.dt Oral Tradition from The Indus, By Major J. F. A. M^cnair—A Project Gutenberg eBook
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ORAL TRADITION FROM THE INDUS.
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(Frontispiece). THE VILLAGE HÛJRÂ, OR GUEST HOUSE.
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[Illustration: (Frontispiece). THE VILLAGE HÛJRÂ, OR GUEST HOUSE.]
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ORAL TRADITION FROM THE INDUS.
COMPRISED IN TALES.
TO WHICH ARE ADDED EXPLANATORY NOTES.
BY
MAJOR J. F. A. M^cNAIR, R.A., C.M.G.,
Author of “Perak and the Malays,” “Prisoners their own Warders,” &c., &c.,
AND
THOMAS LAMBERT BARLOW,
Late Superintendent, Chief Salt-range, India.
Revised and Corrected,
1908.
ILLUSTRATIONS DRAWN BY MISS L. FENN,
FROM SKETCHES BY THE AUTHORS.
Brighton:
PRINTED AT THE CRANBOURNE PRINTING WORKS,
BY R. GOSDEN.
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CONTENTS.
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| | PAGE
| Introduction | #ix:ch00#.
I. | The Guru and his Greedy Disciple | #1:ch01#
II. | The Donkey-man and the Precious Stone | #10:ch02#
III. | The Fakir and the Bhânds | #17:ch03#
IV. | The Miserly Moslem Priest and his Wife | #22:ch04#
V. | The King’s Son, his Friend, and the Fakir | #35:ch05#
VI. | Secundur Zulf-Kur-Nain | #43:ch06#
VII. | The Farmer, the Crocodile, and the Jackal | #54:ch07#
VIII. | Faith Opposed to Magic | #61:ch08#
IX. | The Fakir and his Quarrelsome Wife | #70:ch09#
X. | The Farmer and the Revenue Sowar | #76:ch10#
XI. | M[=u]lt[=a]n as Hot as Fire | #79:ch11#
XII. | Sh[=a]it[=a]n and his Savage Wife | #84:ch12#
XIII. | Sakhi, the Generous Moslem | #91:ch13#
XIV. | The Priest, the Washerman, and the Ass | #104:ch14#
XV. | Akbar and his Minister | #112:ch15#
XVI. | The Rajah, his Minister, and the Shepherd | #121:ch16#
XVII. | The Banj[=a]ra, his Dog, and the Banker | #128:ch17#
XVIII. | How an Evil Spirit was Exorcised | #138:ch18#
XIX. | Bahad[=u]r Singh and the Blind Beggar | #144:ch19#
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
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| PAGE
Map of the Indus | #Map:i01#
Frontispiece | #iv:frontis#
The Guru and his Greedy Disciple | #2:i03#
The Miserly Moslem Priest and his Wife | #22:i04#
A Monkey Temple in India (copied) | #40:i05#
Secundur Zulf-Kur-Nain | #44:i06#
The Farmer, the Crocodile, and the Jackal | #54:i07#
The Farmer, the Crocodile, and the Jackal | #57:i08#
Faith Opposed to Magic | #62:i09#
Sh[=a]it[=a]n and his Savage Wife | #84:i10#
Sakhi, the Generous Moslem | #92:i11#
Sakhi, the Generous Moslem | #94:i12#
Akbar and his Minister | #112:i13#
The Banj[=a]ra, his Dog, and the Banker | #128:i14#
Bahad[=u]r Singh and the Blind Beggar | #158:i15#
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INTRODUCTION.
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It was in the remote and little known village of “Ghazi,”
situated on the left bank of the stately and classical Indus,
and at the distance of about thirty miles from the ancient
city of “Attock” (Atak) that most of this Folk-lore was
collected.
Ghazi in itself is not what would be called a picturesque
village in those parts. Its straggling huts and houses are
built on a rocky, unkind sort of soil, so that fine forest trees
which would make a pleasing picture of the place will not
grow there; indeed the vegetation is almost entirely restricted
to scrub and brushwood. There are, however, here and
there, thickets of the “Phoolai” and “Vahekur” plants, and
a stunted variety of the Plum tree, known by the natives as
“Jhâr Bayri.”
At some little distance inland, however, the soil improves;
and the farmers are able there to cultivate both
wheat and barley, and to plant the oil and cotton seeds from
which they obtain very fair crops.
The view, however, looking from the village has a
distinct charm of its own, owing to the wild, mountainous,
and well-wooded country which encircles it. Within a few
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miles to its rear are the Hills of “Gundghur,” the highest
peak of which is by the natives of the place called
“Pir Than,” and is the scene of many of their local
legends.
Far away towards the north and west are lofty ranges
of mountains, running, as it were, in graduated succession
to join the distant line, which is in point of fact but an
extreme western extension of the Himalayas.
Immediately at the foot of the village, runs as I
have already said, the river Indus, and as its banks are
somewhat narrowed at this point the stream becomes more
rapid, but the river broadens out again a little further
down, until it reaches the city of Attock, where its volume
is increased by the waters of the Kabul River.
The natives who dwell in the village are of that
mixture of races usually to be found in most of the towns
and villages in the “Hazara” district in which Ghazi is
situated.
The Head men are Pathans of the “Thar” tribe, commonly
called “Thar Kheyles.” They are believed to be
the descendants of Afghan soldiers who came into India
with the armies of Timur Baber and Nadir Shah.
Then there are two or three divisions of the farmer
class known as “Awans,” good soldiers and no better
people in all India, and “Ghurk[=a]s”—fine, tough men.
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Also the barber class, or “Naies,” also called “Napit”;
the shoemakers, or “Moch[=i]s”; the potters, or “Koobhars”;
the weavers, or “Powlees”; the blacksmiths, or “Lohars;”
and so on, with a sprinkling of “Merasis,” or “Dooms,”
who fill the post of Genealogists and Bards to the
community, and who are the reciters of warlike poetry.
These last are for the most part the receptacles and
custodians of the old village folk-lore, though sometimes
amongst the farmers living as they do a simple and rustic
life, many tales of the remote past have been retained,
and the barbers, too, have been occasionally known to
relate them.
Above Ghazi, and at a distance of about twelve miles
on the same side of the river, are the villages known by
the general name of “Thorbela.” The word locally means
“Black Island,” after an island which was situated in
front of them, but was washed away in the floods of
1842. Since that date many of the huts have been
erected at some distance from the banks. The village
is an important one, and contains a thriving and industrious
community. To get to “Thorbela” the traveller
has to pass through the small village of “Mohat,” between
which and Ghazi is the ferry across the Indus to the
populous town of “Topi.” This town contains the same
admixture of races as at Ghazi, but in addition a larger
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proportion of the “Juddoon” tribe who speak the “Pushtu”
language, which has some similarity to the Semitic.
The whole of this district will well repay a visit at
any time, and the interest is greatly enhanced when one
calls to mind the many historical events that have taken
place, in and around it, in years long gone by.
It was at Attock (Atak) that Alexander the Great is
believed to have crossed the Indus B.C. 326. The ancient
name of this city was said to be “Taxila,” so named
after a petty king who joined his forces with those of
Alexander in the attack and defeat of King Porus, and
it was here that Alexander rested his army for three
days, and was royally entertained by its reigning Sovereign.
It is, however, quite foreign to my purpose here, to
dwell at any length on the ancient history of this part
of India and the Punjâb generally, called by the Greeks
the “Pente Potamia.” I will not either touch upon the
supposed route taken by Alexander across the “Paropamisus”
Mountains (Hindu Kush), which is still a very
disputed point.
My purpose in referring to this old history, is to
draw attention to the fact that in the traditions that
these non-recording Ghazi folk have handed down of
their gods, their heroes, and preternatural beings, they
appear to have kept ever in their memories this visit of
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Alexander to India, in the legend of “Secundur Zulf
Kurnain,” which forms one of the tales of this series.
It was at this little village of Ghazi, and in the districts
adjoining it, remote at the time from all European
influence, that Mr. Thomas Lambert Barlow resided for
over thirty years. He was employed by our Government
in the Salt Revenue Department, and in the execution of
these arduous duties, he was as a matter of course thrown
into almost daily contact with all classes of the natives.
He found it necessary to acquaint himself with their various
dialects, and it was not long before he was able to communicate
freely with every caste and tribe.
No European could have had a better opportunity of
getting at the thoughts and feelings of the people than he
had, and being on friendly terms with most of them, they
would talk to him, and before him, with perfect freedom,
and altogether with an absence of that kind of restraint,
which I can say from my own knowledge, is felt more
or less by most natives of India when in the presence of
a European.
It has been said, and perhaps with some justice, that
many folk tales have to be received with a certain amount
of misgiving; and doubtless also each narrative as it descends
in successive generations loses some of the force
of the original. It is also very clear that the Folk-lore of
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a long-established and independent community such as that
of Ghazi, or other out-of-the-way village of India, is not
to be got at all of a sudden, for it lies deep down in the
memories of only a certain few of the people, and these
not always willing to impart it unto strangers to their
country.
It was not surprising therefore that it was only by
degrees, and by very slow degrees, that Mr. Barlow, though
always a welcome guest at their village “Hûjrâs” or meeting
places, was able to collect the lore of this interesting,
this semi-religious, and warlike people. Many of their
tales he repeated to the Rev. Mr. Swynnerton, F.S.A., who
in 1892 published them in his popular work entitled the
“Indian Nights,” and again with others in a later volume.
Mr. Barlow had not, however, exhausted all his store,
and he has been good enough to place these few more at
my disposal, and to permit me to send them to the Press
in our joint names.
He has given them to me both orally and from notes,
and it has been my task to throw them into a readable
form, avoiding as far as possible all modification or undue
colouring. In making together the translation into English
we were conscious sometimes of missing the native expression
or idiom. When any such difficulty arose we
found help in transposing the original words into the
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“Hindustani” language, a native tongue familiar to us
both. By this means, and with general care we were
able to get pretty near to the thought and combination
of thought of the native narrators, and the homeliness of
their style.
It is perhaps matter for regret that in publishing
these rural tales, I am not in a position to add the names
of those people in Ghazi from whom Mr. Barlow heard
them, nor, of course, can I give their antecedents. It
might perhaps have afforded some clue to the source from
whence the tales had been received, and it would certainly
have been an additional evidence of their authenticity.
Mr. Barlow, however, made no note of these particulars
at the time, and he cannot even now trust his memory
on these points. He gathered the tales more to obtain
a better insight into the character of the people, and to
strengthen his knowledge of the language, and with no
ulterior view to their publication. He, however, can say
with all truth, that most of them were related in his
presence by the farmers and “Merasis” or bards of the
people, and that they are from the original stock transmitted
to them by their forefathers.
I have thought it better not to encumber this volume
with any elaborate analysis of the Tales. They are very
simple and descriptive, and folk-lorists more able than
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myself, can readily arrange an analysis according to their
own system.
It has been necessary, however, with these Indian
Folk-tales to attach a few explanatory notes, chiefly to
elucidate the text, but also with the view of bringing our
readers more into touch with the people of the district.
The Tales gain a great advantage from the drawings
of Miss L. Fenn, which will be found to be full of expression
and spirit, and are at the same time faithful
representations of the general characteristics of the people
of this part of Northern India.
I am indebted also to the late Mr. John W. N. Barlow
for much assistance to us in describing the native
costumes, and for other information connected with the
Ghazi community.
These Tales under a different form and style, were
re-printed in 1902, from the “Indian Antiquary,” by the
Education Society’s Press, Bombay; and later were kindly
edited by W. Crooke, of the Bengal Civil Service (retired),
the author of the “N.W. Provinces of India,” and other
valuable works.
They are now re-produced by the Original Writers,
with some corrections and emendations, together with
the illustrations to the text referred to above.
.rj
J. F. A. M^cNair, Major R.A., C.M.G.
Belgrave House,
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Preston Park, Brighton.
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THE GURU AND HIS GREEDY DISCIPLE.
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In former years there lived a very learned old “Guru,”
or spiritual teacher, and he had five very earnest disciples
who had become so imbued with his knowledge, and so
attached to his person that they agreed to follow him wherever
he led the way, even if it were to travel all the
country round.
“Well,” he replied, “if I do leave this enamoured spot
where I have spent most of my life, we shall all have to
undergo many privations, and perhaps hardships, but I
confess I have now a thirst for seeing more of the world:
so will you go with me under the prospect of such circumstances?”
“Yes,” they said, “we certainly will, and no matter
what frowns of fortune come upon us we shall at least gain
knowledge every hour that we are in your company.”
He then proposed that they should visit the various
Hindu shrines and the places that had been hallowed by
old associations connected with the founders of their Faith.
To this they readily consented, and having sought for
a propitious day, they set forth on their travels.
They had visited many holy places consecrated by age
and sanctity, and as they were everywhere made welcome
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by devotees of their religion, they had few deprivations
to encounter.
One day they were approaching a very populous city
where a devout Hindu King resided, and the “Guru”
said to his disciples, “I am much fatigued by the journey;
go you all into the city and buy bread, and return to me
here,” for he had determined to rest under a large clump of
trees just outside the city walls.
It was not long before they all returned to the “Guru”
with a wonderful account of the city, “For,” said they, “we
have never known so remarkable a place, for, strange to
relate, every article of merchandise is of the same price.
In every shop and market all the goods are of one and
the same value: gold, silver, precious stones, wheat, fruit,
vegetables, and, indeed, everything that man can wish for
and want, can be had for the same sum.”
The “Guru” said, “You much surprise me; and
although I am very tempted to see for myself such a
wonderful place, yet I am convinced that such a state of
things must bring about great laxity and vice, and that
justice there must be at a very low ebb, for that too I
suppose is classed with the other commodities. No! let
us at once quit this city and make the best of our way to
some other more inviting place.” Whereupon they all
agreed to accompany the “Guru”; but one disciple, a
tall strapping fellow, and fond of the good things of this
life, said that on second thoughts he would like to spend
two or three days in that city, and that he would join
them some marches off if they would only promise to go
by easy stages.
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THE GURU AND HIS GREEDY DISCIPLE.
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[Illustration: THE GURU AND HIS GREEDY DISCIPLE.]
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It was in vain that the “Guru” tried to dissuade
him from his purpose; he had made up his mind, so he
parted company with his fellows, and went off alone into
the city.
He had not been there more than two or three days
when a burglary, attended with murder, was committed
in the city, and the “Kotwal,” or chief Police officer,
began to set on foot enquiries as to the whereabouts of
the perpetrators of the crime. He came across this disciple
of the “Guru,” and finding that he was a strong powerful
fellow, and a stranger to boot, he was at once taken up
on suspicion, and very soon witnesses were found who
had seen him loafing about the place, and he was there
and then tried for the crime, condemned and sentenced
to death and the sentence was confirmed by the King
in due course.
This avaricious, this greedy disciple, was then cast
into prison to await his execution, and bitterly did he
repent that he had not followed the advice of his “Guru.”
Thus mourning over his fate, he aroused the sympathy of
his gaoler, who good-naturedly offered to send a messenger
to tell his “Guru” what had happened to him, and to
bid him return.
This messenger went off in great haste, and managed
to come up with the “Guru” and his party at no very
great distance from the city. He gave them a full and
distinct account of all that had passed, and how that his
disciple had been tried and sentenced to death; “But,”
he added, “the day of execution was not fixed when I
left the city.” He told the “Guru” moreover, that the
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King always made it his business to be present at all
times when there was capital punishment to be carried
out.
The “Guru” and his disciples then hurriedly returned
with the messenger to the city, and when they entered
the walls they ascertained that the execution had been
arranged for the day following.
When the morning broke they hastened to the place of
execution, and all the city turned out to witness it. The
“Guru” shortly after saw his disciple, surrounded by a
number of police, being brought from the prison. He
at once accosted the Chief Officer and asked his permission
to say just a word or two to the prisoner before his
death. It was not usual to allow this, but as he was a
“Guru” and a spiritual teacher and held in great reverence
by all Hindus, leave was granted him to do so.
He had only just time to say to his disciple, “See
what you have brought on yourself by your greediness and
avarice; and now do as I tell you. When you see me
prostrate myself before the King, call out at the top of your
voice, ‘No, I will not suffer my holy “Guru” to die
for me; I must and will die, so go on with the execution.’
Mind you do this, for I intend as I prostrate myself to
offer my life in exchange for yours.”
He had scarcely spoken the words when there was a
stir amongst the people, for the King was approaching;
and now the King had reached the spot prepared for
him, and with him was a large concourse of nobles and
courtiers, indeed a goodly retinue, accompanied with all
the pomp and display so essential to all Oriental potentates
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when they move from their Palaces in State and on Public
occasions. As soon as the tumult had ceased the “Guru”
approached as near the Presence as he dared, the people
making way for him as he was a “Guru.” He then
bowed in submission and made the usual obeisance, and
asked leave to speak.
When the Prisoner saw his “Guru” prostrating himself
before the King, he called out in a loud voice the very
identical words that he had been instructed by his “Guru”
to pronounce. The King was beyond all measure astonished,
for he heard the Prisoner’s words distinctly, and motioning
to the “Guru” to come nearer, His Majesty said, “This
is a most remarkable thing; I have never known anything
before like this to take place at an execution. You, a
learned “Guru” of our Faith, offer your life as a substitute
for the Prisoner’s, and the Prisoner asks to die at once,
and seeks no mercy! It is usual rather for one condemned
to death to solicit pardon at my hands. Can anyone solve
this mystery?” And turning to his nobles and courtiers
he sought for a reply, but none was then given. Then,
appealing to the “Guru,” His Majesty said, “Can you
interpret this wonderful procedure, for it passes man’s
understanding?” Whereupon the “Guru” said, “Yes,
oh King! I can; for is not this the very day, and almost
the very hour of the day, when, by our ancient Sanscrit
“Vedas” it has been foretold that whosoever on this day
and hour shall suffer death, or die in a public place, shall
in very truth be transported to endless happiness and
bliss?”
“Is it so?” responded the King, and then summoning
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to his side his own learned “Gurus,” who in his belief
could work miracles and forgive sins, he demanded of them
if such had been predicted. Quite oblivious as to what
was passing in the King’s mind at the time, they one
and all replied, “True, oh King! such is the record.”
Then turning to his Vizier he commanded that the
Prisoner should at once be set free, “For,” said His
Majesty, “I now see that fate has reserved for me this
propitious opportunity, that I myself should obtain the
spiritual rewards promised in our sacred writings. Behold
me then, all of you, the substitute, and not the “Guru.”
Whereupon he drew his “Kuttan,” or dagger, from his
belt, and plunged it into his breast.
So died the devout King of this wonderful City, and
was gathered to his fathers, to the unutterable grief of all
his Court and people.
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EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Guru.”—A Hindu spiritual director or guide. It is
a Sanscrit word and was originally applied to a saint or
holy man. The disciples of a “Guru” are termed “Chelah,”
also a Sanscrit word, and meaning pupil, servant, slave.
Amongst the Mahomedans a “Guru” would be termed
a “Pir,” a Persian word, and in some parts “Murshud,”
from the Arabic, and their disciples “Mureed,” also from
the Arabic.
All communities, either Hindu or Mahomedan, have
their “Gurus” or “Pirs.” The disciples usually attend
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their “Gurus” to the Shrines in the case of Hindus, and
to the Mosques and Shrines in the case of Moslems.
“Clump of Trees.”—It is usual round good sized towns
to build walls, and outside the walls to plant groups of
trees, and to cultivate gardens, and to provide wells for
general use.
“Kotwal.”—An important Officer, holding in native
towns authority under the Rajah; and the idea conveyed
by the name is that of an official appointed to look after
others and to see that they obey the laws. It is a Persian
word, and the office is of ancient date, but owing to British
intercourse is now almost superseded by the term Chief
of Police.
“Police.”—In days long gone by it was customary for
native kings and princes to attend executions, and the
word translated Police here was in the original “Burkundaz,”
literally, a match-lock man, because these men had charge
of prisoners in native States.
“Kuttan.”—This is a Sanskrit word, and literally
means a dagger with a protected handle. Another name,
from the Persian, is “Peshkubz,” but the handle is different.
The sacrifice of human life to the gods prevailed
amongst the early Aryans of India, and there is evidence
of expiatory sacrifices to “Chandika” to save the life of
a king. In this Folk Tale it is the King who gives his
life, in hope of reward from the gods.
.rj
—Temple, Frere, Crooke.
“The number Five.”—Amongst the Ghazi folk there is
no actual popular superstition as to this number being
lucky or unlucky; but they glory in the fact that they were
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born in the country of the Five Rivers, or Punjab, these
rivers descending from the Himalayas and on into their
parent river, the Indus. Some Mahomedans set rather a
special value on the number Seven, possibly from the
number of points that the body touches the ground in
prostration in prayer, viz., the forehead, the elbows, the
knees, and the feet.
In China both the figures Five and Seven are in
everything felicitous. They say that all the forces and
phenomena of Nature are based upon the number Five
(their primitive idea).
Hence, Five active organs of the body: the stomach,
the lungs, the liver, the heart, and the kidneys. Five
primary colours: red, yellow, green, black, and white.
Five varieties of taste: sweet, acrid, sour, bitter, salt.
Five elements: earth, metal, wood, fire, and water. Five
primary planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.
Five regions of the heavens: Centre, North, South, East,
and West.
Similarly, as sounds belong to the phenomena of
Nature, they must invariably resolve themselves into Five.
.rj
“Dennys’ Folk-Lore.”
Note.—In the sacred poetical writings in the Sanskrit
tongue (“Purana,” literally old) “Siva” as the third person
in the Hindu Triad is the “Destroyer,” as “Brahma” was
the “Creator,” and “Vishnu” the “Preserver.” Siva is
always represented with a third Eye, and the number
“Five” is a mystical and powerful number with him.
Note.—Again, all initiated Sikhs who have taken the
// 029.png
.pn +1
oath, or pahal, have Five Kukkahs, or conventional marks
of distinction, viz.—
.ta l:15 l:30
Kukkah Kase | The long hair.
Kukkah Kurd | The small iron knife kept in the hair.
Kukkah Kurrah | The iron bangle.
Kukkah Kunghah | The comb kept in the hair.
Kukkah Kachah | The loose drawers to the knee.
.ta-
Note.—Also the native jury of Hindu communities is
confined to Five, and is called a “Punchayet.” Indeed,
the number is very generally met with in India as of
special significance, both with Mahomedans and Hindus.
Note.—In dealing with these numbers our thoughts will
naturally recur to the well-known sayings in the Scriptures:
“Five of them were wise, and Five of them were
foolish.” And again, in the religion of the Jews, how the
number Seven is used as a number of perfection; and
again, the number Five in the appeal of Abraham, “Wilt
thou destroy all the city for lack of five?”
Note.—Sectarian marks are usual amongst Hindus:
It indicates difference of religious sects, not of castes.
These are daily renewed on the forehead after the bath.
The worshippers of Siva are known by the horizontal
position of the mark, the worshippers of Vishnu by the
vertical. The customary substances used are earths or
white ashes from a sacred fire, saffron, sandal-wood, and
white clay. Circlets are also used to distinguish sects as
alluded to in Ezekiel ix. 4. Rosaries are universally used
in India and elsewhere among Hindus and Moslems, and
are composed of various kinds of wild seeds as “rudrakhs,”
or of glass and amber, and with the Hindus pictures of
Vishnu and Siva are often held in the hand with the
beads to be counted.
// 030.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch02
THE DONKEY-MAN AND THE PRECIOUS STONE.
.sp 2
The sun had gone down one day in the Mahomedan
village of “Huzro,” in the Hazara district, and it had
become too late to work and too early for sleep, when the
young men and others in the village congregated together
to while away the time by narrating tales of the past.
Though really a Mahomedan village, there were several
Hindu shops there, and some of the Hindus joined the
company.
It was not long before one of the number was encouraged
to tell a tale, and he began by saying “Yek
vella: Once upon a time,” and then he stopped; then
there was a general laugh, and he made bold to begin
again, and then said:
Many years ago there was a Donkey-man, a poor man,
who used to carry grain from place to place somewhere
in the Punjab. One day as he was crossing a small river
he picked up a stone of a reddish colour, and as it looked
pretty and out of the common he thought he would keep
it; and so to preserve it he tied it on to the neck of his
best donkey, and there it hung as a sort of ornament.
He did not know it was a gem, you see, but only thought
it was a nice-looking stone, and that he had never seen
one like it before.
// 031.png
.pn +1
As he journeyed on with his donkeys he had to cross
the “Chenâb” river, and went down to the ferry, where
he got into conversation with the Ferryman while they
were all waiting for sufficient passengers and goods to cross
the stream. Looking at the donkeys the Ferryman came
at last to the donkey with the ornament on his neck, and
he said to the grain-carrier, “Where did you find this
pretty stone?” He told him that he was crossing the bed
of a little river and saw it. The Ferryman looked at it
again, but he did not know that it was a precious stone,
yet he wanted it to decorate one of his oars; so he said
to the Donkey-man, “You do not seem to care much for
the stone; give it to me, and I will take you and your
donkeys across for nothing.” So the Donkey-man agreed,
and the Ferryman tied it on to his oar, and kept looking
at it as he went on with his work, singing his usual song,
“Chiko bhâyo, Chiko bhâyo, Chik!” and beating time with
his feet.
Some days after this a Jeweller, or “Johari,” was
crossing by the ferry, and his eye at once caught sight of
the stone on the Ferryman’s oar, and taking a look at it
(for the Ferryman was rather proud to exhibit it), he in
a moment became convinced that it was a ruby of a very
large and unusual size, and he made up his mind that
before he left the ferry he would get it into his possession
in some way or another. He was, in fact, quite excited
about it, and feared that at any moment it might drop into
the water and be lost; but he was a cunning man and
did not show his feelings, but said quietly to the Ferryman,
“That is a very pretty sort of a stone you have on your
// 032.png
.pn +1
oar; are you not afraid to lose it? Will you sell it to
me?” Now, the Ferryman was not quite sure that he
was a jeweller, or he might have been on his guard, but
thought him to be only an ordinary traveller, and he too
was almost as ignorant as the Donkey-man. The Jeweller
said to him, “You might turn it into rupees!” “Well,
some day I shall, perhaps, when I want money,” said the
Ferryman, “but it is not worth very much, and I got it
from an old Donkey-man for taking him across the stream
one day.” When they got to the opposite shore the
Jeweller said before leaving, “I will give you five rupees
for that stone.” “No!” said the Ferryman, “I don’t
want money now,” “But,” said the Jeweller, “If I give
you ten rupees? and I am not coming this way again,
you had better take it.” To this the Ferryman agreed,
and the Jeweller obtained possession of this precious and
valuable ruby for so small a sum as ten rupees, and he
went away very rejoiced at his bargain.
When the Jeweller got home he handled it over and
over again and felt sure that he had got a great prize; so
he folded it in several rags, folds of rag, as the custom of
lapidaries, or jewellers is, as you know, and put it very
carefully by in a little box where he kept his best jewels.
It happened a year or two after this that the Rajah
of the country not far from where the Jeweller lived, wanted
some precious stones for a new Chair of State, or “Takht,”
and he sent his trusted messengers to all the jewellers
round about the neighbourhood to make enquiries for
gems, and especially for rubies.
The messengers came to the Jeweller who had the
// 033.png
.pn +1
stone I have been telling you about, and they asked him
whether he had any fine stones to sell. At first the
Jeweller said, “No, my friends,” for he feared that the
Rajah might take his jewels by force; but when they told
him not to be afraid, for the Rajah was very rich but was
in need of precious stones for his Chair of State, the Jeweller
went to his little box, and bringing to them the stone that
he had set such value upon, he proceeded to untie and
unwind the soiled rags one by one, in the presence of the
messengers.
When he had untied the last rag, what was his grief
and agony of soul to find that the precious ruby was in
two distinct pieces!
He gazed in amazement for a little, when suddenly,
in the hearing of them all, a voice came from the broken
ruby, saying, “Now, behold! I have on purpose made
myself of no value or service to you! When I was on
the donkey’s neck I was in the hands and charge of one
who knew not my real value; when, again, I was on the
Ferryman’s oar, he was just as ignorant of his treasure;
when I came into your hands, who knew well my worth,
you estimated my price at five to ten rupees only! Learn,
therefore, not to undervalue what is good for a mean and
selfish object; nor to disparage your best friend, or you
will live to rue the day, and repent as bitterly as you
now do and will do, for the remainder of your life.”
// 034.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Once upon a time.”—The original words are “Tek
vella,” and this is the best, almost the only interpretation.
“Carry Grain.”—The carriers of grain are generally
called in the district “Bunniâs” or corn chandlers, The
word “Bunniâ” is of Sanscrit derivation. Usually they
are very intelligent Hindus. The Donkey-man in this
tale would more probably be one of the Farmer class,
and a Mahomedan. Other grain carriers are Farmers
and Banj[=a]ras.
Their best oxen or donkeys are held in high esteem,
and they decorate them with all kinds of ornaments,
such as shells, tassels of silk or wool of different colours,
and frequently with bells.
The sacks used for carrying grain are usually made
from goats’ hair, “Jutt,” and are woven by the Barber
class, or “Nais.” Two are united over the back of
the animal, and fitted so that when full the weight shall
be balanced and carried with ease. A good donkey will
carry from two to three “maunds,” after the Arabic word
“mun.” A “maund” is equal to about 80 lbs.
“You see.”—The original word is “Velcho,” really
“Dekho,” the “V” being used instead of the “D” by
some dwellers in this district.
“Oar.”—The native word is “Chuppa,” “Chupp[=u]”
in Hindustani, requiring two or three men to use it.
“Chiko bhâyo.”—“Chiko” is a corruption from the
Hindustani word “Kheincho,” pull.
“Jeweller.”—The translation would be perhaps better
// 035.png
.pn +1
rendered by “lapidary.” A jeweller would be more
correctly construed by the Sanscrit word “Sonar.”
In days gone by, though in some parts of India it
is still the custom for lapidaries to wrap up their stones
in bits of soiled rag, the more warily to secrete them
from the agents of Rajahs and others, who might wish
to despoil them.
“Takht.”—The Persian word for a Throne, which
it is usual with Rajahs to adorn with precious stones.
Note.—In the Punjab, Hindu Farmers worship their
oxen and plough, Shepherds their sheep, Bankers and
Clerks their books, Grain-sellers their weights, at certain
stated festivals.—Crooke.
“Chenâb.”—One of the five great rivers of the Punjaub.
In the basins of the Chenâb and Jhelum are four distinct
races. The Dogra, Pahari, Kashmiri, and Chaibati.
“Nai.”—This class of Barber combines also Surgical
practice, and in some places Priestly offices are assigned
to them.
“Ruby.”—The best rubies come from India, Burmah,
and Ceylon; and the sapphire, topaz, and the emerald,
though different in appearance, are chemically the same
substance, or “Corundum.” A rose-red stone is distinguished
as Balas-ruby. (See Balfour and Chambers.) The
largest Oriental ruby is now a jewel in the Imperial Crown
of Russia.
Note.—Precious stones have mystic virtues, and the
belief of the narrator was so much hurt at its value
being appraised so low, that it could not contain itself,
and broke into two pieces.
// 036.png
.pn +1
Note.—In the district there are the usual jokes
amongst the people on the “Nais,” or Barbers, who, as
it is said above, weave the sacks for the donkeys.
.pm verse-start
Naie nay sunâh
Sorray graunt nay sunâh.
.pm verse-end
The Barber has heard the news, so no fear but
that all the village has heard it too.
// 037.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch03
THE FAKIR AND THE BHÂNDS.
.sp 2
Many years ago there lived in a village on the banks
of the Indus River an old Fakir, by the name of Shah
Bilâwal. Like most of his class he was living a life
of mortification, frequently torturing himself; and the few
garments that he wore were rotten and dirty. This old
Fakir was one day crossing the River Chenâb in a boat
with a number of other persons who were also bound for
the other side.
After the boatmen had pushed off and had got well
into the stream, they all fixed their eyes on the Fakir,
who they thought was a mad man; for his appearance
made him look like one.
Some of the company in the boat belonged to a class
called “Bhânds,” and the boatman said to them “Cannot
some one of you perform some act that will please the
Spirit of the River “Kwaja Khizr,” so that we may reach
the opposite shore in safety?”
Upon this, some of the Bhânds began to snigger and
laugh at the Fakir, and tried to ridicule him in every
possible way; but Shah Bilâwal, who was a devout man
after his class, passed all their sneers away and took no
notice of them.
Mockery, however, in Oriental philosophy, and in the
traditions of all people, we know is looked upon with
contempt.
// 038.png
.pn +1
A voice came to the Fakir, “Are these mockers to
be destroyed?” and he replied audibly, “No! make them
sensible people to respect their Allah,” the Almighty.
Before they had arrived at the opposite shore they
desisted from their fun and frolic, and paid all due respect
to the Fakir, and became his followers ever afterwards.
In the course of time they all died, and their graves
are to be seen in the village of “Lalliân,” in the district
of Jang.
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Fakir.”—So often described that little new can be
really said. There are both Mahomedan and Hindu
Fakirs. They are indeed ascetics and recluses, or monks
who have retired from the world in all its temporal concerns,
and have devoted themselves to a religious life.
Ordinarily they are poor men, and so they are mostly
represented to be; but some of them are known to possess
great wealth, and many are even landed proprietors. Some
live in solitude, others in communities under a leader or
ruler, and the house they congregate in is called a “Guddi,”
literally, a seat or cushion, on which the head of the
community sits.
The Mahomedan Fakirs in the district may be divided
into, say four leading sects, viz., the Chishti, Nuksh-Bhudee,
Kadria, and Malang. There is also a sub-division
denominated “Majzub,” from the Arabic word
// 039.png
.pn +1
“juzb,” which means absorbed. These latter, however,
do not keep to the strict rules of Mahomed, and are
known to take intoxicants to a great degree, and are
called by the natives, “Ghair Sherrah,” or outside the
pale. In the case of the Malang it was customary for
them to go about in a state of nudity, but this has been
prohibited for some time, and they now go about with
hair loose and uncombed.
The Hindu Fakirs may be said to be sub-divided
into three prominent sects, viz., the Suny[=a]s[=i]s, the Byrâgis,
and the Jogis. These three classes, and other sub-divisions
also, have much in common, being all ascetics,
and striving to attain a command over all elementary
matter, while also endeavouring to effect a junction between
the spirit in the body and the spirit pervading all Nature.
The Suny[=a]s[=i]s are followers of Siva, and the Byrâgis of
Vishnu, while the Jogis, who also worship Siva, are close
followers of the “Yoga” school of philosophy, which was
introduced into India about the eighth century, under the
name of the “Palanjula” school.
There is a peculiarity about the garments of the latter
class, which are dyed with red ochre (geyr[=u]). Their
body is smeared with the ashes of burnt cow-dung, as are
indeed the bodies of most of the other two classes.
There is a sub-division of the Jogis named “K[=a]npathay,”
or “ear-torn,” from the fact of their ears being
pierced at their initiation, in which they place sometimes
a ring made from rhinoceros horn, or at other times a
prickly seed, called a “Moodma.” Those who do not
bore the ear are often called “Ongur.”
// 040.png
.pn +1
The Byrâgis, or more correctly Vir[=a]gis, use a short
stick, on which they lean to support themselves when
reclining on the ground. The stick is mostly crooked,
and they place it beneath the arm-pits. It is called a
Byrâga, by some a “Zafr-tukeea.”[#]
Many of the Jogis bury their dead in a sitting posture,
and place rock salt round the body. Some of these Hindu
Fakirs carry medicines, and others again, water from the
Ganges for sale. One may meet with many also with a
dry gourd slung over their shoulders, with the upper part
cut to act as a sort of handle. These gourds are frequently
covered with the ashes of cow-dung when in
growth, and are allowed to remain until they are ripe
with seed, so that they may be as hard as possible in
the rind.
The “Gosains” are also a numerous sect of Hindu
mendicants. The etymology of the word is from the
Sanskrit, and means “Master of the senses and passions.”
They are to be found mostly in Southern India. A
complete Gosain is a celibate, and will only eat with a
Brahman or Rajpoot. Some of them have considerable
property, and keep elephants and horses.
“Bhând.”—Literally a clown or buffoon, employed
often to make sport at festivals and other assemblages
of the people.
“Spirit of the River.”—River worship is common
amongst most Aryan tribes, and nearly every river has its
tutelary divinity who presides over it. The voice would,
in the belief of the Fakir, have come from this Spirit.
.pm fn-start
Literally a Pillar of Victory. See “Qanoon Islam” for tribes of Fakirs.
.pm fn-end
// 041.png
.pn +1
The practice of religious veneration for rivers by these
races no doubt preceded that given to them by the ancient
Greeks and Romans. We read of Xerxes of Persia offering
sacrifices to the River Strymon, on his way to Greece.
Kwaja Khizr, a Mahomedan Saint, is acknowledged
to be the special god of water, with whom it is well to
keep on the best of terms. In one of their trite sayings
they express themselves thus:
.pm verse-start
Khuddhee thay vusnah
Thay Khawja hat baiyr!
.pm verse-end
“What! live on the River bank, and be at enmity
with Kwaja!”
Opposite to Rohri, on the Indus, is the Island of
Khawja Khizr, and there is now a Mosque on it, with
an inscription dated 952 A.D.
.rj
—(See Crooke, Murray, and Balfour).
The Mahomedans, on Thursdays in the month “Bh[=a]don,”
float little lamps on rafts called B[=e]rah, as an offering
to this Saint. Sometimes they have the face of a female,
and the crest and breast of a peacock at the prow.
Kwaja Khizr is thought by Moslems to be immortal,
and to perambulate the earth in a green garment, and to
appear to different people. By some he is supposed to
be St. George of England, and they term him Khizr Elias.
// 042.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch04
THE MISERLY MOSLEM PRIEST AND HIS WIFE.
.sp 2
In a village situated on the banks of the Indus, the “Abaseine,”
or Father of Rivers as it is called, there dwelt
many years ago, an Imam, or “Mullah,” a President of
the Mosque, who had come to be much respected by the
people for the constant and regular manner in which he
officiated, and walked closely in the ways of the Prophet.
In his time many used to go to Mosque who never went
before. This Imam had his fees of course, for the performance
of Nikahs, or marriages, and other rites of the
Mahomedan faith, some of which he bestowed on the sick
and poor. On festival days, besides an increase of fees,
he generally received clothes and other articles from the
faithful, so that in point of fact he made a rich harvest.
Towards the latter end of his days, however, this
Imam contracted habits of stinginess, yet he never failed
to preach liberality to others, and above all, the giving
of alms to the sick and poor.
.if h
.il fn=i04.jpg w=468px id=i04
.ca
THE MISERLY MOSLEM PRIEST AND HIS WIFE.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
[Illustration: THE MISERLY MOSLEM PRIEST AND HIS WIFE.]
.if-
He would tell the faithful, “You must always give
what you can, and if you have no money, give them of
the food you prepare for yourselves, and ever remember”
he said, “that those who do this the most exactly will
obtain the best blessings, and if you give them dishes
// 043.png
// 044.png
// 045.png
.pn +1
of a savoury nature, so much the greater merit, and so
much the better for you.”
This Imam had but one wife, devoted to his interests
in every way, and with the strongest belief in her husband’s
sanctity and sincerity, and she looked up to him
as her spiritual guide and teacher.
She had noticed for some time, however, how niggardly
he was becoming, and her neighbours had also remarked
this to her, “But,” they said, “he never ceases to preach
to us to give dainty dishes to the poor.”
All this distressed the wife, so she made up her mind
that she would try one day to hear what the Imam actually
did preach to the people.
Now, the Mosque was situated on the road-side, and
there was an open window to that side, and as his wife
knew that she could not be admitted to the Mosque, she
made up her mind to listen at the window.
One day when she got there quite unperceived, she
saw the Imam with his face toward Mecca, and he was
telling the people just as the neighbours had told her,
viz., “That whatever you do, give alms to the poor, and
nice dishes when you can, for this will bring you a blessing
at the last.”
When she heard this she said to herself, “If this is
so, and I believe it, I make a vow from this day forward
to send nice dishes to the poor, for I am not going to
be behind others in this duty.” Whereupon she at once
prepared and cooked daily such dishes as she could, and
then sent them to the poor living round about her; and
sometimes she would spend a good deal of money in the
// 046.png
.pn +1
purchases she made for the cooking of “Pul[=a]o” and
“Par[=a]tha” (sweet pudding and cake).
This she had continued to do for some time, when
one day her husband returned from the Mosque a little
earlier than usual, and she was herself a little late, and
coming into the house and seeing the dishes ready and on
a tray, he thought that they had been sent as a gift.
Opening the covers he exclaimed, “Oh! Mother of Mahomed!
we are indeed in luck’s way. Who, in the name
of fortune, can be the blessed of the faithful who has sent
us such a savoury meal? Why! here is Pul[=a]o! and
cakes! and I do not know what beside! What a delicious
feast!”
“No one, sir,” replied the wife, “has sent this, but
I have prepared it for the poor!”
“What!” said he, “of our money? And what have
you spent, pray?” He became very angry, and she could
only wait till he was quiet; then she said, “Did you not
preach to the people, and I dare say do so still, that
those who give dainty dishes to the poor shall be blessed
hereafter? Did you not say that prayer carries us halfway
to Allah, fasting to His palace gates; but only alms-giving
gets us in? Yes, I have heard you say so myself!”
He replied, “You wretched woman, how and when did
you hear this? And if you did hear it, my advice was
for others, not for ourselves; I never meant that we were
to send to others, but that others were to send to us,
and you must stop this waste at once; do you hear me?”
“Yes, I hear you, but I cannot stop it now, for I have
made a solemn promise and vow that I will continue this
// 047.png
.pn +1
to my dying day. You have said, and I always believe
what you say, that the best blessings attend those who
give dainty dishes to the poor; and you don’t want me
to be blessed, eh?”
The Imam then said, “If you go on in this way,
and spend my money, I shall be ill.” And sure enough, he
did not rise the next morning in time to go to the Mosque,
a duty he had not failed in for years. His wife went
to rouse him, but he would not get up. At last she said,
“All the people will be waiting for you.” “I cannot help
that,” he replied, “but if you will break your wicked vow,
I will at once get up and go to the Mosque.” “No,”
she said, “I have already told you I will on no account
break my vow, and all your talking will never shake my
purpose,” “Well, then,” said the Imam, “I shall certainly
take to my bed and die.” “Then die you must,” said
she, “but remember that if you do not go to the Mosque,
they will put in some other man instead of you, and you
will be the loser.”
This, however, had no effect upon him, and when she
went again to see him he once more asked her to break
her vow, and she as steadily refused. She then left him
for the night, and the next morning when she went to
see him he was to all appearances dead, and failing to
get any response, she called in her friends and neighbours,
who pronounced that he had truly passed away; and then
they sent up the usual cries and lamentations in such cases.
The day following, according to custom, the body was
washed (ghussal), covered with a shroud, and laid ready
on a bier, and shortly after carried to the Cemetery, or
// 048.png
.pn +1
“Kaburist[=a]n,” under a chorus of mournful voices, saying,
“There is no Deity but Allah, and Mahomed is his
prophet,” or in their own words, viz., La-il-la-ha. Illul-la-ho.
Mahommadoor Rassool-oolahe.
The wife contrived to secrete herself in the procession,
for she well knew that no woman could go to the graveside,
and when the bier was waiting after the funeral
prayers of “takbir” and “dua” had been said, she came
to the front, and asked to have one more look at her
husband. The funeral service contains four Tukbeers
(creeds) and the Dua (blessing). (See Funeral Obsequies
in Jaffur Shurreef’s “Qanoon-e-Islam.”) Those round about
the body were for moving her away, but others cried, “Let
her be! Let her be!” Going near the bier she whispered,
“You are just going into the grave; you had better think
better of it.” “So I will,” he replied softly, “if you will
break your vow.” Drawing her lips tightly together, she
gave a final “No!” and then called out at the top of her
voice, “Friends and neighbours, this is the time for charity;
you see my husband is dead; now go to my house, and
take away what things you like. I shall not want them
any more, and they are of no further use to your old
Imam.”
She had scarcely uttered these words when the Imam
rose from the bier like a ghost, scaring away many of the
sorrowing mourners near by. “Wait!” he cried out;
“release me; I am not dead, but only in a trance. Hear
ye! all of you, what this wretched woman says, and mark
well her extravagance and waste. When I lived with her
she squandered my money, and now, when I was on the
// 049.png
.pn +1
point of being buried, she gives away my possessions.
She shall not, however, have her way now with what I
possess at my death, do what she will with the money-bag
while I am alive.”
It was some time before the people could be reconciled
to the belief that their old Imam had come to life again,
but when they were, he was taken back amid much wonder
and rejoicing. He appeared again at Mosque, and lived
for some time afterwards, determined to defy his wife as
to the disposal of his goods after death, while she gained
her wicked will in regard to his property while alive, and
continued to send her savoury dishes to the poor.
So you see, my friends, it was the woman, after all,
who won the day.
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Aba-seine.”—The river Indus is so termed in the
Pushtu language, and the word comes from the Arabic:
Aba, father, and Seine, a river. Pushtu is spoken in the
region of Kandahar Kafiristan, and round about Attock,
and is said to bear a similarity to the Semitic and Iranian
languages.
“Imam.”—From the Arabic, a leader in religious
affairs; a priest of the Mahomedan faith; answers to
“Mullah,” or “Mulwanah.” In the district round about
Ghazi, and in other parts of India, the “Imam,” or
“Mullah,” performs many religious offices. He often calls
// 050.png
.pn +1
to prayer as a “Muezzin,” from the Arabic word “Izn,”
and generally this is done from a minaret of the Mosque.
After prayers, where with his face to Mecca he leads
the worshippers, he collects the boys of the village and
teaches them the Koran. He also bathes and washes the
deceased male members of the faith, and prepares the
body for burial, and puts on the “Kuffun,” or shroud.
This Kuffun or shroud consists of three pieces of cloth if
for a man, and five if for a woman, and must be white.
After shrouding the body, they tie one band above the
head, a second below the feet, and a third about the
chest. He is present at all marriages, or “Nikahs.”
“Pul[=a]o.”—From a Persian word, and means a kind
of sweet pudding of meat with flour, ghee, and sugar,
and sometimes raisins mixed with it.
“Parata.”—Or “Par[=a]tha,” a kind of bread or cake
made from wheaten flour mixed with butter or ghee, and
of several layers like pie-crust, and put on a griddle over
a slow fire.
“Moslem Grave.”—This is dug down for about five
feet or so, north and south. For a woman the depth
should be to the height of a man’s chest, if for a man
to the height of the waist. At the base a recess is cut
out from the soil for the reception of the body, which is
laid on its back, and the head is so turned as to be facing
Mecca. In ordinary soils after the body has been put
in the recess, slates or stones are placed to prevent the
filled-in soil from coming in contact with the body. If
the soil is sandy it is kept up by the use of chatties, or
earthenware vessels, in lieu of slates or stones. There
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is always a stone placed on the surface at head and foot,
to indicate the position of the body. These are called
“Moonee.” The grave of a female is indicated by a third
stone, placed between the others.
In the Ghazi district some of these head-stones are
very high, often of five or six feet in height, and of slate,
which is readily obtained in the neighbourhood.
On some of these slates used as tombstones it is customary
to delineate over the graves of important Mahomedan
personages, and known to have been devout men, sketches
of the Rosary, or “Thusbee,” the goblet, or “Kooza,” and
the tooth-stick, or “Miswak.” This stick, used as a
dentifrice, is made here from the root of the “Pilvo”
tree. In the village of “Kazeepur,” the names of the
deceased are sometimes painted on the slates.[#]
.pm fn-start
Some people make various kinds of niches for lamps near the head of the grave
called Churagd[=a]n.
.pm fn-end
Generally the graveyards of the Mussulmen are near
the road-side, that the deceased may receive the benefit of
the “Dua Khair,” or solemn prayers of devout passers-by.
Note.—Kazeepur has its local sayings also. Once a
very devout man, and a born poet, visited this village and
also that of Ghazi; his name was “Peeloh,” and it is
currently said that before he quitted the district he
ascended the Gundghur Hills, opposite to Harripur, and
left the following lines with one of the bards of the
village.
.pm verse-start
Peeloh! cheriya Gundgurh thay
Kias kureh khalo
Agê vagê Sinde Rani
Pichê vagê Haro.
// 052.png
.pn +1
Chach binah Summundur dhay
Jo gudhê soho
Dhunnie gurray Rungaree
Bhummy baithê ro.
TRANSLATION.
Peeloh ascended the Hills of Gundgurh
Was wrapped in deepest thought.
Before him was the Indus,
Behind him the Haro.
The plains of Chach like a sea are there
Where to plant ’tis sure to sprout,
But to sow your field in the soil of Dhunnie
You may well sit by its side and weep.
.pm verse-end
Another of their poets, a Pathan, and a man of
“Huzro,” beholding Cashmere from the Mountains and
the vale of the country stretched out before him, burst,
it is said, into the following stanzas:
.pm verse-start
Kashmere to ajub ja hai
Juthay âp Khudâ râza hai
Kea kishtee! kea howa hai
Yek seir hai Huzrut “Bul” key
Vo tâkht-l-Suleemâni
Kashmere ka thanda pâni.
TRANSLATION.
Cashmere is a wonderful place
Where even God finds pleasure.
Behold the boats! and how sublime is the air!
One excursion is to the Shrine of Huzrut “Bul,”
Another to the Mountain, the “Throne of Solomon.”
Cashmere too! how cool and refreshing is your water!
.pm verse-end
“Musjid.”—The word is Arabic and from the root
Sijdah, to bow; musjid, place of bowing; in the original
a corrupted pronounciation is used, as “musseeth.”
Note (see “Imam”).—The natives of the district have
// 053.png
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a rather pithy saying when referring to an incompetent
Imam, or Mullah.
.pm verse-start
Neem Mullâhn Kuthray iman,
Neem Hakeem Kuthray ijan.
TRANSLATION.
Half a Priest endangers your salvation;
Half a Doctor imperils your life.
.pm verse-end
“Miserly.”—-The word for miser is in the original
“Sh[=u]m,” an Arabic word. Misers are held in great
detestation by the people, and they have many sayings
about them. One is the soliloquy of a stingy man to
a copper coin which he had held tightly in his hand on
a hot day until a drop of perspiration fell from it.
.pm verse-start
Paisa ne rô
Merah pallay buddhay rô
Mungee, pinnee, Khansâhn
Thookee, na kurchay sânh.
TRANSLATION.
Weep not! my beloved Pice!
You shall not leave the hem of my garment.
I will ask, I will beg, and thus maintain my lot,
And never suffer you to be paid away.
.pm verse-end
Stories of misers are to be found in every country,
and in Chinese Folk-lore it is told of a mean and stingy
king that in peace time he caused his cavalry to dismount,
that their horses might be used in the Government mills.
War came; the horses were returned to the men, but
they kept to their habit, and still persisted in going in
a circle.—Dennys.
There is a saying also amongst the Punjabis that all
misers are wretched, and collect money only for others to
// 054.png
.pn +1
enjoy. They tell a tale of a miser who was once visited
by some friends, and he advanced to meet them, and said:
.pm verse-start
“Aoo bow sujjeenâh
Ghur bar Toomhâhrâ
Khur. Peeoh apnâh
Burthun Khumbiarrâh
Rul mil Charreeay ‘Kicheree,’
Purr ‘Ghee’ Toomhâhrâ
Heeahn juggâh tung hai
Bâhair Thakur Dhivarrâh.”
TRANSLATION.
“Come in; pray sit down, my friends,
The house and all its contents are yours.
You must, however, provide your own meats and drinks,
and perhaps we’ll share in making some ‘Kicheree,’
though you must contribute the Ghee.
See how narrow, too, my home is, so let us adjourn
outside to the enclosure of the Idol house, where
you can do all the cooking for me.”
.pm verse-end
Note.—The Rosary[#] is, as has been said, (remarked
under “Moslem grave,”) called a “Thusbee” by the Mahomedans;
it is also called “Mâllânh” by the Hindus.
The aimless counting and turning over of the beads by
some is thus denounced by the people of the district:
.pm fn-start
The name comes from the Latin word “Rosarium,” a garden or chaplet of roses.
.pm fn-end
.pm verse-start
Dhil dhâ minkâh aik nâh sattaynn
Thay gyn sattaynn panj Veeânh.
You turn not one of the beads of your heart, though you
repeat Five score of them on your rosary.
.pm verse-end
Note.—It may not be generally known that the
“Thusbee” or Rosary consists of 100 beads separated
by a long bead called “Shumshah” (from the Arabic,
// 055.png
.pn +1
meaning “tassels” on a rosary) over which there are
ten beads called “Shummâr” (from the Persian, meaning
“counting”). When one round of prayers is completed a
special short prayer is often added, or the name of Allah
is repeated on it one thousand times.
At the completion of the 100 beads, one bead is separated
on the Shummâr, and so on each time, in order
to count the 1,000 epithets of Allah if it should be so
desired. To comprehend the mystic sound of the beads
are matters of “Marifat,” or knowledge of Allah!
The beads are made mostly from the “Kaoo” wood,
or wild olive, which in some places is called “Zythoon.”
Walking sticks are often made of it. There are, however,
beads made from the sacred clay found near Mecca and
called “Khaka sharreef”; some are also made of glass
or agates. Some prefer to have coloured glass beads
after every 33 of the wooden beads. In early times
frequently almonds and nuts were used for counting.
The Mâllânh of the Hindus consists of 108 beads,
independent of one at the top called “Sumer.” As in
the Hindu Ghastra there are 108 special letters, 54 of
which are written upright and 54 downward, so this number
has been fixed for the Mâllânh. The top bead is to indicate
the completion of the 108. The special worshippers
of “Krishna” (the eighth incarnation of Vishnu) have
rosaries made from the “Tulsi” wood (O’cymum Sanctum
or Holy Basil). Tulsi was a nymph beloved by Krishna,
and by him metamorphosed into this plant. The wood is
held in high veneration by all Hindus. Much of this wood
comes from Mathra, India. The large bead in a Hindu
// 056.png
.pn +1
rosary called a “Sumeru” after a high mountain, on the
summit of which is supposed to reside the Hindu deities
of Vishnu, Siva, and several others of lesser note. This
bead remains fixed in the hand, and is not turned over
in counting.
The Brahmins, when they repeat their prayers on a
rosary, designate them under the term “Gayathri,” the
mother of the Vedas, and of which there are five, according
to the number of the principal deities. Gayathri is a
form of metre, and is repeated inaudibly in the daily
morning worship of the Brahmins.
“Nikah.”—This is the name given to marriages
amongst Moslems, as “Nikah namah” is the marriage
certificate.
The Nikah is the form of words used by the Kazi
or Priest, and the Shadi or rejoicings are additional at
the will of the relatives. Nikah is the binding ceremony,
and Shadi is considered a more respectable form, and is
attended with rejoicings,
Nikah is an Arabic word, and Shadi a Persian,
meaning pleasure and delight.
// 057.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch05
THE KING’S SON, HIS FRIEND, AND THE FAKIR.
.sp 2
In another Hûjra in the village of “Thuvee,” on the
left bank of the Indus, the young men of the place had
collected one day, as was their custom, when one of their
number called for a tale, and very shortly the well-known
narrator of the village began by saying: There was once
a great King, a very great King, an earthly King, for
this great King has gone to his dust long ago, but the
greatest King of all is above. The King I am going
to tell you about lived in ancient times, and he looked
after his country very well, and had about him some clever
Ministers, but he was not happy in his home. He had
two sons, the younger being very fair and good-looking,
and the King had them trained in all manner of learning
that they might succeed him in the kingdom.
Unfortunately, this younger son became at times very
riotous, and offended his father on many occasions, and
though only a youth he became so disobedient and troublesome
that his father decided on banishing him from his
Palace. One morning when the son arose he found that
his shoes were “apoota,” or turned the wrong way, so
he knew from that, that he was to be turned away from
home.
// 058.png
.pn +1
At a loss to know what to do, he went to his best
friend and told him what had happened, and after consulting
together they said, “We must at once fly this
country, and seek our fortune in another country.” So
providing themselves with money and horses and provisions
for a few days, they mounted their horses and
set off on their journey, not knowing where to go.
They took the high road for some miles, and then, lest
they might be pursued, they struck off into the jungles,
and night coming on they picketed their horses under a
tree and slept up the tree themselves for fear of wild
beasts. This they continued to do for several nights,
wandering through the jungles in the daytime. One evening
they noticed at some little distance what they thought
to be smoke, so they pushed on in the hope of finding
some assistance and welcome in the dreary woods of the
forest.
All of a sudden they came upon a hut surrounded with
trees and brushwood, and hearing no sound they thought
that it had been deserted, but listening very attentively
they overheard the groans of a man as if in pain. Dismounting,
they opened the little door of the hut, and there
they saw a very old Fakir, bent almost double, and like
to a bundle of rags, and lying on a sort of raised place
in the corner. “Arrah! Kaun hai?” he called out, which
means “Who is there?” They then told him that they
were benighted in the jungles, had consumed all their food
for themselves and their horses, and were about to seek
their fortune in the King’s country which was somewhere
here-about, they thought. “Can you please give us first
// 059.png
.pn +1
some food, and then point us out the way to the King’s
country?” Upon this the old Fakir scrambled off his
bed place, and by the light of the small fire he looked
at them very narrowly, and at last he said to the King’s
son, “Bucha (son), I will see what I can do for you.”
Presently he went a little distance outside his hut and
blew a sort of whistle, and in less than no time a whole
troop of Lungoors (large monkeys) came hurriedly down
from the trees, chattering amongst themselves, and looking
up into his face. “Go! ten of you, at once,” he said,
“to the nearest village, loot it, and bring food for these
travellers and corn for their horses.” Without more ado,
off went a party of them in great haste, and in a very
short space of time back they came with food and corn,
and put it down at the feet of the Fakir, who seemed
to speak a word of encouragement, and they departed.
After feeding their horses and refreshing themselves
with a little food the travellers were about to take their
leave of the old Fakir, and trust themselves again to their
wanderings, when the Fakir said “No! you must not go
without protection.” So saying, he gave another whistle,
and more “Lungoors” came, and detaching about twenty
of them he told them to go before the travellers and to
put them on the high road leading to the King’s country,
and then slightly raising his voice he said, “And mind you
do not go beyond your boundary.”
Taking a kindly leave of the Fakir, the travellers
left the hut, guarded with this escort of “Lungoors,” who,
first on the ground, and then on the trees in front, seemed
to point out to them a way through the jungles. After
// 060.png
.pn +1
they had threaded their way for a considerable distance,
until it was about the dawn of the morning, the “Lungoors”
began to pause, and then all of a sudden they came to a
dead stop, so the travellers knew that they must have
come as far as their boundary.
Shortly afterwards they heard a great stampede amongst
the trees, and all their “Lungoors” dispersed in an instant;
then there seemed to be a great fight going on amongst
them everywhere about, and screams of the most unearthly
nature, such as they had never heard in their lives before.
Morning then coming on, they pressed their steeds towards
an opening in the jungle, and soon reached the high road.
And so, on they went at an easy pace until they saw in
the distance the walls and smoke of a great city, and the
towers of a great palace. Arriving at the gates they
went in, and proceeded at once to the Palace, and asked
to be taken into the Royal presence. Ere long they were
ushered before the King, and narrated their adventures,
which both interested and amused him very much.
The King was pleased to give them service under
him, and they remained at his Court for some years. Not
receiving any news of their own country, they obtained
leave from the King to visit it.
Upon their return thither, they went at once in some
fear to the Palace, expecting that the anger of the King
might still be poured out upon them; but when they told
their story the King received them back into favour, and
gave to his son an office in the State, and promoted the
friend who had been his companion through their travels.
The son then bethought him of doing something in
// 061.png
.pn +1
return to the kind old Fakir who had befriended them in
the jungles, and he sent a party to persuade him to come
to the Palace to live near him. The Fakir declined to
leave his hut, so the party returned. At last the King’s
son went himself, and took with him a Palkee, or covered
carriage, and brought off the Fakir to his Palace. He gave
him a beautiful room, with Persian carpets on the floor,
and all other luxuries, and hoped that he might spend
the few more years he might have to live, in every possible
comfort. But the old Fakir felt everything very distasteful
to him, and the more the King’s son tried to make him
at his ease, the more distressed the old man became, so
that in the end the Prince had to allow him to return to
his hut in the jungle where he had spent nearly all his life,
with the “Lungoors” as his friends.
In course of time the news was brought to the King’s
son that the old Fakir was dead, so he and his friend had
him conveyed to the city, where he was buried in great
pomp; and afterwards a noble Shrine was erected to his
memory, and a yearly visit was ever afterwards paid to it
by the King’s son and his devoted friend.
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Apoota.”—Possibly from the Hindustani word “poot,”
meaning upside down, inverted, or from the Sanscrit word
“Apoot,” meaning an undutiful son. The son’s shoes, which
he left the night before as he withdrew his feet from them,
// 062.png
.pn +1
were found by him the next morning turned round, an
understood custom to indicate dismissal, or banishment.
“Bucha.”—A Persian word, signifying son, or child,
and often used as a term of affection from old to young.
.if h
.il fn=i05.jpg w=438px id=i05
.ca
A MONKEY TEMPLE IN INDIA. (Copied).
.ca-
.if-
.if t
[Illustration: A MONKEY TEMPLE IN INDIA. (Copied).]
.if-
“Lungoor.”—The word is Sanscrit and means baboon,
but baboons generally inhabit Africa, but there is a Bengal
Lang[=u]r (Presbitis entellus) and to these large monkeys the
tale would no doubt refer. Monkeys play an important
part in many folk-tales, and naturally so, for they are held
in high respect by all Hindus, and indeed are objects of
worship by most of that faith. “Hanuman” is the name
of the “monkey god” of the Ramayana, who assisted Rama
in his campaign against the giant Ravana to recover Sita.
(See Crooke’s “Popular Religion and Folk-lore of Northern
India.”) It is a belief with many that they were once
human beings, and that they refrain from using the voice
of man lest they should be compelled to work. In Northern
India these “Lungoors” are called “Ghunee.” The
story is told of a “Gujuri,” or milk seller, that she got
married and left her own village. After some time, by
an adroit habit of adding half water to her milk, she put
together a good sum of money. The husband died, so
she determined to return to her village, and she put her
rupees in a bag, or what is called a “humy[=a]ni” (made
of cloth or netting, and arranged to tie round the waist).
Passing through the town of Ajudhya, where is a great
Shrine to the monkey god Hanuman, and where many
monkeys live in the trees that overhang the tank near the
Shrine, she made up her mind to bathe in the holy water.
Divesting herself of her clothes, she placed them on the
// 063.png
// 064.png
// 065.png
.pn +1
bank, and the “humyani” she hid beneath them. Occupied
with her bathing and praying, she did not perceive that
the monkeys had come down, and were overhauling her
garments. At last to her surprise and regret, she saw her
“humyani” in the hands of a big monkey, and that he
was off up the trees with it. “Oh Hanuman! Oh Hanuman!”
she besought him, “restore to me my money.”
But there he was, opening the bag, and soon he threw
down one rupee to her on the bank, and the next rupee
into the water, and thus he continued to do until he had
emptied the bag. Then he called out, “See! I have
given you the half for your milk, and the other half has
gone to the water, to which it rightly belongs, and not
to you.”
Hanuman is a Hindu deity, and said to be a son
of Siva. He is set up in temples, and supplicated on
birth-days to obtain longevity.
Note.—Monkeys, we know, chatter and gibber, and are
celebrated for tricks. A voice is produced by most mammals,
birds, and reptiles, by which they make known their wants
and feelings; but to speak with the human voice by imitation
merely, is given only to birds, and to very few of those.
The power of the lower creation to speak and to understand
the human language passes, however, through the
folk-tales of every country. On the hill Jako, near Simla,
it is well known that the Monkeys are fed by a Fakir,
who has taken up his abode amongst them, and they
come down in troops at his well known call. (See page
114, Royal Natural History, edited by Richard Lydekker,
F.G.S., F.Z.S., etc., etc.
// 066.png
.pn +1
“Shrines.”—In many towns and villages there are
shrines of celebrated Saints which are called “Chillas”
and in some places “Astanas.” They are also termed
“Karbala,” after the place where Hussain, the son of Ali,
was killed and buried. Throughout the whole of India
the common belief is that the spirit of their ancestors is,
in some form or another, in many animals and birds,
and that when they choose they can speak to man and
understand what he says.
// 067.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch06
SECUNDUR ZULF-KUR-NAIN.
.sp 2
Secundur (Alexander the Great) of curly locks like horns
and fiery eyes, for such is the translation of Zulf-kur-nain,
came to India, you know, a great many years ago.
He came to conquer, but his principal reason for
leaving his country was in order that he might drink of
the Ab-Hy[=a]tt, or Water of Life, which he had been told
was to be found in the hills of India.
For a very long time he wandered about in Northern
India, but could not discover any tidings about this Water
of Life, till one day after conquering a special tribe of
people, he demanded of them where the spring could be
found.
They replied that they had heard about it as somewhere
in the hills above where they resided, but that they
had never been there, and they added that no one could
get there, for that the spring could only be approached
through a number of winding passages in the jungle, and
there was the fear of never getting back, if even you
could succeed in reaching it.
Secundur said to them, “Well then, cannot you tell
me what I can do, for I have come all this way to drink
of this water?” They replied they could only suggest
to him that if he could procure a mare that had recently
// 068.png
.pn +1
foaled, and could picket the foal at the entrance to the
winding paths, he might ride the mare to the spring, and
that she would be sure, from the love for her foal, to
bring him safely back to the entrance.
This plan Secundur adopted, and eventually reached
the spring from whence was bubbling up the Water of Life.
He stooped down, and had taken up some of the water
in his two hands joining them together like a cup, and
was about to raise the water to his lips, when he heard
a noise like kurr! kurr! several times repeated, and
looking up he saw a large Raven perched on a rock and
shaking its head and crying out in a human voice, “Don’t
drink! Don’t drink! Look at my piteous plight! See
what a state I have come to by drinking this water; only
a mass of skin and bone and not a feather left, and so
I have been for many years, and shall never die!”
Upon hearing this Secundur threw back the water
into the spring and cried out, “Ya! Nuseeb! Ya! Nuseeb!
Oh, my fate! and so I am not to drink the Water of Life
after all my efforts to do so. What shall I do? and I
must believe this Raven, the bird of fate and omen.”
Secundur then remounted the mare and retraced his
steps, and as the villagers said, true enough she had no
difficulty in wandering in and out amongst the paths till
she came again to her foal.
He then returned to his camp, very sorrowful, and
in order to relieve his mind he used to take long walks
alone, and always dressed in the plainest garb.
.if h
.il fn=i06.jpg w=472px id=i06
.ca
SECUNDUR ZULF-KUR-NAIN.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
[Illustration: SECUNDUR ZULF-KUR-NAIN.]
.if-
He had gone a long distance from the camp when
one day he met some villagers, and found out from them
// 069.png
// 070.png
// 071.png
.pn +1
that there were two wonderful “Trees” near their village
which had the magic power to answer questions put to
them, and that their replies were always quite correct.
They said, “But we must get old men to go with you,
for they do not understand young men, nor do young men
understand them,”
This they did, and when Secundur was approaching the
“Trees” there was a voice heard, “Here comes Secundur!
the great king Secundur!” Whereupon the villagers fell
down at his feet to ask his pardon, for they had thought
him all along as a common traveller.
Secundur at once allayed their fears and said, “Never
mind! put to the ‘Trees’ the questions I ask you.” And
he said, “Ask how long I have to live.” And the reply
came, “Seven years!” “Ask again, How long it will take
me to return to my country.” And the reply came again,
“Seven years!” “Oh sorrow upon sorrow!” said Secundur:
“It was not my “Kismut” (fate) to drink the
Water of Life, and now it is not my “Kismut” to see
again my mother, for I am sure to be delayed on my
way back to my native land.”
Upon return to his camp he ordered that it should
be moved the next day, and march in the direction of his
own country. He had not made many marches when he
came to a town, and the people came out to meet him,
asking him to deliver them out of the hands of “Freebooters”
who were continually raiding upon them.
Secundur remained with them for some time, and taught
them how to build a wall round the town, but all this
delayed him on his way back, as he thought it would.
// 072.png
.pn +1
Being still very sorrowful, he sent one day for two
or three of his Ministers and said to them, “My home
is yet a long way off, and who can tell whether I shall
live to return to it? so I am going to give you a command,
and you are to write down what I say; and should I die
suddenly the letter which you shall write at my dictation,
and which I will sign, and which you will keep, shall be
at my death sent to my mother and delivered into her
hands. Now write as follows:
“From your son Secundur:
“I am near dying, and have had this letter written to
you and have signed it myself. It is the custom of this
country that when a person dies in a family, cooked bread
is always given away in charity to the poor, for it is
supposed to do good to the deceased. Now, I am going
to ask you when you hear of my death, only to give
cooked bread in charity to those who have never lost a
relation. Again, should you ever come to the place of
my burial and call out, ‘Secundur, Zulf-kur-Nain,’ I will
reply to you from my grave.”
Now the first request was so designed because Alexander
knew that his mother could not find a family that
had not to mourn some loss or other; and she would thus
come to see that she was not alone in her grief, and that
all human beings were afflicted with the death of relatives.
As the tale goes, said the narrator, Secundur did die,
and was buried, and the letter was sent to his mother.
Just prior to his death, however, he called before him
all his Ministers and said, “When you are carrying my
corpse to the grave let all my troops of every arm of the
// 073.png
.pn +1
force follow me, and outside of my shroud let one of my
hands be placed with the palm uppermost.”
Of course in those days Ministers never said “No”
to the commands of the King, so they all exclaimed,
“Your commands, Sire, shall be obeyed!”
When they had come out from the Presence, however,
they said one to another, “That is a singular command
of the King! Whoever heard of troops following a dead
General? We must really again go and enquire if these
are his precise instructions.” But they feared to go all
together, so deputed the favourite Minister to go into the
Presence, who made his salaam, and repeating the King’s
commands, asked if these were to be carried out.
“Send for them again,” said the King, “Send for
all these ignorant Ministers!” When they came he taxed
them with their want of sense and said, “Do you not
see that by ordering all my troops to follow me to the
grave I wanted to show to you and to all the world that
‘Secundur’ though he conquered with such troops, they
could not save him from death; and by placing my hand
out of the shroud, that you and all else might know that
empty were my hands when I came into the world, and
empty are they when I go out of it.” “Oh King!” said
they all, “now we truly comprehend the meaning.”
This all happened just before he died, and everything
was done as the King commanded; and the letter was
given into the hands of a Minister to convey to the
mother, as I told you.
Upon receiving the letter the mother, though borne
down with her great sorrow, did not long delay before
// 074.png
.pn +1
she set out to visit the grave of her son. Now there
were many graves and many tombs in the graveyard, and
she wandered up and down for a long time, calling out,
“Secundur! Oh my Secundur! my beloved Secundur!”
but no reply came from any of the tombs.
Then the thought crossed her mind that the letter
had said that she was to call out, “Secundur Zulf-kur-Nain.”
So this she did, and was at once replied to by
her son who said, “Did I not tell you to call out” Secundur
Zulf-kur-Nain’ for there are many Secundurs here?”
“Yes, alas!” she replied, and the voice then ceased to
speak, and though she waited it never spoke again.
Now the design of Secundur by this, was also to give
his mother another reason for pacifying her grief in knowing
that there were many “Secundurs” who had died and had
been buried, and that she was not the only mother in the
world who had lost a Secundur.
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Zulf-kur-Nain.”—A compound of the two words
“Zulf” and “Kernain.” The first in Persian represents
a curl, and the latter is from the Arabic word “Kernai,”
a horn. It is supposed that “Secundur” or Alexander the
Great had two curls on his forehead like horns, so he was
given the surname of “He of the two Horns.” (See Hughes.)
“Ab-Hy[=a]tt.”—-Ab, Persian for water; Hy[=a]tt, Arabic
for life. The incident of Alexander’s search for the Water
// 075.png
.pn +1
of Life is referred to by Crooke in these words: “According
to the ‘Sikandar-Nama’ (written A.D. 1200 by Abu-Mahomed)
Kwaja Khizr was a saint of Islam who presided
over the well of immortality, and directed Alexander of
Macedon in his vain search for the blessed waters. The
fish is his vehicle, and hence its image is painted over
the doors of both Hindus and Mahomedans, while it
became the family crest of the late Royal House of
Oudh.” As to Alexander, it is generally the result of
a great name to be enshrined in fables, and as it has
been said, to become the basis of mythopœic fiction as
in this tale.
“Raven.”—The word used for this bird by the narrator
was Dhur-K[=o]wa; K[=o]wa, literally meaning a crow,
answering to the word Kawwâ in Hindustani.
The natives of the district draw a great contrast
between the raven and the crow. With them the former
is an emblem of greed and rapacity; the latter, of quickness
and cunning. They hold the raven to be a bird of ill
omen, and are not singular in their belief. In some of
our own country-sides they are said to forbode death.
.pm verse-start
“The boding raven on her cottage sat
And with hoarse croakings warned us of our fate,”—Gay.
.pm verse-end
The raven is often, in the legends of other countries,
referred to as a bird which causes disappointment. Apollo
sent a raven on a message, but he perched on a fig-tree
and there waited until the fruit was ripe. There is also
the memorable instance recorded in Holy Writ of the
Raven sent out from the Ark. There are traditions too,
about other birds, but that which is considered the most
// 076.png
.pn +1
ominous is the “Ghoo Ghoo” owl, Ghoo Ghoo being the
Hindustani word for this peculiar owl, whose sound is
dreaded as a devil-bird. Of the smaller owls they have
no such fear.
Note.—There is a native saying in the district in
regard to the habits of the crow, which may appear to be
asleep, but is ever on the alert.
.pm verse-start
Kânh kirrar khutâh dhâh
Vyssâh nah karreeay sathrydhâh
TRANSLATION.
Put little trust in a sleeping crow, a bunniah, or a dog; their eyes
are open though they appear to sleep.
.pm verse-end
It is as well to add here under this tale of “Secundur”
the words they apply to the uncertainty of his great life.
.pm verse-start
Saddhânh nâh Baghay “Bulbul” bolaynh
Saddhânh nâh Bâgh Baharânh
Saddhânh nâh Raj khusheedhâ hondhâh
Saddhânh nâh Mujlio Tarrânh.
TRANSLATION.
For ever the Bulbul in the garden warbles not;
For ever the garden is not green and flourishing;
For ever kings do not reign in unalloyed happiness;
For ever friends each other’s society enjoy not.
.pm verse-end
Note as to owl omens.—Certain physical infirmities in
man are reckoned inauspicious, and forbode evil, such as
to be blind of one eye. It is very unlucky to look at a
one-eyed man, and even if he should be in a high position,
as was the case a long while ago with a celebrated chieftain
in the North of India, he does not escape a sneer.
When he put an increased tax on the weavers, it is
said they taunted him in the following rhyme:
// 077.png
.pn +1
.pm verse-start
Jowahur Singh kanah
Thray rupeea khuddee. Panj rupeea tana
TRANSLATION.
Jowahur Singh, the one-eyed man,
Fixes a tax of three rupees on the hole we sit in, and five rupees on the warp besides.
.pm verse-end
Again, they have a saying as to those to be avoided:
.pm verse-start
Kurria Brâhman
Gorâ Soodh
Kotay gurduniah
Kunjah Rajpoot.
TRANSLATION.
A black Brahmin,
A fair-coloured Soodh (Soodhra, or low caste)
A short-necked person
A blue or grey-eyed Rajpoot.
.pm verse-end
There are many other evil omens too numerous to
mention; such as, meeting a corpse being carried to burial;
an oil seller; or a woman with an empty water-pot; a crow
sitting on a dry tree with no water near. The reverse
of the picture is lucky; so it would be a piece of good
fortune to see a crow sitting on a tree near where there
was water.
With some Hindus it is unfortunate when setting out
on a journey for one of the party to sneeze, and they
generally get down for a while until the evil spell, supposed
to be from an evil bird is believed to be over.
Men of the sweeper caste are often called “Kal-jibha,” or
black-tongued, and whose curses always prevail.
“Trees.”—There is a universal belief amongst Hindus
that in most trees certain spirits take up their abode, and
that to destroy a tree is to disturb the spirits, who have
// 078.png
.pn +1
to be appeased by offerings of grain and oil to keep off
evil consequences to the village.
There are certain special trees in addition to the two
oracular trees of Alexander, called by the natives Mather
and Emaüsae, notably the Ficus religiosa, or “Pepul” tree,
towards which their veneration shews itself in devotional
acts which may be termed “Tree worship.” In the
Hazara and other districts it is not an uncommon thing
to see small hollow shrines placed beneath this particular
class of tree, containing a small lamp, and sprinkled over
with yellow ochre and oil, while the tree itself is encircled
by a white thread.
One such tree was planted years ago in the jail for
Indian transports at Singapore; the charge of which was
for years under Major M^cNair, one of the authors of this
volume. It was called by the Hindus “Aswatha,” and it
was currently believed that it spoke and sang through the
points of its heart-shaped leaves. They looked upon it as
the abode of their principal deities.
The “Tulsi” shrub, or “Holy basil,” as before said,
is also held in great veneration, and has over and over
again formed the subject of verse. Here is one example:
.pm verse-start
Tulsi birwa bagh men
Seencht hay komlahay
Rahê bhurlosa Ram kay
Purbuth pur hurriayi.
TRANSLATION.
The Tulsi tree that grows in the garden
Droops even when well watered;
But where it grows dependent only on God,
There, even on mountain tops, it is green and fresh.
.pm verse-end
// 079.png
.pn +1
The famous fabulous tree, “Pari Jatamu,” which one
reads of in the Puranas, (old Sanscrit records,) a sort of
jasmine; and the Vata fig-tree of “Orissa,” were said to
be endowed with knowledge and speech like the oak of
Dodona. By approaching them in a respectful manner you
obtain from them knowledge, riches, and everything you
can wish for, but they are difficult of access.—Wilford.
Note.—In many parts of India it is well known that
to make an offering to a deity offended, and to pacify his
wrath, five twigs of the following sacred trees are put
into a jar of water and invoked.
.in +10
.nf l
1. Aswatha (Ficus religiosa).
2. Vata (Ficus Indica).
3. Adumbar (Ficus glomerata).
4. Sami (Mimosa albida).
5. Amra (Mango) (Spondias Mangifera).
.nf-
.in -10
// 080.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch07
THE FARMER, THE CROCODILE, AND THE JACKAL.
.sp 2
There was once a wily old Crocodile who dwelt in a
tank hard by a village, and he was sometimes so ferocious
that he would seize children who used to go for water
there, then drown and eat them. He had become, in
fact, the terror of the place.
One year there was a very great drought, and the
tank by degrees began to dry up, and at last it got quite
dry, and the Crocodile was to be seen grilling and roasting
in the sun.
He used to call out to the passers-by, “Oh! pray
take pity upon me and shew me where I can go for
water, for I am dying in this heat.” “No, indeed!” they
all said; “we are glad to see you suffering, for have
you not often made us suffer by taking our goats, and
sometimes even our children? We shall not help you in
any way.”
.if h
.il fn=i07.jpg w=475px id=i07
.ca
THE FARMER, THE CROCODILE, AND THE JACKAL.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
[Illustration: THE FARMER, THE CROCODILE, AND THE JACKAL.]
.if-
At last an old man passed by, and the Crocodile
appealed to him, and at first he replied as the others did,
but afterwards he relented and said, “Well, if you will
follow me I will take you to a tank which is never dry.”
So the Crocodile followed him, and he shewed him a tank
no great distance off, which was filled with water.
// 081.png
// 082.png
// 083.png
.pn +1
The old man went first into the tank himself, and
calling to the Crocodile, he said, “See here, how deep it
is!” No sooner had the Crocodile had a good drink, than
he made a grab at the old man’s leg. “Ah-ho! Ah-ho!”
said the old man; “What are you doing? What are
you doing?” “Well,” replied the Crocodile, “I have had
a good drink, thanks to you, and as I have had no food
for many days I am going to make a meal of you. That
is what I am going to do.” “You wretched and ungrateful
brute!” said the old man; “is this the way you
reward me?”
At that moment a Jackal hove in sight, coming for
a drink (the Jackals we know are the most cunning of
all animals), and the old man said, “I will put my case
before him, and if he says you are to eat me, very good,
so you shall.”
The old man then beckoned to the Jackal to come
close up to the tank, and telling him all the facts of the
case, the Jackal said, “You know I am always a just
judge, and if you want me to decide, you must shew me
the place from whence you brought the Crocodile.”
So they all three wended their way back to the tank
near the village, and the Jackal said, “Shew me the exact
spot where you first found the Crocodile;” and when they
got there the Jackal said, “Now I am going to give you
my judgment, so prepare to listen.” Then turning to the
old man, he said quietly, “You silly old idiot! What
made you ever help a Crocodile? Now, you run one
way, and I will run the other.”
The Jackal gave a skip, and was soon off out of sight,
// 084.png
.pn +1
and the old man took to his heels also, and soon got
away. The wily old Crocodile, now baulked of his prey,
said to himself, “I know my way back to that water tank,
and I will some day have my revenge on that Jackal, for
he is sure to come there to lap water.”
So back he went, and as there were many trees near
the tank, some of whose roots went beneath the water,
the Crocodile lay in ambush there. By-and-by the Jackal
came to drink water, and the Crocodile made a sudden
snap at his leg, and held it. “Oh, you foolish Crocodile!”
the Jackal said; “You think you have got hold of my
leg, do you? but it is only the root of a tree.” So saying,
the Crocodile released his hold, and the Jackal jumped off
in high glee out of his reach.
The Crocodile then determined that he would try
some other plan of entrapping him; so, as there were
great numbers of a small fruit falling from one of the
trees, which he knew the Jackal came to eat, he one night
piled up a heap and hid himself beneath it, leaving only
his eyes uncovered.
Presently the Jackal came prowling along, and noticing
the pile of fruit he felt inclined to partake of some, but
he drew near very cautiously, and in a moment he caught
sight of the two eyes of the Crocodile glistening in the
moon-light, when he called out, “Oh, I see you!” and
scampered off.
.if h
.il fn=i08.jpg w=572px id=i08
.ca
THE FARMER, THE CROCODILE, AND THE JACKAL.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
[Illustration: THE FARMER, THE CROCODILE, AND THE JACKAL.]
.if-
After this, the Crocodile saw that it was no use to
try himself to catch the Jackal, “for,” said he, “he is too
cunning for me; I must employ someone who comes to
get water here.” So one day he saw a Farmer, and said
// 085.png
// 086.png
// 087.png
.pn +1
to him, “If you will catch a Jackal for me, I will make
you a rich man, for I will give you several jewels which
people have dropped in this tank for years and years, and
they are lying here at the bottom.”
“Oh!” replied the Farmer, “that is easily done;” so
that very night he went into the jungle and lay down as
if dead. Presently the Jackal made his appearance, and
smelling along he came close up to the body. Then he
hesitated and said, “I wonder if this is really a dead body
or not.” He then called out audibly, “If it is really dead
it will shake its leg, and if it is alive it won’t do so.”
This he said so quickly and so artfully that the Farmer
was taken aback, and to make him believe he was dead
he at once stupidly shook his leg, and off skipped the
Jackal, saying, “I caught you there,” and was lost to view
in an instant.
The Farmer, who was very avaricious, and wanted the
jewels badly, made up his mind that he would by hook
or by crook make sure of the Jackal on the next occasion;
so this time he prepared of the softest wax a doll of the
size of a child, and digging a small grave and covering
it over with leaves and mud, he waited in hiding to see
the result.
Shortly after sunset the Jackal began to prowl about
as usual, and coming on the new grave he said to himself,
“Ah! this is someone lately buried; I will try my luck
here.” He then began to scratch with his paw, and presently
one paw got caught in the wax, and in trying to
get that away, all four became stuck with the wax, when
in a moment out came the Farmer from his hiding-place
// 088.png
.pn +1
and said, “Ah! at last I have got you, and you are my
prisoner!” The Jackal yelled and howled, and endeavoured
to escape, but was hindered by the wax on
his feet; so then he took to frightening the Farmer, and
said, “If you do not get me out of this scrape I will
call all the Jackals in a moment of time, and they will
destroy you for ever, for do you not know that I am the
‘king’ of the Jackals?”
“What am I to do?” asked the Farmer. “Go!”
he said; “go and get some oil, and rub it all over me;
then get a fowl, and tie it about fifty yards away, and
bring two men with hatchets to stand over me, so that
if I attempt to get away they may chop me to pieces!”
This being done by the Farmer, the Jackal while
being held in his hands sought his opportunity, and being
well greased all over, he made a violent spring and so
got clear of the Farmer; then he dashed between the
legs of the men with hatchets, when they made a plunge
at him, but they only succeeded in hurting their own legs,
so the Jackal got finally off, and picking up the fowl he
was soon lost to view, and so won the day.
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Crocodile.”—The word used in the original Punjabi
was “Sainsar,” literally the “Gavial,” or rather “gharial.”
This animal is called “Timsah” in Arabic, but as this class
// 089.png
.pn +1
of the Crocodiles lives usually on fish, the saurian in the
tale must have been unusually ferocious. The seizure of
the leg of the Jackal by the Crocodile is common to many
folk-tales throughout India, and is an indication of the
general groundwork of many Aryan tales.
“Jackal.”—So often described, it is not necessary to
do more here than to refer to the fact that they usually
hunt in packs. When a jackal is heard to cry without a
response, the natives know that he is a lone animal and
what they call “Yekaria,” and by some “yeklota,” meaning
in Sanscrit “single.” This, with them, is an evil omen,
and thugs and thieves give up their thoughts of plunder
and pillage in the district where he is known to be.
Some of the people believe that in packs of jackals
the one who gives the first cry is possessed of a small
horn in his forehead, and this is termed by them “Seeâr
Singhi,” (possibly from the Persian word “Seah” black,
and “Singh” a Hindu title,) or the jackal’s horn. This
so-called horn is much prized by the people, and is often
mounted by them in silver and placed as a charm round
the necks of their children. This forehead projection of
the jackal is generally hawked about for sale by a low-caste
set of people who are sellers also of certain oils, such as
the porpoise, or “S[=u]s” oil, the pelican, or “Rak-ham” oil,
which is in the Sanscrit language called “Gagun-bhir.”
Crooke thinks that the “Seeâr Singhi” is a jungle plant
which resembles a horn; others think it is really the
velvety prominence from the deer, but is sold to the
credulous as from the jackal.
Our saying of the “grapes are sour” is rendered by
// 090.png
.pn +1
the people as the “grapes are bitter,” and the expression
is used in connection with the jackal and not of the
fox.
.pm verse-start
Dahkânh hâth nâh up ree
Thooay kouree.
TRANSLATION.
The grapes do not come within my reach,
So spit them out; they are bitter,
.pm verse-end
“Tanks.”—In the Persian the word is “Talâb,” and
in the original in Punjabi it is “Surr,” a Sanscrit word
signifying a large pond or tank. A small tank in Punjabi
is called a “Bunni.”
There is hardly a tank in India that is not more or
less associated in the minds of the people with some legend,
and many are held sacred to one or other of their titulary
gods and goddesses.
Some tanks are supposed to contain treasure which
is reserved under the custody of a Yaksha, or sprite.
.rj
—Crooke.
In Hindu mythology “Yaksha” is an attendant upon
“Kuv[=e]ra,” the god of wealth. The name is said to be
derived from “Yaksha” to worship. As with the Brownies
in Scotland they are called “Punya-jana” or good people,
but they are sometimes imps of evil.
.rj
—Williams’ “Nala”; also Dowson.
// 091.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch08
FAITH OPPOSED TO MAGIC.
.sp 2
There is a hill in the Hazara district of the Punjab
known to all by the name of “Gundghur,” which in days
gone by was a stronghold of Banditti. It was well
elevated above the plain, and on its crest there were
several projecting rocks, and there were caves among the
rocks. In one of these caves dwelt a Hindu Fakir of
the begging mendicant class, who had for a long time
established himself there, and used to come out and sit
on a large rock called “P[=i]r Thân.”
This Fakir had the reputation of being able to produce
wonderful effects by the aid of his magic and enchantments,
could cure serious diseases, and when he liked he
would say his Ram! Ram! song; for Rama was among
the avatara of Vishnu, and he would then ascend into the
skies, and go completely out of sight.
Such a Fakir was in consequence much feared by the
people of the place, and indeed in many villages round
about. Most of the people living near the Hill were
“Gujors,” or Mahomedan keepers of Cattle, and from
whom the province of Gujerat was named, and it sometimes
happened that their milk did not set properly; so
they used to go to the Fakir who soon made everything
right, and though he was a Hindu and they Mahomedans,
yet they went to consult him.
// 092.png
.pn +1
It so happened that one day another Fakir, a Mahomedan,
who was on his round visiting various shrines
and the relics of departed Saints, came to this “Ghazi”
village, which was situated at the foot of the hill.
It was not long before he was told by the people of
the wonderful doings of the Hindu Fakir who dwelt on
the “P[=i]r Thân”; how that he could cure all diseases,
and above all, that he could by his magic go up into the
air and depart out of sight.
“He is very good too,” they said, “to us, for when
our milk refuses to set, he soon makes matters right for
us, and so we are going to him to-morrow morning about
this very thing.”
“You are! are you?” said the Mahomedan Fakir; and
he was very angry with them and said, “Now you wait,
and you will see that this very night your milk will be all
as it should be.” True enough, when the morning broke
the milk was properly set.
“Now,” said the Fakir, “why do you put your faith
in this “pagan” and “idolater” who does not believe in
Allah? And as for the stories you tell me, they are not
to be credited, and what he does is by trickery and deceit.”
With many other words he exhorted his followers not to
be imposed upon. Turning to the Hindus he said, “If
you choose to ruin yourselves that is your affair and not
mine.”
.if h
.il fn=i09.jpg w=466px id=i09
.ca
FAITH OPPOSED TO MAGIC.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
[Illustration: FAITH OPPOSED TO MAGIC.]
.if-
His followers, however, besought him just for once to
come and see if what they said was not true. He replied,
“Well! you may all go, and if I come at all, it will
be later on.”
// 093.png
// 094.png
// 095.png
.pn +1
So all the people from the village, and from the
villages round about, went up to the Gundghur Hill, to
see the wonders that this Hindu Fakir could do. There
was a large concourse of people, so the Mahomedan Fakir
thought that he might slip in unperceived; and overcome
too with curiosity, he had determined to see what sort
of a man the Hindu Fakir was who had carried off so
many people as his followers.
They had all gone to the Gundghur Hill, and the
Mahomedan Fakir thought, “I will go now and see what
is to be seen.” On arrival there he noticed that there
was a vast assemblage of people. Looking round he saw
a knot of his own followers seated together, so he joined
himself to them, and waited to see what would take place.
He was not, however, unobserved by the Hindu Fakir,
who, after receiving an ovation from all his adherents,
addressed himself in a loud voice to the multitude around,
and pointing to the Mahomedan Fakir he said, “I see here
a Mahomedan Fakir of a false and wicked faith, and I
tell him, as I tell you all, that as two swords cannot go
into one scabbard, so neither can two Fakirs live in one
and the same spot, and he that proves himself to be
master, let him hold the hill.”
The enthusiasm was very great when he had uttered
these words, and his own people called out, “Ascend,
oh! Fakir, and put this new man to shame.” He replied,
“I will; and if he can surpass me in that, I will give
place to him and go away and leave you.”
Whereupon, divesting himself before them all of his
garments, with the exception of his waist-cloth, and repeating
// 096.png
.pn +1
audibly his “Junthur Munthur” (two Sanscrit
words meaning “incantation,”) and some other words of
enchantment, and then kindling a small fire he made
some passes over it, and in the smoke that it made he
gradually rose and vanished out of sight.
“Ah! there goes our wonderful Fakir!” said all the
Hindus; “and as for this other wretched man, he does not
look as if he could do anything wonderful.”
In a measure they were right, for the Mahomedan
Fakir when he witnessed his ascent, was at his wits’ end
to know how to prevail against such a rival. Collecting,
however, a few of his own followers around him, he drew
out his “Qoran” from its case. Then opening it with
great caution and solemnity, he took off the shoe from
his right foot, and threw it into the air with all his might.
To the bewilderment of all, the shoe did not return, but
seemed to go also into the skies whither the Hindu Fakir
had gone. The Hindus then raised a cry: “What is a
shoe compared to a man! Go up yourself, and we will
believe in you!” In patience did the Mahomedan Fakir
bear their reproaches, when suddenly there was a sound
heard in the air as if someone was beating a door with
the palm of his hand, and very shortly afterwards the body
of the Hindu Fakir came in sight, and as it descended,
there was seen over his head the shoe of the Mahomedan
Fakir, which in some unaccountable way was slapping the
head of the Hindu Fakir, and beating him down to the
earth, and when he came to the ground he fell at the feet
of the Mahomedan. Stunned and confused the Hindu
made a rush for his cave, and holding up his hands he
// 097.png
.pn +1
repeated audibly some words of enchantment, and then fled
precipitately into the jungle, and left that country-side for
ever.
This story is told by the Mussulmen in their Hûzrâhs,
as a proof that faith will always in the long run crush and
destroy the power of myth and magic; and the moral is
that Allah is pure and spotless, and there is none righteous
as He, or, as they have it in their own language:
.pm verse-start
Khudâ pâk sub sê bhullâh.
God is pure and righteous above all.
.pm verse-end
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Fakir.”—It might be added here that the word itself
is derived from the Arabic “F[=u]khr,” really three Arabic
letters, F, K, and R.
.in 4
.nf l
From the F is Fâkâh, fasting.
From the K is Kan[=a]at, contentment.
From the R is Rizz[=a]at, devotion.
.nf-
.in -4
Three qualities that all Fakirs should possess; and
the formidable nature of the pursuit is somewhat tersely
told in the following Punjabi lines:
.pm verse-start
Fakira. Fakiri dur hai
Jitna lumba Kujoor hai
Chur jai tho piay
Prami. Rus
Girjai tochuk n[=a] choorhai.
THUS TRANSLATED.
It is as difficult to become a true Fakir as it is to ascend a date
// 098.png
.pn +1
palm. When you reach the summit it is there only that you
drink the love juice, but if you are timid as you rise you are
sure to fall and be dashed to atoms.
.pm verse-end
In Akbar’s reign the followers of a seceder from the
strict tenets of Islam, one Pir Roshan, when given to
austere devotion, had, it is said, to pass through the
several gradations of the external ordinances, or “Sheriat,”
viz., reality, or “Hakikat,” true knowledge, or “Marifat,”
proximity, or “Kurbut,” union, or “Wasalut,” the Arabic
for mediation, and the indwelling in God, or “Sak[=u]nut,”
the Arabic for tranquility. These terms were peculiar to
that sect.
“Gujur.”—Originally a brave people of pastoral habits,
inhabiting Afghanistan. A term also applied to a low class
of Hindus, from Gujerat. Now used here to designate
cattle owners and sellers of milk, many of whom are also
Mahomedans.
In regard to a low caste of cow-herd, called “Ah[=i]r,”
the natives have a saying:
.pm verse-start
Jummay oouth ke Seengh
Têl reth sê nikklay
Gudhâ purhay Korân
Gungâ lout Poorub sê.
Puchhim by hay
Toh Aheer say Kooch
Goon nikklay.
TRANSLATION.
If horns grew on a camel,
If oil could be extracted from sand,
If a donkey could read the Korân,
If the Ganges would flow from east to west,
Then some good might be expected from an “Ah[=i]r,”
.pm verse-end
// 099.png
.pn +1
And another saying yet:
.pm verse-start
Aheer zuduryâ Pâsee
Teenon Satyâ Nâsee.
TRANSLATION.
An Ah[=i]r, a shepherd, and a Pâsee (low caste);
If these three get together, mischief is sure to come.
.pm verse-end
Ah[=i]r is a general term for a pastoral race noticed by
Ptolemy. They are distinguished as three tribes, viz., the
Nand bansa, Yadu bansa, and Goala bansa. (See Wilson
and Elliott.)
“Two Swords in one scabbard.”—Appeals to the
sword are very common with natives of Northern India,
indeed many of the warlike tribes worship their weapons.
When sharpened for service by a “Sikligur,” a man
who makes it his business to give a keen edge to swords,
he applies two tests. One is that the edge shall be sharp
enough to cut through a ball of teazed cotton, balanced
on the blade, and the other that it shall, with a light
touch, lift a copper coin off a table.
A Punjabi Sipahi, referring to this, was overheard to
say,
.pm verse-start
Wudday Uar thay
Nam Talwar dhâ
Birreh Sipahi thây
Nam Sirdar dhâ
TRANSLATION.
The edge of the sword cuts, and the sword gets the credit; so
the soldier fights, but his officer gets the fame.
.pm verse-end
“Junthur Munthur.”—Sanscrit words, literally meaning
enchanting by figures and incantations.
// 100.png
.pn +1
“Ram Ram Song.”—The appeal of Hindus is invariably
to “Ram,” as the god ready to help in difficulties,
and probably an incarnation of Vishnu.
The Fakir’s song would likely be:
.pm verse-start
Ram jerôka bait-kur
Sabka mujra lay
Jaisa jiski chakri
Taiko Thysa dhay.
TRANSLATED THUS:
Ram was sitting at his window, beholding before him a vast
multitude and waiting to render to each according to the
amount of work in his cause.
.pm verse-end
“Faith opposed to Magic.”—The occult sciences have
no doubt found a congenial soil in India and the far East;
but is a belief in them restricted to the East? or rather,
are not these relics of the middle ages still found to be
lurking amongst the most enlightened of Western nations?
According to “Holwell’s Mythology,” magic and its
accompaniments were first taken to the Indus by the
Cuseans, descendants of Cush, the son of Ham, who is
credited with being the first inventor of the black art.
He quotes Eusebius as his authority.
Up to this day on the Indus there is no doubt that
many believe in the power of some specially devout Fakirs
to ascend into the air by the aid of an invisible rope. The
laws of gravity forbid, of course, our belief in the capability
of any man so to control and overcome them; but the
wonder is that some of these Fakirs are still able to surprise
and deceive so many, and that the riddle is as yet
unsolved.
// 101.png
.pn +1
In China also the power to ascend is not unknown.
Conjurors from amongst the Taoist priests ascend to a
height of twenty or thirty feet. Of this class are those
who in Manchuria call down fire from the sky.—Dr. Denny’s
“China Folk-lore.”
The wandering jugglers and conjurors on the Indus
and other parts of India have a singular refrain used as
an invocation before exhibiting their skill. The burden
of their song seems to be:
.pm verse-start
Ya! Allimas! Ya! Kulloowar Pir! Ya! Malim da Bir!
TRANSLATED THUS:
Oh! Elymas![#] Oh! black hero! Oh! powerful demi-god!
.pm verse-end
Note.—Asked to explain a meteor, or shooting-star,
the natives say, “You see! Sh[=a]it[=a]n ever since he has been
expelled from Heaven is trying to get back, and these
balls of fire, or ‘Chawathas’ which some call “Shâb”
from the Arabic, are hurled at him to keep him off, and
so they do, and he never succeeds.”
.pm fn-start
Acts xiii. 8.
.pm fn-end
// 102.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch09
THE FAKIR AND HIS QUARRELSOME WIFE.
.sp 2
In a somewhat out-of-the-way village in the Punjâb there
dwelt for many years an old Fakir who was renowned for
his wonderful self-denial and abstemious habits. He was
not one, you know, who assumed their garb merely, but
he preached to others of truth and morality, and his
character bore out all he taught. He did not wander
about, but took up his residence in this village, and so,
being always there, he came to be well known, and was
often visited by many people from distant parts.
One day another Fakir of the same branch and order
as himself, and who was journeying north, came and
claimed friendship with him, and finding him in a special
place where he usually spent his day, sat down near to
him, and talked of the things that concerned them both.
It being near night-fall the old Fakir asked his brother
of the same faith to come as his guest for the night, and
to pursue his journey on the morrow. So they trudged
together until they arrived at his hut; but when the wife
saw the guest, and knew that he was going to stay the
night, she grew much displeased with her husband, and
very abusive. It was in vain for the old Fakir to say
that his friend was a traveller, and of his own avocation;
the wife refused to be appeased. The guest finding himself
// 103.png
.pn +1
in an awkward position, asked his host whether he had
not better go on his journey at once, or find a refuge
somewhere else in the village for the night, for it gave
him great pain to listen to the angry words of a woman.
“Oh, no!” said the host, “I know she is very ill-tempered
and cross, and frequently gets put out, but I
have a great respect for her all the same, and I must
tell you the reason.
“Do you not know that I am widely known as a
good man? and in consequence of this, and of the advice
I give, I am visited by people far and near, and they all
flatter and praise me to the skies. Sometimes I have
thought to myself that if this were to continue, I should
be in danger of being proud and puffed up, and so be
ruined not only here, but hereafter. Now this wife of
mine, when she fans herself into a passion, does me real
good, and I become quite subdued; and the more turbulent
she becomes the more I control myself and am quiet. So
you see there is a balance established between us, and
the effect on me is that it softens my nature, and I am
made more and more what we Fakirs aim to be; so what
I lose in one way, I gain in another and a better way.”
The guest remained the night, and went away the
next day deeply impressed with the wisdom of his friend
and brother.
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Fakir.”—Much has been previously said under this
// 104.png
.pn +1
heading, but it is well to give here a few of the sayings
of the noted Fakir known by the name generally of “Baba
Far[=i]d,” whose shrine is still to be seen in the town of
“Pak Pattan” in the Montgomery district, not far from
M[=u]lt[=a]n. He was one of the “Chisti class” and a
Shiah, belonging to a tribe of Arab descent. The Shiahs
differ from the Sunnis in the belief that Ali ought to
have succeeded the Prophet, instead of Abubakr, Omar,
and Osman.
The shrine is an extensive one, but in order to enter
it, it is necessary to pass in by a small doorway about four
feet high and two feet broad, closed by a door made of
sandal wood, to which three locks are attached, and the
key of each is in the custody of a responsible person.
On festival days, however, which happen once a year, the
locks by some magic power fall off of themselves into a
cloth held to catch them.
The devout worshippers enter by the door, and pay
each one rupee for the privilege, and as it is calculated
that over 100,000 visit the shrine each year, the gain to
some one class must be enormous. So infatuated do the
devotees become, that it is commonly believed by them
that the parrots cry out “Far[=i]d! Far[=i]d!” as they fly over
the shrine.
There are piles of stones near “Ajmere,” arranged
in a line, and the story is that a string of camels carrying
bags of sugar were going into the city, and “Baba Far[=i]d”
meeting them enquired of the drivers what the camels were
burdened with. The drivers turned upon him with a sneer
and said, “Stones! Stones!” “Is it so?” replied Far[=i]d,
// 105.png
.pn +1
“then let it be stones!” and lo, and behold, when they
came to unload their beasts they found that the sugar had
been really turned into stones, and emptying all their bags,
they left the stones by the road-side, which are to be seen
to this day.
Several verses, or quatrains, have been ascribed to
Baba Far[=i]d, and here are two or three:
.pm verse-start
Oot! Far[=i]da suthia
Mumm ka deva bââl
Sahib jinnadhay jagthay
Nufferan keah sona nââl
TRANSLATION.
Rise, Far[=i]da, from your sleep,
Light the candle of your soul;
Thy God who is ever wakeful
His servants should not slumber.
.pm verse-end
Again, when seeing a woman grinding at a mill (one
well known):
.pm verse-start
Chukki phirtay veyk kay
Far[=i]da dhitar ro
Do purrân vitch
Akay khan na chulley koh
TRANSLATION.
Seeing the mill going round
Far[=i]da began to cry.
Between two stones he saw
The grain that comes is crushed.
.pm verse-end
And further, thinking on the mill, Far[=i]da added:
.pm verse-start
Jo loor eveng salaam thêê
kol kili dhâ ho.
TRANSLATION.
To be in safety keep close to the centre peg, which is God, where
some grains escape the mill, we know.
.pm verse-end
// 106.png
.pn +1
Again, and this shall be the last:
.pm verse-start
Oot Far[=i]da suthia
Darhi Ayah boor
Agê Ayah nairay
Piche saha dûr.
Far[=i]da aisa ho-raho
Jaisa kukh musseeth
Luthee pyree latharia
Tera Sahib nââl purreeth.
TRANSLATION.
Arise, Far[=i]da, from your sleep;
Your beard is getting grey.
That which is to come is near;
That which has passed is far away.
Strive, oh, Far[=i]da! to be
As the Musjid trodden grass,
Humble and self-abased,
Yet in friendship with your God.
.pm verse-end
Crooke says of Baba Far[=i]d, that he was called also,
Shakkarganj, or Fountain of Sweets. Shakkar being the
Persian for sugar; but more probably from the Arabic
word “Shookur,” thanksgiving. He was a disciple of
Qutub-ud-din, who lived near Delhi, who again sat at
the feet of Imam-ud-din of Ajmere, also a great name to
swear by. Baba Far[=i]d is said to have had the “Hidden
hand” (dast-i-ghaib), a sort of magic bag which gave him
anything he wished.
Every devotee who contrives to get through the door
of his mausoleum is assured of a free entrance into Paradise,
and the crowds are immense.
Pak Pattan was called the “Ferry of the Pure One,”
and the latter days of Far[=i]d-ud-Din were spent at Adjudhan,
// 107.png
.pn +1
a very ancient city in the Punjâb. This Fakir was
instrumental in the conversion of the whole of the Southern
Punjâb to the faith of Islam.
Note.—The self-inflicted penances of both Hindu and
Mahomedan Fakirs are well known, but perhaps the
“Measurement Affliction,” or “Kusht,” from the Persian
word “Kusht,” meaning “killing,” will be new to some.
It consists in making an approach to the shrine from
a considerable distance, and measuring that distance by
so many lengths of the body, foot after head, until the
shrine is reached. But few can go through this extreme
torture in the sun, and then only with the assistance of
relatives and friends, who supply sherbet and drinks to
the devotee, and keep his body cool with fans.
Note.—In relation to this Folk-tale, it is said in the
district:
.pm verse-start
Burri jungul ki wassar
Burri khullachnee nââr
Burri moorick ki hassa
.pm verse-end
There are three things that are bad:
.pm verse-start
Perpetual seclusion in the jungle;
A quarrelsome and peevish wife;
The rough horse-play of a boor.
.pm verse-end
// 108.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch10
THE FARMER AND THE REVENUE SOWAR.
.sp 2
You all know that in certain parts of our country the
farmers are in the habit of shifting their hamlets from time
to time, according to the seasons.
In winter time they go to live in the big villages,
and in the summer they dwell in the fields near to their
crops.
One summer-day a Farmer was ploughing his ground,
which was situated not far from a “kuburistan” or burial
ground, and a Revenue Sowar came up and accosted him,
and asked if the Farmer would direct him to a village
where the people were altogether, in order that the rents
might be collected. “The only place that I know of,” said
the Farmer, “where they keep together, is in that place,”
pointing to the burial ground. “This,” said the Sowar,
“is no answer, sir, to my question. What do you mean?”
and roundly abused the Farmer, and struck him with his
“chab[=u]k” or whip.
“Well,” said the Farmer, “it is quite true; whenever
anyone goes to that place he never moves again, but we
farmers always move from place to place, according to
the seasons.” The Revenue Sowar was a little impressed
by his attempt at wit, and was about to ride off, but
// 109.png
.pn +1
overhearing the Farmer saying something audibly, he
listened, and these were his words:
.pm verse-start
Hurri thi mun bhurri thi
Motian se jhuri thi
Rajah ji ke bâgh men
Dushalla orêe khurri thi.
TRANSLATION.
It was green and full
And set with pearls.
In the Rajah’s garden
She stood, and was covered with a shawl.
.pm verse-end
The Sowar said to the Farmer, “I overheard what
you were repeating, but what can possibly be the meaning
of it, for it is a riddle surely, so please enlighten me.”
The Farmer replied, “I gave you one piece of knowledge,
and you became angry and violent; however, I will
return you no ill-will, so here is the answer to take away
with you.
“Don’t you see that it refers to the ‘Bh[=u]tta’ or ear
of the ‘Indian corn’? Its stem is green, its grain like
pearls, and its covering sheath like a beautiful shawl.”
Farmers, you see, have their bits of wit; and then
he added to the Sowar:
“Sow gullân thay hait hullânh.”
“I may tell you one hundred tales, but all are inferior
to the ‘plough,’ for by it the State gets its revenue, and
the people are supplied with food.”
The Sowar left him, and went away impressed with
his quickness and mother-wit.
// 110.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Sowar.”—In former days it was usual in Native
States for those responsible for the Land Revenue to send
round “Sowars” or horsemen, to prepare the farmers for
the arrival of the tax-gatherers.
Note.—The Mahomedan Sowar of that day was presumed
to be very scrupulous in adhering to the truth,
and to say everything in exact accordance with that which
is, has been, or shall be. “How can I do otherwise?”
said one Sowar, “when my Prophet sets me the example?”
Asked to explain, he replied:
“Once Mahomed was riding on his ass, and was
accosted by a ‘perdêsi,’ or stranger, who asked him how
many legs his donkey had. Mahomed dismounted, counted,
and replied, ‘Four.’ ‘Could you not have told me,’ said
he, ‘without dismounting?’ ‘No,’ replied Mahomed. ‘Who
was to know whether, while I was talking to you, Allah
might not have given him either one leg more or less?’”
“Chab[=u]k.”—A Persian word for a whip, hence “Chab[=u]k-Sowar,”
a jockey, literally a whip rider.
“Bh[=u]tta.”—This is from the Hindustani language, and
means the Maize, or Indian corn (the Zea Mays). It
is one of the noblest of Grasses, of which perhaps the
Japanese variety is the most handsome.
// 111.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch11
M[=U]LT[=A]N AS HOT AS FIRE.
.sp 2
There was once a Fakir of the name of Shams-i-Tabriz,
his first name being that for “Sun” in the language of
the Persians, and his second being that of a great city.
This Fakir was a very noted man, and wherever he
went to reside the people flocked to see him, and he
collected in every place a large number of followers and
disciples.
His fame was spread abroad far and wide, and he
lived so long ago that it was about the time of Shah
Jehan, the Emperor of Delhi.
His custom was to visit the Shrines and sacred places
of various countries, and one day he made up his mind
to go to M[=u]lt[=a]n. Now, when the Fakirs of M[=u]lt[=a]n
heard that he was approaching their city they became
much alarmed, and concerted together to keep him out
of the place, for fear that many of their disciples should
run after him, and forsake them.
They arranged, therefore, to send a messenger to meet
“Shams,” and when the envoy came to greet him just
outside the city walls, he filled to the very brim, with milk,
a brass cup that he had in his hand, and then, addressing
himself to “Shams,” he said, “As is this cup full to the
brim with milk, so is M[=u]lt[=a]n choke-full with Fakirs, and
there is no room for you there, and I am deputed by all
the Fakirs so to tell you.”
// 112.png
.pn +1
“Shams” then turned about him, and noticing a jasmine
flower growing on a bush hard by, he plucked it, and
using great care he managed to balance it on the top of
the milk without spilling a drop out of the vessel. “Now
go,” he said to the messenger, “and tell all the Fakirs
that as the flower was above the milk, so will “Shams”
be over all the Fakirs of the city; yet he will not disturb
them, even as you see the flower has not upset the milk.”
So off went the messenger and gave the message to
the Fakirs, and they then hastily called a meeting of their
disciples, and gave command that no one should give
“Shams” aught to eat, nor prepare or cook any food that
he might bring with him.
On reaching the city “Shams” found to his dismay that
he could obtain no sustenance of any kind from the people,
and though he besought many of them, for pity’s sake, to
save him from starvation, the reply was always the same,
“We would do so ourselves, but are in fear of the Fakirs.”
At last when almost perishing with hunger, “Shams”
went to a butcher, who so far relented that he gave
“Shams” a piece of meat, but refused to cook it for him.
“Shams” in despair then turned his eyes to the skies
and made a bitter appeal to the Sun, saying, “You are
‘Shams,’ and I am ‘Shams’; we are both called the Sun,
so I beseech you to come to my aid and cook for me
this piece of meat, that I perish not with hunger.”
In a moment the Sun heard his request; and lo!
and behold! he approached nearer to M[=u]lt[=a]n by a spear
and a half’s length, and the meat was cooked by the
greater heat, and the hunger of the Fakir appeased.
// 113.png
.pn +1
Owing to this remarkable heat, the occurrence of
which the Fakirs and people attributed to “Shams,” they
all came and asked his pardon, which he readily granted,
but declined to alter the position of the Sun over the
city; so M[=u]lt[=a]n has remained, from that day to this, the
notoriously hot place that it is known to be.
It is celebrated, said the narrator, for four things:
its heat, its dust, its beggars, and its graveyards; and
this M[=u]lt[=a]n has had three names already, viz., Huss-pur,
Bhag-pur, and M[=u]lt[=a]n, and will eventually, before the end
of the world, be called Trah-pur Sult[=a]n.
“Shams” continued to remain in the city, gathering
together numbers of disciples, and eventually died there.
A magnificent tomb was erected to his memory, which
may be seen to this day.
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Shams-i-Tabriz.”—To this day the Shrine of this
saint is to be seen in M[=u]lt[=a]n. He lived in the time of
the Emperor Shah Jehan, who had a passion for building
tombs and palaces. The well-known “Taj Mahal” was
erected in his reign, A.D. 1627 to 1657.
This tale can hardly be classed as “Folk-lore,” but it
was given as tradition, and it is interesting as indicating
the element of superstition which has come to be embodied
with what is actual matter of fact.
Shams-i-Tabriz was a Sufi philosopher, and the leader
// 114.png
.pn +1
of Jalal-ud-din, and tradition says that he was flayed alive
at M[=u]lt[=a]n.
The Sufi doctrines are well known both in India and
Turkey, and are followed to this day, and they rest all
their system of morality upon the practice of Divine love,
and the Fakirs are their exponents.
Sufis have laid down the following rules for their
disciples:
.dv class=font85
.in +8
.ti -4
Hear, attend, but speak little.
.ti -4
Never answer a question not addressed to you, but if asked answer
promptly, and never be ashamed to say “I know not.”
.ti -4
Do not dispute for disputation’s sake.
.ti -4
Never boast before your elders.
.ti -4
Never seek the highest place, nor even accept it if offered to you.
.ti -4
Do not be over ceremonious.
.ti -4
Observe in all cases the etiquette appropriate to the time, place,
and persons present.
.ti -4
In indifferent matters conform to the practice and wishes of those
with whom you are associating.
.ti -4
Do not make a practice of anything which is not either a duty or
calculated to increase the comfort of your associates, otherwise
it will become an “idol” to you, and it is incumbent on
everyone to break his “idols,” and renounce his habits.
.rj
(See Hughes’ “Dictionary of Islam.”)
.in -8
.dv-
It has been said by Major Osborne in his “Islam
under the Khalifs of Baghdad,” that the spread of this
Pan-theistic spirit has done harm to the Mahomedans;
and that the true function of religion is to vivify and
illuminate all the ordinary relations of life with light from
a Higher world. The weakness to which religious minds
are peculiarly prone is to suppose that this world of working
life is an atmosphere too gross and impure for them
to live in. They attempt to fashion a world for themselves
// 115.png
.pn +1
where nothing shall soil the purity of the soul, or disturb
the serenity of their thoughts.
“Tabriz.”—Is the chief town of the Persian province
of Azerbij[=a]n, or as some call it Adebaijan, the ancient
city “Media Atropotene,” so called from Atropates who
after the death of Alexander made himself independent.
Mount Ararat rises on the N.W. border, or as the Persians
call it “Koh-e-Nuh,” or Noah’s Mountain.
“Bh[=a]gp[=u]r.”—Bh[=a]g is the Sanscrit for “destiny,” and
P[=u]r is the Sanscrit for a City, as also is P[=u]ra.
“Sult[=a]n.”—This is the Arabic title for a King or
Emperor, but sometimes is applied to saints and martyrs, as
for instance, Sult[=a]n Surwar, an eminent Mahomedan Saint
whose shrine is at Baluch, not far from M[=u]lt[=a]n, and who
was distinguished for his purity of manners. At his tomb
it is narrated several miracles were performed. (See
“Araesh-e-Muhfil.”)
It may be added here that several sayings are attributed
to Shams-i-Tabriz such as the following:
.pm verse-start
Badshâh noonh bheek mangâwânh
Mangla noonh takht Bahâwânh
Pul vich “oolut pullut” kurr sathân
Dhun Hookum merah sirdahi dhâh
TRANSLATION.
Kings I can bring to beggary;
Beggars I can place upon a throne.
In a moment I can dissolve all things;
For mine are the orders of supremacy.
.pm verse-end
Burton says that the people of M[=u]lt[=a]n slew him in
order to keep his body with them, but we can trace no
local tradition as to this.
// 116.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch12
SH[=A]IT[=A]N AND HIS SAVAGE WIFE.
.sp 2
Once upon a time “Sh[=a]it[=a]n,” or the Devil, who, as we
dwellers in India know, has the power to transform himself
into man or animal whenever it pleases him, one day took
it into his head that he would go round the world in the
garb and appearance of an ordinary traveller; and so
admirably disguised was he, that one day he visited one
of the villages in the Punjâb, and finding two men seated
at one of their places of meeting, or “Hûzrâhs,” talking
and smoking their “hookah,” he approached them as if
to speak.
Believing him to be some traveller wearied by his
journey, the two young men asked him to sit down, and
then they offered him a smoke and a drink of water.
As they were talking and chatting, they heard a great
noise in the village, and suddenly they saw a farmer who
was being pursued and beaten by his wife. The young
men recognised the woman, and at once said to the
stranger, “We know the character of that wretched
woman; she is worse than ‘Sh[=a]it[=a]n’ himself.” Whereupon
“Sh[=a]it[=a]n” said, “No! there I cannot agree with
you, for how can any woman be more hateful than
‘Sh[=a]it[=a]n,’ who is the accursed one, and wears on his
neck the necklace of evil?”
// 117.png
// 118.png
// 119.png
.pn +1
.if h
.il fn=i10.jpg w=469px id=i10
.ca
SH[=A]IT[=A]N AND HIS SAVAGE WIFE.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
[Illustration: SH[=A]IT[=A]N AND HIS SAVAGE WIFE.]
.if-
The young men said, “Well my friend, if ever you
get married, and have a wife like that woman; you will
remember what we have said, and you will then think
her not merely as wicked as ‘Sh[=a]it[=a]n,’ but a thousand
times worse.”
After taking some refreshment he pondered over these
words, and bidding them “salaam” “Sh[=a]it[=a]n” went on his
way.
It was some little time after this when “Sh[=a]it[=a]n” did
take unto himself a wife, and as it happened, she turned
out to be a most violent woman, and used to abuse and
maltreat him on every occasion, and would even go so
far as to kick and beat him and torture him in a variety
of ways.
Their youngest and best child was a son, and she
would even chastise him, and if the father remonstrated or
interfered with her, he would always come in for a large
share of her ire and abuse. When “Sh[=a]it[=a]n” had pondered
over the sad plight he was in, his thoughts reverted to the
saying of the young men in the village, and he said to
himself, “Tobâh! Tobâh! Oh tush! fie! why certainly this
wife of mine is worse than the woman in the village, yes
a thousand times worse.”
Now this son began to grow up a bit of a demon in
nature, and as time wore on, it was necessary that he
should be given something to do, so his father one day
called him aside and said, “I want you to hear some
advice from me,” but the son replied, “I know you are
my father, but I could never be advised by you, for you
are ‘Sh[=a]it[=a]n,’ and you never did give good advice to
// 120.png
.pn +1
anyone.” “That is true,” said the father, “but though
I know it is my way to give bad advice to all, I could
not do so to my son: come to me at all events, and
hear what I have got to say,” “Say on!” replied the
son, “and I will listen.”
“You know,” “Sh[=a]it[=a]n” said, “how you and I are
maltreated by your mother, so that life is wellnigh unbearable
to both of us: now, my advice to you is that
you go on earth as a ‘Hak[=i]m,’ or doctor.”
The son replied, “I know nothing of medicine, and
how could I be a physician?” “That is of no consequence,”
said his father; “you do as I tell you, and all
will go right. When, for instance, you are called to see
a patient, as soon as you enter the room, the first thing
you do should be to look at the head of the bed or
‘charpai,’ (literally a sleeping place with four legs, ‘char’
meaning four and ‘pai” legs, in Persian). Should you see
my shadow there, you should at once say to the people of
the house, ‘Do not I pray you spend any more money on
the patient, for he is sure to die.’ The people will then
say, ‘What a marvellous doctor is this, for he tells us
before-hand that he knows the patient will die, and will
not receive any fees!’ By this means your fame will
become great all over the country.
“But if you should not see my shadow at the head
of any patient’s bed, then you should prescribe any simple
thing which is known to the common people round about,
and of course you will know from the absence of my
shadow that the patient will get well, and your renown
will go on increasing in this way.”
// 121.png
.pn +1
The son listened to this counsel, and, thinking for
a little, he said, “Very good! I agree,” and it was not
long ere he began to practise his profession amongst men.
True enough, in an incredibly short space of time his
fame became noised abroad, and he found himself in an
extensive practice.
One day it happened that the Nawab of the country
where he was, had a near relation very ill, and hearing
of the skill of this doctor, he sent off servants and horses
and carriages to bring the doctor in great pomp to the
Palace.
Thither he went without delay, and he was received
by the Nawab at the door of the Palace, and after they
had partaken of sherbet and had smoked a “hookah,” the
Nawab showed the way to the room where the sick relative
was.
The Hak[=i]m, or doctor, followed very thoughtfully
and anxiously, and he kept cogitating to himself, “I sincerely
hope that my father’s shadow will not appear to-day
over the bed-head of this most important patient, for it
is everything to me that it should not, and that the
patient should recover.” He was taken along passages
and corridors, and at last they reached the room where
the sick man lay, and to his horror there was the shadow
and no mistake, and he almost collapsed on the spot.
After sitting a while near the patient, feeling his pulse
and asking questions in the usual way, he requested all
persons to quit the room, in order that he might be alone
with the patient for a little while.
All this time he was thinking to himself how he
// 122.png
.pn +1
could possibly expel and get rid of the shadow, this father’s
“shadow” which now stood between him and his fortune;
when all of a sudden the thought rushed in upon him,
“I know what I will do!” So raising his voice to its
highest pitch he shrieked out, “Father! Father! Mother
is coming!” Whereupon the “shadow” vanished with one
rapid jump, and never again returned.
As the tale runs, the patient got quite well very
shortly after this, and the Hak[=i]m was advanced to high
honour and position in the dominions of the Nawab.
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Sh[=a]it[=a]n.”—From the Hebrew word “Shuttun,” to be
hostile; hence the Arabic “Sh[=a]it[=a]n,” opposition. According
to Mahomedan tradition, he has four lieutenants, viz.,
Muleeqa, Hamoos, Nabloot, and Yoosoof.
By some he is known as “Iblis” from the Arabic
word “despair,” and the wife of a “Sh[=a]it[=a]n” would be
termed “Bhutn[=i]” in Sanscrit. In Persian the leader of
evil is called “Ahurmun,” (Burh[=a]n-i-k[=a]ti), or the evil
principle.
Crooke classes “Sh[=a]it[=a]n” with Jinn, or Genii. Divided
into the Janii, who are the least powerful of all, the Jinn,
the “Sh[=a]it[=a]n” or devils, the “Ifrit” and the “Mar[=i]d,” or
rebellious ones, the last of whom rule the rest, Jan is
sometimes identified with the Serpent, and sometimes with
“Iblis,” which has been imported direct from the Greek
// 123.png
.pn +1
“Di[=a]bolos.” Some have wings and fly; others move
like snakes and dogs; others again like men. (Vide
“Folk-lore of Northern India.”)
Dennys, in his “Folk-lore of China,” says that the
belief in the existence of demon monsters is in full force
in China. One of the Emperors who flourished about
A.D. 700, having been taken ill, dreamt he saw a blue
half-naked demon coming into his Palace.
He stole the Empress’s perfume bag, and also the
Emperor’s flute inlaid with precious stones, and flew off
with them to the Palace roof. Suddenly there appeared
another blue devil, but of giant stature, wearing a black
leathern high boot on one foot, the other being bare, and
he had on a blue gown. One arm was like his foot bare,
with which he wielded a massive sword. His mouth was
like that of a bull. This fierce-looking monster seized
the little one, and with a blow made an end of him. The
Emperor asked this monster demon what his name was.
He said his name was “Tsung Kivei,” and that he was a
Colonel Commandant over all imps, ogres, wraiths, hobgoblins,
and the like, under heaven. The Emperor was
greatly flattered at the visit, and awoke to find his illness
gone. He called a painter to paint for him what he had
seen, and it was so faithfully executed that he ordered
two hundred ounces of gold to be given to him, and
that copies of the painting should be distributed through
the Empire, so that all the people might know and respect
this blue bull-headed demon. To this day he holds a
conspicuous place in the temples of the people. According
to other tradition the name of the wife of “Sh[=a]it[=a]n”
// 124.png
.pn +1
was Aw-wa, and she bore him nine sons, and their names
are given in Burton’s “Arabian Nights,” but as Crooke
says, which of these was the worthy of the text does not
appear.
“Tobâh! Tobâh!”—From the Arabic, meaning penitence;
when coupled together it carries the signification
of “Oh fie! I promise to sin no more.”
“Sick room.”—It is usual in the native palaces when
anyone is sick to have men waving a fan and a “chauri”
over the head, to drive away evil spirits who may be
fluttering in the air, as well as to act as a preventive
to further disease. They are often seen in the hands of
attendants upon the gods. “Chauri” is the Hindustani
for a whisk or fly-flapper of hair.
“Hookâh.”—The Hookâh as shewn in the illustration
is the Indian pipe and apparatus for smoking. The
tobacco, or in the Hindustani language, the “gurakoo”
is put into the tobacco holder or “chillum,” and the smoke
is passed through the water in the Hookah and becomes
cold and purified. The flexible tube which conveys it
to the mouth is called the “naicha,” and the mouth-piece
is of silver or amber. Hookhâs were much improved in
the reign of Akbar.
// 125.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch13
SAKHI, THE GENEROUS MOSLEM.
.sp 2
In a certain village in the Punjâb there lived a long
while ago, a very charitable old Mahomedan of the name
of “Sakhi,” which being interpreted from the Arabic tongue
means “liberal.” This faithful and patient old Mussulman
was famed through all the country round for his repeated
deeds of charity, and he was visited by many mendicant
folk, who profited not a little from his kindness and
hospitality.
The result of all this almsgiving was that in the end,
he himself became very poor, or as the native translation
more nearly renders it, he “became as dry as a fish baked
in the sun.”
One day, as the tale goes, two Fakirs, “Kallundars,”
or begging monks as they are sometimes called, were on
their way to Mecca to perform that pilgrimage which is
obligatory on every devout Moslem once in his life, and
on their way thither they had to pass through the village
in which “Sakhi” resided, so they made up their minds
to pay him a visit, and obtain his blessing on their journey.
As they entered the village they accosted the first
man they met, and asked him to direct them to the house
of the famous “Sakhi.” This man, who was no other
than “Sakhi” himself, replied, “The name of names is
// 126.png
.pn +1
the name of Allah, and I am named ‘Sakhi.’” Whereupon,
according to his custom, he invited them to his
abode, and when they entered it they were at once struck
with the signs of poverty that were to be seen on every
side; the hut, for such it literally was, was almost devoid
of furniture, and the place was quite comfortless.
“Sakhi’s” wife rose at their entrance, and he then
told her, under a breath, to set food before the travellers,
but she replied “You have given all your substance away
and nothing is left. ‘Kyâ Kuren!’ she said, or what is to
be done?” “Sakhi” replied, “These are holy men and must
be entertained, so pray borrow of our neighbours.” “Sakhi”
then followed his wife for a brief period, which gave time
for the travellers to say one to another, “How poor he
is; and though we are hungry let us eat sparingly, and
leave some on the dish for him and his family.”
Meanwhile the wife had procured some “[=a]t[=a],” or flour,
and in a short time placed before them some “chap[=a]ties,”
or thin cakes, and they all began to eat, and “Sakhi’s”
daughter had a portion taken to her.
After they had all eaten, the travellers rose to go,
and with many salaams, and wishing peace and safety to
the house, they were just on the point of starting when
“Sakhi” said, “I must go with you a little way to put
you on the right road, for there are many cattle tracks
about the village, and you might miss your way.” So
saying he accompanied them very nearly to the main road,
when they finally bid him “adieu,” wondering most of all
that though he was so very poor he seemed to be so
happy and contented.
.if h
.il fn=i11.jpg w=470px id=i11
.ca
SAKHI, THE GENEROUS MOSLEM.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
[Illustration: SAKHI, THE GENEROUS MOSLEM.]
.if-
// 127.png
// 128.png
// 129.png
.pn +1
“Sakhi” now turned to go back, when to his astonishment
he saw a column of smoke ascending from the
village, and he quickened his pace, when he met a man
running to tell him that his hut had been burnt down,
and that both his wife and daughter had perished in the
flames.
“Sakhi” on reaching the spot, found this to be only
too true, and when he could safely venture near, he saw
to his horror, only their charred remains, and at once
cried out “It is the will of Allah; he is One, and
Mahomed is his prophet. I shall leave this place and
go into the City, and seek service under the King.”
So off he went on his journey feeling much distressed,
but confident that something good would turn up. His
way lay through a rather dense jungle where there were
in some parts of it, patches of very high grass. In one
of these he thought he would rest himself, and as it was
time for the mid-day prayer, he performed his regular
devotions, and holding out his hands as usual to receive
the blessing, he spoke out rather more audibly than he
was wont to do, when to his utter amazement he heard a
voice calling out, “Rescue us, save us from this misery!”
He then groped about in the long grass, and discovered
that the sound came from a deep, dry well, and looking
down he saw a man in great trouble, who must have
fallen in by accident he thought, and then peering closer
he descried also a jackal and a snake.
The jackal roared out, “Take me out of this place,
and take out the snake, but do not take out this bad man.”
“Sakhi” replied with the usual generosity of his nature,
// 130.png
.pn +1
“No, if I take out one I shall take you all out.” So
saying, he undid his “kummerbund,” or waistband, and
finding that it was not long enough to reach to the bottom
of the well, he bent his turban on to it, and lowered it
down, telling the man to tie his turban on to it also. By
this little contrivance he managed to get them all up to
the surface in safety. The snake to evince its gratitude,
vomited from its mouth a small lump of gold, which
Indian snake-charmers quite believe that certain snakes
can do; and asking “Sakhi” to follow him, he shewed
him some wonderful herbs that would cure most of the
ills that flesh is heir to, and which no man was yet acquainted
with.
.if h
.il fn=i12.jpg w=464px id=i12
.ca
SAKHI, THE GENEROUS MOSLEM.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
[Illustration: SAKHI, THE GENEROUS MOSLEM.]
.if-
On his return to the well, the jackal expressed his
thanks for his deliverance by saying that whenever “Sakhi”
was in trouble, if he thought of him, he would come to his
relief; “but beware,” he said, “of the man, for he will
get you into distress.” The man was not much concerned
about thanking “Sakhi,” but as he was very weak and
faint “Sakhi” felt for him, and they journeyed on together
very leisurely. “Sakhi” found out that he was going to
the same city that he had set out for, and that he was
in very truth the son of the King. When they neared
the city, the Prince said, for such he was of course,
“Give me that piece of gold I entrusted to your charge.”
“Sakhi” replied, “You never gave me any gold, and how
can I return to you what I never received?” “We will
see about that,” said the Prince, and they had no sooner
entered the streets than the Prince, who was at once
recognised by the people, called out to one of the “Burkandâzis”
// 131.png
// 132.png
// 133.png
.pn +1
or armed Police, “Seize this man and search
him for a piece of gold he has robbed from me.” This
they did, the gold was found upon him, and “Sakhi” was
taken before the executive, found guilty, and sentenced
to the torture peculiar to that country.
This punishment consisted in stripping the body, and
placing over it the skin of a newly killed heifer, the head
only of the victim being exposed. The prisoner was then
put into the hot sun so that the skin might dry upon
his flesh and gradually eat into it. “Sakhi” was so treated,
and bore all his pains with patience, and recited to himself
for his comfort, portions of the Koran which he had committed
to memory. He was daily under the charge of
a guard, whose duty it was to take him to and from his
prison-house, and to watch over him during the day. One
day “Sakhi” observed that the sentry was muttering to
himself, and apparently in grief, so “Sakhi” asked him
what was the matter, and he replied, “Our King is very
ill, and none of the doctors can cure him.” “Oh,” said
“Sakhi,” “I am a medicine man, and I can cure the
King, I do not doubt.” This news soon reached the
ears of the people about the Court, and “Sakhi” was
taken before the Vizier, and there repeated what he had
said to the sentry.
The Vizier ordered that the skin should be taken off
“Sakhi” which caused him much physical pain, and indeed
could only partially be removed. “Sakhi” was then put
into clothes again, and leave was given him to prepare
his remedies. “Sakhi” then went at once into the jungle,
procured the herbs pointed out to him by the snake,
// 134.png
.pn +1
and made from them a draught which he gave to the
King. The King believed in his skill, continued to
follow the treatment, and in a very short time he became
quite cured of the disease from which he was suffering.
“Now,” said the King to “Sakhi,” “you have been the
means of restoring me to health, and as I made an oath
at the point of death, that whoever cured me should have
my daughter in marriage, and be possessor of half of my
kingdom, so now I shall proceed to keep my word.” The
King accordingly commanded that the proper document
should be made out, and upon a fortunate day being fixed
by the astrologers, the royal marriage was celebrated with
every pomp and display. So the poor and patient “Sakhi”
was thus greatly rewarded and enriched.
But he was not spoilt by splendour, for he never
neglected as the proper hours came round, to say his
prayers five times a day, as the custom is of every devout
Mahomedan.
The morning prayer was said at the river side, near
the Palace, where he prostrated himself in worship on an
open green sward.
One morning, the jackal whom he had rescued from
the well came to him with a beautiful flower in its mouth,
and he said to “Sakhi,” “Take this flower; I found it
on this green bank after five Fakirs, or ‘Panj Pir,’ had
been worshipping here. It has a most fragrant smell,
but one thing I must tell you: let no one know you
possess it.” So “Sakhi” thanked the jackal, tied the
flower in his waistcloth, and went home.
The perfume of the flower was so strong that his
// 135.png
.pn +1
wife at once perceived it, and asked what he had about
him that smelt so sweet. “Sakhi” for a long time evaded
the question, for he had in his mind the warning of the
jackal, but at last, in a weak moment, he drew it from
his waistbelt and handed it to his wife, saying, “I have
yielded to your entreaties, but you must tell no one else
about it.” One day her mother came to visit her, as she
often did, and by some accident “Sakhi’s” wife dropped
the flower on the floor, which her mother picked up unperceived,
and took away with her, when it at once dried
up. The wife had no sooner lost the flower than she
became depressed and like a mad thing, and at last told
“Sakhi” that she should die unless it could be recovered;
so distressed indeed was she, that she quite worried him
out of his life. “Sakhi,” one morning when he was at
his usual place of prayer by the riverside, thought of the
jackal, and he was not long before he made his appearance.
He then told him all about the flower, and what
misery and suffering it had brought upon his wife since
the day she had lost it. The jackal remonstrated, and said
he could not get another, for it was left on the bank by
the five holy men who had never been seen again, but he
felt sure that there was some talisman about it. “Sakhi”
said, “Oh! If you could only tell me whither they went,
so that I might follow them and get them to take the
spell off my wife!” The jackal replied, “They dived
into that deep pit in the river, that I am sure of, and
never rose again.”
Then “Sakhi” bethought him that he would also
// 136.png
.pn +1
dive in there at the same spot, and see what fate and
fortune might have in store for him.
Thereupon he made a plunge from the bank, and oh!
wonder of wonders! He found himself in a glorious place,
and mid bowers of bliss, and precious stones shining in
every direction, so that he was quite bewildered. This
was indeed to him rapture and enjoyment, and while he
was trying to collect himself, he felt a touch from someone
near, and he recognized the voice of the daughter he
had lost in the fire, who welcomed him with all affection,
saying, “Mother also is here; I will go and call her.”
So “Sakhi” felt that this was true happiness indeed,
to be in such a place with his first wife and daughter, and
he decided to remain where he was, and which he now
knew must in very truth be the Paradise of Mahomed.
Never more did he wish to return to earth again, to be
worried by his second wife who was under the spell of
that enchanted flower.
And so ends the Story of “Sakhi the Generous,” and
may we all learn to bear our troubles with the same
patience and resignation that “Sakhi” did.
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
This is one of the tales, says Crooke, of the grateful
Animal cycle, for which see Köhler and Crooke.
“Sakhi.”—From the Arabic word, “sakhi,” meaning
liberal, generous.
“Kallundar.”—From the Arabic word, “kallundar,”
// 137.png
.pn +1
a kind of monk who deserts the world, wife, and friends,
and travels about with a shaven head and beard. They
belonged to a sect of the Kadiri Fakirs, akin to the Sufis,
and do not refuse to take “murids” or followers; but the
Sufis only tolerate them.
“[=A]t[=a].”—A Hindustani word, meaning flour, or meal.
“Ch[=a]p[=a]ti.”—Also a Hindustani word, meaning thin
cakes of unleavened bread.
“Snake and small lump of gold.”—“Old Folk-lore.”
See Crooke’s reference to Pipa the Brahmin, who gave
offerings of milk to a serpent on the banks of the Sampu,
or “Snake Lake,” and was rewarded daily by the serpent
with two pieces of gold. In “Chinese Folk-lore” (Dennys)
the Emperor Hoti found a wounded serpent in his path,
and having cured and released it, was rewarded by a carbuncle
of exceeding brightness which the snake brought
to him. The belief is, however, common to many races,
and the superstition has been extended to toads and fish,
and even to horses. Serpent worship is akin to this, but
this subject is too elaborate to refer to here.
“Panj Pir.”—“Panj” is the Persian for Five, as the
five fingers, and with the Shiah Mahomedans it is a
standard, and the extended hand is carried on a pole
during the Mahomedan Mohurrum Festival. As also the
Panjutun which are the five holy persons amongst Moslems,
viz., Mahomed, Ali, Fatima, Hasan, and Hussain.
Sentences from the Qor[=a]n are repeated at this festival,
and the Fakirs and others call out in chorus, “Yahoo!
Yahoo!” the Arabic for “Jehovah,” He who is; He who
exists. (See Qanoon-i-Islam.)
// 138.png
.pn +1
“Dwelling beneath the River.”—This prevails widely
through the folk-lore of many countries. Moore in his
“Manx Folk-lore” has a long article upon “Dwellings
under the Sea,” splendid cities, towers, gilded minarets,
and so forth.
“Wells.”—In the original it is “Kooh,” in Sanscrit
“Koo[=a],” in Persian “Ch[=a]h.” These are wells from whence
the water has to be obtained by lowering a cord or rope.
A well into which people descend by steps to get water is
termed “B[=a]ol[=i],” from the Hindustani language.
In some of the “Koohs” it is a practice to place during
winter, frozen snow, and when this melts in the summer
months, it is drawn out and sold as “Aseah” water, and
is much appreciated.
It is considered by the people to be a good action to
build a well for the general use of travellers, and a still
further work of merit to build a tank, for then both animals
and birds can also enjoy the benefit.
There are many witty sayings in regard to wells, but
one or two must suffice from this district.
In giving advice to another about to take an important
step, the saying is:
.pm verse-start
Têk thrup nâl kooh deh vitch viso
Hazah thrup nal na asô.
TRANSLATED THUS:
One jump will take you into a well, but a thousand will not take
you out of it.
.pm verse-end
If one wishes to say that another has laid a trap and
got caught himself, the saying is:
.pm verse-start
Châ Khundah, Châ derpesh.
// 139.png
.pn +1
TRANSLATED THUS:
If you dig a well for another, you will fall into it yourself.
.pm verse-end
Note.—In the 12th century there actually lived a saint
called “Sakhi Sarwar,” whose real name was Sayyid Ahmad.
His father is said to have been a native of Baghdad. In
another legend he is represented as a disciple of the
celebrated Pir Dastagir of Baghdad. Close to the tomb
of this saint is a shrine to Baba Nanak, the founder of
Sikhism, and a temple to Vishnu.—Crooke.
It may be that the “Sakhi” of this tale refers to
this saint.
“'Sakhi’s’ grief under torture.”—A common saying
amongst the people to express the fact that no one is
without suffering is thus given in part Persian:
.pm verse-start
Darin duneâh kussay bê ghrun nebashad Agar barhad, to bunsie
Adam nabashad.
THUS TRANSLATED:
In this world no living mortal is without grief; if such an one
perchance there should be, then he is not of the sons of
Adam.
.pm verse-end
Further Note as to Snakes.—There are several kinds
of snakes known in the district by snake-charmers, but
some of the most important are as follows. First and
foremost is the well-known Cobra; one is called Kooruj;
another Mushkee, of a black colour; a third Chujlup, or
hooded, from the hood being like Chuj, or a winnowing
basket; a fourth is termed Kukkur, also a hooded snake,
but of a light colour.
Of miscellaneous snakes there are Batung, Bhullard,
and the Theer-Maâr, a small snake found in the roofs
of houses. Another has a spotted body, is small, and
// 140.png
.pn +1
has a broad head; this is called Phissee, or Kurnndâwah.
Another is the Sangch[=u]r, a snake of most rapid movement,
having a dark body, very glossy skin, with white
spots here and there. Of this snake the charmers stand
in great dread, for it is instant death to be bitten by it.
To show how deadly this is, they say that the snake
calls out, “Get out of my way, for fall you must at once,
and I don’t want you to fall on me.”
Snakes, as has been already said, are worshipped by
Hindus, and the Cobra is a special object of worship, as
being intimately connected with many of their idols and
deities, especially by the worshippers of the Lingam, the
form under which Siva is worshipped, the most bigoted
perhaps of all Hindu sects.
When the child of a Hindu is suffering from a disease
called Sokrâh, or S[=u]kh-Chari (atrophy), or wasting away,
it is usual to have it washed under a Cobra, and the
water thus falling over the snake on to the child is
believed to have healing properties.
The well-known “Bezoar” stone (from the Persian
words “zahr,” poison, and “p[=a]d” against, a concretion
found in the stomachs of goats or antelopes), for the cure
of snake poison, and is called in the district “Zahr Muhra”;
and again to cure dogs of distemper it is a common
practice to wash them with the cast skins of snakes,
called Khainchillee. It may be added here that snakes,
it is said, can be killed with snuff thrown into their eyes
and mouth.
Some have doubted whether it could be possible for
snakes to be charmed, especially as many naturalists have
// 141.png
.pn +1
asserted that the greater part of them are deaf. The
Authors can, however, certify to the fact that hooded
snakes can be brought under the spell of a shrill musical
pipe even when in concealment. The pipe the Indian
snake-charmers use is called a “Tunbi;” or by some a
“Bansh[=i]” or flute is used.
However, to continue this subject might as we have
before said, lead us into Ophiolatry, which is outside the
scope of these Explanatory Notes; but we may say this,
that the change of skin by the Serpent has no doubt been
easily associated by some minds, with the springing up
of a fresh life, or an endless existence; and so has been
one of the means towards the worship of this Reptile.
// 142.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch14
THE PRIEST, THE WASHERMAN, AND THE ASS.
.sp 2
There lived, many years ago, in the city of Azimgurh,
in the north-west of India, a Moslem Priest, or “Moola,”
who, as is usual with that class, added to his income by
teaching the Mahomedan youths of the place.
By chance an old Washerman, or “Dhob[=i],” and his
wife while travelling homewards came to the city, and
put up under a tree adjoining the Mosque where the
Priest lived, and tied their ass to the tree. The old
couple were rich, but were unfortunately childless.
Some time during the day of their arrival, they caught
a glimpse of a man who was gesticulating before the Priest
in a tone of violent complaint, and they could not help
hearing all that he said: “You are the Priest,” he called
out, “and I have paid you all the fees you asked, but
you have taught my son nothing at all, and every day
he is either idling or playing about in the dusty roads
with other worthless urchins.” Upon this the Priest became
greatly enraged, and retorted, “Not taught him
anything! It is false; he has been educated like the
rest.”
.pm verse-start
“Yah Yah ka kulma partraya
Gudhê sê admi bunaya.”
.pm verse-end
// 143.png
.pn +1
Which means, “I have taught him the creed of Yah Yah,
or of the righteous ones, and though he came to me an
Ass I have made him into a man. You ungrateful wretch!
I will have nothing further to say to him, and you may
take him out of the school.” Upon this the man left
the Priest and went away down the road.
The ignorant old Washerman and his equally old and
ignorant wife having been silent listeners of all this conversation,
put their heads together, and began to talk of
what they had heard. The Washerman said to his wife,
“Did you not hear the Priest say that he had changed
an ‘ass’ into ‘a man,’ and you know Priests can do
wonderful things! I am just thinking that if he could
work a change in our ‘ass’ and make out of him a
‘son’ for us, what a blessing it would be! For we have
only this one thing short of being completely happy.”
The old wife eagerly caught at the idea, and replied,
“Yes! Allah has given us much wealth, but what good
will it be to us when we die; strangers will get it; but
if we had a son he would inherit it, and our cup of joy
on earth would be full to the brim. Let us go to the
Priest, and make a bargain with him, that the curse of
having no son may no longer rest upon us.”
Whereupon they both sought an audience of the
Priest, and approaching him, said, “Oh Sir! we are both
very old, as you see, but we have plenty of money; but
Sir, saddest of all things to tell you is that we are childless.
Now Sir, we overheard you say that you had
transformed an ass into a man. We have an ass, but
we have not a son; would you be so good as to change
// 144.png
.pn +1
him for us, and we will give you any sum that you like
to name.”
The Priest was struck all of a heap with surprise
and astonishment at this preposterous request, he said
nothing for some minutes, but simply stared at the aged
old couple while he collected his thoughts. “These
people must clearly have heard me speaking angrily to
the father of the worthless scholar, and have taken my
words altogether in a literal sense, but here is evidently
a run of luck for me which must not be thrown away.”
Thus he soliloquised, and the old couplet fixed itself in
his thoughts,
.pm verse-start
Gân kê pooreh-get muth ki heenay
Khuda tujhê deta-mai leta keunnahin.
TRANSLATION.
.nf-
.pm verse-start
These are rich in purse but weak in intellect;
Allah gives you the chance, why should you not take it?
.pm verse-end
Then after this little pause he turned to them and
said, “I have been considering what is best to be done
for you. To comply with your request is indeed a difficult
task, though not impossible. If you will tie your ass
to that tree, and come to me a year hence, you shall
have a son, for it will take all that time to make so
complete a transformation. Give me now therefore one
thousand rupees, and go back to your home, and be
sure you return to me punctually in a year’s time.”
The old people were only too pleased to close with
the Priest, so they paid him the money, tied the ass
to the tree, wished him a hearty farewell, and went on
their journey homewards.
// 145.png
.pn +1
When a year had elapsed the old Washerman and
his wife, with their hearts bounding with delight at the
prospect of welcoming a son and heir, started on their
travels again to meet the Priest, and in due time arrived
at the Mosque.
“We have come, Sir,” they said, “according to
promise, to claim our son.” The Priest replied, “You
are indeed a couple of old fools; if you had been true
to your time and had come a week ago you would have
seen him; but now, owing to his great learning, he has
been appointed the “Kazi” (Doctor of Mahomedan Law)
at Jaunp[=u]r.”
The Priest had hit upon this ruse, and had determined
to play off a joke on this Kazi of whom he was extremely
jealous.
“But,” replied the old couple, getting alarmed, “how
is it possible that he will recognise us unless you accompany
us?” “Don’t distress yourselves; I cannot go,
but if you will take this rope with which you always
tethered your ass, and the ‘Tobrâ’ or nose-bag in
which the ass had his grain, and go to Jaunp[=u]r all
your difficulties will vanish. Time your arrival in the
city on a Friday at the hour of prayer in the Mosque.
You will see a large concourse of people being addressed
by your son, who was, you know, your ‘ass.’ Put
yourselves in a position where the Kazi can plainly see
you, then keep shaking the rope and the nose-bag, and
he will soon discover who you are, and come and claim
you as his father and mother.
So off they went to the city of Jaunp[=u]r, reached
// 146.png
.pn +1
it on a Friday, and went straight to the Mosque, placed
themselves in a conspicuous part of the outer building
within sight of the Kazi, and began, with a vengeance,
to whisk before him the nose-bag and the rope.
In a very short time the Kazi noticed this strange
proceeding, and sent one of the congregation to find out
the cause, but they told him to tell the Kazi that they
had a profound secret which could only be told to the
Kazi himself and to no other mortal.
The Kazi, impelled by curiosity, asked permission of
his audience for a few moments of leave, and then taking
the old couple aside, he begged of them to tell him the
reason of their strange behaviour. With bated breath,
and with the deepest earnestness did the old Washerman
and his wife pour into the Kazi’s ears the whole of the
strange story of his having once been their ass: how for
years they had overloaded him with kindness, and never
spared the cudgel when he had been obstinate; how
they deeply regretted their conduct towards one now so
exalted as they saw their son to be; how, but for the
wonderful power of the Priest of Azimgurh such a blessing
would never have come to them; and how their cup of
happiness was now complete.
The Kazi at once took in the situation, and saw the
plot that his arch enemy had so cleverly planned against
him, and being a wise man he thought to himself, “If
I repudiate this absurd story, in the belief of which these
ignorant people have bound up their lives, it will be sure
to be published abroad, to my own annoyance, and from
being respected I shall be mocked and turned into ridicule,
// 147.png
.pn +1
and in fact be the laughingstock of the place. I am
resolved what to do; I will quietly acquiesce in what
they say, and so get rid of them.” Turning to the old
couple he said, “Yes; it is all too true, and from henceforth
your interests are my interests, your good name is
identical with mine, and I will carry it on. But let me
bind you by all that you hold sacred that you never
breathe a word of this marvellous change that has taken
place in my being and existence. If you never reveal
this secret, I will be a dutiful son to you all my life.”
This the old Washerman and his wife agreed to abide
by in every iota, only stipulating that when they died,
which in the course of nature was not far off, he would
be present to see them interred according to Mahomedan
rites. This the Kazi on his part faithfully promised to
do, and the old couple took their departure to their own
home with every expression of joy and delight, and left
all their money to him when they died.
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Azimgurh.”—“Azim” is the Arabic for great, and
is used wherever Moslems have spread, in names of towns
and in titles, such as Azimgurh, Azimpur, or Azim-us-Shan,
meaning splendid.—Balfour.
“Kazi.”—From the Arabic, and means a judge or
justice—one who determines and decrees in Mahomedan
law.
// 148.png
.pn +1
In days long gone by the ruling of the Kazi was
thought more absolute than it is now, and there was then
no appeal from his judgment. As a class they were
greatly respected, though some were believed to be able
to read the law pretty much as it suited them.
The natives tell a story of one of these old Kazis
who had two favourite sons, named Juttoo and Juttal,
and during a severe famine these lads were seen to be
eating the flesh of an animal that had died a natural death,
which is strictly contrary to the Mahomedan law. The
complaint was made to the Kazi of the evil example they
had set to the people, but he, willing to screen them,
enquired of the deputation what the animal was. They
replied, “Kotha” (an ass). “And what colour might
it have been?” he further asked. They replied, “Chitta”
(white). Then making a pretence of hunting up several
of his law books, he said, “I find an exception here in
the case of a white ass, and I therefore thus decree:
.pm verse-start
Julloo and Jullal
Chitta kotha Hullal.
TRANSLATION.
To Julloo and Jullal
The white ass is judged lawful.”
.pm verse-end
From the earliest times, the White Ass (Albino) has
been reserved for the use of those who might be highly
honoured. In Hindustani the Ass is termed a Gudh[=a]
and is of the same breed as those domesticated from the
original African Ass. They are used in India mostly by
Dhob[=i]'s, and a homeless race called the “Yerkala,” and
it is said they cripple their hind legs to prevent them
// 149.png
.pn +1
straying. Most of these Asses have one disposition, that
they are averse to crossing a stream of water.
For the transformation of men into animals and vice-versâ,
see Crooke’s “Popular Folk Lore of Northern
India.” This metamorphosis is common throughout the
whole range of Folk-lore: thus, in one of Somadeva’s
tales, a man is turned into an Ox, in another his wife
transforms him into a Buffalo, in a third the angry hermit
turns the King into an Elephant.
// 150.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch15
AKBAR AND HIS MINISTER.
.sp 2
In the great and glorious days of the Badshah Akbar
(Emperor), he had a very favourite minister of the name
of B[=i]rbal. This minister was without doubt the ablest
statesman at the Court, and no State question was decided
without reference to him.
Some say he was also a general in the army, and
that by his skill he greatly assisted Akbar to extend
his dominions. B[=i]rbal was, however, a Hindu, a Br[=a]hman of
the tribe of Bhât, and his real name was Mahes D[=a]s, but so
tolerant was “Akbar Badshah” to all religious sects that
if a man were wise and skilful he cared not of what
faith he might happen to be. B[=i]rbal was also full of
wit and humour, and had such a pleasing way of putting
things, that he could talk to the Badshah in a manner
that other ministers would not dare to do.
It so happened, however, that one day he unwittingly
gave offence to the Badshah, and so enraged did Akbar
become that B[=i]rbal, fearing his wrath, fled the country.
Disguising himself as a Fakir, he begged his way from
village to village, and at last settled down on the extreme
frontier of the Badshah’s empire.
.if h
.il fn=i13.jpg w=467px id=i13
.ca
AKBAR AND HIS MINISTER.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
[Illustration: AKBAR AND HIS MINISTER.]
.if-
Days and months passed by, and the Badshah began
to feel more and more the loss of his once favourite
// 151.png
// 152.png
// 153.png
.pn +1
minister, and though himself searching in the villages near
at hand, and making diligent enquiries everywhere, he
failed to discover the slightest trace of him.
Crushed by grief and broken-hearted, he at last called
a council of his ministers, and stated to them how much
he missed the presence about him of his old attached
friend B[=i]rbal. They, perhaps somewhat jealous of his
pre-eminence in the mind of the Badshah, seemed to be
callous and indifferent as to his fate. Whereupon the
Badshah became as enraged with them as he had before
been with B[=i]rbal, and threatened to decapitate them if
his hiding-place were not soon discovered, and the runaway
brought back to him.
The ministers and nobles in their alarm, at last hit
upon an expedient which they submissively laid before
the Badshah.
They said, “Oh Badshah! If an order is given
throughout the Empire of so senseless and foolish a nature
that it will be impossible for any of your Majesty’s subjects
to comply with it, there is just a chance that we
may be able to find out the place of concealment of the
ever terse and humorous B[=i]rbal.”
The Badshah listened to their suggestion, told them
to act up to it, but under any circumstances, and at the
cost of their heads if they failed, B[=i]rbal must be brought
ere long into the Presence.
Accordingly an edict went forth calling upon the
“Headman” of every village in the Dominions, on pain
of death, to bring the principal “well” of the village to
do obeisance to the King’s “well” at the Palace. The
// 154.png
.pn +1
edict was entrusted to horsemen who conveyed it to every
village in the Empire.
The whole country was filled with lamentation and
distress, for it was seen to be impossible to conform to
the order of the Badshah.
When the proclamation reached the village where
B[=i]rbal was in hiding, he shared in the sorrow around
him, and bethought him of a way of escape for the people,
but he was known to them only as a Fakir.
At last he said to the Headman of his village,
“Take with you some of your principal tenants, and go
to the outside of the Badshah’s Palace; then send a
messenger within the Palace, to say that in obedience to
the order of the Badshah you have brought your ‘well’
without the walls, and that it is ready to do obeisance
to the King’s ‘well.’ Say also that as it is the custom
of the country for the elder brother to advance to meet
the younger, that as soon as your ‘well’ sees the King’s
‘well’ approaching to it through the gates of the city, it
will without delay rise to pay its respect, and accompany
it back to the Palace.”
This they did exactly as the disguised Fakir, B[=i]rbal,
had told them. Arriving at the outside of the city walls
they deputed the most intelligent man of their party to
present himself before the Emperor.
The Emperor was seated on his “Peacock Throne,” or
“Takht-e-Taoos,” having on the right of the Throne a
courtier carrying the “Golden Hand” to keep off the
Evil Eye, and known as “Punjah,” from its having five
fingers extended; and upon the left another courtier,
// 155.png
.pn +1
bearing the emblem of the Fish, termed in Arabic the
“Mahee-Moorâtib,” the badge of dignity and success.
The Messenger advanced to the Throne and stated
his mission to the Emperor, and ended by saying that
the “well” of his village was without the city walls,
waiting to receive the King’s “well.”
The Emperor was baffled for the time, and then
turning to one of his ministers, he directed him to visit
the delegates beyond the walls. The minister went, and
at once returned, saying that the reply to the Badshah’s
order and to the proclamation, given with such sagacity
and wit, could come, he thought, from no other than the
absent minister. This the Emperor was ready to credit,
and a clue being thus obtained, the ministers formed a
party and proceeded to the village, where after some
little time, they succeeded in discovering B[=i]rbal in the
austere garb of a mendicant Fakir.
Surprised and powerless, he was conveyed back to
the city, and to the Royal Presence, and the Emperor
came forward to receive him; and then after a few formal
greetings the Emperor ordered a robe of honour to be
brought and put upon him, and he was again promoted
to his position and rank at the Court.
It was not long after this that the country was at
war again with the Pathans and tribes in the “Bun[=e]r”
Mountains. B[=i]rbal was given the chief command, and
here in one of the first engagements he was unfortunately
killed, but his name still lives amongst us as the most
able and witty minister that the Badshah Akbar had ever
called to his councils.
// 156.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Akbar and B[=i]rbal.”—Both Akbar and B[=i]rbal have
their place in history, about A.D. 1586, and doubtless this
tale is told amongst many others current in India in order
to keep in memory the wit and humour of Akbar’s most
favourite minister. It is not old folk-lore, but finds a
place here as oral tradition on the Indus, in the valley
of which river Akbar was born.
“B[=i]rbal.”—Another tale is told of the same minister
who when tauntingly asked by the Emperor Akbar why
he did not make an effort to turn all Moslems into Hindus,
replied, “Oh King! that is too serious a question to
answer off-hand, but give me time and I will tell you
why.”
Hearing some days afterwards that the Emperor was
going down to the riverside B[=i]rbal contrived to have
a man vigorously washing and lathering a donkey with
soap. “See here,” said the Emperor, “here is a novel
sight!” “Yes,” replied B[=i]rbal, “and a very good reply
too to the question your Majesty put to me the other
day. We believe that Hindus are to Mahomedans as
horses are to jackasses, and you see, your Majesty, that
all the washing and lathering in the world will not make
the donkey into a horse, neither can I by any power that
I possess transform a Moslem into a Hindu.”
Yet another tale is current on the Indus, intended to
perpetuate the wit and wisdom of B[=i]rbal.
One day the Emperor begged of his minister to solve
the problem of there being so many religious sects in the
// 157.png
.pn +1
Kingdom, such as the “Roshan.”[#] B[=i]rbal, it is said,
took the Emperor to a large hall, supported by many
pillars all similar, but one of which only was of fine gold.
There was but a dim light in the hall, and without it, was
a large concourse of people. B[=i]rbal addressed them and
said, “You know that all the pillars are much of a shape,
but one is of gold; who shall discover this? Let me see.”
.pm fn-start
A Heresy under “Bayazid,” who set aside the Qor[=a]n, and the many divisions
amongst the Hindus.
.pm fn-end
In an instant there was a rush for the hall, and in
a little time when light was thrown on the scene, each
pillar had its man clutching it in strong embrace, but
only B[=i]rbal knew that which was of gold.
“Behold, oh King!” he said “the scramble for the
prize; so it is in the world around us: all rush and
divide off into sects to lay hold of the prop and support
of immortal happiness, each in the firm belief of exclusive
possession. It will only be when the true Light shines,
that the Deity who alone has the secret shall pronounce
the reward.”
There is a class of Hindu boatmen of Attock who
keep themselves entirely apart from the other boatmen
who are Mahomedans.
They are called Mullâhs, from the Arabic and meaning
boatmen, and their tradition is that their ancestors
were brought up to Attock by Akbar from further south,
as being skilful oarsmen.
Another local legend at Attock is that the native
engineer who made the plans for the old fort had his
hands cut off by the native Rajah, lest he should design
// 158.png
.pn +1
another for an enemy; and this is current in Ghazi to this
day.
With reference to the extended hand to keep off the
Evil Eye, and carried as an emblem on the right of
Akbar’s throne, it should be stated here also that it is
often carried on a pole by Mahomedans of the Shiah sect
during the Maharram. It is often imprinted too on huts
and houses for the same purpose.
The standard of the fish, or in the Persian, “Mahee-Moorâtib,”
conveys special honours to princes and nobles.
“Mahee” in Persian means Fish; the Fish on which the
earth is supposed to rest. The word “Moorâtib” is from
the Arabic “Martibah” and means Dignity and Honour.
“The Fish is the vehicle of “Kwâja Khizr,” the water
god, and hence has become a sort of totem of Shiah
Mahomedans, and the crest of the late Royal Family of
Oudh.”—Crooke.
Pictures of fish are often drawn on houses as a charm
against demoniacal influence, and we know, that the “Matse
Avatar,” represents the incarnation of Vishnu in the form
of a Fish; and emblematic also of the Deluge.
There are many expedients resorted to, to keep off
the Evil Eye, amongst others, iron rings, precious stones,
colours (particularly red and yellow), the triangle of equal
sides, and pots and chattis, or earthenware pots, smeared
with lime. The triangle might possibly be traced to
the three Genii, or Hindu Triad, seated in a triangle, or
“Tricuta.”[#]
.pm fn-start
In the abode of the departed, said to have been seen by Thespesius of Soli.—Purânâs.
When the apex of the triangle points downwards Kishnu is symbolized,
if upwards it is the symbol of Siva.
.pm fn-end
// 159.png
.pn +1
Armlets to the same intent, and called “Tawiz,” from
the Arabic word, Auz, “fleeing to God for protection,”
are in constant use, as a charm, and it would seem that
the Jews recognized the same practice, possibly from the
command in Deuteronomy xi. 18.
To speak in praise of a child to its face before the
parent is to call up the Evil Eye, and is a cause of much
alarm. If unwittingly done by a friend, the parent will
ask him to spit in his hand in order to take off the spell.
A particular woodpecker, called the Babeeâh, has an
evil spell and is dreaded on account of its bringing
heavy rains, to the injury of agriculture, and in a village
called Vasnal the farmers and villagers all turned out and
drove it from the district, and the rain, they say, at once
stopped.
Very often, in a large melon field there are placed
one or two black chattis, so that the eye of passers-by
may rest on these first, before they see the melons, and
so take off any evil spell.
We may add here what is not generally known, that
the Emperor Akbar, who gave the greatest encouragement
to literary accomplishments, appointed B[=i]rbal to be
the Royal poet under the name of “Katr[=a]e.” None of
the poems he wrote have, as far as we know, been
preserved by Abul-Fazl or others, but we presume that
they would have been of the usual figurative type of
those days, as for instance the comparing of the narcissus
flower to the eye, and the feeble stem of that plant bending
over with the weight of the flower, to the languor
of the eyes. Pearls again signifying tears or teeth, and
// 160.png
.pn +1
the lips to carnations or rubies, while the gums are said
to be as the flower of the pomegranate tree, and the dark
foliage of the myrtle, is thought to be like the dark hair
of the one beloved; or again the eye is said to be like
a sword, and the eyelids scabbards, the white complexion
to be like crystals of camphor, while the musk plant is
said to betoken a beauty spot on the face. (See Hughes.)
“Peacock Throne.”—This was studded with valuable
diamonds and precious stones, and was considered to be
worth seven millions of money.
// 161.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch16
THE RAJAH, HIS MINISTER, AND THE SHEPHERD.
.sp 2
There lived many years ago a great Rajah in a country
far away from our village; and he was a very enlightened
and clever man, and used to travel about to add to his
information and knowledge.
On one of his journeys he met a man who told him
that there was at no very great distance off, a city where
everyone was wise, from the King on the throne to the
poorest beggar in the street.
“That is impossible,” said the Rajah, but the man
persisted in the truth of his statement, and said, “If you
do not believe me go and see for yourself.” This the
Rajah had determined in his own mind to do, but for
the present he returned to his own Palace.
Calling for his favourite minister he told him of what
he had heard, and said, “I should much like to visit
that city, and acquire some further experience and wisdom;
for knowledge, I find, can only come from what one sees;
and you must accompany me on my travels;” to which
the minister readily assented.
Conversing again together some few days afterwards,
they began to arrange about the time and manner of going.
“It will not do, oh King!” said the minister, “for your
rank and title to be known, nor indeed for me to appear
// 162.png
.pn +1
as your Vizier. We must throw a veil over all this, and
go in disguise, or we shall never succeed in getting to
know the wisdom of this wonderful people and city. Let
us go as respectable travellers only; then we shall be able
to go in and out of the streets without anyone molesting
us.”
This idea pleased the Rajah, so they had some
dresses secretly prepared, and on a propitious day they
took their departure from the Palace. The Rajah knew
the road, and in a few days they reached the spot where
he had met the man who gave him this piece of news.
“From hence,” he said to his Vizier, “the city cannot be
far, for the man assured me it was at no great distance
from where we are now standing.”
They pushed on, and in two or three days a city,
surrounded by a high wall, was in full view before them.
“This,” said the Rajah, “is sure to be the place, for it
has an air of solidity about it. See! there are gates to
go in and out of it!”
Before, however, venturing into the city, the travellers
sat down to rest on a little mound of grass just outside
the walls. They got into conversation together, and observed
a shepherd, or “Ajuree,” who was grazing his goats and
sheep very close to where they had sat down. The Rajah
said to his minister, or Vizier, “I should like to put to
you four questions, just to sharpen our wits a bit.”
The narrator of the tale then turned, and said to his
hearers, “You know that the shepherd is of all classes
the most stupid and ignorant; he takes his goats and
sheep each morning into the jungles, tends and feeds
// 163.png
.pn +1
and guards them, and before night-fall he returns with
them to the city; so he hears no information, and has
no means of picking up knowledge of any kind.”
The Rajah then, within hearing of the Shepherd,
of whom he took no apparent concern, propounded his
questions as follows to the minister:
“My first question is: Of all lights, which, say you,
is the best light?” “Well,” replied the minister, “that
is not difficult to answer, for there is no light equal to
that of the sun which is indeed the centre of all light.”
“Now for my second question,” said the Rajah. “Of
all waters, which is the best water?” “That again is
of simple solution, for what water can be compared to
that from the Ganges? for in life we Hindus worship
it, and at death, when put into our mouths, it insures to
us mercy at the last.” “Very good: now I come to my
third question. Of all sleep, which is the best sleep?”
to which the minister replied, “What sleep can be more
refreshing than to recline on a soft couch after a fatiguing
day?” “Now,” said the Rajah, “for my fourth and last
question. Of all flowers, which is the best flower?”
“This,” replied the minister, “requires little thought, for
the “Gul,” or rose, has been the favourite flower from
all ages; it is beautiful to look at, and has the sweetest
of all perfumes.”
After the Rajah had finished his interrogations he
overheard the Shepherd laughing aloud, and he thought
he caught the word “fool,” so he turned to him and
asked, “What was that you said?” To which the Shepherd
replied, “I was talking to my goats, and not to you.”
// 164.png
.pn +1
“But you did say something referring to us; what was
it?”
“Well,” returned the Shepherd, “I do not mind telling
you that I heard the questions you put to that man,
whoever he is, and the silly replies he gave you. You
asked him which was the best light, and he said the Sun.
No, sir; the best light is that of your eyes, for what use
is the Sun to you if you are blind? Again, you asked
him which was the best water, and he replied, that from
the Ganges, the beloved Ganges; but he should have
said, the little store of water in a dry and thirsty land
when the far-off Ganges would be of no avail. Then
you asked him of the best sleep, and how foolish his
reply! He should have said, the sleep of health, which
will come to refresh you on whatever you may recline;
and as to the last question, of the flower, he praised the
“Gul” as the best of all, whereas he should have said, the
flower of the cotton plant, for the rose fades and leaves
no useful trace behind, but with the cotton plant we have
both a beautiful and fragrant flower, and when that falls
off, there succeeds a pod which supplies a substance from
which we weave our cloth, to provide us and our descendants
after us with necessary garments.”
As soon as the Shepherd had concluded this little
speech the Rajah turned and thanked him; and then
looking at his minister he said quietly, “What think you
of that for an ignorant shepherd caught hap-hazzard near
the place? And if he can make such fools of us both,
who knows what may happen to us when we enter the
city? What think you? Have we not had evidence
// 165.png
.pn +1
enough of the wisdom of this people? So my advice is
that we retrace our steps to our own country, and try
and educate and improve our people, even as they have
done.” To this the Vizier at once consented, and they
journeyed homewards, wiser men than when they set out
upon their expedition.
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Vizier.”—From the Arabic word, “Wuzir,” literally,
a bearer of a burden. A Grand Vizier is the highest temporal
dignitary in Mahomedan States. The title of “Wuzir”
dates from the 8th Century and was conferred on the
Chief Minister of the first Abbaside Califs, a dynasty
which reigned at Baghdad from about A.D. 740 to 1,250,
and they derived their name and descent from a paternal
uncle of Mahomed.
“Shepherd.”—The Hindustani word, and that in frequent
use, is “Gadry[=a],” from “G[=a]dar,” a sheep, but in the
original the local word is “Ajuree,” Ajur being the term
for flocks and herds, and “Ajuree” the caretaker.
The shepherds of this and many other districts are
a simple-hearted set of men, owing not a little to the
rustic kind of life they lead. In this district they possess
some few sheep and goats of their own, but more frequently
they graze the flocks of the neighbouring farmers.
The dogs they have, usually two or three to each shepherd,
are bred and trained in the district.
// 166.png
.pn +1
They are fierce and savage to strangers, but docile
and obedient to their own masters, clever in protecting
the flocks from wild animals, and in controlling their movements
from place to place. They do not come at the call
of a whistle, but at the shrill cry of “Toh! Toh!” several
times repeated. The names they give them are generally
after the colour of their hair. A black dog would be
called “Kaldo” or “Kulwa.” A spotted dog would be
“Dubboo.” A yellowish grey dog would be called “Gaindar,”
and a reddish coated dog “Loha.” For dogs of a
dark grey the term would be “Sauah,” and a white dog
“Bugla,” after a crane of that colour. It is not an uncommon
thing for a dog to be called “Motee,” a pearl.
Some fine dogs, and standing over three feet in height,
shaggy in coat, bushy tail, small ears and eyes, not fleet
but powerful, are bred in the hills in the Kangra district.
They are called “Gudhi” dogs, after a Hindu shepherd
tribe.
These dogs will not live long in the plains. There
is another fine hill dog bred in the country round about
Chitral, as large as a good-sized Newfoundland, with a
head like a mastiff, and long hair.
These Gudhi shepherds in the extreme winter come
down to the lower ranges of hills, together with all their
sheep and goats. The farmers are glad to let them pen
their flocks on their fallow land for a few nights, the
shepherd and his dogs being fed by the farmer, who
receives more than his equivalent in the manure afforded
by the flocks.
The shepherds for the most part carry a staff, with
// 167.png
.pn +1
or without a crook, and by way of a solace they have
a wind instrument, of music called an “Algh[=u]za.” It is
something in the shape of a piccolo, and usually to
obtain the double notes they put two in the mouth at the
same time. They also have sometimes a fife, called a
“B[=a]nsli” These are all made out of a hard wood, and
sometimes from bamboo.
If you ask a shepherd why he grazes goats and sheep
together, he replies that but for the nimble goats he
would never get the sheep along. When a murrain
breaks out amongst the goats, which it sometimes does,
there is a class of men called “Unga” who inoculate
the healthy goats behind the ear with a portion of the
caul of the liver of one diseased, and this has the effect
generally of stopping the spread of the disease.
To protect the flocks and herds at nights from the
depredation of wild animals, the shepherds in the summer
time raise a high ring fence of thorny bushes; in the
winter they are housed at nights in the closed sheds.
The Indian Shepherds have a custom which is purely
Asiatic, of preceding their flocks to pasture, as in the words
of the Psalmist “He shall lead me beside the waters of
comfort.” Most of the Nomad races in India are shepherds,
and in Asia generally they were so. Moses herded the
flock of his father-in-law Jethro, and David tended his
father’s sheep.
// 168.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch17
THE BANJ[=A]RA, HIS DOG, AND THE BANKER.
.sp 2
Once upon a time there was a Banker, or “Sait,” who
lived in a large city in Northern India, and being a man
of great wealth was held in high repute by the Rajah
and people of the place.
He had all the cunning of his class, and had amassed
the most of his fortune by lending money at a high rate
of interest, and by giving credit to men engaged in commerce.
.if h
.il fn=i14.jpg w=515px id=i14
.ca
THE BANJ[=A]RA, HIS DOG, AND THE BANKER.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
[Illustration: THE BANJ[=A]RA, HIS DOG, AND THE BANKER.]
.if-
One of his debtors was a “Banj[=a]ra,” or grain merchant
who had owed him some money for a considerable time,
and had paid neither interest nor any portion of that
which he had borrowed. These Banj[=a]ras are well-known
people all over India, where they are scattered in large
and small communities. They are the possessors, you
know, of herds of cattle, which they employ as pack
animals to convey their goods and grain from place to
place. It is interesting to meet them as they wend
their way from one camping ground to another, headed
by the leading bullock, which is called the “Guru Bail,”
or “Sainted Bullock.” This bullock is ornamented in
every direction; the horns and pack-saddle with cowry
shells, bits of scarlet cloth, peacock’s feathers, and tassels
// 169.png
// 170.png
// 171.png
.pn +1
of various colours, while its neck is encircled by a band
of leather carrying tinkling bells of different sounds.
The Banj[=a]ra of this story was one day again obliged,
on matters of business, to go to the city where his creditor,
the banker, lived; so, to avoid meeting him, he encamped
some distance off and then went singly and alone to the
city, in the hope that he might not come across him;
still he was haunted with the old native saying, oft repeated,
“If you have not seen a tiger, then look at a
cat, and if you do not want to see the Angel of death,
then keep out of the way of your creditor.”
As ill luck would have it, however, he had no sooner
got into the streets of the town than upon turning a
corner he came face to face with the Banker, who instantly
recognised him, and carried him off to his house,
and demanded that immediate payment should be made.
It was quite in vain for the poor Banj[=a]ra to sue for pity
and forbearance, for the debt was an old one, and the
Banker was both hard and unmerciful.
At last the Banj[=a]ra bethought him of an expedient
and said, “Permit me to go to my encampment, and I
will beg and borrow from my friends, and return to you
with the money without fail in three days’ time.” “No,
no,” said the Banker; “I cannot trust you again out of
my sight, and by my influence here I could, you know,
get you thrown into prison. If indeed I were merciful
enough to let you go to your encampment for the money,
I should require the very best security.” “I know no
one in the city,” replied the Banj[=a]ra; “What can I do?
Oh dear! what can I do? But wait a moment. Here
// 172.png
.pn +1
is my best friend, my faithful dog, “Kaloo” (Kala is
“black” in Sanscrit); “take him as my pledge and
security that I will return and pay you all I owe.”
Now a Banj[=a]ra’s dog is of a breed well known in
India; he is ready of resource and of wonderful sagacity,
and obedient to the voice and gesture of his master in a
very marked degree.
After some considerable demur the Banker at last
consented to take the dog as security, and bringing a
collar and chain to the Banj[=a]ra, he bid him tie up the
dog in the yard of his house.
This the Banj[=a]ra did; then patting and caressing
his dog he said, “Now, ‘Kaloo,’ remember you are not
to leave this house until I come back to fetch you; if
you run away you will disgrace my name, and I will
never forgive you.”
After thus addressing his dog he made a hasty
“salaam” to the Banker, and took his departure.
When the Banj[=a]ra had returned to his encampment
he found the packs as he had left them, still under their
awning of blankets, and as it was sun-down the cattle
were being picketed in a circle round the packs, and the
fires were ready for the night, while the dogs were roaming
about outside on their usual guard over the camp.
Saluting his friends he said, “Now give me, please,
a draught of water to drink,—not like the sweet water of
the S[=a]gar Lake, my friends, where you know the firstborn
of our race was sacrificed to the goddess ‘Devi,’
to appease her wrath for drying up the lake,—but the
pure crystal stream from the hills.”
// 173.png
.pn +1
He had soon refreshed himself with a draught, and
then went round the encampment in order to collect the
money due to the Banker, and by early the next morning
he had got together enough to liquidate the debt.
In the meantime strange things were happening at the
Banker’s house, for on the night of the very day when
the Banj[=a]ra had gone for the money the house was
attacked by some “badm[=a]shes,” or thieves, who carried
off several bags of rupees.
“Kaloo” gave tongue, and barked loudly, but he
failed to rouse the inmates, and the thieves made off
with their booty. At last “Kaloo” succeeded in breaking
his chain, and he followed the thieves along the road,
who finding that the dawn of day was rapidly coming on,
hastily deposited the money bags in a tank, intending at
some future time to come again and remove them.
“Kaloo” noticed all this, gave up all further chase,
and returned to the Banker’s house. When the household
rose in the morning it was soon found out what
had happened during the night, and in very quick time a
large concourse of friends and neighbours came round
about the house, and condoled with the Banker and his
family at the loss they had incurred. There were offers
of help on every hand, the police were sent in pursuit,
and all that could be done was done to help the great
Banker of the city.
While all this stir was going on some of the friends
noticed that the dog was much agitated, and was every
now and then pulling at their garments. Many drove
him off, and even the Banker said, “As if I had not
// 174.png
.pn +1
worry enough without being annoyed by a dog which does
not belong to me!”
Then the Banker told all his friends how he came
to be possessed of the dog which belonged to a Banj[=a]ra.
Shortly afterwards an old man of the party, who knew
the quick intelligence of these Banj[=a]ra dogs, said, “I think
the dog knows more than you give him credit for; look!
he has come to me, and I shall go where he leads me.”
Soon others followed in the train, and the dog went
knowingly along the road until he came to a dead stop
near a tank, and went in. The old man said, “There
is something here, depend upon it; let some young man
go into the tank and make a search.”
This was done, and lo and behold! one bag of rupees
was brought up out of the tank, and then another, and
another, until all had been recovered that the Banker had
lost.
Then came shoutings and congratulations from all the
people upon this wonderful discovery, and loud praises
were lavished on the Banj[=a]ra’s dog who had found out
the hiding-place of the thieves. The Banker himself was
so overcome with delight that he gave presents to his
friends all round, and then looking at “Kaloo” he said,
“You faithful dog! you most blessed of all securities! I
shall now write out a receipt in full for the money your
master owes me, and tell him all that you have done, and
you yourself shall be the bearer of the good news to
him.”
This he at once did, and tied the receipt and the
letter on to the collar of the dog, and giving him a good
// 175.png
.pn +1
feed he dismissed him to his master with many smiles and
blessings.
“Kaloo,” thus released by authority, and proud of
having done his duty, ran off with great joy to seek his
master.
It was not long ere he saw his master hurriedly returning
to the city, and running up to him he began to
play round about him, and to show every sign of interest
and affection. To “Kaloo’s” dismay, however, his master
did not respond, but on the contrary, was in great anger,
and much disappointed that his hitherto faithful dog had,
as he thought, broken his chain and run away from the
Banker’s house, where he had lodged him as security. In
a loud voice he said, “Kaloo,’ you are a ‘Namak Harram’
(traitor to your salt); did I not tell you to wait till I
released you? But instead of that you have disobeyed
me, disgraced my name, and I can no longer have any
confidence in you, and you are not fit to live.” Whereupon
he at once drew his “talw[=a]r” (sword) from its
scabbard, and at one cut severed poor “Kaloo’s” head
from his body. “Wretched dog!” he said, “This is the
first time I have known you to deceive me, and you
richly deserve your fate.” Stooping down, his eye suddenly
caught sight of a piece of paper tied to the dog’s
collar, and hastily opening it he discovered to his utmost
dismay that it was the Banker’s receipt in full for all the
money that he owed him, and with the receipt was a
letter, yes! a letter, describing how that the faithful dog
had been the means of his recovering all the property
// 176.png
.pn +1
that some thieves had stolen from his house on the same
night of his departure from the city.
Plunged at once into the direst horror and grief at
what he had done, and alone on the road with his faithful
friend dead before his eyes, he could not resist the impulse,
and seizing the open talw[=a]r he thrust it into his
own body, and so perished by the side of his favourite.
In this state were they found, and the story of the Banj[=a]ra
and his dog, and the spot where they died, have ever
since been treasured up in the memories of the people.
Moral, or “Nasihut”: Keep always a steel-plate
upon your temper, and a “Rothâs” bridle on your tongue,
which you know is the strongest of all, and never give
way to rash and impulsive acts.
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Sait.”—This is a Sanscrit word for a banker, and is
pronounced “Seth.” The word “Chetty” is derived from
this, as applied to “Tamil” traders in Burmah and the Straits
Settlements. Those who take up purely financial matters
are astute men of business; lending money at exhorbitant
rates of interest they get many of the farmers into complete
subjection to them. They are wise enough to keep
in with the people generally, and often build masonry
tanks and dig wells for general use. Sometimes in the
very hot weather they will employ a high caste Brahmin
to provide drinking water to passing travellers, and will
keep them in their pay for a whole hot season.
// 177.png
.pn +1
The natives of the district have their saying about
this, as they have about every class, and it runs as a
proverb from mouth to mouth:
.pm verse-start
Paisah ourrâh cheez
Sub noo kurdhâh yar uzeez.
TRANSLATED THUS:
Money is a great and rare article, and quite a marvel,
For it makes everyone claim for you the strongest friendship.
.pm verse-end
“Banj[=a]ra.”—Derived either from the Sanscrit word
“Banj,” meaning Trade, or from the Persian word “Brinj,”
Rice, and “Ar,” Carrying.
The Banj[=a]ras are wandering tribes, leading a sort of
gipsy life. They possess many valuable pack animals,
and carry their own grain, and that also of farmers, from
one part of the country to another. As a rule they are
well-to-do.
They are divided into several “Gôts,” or original
races, some of them children of the stock of “Thurkee,”
“Baidh,” and “Subanna,” and many claim “Gour Brahman”
as their ancestor. Nearly every community has a
Chief, or “Naik,” or “Tanda,” who lives a life of
asceticism, and to whom they yield implicit obedience.
Some Banj[=a]ras are known to engage in gang robberies,
but this is rare with most of the tribes.
They are to be found both amongst the Mahomedans
and Hindus. Amongst a particular class of them “bull
worship” is said to exist. When sickness occurs the sick
man is led to the feet of the bullock “Hatadiya,” devoted
to the god “Balaji,” a Hindu deity of Gujerat. On this
animal no burden is ever laid, but he moves steadily at
// 178.png
.pn +1
the head of the convoy, and the place he lies down on
when tired, that they make their halting-place for the
day.
At his feet they make their vows when difficulties
overtake them; and in illness, whether of themselves or
cattle, they trust to his worship for a cure.—Crooke.
They are believed to have been originally the grain-carriers
for the old Moghul armies, and had many privileges
given to them in consequence. Distance and climate do
not stand in the way of their conveying grain from one
part of the country to the other, and being held in fear
by other natives, they are never molested or interfered
with. They are gradually dying out, as the traffic in
grain is being carried on by other means.
“Faithful Dog.”—Dogs play a prominent part in the
Folk-tales of most countries, and in India they have ever
been the cherished companions of many tribes. With the
Banj[=a]ras they are the sentinels of their encampment; as
it is so well known they are equally so to the Bedouins in
the desert. It is believed by many that they are in touch
with the spirits of their dead, and a sure protection from
evil influences.
There are many legends and omens about them in
the district, too numerous to mention here.
.pm verse-start
It is not lucky for a dog to lie on its back.
It is not lucky for a dog to be given to howl.
It is lucky for a strange dog to follow one home.
.pm verse-end
.ni
And so on.
.pi
When the natives see the wild dog in the jungles,
(and they are still existing there) they marvel at the triumph
// 179.png
.pn +1
that man has had over them, to bring them from such a
fierce and savage state to be so close a friend and companion.
Crooke says there is an old bit of folk-lore from
the Mirzapoor district, where the merchant kills his
faithful dog near a tank.
Our thoughts will also take us to the old Welsh tradition
of Prince Llewellyn’s hound, still kept in memory
in the name of the village, Beddgelert, or grave of “Gelert.”
These are but further instances of the common groundwork
of all folk-lore.
There are two breeds of the Banj[=a]ra dogs known in
the district. They are not unlike the “Gudhi” dogs bred
in the Kangra district, but devoid of their woolly and
shaggy coat. The ears with one of the breeds are carried
erect, and they stand over two feet in height. They are
devoted to their individual master, and remain attached
to him till death. They seem to anticipate his every
wish and thought, and almost to assume a certain likeness
to him.
An unfaithful dog is spoken of as:
.pm verse-start
Khandhâh peendhâh saeent-dha ghur
Vungh Bhonkdhâh kassâe dha ghur.
THUS TRANSLATED.
He eats and drinks at his master’s house,
But he barks for and protects the butcher’s shop.
.pm verse-end
// 180.png
.pn +1
.sp 2
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch18
HOW AN EVIL SPIRIT WAS EXORCISED.
.sp 2
Once upon a time there lived in the city of Peshawar,
not very long ago, an old Priest who had obtained a
reputation for the power he possessed over malignant
spirits. This Priest usually had under his tuition two or
three boys who were “Jinns,” and to whom as it pleased
him from time to time he communicated the knowledge
he possessed of the black art.
This old Priest came to dwell in the village of Haji
Shah, and took up his abode near to the Mahomedan
mosque there. This mosque was in close proximity to
the quarters of the “Chuprassies,” who you know, are
employed by the Sirkar or Government in the suppression
of salt smuggling.
The Chief of these “Chuprassies” had in his household
a man of the name of Gopee, whose brother Shivedas was
one of the “Chuprassies,” and lived with the others in the
quarters provided for them.
Shivedas was occasionally seized with violent fits, and
when under their influence would rave like a maniac. All
kinds of medicine had been tried to relieve him of the
disorder, but it was all in vain; so at last his friends left
him to himself, and only sought to prevent his doing any
injury to himself when the fits came upon him.
// 181.png
.pn +1
One day when Shivedas was returning to his quarters
he was again attacked by his old malady, and so violent
was he on this occasion that it took four men to hold
him down on his “charpai,” or bed. His brother Gopee
was at once sent for, and he found him in one of the
severest fits he had ever had. On reaching his bedside,
Shivedas cried out, “Save me, Gopee; save me!”
Those round the bed, and the four holding him, said,
“Why do you not do something for your brother?” He
replied, “I have done all I can, but there is no cure for
his disease.” They said, “Then why do you not send
for the Priest here, who would soon expel this evil spirit,
which comes now and again to torment him?” Now
Gopee did not believe in the power of the Priest. At
last one of the “Chuprassies” went to their European
Chief’s house, and begged him to come up to the quarters
to see what could be done. When he arrived there and
saw the state that Shivedas was in, and Gopee, his
brother, in such great distress, he said, “What can be
done to relieve this man?” They all said, “Send for the
Priest, the old Peshawar man, and he will soon put him
right.” The Chief said, “Well, do so if you like.” They
replied, “He will not come for us, for he is a grumpy old
man; but he will come for you.” So the Chief, to relieve
the sufferer, and perhaps to satisfy his own curiosity, sent
to ask the Priest to come.
In a short time he made his appearance, just when
Shivedas was in one of his worse struggles, and looking
at him for some time, he all of a sudden seemed to make
up his mind, and drawing his “Qorân” from his pocket
// 182.png
.pn +1
went close to the bedside and called out, “Are you going
to leave this man, or not?” And a voice came from
Shivedas, “No! I will not.” Now, many present heard
the voice, but it was not the voice of Shivedas.
The Priest then asked for some rag, and many ran
to get a piece of an old “Chudder,” or cloth, but he said,
“No! this will not do; it must be blue rag.” And in
very quick time someone ran and brought a piece from
the Bazaar.
When the Priest took it into his hand he called for
a light, and then proceeded to burn it in the flame. Then,
again advancing to the bedside, with the burning rag in
one hand and the open Qorân in the other, he called out
in a louder tone than before, “Are you going to leave
this man, or are you not? If not I will burn you out
and all your generation.” The same voice then uttered
the words, “I will not leave him; and who are you?”
The old Priest then placed the smouldering rag to
the nose of Shivedas, and again threatened the evil spirit;
and then, to the astonishment of all, the voice said, “I
will go away this time if you will not trouble nor worry
me.”
After this Shivedas became still and tranquil, and
went off into a profound sleep.
Some hours afterwards, when he awoke, and was
questioned as to what had occurred, he could call nothing
to his remembrance.
The “Chuprassies” believed that the evil spirit had
been exorcised by the Priest, and it is certainly true that
// 183.png
.pn +1
Shivedas had no return of his fits; and I tell you this
tale, for it is believed by many of us to this day.
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Jinns.”—Before referred to, and meaning that which
is internal, and cannot be seen. The word is spelt
sometimes Djinns, or Ginns. They are supposed by
some to be deities of the ancient pagans. By the Greeks
believed to be spirits never engaged in matter, nor ever
joined to bodies, subdivided into good and bad, every
man having one of each to attend him at all times.
The Mahomedans believe in several divisions of them,
and that they inhabited the world many thousands of years
before Adam. Falling into corruption, they were consigned
to the Mountains of Kâf; the mountains which in Moslem
legends surround the world. They still believe that they
interest themselves in the affairs of men; that, if assuming
human shape their eyes are placed longitudinally in their
face. In Arab mythology Solomon is supposed to have
possessed special power over them. There are forty troops
of them, it is stated, with 600,000 in a troop. Crooke,
in referring to them, says, they are believed to have been
resplendently handsome, and sometimes horribly hideous.
They are not confined to any part of the earth in
which we live, but are to be found in every region.
In Hungary, it is said that many years ago the miners
// 184.png
.pn +1
were visited by them in the shape of little negro boys
who did no mischief, merely on occasion blowing out their
lamps.
The Malays, who are Mahomedans, have the same
beliefs as their co-religionists in India, their beneficent
spirits being styled Daw[=a], with supernatural powers.
The Chinese idea of Jinns and Genii, as given by one
of their writers, is that they will live upon air, or even
give up breathing the outer air, and carry on the process
of breathing inwardly, as they say, for days together as
in a catalepsy (like an Indian Fakir). They will become
invisible; they will take the form of any bird, beast, fish
or insect; they will mount up above the clouds; dive
into the deepest sea; or burrow into the centre of the
earth.
The chief Jinn will command spirits and demons of all
sorts and sizes and hold them at his beck and call. Finally,
after living in the world for perhaps several hundred years,
he does not die (for a Jinn or Genii is immortal, though
a spirit may not be so), but he rides up to heaven on
the back of a dragon, where he becomes a ruler of spirits.
The strict “Confucians” deny their existence. One
of the most celebrated of Genii is in Chinese history
named “Chang Kwoh,” who possessed a white mule which
could transport him thousands of miles in a single day,
and which when he halted he folded up and hid away
in his wallet.
The Isles of the Genii San Shên Shan were supposed
to be pretty much where “Formosa” actually now exists;
vide Deny’s exhaustive work on the Folk-lore of China.
// 185.png
.pn +1
“Chuprassies.”—From the Hindustani word “Chupr[=a]s,”
a buckle or badge worn to show authority, and
generally on a belt over the shoulder.
“Exorcism.”—The so-called art of Divination, or the
foretelling of events, past and future by other than human
means, together with the conjuring of spirits both good
and evil, and the wearing of charms and amulets as a
preservative against evils and witchcraft, have all been
in habitual use from remote ages, and are still resorted
to in many parts of the world.
India is full of it, where the evil spirits are called
“Bhût,” and so is Persia, where necromancers examine for
marks and signs the blade bone of a newly killed sheep,
very much as is done in the art of Palmistry which by
marks and signs professes to discover the character of any
person from the palm of his hand.
Exorcism soon followed in the train of most of these
superstitions, and a class of people supposed to be possessed
of devils, and called “energumens,” sought out
those who professed to drive them away with a magical
form of words. The Moslems term all these systems of
belief “Kah[=a]nah,” or a “causing to tell,” and deem them
such as to call for disapproval, as indeed also do most
Christians in these days.
// 186.png
.pn +1
.pb
.sp 4
.h2 id=ch19
BAHAD[=U]R SINGH AND THE BLIND BEGGAR.
.sp 2
There lived once in the Punjaub many years ago an old
Seikh soldier who had gained much renown amongst his
fellow-countrymen for the many acts of bravery he had
shown in the tribal wars that in those days used often
to take place between the chieftains of the various independent
states thereabout. We all know that the
Seikhs belong to a sect whose founder was one “Nanak,”
who lived in the beginning of the sixteenth century, and
that the word Seikh means in the Sanscrit language a
“disciple.”
This old soldier had for his first name the distinguished
appellation of “Bahad[=u]r,” which in the Persian
language means “brave,” so he was brave by name as
well as by nature.
At the time the incident occurred which I am now
about to relate to you all, he had retired from active
service and had settled down on a small competence for
a native, in the village of Shumshabad.
In this village, as indeed may be found in many towns
and villages of Upper India, there was a little colony of
blind men who subsisted on the alms of the benevolent,
and they were generally to be found near the markets
or bazaars, or along the thoroughfares leading to them.
// 187.png
.pn +1
They had moreover, a little settlement of their own situated
on the confines of the town.
One of these blind men at Shumshabad, a wizen-faced,
attenuated, old fellow, clad in poor garments, and
wearing a “Kummul,” or native blanket, thrown about
him, used to sit daily by the wayside begging, and ever
in the same spot. This old blind man had the habit of
calling out in a piteous tone, “Friends have pity on the
blind, and let him only feel and handle a hundred gold
mohurs and he will be made happy for ever.”
Now, as few people who passed that way had even
one coin of that value, his wish never seemed likely to
be gratified, but he made a pile of money for all that,
as the sequel of the story will show.
Bahad[=u]r Singh used to hear this plaintive cry almost
daily when he went to the Bazaar, and being kind as
well as brave, he often thought to himself, I should much
like to satisfy that old blind man’s wish, but I suppose
I shall never be able to do so, for the little I have scarce
supplies my own daily wants; so he contented himself,
with others round him, in casting a pice into the blind
man’s wallet.
Months, nay years had passed by, when Bahad[=u]r
Singh had occasion to visit a sister who resided at some
little distance from Shumshabad, on the high road to
Jhelum.
Upon his return he stopped to rest near a Tank, as
natives often do, and upon the bank his eye caught sight
of a small dark object, and when he had picked it up he
found it was very heavy. His curiosity was now greatly
// 188.png
.pn +1
aroused, and what was his surprise on opening it, but to
discover that it was full of gold mohurs, and when he
had counted them over, lo, and behold! there were exactly
one hundred.
He was in quite a whirl of delight, and one might
have thought that he would have kept the money and not
have disclosed the secret to anyone, but as there were
just the very one hundred gold mohurs that by their
feeling and handling might make the old blind man of
his village happy for ever, the first idea that entered his
head was to go straight to the spot where he knew he
always asked for alms, to let him run his fingers over
them.
So without any further ado off he went, and upon
reaching the old blind man who was calling out in his
usual strain; Bahad[=u]r Singh said, “Here, good old man,
this is a lucky day for you, for I have brought you one
hundred gold mohurs to feel, and to handle, and to be
happy for ever.”
Whereupon Bahad[=u]r Singh handed the gold mohurs
one by one into the old blind man’s hand, and he handled
them and put them one by one into his wallet, repeating
after every one, “Oh! you blessed and good man.” By
the time the whole hundred had been counted out a very
considerable crowd began to collect, so that Bahad[=u]r
Singh thought it better to recover his money and be
off. He then asked the old blind man to give it back
to him, but who would have thought it? the old villain
set up quite another cry, howling, and saying at the top
of his voice, “Friends, help me; help the poor blind man
// 189.png
.pn +1
who is being robbed of his little all!” And laying fast
hold of Bahad[=u]r Singh’s “dhotee” or cloth, he made it
appear as if some of his money had already been robbed
from him.
Of course the crowd took the side of the blind man,
so it was all in vain for Bahad[=u]r Singh to try to get
a hearing, and more than that, the crowd set upon him,
and would have thrashed him unmercifully had he not
made his escape, so he hurriedly left the scene and his
money too.
But he was in a fearful rage, and vowed he would
have his revenge, and going by a back way to his hut
(for he found he was being pursued), he reached it unperceived.
Taking down his sword from the wall, he said to
himself, “I know the place where the blind men live, and
I know too that the old blind villain will be going home
about dusk; I will lie in wait for him and cut him down.”
Bahad[=u]r Singh’s heart, however, began to fail him,
“for,” said he, “Is he not a blind man?” Yet the
feelings of revenge had so worked him up, that he was
furious at being so cunningly deceived and robbed.
In partial hiding he took up his post by the road-side,
and he had not long to wait, for very soon the old blind
villain hove in sight, tottering along and leaning on his
staff. Bahad[=u]r Singh drew his sword from its scabbard
and looked first at it, and then at the old blind villain
who was drawing nearer and nearer to him.
In an instant the brave feelings of his nature rose
uppermost, for was he not Bahad[=u]r? and addressing his
// 190.png
.pn +1
sword, as the custom of Orientals often is, he said, “Oh!
sword! thou hast been with me in many an honourable
fight, and shall I now tarnish thy fair fame by using
thee thus? No. I ask pardon, and return you to your
scabbard without a stain.” And so saying he let the
blind man pass.
But he determined upon following him, and if possible,
to recover his money; whereupon he crept stealthily behind
him and close upon his heels, and when the old
blind villain arrived at his hut, Bahad[=u]r Singh saw him
open the door, and before he had time to close and fasten
it from the inside, the brave soldier had managed to slip in
too, and quite unheard. Keeping very silent, he watched
the old villain take off his “kummul” and his wallet,
and then make his way to a corner of the hut. He
there took up a tile flush with the floor, and removed
from a hole beneath it a “chattie,” or earthenware vessel,
in which he was proceeding to put in from his wallet the
money he had collected during the day. Bahad[=u]r Singh saw
his own hundred gold mohurs going in one by one, and
then overheard the old blind villain say, “I have done
well to day. I have here four hundred gold mohurs, and
with this further one hundred, I shall have five hundred
gold mohurs, and who so rich as I?” And then he
carefully returned the “chattie” and put back the tile, feeling
it over and over again to be sure that it was in its right
place. He then returned to his “charpai,” or cot, and
sat down, apparently to think a bit.
.if h
.il fn=i15.jpg w=467px id=i15
.ca
BAHAD[=U]R SINGH AND THE BLIND BEGGAR.
.ca-
.if-
.if t
[Illustration: BAHAD[=U]R SINGH AND THE BLIND BEGGAR.]
.if-
It was now Bahad[=u]r Singh’s turn to try his luck at
recovering his money; so moving very noiselessly, he crept
// 191.png
// 192.png
// 193.png
.pn +1
to the money corner, lifted the tile, took out the “chattie,”
and was getting back to a spot he had selected behind
the “charpai,” when as ill-luck would have it, he struck
against a shelf projecting from the wall, and the noise
at once aroused the old blind villain, who rushed to the
money corner, only to find that his store had vanished.
He howled, he shouted at the top of his voice, he brandished
about him his staff, smashing the water-pots, and
deluging the hut with water, and it was only by great
dexterity that Bahad[=u]r Singh could keep behind him,
and so avoid coming in contact either with him or his
staff.
In a very short time, however, there came a knock
at the door, and the old blind villain let in a stranger,
who, to Bahad[=u]r Singh’s relief, was, he noticed, also a
blind man. The stranger called out, “What is all this
noise about?” “Hai, Hai! Booh, Booh!” said the old
blind villain; all my money is gone, and I am ruined for
ever.” “Your money gone” he replied, “How can that
be? Where did you put it?” “Here, here,” he said,
pulling the stranger to the money corner. “But what
a fool you were to keep it there! Why didn’t you do
as I always do? When I get enough together to make
up a gold mohur I sew it up into my turban.”
Bahad[=u]r Singh, hearing this, at once by a quick
and quiet movement reached forward and took off the
turban of the stranger and put it aside, whereupon the
stranger rushed at the old blind villain and said, “Why
did you take my turban off and where is it?” “I didn’t,”
he replied. “But you must have done so, for there is
// 194.png
.pn +1
no one else here, and you want to take my money now,
do you?” So saying, he went for the old blind villain,
knocked him down on to the slushy floor, and pummelled
him until he cried hard for mercy.
Bahad[=u]r Singh, with something like a smile at seeing
his enemy punished, then quitted the hut, leaving them
to fight it out. He took with him the “chattie” and the
gold mohurs, and left the turban behind.
He went straight to the village police, told the story,
claimed only his own one hundred gold mohurs, and left
with them the four hundred belonging to the old blind
villain, which were there and then confiscated to the State.
So this old blind villain not only lost his money, but
got a terrible thrashing into the bargain, and this tale is
often told in the “Hûjrâhs,” or places of meeting of the
village story-tellers, as a capital instance of how best to
retaliate, and how cleverly the biter was bit.
.sp 2
.hr 30%
.h3
EXPLANATORY NOTES.
“Nanak.”—This founder of the religious and warlike
commonwealth of the Sikhs is so fully referred to by the
able historians, “Hunter” and “Elphinstone,” that there
is little new to tell of him beyond the folk-lore of the
district to which these tales refer.
He flourished about the end of the fifteenth century,
was a disciple of “Kabir,” and was a sort of Hindu deist,
with universal toleration to all sects.
// 195.png
.pn +1
He is said to have ridiculed the religious washings
and ablutions of the Brahmins by telling his hearers that
if water will take you to Heaven, then what holy creatures
the fish and frogs must be who are for ever in the water.
The religious divisions of the Sikhs are many, the
principal being the Oodh[=a]ssee, Baydhee, Thayun, Bhullay,
Sodhee, Ak[=a]lis, Nahung, Giannee, Soothra, Ghoee, Bhaie,
Nirmale, Naga, Mujbee, or Rung, Raytay, Guru ki b[=e]tah.
In the time of their Gurus, Har Govind and Govind
Singh Govind, the Sikhs assumed the title of “Singh,”
signifying a champion or lion.
A tale is told in the Hazara district that “Nanak” once
went in disguise to Mecca. Absorbed in his reflections,
he lay down to rest for the night, and quite forgot that
his feet were turned towards the “kaaba,” which is an
insult to the Moslems.
He was aroused by a devout follower of the Prophet,
and at once taxed with his breach of reverence and respect,
and asked who and what he was.
“Nanak” replied,
.pm verse-start
Hindu kahen to marianh
Mussulman bhi na
Panj tutt ka pûthlâ
“Nanak” mera nâm.
Which translated will read,
If I say I am a Hindu you will kill me straight,
Though Mahomedan I cannot call myself;
I am rather a personation of the Five elements,
And my name is “Nanak.”
.pm verse-end
.pi
Another anecdote is given, viz., that when he visited
the Chen[=a]ab on his way to M[=u]lt[=a]n, he very much enraged
// 196.png
.pn +1
some “Jogis,” a description of recluse penitents, who by
means of mental and corporeal mortifications acquire the
command over the powers of nature, as stated in previous
notes.
These men did all they could by their powers of enchantments
to terrify him. They assumed the shape of
wild beasts and snakes, fell from Heaven in a shower
of fire, and tore away the stars.
“Nanak” remained tranquil, and said, “A holy man
needs no defence from such things; his defence is in the
purity of his doctrine, and though the world may change,
the Creator of it is immutable.”
These words brought them to his feet, and caused
their miracles and enchantments to cease as if by magic.
“Blind beggar.”—Many of the blind amongst the
Mahomedans are styled “Hafiz,” which literally signifies
in Arabic those of retentive memory, and who know the
Qorân, or Furk[=a]n, by heart: “Furk[=a]n” meaning the book
which distinguishes truth from falsehood.
These men live upon the alms of the faithful, and
on festival days are employed to repeat the Qorân, being
fed from day to day, and at the conclusion of the festival
they are presented with a whole suit of clothes, from head
to foot.
Occasionally they are known to earn money by lacing
“charpais” with string or tape, which is quite an industry
with them.
A blind man from the village of “Sheerka” used to
be able to wander about in the jungle, and find his way
// 197.png
.pn +1
back to his hut. He was familiar with the cries of many
beasts and birds, and would imitate them most correctly.
If asked to thread a needle this man would place
the needle and cotton beneath his tongue, and in a very
short time pass the thread through the eye of the needle.
“Kummul.”—From the Sanscrit word “Kammal,”
meaning literally a blanket. It is made of coarse wool,
loosely woven and soft in texture; the word in its second
signification meaning “soft.” A small blanket is called a
“Kumli.” In the winter, farmers and others in the district,
wear them over their other clothes.
In days long gone by, when the district was under
a native yoke, anyone found wearing a blanket, or as it
was then locally called, a “Bh[=u]ra,” was liable to be
pressed to labour for the State; so the farmers had a
saying amongst themselves which ran thus:
.pm verse-start
Vassay meenh thay Bhoorah sheenh
Pavay Pallâh thay Bhoorah Shâllah
Yekho gul Bhoorah dhee marree
Thruth nappoundhâ Veegaree
TRANSLATION.
In the rains the blanket is as tough as a tiger;
In the cold the blanket has the place of a shawl;
It has, alas, but one reproach:
Seen on, whether far or near, ’tis the signal to be seized for work.
.pm verse-end
“Wallet.”—In the original, the word is “Jh[=u]li,” from
the Hindustani language. It is carried over the arm by
Fakirs and others.
“Sword.”—In the original, “Tulwar,” from the Sanscrit,
and sometimes as “Turwar,” a scimitar or sword.
// 198.png
.pn +1
It is said that excellent swords used to be made at a
place called Bunn[=u]. To be wounded by one of them
was thus expressed:
.pm verse-start
Lage Bunnoo Thaypah kanoo Bunnoo.
TRANSLATED THUS:
“Cut with a Bunnoo sword, of what use then to strap the wound?”
.pm verse-end
Note.—The natives of the East often worship their
swords and weapons, and it is known especially to be
common in the Northern districts of India, and also
among the Mahomedans in the Malay Peninsula (vide
Crooke, and M^cNair’s “Perak and the Malays”, page 247).
It is indeed a sort of fetish, and a belief that some
mysterious power lurks within them.
In a village in the Jhelum district, there lived a
noted ironsmith of the name of Aruf, who was famed for
his sword blades, and the blades were termed Arfi, after
his name.
Before anyone purchased a sword from him he would
take a ramrod from a matchlock, and by a particular cut
he would sever it in two, saying, “If it will cut iron,
surely it will kill any man.”
He was so proud of his power that his daughter
thought to humble him, so she asked if he would demonstrate
to her how he made the wonderful cut. He
agreed, and she, secreting behind her a small cane sought
occasion to balk him. Just as he was making the cut she
reached forth the cane, and he missed the correct angle
of the cut and failed, “See,” she said, “it is easy to
be proud of your sword-blades and to say that they will
// 199.png
.pn +1
kill anyone, but how if an enemy should balk you as I
have done? Then behold the result!”
In the district they have many kinds of swords, but
some of the principal are the “Foulâdee,” the “Taygâ,”
the “Sirôhhee,” and the “Sikaylâh.” These are all
curved in the blade. They have a straight sword which
they call a “Saif.”
The “Sirôhhee” is of polished steel, and rather brittle.
Note.—There is a story told in the district that when
“thuggism” was at its height, young men used to be decoyed
to a retired spot in the jungles, where a most
fascinating and beautiful “Thugin” resided. She had a
native sort of seat, placed over a deep dry well; and
though to all outward appearance it was firm and reliable,
yet when any weight was put upon it, it suddenly gave
way, and the unfortunate victim was sent to the bottom,
where he was afterwards killed and robbed. Part of the
proceeds went to the goddess “Kali,” and the remainder
was divided amongst the gang.
Once a young Sipahi succeeded in evading the trap,
and recovering himself he was attacked on all sides by
thugs. Drawing his “Sirôhhee” he made a cut or two
at them, but it suddenly snapped in his hand. He was,
however, fleet of foot, and managed to escape.
Telling his friends of his adventures, he said, by way
of caution,
.pm verse-start
Bandh Sirôhhee Bandho do
Bandh Sikaylâh to phir akela.
TRANSLATION.
If you carry a Sirôhhee, carry two;
If you carry a Sikaylâh, you may venture fearlessly alone.
.pm verse-end
// 200.png
.pn +1
The scabbards are made from thin wood, and covered
with black or green leather. The woods used are sometimes
the “Baid,” or willow, and the “Bak[=a]yun,” one
of the Meliaceæ of botanists. The hilts are frequently
inlaid with gold and silver.
“Bahad[=u]r in a rage.”—He was ordinarily a quiet
man, and when enraged his anger was relentless, according
to their saying:
.pm verse-start
Murdhâ boleh nahin
Boleh thay kuffun paray.
TRANSLATION.
A corpse certainly cannot utter a word,
But if it should, it would cast away its shroud.
.pm verse-end
“Gold Mohur.”—Also called “Ashrufee”—a gold coin
worth about fifteen rupees.
“Dhotee.”—Is a Sanscrit word, and is a cloth worn
round the waist, and fastened by being tucked in behind,
and the appearance becomes that of wide or narrow
trousers. One of yellow silk, and made chiefly at Benares,
is called a “P[=i]t-ambar,” also from the Sanscrit.
“K[=a][=a]ba.”—This is referred to under “Nanak” in these
Notes, but it should be added, that it is the square building
in Mecca, about 35 feet in height, and 40 feet square,
making almost a “cube,” which “k[=a]b[=a]h” means in Arabic.
At the S.E. corner of this building is the famous black
stone, or “Hajr-as-Saih” set in silver, which has to be
touched with the right hand of the pilgrim, but Captain
Burton said it was often kissed.
“Kabir.”—Under this same heading also of “Nanak”
in these Notes is a reference to this Fakir “Kabir.” The
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“Kabir-panth[=i]” are a sect of Hindus numerous in Upper
and Central India. They have quite a Quaker-like spirit,
and have an abhorrence of all violence. Their commandments
are limited to Five:
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I.—Life must not be violated, for it is the gift of God.
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II.—The blood of man or beast must not be shed.
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III.—Man must never lie.
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IV.—Man must practise asceticism, and do the duties of piety and devotion.
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V.—Man must obey the spiritual guide, the great “Kabir,” and sing hymns in his praise.
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“Kabir” died at Gorakhp[=u]r, and both Moslems and
Hindus claimed the right to bury him.
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.it Transcriber’s Notes:
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.it Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
.it Typographical errors were silently corrected.
.it Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a\
predominant form was found in this book.
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.it Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).
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