1839.] March between Mhoiv and Saugor, 1838. 821 



fore us are carefully carved and ornamented ; and such astanas seem 

 peculiar to the south of India.* 



The dread of villagers, Shaka Siam,t is represented on horseback 

 with a long spear, as is the Deccan favorite Kundee Rao, and Pabooji, 

 whose picture may be seen in Tod, and Ramdeo, a Marwari incarna- 

 tion of Krishn, and many others : or we should at once have set them 

 down as the twenty-four Bagrawuts,j had not the worship of those 

 worthies been peculiar to Mewar and the countries near it. It would be 

 a mere waste of time and paper to notice the various forms and seasons 

 in which the horse is worshipped in India ; we will not therefore 

 weary you with a vain parade of research, but content ourselves with 



* As are a large proportion of the customs described in the Quanoon-i-Islam, quod 

 vide page 279. 



f A corruption probably of Saka Swami, the Lord of Slaughter, for he is principally 

 worshipped, I am told, on fields where a battle has been fought. His statues are more 

 commonly found in company with those of brother spirits, as Goga, Phurna Gee, &c. 

 but he is said to have a temple to himself, at Nursinghur near Bersiah. The following 

 story related to us by an old villager, will remind you of the black rider of the Hartz. 

 A buniah had to return home from a Mela, but the gains of the day were in his purse — 

 night was coming on — the road was of bad repute, and he feared to go alone. A soldier 

 passing by, offered himself as an escort — No, objected the buniah, you are armed, and 

 I am weak ; you yourself may rob me. Anxious however to get home, and encouraged by 

 reiterated assurances of protection, he agreed to trust himself in the stranger's company, 

 provided he would swear by Shaka Siam to do him no injury. Shaka Siam is between us 

 (beechmen) replied the soldier; but no sooner was the village out of sight, than he 

 robbed the unhappy merchant of not only his money but his clothes, tauntingly ex- 

 claiming, Where is your Shaka Siam? if he be between us why does he not assist you ? 

 Hardly had the words passed his lips, when a tall horseman was seen in the distance — 

 his jet black steed outstripped the wind — one moment, and the soldier was transfixed 

 by the lance of the rider. The poor buniah had closed his eyes in terror — when he look- 

 ed up, the horseman had vanished — the soldier lay dead at his feet. 



X That very singular class of people, the Bhopas, who are the Pundas (poojaris) of 

 most of the heroes I have enumerated, carry round the villages a long cloth called 

 a phow tfj^ (similar to the puts for which Juggernath is celebrated) on which the 

 history of the twenty -four brothers is painted in glaring colours. I have one six feet long, 

 and a yard high, which, if a novelty, I pi-opose offering to the Society's acceptance ; an- 

 nexing to it the explanatory legends, which though Tod seems to have thought them un- 

 worthy of record, are indispensable to one who wishes to understand the theology of these 

 regions, Pabooji has &phur to himself, which shall also be sent if acceptable : of Ram 

 Deo and his worship a description is deferred to another occasion. Tod's Rajastr. 1, 

 730. 2, 759. [ I sent this down to the Society a year ago, but have not heard 

 of its arrival. The rest of my engagements I must beg to renounce ; the fulfilling f 

 them is here impossible.] 



