O
o
M
e
LIFE AND TRAVEL
INDIA:
RECOLLECTIONS OF A JOURNEY BEFORE THE
DAYS OF RAILROADS.
ANNA HARRIETTS LEONOWENS,
AUTHOR OF "THE K.VJI.ISII <;<>VKRXKS.S AT THE SIAMESE COURT'
AND "THE RoMAxri-: or THE HAREKM."
PHILADELPHIA:
PORTER A: (OATHS.
LONDON:
TRTJBXKIt & CO.
Copyright, 1884,
BY PORTER & COATES.
(All Rights Reserved.)
THIS LITTLE VOLUME OF TRAVELS
$8 $ nseribeb tor
MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM W. JUSTICE,
IN
GRATEFUL APPRECIATION OP THEIR FRIENDSHIP,
BY
THE AUTHOR.
200954
CONTENTS.
CHAPTEE I.
PAGE
The Island of Bamb& Devi. Sights and Scenes round about Bom-
bay 7
CHAPTER II.
Malabar Hill, and Domestic Life of the English in Bombay . . 39
CHAPTER III.
The Island of Shastee, commonly called Salsette. Gharipoore,
" the Town of Purification," or the Island and Caves of
Elephanta 51
CHAPTER IV.
Sampwallas, or Serpent- Charmers. Jadoowallahs, or Miracle-
Performers. Nuzer-Bundyana, Mesmerizers. Yogees, Spirit-
ual Jugglers, and Naga-Poojmi, or Serpent-Worship, in
India 65
CHAPTER V.
The Pareees, or Fire- Worshippers, of Bombay. A Visit to a Fire-
Priest and Astrologer. His Astral Predictions. The Gathas.
Zoroaster. His Life and Religion. History of the Settle-
ment of the Parsees in India 79
i
11 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VI.
PAGE
Domestic Life of the Fire- Worshippers. The Zend-Avesta. Parsee
Bites and Ceremonies at Birth, Marriage, Death, and Final
Consignment to the Tower of Silence 105
CHAPTER VII.
Hindoo Treatment of the Sick. Pundit's House Denied. Its
Purification. Short Sketch of the Different Races and of
the Origin of Castes and Creeds among the People of Hin-
dostan 129
CHAPTER VIII.
A Visit to the House of Baboo Ram Chunder. His Wife. Raj-
poot Wrestlers. Nautchnees, or Hindoo Ballet-Girls. A
Hindoo Drama. Visit to a Nautchnees' School. Bayahdiers,
or Dancing-Girls, attached to the Hindoo Temples. Profes-
sion, Education, Dress, Character, Fate in Old Age and After
Death. Cusbans, or Common Women. Marked Differences
between these three Classes of Public Women 173
CHAPTER IX.
From Bombay to Poonah, the Capital of the Raha Mastra, or the
great Indian Kings. Campooly. The Ascent of the Bhor
Ghauts. Khondala. Caves of Carlee or Karli. " Puja
Chakra," or the famous Wheel-Worship of the Brahmans.
Poonah. Kirki. A Visit to the Peishwa's Palace. Temple
of Parvati. The Pundit and the Brahmin Priest at Prayer.
Sanscrit and English Colleges at Poonah. Suttee Monu-
ments at Sangam. Hindoo Bankers, etc 208
CHAPTER X.
The beautiful Hindoo Village of Wye. The Mahabaleshwar Hills.
The Temple of the Gods. The Couch of Krishna. The
Stone Image of the Cow from whose Mouth the Five Rivers
of this Region are said to Spring. The Holy Tank. Satarah,
the Star City of the Mahratta Empire. The Fort. The Pal-
ace of Sivaji. Jejureh, the famous Hill-Temples where the
Dancing-Girls of the Country are Recruited. The Mad Gos-
sain, and the Story of his Ill-Fated Love. The Dancing-Girl
Krayahnee 228
CONTENTS. Ill
CHAPTER XI.
PAOK
From Satarah, the Star City of the great Mahratta Kings, to Dow-
lutabad, the Abode of Fortune, and Aurungabad, the Golden
City of the Mohgul Emperors. Tombs of Boorhan Ood Deen
and Aurungzebe. Mausoleum of Rhabea Duranee. Sketch
of the Mohgul Invasion of India. Manners, Customs, and
Religious Ceremonies of the Mohammedans of Hindostan . 243
CHAPTER XII.
The Temples of Ellora, the Holy Place of the Deccan. Nashik,
the Land of the Ramayana. Sights and Scenes on the Banks
of the Godaveri. Damaun, the most famous of the Indo-
Portuguese Towns 270
CHAPTER XIII.
The Taptee River. Surat and its Environs. The Borahs and
Kholees of Guzerat. Baroda, the Capital of the Guicowars.
Fakeers, or Relic-Carriers, of Baroda. Cambay. Mount
Aboo. Jain Temples on Mount Aboo, etc 286
CHAPTER XIV.
Calcutta, the City of the Black Venus, Kali. The River Hoog-
ley. Cremation Towers. Chowringee, the Fashionable Sub-
urb of Calcutta. The Black Hole. Battles of Plaseey and
Assaye. The Brahmo-Somaj. Temple of Kali. Feast of
Juggurnath. Benares and the Taj Mahal 303
PREFACE
IN the following pages, gathered from voluminous notes of early
travel, I have tried to give a faithful account of life in India, as
well as of the sights and scenes visited by me, with my husband,
before the days of railroad travel.
It is well known that the introduction of the railroad into India
has in no sense affected the life of the people, and has only very
slightly modified the general appearance of the country. India is
still what it was in the Vedic period, a land of peasant classes 5 she
still invokes, as did the ancient Aryans in the Rig Veda, the " Khe-
tra-pati," or the divinity of the soil, for blessings on the land. The
Hindoo to-day lives, as did his forefathers, close to the heart of Na-
ture, deifying the mountains, streams, woods, and lakes, while the
sun, moon, stars, fire, water, earth, air, sky, and corn are his high-
est deities. The most beautiful personification in the Ramayana
of womanly grace and virtue is called Sita, " a furrow," showing
how deep was the national reverence paid to the plough ; and to
this day at the Bathsaptimi, the day on which the new sun is
supposed to mount his heavenly chariot, a feast is observed in
honor of the sun, and the ryots on this occasion decorate with
flowers and paint their ploughs, and worship them as the saviors
of the land.
I do not, however, mean to say that India has made no progress
whatever in all these years her imaginative and glorious youth
has no doubt been succeeded by the calm reason of mature age
but this transition has been gradual and progressive rather than
fitful and sudden.
5
6 PREFACE.
The transfer of India by the East India Company to the British
Crown, and the recent laws for the protection of the ryot or more
properly the raiyat, a leaser of land held in perpetuity against
the oppressions of the zemindars, or governmental landlords, with
the right of underletting the land, have to an extraordinary degree
awakened the inborn desire of the Hindoo to become possessor of the
soil and to return to his hereditary occupation of agriculture. To
these may be added the security which England has conferred upon
India, now that she is no longer disturbed by frequent wars, which
desolated the land, and every now and then forced the people to
abandon their villages and fly to the jungles and mountains for
safety, under the Afghans, Mohguls, Mahrattas, and other predatory
chiefs. Among the lasting benefits to India it may be mentioned that
sutteeism, infanticide, self-immolation to the idols, Thuggism, and
slavery have all been partially, if not quite, abolished by the strong
arm of the law. Railroads have been built, the country has been
opened, schools established, civil service appointments thrown open
to the natives and Europeans alike, good roads made, canals and
huge reservoirs for water excavated, ancient water-courses reopened,
giving an impetus to private enterprise and industry in every direc-
tion. All these happy changes have been the result of the more
liberal policy of England toward India since the days of the terri-
ble mutiny of 1857 ; and it may fairly be hoped that British India
has before her as glorious a future as her brilliant youth and ma-
turity have foreshadowed for her.
A. H. L.
SUNNYSIDE, Halifax, Nova Scotia, >
August 7, 1884. )
LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
CHAPTER I.
The Island of Bamba Devi. Sights and Scenes round about Bombay.
IN that most delightful of all Indian months, the cool
month of November, with the distant booming of a great
gun that announced its arrival, the steamer from Aden
came to anchor in the harbor of Bombay, bringing me
among its many passengers. Here I was in this strange
land, a young girl fresh from school, now entering upon
a life so different, one which I was to lead through a long
term of years.
The sun shone through the mists and haze of the early
dawn, and I could see from my cabin window, with a sense
of mingled wonder and curiosity, the great stone quays and
the long flights of stone steps which led to the beautiful
island of Bombay, lying there like a gem in the water, and
of which I knew nothing whatever, save that it was once
the marriage-dowry of a queen of England.
According to some authorities, it takes its name from
two Portuguese words, " Buon Bahia," Good Bay ; but in
reality it has a still more ancient origin, being called after
a very beautiful Hindoo queen, afterward deified as Bam-
ba Devi, who long before the days of Alexander the Great
was the presiding genius of the land. She was worshipped
as " Mahima Devi," or the Great Mother, in one of the
oldest and largest Hindoo temples which formerly stood
in the great plain now called the Esplanade. It was
7
8 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
pulled down about a hundred years ago, and rebuilt near
the Bhendee Bazaar, and is to this day called by her name
and set apart to her peculiar service.
The longer I looked on that bay, and on those ancient
islands with their towers and spires, both pagan and Chris-
tian, gleaming in the pure morning sunlight, the more I felt
that it was one of the loveliest scenes in the world and one
of the best worth admiring.
The harbor is not only one of the safest known to nav-
igators from all parts of the world, affording in its hollow
rock-bound cup entire shelter from sudden storms to ves-
sels of all burthens, large and small crafts of every imag-
inable size and color, but it is in itself a bit of landlocked
water unrivalled in picturesqueness, furnishing a variety
of beautiful views at every point, and, one might almost
say, at every passing moment.
Its peculiar interest, however, depends much on the sea-
son of the year, the brightness of the lights, the softness of
the shadows, and the picturesque character of the number-
less native boats, which, with their well-filled lateen sails,
skim like white sea-birds on the surface of the waters.
The islands of Salsette, Elephanta, and Versovah,
abounding in luxuriant vegetation, rise like huge green
temples out of the bay. A great part of its beauty, how-
ever, is derived from the singularly shaped hills that are
found in its vicinity. Old as the world, they appear to
have gone through the hands of some gigantic architect
some so exquisitely rounded, some regularly terraced, and
others, again, sharply pointed, not unlike spires. Lifting
themselves proudly above the broad glittering sea that
bathes their palm-fringed base, they help to make the
scenery distinct from that of any other bay in the world.
Then, beyond question, there is nothing to equal in grace
and beauty the palm forest. The cocoanut, the sago, the
THE ISLAND OP BAMBl DEVI. 9
betel, the date, the wild plantain, and the palmyra, all clus-
ter in such profusion here and there along the seashore that
the whole seems too beautiful to be real, and you half ex-
pect to see the island melt away like a dream before you.
While I look on from the cabin window things take
clearer shape and form. Far away is the dim outline of
the mighty Ghauts, towering amid soft fleecy-white clouds,
and extending farther than the eye can reach in the pur-
ple distance. The striking views of the adjoining main-
land, with ruins innumerable of chapels, convents, and
monasteries erected by the Portuguese conquerors, all
covered with a rich tangle of tropical foliage ; the strange
shapes of pagan temples, each in its own peculiar style of
architecture, Hindoo, Parsee, Jain, and Mohammedan;
the noble remains of the old Mahratta * forts and castles,
which in former days were the habitations of the famous
Rajpoots, with a long line of native and European palaces,
gradually unfold themselves under the golden haze of
an Indian atmosphere.
One sees in no other part of the world just such an
assemblage as the passengers on an Indian-bound steamer.
In the vessel that took me to Bombay the most touching
object to my mind was a young married woman, who was
looking anxiously out for her husband, a missionary in
whose labors she was now about to share for the first time.
He was weak, haggard, and spiritless, worn out, no doubt,
* The name Mahratta is applied to all the Indo-European races who
dwell in that portion of India extending from the A'rabian Sea on the
west to the Satpura Mountains in the north, to which in ancient times
was given the Sanskrit name of Maharashtra, or "the good country."
The Mahrattas are Hindoos, divided like them into four castes the
Brahmans, priests and professors ; the Kumbis, cultivators of the soil ;
the Rajpoots, or warriors; and the Sudras, or menials. The Mahratta
Brahmans are remarkable for the high physical, intellectual, and moral
qualities of that caste. Their language, a fine sonorous and flexible
tongue, is a dialect of the Sanskrit, called Mahratti.
10 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
by his combined efforts to acquire a foreign language,
convince an obstinate people, and bear the enervating in-
fluence of a hot, muggy climate ; all of which was enough
to break down the stoutest of frames and the most hope-
fuLof spirits that England has ever produced. A num-
ber of officers, civil and military, some in light-brown
coats of China silk and wide-brimmed straw hats, others
in frogged blue frocks and military caps, were seen press-
ing through the crowd. A young cadet just out rushed
into the open arms of a handsome officer, like himself,
but older by twenty or thirty years. The deck was being
fast cleared of its eager crowd. Everywhere the passen-
gers were separating amid almost sad adieux, enlivened
only by the oft-repeated promises to write to each other
regularly promises which are never fulfilled. On the
great continent of Asia all nations meet and hail each
other as friends, only to part, perhaps never to meet again,
as vessels do at sea. But we were all sincere enough at
the moment, which is all that can be expected from trav-
ellers scattering over the vast unknown land of India. I
remember I was very greatly troubled because I was about
to part from a gentle, blue-eyed young friend, a frank,
bright, innocent young Scotch girl, who had become very
dear to me during the most tedious and sultry part of our
voyage from Aden to Bombay.
We were thrown a good deal together, and were almost
of the same age. One day, while passing through the
Red Sea, we exchanged vows of eternal friendship. There
was on board a sprightly young officer, Ensign W , to
whom she was already secretly betrothed. "Why secretly
she would not confide to me, or perhaps explain even to
herself, for every one on the vessel knew it, and of her
naturally tender and loving disposition, as well as of her
peculiarly lonely position on board, being sent out under
FATE OF EUROPEAN CHILDREN IN INDIA. 11
the charge of the captain. I only know that I shared her
happiness and her anxiety, for she would have to break
the news almost immediately to her father, whom she was
expecting momentarily on board. She informed me that
her father was a widower that she had come out to
India expressly to keep house for him in some remote
inland province somewhere in Guzerat.
At last her father appeared on board, a fat, sun-burnt,
frowzy-looking man, and inquired from the captain as
to which was his daughter, in order to assert his owner-
ship over her. Instead of rushing to greet a father, she
shrank back and nervously clutched my arm ; and it was
not strange. She had not seen him for many years ; in the
mean time her mother had died, her little brothers and
sisters had all died in their infancy ; she alone had sur-
vived, and had been sent home to Scotland, where she had
been educated by an aunt. Here, then, she was alone in the
presence of an almost entire stranger, although he was her
father ; and this is not an isolated case, but the fate of the
thousands of European children who are born in India.
No blood-relationship avails anything in such cases.
The mysterious sanctities of a young girl's nature, be they
more or less profound, interpose themselves as barriers
between father and daughter at the best of times and
under the happiest of circumstances. Those dim nooks and
corners of her budding sentiment can only be reached by
a mother, so justly called the mediator in the most an-
cient language of the heart.
Years after I learned that my young Scotch friend had
married Ensign W , the young officer to whom she had
engaged herself on her voyage out to India. But in one
short year after her sweet blue eyes were closed for ever
on this world. She died in giving birth to a daughter,
who sleeps side by side with her young mother in the
12 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
quiet little European burial-ground at Deesa, a British
station on the confines of the great province of Guzerat.
Very little was known about India until Alexander the
Great led his conquering array across the Punjaub (or,
more properly, " Panch jeeb," or five tongues, from the
five rivers that water this portion of Northern India) to
the banks of the Hydaspes and the Hyphasis. The ar-
mies of Alexander had hitherto visited no country which
was so fertile, populous, and abounding in the most valu-
able productions of nature and art as that portion of
India through which they marched. Fortunately for the
Greeks, Alexander had with him a few men who were
admirably qualified to observe and describe the country.
At the mouth of the Indus the army and fleet of Alex-
ander parted company. The troops proceeded by land.
Nearchus took charge of the ships, sailed down the Indus,
and from its mouth, round the southern coast of Asia, to
the mouth of the Euphrates. The results of his observa-
tions during the voyage were taken down and preserved.
This expedition, undertaken 325 B. c., furnished a vast
amount of information in regard to India, its extent and
wonderful resources. Rome and most of her prosperous
and civilized provinces were also very familiar with the
silks, brocades, fine muslins, gems of great value, spices,
and many other manufactures and products of the remote
East. The Latin name of rice, Oryza sativa, is derived
from the country, Orissa, whence the Romans first ob-
tained it. During the so-called Dark Ages which fol-
lowed the subversion of their Western Empire the trade
with India was greatly diminished, though it never en-
tirely ceased in parts of Europe, especially as some of the
productions of the East had been consecrated to the ser-
vices of the Roman Catholic ritual, and have ever since
continued in request with the Christian churches of Greece
THE MOHGTJL, DYNASTY. 13
and Rome. Even in the remote island of Great Britain,
and in the semi-barbaric Saxon period, some of the pre-
cious spices and scented woods of India had been carefully
treasured by the Venerable Bede and his co-laborers in
their bleak northern monastery, at Jarrow. In fact, at the
very dawn of European civilization, under the good and
wise Alfred the Great, English missionaries are said to
have found their way to the coast of Malabar.
The great seat of Eastern trade was, down to the elev-
enth century, the city of Constantino the Great. Anialfi,
Venice, and many other enterprising Italian republics
acquired about this time great commercial importance,
owing to their Eastern trade, which they extended to
Egypt and the Persian Gulf.
In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries some of the
more adventurous Italians found their way to various
parts of Hindostan. One of these, the famous Marco
Paulo, has given to the world much curious information
about the regions which lie between the Himalaya Moun-
tains, the Indian Ocean, and the numerous islands border-
ing on the Celestial Empire and on India proper.
The first European traveller who has given us an
account of the country near the island of Bombay was
an Italian friar named Odoricus, who passed nearly a
month at Tana or more properly Thanah where four
of his family fell victims to the intolerant spirit of the
natives, and suffered martyrdom. His narrative was pub-
lished in Latin in 1330 A.. D. by William de Solanga.
The first Englishman who visited the western coast of
India was Thomas Stephens, of New College, Oxford.
He reached Goa in October, 1579, and in the year 1608
Pryard de Laval mentions him at the time as rector of
a college at Salsette.
It was during the early career of the famous Zehir-ed
14 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
Deen Mohammed, a descendant of the renowned Genghis-
khn, and the founder of the so-called Mohgul dynasty,
better known by his common name of Baber, or "the
Tiger/' that the Portuguese, whose maritime discoveries
were beginning to produce, an important revolution in the
commercial world, succeeded in accomplishing their long-
desired object of finding a passage by the Cape of Good
Hope to India. In the year 1498, just ten months and
two days after leaving the port of Lisbon, Vasco da Gama
landed on the coast of Malabar at Calicut, or more prop-
erly Kale Khoda, " City of the Black Goddess." Calicut
was at that period not only a very ancient seaport, but an
extensive territory, which, stretching along the western
coast of Southern India, reached from Bombay and the
adjacent islands to Cape Comorin. It was, at an early
period, so famous for its weaving and dyeing of cotton
cloth that its name became identified with the manufac-
tured fabric, whence the name calico. The dyeing of
cotton cloths seems to have been in practice in India in
very remote ages. Pliny as early as the first century men-
tions in his Natural History that there existed in Egypt
a wonderful method of dyeing white cloth. It is now gen-
erally admitted that this ingenious art originated in India,
and from that country found its way into Egypt. It was
not till toward the middle of the seventeenth century that
calico-printing was introduced into Europe. A know-
ledge of the art was acquired by some of the servants in
the service of the Dutch East India Company, and car-
ried to Holland, whence it was introduced "in London in
the year 1676.
The town of Calicut, though repeatedly burnt and
destroyed by Portuguese and Mohammedan conquerors,
still stands, as it has done for many hundreds of years, on
the seashore, in a somewhat low and exposed position,
THE CONQUESTS OF THE POKTUGUESE. 15
possessing neither a river nor any harbor within several
miles of it, so that ships are compelled to cast anchor five
or six miles from the landing-place, almost in mid-ocean.
Its want of a convenient harbor does not seem to have
detracted from its commercial importance. At the very
beginning of the Eastern trade, when Constantinople was
attracting to itself all the commerce of the East, Calicut
was visited by vessels from Asia Minor, Egypt, and
Arabia. It was so well known to the Arabians that in
the seventeenth century a fanatical sect of Mohammedans
named Moplahs immigrated to Calicut, and entered with
great success into the commercial life of the city, and
occupy in it, even to this day, a most important place,
carrying on a very profitable trade between Calicut, the
Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, and various parts of India, its
chief exports being rice, cocoanut, ginger, cardamoms, and
sandal- and teak -wood. At the time of the landing of the
Portuguese, Calicut is described as a fine city, with numer-
ous magnificent buildings, among which a Brahmanical
temple and college are especially mentioned, so remarkable
were they for their size and architectural adornments.
It would be out of place to enter into particulars of the
long struggle that ensued, or the disgraceful acts of treachery
and cruelty that attended the conquests of the Portuguese.
It will suffice to say that in a very few years they w T ere
firmly established in the south of India. Having possessed
themselves of the large maritime city of Goa, they formed
a regular government, headed by a viceroy appointed by
the king of Portugal. They soon turned the trade of
Hindostan and the Deccan into new and more profitable
channels, thus depriving the Venetians, Genoese, and
many other nations of all the advantages derived from
their long-established European commerce between the
Persian Gulf, the Red Sea, Egypt, and the Mediterranean
16 LIFE AND TRAVEL IK INDIA.
Sea. From that time the Italians began to decline in
wealth, influence, and prosperity until the close of the
sixteenth and in the beginning of the seventeenth century,
when the English, Dutch, and French, sailing round by
the Cape of Good Hope, began to appear upon the scene.
No sooner was this accomplished than the Portuguese, who
had monopolized the commerce with Europe during the
sixteenth century, lost (almost as rapidly as they had
acquired it) their immense influence in the East.
In 1585, Thomas Cavendish, one of the boldest and
most adventurous navigators in the reign of Queen Eliza-
beth, had accomplished successfully a two years' voyage
round the world. Among other places, he had visited
and explored the spice islands called the Moluccas, but
his discoveries resulted in no permanent benefit to the
British traders. In the year following an English expe-
dition consisting of three vessels, under the command of
Captain Raymond, was sent out to India, but its object
was rather more warlike than commercial, as it was
intended to cruise against the Portuguese. Sickness, ship-
wreck, and other disasters overtook the vessels ; Captain
Raymond, one of the most spirited men of his time, was
lost without even having seen the Eldorado of his dreams,
and Captain Lancaster, his second in command, returned
home a sad and almost ruined man. Francis Drake, after-
ward knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his many remark-
able exploits at sea, succeeded in capturing five Portuguese
vessels laden with the rich products of India. These, with
the successes of the Levant Company and the accumulating
information obtained from private sources, contributed to
keep alive the excitement and to increase to an inordinate
degree the desire of English traders and merchants for a
more immediate participation in the Eastern commerce.
Nevertheless, the ambition and jealousy of the British mer-
THE EAST-ESTDIA COMPANY. 17
chants were not fully aroused until they heard that the
Dutch in 1595 had fitted out and despatched four ships to
trade with India.
Then the British merchants immediately set to work.
A fund was raised by subscriptions of a number of indi-
viduals amounting to 30,133 6s. Sd., a company was
formed, and a committee of fifteen able men was elected
to manage it, which was the origin of the " East India
Company." On the 31st of December, 1600, just two
hundred and eighty-four years ago, a royal charter of
privileges was granted, conditionally for fifteen years, to
the company. By means of this charter, and furnished
with letters from Queen Elizabeth to various Eastern
rajahs, who were probably unconscious of her existence, a
squadron of five ships sailed on the 2d of May, 1601, from
Torbay. It was placed under the command of Captain
Lancaster, the companion of the unfortunate Raymond.
Fortune now appeared to favor the brave Lancaster.
The very first place which he and his crews visited was
Acheen in the island of Sumatra. Owing to the fact that
Northern Sumatra had already been repeatedly visited by
European travellers, among whom were Marco Paulo,
Friar Odoricus, and Nicolo Conti, Captain Lancaster was
remarkably well received by Alaudin Shah, the then
reigning sovereign ; and, to add to his good fortune, while
cruising in the Straits of Malacca he succeeded in captur-
ing a large and heavily-laden Portuguese vessel having on
board a cargo of fine calicoes, spices, and some of the fine
gold for which Acheen was then celebrated. Thus unex-
pectedly enriched, he sailed away, and, entering the Straits
of Angeer, landed at Bantam in the island of Java, where
he established an agency the first germ of the great East
India Company's factories and returned in safety to Eng-
land in the autumn of the year 1603. For many years
18 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
following the trading vessels of the East India Company
made successful voyages to many of the best-known islands
in the Indian Ocean, realizing immense profits, and return-
ing home to enrich the company to such an extent as to
excite the jealousy of the British government, which vainly
attempted to limit the privileges of the royal charter granted
to it by Queen Elizabeth. Not many years after the suc-
cess of the company was assured by a firman of the great
Mohgul emperor, confirming to them certain privileges,
and, above all, authorizing their establishment of factories
at some of the most important ports of Hindostan.
The Dutch, who had dispossessed the Portuguese of
their factory in Amboyna, one of the largest of the spice
islands in the Molucca group, now began to regard the
English traders with much jealousy. These, only eighteen
in number, had established themselves in a defenceless
house in town, trusting to the agreements and treaties they
had made with the Dutch traders. The Dutch invited
them in a friendly manner to pay a visit to their castle,
fortified and garrisoned by two hundred men. The unsus-
pecting English had no sooner entered the castle than they
were seized, put to the rack and torture, and ten of the
number, holding out firmly to the last, were put to death.
During the memorable conflict between Charles I. and
the Parliament nearly all foreign enterprise flagged. Dis-
tracted by the great civil war that followed, the East India
Company sank into comparative inaction. But no sooner
was the great Oliver Cromwell at the head of affairs than
he reconfirmed the privileges of the company, and gave
every encouragement to its trade; he also compelled the
Dutch government to pay the sum of 300,000, together
with a grant of one of the smaller spice islands, as some
compensation to the descendants of those who suffered in
the " Amboyna massacre."
A NEW CHARTER GRANTED IN 1661. 19
A new charter was granted to the company by Charles
II. in 1661, in which, in addition to the old privileges,
new and important ones were given to them. They were
vested with the right of full civil jurisdiction and military
authority over all Europeans in their employment, as well
as with the power of making war and concluding peace
with the " infidels of India." In 1662, Charles II. mar-
ried Catharine, princess of Portugal, who brought him a
million pounds sterling and gifts of the island of Bombay
and the fortress of Taugiers. In 1668, at the request of
the company, Charles sold to them for a trifling sum of
money the island of Bombay, granting to them shortly
after the island of St. Helena, an equally convenient sta-
tion for their merchantmen ; and at length, induced by the
defensible character of the island and its convenient and
most commodious harbor, the company transferred from
Surat to Bombay the seat of their government. Thus the
island of Bombay became the presidency over all their set-
tlements, and from that moment numerous Oriental nations
were attracted to the island, commerce rapidly increased,
the native town began to spread, and the foundation of a
great empire in India was securely laid.
In no other part of the world are found so many races
and peoples living side by side as in the island of Bombay.
In the spacious streets and bazaars one meets Buddhists,
Jains, Brahmans, Hindoos, Chinese, Musulmans (both Per-
sians and Arabs), Seedees or Africans, Indo-Portuguese,
Indo-Britons, Jews, Armenians, Afghans, Caucasians, Par-
sees, Americans, and Europeans of all nationalities. The
most important of all these are undoubtedly the Parsees.
They are as a class the richest, most industrious, and most
honorable of all the native populations. They are the
most extensive merchants and land-owners in the island ;
they share largely in foreign speculation both in the Euro-
20 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
pean and mercantile houses. They hold to two principles
as indispensable to their permanent success and efficiency
in trade : First, that every Parsee in any part of the Indian
empire shall be subject to the established government,
whatever it may be. By this means they diffuse a spirit
of obedience and promptitude among their co-religionists,
whether in India, Persia, China, or Egypt, and are at once
able to secure the co-operation of one and every member
of the faith in any emergency that may demand the com-
bined efforts of the entire sect. Secondly, that every Par-
see, no matter what the accident of his birth, is the equal
of his more prosperous fellow-laborers.
The island of Bombay is separated from the mainland
by an arm of the sea, and forms, in conjunction with the
adjacent islands of Salsette on the north, Colabah and Old
"Woman's Island on the south, a magnificent and well-
sheltered harbor. Handsome causeways raised above the
sea at high water span the narrow channels on the south,
and connect Bombay with two of the most picturesque isl-
ands I have ever seen. To the north, Bombay is again
connected with Salsette by a causeway with a fine arched
stone bridge, and yet another causeway has t>een thrown
over the strait, so as to connect the great India Peninsular
Railway with the mainland. Thus Bombay and the islands
which surround it form a continuous breakwater extending
from north to south for several miles. Toward the east lies
the celebrated island of Elephanta; just opposite to the
mouth of the harbor lies a thickly-wooded island of little
elevation, with the exception of two remarkable projections
which are shot upward almost perpendicularly from the
level of the land, called Great and Little Caranja Hills.
One of our first drives was to thejEort and town of
Bombay. The latter is situated within the fort, and is
almost a mile in length from the Apollo Gate to that of
THE DRY-DOCK OF BOMBAY. 21
the bazaar, but hardly a quarter of a mile in its broadest
part, from the Custom-house across the great Green to
what is called Church gate. It is now called Fort George,
and with its moats, drawbridges, and gateways is still in
tolerably good repair. There are two gateways facing
the beautiful harbor, having commodious wharfs and
cranes built out from each, with a fine broad stone quay
or landing-place for passengers. Passing through these
gates, we visited the famous Bombay Castle, a regular
quadrangle built of hard stone. In one of the bastions
we saw a spacious reservoir for water. The fortifications
are sufficiently formidable, and are frequently repaired,
if not improved. Dungarree Hill, which commands the
town, has now been included within the fort, by which
accession the seaward points of the island are rendered
extremely strong, the harbor being completely commanded
by successive ranges of batteries placed one above the
other. The Government House, a showy but a most
inconvenient building, the old church, and a spacious
Maidan, or Common, are also situated within the fort.
The rise of the tides has been found such as to admit
of the construction of docks on a truly magnificent scale.
Indeed, the dry-dock of Bombay is said to be unequalled
In the East for its immense size and convenience. It has
been built with three divisions, each of which is furnished
with a pair of strong gates, so that it is capable of receiv-
ing three ships-of-the-line at a time. This operation is
generally entrusted to Parsees, and executed with great
rapidity and skill. These docks have sprung up here
since the days when the island passed into the possession
of the East India Company. Another remarkable feature
of this part of Bombay is the so-called ropewalk, which
is said to be equal to any in England (with the single
exception of the king's yard at Portsmouth). Here rope
22 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
cables and every variety of lesser cordage are manufac-
tured in great abundance. The workmen can be seen
seated under covered awnings diligently plying their
respective occupations some cleaning the caiah, or cocoa-
nut-husks, others plaiting, and yet again others twisting
heavy ropes and cords.
The Bombay dockyard is also worth visiting ; it is ad-
mirably contrived, and abounds in fine stone warehouses
well stocked with timber for building and repairing ves-
sels and ships of all kinds and sizes, with forges, and
well-instructed Parsees, who, among other qualifications,
are counted the best ship-carpenters to be found in the
East. Many of the merchantmen and ships-of-the-line
in the service of the late East India Company have been
built here from time to time, and are still built, of Mala-
bar and Mylonghee teak-wood, which is much esteemed
throughout India. One of the most magnificent teak
forests, from which supplies of wood are obtained, lies on
the north-western boundaries of the kingdom of Siam;
the other on the western side of the Ghauts and all along
the mountains lying north and east of the old Portuguese
town of Bassein. They are floated down to Bombay by
means of the numerous streams which descend from these
mountain-ridges.
Another curious feature is the celebrated cotton^press,
of which there are a great many in use here marvellous
in themselves, but more striking amid the mountains of
cotton piled up waiting to be pressed before transportation
to Europe, China, and other parts of the world. Not very
far from these one comes upon a square around which
cluster most of the European warehouses and the banks,
huge blocks of masonry, dark and dismal as the tomb, im-
pregnated with the odors of tea, coffee, spices, and every
other known Indian commodity or manufacture.
INITIATION TO THE COMMERCE OF THE WORLD. 23
It was my first initiation to the commerce of the world
to visit this spot. Previous to this day I had hardly so
much as purchased a ribbon for myself, and could not con-
ceive what trade really meant. But, driving here about
ten o'clock one morning, the whole scene dawned upon
me with peculiar force. The great square was thronged
with a motley crowd of dark- and white-faced foreigners,
all eager, jostling, and contending with each amid the con-
fused hubbub of all languages and all manner of dialects.
Here were strange specimens of every nationality and
every phase of life, from the lordly English and Scotch
merchants, the skilful and assiduous Parsees, to the half-
nude, wretched-looking fakeers and beggars who haunt
this spot in the hope of getting a few pice.*
For six hours these masses of humanity struggle, work,
barter, buy and sell, load and unload, and carry on the
strangely-exciting warfare, not of flesh and blood, but of
pounds, shillings, and pence, straining every nerve each
to outdo his neighbor, to enrich himself, at great sacrifice
of life, health, and at times even of honor, in the hope of
returning to his native land to enjoy the spoils a hope
which, alas! is realized only in rare instances.
But at four o'clock, as if by magic, the eager, bustling,
jostling crowd suddenly vanishes ; the din and confusion
cease. Long lines of carriages and handsome equipages
drive up to the great stone warehouses, and dash away
with their white-faced occupants. Where is now the
commerce of the world ? Gone with the powerful, all-
grasping white man. A silence profound as the grave
succeeds to the rush, noise, and turmoil of the day. In
less than half an hour not a human being is to be seen
anywhere, save the solitary begrimed watchmen seated
here and there in dim nooks and corners, and the armed
* Pieces of money each of the value of one-fourth of a penny.
24 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
white-faced sentinels standing grim and silent at their
posts.
On this first visit we were the last to quit the scene.
Nothing ever made so deep and, I might truly say, so
depressing an impression on my mind as the fierce and
unnatural activity which pervaded this spot.
A day or two after we drove through the markets or
bazaars of the Parsees, or Fire-worshippers, and another
and peculiar class of native traders called the Borahs the
two most enterprising of the many different peoples who
occupy this island. These markets, nearly three miles in
extent, are perhaps the most picturesque in the world,
composed entirely of lofty, handsome Oriental houses,
with projecting lattice windows and wooden balconies
elaborately carved and hung in many places with rich
tapestries. The upper stories of the houses are the dwell-
ings of the merchants and their families ; the lower por-
tions are given up to stalls, shops, and alcoves where the
most delicate fabrics and the most exquisite work of all
kinds are manufactured by native artisans boxes, fans,
drinking-cups carved out of cocoanut-shells, with stools,
tables, chairs, and other articles of furniture for the homes
of European residents, as well as for exportation. Here
are made kinkaubs, or cloths of gold ; mulmuls, or mus-
lins, of such transparent texture as to be called " running
waters ;" and many other articles are wrought out here by
half-nude, savage-looking men and women with tools of
the rudest and most primitive kind. Nearly all the Ori-
ental work done here, though very beautiful and delicate
of its kind, is imitative, and it lacks that freedom and
diversity so peculiar to European manufacture.
, The street that Europeans most visit in this quarter, and
the best worth seeing for its unmixed and purely Oriental
character, is called the " Bhendee Bazaar:" It abounds
DISPLAY OF GOODLY ARABIAN STEEDS. 25
in the queerest and most picturesque sights solemn mer-
chants, turbaned and with long flowing robes, seated cross-
legged in their dens smoking long hookas ; native women,
handsomely dressed, in a variety of costumes, and half-
nude beggars, who seem to beg for fun or for a wager ;
cripples, vagabonds ; coolies with great heavy burdens on
their backs, beneath which head and shoulders have dis-
appeared, and only two bare legs can be seen struggling
along amid the crowd ; peddlers yelling like fiends ; tur-
baned Mohammedans ; Hindoo and Parsee ladies closely
veiled, either on foot or in draped carriages drawn by
milk-white bullocks instead of horses ; indolent loungers
sleeping in the shade; dogs yelping and native soldiers
crushing through this great crowded aisle of the Bhendee
Bazaar. It is not only full of everything Oriental, but
everything Occidental, even to the idols so largely manu-
factured in Europe for the Indian markets from the cost-
liest gems from the mines of Punnah and Golconda to the
commonest English prints ; and since the introduction of
free trade one can absolutely purchase English goods
cheaper in this market than in the cities where they are
manufactured.
After visiting Bhendee we came one day upon a most
interesting portion of the bazaar, the Arabian horse-
markets. Long lines of stables stretch along for some dis-
tance, making a noble display of goodly Arabian steeds.
These splendid high-bred creatures are greatly esteemed
by the native traders, nawabs, and princes, as well as by
the rich English merchants, and often bring fabulous
prices. It was very pleasant to go through these stables
and see the care and attention bestowed upon the horses
by the native grooms, who, while washing, feeding, and
rubbing them down, talk to them as if they were children.
Our Hindoo scyce, or groom, while grooming his horse
26 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
always told him everything that had happened to him
during his absence on the previous evening, opening the
conversation with, "Kaisah hai paiyarah? How art thou,
beloved?"
Not far off there is a less picturesque but much more
densely-crowded market called the "Chine Bazaar." It
runs along the filthiest part of the city, and leads to a
stone pier devoted to the native population and to the
loading and unloading of native craft and vessels. The
people who inhabit this part of the city are chiefly Las-
cars, or native sailors, and foreigners from different parts
of the East. On any day and at any hour one may see
what seems the entire produce of the East piled on this
stone wharf; merchandise and mankind are in great masses
here. Every inch of ground is thronged with moving
forms, presenting a wild masquerade of extravagant dress
and of the most perfect undress. Everywhere there is
more filth and dirt than is possible to conceive at first
sight ; odors of ghee, or clarified butter, and fish in every
stage of decomposition, assail you amid all manner of
deafening sounds.
On one occasion, when visiting this part of Bombay, I
saw the landing of some pilgrims from Mecca a dirty,
ill-looking set of men, but the moment they touched land
the crowd was hushed ; they walked in file counting their
beads through the parted crowds, who almost to a man
salaamed in abject reverence to the holy strangers.
I also saw some beautiful girls landed here, and that
they were slaves, brought for p_riyate_jaje among the rich
natives, I could not doubt. I afterward learned that
women were brought here every year, and disposed of
privately to fill the hareems of the rich Musulman mer-
chants in spite of British laws. Riding through these
bazaars, it has impressed me that whatever Great Britain
A SECEET SOCIETY IN BOMBAY. 27
might do for the improvement of the island of BamM Dvi
in the way of governing it, it would take very many cen-
turies before she could destroy its purely Oriental cha-
racter.
At one time a very curious organization existed in Bom-
bay for upward of thirty years, consisting of a body of
forty or more individuals who bound themselves into a
sort of secret society, the sole object of which was sys-
tematic plunder. This society had in its employment
about three hundred men as subordinates, instructed to
receive goods stolen from the merchants' ships. The har-
bor was the chief scene of their secret operations. Here
those of the members who were on duty were ordered to
distribute themselves at the various wharves and piers,
whence boats went off to ships either when loading or
unloading. These employe's of the secret society either
detained the boats' crews in conversation, and thus pur-
loined goods, or hired themselves for a veryjiow sum of
money to work with them for the night. In this way
they managed to drop into the water or into another and
confederate boat some of the goods surreptitiously obtained.
The plunder was then conveyed openly to the shore, and
sold by auction next morning, without any attempt at con-
ct-alinent, so far as the natives were concerned ; and as few
Europeans frequented this part of the native town, they
had no fear of detection. It is said that the books of this
robber society were scrupulously kept, the division of the
profits made with strict honesty, and, what is more re-
markable still, two shares of the profits were bestowed on
charitable institutions among the various tribes and castes
of Bombay. It was not until the year 1843 that this
secret robber, society was detected in some wholesale plun-
der; the chiefs concerned in it were brought to justice
and the whole thing broken up.
28 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
The late East India Company, in order to protect the
trade of the country against such societies, as well as
against the hordes of pirates who have ever since the days
of Alexander the Great infested the western coast of India,
found it necessary to maintain an armed marine force.
Not far from the extreme point of the Oriental bazaars,
so full of mystery, romance, and dirt, is a spot I have often
visited, called Co:labaji more properly Kalaaba, or Black
Water where the sea is of the deepest blue, and where an
entirely different picture is presented to the eye. Bunga-
lows, as the better class of Indian houses are called, with
broad, open, and shady verandahs, each with its beauti-
fully kept garden, stretch along this promontory, making
a charming scene. These are the residences of some of
the wealthiest inhabitants of the island. Bright, airy-
looking dwellings, nestling amid the most graceful ever-
green foliage, and standing as they do between two bays,
they occupy the most beautiful spot in Bombay.
At the extreme end of this promontory are the Euro-
pean barracks, built with reference to the exigencies of
the climate and replete with comfort for the British sol-
diers and their officers. It is really both pleasing and
interesting to see that these are well cared for in this
foreign land; but the curiosity and charm born in the
native parts of the island, and especially in the bazaars,
lessen by sure degrees as you see your countrymen quietly
and comfortably established in a spot with which they
seem so out of harmony in form and color. On the
southern extremity of Colabah is the lighthouse, a grace-
ful circular building standing on a desolate rock which
stretches far into the sea and commands the entrance to
the fort. It rises from the sea-level one hundred and fifty*
feet, flashing its light to the distance of twenty-one miles.
I remember going to the top of it one moonlight night.
THE VILLAGE OP GIRGAUM. 29
We remained there two or three hours, and saw the moon
rise higher and higher, silently scattering the deep shadows
one by one, revealing the half-hidden beauties of that
strange shore ; and at length, when she climbed over head
and looked down in the full splendor of her light, the
mountain-ridges, feathered with wavy palms, the glim-
mering peaks and spires of the land, were all magnifi-
cently pictured in richest and softest colors in the polished
mirror of the sea.
The " Maidan^" or Plain, is a fine esplanade in front
of the fort. Here passing European officers, and those Eu-
ropeans who are obliged by business or any other circum-
stance to live within the fort during the cool months,
erect bungalows ; some of these are remarkably elegant
buildings, but wholly unfit to resist the violence of the
monsoon. At the moment that the early showers of rain
announce the wet season these temporary homes vanish
and their place is very soon occupied by a vast sheet of
water. The Esplanade serves to separate the European
from the native part of the island, the latter being vul-
garly called the "Black Town."
Toward the north of the island are scattered many pic-
turesque and thriving villages amid native groves of man-
goes, palms, and fine timber trees, cities of the dead, and
some very interesting ruined portions once occupied by
the Portuguese conquerors.
The village of Girgaum, to the south of the island, is,
however, the most picturesque and most densely popu-
lated of all these native settlements. No other part of the
island is so fascinating as night approaches. A blaze of
light flashing on the surface of huge reservoirs of water,
on citron- and orange-groves, flooding flagged courtyards
surrounded with blooming tropical fruits and flowers, the
brilliant colors and varieties of dress of the numerous at-
30 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
tendants, male and female, together with the groups formed
by different parties arriving or departing, with the sounds
of all kinds of music and midnight revelry, altogether
formed a coup d'ceil which I can never forget, and which
can be only seen in a tropical climate. Parts of this vil-
lage, I am told, are entirely given up to the dissipated and
pleasure-seeking youths who may happen to be beguiled
by these outward appearances. It presents a very different
aspect in the morning light ; the cottages amid its palm-
groves look so quiet and secluded that it is still more attrac-
tive. In some parts there are vast plantations of cocoa-
nut trees, with the neat little huts, here and there, of native
planters stretching toward a portion of the island called
the Back Bay.
Lying on the opposite side of the palm-groves of Maza-
gaum, a fishing village, about an hour's drive over a beau-
tiful strand brings us to an interesting spot called Breach
Candy. On our way, especially in the afternoon, we meet
carriages full of handsome Parsee ladies, generally bril-
liantly attired in their peculiar costumes, surrounded by
numbers of happy-looking children, taking their evening
airing. Grand mohguls and nabobs, driving out in mag-
nificent European equipages, drawn by two and not infre-
quently by four spirited Arabian horses, pass rapidly by.
At length, leaving the grand and princely occupants of all
these brilliant equipages, we arrive at a spot desolate and
yet peaceful beyond description the cemeteries of the
dead of all peoples and all creeds. No sound is heard.
One solitary Hindoo, robed in pure white, with his bare
shaved head, is praying over a smouldering spot covered
with hot ashes, which shows signs of a body having been
recently burned there. These graves are separated, it is
true, but hardly distinguishable from one another. Deso-
late homes of the dead, we cannot tell which are Christian
VISIT TO THE PINJKAPOORE. 31
and which pagan. All sleep quietly in the same dust. But
kind nature has decked them in tender living green, with
here and there a beautiful wild flower, while the ever-
encroaching sea washes away every year, bit by bit, the
tombs of Hindoo, Moslem, Jain, Buddhist, and Christian
alike.
There is one place that one should not miss- seeing in
Bombay, and that is the Pinjrapoore, or the Jain hospital
for animals. It is one of the most peculiarly Oriental
institutions in the East, and the largest to be found Jn
India pagan in everything, even in that disposition which
has become almost a natural instinct to the Hindoos, the
Buddhists, and the Jains,* to feel respect not alone for what
is stronger and more beautiful than themselves, but for
what is weaker and more helpless, and even hideous.
The Pinjrapoore is situated in one of the most densely-
populated portions of the native town.
We were conducted by two very civil men, low-caste
Jains, into what appeared a large courtyard. A number
of low sheds and several other courts ran all round it.
I must confess I was greatly disappointed in the appear-
ance of the building itself; it was mean and wretchedly
* The Jains, a very curious sect found in India proper to-day, and
known only to the learned in Enrope as the sole representatives in
Hindostan of the once-numerous adherents to the tenets of Buddhism
in that region, hold an intermediate place between Buddhists and
Brahmans, but approach more closely to the Buddhists. They hold
that Mahavira the hero, their greatest teacher, and the last of a number
of deified spiritual legislators called by them Tirthankaras, was the pre-
ceptor of the great Gautama, the Buddha, whose followers embrace
nearly three-fourths of the human race even to-day. They have, like
the Brahmans, castes, and abstain most rigorously from flesh of all
kinds. But, on the other hand, like the Buddhists of Siam, Burmah,
Japan, etc., they disavow the sacredness of the Vedas and the Hindoo
gods, but in their place worship twenty-four sanctified legislators or
Tirthankaras.
32 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
dirty. But as for the aspect of the inmates, it was at
once both ludicrous and pathetic. I felt inclined to laugh
and cry by turns. Never was such a medley of sick and
aged animals seen anywhere else. A number of sick oxen
were undergoing treatment at the hands of several native
physicians who live near the hospital, and whose sole care
is to attend to its inmates. One poor old, lean cow was
having her leg dressed, and she seemed to be pretty con-
scious of the physician's kind intentions, for she stood per-
fe^ctly still and quiet during the operation, which must
have lasted an hour at least. The other aged and sick
cattle, some blind, others scarred, not a few with bandages
over their eyes or with halting steps, presented a singularly
pathetic sight. We passed into several small courtyards
where cats and dogs and many aged greyhounds find a
pleasant home. Some of these were old and infirm to
such a degree that it was painful to look at them. One
big dog was pointed out to me by one of the men as the
" bura kahnah wallah," one who delighted in big dinners ;
they certainly did not aid in fattening him, for he was the
leanest creature I have ever seen.
The monkey part of the hospital was the most enter-
taining. A big ape supported itself on crutches ; another
sick inmate was lying stretched full length on the floor,
gazing most piteously into tfie keeper's face. It seemed
to be an object of deep interest to all the other monkeys,
who clustered around it. The native doctor shook his
head solemnly, and if it had been a human being he could
not have said more tenderly, "Bachara! bachara! whoo
murta hai " (" Poor thing ! poor thing ! she is dying ").
Almost all of the infirm inmates looked on their dying
comrade with peculiar intelligence in their faces, as if they
had a sort of vague idea of what was happening. As I
looked on, I could not doubt but that each one had some-
OEIENTAL CHAEITY. 33
how divined the meaning of the doctor's foreboding shake
of the head.
In these compartments were collected, as it almost
seemed, every known quadruped and biped on the face
of the globe. Old elephants, dilapidated buffaloes, de-
plumed ravens, vultures, and buzzards hobnobbed together
with gray-bearded goats and most foolish-looking old
rams ; rats, mice, rabbits, hens, herons, lame ducks, for-
lorn old cocks, and sparrows, jackals, old owls, and geese,
live here in harmony side by side. I have been shown
through palaces which interested me less.
We waited to see this curious medley of inmates dine.
When the food which suited each class was being conveyed
by a band of attendant boys to their various pens, troughs,
etc., the noise and confusion were deafening. The monkeys
in particular, with the peacocks birds the most sacred to
the Hindoos and Jains raised such a howl and were so
importunate to be served first that we were glad to escape.
Such is the extreme limit to which Oriental charity is car-
ried. At first sight it seemed absurd beyond words.
Nevertheless, there is something very noble and touch-
ing about this " infirmary " for the brute creation. Every
one who finds any animal wounded, sick, aged, or dying
is authorized to bring it here, and here it is really well
cared for until death comes to relieve it from all suffering.
Who can estimate the power of an institution that is con-
tinually caring for the dumb mutes of the animal king-
dom, who bear not only man's burdens, but his harshness
and neglect, with the patience of almost sanctified beings ?
In my first week in Bombay I received an invitation to
a grand dimieivparty to be given at the house of a rich
East Indian lady, a Mrs. C , the widow of what is
called in British India an uncovenanted officer. So great
is the prestige attached to the word " officer " in the East
3
34 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
that every man is an officer of some sort or other, from
the brigadier to the private soldier. A civilian, conse-
quently, is an uncovenanted officer, and as for the mer-
chants, they are Mohguls, nabobs, Badishas, or Kuda-
wunds. Mrs. C 's house was situated near Parel,
formerly " Nonpareil," a most lovely part of the island.
Our carriage drove through a long wide avenue of fine
trees, and brought us before a large one-storied stone
building, pillared and with a spacious flight of stone steps
leading to it. On the steps were half a dozen handsomely-
dressed servants in long flowing white robes called "an-
grakas," crimson-and-gold striped turbans, and bright blue-
and-gold cumberbunds, or scarfs, folded round their waists ;
the effect was certainly striking. These salaamed to us,
and with stately dignity advanced and helped us to alight.
We were then shown by another band of ushers, magnifi-
cently dressed, into a sumptuously furnished apartment,
where we laid aside our light wrappings. A fresh troop
of dusky-hued, richly-draped, and turbaned individuals
marshalled us into the grand drawing-room, where we
found the rich widow seated on a yellow satin ottoman
surrounded by a bevy of ladies and gentlemen. The
ladies all wore low-necked dresses of the most exquisitely
delicate Indian fabrics, Chinese crapes, gauzes, mulmuls,
and silks ; and some of them were young and beautiful.
At dinner numbers of dusky-hued attendants moved
about us so softly that they did not seem to touch the
floor with their feet ; gliding noiselessly in and out, offer-
ing us costly viands and sparkling wines, laying down
plates and removing them so dexterously as not to make
the faintest sound, they seemed even to repress their
breathing. Everything was done with magical effect.
The punkahs overhead moved softly to and fro ; the light
fell from cocoanut-oil chandeliers in peculiarly softened
BRITISH SUPREMACY IN INDIA. 35
splendor on the rare flowers, the glass, and the silver
below. Everything went on with the ease and precision
of clockwork, without the faintest echo of a click or
sound. Even those domestics who did not wait at din-
ner-table stood with arms folded across their breasts under
the shadows of doors or pillars, waiting their turn to serve,
and so still and motionless were they that they might
almost, save for the glitter in their eyes, have passed for
bronze statues.
They impressed me very unpleasantly, and that in spite
of all the laughter and merriment, the exaltation of Brit-
ish power and British supremacy in India. I had, some-
how, a feeling of reserved force pervading those mute,
motionless figures around us, and I involuntarily felt, for
the first time, that it was a very solemn affair for the
Briton to be in India luxuriating on her soil and on her
spoils.
With those dark, restless eyes watching every turn,
motion, and expression of our faces, in vain were the
delicious coffee and the sumptuous dinner, the music of
the fountains playing before each window. I was anxious
to escape. If I laughed or talked or moved, those dark
eyes seemed to observe me, even when they were seem-
ingly fixed on vacancy. If I had dared, I believe I
should have risen and gone away. But of course this
would have been a shocking breach of etiquette, so I sat
still, hushing secret perturbations and longing for dinner
to end.
The conversation continued in a lively strain. I noticed
that every one seemed to have a pet theory about home
government and how it could best be administered ; all of
which I was then too young to comprehend, but I did
comprehend, and that very painfully, that no one seemed
to mind those dark, silent, stationary figures any more
36 LIFE AND TKAVEL, IN INDIA.
than if they had been hewn out of stone. On coming
out of that house I drew a long deep sigh of relief and
felt just as if I had escaped from some imminent danger.
There are no less than three_government residences in
the island of Bombay. One is within the walls of the
fort, used for holding special meetings of the council dur-
bars, or assemblies, and for various other public business.
It has little or no architectural beauty, and looks more
like a stadthouse in a German free city. The one at
Malabar Point is a charming English cottage, situated
on a rocky and well-wooded promontory, commanding a
beautiful view of the sea, and is often washed by the sea-
spray during stormy weather. The third is at Parel a
magnificent building, said to have been founded on the
remains of an old Jesuit college which flourished here
during the Portuguese supremacy in India. It was
bought by a Parsee, from whom it was purchased by the
East India government about a century ago and fitted up
in its present style. A noble flight of stone steps leads to
the entrance-hall, whence a fine staircase opens into two
of the most spacious rooms I have ever seen in Bombay,
about eighty feet long, one above the other, and each very
handsomely furnished. It commands a fine view of the
town and harbor.
There is a curious rock at the extreme point of Malabar
Hill which is very difficult to approach at high tide. Here
are the remains of an ancient Hindoo temple, and a hole
famous as a place of resort for Hindoo devotees, who
endure great hardships in order to get access to the hole
and pass. through it, believing that in doing so they are
regenerated, born again, and purified from all their sins.
Among the places worth attention in the neighborhood
of Bombay are Byculla and Mazagaum. The former has
a fine English school-house for all classes of children. It
BANYAN TKEE.
DESCENDANTS OF THE EARLY PORTUGUESE. 37
is placed under the supervision of a number of English
ladies of high rank, who take turns in visiting it.
Mazagaum is a very old part of the island of Bombay,
formerly a fishing village, which its name indicates, but
now a densely-populated town, inhabited chiefly by the
descendants of the early Portuguese settlers. The Roman
Catholic church here is a most venerable and picturesque
building, standing under the shadow of great forest trees.
Their foliage is certainly magnificent beyond description.
The mango, the tamarind, the graceful peepul, and the
banyan attain great height and breadth, and are covered
with marvellous specimens of huge parasitic creepers and
plants forming miles of sheltered walks. The fruit-bear-
ing trees come to great perfection here. But with all its
beauty the spot is considered so unhealthy that it is often
called the " white man's grave."
I have seldom seen a pleasanter sight than that which
is presented at Mazagaum on every Sunday morning in
the year, when the whole native Christian population
turns out to church almost simultaneously. The streets
are filled with handsome women and children. The
women in their long flowing mantles and costumes, half
Hindoo and half European, are very picturesque. But
the men and boys present an appearance at once both
grotesque and ludicrous. Most of them are dressed as
Europeans, and not a few as English and Portuguese
generals; gold lace, plumed hats, helmets, and striped
pantaloons are the prevailing fashion. They seem to
have no idea of the fitness of things. Their passion for
European dress is carried to such an extreme that I have
seen a native * Portuguese sailing down the lane without
* The descendants of the early Portuguese settlers who have inter-
married with the Hindoos and other castes of India, and now form a
very large portion of the population of Bombay and Goa.
38 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
any shoes on his feet, but sporting the military dress, with
the cocked hat and feathers, of some English general.
This love of dress is exceedingly queer, but it is quite as
much a characteristic of the Portuguese men of education
and culture in India as of the more ignorant and illiterate.
CHAPTER II.
Malabar Hill, and Domestic Life of the English in Bombay. .
MY first stay in Bombay was a comparatively short one,
and was spent partly with friends at Colabah and partly
in tents on the great green in front of Fort George.
My stepfather being connected with the engineer or pub-
lic works department at the military station of Poonah,
my life for a year or two was passed at that strange city.
Upon the occasion of my marriage, however, I returned
to Bombay for a settled residence, from which time I be-
gan my real experience of life in India.
We established ourselves at Malabar Hill, in a house
completely isolated from the rest of the world, where my
husband and I took up the study of the Sanskrit and
Hindostanee languages. Malabar Hill is a rocky prom- ~-\
ontory on the south of the island of Bombay, and covered
with beautiful houses, many of which are almost palaces.
At its highest point, detached and alone, stands a lofty
tower, the largest " dohkma," or " tower of silence," of the
Parsees. Here the followers of Zoroaster deposit their
dead. It is rendered not the less sombre by the birds of
prey that hover around it in great numbers.
There are two other and smaller towers of silence on
the island, all erected in the most isolated positions. No
one is ever allowed to approach them save the Fire-priests
and those who carry their dead. These strange towers
or tombs are mysterious, grand, and barbaric in their very
39
40 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
forms at their base screened by huge branching trees from
all human observation, open only to the blue sky ; the free
air, and the gloomy birds of prey hovering always near.
On the other side of this much-dreaded spot, and not
far from a forest of palms which descends in graceful
undulations to the very base of the hill, stood a solitary
house, called by every one " Morgan's Folly." For full
ten years it had found no occupant. Its owner and
builder, having returned to England with broken for-
tunes and failing health, had entrusted the renting of it
to a Parsee agent. By a happy accident this lonely house
was discovered by my husband, who had it at once re-
paired, furnished, and fitted up for our use, and here we
took up our abode after a few weeks' residence at Parel.
I wish I could do justice to this singular abode, on the
portals of which the monosyllable " Whim " might fully
be inscribed. It was the caprice of a rich English cotton-
merchant, whose love for the feathered tribe amounted to
an absorbing passion. The house was therefore designed
and built at great cost to serve the double purpose of hu-
man and bird habitation. Foolish, capricious, extrava-
gant, and incorrigible as he was called by every one, I for
my part conceived an affection for this strange English-
man who built this fanciful place in which were passed
the first few years of my married life.
Two fine roads led to the " Aviary," as we named the
house, one of which was cut into the hillside and descended
to the base of the hill, whence at low tide you might step
from rock to rock away out into the bay. The other was
connected with a beautiful road wliich winds along Mala-
bar Hill, affording a favorite carriage-drive for the resi-
dents of the island.
As for the house, it was the most curious bit of archi-
tecture one had ever seen so fanciful, it seemed more like
THE AVIARY ON MALABAR HILL. 41
something that belonged rather to the mysterious land we
visit in our dreams than to an actual house made of solid
stone and wood standing fast, bound to the hard, dull,
practical earth.
The building consisted only of two stories, of great
length, and a high chamber, called the "Teak Tower,"
which rose above the east corner of the house and com-
manded the most extensive and beautiful views to be
found anywhere on the island. The upper story was the
part designed for human habitation. The wood of which
it was built was a fine-grained teak and very durable.
The balcony, running all around the upper story, was
elaborately carved. The lower part was chiefly of stone
pillars, enclosing a spacious ground-floor united by screens
of fine open wire wrought in Oriental patterns of the
Persian rose and the Buddhistic lily. The pillars rested
firmly on broad stone foundations, and the open wire walls
let in all the wind, rain, and sunshine that the feathered
inhabitants for whom the enclosure was intended could
possibly desire.
But this was not all : on the ground-floor of the hall
flourished some beautiful fruit-bearing trees. Right under
our bedroom chamber stood that most exquisite of Indian
trees, " the gold-mohur acacia," with its rich clusters of
golden flowers ; the slender, graceful papiya, with its
heavy drooping leaves and round fruit of a rich yellow
when ripe, so much sought after by birds. One gigantic
baobab, which had stood here, no doubt, for centuries, for
whose growth and preservation the builder had made
ample provision by leaving a well or circular opening
through the lower and upper stories and in the roof, gave
the house the singular appearance of growing around a
great tree. Forcing themselves through this opening to
the sky, the branches of the baobab shot straight up on one
42 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
side and overshadowed the tower chamber, covering it,
after each rainy season, with masses of fragrant blossoms
and fine fruit. It was very evident that in the course of
time there would be, possibly, a prolonged but mighty
struggle between the house and the tree, which should go
first, and it was not hard to tell, for already the tree had
found its way to the open sky, and its branches were seen
pushing here and there and penetrating the woodwork of
the chambers adjoining. There were one or two more
trees that deserve mention. These were a beautiful Chi-
nese pine and a heart-shaped peepul. The ground-floor
of this hall was covered with weeds and a perfect jungle
of brushwood. The gardener told me that it abounded
in all kinds of reptiles, but I never saw any signs of them
until some large snakes were called out one morning by a
party of samp-wallahs, or snake-charmers. The fruit
trees had long ceased to bear, and were gradually crowd-
ing out and killing each other.
All the more rare and beautiful birds with which Mr.
Morgan had stocked this place had died or taken flight
to homes less confined ; only a few still remained. Among
them were the sooruk, or scarlet breast, an exquisite
singer ; the maina, the Java sparrow, the bulbul or In-
dian nightingale, and the zeenah, a little quarrelsome
brown and red-spotted bird, all hardy birds. They lin-
gered here, partly from association and partly because of
the grain still thrown in and around the " Aviary " morn-
ing and evening by the pious Hindoo employed by the
Parsee agent to look after the garden.
The tower chamber was our favorite sitting-room be-
cause of its splendid views and being removed from the
noise and vicinity of our servants. It was simply fur-
nished a table, a few chairs, mostly of cane, a couple of
sofas and a Persian carpet, with gauze nettings to every
HOUSEKEEPING IN THE EAST. 43
door and window to keep out our worst foes, the gnats,
flies, and mosquitoes. The rest of the house was fur-
nished with the same severe simplicity; there were no
curtains, no blinds, no carpets ; the floors as well as the
walls were painted in subdued half-tints, which gave them
the air of being very handsomely fitted up.
In this place I began my first attempt at housekeeping
in the East, and I can truly say, without the least exag-
geration, that for months the house kept itself and my
numerous servants kept me. To begin with, there were
too many servants for so quiet and unpretending a house-
hold, but I soon found it would be still more difficult to
do with fewer : " dustoor" custom, was flung into my face
morning, noon, and night. I implored my husband to
send half of them away, but if he sent one off, either the
whole gang disappeared like a flash or else the work of
the banished servant was scrupulously avoided by every
one in the establishment. There was, in short, a servant
for every distinct thing to be done in the house. There
was a khansamah, or native butler, a high-caste Hindoo,
who was supposed to keep all the servants in order, but
who invariably incited a revolution in the camp if I
wished anything to be done my way and not his. Then
there was a cook, a Ming (a name for a certain race natives
of Madras), who got drunk whenever we happened to have
friends to dinner; there was a cook's mate, who was in-
clined to be musical just as we were going to sleep ; there
was a buttee-wattah, or lamplighter, a stripling, some near
relation of the butler's, whose friends and relatives were
always dying, and who asked permission three times in
the course of a few months to be allowed to go and bury
his mother. When I very gently, because of his flowing
tears and doleful expression of face, reminded him that he
had already buried or burned her twice, he burst into a
44 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
passionate sob and said, " Oh ! that one was my aunt's
mother, and the last one my father's mother, but this is
my own, own mother." Of course I had to let him go off
for two or three days, and the butler too, who was also a
mourner. Then there were besides these an ayah, or
lady's-maid; a dhoby, or washerman, who came to the
house once a week for the clothes, and stayed away some-
times for three weeks, owing to that chronic epidemic,
death, in the family ; a bheestie, who filled the tubs in the
bathroom with water, and did nothing else; a jarroo-
wallah, who only came each morning and swept the house
and grounds, and then disappeared till the next time ; a
coachman, a groom, a pundit, or professor of Oriental lan-
guages ; and lastly, a tailor, whose name was Tom. He,
Tom, was a Portuguese Christian, and attended to the
mending of the household linen and the making of our
clothes. He was the least manageable of the whole lot.
He would not answer to the name " boy," a generic name
for servants in India and a corruption of the Hindostanee
word bhai, brother, but insisted on being called "Tom."
This put me very often into an awkward position, as this
was the familiar name by which I had learned to call my
husband, not knowing that there was another "Tom"
attached to him from his bachelor establishment. Once
or twice, forgetting this fact, I happened to call " Tom !
Tom !" after my husband, who was hurrying off to town,
when who should pop into my chamber but the grinning
tailor-boy, balancing a pair of huge scissors on his right
ear and with a number of needles full of long threads
stuck into his woolly head, which served him as a needle-
case ? There was nothing left me but to change my hus-
band's name.
But this was by no means the beginning and end of
my troubles of housekeeping in Bombay. I happened to
A DINSTER-PARTY AT THE AVIARY. 45
awake very early one Sunday morning. It was a lovely
sunrise : the first blush of dawn was mounting the horizon ;
the trees in the garden were unfolding their leaves ; birds
of all colors were perched upon their branches opening
their " ruby eyes " on a newly-born day. But as I stood
there, entranced with the beauty of a tropical sunrise, my
eyes fell on the figure of Tom the tailor going off to early
mass attired in my husband's best dress-coat and an em-
broidered vest which had been a chief object of my girl-
ish admiration. In addition to these he sported pointed
shoes, worked stockings one of the finest pair in my
possession and a frill six inches deep projecting from his
shirt-front, with a huge cocked hat, over which he held
one of my smallest parasols to protect him from the mild-
est of morning suns, which had only just mounted the hill-
side. When I remonstrated with him on his return from
chapel, he burst into a passion of tears and sobs and flood-
ed me with such replies as these : " Your godship, you are
my father and mother ; an unkind, unjust word from your
divine voice will break your poor slave's heart and consign
him in the prime of his youth to a lonely and desolate
grave," etc. I absolutely began to feel that he w r as the
injured party, and that I was anything but a kind, gen-
erous mistress and a Christian. It ended in my present-
ing him with the clothes he had worn, but nevertheless
he went about the house for days in a state of sorrowful
dejection at my unkindness, which he persisted in saying
had caused his heart to bleed to death.
Not long after this in a rash moment we resolved to
give a dinner-party to some of our friends in Bombay,
and to invite the rich East Indian widow, Mrs. C ,
who had shown us many kindnesses. Never in my life
did I pass through a more perplexing and fiery ordeal.
The viands were all ordered and sent from town, and
46 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
had arrived in good season. But no sooner had they
been deposited in the kitchen than the butler reported, in
his quiet and unconcerned manner, that the cook had gone
off to town to get help, and would probably not return in
time to prepare the dinner. The butler and the lamp-
lighter were Hindoos, and could not touch beef or ham,
or, in fact, any kind of flesh. The butler had no objec-
tion to putting these articles on the table when cooked,
but as for cooking them, he would lose caste. There was
nothing left to be done but for Tom the tailor-boy and I
who, being Christians, had no such scruples to set
about and cook the dinner.
About four o'clock everything was in a fair way toward
being cooked, the capons, ham, soup, and vegetables were
all in their places on the fire, when suddenly the cook
returned, looking very strange; I thought he was only
tired and sleepy. He insisted on taking possession of the
kitchen, declaring that it almost broke his heart to see me
spoiling my nice dress and ruining my complexion over
the fire. "What am I good for," said he, striking an
attitude and looking queerer than ever, "but to cook
you a grand dinner and be your slave for ever ?" Thus
assured, I quitted the kitchen with all the dinner cooking
away at great speed, and betook myself to making various
other preparations. It was almost the dinner-hour before
I was fairly through with the glasses and dessert and a
thousand and one of the many requirements of a Euro-
pean dinner-party. No sooner had I put the last touches
to my toilette than my husband returned with two unex-
pected guests, which called my attention at once, so that
I had no opportunity to revisit the kitchen to see that all
was as it should be.
The last of the guests had no sooner arrived than the
butler threw open the dining-room door and announced in
"ACCIDENTS WILL, HAPPEN." 47
a solemn tone, " Kannah teyar hai Sahibloke " (" Dinner
waits, ladies and gentlemen").
We marched gayly in, eager, happy, and very hungry.
But, alas ! no sooner was the soup-tureen uncovered than
I divined from my husband's expression that something
was wrong. The soup was sent away with some playful
apology, but when dish after dish was set on the table,
uncovered, and removed without my husband's even mak-
ing a pretence of offering the guests anything to eat, it was
too much for me.
At this juncture kind-hearted Mrs. C came to my
rescue by saying, " Let us all go off to the kitchen and
find out what is the matter with the cook," and coming to
my side, gave me an opportunity to recover myself, which
I did under her gentle smile and oft-repeated adage, " My
dear, accidents will happen in the best regulated families."
The gentlemen returned from their survey of the kitchen
and reported that the -cook was "drunk and sound asleep
in the middle of the floor," and that the remainder of the
dinner was burnt to cinders, but still in the pots on the
range. If it had not been for the kind-hearted Mrs.
C , I do not know what we should have done. She
insisted on our all driving out to her house and taking
tea with her.
I must not omit to mention another incident which is
characteristic of life in India. My husband was in the
commissariat department of the army, and had a great
deal to do with native dealers. The Parsees, however,
because of their honesty, had the monopoly of the con-
tracts for supplying the British troops in Bombay. One
morning a number of Boralis* were ushered into the
* The Borahs are natives of Guzerat, converted to Islamism about
five and a half centuries ago*. They are remarkable for their extraor-
dinary intelligence in trade. The name " Borah " signifies merchant
48 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
" Aviary," and laid before me on the table what seemed
to be a tray filled with sugar candy, raisins, and almonds.
Not understanding the meaning of this gift, and not hav-
ing quite outgrown my love for sweets, I took up a hand-
ful of the good things, when, to my surprise, I found
lying below the candy a number of gold coins called
"mohurs." I hastened to inform my husband of the
magnificent present waiting for him, but he no sooner
heard of it then he turned the Borahs out, tray and all.
It was simply an attempt to obtain contracts by bribery.
The Borahs seemed in no way discomfited ; they bowed
most politely on my husband's prompt dismissal, and de-
parted as if it were with them no unusual occurrence to
be turned out of doors.
Such are some few of the most prominent features of
housekeeping and life in India.
The native servants have some good points, however.
They will rarely quit your service, even to better their
fortunes, unless driven away. They contrive, too, to have
their own way without ever being disrespectful to you.
They bow or salaam at all times, move so softly about the
house with bare feet that you hardly ever know that they
are there, and, on the whole, they attend pretty well to
their own peculiar province in the household ; but as for
helping in what is not their province, it is not to be
expected.
They are never away a day except for sudden deaths,
in the Guzerati dialect. These Borahs are a distinct sect, followers of
one Moolah Allih, who is buried in the old city of Cambay. They
pay reverence to Mohammed Hussain, called in the records of the
Crusaders "The Prince of the Assassins" and also "the Old Man of
the Mountains." They transmit a fifth of their gains to the Saiyads
of Medinah, and pay eleemosynary contributions to the chief of their
learned men, who distribute alms among the poor. (See Asiatic Re~
searches, paper by H. T. Colebrook.)
OUR PUNDIT, GOVIND. 49
which take place in the various branches of their friends
or relatives once a week, on an average. They are always
clean, arrayed in their long flowing white robes and hand-
some turbans, and they never address you without some
flattering or grandiloquent phrase, which helps not a little
to smooth over your wounded pride.
Our pundit,* Govind, was not a servant, but a high-
bred gentleman. He came to the " Aviary " morning and
evening to give us lessons in Hindostanee and Sanskrit.
He was a learned high-caste Brahman and a remarkably
interesting specimen of a Hindoo gentleman.
Almost directly to the right of the " Aviary " was the
government summer-house already mentioned ; just oppo-
site, situated on the summit of a steep acclivity overlook-
ing the sea, was a grand stone house, the home of our^
Parsee friend and commissariat contractor. On the west,
embowered in a thick grove of mango and tamarind trees,
was the prettiest of little Hindoo villages, the village of
Walkeshwar, sacred to the god of the strand or beach.
We spent a day here on a certain festal occasion accom-
panied by Govind, our pundit. We lunched under the
porch of the Hindoo temple by permission obtained
through our pundit. Perfectly nude dusky children were
clambering about the stones watching us with eager curi-
osity. Our visit here was to witness the feast of Rama, the
hero of one of the Hindoo epic poems, Ramay&na, and
his wife, Seeta, which did not begin until the afternoon.
Hindoo women, black-eyed and singularly graceful in
their movements, adorned with gayly-colored robes and
most antique-looking bracelets and armlets, went to and
from the pool, still called " Rama Talai," or Rama's Pool,
bearing water in jars piled in tiers on their heads, others
bathing and frolicking in the pool. There were at the
* A professor of Sanskrit or other branches of Indian literature.
4
50 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
same time some dozen Brahman priests at prayer, seem-
ingly abstracted from the scenes around them, going
through with all kinds of motions with their bodies while
their lips moved incessantly, but inaudibly, in prayer and
praise. Our pundit told us that this was the traditional spot
where the hero Rama rested when on his way to Lanka
(Ceylon) to recover from the tyrant Rawana his beautiful
wife, Seeta.
The Rama Talai stands in a group of small temples
some of which are very pretty surrounded by gardens.
About two in the afternoon the officiating priests began to
arrive, followed by thousands of Hindoos. The doors of
the temple were thrown open to all comers. The priests
placed themselves at the foot of the shrines, on each of
,which were several idols Siva, the chief god, above, and
Rama and Seeta below. The people poured forth their
offerings to the priests. Those who could not get into the
temples pressed around the sacred pool, throwing them-
selves into its holy waters and coming out free from all
impurities. A great many young women with peculiarly
interesting faces were kneeling outside of the temples and
praying, with their eyes closed and their hands folded, for
some especial blessing. It was an interesting sight, but for
the fakeers and gossains, who make a disgusting spectacle
of themselves, and, strange to say, are encouraged by the
pure, mild, and modest Brahman priests to do so. As it
was, we returned home shocked with the nudity and filth
of these sacred beggars, but very much impressed with
the perfectly pure and religious nature of the Hindoos,
who have very beautiful forms and faces, and even those
that are not absolutely beautiful have so much grace and
gentleness about them that they attract the eye and re-
main impressed on the memory with something of the
charm of a beautiful painting.
BUNDER BOAT.
CHAPTER III.
The Island of Shashtee, commonly called Salsette. Gharipoore, " the
Town of Purification," or the Island and Caves of Elephanta.
EARLY one morning, after almost a week's preparation
for the trip, we found ourselves in a large roomy bunder-
boat flying before the wind straight for the beautiful island
of Salsettej. which lies to the north and is united to the
smaller island of Bombay by a causeway erected during
the administration of Governor Duncan, chiefly to enable
the natives of the larger islands to bring their produce to
the Bombay markets.
Presently we entered upon a wonderful river, flowing
through the land out of the sea and dividing this island
from the continent, at the very mouth of which are the
bleak, barren island and mountains of Trombav^ the latter
rising up nine hundred feet high. We passed along reefs
of gold, now over wide swamps, our boat riding above and
crushing down the tall waving grass, and anon we would
suddenly shoot almost within touch of dark hollow caverns,
and looking up see the high beetling cliffs piled one above
the other, surmounted by the ruins of some of old Portu-
guese or Mahratta forts or castles, covered with wild flowers
and huge creeping plants. The scenes along the banks of
this river are wild and romantic enough to satisfy the most
enthusiastic lover of nature. We cast anchor at length at
Tannah, having reached "a land all sun and blossom, trees
as high as heaven, amid every bird that sings."
Tannah, the chief town of the island of Salsette, was
51
52 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
taken by the troops of the East India Company in the
year 1774, and by a treaty then entered into the Mah-
ratta king, Raghu Nauth, ceded in perpetuity to the com-
pany Bassein with its dependencies, the island of Salsette,
the entire districts of Jainbhosir and other valuable prov-
inces adjoining it in Guzerat. It is chiefly inhabited by
Roman Catholic Christians, the majority of whom are con-
verts from Hindooism. The interior of the island is in-
habited by a peculiar tribe of peasants who are to this day
in a condition as wild as the Bheels and Konds of Guzerat
and Central India. These peasants are burners of char-
coal ; they dwell together among the hills, but apart from
all other tribes, and have neither intercourse nor any social
bond with the Hindoos of the plain. At stated times they
bring down their loads of charcoal in rude carts drawn by
buffaloes to particular spots, whence it is carried away by
the Hindoo or Portuguese buyer, who, according to a set-
tled custom among them, deposits in its place rice, clothing,
and iron tools. This excessive shyness is said to be owing
to the contempt in which the natives, as outcasts, are held
by their Hindoo neighbors.
We were met on our landing by a very polite and
obliging native Portuguese, the elder brother of my hus-
band's tailor Tom, in whose company we walked about
the town and at whose house we stayed during our visit.
Tannah, the chief town of the island of Salsette, takes
its name from the beautiful river which flows at its base,
and which was anciently called Tainnah-D&o, " the Limb
of God." It runs deep and narrow in front of the town.
It is a place of great antiquity, probably dating back to
the days of Vicramaditya, of whose universal and benef-
icent rule, 57 B. C., tradition is yet eloquent throughout
India. The ruins here are few and not very interesting.
There are some massive walls of a great square building
A VISIT TO THE GOVERNMENT PRISON. 53
that was once a Mahratta citadel, and some ponderous old
arches that have fallen and are now covered with beautiful
wild creepers ; also a Hindoo temple, a vast, shapeless mass
of architecture, but almost animate with the innumerable
gods and goddesses that grin and smirk at one from every
cornice and entablature of the building. There is here a
small but perfect little fortress, from which, during the
last Mahratta war, the famous Trimbukjee escaped, occu-
pied by a small European garrison. The government
prison is also well worth visiting. "We were surprised to
see the manner in which the prisoners of all ranks, creeds,
and nationalities worked together within these walls. Most
of the prisoners, however, were of the Takhor race. They
were busily employed in the manufacture of very valuable
striped cotton stuffs much prized by the natives for scarfs,
cumberbunds, and waist-cloths.
The cavern temples that are found in this island are
the chief objects of interest.
On the morning following our arrival, furnished with
two guides and accompanied by our pundit, we started
off to visit some of these remarkable excavations in the
mountains that stretch across the middle of this island.
At first, the road, though very narrow and rugged, lies
through a most beautiful valley formed by hills of mod-
erate height, covered with forests to their summits, with
here and there patches of bare rock, while the ravines and
the valley itself were planted with groves of mangoes and
several varieties of the palm. For some time we saw but
few traces of inhabitants ; we passed during a ride of more
than eight miles but one small village, a collection of most
miserable-looking huts, a few half-starved looking chil-
dren, and a troop of pariah dogs, who rushed out to bark
at us.
At another small village, named Vlar^we came upon
54 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
what seemed a jungle, open in some parts and in others
densely thick, abounding in hyenas, tigers, panthers, and
the wild-boar ; passing through this 'with anything but
pleasurable feelings, we reached Toolsej, named after a
famous Hindoo goddess who, like the Greek Clytie, loved
some Hindoo god, and was by him, out of pity for her
unrequited passion, transformed into the beautiful toolsey-
plant, whence her name. This is a lovely spot, encircled
with hills, the highest of which is Khennari, its face per-
forated with no less than one hundred cavern temples.
Under a fine banyan tree which stands in an open plain
we passed the night. In northern latitudes one can form
no idea of the peculiar beauty of the night with a bright
moon shining overhead.
Almost at dawn next morning we set off for the tem-
ples. The ascent to the Khennari Hills is somewhat
steep and difficult, but after a hard climb we gained a
platform, and was confronted by a stone porch leading
into an arched cavern temple of great majesty and beauty.
These cavern temples are scattered over both sides of a
high rocky hill at many different elevations, consisting of
no less than six stories or tiers of caverns, of various sizes
and forms, all excavated out of the rocky surface of the
mountain and connected with each other by narrow stone
steps cut in the rock. The facades and great court are
most imposing.
Entering through a fine lofty portico, we saw a little to
the left hand a curious octagonal pillar, detached from the
rock and surmounted by three well-carved lions seated
back to back. Passing this, we were suddenly introduced
into an elaborately carved vestibule, at the end of which
is a colossal statue of Buddha, with his hands raised in
the attitude of benediction. The stone screen which here
separates the vestibule from the body of the temple is
MAUSOLEUM OP AN EARLY DISCIPLE OF BUDDHA. 55
covered with a row of male and female figures half nude ;
the expression of the faces of these figures is remarkably
calm and thoughtful, and the whole is executed with con-
siderable spirit. Above them the rocks are carved into a
profusion of graceful sculptures.
The great temple or cave is divided into three aisles
by regular colonnades of octagonal pillars; of these, the
twelve on each side nearest the entrance are ornamented
with exquisitely carved bases and capitals in the style usual
in Indian temples. The arch of the vault is occupied by
a dagoba or mausoleum, perhaps of some early disciple of
Buddha. It is cylindrical in the shaft and surmounted by
a cupola. On the right and left of the portico are two
colossal figures of Buddha, perhaps twenty feet in height.*
The ceiling of this cave is arched semicircularly and or-
namented with slender ribs of fine teak-wood, disposed as
if for the support of the ponderous dome overhead, but
in reality for the floral decorations which on solemn occa-
* The following extract from Dr. Bird's Caves of Western India may
prove interesting to the curious reader:
" The tope (a monument erected over a Buddhist relic, sometimes
resembling a pagoda) at Khanari was opened by me in 1839. The
largest, being selected for examination, was penetrated from above to
the base, which was built of stone. In this tope the workmen found
two small copper urns, in one of which were a ruby, a pearl, and a
small piece of gold mixed with the ashes. In this urn there was also
a small gold box containing a piece of cloth ; and in the other ashes
(probably of some cremated saint) and a silver box were also found.
Outside, a circular stone was found, and to it were fixed two copper
plates in the Salh or cave characters. The inscriptions read thus:
' Whatever meritorious acts proceed from cause of these the source
Tathagata (Buddha) has declared ; the opposing principle of these the
great one of golden origin has also demonstrated ; ' or, in other words,
Whatever merit may proceed from these acts, Buddha has explained its
source to you, and also the opposite principle of these acts ; he has also
demonstrated to you the one of golden origin. This discovery estab-
lishes the fact that these caves are of Buddhist origin, and probably
date from the beginning of the Christian era."
56 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
sions were hung from them. A flight of steps cut into
the same mountain leads by various intricate paths to
smaller caves or cells, consisting only of a portico and two
small chambers, with everywhere seats for the disciples or
the recluse cut into the rock. To each cave there is a cis-
tern for the preservation of rain-water, some larger and
more elegantly carved and finished than others. The
whole appearance of this excavated hill of Khennari is
that of a Buddhist monastic city, the cells and temples,
the apartments and cisterns, hewn in the rocky sides of
the mountain.
On Sunday we attended the Roman Catholic church,
which is a stone's throw from the home of our Portuguese
friends. Early on Sunday morning the streets were filled
with men, women, and children, entirely of the Portuguese
population. The men were, with a few exceptions, quietly
dressed in the ordinary European attire, which the ma-
jority don only on stated occasions, with the black silk hat
of modern fashion, carrying prayer-books, fans, and foot-
stools of the ladies of their party. It was a pleasant sight.
The Portuguese here are entirely independent of the Ro-
mish Church, and from simple contact have adopted the
mode of life and a great many superstitions of the Hin-
doos. One finds everywhere in India not only Hindoo-
ized Mohammedans, but Hindooized Christians. Their
priests are natives of the country, under the jurisdiction
of the archbishop of Goa, who is a sort of Indian pope.
Their worship is so much more pagan than Christian that
when in a Roman Catholic church in any part of India
one finds it difficult to believe that it is not the worship
of Khrishna or Brahm.
The native Portuguese are darker than the darkest of
the better class of Indians, showing a mixed and degener-
ate race.
KOMAN CATHOLICISM IN INDIA. 57
I accompanied our host and his family to church. The
children were charming with their little pink trowsers,
lace over-slips, pink shoes, and were adorned with jewels ;
the only difference between the dresses of the little boy
and the girls was that the boy sported a hat like that
seen in the pictures of Bonaparte, which gave him a most
whimsical air, and the little girls had white handkerchiefs
tied neatly under their chins. I took little Marium's
hand, and off we went ; looking toward the deep flowing
river, I saw a string of Brahman priests marching sol-
emnly along the steep banks preparatory to beginning
their morning services, for our Sabbath is also their day
of sacrifice and prayer to Suriya, the sun-god. I was
very much tempted to abandon my Christian friends and
follow the Brahman priests, but I restrained myself, and
was soon within the temple of Jesus Christ. I say de-
signedly the temple of Jesus Christ. It was crowded with
images perhaps one ought to say idols of God the
Father, Christ the Son, the Virgin Mother, and the Holy
Ghost, besides quantities of relics, sacred vessels, tapers,
candles, incense-burners swinging from the roof, flowers
both natural and artificial, and all kinds of beads and
shells on the altar. High above the altar was a great por-
celain figure of the Virgin jewelled and crowned as queen
of heaven, with her arms stretched out in benediction.
We pressed in. The service had not begun. All the
men, women, and children prostrated themselves some at
full length ; others, being crowded for room, squatted
down and touched the brick pavement with their out-
spread open palms and then their foreheads ; after which
the rich, among whom were classed my friends, took their
seats, and the crowd remained kneeling on the bare floor.
Presently the priests, of whom there were no less than a
dozen, appeared, gaudily dressed in tinsel and lace, and
58 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
took their places before the altar, keeping their heads
covered. Now the service began, which consisted of some
chants in a kind of Latin known only to the priests, and
not fully understood even by them, with dressings and
undressings, perpetual genuflexions, turning from the
altar to the people, swinging of censers, marching and
countermarching with the baby figure of Christ and a
pretty wax doll which represented the mother ; these the
men, women, and children kissed with apparently genuine
pleasure. This done, boys dressed as angels in long white
robes and with wings attached to their shoulders, entered,
each bearing a lighted candle and a lily, as do the Buddh-
ists at prayer, chanting some beautiful hymn, of which no
one understood a word, and even the music was wild and
Oriental. Then finally came the ringing of multitudinous
little bells (another Buddhist custom when about to ex-
hibit a tooth or any other relic of Buddha), and up rose
the Host, as large as an ordinary fan, composed of glutin-
ous rice. In the centre was a white spot, and around it
rays of gold proceeding outward. All fell upon their
faces ; little Marium and I alone were the lookers-on, but
suddenly my gentle hostess gave her little daughter a vig-
orous push, which sent her head foremost to the floor,
whispering, " The body of God ! " I bowed my head out
of respect for the poor human hearts that worshipped here,
and not without a deep sense of humiliation at witnessing
the complicated and ingenious ceremonies by which these
ecclesiastics, an outgrowth of the Church of Rome, culti-
vate and foster the credulity and ignorance of the people,
whom they teach to rely more on certain forms and the
supernatural agencies of the Virgin and relics of deceased
saints than upon religious and moral truths. After the
"body of God" a bone of some martyred Indian saint
who had been converted to Christianity was held up for
THE ISLAND OF ELEPHANTA. 59
adoration ; again the people bowed down ; and then came
the end, the benediction, amid more ringing of bells and
swinging of censers.
Who can witness these imbecilities and not hold the na-
tive Portuguese clergy accountable for withholding the
true knowledge, the simple teachings of Jesus, the true
Bread of life, and for substituting superstitions and page-
antries not one whit superior to, but in some respects even
more degrading than, the most debasing paganism which
they have supplanted ? Forms are the same, the names
alone have been changed ; otherwise, the Roman Catholic-
ism I have everywhere witnessed in India is essentially the
same as the lowest forms of paganism.
Before dawn next morning we took leave of our kind
friends, and in our comfortable bunder-boat started for the
island of Elephanta, or Gharipooie, After a couple of
hours or more of pleasant sailing we reached the island.
I found it larger and more beautiful than I had expected.
A good part of it is under cultivation, especially all around
a village of tolerable size, above which a couple of clearly-
defined hills rise from the sea to a considerable height.
The view as you ascend to the right is simply magnificent :
the twin mountains seem to be knit together by a grand
old forest, the one rising slightly higher than the other.
The name " Elephanta " was given to it, some say, by the
Greeks, others by the Portuguese conquerors ; however that
may be, the name of the caves was anciently " Ghari-
poore," or, "the Town of the Rock," or, according to
some, "the Town of Purification."
We ascended a long flight of stone steps, in the wake
of a party of fakeers, Hindoo priests, and half-nude men
beating tomtoms, which at length brought us to a very
handsome and spacious platform shaded with some fine
old trees.
60 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
Here the party of Hindoo priests, drummers, and fa-
keers sat down to rest, while we went on a short distance
and reached the entrance to the famous caves of Ele-
phanta. The principal cave is of great extent, excavated
out of the solid rock ; the colossal columns of the portico
seem to hold up the mountain above them. On either
side of the entrance great creepers come down in heavy
masses over the mountain. Rows and rows of columns
handsomely ornamented appear within, growing beauti-
fully less in the distance and vanishing amid gloomy
shadows and a thousand fantastic shapes. The gateway
or porch is still in excellent preservation ; it leads directly
through the heart of the mountain. The different shrines,
which contain objects of Hindoo worship, are placed on
each side. In the centre there is seen by the light of
torches a majestic altar of stone, now in a state of decay,
supporting a gigantic bust of three noble heads, two of
which are in profile. The Hindoo Trinity, Maha DSo, the
Great God, commonly called Brahm, the Hindoo Creator,
occupies the centre in full relief. The eyes are half closed,
the expression serene and tranquil. It seems to be carved
from a living model, and is a perfect Oriental ideal of
masculine beauty, with the delicate and refined outline of
the features and the deep contemplation expressed in those
large downcast eyes. The forehead is crowned with a
lofty diadem exquisitely carved, not unlike the mitres
worn by the bishops of the Roman Church ; the right
arm, which is very much broken, once grasped the head
of a cobra da capello, which, our pundit explained to us,
here typifies in its sublimest sense the masculine or crea-
tive energy of the world.
Siva, to whom this cavern temple is said to be dedicated,
and who is seen in another compartment with his consort
Parvati, with a chaplet of skulls round his neck, eight-
v& . : . ''.. '
TEIMOUETEI, THE GEEAT THEEE-IN-ONE. 61
handed, and bearing the cobra, and whose name in San-
skrit signifies either happiness or pleasure, is seen in profile
on the right. In a hand outstretched from the altar he
also grasps a cobra, but with its hood extended wide. In
his hand the character *of the symbol is transformed with
the god into that of the avenger or destroyer. The god's
mouth is distorted with grimaces, and he puts out the tip
of his tongue, by which, according to our pundit and
guide, he mocks at the sensualist, and says as plainly as
our Bible, " The wages of sin is death."
On the left side of Maha Deo is Vishnu, in the grand
character of preserver; the head is very noble and the
face of no common beauty ; it wears a tender and smiling
expression. He no longer holds the symbol at once of
masculine creative energy and of sensuality, but a peculiar
oblong lotos-shaped cup or flower, the higher and purer
symbol of maternity. Our pundit gave this wonderful
bit of sculpture, which reaches from the low altar to the
ceiling of the temple, the name of "Maha Trimourtri,
the Great Three-in-One." By some it is called Bhava
Natria, "Love threefold." Whatever else it may be
called, it certainly makes a wonderful impression seen
high above from the principal aisle, guarded on all sides
by gigantic and well-proportioned caryatides. The shape
of the largest cave is cruciform and resembles the plan of
an ancient basilica.
The massiveness and strength of the pillars, which find
their deep foundations in the earth below, supporting the
elephant-shaped mountain above, is rendered more and
more striking by the thousand and one scenes of Hindoo,
and particularly Saivic,* mythology, in part solemn and
* The Saivi Hindoos are those who worship Siva or Shiva, one of
the Brahman Trinity, as chief god ; the lingam or phallus is sacred to
him. Their chief act of worship is performed on the fourteenth night
62 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
majestic, and in part grotesque and absurd, that fill every
part of the walls ; gods and goddesses, heroes and .mon-
sters, almost stand out of the rocks. Here are carved
strong and clear the story of the babe Krishna and the
slaughter of the infants by his uncle Cansa. Everywhere
are curious and venerable specimens of sculpture, which,
though shamefully mutilated in parts, still show so high
an advance in art, and possess so indescribable an aspect
of animated life, that one half expects the stone figures to
move or to speak. A great number of the pillars have
been undermined by the accumulation of water in the cav-
ern temple ; the capitals of some and parts of the shafts
of others remain suspended from the ceiling like huge
stalactites. Enormous creepers and trees have forced
themselves through certain cracks and crevices in the
mountain, and the whole scene is very wild and pagan ;
which enhances the beauty and mysterious appearance of
the caves.
On going through a passage guarded by stone lions the
pundit took a little tin box out of his pocket, opened it, and
scattered some odoriferous snuff on the head of the lions,
and then took a little pinch himself. His explanation
was, that he had taken cold, and snuff was his remedy for
it. "But," said I, "the stone lions haven't taken cold
too ?" " Oh, that," said he, " was a propitiatory offering,
lest I should sneeze in their sacred presence."
of the dark half of every moon. They fast during the day, and at
night repair to their temples, repeat the names of their god of which
there are no less than one thousand, all expressive of certain spiritual
and physical qualities, passions, acts, etc. pour the leaves of the bheel
tree, sacred to Shiva, because they are heart-shaped, over the lingam,
then rub it with oil, and finally sprinkle it with consecrated water. At
the Shivaratri, or the night of Shiva, which falls once a year on a dark
night, a fair is held at the caves of Elephanta during the day, and a
night-vigil from eight o'clock till five in the morning, accompanied
with music, prayer, and other strange ceremonies.
BASSEIN, ANCIENT POETUGUESE CITY. 63
As we went out of the great stone porch the declining
sun sent a long line of light through the aisle, the wind
blew softly, and the island stretched away green and
beautiful, surrounded with the sea all a-glitter with the
rosy hues of the setting sun. In many places we noticed
traces of color, but everywhere are to be seen the ruthless
mutilations this cave has suffered both from the conquer-
ing Mohammedan and Portuguese soldiers ; most of the
colossal statues are defaced and broken, the arms and
limbs of innumerable figures are prostrate. Long lines
of pictured story and inscriptions are effaced, but there
are still standing rows and rows of gods and goddesses,
their heads crowned with garlands. These figures, al-
though much defaced, still show that the artist carved
some of the female forms with only one breast, like the
famed Amazons of Greek story. The temple or city of
purification was desecrated centuries ago, and it is now
deserted, save for an annual fair and occasional visits
from Brahmans and fakeers ; it can boast of none of the
splendors of its palmy days.
About fifteen miles from " Gorabunder," on the main-
land, lies Basseiu or, as it was anciently called, Vassai
once a proud city and the chief seat of the early Portu-
guese settlers in this part of India. But for nearly three-
quarters of a century it has ceased to be inhabited. The
city is of considerable size, and surrounded by a regular
fortification of rampart and bastions. It is kept locked
up under a small body of soldiers and an English con-
ductor of ordnance.
By permission obtained from the authorities at Bombay
we spent a very interesting day wandering over this de-
serted city, its ruined towers, cloisters, convents, monas-
teries, and churches, that once belonged to the Jesuits,
which are here crumbling away unheard of and unnoticed.
64 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
The only building in good repair is a small pagoda raised
over a Mahratta saint amid a display of the most melan-
choly of ruined houses, churches, and colleges. In the
vast jungle-covered cemetery of the dead Portuguese are
the tombs of the great Don Loren9o and the famous Al-
buquerque. In one of the largest of the churches there
is a monument to a certain lady, Donna Maria de Souza,
of the date of 1606.
Bassein was wrested from the Mahrattas by the Portu-
guese in 1532 A. D. But the Mahrattas laid siege to it
again under the renowned Chinaje Apa, brother of the
Peishwa Baji Rao, and after a desperate struggle the
Portuguese were forced to capitulate. It is said that the
English in Bombay might have saved them this defeat
and humiliation, but from a feeling of jealousy of the
power and influence of the Portuguese in India refused
them all aid, except that of advancing fifteen hundred
rupees, for which they took some very valuable church
plate and some brass guns, which were actually removed
from the defence of Bassein as security. They were finally
induced, however, to make some amends for this barbarous
treatment of fellow-Christians, and sent boats with a strong
escort to convey the refugees to Bombay, whence they
started for Goa, but were once more attacked and almost
annihilated by the Mahrattas. In 1780 the English at-
tacked, stormed, and captured the city of Bassein once
more from the fierce Mahrattas, and have held it ever
since, a melancholy monument of the departed greatness
of the Portuguese conquerors. Such is the fate of conquer-
ing nations. It can hardly be doubted that if the Eng-
lish were now expelled from India the few relics left of their
religion, their power, and their civil and military magnif-
icence would be swept rapidly away, and would in the course
of a century or two leave not a trace behind them.
CHAPTER IV.
Sampwallahs, or Serpent-Charmers. Jadoowallahs, or Miracle-per-
formers. Nuzer-bundyana, Mesmerizers. Yogees, Spiritual Jug-
glers, and Naga-Poojmi, or Serpent-Worship, in India.
LIFE in the East is altogether so novel, so full of
dramatic sights and sounds, that one's curiosity seems to
grow with the abundant nourishment it finds everywhere.
Now one sees a Mohammedan funeral, or the procession of
gorgeous Taboots of Moslems, or gods of the Hindoos;
anon the body of a Hindoo or a Parsee borne on an open
bier by white-robed priests, the one to be burned, the
other to be abandoned to birds of prey in their strange
silent " towers of the dead." Sometimes a gay procession
of dancing-girls, followed by troops of men and elephants
richly caparisoned, waltzing all the way to the temple and
keeping time to the pipes, cymbals, and the beating of
most discordant drums ; at others, a poor funeral of some
low-caste person, quiet and unpretending an open bier,
on it perhaps an only child in its every-day soiled gar-
ments, followed by women wailing and beating their
breasts and throwing dust on their heads. This wailing
is inexpressibly mournful. One morning, as I sat at work
in my room, there came floating upon the breeze toward
the "Aviary" a sharp, penetrating, and very peculiar cry.
While I listened there came another and another of these
unearthly sounds; again they were repeated, and all at
once there appeared in sight a band of half-naked men
accompanied by two women and a perfectly nude little
5 65
66 LIFE AND TKAVEL, IN INDIA.
child all so strange and weird-looking that I almost felt
the victim of some illusion.
They were a band of samgwallahs, or serpent-charmers,
and in rather a bewildered state of mind I watched the
gang approach the front of the house and take their places
around the doorsteps. Having deposited their bags and
baskets, they proceeded to salaam before me. I could not
summon resolution to send them away, as my curiosity
was gradually getting better of my fears, nor could I
bring myself to witness their performance in the absence
of my husband. I therefore sent a message to the one
who seemed the headman of the band by my " ayah," or
maid, to inquire if they would not go away now and re-
turn in the afternoon about four o'clock. "Return?
Why, what is to prevent us from remaining just where
we are until the master comes home?" I could see no
just reason save my own fears to have them lounging
around my lonely house, and in spite of these concluded
to let them stay.
Strange it was to see these, to me almost supernatural
men and women, enjoying themselves as naturally and
innocently for three or four full hours as did this com-
pany of wild serpent-charmers and jugglers. The two
women of the party searched for the most delicate and
polished pebbles to be found in the gravelled walks of
the garden, and entertained themselves by digging holes
in the sand and rolling their pebbles with great skill into
these, hitting off one with another, and seeming to think
it capital sport. Some of the men took some caiah, or
cocoanut-fibre, out of their bags and proceeded to twist a
rope out of it. Some lighted long pipes and began to
smoke quietly, stroking down the cobra de capellos, who
would poke their heads from under the baskets by their
sides. The boy of the party had a bit of rag spread for
SERPENT CHARMER.
SERPENT-CHARMING AT THE AVIARY. 67
him under an adjoining tree, and here he stretched him-
self at full length to sleep, with a basket of snakes for his
pillow. Every now and then the upper lid of this basket
seemed to open and a snake would thrust out his head, as
if to survey the sleeping boy, then as suddenly withdraw.
All the while the beautiful sea gleamed and sparkled and
dashed against the rocks in front of the "Aviary," and
completed this strange picture.
A little after four o'clock my husband arrived, and,
seated on the steps of the "Aviary," we witnessed some
most astonishing performances. Before beginning his
music, and while the women were girding themselves for
action, the snake-charmer paid us some very startling and
original compliments. All at once, seizing his bagpipe-
like instrument and puffing out his polished black cheeks,
he produced the same queer melody that I had first heard,
with its endless reverberations, creating a strange effect
upon one's nerves. The women kept time to these sounds
by motions the most gently waving that one could con-
ceive of. When the sounds were low and faint they
waved their arms and bent downward in graceful undu-
lating curves ; then again, as the sounds began to be shrill
and piercing, they raised their arms aloft, turned up their
faces to the sky, and, poised on tiptoe, beat a rhythmic
movement to the sound. The dance was in itself a won-
der of grace and flexibility. But, strangest sight of all,
the serpents_were equally moved. In raising their heads
they had thrown off the covers of the baskets, and pres-
ently every snake, large and small and there were no
less than six had begun to take part in this dance, their
eyes glistening, their forked tongues extended, their hoods
spread to the utmost ; they raised themselves on the abdo-
men and swayed their heads to and fro, following the
movements of the charmers and seemingly ravished with
68 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
the strange sounds. There was not a doubt in my mind,
as I watched the serpents, that they distinguished the
varieties of sound, for with every rise and fall of the
music they kept time with their inflated hoods and
slender forms.
Suddenly the serpent-charmer started to his feet and
began a wild circular movement, accompanied with wilder
and more energetic sounds, which were reverberated from
every rock of the hill. After a few minutes he stood still,
and, taking for a moment the instrument from his mouth,
uttered a sudden " Ah ! " short, sharp, and guttural, and
all at once resumed his former movements both of sound
and action. We involuntarily turned our eyes in the di-
rection of those of the serpent-charmer, and noticed a
slight movement in the grass and brushwood that covered
the ground-floor of the " Aviary ; " and as we looked the
head and neck of a cobra de capello of large size rose
above the grass. The strange reptile approached nearer
and nearer. He passed with folded hood through the
open wirework of the "Aviary." Out of it, he once
more unfolded his hood, and, waving it to and fro, looked
like one suddenly awakened to some subtle and purely
spiritual influence ; he leaped rather than crept toward the
sound of the charmer ; every curve, every change of mo-
tion, and every movement of the body betrayed an ex-
quisite apprehension of the peculiar waves of the melody.
The serpent, followed by another more slender in pro-
portions, leaped almost into the arms of the charmer,
and, swinging their bodies to and fro, both snakes seem-
ed to give themselves up to the enchantment of sound.
Very slowly but deliberately the serpent-charmer dropped
one hand, and, stooping over the head of the largest ser-
pent, playing all the while, grappled it just under the
head by the thumb and forefinger and handed it to one of
THE MANGO-SEED TRICK. 69
the men. This done, he proceeded to enchant and capture
the smaller snake, which was accomplished in the same
way. Then he dropped his instrument, took a curious
flint knife out of his bag, and, pressing tightly the wind-
pipe of each of the serpents in turn, cut out the bags con-
taining the poisonous fluid and dropped the deadly rep-
tiles, now rendered for ever harmless, into the bags. This
was done in broad daylight, in the open air, where no de-
ception could have been practised.
Some persons have suggested that these two snakes
might have been brought by the band and let loose in the
"Aviary." Even if this were so, it could not destroy the
mystery of the influence which certain sounds evidently
exercised over the serpents, who voluntarily returned to
captivity even before the poison-bag had been cut out, the
removal of which, according to all testimony, renders
them harmless and agreeable pets. As far as my obser-
vation went, I am inclined to believe that these snakes
were perfectly wild till caught by the serpent-charmer.
"When I asked him by what power he compelled these
snakes to abandon their holes and come out to hear his
music, his reply was characteristic. " Asmani ka jore se,
Maim Sahib," translated into English, would mean, " By
the secret power of the heavenly motions."
The other tricks of the band were very wonderful, but
not as absorbing as serpent-charming. They appeared to
cause a seed to bud, grow, blossom, and bear fruit in the
open air in a short space of time and with but few con-
trivances. They showed us a mango-seed, which they
* - y} _ -- * J
planted before our eyes in a pot of prepared soil brought
with them ; this they watered again and again with a pe-
culiar liquid, also in their possession. Each time that
there was a positive growth in the tree the round basket
which covered it was removed, and our attention called
70 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
to the fact that it was growing. When the tree had out-
grown the basket a large cloth was thrown over it. Fi-
nally, it was presented to us full grown, and, though
dwarfed in stature, with ripe mangoes hanging from its
branches. They invited me to taste the fruit, which I
did, and found it decidedly inferior in flavor to the most
ordinary mango produced in the natural way. The curi-
ous part of this feat is this, that the tree itself, supposing
they carried it about with them, had that fresh and vigor-
ous look of active life and growth which it could not
possibly retain out of the" earth in a hot climate for any
length of time without a very delicate and careful know-
ledge of how to preserve plant-life on the part of these
apparently savage jugglers. I have also seen them pro-
duce flowers on plants in the same way.
A great many other feats and tricks were performed,
such as throwing up a top, and not only catching it on the
end of a slender stick, but balancing it on the point of the
nose, and causing it, without any new impetus to stop or
to go on spinning at the request of the spectator.
Some of the tricks are called 'nMzzerbwnd, "blindfold-
ing " or mesmerizing the spectator. A ring is placed in
your hand and you are requested to hold the hand tightly
between your folded knees, and when you look again you
find a little dust. One of these tricks, called khano-nuz-
zerbund, "ears and eyes bound," is that of a small boy
being put into a basket and made to disappear and reap-
pear. Our juggler produced a small basket and beckoned
to the boy to get into it, which he did ; two of the men
then produced instruments that looked like flageolets and
began to play, moving round the head of the child. This
seemed to have a peculiar effect on the boy, who appeared
like one in paroxysms of pain. It was very distressing to
witness his convulsions, and even while we looked the
THE BASKET TRICK. 71
child began to disappear in the basket. The moment he
was out of sight the musicians seized long knives and fell
upon the basket and pierced it with many thrusts, and it
seemed certain that the child was not in it, nor could we
see him anywhere. Presently they straightened out the
basket and resumed their music, when, all at once, from
afar the clear answering voice of the child was heard ;
nearer and nearer came the sound, until the basket swelled
and distended, and, lo ! there was the boy peering from
under the lid serene and smiling.
These jugglers call themselves JddooHW^llahs, and are
of the same tribe as the Yogees who follow the Moham-
medan processions and cut themselves with knives and
sharpened flints in order to extract money from the more
tender-hearted of the crowds who always frequent such
spectacles. The name of Jadoo-wallah is a corruption
of the words Yahdeo- Wallah, "filled with god-power."
The common people believe that these powers are be-
stowed upon them by the gods, and thus do everything
and anything in their power to propitiate the goodwill
of the Jadoo-wallahs. As acrobats they far surpass the
Europeans. One of the men who performed for us re-
ceived on his right shoulder, as lightly as if it had been a
feather, a heavy weight which was dropped from an over-
hanging branch of a tree above.
It was dusk before the jugglers and serpent-charmers
finished their astonishing feats and performances. We
handed them five rupees, and they were delighted witli
this liberality, though I had feared they would not think
it enough. They departed with the usual benediction,
" Both burrus Jeho Sahib loke. Tumarra bucha k bucha
Ingrage kfc guddee per bait jowoh " (" Long may you live,
gentlefolk, and may your children's children seat them-
selves on the British throne").
72 LIFE AND 'TRAVEL IN INDIA.
Not long after we had an opportunity of witnessing the
grand serpent-festival held in Bombay and other parts of
Hindostan in the months of July and August. It is called
" the EjMaScPJ^HiL" literally, " serpent-worship." There
are many tribes in India who have assumed the name of
Nagas or Serpents from the earliest times. Diodorus sup-
poses that the snake had been used as their crest or ban-
ner. There are three kinds of serpent-worship practised
in India, and each is peculiar to a distinct class of people,
although all the natives of India, except the Mohammedans,
either from dread of the deadly serpent or from a feeling
of veneration, join in the festival of the naga-poojmi.
The first of these is the worship paid to the serpent by
the high-caste Brahmans, who adopted the early serpent-
worship from the non- Aryan populations, placing the ser-
pent, as a symbol of the masculine energy of the world,
in the hand and sometimes around the head of Brahma,
the chief god of their trinity; they adroitly represent
that on the day sacred to the serpent, Krishna, their last
incarnation, slew the great serpent Kali, who was just in
the act of swallowing up the sun and moon. The second
is the worship made to the serpent-gods carved in their
temples by the non- Aryan and low-caste races of India, by
whom the serpent is regarded in the light of a benefactor
and friend, and to whom it was at one time customary to
offer annually a human victim to propitiate its deadly
sting. And, last of all, is the worship paid to it by the
professional snake-charmer, to whom the art of taming the
serpent has been transmitted from father to son, and in
whose eyes the serpent is an oracle of wisdom, the har-
binger of all good things, and last, but not least, a means
of livelihood to the tribe.
On the last day of the waning moon at the end of July
we rode out, accompanied by a party of friends, to the native
OFFERINGS OF RICE AND MILK TO SERPENTS. 73
part of the city, where we were told the chief of the ser-
pent-worshippers were assembled. Here we found an im-
mense throng of men and women gayly dressed, bands of
handsome dancing-girls in flowing veils and glittering
jewels, and rows of young maidens beautifully attired,
with offerings of rice and milk, and some with fruit and
flowers tastefully arranged in baskets which they carried
on their heads ; others with baskets filled with such flowers
as serpents are reported to delight in the champu, the
marigold, the water-lily, the tuberose, and quantities of
the snake-plant commonly called sampk&mah, " the mother
of the serpent." We passed through the crowd and suc-
ceeded in reaching the centre of a great maidan, or open
plain, where we stood.
Not far off clustered a vast number of serpents, with
their charmers and worshippers. Immediately behind this
curious assembly was a temple dedicated to the snake-god.
From within these walls the lights, kept burning in great
numbers, could be seen pale and ghastly amid the daylight,
and the sounds of the tomtom and gongs beat in honor
of the idol were heard ; some noble old peepul trees sur-
rounded the temple. Right in front of the temple were
placed great basins containing milk and a preparation of
rice and milk called khir, for the serpents. Those, how-
ever, that fed out of the basins were mostly all tame;
they coiled in and out and round about the worshippers in
a careless and easy manner. But farther on, beyond the
stone basins and amid flowers and floods of sunshine,
women dancing and men and boys singing, might be seen
the deadly cobra de capellos now aril then inflating their
hoods and keeping time to the music.
The Brahman worship of the serpent is characteristic.
Regarding the snake purely as a symbol, each priest pre-
pares a clay figure of a cobra and winds it when in a plas-
74 LIFE AND TKAVEL IN INDIA.
tic state round a tall pole, the upper part of which is
ornamented with a ring, which in its turn typifies the
feminine powers of nature.
On the day of the festival thousands of Brahmans, each
with his pole thus ornamented, accompanied by musicians
and dancing-girls, the former playing on their instruments
and the latter keeping time to the music and performing a
mystic circular dance, surrounded by half-naked fakeers
and gossains, who keep shouting and leaping about, trav-
erse the length and breadth of the native town till they
reach their temples. Entering these, they plant their
poles in front of the shrine of Siva, after which they
make over the clay serpent a wave-offering of fire, pouring
over it the oil pressed from the "telah," or sesamum-
seed, sacred to the serpent, and repeat the prayer, " Life
has sway over all in earth and heaven; protect v us as
a mother her children; grant us life, prosperity, wis-
dom," etc.
On this day every Hindoo and Brahman woman places
seven wicks in a dish of silver or other metal, fills the
dish with telah oil, and at nightfall waves it around the
portals and windows of her house. When her husband
returns he makes her a present, generally of a scarf, and
she then performs a curious and very mysterious rite:
placing her hands on her own hip-joints, and touching his
with the tips of her fingers, she prostrates herself before
him and implores for him, from the god of the day, re-
newed vigor, health, and strength.
The Nagas, or low-caste serpent-worshippers, assemble
with the snake-charmers in open plains, where all the
tame snakes in the country are brought together. After
having fed these creatures, they offer up prayers, each to
his own deity, but mostly to the god Siva, for long life
and for protection from its deadly bite, making offerings
VILLAGERS MAKE CLAY IMAGES OF THE COBRA. 75
of the snake-plant, and to the priests of little lamps lighted
with one or two wicks for the altars.
The common people in the Hindoo villages also make
clay images of the cobra and pray to them. Most of the
abandoned characters turn out on the occasion of these
festivals, and the night is spent in licentious merriment,
music, and song, while the snake-charmers, jugglers, and
Yogees obtain large sums of money and presents from the
people, who regard them in the light of divine benefactors
to their race.
To understand the worship paid to serpents we must re-
member that the earliest feeling which mankind had of a
relation to invisible powers must have been a compound
of dread and gratitude, and in the mingling of these emo-
tions dread predominated. The dreaded serpent alone,
says Fergusson,* without arms or wings or any of the
usual appliances of locomotion, still moves with singular
celerity and grace ; its form is full of elegance, its colors
are often very beautiful, its eyes are bright and piercing.
A serpent can creep, spring, climb, swim, expand, constrict,
suspend itself by the tail, burrow in the ground, and even
raise its body almost erect. Its muscular irritability is
remarkably great and persistent, depending on its ner-
vous energy. The heart palpitates long after death ; the
jaws open and shut even when the head is severed from
the body ; the outer skin is shed more than once, and the
ancients believed that by this means the snake renewed its
youth. It does not need food for long periods when cast-
ing its skin. It often changes color at will, and, above
all, its longevity is so great as still to make the super-
stitious ascribe to it immortality. It makes no nest (ex-
cept in the case of the python, who hatches her eggs by
the heat of her own body) ; no food is stored for the
* See Fergusson's Tree- and Serpent- Worship.
76 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
young, who are born with all powers in full perfection.
Then the poison of a serpent is so deadly and subtile that
it excites in the heart of the savage the greatest dread and
mystery, and even more startling and terrible than the
poison of the cobra is the flash-like spring and fascination
of the boa constrictor, the instantaneous embrace, the
crushed-out life, all accomplished faster than the human
eye can follow. These are the powers that must have im-
pressed the primitive races of the East with dread and
terror, and wherever the serpent was found, there he
seems to have been propitiated by man with prayers, sup-
plications, and all forms of worship. It is perhaps strange
that the serpent in the early period of the worship was
not so much dreaded as loved whether from a feeling
that it was not as deadly as it has in its power to be, or
for some other reason, it is now impossible to determine.
However, in the history of this peculiar religion it is
found that in course of time the serpent began to be re-
garded as the harbinger of good gifts, the teacher of wis-
dom, the symbol of subtlety, the oracle of the future, and
even the healer of all diseases.
All the gods, and even the kings and queens, of the old
world are usually represented with serpents coiling about
their heads or arms. The Hindoos most probably adopted
this symbol of the serpent from the aboriginal populations
among whom they settled. "Sanee," the oldest rock-
sculpture of the Hindoo " Saturn," the presiding deity of
the seventh day of the week, has serpents for her belts or
rings. She rides on a raven, a bird of ill omen sacred to
her, and no Hindoo will undertake any new enterprise on
the day over which she presides. As one wanders through
the forests of India one finds that many of the finest trees
served as altars to a generation long gone by. Their
huge old trunks have been hollowed out and carved in the
WORSHIP OF SACRED TREES IN INDIA. 77
form of oriel chapels or windows, in the inmost recesses
of which may be still traced the faint remains of what
was intended to represent the cobra de capello or hooded
serpent of India.
Sacredjrees. have from very early times shared a portion
of the homage paid to serpents. It would appear that
while the serpent was made to symbolize both the benef-
icent and dreaded powers of nature, the tree represented
man. The wondrous spectacle of a new creation every
year, the forest trees gathering their fresh leaves every
spring, became to the primitive man a steadfast promise
of a similar resurrection, and perhaps caused him to asso-
ciate the tree with the serpent because of the analogies
that exist between them. The one shedding its leaves,
the other its skin, their mutual inactivity in winter, their
awakening to life in the spring, their longevity, the twig-
like form of the serpent, and a last, but not least, import-
ant fact is this, that wherever, in India, the deadly
serpent is found, there also abounds the mungoose,* or
snake-plant, with convex flower-clusters and long ser-
pentine roots, possessing the mysterious power to cure the
deadly bite of a snake.
Thus, in the course of time, the serpent became an end-
less writing on the wall, so full was it of mysterious sig-
nificance and dread to the ancient races of the world. In
fact, serpents play an important part in the mythology of
every nation of the earth. Even to-day the snake-charm-
ers will tell you that the circles on the head of the cobra
de capello are spiritual eyes which enable it to distinguish
* This plant is named after a large rat common in India and called
mungoose by the natives. It is said to have a deadly antipathy to
snakes of all kinds. It will hunt and destroy them wherever they are
found. If, however, the mungoose happens to be bitten by a snake, it
is said that it instinctively runs to this plant, gnaws at its roots, and
thus cures itself of the poison.
78 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
between good and bad men. If a good man is bitten to
death, they account for it by declaring that he must have
committed some deadly sin in a former state of existence,
hence his punishment in this.
It will not be amiss to conclude this chapter with a
mention of some of the symbols for which the serpent
stood in ancient times. It stands for the higher and lower
forms of the creative energy of nature ; for the emblem
of evil ; for wisdom and subtlety, as we all know, being
self-supporting from the moment of birth ; for immor-
tality, because of its fabled longevity ; for death, for new
birth, and resurrection, from its casting its skin and from
its awakening in spring from the torpor of winter. In
the oldest hieroglyphics the serpent with its tail in its
mouth stood for cycles of time, for the horizon, for eter-
nity, and for life to come. Twined around the crown of
ancient Oriental kings and queens, it symbolized the fatal
sting lurking beneath the power entrusted to them ; and
bound round the royal sceptre, it typified national life,
vigor, and strength.
CHAPTER V.
The Parsees, or Fire- Worshippers, of Bombay. A Visit to a Fire-
priest and Astrologer. His Astral Predictions. The Gathas.
Zoroaster. His Life and Religion. History of the Settlement of
the Parsees in India.
THE race which more than others attracted my atten-
tion in India was thej^arsees in Bombay. As we drove
almost daily to or from the fort to Malabar Point, we
passed a Fire-temple, and there are also two others in the
old fort. These are held very sacred, and none but Par-
sees are allowed to enter them. The one, however, which
stood between the fort and our house was less guarded,
by which means it was more accessible to strangers and
visitors.
At my earnest request, I was invited by the wife of our
Parsee neighbor to witness the worship of this interesting
people. It was on the occasion of the " Khurdad-Sal,"
the anniversary of the birthday of Zoroaster, that I re-
paired to the above-mentioned Fire-temple. Seeing a
large crowd centred about the building, I ventured to
peep in, in the hope of seeing my friend. No one paid
the slightest attention to me; presently a young Parsee
lad came forward and conducted me to a quiet corner, and
I found myself the sole spectator of a very curious and
interesting worship performed by the Fire-priests alone,
with a crowd of Parsee women and children, and some
very aged Parsee men scattered here and there among
them.
The building was quite small, circular in shape, with a
79
80 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
sort of pent roof, small iron-grated windows, and an iron-
bound door, which was padlocked the moment the service
was over. Under the central arch of the temple was a
low altar on which burned a clear bright fire ; the smoke
had no means of escaping but through the windows, which
made the place rather unpleasant to stay in for any length
of time. A number of priests clad in simple white robes
and quite unadorned fed the sacred fire* with the dif-
* Minute instructions for the preparation of this sacred fire in case of
its accidental extinction or in the first building of a temple are given in
the " Fargard," one of the books of the Zend-Avesta. Fires from six-
teen different places are necessary. One of the most indispensable in-
gredients in the building of the Fire is the flame by which a dead body
is burned, though the body itself is held as the most impure of all
things. Still, the fire which has consumed it is essential, as contain-
ing the most mysterious of all created substances, " electricity," which
is thought to be more abundant in the human body than elsewhere in
nature; it is called "nacupaka." This fire is purified by a very extra-
ordinary process. A certain number of holes are prepared in the ground
called " handareza," or, in modern Parsee, " andaza," a measure. The
fire is then placed in each of these holes in turn, prayed over by the
chief priest with closed eyes, and blown over with the breath, already
purified by the prayers just uttered.
The dyer's fire, the potter's, the glass-blower's, blacksmith's, brick-
layer's, gold- and silversmith's, with phosphorus, beeswax, odoriferous
gums, many different kinds of wood, the ashes of the rose and jessa-
mine-flower, salt of various kinds, etc., all these fires and substances
must be brought, after having been purified by the prayers said over
them, to one and the same hearth or altar, called in the ancient Peh-
levi Daityo-gatus, now corrupted into " Dadhgah." The collective fire,
combined into one and thus obtained, represents the essence of nature,
the mystic wine of the poets, pervading the whole universe, even to
the most distant stars. This "mystic wine" or " life- water " is held to
be the cause of all the growth, vigor, and splendor of the physical and
mental qualities of animals, men, birds, beasts, and plants. It is there-
fore regarded with the deepest reverence. Before the collection and
preparation of this fire the priests who are to take part in the cere-
mony must undergo great purification for nine nights, nine being the
most sacred number, as it is the period in which the human offspring
is perfected. The priest must drink the urine of a cow, sit on stones
PARSEES OF BOMBAY AT WORSHIP. 81
ferent kinds of precious woods, and while some chanted,
passing each his sacred thread through the fingers of his
hands, others dropped perfumes and consecrated oil into
the Fire.
The Parsee women and children sat or stood around
this central fire, most of them beautifully dressed. I was
struck with the beauty and nobility of their faces as they
worshipped here with their hands folded, their eyes closed,
listening reverently to the chants or praying silently to
themselves.
A great many silver trays full of fruit, sweetmeats, and
white robes were placed on one side, offerings from the
women to the Fire-priests.
At the close of the service the entire congregation folded
their hands across their breasts, and, having bowed their
heads, retired, leaving the priests to heap precious fuel on
the sacred fire, so as to preserve it from going out, for
which purpose the temple is regularly visited during each
day, and the fire is carefully preserved from year to year
by certain priests who take turns to perform this most
religious duty.
One evening we went to visit, by appointment, one of
the oldest Fire-priests in Bombay, who was also a famous
astrologer. The appointment was made by our nearest
European neighbor on Malabar Hill, a Mr. S , an
Englishman who had lived a long time in India, and one
of our intimate friends. Although Mr. S was per-
sonally acquainted with him, the old priest had declined
to receive strangers until prevailed upon to do so by Mr.
S 's Parsee friend and partner in business.
within the enclosures of certain magic circles; while moving from one
circle to another he must rub his body with cow-urine, and then with
sand, and lastly wash himself from head to foot nine times in pure
cold water.
6
82 LIFE AND TRAVEL, IN INDIA.
We started about six o'clock in the evening, and after
a long drive through the Parsee settlement of the native
town and through a crowded and noisy bazaar, our car-
riage drew up before a high, dilapidated wooden build-
ing. The balcony projected into the street, supported by
rickety wooden pillars, under which there was a small
garden filled chiefly with herbs and plants. Mr. S ,
who had often visited the house and was familiar with
its ways, led us through the little garden and up a great
flight of wooden steps into a corridor or hall, crossing
which we at length stood before a very old door which
was slightly ajar, through the opening of which a light
streamed upon us in the dark passage. Mr. S tapped,
and a voice feeble and tremulous bade us enter. We did
so, and in another moment we were standing side by side
with an old Fire-priest, perhaps the oldest in the world.
He did not move or speak, or even turn his eyes upon
us.
An old Ethiopian servant present pointed to us to be
seated on some cushions near by until his master had
finished his evening prayer. We silently took our places
on the seats and looked on. In the centre of the room,
which was woefully shabby and coarsely built, stood a
three-legged stand, and on it was a round earthen lamp
filled with cocoanut oil and containing depressions at the
sides for wicks, of which there were just seven burning.
Before it stood the Fire-priest, his dress, a long dingy-
looking robe which might once have been white, flowing
down to his emaciated feet, which were bare. But as his
lips moved in prayer, and his thin dark fingers passed
over and over his sacred thread or girdle, that mystic em-
blem of his faith, there was an indescribable reflection of
some unseen interior light on his wan and pallid features ;
he hardly looked old, so wonderfully was his countenance
THE FIRE-PRIEST READS OUR HOROSCOPES. 83
lit up with a serene and beautiful expression of peace and
happiness.
The floor of the room was made of planks roughly
hewn and rudely put together. A number of curious old
parchments were piled up on one side; pots, earthen
lamps, vases, flowers, shawls, carpets, bedding, and a
number of embroidered silk cushions lay in seeming con-
fusion about the floor. The Ethiopian attendant, who
looked almost as old as his master, grinned at us from his
corner, showing plainly that he had lost nearly all his
teeth ; but no word was spoken.
His prayers over, the aged Fire-priest put off his long
robe and dark conical cap, which were replaced by a short
gray angraka, or coat, and close-fitting skull-cap, reveal-
ing a few locks of long scanty gray hair. He then turned
to Mr. S , took both his hands kindly in his own, and
saluted him by raising them to his forehead three times,
and then he did the same to us.
After an interval of about an hour or so spent in pleas-
ant conversation, during which we learned that the Dus-
toor or Fire-priest Bhejah was a native of Surat, and had
come to the island of Bombay about forty years before with
his family, every member of whom he had survived save
some distant connections still living in Surat, we begged
him to read our horoscopes for us.
The old Dustoor rose at once, as if pleased at our
request, and with great alacrity led the way through a
long narrow passage and up another old wooden staircase
into a small chamber open to the sky by a curious contri-
vance, a sort of trapdoor, which was let down in rainy
weather. There was a bench in one corner of this room ;
in the middle a circular table which revolved on a pivot,
painted with curious hieroglyphics, and beside it a three-
legged stool. As soon as we had taken our seats on the
84 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
bench, the Dustoor drew out from under the table a board
chequered black and red and a piece of chalk, and, taking
the dim horn lantern that stood in a niche in the wall, set
it on the table. This done, he turned to me and ques-
tioned me very closely in Hindostauee about the day, year,
hour, and almost moment, of my birth. All such ques-
tions as I had it in my power to reply to he put down in
what seemed to me signs and figures in one of the squares
on his peculiar black and red board.
This was a work of some time, for every now and then
he seemed doubtful of his operations, rubbing out and re-
placing the signs and figures .in new squares. When he
had scrawled on the board to his satisfaction he began to
compare it with the hieroglyphics on his revolving table,
deciphering and studying the stars on each of his tablets
with the utmost care. He then turned up his wan face
and began to gaze alternately at the bit of sky seen
through the open trapdoor and to examine the strange
hieroglyphics on the table. The stars presiding at my
birth were evidently unpropitious. He foretold for me
many deaths among relations and friends, long and cruel
separations by strange seas and oceans being placed be-
tween my friends and me ; softening it off, however, by
predicting a long life, a happy old age, and a numerous
progeny of grand- and great-grandchildren ; which, in-
deed, are the chief sources of happiness in the Parsee
household.
He then foretold my husband's future, which was even
less auspicious, saying that a great shadow of one of the
planets would cross his path in middle life, which if he
survived he would live to a good old age, etc., etc.
It was not what the old astrologer and Fire-priest said
so much as his perfect faith in his own rendering of the
position of the stars that most impressed me. The float-
OATH AS, OR HYMNS OF THE FIRE-WORSHIPPERS. 85
ing locks of gray hair, the serious brow, the deep,
thoughtful, contemplative look on that face, were all
very striking : his head full of the mystery of the stars
and his heart ever revolving the secret destiny of human
life were as strange and marked as any of the many lives
whose future he believed he could so easily decipher.
In the Zend-Avesta or, more properly, the Avesta-
Zand the religious books of the Parsees, we find the
Gathas, or sacred hymns, of the ancient Fire-priests, and
these in their turn may be traced directly to the Rig
Vedas, the oldest of the Aryan Scriptures, a collection of a
thousand hymns, more or less, called " Mantras," or Mind-
born songs, composed and recited by various priests and
poets, the earliest of whom lived about three thousand,
and the latest not far from twenty-six hundred, years ago.
These hymns, some of which are very beautiful, composed
and sung long before the Aryans left their home in the
Hindoo Kush* Mountains, were inspired by its soaring
mountains "roofs of the world," as they called them
capped with snow, clear blue skies, and by the rush-
ing waters leaping in gladness out of the heart of the
hills.
" They found the mountains ever near mighty to de-
fend them, the lakes and rivers eager to serve thern."f
" Sparkling bright with mighty splendor, she carries the
clouds across the plains ; the uncouquered Siudhui, Indus,
the quickest of the quick, like a beautiful mare, a sight
to see ; by their swiftness, depth, as well as by the sweet-
ness of their waters; the birds by their delicious warb-
ling ; the winds by the fragrant dust of flowers which they
* The "Hindoo Kush," name for the Caucasian Mountains.
f See Max Miiller's The Origin and Growth of Religion, p. 195, "The
Giithas, or Sacred Songs of the Parsees." See Haug's essays on "the
Zend-Avesta."
86 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
bore along on their invisible wings, the clouds by their re-
freshing shadows."
Light, as seen in the sun, moon, and stars, dawn and
sunrise, fire in all its mysterious forms the spark struck
from the flint, the fire that burned their oblations, the
holy flames that were lighted on the domestic hearth be-
came their earliest objects of worship. These they cele-
brate in the Rig Vexla, and in these they saw, with their
deep intuitive insight, thousands of years ago, an "all-
productive cosmic energy/'
Thus, the simple act of rubbing two dried pieces of
wood together in order to obtain fire became a religious
ceremony, and the tiny flint which served to kindle fire
became their first idol, and gave those ancient Aryans the
first hint of the wonderous power of heat, at once their
god, the ministering angel of their lives, and their first
step toward civilization.
This vital fire of the universe, with every upward dart
of flame issuing out of the cold, hard rock, starting out
of dried wood, streaming in jets spontaneously out of the
heart of the earth itself, and flaming luridly from moun-
tain-tops, was an object so full of mystery, so potent, ever
present, even when invisible, ever within call, lurking in
the rock and air, water and tree, waiting to be called into
life, vanishing at a breath, naturally became the highest
symbol of the unseen to those primitive worshippers of
nature.
The early Aryan priest, who was to his race what our
poets and thinkers are to us to-day, on awakening at dawn
turned his face to the east, and, waiting for the light,
cried, "Arise! arise! the breath of our life has come, the
darkness has fled." The fire had to be kindled by men.
" She, the Dawn, brought us light by striking down dark-
ness. Shine for us with thy best rays, Q thou bright
THREE MYSTICAL INTERPRETATIONS OF AVESTA. 87
Dawn ! thou who lengthenest our lives, thou beloved of
all, thou mother of the morning clouds, leader of the days,
gold-colored and lovely to behold !" When the sun at
last climbed the mountain-tops and shone upon his wor-
shipper, he sang a deeper hymn of joy to the Creator :
" In the beginning there arose the source of golden light.
He was the first-born lord of all that is. He established
the earth and the sky. He gives us life, he gives us
strength whose shadow is immortality, whose absence is
death he who through his power is the only king of
this breathing and awakening world."*
These songs were not only sung, but transmitted from
father to son, long before the age of a written alphabet, as
a sacred, inviolable inheritance, preserved from century to
century in the religious memory of the Aryan priest, even
as they were recited to us evening after evening at the
" Aviary " by our modern pundit without book or notes
or text.
The pictures these songs present of the deep religious
and poetic fervor of the early Aryans, both before and
after their descent into the plains of India, of their pas-
toral and agricultural life, divided into separate and dis-
tinct classes, as priest, king, shepherd, warrior, and tiller
of the soil, are in themselves the most comprehensive and
valuable of historical records.
The first and most important fact to be found in the
study of these hymns is that every home, every dwelling,
has its own altar, which is the family hearth, called the
"dadgah" by the Fire- worshippers that "holy of holies"
of which father and mother were priest and priestess. This
fire is the ancient " avesta," to which were attached three
mystical interpretations first, "womanly purity;" second,
the " inviolability of the family ;" and third, " the sacred-
* See Max Miiller's Chips from a Ctfrman Workshop.
88 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
ness attached to the mother as the transmitter of human
life."
There is no doubt that from the Assyrians, Chaldeans,
and the early Iranians, who were then one with the purer
Hindoos of to-day, this worship of nature, and especially
of fire in its triple significance, was propagated southward
among the Egyptians, westward among the Greeks, and
by them introduced into Italy.
The Greeks met together to worship in their Prytaneia.
Here they consulted together for the public good, and
there was a constant fire burning on the altar, which was
called " vesta." The Vestal Virgins of the Romans had
their origin in the same idea. Many of the oldest and
some of the most modern usages still to be found among
the Parsees, Hindoos, Jews, Greeks, Mohammedans, and
Roman Catholics bear reference to this early worship of
the " household fire," and many of the problems, puzzles,
and contradictions that are found in the religious symbols
of the world stand clear and evident when submitted to
this light.
The word " Light " is used in the New Testament as
the highest symbol of Christ " the Light of the world,"
" the Light that lighteth every man who cometh into the
world." Every instance also of God's acceptance of sacri-
fice and prayer in the Old Testament is made evident to
the people through the medium of fire, as seen in the case
of David, in the dedication of Solomon's temple, and when
Elijah demanded that extraordinary proof from Jehovah
that Baal was not God. From Genesis to the Revelation,
from the first offerings of Cain and Abel to "the city
that had no need of a sun, neither of the moon, to shine
in it, for the glory of the Lord did lighten it and the
Lamb is the light thereof," this symbol of light is
the dearest to the human heart, and ever recurring and
THE PARSEES USE FIRE AS A SYMBOL. 89
conspicuous as the fittest and purest to be applied to the
Deity.
It is as a symbol, not as a material element, that the
worshippers of fire have clung to it through all times;
and their adherence and tenacity are all the more remark-
able when we consider the changes that have passed over
all primitive institutions. We ourselves have had a suc-
cession of different religions and gods the divinities of
the Phoenicians, then those of the Greeks and Romans,
which superseded the terrible gods of the Norsemen and
the aboriginal deities of the Druids, our ancestors. All
these in time have given place to the sublime teachings
of Christ. Our religious forms are changing even to-day
as religious convictions become wider, deeper, and more
comprehensive than ever.
But the Parsees, those ancient Sun- and Fire-worship-
pers, still offer up their prayers in the old Pehlevi a lan-
guage which is the elder sister of the ancient Sanskrit
in which the Zend-Avesta, the sacred books of the
Zoroastrians, are written, and older by far than the cunei-
form inscriptions of Cyrus, Darius, and Xerxes ; * still
wear the same old conical cap in the form of ascending
flame, preserved in the shape of the bishop's mitre in the
Christian symbolic dress; still adhere to the rites, cere-
monies, manners, and customs peculiar to their earliest
fathers, invoking the invisible fire upon which they
called centuries before the building of the temple of
Solomon.
The race has survived the destruction of Babylon and
Assyria outlived the beautiful gods of the Greeks, who
beat them down by land and sea. It has persistently
overcome the hatred and persecution of the Scythian and
Tartar hordes, the rage and fury of the Moslems, the
* See Max Mullens Science of Religion, Lecture IV., page iii.
90 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
intolerance and prejudice of all sects and nations, and,
strange to say, even when placed between the currents of
new ideas, which ceaselessly move and transform those
around them, the Fire- worshipper, like the Jew, stands
alone, as if he were beyond time and above change.
From the time of Xerxes, four hundred and eighty-six
years B. c., we have to date the decline of the Persian em-
pire. Even the old heroic name of Iran Ayiran, from
the Sanskrit Ariya, "the noble" has passed away for
the word Persia, which, whether we apply it to the
country, to the people, or to the language, is a misnomer.
Pars, or Fars, is only a province of the great empire of
" Iran." It was owing to the fact that the language of
its chief city, Shiraz, was considered the most elegant and
fashionable speech of the Iranians that the name of the
province Pars was gradually used to distinguish the peo-
ple, the entire country, and the language.
To the ancient world Zoroastrianism was known by the
name of " Mazdasnah " or " Mazday_asnah," the doctrine
of "universal knowledge." It was revealed by the "Pure
Spirit," called also the " Excellent Word," pure, efficacious
" the word that Zoroaster has conveyed to men," which
is the " Good Law." The priests were called Madhi, or
middlemen, go-betweens, corrupted into Magi, which name
is very commonly applied to the priests of the Zoroastrian
religion by the Greek authors, beginning with Herodotus,
who had travelled in Media and confounded the name of
the priests of Magism and the Median religion with that
of Zoroastrianism.
It is impossible to fix exactly the era when the great
reformer Zarathustra " splendor of gold " lived. The
Greek and Roman historians make him very ancient.
Xanthos of Lydia, 470 B. c., the first Greek writer who
mentions Zoroaster, is convinced that he must have flour-
ZOROASTER THE FOUNDER OF A DYNASTY. 91
ished about six hundred years before the Trojan war.
Aristotle and Eudoxus place his era even earlier. Be-
rosus, the Chaldean priest and historian, who translated
the history of his native country, Babylonia, into the
Greek language, and dedicated the work to Antiochus,
one of the Greek kings of Syria, makes him a king, or
rather founder of a dynasty which reigned over Babylon
between 2200 and 2000 B. c.* The Fire- worshippers
hold that their great priest and reformer lived about five
hundred and fifty years B. c. They identify him with
the great Kavan-Vistaspa of the Zend-Avesta, called
Khai Gustasp in the Shahnamah.'f But it is very evi-
dent that even the ancient Persians themselves were very
uncertain as to who this Kavan Vistaspa was. It is clear,
however, that Darius's father, who was also named Vis-
* See Rawlinson's Ancient Monarchies, where he identifies Zoroaster
with the celebrated Median king Kudur-Xakhunta, and says : "A king
of Elam, whose court was held at Susa, led in the year B. c. 2286 (or a
little earlier) an expedition against the cities of Chaldsea, succeeded in
carrying all before him, ravaged the country, took the towns, plundered
the temples, and bore off the images of the deities which the Babylon-
ians especially reverenced. This king's name, which was Kudur-Nak-
hunta, is thought to be the exact equivalent of one which has a world-
wide celebrity to wit, Zoroaster. Now, according to Polyhistor, who
certainly repeats Berosus, Zoroaster was the first of those eight Median
kings who composed the second dynasty in Chaldaea and occupied the
throne from about B. c. 2286 to 2052. The Medes are represented by
him as capturing Babylon at this time, and imposing themselves as
rulers upon the country. Eight kings reign in the space of 234 or 224
years, after which we hear no more of Medes, the sovereignty being (as
it would seem) recovered by the natives. The coincidences of the con-
quest, the date, the foreign sovereignty, and the name Zoroaster, tend
to identify the Median dynasty of Berosus with a period of Susanian
supremacy which the monuments show to have been established in
Chaldaea at a date not long subsequent to the reigns of Urukh and
Ilgi, and to have lasted for a considerable period."
t A collection of heroic poems on the ancient histories of Persia and
her kings, by Firdoosi.
92 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
taspa, and the Kavan-Vistaspa of the Zend-Avesta and
the Shahnamah, were entirely distinct persons.
There is very little doubt that this confusion of opin-
ions is owing to the similarity of names. A very common
habit even in India to-day is to name persons after heroic
kings, great priests, or even after the gods, without any
mark being added to distinguish them in after years ; and
when any period of time has elapsed it is almost irnpos-
ible to separate the personality of the father from the son,
or the disciple from the teacher, or the priest from the god.
Zoroaster, or rather " Zara Thustra," means illustrious
like gold, or, in another sense, simply high priest ; and
this being taken afterward as the proper name of the cel-
ebrated priest and reformer of ancient Iran, gave rise to
the endless confusion of dates and opinions which has
always prevailed with regard to the age in which he lived.
There is, however, internal evidence in the language
and religion which he reformed that he lived at a very
early age, and there are many traces of his great antiquity
in the Zend-Avesta itself. First, that he stands at the
head of the extensive Zend literature,* which must have
required centuries for its growth, and which was already
in a state of perfection when Buddha, the founder of
Buddhism, was born, from four to five hundred years
before Christ; and secondly, that he is expressly called
Aryana Vedgo, " the celebrated one," in the Aryan home
whence the Aryans, now called Hindoos, emigrated in
times immemorial. This title, Martin Haug justly ob-
serves, would not have been given him had his followers
not believed him living at that early time. Under no cir-
cumstance can we assign to him a later date than the year
1000 B.C.
* See Martin Hang's Esuays on the Sacred Language, Writings, and
Religion of the Parsees.
VEDIC GODS THE DEVILS OF FIKE-WORSHIPPERS. 93
The causes which led to the schism between the early
Fire-worshippers may be readily learned from the Zend-
Avesta, where the gods of the dissenters are called "dSvas"
(to whence our word devil) by the orthodox " Soshyantos,"
or Fire-priests. It was a vital and successful struggle
against that form of the early religion which inclined to
Brahmanism, and later to open idolatry. Thus, for in-
stance, the V6dic gods Aditya, Mitra, Yaruna, and Indra
became the devils of the Zoroastrian religion ; and this
struggle must have taken place when Indra was declared
the chief of the gods by a large portion of the Aryans,
before they had immigrated into Hindostan proper. In
the later period of Vdic literature we find Indra at the
head of the gods; then in the great epics, the Maha-
bharata and Ramayana, he gives place to the Trimourtri,
Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. A compromise was thus ef-
fected between the esoteric doctrine of the metaphysicians
and the common forms of worship, giving rise to what
was henceforth to constitute the orthodox system of belief
of the Brahmanic caste. The Vdic pantheon, however,
is not altogether discarded in the Zend-Avesta ; the exist-
ence of the old gods is recognized, but in a very different
way from that of the mysterious triple divinity which rep-
resents not only the eternal, infinite soul, but Brahma
himself in his active relation to mundane occurrences;
and moreover, as the Trimourtri is never alluded to in
the Zend-Avesta, where most of the other Vdic gods are
named, we are obliged to fix the religious struggle at a
much earlier date than that assigned to the Indian poems.
The only source whence we derive anything like re-
liable historical facts, and those of the most meagre kind,
respecting this great reformer Zoroaster, is in the Yasnahs,
where he is distinguished by his family name S'pitama.
His father's name was Poorooshaspa. Of his children,
94 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
only his son S'pitama and his daughter Poroochista are
mentioned. In these fragments, rather than books, he
appears to us as a real man, earnest, strong, and true, just
and generous in every act of his life, taking a prominent
part in the history of his country and the welfare of his
fellow-creatures. It was he who struck a deathblow to
the idolatrous practices that had crept in among the Fire-
priests who established in his own country a new com-
munity, governed by new laws ; he called upon every man
to take his part in the battle between good and evil, add-
ing the firm assurance that good will always prevail. In
his own works he calls himself a " Dutah " i. e. " a
messenger " sent by the great Ahura-Mazda. His ideal
of home, of father and mother living together under one
roof in freedom and love and unity, cemented by a su-
preme and unalterable bond of love and friendship, has
never yet been equalled save by Christianity.
This remarkable reformer, according to the Yasnahs,
was born in the sacerdotal city of Eagha, near Teheran,
the capital of Persia. His father was an aged priest named
Poorooshaspa, a man noted for his purity of life. Like
all such histories, his birth was miraculously ordained.*
One evening as Poorooshaspa and Dhogdha his wife, a
childless old couple, were praying in a lonely place, the
atmosphere around them became suddenly luminous. They
looked up, and saw a form of exquisite beauty standing in
the midst of a bright cloud, and as they gazed upon this
beautiful vision there was handed to them a cup fashion-
ed out of an amethyst filled with the wine of heaven.
" Drink this," said the angel, " and renew your youth, for
* The Persian writers of the Middle Ages ascribed to Zoroaster a
long series of prodigies and miracles without end; to which both
Pliny and Eubulus, giving the last echoes of popular traditions,
allude.
ZOROASTER REFORMS HIS COUNTRY'S RELIGION. 95
Ahura-Mazda has chosen you to bring a savior into the
world." Having drank the wine, they became the parents
of one son, S'pitama.
It is related that the ruler of the city of Ragha sought
to destroy the child; at his command he was snatched
from his mother's arms and thrown into a narrow lane
where cattle passed, in the hope that they might tread him
to death ; but, lo ! in the evening a sensible and motherly
cow brought him on her horns to his weeping, disconsolate
mother. Then again, by the order of the same cruel gov-
ernor, he was cast into a blazing fire ; but he lay there
unscathed, smiling so serenely upon his persecutors that
they were at once converted into friends. In fact, every
attempt made by enemies to destroy the infant is said to
have been arrested by divine agency. At last the child
was permitted to grow up unmolested with his friends and
relatives, who were among his earliest followers.
Zoroaster did not so much reveal a new religion as re-
form the old Fire-worship of his country. He abolished
stone images, necromancy, magic, witchcraft, all of which
were identified with the worship of fire. He investigated
astrology, and confirmed its practices as true and elevating.
He inspired the old materialistic teaching of the Fire-
priests with a new and more spiritual meaning. He made
Avar on the idolatrous practices of his fellow-men, and
banished from Iran all who still bowed down before wood
and stone. At the age of thirty he completed a new code
of laws, and also the Zend-Avesta, with the Izeshnee, a
still more sacred book. He distinctly recognized, above
and beyond all manifestions of sun, light, or fire, a purer,
higher, unconditioned Being.* When moved by deepest
awe he bowed his head and reverently called this Being
* The Uncreated, the Eternal. He has had no beginning, and will
have no end. The Yasnahs.
96 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
"the Truth of the Truth, the Wisdom of the Wise, the
Purity of the Pure." So also in his famous prayer of one-
and-twenty words, " The world is produced, and all that
is good in thought, word, and deed, because of the Truth."
The problem of the origin^ofjeyil, the most difficult to
be solved, seems to have been constantly before his mind.
It seemed to him impossible that the Truth, whom he con-
ceived to be eternally pure, good, just, and perfect, had
created evil. The ancient Aryans attributed the struggles
in the physical world around them to the strife between
good and evil ; Zoroaster seized this idea, applied it with
the deepest emphasis to the moral and spiritual world, and
it became the basis of his system of dualism. Together
with Ahura-Mazda, the good principle, he admitted the
existence of an evil principle or spirit equal in power and
of a similar nature * Angra Mainyus ; in Persian Ahri-
man. This spirit is the author of all moral and physical
evil, sin, disease, suffering, and death.
All things, created by Ahura-Mazda pronouncing the
creating, pre-existing word " Honover," were pure, per-
fect, and beautiful as himself until spoiled by the evil in-
fluence of Ahriman. And though Ahriman, like Ahura-
Mazda, has been eternal and self-existing in the past,
Zoroaster declares that a day will come when three great
prophets will arise, Ukhsyad-eremah, "the increasing
Light," Ukhsyad-eretah, " the increasing Truth," A9tvad-
ereta, "self-existent Truth," who will convert all man-
kind; everything created will become as pure as on the
* To reconcile the existence of these two absolute Beings, coequal and
coeternal, the doctrine of the Zarvanians was conceived in later times.
This sect, which flourished about the time of Alexander the Great,
supposed an unconditioned existence prior and superior to Ahura-
Mazda, Ormuzd, and Ahriman, called " time without limit," Zaravan-
Akarana, from whom emanated the two spirits or principles of good
and evil.
HEALTH FIRST, THEN IMMORTALITY. 97
first day when it issued from the breath of the " Wisest
of all Intelligence," and Ahriman will be destroyed and
disappear for ever.
Such is the real doctrine of Zoroaster, while the hymns
of the Zend-Avesta glow and burn with the assurance of
the mystic and essential life of the soul with the spiritual
essence of all pure thought. The pure heavens are like
light ; thought is likened to a drop of pure light, and the
departing spirit has a sunbeam for its guide to conduct it
to immortal light.
In the Gathas, or Songs, he says : " God appears in the
best thought, the truest speech, and the sincerest action.
He gives through his pure spirit health, prosperity, devo-
tion " (which, more properly translated, ought to be " love "),
" and eternity to this universe. He is the Father of all
truth and the Mother of all tenderness."
It is very remarkable that the early Aryans looked
upon disease, deformity, and weakness in the same light
that we are apt to regard the depraved and vicious.
Health was the first and greatest boon, the gift they sup-
plicated most earnestly from heaven. Health first, then
immortality. They seemed to loathe consumption and
scrofula, and many of their most energetic prayers are
supplications to the Deity to be preserved "from this
hateful indwelling sin," as they termed it. Their laws
for the happy treatment of women, especially in certain
conditions of health, of which I shall treat in the chapter
on their domestic life, is full of that reverence for her
health and happiness, as well as those of her offspring,
which is seen to penetrate the whole life of the Fire-wor-
shipper, passing as it did in the course of time into a rigid
etiquette. Stern as it is, it is infinitely better than the
careless indifference with which the mother, "the trans-
mitter of human life," is so often regarded among us.
7
98 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
In the Zend-Avesta we find a mojral_cojle. almost as
perfect as our own, with rather a singular account of the
creation. In one of the books, called " Desater," it would
seem all animals being created except man, the dog was
dreadfully lonely, and that man was created only out
of compassion for him; and no sooner was man formed
than all the animals, save the dog, broke out into open
rebellion against the Great Spirit for having favored man
with speech, reason, and immortality.
As in Genesis, so in the Desater, the Great Spirit brought
the animals to Gelshadeng and made them subject to him,
and he it was who divided them into seven classes. There
is a curious dialogue that passed between the seven great
sages of Persia and the seven different animals, and the
reasons given why some are made fierce, others harmless,
and yet others beneficent. In some passages great vene-
ration is expressed for the cow, and great aversion to some
animals, and to the human corpse ; this is not permitted
either to find a resting-place in the earth or in the fire,
because of the sacredness of both these elements ; and it is
commanded that it be abandoned to birds of prey or to
absorption by the air in enclosures set apart for the purpose.
However, in spite of many things that seem childish
and absurd in their books (the unprejudiced student is not
always certain that the right meaning of the text has been
rendered, for the language is full of difficulties), yet so
much is clear: that the "G&thas" are very beautiful
hymns and full of true religious feeling. They are ad-
dressed to the household fire, to the sun, moon, and stars,
to the spirit of the hills, mountains, trees, birds, and flow-
ers, to the earth, air, and sea. The earth is often called
the " infinite, the all-nourishing cow," and the sun is con-
sequently, by the same figure, designated " the fiery-winged
one, the immortal bull."
PRECIOUS STONES REPRESENT CERTAIN VIRTUES. 99
Then there are prayers and songs to the spirits of the
righteous dead, to the seven high angels around the throne,
the planets then known. The most spiritual are those ad-
dressed to Ahura-Mazda, "the Everlasting Light," who
is described as an ineffable Being, full of brightness and
glory. Zoroaster discovers God in the eternal invisible
Fire. His wonder and joy over the first kindling of the
flame arose from the spiritual symbolism that interpreted
all nature to him. In it he recognizes the type of the
immortal Light and the spiritual resurrection of the soul.
Thrilling with religious fervor, he bows before the radiant
light as the most subtle and all-dissolving element, and in
feeling its mystery acknowledges the mystery of God,, its
Supreme Creator.
Thus, all the rites and ceremonies of the ancient Fire-
worshippers abound in symbols which typify the operations
of nature, not only in the heavens, but also in the hidden
recesses of the earth. They attribute the maturing of
precious gems and metals to the peculiar influence of the
sun, moon, and stars ; and it is a curious fact that they
called the seven metals by the very same names by which
they denominated the seven planets, and the same peculiar
hieroglyphic characters are used to this day to distinguish
both. Among them certain stones represented certain vir-
tues, and not a few were famed for their magical properties.
The months of the year were spirits who exerted their in-
fluence over certain precious stones, which in their turn
had power over the destiny of any person born during the
period of their sway. Thus each month has its own pre-
siding genius in the heavens and its appropriate symbol in
the heart of the earth, bound up with the life and character
of the individual born under their combined influence.
The garnet, symbol of the presiding spirit of January,
means constancy; the amethyst, of February, sincerity;
100 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
the bloodstone, of March, courage and presence of mind ;
the diamond, of April, innocence; the emerald, of May,
love ; the agate, of June, health and long life ; the car-
nelian, of July, contentment ; sardonyx, of August, happi-
ness ; chrysolite, of September, antidote against madness,
sane mind ; opal, of October, hope ; topaz, of November,
fidelity; turquoise, of December, prosperity.
Rings are still used among the more superstitious of
the Parsees as charms and talismans against the evil eye,
demons, and most of the ills inherent to the human flesh.
Sometimes the virtue exists in the stone, sometimes in the
magical letters engraved upon it, which are thought to
have the power to preserve the owner from thunder,
lightning, witchcraft, the evil eye, from sin, and from tak-
ing cold even when exposed to biting frosts and storms.
The ancient history of the Fire-worshippers presents no
nobler picture than that of Zoroaster traversing the wilds
of Persia to preach a purer doctrine to his fellow-men.
Before his death he is said to have reduced the twenty-
one books he had written to three immortal maxims:
Pure thoughts, Pure words, Pure deeds. "All pure
thought is spirit-worship, or religion," said he, going at
once to the root of the matter, " and all pure actions are
fed by the immortal dew of heaven ; " this dew is virtue,
and he calls it the vapor which the pure-hearted inhale
from the heart of the eternal Sun.
What a nation does thoroughly, she does for all time.
So it was with the ancient Persians : centuries after the
death of their great teacher they kept their faith in one
God firm and inviolate amid the mogt_crushing ^pfirse-
qotion. On the final conquest of Persia the unrelenting
soldiers of the Caliphat forced at the point of the sword
one hundred thousand persons daily to abjure their faith.
Thousands upen thousands were slaughtered daily ; only a
PEESECUTION OF THE FIRE-WORSHIPPERS. 101
few escaped and fled to the mountains of Khorasan, taking
with them a lamp lighted from the sacred Fire. From
these mountains they were again driven forth by the Mo-
hammedans four hundred years after, and the little band
of Zoroastrians fled once more, to the beautiful island of
Ormuzd, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf. Here perse-
cution still followed them, and, driven out again, the little
colony put to sea, still taking with them their sacred lamp,
which had been preserved from extinction through all those
troublous years.
They had hardly lost sight of land when a terrific storm
overtook them, and their little fleet was soon deprived of
all hope of escape. Voluntarily exiled from their native
land, they had fled from place to place for protection ; the
mountains refused to hide them, the earth to shelter them,
and now even the sea and all the elements rose up against
them all but their little feeble lamp, which, according to
their historians, continued to burn brightly in spite of the
dreadful storm. At length the high priest of Zoroaster
resolved to hoist their sacred lamp as a signal to the
tempest-driven little fleet to join in prayer. Up rose the
horn lantern containing the sacred light to the masthead
of the dahstur's (or high priest's) vessel. The little fleet
of boats and ships tried to draw near to the precious bea-
con, but the winds blew and the tempest beat upon their
vessels. All undismayed, straining their utmost and peering
through the gloom, they turned them in the direction of the
sacred light. Then up above the din and roar of that
angry surging sea the prayer of that faithful little com-
pany ascended to the Invisible, the shining Ahura-Mazda,
for help in their sore distress.
Next morning the storm had abated, and they landed
at IMvaij on the coast of Western Hindostan, where they
disembarked, and remained nineteen years, whence they
102 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
migrated in a body to Sajan, twenty-four miles south of
Damaun. The Hindoo king, Ranah Jayadeva, granted an
asylum to the fugitives.
After centuries of cruel persecution the exiles at length
found refuge from the enemies of their faith among the
Hindoos, who had separated from them in the dim dawn
of history because of a religious feud, but whose antago-
nism touched only names and other non-essential rites,
the worship of light as the Creator's highest symbol re-
maining unchanged for both. Though they had drifted
farther and farther apart, the latter in the multiplying of
symbols, while the former gradually dispensed with even
those they once regarded as a part of their worship, they
still remained united in their worship of fire.
In 721 A. D. they erected their first Fire-temple on In-
dian soil at Sajan, and the sacred fire was once more kin-
dled on its altars by means of their little lamp, the flame
of which they had so religiously preserved. To the Fire-
worshipper this first temple on Indian soil seemed a
resurrection of hope, of reality, striking deep into their
fervent hearts and binding them to one another by a
subtler and diviner fire. From this time the Parsees rose
to importance in India. They greatly aided the Portu-
guese and Dutch settlers in the establishment of mills
and factories all along the coast of Guzerat. Owing to
their enterprising spirit, Surat, Cambay, and Baroda grew
into large and influential cities and attracted all the exten-
sive commerce of the East. When the island of Bombay
was ceded to the British a colony of Parsees emigrated
thither, and, having purchased a part of Malabar Hill
from the British, built there a Fire-temple and a tower of
silence, or tomb for the reception of their dead, and here
was brought the same sacred fire and rekindled once more
on the altar of their first temple in Bombay.
THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE PARSEES. 103
No country in the world has witnessed so many revo-
lutions as Persia. Nevertheless, the moral and physical
condition of the Fire-worshippers, who are still found cen-
tring about Yezd and Ispahan, has remained much the
same as when they called the country their own. They cer-
tainly are superior in moral character to the Mohammed-
ans of Persia to-day. In the garden adjoining the harem
of the present shah none are employed save Zoroastrians,
and this is because of their national character for purity.
As for the Parsee women, they are remarkable for their
chastity, an unchaste woman being unkown among them.
In Persia, however, the Parsees are subject to heavy
taxation, from which the Moslem population is entirely
free, and the distress to which the poorer Parsees are re-
duced in order to pay this tax is deplorable. Unheard-of
cruelties are practised, and many as a last resource aban-
don their homes to escape the extortions of the annual tax-
gatherer. All means of instruction are also closed to the
children of the Fire-worshippers in Persia. " The Par-
sees of Bombay, hearing of the distress of their co-relig-
ionists, have recently caused schools to be established in
various parts of Persia, where instruction is imparted gra-
tuitously to the children of the Zoroastriaus."
When we remember that the Parsees of Bombay are
the descendants of a small colony of ancient Fire-worship-
pers who emigrated from Persia more than a thousand
years ago under circumstances the most overwhelming, it
is a matter of wonder that this people should have risen
with the progress of British power in India to wealth,
honor, and dignity in every condition of life. More than
once, even after they had established themselves in Guze-
rat, they were all but decimated by the sword of the con-
quering Moslem. But up again they rose each time, cre-
ating anew the old life, starting afresh on the same old
104 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
basis, nothing discouraged, remembering with deeper
appreciation the old promise of their earliest priest and
founder, " that to persevering mortals the blessed immor-
tals are swift/'
It is impossible not to be struck with the life and his-
tory of this people a history of endless defeat and perse-
cution, a life of the closest unity and steadfastness. And
this oneness of purpose, by which they have distinguished
themselves for so many centuries, has a still closer relation
to their moral and religious character. Whatever may be
the errors and defects of the religion of the Fire-worship-
per, the comprehensiveness and unity of his national cha-
racter demand our respect and admiration.
CHAPTER VI.
Domestic Life of the Fire-worshippers. The Zend-Avesta. Parsee
Bites and Ceremonies at Birth, Marriage, Death, and Final Con-
signment to the Tower of Silence.
BEFORE we cross the private threshold with a view to
take a peep at the domestic life of the Parsees it may be
well to state that " Avesta," in one of its deepest significa-
tions, is said to be the symbol of womanly fervor and
purity. Among the early Zoroastrians it was consecrated
in the fire that burned on the hearth, which typified the
inviolability of the family, through which the sacredness
attached to Asha * as the centre and preserver of the order
* " It cannot be denied," says Max Miiller in his Origin and Growth
of Religion, " that in the Avesta, as in the Veda, Asha may often be trans-
lated by purity, and that it is most frequently used in reference to the
proper performance of the sacrifices. Here the Asha consists in what
is called 'good thoughts, good words, good deeds good meaning cere-
monially good or correct, without a false pronunciation, without a
mistake in -the sacrifice. But there are passages which show that
Zoroaster also recognized the existence of a kosmos or rita. He also
tells how the mornings go, and the noons, and the nights, and how
they follow that which has been traced for them ; he too admires the
perfect friendship between the sun and the moon and the harmonies of
living nature, the miracles of every birth, and how at the right time
there is food for the mother to give her child.
" As in the Veda, so in the Avesta, the universe follows the Asha, the
worlds are the creation of Asha. The faithful while on earth pray for
the maintenance of Asha, while after death they will join Ormuzd in
the highest heaven, the abode of Asha. The pious worshipper pro-
tects the Asha ; the world grows and prospers by Asha. The highest
law of the world is Asha, and the highest ideal of the believer is to
become Ashavan, possessed of Asha i. e. righteousness."
105
106 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
of the universe is reflected upon and consecrated in the
mother as the immediate centre of the home, " the trans-
mitter of human life," and the preserver of family bonds.
The ancient Fire-worshippers are commanded in their
religious books to watch over the wpman_jin the home.
It is a religious obligation. In the first male child centre
the past, present, and future glory of the father. Chil-
dren have always been the desire, " the crown of glory/'
to an Oriental. Thus the mother became in the Zend-
Avesta the " holy mystic one," through whom man him-
self was born again as a son. She was the goddess of
abundance, the irradiator of his hearth and home.
While the procreative and nutritive offices of woman
called forth deep religious enthusiasm and veneration, the
peculiar physical difference which these entailed on her
appealed to a dawning sense of chivalric generosity ; and
it was a tender regard for her physical liabilities that first
led to the institution of distinct rules for her life at times
and seasons when she was most likely to be overworked,
oppressed, or unduly taxed; and these rules time has
rendered fixed and absolute as the Medo-Persic laws.
But all through this rigidness of custom are seen not only
a tenderness for the weakness of woman, but a high ap-
preciation of her ideality and beauty.
"A wife cannot be set aside, save for the crime of
adultery alone. She may be superseded because of bar-
renness, but not a beloved and virtuous wife. It is better
to be childless here and hereafter than to wound or grieve
her for a moment. And in any case let her not be set
aside but by her own consent and free will." In all such
cases she must be supported and cared for tenderly until
death. It was an unpardonable offence against God to
leave a wife destitute and without support. Unmarried
daughters a very rare occurrence among the Parsees are
PAESEE WOMAN AS WIFE AND MOTHER. 107
entitled to an equal share of the mother's estate. A wife
is not responsible for the debts of husband or son, whereas
they are held strictly responsible for hers, and the son is
enjoined, as the highest duty to the gods, to support his
mother after the death of her husband. In a husband
habitual vices such as profligacy, intemperance, cruelty
insanity, and impotence, were held sufficient excuse for
aversion. She was neither to be punished nor deprived
of her property in any such case.
A father is strictly forbidden to sell his daughter i. e.
to take money in any shape whatever when giving her in
marriage, but is enjoined, on the contrary, to furnish her
with a handsome dowry.
The Parsee woman is as independent in her home and
marriage relations as the European, although the universal
seclusion of high-born Hindoo and Mohammedan women
has not been without its influence on her domestic life.
The first use of the veil among the Persian women was as
a symbol of dignity and honor rather than of concealment
from motives of modesty. In the early days of the Zo-
roastrians woman was held not so much as an equal, but
as something superior in the home. In social rights and
home-duties the husband and wife shared alike, and side
by side they ministered to the holy fires on their house-
hold hearths. In the " Prajapatya " form, which, though
V&dic, is equally binding on the Fire-worshipper, the bride
and bridegroom are distinctly enjoined to perform together
their civil and religious duties. But the poetic love and
reverence which surrounded woman in the early days of
the Aryans, and which is still unsurpassed in all their
literature, struck deeper than laws or rules, and in a burst
of generous and spiritual enthusiasm " all men were com-
manded to bow the knee in filial reverence before the
mother of a family, declaring a mother to be greater, more
108 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
blessed, than a thousand fathers." Thus we see how much
the simple fact of maternity tended to elevate woman in
the home. And the desire to foster and protect her led*
these early worshippers to typify womanly purity as ever
sacred, and as ever ready to comfort and cheer the heart
of man as is the carefully-watched fire that burned on
their altars.
But, alas ! the rules and obligations which were orig-
inally intended for her safety and happiness are now forged
into iron fetters to bind her, too often a willing slave, to
the caprice of man, and have been used, and still are urged,
against her higher advancement to the privileges of a lib-
eral education.
Nevertheless, there are among the Parsees even to-day a
few old-fashioned observances which might be introduced
with great advantage to the wife and mother among the
laboring and even richer classes of European nations.
For instance, even in the poorest families there are cer-
tain dayj^ when the woman is considered unfit to cook,
wash, bake, sweep the floor, or light the house-lamp. So
strenuous are the laws against her working at these times
that among certain persons her touch is held to pollute
the thing or person that comes into close contact with her.
She is forbidden to perform even the lighter offices which
may fall to her share in the house. She separates herself
from the family on such occasions. If she is too poor to
keep a servant, her husband is enjoined to do her part of
the housework in addition to his own outdoor labor, what-
ever that may be. The same rules apply to all female
servants.
During pregnancy woman is held sacred among both
Persians and Hindoos. Their laws are fixed and absolute
on all points relating to maternity, whereas in European
countries women are often treated with less kindness and
PABSEE LAWS REGARDING CHILDBIRTH. 109
consideration than the household and domestic animals.
Disregarded by man, she is too apt to neglect and over-
work herself at such times. But in the Parsee code of
laws maternity and childbirth are protected by deep re-
ligious obligations. "All harsh words, anger, sorrow,
anything that will occasion pain of mind and body, are to
be kept away fr^m the woman with child." " She is for-
bidden all strong drink, all unhealthy intercourse with
neighbors and friends ; she cannot travel from home or
from place to place, or look upon unsightly objects, or
listen to any but pleasant and familiar sounds." In fact,
woman at such times is to be guarded with an especial re-
ligious care, " as the household priestess or divinity, who
is on the eve of unveiling the future greatness and glory
of the family by the gift of a male child."
Another and a very old superstition among the early Ar-
yans and Parsees, if we may call these tender observances
by such a name, is that the living, thinking, intelligent
soul (which is held to be distinct from the life) of the
child takes up its habitation in the heart and pulse of the
unborn babe forty-nine days, or seven times seven sunrises
and sunsets, before its advent into the world. This curi-
ous belief makes them regard the mother at such times as
overshadowed by the presence of a divine being. Hence,
before the " holy breath " has animated the unborn babe
the mother is conveyed with religious care to the ground-
floor of the house. There are both spiritual and physical
reasons for this step : that she may not be disturbed by
the ordinary household cares and jars; that the child
should enter into the world on the solid breast of the great
mother of all, the earth ; and that she may not undergo
the fatigue of climbing stairs, which Oriental women very
much dislike. Here she remains fifty days, and some-
times even more, before, and forty days after, the birth of
110 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
her child, tenderly cared for by every member of the
family, for to neglect her at such a time is to forfeit the
blessings of the seven high angels who are about the
throne of Ahura-Mazda.
In the centre of her chamber there is an enclosed spot,
sometimes provided with a cot, and all around it is a low
wall or a light fence to guard off all irreverent approach.
At the time of delivery her women place her in this sacred
spot, and here, in the heart and centre of the Fire-wor-
shipper's home, the newborn child is ushered into the
world.
Among the Hindoos, and even among the more unedu-
cated of the Parsees, these observances have lost their
original signification, and have dwindled down not only
to a mere ritual ceremony, but are corrupted into a gross
superstition. The poor mother is now looked upon as being
impure,* and her seclusion from the rest of the family
necessary to preserve the entire household from the much-
dreaded pollution of childbirth; therefore none of the
members of the household will approach or touch the
mother not from a fear of harming her, but rather of
pollution to themselves until forty days after her con-
finement and after she has undergone a series of purifica-
tions and performed a great many sacramental rites.
The whole course of the future life is carefully traced
out for every child that is born unto the world. First of
* It is now very difficult to ascertain at what period the " dual prin-
ciple " of good and evil formulated by Zoroaster was first applied to the
sexes. It is clear, however, that in course of time the masculine energy
came to be regarded as good and holy, and the feminine as evil and un-
holy ; and there is no doubt that from that time the original idea of the
mother as the household priestess or divinity underwent a slow but radi-
cal change ; and at length the fall of woman from the lofty place assigned
to her in the early Vedic and Zoroastrian religions became an accom-
plished fact.
THE INFANT'S HOROSCOPE DETERMINED. Ill
all, at the moment of birth it is the duty of the nurse and
midwife to carefully observe the time, the hour, the signs,
and marks, and any and every unusual occurrence which
may happen at the moment of delivery, particularly the
aspect of the heavens at the time of day ; if at night, the
appearance of the moon and stars, and all such phenom.
ena. All these and the exact moment of the infant's birth
are noted down. The newborn child is also carefully ex-
amined as to its physical conditions, and these also are*
commented upon and set down for the use of the astrol-
oger. The mother too has especial attention bestowed
upon her ; incense is kept burning at her bedside ; she is
fumigated twice a day by means of a censer in which
odoriferous gums are burnt; tapers are lit and sent as
offerings to the Fire-temples, with wine, fruit, flowers,
sweet oils, and frankincense and myrrh.
On the seventh day after the birth of the child an
astrologer and priest are invited to determine the horo-
scope of the newborn infant. The former, having ascer-
tained the moment of birth and all other notable things
with regard to mother and child, begins by drawing on a
wooden board a set of hieroglyphics in chalk as curious
as they are complicated, and his dexterity in counting and
recounting the stars under whose influence the child is
supposed to be born is marvellous; after which all the
assembled relatives press forward, especially the father,
eager and trembling to hear the astrologer predict in a
solemn voice the future life and prospects of the newborn
babe.
According to these curious speculations, if the child is
born at the point of Cancer he will be a great man ; if at
the point of Capricorn, he w r ill be a great priest and re-
former. Under the influence of the planet Saturn he will
be distinguished for intelligence (though some priests hold
112 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
the influence of Saturn to be dark and sinister over hu-
man life); if under Jupiter, for power and physical
strength. If he happens to be born at the moment of the
arrival of the sun at the summer solstice, the child is
looked upon as the favorite of Heaven, and every good
fbrtune is predicted as the result. Should the planet Mars
preside at the time of birth, they foretell great trouble
and sorrow ; if Mercury, poverty and early death ; under
Venus, contentment and peace; and under the moon, a
numerous progeny. The astrologer then enumerates the
names which are the most appropriate for the child to
bear, so as to mark his or her astral relations ; the parents
make a choice of one of them. The Fire-priest then
takes the babe and places it on his knees, waves a lamp
lighted from the sacred fire over it, calls aloud its name,
and implores Ahura-Mazda to fulfil all the good and avert
all the evil predicted by the stars of heaven at the hour
of its birth.
After the expiration of the forty days, and having un-
dergone seven purifications by fire and smoke and various
incense fumigations, the mother returns to the family cir-
cle as before, but is exempted from much arduous work
while nursing her infant.
I was fortunate enough to be present one evening at the
house of Shet Dorabjee, a Parsee merchant of Bombay,
when one of their most beautiful services was held. It
was the simple act of lighting their evening lamp, which
in every Parsee household is one of the most sacred
duties. This lamp is poetically called "the dispeller of
darkness." It is always lighted in the evening, but goes
out at dawn. Besides this, an earthen and ever-burning
lamp is preserved in almost all Parsee homes.
On the occasion when I happened to be present at the
house of Shet Dorabjee the front door was gently closed
CONSECRATION INTO ZOEOASTEIANISM. 113
at twilight. The family, of whom there were no less,
than forty-five persons, assembled around this "hearth-
lamp." My charming hostess and friend, the lady Shet
Dorabjee, repaired to the secret chamber, kindled her
torch at the perpetual fire, mingled its flame with her
breath by lightly blowing on it, returned, and lighted the
hearth-lamp. Then the family all stood up father,
mother, sisters, brothers, children, and grandchildren no
stranger being allowed to join the circle. I stood aside
and quietly watched the scene. With their arms crossed
upon their breasts while the mother was lighting the
evening lamp, they repeated this prayer (of which I eb-
tained the translation): "O Ahura-Mazda, thou who
dwellest where the sun never shines, where the lightnings
flash not, from that world, thy secret hiding-place, kindle
our hearts to worship the pure Lord of Purity ;" to which
the whole family responded, " So be it, O Divine Illumi-
nator."
Consecration into the Zoroastrian religion takes place
in the seventh year of a child's life. First comes the
strange purification by washing the child's body and face
with the urine of the cow. This curious and disgusting
custom is said to be handed down from the most ancient
times, when this liquid was regarded as a very effective
remedy against any disorder of the bodily organs. This
done, a prayer is repeated, and the body is bathed again
in pure water. There is a second and a third process,
each called purification ; the second consists of standing
face to face with the fire, and praying to the Light with-
out beginning or end ; the third in repeating, with arms
crossed, the Zoroastrian creed and acknowledging the
truth of the Zoroastrian religion.
The child is then seated before the high priest, who
puts on him a linen garment of nine seams and a woollen
8
114 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
girdle of seventy-two threads. These are the exact num-
ber of the sacred books of the Fire-worshippers. These
two are called the " garments of the pure and faithful,"
and the whole ceremony is concluded with a benediction
of fire and prayer, the former being waved round and
round over the child, and the latter being chanted.
The last and peculiar initiation takes place when the
youth^haJ'attained his fourteenth year. He stands clad
in pure white among the priests and his assembled rela-
tives and friends in the Fire-temple. Here he repeats
his vows; the priests warn him of certain temptations
that will beset his youth and manhood, and the shame
and suffering that will follow him through life if he
should prove unfaithful to the higher instincts of his
nature. They then invite him to drink the " homa " or
"soma" juice, and to join them in practising purity in
thought, word, and deed.
The^onia/' or moon-plant, is a round smooth twin-
ing plant peculiar to the Aravalli Hills ; it is also found
in the deserts north of Delhi and in the mountain-passes
of the Bolan, and it is imported into Bombay. It possesses
not only medicinal, but, when allowed to ferment, slightly
intoxicating, properties. It is the privilege of the Fire-
priests and the most devout of the congregation to par-
take once a month, at the time of the new moon, of this
intoxicating juice. Those who are about to partake of it
generally abstain from food from sunrise till noon, which
is the hour for celebrating this ceremony.
A day or two before the appearance of the new moon
the stalks of this plant are bruised with the tender shoots
of the acacia and with pomegranates, extracting thereby
an acrid greenish juice. This is put in a strainer of goat's
hair, after which it must be pressed through by the priest's
fingers ; this juice, mixed with barley and clarified butter,
THE WORSHIP OF THE SUN. 115
is allowed to ferment, when it forms the "soma wine."
On the first morning after the new moon is seen in the
heavens the Fire-priests repair to their temple, where,
after certain prayers and chants, the soma-juice is drawn
off in a vessel ; a portion is thrown into a sacred well as
a libation to the earth, a ladleful is drank by the priests,
and the residue is handed round to the people who are
present. The priests then join hands and wait for the
stimulating properties to reach the brain, whereupon they
wheel round chanting a hymn full of mystical meaning.
Strange as it may seem to us, the exhilarating property
of this drink is supposed to shadow forth the presence of
divine life in the soul, and this life of thought and emo-
tion is often poetically called "wine" "the wine that
fills creation's cup." *
The Parsees in worshipping the sun turn their faces to
the rising luminary, and, holding before them branches
of certain trees, chant aloud. In our early-morning rides
on Malabar Hill, as the sun made his first appearance
above the horizon, the white-robed priests of Iran were
always before us, crowding the summit of the hill ; they
could be seen with their faces turned eastward, with
branches of acacia raised aloft in their hands, singing
their morning hymn to the god of day.f
We knew personally several of the Fire-priests of
Bombay. They seemed less intelligent than the ordinary
Parsees, and some of them went through their religious
duties mechanically and without any of that religious fer-
vor that I had noticed in the Brahmans ; but I have seen
others who were both intelligent and extremely devout.
* Omar Khy&m, astronomer-poet of Persia,
t The earliest mention of this practice is found in the eighth chapter
and sixteenth verse of Ezekiel, where that prophet complains that the
Jews turn their backs upon the temple to worship the sun.
116 LIFE AND TKAVEL IN INDIA.
Among the Fire-worshippers the marriage of one's chil-
dren is the first and earliest consideration. Marriage is
held a high sacred and religious obligation, and mothers
often pledge their children in marriage before they are
born, and if their children prove of the right sex their
pledge is held sacred. In most cases, however, the priests
are the go-betweens or the matchmakers. This is held as
one of the most important of the ministerial duties that
fall to the care of a Fire-priest. As soon as a Parsee
sees what he and his wife consider an eligible mate for his
son or daughter, direct negotiations are opened with the
parents by means of the Fire-priest, who calls on the par-
ties, and after some few preliminary questions with regard
to the temper and disposition of the proposed mother-in-
law on the part of the relatives of the young maiden, the
Fire-priest (who cannot proceed until he has examined
the respective horoscopes) demands the birth-paper of the
little maiden in question, who, perhaps all unconscious of
what is going on, may be frequently seen hiding behind
her mother and peering timidly at the white-robed Fire-
priest who is about to decide one of the most important
events of her future life.
Everything depends on the positions of their respective
stars. The stars once declared favorable, however, mat-
ters proceed rapidly and the betrothal takes place. This
consists of an exchange of dresses from the parents of the
young couple ; but so rigid are their rules that the accept-
ance of this simple gift is held by each of the parents as
the sign of an indissoluble bond between the children.
Even the day for the celebration of the marriage (after
the children have arrived at the respective ages of eighteen
for the boy and fifteen to sixteen for the maiden) is selected
by the Fire-priests. Indeed, there are only a few days in
the year held propitious for marriage by both the Hin-
CEREMONY OF. A PARSEE WEDDING. 117
doo and Parsee. So many marriages take place on these
favored days that to a stranger it would appear as if the
entire native population was being married off.
We were invited to the celebration of the marriage of
Munchejee Sorabjee's daughter, a very beautiful girl and
a great heiress in her own right, her late uncle having left
her a very large fortune. We arrived early, so as to wit-
ness the whole ceremony from beginning to end.
It was a lovely place near Mazagaum. The house was
approached through grand old groves ; there were rustic
seats here and there, and inviting grassy slopes whence
one could catch glimpses of the distant sea. We were
shown into a spacious hall, where we took our places,
with several other European guests, on divans arranged
along the walls.
Just before sunset the bridegroom's party arrived in
full dress of pure white, all save the turban, which was of
a dark chocolate color, ornamented with precious stones.
Each of the gentlemen attached to the bridegroom's party
had garlands of white flowers around his neck. Behind
these came a long row of Fire-priests in flowing white
linen robes, white turbans, and long white silk scarfs.
The nuptial ceremony must always be held on the
ground-floor, and after all the guests, some three or four
hundred Parsees, had taken their places round the hall,
there was heard a gentle buzz of expectation. All eyes
turned involuntarily to the great lofty door at the west-
ern extremity of the room. It opened, and for a moment
the young bride stood still, hesitating at the threshold
of the unknown future before her. Presently both bride
and bridegroom entered. I never saw a more graceful
or more beautiful creature than this young Parsee bride.
Her dress was exquisitely simple white satin trousers
fastened at the ankle, above a pale blue silk bodice cov-
118 LIFE AND TRAVEL. IN INDIA.
ered with some sort of rich white embroidery, and over it
all, wound round her whole person, half veiling her face,
was a semi-transparent flowing scarf, every curve and
twist of which was arranged with the most artistic effect.
They walked in .side by side. A murmur of delight ran
through the audience at the delicate downcast face, 'the
grace, and the beauty of the half-veiled maiden figure
before us. When the couple reached the centre of the
hall they bowed down and performed a sort of mystic
prostration to Mother Earth in the presence of the Fire-
priests. They then stood up, joined hands, and waited
for the auspicious moment. All eyes were turned upon
the youthful pair ; every one was almost breathless with
tender expectation, save the Fire-priests, who watched the
sunlight fading out of the sky. With the vanishing of
the last shimmering gleam of light the ceremony began.
Torches and lamps were kindled with fire from their tem-
ple by the Fire-priests, who approached the young couple,
and, waving round them the sacred light, sprinkled them
with consecrated water; then taking an immense "purda,"
or veil, placed it over one of their number and over the
bride and groom, who were shrouded beneath its folds for
some minutes; meanwhile other priests chanted the fol-
lowing hymn : " O man, in the name of the great Ahura-
Mazda, be ever pure and faithful, and bright in good
actions as the immortal Light. Be ever worthy of all
praise and honor in the heart of this woman, now thy
wife. May the spirits of fire, sun, and water give thee
wisdom ! May the peaceful earth, whose fragrance is ex-
cellent, whose breasts contain the heavenly drink, fill thee
with the purity of the Pure and the benevolence of the
great Yohoo mano (beneficent spirit) toward this woman
thy wife!"
Then the chant is addressed to the bride : " O woman
THE CHARGE TO THE BEIDE. 119
of mysterious body, be thou immortal like Kosru (one of
the fixed stars). Be full of understanding for thyself,
thy husband, and the fruit of thy body, as a capacious
vessel full of love, fervid as the sun by day, tender and
pure as the moon by night; heavy laden as the cow
(clouds) with moisture " (meaning heavy laden with kind-
ness, as the clouds with moisture). " Be serene, be wise,
be steady as the fixed stars. May Ahura-Mazda give you
fire for brightness and purity, the sun for exalted rule !
May the shadowless night give you the moon for increase
and the sky for life everlasting!"
The instant the chanting which was drawled out in
monotone by the assembly of the Fire-priests ceased the
great white veil was withdrawn, and the young couple
were man and wife.
The bride then, blushing scarlet and looking if possible
still more lovely than before, received the eager and hearty
congratulations of her friends and relatives, who pressed
around her and embraced her. Her mother and aunts
wept with joy and poured tender benedictions on her
young head. It was a trying ordeal for the poor girl. I
noted every shade of feeling that passed over her face.
She wore a look of constraint, every now and then blush-
ing crimson ; she bit her lips in order to keep herself from
giving way to her own conflicting emotions.
After this came the bridegroom's turn to salute and be
saluted by his own and his wife's relatives. A knot of
gay young Parsee gentlemen surrounded him with wel-
come sounds of greeting and laughter when the next im-
portant part of the ceremony began. A young Parsee lad,
magnificently dressed, appeared, bringing in a large bowl
of milk, and a charmingly dressed young maiden ad-
vanced, the younger sister of the bride, with a chook, or
vest, belonging to the newly-made wife.
120 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
That " there is only one step from the sublime to the
ridiculous " is only too true, for this rare and unique cere-
mony was absolutely concluded by the Fire-priests wash-
ing the toes of the bridegroom in the milk, and then they
rubbed his face all over with the cast-off garment of his
wife. As far as I could understand, the one was a sign
of the great future happiness in store for the husband,
and the other that he was no longer his own master, but
henceforth under petticoat government. It is but just to
add that most of the Parsee gentlemen present seemed to
have outgrown this ridiculous custom, but the ladies
smirked and giggled and seemed to enjoy it immensely.
After this came the end. The happy but confused-
looking young couple retired (dripping with rose and jes-
samine waters showered over them) to their new abode,
which in most cases is in the paternal home of the hus-
band.
The Parsees have but few festivals ; the birthday of
Zoroaster and their New Year's Day are the most import-
ant. The former is held in the month of October, and
it is a sight worth seeing. The men, women, and children,
magnificently dressed in gold-wrought silks and flashing
jewels, crowd the Fire-temples with offerings of fruit and
flowers. Long processions of priests robed in pure white
take turns in officiating, and chant after chant ascends
from the temples to the shining Ahura-Mazda, accom-
panied with invocations to the spirits of the righteous
dead, and to the seven high angels around the throne.
The beautiful half-veiled women, the lovely children, the
noble-looking fathers of families with their numberless
sons standing at their right hand, and the priests mag-
nifying and feeding the sacred flame from sunrise to sun-
set, form a sight as inspiring as it is novel.
Their Noow Rooz, or New Year's Day, is observed very
PARSEE LADY AND CHILD.
THE PARSEE WOMEN GOOD-LOOKING. 121
much as we do ours. The poor and destitute of all castes
and creeds have alms, food, and clothes distributed to
them by the rich and great, poor relations receive pres-
ents, and among friends kindly visits and gifts are ex-
changed.
The i costiune of this peculiar people is exceedingly
simple, and said to be made obligatory on them by the
rajah of Saian on their first landing on Indian soil. That
of the man consists of a long seamless muslin or silk shirt
or tunic reaching to the knees, a woollen girdle with tassels,
and a pair of silk trousers ; when going out he puts on a
sort of tunic, with a short silk vest over it ; the modern
Parsee gentlemen has also adopted shoes and stockings.
The cap or turban by which a Parsee is distinguished is
bound round a frame in the form of a little round tower,
slightly higher on the right side. The stuff of which it
is constructed is a peculiar manufacture made at Surat ex-
pressly for the Parsee turban. It is a sort of stiff paper-
muslin, figured, and generally of a dark-red or chocolate
color, bound round the frame smoothly, till it is made to
assume this one particular form of a conical tower (typical
of their earliest Fire-temple), around which emeralds and
rubies are arranged on great festal occasions.
The Parsee women that I met and visited in Bombay
were, on the whole, remarkably good-looking as girls;
before they conceal their fine curly hair they are really
beautiful, and the children among the loveliest and hap-
piest to be found in the East.
The women are fair-complexioned, with a delicate bru-
nette tinge, with large eyes and regular features, often ex-
quisitely formed, owing to their dress being freed from
anything like pressure on the body ; but they rob them-
selves of a part of their beauty by the custom of conceal-
ing their beautiful hair under white linen bands bound
122 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
around the brow. They wear very wide silk trousers,
gathered and fastened at the ankles, over this a silk tunic,
often descending in graceful folds to the feet and bound
at the waist, while a deep, wide scarf of silk or some other
light texture gracefully drapes the whole person and serves
at once the double purpose of a head-dress and a veil.
They occupy in their homes a much more honorable po-
sition than either the Hindoo or Moslem women. They
enjoy almost as much freedom as European women. I
used to meet them in the streets and bazaars, driving in
their open carriages, surrounded by their bright, happy-
looking children.
So careful are the Parsees of their national honor that
in the whole island of Bombay there exists neither pau-
pers nor prostitutes among the followers of this religion.
Polygamy is unknown among them. A wife can only be
put away for immoral conduct. She is tried by the Pun-
chayet or Parsee court, and if found guilty repudiated
amid the whole assembly ; formerly she was put to death.
The ceremonies attending the death of a Parsee are
very singular. When a person is about to die he is con-
veyed to the ground-floor, washed in consecrated water,
and his face anointed with holy oil. A lamp or lamps
lighted from the sacred fire in the temple are placed by
the dying man's bed, and priests stand before him with
folded arms crossed on their breasts, and pray for him in
a most earnest and beautiful chant. When life becomes
quite extinct the body is clothed in a new white cotton
shirt of nine seams and a sort of apron, which is thrown
over the face. This is bound by a new and sacred girdle
of seventy-two threads. The body is then placed on an
oblong stone on the floor.
But the most curious part of all is, that along with the
Fire-priests the house-dog is brought in, and after they
CEKEMONTES ON THE DEATH OF A PARSEE. 123
have offered up prayer and praise in the presence of the
assembled family, the dog is taken up to the dead body
of his friend and master and exhorted to conduct him
safely into paradise. If the dog should lick affection-
ately, as heretofore, the face, or even hands or feet, of his
dead friend, it is held as a most auspicious sign of the
dead man's ready admittance into heaven. It is but just
to add here that the more refined and intelligent Parsees
have outgrown this absurd custom and superstition ; but
the more ignorant certainly believe that every dog has an
angel spirit residing in some star, whence it issues forth to
convey the souls of the good safely into heaven.*
When the time for the removal of the body approaches,
lamps lighted from the sacred fires burn around the corpse.
The priests stand face to face with the dead, singing praises
to the immortal Light; finally, their last prayer or exhor-
tation to the dead soul is chanted. This done, the body,
covered with white garments, the hands crossed on the
breast, is laid on a long open bier. A number of priests
robed in pure white carry the bier to the dohkma or tower
of silence, and there the long procession of friends and
relatives stand in a circle praying with arms folded, heads
bowed, and lips moving silently, while the Fire-priests
place the dead body on a long slide and slip it on the iron
gratings of this strange circular tomb, to be devoured by
birds of prey.
On the third day they pray again in the Fire-temple
that the soul of the dead may ascend to heaven, for, ac-
cording to their sacred books, on the third day "he reaches
Mithra (Sun-god), rising above the mountains resplendent
in his own spotless purity ;" then he comes to the bridge
of the "Gatherer" where he is asked as to the conduct of
* The dog is also brought in to be looked at by the dying man when
at his last gasp.
124 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
>
his soul while living in the world. If he is pure, a beau-
tiful, tall, swift spirit, called Serosh, comes thither with a
dog, a nine-knotted hook, and the twigs of the "Barsom;"
these things are considered efficacious for keeping off evil
spirits and guiding him over the heavenly bridge (Chin-
vat). Here a most exquisite form meets him, lovely and
smiling, and when he questions the beautiful maiden, " Who
art thou shining so brightly on the wide shore ?" she re-
plies, " I am all thy good works, pure thoughts, and pure
words, O man." She then takes his hand, leads him smil-
ing and joyous to the archangel Yohoo mano, who rises
from his golden throne and speaks thus to the soul: "How
happy it is that you have come here to us from mortality
to immortality !" Then the soul goes joyfully to Ahura-
Mazda, and resides for ever with the immortal saints, prais-
ing the unbegotten, self-created Light.
Though the Fire- worshippers believe in the resurrection,
they do not hold that it is to be made in the same body ;
their reverence therefore follows the soul, and not the body
deserted by its spiritual tenant, while their reverence for
the earth, water, and fire is so profound that they hold
burial, cremation, or even casting the ashes into the waters,
a sacrilege against the elements. The original idea in ex-
posing the body to the weather was Brahmanic that of
absorption by the elements. The dead body was restored
to the sun, air, and sky, to be reunited and launched on
the bosom of that "vast Illimitable" whence it had sprung.
The Parsees also hold all birds sacred, as a sort of spirit-
ual agent of universal purification, through whose agency
all gross, unclean substances pass into healthy conditions.
For these reasons the towers of silence which receive the
dead spoil are open to the sky, and by means of the bird
of prey it re-enters almost immediately into the domain
of life and health and purity.
SIR JAMSETJEE JEEBOY, PAESEE KNIGHT. 125
From the universal testimony of pagan or Christian
travellers we find that the Fire-worshippers of India are
thought to be more honorable in their dealings with one
another, and even with strangers, than the generality of
Asiatics, and even than those peoples professing Christi-
anity. They rarely resort to written contracts, as their
word is the best bond. Benevolence is said to flow in
their veins, so conspicuous have they become for their love
of charity. The Rev. Mr. Avington, during his stay at
Surat so early as 1698, bore testimony to the fact that the
Parsees there were ever more ready to provide for the
comfort and support of the poor and suffering than even
the Christians ; and this reputation they bear to this day
in India. The Bombay government voted thanks so far
back as 1790 to Sorabjee Muncherjee, who during the
scarcity that prevailed at that time daily fed at his own
expense two thousand people, comprising Jews, Chris-
tians, Mohammedans, and Hindoos. Mrs. Graham, in
her journal of a residence in India, declares that she was
enraptured with the simplicity, purity, and never-ceasing
kindliness of the Parsee community ; and every one in
India is familiar w r ith the name of that very prince of
benevolence and kindliness, the venerable Parsee baronet
Sir Jamsetjee Jeeboy, knighted by the queen of England
for his unbounded charities, which are not only unsur-
passed, but without a parallel, in ancient or modern
times. He has done more in his lifetime for Western In-
dia, in feeding the poor, releasing unhappy prisoners for
debt, building causeways, founding schools and colleges
for the education of all castes and conditions of men and
women, erecting hospitals for the relief of the suffering
poor, benevolent institutions for the deformed, spacious
resting-places, or dhurrum-salas, for weary travellers in
all parts of India, stupendous aqueducts, wells, and tanks,
126 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
than any other single individual, or even the East India
Company, for the benefit of mankind. Connected with
the Grant Medical College of Bombay is the noble hos-
pital, the gift of this Parsee baronet; and only a few
years ago his family erected a hospital for incurables
near it. An ophthalmic hospital has been opened and en-
dowed by another liberal Parsee, Cowasjee Jehangheer.
The late Sir Jamsetjee commenced life in Bombay at
the early age of twelve as a street peddler, selling old
bottles, and was called "Bottle- wallah " to the day of his
death.
In the short space of two centuries of u^disturbedjnj
dustry the Parsees have placed themselves in competition
with the foremost of the Europeans in India. In liber^
ality and enterprise they rank with the merchant-princes
of England, and may be justly compared to the most
famous merchants that America has produced in the last
century, and yet no question has ever been raised as to
the commercial integrity of the Parsees. In the Indian
banks and various other stock companies the Parsees are
prime movers. They are almost the exclusive owners of
all the trading-steamers that now navigate the Indian and
China seas. They are great landholders, and many of the
finest residences in the island of Bombay are owned by
Parsees. They have shared largely in introducing rail-
ways into India. Jamsetjee Dorabjee is now considered
the foremost railroad contractor in India. The most dif-
ficult passes extending from the Thull Ghauts to the Kust-
sarah Mountains, covered with wild jungles, full of trap
hills, mountain-torrents at one season of the year, and
devoid of water at another, were laid open and made as
easy of travel by railroad as the most finished roads in
England or America. Many English officers of the en-
gineer department have declared the building of this rail-
ENORMOUS FORTUNES AMASSED IN BOMBAY. 127
road across the Thull Ghauts and Kustsarah a more ardu-
ous undertaking than that of the great Pacific Railroad
across the American continent.
Europe, during the great American War deprived sud-
denly of one of the chief products so necessary to her in-
dustries, resorted to India for cotton, and all at once the
island of Bombay became not only the great centre of
trade, but soon attracted to herself merchants and traders
in cotton from the four quarters of the globe, each and
all eagerly competing for the same prize, the monopoly of
the cotton-market. Enormous fortunes were amassed in an
incredibly short space of time, and for a brief period the
whole commerce of the great East and West seemed to
flow into the port of the small island of Bombay. Mis-
informed by the English press, and seemingly unwilling
to investigate for themselves the true nature of the almost
superhuman struggle carried on between kinsmen for the
preservation of State rights and the suppression of slavery
on the American continent, this eager crowd only foresaw
what seemed the most natural, the utter destruction of the
great republic of the United States and the magnificent
future for themselves springing from the very ashes of
this ruin. Thus assured, and blinded to every other con-
sideration, even the wise and hitherto prudent merchants
of Bombay became dazzled with the prospects in view,
and launched forth into the most gigantic enterprises and
into rash schemes for the utmost development of one and
all the various resources of the country. Everywhere this
feverish, insatiable thirst to profit by a great nation's ap-
proaching destruction displayed itself. Men and women
who had never dreamed of speculating in stocks, the rich
with his hundreds of thousands and the poor with hardly
a few rupees to his name, master and servant, were alike
seized with the distemper called by the few who looked
128 LIFE AND TKAVEL IN INDIA.
calmly on " Rupea-Dewana/' "the rupee-mad." How
changed was the once happy population ! What anxious
faces, revealing lines of thought and care, of midnight
toil, of mingled fear and hope! Still, the great drama
went on, and for a short period immense fortunes were
made in a day. But no sooner had the whole island
gained sufficient encouragement to set on foot her gigantic
schemes and rash enterprises, no sooner had she at one
final throw staked all on the ruin of the Northern States,
than came the appalling intelligence of General Lee's defeat.
A fearful revulsion followed : sudden panic seized the
busy world enclosed in the small compass of the Bombay
" Commercial Square." Like a flock of birds, the bus-
iness population took wing and vanished out of sight.
The banks were closed, flourishing houses collapsed, firms
disappeared, and an almost universal ruin stared every one
in the face. The very atmosphere was filled with the de-
spair of men who had so rashly staked all and lost all.
Painful as the lesson has been, it was a wholesome one,
not only for all classes of merchants in British India, but
for Old England herself. The merchants of Bombay are
once more in their counting-rooms and warehouses, the
banks are as firmly established as ever, with a richer ex-
perience and a more profound insight into the laws which
govern the moral as well as the business world ; they yet
bid fair to render the beautiful island of Bamba Devi the
heart and centre of all the commerce of the East, even as
she is now, owing to her remarkable sanitary conditions,
the healthiest city in India. She is the second city in the
British empire in point of numbers, having a population
of six hundred thousand, and an average to the square
mile exceeding that of London ; nevertheless, the average
death-rate for the past five years has been the same as
that of London.
CHAPTER VII.
Hindoo Treatment of the Sick. Pundit's House Defiled. Its Purifi-
cation. Short Sketch of the Different Races and of the Origin of
Castes and Creeds among the Peoples of Hindostan.
THE Hindoo treatment of the sick is quite peculiar, and
I once had an opportunity to witness some of its curious
features during the illness of my Sanskrit teacher, the
pundit Govind. I was fortunate in this, since only ex-
ceptional circumstances permit a European to pollute
with his presence the dwelling of a high-caste Brahman.
Every one knows that caste still holds the Hindoos under
an iron rule, but it is difficult for us of the Western
World to realize, without actual experience, the tenacity
with which its mandates are obeyed even in an extremity.
For several days Govind had not presented himself to
give his usual morning lesson at the " Aviary." I feared
he was ill, but did not venture to visit him, lest my very
shadow might pollute his dwelling and place him in an
unpleasant dilemma with the rest of his high-caste friends.
I began to be alarmed, however, on the third morning of
Govind's absence, and was on the point of starting off to
his house, when I observed a native woman coming toward
the "Aviary," her scarlet saree fluttering in the breeze
and making quite a pretty picture in the distance.
I hastened to the doorstep to meet the stranger. She
salaamed to me, but positively declined to enter the house.
As she did so she flung back her scarf or covering, and
from the sectarian mark on her forehead I knew that she
V 129
130 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
was a high-caste Brahmanee. She stood for a few min-
utes breathless and silent, and I do not remember ever
having seen a more delicate and sensitive-looking girl.
The saree, which was a scarlet muslin cloth of Indian
manufacture, and decorated with a handsome border, cov-
ered her person from head to foot, leaving the left arm
and shoulder bare. ' I noticed that she had sandals on her
feet and a number of bangles round her arms and ankles.
Her shining black hair was tied in a massive knot behind
and fastened by a gold pin, which also served to secure
the end of her saree as a veil and covering for her head.
Her features, form, arms, hands, and feet were of the most
exquisite type, and her complexion of a rich chocolate-
brown.
She at length lifted her dark eyes brimming with tears,
and with a slightly quivering voice said, " Beebee saihib
tora douva daoh kuda ka wasta ; Govind ka jahn jata hai "
(" Lady, for God's sake give me a little medicine ; Govind's
life is passing away ").
I inquired the nature of his complaint, but all I could
learn from the young woman was that Govind's stomach
and legs had gone away, and that his head was fast fol-
lowing his heels, which is the Oriental phraseology for
extreme prostration.
I seized a small bottle of brandy, a physician's mixture
at hand for cholera morbus, and some quinine, and started
with the Brahmanee for the home of Govind the pundit.
In less than half an hour we stood before a mean,
wretched-looking bamboo dwelling, the walls of which
were plastered with mud and covered over with an attap *
roof. It stood in the middle of a small patch of ground
neatly smeared over with cowordure. In the centre of
* A species of palm-leaf dried and stitched together, much used all
over Hindostan in roofing houses and sheds.
A BRAHMAN'S HOUSEHOLD. 131
this yard was a flourishing plant growing out of a large
earthen pot buried in the ground the Indian "mehn-
dee " * (sacred to the goddess Bhawanee), called Lawsonia
by English botanists. It was in full blossom, with small
delicate, fragrant flowers resembling the clematis.
The sky was very much overcast, portending soon a
shower or thunderstorm ; the air was hot and sultry. I
stood for a moment or two before the half-open door of
the little hut, whence proceeded a low, faint, tremulous
sound which I recognized as the voice of Govind, my
teacher, enfeebled by his illness. As I stood there hesi-
tating to enter, the pretty little Brahmanee dropped on her
knees before the door, and, having saluted the presiding
genius of the dwelling three times, advanced, creeping
softly in on her knees. At length I summoned courage
enough to walk in, but I did so in my stockings, leaving
my shoes on the doorsill. Even this was, as I afterward
learned, desecration to the Brahman's household.
On a low charpie, or native cot, standing apart within
an enclosure formed by a mud wall a few inches in height,
lay the pundit, his eyes closed, his features shrunk and
wasted. The little woman, who I divined was his wife,
had already taken her place at his feet, which she kept
rubbing in a listless way, the sad expression deepening on
her dark but beautiful face, the great tears brimming her
eyes and coursing one after another all unheeded down
her cheeks.
The dwelling consisted of two apartments. Through a
* Most of the high-caste Hindoo women cultivate this plant for the
purpose of dyeing their nails and finger-tips. The dye is prepared by
bruising the leaves and moistening them with a little lime-water.
This mixture is then applied to the nails, tips of the fingers, palms of
the hands, and sometimes even to the soles of the feet, which in a
short time become dyed of a reddish-orange color. The stain remains
on the skin until it wears off.
t
132 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
doorway to which there was no door I saw an old woman
seated by a rude fire on the floor in the adjoining room
cooking some rice in an earthen pot, and before her on the
floor were a board and a rolling-pin, with which she had
been rolling out some wheaten cakes, piled, already baked,
in a copper platter by the fire. The moment I entered
the hut she turned her shrivelled features, and, seeing a
white woman, she gave a shrill cry ; then, stretching out
her bare, bony arms, implored me in piteous tones to be-
gone. "But, lady," said I, trying to appease her, "I
cannot go away. Govind is very ill, and I have some
medicine here that may cure him."
Hearing her still entreating me to begone, Bhawanee
begged her to let me stay and give the medicine to Go-
vind ; at which the poor old woman, shuddering, retreated
to the inner apartment, resumed for a time her cries, ut-
tering them in a loud voice and in a tone at once piercing
and imperious, " You dare not come in here ! you dare not !
What reason have you for daring to give my son medi-
cine? I want you hateful In)rage (English) to know
that I would rather have him die, rather have him die,
than be polluted by your vile drinks, made of devils'
blood and pig's flesh ; I would rather have him die."
Rocking herself to and fro, she kept her strange glittering,
dark eyes fixed upon me, and repeated, lowering her voice
more and more gradually, " I would rather have him
die," till she seemed to be talking to herself. I really
thought she was delirious or perhaps out of her mind ;
but Bhawanee whispered to me, " She is very old and very
cross, and sometimes possessed of a devil."
All the noise made by the old woman did not seem to
disturb her son, who was in a deep sleep, his respiration
so heavy and labored, and his pallor so death-like, that I
almost feared he was dying. But at the end of half an
"WIFE, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" 133
hour he stirred and made a vain attempt to turn on his
side ; failing, he gave a look toward the foot of the bed,
where his sorrow-stricken wife sat still and mute. Meet-
ing his gaze, she crept to the head of the bed, and, taking
his hand tenderly in hers, sobbed out in broken accents,
"Govind duva piuh, tora duva piuh" ("Govind, drink
some medicine just a little of the medicine").
The pundit opened wide his half-closed eyes, looked
full and inquiringly into his wife's face, and then turned
them upon me. If I had been the very lowest wretch on
the face of the earth, he could not have been more startled
and horrified than he seemed at my presence. He almost
sprang up, but in another second fell back on the bed,
and, putting his hands before his face, cried feebly to his
wife, " Wife, wife, what have you done ?"
There was deep sympathy in the voice of the poor
young woman as she exclaimed, " Oh, Govind, I thought
you were dying. I did not know what else to do, and
Doorah has been gone since morning, and is not yet
returned. Oh, please take the lady's medicine. Never
mind about caste; we can do 'puja' for it, and be re-
stored ;" and the poor woman began to sob as if her heart
would break.
" What are my sufferings and death, that you should
create so much disturbance about them ?" feebly moaned
Goviud. "Let me die, oh, let me die quietly!" and
again the deadly pallor overspread his face.
"Govind," said I in a very energetic tone, "drink
this." I had already poured out a little brandy into an
earthen lota or cup, which his wife handed me, and giv-
ing it back to her said, " Put it to his lips ; he will be
better as soon as he has swallowed a little of it."
Poor Bhawanee, nervous and trembling from head to
foot, tried, and tried in vain, to persuade her husband to
134 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
take even a mouthful of the medicine. Each time that
she presented the lota to his lips he would put it aside,
and turn away his face, muttering, "Better to die than
pollute myself with what I am forbidden to touch."
The old woman, who had never taken her eyes off me,
hearing his voice, began to moan, " Oh, beloved son, die,
die, but do not touch their unholy drinks."
I did not know what to do, but, inspired by poor Bha-
wanee's entreating look, which, though she said not a
word, plainly urged me to persevere, I once more en-
deavored to get the patient to swallow a little of the
brandy. " Govind," said I, " do get over your scruples,
which are well enough in health, but absurd in your fast-
failing condition. Drink a mouthful of this ; it will help
to revive you until your doctor comes. No one need ever
know that you have tasted brandy ; I promise you to keep
it a profound secret."
" Do, oh do !" urged his wife " eke gutta piuh take
only one gulp."
" Much or little, a drop or a whole bottle, are all the
same to me," groaned the poor pundit. " You may not
speak of it, lady, and no one, no one may know it, but
how can I conceal the fact from myself?"
I felt it was useless to persuade the patient to try the
remedies I had brought with me.
At this moment we not only heard the sound of ap-
proaching feet, but a sudden clap of thunder, preceded by
a flash of lightning, almost blinded us as we sat in the
hut, and down came a deluging rain. Bhawanee rose,
and in a state of great agitation begged me to retire by
the back door ; but, casting her eyes on my stocking feet,
and apprehending that my European shoes on the thresh-
old of her dwelling had already betrayed my presence to
her friends, she begged me to keep my place, when in
HINDOO DOCTOR, PRIEST, AND SOOTHSAYER. 135
walked, all dripping, three strange-looking men, accom-
panied by Doorah, her sister, who had been despatched in
the early morning in search of a doctor, a priest, and a
soothsayer.
Bhawanee rose and bowed before them, and so did the
old woman from her place in the inner room. It was
comforting to see the poor woman's expression, which till
now had been full of despair, replaced by a look of child-
like confidence and trust, though I doubted whether the
Hindoo priest, doctor, or soothsayer could do much to-
ward helping the sick man.
The doctor, who was a tall, dark, and rather handsome
high-caste Hindoo, placed himself near the bedside of
Govind and proceeded to feel his skin, pulse, and chest
and to examine the condition of his tongue, eyes, and nails.
Meanwhile, the Brahman priest requested a pitcher of
water and an empty bowl. Furnished with these by
Doorah, Bhawanee ? s sister, he sat himself down in the
middle of the room and began to transfer the water from
the empty bowl, drop by drop, repeating over
the "Gayatree," the holiest text of the Vdas,
the most sacred and effacious prayer of the Brahmans, and
thought \>y them to be absolutely necessary to salvation,
while the soothsayer sat apart waiting his turn to perform
certain magical enchantments for the benefit of the poor
sick man. The latter opened his eyes once more and looked
at his Guru,* or priest, and said solemnly, " I am dying."
* A "Gum" is a spiritual guide, a Brahman ecclesiastic, invested
with the power of attending births, deathbeds, marriages, and settling
all such questions as effect Hindoo caste and all its duties and obliga-
tions. A Guru is generally an ascetic of peculiar sanctity, and is often
worshipped as an incarnate deity. This office descends from father to
son. The Gurus comprise a very large and influential body of men,
occupying the chief cities of India, wielding a despotic power over the
people, as their curse is dreaded by all ranks and conditions of people.
136 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
" Dying ? you are not dying/' said the doctor. " I will
soon make you well," whereupon he opened a bag and
drew out of it some pieces of iron, which he placed on a
charcoal fire. While these were being heated he took out
various roots and dried herbs and began to rub them on a
small stone, occasionally moistening the stone with a little
water. Having compounded several queer, dark -looking
doses, he, to my utter astonishment, deliberately began
pinching, thumping, and slapping poor Govind now on
his back, anon on the soles of his feet. His sides, palms,
shoulders, elbows, knee-joints were all slapped and beaten.
This done, he branded with the hot pieces of iron the poor
patient on the pit of his stomach, the inside of his arms,
and the calves of his legs ; then administered his queer-
looking doses, which the unhappy-looking Govind swal-
lowed without a sign of remonstrance ; and, finally cover-
ing him from head to foot with a thick quilt, the Hindoo
physician beckoned to the soothsayer to complete the
cure.
The soothsayer robed himself in a dress covered with
strange designs of men exorcising fiends, put on a cap to
which was attached two or three long cords, at the end of
which hung little brooms made of kusah-grass (a grass
sacred to the Hindoo gods). He then took up the pan of
burning coals and scattered them over the quilt which
covered the patient ; these he brushed off as rapidly as
possible with the sacred brooms hanging from his cap.
This was to dispossess the sick man of some extraordinary
but invisible devil, which he then drove out at the door,
running after the spirit and howling terrific invectives on it
for having dared to enter the " divine precincts occupied
by the liver of a Brahman." All this while the Guru, or
priest, prayed, chanting in a monotonous tone, over each
drop of water that passed from the pitcher to the bowl,
THE PURIFICATION CEREMONY. 137
and each of which was supposed to carry off with it the
cholera of the sick man.
Strange to say, violent and absurd as were the remedies
administered to poor Govind, he not only bore them pa-
tiently, but seemed better ; a profuse perspiration having
broken out upon him, it was looked upon as a most hope-
ful sign and an especial interposition of Brahm.
In another hour the rain ceased ; Govind had fallen into
a peaceful sleep; Bhawanee's face was irradiated with
smiles ; the old woman was setting out their mid-day re-
past on a mat in the adjoining apartment. I returned
home, promising to call and see Bhawanee on the follow-
ing day. The next day, when I started off, I fully ex-
pected to hear that Goviud had passed away ; but when I
reached the outer gate of the yard enclosing Govind's
dwelling I found the pundit, although looking weak and
feeble enough, seated on a small stone holding in his left
"hand three blades of kusah-grass. The old woman, who
was in the act of tying up the lock of sacred hair on his
head in some mystical form, shouted to me to keep off.
I stood at a distance and looked on. He was evidently
undergoing the purification ceremony. Bhawanee, who
smiled sweetly at me, was holding before her husband a
bowl of water, which he first sipped, then flung a little of
it toward the horizon, and washed his hands, ears, breast,
eyes, nose, shoulders, and feet, repeating over each mem-
ber a prayer. His wife then brought him a stick of lighted
wood from the household fire ; he breathed over it, repeat-
ing the mystic word " Aum," " O divine Spirit, resplend-
ent Fire, purify me from all uncleanliness." He then
placed the sacred grass on his right ear (Gtinga, the sacred
river, is supposed to have its source in the right ear of
Brahm, the sacrificial fire (or life) in Brahm's nostrils, so
that when the pundit touched these members of his per-
138 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
son with fire and water all the impurity entailed by my
visit to his house on the previous day passed away).
Finally he took some sacred mud out of a pot which was
handed to him by his wife, and made the holy mark, the
circle and the cross of his caste and race, on his brow.
Meanwhile, Doorah, the sister, had been purifying the
hut. First it was sprinkled all over with holy water,
smeared with cow-ordure, and lastly fumigated with cer-
tain gums a very sensible proceeding in a hot, moist cli-
mate like that of Bombay.
And at length the poor pundit, restored to his normal
condition of holiness, was once more assisted into his bed
by his tender and loving wife. I smiled at them from a
distance, and went my way regretting more keenly than
ever we were so separated from one another that the sim-
plest act of kind interest on my part should entail on the
whole household a series of purificatory rites to last for
seven days.
As long as there exist in social life certain laws, man-
ners, and customs by which the civilized man is distin-
guished from the savage, the gentleman from the cow-
herd, the high-born dame from her lowly maid, so long
will caste, which is nothing more or less than social
grades, complicate the lives and destinies not only of the
races of the East, but of the West. The three great prob-
lems which yet remain to be solved by the British in India
are to do away with the degradation of man by caste, the
bondage of woman by custom, and the deterioration of
childhood through the influence of the one and the other.
Caste on Indian soil was not in its beginning an entirely
arbitrary institution ; it was at first the natural expression
of a high-bred and highly-sensitive race toward an inferior
and savage population among which they had settled. It
took centuries before caste was established on Indian soil,
THE RACES OF HIXDOSTAN. 139
and nearly a thousand years before it became incorporated
in the sacred books of the Brahmans in its present form.
But the moment that divine authority was claimed for it,
that moment it became to the God-fearing races of the
East a law so subtle, so intricate, and yet so absolute, that
the most daring as well as the most abject could not hope
to escape its iron rule.
From the remotest times there has been a ceaseless
march of tribes and races into the vast peninsula called
Hindostan, from which there is no easy outlet, east or
west, north or south ; all points are equally difficult and
impassable mountain-barriers on the north, with ranges
of mountains and circling seas on every other side. Never-
theless, pouring across the Indus and straggling down the
narrow defiles and passes of the Himalayas, came wave
after wave of immigration, pushing the earlier populations
farther and farther into the hills and forest-boundaries of
the occupied land. Each wave, borne down by the later
arrival, disappeared or retreated deeper and deeper into
the heart of the country till the whole of India was over-
flooded by the great Aryan invasion.
In no part of the world are there found so many re-
mains of distinct tribes and races of men as in Hindostan
proper. Everywhere in the forests, in the most inaccess-
ible mountain-regions of the peninsula, and all along the
sea-coast, are tribes and races who seem to have been
hemmed in where we now find them. The vast plains
of the regions of the Indus and the Ganges afforded no
place of refuge to the retreating barbarians. Hence, with
the exception of some few who were absorbed into the
population of Lower Bengal, the Aryans drove all before
them, even the Tamuls, a partly-civilized people, who,
having swept the earlier inhabitants southward, were in
their turn forced south.
140 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
From the latitude of the Vindhyan chain down to
Cape Comorin, and in the forests of Ceylon, the aborig-
inal populations of India are still to be met with, living
in detached communities, distinct in physical appearance,
manners, customs, and religions, not only from the Hin-
doos, Tamuls, Moslems, and Parsees, but from one another.
Nothing annoyed our pundit so much as when he heard
me call my bhistee, or water-man, " a Hindoo :" " Hin-
doo nay, maim sahib, whoo jungly-wallah hai " (" Not Hin-
doo-man, but a savage of the forest "). And, to tell the
truth, one could not fail to notice between the Hindoo
pundit and the coolie-bhistee as marked a difference as
one sees between a high-bred American gentleman of the
Anglo-Saxon race and the newly-emancipated American
negro.
In crossing the Indus one comes upon the relics of
ancient races in the dark-complexioned, diminutive, but
powerfully athletic natives of Guzerat, many of whom are
now the coolies or porters of Bombay. Again, scattered
over the Vindhyan and Satpurah mountains and the
banks of the Nerbudda and Tapti are other tribes of a
very peculiar race called Bheels or Bhils, probably from
the Sanskrit word " bhil," which signifies " separate " or
"outcasts." The legends of these tribes, one and all,
trace their origin to the union of the god Mahadtto
with a beautiful woman met by him in a forest. From
this union sprang a sort of giant distinguished by his
ugliness and vice, who, after having perpetrated a series
of horrible crimes, killed the sacred Brahmanic bull of
the god, and was banished to the wilderness of Jodhpoor.
The history of the Rajpoot princes of Jodhpoor and Odh-
poor corroborates this account of the Bhil emigration.
The Bhats,* or minstrels, of the Bhils still reside in Raj-
* The Bhats and Charans, the bards and genealogists of these tribes,
ft&gs&i*^
o
<
>
-3
W
o
fe
-
THE CELEBRATED NADIR SINGH. 141
pootana, and make yearly visits to the countries of the
various Bhil tribes to celebrate festal seasons with music
and song. The celebrated Ndir Singh, a Bhilahah (that
is, one sprung from the marriage of a Rajpoot with a
Bhil woman), was one of the most formidable freebooters
of his time until the establishment of an English settle-
ment at Mhau,* when he was compelled to discharge his
foreign adherents and renounce plundering, f
The Bhils are short in stature, thick-set, almost black,
with wiry hair and beard, but extraordinarily active and
capable of enduring great fatigue, delighting in flesh of
all kinds and intoxicating drinks, with which no Brahman
will ever pollute his sacred lips. The chiefs of the Bhils
are called Bhomiyahs, and are generally of the Bhilalah
or mixed race. They exercise the most absolute power
over their subjects ; each chief is styled a " dhani," or lord,
and the most atrocious crimes are often committed at his
bidding. In order to limit this absolute power, however,
are remarkable for their power of reciting from memory whole epics
describing the birth, exploits, and death of the various Bhil chiefs.
They will also devote themselves to death or to receive the most cruel
mutilations in order to keep a promise, accomplish a vow, recover a
debt, or to obtain any end which might be secured by inspiring others
with superstitious reverence and dread. A Bhat of Viramghaw in
1806 put his little daughter, a beautiful girl of seven years old, to
death by decapitation, and with her blood, which he carried in an
earthen vessel, he sprinkled the gate of the Malliah Rajah's castle,
and thus compelled him to pay a debt to the Gaikwar for which he
had become security.
* The British established in 1825 a Bhil agency in Central India,
and organized a Bhil corps in order to utilize the warlike instincts of
the various Bhil tribes. This brave body of men, who have dis-
tinguished themselves in war, have recently done good service in aid-
ing to put down the predatory habits of their countrymen. They are
slowly becoming cultivators of the soil, though still unwilling to rent
land and thus bind themselves to fixed habits for any length of time.
f A remarkable account of a residence with Nddir, and of some of
his murderous exploits, will be found in the Autobiography of Luifullah.
142 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
there are certain religious officers called " tarwis," or heads
of tribes, whose counsel must be attended to by the chiefs.
The worship of the Bhils is paid to Mahadeo, the high
god, and Devi his consort, the goddess of small-pox.
A great number of infernal deities are also propitiated
by yearly offerings and pilgrimages to their respective
shrines.
While the Bhil men are brutal, cruel, and drunken, it
is a remarkable fact that the Bhil women are chaste,
gentle, and almost always very good-looking.*
Driven southward by the conquering Rajpoots, num-
bers of the Bhils adopted the savage life of freebooters
and robbers, which they still retain, and the more wealthy
settled in Guzerat and Candeish, where most richly-orna-
mented temples and rock-shrines are to be found to-day,
and such as remained with the Rajpoots became hardy
cultivators of the soil or the bravest of watchmen when
employed as guards.
In character they are sensitive on points of honor
among themselves, but desperate foes, revenging them-
selves, sometimes years after, for any grievance perpe-
trated against one of their tribe. I rgmember an incident
related to me by my mother which is characteristic of the
Bhil freebooters and robbers. My stepfather was ap-
pointed to survey the public road newly opened from
Cambay to the confines of the great and then almost un-
known province of Guzerat. She had decided to accom-
pany him on his long and hazardous journey. Having
acquired a fair knowledge of the Guzerati language, she
proved, as he had hoped, an invaluable aid in settling dis-
putes about payments of money for work done, and in
* The great reforms which have been effected in many of these
tribes have been very materially assisted by the influence of the Bhil
women.
A GANG OF BHIL EOBBERS. 143
directing and instructing such of the Bhils, Khands, and
other tribes as were employed on the roads. Furnished
with a sepoy guard and a large amount of government
money to defray the expenses of the road repairs, they
travelled for some time unmolested through the strange
country. On one occasion, however, they had pitched
their tents in the village of Balmere, and had retired for
the night. My stepfather, fatigued with a hard day's ride
over the roads, slept soundly. The guards patrolled the
little encampment, which consisted of three tents, two for
the servants and sepoys on duty, and the other, a double-
poled tent, consisting of two rooms with a double wall of
canvas around it, for the family. The tumbril which
conveyed the government money from place to place stood
in the corner of the room, near the cot on which my
mother slept. My stepfather occupied the adjoining room.
A small lamp stood burning on the tumbril, and the key
had been carelessly left in the treasure-box.
About midnight my mother was suddenly aroused by a
slight shuffling noise. She raised her head, and, looking
toward the spot whence the sound proceeded, was horrified
at seeing the shadows of the nude figures of several men
passing between the outer and inner walls of the tent.
Presently a gang of Bhil robbers opened the tent-door and
stood before her, confronting her, armed with bows and
poisoned arrows. There were six men in all, with nothing
on their persons but langoutis * of straw round their loins,
and their bodies highly greased, so as to slip away from
the grasp of any person who attempted to seize and hold
them.
Divining that their object was to rob the tumbril, the
brave lady, without uttering a single cry, sprang to her
* A strip of cloth worn by the lower population of India around the
loins.
144 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
feet, standing erect and seemingly fearless, and gazed
defiantly at them. For a moment or two the foremost
robbers seemed to hesitate. Then the one of the gang
nearest her addressed her in Guzerati, and said, " Woman,
we do not desire to hurt you ; we only mean to possess
ourselves of what we need, the money in that cart there ;"
saying which, he attempted to advance toward the tum-
bril. To scream for help would imperil her own and
her husband's life, for these freebooters would at once use
their poisoned arrows ; but to permit them quietly to rob
the government treasury would be almost as fatal, entail-
ing on them endless delay, trouble, and perhaps even
unjust suspicion at head-quarters. The intrepid wife
suddenly remembered that the Bhils had a superstitious
reverence for the person of woman, and before they had
time to reach the tumbril she flung herself on her face
and hands across their path, and said solemnly in Guze-
rati, "Only by stepping over a woman's body can you
obtain possession of what is entrusted to the care of her
husband." There she lay, not daring to utter another
word, trembling from head to foot, and anticipating mo-
mentary death from their cruel arrows.
Minute after minute passed away, but she still did not
dare to open her eyes or even turn her head toward them.
After lying there for nearly half an hour, which seemed
almost an eternity of agonizing suspense, and unable to
endure it any longer, she ventured timidly to glance in
the direction of the robbers, and, lo ! their places were
empty; the tent-door was closed. The Bhil freebooters,
hearing this strange being address them in their own
language, hurling at them one of their most formidable
threats, had vanished as softly as they had entered the
tent, vanquished by the presence of mind shown by a
delicate woman.
BHIL ROBBERS ATTACK A CLERGYMAN. 145
On another occasion the military chaplain at Desa, a
British station in Guzerat, was on his way to seek change
of air at Mount Aboo. At dusk one evening he found
himself surrounded by a gang of Bhil robbers ; his trav-
elling-wagon was stopped, his driver took to his heels and
fled ; his servants too had gone on ahead. Not knowing
what to do, he addressed them in Guzerati, and said, " I
am not a rich man ; I am a poor servant of God, a Chris-
tian priest in search of health." Immediately the chief
of the gang gave orders that he should not be hurt.
They stripped him, however, and divided among them-
selves whatever they could find. Two of the gang, pre-
senting their short daggers to the poor clergyman, made
him march before them in his shirt for some distance.
Every time that he turned to remonstrate with the rob-
bers they pricked him slightly with their pointed daggers,
till at length he resolved to take no further notice of
them. On and on he went. A great darkness had over-
taken him ;' almost fainting from fatigue, he sank to the
ground unable to take another step, when, to his surprise,
he found that the robbers had departed, leaving him to
pursue his way through a wild jungle. He spent an
anxious night in the forest, retraced his steps to the vil-
lage, and by complaining to the headman was at once
furnished with a guard and every facility to pursue his
journey, the law here being that if robbery or murder is
perpetrated in the vicinity of a village, the headman is
obliged to make ample restitution ; and he has the power
to levy a fine on the community to indemnify himself for
all the expenses that such acts entail on him as patel, or
governor, of the village. The reverend clergyman always
maintained that his escape from death on this occasion was
owing to the fact of his being able to address the robbers
in their own tongue.
10
146 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
South of the Nerbudda, and in the very heart of the
Vindhyan chain, are the Gondsj* so called from their
habitual nudity a race of the lowest type, jet-black skin,
stunted, thick-lipped, and with small, deep-set eyes. This
race is often called by the Hindoos Angorees i. e. canni-
bals. They live in miserable huts, surrounded by swine,
poultry, buffaloes, and dogs, without any industries, lit-
erature, or priesthood, and with few ceremonials of any
kind whatever worshippers of serpents, demons, or any-
thing, in fact, that inspires them with dread, to whom
they sometimes sacrifice their children or captives taken
in war. Such religious rites as prevail among them are
conducted .by the aged and honored members of their
tribe, both male and female.
Verging on the Gondwana f are the hilly provinces of
Orissa, inhabited by the Khands, no doubt a tribe
slightly in advance in physical type and civilization of
their neighbors, the Gonds, the Thugs, and Sourahs.
They regard the earth-spirit as in rebellion against the
Supreme Deity. To the earth-spirit they direct their
prayers, and seek to propitiate her by human sacrifices.
* The Gonds are supposed to be the aborigines of the Sagar and
Nagpoor provinces, and have much in common with the Khandsor
Khands, another tribe of North Sarkar. They have dialects peculiar
to themselves, and which have no affinity whatever with the Sanskrit,
but probably are akin to that of the Dravidian stock. They kept up
their old religious custom of human sacrifice until 1835-45, when the
strong arm of the English interfered and has almost put a stop to it.
f Gondwana has been thought by some Oriental scholars to be the
ancient Chedi, which was ruled by the great Sisupal, who is said to
have governed India about the time of the appearance of Krishna
(the last of the incarnations of Brahm) on earth. They identify
Chanderi, his ancient capital, with the modern Chanda, a city in Brit-
ish India in the Nagpoor division of the Central Provinces, and
abounding in fine remains of huge reservoirs for water, cave-temples,
and the curious tombs of the aboriginal Gond kings.
SACRIFICE OF THE MERIAH. 147
Their victims are called " Meriah " * by the Oriyahs, and
Kudatee by the Khands. These victims must not belong
to their tribes nor to the Brahman caste. They are pur-
chased, or more generally kidnapped, from the surround-
ing districts by persons called Panwhas, who are attached
to their villages for these and other peculiar offices. They
may be either male or female, and as consecrated persons
are treated with great kindness. To the " Meriah " youth
or maiden a portion of land is assigned, with farming
stock. He or she is also permitted to marry and bear chil-
dren, who in turn become victims. If a " Meriah " youth
form an attachment to the daughter or even wife of a
Khand, the relatives indulge him in his wishes^ regarding
it as an especial favor. These sacrifices take place annu-
ally, when the sun is in his highest point in the heavens.
The victim is selected by casting of lots. The ceremony
lasts three days, and is always attended by a large con-
course of people of both sexes. The first day of the ap-
proaching sacrifice is spent in feasting, merriment, and
prayers, which go hand in hand with wild revelry of all
kinds. On the second morning the victim who is to pro-
pitiate the earth-goddess is washed, attired in a flowing
white robe, and conducted, with music, beating of drums,
blowing of horns and rude reed instruments, to the sacred
groves preserved for these rites. Here the assembled com-
munity implore the earth-goddess Tari (called Pennu by
the Shanars and Davee by the Rajpoots, who have in
great measure been tainted by their contact with these
hill-tribes) to accept the sacrifice about to be offered, and
to bless their land with increase of corn, wine, cattle, and
so forth. After the offering up of prayer the victim,
whether male or female, stands up before the assembly,
* Meriah means " death-doomed," and Kudatee, " dedicated to the
god."
148 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
draws forth his glittering knife, and passes his hand three
times over its sharp edge. He then deliberately steps up
to the rude altar of Tari, lays down his knife upon it, and,
bowing his head, worships the insatiable earth-goddess;
then snatching up the knife, he cries, " Drink of my blood
and be appeased, O Tari," etc., etc. He waves it aloft
three times and plunges it into his side. Leaning toward
the earth, which he desires to propitiate in behalf of his
fellow-men, he slowly draws out the knife, pours his life-
blood out upon her parched and thirsty soil, and expires
at the foot of the dreaded altar raised to her name. Hon-
ored as no other creature in the land, reared for death, the
" Meriah,'^ or doomed one, exults in the performance of
this self-sacrifice with a consciousness of being a savior of
the countiy, and has never been known to evade or escape
the doom in store for him.
After this horrible sacrifice the human victim is cut
into small pieces, and each head of a Khand or Gond
family obtains a shred or infinitesimal portion of the
body, which he buries in his field to please the spirit of
the earth. This is believed to aid not a little in render-
ing the soil rich and fertile.
The ThugSj or " stranglers," are not unlike the Gonds
in physical appearance and natural characteristics. They
live by robbery and murder, and are banded together by
certain vows which they religiously follow. One sect of
Thugs are called Phansigars, or " throttlers." It is their
practice to strangle wayfarers, whence their name, and
appropriate such spoils as may fall to their lot in these
onslaughts. Efforts have been made, through the British
government, to put a stop to both these religious atrocities
of the Meriah and the Thugs, and in some parts of the
country with great success.
The Jadejas are a branch of the great Samma tribe once
A TEMPLE TO THE SUN-GOD. 149
so powerful in Sindh ; they assumed this title from a cele-
brated chief named Jada. Their arrival in Guzerat dates
from 800 A. D. The remarkable characteristic of this
tribe is their systematic murder of all their female chil-
dren. Another branch of the Jadejas settled in Kach, or
Cutch. These differ materially from their brethren in
Guzerat. They are half Musulmans and half Hindoos,
believe in the Kuran, worship Mohammedan saints, swear
by Allah, eat, drink, and smoke with the followers of the
Prophet. But, on the other hand, they do not undergo
circumcision, and adore all kinds of images of wood and
stone. In appearance they are fine, tall men, light-com-
plexioned, handsome-featured, and have singularly long
whiskers, which are often allowed to come down to the
breast. They owe their good looks to their mothers, who
are either bought or kidnapped from other tribes ; no fe-
males of their own are ever reared.
The Kalhis (another curious tribe) are evidently a north-
ern race ; they are tall, well-formed, with regular features,
aquiline nose, blue or gray eyes, and soft dark-brown hair.
The sun is their chief deity. On the Mandevan Hills,
near Thau, is a temple to the sun, said to have been
erected by the Kalhis on their first arrival in Guzerat.
In this temple there is a huge image of the Sun-god with
a halo round its head. The symbol of the sun with the
words, " Sri suryagni shakh " (" the witness of the holy
sun") is affixed to all official documents and deeds of
property.
A number of tribes may be found in the district of
Bilaspoor, which forms the upper half of the basin of
the river Maha-Nadi the Gonds, already mentioned, the
Kanwars, Bhumias, Bingwars, and Dhanwars all differ-
ing among themselves in physical characteristics, customs,
manners, and certain religious observances. Among the
150 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
Hindoos here are two tribes which deserve particular
mention the Chamars, or Chamar- wallahs, and the
Pankhas. The former take their name from their deal-
ing in " chamar," or " leather." They are the shoemaker
and leather-trading castes of the Hindoo communities, and
have always been held in great contempt by the high-class
Brahmans and Hindoos. About sixty years ago a relig-
ious movement was inaugurated by one of the Chamars
named Ghasi-Dhas. He represented himself as a mes-
senger from God sent to teach men the unity of God and
the equality of men. He was the means of liberating his
tribe from the trammels of caste ; he prohibited the wor-
ship of idols or images, and enjoined that prayers should
be offered up to the Supreme Being, whose spirit should
be ever present to their minds without any visible sign or
representation. The followers of the new faith call them-
selves "Satmanes" or the "worshippers of Satyan, the
truth." Ghasi-Dhas was their first high 'priest; he died
1850. His son succeeded him, but was assassinated by
some Hindoo fanatic, but his grandson is the present high
priest of the Chamars.
The " Pankhas," or weavers, are also deists of a very
high order ; they are the followers of a religious reformer
named Kahbir, who flourished about the fifteenth century.
There is very little difference between the Kahbir-Pank-
has and the Satmanes-Chamars in their worship and relig-
ion. The .province of Sindh derives its name from the
Sanskrit word "Sindhu," "ocean or flood," which name
the Aryans of the Vfcdie period who were settled about
the sixth century B. c. in the Panjaub and along the Indus
gave to that river. In the third " Ashtaka" and the sixth
" Adhyaya " there appears to be a distinct mention of the
Indus River in the twelfth verse, which runs as follows :
" Thou hast spread abroad upon the earth by thy power
THE PRINCIPAL TRIBES OF SINDH. 151
the swollen Sinclhu when arrested (on its course)." * The
Indus is still called Siudhu throughout its course from
Kalabagh to Atak ; it is sometimes locally termed Atak.
From Kalabagh to Bahkhar is the upper Indus, and from
Bahkhar to the sea the lower Indus. It begins to rise in
March and falls in September, but, unlike the Ganges and
the Mississippi, it does not submerge its delta or inundate
the valley through which it passes to any great extent.
Its floods are irregular and partial, pouring sometimes
for years on the right bank, and then on the left, so
that even at the height of the freshets the Persian wheel
may be seen at work watering the fields on either bank.
The principal tribes of Sindh are the Beluchis and the
Jate, or Sindhis, once Hindoos, but converted to Islam under
the Khalifs f of the house Ommayyah. The Sindhis are
taller, stronger, more robust, and muscular than the natives
of India ; they belong chiefly to the Hanifah sect of Mo-
hammedans. Their language is a strange mixture of Ara-
bic and Sanskrit words, the noun being borrowed from
the Sanskrit, and the verb from the Persian or Arabic
grammar. The Beluchis are a mountain-tribe ; they are
superior to the Jats or Siudhs, fairer, more powerfully
formed, very hardy, not deficient in courage under brave
leaders, and extremely temperate. The Beluchi women
are remarkably faithful and devoted as wives, and those
of the Mari tribe often follow their husbands to battle.
One of the peculiarities of the Hindoos of Sindh is
that they have no outcast tribes among them, like the
Parwaris, or Pariahs, Pasis, and Khandalas of Hindostan ;
* See Introduction to (he Second Book of the Riy- Veda, by H. H. Wil-
don, p. xvii.
f Khalif, or Caliph, successor or vicar of Mohammed, from Khalifah,
nn Arabic title given to the acknowledged successors of Mohammed,
who were regarded as invested with supreme dignity and power in all
matters relating to religion and civil polity.
152 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
and many of the Musulmans of Sindh are followers of
Nanak* and Govind his disciple.
Farther north, in the Afghan districts, numerous warlike
tribes are found. Afghans, properly so called, distinguish
themselves from the aboriginal populations. The chief
clans or tribes of the Afghans are the Duranis, south-west of
the Afghan plateau ; the Ghilzais, the strongest and most
warlike of the Afghans, occupying the highlands north of
Kandhar (this tribe is noted for its deep-rooted hostility
to foreigners, and especially to the British); the Yusuf-
zais, north of Peshwar ; and the Khakars, who are chiefly
the highlanders of this region. Of the non- Afghan tribes
very little is known ; those that have come under the
notice of the British officers are no doubt mostly a mixed
race, descendants of the Aryans and Turanians. The
purest of these are the Parsivans, the Kizibashes, the
Hindikis, and the Jats, all more or less closely allied to
the Persians and Hindoos in language, manners, and cus-
toms. The Eimak, the Hazaras, Tajiks, and the Khohis-
tans are semi-nomadic tribes Mohammedans; some are
of the Shiahf and others of the Sunni sect.
As a race, the Afghans are a very handsome, athletic
* A Mohammedan reformer and founder of the Sikh religion. He
preached about the fourteenth century against the abuses of the Mo-
hammedan religion, and inaugurated the spiritual worship of God
alone. One day, when Nanak lay on the ground absorbed in devotion,
with his feet toward Mecca, a Moslem priest, seeing him, cried, " Base
infidel ! how darest thou turn thy feet toward the house of Allah ? "
Nanak answered, " And thou, turn them if thou canst toward any spot
where the awful house of God is not."
f The Shiahs and Sunnis are the two most important Mohammedan
sects. The Sunnis hold the " Sunnat," or traditions of Mohammed, as
of nearly equal authority to the Kuran, and they revere equally the
four successors of the Prophet, Abu-Bahkr, Omar, Usman, and Ali.
The Shiahs, on the other hand, reject the traditions, and do not ac-
knowledge the successors of the Prophet as Khalifahs.
THE WILD TEIBE OF SHANAKS. 153
people, with fair complexion, aquiline nose, and flowing
black, brown, and sometimes even red, hair, which the
'men wear long, falling in soft curls over the shoulders.
The women are beautiful, and often of fair rosy complex-
ion, dark eyes and hair, which they wear under a skull-
cap, with two long braids falling to the waist behind,
finished off with silk tassels. Since the Mohammedan
conquest the custom of excluding women from the society
of the male members of the family has been introduced
into Afghanistan, and is now rigidly enforced.
In the very apex of India, the hilly districts of
Southern Madras, are numerous early races and tribes,
distinct and peculiar to themselves, of whom the Tudas
and Cholas are most worthy of notice. The former is as
superior in type to the latter as the Caucasian is to the
Mongolian. The Tudas are chiefly found in the Nil-
gherry Hills; they are tall, athletic, and well-formed.
Their women, though dark, are singularly pleasing when
young. The comparatively treeless character of these
hills indicates that in former times large spaces were
cleared and cultivated, though at present the Tudas seem
to prefer roaming about the hills and leading a nomadic life.
In the Dhendigal and neighboring Wynadd Hills ap-
pear other tribes, apparently the oldest of all the primi-
tive races of India, and of the lowest type of humanity.
They are called Shanars, and are clothed, if at all, with
the bark of trees, using bows and arrows, and subsisting
chiefly on roots, wild honey, and reptiles. Short in
stature and agile as monkeys, living without habitations
among trees, they penetrate the jungle with marvellous
speed, and seem only a step removed from the orang-
outang of Borneo and Sumatra. There is no doubt that
these wild people, if not indigenous to the soil, occupied at
one time a large portion of this country, and are the re-
154 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
mains of that " monkey race " whom the first Aryan in-
vaders met with, and who, with their leader Hanuman,
figure so largely in the old poems as the allies of Rama
in his conquest of Ceylon.
Among these numerous but isolated relics of aboriginal
populations there is another and superior race, divided
into several distinct nationalities, such as the Tamuls,
Telingus, and Canarese, who people the greater part of
Southern India. Nevertheless, between them and those
still later Aryans the difference, both mental and physi-
cal, is plainly seen.
There are still current in Southern India a number of
languages and dialects, which, though largely intermixed
with Sanskrit terms in consequence of Aryan conquest
and civilization, belong to distinct families of languages.
The most comprehensive of these are the Tamul, Telingu,
and Carnatic, showing the existence of separate nations at
the time of the Aryan conquest. The Tamul language
has no inconsiderable literature of its own.
The MaJirattas, whose chief seat is in the Deccan, be-
long to still another race, although there is now among
them a larger infusion of Aryan blood than is to be found
farther south in India.
In the van of Aryan imigration settling along the
plains of the Ganges from Hurdwar down to the eastern
frontier of Oude and the Eaj-Mahal Hills were the Brah-
mans, founders of the great cities Hastinapoora ("abode
of elephants "), Indraspatha, Delhi, Canouge on the Doab,
Ayodhya (Oude), Benares, and Palibothra (Patna). They
concentrated themselves in the upper part of the Ganges val-
ley, but did not attempt to pass into Lower Bengal, as may
be seen to-day by the physical and mental inferiority of the
Bengalees to the populations of Northern Hindostan.
All travellers and historians agree in stating that the
THE HINDOO VILLAGE-SYSTEM. 155
early Aryan settlers in the valley of the Ganges closely
resembled the Hellenic race in Greece in almost every
feature of their military, domestic, and social life. They
were split up into a number of small states or commu-
nities. The Kshatryas, though originating in their mili-
tary profession, and not in a single family, were not unlike
the Heraclidse, who became the royal race of the Pelo-
ponnesus. But in process of time these Kshatryas were ab-
sorbed into the Rajpoots, who are supposed to have arrived
in India about the time of Alexander's invasion of the
Panjaub. They settled where we find them to-day, in the
neighborhood of Rohilcund and Bundelcund, and shortly
after them came the Jats, another branch of the Indo-
European or Aryan family, thus completing the four great
waves of the so-named Pandya, or white-faced, immigra-
tion the Brahmans, Kshatryas, the Rajpoots, and the
Jats. It was the Brahmans who founded the celebrated
Pandhya kingdom, so called from their white skins, and
established the " Meerassee " system i. e. an aristocracy of
equality among the four conquering races. They shared
the land equally among themselves, and regarded all
others as servants or subjects.
In this primitive village-system the Brahman, or priest
and poet, the Pundit, or schoolmaster, the Vakeel, or
pleader, were as essential as food and drink to the com-
munity. Priest, teacher, and pleader by virtue of their
high functions enjoyed peculiar and unquestioned privi-
leges : land free of all tax was religiously assigned to
them, and servants to cultivate it for their use were at-
tached to the grant.
In each and every Hindoo village or town which has
retained its old form the children even to-day are able to
read, write, and cipher. But wherever the village-system
has been swept away by foreign and other influences there
156 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
the village school has also disappeared with it. A trial
by jury, called " punchayet," was also a part of the prim-
itive system of self-government instituted by the early
Brahmans : each party named two or more arbitrators,
and the judge one; the jury could not in any case be
composed of less than five persons, whence the name
"punchayet" five just ones. In difficult cases the in-
fluence of the heads and elders of the village was brought
to bear upon the contending parties, and the administra-
tion of justice was so pure in those days that the saying
" In the punchayet is God " became proverbial.
Out of these marked mental and physical differences
grew up the monstrous and extraordinary system of caste
in India. Not that caste does not exist in some degree
everywhere throughout the world. In the British Isles it
is as fixed and absolute as a Medo-Persic law, and even
among Americans a marked social inequality exists. Caste
naturally sprang up with the first mingling of the con-
quering and conquered races on Indian soil. At first the
distinctions of class and rank were no more marked than
that of an English peasant and the lord of a domain, or
that of the negro girl and her mistress in the United
States to-day. But the proud, white-skinned Brahmans,
in order to guard the purity of their own " blue blood,"
and to rivet their own ascendency, invented at length a
distinct and most binding code of laws, and then claimed
for them the divine authority of the Vedas.
Of the four great castes that we read so much about,
three only were fixed Brahmans, Kshatrvas. and the
Vaisyas. This last was the common Aryan people, and
they were not separated from their superiors by any harsh
distinctions. But the Sudras, " the threefold black men,"
among whom the Aryan population established them-
selves, all the non- Aryan races and tribes of the peninsula
TOKAHS, ou NATIVE MERCHANTS.
SUDRA RULERS AND KINGS. 157
of Hindostan, were kept off by a wide gulf and the most
galling marks of inferiority. The Sudra could not read
the Vedas nor join in their religious meetings. He could
not cook their food, or even serve in their houses ; he was
unclean, gross, sensual, irreligious, and therefore an abom-
ination to the noble white-faced Aryan.
The code of Manu, with all its " unparalleled arrogance "
toward the Sudra, was founded rather upon what a high-
bred Brahman ought to be than with any deliberate intent
to degrade the Sudra. But with its practice came that in-
evitable deterioration to the moral character of the Brah-
mans themselves, who forgot that the humblest man has a
right to the same sanctity of life and character as the
highest. The lower the Brahman sank in his spiritual
and moral nature, the more he tried to hedge himself
about with artificial claims to the reverence of the peoples
around him, until finally the code of Manu swelled into
minute details. Reaching the unborn child of Aryan
parents, it directed its nursing in the cradle, it shaped
the training of the youth, and regulated the actions of his
perfect manhood as son, husband, and father. Food, rai-
ment, exercise, religious and social duties, must be brought
into subjection to its sovereign voice, and in the course of
time it was inseparably interwoven with every domestic
usage, every personal and social habit. From the cradle
to the grave it undertakes to regulate and control every
desire, every inclination, every movement, of the inner
and outer man. Such is the code of Manu.
In spite of these laws, however, there flourished Sudra
kings and Sudra communities, influenced though not ab-
sorbed by the Aryan population. Sudra kings were invited
to the court of the great Yudishthlra* and treated with
* One of the greatest of Aryan kings mentioned in the Maha-
bharata.
158 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
marked respect and courtesy ; indeed, this word " Kiriya "
or " Kritya " (courtesy) was held to be the distinguishing
mark of a high-bred Brahman. The Sudras in their turn
soon caught the infection of caste feeling, and were not
slow in adopting the same distinctions among themselves.
From being at first a sign of superiority of race, it
gradually took form and extended to every branch and
profession. Priest, teacher, soldier, sailor, tinker, tai-
lor, robber, murderer, and beggar, was each one fixed
immovably and for ever in his place and grade, and
no earthly power could draw him into any other. Every
one piqued himself on his particular caste ; each man
confined himself sternly to his own perfect circle. There
was hope for every man who belonged to a caste, so
that even those fallen from caste bound themselves to-
gether in a brotherhood and called themselves Pariahs,
"outcasts," which in time became a large and distinct
caste. "Even in the lowest depths they found a lower
still."
So monstrous and deteriorating was this system that in
the course of time, losing sight of its original purpose, it
separated the Aryans themselves, for whose especial pres-
ervation and union it was designed, by distinctions and
restrictions almost as galling as those it had formerly im-
posed only on the Sudras.
Nevertheless, it had its noble features, and did good
work for a time. The high advancement to which the
Indo-European art, literature, painting, music, and archi-
tecture attained was due to the leadership of the Brah-
man civilization. It was an aristocracy to rule and edu-
cate the masses, which everywhere exhibited a uniform
inferiority. But even with all the help of caste and the
inflexible code of Manu to preserve them on every side,
the proud white-faced Aryans did not long escape the de-
DUNDOO PUNT'S EEVENGE. 159
teriorating influences both of the climate in which they
had settled and the debasing usages of the non- Aryan
populations around them.
The most degrading practice that sprang up in time on
Indian soil was asceticism. The amount and the terrible
nature of this self-imposed penance practised by the Hin-
doos exceed anything known in the world, and are almost
inconceivable to any ordinary European, whose first in-
stinct is self-preservation. Ablutions and commands of
personal cleanliness, which formed a part of the code of
Mauu, have increased in number, and also the penalties
attached to their violation to such a degree that now-a-days
a Brahman or Hindoo is defiled by the most trifling acci-
dent of place or touch. To eat with the left hand, to
sneeze when he is praying, to gape in the presence of the
sacrificial fire, to touch one of a low caste, are all pollu-
tions. In fact, the very shadow of an Englishman or a
Sudra falling on his cooking-pot renders it obligatory on
him to buiy his meal in the earth and to throw away his
pot if earthen ; if not, it must undergo seven purifications
before it is in a sufficiently holy condition to boil the rice
sacred to the Brahman. The simple contact with pig's fat
in the cartridges made the sepoys, who believed they were
thus lost to caste and to heaven, willing and terrible tools
in the hands of the arch-enemy of British power in the
East. Nairn Sahib, or, more properly speaking, Dundoo
Punt, who, in order to revenge a private wrong the lapse
to the East Indian Company, on the death of his uncle
and royal father by adoption, of a large territory be-
queathed to him worked upon the caste-prejudices of the
sepoys until he maddened them into committing the most
fiendish acts ever recorded in Indian history. But the
original code does not so regard the eating of pork. If a
Brahman purposely eat pork he shall be degraded, but if
160 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
he has partaken of it involuntarily or through another's
connivance, a penance and purification are sufficient for
full atonement.
Thus, injunctions originally designed as rules of pure
living and high-breeding, cleanliness, abstinence, kindli-
ness, charity, and courtesy, have been so multiplied and
distorted that it is now difficult even for the most precise
and devout Brahman to carry them all faithfully into
practice. And if Christian teachers and reformers were
seriously minded to overthrow this vast system of caste in
India, they could successfully do so by quoting the Vedas
and the code of Manu, which prescribe no such arbitrary
rules of life as now exist in India. It is our want of
knowledge, and that of most of the modern Brahmans,
which still holds them in their old fetters, rendering the ef-
forts to free them of little avail, for we know not how nor
where to begin the attack on such a strong fortress as caste
and custom are to these blind followers of law and order.
Centuries after the consolidation of the Brahman power
and system of caste there arose a strong-souled Aryan, a
prince by birth, a republican at heart, and a reformer by
nature, called Sakya Suddartha, who no sooner became of
age than he suddenly began to deny the inspiration of the
Vedas, the divine right of Brahmans to the priesthood,
and the obligations of caste. He offered equality of birth-
right and of spiritual office alike to all men and women.
Sudra, Pariah, Khandala, bond or free, were of one and
the same great family. He went about declaring all men
brothers. This was the strong point of Buddhism. The
new religion spread at once. It ravished the hearts and
kindled the imaginations of many Aryans, but chiefly the
non-Aryan nations. Everywhere it was received with
enthusiasm. Brahmanism and caste received their first
great shock, from which they have never wholly recovered.
RISE OF BUDDHISM IN INDIA. 161
Monastic orders first arose among the Buddhists, and as
caste was abolished the monasteries were open to all men,
and even to women, who were bound over to celibacy and
self-renunciation. These Buddhist priests went about
preaching their new religion to the common people, and
found ready acceptance with them. Barefooted, with
shaven heads, eyebrows, and chins, wearing a yellow dress
instead of the pure white robes of the Brahmans, they
seemed indeed lower than the lowest Pariahs. They built
lowly chapels, and had regular services in them, chanting
a prescribed liturgy, offering harmless sacrifices of incense,
lighted tapers, rice, wine, oil, and flowers, and taking the
lily instead of the Brahmanic lotos as the emblem of the
purity of their faith.
Buddhism spread with amazing rapidity, and flourished
for some time on Indian soil. During the reign of the
celebrated Indian king Asoka, three centuries more or less
before Christ, it was the dominant religion of India,
about which time it was also introduced by Buddhist
missionaries into Ceylon, China, and the Japanese Archi-
pelago. At length, the Brahmans, recovering from the
lethargy that seemed to have overtaken them, joined all
their forces, and, rising en masse everywhere against these
dissenters from the Veclas and from the old code of
Manu, drove out of Hindostan proper those whom they
could not put to death. The Buddhists finally found
refuge in Guzerat and ready acceptance among the early
primitive races ; and here the new religion reached its
highest prosperity, but began to decline in the eighth or
ninth century after Christ. At this juncture a new sect
arose under the leadership of one Jaina, or saint, a man
of great purity of character, who undertook to correct the
many errors which had crept into Buddhism. Veneration
and worship of deified men, confined by the Buddhists
11
162 LIFE AND TKAVEL, IN INDIA.
some to five and others to seven saints, were extended
by the Jains to twenty-four, of whom colossal statues in
black or white marble were set up in their temples. Ten-
derness and respect for animal life they carried to an ex-
treme point, which has led to the establishment of the
hospitals for infirm aged animals in different parts of
India. In its essence Jainism agrees with Buddhism. It
rejects the inspiration of the Vedas, has no animal sacri-
fices, pays no respect to fire. But in order to escape the
unremitting persecution of the Brahman priesthood it
admits caste, and even the worship of the chief Hindoo
gods. Thus Jainism secured that toleration on Indian
soil which was never extended to Buddhism, the very
birthplace of Buddha having been rendered a wilderness
and untenanted by man through the rage and fury of
Brahmanic persecution.
Brahmanjsm, finding itself once more in the ascend-
ency, proceeded with great tact to incorporate into its
ritual all the divinities, the rites, and the ceremonies
peculiar to the non-Aryan populations. In Southern
India Vishnoo is worshipped under the name and character
of Jaggernath (or Juggernaut), "Lord of the universe;"
but in Northern Hindostan this worship is mingled with
that of Rama and Krishna, two Aryan heroes, whom the
Brahmans with great political adroitness represent as later
incarnations of both Vishnoo and Jaggernath. The pre-
Aryan Mahrattas and Marwhars were brought to believe
their supreme deities, Cando-ba, and Virabudra, as incar-
nations of Siva, and so on, until at length every god, hero,
or saint belonging to the pre-historic inhabitants of Asia
found a place in the Brahmanic calendar of incarnations
of gods and goddesses.
Monotheism and polytheism exist side by side ; purity
and vice are only different expressions of a system as com-
HINDOO HOUSE-CLEANSING. 163
plex as life itself. Through all manners, acts, and usages,
the most trivial or the most momentous, the Brahman
religion flows in perpetual symbolism and stamps every-
thing with its seal and mark. The pure Hindoos live in
a network of observances, the smallest infraction of which
involves the most terrible social degradation and loss of
caste. They are bound by observances for rising, for sit-
ting, for eating, drinking, sleeping, bathing; for birth,
marriage, and death ; for the sites of their homes and
even the positions of their doors and windows.
The dwellings of Hindoos vary according to their
means. The poorer have only one apartment, which
must be smeared over once a week with a solution of
the ordure of the cow. The better classes always have a
courtyard and a verandah, where strangers, and even
Europeans, may be received without risk of contamina-
tion. Very often the walls of the dwellings are covered
with frescoes and paintings. The entrance to the dwelling
is always placed, out of respect to the sun, facing the
east, but a little to one side. Every morning at an early
hour the Hindoo wife or mother of the home may be seen
cleansing her house and her utensils for cooking, eating,
and drinking. This done, she will wash or smear with
cow-ordure the space about her dwelling. After this puri-
fication the wife will proceed to ornament the front of the
door, which in itself is held sacred to the Brahman, with
the form of a lotos-flower. This she makes out of a so-
lution of lime or chalk, and imprints it on the door and
on the space in front of it. This flower is emblematic of
the name of God, too pure to be uttered, but supposed to
bestow a magical charm on the dwelling on which it is
inscribed.*
* The sectarian marks of the Hindoos vary with their caste and the
deity to whom they attach themselves. The high-caste Brahman makes
164 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
No one is so scrupulous with regard to personal neat-
ness, purity, and cleanliness as the true Hindoo woman.
The Hindoo sacraments are ten in number, with five daily
duties that are as obligatory on the Brahman as are the
sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church. The first
sacrament begins with the unborn babe ; it is the concep-
tional sacrament. Attended by the mother of a large
family, the young wife repairs to a temple with a peculiar
cake made of rice, sugar, and ghee (clarified butter), and
with a fresh cocoanut. The goddess invoked on such oc-
casions is Lakshina, the consort of Indra. They first
offer up a prayer before her shrine, meditate on her glori-
ous progeny of gods and heroes, then implore her kindly
interposition in behalf of the young woman who is to
become a mother ; after which the elder matron breaks the
cocoanut and pours the liquid out as an offering to the
goddess, and part of the cake and cocoanut is brought
home and distributed among the members of the family.
The next ceremony is a very profound one, and has an
especial reference to the quickening of life in the babe.
only a circular mark with a little sacred mud of the Ganges, and mixed
with water, on his forehead. This is symbolic of the mystic word " Aum."
The followers of Vishnoo, a second grade of Brahmans, use a species
of clay brought from a pool, Dhwaiaka, in which the seven shepherd-
esses, who are always represented with Krishna, are supposed to have
drowned themselves on hearing of the death of their favorite hero.
This mark is a circle with a straight line passing through, symbolizing
the regenerative powers of nature. The Mahadeo sect wear two straight
lines on the brow ; the one on the right stands for God, the one on the
left for man, a transverse streak of red lime : a preparation of turmeric
and lime is used ; it means God and man united. A great many wear
the mark of Vishnoo's weapon with which he is supposed to have
killed the searmonster to rescue from destruction the three Vfidas. The
followers of Siva, one of the four great sects of Hindoos, wear a com-
plex mark of circle and cross combined, made with the ashes of burnt
cow-ordure, symbolizing the destruction of all sin and the beatitude in
store for the pure and holy.
HINDOO BIETH-CEEEMONIES. 165
The mother, shrouded in pure white from head to foot,
accompanied by an elder female and mother of a large
family, with her husband and father repair to the temple.
One or more Brahman priests are invited to preside on
this occasion. Oil, flowers, and lighted tapers are offered
to Maliadeo the Great God. The priest pours the oil
presented on a lighted lamp, then performs a wave-offer-
ing over the head of the expectant mother, praying, " O
thou who art light, thou art also life and seed. Accept
our sacrifice and make the new life thou hast created in
secret visible in beauty and strength and power of intel-
lect." After which offerings according to the wealth of
the parties are made to the priests. There is one more
important ceremony, similar in character to the others.
All these sacraments are performed only in the case of the
first child.
The birth ceremony takes place on the birth of every
child. On this occasion a Brahman priest and an astrol-
oger are invited. The mother of a large family and the
grandmother are generally present. Before dividing the
umbilical cord fire is waved over the child, a drop of
honey and butter out of a golden spoon is put on his lips,
after which the cord is severed. This is a very sacred
ceremony, called " Jahu Karan " (" introduction to life "),
and is performed with prayer, indicating that as the
child's life is now severed from the parent life, so is all
life at some time or other parted from the Central Life,
but yet dependent on that as the infant is on the tender
care of a mother. The father then draws near and looks
upon the face of his son or daughter for the first time, at
which he must take a piece of gold in his hand, offer a
sacrifice to Brahma, and anoint the forehead of the child
with ghee which has first been presented to Brahma. A
string of nine threads of cotton, with five blades of durba-
166 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
grass, must be bound by the father round the wrist of the
child, indicating that the life matured by nine months is
to be made perfect by the five daily sacraments or duties.
This done, the astrologer casts the horoscope of the child,
which is carefully written down, whether good or evil,
and is confided to the father. This paper is generally
burned with the person at death.
When the infant is a month old, and the new moon is
first seen, he is presented to it as his progenitor with a
solemn prayer. After which the naming takes place.
The child's nearest relatives are invited. A Brahman
priest waves over it a lamp, then sprinkles holy water,
and calls aloud its name as he anoints the ears, eyes, nose,
and breast of the child with clarified butter. This done,
a little dress prepared for the child is put on for the first
time.
When the teeth begin to appear a grand religious ser-
vice takes place, and its first food of milk and rice is
given to it after it has been consecrated by the priest. At
three years of age the prescribed religious ceremony con-
nected with the shaving off of the boy's hair takes place,
and the consecration of the single lock left on the top of
the head. Next comes the investiture of the sacred
thread, performed only in the case of the male child.
Between the ages of fourteen and sixteen the youth
formally presents himself before the temple to be ad-
mitted to the order to which he belongs. He is placed
on a stone near a sacred tank in the precincts of a Hindoo
temple ; he is then washed in pure water by the priests
robed in spotless white garments ; the holy " Gayatri " is
repeated in his right ear by one priest, while the other
breathes over him the mystic trisyllable of " Aum, Aum,
Aum," after which he is invested with a new sacred
thread.
HINDOO MARRIAGE- CEREMONY. 167
Marriage is also a sacrament. The male may be mar-
ried at any time after the " mung," or investiture of the
sacred thread; the time for this ceremony varies among
the different castes. The female, however, must not be
under ten years of age, and as she is obliged to be several
years younger than the male, he is generally from sixteen
to eighteen at the time of marriage.
Particular rules are laid down to be observed in the
choice of a wife. She must not have any physical or
moral defects ; she must have an agreeable voice, sweet-
sounding name, graceful proportions, elegant movements,
fine teeth, hair, and eyes. Deformity inherited or consti-
tutional delicacy, or disease of any kind, weak eyes, im-
perfect digestion, an inauspicious name, or lack of re-
spectable lineage, always operate as strong impediments to
marriage. Once the choice is made by the parents, then
the particular months and junctions of the planets are
consulted by the josh is or Hindoo astrologers: the birth-
papers of both parties are first examined, followed by a
profound study of the stars, which sometimes takes a year
to be completed, after which a writing called the Lagan-
patrika is prepared, in which the day, the hour, the names
of the parties, and the position of the planets are put
down, and one of the eight different kinds of marriages
mentioned in the Shastras prescribed as the most fitting in
view of the astral relations of husband and wife. These
eight different kinds of marriages, however, are more or
less similar, and vary only when the different castes inter-
marry one with the other. This intermarriage is always
attended with loss of caste. The ceremony observed by
the Brah manic caste is the most interesting, and is called
" Brahma" from the sacredness attached to the rite. The
bridegroom is obliged to prepare himself by certain
prayers and ablutions before he can be presented to his
168 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
future wife, whom he often sees for the first time, but of
whose charms, graces of person, and character he is fully
informed beforehand. Robed in pure white, anointed
with holy oil, and wearing garlands of fresh flowers around
his neck, he goes in procession, accompanied by his friends
and relatives, to the bride's house, where he and his
friends are welcomed as guests by the bride's father. The
future wife is allowed to appear, and is generally veiled,
so that even then the young couple do not see very much
of each other.
On the afternoon of the day appointed for the wedding
company to assemble at the house of the bride's father a
raised platform is placed at one end of the hall ; here the
bridegroom takes his place, surrounded by the priests.
Presently the bride enters the room accompanied by her
father, who does homage to his future son and places his
daughter at his right hand. After this a young priest
enters bearing a large censer containing a charcoal fire,
which is placed at their feet, and is emblematic of their
warm affection. Two priests stand before them holding
each a lighted torch in his hands, reciting some very beau-
tiful prayers ; meanwhile the bride rises and treads three
times on a stone and mutter * placed beside her, and which
is meant to indicate that the cares and duties she is now
about to assume as a married woman will be carefully ob-
served. The bridegroom then makes an oblation of oil
and frankincense to the fire, as typical of his gratitude to
the gods for the blessing which is now about to crown his
life; this done, the priest hands him a torch, which he
takes and waves three times around the person of his
bride, signifying that his love will always surround and
brighten her existence ; he then drops it into the pan or
censer at their feet. The bride now scatters a handful of
* A mill or grinder, used for grinding rice and wheat.
CEREMONIES ATTENDING DEATH. 169
rice and a little oil as an oblation to the gods. The chant
having ceased, the father steps up, and, taking a new up-
per and a lower garment, clothes the person of his daugh-
ter ; he then fastens the end of her dress to the skirts of
her lover's robe, and, taking the bride's hand, he places it
in that of the bridegroom, binding them together with a
mystic cord which is made of their sacred grass, typifying
the delicacy of the marriage-tie, the strength and solidity
of which depends not so much on the fragile cord which
binds them, as on the individual will and resolution not
to break it asunder. Then, conducted by the bridegroom,
the young bride steps seven times around the sacred fire,
repeating the marriage vows, the priests chant the nuptial
hymn, and the marriage is consummated.
Every act of the Brahmanic ritual is symbolic. Thus
in the evening of the same day, after sunset, the bride-
groom sees his blushing little bride alone for the first
time ; he takes her by the hand, seats her on a bull's hide,
which in its turn is symbolic of several spiritual and phys-
ical facts, one of which points to his power to support
and protect her. Seated side by side, they quietly watch
the . rising of the polar star ; pointing it out to her, he re-
peats, " Let us be steady, stable, serene, for ever abiding in
each other's love, as that immovable and deathless star."
Having sat in silent contemplation, they partake of their
first meal together. The bridegroom remains three days
at the house of the bride's father ; on the fourth day he
conducts his wife to his own, or, as it sometimes happens,
to his father's house, in solemn procession. The Hindoo
women are remarkably devoted as wives and mothers:
instances of conjugal infidelity among the high caste are
unknown, and extremely rare even among the lower castes
of the Hindoo women.
The ceremonies attending the dead are worthy of brief
170 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
notice here. The last moments of a Brahman are gener-
ally made very impressive by the prayers and recitations
that take place around his dying pillow, the chief aim of
which is to concentrate the thoughts of the departing soul
on the fact that life is the master of death. " The sun
rises out of life and sets into life ; so does the soul of a
pure Brahman. Life sways to-day, and it will sway to-
morrow, O Brahman ! Life is immortal ; death but con-
ceals the fact as the garment covers the body. Hasten, O
soul, to the Unseen, for unseen he sees, unheard he hears,
unknown he knows. As by footprints one finds cattle, so
may thy soul, O Sadhwan (pure one), find the indestruc-
tible Soul," etc., etc.
The moment life is fled the high priest bends over the
corpse with his hands folded on his breast and repeats a
prayer. After which the near female relatives indulge in
the most dismal howls and shrieks as expressions of their
grief and lamentation. The body is then bathed by the
priests, perfumed, decked with flowers, and placed on a
temporary bier or litter. This is borne along through the
chief thoroughfares, preceded by men who carpet with cer-
tain pieces of cloth the entire way ; women follow, howling
and weeping and casting dust on their heads. The funeral
pyre, formed of dried wood, is three or four feet high and
over six feet long ; the corpse is laid on it, and over it is
poured oil, clarified butter, and flowers made of fragrant
woods. The priests stand around, sprinkle the body with
holy water, and repeat a number of prayers which very
clearly point to the mystery which enfolds all animate
and inanimate life, within and without, and express earn-
est hopes that the body now about to be consumed may
not draw down the soul to enter another body again. The
nearest relative then applies the fire and the body is con-
sumed. They who watch the fire repeat to themselves
'SHRADA, OR HINDOO MASS. 171
long passages from the Shastras and the Puranas on the
vanity of human life and the deathless nature of the soul,
after which they purify themselves before returning home.
Eleven days after death the Shrada, or purificatory cere-
monies, are performed by the heir, and in his absence the
next nearest relative ; then every month for a year, and
lastly on the anniversary of his death.
Brahmans are held unclean for ten days after the death
of a relative, the military caste for twelve, the mercantile
for fifteen, and the Sudra for thirty. Among the Hin-
doos the body is burnt, except only in case of infants
under two years, when it is buried. The " Shrada " is a
ceremony very much like mass performed in the Roman
Catholic Church for the souls of the dead who are in
purgatory. Prayers are offered by the high priest and
the nearest relatives, accompanied with gifts and offerings
of rice, flowers, oil, and water, in order to free the deceased
soul from a purificatory abode in which it is held, and to
enable it to ascend to the heaven where its progenitors are
thought to be united to the universal Soul.
The worship of the Brahmans and the high-caste Hin-
doos, though complicated by trivialities, is in its essence
very simple and pure. The Brahmans do not themselves
worship the idols in the temples, although they encourage
the inferior castes and races to do so. Every act of a
Brahman's life is stamped with a religious character, even
as every breath that he draws is held to be a part of that
" Divine Soul " that exists in the heart of all beings.
As the Brahman priests accommodated their religious
beliefs to suit the popular mind, so have the Roman
Catholic missionaries and priests effected a compromise
between Hindooism and Christianity in India, and East-
ern Christianity has assumed features as foreign to the
sublime teachings of Christ as demon- and serpent-wor-
172 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
ship are foreign to the pure and natural religion of the
Vedas.
It is only by examining the existences of all the differ-
ent races and layers of populations, and the mingling of so
many and such conflicting religions, that we can rightly
understand the India of to-day with her hydra-headed
creeds, dogmas, and castes.
CHAPTER VIII.
A Visit to the House of Baboo Ram Chunder. His Wife. Rajpoot
Wrestlers. Nautchnees, or Hindoo Ballet-Girls. A Hindoo Drama.
Visit to a Nautchnees' School. Bayahdiers, or Dancing-Girls,
attached to the Hindoo Temples. Profession, Education, Dress, Cha-
racter, Fate in Old Age and after Death. Cusbans, or Common Wo-
men. Marked Differences between these three Classes of Public
Women.
AMONG the most interesting of the rich Hindoos whose
acquaintance we made during our long residence in Bom-
bay was one Baboo Ram Chunder. A wealthy gentle-
man, educated in all the learning of the East as well as
in English, possessing quite an appreciative intelligence
on most English topics, but nevertheless a pure Hindoo
in mind and character, clinging with peculiar affection to
the manners, customs, and religion of his forefathers, and
struggling to the last degree to counteract the vulgar and
popular superstitions of modern Brahmanism, though not
a member of the Brahmo-Somaj,* he left nothing undone
* A new school of the Brahmanic order " Brahmo-Somaj," mean-
ing an assembly in the name of God. This Church has connected
itself with every progressive movement in India. The originator of
this social and religious movement was Rajah Rammahun Roy, a
very learned man. In 1818 he published, for the benefit of his own
countrymen, selections from the teachings of Jesus, taken from the
Gospels, in Sanskrit and Bengali, calling the book " The Precepts of
Jesus, the Guide to Peace and Happiness." He died and was buried
in England in 1833. Rammahun Roy built a church in Calcutta,
where the Brahmo-Somaj still hold their worship. The members
belonging to this new school of religious thought are estimated at
173
174 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
to revive the pure and simple teachings of the Vdas. It
was his custom to give every year a grand entertainment
at his residence, to which he occasionally invited his Euro-
pean friends.
One morning Ram Chunder called in person at the
"Aviary " to invite us to one of these to take place on
the following evening, and promised me if I would be
present not only a rare treat in the performance of a
newly-arranged Hindoo drama from the poem of " Nalopa-
kyanama," but also an introduction to his wife and child.
Ram Chunder's house, though not far from the vicinity
of the Bhendee Bazaar, stood apart, surrounded by a well-
built wall. The building was a large white-stuccoed dwell-
ing decorated with rich carvings. There were two courts
an inner and outer court. We were received by a num-
ber of richly-attired attendants, and conducted through
several dimly-iighted passages into a spacious apartment.
It was a circular hall or pavilion with a fountain, and a
garden with gravel-walks and a large area in the centre.
The pavilion itself was decorated in the Oriental style,
hung with kinkaub (or gold-wrought) curtains and pea-
cocks' feathers ; the floors were inlaid with mosaics of
brilliant colors ; the roof and pillars were decorated with
rich gold mouldings; and the whole would have been
very Affective but for the melange of European ornaments
that were disposed around on the walls, tables, and shelves
clocks, antique pictures, statues, celestial and terrestrial
globes, and a profusion of common glassware of the most
brilliant colors.
ten thousand. The women have a separate prayer-meeting from the
men. Their form of worship is very simple singing of hymns adapted
from the Vedas or from the Brahmanasu, or Brahman Aspirations, the
Christian Bible, and extempore prayer, followed by an exhortation on
morality and purity of thought and character. The late Mr. Keshub
Chunder Sen was everywhere recognized as their chief leader.
A HINDOO GENTLEMAN. 175
Ram Chunder, a young man not over thirty, with re-
markably courteous manners, with that refinement and
delicacy which are the distinguishing characteristics of a
high-bred Hindoo, rose and bowed before us, touching his
forehead with his folded hands, and then placed us on his
right hand. In person he was rather stout, with pecu-
liarly fine eyes and a benevolent expression of counte-
nance, though he was darker in complexion than most of
the Brahmans. His dress on this occasion was unusually
rich and strikingly picturesque. He wore trousers of a
deep crimson satin ; over this a long white musliu " an-
graka," or tunic, reaching almost to the knees ; over this
again he wore a short vest of purple velvet embroidered
with gold braid. A scarf of finest cashmere was bound
around his waist, in the folds of which there shone the
jewelled hilt of a dagger. On his head was a white tur-
ban of stupendous size encircled with a string of large
pearls; on his feet were European stockings and a pair
of antique Indian slippers embroidered with many-colored
silks and fine seed-pearls.
Thus attired, he was a gorgeous figure, and, like a true
high-born Hindoo, he sat quietly in his place, except that
every now and then he rose and bowed with folded hands
to each guest as he entered and pointed out their places,
reseating himself quietly and simply. There was no sign
of bustle or expectation, nor any conversation to speak of.
In course of the evening about twenty native and two or
three European gentlemen were assembled in the pavil-
ion. The Europeans were on the right, the native gen-
tlemen on the left, and Ram Chunder in the middle. No
native ladies were visible, but from the sounds of female
voices behind the curtain it was evident they were not
far off.
Richly-dressed native pages, stationed at the back of
176 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
each guest, waved to and fro perfumed punkahs of pea-
cock and ostrich feathers. After the usual ceremony of
passing around to the guests sherbet in golden cups and
" paun suparee," or betel-leaf and the areca-nut done up
in gold-leaf, the performance began.
A herald dressed like a Hindoo angel, with wings, tail,
and beak of a bird and the body of a young boy, an-
nounced with a peculiar cry, half natural and half bird-
like, the presence of the Rajpoot athletes ; and in stepped
some ten men, their daggers gleaming in the dim light of
the pavilion, which flickered on the gravelled space in
front and barely lighted the surrounding garden, in the
centre of which stood a fountain. The Rajpoots were in
the prime of life, displaying great symmetry of form and
development of muscular power. Their heads were close-
ly shaven, with the exception of a long lock of hair bound
in a knot at the top of their heads ; their dress consisted
of a pair of red silk drawers descending halfway to the
knee and bound tightly around the waist with a scarf of
many colors.
The wrestlers advanced, performing a sort of war-
dance ; they disposed of their daggers by putting them in
their topknots; they then salaamed before the audience
and began the contest. Each slapped violently the inside
of his arms and thighs; then, at a given signal, each
seized his opponent by the waist. One placed his fore-
head against the other's breast; they then struggled,
twisted, and tossed each other about, showing great skill
and adroitness in keeping their feet and warding off blows.
Suddenly, with a peculiar jerk, one of the wrestlers almost
at the same moment dashed his opponent to the ground,
and drawing forth his dagger stood flourishing it over the
fallen victim. At this juncture a strain of music wild
but tender swept from the farther end of the pavilion,
NAUTCHNEES, OR DANCING-GIRLS. 177
seemingly given forth to arrest the premeditated thrust of
the exultant victor.
They listen with heads slightly turned to one side;
presently their grim, bloodthirsty expressions give place
to looks of delight and wonder. All at once their faces
break into smiles ; simultaneously they drop their uplifted
daggers, release their knees from the breasts of their pros-
trate foes, stoop, and, taking a little earth from the grav-
elled walk, scatter it over their heads as a sign that the
victor himself is vanquished, salaam to the spectators, and
retire amid deafening shouts of applause.
After this the musicians struck up some lively Hindoo
airs, and at length the heavy curtains from one side of
the pavilion curled up like a lotus-flower at sunset, and
there appeared a long line of girls advancing in a meas-
ured step and keeping time to the music. They stood on
a platform almost facing us. Some of them were extra-
ordinarily beautiful, one girl in particular. The face was
of the purest oval, the features regular, the eyes large,
dark, and almond-shaped, the complexion pale olive, with
a slight blush of the most delicate pink on the cheeks,
and the mouth was half pouting and almost infantile in
its round curves, but with an expression of dejection and
sorrow lingering about the corners which told better than
words of weariness of the life to which she was doomed.
For my part, it was difficult for me to remove my eyes
from that pensive and beautiful face. Every now and
then I found myself trying to picture her strange life,
wondering who she was and how her parents could ever
have had the heart to doom her to such a profession.
The Xautchnees, or dancing-girls, of whom there were
no less than eighteen, were all dressed in that exquisite
Oriental costume peculiar to them, each one in a different
shade or in distinct colors, but so carefully chosen that this
12
178 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
mass of color harmonized with wonderful effect. First,
'they wore bright-colored silk vests and drawers that fitted
tightly to the body and revealed a part of the neck, arms,
and legs ; a full, transparent petticoat attached low down
almost on the hips, leaving an uncovered margin all
around the form from the waist of the bodice to where
the skirt was secured on the hips; over this a saree of
some gauze-like texture bound lightly over the whole
person, the whole so draped as to encircle the figure like a
halo at every point, and, finally, thrown over the head and
drooping over the face in a most bewitching veil. The
hair was combed smoothly back and tied in a knot behind,
while on the forehead, ears, neck, arms, wrists, ankles, and
toes were a profusion of dazzling ornaments.
With head modestly inclined, downcast eyes, and clasped
hands they stood silent for some little time, in strong re-
lief against a wall fretted with fantastic Oriental carvings.
The herald again gave the signal for the music to strike
up. A burst of wild Oriental melody flooded the pa-
vilion, and all at once the Nautchnees started to their feet.
Poised on tiptoe, with arms raised aloft over their heads,
they began to whirl and float and glide about in a maze
of rhythmic movement, fluttering and quivering and
waving before us like aspen-leaves moved by a strong
breeze. It must have cost them years of labor to have
arrived at such ease and precision of movement. The
dance was a miracle of art, and all the more fascinating
because of the rare beauty of the performers.
Then came the cup-dance, which was performed by the
lovely girl who had so captivated my fancy. She ad-
vanced with slow and solemn step to the centre of the
platform, and, taking up a tier of four or five cups fitting
close into one another, she placed this tier on her head
and immediately began to move her arms, head, and feet
THE BEAUTIFUL NAUTCHNEE.
THE CUP-DANCE. 179
in such gently undulating waves that one imagined the
cups, which were all the time balanced on her head, were
floating about her person, and seemingly everywhere ex-
cept where she so dextrously poised and maintained them.
This dance was concluded by a cup being filled with
sherbet and placed in the middle of the platform. Re-
moving the cups from her head, the dancer, her eyes
glowing, her breast heaving, swept toward the filled cup
as if drawn to it by some spell, round and round, now
approaching, now retreating, till finally, as if unable to
resist the enchantment, she gave one long sweep around it,
and, clasping her arms tightly behind her, lay full length
on the pavement, and taking up with her lips the brim-
ming cup drained its contents without spilling a drop.
Then, putting it down empty, she rose with the utmost
grace and bowed her head before us, her arms still firmly
clasped behind her. The grace, beauty, and elegance of
her movements were incomparable ; the spectators were
too deeply interested even to applaud her. She retired
amid a profound and significant silence to her place.
Presently a tall, slim, graceful girl took her place on
the platform with a gay smile on her face. An attendant
fastened on her head a wicker wheel about three feet in
diameter ; it was bound firmly to the crown of her head,
and all around it were cords placed at equal distances, each
having a slipknot secured by means of a glass bead. In
her left hand she held a basket of eggs. When the music
struck up once more she took an egg, inserted it into a
knot, and gave it a peculiarly energetic little jerk, which
somehow fastened it firmly in its place. As soon as all
the eggs were thus firmly bound in the slipknots round
the wheel on her head, she gave a rapid whirl, sent them
flying around, while she preserved the movement with her
feet, keeping time to the music. Away she whirled, the
180 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
eggs revolving round her. The slightest false movement
would bring them together in a general crash. After con-
tinuing this about a quarter of an hour, she seized a cord
with a swift but sure grasp, detached from it the inserted
egg, managing the slipknot with marvellous dexterity,
dancing all the while, till every egg was detached and
placed in her basket; after which she advanced, and,
kneeling before us, begged us to examine the eggs whether
real or fictitious. Of course the eggs were real, and she
was almost overwhelmed with shouts of "Khoup ! khoup !
Matjaka! matjaka!" "Fine! fine! beautiful!" And then
the Nautchnees vanished from the pavilion.
During the interval that followed the pages went round
with goulab-dhanees, or bottles with rose-water, to sprinkle
the guests.
Suddenly the cry of the herald announced a new scene.
The heavy curtain slowly folded up and a long line of
male actors, superbly attired as Oriental kings and princes
from different parts of the East, entered and took their
places on the divans ranged along the farther end of the
pavilion. Ram Chunder approached us and informed me
that the piece about to be represented was a pure Hindoo
drama, a beautiful episode from the Sanskrit epic Mahd-
bhdrata, called " Nalopakyanama, or, The Story of Nala."
After the kings and princes had seated themselves, in
came a string of attendants arrayed in gold and gleaming
armor, who took their places behind the royal personages
on the divans. Then came twelve maidens attired in cloth
of gold and fantastic head-gear, belonging to the ancient
Vedic period. Each of these girls had a cithara in her
hands; they disposed themselves on seats to the left of
the pavilion. After these a shrill cry of many voices
announced the gods Indra, Agni, Varuna, and Yama,
and in stalked four men splendidly robed, bearing gold
THE DRAMA OF NALA. 181
wands, with serpents coiling around them, in their hands,
and lotos-shaped crowns richly jewelled on their heads.
Their raiment was one blaze of tinsel and glass jewels,
made to shine with all the brilliancy of real gems.
Then came the hero Nala, with faded flowers on his
tiara, dust on his garments, and looking picturesque
enough with his bright scarf thrown across his shoulders,
but travel-stained and very commonplace in the presence
of so much gold and finer}'.
Nala was the hero to whom the matchless Damayanti,
" whose beauty disturbed the souls of gods and men," had
pledged her love, in spite of the proposition he brought
her from the four gods to choose one of them and reign
the unrivalled queen of the highest heaven. Damayanti,
desirous of averting from her well-beloved Nala the ven-
geance of the gods, invites all her suitors to the " Swa-
yamvara;" that is, a public choice of a husband by the
lady, according to the custom of that age, assuring Nala
that then there will be no cause of blame to him, as she
will choose him in the presence of the gods themselves.
Hence the presence of the four gods among the assembled
princes suitors for the hand of the lovely Damayauti.
The herald once more gave the signal for the perform-
ance to begin. The musicians struck their citharas and
recited in musical intonations the chief parts of the drama
of Nala. At a certain part of the recitation the curtain
descended, and in a few moments went up again. During
this interval the gods were transformed into the likeness
of Nala, presenting five Nalas instead of one ; which the
singers explained was a trick of the gods by which they
hoped to bewilder poor Damayanti and perhaps induce
her, in her ignorance of which were the gods and which
Nala, to select one of their divine number as her future
husband. The interest of the drama was centred among
182 LIFE AND TRAVEL, IN INDIA.
these four suitors of Damayanti, each the counterpart of
the favored Nala.
The music at this point rose and fell, now vibrating in
low tender accents, and anon rising in wild, startling em-
phasis of expression. At this moment the curtain parted
and there stood the cup-dancer with her quiet yet entran-
cing beauty. Calmly she entered, looking down and medi-
tating, as we were told, on the object of her affections.
Her dress was exquisite of its kind and character; I
never saw its counterpart on a Nautchnee before or after.
It was a long gown without sleeves, falling from her
shoulders to her feet, open at the throat, exposing a part
of the neck and breast and the whole arm from the
shoulder. It was very full, but of the most delicate tex-
ture, revealing the whole outline of a very lovely form.
A bright border of variegated silk ran down the front
and round the hem of this ancient V&dic garment, and it
was fastened at the waist by a rich silk scarf. Her hair
fell back, flowing down to her feet; on her head was a
curious crown of an antique pattern, and over it all was
thrown a long veil that streamed on the floor, and was of
such transparent texture that it looked like woven sun-
beams.
Such was the impersonation of the Vedic beauty Dama-
yanti. When she reached the centre of the circular pavilion
she lifted her eyes, and, seeing five Nalas instead of one,
started backward, clasped her lovely arms on her bosom,
and, rocking herself gently to and fro, moaned, " Alas !
alas ! there are five Nalas, all so like my own true sinless
chief. How shall I discover the one to whom alone I have
pledged my undying love ?"
At this juncture the music ceased and a deep silence fell
upon the audience. Every eye was riveted on that lovely
creature seemingly overcome with the tide of sorrow and
THE GODS REVEAL THEMSELVES. 183
uncertainty that swept over her. Suddenly pausing in her
moans, she turned up her fine eyes to the sky, and with
some new inward light dawning as it were upon her
troubled soul said audibly, " To the gods alone I will
trust If they are indeed gods, they will not deceive a
poor mortal woman like me."
Then, quivering and trembling, with flushed cheeks
and lustrous eyes, she folded her hands and knelt in
reverence before the gods and prayed aloud, and said, " O
ye gods, as in word or thought I swerve not from my love
and faith to Nala, so I here adjure you to resume your
immortal forms and reveal to me my Nala, that I may in
your holy presence choose him for my pure and sinless
husband."
Kneeling there with her face turned up, her hands
folded, the outlines of her beautiful form made even more
lovely by the half-softened halo of light shed over her
from above, she seemed like some beautiful vision, and
not a thing of flesh and blood. I never witnessed any-
thing more truly exquisite and tender in its simple woman-
hood than this rendering of the beautiful Vedic character
of Damayanti.
Again the voices of the musicians were heard interpret-
ing for us the thoughts and feelings of the gods : " We
are filled with wonder at her steadfast love and peerless
beauty," etc., etc. Once more the curtain is dropped, and
presently it folds up again, revealing the forms of the four
bright gods as at first in all the splendor of their robes,
crowned and flashing with jewels, and fragrant with the
garlands of fresh flowers that hang around their necks.
Damayanti rose from her bended knees. With pleased
and childlike wonder she gazed at the gods one moment,
then turned to her own true Nala, who stood before her in
striking contrast to the gods, with moisture on his brow,
184 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
dust on his garments, soiled head-dress and faded garland.
But on recognizing him as the true Nala she folded her
hands in sudden rapture and gave a cry of joy ; then, re-
moving from her own neck her garland of mohgree-
flowers, moved with quiet grace toward her lover, knelt
and kissed the hem of his dusty robe, arose and threw
around his neck her own fresh, radiant wreath of flowers,
saying, " So I choose for my lord and husband Nish&dah's
noble king." At this speech a sound of wild sorrow burst
from the rejected suitors, but the gods shouted, "Well
done ! well done !" Then the happy Nala, turning to the
blushing Damayanti, said, " Since, O maiden, you have
chosen me for your husband in the presence of the gods,
know this, that I will ever be your faithful lover, delight
in your words, your looks, your thoughts, and so long as
this soul inhabits this body, so long as the moon turns to
the sun till the sun grows cold and ceases to shine, so long
shall I be thine, and thine only."
One more loud shout from the herald, the curtaiu
dropped, the play and the day were over, for it was just
twelve o'clock.
The Oriental and European guests took their leave of
their amiable host with much salaaming and many expres-
sions of delight, for the play had been arranged by Ram
Chunder himself.
After a few minutes our host kindly conducted me to
an inner apartment of his dwelling to introduce me, as he
had promised, to his wife, who had already quitted her
place behind the curtains, whence she and her maids had
witnessed the performance, and had retired to her own
rooms, which were (as in the case of all rich Hindoos or
even Mohammedans) separate from those occupied by her
husband. Traversing a long and narrow passage, we
came to an arched doorway, with a dark silk curtain
A HINDOO LADY.
A HINDOO LADY. 185
hanging before it, guarded by two women seated on either
side. They rose and salaamed to us, and Ram Chunder,
instead of walking in as any ordinary European husband
would have done, inquired of them if the lady Kesineh
had retired.
" No, your lordship," replied the ceremonious Hindoo
maid-servant; "she waits yours and the English lady's
presence."
On which Ram Chunder drew aside the heavy drapery
and bade me enter, saying, " I will return for you in a
quarter of an hour or so."
Left alone, I stepped into a dimly-lighted but spacious
room, at the farther end of which I saw seated a Hindoo
lady surrounded by several female attendants.
As far as I could observe in the dim light, she was
dark, but handsome and dressed like the generality of
Hindoo women, only that her veil, instead of being drawn
over her head, was thrown back, and trailed on the floor
beside her. She did not rise to greet me, but salaamed to
me from her place, and patted a cushion close by her as
an invitation for me to be seated. This was, as I soon
found, owing to the fact that her little daughter, lying
half asleep in a little Hindoo cradle close by, was hold-
ing her hand, and she feared to disturb her. I sat down
and looked over into the cradle ; there lay a soft plump,
brown child, a little girl of about two years of age, per-
fectly nude, with a string of gold coins around her neck
and each of her arms. In the presence of such perfect
innocence and trust the narrow distinctions of races and
creeds seemed to fade away : I only felt here was another
woman like myself, and she a mother; and, in truth, I
could not have long felt otherwise, in spite of any preju-
dices I may have had ; Kesineh was too natural and simple
a creature for one to feel anything but at home with her.
186 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
The first words that she said to me, after satisfying her-
self that little " Brownee " (as I always called her) was
asleep, were, "How long have you been married?" Then,
" What does your husband look like ? How old are you ?
Where do you live?" etc., etc. My answers seemed to
please her very much, for she patted my knee and laughed
softly, and said, " Oh, heart ! oh, heart ! how happy you
must be!"
We then talked about her own life. She told me that
she had been married four years, that she had hoped
" Brownee " was going to be a son, " but she turned out
a daughter after all," said poor Kesineh with a sigh.
" Do you love her less for that ?" I inquired. " Oh no,
indeed," said Kesinfeh quickly ; " I think I love her more,
but my lord would have been better pleased with me if
she had been a son instead of a daughter." " But," said
I, trying to comfort her for her disappointment, " it was
not your fault that your child happened to be a daughter."
" Oh yes," said the lady with great energy, " it was my
own fault. I committed the sin of marrying my own
brother in a former state of existence; thus I am now
doomed to have a daughter for my first-born child in
this." I did not know what to say to this odd explana-
tion, and there was a pause, but at length I ventured to
suggest that whether it was so or not she must admit that
little "Brownee" was a treasure. "Oh yes," said Kesineh
with joyful emphasis "a lovely, bewildering little thing;"
and she leaned lovingly over the little sleeper.
I noticed that in everything this Hindoo lady said or
did there was no affectation of voice or manner, no effort
to please or entertain me, but a simple and natural ex-
pression of herself.
When it was time for me to go I put her one question
which I longed most to have answered : " Who is that
A HINDOO SALUTATION. 187
very beautiful Nautchnee who danced the cup-dance and
performed the part of Damayanti this evening ?"
"I do not know," said the lady Kesineh with great
interest in her manner. "Is she not beautiful? The
Nautchnees were hired for this evening. I would like to
know who she is too."
Then, turning to one of her attendants, who was listen-
ing to every word we said with a smile on her face,
she inquired, " Ummah, do you know the owner of the
Nautchnees who were here to-night?"
" Yes, my lady," replied the woman.
" If you hear anything about her you will let me know,
for I have fallen in love with her," said I, half in jest and
half in earnest. " Mah mi ! mah mi !" laughed Kesineli
" so have I. She is a heart-distracting creature. Every
one who saw her dance and act will dream of her to-night.
Mah mi ! mah mi ! how proud she must feel !"
I wished her good-night in the strictest Hindoo fashion,
taught me by the pundit.
"Ram, Ram," said I, "dev& Ram!"* Putting my
folded hands to my brow and stooping, I lightly kissed
the little sleeper in the cradle.
The very next moment Kesineh had sprung up, and,
putting her arms around my neck, she laid her brow
against mine and repeated that tender Hindoo farewell
than which there is nothing more exquisite in human
language : " The gods send that neither sun nor wind,
neither rain nor any earthly sorrow, brush by thee too
roughly, my friend."
Content and pleased with my new acquaintance, we
parted, but not without my promise to visit her again.
The dancing-girls of India may be divided into three
classes : the Nautchnees, who are actresses, or ballet-girls,
. * " Rama, Kama, the god Kama, bless you !"
188 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
or both ; the Bayahdiers, or Bhayadhyas, dedicated by
their parents in childhood as votive offerings to certain
temples, and consecrated to them at the age of woman-
hood ; and the common " Cusban," a grade even lower
than either of these, whose ranks are chiefly supplied from
the abandoned Mohammedan women, the Purwarees, the
lowest of all castes in Central India, as well as from the
disaffected runaways of either of the two former and more
reputable professions. The Cusban, therefore, is the scum
and refuse of the lowest-caste females in India.
One day, accompanied by Kesineh, I visited a Nautch-
nee establishment of which the beautiful dancing-girl who
so much attracted me was an inmate. It was kept by a
native man and his wife, named respectively Dhanut and
Saineh Bebee. We drove to it in a Hindoo carriage, a
round seat for two or more persons placed on wheels,
drawn by a pair of milk-white bullocks, and covered with
a curious conical structure of wicker work hung with crim-
son silk curtains. We took our places on two cushions
cross-legged; the driver sat in front, and with a sharp
crack of the whip started the bullocks at a brisk trot and
sent us bumping up and down. On our way we caught
glimpses of a population even more strange than those to be
met daily in the parts of the island more frequented by Euro-
peans. The dirtiness of a low-caste, poverty-stricken Orien-
tal street is inconceivable. Filth reigned supreme in some
of the lanes and alleys through which we passed. A rank
vegetation clothed everything; trees hung with many-
colored festoons of leaves and flowers formed thick tap-
estries of foliage on the right and on the left.
There is no country in the world (save the beautiful
island of Ceylon) that is kinder to the sluggard. The
poorest soil will grow certain qualities of fruit and cocoa-
nut palms. The native population in some parts here
THE NAUTCHNEES' ESTABLISHMENT. 189
seemed almost too indolent to move out of the way of our
carriage-wheels, but they were peaceful enough. Stones,
old broken bits of earthenware, wheels, broken litters,
impeded the way, and cows, dogs, hens, chickens, pigs,
ducks, and children less clad than any of these, roamed
idly about in the streets and gutters or narrow lanes. As
a rule, no refuse or rubbish of any kind whatever is re-
moved, but is left to accident and the action of natural
chemistry. Burnt-down huts covered over with the ever-
ready parasitic plants, old wells and tanks filled with stag-
nant water abounding in frogs,, water-snakes, and all
kinds of reptiles, add to the sluggish appearance of the
place. Gayly-dressed native women, idle men among
whom may be seen some poor depraved British tars and
male and female hucksters of fruit and sweetmeats, com-
plete the picture.
The Nautchnees' establishment was a curious building
surrounded by a high wall. We entered through a gate,
and were at once conducted by a couple of old women
across a paved courtyard planted all around with the
mohgree, oleander, and tall red and white rose trees.
Passing this, we were introduced into a great bare hall,
with low seats ranged around the walls, curtained all
along the farther end of the room, into which inner
chambers seemed to open. Here we took our places.
One of the old women stayed by us, while the other went
off to announce our visit to the head lady of the estab-
lishment.
The great slave-markets which we have all read so
much about, where tender young girls are bought and
sold as if they were cattle, no longer exist in British
India, but the amount of traffic of the kind that is still
carried on everywhere is incredible, although the fact is
vigorously denied by both the buyer and the seller. In
190 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
many cases these Nautchnees are not bought, but hired
for a term of years, for money paid not to the girls them-
selves, but to parents or friends. In the course of time
the parents die or move away, and the girl, after having
given her best days to her employers, finds herself with-
out money, friends, or social ties, and is glad enough to
spend the remainder of her life in instructing the younger
members of the establishment of which, with the fidelity
so natural to Oriental women, she considers herself a
member, and therefore bound for life to promote its
interests.
After a few moments Sainah Bebee came in to greet the
lady Kesineh. She salaamed most deferentially to us, and
took her place on the floor. She was a woman about fifty
and a native of Afghanistan, tall and finely formed. She
spoke of difficulty in procuring respectable young girls to
fill the places of those who ran away, were sold to certain
rich admirers for wives or concubines, or died. It would
appear that the lowest, or Cusban, class was largely in-
creasing, whereas that of the Nautchnees was fast dimin-
ishing. On my questioning the old lady about the
average life of the Nautchnees, she could give me no
clear estimate, but intimated very decidedly that they
generally died young.
At my especial request we were shown into the exer-
cising-room and almost over the entire establishment.
There were over a hundred girls, of all ages, and all
shades of complexion from dark-brown to a pale delicate
olive, going through their exercises at the time. The
hall was composed of bamboo trellis-work, and was light,
spacious, and airy enough. From the roof hung all sorts
of gymnastic apparatus, rude but curious ropes to which
the girls clung as they whirled round on tiptoe ; wheels
on which they were made to walk in order to learn a
THE NAUTCHNEES* GYMXASIUM. 191
peculiar circular dance called " chakranee " (from " chak,"
y wheel) ; slipknots into which they fastened one arm or
one leg, thus holding it motionless while they exercised
the other ; cups, revolving balls, which they sprang up to
catch ; and heaps of fragile cords, with which they spin
round and round, and if any one of these snap under too
great a pressure, they are punished, though never very
severely.
Altogether, it was a strange sight. Most of the girls
from ten to fourteen had nothing on but a short tight pair
of drawers ; the older ones had tight short-sleeved bodices
in addition to the drawers; and those under ten were naked.
They were all good-looking ; a few here and there were
beautiful. The delicate and refined outline of their fea-
tures, the soft tint of their rich complexions, the dreamy
expression of their large, dark, quiet eyes, added to great
symmetry of form, made them strangely fascinating.
The teachers were all middle-aged women, some of
whom looked prematurely old. The girls are taught to
repeat poems and plays, but no books are used.
The dormitories in this establishment were bare rooms ;
the girls all slept on mats or cushions on the floor.
Each had a lota, or drinking-cup, a little mirror, and a
native box in which to keep her clothes. The more
finished and accomplished Nautchnees had rooms to
themselves. I went into one of these. It was matted,
and was very simply furnished. A tier of boxes in
which her jewels and robes were kept, a cot, a few brass
lotas, fans, cojas, or water-holders, with some tiny look-
ing-glasses ranged along the wall, and this was all.
I inquired for the beautiful Nautchnee who had inter-
ested me. Her name was Khangee ; she was a Soodahnee
by birth. The Soodahs are a military race or tribe in-
habiting parts of the province of Cutch ; they find their
192 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
chief wealth in the beauty of their daughters, and for one
of the Soodahnees a rich Mohammedan will pay from a
thousand to ten thousand rupees.* Rajahs, wealthy Mo-
hammedan merchants, and proprietors of dancing-girls
often despatch their emissaries to Cutch, Cabool, Cash-
mere, and Rajpootana in search of beautiful women.
The fame of the Cashmerian and Soodah women has
spread far and wide, and often some beautiful creature is
picked up out of the hovels of Thur, Booly, or Cashmere
and transplanted to the gorgeous pomp of a royal harem.
The Rajpoots intermarry with the Soodah and Cashmerian
women, and, being naturally a handsome race, they have
preserved by this means that physical beauty of which
they are "so justly proud.
Veiy little was known of Khangee's history beyond the
fact that she was a Soodahnee by birth. She was bought
at an early age from her parents, who were poor and oc-
cupied a hovel in the village of Thur in Cutch, and sold
to this establishment when in her seventh year, and was
almost as ignorant of her parentage as a newly-born babe.
At the time of our visit she had been hired with a party
of Nautchnees to assist in the marriage-celebration which
was to take place at the house of a rich Bunyah, or Hin-
doo grain-merchant.
These Nautehnees often marry well, and become chaste
wives and mothers of large families. The four requisites
for a Nautchnee are bright eyes, fine teeth, long hair, and
a perfect symmetry of form and feature. A small black
mole between the eyebrows or on either cheek will en-
hance her value to an extraordinary degree.
The utter friendlessness, the quiet submission, expressed
in the actions and faces of the young girls, and even of
the little children, we had seen exercising and acquiring
* The value of a rupee is about forty-five American cents.
WOMEN DEVOTED TO THE TEMPLES. 193
their different parts that morning, were very pathetic.
There was none of the impetuosity of youth nor of the
joyousness of childhood. It is a sad and dreary picture,
these parentless children of the East living for some rich
man's pleasure, and dying as they live, often unloved and
uucared for by any relative or friend.
"Bayahdier" is the name generally applied by the
French ancHPortuguese to the dancing-girls attached to
temples.* They are distinct from the Nautchnees, and
are held sacred as priestesses. In case of sickness, fam-
ine, or other individual or social calamity Hindoo parents
will repair to the temple and there vow to dedicate a
daughter, sometimes yet unborn, to the service of Siva,
provided the gods avert the threatened danger. Such
vows are also made by barren women, who promise, if
the curse of barrenness be removed, to dedicate to Siva
their first-born daughter ; and all such vows are religiously
performed. When the child thus consecrated is born, the
first thing that is necessary is for the father to repair to
the temple and register her name as a devotee of the
temple, break a cocoanut at the shrine of Siva, and take
from the hand of the Brahman priest a little holy oil,
shaindoor, a sort of red paint, and mud obtained from the
Granges ; with which he returns to mark the newly-born
child. From this moment she is looked upon as a priest-
ess, and is exempt from all household or any other em-
ployment. At the age of five she attends the temple
daily, where she is taught by the priests to read, chant,
sing, and dance in the schools attached to it. When the
girl has reached womanhood she undergoes certain puri-
* Their names vary with the language. I have heard them called
" Khoo mattees " in parts of Guzerat ; also " Dhayahtees " in the
Deccan, and Bhaladhya in parts of Western India, from Sanskrit
"bala," youth, and "dhya," tenderness.
13
194 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
fications. Holy oil and grated sandal- wood are rubbed
over her person ; she is then bathed, perfumed, fumigated,
dressed in a robe peculiar to these priestesses a full petti-
coat with a handsome border, short enough to show her
feet and ankles, which are covered with jewels; a very
short boddice, and over this is thrown a spotted muslin
veil ; the hair is ornamented with jewels of gold and sil-
ver, as are the neck, arms, and throat. She then enters
the temple, takes her place near the stone image of Siva ;
generally her right hand is bound to that of the holy im-
age, her forehead is marked with his sign, and she con-
firms the vow made by her parents to dedicate her body to
the service and maintenance of the temple. With some
few advantages of education, this temple-service may be
regarded as one of the most corrupt and depraving insti-
tutions of the Hindoos injurious alike to the moral and
physical welfare of the community at large, and moreover
debasing to the character of the Brahman priests them-
selves in their open recognition and encouragement of
vice. These poor devotees often accept their fate with
that stolid indifference peculiar to the Orientals, and are
taught to believe that their immoralities are sacred to the
god to whom they are dedicated.
The services on the death of one of these priestesses are
peculiar. When at the point of death a mud idol of Siva
is placed in her arms. Her mouth, eyes, nose, and ears
are rubbed with holy oil, and then touched with flame
obtained from a sacrificial fire, to purify from the taint
of her impure life ; in her hands are placed the toolsi *
* Ocymum or sweet basil. This plant has a very dark-blue flower,
and hence, like the large bluish-black bees of India, is held sacred to
Krishna and his amours. A fable, however, is told in the Puranas
concerning the metamorphosis of the nymph Toolasi (by Krishna) into
the shrub which has since borne her name, because he could not return
her love.
THE BRAHMANS OF CAUCASIAN TYPE. 195
flowers, and her body is robed in pure white ; after which
she is made to repeat a hymn praying that as she has con-
secrated her body to the service of the gods, so may her
soul be freed from rebirth and reunited to the Infinite
Soul. If she is too feeble to repeat this prayer, the priests
chant it in her dying ear. When life becomes extinct she
is carried to a quiet spot in the vicinity of the temple,
burned, and her ashes buried then and there. Sometimes
a fellow-sister will plant a toolsi or moghree tree on the
site, but no monument ever marks the spot where these
poor priestesses of passion are cremated.
These devotees are never taken in marriage ; they are
looked upon as the brides of their various deities ; they
are generally childless. If a woman happens to have a
child, however, she is sole arbitress of its fate, and in no
instance has she ever been known to dedicate it to the life
to which she has been doomed. She generally hands it
over to her parents or nearest relatives as a substitute for
herself.
There are hospitals and asylums for the sick, infirm,
and aged of this class of women, though from all I could
learn very few arrive at old age.
The Cusban, or lowest class of dancing-women, is very
largely recruited from runaways from these Hindoo tem-
ples, and it is said that in course of time they become the
most abandoned and desperate of the native community.
Even the most intelligent people, unless they have made
a special study of India, can have no idea of the marked
differences that exist between the Brahmans and these dif-
ferent classes of women. The pure Brahman, with the
three other Aryan castes in so far as they have not inter-
married with the aborigines, are of Caucasian type. In
the northern provinces they are not brown, but of a com-
plexion almost as fair as that of many dark Europeans.
196 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
Both the men and women are distinguished by symmetry
of form, fine soft hair, and beautiful eyes. Their ideal
of beauty is similar to ours, with this exception: that
they have adhered more closely in matters of dress to
the original simplicity of form than Europeans have
done.
Theatrical representations, such as that of Ram Chun-
der, are much in vogue. The dramatic art in Hindostan
about the period of the Christian era was of a high and
lofty character. It was the great school wherein kings,
warriors, and soldiers were taught the purest ideals of
chivalry and manly and womanly purity of character;
but at the present time it has greatly degenerated, al-
though in many parts of India the more enlightened
Hindoos are trying to restore it once more to its true and
original place among the high arts. Everywhere theat-
rical exhibitions are held, often in the open air or under
temporary sheds. The actresses are the Nautchnees, and
a respectable Hindoo woman will rarely attend these pub-
lic places. The native Roman Catholics in Southern In-
dia and Ceylon have also religious dramas, in no way
superior to those of the Hindoos ; the overshadowing of
the Virgin, the birth of Christ, the crucifixion, and so
forth, are very similar to the scenes represented of Krishna
and the Hindoo incarnation.
Social dancing does not exist among the nations of the
East, and it is considered highly indecorous for a Hindoo
woman of pure character to dance. Even the Nautchnees,
if they become wives or even concubines to rich men, as
often happens, abandon all such practices ; and their chil-
dren are never allowed to know their mother's early pro-
fession, so deep is the national sentiment with regard to
the domestic relations of a wife and mother.
Public reading of popular poems, histories, and dramas
FAVORITE HINDOO GAMES. 197
as a source of amusement is very common all through
Northern and Southern Hindostan. The reading is al-
ways performed in parts. A wealthy Hindoo will engage
a number of professional readers to perform the task, and
every one who wishes to hear may do so. The readers
always take their places in an open verandah, and the
people in large numbers seat themselves around within
hearing distance. The recitation is given ; each person
performs his or her part in the prescribed order with a
musical cadence. The expositor gives a free translation
for the benefit of the people, who are thus made acquainted
with the most celebrated Hindoo works.
Chess is a favorite game among the Hindoos, and it is
one of the most ancient, alluded to even in their earliest
productions, and quite common among all classes and
grades of society. This game is peculiarly adapted to the
Hindoo mind, in which quiet thought, perspicacity, and
shrewdness are so strongly marked. Cards with the
figures of their gods and goddesses are a source of great
amusement; the women are much given to this indoor
recreation. The Ashta-Kasti is a game played on a board
of twenty-five squares with sixteen cowries or small shells.
It is played by four persons, and is finished when one of
the pieces, traversing the length and breadth of the board,
enters first into the central square. Mohgali * Patan is a
favorite game among the superior classes of Hindoo women.
It is a representation of a battle between the Mohgals and
Patans. The battle-field is accurately drawn ; on one side
is the Mohgal army, and on the other the Patan. Hindoo
ladies play it with great skill. Another military game,
the Pasha, played on ninety-six squares and with sixteen
pieces, is played with great vigor and amid peals of laughter.
The moves are regulated by the throws of dice. Among
* This word is generally pronounced Mohgvl by the natives of India.
198 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
the outdoor sports are kite-flying, throwing the sling, bat-
and-ball, croquet on horseback, wrestling, running, boat-
ing, boxing, and hunting. Itinerant jugglers are every-
where patronized.
Musical recreations are most popular of all, and not
only from the temples and palaces, but from the humblest
hut of the poorest peasant, sweet sounds everywhere greet
the ear. When an instrument cannot be had the voice is
substituted; men seated in clusters under trees by the
wayside beguile the evening hours with song after song.
The common bhistee at the water's edge, the farmer at the
plough, the cart-driver, the boatman, the shepherd, the
warrior, the spinner at her wheel, and the mother beside
the cradle, all delight in song, giving great effect to tender
or spiritual sentiments by the measured or animated tones
of chant, psalm, or song as it may happen to be.
Instrumental, and even vocal music, though held among
the fine arts, has not attained great eminence, yet no peo-
ple are more susceptible to its peculiar charms than the
Hindoos. The word " sang-gheeta," or symphony, im-
plies not only the union of voices and instruments, but
suitable action.
Musical treatises always combine "gdna," the measure
of poetry, "vadya," instrumental sound, and "uritya,"
dancing. The most remarkable of their musical compo-
sitions are The Ragar Navah, "The Sea of Passion;"
Sabha-Vinodah, " The Delight of the Assemblies ;" Sang-
gheeta-Derpana, " The Mirror of Song ;" Raga Nibhoda,
" The Doctrine of Musical Modes." All these works ex-
plain more or less the laws of harmony, the division of
musical sounds into scales, etc., enunciation, cadence, rising
and falling variations, long and short accentuations, and
rules for playing the vina and other musical instruments.
The vina is the most common ; it is not unlike a guitar,
MUSIC OF DIVINE OEIGIN. 199
five or six feet long, with seven or more strings, and a
large gourd at each end of the finger-board.
Music, like almost everything else in India, is thought
to be of divine origin. The gamut is called swaragrama,
and is uttered as Sa, ri, ga, ma, pa, dha, ne. Little cir-
cles, ellipses, crescents, chains, curves, lines, straight, hori-
zontal, or perpendicular, are employed as notes. The
close of each strain is always marked by a flower, especi-
ally the rose and lotus.
The mode of dress of the Hindoo is both simple and
suitable to the climate. The men wear a cloth called
dhotee bound round the loins, with an upper vest, of cot-
ton or silk according to the wealth of the wearer, over it.
This angraka, or coat, is very graceful, generally of pure
white, and descending to the ankles ; it is bound around
the waist by a colored shawl or scarf called cumberbund.
A white muslin turban artistically wound around the head
and sandals complete the attire. On festive occasions a
gay handkerchief is thrown over the right shoulder, which
adds very much to the picturesqueness of the dress.
The women wear a cloth, or saree, some yards in length,
often edged with a rich and delicate embroidery of gold
or silver, descending to the feet. They gather this into a
point in front, and fasten it around their waists with or
without belts, as the case may be. They then twist the
rest most gracefully around the entire person, after which
it is thrown over the head and made to serve both as a
bonnet and a veiL It is very becoming, and, wrought
over with delicate Oriental devices of fine texture, lends a
peculiar charm to the most ordinary features. A bright
silk boddice is worn under the saree, and the whole dress
accords well with the sweet, modest grace and beauty
which characterize the pure Hindoo woman.
They also wear a profusjpn of jewels, and ears, nose,
200 LIFE AND TKAVEL, IN INDIA.
arms, wrists, ankles, toes, and fingers are often bedecked
with them. In some instances all their wealth is thus
preserved. The hair, which is often very luxuriant, is
combed back in the ordinary European style, and is tied
in a knot behind. Rich women often fasten it with a
band of gold bound around the entire head and very ex-
pensive ornamental gold pins. The Hindoo women pos-
sess in a far greater degree than Europeans an eye for
color. The most ignorant of them have the peculiar art
of selecting strong and brilliant contrasts in color, and so
disposing them on their persons as to make a perfect
harmony.
There is a marked difference between the moral and so-
cial character of the Hindoo and the Mohammedan wo-
men of India. The Hindoo woman does not occupy that
position in society which she is so eminently fitted to
grace, and which is accorded to women in Europe and
America ; but she is by no means as degraded as is so
frequently represented by travellers, who are apt to mis-
take the common street-women with whom they are
brought into contact for the wife and mother of an ordi-
nary Hindoo home. It is difficult for a stranger to find
out what an Indian woman is at home, though he may
have encountered many a bedizened female in the streets
which he takes for her.
The influence of the Hindoo woman is seen and felt all
through the history of India, and is very marked in the
annals of British rule. Though the political changes, the
invasion, and despotism of Mohammedan rule may have
forced upon them the seclusion now so general, it is evi-
dent that they once occupied a very different position in
society, from the testimony of their earliest writers and
the dramatic representations of domestic life and manners
still extant.
NOTABLE WOMEN OP INDIA. 201
One of the most startling facts is, that among the Asi-
atic rulers of India who have heroically resisted foreign
invasion the women of Hindostan have distinguished
themselves almost as much as the men. Lakshmi Baiee,
the queen of Jahnsee, held the entire British army in
check for the space of twenty-four hours by her wonderful
generalship, and she would probably have come off vic-
torious if she had not been shot down by the enemy.
After the battle Sir Hugh Rose, the English commander,
declared that the best man on the enemy's side was the
brave queen Lakshmi Baiee. Another courageous and
noble woman, Aus Khoor, was placed by the British
government on the throne of Pattiala, an utterly disor-
ganized and revolted state in the Panjaub. In less than
one year she had by her wise and effective administration
changed the whole condition of the country, subjugated
the rebellious cities and villages, increased the revenues,
and established order, security, and peace everywhere.
Alleah Baiee, the Mahratta queen of Malwah, devoted her-
self for the space of twenty years with unremitting as-
siduity to the happiness and welfare of her people, so
that Hindoos, Buddhists, Jains, Parsees, and Mohammed-
ans united in blessing her beneficent rule ; and of so rare
a modesty was this woman that she ordered a book which
extolled her virtues to be destroyed, saying, "Could I
have been so infamous as to neglect the welfare and hap-
piness of my subjects?"
In the historical notices of the rule of Hind6stanee
women nothing is more conspicuous than their fine, intui-
tive sense of honor and justice. Clive, Hastings, Wel-
lesley, and other governors-general of India, have all ac-
knowledged their high appreciation of the character of
the Hindoo women they have known, declaring that in
many instances, under the administration of Ranees and
202 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
Begums, India has been more prosperous and better gov-
erned than under the rule of the native rajahs.
The present ruler of Bhopal is a lady of high moral
and intellectual attainments; both she and her mother,
who preceded her as head of the state, have displayed the
highest capacity for administration. Both have been ap-
pointed knights of the Star of India by the empress of
India, Queen Victoria, and their territory is the best
governed native state in India.
Very recently the queen of England created her Asi-
atic sisters, the queens of Oude and Pattiala, knights of
the Star of India in appreciation of their wise and benef-
icent rule over their respective kingdoms.
During the dreadful ravages of the French and Eng-
lish, or the Carnatic War, the Hindoo women adminis-
tered to the wounded and suffering European soldiers of
both nations with equal tenderness and impartiality, caus-
ing one of the English generals to report to head-quarters,
"But for the Indian women, who better understand the
qualities of love and tenderness than we Europeans, I
should have left half of my wounded soldiers to die on
the battle-field. They washed the toiling feet of the poor
tired soldiers, stanched their flowing wounds, and bore
them in their united arms from the strife of the battle-
field to the quiet and shelter of their own little huts."
In that interesting narrative of occurrences at Benares
during the latter days of the month of June, 1857, fur-
nished by a soldier of the Seventy-eighth Highlanders,
are several incidents characteristic of the devotion and
self-abnegation of the Hindoo women. This regiment or
company of soldiers, in its work of retaliation upon the
Indian mutineers, often set fire to whole villages in order
to punish the rebel sepoys sheltered by them. On one of
these occasions a humane Highlander, after having rescued
HINDOO PEACTICE OF STTTTEEISM. 203
several persons from the fire, rushed into the flames to save
a young woman seated calmly by a dying man, whose lips
she was wetting with some siste * while the fire was raging
around her. No inducement of self-preservation could
prevail with her to quit his side till they were both car-
ried out.
Tenderness and self-devotion, as I said before, are the
chief characteristics of the pure Hindoo woman. Her
love for her offspring amounts to a passion, and she is
rarely known to speak hastily, much less to strike or ill
use her child. Her devotion as a wife has no parallel in
the history of the world. Marriage is a sacred, indissolu-
ble bond, which even death itself cannot destroy, and the
patient, much -enduring women of India took the terrible
yoke of sutteeism upon them in becoming wives as calmly
as the young English or American girl puts on her bridal
veil, and have gone to the funeral pile for centuries with-
out a murmur.
In the purer and more ancient period of Indian civili-
zation it was not customary to force a widow upon the fu-
neral pyre of her husband. But the fearful prospects of
Hindoo widowhood, which made her future existence ap-
pear to her a long, wearisome, and distasteful series of sad
duties, made her gladly choose death rather than life.
Besides which, she died honored and happy, having by
her death redeemed her husband from a thousand years
or penance. By degrees, this fearful practice, fostered by
the priests and poets of India, became a sacred tradition
carefully handed down from mother to daughter, and at
last came to be regarded as a sublime sacrifice on the mar-
riage altar. The practice of sutteeism has been virtually
abolished by the British government on British-Indian
* A peculiar little seed from which a cooling drink is prepared. A
preparation of rice and water, when cooled, is often called " siste."
204 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
soil, but to this day women will perform painful journeys
to places still governed by native princes in order to burn
themselves alive.
In 1834, while Dr. Burnes was residing at Cutch, a
very remarkable case of sutteeism took place in that
province. The only wife of Bhooj-Rhai, a wealthy and
intimate friend of the rao or king, had, during her hus-
band's illness, declared her intention of performing suttee
at his death. When the time arrived the rao, at the in-
stance of the British resident, expostulated with her, but
all in vain. Protection was also offered her in the name
of the British government, but her determination remained
firm and unshaken. On the morning appointed for the
burning of Bhooj-Rhai's body a funeral pyre was erected
immediately in front of Rao Lakka's tomb. A spot was
enclosed with a circle of bamboos, the tops of which were
bound together in the form of a beehive, covered with
dried grass and thorns ; the entrance was a small aperture
on the left side. Crowds of gayly-dressed people flocked
to the spot. The moment the victim, a remarkably hand-
some woman about thirty, and most superbly dressed, ap-
peared, accompanied by the Brahman priests, her relatives,
and the dead body of her husband, the people greeted her
with loud exclamations of praise and delight, poured forth
benedictions on her head for her constancy and virtue, and
showered flowers on her path as she was borne along;
women pressed to touch the hem of her garments, hoping
thereby to be absolved from all sin and preserved from all
evil influences.
Dr. Burnes addressed the woman, desiring to know
whether the act she was about to perform was voluntary
or enforced by the priests, and offered her again, on the
part of the British government, a guarantee for the pro-
tection of her life and property. Her answer was calmly
A FIERY CONSUMMATION. 205
heroic, and she could not be dissuaded from her purpose :
" I die of my own free will," said she ; " give me back
my husband and I will consent to live." Seeing that
nothing could move her from her resolution, Dr. Burnes
despatched a message to the rao requesting his interference.
He returned answer that it was beyond his power to arrest
the ceremony. Everything was done, but in vain, to save
the life of this infatuated woman, and at length the cere-
mony began. Accompanied by the officiating Brahmans,
the widow walked seven times round the pyre, repeating
the usual mantras or prayers, strewing rice and cowries
(small shells) on the ground, sprinkling holy water over
her friends and relatives and on the bystanders. She then
removed her jewels and presented them to her nearest rela-
tions with a glad smile. The Brahman priest then pre-
sented her with a lighted torch ; taking it from his hand,
she stepped through the fatal entrance and calmly seated
herself within the pile. The body of her husband, wrappped
in rich kinkaub (gold cloth), was then carried seven times
round the pile, and finally laid across her knees. The
door was left unclosed, in the hope that the deluded
woman might yet repent and escape. Not a sigh, not a
whisper, broke the death-like silence of the crowd. The
intrepid woman held up her torch and ignited the pile.
Presently a slight smoke, curling from the summit of the
pyre, gave notice that the fiery ordeal had begun ; then
came a tongue of flame darting with lightning rapidity to-
ward the clear blue sky, announcing that the sacrifice was
completed, though not a sound betrayed that a living vic-
tim was within holding a dead corpse in her arms. So
far as courage and silent, resolute determination went, she
was more immovable than the dead clay she held in her
last fiery embrace. At the sight of the ascending crack-
ling flames wild shouts of exultation rent the air, the
206 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
drums beat, the people clapped their hands in delighted
applause, while the English spectators of the scene with-
drew, bearing deep compassion in their hearts.
After the fiery consummation had taken place, on the
ground where the sadhwee, or "pure one/' had expired
three chatties, or earthen vessels, full of consecrated balls
of rice, were placed as offerings to the gods.
The Bombay government notified the rao at once that
the repetition of such inhuman atrocities would not again
be overlooked.* This had no doubt some effect on His
Highness, but nevertheless some time after this sacrifice
the beautiful mother of the rao suddenly fell ill and died,
and one of her female attendants voluntarily buried her-
self alive near her mistress, in order that she should be in
readiness to attend her in a future state.
It is very difficult for the Western mind to comprehend
this utter self-abnegation on the part of Hindoos, and it
can only be accounted for by their deep faith in the uni-
versal metamorphosis of life and the unreality of form.
Maya f is illusion, the evanescent dream of life, which is
only a " sleep between a sleep," the constant flow of form
into form, of thought into thought, of life into other life.
Even Brahm does not recognize himself in the second
person : " I know when I am I, but who am I when I
am thou ?" It renders individuality illusive, intangible,
and uncertain, so that to the Hindoos life and possession
assume a meaning entirely different from that with which
we are disposed to regard them. It is true that life loses
half its charms, but death is robbed of its terrors. Life is
valued only in so far as they are prepared to lay it aside,
or rather to change it for some other form ; for life and
* See Outch, chapter vi., by Mr. Postans, 1839.
f The illusion or unreality of all created things, according to Brah-
man mystics.
THE BKAHMANISM OF TO-DAY. 207
death are but the perpetual ebb and flow, the advance or
retrograde, of soul toward " the Soul." Under this ardent
faith, that everything above, below, beyond, God himself,
is illusion, change, metamorphosis, is hidden the secret
that helps them to endure suffering not only without a
murmur, but with joy, and to count death itself a positive
gain in the presence of the eternal, immutable, and solid
fact of life to be found at last in the final reunion of the
human with the divine life. This faith so potent, so ab-
sorbing, so far reaching, has stamped a character hereditary
and almost ineffaceable on the Hindoo mind.
To-day Brahmanism is so expansive in character that it
takes in every form and peculiarity of religious sentiment.
The more earnest and spiritual have grand and magnificent
theories of God that supply ample food for the imagination ;
the tender have laws that reach down almost to vegetable
life ; the ignorant and vulgar have attractive festivals and
endless ceremonials suited to engage their attention ; the
vicious and degraded have the loves and frivolities of the
gods and heroes, whose lives encourage pursuit of sensual
gratifications ; the devotee who abandons all that is sensual
for spiritual insight has text upon text and example upon
example, taken from the Puranas * and from the actual
lives of saints, to support him in the effort of finding
God at last. The self-sacrificing only quits an illusion
for a reality, and the idolater who bows down before
wood and stone believes that he sees before him only the
form of a divine life hidden everywhere in matter. Thus
highest religious thought and life and lowest sensual indul-
gence meet together in the theology of the Brahmans.
* The " Puranas," or Hindoo Antiquities, are by no means as ancient
as they are named. They are eighteen volumes in all, but consisting
of no less than one million six hundred thousand sacred lines treating
of creation, mythology, tradition, and legend.
CHAPTER IX.
From Bombay to Poonah, the capital of the Maha Kashtra, or the great
Indian kings. Campooly. The Ascent of the Bhor Ghauts.* Khan-
dala. Caves of Carlee or Karli. "Puja Chakra," or the famous
Wheel-worship of the Brahmans. Poonah. Kirki. A Visit to the
Peishwa's Palace. Temple of Parvati. The Pundit and the Brahman
Priest at Prayer. Sanskrit and English Colleges at Poonah. Sut-
tee Monuments at Sangam. Hindoo Bankers, etc.
FROM the island of the ancient goddess Bamba D&vi to
Poonah, the capital of the great Indian kings, one passes
through the most extravagant contrasts of sights and scenes
to be found anywhere in the wide world gorgeous tem-
ples of gods and squallid dwellings of men ; fertile plains
and arid wastes; towering hills crowned with ancient forts
and temples, now lonely or deserted ; deep cave-structures
in the hearts of isolated mountains, where still lie written
in stone the romantic culture of a long-past age.
Our dank, which was simply a native carriage furnished
with horses instead of bullocks, trotted briskly along the
magnificent " Lion Causeway." Passing rapidly the east-
ern side of the island of Salsette to Thannah, and crossing
the great viaduct and round the promontory of Parsek, we
turned to the south, and emerged on a striking plain whose
attractiveness increased at every mile of the road until we
began the descent of the Bhpr Jjrhauts on the other side.
* Bhor, a Mahratta word for the jujube tree, Zizyphus juj iiba, which is
found among these mountains. The Ghauts, or " Landing-Stairs," are
the two ranges of mountains extending along the eastern and western
shores of the peninsula of Hindostan. The highest peaks in the north-
western part are found in the Mali ablash war Mountains, the summer
retreat of the Europeans of Bombay.
208
THE DECCAN, OR SOUTH COUNTRY. 209
In some parts our road lay over a great green floor soft
as velvet, intersected with innumerable river-like channels,
made in the lowlands by the ever-encroaching sea. Palm
trees fringed these salt-water streams, dotted with hun-
dreds of the fanciful sails of fishing-smacks, bunder-boats,
and brightly painted canoes, all moving to and fro swiftly
and silently under the shadows of the hills, which rise in
fantastic broken forms on one side. There is no sound
far or near to break the spell; the silent, forest-clad
Ghauts and the whole sea-begirt valley lie asleep in that
enchanted atmosphere.
At sunset we reached the village of Campoolj, at the
foot of the Ghauts a mean, dirty, and terribly unhealthy
spot, situated immediately under the lofty barrier-wall of
rock called the Bhor Ghauts, which props up the great
table-land of the Deccan * an immense plateau, with large
rivers, innumerable hills covered with forts, magnificent
towns, cities, villages, and many millions of inhabitants.
This enormous mountain-chain of the Deccan, the first
of the steps that rise one above the other till they termi-
nate in the great plateau of Thibet, the highest land of
the Himalayas, starts up almost perpendicularly from the
Konkan, or lowlands, and is securely fastened together by
huge buttresses of primeval granite, naked and frightful to
look upon in some places, and again singularly beautiful in
others. A railroad aud a tunnel have since been built across
this once almost inaccessible barrier, and is said to be " a
noble piece of engineering," for the Ghauts extend over
thirteen degrees of latitude and rise in some parts to a
height of five thousand five hundred feet above the level
of the sea.
There was a fine bungalow, built by Bala Roa Angria
for the accommodation of European travellers, at Cam-
* From Dakshina (Sanskrit), " South Country."
14
210 LIFE AND TKAVEL, IN INDIA.
pooly, where we passed the first hours of the night to
await some palanquins with their bearers that had already
started up the Ghauts. This bungalow is only occupied
by chance wayfarers. Here we took up our abode, and
only a tribe of monkeys showed the least inclination to
prevent our doing so. There were sixteen in all ; they
were evidently enjoying themselves running in and out
of the half-deserted building. A number on the roof
were throwing down into the verandah the peculiar nut-
like fruit of the large and graceful peepul trees that over-
shadowed the house. Some were peeping in at the doors
and windows, and some were swinging themselves from
the rafters. The moment we appeared they showed regu-
lar fight, screamed, chattered, and no doubt swore at us
hard and fast in monkey fashion ; but, what seemed to me
most curious, there was not a man in our service who
would perform the unkind office of dispersing them from
the bungalow. We had to send for our driver, who, being
a Musulman, had no scruples of early ancestry or primi-
tive divinities. He took off his cumberbund, or scarf,
twisted it into a whip with a knot at the end, and des-
patched the bulk of the tribe back into the forest whence
they had come. Only one great black-bearded male mon-
key remained on the roof in spite of the brandished rag ;
when we were at supper this huge creature suddenly sus-
pended himself downward by the tail, looked in upon us,
and, opening his hideous jaws, uttered some fierce impreca-
tions, which, as our pundit would say, " were perfectly intel-
ligible, but not translatable/' and, having done this, he van-
ished, and we saw nothing more of him for that evening.
There is here a Hindoo temple, and a fine reservoir
which occupies a quarter of a mile of ground. This res-
ervoir and the adjoining temple, dedicated to Maha Deo,
were built by that most subtle of Mahratta ministers, the
TRAVELLING IN PALANQUINS.
ASCENT OF THE MOUNTAINS. 211
famous Nana Furnaveez, whose real name was Balaji
Jahnardhan. It is exceedingly well built ; the sides are
lined and the banks paved with fine stoiie; steps lead
everywhere to the edge of the water ; a magnificent ban-
yan tree overshadows the artificial lake, and near it flour-
ishes a fine grove of mango trees.
On the opposite side of us men, women, and children
were bathing, swimming and disporting themselves in the
water. Some of the young women were symmetry it-
self, with exquisitely-proportioned, slender forms, delicate
hands and feet, finely-poised heads and necks. Their long
hair streamed behind them in the water as they swam
merrily about. Others were just stepping out of the tank
arrayed in their graceful but dripping sarees, which they
allow to dry on their persons while they proceed to fill
their water-jars, and, piling them one above the other on
their heads, depart to their respective homes. These wo-
men seemed very innocent and child-like, and a closer ac-
quaintance with several high-bred and true Hindoos proved
that these were their distinguishing characteristics.
At three o'clock next morning we began the ascent of
the Ghauts in palanquins, or, as they are commonly called,
palkees, with coolies to transport our baggage and provis-
ions. About sunrise we reached a very remarkable point
in these mountains, a deep and frightful-looking chasm.
We alighted from our palkees and went over this part of
the Ghauts on foot. At length we were directed as near
as we dared to approach the spot where the mountain was
split in two.* Not a sound was heard anywhere. As we
stood there the shadows of the crags brightened every
* This chain is now bridged over by a viaduct which once crumbled
down and disappeared into the depths below in the presence of a brave
English engine-driver, who had the good fortune to arrest the train,
that was speeding on its way toward it, just, in time to save many valu-
able lives.
212 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
moment, now shimmered along the sides, and shed flicker-
ing shafts of light far down upon the midnight darkness
below. It was a glorious picture the depth below and
the height above, on whose summits the plumes of the
palm trees waved their branches to the rising sun.
The atmosphere was remarkably clear, and this helped
us to see a great distance with the naked eye. On one
side gently-falling slopes gave place to abrupt precipices
and innumerable peaks, and on the other far below were
smiling plains, each more beautiful than the other in form
and color, affording now and then most magical glimpses
of green fields dotted with great reservoirs that looked
like silvery spots, and cozy little Hindoo villages nestling
amid charming groves and palm-plantations.
As the story goes, the duke of Wellington, then a sim-
ple colonel, cast all his guns into one of these reservoirs
when he found no means of conveying them any farther,
lest they should fall into the hands of the enemy, as he
marched over the same road to Poonah and there quelled
the famous Mahratta rebellion of 1802.
Now on foot and now in palkees we at length ascended
these Ghauts, sweeping round and round, now ascending,
now descending, passing by dreadful precipices, drawing
breath under quaint natural bowers, following winding
paths, and coming suddenly upon foaming cascades leap-
ing from rock to rock. So we went from beauty to ever-
increasing beauty, till we reached the village of Khan-
dala, on the very top of the mountain, near which a trav-
ellers' bungalow stands with open arms or verandahs
to receive us. And here was opened to us the full en-
chantments of the fairyland through which we had been
passing upward. All of a sudden from this high peak
we beheld a most beautiful and varied picture sharp
peaks of every form and shape and size, tremendous
A VARIED SCENE. 213
ravines, towering mountains, leaping waterfalls, sloping
hillsides, and waving palms and mountain-forests, clearly
outlined against a deep-blue sky, and over all these varied
forms of nature the sunlight floats and melts, a sea of gold.
No artist, however gifted, no pencil, however matchless,
can catch and transfer to canvas the entrancing beauties
of the views as seen from the top of the Bohr Ghauts and
at such a moment.
This lovely spot has for more than twenty years been
the favorite retreat of the wealthy and change-seeking in-
habitants of Bombay, and now that the railway is opened
it is much more easily reached.
The ravines in this neighborhood harbor many wild
beasts, and it is said that at night tigers, leopards, and
bears are often seen prowling about in search of prey.
The natives raise wild shouts when they think they hear
or see them, and thus frighten them away.
The travellers' bungalow at Khandala is most pic-
turesquely situated on the edge of a deep ravine. On the
right is a small lake or reservoir adjoining the residence
of the late Parsee knight, Sir Jamsetjee Jeeboy. To the
east is a magnificent hill, called the Dukejs_ffose ? from
its supposed likeness to that of Wellington. From this
point there are splendid views. The pretty little moun-
tain-village of Khandala is close by, and as we pass on to
Karli we skirt the beautiful woods of Lanauli,* so often
quoted in Mahratta song, once the hunting-grounds of the
rulers of the Deccan, and still abounding in wild boars
and other game.
We spent four days at the bungalow here, and, what
was more, saw every sun that rose and set on these moun-
tains. Each day was a counterpart of the preceding one,
clear and bright. We traversed some miles of the sur-
* A small village on the Khandala Hills.
214 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
rounding country to visit hill-forts, caves, and viharas,
which abound in this neighborhood.
Our next halting-place was at the village of Karli, a
cluster of Hindoo houses hid amidst a fine grove of trees.
There was a nice bungalow here, and even barracks to
hold about two hundred men.
The most famous cave is that of Karli. It far sur-
passed those we had visited on the islands of Salsette and
Elephanta, and took us very much by surprise. The
caves are on a hill about two miles or more from the
travellers' bungalow. We entered seemingly into the
heart of the mountain, and found ourselves in the body
of the temple or cave, which is separated from the side-
aisles by fifteen columns of magnificent design and work-
manship ; on each side, on the upper part of each of these
columns, are two kneeling elephants, and on each elephant
are two seated human figures, sometimes a male and fe-
male, with their arms around each other's shoulders
sometimes the figures are both female. The effect is re-
markably striking. The chaitya* is plain and very solid,
and behind it are seven plain octagonal pillars without any
ornamentation. The interior of the temple seems to have
been lined with woodwork. Right in front of the arched
roof or hall is a second screen, as at the great cave at Sal-
sette. It is composed of plain octagonal columns with
pilasters. Over these is a mass of wall crowned with a
superstructure of four dwarf pillars; the whole of this
appears to have been covered with wooden ornaments. f
These are thought to have been a broad balcony in front
of the plain wall, supported by two bold wooden brackets
* An immense hemispherical altar of stone with a kind of wooden
umbrella spreading above, beneath which lies interred some relic of the
god to whom the temple is dedicated.
t See Fergusson's Rock-cut Temples of India, p. 27.
THE FAMOUS CAVE OF KARLI. 215
from the two piers. This balcony is thought to have
served the purpose of a music-gallery or nagara khanah,
as are still found in the Jain temples to-day. Every-
thing here is executed in the finest style ; the bas-reliefs,
the windows, the doors, the halls, roofs, vestibules, and
figures are each, one and all, beautifully executed. The
colossal figure of the Buddha perched on a lotos throne,
with angels hovering around him, his hands folded in
everlasting repose resting on his knees, is grand and im-
posing. On the walls are carved many a beautiful flower,
some not unlike those we passed in our morning's ride,
with strange characters and symbol after symbol replete
with the wisdom of the Buddhists. Rows of half-nude
gigantic women, elephants, lions, birds, and beasts relate
in solid stone the triumphs of Buddhism over Brahman-
ism. Dr. Stevenson dates the building of this temple at
seventy years before Christ ; executed, according to him,
by the emperor Devabhute, under the care of Xenocrates
or Dheunuka-Kati. . There has been, however, much
doubt thrown by recent explorers on the dates given by
Dr. Stevenson. The inscriptions under the gateway are
thought to place beyond dispute the dates of these scat-
tered excavations, so similar in point of architecture, at
the second century before Christ and not long after the
great Buddhist dispersion from North-western Hindostan
by the Brahmans.
A number of queer-looking Brahman priests of the
Sivite * sect, who take care of these caves and encourage
pilgrims to them, came out to see us, and, finding our pun-
dit to be a countryman, though he was not of their sect,
invited us to witness their worship in a vihara adjoining.
It was difficult to believe that the quiet, dark, handsome
men who spoke to us could be such dupes as they seemed
* Followers of the god Siva or Shiva.
216 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
while at worship. In the largest of the caves was a
huge, rude machine very like a common wheel, in the
centre of which was a round place for a fire, and another
and smaller fireplace on each of the seven spokes of the
wheel. To the wheel was attached a long pole, and to
this pole was tied a large-eyed, patient-looking Brahmanee
cow with bells around her neck. To the cord which fast-
ened these bells was tied a long rope, and this rope was
held by a Yoghee, a sort of mystic Brahman priest, who
had nothing on but a wisp of straw around his loins, and
a half-starved-looking dog at his heels.
The moment the sun sank behind the mountains a
white-robed priest issued from one of the smaller caves
and placed a little earthen lamp, containing a long wick
and some cocoanut oil, in each one of the receptacles for
the fires. This done, the deafening sounds of multitud-
inous drums were heard from the secret recesses of the
intermediate caves. At this, away went the Yoghee, the
dog, the cow, and the wheel, with the seven tiny lamps
revolving around the larger one in the centre. This
furious dance continued, the dog barking, the cow lowing,
and the drums beating, for an hour, and then another
Yoghee stepped forward and relieved the first one. There
were twelve priests, or rather ascetics, for the twelve
hours of the night, and this was the celebrated "puja
chakra," or wheel-worship, of the ancient Brahmans.
We could not wait, of course, to see the end of this
strange, wild, deafening performance. I nearly fainted
from the oppressive heat and disagreeable odors of the
cave, and was obliged to seek relief in the open air.
Here we found the Yoghee who had begun the dance
seated on a stone clothed in a long dusky mantle and evi-
dently enjoying the evening breeze. He answered me in
pure Hindostanee, and told me that the central fire or
THE PUJA-CHAKRA. 217
lamp represented the Surya, or the Sun, the smaller ones
the seven planets, naming each one Soma, the Moon;
Mangala, Mars; Buddh, Mercury; Virhaspati, Jupiter;
Sukra, Venus ; Sani, Saturn ; Deva Bheemi, the Earth.
The cow stood for Providence, or, as he termed it, the
All-giver ; he himself for mankind ; while the dog was
the emblem of the human family ; his dance was in honor
of the solar system.
A look of supreme satisfaction overspread his face
as he informed me that the deep spiritual meaning which
was conveyed to his heart was not in the wheel or
in the fires, but in himself as he thought of the efficacy
of the daily sacrifice which he offered to the gods, which
convinced me that he at least firmly believed that the re-
turn of the sun-god to his place in the heavens every morn-
ing was due to his efforts and that of his brethren in per-
forming from one end of the year to the other this self-
imposed mystic night-dance in honor of the solar system.
The moon had risen as we put our little tattoos' * faces
Khandala-ward and trotted away from the Karli village
and the Hindoo ascetics. We had a very amusing half-
broken and half-rattling talk with our pundit, who in-
sisted that there was nothing more holy in the way of
worship than the "puja chakra," which we had just
seen. When my husband irreverently inquired, " If the
wheel-worship was not a gentle hint to the sun to be up
and about his business every morning," our good guide
and teacher became suddenly grave and silent, and not
another word would he say to us on the subject of this
curious worship.
Next day we climbed a hill to see the oldjfort of Lok-
garha, which was twice captured from the Mahrattas by
the East India Company's generals. It occupies a com-
* The Mahratta horses.
218 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
manding position, and we enjoyed the view from it.
This grand old Mahratta fortress is full of historical in-
terest. It was here that the beautiful and astute widow
of Nana Furnaveez, the most famous of the Mahratta
ministers, took refuge, and the killadhar, or commander
of the fort, obtained for her from General Wellesley not
only a guarantee of safety, but an annual pension of twelve
thousand rupees. On our return ride we passed through
a wild but beautiful part of the hills. We saw and heard
the stately pea-fowl that are found in this neighborhood ;
they added very much to the wild, luxuriant beauty of
the woods.
On the following morning we bade adieu to the beau-
tiful Bohr Ghauts. There was a great deal more of love-
liness to be seen for many a mile until we reached the
slope of the mountains, which is gradual rather than ab-
rupt, as it is on the opposite side, and after that it was of
no consequence at all where we looked. We were riding
down a bleak, rugged, desolate country, slightly inclined ;
this was that immense triangular plateau between the
Ghaut districts on the east and west and the great Vind-
hiya chain on the north. As we approached Poonah we
found the views more interesting fields of wheat, maize,
orchards of fruit trees, plantain-groves, and the peepul,
tamarind, and palm waving above them all. When we
reached the bridge that spans the Moota River, it was
near sunset. A flood of light poured from the sky over
hill and dale and valley, gilding with unusual brilliancy
the venerable roofs of Parbuttee and the half-ruined tur-
retted walls of the Peishwa's palace.
Poonah, with the adjoining military station at Kirkee,
where the scenery, owing to the junction of the Moota
and MoolaJSivers, is very picturesque, has a very respect-
able English population. But the majority of the natives
THE CITY OF POONAH. 219
are almost exclusively Brahmans of the Deccan and Hin-
doos from various parts of Hindostan.
This spot is famous in Mahratta annals. In 1599
Poonah and Supah were made over to Mahlaji Bhonsli,
grandfather of the renowned Sivaji, by the government
of the Nizam. In 1750 it was made the capital of the
Maharashtra empire under Balaji Baji Rao. It was once
more seized and destroyed by the Nizam's forces, by Alih
Shah, who had established the Mohgul empire at Haider-
abad in the Deccan. And here again another battle
took place in 1802, when Jeshwant Eao Holkar defeated
the combined armies of the Peishwa and Scindhia.
With our usual good-fortune we procured a house at
Kirkee to stay in during our visit to this neighborhood.
It was the residence of a moolah, a Mohammedan bishop,
and must have been built many years ago. It is a beau-
tiful spot. A British cavalry regiment is stationed here,
and here was fought the battle in which the English
gained one of their most remarkable Indian victories over
the last Peishwa.
The native city is divided into seven quarters and dedi-
cated to the seven high angels or planets after whom the
days of the week are named.
The streets of the city of Poonah are more picturesque
and far more Oriental than even those of Bombay. The
principal street is long, wide, and furnished with side-
walks, with shops of all sizes and all kinds of mer-
chandise, having open fronts, and the goods are exposed
on inclined platforms. The lanes and thoroughfares are
thronged with people of all nationalities the sedate and
white-robed Brahman; the handsome Hindoo; the refined
and delicate-looking Hindoo woman in her flowing grace-
ful saree and pretty red sandals (for in this city Moham-
medan influence has not yet reached the point which it
220 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
has in other parts of India, and the women are not cooped
up in harems, but are met everywhere in the streets, tem-
ples, and bazaars) ; the pompously-dressed Musulman, Arab,
and Mahratta horsemen completely armed, prancing along
on their splendid chargers ; Mahratta foot-soldiers with their
lordly swagger, equipped with sword and shield and buck-
ler ; emaciated devotees, fakeers, and mendicants of all de-
nominations, some wholly nude, others clothed in the skins
of wild beasts, and yet others covered with dust and paint
and ashes of cow-ordure; fat, lazy-looking Brahmanee
bulls; Jews, Parsees, native Portuguese Christians, and
occasionally a British Mahratta sepoy in his neat undress
uniform. This moving picture, so strange and incon-
gruous, had the additional fascination of state elephants ;
splendid cavalcades of the Peishwa's troops decked out in
brilliant colors and accompanied by richly-caparisoned led
horses ; camels trotting along at a quick pace to the sound
of merry little tinkling bells suspended from their necks ;
fighting rams, kept for combats, one of the favorite Mah-
ratta pastimes, parading the streets in long rows, now
leaping and batting at dreamy Brahmanee- cows. Add
to all this that almost every day in the week there are
crowded markets, religious processions, passing funerals
with gayly-dressed corpses seated on the biers, looking
ghastly enough on this dancing bubbling current of hu-
man life, and some idea may be formed of the sights
and scenes to be met with in the capital of the Mahratta
empire.
At my first arrival at Poonah I remember seeing some
Hindoo children at play in the square. They were play-
ing at marbles in all respects like the English game, save
that the boys had nothing in the world on but a sacred
cord round their shoulders and some gold and silver orna-
ments. New-born infants could not have been more un-
HISTORICAL PLACES OF POONAH. 221
conscious than they were. The boy who won, a lad about
eight or nine, seemed the least elated of the party. The
one who lost had a better time ; he clapped the winner on
the back and cheered him all the way across the square,
crying, " Khoop ! khoop !" (" Fine ! fine !"). There were
thirty or more nude little fellows watching the play with
intense interest, and evidently having the most enjoyment
out of it, to judge from the wild shouts of applause with
which they hailed the victor, screaming at the very top
of their lungs, " Marliah ! marliah !" (" Beaten ! beaten !").
How many English or American boys would behave so
well?
It would be simply impossible to enumerate all the
places of historical interest to be found here. The hill-
sides are everywhere crowned with forts and religious and
military strongholds, where many a battle has been fought
and won, and many a treaty formed only to be broken,
both by the servants of the East India Company and the
contending Mahratta and Mohgul forces, on this debatable
land of the Hindoos, Mohguls, and English conquerors.
There are Bambura, or Bampoora, whence in former
times an enormous gun, the Mahratta curfew, boomed sun-
set warnings to honest men to betake themselves home ;
and Dapooree, where Colonel Ford, C. B., built a palatial
residenceTancl raised and commanded a brigade of mag-
nificent Mahratta troops after the European fashion for
the service of the Peishwa Baji Rao.
At Chinchore, near by, a boy is still worshipped as God
by the credulous natives. The originator of this curious
deception was one Marabo, who is said to have restored
sight to a blind girl, and who effected a like miraculous
cure for the great Sivaji.* In order to prove his divinity,
* Founder of the Mahratta empire, born at Junir, about fifty miles
from Poonah, in the year 1627.
222 LIFE AND TKAVEL IN INDIA.
this Marabo caused himself to be buried alive in a sitting
posture with a holy book in his hands. His son succeeded
' him as God. For several miracles performed by the lat-
ter, especially the feat of transforming a piece of cow's
flesh into roses, the emperor of Delhi, Alamghir, presented
to this man-god Narayana eight villages in perpetuity.
Then there is another curious old fort, Chakhan,* with
its ramparts and parapets constructed, according to Hin-
doo story, by an Abyssian chief named Palighar, A. D.
1295. In 1818 it was captured by the troops of the East
India Company. And last, but not least, there is the fa-
mous Sing^garh, u the lion's den," a vast triangular-shaped
fortress, where the brave Mahwalee soldiers, headed by the
braver Tanaji Malysreh, Sivaji's general, fought against
the Rajpoots. The latter lost his life after he had cap-
tured from the Rajpoots this stronghold of the Mahrattas,
causing Sivaji to exclaim, "The den is taken, but the
lion, alas ! is slain."
This fortress was finally captured by the English during
the Mahratta and English war. The ascent is made by
palanquins. Splendid trees and many a wild flower
crown the hillsides, creeping over gate and tower and
moat, spreading beauty and gladness where once was heard
the perpetual war-cry of deadly combatants.
We visited the Peishwa's palace. Our syce, or groom,
looked like a bedizened prince as he led the way with his
gay turban and brilliant sash. We kept close to his
horse's heels, and the pundit, whose long white robe gave
him the appearance of a lady on horseback, brought up
the rear.
The palace, temples, and pavilions of the late Peishwa
* This fort is reputed to be of great antiquity, and was constructed
by Palighar, but as to who he was, or how he got there, they do not
pretend to know.
THE TEMPLE OF PARVATI. 223
all cluster about a most beautiful hill called Parbuttge, a
corruption of the Sanskrit word Pharvati, " Sacred Moun-
tain." A magnificent garden called " Hira Bdgh " (" the
gem or diamond garden "), and a fine reservoir with an old
pavilion on its bank, are some of the features of this sa-
cred spot. The palace is in no way worthy of notice, and
is fast crumbling away, but it is approached by a magnif-
icent staircase of stone steps cut out of the mountain, and
so gradual that we rode up it on horseback. The hill is
covered with temples. The view is very fine ; seen over
the lake with its pretty little tree-covered islands and wide
fields studded with palm- and mango-plantations, it was
one vast beautiful picture.
Our syce pointed out to us the spot where a young
Mahratta prince dashed himself headlong from his pa-
vilion because he was publicly reprimanded for some
breach of etiquette by his prime minister, Nana Furna-
veez.
There was much to interest us, however, in the tem-
ples, that are still kept in good repair, filled with the
monstrous idols of the Hindoos ; and here are held great
annual festivals in their honor. Over two hundred Brah-
man priests worship here, and are supported by the vol-
untary contributions made to their shrines.
We went into the temple of Parvati. Our pundit led
the way, accompanied by a singularly interesting Mahratta
Brahman priest, but I noticed that the sectarian marks on
his forehead and those on the pundit's were very different.
The former wore the marks of Siva, two straight lines
crossed, and the pundit those of Maha" D6o, two concen-
tric circles with a straight line. Before our eyes had be-
come accustomed to "the dim religious light" of this
temple, the power of which the Hindoos so well under-
stand, I looked and saw right in front of me, and imme-
224 LIFE AND TRAVEL, IN INDIA.
d lately at the foot of the altar, the prostrate figure of the
pundit, and the Brahman priest beside him, their arms and
hands stretched out, their faces hidden on the pavement,
their limbs stiff and rigid, and their long white robes
clinging to their persons.
Within full sight and hearing of the beauty of Chris-
tianity, with all the wonders and marvels of scientific dis-
coveries taught hard by in the public native school and in
the Sanskrit college, here were these men, neither of whom
lacked intellectual training, bowing down to idols of wood
and stone. Surely, the more earnest and spiritual of these
lowly worshippers see something of the truth, beauty, and
goodness of God, denied to less ardent natures, and only
discernible with closed eyes and in moments of deep, silent
emotion.
There is a massive silver statue of Siva seated on the
altar, holding on his knees his wife Parvati and their son
Ganesa. These smaller idols, it is said, are of pure gold ;
a princely fortune in precious gems adorns their head-
dresses, their necks, and gleams out of their eyes. There
were dusky arches and dingy, time-stained columns and
all kinds of figures on the walls, and over them all a
smoky atmosphere and an odor of incense mingled with
that of burnt-offerings.
We went out almost faster than we had gone in. Pun-
dit and his guru, or spiritual guide, were still going through
some genuflexions. A Brahman is a Brahman indeed, but
are Christians always the followers of Jesus? We sat
down on the steps of the temple, and by and by the pun-
dit came out with his spiritual guide, looking calm and
serene.
We visited the English school for the natives in the
Budhwar * portion of the city, also the Sanskrit college,
* The city of Poonah is divided into seven quarters, corresponding
SUTTEE MONUMENTS AT SANGAM. 225
and saw there hundreds of handsome, eager-looking stu-
dents, and we were assured that it produced men of very
great learning, who could hold their own in Sanskrit,
Mahratta, Hindostanee, and English even, with some of
the greatest scholars in England, France, or Germany.
A spot is shown at Sangam, not far from where we
took up our abode, where the devoted Hindoo widows
formerly underwent cremation with the dead bodies of
their husbands. These monuments can only be seen
when the water at Sangam (the spot where the Moola
and Moota Rivers meet) is at its lowest ebb. They con-
sist of flat stones or slabs laid in the river-bed, with two
female feet engraved on each of them. Even in this, the
most hideous and barbaric of Hindoo customs, is found
lingering a beautiful and tender sentiment. The feet
engraved on the slabs prove the willingness with which
these unknown women followed their loved ones through
the ordeal of a fiery death into the world beyond, and the
meeting of the two rivers typifies the final reunion of their
souls.
We visited a banker's office in the native city of Poonah.
This bank, in which large sums are deposited and extensive
business transacted, was nothing but a mud house plastered
over within and without. The counter was an inclined
platform reaching from the front to nearly the whole
length of the building ; on it squatted, cross-legged, sur-
rounded with bags of all kinds of money, a Mahratta
banker with his handsome countenance and keen piercing
black eyes, talking to his customers, discounting bills, and
counting money with astonishing rapidity and ease.
The bank where our pundit obtained his " hoondee," or
money-order, was managed, in the absence of his father,
to the days of the week. Budhwar, therefore, is the Wednesday quar-
ter of the city.
15
226 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
by a young Hindoo boy who could not have been over
twelve years of age. This youthful cashier astonished us
with his accuracy and quickness in counting and discount-
ing money. His only account-book, as far as I could see,
was a flat board covered with fine white sand. On this
primitive slate he made all his calculations, writing them
down with his forefinger. When he had finished he blew
away the sand and handed over the amount due to pundit,
with interest for odd days, etc., all calculated with the nicest
accuracy down to the smallest fraction. We wondered very
much to see these banking establishments left in the charge
of such young lads, who sit there demurely and, what is
more strange, securely until late at night, often amid
heaps of gold, silver, and other coin left temptingly in
full view; but one rarely hears of any attempt to rob
them.
The bankers' checks are written on a thick country-
made paper ; every check has a secret mark or sign that
renders forgery difficult. It is rolled up and fastened with
gum- water, and thus laks * upon laks of rupees are circu-
lated with ease and safety throughout the country.
The European portion of the city of Poonah stands on
a fine open plain. There are here wide fields, handsome
barracks for the European soldiers, bungalows for their
commanding officers, a hospital, a lunatic asylum, a pretty
little church with reading-room and library adjoining.
In fact, there is everything here to render the European
comfortable and happy, except the temper of the people,
who still cling to the recollections of old times, when
Poonah was the capital of their own great kings and
warriors, filled with all the pomp and parade of Oriental
splendor.
The late Sir Jamsetjee Jeeboy has erected a fine residence
* A lak is one hundred thousand rupees.
POONAH SEEN AT NIGHT. 227
here; near it is a simple and unpretending Fire-temple
for the benefit of the Parsees in this vicinity.
The last of the many bright hours spent here we drove
about the native town and enjoyed Poonah at night.
Every house, fort, temple, palace, and hut was illumi-
nated, those of the poor by a dim light, those of the tem-
ples and palaces by innumerable tiny flames that flickered
and gleamed in thousands of colors on the marbles and
frescoes of the walls, floors, and verandahs. It seemed
like passing through some fairy scene filled with the
thousand and one pictures of the Arabian Nights.
CHAPTER X.
The beautiful Hindoo village of Wye. The Mahabaleshwar Hills.
The Temple of the Gods. The Couch of Krishna. The Stone Im-
age of the Cow from whose mouth the Five Rivers of this Region
are said to Spring. The Holy Tank. Satarah, the Star City of the
Mahratta Empire. The Fort. The Palace of Sivaji. Jejureh,
the famous Hill-temples where the Dancing-girls of the Country
are recruited. The Mad Gossain, and the Story of his Ill-fated
Love. The Dancing-girl Krayahnee.
WE made a journey from Poonah to the Mahabaleshwar
Hills in a common bullock-cart, but through a country of
unrivalled beauty. We spent a night and a day at the
rural village of Wye. I have never seen any place where
the charm of Oriental grace working through the pure
Hindoo imagination has more forcibly stamped itself.
The soil, the climate, the temples, the river, the wide-
spreading trees, the sportive figures of the gods and god-
desses, are all calculated to bring out in strong relief the
characteristics of the adjoining mountains, which here as-
sume a multitude of beautiful shapes, rising heavenward
like innumerable battlemented towers, pinnacles, or spires,
each loftier than the last and endowed with a certain air
of individuality peculiar to these hills. One isolated rock
near the village rears its flat-topped brow, crowned with
an old Mahratta fort, more than a hundred feet high, sharp
and abrupt, lending a singular picturesqueness to the
smallest object under it.
Wye stands on the left bank of the river Krishna,
which is shaded by fine peepul and mango trees ; hand-
228
MOHTI BAGg, OB PEARL GARDEN. 229
some stone steps lead down to the edge of the swift-flow-
ing waters, and are crowded all day long with figures of
graceful men, women, and children sporting, bathing,
drawing water, or lounging idly around. There was an
irresistible freshness and quiet beauty about the gay, care-
less life of the people, which was passed absolutely on the
banks of the river.
We had no sooner taken up our abode in the travellers'
bungalow, which here commands a fine view, than the
patel, or chief of the city, accompanied by several Brah-
mans, paid us a visit, bringing us presents of fruit and
flowers. I was much struck with the genial kindliness
and courtesy of these men.
We rose at dawn next morning to see this Hindoo com-
munity perform in one body, on the banks of the Krishna,
the peculiar ceremony of worshipping the sun. The peo-
ple literally lined the banks of the river ; their faces were
turned up to the sky, and as they stood in rows on the
steps leading to the water's edge the effect was very im-
pressive. They then simultaneously filled their palms
with water, snuffed it up through their nostrils, and flung
it toward the north-east, repeating certain prayers. After
this they all proceeded to stand on one foot, then on the
other, each holding in his hand an earthen bowl filled
with clarified butter, with a lighted wick in the centre.
Then they all together saluted the mighty luminary with
folded hands raised to their foreheads, and then marched
toward the west in imitation of his path through the
heavens ; which terminated their sun-worship * for the
day.
We also visited the garden and palace of the Hast ins.
Mohti Bagh, or " pearl garden," as the entire palace and
grounds are called, is only a little distance from the village
* Hindoos also worship the sun every evening.
230 LIFE AND TEAVEL 1^ INDIA.
of Wye. The approach to the palace is through an en-
chanting road formed of tall bamboos, mangoes, and tama-
rind trees. Wye is a spot famed in Hindoo literature.
Here the heroes of the Mahabharata spent their years of
exile and expiation, and here they are said to have built
many wonderful temples. The river is almost gemmed
with beautiful temples in the finest style of Hindoo archi-
tecture, owing to this historic fact or fiction, whichever it
may be. The temples are filled with idols of heroes and
heroines, and the city with Hindoo men and women of
the finest type and utmost purity of character.
We visited an old Brahman college here, which was
once famous for the clever pundits it furnished to the
country around. There were some students in one of the
rooms; they were all young and good-looking, but had
about them an air of decorous restraint and an expression
of old age that were depressing to one's spirits.
Passing through a luxuriant country full of venerable
trees, groves, gardens, and wide fields, we stopped at the
little village of Dhoom to see a famous temple. It was
of fine stone, artistically built, but full of strange gods.
An arched door led to one of the shrines, where there was
an image of Siva. Vessels containing rice and flowers
were before him, and the basin in front of the temple is
something peculiarly beautiful. It is unique in form
like a huge tulip-shaped cup, of pure white marble, with
its rim most delicately carved into the petals of the lotos-
flower. It is impossible to give any adequate idea of this
exquisite bit of Hindoo sculpture. A pillar of white mar-
ble with five heads of Siva, and the cobra de capello
twisted round them, adds another charming attraction to
this insignificant Brahman village.
The ride up the Tai Ghauts was one of great beauty.
Here and there in the dells and hollows were little patches
THE VILLAGE OF MAHABALESHWAR. 231
of grass which looked at a distance very like a green
velvet carpet. Low-growing wild plants, tall trees, and
creepers were matted together in one network of green,
yellow, red, blue, and purple. The views looking back
were lovely. The noise of mountain-torrent and trick-
ling waters in the midday heat was most refreshing.
The ancient village of Mahabaleshwar is perched on a
high table-land, and is said to be the most elevated por-
tion of that interminable western range of Ghauts forming
some of the highest ground between the Southern Ghauts
and the Himalayas. The temple of Maha Deo stands close
under a projecting rock on the very spot where, accord-
ing to Brahmans here, the five sacred rivers of this region
take their rise the Krishna, the Koina, and the Yena,
which flow toward the Deccan, and the beautiful Savitri
and Gaiutri, which, after leaping down the mountain-sides
in many picturesque cascades and waterfalls, unite with
other small streams to form quite a large river, at whose
mouth stands Fort Victoria. There are no lovelier scenes
than some of those formed by these two rivers, and espe-
cially remarkable is the spot where they unite, flowing
between deep and wooded banks till they lose themselves
in a broad, quiet, placid stream.
A large reservoir is excavated in front of the temple to
receive the waters of the Krishna and Koina, and in front
is a huge stone cow, through whose mouth the waters flow
into it. All around this reservoir is a fine stone walk, and
farther on are several cells where saints who have long
abandoned the world still reside unseen, but not unheard,
for night after night their voices, like the feeble wail of
infants, are borne on the night air, imploring the gods
in behalf of the lost, erring human race. Fiends, angels,
heroes, demons, and gods are all worshipped here.
The Brahman ascetics who have charge of these temples
232 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
ring a bell to give notice that the deified beings have taken
up their abode in their respective cells. Krishna, the last
incarnation of the Hindoos, has also a couch prepared for
him here. When the sound of this bell is heard all the
inhabitants of this mountain-village betake themselves to
a few moments' meditation. We saw some remarkably
pretty women who were attached to this temple filling the
lamps with oil and gathering flowers and fruit to lay be-
fore the shrines ; but they seemed to be shy of Europeans,
and would not notice us.
The discoverer of this spot, so far as the English are
concerned, for it has long been inhabited by the Brah-
mans, was Colonel P. Lodwick. who, when stationed with
his regiment at Satarah, undertook the exploration of
these hills, and, pushing through forest, brushwood, and
jungle, found himself at the edge of a high projecting
rock, when a sudden turn brought him to the brink of
a grand promontory formerly called " Sidney Point/' but
now after the true discoverer. No sooner was the dis-
covery of this delightful and most accessible mountain-
region made known than Sir James Malcolm, then gov-
ernor of Bombay, hastened to establish here a convales-
cent hospital for European soldiers. In course of time
good roads were constructed, partly by the British gov-
ernment and partly by the rajah of Satarah. Parsee shop-
keepers soon made their appearance, and in a few years a
little British colony was transplanted here. There are
now a little Protestant church, reading-room, library,
hotel, barracks, handsome European villas and bungalows,
with bridle-paths all along the most picturesque points.
There is no more beautiful and heaUhful^mtajuim to be
found anywhere in the East. We spent two delightful
months, November and December, at the travellers' bun-
galow. The weather was perfect clear, cold, and with-
ELEPHANT HUNTING IN INDIA.
THE NIGHT-BLOOMING JESSAMINE. 233
out any rain. With all the beauty with which a tropical
climate surrounds the hillsides the temperature varied
from 62 to 45 in the open air. The elevation, four
thousand seven hundred feet above the level of the sea,
places it beyond the influence of cholera and malaria,
which are so deadly in many parts of India. The soil
is scanty in some parts, but in many portions a rich mould
of great depth is found, admirably adapted to agricultural
purposes. The finest strawberries I ever saw in India
were brought me one morning by the pundit, cultivated
by the Brahmans on these hills as offerings to their gods.
The hills are also covered with fine trees the willow, the
jambul with its dazzling green foliage, the iron-wood, and
the arrowroot plant. There are here several kinds of
jessamines one, the night-blooming jessamine, a large
and beautiful flower and peculiarly fragrant after sunset.
Ferns abound : one called by the natives pryha khud, or
"the lover's leap," is extraordinarily beautiful, but not
very abundant. A plant resembling the yellow broom is
also found here, but it far surpasses the latter in size and
beauty of flowers. Bulbous and parasitical plants abound,
and their flowers are much larger and far more beautiful
than those found on the plains, and each plant has its
season.
To the sportsman the Mahabaleshwar Hills are a treas-
ure-trove. The shikarees, or native hunters, are always at
hand to lead the adventurous into the very lairs of tigers,
panthers, bears, wolves, and to the resorts of all kinds of
jungle-fowl. The monkeys in this neighborhood are
generally the first to give notice of the vicinity of a tiger
by their loud and reiterated cries resounding from tree
to tree. The wild bison, for which this region was once
famous, is now found only occasionally. A spot is shown
where Lieutenant Hinds, a fine, athletic, noble-looking
234 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
young English officer, over six feet in stature, was killed
by one of these beasts. He and his shikaree had pursued
the bison for some distance. Lieutenant Hinds had just
taken his aim, when, in the twinkling of an eye, the infu-
riated beast suddenly turned upon him, with one bound
caught him upon his horns, and bore him thus wildly
along through the forest, and finally dashed him headlong
over some rocks. His mutilated body was found, and lies
in the little Christian burial-ground here.
In returning from the Mahabaleshwar Hills we took
the Satarah road, the most picturesque of the three 'roads
which lead up to the hills. It commands extensive and
diversified views of all the country around the wild
tangle of the forests, the towering peaks of the mountains,
the bristling forts of the rock-bound city of the " North-
ern Star," the ample fields dotting the landscape like huge
green emeralds, and the Savitri and the Gaintri struggling
through brake and forest dingle and many a deep shade to
find each the other, till they meet at last just over the wide
brow of a sharp cliff, and leap together in gladness and
beauty down five hundred feet, dashing and tumbling
over masses of rock, till they gain the low-lying lands,
then move on in quiet, dreamy irregularity to lose each
the other once more one amid the waters of the famous
Krishna, and the other at Karar afar off.
We turned off the road to visit a formidable tower-
ing rock on which stands the old Mahratta fort of Pra-
tapgarh. In the centre of it are found two lovely Hindoo
temples one to Maha DSo, the high god, and the other to
Bhawanee, who is at once the goddess of love and hatred
with the attending Brahman priests officiating there.
Somewhere under this fortress lies the head of the sim-
ple-hearted Afzal Khan, the renowned Bijapoor general.
Here was enacted by the hand of Sivaji, the founder of
SATARAH, "THE STAB CITY." 235
the great Mahratta empire, one of the darkest of the
many tragedies with which the history of India abounds.
Having induced, through false pretences, Afzal Khan to
visit him unarmed and attended by one sole follower,
Sivaji met the trusting foe with open arms and slew him
when in the act of embracing him. Sayid Bunder, the
faithful follower of the general, refused to surrender even
on condition of having his life granted to him, and suffered
the same fate as his master. There and then the signals
agreed upon boomed forth from this old fort. The Mha-
walis rushed from their places of concealment all along
the hillside on the khan's retinue, stationed at the foot
of the hill, and slaughtered and dispersed them. Thus
Sivaji defeated the enemy and acquired at the same time
great amount of treasure as well as reputation as a warrior.
Satarah, or " the Star City," is full of antiquities and
historical associations; every rock and hill and fortress
has its own deadly secret sometimes more than one of
murder, bloodshed, treachery, and triumph on the part
of the Mohguls, Mahrattas, or British, besides other local
interests. The town lies on a high slope or plain between
two ranges of hills, one on the east and one on the west.
The western hills have been occupied for many hundred
years by the descendants of the early Mahratta Brahmans.
They are covered with temples, huge, ancient, and solemn ;
gods and goddesses in ivory and stone, admirably wrought,
sit enshrined in each of these. The priests worship them
merely for the sake of their age and number. Tall, gray-
bearded monkeys abound on these hills, and while we
stood gazing at one of the temples a troop of these crea-
tures assembled on the roof and showed signs and symp-
toms of great excitement or displeasure.
The Satarah bazaar is peculiar and well worth visiting.
The Mahratta women are as free and as unconfined in
236 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
their movements almost as the English. They are dark-
er and less good-looking than those at Wye and on the
hills.
The flat-topped hills around absolutely bristle with forts
that the "Mountain Rats," as Aurungzebe called the Mah-
ratta warriors, loved to build everywhere. A zigzag path-
way leads from the city up to the western gate of "Azim
Tarah," the most renowned of these strongholds. If indi-
vidual energy and vehement self-assertion indicate cha-
racter, the Mahratta soldiers possess it to an extraordinary
degree, over and over again proving themselves grandly
capable of confronting the very dangers they had brought
down upon themselves. This fort is full of stories of
Mahratta exploits against their threefold enemies. It has
been captured, lost, and recaptured over and over again.
It was built by a King Panalah in 1192, and was once
the state-prison of the great Sivaji. It was defended
against the emperor Aurungzebe by Phryaji Phrabu, a
brave hawaldar,* who had learned the art of war under
Sivaji. When the Mohguls attempted to enter the " Star
City" huge stones were rolled down the mountain-sides,
and were as destructive as the discharge of artillery.
Tarbhyat Khan, a Mohgul in the service of Aurungzebe,
undertook to destroy it by mining the north-east angle,
one of its strongest points. The mine was completed
after months of severe labor; a storming-party was formed
on the brow of the hill. Aurungzebe, confident of suc-
cess, marshalled his men in brilliant array to see the
attack. The first explosion crushed many of the Mah-
ratta garrison to death, and was followed by another that
rolled down great rocks upon the Mohguls, destroying, it
is said, two thousand men at once. Animated by this dis-
aster to the enemy, the garrison would have continued to
* A Mahratta officer, but not of very high rank.
THE ENGLISH TAKE SATAEAH. 237
hold out, but their supplies failed and they were obliged
to capitulate.
After the well-known rupture with Baji Row, the Eng-
lish troops marched into Satarah, took possession of the
fort, and installed as king Pra Thap Singh, the eldest son
of Shah Hoo the Second. He was deposed, however, on
account of a series of intrigues against the East India gov-
ernment, and was imprisoned at Benares. Apa Saihib,
the last of the descendants in a direct line of the great
Sivaji, was then placed on the throne, but on his death
the province, much to the indignation of the princes and
people of Western India, was annexed to the possessions
of the East India Company. It is but just to say that
there were men among the court of directors who remem-
bered, with Sir George Clark, then governor of Bombay,
the treaty of 1819, and knew that the East India Com-
pany had agreed to cede in perpetual sovereignty, to the
rajah of Satarah and his heirs and successors, the terri-
tories which he held, and they protested, but all in vain,
against the annexation of Satarah, calling it "an act of
unrighteous usurpation." Here, alas ! was laid the first
seed of the "Sepoy mutiny," that terrible retribution
which ten years after overtook not the guilty, but the
innocent and faithful servants of the Company.
On the west of the fort are a number of Hindoo tem-
ples dedicated chiefly to Siva and to Bhawanee, the Indian
Venus, who seems ever to have been a favorite with these
hardy mountaineers. The view from the fort is one of
the most charming in the world. The forms of the dif-
ferent hills are quaint, and crowned with barbaric fort-
resses and temples that are fast crumbling away to give
place to a rich and tropical vegetation; the great plain
below, dotted with the houses and gardens of the Euro-
pean and native residents ; the lakes, the bazaars, the busy
238 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
thoroughfares, and, far away for many a mile, a road,
leaf-canopied and cool in the hottest midday sun, lined on
each side with thousands of magnificent mango trees.
These mango trees were planted by one of the native
rulers in expiation of the murder of a noble Hindoo
statesman, an envoy from Barodah.
On the south-western side of the old town stands the
antiquated palace of Sivaji. We were shown into an at-
tractive chamber called the Jallah Mandir, the "water
pavilion." Surrounded by a variety of beautiful creeping
plants and almost encircled with water, it is cooled by
quaint little Oriental fountains that splash and spirt up-
ward all day long. This peculiar water-bound chamber
is almost fairy-like. But the deity of this place is the
huge sword with which the treacherous Sivaji slew his
trusting foe, Afzah Khan, the general of Bijapoor. By a
strange contradiction, this sword is called Bhawanee, the
goddess of love, and the people believe that the sweet
goddess has imparted to the old sword a charm which is
deadly to the enemies of the Mahrattas.
As we went back through the town we peeped into one
or two of the temples. There were in them some curious
old idols of heroes rather than gods, but they were as
hideous as possible. A little farther on the ground was
made lovely with immense numbers of wild flowers, red,
yellow, and blue.
From the Star City of the Deccan we went back a few
days' journey and crossed the " Nira_bndge," one of the
fine old Mahratta works, to visit the village and hill-tem-
ples of Jijuhre. The village was insignificant enough,
but the hill on which stands the temple of Khandoba,
the warrior-god of the early Mahrattas, was very striking.
It is flat-topped and rises abruptly from the surrounding
plain, its entire surface covered with temples, gates, pil-
THE IMAGE OF KHANDOBA. 239
lars, stone monuments of every conceivable object, and
has the appearance of a huge cemetery. If it had not been
for the presence of our pundit I doubt if we should have
been allowed to visit this once-famous temple.
We went up on foot through an odd mixture of gate-
ways and pillars, all curiously carved, and here and there
were stone figures of mythological birds arid beasts,
abundantly provided with shaindoor, a kind of red paint,
and offerings of flowers. The largest temple had an im-
age of Khandoba, a terrific-looking monster. In one of
the upper chambers there was a colossal drum that gave
sunset warnings and served to call the priests, priestesses,
and other attendants to prayers, midnight devotions, or
revelries ; which latter are held on certain days, or rather
nights, of the waxing moon. Aboutjwp hundred women,
all young, many of them mere children, are attached to
this temple, which is in every sense one of the relics of
the ancient Mahratta usages before the introduction of
Brahmanism. Many of these girls were scattered about
in groups or were seen reclining at their ease in a semi-
nude costume about the aisles of the temples, producing a
charming Oriental effect, though one could not help shud-
dering at the thought of their lives. And, in spite of the
doom laid upon them even before they were born, many of
them had singularly interesting, pensive faces. One girl
who was pouring water into the vessels around the shrine
of Khandoba was a picture of grace and adorned with
glittering jewels. These strange priestesses of passion live
in cells attached to the temples or are scattered m the ser-
vice of their peculiar divinity around the temples in the
neighborhood, but here they are yearly recruited, and here
they are formally married as virgins to the idol of Siva or
Khandoba, as the case may be. There are here long cor-
ridors and intricate arrangement of passages, with little
240 LIFE AND TKAVEL IN INDIA.
stairs leading up and down and around, where the girls
are kept under the surveillance of old women who once
were doomed to the same service. How inexplicable is
such a life, looking at it from a Christian's point of view !
But with these poor devotees the more revenue they bring
in for the temple the better their future life, in which they
dream of becoming loved wives and mothers of divine
sons and daughters in a heaven prepared for them.
We noticed in our ramblings over this curious spot a
strange-looking man, naked as the day on which he was
born, his hair, long and streaked with gray, falling in
masses around his naked shoulders, his hands and feet
emaciated, the nails on his fingers and toes looking like
huge claws, begrimed with dirt and masses of red paint,
sitting alone, muttering all to himself and twirling in his
hands an old battered-looking lota, or drinking-vessel,
made of some dark metal. This was the mad gossain, or
devotee, of Jijuhre. When we approached him he started
up and took his place on the edge of a crumbling rock.
This poor mad creature was an object of profound ven-
eration and worship, and his story was as pathetic as it
was singular. The spot on which he had seated himself
had a peculiar interest to him, and he haunted it even in
his maddest moments. It was called Dewanee-garh, " the
maddening rock," because one of the priestesses of the
temple leaped from it and was killed instantly. This
girl's name was Krayahnee. It was said that on her mar-
riage with the god Siva and her installation in the peculiar
life of the temple it was found that she had conceived a
strong passion for the mad gossain, then a young Mahratta
noble named Hotah Bhow. He visited her frequently,
and they were always seen together, and, as the noble was
rich, the priests humored the girl in her singleness of de-
votion, for she brought large sums of money to the tern-
KRAYAHNEE, THE PRIESTESS. 241
pie. But after a while Hotah Bhow ceased his visits to
the temple, and Krayahnee was urged to take another
lover. She pleaded a respite for one month, which was
granted. In the mean time, through a Sudra, a male at-
tendant on the temple, she sent Hotah Bhow a message,
assuring him of her undying love and entreating him to
aid her in her escape from the temple, saying that if he
would do this for her she would willingly serve as a slave
in his household.
The Sudra, who was himself enamored of the beautiful
priestess, took no pains to deliver the message, but brought
back to the poor girl a fabricated answer from Hotah
Bhow, advising her to make herself happy where the
gods had placed her.
Next morning Krayahnee was missed, and on the fol-
lowing day her body was found crushed and mangled at
the foot of Dewanee-garh. Tying her lota, or sacred
vessel for ablutions, to her neck, she had leaped from the
rock at dead of night. Mouths after, Hotah Bhow re-
turned from a pilgrimage to Benares, and on hearing of
the sad fate of Krayahnee became so melancholy that he
betook himself to the severest course of asceticism known
among the Hindoos, called " Gala Naik." Standing for
hours on the spot whence the dancing-girl flung herself
headlong, he threw back his head and gazed at the sun,
holding in his hand the sole relic of his unhappy love,
the battered lota. The priestesses of the temple, pitying
his sorrows, took him food and fed him at stated intervals.
But at length reason gave way under the severity of his
expiation ; he forgot his vow to practise " Gala Naik " to
the day of his death, and is now found wandering over
the hillside or perched on the edge of Dewanee-garh,
bereft of even the memory of his sorrows, but still
clinging to the battered lota of Krayahnee, into which
ift
242 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
the priestesses of the temple pour his daily food and
drink.
Weary of our climb and saddened by the recital of this
story, we retraced our steps to the " dharrum-sala " of
the village, and on the following morning started across
the country of the Deccan from the Star City of the
ancient Mahrattas for Aurungabad, the golden city of the
great Mohgul Aurungzebe, and thence to the caves of
Elora.
CHAPTER XI.
From Satarah, the Star City of the great Mahratta Kings, to Dowlut-
abad, the Abode of Fortune, and Aurungabad, the Golden City of the
Mohgul Emperors. Tombs of Boorhan Ood Deen and Aurungzebe.
Mausoleum of Rhabea Durance. Sketch of the Mohgul invasion
of India. Manners, Customs, and Religious Ceremonies of the Mo-
hammedans of Hindustan.
OF all the places in the East, there is none more cele-
brated in Oriental romance and song than the province
which occupies the centre of the great table-land of the
Deccan, called the Nizam's Dominion. Here the Mah-
rattas, Rajpoots, Mohguls, French, and English have
struggled for mastery. Here are the ancient Golkunda
and HydejTvbad, the Abode of the Lion. In the reign
of Mahmood Shah, so great was the renown of the Bah-
mani * court that the celebrated Persian poet Hafiz deter-
mined to visit it. " He embarked at Ormuzd, but the
vessel encountering a tempest, the Iranian Horace at once
abandoned the voyage and despatched instead an ode to
Mahmood as his apology." From that time the songs of
Hafiz became the favorite melodies at the Bahmani court.
* So-called from Allahu Deen Hasain Shah Gangti Bahmani, who
was the first Mohammedan king of Deccan, 1347 A. D. He was a native
of Delhi and servant of one of the most learned Brahman astrologers,
who was highly favored by the fierce conqueror Mohammed Tooghlak.
Hasain greatly distinguished himself in battle with the imperial troops
in storming Dowlutabiid. Penally, the emperor Naisirud Deen resigned
to him the crown of Deccan. He very greatly extended his dominions
under the advice of his early master the Brahman astrologer, Ganzu
Bood, whom he appointed as his prime minister.
243
244 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
In 1401, Firuz Shah, who had succeeded Mahmood in
1397, sent from his kingdom an embassy with magnificent
presents to the great conqueror Timoor Lang (Tamerlane),
who conferred on him, in addition to the vast provinces
he ruled over, the sovereignty of the kingdoms of Guze-
rat and Malwah; which proved, however, troublesome
acquisitions. It was he who caused that famous observ-
atory (the ruins of which may still be seen on the Dowlut-
abad Pass) to be built for his Brahman astronomer. The
close of his reign is said to have been disastrous. His
armies, bent on conquest, were defeated in a battle with
D6o-Rai-Vijya-Naggur, and Firuz Shah was not only de-
posed, but strangled, by his own brother in 1422. The
ruthless murderer and brother of Firuz Shah was both a
warlike and able monarch. He is known in Indian story
as Ahmad Shah Bahmani. In 1432 he built the famous
fort of Ahmedabad at Bidhar, still called after him ; and
not only restored but beautified that ancient city, which
more than two thousand years before had been famed in
Sanskrit drama as the capital of the Rajah Bhima Selm,
the loves of whose exquisitely chaste and beautiful
daughter Damayanti and of Nala, the rajah of Malwah,
are sung and acted to this day throughout Hindostan.*
This province has been the most celebrated for the
beauty and rare accomplishments of its Bahyadiers.
They formed a large part of its population ; so much was
the profession favored that many of these public dancers
have become queens, and sons born to them have become
kings and learned men. A beautiful and romantic story
is still sung here of a Bahyadier named Amiuah. Hav-
ing attracted the attention of Burlian Nizam Shah, she
* It was translated from the Sanskrit into Persian verse by the poet
Faizi of Iran, and acted, with all the Indian appendages of dress and
character, at the court of the great Akbar.
AMINAH, THE NOBLE BAHYADIER. 245
sent him word that she loved him, and, in spite of her
profession, was worthy to be his wife. Doubting the sin-
cerity of her assertion, Burhan Nizam Shah subjected her
secretly, through a friend, to the most painful trials, in
every one of which she gave evidence of an innate noble-
ness of character. Thus, having proved the sincerity of
her attachment, he married Aminah, who continued to
be his favorite queen and counsellor even after he had
espoused (from motives of policy) the princess of Bijapoor.
The appearance of the country of the Nizam's Domin-
ion, however, is not as full of interest as its history.
Without forests of any extent, and with but few lakes, it
is intersected by innumerable small streams or nullahs*
and reservoirs, with occasional hills that rise iu curious
detached blocks, as if accidentally dropped here and there
by some Titans at play.
After many days of a painful journey through wide
fields of desolation and gigantic cities now crumbling
away, we encamped at a dhurrum-sala f in the ancient city
of Bidhar, once a place of great renown and the capital
of the Mahratta kings, who seem to have shifted their
capitals as the Bedouin does his tent. Attached to the
dhurrum-sala were long sheds, places of shelter for the
cattle, side by side with that of the human cattle. These
had grass and fodder* provided for them gratuitously by
the Brahmans in the vicinity.
This old Mahratta town contains some very curious
stone buildings carved with the figures of Hindoo gods
and goddesses. Its chief attraction, however, is the beau-
tiful Bidharee ware. We bought a little box and the
bowl of a hookhah, which were very gracefully orna-
* Creeks or water-courses, found full to overflowing in many places
during the rainy season, but which often dry up in the hot months,
f A free rest-house for travellers.
246 LIFE AND TKAVEL, IN INDIA.
merited with silver-work. The metal of which these arti-
cles were manufactured is a jet-black compound of copper
and tin which is capable of a high polish. The natives
here seem happy and independent. We saw some very
handsome Hindoo women in the bazaars, but the Moham-
medan women were those of the lowest castes.
The difficulties of the road very much increased after
leaving Bidhar. We were bumped and battered over a
stony road, nor was there anything to be seen but a great
wilderness for many miles. When we inquired the dis-
tance to the next halting-place our guide, who was very
musical, stopped his song and replied, " Chulla joa oodhur
hai " (" Go along ! it is there "). But where we could not
make out. Finally, we were obliged to spend the night
under a tree in our wagons not far from a great nullah
which was thought unsafe to cross after sunset. On the
opposite side of us was a large party of men and women,
gossains and priests, fellow-travellers, with four wagon-
loads of dancing-girls, some of whom were very interesting
seen in the dusk. They were a troup of actors and ac-
tresses returning from some village theatre to their head-
quarters at Oude Gera, a city in this vicinity.
A little after dawn next morning we crossed the nullah,
which was by no means as dangerous as represented by
our guide. Along the road we saw some beautiful wild
flowers and trailing vines, among them a little hardy blos-
som like the anemone, and of a lovely rose-color. In the
afternoon of the next day we crossed the Godaveri, the
famous Tyndis of the ancients, rising in the Thull Ghauts
and flowing through the length and breadth of the great
high plain of the Deccan to pour itself into the Bay of
Bengal. We found no difficulty in fording the river at
this season, when the rains were over. In some places its
banks were high and steep, and here and there were strik-
AURUNGABAD, THE GOLDEN CITY. 247
ing views of the country. "We met hosts of carts and na-
tives on horses crossing the river at this point. After
another long day's journey we took refuge at last at the
dhurrum-sala at Aurungabad. From the verandah of the
dhurrum-sala at this truly picturesque Mohammedan city
is a most enchanting view the Dhuna River winding
away through the plain ; the leafy woods, not very dense,
but full of trees noble and stately; the lime-groves in
full blossom sweetly scenting the air, while with pertina-
cious grace the full-blown leaves of many creeping vines
droop over the verandah to fan us gently in the evening
breeze ; in the distance the domes, the tall, graceful min-
arets, the shining roofs of mosques and palaces of the
once-famous city of Arungabad amid eternally verdant
gardens. Gradually the sun sets on the charming scene,
but we still linger and gaze ; few lights are seen, but now
and then a rushlight or the glimmer of a fire prepared for
the evening meal.
Twilight is deepening into darkness as we start for a
walk, accompanied by pundit. We see in the distance a
tall square tower, dark in color and crowned with half-
ruined battlements, and behind it, far away, the mighty
Dowlutabad, grim, silent and watchful, against the dusky
sky. Some strangely weird-looking figures of priests and
fakeers are returning from a mosque adjoining, and here
and there a bright star shines softly upon the tombs of
the dead Mohammedans buried on the summit of the far-
off Piphlaghaut.
Powlutabad, " the abode of fortune," with the fickleness
of the goddess after whom it was named, fluctuated be-
tween the Mohgul conquerors of the Deccan, the Raj-
poots and Mahratta kings, for several centuries, till finally
it passed into the possession of the East India Company.
We obtained permission from the governor of the fort to
248 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
visit this remarkable fortress, which is built on a rocky-
hill, an isolated, prodigious block of stone, with a perpen-
dicular scarp of nearly a hundred and fifty feet all round
it. The summit is pointed like a cone, and capped with a
curious old tower, on which is mounted a heavy brass gun.
The only means of ascending the fort of Dowlutabad is
through a narrow passage hewn out of the rock and lead-
ing to a large subterranean chamber, whence a gallery,
also excavated out of the heart of the hill, leads to the
top. After traversing this gallery the road passes by the
khilladar's (or governor's) house, a handsome building
with an arched verandah. The fortress is protected by a
fosse and a circular wall winding round the hill to the
very summit ; the lowest part of the wall is made to en-
close the little native town lying at its base, now deserted
and fast crumbling away. The view from the summit is
very inspiring ; we could see the country around, far and
near, though there was a slight haze on the distant
horizon.
The revenues of the Soubah, or district of Dowlutabad,
including that of Ahmed Nuggur, is said to have yielded
the emperor Aurungzebe the sum of two hundred and
fifty-nine laks of rupees. In 1758 this fortress fell for a
short time into the hands of the French, but by the recall
of M. Bussy it was once more captured by the Mohgul
rulers of the Deccan. The Nizam's flag, that once floated
so proudly over its summit, is now supplanted by that
ever-aggressive standard, the union jack.
Aurunffab&d, on the left bank of the Dhuna River, is
one of the most disappointing of the old Mohgul cities,
and is fast crumbling to decay. It was once the centre of
Mohgul power in the Deccan. Aurungzebe removed his
capital from Dehli to this spot, whence its name the
" Golden Seat," owing to his chair of state being made of
THE PALACE OF AURUNGZEBE. 249
pure gold. The town is approached through a gateway
which looks, like the rest of the place, old and dilapidated ;
the streets, however, are broad, and some well paved. The
gardens and reservoirs are numerous, but the whole at-
mosphere of the town is strangely depressing. The groups
of grave-looking Mohammedans pirs, or holy men, naked,
filthy fakeers, and porters, who parade the streets, make it
seem odd and grotesque, but do very little toward enliven-
ing the town itself. It is surrounded by a wall flanked
with towers at regular distances. The minarets, mosques,
and some of the dwellings are still possessed of much
architectual beauty. Among its most famous manufac-
tures are fine kinkaubs, or gold- and silver-wrought silks,
and dried fruits, which are sent to Bombay and other parts
of India for sale.
The palace of Aurungzebe stands on the south of the
Dhuna River, and is only remarkable for its extent. It
is full of dark chambers, narrow passages, stained ceilings
and floors, that might once have been beautiful, but
which now have an unwholsome look of mould and
decay.
Having devoted an entire day to Aurungabad, we rode
out on the following morning to Rowzah, "the city or
garden of tombs," but most celebrated as the last resting-
place of Aurungzebe. The town of Rowzah itself is a
charming spot. It stands on the brow of a gentle hill,
and the views from every part of it are very fine. There
was an air of bustle and activity too among the people,
and elaborate culture was everywhere manifest throughout
its immediate neighborhood. Temples, mosques, holy
places, groves, and gardens for the dead abound here, and
the shops seemed well stocked. We had a beefsteak * for
lunch, cooked in a Mohammedan " khanadhar," or restau-
* Beef is never exposed for sale in a Hindoo city.
250 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
rant. The houses are well built and extremely pictur-
esque with their low projecting balconies. Many of the
buildings are furnished with open courtyards in front.
Sometimes a high wall encloses, as at Aurungabad, a group
of buildings, the dwelling of some wealthy Mohammedan
merchant with his hareem. Groups of well-dressed Mus-
ulmans, with here and there a Mahratta or a Hindoo,
were passing to and fro exchanging graceful salutations ;
water-cariers, porters, and venders of fruit and cloth jos-
tled one another in the streets; and from the balconies
there peeped out at us now and then coquettish-looking
young girls brilliantly attired, with here and there a face
that displayed great beauty.
Finally, we came to the famous Mohammedan cemetery.
Here we paused a while at the tomb of the great Aurung-
zebe, which lies near that of a saint called Bhooran Ood
Deen. The mausoleum of the latter is more costly, and is
held in even greater veneration, than that of the Mohgul
emperor. It was covered with a handsome green velvet
mantle, lamps were burning within, musicians were beat-
ing their drums outside, and pirs, or holy men, were stand-
ing around the tomb and reciting prayers for the dead and
prostrating themselves at certain intervals.
Outside the walls of the city of Aurungabad is the ob-
ject best worth seeing, the tomb of the loving and faithful
Rahbea Dhoorane, the favorite wife of Aurungzebe, though,
at best, it is a poor copy of the famous Taj-Mahal at Agra.
Arriving at the farthest edge of a wide path, the spires of
the mausoleum rise before one amid a wide area of rich
dark foliage. It stands alone and immediately behind the
wall that separates it from the old palace of Aurungzebe.
The approach is through a gateway. In front is a canal
with a number of fountains at play. At the end of the
avenue is the mausoleum itself. The windows are of very
THE MAUSOLEUM OF RAHBEA DHOORANE. 251
exquisite workmanship, reminding one of Rahbea herself.
The tomb is quite low and unpretending, lying in the cen-
tre of the building, and one has to descend a number of
steps to look upon it. It is enclosed by a light and ele-
gant marble screen, fancifully chiselled, looking like lace-
work. On the tomb itself is laid a covering of scarlet
velvet. The minarets at each of the corners are also full
of beauty. To the left we pass through a fine Gothic arch
gracefully carved, and enter a noble hall supported by
fluted pillars and with handsome etchings along the walls
and ceilings. It is now used for the assemblies of Mo-
hammedan priests and bishops, who meet here from dif-
ferent parts of the country twice every year to discuss
matters bearing chiefly on the religious disputes that arise
among themselves.
Above even the last resting-place of the dead queen,
and far beyond all the other features of interest in this
mausoleum, is a little unique chamber that stands apart,
surrounded with fragrant orange and sweet lime trees and
clustering blossoms of rare tropical flowers. It is the
loveliest retreat that the heart of man could have devised,
and is still touched with the lingering romance of Rah-
bea's love for and power over the proud Aurungzebe ; for
here he often sought the beautiful queen for purposes of
quiet meditation or relaxation from the cares of state, and
here, if we may believe all the reports, Rahbea often knelt
for hours before her husband pleading for the lives of men
and women whom he had doomed to death. Amid all
the cruelty, avarice, and bloodshed that stained the life of
Aurungzebe, the tender picture which this little chamber
conjures up is pure and refreshing.
Mohammedan priests and pirs, or saints, are in constant
attendance upon this tomb. Morning services are held
here every Monday. Fahtiahs, or prayers, are offered for
252 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
the dead queen and all other dead souls, portions of the
Koran are read or chanted, and lamps are kept burning
on especial festal nights. As we were leaving the place
a number of Mohammedans entered the tomb to pray,
and one of the pirs informed me that certain cures and
miracles are yearly effected by the prayers offered up to
the dead queen.
We went to see the Friday "prayer-meeting" in the
finest mosque of this once-princely Mohammedan city.
The Jummah Musjid, as the great mosque is called, is a
quiet, unpretending structure. From a distance it is im-
posing, rather from the insignificance of the buildings in
its vicinity than from any architectural claims of its own.
But the interior is both simple and grand : the roof is ex-
quisitely arched, and upheld by pillars of elegant design
and workmanship. At the extreme end there is a raised
platform whence the moolah * prays with his face turned
toward Mecca, and behind this pulpit were hung heavy
kinkaub curtains of native manufacture. The mosque
was well filled, and the sight was both solemn and inspir-
ing. More than a thousand men (with a few women sit-
ting veiled and apart), all clad in flowing white robes,
brilliant cumberbunds, and variegated turbans, rose, knelt,
folded their hands and prostrated themselves simultaneous-
ly. The earnest voice of the moolah, the deep responses
of the assembled congregation, their expressions of devo-
tion and self-abasement, were sufficient to bring Christian
and pagan into sympathy.
We rode next morning to the gardens and tomb of
Shah Safid, "the pure saint." The rose, the jessamine,
and the mohgre"\ bloomed here in great profusion; we
noticed some beautiful birds hovering among the cypress
and other trees, and we passed two splendid reservoirs full
* Mohammedan bishop. f -A- white rose, scented like a jessamine.
BRAHMAN VILLAGE COMMUNITIES. 253
of fish, and enjoyed the quiet of this resting-place of the
great friend and spiritual adviser of Aurungzebe. The
mausoleum itself is a simple structure, without any archi-
tectural adornments. We did not see any of the descend-
ants of this famous Mohammedan saint, but some holy
men who did the honors of the gardens showed us all that
was worth seeing, and the cemetery was a very bright,
cheerful place in the morning sun.
There are four great eras in the history of India the
early dominion of the Brahmans, the Turk and Moslem
invasion, then that of the Mohguls, and finally the rise
of British sovereignty in Hindostan. Before introducing
the reader to the peculiar rites and ceremonies of the Mo-
hammedans of Hindostan, I have thought that the most
important events of Mohgul invasion and occupation of
India would not be out of place here.
It was about the beginning of the seventh century A. D.
that first the Turks, and then the Afghans, obtained by
means of their superior military discipline easy conquests
over the Rajpoot chieftains. India was at this time in a
most prosperous and happy condition, governed chiefly by
the Brahmanic system of village communities. Each vil-
lage was in itself a little republic, providing for and ad-
ministering its own affairs through officers who were in
all respects independent citizens, subject to none but the
jurisdiction of the village itself, save in the case of war,
when they volunteered to aid the Rajpoots in quelling
such disturbances as arose. The Rajpoots, on the other
hand, comprised the nobility and soldier-like chivalry of
India. Romantic in their attachments, tenacious of their
honor, devoted in their attentions to the softer sex,* they
* The practice of female infanticide among the Rajpoots may be
traced to the conquest of India by the Turks and Afghans. Too
haughty to give his daughter in marriage to a conqueror and enemy,
254 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
were ready to engage in deeds of daring and adventure.
But, unhappily, they were divided into clans, each under
its own chief, as among the Scotch Highlanders, which not
infrequently were disturbed by internal feuds. They were
easily subdued, one clan after another being dispersed or
destroyed, until the greater part of Hindostan fell into the
hands of the Moslem conquerors.
The expedition of Sultan Mahmood, undertaken in 1024
A. D., is the one most famed in Indian story. In the fair
park-like province of Guzerat stood a wonderful Hindoo
temple, none other than the famous temple of Swayan
Nath, or "the Self-Existent," as the god was called.
This god was worshipped here under the shape of a
gigantic man formed of black stone. For his ablutions
water was brought from the Ganjas, a thousand miles dis-
tant. The priests, devotees, and ascetics of this temple
were numbered by hundreds ; one thousand elephants be-
longed to it and were maintained for the service of the
god. Stationed about the temple in superb trappings,
they added an imposing feature to this shrine on festal
occasions ; banners of cloth of gold, standards of peacock-
feathers gemmed with rare jewels, musical instruments of
every kind and shape, with hundreds of hired musicians,
formed part of the daily service here. Nor were these all :
the dancing-girls attached to the temple were composed of
the most beautiful women that India could furnish, and so
great was the prestige of this shrine that kings dedicated
their most beautiful daughters to enrich its coffers, in addi-
tion to the revenues of two thousand villages that were
ceded to it by the combined princes of Hindostan.
Sultan Mahmood, who had seated himself on the throne
and unwilling that she should many an inferior without a large dowry,
the Rajpoot father got rid of the difficulties of his position by destroy-
ing his female children at the moment of birth.
THE MOSLEMS CONQUER INDIA. 255
of Delhi, heard one of the boasts uttered by the priests
of this temple, and there and then vowed its destruction,
placed himself at the head of his troops, and, marching
four hundred miles overland through a barren and almost
impassable country, advanced upon the environs of the
temple, which were strongly fortified and garrisoned by
Rajpoot soldiers. Twice the priests and soldiers of
Swayan Nath beat back the Moslems, but in the third
onslaught the latter bore down everything before them.
In vain the Brahman priests implored them to spare the
idol, offering the conqueror large sums of money for its
ransom. Mali mood, regardless of their prayers and offers,
gave the signal for its destruction. In an instant the huge
god of stone was battered to pieces, and out of its hollow
sides there rolled an immense treasure, jewels of incon-
ceivable value. The spoils of this temple alone rendered
the Mohguls all but invincible in the East. After sack-
ing the temple they bore off in triumph its wondrous gates
of sandal-wood inlaid with gold, and at the death of Mali-
mood, in 1030, these gates adorned the splendid mausoleum
erected over his remains. Eight hundred years after they
were captured by the English troops and restored to the
temple of Swayan Nath by the order of Lord Ellen-
borough, then governor-general of India.
The Mohammedan capital in India was established at
Delhi by Khottub, who made himself master of that city,
of which he had been governor, about the year 1215. He
was succeeded by Altinash, who, like Khottub, rose to the
state of an emperor from the condition of a slave. The
capital was now permanently fixed at Delhi, and it was in
the reign of this king that the beautiful round tower of
Khottub Minar, the highest known column in the world,
was built. It is a minaret of fine red granite inlaid with
white marble and crowned with a magnificent dome. This
256 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
Altinash was succeeded by his daughter Rhezeah, a woman
of great natural ability, who administered the affairs of the
kingdom with remarkable wisdom. Dressed as a sultan,
she gave audience to her nobles and officers and heard and
redressed the wrongs of her people. Nevertheless, the
authority of these Mohammedan kings over the Rajpoot
chiefs was very uncertain, for at every change in the gov-
ernment, which was very frequent, the Hindoo princes
attempted to recover their independence. Thus when the
Gheiyas Tooklak (or Toghlak) possessed himself of the
throne of Delhi, the greater part of India was in a state
of revolt.
Ferozee Shah, crowned emperor in 1351, greatly enriched
and beautified the city of Delhi, built the great canal through
the province of Delhi from the river Jumna to that of Cag-
gar, two hundred miles of which have been reopened by
the British government, thus fertilizing a vast tract of
country which had long been a great desert. It was after
the death of this prince that the Mohgul Timoor Lang
(Tamerlane), who had conquered Persia, captured and
destroyed the city of Delhi. Years after Timoor Lang's
death one of his descendants, named Baber, once more
established the Mohgul monarchy in India, about the
year 1498, when the Portuguese maritime discoveries be-
gan to make an important revolution in the commercial
world.
Baber was succeeded by the great emperor Homayoun,
whose remains are marked by a magnificent tomb near
Delhi. Akbar, his son, one of the wisest of the Mohgul
rulers, had the prudence to marry a Hindoo princess, the
daughter of Baharmal, the rajah of Jeypoor in the prov-
ince of Rajpootana. He conquered the beautiful kingdom
of Cashmere, one of the most enchanting spots in the
world. He built the city and famous palace of Fettihpoor-
"THE LIGHT OF THE PALACE." 257
Shikri in the province of Agra ; his palace of white mar-
ble and a magnificent mosque are still to be seen in excel-
lent preservation. It was in the reign of Akbar that
Christian . missionaries first received a hearing at a Mo-
hammedan court. They were sent to Agra by the bishop
of Goa. On Friday evenings it was also the custom of
this prince to assemble all the learned men around him for
the purpose of holding free discussions, where Mohammed-
ans, Christians, Jews, Brahmans, and Fire- worshippers
gave their opinions and discoursed about the most inter-
esting themes of the day without restraint or fear. He
also instituted free public schools for Mohammedan and
Hindoo children.
Akbar died at Agra in 1605, and over his remains there
still stands a splendid mausoleum of vast dimensions. He
was succeeded by his son Selim, better known under the
title which he assumed of Jehan Ghir, " conqueror of the
world." The life and history of this king are the most
romantic in the annals of India.
Noor Jehan, " the Dawn of Life," so well known by the
name of Noor Mahal, or " the Light of the Palace," was
the daughter of a poor Persian adventurer, a noble in his
own country, reduced by a series of misfortunes at home,
which led him to seek better fortunes in India, accompa-
nied by his wife and little daughter. The distressed con-
dition of the poor father and mother and the beauty of
the child attracted the attention of a rich merchant of
( 'andiesh, whose caravan these Persians had been follow-
ing in order to keep themselves from starving. It was
through this merchant's influence that the father of the
little Noor Jehan obtained the subordinate position of
gatekeeper at the court of Akbar. Noor Jehan, who was
in the habit of playing round the palace-gate, attracted
the attention of Akbar. Struck with her beauty, he at
17
258 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
once introduced the little maiden to his Rajpootanee wife,
with whom she became a great favorite, and thus the little
Noor Jehan became the playmate and companion of the
young prince Selim. A deep attachment sprang up be-
tween the children. But at length, when Noor Jehan at-
tained the age of womanhood, her father suddenly with-
drew her from the court and consummated a marriage for
her with Shere Af khan, a rich nobleman of Bengal, and
thus removed the beautiful girl from her dangerous royal
lover Selim. Selim was also married about the same time
by Akbar to a foreign princess of Kabool. But the mo-
ment his father died, and Selim had ascended the throne
under the name and title of Jehan Ghir, he determined to
obtain the beautiful Noor Jehan for his wife. With this
end in view he wrote to the viceroy of Bengal to seek
some pretext to place Shere Af khan in confinement that
he might the more readily succeed in his designs. Shere
Af khan, suspecting some treachery on the part of the vice-
roy, repaired to his house fully armed, and, as certain hos-
tile steps confirmed his suspicions, he slew the viceroy
as he attempted to lay hands on him, but the guards in
waiting, hearing the cry of their master, rushed in and
despatched Shere Af khan. That very night the emissa-
ries of Jehan Ghir carried off Noor Jehan to Delhi.
But Noor Jehan, prisoner as she felt herself at the court
of her former lover, refused to listen to his proposals of
marriage until he should prove himself innocent of her
husband's murder. After several years Jehan Ghir satis-
fied the beautiful widow that he had never intended Shere
Af khan's death, but only his temporary imprisonment in
order to obtain her for his queen. Finally, the nuptials
of Noor Jehan and Jehan Ghir were celebrated with
splendor. The power and influence exercised by this
beautiful woman at the Mohammedan court was unparal-
NOOK MAHAL'S INTREPIDITY. 259
leled in the history of the Mohguls of India. Her name
was associated with that of Jehan Ghir in the palace, in
the council, on the throne, in the judgment-hall, and even
on the coins of the country. Noor Mahal, or " the Light
of the Palace," as she was ever after called, was more or
less influenced by the counsels of her father, who was
raised to the office of grand vizier, and is acknowledged
to have been one of the best and wisest ministers who ever
ruled at the court of a Mohammedan king.
Mohabat Khan, a noble in the service of Jehan Ghir,
had somehow incurred the displeasure of Noor Mahal, but
being a man of great talents he was employed to quell a
rebellion entered into by Shah Jehan, the eldest son of
Jehan Ghir, to dethrone his father. Having defeated the
son and won him over to his cause, Mohabat Khan took
the father prisoner. No sooner did Noor Mahal hear of
the captivity of her husband than she placed herself at
the head of her troops, and, mounted on an elephant, pro-
ceeded to give battle to Mohabat Khan and to rescue her
husband. She was defeated, and fled to the court of La-
hore for safety. But Mohabat, who had resolved to put
Noor Mahal to death, extorted from Jehan Ghir a war-
rant to that effect, and through letters which he caused
Jehan Ghir to write he induced the unsuspecting and lov-
ing wife to join her husband in captivity. Once in the
enemy's camp, she saw that her death was determined
upon. Professing herself willing to submit to her fate,
she pleaded only a last interview with her husband, which
Mohabat granted, but took care to be present himself. On
the day appointed for her execution Noor Mahal quietly
entered the presence of her unworthy husband and her
implacable foe. She stood before them in deep silence,
her hands clasped, her veil thrown back, and her beauty
shining with an additional lustre through her flowing
260 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
tears. Jehan Ghir burst into a passion of tears, and,
throwing himself at the feet of his captor, pleaded so
eloquently for her life that the heart of Mohabat was
subdued. He not only granted her life, but, strange to
say, became a friend to Noor Mahal, and finally restored
her and her husband to the throne of Delhi.
With but few exceptions, however, rebellions, assassin-
ations, treachery, and misrule marked the reigns of all the
Mohammedan emperors of India. Upon the death of
Aurungzebe, the grandson of Jehan Ghir, the empire of
Hindostan was divided by his command between his three
sons, which partition led to a series of most disastrous civil
wars, and, happily for the country, almost terminated the
Moslem power in India.
In 1738 the Persian emperor, Nahdir Shah, took Delhi
with little effort. The night of the capture a report was
raised that Nahdir Shah had died suddenly, and the popu-
lace rose en masse and massacred over seven thousand Per-
sian soldiers. On the following day Nahdir Shah gave the
fearful command which almost decimated the population
of Delhi, after which he reinstated the humbled monarch,
Mohammed Shah, on the throne, and returned to Persia,
carrying away with him treasure amounting to seventy
million pounds sterling and the celebrated peacock throne
of Shah Jehan. In 1760 the nominal king of Delhi,
Alum Shah, became tributary to the East Indian Com-
pany.
The Mohammedans of Hindostan, like those elsewhere,
are divided into a number of sects, all more or less ac-
knowledging the apostleship of Mohammed, but differing
in their estimate of the inspiration of the Koran and other
minor points of doctrine. TheSunnis, for instance, hold
that the traditions of the Prophetare of equal authority
with the Koran ; they therefore venerate the successors of
MOHAMMEDAN SECTAEIANS. 261
Mohammed, Abu Bahkr, Omar, Usman, and AH, as di-
vinely-appointed Khalifahs or teachers; the Arabs, Turks,
Afghans, and the Rohillas of India more or less belong
to the Sunni sect. These undertake long pilgrimages to
Mekka, and are very tenacious on points of doctrine,
often putting to death the heterodox of their own re-
ligion. The _Shiahs, another very powerful sect of Mo-
hammedans, wholly reject the "Sunnahs," or traditions,
and with them the four successors of the Prophet. They
perform pilgrimages, not to Mecca or Medinah, but to
the tomb of Husain at Kaibelah. The Koran is their
only guide. The Shiahs are found in the vicinity of
Cabool, Oude, and parts of Bundelcund.
The " Hanifi," as another sect of Mohammedans is
called, are the disciples of Abu Hanifah, an Arabic theo-
logian of great renown who flourished about the year 80
of the Hejira. He denied predestination as unworthy
of a divine and merciful Creator, and declared fate to be
nothing more or less than the free will of the individual.
He was thrown into prison for his bold utterances, and
died there. Years after, Maluk Shah Seljuki erected a
splendid mausoleum to his memory in Bagdad, to which
spot his followers in Hindostan make special pilgrimages.
The ShaffidSj again, are quite a distinct sect, so called
from their leader Shaffid Abu Abdullah, another cele-
brated Arabic divine. He was born in the city of Gaza
in Palestine in the year 150 of the Hejira, but educated
in Persia, where he composed most of his works on the-
ology and jurisprudence. Some of his precepts are still
taught in the Shaffid Mohammedan schools. This sect is
scattered over the province of Najapatam and in the city
of Nagpoore.
The Maliki, still another of the Mohammedan denomi-
nations, follow the teachings of one Malik Ibn Aus, a man
262 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
of some learning, but whose works are filled with astrology
and mysticism. Many of his followers are to be found
among the mendicants and fakeers of Hindostan.
The Hanbhali sect are not very numerous, but are said
to be extremely dogmatic in their own belief. They ad-
here to the precepts of the priest after whom they are
called, and deny the divine origin of the Koran, holding
only such maxims contained in it as are based on pure
morality and monotheism. These comprise the most ad-
vanced and enlightened schools of Mohammedans to be
found in India to-day.
Last, but not least, are the Suffis, a refined, learned, and
mystical sect of Mohammedans. They are divided among
themselves on doctrinal points : some are pure rationalists,
others materialists, and yet others again pantheists ; the
latter promulgate theories about the soul that are in form
and idea similar to those of the high-caste and educated
Brahmans.
Such are the most important sects to be found among
the Mohammedans of Hindostan. Their intermixture
with the Hindoos has produced a number of minor sects
and classes of Musulmans, as well as a very marked
change in their manners and customs. The Hindoos
seem to have very greatly influenced the Mohammedans.
The feeling of caste and defilement and other Hindoo re-
strictions have gradually assumed more and more import-
ance in the Moslem mind in India. An Indian Moham-
medan is hemmed about with endless observances reach-
ing down even to preserving the sanctity of his pots and
pans, as with the Brahmans. A Mohammedan will
as religiously guard his " lota," or drinking-vessel, from
defilement as if he were a high-caste Brahman, and super-
stition attaches to all his surroundings and habiliments
and actions to his earrings, which are worn as a charm,
A MOHAMMEDAX BETEOTHAL. 263
his sandals, his topi, or turban, his beard, and even his
toe- and finger-nails, which can only be pared on certain
days of the waxing moon. Thus it will be seen that the
Mohammedan on Indian soil differs very greatly in his
habits and feelings from the Mohammedan of Persia and
Arabia. As the early Aryan accommodated himself to
the deities and superstitions of the aboriginals, so the
Mohammedan has greatly conformed to customs, man-
ners, and superstitions indigenous almost to the soil of
India.
This socialfusipn is especially perceptible in the con-
dition of the women of Hindostan. The Hindoo woman
has gradually borrowed the seclusion of the zenana from
her aristocratic Mohammedan sister (the hareem and the
zenana are but different names for one and the same
thing), while the latter in her turn has adopted many of
the rules and endless ceremonies of the Hindoos. Thus,
for instance, marriage among the Mohammedans must be
contracted very early, and solemnized when the youth
is eighteen and the maiden thirteen. The courtship is
always carried on by some elderly females, who are in-
structed to find out and report the charms of such young
people among whose parents matrimonial connections are
deemed desirable. This done, the astrologer, who is very
often a Brahman, is consulted ; he examines the horoscope
of the young couple and decides whether the marriage
will be auspicious and when it shall take place, etc. After
this comes the betrothal, consisting of no less than six dif-
ferent ceremonies : First, a present of betel-leaves to the
relatives of the young girl is given by the future bride-
groom ; these leaves are often folded in fine gold tissue-
paper and stuck with cloves ; each clove must be perfect,
with the little blossom attached to the end of it. The
second is called "sweet solicitations." The young man
264 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
repairs to the young girl's house with attendants carrying
presents, and in returning to his own bears back with him
large presents of sweetmeats. This is followed by an im-
portant ceremony called "treading the threshold." At
dawn the young man stands before the door of the young
girl's home, repeats a prayer, and boldly crosses the
threshold ; here the mother embraces him, ties a colored
handkerchief around his neck, puts a gold ring provided
for the occasion on his finger, and fills his palms with
money signs of her cordial acceptance of him as a fu-
ture son. This is followed by a three days' visit to the
future bride's home ; on each day he partakes of a meal
every dish of which is some kind of sweetmeat ; on the
fourth day he joins the family at their ordinary meal,
where the ceremony of sharing the salt takes place. The
young woman, closely veiled, is seated by her lover ; at
the opening of the meal he takes some salt on his platter
and transfers a part of it to her plate, and she does the
same ; this little act renders the marriage contract sacred.
The day previous to the wedding is spent in purification,
bathing, and anointing of the bride and bridegroom at
their respective homes. The ceremonies are much like
those of the Brahmans. The person of the young girl is
rubbed over with a compound of grain, flour, turmeric,
ashes of rose-leaves, and fragrant gums mixed into a paste
with sweet oil. This preparation is laid on the person of
the young woman, and left to dry for an hour or two,
after which she is bathed with seven waters, four hot and
three cold. This done, her fingers, toes, tips of her ears,
and all the joints of her body are anointed with a mix-
ture of sandal-wood powder, ashes of burnt rose-buds, and
sweet oil, after which she is sprinkled with rose-water, and
conveyed, all closely veiled, to the mosque, where she re-
peats seven Kalimahs for herself and her future husband.
MOHAMMEDAN BRIDAL DRESS. 265
Oh this day a procession in order to exchange wedding-
garments from one to the other takes place.
The marriage ceremony is always performed in the
evening. I was present at the marriage of the daughter
of a moolah (or Mohammedan bishop) named Allih Bash-
ka Deen, and the ceremony derived its chief attraction
from the gentle loveliness of the bride and the beauty
of her dress. She wore a purple silk petticoat embossed
with a rich border of scattered bunches of flowers, each
flower formed of various gems, while the leaves and stems
were of Embroidered gold and silk threads. Her boddice
was of the same material as the petticoat ; the entire vest
was marked with circular rows of pearls and rubies. Her
hair was parted in Greek style and confined at the back
in a graceful knot bound by a fillet of gold ; on her brow
rested a beautiful flashing star of diamonds. On her ears,
neck, arms, breast, and* waist were a profusion of orna-
ments. Her slippers, adorned with gold and seed pearls,
were open at the heels, showing her henna-tinted feet,
and curved up in front .toward the instep, while from her
head flowed a delicate kinkaub scarf woven from gold
threads of the finest texture and of a transparent, daz-
zling, sunbeam-like appearance. This was folded grace-
fully about her person and veiled her eyes and nose, leav-
ing only her mouth and chin visible.
While the guests, relatives, and friends of the bride
were all assembled at the bishop's house the bridegroom
had started off to perform what .is called the "shaba
ghash," or nocturnal visit. Gayly dressed, handsomely
mounted, the young Akbar Khauibni Ahbad, attended
by his nearest relatives and friends and accompanied by a
host of musicians, rode to the mosque at Kirki, where he
offered up three distinct prayers one for the future wife,
one for himself, and one for the happiness and success of
266 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
all his undertakings, especially the one he was about to
consummate. This done, he and his friends mounted
and approached the house of the bride. The moment the
cavalcade of the bridegroom appeared in sight a number
of well-dressed young Mohammedans rushed to the gate
of the courtyard, and with loud shouts most violently
opposed his entrance, whereupon he scattered money in
handfuls among them, which was the signal for them to
give way. Here the youth dismounted, but was not per-
mitted to walk into the house, for a stalwart-looking man
took him up in his arms and attempted to rush in with
him; here again he was once more resisted by another
party of friends and relatives, till he again scattered a
handful of gold coins among them, thus carrying out the
Oriental saying: "He lined the path to his love with
golden flowers." After this no further opposition was
made. The bride and bridegroom, both veiled, the latter
with two coverings over his face, took their places in the
centre of the room, and every one stood up. The khazi,
or judge, then stepped forward, and, having removed the
double veil from the bridegroom's face, began the cere-
mony. The young man repeated after him certain prayers
one deprecating his own merits and attractions in com-
parison with those of the bride after which came long
repetitions from the Koran treating of fervor, love, and
devotion, followed by repetitions of the Mohammedan
creed and a general thanksgiving. At this point all the
assembly prostrated themselves, the khazi joined the hands
of the bride and bridegroom, the latter repeated word for
word the marriage- vows, and the whole was concluded
with a benediction, after which the bride, still veiled, was
carried to the bridegroom's house, and he followed in her
train, accompanied with music, beating of drums, and loud
shouts of joy from his attendants and followers.
MOHAMMEDAN BAPTISM. 267
On the birth of a child, if it happens to be a male,
all the female attendants utter loud shouts of joy. The
mother is kept on very simple diet, and obliged to drink
water made hot by a heated horseshoe being plunged into
it ; this has the power of guarding against internal devils,
who are supposed to be very active on such occasions,
lying in wait for mother and child. The moolah is then
ushered into the chamber : he takes the child in his arms
and repeats in his right ear the Mohammedan summons
to prayer, and in his left the creed. A fakeer is then
introduced : he dips his finger in some honey and puts
it into the child's mouth before it has tasted any of its
mother's milk, which is to ensure it all the luxuries of
life. After these have retired an astrologer casts the
horoscope of the child, and there and then predicts its
future, which, good or bad, is accepted as fate and with-
out a murmur. Meanwhile, the nearest relatives -assem-
ble around the father and dress his hair with blades of
grass a Hindoo observance, grass typifying the fragility
of human life and affections and he in turn makes them
presents according to his circumstances.
The naming of the child takes place on the eighth day
after birth. If a son, it is named after the father's clan or
tribe ; if a daughter, after the mother's side of the family.
The choice of the child's name depends on the day of its
birth and the appearance of the planet under whose influ-
ence it is supposed to be born, as much as on the parent-
age. The mother remains apart from the household till
the fortieth day after childbirth ; then she is bathed, fumi-
gated, and purified, and so prepared to enter the mosque,
where she oifers up thanks for her safe deliverance from
the perils of childbirth, and either reads or has portions
of the Koran read to her, offering a sacrifice of two goats
for a son and one for a daughter.
268 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
On the same day, in the afternoon, another ceremony is
held that of shaving the hair of the child. A priest
and a barber attend to this rite ; prayers are offered, water
is sprinkled over the head of the child, and the hai^ shaved
off is carried in procession to the water's edge, and then
launched on a little raft to float down the river. By this
ceremony all evil is guarded from the infancy and child-
hood of Mohammedan children. Very often sacred locks
are left on the top of the heads of Mohammedan children,
like those of the Brahmans, and these locks are conse-
crated to some saint or noble ancestor.
The other ceremony worthy of notice here is that at-
tending the death, and^_buria.l of the Mohammedans in
India. When a Mohammedan is thought to be dying a
priest is sent for, who prays before the family, then re-
pairs to the sick chamber, where he exhorts the dying
man to attend to the welfare of his soul, and proceeds to
read the chapter on future life, rewards) and punishments,
and the two most important creeds faith in God and in
Mohammed as his prophet. After death the body is
placed on a bier and conveyed with great pomp, beating
of drums, wailing of women and near relatives, to the
Musulman cemetery, where there are always tanks and
utensils for bathing the dead before interment. Here the
body is carefully washed seven times, and then perfumed
with powdered sandal-wood, camphor, and myrrh. The
forehead, hands, knees, and feet of the dead man are es-
pecially rubbed ; these parts, having touched the earth at
moments of prayer, are held more sacred than the rest of
the body. The two great toes are then tied together; a
shroud or winding-sheet, prepared by the dead man him-
self, on which he has caused to be written from time to
time the most beautiful passages from the Koran, is folded
around him very firmly and around each arm. After this
MOHAMMEDAN FUNERAL. 269
the body is replaced on the bier, every one salutes it, and
the bearers carry it to the grave. Here all the friends and
relatives stand in three rows, and at the head of every row
is a priest, who solemnly begins the chant, consisting
chiefly of prayers and confessions for the dead. The body
is at length lowered into the grave with its face toward
Mecca, and each relative, taking a little earth in his hand,
repeats the solemn utterance of their Prophet, made in
the name of God and his archangel Gabriel : " We cre-
ated you, O man, out of earth, and we return you to the
earth, and we shall raise you up again on the last day,"
and throws the earth -softly on the bier. The grave is
then closed, and fatiahs, or prayers for the dead, are
offered on the spot at stated seasons throughout the first
year.
CHAPTER XII.
The Temples of Ellora, the Holy Place of the Deccan. Nashik, the
Land of the Ramayana. Sights and Scenes on the Banks of the
Godaveri. Damaun, the most famous of the Indo-Portuguese
Towns.
WE bade adieu to the old historical city of the great
Aurungzebe just as the first streak of sunlight was gilding
the conical summit of the fortress of Dowlutabad, and,
wending our way laboriously up the steep Pipla Ghaut,
we emerged on the other side on a fertile plain planted
with magnificent trees and covered with innumerable
mausoleums and tombs, through which our bullocks made
straight for the western boundary of the beautiful hill of
Rauzah. Here we reached a spot of perfect tranquillity
and beauty, but which must have been at some ancient
time a scene of intense activity. The present little village
of Kllora, consisting of a number of Hindoo dwellings,
is almost hidden among groves of fine trees, and is only
remarkable because it lies immediately at the foot of a
high wall of rock in which the vast cayern-tempjes of
this neighborhood are found and to which it owes its
prosperity.
We alighted from our wagons on the verandah of a
well-built pagoda ; near it was a fine reservoir with flights
of broad stone steps leading down to the water's edge. On
the bank or upper stonework of this reservoir are a num-
ber of artistic little Hindoo temples or shrines, the roofs
supported by light delicate pillars, giving an airy and grace-
270
THE HOCK-CUT TEMPLES OF ELLORA. 271
ful appearance to the whole village. As soon as Govind
had gone through his prayers and ablutions we started off,
accompanied by a couple of sage-looking Hindoo guides,
for the cavern-temples. We followed our guides for some
little distance, when they left the highroad and struck a
narrow, steep path, and all at once, when we were least
expecting it, a sudden turn brought us into the presence
of the great " rock-cut temples " that render this spot the
holiest of all places in the Deccan. Down went Govjnd
and our guides prostrate on their faces and hands.
The solitude, the quiet stillness of the spot, with the
bright morning sun flooding hill and plain and pene-
trating the depths of these excavations, were impressive.
The temple before us was a large open court and deep
vaulted chamber, massive and elaborately carved, and
chiselled from the heart of the mountain itself, and rising
up nearly a hundred feet. There were many other tem-
ples in the hillside, with doorways, arches, pillars, win-
dows, galleries, and verandahs, supported by solid stone
pillars filled with figures of gods and goddesses, heroes,
giants, birds, beasts, and reptiles of every shape quite
enough to baffle the most careful student in anything like
a thorough examination of their vast and intricate work-
manship.
"We went in and out, climbing stone-cut steps up, down,
and round about the caves, not knowing which temple to
admire most or on which to bestow undivided attention.
It would take weeks to explore them thoroughly. There
is a very fine cavern-temple dedicated to Pur Sawanath,
" the Lord of Purity," the twenty-third of the great saints
of the Jains of this era.* An image resembling those
* Pur Sawanath and Mah-vira, the twenty-third and twenty-fourth
pontiffs of the present era of the Jains, seem to have superseded all the
former saints in sanctity of character. They are described by the Jains
272 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
that are seen of Buddha, stone tigers, and elephants bear
up the altar on which he is seated ; from the middle of
the altar there projects a curious wheel on which is carved
the Hindoo astronomical table, and a seven-headed serpent
is seen over the head of the god.
Another very beautiful excavation, consisting of three
temples or compartments, is dedicated to Jaggar-Nath
Buddh, or "the Enlightened Lord of the Universe;"
these temples are best known, however, by the name of
Indra Sabha, or " the assembly of Indra." These caves
are two-storied, containing images of Indra " the darter
of the swift blue bolt," as he is called seated on a royal
elephant, with his attendants about him, and of Indranee,
his wife, riding on a couchant lion, with her son in her
arms and her maids around her. The sacred trees of the
Hindoos Kalpa Vriksha, the tree of the ages or of life
are growing out of their heads ; on the one overshadowing
Indra are carved peacocks, emblematic of royalty, and
fruits resembling the rose-apple, sacred to love, grow on
as having thirty-six superhuman attributes of mind and body beauty
of form, fragrance of breath ; curling hair, which does not increase in
length or decrease in quantity, the same qualities being attached to
their beards and nails ; a white complexion, exemption from all im-
purities, hunger, decay, bodily infirmity or disease of any kind. The
spiritual attributes are those of justice, truth, faith, love, benevolence,
freedom from all anger and all earthly desires, immense power of de-
votion; hence of working miracles, of making themselves heard at vast
distances, speaking intelligibly to men, animals, and gods, of material-
izing spirits and conversing with them, and the power of scattering war,
plague, famine, storms, death, sickness, or evil of any kind by their im-
mediate presence. The heads of these Jain saints are always described
as surrounded with a halo of light, whose brightness is greater and more
far-reaching than that of the sun. The Brahmans, it is said, with great
adroitness, in order to draw to these temples the Jain pilgrims from
Guzerat, Bombay, and other parts of India, take care to represent their
god Parshurama, an incarnation of Vishnu, to be none other than the
Jain saint, Pur Sawanath.
THE HINDOO GODDESS LAKSHIMI. 273
the one sprouting from the head of Indranee. This tem-
ple is unrivalled for its beauty of form and sculpture.
The next temple we visited was the Dho Mahal Lenah,
" the double palace." It is full of figures and sculptured
story celebrating the marriage of the god Siva with Par-
vatee. It is an excavation of great depth and extent, filled
with countless gods and goddesses, among which the figure
of Yarna, the judge of the dead, commonly called Dhan-
nah, is especially remarkable. Not far from this cavern-
temple a lovely mountain-torrent comes leaping down in
beautiful cascades. Near a wide pool is a rude cave with
a deity in it called Davee, who draws multitudes of pil-
grims to her shrine yearly because of her reputation for
performing miracles.
There is also a temple famous in Indian song and story
called Khailahsah, or " highest heaven." The mountain
has been penetrated to a great depth and height to make
room for this wondrous bit of sculpture. Within an area
stands a pagoda almost, if not quite, a hundred feet high.
It is entered by a noble portico guarded by huge stone
figures of men ; towering above it are, cut out of the hill,
a music-gallery of the finest workmanship and five large
chapels, and above all there is in front a spacious court
terminating in three magnificent colonnades : huge col-
umns uphold the music-gallery ; stone elephants, looking
toward us, heave themselves out of this mass of rock-
work, and right in front is a grand figure of the Hindoo
goddess Lakshimi being crowned queen of heaven by stone
elephants, that have raised themselves on their hind feet
to pour water over her head from stone vessels grasped in
their trunks.
Everywhere we found fresh objects of wonder, and each
new cave seemed the greatest marvel of all. The entire
hillside is perforated with chatiyas, monasteries, pagodas,
18
274 LIFE AND TEAVEL, IN INDIA.
towers, spires, obelisks, galleries, and verandahs, all cut
out of the solid rock.* Nothing could be wilder and
more fantastic than the effect produced by these excava-
tions, situated as they are amid natural scenes very wild
and romantic waterfalls, ravines, gorges, old gnarled
forest trees, and a dense undergrowth of brushwood.
Naturally, freely, unexpectedly, as the tree grows, was
the development of early Hindoo art. Everywhere one
sees an unrestrained imagination breaking through and
overleaping the bounds of judgment, reason, and even
that intuitive sense of refinement to which the Hindoo
mind is by no means a stranger.
Our journey next was quite an adventurous one. We
started straight across the high plain of the Deccan for
the ThulljGjrhauts. In some parts the country is sandy
and desolate, and in others well cultivated, but in no way
remarkable till we reached the rugged but grandly moun-
tainous country through which our road lay, circuitous
and difficult, but wild and beautiful, as far as Nashik, or
" the City of the Nose," sacred to the Hindoos for various
local traditions, but above all as being the spot whence
the Godaveri takes its rise. The real source of this
famous river, however, is some eighteen or twenty miles
distant, at Thrimbak. On our road lay a deep and dan-
gerous nullah or creek, which we forded with much diffi-
culty, assisted by a number of natives whom we were
obliged to hire from a little village lying half a mile from
its banks. Passing this, we saw the Ghauts for the first
time, with their fine forests, and here and there a moun-
tain-stream, not yet dried up by the hot summer sun, tum-
bling down the mountain-sides or flowing over pebbly beds,
* Those who desire to have a detailed account of these caves will find
an admirable description of them given by Col. Sykes in the third vol-
ume of the Bombay Asiatic Society's Transactions.
THE THULL GHAUTS. 275
sometimes gleaming into the sunlight and sometimes hidden
in verdure, and anon lying in deep eddying pools at the
foot of the Ghauts, that rise up grand and defiant on
every side.
"With their forests of foliage and rich jungles the Tbull
Ghauts are a perpetual wonder and mystery to the natives,
and the spot on which the handsome city of Xashik stand-
is a paradise to the Brahmans. Through it the Godaveri,
sometimes called the Gunga, flow's, spreading gladness and
plenty everywhere. Here it was that Rama, with his beau-
tiful wife Sita, spent the first days of their exile near a dark
and dreadful forest, out of which issued the beautiful deer
in pursuit of which he was obliged to leave Sita, who be-
came an easy prey to his enemy Rawana. Here Laksh-
man, the brother of Rama, cut off the nose of the giantess
Sarp Naki, the snake-nosed sister of Rawana, from which
event the city itself is named.
There is doubtless an historical basis to all these local
traditions, for Nashik. is a place of great antiquity, and is
mentioned by Ptolemy by the name which it bears to-day.
This land was no doubt at one time debatable ground be-
tween the advancing Aryan tribes and the aboriginal set-
tlers. Here the Buddhists took refuge from the persecu-
tions of the orthodox Brahmans, excavating the temples
and caves that abound in this region.
Nashik is now a Brahman city in the fullest sense of
the word. Brahrnanic power, influence, culture, and tra-
dition are felt everywhere. Govind, our pundit, was in
his best humor. It seems he had long desired to make a
pilgrimage to this sacred spot, and here he was without
any actual expense to himself and at the right moment.
Nashik is said to have a population of from twenty-five
to thirty thousand inhabitants, chiefly Brahmans of great
wealth and famed for their religious sanctity of character.
276 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
At the jatras, or tribe-meetings, a great concourse of
Brahmans, Hindoos, Rajpoots, and Mahrattas from all
parts of India pour into this city, and our visit happened
at this time, for the pilgrims were arriving from all parts
of the Eastern world. Most of the streets are, like those
usually found in Oriental cities, narrow, ill-drained, and
badly paved, but there are some that are well kept, and
a fine broad thoroughfare leads almost, but not quite,
through the centre of the city to the banks of the Godav-
eri. The lofty houses of the Brahmans, many of which
are three stories high and almost palatial in appearance,
were thrown open to the strangers. Pilgrims thronged
the streets and were encamped along the roadside in tents
in the open air or under the shade of huge trees. High-
ways lead everywhere down to the river, whose sanctity
may be conceived from the vast numbers and character-
istics of the temples that line its banks and dot the islands
and rocks in the river-bed, nearly all built of a hard
black rock capable of high polish, and some in the purest
style of Hindoo architecture.
As we were detained here a couple of days, being
obliged to purchase a fresh pair of trotting bullocks in
order to prosecute the rest of our journey, we determined
to stay over and see the celebration of the Ho\i, one of the
most curious festivals among the Hindoos. We took up
our abode in the travellers' bungalow, some little distance
from the native city, and looking out upon the English
burying-ground. It is a charming spot, with a wild tangle
of trees forming a sort of garden around it.
The native town of Nashik seems to be divided into
three parts, the handsome and well-built portion being oc-
cupied by the wealthy Brahmans, vakeels, or lawyers, and
gurus, or priests. The second division, which bears marks
of great age and is not very sightly, is inhabited by mer-
ORIENTAL SILK-WEAVERS. 277
chants and traders in grain and other articles of Indian
commerce. The bazaars are remarkably well stocked with
shawls brought from Cashmere, silks and kinkaubs from
Aurungabad, gowrakoo, a native manufacture of tobacco
and used for smoking, and jaggery, a dark-brown sugar
from Bombay. In the jewellers' shops we saw some very
pretty specimens of gold and silver ornaments, such as are
worn by Hindoo women. The vegetable and fruit mar-
kets here are very fine. Among the fruits large trays of
beautiful flowers were disposed, of which the rose of
Nashik seemed to me the finest I had seen in India.
Sheep, goats, and cows wander about the streets of the
bazaar unmolested. Indeed, I saw cows putting their
heads into the open grain-bags exposed on the shop-win-
dows of the bunyas or grain-dealers, and have a good
feed, for there was no one to hinder them.
One day, as we were wandering about the streets of
Nashik, we strayed into an open court, and thence through
an arched entrance, into a large hall, where we suddenly
came upon a company of men weaving a peculiar and
beautiful Oriental silk. The loom was of the old-fash-
ioned Indian type, set into the ground ; the upper thread
was of a pale-gold color, and the lower of the most ex-
quisite blue, and the fabric after it was woven had a little
knot of yellow left on the surface, which gave it the ap-
pearance in one light of being woven of gold threads, and
in another light of pale blue. A number of women were
seated close by preparing the silk thread for the weavers
by means of a very rude spinning-wheel.
From the bazaars we set off to visit some of the most
artistic temples that embellish the banks of the Godavcri.
There are five structures here to-day in great repute : the
temples of Maha Deo, or the high god, Siva, Parvati,
Indra, and Jaggar Nath y commonly called Juggernaut.
278 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
Each of these temples has a large number of laymen,
priests, and priestesses, or dancing-girls, attached to them.
The dancing-girls were seen everywhere in the temples, on
the banks of the river, and in the booths erected here and
there, performing their various dances for the amusement
of the pilgrims, and some of these girls were of the finest
type that I have seen in any part of India.
We went into the temple of Maha Deo, which contains
some very rich and bold carvings. A figure of a god was
seated on a stone altar, and all over the shrine were scat-
tered flowers, oil, and red paint, or " shaindoor." At the
door of this temple we saw seated a very old woman, who,
they told me, was once a famous beauty and a priestess of
this temple. She sat there muttering idly to herself and
basking in the sunlight. Age had very forcibly set its
seal upon her. Her skin was drawn into the most com-
plicated network of wrinkles, her arms were almost de-
void of flesh, and her limbs were as feeble and tottering
as those of an infant just attempting to walk; but her
eyes, large, dark, and piercing, still retained a great deal
of their original beauty. The people, however, regarded
her as one inspired, and the women attached to the temple
had a tender care for her, taking her into an adjoining
chamber every night to sleep, bringing her out to her ac-
customed place eveiy morning, and feeding her at regular
intervals.
On the banks of the Godaveri is shown a spot where
women without number have become suttees, or, as they
called them here, Sadhwees, or " pure ones." At a very
gentle curve of the river are the cremation-grounds of the
Hindoos, and here the ashes of men burned at a distance
are brought and scattered in the holy stream, which is
thought to have its source in the heart of the great Maha
Deo himself.
HINDOO FESTIVAL OF THE HOLT. 279
Next morning, when we issued into the streets of
Nashik once more, the scene that presented itself to our
astonished gaze was that of a vast multitude gone mad.
Crowds of women dressed in fantastic attire, especially iu
white- and yellow-spotted muslin sarees, men in curious
garbs, boys dressed like sprites or wholly nude and be-
smeared with yellow paint, fakeers, gossains, ascetics,
Hindoos, and Brahmans, were seen in the streets shouting,
laughing, throwing red paint about ; rude jests were being
passed ; women were addressed in obscene or ribald lan-
guage; persons blindfolded in the streets were left to
grope their way until they removed the bandage from
their eyes, friends sent on bootless errands, etc. In fact,
it was a complete saturnalia of the rudest and most gro-
tesque description. It was the festival of the Holi* held
in honor of Krishna's sportive character on the night of
the full moon in the month of February.
That evening we went out on the banks of the Godav-
eri to see the termination of the festival, and it is simply
impossible to describe the wild enthusiasm of this vast
concourse of people. The banks of the river, the steps of
the numberless temples, the courts within courts, the
shrines, the altars, the great halls and music-galleries with
forests of carved pillars, were closely packed with count-
less throngs of white-robed priests, half-naked gossains,
or sparkling dancing-girls, while thousands of men, wo-
men, and children lined the banks of the Godaveri, eager
and enthusiastic participants in the gay, bewildering scene.
As we stood gazing at the strange spectacle we heard the
wild, discordant sounds of various musical instruments,
the shrill blast of innumerable conch-shells, and the deaf-
ening beat of the tom-toms, whereupon huge fires began
* A most popular Hindoo festival held all over Hindostan in honor
of Krishna.
280 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
to blaze almost simultaneously from shore to shore at
regular distances, and everywhere round them groups of
strangely dressed boys performed weird circular dances,
holding each other's hands and going around them ; then,
suddenly letting loose, they darted and leaped round and
round one another and round the fire at the same time.
This dance is ostensibly performed to commemorate the
dance of the god Krishna with the seven gowpiahs, or
milkmaids, but there is scarcely a doubt that this festival
originally meant to typify the revolution of the planets
round the sun.
The light from these blazing fires streaming out upon
the moonlit river, the wild discordant music, the hilarious
shouts, the frantic dancers, the sparkle of the dancing-
girls, the white-robed figures of the countless multitude,
now flashing in sight in the glare of the firelight, and
anon vanishing in the deep shadows beyond, the piles of
black temples, the great trees with their arms bending
down to the river or stretching toward the clear sky, all
combined to render the last night of the festival of the
Holi at Nashik a most weird and singularly fantastic sight.
From the first to the last day of our visit here there
was nowhere perceptible the least trace of European influ-
ence on the people or in the city. The people and the
city were just what they might have been in the days when
Ptolemy wrote about the latter, purely and wholly Hindoo,
and full of a Brahmanic atmosphere of religious mysticism
a civilization quite different from anything we had ever
witnessed.
There are a number of 'curious excavations in this neigh-
borhood, about five miles from the town, in the side of a
hill that overhangs the highway from Bombay. The hill
as well as these cavern-temples is called Pandulgnd. We
rode out on fine horses hired from a native stable close to
THE JUDGE OF THE DEAD. 281
the bazaar. The ride out was delightful, the views of the
country at once grand and beautiful, but the excavations
were much less interesting than had been reported to us
by Govind, and in no way comparable to the wondrous
structures of Ellora. There is one cave here, however,
that has a superior finish. The roof is finely arched ; the
dogaba, or memorial structure, stands at the end and is
well executed. Another cave with idols of seated figures
has a flat roof, and is not very interesting, save that near
it is carved in a niche a huge figure of Buddha. The
chief idol here is called Rajah Dhanna i. e. "judge of
the dead " and is held most sacred by the pilgrims, who
were now beginning to arrive here in strong numbers.
The odors of the stuff with which the filthy gossains rub
themselves and their altogether disgusting appearance sent
us hastily back to our quiet lodge, and early next morn-
ing we bade adieu for ever to Nashik.
From Nashik to Trimbak, eighteen or twenty miles, the
country is one of unrivalled beauty. Trimbak is a very
sacred spot, where the Godaveri really takes its rise, and
is wholly given up to the Hindoo and Brahman pilgrims,
who were pouring into the place from all the country
round. It is filled by a class of priests whose sole duty it
is to instruct pilgrims in the right way to worship and to
receive the gifts bestowed on the temples. The houses of
these priests adjoin the temples ; they lodge the pilgrims
without any charge, but each person generally leaves at
the temple a gift which exceeds the cost of his stay. We
had no time to examine the temples here, for we spent
only a night at Trimbak, and started next morning, trav-
ersing circuitous roads, crossing some small nullahs, and
by dint of travelling all day and night reached the next
important halting-place, which was no other than Damaun,
a famous old Portuguese town.
282 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
The tow" of T)a.tngri.n,, with its ramparts, gateways, and
bastions, is picturesquely situated. There is on one side
of it a fine old fortress baptized after a Christian saint
and called the "Castle of St. Hieronymus," and on the
other a deep, navigable river which still bears the favorite
Hindoo name of Gunga. The country all round Damaun
is well cultivated. The tara palm, the castor oil, the
babool, or Acacia arabica,* were seen in the gardens
and plantations. But the interior of the Portuguese town
struck me as gloomy and exceedingly filthy, and, though
it was full of people Mohammedans, Hindoos, and Chris-
tians, with even Jews and Parsees it lacked that air of
sprightliness and vivacity so noticeable in a purely Hin-
doo population. It was neither one thing nor the other
not wholly pagan, and only partially Christian. The Ro-
man Catholic chapel here was once a grand mosque.
Through the kind introduction of a Portuguese friend
we were most cordially received in the home of a vener-
able native Portuguese named Johnna Castello. The
household consisted of himself and the families of two
married sons ; one of the ladies was indisposed, but the
other, Donna Caterina, did the honors of hostess in a sim-
ple and unpretending manner. Our pundit had an out-
house placed at his disposal. The establishment did not
boast of many rooms, and those in which we were lodged
were rough and poorly built of wood. Our meals con-
sisted of rice and curry, fish, kabobsrf kid and fowl pillau,
with a variety of fine fruits and vegetables. Our meals
were served apart and in European style, but the quantity
* A genus of leguminous trees and shrubs, usually with thorns and
pinnate leaves, and of an airy and elegant appearance. It is found in
all the tropical parts of both the Old World and the New, and also in
Australia and Polynesia. A few species only are found in temperate
climates.
f Small pieces of meat seasoned and roasted on a skewer.
A PORTUGUESE WEDDING-PROCESSION. 283
of onion and garlic with which almost every dish was
seasoned helped much toward shortening our stay here.
Besides which, it seemed to me that everything was
pickled, from the pork (of which the native Portuguese
are very fond) to the young bamboo-shoots. At every
fresh course some half a dozen hot, biting pickles were
handed around.
My womanly curiosity led me into the kitchen of this
very well-to-do Portuguese family. It was in keeping
with the rest of the place. It was a low wooden struc-
ture, black with smoke and age ; a long range of open fire-
places, made of brick and mortar, ran along on one side ;
on these earthen chatties, or earthen pots, were boiling
away, some covered and others uncovered; but hanging
from the roof above these pots were long lines of black-
ened cobwebs that looked as if they had remained undis-
turbed for a hundred years. The servants were all men,
native Christians, and were overlooking the cooking or
attending to various culinary duties. They were filthy
beyond measure, and so was every nook and corner of the
kitchen. The native Portuguese in this old-fashioned city
of Damaun struck me as peculiarly uninteresting in their
manners and appearance. We saw them in the streets,
seated on the verandahs or doorsteps of their houses, chat-
tering or laughing or quarrelling with their neighbors in
shrill, harsh tones and with ungraceful gestures. In some
aspects Oriental Christianity seems even more degrading
than the worst form of paganism.
In the afternoon of the same day, as we were walking
about the town, we passed a wedding-procession .on its
way to the Roman Catholic church, which served in some
slight degree to soften the unfavorable impression produced
by the people and the town. It was a gaudy sight. Sheets
were spread along the street leading to the steps of the
284 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
chapel; flowers, chiefly the oleander, the rose, and the
mohgre* were scattered all over these sheets by dark-
skinned Portuguese girls dressed in long white trousers
and old-fashioned pink frocks. Presently the church-
bells began to tinkle merrily, and a company of dark-
hued damsels issued in full sight, dressed in tinsel and
gold, with long white muslin veils, almost like the Hin-
doo sarees, bound round their persons. The bride was
closely veiled from head to foot in something that looked
like the purdah^ worn by Mohammedan women. We
could not see her, but I pleased myself with imagining
that she was young and beautiful. Close to her were two
young women bearing lighted torches, and in the foremost
rank were two Portuguese priests, who led the way to the
chapel (once a mosque), each bearing a silver-mounted
crucifix. The bridegroom brought up the rear dressed as
an English general, with a dark-blue embroidered frock-
coat, golden epaulettes, scarlet pantaloons, sword, and a
cocked hat with feathers, accompanied by at least twelve
other native gentlemen similarly attired; but many of
these grand-looking officers were barefooted. This gro-
tesque procession rushed into the chapel in unseemly
haste, and we followed. There was nothing very re-
markable in the exterior of this chapel. But within, the
principal altar was very richly adorned with gilt images
of Christ, the Virgin, and saints, with handsome candle-
sticks and a great deal of gold and tinsel. There seemed
to be but few seats. Before the marriage ceremony began
the bride dropped her purdah, or veil, and, to my sur-
prise, I found that she was both ugly and old, and about
to be married to the young fellow in the general's cos-
* A white flower very much like a double jessamine, with much the
Bame fragrance,
t A veil that covers the whole person.
ON BOAED A PATEMAE. 285
tume, who certainly looked young enough to be her son.
She was a rich old widow, which explained the matter.
We did not wait to see the ceremony, as our stay here was
limited to two days, and this was our last one in Damaun.
After nightfall, as I looked out upon this strange, semi-
Christian, semi-pagan city, old and weather-stained, poorly
lighted, and upon that river named after a Hindoo goddess
flowing by so sluggishly, but which, after the rainy season,
often becomes a cruel foe to the peasant and cultivator, I
felt somehow that it was one of the most dismal places in
the world, in spite of its peculiar advantages of a rich soil
and sea- views. Next morning, through the kind offices
of our host, who assisted us in procuring a comfortable
berth on board a native craft called a patemar,* we found
ourselves sailing before a fine breeze, bound straight for
Surat, one of the most ancient and well-known seaports
of Western India.
* A patemar is a coasting vessel, built generally in Bombay. It has
prow and stern alike, double planked a handsome craft of about two
hundred tons burden, with two masts and great wide lateen sails.
CHAPTER XIII.
The Taptee Biver. Surat and its Environs. The Borahs and Kho-
lees of Guzerat.* Baroda, the Capital of the Guicowars. Fakeers,
or Relic-Carriers, of Baroda. Cambay. Mount Aboo. Jain Tem-
ples on Mount Aboo, etc.
THE views along the Western Ghauts and the coast are
very grand. We soon lost sight of all their varied beauty,
and in a couple of days entered the splendid river Taptee,
which flows broad and deep immediately under the walls
of the city of Surat.
Almost at the mouth of the Taptee stands a lovely little
island ; opposite to this is a little town called Domus, a
quaint, homelike-looking place, where Europeans spend
the hot months. The river flows for miles through a
richly-cultivated suburb of gardens, plantations, and beau-
tiful houses, till it reaches the city, which is walled with
bastions at certain points, but the walls and towers are
fast crumbling away. At one extremity stands the famous
old castle of Surat, about three hundred years old, looking
older and more stained with time and age than even the
fortress of Damaun.
Surat has a double wall and twice twelve gates, inner
and outer, communicating with one another. But its his-
tory is even more varied and complicated than its " world-
protecting " walls and wooden-leaved gates. It is written
in the ruins found everywhere in the gardens, palaces of
the nawabs, rajahs, and peishwas, as well as in the fac-
tories of the Dutch, French, Portuguese, and English,
286
SURAT AND ITS ENVIRONS. 287
most of which are now transformed into hospitals, lunatic
asylums, hotels for European travellers, or pleasure-
houses and grounds for wealthy natives.
Here are also grand English and Dutch cemeteries,
where many noted English and Dutch lie magnificently
entombed in stately mausoleums, in order to impress the
Oriental mind, which is always disposed to attach a cer-
tain kind of sanctity to piles of brick, mortar, and stone,
whether priest, prophet, or knave lie interred beneath.
We tried to visit the " Pinjrapoore," or hospital for sick
animals, here ; it seems to be arranged much on the same
plan as that in Bombay, but this place was too filthy to
enter, and in that respect much inferior. Attached to it
are large granaries, where all the damaged grain of the
bazaars is piled up for the use of the sick animals in the
hospital; and this it is which has rendered this place a
perfect pest-house of insects and vermin of all kinds.
Fire-temples and towers of silence are numerous here,
as Surat has a large Parsee community, who have been
established in this region ever since the eighth century.
The most curious and interesting people in this part of
the world are the Borahs, the Jains, and Buniahs.
The Borahs are divided into two classes, the traders and
the cultivators. They are Hindoos converted to Moham-
medanism ; they form the most active and industrious cul-
tivators of the soil, as well as cotton- and cloth-merchants.
Their dress, manners, and Language are the same as those
of the Hindoos. Cotton is the chief staple. The Borahs
occupy an entire street in Surat, and it is especially dis-
tinguished as being the cleanest in the native town. Their
houses are spacious and well built, with fine open bal-
conies. Their women are well treated. They support
here a number of Mohammedan priests, a bishop have a
fine mosque wherein to worship, and one of the best col-
288 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
leges in this part of the country, where the Borah youths
receive a thorough commercial education.
The jfoniahs are almost identical with the Borahs in
their trading and commercial qualifications. They are the
great grain-merchants here and everywhere. They are
also divided into three classes the cultivators, the whole-
sale merchant, and the petty retailer, who travels from
village to village with his grain-bags on his shoulders.
The Buniahs, however, are Hindoos in religion as well as
by birth.
The Jains, of whom mention has already been made,
are seen in great numbers in the streets and bazaars.
Their dress is a long white robe descending in full folds
from the shoulders to the feet, and over the shoulders is
thrown another long loose piece of white cloth ; the head
and beard are closely shaven. But the most striking pe-
culiarity is a bit of white cloth of fine texture which they
wear over the mouth to prevent them from destroying,'
by inhaling into their lungs, the minutest insect life.
They are always found with a little broom in their hands,
no matter where they go, so as to sweep the ground before
seating themselves, with the same end in view the pres-
ervation of all insect life; for this purpose they walk
very slowly with their eyes cast on the ground. To de-
stroy life, even unintentionally, is the inexpiable sin, and
a Jain will not drink any water until he has strained it,
nor will he take any meal or drink of any kind after sun-
set, lest he should happen to devour some living thing.
The Jains have some fine temples in this city.
Surat was long in the possession of the Mohgul em-
perors. In 1842 the last nawab died, and it passed into the
hands of the East India Company. It is still a great
trading city ; the surtee rassum, or manufactured silk of
Surat, is very beautiful; the gold and silver ornaments
VISIT TO THE SEAT OF OPPRESSION. 289
sold in the bazaars are unique and of fine workmanship.
Surat is also famous for the weaving of many varieties of
cotton cloths ; these are usually woven in small chequered
patterns with bright and elegant borders. Potteries are
not only numerous, but some pottery of very fine form
and quality is sold in the bazaars and is said to be of
home manufacture.
The last day we spent in Surat was passed in driving
through the suburbs in a native wagon drawn by a fine
pair of humpbacked white bullocks (zebus), who carried
us rapidly over the ground. We alighted at the palace of
the last nawab, called at once the " gift of God " and the
" seat of oppression." Of its being the former there is no
trace, but the shadow of the latter name seems still to fall
upon the partially deserted place. Apart from the col-
lection of Persian and Arabic manuscripts to be seen in a
room adjoining the palace of the nawab, there is nothing
to interest the curious visitor. With the removal of the
Moslem flag that once waved so proudly over the citadel
of Surat the glory of the Mohgul conquerors departed.
The Mohgul quarter of the city is gradually falling into
decay ; ruin and desolation mark the spot where many a
noble pile of Moslem dwellings once stood. The very
name of the Mohguls is almost a thing of the past, save
that in household song and story their deeds will ever cast
behind them a dark and terrible shadow.
We left Surat, or rather Soo Rashtra, "the pleasant
country," seated in a dhuinee, a native wagon on two
wheels with a cloth canopy overhead, and drawn l>y a
pair of large, handsome humped oxen, with a Bheel
guide, the pundit, and two servants. We had traversed a
large extent of country, halted under trees by the road>i<Io
and at mean little dhtirruin-salas, without fear or molest-
ation of any kind, with but few detentions, and only one
19
290 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
accident to our wagon, which was repaired almost at once
by applying to the headman of a village near by, who not
only sent us a blacksmith, but came out to see the work
done himself. The plan adopted in our travels through
the Deccan we carried out in our entire journeyings
through Guzerat and back i. e. to send the pundit to
the governor of the town or to the headman of the vil-
lage to ask escort and guide for the place itself as well as
to the next station ; and in no instance were these unfaith-
ful to the trust reposed in them. When they quitted us
at the appointed station we generally made them a small
present, which brought down upon us showers of bless-
ings and unqualified praise. I did not doubt, however,
that our good-fortune in this respect was owing to the dig-
nified bearing and sanctified presence of our Brahman pun-
dit. For the first few miles from Surat to Rata^goore, " the
Jewel City," the road was deep and heavy, and our wagon
dragged slowly along, but it was not long before we came
out on a magnificent park-like country, which is the cha-
racteristic of almost the whole vast province lying west of
the Deccan. It was delightful to hear our Bheel guide
singing in his deep sonorous voice as he trotted on by our
side, in which music he was joined occasionally by our
driver. One of his songs was intended to gratify Euro-
pean hearts and ears (with the "inam," or present, in
prospect, I suppose), the chorus of which was as follows :
" Bur, bur, nashanee oorta hai,
Ingraje Bhadhar ki,
Mar lia rah Tipoo Sultan,
Wo kaya lurta, haram ki."
(" Behold proud England's flag unfurl
And wave on every height.
Beaten low lies Tippoo Sultan ;
With England who dare fight?")
THE JEWEL CITY. 291
This chorus was kept up with great animation until we
reached the Jewel City, which is named after the exten-
sive carnelian-mines in its neighborhood. Our measure
of sleep at the miserable halting-place was stinted, for we
started at dawn to visit the mines, situated some distance
from the village along the slope of a picturesque hill.
The road was literally covered with discarded pieces of
carnelian. The mines were neither high nor deep. The
entire face of the hill is perforated with galleries or pits
that run in every direction. The gems are found im-
bedded in a slimy black clay holding numerous organic
remains. In some parts the pits are carried down thirty
feet before the peculiar deposit in which the carnelian
abounds is reached. It is also found in many other places
here still unknown to Europeans, as the natives keep the
secret, as far as it is possible, to themselves and even from
one another. It was interesting to see the men working
at the mines. They were very poorly clad, with only a
langoutee, or waist-cloth, round them, and each division
was superintended by a number of better-dressed men
called sirdhars, or "head lords." The stones are col-
lected in great quantities, then tried by means of another
sharp stone prepared for the purpose. If they chip easily
they are discarded, but if they have a firm, compact tex-
ture and a deep-black color, they are selected, cleaned, and
exposed on strips of rough straw mattings to the sun's rays
for the space of a year or more, since the longer they are
thus exposed the brighter the color and polish after bak-
ing. The process of baking these stones is both curious
and original. The rough stones are piled in small heaps
on the ground, which is slightly hollowed out to receive
them. Small earthen pots with holes in them are placed
over each pile ; then a quantity of goat- or sheep-ordure
is heaped up on each pot ; it is then kindled and allowed
292 LIFE AND TKAVEL, IN INDIA.
to smoulder all night. On the following morning the
stones are carefully examined, and if they have acquired
the deep bright tint peculiar to the carnelian known to
commerce, they are ready for the jeweller's polish ; if not,
they are once more subjected to the fire. The shops in
Baroda, Cambay, and Ahmedab&d have great varieties
of these stones for sale ; for they are not only carved into
rings, beads, bangles, boxes, vases, bowls, and mouth-
pieces for pipes, but idols for the Jain, Hindoo, and
Buddhist temples are also fashioned out of them.
Our journey from Ratanpoore to Baroda was through a
very beautiful country, and, though it is said to be infested
with Kholee and Bheel robbers, we passed through it with-
out the least molestation. At one point of the road not far
from Baroda we espied a thick wood above which towered
the slender spires of some Hindoo temples. The moment
these were seen our pundit, driver, and Bheel escort craved
permission to retire for puja, or worship, for a few moments.
The oxen were fastened to the branch of a tree by the road-
side, and we alighted and walked about until our pious
attendants had finished their devotions to the goddess
Bhawanee, enshrined even here as the favorite of the
reigning Mahratta kings.
Baroda ? or Varodah, "the good water country," is now
the capital of the Guicowars, which name means, literally,
" owner of heads of cattle." It is the quaintest, the most
densely populated, and independent city in this province.
The first Guicowar, a peasant by the name of Pullahji,
was employed as a domestic in the service of the Peishwa
Baji Roa. He soon raised himself by means of his ex-
traordinary military talents to the rank of a commanding
officer of the Peishwa's troops. Shortly after, having won
over the army, he declared his independence and estab-
lished himself on the throne of the Peishwas in Guzerat.
THE SUBURBS OF BARODA. 293
Having sprung from the hardy Khumbis, or cultivators
of the soil, he was justly proud of his race, and assumed
the ancient title of Guicowar. Whenever opportunity
offered, Pullahji, bent on conquest, invaded the Peishwa's
territories, carrying pillage and disorder through the
richest provinces of Nagpoor Rajpootana. His succes-
sors, however, have been obliged to employ the aid of the
British troops to hold their own in these provinces, which
are at best but partly subjugated.
We crossed an old Hindoo bridge of curious structure
consisting of arches placed one over the" other, and span-
ning an impetuous but extraordinarily beautiful river still
bearing the polished Sanskrit name of Vishwamitra y or
" the friendly preserver." It flows strong~and swift for
many miles through a deep rocky channel. Its banks are
singularly striking in some parts, rising on either side
from fifty to sixty feet. Its waters, instead of appearing
friendly, seemed dark and turbulent, not unlike the bar-
baric city which stretched along its banks. Temples,
mosques, tombs, mausoleums, and dark, sombre-looking
fortresses are seen everywhere ; great flights of stone steps
lead to the fast-flowing river, and all day long these are
crowded with men and women washing, bathing, or filling
their water-jars. The suburbs of Baroda extend for miles,
and in the most densely crowded part of the capital the
streets are narrow and crooked, the houses mostly of wood,
but built with a view of architectural effect. Some are
almost like pretty Swiss chalets, and others not unlike
Italian villas. At the cross-roads and in various parts of
the streets and lanes are seen queer little temples with the
oddest of gods and goddesses enshrined in them deities
of the woods, fountains, streams, and even of the streets
and over these fluttered the gay-colored flags of the
Guicowar. As for the inhabitants of Baroda, as seen in the
294 LIFE AND TKAVEL IN INDIA.
streets, verandahs, and shops, they are quite characteristic.
Specimens of every Eastern nationality may be seen here,
and, what is more, in the martial atmosphere of the place
they seemed more like freebooters, murderers, and warriors
than like the simple citizens of a great agricultural district
such as Guzerat presents outside of her cities and towns.
The city proper, or rather the citadel, is walled. It is
entered by huge gateways guarded by soldiers, and made
even more imposing by the lofty round towers that crown
it on either side. It is divided into four portions, three
of which are occupied by the nobility of the court of Gu-
zerat, and the other by the palaces and buildings of the
Guicowar himself. The antechamber of the palace is a
huge stone structure supporting a many-storied wooden
balcony, from the centre of which rises a lofty pyramidal
clock-tower painted in various colors and looking fantastic
beyond description. Here we saw the Guicowar going to
worship at some temple ; he was preceded by a number of
led horses and elephants splendidly caparisoned; then
came his standard borne on a great elephant, followed by
the Guicowar himself. After him came men on foot in
scarlet dresses, and more elephants. The elephants here
are trained for riding, hunting, war, and even as execu-
tioners and combatants.
The English station is very picturesquely situated, and
is purely European in appearance. The contrast is all the
more striking after seeing the citadel of the Guicowar. It
is on the north bank of the river Vishwamitra, and not far
from the great highway are the British residency and travel-
lers' bungalow, where we were most comfortably lodged.
One of the most ancient and curious temples to be seen
here is situated at the west end of the suburbs of Baroda.
It is called Ghai Da wale, " the cow temple." The front
is imposing. A portico with granite pillars admits you
THE OOW TEMPLE. 295
into a series of vaulted chambers, and there are number-
less idols of gods and goddesses enshrined in niches,
with offerings of flowers before them and red paint
sprinkled over their persons. A great many corridors
lead to other chambers, cells, vaults, and mysterious re-
treats that have sprung up round it owing to the vast
number of priestesses called Pathars attached to it.
Another feature of Baroda are the magnificent bowries,
or wells, that are found here ; some are in themselves
most exquisite pieces of architecture, and may be called
temples built over reservoirs. The entrance to these well-
temples are by five or more pavilions; thence a flight
of stone steps leads to a second dome, which is arched,
and under the outer dome, which is in its turn supported
by lofty pillars and is pyramidal, then more steps and
more pillars, until the level of the water is reached, which
is again covered by a last and beautiful dome supported
by innumerable short pillars. The largest of these wells
in Baroda is called Nou Laki, or " Nine Laks," from its
having cost that amount in building. It was erected by
Suleiman, the governor of Baroda in A. H. (Mohammedan)
807. The water is very delicious, and here people from
all parts of the country assemble to drink mendicant
Brah mans, gossains for alms, and fakeer carriers of relics
to trade. The latter is not a mendicant, but a religious
trader, whose chief claim to sanctity consists in the marks
he wears on his brow and nose. These men go from place
to place carrying their curious relics in curtained baskets
slung across their shoulders; their shirts and cumberbunds
are filled with balls, beads, and pins made from the wood
of the toolie * and other sacred trees. They have beads of
sandal and other woods strung into necklaces, bracelets,
* A native name for a tree which is found in great abundance in
this part of India, and held very sacred.
296 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
armlets, and anklets, mud figures of gods and goddesses
made of the sacred clay of the (ranges, the Godaveri, and
the Brahmapootra, precious bones of saints and prophets
carved into amulets, and any quantity of yellow threads
as a preservative against the evil eye. Women and chil-
dren flock round these relic-carriers, and in return for
grain, cloth, silver, and gold they will fasten a small yel-
low thread, a bead, an amulet, or a precious bit of some
dead saint's bone these, however, they part with only for
gold or silver around their wrists, arms, neck, and feet,
to preserve the wearer not only from the evil eye, which
is much dreaded in the East, but from all diseases and
from sudden death.
Once more in our native wagon, with a fresh guide and
escort we started for Canabay, the Khambayat of the an-
cients. We passed through a luxuriant country, for Guze-
rat is indeed the garden of the East. The thriving villages
enclosed with great hedges of prickly pear ; the pretty little
wooden houses of moderate size, all built on the same plan,
with farms, or cotton-plantations, or fruit-orchards of man-
goes, tamarinds, etc., attached to them ; the two-storied
houses of the priest, the village schoolmaster, and the
headman, with their high verdant hedges shutting off the
house from curious eyes and separating it from its neigh-
bors, this all makes up a pretty picture. In the centre
of these Guzerat villages there is generally a Hindoo tem-
ple, and a space fenced or hedged in where all the villagers
assemble for prayers, celebration of holidays, and other fes-
tival gatherings.
The Guzerati women are handsome, well-formed, and
remarkably industrious ; many of them do all their weav-
ing and spinning at home. Their chief food consists of
eggs, fowls, milk, cream, and cheese : some of the Guzerat
Brahrnaus will eat fowl and even game. The men are
THE ANCIENT KHAMBAYAT. 297
well-formed, athletic, and of fairer complexion than the
natives of Southern India.
Cambay^is a city of great antiquity and well known to
early European travellers. In 1543, Queen Elizabeth of
England sent a mission to Khambayat, with instructions
to proceed thence to China. The Hindoos state that on
the site of Cambay stood twelve hundred and eighty years
ago an ancient Brahman city according to Forbes, the
Camanes of Ptolemy. It derives its present name, how-
ever, from a copper pillar, called " Khamb," dedicating it
to the presiding deity of the place, the earth-goddess Devi ;
the date on this pillar is a little before the eleventh cen-
tury of our era. Cambay has an air of extreme sluggish-
ness and rapid decay, and one cannot fail to see its change-
ful history in its numerous foundations. Everywhere are
remnants of many cities and many kinds and styles of archi-
tecture, built one above the other.
The travellers' bungalow here comprises the upper stories
of a spacious stone building, once the English factory. It
overlooks the entire city, which is built on an eminence,
with its old walls perforated with holes for musketry, its
fifty-two towers and ten gates guarded by soldiers, and
also looks out upon the great Gulf of Cambay, than
which I know nothing more formidable in nature. At
low tide for miles out one sees only a vast plain, moist,
strewn with shells, and intersected here and there with
deep hollows and shifting sandbanks; but when the tide
changes, and long before the waters appear in sight, are
heard tremendous sounds, crash after crash, thunder after
thunder, of the advancing tide, which comes in leaping like
a huge monster, thirty to forty feet high, and breaks with
terrific violence against the shore, carrying everything be-
fore it. Ships and native vessels anchor at a point some
miles down the gulf, where the tides are less strong.
298 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
Cambay has witnessed many a dreadful scene of carnage
by the Mohguls, Hindoos, Persians, and Rajpoots. The
only objects of real interest here are subterranean Jain
temples; they are situated in the Parsee district. The
exterior, or rather upper part, of the temple would be
insignificant but for the imposing statue of Parswanath,
sculptured in white marble, surrounded by a host of
smaller images, many of which are jewelled and. are sold
as household deities. Our guide pointed to us a queer
narrow opening at the side which led by means of steep
steps to the underground temples which the Jains, like
the early Christians, built for purposes of midnight as-
sembly and worship in order to escape the persecution of
the Mohammedan conquerors of Guzerat.
Emerging from one of the gates of Cambay, we wended
our way through ruins which are scattered all about the
neighborhood. Now a broad paved pathway, now crum-
bling tombs, anon ancient structures, a broken archway, a
cluster of roofless pillars, or, again, dilapidated temples,
mark the sites where stood rich and quaint habitations,
temples, or pavilions of the ancient Hindoos. The rich-
ness and luxuriance of nature seems to have vanished also
from these ruinous suburbs, and our road was- no longer
beautiful, but lay through a deep sandy plain until we
entered the ancient capital of the great sultans, Ah&mad-
abjid or Ahmedabad, one of the unrivalled cities of the
East.
The travellers' bungalow is a pleasant place, and every-
thing in the way of living is as cheap and good as one
could possibly desire. We engaged a very intelligent
guide, who spoke Hindostanee well, to take us to the
places best worth seeing.
Our first drive was to Mirzapoor to see the Ranee-Ki-
Musjid, or "the Queen's Mosque," an enchanting spot.
THE QUEEN'S MOSQUE. 299
The moment we alighted in front of it a very old fakeer,
with a multitude of necklaces round his neck, came out to
greet us, and for a rupee showed us about the place. The
mosque and mausoleum here are both beautiful marble
structures, erected to the memory of a princess, Rupa-
vati. Her tomb, which is richly ornamented, is of a
mixture of Moslem and Hindoo style of architecture.
The dome is magnificently fretted, and pillars standing at
each tower form a graceful colonnade around the tomb.
But perhaps the chief and peculiar beauty was the situ-
ation of these partially ruined monuments, amid a wild
tangle of fruit and other trees where birds, squirrels, and
monkeys find a pleasant home. The second mosque and
tomb are not far off, dedicated to the memory of a Mo-
hammedan queen called Ranee Sipra-Ki-Musjid, "the
Queen Sipra's Mosque," one of the favorite wives of
Ahmed Shah, the founder of the city. These are exquisite
buildings too, and in the finest Saracenic style ; the pillars
and minarets have an air of wonderful loftiness and beauty.
The Kanch Ki-Musjid, or "Glass Mosque," and the
Jummah-Musjid, are both remarkably beautiful struc-
tures. The Glass Mosque, so called from the whiteness
and purity" of the marble of which parts of it was built,
has a graceful dome after the Turkish style, terminating
in a crescent. The Juminah-Musjid is in the vicinity of
the great street, "Manik Chouk," which contains the chief
b;i/uars and markets of Ahmedabad. It is an oblong build-
ing, with a fine open courtyard containing a reservoir for
washing the feet of the worshipper before entering the
precincts of the temple. The light elegant domes of this
building are supported by graceful pillars, and its open
arches, minarets, and facades are most exquisitely orna-
mented.
The grand royal cemetery of Sarkhej lies several miles
300 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
from the city of Ahmedabad a wondrous ruin, the an-
cient summer residence of Ahmed Shah. To approach it
one is obliged to cross a fine pebbly stream fordable at
points, called the Saber-Muttee, properly Safer Muttee,
"pure sand." The road leading to these vast ruined
structures of palaces, hareems, mosques, tombs, and gar-
dens is still paved in some parts.
We were admitted by a saintly custodian, who became
aifable the moment silver coins were dropped into his
half-open palm. Gury Baksh, or " the bestower of vir-
tue," the spiritual adviser of Ahmed Shah, lies interred
here beneath a splendid monument which attracts crowds
of pilgrims annually. The tomb and mosque were com-
pleted by Khouttub-ood-din, the grandson of Ahmed
Shah. The city is founded on the site of a very ancient
and populous Hindoo town dedicated to and called after
the goddess Ashawhalla, and is built out of the materials
of one or more Hindoo cities which Ahmed Shah sacked
and plundered, carrying away the stones, pillars, and mon-
uments bit by bit.
Ahmedabad was given up to the East India Company
in 1818, and has been held by it ever since. It is impos-
sible to do anything like justice to the beauties and
attractions of this magnificent Mohammedan city. It
abounds in stately monuments, mosques, mausoleums, pal-
aces, great reservoirs, and gardens, in a more or less ruin-
ous condition, but which show a high degree of civiliza-
tion and point to a period when the Mohgul occupation
of India was at its highest prosperity.
Leaving Ahmedabad, we started for Mount Aboo. a
place very little known, but one of the most beautiful
spots in the world. The magnificent province of Guzerat
is separated from Marwar on the north-east by a range of
mountains in which are Mount Aboo and a beautiful
,' -
VISIT TO MOUNT ABOO. 301
mountain-lake called Aboogoosh. Passing through Desa,
a military station for European troops, and across the
Bhanas River, our road lay for many weary days through
patches of jungle more or less dense until we found our-
selves at the pretty little Marwar village of Andara,
which lies at the foot of Mount Aboo. There is a good
path from the village to the summit of the mount, and
here a beautiful lake, called after the saint " Aboo," who
is said to have excavated the basin in which it lies with
his nails, and it is therefore called Nakhi Taloa, " Nail
Lake." It is an exquisitely shaded bit of water, and in
its vicinity are found wonderful Jain temples built of pure
white marble. Not far from this spot is the sanitarium
for travellers, where we took up our abode, barracks for
convalescent European soldiers, and a quiet, unpretending
little Protestant church.
The most important of the cavern-temples in the neigh-
borhood are the Tij Phal and the Veiuahl Sail. One is
dedicated to a Jain saint, Vrishab-Deva. It stands alone
in a square court, and all around it are little cells with
deities enshrined in them. A number of strange-looking
priests worship here, making offerings of saffron, lamps
fed with ghee, and incense in small brass pots. One priest
deliberately asked us for some brandy, and, as we had
none to give him, proposed instantly to go back with us
if we would give him some, because he suffered from
pains in his stomach.
The temple dedicated to Parswanath, the great Jain
teacher and saint, is an exquisite bit of architecture built
of the purest white marble. From one of the vaulted
roofs is suspended a cluster of flowers resembling the
half-blown lotus, sculptured out of the rock ; its cup and
petals are so beautifully carved that they are almost as
delicate and transparent as the flower itself. Everywhere
302 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
the flowers, fruits, birds, and animals indicate that the
artists must have taken their models from nature. There
is also a fine Rajpoot fortress here. The dog-rose, a beau-
tiful Indian flower called seotee, the pomegranate, the wild
grape, the apricot, are among the indigenous products of
Mount Aboo. The mango tree also abounds here, the
white and yellow jessamine, the balsam, and the golden
champa, which is sacred to the gods ; but the rarest and
most beautiful of all the plants is a parasite called by the
natives ambathri, with lovely blue and white flowers,
creeping, entwining, and blossoming around the largest
forest trees.
It was a beautiful morning on which we returned to
Andara. It was not without deep regret that we bade
adieu to this charming mountain-region and the Jain tem-
ples enshrined within its heart. We turned again and
again to take a last look at the bas-reliefs and the orna-
ments wrought here with such grace and delicacy of de-
sign as to become the despair of our more impetuous
artists, before we could make up our minds to quit those
extraordinarily beautiful monuments for ever.
CHAPTER XIY.
Calcutta, the City of the Black Venus, Kali. The Eiver Hoogley.
Cremation-Towers. Chowringee, the Fashionable Suburb of Cal-
cutta. The Black Hole. Battles of Plassey and Assaye. The
Brahmo-Somaj. Temple of Kali. Feast of Juggurnath. Benares
and the Taj Mahal.
AFTER eight or nine days' steaming from the fair and
picturesque island of Bombay our captain announced that
we were about to enter the Hoogley, a river made famous
in Indian song and story as " the strong arm of the beau-
tiful goddess Guuga, the compassionate daughter of the
proud Himalayas," but which is in reality a great muddy
estuary. The burning sun poured down upon its heavy
waters as they loomed out of the distant plain and rolled
sluggishly toward the sea, every wave seeming to bear on
its troubled brow an impress of the dark history of the
land through which it has flowed for centuries.
Late in the same evening the pilot-boat came out to
meet us, and not long after we cast anchor at a place called
Saugor, where there is a lighthouse. I remember distinctly
the oppressive night we passed here, owing no doubt to the
combined impurities rising out of the turbid waves and the
fetid odors of the adjoining land. Early next morning we
were again in motion, sailing up the dusky Hoogley. Its
low, muddy banks were dotted with wretched-looking mud
huts, relieved only by the ever-graceful palm trees that
waved above them. What a contrast this river was to
the clear, limpid, and joyous Krishna, the high-banked
303
304 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
and proudly isolated Godaveri, the genial, broad-breasted
Taptee, and the grand, impetuous Vishwamitra of West-
ern India!
Another day was nearly gone before we reached our
moorings. We cast anchor once more amid a dense forest
of masts, funnels, and native craft in the harbor of Cal-
cutta. We were met at the Champhool Ghaut, or land-
ing-place, by kind friends. Ascending a magnificent
flight of stone steps and passing under a great archway,
we hurried into a European carriage, and were driven
rapidly from the strange conflicting mass of humanity
that always abounds at a great seaport, but especially at
the seaports of all the British settlements in India.
The house of our friends here was in many respects
furnished like a European dwelling, and one might al-
most fancy himself in an English home but for the pil-
lared halls ; the spacious chambers, with long punkahs or
fans suspended from the ceilings, some of which are kept
going night and day ; the dark, silent barefooted domes-
tics, robed in pure white, who are seen gliding noiselessly
to and fro, which lend a powerful magic charm, a flavor
of the Arabian Nights, to the interior of even the most ordi-
nary of British homes in the East.
Calcutta, the capital of British India, still bears the
name of the black goddess Kali, who is supposed to spread
pestilence, famine, and death over the land of which she
is the presiding deity whenever her altars are neglected
and her thirst for vengeance unappeased. Unhealthy as
the spot is, it was rendered infinitely more so by the in-
numerable corpses that were until within a few years cast
upon the waters of the Hoogley : the poverty-stricken
inhabitants of the land, unable to pay the expenses of a
funeral by cremation, committed their dead to these waters
in the belief that its mystic current would purify them from
THE CITY OF PALACES. 305
all taint of sin. This, however, has been prohibited by
the British authorities. Huge cremation-towers now re-
ceive all bodies cast upon its waters, whence the never-
dying flames are seen constantly ascending, dark and lurid,
toward the tranquil blue sky.
The town of Calcutta lies on the eastern bank of the
Hoogley, which is the eastern arm of the old Ganges, and
held almost as sacred as that river ; the natives daily re-
pair in great numbers to its banks to offer up prayers and
praises. Here also, amid the din and noise and hurry of
native craft, trading vessels, and all manner of river com-
merce, may be seen at any hour of the day or night the
sick and dying of the Hindoo population stretched on the
edge of the river's banks, half immersed in the sacred
stream, their faces turned to the sky, convulsed or calm,
breathing their lives away.
At high water the Hoogley is nearly a mile broad in
front of the town, and is very pleasant to look upon.
Fine ships and steamers of all nations and countries lie
here within sight and sound; picturesque-looking craft
of every kind are seen gliding swiftly hither and thither.
But at low water the scene suddenly changes ; the river
becomes a shrunken and muddy ghost of itself, with filthy
borders, whence myriad floating particles of miasma are
wafted on the air to the poor humanity who are doomed
to live and labor in its vicinity.
After passing the triumphal archway you emerge on a
spacious open area called the Meidan, or plain ; here all
the principal roads part and meet, and here on either side
one sees a grand display of really stately architecture.
This is the handsome and fashionable suburb of Chow-
ringee, and in every respect worthy of being called, as
it is, "the City of Palaces." The houses are all Euro-
pean, three and four stories high, some detached, others
20
306 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
connected by handsome terraces or open sunny balconies,
many with shady verandahs, high carriage-porches sup-
ported by stately pillars, while not a few are rendered still
more attractive and home-like with gay flower-gardens
and fine forest and fruit trees, which latter are not as fine
as those found in the gardens of Bombay, owing to the de-
structive influence of the periodical cyclones that sweep
over the valley of the Ganges.
Our first drive was through this the European part of
the city, which extends about five miles along the river.
A noble and much-frequented esplanade divides the town
from Fort William. On one side stands the new Govern-
ment-house, said to have been erected by the marquis of
Wellesley. It is a noble pile, an Ionic structure on a sim-
ple rustic basement. A flight of stone steps leads to the
north entrance. The south part of the building is orna-
mented with a circular colonnade surmounted with a lofty
dome. There are spacious corridors at each of the four
corners, with circular passages leading to the private apart-
ments of the family. This princely building contains mag-
nificent chambers, some of which are richly decorated and
filled with valuable portraits of the great viceroys of India.
Near the Government-house stand the Town-hall, Treasury,
and High Court ; opposite is Fort "William, commenced by
Clive soon after the famous battle of Plassey in 1775, the
most systematically-constructed fortress in India. It is
said to have cost the East India Company the immense
sum of one million pounds sterling. In shape it is an
irregular octagon, with bombproof quarters for a garrison
of no less than ten thousand men and with room for six
hundred pieces of cannon. Toward the front it presents
a regular massive appearance, and is not unlike most Euro-
pean fortifications, but on the side overlooking the river it
is strikingly varied and picturesque, owing to the extreme-
THE BLACK-HOLE TRAGEDY. 307
ly irregular and broken character of the structure. It was
designed to bear upon objects that might approach the town
on either side of the river, and is eminently effective in ward-
ing off danger. Immediately beyond the fort the fine
steeple of the cathedral is seen rising pure and high above
the surrounding foliage. There is also here a palatial
residence for an Anglican bishop, and in 1844 the Rev.
H. Heber was the first Christian divine appointed to this
see, with a salary of five thousand pounds per annum.
Here in this spot is found the secret of the marvellous
success of that small band of intelligent Englishmen who
first set out for India under the name and protection of
trade. Here only a few years after their arrival they laid
aside their intention of simple traders ; here they mounted
their guns, enrolled armed bands of natives to assist them
in their new position, made laws, punished evil-doers, re-
warded the industrious and such as made no opposition to
their pretensions ; and here from one step to another they
finally became the legislators and rulers of the land. The
city of Calcutta does not date farther back than the fa-
mous battle of Plassey. The old fortified English factory
was erected on a low marshy plain in the middle of a few
straggling native villages, bordered on three sides by dense
jungles infested with tigers. At that time it had a gar-
rison of only three hundred men; nevertheless, that in-
significant English stronghold became in a short time the
depository of all the rich merchandise of the Gangetic
valley, which excited the cupidity of many of the rajahs.
In 1756, Nawab Surajah Dowlah attacked it with an im-
mense army, and after a desperate resistance from the
English merchants and soldiers of the fort he finally suc-
ceeded in capturing it. Then followed the famous Black
Hole tragedy, which Macaulay has so graphically de-
scribed: "One hundred and forty-six persons were
308 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
thrust into a dungeon twenty feet square ; driven into this
cell at the point of the sword, the door was shut ruth-
lessly upon them. When they realized the horrors of
their position they strove to burst the door. They offered
large bribes to the jailers, but all in vain. The nawab
was asleep, and none dared to awaken him. At length
the unhappy sufferers went mad with despair. They
trampled each other down, fought for the places at the
windows, fought for the pittance of water with which the
cruel mercy of the murderers mocked their agonies, raved,
prayed, blasphemed, implored the guards to fire among
them. The jailers in the mean time held lights to the
bars and shouted with laughter at the frantic struggles of
their victims. At length the tumult died away in low
gaspings and moanings. The day broke. The nawab
had slept off his debauch, and permitted the doors to be
opened. But it was some time before the soldiers could
make a lane for the survivors by piling up on each side
the heaps of corpses on which the burning climate had
already begun to do its loathsome work. When at length
a passage was made, twenty-three ghastly figures, such as
their own mothers would not have known, staggered one
by one out of the charnel-house. A pit was instantly
dug. The dead bodies, one hundred and twenty-three in
number, were flung into it promiscuously and covered
up." Such was the terrible nature of the affair of the
Black Hole. But the day of retribution was not far
distant.
In order to understand the position of the East India
Company at this time we must go back a few years. The
jealousy that had sprung up between the French and
English trading companies broke out into open hostilities
at the moment of the declaration of war by Louis XV. in
1744. The English were the first to receive reinforce-
CLIVE EESISTS THE FRENCH. 309
ments from home. Four English vessels, having pre-
viously captured three* richly-laden French vessels on
their voyage from Chiua, appeared off the coast of Coro-
niandel in July, 1745. Dupleix, the governor at Pon-
dicherry, apprehensive that, owing to the incomplete state
of the fortifications and the insufficient garrison, the place
would be taken, prevailed on the nawab Anwar Ou Deen
to threaten to revenge upon the English at Madras any
injury that the squadron should inflict upon the French
possessions within the limits of his government. The
Madras officials, intimidated by the authoritative language
of the nawab, took immediate measures to prevent the
English fleet from attacking Pondicherry. The English
squadron, in obedience to the orders received, confined
their hostile operations to the sea.
In the following year an indecisive action took place
between the English squadron and a French fleet under
the command of La Bourdonnais ; after which the latter,
having reinforced himself at Pondicherry, proceeded to
attack the English at Madras. The town was bombarded
for several days ; a few of the inhabitants were killed by
an explosion of a bombshell. The English, knowing that
the nawab, with all his countless forces, was on the side of
the French, capitulated, on which the assailants entered
the town and took it without the loss of a single life.
Robert Clive, then only a writer in the East India
Company's service, was among the persons who agreed to
submit to La Bourdounais, on the express condition that
the settlement should be restored on easy and honorable
terms. At the time when Madras had reverted to the
English, Clive had already exchanged the pen for the
sword, and had risen to the rank of a colonel in the Knst
India Company's .-crvice. On hearing of the atrocity of
the Black Hole the English at Madras immediately de-
310 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
spatched a naval and military forqe, the one under Admi-
ral Watson, and the other under Colonel Clive, to punish
the nawab and protect the English at Bengal.
The bravery and "duplicity" of Clive, who believed
in the adage, " similia similibus curantur," enabled him to
succeed beyond the most sanguine expectations. Victory
was followed by victory, and at length, at the battle of
Plassey, Clive at the head of three thousand men, of
whom less than one-third were English, and in the course
of a single hour's conflict, routed the entire army of
Snrajah Dowlah, consisting of fifty-five thousand armed
men. Surajah Dowlah vanquished and deposed, his prime
minister, Meer Jaffer, was appointed in the place of the
master, whom he had not only deserted, but betrayed, and
thus Meer Jaffer became at once the subject and tool of
the English.
The directors of the East India Company, on receiving
the news of Clive's success, appointed him governor of
their possessions in Bengal, and in 1760 Clive was raised
to the peerage with an income of forty thousand pounds
a year.
Warren Hastings was the next Englishman who from
the position of a clerk in an office at Calcutta rose to be
the governor-general of British India.
The kingdom of Mysore, whose lofty table-lands are
swept by the cool breezes of the Indian Ocean, has always
been inhabited by a more hardy and manly race than that
which occupied the lower plains of Hindostan. Hyder
Alee, an illiterate common soldier, impelled by a daring
spirit of adventure, seized this kingdom of Mysore and
seated himself on the throne of Seringapatam. The next
step taken by this daring adventurer was even more start-
ling. In the month of June, 1780, and when in his
eightieth year, he led an immense army into the Carnatic,
WARREN HASTINGS IMPEACHED. 311
carrying slaughter and destruction wherever he appeared.
Two small English armies, headed by Colonel Baillie and
Sir Hector Muuro, tried in vain to check his course ; they
were not only overwhelmed, but compelled to retreat,
and it seemed as if the British empire in Southern India
trembled on the very verge of destruction. It was this
critical juncture that brought out the great genius of
Warren Hastings. He at once took upon himself the su-
preme direction of affaire, superseded the incapable coun-
cil at Madras, and without loss of time despatched the
brave veteran Sir Eyre Coote with a small but resolute
force to the assistance of the English at Madras. At once
the forces of Hyder Alee were checked, siege after siege
was raised, until at length the English and Mohammedan
armies met on the plains of Cuddalore, whence, after a
desperate fight, the latter was driven in wild and dis-
orderly confusion. Hyder Alee died two years after this
defeat, bequeathing to his son, the famous Tippoo Saihib,
his throne and his hatred of English domination.
Very shortly after Warren Hastings, impeached by the
House of Commons, resigned his office as governor-gen-
eral of India, Then followed that famous trial which not
only extended over seven years, but, when dismissed from
the bar of the House of Lords, left Warren Hastings a
ruined statesman and an insolvent debtor. The East In-
dia Company, how r ever, came to his aid with an annuity
of 4000 a year, and a loan, half of which was converted
into a gift, of 50,000.
During the administration of the next governor-general,
Lord Cornwallis, the implacable Tippoo Saihib suffered a
signal defeat. Sir John Shore followed Lord Cornwallis,
and was succeeded by the earl of Mornington, the elder
brother of the " Iron Duke." He no sooner arrived in
India than Ids attention was called to the intrigues of the
312 LIFE AND TRAVEL, IN INDIA.
French with Tippoo Saihib, who were planning, with the
assistance of fresh European troops, to drive the English
out of Hindostan. The treachery of Tippoo was antici-
pated by a declaration of war. On the 5th of March, 1798,
a British army, commanded by General Harris, with the
aid of several native powers, entered the territory of
Mysore, stormed the city of Seringapatam, overthrew the
dynasty of Tippoo Sultan, and annexed that magnificent
province to the British dominions.
The British had no sooner gained possession of the lofty
table-lands of the Mysore than a new and more formidable
enemy, the warlike and predatory tribes who inhabited the
table-land of the Deccan, opposed their further progress.
The most renowned of these kings, the rajahs of Berar,
Scindia, and Holkar, formed the famous northern con-
federacy under the leadership of a still more powerful
chief, the Peishwa, whose government was at Poonah, the
capital of the Deccan. The British were soon plunged
into an extensive war with these wild and fierce northmen.
On the 4th of September, 1803, the fort of Alleghur was
taken by storm, and on the llth of the same month Gen-
eral Lake met twenty thousand of these intrepid warriors,
headed by able French officers, and defeated them, captur-
ing Delhi, one of the most ancient capitals of Hindostan
and the seat of the intolerant and luxurious Mohgul em-
perors. Triumph followed triumph; Agra, Ahmednug-
gur, and the golden city of Aurungabad surrendered.
At length the united powers of Sciudia and the rajah
of Nagpoor made one more desperate attempt to oppose
the English power in the Deccan. The armies of the
Mahratta kings were marshalled at the small village of
Assaye to meet the British troops. On ascending the ris-
ing ground to reconnoitre the enemy's forces, the English
commander, who was no other than General Wellesley,
THE BATTLE OF ASSAYE. 313
perceived a vast host extending in a line along the oppo-
site bank of the Kelnah River near its junction with the
Jewah. Their right consisted entirely of cavalry, and
their left was formed of infantry trained and disciplined by
De Boigne, with over one hundred pieces of cannon, which
rested on the fortified village of Assaye. These were com-
pletely overthrown by Wellesley with a force not exceed-
ing eight thousand men, and of whom not more thau
fifteen hundred were English.
The power of the Mahratta kings, once shaken at
Assaye, was at length completely humbled on the plains
of Argaum. They were compelled to sue for peace, which
was only granted them at the expense of enormous, terri-
tory. From this time British influence became paramount
through the whole of Northern Hindostan, and these were
the last and most famous of General Wellesley's conquests
in India. He returned to England in 1805 to win for
himself greater fame than even that which he achieved
on Indian soil.
Magnificent as is the city of Calcutta architecturally, it
was considered at one time one of the most unhealthy of
spots. The entire country is flat ; here and there are ex-
tensive muddy lakes, breeding under a tropical sun malaria
and all manner of diseases ; a line of dank, tangled forests
still stretch across the land, and is not very distant from
the town. In former times this jungle was the abode of
innumerable wild beasts, and it is even now infested with
jackals, who immediately after nightfall howl in sudden
accord, uttering the most demon-like yells. These local
disadvantages have been partially removed. The streets
have been well and carefully drained ; many of the stag-
nant, muddy pools have not only been filled up, but con-
verted into blooming gardens; and the magnificent Bo-
tanical Garden with which Mr. Hooker has enriched
314 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
Calcutta is said by good judges to be the finest in the
world. Nevertheless, the air is still impregnated to a
certain extent with the impure exhalations arising from
the low jungles in the vicinity of this city, called the
Sunderbunds.
From the palaces of the conquering Anglo-Indians the
drive to the " Black Town/' as the native portion of the
city is still called, is enough to discourage the most enthu-
siastic of Christians in the world. This quarter of Cal-
cutta stretches for some miles toward the north, present-
ing at once a sad contrast to the stately and grand portion
occupied by the English. The transition is all the more
marked because of the architectural pretensions of the one
and the rude mud habitations of the other. Here reside
at least three-fourths of the entire population of Calcutta.
The streets are more or less narrow, filthy, unpaved, and
unswept. The houses are built principally of mud, bam-
boo, or other coarse woods, swarming with an excess of
population. Within this wretched vicinity are found no
less than twenty entire bazaars extending from one end
of the "Black Town" to the other, well stocked with
goods from all parts of the world, rare and valuable prod-
ucts of the Indian loom, shawls and paintings from Cash-
mere, kinkaubs from Benares, teas and silks from China,
spices, pearls, and precious stones from Ceylon, rupees
from Pegii, coffee from Java and Arabia, nutmegs from
Singapore; in fact, everything that the wide world has
ever produced is displayed, in shops that are nothing but
miserably patched mud or bamboo dwellings. Through
these native bazaars the teeming population seemed to
flow and gurgle unchanged through all changes of gov-
ernors, constitutions, and rulers the same to-day, in type,
character, feeling, religion, and occupation, as it was be-
fore the beginning of the earliest known history. Here,
THE BLACK TOWN. 315
assembled from the four winds of the heaven, were all the
elements of an unspeakably motley crowd nut-brown,
graceful Hindoo maidens tripping daintily with rows of
water-jars nicely balanced on their heads; dark-hued
young Hindoo men, all clean and washed, robed in pure
white, laughing, talking, or loitering around; handsomely-
dressed baboos as the native gentlemen of Bengal are
called in Oriental costumes, but with European stockings
and shoes, sauntering carelessly along ; dancing-girls bril-
liantly attired; common street-women jewelled and be-
dizened with innumerable trinkets and in their distinctive
garb ; bheesties with water-skins on their backs ; Borahs,
brokers, Brahmans, Musulmans, sepoys, fakeers, and gos-
sains, in their peculiar costumes, shouting in manifold
tongues and various dialects; and, above all, there may
be seen strolling jugglers, snake-charmers, and fortune-
tellers plying their curious arts and completing the pic-
ture of an Oriental bazaar.
In some of the streets a small stream of water, a rivulet
of the sacred Granges, flows bright and clear through arti-
ficial channels. Many of the native shops open on it, and
all day long hosts of men, women, and children may be
seen seated beside it, busy or idle, but always grateful for
this truly precious gift of the gods.
Calcutta boasts of a Sanskrit college of high repute, a
Mohammedan, and an Anglo-Indian college, supported
by the English government. The College of Fort Wil-
liam, founded by the marquis of Wellesley, is chiefly used
by Englishmen, who, having been partially educated at
the College of Haylesbury, England, are instructed here
in the Oriental languages and other branches of study
necessary for their respective professions and callings in
India.
The government system of native education was estab-
316 LIFE AND TEAVEL IN INDIA.
lished on the foundation of the Hindoo schools already in
existence. These schools are divided into two classes or
grades, the upper and lower schools. In the upper, by
means of Sanskrit, the peculiar philosophy, literature, and
religion of the Hindoos are taught ; the lower schools are
to be found in every village, and may be numbered by
tens of thousands; in these the teaching varies and is
more or less dependent on the ability of the persons i. e.
Brahmans who are employed to teach. Most of these
village teachers are induced for about six pounds per an-
num to attend a normal school for a year ; %fter having
passed the required examination they are invited to take
charge of some village school.
There are eight great centres of education in British
India, and each is wholly independent of the others.
These are the three great presidencies of Bengal, Madras,
and Bombay, Scindh, the North-western Provinces, Oude,
the Central Provinces, and British Burmah. Each of these
has its own special director of public instruction, with a
staff of inspecting officers. Among the institutions that
are wholly supported by the government may be classed
the village school, in which the vernacular of the district
is taught with a few other studies ; the zillah, or district
school, in which the higher classes are often educated in
English and prepared for the universities; the talook
schools, which also are preparatory schools ; colleges with
European professors, in which a thorough English edu-
cation is imparted to the students, as are now found in the
chief cities of Benares, Delhi, Agra, Lahore, Poonah, Mad-
ras, and Calcutta; and the Elphinstone College at Bombay.
Normal schools, technical colleges for medicine, engineer-
ing, and surgery, mission and other private schools
abound, besides which there are thousands of purely na-
tive schools scattered throughout the vast territory of
SCHOOLS FOR NATIVE WOMEN. 317
India, still existing under the old Brahmanic village sys-
tem of education.
Native female education is hardly begun by the govern-
ment, and the task is very difficult, owing to the peculiar
social restraints still imposed on the better class of Asiatic
women. The Parsee female schools in Bombay are said
to be the best supported and the most efficient in this re-
spect. About twenty-five years ago Mr. Bethune opened
in the city of Calcutta a school for native women. It was
liberally supported by Lord Dalhousie, and since his death
by the state* This was the beginning of a movement which
has found great favor not only in Bengal, but in the North-
western Provinces and the Punjaub. There are now in
Bengal two normal schools for teachers and two hundred
and forty-four schools for girls, with 4844 pupils. There
are no fewer than six hundred and fifty schools in the
Punjaub, with an aggregate of 20,534 pupils. These ele-
mentary schools in the Punjaub, Lahore, and Umritsur
are superintended solely by native gentlemen. In addition
to these the zenana mission-work, carried on so success-
fully by American and European missionary ladies, is
slowly but surely preparing hundreds of women and chil-
dren for a day that may ripen into better things ; like a
grain of mustard-seed once cast into the right soil, it will
stretch out strong boughs to the four corners of the earth
for the birds to lodge under.
Another school of religious thought, already mentioned,
called the Brahmo-Somaj, "assembled in the name of God,"
is even more closely allied with the dawning freedom and
emancipation of the Hindoos from the priestcraft and spirit-
ual tyranny of the Brahman hierarchy. From this new
school of religious thought a large party of about five
thousand souls seceded some few years ago. They chose
for their leader the able and astute philosopher, the late
318 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
Keshub Chunder Sen, one of the most talented and spirit-
ual men among the Hindoos of to-day. This association
has a church in Calcutta, where the members meet once a
week or oftener for the purposes of meditation and worship.
Various means of improvement are now open to the
British subjects of India. The English residents in Cal-
cutta, Madras, and Bombay are among the most kind and
liberal people in the world. Quite independent of the
government establishments, they privately support a vast
number of charitable institutions, and there is no end of
societies for religious and other educational Objects; and
although the changes effected in the religious and social
condition of the majority of the peoples since the occu-
pation of India by the British are hardly perceptible,
nevertheless some very important steps have been taken
toward ensuring the good of the people at large, espe-
cially in the prohibition of sutteeism, infanticide, the ter-
rific sacrifice of life that at one time characterized the fes-
tival of the god Juggernath, not to speak of the tortures
of maddened fanatics and self-condemned ascetics, the
horrible practices of the Thugs and that of the Meriahs
of Orissa. All these savage practices are more or less re-
pressed by the constant and vigilant operation of protective
laws instituted by the British rulers.
Before leaving Calcutta we paid a visit to the Khali
Ghaut, and alighted before a great hall with a towering
but ungainly roof above it. This was the famous temple
of the black goddess Kali. There was something more
entangled, enchanted, and demon-like about this building
and its interior than any other that I had ever entered
in India. It was the festival of Juggernath. A num-
ber of white- robed priests were preparing to place the
grim goddess in a car and to lead her forth to grace the
festival. The temple consisted of a vast number of low
THE TERRIBLE GODDESS KALI. 319
pillars; it was dimly lighted, and, although light was
flooding the earth everywhere in great splendor, it was not
allowed to enter here, but it worked its way hither and
thither and quivered dubiously in unearthly tints on the
face of the black goddess dimly visible in the distance.
A more hideous and repulsive image can hardly be con-
ceived by the heart of man than this veritable female fiend
after whom the city of Calcutta is still named.
No one seemed to object to our entering the temple, so
we walked down the dim aisles and stood face to face with
the grim and terrible Kali. It would be impossible to give
utterance to the sense of horror that crept over me as I
looked at this strange, enigmatic deity of the Bengalees.
The black face was surmounted by long hair which had
the appearance of innumerable serpents ; a red tongue
protruded from the hideous mouth ; the expression of the
eyes was strange and fierce, almost to madness ; she was
furnished with four arms, in one of which she grasped a
knife and in the other the head of a man ; in another pair
of hands higher up she held a lotos and the chakra, or
the wheel. Round her neck hung the skulls of murdered
victims, and she stood on the body of a prostrate man,
who is represented trumpeting forth her praises even
while she is in the act of crushing him to death.
The pundit explained to us the meaning of this horrible
figure ; no further text was needed. This grim idol is to
the Hindoos a fearful warning against sensuality. The
lotos in the upper hand, which is the emblem of purity,
and the wheel of retribution, are transformed in the lower
hands into a knife and a bleeding human head. She puts
out her tongue derisively, and crushes her victim all in-
dicating, as plainly as our Bible, "The wages of sin is
death." Human sacrifices were offered to her at no very
remote period, but now, by order of the British govern-
320 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
ment, the sacrifices to her are limited to goats and kids,
which are offered to her every morning.
As we were standing and looking at this strange idol, a
number of barefooted priests came through a narrow court,
entered the temple, and took their places beside the shrine.
Two men very handsomely dressed approached from an
opposite direction bearing a fine goat, which was tied by
the feet, and laid it at the foot of the aJtar. Then one of
the priests took from the altar a vase containing some red
paint mixed with oil, with which he touched the forehead,
fore feet, and breast of the goat ; he then sprinkled some
consecrated water on it. This done, a low-caste man
stepped up, took the poor palpitating beast, inserted its
head into a curiously-fashioned guillotine, secured it there
by means of a wooden pin, and then dealt it one blow ;
the head was severed, and was presented to the officiating
priests, and the executioner carried away the' body. Such
offerings are made by both men and women as an atone-
ment for personal offences. Thus the wrath of the black
goddess of Calcutta is supposed to be appeased. Goats
are also sacrificed to her by Hindoo women when they
have had bad dreams or when they anticipate any calam-
ity, in order to avert the coming evil.
On the next day was the procession- of Juggernath. A
wilder and more incongruous scene I never witnessed.
We spent several hours in watching the procession, which,
issuing from the native town, traverses a large circuit
round the principal thoroughfares, pauses at the bank of
the river, and then retires to the country-seat of the idol,
some few miles from the temple. The idol is made of
wood, is about six feet high, with a grim human counte-
nance very unlike the carvings of Krishna to be found
in other parts of India painted blue, and seated in a
lofty chariot borne aloft on sixteen high wheels. It was
THE PEOCESSION OP JUGGERNATH. 321
|
drawn by long ropes held by thousands of enthusiastic
men, women, and children, who often bribe the priests for
the privilege of conducting the god to his country-house.
A number of priests and gayly-dreesed priestesses, stand-
ing on the platform of the chariot, chanted the praises of
the " lord of life," while the people shouted, screamed,
and clapped their hands amid the wild beating of drums
and din of hundreds of native musical instruments. The
air was heavy with the incense offered to the idol, while
nature around seemed to be steeped in repose, myriads of
bees murmured softly their idyllic hum among the way-
side flowers, doves were seen nestling together among the
shady leaves of huge pepul trees, and around the cool
recesses of huge tanks and reservoirs numbers of peacocks
sat or strutted quietly about, unfurling their glories to the
noonday sun. More puzzling than even the festival of
Juggernath is the curious state of things still existing in
British India, for side by side with the Church of the
Brahmo-Somaj, the advanced thought and intelligence of
the educated baboos and other highly philosophic and cul-
tivated natives of Bengal, are the temples of the goddess
Kali and the strange festival of Juggernath.
With regard to European influence, it must be admitted
that it is hardly, if at all, felt by the majority of the na-
tive population. The viceroy and the great English
grandees are separated from the natives for whose inter-
ests they are there by law and custom which nothing can
overcome, and the officials around whom the whole Indian
empire revolves are often ignorant of the Indian lan-
guages, races, religious and social prejudices, and mode of
life of the hundreds of provinces that lie within the rail-
ways, while those beyond are to them, as the wilds of
Africa, an undiscovered country. I have often heard gen-
tlemen of great intelligence in other respects speak of the
21
322 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
people of India with profound contempt, classing in one
indistinguishable mass Brahmans, Hindoos, Parsees, Mo-
hammedans, Arabians, Persians, Armenians, Turks, Jews,
and other races too numerous to mention.
Our next visit was to Benares, the far-famed ecclesias-
tical metropolis of Hindostan. We rested full two hours
just outside this sacred spot to enable our pundit to per-
form the prescribed observances before entering this holy
of holies. When he appeared before us he was bathed,
shaved, anointed, and clothed in pure white, and even to
his sandals he was a new man. He kept his eyes half
closed, so that his thoughts should not be tempted to stray
from the object of his deep contemplation. Presently we
were joined by a crowd of pilgrims who passed into the
city, some prostrating themselves full length as they dreAV
near. In the morning light Benares presented a most
imposing appearance : the buildings are lofty and mostly
in the Hindoo style of architecture, stretching for several
miles along the edge of the Ganges, from which ascends
a long line of stone steps. Next morning we visited sev-
eral of the Hindoo temples, especially the temple of the
monkeys, which was one of the most ludicrous I have
ever witnessed. A number of tame monkeys played about
the temple even while the most solemn services were being
performed within. The large area for the cremation of
dead bodies sent hither from all parts of Hiudostan was
the most astonishing thing I have ever seen, and the huge
funeral pyres ever burning here produced on my mind an
ever-memorable eifect. We were glad to turn our steps
from the revolting sights and scenes of the cremation-
ground to a beautiful mosque which stands as a symbol
of Moslem power in the very heart of this Brahmanic city,
towering up above the surrounding buildings on the site
of a once magnificent Hindoo temple which was torn
THE WINDOW OF MAN MCKDER, BENARES.
THE HOLY LAND OF IXDIA. 323
down, by the order of Aurungzebe, to give place to the
present graceful structure. We remained for an hour or
more within the walls of this mosque, and came away
charmed with the glistening mosaics, the capitals of the
columns, the vaults, ceilings, and arches, and the thousand
and one mysterious optical illusions of light and shade
caused by the wonderous architecture of the Moslems.
Our next visit was to the Hindoo Sanskrit College, the
most famous institution of learning in Hindostan, and
well worth seeing. The students often assemble here at
sunrise, and even after sunset, to continue their studies,
and in no part of India do I remember meeting so many
noble-looking young Hindoos as were assembled in these
halls on the morning of our visit.
From Benares we made a long and tedious dahk-jour-
ney i. e. by changing horses at different stations to Agra,
in the upper plains of India. The country we passed
through was beautiful. The picturesque native villages
of immemorial antiquity, their names, their fields, their
hereditary offices and occupations, have come down to
them out of a dim past and through countless generations,
and everywhere we saw fields of millet and wheat, the
flaming poppy, and the tall luscious sugar-cane plantations ;
cream-colored, dreamy -looking oxen moving sleepily about
in the fields or drawing water from the wells and tanks ;
men, women, and children basking under the shade of
huge trees or bathing languidly in the cool tanks, giving
one the feeling of passing through dreamland.
The great sight of sights at Agra, as every one now
knows, is the famous Taj-Mahal, and hither we repaired
the morning after our arrival ; and I must confess, though
I had heard of it and read the many elaborate descriptions
of it, I had no idea of its matchless beauty till I stood
under its roof surrounded by its pillars and walls. It would
324 LIFE AND TRAVEL IN INDIA.
take pages to describe the wonderful outlines of the win-
dows, the ornaments of the walls, arches, domes, and min-
arets, or even the exquisite carvings and arabesques of a
single frieze; so that I will not attempt here what has
already been so often done. The impression left on the
mind is very deep and solemn. When I first caught sight
of the Taj through the noble gateway at the entrance to
the grounds, I experienced feelings of mingled awe and
wonder, which increased in proportion as we examined it
more closely. Even the enormous platform on which the
Taj stands is of white marble, inlaid with precious stones,
and all the lower parts outside of the building are also
most elaborately and tastefully carved. The dome is per-
fect in its proportions of pure white marble, with an ex-
quisite minaret of gold. In the centre is the tomb of
Noor Mahal, also called by her proper name, Mamtaz
Mahal, the favorite wife and queen of Shah Jehan, built
to her memory two centuries ago. Above the tomb is a
mass of the most delicate inlaid work, and the screen-like
wall which surrounds it is entirely composed of leaves and
all sorts of flowers containing innumerable precious stones.
The echoes of our voices produced the most wonderful re-
verberations, impossible to imagine or adequately describe.
We visited the Taj also by moonlight, and .found it a hun-
dred-fold more enchanting. The gardens in which it
stands are purely Oriental, and recalled to my mind many
passages from the old Persian poets. There are lovely
white marble fountains and tanks and promenades with
inviting seats here and there for rest, while a profusion of
fragrant flowers, shrubs, and the dark silent cypresses
which stand like muffled mourners around the monument
add a pathetic beauty to the lovely spot.
Having seen the Taj, there was nothing left to do but
to return to the "Aviary" on Malabar Hill.
THE ENCHANTMENT OF THE LAND. 325
And now, as I close these brief sketches of life and
travel in India, the romance, antiquity, the song, and
story still stir the memory with the powerful enchant-
ment of a land where all nature seems to lie dreaming in
its glory of perpetual sunshine, warmth, and color.
THE END.
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