Page:Malabari, Behramji M. - Gujarat and the Gujaratis (1882).djvu/161

Rh

[]

The Dustoor is the ignis fatuus of the dark ages of religion. Historians of free-thought consider him a myth, whilst the faithful claim for him a direct descent from the Magi of old. If magi is Greek for maggots, then there is much sense in the latter interpretation, as the Dustoor's creed is, above all, very maggoty. But these interpretations do not at all settle the questions of origin. There is much doubt about the primary meaning of the compound or hybrid Dustoor. Some say it is a good Persian word meaning "pious leader" (vide Persian dictionary), others assert that Dusthoor, which is the correct rendering, means literally " the hand of Hoor." Max Müller lets off the Dustoor with the gentle hint that he originally came from Chinese Tartary. But M. M. is a wag. The intense Rast Goftar can prove that Dustoor means the