{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/wikisource_The_Golden_Bough_Temporary_Kings/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/wikisource_The_Golden_Bough_Temporary_Kings","id":"wikisource_The_Golden_Bough_Temporary_Kings","license":"Public Domain / CC-BY-SA (see source)","rights_basis":"wikisource_site_inclusion_policy","source":"wikisource","source_url":"https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Golden_Bough/Temporary_Kings","summary":null,"tags":["Headers_applying_DefaultSort_key","Subpages"],"text":"CHAPTER XXV\n\nTEMPORARY KINGS\n\n{{sc|In some places the modified form of the old custom of regicide which\nappears to have prevailed at Babylon has been further softened down.\nThe king still abdicates annually for a short time and his place is\nfilled by a more or less nominal sovereign; but at the close of his\nshort reign the latter is no longer killed, though sometimes a mock\nexecution still survives as a memorial of the time when he was\nactually put to death. To take examples. In the month of M\u00e9ac (February) the king of Cambodia annually abdicated for three days.\nDuring this time he performed no act of authority, he did not touch\nthe seals, he did not even receive the revenues which fell due. In\nhis stead there reigned a temporary king called Sdach M\u00e9ac, that is,\nKing February. The office of temporary king was hereditary in a\nfamily distantly connected with the royal house, the sons succeeding\nthe fathers and the younger brothers the elder brothers just as in\nthe succession to the real sovereignty. On a favourable day fixed by\nthe astrologers the temporary king was conducted by the mandarins in\ntriumphal procession. He rode one of the royal elephants, seated in\nthe royal palanquin, and escorted by soldiers who, dressed in\nappropriate costumes, represented the neighbouring peoples of Siam,\nAnnam, Laos, and so on. In place of the golden crown he wore a\npeaked white cap, and his regalia, instead of being of gold\nencrusted with diamonds, were of rough wood. After paying homage to\nthe real king, from whom he received the sovereignty for three days,\ntogether with all the revenues accruing during that time (though\nthis last custom has been omitted for some time), he moved in\nprocession round the palace and through the streets of the capital.\nOn the third day, after the usual procession, the temporary king\ngave orders that the elephants should trample under foot the\n\"mountain of rice,\" which was a scaffold of bamboo surrounded by\nsheaves of rice. The people gathered up the rice, each man taking\nhome a little with him to secure a good harvest. Some of it was also\ntaken to the king, who had it cooked and presented to the monks.\n\nIn Siam on the sixth day of the moon in the sixth month (the end of\nApril) a temporary king is appointed, who for three days enjoys the\nroyal prerogatives, the real king remaining shut up in his palace.\nThis temporary king sends his numerous satellites in all directions\nto seize and confiscate whatever they can find in the bazaar and\nopen shops; even the ships and junks which arrive in harbour during\nthe three days are forfeited to him and must be redeemed. He goes to\na field in the middle of the city, whither they bring a gilded\nplough drawn by gaily-decked oxen. After the plough has been\nanointed and the oxen rubbed with incense, the mock king traces nine\nfurrows with the plough, followed by aged dames of the palace\nscattering the first seed of the season. As soon as the nine furrows\nare drawn, the crowd of spectators rushes in and scrambles for the\nseed which has just been sown, believing that, mixed with the seed-rice, it will ensure a plentiful crop. Then the oxen are unyoked, and rice, maize, sesame, sago, bananas, sugar-cane, melons, and so on, are set before them; whatever they eat first will, it is thought, be dear in the year following, though some people interpret the omen in the opposite sense. During this time the temporary king stands leaning against a tree with his right foot resting on his left knee. From standing thus on one foot he is popularly known as King Hop; but his official title is Phaya Phollathep \"Lord of the Heavenly Hosts.\" He is a sort of Minister of Agriculture; all disputes about fields, rice, and so forth, are referred to him.\nThere is moreover another ceremony in which he personates the king.\nIt takes place in the second month (which falls in the cold season)\nand lasts three days. He is conducted in procession to an open place\nopposite the Temple of the Brahmans, where there are a number of\npoles dressed like May-poles, upon which the Brahmans swing. All the\nwhile that they swing and dance, the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts has\nto stand on one foot upon a seat which is made of bricks plastered\nover, covered with a white cloth, and hung with tapestry. He is\nsupported by a wooden frame with a gilt canopy, and two Brahmans\nstand one on each side of him. The dancing Brahmans carry buffalo\nhorns with which they draw water from a large copper caldron and\nsprinkle it on the spectators; this is supposed to bring good luck,\ncausing the people to dwell in peace and quiet, health and\nprosperity. The time during which the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts has\nto stand on one foot is about three hours. This is thought \"to prove\nthe dispositions of the Devattas and spirits.\" If he lets his foot\ndown \"he is liable to forfeit his property and have his family\nenslaved by the king, as it is believed to be a bad omen, portending\ndestruction to the state, and instability to the throne. But if he\nstand firm he is believed to have gained a victory over evil\nspirits, and he has moreover the privilege, ostensibly at least, of\nseizing any ship which may enter the harbour during these three\ndays, and taking its contents, and also of entering any open shop in\nthe town and carrying away what he chooses.\"\n\nSuch were the duties and privileges of the Siamese King Hop down to\nabout the middle of the nineteenth century or later. Under the reign\nof the late enlightened monarch this quaint personage was to some\nextent both shorn of the glories and relieved of the burden of his\noffice. He still watches, as of old, the Brahmans rushing through\nthe air in a swing suspended between two tall masts, each some\nninety feet high; but he is allowed to sit instead of stand, and,\nalthough public opinion still expects him to keep his right foot on\nhis left knee during the whole of the ceremony, he would incur no\nlegal penalty were he, to the great chagrin of the people, to put\nhis weary foot to the ground. Other signs, too, tell of the invasion\nof the East by the ideas and civilisation of the West. The\nthoroughfares that lead to the scene of the performance are blocked\nwith carriages: lamp-posts and telegraph posts, to which eager\nspectators cling like monkeys, rise above the dense crowd; and,\nwhile a tatterdemalion band of the old style, in gaudy garb of\nvermilion and yellow, bangs and tootles away on drums and trumpets\nof an antique pattern, the procession of barefooted soldiers in\nbrilliant uniforms steps briskly along to the lively strains of a\nmodern military band playing \"Marching through Georgia.\"\n\nOn the first day of the sixth month, which was regarded as the\nbeginning of the year, the king and people of Samarcand used to put\non new clothes and cut their hair and beards. Then they repaired to\na forest near the capital where they shot arrows on horseback for\nseven days. On the last day the target was a gold coin, and he who hit it had the right to be king for one day. In Upper Egypt on the\nfirst day of the solar year by Coptic reckoning, that is, on the\ntenth of September, when the Nile has generally reached its highest\npoint, the regular government is suspended for three days and every\ntown chooses its own ruler. This temporary lord wears a sort of tall\nfool's cap and a long flaxen beard, and is enveloped in a strange\nmantle. With a wand of office in his hand and attended by men\ndisguised as scribes, executioners, and so forth, he proceeds to the\nGovernor's house. The latter allows himself to be deposed; and the\nmock king, mounting the throne, holds a tribunal, to the decisions\nof which even the governor and his officials must bow. After three\ndays the mock king is condemned to death; the envelope or shell in\nwhich he was encased is committed to the flames, and from its ashes\nthe Fellah creeps forth. The custom perhaps points to an old\npractice of burning a real king in grim earnest. In Uganda the\nbrothers of the king used to be burned, because it was not lawful to\nshed the royal blood.\n\nThe Mohammedan students of Fez, in Morocco, are allowed to appoint a\nsultan of their own, who reigns for a few weeks, and is known as\n_Sultan t-tulba,_ \"the Sultan of the Scribes.\" This brief authority\nis put up for auction and knocked down to the highest bidder. It\nbrings some substantial privileges with it, for the holder is freed\nfrom taxes thenceforward, and he has the right of asking a favour\nfrom the real sultan. That favour is seldom refused; it usually\nconsists in the release of a prisoner. Moreover, the agents of the\nstudent-sultan levy fines on the shopkeepers and householders,\nagainst whom they trump up various humorous charges. The temporary\nsultan is surrounded with the pomp of a real court, and parades the\nstreets in state with music and shouting, while a royal umbrella is\nheld over his head. With the so-called fines and free-will\nofferings, to which the real sultan adds a liberal supply of\nprovisions, the students have enough to furnish forth a magnificent\nbanquet; and altogether they enjoy themselves thoroughly, indulging\nin all kinds of games and amusements. For the first seven days the\nmock sultan remains in the college; then he goes about a mile out of\nthe town and encamps on the bank of the river, attended by the\nstudents and not a few of the citizens. On the seventh day of his\nstay outside the town he is visited by the real sultan, who grants\nhim his request and gives him seven more days to reign, so that the\nreign of \"the Sultan of the Scribes\" nominally lasts three weeks.\nBut when six days of the last week have passed the mock sultan runs\nback to the town by night. This temporary sultanship always falls in\nspring, about the beginning of April. Its origin is said to have\nbeen as follows. When Mulai Rasheed II. was fighting for the throne\nin 1664 or 1665, a certain Jew usurped the royal authority at Taza.\nBut the rebellion was soon suppressed through the loyalty and\ndevotion of the students. To effect their purpose they resorted to\nan ingenious stratagem. Forty of them caused themselves to be packed\nin chests which were sent as a present to the usurper. In the dead\nof night, while the unsuspecting Jew was slumbering peacefully among\nthe packing-cases, the lids were stealthily raised, the brave forty\ncrept forth, slew the usurper, and took possession of the city in\nthe name of the real sultan, who, to mark his gratitude for the help\nthus rendered him in time of need, conferred on the students the\nright of annually appointing a sultan of their own. The narrative\nhas all the air of a fiction devised to explain an old custom, of\nwhich the real meaning and origin had been forgotten.\n\nA custom of annually appointing a mock king for a single day was\nobserved at Lostwithiel in Cornwall down to the sixteenth century.\nOn \"little Easter Sunday\" the freeholders of the town and manor\nassembled together, either in person or by their deputies, and one\namong them, as it fell to his lot by turn, gaily attired and\ngallantly mounted, with a crown on his head, a sceptre in his hand,\nand a sword borne before him, rode through the principal street to\nthe church, dutifully attended by all the rest on horseback. The\nclergyman in his best robes received him at the churchyard stile and\nconducted him to hear divine service. On leaving the church he\nrepaired, with the same pomp, to a house provided for his reception.\nHere a feast awaited him and his suite, and being set at the head of\nthe table he was served on bended knees, with all the rites due to\nthe estate of a prince. The ceremony ended with the dinner, and\nevery man returned home.\n\nSometimes the temporary king occupies the throne, not annually, but\nonce for all at the beginning of each reign. Thus in the kingdom of\nJambi in Sumatra it is the custom that at the beginning of a new\nreign a man of the people should occupy the throne and exercise the\nroyal prerogatives for a single day. The origin of the custom is\nexplained by a tradition that there were once five royal brothers,\nthe four elder of whom all declined the throne on the ground of\nvarious bodily defects, leaving it to their youngest brother. But\nthe eldest occupied the throne for one day, and reserved for his\ndescendants a similar privilege at the beginning of every reign.\nThus the office of temporary king is hereditary in a family akin to\nthe royal house. In Bilaspur it seems to be the custom, after the\ndeath of a Rajah, for a Brahman to eat rice out of the dead Rajah's\nhand, and then to occupy the throne for a year. At the end of the\nyear the Brahman receives presents and is dismissed from the\nterritory, being forbidden apparently to return. \"The idea seems to\nbe that the spirit of the R\u00e1j\u00e1 enters into the Br\u00e1hman who eats the\n_khir_ (rice and milk) out of his hand when he is dead, as the\nBrahman is apparently carefully watched during the whole year, and\nnot allowed to go away.\" The same or a similar custom is believed to\nobtain among the hill states about Kangra. The custom of banishing\nthe Brahman who represents the king may be a substitute for putting\nhim to death. At the installation of a prince of Carinthia a\npeasant, in whose family the office was hereditary, ascended a\nmarble stone which stood surrounded by meadows in a spacious valley;\non his right stood a black mother-cow, on his left a lean ugly mare.\nA rustic crowd gathered about him. Then the future prince, dressed\nas a peasant and carrying a shepherd's staff, drew near, attended by\ncourtiers and magistrates. On perceiving him the peasant called out,\n\"Who is this whom I see coming so proudly along?\" The people\nanswered, \"The prince of the land.\" The peasant was then prevailed\non to surrender the marble seat to the prince on condition of\nreceiving sixty pence, the cow and mare, and exemption from taxes.\nBut before yielding his place he gave the prince a light blow on the\ncheek.\n\nSome points about these temporary kings deserve to be specially\nnoticed before we pass to the next branch of the evidence. In the\nfirst place, the Cambodian and Siamese examples show clearly that it\nis especially the divine or magical functions of the king which are\ntransferred to his temporary substitute. This appears from the\nbelief that by keeping up his foot the temporary king of Siam gained\na victory over the evil spirits, whereas by letting it down he\nimperilled the existence of the state. Again, the Cambodian ceremony\nof trampling down the \"mountain of rice,\" and the Siamese ceremony\nof opening the ploughing and sowing, are charms to produce a\nplentiful harvest, as appears from the belief that those who carry\nhome some of the trampled rice, or of the seed sown, will thereby\nsecure a good crop. Moreover, when the Siamese representative of the\nking is guiding the plough, the people watch him anxiously, not to\nsee whether he drives a straight furrow, but to mark the exact point\non his leg to which the skirt of his silken robe reaches; for on\nthat is supposed to hang the state of the weather and the crops\nduring the ensuing season. If the Lord of the Heavenly Hosts hitches\nup his garment above his knee, the weather will be wet and heavy\nrains will spoil the harvest. If he lets it trail to his ankle, a\ndrought will be the consequence. But fine weather and heavy crops\nwill follow if the hem of his robe hangs exactly half-way down the\ncalf of his leg. So closely is the course of nature, and with it the\nweal or woe of the people, dependent on the minutest act or gesture\nof the king's representative. But the task of making the crops grow,\nthus deputed to the temporary kings, is one of the magical functions\nregularly supposed to be discharged by kings in primitive society.\nThe rule that the mock king must stand on one foot upon a raised\nseat in the rice-field was perhaps originally meant as a charm to\nmake the crop grow high; at least this was the object of a similar\nceremony observed by the old Prussians. The tallest girl, standing\non one foot upon a seat, with her lap full of cakes, a cup of brandy\nin her right hand and a piece of elm-bark or linden-bark in her\nleft, prayed to the god Waizganthos that the flax might grow as high\nas she was standing. Then, after draining the cup, she had it\nrefilled, and poured the brandy on the ground as an offering to\nWaizganthos, and threw down the cakes for his attendant sprites. If\nshe remained steady on one foot throughout the ceremony, it was an\nomen that the flax crop would be good; but if she let her foot down,\nit was feared that the crop might fail. The same significance\nperhaps attaches to the swinging of the Brahmans, which the Lord of\nthe Heavenly Hosts had formerly to witness standing on one foot. On the principles of ples of homoeopathic or imitative magic it might be\nthought that the higher the priests swing the higher will grow the\nrice. For the ceremony is described as a harvest festival, and\nswinging is practised by the Letts of Russia with the avowed\nintention of influencing the growth of the crops. In the spring and\nearly summer, between Easter and St. John's Day (the summer\nsolstice), every Lettish peasant is said to devote his leisure hours\nto swinging diligently; for the higher he rises in the air the\nhigher will his flax grow that season.\n\nIn the foregoing cases the temporary king is appointed annually in\naccordance with a regular custom. But in other cases the appointment\nis made only to meet a special emergency, such as to relieve the\nreal king from some actual or threatened evil by diverting it to a\nsubstitute, who takes his place on the throne for a short time. The\nhistory of Persia furnishes instances of such occasional substitutes\nfor the Shah. Thus Shah Abbas the Great, being warned by his\nastrologers in the year 1591 that a serious danger impended over\nhim, attempted to avert the omen by abdicating the throne and\nappointing a certain unbeliever named Yusoofee, probably a\nChristian, to reign in his stead. The substitute was accordingly\ncrowned, and for three days, if we may trust the Persian historians,\nhe enjoyed not only the name and the state but the power of the\nking. At the end of his brief reign he was put to death: the decree\nof the stars was fulfilled by this sacrifice; and Abbas, who\nreascended his throne in a most propitious hour, was promised by his\nastrologers a long and glorious reign.","title":"The Golden Bough/Temporary Kings","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":3306}