DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4646#0074
iw-
74
Now the name of the book here mentioned, is formed of two
words Das Avtar (ten avatars or incarnations) and it is quite
impossible (as I have before shown) that' the Desatir put forward by-
Mr. Anstey can be the same. In the Das Avtar, the Tenth and most
sacred chapter is the incarnation of God in the person of Ali—a
horrible blasphemy to the Simis, and which proves that the book is
Shiite. This fact alone, is fatal to the case of the plaintiffs. And
I say broadly, that so far as the general result of the evidence laid
before Sir Erskine Perry goes, the history of the Khojas was and is
quite inconsistent with their being Sunies.
I get a glimpse of the Khojas in Kutch in 1818, from a notice
by Captain James Macmurdo the Resident at Anjai-, at page
232 of the second volume of the Bombay Literary Transactions. In
that memoir, the author ranks the Khojas among Mohamadans, and
says, they considered themselves of Persian origin and venerated a
living Pir in Persia. This of itself, shows the gross falsehood of the
suggestion in the bill, that Aga Khan set himself up as a Pir of the
Khojas, for the first time, in 1831. The evidence of Captain
Macmurdo is very important, for he was on the spot. He says :
" The Khoja is a Mohamadan cultivator. The Khojas consider them-
selves of Persian origin, and frequently make a pilgrimage to a spot
eight days march to the north west of the Ispahan, where they wor-
ship a living Peer or saint to whom they pay an annual tax on their
property."
The Judge. The Pir referred to here, would be the Father of
Aga Khan 1
Mr. Howard : The paper was read just about the time of the
death of the Aga's father.
There is again a negative piece of evidence supplied by the census
of the Bombay Mahomedans, for 1807-1808, and which is given in
the 1st volume of the Transactions of the Bombay Literary Society.
It is appended to the Preliminary Discourse by Sir J. Mackintosh.
The table was prepared for him by the Cazi of Bombay, Shaboodeen
Mohuree, of course a strict Suni. It is a curiously immethodical
classification. Under the first head, come, " Kokunee and Mahratta
Mussulmans" who are set clown at 13,502. Then comes the very
small class of Mussulman water carriers, 129 : next there are
"Butchers who kill goats only (from the ghats)" 321. Then we
74
Now the name of the book here mentioned, is formed of two
words Das Avtar (ten avatars or incarnations) and it is quite
impossible (as I have before shown) that' the Desatir put forward by-
Mr. Anstey can be the same. In the Das Avtar, the Tenth and most
sacred chapter is the incarnation of God in the person of Ali—a
horrible blasphemy to the Simis, and which proves that the book is
Shiite. This fact alone, is fatal to the case of the plaintiffs. And
I say broadly, that so far as the general result of the evidence laid
before Sir Erskine Perry goes, the history of the Khojas was and is
quite inconsistent with their being Sunies.
I get a glimpse of the Khojas in Kutch in 1818, from a notice
by Captain James Macmurdo the Resident at Anjai-, at page
232 of the second volume of the Bombay Literary Transactions. In
that memoir, the author ranks the Khojas among Mohamadans, and
says, they considered themselves of Persian origin and venerated a
living Pir in Persia. This of itself, shows the gross falsehood of the
suggestion in the bill, that Aga Khan set himself up as a Pir of the
Khojas, for the first time, in 1831. The evidence of Captain
Macmurdo is very important, for he was on the spot. He says :
" The Khoja is a Mohamadan cultivator. The Khojas consider them-
selves of Persian origin, and frequently make a pilgrimage to a spot
eight days march to the north west of the Ispahan, where they wor-
ship a living Peer or saint to whom they pay an annual tax on their
property."
The Judge. The Pir referred to here, would be the Father of
Aga Khan 1
Mr. Howard : The paper was read just about the time of the
death of the Aga's father.
There is again a negative piece of evidence supplied by the census
of the Bombay Mahomedans, for 1807-1808, and which is given in
the 1st volume of the Transactions of the Bombay Literary Society.
It is appended to the Preliminary Discourse by Sir J. Mackintosh.
The table was prepared for him by the Cazi of Bombay, Shaboodeen
Mohuree, of course a strict Suni. It is a curiously immethodical
classification. Under the first head, come, " Kokunee and Mahratta
Mussulmans" who are set clown at 13,502. Then comes the very
small class of Mussulman water carriers, 129 : next there are
"Butchers who kill goats only (from the ghats)" 321. Then we