244 Dervishes and Hadjis. 



the different peoples of the East. It is true, Mahommedanisin 

 enforces the dogma, "All the true believers are brethren;" 

 but the origin and home of the different sects are easily 

 recognized. Bektashi, Mevlevi, and Eufai are principally 

 natives of Turkey, because Bektash, the enthusiastic founder 

 of the Janissaries, Molla Djelaleddin Rumi, the great poet 

 of the Mesnevi, lived and are buried in Turkey; the 

 Kadrie and Djelali are most frequently met with in Arabia, 

 the Oveisi, and Nurbakhchi Nimetullahi in Persia, the Khi- 

 lali and Zahibi in India, and the Nakishbendi and Sofi 

 Islam* in Central Asia. The members of the different frater- 

 nities are bound together by very close ties ; apprentices 

 (Murid) and assistants (Khalfa) have to yield implicit obedience 

 to the chief (Pir), who has an unlimited power over the life 

 and property of his brethren. But these fraternities do not in 

 the least trouble themselves about secret political or social 

 objects, as is sometimes asserted in Europe by enthusiastic 

 travellers, who have even discovered freemasons amongst the 

 Bedouin tribes of the Great Desert. The dervishes are the 

 monks of Islamism ; and the spirit which created and sustains 

 them is that of religious fanaticism, and they differ from each 

 other only by the manner in which they demonstrate their 

 enthusiasm. For instance, whilst one of these religious orders 

 commands constant pilgrimages to the tombs of saints, the other 

 lays down stringent rules for reflection on divine infinity and 

 the insignificance of our existence. A third compels his vota- 

 ries to occupy themselves day and night with repeating the 

 name of God (Zikr), and hymns (Teikin) ; and it cannot sur- 

 prise us to learn that the greater number of a company which 

 has continually been calling out with all its might " Ja hu ! 

 Ja hakk ! La illahi illahu \ >} are seized with delirium tremens. 

 The orthodox call this condition Medjzub ; i. e. 3 carried away 

 by divine love, or to be in ecstasy. A person to whom such a 

 fortunate event happens, for as such it is regarded, is envied by 

 everybody ; and as long as it lasts, the sick and the maimed and 

 barren women try to get in his immediate presence, taking hold 

 of his dress, as touching it is supposed to have healing power. 

 What the dervishes are able to do dining the ecstasy caused 

 by Zikr, I had once an opportunity of witnessing in Samar- 

 kand. In Dehbid, close to the tomb of the Makhdun Aazaram, 

 one of these howling companies had grouped themselves around 

 the Pir (chief) of that district. At first they contented them- 



* Sofi Islam is a sect which originated about thirty years ago. Its founder, a 

 Tadjik, from Belkh, was desirous of opposing the ever-increasing influence of 

 the IN'akishbendi. In this fraternity prevails the principle of communism and 

 blood relationship. The Sofi Islamites wear a cap trimmed with fur, and are 

 most frequently met with this side of the Oxus, as far as Herat, and also amongst 

 the Turkomans. 



