223 
ever, eighty-four are enumerated, the least 
of which is a mode of squatting called 
“ padmatan. ” 2. “ Pränäyämä, ” which con- 
sists of three operations., viz., drawing in, 
holding, and letting out the breath. It is 
said that by the practice of Pränäyämä one 
can hold one’s breath for days and months 
whether under water or under ground, and 
that one may hy a peculiar exeroise float in 
the air. 3. “ Pratyahar, ” ov restrieting the 
senses. 4. “ Dharna, ” or restrieting the 
mind. 5. “ Dhyan, ” or meditation. 6. 
“ Samadhi, ” or deep meditation when one 
loses the sense of external objects. These 
operations are the same as those enumerated 
by Patanjali, the founder of the “ Yoga ” 
System, cxeept the first two called “ Yam” 
and “ Niyam, ” wliich consist in observing 
the rules of morality. The Yogis pretend 
to aequire all sorts of miraculous power by 
the practice of Yoga. The book is written 
in hlaok and red, aeoompanied hy an inter 
linear commentary, and comprising several 
magic caleulations. It is on separate leaves 
about one foot and three inohes long and two 
and a half inches broad. As the Hindu 
authority of the curious case of human 
“ hibernation ” mentioned by Dr. Honig 
berger, and witnessed by hundreds in the 
Panjab, it is very valuable. A translation 
accompanies it. 
25. Details of a Persian MSS., cöntaining 10 or 
11 books of the beginning of the 15th 
Century, written by order of Mirza Yashgar, 
grandson of Tamerlane. It is written in 
miniature, but very legible, gold letters and 
is profusely interspersed with gorgeously 
illuminated “headings ” and pictures. 
It contains the Khamsa Nizami and the Khamsa 
Amir Khosro (or the five books of Nizami and the 
five books of Amir Khosro). The details are as 
follows :— 
A. Nizami or Nizam-ud-din was an inhahitant of 
Ganjah, now Elizabethopol near Tiflis. He 
wrote (in 582 of the Hejra) the—1. Makhzan.i- 
Asrar in honour of Bahrain Shah Itümi, for 
whieh the author received at the rate of 1001. 
a line (or verse?) and magnificent rohes of 
honour. It treats of ethics, contains stories 
with their morals, and describes with great 
power, liberty, youth, and age. 2. Shirin 
Khosro (Khosro is a form of Kesar). Khosro 
possessed Shirin, of whom his great rival 
Ferhad was enamoured. 3. Haft Pekcir. Beh- 
räm was a king of Persia, surnamed Behram 
Gor, because he was fond of hunting the 
wild ass (Gorkhar). Both Nos. 2 and 3 were 
written in 593 A.H. in honour of Qizil 
Arslan. 4. Keila Mcijnun (the well-known 
story of the infatuated lovers), written in 
592 A.H., dedicated to the Khakän Manu 
Chehr the Great (?). 3. The Sikandar Namah, 
(exploits of Alexander the Great), Nizami’s 
last work, who died (597 A.H.) a few days 
after completing it. It is dedicated to Tog'h- 
rul Shah Suhjuhi, and consists of two parts, 
“ Barri ” heing Alexander’s exploits by land, 
and " Bahri ” his doings at sea. It also con 
tains moral preeepts. Nizami, unlike his 
contemporaries, shunned Courts, and when the 
king Qizil Arslan went to pay him a visit, 
was found at the mouth of his cave on a mat, 
with his Koran, inkstand, and a long pen as 
his sole earthly possessions. Many tried to 
imitate his style and matter, e.g., Jami, Faiz, 
Hafti, &c. &c., who produced Khamsas (or 
five books), but no one succeeded so well by 
the concurrent testimony of poets and scholars 
as,— 
B. Amir Khosro, whose “Khamsa” consists of,— 
1. Matla-ul-danwdr, which was written in con- 
tradiction of the Makhzan-i-asrar, the first 
book of Nizami. It contains 3,310 verses, 
and was finished in two weeks, in 698 A.H. 
2. The story of Shirin Khosro, 698 A.H., con 
tains 4,124 “poems.” Khosro is the loverand 
Shirin the beloved. 3. Leila wa Majnun, 
698 A.H., contains 2,360 verses. 4. Ahyina 
Sakandari, in Opposition to the Sikandar nama 
of Nizami, and contains 7,372 verses. 5. Hasht 
Behisht was written in 701 A.H., and contains 
a reply to the “Haft Baikar” of Nizami. 
Amir Khosro’s original name was Ain-ud-din- 
abd-al-Hasan. He was born at Putiali in 
Eastern India. His father was a Turk of 
Shahr-i-Sabz, the birthplace of Tamerlane, 
and was a “ Lachini ” chieftain, who came to 
India in the reign of Shams-ud-din Altamsh, 
owing to the invasion of Changöz Khan. 
Princes were in the habit of having the Khamsas 
of Nizami and Khosro transcribed in gold letters, or 
in excellent handwriting on the best paper, and kept 
them always at hand. The first who did arrange 
them in this manner was Mirza Yäshgär, grandson 
of Tamerlane, and there is little doubt, from the 
splendid style in which this manuscript is got up, 
and from other evidence connected with it, that this 
is the very first, as it is the best, collection of the 
Khamsas. 
The manuscript is bound in very good leather, 
and is then enclosed in another cover of Kemkhab 
(or purple worked with gold). It is then enclosed 
in three successive silk wrappers of red, blue, and 
green, wrought in gold ; then covered with a white 
muslin, and finally enclosed in a satin cover put in- 
side a linen handkerchief. The whole is then put 
in an iron or tin case. The arrangement above de- 
scribed of the wrappers was deemed essential to its 
preservation by its princely family of owners, who 
liad kept it for centuries, and to whose aneestors it 
had been transmitted in Central Asia. 
There are also other poems added by Amir Khosro, 
in which he describes liberty or absenee from worldly 
pleasures. Many of the metaphors, &c. most re- 
nowned all over the East are the Creations of this 
poet. Besides the above, he produced four Diwans 
in Persian, comprising preeepts and other subjects on 
—1. Tohfat-us-saghir (Childhood and its beauties). 
2. Wast-ul-Hayat (the age from 7 to 14). 3. Ghurrt- 
ul-Kemal (the Perfection of Youth and Manhood). 
4. Baqia wa Naqia (Old age). These Diwans, which 
are said to pourtray his own life, contain 130,000 Coup 
lets. He also wrote the Ajaz Khosrawi, cöntaining 
tropes, similes, &c., which is highly prized by Per- 
sians, Central Asiatics, and also natives of India. 
In the Naqad-ul-Fatah he describes the capture of 
Deogurh. The Masnawi Qurn-us-Sadain describes 
the interview between Kaikobad and his son. 
Another Masnawi has numerous stories. His “ His- 
tory of Delhi ” treats it up to his own time. He also