1867.] On the Antiquities of Bdgerhat. 131 



on the kalkis or tobacco-bowls of ordinary Maliomedan hukkas, as 

 also on a common musical instrument called the bayan. 



The grave of Khan Jahan is placed in the middle of the hall, and 

 is covered by a large slab of pure white Jeypur marble, raised on 

 three masonry steps inlaid with encaustic tiles. It was erected in the 

 year of Hijira 863 = A. D. 1458, — just 409 years ago. According to 

 popular belief, the tomb was built in the lifetime and at the expense 

 of the Khan, who departed this life on the night of Wednesday the 

 26th of Jilhijja i. e. about the end of March or the beginning of 

 April. The epitaph is in Arabic, inscribed in golden letters, and, like 

 most epitaphs, is brimful of nauseating praise (vide Appendix A), 

 but the Khan in popular estimation was not unworthy of it. In his 

 lifetime he was reckoned a saint, and to this day he is worshipped as 

 such by Hindus and Mahomedans alike. Flowers are strewn over 

 his grave every day by the attendant Fakirs, and pilgrims from 

 various parts of eastern Bengal come all round the year to offer to it 

 their salutations. On the full moon of Chaitra, supposed to be the 

 | anniversary of the Khan's death, a grand mela is held near the tomb, 

 when over ten thousand people assemble to commemorate his piety 

 . and sanctity. 



On the sides of the grave-stone, there are four different inscriptions, 



i copies of which I also annex (Appendixes B to E). Three quotations 



• from the Koran are also given, but these I did not deem worth copying. 



, The only available article of interest in the building was an old curi- 



1 ously-carved Koran-stand, which I brought away for deposit in the 



museum of the Asiatic Society ; as the stand was never used by 



anybody, the sacrilegious hands I put on it, will, I fancy, cause no 



inconvenience to the faithful. 



In the side-aisles there are three or four graves, but without 

 inscriptions, and the attendants could give no reliable account of the 

 people whose bodies rest in them. 



The tomb is situated in a large quadrangle surrounded by a masonry 

 wall. Within this enclosure there are several graves, but of no historical 

 or artistic importance. There is, however, a small cenotaph on the 

 north side which is worthy of a short notice. If is of modest size 

 and no architectural pretension ; but it was built by a zealot, one 

 Mohammed Taer alias Pir Ally by name, whose religious fervour forced 



