ty whom they call by various names, but this
deity, though personal, remains of the Indian not of the Semitic type.
He somehow brings the world of transmigration into being by his power
of illusion, and the business of the soul is to free itself from the
illusion and return to him. Almost all these teachers, whether
orthodox or heterodox, had a singular facility for composing hymns,
often of high literary merit, and it is in these emotional utterances,
rather than in dogmatic treatises, that they addressed themselves to
the peoples of northern India.

The earliest of these mixed sects is that founded by Kabir.[652] He
appears to have been a Mohammedan weaver by birth, though tradition is
not unanimous on this point.[653] It is admitted, however, that he was
brought up among Moslims at Benares but became a disciple of Ramanand.
This suggests that he lived early in the fifteenth century.[654]
Another tradition says that he was summoned before Sikander Lodi
(1489-1517), but the details of his life are evidently legendary. We
only know that he was married and had a son, that he taught in
northern and perhaps central India and died at Maghar in the district
of Gorakhpur. There is significance, however, in the legend which
relates that after his decease Hindus and Mohammedans disputed as to
whether his body should be burned or buried. But when they raised the
cloth which covered the corpse, they found underneath it only a heap
of flowers. So the Hindus took part and burnt them at Benares and the
Moslims buried the rest at Maghar. His grave there is still in Moslim
keeping.

In teaching Kabir stands midway between the two religions, but leaning
to the side of Hinduism. It is clear that this Hindu bias became
stronger in his followers, but it is not easy to separate his own
teaching from subsequent embellishments, for the numerous hymns and
sayings attributed to him are collected in compilations made after his
death, such as the Bijak and the Adi-granth of the Sikhs. In hymns
which sound authentic he puts Hindus and Moslims on the same footing.

"Kabir is a child of Ram and Allah," he says, "and accepteth all Gurus
and Pirs." "O God, whether Allah or Ram, I live by thy name."

"Make thy mind thy Kaaba, thy body its enclosing temple,
Conscience its prime teacher.
Then, O priest, call men to pray to that mosque
Which hath five gates.
The Hindus and Mussulmans have the same Lord."

But the formalities of