GHATS (Hind. ghdt, step, Skt. ghatta, quay, from ghatt, to touch; connected with gharsh, to rub), or, as usually written, CHAIM'S. Struc tures along the banks of rivers, erected to afford easy access to bathers. They are peculiar to Northern Hindustan, and line the river banks in most of the great cities, more especially those situated on the Ganges. A ghat consists, in general, of a long, high building, fronting the river, to which access is had by means of several flights of steps, connected with a broad quay, forming the essential part of the structure, as the wall or building is only for the protection of loungers from the sun's rays. The uniformity of the long lines of steps is broken by small projections, often crowned by kiosks, which re lieve the eye. Though the Ganges, being the sacred river, is par excellence the river of ghats, one of the most beautiful in Hindustan is that Malieswar, on the Nerbudda; and though Be naros prides itself upon possessing the greatest number of ghats, it is almost rivaled by Ujjain and other cities. Consult Fergusson, History of and Eastern Architecture (London, 1876).
GHAZAll, or GHAZEI; (Ar., love-poem, from ghazila, to be affectionate). An Oriental ode. It was a favorite form of lyrical compo sition among the Persians, and corresponds in some respects to our idea of the sonnet. The ghazal consists of from five to sixteen or seven teen couplets written in the same metre and according to fixed rules of rhyme. The opening
couplet has its two lines rhyming with each other, and this rhyme is repeated in the second line of each succeeding couplet, which gives to the ghazal a uniformity that approaches mo notony, according to Western, but not Eastern, standards of taste. In the last two lines, or couplet royal, called makta or khatimah 'close,' the poet introduces his own name as a signature or envoy. Certain departures from these formal rules are found. As to subject, the burden of the ghazal is generally the praise of the poet's sweetheart, or his despair at her indifference; the beauty of the spring, the blush of the rose, the song of the nightingale, or the joys of wine and conviviality. Among the Persian poets, Hafiz (q.v.) is the most famous writer of gha zals, and a number of these have, so far as the form is concerned, been successfully rendered into English. Mention, for example, may be made of "Versions of Hafiz," by Walter Leaf (London, 1898). The German poets Platen, Ruckert, and Bodenstedt have very skillfully adapted this form of composition in their `phase len.' On the latter, consult Remy, Influence of India and Persia on German Poetry (New York, 1901).