[79] The Ghul is a foul and intensely wicked spirit, of an order inferior to the jinn. It is said to appear in the form of any living animal it chooses, as well as in any other monstrous and terrific shape. It haunts desert places, especially burying grounds, and is said to feed on dead human bodies.
[80] This is a general exclamation when Asiatics sneeze, and with them, as with the ancients, it is an ominous sign.
[81] Kalandars are a more fanatic set of Fakirs. Their vow is to desert wife, children, and all worldly connexions and human sympathies, and to wander about with shaven heads.
[82] The introduction of the hukka is an improvement of Mir Amman's; as that luxury was unknown in Europe and Asia at the time of Amir Khusru.
[83] The term Azad, "free, or independent," is applied to a class of Darweshes who shave the beard, eyelashes and eyebrows. They vow chastity and a holy life, but consider themselves exempt from all ceremonial observances of the Muhammadan religion.
[84] Literally, "is an immense mountain."
[85] The phrase do zanu ho baithna denotes a mode of sitting peculiar, more especially, to the Persians. It consists in kneeling down and sitting back on one's heels, a posture the very reverse of easy, at least, so it appears to us good Christians, accustomed to the use of chairs &c.
[86] Arabia Felix, the south-west province of the peninsula.
[87] Maliku-t-Tujjar means the chief of merchants; it is a Persian or Arab title. The first title the East India Company received from the court of Dilli was 'Umdatu-t-Tujjar, or the noble merchants. Haji Khalil, the ambassador from Persia to the Bengal government, who was killed at Bombay, was Maliku-t-Tujjar; and after him Muhammad Nabi Khan, who likewise was ambassador from the Persian court, and came to Bengal; he has since experienced the sad uncertainty of Asiatic despotism; being despoiled of his property, blinded, and turned into the streets of Shiraz to beg.
[88] The peculiar dress worn by fakirs. V. "Qanooni Islam"