4
A Demon with Ruby Eyes
THE LANDSCAPE OF UcH is a sacral geography, with peaks and val-
leys that orient the visitor and the inhabitant to a hierarchy of shrines,
graves, and mausoleums. In a city of graves, I thought best to commence
with the graves themselves. The first grave I encountered was right out-
side the central shrine of the fourteenth-century Sufi Makhdum Jah-
aniyan Jahan Gasht. It belonged to Rana Rai Tulsi Das, a local noble who
converted to Islam through the efforts of this Sufi, hence, was buried
near him. This politically important medieval conversion is noted on
the grave: "Rana Rai Tulsi Das. Islamic name Kalimuddin."
There were no flowers on his grave. Nor were any devotees praying
next to it, though it was visibly marked and was next to the shrine. I
asked a number of people if any stories were connected to the grave,
but no one knew any. They did recognize Rana Rai as having been
important, however. Can we take inscription of the Hindu and the
Muslim name on the grave as a demonstration of the Sufi's power to
convert?^1 The logic of conversion would mean that his Hindu name had
no significance. So why inscribe it? I suggest that we read this inscrip-
tion as notating a social cohabitation of two religious communities in
fourteenth-century Uch and as recognition of the social power of
Hindus in the region.^2
In the low, sandy terrain at the outer edges of Uch, I came across
several other graves of Hindus, less prominent and much closer to the
ro3