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66 Travels into ^/^^ I N D I E S. Part III 
C H A P. XXXIX. 
Of the Province of Halabas, and of the Faquirs 
of the Indies^ 
The Province 
of Halabas. 
Nurvar, 
Me V fit. 
Chrjiffihacra. 
jiJam, E've. 
The Indians 
Purification in 
the Ga7tges. 
NarvaljGehitd. 
Towns. 
FiiquPrs, 
Gypfes, Fa- 
quirs. 
Prince Revan. 
Herman thê 
Ape. 
THe Province of Haîahas was heretofore called Turop : In it are compre- 
hended Narvar and Mevat^ which have Bengala to the South. The 
chief Town (lying upon the fide of the Ganges , at the mouth of the River 
Gemini) bears the name of the Province -, for a long time it was one of the 
Bulwarks of the Kingdom of the Tatans, and is the fame Town which Tliny 
calls Chryfobacra. It fell under the power of the Great Mogul Ecbar, after 
he had fubdued the Kingdom of Bengala : He caufed the ftrong Citadel to 
be built there,which ftands upon a tongue of Land,begirt with three Walls, 
whereof the laft (I mean the outmoit Wall ) was of very hard red Stone. 
That Caftlc is adorned with a very ancient Obelisk -, it is above fixty Foot 
high from the ground, and has many Infcriptions upon it ; but the Letters 
of it are fo worn out, that one cannot fo much as diftineuifh the Chara6ter. 
The Kings Palace is alfo a fair pile of Building-, an^ underneath it there 
are places Arched, where the Pagods are carefully kept , which the Peo- 
ple of the Countrey attribute to Adam and Eve , whofe Religion they pre- 
tend to follow : Thither comes at certain times an incredible concours of 
People, in Pilgrimage from all parts of the 7««?iej -, and they are drawn thi- 
ther by the belief they have, that Adam and Ei;e were created there : But be- 
fore they approach that place (which they look upon to be holy)they throw 
themfelves ftark naked into the Ganges to be purified , and they have their 
Beards and Hair , that they may merit the Honour of being introduced. 
That Province liatha great many good Towns, of which number are Nar- 
'val and Gehud -, but the People there are fo extravagant in point of Religi- 
on, that hardly any thing is to be underftood of it : They are taken with 
every thing they fee y and approve all the Adions of thofe that make any 
fhew of Devotion, never minding whether it be true or falfe. It many times 
happens that a Banian will give a Faquir confiderable Sums of MonCy , be- 
caufe he has the boldnefs to place himfelf near his Shop, and to protefi: that 
he'll kill himfelf if he be not fupplied with what he demands : The Banian 
promifes fair, and brings it him -, but becaufe the fantaftical Faquir under- 
ftands that feveral have contributed to that Charity , he openly refufes it, 
and goes about to execute what he hath threatned , if the Banian alone fur- 
nilh not the Sum -, and the Banian knowing that fome Faquirs have been fo 
defperate as to kill themfelves upon the like occafion,is fo much a fool as to 
give it out of his own Purfe , and to give the others back again what they 
had contributed. 
Thefe Faqutrs (who give themfelves out to be of a Religious Order)have 
commonly no place to retreat unto , unlefs it be fome Pagods -, and they 
cannot be better compared (if you'll fet afide the Penances they do) than to 
Gypfies, for their way of Living is like theirs -, and I believe their Profeffion 
has the fame Original , which is Libertinifme. However, they attribute it 
to a Prince mmta Re'uan , who had a Qiiarrel with Ram-^ and who being 
overcome and ftript of all, bv an Ape called Herrtian , fpent the reft of his 
Life in rambling over the World , having no other fubfiftence for himfelf 
and his followers but what was given him in Charity. 
They afe many times to be feen in Troops at Halabas^wherc they AfTem- 
ble for Celebrating of fome Feafts (for which they are obliged to wafh them- 
felves in the Ganges ) and to perform certain Ceremonies. Such of them as 
do 
