108 



INDIA. 



t ducat ion. 



Death and 



it belongs: iU birth day is also entered by the Brah- 

 mins, in registers kept by them in the temples, of 

 births, marriages, and deaths. The astrologer next 

 foretcls its destiny. On the 10th day after the birth, 

 when the period of purification is complete, a name is 

 {riven to the child, from the elements, plants, or stars, or 

 from the symbols by which they are represented. On 

 this occasion there is a burnt-offering of wood, rice, 

 ami butter. Water is consecrated by the Brahmins, 

 and with this the child and every person present is 

 sprinkled. If the parents are too poor to pay a Brah- 

 min, the name of the child is performed by the chief of 

 the caste. New ceremonies, with presents to the Brah- 

 mins, take place when boys arrive at the age of seven 

 or nine, the period at which the three first castes re- 

 ceive the string, which is one .of their distinguishing 

 marks. In cases of adoption/ the child is placed on a 

 large brass plate, in the house of the person who means 

 to adopt it ; and after the husband and wife have re- 

 peated a certain form of words, the ceremony is finish- 

 i-il by their drinking water mixed with saffron, and 

 pouring part of it on the feet of the child ; if they af- 

 terwards have children, the adopted child retains his 

 rights, as if he had been their own, and first born. 



There are schools in almost every village for teach- 

 ing, reading, writing, and accounts ; the children sit in 

 the open air, under the shade of a cocoa nut, or other tree, 

 and trace on the sand, with the fore-finger of the right 

 hand, the elements of the alphabet, and then smooth it 

 with the left hand. This mode of teaching, like all the 

 other customs and practices of the Hindoos, is very an- 

 cient, being mentioned by Megasthenes. The village 

 schools are only day schools ; each child pays one or 

 two anas per month. In opulent families teachers are 

 retained as servants, as the children of respectable Hin- 

 doos seldom go to school. Persian and Arabic are 

 taught for the most part by molavies, who frequently 

 have a few scholars m their houses, whom they support 

 as well as instruct. When the children have made a 

 tolerable progress in writing on sand, they begin to 

 write on palm leaves, with an iron pen, or style. 

 When the teacher enters the school, his pupils throw 

 themselves down at full length before him, and place 

 their right hand on their mouth, from which it is not 

 withdrawn till he gives them permission to speak. In 

 some parts of Hindostan, there are schools supported 

 by voluntary contributions, or by the produce of land. 

 In _the 24> Pergunnahs, a small district in Bengal, 

 which contains only about 882 square miles, there are 

 190 seminaries of this description, in which Hindoo 

 laws, grammar, and metaphysics, are taught ; the an- 

 nual expence is estimated at 19,500 rupees. When the 

 education of a Hindoo is completed, he commences the 

 business of his father. 



The ceremonies which are practised in cases of ill- 

 ness, which it is anticipated will prove fatal, are nume- 

 rous, and some of them of such a nature as seem intend- 

 ed, as they are certainly calculated, to hasten the death 

 of the patient : their professed object is to secure his sal- 

 vation. After these ceremonies have been performed, 

 it is deemed unholy to live ; and the patient, if he does 

 urvive, loses his caste, and bcomes a pariar. At the 



he dies, when another set oF ceremonies commence. Sta 

 All the relations repair to the house of the deceased. ^~ V***' 

 Cries, lamentations, dishevelled hair, beating of breasts, Death and 

 and rolling themselves on the ground,* are common funerk. 

 among the women. After all the ceremonies are per- 

 formed, preparations are made for the funeral : the bo- 

 dy is washed ; the sign of the caste is marked on the 

 forehead, and betel is put into the mouth. It is carried 

 to the place of funeral by pariars ; and when it arrives 

 there, the nose and stomach are pinched, water is flung 

 in the face, and tomtoms and trumpets are sounded, 

 to perceive if it be really dead. The funeral ceremo- 

 nies are always performed at night. The followers of 

 Siva bury their dead, whereas those of Vishnu burn 

 them. The burying grounds are out of the towns, ge- 

 nerally near a river or tank. Each caste has their se- 

 parate burying-place. As a dead body is supposed to 

 pollute not only the -house in which it is, but also the 

 neighbourhood, all who live in the same street abstain 

 from food till it is removed. It is not carried out by 

 the door, but through a hole in the wall made for that 

 purpose, in a sitting posture. After the funeral, the 

 nearest relation returns to the house of the deceased, 

 preceded by a person bearing a staff, to drive away evil 

 spirits. A variety of ceremonies are then performed 

 for a few days ; and till these are completed, all the re- 

 lations are restricted to one meal a day ; and in cases 

 where the body has been burnt, they are not permitted 

 to sleep on a bedstead, or adorn or perfume their per- 

 sons till the ashes are gathered. This cannot be done 

 till food has been offered to the manes of the deceased, 

 the Brahmins have been fed, and the officiating priest 

 received his fee. The ashes are gathered according to 

 a prescribed form, and then thrown into the water. 

 Ninety-six formal obsequies are performed in the course 

 of the year, besides daily oblations to the manes. The 

 mourning of the Hindoos is very simple, and in some 

 respects resembles that of other Asiatic nations. It 

 consists in shaving the hair ; covering the head with 

 the linen which they usually wear on their shoulders ; 

 and abstaining from the use of betel. As this last is 

 deemed very annoying, the abstinence lasts only for a 

 few days. 



The customs of the Hindoos which we have descri- Miscella- 

 bed, are immediately derived from, and intimately con- neous ca- 

 nceled with, their religion and superstitions. There 

 are others, however, to which we must briefly advert. 

 The extreme fondness of the Orientals for formal and 

 minute ceremonies in their interviews with each other, 

 is well known. The most important of these ceremo- 

 nies, practised especially among the Mahratta tribes, is 

 called milling. A detail of all the minutias would be 

 tedious and uninteresting. It takes place only between 

 two persons of equal rank, and generally when they are 

 in the field with their troops. A spot mid-way be- 

 tween their camps is selected for the interview ; .and 

 towards this spot, two splendid and magnificent caval- 

 cades set off, as nearly as possible, at the same time. 

 As soon as they come in view of each other, the titles, 

 rank, &c. of the parties, are solemnly and loudly pro- 

 claimed by officers kept for that purpose. The per- 

 son to whom the honour is intended, then first lights 



there bequeaths part of his property to the Brahmins. 



T and mud from this river are thrown upon him, 



id the salagrama stone, already described, is placed 



near him. Several other ceremonies are performed till 



shoulder, and making a salute by lifting the hand up 

 to the forehead. No business is transacted on these 

 occasions. When the chiefs visit each other in their 

 respective camps, valuable presents are given ; and on 



