Lalla Rookh/Notes
NOTES.
NOTES.
Page 1.
These particulars of the visit of the King of Bucharia to Aurungzebe are found in Dow's History of Hindostan, vol. iii. p. 392.
Page 2.
Leila.
The mistress of Mejnoun, upon whose story so many Romances, in all the languages of the East, are founded.
Page 2.
Shirine.
For the loves of this celebrated beauty with Khosrou and with Ferhad, v. D'Herbelot, Gibbon, Oriental Collections, &c.
Page 2.
Dewildé.
"The history of the loves of Dewildé and Chizer, the son of the Emperor Alla, is written, in an elegant poem, by the noble Chusero."—Ferishta.
Page 3.
Those insignia of the Emperor's favour, &c.
"One mark of honour or knighthood bestowed by the Emperor is the permission to wear a small kettledrum at the bows of their saddles, which at first was invented for the training of hawks, and to call them to the lure, and is worn in the field by all sportsmen for that end." Fryer's Travels.
"Those on whom the King has conferred the privilege must wear an ornament of jewels on the right side of the turban, surmounted by a high plume of the feathers of a kind of egret. This bird is found only in Cashmeer, and the feathers are carefully collected for the King, who bestows them on his nobles."—Elphinstone's Account of Caubul.
Page 3.
Kheder Khan, &c.
"Kheder Khan, the Khakan, or King of Turquestan beyond the Gihon (at the end of the eleventh century) whenever he appeared abroad was preceded by seven hundred horsemen with silver battle-axes, and was followed by an equal number bearing maces of gold. He was a great patron of poetry, and it was he who used to preside at public exercises of genius, with four basons of gold and silver by him to distribute among the poets who excelled."—Richardson's Dissertation, prefixed to his Dictionary.
Page 3.
The gilt pine-apples, &c.
"The kubdeh, a large golden knob, generally in the shape of a pine-apple, on the top of the canopy over the litter or palanquin."—Scott's notes on the Bahardanush.
Page 3.
The rose-coloured veils of the Princess's litter.
In the Poem of Zohair, in the Moallakat, there is the following lively description of "a company of maidens seated on camels."
"They are mounted in carriages, covered with costly awnings, and with rose-coloured veils, the linings of which have the hue of crimson Andem-wood.
"When they ascend from the bosom of the vale, they sit forward on the saddle-cloths, with every mark of a voluptuous gaiety.
"Now, when they have reached the brink of yon blue gushing rivulet, they fix the poles of their tents like the Arab with a settled mansion."
Page 4.
A young female slave sat fanning her, &c.
See Bernier's description of the attendants on Rauchanara-Begum in her progress to Cashmere.
Page 4.
Religion, of which Aurungzebe was a munificent protector.
This hypocritical Emperor would have made a worthy associate of certain Holy Leagues.—"He held the cloak of religion (says Dow) between his actions and the vulgar; and impiously thanked the Divinity for a success which he owed to his own wickedness. When he was murdering and persecuting his brothers and their families, he was building a magnificent mosque at Delhi, as an offering to God for his assistance to him in the civil wars. He acted as high-priest at the consecration of this temple; and made a practice of attending divine service there, in the humble dress of a Fakeer. But when he lifted one hand to the Divinity, he, with the other, signed warrants for the assassination of his relations."—History of Hindostan, vol. iii. p. 335. See also the curious letter of Aurungzebe, given in the Oriental Collections, vol. i. p. 320.
Page 5.
The diamond eyes of the idol, &c.
"The Idol at Jaghernat has two fine diamonds for eyes. No goldsmith is suffered to enter the Pagoda, one having stole one of these eyes, being locked up all night with the Idol."—Tavernier.
Page 5.
Gardens of Shalimar.
See a description of these royal Gardens in "An Account of the present state of Delhi, by Lieut. W. Franklin."—Asiat. Research. vol. iv. p. 417.
Page 5.
Lake of Pearl.
"In the neighbourhood is Notte Gill, or the Lake of Pearl, which receives this name from its pellucid water."—Pennant's Hindoostan.
"Nasir Jung encamped in the vicinity of the Lake of Tonoor, amused himself with sailing on that clear and beautiful water, and gave it the fanciful name of Motee Talab, the Lake of Pearls,' which it still retains."—Wilks's South of India.
Page 5.
Described by one from the Isles of the West, &c.
Sir Thomas Roe, Ambassador from James I. to Jehanguire.
Page 5.
Loves of Wamak and Ezra.
"The romance Wemakweazra, written in Persian verse, which contains the loves of Wamak and Ezra, two celebrated lovers who lived before the time of Mahomet."—Note on the Oriental Tales.
Page 5.
Of the fair-haired Zal, and his mistress, Rodahver.
Their amour is recounted in the Shah-Namêh of Ferdousi; and there is much beauty in the passage which describes the slaves of Rodalver, sitting on the bank of the river and throwing flowers into the stream, in order to draw the attention of the young Hero who is encamped on the opposite side.—v. Champion's Translation.
Page 5.
The combat of Rustam with the terrible white Dæmon.
Rustam is the Hercules of the Persians. For the particulars of his victory over the Sepeed Deeve, or White Demon, v. Oriental Collections, vol. ii. p. 45.—Near the city of Shirauz is an immense quadrangular monument, in commemoration of this combat, called The Kelaat-i-Deev Sepeed, or Castle of the White Giant, which Father Angelo, in his Gazophylacium Persicum, p. 127, declares to have been the most memorable monument of antiquity which he had seen in Persia.—v. Ouseley's Persian Miscellanies.}}
Page 6.
Their golden anklets.
"The women of the Idol, or dancing girls of the Pagoda, have little golden bells fastened to their feet, the soft, harmonious tinkling of which vibrates in unison with the exquisite melody of their voices."—Maurice's Indian Antiquities.
"The Arabian courtesans, like the Indian women, have little golden bells fastened round their legs, neck and elbows, to the sound of which they dance before the King. The Arabian princesses wear golden rings on their fingers, to which little bells are suspended, as well as in the flowing tresses of their hair, that their superior rank may be known, and they themselves receive in passing the homage due to them."—v. Calmet's Dictionary, art. Bells.
Page 7.
That delicious opium, &c.
"Abou-Tige, ville de la Thebaïde, ou il croit beaucoup de pavot noir, dont se fait le meilleur opium."—D'Herbelot.
Page 7.
That idol of women, Crishna.
"He and the three Rámas are described as youths of perfect beauty; and the Princesses of Hindustán were all passionately in love with Crishna, who continues to this hour the darling God of the Indian women."—Sir W. Jones, on the Gods of Greece, Italy, and India.
Page 7.
The shawl-goat of Tibet.
See Turner's Embassy for a description of this animal, "the most beautiful among the whole tribe of goats." The material for the shawls (which is carried to Cashmere) is found next the skin.
Page 7.
The veiled Prophet of Khorassan.
For the real history of this Impostor, whose original name was Hakem ben Haschem, and who was called Mocanna from the veil of silver gauze (or, as others say, golden) which he always wore, v. D'Herbelot.
Page 9.
Flowrets and fruits blush over every stream.
"The fruits of Meru are finer than those of any other place; and one cannot see in any other city such palaces, with groves, and streams, and gardens."—Ebn Haukal's Geography.
Page 10.
For far less luminous, &c.
"Ses disciples assuroient qu'il se couvroit le visage, pour ne pas éblouir ceux qui l'approchoit par l'éclat de son visage comme Moyse."—D'Herbelot.
Page 10.
In hatred to the Caliph's hue of night.
"Il faut remarquer ici touchant les habits blancs des disciples de Hakem, que la couleur des habits, des cöeffures et des étendarts des Khalifes Abassides etant la noire, ce chef de Rebelles ne pouvoit pas choisir une, qui lui fût plus opposée."—D'Herbelot.
Page 11.
Javelins of the light Khathaian reed.
"Our dark javelins, exquisitely wrought of Khathaian reeds, slender and delicate."—Poem of Amru.
Page 11.
Filled with the stems that bloom on Iran's rivers.
The Persians call this plant Gaz. The celebrated shaft of Isfendiar, one of their ancient heroes, was made of it.—"Nothing can be more beautiful than the appearance of this plant in flower during the rains on the banks of rivers, where it is usually interwoven with a lovely twining asclepias."—Sir W. Jones, Botanical Observations on Select Indian Plants.
Page 11.
Like a chenar-tree grove.
The oriental plane. "The chenar is a delightful tree; its bole is of a fine white and smooth bark; and its foliage, which grows in a tuft at the summit, is of a bright green."—Morier's Travels.
Page 13.
"The name of tulip is said to be of Turkish extraction, and given to the flower on account of its resembling a turban."—Beckmann's History of Inventions.
Page 13.
"The inhabitants of Bucharia wear a round cloth bonnet, shaped much after the Polish fashion, having a large fur border. They tie their kaftans about the middle with a girdle of a kind of silk crape, several times round the body."—Account of Independent Tartary, in Pinkerton's Collection.
Page 13.
This wonderful Throne was called The Star of the Genii. For a full description of it, see the Fragment, translated by Captain Franklin, from a Persian MS. entitled "the History of Jerusalem:"—Oriental Collections, vol. i. p. 285. When Solomon travelled, the eastern writers say, "he had a carpet of green silk on which his throne was placed, being of a prodigious length and breadth, and sufficient for all his forces to stand upon, the men placing themselves on his right hand and the spirits on his left; and that when all were in order, the wind, at his command, took up the carpet, and transported it, with all that were upon it, wherever he pleased; the army of birds at the same time flying over their heads, and forming a kind of canopy to shade them from the sun."—Sale's Koran, vol. ii. p. 214, note.
Page 16.
This is according to D'Herbelot's account of the doctrines of Mokanna, "Sa doctrine étoit que Dieu avoit pris une forme et figure humaine depuis qu'il eut commandé aux Anges d'adorer Adam, le premier des hommes. Qu'après la mort d'Adam, Dieu étoit apparu sous la figure de plusieurs Prophetes, et autres grands hommes qu'il avoit choisis, jusqu' à ce qu'il prît celle d'Abu Moslem, Prince de Khorassan, lequel professoit l'erreur de la Tenassukhiah ou Metempschychose; et qu' après la mort de ce Prince, la Divinité étoit passée, et descendue en sa personne."
Page 34.
"Apes are in many parts of India highly venerated, out of respect to the God Hannaman, a deity partaking of the form of that race."—Pennant's Hindoostan.
See a curious account in Stephen's Persia of a solemn embassy from some part of the Indies to Goa, when the Portuguese were there, offering vast treasures for the recovery of a monkey's tooth, which they held in great veneration, and which had been taken away upon the conquest of the kingdom of Jafanapatan.
Page 34.
The material of which images of Gaudma (the Birman Deity) is made, is held sacred. "Birmans may not purchase the marble in mass, but are suffered, and indeed encouraged, to buy figures of the Deity ready made."—Symes's Ava, vol. ii. p. 376.
Page 34.
This resolution of Eblis not to acknowledge the new creature, man, was, according to Mahometan tradition, thus adopted:—"The earth (which God had selected for the materials of his work), was carried into Arabia, to a place between Mecca and Tayef, where, being first kneaded by the angels, it was afterwards fashioned by God himself into a human form, and left to dry for the space of forty days, or, as others say, as many years; the angels, in the mean time, often visiting it, and Eblis (then one of the angels nearest to God's presence, afterwards the devil) among the rest; but he, not contented with looking at it, kicked it with his foot till it rung, and knowing God designed that creature to be his superior, took a secret resolution never to acknowledge him as such."—Sale on the Koran.
Page 44.
The humming-bird is said to run this risk for the purpose of picking the crocodile's teeth. The same circumstance is related of the Lapwing, as a fact to which he was witness, by Paul Lucas, Voyage fait en 1714.
Page 48.
Some artists of Yamtcheou having been sent on previously.
"The Feast of Lanterns is celebrated at Yamtcheou with more magnificence than any where else: and the report goes, that the illuminations there are so splendid, that an Emperor once, not daring openly to leave his Court to go thither, committed himself with the Queen and several Princesses of his family into the hands of a magician, who promised to transport then thither in a trice. He made them in the night to ascend magnificent thrones that were borne up by swans, which in a moment arrived at Yamtcheou. The Emperor saw at his leisure all the solemnity, being carried upon a cloud that hovered over the city and descended by degrees; and came back again with the same speed and equipage, nobody at court perceiving his absence."—The present State of China, p. 156.
Page 48.
Artificial sceneries of bamboo-work.
See a description of the nuptials of Vizier Alee in the Asiatic Annual Register of 1804.
Page 49.
The origin of these fantastic Chinese illuminations.
"The vulgar ascribe it to an accident that happened in the family of a famous mandarin, whose daughter walking one evening upon the shore of a lake, fell in and was drowned; this afflicted father, with his family, run thither, and, the better to find her, he caused a great company of lanterns to be lighted. All the inhabitants of the place thronged after him with torches. The year ensuing they made fires upon the shore on the same day; they continued the ceremony every year, every one lighted his lantern, and by degrees it commenced into a custom."—Present State of China.
Page 51.
The Kohol's jetty dye.
"None of these ladies," says Shaw, "take themselves to be completely dressed, till they have tinged the hair and edges of their eyelids with the powder of lead-ore. Now as this operation is performed by dipping first into the powder a small wooden bodkin of the thickness of a quill, and then drawing it afterwards, through the eyelids over the ball of the eye, we shall have a lively image of what the Prophet (Jer. iv. 30.) may be supposed to mean by rending the eyes with painting. This practice is no doubt of great antiquity; for besides the instance already taken notice of, we find that where Jezebel is said (2 Kings ix. 30) to have painted her face, the original words are, she adjusted her eyes with the powder of lead ore."—Shaw's Travels.
Page 55.
Tavernier adds, that while the Birds of Paradise lie in this intoxicated state, the emmets come and eat off their legs; and that hence it is they are said to have no feet.
Page 60.
As they were captives to the King of Flowers.
"They deferred it till the King of Flowers should ascend his throne of enamelled foliage."—The Bahardanush.
Page 60.
But a light golden chain-work round her hair, &c.
"One of the head-dresses of the Persian women is composed of a light golden chain-work, set with small pearls, with a thin gold plate pendant, about the bigness of a crown-piece, on which is impressed an Arabian prayer, and which hangs upon the check below the ear."—Hanway's Travels.
Page 62.
The maids of Yezd.
"Certainly the women of Yezd are the handsomest women in Persia. The proverb is, that to live happy a man must have a wife of Yezd, eat the bread of Yezdecas, and drink the wine of Shiraz."—Tavernier.
Page 67.
"Whose wanton eyes resemble blue water-lilies, agitated by the breeze."—Jayadeva.
I perceive there is a false rhyme in this song, which, often as I have read it over, never struck me till this moment.
Page 68.
To muse upon the pictures that hung round.
It has been generally supposed that the Mahometans prohibit all pictures of animals; but Toderini shews, that though the practice is forbidden by the Koran, they are not more averse to painted figures and images than other people. From Mr. Murphy's work, too, we find that the Arabs of Spain had no objection to the introduction of figures into painting.
Page 69.
"In the palace which Solomon ordered to be built against the arrival of the Queen of Saba, the floor or pavement was of transparent glass, laid over running water in which fish were swimming." This led the Queen into a very natural mistake, which the Koran has not thought beneath its dignity to commemorate. "It was said unto her, Enter the palace. And when she saw it she imagined it to be a great water; and she discovered her legs, by lifting up her robe to pass through it. Whereupon Solomon said to her, Verily, this is the place evenly floored with glass."—Chap. 27.
Page 69.
This is not quite astronomically true. "Dr. Hadley (says Keil) has shewn that Venus is brightest, when she is about forty degrees removed from the sun; and that then but only a fourth part of her lucid disk is to be seen from the earth."
Page 69.
Zuleika.
"Such was the name of Potiphar's wife, according to the sura, or chapter of the Alcoran, which contains the history of Joseph, and which for elegance of style surpasses every other of the Prophet's books; some Arabian writers also call her Rail. The passion which this frail beauty of antiquity conceived for her young Hebrew slave has given rise to a much esteemed poem in the Persian language, entitled Yusef vau Zelikha, by Noureddin Jami; the manuscript copy of which in the Bodleian Library at Oxford is supposed to be the finest in the whole world."—Note upon Nott's Translation of Hafez.
Page 83.
The apples of Istakhar.
"In the territory of Istakhar there is a kind of apple, half of which is sweet and half sour."—Ebn Haukal.
Page 83.
They saw a young Hindoo girl upon the bank.
For an account of this ceremony, v. Grandpré's Voyage in the Indian Ocean.
Page 84.
The Otontala or Sea of Stars.
"The place where the Whangho, a river of Tibet, rises, and where there are more than a hundred springs, which sparkle like stars; whence it is called Hotun hor, that is, the Sea of Stars."—Description of Tibet in Pinkerton.
Page 86.
And camels, tufted o'er with Yemen's shells.
"A superb camel, ornamented with strings and tufts of small shells."—Ali Bey.
Page 86.
"The Lescar, or Imperial Camp, is divided, like a regular town, into squares, alleys, and streets, and from a rising ground furnishes one of the most agreeable prospects in the world. Starting up in a few hours in an uninhabited plain, it raises the idea of a city built by enchantment. Even those who leave their houses in cities to follow the prince in his progress are frequently so charmed with the Lescar, when situated in a beautiful and convenient place, that they cannot prevail with themselves to remove. To prevent this inconvenience to the court, the Emperor, after sufficient time is allowed to the tradesmen to follow, orders them to be burnt out of their tents."—Dow's Hindostan.
Colonel Wilks gives a lively picture of an Eastern encampment.—"His camp, like that of most Indian armies, exhibited a motley collection of covers from the scorching sun and dews of the night, variegated according to the taste or means of each individual by extensive inclosures of coloured calico, surrounding superb suites of tents; by ragged cloths or blankets stretched over sticks or branches; palm leaves hastily spread over similar supports; handsome tents and splendid canopies; horses, oxen, elephants, and camels; all intermixed without any exterior mark of order or design, except the flags of the chiefs, which usually mark the centres of a congeries of these masses; the only regular part of the encampment being the streets of shops, each of which is constructed nearly in the manner of a booth at an English fair."—Historical Sketches of the South of India.
Page 87.
"Some of the camels have bells about their necks, and some about their legs, like those which our carriers put about their fore-horses' necks, which together with the servants (who belong to the camels, and travel on foot), singing all night, make a pleasant noise, and the journey passes away delightfully."—Pitt's Account of the Mahometans.
"The camel-driver follows the camels singing, and sometimes playing upon his pipe; the louder he sings and pipes, the faster the camels go. Nay, they will stand still when he gives over his music."—Tavernier.
Page 92.
Savary says of the south wind, which blows in Egypt from February to May, "Sometimes it appears only in the shape of an impetuous whirlwind, which passes rapidly, and is fatal to the traveller, surprised in the middle of the deserts. Torrents of burning sand roll before it, the firmament is enveloped in a thick veil, and the sun appears of the colour of blood. Sometimes whole caravans are buried in it."
Page 101.
There were said to be under this Throne or Palace of Khosrou Parviz a hundred vaults filled with "treasures so immense, that some Mahometan writers tell us, their Prophet, to encourage his disciples, carried them to a rock, which at his command opened, and gave them a prospect through it of the treasures of Khosrou."—Universal History.
Page 102.
We are not told more of this trick of the Impostor, than that it was "une machine, qu'il disoit être la Lune." According to Richardson, the miracle is perpetuated in Nekscheb.—"Nakshab, the name of a city in Transoxiania, where they say there is a well, in which the appearance of the moon is to be seen night and day."
Page 104.
On for the lamps that light yon lofty screen.
The tents of Princes were generally illuminated. Norden tells us that the tent of the Bey of Girge was distinguished from the other tents by forty lanterns being suspended before it.—v. Harmer's Observations on Job.
Page 108.
Engines of havoc in, unknown before.
That they knew the secret of the Greek fire among the Mussulmans early in the eleventh century appears from Dow's Account of Mamood I. "When he arrived at Moultan, finding that the country of the Jits was defended by great rivers, he ordered fifteen hundred boats to be built, each of which he armed with six iron spikes, projecting from their prows and sides, to prevent their being boarded by the enemy, who were very expert in that kind of war. When he had launched this fleet, he ordered twenty archers into each boat, and five others with fire-balls, to burn the craft of the Jits, and naptha to set the whole river on fire."
The agnee aster, too, in Indian poems, the Instrument of Fire, whose flame cannot be extinguished, is supposed to signify the Greek Fire.—v. Wilks's South of India, vol. i. p. 471.
The mention of gunpowder as in use among the Arabians, long before its supposed discovery in Europe, is introduced by Ebn Fadhl, the Egyptian geographer, who lived in the thirteenth century. "Bodies," he says, "in the form of scorpions, bound round and filled with nitrous powder, glide along, making a gentle noise; then, exploding, they lighten, as it were, and Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/382 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/383 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/384 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/385 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/386 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/387 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/388 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/389 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/390 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/391 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/392 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/393 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/394 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/395 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/396 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/397 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/398 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/399 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/400 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/401 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/402 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/403 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/404 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/405 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/406 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/407 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/408 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/409 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/410 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/411 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/412 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/413 Page:Lalla Rookh - Moore - 1817.djvu/414 capital of Dekkan), he made a great festival, and mounted this throne with much pomp and magnificence, calling it Firozeh or Cerulean. I have heard some old persons, who saw the throne Firozeh in the reign of Sultan Mamood Bhamenee, describe it. They say that it was in length nine feet, and three in breadth; made of ebony, covered with plates of pure gold, and set with precious stones of immense value. Every prince of the house of Bhamenee, who possessed this Throne, made a point of adding to it some rich stones, so that when in the reign of Sultan Mamood it was taken to pieces, to remove some of the jewels to beset in vases and cups, the jewellers valued it at one corore of oons (nearly four millions sterling). I learned also that it was called Firozeh from being partly enamelled of a sky-blue colour, which was in time totally concealed by the number of jewels."—Ferishta.
THE END.