India Today – August 13, 2018

66 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 13, 2018

LEISURE

S

amri S. Baldwin, ‘the White
Mahatma’; Rhia Rhama
Rhoos, ‘the Unparalleled
Necromancer’; Alfred
Sylvester, ‘the Fakir of Oolu’;
Kuda Bux, ‘the Man with X-Ray eyes’
and Eddie Joseph, ‘the Bombay Baffler’.
These are just a few of the colourful
characters to be found in the pages of
Jadoowallahs, Jugglers and Jinns,
a new, entertaining history of Indian
magic by the Australian writer John
Zubrzycki. Drawing on travellers’ tales,
colonial records and the accounts of
magicians, Zubrzycki’s book provides
a whirlwind tour of a tradition that
stretches from the spells of the Atharva

Veda to the kitschy razzle-dazzle of

today’s stage conjurers.

What is the place of the illusionist’s

art in a culture that believes that the

world itself is an illusion? How is magic

related to religion and ritual in India?

Zubrzycki touches upon these weighty

questions, but is clearly less interested

in scholarly analysis than in presenting

the anecdotal riches he has unearthed

in his trawl of antiquarian texts.

Some of the best stories are from

eyewitnesses at ancient courts who

provide accounts of the Indian Rope

Trick and other such celebrated feats of

magic. In the 14th century, the traveller

Ibn Battuta described a yogi trans-

forming himself into a cube and levi-

tating in the air—where he remained

until another yogi sent up a sandal

after him and struck him down. Ibn

Battuta fainted at the sight, bringing

the performance to an abrupt end.

While Zubrzycki’s book deals

mainly with performative magic of the

kind Ibn Battuta witnessed, it follows

far too many forking paths, working in

tales of alchemists and automata that

often seem irrelevant to the subject

at hand. The latter part of the book is

more focused, as the author arrives at

his true subject: a history of the West’s

encounter with Indian magic.

Using contemporary magazine

JADOOWALLAHS,

JUGGLERS AND JINNS

A Magical History of

India

by John Zubrzycki

Pan Macmillan India

368 pages; ` 699

THE GREAT

INDIAN

ROPE

TRICK

REVIEW ZUBRZYCKI’S

book deals mainly

with performative

magic; the latter

part focuses on the

history of the West’s

encounter with

Indian magic

INDIA OFFICE RECORDS, BRITISH LIBRARY