BOORHANPOOR. 
118 
THE LEGEND OF ASA AHEER. 
Upon the summit of a high hill, about twelve 
miles from the spot on which Boorhanpoor now 
exhibits its giddy towers and circling domes, there 
stood, in ancient times, the habitation of a herds- 
man; whose ancestors, through untold generations, 
had enjoyed peaceful possession of the soil of the 
mountain, from its summit to its base. In the reign 
of Moolluk Raja, the first of the sovereigns of Kan- 
deish, about a.d. 1365, this little territory was held 
by Asa Aheer, (Asa the cow-herd), who is said to 
have possessed records and traditions of his fore- 
fathers, extending over a period of seven hundred 
years. Yet was not Asa Aheer inferior in wisdom 
or benevolence to any of his family who had gone 
before him, and the flourishing condition of the 
estate was a living proof of their skill and prudence: 
for by dint of industry and good management, from 
generation to generation, the family had raised them- 
selves from poverty to the enjoyment of great agri- 
cultural wealth and influence. Asa Aheer, having 
greatly improved and extended the habitations and 
defences upon the mountain, gave it the name of 
Aseer, a familiar corruption of his patronymic ; and, 
after a few years of careful toil and well-applied 
diligence, he found himself possessed of retainers, of 
herds, and treasure, ten-fold of his original inherit- 
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