DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3909#0128
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way she could, he finally induced her to promise that she would ask her father where his soul
was. ' Refuse food/ said Azru, '■ for three or four days, and your father, who is devotedly fond of
you will ask for the reason of your strange conduct; then say, 'Father, you are often staying
away from me for several days at a time, and I am getting distressed lest something shouldhappen
to you; do reassure me by letting me know where your soul is, and let me feel certain that your
life is safe.' This the princess promised to do, and when her father returned refused food for
several days. The anxious Shiribadatt made inquiries, to which she replied by making the
already named request. The tyrant was for a few moments thrown into mute astonishment, and
finally refused compliance with her preposterous demand. The love-smitten lady went on
starving herself, till at last her father, fearful for his daughter's life, told her not to. fret herself
about him, as Ms soul was [of snow?] in the snows, and that he could only perish by fire. The
princess communicated this information to her lover. Azru went back to Doyur and the villages
around, and assembled his faithful peasants. Them he asked to take twigs of the fir-tree or tshi,
bind them together and light them—then to proceed in a body with the torches to the castle in a
circlej keep close together, and surround it on every side. He then went and dug out a very
deep holf>, as deep as a well, in the place where Shiribadatt's horse used to alight, and covered
it with green boughs. The next day he received information that the torches (talSn in Ghilghiti
and Lome in Astori) were ready. He at once ordered the villagers gradually to draw near the
fort in the manner which he had already indicated.
"King Shiribadatt was then sitting in his castle; near him his treacherous daughter,
who was so soon to lose her parent. All at once he exclaimed, '■ I feel very close; go
out, dearest, and see what has happened.' The girl went out, and saw torches approaching'from a
distance; but fancying it to be something connected with the plans of her husband, she went back,
and said it was nothing. The torches came nearer and nearer, and the tyrant became exceedingly
restless. 'Air, air,' he cried, 'I feel very, very ill; do see, daughter, what is the matter.5 The
dutiful lady went, and returned with the same answer as before- At last, the torch-bearers had
fairly surrounded the fort, and Shiribadatt, with a presentiment of impending danger, rushed
out of the room, saying • that he felt he was dying.' He then ran to the stables and mounted
his favourite charger, and with one blow of the whip made him jump over the wall of the castle.
Faithful to its habit, the noble animal alighted at the same place, but alas! only to find itself
engulphed in a treacherous pit. Before the King had time to extricate himself, the villagers had
run up with their torches. ' Throw them upon him/ cried Azru. With one accord all the blazing
wood was thrown upon shiribadatt, who miserably perished. Azru was then most enthusiasti-
cally proclaimed as king, celebrated his nuptials with the fair traitor, and, as sole tribute, exacted
the offering of one sheep, instead of that of a human child, annually from every one of the
natives* This custom has prevailed down to the present day, and the people of Shin, wherever
* Possibly this legend is one of the causes of the unfounded reputation of cannibalism which was given by Kashmiris
and others to the Dards before 1866, and of which one Dardu tribe accuses another, with which, even if it should reside in a
neighbouring valley, it may have no intercourse. I refer elsewhere to the custom of drinking a portion of the blood of an
enemy, to which my two Kafirs confessed.
way she could, he finally induced her to promise that she would ask her father where his soul
was. ' Refuse food/ said Azru, '■ for three or four days, and your father, who is devotedly fond of
you will ask for the reason of your strange conduct; then say, 'Father, you are often staying
away from me for several days at a time, and I am getting distressed lest something shouldhappen
to you; do reassure me by letting me know where your soul is, and let me feel certain that your
life is safe.' This the princess promised to do, and when her father returned refused food for
several days. The anxious Shiribadatt made inquiries, to which she replied by making the
already named request. The tyrant was for a few moments thrown into mute astonishment, and
finally refused compliance with her preposterous demand. The love-smitten lady went on
starving herself, till at last her father, fearful for his daughter's life, told her not to. fret herself
about him, as Ms soul was [of snow?] in the snows, and that he could only perish by fire. The
princess communicated this information to her lover. Azru went back to Doyur and the villages
around, and assembled his faithful peasants. Them he asked to take twigs of the fir-tree or tshi,
bind them together and light them—then to proceed in a body with the torches to the castle in a
circlej keep close together, and surround it on every side. He then went and dug out a very
deep holf>, as deep as a well, in the place where Shiribadatt's horse used to alight, and covered
it with green boughs. The next day he received information that the torches (talSn in Ghilghiti
and Lome in Astori) were ready. He at once ordered the villagers gradually to draw near the
fort in the manner which he had already indicated.
"King Shiribadatt was then sitting in his castle; near him his treacherous daughter,
who was so soon to lose her parent. All at once he exclaimed, '■ I feel very close; go
out, dearest, and see what has happened.' The girl went out, and saw torches approaching'from a
distance; but fancying it to be something connected with the plans of her husband, she went back,
and said it was nothing. The torches came nearer and nearer, and the tyrant became exceedingly
restless. 'Air, air,' he cried, 'I feel very, very ill; do see, daughter, what is the matter.5 The
dutiful lady went, and returned with the same answer as before- At last, the torch-bearers had
fairly surrounded the fort, and Shiribadatt, with a presentiment of impending danger, rushed
out of the room, saying • that he felt he was dying.' He then ran to the stables and mounted
his favourite charger, and with one blow of the whip made him jump over the wall of the castle.
Faithful to its habit, the noble animal alighted at the same place, but alas! only to find itself
engulphed in a treacherous pit. Before the King had time to extricate himself, the villagers had
run up with their torches. ' Throw them upon him/ cried Azru. With one accord all the blazing
wood was thrown upon shiribadatt, who miserably perished. Azru was then most enthusiasti-
cally proclaimed as king, celebrated his nuptials with the fair traitor, and, as sole tribute, exacted
the offering of one sheep, instead of that of a human child, annually from every one of the
natives* This custom has prevailed down to the present day, and the people of Shin, wherever
* Possibly this legend is one of the causes of the unfounded reputation of cannibalism which was given by Kashmiris
and others to the Dards before 1866, and of which one Dardu tribe accuses another, with which, even if it should reside in a
neighbouring valley, it may have no intercourse. I refer elsewhere to the custom of drinking a portion of the blood of an
enemy, to which my two Kafirs confessed.