LETTER CXLIII.
To EHSÂNÛLLAH KHÂN; dated 18th ZUBURJUDY (27th October.)

YOU will put into [or enroll in the corps of] Usud-Ilhyes, as many Hindoos, male and female, as are willing, of their own accord, to enter into the same: and you will then transmit a return of them to us, it being our intention to augment their pay.

OBSERVATIONS.

Whether the Usud-Ilhyes, here mentioned, were a distinct body from the Ahmedies, spoken of in Letter XLII, or whether this was only another appellation for the latter corps, I am unable to say. I rather think, however, that they were separate institutions; but that both were military, and both composed of prose­lytes to the Mahommedan faith, though of different descriptions. It is true, that there is nothing distinctly said of the conversion of the Hindoos, mentioned in the text, to Islâmism: but I think the context, as well as the name given them, sufficiently shows, that their embracing the Mahommedan religion, was a necessary con­dition of their incorporation with the Usud-Ilhyes. This term signifies the Divine Lion, or the Lion of God, and was one of the appellations bestowed on Ali. It has been already seen, that Tippoo sometimes designated his own state, or country, by this name; calling it, occasionally, the Sircar Ussud-Ilhye; as well as Ahmedy, Hydery, and Khodâdâd.

It has struck me as possible, that the Ahmedies might have consisted exclusively of Christian converts (including the native Christians of Malabar or Canara), and the Usud-Ilhyes of Hindoo proselytes only. It will be easy for any of my Indian readers to ascertain what grounds there are for this conjecture.

With respect to the order for enrolling women among the Usud-Ilhyes, I conclude that it referred to the wives of such men as might qualify themselves for admission into the corps: but why they should have been enrolled, as if constituting part of the corps, it is not easy to comprehend. No one ever heard, I believe, of a female regiment in the service of Tippoo Sultan; though it is a certain fact, that the late Nizâm had a body guard composed of women, armed with muskets, and partly clothed in the manner of Sepoys.