The English Company's original factory is now occupied by the Opium Store-house, a very substantial good building, well fitted for the purpose to which it is applied. Near it is the jail, also a large building, but neither handsome, nor strong enough to confine ruffians. The house at present occupied as the city court is near the jail; but is a very abominable-looking place. The court of appeal is a handsome modern building, but very small.

At the western extremity of the suburbs is a building called the Golghar, intended as a granary, and perfectly sui generis. For the sake of the great man by whose orders this building was erected, the inscriptions should be removed, were they not a beacon to warn governors of the necessity of studying political economy, and were it not of use to mankind to know even the weaknesses of Mr. Hastings.

Immediately above and below the city two native merchants built brick keys, of considerable length, to facilitate the landing and shipping of goods in the rainy season. Boats can then lay along the key, and deliver and take in goods with ease; but they never would appear to have been of use in the dry season, when some contrivance to facilitate the conveyance of goods up and down the enormous bank is most wanted. These keys are called Poshta, are private property, and at present are chiefly used for lodging coarse goods, such as timber and bamboos, which in the dry season are deposited on the bank. Parallel to the city, at some distance south from it, and extending some way farther each way is an old bank, which seems to have been intended to exclude the floods, and still answers for that purpose.

These with the roads and a few miserable brick bridges are all the public works that I have seen, except those dedicated to religion. In the middle of the city the Roman Catholics have a church, the best looking building in the place. Near it is the common grave of the English who were treacherously murdered by the orders of Kasem Ali before his final overthrow; it is

covered by a pillar of the most uncouth form, built partly of stone, partly of brick. There are many musjids, or mosques, but none of them very large, and many of them are now let as warehouses by their This is the case with the handsomest of them, which is built entirely of stone, and of which a view is annexed. It stands with one end to the street, and the house of a descendant of the prophet, who is styled the motawoli of the mosque, is situated in front. This drawing will give an idea of the style of building in Patna, and of the manner in which it is disfigured by the wretched sheds built in front for artificers and petty traders. Although the owner has let his mosque for a warehouse, he is strenuous in his calls on the faithful to pray, and he is the loudest crier and the loudest prayer in the whole town.

The chief place of actual worship among the Moslems of Patna is the monument of Shah Arzani, about the middle of the western suburb. He was a native of the Punjab, and, after a long residence, died here in the year of the Hijri 1032. The proprietors are the chelas or disciples of the saint, and not his descendants, and all of these holy persons have abstained from marriage. Kurimbuksh, the present occupant, is the seventh successor in the office. He has considerable endowments, and gives food daily to from 50 to 200 fakirs. Every Thursday night from 100 to 500 pilgrims, Moslems and Hindus, many of them from a distance, come to intercede with the saint for his assistance, and make offerings. In the month Zikad there is an annual fair (Mela), which lasts three days. On the first, people apply to Shah Shujawol; on the second, to Vasunt; and on the third, to the great saint; the two former having been among his successors, and the latter of them, it must be observed, has a Hindu name. About 5,000 votaries attend. Adjacent to the tomb is an Imamrara, where 100,000 people assemble with the pageantry used in celebration of the grandsons of the prophet. Near it is a tank dug by the saint, where, once in the year, 10,000 people assemble, and many of them

bathe. A public crier calls the people to prayers, but few or none assemble; those who are roused to pray by the crier perform their devotions on the spot where they happen to be at the time. I have not observed among the Moslems of Bengal or Bihar any meetings in their mosques, such as we have in our churches, in order to have public prayers and to hear their scriptures either read or expounded. The only other place of worship among the Moslems at all remarkable is the monument of another saint, named Pir Bahor, which was built about 200 years ago, but it is only attended by a few in its vicinity. It at present belongs to a widow, who, since her husband's death, acts as Pirzadah for the families who were wont to require the assistance of the deceased.

The only places of worship at all remarkable among the followers of the Brahmans are the temples of the great and little Patanadevi, Pataneswari, or Goddess of Patana, i.e., the city. The great goddess is said to have been placed in her present situation by Patali, daughter of Raja Sudarsan, who bestowed the town now called Patna on his daughter, and she cherished the city like a mother, on which account it was called Pataliputra, or the son of Patali. The building is small, but avowedly recent, and erected at the expense of the priests. Far from acknowledging the story of Patali, these allege that their deity has existed here from the origin of things. This in India is an usual pretence, but there is a circumstance attending the tutelar deity of this city that in most parts is not so ordinary, although very much so in these districts. The image (see drawing No. 124) called a goddess is a male, and is no doubt a representation of a Boudh, and probably of Gautama, as he has seated by him two disciples as usual in Ava. Near the throne is placed a female deity, but this is not the object of worship, and represents, I have no doubt, Semiramis seated on a lion, and on her knee holding the infant Niniyas (see drawing No. 125). The Pandas or priests are Kanoj Brahmans, and many goats are sacrificed on Saturdays and Tuesdays, but they have no

endowment. The little goddess was placed in her present situation by Man Singha, while that noble Hindu had the government of Bihar. The temple is of no great consequence, but is much more frequented than that of the great goddess, and the priest, who is a Kanoj Brahman, is supposed to have very considerable profit.

The Pataneswaris are properly the Gram-devatas of the town, but as the worship of these deities is not fashionable in Behar, this is considered by many as a term too degrading. Still, however, many are aware of the circumstance, but Guriya, Pir Damuriya, Ram Thakur, Damuvir, Sam Sing, Benimadhav, Bhikkari-Kumar, Siriya devata, Karuvir, Patalvir, Jalapa, etc., are also applied to as Gram-devatas. Near the eastern gate in the suburbs is a small temple of Gauri and Sangkar, but the image represents only the generative organs of these deities. Every Monday in Sravan from 1,000 to 5,000 votaries assemble, and make offerings. The priest is a gardener. At the north-east corner of the city, at a place where some lady, name unknown, burned with her husband's corpse, 50,000 assemble once a year, and make offerings. In the great days of bathing in the Ganges, most people cross to the junction of the Gandaki; but on a certain day about 10,000 women assemble and bathe at a ghat in the west end of the city.

The

The followers of Nanak have at Patna a place of worship of great repute. This is called the Hari-Mandir, and owes its celebrity to its having been the birthplace of Govinda Singha, their last great teacher. Mandir itself is of little consequence, but it is surrounded by pretty large buildings for the accommodation of the owner. The meetings are less frequent and numerous than formerly, the owners applying less of their profits to what are called charitable purposes. The Harimandir, which is in the city, belongs to the Khalesah sect founded by Govinda, and confined in a great measure to the west of India. The Kholasahs or original Sikhs, who prevail in Behar, have in the suburb

14

2 Res. J

called Rekabgunj a considerable place of worship, and the owner possesses very considerable authority and

income.

Petty causes, even under 50 rupees, must be carried directly before the judge, who appoints a person called Sales to determine each. Four or five persons live by this employment; but the people of the eastern suburb can apply to the commissioner of Phatuha. The same man, however, is also commissioner at Bar, under another judge, so that both duties must be neglect-ed.

The principal Pirzadah among the Moslems is the owner of the monument of Shah Arzani. One Kazi performs the ceremonies for the whole persons of rank, but has deputies who attend the lower ranks, and as usual in this vicinity are called Nekah-Khanis or marriers. Most persons of rank do not employ the Kazi, and their own kinsmen or dependants, having learning sufficient, conduct their ceremonies. Of the Hindus, 2 annas are of the Sakti sect and 3 annas of the sect of Siva. Of these 5 annas, 2 annas follow Brahmans, partly resident in Patna, partly in Tirahut, and a very few in Bengal, but some men of extraordinary virtue from Benares, and called Dandis, intrude on the sacred order; 3 annas follow the Dasnami Sannyasis, most of them strangers. Three annas of the whole are of the sect of Vishnu. By far the greatest part of these follow the Ramawats and Radhaballabhis, nearly in about equal numbers. Part of both classes of these instructors are Brahmans, but most are Sudras. Most of them reside, and there may be 20 houses of both sects, but some of the occupants of these houses have married; and four only of the houses are of considerable note. They have very little endowment, but considerable profits, and the buildings are pretty large, but all modern. The best is in the suburb of Marufganj, and belongs to Ram Krishna Das, a Ramawat. Besides the Ramawats and Radhaballabhis, an Akhara of the Nimawats has a few followers. Four annas of the Hindus are of