is ship. He did so, and discovered how the saint had
saved the ship."

The festival affords a curious illustration of the way in which Hindu
influences have acted on Islam, and how even Hindus pay regard to Muslim
Saints. Qadir Wali is said to {263} have been a Fakir who lived on the
charity of both Hindus and Musalmans. Indeed both parties claim him as
belonging to their respective religions, which may be accounted for by the
fact that in his preaching to mixed audiences he suited his addresses to
both classes of his hearers. After his death a small Mosque was erected on
or near his tomb. The fame of the Wali gradually grew, and a Hindu Rajah
made a vow that if he were blessed with the birth of a son, he would
enlarge and beautify the Mosque. His wish was fulfilled, and the present
elegant structure is the result. So famous has the shrine of the Saint now
become that the Musalmans there say: "First Mecca, then Nagore." The same
reason which induced the Hindu Rajah to make a votive offering years ago,
still influences large numbers of people. On Thursday evenings, the
commencement of the Muhammadan Sabbath, many Hindu women resort to the
shrine of the Saint. On the closing night of the Annual Feast, Tabuts are
taken in procession from Negapatam, and rich presents are sent from the
Tanjore Palace to the Nagore Mosque. Thus is the Hindu connection still
kept up with the festival of this Musalman Saint.

There are many other Walis and Pirs to whose tombs pilgrimages are made,
and in memory of whom many superstitious observances are still kept up; but
all such pilgrimages to a Dargah (shrine) are no necessary part of Islam.
In all parts of the country there are the shrines of Saints who have a
local reputation and whose annual festivals are more or less observed.
Still it is not necessary for me to give a further account of these. This
brings me to the close of my subject.

In the preceding chapters, I have endeavoured to set forth the main
features of the Faith of Islam, and the religious duties it enjoins. I
might now go on to show its relation to Judaism and Christianity, the
elements it has drawn from them, and the distortions it has made in the
borrowing, as well as the protest it raised against much that was {264}
corrupt in the Christianity with which it came in contact. I might also
enlarge upon its moral and social effects, and the character it produces in
the individual and the state. But these subjects would lea