614 Account of the Territory and Inhabitants [Dec. 



ly, on the hundredth day, Fatiheh, oblations of spices, aloe wood and 

 flowers, are made to the manes of the dead. 



Their burial places are raised banks of earth, with two small wood- 

 en pillars* or upright stones at each end of an oblong carved wooden 

 frame, the largest denotes the head ; they plant the Sulasih generally 

 near burial-grounds, and sometimes the Champdka and Camboja. 



They like other Muhammedans believe in the examination of tbe 

 corpse by the Angels " Munkir and Nakir," who enter upon their in- 

 quisitorial functions, after the funeral attendants have retired seven 

 paces from the grave, on their returns to their several homes. 



Religious fasts, festivals. — Their religious observance of the first 10 

 days of the months Mohurrum, the 28th of Safr, the 12th of Rabi al 

 awal, the first 12 days of Rabi al akhir, the 10th of Shaban, the 30 

 days fast of Ramzan, and the first of Shaval ; and lastly, the 10th to the 

 15th of Za-al Haj, resembles that of the Arabs more than the customs 

 which obtain among the Muhammedans of India. 



The sacrifice of the buffalo is, I believe, peculiar to Malayan Muham- 

 medans. The buffalo selected for the Kurban must be without blemish 

 or disease, its fore and hind leg bones must not be broken after death, 

 nor the spine ; neither are the horns to be used for common purposes, 

 such as the handles of Kris, &c. 



The animal, to be sacrificed, is thrown down in a convenient place 

 near the mosque of the Mukim, by his hind and fore legs being bound 

 together ; his head is also secured and turned in the direction of the 

 Kibleh, and water then poured over it ; the Bilal advances with the 

 sacrificial knife, (in Naning the knife, called Gulo Rumbowe, is gene- 

 rally used for this purpose,) and turning himself towards the 

 Kibleh, recites the " Bismilldhi heldlan taieeban Allahu Akbar," 



.jo! aJUIl^xIs Jit*- ^\\*»».\ four times successively, and then divides the 

 wind-pipe and large blood-vessel of the neck of the animal. It is flayed 

 after death, and divided into two equal parts. One-half is distributed 

 among the inhabitants of the Mukim, of the other half two chippahs 

 (a little more than 2-lhs.) is allotted to the Panghulu, the head to the 

 Kali, two chuppahs to the Imam, two to the Khateeb, two to the Bilal 

 and Panghulu Momkin or Mukim. 



The first-half is generally cooked and eaten on the spot. 



On religious occasions, baffaloes are always sacrificed on one of these 

 three days — Friday, Monday, or Thursday. 



They are also sacrificed at weddings, births, circumcisions, &c. of 

 wealthy people at the " Chukur Anak," or the ceremony of shaving the 

 'head of children, and finally on going to war. 



* Those for females are generally flat and niched at the summit ; they are calk 

 «d Nissan, probably from the Persian Nishan ^t^j. 



