History of Aurangzib, Based on Original Sources v5.c85.s6.30

v5.c85.s6.30

The darker aspect of the subject was not wanting, and we read of human sacrifice being performed to aid the quest for gold and the *elixir vitæ*, though it was criminal in law and punished whenever detected. [K.K. ii. 542.] A lurid light is thrown on the medical art and beliefs of the age by Manucci's evidence that some Muhammadan doctors used human fat to cure their patients. [Storia, ii. 210.] Hindu superstition is further illustrated by the worship of long-armed men as incarnations of the monkey-god Hanuman. There was a Portuguese of St. Thome whose hands reached below his knees, and whenever any Hindus met him they prostrated themselves, worshipping him like an idol. When another long-armed Portuguese visited Jagannath-Puri in Orissa, "the Hindu priests and the people of the town conducted him to the temple with great veneration and made over to him the idols and all the wealth of the temple. He led a joyous life, regaling himself with delicate dishes and requisitioning young girls whenever he pleased, they imagining he did them a great honour." He afterwards departed secretly, with the wealth of the temple. [Storia, iii. 140.]