Note 50 — Chapter IV · THE WORSHIP OF THE SAINTED DEAD.

We now come to a more miscellaneous class—the Pîrs and Sayyids. Some of these we have encountered already. We have also seen instances of some holy men who, like Paul and Silas at Lystra, have been raised to the rank of deities. These saints are usually of Muhammadan origin, but most of them are worshipped indiscriminately both by Musalmâns and low class Hindus. The word Pîr properly means “an elder,” but according to Sûfi belief is the equivalent of Murshid, or “religious leader.” Sayyid, an Arabic word meaning “lord” or “prince,” is probably in many cases a corruption of Shahîd, “a martyr of the faith,” because many of these worthies owe their reputation to having lost their lives in the early struggles between Islâm and Hinduism. Mr. Ibbetson notes that he has seen a shrine of some Sayyids in the Jâlandhar District, who were said to have been Sikhs, who died in the front of the battle. It took the form of a Muhammadan tomb, lying east and west, surmounted by two small domes of Hindu shape with their openings to the south. Under each, in the face of the tomb, was a niche to receive a lamp.50