SECTION THE TWELFTH: ON VARIOUS RELIGIOUS SYS­TEMS PROFESSED BY THE PEOPLE OF INDIA.—It is to be recollected that, as has been stated, there are Samra­díán, Khodaníán, Radián, Shíderangíán, Pâikeríán, Mílánían, Aláríán, Shídábíán, Akhshían, and Maz­dakían, who are dispersed in Iran and Turan, and all appear in the dress of Muselmans, although in secret they follow each the path of their own chosen faith; in the same manner various sects are also established in India, but they do not appear in the dress of Muselmans. It is to be known, that the fundamental rule in the creed of the Hindus is the Smriti, that is, the “law,” and that all Rakshasas, that is, “devotees,” follow this way; the Véda, to them the heavenly book, prescribes the acts, and is a text, from which every sect may derive proofs of its particular belief, and all may agree in some points.

I have already given an account of their religion, but I must here remind the reader of some points. They say Naránaya, that is, “the deity,” in the ori­gin was alone; a flower, namely, the lotus, having a thousand leaves, rose from his navel, from which Brahma came forth, Brahma chatur mukha,* or “four faced;” one of these faces was cut off by Máha­déo; Brahma is also ashta báhu,* that is “eight armed;” in his navel was also a flower of five hun­dred leaves, from which Vichnu proceeded; Vichnu chatur báhu, or “four armed;” he carries in one hand a spear; in the other, the chakra, “the discus,” a weapon peculiar to the Hindus; in the third hand, the gadá, or “club;” and, in the fourth, the lotus flower. In the navel of Vichnu was a lotus of one hundred leaves, from which sprang Mahadéo, who is ashtamukha, or “eight faced” and “eight armed;” he rides upon a bull, his neck is surrounded by a snake, the hide of an elephant envelops him, and his body is rubbed with ashes; chandra, “the moon,” surya, “the sun,” and agni, or “fire,” are his three eyes. The sect of Sáivas adore Mahadéo, and his wife is worshipped by the Akmían and Ashnían, as before shown.

Another sect is that of the Sanyásis, who are praised in the Smriti; they distinguish themselves by long and entangled hair, which is called jata.* The Saiva-Sanyásis are also called Avadutas; their numbers increased during the Kaliyng; they are very pious, intrepid, and charitable. At one time, a war broke out between them and the Sófís: the former were victorious.

Another sect is that of the Jangaman; these also cut the hair off their heads, they rub dust upon their bodies, and praise Mahadéo, to whom they attribute a real existence. They are divided into several classes. They say, among the celestial spirits are nine Brahmas, who are the anśus,* that is, “the rays” of Brahma. There are one thousand Vichnus, rays of Vichnu, who is also called Nará­yana ; there are eleven Rudras, rays of Rudra, which is a name of Mahádeo; they reckon twelve suns,* rays of the great luminary; sixteen kalas,* that is, parts or rays of the moon; and they divide the efful­gence of that body into sixteen parts, and enumerate eight and twenty of its mansions, or nakshatras,* and seven planets, besides the head and tail of the dragon. Ganesa is to them a god with the head of an elephant. They distinguish eight quarters of the world, besides the zenith and nadir, and call them asht dísa,* in the following order: purva, “east;” paśchima, “west;” dakchina,” “south; and uttara, north;” between south and east, agni; between south and west, náirrita; between north and west, váyu, between north and east, iśána. Among the deities are Bhaírava* and Hanuman, and among female spirits asht Durgás, or “eight Durgás,” in the following order: Kálaká, Chandra Kálanjarí, Káu­marí, Váichnaví, Bábhraví, Chamundá,* Bhavání, and Parvati.* Maha Lakchmî Sarasvatí is the wife of Brahma. Rakshasas are termed the pious men of the Satya yug; Kaśyapa is the father of the sun; Vaśishta, the preceptor of Ram-avatár; Viśvamitra, a Kshatría, who by dint of pious austerity became a Brahman; Valmiki is the author of the poem Rama­yána, which contains the history of Ráma; Angirasah Ihr Vyása composed the historical poem Mahabha­rata; Bhazadvája Jamadagni existed in the Dwapara yug; Gotama, Kapah, (Kapila?) Parására, Narada, in the Kali yug; Chonah, Apravanah, Aurdah, Jamed Kapeh, these are for ever living;* Saptarchaya, that is, seven Richis, or “saints,” are: Kaśyapa, Uttara, Bhardvája, Viśvamitra, Gotama, Jamadagni, and Vaśista.*

It is to be known that there is a class among the Hindus who give themselves the term of Musel­man-sofis, and really agree in several tenets and opinions with the Sufís. Thus, in the first place, they devote themselves to celibacy. As they have heard that there are ten classes of Sanyásís, and twelve of Yogís, they also pretend to be divided into fourteen classes; when they meet together, the ques­tions which they ask are: Who are the four sages, and which are the fourteen noble families? and they impose upon their disciples many years of service, before they reveal to them the four sages and the fourteen families; they say: The sage of sages is the illustrious Muhammed (may the peace of God be upon him!); after him, devoted to godliness, Ali (may the blessing of God be upon him!); from him the khalifat devolved upon Imam Hossain; then Khaja Hossen, of Basora, also was his disciple and a kha­lif: these four personages are the four sages. They say besides, from Khaja Hossen, of Basora, sprang two branches: the first was that of the khalif Hos­sen Basorí Habíb Ajemí, from whom nine families proceeded, named as follows: the Jíbíán, Táikeríán, Kerkhíán, Sikatíán, Jenídíán, Gazrúníán, Túsíán, Fer­dusíán , and Soherwardíán. From the second kha­lifat of Hossen Basori, which was that of the Shaikh Abdul Wahid Zaid, came forth five families with the following titles: the Zebírían, Aiáśían, Adha­mían, Habírían, and Cheshtíán: and these are the fourteen noble families. It is said, that there exists a congregation of pious sectaries, who do not adhere to the prophet Muhammed, although they acknowledge him to be a blessed gatherer of the harvest of virtuous perfection: they relate, that one day the prophet was taking a pleasure-walk under the guid­ance of Jabríl, and came to a place where a great tumult was heard. Jabril said: “This is the threshold of pleasure: enter into the house.” The prophet consented to go in, and there he saw sitting forty persons as naked as they came from their mother, and a band busy serving; but what­ever service the prophet requested them to command him to do, they did not comply, until the moment to grind bang* arrived. When they had ground it, they had no cloth through which they could strain and purify it; then the prophet, having taken his turban from his head, purified through it the juice of the bang, the color of which remained on the turban; whence the garment of the Biní Hashem is green. When the prophet rendered them this service, they were glad, and said among themselves: “Let us give to this messenger of God, who is always running to the door of the ignorant, a little of the bang, that he may obtain the secrets of the Almighty power:” so they gave the remains of the juice to the prophet. When he had drunk it, he became possessed of the secrets of the angel of des­tiny, and whatever men heard from him, came through the means of this bounty.

There is a great number of this sect in Hindostan, and among the most celebrated of them are, in the first line, the Madárían, who, like the Sanyásís Avadhuts, wear the hair entangled; and the ashes which they and the Sanyásis rub upon their bodies are called bhasma;* besides, they carry iron chains on their heads and necks, and have black flags and black turbans; they know neither prayers nor fasts; they are always sitting at a fire; they drink a great deal of bang; and the most perfect among them go about without any dress, in severe cold, in Kabul, and Kachmir, and such places. These also consume much bang, and to the praise of one of their sect they say: “Such a one takes two or three seers* of bang. When they sit together, they relate, that in the night, when the prophet ascended through the seven stages of heaven, he received the command of God to wander through the heavens. When he arrived at the door of paradise, he found the entrance as narrow as the eye of a needle; the porter made him a sign to enter; the prophet said: “With this body, how shall I enter through this pas­sage?” Jabríl replied: “Say: dam madar,” (“the breath of Madar,” a particular ejaculation of this sect). The prophet said so, upon which the narrow door opened, and he entered heaven.

They say, when Badih eddin Madar* came to Hin­dostan, he became a Yogi, whom the Hindus held in great esteem, and who had a great number of fol­lowers. Madar took a house; he sent a little boy, whose name was Jamen, with the order to fetch some dry cowdung with which he wanted to kindle a fire. It so happened that Jamen fell in with an assembly of Yogis, who, supposing him a Musel­man, killed, cut into pieces, and devoured the boy. Some time after, not receiving any thing to light up his fire, Madár went in search of Jamen, and found the assembly of Yogis, to whom he said: “What have you done with my good little boy?” They answered: “We have not seen him.” Madár called him loud by his name, and the members of Jamen, from within the bodies of the assembled Yogis, answered “Dam madar.” Madár then said to the Yogis: “Shall I bring forth Jamen from you all, or from one only of you?” They replied: “From one body only.” By the power of Madár, the limbs of the boy having united, in a manner that no body perceived any thing of it, in the belly of the principal Yogi, Jamen fell out from the nose of the same, so that neither the nostril of the Yogi's nose was enlarged, nor the boy's limbs diminished:* whereupon the Yogis chose to run away. Madár settled at this place, which till now is known by the name of Makanpúr.* The Madarían come, as many as possible, from all parts of the world, once a year, on a fixed day, to Makanpur, and say that the blind and lame find their cure in that place.

They relate also, that Chistápá, the wife of Baha­ram Gul, in order to put to the test the Muhammedan and Indian durvishes and saints, came once among them who were assembled, and said: “Who­ever will loosen the bracelet of beads (called Sám­ran ) upon my arm, without betraying the least symptom of lust, he is a perfect saint.” All the pretenders to perfect sanctity, Muselmans and Hin­dus, presented themselves, but at the sight of Chis­tapa, they all were maddened with love, such was the beauty of her face: at last the turn came to Jamen, who approached her, and loosened the brace­let in a manner which, at the same time, evinced his manly strength, and his complete command over himself.* On that account, Jamen was proclaimed victorious over all the Muselmans and Hindus. And they have a great number of other similar stories.

Another sect, the Jelalían, are disciples of Said Jelal, of Bokhára;* his sepulchre is in the village Auch, in the district of Sind; these sectaries profess to be Shíáhs, whilst the Medárían are Sunís, on which account they revile each other. The former know of neither prayers nor fasts, nor any other practices of piety with which the Sufís are occupied; they take a great deal of bang, and used to eat snakes and scorpions. When the adepts among them see a snake, they put it whole into their mouth and swallow it, saying: “This is a fish of the holy Alí;” in eating a scorpion they remark: “This is a prawn of Alí:” and the worms which are found in the water, they call the little crabs of Alí. Like the Medá­rian, the Jelalían go naked, and even in the severely cold season, wear no garment; they sit before the fire like the Medárian, but do not wear matted hair; frequently they shave four parts of their body, and lead a wandering life in the world. Some of them bring every thing that they gain to their master, and when they go for instruction to a preceptor, they deliver to him whatever they possess in ready money and other property; after which he presents them with a turban, and his list of saints; they wear that on their heads, and hang this on their necks. They believe that, when Jzráíl comes to take their soul, the turban, descending, covers their eyes so that they may not behold the face of the angel of death, which is exceedingly terrific. Their master looks every day for a new connexion with a woman; whenever he knows of a fine girl among his dis­ciples, he orders trumpets to be blown, goes on horseback, and betaking himself to their house, uses his own discretion with the girl, whom he now and then takes to his own house, but never marries. The author of this book asked one of the Jelális: “Hámed Mahommed, your master, does he take the daughter of one of his disciples without mar­rying her?” He answered: “The Safavian kings too take wives, daughters, and sons of their dis­ciples, who are highly pleased with it, why should not Hámed Mahommed, who is truly the Khalif (substitute) of Alí, do the same?” This act is a sign of sovereignty, and a prerogative of the family of the prophet. In this country are many of his disciples, and he is a very great friend to hunting.

There is another sect who call themselves without tie and food; it is a laudable conduct with them to take nothing from any body beyond the required food and drink; and for their indispensable cloth­ing, from the shreds which they find in the streets to stick together a coat, which they call kherka; and when they ask something from any body, they first revile him and call him bad names, wherefore they often receive bad treatment from the people. They say, God is a spirit, and Muhammed his body; his four friends are his two arms and two feet; dam mádar, that is, Mádar, is the breath and the spirit of God. They drink many sorts of spirituous and intoxicating liquors. They believe the unity of the divine being, and some of them are also pious men. Their master was Gada Naráyana. The three just mentioned sects never shed the blood of animated beings.

Another sect, called Kakan, is in Kachmir; celi­bacy is their law, and their belief the unity of the divine being. They use much bang; a number of them is devoted to piety; their name of “Kakan” is derived from that of their master, who was Ibrahim Kakak. He lived, they say, in the time of the Pád­shah Jchangír, who inhabits heaven, and drew to him whomever he chose; his very sight was such an attraction, that he on whom it fixed was irre­sistibly thrown at his feet; thus he attached to him­self a great number of disciples, Hindus and Musel­mans, none of whom he induced to change his religion; that is to say, to the Hindu he did not expound the Koran, nor propose circumcision; and to the Muselman he did not make an obligation of the Zunar, and of the mark of caste upon the fore­head; neither the praise of Muselmans nor the blame of Hindus came ever upon his tongue; he never pronounced either the name of the prophet or that of an Avatar, which are the great objects of venera­tion to the Muselmans and to the Hindus; but he uttered Ruma, or Alla, or Khoda. He did not sleep at night, nor did his disciples, who sat back to back until morning before him. At a place of Kachmir, he said to his followers: “A great number of men laid down; let us do the same.” The followers answered: “Let it be as you say:” he then first laid himself down to sleep, and the friends did the same. One day he heard the voice of a crier from the top of a minaret, and said: “This is the voice of God;” at this moment one of his companions broke wind; he subjoined: “This too is God; this too the divine tongue.” A student present said to him: “Do not blaspheme.” He replied: “The one and the other is an undulation of the air, and the air is subject to God.” The student reas­sumed: “But the bad smell, with the noise, what is it?” The answer was: “This proceeds from the association of ‘thou and I;’” The student said farther: “Drink no bang, because the bang-drinkers shall not pass over the bridge of judg­ment (saraťh).” Kakak replied: “Great is the number of bang-drinkers; let us, on this side of the bridge, build a town and call it Bang pur, and not think of passing the bridge.” Goya Kásem composed a ludicrous account of these drunken sectaries. When the king Kásem Anwar (distribu­tor of splendors) was near the habitation of excel­lence, he recited the following verses:

“He (God) distributes the light; I distribute bang,

He is the distributor of splendors; I, the distributor of secrets.”

A great number of men in India think as these sectaries. The Sanyásis assembled once in one of the sacred places of pilgrimage revered by the Hin­dus; by accident, an army of naked Jelális and Madáris came there at the same time, and having brought a cow, wanted to kill it; the Sanyásis bought the cow from them; they came a second time, with another cow, which the Sanyásis again, not without entreaties, purchased. These men, barefoot and bareheaded, having become insolent by their num­bers, brought a third cow and killed it; the Sanyásis, indignant at this, attacked them, and a battle ensued, in which the Sanyásis at last obtained the victory, and killed seven hundred of the naked Jelális and Madáris; they educated the boys of these fanatics, whom they made prisoners on this occasion, in their own religion. The Sanyásis were frequently seen engaged in war.

Another class of the Hindus are the Yógis, who pretend to a high antiquity; an account of them has already been given.

Other sects, such as the Sankhyan, and the Patan­jálís ,* are devoted to piety, and practise the yóga, and other pious austerities; also the Charvakíán, who believe the four classes of their sect to be very ancient: we have already treated of them, as well as of the Játis and Vairágis; the Nanak Panthíán will be introduced hereafter.

The Narayaníán are a sect of the Hindus, which holds its creed from Gosáin Haridas. He was of the tribe of Játs, from the village Kaníra, in the district of Saválik; he was a servant of Nabidás Sanyálá; which last name is that of a tribe of the numerous Rájaputs. Haridas, when hunting, shot an arrow at a deer which was with young, and brought down a fawn, which had also been pierced by the arrow. At the sight of this event, Haridas broke his bow and arrows, tore his garment into pieces, weeping and bewailing, and during twelve years had no inter­course with the society of men. Afterwards, he assembled many disciples about him. He died in the year 1055 of the Hejira (1645 A. D.). This sect know nothing of idols, nor of temples, nor of the Kâbah, nor of any sort of worship; they do nothing towards obtaining the knowledge of, or union with, God; they confine themselves to the veneration of Naráyan, or “the supreme Being,” from which they derive the name of Naráyanían. They do not occupy themselves with the affairs of the world; abnega­tion and solitude is their law. Some have an earthen cup to drink water in; some dispense even with this; they hurt no living being; they never pull up any grass or green herbs; they burn nothing; cook no meal; and when hungry, they go into the houses of the Hindus, and accept some food, but no flesh of any sort of animal. When one of them is about to die, he is asked: “Shall we burn thy body, or throw it into the water, or bury it in the earth?” Whichever he desires is done.

Another sect is that of the Dádu Panthians. Dádu was one of the cotton carders in the village Naráina, in the district of Marwar. In the time of the Padshah Akbár (who inhabits heaven!) Dádu devoted himself to the state of a Durvesh, and assembled many disciples about him. He prohibited his followers to worship idols, to eat the flesh of any animal, or to hurt any living being; but he did not order them to abandon woman and wife, or to with­draw from all business of the world; but he left it free to any one to give up, or to cultivate, the con­nection and intercourse with men. When one of them dies, they place his corpse upon the back of a quadruped, and send it into the desert, saying: “It is now better that rapacious and other animals may be satiated with it.”

The Píára panthíán hold their creed from Bábá Píára; at the time of begging, they stand before the shops and houses, without looking at any body or saying any thing; they demand nothing with the tongue; they accept what is given, and go away when nothing is offered. The Mobed says:

“The demand without the tongue is made by the eyes;

How can that which is heard be equivalent to what is seen?”

They take no notice of the Muselmans, although they so call themselves.

The sect of the Vishnavas follow the doctrine of Gosáin Jáni. We hold the information from Jogen­das, that they called their master Jehan, and his fol­lowers, composed of Hindus and Muselmans, adopted the creed of Vishnavi. This is as follows: they hurt no living being; they avoid fellowship with men of another creed among the Hindus and Musel­mans; they pray five times a-day, with their face towards the east; they have the names of God, of the divinities, of the prophet upon their lips, such as Allah, Míkáíl, Jzráíl, Jibrail, Muhammed, Jl, and others; they bury their dead; they confer benefits upon others to the extent of their power; a num­ber of their Durvishes pretend to be afflicted with maladies and beg alms, and whatever they so col­lect they distribute to the blind and lame, and to people of that description.

Further to be noticed is the sect of the Surya-makhan,* that is, of “the worshippers of the sun.” These derive their origin from an ancient nation of Hindus, and are divided into two classes. The one of them says: The great luminary is one of the divinities of the first rank; he has átmá and buddhi, that is, “soul and intellect;” the light of the stars and the splendor of the universe proceeds from him; he is the asht bhuvana loka,* that is, “the ori­gin of the eight worlds,” and of all earthly beings; the sarva prabhá deva,* “the God of all radiance,” the chief and ruler of all divinities, the deity of heavens, the king of the stars; the Mahajyóti,* or “the great light,” worthy of praise; and of namaskara,* that is “respectful salutation,” and of adoration; and of hóm, or “sacrificial perfumes.” When the sun rises with his pure body, they stand opposite to him, and after adoration recite a Sanskrit prayer, the paraphrase of which is as follows:* “Whatever beautiful light and high splendor thou possessest overflows the eyes from the excessive bounty of thy manifestation; thou art that light which is not surpassed by any other in the display of splendors; thine is the first prayer, for thou art the substitute of God, and we place our hope in thy bounty; to thee we address the prayers of our wants, that we may experience and loudly pro­claim thy mercy. When this light is thy face, whatever we can say of the splendor, the beauty, and perfection of the supreme intellectual soul and of the pure wisdom, is but that one light which we recognise above in thy bountiful being, which thou temperest and displayest; this light derives its glory from thee, and supplication is due to this light. Give us thy assistance in the abnegation of worldly pleasures; render us equal to thyself in the purity of light, and by thy knowledge grant us union with thee; the wish of all virtu­ous hearts is, that they may, far removed from all sensual delights, be made happy in the com­munion with those who are like thee: we aban­don all worldly delights, that we may become similar to thee in splendor, and arrive to thee, and remain with thee.”

The other class of the Suryamakhan say: What­ever exists in the Swargaloka* and in the Bhúloka,* that is, in the upper and lower world, draws its origin from the sovereign great luminary; by his glorious appearance we fill our lojáni,* or “eyes,” with kalyanum,* or “auspicious light;” and we hear the Sanákáras,* that is, the incorporeal beings;” by him we acquire buddhi, that is “intellect,” the pro­fessor of which attaches his heart to nothing exte­rior: on that account they call the sun natha, “a sovereign, or divine being,” and pay worship to him. Both classes abstain from hurting living beings, and are on that account called jiva dayá,* “compassionate of life;” they do good to others as much as they can, wherefore they are termed punya­vantas ,* “virtuous;” they keep far away from false­hood and iniquity, for which they are entitled dhar­mamayás ,* “righteous.” The gríhastha, or “house­holder,” contents himself with one strí,* or “wife.” They divide the sun into several parts, which they call dyuvá murtayas,* “figures of the sun;” but the first class reckons among the Pandits, or “learned,” an order of men who have a system about ákása,* “ether,” girayas,* “mountains,” táráphal,* “starry firmament;” about the rising of heavenly bodies and the prognostics which are connected with them; they possess perfectly the canons of the Véda anga, “sacred science,” in which the medical is com­prised; and they set a great value upon buddhí, “intellect;” and áharanam,* that is, “the applica­tion of the thinking faculty;” and they say, that this is the mediator between what is sankhyanam,* “rational,” or probable, and sadhanam,* “substan­tiated,” which last is the form of things per­ceived; and the right appreciation of probabilities is attained by dint of buddhi and aharanam, that is, by high intelligence; this is fixing the thought of con­templation; or arriving at the science of what is perceived and what is probable or rational; this comprehends properly two sciences which are pos­sessed by the jitèndriya loka,* that is, “by those sages who have subdued the senses.”

There is a class of durvishes who practise tapasya,* or “devout austerity,” and who, by great and dif­ficult penances, banish every illusion from them, so that in their sleep they may not have unbecoming dreams, which they say are produced by the influ­ence of the imagination; and they guard their eyes from the wounds and impressions which also pro­ceed from the imagination. They climb up to the tops of walls, without fear of falling down, and go to such places as are not easily accessible, which they say is a triumph over illusion; they pretend to have the power to cause rain to fall or to cease; to attract whomever they like, and to render him obe­dient to their will; to give information of whatever is concealed, and to reveal the secrets of the heart; to possess the knowledge of the good and the bad hidden in the minds; as well as that of the rela­tions and history of the world; and upon the mirror of their hearts are reflected the lights of secrets, the djoti mandalam,* “the splendor of the universe.” When a misfortune happens, all the pious men assemble and hold council about the removal of it; they investigate the strange and astonishing events; they keep day and night their eyes shut, and, pondering, exercise their sagacity: these are called Dhyani.* Those who are not occupied with exterior things are called tyagî,* and others who shun all intercourse with women and have no wife, take the title of Yatis; and there is a class who, with the same abnegation as the former, never mix with the people of the world, and never ask more from them than a small quantity of food: these are called Vaíragîs,* or Udasîs.* Others live in deserts and upon mountains, satisfied with fruits; the savage animals do them no harm; they are named Vanya­sîs .* When, among them, a child is born or a mar­riage takes place in the house of a family-man, they do not offer him their congratulation; and when a misfortune occurs, such as the death of a friend, they do not grieve or take mourning. A desire for generation, and a relish for meat and drink, inas­much as may be requisite, is permitted, but beyond this prohibited; and whoever desires more is excluded from their society. This order of men among them is called Grihasta; another division of them is formed by the Avacháta,* “emaciated by absti­nence,” who are the adepts of this sect; if I were to relate every thing of them, several volumes would not be sufficient to contain my account.

In the Nababship of Kalinga exists a sect called Sûrwar (Sûryar), and another entitled Gundwar, They pay no tribute to any body; they worship the sun; from simplicity, they prefer brass and copper to gold, on account of bad smell. When one of them dies, they seize a stranger and kill him. They say that, as the Rái (prince) of Gund sits upon the ground, the lower people sit upon chairs, he being the lord of the earth and the others are not so.

The Chandra bakta,* or “worshippers of the moon,” call this planet one of the principal divinities, worthy of adoration and of worship; the regulation of the nether world is committed to his care; by the increase and decrease of the light of this heavenly body, the hours of night and day may be known; after the sun it is the greatest, and bor­rows its light from this great luminary, the access to which may also be obtained by the moon's media­tion.* These sectaries form an image of the moon, and worship it as an object of their devotion: they never hurt a sentient being.

Another sect venerates other stars. There is one who pays homage to Agni, or fire, and says that fire is the pure essence of God, who is the sun him­self: these are called Agni Pramána;* “the profes­sors of fire.” They believe also the other stars proceed from its radiance, and that the earthly fire is an emanation of its rays; they venerate every sort of fire, through the mediation of which they think access to the sun may be obtained.

Another sect, the Pavana bhakta,* or “worship­pers of the wind,” believe that the substance of God is air, and this also the intellectual soul.

The Jala bhakta,* or “worshippers of water,” hold water to be the representative of the being of God, on which account they pay veneration to the rivers and flowing streams.

The Prithivi bhakta* are “worshippers of the earth, which they believe to be the substance of God worthy of their adoration.

Another sect, called Tripújas,* worship the three kingdoms of nature, in which every place and what­ever presents itself to their view, becomes an object of their veneration.

The Manushya bhakta,* or “worshippers of man­kind,” recognise the being of God in man; they know no being more perfect than mankind, and think that it contains nothing of a bad nature.

A particular sect is to be found in Kashíal, a place in the mountainous province of Kachmir. They worship idols; the son takes the property acquired by his father to himself; but leaves whatever he gains to his sons, so that it may be the firewood belonging to his father that may burn his body. When one of them dies, a barber from without the house goes before the dead, and then brings the message that such a one wants something for a meal, upon which they go to work to prepare it; and this society is kept up for some days; then, they burn the dead; after cremation, they erect over his ashes an image of stone, one half of which is male, and the other female; and when no son of his remains, they marry his wife with a column of the house, and whoever comes upon a visit of condo­lence, has intercourse with the woman until a son be produced, and to him the inheritance is bestowed. This sect have no regard for the life of animals.

Another sect exists in the mountains of Kachmir, with the name of Durds. Among them it is customary for brothers to have but one wife; occasionally they sell house, land, wife, and children; whoever buys the house owns all these; they also pawn their wife. Some of them, even when they become Muselmans, still adhere to this custom. They also do not spare animals.

Further to be noticed in Hindostan is the tribe of Dhaids, one of the lowest classes of men; they eat every thing but men; they worship the sun. The author of this book met one day in Sikakul, in the district of Kalinga, one of these men, whose name was Nága, and asked him: “Who are the best men among all the tribes?” The man answered: “The Dhaids,” and subjoined: “When they leave the body, they unite with God; when a Brahman dies, he becomes a cow; when a Muselman expires, he is transformed into a plant.” I enquired fur­ther: “If the Dhaids be so highly favoured by God, why should they eat every thing which they find, the flesh of cows, horses, mice, and the like?” The man replied: “It is because God loves this tribe that he gave them this command: ‘Eat whatever you like.’”

The Choharas are now to be mentioned, known in Hindostan as cleaners of privies and sweepers of the ground; and in the exercise of this profession they visit the houses. They say, their master was Shah Jhuna; he, in one hand a besom of gold, and in the other a basket of silver, cleans now in the fourth heaven the house of God, and sweeps the apartments of the Highest. This tribe too eat every thing as the Dhaids.

The Nânac-Panthians,* who are known as com­posing the nation of the Sikhs, have neither idols nor temples of idols. Nânac belonged to the tribe of Bédíans, who are Kshatriyas. His reputation rose in the time of Zehir-ed-din Baber Padshah* (who inhabits heaven). Before the victory of this king over the Afghans, Nânac was a grain-factor* of Daulet khan Lodi,* who ranked among the dis­tinguished Umras of Ibrahim Khan, the sovereign of Hindostan.

A durvish came to to Nânac, and subdued his mind in such a manner that he, Nânac, having entered the granary, gave away the property of Daulet-Khan, and his own, whatever he found there and in his house, and abandoned his wife and children. Daulet Khan was struck with astonish­ment at hearing this, but, recognising in Nânac the mark of a durvish, he withheld his hand from hurt­ing him.* In a short time Nanac made a great progress in piety; at first he took little nourishment; afterwards he allowed himself but to taste a little cow-milk; next a little oil; then nothing but water, and at last he took nothing but air: such men the Hindus call pavana haris.*

Nanac had a great number of disciples. He pro­fessed the unity of God, which is called the law of Muhammed, and believed the metempsychosis, or transmigration of the soul from one body to another. Having prohibited his disciples to drink wine and to eat pork, he himself abstained from eating flesh, and ordered not to hurt any living being. After him, this precept was neglected by his followers; but Arjun mal, one of the substitutes of his faith, as soon as he found that it was wrong, renewed the prohibition to eat flesh, and said: “This has not been approved by Nânac.” Afterwards, Hargovind, son of Arjun­mal, eat flesh, and went to hunt, and his followers imitated his example.

Nanac praised the religion of the Muselmans, as well as the Avatars and the divinities of the Hindus; but he knew that these objects of veneration were created and not creators, and he denied their real descent from heaven, and their union with mankind. It is said that he wore the rosary of the Muselmans in his hand, and the Zunar, or the religious thread of the Hindus, around his neck.* Some of his dis­tinguished disciples report of him more than can here find room.

One of these reports is, that Nanac, being dissatisfied with the Afghans, called the Moghuls into the country, so that in the year 932 of the Hejira (A. D. 1525) Zehir ed-din Baber padshah (who is in heaven) gained the victory over Ibrahim, the king of the Afghans.* They say also that Nanac, during one of his journeys,* finding himself one night in a fort, was absorbed in a vision of God. Children played around him, and some put their hands upon his body, without any motion being perceived in him; they sewed his eye-lids, his nostrils, and his flesh together, and tied his hands fast. When Nanac recovered his senses, he found himself in this state, and went to a neighbouring house, at the threshold of which he called out: “Ho! is there any body in the house who may free my eye-lids sewed together and my hands?” A handsome woman, hav­ing conducted him into the house, untied his hands and tore the threads by which his eye-lids were sewed together with her teeth asunder, on which account the color of the mark of the woman's caste remained upon Nanac's forehead. After his having left the house, the neighbours saw the mark, and supposed his having had an intimate connexion with the woman; wherefore she was abused by the people and repudiated by her husband.

This woman came one day to Nanac, and said: “I have, upon the way of God, rendered thee a ser­vice, and now they revile me for it.” Nanac answered: “To-morrow will the gate of the fort be shut, but shall not be opened unless thou appliest thy hand to it.” The next day, in spite of all efforts to open the gate, they could not suc­ceed, and remained in great consternation. Men and beasts, far from water, could not go out to fetch it. The inhabitants addressed themselves to all men who had a reputation for sanctity, but their prayers were in vain. At last they had recourse to Nanac, and said: “O durvish, what is there to be done?” He answered: “The gate shall not be opened except by the hand of a woman who never lost her virtue with a stranger.” The inhabitants brought all the women who had a reputation for chastity to the gate of the fort, but it remained shut: on that account they sat down hopeless. At the time of evening prayer came at last the friend of Baba Nanac to the gate. The people laughed at her; her hus­band and her relations were ashamed and abused her. The woman, without listening to the speeches of the people, struck the gate with her hand and it opened. All men were astonished and ashamed: they fell at the feet of the woman.

The báni,* that is to say the poems, of Nânac, are, as it were, perfumed with devotion and wisdom, still more can this be said of his speeches about the grandeur and sanctity of God. All is in the lan­guage of the Jats of the Panjab, and Jat in the dia­lect of the Penjab, means a villager or a rustic.

Nânac's disciples are not conversant with the Sanscrit language. The precepts and regulations which Nânac established among them will be explained hereafter.

Nânac said in his poems that there are several heavens and earths; and that prophets, and saints, and those that are supposed to have descended from above (avatárs), and persons distinguished by piety, obtain perfection by zeal in the service of God; that whoever devotes himself to the veneration of God, whatever road he may choose, will come to God, and that the means to this is, to avoid hurting any living being.”

“Be true and thou shalt be free;

Truth belongs to thee, and thy success to the Creator.”*

Nánac left children in the Penj-ab,* they are called Kartaris; but according to the opinion of some, he had no offspring. They say that, after Nánac's decease, his place was by his order occupied by the Guru Angad, of the Srín tribe of Kshatriyas; next succeeded the Guru Amaradas, of the tribe of the Bholáyí-Kshatriyas; after him came the Guru Ráma­das , who was of the Sódahí-Kshatriyas, and also called the Srí-guru. Ráma-das, dying, left his dignity to his son Arjun mal. During the life of this Guru, the Sikhs, that is to say, his followers grew great in number and in faith. They said, Bábá Nânac is a god, and the world his creation; but Nánac in his poems reckons himself a servant of God, and he calls God Naránjen (Naráyana), Parabrahma, and Permai­sher (Paramésvara), who is without a body, and has nothing corporeal, nor deigns to be united with a bodily frame. The Sikhs say that Nánac, in the same manner, had been without a real body, but visible by the power of his individuality,* and they believe that, when Nânac expired,* his spirit became incarnate in the person of Angad,* who attended him as his confidential servant. Angad, at his death, transmitted his soul into the body of Amara das;* and thus Guru, in the same manner, conveyed his spirit into the body of Ráma-das;* whose soul trans­migrated into the person of Arjunmal;* in short, they believe that, with a mere change of name, Nânac the First became Nânac the Second, and so on, to the Fifth, in the person of Arjunmal. They say, that whoever does not recognise in Arjunmal the true Bábá Nânac, is an unbeliever; they have a number of tales about the founder of their sect, and assert that Bábá Nânac, in a former world, was the radja Janak.*

When Sakha-daiv (Saha déva),* the son of Baiás (Vyasa), a rakhaisher (rakshasa), came to Janak, in order to learn from him the path of God, he found the rája, who had thrown one of his feet into the fire; men on foot and on horseback formed a file; Nawabs and Vizirs were busy about the affairs of the state; elephants and horses presented themselves to the view. Saha dév thought in his mind that such occupations and worldly concerns were unbe­coming so pious a man. The rája, who was skilled in penetrating the hearts of others, found it out, and employing the power of magic, he caused fire to fall upon the houses, so that at last all the horses and fine palaces were burnt. The rája seemed neither to hear, nor to see, nor to care any thing about what happened, until the fire reached the house where he and Saha dév were. Janak did not throw one look upon it. The fire fell upon the wooden cup, which they call there kermandel,* and which Saha dév used for drinking water. He now, senseless, jumped from his place, and took hold of his kermandel. The rája smiled, and said to him: “All my people, and all this, my property, were burnt; my heart was not bound to them; wherefore I let them be consumed, and feel no pain about them; but thou, on account of thy kermandel, jumpedst senseless from thy place. It is now clear whose heart is bound to the things of this world.” Saha dèv was ashamed of his having been disturbed. This tale was heard from the followers of Nânac.

The history of Janak and of Saha dév is con­tained in the Jog bashest,* which is one of the prin­cipal books of the Hindus, in the following manner: Bisvámiter (Viśvamitra)* in presence of the Raksha­sas addressed this speech to Ráma chander: “O Rama chander, venerate thy father and mother; thou who issuedst from them so beautiful, thou hast accomplished thy task; by the goodness of thy nature and by the purity of thy character, thou hast polished the mirror of thy heart, and given it such a brightness, that the perfection o God is manifest in it; the success which a zealous disciple obtains, after many difficulties and pious exercises under the direction and instruction of a Rakshasa, during a long period of time, that suc­cess became thy share without trouble; thine became the science to be acquired; and thine is, even in this life, the emancipation in the form of Saha dèv, the son of Vyása. He, thy father, on account of the excellence of his pure form and of his divine nature, having come forth wise from the womb of his mother, without any assistance manifested his perfection, and on account of the clearness of his intellect, whatever on the way of his journey, was accessible to wisdom and excel­lence, was open to his looks, and no veil nor curtain remained before him; nevertheless, even with such advantages, he was inquisitive with Raksha­sas and wise men in matters of theology, so that these personages, or pious penitents, gave him directions and lessons, and offered him their advice with alacrity. Thus am I ready to give thee some instruction, and communicate some precepts of wisdom to thee.” Therefore Rámachander inquired of Visvámiter: “As Saha dèv brought the full measure of wisdom from the body of his mother, and as his nature was endowed with such perfection, my prayer is, that you may favor me with an explicit account of him, and explain to me by what means he procured to himself the advice of the wise, and in what manner the Rak­shasas imparted instruction to him.” Visvámiter replied: “O Rama chander, thy condition is as fortunate as that of Saha dèv; such was his dignity and excellence, that men, by listening to his tale, feel themselves emancipated, and are no more subject to be born again. O Ramachander, he too was impressed with the idea that in no condition this world is permanent, but that all that is seen changes every moment, and passes from one state to another. One guest arrives and comes into the world, another dies and goes out of the world; the one is agitated with distress, the other is quiet; the one exulting, the other overcome with grief; in short, whoever and what­ever exists in this world is liable to change; there is not the least hope of firmness and steadiness, and nothing is worthy to bind our hearts. But that which is firm and steady, deserves that we attach our hearts to it, and that we perpetually are mindful of, and fix our thoughts and meditate upon it. Nothing however is firm and steady but the pure being of Brahma, that is to say, the supreme and true entity of God. Moreover, who­ever directs his mind solely towards the divinity, will attain the knowledge of it, and render him­self perfectly free from the desires of the heart, and from the pleasures of the body, which tend to swell and to fetter the soul. And like the bird Pápîhá,* which is fond of the water which falls from the cloud Náisán,* and does not taste of any other liquid from river or well, but thirsting only for drops from the cloud Náisan, is taken up with the search for them; thus Saha-dév, having made himself independent and free from all desires and allurements, was always immersed in the contemplation of Brahma, and having dis­solved his own being in the reality of God, he knew Brahma, and attained the state of absolute repose and quietness. When he thus became a master of excellence, and as perfect as other rakshasas, then he felt the desire of his heart accomplished, and with a mind more splendid than the moon of a fortnight, he passed through the troubles of life, according to the words of the prophet: ‘With a heavenly mind upon the carpet of eternity.’”

One day, during a pleasure excursion in this world, he happened to reach the mountain Sumair,* that is Alburz, which in Arabia, is called Káf.* Upon the top of this mountain, he saw his father Vyása, who in a cavern was occupied with the contempla­tion of Brahma. Having saluted his father accord­ing to the custom of the Hindus, he asked him: “My worthy father, you who possess the knowledge of the supreme being, inform me in what manner this knowledge of the unity of God is diffused in the multitude, in what way the creatures of this world obtain their forms, to what period their existence is extended, what is the cause of their duration, and how their existence happens to be renewed several times, in order that I may possess proper notions of the state of this world, and that I may unravel this mystery to myself.”

Vyása, according to the desire of his son, explained the original state of the creation in clear words; but as the mind of the sage was involved in his own thoughts, and occupied with the contemplation of Brahma, he gave only a short account of the crea­tion and of the development of this world to Saha dév, who did not derive an entire satisfaction from it. Vyása knew his thoughts, and said: “O son, my mind being immersed in the study and in the contemplation of God, I cannot, for want of time, impart to thee at present distinctly the account which thou desirest; but I will put thee in the way by which thou mayst arrive at the satisfac­tion of thy heart, and I will send thee to a man who will gratify thee. Know then, that in the country of Tirhut* is a town called Míthila, and there resides Janaka, the Rája, who is an excel­lent man, and possesses incomparable knowledge. Go to him, and engage him to satisfy thy heart. He will give thee an explicit account of the crea­tion of the world from beginning to end.” Saha dév, according to the direction of his father, having left him, went into Tirhut, to the town of Mithila. He saw a city populous, and delightfully built; the soldiers content with the Rája, and the rayots (coun­try people) happy and satisfied. Nobody complained at that time of his lot: in the evening every one laid down in his corner, and at day-break attended the court of Rája Janaka. The guards at the door observed Saha dév, tapasí, that is, a pious adorer of God, the son of Vyása, who stood at the gate and asked entrance. The rája Janaka, before he received the report of it, knew from inward knowledge and from the light of his mind, the purpose of Saha­dév's mind; but in order to try his character, and to put his sincerity and his individuality to the test, he took no notice of the appearance of the stranger. Saha-dév, who had come near him, remained there one day and one night. On the next day, Janaka set about his business; the great and the vulgar appeared before him. This day too, and the follow­ing eight days and eight nights the rája did not address any question to Saha dév, who remained in his place without saying a word to any body. The eighth day, the rája Janak, when he saw that Saha-dév stood the test by shewing the mark of excellence and betraying no unsteadiness, he ordered that the stranger should be introduced into the inte­rior of the palace and into the private apartments. Beforehand, he enjoined the maids of the bed-cham­ber and all the people of the palace that, on Saha­dév's arrival, they should place before him all sorts of exquisite viands and agreeable perfumes, and what­ever might allure the mind, and that they should endeavour to fascinate and to madden him. When Saha dév, by order of the rája Janaka, had entered the private apartments, handsome women brought before him from all sides delicious meats, and gar­ments, and every thing that was attracting, and showed him great respect; after humble prostra­tions, they placed him in an elegant apartment. During other seven days and nights the rája did not appear before him. The people of the inner apart­ments, according to the rája's orders, did what they could in a thousand different ways to please him: they approached him, clasped their hands with his, rubbed his hands and feet; they served and tempted him by four principal means, namely: first, by the splendour of handsome maids; secondly, by offering him whatever may charm the senses; thirdly, by tokens of respect, and fourthly, by rubbing his hands and feet. Their intent was, if there remained any human feeling in him, to rouse it up. Saha dév, like a mountain that is not moved by any wind, stood firm; he took notice of nothing, and threw not even a look upon the beautiful moon-faced dam­sels about him. The rája Janaka, when informed that not the least trace of human feeling, lust, or desire had remained in the young man, and that he had freed himself from the fetters of error and sen­suality, ran without hesitation from the place where he was, and touched the feet of Saha dév, saying: “Be thou happy, O rakshasa! who art united with the supreme spirit, and in whom has remained no trace of the qualities of water, earth, and of human nature, thou, who hast acquired what­ever may be desirable to thy regeneration: for thou possessest the knowledge of God. Now, tell me, with what intention didst thou come to me, and what dost thou expect from our meeting?” Saha dév replied to the rája: “My intention in coming here was to obtain from thee a true account of the creation; in what manner this world came forth from the unity of the divine being, and how from him, the One, proceeded the duality and multiplicity of forms. Explain this to me, and impress it distinctly upon my mind. Although I received from my father some true notion of the creation of this world, and although, from the interior light and from the purity of heart which I have acquired by my devotion, the truth of the great question presents itself to my mind, yet I desire instruction from thee, and hope to receive it from thy tongue.” The rája Janak revealed to Saha dév, according to his wish, the history of the creation of the world. After that Saha dév said again to the rája: “O king! it is certain that between steady, wise, and learned men there is no contra­diction; so does the account of the origin of the world, which I have heard from my father Vyása, and which I have well impressed upon my mind, agree with that which thy tongue has communi­cated to me. The substance of it is, that the crea­tion of the world and the existence of its inhabi­tants took place by the will and by the disposition of Brahma, and according to the purpose of the supreme being, and that, when it is the desire of Brahma, the world is created, and when the supreme being finds it right to withdraw hímself from the circle of beings, the world returns to nothing, and its inhabitants are again enveloped with the veil of nothingness and voidness, and nothing remains but God. In like manner is the existence of all bodies connected with the will of the divine spirit, so that every being in dependence upon this will, and in conformity with the prin­ciples of its own nature, each time comes into, and goes out of, the world, or is born and dies. It is when the worldly desires, connections, and concerns are annihilated, that a man no more returns to nor leaves this world; birth and death upon this earth no more concern him, because the ties formed by his desires are broken.” Saha dév continued: “O rája, what thou hast said, is impressed upon my mind; but tell me, if there remains any thing, however minute it may be, of the account of this world; this too I wish to hear.” The rája Janaka said: “The account of the world is such as thou hast heard. That holy being, without a name, without a mark, without an equal, is pure and free from lust and desire, and his providence brings forth this world. He, the one perfect being, in what a multitude of beings does he not manifest himself! And if he removes from this creation the support of his will and of his providence, nothing remains but him­self the only being. O Saha dév, thou who hast purified thy heart from the attachments of this body, and liberated it from all desires and seduc­tive propensities, thou hast convinced thyself of the trut that, whatever appears before our eyes, is nothing, and has neither reality nor substance; what was to be performed, thou hast accomplished it; what was to be known, thou hast acquired it, and thou hast proved thyself true; on that account thou art, even in thy life-time, possessed of mukt (emancipation); that is to say: as a person, when the soul has left his body, is freed from the want of aliment, so hast thou, although still in the state of life and health, been liberated from all bodily wants.* Happy be thy life! blessed be thy age, O Saha dév!”

Viśvamitra continued: “O Ramachander, thou hast acquired the same knowledge as Saha dév; in the same manner as he abandoned all desires, subdued all the appetites of his five senses, and possessed perfect freedom, in the same manner thou must not permit any sort of desire to enter in thy heart.* There is no other means of mukt but this: to this thou must tend.”*

After that he addressed the rakshasas and all those who were present, in the following speech: “O rakshasas! and you who seek the road of God, know that, as Ramachander, by the purity of his nature and by the goodness of his disposition, raised himself to the highest dignity, not less ought to be the excellence of all the wise who are destined to the acquisition of mukt; thirsting for the knowledge of the highest, they ought to listen to the speeches of all those who devote themselves to God; nay, the truth and the faith, which Rama­chander possessed, ought to be common, and productive of the same consolation and tranquil­lity to all those who, not in vain, aspire to wis­dom and sanctity. I have imparted to Rama­chander what I knew to be the best; now is the time of Bashest (Vas ishta), who attained such a perfection of a rakshasa, that nothing that is, was, and will be, is concealed to him, and he has no equal in the world.” So far goes the text of Jog bahest.”*

The Guru Nánac, according to the belief of his followers, was in former times the rája called Janak, and united the dignity of a king with that of a saint. He called mankind to God. The author of this work heard from distinguished Sikhs that, when Bába Nánac appeared in the Sat-jog, a great number of Sikhs assembled around him. He sent a cow into the kitchen. When prepared, it was brought into the assembly; some ate of it, others were afraid to do so. The Guru prayed to God that the cow might rise again, and all those who had been afraid, beholding this miracle, approached him praying: “Now we shall eat whatever you order.” Nánac answered: “Not now be it so: mine and your engagement prevails in the Trèta-Jog.” After­wards, at the revolution of the Trèta-jog, the Guru appeared. The disciples assembled; then a slaugh­tered horse was brought into the assembly in the manner before said. Some ate of it; others abstained from it. The Guru prayed, and the horse was brought to life. Those who had been afraid prayed as before. He replied again: “Your word and mine are engaged for the Dwápar-jog.” In this age they brought a slaughtered elephant into the assembly of his fol­lowers. The same happened as I said before, and he appointed them for the Kali-jog. In this age, they say, a man was brought into the assembly; whoever ate, became free; who abstained from it, remained subject to durance, and some of the Sikhs call Nánac the slave of God.

It is also related that, when Nânac died, in the Sat-jog, two roads opened before his soul: the one led to heaven, the other to hell. Nânac chose the latter, and having descended below, he brought all the inhabitants out of hell. The Lord God said to him: “These sinners cannot enter heaven; you must return into the world and liberate them.” On that account Nânac came to this world, and his followers are the former inhabitants of hell; the Guru comes and goes, until that multitude shall have found their salvation.

Except the zealots among the Sikhs, no man else believes Bábá Nânac a god. As to the rest, Nânac's followers condemn idolatry, and believe that all their Gurus are Nânacs, as was said before. They do not recite the mantras of the Hindus, they do not venerate their temples, nor do they esteem their Avatárs. The Sanscrit language, which according to the Hin­dus is the language of the gods, is not held in such great estimation by the Sikhs. Whatever it be, the number of these sectaries increased every where, so that, in the time of the Guru Arjunmal it became very considerable, and at last there was no place in any country where Sikhs were not to be found. They make no difference between Brahmans and Kshatriyas, for Nânac was a Kshatriya, and none of their Gurus was a Brahman, as stated above. Thus they subjected the Kshatriyas to the tribe of Jats,* who are an inferior caste of Baisas (Viśas). The deputies of the Gurus are besides frequently Jats. They honour equally Brahmans and Ksha­triyas. The Guru is chosen at the discretion of his followers. It should be known that, in the time of the Afghan sultans, the Umras were called succes­sors or deputies of Ali; finally, for the sake of brevity, the name of deputy (masnad) alone was used by the Hindus. The Sikhs call masnad, and also Rámadas, the Guru whom they esteem as a king of the true faith.

Before the fifth period no tribute was exacted from the Sikhs, but presents were given by them accord­ing to their own discretion, to their Gurus. Arjun­mal sent in his time a person to the Sikhs of each town in order to collect a tribute; in that manner, the Sikhs accustomed themselves to the government of a masnad, or deputy. Their principal deputies, of whom there was a great number, elected on their part deputies, so that such substitutes were to be found in every place. The Sikhs created their Gurus, and established that an audasi,* or one that has abandoned the world, is not to be esteemed higher than any other man. On that account, some of their Gurus are inclined to agriculture, others to commerce, and to various trades and occupations. Each of them brings every year something, according to his means, to his Guru; the deputy receives a present without exacting it; others collect what is des­tined every year to the deputy, and deliver it to the chief man of the Guru, who disposes of it for his own maintenance and for other contingencies; no body incurs blame on account of presents (or con­tributions): being raised from all quarters, they are forwarded to the Guru.

In the month of February, when the sun is in the sign of the Bull, the subordinate Gurus come to their chief with those of their followers who choose to accompany them. At the time of taking leave, each receives a turban as a present from the deputy.

Having recorded truly something of the Sikhs in general, I will now give an account of the chiefs of this tribe whom I have known myself. In the sixth period lived Sri Guru Har-govind, the son of the Guru Arjun mal. The Padshah Nur-ed-din Jehan­gir,* now an inhabitant of heaven, called to his court Arjun-mal, on account of his having offered prayers for the king's son Khusro, who had rebelled against his father. Khusro having been taken, the king ordered the imprisonment of Arjun-mal, and wanted to extort a large sum of money from him. The Guru was helpless; they kept him a prisoner in the sandy country of Lahore, until he died of the heat of the sun and of ill treatment. This happened in the year 1015 of the Hejira (A. D. 1606).* In like manner the king banished from Hindostan the Shaikh Nezam Thánasír, because he had been connected with, and had prayed for, his son Khusro.

After Arjunmal followed his brother Baratha,* whom his followers called “the benevolent Guru.” Now, in the year 1055 of the Hejira (A. D. 1645), the Guru Harjayi occupies his place. They both professed the adoration of one God. The disciples of the Guru Har-govind, son of Arjunmal, called these Gurus Mainá (<Arabic>)* which among them is an oprobrious name. After the decease of Arjunmal, his son, Har-govind, also made pretensions to the khalifat (deputyship), and obtained the place of his father.* Hargovind was always attached to the stirrup of the victorious Jehangir. He became involved in many difficulties; one of them was, that he appropriated to himself the pay due to the soldiers in advance; he carried also the sword against his father; he kept besides many servants, and was addicted to hunting. Jehangir, on account of the money due to the army, and of the mulet imposed upon Arjunmal (as was said before), sent Har-go­vind to the fort of Gwalior,* where he remained imprisoned twelve years. He was not permitted to eat a good meal. During that time the deputies and other Sikhs used to come and bow before the walls of the fort. At last, moved by pity, the king granted him liberty. After Jehangir's death, Har-govind entered the service of his majesty Amír-ul Múnenîn Abu-ul-muzafer shaháb ed-din Muhammed saheb Keran sani shah Jehan, the victorious king. When the Guru returned to Batnesh, which is a district of the Penjab, he attached himself to Yar Khan, the eunuch, who held the office of a Foujdar* in the Nawabí of the Penjab, and whom he assisted in the administration. Har-govind returned to Rámadas­púr, where the Gurus Rámadas and Arjun-mal had built great edifices and dug tanks. There he sus­tained an attack of the army which Shah jehan, the shadow of God, sent against him, and the Guru's property was then plundered. From thence he fled to Kartarpúr; there too war reached him, and on this occasion Mír Badherah, and Páindah Khan, the son of Fattah Khan Ganáida, found their death. Before and after this, he encountered great dangers of war, but with the aid of God he escaped unhurt, although he lost his property. It is related by one, Sadah by name, that in this war a man aimed a blow at the Guru, who parried it, and struck him with his blade, saying: “Not in that manner, but so the sword is used;” and with one blow he made an end of his foe. One of the companions of the Guru asked the author of this work: “What was the purport of the words by which the Guru accom­panied his blow?” I said: “It was to give instruction, as it belongs to a Guru to teach also how to strike a blow with a sword; for a Guru is called a teacher: he did not strike out of anger, which would have been blameable.” At last he retired from the war of Kartarpúr to Bhagwárah, and because there, in the vicinity of Lahore, he met with difficulties, he betook himself from thence in haste to Gerait púr, which lies in the mountainous district of the Penjab, and was then dependent upon the rája Tárachand, who had never paid homage to the pádsháh Shah Jehan. The inhabitants of this country adore idols. Upon the summit of a fortified mountain, they raised an image of the Déva, named Nâina (Naráyana). Rájas and other eminent per­sons made pilgrimages to this place. At the time when the Guru came there, one of the Sikhs, called Bhairo, who accompanied him, entered the temple and struck off the nose of the idol. The rájas, having been informed of it, came to the Guru to complain of the act, and named the man who did it. The Guru called Bhairo before him. The Sikh denied the deed. The servants of the rájas declared: “We know the man.” He replied: “O rájas, ask you the god: if he tells you my name, kill me.” The rájas said: “You blockhead! how shall the god speak?” Bhairo laughed and answered: “Now it is clear who is the blockhead: if the god cannot defend his head, nor point out the man who struck him, what benefit do you expect from him, and why do you venerate his strength?” The rájas remained silent and confounded. From this time, the disciples of the Guru increased considerably, and in this mountainous country, as far as the frontiers of Thibet and Khota, the name of Muselman was not heard.

The author of this work heard what follows from the tongue of Guru Har-govind: “A mighty rája exists in the north of this mountainous country. One day he sent me an ambassador who asked information, saying: ‘I have heard that there is a town named Delhi; what is the name of its rája, and whose son is he?’ I was astonished to hear that he did not know even the name of Amír ul Múmenín saheb Karan sáni (Jehangír).” The Guru had eight hundred horses in his stable, three hundred troopers on horseback, and sixty men with fire-arms were always in his service. Among these some carried on commerce, and other trades and occupations. Whoever was a fugitive from his home took refuge with him.

The Guru believed but one God. A person desired from him some account of the creation and the con­stitution of this world. The Guru said: “The universe is an appearance without reality, and an unsubstantial manifestation of God, the highest being; and all bodies, as well as gods, are an idle illusion. I will tell thee, said he, a story of old times: There was a king who went to hunt the hátah jori, which in the Turkish language is called kamer ghah, and in Persian barah shikar, ‘a fawn of the chace.’ A deer came into the circle of the hunting party. The king said: ‘On whose side the deer will come forth, let him not return before me until he has taken it with his hand.’ By fate, the animal came out on the side of the king. Khusro run after it until he was far from the army, and reached a place where, on account of thick wood, he could not find a path. The king was glad to think the deer would now return towards him; but when he came near it, there was a small opening through which the game escaped. The king sharply pushed on his horse, which, contracting itself, passed through the thicket; but the pádsháh was taken by two branches, and his arms and feet fastened so as if it had been purposely brought about. He remained two days in such a state, until two persons, a man and a woman, who were gather­ing wood, arrived near him. The woman said to her husband: ‘Look! the king has hanged a thief.’ The man replied: ‘This is not a place for hanging; we must examine it nearer.’ When they had approached, they saw and recog­nised the king, and said to each other: ‘If we release him, it will be of use to us.’ The woman observed: ‘He is the king; once made free, what advantage will he grant us for it? If he promises to marry our daughter, we will release him.’ They said so to the king, who promied what they desired. After that, they liberated him, brought him to their house, and gave him their daughter. He remained there some time, and then joined his army. When he wanted to enter his palace, the door-keeper struck him with his stick; the king was seized with a trembling and awoke. He saw the high throne and the servants before him waiting for his orders. By this dream he was aroused from the emptiness of his illusion; he knew that the world is but an appearance without reality; and that, whatever we experience, being awake, is likewise nothing more than a dream. He found that the diversity of forms and of distinct bodies is but an image of existence, and that in truth there is but one real being, one praiseworthy, and raised above all others by superlative excellence.”

One of the Brahmans was called Déva, and counted himself among the wise. He visited the Guru, and seated himself one day upon the bed of Bába Jév, who was the son of a Guru. The people said: “Do not sit there.” He asked: “Why not?” They answered: “This is the place of the Guru.” He said: “Is perhaps the figure of a Guru not that of a man, or have I not a rational soul manifest in me? or can I not enjoy what another eats or drinks?” This speech came to the ears of the Guru Hargovind. He called that man before him, and said: “O Déva! is not the whole world but one being?” He replied: “It is.” The Guru pointed to an ass, and asked: “Do you know what this is?” Déva replied: “You are one with God, therefore you are also this.” The Guru laughed, and was not at all angry. Déva wished to marry his own sister; the people said: “This is forbid­den.” He answered: “If it were forbidden, the junction of the sexual parts would be impossible. Thus, because it is not God's will that we should rise up in the air, he withheld from us the faculty of flying.”

The Sikhs venerated the Guru Har-govind as a god, and believed that he has passed through six incarnations. Perah Kaivan, a Yazdanian, was moved by the reputatation of the Guru, and came to visit him.

The Guru recognised him, and showed him great respect. Upon that account Perah Kaivan left him. A week had scarcely passed after he was gone, when Har-govind died, on a Sunday, the third day of the Moherram, in the year 1055 of the Hejirah (A. D. 1645). When they had placed his corpse upon the pyre, and when the fire rose up in high flames, a ràjapút called Rájarama, who had been his servant, precipitated himself into the fire, and walked several paces in the midst of the flames, until he reached the feet of the corpse, and having laid his face upon the soles of the Guru's feet, he did not move until he expired. After him, the son of a Jat, who was in the service of Har-govind's son-in-law, leaped into the fire. Many other Sikhs wished to follow his example, but the Guru Har rayi forbade it. Dáulet Khan Kaksal says:

“Of a hundred sayings of my master, I remember one:

The world never becomes a desert, nor the wine-house a prayer-house.

What can my soul give more than my heart can bear?

Whatever the soul gives, and whatever the heart bears, the one and the other is god-given.”

The Guru Har-govind, in a letter to the author of this work, gave himself the title of Nânac, which was his right distinction. I saw him in the year 1053 of the Hejirah (A. D. 1643) in Kirtpúr. The Guru Har-ráyi was the grandson of the said Guru;* his father was Garuta (or Guru daitya), who is known under the name of Bábá Jév. The Guru Har-govind wished first to transmit his place to his son Garuta, or Bábá Jév; but the Guru Nághura, one of the Sikhs, brought his daughter to Bábá Jév. The Bábá wished to send her to his private apart­ments. His wife, the mother of Har-ráyi, complained of it to Har-govind, her father-in-law, who, having heard her, said to Bábá Jév: “Having given to Nághura the name of my son, I own him as such, and his daughter cannot go to you, my son.” Nághura refused to take back his daughter; nor would Bábá Jév give her up. The Guru Har-govind then said: “May neither happiness nor success ever attend this husband and his wife!” Upon that, the same day, Bábá Jév threw away his nuptial dress, and sent the daughter of the Guru Nághura untouched back to her house. In consequence of this event, Har-govind showed a more particular esteem for his grandson Har-ráyi,* the son of Bábá Jév; he gave him the name of his father, Bábá Jév, and appointed him his successor. Invested with this dignity, Har-rayi remained one year in Kirtpúr. When in the year of the Hejirah 1055 (A. D. 1645) Najábet Khan, the son of Sharogh Mirza, by order of the pádsháh Shah-jehan, invaded with an army the land of the rája Tarachand, and made the rája a prisoner, the Guru Har-ráyi betook himself to Thapal, which town is situated in the district of the rája Keramperkás, not far from Sirhind.

The Sikhs call Har-ráyi the seventh Guru. He was a great friend of the author of this work. I will therefore give an account of some among the principal chiefs whom I knew, as well as of some customs of this people. The Sikhs distinguish also the deputies of their Gurus by the name of Rámdais, that is to say, “servants of God, or of an idol.” Jahandas was one of the pretenders to the dignity of a Guru; he was a man high and proud in his speeches, not agreeable to any, indifferent to good and bad that might happen to him. One day he got a wound on his foot. Har-govind told him: “Do not envelop too much, and raise your foot.” According to this injunction, he suspended and uncovered his foot during three months. When the Guru was informed of it, he said to him: “Cover your foot; what I told you was intended for the healing of your wound: do not rest on your foot for some days.” One day the Guru said to him: “Tell the Sikhs to bring wood into the kitchen, that they may gain some remuneration.” Jahandas did not appear the next day, as if he had not during one day and a half awoke from sleep. The people, sus­pecting some derangement of his brain, thought he had absented himself. When they, with the Guru, looked after him, they found him with a bundle of wood on his shoulder. The Guru said: “I have not ordered you to bear that.” He replied: “You gave your orders to the Sikhs; a Sikh am I, and know not to be any thing higher than they are.” Another day the Guru went into a garden, and said to Jahandas: “Remain at the door.” By accident, the Guru returned home by another door; Jahandas remained three days on his feet, until Har-govind, who was informed of it, called him away.

Har-govind had a disciple called Badhata, who sent a person to bring corn from a field where it was lying cut. This man gave every thing away, and then said to Badhata who had sent him: “You distributed every thing, as a father, to the poor; I did the same in imitation of your example, and dispense you from the remuneration which I should have gained by bringing the corn to you.” Badhata was at first a thief, and his disciples exer­cised later the profession of thieving; they showed themselves very obedient to the orders of their mas­ter, and believed that stealing for him deserved praise and recompense. Har-govind, according to the Sikhs, declared that on the day of the last judg­ment, his disciples will not have to account for their actions.

Sadah, a disciple of the Guru, went by his orders to bring horses from Balkh to Irak. He had a son who had fallen sick. They said to him: “You are now in the town of Balkh, and but one day's jour­ney from home: go to see your son.” He answered: “If he should die, there is wood enough in the house to burn him: I went about the Guru's business, and will not return.” The son died, but he did not return. At last he bought three capital horses of Irak; but Khalíl Bég, a tyrant, took hold of them, which fell hard upon him. In the same year, he lost his only son and heir, and saw himself deprived of strength and honor. Sadah was a man neither gladdened by good nor afflicted by bad fortune. The author of this work was once his companion on a journey from Kabul to the Penjab. The belt of my coat broke; Sadah gave me immediately his zunnar to serve me as a belt. I said to him: “Why do you this?” He answered: “To tie the zunnar purports an engage­ment to serve another; as often as I render some service to friends, may I resign my zunnar for it.

This thread serves to tie every thing:

In a cloister it is a rosary; in a temple of idols a zunnar.”

A Sikh asked the Guru Har-govind: “In the absence of my Guru, what other shall I find?” He replied: “Whichever of the Sikhs comes to your house under the name of a Guru, him you may take for yours.” It is the custom among the Sikhs that, whatever demand they have, they can state it in the assembly of the Sikhs to the Guru, to whom they offer whatever present they have, or a coin, and in so doing they join their hands together, and proffer prayers to him, that he may be favor­able to them. The Guru states then his demand in the Sangat (Sangátí),* that is to say, in the assembly of the Sikhs. This custom exists also among the Sipásian, or Izedanian. The belief of this people is, that an assembly is certainly capable of achieving every thing, inasmuch as the minds act with their united strength.

Among the Sikhs there is nothing of the religious rites of the Hindús; they know of no check in eating or drinking. When Pertábmal, a Jnání, “wise,” Hindu, saw that his son wished to adopt the faith of the Muselmans, he asked him: “Why dost thou wish to become a Muselman? If thou likest to eat every thing, become a Guru of the Sikhs, and eat whatever thou desirest.”

The Sikhs believe that all the disciples of a Guru go to heaven. Whoever takes the name of Guru is received in the house of a Sikh. It is related, that a thief introduced himself once under the title of Guru, in the house of a Sikh, and was treated as such. In the morning the Sikh went out to prepare something better for his guest. The thief saw many jewels worn by the wife of the Sikh, and having killed her immediately, and taken the precious things, he fled. Upon his way he met with the master of the house, who by force brought him back. The Sikh, when they returned to the house, found his wife dead. The thief, seeing every thing discovered, confessed the truth. The Sikh replied: “You have done well.” He then shut the door of the house, and said to his neighbours: “My wife is sick: she ate nothing of the meal which she had prepared.” Urging the thief to be gone, he did not take the jewels from him, but made him a present of them. He finally burnt his wife.

They also relate what follows: a kalender was in the house of a Sikh. One day the kalender said to the wife of the Sikh: “For the sake of a Guru, satisfy my desire.” The woman replied: “I am the property of another; have patience.” The kalender, out of fear, did not return to the house of the Sikh, who asked: “Why does the durvísh not visit me any more?” The woman told him what had happened. The Sikh said: “Why did you refuse to yield to his desire?” The woman went out, and having brought the kalender back, permitted every thing to him. When, in the month of February, the Sikhs assembled at the house of the Guru (who lived before the time of Har-govind), he threw an angry look at the kalender, and said: “Him have I struck.” The kalender was stigma­tised.

The following anecdote is moreover reported. A Guru saw a speaking parrot, and praised him much. A Sikh heard this, and went immediately to the proprietor of the parrot, who was a soldier, and asked him for the bird. The soldier said: “If you give me your daughter, you may have the parrot.” The Sikh consented. The soldier laughed, and added: “Give me your wife too, and take the bird.” The Sikh did not refuse; he conducted the soldier to his house, and delivered his wife and daughter to him. When the soldier came home, and told his wife what had happened, she was so angry with him that he left the parrot in the hands of the Sikh, to whom he returned his wife and daughter. The Sikh, joyful, lost no time to gratify the Guru. Such customs prevailed among the Sikhs before the time of Har-govind.*