1 Veath-rites in Bashahr.
2 469
3 Observances at Death.
4 The alms given at death are called khat-ras* deva dan, gdu dan,
5 baitarni dan, andpa?ic/i ratn, and are offered by all castes.
6 A mdli or nachhatri, called the ashdnti, can predict the fates of those
7 who accompany the bier. The mdli is a worshipper of ghosts {mashdn
8 and hhut). He is not a Brahman, but a Kanet, or even a man of low
9 caste ; and he predicts after consulting his book of divination (ginne ki
10 kitdh).
11 In the villages of Bashahr are men who can foretell deaths. Such a
12 man is called a mushdni. They differ from the mdli.
13 Chelds (lit. disciples) in Bashahr are called mdlis of the deotdf and
14 in order to ascertain if a man, woman or child is under a demon’s in-
15 fluence, the demon’s mdli is called in. Taking some rapeseed in his
16 hand he predicts the period within which the patient will recover. It
17 the latter regains his health, a hali is offered to the demon.
18 Bakrd sundhdX is performed after 13 days among Brahmans, and
19 15 among Rajputs, while Kanets perform it after 15 or even after 10
20 days. If the proper day chances to be inauspicious the observance is
21 held a day earlier or later. The Brahman bhojan, or feast given to
22 Brahmans, is called dharmshdnli, and after it the twice-born castes
23 aro considered purified.
24 The mdski is a shrddh held one lunar month after the death. The
25 chlie-vif.dski is held six months after it.
26 The barashwd is held on the first anniversary, and on it alms, includ-
27 ing a shayyd^, a palanquin, horse, etc., are given to the family Achdraj
28 or, in villages, to the Krishna Brahmans. A similar shrddh is held on
29 the second and third anniversaries. On the fourth is held the chau~
30 harkh'i. The soul goes through three phases, i^dni, pret and ri8het,\\
31 and on the completion of the fourth year it is purified and becomes a
32 pilar deotd. In addition the pdrbam^ and kdnidgat shrddhs are ob-
33 served for four or five generations.
34 The deceased is also worshipped among the twice -born castes as a
35 godling, salt, pdp or nevca ; and among others an image is made of
36 stone or of silver, for which some grain is set apart at each harvest, and
37 ^Khat.rax dan generally called da^haddn, the gift of ten things, viz,, a cow, (2) land, (.3)
38 sesamuru, gold, (5) clarified butter ((/hi). (6) a cloth, (7) unpounded rice, (8) sugar,
39 (.9) silver, \.10) salt. Ant ddn is a gift made, given by the son on his father’s breathing
40 liis last Dev-den is to offer some gift to the deities. Those who receive the death- bed gifts
41 from Brahmans and Rajputs are called Acharaj or W aha- Brahmans, and those who receive
42 the death- bed gifts from other castes are termed Krishan Brahmans,
43 t The mdlis are exorcists as well, and also give oracles,
44 I Bakrd means a goat, sacrificed 15 days after a death, and sundhd means assafoetida,
45 which is never eaten until the ceremony called bakrd {and) snndhd has been performed.
46 ^ Shnyyd means bedding. In the shayya-ddn the following articles are given ; a cot
47 bedding, quilt, bed-sheet, cooking vessels, dish, male and female attire, and ornaments,—
48 all according to one’s means. . , .u
49 II For one year after death the soul is called pret, and from the second year to the fourth it
50 is called rjs/iet, from rts/ii, a sage. .
51 r\ The pdrvan shrddh is that which is performed on a parbi, such as an Mlipse. on the
52 8th and I4th of the dark half of a month, at an amduaa or a puranmdsi. And the kshaydh,
53 or ekodist shrddh is that which is observed annually on the date of the death.