Identifier: greaterbritainre01dilk (find matches)
Title: Greater Britain: a record of travel in English-speaking countries during 1866 and 1867
Year: 1869 (1860s)
Authors: Dilke, Charles Wentworth, Sir, 1843-1911
Subjects: Voyages around the world
Publisher: New York, Harper & Brothers
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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but in India places easily acquire sacredfame. About Peshawur there dwell many hill-fanatics, whosesolp religion appears to consist in stalking British sentries.So many of them have been locked up in the Peshawur jailthat it has become a holy place, and men are said to steal andriot in the streets of the bazar in order that they may be con-signed to this sacred temple. The nights were noisy in Kurrachee, for the great Mo-hammedan feast of the Mohurrum had commenced, and mybungalow was close to the lines of the police, who are mostlyBelooch Mohammedans. Every evening at dusk fires werelighted in the police-lines and the bazar, and then the tom-toming gradually increased from the gentle drone of the day-time until a perfect storm of tom-a-tom, tomtom, tom-a-tom,tomtom, burst from all quarters of the town, and continuedthe whole night long, relieved only by blasts from conch-shellsand shouts of Shah Hassan! Shah Hoosein! Wah Allah!Wah Allah ! as the performers danced round the flames. I
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502 Greater Britain. heartily wished myself in the State of Bhawulpore, wherethere is a license-tax on the beating of drums at feasts. Thefirst night of the festival I called up a native servant who spoke English to make him take me to the fires and ex-plain the matter. His only explanation was a continual rep-etition of Dat Mohurrum, Mohammedan Christmas Day.When each night, about dawn, the tomtoming died awayonce more, the chokedars—or night watchmen—woke up fromtheir sound sleep, and began to shout Ha ha V into everyroom to show that they were awake. The chokedars are well-known characters in every Indianstation: always either sleepy and useless, or else in leaguewith the thieves, they are nevertheless a recognized class,and are everywhere employed. At Rawul-pindee and Pe-shawur the chokedars are armed with guns, and it is said thata newly-arrived English officer at the former place was latelyreturning from a dinner-party when he was challenged by thechokedar of the first house

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