Indian Antiquary Vol 19

SR No.: 032511
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: John Faithfull Fleet, Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 510
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 21 MB

Page 213

JULY, 1890.]
THE ABORIGINES OF SOKOTRA.
Having now related all that is known of the characteristics and social customs of the Sokotran Beduins in modern times, I shall proceed to describe certain peculiar customs evidently relics of paganism - which have survived the introduction of Christianity among the aborigines, and which are likely to furnish an important clue in the present enquiry.
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195
According to Wellsted (page 302) they still worship the Moon, and pray to her in times of drought. At the beginning of Lent they make a solemn sacrifice to that luminary, entering their temples and performing various ceremonies at its rising and setting. They are also described as going to their burial-placee and striking together two pieces of odoriferous wood. This they perform three times a day, and as often at night; after which, putting a large cauldron suspended by three chains, over a great fire, they dip into it splinters of wood, with which they light their altars and the porch of the temple. They put up their prayers to the Moon, that she will enlighten them with her countenance, shed upon them her benign influence, and never permit foreigners to intermix with them.
They make an annual procession round the temples, preceded by a cross; and the whole ceremony ends upon the priest's clapping together his hands, as a signal that the Moon is tired of their worship. Others say that the signal consists in cutting off the fingers of him who holds the cross; in recompense for which he has a stick given him, on which are certain marks, forbidding all persons, of whatever rank or condition, ever after to hurt or molest him; on the contrary, they are to assist him with all their power, in whatever manner he may require their help; and they are further doomed to suffer corporal punishment, and the loss of an arm, unless they respect and honour him as a martyr to religion.
The Beduins do not circumcise their children until they are past the age of puberty; while with other Muhammadans this is performed at a very early age. On the eastern part of the island, amidst the mountains, Wellsted (pp. 317 and 330) was shown a rude stone chair, in which it is customary for the Beduins to seat their youths (who are sometimes brought from a long distance) while the operation is performed. Near it were several burial-grounds, and a small building said to have been an ancient place of worship; but it was in a very dilapidated state, and he did not discover others that threw any light on the subject.
They have preserved the remembrance of a singular trial by ordeal formerly practised. An individual supposed to have been guilty of any heinous crime was placed, bound hand and foot, on a summit of some eminence, and there compelled to remain three days. If rain fell during that period on or near him, he was considered guilty, and punished by being stoned to death; but if the weather, on the contrary, continued fair, he was acquitted.
They are, in the more remote parts of the island, said to still retain the castom of transferring their own progeny to another person. During pregnancy, it is left at the will of the mother that the father may give the child away as soon as it makes its appearance in the world. If her consent is obtained, a fire is lighted before the door of their cave, to denote his intention; and the child, as soon as born, is sent to another family, in which it is brought up with every tenderness and attention. Children reared under this singular custom retain through life the title of children of smoke. It is common for a father who thus exposes his own, to receive in a similar manner the offspring of another of his tribe.
Some rock inscriptions (probably extremely ancient) which Wellsted discovered near Ras Mori-about seven or eight miles west of Tamarida-may, perhaps, furnish an important clue to the nationality of the aborigines, though, in the absence of a photograph or drawing of the inscriptions, it is difficult to come to any decision regarding them. The following is Wellated's description (196):
"Quitting Ras Moree to the right, the bushes disappear, sandy tracts follow each other, and a ride of two hours brought us to the inscriptions we sought. They are cut on the face of a limestone rock on the same level as the plains; and the portion over which they are found, irregularly strewn, measures three hundred paces in circumference. They strikingly resemble