THE MUHARRAM.
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
1834, _May 19th_.—The Imāms the Leaders of the Faithful—The
Muharram—The Procession—The Banners—The Band—The
Sword-bearer—The Mourners—Dhul Dhul—The Reader—The Fakīr—The
Taziya—Tomb of Kasim—Palkī and Trays of Mehndi—Charkh-charkhī
Wālā—The Bihīshtī—Camels—Elephants and Charity—The
Chameleon—The Ghirgit—An Alligator—The Tiger on his travels—A
well-educated Snake—Indian Fevers—Depression of Spirit.
“BISM ILLAH UR RAHMAN UR RAHĪM.”
“IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE COMPASSIONATE, THE MERCIFUL.”
This is written at the commencement of all Persian books and writings;
but at the top of the first page of every letter, purwanah, or short
writing, they almost invariably put only ا the letter A or ALIF, which is
a symbol of God, and is considered an abbreviation of the whole sentence
above. Alif is the first letter in the Arabic and Persian alphabets, and
in the representation of numbers it stands for _one_; whence it is also
used as a symbol of the Deity; it signifies moreover the first day in the
week, or Sunday; and in astronomical descriptions, the sign Taurus of the
zodiac.
THE IMĀMS THE LEADERS OF THE FAITHFUL.
Muhammad, the founder of the system of religion which is named after
him, descended from the tribe of Koreish, and the family of Hashem, the
most illustrious of the Arabs. He was the grandson of Abdalmotalleb,
and the son of Abdallah and Amina. He was born at Mecca, four months
after the death of Justinian. He was educated by his uncle, Abutalib, as
a merchant, his grandfather, father, and mother having died during his
infancy. In his twenty-fifth year he married a wealthy widow, Khudaijah
Koobia; and, in the fortieth year of his age, he assumed the title of
Prophet, and promulgated the religion of Islam; which asserts, “There
is no god but God, and Muhammad is the prophet of God.” In the same
year, he lost his uncle Abutalib, and his wife Khudaijah, and for this
reason that year was called the year of mourning. The prophet fled with
his friend Abubekr from Mecca to Medina, to escape from the violence of
the Koreishites, who sought his life: this flight fixed the era of the
Hegira. After an exile of seven years, Muhammad achieved the conquest
of Mecca: he was acknowledged prince and prophet by the Koreish, who
embraced Islam, and the idols in the Caaba were destroyed. In the seventh
year of the Hegira, Muhammad began to propagate his religion beyond the
boundaries of Arabia; and the last great act of his life was a pilgrimage
to Mecca, accompanied by his wives, and also by numerous camels for
sacrifice.
[Illustration: The Imàms the Leaders of the Faithful.
فاني پارکس]
He died at the age of sixty-three, and a most interesting account of his
last illness and death has been given by his favourite wife Aa’yeshah,
the daughter of his friend Abubekr: this lady was the first veiled
female; and by her he had two sons, Ishmael and Ibrahim. He was interred
at Medina. The prophet had eighteen wives, one of whom was Hafna, the
daughter of his friend and companion Omer.
Fátímah, the daughter of Muhammad and Khudaijah Koobia, married Ali, the
nephew of the prophet and the son of his uncle Abutalib.
Fátímah and Ali were the parents of Hussun and Hussein, the first
martyrs, from whom the Syuds descend.
Hussun married Ashea, by whom he had a son Kasim, who married Sakeena
Koobraah, the daughter of his brother Hussein.
Hussein had another child, a son, who was saved at the battle of
Kraabaallah; Abbas was the brother of Hussun and Hussein.
Muhammad was succeeded in the regal and sacerdotal office by his friend
and convert Abubekr; who, after a reign of two years, was followed by
Omer: the latter, after an interval of twelve years, was succeeded by
Othman, the secretary of Muhammad, and twenty-four years after the death
of the Prophet, Ali became the Imām.
After the death of Muhammad, his followers divided into two great
factions; the one acknowledged Abubekr, the father-in-law of the prophet,
as his successor, and were denominated Soonees; the other adhered to Ali,
the son-in-law of Muhammad, and were known by the title of the Sheas, who
look up to the Imāms as the leaders of the faithful. The Caliphas are
the leaders of the Soonees, who slew Imām Ali, and the descendants of
the prophet: in Hindostan the Soonees are as ten to one Shea; in Arabia
Proper Sheas are not tolerated.
THE MUHARRAM.
1834, _May 19th_.—The mourning festival of the Muhammadans in remembrance
of their first martyrs, Hussun and Hussein, lasts ten days; on the last
day the Taziya, the model of the tomb of Hussein, is interred.
Yuzeed, a Soonee, the king of Shawm, had a quarrel respecting the
succession with the Syuds, the descendants of Muhammad. Ali, the husband
of Fátíma, was first murdered by him. He left two sons, Hussun and
Hussein. Hussun, his wife Ashea, and his nurse, Be Halima, were poisoned.
To discover the state of affairs at Shawm, Hussein first sent his
cousin Moslem, who, with his two sons, quitted Medina for that purpose.
He, as well as his sons, were seized and put to death. This event is
commemorated with deep sorrow during the mourning festival. Hussein,
ignorant of the fate of Moslem, was proceeding from Medina to Shawm, in
the hope of being proclaimed the “Imām, the leader of the faithful.”
He was accompanied by all his family; on the road on the plains of
Kraabaallah, they were attacked: they defended themselves with the utmost
bravery, until every man found his grave upon the spot. This event
occurred on the tenth day of the Arabian month Muharram. The females and
one infant son were taken prisoners and conveyed to Shawm, the residence
of Yuzeed, the king. Kasim, the son of Hussun and Ashea, was engaged to
Sakeena Koobraah, his cousin, the daughter of Hussein. Hence the night of
the Mehndi and the wedding procession of the Muharram.
The ceremony takes place annually on the first day of the moon
(Muharram). Their year has twelve moons only, and they do not add a moon
every third year, as some persons suppose.
The Imām-bara is expressly built for commemorating the Muharram. In
this building the Taziya is placed facing Mecca, with the banners, the
sword, the shield, and the bow and arrows supposed to have been used
in the battle of Kraabaallah. The most magnificent Taziyas remain in
the Imām-bara. The less costly, which are used in the processions on
the tenth day, are buried, with funeral rites, in cemeteries named
Kraabaallah.
Although the Taziya, the model of their Imām’s tomb, at Kraabaallah
belongs, by right, only to the Sheas, it is remarkable that many Soonees
have Taziyas, and also some Hindoos. My cook, who was a Mug, used
to expend sometimes as much as forty rupees on a Taziya of his own;
and after having performed all the ceremonies like a good Musulmān,
returned to his original Hindooism, when he had placed his Taziya in the
burial-ground, accompanied by rice, corn, flowers, cups of water, &c.
But little or no attention is paid to the models of the Taziya: they are
of different forms, and of every variety of material, according to the
wealth of the person who sets up this remembrance of Hussein. On the
Taziya is placed a small portion of corn, rice, bread, fruits, flowers,
and cups of water; this is in accordance with the Musulmān funerals, at
which food is invariably conveyed to the tomb with the corpse.
The Taziya displayed by the king of Oude during the Muharram is composed
of green glass, with or-molu or brass mouldings. Some are of ivory,
ebony, sandal-wood, cedar, &c., or of wrought filligree silver: those
for the poor are of coloured talc.
In front of the Taziya two standards are erected, between which are laid
strings of the fresh flowers of the sweet-scented bela (jasmine); and a
chaunrī, made of the tail of the yāk, fixed in a silver handle, is used
to fan away the flies.
When the Taziya is placed in the Imām-bara, the face is turned to Mecca.
The institution of carrying the Taziya in procession first took place in
the A.H. 352, at Bagdad, under Noez-od-Dowla Dhelmé, and is never omitted
in Persia.
Hussein, on his favourite horse Dhul Dhul, was pierced by arrows without
number; the animal shared the same fate, and the Soonee Musulmāns were
the extirpators of all the race of Hussein, the son of Ali, with the
exception of one infant son and the females of the family. This is the
cause of the battles that so often take place between the Sheas and
the Soonees (whom the former regard as an accursed race) at the annual
celebration of the Muharram.
The usual arrangement of the procession is as follows:—In the order of
march the elephants first appear, on which men are seated, displaying
the consecrated banners, crowned by the spread hand. The banners are
of silk, embroidered in gold or silver. The spread hand on the top of
them represents five: Muhammad, Fátíma, Ali, Hussun, Hussein; the three
fingers, the Caliphas Omer, Osmun, and Abubekr. The Soonees favour the
latter; the Sheas uphold Imām Ali. The ends of the banners are fringed
with bullion, and they are tied with cords of gold. Then follows the
band, which is always in attendance, and is composed of Arab music only.
The jilādār or sword-bearer carries a pole, from which two naked swords,
each tipped with a lemon, are suspended from a bow reversed. The arrows
are fixed in the centre. The sword-bearer is generally dressed in green,
the mourning colour of the Syuds. The standard-bearers and a band of
musicians attend him, carrying the banner of Hussun and Hussein.
Some men, the mourners of the procession, bear long black poles, on
which are fixed very long streamers of black unspun silk, which are
intended to represent grief and despair.
The horse Dhul Dhul next appears: in the procession he sometimes bears
a Taziya, at other times he is caparisoned as if in readiness for his
master. After the Muharram, the animal and all its attire are given to a
poor Syud; the bloody horse-cloth and the legs stained red, are supposed
to represent the sufferings of the animal. The tail and mane are dyed
with mehndi or lakh dye. The horse is attended by a man carrying the
afthaadah, which is a sun embroidered on crimson velvet, affixed to the
end of a long staff, and carried in an elevated position, in order to
shelter a man of rank on horseback from the rays of the sun. Men with
chaunrīs attend to whisk away the flies from the horse: assa burdars,
men with long silver sticks, and sonta burdars, with short silver
tiger-headed staffs, walk at the side, and harkāras (running footmen) are
in attendance. An embroidered chatr (umbrella) is supported over the head
of the horse.
In the cavalcade is a chaunter or reader; he repeats affecting passages
descriptive of the death of Hussein, during which time the procession
halts for a few minutes, whilst the Musulmāns give way to the most
frantic expressions of grief, beating their breasts with violence,
throwing dust upon their heads, and exclaiming “Hussun! Hussein! Hussun!
Hussein!”
The Paīk, a Fakīr, is a remarkable person, wearing the bow, arrows,
sword, pankhā, and chaunrī of the martyred Imām. Some men in the
procession carry censers, suspended by chains, which they wave about, and
perfume the air with the incense of a sweet-scented resin; rose-water,
for sprinkling, is also carried in long-necked bottles, called gulāb-pash.
Then follows the Taziya, attended by its proprietor, his relatives, and
friends; it is surrounded by banners, and covered by a canopy upheld by
poles supported by men.
A Taziya of shields and swords, each tipped with a lemon or an orange,
is carried in procession, and on it are suspended written petitions to
Hussun and Hussein, and it is adorned with strings of freshly-gathered
jasmine flowers.
The model of the tomb of Kasim is the next object; it is covered with
gold brocade, and a canopy is supported over it, the poles carried by
men. The palkee of his bride, Sakeena Koobar, follows the tomb; and her
chandol, a sort of palanquin.
Then follow trays of mehndi, carried on the heads of men, with presents,
&c., such as are usually sent during the marriage ceremony, with flowers
of ubruk.
The charkh-charkhī wālās are numerous; the charkhī is composed of ebony
or any hard wood, about the size of a cricket-ball, divided in halves.
Each man has a pair; they are beaten in a particular manner on the flat
surface, so as to produce the sound of horses galloping; and where some
fifty or one hundred men are engaged in the performance the imitation is
excellent.
The females during the battle were perishing of thirst; Abbas, the
brother of Hussein, and his standard-bearer, made great efforts to
procure water for them, in doing which the former was severely wounded.
Hence the bihishtī with his mashk; and, in remembrance of this event,
sherbets are also distributed gratis, in red earthen cups, from temporary
sheds; abdār khanas, as they call them by the road-side. The awnings of
these sheds are reared on poles, and they are lighted by lamps made of
ubruk, or of the skeleton leaves of the peepul-tree. The bihishtī bears
the standard of Hussun and Hussein.
The camels carrying the tent equipage and luggage of Hussein represent
the style of his march from Medina to Kraabaallah. Sometimes, in
pictures, a small Taziya is drawn on the back of a camel, and the animal
is represented as issuing from a rocky pass.
Barkandāz attend, and fire their matchlocks singly and at intervals
during the march.
Great sums are expended in charity during this mourning festival, and
food is always distributed by the richer Taziyadars during the ten days.
The procession is closed by several elephants, and men seated upon them
distribute food and money to the poor.
Natives of all ranks, from the highest to the lowest, walk on the
tenth day with their heads uncovered, and without slippers, to the
Kraabaallah, whatever may be the distance; and they fast until the third
watch has passed, refraining from the hooqŭ, or from drinking water. At
the Kraabaallah the funeral ceremony is performed, and the Taziya is
committed to the grave with a solemnity equal to that which is observed
when their dead are deposited in the tomb. The native ladies within the
walls of the zenāna keep the fast with the greatest strictness, and
observe all the ceremonies of the Muharram.
A religious man will neither ride nor wear shoes during the Muharram; and
a pious Musulmān will neither eat nor drink out of a silver or a gold
vessel.
“That person who shall drink out of a silver cup or cup of gold, you may
say drinks a draught of hell-fire.” Muhammud said, “Do not wear silk
clothes nor satin, nor drink out of gold or silver vessels, nor eat out
of golden dishes; because these are for the infidels in the world, and
for you in futurity.”
The lamps, which are made of ubruk (talc), or of the skeleton leaves of
the peepul-tree, and lighted up in the houses of the faithful at this
time, are beautifully made.
One day, on entering the verandah, my darzee (tailor), a Musulmān of
the Shea sect, was sitting on the ground, holding a ghirgit (the scaly
lizard, a sort of chameleon,) in one hand, while he beat it with a
twig, exclaiming with each stroke he gave the poor little beast, “Ever
to be accursed, and never sufficiently to be beaten!” The man was very
unwilling to give up his captive, or to desist from putting it to
torture; the creature was changing colour at every stroke. I made him
release it, and asked him why he had beaten and cursed it so vehemently?
The man replied, “Blessed be the spider! ever to be accursed, and never
sufficiently to be beaten be the ghirgit! When the Imām, on whom be
blessings, hid himself in a well from his pursuers, the spider weaved
his web across the mouth of the well, to hide him from his enemies; the
ghirgit,—the prying, inquisitive beast!—the ghirgit went to the well, he
peered over, he stretched his neck this way, he stretched his neck that
way (here he imitated the curious motion of the head natural to the
animal); the pursuers were attracted, they observed the ghirgit looking
over the well; they imitated his example, they discovered the Imām, they
murdered him! Ever to be accursed, never sufficiently to be beaten be the
ghirgit!”
Mohammud ordered a chameleon to be killed, and said, “it was a chameleon
which blew the fire into which Nimrod threw Abraham.” “Whoever shall
kill a chameleon at one stroke shall have one hundred good acts written
for him; and whoever kills one at two strokes shall have less than one
hundred good deeds written for him; and whoever shall kill one by three
strokes shall have less written for him than the second.”
His Highness forbade the killing of four animals, the ant (before
stinging), the bee, the woodpecker, the starling. It is criminal in
a Shea, and indeed with Soonees, to kill pigeons, though they are
recommended to eat them!
An alligator, seven feet in length, was caught in the Jumna, below our
house, a few days ago; I had it prepared with arsenical soap, stuffed,
and set out in the verandah, where it grins in hideous beauty, nailed
down upon the carpenter’s large table, where it will remain until it
stiffens into proper form.
My cabinet of curiosities and fondness of horrors ensured many a strange
present from absent friends. A small military party were dispatched to
capture a mud fort; on reaching the spot no enemy was to be discovered;
they entered with all due precaution against ambush; an enormous tiger in
a cage was the sole occupant. The tiger was sent down per boat to me,—the
first prize of the campaign; on my refusal to accept the animal, he was
forwarded to the accoutrement-maker of the officer, in Calcutta, in
liquidation of his account! The tiger was sold at length to an American
captain for 250 rupees, which just or very nearly paid the expenses of
boat-hire, servants, meat, &c., contracted on his the tiger’s account.
Such changes in his way of life must have puzzled his philosophy; the
capture, the Ganges, and sea voyage ending in North America, will give
him a queer idea of the best of all possible worlds; but he well deserves
it, being a cruel, treacherous, bloodthirsty brute.
My eccentric friend also wrote to say he had at length procured
for me an offering after my own heart, an enormous boa constrictor,
perfectly tame, so domestic and sweet tempered, that at meals it would
cross the room, displaying, as it advanced with undulating motion, its
bright-striped and spotted skin, until, having gained your chair, it
would coil its mazy folds around you, and tenderly putting its head over
your shoulder, eat from your hand!
I was greatly tempted to accept this unique offering. They tell us
mankind have a _natural_ antipathy to a snake; an antipathy I never
shared. I have killed them as venomous reptiles, but have a great fancy
for them as beautiful ones. No child dislikes snakes until it is taught
to fear them.
Those Indian fevers! the state to which a man is reduced may be gathered
by the following note: “I never could have believed that lowness of
temperament would have afflicted me with such mental suffering as the
doctor has just brought on me: I wander about in this beautiful clear air
and sunshine perfectly disgusted with life. Will the spring of my spirits
return? for they are just now in their December. When happy, I seldom
write to any one; when doleful, I become communicative. I hope you like
to hear from even your selfish friends, and I have not a soul with whom
to exchange an idea; consider that I am English, and may hang myself from
the pankhā! Man certainly is a gregarious animal, and I could wish just
now to be put into a large flock, even with the chance of being killed
off every Monday.”
“My only portion of the rose is the thorn[114].”
_June 1st._—I have scarcely energy enough to write; an easterly wind
renders the tattīs useless; the thermometer at 93°! The damp air renders
me so heavy and listless, it is an exertion either to eat or drink, and
it is almost impossible to sleep, on account of the heat. At 7 _P.M._
I take a drive through the burning air, and come in parched and faint,
eager for the only comfort during the twenty-four hours, a glass of
English home-made black-currant wine, well iced, in a tumbler of well
iced soda water; the greatest luxury imaginable.
I have not heard from home for six months, heart-sick with hope deferred.
These tardy ships! Will the steam communication ever be established?
“A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit drieth the
bones.”
“I could lie down like a tired child,
And weep away this life of care,
Which I have borne, and still must bear.”
When shall I feel energy enough to mount my horse again? for three months
I have been unable to ride. Nothing is going forward, stupid as possible,
shut up all day, languid and weary: this India is a vile country!
“The heart knoweth its own sorrows, and no man interfereth with its joys.”
Woe is me that I sojourn in this land of pestilence, that I dwell afar
from the home of my fathers!