There is a hill in the Hazara district of the Punjab known to all by the name of “Gundghur,” which in days gone by was a stronghold of Banditti. It was well elevated above the plain, and on its crest there were several projecting rocks, and there were caves among the rocks. In one of these caves dwelt a Hindu Fakir of the begging mendicant class, who had for a long time established himself there, and used to come out and sit on a large rock called “Pir ThÂn.”

This Fakir had the reputation of being able to produce wonderful effects by the aid of his magic and enchantments, could cure serious diseases, and when he liked he would say his Ram! Ram! song; for Rama was among the avatara of Vishnu, and he would then ascend into the skies, and go completely out of sight.

Such a Fakir was in consequence much feared by the people of the place, and indeed in many villages round about. Most of the people living near the Hill were “Gujors,” or Mahomedan keepers of Cattle, and from whom the province of Gujerat was named, and it sometimes happened that their milk did not set properly; so they used to go to the Fakir who soon made everything right, and though he was a Hindu and they Mahomedans, yet they went to consult him.

It so happened that one day another Fakir, a Mahomedan, who was on his round visiting various shrines and the relics of departed Saints, came to this “Ghazi” village, which was situated at the foot of the hill.

It was not long before he was told by the people of the wonderful doings of the Hindu Fakir who dwelt on the “Pir ThÂn”; how that he could cure all diseases, and above all, that he could by his magic go up into the air and depart out of sight.

“He is very good too,” they said, “to us, for when our milk refuses to set, he soon makes matters right for us, and so we are going to him to-morrow morning about this very thing.”

“You are! are you?” said the Mahomedan Fakir; and he was very angry with them and said, “Now you wait, and you will see that this very night your milk will be all as it should be.” True enough, when the morning broke the milk was properly set.

“Now,” said the Fakir, “why do you put your faith in this “pagan” and “idolater” who does not believe in Allah? And as for the stories you tell me, they are not to be credited, and what he does is by trickery and deceit.” With many other words he exhorted his followers not to be imposed upon. Turning to the Hindus he said, “If you choose to ruin yourselves that is your affair and not mine.”

His followers, however, besought him just for once to come and see if what they said was not true. He replied, “Well! you may all go, and if I come at all, it will be later on.”

So all the people from the village, and from the villages round about, went up to the Gundghur Hill, to see the wonders that this Hindu Fakir could do. There was a large concourse of people, so the Mahomedan Fakir thought that he might slip in unperceived; and overcome too with curiosity, he had determined to see what sort of a man the Hindu Fakir was who had carried off so many people as his followers.

They had all gone to the Gundghur Hill, and the Mahomedan Fakir thought, “I will go now and see what is to be seen.” On arrival there he noticed that there was a vast assemblage of people. Looking round he saw a knot of his own followers seated together, so he joined himself to them, and waited to see what would take place.

He was not, however, unobserved by the Hindu Fakir, who, after receiving an ovation from all his adherents, addressed himself in a loud voice to the multitude around, and pointing to the Mahomedan Fakir he said, “I see here a Mahomedan Fakir of a false and wicked faith, and I tell him, as I tell you all, that as two swords cannot go into one scabbard, so neither can two Fakirs live in one and the same spot, and he that proves himself to be master, let him hold the hill.”

The enthusiasm was very great when he had uttered these words, and his own people called out, “Ascend, oh! Fakir, and put this new man to shame.” He replied, “I will; and if he can surpass me in that, I will give place to him and go away and leave you.”

Whereupon, divesting himself before them all of his garments, with the exception of his waist-cloth, and repeating audibly his “Junthur Munthur” (two Sanscrit words meaning “incantation,”) and some other words of enchantment, and then kindling a small fire he made some passes over it, and in the smoke that it made he gradually rose and vanished out of sight.

“Ah! there goes our wonderful Fakir!” said all the Hindus; “and as for this other wretched man, he does not look as if he could do anything wonderful.”

In a measure they were right, for the Mahomedan Fakir when he witnessed his ascent, was at his wits’ end to know how to prevail against such a rival. Collecting, however, a few of his own followers around him, he drew out his “Qoran” from its case. Then opening it with great caution and solemnity, he took off the shoe from his right foot, and threw it into the air with all his might. To the bewilderment of all, the shoe did not return, but seemed to go also into the skies whither the Hindu Fakir had gone. The Hindus then raised a cry: “What is a shoe compared to a man! Go up yourself, and we will believe in you!” In patience did the Mahomedan Fakir bear their reproaches, when suddenly there was a sound heard in the air as if someone was beating a door with the palm of his hand, and very shortly afterwards the body of the Hindu Fakir came in sight, and as it descended, there was seen over his head the shoe of the Mahomedan Fakir, which in some unaccountable way was slapping the head of the Hindu Fakir, and beating him down to the earth, and when he came to the ground he fell at the feet of the Mahomedan. Stunned and confused the Hindu made a rush for his cave, and holding up his hands he repeated audibly some words of enchantment, and then fled precipitately into the jungle, and left that country-side for ever.

This story is told by the Mussulmen in their HÛzrÂhs, as a proof that faith will always in the long run crush and destroy the power of myth and magic; and the moral is that Allah is pure and spotless, and there is none righteous as He, or, as they have it in their own language:

EXPLANATORY NOTES.

“Fakir.”—It might be added here that the word itself is derived from the Arabic “Fukhr,” really three Arabic letters, F, K, and R.

Three qualities that all Fakirs should possess; and the formidable nature of the pursuit is somewhat tersely told in the following Punjabi lines:

In Akbar’s reign the followers of a seceder from the strict tenets of Islam, one Pir Roshan, when given to austere devotion, had, it is said, to pass through the several gradations of the external ordinances, or “Sheriat,” viz., reality, or “Hakikat,” true knowledge, or “Marifat,” proximity, or “Kurbut,” union, or “Wasalut,” the Arabic for mediation, and the indwelling in God, or “Sakunut,” the Arabic for tranquility. These terms were peculiar to that sect.

“Gujur.”—Originally a brave people of pastoral habits, inhabiting Afghanistan. A term also applied to a low class of Hindus, from Gujerat. Now used here to designate cattle owners and sellers of milk, many of whom are also Mahomedans.

In regard to a low caste of cow-herd, called “Ahir,” the natives have a saying:

And another saying yet:

Ahir is a general term for a pastoral race noticed by Ptolemy. They are distinguished as three tribes, viz., the Nand bansa, Yadu bansa, and Goala bansa. (See Wilson and Elliott.)

“Two Swords in one scabbard.”—Appeals to the sword are very common with natives of Northern India, indeed many of the warlike tribes worship their weapons.

When sharpened for service by a “Sikligur,” a man who makes it his business to give a keen edge to swords, he applies two tests. One is that the edge shall be sharp enough to cut through a ball of teazed cotton, balanced on the blade, and the other that it shall, with a light touch, lift a copper coin off a table.

A Punjabi Sipahi, referring to this, was overheard to say,

“Junthur Munthur.”—Sanscrit words, literally meaning enchanting by figures and incantations.

“Ram Ram Song.”—The appeal of Hindus is invariably to “Ram,” as the god ready to help in difficulties, and probably an incarnation of Vishnu.

The Fakir’s song would likely be:

“Faith opposed to Magic.”—The occult sciences have no doubt found a congenial soil in India and the far East; but is a belief in them restricted to the East? or rather, are not these relics of the middle ages still found to be lurking amongst the most enlightened of Western nations?

According to “Holwell’s Mythology,” magic and its accompaniments were first taken to the Indus by the Cuseans, descendants of Cush, the son of Ham, who is credited with being the first inventor of the black art. He quotes Eusebius as his authority.

Up to this day on the Indus there is no doubt that many believe in the power of some specially devout Fakirs to ascend into the air by the aid of an invisible rope. The laws of gravity forbid, of course, our belief in the capability of any man so to control and overcome them; but the wonder is that some of these Fakirs are still able to surprise and deceive so many, and that the riddle is as yet unsolved.

In China also the power to ascend is not unknown. Conjurors from amongst the Taoist priests ascend to a height of twenty or thirty feet. Of this class are those who in Manchuria call down fire from the sky.—Dr. Denny’s “China Folk-lore.”

The wandering jugglers and conjurors on the Indus and other parts of India have a singular refrain used as an invocation before exhibiting their skill. The burden of their song seems to be:

Note.—Asked to explain a meteor, or shooting-star, the natives say, “You see! Shaitan ever since he has been expelled from Heaven is trying to get back, and these balls of fire, or ‘Chawathas’ which some call “ShÂb” from the Arabic, are hurled at him to keep him off, and so they do, and he never succeeds.”