ELEPHANTS, HISTORICAL 169 



without a previous knowledge of what they signify, the 

 task of reading them would be no easy one, as is exem- 

 plified in the well-known sign manual of the sultans of 

 Turkey, to be seen on Turkish coins, public documents, 

 etc., for this also is a tugra, although it does not make a 

 picture. 



Of our specimens, one offers the letters of the sacred 

 text which bears the name "Nad-i-Ali" and reads as fol- 

 lows: "Address Ali who is the source of all manifestations 

 of wonder. You will find him a helper for yourself in 

 distress. Anxieties and sorrows will vanish in the immedi- 

 ate future, Oh, Mohammed! by reason of your being a 

 Nabi [Prophet] and Oh, Ali! by reason of your Valayet 

 [proximity to God]." The other example gives the name 

 and titles of the Nawab of Juora : *' Jahab Mustatab Mualla 

 Alqab Vala Khitab Hazur Faiz Ganjur Muhatshim ud 

 Daula Nawab Gaus Mohammed Khan Sahib Bahadur 

 Shaukat Jung Firman-rabai Darul Riyasat Jaora Nahum wa 

 Maqfur."* 



A Hindu bazaar picture "with a moral" depicts an ele- 

 phant in the act of pulling down a banyan tree; hanging on 

 to cords passing over a branch of the tree is a man, who is 

 seeking to seize with his mouth a clump of pendent honey, 

 typifying the sensual pleasures of life. Meanwhile two mice, 

 one white and one black, are gnawing at the supporting 

 cords, and when these give way the man will be precipitated 

 into a pit wherein four serpents, symbols of Avarice, Sense- 

 lessness, Desire, and Anger are eagerly awaiting an oppor- 

 tunity to destroy him. The banyan tree itseK represents 

 Life, the elephant. Death, and the two mice. Day and Night. 

 Of a slightly different version of this picture. Sir Edwin 



*Chaubey Bisvesvar Nath, "Calligraphy," with an introduction and notes by Col. T. 

 H. Hendley, in the Journal of Indian Art and Industry, Vol. XVI, new Series, No. 124, 

 October, 191S; our illustrations are from PI. 9, No. 1, and PI. 12, No. 19. 



