Fakir

or FAQUIR, (fa-keer'.) [ Ar. fakhar, poor.] A Hindoo monk or devotee, corresponding with the Persian dervish (g. v.). They may be more properly designate das ak ind of Brahmin i cal fanatics, who lead eremitical lives, and whose chief aim is to gain the veneration Fig. 318.- FAKIR, or FAQUIR. of the world by enacting absurd and cruel penances, outdoing even the mortifications and severities of the ancient anchor ets. Some will mangle their bodies with scourges and knives; others never lie down, but if they do so, transfix themselves upon beds of spikes; and others remain all their lives in one posture. [s. 354]