in all with the same force, and but a trivial difference of sound. Sir W. Jones conceives that a race of Brahmanas sat on the Persian throne, and there cannot exist the smallest doubt that the former worship of Persia was Brahminical; in fact, the most positive proofs of an intercourse may be collected from the modern Persian language, which we may fairly pronounce to be a dialect of the sacred tongue of India. If, however, we revert to the Greek historians, we shall find them indeterminate concerning the priority of the people in question: Diogenes Laërtius says, Αριστοτέλης δ ̓ ἐν πρώτῳ περὶ φιλοσοφίας καὶ πρεσβυτέρους εἶναι τοὺς Μάγους) τῶν Αἰγυπτίων: the Ægyptians say, that Osiris built cities and introduced arts in India; the Indians also seem to claim him, ὁμοίως δὲ τοὺς ̓Ινδοὺς τὸν Θεὸν τοῦτον παρ' ἑαυτοῖς ἀποφάνεσθαι γεγονέναι, (Diod. Sic.); from all which we certainly may conclude, that there could be no material difference of religion in these countries, and that Osiris was doubtless the leader of a colony. In like manner the Æthiopians are said to have been the first of mankind, (Diod. Sic. Irr. 143.) Αιθίοπας τοίνυν ἱστοροῦσι πρώτους ἀνθρώπων ἁπάντων γεγονέναι· καὶ τὰς ἀποδείξεις τούτων ἐμφάνεις εἶναι φασίν· ὅτι μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἐπήλυδες ἔλθοντες, ἀλλ ̓ ἐγγενεῖς ὄντες τῆς χώρας, δικαίως αὐτόχθονες ὀνομάζονται, σχεδὸν παρὰ πᾶσι συμφωνεῖται. From the same writer we also learn, that the Egyptians call the Ethiopians their colony, founded by Osiris; but from the probable observations of Herodotus, the contrary appears to be the case, since Egypt, at the beginning, was most likely sea, and was collected together by degrees from the mud, which the Nile bears with it from Ethiopia, at the inundating period; indeed, at the mouth of the Nile, corroborative proofs of it exist. Aristotle also says, that the lower Egypt was once sea. But Diodorus affirms, that the Ægyptians borrowed from the Æthiopians their laws, the deification of their kings, and their sepulchrál ceremonies, as well as the forms of their statues and characters (ypauμárov). Mr. Salt, however, considers the Abyssinians to be refugees from Egypt, and of one of their flights Herodotus makes mention: Lucian also, de Deà Syria, observes, πρῶτοι μὲν ἀνθρώπων, τοὺς ἡμεῖς ἴδμεν, Αἰγύπτιοι λέγονται, θεῶν τε ἐννοίην λαβεῖν καὶ ἱρὰ εἴσασθαι καὶ τεμένεα καὶ πανηγυρίας ἀποδεξαι. But Captain Wilford declares, that India was known in Homer's time by the name of Eastern Ethiopia: consequently it would seem, that there was a strong relationship between Indians and Ethiopians; and the excellent traveller, Chardin, remarks, "On peut juger sur plusieurs evidences, qu'elles (les sciences) sont neés aux Indes, dans le sein des Brachmanes et des Gymnosophistes, d'où elles furent apportées chez les Chaldéens où Babyloniens, par la voie du sein Persique, et ensuite en Egypte et Syrie, soit par le canal des Chaldéens, soit par la voie de la mer rouge. Tout le monde sçait que ce fut en Egypte et en Syrie, et premièrement en Phénicie, qui en est tout proche, que les Grecs allerent premièrement apprendre les sciences." But whichever of these nations first existed, it is of no conse quence, as far as it relates to the present argument; for if we examine the vestiges of all the religions of the East, if we advance farther, and collect what we can of the languages there spoken, our former position will be confirmed, that at one time there existed but one order of priests, and but one worship. Neither Odin nor Hu Gadarn was born in the countries where they were revered; and from whence they proceeded, we may safely con jecture from the passages already cited. Odin says in the Edda, "Since I have begun to wander among various people, I never have been called by one name :" Thor boasts that he was in the East, and defended the river, when assaulted by the sons of Suarang: "Ec var avstr Oc ana varpac Grioti þeir mic bavrpo." In like manner, Maurice deems the Druids to be a sect of the elder Buddha, and quotes the Asiatic Researches to establish his conjecture, that they are a race of emigrated Indian Philosophers. Lord Valentia also takes occasion, from the Huli festival, to remark the correspondence between the ancient religion of Europe and India, and suspects that all our knowledge, as well as our follies, are derived from thence. Captain Wilford notices points of correspondence in several parts of his Essays on the sacred Islands in the West, and says, "it may seem strange, that islands so remote should be known to the Pauranics; but the truth is, that the Vedas were not originally made known to mankind in India. The Brahméns themselves acknowledge, that they are not natives of India, but that they descended into the plains of Hindûstan, through the pass of Heri-dwar:" in another place he writes, "Atri, called Edris and Idris, in the countries to the West of India, carried the Vedas from the abode of the Gods on the summit of Meru, first to the Sacred Isles; thence to the banks of the hill; and lastly to the borders of India:" and elsewhere, "The Divissa of Chandra, in the West, will appear in the course of this work, from the Puranas, to include the British isles." From the Bardic remains, we find that the Druids of Mona were foreigners, and that the spotted Cat of Mona was attended by men of a foreign language: and Mr. Davies, the learned author of the Celtic Researches and Mythology, informs me, that they aver that their ancestors visited foreign parts, and that the Demi-Christian bards maintain, that those were Druids, who visited Christ at Bethlehem. One of the bards, indeed, says, "Long before the day of doom shall the time arrive, when the East shall survey the fair borders of Erin's land. Then shall Britain have a re-exaltation: Britons shall be delivered from the race of Rome. I shall have judges not banding together, but void of guile. The Diviners vaticinate in the land of those, who have been lost: Druids from beyond the sea, beyond the Northern Britons, predict a summer, in which the rain shall not cease." This much resembles the famous prophecy of the Turks : پادشا همز كلور كافرك مملكتب الور قزل المه الور قبض ايلر يدي يله د غور قليجب چقمسه اون ايكب يله انلرك بيكلك ایدر اوي ببر باغي دكر باغچه بغلر اوغلب قزي الور وان ایکي صکر کا فرك قلیجب چقر اول ترکی كري سنه دوشره. St. John's Coll. Camb. April 10, 1813. D. G. WAIT. ACCOUNT OF THE WAHABIS. Ir is not above half a century since the neighbouring nations, and our European travellers, regarded as an obscure and contemptible sect of deists, limited to a corner of Arabia, those Wahabis, whose present power seems to be the certain presage of a mighty future Monarchy, and whose name spreads consternation from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea. When we consider the origin and tenets, the austere and turbulent life, the insatiable thirst for conquest, and the religious fanaticism of the Wahabis, we are induced to believe them immediate descendants of that warlike people, the Karmatians, who rendered themselves the Scourge of Mohammedanism, whilst the Abbasside Khalifs reigned. — Not less warlike, nor less cruel, proud and enterprising, their successors the Wahabis seem desirous of tracing the same career of devastation, and anxious to extend in every direction the principles of a faith and of a power, which they have caused to revive by means of fire and sword. There is a tradition very popular among the Arabs, that Suleiman, a - poor shepherd of the Negedi tribe, having, while asleep, seen a bright flame proceed from his body, and consume all that opposed its progress, related the portentous dream to some sagacious Sheikhs of Elders; they assured him that his son would be the founder of a new power, and would bring into obedience all the Arabs of the desert. This prediction has been verified, not in Sheikh Abdalwahab, the son of Suleiman, but in his grandson, Sheikh Mohammed: and although the dream may have been fabricated by this able sectary, he availed himself of the influence which it gave him in the minds of his fellow-countrymen, who began to regard him as a personage designed by Heaven as the instrument of great events. He abolished the multiplicity of traditions which are deemed authentic by the bigotted Musulmans, yet he took the Koran as a foundation for his doctrine, giving its precepts such an interpretation as was most conducive to the attainment of his own ambitious objects. He affirmed that the Arabian prophet was nothing more than a man, but a man eminently favored by the Almighty. He allowed that the Koran was a divine composition, and he preached the unity, eternity, and omnipotence, the mercy and justice of God, who punishes the wicked, and rewards the good; but who, offended at the homage paid by Jews, Christians, and Musulmans, to mortals like themselves, had sent him to purify the world by destroying this kind of idolatry, and to restore the true faith amongst men; he added as an auxiliary (and not a very feeble) argument, that all who should oppose him, and blindly persist in their errors, were to be considered as impious heretics, and exterminated accordingly. Wishing, however, for the protection and assistance of some powerful chief, he issued with a few Proselytes of his own tribe from Yemen, (Arabia Felix,) and having visited many cities on the banks of the River Euphrates, and others of Syria, having been rejected at Mecca and at Damascus, driven from Bagdad and Bassora, he returned to Arabia after a fruitless expedition of three years: but there he found in Ebn Sehoud, Prince of Drehyeh and Lahsa, the support and assistance which he desired. This Chief, whose successes in war had attached to him all the wanderers of the desert, and had enabled him, in the course of fifteen or sixteen years, to form of many subdued tribes a very powerful nation in the centre of Arabia, became a zealous partizan of Wahabism, which he rendered an useful instrument in facilitating his conquests. The doctrines of Sheikh Mohammed were soon adopted by an entire people, and he bestowed on the new Proselytes a name commemorating his father Abd-al-wahab; he was declared Supreme Pontiff, and his patron, Ebn Sehoud, assumed the title of Prince and General of the Wahabis. Such was the division of spiritual and temporal supremacy, which has continued among the descendants of those two celebrated Chiefs. As capital of this new empire, the city of Drehyeh was chosen, and here Ebn Sehoud formed his vast projects of aggrandisement; he divided his followers into different bodies, accustomed them to bear 1 Drelrych, situated in the Desert, and distant from Bassorah, eastward, about binety leagues, is remarkable for houses built of stone, while those of Lahsa, and most other towns in Arabia, are constructed of reeds and earth. fatigue and privations of every kind, and taught them to perform the most long and difficult journeys, mounted, two on one camel. From this time, the Wahabis were enabled to cross the desert with rapidity, to endure without a murmur both hunger and thirst, and to surprise their enemies whilst unsuspicious of attack, and unprepared for resistance. In various harangues, Ebn Sehoud inspired his fanatic soldiers with a perfect contempt of death; their swords, he declared, would render them rich at the expense of others, and he promised that kings should tremble before them. The new Pontiff, or Prophet, seconded the arguments of his prince" The Almighty," said he, "combats on your side, and it is his divine will that all should perish who do not acknowledge the true faith; on earth you will be recompensed by the plunder taken from your enemies, and the eternal enjoyments of Paradise await you in the other world." After accomplishing many of his ambitious projects, Ebn Sehoud died, and bequeathed to his son, Abdalaziz, a path ready opened, which might lead him to the universal dominion of Arabia. This active prince followed the track of his father, and soon overcame all those tribes who had hitherto resisted. Nothing is more prompt, nothing more efficacious, than the Wahabis mode of fighting. "Believe or die," is the motto they have adopted, like the early Musulmans, when they attacked with the Koran in one hand, and the sword in the other. If any tribe opposed the arms of Abdalaziz, he slew all the men, and their wealth became a prey to the conquerors; but the Wahabis have always respected the honor of females; if, on the contrary, a tribe submitted in good time, he appointed a governor to preside over them, and required a tenth of all their property, flocks, herds, furniture, and articles of every description; he even obliged one Arab out of every ten to serve, gratuitously, in his victorious ranks. Thus did Abdalaziz amass prodigious treasures, and soon found himself Chief of a mighty nation, composed of warriors anxious for his signal to rush upon new conquests: from this time, according to Arabian accounts, his smallest army contained an hundred thousand, or an hundred and twenty thousand men. Among those converted to the new faith, are the Nejedis, part of the Anazeh tribe. The Beni-Gerbés, a considerable race, who lately separated themselves from the Wahabis, and having submitted to the government of Bagdad, passed the River Euphrates; many of these reside in Mesopotamia, and wear the appearance rather of brutes than of men: in their manners most savage, ignorant of agriculture, they have nothing like bread, but live on camels' milk, and whatever the earth furnishes of herbage, or of animals, and like their own dromedaries, they can support hunger and thirst whole days successively. These Gerbés allow their hair to grow, and blend it over the face and neck with their bushy beards, which gives to their countenances such an expression of ferocity, as disconcerts for a moment the traveller who chances to meet them. The Muntefiks are, also, in part subject to the new sectaries; many of this powerful tribe are under the government of Bagdad, and employed in defending Bassorah against any attempts of the Wahabis. |
