Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 1.djvu/498

 A very intelligent person, by name Bisharut Ali, who acted as cicerone, was much pleased to show off the place, and relate his wonderful stories. Amongst other traditions, he told me that, "in former times, Fathīpoor Sicri was infested with wild beasts, and the people who came to see the saint marvelled he was not afraid to live in such a wilderness; the next day, they found a lion and a wolf at the holy man's door; the lion walking up and down and keeping guard, and the wolf brushing away the dust and dirt before the habitation of the saint"—with his tail, I suppose, for they say nothing of a broom. This Bisharut Ali is a pensioner on three rupees eight ānās a month; his profile, and that of Mulka Begam's, who is a descendant of Akbar's, were so much alike, that I could not help asking him if he were of Selīm Cheestie's family? He replied, "No; my ancestor was the teacher (oostād) of the saint!"

There is much to visit at this place: the mosque, the numerous tombs, and also a very curious building, in which the council of the nation was held.

The place that most interested my imagination was the Temple of Magic, in which Akbar used to study. How much the Emperor, who was greatly addicted to the art, must have been interested in casting the nativity of the sons of his pilgrimage, and in the important task of selecting fortunate names!

On the birth of the heir, the City of Victory must have resounded with the roar of cannon, in honour of the happy event; even the poorest Musulmān testifies his rejoicing on such an occasion by firing off a matchlock; but should the offspring be a girl, the cannon is silent, and no matchlocks are in requisition. There are five different modes of naming children, two of which are as follow:—

Sometimes the infant obtains the name of some one of the family, as that of the parent's father, (it is not customary among Musulmāns to give their own names to their children,) the grandfather, great-grandfather, or the tutelary saint venerated in the family; hence the name of Selīm was given to the first-born of the Emperor.

"Amongst some people it is customary to choose a name from