[57]. For this word see De Sacy, Chrest. ii. 421. It has already occurred in The Nights, vol. iii. 295.
[58]. Not a few pilgrims settle for a time or for life in the two Holy Places, which are thus kept supplied with fresh blood. See Pilgrimage ii. 260.
[59]. i.e. Bayt al-Mukaddas, for which see vol. ii. 132.
[60]. An affidavit amongst Moslems is “litis decisio,” as in the jurisprudence of mediæval Europe.
[61]. In Arab folk-lore there are many instances of such precocious boys—enfants terribles they must be in real life. In Ibn Khall. (iii. 104) we find notices of a book “Kitáb Nujabá al-Abná” = Treatise on Distinguished Children, by Ibn Zakaral-Sakalli (the Sicilian), ob. A.D. 1169–70. And the boy-Kazi is a favourite rôle in the plays of peasant-lads who enjoy the irreverent “chaff” almost as much as when “making a Pasha.” This reminds us of the boys electing Cyrus as their King in sport (Herodotus, i. 114). For the cycle of “Precocious Children” and their adventures, see Mr. Clouston (Popular Tales, etc., ii. 1–14), who enters into the pedigree and affiliation. I must, however, differ with that able writer when he remarks at the end, “And now we may regard the story of Valerius Maximus with suspicion, and that of Lloyd as absolutely untrue, so far as William Noy’s alleged share in the ‘case.’” The jest or the event happening again and again is no valid proof of its untruth; and it is often harder to believe in derivation than in spontaneous growth.
[62]. In Galland Ali Cogia, Marchand de Bagdad, is directly followed by the Histoire du Cheval Enchanté. For this “Ebony Horse,” as I have called it, see vol. v. p. 32.
[63]. “Bánú” = a lady, a dame of high degree generally, e.g. the (Shah’s) Banu-i-Harem in James Morier (“The Mirza,” iii. 50), who rightly renders Pari Banu = Pari of the first quality. “Peri” (Parí) in its modern form has a superficial resemblance to “Fairy;” but this disappears in the “Pairika” of the Avesta and the “Pairik” of the modern Parsee. In one language only, the Multání, there is a masculine form for the word “Pará” = a he-fairy (Scinde, ii. 203). In Al-Islam these Peris are beautiful feminine spirits who, created after the “Dívs” (Tabari, i. 7), mostly believe in Allah and the Koran and desire the good of mankind: they are often attacked by the said Dívs, giants or demons, who imprison them in cages hung to the highest trees, and here the captives are visited by their friends who feed them with the sweetest of scents. I have already contrasted them with the green-coated pygmies to which the grotesque fancy of Northern Europe has reduced them. Bánú in Pers. = a princess, a lady, and is still much used, e.g. Bánú-í-Harim, the Dame of the Serraglio, whom foreigners call “Queen of Persia;” and Árám-Banu = “the calm Princess,” a nickname. A Greek story equivalent of Prince Ahmad is told by Pio in Contes Populaires Grecs (No. ii. p. 98) and called Τὸ χρυσὸ κουτάκι, the Golden box. Three youths (παλλικάρια) love the same girl and agree that whoever shall learn the best craft (ὅγεος μάθη πλεὶα καλὴν τέκνην) shall marry her; one becomes an astrologer, the second can raise the dead, and the third can run faster than air. They find her at death’s door, and her soul, which was at her teeth ready to start, goes down (καὶ πά ’ἣ ψυχή της κάτω, ποὔτανε πλειὰ στά δόντια της).
[64]. Light of the Day.
[65]. Galland has “Bisnagar,” which the H. V. corrupts to Bishan-Garh = Vishnu’s Fort, an utter misnomer. Bisnagar, like Bijnagar, Beejanuggur, Vizianuggur, etc., is a Prakrit corruption of the Sanskrit Vijáyanagara = City of Victory, the far-famed Hindu city and capital of the Narasingha or Lord of Southern India, mentioned in The Nights, vols. vi. 18; ix. 84. Nicolo de’ Conti in the xvth century found it a magnificent seat of Empire some fifteen marches south of the pestilential mountains which contained the diamond mines. Accounts of its renown and condition in the last generation have been given by James Grant (“Remarks on the Dekkan”) and by Captain Moore (“Operations of Little’s Detachment against Tippoo Sultan”). The latest description of it is in “The Indian Empire,” by Sir William W. Hunter. Vijáyanagar, village in Bellary district, Madras, lat. 15° 18′ N., long. 76° 30′ E.; pop. (1871), 437, inhabiting 172 houses. The proper name of this village is Hampi, but Vijáyanagar was the name of the dynasty (?) and of the kingdom which had its capital here and was the last great Hindu power of the South. Founded by two adventurers in the middle of the xivth century, it lasted for two centuries till its star went down at Tálikot in A.D. 1565. For a description of the ruins of the old city of Vijáyanagar, which covers a total area of nine square miles, see “Murray’s Handbook for Madras,” by E. B. Eastwick (1879), vol. ix. p. 235. Authentic history in Southern India begins with the Hindu kingdom of Vijáyanagar, or Narsinha, from A.D. 1118 to 1565. The capital can still be traced within the Madras district of Bellary, on the right bank of the Tungabhadra river—vast ruins of temples, fortifications, tanks and bridges, haunted by hyænas and snakes. For at least three centuries Vijáyanagar ruled over the southern part of the Indian triangle. Its Rajas waged war and made peace on equal terms with the Mohamadan sultans of the Deccan. See vol. iv. p. 335, Sir W. W. Hunter’s “Imperial Gazetteer of India,” Edit. 1881.
[66]. The writer means the great Bazar, the Indian “Chauk,” which = our English Carfax or Carfex (Carrefour) and forms the core of ancient cities in the East. It is in some places, as Damascus, large as one of the quarters, and the narrow streets or lanes, vaulted over or thatched, are all closed at night by heavy doors well guarded by men and dogs. Trades are still localised, each owning its own street, after the fashion of older England, where we read of Draper’s Lane and Butchers’ Row; Lombard Street, Cheapside and Old Jewry.