110 Proceedings of the Asiatic Society. [May, 



" During a recent tour in the interior of the Lahore district, I heard 

 much of the beauties of an artificial tank, in the Kassur Pergunnah, 

 at the village of Thamman ; and as I am not aware that it has 

 been described, the following account of it, and of the traditional 

 history of the fraternity to which it belongs, may not be altogether 

 void of interest. 



" The tank itself is of an oblong shape, and its beauty is greatly en- 

 hanced to an European eye by the two longer sides being broken into 

 a succession of curves, by which means the stiffness and angularity 

 which detract so much from the appearance of most Indian works of 

 this nature, are quite got rid of. It is surrounded by a brick wall, 

 with ghats in one or two places, but as there is no continuous walk 

 immediately round it, I was unable, by pacing it, to obtain even an 

 approximate idea of its dimensions : the headmen of the village, 

 however, said its area was larger than that of the great tank surround- 

 ing the Sikh temple at Umritsur, and I am inclined to agree with 

 them. The effect is also improved by a small islet, covered with 

 trees and verdure, which rises out of the water near the western face ; 

 and the legend connected with which will be mentioned below. 



" On all sides stand the samadhs and hospices of the fraternity of 

 Vairagee faqirs to whom the place belongs, thickly interspersed with 

 splendid trees, peepuls, acacias and sissoos ; and in passing, it may be 

 remarked, that it is to the care of these mendicants, objectionable as 

 the class may be in many points, that Upper India owes so many of 

 those really magnificent trees, which make, so to speak, such frequent 

 oases of beauty in the midst of the dull monotony of the ordinary 

 landscape. The buildings which are all constructed of burnt brick, 

 and stand at short distances from each other, are mostly tenantless, 

 except for some three days in the year, in the beginning of the month 

 of Baisakh, when a large fair is held, at which the whole country side 

 collects. From some of the brotherhood, I obtained the following 

 account of the origin of the sect established here, and of the tank 

 itself:— 



" About the time of the Emperor Shah Jehan, there lived in the vil- 

 lage of Killah in the Derajat, a peasant gifted with more than mortal 

 knowledge, by name Itai Mull. His wife, going one day to the village 

 well to draw water, was driven away by the other women, who reviled 



