1844.] Notice of the Ajaib-al-Mukhlukat. 661 



Some believe the statue of Shabdez to have been the performance of 

 Ferhad. 



The Rumis, 



Riim is a name given by the Arabs to Greece and part of Turkey. 



The Rumis are descended from the progeny of Syaz, son of Ishak, 

 (Isaac.) They dwell in the Western parts of the 5th and 6th climes, 

 and are a sensual race, Zohreh (Venus) being dominant. 

 The Religion of the Rumis. 



Anciently, philosophy prevailed : their princes were then sages. 

 Subsequently they adopted the tenets of the Nazarenes, (Christians.) 

 There are three sects ; the first, the Malekanis, call Jesus the Messiah, 

 the son of God ; the second aver that He is God Himself, the Holy 

 Spirit, and the Messiah ; while the third, the Yakubis say, that he is of 

 God. The author, after remarking on the customs of the Rumis, pro- 

 ceeds to mention the Turkomans and Tatars. 



The Turkomans and Tatars 

 are a fierce and choleric race, inhabiting the tracts lying to the eastward 

 of all the climes. Mars dominant. 



Religion. 



They have no fixed religion : some worship the sun, and others are 

 followers of Mani* 



The Hindus. 



The Hindus inhabit the Eastern parts of the 1st and 2nd climes. 

 They are in general believers in the metempsychosis. A few believe 

 in the great God, but deny the prophets. They are idolaters. 



They had a prince called Brahma, whom they look up to as the 

 Imam of their faith, and from whom descended the Brahmans. 



They do not deprive animals of life, and abstain from eating their 

 flesh. The author notices, among the customs of the Hindus, that of 

 Suttees; of burning the dead; of brothers marrying one woman, (as 

 practised in Nepaul and on the Malabar Coast.) 



* Mani is the Painter paraclete of Persia, who having j umbled together the doc- 

 trines of the gospel ; the metempsychosis of the Brahmans ; the two great principles of 

 the Zoroastrian faith; viz. those of good and evil, or of light and darkness with the 

 tenets of the Koran, founded the sect of Manichaeans, and enrolled in its ranks Chris- 

 tian Bishops and Patriarchs, Mussulmans and Fire-worshippers. This impostor lived 

 in the reign of Shapur, son of Ardeshir, king of Persia, and was put to death in that of 

 Bahrain, grandson of Shapur. 



