Observations on the Mussulmauns of India | Page 9

considered when the rich have
determined on dispensing gifts in charity. The Syaads, however, are
under peculiar restrictions as regards the nature of those gifts which
they are permitted to accept. Money obtained by unlawful means, as

forbidden in the Khoraun[4] (usury for instance[5]), is deemed polluted,
and must neither be offered to, nor accepted by, these 'children of the
Prophet'.
The Syaads are the Lords of Mussulmaun society, and every female
born to them is a Lady (Begum[6]). Heralds' offices they have none,
but genealogy is strictly kept in each Mussulmaun family, who can
boast the high privilege of bearing the Prophet's blood in their veins.
The children of both sexes are taught, from the time of their first
speaking intelligibly, to recount their pedigree, up to Hasan, or Hosein,
the two sons of Ali, by his cousin Fatima, the daughter of their Prophet:
this forms a striking part of their daily education, whilst they continue
in their mother's zeenahnah[7] (lady's apartment); and, from the
frequent repetition, is so firmly fixed in the memory, that they have no
difficulty in tracing their pedigree whenever called upon to do so,
unaided by the manuscript genealogy kept with care in the parental
treasury.
This method of retaining lineage is not always a check against
impostors; many have taken upon themselves the honourable
distinction of the Syaad, without having the slightest claim to the title;
but when the cheat is discovered such persons are disgraced, and
become aliens to the respectable. So many advantages are enjoyed by
Syaads, that it is not surprising there should be some, which have no
right, anxious to be numbered with those who are truly the
Mussulmaun lords; though such men are taught to believe that, by the
usurpation, they shut themselves out from the advantages of their
Prophet's intercession at the great day of judgment.
The Syaads are very tenacious in retaining the purity of their race
unsullied, particularly with respect to their daughters; a conscientious
Syaad regards birth before wealth in negotiations for marriage: many a
poor lady, in consequence of this prejudice, lives out her numbered
days in single blessedness, although--to their honour be it told--many
charitably disposed amongst the rich men of the country have, within
my recollection of Indian society, granted from their abundance
sufficient sums to defray the expenses of a union, and given the
marriage portion, unsolicited, to the daughters of the poorer members
of this venerated race. A Syaad rarely speaks of his pecuniary distresses,
but is most grateful when relieved.

I am intimately acquainted with a family in which this pride of birth
predominates over every advantage of interest. There are three
unmarried daughters, remarkable for their industrious habits, morality,
and strict observance of their religious duties; they are handsome,
well-formed women, polite and sensible, and to all this they add an
accomplishment which is not by any means general amongst the
females of Hindoostaun, they have been taught by their excellent father
to read the Khoraun in Arabic--it is not allowed to be
translated,[8]--and the Commentary in Persian. The fame of their
superiority has brought many applications from the heads of families
possessing wealth, and desirous to secure for their sons wives so
eminently endowed, who would waive all considerations of the
marriage dowry, for the sake of the Begum who might thus adorn their
untitled house. All these offers, however, have been promptly rejected,
and the young ladies themselves are satisfied in procuring a scanty
subsistence by the labour of their hands. I have known them to be
employed in working the jaullie[9] (netting) for courties[10] (a part of
the female dress), which, after six days' close application, at the utmost
could not realize three shillings each; yet I never saw them other than
contented, happy, and cheerful,--a family of love, and patterns of
sincere piety.
The titles and distinctions conferred by sovereigns, or the Hon. East
India Company in India, as Khaun,[11] Bahadhoor,[12] Nuwaub,[13]
&c., are not actually hereditary honours, though often presumed on,
and indulged in, by successors. The Syaads, on the contrary, are the
Meers and Begums (nobility) throughout their generations to the end of
time, or at any rate, with the continuance of the Mussulmaun religion.
Having thus far explained the honourable distinction of the Syaads, I
propose giving you some account of the Mahurrum,[14] a celebrated
mourning festival in remembrance of their first martyrs, and which
occupies the attention of the Mussulmauns annually to a degree of zeal
that has always attracted the surprise of our countrymen in India; some
of whom, I trust, will not be dissatisfied with the observations of an
individual, who having spent many years of her life with those who are
chief actors in these scenes, it may be expected, is the better able to
explain the nature