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chapter2.txt
Introduction to Java Programming Comprehensive
Version 10th Edition Liang Test Bank
full chapter at: https://testbankbell.com/product/introduction-to-java-
programming-comprehensive-version-10th-edition-liang-test-bank/
Chapter 2 Elementary Programming
a. input.nextInt();
b. input.nextInteger();
c. input.int();
d. input.integer();
Key:a
#
2. The following code fragment reads in two numbers:
a. Enter an integer, a space, a double value, and then the Enter key.
b. Enter an integer, two spaces, a double value, and then the Enter key.
c. Enter an integer, an Enter key, a double value, and then the Enter key.
d. Enter a numeric value with a decimal point, a space, an integer, and then the
Enter key.
Key:abc
#
6. is the code with natural language mixed with Java code.
a. Java program
b. A Java statement
c. Pseudocode
d. A flowchart diagram
key:c
#
3. If you enter 1 2 3, when you run this program, what will be the output?
Page 1
import java.util.Scanner; chapter2.txt
Page 2
chapter2.txt
double number1 = input.nextDouble();
double number2 = input.nextDouble();
double number3 = input.nextDouble();
// Compute average
double average = (number1 + number2 + number3) / 3;
// Display result
System.out.println(average);
}
}
a. 1.0
b. 2.0
c. 3.0
d. 4.0
Key:b
#
4. What is the exact output of the following code?
a. 3.53.5
b. 3.5 3.5
c. area3.5
d. area 3.5
Key:c
#
Section 2.4 Identifiers
4. Every letter in a Java keyword is in lowercase?
a. true
b. false
Key:a
#
5. Which of the following is a valid identifier?
a. $343
b. class
c. 9X
d. 8+9
e. radius
Key:ae
Page 3
chapter2.txt
Section 2.5 Variables
6. Which of the following are correct names for variables according to Java
naming conventions?
a. radius
b. Radius
c. RADIUS
d. findArea
e. FindArea
Key:ad
#
7. Which of the following are correct ways to declare variables?
a. int length; int width;
b. int length, width;
c. int length; width;
d. int length, int width;
Key:ab
#
Section 2.6 Assignment Statements and Assignment Expressions
8. is the Java assignment operator.
a. ==
b. :=
c. =
d. =:
Key:c
#
9. To assign a value 1 to variable x, you write
a. 1 = x;
b. x = 1;
c. x := 1;
d. 1 := x;
e. x == 1;
Key:b
#
10. Which of the following assignment statements is incorrect?
a. i = j = k = 1;
b. i = 1; j = 1; k = 1;
c. i = 1 = j = 1 = k = 1;
d. i == j == k == 1;
Key:cd
#
Section 2.7 Named Constants
11. To declare a constant MAX_LENGTH inside a method with value 99.98, you write
a. final MAX_LENGTH = 99.98;
Page 4
chapter2.txt
b. final float MAX_LENGTH = 99.98;
c. double MAX_LENGTH = 99.98;
d. final double MAX_LENGTH = 99.98;
Key:d
#
12. Which of the following is a constant, according to Java naming conventions?
a. MAX_VALUE
b. Test
c. read
d. ReadInt
e. COUNT
Key:ae
#
13. To improve readability and maintainability, you should declare
instead of using literal values such as 3.14159.
a. variables
b. methods
c. constants
d. classes
Key:c
#
Section 2.8 Naming Conventions
60. According to Java naming convention, which of the following names can be
variables?
a. FindArea
b. findArea
c. totalLength
d. TOTAL_LENGTH
e. class
Key:bc
#
Section 2.9 Numeric Data Types and Operations
14. Which of these data types requires the most amount of memory?
a. long
b. int
c. short
d. byte
Key:a
#
34. If a number is too large to be stored in a variable of the float type, it
.
a. causes overflow
b. causes underflow
Page 5
chapter2.txt
c. causes no error
d. cannot happen in Java
Key:a
#
15. Analyze the following code:
#
16. What is the result of 45 / 4?
a. 10
b. 11
c. 11.25
d. 12
Key:b 45 / 4 is an integer division, which results in 11
#
18. Which of the following expression results in a value 1?
a. 2 % 1
b. 15 % 4
c. 25 % 5
d. 37 % 6
Key:d 2 % 1 is 0, 15 % 4 is 3, 25 % 5 is 0, and 37 % 6 is 1
#
19. 25 % 1 is
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
Page 6
chapter2.txt
e. 0
Key:e
#
20. -25 % 5 is
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
e. 0
Key:e
#
21. 24 % 5 is
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
e. 0
Key:d
#
22. -24 % 5 is
a. -1
b. -2
c. -3
d. -4
e. 0
Key:d
#
23. -24 % -5 is
a. 3
b. -3
c. 4
d. -4
e. 0
Key:d
#
30. Math.pow(2, 3) returns .
a. 9
b. 8
c. 9.0
d. 8.0
Key:d It returns a double value 8.0.
Page 7
chapter2.txt
30. Math.pow(4, 1 / 2) returns .
a. 2
b. 2.0
c. 0
d. 1.0
e. 1
Key:d Note that 1 / 2 is 0.
#
30. Math.pow(4, 1.0 / 2) returns .
a. 2
b. 2.0
c. 0
d. 1.0
e. 1
Key:b Note that the pow method returns a double value, not an integer.
#
31. The method returns a raised to the power of b.
a. Math.power(a, b)
b. Math.exponent(a, b)
c. Math.pow(a, b)
d. Math.pow(b, a)
Key:c
#
Section 2.10 Numeric Literals
15. To declare an int variable number with initial value 2, you write
a. int number = 2L;
b. int number = 2l;
c. int number = 2;
d. int number = 2.0;
Key:c
#
32. Analyze the following code.
Page 8
chapter2.txt
digit. An octal digit is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7.
#
15. Which of the following are the same as 1545.534?
a. 1.545534e+3
b. 0.1545534e+4
c. 1545534.0e-3
d. 154553.4e-2
Key:abcd
#
Section 2.11 Evaluating Expressions and Operator Precedence
24. The expression 4 + 20 / (3 - 1) * 2 is evaluated to
a. 4
b. 20
c. 24
d. 9
e. 25
Key:c
#
Section 2.12 Case Study: Displaying the Current Time
58. The System.currentTimeMillis() returns .
a. the current time.
b. the current time in milliseconds.
c. the current time in milliseconds since midnight.
d. the current time in milliseconds since midnight, January 1, 1970.
e. the current time in milliseconds since midnight, January 1, 1970 GMT (the
Unix time).
Key:e
#
24. To obtain the current second, use .
a. System.currentTimeMillis() % 3600
b. System.currentTimeMillis() % 60
c. System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000 % 60
d. System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000 / 60 % 60
e. System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000 / 60 / 60 % 24
Key:c
#
24. To obtain the current minute, use .
a. System.currentTimeMillis() % 3600
b. System.currentTimeMillis() % 60
c. System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000 % 60
d. System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000 / 60 % 60
e. System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000 / 60 / 60 % 24
Key:d
Page 9
chapter2.txt
#
24. To obtain the current hour in UTC, use _.
a. System.currentTimeMillis() % 3600
b. System.currentTimeMillis() % 60
c. System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000 % 60
d. System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000 / 60 % 60
e. System.currentTimeMillis() / 1000 / 60 / 60 % 24
Key:e
#
Section 2.13 Augmented Assignment Operators
24. To add a value 1 to variable x, you write
a. 1 + x = x;
b. x += 1;
c. x := 1;
d. x = x + 1;
e. x = 1 + x;
Key:bde
#
25. To add number to sum, you write (Note: Java is case-sensitive)
a. number += sum;
b. number = sum + number;
c. sum = Number + sum;
d. sum += number;
e. sum = sum + number;
Key:de
#
26. Suppose x is 1. What is x after x += 2?
a. 0
b. 1
c. 2
d. 3
e. 4
Key:d
#
27. Suppose x is 1. What is x after x -= 1?
a. 0
b. 1
c. 2
d. -1
e. -2
Key:a
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chapter2.txt
28. What is x after the following statements?
int x = 2;
int y = 1;
x *= y + 1;
a. x is 1.
b. x is 2.
c. x is 3.
d. x is 4.
Key:d
#
29. What is x after the following statements?
int x = 1;
x *= x + 1;
a. x is 1.
b. x is 2.
c. x is 3.
d. x is 4.
Key:b
#
29. Which of the following statements are the same?
(A) x -= x + 4
(B) x = x + 4 - x
(C) x = x - (x + 4)
#
Section 2.14 Increment and Decrement Operators
21. Are the following four statements equivalent?
number += 1;
number = number + 1;
number++;
++number;
a. Yes
b. No
Key:a
Page 11
chapter2.txt
#
34. What is i printed?
public class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int j = 0;
int i = ++j + j * 5;
#
35. What is i printed in the following code?
#
36. What is y displayed in the following code?
Page 12
chapter2.txt
c. y is 3.
d. y is 4.
Key:c When evaluating x++ + x, x++ is evaluated first, which does two things: 1.
returns 1 since it is post-increment. x becomes 2. Therefore y is 1 + 2.
#
37. What is y displayed?
#
Section 2.15 Numeric Type Conversions
38. To assign a double variable d to a float variable x, you write
a. x = (long)d
b. x = (int)d;
c. x = d;
d. x = (float)d;
Key:d
#
17. Which of the following expressions will yield 0.5?
a. 1 / 2
b. 1.0 / 2
c. (double) (1 / 2)
d. (double) 1 / 2
e. 1 / 2.0
Key:bde 1 / 2 is an integer division, which results in 0.
#
39. What is the printout of the following code:
double x = 5.5;
int y = (int)x;
System.out.println("x is " + x + " and y is " + y);
a. x is 5 and y is 6
b. x is 6.0 and y is 6.0
Page 13
chapter2.txt
c. x is 6 and y is 6
d. x is 5.5 and y is 5
e. x is 5.5 and y is 5.0
Key:d The value is x is not changed after the casting.
#
40. Which of the following assignment statements is illegal?
a. float f = -34;
b. int t = 23;
c. short s = 10;
d. int t = (int)false;
e. int t = 4.5;
Key:de
#
41. What is the value of (double)5/2?
a. 2
b. 2.5
c. 3
d. 2.0
e. 3.0
Key:b
#
42. What is the value of (double)(5/2)?
a. 2
b. 2.5
c. 3
d. 2.0
e. 3.0
Key:d
#
43. Which of the following expression results in 45.37?
a. (int)(45.378 * 100) / 100
b. (int)(45.378 * 100) / 100.0
c. (int)(45.378 * 100 / 100)
d. (int)(45.378) * 100 / 100.0
Key:b
#
43. The expression (int)(76.0252175 * 100) / 100 evaluates to .
a. 76.02
b. 76
c. 76.0252175
d. 76.03
Key:b In order to obtain 76.02, you have divide 100.0.
Page 14
chapter2.txt
#
44. If you attempt to add an int, a byte, a long, and a double, the result will
be a value.
a. byte
b. int
c. long
d. double
Key:d
#
Section 2.16 Software Life Cycle
1. is a formal process that seeks to understand the problem and
system’s input and output. When you do analysis, it helps to identify what the
output is first, and then figure out what input data you need in order to produce
the output.
a. Requirements specification
b. Analysis
c. Design
d. Implementation
e. Testing
Key:b
#
0. Any assignment statement can be used as an assignment expression.
a. true
b. false
Key:a
#
1. You can define a constant twice in a block.
a. true
b. false
Key:b
#
44. are valid Java identifiers.
a. $Java
b. _RE4
Page 15
chapter2.txt
c. 3ere
d. 4+4
e. int
Key:ab
#
2. You can define a variable twice in a block.
a. true
b. false
Key:b
#
3. The value of a variable can be changed.
a. true
b. false
Key:a
#
4. The result of an integer division is the integer part of the division; the
fraction part is truncated.
a. true
b. false
Key:a
#
5. You can always assign a value of int type to a variable of long type without
loss of information.
a. true
b. false
Key:a
#
6. You can always assign a value of long type to a variable of int type without
loss of precision.
a. true
b. false
Key:b
#
13. A variable may be assigned a value only once in the program.
a. true
b. false
Key:b
#
14. You can change the value of a constant.
a. true
b. false
Page 16
chapter2.txt
Key:b
#
2. To declare a constant PI, you write
a. final static PI = 3.14159;
b. final float PI = 3.14159;
c. static double PI = 3.14159;
d. final double PI = 3.14159;
Key:d
#
3. To declare an int variable x with initial value 200, you write
a. int x = 200L;
b. int x = 200l;
c. int x = 200;
d. int x = 200.0;
Key:c
#
4. To assign a double variable d to an int variable x, you write
a. x = (long)d
b. x = (int)d;
c. x = d;
d. x = (float)d;
Key:b
#
8. Which of the following is a constant, according to Java naming conventions?
a. MAX_VALUE
b. Test
c. read
d. ReadInt
Key:a
#
9. Which of the following assignment statements is illegal?
a. float f = -34;
b. int t = 23;
c. short s = 10;
d. float f = 34.0;
Key:d
#
10. A Java statement ends with a .
a. comma (,)
b. semicolon (;)
c. period (.)
d. closing brace
Page 17
chapter2.txt
Key:b
#
11. The assignment operator in Java is .
a. :=
b. =
c. = =
d. <-
Key:b
#
12. Which of these data types requires the least amount of memory?
a. float
b. double
c. short
d. byte
Key:d
#
13. Which of the following operators has the highest precedence?
a. casting
b. +
c. *
d. /
Key:a
#
17. If you attempt to add an int, a byte, a long, and a float, the result will
be a value.
a. float
b. int
c. long
d. double
Key:a
#
18. If a program compiles fine, but it terminates abnormally at runtime, then
the program suffers .
a. a syntax error
b. a runtime error
c. a logic error
Key:b
#
24. What is 1 % 2?
a. 0
b. 1
c. 2
Page 18
chapter2.txt
Key:b
#
26. What is the printout of the following code:
double x = 10.1;
int y = (int)x;
System.out.println("x is " + x + " and y is " + y);
a. x is 10 and y is 10
b. x is 10.0 and y is 10.0
c. x is 11 and y is 11
d. x is 10.1 and y is 10
e. x is 10.1 and y is 10.0
Key:d
#
32. The compiler checks .
a. syntax errors
b. logical errors
c. runtime errors
Key:a
#
33. You can cast a double value to _.
a. byte
b. short
c. int
d. long
e. float
Key:abcde
#
34. The keyword must be used to declare a constant.
a. const
b. final
c. static
d. double
e. int
Key:b
#
37. pow is a method in the class.
a. Integer
b. Double
c. Math
d. System
Key:c
Page 19
chapter2.txt
#
38. currentTimeMills is a method in the class.
a. Integer
b. Double
c. Math
d. System
Key:d
#
39. 5 % 1 is
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
e. 0
Key:e
#
40. 5 % 2 is
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
e. 0
Key:a
#
41. 5 % 3 is
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
e. 0
Key:b
#
42. 5 % 4 is
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
e. 0
Key:a
#
43. 5 % 5 is
a. 1
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chapter2.txt
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
e. 0
Key:e
#
43. -5 % 5 is
a. -1
b. -2
c. -3
d. -4
e. 0
Key:e
#
43. -15 % 4 is
a. -1
b. -2
c. -3
d. -4
e. 0
Key:c
#
43. -15 % -4 is
a. -1
b. -2
c. -3
d. -4
e. 0
Key:c
#
43. A variable must be declared before it can be used.
a. True
b. False
Key:a
#
43. A constant can be defined using using the final keyword.
a. True
b. False
Key:a
#
43. Which of the following are not valid assignment statements?
a. x = 55;
Page 21
chapter2.txt
b. x = 56 + y;
c. 55 = x;
d. x += 3;
Key:c
Page 22
Sample Final Exam for CSCI 1302
Here is a mapping of the final comprehensive exam against the course outcomes:
1
Name: CSCI 1302 Introduction to Programming
Covers chs8-19 Armstrong Atlantic State University
Final Exam Instructor: Dr. Y. Daniel Liang
Please note that the university policy prohibits giving the exam score by email. If you need to know your
final exam score, come to see me during my office hours next semester.
I pledge by honor that I will not discuss the contents of this exam with
anyone.
Signed by Date
Design a class named Person and its two subclasses named Student and
Employee. Make Faculty and Staff subclasses of Employee. A person has a
name, address, phone number, and email address. A student has a class
status (freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior). Define the status as a
constant. An employee has an office, salary, and date hired. Define a
class named MyDate that contains the fields year, month, and day. A
faculty member has office hours and a rank. A staff member has a title.
Override the toString method in each class to display the class name
and the person's name.
Draw the UML diagram for the classes. Write the code for the Student
class only.
2
2. Design and use interfaces (10 pts)
3
3. Design and create GUI applications (10 pts)
Write a Java applet to add two numbers from text fields, and
displays the result in a non-editable text field. Enable your applet
to run standalone with a main method. A sample run of the applet is
shown in the following figure.
4
4. Text I/O (10 pts)
5
5. Multiple Choice Questions: (1 pts each)
(1. Mark your answers on the sheet. 2. Login and click Take
Instructor Assigned Quiz for QFinal. 3. Submit it online
within 5 mins. 4. Close the Internet browser.)
1. describes the state of an object.
a. data fields
b. methods
c. constructors
d. none of the above
#
2. An attribute that is shared by all objects of the class is coded
using .
a. an instance variable
b. a static variable
c. an instance method
d. a static method
#
3. If a class named Student has no constructors defined explicitly,
the following constructor is implicitly provided.
a. public Student()
b. protected Student()
c. private Student()
d. Student()
#
4. If a class named Student has a constructor Student(String name)
defined explicitly, the following constructor is implicitly provided.
a. public Student()
b. protected Student()
c. private Student()
d. Student()
e. None
#
5. Suppose the xMethod() is invoked in the following constructor in
a class, xMethod() is in the class.
public MyClass() {
xMethod();
}
a. a static method
b. an instance method
c. a static method or an instance method
#
6. Suppose the xMethod() is invoked from a main method in a class as
follows, xMethod() is in the class.
6
xMethod();
}
a. a static method
b. an instance method
c. a static or an instance method
#
7. What would be the result of attempting to compile and
run the following code?
public class Test {
static int x;
#
8. Analyze the following code:
#
9. Suppose s is a string with the value "java". What will be
assigned to x if you execute the following code?
char x = s.charAt(4);
a. 'a'
b. 'v'
c. Nothing will be assigned to x, because the execution causes the
runtime error StringIndexOutofBoundsException.
d. None of the above.
#
10. What is the printout for the following code?
class Test {
7
public static void main(String[] args) {
int[] x = new int[3];
System.out.println("x[0] is "+x[0]);
}
}
a. The program has a syntax error because the size of the array
wasn't specified when declaring the array.
b. The program has a runtime error because the array elements are
not initialized.
c. The program runs fine and displays x[0] is 0.
d. None of the above.
#
11. How can you get the word "abc" in the main method from the
following call?
a. args[0]
b. args[1]
c. args[2]
d. args[3]
#
12. Which code fragment would correctly identify the number of
arguments passed via the command line to a Java application,
excluding the name of the class that is being invoked?
#
13. Show the output of running the class Test in the following code
lines:
interface A {
void print();
}
class C {}
class Test {
public static void main(String[] args) {
B b = new B();
if (b instanceof A)
System.out.println("b is an instance of A");
if (b instanceof C)
System.out.println("b is an instance of C");
}
}
8
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possessed person writhing and trembling with intense violence, especially at the
commencement of the paroxysm. Then he is seen to spring from the ground into the air,
and a succession of leaps follow, all executed as though he were shot at by unseen
agency. During this stage of the seizure he is supposed to be quite unconscious, and rolls
into the fire, if there be one, or under the feet of the dancers, without sustaining injury
from the heat or from the pressure. This lasts for a few minutes only, and is followed by
the spasmodic stage. With hands and knees on the ground and hair loosened, the body is
convulsed, and the head shakes violently, whilst from the mouth issues a hissing or
gurgling noise. The patient next evincing an inclination to stand on his legs, the
bystanders assist him, and place a stick in his hand, with the aid of which he hops about,
the spasmodic action of the body still continuing, and the head performing by jerks a
violently fatiguing circular movement. This may go on for hours, though Captain
Samuells says that no one in his senses could continue such exertion for many minutes.
When the Baiga is appealed to to cast out the spirit, he must first ascertain whether it is
Gansâm or one of his familiars that has possessed the victim. If it be the great Gansâm,
the Baiga implores him to desist, meanwhile gradually anointing the victim with butter;
and if the treatment is successful, the patient gradually and naturally subsides into a state
of repose, from which he rises into consciousness, and, restored to his normal state, feels
no fatigue or other ill-effects from the attack.”
The same religious dance of ecstasy appears in what is known as the Râs Mandala of the
modern Vaishnava sects, which is supposed to represent the dance of the Gopîs with
Krishna. So in Bombay among the Marâthas the worship of the chief goddess of the
Dakkhin, Tuljâ Bhavânî, is celebrated by a set of dancing devotees, called Gondhalis,
whose leader becomes possessed by the goddess. A high stool is covered with a black
cloth. On the cloth thirty-six pinches of rice are dropped in a heap, and with them
turmeric and red powder, all scarers of demons, are mixed. On the rice is set a copper
vessel filled with milk and water, and in this the goddess is supposed to take her abode.
Over it are laid betel leaves and a cocoanut. Five torches are carried round the vessel by
five men, each shouting “Ambâ Bhavânî!” The music plays, and dancers dance before
her. So at a Brâhman marriage at Pûna the boy and girl are seated on the shoulders of
their maternal uncles or other relations, who perform a frantic dance, the object being, as
in all these cases, to scare away the spirits of evil.44
Flagellation.
So with flagellation, which all over the world is supposed to have the power of scaring
demons. Thus in the Central Indian Hills the Baiga with his Gurda, or sacred chain,
which being made of iron, possesses additional potency, soundly thrashes patients
attacked with epilepsy, hysteria, and similar ailments, which from their nature are
obviously due to demoniacal agency. There are numerous instances of the use of the lash
for this purpose. In Bombay, among the Lingâyats, the woman who names the child has
her back beaten with gentle blows; and some beggar Brâhmans refuse to take alms until
the giver beats them.45 There is a famous shrine at Ghauspur, in the Jaunpur District,
where the Ojhas beat their patients to drive out the disease demon.46 The records of
Roman Catholic hagiology and of the special sect of the Flagellants will furnish
numerous parallel instances.
Treatment of Sorcerers.
While the sorcerer by virtue of his profession is generally respected and feared, in some
places they have been dealt with rather summarily. There is everywhere a struggle
between the Brâhman priest of the greater gods and the exorciser, who works by the
agency of demons. Sudarsan Sâh rid Garhwâl of them by summoning all the professors
of the black art with their books. When they were collected he had them bound hand and
foot and thrown with their books and implements into the river. The same monarch also
disposed very effectually of a case of possession in his own family. One day he heard a
sound of drumming and dancing in one of his courtyards, and learnt that a ghost named
Goril had taken possession of one of his female slaves. The Râja was wroth, and taking a
thick bamboo, he proceeded to the spot and laid about him so vigorously that the
votaries of Goril soon declared that the deity had taken his departure. The Râja then
ordered Goril to cease from possessing people, and nowadays if any Garhwâli thinks
himself possessed, he has only to call on the name of Sudarsan Sâh and the demon
departs.47
Appointment of Ojhas.
The mode of succession to the dignity of an Ojha varies in different places. In Mirzapur
the son is usually educated by his father, and taught the various spells and modes of
incantation. But this is not always the case; and here at the present time the institution is
in a transition stage. South of the Son we have the Baiga, who usually acts as an Ojha
also; and he is invariably drawn from the aboriginal races. Further north he is known as
Nâya (Sanskrit nâyaka) or “leader.” Further north, again, as we leave the hilly country
and enter the completely Brâhmanized Gangetic valley, he changes into the regular Ojha,
who is always a low-class Brâhman.
In one instance which came under my own notice, the Nâya of the village had been an
aboriginal Kol, and he before his death announced that “the god had sat on the head” of
a Brâhman candidate for the office, who was duly initiated, and is now the recognized
village Ojha. This is a good example of the way in which Brâhmanism annexes and
absorbs the demonolatry of the lower races. This, too, enables us to correct a statement
which has been made even by such a careful inquirer as Mr. Sherring when he says48
—“Formerly the Ojha was always a Brâhman; but his profession has become so
lucrative that sharp, clever, shrewd men in all the Hindu castes have taken to it.” There
can be no question that the process has been the very reverse of this, and that the early
Ojhas were aboriginal sorcerers, and that their trade was taken over by the Brâhman as
the land became Hinduized.
In Hoshangâbâd the son usually succeeds his father, but a Bhomka does not necessarily
marry into a Bhomka family, nor does it follow that “once a Bhomka, always a
Bhomka.” On the contrary, the position seems to be the result of the special favour of the
godling of the particular village in which he lives; and if the whole of the residents
emigrate in a body, then the godling of the new village site will have to be consulted
afresh as to the servant whom he chooses to attend upon him.
“If a Bhomka dies or goes away, or a new village is established, his successor is
appointed in the following way. All the villagers assemble at the shrine of Mutua Deo,
and offer a black and white chicken to him. A Parihâr, or priest, should be enticed to
grace the solemnity and make the sacrifice, but if that cannot be done the oldest man in
the assembly does it. Then he sets a wooden grain measure rolling along the line of
seated people, and the man before whom it stops is marked out by the intervention of the
deity as the new Bhomka.”49
It marks perhaps some approximation to Hinduism that the priest, when inspired by the
god, wears a thread made of the hair of a bullock’s tail, unless this is based on the
common use of thread or hair as a scarer of demons, or is some token or fetish peculiar
to the race. At the same time the non-Brâhmanic character of the worship is proved by
the fact that the priest, when in a state of ecstasy, cannot bear the presence of a cow, or
Brâhman. “The god,” they say, “would leave their heads if either of these came near.”
On one occasion, when Sir C. A. Elliott saw the process of exorcism, the men did not
actually revolve when “the god came on his head.” He covered his head up well in a
cloth, leaving space for the god to approach, and in this state he twisted and turned
himself rapidly, and soon sat down exhausted. We shall see elsewhere that the head is
one of the chief spirit entries, and the top of the head is left uncovered in order to let the
spirit make its way through the sutures of the skull. Then from the pit of his stomach he
uttered words which the bystanders interpreted to direct a certain line of conduct for the
sick man to pursue. “But perhaps the occasion was not a fair test, as the Parihâr strongly
objected to the presence of an unbeliever, on the pretence that the god would be afraid to
come before so great an official.” This has always been the standing difficulty in
Europeans obtaining a practical knowledge of the details of rural sorcery, and when a
performance of the kind is specially arranged, it will usually be found that the officiant
performs the introductory rites with comparative success, but as it comes to the crucial
point he breaks down, just as the ecstatic crisis should have commenced. This is always
attributed to the presence of an unbeliever, however interested and sympathetic. The
same result usually happens at spiritualistic séances, when anyone with even an
elementary knowledge of physics or mechanics happens to be one of the audience.
Fraud in Exorcism.
The question naturally arises—Are all these Ojhas and Baigas conscious hypocrites and
swindlers? Dr. Tylor shrewdly remarks that “the sorcerer generally learns his time-
honoured profession in good faith, and retains the belief in it more or less from first to
last. At once dupe and cheat, he combines the energy of a believer with the cunning of a
hypocrite.”50 This coincides with the experience of most competent Indian observers.
No one who consults a Syâna and observes the confident way in which he asserts his
mystic power, can doubt that he at least believes to a large extent in the sacredness of his
mission. Captain Samuells, who repeatedly witnessed these performances, distinctly
asserts that it is a mistake to suppose that there is always intentional deception.51
Disease Charms.
Next to the services of the professional exorciser for the purpose of preventing or curing
disease, comes the use of special charms for this purpose. There is a large native
literature dealing with this branch of science. As a rule most native patients undergo a
course of this treatment before they visit our hospitals, and the result of European
medical science is hence occasionally disappointing. One favourite talisman of this kind
is the magic square, which consists in an arrangement of certain numbers in a special
way. For instance, in order to cure barrenness, it is a good plan to write a series of
numbers which added up make 73 both ways on a piece of bread, and with it feed a
black dog, which is the attendant of Bhairon, a giver of offspring. To cure a tumour a
figure in the form of a cross is drawn with three cyphers in the centre and one at each of
the four ends. This is prepared on a Sunday and tied round the left arm. Another has a
series of numbers aggregating 15 every way. This is engraved on copper and tied round a
child’s neck to keep off the Evil Eye. In the case of cattle disease, some gibberish, which
pretends to be Arabic or Sanskrit, appealing for the aid of Lonâ Chamârin or Ismâîl Jogi,
with a series of mystic numbers, is written on a piece of tile. This is hung on a rope over
the village cattle path, and a ploughshare is buried at the entrance to make the charm
more powerful. When cattle are attacked with worms, the owner fills a clean earthen pot
with water drawn from the well with one hand; he then mutters a blessing, and with
some sacred Dâbh grass sprinkles a little water seven times along the back of the animal.
HOUSE PROTECTED AGAINST THE EVIL EYE.
The number of these charms is legion. Many of them merge into the special
preservatives against the Evil Eye, which will be discussed later on. Thus the bâzâr
merchant writes the words Râm! Râm! several times near his door, or he makes a
representation of the sun and moon, or a rude image of Ganesa, the godling of good luck,
or draws the mystical Swâstika. A house of a banker at Kankhal which I recently
examined bore a whole gallery of pictures round it. There were Siva and Pârvatî on an
ox with their son Mârkandeya; Yamarâja, the deity of death, with a servant waving a fan
over his head; Krishna with his spouse Râdhâ: Hanumân, the monkey godling; the
Ganges riding on a fish, with Bhâgîratha, who brought her down from heaven; Bhîshma,
the hero of the Mahâbhârata; Arjuna representing the Pândavas; the saints Uddalaka and
Nârada Muni; Ganesa with his two maidservants; and Brahma and Vishnu riding on
Sesha Nâga, the great serpent. Beneath these was an inscription invoking Râma,
Lakshmana, the Ganges and Hanumân.
Rag Offerings.
He “points to the undoubted nature of the offerings and their service, in the identification
of their owners—a service which implies their power to bear witness in spirit-land to the
pilgrimage of those who deposited them during lifetime at the sacred well.” Some of the
Indian evidence seems to show that these rags are really offerings to the sacred tree.
Thus, Colonel Tod60 describes the trees in a sacred grove in Râjputâna as decorated with
shreds of various coloured cloth, “offerings of the traveller to the forest divinity for
protection against evil spirits.” This usage often merges into actual tree-worship, as
among the Mirzapur Patâris, who, when fever prevails, tie a cotton string which has
never touched water round the trunk of a Pîpal tree, and hang rags from the branches. So,
the Kharwârs have a sacred Mahua tree, known as the Byâhi Mahua or “Mahua of
marriage,” on which threads are hung at marriages. At almost any holy place women
may be seen winding a cotton thread round the trunk of a Pîpal tree.
Another explanation is that the hanging of the rags is done with the object of transferring
a disease to some one else. Professor Rhys suggests that a distinction is to be drawn
between the rags hung on trees or near a well and the pins, which are so commonly
thrown into the water itself. It is noteworthy that in some cases the pins are replaced by
buttons, or even by copper coins. The rags, on the other hand, he thinks may be vehicles
of the disease. To this Mr. Hartland objects—“If this opinion were correct, one would
expect to find both ceremonies performed by the same patient at the same well; he would
throw in the pin and also place the rag on the bush, or wherever its proper place might
be. The performance of both ceremonies is, however, I think, exceptional. Where the pin
or button is dropped into the well, the patient does not trouble about the rag, and vice
versâ.”
He goes on to say that “the curious detail mentioned by Mrs. Evans in reference to the
rags tied on the bushes at St. Elian’s well—namely, that they must be tied with wool—
points to a still further degradation of the rite in the case we are now examining.
Probably at one time rags were used and simply tied to the sacred tree with wool. What
may have been the reason for using wool remains to be discovered. But it is easy to see
how, if the reason were lost, the wool might be looked on as the essential condition of
the due performance of the ceremony, and so continue after the disuse of the rags.”
In reference to this it may be noted that there is some reason to believe that the sheep
was a sacred animal. In Western India high-caste Hindus wear blankets after bathing.
The Kunbis use a mixture of sheep’s milk with lime juice and opium as a cure for
diarrhœa. The Parheyas of Bengal used to wash their houses with sheep’s dung to scare
spirits. And the use of woollen clothes in certain rites is prescribed in the current ritual.
Mr. Hartland is inclined to think that the rags represent entire articles of clothing which
were at an earlier time deposited, and on the analogy of the habit of the witch of getting
hold of some part of the body, such as nail-cuttings and so on, by which she may get the
owner into her power, the rags were meant to connect the worshipper with the deity. “In
like manner my shirt or stocking, or a rag to represent it, placed upon a sacred bush or
thrust into a sacred well, my name written on the walls of a temple, a stone or pellet
from my hand cast upon a sacred image or a sacred cairn, is thenceforth in constant
contact with divinity; and the effluence of divinity, reaching and involving it, will reach
and involve me. In this way I may be permanently united with the god.”
It is quite possible that some or all of the ideas thus given may have resulted in the
present practice in India.
Disease Transference.
Disease is also transferred in an actual physical way. Thus, in Ireland, a charm or curse is
left on a gate or stile, and the first healthy person who passes through will, it is believed,
have the disease transferred to him. So, in Scotland, if a child is affected with the
whooping cough, it is taken into the land of another laird, and there the disease is left.61
Similarly, in Northern India, one way of transferring disease is to fill a pot with flowers
and rice and bury it in a path, with a stone to cover it. Whoever touches this is supposed
to contract the disease. This is known as Chalauwa, which means “passing on” the
malady. This goes on daily in Upper India. Often when walking in a bâzâr in the early
morning, you will see a little pile of earth decorated with flowers in the middle of the
road. This usually contains some of the scabs or scales from the body of a small-pox
patient, which are placed there in the hope that someone may touch them, contract the
malady and thus relieve the sufferer. In 1885 it was officially reported that in Cawnpur
small-pox had greatly increased from the practice of placing these scales on the roads. At
the instance of Government the matter was investigated, and it was found that in the
early stages of the disease, the Diuli ceremony is performed at cross-roads; and that at a
later period the crusts from smallpox patients mixed with curdled milk and cocoanut
juice are carried to the temple or platform of the small-pox goddess and are dedicated to
her.62
One morning, in a village near Agra, I came by chance on two old women fiercely
quarrelling. On making inquiries, I found that one of them had placed some small-pox
crusts from her child on her neighbour’s threshold. The people agreed that this was a
wicked act, as it displayed special animus against a particular person. If they had been
placed on the cross-road, and any one had been unlucky enough to touch them and
contract the disease, it would not have mattered much—that was the will of God.
Some time ago an indigo planter, near Benares, was astonished by a respectable native
friend asking the loan of one of his geese. On inquiry he ascertained that his friend’s son
was suffering from bowel complaint, and that he had been advised by a native physician
to get a goose, place it in the boy’s bed, and that the disease would be communicated to
the bird, with the result of curing the patient. This remedy was known in Italy. One of
the prescriptions of Marcellus runs:63 “To those who are suffering from a colic. Let them
fasten a live duck to their stomachs, thus the disease will pass from the man to the duck,
and the duck will die.” In the same way when any one wants to set their neighbour’s
household at variance, a quill of a porcupine, which is supposed to be a quarrelsome
animal, is thrown over the wall. On this principle in Italy a short and simple method of
setting people by the ears is to buy some of the herb Discordia and throw it into a house,
when the result is sure to be a vendetta.64 In the Indian Hills, in case of illness a stake is
driven down into the earth where four roads meet, and certain drugs and grains are
buried close by, which are speedily disinterred and eaten by crows. This gives immediate
relief to the sufferer.65 Here the idea apparently is, that the disease is transferred to the
crow, a sacred bird, and in close communication with the spirits of the sainted dead. So
in cases of cattle disease, a buffalo’s skull, a small lamb, fire in a pan, vessels of butter
and milk, wisps of grass and branches of the Siras tree (Acacia speciosa) are thrown
over the boundary of another village and are supposed to carry the disease demon with
them. This often causes a riot.66 In the same way, killing buffaloes and putting their
heads in the next village removes cholera, and by pouring oil on grain and burning it, the
disease flies elsewhere in the smoke. This seems to be one of the principles which
underlie the general practice of fire sacrifice.
Scapegoats.
This brings us to the regular scapegoat. At shrines of Sîtalâ, the small-pox goddess,
sweepers bring round a small pig. Contributions are called for from the worshippers, and
when the value of the animal is made up, it is driven by the people into the jungle,
pursued by an excited crowd, who believe that the creature has taken the disease with it.
General Sleeman gives an excellent example of this custom.67 “More than four-fifths of
the city and cantonments of Sâgar had been affected by a violent influenza, which,
commencing with a violent cough, was followed by a fever and in some cases terminated
in death. I had an application from the old Queen Dowager of Sâgar, to allow of a noisy
religious procession for the purpose of imploring deliverance from this great calamity.
The women and children in this procession were to do their utmost to add to the noise by
raising their voices in psalmody, beating upon their brass pans and pots with all their
might, and discharging firearms where they could get them. Before the noisy crowd was
to be driven a buffalo, which had been purchased by general subscription, in order that
every family might participate in the merit. They were to follow it out eight miles, where
it was to be turned out for anyone who would take it. If the animal returned, the disease
must return with it, and the ceremony be performed over again. I was requested to
intimate the circumstances to the officer commanding the troops in cantonments, in
order that the noise they intended to make might not excite any alarm and bring down
upon them the visit of the soldiery. It was, however, subsequently determined that the
animal should be a goat, and he was driven before the crowd. Accordingly, I have on
several occasions been requested to allow of such noisy ceremonies in cases of
epidemics, and the confidence the people feel in their efficacy has, no doubt, a good
effect.”
This incidentally leads to the consideration of the principle that evil spirits are scared by
noise. In the first place this appears largely to account for the use of bells in religious
worship. The tolling of the bells keeps off the evil spirits which throng round any place
where the worship of the regular gods is being performed. Milton speaks of—
So, the passing bell protects the departing soul as it flies through the air from demoniacal
influence. As Grose writes69—“The passing bell was anciently rung for two purposes;
one to bespeak the prayers of all good Christians for a soul just departing; the other, to
drive away the evil spirits who stood at the bed’s foot, and about the house, ready to
seize their prey, or at least to molest and terrify the soul in its passage; but by the ringing
of that bell (for Durandus informs us evil spirits are much afraid of bells), they were kept
aloof, and the soul, like a hunted hare, gained the start, or had what is by sportsmen
called ‘law.’” The keening at an Irish wake is probably a survival of the same custom.
But Panjâbi Musalmâns have a prejudice against beating a brass tray, as it is believed to
disturb the dead, who wake, supposing the Day of Judgment has arrived.70
Another fact which adds to the efficacy of bells for this purpose, is that they are made of
metal, which, as we shall see elsewhere, is a well-known scarer of demons.
Hence in Indian temples the use of the bell, or resounding shell trumpet, is universal.
The intention is to call the divinity and wake him from his sleep, so that he may
consume the offerings prepared for him by his votaries, and to scare vagrant ghosts, who
would otherwise partake of the meal. On the same principle the drum is, as we have
seen, a sacred instrument. The same is the case with bells. The Todas of Madras worship
Hiriya Deva, whose representative is the sacred buffalo bell, which hangs from the neck
of the finest buffalo in the sacred herd.71 The Gonds have also elevated the bell into a
deity in the form of Ghâgarapen, and one special class of their devil priests, the Ojhyâls,
always wear bells.72 So, the Patâri priest in Mirzapur and many classes of ascetics
throughout the country carry bells and rattles made of iron, which they move as they
walk to scare demons. Iron, it need hardly be said, is most efficacious for this purpose.
This also accounts for the music played at weddings, when the young pair are in special
danger from the attacks of evil spirits. At many rites it is the rule to clap the hands at a
special part of the ritual with the same purpose. The Râêdâsi Chamârs and many other
people shout or sing loudly as they remove a corpse for burial or cremation, and there
are few magistrates in India who have not been asked for leave by some happy father to
allow guns to be fired from his house-top to drive evil spirits from the mother and her
child. Mr. Campbell records that they fire a gun over the back of a sick cow in Scotland
with the same intention.73
Disease Scapegoats.
To return to the use of the scape animal as a means of expelling disease. In Berâr, if
cholera is very severe, the people get a scapegoat or young buffalo, but in either case it
must be a female and as black as possible, the latter condition being based on the fact
that Yamarâja, the lord of death, uses such an animal as his vehicle. They then tie some
grain, cloves and red lead (all demon scarers) on its back and turn it out of the village. A
man of the gardener caste takes the goat outside the boundary, and it is not allowed to
return.74 So among the Korwas of Mirzapur, when cholera begins, a black cock, and
when it is severe, a black goat, is offered by the Baiga at the shrine of the village
godling, and he then drives the animal off in the direction of some other village. After it
has gone a little distance, the Baiga, who is protected from evil by virtue of his holy
office, follows it, kills it and eats it. Among the Patâris in cholera epidemics the elders of
the village and the Ojha wizard feed a black fowl with grain and drive it beyond the
boundary, ordering it to take the plague with it. If the resident of another village finds
such a fowl and eats it, cholera comes with it into his village. Hence, when disease
prevails, people are very cautious about meddling with strange fowls. When these
animals are sent off, a little oil, red lead, and a woman’s forehead spangle are put upon
it, a decoration which, perhaps, points to a survival of an actual sacrifice to appease the
demon of disease. When such an animal comes into a village, the Baiga takes it to the
local shrine, worships it and then passes it on quietly outside the boundary. Among the
Kharwârs, when rinderpest attacks the cattle, they take a black cock, put some red lead
on its head, some antimony on its eyes, a spangle on its forehead, and fixing a pewter
bangle to its leg, let it loose, calling to the disease—“Mount on the fowl and go
elsewhere into the ravines and thickets; destroy the sin!” This dressing up of the scape
animal in a woman’s ornaments and trinkets is almost certainly a relic of some grosser
form of expiation in which a human being was sacrificed. We have another survival of
the same practice in the Panjâb custom, which directs that when cholera prevails, a man
of the Chamâr or currier caste, one of the hereditary menials, should be branded on the
buttocks and turned out of the village.75
It is obvious that this exactly corresponds with the old English custom of sin-eating.
Thus we read:77—“Within the memory of our fathers, in Shropshire, when a person
died, there was a notice given to an old sire (for so they called him), who presently
repaired to the place where the deceased lay, and stood before the door of the house,
when some of the family came out and furnished him with a cricket on which he sat
down facing the door. Then they gave him a groat, which he put in his pocket; a crust of
bread, which he ate; and a full bowl of ale, which he drank off at a draught. After this he
got out from the cricket and pronounced, with a composed gesture, the ease and rest of
the soul departed, for which he would pawn his own soul.”
There are other Indian customs based on the same principle.78 Thus, in the Ambâla
District a Brâhman named Nathu stated “that he had eaten food out of the hand of the
Râja of Bilâspur, after his death, and that in consequence he had for the space of one
year been placed on the throne at Bilâspur. At the end of the year he had been given
presents, including a village, and had then been turned out of Bilâspur territory and
forbidden apparently to return. Now he is an outcast among his co-religionists, as he has
eaten food out of the dead man’s hand.” So at the funeral ceremonies of the late Rânî of
Chamba, it is said that rice and ghi were placed in the hands of the corpse, which a
Brâhman consumed on payment of a fee. The custom has given rise to a class of outcast
Brâhmans in the Hill States about Kângra. In another account of the funeral rites of the
Rânî of Chamba, it is added that after the feeding of the Brâhman, as already described,
“a stranger, who had been caught beyond Chamba territory, was given the costly
wrappings round the corpse, a new bed and a change of raiment, and then told to depart,
and never to show his face in Chamba again.” At the death of a respectable Hindu the
clothes and other belongings of the dead man are, in the same way, given to the
Mahâbrâhman or funeral priest. This seems to be partly based on the principle that he, by
using these articles, passes them on for the use of the deceased in the land of death; but
the detestation and contempt felt for this class of priest may be, to some extent, based on
the idea that by the use of these articles he takes upon his head the sins of the dead
man.79
Again, writing of the customs prevailing among the Râjput tribes of Oudh which practise
female infanticide, Gen. Sleeman writes:80—“The infant is destroyed in the room where
it was born, and there buried. The room is then plastered over with cow-dung, and on the
thirteenth day after, the village or family priest must cook and eat his food in this room.
He is provided with wood, ghi, barley, rice, and sesamum. He boils the rice, barley, and
sesamum in a brass vessel, throws the ghi over them when they are dressed, and eats the
whole. This is considered as a Homa or burnt offering, and by eating it in that place, the
priest is supposed to take the whole Hatya or sin upon himself, and to cleanse the family
from it.”
So, in Central India the Gonds in November assemble at the shrine of Gansyâm Deo to
worship him. Sacrifices of fowls and spirits, or a pig, occasionally, according to the size
of the village, are offered, and Gansyâm Deo is said to descend on the head of one of the
worshippers, who is suddenly seized with a kind of fit, and after staggering about for a
while, rushes off into the wildest jungles, where the popular theory is that, if not pursued
and brought back, he would inevitably die of starvation, and become a raving lunatic. As
it is, after being brought back by one or two men, he does not recover his senses for one
or two days. The idea is that one man is thus singled out as a scapegoat for the sins of the
rest of the village.
In the final stage we find the scape animal merging into a regular expiatory sacrifice.
Other examples will be given in another connection of the curious customs, like that of
the Irish and Manxland rites of hunting the wren, which are almost certainly based on
the principle of a sacrifice. Here it may be noted that at one of their festivals, the Bhûmij
used to drive two male buffaloes into a small enclosure, while the Râja and his suite used
to witness the proceedings. They first discharged arrows at the animals, and the
tormented and enraged beasts fell to and gored each other, while arrow after arrow was
discharged. When the animals were past doing very much mischief, the people rushed in
and hacked them to pieces with axes. This custom is now discontinued.81
Similarly in the Hills, at the Nand Ashtamî, or feast in honour of Nanda, the foster father
of Krishna, a buffalo is specially fed with sweetmeats, and, after being decked with a
garland round the neck, is worshipped. The headman of the village then lays a sword
across its neck and the beast is let loose, when all proceed to chase it, pelt it with stones,
and hack it with knives until it dies. It is curious that this savage rite is carried out in
connection with the worship of the Krishna Cultus, in which blood sacrifice finds no
place.82
In the same part of the country the same rite is performed after a death, on the analogy of
the other instances, which have been already quoted. When a man dies, his relations
assemble at the end of the year in which the death occurred, and the nearest male relative
dances naked (another instance of the nudity charm, to which reference has been already
made) with a drawn sword in his hand, to the music of a drum, in which he is assisted by
others for a whole day and night. The following day a buffalo is brought and made
intoxicated with Bhang or Indian hemp, and spirits, and beaten to death with sticks,
stones and weapons.
So, the Hill Bhotiyas have a feast in honour of the village god, and towards evening they
take a dog, make him drunk with spirits and hemp, and kill him with sticks and stones, in
the belief that no disease or misfortune will visit the village during the year.83 At the
periodical feast in honour of the mountain goddess of the Himâlaya, Nandâ Devî, it is
said that a four-horned goat is invariably born and accompanies the pilgrims. When
unloosed on the mountain, the sacred goat suddenly disappears and as suddenly
reappears without its head, and then furnishes food for the party. The head is supposed to
be consumed by the goddess herself, who by accepting it with its load of sin, washes
away the transgressions of her votaries.
1 “Gazetteer,” i. 175.
2 “Bombay Gazetteer,” xvii. 200; xxiii. 12; Campbell, “Notes,” 12 sqq.
3 Dalton, “Descriptive Ethnology,” 97, 60, 46.
4 “Bombay Gazetteer,” xix. 465.
5 Grimm, “Teutonic Mythology,” ii. 1161; Tylor, “Early History,” 143; Spencer, “Principles of
Sociology,” i. 229; Sir W. Scott, “Lectures on Demonology,” 105.
6 Risley, “Tribes and Castes of Bengal,” i. 179.
7 Leland, “Etruscan Roman Remains,” 153.
8 Ibbetson, “Panjâb Ethnography,” 114.
9 “Indian Antiquary,” viii. 211.
10 Chevers, “Medical Jurisprudence for India,” 415 sq.
11 Risley, “Tribes and Castes,” ii. 62.
12 Spencer, “Principles of Sociology,” i. 115; Frazer, “Golden Bough,” i. 141 sqq.
13 “Rambles and Recollections,” i. 207.
14 Nûr Ahmad Chishti, Yâdgâr-i-Chishti.
15 “Panjâb Notes and Queries,” iii. 42, 167.
16 “Asiatic Studies,” 57 sq.
17 “Rambles and Recollections,” i. 208.
18 “Calcutta Review,” xviii. 68.
19 Hoshangâbâd “Settlement Report,” 119, 255.
20 Atkinson, “Himâlayan Gazetteer,” ii. 833, 816 sq.
21 “Settlement Report,” 254 sq.
22 Sultânpur, “Settlement Report,” 42.
23 Blochmann, “Aîn-i-Akbari,” Introduction, xxiv.
24 The chief authorities for Hardaul are Cunningham, “Archæological Reports,” xvii. 162 sqq.; V. A.
Smith, “Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal,” 1875.
25 “Settlement Report,” 451 sq.
26 Ferrier, “Caravan Journeys,” 451 sq.
27 “Allahâbâd Pioneer,” 10th March, 1891.
28 “Bombay Gazetteer,” xxii. 155.
29 “Annals,” ii. 744.
30 “Bombay Gazetteer,” xvi. 520; Campbell, “Notes,” 96.
31 Wright, “History,” 221, 267, 268.
32 “Central Provinces Gazetteer,” 276.
33 “Gurgâon Settlement Report,” 37.
34 Risley, “Tribes and Castes of Bengal,” i. 132.
35 “Panjâb Notes and Queries,” i. 1; iv. 51; “Oudh Gazetteer,” i. 355, 517; Tod, “Annals,” ii. 75.
36 Campbell, “Notes,” 192 sqq.
37 “Brâhmanism and Hinduism,” 201.
38 Numbers of such charms are to be found in vols. i., ii., iii., “North Indian Notes and Queries.”
39 “Settlement Report,” 256.
40 Dalton, “Descriptive Ethnology,” 188, 257.
41 “North Indian Notes and Queries,” i. 85.
42 Yule, “Marco Polo,” i. 71 sq., with note; Tylor, “Primitive Culture,” i. 127; Lubbock, “Origin of
Civilization,” 237; Farrer, “Primitive Manners,” 159 sq.
43 “Descriptive Ethnology,” 232.
44 Campbell, “Notes,” 72 sq.
45 Cooper, “Flagellation and the Flagellants,” passim; Dalton, loc. cit., 256; Campbell, loc. cit., 44 sq.;
for restoration to life by beating, Tawney, “Katha Sarit Sâgara,” ii. 245.
46 “Nineteenth Century,” 1880.
47 Atkinson, “Himâlayan Gazetteer,” ii. 833, 823.
48 “Hindu Tribes and Castes,” i. 36.
49 “Settlement Report,” 256 sq.
50 “Primitive Culture,” i. 134; and compare Lubbock, “Origin of Civilization,” 251.
51 Dalton, “Descriptive Ethnology,” 232.
52 “Himâlayan Gazetteer,” iii. 38.
53 Ferrier, “Caravan Journeys,” 113.
54 “Travels in the Himâlayas,” i. 428.
55 O’Brien, “Multân Glossary,” 218.
56 Clouston, “Popular Tales,” i. 191.
57 “Gazetteer,” 191.
58 Campbell, “Notes,” 239.
59 “Folk-lore,” iii. 13, 380; iv. 410; Hartland, “Legend of Perseus,” ii. chap. xi.
60 “Annals,” ii. 717.
61 Gregor, “Folk-lore of N.E. Scotland,” 46, 157.
62 “Panjâb Notes and Queries,” ii. 42.
63 Leland, “Etruscan Roman Remains,” 293.
64 Leland, “Etruscan Roman Remains,” 330; for other instances, see Hartland, “Legend of Perseus,” ii.
101.
65 Madden, “Journal Asiatic Society, Bengal,” 1848, p. 583.
66 “Panjâb Notes and Queries,” i. 64.
67 “Rambles and Recollections,” i. 203.
68 “Penseroso,” 83, 84.
69 Brand, “Observations,” 424.
70 “North Indian Notes and Queries,” i. 16.
71 Oppert, “Original Inhabitants,” 187.
72 Hislop, “Papers,” 6, 47.
73 “Popular Tales,” Introduction, lxviii.; “Calcutta Review,” April, 1884.
74 “Panjâb Notes and Queries,” iii. 81.
75 “Panjâb Notes and Queries,” i. 27.
76 “Settlement Report,” 155.
77 Brand, “Observations,” 447.
78 “Panjâb Notes and Queries,” i. 86, ii. 93.
79 With this compare the Karnigor of Sindh—Hartland, “Legend of Perseus,” ii. 295.
80 “Journey through Oudh,” ii. 39.
81 Dalton, “Descriptive Ethnology,” 170.
82 “Himâlayan Gazetteer,” ii. 851 sq.
83 Ibid. ii. 871.
CHAPTER IV.
THE WORSHIP OF THE SAINTED DEAD.
Ἄιψσα δ’ ἴκοντο κατ’ ἀσφοδελὸν λειμῶνα
Ἔνθα τε ναίουσι ψυχαὶ, ἔιδωλα καμόντων.
The worship of ancestors is one of the main branches of the religion of the Indian races.
“Its principles are not difficult to understand, for they plainly keep up the arrangements
of the living world. The dead ancestor, now passed into a deity, simply goes on
protecting his own family, and receiving suit and service from them as of old; the dead
chief still watches over his own tribe, still holds his authority by helping friends and
harming enemies; still rewards the right and sharply punishes the wrong.”1 It is in fact
the earliest attempt of the savage to realize the problems of human existence, as the
theology of the Vedas or Olympus is the explanation which the youth of the world offers
of physical phenomena. The latter is primitive physics, the former primitive biology, and
it marks a stage in the growth of anthropomorphism when the worship of unseen spirits
in general passes to that of unseen spirits in particular.
It is admitted on all sides that this form of worship was general among the Aryan
nations;2 but it is a mistake to suppose, as is too often done, that the worship was
peculiar to them. That such was not the case can be proved by numerous examples
drawn from the practices of aboriginal tribes in India, who have lived hitherto in such
complete isolation, that the worship can hardly be due to imitation of the customs of
their more civilized neighbours.
Thus, on the tenth day after a death in the family, the Ghasiyas of Mirzapur, about the
most degraded of the Drâvidian tribes, feed the brotherhood, and at the door of the cook-
house spread flour or ashes a cubit square on the ground. They light a lamp there and
cover both the square and the light with a basket. Then the son of the dead man goes a
little distance in the direction in which the corpse had been carried out, and calls out his
name loudly two or three times. He invites him to come and sit on the shrine which his
descendants have prepared for him, and to consume the offerings which they are ready to
present. It is said that if the deceased died in any ordinary way and not by the attack of a
Bhût, he often calls from the burying ground and says, “I am coming!” After calling his
father’s spirit two or three times, the son returns to the house and examines the flour or
ashes, and if the deceased did not die by the attack of a Bhût, the mark of his spirit is
found on the flour or ashes in the shape of the footprint of a rat or a weasel. When this is
observed, the son takes a white fowl and sacrifices it with a knife near the cook-house,
calling to the spirit of his father—“Come and accept the offering which is ready for
you!” Some of them strangle the fowl with their hands, and before killing it sprinkle a
little grain before it, saying—“If you are really the spirit of my father, you will accept
the grain!” Then he goes on to his father’s spirit—“Accept the offering, sit in the corner
and bless your offspring!” If the fowl eats the grain, there is great rejoicing, as it implies
that the spirit has quietly taken up its residence in the house. If the fowl does not eat, it is
supposed that some sorcerer or enemy has detained the spirit with the ultimate object of
releasing it some time or other on its own family, with whom it is presumably displeased
because they have taken no care to propitiate it. If the soul does not answer from the
burial ground, or if there is no mark on the square of ashes, it is assumed that he has
fallen into the hands of some Bhût or Pret, who has shut him up in the hollow stalk of a
bamboo, or buried him in the earth; in any case there is a risk that he may return, and the
rite is still performed as a precautionary measure.
Among the Kharwârs the holiest part of the house is the south room, where it is
supposed that the Devatâ pitri or sainted dead reside. They worship the spirits of the
dead in the month of Sâwan (August) near the house-fire. The house-master offers up
one or two black fowls and some cakes and makes a burnt offering with butter and
molasses. Then he calls out—“Whatever ghosts of the holy dead or evil spirits may be in
my family, accept this offering and keep the field and house free from trouble!” Many of
the Kharwârs are now coming more completely under Brâhmanical influence, and these
worship the Pitri at weddings in the courtyard. The house-master offers some balls of
rice boiled in milk, and a Brâhman standing by mutters some texts. They are now so
advanced as to do the annual service for the repose of the sainted spirits at the
Pitripaksha or fortnight of the dead in the month of Kuâr (August).
The other Drâvidian tribes follow similar customs. Thus, the Korwas worship their dead
relations in February with an offering of goats, which is done by the eldest son of the
dead man in the family cook-house. Their ancestors are said not to appear in the flesh
after death, but to show themselves in dreams if they are dissatisfied with the
arrangements made for their comfort. On the day on which they are expected to appear
the householder makes an offering of cakes to them in the family kitchen. The Patâris
think that the dead occasionally attend when worship is being done to them. At other
times they remain in the sky or wander about the mountains. Sometimes they call in the
night to their descendants and say—“Worship us! Give us food and drink!” If they are
not propitiated they give trouble and cause sickness. The Kisâns and Bhuiyârs of Chota
Nâgpur adore their ancestors, “but they have no notion that the latter are now spirits, or
that there are spirits and ghosts, or a future state, or anything.” The Bhuiyas revere their
ancestors under the name of Bîr or Vîra, “hero,” a term which is elsewhere applied to
ghosts of a specially malignant character. The Khariyas put the ashes of their dead into
an earthen pot and throw it into a river. They afterwards set up in the vicinity slabs of
stone as a resting-place for them, and to these they make daily oblations. The only
worship performed by the Korwas of Chota Nâgpur is to their dead relatives, and the
same is the case with other allied races, such as the Bhîls and Santâls.3
Spirits Mortal.
Most of these Drâvidian tribes believe that like themselves the spirits of the dead are
mortal. What becomes of them after a couple of generations no one can say. But when
this period has elapsed they are supposed to be finally disposed of some way or other,
and being no longer objects of fear to the survivors, their worship is neglected, and
attention is paid only to the more recent dead, whose powers of mischief still continue.
The Gonds go further and propitiate for only one year the spirits of their departed
friends, and this is done even if they have been persons of no note during their lifetime;
but with worthies of the tribe the case is different, and if one of them, for example, has
founded a village or been its headman or priest, then he is treated as a god for years, and
a small shrine of earth is erected to his memory, at which sacrifices are annually
offered.4 It is said that the Juângs, who until quite recently used to dress in garments of
leaves, are the only one of these tribes who do not practise this form of worship.5 But
these races are particularly reticent about their beliefs and usages, and it is more than
probable that further inquiry will show that they are not peculiar in this respect.
The Srâddha.
The ordinary worship of ancestors among Brâhmanized Hindu races has been so often
described in well-known books as to need little further illustration.7 The spirits of
departed ancestors attend upon the Brâhmans invited to the ceremony of the Srâddha,
“hovering round them like pure spirits, and sitting by them when they are seated.” “An
offering to the gods is to be made at the beginning and end of the Srâddha; it must not
begin and end with an offering to ancestors, for he who begins and ends it with an
offering to the Pitri quickly perishes with his progeny.” The belief is common to many
races that the spirits of the dead assemble to partake of the food provided by the piety of
their relations on earth. Alcinous addressing the Phæacians tells them—“For ever
heretofore the gods appear manifest among us, whensoever we offer glorious hecatombs,
and they feast at our side sitting by the same board.” And the old Prussians used to
prepare a meal, to which, standing at the door, they invited the soul of the deceased.
“When the meal was over the priest took a broom and swept the souls out of the house,
saying—‘Dear souls! ye have eaten and drunk. Go forth! go forth!’”8
The place where the oblation is to be made is to be sequestered, facing the south, the
land of departed spirits, and smeared with cow-dung. The use of this substance is easily
to be accounted for, without following the remarkable explanation of a modern writer,
who connects it with the dropping of the Aurora.9 “The divine manes are always pleased
with an oblation in empty glades, naturally clean, on the banks of rivers, and in solitary
spots.” The ceremony is to be performed by the eldest son, which furnishes the Hindu
with the well-known argument for marriage and the procreation of male issue. We have
seen that the Drâvidians also regard the rite as merely domestic and to be performed by
the house-master.
The orthodox Hindu, besides the usual Srâddha, in connection with his daily worship,
offers the Tarpana or water oblation to the sainted dead. The object of the annual
Srâddha is, as is well known, to accelerate the progress (gati) of the soul through the
various stages of bliss, known as Sâlokya, Sâmîpya and Sârûpya, and by its performance
at Gaya the wearied soul passes into Vaikuntha, or the paradise of Vishnu.
Hindus do not allow their sons to bathe during the fortnight sacred to the manes, as they
believe that the dirt produced by bathing, shaving, and washing the apparel will reach
and annoy the sainted dead. The story goes that Râja Karana made a vow that he would
not touch food until he had given a maund and a quarter (about one hundred pounds) of
gold daily to Brâhmans. When he died he went to heaven, and was there given a palace
of gold to dwell in, and gold for his food and drink, as this was all he had given away in
charity during his mortal life. So in his distress he asked to be allowed to return to earth
for fifteen days. His prayer was granted, and warned by sad experience he occupied
himself during his time of grace in giving nothing but food in charity, being so busy that
he neglected to bathe, shave, or wash his clothes, and thus he became an example to
succeeding generations.10
Degradation of Ancestor-worship.
The worship which has been thus described easily passes into other and grosser forms.
Thus, in the family of the Gâikwârs of Baroda, when they worship Mahâdeva they think
of the greatest of this line of princes. The temple contains a rudely-executed portrait of
Khândê Râo, the shrine to the left the bed, garments, and phial of Ganges water, which
commemorate his mother, Chimnâbâî. Govind Râo has an image dressed up, and Fateh
Sinh a stone face.11
In Central India Râjputs wear the figure of a distinguished ancestor or relation engraved
in gold or silver. This image, usually that of a warrior on horseback, is sometimes
worshipped, but its chief utility is as a charm to keep off ghosts and evil spirits.12
The aboriginal Bhuiyas of Chota Nâgpur, “after disposing of their dead, perform a
ceremony which is supposed to bring back to the house the spirit of the deceased,
henceforth an object of household worship. A vessel filled with rice and flour is placed
for the time on the tomb, and when brought back the mark of a fowl’s foot is found at the
bottom of the vessel, and this indicates that the spirit of the deceased has returned.”13
This is, as we have seen, common to many of the Drâvidian tribes, and we shall meet
instances of similar practices when we consider the malignant variety of ghosts.
He instances a case of a family of village proprietors, “who had for several generations
insisted at every new settlement upon having the name of the spirit of the old proprietor
inserted in the lease instead of their own, and thereby secured his good graces on all
occasions.” “A cultivator who trespassed on land believed to be in charge of such a spirit
had his son bitten by a snake, and his two oxen were seized with the murrain. In terror he
went off to the village temple, confessed his sin, and vowed to restore not only the half-
acre of land, but to build a very handsome temple on the spot as a perpetual sign of his
repentance. The boy and the bullocks all then recovered, the shrine was built, and is, I
believe, still to be seen as a boundary mark.”14
Worship of Worthies.
From this family worship of deceased relations, the transition to the special worship of
persons of high local reputation in life, or who have died in some remarkable way, is
easy. The intermediate links are the Sâdhu and the Satî, and the worship finally
culminates in a creed like that of the Jainas, who worship a pantheon of deified saints,
that of the Lingâyat worship of Siva incarnated as Chambasâpa, or the godlike weaver
Kabîr of the Kabîrpanthis. The lowest phase of all is the worship by the Halbas of
Central India of a pantheon of glorified distillers.15
The Sâdhu.
The Sâdhu is a saint who is regarded as “the great power of God,” the name meaning “he
that is eminent in virtue.” He is a visible manifestation of the divine energy acquired by
his piety and self-devotion. We shall meet later on instances of deified holy men of this
class. Meanwhile, it may be noted, we see around us the constant development of the
cultus in all its successive stages. Thus, in Berâr at Askot the saint is still alive; at
Wadnera he died nearly a century ago, and his descendants live on the offerings made by
the pious; at Jalgânw a crazy vagabond was canonized on grounds which strict people
consider quite insufficient. There is, of course, among the disciples and descendants of
these local saints a constant competition going on for the honour of canonization, which
once secured, the shrine may become a very valuable source of income and reputation.
But the indiscriminate and ill-regulated deification of mortals is one of the main causes
of the weakness of modern Hinduism, because, by a process of abscission, the formation
of multitudinous sects, which take their titles and special forms of belief from the saint
whose disciples they profess to be, is promoted and encouraged. Thus, as has been well
remarked, Hinduism lies in urgent need of a Pope or acknowledged orthodox head, “to
control its wonderful elasticity and receptivity, to keep up the standard of deities and
saints, and generally to prevent superstitions running wild into a tangled jungle of
polytheism.”16
It would be out of place to give here any of the details of the numerous sects which have
been founded in this way to commemorate the life and teaching of some eminent saint.
The remarkable point about this movement is that the leaders of these sects are not
always or even constantly drawn from the priestly classes. Thus the Charandâsis, who
are Krishna worshippers, take their name from Charan Dâs, a Dhûsar, who are usually
classed as Banyas, but claim to be Brâhmans; Jhambajî, the founder of the Bishnois, was
a Râjput; Kabîr, whoever he may have been, was brought up by a family of
Muhammadan weavers at Benares; Nâmdeo was a cotton carder; Râê Dâs is said to have
been a Chamâr; Dâdu was a cotton cleaner; many of them are half Muhammadans, as the
Chhaju-panthis and Shamsis. It is difficult to estimate highly enough the result of this
feeling of toleration and catholicism on the progress of modern Hinduism.
Miracle-working Tombs.
These saints have wrested from the reluctant gods by sheer piety and relentless
austerities, a portion of the divine thaumaturgic power, which exudes after their death
from the places where their bodies are laid. This is the case with the shrines of both
Hindu and Musalmân saints. Many instances of this will be found in succeeding pages.
Thus at Chunâr there is a famous shrine in honour of Shâh Qâsim Sulaimâni,17 a local
saint whose opinions were so displeasing to Akbar that he imprisoned him here till his
death in 1614 A.D. His cap and turban are still shown at his tomb, and these, when
gently rubbed by one of his disciples, pour out a divine influence through the assembled
multitude of votaries, many of whom are Hindus. This holy influence extends even to
the animal kingdom. Thus the tomb of the saint Nirgan Shâh at Sarauli in the Bareilly
District abounds in scorpions, which bite no one through the virtue of the saint.
Hindu saints of the same class are so directly imbued with the divine afflatus that they
need not the purifying influence of fire, and are buried, not cremated. Their Samâdhi or
final resting-place is usually represented by a pile of earth, or a tomb or tumulus of a
conical or circular form. Others, again, like some of the Gusâîns, are after death enclosed
in a box of stone and consigned to the waters of the Ganges. These shrines are generally
occupied by a disciple or actual descendant of the saint, and there vows and prayers are
made and offerings presented.
The Satî.
The next link between ancestor-worship and that of special deceased worthies is seen in
the Satî, or “faithful wife,” who, before the practice was prohibited by our Government,
was bound to bear her deceased lord company to the world of spirits for his consolation
and service. The rite seems to have at one time prevailed throughout the Aryan world.18
It undoubtedly prevailed in Slavonic lands,19 and there are even traces of it in Greece.
Evadne is said to have burnt herself with the body of her husband, Capaneus, and
Oenone, according to one account, leaped into the pyre on which the body of Paris was
being cremated. There are indications that the rite prevailed among the Drâvidian races,
and it has been suggested that the Hindus may have adopted it from them. Even to the
present day among some of the Bhîl tribes the wife of the dead man is carried along with
him on the bier to the burning ground, where she is laid down. There she breaks her
marriage necklace, and her ornaments are consumed with the corpse of her husband,
obviously a survival of the time when she was actually burnt with him.20
It is unnecessary here to enter into the controversy whether or not the rite was based on a
misinterpretation or perversion of one of the sacred texts. That in old times the Satî was
treated with exceptional honour is certain. In some places she went to the burning
ground richly dressed, scattering money and flowers, and calling out the names of the
deities, with music sounding and drums beating. In some places she used to mark with
her hands the gateways and walls of the chief temple, and she sometimes marked in the
same way a stone for her descendants to worship, a practice to which reference will be
made later on. On such stones it was the custom to carve a representation of her, and in
many places a Chhatri, or ornamental cenotaph pavilion, was erected in her honour. The
small shrines in honour of the village Satî are found often in considerable numbers on
the banks of tanks all over Upper India. They are visited by women at marriages and
other festivals, and are periodically repaired and kept in order. According to Mr.
Ibbetson,21 in the Delhi territory, these shrines take the place of those dedicated to the
Pitri, or sainted dead. They often contain a representation in stone of the lord and his
faithful spouse, and one of his arms rests affectionately on her neck. Sometimes, if he
died in battle, he is mounted on his war steed and she walks beside him; but her
worshippers are not always careful in identifying her shrine, and I have seen at least one
undoubted Revenue Survey pillar doing duty as a monument to some unnamed local
divinity of this class.
SATÎ SHRINES.
Among the warrior tribes of Râjputâna, the Satî shrine usually takes the form of a
monument, on which is carved the warrior on his charger, with his wife standing beside
him, and the images of the sun and the moon on either side, emblematical of never-dying
fame. Such places are the scene of many a ghostly legend. As Col. Tod writes in his
sentimental way22—“Among the altars on which have burnt the beautiful and brave, the
harpy or Dâkinî takes up her abode, and stalks forth to devour the heart of her victims.”
The Râjput never enters these places of silence, but to perform stated rites or anniversary
offerings of flowers and water to the manes of his ancestors. There is a peculiarly
beautiful Satî necropolis at Udaypur, and the Satî Burj, or tower at Mathura, erected in
honour of the queen of Râja Bihâr Mal of Jaypur in 1570 A.D., is one of the chief
ornaments of the city.23
The connection between the special worship of the Satî and that of the Pitri or sainted
dead will have been remarked. In many places the Satî represents the company of the
venerated ancestors and is regarded as the guardian mother of the village, and in many of
the rustic shrines of this class the same connection with the Pitri is shown in another
interesting way. The snake is, as we shall see, regarded as a type of the household deity,
which is often one of the deified ancestors, and so, in the Satî shrine we often see a
snake delineated in the act of rising out of the masonry, as if it were the guardian mother
snake arising to receive the devotion of her descendants.
The Satî having thus secured the honour of deification by her sacrifice, is able to protect
her worshippers and gratify their desires. Some are even the subject of special honour,
such as Sakhû Bâî, who is worshipped at Akola.24 Even the Drâvidian Kaurs of Sarguja
worship a deified Satî, another link connecting the cultus with the aboriginal races. She
has a sacred grove, and every year a fowl is sacrificed to her, and every third year a goat.
Col. Dalton25 observes that the Hindus who accompanied him were intensely amused at
the idea of offering fowls to a Satî, who is accustomed to the simpler bloodless tribute of
milk, cakes, fruit and flowers. This is the form of the offering at Jilmili, the Satî shrines
belonging to the local Râja. The curses of a dying Satî were greatly feared. Numerous
instances of families ruined in this way are told both in Râjputâna and in Nepâl, the last
places where the rite is occasionally performed.26
The arrangements for the cremation varied in different places. In Western India she sat in
a specially built grass hut, and keeping her husband’s head in her lap, supported it with
her right hand, while she kindled the hut with a torch held in her left hand. Nowadays in
Nepâl the husband and the Satî are made to lie side by side on the pyre. The woman’s
right hand is put under the husband’s neck, and round her face are placed all kinds of
inflammable substances. Three long poles of undried wood are laid over the bodies—one
over the legs, the second over the chest, and the third over the neck. Three men on either
side press down the poles till the woman is burnt to death. There have been cases in
which the wretched victim tried to escape, and was dragged back by force to her death.
A curious modification of the practice of Satî, which so far has been traced only in
Râjputâna, is what is known as Mâ Satî, or mother Satî, where the mother immolates
herself with her dead child. Colonel Powlett27 remarks that in inquiring about it one is
often told that it is really Mahâ Satî, or “the great Satî.” He adds that there can be no
doubt that mother Satî really prevails, but was confined to the sandy and desert tract,
where domestic affection is said to be stronger than elsewhere. “In one large remote
village I found five monuments to Mother Satîs, one a Chhatri or pavilion of some
pretensions. A Râjput lady from Jaysalmer was on a visit to her father’s family with her
youngest son. The boy was thrown when exercising his pony, dragged in the stirrup and
killed. His mother became Satî with her son’s body, and probably her example, for she
was a person of some rank, led to the subsequent practice of Mâ Satî in the same
district.”
Modern Saints.
We have already noticed some instances of the canonization in modern times of saints
and holy men. Of worthies of this kind, who have received divine honours, the number is
legion. This deification of human beings is found in the very early Brâhmanical
literature. One of the most noteworthy ideas to be found in the Brâhmanas is that the
gods were merely mortal till they conquered Death by their sacrifices. Death, alarmed,
protested to the gods, and it was then arranged that no one should become immortal by
the force of his piety without first offering his body to Death. Manu declares that “from
his birth alone a Brâhman is regarded as a divinity, even by the gods.”28 Modern practice
supports this by calling him Mahâ-râja or “Great king,” and he rises to heaven as a deity,
like many of the famous kings of old.29 In the same way the Etruscans had certain rites
through which the souls of men could become gods and were called Dii Animales,
because they had once been human souls. Quite in consonance with Indian practice they
first became Penates and Lares before they rose to the rank of the superior deities.30
A few examples of modern deification may be given to illustrate this phase of the
popular faith. Thus, one Gauhar Shâh was quite recently canonized at Meerut because he
delivered a prophecy that a windmill belonging to a certain Mr. Smith would soon cease
to work. The fulfilment of his prediction was considered ample evidence of his sanctity,
and the question was put beyond the possibility of doubt when, just before his death, the
holy man directed his disciples to remove him from an inn, which immediately fell
down. Another saint of the same place is said to have given five years of his life to the
notorious Begam Samru, who died in 1836, in all the odour of sanctity.
Shaikh Bûrhan.
Shaikh Bûrhan, a saint of Amber, was offered a drink of milk by Mokul, one of the
Shaikhâwat chiefs, and immediately performed the miracle of drawing a copious stream
of milk from the udder of an exhausted female buffalo. “This was sufficient to convince
the old chief that he could work other miracles, and he prayed that through his means he
might no longer be childless. In due time he had an heir, who, according to the
injunction of Bûrhan, was styled, after his own tribe, Shaikh, whence the title of the clan.
He directed that the child should wear the cross strings (baddiya) worn by Muhammadan
children, which, when laid aside, were to be deposited at the saint’s shrine, and further
that he should assume the blue tunic and cap, abstain from hog’s flesh, and eat no meat
in which the blood remained. He also ordained that at the birth of every Shaikhâwat a
goat should be sacrificed, the Islâmite creed or Kalima recited, and the child sprinkled
with the blood.” These customs are still observed, and the Shaikh’s shrine is still a
sanctuary, while his descendants enjoy lands specially assigned to them.31
Salîm Chishti.
The power of conferring male offspring has made the reputation of many saints of this
class, like the famous Salîm Chishti of Fatehpur Sîkri, whose prayers were efficacious in
procuring an heir for the Emperor Akbar. Up to the present day childless women visit his
shrine and hang rags on the delicate marble traceries of his tomb to mark their vows.
Besides this sainthood which is based on sanctity of life and approved thaumaturgic
powers, the right of deification is conferred on persons who have been eminent or
notorious in their lives, or who have died in some extraordinary or notorious way. All or
nearly all the deified saints of Northern India may be grouped under one or other of
these categories.
Harshu Pânrê.
We have already given an instance of the second class in Hardaul Lâla, the cholera
godling. Another example of the same kind is that of Harshu Pânrê or Harshu Bâba, the
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