Patan

“ The chief town is Patan, or Jhalrapatan (pop. 7955) , founded close to an old site by Zalim Singh in 1796, by the side of an artificial lake. It is the centre of trade, the chief exports of the state being opium, oil-seeds and cotton. The palace is at the cantonment or chhaoni, 4 m. north. The ancient site near the town was occupied by the city of Chandrawati, said to have been destroyed in the time of Aurangzeb. The finest feature of its remains is the temple of Sitaleswar Mahadeva (c. 600) .
JHANG, a town and district of British India, in the Multan division of the Punjab. ”

“ The spirits of a deceased father, grand father, great grand father, and of a mother, grand mother, and great grand mother, i.e., all the male and female ascendants up to the third degree, receive systematic worship when the Shrāddha or funeral ceremonies are performed either on the anniversary of the death of any of them or on the day when the Nārāyan bali is performed in such holy places as Gayā, Siddhapur or Prabhās Pātan. ”

“ The ordinary old Indian cannot imagine such trim gardens, such an appearance of general finish, and such well-kept gateways and roads as are to be seen throughout Nepal, as a characteristic of ordinary Indian life. It should be understood that the Nepalese themselves, when referring to Nepal, mean the actual Nepal Valley, which comprises the plains surrounding the city of Khatmandu, in which are the ancient towns of Patan and Bhatgaon, besides several other large villages, one or two of which almost arrive at the dignity of towns. ”

“ The chief, Venkat Raman Singh, was born in 1876, succeeded in 1880 and was created G.C.S.I. in 1897. During his minority the administration was reformed. He is Rajput of the Baghela branch of the Solanki race, and is descended from the founder of the Anhilwara Patan dynasty in Gujarat. ”

“ Towns.—There are three large towns in the Nepal valley, Katmandu, the capital, said to contain approximately 50,000 inhabitants, Patan and Bhatgaon about 30,000 each. The houses are from two to four storeys in height, built of brick and tiled. The windows and balconies are of wood, and some are elaborately carved. There are numerous handsome temples in all the towns, the majority of which are pagoda-shaped and built of brick, with roofs of copper, which is sometimes gilt. The streets are narrow, and they, as well as the squares, are all paved with brick or stone. ”

“ Hodgson himself states that "it is often requisite to walk heedfully over the classic fields of the valley of Nepal, lest perchance you break your shins against an image of a Buddha." But the great central square with its public buildings and temples still bravely stands, and endeavours to give the lie to those who maintain that she is utterly cast down. Sylvain Levi's recent observations on this portion of Patan are graphic and interesting: "La place du darbar est une merveille qui défie la description ”

“ Pointing to his warriors, he cried, "We are many! We are strong! We can always protect you."
"I am not afraid," she calmly replied.
He then led us to that chestnut tree, in the branches of which I had sat during a lonely and memorable night, when all hope had perished of any earthly deliverance, and said to her with a manifest touch of genuine emotion, "The God who protected Missi there will always protect you."
She told him that she had no fear of that kind, but explained to him that we must for the present go to Aniwa, but would return to Tanna, if the Lord opened up our way. ”

“ Thus the plan of Nasi was favored by their own customs. One night, after Family Worship—for amidst all his madness, when clear moments came, he poured out his soul in faith and love to the Lord—he said, "Litsi, I am melting! My head burns. Let us go out and get cooled in the open air."
She warned him not to go, as she heard voices whispering under the verandah. He answered a little wildly, "I am not afraid to die. Life is a curse and burden. The white men spoiled my head. If there is a hope of dying, let me go quickly and die!" ”

“ The larger portion, now entirely British, is marked by the towns and districts of Saugor, Jubbulpoor, Hosungabad, Seuni, Nursingpore, Baitool, Sohagpoor, and others of less importance. There are still many aboriginal Ghonds in the province, as in Nagpoor, lurking in the gloomiest recesses of dense forests, and subsisting for the most part on wild roots and fruits. There are other half-savage tribes of Koles, Palis, and Panwars; while the more civilised population comprises a singular mixture of Brahmins, Bundelas, Rajpoots, Mahrattas, and Patans. ”

“ It was generally believed that they had gone in a canoe to Tanna or Erromanga. But one morning, as I began my work at my house alone, the brave Nelwang appeared at my side!
"Hillo!" I said, "where have you come from? and where is Yakin?"
"I must not," he replied, "tell you yet. We are hid. We have lived on cocoanuts gathered at night. Yakin is well and happy. I come now to fulfil my promise: I will help you, and Yakin will help Missi Paton the woman, and we shall be your friends. I have ground to be built upon and fenced, whenever we dare ”

“ The Tannese hate Thee and Thy Worship and Thy servants; but surely, O Lord, Thou canst not forsake Tanna and leave our people to die in the darkness! Oh, make the hearts of this people soft to Thy Word and sweet to Thy Worship; teach them to fear and love Jesus; and oh, restore and spare Missi, dear Missi Paton, that Tanna may be saved!"
Touched to the very fountains of my life by such prayers, from a man once a Cannibal, I began under the breath of God's blessing to revive.
A few days thereafter, Kowia came again to me, and rousing me out of sleep, cried, "Missi, I am very weak; I am dying. ”

“ They are "strong" for the Worship. Her son is being trained up by his cousin, an Elder of the Church, to be "the good Chief of Aniwa"; so she calls him in her prayers, as she cries on God to bless and watch over him, while she is serving the Lord in at once serving the Mission family and ministering to the Natives in that foreign field.
Many years have now passed; and when lately I visited that part of Tanna, Litsi ran to me, clasped my hand, kissed it with many sobs, and cried, "O my father! God has blessed me to see you again. Is my mother, your dear wife, well? ”

“ None but their Sacred Men durst touch them; and the Natives watched us hewing and digging, certain that their gods would strike us dead! That failing, their thoughts may probably have been turned to reflect that after all the Jehovah God was stronger than they.
In leveling the site, and gently sloping the sides of the ground for good drainage purposes, I had gathered together two large baskets of human bones. I said to a Chief in Tannese, "How do these bones come to be here?"
And he replied, with a shrug worthy of a cynical Frenchman, "Ah, we are not Tanna-men! We don't eat the bones!" ”

“ Stir up your gods to help you! I am not killed yet; I am perfectly well!"
At last they stood up and said, "We must delay till we have called all our Sacred Men. We will kill Missi before his next Sabbath comes round. Let all watch, for he will soon die and that without fail."
I replied, "Very good! I challenge all your Priests to unite and kill me by Sorcery or Nahak. If on Sabbath next I come again to your village in health, you will all admit that your gods have no power over me, and that I am protected by the true and living Jehovah God!" ”

“ Our gods will kill him, and we will divide all that he has amongst the men of Aniwa.' But Missi built his house on our most sacred spot. He and his people lived there, and the gods did not strike. He planted bananas there, and we said, 'Now when they eat of these they will all drop down dead, as our fathers assured us, if any one ate fruit from that ground, except only our Sacred Men themselves.' These bananas ripened. They did eat them. We kept watching for days and days, but no one died! Therefore what we say, and what our fathers have said, is not true. Our gods cannot kill them. ”

“ Mathieson’s Station, we met the full force of wind and sea, every wave breaking over and almost swamping our canoe. The Native lad at the helm paddle stood up crying,—
“Missi, this is the conduct of the sea! It swallows up all who seek its help.”
I answered, “We do not seek help from it but from Jehovah Jesus.”
Our danger became very great, as the sea broke over and lashed around us. My faithful Aneityumese, overcome with terror, threw down their paddles, and Abraham said,—
“Missi, we are all drowned now! We are food for the sharks. We might as well be eaten by the Tannese as by fishes ”

“ John suffered exile, and where it is said he wrote the Apocalypse.
Patna (165) , the seventh city of India, in Bengal, at the junction of the Son, the Gandak, and the Ganges; is admirably situated for commerce; has excellent railway communication, and trades largely in cotton, oil-seeds, and salt. It is a poor city with narrow streets, and except the Government buildings, Patna College, a Roman Catholic cathedral, and a mosque, has scarcely any good buildings. At Dinapur, its military station, 6 m. to the W., mutiny broke out in 1857. It is famous for its rice, but this is largely a re-export. ”

“ They were visited by British civil and military officers, who were extremely kind to them, and offered them every facility for seeing the city. After dinner on the last day, Captain Ringgold asked Lord Tremlyn to tell them something about Patna; and he evidently did so with a purpose.
"Patna is the fifteenth city in India in population, one hundred and forty miles from Benares," replied the viscount. "It extends nine miles along the Ganges, and an average of two back from it. The streets are narrow and crooked. ”

“ We fought Missi Turner and Missi Nisbet, and drove them from our island. We killed the Aneityumese Teachers on Aniwa, and one of Missi Paton's Teachers too. We killed several white men, and no Man-of-war punished us. Let us talk over this, about killing Missi Paton and the Aneityumese, till we see if any Man-of-war comes to punish the Erromangans. If not, let us unite, let us kill these Missionaries, let us drive the Worship of Jehovah from our land!"
An Inland Chief said or rather shouted in my hearing, "My love to the Erromangans! They are strong and brave men, the Erromangans. ”

“ For, as they began to plunder the bedroom, Nouka said, "Leave everything. Missi will come back for his valuable things at night, and then we will get them and him also!"
So he nailed up the door, and they all marched for Nowar's. We prayed as one can only pray when in the jaws of death and on the brink of Eternity. We felt that God was near, and omnipotent to do what seemed best in His sight. When the savages were about three hundred yards off, at the foot of a hill leading up to the village, Nowar touched my knee, saying. "Missi, Jehovah is hearing! They are all standing still." ”

“ The town is very prosperous and populous. Taking the population of the city of Benares at something above 183,000, Patna can scarcely have more than 130,000 souls. Among the inhabitants are several Nawabs and native noblemen, whose income is as low as from 1,000 to 500 rupees a month. Many of them have been thus reduced in their worldly circumstances, in [Pg 393] consequence of the British having gained the ascendancy over the former Mahomedan governments. Poor nobility are, however, by no means confined to Patna or to any part of India, but may be found in Poland and Germany ”

“ The good old Chief now told off his men in relays to watch me, lest I should attempt to take my own life, or do anything outrageous, saying, "Poor Missi! That's the way with all who go mad. There's no driving of a notion out of their heads. We must just watch him now. He will find it harder to work with pick and spade than with his pen, and when he's tired we'll persuade him to give it up."
I did get exhausted sooner than I expected, toiling under that tropical sun; but we never own before the Natives that we are beaten ”

“ But to the disgust of the regiment, and more especially of the British officer, who understood the Pathan code, the upholder of honour, one of the best and straightest men they had, was hanged.
The great difference between the Pathan and the Sikh is that the Pathan is for himself. He has a certain amount of tribal, but no national, pride. His assurance is personal. Family pride depends on what the family has done within the memory of a generation; for there is little or no distinction in birth. The Pathan is genuinely a democrat, the Sikh only theoretically so. ”

“ As we were preparing a foundation for the Church, a huge and singular-looking round stone was dug up, at sight of which the Tannese stood aghast. The eldest Chief said, "Missi, that stone was either brought there by Karapanamun (the Evil Spirit) , or hid there by our great Chief who is dead. That is the Stone God to which our forefathers offered human sacrifices; these holes held the blood of the victim till drunk up by the Spirit. The Spirit of that stone eats up men and women and drinks their blood, as our fathers taught us. We are in greatest fear!" ”

“ I ran a narrow risk in approaching them; they thought me an enemy, and I arrested their muskets only by a loud cry—
"I am Missi! Don't shoot; my love to you, my friends!"
Praising God for His preserving care, I reached home, and had a long refreshing sleep. The natives, on hearing next day how I had come all the way in the dark exclaimed—
"Surely any of us would have been killed! Your Jehovah God alone thus protects you and brings you safely home."
With all my heart, I said, "Yes! and He will be your protector and helper too, if only you will obey and trust in Him." ”