queror, who destroyed its numerous objects of popular adoration.
Yet, soon afterward, the religious character of the place was restored,
and the demolished idols were replaced by others, that were as eagerly
resorted to as had been their predecessors. To this consecrated
metropolis, a pilgrimage was regarded by the millions of India as
imperatively commanded, and as necessary as was a visit to Mecca by the
Mohammedans; and the weakness or the policy of its Moslem conquerors
did not long withhold from them this valued privilege; the government
of the city was committed to the Hindus, and their conquerors, in the
plenitude of their bigotry, pride, and power, never {282} thought of
suffering their own magistrates to exercise authority within its walls.
Thus Mohammedanism is the religion, not of the ancient inhabitants of
India, but of the descendants of the millions of Tartars, Persians, and
Arabians who, at various periods, have left their native seats to
participate in the riches of these far-famed plains. The north and
northwestern parts are filled with them, and from thence they have
wandered over the whole of that vast country. Perhaps their numbers
may now amount to nearly twenty millions, among whom, however, though
they are mostly of foreign extraction, are many converts from Hinduism.
They form separate communities, amalgamating in some parts of the
country, and living as sociably with Hindus as the differences in their
respective faiths will permit. Hindu princes have at times paid their
devotions at Mohammedan shrines, and observed their feasts; while
Mohammedans have relaxed somewhat the strictness of their observances,
and manifested an inclination to conform, as far as possible, to their
Hindu neighbours. Some five centuries ago, the Borahs, a people who
once occupied the kingdom of Guzerat, were converted _en masse_ to
Islamism. The Arab traders to the coasts of Malabar have always been
exceedingly earnest in their endeavours to convert the natives, in
which they have {283} been greatly aided by the facility with which
they have been allowed to purchase the children of the poorer classes,
to educate them in the principles of their faith, and also by the
frequency with which the inhabitants of those districts lose caste.
This badge of the Hindu faith is often forfeited by the people mixing
with those of other countries, and when it is lost they easily become
Moslems.

It has been maintained that the nat