S
SABAIO, ÇABAIO, &c., n.p. The name generally given by the Portuguese writers to the Mahommedan prince who was in possession of Goa when they arrived in India, and who had lived much there. He was in fact that one of the captains of the Bāhmanī kingdom of the Deccan who, in the division that took place on the decay of the dynasty towards the end of the 15th century, became the founder of the 'Adil Shāhī family which reigned in Bijapur from 1489 to the end of the following century (see IDALCAN). His real name was Abdul Muẓaffar Yūsuf, with the surname Sabāī or Savāī. There does not seem any ground for rejecting the intelligent statement of De Barros (II. v. 2) that he had this name from being a native of Sāvā in Persia [see Bombay Gazetteer, xxiii. 404]. Garcia de Orta does not seem to have been aware of this history, and he derives the name from Sāḥib (see below), apparently a mere guess, though not an unnatural one. Mr. Birch's surmise (Alboquerque, ii. 82), with these two old and obvious sources of suggestion before him, that "the word may possibly be connected with sipāhī, Arabic, a soldier," is quite inadmissible (nor is sipāhī Arabic). [On this word Mr. Whiteway writes: "In his explanation of this word Sir H. Yule has been misled by Barros. Couto (Dec. iv. Bk. 10 ch. 4) is conclusive, where he says: 'This Çufo extended the limits of his rule as far as he could till he went in person to conquer the island of Goa, which was a valuable possession for its income, and was in possession of a lord of Canara, called Savay, a vassal of the King of Canara, who then had his headquarters at what we call Old Goa.... As there was much jungle here, Savay, the lord of Goa, had certain houses where he stayed for hunting.... These houses still preserve the memory of the Hindu Savay, as they are called the Savayo's house, where for many years the Governors of India lived. As our João de Barros could not get true information of these things, he confounded the name of the Hindu Savay with that of Çufo (? Yūsuf) Adil Shāh, saying in the 5th Book of his 2nd Decade that when we went to India a Moor called Soay was lord of Goa, that we ordinarily called him Sabayo, and that he was a vassal of the King of the Deccan, a Persian, and native of the city of Sawa. At this his sons laughed heartily when we read it to them, saying that their father was anything but a Turk, and his name anything but Çufo.' This passage makes it clear that the origin of the word is the Hindu title Siwāī, Hind. Sawāī, 'having the excess of a fourth,' 'a quarter better than other people,' which is one of the titles of the Mahārājā of Jaypur. To show that it was more or less well known, I may point to the little State of Sunda, which lay close to Goa on the S.E., of which the Rāja was of the Vijayanagar family. This little State became independent after the destruction of Vijayanagar, and remained in existence till absorbed by Tippoo Sultan. In this State Siwāī was a common honorific of the ruling family. At the same time Barros was not alone in calling Adil Shāh the Sabaio (see Alboquerque, Cartas, p. 24), where the name occurs. The mistake having been made, everyone accepted it."]
There is a story, related as unquestionable by Firishta, that the Sabaio was in reality a son of the Turkish Sultan Agā Murād (or 'Amurath') II., who was saved from murder at his father's death, and placed in the hands of 'Imād-ud-dīn, a Persian merchant of Sāvā, by whom he was brought up. In his youth he sought his fortune in India, and being sold as a slave, and going through a succession of adventures, reached his high position in the Deccan (Briggs, Firishta, iii. 7-8).
" "In this island (Goa called Goga) there is a fortress near the sea, walled round after our manner, in which there is sometimes a captain called Savaiu, who has 400 Mamelukes, he himself being also a Mameluke...."—Varthema, 116.
1516.—"Going further along the coast there is a very beautiful river, which sends two arms into the sea, making between them an island, on which stands the city of Goa belonging to Daquem (Deccan), and it was a principality of itself with other districts adjoining in the interior; and in it there was a great Lord, as vassal of the said King (of Deccan) called Sabayo, who being a good soldier, well mannered and experienced in war, this lordship of Goa was bestowed upon him, that he might continually make war on the King of Narsinga, as he did until his death. And then he left this city to his son Çabaym Hydalçan...."—Barros, Lisbon ed. 287.
1563.—"O. ... And returning to our subject, as Adel in Persian means 'justice,' they called the prince of these territories Adelham, as it were 'Lord of Justice.'
"R. A name highly inappropriate, for neither he nor the rest of them are wont to do justice. But tell me also why in Spain they call him the Sabaio?
"O. Some have told me that he was so called because they used to call a Captain by this name; but I afterwards came to know that in fact saibo in Arabic means 'lord.'..."—Garcia, f. 36.
SABLE-FISH. See HILSA.
SADRAS, SADRASPATÁM, n.p. This name of a place 42 m. south of Madras, the seat of an old Dutch factory, was probably shaped into the usual form in a sort of conformity with Madras or Madraspatam. The correct name is Sadurai, but it is sometimes made into Sadrang- and Shatranj-patam. [The Madras Gloss. gives Tam. Shathurangappaṭanam, Skt. chatur-anga, 'the four military arms, infantry, cavalry, elephants and cars.'] Fryer (p. 28) calls it Sandraslapatam, which is probably a misprint for Sandrastapatam.
1726.—"The name of the place is properly Sadrangapatam; but for short it is also called Sadrampatam, and most commonly Sadraspatam. In the Tellinga it indicates the name of the founder, and in Persian it means 'thousand troubles' or the Shah-board which we call chess."—Valentijn, Choromandel, 11. The curious explanation of Shatranj or 'chess,' as 'a thousand troubles,' is no doubt some popular etymology; such as P. sad-ranj, 'a hundred griefs.' The word is really of Sanskrit origin, from Chaturangam, literally, 'quadripartite'; the four constituent parts of an army, viz. horse, foot, chariots and elephants.
[1727.—"Saderass, or Saderass Patam." (See under LONG-CLOTH.)]
c. 1780.—"J'avois pensé que Sadras auroit été le lieu où devoient finir mes contrarietés et mes courses."—Haafner, i. 141.
" "'Non, je ne suis point Anglois,' m'écriai-je avec indignation et transport; 'je suis un Hollandois de Sadringapatnam.'"—Ibid. 191.
1781.—"The chief officer of the French now despatched a summons to the English commandant of the Fort to surrender, and the commandant, not being of opinion he could resist ... evacuated the fort, and proceeded by sea in boats to Sudrung Puttun."—H. of Hydur Naik, 447.
SAFFLOWER, s. The flowers of the annual Carthamus tinctorius, L. (N.O. Compositae), a considerable article of export from India for use of a red dye, and sometimes, from the resemblance of the dried flowers to saffron, termed 'bastard saffron.' The colouring matter of safflower is the basis of rouge. The name is a curious modification of words by the 'striving after meaning.' For it points, in the first half of the name, to the analogy with saffron, and in the second half, to the object of trade being a flower. But neither one nor the other of these meanings forms any real element in the word. Safflower appears to be an eventual corruption of the Arabic name of the thing, 'us̤fūr. This word we find in medieval trade-lists (e.g. in Pegolotti) to take various forms such as asfiore, asfrole, astifore, zaffrole, saffiore; from the last of which the transition to safflower is natural. In the old Latin translation of Avicenna it seems to be called Crocus hortulanus, for the corresponding Arabic is given hasfor. Another Arabic name for this article is ḳurṭum, which we presume to be the origin of the botanist's carthamus. In Hind. it is called kusumbha or kusum. Bretschneider remarks that though the two plants, saffron and safflower, have not the slightest resemblance, and belong to two different families and classes of the nat. system, there has been a certain confusion between them among almost all nations, including the Chinese.
c. 1343.—"Affiore vuol esser fresco, e asciutto, e colorito rosso in colore di buon zafferano, e non giallo, e chiaro a modo di femminella di zafferano, e che non sia trasandato, che quando è vecchio e trasandato si spolverizza, e fae vermini."—Pegolotti, 372.
1612.—"The two Indian ships aforesaid did discharge these goods following ... oosfar, which is a red die, great quantitie."—Capt. Saris, in Purchas, i. 347.
[1667-8.—"... madder, safflower, argoll, castoreum...."—List of Goods imported, in Birdwood, Report on Old Records, 76.]
1810.—"Le safran bâtard ou carthame, nommé dans le commerce safranon, est appelé par les Arabes ... osfour ou ... Kortom. Suivant M. Sonnini, le premier nom désigne la plante; et le second, ses graines."—Silv. de Sacy, Note on Abdallatif, p. 123.
1813.—"Safflower (Cussom, Hind., Asfour, Arab.) is the flower of an annual plant, the Carthamus tinctorius, growing in Bengal and other parts of India, which when well-cured is not easily distinguishable from saffron by the eye, though it has nothing of its smell or taste."—Milburn, ii. 238.
SAFFRON, s. Arab. za'farān. The true saffron (Crocus sativus, L.) in India is cultivated in Kashmīr only. In South India this name is given to turmeric, which the Portuguese called açafrão da terra ('country saffron.') The Hind. name is haldī, or in the Deccan halad, [Skt. haridra, hari, 'green, yellow']. Garcia de Orta calls it croco Indiaco, 'Indian saffron.' Indeed, Dozy shows that the Arab. kurkum for turmeric (whence the bot. Lat. curcuma) is probably taken from the Greek κρόκος or obl. κρόκον. Moodeen Sherif says that kurkum is applied to saffron in many Persian and other writers.
1563.—"R. Since there is nothing else to be said on this subject, let us speak of what we call 'country saffron.'
"O. This is a medicine that should be spoken of, since it is in use by the Indian physicians; it is a medicine and article of trade much exported to Arabia and Persia. In this city (Goa) there is little of it, but much in Malabar, i.e. in Cananor and Calecut. The Canarins call the root alad; and the Malabars sometimes give it the same name, but more properly call it mangale, and the Malays cunhet; the Persians, darzard, which is as much as to say 'yellow-wood.' The Arabs call it habet; and all of them, each in turn, say that this saffron does not exist in Persia, nor in Arabia, nor in Turkey, except what comes from India."—Garcia, f. 78v. Further on he identifies it with curcuma.
1726.—"Curcuma, or Indian Saffron."—Valentijn, Chor. 42.
SAGAR-PESHA, s. Camp-followers, or the body of servants in a private establishment. The word, though usually pronounced in vulgar Hind. as written above, is Pers. shāgird-pesha (lit. shāgird, 'a disciple, a servant,' and pesha, 'business').
SAGO, s. From Malay sāgū. The farinaceous pith taken out of the stem of several species of a particular genus of palm, especially Metroxylon laeve, Mart., and M. Rumphii, Willd., found in every part of the Indian Archipelago, including the Philippines, wherever there is proper soil. They are most abundant in the eastern part of the region indicated, including the Moluccas and N. Guinea, which probably formed the original habitat; and in these they supply the sole bread of the natives. In the remaining parts of the Archipelago, sago is the food only of certain wild tribes, or consumed (as in Mindanao) by the poor only, or prepared (as at Singapore, &c.) for export. There are supposed to be five species producing the article.
1330.—"But as for the trees which produce flour, tis after this fashion.... And the result is the best pasta in the world, from which they make whatever they choose, cates of sorts, and excellent bread, of which I, Friar Odoric, have eaten."—Fr. Odoric, in Cathay, &c., 32.
1522.—"Their bread (in Tidore) they make of the wood of a certain tree like a palm-tree, and they make it in this way. They take a piece of this wood, and extract from it certain long black thorns which are situated there; then they pound it, and make bread of it which they call sagu. They make provision of this bread for their sea voyages."—Pigafetta, Hak. Soc. p. 136. This is a bad description, and seems to refer to the Sagwire, not the true sago-tree.
1552.—"There are also other trees which are called çagus, from the pith of which bread is made."—Castanheda, vi. 24.
1553.—"Generally, although they have some millet and rice, all the people of the Isles of Maluco eat a certain food which they call Sagum, which is the pith of a tree like a palm-tree, except that the leaf is softer and smoother, and the green of it is rather dark."—Barros, III. v. 5.
1579.—"... and a Kind of meale which they call Sago, made of the toppes of certaine trees, tasting in the Mouth like some curds, but melts away like sugar."—Drake's Voyage, Hak. Soc. p. 142.
" Also in a list of "Certaine Wordes of the Naturall Language of Iaua"; "Sagu, bread of the Countrey."—Hakl. iv. 246.
c. 1690.—"Primo Sagus genuina, Malaice Sagu, sive Lapia tuni, h.e. vera Sagu."—Rumphius, i. 75. (We cannot make out the language of lapia tuni.)
1727.—"And the inland people subsist mostly on Sagow, the Pith of a small Twig split and dried in the Sun."—A. Hamilton, ii. 93; [ed. 1744].
SAGWIRE, s. A name applied often in books, and, formerly at least, in the colloquial use of European settlers and traders, to the Gomuti palm or Arenga saccharifera, Labill., which abounds in the Ind. Archipelago, and is of great importance in its rural economy. The name is Port. sagueira (analogous to palmeira), in Span. of the Indies saguran, and no doubt is taken from sagu, as the tree, though not the Sago-palm of commerce, affords a sago of inferior kind. Its most important product, however, is the sap, which is used as toddy (q.v.), and which in former days also afforded almost all the sugar used by natives in the islands. An excellent cordage is made from a substance resembling black horse-hair, which is found between the trunk and the fronds, and this is the gomuti of the Malays, which furnished one of the old specific names (Borassus Gomutus, Loureiro). There is also found in a like position a fine cotton-like substance which makes excellent tinder, and strong stiff spines from which pens are made, as well as arrows for the blow-pipe, or Sumpitan (see SARBATANE). "The seeds have been made into a confection, whilst their pulpy envelope abounds in a poisonous juice—used in the barbarian wars of the natives—to which the Dutch gave the appropriate name of 'hell-water'" (Crawfurd, Desc. Dict. p. 145). The term sagwire is sometimes applied to the toddy or palm-wine, as will be seen below.
1615.—"Oryza tamen magna hic copia, ingens etiam modus arborum quas Saguras vocant, quaeque varia suggerunt commoda."—Jarric, i. 201.
1631.—"... tertia frequens est in Banda ac reliquis insulis Moluccis, quae distillat ex arbore non absimili Palmae Indicae, isque potus indigenis Saguër vocatur...."—Jac. Bontii, Dial. iv. p. 9.
1784.—"The natives drink much of a liquor called saguire, drawn from the palm-tree."—Forrest, Mergui, 73.
1820.—"The Portuguese, I know not for what reason, and other European nations who have followed them, call the tree and the liquor sagwire."—Crawfurd, Hist. i. 401.
SAHIB, s. The title by which, all over India, European gentlemen, and it may be said Europeans generally, are addressed, and spoken of, when no disrespect is intended, by natives. It is also the general title (at least where Hindustani or Persian is used) which is affixed to the name or office of a European, corresponding thus rather to Monsieur than to Mr. For Colonel Ṣāḥib, Collector Ṣāḥib, Lord Ṣāḥib, and even Sergeant Ṣāḥib are thus used, as well as the general vocative Ṣāḥib! 'Sir!' In other Hind. use the word is equivalent to 'Master'; and it is occasionally used as a specific title both among Hindus and Musulmans, e.g. Appa Ṣāḥib, Tīpū Ṣāḥib; and generically is affixed to the titles of men of rank when indicated by those titles, as Khān Ṣāḥib, Nawāb Ṣāḥib, Rājā Ṣāḥib. The word is Arabic, and originally means 'a companion'; (sometimes a companion of Mahommed). [In the Arabian Nights it is the title of a Wazīr (Burton, i. 218).]
1689.—"Thus the distracted Husband in his Indian English confest, English fashion, Sab, best fashion, have one Wife best for one Husband."—Ovington, 326.
1853.—"He was told that a 'Sahib' wanted to speak with him."—Oakfield, ii. 252.
1878.—"... forty Elephants and five Sahibs with guns and innumerable followers."—Life in the Mofussil, i. 194.
[ST. DEAVES, n.p. A corruption of the name of the island of Sandwīp in the Bay of Bengal, situated off the coast of Chittagong and Noakhālī, which is best known in connection with the awful loss of life and property in the cyclone of 1876.
SAINT JOHN'S, n.p.
a. An English sailor's corruption, which for a long time maintained its place in our maps. It is the Sindān of the old Arab Geographers, and was the first durable settling-place of the Parsee refugees on their emigration to India in the 8th century. [Dosabhai Framji, Hist. of the Parsis, i. 30.] The proper name of the place, which is in lat. 20° 12′ and lies 88 m. north of Bombay, is apparently Sajām (see Hist. of Cambay, in Bo. Govt. Selections, No. xxvi., N.S., p. 52), but it is commonly called Sanjān. E. B. Eastwick in J. Bo. As. Soc. R. i. 167, gives a Translation from the Persian of the "Kiṣṣah-i-Sanjān, or History of the arrival and settlement of the Parsees in India." Sanjān is about 3 m. from the little river-mouth port of Umbargām. "Evidence of the greatness of Sanjān is found, for miles around, in old foundations and bricks. The bricks are of very superior quality."—Bomb. Gazetteer, vol. xiv. 302, [and for medieval references to the place, ibid. I. Pt. i. 262, 520 seq.].
c. 1599.—
"When the Dastur saw the soil was good,
He selected the place for their residence:
The Dastur named the spot Sanjan,
And it became populous as the Land of Iran."
—Kiṣṣah, &c., as above, p. 179.
c. 1616.—"The aldea Nargol ... in the lands of Daman was infested by Malabar Moors in their parós, who commonly landed there for water and provisions, and plundered the boats that entered or quitted the river, and the passengers who crossed it, with heavy loss to the aldeas adjoining the river, and to the revenue from them, as well as to that from the custom-house of Sangens."—Bocarro, Decada, 670.
1623.—"La mattina seguente, fatto giorno, scoprimmo terra di lontano ... in un luogo poco discosto da Bassain, che gl'Inglesi chiamano Terra di San Giovanni; ma nella carta da navigare vidi esser notato, in lingua Portoghese, col nome d'ilhas das vaccas, o 'isole delle vacche' al modo nostro."—P. della Valle, ii. 500; [Hak. Soc. i. 16].
1630.—"It happened that in safety they made to the land of St. Iohns on the shoares of India."—Lord, The Religion of the Persees, 3.
1644.—"Besides these four posts there are in the said district four Tanadarias (see TANADAR), or different Captainships, called Samgês (St. John's), Danū, Maim, and Trapor."—Bocarro (Port. MS.).
1673.—"In a Week's Time we turned it up, sailing by Baçein, Tarapore, Valentine's Peak, St. John's, and Daman, the last City northward on the Continent, belonging to the Portuguese."—Fryer, 82.
1808.—"They (the Parsee emigrants) landed at Dieu, and lived there 19 years; but, disliking the place ... the greater part of them left it and came to the Guzerat coast, in vessels which anchored off Seyjan, the name of a town."—R. Drummond.
1813.—"The Parsees or Guebres ... continued in this place (Diu) for some time, and then crossing the Gulph, landed at Suzan, near Nunsaree, which is a little to the southward of Surat."—Forbes, Or. Mem. i. 109; [2nd ed. i. 78].
1841.—"The high land of St. John, about 3 leagues inland, has a regular appearance...."—Horsburgh's Directory, ed. 1841, i. 470.
1872.—"In connexion with the landing of the Parsis at Sanjân, in the early part of the 8th century, there still exist copies of the 15 Sanskrit Ślokas, in which their Mobeds explained their religion to Jadé Rânâ, the Râja of the place, and the reply he gave them."—Ind. Antiq. i. 214. The Ślokas are given. See them also in Dosabhai Framji's Hist. of the Parsees, i. 31.
b. ST. JOHN'S ISLAND, n.p. This again is a corruption of San-Shan, or more correctly Shang-chuang, the Chinese name of an island about 60 or 70 miles S.W. of Macao, and at some distance from the mouth of the Canton River, the place where St. Francis Xavier died, and was originally buried.
1687.—"We came to Anchor the same Day, on the N.E. end of St. John's Island. This Island is in Lat. about 32 d. 30 min. North, lying on the S. Coast of the Province of Quantung or Canton in China."—Dampier, i. 406.
1727.—"A Portuguese Ship ... being near an Island on that Coast, called after St. Juan, some Gentlemen and Priests went ashore for Diversion, and accidentally found the Saint's Body uncorrupted, and carried it Passenger to Goa."—A. Hamilton, i. 252; [ed. 1744, ii. 255].
1780.—"St. John's," in Dunn's New Directory, 472.
c. ST. JOHN'S ISLANDS. This is also the chart-name, and popular European name, of two islands about 6 m. S. of Singapore, the chief of which is properly Pulo Sikajang, [or as Dennys (Desc. Dict. 321) writes the word, Pulo Skijang].
SAIVA, s. A worshipper of Śiva; Skt. Śaiva, adj., 'belonging to Siva.'
SALA, s. Hind. sālā, 'brother-in-law,' i.e. wife's brother; but used elliptically as a low term of abuse.
SALAAM, s. A salutation; properly oral salutation of Mahommedans to each other. Arab. salām, 'peace.' Used for any act of salutation; or for 'compliments.'
"Ἀλλ' εἰ μὲν Σύρος ἐσσὶ "Σαλὰμ," εἰ δ' οὗν σύ γε φοίνιξ
"Ναίδιος," εἰ δ' Ἕλλην "Χαῖρε"· τὸ δ' αὐτὸ φράσον."
—Meleagros, in Anthologia Palatina, vii. 149.
The point is that he has been a bird of passage, and says good-bye now to his various resting-places in their own tongue.]
1513.—"The ambassador (of Bisnagar) entering the door of the chamber, the Governor rose from the chair on which he was seated, and stood up while the ambassador made him great çalema."—Correa, Lendas, II. i. 377. See also p. 431.
1552.—"The present having been seen he took the letter of the Governor, and read it to him, and having read it told him how the Governor sent him his çalema, and was at his command with all his fleet, and with all the Portuguese...."—Castanheda, iii. 445.
1611.—"Çalema. The salutation of an inferior."—Cobarruvias, Sp. Dict. s.v.
1626.—"Hee (Selim i.e. Jahāngīr) turneth ouer his Beades, and saith so many words, to wit three thousand and two hundred, and then presenteth himself to the people to receive their salames or good morrow...."—Purchas, Pilgrimage, 523.
1638.—"En entrant ils se salüent de leur Salom qu'ils accompagnent d'vne profonde inclination."—Mandelslo, Paris, 1659, 223.
1648.—"... this salutation they call salam; and it is made with bending of the body, and laying of the right hand upon the head."—Van Twist, 55.
1689.—"The Salem of the Religious Bramins, is to join their Hands together, and spreading them first, make a motion towards their Head, and then stretch them out."—Ovington, 183.
1694.—"The Town Conicopolies, and chief inhabitants of Egmore, came to make their Salaam to the President."—Wheeler, i. 281.
1717.—"I wish the Priests in Tranquebar a Thousand fold Schalam."—Philipp's Acct. 62.
1809.—"The old priest was at the door, and with his head uncovered, to make his salaams."—Ld. Valentia, i. 273.
1813.—
"'Ho! who art thou?'—'This low salam
Replies, of Moslem faith I am.'"
Byron, The Giaour.
1832.—"Il me rendit tous les salams que je fis autrefois au Grand Mogol."—Jacquemont, Corresp. ii. 137.
1844.—"All chiefs who have made their salam are entitled to carry arms personally."—G. O. of Sir C. Napier, 2.
SALAK, s. A singular-looking fruit, sold and eaten in the Malay regions, described in the quotation. It is the fruit of a species of ratan (Salacca edulis), of which the Malay name is rotan-salak.
SALEB, SALEP, s. This name is applied to the tubers of various species of orchis found in Europe and Asia, which from ancient times have had a great reputation as being restorative and highly nutritious. This reputation seems originally to have rested on the 'doctrine of signatures,' but was due partly no doubt to the fact that the mucilage of saleb has the property of forming, even with the addition of 40 parts of water, a thick jelly. Good modern authorities quite disbelieve in the virtues ascribed to saleb, though a decoction of it, spiced and sweetened, makes an agreeable drink for invalids. Saleb is identified correctly by Ibn Baithar with the Satyrium of Dioscorides and Galen. The full name in Ar. (analogous to the Greek orchis) is Khuṣī-al-tha'lab, i.e. 'testiculus vulpis'; but it is commonly known in India as s̤a'lab miṣrī, i.e. Salep of Egypt, or popularly salep-misry. In Upper India s̤aleb is derived from various species of Eulophia, found in Kashmīr and the Lower Himālaya. Saloop, which is, or used to be, supplied hot in winter mornings by itinerant vendors in the streets of London, is, we believe, a representative of Saleb; but we do not know from what it is prepared. [In 1889 a correspondent to Notes & Queries (7 ser. vii. 35) stated that "within the last twenty years saloop vendors might have been seen plying their trade in the streets of London. The term saloop was also applied to an infusion of the sassafras bark or wood. In Pereira's Materia Medica, published in 1850, it is stated that 'sassafras tea, flavoured with milk and sugar, is sold at daybreak in the streets of London under the name of saloop.' Saloop in balls is still sold in London, and comes mostly from Smyrna."]
In the first quotation it is doubtful what is meant by salīf; but it seems possible that the traveller may not have recognised the tha'lab, s̤a'lab in its Indian pronunciation.
1727.—"They have a fruit called Salob, about the size of a Peach, but without a stone. They dry it hard ... and being beaten to Powder, they dress it as Tea and Coffee are.... They are of opinion that it is a great restorative."—A. Hamilton, i. 125; [ed. 1744, i. 126].
[1754.—In his list of Indian drugs Ives (p. 44) gives "Rad. Salop, Persia Rs. 35 per maund."]
1838.—"Saleb Misree, a medicine, comes (a little) from Russia. It is considered a good nutritive for the human constitution, and is for this purpose powdered and taken with milk. It is in the form of flat oval pieces of about 80 grains each.... It is sold at 2 or 3 Rupees per ounce."—Desc. of articles found in Bazars of Cabool. In Punjab Trade Report, 1862, App. vi.
1882 (?).—"Here we knock against an ambulant salep-shop (a kind of tea which people drink on winter mornings); there against roaming oil, salt, or water-vendors, bakers carrying brown bread on wooden trays, pedlars with cakes, fellows offering dainty little bits of meat to the knowing purchaser."—Levkosia, The Capital of Cyprus, ext. in St. James's Gazette, Sept. 10.
SALEM, n.p. A town and inland district of S. India. Properly Shelam, which is perhaps a corruption of Chera, the name of the ancient monarchy in which this district was embraced. ["According to one theory the town of Salem is said to be identical with Seran or Sheran, and occasionally to have been named Sheralan; when S. India was divided between the three dynasties of Chola, Sera and Pandia, according to the generally accepted belief, Karur was the place where the three territorial divisions met; the boundary was no doubt subject to vicissitudes, and at one time possibly Salem or Serar was a part of Sera."—Le Fanu, Man. of Salem, ii. 18.]
SALEMPOORY, s. A kind of chintz. See allusions under PALEMPORE. [The Madras Gloss., deriving the word from Tel. sāle, 'weaver,' pura, Skt. 'town,' describes it as "a kind of cotton cloth formerly manufactured at Nellore; half the length of ordinary Punjums" (see PIECE-GOODS). The third quotation indicates that it was sometimes white.]
[1611.—"I ... was only doubtful about the white Betteelas and Salempurys."—Danvers, Letters, i. 155.
[1614.—"Salampora, being a broad white cloth."—Foster, ibid. ii. 32.]
1680.—"Certain goods for Bantam priced as follows:—
"Salampores, Blew, at 14 Pagodas per corge...."—Ft. St. Geo. Consn., April 22. In Notes and Exts. iii. 16; also ibid. p. 24.
1747.—"The Warehousekeeper reported that on the 1st inst. when the French entered our Bounds and attacked us ... it appeared that 5 Pieces of Long Cloth and 10 Pieces of Salampores were stolen, That Two Pieces of Salampores were found upon a Peon ... and the Person detected is ordered to be severely whipped in the Face of the Publick...."—Ft. St. David Consn., March 30 (MS. Records in India Office).
c. 1780.—"... et l'on y fabriquoit différentes espèces de toiles de coton, telles que salempouris."—Haafner, ii. 461.
SALIGRAM, s. Skt. Śālagrāma (this word seems to be properly the name of a place, 'Village of the Sāl-tree'—a real or imaginary tīrtha or place of sacred pilgrimage, mentioned in the Mahābhārata). [Other and less probable explanations are given by Oppert, Anc. Inhabitants, 337.] A pebble having mystic virtues, found in certain rivers, e.g. Gandak, Son, &c. Such stones are usually marked by containing a fossil ammonite. The śālagrāma is often adopted as the representative of some god, and the worship of any god may be performed before it.[1] It is daily worshipped by the Brahmans; but it is especially connected with Vaishnava doctrine. In May 1883 a śālagrāma was the ostensible cause of great popular excitement among the Hindus of Calcutta. During the proceedings in a family suit before the High Court, a question arose regarding the identity of a śālagrāma, regarded as a household god. Counsel on both sides suggested that the thing should be brought into court. Mr. Justice Norris hesitated to give this order till he had taken advice. The attorneys on both sides, Hindus, said there could be no objection; the Court interpreter, a high-caste Brahman, said it could not be brought into Court, because of the coir-matting, but it might with perfect propriety be brought into the corridor for inspection; which was done. This took place during the excitement about the "Ilbert Bill," giving natives magisterial authority in the provinces over Europeans; and there followed most violent and offensive articles in several native newspapers reviling Mr. Justice Norris, who was believed to be hostile to the Bill. The editor of the Bengallee newspaper, an educated man, and formerly a member of the covenanted Civil Service, the author of one of the most unscrupulous and violent articles, was summoned for contempt of court. He made an apology and complete retractation, but was sentenced to two months' imprisonment.
1782.—"Avant de finir l'histoire de Vichenou, je ne puis me dispenser de parler de la pierre de Salagraman. Elle n'est autre chose qu'une coquille petrifiée du genre des cornes d'Ammon: les Indiens prétendent qu'elle represente Vichenou, parcequ'ils en ont découvert de neuf nuances différentes, ce qu'ils rapportent aux neuf incarnations de ce Dieu.... Cette pierre est aux sectateurs de Vichenou ce que le Lingam est à ceux de Chiven."—Sonnerat, i. 307.
[1822.—"In the Nerbuddah are found those types of Shiva, called Solgrammas, which are sacred pebbles held in great estimation all over India."—Wallace, Fifteen Years in India, 296.]
1824.—"The shalgramŭ is black, hollow, and nearly round; it is found in the Gunduk River, and is considered a representation of Vishnoo.... The Shalgramŭ is the only stone that is naturally divine; all the other stones are rendered sacred by incantations."—Wanderings of a Pilgrim, i. 43.
1885.—"My father had one (a Salagram). It was a round, rather flat, jet black, small, shining stone. He paid it the greatest reverence possible, and allowed no one to touch it, but worshipped it with his own hands. When he became ill, and as he would not allow a woman to touch it, he made it over to a Brahman ascetic with a money present."—Sundrábái, in Punjab Notes and Queries, ii. 109. The śālagrāma is in fact a Hindu fetish.
SALLABAD, s. This word, now quite obsolete, occurs frequently in the early records of English settlements in India, for the customary or prescriptive exactions of the native Governments, and for native prescriptive claims in general. It is a word of Mahratti development, sālābād, 'perennial,' applied to permanent collections or charges; apparently a factitious word from Pers. sāl, 'year,' and Ar. ābād, 'ages.'
1703.—"... although these are hardships, yet by length of time become Sallabad (as we esteem them), there is no great demur made now, and are not recited here as grievances."—In Wheeler, ii. 19.
1716.—"The Board upon reading them came to the following resolutions:—That for anything which has yet appeared the Comatees (Comaty) may cry out their Pennagundoo Nagarum ... at their houses, feasts, and weddings, &c., according to Salabad but not before the Pagoda of Chindy Pillary...."—Ibid. 234.
1788.—"Sallabaud. (Usual Custom). A word used by the Moors Government to enforce their demand of a present."—Indian Vocabulary (Stockdale).
SALOOTREE, SALUSTREE, s. Hind. Sālotar, Sālotrī. A native farrier or horse-doctor. This class is now almost always Mahommedan. But the word is taken from the Skt. name Sālihotra, the original owner of which is supposed to have written in that language a treatise on the Veterinary Art, which still exists in a form more or less modified and imperfect. "A knowledge of Sanskrit must have prevailed pretty generally about this time (14th century), for there is in the Royal Library at Lucknow a work on the veterinary art, which was translated from the Sanskrit by order of Ghiyásu-d dín Muhammad Sháh Khiljí. This rare book, called Kurrutu-l-Mulk, was translated as early as A.H. 783 (A.D. 1381), from an original styled Sálotar, which is the name of an Indian, who is said to have been a Bráhman, and the tutor of Susruta. The Preface says the translation was made 'from the barbarous Hindi into the refined Persian, in order that there may be no more need of a reference to infidels.'"[2] (Elliot, v. 573-4.)
SALSETTE, n.p.
a. A considerable island immediately north of Bombay. The island of Bombay is indeed naturally a kind of pendant to the island of Salsette, and during the Portuguese occupation it was so in every sense. That occupation is still marked by the remains of numerous villas and churches, and by the survival of a large R. Catholic population. The island also contains the famous and extensive caves of Kāṇhērī (see KENNERY). The old city of Tana (q.v.) also stands upon Salsette. Salsette was claimed as part of the Bombay dotation of Queen Catherine, but refused by the Portuguese. The Mahrattas took it from them in 1739, and it was taken from these by us in 1774. The name has been by some connected with the salt-works which exist upon the islands (Salinas). But it appears in fact to be the corruption of a Mahratti name Shāshṭī, from Shāshashṭī, meaning 'Sixty-six' (Skt. Shaṭ-shashṭi), because (it is supposed) the island was alleged to contain that number of villages. This name occurs in the form Shatsashti in a stone inscription dated Sak. 1103 (A.D. 1182). See Bo. J. R. As. Soc. xii. 334. Another inscription on copper plates dated Sak. 948 (A.D. 1027) contains a grant of the village of Naura, "one of the 66 of Śri Sthānaka (Thana)," thus entirely confirming the etymology (J. R. As. Soc. ii. 383). I have to thank Mr. J. M. Campbell, C.S.I., for drawing my attention to these inscriptions.
b. Salsette is also the name of the three provinces of the Goa territory which constituted the Velhas Conquistas or Old Conquests. These lay all along the coast, consisting of (1) the Ilhas (viz. the island of Goa and minor islands divided by rivers and creeks), (2) Bardez on the northern mainland, and (3) Salsette on the southern mainland. The port of Marmagaon, which is the terminus of the Portuguese Indian Railway, is in this Salsette. The name probably had the like origin to that of the Island Salsette; a parallel to which was found in the old name of the Island of Goa, Tiçoari, meaning (Mahr.) Tīs-wādī, "30 hamlets." [See BARGANY.]
a.—
| "Item—Revenue of the Cusba (Caçabe—see CUSBAH) of Maym: | ||
| R̃bc lxbij | fedeas | (40,567) |
| And the custom-house (Mandovim) of the said Maym |
" | (48,000) |
| And Mazagong (Mazaguão) | " | (11,500) |
| And Bombay (Monbaym) | " | (23,000) |
| And the Cusba and Customs of Caranja |
" | (94,700) |
| And in paddy (baté) | xxi muras (see MOORAH) 1 candil (see CANDY) | |
| And the Island of Salsete | fedeas | (319,100) |
| And in paddy | xxi muras 1 candil." | |
| S. Botelho, Tombo, 142. | ||
1538.—"Beyond the Isle of Elephanta (do Alifante) about a league distant is the island of Salsete. This island is seven leagues long by 5 in breadth. On the north it borders the Gulf of Cambay, on the south it has the I. of Elephanta, on the east the mainland, and on the west the I. of Bombai or of Boa Vida. This island is very fertile, abounding in provisions, cattle, and game of sorts, and in its hills is great plenty of timber for building ships and galleys. In that part of the island which faces the S.W. wind is built a great and noble city called Thana; and a league and a half in the interior is an immense edifice called the Pagoda of Salsete; both one and the other objects most worthy of note; Thana for its decay (destroição) and the Pagoda as a work unique in its way, and the like of which is nowhere to be seen."—João de Castro, Primo Roteiro da India, 69-70.
1554.—"And to the Tanadar (tenadar) of Salsete 30,000 reis.
"He has under him 12 peons (piães) of whom the said governor takes 7; leaving him 5, which at the aforesaid rate amount to 10,800 reis.
"And to a Parvu (see PARVOE) that he has, who is the country writer ... and having the same pay as the Tenadar Mor, which is 3 pardaos a month, amounting in a year at the said rate to 10,800 reis."—Botelho, Tombo, in Subsidios, 211-212.
1610.—"Frey Manuel de S. Mathias, guardian of the convent of St. Francis in Goa, writes to me that ... in Goa alone there are 90 resident friars; and besides in Baçaim and its adjuncts, viz., in the island of Salsete and other districts of the north they have 18 parishes (Freguezias) of native Christians with vicars; and five of the convents have colleges, or seminaries where they bring up little orphans; and that the said Ward of Goa extends 300 leagues from north to south."—Livros das Monções, 298.
[1674.—"From whence these Pieces of Land receive their general Name of Salset ... either because it signifies in Canorein a Granary...."—Fryer, 62.]
c. 1760.—"It was a melancholy sight on the loss of Salsett, to see the many families forced to seek refuge on Bombay, and among them some Portuguese Hidalgos or noblemen, reduced of a sudden from very flourishing circumstances to utter beggary."—Grose, i. 72.
[1768.—"Those lands are comprised in 66 villages, and from this number it is called Salsette."—Foral of Salsette, India Office MS.]
1777.—"The acquisition of the Island of Salset, which in a manner surrounds the Island of Bombay, is sufficient to secure the latter from the danger of a famine."—Price's Tracts, i. 101.
1808.—"The island of Sashty (corrupted by the Portuguese into Salsette) was conquered by that Nation in the year of Christ 1534, from the Mohammedan Prince who was then its Sovereign; and thereupon parcelled out, among the European subjects of Her Most Faithful Majesty, into village allotments, at a very small Foro or quit-rent."—Bombay, Regn. I. of 1808, sec. ii.b.—
1546.—"We agree in the manner following, to wit, that I Idalxaa (Idalcan) promise and swear on our Koran (no noso moçaffo), and by the head of my eldest son, that I will remain always firm in the said amity with the King of Portugal and with his governors of India, and that the lands of Salsete and Bardees, which I have made contract and donation of to His Highness, I confirm and give anew, and I swear and promise by the oath aforesaid never to reclaim them or make them the Subject of War."—Treaty between D. John de Castro and Idalxaa, who was formerly called Idalção (Adil Khān).—Botelho, Tombo, 40.
1598.—"On the South side of the Iland of Goa, wher the riuer runneth againe into the Sea, there cometh euen out with the coast a land called Salsette, which is also vnder the subiection of the Portingales, and is ... planted both with people and fruite."—Linschoten, 51; [Hak. Soc. i. 177].
1602.—"Before we treat of the Wars which in this year (c. 1546) Idalxa (Adil Shāh) waged with the State about the mainland provinces of Salsete and Bardés, which caused much trouble to the Government of India, it seems well to us to give an account of these Moor Kings of Visiapor."—Couto, IV. x. 4.
SALWEN, n.p. The great river entering the sea near Martaban in British Burma, and which the Chinese in its upper course call Lu-kiang. The Burmese form is Than-lwen, but the original form is probably Shān. ["The Salween River, which empties itself into the sea at Maulmain, rivals the Irrawaddy in length but not in importance" (Forbes, British Burma, 8).]
SAMBOOK, s. Ar. sanbuḳ, and sunbūḳ (there is a Skt. word śambūka, 'a bivalve shell,' but we are unable to throw any light on any possible transfer); a kind of small vessel formerly used in Western India and still on the Arabian coast. [See Bombay Gazetteer, xiii. Pt. ii. 470.] It is smaller than the bagalā (see BUGGALOW), and is chiefly used to communicate between a roadstead and the shore, or to go inside the reefs. Burton renders the word 'a foyst,' which is properly a smaller kind of galley. See description in the last but one quotation below.
1498.—"The Zambuco came loaded with doves'-dung, which they have in those islands, and which they were carrying, it being merchandize for Cambay, where it is used in dyeing cloths."—Correa, Lendas, i. 33-34.
" In the curious Vocabulary of the language of Calicut, at the end of the Roteiro of Vasco da Gama, we find: "Barcas; Cambuco."
[1502.—"Zambucos." See under NACODA.]
1506.—"Questo Capitanio si prese uno sambuco molto ricco, veniva dalla Mecha per Colocut."—Leonardo Ca' Masser, 17.
1510.—"As to the names of their ships, some are called Sambuchi, and these are flat-bottomed."—Varthema, 154.
1516.—"Item—our Captain Major, or Captain of Cochim shall give passes to secure the navigation of the ships and zanbuqos of their ports ... provided they do not carry spices or drugs that we require for our cargoes, but if such be found, for the first occasion they shall lose all the spice and drugs so loaded, and on the second they shall lose both ship and cargo, and all may be taken as prize of war."—Treaty of Lopo Soares with Coulão (Quilon), in Botelho, Tombo, Subsidios, p. 32.
[1516.—"Zambucos." See under ARECA.]
1518.—"Zambuquo." See under PROW.
1543.—"Item—that the Zanbuquos which shall trade in his port in rice or nele (paddy) and cottons and other matters shall pay the customary dues."—Treaty of Martin Affonso de Sousa with Coulam, in Botelho, Tombo, 37.
[1814.—"Sambouk." See under DHOW.]
1855.—"Our pilgrim ship ... was a Sambuk of about 400 ardébs (50 tons), with narrow wedge-like bows, a clean water-line, a sharp keel, undecked except upon the poop, which was high enough to act as a sail in a gale of wind. We carried 2 masts, imminently raking forward, the main considerably longer than the mizen, and the former was provided with a large triangular latine...."—Burton, Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah, i. 276; [Memorial ed. i. 188].
1858.—"The vessels of the Arabs called Sembuk are small Baggelows of 80 to 100 tons burden. Whilst they run out forward into a sharp prow, the after part of the vessel is disproportionately broad and elevated above the water, in order to form a counterpoise to the colossal triangular sail which is hoisted to the masthead with such a spread that often the extent of the yard is greater than the whole length of the vessel."—F. von Neimans, in Zeitschr. der Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. xii. 420.
1880.—"The small sailing boat with one sail, which is called by the Arabs 'Jámbook' with which I went from Hodeida to Aden."—Letter in Athenaeum, March 13, p. 346.
[1900.—"We scrambled into a sambouka crammed and stuffed with the baggage."—Bent, Southern Arabia, 220.]
SAMBRE, SAMBUR, s. Hind. sābar, sāmbar; Skt. śambara. A kind of stag (Rusa Aristotelis, Jerdon; [Blanford, Mammalia, 543 seqq.]) the elk of S. Indian sportsmen; ghaus of Bengal; jerrow (jarāo) of the Himālaya; the largest of Indian stags, and found in all the large forests of India. The word is often applied to the soft leather, somewhat resembling chamois leather, prepared from the hide.
[1813.—"Here he saw a number of deer, and four large sabirs or samboos, one considerably bigger than an ox...."—Diary, in Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd ed. ii. 400.]
1823.—"The skin of the Sambre, when well prepared, forms an excellent material for the military accoutrements of the soldiers of the native Powers."—Malcolm, Central India, i. 9.
[1900.—"The Sambu stags which Lord Powerscourt turned out in his glens...."—Spectator, December 15, p. 883.]
SAMPAN, s. A kind of small boat or skiff. The word appears to be Javanese and Malay. It must have been adopted on the Indian shores, for it was picked up there at an early date by the Portuguese; and it is now current all through the further East. [The French have adopted the Annamite form tamban.] The word is often said to be originally Chinese, 'sanpan,' = 'three boards,' and this is possible. It is certainly one of the most ordinary words for a boat in China. Moreover, we learn, on the authority of Mr. E. C. Baber, that there is another kind of boat on the Yangtse which is called wu-pan, 'five boards.' Giles however says: "From the Malay sam-pan = three boards"; but in this there is some confusion. The word has no such meaning in Malay.
1516.—"They (the Moors of Quilacare) perform their voyages in small vessels which they call champana."—Barbosa, 172.
c. 1540.—"In the other, whereof the captain was slain, there was not one escaped, for Quiay Panian pursued them in a Champana, which was the Boat of his Junk."—Pinto (Cogan, p. 79), orig. ch. lix.
1552.-"... Champanas, which are a kind of small vessels."—Castanheda, ii. 76; [rather, Bk. ii. ch. xxii. p. 76].
1613.—"And on the beach called the Bazar of the Jaos ... they sell every sort of provision in rice and grain for the Jaos merchants of Java Major, who daily from the dawn are landing provisions from their junks and ships in their boats or Champenas (which are little skiffs)...."—Godinho de Eredia, 6.
[1622.—"Yt was thought fytt ... to trym up a China Sampan to goe with the fleete...."—Cocks's Diary, Hak. Soc. ii. 122.]
1648.—In Van Spilbergen's Voyage we have Champane, and the still more odd Champaigne. [See under TOPAZ.]
1702.—"Sampans being not to be got we were forced to send for the Sarah and Eaton's Long-boats."—MS. Correspondence in 1. Office from China Factory (at Chusan), Jan. 8.
c. 1788.—"Some made their escape in prows, and some in sampans."—Mem. of a Malay Family, 3.
1868.—"The harbour is crowded with men-of-war and trading vessels ... from vessels of several hundred tons burthen down to little fishing-boats and passenger sampans."—Wallace, Malay Archip. 21.
SAMSHOO, s. A kind of ardent spirit made in China from rice. Mr. Baber doubts this being Chinese; but according to Wells Williams the name is san-shao, 'thrice fired' (Guide, 220). 'Distilled liquor' is shao-siu, 'fired liquor.' Compare Germ. Brantwein, and XXX beer. Strabo says: 'Wine the Indians drink not except when sacrificing, and that is made of rice in lieu of barley" (xv. c. i. § 53).
[1687.—"Samshu." See under ARRACK.]
1727.—"... Samshew or Rice Arrack."—A. Hamilton, ii. 222; [ed. 1744, ii. 224].
c. 1752.—"... the people who make the Chinese brandy called Samsu, live likewise in the suburbs."—Osbeck's Voyage, i. 235.
[1852.—"... samshoe, a Chinese invention, and which is distilled from rice, after the rice has been permitted to foment (?) in ... vinegar and water."—Neale, Residence in Siam, 75.
SANDAL, SANDLE, SANDERS, SANDAL-WOOD, s. From Low Latin santalum, in Greek σάνταλον, and in later Greek σάνδανον; coming from the Arab. ṣandal, and that from Skt. chandana. The name properly belongs to the fragrant wood of the Santalum album, L. Three woods bearing the name santalum, white, yellow, and red, were in officinal use in the Middle Ages. But the name Red Sandalwood, or Red Sanders, has been long applied, both in English and in the Indian vernaculars, to the wood of Pterocarpus santalina, L., a tree of S. India, the wood of which is inodorous, but which is valued for various purposes in India (pillars, turning, &c.), and is exported as a dye-wood. According to Hanbury and Flückiger this last was the sanders so much used in the cookery of the Middle Ages for colouring sauces, &c. In the opinion of those authorities it is doubtful whether the red sandal of the medieval pharmacologists was a kind of the real odorous sandal-wood, or was the wood of Pteroc. santal. It is possible that sometimes the one and sometimes the other was meant. For on the one hand, even in modern times, we find Milburn (see below) speaking of the three colours of the real sandal-wood; and on the other hand we find Matthioli in the 16th century speaking of the red sandal as inodorous.
It has been a question how the Pterocarpus santalina came to be called sandal-wood at all. We may suggest, as a possible origin of this, the fact that its powder "mixed with oil is used for bathing and purifying the skin" (Drury, s.v.), much as the true sandal-wood powder also is used in the East.
1298.—"Encore sachiez que en ceste ysle a arbres de sandal vermoille ausi grant come sunt les arbres des nostre contrée ... et il en ont bois come nos avuns d'autres arbres sauvajes."—Marco Polo, Geog. Text, ch. cxci.
c. 1390.—"Take powdered rice and boil it in almond milk ... and colour it with Saunders."—Recipe quoted by Wright, Domestic Manners, &c., 350.
1554.—"Le Santal donc croist es Indes Orientales et Occidentales: en grandes Forestz, et fort espesses. Il s'en treuue trois especes: mais le plus pasle est le meilleur: le blanc apres: le rouge est mis au dernier ranc, pource qu'il n'a aucune odeur: mais les deux premiers sentent fort bon."—Matthioli (old Fr. version), liv. i. ch. xix.
1563.—"The Sandal grows about Timor, which produces the largest quantity, and it is called chundana; and by this name it is known in all the regions about Malaca; and the Arabs, being those who carried on the trade of those parts, corrupted the word and called it sandal. Every Moor, whatever his nation, calls it thus...."—Garcia, f. 185v. He proceeds to speak of the sandalo vermelho as quite a different product, growing in Tenasserim and on the Coromandel Coast.
1584.—"... Sandales wilde from Cochin. Sandales domestick from Malacca...."—Wm. Barrett, in Hakl. ii. 412.
1613.—"... certain renegade Christians of the said island, along with the Moors, called in the Hollanders, who thinking it was a fine opportunity, went one time with five vessels, and another time with seven, against the said fort, at a time when most of the people ... were gone to Solor for the Sandal trade, by which they had their living."—Bocarro, Decada, 723.
1615.—"Committee to procure the commodities recommended by Capt. Saris for Japan, viz. ... pictures of wars, steel, skins, sanders-wood."—Sainsbury, i. 380.
1813.—"When the trees are felled, the bark is taken off; they are then cut into billets, and buried in a dry place for two months, during which period the white ants will eat the outer wood without touching the sandal; it is then taken up and ... sorted into three kinds. The deeper the colour, the higher is the perfume; and hence the merchants sometimes divide sandal into red, yellow, and white; but these are all different shades of the same colour."—Milburn, i. 291.
1825.—"Redwood, properly Red Saunders, is produced chiefly on the Coromandel Coast, whence it has of late years been imported in considerable quantity to England, where it is employed in dyeing. It ... comes in round billets of a thickish red colour on the outside, a deep brighter red within, with a wavy grain; no smell or taste."—Ibid. ed. 1825, p. 249.
SANDOWAY, n.p. A town of Arakan, the Burmese name of which is Thandwé (Sand-wé), for which an etymology ('iron-tied'), and a corresponding legend are invented, as usual [see Burmah Gazetteer, ii. 606]. It is quite possible that the name is ancient, and represented by the Sada of Ptolemy.
In I. ix. 1, it is called Sedoe.
1696.—"Other places along this Coast subjected to this King (of Arracan) are Coromoria, Sedoa, Zara, and Port Magaoni."—Appendix to Ovington, p. 563.
SANGUICEL, s. This is a term (pl. sanguiceis) often used by the Portuguese writers on India for a kind of boat, or small vessel, used in war. We are not able to trace any origin in a vernacular word. It is perhaps taken from the similar proper name which is the subject of the next article. [This supposition is rendered practically certain from the quotation from Albuquerque below, furnished by Mr. Whiteway.] Bluteau gives "Sanguicel; termo da India. He hum genero de embarcação pequena q̃ serve na costa da India para dar alcanse aos paròs dos Mouros," 'to give chase to the prows of the Moors.'
1598.—"The Conde (Francisco da Gama) was occupied all the winter (q.v.) in reforming the fleets ... and as the time came on he nominated his brother D. Luiz da Gama to be Captain-Major of the Indian Seas for the expedition to Malabar, and wrote to Baçaim to equip six very light Sanguicels according to instructions which should be given by Sebastian Botelho, a man of great experience in that craft.... These orders were given by the Count Admiral because he perceived that big fleets were not of use to guard convoys, and that it was light vessels like these alone which could catch the paraos and vessels of the pirates ... for these escaped our fleets, and got hold of the merchant vessels at their pleasure, darting in and out, like light horse, where they would...."—Couto, Dec. XII. liv. i. ch. 18.
1605.—"And seeing that I am informed that ... the incursions of certain pirates who still infest that coast might be prevented with less apparatus and expense, if we had light vessels which would be more effective than the foists and galleys of which the fleets have hitherto been composed, seeing how the enemy use their sanguicels, which our ships and galleys cannot overtake, I enjoin and order you to build a quantity of light vessels to be employed in guarding the coast in place of the fleet of galleys and foists...."—King's Letter to Dom Affonso de Castro, in Livros das Monções, i. 26.
[1612.—See under GALLIVAT, b.]
1614.—"The eight Malabaresque Sanguicels that Francis de Miranda despatched to the north from the bar of Goa went with three chief captains, each of them to command a week in turn...."—Bocarro, Decada, 262.
SANGUICER, SANGUEÇA, ZINGUIZAR, &c., n.p. This is a place often mentioned in the Portuguese narratives, as very hostile to the Goa Government, and latterly as a great nest of corsairs. This appears to be Sangameshvar, lat. 17° 9′, formerly a port of Canara on the River Shāstrī, and standing 20 miles from the mouth of that river. The latter was navigable for large vessels up to Sangameshvar, but within the last 50 years has become impassable. [The name is derived from Skt. sangama-īśvara, 'Siva, Lord of the river confluence.']
1538.—"Thirty-five leagues from Guoa, in the middle of the Gulf of the Malabars there runs a large river called Zamgizara. This river is well known and of great renown. The bar is bad and very tortuous, but after you get within, it makes amends for the difficulties without. It runs inland for a great distance with great depth and breadth."—De Castro, Primeiro Roteiro, 36.
1553.—De Barros calls it Zingaçar in II. i. 4, and Sangaça in IV. i. 14.
1584.—"There is a Haven belonging to those ryvers (rovers), distant from Goa about 12 miles, and is called Sanguiseo, where many of those Rovers dwell, and doe so much mischiefe that no man can passe by, but they receive some wrong by them.... Which the Viceroy understanding, prepared an armie of 15 Foists, over which he made chiefe Captaine a Gentleman, his Nephew called Don Iulianes Mascharenhas, giving him expresse commandement first to goe unto the Haven of Sanguiseu, and utterly to raze the same downe to the ground."—Linschoten, ch. 92; [Hak. Soc. ii. 170].
1602.—"Both these projects he now began to put in execution, sending all his treasures (which they said exceeded ten millions in gold) to the river of Sanguicer, which was also within his jurisdiction, being a seaport, and there embarking it at his pleasure."—Couto, ix. 8. See also Dec. X. iv.:
"How D. Gileanes Mascarenhas arrived in Malabar, and how he entered the river of Sanguicer to chastise the Naique of that place; and of the disaster in which he met his death." (This is the event of 1584 related by Linschoten); also Dec. X. vi. 4: "Of the things that happened to D. Jeronymo Mascarenhas in Malabar, and how he had a meeting with the Zamorin, and swore peace with him; and how he brought destruction on the Naique of Sanguicer."
1727.—"There is an excellent Harbour for Shipping 8 Leagues to the Southward of Dabul, called Sanguseer, but the Country about being inhabited by Raparees, it is not frequented."—A. Hamilton, [ed. 1744] i. 244.
SANSKRIT, s. The name of the classical language of the Brahmans, Saṃskṛita, meaning in that language 'purified' or 'perfected.' This was obviously at first only an epithet, and it is not of very ancient use in this specific application. To the Brahmans Sanskrit was the bhāsha, or language, and had no particular name. The word Sanskrit is used by the protogrammarian Pāṇini (some centuries before Christ), but not as a denomination of the language. In the latter sense, however, both 'Sanskrit' and 'Prakrit' (Pracrit) are used in the Bṛihat Samhitā of Varāhamihira, c. A.D. 504, in a chapter on omens (lxxxvi. 3), to which Prof. Kern's translation does not extend. It occurs also in the Mṛichch'hakaṭikā, translated by Prof. H. H. Wilson in his Hindu Theatre, under the name of the 'Toy-cart'; in the works of Kumārila Bhatta, a writer of the 7th century; and in the Pāṇinīyā Śīkshā, a metrical treatise ascribed by the Hindus to Pāṇini, but really of comparatively modern origin.
There is a curiously early mention of Sanskrit by the Mahommedan poet Amīr Khusrū of Delhi, which is quoted below. The first mention (to our knowledge) of the word in any European writing is in an Italian letter of Sassetti's, addressed from Malabar to Bernardo Davanzati in Florence, and dating from 1586. The few words on the subject, of this writer, show much acumen.
In the 17th and 18th centuries such references to this language as occur are found chiefly in the works of travellers to Southern India, and by these it is often called Grandonic, or the like, from grantha, 'a book' (see GRUNTH, GRUNTHUM) i.e. a book of the classical Indian literature. The term Sanskrit came into familiar use after the investigations into this language by the English in Bengal (viz. by Wilkins, Jones, &c.) in the last quarter of the 18th century. [See Macdonell, Hist. of Sanskrit Lit. ch. i.]
A.D. y?—"Three-and-sixty or four-and-sixty sounds are there originally in Prakrit (PRACRIT) even as in Sanskrit, as taught by the Svayambhū."—Pāṇinīyā Śīkshā, quoted in Weber's Ind. Studien (1858), iv. 348. But see also Weber's Akadem. Vorlesungen (1876), p. 194.
1318.—"But there is another language, more select than the other, which all the Brahmans use. Its name from of old is Sahaskrit, and the common people know nothing of it."—Amīr Khusrū, in Elliot, iii. 563.
1586.—"Sono scritte le loro scienze tutte in una lingua che dimandano Samscruta, che vuol dire 'bene articolata': della quale non si ha memoria quando fusse parlata, con avere (com' io dico) memorie antichissime. Imparanla come noi la greca e la latina, e vi pongono molto maggior tempo, si che in 6 anni o 7 sene fanno padroni: et ha la lingua d'oggi molte cose comuni con quella, nella quale sono molti de' nostri nomi, e particularmente de numeri il 6, 7, 8, e 9, Dio, serpe, et altri assai."—Sassetti, extracted in De Gubernatis, Storia, &c., Livorno, 1875, p. 221.
c. 1590.—"Although this country (Kashmīr) has a peculiar tongue, the books of knowledge are Sanskrit (or Sahanskrit). They also have a written character of their own, with which they write their books. The substance which they chiefly write upon is Tūs, which is the bark of a tree,[3] which with a little pains they make into leaves, and it lasts for years. In this way ancient books have been written thereon, and the ink is such that it cannot be washed out."—Āīn (orig.), i. p. 563; [ed. Jarrett, ii. 351].
1623.—"The Jesuites conceive that the Bramenes are of the dispersion of the Israelites, and their Bookes (called Samescretan) doe somewhat agree with the Scriptures, but that they understand them not."—Purchas, Pilgrimage, 559.
1651.—"... Souri signifies the Sun in Samscortam, which is a language in which all the mysteries of Heathendom are written, and which is held in esteem by the Bramines just as Latin is among the Learned in Europe."—Rogerius, 4.In some of the following quotations we have a form which it is difficult to account for:
1673.—"... who founded these, their Annals nor their Sanscript deliver not."—Fryer, 161.
1689.—"... the learned Language among them is called the Sanscreet."—Ovington, 248.
1694.—"Indicus ludus Tchûpur, sic nominatus veterum Brachmanorum linguâ Indicè dictâ Sanscroot, seu, ut vulgo, exiliori sono elegantiae causâ Sanscreet, non autem Hanscreet ut minus recte eam nuncupat Kircherus."—Hyde, De Ludis Orientt., in Syntagma Diss. ii. 264.
1726.—"Above all it would be a matter of general utility to the Coast that some more chaplains should be maintained there for the sole purpose of studying the Sanskrit tongue (de Sanskritze taal) the head-and-mother tongue of most of the Eastern languages, and once for all to make an exact translation of the Vedam or Law book of the Heathen...."—Valentijn, Choro. p. 72.
1760.—"They have a learned language peculiar to themselves, called the Hanscrit...."—Grose, i. 202.
1774.—"This code they have written in their own language, the Shanscrit. A translation of it is begun under the inspection of one of the body, into the Persian language, and from that into English."—W. Hastings, to Lord Mansfield, in Gleig, i. 402.
1778.—"The language as well as the written character of Bengal are familiar to the Natives ... and both seem to be base derivatives from the Shanscrit."—Orme, ed. 1803, ii. 5.
1782.—"La langue Samscroutam, Samskret, Hanscrit ou Grandon, est la plus étendue: ses caractères multipliés donnent beaucoup de facilité pour exprimer ses pensées, ce qui l'a fait nommer langue divine par le P. Pons."—Sonnerat, i. 224.
1794.—
"With Jones, a linguist, Sanskrit, Greek, or Manks."
Pursuits of Literature, 6th ed. 286.
SAPECA, SAPÈQUE, s. This word is used at Macao for what we call cash (q.v.) in Chinese currency; and it is the word generally used by French writers for that coin. Giles says: "From sapek, a coin found in Tonquin and Cochin-China, and equal to about half a pfennig (1⁄600 Thaler), or about one-sixth of a German Kreutzer" (Gloss. of Reference, 122). We cannot learn much about this coin of Tonquin. Milburn says, under 'Cochin China': "The only currency of the country is a sort of cash, called sappica, composed chiefly of tutenague (see TOOTNAGUE), 600 making a quan: this is divided into 10 mace of 60 cash each, the whole strung together, and divided by a knot at each mace" (ed. 1825, pp. 444-445). There is nothing here inconsistent with our proposed derivation, given later on. Mace and Sappica are equally Malay words. We can hardly doubt that the true origin of the term is that communicated by our friend Mr. E. C. Baber: "Very probably from Malay sa, 'one,' and păku, 'a string or file of the small coin called pichis.' Pichis is explained by Crawfurd as 'Small coin ... money of copper, brass, or tin.... It was the ancient coin of Java, and also the only one of the Malays when first seen by the Portuguese.' Păku is written by Favre peḳū (Dict. Malais-Français) and is derived by him from Chinese pé-ko, 'cent.' In the dialect of Canton pak is the word for 'a hundred,' and one pak is the colloquial term for a string of one hundred cash." Sapeku would then be properly a string of 100 cash, but it is not difficult to conceive that it might through some misunderstanding (e.g. a confusion of peku and pichis) have been transferred to the single coin. There is a passage in Mr. Gerson da Cunha's Contributions to the Study of Portuguese Numismatics, which may seem at first sight inconsistent with this derivation. For he seems to imply that the smallest denomination of coin struck by Albuquerque at Goa in 1510 was called cepayqua, i.e. in the year before the capture of Malacca, and consequent familiarity with Malay terms. I do not trace his authority for this; the word is not mentioned in the Commentaries of Alboquerque, and it is quite possible that the dinheiros, as these small copper coins were also called, only received the name cepayqua at a later date, and some time after the occupation of Malacca (see Da Cunha, pp. 11-12, and 22). [But also see the quotation of 1510 from Correa under PARDAO. This word has been discussed by Col. Temple (Ind. Antiq., August 1897, pp. 222 seq.), who gives quotations establishing the derivation from the Malay sapaku.
[1703.—"This is the reason why the Caxas are valued so little: they are punched in the middle, and string'd with little twists of Straw, two hundred in one Twist, which is called Santa, and is worth nine Deniers. Five Santas tied together make a thousand Caxas, or a Sapoon (? Sapocon)."—Collection of Dutch Voyages, 199.
[1830.—"The money current in Bali consists solely of Chinese pice with a hole in the centre.... They however put them up in hundreds and thousands; two hundred are called satah, and are equal to one rupee copper, and a thousand called Sapaku, are valued at five rupees."—Singapore Chronicle, June 1830, in Moor, Indian Archip. p. 94.
[1892.—"This is a brief history of the Sapec (more commonly known to us as the cash), the only native coin of China, and which is found everywhere from Malaysia to Japan."—Ridgeway, Origin of Currency, 157.]
SAPPAN-WOOD, s. The wood of Caesalpina sappan; the baḳḳam of the Arabs, and the Brazil-wood of medieval commerce. Bishop Caldwell at one time thought the Tamil name, from which this was taken, to have been given because the wood was supposed to come from Japan. Rumphius says that Siam and Champa are the original countries of the Sappan, and quotes from Rheede that in Malabar it was called Tsajampangan, suggestive apparently of a possible derivation from Champa. The mere fact that it does not come from Japan would not disprove this derivation any more than the fact that turkeys and maize did not originally come from Turkey would disprove the fact of the birds and the grain (gran turco) having got names from such a belief. But the tree appears to be indigenous in Malabar, the Deccan, and the Malay Peninsula; whilst the Malayāl. shappaṅṅam, and the Tamil shappu, both signifying 'red (wood),' are apparently derivatives from shawa, 'to be red,' and suggest another origin as most probable. [The Mad. Gloss. gives Mal. chappannam, from chappu, 'leaf,' Skt. anga, 'body'; Tam. shappangaṃ.] The Malay word is also sapang, which Crawfurd supposes to have originated the trade-name. If, however, the etymology just suggested be correct, the word must have passed from Continental India to the Archipelago. For curious particulars as to the names of this dye-wood, and its vicissitudes, see BRAZIL; [and Burnell's note on Linschoten, Hak. Soc. i. 121].
"O rico Sião ja dado ao Bremem,
O Cochim de Calemba que deu mana
De sapão, chumbo, salitre e vitualhas
Lhe apercebem celleiros e muralhas."
A. de Abreu, Desc. de Malaca.
1598.—"There are likewise some Diamants and also ... the wood Sapon, whereof also much is brought from Sian, it is like Brasill to die withall."—Linschoten, 36; [Hak. Soc. i. 120].
c. 1616.—"There are in this city of Ová (read Odia, Judea), capital of the kingdom of Siam, two factories; one of the Hollanders with great capital, and another of the English with less. The trade which both drive is in deer-skins, shagreen sappan (sapão) and much silk which comes thither from Chincheo and Cochinchina...."—Bocarro, Decada, 530.
[1615.—"Hindering the cutting of baccam or brazill wood."—Foster, Letters, iii. 158.]
1616.—"I went to Sapàn Dono to know whether he would lend me any money upon interest, as he promised me; but ... he drove me afe with wordes, ofring to deliver me money for all our sappon which was com in this junk, at 22 mas per pico."—Cocks's Diary, i. 208-9.
1617.—Johnson and Pitts at Judea in Siam "are glad they can send a junk well laden with sapon, because of its scarcity."—Sainsbury, ii. 32.
1625.—"... a wood to die withall called Sapan wood, the same we here call Brasill."—Purchas, Pilgrimage, 1004.
1685.—"Moreover in the whole Island there is a great plenty of Brazill wood, which in India is called sapão."—Ribeiro, Fat. Hist. f. 8.
1727.—"It (the Siam Coast) produces good store of Sapan and Agala-woods, with Gumlack and Sticklack, and many Drugs that I know little about."—A. Hamilton, ii. 194; [ed. 1744].
1860.—"The other productions which constituted the exports of the island were Sapan wood to Persia...."—Tennent, Ceylon, ii. 54.
SARBATANE, SARBACANE, s. This is not Anglo-Indian, but it often occurs in French works on the East, as applied to the blowing-tubes used by various tribes of the Indian Islands for discharging small arrows, often poisoned. The same instrument is used among the tribes of northern South America, and in some parts of Madagascar. The word comes through the Span. cebratana, cerbatana, zarbatana, also Port. sarabatana, &c., Ital. cerbotana, Mod. Greek ζαροβοτάνα, from the Ar. zabaṭāna, 'a tube for blowing pellets' (a pea-shooter in fact!). Dozy says that the r must have been sounded in the Arabic of the Spanish Moors, as Pedro de Alcala translates zebratana by Ar. zarbatāna. The resemblance of this to the Malay sumpitan (q.v.) is curious, though it is not easy to suggest a transition, if the Arabic word is, as it appears, old enough to have been introduced into Spanish. There is apparently, however, no doubt that in Arabic it is a borrowed word. The Malay word seems to be formed directly from sumpit, 'to discharge from the mouth by a forcible expiration' (Crawfurd, Mal. Dict.).
SARBOJI, s. This is the name of some weapon used in the extreme south of India; but we have not been able to ascertain its character or etymology. We conjecture, however, that it may be the long lance or pike, 18 or 20 feet long, which was the characteristic and formidable weapon of the Marava Colleries (q.v.). See Bp. Caldwell's H. of Tinnevelly, p. 103 and passim; [Stuart, Man. of Tinnevelly, 50. This explanation is probably incorrect. Welsh (Military Rem. i. 104) defines sarabogies as "a species of park guns, for firing salutes at feasts, &c.; but not used in war." It has been suggested that the word is simply Hind. sirbojha, 'a head-load,' and Dr. Grierson writes: "'Laden with a head' may refer to a head carried home on a spear." Dr. Pope writes: "Sarboji is not found in any Dravidian dialect, as far as I know. It is a synonym for Sivaji. Sarva (sarbo)-ji is honorific. In the Tanjore Inscription it is Serfogi. In mythology Siva's name is 'arrow,' 'spear,' and 'head-burthen,' of course by metonomy." Mr. Brandt suggests Tam. sĕrŭ, "war," bŭgei, "a tube." No weapon of the name appears in Mr. Egerton's Hand-book of Indian Arms.]
SAREE, s. Hind. sāṛī, sāṛhī. The cloth which constitutes the main part of a woman's dress in N. India, wrapt round the body and then thrown over the head.
SARNAU, SORNAU, n.p. A name often given to Siam in the early part of the 16th century; from Shahr-i-nao, Pers. 'New-city'; the name by which Yuthia or Ayodhya (see JUDEA), the capital founded on the Menam about 1350, seems to have become known to the traders of the Persian Gulf. Mr. Braddell (J. Ind. Arch. v. 317) has suggested that the name (Sheher-al-nawi, as he calls it) refers to the distinction spoken of by La Loubère between the Thai-Yai, an older people of the race, and the Thai-Noi, the people known to us as Siamese. But this is less probable. We have still a city of Siam called Lophaburī, anciently a capital, and the name of which appears to be a Sanskrit or Pali form, Nava-pura, meaning the same as Shahr-i-nao; and this indeed may have first given rise to the latter name. The Cernove of Nicolo Conti (c. 1430) is generally supposed to refer to a city of Bengal, and one of the present writers has identified it with Lakhnāotī or Gauṛ, an official name of which in the 14th cent. was Shahr-i-nao. But it is just possible that Siam was the country spoken of.
1498.—"Xarnauz is of Christians, and the King is Christian; it is 50 days voyage with a fair wind from Calicut. The King ... has 400 elephants of war; in the land is much benzoin ... and there is aloeswood...."—Roteiro de Vasco da Gama, 110.
1510.—"... They said they were from a city called Sarnau, and had brought for sale silken stuffs, and aloeswood, and benzoin, and musk."—Varthema, 212.
1514.—"... Tannazzari, Sarnau, where is produced all the finest white benzoin, storax, and lac finer than that of Martaman."—Letter of Giov. d'Empoli, in Arch. Storico Italiano, App. 80.
1540.—"... all along the coast of Malaya, and within the Land, a great King commands, who for a more famous and recommendable Title above all other Kings, causeth himself to be called Prechau Saleu, Emperor of all Sornau, which is a Country wherein there are thirteen kingdoms, by us commonly called Siam" (Sião).—Pinto (orig. cap. xxxvi.), in Cogan, p. 43.
c. 1612.—"It is related of Siam, formerly called Sheher-al-Nawi, to which Country all lands under the wind here were tributary, that there was a King called Bubannia, who when he heard of the greatness of Malacca sent to demand submission and homage of that kingdom."—Sijara Malayu, in J. Ind. Arch. v. 454.
1726.—"About 1340 reigned in the kingdom of Siam (then called Sjaharnouw or Sornau), a very powerful Prince."—Valentijn, v. 319.
SARONG, s. Malay. sārung; the body-cloth, or long kilt, tucked or girt at the waist, and generally of coloured silk or cotton, which forms the chief article of dress of the Malays and Javanese. The same article of dress, and the name (saran) are used in Ceylon. It is an old Indian form of dress, but is now used only by some of the people of the south; e.g. on the coast of Malabar, where it is worn by the Hindus (white), by the Mappilas (Moplah) of that coast, and the Labbais (Lubbye) of Coromandel (coloured), and by the Banṭs of Canara, who wear it of a dark blue. With the Labbais the coloured sarong is a modern adoption from the Malays. Crawfurd seems to explain sarung as Javanese, meaning first 'a case or sheath,' and then a wrapper or garment. But, both in the Malay islands and in Ceylon, the word is no doubt taken from Skt. sāranga, meaning 'variegated' and also 'a garment.'
SATIGAM, n.p. Sātgāon, formerly and from remote times a port of much trade on the right bank of the Hoogly R., 30 m. above Calcutta, but for two and a half centuries utterly decayed, and now only the site of a few huts, with a ruined mosque as the only relique of former importance. It is situated at the bifurcation of the Saraswati channel from the Hoogly, and the decay dates from the silting up of the former. It was commonly called by the Portuguese Porto Pequeno (q.v.).
1535.—"In this year Diogo Rabello, finishing his term of service as Captain and Factor of the Choromandel fishery, with license from the Governor went to Bengal in a vessel of his ... and he went well armed along with two foists which equipped with his own money, the Governor only lending him artillery and nothing more.... So this Diogo Rabello arrived at the Port of Satigaon, where he found two great ships of Cambaya which three days before had arrived with great quantity of merchandise, selling and buying: and these, without touching them, he caused to quit the port and go down the river, forbidding them to carry on any trade, and he also sent one of the foists, with 30 men, to the other port of Chatigaon, where they found three ships from the Coast of Choromandel, which were driven away from the port. And Diogo Rabello sent word to the Gozil that he was sent by the Governor with choice of peace or war, and that he should send to ask the King if he chose to liberate the (Portuguese) prisoners, in which case he also would liberate his ports and leave them in their former peace...."—Correa, iii. 649.
[c. 1590.—"In the Sarkár of Sátgáon, there are two ports at a distance of half a kos from each other; the one is Sátgáon, the other Hugli: the latter the chief; both are in the possession of the Europeans. Fine pomegranates grow here."—Āīn, ed. Jarrett, ii. 125.]
SATIN, s. This is of course English, not Anglo-Indian. The common derivation [accepted by Prof. Skeat (Concise Dict. 2nd ed. s.v.)] is with Low Lat. seta, 'silk,' Lat. seta, saeta, 'a bristle, a hair,' through the Port. setim. Dr. Wells Williams (Mid. King., ii. 123) says it is probably derived eventually from the Chinese sz'-tün, though intermediately through other languages. It is true that sz'tün or sz'-twan is a common (and ancient) term for this sort of silk texture. But we may remark that trade-words adopted directly from the Chinese are comparatively rare (though no doubt the intermediate transit indicated would meet this objection, more or less). And we can hardly doubt that the true derivation is that given in Cathay and the Way Thither, p. 486; viz. from Zaitun or Zayton, the name by which Chwan-chau (Chinchew), the great medieval port of western trade in Fokien, was known to western traders. We find that certain rich stuffs of damask and satin were called from this place, by the Arabs, Zaitūnia; the Span. aceytuni (for 'satin'), the medieval French zatony, and the medieval Ital. zetani, afford intermediate steps.
1352.—In an inventory of this year in Douet d'Arcq we have: "Zatony at 4 écus the ell" (p. 342).
1405.—"And besides, this city (Samarkand) is very rich in many wares which come to it from other parts. From Russia and Tartary come hides and linens, and from Cathay silk-stuffs, the best that are made in all that region, especially the setunis, which are said to be the best in the world, and the best of all are those that are without pattern."—Clavijo (translated anew—the passage corresponding to Markham's at p. 171). The word setuni occurs repeatedly in Clavijo's original.
1440.—In the Libro de Gabelli, &c., of Giov. da Uzzano, we have mention among silk stuffs, several times, of "zetani vellutati, and other kinds of zetani."—Della Decima, iv. 58, 107, &c.
1441.—"Before the throne (at Bijanagar) was placed a cushion of zaitūnī satin, round which three rows of the most exquisite pearls were sewn."—Abdurrazzāk, in Elliot, iv. 120. (The original is "darpesh-i-takht bālishī az aṭlas-i-zaitūnī"; see Not. et Exts. xiv. 376. Quatremère (ibid. 462) translated 'un carreau de satin olive,' taking zaitūn in its usual Arabic sense of 'an olive tree.') Also see Elliot, iv. 113.
SATRAP, s. Anc. Pers. khshatrapa, which becomes satrap, as khshāyathiya becomes shāh. The word comes to us direct from the Greek writers who speak of Persia. But the title occurs not only in the books of Ezra, Esther, and Daniel, but also in the ancient inscriptions, as used by certain lords in Western India, and more precisely in Surāshtra or Peninsular Guzerat. Thus, in a celebrated inscription regarding a dam, near Girnār:
SATSUMA, n.p. Name of a city and formerly of a principality (daimioship) in Japan, the name of which is familiar not only from the deplorable necessity of bombarding its capital Kagosima in 1863 (in consequence of the murder of Mr. Richardson, and other outrages, with the refusal of reparation), but from the peculiar cream-coloured pottery made there and now well known in London shops.
SAUGOR, SAUGOR ISLAND, n.p. A famous island at the mouth of the Hoogly R., the site of a great fair and pilgrimage—properly Ganga Sāgara ('Ocean Ganges'). It is said once to have been populous, but in 1688 (the date is clearly wrong) to have been swept by a cyclone-wave. It is now a dense jungle haunted by tigers.
1684.—"James Price assured me that about 40 years since, when ye Island called Gonga Sagur was inhabited, ye Raja of ye Island gathered yearly Rent out of it, to ye amount of 26 Lacks of Rupees."—Ibid. Dec. 15; [Hak. Soc. i. 172].
1705.—"Sagore est une Isle où il y a une Pagode très-respectée parmi les Gentils, où ils vont en pelerinage, et où il y a deux Faquers qui y font leur residence. Ces Faquers sçavent charmer les bêtes feroces, qu'on y trouve en quantité, sans quoi ils seroient tous les jours exposés à estre devorez."—Luillier, p. 123.
1727.—"... among the Pagans, the Island Sagor is accounted holy, and great numbers of Jougies go yearly thither in the Months of November and December, to worship and wash in Salt-Water, tho' many of them fall Sacrifices to the hungry Tigers."—A. Hamilton, ii. 3; [ed. 1744].
SAUL-WOOD, s. Hind. sāl, from Skt. śāla; the timber of the tree Shorea robusta, Gaertner, N.O. Dipterocarpeae, which is the most valuable building timber of Northern India. Its chief habitat is the forest immediately under the Himālaya, at intervals throughout that region from the Brahmaputra to the Biās; it abounds also in various more southerly tracts between the Ganges and the Godavery. [The botanical name is taken from Sir John Shore. For the peculiar habitat of the Sāl as compared with the Teak, see Forsyth, Highlands of C.I. 25 seqq.] It is strong and durable, but very heavy, so that it cannot be floated without more buoyant aids, and is, on that and other accounts, inferior to teak. It does not appear among eight kinds of timber in general use, mentioned in the Āīn. The saul has been introduced into China, perhaps at a remote period, on account of its connection with Buddha's history, and it is known there by the Indian name, so-lo (Bretschneider on Chinese Botan. Works, p. 6).
1765.—"The produce of the country consists of shaal timbers (a wood equal in quality to the best of our oak)."—Holwell, Hist. Events, &c., i. 200.
1774.—"This continued five kos; towards the end there are sāl and large forest trees."—Bogle, in Markham's Tibet, 19.
1810.—"The saul is a very solid wood ... it is likewise heavy, yet by no means so ponderous as teak; both, like many of our former woods, sink in fresh water."—Williamson, V.M. ii. 69.
SAYER, SYRE, &c., s. Hind. from Arab. sā'ir, a word used technically for many years in the Indian accounts to cover a variety of items of taxation and impost, other than the Land Revenue.
The transitions of meaning in Arabic words are (as we have several times had occasion to remark) very obscure; and until we undertook the investigation of the subject for this article (a task in which we are indebted to the kind help of Sir H. Waterfield, of the India Office, one of the busiest men in the public service, but, as so often happens, one of the readiest to render assistance) the obscurity attaching to the word sayer in this sense was especially great.
Wilson, s.v. says: "In its original purport the word signifies moving, walking, or the whole, the remainder; from the latter it came to denote the remaining, or all other, sources of revenue accruing to the Government in addition to the land-tax." In fact, according to this explanation, the application of the term might be illustrated by the ancient story of a German Professor lecturing on botany in the pre-scientific period. He is reported to have said: 'Every plant, gentlemen, is divided into two parts. This is the root,—and this is the rest of it!' Land revenue was the root, and all else was 'the rest of it.'
Sir C. Trevelyan again, in a passage quoted below, says that the Arabic word has "the same meaning as 'miscellaneous.'" Neither of these explanations, we conceive, pace tantorum virorum, is correct.
The term Sayer in the 18th century was applied to a variety of inland imposts, but especially to local and arbitrary charges levied by zemindars and other individuals, with a show of authority, on all goods passing through their estates by land or water, or sold at markets (bazar, haut, gunge) established by them, charges which formed in the aggregate an enormous burden upon the trade of the country.
Now the fact is that in sā'ir two old Semitic forms have coalesced in sound though coming from different roots, viz. (in Arabic) sair, producing sā'ir, 'walking, current,' and sā'r, producing sā'ir, 'remainder,' the latter being a form of the same word that we have in the Biblical Shear-jashub, 'the remnant shall remain' (Isaiah, vii. 3). And we conceive that the true sense of the Indian term was 'current or customary charges'; an idea that lies at the root of sundry terms of the same kind in various languages, including our own Customs, as well as the dustoory which is so familiar in India. This interpretation is aptly illustrated by the quotation below from Mr. Stuart's Minute of Feb. 10, 1790.
At a later period it seems probable that some confusion arose with the other sense of sā'ir, leading to its use, more or less, for 'et ceteras,' and accounting for what we have indicated above as erroneous explanations of the word.
I find, however, that the Index and Glossary to the Regulations, ed. 1832 (vol. iii.), defines: "Sayer. What moves. Variable imports, distinct from land-rent or revenue, consisting of customs, tolls, licenses, duties on merchandise, and other articles of personal moveable property; as well as mixed duties, and taxes on houses, shops, bazars, &c." This of course throws some doubt on the rationale of the Arabic name as suggested above.
In a despatch of April 10, 1771, to Bengal, the Court of Directors drew attention to the private Bazar charges, as "a great detriment to the public collections, and a burthen and oppression to the inhabitants"; enjoining that no Buzars or Gunges should be kept up but such as particularly belonged to the Government. And in such the duties were to be rated in such manner as the respective positions and prosperity of the different districts would admit.
In consequence of these instructions it was ordered in 1773 that "all duties coming under the description of sayer Chelluntah (H. chalantā, 'in transit'), and Rah-darry (radaree) ... and other oppressive impositions on the foreign as well as the internal trade of the country" should be abolished; and, to prevent all pretext of injustice, proportional deductions of rent were conceded to the zemindars in the annual collections. Nevertheless the exactions went on much as before, in defiance of this and repeated orders. And in 1786 the Board of Revenue issued a proclamation declaring that any person levying such duties should be subject to corporal punishment, and that the zemindar in whose zemindarry such an offence might be committed, should forfeit his lands.
Still the evil practices went on till 1790, when Lord Cornwallis took up the matter with intelligence and determination. In the preceding year he had abolished all radaree duties in Behar and Benares, but the abuses in Bengal Proper seem to have been more swarming and persistent. On June 11, 1790, orders were issued resuming the collection of all duties indicated into the hands of Government; but this was followed after a few weeks (July 28) by an order abolishing them altogether, with some exceptions, which will be presently alluded to. This double step is explained by the Governor-General in a Minute dated July 18: "When I first proposed the resumption of the Sayer from the Landholders, it appeared to me advisable to continue the former collection (the unauthorised articles excepted) for the current year, in order that by the necessary accounts [we might have the means] for making a fair adjustment of the compensation, and at the same time acquire sufficient knowledge of the collections to enable us to enter upon the regulation of them from the commencement of the ensuing year.... The collections appear to be so numerous, and of so intricate a nature, as to preclude the possibility of regulating them all; and as the establishment of new rates for such articles as it might be thought advisable to continue would require much consideration, ... I recommend that, instead of continuing the collection ... for the current year ... all the existing articles of Sayer collection (with the exception of the Abkarry (Abcarree) ...) be immediately abolished; and that the Collectors be directed to withdraw their officers from the Gunges, Bazars and Hauts," compensation being duly made. The Board of Revenue could then consider on what few articles of luxury in general consumption it might be proper to reimpose a tax.
The Order of July 28 abolished "all duties, taxes, and collections coming under the denomination of Sayer (with the exception of the Government and Calcutta Customs, the duties levied on pilgrims at Gya, and other places of pilgrimage,—the Abkarry ... which is to be collected on account of the Government ... the collections made in the Gunges, Bazars and Hauts situated within the limits of Calcutta, and such collections as are confirmed to the land-holders and the holders of Gunges &c. by the published Resolutions of June 11, 1790, namely, rent paid for the use of land (and the like) ... or for orchards, pasture-ground, or fisheries sometimes included in the sayer under the denomination of phulkur (Hind. phalkar, from phal, 'fruit'), bunkur (from Hind. ban, 'forest or pasture-ground'), and julkur (Hind. jalkar, from jal, 'water')...." These Resolutions are printed with Regn. XXVII. of 1793.
By an order of the Board of Revenue of April 28, 1790, correspondence regarding Sayer was separated from 'Land Revenue'; and on the 16th idem the Abkarry was separately regulated.
The amount in the Accounts credited as Land Revenue in Bengal seems to have included both Sayer and Abkarry down to the Accts. presented to Parliament in 1796. In the "Abstract Statement of Receipts and Disbursements of the Bengal Government" for 1793-94, the "Collections under head of Syer and Abkarry" amount to Rs. 10,98,256. In the Accounts, printed in 1799, for 1794-5 to 1796-7, the "Land and Sayer Revenues" are given, but Abkārī is not mentioned. Among the Receipts and Disbursements for 1800-1 appears "Syer Collections, including Abkaree, 7,81,925."
These forms appear to have remained in force down to 1833. In the accounts presented in 1834, from 1828-9, to 1831-2, with Estimate for 1832-3, Land Revenue is given separately, and next to it Syer and Abkaree Revenue. Except that the spelling was altered back to Sayer and Abkarry, this remained till 1856. In 1857 the accounts for 1854-5 showed in separate lines,—
Land Revenue,
Excise Duties, in Calcutta,
Sayer Revenue,
Abkarry ditto.
In the accounts for 1861-2 it became—
Land Revenue,
Sayer and Miscellaneous,
Abkaree,
and in those for 1863-4 Sayer vanished altogether.
The term Sayer has been in use in Madras and Bombay as well as in Bengal. From the former we give an example under 1802; from the latter we have not met with a suitable quotation.
The following entries in the Bengal accounts for 1858-59 will exemplify the application of Sayer in the more recent times of its maintenance:—
| Under Bengal, Behar and Orissa: | |||
| Sale of Trees and Sunken Boats | Rs. 555 | 0 | 0 |
| Under Pegu and Martaban Provinces: | |||
| Fisheries | Rs. 1,22,874 | 0 | 2 |
| Tax on Birds' nests (q.v.) | 7,449 | 0 | 0 |
| " on Salt | 43,061 | 3 | 10 |
| Fees for fruits and gardens | 7,287 | 9 | 1 |
| Tax on Bees' wax | 1,179 | 8 | 0 |
| Do. Collections | 8,050 | 0 | 0 |
| Sale of Government Timbers, &c. | 4,19,141 | 12 | 8 |
| 6,09,043 | 1 | 9 | |
| Under the same: | |||
| Sale proceeds of unclaimed and confiscated Timbers, | Rs. 146 | 11 | 10 |
| Net Salvage on Drift Timbers | 2,247 | 10 | 0 |
| 2,394 | 5 | 10 | |
1751.—"I have heard that Ramkissen Seat who lives in Calcutta has carried goods to that place without paying the Muxidavad Syre chowkey (choky) duties."—Letter from Nawāb to Prest. Ft. William, in Long, 25.
1788.—"Sairjat.—All kinds of taxation besides the land-rent. Sairs.—Any place or office appointed for the collection of duties or customs."—The Indian Vocabulary, 112.
1790.—"Without entering into a discussion of privileges founded on Custom, and of which it is easier to ascertain the abuse than the origin, I shall briefly remark on the Collections of Sayer, that while they remain in the hands of the Zemindars, every effort to free the internal Commerce from the baneful effects of their vexatious impositions must necessarily prove abortive."—Minute by the Hon. C. Stuart, dd. Feb. 10, quoted by Lord Cornwallis in his Minute of July 18.
" "The Board last day very humanely and politically recommended unanimously the abolition of the Sayr.
"The statement of Mr. Mercer from Burdwan makes all the Sayr (consisting of a strange medley of articles taxable, not omitting even Hermaphrodites) amount only to 58,000 Rupees...."—Minute by Mr. Law of the Bd. of Revenue, forwarded by the Board, July 12.
1792.—"The Jumma on which a settlement for 10 years has been made is about (current Rupees) 3,01,00,000 ... which is 9,35,691 Rupees less than the Average Collections of the three preceding Years. On this Jumma, the Estimate for 1791-2 is formed, and the Sayer Duties, and some other extra Collections, formerly included in the Land Revenue, being abolished, accounts for the Difference...."—Heads of Mr. Dundas's Speech on the Finances of the E.I. Company, June 5, 1792.
1793.—"A Regulation for re-enacting with alterations and modifications, the Rules passed by the Governor General in Council on 11th June and 28th July, 1790, and subsequent dates, for the resumption and abolition of Sayer, or internal Duties and Taxes throughout Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa," &c. "Passed by the Governor General in Council on the 1st May, 1793...."—Title of Regulation, XXVII. of 1793.
1802.—"The Government having reserved to itself the entire exercise of its discretion in continuing or abolishing, temporarily or permanently, the articles of revenue included according to the custom and practice of the country, under the several heads of salt and saltpetre—of the sayer or duties by sea or land—of the abkarry ...—of the excise ...—of all takes personal and professional, as well as those derived from markets, fairs and bazaars—of lakhiraj (see LACKERAGE) lands.... The permanent land-tax shall be made exclusively of the said articles now recited."—Madras Regulation, XXV. § iv.
1817.—"Besides the land-revenue, some other duties were levied in India, which were generally included under the denomination of Sayer."—Mill, H. of Br. India, v. 417.
1863.—"The next head was 'Sayer,' an obsolete Arabic word, which has the same meaning as 'miscellaneous.' It has latterly been composed of a variety of items connected with the Land Revenue, of which the Revenue derived from Forests has been the most important. The progress of improvement has given a value to the Forests which they never had before, and it has been determined ... to constitute the Revenue derived from them a separate head of the Public Accounts. The other Miscellaneous Items of Land Revenue which appeared under 'Sayer,' have therefore been added to Land Revenue, and what remains has been denominated 'Forest Revenue.'"—Sir C. Trevelyan, Financial Statement, dd. April 30.
SCARLET. See SUCLAT.
SCAVENGER, s. We have been rather startled to find among the MS. records of the India Office, in certain "Lists of Persons in the Service of the Right. Honble. the East India Company, in Fort St. George, and the other Places on the Coast of Choromandell," beginning with Feby. 170½, and in the entries for that year, the following:
"5. Trevor Gaines, Land Customer and Scavenger of Cuddalore, 5th Councl....
"6. Edward Bawgus, Translator of Country Letters, Sen. Mercht.
"7. John Butt, Scavenger and Cornmeeter, Tevenapatam, Mercht."Under 1714 we find again, at Fort St. George:
and so on, in the entries of most years down to 1761, when we have, for the last time:
Some light is thrown upon this surprising occurrence of such a term by a reference to Cowel's Law Dictionary, or The Interpreter (published originally in 1607) new ed. of 1727, where we read:
"Scavenger, From the Belgick Scavan, to scrape. Two of every Parish within London and the suburbs are yearly chosen into this Office, who hire men called Rakers, and carts, to cleanse the streets, and carry away the Dirt and Filth thereof, mentioned in 14 Car. 2, cap. 2. The Germans call him a Drecksimon, from one Simon, a noted Scavenger of Marpurg.
* * * * *
"Schavaldus, The officer who collected the Scavage-Money, which was sometimes done with Extortion and great Oppression." (Then quotes Hist. of Durham from Wharton, Anglia Sacra, Pt. i. p. 75; "Anno 1311. Schavaldos insurgentes in Episcopatu (Richardus episcopus) fortiter composuit. Aliqui suspendebantur, aliqui extra Episcopatum fugabantur.")In Spelman also (Glossarium Archaiologicum, 1688) we find:—
The scavage then was a tax upon goods for sale which were liable to duty, the word being, as Skeat points out, a Law French (or Low Latin?) formation from shew. ["From O.F. escauw-er, to examine, inspect. O. Sax. skawon, to behold; cognate with A.S. sceawian, to look at." (Concise Dict. s.v.)] And the scavager or scavenger was originally the officer charged with the inspection of the goods and collection of this tax. Passages quoted below from the Liber Albus of the City of London refer to these officers, and Mr. Riley in his translation of that work (1861, p. 34) notes that they were "Officers whose duty it was originally to take custom upon the Scavage, i.e. inspection of the opening out, of imported goods. At a later date, part of their duty was to see that the streets were kept clean; and hence the modern word 'scavenger,' whose office corresponds with the rakyer (raker) of former times." [The meaning and derivation of this word have been discussed in Notes & Queries, 2 ser. ix. 325; 5 ser. v. 49, 452.]
We can hardly doubt then that the office of the Coromandel scavenger of the 18th century, united as we find it with that of "Rentall General," or of "Land-customer," and held by a senior member of the Company's Covenanted Service, must be understood in the older sense of Visitor or Inspector of Goods subject to duties, but (till we can find more light) we should suppose rather duties of the nature of bazar tax, such as at a later date we find classed as sayer (q.v.), than customs on imports from seaward.
It still remains an obscure matter how the charge of the scavagers or scavengers came to be transferred to the oversight of streets and street-cleaning. That this must have become a predominant part of their duty at an early period is shown by the Scavager's Oath which we quote below from the Liber Albus. In Skinner's Etymologicon, 1671, the definition is Collector sordium abrasarum (erroneously connecting the word with shaving and scraping), whilst he adds: "Nostri Scavengers vilissimo omnium ministerio sordes et purgamenta urbis auferendi funguntur." In Cotgrave's English-French Dict., ed. by Howel, 1673, we have: "Scavinger. Boueur. Gadouard"—agreeing precisely with our modern use. Neither of these shows any knowledge of the less sordid office attaching to the name. The same remark applies to Lye's Junius, 1743. It is therefore remarkable to find such a survival of the latter sense in the service of the Company, and coming down so late as 1761. It must have begun with the very earliest of the Company's establishments in India, for it is probable that the denomination was even then only a survival in England, due to the Company's intimate connection with the city of London. Indeed we learn from Mr. Norton, quoted below, that the term scavage was still alive within the City in 1829.
Prior to 1419.—"Et debent ad dictum Wardemotum per Aldermannum et probos Wardae, necnon per juratores, eligi Constabularii, Scavegeours, Aleconners, Bedelle, et alii Officiarii."—Liber Albus, p. 38.
" "Serement de Scawageours. Vous jurrez qe vous surverrez diligientiement qe lez pavimentz danz vostre Garde soient bien et droiturelement reparaillez et nyent enhaussez a nosance dez veysyns; et qe lez chemyns, ruwes, et venelles soient nettez dez fiens et de toutz maners dez ordures, pur honestee de la citee; et qe toutz les chymyneys, fournes, terrailles soient de piere, et suffisantement defensables encontre peril de few; et si vous trovez rien a contraire vous monstrez al Alderman, issint qe l'Alderman ordeigne pur amendement de celle. Et ces ne lerrez—si Dieu vous eyde et lez Saintz."—Ibid. p. 313.
1594.—Letter from the Lords of the Council to the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, requesting them to admit John de Cardenas to the office of Collector of Scavage, the reversion of which had ... been granted to him.—Index to the Remembrancia of the C. of London (1878), p. 284.
1607.—Letter from the Lord Mayor to the Lord Treasurer ... enclosing a Petition from the Ward of Aldersgate, complaining that William Court, an inhabitant of that Ward for 8 or 10 years past, refused to undergo the office of Scavenger in the Parish, claiming exemption ... being privileged as Clerk to Sir William Spencer, Knight, one of the Auditors of the Court of Exchequer, and praying that Mr. Court, although privileged, should be directed to find a substitute or deputy and pay him.—Ibid. 288.
1623.—Letter ... reciting that the City by ancient Charters held ... "the office of Package and Scavage of Strangers' goods, and merchandise carried by them by land or water, out of the City and Liberties to foreign parts, whereby the Customs and Duties due to H.M. had been more duly paid, and a stricter oversight taken of such commodities so exported."—Remembrancia, p. 321.
1632.—Order in Council, reciting that a Petition had been presented to the Board from divers Merchants born in London, the sons of Strangers, complaining that the "Packer of London required of them as much fees for Package, Balliage, Shewage, &c., as of Strangers not English-born...."—Ibid. 322.
1760.—"Mr. Handle, applying to the Board to have his allowance of Scavenger increased, and representing to us the great fatigue he undergoes, and loss of time, which the Board being very sensible of. Agreed we allow him Rs. 20 per month more than before on account of his diligence and assiduity in that post."—Ft. William Consn., in Long, 245. It does not appear from this what the duties of the scavenger in Mr. Handle's case were.
1829.—"The oversight of customable goods. This office, termed in Latin supervisus, is translated in another charter by the words search and surveying, and in the 2nd Charter of Charles I. it is termed the scavage, which appears to have been its most ancient and common name, and that which is retained to the present day.... The real nature of this duty is not a toll for showing, but a toll paid for the oversight of showing; and under that name (supervisus apertionis) it was claimed in an action of debt in the reign of Charles II.... The duty performed was seeing and knowing the merchandize on which the King's import customs were paid, in order that no concealment, or fraudulent practices ... should deprive the King of his just dues ... (The duty) was well known under the name of scavage, in the time of Henry III., and it seems at that time to have been a franchise of the commonalty."—G. Norton, Commentaries on the Hist., &c., of the City of London, 3rd ed. (1869), pp. 380-381.
Besides the books quoted, see H. Wedgewood's Etym. Dict. and Skeat's do., which have furnished useful light, and some references.
SCRIVAN, s. An old word for a clerk or writer, from Port. escrivão.
1673.—"In some Places they write on Cocoe-Leafes dried, and then use an Iron Style, or else on Paper, when they use a Pen made with a Reed, for which they have a Brass Case, which holds them and the Ink too, always stuck at the Girdles of their Scrivans."—Fryer, 191.
1683.—"Mr. Watson in the Taffaty warehouse without any provocation called me Pittyful Prodigall Scrivan, and told me my Hatt stood too high upon my head...."—Letter of S. Langley, in Hedges' Diary, Sept. 5; [Hak. Soc. i. 108].
SCYMITAR, s. This is an English word for an Asiatic sabre. The common Indian word is talwār (see TULWAUR). We get it through the French cimiterre, Ital. scimeterra, and according to Marcel Devic originally from Pers. shamshīr (chimchīr as he writes it). This would be still very obscure unless we consider the constant clerical confusion in the Middle Ages between c and t, which has led to several metamorphoses of words; of which a notable example is Fr. carquois from Pers. tīrkash. Scimecirra representing shimshīr might easily thus become scimetirra. But we cannot prove this to have been the real origin. This word (shamshīr) was known to Greek writers. Thus:
c. A.D. 114.—"Δῶρα φέρει Τραιανῷ ὑφάσματα σηρικὰ καὶ σαμψήρας αἱ δέ εἰσι σπάθαι βαρβαρικαί."—Quoted in Suidas Lexicon, s.v.
1595.—
"... By this scimitar,
That slew the Sophy, and a Persian prince
That won three fields of Sultan Soliman ..."[4]
Merchant of Venice, ii. 1.
1610.—"... Anon the Patron starting up, as if of a sodaine restored to life; like a mad man skips into the boate, and drawing a Turkise Cymiter, beginneth to lay about him (thinking that his vessell had been surprised by Pirats), when they all leapt into the sea; and diuing vnder water like so many Diue-dappers, ascended without the reach of his furie."—Sandys, Relation, &c., 1615, p. 28.
1614.—"Some days ago I visited the house of a goldsmith to see a scimitar (scimitarra) that Nasuhbashá the first vizir, whom I have mentioned above, had ordered as a present to the Grand Signor. Scabbard and hilt were all of gold; and all covered with diamonds, so that little or nothing of the gold was to be seen."—P. della Valle, i. 43.
c. 1630.—"They seldome go without their swords (shamsheers they call them) form'd like a cresent, of pure metall, broad, and sharper than any rasor; nor do they value them, unlesse at one blow they can cut in two an Asinego...."—Sir T. Herbert, ed. 1638, p. 228.
1675.—"I kept my hand on the Cock of my Carabine; and my Comrade followed a foote pace, as well armed; and our Janizary better than either of us both: but our Armenian had only a Scimeter."—(Sir) George Wheler, Journey into Greece, London, 1682, p. 252.
1758.—"The Captain of the troop ... made a cut at his head with a scymetar which Mr. Lally parried with his stick, and a Coffree (Caffer) servant who attend him shot the Tanjerine dead with a pistol."—Orme, i. 328.
SEACUNNY, s. This is, in the phraseology of the Anglo-Indian marine, a steersman or quartermaster. The word is the Pers. sukkānī, from Ar. sukkān, 'a helm.'
c. 1590.—"Sukkāngīr, or helmsman. He steers the ship according to the orders of the Mu'allim."—Āīn, i. 280.
1805.—"I proposed concealing myself with 5 men among the bales of cloth, till it should be night, when the Frenchmen being necessarily divided into two watches might be easily overpowered. This was agreed to ... till daybreak, when unfortunately descrying the masts of a vessel on our weather beam, which was immediately supposed to be our old friend, the sentiments of every person underwent a most unfortunate alteration, and the Nakhoda, and the Soucan, as well as the Supercargo, informed me that they would not tell a lie for all the world, even to save their lives; and in short, that they would neither be airt nor pairt in the business."—Letter of Leyden, dd. Oct. 4-7, in Morton's Life.
1810.—"The gunners and quartermasters ... are Indian Portuguese; they are called Secunnis."—Maria Graham, 85.
[1855.—"... the Seacunnies, or helmsmen, were principally Manilla men."—Neale, Residence in Siam, 45.]
SEBUNDY, s. Hind. from Pers. sihbandī (sih, 'three'). The rationale of the word is obscure to us. [Platts says it means 'three-monthly or quarterly payment.' The Madras Gloss. less probably suggests Pers. sipāhbandī (see SEPOY), 'recruitment.'] It is applied to irregular native soldiery, a sort of militia, or imperfectly disciplined troops for revenue or police duties, &c. Certain local infantry regiments were formerly officially termed Sebundy. The last official appearance of the title that we can find is in application to "The Sebundy Corps of Sappers and Miners" employed at Darjeeling. This is in the E.I. Register down to July, 1869, after which the title does not appear in any official list. Of this corps, if we are not mistaken, the late Field-Marshal Lord Napier of Magdala was in charge, as Lieut. Robert Napier, about 1840. An application to Lord Napier, for corroboration of this reminiscence of many years back, drew from him the following interesting note:—
"He commenced the work, obtained some (Native) officers and N.C. officers from the old Bengal Sappers, and enlisted about half of each company.
"The first season found the little colony quite unprepared for the early commencement of the Rains. All the Coolies, who did not die, fled, and some of the Sappers deserted. Gilmore got sick; and in 1838 I was suddenly ordered from the extreme border of Bengal—Nyacollee—to relieve him for one month. I arrived somehow, with a pair of pitarahs as my sole possession.
"Just then, our relations with Nepaul became strained, and it was thought desirable to complete the Sebundy Sappers with men from the Border Hills unconnected with Nepaul—Garrows and similar tribes. Through the Political Officer the necessary number of men were enlisted and sent to me.
"When they arrived I found, instead of the 'fair recruits' announced, a number of most unfit men; some of them more or less crippled, or with defective sight. It seemed probable that, by the process known to us in India as uddlee buddlee (see BUDLEE), the original recruits had managed to insert substitutes during the journey! I was much embarrassed as to what I should do with them; but night was coming on, so I encamped them on the newly opened road, the only clear space amid the dense jungle on either side. To complete my difficulty it began to rain, and I pitied my poor recruits! During the night there was a storm—and in the morning, to my intense relief, they had all disappeared!
"In the expressive language of my sergeant, there was not a 'visage' of the men left.
"The Sebundies were a local corps, designed to furnish a body of labourers fit for mountain-work. They were armed, and expected to fight if necessary. Their pay was 6rs. a month, instead of a Sepoy's 7½. The pensions of the Native officers were smaller than in the regular army, which was a ground of complaint with the Bengal Sappers, who never expected in accepting the new service that they would have lower pensions than those they enlisted for.
"I eventually completed the corps with Nepaulese, and, I think, left them in a satisfactory condition.
"I was for a long time their only sergeant-major. I supplied the Native officers and N.C. officers from India with a good pea-jacket each, out of my private means, and with a little gold-lace made them smart and happy.
"When I visited Darjeeling again in 1872, I found the remnant of my good Sapper officers living as pensioners, and waiting to give me an affectionate welcome.
* * * * *
"My month's acting appointment was turned into four years. I walked 30 miles to get to the place, lived much in hovels and temporary huts thrown up by my Hill-men, and derived more benefit from the climate than from my previous visit to England. I think I owe much practical teaching to the Hill-men, the Hills and the Climate. I learnt the worst the elements could do to me—very nearly—excepting earthquakes! And I think I was thus prepared for any hard work."
c. 1778.—"At Dacca I made acquaintance with my venerable friend John Cowe. He had served in the Navy so far back as the memorable siege of Havannah, was reduced when a lieutenant, at the end of the American War, went out in the Company's military service, and here I found him in command of a regiment of Sebundees, or native militia."—Hon. R. Lindsay, in L. of the Lindsays, iii. 161.
1785.—"The Board were pleased to direct that in order to supply the place of the Sebundy corps, four regiments of Sepoys be employed in securing the collection of the revenues."—In Seton-Karr, i. 92.
" "One considerable charge upon the Nabob's country was for extraordinary sibbendies, sepoys and horsemen, who appear to us to be a very unnecessary incumbrance upon the revenue."—Append. to Speech on Nab. of Arcot's Debts, in Burke's Works, iv. 18, ed. 1852.
1796.—"The Collector at Midnapoor having reported the Sebundy Corps attached to that Collectorship, Sufficiently Trained in their Exercise; the Regular Sepoys who have been Employed on that Duty are to be withdrawn."—G. O. Feb. 23, in Suppt. to Code of Military Regs., 1799, p. 145.
1803.—"The employment of these people therefore ... as sebundy is advantageous ... it lessens the number of idle and discontented at the time of general invasion and confusion."—Wellington, Desp. (ed. 1837), ii. 170.
1812.—"Sebundy, or provincial corps of native troops."—Fifth Report, 38.
1861.—"Sliding down Mount Tendong, the summit of which, with snow lying there, we crossed, the Sebundy Sappers were employed cutting a passage for the mules; this delayed our march exceedingly."—Report of Capt. Impey, R.E., in Gawler's Sikhim, p. 95.
SEEDY, s. Hind. sīdī; Arab. saiyid, 'lord' (whence the Cid of Spanish romantic history), saiyidī, 'my lord'; and Mahr. siddhī. Properly an honorific name given in Western India to African Mahommedans, of whom many held high positions in the service of the kings of the Deccan. Of these at least one family has survived in princely position to our own day, viz. the Nawāb of Jangīra (see JUNGEERA), near Bombay. The young heir to this principality, Siddhī Ahmad, after a minority of some years, was installed in the Government in Oct., 1883. But the proper application of the word in the ports and on the shipping of Western India is to negroes in general. [It "is a title still applied to holy men in Marocco and the Maghrib; on the East African coast it is assumed by negro and negroid Moslems, e.g. Sidi Mubarak Bombay; and 'Seedy boy' is the Anglo-Indian term for a Zanzibar-man" (Burton, Ar. Nights, iv. 231).]
[c. 1610.—"The greatest insult that can be passed upon a man is to call him Cisdy—that is to say 'cook.'"—Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. i. 173.]
1673.—"An Hobsy or African Coffery (they being preferred here to chief employments, which they enter on by the name of Siddies)."—Fryer, 147.
" "He being from a Hobsy Caphir made a free Denizen ... (who only in this Nation arrive to great Preferment, being the Frizled Woolly-pated Blacks) under the known style of Syddies...."—Ibid. 168.
1679.—"The protection which the Siddees had given to Gingerah against the repeated attacks of Sevagi, as well as their frequent annoyance of their country, had been so much facilitated by their resort to Bombay, that Sevagi at length determined to compel the English Government to a stricter neutrality, by reprisals on their own port."—Orme, Fragments, 78.
1690.—"As he whose Title is most Christian, encouraged him who is its principal Adversary to invade the Rights of Christendom, so did Senor Padre de Pandara, the Principal Jesuite and in an adjacent Island to Bombay, invite the Síddy to exterminate all the Protestants there."—Ovington, 157.
1750-60.—"These (islands) were formerly in the hands of Angria and the Siddies or Moors."—Grose, i. 58.
1759.—"The Indian seas having been infested to an intolerable degree by pirates, the Mogul appointed the Siddee, who was chief of a colony of Coffrees (Caffer), to be his Admiral. It was a colony which, having been settled at Dundee-Rajapore, carried on a considerable trade there, and had likewise many vessels of force."—Cambridge's Account of the War, &c., p. 216.
1800.—"I asked him what he meant by a Siddee. He said a hubshee. This is the name by which the Abyssinians are distinguished in India."—T. Munro, in Life, i. 287.
1814.—"Among the attendants of the Cambay Nabob ... are several Abyssinian and Caffree slaves, called by way of courtesy Seddees or Master."—Forbes, Or. Mem. iii. 167; [2nd ed. ii. 225].
1832.—"I spoke of a Sindhee" (Siddhee) "or Habshee, which is the name for an Abyssinian in this country lingo."—Mem. of Col. Mountain, 121.
1885.—"The inhabitants of this singular tract (Soopah plateau in N. Canara) were in some parts Mahrattas, and in others of Canarese race, but there was a third and less numerous section, of pure African descent called Sidhis ... descendants of fugitive slaves from Portuguese settlements ... the same ebony coloured, large-limbed men as are still to be found on the African coast, with broad, good-humoured, grinning faces."—Gordon S. Forbes, Wild Life in Canara, &c., 32-33.
[1896.—
"We've shouted on seven-ounce nuggets,
We've starved on a Seedee boy's pay."
R. Kipling, The Seven Seas.]
SEEMUL, SIMMUL, &c. (sometimes we have seen Symbol, and Cymbal), s. Hind. semal and sembhal; [Skt. śālmali]. The (so-called) cotton-tree Bombax Malabaricum, D.C. (N.O. Malvaceae), which occurs sporadically from Malabar to Sylhet, and from Burma to the Indus and beyond. It is often cultivated. "About March it is a striking object with its immense buttressed trunks, and its large showy red flowers, 6 inches in breadth, clustered on the leafless branches. The flower-buds are used as a potherb and the gum as a medicine" (Punjab Plants). We remember to have seen a giant of this species near Kishnagarh, the buttresses of which formed chambers, 12 or 13 feet long and 7 or 8 wide. The silky cotton is only used for stuffing pillows and the like. The wood, though wretched in quality for any ordinary purpose, lasts under water, and is commonly the material for the curbs on which wells are built and sunk in Upper India.
SEER, s. Hind. ser; Skt. seṭak. One of the most generally spread Indian denominations of weight, though, like all Indian measures, varying widely in different parts of the country. And besides the variations of local ser and ser we often find in the same locality a pakkā (pucka) and a kachchhā (cutcha) ser; a state of things, however, which is human, and not Indian only (see under PUCKA). The ser is generally (at least in upper India) equivalent to 80 tolas or rupee-weights; but even this is far from universally true. The heaviest ser in the Useful Tables (see Thomas's ed. of Prinsep) is that called "Coolpahar," equivalent to 123 tolas, and weighing 3 lbs. 1 oz. 6¼ dr. avoird.; the lightest is the ser of Malabar and the S. Mahratta country, which is little more than 8 oz. [the Macleod ser of Malabar, introduced in 1802, is of 130 tolas; 10 of these weigh 33 lb. (Madras Man. ii. 516).]
Regulation VII. of the Govt. of India of 1833 is entitled "A Reg. for altering the weight of the Furruckabad Rupee (see RUPEE) and for assimilating it to the legal currency of the Madras and Bombay Presidencies; for adjusting the weight of the Company's sicca Rupee, and for fixing a standard unit of weight for India." This is the nearest thing to the establishment of standard weights that existed up to 1870. The preamble says: "It is further convenient to introduce the weight of the Furruckabad Rupee as the unit of a general system of weights for Government transactions throughout India." And Section IV. contains the following:
Section VI. of the same Regulation says:
But this does not go far in establishing a standard unit of weight for India: though the weights detailed in § iv. became established for Government purposes in the Bengal Presidency. The seer of this Regulation was thus 14,400 grains troy—2½ lbs. troy, 2.057 lbs. avoirdupois.
In 1870, in the Government of Lord Mayo, a strong movement was made by able and influential men to introduce the metrical system, and an Act was passed called "The Indian Weights and Measures Act" (Act XI. of 1870) to pave the way for this. The preamble declares it expedient to provide for the ultimate adoption of an uniform system of weights and measures throughout British India, and the Act prescribes certain standards, with powers to the Local Governments to declare the adoption of these.
Section II. runs:
Again, Act XXXI. of 1872, called "The Indian Weights and Measures of Capacity Act," repeats in substance the same preamble and prescription of standard weight. It is not clear to us what the separate object of this second Act was. But with the death of Lord Mayo the whole scheme fell to the ground. The ser of these Acts would be = 2.2 lbs. avoirdupois, or 0.143 of a pound greater than the 80 tola ser.
1648.—"One Ceer weighs 18 peysen ... and makes ¾ pound troy weight."—Van Twist, 62.
1748.—"Enfin on verse le tout un serre de l'huile."—Lett. Edif. xiv. 220.
SEER-FISH, s. A name applied to several varieties of fish, species of the genus Cybium. When of the right size, neither too small nor too big, these are reckoned among the most delicate of Indian sea-fish. Some kinds salt well, and are also good for preparing as Tamarind-Fish. The name is sometimes said to be a corruption of Pers. sīah (qu. Pers. 'black?') but the quotations show that it is a corruption of Port. serra. That name would appear to belong properly to the well-known saw-fish (Pristis)—see Bluteau, quoted below; but probably it may have been applied to the fish now in question, because of the serrated appearance of the rows of finlets, behind the second dorsal and anal fins, which are characteristic of the genus (see Day's Fishes of India, pp. 254-256, and plates lv., lvi.).
" "To Lopo Vaaz, Mestre of the firearms (espingardes), his pay and provisions.... And for his three workmen, at the rate of 2 measures of rice each daily, and half a seer fish (peixe serra) each monthly, and a maund of firewood each monthly."—S. Botelho, Tombo, 235.
1598.—"There is a fish called Piexe Serra, which is cut in round pieces, as we cut Salmon and salt it. It is very good."—Linschoten, 88; [Hak. Soc. ii. 11].
1720.—"Peyxe Serra is ordinarily produced in the Western Ocean, and is so called" etc. (describing the Saw-fish).... "But in the Sea of the Islands of Quirimba (i.e. off Mozambique) there is a different peyxe serra resembling a large corvina,[5] but much better, and which it is the custom to pickle. When cured it seems just like ham."—Bluteau, Vocab. vii. 606-607.
1727.—"They have great Plenty of Seer-fish, which is as savoury as any Salmon or Trout in Europe."—A. Hamilton, i. 379; [ed. 1744, i. 382].
[1813.—"... the robal, the seir-fish, the grey mullet ... are very good."—Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd ed. i. 36.]
1860.—"Of those in ordinary use for the table the finest by far is the Seir-fish,[6] a species of Scomber, which is called Tora-malu by the natives. It is in size and form very similar to the salmon, to which the flesh of the female fish, notwithstanding its white colour, bears a very close resemblance, both in firmness and in flavour."—Tennent's Ceylon, i. 205.
SEERPAW, s. Pers. through Hind. sar-ā-pā—'cap-a-pie.' A complete suit, presented as a Khilat (Killut) or dress of honour, by the sovereign or his representative.
1673—"Sir George Oxendine ... had a Collat (Killut) or Serpaw, a Robe of Honour from Head to Foot, offered him from the Great Mogul."—Fryer, 87.
1680.—"Answer is returned that it hath not been accustomary for the Governours to go out to receive a bare Phyrmaund (Firmaun), except there come therewith a Serpow or a Tasheriffe (Tashreef)."—Ft. St. Geo. Consn. Dec. 2, in N. & E. No. iii. 40.
1715.—"We were met by Padre Stephanus, bringing two Seerpaws."—In Wheeler, ii. 245.
1727.—"As soon as he came, the King embraced him, and ordered a serpaw or a royal Suit to be put upon him."—A. Hamilton, i. 171 [ed. 1744].
1735.—"The last Nabob (Sadatulla) would very seldom suffer any but himself to send a Seerpaw; whereas in February last Sunta Sahib, Subder Ali Sahib, Jehare Khan and Imaum Sahib, had all of them taken upon them to send distinct Seerpaws to the President."—In Wheeler, iii. 140.
1759.—"Another deputation carried six costly Seerpaws; these are garments which are presented sometimes by superiors in token of protection, and sometimes by inferiors in token of homage."—Orme, i. 159.
SEETULPUTTY, s. A fine kind of mat made especially in Eastern Bengal, and used to sleep on in the cold weather. [They are made from the split stems of the mukta pata, Phrynium dichotomum, Roxb. (see Watt, Econ. Dict. vi. pt. i. 216 seq.).] Hind. sītalpaṭṭī, 'cold-slip.' Williamson's spelling and derivation (from an Arab. word impossibly used, see SICLEEGUR) are quite erroneous.
[1818.—"Another kind (of mat) the shēētŭlŭpatēēs, laid on beds and couches on account of their coolness, are sold from one roopee to five each."—Ward, Hindoos, i. 106.]
1879.—In Fallon's Dicty. we find the following Hindi riddle:—
"Chīnī kā piyālā ṭūṭā, koī joṛtā nahīn;
Mālī jī kā bāg lagā, koī toṛtā nahīn;
Sītal-pãṭĭ bichhī, koī sotā nahīn;
Rāj-bansī mūā, koī rotā nahīn."
Which might be rendered:
"A china bowl that, broken, none can join;
A flowery field, whose blossoms none purloin;
A royal scion slain, and none shall weep;
A sītalpaṭṭī spread where none shall sleep."
SEMBALL, s. Malay-Javan. sāmbil, sāmbal. A spiced condiment, the curry of the Archipelago. [Dennys (Descr. Dict. p. 337) describes many varieties.]
SEPOY, SEAPOY, s. In Anglo-Indian use a native soldier, disciplined and dressed in the European style. The word is Pers. sipāhī, from sipāh, 'soldiery, an army'; which J. Oppert traces to old Pers. spāda, 'a soldier' (Le peuple et la Langue des Mèdes, 1879, p. 24). But Sbah is a horseman in Armenian; and sound etymologists connect sipāh with asp, 'a horse'; [others with Skt. padāti, 'a foot-soldier']. The original word sipāhī occurs frequently in the poems of Amīr Khusrū (c. A.D. 1300), bearing always probably the sense of a 'horse-soldier,' for all the important part of an army then consisted of horsemen. See spāhī below.
The word sepoy occurs in Southern India before we had troops in Bengal; and it was probably adopted from Portuguese. We have found no English example in print older than 1750, but probably an older one exists. The India Office record of 1747 from Fort St. David's is the oldest notice we have found in extant MS. [But see below.]
[1665.—"Souldier—Suppya and Haddee."—Persian Gloss. in Sir T. Herbert, ed. 1677, p. 99.]
1682.—"As soon as these letters were sent away, I went immediately to Ray Nundelall's to have ye Seapy, or Nabob's horseman, consigned to me, with order to see ye Perwanna put in execution; but having thought better of it, ye Ray desired me to have patience till tomorrow morning. He would then present me to the Nabob, whose commands to ye Seapy and Bulchunds Vekeel would be more powerfull and advantageous to me than his own."—Hedges, Diary, Hak. Soc. i. 55, seq. Here we see the word still retaining the sense of 'horseman' in India.
[1717.—"A Company of Sepoys with the colours."—Yule, in ditto, II. ccclix. On this Sir H. Yule notes: "This is an occurrence of the word sepoy, in its modern signification, 30 years earlier than any I had been able to find when publishing the A.-I. Gloss. I have one a year earlier, and expect now to find it earlier still."
[1733.—"You are next ... to make a complete survey ... of the number of fighting Sepoys...."—Forrest, Bombay Letters, ii. 55.]
1737.—"Elle com tota a força desponivel, que eram 1156 soldados pagos em que entraram 281 chegados na não Mercês, e 780 sypaes ou lascarins (lascar), recuperon o territorio."—Bosquejo das Possesões Portuguezas no Oriente, &c., por Joaquim Pedro Celestino Soares, Lisboa, 1851, p. 58.
1746.—"The Enemy, by the best Intelligence that could be got, and best Judgment that could be formed, had or would have on Shore next Morning, upwards of 3000 Europeans, with at least 500 Coffrys, and a number of Cephoys and Peons."—Ext. of Diary, &c., in App. to A Letter to a Propr. of the E.I. Co., London, 1750, p. 94.
[1746.—Their strength on shore I compute 2000 Europeans Seapiahs and 300 Coffrees."—Letter from Madras, Oct. 9, in Bengal Consultations. Ibid. p. 600, we have Seapies.]
1747.—"At a Council of War held at Fort St. David the 25th December, 1747.
Present:—
Charles Floyer, Esq., Governor.
George Gibson
John Crompton
William Brown
John Holland
John Rodolph de Gingens
John Usgate
Robert Sanderson.
* * *
"It is further ordered that Captn. Crompton keep the Detachment under his Command at Cuddalore, in a readiness to march to the Choultry over against the Fort as soon as the Signal shall be made from the Place, and then upon his firing two Muskets, Boats shall be sent to bring them here, and to leave a serjeant at Cuddalore Who shall conduct his Seapoys to the Garden Guard, and the Serjeant shall have a Word by which He shall be received at the Garden."—Original MS. Proceedings (in the India Office).
" The Council of Fort St. David write to Bombay, March 16th, "if they could not supply us with more than 300 Europeans, We should be glad of Five or Six Hundred of the best Northern People their way, as they are reported to be much better than ours, and not so liable to Desertion."
In Consn. May 30th they record the arrival of the ships Leven, Warwick, and Ilchester, Princess Augusta, "on the 28th inst., from Bombay, (bringing) us a General from that Presidency,[7] as entered No. 38, advising of having sent us by them sundry stores and a Reinforcement of Men, consisting of 70 European Soldiers, 200 Topasses (Topaz), and 100 well-trained Seapoys, all of which under the command of Capt. Thomas Andrews, a Good Officer...."
And under July 13th. "... The Reinforcement of Sepoys having arrived from Tellicherry, which, with those that were sent from Bombay, making a formidable Body, besides what are still expected; and as there is far greater Dependance to be placed on those People than on our own Peons ... many of whom have a very weakly Appearance, Agreed, that a General Review be now had of them, that all such may be discharged, and only the Choicest of them continued in the Service."—MS. Records in India Office.
1752.—"... they quitted their entrenchments on the first day of March, 1752, and advanced in order of battle, taking possession of a rising ground on the right, on which they placed 50 Europeans; the front consisted of 1500 Sipoys, and one hundred and twenty or thirty French."—Complete Hist. of the War in India, 1761, pp. 9-10.
1758.—A Tabular Statement (Mappa) of the Indian troops, 20th Jan. of this year, shows "Corpo de Sipaes" with 1162 "Sipaes promptos."—Bosquejo, as above.
" "A stout body of near 1000 Sepoys has been raised within these few days."—In Long, 134.
[1759.—"Boat rice extraordinary for the Gentoo Seapois...."—Ibid. 174.]
1763.—"The Indian natives and Moors, who are trained in the European manner, are called Sepoys."—Orme, i. 80.
1763.—"Major Carnac ... observes that your establishment is loaded with the expense of more Captains than need be, owing to the unnecessarily making it a point that they should be Captains who command the Sepoy Battalions, whereas such is the nature of Sepoys that it requires a peculiar genius and talent to be qualified for that service, and the Battalion should be given only to such who are so without regard to rank."—Court's Letter, of March 9. In Long, 290.
1770.—"England has at present in India an establishment to the amount of 9800 European troops, and 54,000 sipahis well armed and disciplined."—Raynal (tr. 1777), i. 459.
1774.—"Sipai sono li soldati Indiani."—Della Tomba, 297.
1778.—"La porta del Ponente della città sì custodiva dalli sipais soldati Indiani radunati da tutte le tribù, e religioni."—Fra Paolino, Viaggio, 4.
1780.—"Next morning the sepoy came to see me.... I told him that I owed him my life.... He then told me that he was not very rich himself, as his pay was only a pagoda and a half a month—and at the same time drew out his purse and offered me a rupee. This generous behaviour, so different to what I had hitherto experienced, drew tears from my eyes, and I thanked him for his generosity, but I would not take his money."—Hon. J. Lindsay's Imprisonment, Lives of Lindsays, iii. 274.
1782.—"As to Europeans who run from their natural colours, and enter into the service of the country powers, I have heard one of the best officers the Company ever had ... say that he considered them no otherwise than as so many Seapoys; for acting under blacks they became mere blacks in spirit."—Price, Some Observations, 95-96.
1789.—
"There was not a captain, nor scarce a seapoy,
But a Prince would depose, or a Bramin destroy."
Letter of Simpkin the Second, &c., 8.
1803.—"Our troops behaved admirably; the sepoys astonished me."—Wellington, ii. 384.
1827.—"He was betrothed to the daughter of a Sipahee, who served in the mud-fort which they saw at a distance rising above the jungle."—Sir W. Scott, The Surgeon's Daughter, ch. xiii.
1836.—"The native army of the E. I. Company.... Their formation took place in 1757. They are usually called sepoys, and are light and short."—In R. Phillips, A Million of Facts, 718.
1881.—"As early as A.D. 1592 the chief of Sind had 200 natives dressed and armed like Europeans: these were the first 'sepoys.'"—Burton's Camoens, A Commentary, ii. 445.The French write cipaye or cipai:
c. 1835-38.—
"Il ne craint ni Kriss ni zagaies,
Il regarde l'homme sans fuir,
Et rit des balles des cipayes
Qui rebondissent sur son cuir."
Th. Gautier, L'Hippopotame.
Since the conquest of Algeria the same word is common in France under another form, viz., spāhī. But the Spāhī is totally different from the sepoy, and is in fact an irregular horseman. With the Turks, from whom the word is taken, the spāhī was always a horseman.
[1562.—"The Spachi, and other orders of horsemen."—J. Shute, Two Comm. (Tr.) fol. 53 ro. Stanf. Dict. where many early instances of the word will be found.]
1672.—"Mille ou quinze cents Spahiz, tous bien équippés et bien montés ... terminoient toute ceste longue, magnifique, et pompeuse cavalcade."—Journal d'Ant. Galland, i. 142.
1675.—"The other officers are the sardar (Sirdar), who commands the Janizaries ... the Spahi Aga, who commands the Spahies or Turkish Horse."—Wheeler's Journal, 348.
[1686.—"I being providentially got over the river before the Spie employed by them could give them intelligence."—Hedges, Diary, Hak. Soc. i. 229.]
1738.—"The Arab and other inhabitants are obliged, either by long custom ... or from fear and compulsion, to give the Spahees and their company the mounah ... which is such a sufficient quantity of provision for ourselves, together with straw and barley for our mules and horses."—Shaw's Travels in Barbary, ed. 1757, p. xii.
1786.—"Bajazet had two years to collect his forces ... we may discriminate the janizaries ... a national cavalry, the Spahis of modern times."—Gibbon, ch. lxv.
1877.—"The regular cavalry was also originally composed of tribute children.... The sipahis acquired the same pre-eminence among the cavalry which the janissaries held among the infantry, and their seditious conduct rendered them much sooner troublesome to the Government."—Finlay, H. of Greece, ed. 1877, v. 37.
SERAI, SERYE, s. This word is used to represent two Oriental words entirely different.
a. Hind. from Pers. sarā, sarāī. This means originally an edifice, a palace. It was especially used by the Tartars when they began to build palaces. Hence Sarāī, the name of more than one royal residence of the Mongol Khāns upon the Volga, the Sarra of Chaucer. The Russians retained the word from their Tartar oppressors, but in their language sarai has been degraded to mean 'a shed.' The word, as applied to the Palace of the Grand Turk, became, in the language of the Levantine Franks, serail and serraglio. In this form, as P. della Valle lucidly explains below, the "striving after meaning" connected the word with Ital. serrato, 'shut up'; and with a word serraglio perhaps previously existing in Italian in that connection. [Seraglio, according to Prof. Skeat (Concise Dict. s.v.) is "formed with suffix -aglio (L. -aculum) from Late Lat. serare, 'to bar, shut in'—Lat. sera, a 'bar, bolt'; Lat. serere, 'to join together.'] It is this association that has attached the meaning of 'women's apartments' to the word. Sarai has no such specific sense.
But the usual modern meaning in Persia, and the only one in India, is that of a building for the accommodation of travellers with their pack-animals; consisting of an enclosed yard with chambers round it.
Recurring to the Italian use, we have seen in Italy the advertisement of a travelling menagerie as Serraglio di Belve. A friend tells us of an old Scotchman whose ideas must have run in this groove, for he used to talk of 'a Serragle of blackguards.' In the Diary in England of Annibale Litolfi of Mantua the writer says: "On entering the tower there is a Serraglio in which, from grandeur, they keep lions and tigers and cat-lions." (See Rawdon Brown's Calendar of Papers in Archives of Venice, vol. vi. pt. iii. 1557-8. App.) [The Stanf. Dict. quotes Evelyn as using the word of a place where persons are confined: 1644. "I passed by the Piazza Judea, where their seraglio begins" (Diary, ed. 1872, i. 142).]
1609.—"... by it the great Suray, besides which are diuers others, both in the city and suburbs, wherein diuers neate lodgings are to be let, with doores, lockes, and keys to each."—W. Finch, in Purchas, i. 434.
1614.—"This term serraglio, so much used among us in speaking of the Grand Turk's dwelling ... has been corrupted into that form from the word serai, which in their language signifies properly 'a palace.'... But since this word serai resembles serraio, as a Venetian would call it, or seraglio as we say, and seeing that the palace of the Turk is (serrato or) shut up all round by a strong wall, and also because the women and a great part of the courtiers dwell in it barred up and shut in, so it may perchance have seemed to some to have deserved such a name. And thus the real term serai has been converted into serraglio."—P. della Valle, i. 36.
1615.—"Onely from one dayes Journey to another the Sophie hath caused to bee erected certaine kind of great harbours, or huge lodgings (like hamlets) called caravan-sara, or surroyes, for the benefite of Caravanes...."—De Montfart, 8.
1616.—"In this kingdome there are no Innes to entertaine strangers, only in great Townes and Cities are faire Houses built for their receit, which they call Sarray, not inhabited, where any Passenger may haue roome freely, but must bring with him his Bedding, his Cooke, and other necessaries."—Terry, in Purchas, ii. 1475.
1638.—"Which being done we departed from our Serray (or Inne)."—W. Bruton, in Hakl. v. 49.
1648.—"A great sary or place for housing travelling folk."—Van Twist, 17.
[1754.—"... one of the Sciddees (seedy) officers with a party of men were lodged in the Sorroy...."—Forrest, Bombay Letters, i. 307.]
1782.—"The stationary tenants of the Serauee, many of them women, and some of them very pretty, approach the traveller on his entrance, and in alluring language describe to him the varied excellencies of their several lodgings."—Forster, Journey, ed. 1808, i. 86.
1825.—"The whole number of lodgers in and about the serai, probably did not fall short of 500 persons. What an admirable scene for an Eastern romance would such an inn as this afford!"—Heber, ed. 1844, ii. 122.
1850.—"He will find that, if we omit only three names in the long line of the Delhi Emperors, the comfort and happiness of the people were never contemplated by them; and with the exception of a few saráís and bridges,—and these only on roads traversed by the imperial camps—he will see nothing in which purely selfish considerations did not prevail."—Sir H. M. Elliot, Original Preface to Historians of India, Elliot, I. xxiii.b. A long-necked earthenware (or metal) flagon for water; a goglet (q.v.). This is Ar.—P. ṣurāḥī. [This is the doraḳ or ḳulleh of Egypt, of which Lane (Mod. Egypt. ed. 1871, i. 186 seq.) gives an account with illustrations.]
1808.—"We had some bread and butter, two surahees of water, and a bottle of brandy."—Elphinstone, in Life, i. 183.
[1880.—"The best known is the gilt silver work of Cashmere, which is almost confined to the production of the water-vessels or sarais, copied from the clay goblets in use throughout the northern parts of the Panjab."—Birdwood, Indust. Arts of India, 149.]
SERANG, s. A native boatswain, or chief of a lascar crew; the skipper of a small native vessel. The word is Pers. sarhang, 'a commander or overseer.' In modern Persia it seems to be used for a colonel (see Wills, 80).
1690.—"Indus quem de hoc Ludo consului fuit scriba satis peritus ab officio in nave suâ dictus le saràng, Anglicè Boatswain seú Boson."—Hyde, De Ludis Orientt. in Syntagma, ii. 264.
[1822.—"... the ghaut syrangs (a class of men equal to the kidnappers of Holland and the crimps of England)...."—Wallace, Fifteen Years in India, 256.]
SERAPHIN. See XERAFIN.
SERENDĪB, n.p. The Arabic form of the name of Ceylon in the earlier Middle Ages. (See under CEYLON.)
SERINGAPATAM, n.p. The city which was the capital of the Kingdom of Mysore during the reigns of Hyder Ali and his son Tippoo. Written Sri-raṅga-paṭṭana, meaning according to vulgar interpretation 'Vishnu's Town.' But as both this and the other Srirangam (Seringam town and temple, so-called, in the Trichinopoly district) are on islands of the Cauvery, it is possible that ranga stands for Lanka, and that the true meaning is 'Holy-Isle-Town.'
[SERPEYCH, s. Pers. sarpech, sarpesh; an ornament of gold, silver or jewels, worn in front of the turban; it sometimes consists of gold plates strung together, each plate being set with precious stones. Also a band of silk and embroidery worn round the turban.
[1786.—"Surpaishes." See under CULGEE.
[1813.—"Serpeych." See under KILLUT.]
SETT, s. Properly Hind. seṭh, which according to Wilson is the same word with the Cheṭṭi (see CHETTY) or Sheṭṭi of the Malabar Coast, the different forms being all from Skt. śreshṭha, 'best, or chief,' śresṭhi, 'the chief of a corporation, a merchant or banker.' C. P. Brown entirely denies the identity of the S. Indian sheṭṭi with the Skt. word (see CHETTY).
1757.—"To the Seats Mootabray and Roopchund the Government of Chandunagore was indebted a million and a half Rupees."—Orme, ii. 138 of reprint (Bk. viii.).
1770.—"As soon as an European arrives the Gentoos, who know mankind better than is commonly supposed, study his character ... and lend or procure him money upon bottomry, or at interest. This interest, which is usually 9 per cent. at least, is higher when he is under a necessity of borrowing of the Cheyks.
"These Cheyks are a powerful family of Indians, who have, time immemorial, inhabited the banks of the Ganges. Their riches have long ago procured them the management of the bank belonging to the Court...."—Raynal, tr. 1777, i. 427. Note that by Cheyks the Abbé means Setts.
[1883.—"... from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin a security endorsed by the Mathura Seth is as readily convertible into cash as a Bank of England Note in London or Paris."—F. S. Growse, Mathura, 14.]
SETTLEMENT, s. In the Land Revenue system of India, an estate or district is said to be settled, when instead of taking a quota of the year's produce the Government has agreed with the cultivators, individually or in community, for a fixed sum to be paid at several periods of the year, and not liable to enhancement during the term of years for which the agreement or settlement is made. The operation of arranging the terms of such an agreement, often involving tedious and complicated considerations and enquiries, is known as the process of settlement. A Permanent Settlement is that in which the annual payment is fixed in perpetuity. This was introduced in Bengal by Lord Cornwallis in 1793, and does not exist except within that great Province, [and a few districts in the Benares division of the N.W.P., and in Madras.]
[SEVEN PAGODAS, n.p. The Tam. Mavallipuram, Skt. Mahabalipura, 'the City of the Great Bali,' a place midway between Sadras and Covelong. But in one of the inscriptions (about 620 A.D.) a King, whose name is said to have been Amara, is described as having conquered the chief of the Mahamalla race. Malla was probably the name of a powerful highland chieftain subdued by the Chalukyans. (See Crole, Man. of Chingleput, 92 seq.). Dr. Oppert (Orig. Inhabit., 98) takes the name to be derived from the Malla or Palli race.
SEVEN SISTERS, or BROTHERS. The popular name (Hind. sāt-bhāī) of a certain kind of bird, about the size of a thrush, common throughout most parts of India, Malacocercus terricolor, Hodgson, 'Bengal babbler' of Jerdon. The latter author gives the native name as Seven Brothers, which is the form also given in the quotation below from Tribes on My Frontier. The bird is so named from being constantly seen in little companies of about that number. Its characteristics are well given in the quotations. See also Jerdon's Birds (Godwin-Austen's ed., ii. 59). In China certain birds of starling kind are called by the Chinese pa-ko, or "Eight Brothers," for a like reason. See Collingwood's Rambles of a Naturalist, 1868, p. 319. (See MYNA.)
SEVERNDROOG, n.p. A somewhat absurd corruption, which has been applied to two forts of some fame, viz.:
a. Suvarna-druga, or Suwandrug, on the west coast, about 78 m. below Bombay (Lat. 17° 48′ N.). It was taken in 1755 by a small naval force from Tulajī Angria, of the famous piratical family. [For the commander of the expedition, Commodore James, and his monument on Shooter's Hill, see Douglas, Bombay and W. India, i. 117 seq.]
b. Savandrug; a remarkable double hill-fort in Mysore, standing on a two-topped bare rock of granite, which was taken by Lord Cornwallis's army in 1791 (Lat. 12° 55′). [Wilks (Hist. Sketches, Madras reprint, i. 228, ii. 232) calls it Savendy Droog, and Savendroog.]
SEYCHELLE ISLANDS, n.p. A cluster of islands in the Indian Ocean, politically subordinate to the British Government of Mauritius, lying between 3° 40′ & 4° 50′ S. Lat., and about 950 sea-miles east of Mombas on the E. African coast. There are 29 or 30 of the Seychelles proper, of which Mahé, the largest, is about 17 m. long by 3 or 4 wide. The principal islands are granitic, and rise "in the centre of a vast plateau of coral" of some 120 m. diameter.
These islands are said to have been visited by Soares in 1506, and were known vaguely to the Portuguese navigators of the 16th century as the Seven Brothers (Os sete Irmanos or Hermanos), sometimes Seven Sisters (Sete Irmanas), whilst in Delisle's Map of Asia (1700) we have both "les Sept Frères" and "les Sept Sœurs." Adjoining these on the W. or S.W. we find also on the old maps a group called the Almirantes, and this group has retained that name to the present day, constituting now an appendage of the Seychelles.
The islands remained uninhabited, and apparently unvisited, till near the middle of the 18th century. In 1742 the celebrated Mahé de la Bourdonnais, who was then Governor of Mauritius and the Isle of Bourbon, despatched two small vessels to explore the islands of this little archipelago, an expedition which was renewed by Lazare Picault, the commander of one of the two vessels, in 1774, who gave to the principal island the name of Mahé, and to the group the name of Iles de Bourdonnais, for which Iles Mahé (which is the name given in the Neptune Orientale of D'Apres de Manneville, 1775, pp. 29-38, and the charts), seems to have been substituted. Whatever may have been La Bourdonnais' plans with respect to these islands, they were interrupted by his engagement in the Indian campaigns of 1745-46, and his government of Mauritius was never resumed. In 1756 the Sieur Morphey (Murphy?), commander of the frigate Le Cerf, was sent by M. Magon, Governor of Mauritius and Bourbon, to take possession of the Island of Mahé. But it seems doubtful if any actual settlement of the islands by the French occurred till after 1769. [See the account of the islands in Owen's Narrative, ii. 158 seqq.]
A question naturally has suggested itself to us as to how the group came by the name of the Seychelles Islands; and it is one to which no trustworthy answer will be easily found in English, if at all. Even French works of pretension (e.g. the Dictionnaire de la Rousse) are found to state that the islands were named after the "Minister of Marine, Herault de Séchelles, who was eminent for his services and his able administration. He was the first to establish a French settlement there." This is quoted from La Rousse; but the fact is that the only man of the name known to fame is the Jacobin and friend of Danton, along with whom he perished by the guillotine. There never was a Minister of Marine so called! The name Séchelles first (so far as we can learn) appears in the Hydrographie Française of Belin, 1767, where in a map entitled Carte réduite du Canal de Mozambique the islands are given as Les Iles Sécheyles, with two enlarged plans en cartouche of the Port de Sécheyles. In 1767 also Chev. de Grenier, commanding the Heure du Berger, visited the Islands, and in his narrative states that he had with him the chart of Picault, "envoyé par La Bourdonnais pour reconnoître les isles des Sept Frères, lesquelles ont été depuis nommée iles Mahé et ensuite iles Séchelles." We have not been able to learn by whom the latter name was given, but it was probably by Morphey of the Cerf; for among Dalrymple's Charts (pub. 1771), there is a "Plan of the Harbour adjacent to Bat River on the Island Seychelles, from a French plan made in 1756, published by Bellin." And there can be no doubt that the name was bestowed in honour of Moreau de Séchelles, who was Contrôleur-Général des Finances in France in 1754-56, i.e. at the very time when Governor Magon sent Capt. Morphey to take possession. One of the islands again is called Silhouette, the name of an official who had been Commissaire du roi près la Compagnie des Indes, and succeeded Moreau de Séchelles as Controller of Finance; and another is called Praslin, apparently after the Duc de Choiseul Praslin who was Minister of Marine from 1766 to 1770.
The exact date of the settlement of the islands we have not traced. We can only say that it must have been between 1769 and 1772. The quotation below from the Abbé Rochon shows that the islands were not settled when he visited them in 1769; whilst that from Capt. Neale shows that they were settled before his visit in 1772. It will be seen that both Rochon and Neale speak of Mahé as "the island Seychelles, or Sécheyles," as in Belin's chart of 1767. It seems probable that the cloud under which La Bourdonnais fell, on his return to France, must have led to the suppression of his name in connection with the group.
The islands surrendered to the English Commodore Newcome in 1794, and were formally ceded to England with Mauritius in 1815. Seychelles appears to be an erroneous English spelling, now however become established. (For valuable assistance in the preceding article we are indebted to the courteous communications of M. James Jackson, Librarian of the Société de Géographie at Paris, and of M. G. Marcel of the Bibliothèque Nationale. And see, besides the works quoted here, a paper by M. Elie Pujot, in L'Explorateur, vol. iii. (1876) pp. 523-526).
The following passage of Pyrard probably refers to the Seychelles:
1769.—"The principal places, the situation of which I determined, are the Secheyles islands, the flat of Cargados, the Salha da Maha, the island of Diego Garcia, and the Adu isles. The island Secheyles has an exceedingly good harbour.... This island is covered with wood to the very summit of the mountains.... In 1769 when I spent a month here in order to determine its position with the utmost exactness, Secheyles and the adjacent isles were inhabited only by monstrous crocodiles; but a small establishment has since been formed on it for the cultivation of cloves and nutmegs."—Voyage to Madagascar and the E. Indies by the Abbé Rochon, E.T., London, 1792, p. liii.
1772.—"The island named Seychelles is inhabited by the French, and has a good harbour.... I shall here deliver my opinion that these islands, where we now are, are the Three Brothers and the adjacent islands ... as there are no islands to the eastward of them in these latitudes, and many to the westward."—Capt. Neale's Passage from Bencoolen to the Seychelles Islands in the Swift Grab. In Dunn's Directory, ed. 1780, pp. 225, 232.
[1901.—"For a man of energy, perseverance, and temperate habits, Seychelles affords as good an opening as any tropical colony."—Report of Administrator, in Times, Oct. 2.]
SHA, SAH, s. A merchant or banker; often now attached as a surname. It is Hind. sāh and sāhu from Skt. sādhu, 'perfect, virtuous, respectable' 'prudhomme'). See SOWCAR.
SHABASH! interj. 'Well done!' 'Bravo!' Pers. Shā-bāsh. 'Rex fias!'[9] [Rather shād-bāsh, 'Be joyful.']
SHABUNDER, s. Pers. Shāh-bandar, lit. 'King of the Haven,' Harbour-Master. This was the title of an officer at native ports all over the Indian seas, who was the chief authority with whom foreign traders and ship-masters had to transact. He was often also head of the Customs. Hence the name is of prominent and frequent occurrence in the old narratives. Portuguese authors generally write the word Xabander; ours Shabunder or Sabundar. The title is not obsolete, though it does not now exist in India; the quotation from Lane shows its recent existence in Cairo, [and the Persians still call their Consuls Shāh-bandar (Burton, Ar. Nights, iii. 158)]. In the marine Malay States the Shābandar was, and probably is, an important officer of State. The passages from Lane and from Tavernier show that the title was not confined to seaports. At Aleppo Thevenot (1663) calls the corresponding official, perhaps by a mistake, 'Scheik Bandar' (Voyages, iii. 121). [This is the office which King Mihrjān conferred upon Sindbad the Seaman, when he made him "his agent for the port and registrar of all ships that entered the harbour" (Burton, iv. 351)].
c. 1539.—"This King (of the Batas) understanding that I had brought him a Letter and a Present from the Captain of Malaca, caused me to be entertained by the Xabandar, who is he that with absolute Power governs all the affairs of the Army."—Pinto (orig. cap. xv.), in Cogan's Transl. p. 18.
1552.—"And he who most insisted on this was a Moor, Xabandar of the Guzarates" (at Malacca).—Castanheda, ii. 359.
1553.—"A Moorish lord called Sabayo (Sabaio) ... as soon as he knew that our ships belonged to the people of these parts of Christendom, desiring to have confirmation on the matter, sent for a certain Polish Jew who was in his service as Shabandar (Xabandar), and asked him if he knew of what nation were the people who came in these ships...."—Barros, I. iv. 11.
1561.—"... a boatman, who, however, called himself Xabandar."—Correa, Lendas, ii. 80.
1599.—"The Sabandar tooke off my Hat, and put a Roll of white linnen about my head...."—J. Davis, in Purchas, i. 12.
[1604.—"Sabindar." See under KLING.]
1606.—"Then came the Sabendor with light, and brought the Generall to his house."—Middleton's Voyage, E. (4).
1610.—"The Sabander and the Governor of Mancock (a place scituated by the River)...."—Peter Williamson Floris, in Purchas, i. 322.
[1615.—"The opinion of the Sabindour shall be taken."—Foster, Letters, iv. 79.]
c. 1650.—"Coming to Golconda, I found that the person whom I had left in trust with my chamber was dead: but that which I observ'd most remarkable, was that I found the door seal'd with two Seals, one being the Cadi's or chief Justice's, the other the Sha-Bander's or Provost of the Merchants."—Tavernier, E.T. Pt. ii. 136; [ed. Ball, ii. 70].
1673.—"The Shawbunder has his Grandeur too, as well as receipt of Custom, for which he pays the King yearly 22,000 Thomands."—Fryer, 222.
1688.—"When we arrived at Achin, I was carried before the Shabander, the chief Magistrate of the City...."—Dampier, i. 502.
1711.—"The Duties the Honourable Company require to be paid here on Goods are not above one fifth Part of what is paid to the Shabander or Custom-Master."—Lockyer, 223.
1726.—Valentyn, v. 313, gives a list of the Sjahbandars of Malakka from 1641 to 1725. They are names of Dutchmen.
[1727.—"Shawbandaar." See under TENASSERIM.]
1759.—"I have received a long letter from the Shahzada, in which he complains that you have begun to carry on a large trade in salt, and betel nut, and refuse to pay the duties on those articles ... which practice, if continued, will oblige him to throw up his post of Shahbunder Droga (Daroga)."—W. Hastings to the Chief at Dacca, in Van Sittart, i. 5.
1768.—"... two or three days after my arrival (at Batavia), the landlord of the hotel where I lodged told me he had been ordered by the shebandar to let me know that my carriage, as well as others, must stop, if I should meet the Governor, or any of the council; but I desired him to acquaint the shebandar that I could not consent to perform any such ceremony."—Capt. Carteret, quoted by transl. of Stavorinus, i. 281.
1795.—"The descendant of a Portuguese family, named Jaunsee, whose origin was very low ... was invested with the important office of Shawbunder, or intendant of the port, and receiver of the port customs."—Symes, p. 160.
1837.—"The Seyd Mohammad El Mahroockee, the Shahbendar (chief of the Merchants of Cairo) hearing of this event, suborned a common fellah...."—Lane's Mod. Egyptians, ed. 1837, i. 157.
SHADDOCK, s. This name properly belongs to the West Indies, having been given, according to Grainger, from that of the Englishman who first brought the fruit thither from the East, and who was, according to Crawfurd, an interloper captain, who traded to the Archipelago about the time of the Revolution, and is mentioned by his contemporary Dampier. The fruit is the same as the pommelo (q.v.). And the name appears from a modern quotation below to be now occasionally used in India. [Nothing definite seems to be known of this Capt. Shaddock. Mr. R. C. A. Prior (7 ser. N. & Q., vii. 375) writes: "Lunan, in 'Hortus Jamaicensis,' vol. ii. p. 171, says, 'This fruit is not near so large as the shaddock, which received its name from a Capt. Shaddock, who first brought the plant from the East Indies.' The name of the captain is believed to have been Shattock, one not uncommon in the west of Somersetshire. Sloane, in his 'Voyage to Jamaica,' 1707, vol. i. p. 41 says, 'The seed of this was first brought to Barbados by one Capt. Shaddock, commander of an East Indian ship, who touch'd at that island in his passage to England, and left its seed there.'" Watt (Econ. Dict. ii. 349) remarks that the Indian vernacular name Batāvī nībū, 'Batavian lime,' suggests its having been originally brought from Batavia.]
1764.—
"Nor let thy bright impatient flames destroy
The golden Shaddock, the forbidden fruit...."—Grainger, Bk. I.
1803.—"The Shaddock, or pumpelmos (pommelo), often grows to the size of a man's head."—Percival's Ceylon, 313.
[1832.—"Several trays of ripe fruits of the season, viz., kurbootahs (shadock), kabooza (melons)...."—Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali, Observations, i. 365.]
1878.—"... the splendid Shaddock that, weary of ripening, lays itself upon the ground and swells at ease...."—In My Indian Garden, 50.
[1898.—
"He has stripped my rails of the shaddock frails and the green unripened pine."
R. Kipling, Barrack Room Ballads, p. 130.]
SHADE (TABLE-SHADE, WALL-SHADE), s. A glass guard to protect a candle or simple oil-lamp from the wind. The oldest form, in use at the beginning of the last century, was a tall glass cylinder which stood on the table, the candlestick and candle being placed bodily within in. In later days the universal form has been that of an inverted dome fitting into the candlestick, which has an annular socket to receive it. The wall-shade is a bracket attached to the wall, bearing a candle or cocoa-nut oil lamp, protected by such a shade. In the wine-drinking days of the earlier part of last century it was sometimes the subject of a challenge, or forfeit, for a man to empty a wall-shade filled with claret. The second quotation below gives a notable description of a captain's outfit when taking the field in the 18th century.
1789.—"His tent is furnished with a good large bed, mattress, pillow, &c., a few camp-stools or chairs, a folding table, a pair of shades for his candles, six or seven trunks with table equipage, his stock of linen (at least 24 shirts); some dozens of wine, brandy, and gin; tea, sugar, and biscuit; and a hamper of live poultry and his milch-goat."—Munro's Narrative, 186.
1817.—"I am now finishing this letter by candle-light, with the help of a handkerchief tied over the shade."—T. Munro, in Life, i. 511.
[1838.—"We brought carpets, and chandeliers, and wall shades (the great staple commodity of Indian furniture), from Calcutta...."—Miss Eden, Up the Country, 2nd ed. i. 182.]
SHAGREEN, s. This English word,—French chagrin; Ital. zigrino; Mid. High Ger. Zager,—comes from the Pers. saghrī, Turk. ṣāghrī, meaning properly the croupe or quarter of a horse, from which the peculiar granulated leather, also called sāghrī in the East, was originally made. Diez considers the French (and English adopted) chagrin in the sense of vexation to be the same word, as certain hard skins prepared in this way were used as files, and hence the word is used figuratively for gnawing vexation, as (he states) the Ital. lima also is (Etym. Worterbuch, ed. 1861, ii. 240). He might have added the figurative origin of tribulation. [This view is accepted by the N.E.D.; but Prof. Skeat (Concise Dict.) denies its correctness.]
SHAITAN, Ar. 'The Evil One; Satan.' Shaitān kā bhāī, 'Brother of the Arch-Enemy,' was a title given to Sir C. Napier by the Amīrs of Sind and their followers. He was not the first great English soldier to whom this title had been applied in the East. In the romance of Cœur de Lion, when Richard entertains a deputation of Saracens by serving at table the head of one of their brethren, we are told:
"Every man sat stylle and pokyd othir;
They saide: 'This is the Develys brothir,
That sles our men, and thus hem eetes...."
1753.—"God preserve me from the Scheithan Alragim."—Hanway, iii. 90.]
1863.—"Not many years ago, an eccentric gentleman wrote from Sikkim to the Secretary of the Asiatic Society in Calcutta, stating that, on the snows of the mountains there were found certain mysterious footsteps, more than 30 or 40 paces asunder, which the natives alleged to be Shaitan's. The writer at the same time offered, if Government would give him leave of absence for a certain period, etc., to go and trace the author of these mysterious vestiges, and thus this strange creature would be discovered without any expense to Government. The notion of catching Shaitan without any expense to Government was a sublime piece of Anglo-Indian tact, but the offer was not accepted."—Sir H. Yule, Notes to Friar Jordanus, 37.
SHALEE, SHALOO, SHELLA, SALLO, &c., s. We have a little doubt as to the identity of all these words; the two latter occur in old works as names of cotton stuffs; the first two (Shakespear and Fallon give sālū) are names in familiar use for a soft twilled cotton stuff, of a Turkey-red colour, somewhat resembling what we call, by what we had judged to be a modification of the word, shaloon. But we find that Skeat and other authorities ascribe the latter word to a corruption of Chalons, which gave its name to certain stuffs, apparently bed-coverlets of some sort. Thus in Chaucer:
"With shetes and with chalons faire yspredde."—The Reve's Tale.
On which Tyrwhitt quotes from the Monasticon, "... aut pannos pictos qui vocantur chalons loco lectisternii." See also in Liber Albus:
[It is exceedingly difficult to disentangle the meanings and derivations of this series of words. In the first place we have saloo, Hind. sālū, the Turkey-red cloth above described; a word which is derived by Platts from Skt. śālū, 'a kind of astringent substance,' and is perhaps the same word as the Tel. sālū, 'cloth.' This was originally an Indian fabric, but has now been replaced in the bazars by an English cloth, the art of dyeing which was introduced by French refugees who came over after the Revolution (see 7 ser. N. & Q. viii. 485 seq.). See PIECE-GOODS, SALOOPAUTS.
[1610.—"Sallallo, blue and black."—Danvers, Letters, i. 72.
[1672.—"Salloos, made at Gulcundah, and brought from thence to Surat, and go to England."—In Birdwood, Report on Old Records, 62.
[1896.—"Salu is another fabric of a red colour prepared by dyeing English cloth named mārkīn ('American') in the āl dye, and was formerly extensively used for turbans, curtains, borders of female coats and female dress."—Muhammad Hadi, Mon. on Dyes, 34.Next we have shelah, which may be identical with Hind. selā, which Platts connects with Skt. chela, chaila, 'a piece of cloth,' and defines as "a kind of scarf or mantle (of silk, or lawn, or muslin; usually composed of four breadths depending from the shoulders loosely over the body: it is much worn and given as a present, in the Dakkhan); silk turban." In the Deccan it seems to be worn by men (Herklots, Qanoon-e-Islam, Madras reprint, 18). The Madras Gloss. gives sheelay, Mal. shīla, said to be from Skt. chīra, 'a strip of cloth,' in the sense of clothes; and sullah, Hind. sela, 'gauze for turbans.'
[1598.—"Cheyla," in Linschoten, i. 91.
[1800.—"Shillas, or thin white muslins.... They are very coarse, and are sometimes striped, and then called Dupattas (see DOOPUTTY)."—Buchanan, Mysore, ii. 240.]
1809.—"The shalie, a long piece of coloured silk or cotton, is wrapped round the waist in the form of a petticoat, which leaves part of one leg bare, whilst the other is covered to the ancle with long and graceful folds, gathered up in front, so as to leave one end of the shalie to cross the breast, and form a drapery, which is sometimes thrown over the head as a veil."—Maria Graham, 3. [But, as Sir H. Yule suggested, in this form the word may represent Saree.]
1813.—"Red Shellas or Salloes...."—Milburne, i. 124.
[" "His shela, of fine cloth, with a silk or gold thread border...."—Trans. Lit. Soc. Bo. iii. 219 seq.
[1900.—"Sela Dupatta—worn by men over shoulders, tucked round waist, ends hanging in front ... plain body and borders richly ornamented with gold thread; white, yellow, and green; worn in full dress, sometimes merely thrown over shoulders, with the ends hanging in front from either shoulder."—Yusuf Ali, Mon. on Silk, 72.The following may represent the same word, or be perhaps connected with P.—H. chilla, 'a selvage, gold threads in the border of a turban, &c.'
SHAMA, s. Hind. shāmā [Skt. syāma, 'black, dark-coloured.'] A favourite song-bird and cage-bird, Kitta cincla macrura, Gmel. "In confinement it imitates the notes of other birds, and of various animals, with ease and accuracy" (Jerdon). The long tail seems to indicate the identity of this bird rather than the mainā (see MYNA) with that described by Aelian. [Mr. M‘Crindle (Invasion of India, 186) favours the identification of the bird with the Mainā.]
SHAMAN, SHAMANISM, s. These terms are applied in modern times to superstitions of the kind that connects itself with exorcism and "devil-dancing" as their most prominent characteristic, and which are found to prevail with wonderful identity of circumstance among non-Caucasian races over parts of the earth most remote from one another; not only among the vast variety of Indo-Chinese tribes, but among the Dravidian tribes of India, the Veddahs of Ceylon, the races of Siberia, and the red nations of N. and S. America. "Hinduism has assimilated these 'prior superstitions of the sons of Tur,' as Mr. Hodgson calls them, in the form of Tantrika mysteries, whilst, in the wild performance of the Dancing Dervishes at Constantinople, we see, perhaps, again, the infection of Turanian blood breaking out from the very heart of Mussulman orthodoxy" (see Notes to Marco Polo, Bk. II. ch. 50). The characteristics of Shamanism is the existence of certain sooth-sayers or medicine-men, who profess a special art of dealing with the mischievous spirits who are supposed to produce illness and other calamities, and who invoke these spirits and ascertain the means of appeasing them, in trance produced by fantastic ceremonies and convulsive dancings.
The immediate origin of the term is the title of the spirit-conjuror in the Tunguz language, which is shaman, in that of the Manchus becoming saman, pl. samasa. But then in Chinese Sha-măn or Shi-măn is used for a Buddhist ascetic, and this would seem to be taken from the Skt. śramana, Pali samana. Whether the Tanguz word is in any way connected with this or adopted from it, is a doubtful question. W. Schott, who has treated the matter elaborately (Über den Doppelsinn des Wortes Schamane und über den tungusichen Schamanen-Cultus am Hofe der Mandju Kaisern, Berlin Akad. 1842), finds it difficult to suppose any connection. We, however, give a few quotations relating to the two words in one series. In the first two the reference is undoubtedly to Buddhist ascetics.
c. 712.—"All the Samanís assembled and sent a message to Bajhrá, saying, "We are násik devotees. Our religion is one of peace and quiet, and fighting and slaying is prohibited, as well as all kinds of shedding of blood."—Chach Náma, in Elliot, i. 158.
1829.—"Kami is the Mongol name of the spirit-conjuror or sorcerer, who before the introduction of Buddhism exercised among the Mongols the office of Sacrificer and Priest, as he still does among the Tunguzes, Manjus, and other Asiatic tribes.... In Europe they are known by the Tunguz name schaman; among the Manjus as saman, and among the Tibetans as Hlaba. The Mongols now call them with contempt and abhorrence Böh or Böghe, i.e. 'Sorcerer,' 'Wizard,' and the women who give themselves to the like fooleries Udugun."—I. J. Schmidt, Notes to Sanang Setzen, p. 416.
1871.—"Among Siberian tribes, the shamans select children liable to convulsions as suitable to be brought up to the profession, which is apt to become hereditary with the epileptic tendencies it belongs to."—Tylor, Primitive Culture, ii. 121.
SHAMBOGUE, s. Canar. shāna- or sāna-bhoga; shanāya, 'allowance of grain paid to the village accountant,' Skt. bhoga, 'enjoyment.' A village clerk or accountant.
[1800.—"Shanaboga, called Shanbogue by corruption, and Curnum by the Musulmans, is the village accountant."—Buchanan's Mysore, i. 268.]
1801.—"When the whole kist is collected, the shanbogue and potail (see PATEL) carry it to the teshildar's cutcherry."—T. Munro, in Life, i. 316.
SHAMEEANA, SEMIANNA, s. Pers. shamiyāna or shāmiyāna [very doubtfully derived from Pers. shāh, 'king,' miyāna, 'centre'], an awning or flat tent-roof, sometimes without sides, but often in the present day with canauts; sometimes pitched like a porch before a large tent; often used by civil officers, when on tour, to hold their court or office proceedings coram populo, and in a manner generally accessible. [In the early records the word is used for a kind of striped calico.]
[1609.—"A sort of Calico here called semijanes are also in abundance, it is broader than the Calico."—Danvers, Letters, i. 29.]
[1613.—"The Hector having certain chuckcros (chucker) of fine Semian chowters."—Ibid. i. 217. In Foster, iv. 239, semanes.]
1616.—"... there is erected a throne foure foote from the ground in the Durbar Court from the backe whereof, to the place where the King comes out, a square of 56 paces long, and 43 broad was rayled in, and covered with fair Semiaenes or Canopies of Cloth of Gold, Silke, or Velvet ioyned together, and sustained with Canes so covered."—Sir T. Roe, in Purchas, i.; Hak. Soc. i. 142.
[1676.—"We desire you to furnish him with all things necessary for his voyage, ... with bridle and sadle, Semeanoes, canatts (Canaut)...."—Forrest, Bombay Letters, i. 89.]
1814.—"I had seldom occasion to look out for gardens or pleasure grounds to pitch my tent or erect my Summiniana or Shamyana, the whole country being generally a garden."—Forbes, Or. Mem. ii. 455; 2nd ed. ii. 64. In ii. 294 he writes Shumeeana].
1857.—"At an early hour we retired to rest. Our beds were arranged under large canopies, open on all sides, and which are termed by the natives 'Shameanahs.'"—M. Thornhill, Personal Adventures, 14.
SHAMPOO, v. To knead and press the muscles with the view of relieving fatigue, &c. The word has now long been familiarly used in England. The Hind. verb is chāmpnā, from the imperative of which, chāmpō, this is most probably a corruption, as in the case of Bunow, Puckerow, &c. The process is described, though not named, by Terry, in 1616: "Taking thus their ease, they often call their Barbers, who tenderly gripe and smite their Armes and other parts of their bodies instead of exercise, to stirre the bloud. It is a pleasing wantonnesse, and much valued in these hot climes." (In Purchas, ii. 1475). The process was familiar to the Romans under the Empire, whose slaves employed in this way were styled tractator and tractatrix. [Perhaps the earliest reference to the practice is in Strabo (McCrindle, Ancient India, 72).] But with the ancients it seems to have been allied to vice, for which there is no ground that we know in the Indian custom.
1750-60.—"The practice of champing, which by the best intelligence I could gather is derived from the Chinese, may not be unworthy particularizing, as it is little known to the modern Europeans...."—Grose, i. 113. This writer quotes Martial, iii. Ep. 82, and Seneca, Epist. 66, to show that the practice was known in ancient Rome.
1800.—"The Sultan generally rose at break of day: after being champoed, and rubbed, he washed himself, and read the Koran for an hour."—Beatson, War with Tippoo, p. 159.
[1810.—"Shampoeing may be compared to a gentle kneading of the whole person, and is the same operation described by the voyagers to the Southern and Pacific ocean."—Wilks, Hist. Sketches, Madras reprint, i. 276.]
" "Then whilst they fanned the children, or champooed them if they were restless, they used to tell stories, some of which dealt of marvels as great as those recorded in the 1001 Nights."—Mrs. Sherwood, Autobiog. 410.
" "That considerable relief is obtained from shampoing, cannot be doubted; I have repeatedly been restored surprisingly from severe fatigue...."—Williamson, V. M. ii. 198.
1813.—"There is sometimes a voluptuousness in the climate of India, a stillness in nature, an indescribable softness, which soothes the mind, and gives it up to the most delightful sensations: independent of the effects of opium, champoing, and other luxuries indulged in by oriental sensualists."—Forbes, Or. Mem. i. 35; [2nd ed. i. 25.]
SHAN, n.p. The name which we have learned from the Burmese to apply to the people who call themselves the great T'ai, kindred to the Siamese, and occupying extensive tracts in Indo-China, intermediate between Burma, Siam, and China. They are the same people that have been known, after the Portuguese, and some of the early R. C. Missionaries, as Laos (q.v.); but we now give the name an extensive signification covering the whole race. The Siamese, who have been for centuries politically the most important branch of this race, call (or did call themselves—see De la Loubère, who is very accurate) T'ai-Noe or 'Little T'ai,' whilst they applied the term T'ai-Yai, or 'Great T'ai,' to their northern kindred or some part of these;[10] sometimes also calling the latter T'ai-güt, or the 'Ta'i left behind.' The T'ai or Shan are certainly the most numerous and widely spread race in Indo-China, and innumerable petty Shan States exist on the borders of Burma, Siam, and China, more or less dependent on, or tributary to, their powerful neighbours. They are found from the extreme north of the Irawadi Valley, in the vicinity of Assam, to the borders of Camboja; and in nearly all we find, to a degree unusual in the case of populations politically so segregated, a certain homogeneity in language, civilisation, and religion (Buddhist), which seems to point to their former union in considerable States.
One branch of the race entered and conquered Assam in the 13th century, and from the name by which they were known, Ahom or Aham, was derived, by the frequent exchange of aspirant and sibilant, the name, just used, of the province itself. The most extensive and central Shan State, which occupied a position between Ava and Yunnan, is known in the Shan traditions as Mung-Mau, and in Burma by the Buddhisto-classical name of Kauśāmbi (from a famous city of that name in ancient India) corrupted by a usual process into Ko-Shan-pyi and interpreted to mean 'Nine-Shan-States.' Further south were those T'ai States which have usually been called Laos, and which formed several considerable kingdoms, going through many vicissitudes of power. Several of their capitals were visited and their ruins described by the late Francis Garnier, and the cities of these and many smaller States of the same race, all built on the same general quadrangular plan, are spread broadcast over that part of Indo-China which extends from Siam north of Yunnan.
Mr. Cushing, in the Introduction to his Shan Dictionary (Rangoon, 1881), divides the Shan family by dialectic indications into the Ahoms, whose language is now extinct, the Chinese Shan (occupying the central territory of what was Mau or Kauśāmbi), the Shan (Proper, or Burmese Shan), Laos (or Siamese Shan), and Siamese.
The term Shan is borrowed from the Burmese, in whose peculiar orthography the name, though pronounced Shān, is written rham. We have not met with its use in English prior to the Mission of Col. Symes in 1795. It appears in the map illustrating his narrative, and once or twice in the narrative itself, and it was frequently used by his companion, F. Buchanan, whose papers were only published many years afterwards in various periodicals difficult to meet with. It was not until the Burmese war of 1824-1826, and the active investigation of our Eastern frontier which followed, that the name became popularly known in British India. The best notice of the Shans that we are acquainted with is a scarce pamphlet by Mr. Ney Elias, printed by the Foreign Dept. of Calcutta in 1876 (Introd. Sketch of the Hist. of the Shans, &c.). [The ethnology of the race is discussed by J. G. Scott, Upper Burma Gazetteer, i. pt. i. 187 seqq. Also see Prince Henri d'Orleans, Du Tonkin aux Indes, 1898; H. S. Hallett, Among the Shans, 1885, and A Thousand Miles on an Elephant, 1890.]
Though the name as we have taken it is a Burmese oral form, it seems to be essentially a genuine ethnic name for the race. It is applied in the form Sam by the Assamese, and the Kakhyens; the Siamese themselves have an obsolete Siẽm (written Sieyam) for themselves, and Sieng (Sieyang) for the Laos. The former word is evidently the Sien, which the Chinese used in the compound Sien-lo (for Siam,—see Marco Polo, 2nd ed. Bk. iii. ch. 7, note 3), and from which we got, probably through a Malay medium, our Siam (q.v.). The Burmese distinguish the Siamese Shans as Yudia (see JUDEA) Shans, a term perhaps sometimes including Siam itself. Symes gives this (through Arakanese corruption) as 'Yoodra-Shaan,' and he also (no doubt improperly) calls the Manipūr people 'Cassay Shaan' (see CASSAY).
" "Zemee (see JANGOMAY), Sandapoora, and many districts of the Yoodra Shaan to the eastward, were tributary, and governed by Chobwas, who annually paid homage to the Birman king."—Ibid. 102.
" "Shaan, or Shan, is a very comprehensive term given to different nations, some independent, others the subjects of the greater states."—Ibid. 274.
c. 1818.—"... They were assisted by many of the Zaboà (see CHOBWA) or petty princes of the Sciam, subject to the Burmese, who, wearied by the oppressions and exactions of the Burmese Mandarins and generals, had revolted, and made common cause with the enemies of their cruel masters.... The war which the Burmese had to support with these enemies was long and disastrous ... instead of overcoming the Sciam (they) only lost day by day the territories ... and saw their princes range themselves ... under the protection of the King of Siam."—Sangermano, p. 57.
1861.—
"Fie, Fie! Captain Spry!
You are surely in joke
With your wires and your trams,
Going past all the Shams
With branches to Bam-you (see BAMO), and end in A-smoke."
Ode on the proposed Yunnan Railway.
SHANBAFF, SINABAFF, &c., s. Pers. shānbāft. A stuff often mentioned in the early narratives as an export from Bengal and other parts of India. Perhaps indeed these names indicate two different stuffs, as we do not know what they were, except that (as mentioned below) the sinabaff was a fine white stuff. Sīnabāff is not in Vuller's Lexicon. Shānabāf is, and is explained as genus panni grossioris, sic descripta (E. T.): "A very coarse and cheap stuff which they make for the sleeves of ḳabās (see CABAYA) for sale."—Bahār-i-'Ajam. But this cannot have been the character of the stuffs sent by Sultan Mahommed Tughlak (as in the first quotation) to the Emperor of China. [Badger (quoted by Birdwood, Report on Old Records, 153) identifies the word with sīna-bāfta, 'China-woven' cloths.]
1498.—"The overseer of the Treasury came next day to the Captain-Major, and brought him 20 pieces of white stuff, very fine, with gold embroidery which they call beyramies (beiramee), and other 20 large white stuffs, very fine, which were named sinabafos...."—Correa, E.T. by Ld. Stanley, 197.
[1508.—See under ALJOFAR.]
1510.—"One of the Persians said: 'Let us go to our house, that is, to Calicut.' I answered, 'Do not go, for you will lose these fine sinabaph' (which were pieces of cloth we carried)."—Varthema, 269.
1516.—"The quintal of this sugar was worth two ducats and a half in Malabar, and a good Sinabáffo was worth two ducats."—Barbosa, 179.
[ " "Also they make other stuffs which they call Mamonas (Maḥmūdīs?), others duguazas (dogazīs?), others chautares (see chowtars, under PIECE-GOODS), others sinabafas, which last are the best, and which the Moors hold in most esteem to make shirts of."—Ibid., Lisbon ed. 362.]
SHASTER, s. The Law books or Sacred Writings of the Hindus. From Skt. śāstra, 'a rule,' a religious code, a scientific treatise.
1630.—"... The Banians deliver that this book, by them called the Shaster, or the Book of their written word, consisted of these three tracts."—Lord's Display, ch. viii.
1651.—In Rogerius, the word is everywhere misprinted Iastra.
1717.—"The six Sastrangól contain all the Points and different Ceremonies in Worship...."—Phillips's Account, 40.
1765.—"... at the capture of Calcutta, A.D. 1756, I lost many curious Gentoo manuscripts, and among them two very correct and valuable copies of the Gentoo Shastah."—J. Z. Holwell, Interesting Hist. Events, &c., 2d ed., 1766, i. 3.
1770.—"The Shastah is looked upon by some as a commentary on the vedam, and by others as an original work."—Raynal (tr. 1777), i. 50.
1776.—"The occupation of the Bramin should be to read the Beids, and other Shasters."—Halhed, Gentoo Code, 39.
[SHASTREE, s. Hind. śāstrī (see SHASTER). A man of learning, one who teaches any branch of Hindu learning, such as law.
SHAWL, s. Pers. and Hind. shāl, also doshāla, 'a pair of shawls.' The Persian word is perhaps of Indian origin, from Skt. śavala, 'variegated.' Sir George Birdwood tells us that he has found among the old India records "Carmania shells" and "Carmania shawools," meaning apparently Kermān shawls. He gives no dates unfortunately. [In a book of 1685 he finds "Shawles Carmania" and "Carmania Wooll"; in one of 1704, "Chawools" (Report on Old Records, 27, 40). Carmania goats are mentioned in a letter in Forrest, Bombay Letters, i. 140.] In Meninski (published in 1680) shāl is defined in a way that shows the humble sense of the word originally:
c. 1590.—"In former times shawls were often brought from Kashmír. People folded them in four folds, and wore them for a very long time.... His Majesty encourages in every possible way the (shāl-bāfī) manufacture of shawls in Kashmír. In Lahór also there are more than 1000 workshops."—Āīn i. 92. [Also see ed. Jarrett, ii. 349, 355.]
c. 1665.—"Ils mettent sur eux a toute saison, lorsqu'ils sortent, une Chal, qui est une maniere de toilette d'une laine très-fine qui se fait a Cachmìr. Ces Chals ont environ deux aunes (the old French aune, nearly 47 inches English) de long sur une de large. On les achete vingt-cinq ou trente écus si elles sont fines. Il y en a même qui coûtent cinquante écus, mais ce sont les très-fines."—Thevenot, v. 110.
c. 1666.—"Ces chales sont certaines pièces d'étoffe d'une aulne et demie de long, et d'une de large ou environ, qui sont brodées aux deux bouts d'une espèce de broderie, faite au métier, d'un pied ou environ de large.... J'en ai vu de ceux que les Omrahs font faire exprès, qui coutoient jusqu'à cent cinquante Roupies; des autres qui sont de cette laine du pays, je n'en ai pas vu qui passaient 50 Roupies."—Bernier, ii. 280-281; [ed. Constable, 402].
1717.—"... Con tutto ciò preziosissime nobilissime e senza comparazione magnifiche sono le tele che si chiamano Scial, si nella lingua Hindustana, come ancora nella lingua Persiana. Tali Scial altro non sono, che alcuni manti, che si posano sulla testa, e facendo da man destra, e da man sinistra scendere le due metà, con queste si cinge...."—MS. Narrative of Padre Ip. Desideri.
[1662.—"Another rich Skarf, which they call schal, made of a very fine stuff."—J. Davies, Ambassador's Trav., Bk. vi. 235, Stanf. Dict.]
1727.—"When they go abroad they wear a Shawl folded up, or a piece of White Cotton Cloth lying loose on the Top of their Heads."—A. Hamilton, ii. 50; [Shaul in ed. 1744, ii. 49].
c. 1760.—"Some Shawls are manufactured there.... Those coming from the province of Cachemire on the borders of Tartary, being made of a peculiar kind of silky hair, that produces from the loom a cloth beautifully bordered at both ends, with a narrow flowered selvage, about two yards and a half long, and a yard and a half wide ... and according to the price, which is from ten pounds and upwards to fifteen shillings, join, to exquisite fineness, a substance that renders them extremely warm, and so pliant that the fine ones are easily drawn through a common ring on the finger."—Grose, i. 118.
1781.—Sonnerat writes challes. He says: "Ces étoffes (faites avec la laine des moutons de Tibet) surpassent nos plus belles soieries en finesse."—Voyage, i. 52.It seems from these extracts that the large and costly shawl, woven in figures over its whole surface, is a modern article. The old shawl, we see, was from 6 to 8 feet long, by about half that breadth; and it was most commonly white, with only a border of figured weaving at each end. In fact what is now called a Rampoor Chudder when made with figured ends is probably the best representation of the old shawl.
SHEEAH, SHIA, s. Arab. shī'a, i.e. 'sect.' A follower (more properly the followers collectively) of the Mahommedan 'sect,' or sects rather, which specially venerate 'Ali, and regard the Imāms (see IMAUM), his descendants, as the true successors to the Caliphate. The Persians (since the accession of the 'Sophy' dynasty, (q.v.)) are Shī'as, and a good many of the Moslems in India. The sects which have followed more or less secret doctrines, and the veneration of hereditary quasi-divine heads, such as the Karmathites and Ismaelites of Musulman history, and the modern Bohras (see BORA) and "Mulāḥis," may generally be regarded as Shī'a. [See the elaborate article on the sect in Hughes, Dict. of Islām, 572 seqq.]
1553.—"Among the Moors have always been controversies ... which of the four first Caliphs was the most legitimate successor to the Caliphate. The Arabians favoured Bubac, Homar, and Otthoman, the Persians (Parseos) favoured Alle, and held the others for usurpers, and as holding it against the testament of Mahamed ... to the last this schism has endured between the Arabians and the Persians. The latter took the appellation Xiá, as much as to say 'Union of one Body,' and the Arabs called them in reproach Raffady [Rāfiḍī, a heretic (lit. 'deserter')], as much as to say 'People astray from the Path,' whilst they call themselves Çuny (see SUNNEE), which is the contrary."—Barros, II. x. 6.
1620.—"The Sonnite adherents of tradition, like the Arabs, the Turks, and an infinite number of others, accept the primacy of those who actually possess it. The Persians and their adherents who are called Shias (Sciai), i.e. 'Sectaries,' and are not ashamed of the name, believe in the primacy of those who have only claimed it (without possessing it), and obstinately contend that it belongs to the family of Alì only."—P. della Valle, ii. 75; [conf. Hak. Soc. i. 152].
1626.—"He is by Religion a Mahumetan, descended from Persian Ancestors, and retaineth their opinions, which differing in many points from the Turkes, are distinguished in their Sectes by tearmes of Seaw and Sunnee."—Purchas, Pilgrimage, 995.
1653.—"Les Persans et Keselbaches (Kuzzilbash) se disent Schaì ... si les Ottomans estoient Schaìs, ou de la Secte de Haly, les Persans se feroient Sonnis qui est la Secte des Ottomans."—De la Boullaye-le-Gouz, ed. 1657, 106.
1673.—"His Substitute here is a Chias Moor."—Fryer, 29.
1798.—"In contradistinction to the Soonis, who in their prayers cross their hands on the lower part of the breast, the Schiahs drop their arms in straight lines."—G. Forster, Travels, ii. 129.
1805.—"The word Sh'eeah, or Sheeut, properly signifies a troop or sect ... but has become the distinctive appellation of the followers of Aly, or all those who maintain that he was the first legitimate Khuleefah, or successor to Moohummad."—Baillie, Digest of Mah. Law, II. xii.
1869.—"La tolerance indienne est venue diminuer dans l'Inde le fanatisme Musulman. Là Sunnites et Schiites n'ont point entre eux cette animosité qui divise les Turcs et les Persans ... ces deux sectes divisent les musulmans de l'Inde; mais comme je viens de dire, elles n'excitent généralement entre eux aucune animosité."—Garcin de Tassy, Rel. Mus., p. 12.
SHEERMAUL, s. Pers.—Hind. shīrmāl, a cake made with flour, milk and leaven; a sort of brioche. [The word comes from Pers. shīr, 'milk,' māl, 'crushing.' Riddell (Domest. Econ. 461) gives a receipt for what he calls "Nauna Sheer Mhal," nān being Pers., 'bread.']
[SHEIKH, s. Ar. shaikh; an old man, elder, chief, head of an Arab tribe. The word should properly mean one of the descendants of tribes of genuine Arab descent, but at the present day, in India, it is often applied to converts to Islam from the lower Hindu tribes. For the use of the word in the sense of a saint, see under PEER.
[1625.—"They will not haue them iudged by any Custome, and they are content that their Xeque doe determine them as he list."—Purchas, Pilgrimage, ii. 1146.
1727.—"... but if it was so, that he (Abraham) was their Sheek, as they alledge, they neither follow him in Morals or Religion."—A. Hamilton, ed. 1744, i. 37.
[1835.—"Some parents employ a sheykh or fikee to teach their boys at home."—Lane, Mod. Egypt., ed. 1871, i. 77.]
SHERBET, s. Though this word is used in India by natives in its native (Arab. and Pers.) form sharbat,[11] 'draught,' it is not a word now specially in Anglo-Indian use. The Arabic seems to have entered Europe by several different doors. Thus in Italian and French we have sorbetto and sorbet, which probably came direct from the Levantine or Turkish form shurbat or shorbat; in Sp. and Port. we have xarabe, axarabe (ash-sharāb, the standard Ar. sharāb, 'wine or any beverage'), and xarope, and from these forms probably Ital. sciroppo, siroppo, with old French ysserop and mod. French sirop; also English syrup, and more directly from the Spanish, shrub. Mod. Span. again gets, by reflection from French or Italian, sorbete and sîrop (see Dozy, 17, and Marcel Devic, s.v. sirop). Our sherbet looks as if it had been imported direct from the Levant. The form shrāb is applied in India to all wines and spirits and prepared drinks, e.g. Port-shraub, Sherry-shraub, Lall-shraub, Brandy-shraub, Beer-shraub.
1554.—"... potio est gratissima praesertim ubi multa nive, quae Constantinopoli nullo tempore deficit, fuerit refirgerata, Arab Sorbet vocant, hoc est, potionem Arabicam."—Busbeq. Ep. i. p. 92.
1578.—"The physicians of the same country use this xarave (of tamarinds) in bilious and ardent fevers."—Acosta, 67.
c. 1580.—"Et saccharo potum jucundissimum parant quem Sarbet vocant."—Prosper Alpinus, Pt. i. p. 70.
1611.—"In Persia there is much good wine of grapes which is called Xaràb in the language of the country."—Teixeira, i. 16.
c. 1630.—"Their liquor may perhaps better delight you; 'tis faire water, sugar, rose-water, and juyce of Lemons mixt, call'd Sherbets or Zerbets, wholsome and potable."—Sir T. Herbert, ed. 1638, p. 241.
1682.—"The Moores ... dranke a little milk and water, but not a drop of wine; they also dranke a little sorbet, and jacolatt (see JOCOLE)."—Evelyn's Diary, Jan 24.
1827.—"On one occasion, before Barak-el-Hadgi left Madras, he visited the Doctor, and partook of his sherbet, which he preferred to his own, perhaps because a few glasses of rum or brandy were usually added to enrich the compound."—Sir W. Scott, The Surgeon's Daughter, ch. x.
1837.—"The Egyptians have various kinds of sherbets.... The most common kind (called simply shurbát or shurbát sook'har ...) is merely sugar and water ... lemonade (ley'moónáteh, or sharáb el-leymoón) is another."—Lane, Mod. Egypt., ed. 1837, i. 206.
1863.—"The Estate overseer usually gave a dance to the people, when the most dissolute of both sexes were sure to be present, and to indulge too freely in the shrub made for the occasion."—Waddell, 29 Years in the W. Indies, 17.
SHEREEF, s. Ar. sharīf, 'noble.' A dignitary descended from Mahommed.
[1672.—"Schierifi." See under CASIS.
[c. 1666.—"The first (embassage) was from the Cherif of Meca...."—Bernier, ed. Constable, 133.
1701.—"... ye Shreif of Judda...."—Forrest, Bombay Letters, i. 232.]
SHERISTADAR, s. The head ministerial officer of a Court, whose duty it is to receive plaints, and see that they are in proper form and duly stamped, and generally to attend to routine business. Properly H.—P. from sar-rishtā-dār or sarishta-dār, 'register-keeper.' Sar-rishtā, an office of registry, literally means 'head of the string.' C. P. Brown interprets Sarrishtadār as "he who holds the end of the string (on which puppets dance)"—satirically, it may be presumed. Perhaps 'keeper of the clue,' or 'of the file' would approximately express the idea.
[SHEVAROY HILLS, n.p. The name applied to a range of hills in the Salem district of Madras. The origin of the name has given rise to much difference of opinion. Mr. Lefanu (Man. of Salem, ii. 19 seq.) thinks that the original name was possibly Sivarayan, whence the German name Shivarai and the English Shevaroys; or that Sivarayan may by confusion have become Sherarayan, named after the Raja of Sera; lastly, he suggests that it comes from sharpu or sharvu, 'the slope or declivity of a hill,' and vay, 'a mouth, passage, way.' This he is inclined to accept, regarding Shervarayan or Sharvayrayan, as 'the cliff which dominates (rayan) the way (vay) which leads through or under the declivity (sharvu).' The Madras Gloss. gives the Tam. form of the name as Shervarayanmalai, from Sheran, 'the Chera race,' irayan, 'king,' and malai, 'mountain.'
[SHIBAR, SHIBBAR, s. A kind of coasting vessel, sometimes described as a great pattamar. Molesworth (Mahr. Dict. s.v.) gives shibāṛ which, in the usual dictionary way, he defines as 'a ship or large vessel of a particular description.' The Bombay Gazetteer (x. 171) speaks of the 'shibādi, a large vessel, from 100 to 300 tons, generally found in the Ratnagiri sub-division ports'; and in another place (xiii. Pt. ii. 720) says that it is a large vessel chiefly used in the Malabar trade, deriving the name from Pers. shāhī-bār, 'royal-carrier.'
[1727.—"... the other four were Grabs or Gallies, and Sheybars, or half Gallies."—A. Hamilton, ed. 1744, i. 134.
[1758.—"... then we cast off a boat called a large seebar, bound to Muscat...."—Ives, 196.]
SHIGRAM, s. A Bombay and Madras name for a kind of hack palankin carriage. The camel-shigram is often seen on roads in N. India. The name is from Mahr. śīghr, Skt. śīghra, 'quick or quickly.' A similar carriage is the Jutkah, which takes its name from Hind. jhaṭkā, 'swift.'
SHIKAR, s. Hind. from Pers. shikār, 'la chasse'; sport (in the sense of shooting and hunting); game.
1609-10.—"Sykary, which signifieth, seeking, or hunting."—W. Finch, in Purchas, i. 428.
1800.—"250 or 300 horsemen ... divided into two or three small parties, supported by our infantry, would give a proper shekar; and I strongly advise not to let the Mahratta boundary stop you in the pursuit of your game."—Sir A. Wellesley to T. Munro, in Life of Munro, iii. 117.
1847.—"Yet there is a charm in this place for the lovers of Shikar."—Dry Leaves from Young Egypt, 3.
[1859.—"Although the jungles literally swarm with tigers, a shickar, in the Indian sense of the term, is unknown."—Oliphant, Narr. of Mission, i. 25.]
1866.—"May I ask what has brought you out to India, Mr. Cholmondeley? Did you come out for shikar, eh?"—Trevelyan, The Dawk Bungalow, in Fraser, lxxiii. 222.
In the following the word is wrongly used in the sense of Shikaree.
[1900.—"That so experienced a shikar should have met his death emphasises the necessity of caution."—Field, Sept. 1.]
SHIKAREE, SHEKARRY, s. Hind. shikārī, a sportsman. The word is used in three ways:
a. As applied to a native expert, who either brings in game on his own account, or accompanies European sportsmen as guide and aid.
b. As applied to the European sportsman himself: e.g. "Jones is well known as a great Shikaree." There are several books of sporting adventure written circa 1860-75 by Mr. H. A. Leveson under the name of 'The Old Shekarry.'
[c. A shooting-boat used in the Cashmere lakes.
SHIKAR-GĀH, s. Pers. A hunting ground, or enclosed preserve. The word has also a technical application to patterns which exhibit a variety of figures and groups of animals, such as are still woven in brocade at Benares, and in shawl-work in Kashmir and elsewhere (see Marco Polo, Bk. I. ch. 17, and notes). [The great areas of jungle maintained by the Amīrs of Sind and called Shikārgāhs are well known.
SHIKHÓ, n. and v. Burmese word. The posture of a Burmese in presence of a superior, i.e. kneeling with joined hands and bowed head in an attitude of worship. Some correspondence took place in 1883, in consequence of the use of this word by the then Chief Commissioner of British Burma, in an official report, to describe the attitude used by British envoys at the Court of Ava. The statement (which was grossly incorrect) led to remonstrance by Sir Arthur Phayre. The fact was that the envoy and his party sat on a carpet, but the attitude had no analogy whatever to that of shikho, though the endeavour of the Burmese officials was persistent to involve them in some such degrading attitude. (See KOWTOW.)
SHINBIN, SHINBEAM, &c., s. A term in the Burmese teak-trade; apparently a corruption from Burm. shīn-byīn. The first monosyllable (shīn) means 'to put together side by side,' and byīn, 'plank,' the compound word being used in Burmese for 'a thick plank used in constructing the side of a ship.' The shinbin is a thick plank, about 15″ wide by 4″ thick, and running up to 25 feet in length (see Milburn, i. 47). It is not sawn, but split from green trees.
Duggis (see DUGGIE).
Shinbeens.
Coma planks (?).
Maguire planks (?)
Joists and Sheathing Boards."
Madras Courier, Nov. 10.
SHINKALI, SHIGALA, n.p. A name by which the City and Port of Cranganore (q.v.) seems to have been known in the early Middle Ages. The name was probably formed from Tiruvan-jiculam, mentioned by Dr. Gundert below. It is perhaps the Gingaleh of Rabbi Benjamin in our first quotation; but the data are too vague to determine this, though the position of that place seems to be in the vicinity of Malabar.
c. 1300.—"Of the cities on the shore (of Malībār) the first is Sindábúr (Goa), then Faknúr (see BACANORE), then the country of Manjarúr (see MANGALORE) ... then Chinkalī (or Jinkalī), then Kúlam (see QUILON)."—Rashīduddīn, see J. R. As. Soc., N.S., iv. pp. 342, 345.
c. 1320.—"Le pays de Manîbâr, appelé pays du Poivre, comprend les villes suivantes.
* * * * *
"La ville de Shinkli, dont la majeure partie de la population est composée de Juifs.
"Kaulam est la dernière ville de la côte de Poivre."—Shemseddin Dimishqui, by Mehren (Cosmographie du Moyen Age), p. 234.
c. 1328.—"... there is one very powerful King in the country where the pepper grows, and his kingdom is called Molebar. There is also the King of Singuyli...."—Fr. Jordanus, p. 40.
1330.—"And the forest in which the pepper groweth extendeth for a good 18 days' journey, and in that forest there be two cities, the one whereof is called Flandrina (see PANDARANI), and the other Cyngilin...."—Fr. Odoric, in Cathay, &c., 75-76.
c. 1330.—"Etiam Shâliyât (see CHALIA) et Shinkala urbes Malabaricae sunt, quarum alteram Judaei incolunt...."—Abulfeda, in Gildemeister, 185.
c. 1349.—"And in the second India, which is called Mynibar, there is Cynkali, which signifieth Little India" (Little China) "for Kali is 'little.'"—John Marignolli, in Cathay, &c., 373.
1510.—"Scigla alias et Chrongalor vocatur, ea quam Cranganorium dicimus Malabariae urbem, ut testatur idem Jacobus Indiarum episcopus ad calcem Testamenti Novi ab ipso exarati anno Graecorum 1821, Christi 1510, et in fine Epistolarum Pauli, Cod. Syr. Vat. 9 et 12."—In Assemani, Diss. de Syr. Nest., pp. 440, 732.
1844.—"The place (Codungalur) is identified with Tiruvan-jiculam river-harbour, which Cheraman Perumal is said to have declared the best of the existing 18 harbours of Kerala...."—Dr. Gundert, in Madras Journal, xiii. 120.
" "One Kerala Ulpatti (i.e. legendary history of Malabar) of the Nasrani, says that their forefathers ... built Codangalur, as may be learned from the granite inscription at the northern entrance of the Tiruvan-jiculam temple...."—Ibid. 122.
SHINTOO, SINTOO, s. Japanese Shintau, 'the Way of the Gods.' The primitive religion of Japan. It is described by Faria y Sousa and other old writers, but the name does not apparently occur in those older accounts, unless it be in the Seuto of Couto. According to Kaempfer the philosophic or Confucian sect is called in Japan Siuto. But that hardly seems to fit what is said by Couto, and his Seuto seems more likely to be a mistake for Sento. [See Lowell's articles on Esoteric Shintoo, in Proc. As. Soc. Japan, 1893.]
1727.—"Le Sinto qu'on appelle aussi Sinsju et Kamimitsi, est le Culte des Idoles, établi anciennement dans le pays. Sin et Kami sont les noms des Idoles qui font l'object de ce Culte. Siu (sic) signifie la Foi, ou la Religion. Sinsja et au pluriel Sinsju, ce sont les personnes qui professent cette Religion."—Kaempfer, Hist. du Japon, i. 176; [E.T. 204].
1770.—"Far from encouraging that gloomy fanaticism and fear of the gods, which is inspired by almost all other religions, the Xinto sect had applied itself to prevent, or at least to moderate that disorder of the imagination."—Raynal (E.T. 1777), i. 137.
1878.—"The indigenous religion of the Japanese people, called in later times by the name of Shintau or Way of the Gods, in order to distinguish it from the way of the Chinese moral philosophers, and the way of Buddha, had, at the time when Confucianism and Buddhism were introduced, passed through the earliest stages of development."—Westminster Rev., N.S., No. cvii. 29.
[SHIRAZ, n.p. The wine of Shiraz was much imported and used by Europeans in India in the 17th century, and even later.
[1685.—"... three Chests of Sirash wine...."—Pringle, Diary Ft. St. Geo., 1st ser. iv. 109, and see ii. 148.
[1690.—"Each Day there is prepar'd (at Surrat) a Publick Table for the Use of the President and the rest of the Factory.... The Table is spread with the choicest Meat Surrat affords ... and equal plenty of generous Sherash and Arak Punch...."—Ovington, 394.
[1727.—"Shyrash is a large City on the Road, about 550 Miles from Gombroon."—A. Hamilton, ed. 1744, i. 99.
[1813.—"I have never tasted this (pomegranate wine), nor any other Persian wine, except that of Schiraz, which, although much extolled by poets, I think inferior to many wines in Europe."—Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd ed. i. 468.]
SHIREENBAF, s. Pers. Shīrīnbāf, 'sweet-woof.' A kind of fine cotton stuff, but we cannot say more precisely what.
[1609.—"Serribaff, a fine light stuff or cotton whereof the Moors make their cabayes or clothing."—Danvers, Letters, i. 29.]
1673.—"... siring chintz, Broad Baftas...."—Fryer, 88.
SHISHAM. See under SISSOO.
SHISHMUHULL, s. Pers. shīsha-maḥal, lit. 'glass apartment' or palace. This is or was a common appendage of native palaces, viz. a hall or suite of rooms lined with mirror and other glittering surfaces, usually of a gimcrack aspect. There is a place of exactly the same description, now gone to hideous decay, in the absurd Villa Palagonia at Bagheria near Palermo.
SHOE OF GOLD (or of Silver). The name for certain ingots of precious metal, somewhat in the form of a Chinese shoe, but more like a boat, which were formerly current in the trade of the Far East. Indeed of silver they are still current in China, for Giles says: "The common name among foreigners for the Chinese silver ingot, which bears some resemblance to a native shoe. May be of any weight from 1 oz. and even less, to 50 and sometimes 100 oz., and is always stamped by the assayer and banker, in evidence of purity" (Gloss. of Reference, 128). [In Hissar the Chinese silver is called sillī from the slabs (sil) in which it is sold (Maclagan, Mon. on Gold and Silver Work in Punjab, p. 5).] The same form of ingot was probably the bālish (or yāstok) of the Middle Ages, respecting which see Cathay, &c., 115, 481, &c. Both of these latter words mean also 'a cushion,' which is perhaps as good a comparison as either 'shoe' or 'boat.' The word now used in C. Asia is yambū. There are cuts of the gold and silver ingots in Tavernier, whose words suggest what is probably the true origin of the popular English name, viz. a corruption of the Dutch Goldschuyt.
1611.—"Then, I tell you, from China I could load ships with cakes of gold fashioned like boats, containing, each of them, roundly speaking, 2 marks weight, and so each cake will be worth 280 pardaos."—Couto, Dialogo do Soldado Pratico, p. 155.
1676.—"The Pieces of Gold mark'd Fig. 1, and 2, are by the Hollanders called Goltschut, that is to say, a Boat of Gold, because they are in the form of a Boat. Other Nations call them Loaves of Gold.... The Great Pieces come to 12 hundred Gilders of Holland Money, and thirteen hundred and fifty Livres of our Money."—Tavernier, E.T. ii. 8.
1702.—"Sent the Moolah to be delivered the Nabob, Dewan, and Buxie 48 China Oranges ... but the Dewan bid the Moolah write the Governor for a hundred more that he might send them to Court; which is understood to be One Hundred shoes of gold, or so many thousand pagodas or rupees."—In Wheeler, i. 397.
1704.—"Price Currant, July, 1704, (at Malacca) ... Gold, China, in Shoos 94 Touch."—Lockyer, 70.
1862.—"A silver ingot 'Yambu' weighs about 2 (Indian) seers ... = 4 lbs., and is worth 165 Co.'s rupees. Koomoosh, also called 'Yambucha,' or small silver ingot, is worth 33 Rs. ... 5 yambuchas, being equal to 1 yambu. There are two descriptions of 'yambucha'; one is a square piece of silver, having a Chinese stamp on it; the other ... in the form of a boat, has no stamp. The Yambu is in the form of a boat, and has a Chinese stamp on it."—Punjab Trade Report, App. ccxxvi.-xxviii. 1.
1875.—"The yámbú or kúrs is a silver ingot something the shape of a deep boat with projecting bow and stern. The upper surface is lightly hollowed, and stamped with a Chinese inscription. It is said to be pure silver, and to weigh 50 (Cashghar) ser = 30,000 grains English."—Report of Forsyth's Mission to Kashghar, 494.
[1876.—"... he received his pay in Chinese yambs (gold coins), at the rate of 128 rubles each, while the real commercial value was only 115 rubles."—Schuyler, Turkistan, ii. 322.
[1901.—A piece of Chinese shoe money, value 10 taels, was exhibited before the Numismatic Society.—Athenaeum, Jan. 26, p. 118. Perhaps the largest specimen known of Chinese "boat-money" was exhibited. It weighed 89½ ounces troy, and represented 50 taels, or £8, 8s. 0d. English.—Ibid. Jan. 25, 1902, p. 120].
SHOE-FLOWER, s. A name given in Madras Presidency to the flower of the Hibiscus Rosa-sinensis, L. It is a literal translation of the Tam. shapāttupu, Singh. sappattumala, a name given because the flowers are used at Madras to blacken shoes. The Malay name Kempang sapatu means the same. Voigt gives shoe-flower as the English name, and adds: "Petals astringent, used by the Chinese to blacken their shoes (?) and eyebrows" (Hortus Suburbanus Calcuttensis, 116-7); see also Drury, s.v. The notion of the Chinese blackening their shoes is surely an error, but perhaps they use it to blacken leather for European use.
SHOE-GOOSE, s. This ludicrous corruption of the Pers. siyāh-gosh, lit. 'black-ear,' i.e. lynx (Felis Caracal) occurs in the passage below from A. Hamilton. [The corruption of the same word by the Times, below, is equally amusing.]
1727.—"Antelopes, Hares and Foxes, are their wild game, which they hunt with Dogs, Leopards, and a small fierce creature called by them a Shoe-goose."—A. Hamilton, i. 124; [ed. 1744, i. 125].
1802.—"... between the cat and the lion, are the ... syagush, the lynx, the tiger-cat...."—Ritson, Essay on Abstinence from Animal Food, 12.
1813.—"The Moguls train another beast for antelope-hunting called the Syah-gush, or black-ears, which appears to be the same as the caracal, or Russian lynx."—Forbes, Or. Mem. i. 277; [2nd ed. i. 175 and 169].
[1886.—"In 1760 a Moor named Abdallah arrived in India with a 'Shah Goest' (so spelt, evidently a Shawl Goat) as a present for Mr. Secretary Pitt."—Account of I. O. Records, in Times, Aug. 3.]
SHOKE, s. A hobby, a favourite pursuit or whim. Ar.—shauḳ.
SHOLA, s. In S. India, a wooded ravine; a thicket. Tam. sholāi.
SHOOCKA, s. Ar.—H. shuḳḳa (properly 'an oblong strip'), a letter from a king to a subject.
SHOOLDARRY, s. A small tent with steep sloping roof, two poles and a ridge-piece, and with very low side walls. The word is in familiar use, and is habitually pronounced as we have indicated. But the first dictionary in which we have found it is that of Platts. This author spells the word chholdārī, identifying the first syllable with jhol, signifying 'puckering or bagging.' In this light, however, it seems possible that it is from jhūl in the sense of a bag or wallet, viz. a tent that is crammed into a bag when carried. [The word is in Fallon, with the rather doubtful suggestion that it is a corruption of the English 'soldier's' tent. See PAWL.]
SHRAUB, SHROBB, s. Ar. sharāb; Hind. sharāb, shrāb, 'wine.' See under SHERBET.
SHROFF, s. A money-changer, a banker. Ar. ṣarrāf, ṣairafi, ṣairaf. The word is used by Europeans in China as well as in India, and is there applied to the experts who are employed by banks and mercantile firms to check the quality of the dollars that pass into the houses (see Giles under next word). Also shroffage, for money-dealer's commission. From the same root comes the Heb. sōrēf, 'a goldsmith.' Compare the figure in Malachi, iii. 3: "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi." Only in Hebrew the goldsmith tests metal, while the ṣairaf tests coins. The Arab poet says of his mare: "Her forefeet scatter the gravel every midday, as the dirhams are scattered at their testing by the ṣairaf" (W. R. S.)
1560.—"There are in the city many and very wealthy çarafos who change money."—Tenreiro, ch. i.
1584.—"5 tangas make a seraphin (see XERAFINE) of gold; but if one would change them into basaruchies (see BUDGROOK) he may have 5 tangas and 16 basaruchies, which ouerplus they call cerafagio...."—Barret, in Hakl. ii. 410.
1585.—"This present year, because only two ships came to Goa, (the reals) have sold at 12 per cent. of Xarafaggio (shroffage), as this commission is called, from the word Xaraffo, which is the title of the banker."—Sassetti, in De Gubernatis, Storia, p. 203.
1598.—"There is in every place of the street exchangers of money, by them called Xaraffos, which are all christian Jewes."—Linschoten, 66; [Hak. Soc. i. 231, and see 244.]
c. 1610.—"Dans ce Marché ... aussi sont les changeurs qu'ils nomment Cherafes, dont il y en a en plusieurs autres endroits; leurs boutiques sont aux bouts des ruës et carrefours, toutes couuertes de monnoye, dont ils payent tribut au Roy."—Pyrard de Laval, ii. 39; [Hak. Soc. ii. 67].
[1614.—"... having been borne in hand by our Sarafes to pay money there."—Foster, Letters, iii. 282. The "Sheriff of Bantam" (ibid. iv. 7) may perhaps be a shroff, but compare Shereef.]
1673.—"It could not be improved till the Governor had released the Shroffs or Bankers."—Fryer, 413.
1697-8.—"In addition to the cash and property which they had got by plunder, the enemy fixed two lacs of rupees as the price of the ransom of the prisoners.... To make up the balance, the Sarráfs and merchants of Nandurbár were importuned to raise a sum, small or great, by way of loan. But they would not consent."—Kháfí Khán, in Elliot, vii. 362.
1750.—"... the Irruption of the Morattoes into Carnatica, was another event that brought several eminent Shroffs and wealthy Merchants into our Town; insomuch, that I may say, there was hardly a Shroff of any Note, in the Mogul empire but had a House in it; in a word, Madrass was become the Admiration of all the Country People, and the Envy of all our European Neighbours."—Letter to a Proprietor of the E. I. Co. 53-54.
1809.—"I had the satisfaction of hearing the Court order them (i.e. Gen. Martin's executors) to pay two lacs and a half to the plaintiff, a shroff of Lucknow."—Ld. Valentia, i. 243.
[1891.—"The banker in Persia is looked on simply as a small tradesman—in fact the business of the Serof is despised."—Wills, In the Land of the Lion and the Sun, 192].
SHROFF, TO, v. This verb is applied properly to the sorting of different rupees or other coins, so as to discard refuse, and to fix the various amounts of discount or agio upon the rest, establishing the value in standard coin. Hence figuratively 'to sift,' choosing the good (men, horses, facts, or what not) and rejecting the inferior.
1878.—"Shroffing schools are common in Canton, where teachers of the art keep bad dollars for the purpose of exercising their pupils; and several works on the subject have been published there, with numerous illustrations of dollars and other foreign coins, the methods of scooping out silver and filling up with copper or lead, comparisons between genuine and counterfeit dollars, the difference between native and foreign milling, etc., etc."—Giles, Glossary of Reference, 129.
1882.—(The Compradore) "derived a profit from the process of shroffing which (the money received) underwent before being deposited in the Treasury."—The Fankwae at Canton, 55.
SHRUB, s. See under SHERBET.
SHULWAURS, s. Trousers, or drawers rather, of the Oriental kind, the same as pyjammas, long-drawers, or mogul-breeches (qq.v.). The Persian is shalwār, which according to Prof. Max Müller is more correctly shulvār, from shul, 'the thigh,' related to Latin crus, cruris, and to Skt. kshura or khura, 'hoof' (see Pusey on Daniel, 570). Be this as it may, the Ar. form is sirwāl (vulg. sharwāl), pl. sarāwīl, [which Burton (Arab. Nights, i. 205) translates 'bag-trousers' and 'petticoat-trousers,' "the latter being the divided skirt of the future."] This appears in the ordinary editions of the Book of Daniel in Greek, as σαράβαρα, and also in the Vulgate, as follows: "Et capillus capitis eorum non esset adustus, et sarabala eorum non fuissent immutata, et odor ignis non transisset per eos" (iii. 27). The original word is sarbālīn, pl. of sarbāla. Luther, however, renders this Mantel; as the A.V. also does by coats; [the R.V. hosen]. On this Prof. Robertson-Smith writes:
"The Arabic word occurs in the Traditions of the Prophet (Bokhāri, vii. 36).
"Of course it is certain that σαράβαρα comes from the Persian, but not through Arabic. The Bedouins did not wear trowsers in the time of Ammianus, and don't do so now.
"The ordinary so-called LXX. editions of Daniel contain what is really the post-Christian version of Theodotion. The true LXX. text has ὑποδήματα.
"It may be added that Jerome says that both Aquila and Symmachus wrote saraballa." [The Encycl. Biblica also prefers the rendering of the A.V. (i. 607), and see iii. 2934.]The word is widely spread as well as old; it is found among the Tartars of W. Asia as jālbār, among the Siberians and Bashkirds as sālbār, among the Kalmaks as shālbūr, whilst it reached Russia as sharawari, Spain as zaraguelles, and Portugal as zarelos. A great many Low Latin variations of the word will be found in Ducange, serabula, serabulla, sarabella, sarabola, sarabura, and more! [And Crawfurd (Desc. Dict. 124) writes of Malay dress: "Trowsers are occasionally used under the sarung by the richer classes, and this portion of dress, like the imitation of the turban, seems to have been borrowed from the Arabs, as is implied by its Arabic name, sarual, corrupted saluwar."]
In the second quotation from Isidore of Seville below it will be seen that the word had in some cases been interpreted as 'turbans.'
c. A.D. 200.—"Ἐν δὲ τοῖς Σκύθαις Ἀντιφάνης ἔφη Σαράβαρα καὶ χιτῶνας πάντας ἐνδεδυκότας."—Julius Pollux, Onomast. vii. 13, sec. 59.
c. A.D. 500.—"Σαράβαρα, τὰ περὶ τὰς κνῆμιδας (sic) ἐνδύματα."—Hesychius, s.v.
c. 636.—"Sarabara sunt fluxa ac sinuosa vestimenta de quibus legitur in Daniele.... Et Publius: Vt quid ergo in ventre tuo Parthi Sarabara suspenderunt? Apud quosdam autem Sarabarae quaedã capitum tegmina nuncupantur qualia videmus in capite Magorum picta."—Isidorus Hispalensis, Orig. et Etym., lib. xix., ed. 1601, pp. 263-4.
c. 1000?—"Σαράβαρα,—ἐσθὴς Περσική ἔνιοι δὲ λέγουσι βρακία."—Suidas, s.v.
which may be roughly rendered:
"A garb outlandish to the Greeks,
Which some call Shalwārs, some call Breeks!"
c. 900.—"The deceased was unchanged, except in colour. They dressed him then with sarāwīl, overhose, boots, a ḳurṭak and khaftān of gold-cloth, with golden buttons, and put on him a golden cap garnished with sable."—Ibn Foszlān, in Fraehn, 15.
c. 1300.—"Disconsecratur altare eorum, et oportet reconciliari per episcopum ... si intraret ad ipsum aliquis qui non esset Nestorius; si intraret eciam ad ipsum quicumque sine sorrabulis vel capite cooperto."—Ricoldo of Monte Croce, in Peregrinatores Quatuor, 122.
1330.—"Haec autem mulieres vadunt discalceatae portantes sarabulas usque ad terram."—Friar Odoric, in Cathay, &c., App. iv.
c. 1495.—"The first who wore sarāwīl was Solomon. But in another tradition it is alleged that Abraham was the first."—The 'Beginnings,' by Soyuti, quoted by Fraehn, 113.
1567.—"Portauano braghesse quasi alla turchesca, et anche saluarī."—C. Federici, in Ramusio, iii. f. 389.
1824.—"... tell me how much he will be contented with? Can I offer him five Tomauns, and a pair of crimson Shulwaurs?"—Hajji Baba, ed. 1835, p. 179.
1881.—"I used to wear a red shirt and velveteen sharovary, and lie on the sofa like a gentleman, and drink like a Swede."—Ten Years of Penal Servitude in Siberia, by Fedor Dostoyeffski, E.T. by Maria v. Thilo, 191.
SIAM, n.p. This name of the Indo-Chinese Kingdom appears to come to us through the Malays, who call it Siyăm. From them we presume the Portuguese took their Reyno de Sião as Barros and Couto write it, though we have in Correa Siam precisely as we write it. Camões also writes Syão for the kingdom; and the statement of De la Loubère quoted below that the Portuguese used Siam as a national, not a geographical, expression cannot be accepted in its generality, accurate as that French writer usually is. It is true that both Barros and F. M. Pinto use os Siames for the nation, and the latter also uses the adjective form o reyno Siame. But he also constantly says rey de Sião. The origin of the name would seem to be a term Sien, or Siam, identical with Shan (q.v.). "The kingdom of Siam is known to the Chinese by the name Sien-lo.... The supplement to Matwanlin's Encyclopædia describes Sien-lo as on the seaboard, to the extreme south of Chen-ching (or Cochin China). 'It originally consisted of two kingdoms, Sien and Lo-hoh. The Sien people are the remains of a tribe which in the year (A.D. 1341) began to come down upon the Lo-hoh and united with the latter into one nation.'" See Marco Polo, 2nd ed., Bk. iii. ch. 7, note 3. The considerations there adduced indicate that the Lo who occupied the coast of the Gulf before the descent of the Sien, belonged to the Laotian Shans, Thainyai, or Great T'ai, whilst the Sien or Siamese Proper were the T'ai Noi, or Little T'ai. (See also SARNAU.) ["The name Siam ... whether it is 'a barbarous Anglicism derived from the Portuguese or Italian word Sciam,' or is derived from the Malay Sayam, which means 'brown.'"—J. G. Scott, Upper Burma Gazetteer, i. pt. i. 205.]
c. 1522.—"The king (of Zzuba) answered him that he was welcome, but that the custom was that all ships which arrived at his country or port paid tribute, and it was only 4 days since that a ship called the Junk of Ciama, laden with gold and slaves, had paid him his tribute, and to verify what he said, he showed them a merchant of the said Ciama, who had remained there to trade with the gold and slaves."—Pigafetta, Hak. Soc. 85.
" "All these cities are constructed like ours, and are subject to the king of Siam, who is named Siri Zacebedera, and who inhabits Iudia (see JUDEA)."—Ibid. 156.
1525.—"In this same Port of Pam (Pahang), which is in the kingdom of Syam, there was another junk of Malaqua, the captain whereof was Alvaro da Costaa, and it had aboard 15 Portuguese, at the same time that in Joatane (Patane) they seized the ship of Andre de Bryto, and the junk of Gaspar Soarez, and as soon as this news was known they laid hands on the junk and the crew and the cargo; it is presumed that the people were killed, but it is not known for certain."—Lembrança das Cousas da India, 6.
1572.—
"Vês Pam, Patâne, reinos e a longura
De Syão, que estes e outros mais sujeita;
Olho o rio Menão que se derrama
Do grande lago, que Chiamay se chiama."
Camões, x. 25.
By Burton:
"See Pam, Patane and in length obscure,
Siam that ruleth all with lordly sway;
behold Menam, who rolls his lordly tide
from source Chiámái called, lake long and wide."
c. 1567.—"Va etiandio ogn'anno per l'istesso Capitano (di Malacca) vn nauilio in Asion, a caricare di Verzino" (Brazilwood).—Ces. Federici, in Ramusio, iii. 396.
" "Fu già Sion vna grandissima Città e sedia d'Imperio, ma l'anno MDLXVII fu pressa dal Re del Pegu, qual caminando per terra quattro mesi di viaggio, con vn esercito d'vn million, e quattro cento mila uomini da guerra, la venne ad assediare ... e lo so io percioche mi ritrouai in Pegù sei mesi dopo la sua partita."—Ibid.
1598.—"... The King of Sian at this time is become tributarie to the king of Pegu. The cause of this most bloodie battaile was, that the king of Sian had a white Elephant."—Linschoten, p. 30; [Hak. Soc. i. 102. In ii. 1 Sion].
[1611.—"We have news that the Hollanders were in Shian."—Danvers, Letters, i. 149.]
1688.—"The Name of Siam is unknown to the Siamese. 'Tis one of those words which the Portugues of the Indies do use, and of which it is very difficult to discover the Original. They use it as the Name of the Nation and not of the Kingdom: And the Names of Pegu, Lao, Mogul, and most of the Names which we give to the Indian Kingdoms, are likewise National Names."—De la Loubère, E.T. p. 6.
SICCA, s. As will be seen by reference to the article RUPEE, up to 1835 a variety of rupees had been coined in the Company's territories. The term sicca (sikkā, from Ar. sikka, 'a coining die,'—and 'coined money,'—whence Pers. sikka zadan, 'to coin') had been applied to newly coined rupees, which were at a batta or premium over those worn, or assumed to be worn, by use. In 1793 the Government of Bengal, with a view to terminating, as far as that Presidency was concerned, the confusion and abuses engendered by this system, ordered that all rupees coined for the future should bear the impress of the 19th year of Shāh 'Alam (the "Great Mogul" then reigning), and this rupee, "19 San Sikkah," 'struck in the 19th year,' was to be the legal tender in "Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa. This rupee, which is the Sicca of more recent monetary history, weighed 192 grs. troy, and then contained 176.13 grs. of pure silver. The "Company's Rupee," which introduced uniformity of coinage over British India in 1835, contained only 165 grs. silver. Hence the Sicca bore to the Company's Rupee (which was based on the old Farrukhābād rupee) the proportion of 16:15 nearly. The Sicca was allowed by Act VII. of 1833 to survive as an exceptional coin in Bengal, but was abolished as such in 1836. It continued, however, a ghostly existence for many years longer in the form of certain Government Book-debts in that currency. (See also CHICK.)
1537.—"... e quoanto á moeda ser chapada de sua sita (read sica) pois já lhe concedia."—Ibid. 226.
[1615.—"... cecaus of Amadavrs which goeth for eighty-six pisas (see PICE)...."—Foster, Letters, iii. 87.]
1683.—"Having received 25,000 Rupees Siccas for Rajamaul."—Hedges, Diary, April 4; [Hak. Soc. i. 75].
1705.—"Les roupies Sicca valent à Bengale 39 sols."—Luillier, 255.
1779.—"In the 2nd Term, 1779, on Saturday, March 6th: Judgment was pronounced for the plaintiff. Damages fifty thousand sicca rupees."
" "... 50,000 Sicca Rupees are equal to five thousand one hundred and nine pounds, two shillings and elevenpence sterling, reckoning according to the weight and fineness of the silver."—Notes of Mr. Justice Hyde on the case Grand v. Francis, in Echoes of Old Calcutta, 243. [To this Mr. Busteed adds: "Nor does there seem to be any foundation for the other time-honoured story (also repeated by Kaye) in connection with this judgment, viz., the alleged interruption of the Chief Justice, while he was delivering judgment, by Mr. Justice Hyde, with the eager suggestion or reminder of 'Siccas, Siccas, Brother Impey,' with the view of making the damages as high at the awarded figure as possible. Mr. Merivale says that he could find no confirmation of the old joke.... The story seems to have been first promulgated in a book of 'Personal Recollections' by John Nicholls, M.P., published in 1822."—Ibid. 3rd ed. 229].
1833.—* * *
"III.—The weight and standard of the Calcutta sicca rupee and its sub-divisions, and of the Furruckabad rupee, shall be as follows:—
| Weight. | Fine. | Alloy. | |
| Grains. | Grains. | Grains. | |
| Calcutta sicca rupee | 192 | 176 | 16 |
| * * * * * | |||
[SICKMAN, s. adj. The English sick man has been adopted into Hind. sepoy patois as meaning 'one who has to go to hospital,' and generally sikmān ho jānā means 'to be disabled.'
SICLEEGUR, s. Hind. ṣaiḳalgar, from Ar. ṣaiḳal, 'polish.' A furbisher of arms, a sword-armourer, a sword- or knife-grinder. [This, in Madras, is turned into Chickledar, Tel. chikili-darudu.]
SIKH, SEIKH, n.p. Panjābi-Hind. Sikh, 'a disciple,' from Skt. Śishya; the distinctive name of the disciples of Nānak Shāh who in the 16th century established that sect, which eventually rose to warlike predominance in the Punjab, and from which sprang Ranjīt Singh, the founder of the brief Kingdom of Lahore.
1708-9.—"There is a sect of infidels called Gurú (see GOOROO), more commonly known as Sikhs. Their chief, who dresses as a fakír, has a fixed residence at Láhore.... This sect consists principally of Játs and Khatrís of the Panjáb and of other tribes of infidels. When Aurangzeb got knowledge of these matters, he ordered these deputy Gurús to be removed and the temples to be pulled down."—Khāfī Khān, in Elliot, vii. 413.
1756.—"April of 1716, when the Emperor took the field and marched towards Lahore, against the Sykes, a nation of Indians lately reared to power, and bearing mortal enmity to the Mahomedans."—Orme, ii. 22. He also writes Sikes.
1781.—"Before I left Calcutta, a gentleman with whom I chanced to be discoursing of that sect who are distinguished from the worshippers of Brăhm, and the followers of Mahommed by the appellation Seek, informed me that there was a considerable number of them settled in the city of Patna, where they had a College for teaching the tenets of their philosophy."—Wilkins, in As. Res. i. 288.
1781-2.—"In the year 1128 of the Hedjra" (1716) "a bloody action happened in the plains of the Pendjab, between the Sycs and the Imperialists, in which the latter, commanded by Abdol-semed-Khan, a famous Viceroy of that province, gave these inhuman freebooters a great defeat, in which their General, Benda, fell into the victors' hands.... He was a Syc by profession, that is one of those men attached to the tenets of Guru-Govind, and who from their birth or from the moment of their admission never cut or shave either their beard or whiskers or any hair whatever of their body. They form a particular Society as well as a sect, which distinguishes itself by wearing almost always blue cloaths, and going armed at all times...." &c.—Seir Mutaqherin, i. 87.
1782.—"News was received that the Seiks had crossed the Jumna."—India Gazette, May 11.
1783.—"Unhurt by the Sicques, tigers, and thieves, I am safely lodged at Nourpour."—Forster, Journey, ed. 1808, i. 247.
1784.—"The Seekhs are encamped at the distance of 12 cose from the Pass of Dirderry, and have plundered all that quarter."—In Seton-Karr, i. 13.
1790.—"Particulars relating to the seizure of Colonel Robert Stewart by the Sicques."—Calc. Monthly Register, &c., i. 152.
1810.—Williamson (V.M.) writes Seeks.
The following extract indicates the prevalence of a very notable error:—
1840.—"Runjeet possesses great personal courage, a quality in which the Sihks (sic) are supposed to be generally deficient."—Osborne, Court and Camp of Runjeet Singh, 83.
We occasionally about 1845-6 saw the word written by people in Calcutta, who ought to have known better, Sheiks.
SILBOOT, SILPET, SLIPPET, s. Domestic Hind. corruptions of 'slipper.' The first is an instance of "striving after meaning" by connecting it in some way with 'boot.' [The Railway 'sleeper' is in the same way corrupted into silīpat.]
SILLADAR, adj. and s. Hind. from Pers. silaḥ-dār, 'bearing or having arms,' from Ar. silaḥ, 'arms.' [In the Arabian Nights (Burton, ii. 114) it has the primary sense of an 'armour-bearer.'] Its Anglo-Indian application is to a soldier, in a regiment of irregular cavalry, who provides his own arms and horse; and sometimes to regiments composed of such men—"a corps of Silladar Horse." [See Irvine, The Army of the Indian Moghuls, (J. R. As. Soc., July 1896, p. 549).]
1804.—"It is my opinion, that the arrangement with the Soubah of the Deccan should be, that the whole of the force ... should be silladar horse."—Wellington, iii. 671.
1813.—"Bhàou ... in the prosecution of his plan, selected Malhar Row Holcar, a Silledar or soldier of fortune."—Forbes, Or. Mem. iii. 349.
[SILLAPOSH, s. An armour-clad warrior; from Pers. silaḥ, 'body armour,' posh, Pers. poshīdan, 'to wear.'
SILMAGOOR, s. Ship Hind. for 'sail-maker' (Roebuck).
SIMKIN, s. Domestic Hind. for champagne, of which it is a corruption; sometimes samkīn.
SIND, SCINDE, &c., n.p. The territory on the Indus below the Punjab. [In the early inscriptions the two words Sindhu-Sauvīra are often found conjoined, the latter probably part of Upper Sind (see Bombay Gazetteer, i. pt. i. 36).] The earlier Mahommedans hardly regarded Sind as part of India, but distinguished sharply between Sind and Hind, and denoted the whole region that we call India by the copula 'Hind and Sind.' We know that originally these were in fact but diverging forms of one word; the aspirant and sibilant tending in several parts of India (including the extreme east—compare ASSAM, Ahom—and the extreme west), as in some other regions, to exchange places.
770.—"Per idem tempus quingenti circiter ex Mauris, Sindis, et Chazaris servi in urbe Haran rebellarunt, et facto agmine regium thesaurum diripere tentarunt."—Dionysii Patriarchae Chronicon, in Assemani, ii. 114. But from the association with the Khazars, and in a passage on the preceding page with Alans and Khazars, we may be almost certain that these Sindi are not Indian, but a Sarmatic people mentioned by Ammianus (xxii. 8), Valerius Flaccus (vi. 86), and other writers.
c. 1030.—"Sind and her sister (i.e. Hind) trembled at his power and vengeance."—Al 'Utbi, in Elliot, ii. 32.
c. 1340.—"Mohammed-ben-Iousouf Thakafi trouva dans la province de Sind quarante behar (see BAHAR) d'or, et chaque behar comprend 333 mann."—Shihābuddīn Dimishḳī, in Not. et Ext. xiii. 173.
1525.—"Expenses of Melyquyaz (i.e. Malik Āyāz of Diu):—1,000 foot soldiers (lasquarys), viz., 300 Arabs, at 40 and 50 fedeas each; also 200 Coraçones (Khorāsānīs) at the wage of the Arabs; also 200 Guzarates and Cymdes at 25 to 30 fedeas each; also 30 Rumes at 100 fedeas each; 120 Fartaquys at 50 fedeas each. Horse soldiers (Lasquarys a quaualo), whom he supplies with horses, 300 at 70 fedeas a month...."—Lembrança, p. 37. The preceding extract is curious as showing the comparative value put upon Arabs, Khorāsānīs (qu. Afghāns?), Sindīs, Rūmīs (i.e. Turks), Fartakīs (Arabs of Hadramaut?), &c.
1548.—"And the rent of the shops (buticas) of the Guzaratis of Cindy, who prepare and sell parched rice (avel), paying 6 bazarucos (see BUDGROOK) a month."—Botelho, Tombo, 156.
1554.—"Towards the Gulf of Chakad, in the vicinity of Sind."—Sidi' Ali, in J. As. Ser. I. tom. ix. 77.
1583.—"The first citie of India ... after we had passed the coast of Zindi is called Diu."—Fitch, in Hakl. p. 385.
1584.—"Spicknard from Zindi and Lahor."—W. Barret, in Hakl. ii. 412.
1598.—"I have written to the said Antonio d'Azevedo on the ill treatment experienced by the Portuguese in the kingdom of Cimde."—King's Letter to Goa, in Archiv. Port. Orient. Fascic. iii. 877.
[1610.—"Tzinde, are silk cloths with red stripes."—Danvers, Letters, i. 72.]
1611.—"Cuts-nagore, a place not far from the River of Zinde."—N. Downton, in Purchas, i. 307.
1613.—"... considering the state of destitution in which the fortress of Ormuz had need be,—since it had no other resources but the revenue of the custom-house, and there could now be returning nothing, from the fact that the ports of Cambaia and Sinde were closed, and that no ship had arrived from Goa in the current monsoon of January and February, owing to the news of the English ships having collected at Suratte...."—Bocarro, Decada, 379.
[c. 1665.—"... he (Dara) proceeded towards Scimdy, and sought refuge in the fortress of Tatabakar...."—Bernier, ed. Constable, 71.]
1666.—"De la Province du Sinde ou Sindy ... que quelques-uns nomment le Tatta."—Thevenot, v. 158.
1673.—"... Retiring with their ill got Booty to the Coasts of Sindu."—Fryer, 218.
1727.—"Sindy is the westmost Province of the Mogul's Dominions on the Sea-coast, and has Larribunder (see LARRY-BUNDER) to its Mart."—A. Hamilton, i. 114; [ed. 1744, i. 115].
c. 1760.—"Scindy, or Tatta."—Grose, i. 286.
SINDĀBŪR, SANDĀBŪR, n.p. This is the name by which Goa was known to the old Arab writers. The identity was clearly established in Cathay and the Way Thither, pp. 444 and ccli. We will give the quotations first, and then point out the grounds of identification.
1013.—"I have it from Ābū Yūsaf bin Muslim, who had it from Ābū Bakr of Fasā at Ṣaimūr, that the latter heard told by Mūsa the Ṣindābūrī: 'I was one day conversing with the Ṣaḥib of Ṣindābūr, when suddenly he burst out laughing.... It was, said he, because there is a lizard on the wall, and it said, 'There is a guest coming to-day.... Don't you go till you see what comes of it.' So we remained talking till one of his servants came in and said 'There is a ship of Oman come in.' Shortly after, people arrived, carrying hampers with various things, such as cloths, and rose-water. As they opened one, out came a long lizard, which instantly clung to the wall and went to join the other one. It was the same person, they say, who enchanted the crocodiles in the estuary of Ṣindābūr, so that now they hurt nobody."—Livre des Merveilles de l'Inde. V. der Lith et Devic, 157-158.
c. 1150.—"From the city of Barūh (Barūch, i.e. Broach) following the coast, to Sindābūr 4 days.
"Sindābūr is on a great inlet where ships anchor. It is a place of trade, where one sees fine buildings and rich bazars."—Edrisi, i. 179. And see Elliot, i. 89.
c. 1300.—"Beyond Guzerat are Konkan and Tána; beyond them the country of Malibár.... The people are all Samanís (Buddhists), and worship idols. Of the cities on the shore the first is Sindabūr, then Faknūr, then the country of Manjarūr, then the country of Hílí...."—Rashīduddīn, in Elliot, i. 68.
c. 1330.—"A traveller states that the country from Sindāpūr to Hanāwar towards its eastern extremity joins with Malabar...."—Abulfeda, Fr. tr., II. ii. 115. Further on in his Tables he jumbles up (as Edrisi has done) Sindāpūr with Sindān (see ST. JOHN).
" "The heat is great at Aden. This is the port frequented by the people of India; great ships arrive there from Cambay, Tāna, Kaulam, Calicut, Fandarāina, Shāliyāt, Manjarūr, Fākanūr, Hanaur, Sandābūr, et cetera."—Ibn Batuta, ii. 177.
c. 1343-4.—"Three days after setting sail we arrived at the Island of Sandābūr, within which there are 36 villages. It is surrounded by an inlet, and at the time of ebb the water of this is fresh and pleasant, whilst at flow it is salt and bitter. There are in the island two cities, one ancient, built by the pagans; the second built by the Musulmans when they conquered the island the first time.... We left this island behind us and anchored at a small island near the mainland, where we found a temple, a grove, and a tank of water...."—Ibid. iv. 61-62.
1350, 1375.—In the Medicean and the Catalan maps of those dates we find on the coast of India Cintabor and Chintabor respectively, on the west coast of India.
c. 1554.—"24th Voyage: from Guvah-Sindābūr to Aden. If you start from Guvah-Sindābūr at the end of the season, take care not to fall on Cape Fāl," &c.—Mohit, in J.A.S.B. v. 564.
The last quotation shows that Goa was known even in the middle of the 16th century to Oriental seamen as Goa-Sindābūr, whatever Indian name the last part represented; probably, from the use of the ṣwād by the earlier Arab writers, and from the Chintabor of the European maps, Chandāpur rather than Sundāpur. No Indian name like this has yet been recovered from inscriptions as attaching to Goa; but the Turkish author of the Mohit supplies the connection, and Ibn Batuta's description even without this would be sufficient for the identification. His description, it will be seen, is that of a delta-island, and Goa is the only one partaking of that character upon the coast. He says it contained 36 villages; and Barros tells us that Goa Island was known to the natives as Tīsvāḍī, a name signifying "Thirty villages." (See SALSETTE.) Its vicinity to the island where Ibn Batuta proceeded to anchor, which we have shown to be Anchediva (q.v.), is another proof. Turning to Rashīduddīn, the order in which he places Sindābūr, Faknūr (Baccanore), Manjarūr (Mangalore), Hīlī (Mt. D'Ely), is perfectly correct, if for Sindābūr we substitute Goa. The passage from Edrisi and one indicated from Abulfeda only show a confusion which has misled many readers since.
SINGALESE, CINGHALESE, n.p. Native of Ceylon; pertaining to Ceylon. The word is formed from Siṉhala, 'Dwelling of Lions,' the word used by the natives for the Island, and which is the origin of most of the names given to it (see CEYLON). The explanation given by De Barros and Couto is altogether fanciful, though it leads them to notice the curious and obscure fact of the introduction of Chinese influence in Ceylon during the 15th century.
1583.—(The Cauchin Chineans) "are of the race of the Chingalays, which they say are the best kinde of all the Malabars."—Fitch, in Hakl. ii. 397.
1598.—"... inhabited with people called Cingalas...."—Linschoten, 24; [Hak. Soc. i. 77; in i. 81, Chingalas].
c. 1610.—"Ils tiennent donc que ... les premiers qui y allerent, et qui les peuplerent (les Maldives) furent ... les Cingalles de l'Isle de Ceylan."—Pyrard de Laval, i. 185; [Hak. Soc. i. 105, and see i. 266].
1612.—Couto, after giving the same explanation of the word as Barros, says: "And as they spring from the Chins, who are the falsest heathen of the East ... so are they of this island the weakest, falsest, and most tricky people in all India, insomuch that, to this day, you never find faith or truth in a Chingalla."—V. i. 5.
1681.—"The Chingūleys are naturally a people given to sloth and laziness: if they can but anyways live, they abhor to work."...—Knox, 32.
SINGAPORE, SINCAPORE, n.p. This name was adopted by Sir Stamford Raffles in favour of the city which he founded, February 23, 1819, on the island which had always retained the name since the Middle Ages. This is derived from Siṉhapura, Skt. 'Lion-city,' the name of a town founded by Malay or Javanese settlers from Sumatra, probably in the 14th century, and to which Barros ascribes great commercial importance. The Indian origin of the name, as of many other names and phrases which survive from the old Indian civilisation of the Archipelago, had been forgotten, and the origin which Barros was taught to ascribe to it is on a par with his etymology of Singalese quoted in the preceding article. The words on which his etymology is founded are no doubt Malay: singah, 'to tarry, halt, or lodge,' and pora-pora, 'to pretend'; and these were probably supposed to refer to the temporary occupation of Sinhapura, before the chiefs who founded it passed on to Malacca. [It may be noted that Dennys (Desc. Dict. s.v.) derives the word from singha, 'a place of call,' and pura, 'a city.' In Dalboquerque's Comm. Hak. Soc. iii. 73, we are told: "Singapura, whence the city takes its name, is a channel through which all the shipping of those parts passes, and signifies in his Malay language, 'treacherous delay.'" See quotation from Barros below.]
The settlement of Hinduized people on the site, if not the name, is probably as old as the 4th century, A.D., for inscriptions have been found there in a very old character. One of these, on a rock at the mouth of the little river on which the town stands, was destroyed some 40 or 50 years ago for the accommodation of some wretched bungalow.
The modern Singapore and its prosperity form a monument to the patriotism, sagacity, and fervid spirit of the founder. According to an article in the Geogr. Magazine (i. 107) derived from Mr. Archibald Ritchie, who was present with the expedition which founded the colony, Raffles, after consultation with Lord Hastings, was about to establish a settlement for the protection and encouragement of our Eastern trade, in the Nicobar Islands, when his attention was drawn to the superior advantages of Singapore by Captains Ross and Crawford of the Bombay Marine, who had been engaged in the survey of those seas. Its great adaptation for a mercantile settlement had been discerned by the shrewd, if somewhat vulgar, Scot, Alexander Hamilton, 120 years earlier. It seems hardly possible, we must however observe, to reconcile the details in the article cited, with the letters and facts contained in the Life of Raffles; though probably the latter had, at some time or other, received information from the officers named by Mr. Ritchie.
1551.—"Sed hactenus Deus nobis adsit omnibus. Amen. Anno post Christum natum, MDLI. Ex Freto Syncapurano."—Scti. Franc. Xaverii Epistt. Pragae, 1667, Lib. III. viii.
1553.—"Anciently the most celebrated settlement in this region of Malaca was one called Cingapura, a name which in their tongue means 'pretended halt' (falsa dimora); and this stood upon a point of that country which is the most southerly of all Asia, and lies, according to our graduation, in half a degree of North Latitude ... before the foundation of Malaca, at this same Cingapura ... flocked together all the navigators of the Seas of India from West and East...."—Barros, II. vi. 1. [The same derivation is given in the Comm. of Dalboquerque, Hak. Soc. iii. 73.]
1572.—
"Mas na ponta da terra Cingapura
Verás, onde o caminho as naos se estreita;
Daqui, tornando a costa á Cynosura,
Se incurva, e para a Aurora se endireita."
Camões, x. 125.
By Burton:
"But on her Lands-end throned see Cingapúr,
where the wide sea-road shrinks to narrow way:
Thence curves the coast to face the Cynosure,
and lastly trends Aurora-wards its lay."
1598.—"... by water the coast stretcheth to the Cape of Singapura, and from thence it runneth upwards [inwards] againe...."—Linschoten, 30; [Hak. Soc. i. 101].
1599.—"In this voyage nothing occurred worth relating, except that, after passing the Strait of Sincapura, situated in one degree and a half, between the main land and a variety of islands ... with so narrow a channel that from the ship you could jump ashore, or touch the branches of the trees on either side, our vessel struck on a shoal."—Viaggi di Carletti, ii. 208-9.
1606.—"The 5th May came there 2 Prows from the King of Johore, with the Shahbander (Shabunder) of Singapoera, called Siri Raja Nagara...."—Valentijn, v. 331.
1616.—"Found a Dutch man-of-war, one of a fleet appointed for the siege of Malaca, with the aid of the King of Acheen, at the entrance of the Straits of Singapore."—Sainsbury, i. 458.
1727.—"In anno 1703 I called at Johore on my Way to China, and he treated me very kindly, and made me a Present of the Island of Sincapure, but I told him it could be of no use to a private Person, tho' a proper Place for a Company to settle a Colony in, lying in the Center of Trade, and being accommodated with good Rivers and safe Harbours, so conveniently situated that all Winds served Shipping, both to go out and come in."—A. Hamilton, ii. 98; [ed. 1744, ii. 97].
1818.—"We are now on our way to the eastward, in the hope of doing something, but I much fear the Dutch have hardly left us an inch of ground.... My attention is principally turned to Johore, and you must not be surprised if my next letter to you is dated from the site of the ancient city of Singapura."—Raffles, Letter to Marsden, dated Sandheads, Dec. 12.
SINGARA, s. Hind. singhārā, Skt. sriṇgāttaka, sriṇga, 'a horn.' The caltrop or water-chestnut; Trapa bispinosa, Roxb. (N.O. Haloragaceae).
[1798.—In Kashmīr "many of them ... were obliged to live on the Kernel of the singerah, or water-nut...."—Forster, Travels, ii. 29.
[1809.—Buchanan-Hamilton writes singghara.—Eastern India, i. 241.]
1835.—"Here, as in most other parts of India, the tank is spoiled by the water-chestnut, singhara (Trapa bispinosa), which is everywhere as regularly planted and cultivated in fields under a large surface of water, as wheat or barley is in the dry plains.... The nut grows under the water after the flowers decay, and is of a triangular shape, and covered with a tough brown integument adhering strongly to the kernel, which is wholly esculent, and of a fine cartilaginous texture. The people are very fond of these nuts, and they are carried often upon bullocks' backs two or three hundred miles to market."—Sleeman, Rambles, &c. (1844), i. 101; [ed. Smith, i. 94.]
1839.—"The nuts of the Trapa bispinosa, called Singhara, are sold in all the Bazaars of India; and a species called by the same name, forms a considerable portion of the food of the inhabitants of Cashmere, as we learn from Mr. Forster [loc. cit.] that it yields the Government 12,000l. of revenue; and Mr. Moorcroft mentions nearly the same sum as Runjeet Sing's share, from 96,000 to 128,000 ass-loads of this nut, yielded by the Lake of Oaller."—Royle, Him. Plants, i. 211.
SIPAHSELAR, s. A General-in-chief; Pers. sipāh-sālār, 'army-leader,' the last word being the same as in the title of the late famous Minister-Regent of Hyderabad, Sir Sālār Jang, i.e. 'the leader in war.'
c. 1358.—"At 16 my father took me by the hand, and brought me to his own Monastery. He there addressed me: 'My boy, our ancestors from generation to generation have been commanders of the armies of the Jagtay and the Berlas family. The dignity of (Sepah Salar) Commander-in-Chief has now descended to me, but as I am tired of this world ... I mean therefore to resign my public office...."—Autob. Mem. of Timour, E.T. p. 22.
1712.—"Omnibus illis superior est ... Sipah Salaar, sive Imperator Generalis Regni, Praesidem dignitate excipiens...."—Kaempfer, Amoen. Exot. 73.
1726.—A letter from the Heer Van Maatzuiker "to His Highness Chan Chanaan, Sapperselaar, Grand Duke, and General in Chief of the Great Mogol in Assam, Bengal, &c."—Valentijn, v. 173.
1755.—"After the Sipahsalar Hydur, by his prudence and courage, had defeated the Mahrattas, and recovered the country taken by them, he placed the government of Seringaputtun on a sure and established basis...."—Meer Hussein Ali Khan, H. of Hydur Naik, O. T. F. p. 61.
[c. 1803.—In a collection of native letters, the titles of Lord Lake are given as follows: "Ashja-ul-Mulk Khān Daurān, General Gerard Lake Bahādur, Sipahsalar-i-kishwar-i-Hind," "Valiant of the Kingdom, Lord of the Cycle, Commander-in-chief of the Territories of Hindustan."—North Indian Notes and Queries, iv. 17.]
SIRCAR, s. Hind. from Pers. sar-kār, 'head (of) affairs.' This word has very divers applications; but its senses may fall under three heads.
a. The State, the Government, the Supreme authority; also 'the Master' or head of the domestic government. Thus a servant, if asked 'Whose are those horses?' in replying 'They are the sarkār's,' may mean according to circumstances, that they are Government horses, or that they belong to his own master.
b. In Bengal the word is applied to a domestic servant who is a kind of house-steward, and keeps the accounts of household expenditure, and makes miscellaneous purchases for the family; also, in merchants' offices, to any native accountant or native employed in making purchases, &c.
c. Under the Mahommedan Governments, as in the time of the Mogul Empire, and more recently in the Deccan, the word was applied to certain extensive administrative divisions of territory. In its application in the Deccan it has been in English generally spelt Circar (q.v.).
a.—
1800.—"Would it not be possible and proper to make people pay the circar according to the exchange fixed at Seringapatam?"—Wellington, i. 60.
[1866.—"... the Sirkar Buhadoor gives me four rupees a month...."—Confessions of an Orderly, 43.]b.—
1810.—"The Sircar is a genius whose whole study is to handle money, whether receivable or payable, and who contrives either to confuse accounts, when they are adverse to his view, or to render them most expressively intelligible, when such should suit his purpose."—Williamson, V.M. i. 200.
1822.—"One morning our Sircar, in answer to my having observed that the articles purchased were highly priced, said, 'You are my father and my mother, and I am your poor little child. I have only taken 2 annas in the rupee dustoorie'" (dustoor).—Wanderings of a Pilgrim, i. 21-22.
1834.—"'And how the deuce,' asked his companion, 'do you manage to pay for them?' 'Nothing so easy,—I say to my Sirkar: 'Baboo, go pay for that horse 2000 rupees, and it is done, Sir, as quickly as you could dock him.'"—The Baboo and Other Tales, i. 13.c.—
SIRDAR, s. Hind. from Pers. sardār, and less correctly sirdār, 'leader, a commander, an officer'; a chief, or lord; the head of a set of palankin-bearers, and hence the 'sirdār-bearer,' or elliptically 'the Sirdār,' is in Bengal the style of the valet or body-servant, even when he may have no others under him (see BEARER). [Sirdār is now the official title of the Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian army; Sirdār Bahādur is an Indian military distinction.]
[1675.—"Sardar." See under SEPOY.]
1808.—"I, with great difficulty, knocked up some of the villagers, who were nearly as much afraid as Christie's Will, at the visit of a Sirdār" (here an officer).—Life of Leyden.
[c. 1817.—"... the bearers, with their Sirdaur, have a large room with a verandah before it."—Mrs. Sherwood, Last Days of Boosy, 63.]
1826.—"Gopee's father had been a Sirdar of some consequence."—Pandurang Hari, 174; [ed. 1873, i. 252].
SIRDRÁRS, s. This is the name which native valets (bearer) give to common drawers (underclothing). A friend (Gen. R. Maclagan, R.E.) has suggested the origin, which is doubtless "short drawers" in contradistinction to Long-drawers, or Pyjamas (qq.v.). A common bearer's pronunciation is sirdrāj; as a chest of drawers is also called 'Drāj kā almairā' (see ALMYRA).
SIRKY, s. Hind. sirkī. A kind of unplatted matting formed by laying the fine cylindrical culms from the upper part of the Saccharum sara, Roxb. (see SURKUNDA) side by side, and binding them in single or double layers. This is used to lay under the thatch of a house, to cover carts and palankins, to make Chicks (q.v.) and table-mats, and for many other purposes of rural and domestic economy.
SIRRIS, s. Hind. siris, Skt. shirisha, shri, 'to break,' from the brittleness of its branches; the tree Acacia Lebbek, Benth., indigenous in S. India, the Sātpura range, Bengal, and the sub-Himālayan tract; cultivated in Egypt and elsewhere. A closely kindred sp., A. Julibrissin, Boivin, affords a specimen of scientific 'Hobson-Jobson'; the specific name is a corruption of Gulāb-reshm, 'silk-flower.'
[c. 1890.—
"An' it fell when sirris-shaws were sere,
And the nichts were long and mirk."
R. Kipling, Departmental Ditties, The Fall of Jock Gillespie.]
SISSOO, SHISHAM, s. Hind. sīsū, sīsūn, shīsham, Skt. śinśapā; Ar. sāsam, sāsim; the tree Dalbergia Sissoo, Roxb. (N.O. Leguminosae) and its wood. This is excellent, and valuable for construction, joinery, boat- and carriage-building, and furniture. It was the favourite wood for gun-carriages as long as the supply of large timber lasted. It is now much cultivated in the Punjab plantations. The tree is indigenous in the sub-Himālayan tracts; and believed to be so likewise in Beluchistan, Guzerat, and Central India. Another sp. of Dalbergia (D. latifolia) affords the Black Wood (q.v.) of S. and W. India. There can be little doubt that one or more of these species of Dalbergia afforded the sesamine wood spoken of in the Periplus, and in some old Arabic writers. A quotation under Black Wood shows that this wood was exported from India to Chaldaea in remote ages. Sissoo has continued in recent times to be exported to Egypt, (see Forskal, quoted by Royle, Hindu Medicine, 128). Royle notices the resemblance of the Biblical shittim wood to shīsham.
c. 545.—"These again are passed on from Sielediba to the marts on this side, such as Malé, where the pepper is grown, and Kalliana, whence are exported brass, and shīsham logs (σησαμίνα ξύλα), and other wares."—Cosmas, lib. xi.
? before 1200.—
"There are the wolf and the parrot, and the peacock, and the dove,
And the plant of Zinj, and al-sāsim, and pepper...."
Verses on India by Abu'l-ḍhal'i, the Sindi,
quoted by Kazvīnī, in Gildemeister, p. 218.
1810.—"Sissoo grows in most of the great forests, intermixed with saul.... This wood is extraordinarily hard and heavy, of a dark brown, inclining to a purple tint when polished."—Williamson, V.M. ii. 71.
1839.—"As I rode through the city one day I saw a considerable quantity of timber lying in an obscure street. On examining it I found it was shīsham, a wood of the most valuable kind, being not liable to the attacks of white ants."—Dry Leaves from Young Egypt, ed. 1851, p. 102.
SITTING-UP. A curious custom, in vogue at the Presidency towns more than a century ago, and the nature of which is indicated by the quotations. Was it of Dutch origin?
1780.—"When a young lady arrives at Madras, she must, in a few days afterwards sit up to receive company, attended by some beau or master of the ceremonies, which perhaps continues for a week, or until she has seen all the fair sex, and gentlemen of the settlement."—Munro's Narr., 56.
1795.—"You see how many good reasons there are against your scheme of my taking horse instantly, and hastening to throw myself at the lady's feet; as to the other, of proxy, I can only agree to it under certain conditions.... I am not to be forced to sit up, and receive male or female visitors.... I am not to be obliged to deliver my opinion on patterns for caps or petticoats for any lady...."—T. Munro to his Sister, in Life, i. 169.
1810.—"Among the several justly exploded ceremonies we may reckon that ... of 'Sitting up.'... This 'Sitting up,' as it was termed, generally took place at the house of some lady of rank or fortune, who, for three successive nights, threw open her mansion for the purpose of receiving all ... who chose to pay their respects to such ladies as might have recently arrived in the country."—Williamson, V.M. i. 113.
SITTRINGY, s. Hind. from Ar. shiṭranjī, shaṭranjī, and that from Pers. shaṭrang, 'chess,' which is again of Skt. origin, chaturanga, 'quadripartite' (see SADRAS). A carpet of coloured cotton, now usually made in stripes, but no doubt originally, as the name implies, in chequers.
1673.—"They pull off their Slippers, and after the usual Salams, seat themselves in Choultries, open to some Tank of purling Water; commonly spread with Carpets or Siturngees."—Fryer, 93.
[1688.—"2 citterengees."—In Yule, Hedges' Diary, Hak. Soc. ii. cclxv.]
1785.—"To be sold by public auction ... the valuable effects of Warren Hastings, Esquire ... carpets and sittringees."—In Seton-Karr, i. 111.
SIWALIK, n.p. This is the name now applied distinctively to that outer range of tertiary hills which in various parts of the Himālaya runs parallel to the foot of the mountain region, separated from it by valleys known in Upper India as dūns (see DHOON). But this special and convenient sense (d) has been attributed to the term by modern Anglo-Indian geographers only. Among the older Mahommedan historians the term Siwālikh is applied to a territory to the west of and perhaps embracing the Aravalli Hills, but certainly including specifically Nagore (Nāgaur) and Mandāwar the predecessor of modern Jodhpūr, and in the vicinity of that city. This application is denoted by (a).
In one or two passages we find the application of the name (Siwālikh) extending a good deal further south, as if reaching to the vicinity of Mālwā. Such instances we have grouped under (b). But it is possible that the early application (a) habitually extended thus far.
At a later date the name is applied to the Himālaya; either to the range in its whole extent, as in the passages from Chereffedin (Sharīffuddīn 'Ali of Yezd) and from Baber; sometimes with a possible limitation to that part of the mountains which overlooks the Punjab; or, as the quotation from Rennell indicates, with a distinction between the less lofty region nearest the plains, and the Alpine summits beyond, Siwālik applying to the former only.
The true Indian form of the name is, we doubt not, to be gathered from the occurrence, in a list of Indian national names, in the Vishnu Purāna, of the Saivālas. But of the position of these we can only say that the nations, with whom the context immediately associates them, seem to lie towards the western part of Upper India. (See Wilson's Works, Vishnu Purāna, ii. 175.) The popular derivation of Siwālik as given in several of the quotations below, is from sawalākh, 'One lākh and a quarter'; but this is of no more value than most popular etymologies.
We give numerous quotations to establish the old application of the term, because this has been somewhat confused in Elliot's extracts by the interpolated phrase 'Siwálik Hills,' where it is evident from Raverty's version of the Ṭabaḳāt-i-Nāṣirī that there is no such word as Hills in the original.
We have said that the special application of the term to the detached sub-Himālayan range is quite modern. It seems in fact due to that very eminent investigator in many branches of natural science, Dr. Hugh Falconer; at least we can find no trace of it before the use of the term by him in papers presented to the Asiatic Society of Bengal. It is not previously used, so far as we can discover, even by Royle; nor is it known to Jacquemont, who was intimately associated with Royle and Cautley, at Sahāranpūr, very shortly before Falconer's arrival there. Jacquemont (Journal, ii. 11) calls the range: "la première chaine de montagnes que j'appellerai les montagnes de Dehra." The first occurrence that we can find is in a paper by Falconer on the 'Aptitude of the Himālayan Range for the Culture of the Tea Plant,' in vol. iii. of the J. As. Soc. Bengal, which we quote below. A year later, in the account of the Sivatherium fossil, by Falconer and Cautley, in the As. Researches, we have a fuller explanation of the use of the term Siwālik, and its alleged etymology.
It is probable that there may have been some real legendary connection of the hills in the vicinity with the name of Śiva. For in some of the old maps, such as that in Bernier's Travels, we find Siba given as the name of a province about Hurdwār; and the same name occurs in the same connection in the Mem. of the Emperor Jahāngīr (Elliot, vi. 382). [On the connection of Siva worship with the lower Himālaya, see Atkinson, Himalayan Gazetteer, ii. 743.]
a.—
1192.—"The seat of government, Ajmīr, with the whole of the Siwālikh [territory], such as (?) Hānsi, Sursutī, and other tracts, were subjugated."—Ibid. 468-469.
1227.—"A year subsequent to this, in 624 H., he (Sultan Iyaltimish) marched against the fort of Manḍawar within the limits of the Siwālikh [territory], and its capture, likewise the Almighty God facilitated for him."—Ibid. 611.
c. 1247.—"... When the Sultan of Islam, Nāṣir-ud Dunyā-wa-ud-Dīn, ascended the throne of sovereignty ... after Malik Balban had come [to Court?] he, on several occasions made a request for Uchchah together with Multan. This was acquiesced in, under the understanding that the Siwālikh [territory] and Nāg-awr should be relinquished by him to other Maliks...."—Ibid. 781.
1253.—"When the new year came round, on Tuesday, the 1st of the month of Muḥarram, 651 H., command was given to Ulugh Khān-i-A'z̤am ... to proceed to his fiefs, the territory of Siwālikh and Hānsī."—Ibid. 693.
1257.—"Malik Balban ... withdrew (from Dehli), and by way of the Siwālikh [country], and with a slight retinue, less than 200 or 300 in number, returned to Uchchah again."—Ibid. 786.
1255.—"When the royal tent was pitched at Talh-pat, the [contingent] forces of the Siwālikh [districts], which were the fiefs of Ulugh Khān-i-A'z̤am, had been delayed ... (he) set out for Hānsī ... (and there) issued his mandate, so that, in the space of 14 days, the troops of the Siwālikh, Hānsī, Sursutī, Jīnd [Jhīnd], and Barwālah ... assembled...."—Ibid. 837.
1260.—"Ulugh Khān-i-A'z̤am resolved upon making a raid upon the Koh-pāyah [hill tracts of Mewāt] round about the capital, because in this ... there was a community of obdurate rebels, who, unceasingly, committed highway robbery, and plundered the property of Musalmāns ... and destruction of the villages in the districts of Harīānah, the Siwālikh, and Bhīānah, necessarily followed their outbreaks."—Ibid. 850.
1300-10.—"The Mughals having wasted the Siwálik, had moved some distance off. When they and their horses returned weary and thirsty to the river, the army of Islám, which had been waiting for them some days, caught them as they expected...."—Ziā-uddīn Barnī, in Elliot, iii. 199.b.—
c.—
1528.—"The northern range of hills has been mentioned ... after leaving Kashmîr, these hills contain innumerable tribes and states, pergannahs and countries, and extend all the way to Bengal and the shores of the Great Ocean.... The chief trade of the inhabitants of these hills is in musk-bags, the tails of the mountain cow, saffron, lead, and copper. The natives of Hind call these hills Sewâlik-Parbat. In the language of Hind Sawalâk means a lak and a quarter (or 125,000), and Parbat means a hill, that is, the 125,000 hills. On these hills the snow never melts, and from some parts of Hindustán, such as Lahore, Sehrend, and Sambal, it is seen white on them all the year round."—Baber, p. 313.
c. 1545.—"Sher Sháh's dying regrets.
"On being remonstrated with for giving way to low spirits, when he had done so much for the good of the people during his short reign, after earnest solicitation, he said, 'I have had three or four desires on my heart, which still remain without accomplishment.... One is, I wished to have depopulated the country of Roh, and to have transferred its inhabitants to the tract between the Niláb and Lahore, including the hills below Nindūna as far as the Siwálik.'"—Táríkh-Khán Jahán Lodí, in Elliot, v. 107-8. Nindūna was on Balnāth, a hill over the Jelam (compare Elliot, ii. 450-1).
c. 1547-8.—"After their defeat the Níázís took refuge with the Ghakkars, in the hill-country bordering on Kashmír. Islám Sháh ... during the space of two years was engaged in constant conflicts with the Ghakkars, whom he desired to subdue.... Skirting the hills he went thence to Múrín (?), and all the Rájás of the Siwálik presented themselves.... Parsurám, the Rájá of Gwálior, became a staunch servant of the King ... Gwálior is a hill, which is on the right hand towards the South, amongst the hills, as you go to Kángra and Nagarkot." (See NUGGURCOTE).—Táríkh-i-Dáúdí, in Elliot, iv. 493-4.
c. 1555.—"The Imperial forces encountered the Afghans near the Siwálik mountains, and gained a victory which elicited gracious marks of approval from the Emperor. Sikandar took refuge in the mountains and jungles.... Rájá Rám Chand, Rájá of Nagarkot, was the most renowned of all the Rájás of the hills, and he came and made his submission."—Ṭabaḳát-i-Akbarí, in Elliot, v. 248.
c. 1560.—"The Emperor (Akbar) then marched onwards towards the Siwálik hills, in pursuit of the Khán-Khánán. He reached the neighbourhood of Talwára, a district in the Siwálik, belonging to Rájá Gobind Chand.... A party of adventurous soldiers dashed forward into the hills, and surrounding the place put many of the defenders to the sword."—Ibid. 267.
c. 1570.—"Husain Khán ... set forth from Lucknow with the design of breaking down the idols, and demolishing the idol temples. For false reports of their unbounded treasures had come to his ears. He proceeded through Oudh, towards the Siwálik hills.... He then ravaged the whole country, as far as the Kasbah of Wajráíl, in the country of Rájá Ranka, a powerful zamíndár, and from that town to Ajmír which is his capital."—Badáúni, in Elliot, iv. 497.
1594-5.—"The force marched to the Siwálik hills, and the Bakhshí resolved to begin by attacking Jammú, one of the strongest forts of that country."—Akbar Náma, in Elliot, v. 125.
c. " "Rám Deo ... returned to Kanauj ... after that he marched into the Siwálik hills, and made all the zamíndárs tributary. The Rájá of Kamáún ... came out against Rám Deo and gave him battle."—Firishta's Introduction, in Elliot, vi. 561.
1793.—"Mr. Daniel, with a party, also visited Sirinagur the same year [1789]: ... It is situated in an exceedingly deep and very narrow valley; formed by Mount Sewalick,[12] the northern boundary of Hindoostan, on the one side; and the vast range of snowy mountains of Himmaleh or Imaus, on the other; and from the report of the natives, it would appear, that the nearest part of the base of the latter (on which snow was actually falling in the month of May), was not more than 14 or 15 G. miles in direct distance to the N. or N.E. of Sirinagur town.
"In crossing the mountains of Sewalick, they met with vegetable productions, proper to the temperate climates."—Rennell's Mem., ed. 1793, pp. [368-369].d.—
1835.—"We have named the fossil Sivatherium from Siva the Hindu god, and θηρίον, bellua. The Siválik, or Sub-Himalayan range of hills, is considered, in the Hindu mythology, as the Lútiah or edge of the roof of Siva's dwelling on the Himálaya, and hence they are called the Siva-ala or Sib-ala, which by an easy transition of sound became the Sewálik of the English.
"The fossil has been discovered in a tract which may be included in the Sewálik range, and we have given the name of Sivatherium to it, to commemorate the remarkable formation, so rich in new animals. Another derivation of the name of the hills, as explained by the Mahant, or High Priest at Dehra, is as follows:—
"Sewálik, a corruption of Siva-wála, a name given to the tract of mountains between the Jumna and Ganges, from having been the residence of Iswara Siva and his son Ganes."—Falconer and Cautley, in As. Res., xix. p. 2.
1879.—"These fringing ranges of the later formations are known generally as the Sub-Himalayas. The most important being the Siwálik hills, a term especially applied to the hills south of the Deyra Dún, but frequently employed in a wider sense."—Medlicott and Blanford, Man. of the Geology of India, Intro. p. x.
[1899.—Even so late as this year the old inaccurate etymology of the word appears: "The term Shewalic is stated by one of the native historians to be a combination of two Hindee words 'sewa' and 'lae' (sic), the word 'sewa' signifying one and a quarter, and the word 'lae' being the term which expresses the number of one hundred thousand."—Thornhill, Haunts and Hobbies, 213.]
SKEEN, s. Tib. skyin. The Himalayan Ibex; (Capra Sibirica, Meyer). [See Blanford, Mammalia, 503.]
SLAVE. We cannot now attempt a history of the former tenure of slaves in British India, which would be a considerable work in itself. We only gather a few quotations illustrating that history.
1682.—"... making also proclamation by beat of drum that if any Slave would run away from us he should be free, and liberty to go where they pleased."—Hedges, Diary, Oct. 14; [Hak. Soc. i. 38].
[" "There being a great number of Slaves yearly exported from this place, to ye great grievance of many persons whose Children are very commonly stollen away from them, by those who are constant traders in this way, the Agent, &c., considering the Scandall that might accrue to ye Government, &c., the great losse that many parents may undergoe by such actions, have order'd that noe more Slaves be sent off the shoare again."—Pringle, Diary, Ft. St. Geo., 1st ser. i. 70.]
1752.—"Sale of Slaves ... Rs. 10 : 1 : 3."—Among Items of Revenue. In Long, 34.
1637.—"We have taken into consideration the most effectual and speedy method for supplying our settlements upon the West Coast with slaves, and we have therefore fixed upon two ships for that purpose ... to proceed from hence to Madagascar to purchase as many as can be procured, and the said ships conveniently carry, who are to be delivered by the captains of those ships to our agents at Fort Marlborough at the rate of £15 a head."—Court's Letter of Dec. 8. In Long, 293.
1764.—"That as an inducement to the Commanders and Chief Mates to exert themselves in procuring as large a number of Slaves as the Ships can conveniently carry, and to encourage the Surgeons to take proper care of them in the passage, there is to be allowed 20 shillings for every slave shipped at Madagascar, to be divided, viz., 13s. 4d. a head to the Commander, and 6s. 8d. to the Chief Mate, also for every one delivered at Fort Marlborough the Commander is to be allowed the further sum of 6s. 8d. and the Chief Mate 3s. 4d. The Surgeon is likewise to be allowed 10s. for each slave landed at Fort Marlborough."—Court's Letter, Feb. 22. In Long, 366.
1778.—Mr. Busteed has given some curious extracts from the charge-sheet of the Calcutta Magistrate in this year, showing slaves and slave-girls, of Europeans, Portuguese, and Armenians, sent to the magistrate to be punished with the rattan for running away and such offences.—Echoes of Old Calcutta, 117 seqq. [Also see extracts from newspapers, &c., in Carey, Good Old Days, ii. 71 seqq.].
1782.—"On Monday the 29th inst. will be sold by auction ... a bay Buggy Horse, a Buggy and Harness ... some cut Diamonds, a quantity of China Sugarcandy ... a quantity of the best Danish Claret ... deliverable at Serampore; two Slave Girls about 6 years old; and a great variety of other articles."—India Gazette, July 27.
1785.—"Malver. Hair-dresser from Europe, proposes himself to the ladies of the settlement to dress hair daily, at two gold mohurs per month, in the latest fashion, with gauze flowers, &c. He will also instruct the slaves at a moderate price."—In Seton-Karr, i. 119. This was surely a piece of slang. Though we hear occasionally, in the advertisements of the time, of slave boys and girls, the domestic servants were not usually of that description.
1794.—"50 Rupees Reward for Discovery.
"Run off about four Weeks ago from a Gentleman in Bombay, A Malay Slave called Cambing or Rambing. He stole a Silk Purse, with 45 Venetians, and some Silver Buttons...."—Bombay Courier, Feb. 22.
SLING, SELING, n.p. This is the name used in the Himalayan regions for a certain mart in the direction of China which supplies various articles of trade. Its occurrence in Trade Returns at one time caused some discussion as to its identity, but there can be no doubt that it is Si-ning (Fu) in Kan-su. The name Sling is also applied, in Ladak and the Punjab, to a stuff of goat's wool made at the place so called.
1774.—"The natives of Kashmir, who like the Jews of Europe, or the Armenians in the Turkish Empire, scatter themselves over the Eastern kingdoms of Asia ... have formed extensive establishments at Lhasa and all the principal towns in the country. Their agents, stationed on the coast of Coromandel, in Bengal, Benares, Nepal, and Kashmir, furnish them with the commodities of these different countries, which they dispose of in Tibet, or forward to their associates at Seling, a town on the borders of China."—Bogle's Narrative, in Markham's Tibet, 124.
1793.—"... it is certain that the product of their looms (i.e. of Tibet and Nepaul) is as inconsiderable in quantity as it is insignificant in quality. The Joos (read TOOS) or flannel procured from the former, were it really a fabric of Tibet, would perhaps be admitted as an exception to the latter part of this observation; but the fact is that it is made at Siling, a place situated on the western borders of China."—Kirkpatrick's Acc. of Nepaul (1811), p. 134.
1854.—"List of Chinese Articles brought to India.... Siling, a soft and silky woollen of two kinds—1. Shirún. 2. Gorún."—Cunningham's Ladak, 241-2.
1862.—"Sling is a 'Pushmina' (fine wool) cloth, manufactured of goat-wool, taken from Karashaihr and Urumchi, and other districts of Turkish China, in a Chinese town called Sling."—Punjab Trade Report, App. p. ccxxix.
1871.—"There were two Calmucks at Yârkand, who had belonged to the suite of the Chinese Ambân.... Their own home they say is Zilm" (qu. Zilin?) "a country and town distant 1½ month's journey from either Aksoo or Khoten, and at an equal distance in point of time from Lhassa.... Zilm possesses manufactures of carpets, horse-trappings, pen-holders, &c.... This account is confirmed by the fact that articles such as those described are imported occasionally into Ladák, under the name of Zilm or Zirm goods.
"Now if the town of Zilm is six weeks journey from either Lhassa or Aksoo, its position may be guessed at."—Shaw, Visits to High Tartary, 38.
SLOTH, s. In the usual way of transferring names which belong to other regions, this name is sometimes applied in S. India to the Lemur (Loris gracilis, Jerdon).
SNAKE-STONE, s. This is a term applied to a substance, the application of which to the part where a snake-bite has taken effect, is supposed to draw out the poison and render it innocuous. Such applications are made in various parts of the Old and New Worlds. The substances which have this reputation are usually of a porous kind, and when they have been chemically examined have proved to be made of charred bone, or the like. There is an article in the 13th vol. of the Asiatic Researches by Dr. J. Davy, entitled An Analysis of the Snake-Stone, in which the results of the examination of three different kinds, all obtained from Sir Alex. Johnstone, Chief Justice of Ceylon, is given. (1) The first kind was of round or oval form, black or brown in the middle, white towards the circumference, polished and somewhat lustrous, and pretty enough to be sometimes worn as a neck ornament; easily cut with a knife, but not scratched by the nail. When breathed on it emitted an earthy smell, and when applied to the tongue, or other moist surface, it adhered firmly. This kind proved to be of bone partially calcined. (2) We give below a quotation regarding the second kind. (3) The third was apparently a bezoar, (q.v.), rather than a snake-stone. There is another article in the As. Res. xvi. 382 seqq. by Captain J. D. Herbert, on Zehr Mohereh, or Snake-Stone. Two kinds are described which were sold under the name given (Zahr muhra, where zahr is 'poison,' muhra, 'a kind of polished shell,' 'a bead,' applied to a species of bezoar). Both of these were mineral, and not of the class we are treating of.
1673.—"Here are also those Elephant Legged St. Thomeans, which the unbiassed Enquirers will tell you chances to them two ways: By the Venom of a certain Snake, by which the Jaugies (see JOGEE) or Pilgrims furnish them with a Factitious Stone (which we call a snake-stone), and is a Counter-poyson of all deadly Bites; if it stick, it attracts the Poyson; and put into Milk it recovers itself again, leaving its virulency therein, discovered by its Greenness."—Fryer, 53.
c. 1676.—"There is the Serpent's stone not to be forgot, about the bigness of a double (doubloon?); and some are almost oval, thick in the middle and thin about the sides. The Indians report that it is bred in the head of certain Serpents. But I rather take it to be a story of the Idoloter's Priests, and that the Stone is rather a composition of certain Drugs.... If the Person bit be not much wounded, the place must be incis'd; and the Stone being appli'd thereto, will not fall off till it has drawn all the poison to it: To cleanse it you must steep it in Womans-milk, or for want of that, in Cows-milk.... There are two ways to try whether the Serpent-stone be true or false. The first is, by putting the Stone in your mouth, for there it will give a leap, and fix to the Palate. The other is by putting it in a glass full of water; for if the Stone be true, the water will fall a boyling, and rise in little bubbles...."—Tavernier, E.T., Pt. ii. 155; [ed. Ball, ii. 152]. Tavernier also speaks of another snake-stone alleged to be found behind the hood of the Cobra: "This Stone being rubb'd against another Stone, yields a slime, which being drank in water," &c. &c.—Ibid.
1690.—"The thing which he carried ... is a Specific against the Poison of Snakes ... and therefore obtained the name of Snake-stone. It is a small artificial Stone.... The Composition of it is Ashes of burnt Roots, mixt with a kind of Earth, which is found at Diu...."—Ovington, 260-261.
1712.—"Pedra de Cobra: ita dictus lapis, vocabulo a Lusitanis imposito, adversus viperarum morsus praestat auxilium, externè applicatus. In serpente, quod vulgò credunt, non invenitur, sed arte secretâ fabricatur à Brahmanis. Pro dextro et felici usu, oportet adesse geminos, ut cum primus veneno saturatus vulnusculo decidit, alter surrogari illico in locum possit.... Quo ipso feror, ut istis lapidibus nihil efficaciæ inesse credam, nisi quam actuali frigiditate suâ, vel absorbendo praestant."—Kaempfer, Amoen. Exot. 395-7.
1772.—"Being returned to Roode-Zand, the much celebrated Snake-stone (Slange-steen) was shown to me, which few of the farmers here could afford to purchase, it being sold at a high price, and held in great esteem. It is imported from the Indies, especially from Malabar, and cost several, frequently 10 or 12, rix dollars. It is round, and convex on one side, of a black colour, with a pale ash-grey speck in the middle, and tubulated with very minute pores.... When it is applied to any part that has been bitten by a serpent, it sticks fast to the wound, and extracts the poison; as soon as it is saturated, it falls off of itself...."—Thunberg, Travels, E.T. i. 155 (A Journey into Caffraria).
1796.—"Of the remedies to which cures of venomous bites are often ascribed in India, some are certainly not less frivolous than those employed in Europe for the bite of the viper; yet to infer from thence that the effects of the poison cannot be very dangerous, would not be more rational than to ascribe the recovery of a person bitten by a Cobra de Capello, to the application of a snake-stone, or to the words muttered over the patient by a Bramin."—Patrick Russell, Account of Indian Serpents, 77.
1820.—"Another kind of snake-stone ... was a small oval body, smooth and shining, externally black, internally grey; it had no earthy smell when breathed on, and had no absorbent or adhesive power. By the person who presented it to Sir Alexander Johnstone it was much valued, and for adequate reason if true, 'it had saved the lives of four men.'"—Dr. Davy, in As. Res. xiii. 318.
1860.—"The use of the Pamboo-Kaloo, or snake-stone, as a remedy in cases of wounds by venomous serpents, has probably been communicated to the Singhalese by the itinerant snake-charmers who resort to the island from the Coast of Coromandel; and more than one well-authenticated instance of its successful application has been told to me by persons who had been eye-witnesses."... (These follow.) "... As to the snake-stone itself, I submitted one, the application of which I have been describing, to Mr. Faraday, and he has communicated to me, as the result of his analysis, his belief that it is 'a piece of charred bone which has been filled with blood, perhaps several times, and then charred again.'... The probability is, that the animal charcoal, when instantaneously applied, may be sufficiently porous and absorbent to extract the venom from the recent wound, together with a portion of the blood, before it has had time to be carried into the system...."—Tennent, Ceylon, i. 197-200.
1861.—"'Have you been bitten?' 'Yes, Sahib,' he replied, calmly; 'the last snake was a vicious one, and it has bitten me. But there is no danger,' he added, extracting from the recesses of his mysterious bag a small piece of white stone. This he wetted, and applied to the wound, to which it seemed to adhere ... he apparently suffered no ... material hurt. I was thus effectually convinced that snake-charming is a real art, and not merely clever conjuring, as I had previously imagined. These so-called snake stones are well known throughout India."—Lt.-Col. T. Lewin, A Fly on the Wheel, 91-92.
1872.—"With reference to the snake-stones, which, when applied to the bites, are said to absorb and suck out the poison, ... I have only to say that I believe they are perfectly powerless to produce any such effect ... when we reflect on the quantity of poison, and the force and depth with and to which it is injected ... and the extreme rapidity with which it is hurried along in the vascular system to the nerve centres, I think it is obvious that the application of one of these stones can be of little use in a real bite of a deadly snake, and that a belief in their efficacy is a dangerous delusion."—Fayrer, Thanatophidia of India, pp. 38, 40.
[1880.—"It is stated that in the pouch-like throat appendages of the older birds (adjutants), the fang of a snake is sometimes to be found. This, if rubbed above the place where a poisonous snake has bitten a man, is supposed to prevent the venom spreading to the vital parts of the body. Again, it is believed that a so-called 'snake-stone' is contained within the head of the adjutant. This, if applied to a snake-bite, attaches itself to the punctures, and extracts all the venom...."—Ball, Jungle Life, 82.]
SNEAKER, s. A large cup (or small basin) with a saucer and cover. The native servants call it sīnīgar. We had guessed that it was perhaps formed in some way from ṣīnī in the sense of 'china-ware,' or from the same word, used in Ar. and Pers., in the sense of 'a salver' (see CHINA, s.). But we have since seen that the word is not only in Grose's Lexicon Balatronicum, with the explanation 'a small bowl,' but is also in Todd: 'A small vessel of drink.' A sneaker of punch is a term still used in several places for a small bowl; and in fact it occurs in the Spectator and other works of the 18th century. So the word is of genuine English origin; no doubt of a semi-slang kind.
"Past 2 o'clock and
a frosty morning.
"Dear Jack,
"I have just left the Right Worshipful and his myrmidons about a sneaker of 5 gallons. The whole magistracy was pretty well disguised before I gave them the slip."The Spectator, No. 616.
1715.—
"Hugh Peters is making
A sneaker within
For Luther, Buchanan,
John Knox, and Calvin;
And when they have toss'd off
A brace of full bowls,
You'll swear you ne'er met
With honester souls."
Bp. Burnett's Descent into Hell.
In Political Ballads of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Annotated by W. W. Wilkins, 1860, ii. 172.
1743.—"Wild ... then retired to his seat of contemplation, a night-cellar, where, without a single farthing in his pocket, he called for a sneaker of punch, and placing himself on a bench by himself, he softly vented the following soliloquy."—Fielding, Jonathan Wild, Bk. ii. ch. iv.
1772.—"He received us with great cordiality, and entreated us all, five in number, to be seated in a bungalow, where there were only two broken chairs. This compliment we could not accept of; he then ordered five sneakers of a mixture which he denominated punch."—Letter in Forbes, Or. Mem. iv. 217.
[SNOW RUPEE, s. A term in use in S. India, which is an excellent example of a corruption of the 'Hobson-Jobson' type. It is an Anglo-Indian corruption of the Tel. tsanauvu, 'authority, currency.']
SOFALA, n.p. Ar. Sufāla, a district and town of the East African coast, the most remote settlement towards the south made upon that coast by the Arabs. The town is in S. Lat. 20° 10′, more that 2° south of the Zambesi delta. The territory was famous in old days for the gold produced in the interior, and also for iron. It was not visited by V. da Gama either in going or returning.
c. 1220.—"Sofāla is the most remote known city in the country of the Zenj ... wares are carried to them, and left by the merchants who then go away, and coming again find that the natives have laid down the price [they are willing to give] for every article beside it.... Sofālī gold is well-known among the Zenj merchants."—Yāḳūt, Mu'jam al-Buldān, s.v.
In his article on the gold country, Yāḳūt describes the kind of dumb trade in which the natives decline to come face to face with the merchants at greater length. It is a practice that has been ascribed to a great variety of uncivilized races; e.g. in various parts of Africa; in the extreme north of Europe and of Asia; in the Clove Islands; to the Veddas of Ceylon, to the Poliars of Malabar, and (by Pliny, surely under some mistake) to the Seres or Chinese. See on this subject a note in Marco Polo, Bk. iv. ch. 21; a note by Mr. De B. Priaulx, in J. R. As. Soc., xviii. 348 (in which several references are erroneously printed); Tennent's Ceylon, i. 593 seqq.; Rawlinson's Herodotus, under Bk. iv. ch. 196.
c. 1330.—"Sofāla is situated in the country of the Zenj. According to the author of the Kánún, the inhabitants are Muslim. Ibn Ṡayd says that their chief means of subsistence are the extraction of gold and of iron, and that their clothes are of leopard-skin."—Abulfeda, Fr. Tr. i. 222.
" "A merchant told me that the town of Sofāla is a half month's march distant from Culua (Quiloa), and that from Sofāla to Yūfī (Nūfī) ... is a month's march. From Yūfī they bring gold-dust to Sofāla."—Ibn Batuta, ii. 192-3.
1499.—"Coming to Mozambique (i.e. Vasco and his squadron on their return) they did not desire to go in because there was no need, so they kept their course, and being off the coast of Çofala, the pilots warned the officers that they should be alert and ready to strike sail, and at night they should keep their course, with little sail set, and a good look-out, for just thereabouts there was a river belonging to a place called Çofala, whence there sometimes issued a tremendous squall, which tore up trees and carried cattle and all into the sea...."—Correa, Lendas, i. 134-135.
1516.—"... at xviii. leagues from them there is a river, which is not very large, whereon is a town of the Moors called Sofala, close to which town the King of Portugal has a fort. These Moors established themselves there a long time ago on account of the great trade in gold, which they carry on with the Gentiles of the mainland."—Barbosa, 4.
1523.—"Item—that as regards all the ships and goods of the said Realm of Urmuz, and its ports and vassals, they shall be secure by land and by sea, and they shall be as free to navigate where they please as vassals of the King our lord, save only that they shall not navigate inside the Strait of Mecca, nor yet to Çoffala and the ports of that coast, as that is forbidden by the King our lord...."—Treaty of Dom Duarto de Menezes, with the King of Ormuz, in Botelho, Tombo, 80.
1553.—"Vasco da Gama ... was afraid that there was some gulf running far inland, from which he would not be able to get out. And this apprehension made him so careful to keep well from the shore that he passed without even seeing the town of Çofala, so famous in these parts for the quantity of gold which the Moors procured there from the Blacks of the country by trade...."—Barros, I. iv. 3.
1572.—
"... Fizemos desta costa algum desvio
Deitando para o pégo toda a armada:
Porque, ventando Noto manso e frio,
Não nos apanhasse a agua da enseada,
Que a costa faz alli daquella banda,
Donde a rica Sofala o ouro manda."
Camões, v. 73.
By Burton:
"off from the coast-line for a spell we stood,
till deep blue water 'neath our kelsons lay;
for frigid Notus, in his fainty mood,
was fain to drive us leewards to the Bay
made in that quarter by the crookèd shore,
whence rich Sofála sendeth golden ore."
1665.—
"Mombaza and Quiloa and Melind,
And Sofala, thought Ophir, to the realm
Of Congo, and Angola farthest south."
Paradise Lost, xi. 399 seqq.
Milton, it may be noticed, misplaces the accent, reading Sófala.
1727.—"Between Delagoa and Mosambique is a dangerous Sea-coast, it was formerly known by the names of Suffola and Cuama, but now by the Portuguese, who know that country best, is called Sena."—A. Hamilton, i. 8 [ed. 1744].
SOLA, vulg. SOLAR, s. This is properly Hind. sholā, corrupted by the Bengālī inability to utter the shibboleth, to solā, and often again into solar by English people, led astray by the usual "striving after meaning." Sholā is the name of the plant Aeschynomene aspera, L. (N.O. Leguminosae), and is particularly applied to the light pith of that plant, from which the light thick Sola topees, or pith hats, are made. The material is also used to pad the roofs of palankins, as a protection against the sun's power, and for various minor purposes, e.g. for slips of tinder, for making models, &c. The word, until its wide diffusion within the last 45 years, was peculiar to the Bengal Presidency. In the Deccan the thing is called bhenḍ, Mahr. bhenḍa, and in Tamil neṭṭi, ['breaking with a crackle.'] Solar hats are now often advertised in London. [Hats made of elder pith were used in S. Europe in the early 16th century. In Albert Dürer's Diary in the Netherlands (1520-21) we find: "Also Tomasin has given me a plaited hat of elder-pith" (Mrs. Heaton, Life of Albrecht Dürer, 269). Miss Eden, in 1839, speaks of Europeans wearing "broad white feather hats to keep off the sun" (Up the Country, ii. 56). Illustrations of the various shapes of Sola hats used in Bengal about 1854 will be found in Grant, Rural Life in Bengal, 105 seq.]
1872.—"In a moment the flint gave out a spark of fire, which fell into the solá; the sulphur match was applied; and an earthen lamp...."—Govinda Samanta, i. 10.
1878.—"My solar topee (pith hat) was whisked away during the struggle."—Life in the Mofussil, i. 164.
1885.—"I have slipped a pair of galoshes over my ordinary walking-boots; and, with my solar topee (or sun helmet) on, have ridden through a mile of deserted streets and thronged bazaars, in a grilling sunshine."—A Professional Visit in Persia, St. James's Gazette, March 9.
[SOMBA, SOMBAY, s. A present. Malay sambah-an.
SOMBRERO, s. Port. sumbreiro. In England we now understand by this word a broad-brimmed hat; but in older writers it is used for an umbrella. Summerhead is a name in the Bombay Arsenal (as M.-Gen. Keatinge tells me) for a great umbrella. I make no doubt that it is a corruption (by 'striving after meaning') of Sombreiro, and it is a capital example of Hobson-Jobson.
1516.—"And besides the page I speak of who carries the sword, they take another page who carries a sombreiro with a stand to shade his master, and keep the rain off him; and some of these are of silk stuff finely wrought, with many fringes of gold, and set with stones and seed pearl...."—Barbosa, Lisbon ed. 298.
1553.—"At this time Dom Jorge discerned a great body of men coming towards where he was standing, and amid them a sombreiro on a lofty staff, covering the head of a man on horseback, by which token he knew it to be some noble person. This sombreiro is a fashion in India coming from China, and among the Chinese no one may use it but a gentleman, for it is a token of nobility, which we may describe as a one-handed pallium (having regard to those which we use to see carried by four, at the reception of some great King or Prince on his entrance into a city)...."—Barros, III. x. 9. Then follows a minute description of the sombreiro or umbrella.
[1599.—"... a great broad sombrero or shadow in their hands to defend them in the Summer from the Sunne, and in the Winter from the Raine."—Hakl. II. i. 261 (Stanf. Dict.).
[1602.—In his character of D. Pedro Mascarenhas, the Viceroy, Couto says he was anxious to change certain habits of the Portuguese in India: "One of these was to forbid the tall sombreiros for warding off the rain and sun, to relieve men of the expence of paying those who carried them; he himself did not have one, but used a woollen umbrella with small cords (?), which they called for many years Mascarenhas. Afterwards finding the sun intolerable and the rain immoderate, he permitted the use of tall umbrellas, on the condition that private slaves should bear them, to save the wages of the Hindus who carry them, and are called boys de sombreiro (see BOY)."—Couto, Dec. VII. Bk. i. ch. 12.]
c. 1630.—"Betwixt towns men usually travel in Chariots drawn by Oxen, but in Towns upon Palamkeens, and with Sombreros de Sol over them."—Sir T. Herbert, ed. 1665, p. 46.
1657.—"A costé du cheval il y a un homme qui esvente Wistnou, afin qu'il ne reçoive point d'incommodité soit par les mouches, ou par la chaleur; et à chaque costé on porte deux Zombreiros, afin que le Soleil ne luise pas sur luy...."—Abr. Roger, Fr. Tr. ed. 1670, p. 223.
1673.—"None but the Emperor have a Sumbrero among the Moguls."—Fryer, 36.
1727.—"The Portuguese ladies ... sent to beg the Favour that he would pick them out some lusty Dutch men to carry their Palenqueens and Somereras or Umbrellas."—A. Hamilton, i. 338; [ed. 1744, i. 340].
1768-71.—"Close behind it, followed the heir-apparent, on foot, under a sambreel, or sunshade, of state."—Stavorinus, E.T. i. 87.
[1845.—"No open umbrellas or summer-heads allowed to pass through the gates."—Public Notice on Gates of Bombay Town, in Douglas, Glimpses of Old Bombay, 86.]
SOMBRERO, CHANNEL OF THE, n.p. The channel between the northern part of the Nicobar group, and the southern part embracing the Great and Little Nicobar, has had this name since the early Portuguese days. The origin of the name is given by A. Hamilton below. The indications in C. Federici and Hamilton are probably not accurate. They do not agree with those given by Horsburgh.
1727.—"The Islands off this Part of the Coast are the Nicobars.... The northernmost Cluster is low, and are called the Carnicubars.... The middle Cluster is fine champain Ground, and all but one, well inhabited. They are called the Somerera Islands, because on the South End of the largest Island, is an Hill that resembleth the top of an Umbrella or Somerera."—A. Hamilton, ii. 68 [ed. 1744].
1843.—"Sombrero Channel, bounded on the north by the Islands of Katchull and Noncowry, and by Merve or Passage Island on the South side, is very safe and about seven leagues wide."—Horsburgh, ed. 1843, ii. 59-60.
SONAPARANTA, n.p. This is a quasi-classical name, of Indian origin, used by the Burmese Court in State documents and formal enumerations of the style of the King, to indicate the central part of his dominions; Skt. Suvarna (Pali Sona) prānta (or perhaps aparānta), 'golden frontier-land,' or something like that. There can be little doubt that it is a survival of the names which gave origin to the Chrysē of the Greeks. And it is notable, that the same series of titles embraces Tambadīpa ('Copper Island' or Region) which is also represented by the Chalcitis of Ptolemy. [Also see J. G. Scott, Upper Burma Gazetteer, i. pt. i. 103.]
1636.—"All comprised within the great districts ... of Tsa-Koo, Tsa-lan, Laygain, Phoung-len, Kalé, and Thoung-thwot is constituted the Kingdom of Thuna-paranta. All within the great districts of Pagán, Ava, Penya, and Myen-Zain, is constituted the Kingdom of Tampadewa...." (&c.)—From an Inscription at the Great Pagoda of Khoug-Mhoo-dau, near Ava; from the MS. Journal of Major H. Burney, accompanying a Letter from him, dated 11th September, 1830, in the Foreign Office, Calcutta. Burney adds: "The Ministers told me that by Thunaparanta they mean all the countries to the northward of Ava, and by Tampadewa all to the southward. But this inscription shows that the Ministers themselves do not exactly understand what countries are comprised in Thunaparanta and Tāmpadewa."
1767.—"The King despotick; of great Merit, of great Power, Lord of the Countries Thonaprondah, Tompdevah, and Camboja, Sovereign of the Kingdom of Buraghmagh (Burma), the Kingdom of Siam and Hughen (?), and the Kingdom of Cassay."—Letter from the King of Burma, in Dalrymple, Or. Rep. i. 106.
1795.—"The Lord of Earth and Air, the Monarch of extensive Countries, the Sovereign of the Kingdoms of Sonahparindá, Tombadeva ... etc...."—Letter from the King to Sir John Shore, in Symes, 487.
1855.—"His great, glorious and most excellent Majesty, who reigns over the Kingdoms of Thunaparanta, Tampadeeva, and all the great umbrella-wearing chiefs of the Eastern countries, the King of the Rising Sun, Lord of the Celestial Elephants, and Master of many white Elephants, and great Chief of Righteousness...."—King's Letter to the Governor-General (Lord Dalhousie), Oct. 2, 1855.
SONTHALS, n.p. Properly Santāls, [the name being said to come from a place called Saont, now Silda in Mednipur, where the tribe remained for a long time (Dalton, Descr. Eth. 210-11)]. The name of a non-Aryan people belonging to the Kolarian class, extensively settled in the hilly country to the west of the Hoogly R. and to the south of Bhāgalpur, from which they extended to Balasore at interval, sometimes in considerable masses, but more generally much scattered. The territory in which they are chiefly settled is now formed into a separate district called Santāl Parganas, and sometimes Santalia. Their settlement in this tract is, however, quite modern; they have emigrated thither from the S.W. In Dr. F. Buchanan's statistical account of Bhāgalpur and its Hill people the Santāls are not mentioned. The earliest mention of this tribe that we have found is in Mr. Sutherland's Report on the Hill People, which is printed in the Appendix to Long. No date is given there, but we learn from Mr. Man's book, quoted below, that the date is 1817. [The word is, however, much older than this. Forbes (Or. Mem. ii. 374 seq.) gives an account taken from Lord Teignmouth of witch tests among the Soontaar.
1817.—"For several years many of the industrious tribes called Sonthurs have established themselves in these forests, and have been clearing and bringing into cultivation large tracts of lands...."—Sutherland's Report, quoted in Long, 569.
1867.—"This system, indicated and proposed by Mr. Eden,[13] was carried out in its integrity under Mr. George Yule, C.B., by whose able management, with Messrs. Robinson and Wood as his deputies, the Sonthals were raised from misery, dull despair, and deadly hatred of the government, to a pitch of prosperity which, to my knowledge, has never been equalled in any other part of India under the British rule. The Regulation Courts, with their horde of leeches in the shape of badly paid, and corrupt Amlah (Omlah) and pettifogging Mooktears, were abolished, and in their place a Number of active English gentlemen, termed Assistant Commissioners, and nominated by Mr. Yule, were set down among the Sonthals, with a Code of Regulations drawn up by that gentleman, the pith of which may be summed up as follows:—
"'To have no medium between the Sonthal and the Hakim, i.e. Assistant Commissioner.
"'To patiently hear any complaint made by the Sonthal from his own mouth, without any written petition or charge whatever, and without any Amlah or Court at the time.
"'To carry out all criminal work by the aid of the villagers themselves, who were to bring in the accused, with the witnesses, to the Hakim, who should immediately attend to their statements, and punish them, if found guilty, according to the tenor of the law.'
"These were some of the most important of the golden rules carried out by men who recognised the responsibility of their situation; and with an adored chief, in the shape of Yule, for their ruler, whose firm, judicious, and gentlemanly conduct made them work with willing hearts, their endeavours were crowned with a success which far exceeded the expectations of the most sanguine...."—Sonthalia and the Sonthals, by E. G. Man, Barrister-at-Law, &c. Calcutta, 1867, pp. 125-127.
SOODRA, SOODER, s. Skt. śudra, [usually derived from root śuć, 'to be afflicted,' but probably of non-Aryan origin]. The (theoretical) Fourth Caste of the Hindus. In South India, there being no claimants of the 2nd or 3rd classes, the highest castes among the (so-called) Śudras come next after the Brahmans in social rank, and śudra is a note of respect, not of the contrary as in Northern India.
1651.—"La quatrième lignée est celle des Soudraes; elle est composée du commun peuple: cette lignée a sous soy beaucoup et diverses familles, dont une chacune prétend surpasser l'autre...."—Abr. Roger, Fr. ed. 1670, p. 8.
[c. 1665.—"The fourth caste is called Charados or Soudra."—Tavernier, ed. Ball, ii. 184.
[1667.—"... and fourthly, the tribe of Seydra, or artisans and labourers."—Bernier, ed. Constable, 325.]
1674.—"The ... Chudrer (these are the Nayres)."—Faria y Sousa, ii. 710.
1717.—"The Brahmens and the Tschuddirers are the proper persons to satisfy your Enquiries."—Phillips, An Account of the Religion, &c., 14.
1858.—"Such of the Aborigines as yet remained were formed into a fourth class, the Çudra, a class which has no rights, but only duties."—Whitney, Or. and Ling. Studies, ii. 6.
1867.—"A Brahman does not stand aloof from a Soudra with a keener pride than a Greek Christian shows towards a Copt."—Dixon, New America, 7th ed. i. 276.
SOOJEE, SOOJY, s. Hind. sūjī, [which comes probably from Skt. śuci, 'pure']; a word curiously misinterpreted "the coarser part of pounded wheat") by the usually accurate Shakespear. It is, in fact, the fine flour, made from the heart of the wheat, used in India to make bread for European tables. It is prepared by grinding between two millstones which are not in close contact. [Sūjī "is a granular meal obtained by moistening the grain overnight, then grinding it. The fine flour passes through a coarse sieve, leaving the Suji and bran above. The latter is got rid of by winnowing, and the round, granular meal or Suji, composed of the harder pieces of the grain, remains" (Watt, Econ. Dict. VI. pt. iv. 167).] It is the semolina of Italy. Bread made from this was called in Low Latin simella; Germ. Semmelbrödchen, and old English simnel-cakes. A kind of porridge made with soojee is often called soojee simply. (See ROLONG.)
SOORKY, s. Pounded brick used to mix with lime to form a hydraulic mortar. Hind. from Pers. surkhī, 'red-stuff.'
1777.—"The inquiry verified the information. We found a large group of miserable objects confined by order of Mr. Mills; some were simply so; some under sentence from him to beat Salkey."—Report of Impey and others, quoted in Stephen's Nuncomar and Impey, ii. 201.
1784.—"One lack of 9-inch bricks, and about 1400 maunds of soorky."—Notifn. in Seton-Karr, i. 34; see also ii. 15.
1811.—"The road from Calcutta to Baracpore ... like all the Bengal roads it is paved with bricks, with a layer of sulky, or broken bricks over them."—Solvyns, Les Hindous, iii. The word is misused as well as miswritten here. The substance in question is khoa (q.v.).
SOORMA, s. Hind. from Pers. surma. Sulphuret of antimony, used for the purpose of darkening the eyes, kuḥl of the Arabs, the stimmi and stibium of the ancients. With this Jezebel "painted her eyes" (2 Kings, ix. 30; Jeremiah, iv. 30 R.V.) "With it, I believe, is often confounded the sulphuret of lead, which in N. India is called soormee (ee is the feminine termination in Hindust.), and used as a substitute for the former: a mistake not of recent occurrence only, as Sprengel says, 'Distinguit vero Plinius marem a feminâ'" (Royle, on Ant. of Hindu Medicine, 100). [See Watt, Econ. Dict. i. 271.]
[1829.—"Soorma, or the oxide of antimony, is found on the western frontier."—Tod, Annals, Calcutta reprint, i. 13.
[1832.—"Sulmah—A prepared permanent black dye, from antimony...."—Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali, Observations, ii. 72.]
SOOSIE, s. Hind. from Pers. sūsī. Some kind of silk cloth, but we know not what kind. [Sir G. Birdwood (Industr. Arts, 246) defines sūsīs as "fine-coloured cloths, made chiefly at Battala and Sialkote, striped in the direction of the warp with silk, or cotton lines of a different colour, the cloth being called dokanni [dokhānī], 'in two stripes' if the stripe has two lines, if three, tinkanni [tīnkhānī], and so on." In the Punjab it is 'a striped stuff used for women's trousers. This is made of fine thread, and is one of the fabrics in which English thread is now largely used' (Francis, Mon. on Cotton Manufactures, 7). A silk fabric of the same name is made in the N.W.P., where it is classed as a variety of chārkhāna, or check (Yusuf Ali, Mon. on Silk, 93). Forbes Watson (Textile Manufactures, 85) speaks of Sousee as chiefly employed for trousering, being a mixture of cotton and silk. The word seems to derive its origin from Susa, the Biblical Shushan, the capital of Susiana or Elam, and from the time of Darius I. the chief residence of the Achaemenian kings. There is ample evidence to show that fabrics from Babylon were largely exported in early times. Such was perhaps the "Babylonish garment" found at Ai (Josh. vii. 21), which the R.V. marg. translates as a "mantle of Shinar". This a writer in Smith's Dict. of the Bible calls "robes trimmed with valuable furs, or the skins themselves ornamented with embroidery" (i. 452). These Babylonian fabrics have been often described (see Layard, Nineveh and Babylon, 537; Maspero, Dawn of Civ., 470, 758; Encycl. Bibl. ii. 1286 seq.; Frazer, Pausanias, iii. 545 seq.). An early reference to this old trade in costly cloths will be found in the quotation from the Periplus under CHINA, which has been discussed by Sir H. Yule (Introd. to Gill, River of Golden Sand, ed. 1883, p. 88 seq.). This Sūsī cloth appears in a log of 1746 as Soacie, and was known to the Portuguese in 1550 as Soajes (J. R. As. Soc., Jan. 1900, p. 158.)]
[1690.—"It (Suratt) is renown'd ... for Sooseys...."—Ovington, 218.
[1714-20.—In an inventory of Sir J. Fellowes: "A Susa window-curtain."—2nd ser. N. & Q. vi. 244.]
1784.—"Four cassimeers of different colours; Patna dimity, and striped Soosies."—In Seton-Karr, i. 42.
SOPHY, n.p. The name by which the King of Persia was long known in Europe—"The Sophy," as the Sultan of Turkey was "The Turk" or "Grand Turk," and the King of Delhi the "Great Mogul." This title represented Sūfī, Safavī, or Safī, the name of the dynasty which reigned over Persia for more than two centuries (1449-1722, nominally to 1736). The first king of the family was Isma'il, claiming descent from 'Ali and the Imāms, through a long line of persons of saintly reputation at Ardebil. The surname of Sūfī or Safī assumed by Isma'il is generally supposed to have been taken from Shaikh Safī-ud-dīn, the first of his more recent ancestors to become famous, and who belonged to the class of Sūfīs or philosophic devotees. After Isma'il the most famous of the dynasty was Shāh Abbās (1585-1629).
1560.—"De que o Sufi foy contente, e mandou gente em su ajuda."—Terceiro, ch. i.
" "Quae regiones nomine Persiae ei regnantur quem Turcae Chislibas, nos Sophi vocamus."—Busbeq. Epist. iii. (171).
1561.—"The Queenes Maiesties Letters to the great Sophy of Persia, sent by M. Anthonie Ienkinson.
"Elizabetha Dei gratia Angliae Franciae et Hiberinae Regina, &c. Potentissimo et inuictissimo Principi, Magno Sophi Persarum, Medorum, Hircanorum, Carmanorum, Margianorum, populorum cis et vltra Tygrim fluuium, et omnium intra Mare Caspium et Persicum Sinum nationum atque Gentium Imperatori salutem et rerum prosperarum foelicissimum incrementum."—In Hakl. i. 381.
[1568.—"The King of Persia (whom here we call the great Sophy) is not there so called, but is called the Shaugh. It were dangerous to call him by the name of Sophy, because that Sophy in the Persian tongue is a beggar, and it were as much as to call him The great beggar."—Geffrey Ducket, ibid. i. 447.]
1598.—"And all the Kings continued so with the name of Xa, which in Persia is a King, and Ishmael is a proper name, whereby Xa Ismael, and Xa Thamas are as much as to say King Ismael, and King Thamas, and of the Turkes and Rumes are called Suffy or Soffy, which signifieth a great Captaine."—Linschoten, ch. xxvii.; [Hak. Soc. i. 173].
1601.—"Sir Toby. Why, man, he's a very devil: I have not seen such a firago....
"They say, he has been fencer to the Sophy."—Twelfth Night, III. iv.
[c. 1610.—"This King or Sophy, who is called the Great Chaa."—Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. ii. 253.]
1619.—"Alla porta di Sciah Sofì, si sonarono nacchere tutto il giorno: ed insomma tutta la città e tutto il popolo andò in allegrezza, concorrendo infinita gente alla meschita di Schia Sofì, a far Gratiarum actionem."—P. della Valle, i. 808.
1626.—
"Were it to bring the Great Turk bound in chains
Through France in triumph, or to couple up
The Sophy and great Prester-John together;
I would attempt it."
Beaum. & Fletch., The Noble Gentleman, v. 1.
c. 1630.—"Ismael at his Coronation proclaim'd himself King of Persia by the name of Pot-shaw (Padshaw)-Ismael-Sophy. Whence that word Sophy was borrowed is much controverted. Whether it be from the Armenian idiom, signifying Wooll, of which the Shashes are made that ennobled his new order. Whether the name was from Sophy his grandsire, or from the Greek word Sophos imposed upon Aydar at his conquest of Trebizond by the Greeks there, I know not. Since then, many have called the Kings of Persia Sophy's: but I see no reason for it; since Ismael's son, grand and great grandsons Kings of Persia never continued that name, till this that now reigns, whose name indeed is Soffee, but casuall."—Sir T. Herbert, ed. 1638, 286.
1643.—"Y avoit vn Ambassadeur Persien qui auoit esté enuoyé en Europe de la part du Grand Sophy Roy de Perse."—Mocquet, Voyages, 269.
1665.—
"As when the Tartar from his Russian foe,
By Astracan, over the snowy plains
Retires; or Bactrian Sophy, from the horns
Of Turkish crescent, leaves all waste beyond
The realm of Aladule, in his retreat
To Tauris or Casbeen...."
Paradise Lost, x. 431 seqq.
1673.—"But the Suffee's Vicar-General is by his Place the Second Person in the Empire, and always the first Minister of State."—Fryer, 338.
1681.—"La quarta parte comprehende el Reyno de Persia, cuyo Señor se llama en estos tiempos, el Gran Sophi."—Martinez, Compendio, 6.
1711.—"In Consideration of the Company's good Services ... they had half of the Customs of Gombroon given them, and their successors, by a Firman from the Sophi or Emperor."—Lockyer, 220.
1727.—"The whole Reign of the last Sophi or King, was managed by such Vermin, that the Ballowches and Mackrans ... threw off the Yoke of Obedience first, and in full Bodies fell upon their Neighbours in Caramania."—A. Hamilton, i. 108; [ed. 1744, i. 105].
1815.—"The Suffavean monarchs were revered and deemed holy on account of their descent from a saint."—Malcolm, H. of Pers. ii. 427.
1828.—"It is thy happy destiny to follow in the train of that brilliant star whose light shall shed a lustre on Persia, unknown since the days of the earlier Soofees."—J. B. Fraser, The Kuzzilbash, i. 192.
SOUBA, SOOBAH, s. Hind. from Pers. ṣūba. A large Division or Province of the Mogul Empire (e.g. the Ṣūbah of the Deccan, the Ṣūbah of Bengal). The word is also frequently used as short for Sūbadār (see SOUBADAR), 'the Viceroy' (over a ṣūba). It is also "among the Maraṭhas sometimes applied to a smaller division comprising from 5 to 8 ṭarafs" (Wilson).
1753.—"Princes of this rank are called Subahs. Nizam al muluck was Subah of the Decan (or Southern) provinces.... The Nabobs of Condanore, Cudapah, Carnatica, Yalore, &c., the Kings of Tritchinopoly, Mysore, Tanjore, are subject to this Subah-ship. Here is a subject ruling a larger empire than any in Europe, excepting that of the Muscovite."—Orme, Fragments, 398-399.
1760.—"Those Emirs or Nabobs, who govern great Provinces, are stiled Subahs, which imports the same as Lord-Lieutenants or Vice-Roys."—Memoirs of the Revolution in Bengal, p. 6.
1763.—"From the word Soubah, signifying a province, the Viceroy of this vast territory (the Deccan) is called Soubahdar, and by the Europeans improperly Soubah."—Orme, i. 35.
1765.—"Let us have done with this ringing of changes upon Soubahs; there's no end to it. Let us boldly dare to be Soubah ourselves...."—Holwell, Hist. Events, &c., i. 183.
1783.—"They broke their treaty with him, in which they stipulated to pay 400,000l. a year to the Subah of Bengal."—Burke's Speech on Fox's India Bill, Works, iii. 468.
1804.—"It is impossible for persons to have behaved in a more shuffling manner than the Soubah's servants have...."—Wellington, ed. 1837, iii. 11.
1809.—"These (pillars) had been removed from a sacred building by Monsieur Dupleix, when he assumed the rank of Soubah."—Lord Valentia, i. 373.
1823.—"The Delhi Sovereigns whose vast empire was divided into Soubahs, or Governments, each of which was ruled by a Soubahdar or Viceroy."—Malcolm, Cent. India, i. 2.
SOUBADAR, SUBADAR, s. Hind. from Pers. ṣūbadār, 'one holding a ṣūba' (see SOUBA).
a. The Viceroy, or Governor of a ṣūba.
b. A local commandant or chief officer.
c. The chief native officer of a company of Sepoys; under the original constitution of such companies, its actual captain.
a. See SOUBA.
b.—
c.—
1760.—"One was the Subahdar, equivalent to the Captain of a Company."—Orme, iii. 610.
c. 1785.—"... the Subahdars or commanding officers of the black troops."—Carraccioli, L. of Clive, iii. 174.
1787.—"A Troop of Native Cavalry on the present Establishment consists of 1 European Subaltern, 1 European Serjeant, 1 Subidar, 3 Jemadars, 4 Havildars, 4 Naiques (naik), 1 Trumpeter, 1 Farrier, and 68 Privates."—Regns. for the Hon. Comp.'s Black Troops on the Coast of Coromandel, &c., p. 6.
[SOUDAGUR, s. P.—H. saudāgar, Pers. saudā, 'goods for sale'; a merchant, trader; now very often applied to those who sell European goods in civil stations and cantonments.
[c. 1809.—"The term Soudagur, which implies merely a principal merchant, is here (Behar) usually given to those who keep what the English of India call Europe shops; that is, shops where all sorts of goods imported from Europe, and chiefly consumed by Europeans, are retailed."—Buchanan, Eastern India, i. 375.
[c. 1817.—"This sahib was a very rich man, a Soudagur...."—Mrs. Sherwood, Last Days of Boosy, 84.]
SOURSOP, s.
a. The fruit Anona muricata, L., a variety of the Custard apple. This kind is not well known on the Bengal side of India, but it is completely naturalised at Bombay. The terms soursop and sweetsop are, we believe, West Indian.
b. In a note to the passage quoted below, Grainger identifies the soursop with the suirsack of the Dutch. But in this, at least as regards use in the East Indies, there is some mistake. The latter term, in old Dutch writers on the East, seems always to apply to the Common Jack fruit, the 'sourjack,' in fact, as distinguished from the superior kinds, especially the champada of the Malay Archipelago.
a.—
"... a neighbouring hill
Which Nature to the Soursop had resigned."
Grainger, Bk. 2.
b.—
1661.—Walter Schulz says that the famous fruit Jaka was called by the Netherlanders in the Indies Soorsack.—p. 236.
1675.—"The whole is planted for the most part with coco-palms, mangoes, and suursacks."—Ryklof van Goens, in Valentijn, Ceylon, 223.
1768-71.—"The Sursak-tree has a fruit of a similar kind with the durioon (durian), but it is not accompanied by such a fetid smell."—Stavorinus, E.T. i. 236.
1778.—"The one which yields smaller fruit, without seed, I found at Columbo, Gale, and several other places. The name by which it is properly known here is the Maldivian Sour Sack, and its use here is less universal than that of the other sort, which ... weighs 30 or 40 lbs."—Thunberg, E.T. iv. 255.
[1833.—"Of the eatable fruited kinds above referred to, the most remarkable are the sweetsop, sour sop, and cherimoyer...."—Penny Cycl. ii. 54.]
SOWAR, SUWAR, s. Pers. sawār, 'a horseman.' A native cavalry soldier; a mounted orderly. In the Greek provinces in Turkey, the word is familiar in the form σουβάρις, pl. σουβαρίδες, for a mounted gendarme. [The regulations for suwārs in the Mogul armies are given by Blochmann, Āīn, i. 244 seq.]
1827.—"Hartley had therefore no resource save to keep his eye steadily fixed on the lighted match of the sowar ... who rode before him."—Sir W. Scott, The Surgeon's Daughter, ch. xiii.
[1830.—"... Meerza, an Asswar well known on the Collector's establishment."—Or. Sport. Mag. reprint 1873, i. 390.]
SOWAR, SHOOTER-, s. Hind. from Pers. shutur-sawār, the rider of a dromedary or swift camel. Such riders are attached to the establishment of the Viceroy on the march, and of other high officials in Upper India. The word sowar is quite misused by the Great Duke in the passage below, for a camel-driver, a sense it never has. The word written, or intended, may however have been surwaun (q.v.)
1834.—"I ... found a fresh horse at Sufter Jung's tomb, and at the Kutub (cootub) a couple of riding camels and an attendant Shutur Suwar."—Mem. of Col. Mountain, 129.
[1837.—"There are twenty Shooter Suwars (I have not an idea how I ought to spell those words), but they are native soldiers mounted on swift camels, very much trapped, and two of them always ride before our carriage."—Miss Eden, Up the Country, i. 31.]
1840.—"Sent a Shuta Sarwar (camel driver) off with an express to Simla."—Osborne, Court and Camp of Runj. Singh, 179.
1842.—"At Peshawur, it appears by the papers I read last night, that they have camels, but no sowars, or drivers."—Letter of D. of Wellington, in Indian Administration of Ld. Ellenborough, 228.
1857.—"I have given general notice of the Shutur Sowar going into Meerut to all the Meerut men."—H. Greathed's Letters during Siege of Delhi, 42.
SOWARRY, SUWARREE, s. Hind. from Pers. sawārī. A cavalcade, a cortège of mounted attendants.
1809.—"He had no sawarry."—Ld. Valentia, i. 388.
1814.—"I was often reprimanded by the Zemindars and native officers, for leaving the suwarree, or state attendants, at the outer gate of the city, when I took my evening excursion."—Forbes, Or. Mem. iii. 420; [2nd ed. ii. 372].
[1826.—"The 'aswary,' or suite of Trimbuckje, arrived at the palace."—Pandurang Hari, ed. 1873, i. 119.]
1827.—"Orders were given that on the next day all should be in readiness for the Sowarree, a grand procession, when the Prince was to receive the Begum as an honoured guest."—Sir Walter Scott, The Surgeon's Daughter, ch. xiv.
c. 1831.—"Je tâcherai d'éviter toute la poussière de ces immenses sowarris."—Jacquemont, Corresp. ii. 121.
[1837.—"The Raja of Benares came with a very magnificent surwarree of elephants and camels."—Miss Eden, Up the Country, i. 35.]
SOWARRY CAMEL, s. A swift or riding camel. See SOWAR, SHOOTER-.
SOWCAR, s. Hind. sāhūkār; alleged to be from Skt. sādhu, 'right,' with the Hind. affix kār, 'doer'; Guj. Mahr. sāvakār. A native banker; corresponding to the Chetty of S. India.
[In the following the word is confounded with Sowar:
SOY, s. A kind of condiment once popular. The word is Japanese si-yau (a young Japanese fellow-passenger gave the pronunciation clearly as sho-yu.—A. B.), Chin. shi-yu. [Mr. Platts (9 ser. N. & Q. iv. 475) points out that in Japanese as written with the native character soy would not be siyau, but siyau-yu; in the Romanised Japanese this is simplified to shoyu (colloquially this is still further reduced, by dropping the final vowel, to shoy or soy). Of this monosyllable only the so represents the classical siyau; the final consonant (y) is a relic of the termination yu. The Japanese word is itself derived from the Chinese, which at Shanghai is sze-yu, at Amoy, si-iu, at Canton, shi-yau, of which the first element means 'salted beans,' or other fruits, dried and used as condiments; the second element merely means 'oil.'] It is made from the beans of a plant common in the Himālaya and E. Asia, and much cultivated, viz. Glycine Soja, Sieb. and Zucc. (Soya hispida, Moench.), boiled down and fermented. [In India the bean is eaten in places where it is cultivated, as in Chutia Nāgpur (Watt, Econ. Dict. iii. 510 seq.)]
1688.—"I have been told that soy is made with a fishy composition, and it seems most likely by the Taste; tho' a Gentleman of my Acquaintance who was very intimate with one that sailed often from Tonquin to Japan, from whence the true Soy comes, told me that it was made only with Wheat and a sort of Beans mixt with Water and Salt."—Dampier, ii. 28.
1690.—"... Souy, the choicest of all Sawces."—Ovington, 397.
1712.—"Hoc legumen in coquinâ Japonicâ utramque replet paginam; ex eo namque conficitur: tum puls Miso dicta, quae ferculis pro consistentiâ, et butyri loco additur, butyrum enim hôc coelô res ignota est; tum Sooju dictum embamma, quod nisi ferculis, certè frictis et assatis omnibus affunditur."—Kaempfer, Amoen. Exot. p. 839.
1776.—An elaborate account of the preparation of Soy is given by Thunberg, Travels, E.T. iv. 121-122; and more briefly by Kaempfer on the page quoted above.
[1900.—"Mushrooms shred into small pieces, flavoured with shoyu" (soy).—Mrs. Frazer, A Diplomatist's Wife in Japan, i. 238.]
SPIN, s. An unmarried lady; popular abbreviation of 'Spinster.' [The Port. equivalent soltera (soltiera) was used in a derogatory sense (Gray, note on Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. ii. 128).]
SPONGE-CAKE, s. This well-known form of cake is called throughout Italy pane di Spagna, a fact that suggested to us the possibility that the English name is really a corruption of Spanish-cake. The name in Japan tends to confirm this, and must be our excuse for introducing the term here.
SPOTTED-DEER, s. Axis maculatus of Gray; [Cervus axis of Blanford (Mammalia, 546)]; Hind. chītal, Skt. chitra, 'spotted.'
[1677.—"Spotted Deare we shall send home, some by ye Europe ships, if they touch here."—Forrest, Bombay Letters, i. 140.]
1679.—"There being conveniency in this place for ye breeding up of Spotted Deer, which the Hon'ble Company doe every yeare order to be sent home for His Majesty, it is ordered that care be taken to breed them up in this Factory (Madapollam), to be sent home accordingly."—Ft. St. George Council (on Tour), 16th April, in Notes and Exts., Madras, 1871.
1682.—"This is a fine pleasant situation, full of great shady trees, most of them Tamarins, well stored with peacocks and Spotted Deer like our fallow-deer."—Hedges, Diary, Oct. 16; [Hak. Soc. i. 39].
SQUEEZE, s. This is used in Anglo-Chinese talk for an illegal exaction. It is, we suppose, the translation of a Chinese expression. It corresponds to the malatolta of the Middle Ages, and to many other slang phrases in many tongues.
STATION, s. A word of constant recurrence in Anglo-Indian colloquial. It is the usual designation of the place where the English officials of a district, or the officers of a garrison (not in a fortress) reside. Also the aggregate society of such a place.
1866.—
"And if I told how much I ate at one Mofussil station,
I'm sure 'twould cause at home a most extraordinary sensation."
Trevelyan, The Dawk Bungalow, in Fraser, lxxiii. p. 391.
STEVEDORE, s. One employed to stow the cargo of a ship and to unload it. The verb estivar [Lat. stipare] is used both in Sp. and Port. in the sense of stowing cargo, implying originally to pack close, as to press wool. Estivador in the sense of a wool-packer only is given in the Sp. Dictionaries, but no doubt has been used in every sense of estivar. See Skeat, s.v.
STICK-INSECT, s. The name commonly applied to certain orthopterous insects, of the family Phasmidae, which have the strongest possible resemblance to dry twigs or pieces of stick, sometimes 6 or 7 inches in length.
[STICKLAC, s. Lac encrusted on sticks, which in this form is collected in the jungles of Central India.
STINK-WOOD, s. Foetidia Mauritiana, Lam., a myrtaceous plant of Mauritius, called there Bois puant. "At the Carnival in Goa, one of the sports is to drop bits of this stink-wood into the pockets of respectable persons."—Birdwood (MS.).
STRIDHANA, STREEDHANA, s. Skt. stri-dhana, 'women's property.' A term of Hindu Law, applied to certain property belonging to a woman, which follows a law of succession different from that which regulates other property. The term is first to be found in the works of Jones and Colebrooke (1790-1800), but has recently been introduced into European scientific treatises. [See Mayne, Hindu Law, 541 seqq.]
STUPA. See TOPE.
SUÁKIN, n.p. This name, and the melancholy victories in its vicinity, are too familiar now to need explanation. Arab. Sawákin.
1526.—"The Preste continued speaking with our people, and said to Don Rodrigo that he would have great pleasure and complete contentment, if he saw a fort of ours erected in Macuha, or in Çuaquem, or in Zyla."—Correa, iii. 42; [see Dalboquerque, Comm. ii. 229].
[c. 1590.—"... thence it (the sea) washes both Persia and Ethiopia where are Dahlak and Suakin, and is called (the Gulf of) Omán and the Persian Sea."—Āīn, ed. Jarrett, ii. 121.]
SUCKER-BUCKER, n.p. A name often given in N. India to Upper Sind, from two neighbouring places, viz., the town of Sakhar on the right bank of the Indus, and the island fortress of Bakkar or Bhakkar in the river. An alternative name is Roree-Bucker, from Rohrī, a town opposite Bakkar, on the left bank, the name of which is probably a relic of the ancient town of Arōr or Alōr, though the site has been changed since the Indus adopted its present bed. [See McCrindle, Invasion of India, 352 seqq.]
1521.—Shah Beg "then took his departure for Bhakkar, and after several days' marching arrived at the plain surrounding Sakhar."—Turkhān Nāma, in Elliot, i. 311.
1554.—"After a thousand sufferings we arrived at the end of some days' journey, at Siāwan (Sehwan), and then, passing by Patara and Darilja, we entered the fortress of Bakr."—Sidi 'Ali, p. 136.
[c. 1590.—"Bhakkar (Bhukkar) is a notable fortress; in ancient chronicles it is called Mamṣúrah."—Āīn, ed. Jarrett, ii. 327.]
1616.—"Buckor, the Chiefe Citie, is called Buckor Succor."—Terry, [ed. 1777, p. 75].
1753.—"Vient ensuite Bukor, ou comme il est écrit dans la Géographie Turque, Peker, ville située sur une colline, entre deux bras de l'Indus, qui en font une île ... la géographie ... ajoute que Louhri (i.e. Rori) est une autre ville située vis-à-vis de cette île du côté meridional, et que Sekar, autrement Sukor, est en même position du còté septentrional."—D'Anville, p. 37.
SUCKET, s. Old English. Wright explains the word as 'dried sweetmeats or sugar-plums.' Does it not in the quotations rather mean loaf-sugar? [Palmer (Folk Etymol. 378) says that the original meaning was a 'slice of melon or gourd,' Ital. zuccata, 'a kind of meat made of Pumpions or Gourdes' (Florio) from zucca, 'a gourd or pumpkin,' which is a shortened form of cucuzza, a corruption of Lat. cucurbita (Diez). This is perhaps the same word which appears in the quotation from Linschoten below, where the editor suggests that it is derived from Mahr. sukaṭa, 'slightly dried, desiccated,' and Sir H. Yule suggests a corruption of H. sonṭh, 'dried ginger.']
1584.—"White sucket from Zindi" (i.e. Sind) "Cambaia, and China."—Barret, in Hakl. ii. 412.
[1598.—"Ginger by the Arabians, Persians and Turkes is called Gengibil (see GINGER), in Gusurate, Decan, and Bengala, when it is fresh and green Adrac, and when dried sukte."—Linschoten, Hak. Soc. ii. 79.]
c. 1620-30.—
"... For this,
This Candy wine, three merchants were undone;
These suckets brake as many more."
Beaum. and Fletch., The Little French Lawyer, i. 1.
SUCLÁT, SACKCLOTH, &c., s. Pers. saḳallāṭ, saḳallaṭ, saḳlaṭīn, saḳlāṭūn, applied to certain woollen stuffs, and particularly now to European broadcloth. It is sometimes defined as scarlet broad cloth; but though this colour is frequent, it does not seem to be essential to the name. [Scarlet was the name of a material long before it denoted a colour. In the Liberate Roll of 14 Hen. III. (1230, quoted in N. & Q. 8 ser. i. 129) we read of sanguine scarlet, brown, red, white and scarlet coloris de Marble.] It has, however, been supposed that our word scarlet comes from some form of the present word (see Skeat, s.v. Scarlet).[14] But the fact that the Arab. dictionaries give a form saḳirlāṭ must not be trusted to. It is a modern form, probably taken from the European word, [as according to Skeat, the Turkish iskerlat is merely borrowed from the Ital. scarlatto].
The word is found in the medieval literature of Europe in the form siclatoun, a term which has been the subject of controversy both as to etymology and to exact meaning (see Marco Polo, Bk. i. ch. 58, notes). Among the conjectures as to etymology are a derivation from Ar. ṣaḳl, 'polishing' (see SICLEEGUR); from Sicily (Ar. Ṣiḳiliya); and from the Lat. cyclas, cycladatus. In the Arabic Vocabulista of the 13th century (Florence, 1871), siḳlaṭūn is translated by ciclas. The conclusion come to in the note on Marco Polo, based, partly but not entirely, on the modern meaning of saḳallāṭ, was that saḳlāṭūn was probably a light woollen texture. But Dozy and De Jong give it as étoffe de soie, brochée d'or, and the passage from Edrisi supports this undoubtedly. To the north of India the name suklāt is given to a stuff imported from the borders of China.
c. 1150.—"Almeria (Almarīa) was a Musulman city at the time of the Moravidae. It was then a place of great industry, and reckoned, among others, 800 silk looms, where they manufactured costly robes, brocades, the stuffs known as Saḳlāṭūn Isfahānī ... and various other silk tissues."—Edrisi (Joubert), ii. 40.
c. 1220.—"Tabrīz. The chief city of Azarbaijān.... They make there the stuffs called 'attābī (see TABBY), Siḳlāṭūn, Khiṭābī, fine satins and other textures which are exported everywhere."—Yāḳūt, in Barbier de Meynard, i. 133.
c. 1370?—
"His heer, his berd, was lyk saffroun
That to his girdel raughte adoun
Hise shoos of Cordewane,
Of Brugges were his hosen broun
His Robe was of Syklatoun
That coste many a Jane."
Chaucer, Sir Thopas, 4 (Furnival, Ellesmere Text).
c. 1590.—"Suḳlāṭ-i-Rūmī o Farangī o Purtagālī"
(Broadcloth of Turkey, of Europe, and of Portugal)....—Āīn (orig.) i. 110. Blochmann renders 'Scarlet Broadcloth' (see above). [The same word, suḳlāṭī, is used later on of 'woollen stuffs' made in Kashmīr (Jarrett, Āīn, ii. 355).]
1673.—"Suffahaun is already full of London Cloath, or Sackcloath Londre, as they call it."—Fryer, 224.
" "His Hose of London Sackcloth of any Colour."—Ibid. 391.
[1840.—"... his simple dress of sooklaat and flat black woollen cap...."—Lloyd, Gerard, Narr. i. 167.]
1854.—"List of Chinese articles brought to India.... Suklat, a kind of camlet made of camel's hair."—Cunningham's Ladak, 242.
1862.—"In this season travellers wear garments of sheep-skin with sleeves, the fleecy side inwards, and the exterior covered with Sooklat, or blanket."—Punjab Trade Report, 57.
" "Broadcloth (Europe), ('Suklat,' 'Mahoot')."—Ibid. App. p. ccxxx.
SUDDEN DEATH. Anglo-Indian slang for a fowl served as a spatchcock, the standing dish at a dawk-bungalow in former days. The bird was caught in the yard, as the traveller entered, and was on the table by the time he had bathed and dressed.
SUDDER, adj., but used as s. Literally 'chief,' being Ar. ṣadr. This term had a technical application under Mahommedan rule to a chief Judge, as in the example quoted below. The use of the word seems to be almost confined to the Bengal Presidency. Its principal applications are the following:
a. Sudder Board. This is the 'Board of Revenue,' of which there is one at Calcutta, and one in the N.W. Provinces at Allahabad. There is a Board of Revenue at Madras, but not called 'Sudder Board' there.
b. Sudder Court, i.e. 'Sudder Adawlut' (ṣadr 'adālat). This was till 1862, in Calcutta and in the N.W.P., the chief court of appeal from the Mofussil or District Courts, the Judges being members of the Bengal Civil Service. In the year named the Calcutta Sudder Court was amalgamated with the Supreme Court (in which English Law had been administered by English Barrister-Judges), the amalgamated Court being entitled the High Court of Judiciary. A similar Court also superseded the Sudder Adawlut in the N.W.P.
c. Sudder Ameen, i.e. chief Ameen (q.v.). This was the designation of the second class of native Judge in the classification which was superseded in Bengal by Act XVI. of 1868, in Bombay by Act XIV. of 1869, and in Madras by Act III. of 1873. Under that system the highest rank of native Judge was Principal Sudder Ameen; the 2nd rank, Sudder Ameen; the 3rd, Moonsiff. In the new classification there are in Bengal Subordinate Judges of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade, and Munsiffs (see MOONSIFF) of 4 grades; in Bombay, Subordinate Judges of the 1st class in 3 grades, and 2nd class in 4 grades; and in Madras Subordinate Judges in 3 grades, and Munsiffs in 4 grades.
d. Sudder Station. The chief station of a district, viz. that where the Collector, Judge, and other chief civil officials reside, and where their Courts are.
SUFEENA, s. Hind. safīna. This is the native corr. of subpoena. It is shaped, but not much distorted, by the existence in Hind. of the Ar. word safīna for 'a blank-book, a note-book.'
SUGAR, s. This familiar word is of Skt. origin. Sarkara originally signifies 'grit or gravel,' thence crystallised sugar, and through a Prakrit form sakkara gave the Pers. shakkar, the Greek σάκχαρ and σάκχαρον, and the late Latin saccharum. The Ar. is sukkar, or with the article as-sukkar, and it is probable that our modern forms, It. zucchero and succhero, Fr. sucre, Germ. Zucker, Eng. sugar, came as well as the Sp. azucar, and Port. assucar, from the Arabic direct, and not through Latin or Greek. The Russian is sakhar; Polish zukier; Hung. zukur. In fact the ancient knowledge of the product was slight and vague, and it was by the Arabs that the cultivation of the sugar-cane was introduced into Egypt, Sicily, and Andalusia. It is possible indeed, and not improbable, that palm-sugar (see JAGGERY) is a much older product than that of the cane. [This is disputed by Watt (Econ. Dict. vi. pt. i. p. 31), who is inclined to fix the home of the cane in E. India.] The original habitat of the cane is not known; there is only a slight and doubtful statement of Loureiro, who, in speaking of Cochin-China, uses the words "habitat et colitur," which may imply its existence in a wild state, as well as under cultivation, in that country. De Candolle assigns its earliest production to the country extending from Cochin-China to Bengal.
Though, as we have said, the knowledge which the ancients had of sugar was very dim, we are disposed greatly to question the thesis, which has been so confidently maintained by Salmasius and later writers, that the original saccharon of Greek and Roman writers was not sugar but the siliceous concretion sometimes deposited in bamboos, and used in medieval medicine under the name tabasheer (q.v.) (where see a quotation from Royle, taking the same view). It is just possible that Pliny in the passage quoted below may have jumbled up two different things, but we see no sufficient evidence even of this. In White's Latin Dict. we read that by the word saccharon is meant (not sugar but) "a sweet juice distilling from the joints of the bamboo." This is nonsense. There is no such sweet juice distilled from the joints of the bamboo; nor is the substance tabashīr at all sweet. On the contrary it is slightly bitter and physicky in taste, with no approach to sweetness. It is a hydrate of silica. It could never have been called "honey" (see Dioscorides and Pliny below); and the name of bamboo-sugar appears to have been given it by the Arabs merely because of some resemblance of its concretions to lumps of sugar. [The same view is taken in the Encycl. Brit. 9th ed. xxii. 625, quoting Not. et Extr., xxv. 267.] All the erroneous notices of σάκχαρον seem to be easily accounted for by lack of knowledge; and they are exactly paralleled by the loose and inaccurate stories about the origin of camphor, of lac, and what-not, that may be found within the boards of this book.
In the absence or scarcity of sugar, honey was the type of sweetness, and hence the name of honey applied to sugar in several of these early extracts. This phraseology continued down to the Middle Ages, at least in its application to uncrystallised products of the sugar-cane, and analogous substances. In the quotation from Pegolotti we apprehend that his three kinds of honey indicate honey, treacle, and a syrup or treacle made from the sweet pods of the carob-tree.
Sugar does not seem to have been in early Chinese use. The old Chinese books often mention shi-mi or 'stone-honey' as a product of India and Persia. In the reign of Taitsung (627-650) a man was sent to Gangetic India to learn the art of sugar-making; and Marco Polo below mentions the introduction from Egypt of the further art of refining it. In India now, Chīnī (Cheeny) (Chinese) is applied to the whiter kinds of common sugar; Miṣrī (Misree) or Egyptian, to sugar-candy; loaf-sugar is called ḳand.
"Quâque ferens rapidum diviso gurgite fontem
Vastis Indus aquis mixtum non sentit Hydaspen:
Quique bibunt tenerâ dulcis ab arundine succos...."
Lucan, iii. 235.
" "Aiunt inveniri apud Indos mel in arundinum foliis, quod aut nos illius cœli, aut ipsius arundinis humor dulcis et pinguis gignat."—Seneca, Epist. lxxxiv.
c. A.D. 65.—"It is called σάκχαρον, and is a kind of honey which solidifies in India, and in Arabia Felix; and is found upon canes, in its substance resembling salt, and crunched by the teeth as salt is. Mixed with water and drunk, it is good for the belly and stomach, and for affections of the bladder and kidneys."—Dioscorides, Mat. Med. ii. c. 104.
c. A.D. 70.—"Saccharon et Arabia fert, sed laudatius India. Est autem mel in harundinibus collectum, cummium modo candidum, dentibus fragile, amplissimum nucis abellanae magnitudine, ad medicinae tantum usum."—Plin. Hist. Nat. xii. 8.
c. 170.—"But all these articles are hotter than is desirable, and so they aggravate fevers, much as wine would. But oxymeli alone does not aggravate fever, whilst it is an active purgative.... Not undeservedly, I think, that saccharum may also be counted among things of this quality...."—Galen, Methodus Medendi, viii.
c. 636.—"In Indicis stagnis nasci arundines calamique dicuntur, ex quorum radicibus expressum suavissimum succum bibunt. Vnde et Varro ait:
Indica non magno in arbore crescit arundo;
Illius et lentis premitur radicibus humor,
Dulcia qui nequeant succo concedere mella."
Isidori Hispalensis Originum, Lib. xvii. cap. vii.
c. 1220.—"Sunt insuper in Terra (Sancta) canamellae de quibus zucchara ex compressione eliquatur."—Jacobi Vitriaci, Hist. Jherosolym, cap. lxxxv.
1298.—"Bangala est une provence vers midi.... Il font grant merchandie, car il ont espi e galanga e gingiber e succare et de maintes autres chieres espices."—Marco Polo, Geog. Text, ch. cxxvi.
1298.—"Je voz di que en ceste provences" (Quinsai or Chekiang) "naist et se fait plus sucar que ne fait en tout le autre monde, et ce est encore grandissime vente."—Ibid. ch. cliii.
1298.—"And before this city" (a place near Fu-chau) "came under the Great Can these people knew not how to make fine sugar (zucchero); they only used to boil and skim the juice, which, when cold, left a black paste. But after they came under the Great Can some men of Babylonia" (i.e. of Cairo) "who happened to be at the Court proceeded to this city and taught the people to refine sugar with the ashes of certain trees."—Idem, in Ramusio, ii. 49.
c. 1343.—"In Cyprus the following articles are sold by the hundred-weight (cantara di peso) and at a price in besants: Round pepper, sugar in powder (polvere di zucchero) ... sugars in loaves (zuccheri in pani), bees' honey, sugar-cane honey, and carob-honey (mele d'ape, mele di cannameli, mele di carrube)...."—Pegolotti, 64.
" "Loaf sugars are of several sorts, viz. zucchero muchhera, caffettino, and bambillonia; and musciatto, and dommaschino; and the mucchera is the best sugar there is; for it is more thoroughly boiled, and its paste is whiter, and more solid, than any other sugar; it is in the form of the bambillonia sugar like this Δ; and of this mucchara kind but little comes to the west, because nearly the whole is kept for the mouth and for the use of the Soldan himself.
"Zucchero caffettino is the next best after the muccara ...
"Zucchero Bambillonia is the best next after the best caffettino.
"Zucchero musciatto is the best after that of Bambillonia.
* * * * *
"Zucchero chandi, the bigger the pieces are, and the whiter, and the brighter, so much is it the better and finer, and there should not be too much small stuff.
"Powdered sugars are of many kinds, as of Cyprus, of Rhodes, of the Cranco of Monreale, and of Alexandria; and they are all made originally in entire loaves; but as they are not so thoroughly done, as the other sugars that keep their loaf shape ... the loaves tumble to pieces, and return to powder, and so it is called powdered sugar ..." (and a great deal more).—Ibid. 362-365. We cannot interpret most of the names in the preceding extract. Bambillonia is 'Sugar of Babylon,' i.e. of Cairo, and Dommaschino of Damascus. Mucchera (see CANDY (SUGAR), the second quotation), Caffettino, and Musciatto, no doubt all represent Arabic terms used in the trade at Alexandria, but we cannot identify them.
c. 1345.—"J'ai vu vendre dans le Bengale ... un rithl (rottle) de sucre (al-sukkar), poids de Dihly, pour quatre drachmes."—Ibn Batuta, iv. 211.
1516.—"Moreover they make in this city (Bengala, i.e. probably Chittagong) much and good white cane sugar (açuquere branco de canas), but they do not know how to consolidate it and make loaves of it, so they wrap up the powder in certain wrappers of raw hide, very well stitched up; and make great loads of it, which are despatched for sale to many parts, for it is a great traffic."—Barbosa, Lisbon ed. 362.
[1630.—"Let us have a word or two of the prices of suger and suger candy."—Forrest, Bombay Letters, i. 5.]
1807.—"Chacun sait que par effet des regards de Farid, des monceaux de terre se changeaient en sucre. Tel est le motif du surnom de Schakar ganj, 'tresor de sucre' qui lui a été donné."—Arāish-i-Maḥfil, quoted by Garcin de Tassy, Rel. Mus. 95. (This is the saint, Farīd-uddīn Shakarganj (d. A.D. 1268) whose shrine is at Pāk Pattan in the Punjab.) [See Crooke, Popular Religion, &c. i. 214 seqq.]
1810.—"Although the sugar cane is supposed by many to be indigenous in India, yet it has only been within the last 50 years that it has been cultivated to any great extent.... Strange to say, the only sugar-candy used until that time" (20 years before the date of the book) "was received from China; latterly, however, many gentlemen have speculated deeply in the manufacture. We now see sugar-candy of the first quality manufactured in various places of Bengal, and I believe that it is at least admitted that the raw sugars from that quarter are eminently good."—Williamson, V.M. ii. 133.
SULTAN, s. Ar. sulṭān, 'a Prince, a Monarch.' But this concrete sense is, in Arabic, post-classical only. The classical sense is abstract 'dominion.' The corresponding words in Hebrew and Aramaic have, as usual, sh or s. Thus sholṭān in Daniel (e.g. vi. 26—"in the whole dominion of my kingdom") is exactly the same word. The concrete word, corresponding to sulṭān in its post-classical sense, is shallīṭ, which is applied to Joseph in Gen. xlii. 6—"governor." So Saladin (Yūsuf Salāh-ad-dīn) was not the first Joseph who was sultan of Egypt. ["In Arabia it is a not uncommon proper name; and as a title it is taken by a host of petty kinglets. The Abbaside Caliphs (as Al-Wásik ...) formerly created these Sultans as their regents. Al Tá'i bi'llah (A.D. 974) invested the famous Sabuktagin with the office ... Sabuktagin's son, the famous Mahmúd of the Ghaznavite dynasty in 1002, was the first to adopt 'Sultán' as an independent title some 200 years after the death of Harún-al-Rashíd" (Burton, Arab. Nights, i. 188.)]
c. 1075 (written c. 1130).—"... οἳ καὶ καθελόντες Πέρσας τε καὶ Σαρακηνοὺς αὐτοὶ κύριοι τῆς Περσίδος γεγόνασι σουλτάνον τὸν Στραγγολίπιδα[15] ὀνομάσαντες, ὅπερ σημαίνει παρ' αὐτοῖς Βασιλεὺς καὶ παντοκράτωρ."—Nicephorus Bryennius, Comment. i. 9.
c. 1124.—"De divitiis Soldani mira referunt, et de incognitis speciebus quas in oriente viderunt. Soldanus dicitur quasi solus dominus, quia cunctis praeest Orientis principibus."—Ordericus Vitalis, Hist. Eccles. Lib. xi. In Paris ed. of Le Prevost, 1852, iv. 256-7.
1165.—"Both parties faithfully adhered to this arrangement, until it was interrupted by the interference of Sanjar-Shah ben Shah, who governs all Persia, and holds supreme power over 45 of its Kings. This prince is called in Arabic Sultan ul-Fars-al-Khabir (supreme commander of Persia)."—R. Benjamin, in Wright, 105-106.
c. 1200.—"Endementres que ces choses coroient einsi en Antioche, li message qui par Aussiens estoient alé au soudan de Perse por demander aide s'en retournoient."—Guillaume de Tyr, Old Fr. Tr. i. 174.
1298.—"Et quaint il furent là venus, adonc Bondocdaire qe soldan estoit de Babelonie vent en Armenie con grande host, et fait grand domajes por la contrée."—Marco Polo, Geog. Text, ch. xiii.
1307.—"Post quam vero Turchi occupaverunt terrã illã et habitaverũt ibidem, elegerũt dominũ super eos, et illum vocaverunt Soldã quod idem est quod rex in idiomate Latinorũ."—Haitoni Armeni de Tartaris Liber, cap. xiii. in Novus Orbis.
1309.—"En icelle grant paour de mort où nous estiens, vindrent à nous jusques à treize ou quatorze dou consoil dou soudan, trop richement appareillé de dras d'or et de soie, et nous firent demander (par un frere de l'Ospital qui savoit sarrazinois), de par le soudan, se nous vorriens estre delivre, et nous deimes que oil, et ce pooient il bien savoir."—Joinville, Credo. Joinville often has soudanc, and sometimes saudanc.
1498.—"Em este lugar e ilha a que chamão Moncobiquy estava hum senhor a que elles chamavam Colyytam que era como visorrey."—Roteiro de V. da Gama, 26.
c. 1586.—
"Now Tamburlaine the mighty Soldan comes,
And leads with him the great Arabian King."
Marlowe, Tamb. the Great, iv. 3.
[1596.—
"... this scimitar
That slew the Sophy and a Persian prince
That won three fields of Sultan Solyman."
Merchant of Venice, II. i. 26.]
SUMATRA.
a. n.p. This name has been applied to the great island since about A.D. 1400. There can be no reasonable doubt that it was taken from the very similar name of one of the maritime principalities upon the north coast of the island, which seems to have originated in the 13th century. The seat of this principality, a town called Samudra, was certainly not far from Pasei, the Pacem of the early Portuguese writers, the Passir of some modern charts, and probably lay near the inner end of the Bay of Telo Samawe (see notes to Marco Polo, 2nd ed. ii. 276 seqq.). This view is corroborated by a letter from C. W. J. Wenniker (Bijdragen tot de Taal-Land-en Volkenkunde van Nederlandsch Indie, ser. iv. vol. 6. (1882), p. 298) from which we learn that in 1881 an official of Netherlands India, who was visiting Pasei, not far from that place, and on the left bank of the river (we presume the river which is shown in maps as entering the Bay of Telo Samawe near Pasei) came upon a kampong, or village, called Samudra. We cannot doubt that this is an indication of the site of the old capital.
The first mention of the name is probably to be recognised in Samara, the name given in the text of Marco Polo to one of the kingdoms of this coast, intervening between Basma, or Pacem, and Dagroian or Dragoian, which last seems to correspond with Pedir. This must have been the position of Samudra, and it is probable that d has disappeared accidentally from Polo's Samara. Malay legends give trivial stories to account for the etymology of the name, and others have been suggested; but in all probability it was the Skt. Samudra, the 'sea.' [See Miscellaneous Papers relating to Indo-China, 2nd ser. ii. 50; Leyden, Malay Annals, 65.] At the very time of the alleged foundation of the town a kingdom was flourishing at Dwāra Samudra in S. India (see DOOR SUMMUND).
The first authentic occurrence of the name is probably in the Chinese annals, which mention, among the Indian kingdoms which were prevailed on to send tribute to Kublai Khan, that of Sumutala. The chief of this State is called in the Chinese record Tu-han-pa-ti (Pauthier, Marc Pol, 605), which seems to exactly represent the Malay words Tuan-Pati, 'Lord Ruler.'
We learn next from Ibn Batuta that at the time of his visit (about the middle of the 14th century) the State of Sumuṭra, as he calls it, had become important and powerful in the Archipelago; and no doubt it was about that time or soon after, that the name began to be applied by foreigners to the whole of the great island, just as Lamori had been applied to the same island some centuries earlier, from Lāmbrī, which was then the State and port habitually visited by ships from India. We see that the name was so applied early in the following century by Nicolo Conti, who was in those seas apparently c. 1420-30, and who calls the island Shamuthera. Fra Mauro, who derived much information from Conti, in his famous World-Map, calls the island Isola Siamotra or Taprobane. The confusion with Taprobane lasted long.
When the Portuguese first reached those regions Pedir was the leading State upon the coast, and certainly no State known as Samudra or Sumatra then continued to exist. Whether the city continued to exist, even in decay, is obscure. The Āīn, quoted below, refers to the "port of Sumatra," but this may have been based on old information. Valentijn seems to recognise the existence of a place called Samudra or Samotdara, though it is not entered in his map. A famous mystic theologian who flourished under the great King of Achīn, Iskandar Muda, and died in 1630, bore the name of Shamsuddīn Shamatrānī, which seems to point to a place called Shamatra as his birthplace. And a distinct mention of "the island of Samatra" as named from "a city of this northern part" occurs in the soi-disant "Voyage which Juan Serano made when he fled from Malacca" in 1512, published by Lord Stanley of Alderley at the end of his translation of Barbosa. This man, on leaving Pedir and going down the coast, says: "I drew towards the south and south-east direction, and reached to another country and city which is called Samatra," and so on. Now this indicates the position in which the city of Sumatra must really have been, if it continued to exist. But, though this passage is not, all the rest of the narrative seems to be mere plunder from Varthema. Unless, indeed, the plunder was the other way; for there is reason to believe that Varthema never went east of Malabar.
There is, however, a like intimation in a curious letter respecting the Portuguese discoveries, written from Lisbon in 1515, by a German, Valentino Moravia (the same probably who published a Portuguese version of Marco Polo, at Lisbon, in 1502) and who shows an extremely accurate conception of Indian geography. He says: "The greatest island is that called by Marco Polo the Venetian Java Minor, and at present it is called Sumotra from a port of the said island" (see in De Gubernatis, Viagg. Ital. 391).
It is probable that before the Portuguese epoch the adjoining States of Pasei and Sumatra had become united. Mr. G. Phillips, of the Consular Service in China, was good enough to send to one of the present writers, when engaged on Marco Polo, a copy of an old Chinese chart showing the northern coast of the island, and this showed the town of Sumatra (Sumantala). It seemed to be placed in the Gulf of Pasei, and very near where Pasei itself still exists. An extract of a Chinese account "of about A.D. 1413" accompanied the map. This was fundamentally the same as that quoted below from Groeneveldt. There was a village at the mouth of the river called Talu-mangkin (qu. Telu-Samawe?). A curious passage also will be found below, extracted by the late M. Pauthier from the great Chinese Imperial Geography, which alludes to the disappearance of Sumatra from knowledge.
We are quite unable to understand the doubts that have been thrown upon the derivation of the name, given to the island by foreigners, from that of the kingdom of which we have been speaking (see the letter quoted above from the Bijdragen).
c. 1300.—"Beyond it (Lāmūrī, or Lāmbrī, near Achīn) lies the country of Sūmūtra, and beyond that Darband Niās, which is a dependency of Java."—Rashīduddīn, in Elliot, i. 71.
c. 1323.—"In this same island, towards the south, is another Kingdom by name Sumoltra, in which is a singular generation of people."—Odoric, in Cathay, &c., i. 277.
c. 1346.—"... after a voyage of 25 days we arrived at the island of Jāwa" (i.e. the Java Minor of Marco Polo, or Sumatra). "... We thus made our entrance into the capital, that is to say into the city of Sumuthra. It is large and handsome, and is encompassed with a wall and towers of timber."—Ibn Batuta, iv. 228-230.
1416.—"Sumatra [Su-men-ta-la]. This country is situated on the great road of western trade. When a ship leaves Malacca for the west, and goes with a fair eastern wind for five days and nights, it first comes to a village on the sea-coast called Ta-lu-man; and anchoring here and going south-east for about 10 li (3 miles) one arrives at the said place.
"This country has no walled city. There is a large brook running out into the sea, with two tides every day; the waves at the mouth of it are very high, and ships continually founder there...."—Chinese work, quoted by Groeneveldt, p. 85.
c. 1430.—"He afterwards went to a fine city of the island Taprobana, which island is called by the natives Sciamuthera."—Conti, in India in XVth. Cent., 9.
1459.—"Isola Siamotra."—Fra Mauro.
1498.—"... Camatarra is of the Christians; it is distant from Calicut a voyage of 30 days with a good wind."—Roteiro, 109.
1510.—"Wherefore we took a junk and went towards Sumatra to a city called Pider."—Varthema, 228.
1522.—"... We left the island of Timor, and entered upon the great sea called Lant Chidol, and taking a west-south-west course, we left to the right and the north, for fear of the Portuguese, the island of Zumatra, anciently called Taprobana; also Pegu, Bengala, Urizza, Chelim (see KLING) where are the Malabars, subjects of the King of Narsinga."—Pigafetta, Hak. Soc. 159.
1572.—
"Dizem, que desta terra, co' as possantes
Ondas o mar intrando, dividio
A nobre ilha Samatra, que já d'antes
Juntas ambas a gente antigua vio:
Chersoneso foi dita, e das prestantes
Veas d'ouro, que a terra produzio,
Aurea por epithéto lhe ajuntaram
Alguns que fosse Ophir imaginarám."
Camões, x. 124.
By Burton:
"From this Peninsula, they say, the sea
parted with puissant waves, and entering tore
Samatra's noble island, wont to be
joined to the Main as seen by men of yore.
'Twas callèd Chersonese, and such degree
it gained by earth that yielded golden ore,
they gave a golden epithet to the ground:
Some be who fancy Ophir here was found."
c. 1590.—"The zabád (i.e. civet) which is brought from the harbour town of Sumatra, from the territory of Áchín, goes by the name of Sumatra zabád (chūn az bandar-i Sāmatrāī az muẓāfat-i Achīn awurdand, Sāmatrāī goyand)."—Āīn, Blochmann, i. 79, (orig. i. 93). [And see a reference to Lámri in Āīn, ed. Jarrett, iii. 48.]
1612.—"It is related that Raja Shaher-ul-Nawi (see SARNAU) was a sovereign of great power, and on hearing that Samadra was a fine and flourishing land he said to his warriors—which of you will take the Rajah of Samadra?"—Sijara Malayu, in J. Ind. Archip. v. 316.
c. **.—"Sou-men-t'ala est située au sud-ouest de Tchen-tching (la Cochin Chine) ... jusqu'à la fin du règne de Tching-tsou (in 1425), ce roi ne cessa d'envoyer son tribut à la cour. Pendant les années wen-hi (1573-1615) ce royaume se partagea en deux, dont le nouveau se nomma A-tchí.... Par la suite on n'en entendit plus parler."—Grande Geog. Impériale, quoted by Pauthier, Marc Pol, 567.b.—
SUMATRA, s. Sudden squalls, precisely such as are described by Lockyer and the others below, and which are common in the narrow sea between the Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra, are called by this name.
1711.—"Frequent squalls ... these are often accompanied with Thunder and Lightning, and continue very fierce for Half an Hour, more or less. Our English Sailors call them Sumatras, because they always meet with them on the Coasts of this Island."—Lockyer, 56.
1726.—"At Malacca the streights are not above 4 Leagues broad; for though the opposite shore on Sumatra is very low, yet it may easily be seen on a clear Day, which is the Reason that the Sea is always as smooth as a Mill-pond, except it is ruffled with Squalls of Wind, which seldom come without Lightning, Thunder, and Rain, and though they come with great Violence, yet they are soon over, not often exceeding an Hour."—A. Hamilton, ii. 79, [ed. 1744].
1843.—"Sumatras, or squalls from the S. Westward, are often experienced in the S.W. Monsoon.... Sumatras generally come off the land during the first part of the night, and are sometimes sudden and severe, accompanied with loud thunder, lightning, and rain."—Horsburgh, ed. 1843, ii. 215.
[SUMJAO, v. This is properly the imp. of the H. verb samjhānā, 'to cause to know, warn, correct,' usually with the implication of physical coercion. Other examples of a similar formation will be found under PUCKEROW.
[SUMPITAN, s. The Malay blowing-tube, by means of which arrows, often poisoned, are discharged. The weapon is discussed under SARBATANE. The word is Malay sumpītan, properly 'a narrow thing,' from sumpit, 'narrow, strait.' There is an elaborate account of it, with illustrations, in Ling Roth, Natives of Sarawak and Br. N. Borneo, ii. 184 seqq. Also see Scott, Malayan Words, 104 seqq.
[1841.—"In advancing, the sumpitan is carried at the mouth and elevated, and they will discharge at least five arrows to one compared with a musket."—Brooke, in Narrative of Events in Borneo and Celebes, i. 261.
[1883.—"Their (the Samangs') weapon is the sumpitan, a blow-gun, from which poisoned arrows are expelled."—Miss Bird, The Golden Chersonese, 16.]
SUNDA, n.p. The western and most mountainous part of the island of Java, in which a language different from the proper Javanese is spoken, and the people have many differences of manners, indicating distinction of race. In the 16th century, Java and Sunda being often distinguished, a common impression grew up that they were separate islands; and they are so represented in some maps of the 16th century, just as some medieval maps, including that of Fra Mauro (1459), show a like separation between England and Scotland. The name Sunda is more properly indeed that of the people than of their country. The Dutch call them Sundanese (Soendanezen). The Sunda country is considered to extend from the extreme western point of the island to Cheribon, i.e. embracing about one-third of the whole island of Java. Hinduism appears to have prevailed in the Sunda country, and held its ground longer than in "Java," a name which the proper Javanese restrict to their own part of the island. From this country the sea between Sumatra and Java got from Europeans the name of the Straits of Sunda. Geographers have also called the great chain of islands from Sumatra to Timor "the Sunda Islands."
[Mr. Whiteway adds: "There was another Sunda near Goa, but above the Ghāts, where an offspring of the Vijāyanagara family ruled. It was founded at the end of the 16th century, and in the 18th the Portuguese had much to do with it, till Tippoo Sultān absorbed it, and the ruler became a Portuguese pensioner."]
1526.—"Duarte Coelho in a ship, along with the galeot and a foist, went into the port of Çunda, which is at the end of the island of Çamatra, on a separate large island, in which grows a great quantity of excellent pepper, and of which there is a great traffic from this port to China, this being in fact the most important merchandize exported thence. The country is very abundant in provisions, and rich in groves of trees, and has excellent water, and is peopled with Moors who have a Moorish king over them."—Correa, iii. 92.
1553.—"Of the land of Jaüa we make two islands, one before the other, lying west and east as if both on one parallel.... But the Jaos themselves do not reckon two islands of Jaoa, but one only, of the length that has been stated ... about a third in length of this island towards the west constitutes Sunda, of which we have now to speak. The natives of that part consider their country to be an island divided from Jaüa by a river, little known to our navigators, called by them Chiamo or Chenano, which cuts off right from the sea,[16] all that third part of the land in such a way that when these natives define the limits of Jaüa they say that on the west it is bounded by the Island of Sunda, and separated from it by this river Chiamo, and on the east by the island of Bale, and that on the north they have the island of Madura, and on the south the unexplored sea ..." &c.—Barros, IV. i. 12.
1554.—"The information we have of this port of Calapa, which is the same as Çumda, and of another port called Bocaa, these two being 15 leagues one from the other, and both under one King, is to the effect that the supply of pepper one year with another will be xxx thousand quintals,[17] that is to say, xx thousand in one year, and x thousand the next year; also that it is very good pepper, as good as that of Malauar, and it is purchased with cloths of Cambaya, Bengalla, and Choromandel."—A. Nunez, in Subsidios, 42.
1566.—"Sonda, vn Isola de' Mori appresso la costa della Giava."—Ces. Federici, in Ramusio, iii. 391v.
c. 1570.—
"Os Sundas e Malaios con pimenta,
Con massa, e noz ricos Bandanezes,
Com roupa e droga Cambaia a opulenta,
E com cravo os longinquos Maluguezes."
Ant. de Abreu, Desc. de Malaca.
1598.—Linschoten does not recognize the two islands. To him Sunda is only a place in Java:—
"... there is a straight or narrow passage betweene Sumatra and Iaua, called the straight of Sunda, of a place so called, lying not far from thence within the Ile of Iaua.... The principall hauen in the Iland is Sunda Calapa,[18] whereof the straight beareth the name; in this place of Sũda there is much Pepper."—p. 34.
SUNDERBUNDS, n.p. The well-known name of the tract of intersecting creeks and channels, swampy islands, and jungles, which constitutes that part of the Ganges Delta nearest the sea. The limits of the region so-called are the mouth of the Hoogly on the west, and that of the Megna (i.e. of the combined great Ganges and Brahmaputra) on the east, a width of about 220 miles. The name appears not to have been traced in old native documents of any kind, and hence its real form and etymology remain uncertain. Sundara-vana, 'beautiful forest'; Sundarī-vana, or -ban, 'forest of the Sundarī tree'; Chandra-ban, and Chandra-band, 'moon-forest' or 'moon-embankment'; Chanda-bhanda, the name of an old tribe of salt-makers;[19] Chandra dīp-ban from a large zemindary called Chandra-dīp in the Bakerganj district at the eastern extremity of the Sunderbunds; these are all suggestions that have been made. Whatever be the true etymology, we doubt if it is to be sought in sundara or sundarī. [As to the derivation from the Sundarī tree which is perhaps most usually accepted, Mr. Beveridge (Man. of Bakarganj, 24, 167, 32) remarks that this tree is by no means common in many parts of the Bakarganj Sunderbunds; he suggests that the word means 'beautiful wood' and was possibly given by the Brahmans.] The name has never (except in one quotation below) been in English mouths, or in English popular orthography, Soonderbunds, but Sunderbunds, which implies (in correct transliteration) an original sandra or chandra, not sundara. And going back to what we conjecture may be an early occurrence of the name in two Dutch writers, we find this confirmed. These two writers, it will be seen, both speak of a famous Sandery, or Santry, Forest in Lower Bengal, and we should be more positive in our identification were it not that in Van der Broucke's map (1660) which was published in Valentijn's East Indies (1726) this Sandery Forest is shown on the west side of the Hoogly R., in fact about due west of the site of Calcutta, and a little above a place marked as Basanderi, located near the exit into the Hoogly of what represents the old Saraswati R., which enters the former at Sānkrāl, not far below the Botanical Gardens, and 5 or 6 miles below Fort William. This has led Mr. Blochmann to identify the Sanderi Bosch with the old Mahall Basandhari which appears in the Āīn as belonging to the Sirkār of Sulīmānābād (Gladwin's Ayeen, ii. 207, orig. i. 407; Jarrett, ii. 140; Blochm. in J.A.S.B. xlii. pt. i. p. 232), and which formed one of the original "xxiv. Pergunnas."[20] Undoubtedly this is the Basanderi of V. den Broucke's map; but it seems possible that some confusion between Basanderi and Bosch Sandery (which would be Sandarban in the vernacular) may have led the map-maker to misplace the latter. We should gather from Schulz[21] that he passed the Forest of Sandry about a Dutch mile below Sankral, which he mentions. But his statement is so nearly identical with that in Valentijn that we apprehend they have no separate value. Valentijn, in an earlier page, like Bernier, describes the Sunderbunds as the resort of the Arakan pirates, but does not give a name (p. 169).
c. 1666.—"And thence it is" (from piratical raids of the Mugs, &c.) "that at present there are seen in the mouth of the Ganges, so many fine Isles quite deserted, which were formerly well peopled, and where no other Inhabitants are found but wild Beasts, and especially Tygers."—Bernier, E.T. 54; [ed. Constable, 442].
1726.—"This (Bengal) is the land wherein they will have it that Alexander the Great, called by the Moors, whether Hindostanders or Persians, Sulthaan Iskender, and in their historians Iskender Doulcarnain, was ... they can show you the exact place where King Porus held his court. The natives will prate much of this matter; for example, that in front of the Sanderie-Wood (Sanderie Bosch, which we show in the map, and which they call properly after him Iskenderie) he was stopped by the great and rushing streams."—Valentijn, v. 179.
1728.—"But your petitioners did not arrive off Sunderbund Wood till four in the evening, where they rowed backward and forward for six days; with which labour and want of provisions three of the people died."—Petition of Sheik Mahmud Ameen and others, to Govr. of Ft. St. Geo., in Wheeler, iii. 41.
1764.—"On the 11th Bhaudan, whilst the Boats were at Kerma in Soonderbund, a little before daybreak, Captain Ross arose and ordered the Manjee to put off with the Budgerow...."—Native Letter regarding Murder of Captain John Ross by a Native Crew. In Long, 383. This instance is an exception to the general remark made above that the English popular orthography has always been Sunder, and not Soonder-bunds.
1786.—"If the Jelinghy be navigable we shall soon be in Calcutta; if not, we must pass a second time through the Sundarbans."—Letter of Sir W. Jones, in Life, ii. 83.
" "A portion of the Sunderbunds ... for the most part overflowed by the tide, as indicated by the original Hindoo name of Chunderbund, signifying mounds, or offspring of the moon."—James Grant, in App. to Fifth Report, p. 260. In a note Mr. Grant notices the derivation from "Soondery wood," and "Soonder-ban," 'beautiful wood,' and proceeds: "But we adhere to our own etymology rather ... above all, because the richest and greatest part of the Sunderbunds is still comprized in the ancient Zemindarry pergunnah of Chunder deep, or lunar territory."
1792.—"Many of these lands, what is called the Sundra bunds, and others at the mouth of the Ganges, if we may believe the history of Bengal, was formerly well inhabited."—Forrest, V. to Mergui, Pref. p. 5.
1793.—"That part of the delta bordering on the sea, is composed of a labyrinth of rivers and creeks, ... this tract known by the name of the Woods, or Sunderbunds, is in extent equal to the principality of Wales."—Rennell, Mem. of Map of Hind., 3rd ed., p. 359.
1853.—"The scenery, too, exceeded his expectations; the terrible forest solitude of the Sunderbunds was full of interest to an European imagination."—Oakfield, i. 38.
[SUNGAR, s. Pers. sanga, sang, 'a stone.' A rude stone breastwork, such as is commonly erected for defence by the Afrīdīs and other tribes on the Indian N.W. frontier. The word has now come into general military use, and has been adopted in the S. African war.
The same word seems to be used in the Hills in the sense of a rude wooden bridge supported by stone piers, used for crossing a torrent.
SUNGTARA, s. Pers. sangtara. The name of a kind of orange, probably from Cintra. See under ORANGE a quotation regarding the fruit of Cintra, from Abulfeda.
c. 1590.—"Sirkar Silhet is very mountainous.... Here grows a delicious fruit called Soontara (sūntara) in colour like an orange, but of an oblong form."—Ayeen, by Gladwin, ii. 10; [Jarrett (ii. 124) writes Súntarah].
1793.—"The people of this country have infinitely more reason to be proud of their oranges, which appear to me to be very superior to those of Silhet, and probably indeed are not surpassed by any in the world. They are here called Santôla, which I take to be a corruption of Sengterrah, the name by which a similar species of orange is known in the Upper Provinces of India."—Kirkpatrick's Nepaul, 129.
1835.—"The most delicious oranges have been procured here. The rind is fine and thin, the flavour excellent; the natives call them 'cintra.'"—Wanderings of a Pilgrim, ii. 99.
SUNN, s. Beng. and Hind. san, from Skt. śaṇa; the fibre of the Crotalaria juncea, L. (N.O. Leguminosae); often called Bengal, or Country, hemp. It is of course in no way kindred to true hemp, except in its economic use. In the following passage from the Āīn the reference is to the Hibiscus canabinus (see Watt, Econ. Dict. ii. 597).
[SUNNEE, SOONNEE, s. Ar. sunnī, which is really a Pers. form and stands for that which is expressed by the Ar. Ahlu's-Sunnah, 'the people of the Path,' a 'Traditionist.' The term applied to the large Mahommedan sect who acknowledge the first four Khalīfahs to have been the rightful descendants of the Prophet, and are thus opposed to the Sheeahs. The latter are much less numerous than the former, the proportion being, according to Mr. Wilfrid Blunt's estimate, 15 millions Shiahs to 145 millions of Sunnis.
[1623.—"The other two ... are Sonni, as the Turks and Moghol."—P. della Valle, Hak. Soc. i. 152.
[1812.—"A fellow told me with the gravest face, that a lion of their own country would never hurt a Sheyah ... but would always devour a Sunni."—Morier, Journey through Persia, 62.]
SUNNUD, s. Hind. from Ar. sanad. A diploma, patent, or deed of grant by the government of office, privilege, or right. The corresponding Skt.—H. is śāsana.
1758.—"They likewise brought sunnuds, or the commission for the nabobship."—Orme, Hist., ed. 1803, ii. 284.
1759.—"That your Petitioners, being the Bramins, &c. ... were permitted by Sunnud from the President and Council to collect daily alms from each shop or doocan (Doocaun) of this place, at 5 cowries per diem."—In Long, 184.
1776.—"If the path to and from a House ... be in the Territories of another Person, that Person, who always hath passed to and fro, shall continue to do so, the other Person aforesaid, though he hath a Right of Property in the Ground, and hath an attested Sunnud thereof, shall not have Authority to cause him any Let or Molestation."—Halhed, Code, 100-101.
1799.—"I enclose you sunnuds for pension for the Killadar of Chittledroog."—Wellington, i. 45.
1800.—"I wished to have traced the nature of landed property in Soondah ... by a chain of Sunnuds up to the 8th century."—Sir T. Munro, in Life, i. 249.
1809.—"This sunnud is the foundation of all the rights and privileges annexed to a Jageer (Jagheer)."—Harrington's Analysis, ii. 410.
SUNYÁSEE, s. Skt. sannyāsī, lit. 'one who resigns, or abandons,' scil. 'worldly affairs'; a Hindu religious mendicant. The name of Sunnyásee was applied familiarly in Bengal, c. 1760-75, to a body of banditti claiming to belong to a religious fraternity, who, in the interval between the decay of the imperial authority and the regular establishment of our own, had their head-quarters in the forest-tracts at the foot of the Himālaya. From these they used to issue periodically in large bodies, plundering and levying exactions far and wide, and returning to their asylum in the jungle when threatened with pursuit. In the days of Nawāb Mīr Kāsim 'Ali (1760-64) they were bold enough to plunder the city of Dacca; and in 1766 the great geographer James Rennell, in an encounter with a large body of them in the territory of Koch (see COOCH) Bihār, was nearly cut to pieces. Rennell himself, five years later, was employed to carry out a project which he had formed for the suppression of these bands, and did so apparently with what was considered at the time to be success, though we find the depredators still spoken of by W. Hastings as active, two or three years later.
[c. 1590.—"The fourth period is Sannyása, which is an extraordinary state of austerity that nothing can surpass.... Such a person His Majesty calls Sannyásí."—Āīn, ed. Jarrett, iii. 278.]
1616.—"Sunt autem Sanasses apud illos Brachmanes quidam, sanctimoniae opinione habentes, ab hominum scilicet consortio semoti in solitudine degentes et nonnunquã totũ nudi corpus in publicũ prodeuntes."—Jarric, Thes. i. 663.
1626.—"Some (an vnlearned kind) are called Sannases."—Purchas, Pilgrimage, 549.
1651.—"The Sanyasys are people who set the world and worldly joys, as they say, on one side. These are indeed more precise and strict in their lives than the foregoing."—Rogerius, 21.
1674.—"Saniade, or Saniasi, is a dignity greater than that of Kings."—Faria y Sousa, Asia Port. ii. 711.
1726.—"The San-yasés are men who, forsaking the world and all its fruits, betake themselves to a very strict and retired manner of life."—Valentijn, Choro. 75.
1766.—"The Sanashy Faquirs (part of the same Tribe which plundered Dacca in Cossim Ally's Time[22]) were in arms to the number of 7 or 800 at the Time I was surveying Báár (a small Province near Boutan), and had taken and plundered the Capital of that name within a few Coss of my route.... I came up with Morrison immediately after he had defeated the Sanashys in a pitched Battle.... Our Escorte, which were a few Horse, rode off, and the Enemy with drawn Sabres immediately surrounded us. Morrison escaped unhurt, Richards, my Brother officer, received only a slight Wound, and fought his Way off; my Armenian Assistant was killed, and the Sepoy Adjutant much wounded.... I was put in a Palankeen, and Morrison made an attack on the Enemy and cut most of them to Pieces. I was now in a most shocking Condition indeed, being deprived of the Use of both my Arms, ... a cut of a Sable (sic) had cut through my right Shoulder Bone, and laid me open for nearly a Foot down the Back, cutting thro' and wounding some of my Ribs. I had besides a Cut on the left Elbow whch took off the Muscular part of the breadth of a Hand, a Stab in the Arm, and a large Cut on the head...."—MS. Letter from James Rennell, dd. August 30, in possession of his grandson Major Rodd.
1767.—"A body of 5000 Sinnasses have lately entered the Sircar Sarong country; the Phousdar sent two companies of Sepoys after them, under the command of a serjeant ... the Sinnasses stood their ground, and after the Sepoys had fired away their ammunition, fell on them, killed and wounded near 80, and put the rest to flight...."—Letter to President at Ft. William, from Thomas Rumbold, Chief at Patna, dd. April 20, in Long, p. 526.
1773.—"You will hear of great disturbances committed by the Sinassies, or wandering Fackeers, who annually infest the provinces about this time of the year, in pilgrimage to Juggernaut, going in bodies of 1000 and sometimes even 10,000 men."—Letter of Warren Hastings, dd. February 2, in Gleig, i. 282.
" "At this time we have five battalions of Sepoys in pursuit of them."—Do. do., March 31, in Gleig, i. 294.
1774.—"The history of these people is curious.... They ... rove continually from place to place, recruiting their numbers with the healthiest children they can steal.... Thus they are the stoutest and most active men in India.... Such are the Senassies, the gypsies of Hindostan."—Do. do., dd. August 25, in Gleig, 303-4. See the same vol., also pp. 284, 296-7-8, 395.
1826.—"Being looked upon with an evil eye by many persons in society, I pretended to bewail my brother's loss, and gave out my intention of becoming a Sunyasse, and retiring from the world."—Pandurang Hari, 394; [ed. 1873, ii. 267; also i. 189].
SUPÁRA, n.p. The name of a very ancient port and city of Western India; in Skt. Sūrpāraka,[23] popularly Supāra. It was near Wasāi (Baçaim of the Portuguese—see (1) Bassein)—which was for many centuries the chief city of the Konkan, where the name still survives as that of a well-to-do town of 1700 inhabitants, the channel by which vessels in former days reached it from the sea being now dry. The city is mentioned in the Mahābhārata as a very holy place, and in other old Sanskrit works, as well as in cave inscriptions at Kārlī and Nāsik, going back to the 1st and 2nd centuries of the Christian era. Excavations affording interesting Buddhist relics, were made in 1882 by Mr. (now Sir) J. M. Campbell (see his interesting notice in Bombay Gazetteer, xiv. 314-342; xvi. 125) and Pundit Indrajī Bhagwānlāl. The name of Supāra is one of those which have been plausibly connected, through Sophir, the Coptic name of India, with the Ophir of Scripture. Some Arab writers call it the Sofāla of India.
c. 150.—
"Ἀριακῆς Σαδινῶν
Σουπάρα ...
Γοάριος ποταμοῦ ἐκβολαι ...
Δοῦγγα ...
Βήνδα ποταμοῦ ἐκβολαί ...
Σίμυλλα ἐμπόριον καὶ ἄκρα...."
Ptolemy, VII. i. f. § 6.
c. 460.—"The King compelling Wijayo and his retinue, 700 in number, to have the half of their heads shaved, and having embarked them in a vessel, sent them adrift on the ocean.... Wijayo himself landed at the port of Suppâraka...."—The Mahawanso, by Turnour, p. 46.
c. 500.—"Σουφείρ, χώρα, ἐν ᾗ οἱ πολύτιμοι λίθοι, καὶ ὁ χρυσός, ἐν Ἰνδίᾳ."—Hesychius, s.v.
c. 951.—"Cities of Hind ... Kambáya, Subárá, Sindán."—Istakhri, in Elliot, i. 27.
A.D. 1095.—"The Mahâmândalîka, the illustrious Anantadêva, the Emperor of the Koṅkan (Concan), has released the toll mentioned in this copper-grant given by the Sîlâras, in respect of every cart belonging to two persons ... which may come into any of the ports, Sri Sthânaka (Tana), as well as Nâgapur, Surpâraka, Chemuli (Chaul) and others, included within the Koṅkan Fourteen Hundred...."—Copper-Plate Grant, in Ind. Antiq. ix. 38.
c. 1150.—"Súbára is situated 1½ mile from the sea. It is a populous busy town, and is considered one of the entrepôts of India."—Edrisi, in Elliot, i. 85.
1321.—"There are three places where the Friars might reap a great harvest, and where they could live in common. One of these is Supera, where two friars might be stationed; and a second is in the district of Parocco (Broach), where two or three might abide; and the third is Columbus (Quilon)."—Letter of Fr. Jordanus, in Cathay, &c., 227.
c. 1330.—"Sufâlah Indica. Birunio nominatur Sûfârah.... De eo nihil commemorandum inveni."—Abulfeda, in Gildemeister, 189.
1538.—"Rent of the caçabe (Cusbah), of Çupara ... 14,122 fedeas."—S. Bothelho, Tombo, 175.
1803.—Extract from a letter dated Camp Soopara, March 26, 1803.
"We have just been paying a formal visit to his highness the peishwa," &c.—In Asiatic Annual Reg. for 1803, Chron. p. 99.
1846.—"Sopara is a large place in the Agasee mahal, and contains a considerable Mussulman population, as well as Christian and Hindoo ... there is a good deal of trade; and grain, salt, and garden produce are exported to Guzerat and Bombay."—Desultory Notes, by John Vaupell, Esq., in Trans. Bo. Geog. Soc. vii. 140.
SUPREME COURT. The designation of the English Court established at Fort William by the Regulation Act of 1773 (13 Geo. III. c. 63), and afterwards at the other two Presidencies. Its extent of jurisdiction was the subject of acrimonious controversies in the early years of its existence; controversies which were closed by 21 Geo. III. c. 70, which explained and defined the jurisdiction of the Court. The use of the name came to an end in 1862 with the establishment of the 'High Court,' the bench of which is occupied by barrister judges, judges from the Civil Service, and judges promoted from the native bar.
The Charter of Charles II., of 1661, gave the Company certain powers to administer the laws of England, and that of 1683 to establish Courts of Judicature. That of Geo. I. (1726) gave power to establish at each Presidency Mayor's Courts for civil suits, with appeal to the Governor and Council, and from these, in cases involving more than 1000 pagodas, to the King in Council. The same charter constituted the Governor and Council of each Presidency a Court for trial of all offences except high treason. Courts of Requests were established by charter of Geo. II., 1753. The Mayor's Court at Madras and Bombay survived till 1797, when (by 37 Geo. III. ch. 142) a Recorder's Court was instituted at each. This was superseded at Madras by a Supreme Court in 1801, and at Bombay in 1823.
SURA, s. Toddy (q.v.), i.e. the fermented sap of several kinds of palm, such as coco, palmyra, and wild-date. It is the Skt. sura, 'vinous liquor,' which has passed into most of the vernaculars. In the first quotation we certainly have the word, though combined with other elements of uncertain identity, applied by Cosmas to the milk of the coco-nut, perhaps making some confusion between that and the fermented sap. It will be seen that Linschoten applies sura in the same way. Bluteau, curiously, calls this a Caffre word. It has in fact been introduced from India into Africa by the Portuguese (see Ann. Marit. iv. 293).
[1554.—"Cura." See under ARRACK.]
1563.—"They grow two qualities of palm-tree, one kind for the fruit, and the other to give çura."—Garcia, f. 67.
1578.—"Sura, which is, as it were, vino mosto."—Acosta, 100.
1598.—"... in that sort the pot in short space is full of water, which they call Sura, and is very pleasant to drinke, like sweet whay, and somewhat better."—Linschoten, 101; [Hak. Soc. ii. 48].
1609-10.—"... A goodly country and fertile ... abounding with Date Trees, whence they draw a liquor, called Tarree (Toddy) or Sure...."—W. Finch, in Purchas, i. 436.
1643.—"Là ie fis boire mes mariniers de telle sorte que peu s'en falut qu'ils ne renuersassent notre almadie ou batteau: Ce breuvage estoit du sura, qui est du vin fait de palmes."—Mocquet, Voyages, 252.
c. 1650.—"Nor could they drink either Wine, or Sury, or Strong Water, by reason of the great Imposts which he laid upon them."—Tavernier, E.T. ii. 86; [ed. Ball, i. 343].
1653.—"Les Portugais appelent ce tari ou vin des Indes, Soure ... de cette liqueur le singe, et la grande chauue-souris ... sont extremement amateurs, aussi bien que les Indiens Mansulmans (sic), Parsis, et quelque tribus d'Indou...."—De la Boullaye-le-Gouz, ed. 1657, 263.
SURAT, n.p. In English use the name of this city is accented Surátt; but the name is in native writing and parlance generally Sŭrăt. In the Āīn, however (see below), it is written Sūrat; also in Ṣādiḳ Isfahānī (p. 106). Surat was taken by Akbar in 1573, having till then remained a part of the falling Mahommedan kingdom of Guzerat. An English factory was first established in 1608-9, which was for more than half a century the chief settlement of the English Company in Continental India. The transfer of the Chiefs to Bombay took place in 1687.
We do not know the origin of the name. Various legends on the subject are given in Mr. (now Sir J.) Campbell's Bombay Gazetteer (vol. ii.), but none of them have any probability. The ancient Indian Saurāshṭra was the name of the Peninsula of Guzerat or Kattywar, or at least of the maritime part of it. This latter name and country is represented by the differently spelt and pronounced Sōrath (see SŪRATH). Sir Henry Elliot and his editor have repeatedly stated the opinion that the names are identical. Thus: "The names 'Surat' and 'Sūrath' are identical, both being derived from the Sankrit Suráshtra; but as they belong to different places a distinction in spelling has been maintained. 'Surat' is the city; 'Súrath' is a pránt or district of Kattiwar, of which Junágarh is the chief town" (Elliot, v. 350; see also 197). Also: "The Sanskrit Suráshtra and Gurjjara survive in the modern names Surat and Guzerat, and however the territories embraced by the old terms have varied, it is hard to conceive that Surat was not in Suráshtra nor Guzerat in Gurjjara. All evidence goes to prove that the old and modern names applied to the same places. Thus Ptolemy's Surastrene comprises Surat...." (Dowson (?) ibid. i. 359). This last statement seems distinctly erroneous. Surat is in Ptolemy's Λάρικη, not in Συραστρηνή, which represents, like Saurāshtra, the peninsula. It must remain doubtful whether there was any connection between the names, or the resemblance was accidental. It is possible that continental Surat may have originally had some name implying its being the place of passage to Saurāshtra or Sorath.
Surat is not a place of any antiquity. There are some traces of the existence of the name ascribed to the 14th century, in passages of uncertain value in certain native writers. But it only came to notice as a place of any importance about the very end of the 15th century, when a rich Hindu trader, Gopi by name, is stated to have established himself on the spot, and founded the town. The way, however, in which it is spoken of by Barbosa previous to 1516 shows that the rise of its prosperity must have been rapid.
[Surat in English slang is equivalent to the French Rafiot, in the sense of 'no great shakes,' an adulterated article of inferior quality (Barrére, s.v. Rafiot). This perhaps was accounted for by the fact that "until lately the character of Indian cotton in the Liverpool market stood very low, and the name 'Surats,' the description under which the cotton of this province is still included, was a byword and a general term of contempt" (Berar Gazetteer, 226 seq.).]
1516.—"Having passed beyond the river of Reynel, on the other side there is a city which they call Çurate, peopled by Moors, and close upon the river; they deal there in many kinds of wares, and carry on a great trade; for many ships of Malabar and other parts sail thither, and sell what they bring, and return loaded with what they choose...."—Barbosa, Lisbon ed. 280.
1525.—"The corjaa (Corge) of cotton cloths of Çuryate, of 14 yards each, is worth ... 250 fedeas."—Lembrança, 45.
1528.—"Heytor da Silveira put to sea again, scouring the Gulf, and making war everywhere with fire and sword, by sea and land; and he made an onslaught on Çurrate and Reynel, great cities on the sea-coast, and sacked them, and burnt part of them, for all the people fled, they being traders and without a garrison...."—Correa, iii. 277.
1553.—"Thence he proceeded to the bar of the river Tapty, above which stood two cities the most notable on that gulf. The first they call Surat, 3 leagues from the mouth, and the other Reiner, on the opposite side of the river and half a league from the bank.... The latter was the most sumptuous in buildings and civilisation, inhabited by warlike people, all of them Moors inured to maritime war, and it was from this city that most of the foists and ships of the King of Cambay's fleet were furnished. Surat again was inhabited by an unwarlike people whom they call Banyans, folk given to mechanic crafts, chiefly to the business of weaving cotton cloths."—Barros, IV. iv. 8.
1554.—"So saying they quitted their rowing-benches, got ashore, and started for Surrat."—Sidi 'Ali, p. 83.
1573.—"Next day the Emperor went to inspect the fortress.... During his inspection some large mortars and guns attracted his attention. Those mortars bore the name of Sulaimání, from the name of Sulaimán Sultán of Turkey. When he made his attempt to conquer the ports of Gujarát, he sent these ... with a large army by sea. As the Turks ... were obliged to return, they left these mortars.... The mortars remained upon the sea-shore, until Khudáwand Khán built the fort of Surat, when he placed them in the fort. The one which he left in the country of Súrath was taken to the fort of Junágarh by the ruler of that country."—Ṭabaḳāt-i-Akbarī, in Elliot, v. 350.
c. 1590.—"Sūrat is among famous ports. The river Taptī runs hard by, and at seven coss distance joins the salt sea. Rānīr on the other side of the river is now a port dependent on Sūrat, but was formerly a big city. The ports of Khandevī and Balsār are also annexed to Sūrat. Fruit, and especially the ananās, is abundant.... The sectaries of Zardasht, emigrant from Fārs, have made their dwelling here; they revere the Zhand and Pazhand and erect their dakhmas (or places for exposing the dead).... Through the carelessness of the agents of Government and the commandants of the troops (sipah-salārān, Sipah Selar), a considerable tract of this Sirkār is at present in the hands of the Frank, e.g. Daman, Sanjān (St. John's), Tārāpūr, Māhim, and Basai (see (1) Bassein), that are both cities and forts."—Āin, orig. i. 488; [ed. Jarrett, ii. 243].
[1615.—"To the Right Honourable Sir Thomas Roe ... these in Zuratt."—Foster, Letters, iii. 196.]
1638.—"Within a League of the Road we entred into the River upon which Surat is seated, and which hath on both sides a very fertile soil, and many fair gardens, with pleasant Country-houses, which being all white, a colour which it seems the Indians are much in love with, afford a noble prospect amidst the greenness whereby they are encompassed. But the River, which is the Tapte ... is so shallow at the mouth of it, that Barks of 70 or 80 Tun can hardly come into it."—Mandelslo, p. 12.
1690.—"Suratt is reckon'd the most fam'd Emporium of the Indian Empire, where all Commodities are vendible.... And the River is very commodious for the Importation of Foreign Goods, which are brought up to the City in Hoys and Yachts, and Country Boats."—Ovington, 218.
1779.—"There is some report that he (Gen. Goddard) is gone to Bender-Souret ... but the truth of this God knows."—Seir Mutaq. iii. 328.
SURATH, more properly Sōrath, and Sōreth, n.p. This name is the legitimate modern form and representative of the ancient Indian Saurāshṭra and Greek Syrastrēnē, names which applied to what we now call the Kattywar Peninsula, but especially to the fertile plains on the sea-coast. ["Suráshṭra, the land of the Sus, afterwards Sanskritized into Sauráshṭra the Goodly Land, preserves its name in Sorath the southern part of Káthiáváḍa. The name appears as Suráshṭra in the Mahábhárata and Pánini's Gaṇapátha, in Rudradáman's (A.D. 150) and Skandagupta's (A.D. 456) Girnár inscriptions, and in several Valabhi copper-plates. Its Prákrit form appears as Suraṭha in the Násik inscription of Gotamiputra (A.D. 150) and in later Prákrit as Suraṭhṭha in the Tirthakalpa of Jinapra-bhásuri of the 13th or 14th century. Its earliest foreign mention is perhaps Strabo's Saraostus and Pliny's Oratura" (Bombay Gazetteer, i. pt. i. 6)]. The remarkable discovery of one of the great inscriptions of Aśoka (B.C. 250) on a rock at Girnār, near Junāgarh in Saurāshtra, shows that the dominion of that great sovereign, whose capital was at Pataliputra (Παλιμβόθρα) or Patna, extended to this distant shore. The application of the modern form Sūrath or Sōrath has varied in extent. It is now the name of one of the four prānts or districts into which the peninsula is divided for political purposes, each of these prānts containing a number of small States, and being partly managed, partly controlled by a Political Assistant. Sorath occupies the south-western portion, embracing an area of 5,220 sq. miles.
c. 150.—
"Συραστρηνῆς, * * *
Βαρδάξημα πόλις ...
Συράστρα κώμη ...
Μονόγλωσσον ἐμπόριον...."
Ptolemy, VII. i. 2-3.
" "Πάλιν ἡ μὲν παρὰ τὸ λοιπὸν μέρος του Ἰνδοῦ πασα καλεῖται κοινῶς μὲν ... Ἰνδοσκυθία
* * * * * *
καὶ ἡ περὶ τὸν Κάνθι κόλπον ... Συραστρηνή."—Ibid. 55.
c. 545.—"Εἰσὶν οὐν τὰ λαμπρὰ ἐμπόρια τῆς Ἰνδικῆς ταῦτα, Σινδοῦ, Ὀῤῥοθα, Καλλιάνα, Σιβὼρ, ἡ Μαλὲ, πέντε ἐμπόρια ἔχουσα βάλλοντα τὸ πέπερι."—Cosmas, lib. xi. These names may be interpreted as Sind, Sorath, Calyan, Choul (?), Malabar.
c. 640.—"En quittant le royaume de Fa-la-pi (Vallabhi), il fit 500 li à l'ouest, et arriva au royaume de Sou-la-tch'a (Sourâchtra).... Comme ce royaume se trouve sur le chemin de la mer occidentale, tous les habitans profitent des avantages qu'offre la mer; ils se livrent au négoce, et à un commerce d'échange."—Hiouen-Thsang, in Pèl. Bouddh., iii. 164-165.
1516.—"Passing this city and following the sea-coast, you come to another place which has also a good port, and is called Çurati Mangalor,[25] and here, as at the other, put in many vessels of Malabar for horses, grain, cloths, and cottons, and for vegetables and other goods prized in India, and they bring hither coco-nuts, Jagara (Jaggery), which is sugar that they make drink of, emery, wax, cardamoms, and every other kind of spice, a trade in which great gain is made in a short time."—Barbosa, in Ramusio, i. f. 296.
1573.—See quotation of this date under preceding article, in which both the names Surat and Sūrath, occur.
1584.—"After his second defeat Muzaffar Gujarátí retreated by way of Champánír, Bírpúr, and Jhaláwar, to the country of Súrath, and rested at the town of Gondal, 12 kos from the fort of Junágarh.... He gave a lac of Mahmúdís and a jewelled dagger to Amín Khán Ghorí, ruler of Súrath, and so won his support."—Ṭabaḳāt-i-Akbarí, in Elliot, v. 437-438.
c. 1590.—"Sircar Surat (Sūrath) was formerly an independent territory; the chief was of the Ghelolo tribe, and commanded 50,000 cavalry, and 100,000 infantry. Its length from the port of Ghogeh (Gogo) to the port of Aramroy (Arāmrāī) measures 125 cose; and the breadth from Sindehar (Sirdhār), to the port of Diu, is a distance of 72 cose."—Ayeen, by Gladwin, ii. 73; [ed. Jarrett, ii. 243].
1616.—"7 Soret, the chief city, is called Janagar; it is but a little Province, yet very rich; it lyes upon Guzarat; it hath the Ocean to the South."—Terry, ed. 1665, p. 354.
SURKUNDA, s. Hind. sarkanḍā, [Skt. śara, 'reed-grass,' kāṇḍa, 'joint, section']. The name of a very tall reed-grass, Saccharum Sara, Roxb., perhaps also applied to Saccharum procerum, Roxb. These grasses are often tall enough in the riverine plains of Eastern Bengal greatly to overtop a tall man standing in a howda on the back of a tall elephant. It is from the upper part of the flower-bearing stalk of surkunda that sirky (q.v.) is derived. A most intelligent visitor to India was led into a curious mistake about the name of this grass by some official, who ought to have known better. We quote the passage. ——'s story about the main branch of a river channel probably rests on no better foundation.
SURPOOSE, s. Pers. sar-posh, 'head-cover,' [which again becomes corrupted into our Tarboosh (tarbūsh), and 'Tarbrush' of the wandering Briton]. A cover, as of a basin, dish, hooka-bowl, &c.
SURRAPURDA, s. Pers. sarā-parda. A canvas screen surrounding royal tents or the like (see CANAUT).
c. 1590.—"The Sarápardah was made in former times of coarse canvass, but his Majesty has now caused it to be made of carpeting, and thereby improved its appearance and usefulness."—Āīn, i. 54.
[1839.—"The camp contained numerous enclosures of serrapurdahs or canvass skreens...."—Elphinstone, Caubul, 2nd ed. i. 101.]
SURRINJAUM, s. Pers. saranjām, lit. 'beginning-ending.' Used in India for 'apparatus,' 'goods and chattels,' and the like. But in the Mahratta provinces it has a special application to grants of land, or rather assignments of revenue, for special objects, such as keeping up a contingent of troops for service; to civil officers for the maintenance of their state; or for charitable purposes.
SURRINJAUMEE, GRAM, s. Hind. grām-saranjāmī; Skt. grāma, 'a village,' and saranjām (see SURRINJAUM); explained in the quotation.
SURROW, SEROW, &c., s. Hind. sarāo. A big, odd, awkward-looking antelope in the Himālaya, 'something in appearance between a jackass and a Tahir' (Tehr or Him. wild goat).—Col. Markham in Jerdon. It is Nemorhoedus bubalina, Jerdon; [N. bubalinus, Blanford (Mammalia, 513)].
SURWAUN, s. Hind. from Pers. sārwān, sārbān, from sār in the sense of camel, a camel-man.
SUTLEDGE, n.p. The most easterly of the Five Rivers of the Punjab, the great tributaries of the Indus. Hind. Satlaj, with certain variations in spelling and pronunciation. It is in Skt. Satadru, 'flowing in a hundred channels,' Sutudru, Sutudri, Sitadru, &c., and is the Σαράδρος, Ζαράδρος, or Σαδάδρης of Ptolemy, the Sydrus (or Hesudrus) of Pliny (vi. 21).
c. 1030.—"They all combine with the Satlader below Múltán, at a place called Panjnad, or 'the junction of the five rivers.'"—Al-Birūnī, in Elliot, i. 48. The same writer says: "(The name) should be written Shataludr. It is the name of a province in Hind. But I have ascertained from well-informed people that it should be Sataludr, not Shataldudr" (sic).—Ibid. p. 52.
c. 1310.—"After crossing the Panjáb, or five rivers, namely, Sind, Jelam, the river of Loháwar, Satlút, and Bíyah...."—Wassāf, in Elliot, iii. 36.
c. 1380.—"The Sultán (Fíroz Sháh) ... conducted two streams into the city from two rivers, one from the river Jumna, the other from the Sutlej."—Táríkh-i-Fíroz-Sháhí, in Elliot, iii. 300.
c. 1450.—"In the year 756 H. (1355 A.D.) the Sultán proceeded to Díbálpúr, and conducted a stream from the river Satladar, for a distance of 40 kos as far as Jhajar."—Táríkh-i-Mubárak Sháhí, in Elliot, iv. 8.
c. 1582.—"Letters came from Lahore with the intelligence that Ibrahím Husain Mirzá had crossed the Satlada, and was marching upon Dipálpúr."—Ṭabaḳāt-i-Akbarí, in Elliot, v. 358.
c. 1590.—"Sūbah Dihlī. In the 3rd climate. The length (of this Sūbah) from Palwal to Lodhīāna, which is on the bank of the river Satlaj, is 165 Kuroh."—Āīn, orig. i. 513; [ed. Jarrett, ii. 278].
1793.—"Near Moultan they unite again, and bear the name of Setlege, until both the substance and name are lost in the Indus."—Rennell, Memoir, 102.In the following passage the great French geographer has missed the Sutlej:
SUTTEE, s. The rite of widow-burning; i.e. the burning of the living widow along with the corpse of her husband, as practised by people of certain castes among the Hindus, and eminently by the Rājpūts.
The word is properly Skt. satī, 'a good woman,' 'a true wife,' and thence specially applied, in modern vernaculars of Sanskrit parentage, to the wife who was considered to accomplish the supreme act of fidelity by sacrificing herself on the funeral pile of her husband. The application of this substantive to the suicidal act, instead of the person, is European. The proper Skt. term for the act is saha-gamana, or 'keeping company,' [saha-maraṇa, 'dying together'].[26] A very long series of quotations in illustration of the practice, from classical times downwards, might be given. We shall present a selection.
We should remark that the word (satī or suttee) does not occur, so far as we know, in any European work older than the 17th century. And then it only occurs in a disguised form (see quotation from P. Della Valle). The term masti which he uses is probably mahā-satī, which occurs in Skt. Dictionaries ('a wife of great virtue'). Della Valle is usually eminent in the correctness of his transcriptions of Oriental words. This conjecture of the interpretation of masti is confirmed, and the traveller himself justified, by an entry in Mr. Whitworth's Dictionary of a word Masti-kalla used in Canara for a monument commemorating a sati. Kalla is stone and masti = mahā-satī. We have not found the term exactly in any European document older than Sir C. Malet's letter of 1787, and Sir W. Jones's of the same year (see below).
Suttee is a Brahmanical rite, and there is a Sanskrit ritual in existence (see Classified Index to the Tanjore MSS., p. 135a). It was introduced into Southern India with the Brahman civilisation, and was prevalent there chiefly in the Brahmanical Kingdom of Vijayanagar, and among the Mahrattas. In Malabar, the most primitive part of S. India, the rite is forbidden (Anāchāranirṇaya, v. 26). The cases mentioned by Teixeira below, and in the Lettres Édifiantes, occurred at Tanjore and Madura. A (Mahratta) Brahman at Tanjore told one of the present writers that he had to perform commemorative funeral rites for his grandfather and grandmother on the same day, and this indicated that his grandmother had been a satī.
The practice has prevailed in various regions besides India. Thus it seems to have been an early custom among the heathen Russians, or at least among nations on the Volga called Russians by Maṣ'ūdī and Ibn Fozlān. Herodotus (Bk. v. ch. 5) describes it among certain tribes of Thracians. It was in vogue in Tonga and the Fiji Islands. It has prevailed in the island of Bali within our own time, though there accompanying Hindu rites, and perhaps of Hindu origin,—certainly modified by Hindu influence. A full account of Suttee as practised in those Malay Islands will be found in Zollinger's account of the Religion of Sassak in J. Ind. Arch. ii. 166; also see Friedrich's Bali as in note preceding. [A large number of references to Suttee are collected in Frazer, Pausanias, iii. 198 seqq.]
In Diodorus we have a long account of the rivalry as to which of the two wives of Kēteus, a leader of the Indian contingent in the army of Eumenes, should perform suttee. One is rejected as with child. The history of the other terminates thus:
c. B.C. 30.—
"Felix Eois lex funeris una maritis
Quos Aurora suis rubra colorat equis;
Namque ubi mortifero jacta est fax ultima lecto
Uxorum fusis stat pia turba comis;
Et certamen habet leti, quae viva sequatur
Conjugium; pudor est non licuisse mori.
Ardent victrices; et flammae pectora praebent,
Imponuntque suis ora perusta viris."
Propertius,[27] Lib. iii. xiii. 15-22.
c. B.C. 20.—"He (Aristobulus) says that he had heard from some persons of wives burning themselves voluntarily with their deceased husbands, and that those women who refused to submit to this custom were disgraced."—Strabo, xv. 62 (E.T. by Hamilton and Falconer, iii. 112).
A.D. c. 390.—"Indi, ut omnes fere barbari uxores plurimas habent. Apud eos lex est, ut uxor carissima cum defuncto marito cremetur. Hae igitur contendunt inter se de amore viri, et ambitio summa certantium est, ac testimonium castitatis, dignam morte decerni. Itaque victrix in habitu ornatuque pristino juxta cadaver accubat, amplexans illud et deosculans et suppositos ignes prudentiae laude contemnens."—St. Jerome, Advers. Jovinianum, in ed. Vallars, ii. 311.
c. 851.—"All the Indians burn their dead. Serendib is the furthest out of the islands dependent upon India. Sometimes when they burn the body of a King, his wives cast themselves on the pile, and burn with him; but it is at their choice to abstain."—Reinaud, Relation, &c. i. 50.
c. 1200.—"Hearing the Raja was dead, the Parmâri became a satí:—dying she said—The son of the Jadavanî will rule the country, may my blessing be on him!"—Chand Bardai, in Ind. Ant. i. 227. We cannot be sure that satí is in the original, as this is a condensed version by Mr. Beames.
1298.—"Many of the women also, when their husbands die and are placed on the pile to be burnt, do burn themselves along with the bodies."—Marco Polo, Bk. iii. ch. 17.
c. 1322.—"The idolaters of this realm have one detestable custom (that I must mention). For when any man dies they burn him; and if he leave a wife they burn her alive with him, saying that she ought to go and keep her husband company in the other world. But if the woman have sons by her husband she may abide with them, an she will."—Odoric, in Cathay, &c., i. 79.
" Also in Zampa or Champa: "When a married man dies in this country his body is burned, and his living wife along with it. For they say that she should go to keep company with her husband in the other world also."—Ibid. 97.
c. 1328.—"In this India, on the death of a noble, or of any people of substance, their bodies are burned; and eke their wives follow them alive to the fire, and for the sake of worldly glory, and for the love of their husbands, and for eternal life, burn along with them, with as much joy as if they were going to be wedded. And those who do this have the higher repute for virtue and perfection among the rest."—Fr. Jordanus, 20.
c. 1343.—"The burning of the wife after the death of her husband is an act among the Indians recommended, but not obligatory. If a widow burns herself, the members of the family get the glory thereof, and the fame of fidelity in fulfilling their duties. She who does not give herself up to the flames puts on coarse raiment and abides with her kindred, wretched and despised for having failed in duty. But she is not compelled to burn herself." (There follows an interesting account of instances witnessed by the traveller.)—Ibn Batuta, ii. 138.
c. 1430.—"In Mediâ vero Indiâ, mortui comburuntur, cumque his, ut plurimum vivae uxores ... una pluresve, prout fuit matrimonii conventio. Prior ex lege uritur, etiam quae unica est. Sumuntur autem et aliae uxores quaedam eo pacto, ut morte funus suâ exornent, isque haud parvus apud eos honos ducitur ... submisso igne uxor ornatiori cultu inter tubas tibicinasque et cantus, et ipsa psallentis more alacris rogum magno comitatu circuit. Adstat interea et sacerdos ... hortando suadens. Cum circumierit illa saepius ignem prope suggestum consistit, vestesque exuens, loto de more prius corpore, tum sindonem albam induta, ad exhortationem dicentis in ignem prosilit."—N. Conti, in Poggius de Var. Fort. iv.
c. 1520.—"There are in this Kingdom (the Deccan) many heathen, natives of the country, whose custom it is that when they die they are burnt, and their wives along with them; and if these will not do it they remain in disgrace with all their kindred. And as it happens oft times that they are unwilling to do it, their Bramin kinsfolk persuade them thereto, and this in order that such a fine custom should not be broken and fall into oblivion."—Sommario de' Genti, in Ramusio, i. f. 329.
" "In this country of Camboja ... when the King dies, the lords voluntarily burn themselves, and so do the King's wives at the same time, and so also do other women on the death of their husbands."—Ibid. f. 336.
1522.—"They told us that in Java Major it was the custom, when one of the chief men died, to burn his body; and then his principal wife, adorned with garlands of flowers, has herself carried in a chair by four men ... comforting her relations, who are afflicted because she is going to burn herself with the corpse of her husband ... saying to them, 'I am going this evening to sup with my dear husband and to sleep with him this night.'... After again consoling them (she) casts herself into the fire and is burned. If she did not do this she would not be looked upon as an honourable woman, nor as a faithful wife."—Pigafetta, E.T. by Lord Stanley of A., 154.
c. 1566.—Cesare Federici notices the rite as peculiar to the Kingdom of "Bezeneger" (see BISNAGAR): "vidi cose stranie e bestiali di quella gentilitâ; vsano primamente abbrusciare i corpi morti cosi d'huomini come di donne nobili; e si l'huomo è maritato, la moglie è obligata ad abbrusciarsi viva col corpo del marito."—Orig. ed. p. 36. This traveller gives a good account of a Suttee.
1583.—"In the interior of Hindústán it is the custom when a husband dies, for his widow willingly and cheerfully to cast herself into the flames (of the funeral pile), although she may not have lived happily with him. Occasionally love of life holds her back, and then her husband's relations assemble, light the pile, and place her upon it, thinking that they thereby preserve the honour and character of the family. But since the country had come under the rule of his gracious Majesty [Akbar], inspectors had been appointed in every city and district, who were to watch carefully over these two cases, to discriminate between them, and to prevent any woman being forcibly burnt."—Abu'l Faẓl, Akbar Námah, in Elliot, vi. 69.
1583.—"Among other sights I saw one I may note as wonderful. When I landed (at Negapatam) from the vessel, I saw a pit full of kindled charcoal; and at that moment a young and beautiful woman was brought by her people on a litter, with a great company of other women, friends of hers, with great festivity, she holding a mirror in her left hand, and a lemon in her right hand...."—and so forth.—G. Balbi, f. 82v. 83.
1586.—"The custom of the countrey (Java) is, that whensoever the King doeth die, they take the body so dead and burne it, and preserve the ashes of him, and within five dayes next after, the wiues of the said King so dead, according to the custome and vse of their countrey, every one of them goe together to a place appointed, and the chiefe of the women which was nearest to him in accompt, hath a ball in her hand, and throweth it from her, and the place where the ball resteth, thither they goe all, and turne their faces to the Eastward, and every one with a dagger in their hand (which dagger they call a crise (see CREASE), and is as sharpe as a rasor), stab themselues in their owne blood, and fall a-groueling on their faces, and so ende their dayes."—T. Candish, in Hakl. iv. 338. This passage refers to Blambangan at the east end of Java, which till a late date was subject to Bali, in which such practices have continued to our day. It seems probable that the Hindu rite here came in contact with the old Polynesian practices of a like kind, which prevailed e.g. in Fiji, quite recently. The narrative referred to below under 1633, where the victims were the slaves of a deceased queen, points to the latter origin. W. Humboldt thus alludes to similar passages in old Javanese literature: "Thus we may reckon as one of the finest episodes in the Brata Yuda, the story how Satya Wati, when she had sought out her slain husband among the wide-spread heap of corpses on the battlefield, stabs herself by his side with a dagger."—Kawi-Sprache, i. 89 (and see the whole section, pp. 87-95).
[c. 1590.—"When he (the Rajah of Asham) dies, his principal attendants of both sexes voluntarily bury themselves alive in his grave."—Āīn, ed. Jarrett, ii. 118.]
1598.—The usual account is given by Linschoten, ch. xxxvi., with a plate; [Hak. Soc. i. 249].
[c. 1610.—See an account in Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. i. 394.]
1611.—"When I was in India, on the death of the Naique (see NAIK) of Maduré, a country situated between that of Malauar and that of Choromandel, 400 wives of his burned themselves along with him."—Teixeira, i. 9.
c. 1620.—"The author ... when in the territory of the Karnátik ... arrived in company with his father at the city of Southern Mathura (Madura), where, after a few days, the ruler died and went to hell. The chief had 700 wives, and they all threw themselves at the same time into the fire."—Muhammad Sharíf Hanafí, in Elliot, vii. 139.
1623.—"When I asked further if force was ever used in these cases, they told me that usually it was not so, but only at times among persons of quality, when some one had left a young and handsome widow, and there was a risk either of her desiring to marry again (which they consider a great scandal) or of a worse mishap,—in such a case the relations of her husband, if they were very strict, would compel her, even against her will, to burn ... a barbarous and cruel law indeed! But in short, as regarded Giaccamà, no one exercised either compulsion or persuasion; and she did the thing of her own free choice; both her kindred and herself exulting in it, as in an act magnanimous (which in sooth it was) and held in high honour among them. And when I asked about the ornaments and flowers that she wore, they told me this was customary as a sign of the joyousness of the Mastì (Mastì is what they call a woman who gives herself up to be burnt upon the death of her husband)."—P. della Valle, ii. 671; [Hak. Soc. ii. 275, and see ii. 266 seq.]
1633.—"The same day, about noon, the queen's body was burnt without the city, with two and twenty of her female slaves; and we consider ourselves bound to render an exact account of the barbarous ceremonies practised in this place on such occasions as we were witness to...."—Narrative of a Dutch Mission to Bali, quoted by Crawfurd, H. of Ind. Arch., ii. 244-253, from Prevost. It is very interesting, but too long for extract.
c. 1650.—"They say that when a woman becomes a Sattee, that is burns herself with the deceased, the Almighty pardons all the sins committed by the wife and husband and that they remain a long time in paradise; nay if the husband were in the infernal regions, the wife by this means draws him from thence and takes him to paradise.... Moreover the Sattee, in a future birth, returns not to the female sex ... but she who becomes not a Sattee, and passes her life in widowhood, is never emancipated from the female state.... It is however criminal to force a woman into the fire, and equally to prevent her who voluntarily devotes herself."—Dabistān, ii. 75-76.
c. 1650-60.—Tavernier gives a full account of the different manners of Suttee, which he had witnessed often, and in various parts of India, but does not use the word. We extract the following:
c. 1648.—"... there fell of a sudden so violent a Shower, that the Priests, willing to get out of the Rain, thrust the Woman all along into the Fire. But the Shower was so vehement, and endured so long, that the Fire was quench'd, and the Woman was not burn'd. About midnight she arose, and went and knock'd at one of her Kinsmen's Houses, where Father Zenon and many Hollanders saw her, looking so gastly and grimly, that it was enough to have scar'd them; however the pain she endur'd did not so far terrifie her, but that three days after, accompany'd by her Kindred, she went and was burn'd according to her first intention."—Tavernier, E.T. ii. 84; [ed. Ball, i. 219].Again:
c. 1667.—Bernier also has several highly interesting pages on this subject, in his "Letter written to M. Chapelan, sent from Chiras in Persia." We extract a few sentences: "Concerning the Women that have actually burn'd themselves, I have so often been present at such dreadful spectacles, that at length I could endure no more to see it, and I retain still some horrour when I think on't.... The Pile of Wood was presently all on fire, because store of Oyl and Butter had been thrown upon it, and I saw at the time through the Flames that the Fire took hold of the Cloaths of the Woman.... All this I saw, but observ'd not that the Woman was at all disturb'd; yea it was said, that she had been heard to pronounce with great force these two words, Five, Two, to signifie, according to the Opinion of those who hold the Souls Transmigration, that this was the 5th time she had burnt herself with the same Husband, and that there remain'd but two times for perfection; as if she had at that time this Remembrance, or some Prophetical Spirit."—E.T. p. 99; [ed. Constable, 306 seqq.].
1677.—Suttee, described by A. Bassing, in Valentijn v. (Ceylon) 300.
1713.—"Ce fut cette année de 1710, que mourut le Prince de Marava, âgé de plus de quatre-vingt-ans; ses femmes, en nombre de quarante sept, se brûlèrent avec le corps du Prince...." (details follow).—Père Martin (of the Madura Mission), in Lett. Edif. ed. 1781, tom. xii., pp. 123 seqq.
1727.—"I have seen several burned several Ways.... I heard a Story of a Lady that had received Addresses from a Gentleman who afterwards deserted her, and her Relations died shortly after the Marriage ... and as the Fire was well kindled ... she espied her former Admirer, and beckned him to come to her. When he came she took him in her Arms, as if she had a Mind to embrace him; but being stronger than he, she carried him into the Flames in her Arms, where they were both consumed, with the Corpse of her Husband."—A. Hamilton, i. 278; [ed. 1744, i. 280].
" "The Country about (Calcutta) being overspread with Paganisms, the Custom of Wives burning themselves with their deceased Husbands, is also practised here. Before the Mogul's War, Mr. Channock went one time with his Ordinary Guard of Soldiers, to see a young Widow act that tragical Catastrophe, but he was so smitten with the Widow's Beauty, that he sent his Guards to take her by Force from her Executioners, and conducted her to his own Lodgings. They lived lovingly many Years, and had several Children; at length she died, after he had settled in Calcutta, but instead of converting her to Christianity, she made him a Proselyte to Paganism, and the only part of Christianity that was remarkable in him, was burying her decently, and he built a Tomb over her, where all his Life after her Death, he kept the anniversary Day of her Death by sacrificing a Cock on her Tomb, after the Pagan Manner."—Ibid. [ed. 1744], ii. 6-7. [With this compare the curious lines described as an Epitaph on "Joseph Townsend, Pilot of the Ganges" (5 ser. Notes & Queries, i. 466 seq.).]
1774.—"Here (in Bali) not only women often kill themselves, or burn with their deceased husbands, but men also burn in honour of their deceased masters."—Forrest, V. to N. Guinea, 170.
1787.—"Soon after I and my conductor had quitted the house, we were informed the suttee (for that is the name given to the person who so devotes herself) had passed...."—Sir C. Malet, in Parly. Papers of 1821, p. 1 ("Hindoo Widows").
" "My Father, said he (Pundit Rhadacaunt), died at the age of one hundred years, and my mother, who was eighty years old, became a sati, and burned herself to expiate sins."—Letter of Sir W. Jones, in Life, ii. 120.
1792.—"In the course of my endeavours I found the poor suttee had no relations at Poonah."—Letter from Sir C. Malet, in Forbes, Or. Mem. ii. 394; [2nd ed. ii. 28, and see i. 178, in which the previous passage is quoted].
1808.—"These proceedings (Hindu marriage ceremonies in Guzerat) take place in the presence of a Brahmin.... And farther, now the young woman vows that her affections shall be fixed upon her Lord alone, not only in all this life, but will follow in death, or to the next, that she will die, that she may burn with him, through as many transmigrations as shall secure their joint immortal bliss. Seven successions of suttees (a woman seven times born and burning, thus, as often) secure to the loving couple a seat among the gods."—R. Drummond.
1809.—
"O sight of misery!
You cannot hear her cries ... their sound
In that wild dissonance is drowned; ...
But in her face you see
The supplication and the agony ...
See in her swelling throat the desperate strength
That with vain effort struggles yet for life;
Her arms contracted now in fruitless strife,
Now wildly at full length,
Towards the crowd in vain for pity spread, ...
They force her on, they bind her to the dead."
Kehama, i. 12.
In all the poem and its copious notes, the word suttee does not occur.
[1815.—"In reference to this mark of strong attachment (of Sati for Siva), a Hindoo widow burning with her husband on the funeral pile is called sutee."—Ward, Hindoos, 2nd ed. ii. 25.]
1828.—"After having bathed in the river, the widow lighted a brand, walked round the pile, set it on fire, and then mounted cheerfully: the flame caught and blazed up instantly; she sat down, placing the head of the corpse on her lap, and repeated several times the usual form, 'Ram, Ram, Suttee; Ram, Ram, Suttee.'"—Wanderings of a Pilgrim, i. 91-92.
1829.—"Regulation XVII.
"A Regulation for declaring the practice of Suttee, or of burning or burying alive the widows of Hindoos, illegal, and punishable by the Criminal Courts."—Passed by the G.-G. in C., Dec. 4.
1839.—"Have you yet heard in England of the horrors that took place at the funeral of that wretched old Runjeet Singh? Four wives, and seven slave-girls were burnt with him; not a word of remonstrance from the British Government."—Letters from Madras, 278.
1843.—"It is lamentable to think how long after our power was firmly established in Bengal, we, grossly neglecting the first and plainest duty of the civil magistrate, suffered the practices of infanticide and suttee to continue unchecked."—Macaulay's Speech on Gates of Somnauth.
1856.—"The pile of the sutee is unusually large; heavy cart-wheels are placed upon it, to which her limbs are bound, or sometimes a canopy of massive logs is raised above it, to crush her by its fall.... It is a fatal omen to hear the sutee's groan; therefore as the fire springs up from the pile, there rises simultaneously with it a deafening shout of 'Victory to Umbâ! Victory to Ranchor!' and the horn and the hard rattling drum sound their loudest, until the sacrifice is consumed."—Râs Mâlâ, ii. 435; [ed. 1878, p. 691].
[1870.—A case in this year is recorded by Chevers, Ind. Med. Jurispr. 665.]
1871.—"Our bridal finery of dress and feast too often proves to be no better than the Hindu woman's 'bravery,' when she comes to perform suttee."—Cornhill Mag. vol. xxiv. 675.
1872.—"La coutume du suicide de la Satî n'en est pas moins fort ancienne, puisque déjà les Grecs d'Alexandre la trouvèrent en usage chez un peuple au moins du Penjâb. Le premier témoignage brahmanique qu'on en trouve est celui de la Brihaddevatâ qui, peut-être, remonte tout aussi haut. A l'origine elle parait avoir été propre à l'aristocratie militaire."—Barth, Les Religions de l'Inde, 39.
SWALLOW, SWALLOE, s. The old trade-name of the sea-slug, or tripang (q.v.). It is a corruption of the Bugi (Makassar) name of the creature, suwālā (see Crawfurd's Malay Dict.; [Scott, Malayan Words, 107]).
SWALLY, SWALLY ROADS, SWALLY MARINE, SWALLY HOLE, n.p. Suwālī, the once familiar name of the roadstead north of the mouth of the Tapti, where ships for Surat usually anchored, and discharged or took in cargo. It was perhaps Ar. sawāḥil, 'the shores' (?). [Others suggest Skt. Śivālaya, 'abode of Siva.']
1623.—"At the beach there was no kind of vehicle to be found; so the Captain went on foot to a town about a mile distant called Sohali.... The Franks have houses there for the goods which they continually despatch for embarkation."—P. della Valle, ii. 503.
1675.—"As also passing by ... eight ships riding at Surat River's Mouth, we then came to Swally Marine, where were flying the Colours of the Three Nations, English, French, and Dutch ... who here land and ship off all Goods, without molestation."—Fryer, 82.
1677.—"The 22d of February 1676⁄7 from Swally hole the Ship was despatched alone."—Ibid. 217.
1690.—"In a little time we happily arriv'd at Sualybar, and the Tide serving, came to an Anchor very near the Shoar."—Ovington, 163.
1727.—"One Season the English had eight good large Ships riding at Swally ... the Place where all Goods were unloaded from the Shipping, and all Goods for Exportation were there shipp'd off."—A. Hamilton, i. 166; [ed. 1744].
1841.—"These are sometimes called the inner and the outer sands of Swallow, and are both dry at low water."—Horsburgh's India Directory, ed. 1841, i. 474.
SWAMY, SAMMY, s. This word is a corruption of Skt. suāmin, 'Lord.' It is especially used in S. India, in two senses: (a) a Hindu idol, especially applied to those of Śiva or Subramanyam; especially, as Sammy, in the dialect of the British soldier. This comes from the usual Tamil pronunciation sāmi. (b) The Skt. word is used by Hindus as a term of respectful address, especially to Brahmans.
a.—
1794.—"The gold might for us as well have been worshipped in the shape of a Sawmy at Juggernaut."—The Indian Observer, p. 167.
1838.—"The Government lately presented a shawl to a Hindu idol, and the Government officer ... was ordered to superintend the delivery of it ... so he went with the shawl in his tonjon, and told the Bramins that they might come and take it, for that he would not touch it with his fingers to present it to a Swamy."—Letters from Madras, 183.b.—
SWAMY-HOUSE, SAMMY-HOUSE, s. An idol-temple, or pagoda. The Sammy-house of the Delhi ridge in 1857 will not soon be forgotten.
1829.—"Here too was a little detached Swamee-house (or chapel) with a lamp burning before a little idol."—Mem. of Col. Mountain, 99.
1857.—"We met Wilby at the advanced post, the 'Sammy House,' within 600 yards of the Bastion. It was a curious place for three brothers to meet in. The view was charming. Delhi is as green as an emerald just now, and the Jumma Musjid and Palace are beautiful objects, though held by infidels."—Letters written during the Siege of Delhi, by Hervey Greathed, p. 112.
[SWAMY JEWELRY, s. A kind of gold and silver jewelry, made chiefly at Trichinopoly, in European shapes covered with grotesque mythological figures.
SWAMY-PAGODA, s. A coin formerly current at Madras; probably so called from the figure of an idol on it. Milburn gives 100 Swamy Pagodas = 110 Star Pagodas. A "three swāmi pagoda" was a name given to a gold coin bearing on the obverse the effigy of Chenna Keswam Swāmi (a title of Krishna) and on the reverse Lakshmi and Rukmini (C.P.B.).
SWATCH, s. This is a marine term which probably has various applications beyond Indian limits. But the only two instances of its application are both Indian, viz. "the Swatch of No Ground," or elliptically "The Swatch," marked in all the charts just off the Ganges Delta, and a space bearing the same name, and probably produced by analogous tidal action, off the Indus Delta. [The word is not to be found in Smyth, Sailor's Wordbook.]
1863.—(Ganges). "There is still one other phenomenon.... This is the existence of a great depression, or hole, in the middle of the Bay of Bengal, known in the charts as the 'Swatch of No Ground.'"—Fergusson, on Recent Changes in the Delta of the Ganges, Qy. Jour. Geol. Soc., Aug. 1863.
1877.—(Indus). "This is the famous Swatch of no ground where the lead falls at once into 200 fathoms."—Burton, Sind Revisited, 21.
[1878.—"He (Capt. Lloyd, in 1840) describes the remarkable phenomenon at the head of the Bay of Bengal, similar to that reported by Captain Selby off the mouths of the Indus, called 'the Swatch of no ground.' It is a deep chasm, open to seaward and very steep on the north-west face, with no soundings at 250 fathoms."—Markham, Mem. of Indian Surveys, 27.]
[SWEET APPLE, s. An Anglo-Indian corruption of sītāphal, 'the fruit of Sītā,' the Musk Melon, Fr. Potiron. Cucurbita moschata (see CUSTARD-APPLE).]
SWEET OLEANDER, s. This is in fact the common oleander, Nerium odorum, Ait.
SWEET POTATO, s. The root of Batatas edulis, Choisy (Convolvulus Batatas, L.), N.O. Convolvulaceae; a very palatable vegetable, grown in most parts of India. Though extensively cultivated in America, and in the W. Indies, it has been alleged in various books (e.g. in Eng. Cyclop. Nat. Hist. Section, and in Drury's Useful Plants of India), that the plant is a native of the Malay islands. The Eng. Cyc. even states that batatas is the Malay name. But the whole allegation is probably founded in error. The Malay names of the plant, as given by Crawfurd, are Kaledek, Ubi Jawa, and Ubi Kastila, the last two names meaning 'Java yam,' and 'Spanish yam,' and indicating the foreign origin of the vegetable. In India, at least in the Bengal Presidency, natives commonly call it shakar-ḳand, P.—Ar., literally 'sugar-candy,' a name equally suggesting that it is not indigenous among them. And in fact when we turn to Oviedo, we find the following distinct statement:
It must be observed however that several distinct varieties are cultivated by the Pacific islanders even as far west as New Zealand. And Dr. Bretschneider is satisfied that the plant is described in Chinese books of the 3rd or 4th century, under the name of Kan-chu (the first syllable = 'sweet'). See B. on Chin. Botan. Words, p. 13. This is the only good argument we have seen for Asiatic origin. The whole matter is carefully dealt with by M. Alph. De Candolle (Origine des Plantes cultivées, pp. 43-45), concluding with the judgment: "Les motifs sont beaucoup plus forts, ce me semble, en faveur de l'origine americaine."
The "Sanskrit name" Ruktaloo, alleged by Mr. Piddington, is worthless. Ālū is properly an esculent Arum, but in modern use is the name of the common potato, and is sometimes used for the sweet potato. Raktālū, more commonly rat-ālū, is in Bengal the usual name of the Yam, no doubt given first to a highly-coloured kind, such as Dioscorea purpurea, for rakt- or rat-ālū means simply 'red potato'; a name which might also be well applied to the batatas, as it is indeed, according to Forbes Watson, in the Deccan. There can be little doubt that this vegetable, or fruit as Oviedo calls it, having become known in Europe many years before the potato, the latter robbed it of its name, as has happened in the case of brazil-wood (q.v.). The batata is clearly the 'potato' of the fourth and others of the following quotations. [See Watt, Econ. Dict. iii. 117 seqq.]
1540.—"The root which among the Indians of Spagnuola Island is called Batata, the negroes of St. Thomè (C. Verde group) called Igname, and they plant it as the chief staple of their maintenance; it is of a black colour, i.e. the outer skin is so, but inside it is white, and as big as a large turnip, with many branchlets; it has the taste of a chestnut, but much better."—Voyage to the I. of San Tomè under the Equinoctial, Ramusio, i. 117v.
c. 1550.—"They have two other sorts of roots, one called batata.... They generate windiness, and are commonly cooked in the embers. Some say they taste like almond cakes, or sugared chestnuts; but in my opinion chestnuts, even without sugar, are better."—Girol. Benzoni, Hak. Soc. 86.
1588.—"Wee met with sixtee or seventee sayles of Canoes full of Sauages, who came off to Sea vnto vs, and brought with them in their Boates, Plantans, Cocos, Potato-rootes, and fresh fish."—Voyage of Master Thomas Candish, Purchas, i. 66.
1600.—"The Battatas are somewhat redder of colour, and in forme almost like Iniamas (see YAM), and taste like Earth-nuts."—In Purchas, ii. 957.
1615.—"I took a garden this day, and planted it with Pottatos brought from the Liquea, a thing not yet planted in Japan. I must pay a tay, or 5 shillings sterling, per annum for the garden."—Cocks's Diary, i. 11.
1645.—"... pattate; c'est vne racine comme naueaux, mais plus longue et de couleur rouge et jaune: cela est de tres-bon goust, mais si l'on en mange souuent, elle degouste fort, et est assez venteuse."—Mocquet, Voyages, 83.
1764.—
"There let Potatos mantle o'er the ground,
Sweet as the cane-juice is the root they bear."—Grainger, Bk. iv.
SYCE, s. Hind. from Ar. sāïs. A groom. It is the word in universal use in the Bengal Presidency. In the South horse-keeper is more common, and in Bombay a vernacular form of the latter, viz. ghoṛāwālā (see GORAWALLAH). The Ar. verb, of which sāïs is the participle, seems to be a loan-word from Syriac, sausī, 'to coax.'
1779.—"The bearer and scise, when they returned, came to the place where I was, and laid hold of Mr. Ducarell. I took hold of Mr. Shee and carried him up. The bearer and scise took Mr. Ducarell out. Mr. Keeble was standing on his own house looking, and asked, 'What is the matter?' The bearer and scise said to Mr. Keeble, 'These gentlemen came into the house when my master was out.'"—Evidence on Trial of Grand v. Francis, in Echoes of Old Calcutta, 230.
1810.—"The Syce, or groom, attends but one horse."—Williamson, V.M. i. 254.
c. 1858?—
"Tandis que les çais veillent les chiens rodeurs."
Leconte de Lisle.
SYCEE, s. In China applied to pure silver bullion in ingots, or shoes (q.v.). The origin of the name is said to be si (pron. at Canton sai and sei) = sz', i.e. 'fine silk'; and we are told by Mr. Giles that it is so called because, if pure, it may be drawn out into fine threads. [Linschoten (1598) speaks of: "Peeces of cut silver, in which sort they pay and receive all their money" (Hak. Soc. i. 132).]
SYRAS, CYRUS. See under CYRUS.
SYRIAM, n.p. A place on the Pegu R., near its confluence with the Rangoon R., six miles E. of Rangoon, and very famous in the Portuguese dealings with Pegu. The Burmese form is Than-lyeng, but probably the Talaing name was nearer that which foreigners give it. [See Burma Gazetteer, ii. 672. Mr. St. John (J. R. As. Soc., 1894, p. 151) suggests the Mwn word sarang or siring, 'a swinging cradle.'] Syriam was the site of an English factory in the 17th century, of the history of which little is known. See the quotation from Dalrymple below.
1600.—"I went thither with Philip Brito, and in fifteene dayes arrived at Sirian the chiefe Port in Pegu. It is a lamentable spectacle to see the bankes of the Riuers set with infinite fruit-bearing trees, now ouerwhelmed with ruines of gilded Temples, and noble edifices; the wayes and fields full of skulls and bones of wretched Peguans, killed or famished, and cast into the River in such numbers that the multitude of carkasses prohibiteth the way and passage of ships."—The Jesuit Andrew Boves, in Purchas, ii. 1748.
c. 1606.—"Philip de Brito issued an order that a custom-house should be planted at Serian (Serião), at which duties should be paid by all the vessels of this State which went to trade with the kingdom of Pegu, and with the ports of Martavan, Tavay, Tenasserim, and Juncalon.... Now certain merchants and shipowners from the Coast of Coromandel refused obedience, and this led Philip de Brito to send a squadron of 6 ships and galliots with an imposing and excellent force of soldiers on board, that they might cruise on the coast of Tenasserim, and compel all the vessels that they met to come and pay duty at the fortress of Serian."—Bocarro, 135.
1695.—"9th. That the Old house and Ground at Syrian, formerly belonging to the English Company, may still be continued to them, and that they may have liberty of building dwelling-houses, and warehouses, for the securing their Goods, as shall be necessary, and that more Ground be given them, if what they formerly had be not sufficient."—Petition presented to the K. of Burma at Ava, by Ed. Fleetwood; in Dalrymple, O.R. ii. 374.
1726.—Zierjang (Syriam) in Valentijn, Choro., &c., 127.
1727.—"About 60 Miles to the Eastward of China Backaar (see CHINA-BUCKEER) is the Bar of Syrian, the only port now open for Trade in all the Pegu Dominions.... It was many Years in Possession of the Portugueze, till by their Insolence and Pride they were obliged to quit it."—A. Hamilton, ii. 31-32; [ed. 1744].
SYUD, s. Ar. saiyid, 'a lord.' The designation in India of those who claim to be descendants of Mahommed. But the usage of Saiyid and Sharīf varies in different parts of Mahommedan Asia. ["As a rule (much disputed) the Sayyid is a descendant from Mahommed through his grandchild Hasan, and is a man of the pen; whereas the Sharīf derives from Husayn and is a man of the sword" (Burton, Ar. Nights, iv. 209).]
1869.—"Il y a dans l'Inde quatre classes de musulmans: les Saiyids ou descendants de Mahomet par Huçain, les Schaikhs ou Arabes, nommés vulgairement Maures, les Pathans ou Afgans, et les Mogols. Ces quatres classes ont chacune fourni à la religion de saints personnages, qui sont souvent designés par ces dénominations, et par d'autres spécialement consacrées à chacune d'elles, telles que Mir pour les Saiyids, Khân pour les Pathans, Mirzâ, Beg, Agâ, et Khwâja pour les Mogols."—Garcin de Tassy, Religion Mus. dans l'Inde, 22.
(The learned author is mistaken here in supposing that the obsolete term Moor was in India specially applied to Arabs. It was applied, following Portuguese custom, to all Mahommedans.)
- ↑ Like the Βαιτύλιον which the Greeks got through the Semitic nations. In Photius there are extracts from Damascius (Life of Isidorus the Philosopher), which speak of the stones called Baitulos and Baitulion, which were objects of worship, gave oracles, and were apparently used in healing. These appear, from what is stated, to have been meteoric stones. There were many in Lebanon (see Phot. Biblioth., ed. 1653, pp. 1047, 1062-3).
- ↑ "It is curious that without any allusion to this work, another on the Veterinary Art, styled Sálotari, and said to comprise in the Sanskrit original 16,000 slokas, was translated in the reign of Sháh Jahán ... by Saiyad 'Abdulla Khán Bahádur Firoz Jang, who had found it among some other Sanskrit books which ... had been plundered from Amar Singh, Ráná of Chitor."
- ↑ Of the birch-tree, Sansk. bhurja, Betula Bhojpattra, Wall., the exfoliating outer bark of which is called tōz.
- ↑ In a Greek translation of Shakspere, published some years ago at Constantinople, this line is omitted!
- ↑ Corvina is applied by Cuvier, Cantor and others to fish of the genus Sciaena of more recent ichthyologists.
- ↑ "Cybium (Scomber, Linn.) guttatum."—Tennent.
- ↑ Not a general officer, but a letter from the body of the Council.
- ↑ On another B.M. copy of an earlier edition than that quoted, and which belonged to Jos. Scaliger, there is here a note in his autograph: "Id est Caesar, non est vox Tatarica, sed Vindica seu Illyrica, ex Latino detorta."
- ↑
"At pueri ludentes, Rex eris, aiunt,
Si recte facies."—Hor. Ep. I. i. - ↑ On the probable indication of Great and Little used in this fashion, see remarks in notes on Marco Polo, bk. iii. ch. 9.
- ↑ In both written alike, but the final t in Arabic is generally silent, giving sharba, in Persian sharbat. So we get minaret from Pers. and Turk. munārat, in Ar. (and in India) munāra [manār, manāra].
- ↑ "Sewalick is the term, according to the common acceptation; but Capt. Kirkpatrick proves, from the evident etymology of it, that it should be Sewa-luck."—Note by Rennell.
- ↑ This is apparently a mistake. The proposals were certainly original with Mr. Yule.
- ↑ Here is an instance in which scarlet is used for 'scarlet broadcloth': c. 1665.—"... they laid them out, partly in fine Cotton Cloth ... partly in Silken Stuffs streaked with Gold and Silver, to make Vests and Summer-Drawers of; partly in English Scarlet, to make two Arabian Vests of for their King...."—Bernier, E.T. 43; [ed. Constable, 139].
- ↑ Togrul Beg, founder of the Seljuk dynasty, called by various Western writers Tangrolipix, and (as here) Strangolipes.
- ↑ "... hum rio ... que corta do mar todo aquelle terço de terra."... We are not quite sure how to translate. Crawfurd renders: "This (river) intersects the whole island from sea to sea," which seems very free. But it is true, as we have said, that several old maps show Java and Sunda thus divided from sea to sea.
- ↑ Apparently 30,000 quintals every two years.
- ↑ Sunda Kalapa was the same as Jacatra, on the site of which the Dutch founded Batavia in 1619.
- ↑ These are mentioned in a copper tablet inscription of A.D. 1136; see Blochmann, as quoted further on, p. 226.
- ↑ Basandhari is also mentioned by Mr. James Grant (1786) in his View of the Revenues of Bengal, as the Pergunna of Belia-bussendry; and by A. Hamilton as a place on the Damūdar, producing much good sugar (Fifth Report, p. 405; A. Ham. ii. 4). It would seem to have been the present Pergunna of Balia, some 13 or 14 miles west of the northern part of Calcutta. See Hunter's Bengal Gaz. i. 365.
- ↑ So called in the German version which we use; but in the Dutch original he is Schouten.
- ↑ This affair is alluded to in one of the extracts in Long (p. 342): "Agreed ... that the Fakiers who were made prisoners at the retaking of Dacca may be employed as Coolies in the repair of the Factory."—Procgs. of Council at Ft. William, Dec. 5, 1769.
- ↑ Williams (Skt. Dict. s.v.) gives Sūrpāraka as "the name of a mythical country"; but it was real enough. There is some ground for believing that there was another Sūrpāraka on the coast of Orissa, Σιππάρα of Ptolemy.
- ↑ Ῥογχὸ perhaps is Tam. lanha, 'coco-nut.'
- ↑ Mangalore (q.v.) on this coast, no doubt called Sorathī Mangalor to distinguish it from the well-known Mangalor of Canara.
- ↑ But it is worthy of note that in the Island of Bali one manner of accomplishing the rite is called Satia (Skt. satyā, 'truth,' from sat, whence also satī). See Crawfurd, H. of Ind. Archip. ii. 243, and Friedrich, in Verhandelingen van het Batav. Genootschap. xxiii. 10.
- ↑ The same poet speaks of Evadne, who threw herself at Thebes on the burning pile of her husband Capaneus (I. xv. 21), a story which Paley thinks must have come from some early Indian legend.