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Travels in the Mogul Empire (Bernier) 6: LETTER TO MONSIEUR CHAPELAIN.

Travels in the Mogul Empire (Constable) 6

Language
English

Contents

LETTER TO MONSIEUR CHAPELAIN.

6.1.1

Despatched from Chiras in Persia, the 4th October 1667. Describing the Superstitions, strange customs, and Doctrines of the Indous or Gentiles of Hindoustan; From which it will be seen that there is no Doctrine too strange or too improbable for the Soul of man to conceive. MONSIEUR,

6.1.2

I have witnessed two solar eclipses which it is scarcely possible I should ever forget. The one I saw from France in the year 1654, the other from Dehli in the Indies in 1666. The sight of the first eclipse was impressed upon my mind by the childish credulity of the French people, and by their groundless and unreasonable alarm; an alarm so excessive that some brought drugs as charms to defend themselves against the eclipse; some kept themselves closely shut up, and excluded all light either in carefully-barred apartments or in cellars; while thousands flocked to their respective churches; some apprehending and dreading a malign and dangerous influence; others believing that the last day was at hand, and that the eclipse was about to shake the foundations of the world. Such were the absurd notions entertained by our countrymen, notwithstanding the writings of Gassendi, Roberval, and other celebrated astronomers and philosophers, which clearly demonstrated that the eclipse was only similar to many others which had been productive of no mischief; that this obscuration of the sun was known and predicted, and was without any other peculiarity than what might be found in the reveries of ignorant or designing astrologers. The eclipse of 1666 is also indelibly imprinted on my memory by the ridiculous errors and strange superstitions of the Indians.

6.1.3

At the time fixed for its appearance I took my station on the terrace of my house, situated on the banks of the Gemna, when I saw both shores of the river, for nearly a league in length, covered with Gentiles or idolaters, who stood in the water up to the waist, their eyes riveted to the skies, watching the commencement of the eclipse, in order to plunge and wash themselves at the very instant. The little boys and girls were quite naked; the men had nothing but a scarf round their middle, and the married women and girls of six or seven years of age were covered with a single cloth. Persons of rank or wealthy, such as Rajas (Gentile sovereign princes, and generally courtiers in the service and pay of the King), Serrafs or money-changers, bankers, jewellers, and other rich merchants, crossed from the opposite side of the river with their families, and pitching their tents fixed kanates or screens in the water, within which they and their wives washed and performed the usual ceremonies without any exposure. No sooner did these idolaters perceive that the obscuration of the sun was begun than they all raised a loud cry, and plunged the whole body under water several times in quick succession ;

6.1.4

after which they stood in the river, lifted their eyes and hands toward the sun, muttered and prayed with seeming devotion, filling their hands from time to time with water, which they threw in the direction of the sun, bowing their heads very low, and moving and turning their arms and hands, sometimes one way, sometimes another. The deluded people continue to plunge, mutter, pray, and perform their silly tricks until the end of the eclipse. On retiring they threw pieces of silver at a great distance into the Gemna, and gave alms to the Brahmens, who failed not to be present at this absurd ceremony. I remarked that every individual on coming out of the water put on new clothes placed on the sand for that purpose, and that several of the most devout left their old garments as presents for the Brahmens. In this manner did I observe from the roof of my house the solemnisation of the grand eclipse-festival, a festival which was kept with the same external observances in the Indus, in the Ganges, and in the other rivers and Talahs (or tanks of the Indies), but above all in that one at Tanaiser, which contained on that occasion more than one hundred and fifty thousand persons, assembled from all parts of the empire; its waters being considered on the day of an eclipse more holy and meritorious than those of any other.

6.1.5

The Great Mogol, though a Mahometan, permits these ancient and superstitious practices; not wishing, or not daring, to disturb the Gentiles in the free exercises of their religion. But the ceremony I have described is not performed until a certain number of Brahmens, as deputies from their fellows, have presented the King with a lecque of roupies, equal to about fifty thousand crowns; in return for which he begs their acceptance only of a few vests and an old elephant. I shall now mention the wise and convincing reasons assigned for the festival of the eclipse, and for the rites with which it is attended.

6.1.6

We have, say they, our four Beths; that is, our four books of law, sacred and divine writings given unto us by God himself, through the medium of Brahma. These books teach that a certain Deüta, an incarnate divinity, extremely malignant and mischievous, very dark, very black, very impure, and very filthy (these are all their own expressions) takes possession of the Sun, which it blackens to the colour of ink, infects and obscures; that the Sun, which is also a Deüta, but of the most beneficent and perfect kind, is thrown into a state of the greatest uneasiness, and suffers a most cruel agony while in the power of and infected by this wicked and black being; that an endeavour to rescue the Sun from so miserable a condition becomes the duty of every person; that this important object can be attained only by means of prayers, ablutions, and alms; that those actions have an extraordinary merit during the festival of the eclipse, the alms then bestowed being a hundred times more valuable than alms given at any other time; and who is he, they ask, that would refuse to make a profit of cent per cent? These, Monsieur, were the eclipses which I told you I could not easily forget, and they naturally lead me to speak of other wild extravagancies of the unhappy heathens, from which I shall leave you to draw whatever conclusions you please.

6.1.7

In the town of Jagannat, situated on the Gulf of Bengale, and containing the famous temple of the idol of that name, a certain annual festival is held, which continues, if my memory fail not, for the space of eight or nine days. At this festival is collected an incredible concourse of people, as was the case anciently at the temple of Hammon, and as happens at present in the city of Meca. The number, I am told, sometimes exceeds one hundred and fifty thousand. A superb wooden machine is constructed, such as I have seen in several other parts of the Indies, with I know not how many grotesque figures, nearly resembling our monsters which we see depicted with two heads, being half man and half beast, gigantic and horrible heads, satyrs, apes, and devils. This machine is set on fourteen or sixteen wheels like those of a gun-carriage, and drawn or pushed along by the united exertions of fifty or sixty persons. The idol, Jagannat, placed conspicuously in the middle, richly attired, and gorgeously adorned, is thus conveyed from one temple to another.

6.1.8

The first day on which this idol is formally exhibited in the temple, the crowd is so immense, and the press so violent, that some of the pilgrims, fatigued and worn out in consequence of their long journey, are squeezed to death: the surrounding throng give them a thousand benedictions, and consider them highly favoured to die on such a holy occasion after travelling so great a distance. And while the chariot of hellish triumph pursues its solemn march, persons are found (it is no fiction which I recount) so blindly credulous and so full of wild notions as to throw themselves upon the ground in the way of its ponderous wheels, which pass over and crush to atoms the bodies of the wretched fanatics without exciting the horror or surprise of the spectators. No deed, according to their estimation, is so heroic or meritorious as this self-devotion : the victims believe that Jagannat will receive them as children, and recall them to life in a state of happiness and dignity. The Brahmens encourage and promote these gross errors and superstitions to which they are indebted for their wealth and consequence. As persons attached and consecrated to important mysteries, they are held in general veneration, and enriched by the alms of the people. So wicked and detestable are their tricks and impostures that I required the full and clear evidence of them — which I obtained — ere I could believe that they had recourse to similar expedients.

6.1.9

These knaves select a beautiful maiden to become (as they say, and as they induce these silly, ignorant people to believe) the bride of Jagannat, who accompanies the god to the temple with all the pomp and ceremony which I have noticed, where she remains the whole night, having been made to believe that Jagannat will come and lie with her. She is commanded to inquire of the god if the year will be fruitful, and what may be the processions, the festivals, the prayers, and the alms which he requires in return for his bounty. In the night one of these impostors enters the temple through a small back door, enjoys the unsuspecting damsel, makes her believe whatever may be deemed necessary, and the following morning when on her way to another temple, whither she is carried in that Triumphal Chariot, by the side of Jagannat her Spouse, she is desired by the Brahmens to state aloud to the people all she has heard from the lustful priest, as if every word had proceeded from the mouth of Jagatmal. But let me relate follies of another kind.

6.2.1

In front of the chariot, and even in the Deuras or Idol Temples, public women during festival days dance and throw their bodies into a variety of indecent and preposterous attitudes, which the Brahmens deem quite consistent with the religion of the country. I have known females celebrated for beauty, and who were remarkably reserved in their general deportment, refuse valuable presents from Mahometans, Christians, and even Gentile foreigners, because they considered themselves dedicated to the ministry and to the ministers of the Deura, to the Brahmens, and to those Fakires who are commonly seated on ashes all round the temple, some quite naked with hideous hair, like, we may suppose, to that of Megæra, and in postures which I shall soon describe. What has been said concerning women burning themselves will be confirmed by so many travellers that I suppose people will cease to be sceptical upon this melancholy fact. The accounts given of it have been certainly exaggerated, and the number of victims is less now than formerly; the Mahometans, by whom the country is governed, doing all in their power to suppress the barbarous custom. They do not, indeed, forbid it by a positive law, because it is a part of their policy to leave the idolatrous population, which is so much more numerous than their own, in the free exercise of its religion; but the practice is checked by indirect means.

6.2.2

No woman can sacrifice herself without permission from the governor of the province in which she resides, and he never grants it until he shall have ascertained that she is not to be turned aside from her purpose: to accomplish this desirable end the governor reasons with the widow and makes her enticing promises; after which, if these methods fail, he sometimes sends her among his women, that the effect of their remonstrances may be tried. Notwithstanding these obstacles, the number of self-immolations is still very considerable, particularly in the territories of the Rajas, where no Mahometan governors are appointed. But not to tire you with the history of every woman whom I have seen perish on the funeral pile, I shall advert to only two or three of those shocking spectacles at which I have been present; and first I shall give you some details concerning a female to whom I was sent for the purpose of diverting her from persevering in her dreadful intention. One of my friends, named Bendidas, Danechmend-kan's principal writer, died of a hectic fever for which I had attended him upwards of two years, and his wife immediately resolved to burn herself with the body of her husband.

6.2.3

Her friends were in the service of my Agah, and being commanded by him to dissuade the widow from the commission of so frantic an act, they represented to her that although she had adopted a generous and commendable resolution, which would redound to the honour and conduce to the happiness of the family, yet she ought to consider that her children were of a tender age, that it would be cruel to abandon them, and that her anxiety for their welfare ought to exceed the affection she bore to the memory of her deceased husband. The infatuated creature attended not, however, to their reasoning, and I was requested to visit the widow as if by my Agah's desire, and in the capacity of an old friend of the family. I complied, and found on entering the apartment a regular witches' Sabat of seven or eight old hags, and another of four or five excited, wild, and aged Brahmens standing round the body, all of whom gave by turns a horrid yell, and beat their hands with violence. The widow was seated at the feet of her dead husband; her hair was dishevelled and her visage pale, but her eyes were tearless and sparkling with animation while she cried and screamed aloud like the rest of the company, and beat time with her hands to this horrible concert. The hurly-burly having subsided, I approached the hellish group, and addressed the woman in a gentle tone.

6.2.4

'I am come hither,' said I, 'by desire of Danechmend-kan, to inform you that he will settle a pension of two crowns per month on each of your two sons, provided you do not destroy your life, a life so necessary for their care and education. We have ways and means indeed to prevent your ascending the pile, and to punish those who encourage you in so unreasonable a resolution. All your relations wish you to live for the sake of your offspring, and you will not be reputed infamous as are the childless widows who possess not courage to burn themselves with their dead husbands.' I repeated these arguments several times without receiving any answer; but, at last, fixing a determined look on me, she said, 'Well, if I am prevented from burning myself, I will dash out my brains against a wall.' What a diabolical spirit has taken possession of you, thought I. 'Let it be so then,' I rejoined, with undissembled anger, 'but first take your children, wretched and unnatural mother! cut their throats, and consume them on the same pile; otherwise you will leave them to die of famine, for I shall return immediately to Danechmend-kan and annul their pensions.' These words, spoken with a loud and resolute voice, made the desired impression: without uttering a syllable, her head fell suddenly on her knees, and the greater part of the old women and Brahmens sneaked toward the door and left the room.

6.2.5

I thought I might now safely leave the widow in the hands of her friends, who had accompanied me, and mounting my horse returned home. In the evening, when on my way to Danechmend-kan to inform him of what I had done, I met one of the relations who thanked me, and said that the body had been burnt without the widow, who had promised not to die by her own hands. In regard to the women who actually burn themselves, I was present at so many of those shocking exhibitions that I could not persuade myself to attend any more, nor is it without a feeling of horror that I revert to the subject. I shall endeavour, nevertheless, to describe what passed before my eyes; but I cannot hope to give you an adequate conception of the fortitude displayed by these infatuated victims during the whole of the frightful tragedy : it must be seen to be believed.

6.2.6

When travelling from Ahmed-abad to Agra, through the territories of Rajas, and while the caravan halted under the shade of a banyan-tree until the cool of the evening, news reached us that a widow was then on the point of burning herself with the body of her husband. I ran at once to the spot, and going to the edge of a large and nearly dry reservoir, observed at the bottom a deep pit filled with wood : the body of a dead man extended thereon; a woman seated upon the same pile; four or five Brahmens setting fire to it in every part ; five middle-aged women, tolerably well dressed, holding one another by the hand, singing and dancing round the pit; and a great number of spectators of both sexes. The pile, whereon large quantities of butter and oil had been thrown, was soon enveloped in flames, and I saw the fire catch the woman's garments, which were impregnated with scented oil, mixed with sandalwood powder and saffron ; but I could not perceive the slightest indication of pain or even uneasiness in the victim, and it was said that she pronounced with emphasis the words five, two, to signify that this being the fifth time she had burned herself with the same husband, there were wanted only two more similar sacrifices to render her perfect, according to the doctrine of the transmigration of souls: as if a certain reminiscence, or prophetic spirit, had been imparted to her at that moment of her dissolution.

6.2.7

But this was only the commencement of the infernal tragedy. I thought that the singing and dancing of the five women were nothing more than some unmeaning ceremony; great therefore was my astonishment when I saw that the flames having ignited the clothes of one of these females, she cast herself head-foremost into the pit. The horrid example was followed by another woman, as soon as the flames caught her person: the three women who remained then took hold of each other by the hand, resuming the dance with perfect composure; and after a short lapse of time, they also precipitated themselves, one after the other, into the fire. I soon learnt the meaning of these multiplied sacrifices. The five women were slaves, and having witnessed the deep affliction of their mistress in consequence of the illness of her husband, whom she promised not to survive, they were so moved with compassion that they entered into an engagement to perish by the same flames that consumed their beloved mistress.

6.3.1

Many persons whom I then consulted on the subject would fain have persuaded me that an excess of affection was the cause why these women burn themselves with their deceased husbands; but I soon found that this abominable practice is the effect of early and deeply rooted prejudices. Every girl is taught by her mother that it is virtuous and laudable in a wife to mingle her ashes with those of her husband, and that no woman of honour will refuse compliance with the established custom. These opinions men have always inculcated as an easy mode of keeping wives in subjection, of securing their attention in times of sickness, and of deterring them from administering poison to their husbands. But let us proceed to another of these dreadful scenes, not witnessed indeed by myself, but selected in preference to others at which I happened to be present on account of the remarkable incident by which it was distinguished. I have seen so many things which I should have pronounced incredible, that neither you nor I ought to reject the narrative in question merely because it contains something extraordinary. The story is in every person's mouth in the Indies, and is universally credited. Perhaps it has already reached you in Europe. A woman, long engaged in love intrigues with a young Mahometan, her neighbour, by trade a tailor, and a player on the tambourine, poisoned her husband, hoping that the young man would marry her.

6.3.2

She then hastened to her lover, informed him of what she had done, and claiming the performance of his promise to take her to wife, urged the necessity of immediately flying, as had been previously projected, from the scene of their guilt; 'for,' added she, 'if there be the least delay, I shall be constrained by a common sense of decency to burn myself with the body of my dead spouse.' The young man, who foresaw that such a scheme would involve him in difficulty and danger, peremptorily refused, and the woman, without betraying the smallest emotion, went at the instant to her relations, informed them of the sudden death of her husband, and of her fixed resolution to die on the funeral pile. Pleased with so magnanimous an intention, and with the honour she was about to confer on the family, her friends prepare a pit, fill it with wood, lay the body upon the pile, and kindle the fire. These arrangements being completed, the woman makes the round of the pit for the purpose of embracing and bidding a last farewell to her kindred, among whom stood the young tailor, invited thither with other musicians to play on the tambourine according to the custom of the country. Approaching the lover as if she intended to take a last and tender adieu, the infuriated creature seized him with a firm grasp by the collar, drew him with irresistible force to the edge of the pit, and precipitated herself headlong, with the object of her resentment, into the midst of the raging fire.

6.3.3

As I was leaving Sourate for Persia, I witnessed the devotion and burning of another widow : several Englishmen and Dutchmen and Monsieur Chardin of Paris were present. She was of the middle age, and by no means uncomely. I do not expect, with my limited powers of expression, to convey a full idea of the brutish boldness, or ferocious gaiety depicted on this woman's countenance ; of her undaunted step ; of the freedom from all perturbation with which she conversed, and permitted herself to be washed ; of the look of confidence, or rather of insensibility which she cast upon us ; of her easy air, free from dejection ; of her lofty carriage, void of embarrassment, when she was examining her little cabin, composed of dry and thick millet straw, with an intermixture of small wood; when she entered into that cabin, sat down upon the funeral pile, placed her deceased husband's head in her lap, took up a torch, and with her own hand lighted the fire within, while I know not how many Brahmens were busily engaged in kindling it without. Well indeed may I despair of representing this whole scene with proper and genuine feeling, such as I experienced at the spectacle itself, or of painting it in colours sufficiently vivid. My recollection of it indeed is so distinct that it seems only a few days since the horrid reality passed before my eyes, and with pain I persuade myself that it was anything but a frightful dream.

6.3.4

It is true, however, that I have known some of these unhappy widows shrink at the sight of the piled wood; so as to leave no doubt on my mind that they would willingly have recanted, if recantation had been permitted by the merciless Brahmens; but those demons excite or astound the affrighted victims, and even thrust them into the fire. I was present when a poor young woman, who had fallen back five or six paces from the pit, was thus driven forward; and I saw another of these wretched beings struggling to leave the funeral pile when the fire increased around her person, but she was prevented from escaping by the long poles of the diabolical executioners. But sometimes the devoted widows elude the vigilance of the murderous priests. I have been often in the company of a fair Idolater, who contrived to save her life by throwing herself upon the protection of the scavengers, who assemble on these occasions in considerable numbers, when they learn that the intended victim is young and handsome, that her relations are of little note, and that she is to be accompanied by only a few of her acquaintance. Yet the woman whose courage fails at the sight of the horrid apparatus of death, and who avails herself of the presence of these men to avoid the impending sacrifice, cannot hope to pass her days in happiness, or to be treated with respect or affection.

6.3.5

Never again can she live with the Gentiles: no individual of that nation will at any time, or under any circumstances, associate with a creature so degraded, who is accounted utterly infamous, and execrated because of the dishonour which her conduct has brought upon the religion of the country. Consequently she is ever afterwards exposed to the ill-treatment of her low and vulgar protectors. There is no Mogol who does not dread the consequences of contributing to the preservation of a woman devoted to the burning pile, or who will venture to afford an asylum to one who escapes from the fangs of the Brahmens; but many widows have been rescued by the Portuguese, in sea-ports where that people happened to be in superior strength. I need scarcely say how much my own indignation has been excited, and how ardently I have wished for opportunities to exterminate those cursed Brahmens.

6.3.6

At Lahor I saw a most beautiful young widow sacrificed, who could not, I think, have been more than twelve years of age. The poor little creature appeared more dead than alive when she approached the dreadful pit: the agony of her mind cannot be described; she trembled and wept bitterly; but three or four of the Brahmens, assisted by an old woman who held her under the arm, forced the unwilling victim toward the fatal spot, seated her on the wood, tied her hands and feet, lest she should run away, and in that situation the innocent creature was burnt alive. I found it difficult to repress my feelings and to prevent their bursting forth into clamorous and unavailing rage; but restrained by prudential considerations, I contented myself with silently lamenting the abominable superstition of these people, and applied to it the language of the poet, when speaking of Iphigenia, whom her father Agamemnon had offered in sacrifice to Diana: — . . . quod contra saepius illa religio peperit scelerosa atque impia facta Aulide quo pacto Triviai virginis aram Iphianassai turparunt sanguine foede ductores Danaum delecti, prima virorum. tantum religio potuit suadere malorum.

6.3.7

I have not yet mentioned all the barbarity and atrocity of these monsters. In some parts of the Indies, instead of burning the women who determine not to survive their husbands, the Brahmens bury them alive, by slow degrees, up to the throat; then two or three of them fall suddenly upon the victim, wring her neck, and when she has been effectually and completely choked, cover over the body with earth thrown upon it from successive baskets, and tread upon the head. Most of the Gentiles burn their dead; but some partially broil the bodies with stubble, near the side of a river, and then precipitate them into the water from a high and steep bank. I have attended these funeral rites on the Ganges several times, and observed flights of crows fluttering about the carcass, which becomes as much the prey of those birds as of the fish and crocodiles.

6.4.1

Some again carry a sick person, when at the point of death, to the river-side; place his feet in the water, let him sink gradually to the neck; and when it is supposed that he is about to expire, they immerse his whole body into the river, where they leave him, after violently clapping their hands, and crying out with great vehemence. The object of this ceremony (at which I have been present) is that the soul may be washed, on taking its flight, from all impurities which it may have contracted during its abode in the body. This absurd notion is not confined to the vulgar; I have heard it seriously defended by men of the highest reputation for learning. Among the vast number, and endless variety of Fakires, or Derviches, and Holy Men, or Gentile hypocrites of the Indies, many live in a sort of convent, governed by superiors, where vows of chastity, poverty, and submission are made. So strange is the life led by these votaries that I doubt whether my description of it will be credited. I allude particularly to the people called Jaugis, a name which signifies 'united to God.' Numbers are seen, day and night, seated or lying on ashes, entirely naked; frequently under the large trees near talabs, or tanks of water, or in the galleries round the Deuras, or idol temples. Some have hair hanging down to the calf of the leg, twisted and entangled into knots, like the coat of our shaggy dogs, or rather like the hair of those afflicted with that Polish disease, which we call la Plic.

6.4.2

I have seen several who hold one, and some who hold both arms, perpetually lifted up above the head; the nails of their hands being twisted, and longer than half my little finger, with which I measured them. Their arms are as small and thin as the arms of persons who die in a decline, because in so forced and unnatural a position they receive not sufficient nourishment; nor can they be lowered so as to supply the mouth with food, the muscles having become contracted, and the articulations dry and stiff. Novices wait upon these fanatics, and pay them the utmost respect, as persons endowed with extraordinary sanctity. No Fury in the infernal regions can be conceived more horrible than the Jaugis, with their naked and black skin, long hair, spindle arms, long twisted nails, and fixed in the posture which I have mentioned.

6.4.3

I have often met, generally in the territory of some Raja, bands of these naked Fakires, hideous to behold. Some had their arms lifted up in the manner just described; the frightful hair of others either hung loosely or was tied and twisted round their heads; some carried a club like to Hercules; others had a dry and rough tiger skin thrown over their shoulders. In this trim I have seen them shamelessly walk, stark naked, through a large town, men, women, and girls looking at them without any more emotion than may be created when a hermit passes through our streets. Females would often bring them alms with much devotion, doubtless believing that they were holy personages, more chaste and discreet than other men. I was for a long time disgusted with a celebrated Fakire, named Sarmet, who paraded the streets of Dehli as naked as when he came into the world. He despised equally the promises and the threats of Aureng-Zebe, and underwent at length the punishment of decapitation from his obstinate refusal to put on wearing apparel.

6.4.4

Several of these Fakires undertake long pilgrimages, not only naked, but laden with heavy iron chains, such as are put about the legs of elephants. I have seen others who in consequence of a particular vow stood upright, during seven or eight days, without once sitting or lying down, and without any other support than might be afforded by leaning forward against a cord for a few hours in the night; their legs in the meantime were swollen to the size of their thighs. Others again I have observed standing steadily, whole hours together, upon their hands, the head down, and the feet in the air. I might proceed to enumerate various other positions in which these unhappy men place their body, many of them so difficult and painful that they could not be imitated by our tumblers; and all this, let it be recollected, is performed from an assumed feeling of piety, of which there is not so much as the shadow in any part of the Indies.

6.4.5

I confess that this gross superstition filled me, on my first arrival in Hindoustan, with amazement. I knew not what to think of it. Sometimes I should have been disposed to consider the Fakires as remnants, if not as the founders, of the ancient and infamous sect of Cynics, could I have discovered anything in them but brutality and ignorance, and if they had not appeared to me vegetative rather than rational beings. At another time, I thought they might be honest though deluded enthusiasts, until I found that, in fact, they were, in the widest sense of the word, destitute of piety. Again, I reflected that a life of vagrancy, idleness, and independence may have a powerful and attractive charm; or that the vanity which intermingles itself with every motive of human action, and which may be discovered as clearly through the tattered mantle of a Diogenes as under the comely garb of a Plato, was probably the secret spring that set so many strange engines in motion.

6.4.6

The Fakires, it is said, exercise painful austerities in the confident hope that they will be Rajas in their renascent state; or, if they do not become Rajas, that they shall be placed in a condition of life capable of more exquisite enjoyment than is experienced by those sovereign princes: but, as I have frequently observed to them, how can it be believed that men submit to a life of so much misery for the sake of a second state of existence, as short and uncertain as the first, and which cannot be expected to yield a much greater degree of happiness even to him who may be invested with the high dignity of Raja, or who may resemble Jesseingue or Jessomseingue, the two most powerful Rajas of the Indies? I am not to be so easily deceived, said I to them; either you are egregious fools, or you are actuated by some sinister views which you carefully hide from the world. Some of the Fakires enjoy the reputation of being peculiarly enlightened saints, perfect Jaugis, and really united to God. These are supposed to have entirely renounced the world; and like our hermits they live a secluded life in a remote garden, without ever visiting a town. When food is brought to them, they receive it: if none be offered to them it is concluded that the holy men can live without food, that they subsist by the favour of God, vouchsafed on account of previous long fasts and other religious mortifications. Frequently these pious Jaugis are absorbed in profound meditation.

6.4.7

It is pretended, and one of the favoured saints himself assured me, that their souls are often rapt in an ecstasy of several hours' duration; that their external senses lose their functions; that the Jauguis are blessed with a sight of God, who appears as a light ineffably white and vivid, and that they experience transports of holy joy, and a contempt of temporal concerns which defy every power of description. My saintly informant added that he could at pleasure fall into such a trance as he described, and not one of the individuals who are in the habit of visiting the Jauguis doubts the reality of these vaunted ecstasies. It is possible that the imagination, distempered by continued fasts and uninterrupted solitude, may be brought into these illusions, or that the rapturous dreams of the Fakires may resemble the natural ecstasies into which Cardan tells us he could fall whenever he pleased, especially as the Fakires practise some art in what they do, prescribing to themselves certain rules for the binding up of their senses by slow degrees. For example, they say that after having fasted several days upon bread and water, it is necessary to be alone in a sequestered spot, to fix the eyes most steadily toward heaven, and when they have been so riveted for some time, to lower them gradually, and then point them both in such a manner that they shall look at one and the same time upon the tip of the nose, both sides of that feature being equally seen;

6.4.8

and in this posture the saint must continue firm, the two sides of the nose in even proportions remaining constantly within sight until the bright luminary makes its appearance. The trance, and the means of enjoying it, form the grand Mysticism of the sect of the Jaugis, as well as that of the Soufys. I call it Mysticism [Mystere], because they keep these things secret among themselves, and I should not have made so many discoveries had it not been for the aid of the Pendet, or Indou Doctor whom Danechmend-kan kept in his pay, and who dared not conceal anything from his patron; my Agah, moreover, was already acquainted with the doctrines of the Soufys.

6.5.1

I believe that extreme poverty, long fasts, and perpetual austerities count for something in the condition at which these men arrive. Our Friars and Hermits must not suppose that on these points they surpass the Jauguis or other Asiatic religionists. I can, for instances, appeal to the lives and fasts of the Armenians, Copts, Greeks, Nestorians, Jacobins, and Maronites; compared to these people our European devotees are mere novices, though it must be confessed, from what I have myself experienced, that the pains of hunger are not so sensibly felt in the Indies as in our colder climates.

6.5.2

I have now to give an account of certain Fakires totally different from the Saints just described, but who also are extraordinary personages. They almost continually perambulate the country, make light of everything, affect to live without care, and to be possessed of most important secrets. The people imagine that these favoured beings are well acquainted with the art of making gold, and that they can prepare mercury in so admirable a manner that a grain or two swallowed every morning must restore a diseased body to vigorous health, and so strengthen the stomach that it may feed with avidity, and digest with ease. This is not all: when two of these good Jaugnis meet, and can be excited to a spirit of emulation, they make such a display of the power of Jauguism, that it may well be doubted if Simon Magus, with all his sorceries, ever performed more surprising feats. They tell any person his thoughts, cause the branch of a tree to blossom and to bear fruit within an hour, hatch an egg in their bosom in less than fifteen minutes, producing whatever bird may be demanded, and make it fly about the room, and execute many other prodigies that need not be enumerated.

6.5.3

I regret that I cannot bear my testimony to the truth of all that people report of these conjurers. My Agah sent for one of these famous soothsayers, and promised to give him three hundred roupies (about an hundred and fifty crowns) if on the following day he would tell him, as he said he could do, what might then be passing in his mind, which he would previously write down in his presence to prevent any suspicion of unfair dealing on his own part. I engaged at the same time to present him with five-and-twenty roupies if he mentioned my thoughts; but the prophet did not again approach our house. On another occasion I was also disappointed in my expectation of the company of one of these egg-hatchers, to whom I had promised twenty roupies. Notwithstanding my diligence to pry into everything, I have never been so fortunate as to witness any marvellous performance; and whenever I happened to be present when a deed was done which excited the surprise of the spectators, it was generally my misfortune to examine and to question until I ascertained that the cause lay in some cheat or sleight of hand. I recollect detecting the gross deception of a fellow who pretended to find out, by the rolling of a cup, the person who had stolen my Agah's money. But there are Fakires of a much more comely appearance than those whom we have been considering, and their lives and devotion seem less extravagant.

6.5.4

They walk the streets barefooted and bareheaded, girt with a scarf which hangs down to the knee, and wearing a white cloth which passes under the right arm and goes over the left shoulder in the form of a mantle, but they are without any under garment: their persons, however, are always well washed, and they appear cleanly in every respect. In general they walk two and two with a very modest demeanour, holding in one hand a small and fair three-footed earthen pot with two handles: they do not beg from shop to shop like many other Fakires, but enter freely into the houses of the Gentiles, where they meet with a hearty welcome and an hospitable reception, their presence being esteemed a blessing to the family. Heaven defend him who accuses them of any offence, although everybody knows what takes place between the sanctified visitors and the women of the house: this, however, is considered the custom of the country, and their sanctity is not the less on that account. I do not indeed attach much importance to their transactions with the females of the house: such practices we know are not confined to the Great Mogol's dominions; but what appears truly ridiculous is their impertinent comparison of themselves with our own clergy in the Indies.

6.5.5

I have sometimes derived much amusement from their weakness and vanity: I used to address them with great ceremony, and apparently with the most profound respect, after which they immediately observed to one another: 'The Frangui knows who we are; he has resided many years in the Indies, and is well aware that we are the Padres of the Indoos.' But I dwell too long upon these heathen beggars, and shall proceed to notice the books of law and science.

6.5.6

Do not be surprised if, notwithstanding my ignorance of Sanscrit (the language of the learned, and possibly that of the ancient Brahmens, as we may learn further on), I yet say something of books written in that tongue. My Agah, Danechmend-kan, partly from my solicitation and partly to gratify his own curiosity, took into his service one of the most celebrated Pendets in all the Indies, who had formerly belonged to the household of Dara, the eldest son of the King Chah-Jehan; and not only was this man my constant companion during a period of three years, but he also introduced me to the society of other learned Pendets, whom he attracted to the house. When weary of explaining to my Agah the recent discoveries of Harvey and Pecquet in anatomy, and of discoursing on the philosophy of Gassendi and Descartes, which I translated to him in Persian (for this was my principal employment for five or six years) we had generally recourse to our Pendet, who, in his turn, was called upon to reason in his own manner, and to communicate his fables; these he related with all imaginable gravity without ever smiling; but at length we became disgusted both with his tales and childish arguments.

6.5.7

The Hindous then affirm that God, whom they call Achar, the Immovable or Immutable, has sent to them four books, to which they give the name of Beths, a word signifying science, because, according to them, these books comprehend all the sciences. The first of the books is named Atherbahed; the second Zagerbed; the third R[...]bed; and the fourth Samabed. These books enjoin that the people shall be divided, as in fact they are most effectually, into four tribes [Tribus]: first, the tribe of Brahmens, or interpreters of the law; secondly, the tribe of Quietterys, or warriors; thirdly, the tribe of Beseus, or merchants and tradesmen, commonly called Banyanes; and fourthly, the tribe of Seydra, or artisans and labourers. These different tribes are not permitted to intermarry, that is to say, a Brahmen is forbidden to marry a Quiettery, and the same injunction holds good in regard to the other tribes. The Gentiles believe in a doctrine similar to that of the Pythagoreans with regard to the transmigration of souls, and hold it illegal to kill or eat any animal ; an exception being made, however, in favour of a few of the second tribe, provided the flesh eaten be not that of the cow or peacock. For these two animals they feel a peculiar respect, particularly for the cow, imagining that it is by holding to a cow's tail they are to cross the river which separates this life from the next.

6.5.8

Possibly their ancient legislators saw the shepherds of Egypt in a similar manner pass the river Nile, holding with the left hand the tail of a buffalo or ox, and carrying in the right a stick for the guidance of the animal ; or this superior regard for the cow may more probably be owing to her extraordinary usefulness, as being the animal which supplies them with milk and butter (a considerable part of their aliment), and which may be considered the source of husbandry, consequently the preserver of life itself. It ought likewise to be observed that owing to the great deficiency of pasture land in the Indies it is impossible to maintain large numbers of cattle ; the whole therefore would soon disappear if animal food were eaten in anything like the proportion in which it is consumed in France and England, and the country would thus remain uncultivated. The heat is so intense, and the ground so parched, during eight months of the year, that the beasts of the field, ready to die of hunger, feed on every kind of filth like so many swine. It was on account of the scarcity of cattle that Jehan-Guyre, at the request of the Brahmens, issued an edict to forbid the killing of beasts of pasture for a certain number of years ; and not long since they presented a similar petition to Aureng-Zebe, offering to him a considerable sum of money to ensure his compliance.

6.5.9

They urged that the neglected and ruinous condition of many tracts of country during the last fifty or sixty years was attributable to the paucity and dearness of oxen.

6.6.1

Perhaps the first legislators in the Indies hoped that the interdiction of animal food would produce a beneficial effect upon the character of the people, and that they might be brought to exercise less cruelty toward one another when required by a positive precept to treat the brute creation with humanity. The doctrine of the transmigration of souls secured the kind treatment of animals, by leading to the belief that no animal can be killed or eaten without incurring the danger of killing or eating some ancestor, than which a more heinous crime cannot be committed. It may be also that the Brahmens were influenced by the consideration that in their climate the flesh of cows or oxen is neither savoury nor wholesome except for a short time during winter. The Beths render it obligatory upon every Gentile to say his prayers with his face turned to the East thrice in the twenty-four hours: in the morning, at noon, and at night. The whole of his body must also be washed three times, or at least before every meal; and he is taught that it is more meritorious to perform his ablutions and to repeat his prayers in running than in stagnant water. Here again regard was probably had to what is not only proper but highly important in such a climate as that of Hindoustan.

6.6.2

This, however, is found an inconvenient law to those who happen to live in cold countries, and I have met in my travels with some who placed their lives in imminent danger by a strict observance of that law, by plunging into the rivers or tanks within their reach, or if none were sufficiently near, by throwing large pots full of water over their heads. Sometimes I objected to their religion that it contained a law which it would not be possible to observe in cold climates during the winter season, which was, in my mind, a clear proof that it possessed no divine original, but was merely a system of human invention. Their answer was amusing enough. 'We pretend not,' they replied, 'that our law is of universal application. God intended it only for us, and this is the reason why we cannot receive a foreigner into our religion. We do not even say that yours is a false religion : it may be adapted to your wants and circumstances, God having, no doubt, appointed many different ways of going to heaven.' I found it impossible to convince them that the Christian faith was designed for the whole earth, and theirs was mere fable and gross fabrication.

6.6.3

The Beihs teach that God having determined to create the world would not execute his purpose immediately, but first created three perfect beings ; one was Brahma, a name which signifies penetrating into all things ; the second, Beschen, that is, existing in all things ; and the third Mehahdeu, or the mighty lord. By means of Brahma he created the world ; by means of Beschen he upholds it ; and by means of Mehahdeu he will destroy it. It was Brahma who, by God's command, published the four Beihs, and for this reason he is represented in some temples with four heads.

6.6.4

I have conversed with European missionaries who thought that the Gentiles have some idea of the mystery of the Trinity, and maintained that the Beths state in direct terms that the three beings, though three persons, are one God. This is a subject on which I have frequently heard the Pendets dilate, but they explain themselves so obscurely that I never could clearly comprehend their opinion. I have heard some of them say that the beings in question are in reality three very perfect creatures, whom they call Deütas, without being able, however, properly to explain what they mean by this word Deüta, like our ancient idolaters, who could never, in my opinion, explain what they meant by the names Genii and Numina, which were probably equivalent to the Deüta of the Indians. I have also discoursed with other Pendets distinguished for learning, who said that these three beings are really one and the same God, considered under three different characters, as the creator, upholder, and destroyer of all things; but they said nothing of three distinct persons in one only God.

6.6.5

I was acquainted with the Reverend Father Roa, a Jesuit, a German by birth, and missionary at Agra, who had made great proficiency in the study of Sanscrit. He assured me that the books of the Gentiles not only state that there is one God in three persons, but that the second person has been nine times embodied in flesh. He added that when he was at Chiras, on his return to Rome, a Carmelite Father in that city succeeded, with much address, in ascertaining that the following doctrines are held by the Gentiles, The second person in the Trinity has been, according to them, nine times incarnate in consequence of various evils in the world, from which he delivered mankind. The eighth incarnation was the most remarkable; for they say that the world having been enthralled by the power of giants, it was rescued by the second person, incarnated and born of a virgin at midnight, the angels singing in the air, and the skies raining flowers that whole night.

6.6.6

This in some degree savours of Christianity, but here comes the fable again; for it is added that this incarnate god began by killing a giant who flew in the air, and was so huge as to obscure the sun: his fall caused the whole earth to tremble, and by his weight he so penetrated it that he tumbled at once into hell. The incarnate deity, wounded in the side in the conflict with this mighty giant, fell also, but by his fall put his enemies to flight. He arose again, and after delivering the world ascended into heaven, and because of his wound, he is generally known by the appellation of 'The wounded in the side.' The tenth incarnation, say the Gentiles, will have for its object the emancipation of mankind from the tyranny of the Mahometan, and it will take place at the time when, according to our calculation, Antichrist is to appear; this is however but a popular tradition, not to be found in their sacred books.

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