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332
THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[NOVEMBER, 1881.
of the house, and is then dragged out of the house into the yard attached, whence the names
(13) Chhajju ... winnowing basket. (14) Ghasita ... dragged (Panj. ghasitná,
to drag). There are other customs which give rise to names of such children as above mentioned, but these can hardly be termed opprobrious. Thus the child is sometimes given to a faqir, and begged from him again as alms: whence,
(15) Khairayati, Kharati ..... alms.
Sometimes at the Muharram the child is dressed up as a faqîr in honour of the Imams, whence,
(16) Faqiri ... faqir.
In this connection, too, should be mentioned such names, as
(17) Gurdas ... servant of the Guru,
(18) Devidas ... servant of Devi, usually given to firstborn sons, but sometimes also to children of this kind.
Another custom is--to weigh the child against grain, and then to give grain equal to the weight of the child, or in the case of the poor, a little grain, to a sweeper. This grain is considered to be the price for which the child has been bought from the sweeper. The child is then called
(19) Chûth...... sweeper (Panj. chirha). When several children have died, say four or five in succession, the remainder are of course greatly valued, which is to be seen from the following names :
(20) Mahinga... dear, expensive. (21) Ladhu ... acquired (Panj. ladhná to
get). (22) Labhu......acquired (Panj. labhná to
get). (23) Milkhí ...estate, property (Panj.
milakh, estate). (24) Jiwan ......life (jivá, to live). Here may be added two curious nondescript names
(25) Mîrchâ ......pepper. (26) Makhwa ...a fly. There is also an important class of customs
which we may call the mutilating customs always arising from the idea of averting evil. In some cases the mother cuts off a piece of the child's ear and eats it, which gives rise to the name,
(27) Bûrå ...... crop-eared.
Another practice very prevalent in the Firozpur district among all classes and secta, but particularly among Sikhs and Hindus, is to dress up a son born after the death of previous sons as a girl. Such children have their noses pierced in signification of their being converted into girls, the pierced nose being the female mark par excellence. The mother makes a vow to dress up her boy as a girl for from four to ten years, the hair is plaited, women's ornaments worn, &c., and naked littleboy girls, as it were, can be seen running about in any village. Even where the custom is not fully carried out, the nose is pierced and & sexless name given, thus(28) Nathu...... nostril (Hind. náth, Panj.
nath). (29) Chhedt ... pierced.' (30) Bulaqi ... nose-ring (Turki, bulaq,
a nose-ring)." These ear-boring and nose-piercing customs also arise from a wish to spoil the perfection" of the child. Unblemished or beautiful children are supposed to be the special delight of fairies, who walk off with them, and of demons who possess them. In reference to this a story about Akbar is commonly told in Firozpur. Story of Akbar, the Emperor; Birbal, the Minister;
and Dopiazd, the Priest. One day Akbar was wounded by a knife which made a scar on his hand. Mulla Dopiâza, who saw it, smiled and thanked God. Thereupon Birbal said to the Emperor, “Behold, the Mulla wishes you ill, he smiles and thanks God on such an occasion." So Akbar ordered Mulla Dopia za to be imprisoned. After this, the Emperor went hunting one day without any attendants, and lost himself in a deep jangal, where he was caught by a wild tribe, who were in search of a man without blemish to bury
3 Khairiyati also among the women seems to have the sense of "scapegoat."-F. A. S.
• This is not the Arabic-milk, property.-R. C. T.
. Another derivation is from jy bont kutti, a crop-eared dog. The Munshis deny the existence of this custom, but the women stick to it, and I believe they are right.-R. C. T.
• The right nostril is the one pierced, and sometimes also the cartilage between the nostrils.-R.C.T.
Compare from Bengal:-(29) Nakchhedii-nosepierced. Ind. Ant., vol. VIII, p. 322.-R. C.T.
Bulagi. It may repay examination to enquire into this word further, as indicating that the custom is prevalent in Cantral Asia or was prevalent among the Mongol hordes before their irruptions into India. R. C. T.
