e round of the seasons in course of time.

8. The Muharram celebration takes its name from the first month of
the Muhammadan year, during which it takes place. Ali, the cousin of
Muhammad, was married to the prophet's daughter Fatima, and,
according to the Shia sect, must be regarded as the lawful successor
of Muhammad, who died in June, A.D. 632. But, as a matter of fact,
Omar, Abu Bakr, and Othman (Usman) in turn succeeded to the
Khalifate, and Ali did not take possession of the office till A.D.
655. After five and a half years' reign he was assassinated in
January, A.D. 661, and his son Hasan, who for a few months had held
the vacant office, was poisoned in A.D. 670. Husain, the younger son
of Ali, strove to assert his rights by force of arms, but was slain
on the tenth day of the month Muharram (10th October, A.D. 680) in a
great battle fought at Karbala near the Euphrates. These events are
commemorated yearly by noisy funeral processions. Properly, the
proceedings ought to be altogether mournful, and confined to the Shia
sect, but in practice, Sunni Muhammadans, and even Hindoos, take part
in the ceremonies, which are regarded by many of the populace as no
more solemn than a Lord Mayor's show.

9. The disgusting festival of the Holi, celebrated with drunkenness
and obscenity, takes place in March, and is supposed to be the
festival of the vernal equinox (see _ante_, chapter 27 note 16). The
magistrates in India have no duty which requires more tact,
discretion, and firmness than the regulation of conflicting religions
processions. The general disarmament of the people has rendered
collisions less dangerous and sanguinary than they used to be, but,
in spite of all precautions, they still occur occasionally. The total
prohibition of processions likely to cause collisions is, of course,
impracticable.

10. Ante chapter 15 text at [9].

11. Muslim daughters also succeed, each taking half the share of a
son.

12. _Tempora mutantur_. The land revenue, in the author's time, fully
preserved its character of rent, and obviously was not a tax. Later
legislation has obscured its real nature, and made it look like a
tax. When the author wrote, the only taxes levied were indirect ones,
as that on salt, which was paid unconsciously. The modern income-tax,
local rates, municipal taxation, and gun licences were all unknown.

13. The window tax was levied at varying rates from 1697 to 1851.

CHAPTER 67

The Old C