تحفة النظار في غرايب الامصار وعجايب الاسفار 17.2.4

17.2.4

too, in the city of Sanjarur, one of the Moslems who had been taught by them, and who had set up for himself a lofty cell like an obelisk. Upon the top of this he stood for five and twenty days, during which time he neither ate nor drank. In this situation I left him, nor do I know how long he continued there after I had left the place. People say, that they mix certain seeds, one of which is destined for a certain number of days or months, and that they stand in need of no other support during all this time. They also foretel events. The Emperor of Hindustan very much respects them, and occasionally sits in their company. Some of them will eat nothing but herbs; and it is clear from their circumstances, that they accustom themselves to abstinence, and feel no desire either for the world or its show. Some of them will kill a man with a look: but this is most frequently done by the women. The woman who can do so is termed a Goftar. It happened when I was Judge of Dehli, and the Emperor was upon one of his journies, that a famine took place. On this occasion, the Emperor ordered, that the poor should be divided among the nobles for support, until the famine should cease. My portion, as affixed by the Vizier, amounted to five hundred. These I sustained in a house which I built for the purpose. On a certain day, during this time, a number of them came to me, bringing a woman with them, who, as they said, was a Goftar, and had killed a child, which happened to be near her.