(Indian). A poor man, a mendicant, a religious beggar.
The Fakirs are the lowest in the priesthood of Yesidis. They wear
coarse black or brown dresses, and a black turban over which a red
handkerchief is tied. Fakirs perform all menial offices connected with
burials. They clean the sacred building, trim and light the lamps, and
so on.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
