28 JANUARY 1922, Page 24

Islam in India; or, the Qanun-i-Islam. Translated by G. A.

Herklots. New Edition by William Crooke. (H. Milford. 17s. 6d. net.)—Herklots, a German-Dutch surgeon in the East India Company's service, induced a Madrasi Moslem teacher, Jafar Sharif, to compile an account of the customs of his fellow-believers, and published a translation of the . work in 1832. Mr. Crooke has now revised the book and added a good deal of information relating to the Moslems of Northern and Western India, with an introduction. As the Caliphate agitators pretend that Indian Moslems are a well organized and united body who are deeply concerned about the fate of Turkey, it is useful to be reminded of their many sects and of the wide variations from the orthodox Moslem faith which may be found among them. The chapters on the magical methods which are in daily use among Indian Moslems are peculiarly interesting. Islam, especially in India, has borrowed much from the old paganism which it professed to displace.