Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v3.c40.148

v3.c40.148

The Nayyāds.—Before we remark upon the habits of these tribes, we may state one prominent trait which characterizes the Nayyad, or convert to Islam, who, on parting with his original faith, divested himself of its chief moral attribute, toleration, and imbibed a double portion of the bigotry of the creed he adopted. Whether it is to the intrinsic quality of the Muhammadan faith that we are to trace this moral metamorphosis, or to a sense of degradation (which we can hardly suppose) consequent on his apostasy, there is not a more ferocious or intolerant being on the earth than the Rajput convert to Islam. In Sind, and the desert, we find the same tribes, bearing the same name, one still Hindu, the other Muhammadan ; the first retaining his primitive manners, while the convert is cruel, intolerant, cowardly, and inhospitable. Escape, with life at least, perhaps a portion of property, is possible from the hands of the Maldot, the Larkhani, the Bhatti, or even the Tawaris, distinctively called " the sons of the devil " ; but from the Khosas, the Sahariyas, or Bhattis, there would be no hope of salvation. Such are their ignorance and brutality, that should a stranger make use of the words rassa, or rasta (rope, and road), he will be fortunate if he escape with bastinado from these beings, who discover therein an analogy to rasul, or ' the prophet ' : he must for the former use the words kilbar, randori, and for the latter, dagra, or dag.² It will not fail to strike those who have perused the heart-thrilling adventures of Park, Denham, and Clapperton—names which will live for ever in the annals of discovery—how completely the inoffensive, kind, and hospitable negro resembles in these qualities the Rajput, who is transformed into a wild beast the moment he can repeat, “Ashhadu an lā ilāha illa allāh ! [319] Ashhadu anna Muhammad rasūlu-llāh,” “there is but one God, and Muhammad is the prophet of God”: while a remarkable change has taken place amongst the Tatar tribes, since the anti-destructive doctrines of Buddha (or Hinduism purified of polytheism) have been introduced into the regions of Central Asia.