Koptos Cemetery

He went to the cemetery of Koptos with the clergymen of Isis and the excessive priest of Isis. They dug about for 3 days and three nights, for they searched even in all of the catacombs, which have been within the cemetery of Koptos; they turned over the steles of the scribes of the “double home of life,” and browse the inscriptions that they discovered on them. Nevertheless, they may not discover the resting place of Ahura and Merab.

Now Na.nefer.ka.ptah perceived that they may not discover the resting place of Ahura and her little one Merab. Due to this fact, he raised himself up as a venerable, very previous historic, and got here earlier than Setna. As well as, Setna noticed him, and Setna mentioned to the traditional: “You appear like a really previous man; have you learnt the place the resting place of Ahura and her little one Merab is?”

The traditional mentioned to Setna: “It was advised by the daddy of the daddy of my father to the daddy of my father, and the daddy of my father has advised it to my father; the resting place of Ahura and of her little one Merab is in a mound south of the city of Pehemato.” As well as, Setna mentioned to the traditional, “Maybe we could do injury to Pehemato, and you might be prepared to steer one to the city for the sake of that.” The traditional replied to Setna: “If one listens to me, shall he due to this fact destroy the city of Pehemato!

Youngster Merab

If they don’t discover Ahura and her little one Merab underneath the south nook of their city could I be disgraced.” They attended to the traditional, and located the resting place of Ahura and her little one Merab underneath the south nook of the city of Pehemato. Setna laid them within the royal boat to deliver them as honored individuals, and restored the city of Pehemato because it initially was. And Na.nefer.ka.ptah made Setna to know that it was he who had come to Koptos, to allow them to search out out the place the resting place was of Ahura and her little one Merab.

Due to this fact, Setna left the haven within the royal boat, sailed with out stopping, and reached Memphis with all of the troopers who have been with him. And once they advised the King he got here all the way down to the royal boat. He took them as honored individuals escorted to the catacombs, by which Naneferkaptah was, and smoothed down the bottom over them.

Source: https://fashion.marietaminkova.com/koptos-cemetery/

Eat Peas with a dessert spoon

The application of a knife to fish is

likely to destroy the delicacy of its flavor; besides which, fish sauces are

often acidulated; acids corrode steel, and draw from it a disagreeable taste.

In the North, where lemon or vinegar is very generally used for salmon and many

other kinds of fish, the objection becomes more apparent.

Eat Peas with a dessert spoon; and curry also. Tarts and puddings are to be eaten with a spoon.              

It is not elegant to gnaw Indian corn. The

kernels should be scored with a knife, scraped

 By a

step in pseudo refinement, the etiquette of 1839 pronounces that the use of a

spoon for these purposes must be carefully avoided at dinner, it being only

admissible for soup and pieces off into the plate, and then eaten with a fork.

Ladies should be particularly careful how they manage so ticklish a dainty,

lest the exhibition rub off a little desirable romance.

As a general rule — in helping any one at

table, never use a knife where you can use a spoon.

Making a noise in chewing, or breathing

hard in eating, are both unseemly habits, and ought to be eschewed.  .

Many people make a disgusting noise with their lips, by inhaling their breath strongly whilst taking soup a habit which should be carefully avoided.

You cannot use your knife, or fork, or

teeth too quietly.

It is considered extremely piggish to have

an overloaded plate, piled up with an heterogeneous mass of edibles. Almost

every dish has its appropriate sauce, (not,-sarsen,) or vegetables, intended as

condiments or auxiliaries to that alone. Squash, corn, turnips, beets, and

tomato sauce, all on the same plate, remind one more of the contents of a

beggar’s wallet, or a mess for a dog, than of .a portion for a moderate

Christian gentleman.

Do not press people to eat more than they appear to like

Do not press people to eat

more than they appear to like, nor insist

upon their tasting of any particular dish: you may so far recommend one, as to

mention that it is considered “ excellent.” Remember that tastes differ, and

viands which please you, may be objects of dislike to others; and that in

consequence of your urgency, very young or very modest people may feel

themselves compelled to partake of what may be most disagreeable to them.

Do not pick your teeth much_ at table, as,

however satisfactory a practice to yourself, to witness it is not at all

pleasant.

Ladies should never dine with their gloves

on – unless their hands are not fit to be sent.

Vienna`s Artistic Oasis

Vienna’s Artistic Oasis Celebrates Its Tenth Anniversary

The Museums Quartier is one of the world’s largest artistic and cultural spaces, and the urbane living room at the heart of the Austrian capital. This year, Vienna’s meeting place for those with a passion for culture is celebrating the tenth anniversary of its opening with a wide range of events – from Austria’s first and only open-air cartoon exhibition (to 31 July) through the “Sound Heaven” (10 June to 1 October) to the great Open Air Festival, with live music acts and a spectacular 3-D projection (30 June).

Homage To The Rat Pack

They sing, swing and step: Reamonn’s Rea Garvey, Xavier Naidoo, Sasha and comedy star Michael Mittermeier continue their smash hit tour with the Big Band, and are guesting at the Wiener Stadthalle on 9 and 10 December. “Alive and Swingin’” is the name of their tribute to the legendary appearances by Sammy Davis Jr., Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Joey Bishop in the early1960s. So the public can look forward to a musical journey back in time this winter. Coot.

Visionary And Lateral Thinker

From 30 June to 3 October, the Archi- tekturzentrum Wien is devoting a show entitled “It still amazes me that I became an architect” to architect and artist Alexander Brodsky. The show is designed to offer an insight into the “other Moscow”, which contrasts starkly with Russia’s breakneck, often untamed development elsewhere. Brodsky’s architecture is low-key by comparison, and deeply-rooted in the traditional building culture of the country. For the Architekturzentrum Wien, he is putting into practice a “Total Installation” incorporating the exhibition hall, which is designed to put its spell on visitors.

The latest front tourism and cuisine.

Authentic Down To The Last Detail

The Hilton Vienna Danube has an impressive new shine: with the first stage of construction coming to an end, the hotel has reopened its doors on a regular basis. The renovation will be complete by November 2011, when the hotel will be extended by anew Meeting & Congress Center. 166 of the hotel’s 367 rooms are already available in the new look. At around 40 square metres in area on average, these are the largest hotel rooms in Vienna. The new lobby, Hilton Meetings rooms and gastronomic product have also been completed. Business travellers can look forward to the Executive Floors with their numerous conveniences and unique view over the Danube and the Viennese skyline.

Source: https://lifestyle.doholidays.com/viennas-artistic-oasis/

Mathematician Aryabhata

The Indians were the first to use the decimal system. The famous mathematician Aryabhata (A.D. 476-500) was acquainted with it. The Chinese learnt this system from the Buddhist missionaries, and the Western world borrowed it from the Arab? When they came in contact with India. Zero was discovered by the Indians in about the second century B.C.

From the very beginning the Indian

mathematicians considered zero as a separate numeral, and it was used in this

sense in sums of arithmetic. In Arabia the earliest use of zero appears in A.D:

873. The Arabs learnt and adopted it from India and spread it in Europe. So far

as algebra is concerned both the Indians and the Greeks contributed to it, but

m Western Europe its knowledge was borrowed not from Greece but from the Arabs

who had acquired it from India.

In the second century B.C. Apastamba

produced a practical geometry for the construction of altars at which the kings

could offer sacrifices. It describes acute angle, obtuse angle, right angle.

Aryabhata formulated the rule for finding the area of a triangle, which led to

the origin of trigonometry. The most famous work of this time is the

Suryasiddhanta, the like of which is not found in contemporary ancient East

The most renowned scholars of astronomy

were Aryabhata and Varahamihira Aryabhata belonged to the fifth century, and

Varahamihira to the sixth, Aryabhata calculated the position of the planets

according to the Babylonian method. He discovered the cause of lunar and solar

eclipses.

Circumference of the earth

The circumference of the earth which he measured on the basis of speculation is considered to be correct even now. He pointed out that the sun is stationary and the earth rotates. The book of Aryabhata is called the Aryabhatiya.

Varahamihira’s well-known work is called

the Brihatsamhita, which belongs to the sixth century A D. Varahamihira stated

that the moon rotates round the earth and the earth rotates round the sun. He

utilized several Greek, works to explain the movement of the planets and some

other astronomical problems. Although the Greek knowledge influenced Indian

astronomy, there is no doubt that the Indians pursued the subject further and

made use of it in their observations of the planets.

In the applied field Indian craftsmen con: tribute

much to the progress of chemistry. The Indian dyers invented lasting colors and

they also discovered the blue color. It has been already stated how the Indian

smiths were the first in the world to manufacture steel.

Age of the Buddha

The new technique and the use of force

enabled some people to possess large stretches of land which needed a good

number of slaves and hired laborers. In Vedic times people, cultivated their

fields with the help of their family members, there is no word for wage earner

in Vedic literature. But slaves and wage earners engaged in cultivation became

a regular feature in the age of the Buddha.

In the Maurya period they worked on large

state farms. Probably 150,000 people captured in Kalinga by Asoka were drafted

for work in farms and mines. But .by and large slaves in ancient India were

meant for domestic work. Generally the small peasant occasionally aided by

slaves, and hired laborers played the dominant role in production.

With the new technique peasants, artisans,

hired laborers and agricultural slaves produced much more than they needed for

their subsistence. A good part of this produce was collected from them by

princes and priests. For regular Collection administrative and religious

methods were devised. The king appointed tax collectors to assess and collect

taxes.

But it, was also important to convince

people of the necessity of obeying the raja, paying him taxes and offering

gifts to the priests. For this purpose the vane system was devised. According to

it members of the three higher varnas or social orders were distinguished

ritually from those of the fourth Varna.

Vedic studies

The twice born were entitled to Vedic

studies and investiture with the sacred thread, and the fourth Varna or the

sudras were excluded from it. They were meant for serving the higher orders,

and some lawgivers reserved slavery only for the sudras. Thus the twice born

can be called citizens and the sudras noncitizens. But there grew distinctions

between citizen and citizen in the ranks of the twice born.

The brahmaness were not allowed to take to

the plough and manual work Gradually the contempt of the higher varnas for

manual work reached such limits that they developed hatred for the hands that

practiced crafts and thus came to look upon some manual laborers as

untouchables. The more a person withdrew from physical labor, the purer he came

to be considered.

The visas, although members of the twice

born group, worked as peasants, herdsmen and artisans and later as traders. What

is more important, they were the principal taxpayers whose payments maintained

the Kshatriyas and brahmaness. The Varna system authorized the Kshatriya to

collect taxes from the peasants and tolls from traders and artisans, which

enabled him to pay his priests and employees in cash and kind.

Italians have accorded pasta prominent status

Italians have accorded pasta prominent status in their many regional cuisines.

One of the first foodstuffs to be manufactured commercially, pasta is universally popular. No one knows for sure when pasta entered the cuisines of the world or who invented it. But the Italians can certainly be credited with developing its manifold varieties and spreading them around the world. Every form of dough that is rolled thin and cooked on a hot metal surface can be regarded as a forerunner of pasta.

According to researchers on the subject, it is highly probable that pasta emerged around the same time in all parts of the world where flat bread was made. Perceiving as well-nigh miraculous the benefits of yeast for adding volume to bread made with flour in times when it was almost impossible to find economical foodstuffs that also kept well, mankind developed some extraordinary religious rituals revolving around yeast. In her ‘Dictionary of Ottoman Cuisine’, Priscilla Mary Isin reports that even the poor bought the Italian pasta imported by the Ottoman government in the 19th century. And Ahmet Pasa k pasta factory inside the Selimiye Barracks was set up in the 1830b to meet the growing need for this staple.

So popular was pasta with the common people that the author of the first printed cookbook in the Ottoman state, Mehmet Kamil Bey, in 1844 modified the stock expression ‘temcit pilaff’ to ‘temcitpasta’, referring to a dish served over and over again or, metaphorically, any subject that keeps coming up. In our own Turkish cuisine, pasta appears as ‘eriste’(or noodles cut into thin strips), which derives from the Arabic ‘rishta’. Eriste is still used in Turkey today in a range of dishes from soup to rice pilaff.

There is even evidence in the records that eriste was used in halva in the past. Apart from eriste, the popular Turkish ‘manti’ (a kind of ravioli) is another product of our own authentic pasta culture.

Pasta with ‘kes’ (countrycurd cheese)

Ingredients:

100 g pasta

50 g country curd cheese 20 g butter salt and pepper 1 cup meat stock

Preparation:

Heat the oil slightly, add the pasta and stir until well coated. Then add the meat stock, cover tightly and cook over low heat. Remove the pasta to a serving platter and top with the curd cheese browned in butter.

We support turkish sports

Turkish Airlines is continuing its support for Turkish football at every level, starting with the country’s National A-Team. As part of its recently renewed Primary Sponsorship agreement with the Turkish Football Federation (TFF),

Turkish Airlines is continuing to stand by all Turkey’s National Football Teams as well as the teams that compete in the 2nd and 3rd Sportoto Super Leagues. The ‘Official Sponsor’ of the Besiktas, Bursaspor, Fenerbahce, Galatasaray and Trabzon football clubs, the airline recently extended its sponsorship agreement with the TFF for another two years, serving the Turkey’s youth and its future as a permanent sponsor of sports in the country.

Primary sponsor of the Turkish Basketball Federation as well, Turkish Airlines supports sports through its sponsorship of 47 different sports federations. At the individual level, the airline also backs our athletes like Enis Yilmazer and Sahika Ercumen, who represent Turkey and chalk up records at international events.

Souce: https://www.ensarislamoglu.com/italian-pasta/

Many medieval manuscripts

Tantrism permeated Jainism, Buddhism, Savism

and Vaishnavism. From the seventh century it continued to hold ground

throughout the medieval age. Many medieval manuscripts found, in different

parts of the country deal with tantrism and astrology, and the two are

completely mixed with each other.

Thus in the sixth and seventh centuries we

notice certain striking developments in polity, society, economy, language,

script and religion. This shows that in this period, ancient India was coming to

an end and medieval India was taking shape.

There are no written texts for the study of

society in pre Vedic times. Archaeology tells us that people lived m small

groups in the hilly areas in the Paleolithic Age. The main source of their

subsistence was the game they hunted, and wild fruits and vegetation roots they

collected. Man learnt to produce food and live in houses towards the end of the

Stone Age and the beginning of the metal age.

The Neolithic and chalcolithic communities

lived on the uplands not far from the bills and rivers. Gradually there arose

peasant villages in the Indus basin area, and eventually they blossomed into

the urban society of Harappa, with large and small houses. But once the Harappa

civilization disappeared, urbanism did not reappear in India for a thousand

years or so.

Tribal and Pastoral Phase

Tribal and Pastoral Phase For the history

of society from the time of the Rig Veda we can also use written texts. They

tell us that the Rig Vedic society was primarily pastoral. People were

seminomadic, and their chief possessions consisted of cattle and horses. The

term for cow (gau) occurs 176 times in the earlier parts of the Rig Veda.

Cattle were considered to be synonymous with wealth, and a wealthy person was

called goat. Wars were fought for the sake of cattle, and therefore the lama whose

main duty was to protect the cows was called gopa or gopati.

Cow was so important to the family that the

daughter was called dhikr that is one who milks. So intimate was the

acquaintance of the Vedip people with kina that when they came across the buffalo

in India they called it govala or cow haired. In contrast to references to cows

those to agriculture are fewer in the Rig Veda. Cattle rearing therefore was

the main source of livelihood.

In such a society people could hardly

produce anything over and above what was needed for their subsistence.

Tribesmen could afford only occasional presents for their chiefs. The main

income of a chief or a prince came from the spoils of war. He captured booty

from enemy tribes and exacted tributes from hostile tribes and tribal

compatriots. The offering of tribute received by him was called bail. It seems

that the tribal kinsmen gave trust and voluntary presents to the tribal chief.

In return the chief led them from victory to victory and stood by them in

difficult times.

Mingling and Intermingling

Slumber over there. Do you want to be punished by God? She said to Petriya.

The moon was overhead. Everything was so quiet. Anoka’s heart was breaking and something was slowly dying within her.

She couldn`t go on like this any longer, but what was to be done? Should she return to her father—what could she tell him?—“Grandpa has ordered everybody to obey my will.” No, she couldn’t say anything like this. And then, this terrible night will also have its end, and soon the dawn will break and the sun will shine on all God’s creatures But she, disgraceful person, what shall she do? Could she be more furious than she is? To be quiet—but how? To surrender? No!

The thoughts played a wild dance in her head, crossing, mingling and intermingling.

She felt very tired. Passions, love, hatred, hunger and thirst all disappeared. Her eyelids were heavy like lead, and still they would not close. She felt so miserable and lonesome that she would have gladly disappeared into nothingness. But sleep could not be commanded by grand-pa, neither did it fear him.

She looked at the dark figure of Petriya sitting near her.

She felt as if something in her heart were breaking. Suddenly, and with great force, a Christ like feeling of compassion swept over her, and she burst out:

“Petriya, go to sleep!”

Petriya said nothing, dropped the stick, and was about to leave.

Petriya!”

Petriya trembled, stopped as if petrified. My God, what a new mood! What is going to happen now?

“Petriya, dear sister, forgive me!”

Her woman’s heart softened; she understood and melted.

Anoka, my dear soul, may God forgive you!”

“Petriya, my sister …”

She took Petriya by the hand, brought her closer, and embraced her; both were crying.

Sweetly they cried

How sweetly they cried—like children.

Everything is so quiet—not a sound under the sky; two women embrace, cry, and pet each other. Anoka kisses her over and over; Petriya kisses her on the neck and on the forehead. The moon raised its eye-brows in wonder.

‘Petriya, my darling, I shall die! You shall bathe me, sister, when I am gone. Cover me with basil. Bite into an apple and place it then into my coffin. You are the only one that loves me.”

“Don’t say that, my dear little fool. Everybody loves you.”

“No, no, I know. Nobody does.”

“How can you know this, my dear, when you never even spoke to us? I would rather die now myself than let anyone say something against you.”

“And grandpa?”

Our grandpa is an old and kind man. Approach him penitently and you will find out for yourself.”

‘Good, I’ll go to him…. Good-bye, my dear, and forever, if I should die.”

Petriya covered her mouth with her hand. Anoka took Petriya’s hand and put it around her neck:

Evil of me

“If I die don’t speak evil of me, Petriya! And now go, please.”

“I won’t leave you, as long as I live.”

“I pray you as I pray God.”

“And where will you go?”

“Leave me. I feel wonderful now. Leave me, May God help you. For the love of your child, leave me.”

Petriya hid behind the house, to see where Anoka would go. But the night still ruled, so Petriya could not see that Anoka went to grandpa’s door and sat down on the threshold.

Grandpa, too, had not closed his eyes all night.

The first cocks crow, the earliest messengers of a new day and a new life. Never until now did Anoka find this song to be so beautiful.

Grandpa sat up, threw off his blanket, crossed himself and continued squatting on his bed in the darkness, with conflicting thoughts passing through his mind.

Again the cock’s crow. Grandpa arose to go as usually to the well.

Source: https://istanbulgaria.info/at-the-well-part-6/

Ankorvat in Kampuchea

The temple of Ankorvat in Kampuchea is

larger than that of Borobudur. Although this temple belongs to medieval times,

it can be compared to the best artistic achievements of the’ Egyptians and

Greeks. The stories of the Ramayanai and Mahabharala are written in relief on

the walls of the temple. The story of the foraying is so popular in Indonesia

that many folk plays are performed on its basis, The Indonesian language called

Bahasa Indonesia contains numerous Sanskrit words.

In respect of sculptures the head of the

Buddha from Thailand, the head from Kamboja and the magnificent bronze images

from Java are regarded as the best examples of the blending of Indian art with

the local art traditions of Southeast Asia. Similarly beautiful examples of

painting comparable to those of Ajanta have been found not only in Sri Lanka

but in the Tun Huang caves on the Chinese border.

Central Asia and Southeast Asia

It would be wrong to think that religion

alone contributed to the spread of Indian culture. Missionaries were backed by

traders and conquerors. Trade evidently played a vital part in establishing

India’s relations with Central Asia and Southeast Asia.

The very names Suvarnabhumi and

Suvarnadvipa given to territories in Southeast Asia suggest Indians search for

gold. Trade led not only to exchange of goods but also of elements of culture.

It would be inaccurate to hold that the Indians alone contributed to the

culture of their neighbors. It ‘was a two-way traffic The Indians acquired the

craft of minting gold coins from the Greeks and Romans.

They learnt the art of growing silk from China, that of growing betel leaves from Indonesia, and several other products from the neighboring countries’ Similarly the method of growing cotton spread from India to China and Central Asia.

However, Indian contribution seems to be

more important in art, religion, script and language. But in no case the culture

which developed m the neighboring countries was a replica of the Indian

culture. Just as India retained and developed its own personality in spite of

foreign influences, similarly the countries in Southeast Asia evolved their own

indigenous culture by assimilating the Indian elements.

Neighboring contemporaries

This situation seems to have proved

oppressive, and eventually it caused a revolt led by the Kalabhras in the sixth

century. The revolt affected the Pallavas as well as their neighboring

contemporaries. The Kalabhras are called evil rulers who overthrew innumerable

kings and established their hold on the Tamil land.

They put an end to the brahmadeya rights

granted to the brahmanas in numerous villages, It seems that the Kalabhras held

Buddhist persuasions, for they patronized Buddhist monasteries It is

significant that the Kalabhras revolt could be put down only through the joint

efforts of the Pandyas, the Pallavas and * the Chalukyas of Badami, There is

also a tradition that the Kalabhras had imprisoned the Chola, the Pandya and

the Cheia kings.

All this shows that their revolt had

assumed wide proportions, and produced repercussions out ‘side the Tamil land

The confederacy of the kings against the*Kalabhras, who had revoked the land

grants made to the brahmanas, shows that the revolt was directed against the

existing social and political order in south India.

Conflict between the Pailavas and the Chalukyas

The mam interest in the political history

of peninsular India from the sixth to the eighth centuries centers round the

long struggle between the Pailavas of Kanchi and the Chalukyas of Badami for

supremacy. The Pandyas, who were in control of Madurai and Tinnevelly districts

of Tamil Nadu, joined this conflict as a poor third. Although both the Pailavas

and Chalukyas championed Brahmanism, performed Vedic sacrifices and made

grants’ to the brahmanas, the two quarreled with each other for plunder,

prestige and territorial resources.

Both tried to establish supremacy over the

land lying between the Krishna and the Tungabhadra. This doab formed the bone

of contention in late medieval times between the Vijayanagar and the Bahmani

kingdoms. Time and again the Pallava princes tried to cross the Tungabhadra,

which formed the natural historic boundary between many a kingdom of the Deccan

and the Deep South. The struggle continued for long with varying fortunes.

The first important events in this long

conflict took place in the reign of Pulakesin II (609 642), the most famous

Chalukya king. He is known to us from his eulogy written by the court poet

Ravikirti in the Aihole inscription. This inscription is an example of poetic

excellence reached in Sanskrit, and in spite of its exaggeration is a valuable

source for the biography of Pulakesin. He overthrew the Kadamba capital at

Banavasi and compelled the Gangas of Mysore to acknowledge his suzerainty. He

also defeated Harsha’s army on the Narmada and checked his advance towards the

Deccan.

Social Structure

We can present a rough picture of the

social structure that developed in this period. Society was dominated by

princes and priests. The princes claimed the status of brahmanas or kshatriyas

though many of them were local tribal chiefs promoted to the second varna

through benefactions made to the priests. The priests invented respectable

family trees for these chiefs and traced their descent from age old solar and

lunar dynasties, This process enabled the new rulers to acquire legitimacy in

the eyes of the people.

The priests were mainly brahmanas, though

the Jaina and Buddhist monks should also be placed in this category. In this

phase priests gained in influence and authority because of land grants. Below

the princes and priests came the peasantry, which was divided into numerous

peasant castes. Possibly most of them were called sutras in the brahmamcal

system. If the peasant and artisan castes failed to produce and render services

and payments, it was looked upon as a departure from the established dharma or

norm

Such a situation was described as the age

of Kali. It was the duty of the king to put an end to such a state pf affairs

and restore peace and order which worked in favor of chiefs and priests. The

title dhamamaharaja therefore is adopted by the Vakataka, Pallava, Kadamba and

Western Ganga kings. The real founder of the Pallava power, Simhavarman, is

credited with coming to the rescue of dharma when it was beset with the evil

attributes typical of the Kahyuga, Apparently it refers to his suppression of

the Kalabhras who upset the existing social order

India’s Cultural Contacts with the Asian Countries

Medieval lawgivers and commentators

ordained that a person should not cross the seas. This would imply that India

shunned all relations with the outside world. But this is not so, for India

maintained contacts with its Asian neighbors since Harappan times. Indian

traders went to the cities of Mesopotamia, where their seals belonging to the

period between 2400 B.C. and 1700 B.C have been found.

From the beginning of the Christian era

India maintained commercial contacts with China, Southeast Asia, West Asia and

the Roman Empire. We have seen how the Indian land routes were connected with

the Chinese Silk Route. We have also dwelt on India’s commercial intercourse

with the eastern part of the Roman Empire. In addition to this India sent its

missionaries, conquerors and traders to the neighboring countries where they

founded settlements.

Certain rich man

I heard of a certain rich man, who was as

notorious for parsimony as Hatim Tai for liberality. His external form was

adorned with wealth, but the meanness of his disposition was so radiated, that

he never gave even a loaf of bread to any one: he would not have bestowed a

scrap on the cat of Abu Horiera, nor thrown a bone to the dog of companions of

the cave. In short, no one ever saw his door open nor his table spread. A

Durwesh never knew his victuals, excepting by the smell; no bird ever picked up

any crumbs that fell from his table. I heard that he was sailing on the

Mediterranean Sea towards Egypt, with all the pride of Pharaoh in his

imagination, according to the word of God, ‘Until the time that he was

drowned.’ Suddenly a contrary wind assailed the ship, in the manner as they

have said, ‘What can the heart do that it may not record with your sorrowful disposition;

the north wind is not always favourable for the ship.’ He lifted up the hands

of imploration, and uttered ineffectual lamentations. God hath said, ‘“When you

embark on ships offer up your prayers unto the Lord.’

Of what benefit will it be to the servant

in the time of need, to lift up his hands in imploration, which are extended

during prayers, but when any favour is wanted are folded under his arms?

‘Bestow comfort on others with silver and gold, and from thence derive also

benefit yourself. Know thou, that this edifice of yours will remain, use

therefore bricks of gold and bricks of silver.’

They have related, that he had poor

relations in Egypt, who were enriched with the remainder of his wealth. At his

death they rent their old garments and made up silks and damask. In that same

week I saw one of them riding a fleet horse, with an angelic youth running

after him. I said, “Alas if the dead man should return amongst his tribe and

relations, the heirs would feel more sorrow in restoring him his estate than

they suffered on account of his death.” On the strength of the acquaintance

which had formerly subsisted between us, I pulled his sleeve, and said, “Enjoy

thou, 0 good man of happy endowments, that wealth which the late possessor

accumulated to no purpose.”