270 Some Account of the Rishis or Hermits of Kashmir. [No. 4, 



20. Naciruddin and 



disciples of Shaikh Nuruddin. 



21. Bdbd Qidmuddin. ) 



22. Bdbd Asmduuche gonyie. 



23. Hdfiz Fathullah Khuhwani. 



24. Rauni Bdbd. Lived to the age of 120, during 109 years 

 of which he fasted (rozah) by day. 



25. Shaikh Mdji U'tur. Went on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Ate 

 nothing on the road. 



26. Bdbd Zain-uddin Rishi. His Caiona'ah (cell) in the Khawlpare, 

 where a spring of water is said to have spontaneously gushed forth 

 for his use. 



This brings me to the end of the notes I have taken on the sub- 

 ject of the Hermits or Bishis of Kashmir, and I almost regret that 

 my notes on the subject are so brief. 



Without having inaugurated much philosophy, or displayed 

 marked learning, these holy men seem in the main to have been 

 actuated by motives of piety and a desire for moral advancement. 

 We might smile at the weak credulity which has invested their 

 memories with the attributes of superhuman wisdom and power, 

 had we not parallel examples in sects of our own faith. We may 

 fairly credit to many of them lives of purity and moral excellence. 

 Dwelling amidst scenes of natural beauty and grandeur, the wild 

 freshness of nature seems to have touched their hearts with some- 

 thing of its kindred influences. In them far beyond most orientals, 

 do we recognise some germ of the romantic spirit of the north 

 and love of the picturesque, which we fail to trace in the southern 

 Shemitie races, but gleams of which sometimes crop out in the 

 Tatar and Mughul tribes. To complete this fragmentary sketch, 

 views of the localities and zidrats alluded to would be requisite, 

 as tending to shew the picturesque solitudes into which the 

 musing spirit of these recluses led them to wander. We need 

 not wonder at the choice of such retreats by calm and God-fearing 

 men, where amidst some of the most glorious scenery this earth 

 contains, they could taste of simple pleasures, exercise free thought, 

 and ' look from nature up to nature's God.' 



Forest of Kujear, Chumba, June, 1870. 



