THE MESSIAH OF QADIAN. 



257 



The speaker mentioned the ten lost Jewish tribes. I remember 

 how, at the Royal Asiatic Society, the late Surgeon-General 

 Bellew contended that not only were the Jews moved from one 

 country to another, but that other tribes were forcibly migrated by 

 Alexander the Great from Asia Minor to the Punjab, and strove to 

 prove his views by the similarities which he saw between the 

 Punjabi and Greek tongue. Other writers have also given in that 

 way a Semitic or Central Asian origin for some of the inhabitants of 

 the Punjab and Raj put ana. It is probable that the prevailing ideas 

 of both Europeans and natives therefore guided the Mirza in his 

 speculations on this question. 



As regards the remarks on the grave of Yus Asaf in Srinagar, 

 there is great respect every where for such tombs. Several years 

 ago I occupied rooms in the palace of the Hindu Maharajah of 

 Bard wan, and just outside our window we saw the grave of a 

 Mahomedan pir or saint, which was not only tolerated but visited, 

 and offerings placed upon it by Hindus as well as Musalmans in 

 order to propitiate the occupant. On the road to Baalbek, a 

 little later, we were shown the tomb of Noah, which was 120 feet 

 long but only two or three feet wide. It was covered with pocket 

 handkerchiefs, which women placed there in the hope of getting 

 children or of saving their sick ones. Some people said it was part 

 of an old water pipe ! The tomb of Abel was not far off, and I 

 believe there is another of his near Mecca ; but all these old 

 monuments have one thing in common in that they refer to the 

 antediluvian patriarchs and were very large. In later ages the 

 length diminished ; but as our Lord's stature was that of an ordinary 

 man, the Srinagar tomb could not have been his. Indian Mohamedans 

 would readily understand such an argument ; but the truth is the 

 Mirza is a very clever man who makes the most of a little 

 knowledge. His astuteness is shown also in making use of current 

 beliefs and of all the religions of which he knows anything. All 

 people in the East are at present on the look out for some great 

 prophet — Messiah — or Mahdi. The Hindus expect the tenth 

 incarnation of Vishnu or the Kalki Avatara, and even say where 

 he is to appear — viz., at Sambal in the central provinces of India. 

 He will be seated on a horse of which three legs are on the ground 

 and the fourth is raised. When the beast puts the uplifted foot on the 

 ground the incarnation will appear and conquer and rule the world. 



