BEN 



tTie country populous. The Zemindary of Benares, which 

 includes alfo the circars of Gazypour and Chunar, conllilut- 

 ed a part of the dominions of Oude, until the year 1775, 

 when its tribute or quit-rent of 24 lacks, fince incrcafed to 

 4c, was transferred to the Englilh, on occafion of the cef- 

 fion of the province to the India Company. Tiiis Zemin- 

 dary, lately in the hands of Chcet Sinfj, occupies t!iL principal 

 part of tlie fpace between Eahar and Oude, fo that only a 

 I'inall part of the territory of the latter touches Bahar on the 

 ni)rtli-\veft. In 1 786 tht clear revenue of Benares amounted 

 to 380,0001. Alrnofb in every village of this province, 

 which is in a vciy profpcrous (late, a pcrfon is employed in 

 teaching the vouth to road and write ; and they have a lin- 

 gular method (if teachinjj reading and writing at the fame 

 time. The boys are colltclcd upon a fmootli flat of fand, 

 and with a iingtr or a fmall reed form the letters there, 

 wiiith they pronounce at the fame time. As often as the 

 fpace before each fcliolar is filled up with writing, it is ef- 

 faced, and prepared for a new lefTon : thus the expcnce of 

 pens, ink, paper, and even a houfe is avoided. The educa- 

 tion at Benares is chiefly inilituted for the Brahmins. 



Benares, the chief city of the foremcntioned dillrift, is 

 very rich, and the mull completely built of aay. It occu- 

 pies the north bsjik of the Ganges, and is diftant from Cal- 

 cutta by the road, about 460 miles, and by Moorfhcdabad 

 565 miles. Its ancient name was Kali ; but there are no 

 notices concerning it in the works of the ancient geogra- 

 phers. If it had exiilfd during the time of the Syrian am- 

 bafTadors, Pliny would have noticed it, as he has done Me- 

 thora or Matura, and Clifobara, which lay near the Jumn.ih 

 river. This city is .about fix miles long and four wide ; and 

 may be viewed in its utmoll extent from the tops of the Mi- 

 narets of the mofque, erefted by Aurungzcbe on the foun- 

 dation of an ancient Hindoo temple, and lately repaired by 

 Mr. Hallings. It abounds in coftly (Iruftures ; but Mr. 

 Forfler, in his " Journey from Bengal to England," fays, 

 that the irregular and comprefled manner which has been 

 invariably adopted in forming the ftreets, deftroys the effeft 

 which fymmetry and arrangement would have bellowed on a 

 city, entitled, from its valuable buildings, to a preference of 

 any capital, feen by him in India ; and it is alfo very in- 

 jurious to the falubrity of the town. At Benares the num- 

 ber of Europeans is very fmall ; a judge, regift^er, colleftor, 

 with a few civil fervants, conftitute the vvhole of the com- 

 pany's ellabhlhment there ; and a few private merchants aiid 

 planters make up the whole fociety. Of natives, however, 

 the number is great ; and many of the bankers are the prin- 

 cipal creditors of the India company, and pofTefs immenfe 

 fcriunes. The poor in Benares are (till more numerous, ow- 

 ing to the crowd of pilgrims, who come from all parts 

 to vifit fo facred a place. Mr. Hodges, in his " Travels 

 in India," informs us, that in examining one of the tem- 

 ples of Benares, he was furprized to find moft of the orna- 

 mental parts of Grecian architefture in a building erefted 

 on the plains of Hindoflan. Benares has been from time im- 

 memorial the Athens of India, the refidcnce of the iVioil 

 leamtd Brahmins, and the feat both of fcienee and literature. 

 Here, it is probable, whatever remains of the ancient aftro- 

 nomical knowledge and difcoverie§ of the Brahmins is ftill 

 preferved. M. Bernier (Voy. ii. p. 148.) faw, in the year 

 1668, a large hall in this city filled with the works of the 

 Indian philofophers, phyCcians, and potts. Sir Robert 

 Chambers has defcribed the obfervatory at Benares, which he 

 vifited in 1772. (See Observatory). He has more 

 lately difcovered in this city the " Surja Siddhanta," on the 

 principles of which the whole Indian aflronomy is founded. 

 Several confiderable txtrads of this work have been tvanflat- 



BEN 



ed by Samuel Davis, Efq. to whom this valuable work was 

 communicated. It is compofed in the Sanfkreet language, 

 and profefles to be a divine revelation, communicated to 

 mankind more than two millions of years ago, tov.ards the 

 clofe of the Sutty or Satya Jogue, the firll of the four fa- 

 bulous ages, into which the Hindoo niythologiUs divide the 

 period during which they fuppofe the world to ha\e exilled. 

 It appears froru what is already known of this book, that 

 independently of the fiftlon and romance which are blended 

 in the account of its origin, it contains a very rational and 

 elaborate fyllem of allroiiomical calculation, and feveral rules 

 and tables, for tlie calculation of eclipfes, S:c. which feem 

 very much to favour the liypothefis adopted by M. Bailly, 

 Dr. Robertfon, and others, that afcribes a very high anti- 

 quity to the allronomy of the Brahmins. In the rules con- 

 tained ill this work is included a fyllem ot trigonometry, 

 founded on certain geometrical Ineorems, with which, 

 though unknown to Ptolemy and the Greek geometricians, 

 modern mathematicians are well acquainted. For an ac- 

 count of the ailronomical computations of the Hindoos, by- 

 Samuel Davis, Efq. fee Afiatic Refearches, vol. ii p. 225, 

 &c. 8vo. and for remarks on the allronomy of the Brahmins, 

 and for an account of the principles on which the Hindoo 

 fyllem of trigonometry is founded, by profefTor Playfair, fee 

 Edinb. Tranl. vol. ii. p. 135. It appears, however, from an 

 elaborate diflertation on the antiquity of the Suiya Siddhanta, 

 by Mr. J. Bentley, publiflied in the Afiatic Refearches, vol. vi. 

 p. 540, &e. that the fyllem, lo eagerly applauded and re- 

 ferred by the above-mentioned writers to fuch remote anti- 

 quity, cannot be of a greater age than 731 years; or that 

 it was compofed about A. D. 1068. 



Notwithftanding the fcienee and literature that have been 

 cultivated by the Brahmins at Benares, we difcover traces 

 of fuperftiticn, and even of inhumanity, in fome of their cuf- 

 toms, which, it is hoped, the interference of the court of 

 juftice, eftablidied there in 1783, will gradually reftrain and 

 reform. As the perfon of a Brahmin is inviolate, no atone- 

 m^'nt can expiate the crime of occafioning his death. Hence 

 originated a praftice, which was formerly frequent at Be- 

 nares, and which in its elTefts approaches the neareft to our 

 caption, or aneft. The Brahmin, who adopts this expedi-, 

 ent, in order to procure redrefs, proceeds, armed with a 

 dagger or poifon, to the door of his adverfary's houfe ; 

 where he deliberately fets himftlf down, and threatens to com- 

 mit fuicide, if the oflender (hould attempt to pafs or moleft 

 him. He falls with inflexible rigour, to v;hich the other 

 party hkewife fubmits, and perfeveres in his rtfulution until 

 Idtisfaftion is obtained. This praftice, called iitting in 

 " Dherna," is not confined to the male Brahmins only ; for 

 an inllance occurred at Benares in 1789, of a widow's re- 

 curring to this expedient, in order to obtain, in a litigation 

 with her brother-in-law, that juilice, which neither the 

 award of arbitration nor the decifion of the court had grant- 

 ed her. Both failed pertinacioufly during thirteen days, 

 when, worn out with hunger, her antagonift at laft yielded 

 the contell. Another inftance occurred in 1794. An inha- 

 bitant of a dllhift in the province of Benares fat in Dherna 

 before the houfe of fome Rajepoots, for the purpofe of ob- 

 taining the payment of " Birt," or a charitable fubfiflence, 

 to which he had a claim ; and in this fituation deilroyed 

 himfell by fwallowing poifon. Some of the relations of the 

 deceafed retained his corpfe for two days before the houfe of 

 the Rajepoots, who were thus compelled to forego taking 

 fuftenance, in order to induce them to fettle the Birt on the 

 heirs of the deceafed Brahmin. This praftice is not fpe- 

 cifically pointed out by the fliafler, but depends merely on 

 the fanftioB of ufage. Another praftice of the Brahmins, 



equally 



