'But to return to Fatima. On taking her to his lodgings, he tried to\ncomfort her with the solicitude of a father, and having assured her she\nwas free, inquired where her family resided, that she might be forwarded\nto them. The poor girl could scarce believe the words she heard were\nreality and not a dream; so much unlooked for generosity and benevolence\noverpowered her with gratitude, whilst he addressed her as his daughter,\nand explained his motives for becoming her purchaser, adding, \"Our laws\nforbid us to make slaves of the offspring of Mussulmauns of either sex;\nalthough be it confessed with sorrow, unthinking men do often defy the law,\nin pursuance of their will; yet I would not sell my hopes of heaven for\nall that earth could give. I again repeat, you are free; I am not rich,\nbut the half of my remaining funds set apart to take me to my home in\nIndia, shall be devoted to your service, and without any delay I will\narrange for your return to Yumen, under safe convoy\" (and seeing she was\nabout to express her gratitude to him): \"Forbear, as you respect me, a\nsingle word of acknowledgement; if any thanks are due, it is to that good\nProvidence who hath preserved you from greater evils, to Whom be offered\nalso my humble praises, that through His mercy my steps were directed\nthrough Mocha, at such a time as this, when an unprotected female required\nfatherly protection.\"\n\n'Fatima was in tears during this speech of her true friend, and when he\npaused, she said, \"Heaven, indeed, sent you to my aid; you seem like a\nguardian angel. Much, much I fear to be separated from one so pious and so\nbountiful. May I not again be thrown into similar scenes to those your\ngenerosity has been exercised to release me from? Who but yourself and my\nown dear uncle could ever feel that lively interest for my preservation?\"\n\n'Meer Hadjee Shah would willingly have conveyed the poor girl to her uncle'\ns residence near Yumen, had it been possible; but his arrangements were\nmade to sail by an Arab ship to Bombay, which if many days postponed would\ndetain him nearly another year from India, where he was aware his return\nwas expected by his wife and family; and he was not willing to give them\ncause for uneasiness, by any further delay; he however went out to make\ninquiries at Mocha for some safe means of getting Fatima conveyed to her\nuncle.\n\n'In the meantime she resolved in her mind the several circumstances\nattending her actual situation in the world, and before the next morning\nhad well dawned, she had resolved on urging her kind protector to take her\nwith him to India, before whom she appeared with a more tranquil\ncountenance than he had yet witnessed. When they were seated, he said,\n\"Well, Fatima, I propose to devote this day to the arrangement of all\nthings necessary for your comfort on your journey home, and to-morrow\nmorning the kaarawaun[12] sets out for Yumen, where I heartily pray you\nmay be conducted in safety, and meet your uncle in joy. Have no fears for\nyour journey, put your entire trust in God, and never forget that your\nsafety and liberation were wrought out by His goodness alone.\"\n\n'\"Huzerut[13] (revered Sir),\" she replied, \"I have weighed well the\nadvantages I should derive by being always near to you, against the\nprospects of my home and wealth in Arabia, which I am resolved to\nrelinquish if you accede to my proposal. Let me then continue to be your\nslave, or your servant, if that term is more agreeable to my kind master.\nSlavery with a holy master is preferable to freedom with wealth and\nimpiety. You must have servants, I will be the humblest and not the least\nfaithful in my devoted services.\"\n\n'The pious man was surprised beyond measure; he attempted to dissuade her,\nand referred to his wife and children in India. \"Oh! take me to them,\" she\ncried with energy; \"I will be to them all you or they can desire,\" This\narrangement of Fatima's was rather perplexing to him; her tears and\nentreaties, however, prevailed over his preference, and he quieted her\nagitation by agreeing to take her to India with him.\n\n'After maturely weighing all the circumstances of the voyage by sea, and\nthe long journey by land from Bombay to Lucknow, he came to the\ndetermination of giving Fatima a legal claim to his protection, and\nthereby a security also from slanderous imputations either against her or\nhimself, by marrying her before they embarked at Mocha; and on their\narrival at Lucknow, Fatima was presented to his first wife as worthy her\nsympathy and kindness, by whom she was received and cherished as a dear\nsister. The whole family were sincerely attached to the amiable lady\nduring the many years she lived with them in Hindoostaun. Her days were\npassed in piety and peace, leaving not an instance to call forth the\nregrets of Meer Hadjee Shah, that he had complied with her entreaties in\ngiving her his permanent protection. Her removal from this life to a\nbetter was mourned by every member of the family with equal sorrow as when\ntheir dearest relative ceased to live.'\n\nIt is my intention (if I am permitted), at some future period, to write a\nmore circumstantial account of Meer Hadjee Shah's adventures through life,\nthan my present limits allow. In the meantime, however, I must satisfy\nmyself by a few remarks founded on a personal observation and intimacy\nduring the last eleven years of his eventful life. His example and precept\nkept pace with each other, 'That this world and all its vanities, were\nnothing in comparison with acquiring a knowledge of God's holy will, and\nobeying Him, in thought, in word, and deed.'\n\nHe was persuaded by the tenets of his religion that by exercising the body\nin the pilgrimage to Mecca, the heart of man was enlightened in the\nknowledge and love of God. He found by obeying the several duties of the\nreligion he professed, and by enduring the consequent trials and\nprivations of a pilgrimage without regard to any feelings of selfish\ngratification or indulgent ease, that, his nature being humbled, his love\nto God was more abundant.\n\nHis law commanded him to fast at stated periods, and although he was\nturned of seventy when I first saw him, yet he never failed, as the season\nof Rumzaun approached, to undergo the severity of that ordinance day by\nday during the full period of thirty days; and it was even a source of\nuneasiness to my venerated friend, when, two years prior to his decease,\nhis medical friends, aided by the solicitude of his family, urged and\nprevailed on him to discontinue the duty, which by reason of his age was\nconsidered dangerous to health, and perhaps to life. Prayer was his\ncomfort; meditation and praise his chief delight. I never saw him\notherways than engaged in some profitable exercise, by which he was\ndrawing near to his Creator, and preparing himself for the blessedness of\neternity, on which his soul relied.\n\nDuring our eleven years' constant intercourse, I can answer for his early\ndiligence; before the day had dawned his head was bowed in adoration to\nhis Maker and Preserver. At all seasons of the year, and under all\ncircumstances, this duty was never omitted. Even in sickness, if his\nstrength failed him, his head was bowed on a tray of earth, to mark his\ndutiful recollection of the several hours appointed for prayer. The\nPsalmist's language has often been realized to my view, in him, 'Seven\ntimes a day do I praise thee, O Lord,' and 'at midnight I will rise to\ngive thanks unto Thee,' when witnessing his undeviating observance of\nstated prayer duties; and when those duties were accomplished, even his\namusements were gleaned from devotional works, visits of charity, and acts\nof benevolence. I never saw him idle; every moment was occupied in prayer\nor in good works. His memory was retentive, and every anecdote he related\nwas a lesson calculated to lead the mind of his auditor to seek, trust,\nand obey God, or to love our neighbour as ourselves.\n\nThe many hours we have passed in profitable discourses or readings from\nour Holy Scripture and the lives of the Prophets have left on my memory\nlasting impressions.\n\nI was, at first, surprised to find Meer Hadjee Shah so well acquainted\nwith the prominent characters of our Scripture history, until the source\nfrom whence his knowledge had been enlarged was produced and read aloud by\nmy husband every evening to our family party. The 'Hyaatool Kaaloob' (a\nwork before alluded to) occupied us for a very long period, each passage\nbeing verbally translated to me by my husband.\n\nWhen that work was finished, our Holy Scripture was brought forward, which,\nas I read, each passage was again translated by my husband, either in\nPersian or Hindoostaunic, as best suited the understanding of our party at\nthe time. So interesting was the subject, that we have been five or six\nhours at, a time engaged without tiring or even remembering the flight of\nthose moments which were devoted, I trust, so beneficially to us all.\n\nMeer Hadjee Shah's views of worldly enjoyments resembled the Durweish's in\nprinciple; for he thought it unworthy to heap up riches, to swell his\nwardrobe, or to fare on sumptuous diet; but his delight consisted in\nsharing the little he could at any time command with those who needed it.\nHe possessed an intelligent mind, highly cultivated by travel, and a heart\nbeaming with tenderness and universal charity: so tempered were his\naffections by a religious life, that the world was made but a place of\nprobation to him whilst looking forward with joy to the promises of God in\na happy eternity. His purity of heart and life has often realized to my\nimagination that 'Israelite in whom (our Redeemer pronounced) there was no\nguile.'\n\nI must here draw my Letters to a conclusion, with many an anxious wish\nthat my gleanings in the society of the Mussulmauns of Hindoostaun may\nafford profitable amusement to my friends and to those persons who may\nhonour my work with a perusal, humbly trusting that the people whose\ncharacter, manners, habits, and religion, I have taken upon me to pourtray,\nmay improve in their opinion by a more intimate acquaintance.\n\nIn my attempt to delineate the Mussulmauns, I have been careful to speak\nas I have found them, not allowing prejudice to bias my judgment, either\non the side of their faults or virtues. But I deem it incumbent to state,\nthat my chief intimacy has been confined to the most worthy of their\ncommunity; and that the character of a true Mussulmaun has been my aim in\ndescription. There are people professing the faith without the principle,\nit is true; but such persons are not confined to the Mussulmaun persuasion;\nthey are among every class of worshippers, whether Jew or Gentile\nthroughout the world.\n\nOf my long sojourn in the society of the Mussulmauns of Hindoostaun, I\nneed here but remark, that I was received amongst them without prejudice,\nand allowed the free usage of my European habits and religious principles\nwithout a single attempt to bias or control me; that by respecting their\ntrifling prejudices as regards eating and drinking, their esteem and\nconfidence were secured to me; and that by evincing Christian charity,\n(which deters the possessor from proud seeming), I believe, I may add,\ntheir affection for me was as sincere, as I trust it will be lasting.\n\nIt may be regretted, with all my influence, that I have not been the\nhumble instrument of conversion. None can lament more than myself that I\nwas not deemed worthy to convince them of the necessity, or of the\nefficacy of that great Atonement on which my own hopes are founded. Yet\nmay I not, without presumption, hope my sojourn, with reference to a\nfuture period, may be the humble means of good to a people with whom I had\nlived so many years in peace? I must for many reasons be supposed to\nentertain a lively interest in their welfare, and an earnest desire for\ntheir safety, although at the present moment I can distinguish but one\nadvantage accruing from our intimacy, namely, that they no longer view the\nprofessors of Christianity as idolaters. They have learned with surprise\nthat the Christian religion forbids idolatry,--thus the strong barrier\nbeing sapped, I trust it may be thrown down by abler servants of our Lord;\nfor the Mussulmauns are already bound by their religion to love and\nreverence Christ as the Prophet of God: may the influence of his Holy\nSpirit enlighten their understandings to accept Him as their Redeemer!\n\nLike the true Christian, they are looking forward to that period when\nJesus Christ shall revisit the earth, and when all men shall be of one\nfaith. How that shall be accomplished, they do not pretend to understand,\nbut still they faithfully believe it, because it has been declared by an\nauthority they reverence, and deem conclusive. Often, during my\nacquaintance with these people, have I felt obliged to applaud their\nfidelity, although, in some points, I could not approve of the subject on\nwhich it was displayed--their zeal at Mahurrum, for instance, when they\ncommemorate the martyrdom of the grandchildren of their Prophet,--I have\nthought 'had they been favoured with the knowledge we possess, what\nzealous Christians would these people be, who thus honour the memory of\nmere holy men.'\n\nThe time, I trust, is not very far distant when not one nation in the\nwhole world shall be ignorant of the Saviour's efficacy, and His\nwillingness to receive all who cast their burden at the foot of His cross.\nMy heart's desire for the people I have dwell amongst is that which St.\nPaul in the Epistle to the Romans declares to be his prayer to God for\nIsrael, 'that they might be saved!' and I know not any way in which I\ncould better testify my regard for the Mussulmauns collectively, or my\ngratitude individually, than by recommending the whole of the tenth\nchapter of the Romans to the serious consideration of those persons who\npossess such influence, us that the gospel of peace may be preached to\nthem effectually by well-chosen and tried servants of our Lord, who are\nduly prepared both in heart and speech, to make known the glad tidings to\ntheir understandings that 'God so loved the world, that He gave His only\nbegotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have\neverlasting life;' that 'If any man sin we have an Advocate with the\nFather, Jesus Christ the righteous;' and that 'He is the propitiation for\nour sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.'\n\nShould the view I have conscientiously given of their character be the\nhumble means of removing prejudice from the Mussulmauns of Hindoostaun, so\nthat they may be sought and won by brotherly kindness, my humble heart\nwill rejoice that my labours, as an observer and detailer, have been\nsuccessful through the merciful orderings of Divine Providence.\n\n\n[1] Ludhiana, a city, not the capital of the Panjab: 'the land of\n    five rivers' _(panj-ab)._\n\n[2] Under the Peshwas, Baji Rao I and Balaji Rao\n    (A.D. 1720-61) the incursions of the Mahrattas extended as far north\n    as the Panjab.\n\n[3] _Barahdari_, a room nominally with twelve doors.\n\n[4] Shuja-ud-daula, son of Mansur 'Ali Khan, Safdar Jang,\n    Governor of Oudh: born A.D. 1731; succeeded his father, 1753. He was\n    present at the battle of Panipat in 1761: became Wazir of the\n    Emperor Shah 'Alam: defeated by the British at the battle of\n    Buxar, 1764: died at Faizabad, then his seat of government, 1775.\n\n[5] _Shikari_.\n\n[6] Bandar [harbour] Kangun, a port on the west side of the Persian\n    Gulf, about 100 miles west of Gombroon.\n\n[7] Firangi Bagh, Franks' Garden.\n\n[8] Darzi, a tailor.\n\n[9] Shaikh Muhammad.\n\n[10] Baitu'l-faqir, 'house of a holy man'.\n\n[11] _Dinar_, Lat. _denarius_, a coin of varying value: see Yule,\n    _Hobson-Jobson_[2], 317 f.\n\n[12] _Karwan_, a caravan.\n\n[13] _Hazrat_.\n\n\n\nTHE END\n\n       *       *       *       *       *\n\n\nBIBLIOGRAPHY OF WORKS\n\nUSED IN PREPARING THE INTRODUCTION AND NOTES\n\n\nArnold, T.W. _The Preaching of Islam_, London, 1896.\n\nBeale, T.W. _An Oriental Biographical Dictionary_, London, 1894.\n\nBurton, Sir R.F. _The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night_, 12 vols.,\nLondon, 1894.\n\nBurton, Sir R.F. _A Pilgrimage to El-Medinah and Mecca_, 2 vols.,\nLondon, 1893.\n\nCrooke, W. _The Popular Religion and Folk-lore of Northern India_,\n2 vols., Westminster, 1896.\n\nFanshawe, H.C. _Delhi Past and Present_, London, 1902.\n\nFazalalullah Lutfullah, 'Gujarat Musalmans', in _Bombay Gazetteer_,\nix, part ii, Bombay, 1899.\n\nF\u00fchrer, A. _The Monumental Antiquities and Inscriptions of the\nNorth-Western Provinces and Oudh_, Allahabad, 1891.\n\nIrwin, H.C. _The Garden of India_, London, 1880.\n\nJaffur Shurreef, _Qanoon-e-Islam, or the Customs of the Mussulmans of\nIndia_, trans. G.A. Herklots, Madras, 1863.\n\n_Gazetteer of the Province of Oudh_, 3 vols., Lucknow, 1877.\n\nHughes, T.P. _A Dictionary of Islam_, London, 1885.\n\n[Knighton, W.] _The Private Life of an Eastern King_, London, 1855.\n\n_Koran, The_, trans. J.M. Rodwell, Everyman's Library, London, _n.d._;\nby G. Sale, London, 1844.\n\nLane, E.W. _An Account of the Manners and Customs of the Modern\nEgyptians_, 2 vols., 5th ed., London, 1871.\n\n_Mishcat-ul Masabih_, by Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah, trans. A.N.\nMatthews, 2 vols., Calcutta, 1809-10.\n\nOckley, S. _History of the Saracens_, London, 1848.\n\nParks, F. _Wanderings of a Pilgrim in Search of the Picturesque_, 2 vols.,\nLondon, 1852.\n\nPolly, Col. Sir L. _The Miracle Play of Hasan and Husain, collected from\nOral Tradition_, 2 vols., London, 1879.\n\nSell, E. _The Faith of Islam_, Madras, 1880.\n\nSleeman, Major-Gen. Sir W.H. _A Journey through the Kingdom of\nOudh, in 1849-1850_, 2 vols., London, 1858.\n\nSleeman, Major-Gen. Sir W.H. _Rambles and Recollections of an Indian\nOfficial_, ed. V.A. Smith, 2 vols., Westminster, 1893.\n\nWatt, Sir G. _A Dictionary of the Economic Products of India_, 6 vols.,\nCalcutta, 1889-93.\n\nYule, Col. H., Burnell, A.C. _Hobson-Jobson_, 2nd ed., London, 1903.\n\n       *       *       *       *\n\n\nINDEX\n\nAameen, Ameen, Ami, Amen\nAaroon, Aaron\nAbass Ali, 'Abbas, nephew of Husain;\n  Abass Ali Huzerut ke Durgah, Hazrat 'Abbas 'Ali ki dargah\nAblution\nAboubuker, Abubakr, the Caliph\nAbraham, sacrifice of Ishmael;\n  his title\nAbstinence during the Muharram festival\nAdam, his burial-place;\n  his title;\n  image of\nAffrine Khaun, Afrin Khan, a eunuch\nAfthaadah, _aftabgir_, a sun-shade\nAgha Mir, minister in Oudh\nAhmud Kaabeer, Sayyid Ahmad Kabir, a saint\nAkbhar Shah, Akbar Shah II, King of Delhi\nAkbar, the Moghul Emperor, his capture of Chitor\nAlchemy\nAleppo\nAlexandria, alleged destruction of the library at\nAli, 'Ali, son-in-law of Muhammad;\n  murder of;\n  imparted knowledge to the Sufis\nAli Reezah, Ar-Raza\nAli Ul Hoodah, 'Ali ul Huda\nAl-kauloek, _alkhalaq_, a coat with sleeves\nAllah Khareem, Al-Karim, 'the generous one'\nAllah wo uckbaar, _Allah u akbar_, 'God is most great'\nAlligators, caught by monkeys\nAllum, _'alam_, a standard\nAllumgeer, 'Alamgir, the Emperor Aurangzeb\nAl Mauss Ali Khaun, Almas 'Ali Khan, a eunuch\nAlmsgiving at the Muharram festival\nAlrouschid, Harun-al-Rashid, the Caliph\nAmulets for children\nAmusements of children\nAngels, the attendant\nAnimal, fights at the Court of Oudh;\n  mode of slaughtering by Musalmans;\n  life, sanctity of\nAntelopes, hunted by leopards\nAnts;\n  sugar laid near their nests;\n  white\nApples\nArg, _arka_, the fire plant\nArms, polishers of\nArrack, _'araq,_ spirits\nArtoojee, _ustadji_, a teacher\nArtush-baajie, _atishbazi_, fireworks\n'Ashura, the last day of the Muharram festival\nAsof ood Duolah, Nawab Asaf-ud-daula;\n  his proclamation against infanticide\nAsthma, a cure for\nAstrology\nAusmaun, 'Usman, the Caliph\nAusur namaaz, _'asr ki namaz_, prayer at the third watch of the day\nAyah, _aya_, a nurse\nAyashur, Ayishah, wife of Muhammad\n\nBaalee Peer, Bala Pir\nBaaraat, _barat_. the procession of the bridegroom\nBaarah Daree, _barahdari_ a room with twelve doors\nBabool, _babul_, the tree _acacia arabica_\nBacherkaunie, _baqirkhani_, a kind of bread\nBa daanah, _bedanah_, seedless grapes\nBaer, _ber_, the tree _Zizyphus Jujuba_\nBahadhoor, _bahadur_, 'a champion', a title of honour\nBaittee, _beti_, a daughter\nBamboos,\n  uses of;\n  flowering of;\n  set on fire by friction\nBanner of Husain (see ALLUM)\nBareheaded people not allowed in a house\nBasun, _besan_, pulse flour\nBazars described\nBeards worn by Musalmans;\n  dyeing of\nBearer caste, the\nBedspreads\nBedsteads\nBeeby Sahib, _bibi sahiba_, an English lady\nBeggar, a famous, in Lucknow\nBegum, _begam_, a title of a Sayyid lady\nBiles and blains\nBirds,\n  catchers of;\n  released in time of sickness\nBirth rites,\n  scanty rejoicings at birth of a girl;\n  gun-firing;\n  nursing,;\n  first dose of medicine;\n  bathing of child;\n  forty days' impurity after childbirth;\n  gifts made to the child;\n  birthday celebrations;\n  circumcision;\n  child carried to the Dargah\nBis ma Allah, _bi'smi'llah_, 'in the name of Allah'\nBleeding, procedure at\nBlistering, flies used for\nBlood-spitting; cure for\nBlue stone, a remedy for snakebites\nBoats set adrift in honour of Khwaja Khizr\nBodice, the\nBohue Begum, _Bahu Begum_, a daughter-in-law\nBootkhanah, _butkhanah_, an idol temple\nBorehaun, _burhan_, the critical days of fever\nBows and arrows, use of\nBrahmanical cords burnt\nBread, varieties of\nBricks, ancient\nBride,\n  the peculium of;\n  modes of selecting;\n  dress of\nBridegroom, veil worn by\nBrushes for hair and teeth\nBuckaria, Bokhara\nBuckrah Eade, the _baqarah id_, festival;\n  gifts sent at\nBudgerow, a kind of boat\nBull-bull, _bulbul_, the nightingale\nBundah Kungoon, Bandar Kangun\nBunyah, Baniya, a corn merchant\nBuraq, the animal on which Muhammad flew to Mecca\nBurbut, _bargat_, the banyan tree\nBurghutt, caste, regard for animal life\nBurial rites, purification after touching the corpse; see DEATH.\nBurkhundhar, _barqandaz_, a man armed with a matchlock\nBurqa', a woman's veil\nBurrhsaatie, _barsati_ a disease of horses\nBurruff wallah, _barfwala_ a seller of ice\nBushire, a town on the Persian Gulf\nBussorah, Basra, a town on the Shatt el Arab in Asiatic Turkey\nBussund, _basant_, the spring festival\nButcher bird, the\nButchers\nButtaire, _bater_, a quail\nButter sellers\nButtooah, _batua_, ornamented bag\nBytool Faakere, _baitu'l-faqir,_ 'the house of a holy man'\n\nCain, reputed founder of Kanauj\nCaliphas, _khalifah_, of Shi'ahs and Sunnis;\n  a head of a trade or profession\nCamphor, used in treating cholera;\n  in burial rites\nCardimun, the cardamom\nCards, the game of\nCarounder, _karaunda, Carissa Carandas_\nCastanets, see CHUCKIE\nCatechu, used with betel\nCattle, slaughter of, objected to by Hindus\nChaff, thrown on the head in mourning\nChain at the Ka'bah;\n  of justice, put up by Jahangir\nChair, right to use\nChapaatie, _chapata_, a griddle cake\nCharaagh, _chiragh_, a lamp\nCharity, a religious duty;\n  among Musalmans\nCharpoy, _charpai_, a kind of bed\nChatnee, _chatni_, a kind of relish\nChattah, _chhata_, an umbrella\nCheek, _chiq_, a door screen\nCheetah, _chita_, a hunting leopard\nCherries\nChildren, fasting of\nChillum, _chilam_, the bowl of a water-pipe, the tobacco used to\nfill it\nChillumchee, _chilamchi_, a wash-hand basin\nChilubdhaar, _chalapdar_, a cymba player\nChina vessels, use of\nChirrya wallah, _chiryawala_, a bird-catcher\nChitcherah, _chichra_, the _Achryanthes aspera_ tree\nChitlah, _chitra_, a kind of melon\nChobdhaah, Chobdhaar, _chobdar_, a mace-bearer\nChokeedhar, _chaukidar_, a watchman\nCholera;\n  cures for\nChowrie, Chowry, _chauri_, a yak tail fan\nChowsah, _chausa_, four-sided, of dice\nChubbaynee, _chabena_, parched grain\nChuckie, Chuckee, _charkhi_, a kind of castanets;\n  _chakki_, a grindstone\nChuddah, Chudha, _chadar_, a sheet\nChuhsah, _chhahsa_, six-sided, of dice\nChumund, _chaman_, a flower bed\nChundole, _chandol_, a kind of sedan chair\nChupha, _chhappar_, a thatched shed\nChupkund, _chapkan_, a kind of coat\nCider, made from melon juice\nCircumcision\nClepsydra, used to mark time\nCloak, hooded, worn by women\nCock-fighting\nCoel, _koil_, a kind of cuckoo\nConcubinage\nConfectioners\nCookery, in Musalman families\nCooking, prohibited in the house of mourning\nCord, Brahmanical, burned\nCossum, Qasim, nephew of Husain;\n  model of his tomb taken in procession\nCourtie, _kurti_, a woman's jacket\nCowry shells\nCream sellers\nCries of hawkers\nCrown of the King of Oudh\nCrows, impudence of\nCummerbund, _kamarband_, a waist-cloth, girdle\nCuppers\nCurd sellers.\nCurrants\nCurrie, _karhi_\nCutlers\nCuttie, _khatai_, soured milk;\n  kath, gum used with pan\n\nDaak, _dak_, the letter post\nDaaood, Daud, David, his mother's prayer\nDacca cloths\nDamascus fig, the\nDancing, considered degrading;\n  women\nDates, eating of\nDead, food for the;\n  period of mourning for\nDeath rites\nDebt, imprisonment for, said to be forbidden\nDecca, Dacca\nDelhi described\nDeluge, said not to be known in India\nDeputtah, _dopatta_, a double sheet\nDevotees, Musalman.\nDhall, _dal_, pulse\nDhaullie, _dali_, a basket of fruit and vegetables\nDhie, _dahi_, curds\nDhie mudgelluss, _dah majlis_, the ten days of the Muharram festival\nDhobie, _dhobi_, a washerman\nDholle, _dhol_, a drum\nDhollie, a 'dooly', a litter;\n  wives\nDhome, a drum\nDhull Dhull, Duldul, the mule of Muhammad\nDhurzie, darzi, the tailor caste\nDiamonds\nDice, games played with\nDimishk, Dimashq, Damascus\nDinar, _dinar_, denarius, a coin\nDinners provided in time of mourning\nDirzy; see DHURZIE\nDivination in selecting a bride\nDivorce\nDog, an impure animal\nDomenie, Domni, a singing woman\nDooar prayer, _du'a_, supplication\nDoob grass, _dub, Cynodon Dactylon_\nDowry of bride, how fixed\nDraughts, the game of\nDress, not changed during the Muharram festival;\n  of a bride\nDuffelee, _dafali_, the drummer caste\nDukhaun, _dukan_, a shop\nDulhaun, _dalan_, the hall, entrance of a house\nDullha, _dulha_, a bridegroom\nDullun, _dulhin_, a bride\nDunkah, _danka_, a kettle-drum;\n  dunkah wallah, _dankawala,_ a drummer\nDunyah, _dhaniya_, coriander\nDurbar, _darbar_, a court\nDurgah, _dargah_, a saint's shrine;\n  processions to, at Lucknow\nDurwaun, _darwan_, a doorkeeper\nDurweish, _darvesh_ a beggar, a religious mendicant;\n  pretenders to the title\nDustha-khawn, _dastarkhwan_, a table-cloth\nDustoor, _dastur_, custom,\n  the percentages on purchases taken by native servants\nDust-storms\n\nEade, _'Id_, a festival;\n  eade-gaarh, _'Idgah_,\n  the place where the festival rites are performed\nEar cleaners\nEarrings\nEarwax, human, administered to elephants\nEarthquakes;\n  follow a flight of locusts;\n  Kanauj damaged by\nEclipse observances\nEggs sent at the Nauroz festival\nElephant trained to march in time;\n  carriages drawn by;\n  beggar riding on;\n  etiquette on meeting the king\nElias ky kishtee, _Ilyas ki kishti_,\n  boats set adrift in honour of Khwaja Khizr\nElijah, Elisha, the prophet\nEmaum, _Imam_, leaders of the faithful;\n  Jaffur Saadick, Ja'far as-Sadiq\nEmaum baarah, _Imambara_,\n  the place where the Muharram rites are performed\nEmaum zamunee, _imam zamini_,\n  a charm to secure safety in a journey\nEnglish women not visiting the Lucknow bazar\nEsaee, _'Isa 'l-Masih_, Jesus Christ, the Messiah\nEshaa namaaz, _salatu 'l-'Isha_, the night prayer\nEtiquette in the zenanah;\n  at the Court of Oudh\nEunuchs, their power in the Court of Oudh;\n  tale of a pilgrim\nEve, the grave of\nExecution of criminals\nExercise, modes of, used by young men\nExorcism of evil spirits\nEyes decorated with antimony\n\nFaakeer, _faqir_, a beggar, holy man\nFahteeah, _al Fatihah_, the first chapter of the Koran\nFalsah, _phalsa, falsa_, the fruit _Grewia asiatica_\nFasting;\n  exemptions from\nFat, not eaten by Musalmans\nFatima, Fatimah, daughter of Muhammad;\n  an Arab girl purchased\nFeringhee Bargh, _Farangi Bagh_, 'the Franks' Garden\nFierdowsee, Firdausi, the poet;\n  translations of;\n  on slavery\nFig, the\nFire, jumping into, and walking through\nFireworks at the Shab-i-Bara'at festival;\n  see ARTUSH-BAAJIE\nFiring guns at the birth of a boy\nFish, use of;\n  varieties prohibited for use as food;\n  a symbol at the Court of Oudh\nFlags, in use at the Court of Oudh\nFlies, inconvenience from;\n  a variety which produces blisters\nFlower gardens, neglect of;\n  in Moghul palaces\nFlowers, scent of, the food of aerial spirits\nFolk tales, told in the zenanah;\n  tale reciters;\n  tale of Daaood;\n  of the Prophet;\n  of pilgrims;\n  of a charitable Arab;\n  of Syaad Harshim;\n  of a saint changing the course of a river;\n  of an ungrateful snake;\n  of a king who longed for a fruit\nFood, for the dead;\n  not cooked in a house of mourning;\n  lawful for Musalmans\nFraught, Furat, the river Euphrates\nFriday, the Musalman Sabbath\nFrogs\nFruit, use of;\n  sellers of\nFurniture in the zenanah\nFurrukhabaad, Farrukhabad, Nawab of\n\nGabriel, the Angel;\n  inspires the Koran\nGames played by boys;\n  in the zenanah\nGaming prohibited\nGenii, the Jinn\nGhauzee ood deen, Ghazi-ud-diu, King of Oudh\nGhee, _ghi_, clarified butter\nGhurrie, _ghari_, a space of about twenty minutes\nGlass, _gilas_, a cherry\nGlass, vessels, use of;\n  use in windows\nGoatah chandnie, _gola chandni_, lace\nGoattur, _gota_, a substitute for betel, at the Muharram\nGod, ninety-nine names of\nGolard, Goulard water\nGooderie, _gudri_, a quilt\nGoolbudden, _gulbadan_, a silk fabric\nGoolistaun, Gulistan of Sa'adi\nGoomtie, the river Gumti\nGooseberries\nGootlie, _guthli_, the first dose given to a baby\nGrain, threshing and winnowing of\nGram, a kind of chick pea, _Cicer arietinum_\nGreen, the colour preferred by Sayyids;\n  symbolizing Hasan\nGreengrocers\nGrief, exhibition of, at the Muharram festival\nGuaver, the guava fruit\nGuinah, _genda_, the marigold\nGurdonie, _gardani_, a neck ring\nGurhum dahnie, _garm dahani_ prickly heat\n\nHaafiz, Hafiz, the Persian poet\nHaarh, _har_, a necklace;\n  see HARRH\nHackery, _chhakra_, a bullock carriage\nHadge, _hajj_, pilgrimage to holy places\nHadjee, _hajji_, a pilgrim\nHafiz, a man who has learned the Koran by heart\nHafsah, the wife of Muhammad\nHair, mode of dressing;\n  let loose at the Muharram festival;\n  not shaven in mourning\nHand, spread, a symbol;\n  left, not used in eating\nHarrh, _har_, a necklace;\n  see HAARH\nHarshim Syaad, Sayyid Hashim, tale of\nHasan, the martyr;\n  Hasan ul Ushkeree, Hasan al-Askari\nHatim Tai\nHaundhee, _audhi_, a dust storm\nHaverdewatt. avadavat, the bird _estrelda amadara_;\n  see LOLLAH\nHeifer, sacrifice of\nHerbs used in cooking\nHindu gods, images of\nHolie, the Holi festival\nHookha, _huqqah_, the water-pipe;\n  etiquette in use of;\n  makers of 'snakes' for\nHorse racing at Lucknow\nHorses, food of;\n  use of heel ropes;\n  marks on;\n  paces of;\n  shoes fixed on doors;\n  tails and legs dyed;\n  tails not docked;\n  use of in carriages\nHosein, Husain, the martyr;\n  disposal of his head\nHowdah, _haudah_, a seat fixed on an elephant\nHudeeth, _hadis_, the sayings of the Prophet\nHummoomaun, the monkey god Hanuman\nHummoon Shah, Hamun Shah\nHurkaarah, _harkara_, a footman, messenger\nHurrh, al-Hurr, the Shami leader\nHurrundh, _arand_, the castor-oil plant\nHurth Maaree, the scene of the slaughter of the martyrs\nHusbandmen, life of\nHuzerut, _hazrat_, a title of respect\nHydrabaad, Hyderabad\nHydrophobia, a cure for\nHyza, _haiza_, cholera\n\nIbrahim, son of the Prophet;\n  Ibraahim Mukhaun, Ibrahim Makan,\n  'the place of Abraham', at Mecca\nIce-making\nIdolatry prohibited to Musalmans\nInfanticide among Musalmans\nInk-making\nIshmael, son of the Prophet;\n  sacrifice of\nIslaaim, Islam\n\nJa'adah poisons Hasan\nJaffur Saadick, the Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq\nJahaun-punah, _jahan panah_, a title of honour, 'asylum of the world'\nJahmun, Jamun, _jaman, jamun_, the fruit _Eugenia Jambolana_;\n  see JARMUN\nJains, their tenderness for animal life\nJarmun, see JAHMUN\nJaullie, _jali_, netting\nJeddah\nJerusalem, pilgrimage to\nJessamine tree, the\nJesus Christ, the Musalman title of;\n  His Nativity;\n  His Coming\nJewellery, craving of women for;\n  put aside at the Muharram festival\nJhaawn namaaz, _ja'e namaz_, a prayer carpet\nJhammah, _jama_, a long gown\nJhaumdanie, _jamdani_, an ornamented bag\nJhanngeer, the Emperor Jahangir, his chain of justice\nJhewl, _jhul_, the trappings of an elephant\nJhillmun, _jhilmil_, venetian shutters for doors and windows\nJhy Singh, Raja Jai Singh, his observatories\nJillewdhar, _jilaudur_, an attendant on a man of rank\nJinn, the\nJoel, the Prophet\nJonk, a leech\nJoshun, _joshan_, an ornament worn by women on the upper arm\nJudee, Mount\nJugglers\nJumma musjid, Jumna musjid, _Jame' masjid_, a congregational mosque\nJustice, administration of in Oudh\n\nKaabah, _Ka'bah_, the holy place at Mecca;\n  water spout at\nKaanaut, _qanat_, the side walls of a tent\nKaarawaun, _kawan_, a caravan\nKaareem Zund, Karim Khan Zand, anecdote of;\n  see KHAREEM ZUND\nKaarjil, _kajal_, lampblack applied to the eyes\nKaawaus, _khawass_, a special female attendant\nKabooza, _kharbuzah_, the melon\nKalipha, _khalifah_, a Caliph, head servant;\n  see CALIPHA\nKallonie wallah, _khilauniwala_, a toy-seller\nKannoge, the city of Kanauj;\n  founded by Cain;\n  destroyed by an earthquake\nKatorah, _katora_, a shallow drinking cup\nKauflaah, _kafilah_, a caravan\nKaullie Nuddee, the Kali Nadi river\nKauzy, _Qazi_, a Musalman law officer\nKeebaab, _kabab_, pieces of meat roasted on skewers\nKeerah, _kira_, a leech\nKetcherie, _khichri_, rice cooked with pulse and spices\nKettledrum, the;\n  see DUNKAH\nKhadijah, wife of the Prophet\nKhareem Zund;\n  see KAAREEM ZUND\nKhaun, _khan_, 'lord', a title of honour\nKhaunce, Kansa, King of Mathura\nKhaunie, a folk tale\nKheer, _khir_, milk boiled with rice\nKhidmutghar, _khidmatgar_, a table servant\nKhillaut, _khil'at,_ a robe of honour\nKhodah Afiz, _Khuda hafiz_, 'God be your Protector!'\nKhoraan, the Koran, Qur'an;\n  its history;\n  not to be translated;\n  taught to girls;\n  its doctrine regarding women;\n  passages of, inscribed as amulets;\n  learnt by heart;\n  readers of\nKhus-khus, _khaskhas_,\n  the fragrant root of the grass _Andropogon muricatus_\nKhusru Parviz, King of Persia\nKhwaja Khizr, the saint\nKiblaah, _qiblah_, the direction assumed in prayer\nKillaah, _qal'a qil'a_, a fort\nKirhnee, _kirni_, the fruit _Canthium parviflorum_\nKirrich, _kirch_, a straight thrusting sword\nKishtee, _kishti_, a boat\nKitchens in the zenanah\nKite-flying\nKnife-grinders\nKoofah, the city Kufah\nKootub, the Qutb Minar pillar at Delhi\nKornea, Kanhaiya, Krishna\nKoss, _kos_, a measure of distance, about two miles\nKraabaalah, Kerbela, Karbala, the holy city\nKuffin, _kafn_, a coffin, winding-sheet\nKummeruck, _kamrak_, the  fruit _Averrhoa Carambola_\nKungoon, Bandar Kangun in the Persian Gulf\nKurah, _kora_, aloe water\nKurbootah, _kharbuza_, the shaddock fruit\nKutcher, _khichar_, rice boiled with pulse and spices\n\nLabaadah, Labaadh, _labada_, a rain-coat\nLabaun, _loban_, frankincense;\n  see LAHBAUN\nLadies, European, not visiting bazars;\n  Musalman, conversation of\nLahaaf, _lahaf_, a quilt\nLahbaun, see LABAUN\nLampblack, applied to the eyes\nLance, exercises with the\nLeopards trained for sport\nLeech vendors\nLeechie, _lichi_, the fruit _Nephelium Lichi_\nLeft hand used for ablution, not for eating with\nLetters, dedicated to God\nLicenses for marriage unknown\nLights burned before the Taziahs\nLime, applied to wounds\nLiquors, fermented, prohibited to Musalmans\nLocusts;\n  used for food\nLollah, _lal_, the bird _Estrelda amandava_;\n  see HAVERDEWATT\nLoodocanah, the city and district Ludhiana\nLooking-glasses in zenanahs;\n  bride's face first seen in\nLota, a brass water-vessel\nLuchmee, Lakshmana, image of\nLuggun, _lagan_ a washing pan\nLungoor, _langur_, the ape _Semnopithecus entellus_\n\n\nMabaaruck Now-Rose, _Nauroz mubarak_\nMaccurrub, _muqarrab_, angel messengers\nMadhaar, Madar, the saint\nMagic, to bring rain;\n  to cause fertility\nMahana, _miyana_, a kind of litter\nMahdhaar, _madar_, the tree _Calotropis gigantea_\nMahout, _mahawat_, an elephant driver\nMahrattas, raids of in the Panjab\nMahul, _mahall_ the seraglio\nMahummud, Muhammad, the Prophet, his mission;\n  his title;\n  tales regarding;\n  fixes Friday as the Sabbath;\n  laws of the pilgrimage;\n  his rules of conduct;\n  laws regarding polygamy\nMahummud Baakur, Muhammad Baqir\nMahurrum, the Muharram festival;\n  date of;\n  ornaments laid aside at;\n  immense expenditure on;\n  second day observances;\n  fifth day observances;\n  last day observances;\n  clothes given away;\n  inauspicious for marriages;\n  objected to by Sunnis\nMajoob Soofies, _majzub_, 'abstracted'\nMango tree, the\nMarriage, forced, prohibited;\n  age for;\n  settlements unknown;\n  service;\n  exorbitant expenditure on\nMatchmakers\nMatunjun, _muttajjan_, meat boiled with sugar and spices;\n  see MATUNJUN\nMaulvee, _maulavi,_ a doctor of the law\nMautunjun, see MATUNJUN\nMayllah, _mela_, a fair, a religious assemblage\nMayndhie, _mendhi_,\n  the shrub _Lawsonia alba_, apllied to hands and feet;\n  smeared on bride and bridegroom;\n  procession of;\n  sent to bridegroom by bride;\n  smeared on horses;\n  rite at marriage\nMayvour, _mewa_, fruit\nMazoor, Mazoorie, _mazdur, mazdurni_, a day labourer\nMeals, among Musalmans\nMeat, use of by Musalmans\nMecca, the holy city;\n  the Holy House;\n  life held sacred at;\n  Black Stone at;\n  see KAABAH\nMedicine, native system of\nMedina, the holy city\nMeer, _mir_, a title of Sayyids\nMeer Eloy Bauxh, Mir Ilahi Bakhsh\nMeer Hadjee Shah, Mir Haji Shah, his life;\n  character;\n  makes his own winding sheet;\n  listens to the reading of the Bible;\n  views on fasting;\n  tea drinking;\n  describes the Hajj;\n  describes Mecca;\n  life at Ludhiana;\n  adventure with a snake;\n  adventures with tiger;\n  his pilgrimage to Arabia;\n  cures an Arab lady;\n  attacked by pirates;\n  purchases Fatimah, an Arab girl\nMeer Hasan Ali, husband of the authoress\nMeer Hasan Ali, Mrs., the authoress\nMeer Nizaam ood deen, Mir Nizam-ud-din\nMeer Syaad Mahumud, Mir Sayyid Muhammad\nMeetah, meettah, _mitha, mithai_, sweet, sweetmeats\nMelons,\n  cider made from the juice\nMetals transformed into gold\nMhembur, _minbar, mimbar_, the pulpit of a mosque\nMhidie, al Mahdi, 'the Directed One';\n  signs of his coming;\n  his birthday\nMina, _maina_, the bird _Gracula religiosa_\nMinerals, medicinal use of\nMissee, _missi_, a preparation for staining the teeth\nMittie wallah, _mithaiwala_, a sweetmeat vendor\nMoat, _moth_, the aconite-leaved kidney bean\nMocha, Mokha, a port on the Red Sea\nMoghdhur, _mugdar_, a sort of dumb-bell or club used in athletic exercises\nMohur, a gold coin\nMonkeys;\n  and alligators;\n  affection for their offspring;\n  and snakes;\n  wounded;\n  and treasure;\n  use of antidotes for poison\nMoollakhaut, _mulaqat_, a mourning assemblage\nMooltanie mittee, _multani mitti_, fuller's earth\nMoon, new, festival at;\n  influence of;\n  when full auspicious;\n  drinking the;\n  influence on wounds\nMoonkih, Munkar, Munkir, the Recording Angel\nMoonshie, _munshi_, a writer, secretary\nMoosa, Musa, Moses;\n  Musa al-Kazim, the Caliph\nMoosul, _musal_, a pestle used for husking rice\nMortem, _matam_, mourning\nMoses, Musalman title of;\n  tale regarding\nMoslem, Muslim, cousin of Husain\nMosque, absence of decoration in;\n  caretakers of;\n  at Kanauj;\n  pollution of\nMosquitoes\nMourning, dress worn during the Muharram festival;\n  chaff thrown on the head;\n  head and feet left bare;\n  for forty days after a death;\n  shaving forbidden during\nMuchullee, _machhli_, fish\nMucka Beg\nMuckunpore, Makanpur\nMudgeluss, _majlis_, a mourning assembly\nMuggalanie, _Mughlani_, a Moghul woman, a needlewoman\nMugganee, _mangni_, the marriage engagement\nMuggrib, _maghrib ki namaz_, sunset prayer\nMukburrah, Mukhburrah, _maqbarah_, a mausoleum\nMukhdoom Jhaunneer, Makhdum Jahaniya Jahangasht, the saint\nMukhun, _makkhan_, butter\nMulberries\nMullie, _malai_, cream\nMunall, _munhnal_, a pipe mouth-piece\nMuntah, _mantra_, spells, incantations\nMurdanah, _mardanah_, the men's quarters in a house\nMurseeah, _marsiyah_, a funeral elegy;\n  see MUSSEEAH\nMusheroo, _mashru_, silk cloth permitted to be worn at prayer\nMushukh, _mashk_, a skin water-bag\nMusic in the zenanah\nMusnud, _masnad_ a pile of cushions, a throne\nMusseah, Musseeah;\n  see MURSEEAH\nMustaches\nMyriam, Maryam, the Virgin Mary\nMyrtle, the tree\n\nNaalkie, _nalki_, a kind of litter\nNaarah, _nara_, a string\nNadir Shaah, Nadir Shah, King of Persia\nNajoom, najoomee, _nujumi_, an astrologer\nNala and Damayanti, tale of\nNamaaz, _namaz_, the daily liturgical prayer of Musalmans\nNamaazie, _namazi_, one given to prayer, a devotee,\n  one who calls the people to prayer\nNativity of Jesus Christ, observed by Musalmans\nNaunbye, _nanbai_, a bazar baker\nNautch woman;\n  Nautchunee, _nachni_, a dancer\nNeam, _nim_, the tree _Melia Azadirachta_;\n  see NEEM\nNeellah tootee, _nila tutiya_, blue vitriol, medicinal use of\nNew Moon festival, the\nNew Year's Day, see NOU-ROSE\nNitre, manufacture of\nNizaam ood deen, Nizam-ud-din, the saint\nNoah, Musalman title of;\n  his place of burial;\n  ark of, where rested\nNose-rings;\n  see NUT\nNou-Rose, _nauroz_ the New Year's Day festival\nNudghiff Usheruff, Nejef, Mashhad 'Ali\nNujeeb, _najib_, a class of infantry\nNusseer ood Deen Hyder, Nasir-ud-din Haidar, King of Oudh\nNut, Nutt, _nath_, a nose-ring\nNuwaub, _nawab_, 'a deputy', title of the rulers of Oudh\nNuzza, _nazr, nazar_, an offering from an inferior to a superior\nNykee, Nakir, the Recording Angel\n\nOmens, at Nauroz festival;\n  used in selecting a bride;\n  at marriage\nOmir, 'Umar, the second Caliph;\n  said to have destroyed the Alexandrian library\nOod-ood, _hudhud_, the lapwing, hoopoe\nOostardie, _ustadi_, a teacher;\n  see ARTOOJEE\nOrme, _am_, the mango\nOrme peach, the peach\nOrnaments, use of by women;\n  see JEWELLERY\nOtta, _'itr,_ otto of roses\nOudh, administration of justice in the Nawabi;\n  Nawabs and Kings of\n\nPaadishah Begum, Padshah Begam, the\nPaak, _pak_, pure\nPachisi, the game\nPaidshah, _padshah_, a King\nPalace, the, at Delhi\nPalkie, _palki_, the common palanquin\nPallungh, _palang_, a kind of bed\nPaper, written, objection to burning;\n  made of bamboo\nPataan, one of the Pathan tribe\nPawn, _pan_, betel leaf;\n  not used during the Muharram festival\nPawndawn, _pandan,_ a box to hold betel leaf\nPeach, the\nPearls\nPedigrees of Sayyids carefully kept\nPeer, _pir_, a Musalman saint or holy man\nPellet bow, use of the\nPepul, _pipal_, the sacred fig tree, _Ficus religiosa_\nPickles, use of, and sale\nPigeon flying;\n  shooting\nPilgrims, regulations for;\n  cloak worn by\nPillau, _pilau_, meat or fowl boiled with rice and spices\nPineapple, the;\n  see UNANAS\nPlague, an outbreak of\nPlums\nPoison detected by means of dishes\nPolygamy;\n  among Indian kings\nPomegranate, the\nPrayer, the call to;\n  'opening of difficulties';\n  carpet;\n  times of, how announced\nPrickly heat\nPrinting, not practised in Lucknow\nPrisoners released to effect a cure of the sick or as a thank-offering\nPunkah, _pankah_, a kind of fan;\n  punkah wala, _punkah wala_, a fan-seller\nPappayah, _papaiya_, the papaw tree, _Carica Papaya_\nPurdah, _pardah_, a screen to conceal ladies\nPurrh, _pahar_, a watch, a measure of time\nPyjaamah, _paejama_, drawers;\n  stuff used in making\n\nQuail fighting\nQuicksilver, use of in medicine\n\nRacaab puttie, _rikab patthari_, a stone plate\nRain magic\nRainy season, the\nRajpoots, Rajputs, infanticide among\nRaspberries\nRavenscroft, G., murder of\nRed, the Sunni colour;\n  of Husain\nReetah, _ritha_ the soapnut, use of in medicine\nResident at Lucknow, the\nResurrection, doctrine of the\nRicketts, Mordaunt, Resident at Lucknow\nRight hand used in eating\nRiver, course of changed by a saint\nRomall, _rumal_, a handkerchief\nRooey, _rohu_ the carp fish\nRope-dancing\nRoses;\n  smelling of, causes colds and sneezing;\n  rose water;\n  syrup, seeds, oil, uses of\nRoshunie, _roshanai_, ink\nRozedhaar, _rozadar_, one who keeps a fast\nRumzaun, Ramazan, Ramzan, the festival\nRutt, _rath_, a bullock carriage\nRuzzie, _razai_ a quilt\nRyott, _ra'iyat_ a subject, a cultivator\n\nSaabeel, _sabil_,\n  the place where sherbet is distributed at the Muharram festival\nSaadie, Shaikh S'adi, the Persian poet\nSaag, _sag,_ herbs of various kinds used in cooking\nSaalik, _salik_, a devotee, a kind of Sufi\nSaatarah, _sitara_, a guitar\nSabbath, the, among Musalmans\nSacrifice of animals at the Bakrah 'Id festival\nSafdar Jang, Nawab of Oudh, tomb of\nSahbaund, Sawan, the fourth Hindu month\nSahib Logue, Sahib Log, Europeans\nSaints' tombs at Kanauj\nSainturh, _sentha_ the grass _Saccharum ciliare_;\n  see SECUNDAH\nSakeena Koobraah, Sakina Kibriya, daughter of Husain\nSalaam-oon-ali khoon, _salam 'alai-kum_, 'Peace be with thee'\nSallon, _salan_, a curry of meat, fish, or vegetables\nSampwalla, _sampwala_, a snake-charmer\nSarchuk, _saachaq_, fruits, &c., carried in procession at a marriage\nSaulgirrah, _salgirah_, the knot tied to mark a birthday\nScales, the, doctrine of\nScapegoat, released in times of sickness\nScorpio, moon of, inauspicious\nScorpions, mode of repelling\nSeclusion of womem, origin of the custom\nSecundah, _sarkanda_,\n  roots of the grass _Saccharum ciliare_, used for mats and screens;\n  see SAINTURH\nSecungebeen, _sikanjabin_, oxymel, vinegar\nSeepie wallah deelie sukha,\n  _sipi wala gila sukha_, moist or dry cuppers\nSeer, _scr_, a weight of about two pounds\nSerai, _sarai_, a native inn\nSeur, _suar_ a hog, a term of abuse\nSeven, a lucky number\nShaah Jhee, Shahji, a beggar\nShaah Nudghiff, Shah Najaf, a shrine at Lucknow\nShaah ood Dowlah, Shah-ud-daula, a darvesh\nShah Allum, Shah 'Alam II, King of Delhi, his grave\nShah Allumgeer, Shah 'Alamgir, the Emperor Aurangzeb\nShah Jahan, the Moghul Emperor\nShahjee, see SHAH SHERIF OOD DEEN\nShahnama, the poem by Firdausi\nShah Nizaam ood deen, Shaikh Nizam ud-din Auliya, the saint\nShah Sherif ood deen Mahmood,\n  Shah Sharif ud-din Mahmud, a darvesh\nShampooing\nShaving, discontinued during mourning\nShawm, Sham, Syria\nShawmie, Shami, a native of Syria\nSheah, Shiah, the Musalman sect;\n  quarrels with Sunnis at the Muharram;\n  their numbers compared with those of Sunnis;\n  the creed of\nSheah-maul, _shirmal_, a kind of bread; see SHEERMAUL\nSheekaree, _shikari_, a huntsman\nSheermaul, _shirmal_, a kind of bread; see SHEAH-MAUL\nSheikh Mahumud, Shaikh Muhammad\nSherbet, _sharbat_, a drink, how made;\n  distributed at the Muharram festival;\n  payment for at marriages\nSHERREFAH, SHERREEFHA, _sharifah_, the custard apple\nSheruff, Sharif, the governor of Mecca\nShimeear, Shimar, the chief agent in the murder of Husain\nShiraaz, Shiraz, a city in Persia\nShoes removed in sacred places and in houses;\n  varieties of\nShooghur Allah, see SHUGGUR ALLAH\nShopkeepers, mode of doing business\nShroff, _sarraf_, a moneychanger\nShroud, the burial\nShubh-burraat, _Shab-i-bara'at_, the night of record, a festival\nShubnum, _shabnam_, 'dew', a kind of fine cloth\nShuggur Allah, _shukr Allah_,\n  'Praise be to God!'; see SHOOGHUR ALLAH\nShujah ood Dowlah, Shuja ud-daula, Nawab of Oudh\nShutteringhie, _shatranji_, a striped floor-cloth\nSickley ghur, _saikalgar_, a polisher of arms\nSickness, attributed to spirits\nSikhs, the;\n  campaign against\nSilk, wearing of\nSin, repentance of\nSinging women\nSiraat, _sirat_, the bridge over which the soul passes\nSirrakee, _sirki_, the reed _Saccharum\n  ciliare_, used for mats, &c\nSita ki Rasoi, a building at Kanauj\nSlaves, domestic, condition of;\n  female in the zenanah;\n  liberated by or on the death of the owner;\n  property of reverting to the master\nSnake charmers, deception practised by\nSnakes, superstitions regarding;\n  and monkeys;\n  tale of an ungrateful;\n  an adventure with\nSoap, substitutes for\nSociety of Musalman ladies\nSolomon, King, tale of;\n  the first Sufi\nSoobadhaar, _subahdar_, a native officer, a viceroy\nSoobadhaarie, _subahdari_, a province under a viceroy\nSoobhoo namaaz, _namaz-i-subh_, the dawn prayer\nSoofy, Sufi, a sect of Musalmans;\n  consulted to solve mysteries;\n  pretenders to piety;\n  assemblage of with singing and dancing;\n  principles of\nSoojinee, _sozani_, a quilted cloth\nSoonie, Sunni, the Musalman sect;\n  rulers at Mecca\nSoota-badhaar, _Soutabardar_, a mace-bearer;\n  see SOTA-BADHAAH\nSota-badhaah; see SOOTA-BADHAAR\nSpinach, varieties and uses of\nSpirits, evil, exorcism of\nStarvation, a cure for disease\nStockings, wearing of in the zenanah\nStone dishes\nStrawberries\nSubzah, _sabzah_, a song bird\nSuffee Ali, Safiya 'Ilah, a title of Adam\nSulleed, _tharid_, a kind of bread\nSulmah, _surma_, antimony applied to the eyes\nSumdun Begum, _samdhan begum_, a connexion by marriage\nSurraie, _surahi_, a long-necked water flagon\nSurringhee, _sarangi_, a sort of violin\nSutkah, _sadaqah_, offerings of intercession\nSuwaaree, _sawari_, an equipage, escort\nSweetmeats, sellers of;\n  given to a man in a state of ecstasy,\nSwine, held abominable by Musalmans\nSword exercises\nSyaad, Sayyid, a class of Musalmans;\n  their origin;\n  care used and difficulty in making marriage engagements;\n  respect paid to;\n  dues received by\nSyaad Ahmad Kaabeer, Sayyid Ahmad Kabir,\nSyaad Harshim, Sayyid Hashim\n\nTaaif, Ta'if, a fertile tract near Mecca,\nTaarkhanah, _tahkhanah_, an underground room,\nTaaseel-dhaar, _tahsildar_, a native collector of revenue,\nTaaweez, taawize, _ta'wiz_, an amulet, talisman,\nTahujjoot, _namaz-i-tahajjud_, prayer after midnight,\nTale kee archah wallah,\n  _Tel ka acharwala_, a seller of oil pickles,\nTalismans; see TAAWEEZ\nTamarind tree, the, vegetation beneath it dying,\nTamerlane, Taimur Lang, introduces seclusion of women,\nTarantula, the,\nTattle, _tatti_, a screen, a device for cooling rooms,\nTawurshear, _tabashir_, a substance found in bamboos,\nTazia, _ta'ziya_,\n  a model tomb carried in procession at the Muharram festival;\n  not peculiar to India;\n  not used by Sunnis;\n  burial of,\nTea, use of,\nTeeth, cleaning of, 59\nThonjaun, _tamjhan_, _thamjhan_, a kind of litter,\nThrone, of the King of Oudh,\nTigers, tamed, wandering about the house;\n  adventure with,\nTime, Musalman division of;\n  measured by a clepsydra,\nTimoor, Taimur, his invasion of India,\nTin, use of in dyeing and in medicine,\nTithes,\nToddy,\nToothbrushes,\nTope, a grove of trees,\nTor, _tar_, the palm tree, _Borassus flabelliformis_,\nToy sellers,\nTrades in Lucknow,\nTravellers excused from fasting,\nTreasure, burying of,\nTrees, speaking on the Mahdi's birthday,\nTuckht, _takht_, a wooden platform on which men sit and sleep,\nTufaun, _tufan_, a storm,\nTumaushbeen, _tamashabin_, 'a spectator of wonders',\nTundhie, _thandi_, a cooling draught taken at the breaking of a fast,\nTurkaarie, _tarkari_, vegetables\n\nUberuck, _abrak_, talc, mica,\nUlsee, _alsi_, linseed, _Linum usitatissimum_,\nUmbrella, a mark of dignity,\nUmultass, _amaltas_,\n  the Indian laburnum, _Cassia fistula_, use in medicine,\nUngeeah, _angiya_, an under-jacket or bodice,\nUngeel, _injil_, Evangel, the Gospels,\nUnnah, _anna_, a nurse,\nUnrurkha, _angarkha_, a long tunic,\nUnunas, _ananas_, the pineapple, _Ananassa sativa_,\nUrzees, _arziz_, tin, used in medicine and dyeing,\nUsury, forbidden\n\nVakeel, _wakil_, an agent\nVazeefah, _wazifah_, a passage read from the Koran\nVegetables, use of as food\nVeil, worn by a bridegroom\nVenus, the conjunction of\nVermicelli, used in the times of fasting\nVilloiettee Begum, Wilayati begam, 'the foreign lady'\nVizier, _wazir_, the prime minister at the Court of Oudh\n\nWalking barefoot, a sign of mourning\nWax from the human ear administered to elephants\nWhite ants\nWidows, dress of;\n  reduced numbers of;\n  marriage of\nWindow glass, scarcity of\nWitch, tale of a;\n  hair plucked from the head of;\n  has crooked feet;\n  sucking out the vitals of a victim\nWitchcraft, general belief in\nWives, prescribed number of;\n  large numbers of married\nWomen, belief that they do not possess souls;\n  seclusion of\nWounds, treatment of\n\nYaacoob, Ya'qub, Jacob\nYeusuf, Yusuf, Joseph\nYieyah, Yahya, St. John\nYoube, Aiyub, Job\nYumen, Yemen in Arabia\nYuzeed, Yazid, second Caliph of the house of Umaiyah\n\nZahur morah, _zahr mohra_, the bezoar stone\nZarbund, _zerband_, a waist string\nZechareah, Zachariah\nZeearut, _ziyarah, ziyarat_, a visit to a shrine\nZeenahnah, the zenanah, described\nZemindhaar, _zamindar_, a landowner\nZohur namaaz, _salatu-'z-zuhr_, mid-day prayer\nZuckhaut, _zakat_, alms for the poor\nZynool auberdene, Az-zainu'l-'abidin","title":"Observations on the Mussulmauns of India: Descriptive of Their Manners, Customs, Habits and Religious Opinions Made During a Twelve Years' Residence in Their Immediate Society","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":169537}