Research source

Leland: [579] "A traveller in Persia has observed that the patterns of carpets are made intricate, so that the…

Date of account: Second edition published 1896
Source: The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Reference: The Popular Religion and Folk-Lore of Northern India, Vol. 1 (of 2) · selected passage 115
Rights: public_domain
Language: English
Record updated: 2026-08-25

Record summary

Leland: [579] "A traveller in Persia has observed that the patterns of carpets are made intricate, so that the Evil Eye, resting upon them and following the design, loses its power

Published source text

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Source passage

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Leland: [579] "A traveller in Persia has observed that the patterns of carpets are made intricate, so that the Evil Eye, resting upon them and following the design, loses its power. This was the motive of all the interlaces of the Celtic and Norse designs. When the witch sees the Sâlagrâma, her glance is at once bewildered with its holes and veins. As I have elsewhere remarked, the herb Rosaloaccio, not the corn poppy, but a kind of small house leek, otherwise called 'Rice of the Goddess of the four Winds,' derives its name from looking, ere it unfolds, like confused grains of rice, and when a witch sees it she cannot enter till she has counted them, which is impossible; therefore it is used to protect rooms from witchcraft." Sarson or mustard is, it may be noted, used as a scarer of demons. In all the principal Hindu ceremonies in Western India, grains of Sarshapa or Sarson (Sinapts dichotoma) and parched rice are scattered about to scare fiends. Akbar used to have Sipand or Sarson burnt on a hot plate to keep off the Evil Eye--Nazar-i-bad--from his valuable horses.

Historical context

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Modern context

Contextual commentary · mention only

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