1898.] E. A. Gsiit— Human Sacrifices in Ancient Assam. 115 



seems to present a resemblance, the difference in the treament of the 

 sufferei-s is more apparent. In both cases the popular instinct hit upon 

 the precaution of segregation. But under the Mu gh al empire the 

 segregation was effected by abandoning the victims ; in our day it is in 

 some measure secured by carrying off the victims to hospitals, "where 

 they receive the utmost alleviation that their malady permits and the 

 best chance of recovery. 



I haye no materials at hand to check the dates given in this extract, 

 but we may assume that the plague was at its height in Agra in the 

 year 1618 A.D. We have thus a terminus before which the kavittas 

 referring to the plague cannot have been written. We are also able to 

 assert that the 171st kavitta cannot refer to the plague, as is generally 

 supposed by native scholars, for it is written at least four years before 

 A.B. 1618. 



There is no reason to suppose that the kavittas were arranged in 

 their present order by the poet himself. Even if they were, it is plain 

 from the analysis given above that he did not group them rigorously 

 according to subjects. We have the kavitta in praise of the falcon 

 inserted amongst a number referring to the plague. I may note that 

 this kavitta^ in praise of the auspicious bird, is said to have been uttered 

 by the poet when at the point of death. The bird flew across his vision, 

 and he accepted it as a good omen. 



Note: — The passage referring to the Plague is taken from the 

 Juzak-i-Jahangiri (Sayyid Ahmad's edition, page 259). More re- 

 ferences may be found in Elliot-Dowson's, Yol. VI, pages 346, 357, 405. 

 The Plague first appeared in the Panjab in the eleventh year of Jahangir's 

 reign (commenced 10th March 1616), or rather in the middle of the 

 preceding year. When the Emperor came to Agra in the thirteenth 

 year of his reign ( = A.D. 1618), he found the plague at its height, and 

 in connection with this the stories of the mouse and female slave, etc., 

 are related. The plague is said to have lasted for 8 years. — T.B. 



8. Human Sacrifices in Ancient Assam. — By E. A. Gait, I.C.S. 

 The paper will be published in the Journal^ Part I. 



