the Dadupanthis are divided into celibate or
priestly and lay or householder branches. But they have also a third
offshoot, consisting in the Naga Gosains of Jaipur, nearly naked
ascetics, who constituted a valuable part of the troops of Jaipur
and other States. It is said that the Nagas always formed the van
of the army of Jaipur. The sect have white caps with four corners
and a flap hanging down at the back, which each follower has to make
for himself. To prevent the destruction of animal life entailed by
cremation, the tenets of the sect enjoin that corpses should be laid
in the forests to be devoured by birds and beasts. This rule, however,
is not observed, and their dead are burnt at early dawn.

Dhami, Prannathi Sect.

_Dhami, Prannathi Sect._--A small religious sect or order, having
its headquarters in the Panna State of Bundelkhand. A few members of
the sect are found in the Saugor and Damoh Districts of the Central
Provinces. The name Dhami is simply a derivative from _dham_, a
monastery, and in northern India they are called Prannathi after their
founder. They are also known as Sathi Bhai, brothers in religion,
or simply as Bhai or brothers. The sect takes its origin from one
Prannath, a Rajput who lived in the latter part of Aurangzeb's reign
towards the end of the seventeenth century. He is said to have acquired
great influence with Chatra Sal, Raja of Panna, by the discovery of a
diamond mine there, and on this account Panna was made the home of the
sect. Prannath was well acquainted with the sacred books of Islam, and,
like other Hindu reformers, he attempted to propagate a faith which
should combine the two religions. To this end he composed a work in
Gujarati called the Kulzam Sarup, in which texts from the Koran and
the Vedas are brought together and shown not to be incompatible. His
creed also proclaimed the abolition of the worship of idols, and
apparently of caste restrictions and the supremacy of Brahmans. As
a test of a disciple's assent to the real identity of the Hindu and
Muhammadan creeds, the ceremony of initiation consists in eating in
the society of the followers of both religions; but the amalgamation
appears to be carried no further, and members of the sect continue
to follow generally their own religious practices. Theoretically they
should worship no material objects except the Founder's Book of Faith,
which lies on a table covered with gold cloth in the principal temple
at