doubt this Dábshilím would come against him after hearing of the King's departure; and as he was not possessed of sufficient power, he must of course be overcome and lose the dominions. But if the King would now march against this enemy and remove the ground of fear, he would send annually a tribute to the treasury of Ghaznín equal to all the revenues of Khurásán, Zábulistán, and Kábulistán. The Sultán observed that he had come with the intention of making conquests, and since he had not returned to Ghaznín, he might as well therefore remain six months more. With this resolution he marched towards that Dábshilím's dominions, The people of the country, however, remarked to the pious Dábshilím that it was not proper for him to excite the King to invade his territory, because the person whom the Almighty had made great and powerful could not be subdued by his endeavours. This was also told to the King, who first hesitated, but as he had already marched his troops, he did not like to abandon his resolution. So he proceeded towards the enemy, and having conquered his country, took him prisoner, and gave him over to the pious Dábshilím, who represented that in his country it was considered a very great sin to kill a ruler, and if any king did commit the crime, all his army revolted against him. It was a custom among the kings of the country that when any of them prevailed over another and captured him, a dark room was made under the victor's throne, in which the captive ruler was placed on a cushion, and the doors of the room were shut. But a hole was made in one of them, and through it a dish of food was given to him, and then that also was shut. As long as the victorious king occupied the throne, it was his duty to send a dish of food every day to the subterranean abode, even if the captive died after only a few days' confinement. It happened that the prisoner lived many days. The pious Dábshilím said that as he could not keep him prisoner in this manner, he wished the Sultán would take the prisoner to Ghaznín, and that after he (the new ruler) had established his authority in the country, the captive might be sent back to be confined in the usual way. The King agreed to this, and returned. The pious Dábshilím mounted the throne of Somnát, and began to send successively to the Sultán the presents and rarities of the country; and he also ingratiated himself with all the ministers

of his court by sending them presents. When he had confirmed himself in the governorship, he sent tribute, with some jewels, to the King, and asked him to send back his enemy to him. The Sultán at first hesitated in complying with his request, and was unwilling to render him up into the hands of his enemy; but as the devout Dábshilím had gained the favour of the ministers of the throne by his munificence, they all taxed the King with showing mercy to an infidel, and said that it was very improper for a king to act contrary to his promise. It was also to be apprehended that the pious Dábshilím might rebel, and the country be lost. At last the young prince was made over to the people of the pious Dábshilím, and farmáns were sent to the authorities in India to conduct him to the confines of Somnát. When he was taken to that country the pious Dábshilím ordered a dwelling to be made under the throne on which he used to sit. It was the custom among these people that when their enemy was brought near the metropolis of the kingdom, the ruler was to advance one march to receive him. He was also to put a dish and a vessel of water over his head, and make him go on foot before his horse till he arrived at court. After this the King sat on the throne, and his enemy was taken to the subterraneous house, and there seated on a cushion. According to this custom Dábshilím went out; but it happened that the captive had not yet arrived. Dábshilím went out hunting, and exerted himself greatly in the field. When the hot wind began to blow, the soldiers and all the people sought shelter where they might rest, and Dábshilím also alighted and went to sleep under the shade of a tree, covering his face with a red handkerchief. In India there are plenty of birds of prey with hard claws and sharp bills. One of these birds came flying towards him, and when it saw the red handkerchief, it mistook it for a piece of flesh, and pouncing down on Dábshilíms' face, it tore out his eyes with his beak. This created great confusion among his people, and in the meantime the young captive was brought in. The pious Dábshilím was now blind and useless, and, since no other person beside this young man had a right to the

1 This mode of receiving the banished monarch on his return seems to resemble the present practice of Hindu women forming a procession to meet a stranger with brass pots upon their heads in token of welcome.

governorship, all the people saluted him as their king, and the few persons who held aloof were seized. In short the same dish and vessel of water which were brought for this young chief were placed on the head of the pious Dábshilím, and he was forced to run to the court, where he was placed in the prison he had prepared.

The moral of this story is, the person who really deserves honour and respect cannot be disgraced by the endeavours of his enemy. If for a season he be degraded, he soon recovers his rank. But the envious person brings on himself ignominy and shame.

2.-Nigáristán.

[This "Picture-gallery" is a collection of anecdotes and stories relating to various dynasties. It was compiled by Ahmad bin Muhammad bin 'Abdu-l Ghafúr al Ghaffárí al Kazwíní, commonly known as Kází Ahmad al Ghaffárí. Nigáristán, the name of the work, expresses by the abjad the date of its compilation, A.h. 959 (A.D. 1552). Twenty-eight standard works are mentioned in the Preface of the work as the sources from which the stories have been extracted. There is a copy of the work in Sir H. Elliot's library, and also some miscellaneous extracts from other copies. There are other works which bear the same name.]

Mahmud and Ahmad Hasan Maimandí.

It is related of Sultán Mahmúd of Ghazní that one day in his youth he went to take a walk in the gardens, and was accompanied by Ahmad Hasan Maimandí, who was one of his most favoured servants. As he passed by a rivulet, his eye fell upon a person who was loitering there, and he asked his companion who the man was? "A carpenter," he replied. The Sultán again asked him what his name was, and he replied, " Ahmad.” "You seem to be acquainted with the man," says the Sultán. "No," answered he, "I never saw him before." 66 Then, how is it," observed the Sultán, "that you came to know his profession and name?" "I knew his name," he replied, "by his readiness to answer your Majesty when your

1 [See Morley's Catalogue, p. 50; Hammer-Purgstall Redekünste Persiens, pp. 307-9; Krafft's Catalogue der Handschriften der K.K. Orientalischer Akademie zu Wien.]

Majesty called me by my name; and as to his profession, I saw him walk round that dry old tree, and look carefully at it." The Sultán, on hearing these words, said, "You would indeed be a most sagacious fellow if you could tell me what that man has eaten to-day." "Honey, or the juice of some fruit," said Ahmad. The Sultán then called the man and asked him, first, "Do you know this boy (Ahmad Hasan)?" The reply was that he had never seen him before. Mahmud then enquired of the man who he was, what was his name, and what he had eaten that day? The answer was exactly what Ahmad had already given. Greatly wondering, the Sultán turned towards Ahmad and asked him how he knew that the man had eaten honey? to which he thus replied: "I knew it because he kept wiping his mouth, and the bees were swarming around him."

Treasures of Bhim-nagar."

It is recorded in many authentic histories that when the Sultán succeeded in capturing the fort of Bhím-nagar, on the confines of India, which was believed to be of incomparable strength, and commonly reported to contain immense wealth, he obtained as booty no less than seventy thousand millions of dirhams, seven hundred thousand and four hundred mans of gold and silver vessels, rare vestments of different kinds, the exact value of which appraisers found it impossible to calculate; and vast quantities of precious stones and pearls, beyond all computation. An edifice (khána) fell into the Sultan's hands, which measured 30 cubits by 15, the sides and covering of which were entirely made of pure silver.

A Splendid Comet.

In 330 A.H. (941-2 A.D.), a comet made its appearance, the tail of which reached from the eastern to the western horizon. It remained in the heavens eighteen days, and its blighting influence caused so severe a famine, that wheat, the produce of one jarib of land, was sold for three hundred and twenty miskáls of gold. "When the value of a spike of corn was esteemed as high as the Pleiades, conceive what must have been the value of wheat."

The famine in the land was so sore that man was driven to feed

2 [Nagarkot or Kangra. See supra, p. 35, and Briggs' Firishta, i. p. 48.]

on his own species, and a pestilence prevailed with such virulence that it was impossible to bury the dead who fell victims to it.'

3.-Zinatu-l Majális.

[This is another collection of anecdotes and stories, which have been drawn, as the writer tells us in his Preface, from a great variety of histories and other works, from the Jámi'u-l Hikáyát down to the Nigáristán. The work was compiled in 1004 Hijra (1595 A.D.), by Majdu-d dín Muhammadu-l Husna, commonly known as Majdí. There is a new and well-written copy of part of the work in Sir H. Elliot's collection, besides some extracts from a copy belonging to R. H. Cust, Esq.]

EXTRACTS.

Destruction of Robbers by Poison.

It is related that in the reign of Sultán Mahmúd of Ghazní a number of Kúch and Bulúch robbers having taken possession of a strong place on the road to Hurmuz, plundered all the caravans that passed that way. On one occasion they robbed a body of merchants and killed a young man of Khurásán, who was of their number. His old mother preferred her complaint to Mahmúd, who observed that such accidents occurred in that part of the country because it was too far from his capital. The old woman replied, "Keep no

1 The magnificent comet here noticed was splendid enough, even allowing for Oriental exaggeration, to have attracted attention in Europe; and it may, therefore, probably be noticed in the collection of Lubienietski. It would be one of particular interest if we could establish it as an early visit of Halley's comet; but astronomers date its probable appearance as occurring in A.D. 930. It is to be remembered, however, that the known and recorded intervals of that comet are August 1531, October 1607, September 1682, March 1759, and November 1835; and that between the perihelion passages of the first and second, and of the second and third, of those recorded appearances, there is no less a difference than fifteen months; and again a difference of eighteen months in the perihelion passage of the third and fourth re-appearance, arising from the disturbing action of the planets; so that if we allow during the several centuries which have intervened, a period of eleven years for the perturbations arising from that source, we may perhaps be permitted to recognise an old visitor in the comet of A.н. 330. It must be confessed, however, that the probabilities in favour of this surmise would have been greater had the recurring intervals been prolonged, instead of being abbreviated; but it is difficult for the mind to forego a hypothesis when once assumed, however weakly it may be supported by probable antecedents.