RELIGIOUS SECTS OF THE HINDUS. 299 



consists of eating in the society of members of both communions : with 

 this exception, and the admission of the general principle, it does not 

 appear that the two classes confound their civil or even religious distinc- 

 tions: they continue to observe the practices and ritual of their fore- 

 fathers, whether Musselman or Hindu, and the union, beyond that of 

 community of eating, is no more than any rational individual of either 

 sect is fully prepared for, or the admission, that the God of both, and of 

 all religions, is one and the same. 



SADHS. 



A full account of this sect of Hindu Unitarians, by the Reverend Mr. 

 Fisher, was published in the Missionary Intelligencer some years ago, 

 and some further notice of them is inserted in the Transactions of the 

 Royal Asiatic Society, by Mr. Trant. They are distinguished from other 

 Hindus, by professing the adoration of one Creator, and by personal 

 and moral observances which entitle them, in their own estimation, to 

 the appellation of Sddhs, Sddhus, Pure or Puritans. 



The Sddhs are found chiefly in the upper part of the Doab, from 

 Farakhabad to beyond Delhi. In the former, they occupy a suburb called 

 Sddhivdra, and are more numerous there than in any other town, their 

 numbers are estimated at two thousand. There are said to be some at 

 Mirzapore, and a few more to the South ; their numbers, however, are 

 limited, and they are chiefly from the lower classes. 



The sect originated in the year of Vikramaditya, 1714, (A. D. 1658) 

 according to Mr. Trant, with a person named BirbhXn, who received a 

 miraculous communication from one Udaya Das, and in consequence 

 taught the Sadh doctrines. Mr. Fisher calls Birbhan the disciple of 



