1 881
2 Mmlm death observances.
3 el when a body is carried to the graveyard all
4 except the near relatives are given two annas each, so that the deceased's
5 soul may not be Indebted to them for their toil. Poor people however
6 only give the bearers sweetened rice on a Thursday. The food given
7 in this way is called khatfeu. The body before being taken to the
8 burial-ground is shrouded in a cloth which is taken by the carpenter
9 or ironsmith.
10 Ceremonies at the burial of the dead.
11 After washing and shrouding the body it is taken to the grave¬
12 yard, the cot on which it is laid being carried by all the collaterals
13 in turn but not by the nearest kinsmen such as the father, son See.
14 On the way to the graveyard they recite sacred verses, the kalirna
15 and prayers for the deceased. At a short distance from the grave¬
16 yard the bier is set down north and south at a spot swept clean and
17 all those present recite the funeral prayers. But they do not bow the
18 head at this rite and only invoke blessings for the departed soul. Then
19 the bier is carried on to the graveyard. The grave is always dug
20 from north to south, and has two chambers, the lower, called lahad ,
21 in which the body is placed being as long as a man's height. The
22 face of the body is kept towards the Q.ibla, that of a man being laid by
23 men while that of a female is laid by her husband and other near re¬
24 latives. Then the lahad is filled up with stones and bricks in such
25 a way that earth from the upper walls may not fall on it. The
26 upper part of the grave is then filled in with earth by all the mourifers
27 except the deceased's heirs. When filled iu water is sprinkled over it and
28 the chddar in which the dead body was wrapped is spread over it.
29 The members of the funeral party now recite the fdtiha or verses from
30 the Quran for the benefit of the departed soul and on their return
31 condole with the heirs. They then depart to their homes. Food and
32 halted which are called tosh a as well as grain and cash are carried in
33 some quantities to the graveyard and distributed among beggars
34 after the burial.
35 When the jandza of the corpse is being carried out in Dera Gh&zi
36 Kh(5n the Quran is placed on the cot near the body and sweet-scented
37 flowers, rose-water, otto of roses &c. are put on the shroud. Both the
38 flowers and Qurdn are removed when it is lowered into the grave.
39 When the body is taken out for bui ial some of those accompany¬
40 ing it recite the maulud sharif, others the kalirna sharif , slowly, until
41 they reach the place where prayers called namdz-i-jandza are said.
42 After the prayers the mullah who read the jandza stands close to the
43 head of the deceased and calls on the assembly to give the benefit of the
44 words, i.e. the kaldm dartid, khatm Qurdn or whatever they may have
45 read before and then raises his hands, forgives the words, read in favour
46 of the deceased and prays for the forgiveness of his gnu; After the
47 prayer is finished the heir stands up and permits the people To go by
48 calling out aloud, rukhsat am, thrice. Then all who congregated for
49 the sake of prayer return home while members of brotherhood carry the
50 corpse to the tomb, *
51 Dera Ghazi
52 Kh&n,