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TWELVE MEN OF BENGAL

whom he owed so much. Now that he was free, however, he lost no time in setting out to see the world. After the sheltered life that he had hitherto led in his carefully tended house on the banks of the Hooghly, the hardships of the road must have been a rough experience. In those days of slow and tedious travel a journey even to the imperial city of Delhi along the beaten track was no light undertaking. Mahomed Mohsin, however, hearing good accounts of Manu Jan Khanum's happiness and safety was eager to set out into the unknown in search of learning, and adventure. Blest with splendid physique, his simple living and hard training had endowed him with excellent health, while his skill as a swordsman and as a wrestler was to become famous during his travels throughout India. It was always said of him, however, that his great strength was never used for oppression or in an unjust cause, while it was ever ready to defend the weak or the helpless. For his penmanship he was already noted and much of his leisure time was devoted to copying the Koran. So beautifully were these copies penned that some of them are said to have sold for 1000 Rs. It is also said that he made no fewer than seventy-two copies, truly a Herculean task, all of them being given away when finished to the poor and suffering.

After a brief halt at Murshidabad, he travelled up country visiting all the famous towns of