[135] The verb _uthna_ like the Persian _bar-khastan_ is used idiomatically in the sense of “to go away,” to “vanish.”
[136] Literally, “your command is on my head and eyes,” a phrase imitated from the Persian “_ba sar o chashm_.”
[137] The phrase “_rah dekhna_,” literally to look at the road,” (by which a person is expected to come;) hence, very naturally and idiomatically it signifies “to be anxiously waiting for one.” Again, _rah dikhana_ is the causal form, signifying “to make one wait,” of “keep one waiting.”
[138] The word _janwar_ means “an animal,” in general; but it is frequently used in the more restricted sense of “a bird”.
[139] The “evil eye” is a supersitious motion entertained by the ignorant in _all_ countries even until this day. The Asiatics suppose that uncommon qualities of beauty, fortune or health, raise an ominous admiration admiration, which injures the possessor. To tell parents that their children are stout and healthy, is a _mal-a-propos_ compliment; also to congratulate women on their healthy appearance is often unwelcome; the same ridiculous and supersitious accompany all admiration of beauty, fortune, &c. For this reason the visitor, in this case, do not compliment his host on the beauty of his person or the splendour of his dress; but instead make use of the above exclamation.
[140] A celebrated musical performer in upper _Hindustan_, and considered as the first in his art. He lived in the reign of _Akbar_, somo 300 years ago.
[141] A celebrated singer in upper _Hindustan_, who lived about 600 years ago. _Tan-Sen_ and _Ba,ora_ are still held in the highest reverence by singers and musical performers. In the original, there is a play on the words to _tan_ and _ba,ora_ which scarcely needs to be pointed out.
[142] The original is, “_jis Ki itni ta’rif aur ishtiyak zahir kiya_,” where the word _kiya_ agrees with _ishtiyak_ only, being the noun nearest. A shallow critic would be apt to say that this is bad grammar.
[143] “_La haul parhna_,” to repeat or recite the “_La haul_,” or more fully, “_La haul wa la kuwwat illa b-Illahi;_” meaning, “there is no power nor strength but in God.” An exclamation used by _Musalmans_ in cases of sudden surprise, misfortune, &c.
[144] The insignia of state among the grandees of India.
[145] The _gulab-pash_ is a silver or gold utensil, like a French bottle, to sprinkle rose water on the company; the _’itr-dan_ one to hold essences, and _pik-duns_ are of brass or silver to spit in, called by the French _crachoirs_.
[146] The _abdar-khana_ a room appropriated to the cooling of water in ice or saltpetre, by the servant called the _abdar_.
[147] Small leaden mugs with covers for the congelation of ice.
[148] To cool the water which they contain; they are made of pewter.
[149] The _masnad_ and its large back pillow are criterions of Asiatic etiquette. To an inferior or dependant, the master of the house gives the corner of the _masnad_ to sit on; to an equal or intimate friend, he gives part of the large pillow to lean on; to a superior, he abandons the whole pillow, and betakes himself to the corner of the _masnad_.
[150] A kind of _palki_ or sedan, for the conveyance of the women of people of rank in India.
[151] A sign of afflicting surprise.
[152] _Majnun_, a lover famed in eastern romance, who long pined in unprofitable love for _Laili_, an ugly hard-hearted mistress. The loves of _Yusuf_ and _Zulaikh@a, Khusru_ and _Shirin_, also of _Laili_ and _Majnun_, are the fertile themes of Persian romance.
[153] The _Muhammadans_ reckon their day from sunset.
[154] By sitting and drinking with the young merchant, when he ought to wait on his guests, and attend to their entertainment.
[155] A figurative and highly poetic expression as old as Homer. In this instance it is said to signify that the sun had been two _gharis_ above the horizon.
[156] Literally, “a friendship of two days,” where the number two is employed indefinitely to denote “few.”
[157] The month of _Ramazan_ consisting of thirty days, is the Lent of the _Muhammadans_. During tgat whole period, a good _Musalman_ or “true believer,” is not allowed either to eat, or drink, or smoke from sunrise to sunset. This naturally explains the anxiety they must feel for the arrival of evening; more especially in high latitudes, should the _Ramazan_ happen in the middle of summer. As a mere religions observance this same fast, enjoined by _Muhammad_, is the most absurd, the most demoralizing, and the most hurtful to health that ever was invented by priestcraft. The people are forced to starve themselves during the whole day, and consequently they overeat themselves during the whole night, when they ought to be asleep in their beds, as nature intended. Hence they fall by thousands an easy prey to cholera, as happened in Turkey a few years ago. The fast of Lent among tho followers of the Pope of Rome is, though in a less degree, liable to the same censure. Why, instead of these unwholesome observances, do not the priests, whether of Mecca or of Rome, preach unto the people temperance and regularity of living? Ah, I forgot, the priests both of Mecca and of Rome can always grant _dispensations_ and _indulgences_ to such good people as can adduce _weighty_ reasons to that effect.
[158] As frogs live in wet, they are not supposed to be extremely subject to catch cold; the simile is introduced to ridicule the extravagant idea of a merchant’s son presuming to be in love with a princess. The simile is a proverb.
[159] Washermen in India, in general, wash their linen at the _ghats_, and their dogs of course wander thither from home after them, and back again. This is one of their proverbs, and answers to ours of “Kicked from piller to post.”
[160] The _Khutba_ is a brief oration delivered after divine service every Friday (the _Musalman_ Sabbath,) in which the officiating priest blesses _Muhammad_, his successors, and the reigning sovereign.
[161] A kind of sedan chair, or _palki_.
[162] The _Khabar-dars_ are a species of spies stationed in various parts of oriental kingdoms in order to forward intelligence to head quarters.
[163] A mode of humble address, when the inferior presumes to state something contrary to what the superior maintains or desires; and as human life in India was, in olden times, not only precarious, but considered as insignificant, the oriental slave acts prudently by begging his life before he presumes to be candid.
[164] Literally, “He who is the changer of hearts.”
[165] Here the first _Darwesh_ addresses himself directly to the other three, who were his patient listeners.
[166] The _jama_ is an Asiatic dress, something like a modern female gown, only much more full in the skirts. It is made of white cloth or muslin.
[167] A superstitious custom in India; it implies that the person who goes round, sacrifices his life at the shrine of the love, prosperity and health of the beloved object.
[168] The _kazi_ is the judge and magistrate in Asiatic cities; he performs the rites of marriage, settles disputes, and decides civil and criminal causes. As the _Muhammadan_ laws are derived from their religious code, the _Kuran_, the _kazi_ possesses both secular and ecclesiastical powers.
[169] All good _Musalmans_ bathe after performing the rites of Venus, hence the purport of the princess’s _simple question_ is obvious enough.
[170] Called _warku-l-khiyal_; it is made from the leaves of the _charas_, a species of hemp; it is a common inebriating beverage in India; the different preparations of it is called _ganja, bhang_, &c.
[171] Literally a “weighty _khil’at_,” owing to the quantity of embroidery on it. The perfection of these oriental dresses is, to be so stiff as to stand on the floor unsupported.
[172] The _paisa_ is the current copper coin of India; it is the 64th part of a rupee, and is in value as nearly as possible 3/4 of our halfpenny, or a farthing and a-half.
[173] The word _kafir_ denotes literally, “infidel,” or “heathen.” It is here used as a term of endearment, just as we sometimes use the word “wicked rogue.”
[174] Literally, “_lakhs_ of rupees.” In India money accounts are reckoned by hundreds, thousands, _lakhs_ and _crores_, instead of hundreds, thousands, and millions, as with us. A hundred thousands make a _lakh_, and a hundred _lakhs_, a _crore_. As the Indian mode of reckoning, though simple enough, is apt to perplex the beginner, let us take for example the number 123456789, which we thus point off,–123,456,789; but in India it would be pointed as follows:–12,34,56,789, and read 12 _crores_, 34 _lakhs_, fifty-six thousand seven hundred and eighty-nine.
[175] The _muwazzin_ is a public crier, who ascends the turret or minaret of a mosque and calls out to the inhabitants the five periods of prayers; more especially the morning, noon and evening prayers.
[176] This is a proverb, founded on a short story, viz.: “A certain Arab lost his camel; he vowed, if he found it, to sell it for a dinar, merely as a charitable deed. The camel was found, and the Arab sorely repented him of his vow. He then tied a cat on the camel’s neck, and went through the city of _Baghdad,_ exclaiming, ‘O, true believers, here is a camel to be sold for a _dinar_, and a cat for a thousand _dinars_; but they cannot be sold the one without the other.'”
[177] _Taks_ are small recesses in the walls of apartments in Asia, for holding flower-pots, phials of wine, fruits, &c.
[178] In the original it is a proverb, “When evil comes, the dog will bite even the man that is mounted on a camel,” said of a person who is extremely unfortunate.
[179] The term _barah-dari_ is applied either to a temporary pavilion, or a permanent summer-house; it is so called from the circumstance of its having “twelve doors,” in honour of the twelve _Imams_.–Vide note, page 4.
[180] The various kinds of fire-works here enumerated admit not of translation.–Vide vocabulary.
[181] A proverb meaning that people or things are well matched; as the soul, at the hour of death, is committed to the charge of good or evil angels, according to its dessert.
[182] A proverb applied to those who act in a manner utterly at variance with their condition.
[183] The _patka_ is a long and narrow piece of cloth or silk, which is wrapped round the waist; among the rich a _shawl_ is the general _patka_. The act of throwing one’s _patka_ round the neck and prostrating one’s self at another’s feet, is a most abject mark of submission.
[184] Literally, “a collar or yoke, round my neck.”
[185] The _Mughal_ princes in the days of their splendour had guards of _Kalmuc_, or _Kilmak_, women for their seraglios; they were chosen for their size and courage, and were armed; other Tartar women were likewise taken, but they all went by the general name of _Kilmakini_.
[186] Here the first _Darwesh_ resumes his address to his three companions.
[187] In a note to my edition of Mr. F. Smith’s translation of the _Baghobahar_, 1851, I inserted the following “petition.” “May I request some friend in India, for auld lang syne, to ask any intelligent _munshi_ the exact meaning of _panchon hathiyar bandhna_, showing him at the same time the original where the expression occurs.” To this request I received, a few months ago, a very kind and satisfactory reply from Lieut. J.C. Bayley, 36th Regt., M.N.I., which I have the pleasure here to insert; and at the same time, I beg to return my best thanks to that gentleman. “The _five weapons_ are, 1st, the _talwar_ or sword; 2nd, the _pesh-kabz_ or dagger; 3rd, the _tabar_ or battle-axe; 4th, the _barchhi_ or lance; 5th, the _tir o kaman_ or the bow and arrows. The phrase, _panchon hathiyar bandhna_ is very nearly equivalent to our expression, ‘to be armed cap a pie.'” I may add to Lieut. B.’s obliging account that in more recent times, the “bow and arrows” are very naturally superseded by “a pair of pistols.” Still the meaning of the phrase is the same in either case.
[188] The word _chikmak_ or _chikmak_, is wrongly called “a flint” in the dictionaries. It merely denotes the piece of steel used in striking a fire. The flint is called _chikmak ka pathar_.
[189] Literally, “at the seeing of which the liver would be turned into water.”
[190] The _pipal_ or “ficus religiosa,” is a large tree venerated by the _Hindus_; it affords a most agreeable shade, as its leaves are large, in the shape of a heart. Many writers confound it with the “_ficus Indicus_” or “_baniyan_ tree,” or rather, they devise an imaginary tree compounded of the two species, investing it with the heart-shaped leaves of the former, and the dropping and multiplying stems of the latter.
[191] Respecting the ceremony called the _tasadduk_, vide note 3, p. 66.
[192] Literally, “much dust did I sift the dust.”
[193] _Murtaza ‘Ali_, the son-in-law of the prophet; one of his surnames is _Mushkil-kusha,_ or ” the remover of difficulties.” The _Saiyids_, who pretend to be descended from _’Ali_, wear green dresses, which is a sacred colour among the _Muhammadans_.
[194] The phrase _char-zanu ho-baithna_, signifies “to sit down with the legs crossed in front as our tailors do when at work.” It is the ordnary mode of sitting among the Turks.
[195] The _dalk_, or _dilk_, is a garment made of patches and shreds worn by _darweshes_; the epithet _dolk-posh_, “a _dalk_ wearer,” denotes a “darwesh,” or “mendicant.”
[196] _Ispahan_ was once a fine city. In the time of the Chevalier Chardin, nearly two centuries ago, it was pronounced by that traveller to be the largest in the world. It is now about the size of Brighton; yet a few weeks ago, we saw in the “Illustrated London News,” an account of it by a _Frenchman_ (a fire-side traveller), who declares it to be, still, “the largest city in the world!”
[197] The _Muhammadans_ divide the world into seven climes, and suppose that a constellation presides over the destiny of each clime.
[198] The Arabic phrase _lantarani_, a corruption of _la-an-tarani_, literally signifies “egad, if you saw me [do so and so];” hence _lantarani-wala_ is equivalent to our terms, “an egregious egotist,” or “great boaster.”
[199] A novice in the language would say, “Here a distinction seems to be drawn between the words _zaban_ and _jibh_. Both signify ‘tongue,’ but the former applies to men and the latter to animals.” To this profound bit of criticism I should reply–Not so fast, Mr. Novice; a distinction there is, but that is not it. The word _zaban_ in Persian and _Hindustani_ means both the fleshy member of the body, called the tongue, and also language or speech, just like our word “tongue,” which has both significations. In the former sense it applies alike to man and beast; in the latter it is mere truism to say that it applies to man only. _Jibh_, in _Hindi_ and _Hindustani_, means the tongue only in the sense of the member of the body, never in the sense of speech; hence it is equally applicable to man or brute. Ask any physician who has practised in India the _Hindustani_ for “show the tongue,” he will tell you _jibh dikla,o_, or _zaban dikla,o_; and if he was a man of discernment, he would use _jibh_ with a _Hindu_, and _zaban_ with a _Musalman_; but I believe he would be perfectly understood, whichever word he used to either party.
[200] The case is _Hatim’s_ philanthropy in respect to the old woodman, which on the part of any other than _Hatim_ might seem super-human.
[201] It is related by grave historians, that _Hatim_ actually built an alms-house of this description. On _Hatim_’s death, his younger brother, who succeeded him, endeavoured to act the generous in the above manner. His mother dissuaded him, saying, “Think not, my son, of imitating _Hatim_: it is an effort thou canst not accomplish;” and in order to prove what she said, the mother assumed the garb of a _fakir_, and acted as above related. When she came to the first door the second time, and received her son’s lecture on the sin of avarice; she suddenly threw off her disguise, and said, “I told thee, my son, not to think of imitating _Hatim_. By _him_ I have been served three times running, in this very manner, without ever a question being asked.”
[202] This and the following _jeu de mots_ cannot be easily explained to a person who does not understand a little Arabic or Persian.
[203] The original is, “as yet _Dilli_ is a long way off,” a proverb like that of the Campbells–“It is a far cry to Loch Awe.”
[204] The expression in the original is so _plain_ as to need no translation.
[205] Some would-be knowing critics inform us that “_Dastar-khwan_” literally signifies the “turband of the table”!!! How they manage to make such a meaning out of it is beyond ordinary research; and when done, it makes nonsense. They forget that the Orientals never made use of tables in the good old times. The _dastar-khwan_ is, in reality, both table and table-cloth in one. It is a round piece of cloth or leather spread out on the floor. The food is then arranged thereon, and the company squat round the edge of it, and, after saying _Bism-Illah_, fall to, with what appetite they may; hence the phrase _dastar-khwan par baithna_, to sit on, (not _at_,) the table. The wise critics seem to be thinking of our modern mahogany, which is a very different affair.
[206] In the original, an infinite variety of dishes is enumerated, which are necessarily passed over in the translation, simply, because we have no corresponding terms to express them in any Christian tongue. They would puzzle the immortal Ude himself, or the no less celebrated Soyer, the present autocrat of the culinary kingdom. But my chief reason for passing them over so lightly is the following, viz.: I have fully ascertained from officers home on furlough, that these passages are never read in India, nor is the student ever examined in them. They can interest only such little minds as are of the most contemptibly frivolous description. A man may be a first-rate English or French scholar, yea, an accomplished statesman, without being conversant with the infinite variety of dishes, &c., set down on the _carte_ of a first-rate Parisian restaurateur.
[207] The Asiatics eat with the right hand, and use no knives or forks; so to draw back the hand from eating is to leave off eating. Of course, spoons are used for broths, &c, which cannot be eaten by the hand.
[208] As it were intended to be stored up and not eaten.
[209] This exceedingly plain expression is, so far from seeming gross or indelicate, considered as a very high compliment among Orientals.
[210] Literally, “recite the _la haul_,” &c, vide note 2, p. 5.
[211] _Jogis_ are _Hindu_ ascetics, or fanatics; some of them let the nails grow
through the palm of their hands by keeping their fists shut, &c.
[212] The _maunis_ are _Hindu_ ascetics who vow everlasting silence.
[213] The _sevras_ are mendicants of the _Jain_ sects.
[214] _Majnun_ is a mad lover of eastern romance, who pined in vain for the cruel _Laili_. _Farhad_ is equally celebrated as an unhappy _amant_ who perished for _Shirin_.
[215] The word _salam_, “salutation,” is used idiomatically in the sense of our terms “compliments” or “respects,” &c. And in that sense it has now become, in India, adopted into the English language.
[216] The marriage portion here alluded to is not to be taken in the vague sense we attach to the term. The word _mahar_ denotes a present made to, or a portion settled on, the wife at or before marriage.
[217] _Nimroz_ is that part of Persia which comprehends the provinces of _Sijistan_ and _Mikran_, towards the south-east.
[218] The _man_, commonly called “maund,” a measure of weight, about eighty pounds avoirdupois.
[219] It is needless here to enumerate the stores of various articles detailed in the original, as they will all be found in the vocabulary.
[220] Literally, “her own leavings.” In the East it considered a very high compliment on the part of a person of rank to present his guest with the remnants of his own dish.
[221] Literally, “night of power or grandeur,” would in that place be “without grandeur.” The _shabi kadr_, or as the Arabs have it, _lailatu-l-kadri_, is a sacred festival held on the 27th of _Ramazan_, being, according to the _Musalmans_, the night on which the _Kur,an_ was sent down from heaven.
[222] Meaning that, under present circumstances, her commands were altogether out of place.
[223] It is incumbent on good Mussulmans to wash the hands and face before prayers. Where water is not to be had, this ceremony, called _tayammum_ is performed by using sand instead.
[224] _Lukman_ is supposed to be the Greek slave AEsop, the author of the Fables. _Bu ‘Ali Sina_ is the famous Arab physician and philosopher, by mediaeval writers erroneously called Avicenna.
[225] _Khizr_ or _Khwaja Khizr_ is the name of a saint or prophet, of great notoriety among the _Muhammadans_. The legends respecting his origin and life are as numerous as they are absurd and contradictory. Some say he was grand _Vizir_ to Solomon, others to Alexander the Great. They all agree, however, that he discovered the water of immortality, and that in consequence of having drunk thereof, he still lives and wanders about on the earth.
[226] _Kasra_ is the title of the King of Persia, hence the Greek forms Cyrus and Chosroes, and most probably the more modern forms Caesar, Kaisar, and Czar. The form _Kisra_ used in the text is generally applied to _Naushirwan_.–Vide note 3, page 13.
[227] _Ni’man_, also _Nu’man_, the name of an ancient king of _Hirat_, in Arabia.
[228] The first day of the new year, which is celebrated with great splendour and rejoicings.
[229] The _Brahmans_, erroneously called Bramins, do not eat meat.
[230] Literally, “she would have repeated the _Kalima_,” or “Confession of Faith” of the followers of _Muhammad_, which is as follows:–“There is no God but God, and _Muhammad_ is his prophet.” Some profane wags have parodied this creed into a Jewish one, viz.–“There ish no God but the monish, and shent per shent (cent. per cent.) ish hish prophet” (profit.)
[231] The common mode to present large sums in specie to princely visitors, is to form a platform with the money, spread the _masnad_ on it, and place the visitor on the rich seat. Mr. Smith states that he had himself seen _Asafu-d-Daula_, the then _Nawwab_ of Lucknow, receive a lack of rupees in this way from _Almas_, one of his eunuchs.
[232] _Chand-rat_, is applied to the night on which the new moon is first visible, which night, together with the following day till sunset, constitutes the _pahli tarikh_, or _ghurra_, that is the first of the lunar month.
[233] _Ramazan_ is the ninth _Muhammadan_ month, during which they keep Lent. Vide note, p. 59.
[234] The _’Id_ is the grand festival after the Lent of _Ramazan_ is over. There is another _’Id_, called _Al-Kurban_, in commemoration of Abraham’s meditated sacrifice of his son Isaac, or as the _Muhammadans_ believe of his son Ishmael.
[235] Literally, “having washed my hands of my life.”
[236] _Rustam_, a brave and famous hero of Persia, whose Herculean achievements are celebrated in the _Shah-Nama_.
[237] Literally, “a _salam_ as low as the carpet;” or as we say, “a bow to the ground.”
[238] The various editions of the text read _tunna_, “a particular kind of tree.” In one of my MSS., however, the reading is _tane_, the inflected form of _tana_, the “trunk of a tree,” which is better sense.
[239] Literally, “the parrot of my hand flew away.”
[240] The _Muhammadans_ reckon a hundred and twenty years as the _’umri tabi’i_, or the natural period of man’s life.
[241] The mountain of _Kaf_, is the celebrated abode of the _jinns_, _paris_, and _divs_, and all the fabulous beings of oriental romance. The _Muhammadans_, as of yore all good Christians, believe that the earth is a flat circular plane; and on the confines of this circle is a ring of lofty mountains extending all round, serving at once to keep folks from falling off, as well as forming a convenient habitation for the _jinns_, &c., aforesaid. The mountain, (I am not certain on whose trigonometrical authority) is said to be 500 _farasangs_ or 2000 English miles in height.
[242] With regard to the plain, simple sentence, “_yih kahkar takht uthaya_,” we have somewhere seen the following erudite criticism, viz.:–“With deference to _Mir Amman_, this is bad grammar. The nominative to _kahkar_ and _uthaya_ ought to be the same!!!” Now, it is a great pity that the critic did not favour us here with his notions of _good_ grammar. Just observe, O reader, how the expression stands in the text: “_yih kahkar takht uthaya_,” and you will naturally ask, “where is the fault in the grammar?” The nominative, or rather the agent, is _pari ne_, hence the translation, “the fairy, having thus spoken, took up the throne.” The poor critic seems to confound “_uthaya_” with “_utha_.”
[243] One of the would-be poets of our day has translated the above most elegantly and literally, as follows:–
“What mischiefs through this love arise! What broken hearts and miseries!”
[244] The _Muhammadans_ have great confidence in charms which are written on slips of paper, along with numerous astrological characters. They consist chiefly of quotations from the _Kuran_, and are often diluted in water, and drank as medicine in various distempers. As the Indian ink and paper can do no harm, and often act as an emetic, they are probably more innocent than the physic administered by eastern physicians, who are the most ignorant of their profession. The fact is, that the soi disant “teachers” of mankind, in all ages and countries–the African fetish, the American Indian sachem, the _Hindu jogi_, the _Musalman mulla_, and the Romish priest and miracle-monger–have all agreed on one point, viz., to impose on their silly victims a multitude of unmeaning ceremonies, and absurd mummeries, in order to conceal their own contemptible vacuity of intellect.
[245] The _Jata-dhari Gusa,in_ is a sect of fanatic _Hindu_ mendicants, who let their hair grow and matted, and go almost naked.
[246] _Mahadev_ is a _Hindu_ idol; the emblem of the creative power, and generally and naturally represented by the Lingum.
[247] _Shevrat_ is a _Hindu_ festival, which corresponds nearly with the Mahometan _shabi barat_.
[248] Plato is supposed by the _Muhammadans_ to have been not only a profound philosopher, but a wise physician. In short, it is too general an idea with them, that a clever man must be a good doctor.
[249] The _langot_ or _langoti_ is a piece of cloth wrapped or fastened round the loins, and tucked in between the feet. It barely conceals what civilization requires should be hid from the public view.
[250] _Ma’jun_ is the extract from the intoxicating plant called _charas_ or _bhang_, a species of hemp; it is mixed with sugar and spices to render it palatable. The inebriation it produces fills the imagination with agreeable visions, and the effects are different from those of wine or spirits.
[251] Six _mashas_ amount to nearly a quarter of an ounce; a sicca rupee weighs eleven _mashas_.
[252] Literally, “a volume of a book.”
[253] This exceedingly absurd story is of Rabbinical origin. I have a strong impression on my mind of having read something very like it long ago in the works of Philo Judaeus, the contemporary of Josephus.
[254] The _Ismi A’zam_, or the “Most Mighty Name” [of God] is a magic spell or incantation which the acquirer can apply to wonderful purposes. God hath, among the _Muhammadans_, ninety-nine names or epithets; the _Ismi A’zam_ is one of the number, but it is only the initiated few who can say which of the ninety-nine it is.
[255] The word _sawab_ strictly means, “the reward received in the next world for virtuous actions performed in the present state of existence.”
[256] The veiled horseman who rescued the first and second _Darweshes_ from self-destruction.
[257] A Persian proverb.
[258] _Badakhshan_ is a part of the grand province of _Khurasan_, and the city of _Balkh_ is its metropolis, to the eastward of which is a chain of mountains celebrated for producing fine rubies.
[259] All Asiatic princes, like others nearer home, have spies, called “reporters of intelligence,” who inform themselves of what passes in public. They are, as a matter of course, the pest of society, and generally corrupt.
[260] A _miskal_ is four and a half _mashas_; our ounce contains twenty-four _mashas_. So the ruby weighed more than half an ounce.
[261] The word _raja_ is the _Hindu_ term for a prince or sovereign. In more recent times it has become a mere empty title, conferred upon rich _Hindus_ by the Emperor of _Delhi_.
[262] _Naishapur_ was once the richest and grandest city in the province of _Khurasan_. It was utterly destroyed by _Tuli_, the son of _Jenghis Khan_ (or more correctly, _Changis Ka,an_), in A.D. 1221.
[263] Seven _miskals_ are more than an ounce and a quarter.
[264] The term Farang, vulgarly Frank, was formerly applied to Christian Europe in general, with the exclusion of Russia.
[265] Literally, “kissed the ground of obeisance,” a Persian phrase, expressive of profound respect.
[266] “The minister’s daughter,” afterwards called “the young merchant.”
[267] The phrase _pachas ek_ means “about fifty.” It is strange that a certain critic on this work, (who has a prodigiously high opinion of himself,) should have rendered the above passage, “whose age was about forty or fifty years!” Most assuredly, the merest tyro in _Hindustani_ can tell him that it cannot have such a latitude as to mean “about forty or fifty.” He might just as correctly have said “about fifty or sixty.” The phrase _pachas ek_, as I have stated, means simply “about fifty,” i.e., it may be _one_ year more or less.
[268] In the text, the _wazir-zadi_ is henceforth called _saudagar-bacha_ or the young merchant, being the character under which she, for some time, figures.
[269] _morchhals_, vulgarly called _chowrees_, are fly-flaps, to drive away those troublesome companions; the best kind is made of the fine white long tail of the mountain cow; the others of the long feathers from, the peacock’s tail, or the odoriferous roots of a species of grass called _Khas_. They are likewise a part of the paraphernalia of state in India.
[270] The title _khwaja _ means “chief,” or “master;” it is generally applied to rich merchants, &c., such as we would call “men of respectability.” The idiomatic London English for it is “governor,” or (as it is pronounced) “guv’ner”.
[271] Literally, “What difficulty” (is there in so doing).
[272] The city of _Naishapur_ being some 270 miles inland, it would not be easy for the young merchant to reach it by sea. Asiatic story-tellers are not at all particular in regard to matters of geography.
[273] _’Ajam_ means, in general, Persia; the Arabs use it in the same sense as the Greeks did the word “barbarian;” and all who are not Arabs they call _’Ajami_; more especially the Persians.
[274] _Sara,e, sera,i_ or _caravanserai_, are buildings for the accommodation of travellers, merchants, &c., in cities, and on the great roads in Asia. Those in Upper _Hindustan_, built by the emperors of _Dilli_, are grand and costly; they are either of stone or burnt bricks. In Persia, they are mostly of bricks dried in the sun. In Upper _Hindustan_ they are commonly sixteen to twenty miles distant from each other, which is a _manzil_ or stage. They are generally built of a square or quadrangular form with a large open court in the centre, and contain numerous rooms for goods, men, and beasts.
[275] Literally, made excuses from the surface of his heart,” i.e., not serious excuses.
[276] That is, “completely armed.” Vide note 2, page 87.
[277] On the exact meaning of _dastar-khwan,_ see note, page 104.
[278] The _Musalman_ confession of faith, see note 3, page 156.
[279] The idiom “_do mahine ek_,” about two months, similar to the phrase, “_pachas ek baras_,” _v._ note 1, page 161.
[280] Literally, “began to smack his lips;” denoting his satisfaction.
[281] Tartar, African, and Turkish slaves.
[282] Literally, “I have not proved false in what you have entrusted to me.”
[283] The coffee and pipe are always presented to visitors in Turkey, Arabia, and Persia, and they are considered as indispensable in good manners.
[284] “_dant kholne_” is fully explained in my Grammar, page 129. It appears to have sadly puzzled a learned critic, to whom I have occasionally alluded.
[285] Literally, “middle brother;” as there were three in number, of course the “second” and “middle” are identical.
[286] The _Siyum_ are the rites performed for the dead on the third day after demise; it is called the _tija_ in _Hinduwi_.
[287] Alluding to God.
[288] Or it may mean, “my blood boiled” [with resentment].
[289] The _Muhammadan_ sabbath is Friday.
[290] A _kafila_ means a company of merchants who assemble and travel together for mutual protection. It is synonymous with caravan.
[291] _Bukhara_ is a celebrated city in Tartary; it was formerly the capital of the province called _Mawaralnahr_, or _Transoxiana_, before the Tartar conquerors fixed on _Samarkand_. It lies to the northward of the river _Oxus_ or _Gihun_, which divides Tartary from Persia, or as the Persian geographers term it, _Iran_, from _Turan_. _Bukhara_ is celebrated by Persian poets for its climate, its fruits, and its beautiful women.
[292] The _boza_ is an intoxicating drink made of spirits, the leaves of the _charas_ plant, _tari_, and opium. _Tari_, erroneously called _todee_, is the juice of the palm tree.
[293] Literally, ale-house, or tippling-house. One is strongly led to believe that this is the origin of our cant word _boozing-ken_, imported from the East by the gipsies some four or five centuries ago.
[294] A grateful and luxurious operation in the warm climate of India, more especially after the fatigue of travelling. _Shampooing_ is a word of uncertain etymology; the French have a better term, _masser_. The natives say it has a physical advantage, as it quickens their languid circulation; perhaps they are right.
[295] A _kos_ is nearly two English miles, being about fifteen furlongs.
[296] Literally, “the fire was kindled in my stomach.”
[297] Pointing to his two brothers who were present, and heard his tale.
[298] The stake was a common mode of punishment in India in former days, and, until recently, was practised among the _Sikhs_, _Marhattas_, and other Asiatic princes, who were independent of our government.
[299] Addressing himself to the king _Azad Bakht_.
[300] The term _kibla_ signifies the “point of adoration,” and is generally applied to the _Ka’ba_, or holy edifice, situated in the sacred inclosure of Mecca. To this point all _Muhammadans_ must turn when they pray.
[301] The prayer of martyrdom among the _Musalmans._ It is often repeated when they go into action against Christians and Pagans
[302] According to the _Muhammadan_ belief, _Nakir_ and _Munkir_ are two angels who attend at the moment of death, and call to an account the spirit of the deceased.
[303] Literally, “satiated the dog of my stomach.”
[304] Literally, to perform the act of “rubbing the nose on the earth,” expressive of extreme humility.
[305] Literally, “having fastened [on his person] the four mirrors.”
[306] The term _zuhr_ strictly denotes the period devoted to the mid-day prayer, which is offered up after the sun has perceptibly declined from the meridian. Vide note 4, in page 14.
[307] The name of the countries which lie, as the people of _Hindustan_ term it, below Bengal, i.e., to the south-east of it; the name includes the kingdoms of Ava and Pegu.
[308] _Kunwar_ is the _Hindu_ name for the son of a _raja_.
[309] The _chaugan_ is a Persian sport performed on horseback, with a large ball like a foot-ball, which is knocked about with a long stick like a shepherd’s crook; it is precisely the game called in Scotland “shintey,” and in England “hockey,” only that the players are mounted.
[310] _Rani_ is the _Hindu_ name of a _raja’s_ wife.
[311] Literally, “without a partner.” The _Musalmans_ consider our doctrine of the Trinity as a deadly error.
[312] _Sarandip_ is the name for the island of Ceylon among the Arabs and Persians, as well as the _Musalmans_ of India. The ancient _Hindu_ name was _Lanka_, applied both to the island and its capital.
[313] The term _kisra_ is evidently applied here to _Naushirwan_, not to Cyrus, as is stated in some books.
[314] _Iran_ is the ancient name of Persia in its more extended sense, that is, the Persian Empire. _Fars_ is sometimes used in the same sense. Strictly speaking, it denotes Persia proper, which is only a province of _Iran_.
[315] The _kafila-bashi_ is the head man of the _kafila_, or company of merchants, who travel in a body for mutual safety, and compose what is commonly called a caravan, properly a _karwan_; the richest and most respectable merchant of the party is generally elected _bashi_; all the rest obey his orders, and he directs the movements, &c., of the whole company, and moreover, acts, in all cases of dispute, as judge and magistrate.
[316] The _farsakh_, or _farsang_, or _parsang_, is a measure of distance in Persia, and contains at the present day about 3 3/4 English miles. Herodotus reckoned the _[Greek: pasasaggaes]_; in his time at 30 Grecian stadia.
[317] _Salsabil_ is the name of a fountain of Paradise, according to _Muhammadan_ belief.
[318] The student is of course aware that in most languages a question is frequently equivalent to a negative, as in this sentence. A sapient critic, to whom I have more than once alluded, was pleased to honour me with the following profound remark on the reading given in the original, viz.–“There is a slip here in Forbes’s edition, as well as the Calcutta one. The word _nahin_, ‘not,’ is omitted, which destroys the whole sense!!!”
[319] The _kaliyan_ (or as the moderns say, _kaliyun_) is the Persian _hukka_.
[320] This is, as the vulgate hath it, “coming it a little too strong;” but be it remembered that Oriental story-tellers do not mar the interest of their narrative by a slavish adherence to probability.
[321] Here the king _Azad Bakht_ speaks in his own person, and addresses himself to the four _darweshes_.
[322] With regard to the essence of _bed-mushk_ vide note 2, page 42.
[323] The image of the Divine power in that country of Pagans.
[324] Vide note 3, page 30, respecting the _chilla_, or “period of forty.”
[325] That is to say, she had never seen a _Muhammadan_ at his prayers.
[326] _Lat_ and _Manat_ were the two great idols of _Hindu_ worship in former times.
[327] In the languages of southern India, _Turk_ is the general appellation for a _Musalman_.
[328] The _chaman_ is a small garden or _parterre_, which is laid out before the sitting room in the interior of the women’s apartments; it means in general, _parterres_ of flowers.
[329] The original uses a much stronger expression.
[330] Literally, the poison of the _halahal_, as expression used to denote poison of the strongest kind. The _halahal_ is a fabulous poison, said to have been produced from the ocean on the churning of it by the gods and _daityas._ Our critic says, on this word, that it means “deadly!!!” will he favour us with some authority on that point, better than his own?
[331] On the phrase, _do mahine men_, our critic comes out in great force. He says, “Mir Amman here sins against grammar; it should be, _do mahinon men!!!_” The critic is not aware, that when a noun follows a numeral it never requires the inflection plural en, except when it is to be rendered more definite? In reality, Mir Amman would be wrong if he had employed the reading recommended by the sapient critic; _do mahine men_ means “in two months;” _do mahinon men_ “in _the_ two months” (previously determined upon).
[332] The _chor-mahall_ is a private seraglio.
[333] The twelve _Imams_.–Vide note 3, page 4.
[334] The threshold of a pagoda or mosque. The oriental people uncover their feet, as we do our heads, on entering a place of worship.
[335] Asiatics do not sign their names, but put their seals to letters, bonds, paper, &c.; on the seal is engraven their names, titles, &c.; which absurd practice has frequently given rise to much roguery, and even bloodshed, as it is so easy, by bribes, to get a seal-cutter to forge almost any seal, a notorious instance of which appeared some twenty years ago in the case of the _Raja_ of _Sattara_. Though the _Muhammadan_ laws punish with severe penalties such transgressions, yet seal-cutters are not more invulnerable to the powers of gold than other men. Kings, princes, _nawwabs_ &c., have a private mark, as well as a public seal, to official papers; and a private seal and mark for private or confidential papers.
[336] A _khil’at_ or honorary dress is generally bestowed on a person when he is appointed to a new situation.
[337] Literally, “who could hit a _kauri_ suspended by a hair.” The _kauri_ is a small round shell used to denote the minutest denomination of money. In Bengal it is about the hundredth part of a _paisa_.
[338] The _nazar_ or _pesh-kash_ is a sum of money, &c., which, all oriental officials pay to the prince of the country, or to his favourites, &c., when appointed to their situations. Some people say that such things are done nearer home, with this difference, that among us it is a private transaction; whereas, in the East, it is an open one.
[339] _ja-girs_ are donations of lands, or, rather, of the revenues arising from a certain portion of land; strictly speaking, such a grant is a reward for military service, though it is sometimes bestowed without that condition.
[340] As the _Musalmans_ reckon their day from sun-set, this is no _bull_.
[341] Literally, “the third fault is that of the mother.”
[342] The king here resumes his address to the four darweshes.
[343] A proverb synonymous to ours, of “What is bred in the bone, will never come out of the flesh.”
[344] The _tawa_ is a circular plate of malleable or cast iron, used for baking cakes or bannocks. It is slightly convex, like a watch-glass, on the upper side, where the bread is laid on; the under or concave side being, of course perfectly black. In Scotland, and in the northern counties of England, this domestic implement is called “the girdle,” and is still in common use in places remote from towns.
[345] Till recently a province of Persia; the northern part of ancient Media. It is now, alas! fallen into the deadly grasp of the unholy Muscovite.
[346] A kind of pea common in India; it is the ordinary food of horses, oxen, camels, &c., likewise of the native. By Europeans it is generally called _grum_ or “_graum_.”
[347] The _Muhammadans_ believe that on the day of judgment all who have died will assemble on a vast plain, to hear their sentences from the mouth of God; so the reader may naturally conceive the size of the plain.
[348] The _surma_ is a black powder made of antimony, which the Asiatic women use on their eyelids, to give a superior lustre to their black or hazel eyes; when applied with taste, it certainly has that effect. It is likewise used for sore eyes, but I cannot say with what success.
[349] _Chummak_ is the Turkish name for a kind of _baton_ set with precious stones, and used by some of the officers of the palace as an insignia of state, like our rods, wands, &c.
[350] This ludicrous idea is to be found in the veracious “Voiage and Travaile” of Sir John Maundevile, Kt. Speaking of the “Yles abouten Ynde,” he says, “men fynden there an Ile that is clept Crues,” where “for the grete distresse of the hete, mennes ballokkes hangen down to their knees, for the grete dissolucioun of the body.”
[351] The _Hur_ are celestial females, and the _Ghilman_ beautiful youths, who are to attend upon all good Mahometans in Paradise.
[352] The _nakkar-khana_ is the place at the portico of a temple or palace where drums are beaten at stated intervals. It is somewhat akin to the “belfry,” of a Romish church, the childish and everlasting noise of which is supposed to constitute an important part of Christianity.
[353] _Padmini_, the highest and most excellent of the four classes of women among the _Hindus_.
[354] The prime minister, or first officers of state, under the _Mughal_ emperors.
[355] Literally, “instant of an instant.” With regard to this idiomatic use of the genitive case, vide “Grammar,” page 96, paragraph _b_.
[356] Here the _khwaja_ resumes his own story to _Azad Bakht_.
[357] The king, _Azad Bakht_, speaks in his own person.
[358] The son of a _khwaja_ or merchant of the highest grade.
[359] When _Musalmans_ go on pilgrimage to _Mecca_, they shave their heads on their arrival there; the ridicule is, to have incurred the shaving without the merit of the pilgrimage.
[360] Called the _khil’at sarafrazi_, i.e. of exaltation.
[361] The _farsh_ is the carpet or cloth which is spread in the room, where company is received, or the king’s audience is held; for the king to advance to the end of the _farsh_ to receive the _wazir_, is a mark of respect, which Asiatic princes seldom pay, even to their equals.
[362] The insignia of the _wazir’s_ office in India and Persia, is the _kalumdan._
[363] The abode of a _fakir_ is called a _takiya_.
[364] The phrase _kot bundh baithna_ signifies to squat down as a person does when easing nature, the two hands being clasped together round the legs a little below the knees.
[365] _Chaupar_ is a very ancient Indian game of the nature of backgammon, played by four people, each having four men or pieces. A full description of it is given in the Ayeeni Akbary, London, 1800, vol. 1st, page 253.
[366] _Azur_, the father of Abraham, was a famous statuary and idol-worshipper, according to the ideas of _Muhammadans_.
[367] Alluding to the _Hindu_ custom of the wife’s burning herself with the corpse of her husband; in these cases, perhaps, fear of the priesthood, &c., is a stronger motive than love for the defunct.
[368] By the Island of the Franks, it is most probable that the author means Britain. The description of the capital is more adapted to London sixty years ago than to any other European city. This, _Mir Amman_ might have learned from some of the resident Europeans, while he filled up the rest from his own luxuriant imagination.
[369] The “eunuch” is of course out of place in a Christian city; at least he does not hold the same rank as in the East.
[370] In the original it is water; the meaning is obvious enough.
[371] Most probably the name of some famous armourer.
[372] A Persian proverb.
[373] That is poison of the strongest kind.–Vide note on this word in page 213.
[374] Meaning in this world and the next.
[375] Barbers in Asia not only shave but wash persons in the private and public baths.
[376] A prince of _Khurasan_, who quitted a throne in order to lead a life of piety.
[377] A celebrated city of _Khurasan_, famous in former times for its riches.
[378] The attitude of respect, common in the East, when a servant has a request to make of his master; or a very inferior person of one who is greatly his superior.
[379] Meaning, “of surpassing speed.”
[380] In the original, the word is _kai_, or the green scum that floats on stagnant water. “_Bihzad Khan_, dispersed the enemy as _kai_ is dispersed when a stone is thrown into the water,” is nearly the original simile.
[381] Literally, “merely continued bringing up the soil from the bottom.”
[382] The first and second _Darweshes_.
[383] One of the many epithets applied to _Darweshes_ in the East.
[384] A Persian proverb.
[385] The regent; the fourth _Darwesh’s_ uncle.
[386] According to the fabulous system of _jinns, divs, paris, &c.,_ in Asia, it is supposed that the _jinns_ and _paris_ live on essences, &c. The _divs_ are malignant spirits or beings, and live on less delicate food.
[387] _Divs_ or demons; the malignant race of _jinns_.
[388] _Chin_ and _Machin,_ is the general name of China among the Persians.
[389] _Bukhur_ is a kind of frankincense.
[390] _Abu-Jahal_, or “the father of obstinacy,” or “of brutality,” was the name of an Arab. He was uncle to the prophet _Muhammad_, and an inveterate opposer of the latter’s new religion.
[391] The forty figures of monkeys would give the possessor a power over the _divs_ and _jinns_, and having them at his command, he could easily overset the usurper, _alias_ his uncle.
[392] The _Ismi A’zam_, or great name of God.–See note 2, p. 145.
[393] Alluding to the Asiatic custom of the women being concealed from the view of all, except their husbands or very near relations.
[394] The _kazis_ and _muftis_ are the judges in Turkey, Arabia, Persia and _Hindustan_, of all civil and religious causes; they likewise marry, divorce, &c.
[395] The _tija_ is the same as the _siyum_.–See note 2, page 187.
[396] A kind of litter for the conveyance of women and the sick.
[397] A kind of litter for travelling in Persia and Arabia; two of them are slung across a camel or a mule; those for camels carry four persons.
[398] Viz., his state of castration.
[399] _Zu-l-fakar_, the name of a famous sword that _’Ali_ used to wear.
[400] The veiled horseman, _’Ali Mushkil-Kusha_.
[401] In the original there is a play on the words _haml_ and _hamal_.
[402] Literally, “he made the man in want of a _kauri_ the master of a _lakh_ [of rupees].
[403] _Ryots_ (a corruption of the word _ra’iyat_) are the husbandmen in India; the tillers of the soil who rent small parcels of land from the government, through the medium of the _zamin-dar_, who is a servant of government and not the proprietor of the land, as some have erroneously supposed. The word means keeper of the land, and not the proprietor. In fact, he is like the Irish middleman, in every sense of the word.
[404] A famous garden in Arabia Felix; it is also applied to the garden in Paradise, in which all good Mahometans, according to their belief, are to revel after death.
[405] _’Umman_ is the name of the southern part of _Yaman_ or Arabia Felix; the country which lies between the mouth of the Persian Gulf and the mouth of the Red Sea; the sea which washes this coast is called the sea of _’Umman_ in Persia and Arabia, as the Red Sea is called the sea of _Kulzum_.
[406] A mode of punishment used in former times in Persia, India, and Arabia, against great enemies or atrocious delinquents. Such treatment the poor emperor Valerian experienced from the haughty _Shapur_ or _Shabar_ (the Sapores of the Greeks), king of Persia or Parthia.
[407] The first _darwesh_.
[408] The second _darwesh_.
[409] The third _darwesh_.
[410] The fourth _darwesh_.
[411] The five pure bodies are _Muhammad_, the prophet; _Fatima_, his daughter; _Ali_, her husband; and _Hazan_ and _Husain_, their chidren.
[412] The fourteen innocents are the children of _Hazan_ and _Husain_.
[413] By an arithmetical operation called in Persian _Abjad_; as Persian letters have arithmetical powers, the letters which compose the words _Bagh O Bahar_ added up, produce the sum 1217. From the inscription on most _Muhammadan_ tombs, and those on the gates of mosques, the dates of demise and erection can be ascertained. We had the same barbarous custom in Europe about the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; see the Spectator (No. 60,) on this ridiculous subject, which was considered as a proof of great ingenuity.
[414] A pun on the word _Bahar_, which means spring, when flowers are in full bloom; but the French word _printemps_ conveys more exactly the compound signification; for _Bahar_ not only means spring, but an agreeable spring. The Persians are as fond of these _double entendres_ as any other people; their poetry is strewed with them, and so is their prose. It is not, however, to be considered as a model of pure taste.