Page:The People of India — a series of photographic illustrations, with descriptive letterpress, of the races and tribes of Hindustan Vol 2.djvu/154

Rh "On a particular day, as his holiness Mahomed Moostuffa was sitting in company with his son-in-law Ali, and his daughter Fatima, together with his grandsons Hassan and Hoosein, the angel Gabriel descended from heaven with the divine revelation, and holding a blanket or sheet, or rather an abba or cloak, as a curtain of honour, on the heads of the holy 'Punjutum,' or five, as they are called, exclaimed, 'O Muhummud! the Almighty showers down upon thee the abundance of his rich blessing; and declares that ye who are present in the shade of this canopy, as well as the offspring of the four sitting with thee, and who believe in thee, shall henceforth be Syeds.'"

The term Syed was therefore confined to the descendants of Ali, while other direct descendants from Mahomed remained in their original rank of Sheikh.

The claim of descent from Mahomed has not prevented the Syuds from espousing opposite creeds in Mahomedanism, and some are Sheeahs; but the majority are Soonnees of the orthodox faith, who hold the so-called heretics in much abhorrence. Indeed, the dislike and even hatred of each other is common to both, and not unfrequently gives rise to disturbances, particularly at the festival of the Mohurrum, when the Sheeahs consider it meritorious, during the religious services of that festival, to curse their adversaries in a bitterly fanatical spirit. Among the Soonnees much license and buffoonery is practised at the Mohurrum, while among the Syuds, both Soonnees and Sheeahs, it is a period of grief and lamentation.

As far as possible Syuds marry among themselves; but daughters of poor Syuds are sometimes obtained under an ample consideration of dower, for the sons of respectable Sheikhs. It is by no means so common, even if it occurs at all, that young male Syuds marry into Sheikh families. Among the Syuds there are peculiar ceremonies, differing from those of the Sheikhs, at religious festivals, both public and domestic; and Syuds may be considered, perhaps, greater ritualists, and, if possible, more bigoted religionists than the Sheikhs. Any description, however, of these ceremonies, and their details, would be foreign to the present purpose, and are therefore omitted. The general reader may, however, consult with advantage Mrs. Meer Hassan All's narrative of her residence at Lukhnow with her husband, her descriptions being very faithful and entertaining. Her husband, Meer Hassan Ah, appears to have been a Sheeah. Widows of Syuds of the poorer classes not unfrequently become Fakirs, put on a turban and green grave clothes, and make vows of devotion to the poor, supporting themselves by alms, which they share with sick and needy persons. In other cases they settle themselves on lonely roads, and minister to passing travellers, and many of such women receive almost saintly reverence from the people.