Bagh O Bahar, or Tales of the Four Darweshes Part 11

[8] The Muhammadans believe that the body of their prophet cast no shadow. _Mustafa_ means "The Chosen," "The Elected," one of Muhammad's t.i.tles.

[9] As a general rule, all Muhammadan books begin with a few sentences devoted to the praise of G.o.d and the eulogy of the prophet Muhammad; to which some add a blessing on the twelve _Imams_.

[10] The twelve _Imams_ are the descendants of the prophet, by his daughter _Fatima_, who was married to her cousin-german _'Ali,_ who is considered as the first _Imam_; the other eleven were the following, viz., _Hasan_, the son of _'Ali; Husain_, the son of _'Ali_; _'Ali_, surnamed _Zainu-l-'Abidin,_ son of _Husain; Muhammad_, son of the last mentioned; _Ja'far Sadik_, son of _Muhammad; Musa-l-Kazim,_ son of _Ja'far; 'Al-i Raza_, son of _Musa; Muhammad_, son of _'Ali Raza; 'Ali 'Askari_, son of _Muhammad; Hasan 'Askari_: and lastly _Muhammad Mahdi_. With regard to this last and twelfth _Imam_, some say, very erroneously, that he is yet to appear. Now the fact is, the twelfth _Imam_ has appeared. He lived and died like the rest of the sainthood; otherwise what would be the use of praying for him? The Muhammadans offer up prayers for the dead, but I never heard of their praying for the unborn.

[11]

[12] Much nonsense has been written about this _Fasli_ aera. We are told that "it dates from the Christian year 592 3/4"! but the fact is that it was established no further back than the reign of Akbar. It was engrafted on the Hijri aera in the first year of that monarch's reign, with this proviso, that the _Fasli_ years should thenceforth go on increasing by _solar_ calculation, and not by lunar; hence, every century the Hijri aera gains three years on the _Fasli_, and in Mir Amman's time the difference had amounted to nearly eight years.

[13] A _ghat_ is a long flight of steps, of stone or brick, leading to a river for the purpose of bathing, drawing water, embarking or disembarking. It is a high object of ambition in India, among the wealthier cla.s.ses of natives, to construct these _ghats_, and this species of useful ostentation has produced some magnificent structures of the kind on the rivers _Ganges_, and _Jumna_, which are of great public utility.

[14] The reader will do well in the first place to pa.s.s over this very clumsy parenthesis in the original; and return to it after he has finished the rest of the paragraph.

[15] The Honourable Company's European servants, civil, military, and medical.

[16] A celebrated Persian poet of _Dilli_; his odes are very elegant, and have great poetical genius; he was, as a Persian poet, inferior to none: he is the original author of this "Tale of the Four Darwesh."

[17] The author seems to use _Dilli_ or _Dihli_ indifferently for the northern metropolis of India, vulgarly called _Delhi_.

[18] _Zari Zar-bakhsh_ means the bestower of gold; _Nizamu-d-Din Auliya_ was a famous holy personage of Upper India, and holds the first rank in the list of the saints of _Hindustan_. His shrine is at _Dilli_, and resorted to by thousands of devotees, and many tales are told of his inspired wisdom, his superior beneficence, his contempt of the good things of this world, and his uncommon philanthropy.

[19] The _Kos_ is a measure of distance nearly equal to two English miles, but varying in different provinces.

[20] The _Muhammadans_, after being cured of sickness or wounds, also their women, after recovery from child-bed, always bathe in luke-warm water; which is called the ablution of cure.

[21] A mere novice in the language would say that _Mir Amman_ writes "bad grammar" here! He uses the singular p.r.o.noun "_wuh_" instead of "_we_." Now _Mir Amman_ distinctly tells us that he gives us the language _as it is_. He did not make it--and, furthermore, nothing is more common among _Hindustani_ writers than to use the singular for the plural, and "vice versa."--Vide Grammar, page 114.

[22] Mr. Ferdinand Smith adds the following note: "How proud the slave seems of his chains!--but such is the nature of Asiatic minds, under the baneful influence of Asiatic despotism." Now, this criticism is absurd enough. Have not we in England the t.i.tles of "Ladies in waiting," "Grooms," &c., innumerable, which honours are borne by our n.o.bility and gentry?

[23] The family of _Taimur_, or Tamerlane; a pageant of which royal race still sits on the throne of _Dilli_, under the protection of the British government. He is happier, and has more comforts of life, than his family have had for the last century.

[24] Literally, "why explain that which is self evident" a Persian saying.

[25] The founder of the _Jut_ princ.i.p.ality; they were once very powerful in _Upper-Hindustan. Ranjit Sing, Raja_ of _Bhartpur_ at the commencement of the present century, who so gallantly defended that place against our arms, was a son of _Suraj Mal_, who was killed while reconnoitring the _Mughal_ army. The _Jats_ are the best agriculturists in India, and good soldiers in self defence; for since the spirit which _Suraj Mal_ infused, evaporated, they have always preferred peace to war. They built some of the strongest places in India.

[26] _Ahmad Khan_, the _Durrani_ or _Afghan_, became king of _Kabul_ after the death of _Nadir Shah_. He was the father of _Taimur Shah_, who kept _Upper Hindustan_ in alarm for many years with threats of invasion. _Shuja'u-l-Mulk_, whom we seated on the throne of _Kabul_ some fifteen years ago, was descended from him.

[27] _'Azim-abid_ is the _Muhammadan_ name of _Patna_. On the _Muhammadan_ conquest, many of the _Hindu_ names of cities were changed for _Muhammadan_ names, such as _Jahangir-abad_ or _Jahangir-nagar_ for _Dacca, Akbar-abad_ for _Agra, Shahjahan-abad_ for _Dilli_, &c.

[28] Literally, "water and grain."

[29] Literally, "has existed during the four _jugas_," or fabulous ages of the _Hindus_, i.e., since the creation of the world.

[30] The _Bhakha_, or _Bhasha_, par excellence, is the _Hindu_ dialect spoken in the neighbourhood of _Agra, Mathura_, &c. in the _Braj_ district; it is a very soft language, and much admired in _Upper Hindustan_, and is well adapted for light poetry. Dr. Gilchrist has given some examples of it in his grammar of the _Hindustani_ language, and numerous specimens of it are to be found in the _Prem Sagar_, and other works published more recently.

[31] _Mahmud_, the first monarch of the dynasty of _Ghazni_, was the son of the famous _Sabaktagin_. Ha invaded _Hindustan_ in A.H. 392, or A.D. 1002. The dynasty was called _Ghaznawi_, from its capital _Ghazna_, or as now commonly written _Ghazni_.

[32] Two dynasties of kings who reigned in _Upper Hindustan_ before the race of _Taimur_.

[33] _Timur_, (or _Taimur_ as it is p.r.o.nounced in India) invaded _Hindustan_ A.D. 1398.

[34] The _bazar_, that part of a city where there are most shops; but the word is applied to various parts of a city, where various articles are sold, as the cloth _bazar_, the jewel _bazar_, &c.

[35] _Shahjahan_ was the most magnificent king of _Dilli_, of the race of _Taimur, Sahib Kiran_ was one of his t.i.tles, and means, Prince of the Happy Conjunction; i.e. the conjunction of two or more auspicious planets in one of the signs of the Zodiac at the hour of birth. Such was the case at the birth of _Taimur_, who was the first we read of as _Sahib-Kiran_. As a contradistinction, _Shahjahan_ is generally called _Sahib Kirani Sani_, or the second _Sahib Kiran_. It never waw applied, as Ferdinand Smith states, to _all_ the emperors of _Dilli_. It may be mentioned, that a very extraordinary conjunction of the planets in the sign Libra took place in A.D. 1185, just about the period of _Jangis Khan's_ appearance as a conqueror; but I am not aware that he was thence called a _Sahib Kiran_, as he did not happen to be _born_ under the said conjunction.

[36] The fort, or rather fortified place, of _Dilli_, and the great mosque, called the _Juma' Masjid_.

[37] The famous _Takhti Ta,us_, or peac.o.c.k throne, made by the magnificent _Shahjahan_, the richest throne in the world; it was valued at seven millions sterling. Tavernier, the French jeweller and traveller, saw it and describes it in his work. It was carried away by _Nadir Shah_ when he plundered _Dilli_ in 1739.

[38] The expensive and useless ca.n.a.l which brought fresh water to _Dilli_, whilst the limpid and salutary stream of the _Jumna_ flowed under its walls. The advantages of irrigation to the country, through which it pa.s.sed, were nothing compared to the expense of its construction.

[39] Literally, "the supreme camp or market."

[40] A Persian expression.

[41] _Shah 'Alam_ the emperor of _Dilli_, was then towards _Patna_ a tool in the hands of _Shuja'u-d-Daula, the Nawwab_ of _Lakhnau, and Kasim 'Ala Khan, the Nawwab_ of _Murs.h.i.+d-abad._

[42] Alluding to the confusion which reigned in _Upper Hindustan_ after the a.s.sa.s.sination of _'Alamgir_ the Second, and the flight of _Shah 'Alam. Upper Hindustan_ was then in a sad plight, ravaged alternately by the _Abdalis_, the _Marhattas_, and the _Jats_--the king a pageant, the n.o.bles rebellious, the subjects plundered and oppressed, and the country open to every invader--though this was near 100 years ago, and although they had some government, justice, and security from 1782 to 1802, yet the country had not even then recovered from the severe shock.

[43] The word is used in the singular, both by _Mir Amman_ and the original author, _Amir Khusru_ according to a well-known rule in Persian syntax, viz., "a substantive accompanied by a numerical adjective dispenses with the plural termination," as "_haft roz_,"

"seven days," not "_haft rozha_. The Persian term _darwesh_, in a general sense, denotes a person who has adopted what by extreme courtesy is called a religious life, closely akin to the "mendicant friar" of the middle ages; i.e., a lazy, dirty, hypocrital vagabond, living upon the credulous public. The corresponding term in Arabic is _Fakir_; and in _Hindi_, _Jogi_.

[44] The word _Rum_ means that empire of which Constantinople is the capital, and sometimes called, in modern times, Romania. It was originally applied to the Eastern Roman Empire, and, at present, it denotes Turkey in Europe and Asia.

[45] _Naus.h.i.+rwan_ was a king of Persia, who died in A.D. 578. He is celebrated in oriental history for his wisdom and justice. During his reign _Muhammad_ the prophet was born. The Persian writings are full of anecdotes of _Naus.h.i.+rwan's_ justice and wisdom.

[46] _Hatim_ or rather _Hatim Tai_, is the name of an Arab chief, who is celebrated for his generosity and his mad adventures, in an elegant Persian work called _Kissae Hatim Tai_. This work was translated into English for the Asiatic Translation Fund in 1830.

[47] Called also _Kustuntuniya_ by the Persians, and _Istambol_, also _Islambol_, by the Turks.

[48] The _shabi barat_ is a Mahometan festival which happens on the full moon of the month of _Sha'ban_; illuminations are made at night, and fire-works displayed; prayers are said for the repose of the dead, and offerings of sweetmeats and viands made to their manes. A luminous night-scene is therefore compared to the _shabi barat_.

[49] I warrant you there were no "tickets of leave" granted in those blessed days.

[50] This means an impertinent, or rather a _chaffing_, question, like our own cla.s.sic interrogation, "Does your mother know you'ra out?"

[51] It is inc.u.mbent on every good _Musalman_ to pray five times in the twenty-four hours. The stated periods are rather capriciously settled:--1st. The morning prayer is to be repeated between daybreak and sunrise; 2nd. The prayer of noon, when the sun shows a sensible declination from the meridian; 3rd. The afternoon prayer, when the sun is near the horizon that the shadow of a perpendicular object is twice it's length; 4th. The evening prayer, between sunset and close of twilight; 5th. The prayer of night, any time during the darkness. The inhabitants of Iceland and Greenland would find themselves sadly embarra.s.sed in complying with these pious precepts, bequeathed by _Muhammad_ to the _true believers_, as they call themselves.

[52] The Asiatics consider _male_ children as the light or splendour of their house. In the original there is a play upon the word "_diya_"

which, as a substantive signifies "a lamp;" and as a verbal participle it denotes "given," or "bestowed."

[53] The literal meaning is--"There is no one as the bearer of his name, and the giver of water."

[54] The Mirror Saloon, called by the Persians, and from them by the _Hindustanis, s.h.i.+sh Mahall_, is a grand apartment in all oriental palaces, the walls of which are generally inlaid with small mirrors, and their borders richly gilded. Those of _Dilli_ and _Agra_ are the finest in _Hinduistan_.

[55] "The messenger was the white hair in his majesty's whiskers.

[56] Called in the original, _Pain Bagh_. Most royal Asiatic gardens have a _Pain Bagh_ or lower terrace adorned with flowers, to which princes descend when they wish to relax with their courtiers.