Read on Twitter
I recently went to the Tantra exhibition at the British Museum. I recalled a curious statement in the Ghāya: "In sexual matters, they have (the Indians) strange secrets including getting a woman pregnant without having been touched by a man, and this is by [certain] movements...
![I recently went to the Tantra exhibition at the British Museum. I recalled a curious statement in the Ghāya: "In sexual matters, they have (the Indians) strange secrets including getting a woman pregnant without having been touched by a man, and this is by [certain] movements...](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EmovXRvXcAMs3zZ.jpg "I recently went to the Tantra exhibition at the British Museum. I recalled a curious statement in the Ghāya: \"In sexual matters, they have (the Indians) strange secrets including getting a woman pregnant without having been touched by a man, and this is by [certain] movements...")
directed at her. They have a drink, belonging to them particularly and no one else, that prevents growing older, grey hair, stooping, and natural decaying . They are the most skilled people in magic (siḥr) and hallucinatory art (takhāyīl)." II.5 (Bhang?) [image not mine]
![directed at her. They have a drink, belonging to them particularly and no one else, that prevents growing older, grey hair, stooping, and natural decaying . They are the most skilled people in magic (siḥr) and hallucinatory art (takhāyīl)." II.5 (Bhang?) [image not mine]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Emo8WVmXIAAZz89.png "directed at her. They have a drink, belonging to them particularly and no one else, that prevents growing older, grey hair, stooping, and natural decaying . They are the most skilled people in magic (siḥr) and hallucinatory art (takhāyīl).\" II.5 (Bhang?) [image not mine]")
The Ikhwān al-Ṣafāʾ mention “a group among the people of India who influence others by causing them to experience strange things unbelievable to most people through illusions (bi iwhāmahum)." (Risala 52a)
The severed head held by the fiersome Chemunda also recalled the association made by Maslama between Indians and the "Sabian" ritual of the talking (severed) head, writing:
"They set it on the back of an idol which then howls horrifically. They infer from his howling whether the number of Sabians will increase or decrease, and whether theywill form a [strong] community or not. ...
"He who has prescribed them this is a sage known as Barthīm al-Barhamī who died in the land of India, which is why a group of the Indians are called the Brahmans. To them belong many specifics, including them would lengthen the book and take us beyond its purpose." III.7
Worth noting that to many medieval Muslim scholars, such as al-Masʿūdī and al-Shahrastānī, Buddha was considered the first "Sabian" in the sense of those who venerate the planets, often including Indians. Correlation NOT causation, but interesting associations nonetheless.
