1880.—"... The Punjab seems to have found out Manchester. A meeting of native merchants at Umritsur ... describes the effects of a shower of rain on the English-made turbans and Kummerbunds as if their heads and loins were enveloped by layers of starch."—Pioneer Mail, June 17.
CUMQUOT, s. The fruit of Citrus japonica, a miniature orange, often sent in jars of preserved fruits, from China. Kumkwat is the Canton pronunciation of kin-kü, 'gold orange,' the Chinese name of the fruit.
CUMRA, s. H. kamrā, from Port. camara; a chamber, a cabin. [In Upper India the drawing-room is the gol kamrā, so called because one end of it is usually semi-circular.]
CUMRUNGA, s. See CARAMBOLA.
CUMSHAW, s. Chin. Pigeon-English for bucksheesh (q.v.), or a present of any kind. According to Giles it is the Amoy pron. (kam-siā) of two characters signifying 'grateful thanks.' Bp. Moule suggests kan-siu (or Cantonese) kăm-sau, 'thank-gift.'
1879.—"... they pressed upon us, blocking out the light, uttering discordant cries, and clamouring with one voice, Kum-sha, i.e. backsheesh, looking more like demons than living men."—Miss Bird's Golden Chersonese, 70.
1882.—"As the ship got under weigh, the Compradore's cumshas, according to 'olo custom,' were brought on board ... dried lychee, Nankin dates ... baskets of oranges, and preserved ginger."—The Fankwae, 103.
CUNCHUNEE, s. H. kanchanī. A dancing-girl. According to Shakespear, this is the feminine of a caste, Kanchan, whose women are dancers. But there is doubt as to this: [see Crooke, Tribes and Castes, N.W.P. iv. 364, for the Kanchan caste.] Kanchan is 'gold'; also a yellow pigment, which the women may have used; see quot. from Bernier. [See DANCING-GIRL.]
[c. 1590.—"The Kanjari; the men of this class play the Pakhāwaj, the Rabāb, and the Tāla, while the women sing and dance. His Majesty calls them Kanchanis."—Āīn, ed. Jarrett, iii. 257.]
c. 1660.—"But there is one thing which seems to me a little too extravagant ... the publick Women, I mean not those of the Bazar, but those more retired and considerable ones that go to the great marriages at the houses of the Omrahs and Mansebdars to sing and dance, those that are called Kenchen, as if you should say the guilded the blossoming ones...."—Bernier, E.T. 88; [ed. Constable, 273 seq.].
c. 1661.—"On regala dans le Serrail, toutes ces Dames Etrangères, de festins et des dances des Quenchenies, qui sont des femmes et des filles d'une Caste de ce nom, qui n'ont point d'autre profession que celle de la danse."—Thevenot, v. 151.
1689.—"And here the Dancing Wenches, or Quenchenies, entertain you, if you please."—Ovington, 257.
1799.—"In the evening the Canchanis ... have exhibited before the Prince and court."—Diary in Life of Colebrooke, 153.
1810.—"The dancing-women are of different kinds ... the Meeraseens never perform before assemblies of men.... The Kunchenee are of an opposite stamp; they dance and sing for the amusement of the male sex."—Williamson, V. M. i. 386.
CURIA MURIA, n.p. The name of a group of islands off the S.E. coast of Arabia (Kharyān Maryān, of Edrisi).
1527.—"Thus as they sailed, the ship got lost upon the shore of Fartaque in (the region of) Curia Muria; and having swum ashore they got along in company of the Moors by land to Calayata, and thence on to Ormuz."—Correa, iii. 562; see also i. 366.
c. 1535.—"Dopo Adem è Fartaque, e le isole Curia, Muria...."—Sommario de' Regni, in Ramusio, f. 325.
1540.—"We letted not to discover the Isles of Curia, Muria, and Avedalcuria (in orig. Abedalcuria)."—Mendez Pinto, E.T. p. 4.
[1553.—See quotation under ROSALGAT.]
1554.—"... it is necessary to come forth between Súkara and the islands Khúr or Múria (Khōr Mōriyā)."—The Mohit, in Jour. As. Soc. Beng. v. 459.
[1833.—"The next place to Saugra is Koorya Moorya Bay, which is extensive, and has good soundings throughout; the islands are named Jibly, Hallanny, Soda, and Haskee."—Owen, Narr. i. 348.]
1834.—"The next place to Saugra is Koorya Moorya Bay."—J. R. Geog. Soc. ii. 208.
CURNUM, s. Tel. karaṇamu; a village accountant, a town-clerk. Acc. to Wilson from Skt. karaṇa; (see CRANNY). [It corresponds to the Tam. kanakan (see CONICOPOLY).]
1827.—"Very little care has been taken to preserve the survey accounts. Those of several villages are not to be found. Of the remainder only a small share is in the Collector's cutcherry, and the rest is in the hands of curnums, written on cadjans."—Minute by Sir T. Munro, in Arbuthnot, i. 285.
CUROUNDA, s. H. karaundā. A small plum-like fruit, which makes good jelly and tarts, and which the natives pickle. It is borne by Carissa carandas, L., a shrub common in many parts of India (N.O. Apocynaceae).
[1870.—Riddell gives a receipt for kurunder jelly, Ind. Dom. Econ. 338.]
[CURRIG JEMA, adj. A corr. of H. khārij jama, "separated or detached from the rental of the State, as lands exempt from rent, or of which the revenue has been assigned to individuals or institutions" (Wilson).
[1687.—"... that whenever they have a mind to build Factorys, satisfying for the land where it was Currig Jema, that is over measure, not entred in the King's books, or paying the usuall and accustomed Rent, no Government should molest them."—Yule, Hedges, Diary, Hak. Soc. ii. lxiii.]
CURRUMSHAW HILLS, n.p. This name appears in Rennell's Bengal Atlas, applied to hills in the Gaya district. It is ingeniously supposed by F. Buchanan to have been a mistake of the geographer's, in taking Karna-Chaupār ('Karna's place of meeting or teaching'), the name of an ancient ruin on the hills in question, for Karnachau Pahār (Pahār = Hill).—(Eastern India, i. 4).
CURRY, s. In the East the staple food consists of some cereal, either (as in N. India) in the form of flour baked into unleavened cakes, or boiled in the grain, as rice is. Such food having {281b}little taste, some small quantity of a much more savoury preparation is added as a relish, or 'kitchen,' to use the phrase of our forefathers. And this is in fact the proper office of curry in native diet. It consists of meat, fish, fruit, or vegetables, cooked with a quantity of bruised spices and turmeric [see MUSSALLA]; and a little of this gives a flavour to a large mess of rice. The word is Tam. kari, i.e. 'sauce'; [kari, v. 'to eat by biting']. The Canarese form karil was that adopted by the Portuguese, and is still in use at Goa. It is remarkable in how many countries a similar dish is habitual; pilāo [see PILLAU] is the analogous mess in Persia, and kuskussu in Algeria; in Egypt a dish well known as ruzz mufalfal [Lane, Mod. Egypt., ed. 1871, i. 185], or "peppered rice." In England the proportions of rice and "kitchen" are usually reversed, so that the latter is made to constitute the bulk of the dish.
The oldest indication of the Indian cuisine in this kind, though not a very precise one, is cited by Athenaeus from Megasthenes: "Among the Indians, at a banquet, a table is set before each individual ... and on the table is placed a golden dish on which they throw, first of all, boiled rice ... and then they add many sorts of meat dressed after the Indian fashion" (Athen., by Yonge, iv. 39). The earliest precise mention of curry is in the Mahavanso (c. A.D. 477), where it is said of Kassapo that "he partook of rice dressed in butter, with its full accompaniment of curries." This is Turnour's translation, the original Pali being sūpa.
It is possible, however, that the kind of curry used by Europeans and Mahommedans is not of purely Indian origin, but has come down from the spiced cookery of medieval Europe and Western Asia. The medieval spiced dishes in question were even coloured like curry. Turmeric, indeed, called by Garcia de Orta, Indian saffron, was yet unknown in Europe, but it was represented by saffron and sandalwood. A notable incident occurs in the old English poem of King Richard, wherein the Lion-heart feasts on the head of a Saracen—
"soden full hastily
With powder and with spysory,
And with saffron of good colour."
Moreover, there is hardly room for doubt that capsicum or red pepper (see CHILLY) was introduced into India by the Portuguese (see Hanbury and Flückiger, 407); and this spice constitutes the most important ingredient in modern curries. The Sanskrit books of cookery, which cannot be of any considerable antiquity, contain many recipes for curry without this ingredient. A recipe for curry (caril) is given, according to Bluteau, in the Portuguese Arte de Cozinha, p. 101. This must be of the 17th century.
It should be added that kari was, among the people of S. India, the name of only one form of 'kitchen' for rice, viz. of that in consistency resembling broth, as several of the earlier quotations indicate. Europeans have applied it to all the savoury concoctions of analogous spicy character eaten with rice. These may be divided into three classes—viz. (1), that just noticed; (2), that in the form of a stew of meat, fish or vegetables; (3), that called by Europeans 'dry curry.' These form the successive courses of a Hindu meal in S. India, and have in the vernaculars several discriminating names.
In Java the Dutch, in their employment of curry, keep much nearer to the original Hindu practice. At a breakfast, it is common to hand round with the rice a dish divided into many sectoral spaces, each of which contains a different kind of curry, more or less liquid.
According to the Fankwae at Canton (1882), the word is used at the Chinese ports (we presume in talking with Chinese servants) in the form kāārle (p. 62).
1502.—"Then the Captain-major commanded them to cut off the hands and ears of all the crews, and put all that into one of the small vessels, into which he ordered them to put the friar, also without ears or nose or hands, which he ordered to be strung round his neck with a palm-leaf for the King, on which he told him to have a curry (caril) made to eat of what his friar brought him."—Correa, Three Voyages, Hak. Soc. 331. The "Friar" was a Brahman, in the dress of a friar, to whom the odious ruffian Vasco da Gama had given a safe-conduct.
1563.—"They made dishes of fowl and flesh, which they call caril."—Garcia, f. 68.
c. 1580.—"The victual of these (renegade soldiers) is like that of the barbarous people; that of Moors all bringe [birinj, 'rice']; that {282b}of Gentoos rice-carril."—Primor e Honra, &c., f. 9v.
1598.—"Most of their fish is eaten with rice, which they seeth in broth, which they put upon the rice, and is somewhat soure, as if it were sodden in gooseberries, or unripe grapes, but it tasteth well, and is called Carriel [v.l. Carriil], which is their daily meat."—Linschoten, 88; [Hak. Soc. ii. 11]. This is a good description of the ordinary tamarind curry of S. India.
1606.—"Their ordinary food is boiled rice with many varieties of certain soups which they pour upon it, and which in those parts are commonly called caril."—Gouvea, 61b.
1608-1610.—"... me disoit qu'il y auoit plus de 40 ans, qu'il estoit esclaue, et auoit gagné bon argent à celuy qui le possedoit; et toute fois qu'il ne luy donnoit pour tout viure qu'vne mesure de riz cru par iour sans autre chose ... et quelquefois deux baseruques, qui sont quelque deux deniers (see BUDGROOK), pour auoir du Caril à mettre auec le riz."—Mocquet, Voyages, 337.
1623.—"In India they give the name of caril to certain messes made with butter, with the kernel of the coco-nut (in place of which might be used in our part of the world milk of almonds) ... with spiceries of every kind, among the rest cardamom and ginger ... with vegetables, fruits, and a thousand other condiments of sorts; ... and the Christians, who eat everything, put in also flesh or fish of every kind, and sometimes eggs ... with all which things they make a kind of broth in the fashion of our guazzetti (or hotch-potches) ... and this broth with all the said condiments in it they pour over a good quantity of rice boiled simply with water and salt, and the whole makes a most savoury and substantial mess."—P. della Valle, ii. 709; [Hak. Soc. ii. 328.]
1681.—"Most sorts of these delicious Fruits they gather before they be ripe, and boyl them to make Carrees, to use the Portuguese word, that is somewhat to eat with and relish their Rice."—Knox, p. 12. This perhaps indicates that the English curry is formed from the Port. caris, plural of caril.
c. 1690.—"Curcuma in Indiâ tam ad cibum quam ad medecinam adhibetur, Indi enim ... adeo ipsi adsueti sunt ut cum cunctis admiscent condimentis et piscibus, praesertim autem isti quod karri ipsis vocatur."—Rumphius, Pars Vta. p. 166.
c. 1759-60.—"The currees are infinitely various, being a sort of fricacees to eat with rice, made of any animals or vegetables."—Grose, i. 150.
1781.—"To-day have curry and rice for my dinner, and plenty of it as C——, my messmate, has got the gripes, and cannot eat his share."—Hon. J. Lindsay's Imprisonment, in Lives of Lindsays, iii. 296.
1794-97.—
"The Bengal squad he fed so wondrous nice,
Baring his currie took, and Scott his rice."
Pursuits of Literature, 5th ed., p. 287.
This shows that curry was not a domesticated dish in England at the date of publication. It also is a sample of what the wit was that ran through so many editions!
c. 1830.—"J'ai substitué le lait à l'eau pour boisson ... c'est une sorte de contre-poison pour l'essence de feu que forme la sauce enragée de mon sempiternel cari."—Jacquemont, Correspondance, i. 196.
1848.—"Now we have seen how Mrs. Sedley had prepared a fine curry for her son."—Vanity Fair, ch. iv.
1860.—"... Vegetables, and especially farinaceous food, are especially to be commended. The latter is indeed rendered attractive by the unrivalled excellence of the Singhalese in the preparation of innumerable curries, each tempered by the delicate creamy juice expressed from the flesh of the cocoa-nut, after it has been reduced to a pulp."—Tennent's Ceylon, i. 77. N.B. Tennent is misled in supposing (i. 437) that chillies are mentioned in the Mahavanso. The word is maricha, which simply means "pepper," and which Turnour has translated erroneously (p. 158).
1874.—"The craving of the day is for quasi-intellectual food, not less highly peppered than the curries which gratify the faded stomach of a returned Nabob."—Blackwood's Magazine, Oct. 434.
The Dutch use the word as Kerrie or Karrie; and Kari à l'Indienne has a place in French cartes.
CURRY-STUFF, s. Onions, chillies, &c.; the usual material for preparing curry, otherwise mussalla (q.v.), represented in England by the preparations called curry-powder and curry-paste.
1860.—"... with plots of esculents and curry-stuffs of every variety, onions, chillies, yams, cassavas, and sweet potatoes."—Tennent's Ceylon, i. 463.
CUSBAH, s. Ar.—H. ḳaṣba, ḳaṣaba; the chief place of a pergunnah (q.v.).
1548.—"And the caçabe of Tanaa is rented at 4450 pardaos."—S. Botelho, Tombo, 150.
[c. 1590.—"In the fortieth year of his Majesty's reign, his dominions consisted of one hundred and five Sircars, sub-divided into two thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven kusbahs."—Ayeen, tr. Gladwin, ii. 1; Jarrett, ii. 115.]
1644.—"On the land side are the houses of the Vazador (?) or Possessor of the Casabe, which is as much as to say the town or aldea of Mombaym (Bombay). This town of Mombaym is a small and scattered affair."—Bocarro, MS. fol. 227.
c. 1844-45.—"In the centre of the large Cusbah of Streevygoontum exists an old mud fort, or rather wall of about 20 feet {283b}high, surrounding some 120 houses of a body of people calling themselves Kotie Vellalas,—that is 'Fort Vellalas.' Within this wall no police officer, warrant or Peon ever enters.... The females are said to be kept in a state of great degradation and ignorance. They never pass without the walls alive; when dead they are carried out by night in sacks."—Report by Mr. E. B. Thomas, Collector of Tinnevelly, quoted in Lord Stanhope's Miscellanies, 2nd Series, 1872, p. 132.
CUSCUSS, CUSS, s. Pers.—H. k̲h̲ask̲h̲as. The roots of a grass [called in N. India senṭhā or tīn,] which abounds in the drier parts of India, Anatherum muricatum (Beauv.), Andropogon muricatus (Retz), used in India during the hot dry winds to make screens, which are kept constantly wet, in the window openings, and the fragrant evaporation from which greatly cools the house (see TATTY). This device seems to be ascribed by Abul Faẓl to the invention of Akbar. These roots are well known in France by the name vetyver, which is the Tam. name veṭṭivēru, 'the root which is dug up.' In some of the N. Indian vernaculars khaskhas is 'a poppy-head'; [but this is a different word, Skt. khaskhasa, and compare P. k̲h̲ashk̲h̲ash].
c. 1590.—"But they (the Hindus) were notorious for the want of cold water, the intolerable heat of their climate.... His Majesty remedied all these evils and defects. He taught them how to cool water by the help of saltpetre.... He ordered mats to be woven of a cold odoriferous root called Khuss ... and when wetted with water on the outside, those within enjoy a pleasant cool air in the height of summer."—Ayeen (Gladwin, 1800), ii. 196; [ed. Jarrett, iii. 9].
1663.—"Kas kanays." See quotation under TATTY.
1810.—"The Kuss-Kuss ... when fresh, is rather fragrant, though the scent is somewhat terraceous."—Williamson, V. M. i. 235.
1824.—"We have tried to keep our rooms cool with 'tatties,' which are mats formed of the Kuskos, a peculiar sweet-scented grass...."—Heber, ed. 1844, i. 59.
It is curious that the coarse grass which covers the more naked parts of the Islands of the Indian Archipelago appears to be called kusu-kusu (Wallace, 2nd ed. ii. 74). But we know not if there is any community of origin in these names.
[1832.—"The sirrakee (sirkī) and sainturh (senṭhā) are two specimens of one genus of jungle grass, the roots of which are called secundah (sirkanda) or khus-khus."—Mrs. Meer Hasan Ali, Observations, &c., ii. 208.]
In the sense of poppy-seed or poppy-head, this word is P.; De Orta says Ar.; [see above.]
1563.—"... at Cambaiete, seeing in the market that they were selling poppy-heads big enough to fill a canada, and also some no bigger than ours, and asking the name, I was told that it was caxcax (cashcash)—and that in fact is the name in Arabic—and they told me that of these poppies was made opium (amfião), cuts being made in the poppy-head, so that the opium exudes."—Garcia De Orta, f. 155.
1621.—"The 24th of April public proclamation was made in Ispahan by the King's order ... that on pain of death, no one should drink cocnur, which is a liquor made from the husk of the capsule of opium, called by them khash-khash."—P. della Valle, ii. 209; [cocnur is P. koknār].
CUSPADORE, s. An old term for a spittoon. Port. cuspadeira, from cuspir, [Lat. conspuere], to spit. Cuspidor would be properly qui multum spuit.
[1554.—Speaking of the greatness of the Sultan of Bengal, he says to illustrate it—"From the camphor which goes with his spittle when he spits into his gold spittoon (cospidor) his chamberlain has an income of 2000 cruzados."—Castanheda, Bk. iv. ch. 83.]
1672.—"Here maintain themselves three of the most powerful lords and Naiks of this kingdom, who are subject to the Crown of Velour, and pay it tribute of many hundred Pagodas ... viz. Vitipa-naik of Madura, the King's Cuspidoor-bearer, 200 Pagodas, Cristapa-naik of Chengier, the King's Betel-server, 200 pagodas, the Naik of Tanjouwer, the King's Warder and Umbrella carrier, 400 Pagodas...."—Baldaeus, Germ. ed. 153.
1735.—In a list of silver plate we have "5 cuspadores."—Wheeler, iii. 139.
1775.—"Before each person was placed a large brass salver, a black earthen pot of water, and a brass cuspadore."—Forrest, V. to N. Guinea, &c. (at Magindanao), 235.
[1900.—"The royal cuspadore" is mentioned among the regalia at Selangor, and a "cuspadore" (ketor) is part of the marriage appliances.—Skeat, Malay Magic, 26, 374.]
CUSTARD-APPLE, s. The name in India of a fruit (Anona squamosa, L.) originally introduced from S. America, but which spread over India during the 16th century. Its commonest name in Hindustan is sharīfa, i.e. 'noble'; but it is also called Sītap'hal, i.e. 'the {284b}Fruit of Sītā,' whilst another Anona ('bullock's heart,' A. reticulata, L., the custard-apple of the W. Indies, where both names are applied to it) is called in the south by the name of her husband Rāma. And the Sītap'hal and Rāmp'hal have become the subject of Hindu legends (see Forbes, Or. Mem. iii. 410). The fruit is called in Chinese Fan-li-chi, i.e. foreign leechee.
A curious controversy has arisen from time to time as to whether this fruit and its congeners were really imported from the New World, or were indigenous in India. They are not mentioned among Indian fruits by Baber (c. A.D. 1530), but the translation of the Āīn (c. 1590) by Prof. Blochmann contains among the "Sweet Fruits of Hindustan," Custard-apple (p. 66). On referring to the original, however, the word is sadāp'hal (fructus perennis), a Hind. term for which Shakespear gives many applications, not one of them the anona. The bel is one (Aegle marmelos), and seems as probable as any (see BAEL). The custard-apple is not mentioned by Garcia de Orta (1563), Linschoten (1597), or even by P. della Valle (1624). It is not in Bontius (1631), nor in Piso's commentary on Bontius (1658), but is described as an American product in the West Indian part of Piso's book, under the Brazilian name Araticu. Two species are described as common by P. Vincenzo Maria, whose book was published in 1672. Both the custard-apple and the sweet-sop are fruits now generally diffused in India; but of their having been imported from the New World, the name Anona, which we find in Oviedo to have been the native West Indian name of one of the species, and which in various corrupted shapes is applied to them over different parts of the East, is an indication. Crawfurd, it is true, in his Malay Dictionary explains nona or buah- ("fruit") nona in its application to the custard-apple as fructus virginalis, from nona, the term applied in the Malay countries (like missy in India) to an unmarried European lady. But in the face of the American word this becomes out of the question.
It is, however, a fact that among the Bharhut sculptures, among the carvings dug up at Muttra by General Cunningham, and among the copies {285a}from wall-paintings at Ajanta (as pointed out by Sir G. Birdwood in 1874, (see Athenaeum, 26th October), [Bombay Gazetteer, xii. 490]) there is a fruit represented which is certainly very like a custard-apple (though an abnormally big one), and not very like anything else yet pointed out. General Cunningham is convinced that it is a custard-apple, and urges in corroboration of his view that the Portuguese in introducing the fruit (which he does not deny) were merely bringing coals to Newcastle; that he has found extensive tracts in various parts of India covered with the wild custard-apple; and also that this fruit bears an indigenous Hindi name, ātā or āt, from the Sanskrit ātṛipya.
It seems hard to pronounce about this ātṛipya. A very high authority, Prof. Max Müller, to whom we once referred, doubted whether the word (meaning 'delightful') ever existed in real Sanskrit. It was probably an artificial name given to the fruit, and he compared it aptly to the factitious Latin of aureum malum for "orange," though the latter word really comes from the Sanskrit nāranga. On the other hand, ātṛipya is quoted by Rāja Rādhakant Deb, in his Sanskrit dictionary, from a medieval work, the Dravyaguna. And the question would have to be considered how far the MSS. of such a work are likely to have been subject to modern interpolation. Sanskrit names have certainly been invented for many objects which were unknown till recent centuries. Thus, for example, Williams gives more than one word for cactus, or prickly pear, a class of plants which was certainly introduced from America (see Vidara and Viśvasaraka, in his Skt. Dictionary).
A new difficulty, moreover, arises as to the indigenous claims of ātā, which is the name for the fruit in Malabar as well as in Upper India. For, on turning for light to the splendid works of the Dutch ancients, Rheede and Rumphius, we find in the former (Hortus Malabaricus, part iv.) a reference to a certain author, 'Recchus de Plantis Mexicanis,' as giving a drawing of a custard-apple tree, the name of which in Mexico was ahaté or até, "fructu apud Mexicanos praecellenti arbor nobilis" (the expressions are noteworthy, for the popular Hindustani {285b}name of the fruit is sharīfa = "nobilis"). We also find in a Manilla Vocabulary that ate or atte is the name of this fruit in the Philippines. And from Rheede we learn that in Malabar the ātā was sometimes called by a native name meaning "the Manilla jack-fruit"; whilst the Anona reticulata, or sweet-sop, was called by the Malabars "the Parangi (i.e. Firingi or Portuguese) jack-fruit."
These facts seem to indicate that probably the ātā and its name came to India from Mexico viâ the Philippines, whilst the anona and its name came to India from Hispaniola viâ the Cape. In the face of these probabilities the argument of General Cunningham from the existence of the tree in a wild state loses force. The fact is undoubted and may be corroborated by the following passage from "Observations on the nature of the Food of the Inhabitants of South India," 1864, p. 12:—"I have seen it stated in a botanical work that this plant (Anona sq.) is not indigenous, but introduced from America, or the W. Indies. If so, it has taken most kindly to the soil of the Deccan, for the jungles are full of it": [also see Watt, Econ. Dict. ii. 259 seq., who supports the foreign origin of the plant]. The author adds that the wild custard-apples saved the lives of many during famine in the Hyderabad country. But on the other hand, the Argemone Mexicana, a plant of unquestioned American origin, is now one of the most familiar weeds all over India. The cashew (Anacardium occidentale), also of American origin, and carrying its American name with it to India, not only forms tracts of jungle now (as Sir G. Birdwood has stated) in Canara and the Concan (and, as we may add from personal knowledge, in Tanjore), but was described by P. Vincenzo Maria, more than two hundred and twenty years ago, as then abounding in the wilder tracts of the western coast.
The question raised by General Cunningham is an old one, for it is alluded to by Rumphius, who ends by leaving it in doubt. We cannot say that we have seen any satisfactory suggestion of another (Indian) plant as that represented in the ancient sculpture of Bharhut. [Dr. Watt says: "They may prove to be conventional representations of the jack-fruit tree {286a}or some other allied plant; they are not unlike the flower-heads of the sacred kadamba or Anthocephalus," (loc. cit. i. 260)]. But it is well to get rid of fallacious arguments on either side.
In the "Materia Medica of the Hindus by Udoy Chand Dutt, with a Glossary by G. King, M.B., Calc. 1877," we find the following synonyms given:—
"Anona squamosa: Skt. Ganḍagatra; Beng. Ātā; Hind. Sharīfa, and Sītāphal."
"Anona reticulata: Skt. Lavali; Beng. Lonā."[100]
1672.—"The plant of the Atta in 4 or 5 years comes to its greatest size ... the fruit ... under the rind is divided into so many wedges, corresponding to the external compartments.... The pulp is very white, tender, delicate, and so delicious that it unites to agreeable sweetness a most delightful fragrance like rose-water ... and if presented to one unacquainted with it he would certainly take it for a blamange.... The Anona," &c., &c.—P. Vincenzo Maria, pp. 346-7.
1690.—"They (Hindus) feed likewise upon Pine-Apples, Custard-apples, so called because they resemble a Custard in Colour and Taste...."—Ovington, 303.
c. 1830.—"... the custard-apple, like russet bags of cold pudding."—Tom Cringle's Log, ed. 1863, p. 140.
1878.—"The gushing custard-apple with its crust of stones and luscious pulp."—Ph. Robinson, In my Indian Garden, [49].
CUSTOM, s. Used in Madras as the equivalent of Dustoor, Dustoory, of which it is a translation. Both words illustrate the origin of Customs in the solemn revenue sense.
1683.—"Threder and Barker positively denied ye overweight, ye Merchants proved it by their books; but ye skeyne out of every draught was confest, and claimed as their due, having been always the custom."—Hedges, Diary, Hak. Soc. i. 83.
1768-71.—"Banyans, who ... serve in this capacity without any fixed pay, but they know how much more they may charge upon every rupee, than they have in reality paid, and this is called costumado."—Stavorinus, E.T., i. 522.
CUSTOMER, s. Used in old books of Indian trade for the native official who exacted duties. [The word was {286b}in common use in England from 1448 to 1748; see N.E.D.]
[1609.—"His houses ... are seized on by the Customer."—Danvers, Letters, i. 25; and comp. Foster, ibid. ii. 225.
[1615.—"The Customer should come and visitt them."—Sir T. Roe, Hak. Soc. i. 44.]
1682.—"The several affronts, insolences, and abuses dayly put upon us by Boolchund, our chief Customer."—Hedges, Diary, [Hak. Soc. i. 33].
CUTCH, s. See CATECHU.
CUTCH, n.p. Properly Kachchh, a native State in the West of India, immediately adjoining Sind, the Rājput ruler of which is called the Rāo. The name does not occur, as far as we have found, in any of the earlier Portuguese writers, nor in Linschoten, [but the latter mentions the gulf under the name of Jaqueta (Hak. Soc. i. 56 seq.)]. The Skt. word kachchha seems to mean a morass or low, flat land.
c. 1030.—"At this place (Mansura) the river (Indus) divides into two streams, one empties itself into the sea in the neighbourhood of the city of Lúháráni, and the other branches off to the east to the borders of Kach."—Al-Birūnī, in Elliot, i. 49.
Again, "Kach, the country producing gum" (i.e. mukal or bdellium), p. 66.
The port mentioned in the next three extracts was probably Mandavi (this name is said to signify "Custom-House"); [manḍwī, 'a temporary hut,' is a term commonly applied to a bazaar in N. India].
1611.—"Cuts-nagore, a place not far from the River of Zinde."—Nic. Dounton, in Purchas, i. 307.
[1612.—"The other ship which proved of Cuts-nagana."—Danvers, Letters, i. 179.]
c. 1615.—"Francisco Sodre ... who was serving as captain-major of the fortress of Dio, went to Cache, with twelve ships and a sanguicel, to inflict chastisement for the arrogance and insolence of these blacks ("... pela soberbia e desaforos d'estes negros...."—"Of these niggers!"), thinking that he might do it as easily as Gaspar de Mello had punished those of Por."—Bocarro, 257.
[c. 1661.—"Dara ... traversing with speed the territories of the Raja Katche soon reached the province of Guzarate...."—Bernier, ed. Constable, 73.]
1727.—"The first town on the south side of the Indus is Cutch-naggen."—A. Hamilton, i. 131; [ed. 1744].
CUTCH GUNDAVA, n.p. Kachchh Gandāva or Kachchī, a province of Biluchistan, under the Khan of Kela't, adjoining our province of Sind; a level plain, subject to inordinate heat in summer, and to the visitation of the simūm. Across the northern part of this plain runs the railway from Sukkur to Sibi. Gandāva, the chief place, has been shown by Sir H. Elliot to be the Kandābīl or Kandhābel of the Arab geographers of the 9th and 10th centuries. The name in its modern shape, or what seems intended for the same, occurs in the Persian version of the Chachnāmah, or H. of the Conquest of Sind, made in A.D. 1216 (see Elliot, i. 166).
CUTCHA, KUTCHA, adj. Hind. kachchā, 'raw, crude, unripe, uncooked.' This word is with its opposite pakkā (see PUCKA) among the most constantly recurring Anglo-Indian colloquial terms, owing to the great variety of metaphorical applications of which both are susceptible. The following are a few examples only, but they will indicate the manner of use better than any attempt at comprehensive definition:—
| A cutcha | Brick is a sun-dried brick. | A pucka | Brick is a properly kiln-burnt brick. |
| " | House is built of mud, or of sun-dried brick. | " | House is of burnt brick or stone with lime, and generally with a terraced plaster roof. |
| " | Road is earthwork only. | " | Road is a Macadamised one. |
| " | Appointment is acting or temporary. | " | Appointment is permanent. |
| " | Settlement is one where the land is held without lease. | " | Settlement is one fixed for a term of years. |
| " | Account or Estimate, is one which is rough, superficial, and untrustworthy. | " | Account, or Estimate, is carefully made, and claiming to be relied on. |
| " | Maund, or Seer, is the smaller, where two weights are in use, as often happens. | " | Maund, or Seer, is the larger of two in use. |
| " | Major is a brevet or local Major. | " | Major, is a regimental Major. |
| " | Colour is one that won't wash. | " | Colour, is one that will wash. |
| " | Fever is a simple ague or a light attack. | " | Fever, is a dangerous remittent or the like (what the Italians call pernizziosa). |
| " | Pice generally means one of those amorphous coppers, current in up-country bazars at varying rates of value. | " | Pice; a double copper coin formerly in use; also a proper pice (= ¼ anna) from the Govt. mints. |
| " | Coss—see analogy under Maund above. | " | Coss—see under Maund above. |
| " | Roof. A roof of mud laid on beams; or of thatch, &c. | " | Roof; a terraced roof made with cement. |
| " | Scoundrel, a limp and fatuous knave. | " | Scoundrel, one whose motto is "Thorough." |
| " | Seam (silāī) is the tailor's tack for trying on. | " | Seam is the definite stitch of the garment. |
1763.—"Il parait que les catcha cosses sont plus en usage que les autres cosses dans le gouvernement du Decan."—Lettres Edifiantes, xv. 190.
1863.—"In short, in America, where they cannot get a pucka railway they take a kutcha one instead. This, I think, is what we must do in India."—Lord Elgin, in Letters and Journals, 432.
Captain Burton, in a letter dated Aug. 26, 1879, and printed in the "Academy" (p. 177), explains the gypsy word gorgio, for a Gentile or non-Rommany, as being kachhā or cutcha. This may be, but it does not carry conviction.
CUTCHA-PUCKA, adj. This term is applied in Bengal to a mixt kind of building in which burnt brick is used, but which is cemented with mud instead of lime-mortar.
CUTCHÉRRY, and in Madras CUT′CHERY, s. An office of administration, a court-house. Hind. kachahrī; used also in Ceylon. The word is not usually now, in Bengal, applied to a merchant's counting-house, which is called dufter, but it is applied to the office of an Indigo-Planter or a Zemindar, the business in which is {288a}more like that of a Magistrate's or Collector's Office. In the service of Tippoo Sahib cutcherry was used in peculiar senses besides the ordinary one. In the civil administration it seems to have been used for something like what we should now call Department (see e.g. Tippoo's Letters, 292); and in the army for a division or large brigade (e.g. ibid. 332; and see under JYSHE and quotation from Wilks below).
1610.—"Over against this seat is the Cichery or Court of Rolls, where the King's Viseer sits every morning some three houres, by whose hands passe all matters of Rents, Grants, Lands, Firmans, Debts, &c."—Hawkins, in Purchas, i. 439.
1673.—"At the lower End the Royal Exchange or Queshery ... opens its folding doors."—Fryer, 261.
[1702.—"But not makeing an early escape themselves were carried into the Cacherra or publick Gaol."—Hedges, Diary, Hak. Soc. ii. cvi.]
1763.—"The Secretary acquaints the Board that agreeably to their orders of the 9th May, he last Saturday attended the Court of Cutcherry, and acquainted the Members with the charge the President of the Court had laid against them for non-attendance."—In Long, 316.
" "The protection of our Gomastahs and servants from the oppression and jurisdiction of the Zemindars and their Cutcherries has been ever found to be a liberty highly essential both to the honour and interest of our nation."—From the Chief and Council at Dacca, in Van Sittart, i. 247.
c. 1765.—"We can truly aver that during almost five years that we presided in the Cutchery Court of Calcutta, never any murder or atrocious crime came before us but it was proved in the end a Bramin was at the bottom of it."—Holwell, Interesting Historical Events, Pt. II. 152.
1783.—"The moment they find it true that the English Government shall remain as it is, they will divide sugar and sweetmeats among all the people in the Cutcheree; then every body will speak sweet words."—Native Letter, in Forbes, Or. Mem. iv. 227.
1786.—"You must not suffer any one to come to your house; and whatever business you may have to do, let it be transacted in our Kuchurry."—Tippoo's Letters, 303.
1791.—"At Seringapatam General Matthews was in confinement. James Skurry was sent for one day to the Kutcherry there, and some pewter plates with marks on them were shown to him to explain; he saw on them words to this purport, 'I am indebted to the Malabar Christians on account of the Public Service 40,000 Rs.; the Company owes me (about) 30,000 Rs.; I have taken Poison and am now within a {288b}short time of Death; whoever communicates this to the Bombay Govt. or to my wife will be amply rewarded. (Signed) Richard Matthews.'"—Narrative of Mr. William Drake, and other Prisoners (in Mysore), in Madras Courier, 17th Nov.
c. 1796.—"... the other Asof Mirán Hussein, was a low fellow and a debauchee, ... who in different ... towns was carried in his pálkí on the shoulders of dancing girls as ugly as demons to his Kutcheri or hall of audience."—H. of Tipú Sultán, E.T. by Miles, 246.
" "... the favour of the Sultan towards that worthy man (Dundia Wágh) still continued to increase ... but although, after a time, a Kutcheri, or brigade, was named after him, and orders were issued for his release, it was to no purpose."—Ibid. 248.
[c. 1810.—"Four appears to have been the fortunate number with Tippoo; four companies (yeuz), one battalion (teep), four teeps, one cushoon (see KOSHOON): ... four cushoons, one Cutcherry. The establishment ... of a cutcherry ... 5,688, but these numbers fluctuated with the Sultaun's caprices, and at one time a cushoon, with its cavalry attached, was a legion of about 3,000."—Wilks, Mysore, ed. 1869, ii. 132.]
1834.—"I mean, my dear Lady Wroughton, that the man to whom Sir Charles is most heavily indebted, is an officer of his own Kucheree, the very sircar who cringes to you every morning for orders."—The Baboo, ii. 126.
1860.—"I was told that many years ago, what remained of the Dutch records were removed from the record-room of the Colonial Office to the Cutcherry of the Government Agent."—Tennent's Ceylon, i. xxviii.
1873.—"I'd rather be out here in a tent any time ... than be stewing all day in a stuffy Kutcherry listening to Ram Buksh and Co. perjuring themselves till they are nearly white in the face."—The True Reformer, i. 4.
1883.—"Surrounded by what seemed to me a mob of natives, with two or three dogs at his feet, talking, writing, dictating,—in short doing Cutcherry."—C. Raikes, in Bosworth Smith's Lord Lawrence, i. 59.
CUTCHNAR, s. Hind. kachnār, Skt. kānchanāra (kānchana, 'gold') the beautiful flowering tree Bauhinia variegata, L., and some other species of the same genus (N. O. Leguminosae).
1855.—"Very good fireworks were exhibited ... among the best was a sort of maypole hung round with minor fireworks which went off in a blaze and roll of smoke, leaving disclosed a tree hung with quivering flowers of purple flame, evidently intended to represent the Kachnar of the Burmese forests."—Yule, Mission to Ava, 95.
CUTTACK, n.p. The chief city of Orissa, and district immediately attached. From Skt. kaṭaka, 'an army, a camp, a royal city.' This name Al-kataka is applied by Ibn Batuta in the 14th century to Deogīr in the Deccan (iv. 46), or at least to a part of the town adjoining that ancient fortress.
c. 1567.—"Citta di Catheca."—Cesare Federici, in Ramusio, iii. 392. [Catecha, in Hakl. ii. 358].
[c. 1590.—"Attock on the Indus is called Atak Benares in contra distinction to Katak Benares in Orissa at the opposite extremity of the Empire."—Āīn, ed. Jarrett, ii. 311.]
1633.—"The 30 of April we set forward in the Morning for the City of Coteka (it is a city of seven miles in compasse, and it standeth a mile from Malcandy where the Court is kept."—Bruton, in Hakl. v. 49.
1726.—"Cattek."—Valentijn, v. 158.
CUTTANEE, s. Some kind of piece-goods, apparently either of silk or mixed silk and cotton. Kuttān, Pers., is flax or linen cloth. This is perhaps the word. [Kattan is now used in India for the waste selvage in silk weaving, which is sold to Patwas, and used for stringing ornaments, such as joshans (armlets of gold or silver beads), bāzūbands (armlets with folding bands), &c. (Yusuf Ali, Mon. on Silk Fabrics, 66).] Cutanees appear in Milburn's list of Calcutta piece-goods.
[1598.—"Cotonias, which are like canvas."—Linschoten, Hak. Soc. i. 60.]
[1648.—"Contenijs." See under ALCATIF.
[1673.—"Cuttanee breeches." See under ATLAS.
[1690.—"... rich Silks, such as Atlasses, Cuttanees...."—See under ALLEJA.
[1734.—"They manufacture ... in cotton and silk called Cuttenees."—A. Hamilton, i. 126; ed. 1744.]
CUTTRY. See KHUTTRY.
CYRUS, SYRAS, SARUS, &c. A common corruption of Hind. sāras, [Skt. sarasa, the 'lake bird,'] or (corruptly) sārhans, the name of the great gray crane, Grus Antigone, L., generally found in pairs, held almost sacred in some parts of India, and whose "fine trumpet-like call, uttered when alarmed or on the wing, can be heard a couple of miles off" (Jerdon). [The British soldier calls the bird a "Serious," and is fond of shooting him for the pot.]
1672.—"... peculiarly Brand-geese, Colum [see COOLUNG], and Serass, a species of the former."—Fryer, 117.
1807.—"The argeelah as well as the cyrus, and all the aquatic tribe are extremely fond of snakes, which they ... swallow down their long throats with great despatch."—Williamson, Or. Field Sports, 27.
[1809.—"Saros." See under coolung.]
1813.—In Forbes's Or. Mem. (ii. 277 seqq.; [2nd ed. i. 502 seqq.]), there is a curious story of a Cyrus or Sahras (as he writes it) which Forbes had tamed in India, and which nine years afterwards recognised its master when he visited General Conway's menagerie at Park Place near Henley.
1840.—"Bands of gobbling pelicans" (see this word, probably ADJUTANTS are meant) "and groups of tall cyruses in their half-Quaker, half-lancer plumage, consulted and conferred together, in seeming perplexity as to the nature of our intentions."—Mrs. Mackenzie, Storms and Sunshine of a Soldier's Life, i. 108.
DABUL, n.p. Dābhol. In the later Middle Ages a famous port of the Konkan, often coupled with Choul (q.v.), carrying on extensive trade with the West of Asia. It lies in the modern dist. of Ratnagiri, in lat. 17° 34′, on the north bank of the Anjanwel or Vashishti R. In some maps (e.g. A. Arrowsmith's of 1816, long the standard map of India), and in W. Hamilton's Gazetteer, it is confounded with Dāpoli, 12 m. north, and not a seaport.
c. 1475.—"Dabyl is also a very extensive seaport, where many horses are brought from Mysore,[101] Rabast [Arabistan? i.e. Arabia], Khorassan, Turkistan, Neghostan."—Nikitin, p. 20. "It is a very large town, the great meeting-place for all nations living along the coast of India and of Ethiopia."—Ibid. 30.
1502.—"The gale abated, and the caravels reached land at Dabul, where they rigged their lateen sails, and mounted their artillery."—Correa, Three Voyages of V. da Gama, Hak. Soc. 308.
1510.—"Having seen Cevel and its customs, I went to another city, distant from it two days journey, which is called Dabuli.... There are Moorish merchants here in very great numbers."—Varthema, 114.
1516.—"This Dabul has a very good harbour, where there always congregate many Moorish ships from various ports, and especially from Mekkah, Aden, and Ormuz with horses, and from Cambay, Diu, and the Malabar country."—Barbosa, 72.
1554.—"23d Voyage, from Dābul to Aden."—The Mohit, in J. As. Soc. Beng., v. 464.
1572.—See Camões, x. 72.
[c. 1665.—"The King of Bijapur has three good ports in this kingdom: these are Rajapur, Dabhol, and Kareputtun."—Tavernier, ed. Ball, i. 181 seq.]
DACCA, n.p. Properly Dhākā, ['the wood of ḍhāk (see DHAWK) trees'; the Imp. Gaz. suggests Ḍhakeswarī, 'the concealed goddess']. A city in the east of Bengal, once of great importance, especially in the later Mahommedan history; famous also for the "Dacca muslins" woven there, the annual advances for which, prior to 1801, are said to have amounted to £250,000. [Taylor, Descr. and Hist. Account of the Cotton Manufacture of Dacca in Bengal]. Dāka is throughout Central Asia applied to all muslins imported through Kabul.
c. 1612.—"... liberos Osmanis assecutus vivos cepit, eosque cum elephantis et omnibus thesauris defuncti, post quam Daeck Bengalae metropolim est reversus, misit ad regem."—De Laet, quoted by Blochmann, Āīn, i. 521.
[c. 1617.—"Dekaka" in Sir T. Roe's List, Hak. Soc. ii. 538.]
c. 1660.—"The same Robbers took Sultan-Sujah at Daka, to carry him away in their Galeasses to Rakan...."—Bernier, E.T. 55; [ed. Constable, 109].
1665.—"Daca is a great Town, that extends itself only in length; every one coveting to have an House by the Ganges side. The length ... is above two leagues.... These Houses are properly no more than paltry Huts built up with Bambouc's, and daub'd over with fat Earth."—Tavernier, E.T. ii. 55; [ed. Ball, i. 128].
1682.—"The only expedient left was for the Agent to go himself in person to the Nabob and Duan at Decca."—Hedges, Diary, Oct. 9; [Hak. Soc. i. 33].
DACOIT, DACOO, s. Hind. ḍakait, ḍākāyat, ḍākū; a robber belonging to an armed gang. The term, being current in Bengal, got into the Penal Code. By law, to constitute dacoity, there must be five or more in the gang committing the crime. Beames derives the word from ḍāknā, 'to shout,' a sense not in Shakespear's Dict. [It is to be found in Platts, and Fallon {290b}gives it as used in E. H. It appears to be connected with Skt. dashṭa, 'pressed together.']
1810.—"Decoits, or water-robbers."—Williamson, V. M. ii. 396.
1812.—"Dacoits, a species of depredators who infest the country in gangs."—Fifth Report, p. 9.
1817.—"The crime of dacoity" (that is, robbery by gangs), says Sir Henry Strachey, "... has, I believe, increased greatly since the British administration of justice."—Mill, H. of B. I., v. 466.
1834.—"It is a conspiracy! a false warrant!—they are Dakoos! Dakoos!!"—The Baboo, ii. 202.
1872.—"Daroga! Why, what has he come here for? I have not heard of any dacoity or murder in the Village."—Govinda Samanta, i. 264.
DADNY, s. H. dādnī, [P. dādan, 'to give']; an advance made to a craftsman, a weaver, or the like, by one who trades in the goods produced.
1678.—"Wee met with Some trouble About ye Investment of Taffaties wch hath Continued ever Since, Soe yt wee had not been able to give out any daudne on Muxadavad Side many weauours absenting themselves...."—MS. Letter of 3d June, from Cassumbazar Factory, in India Office.
1683.—"Chuttermull and Deepchund, two Cassumbazar merchants this day assured me Mr. Charnock gives out all his new Sicca Rupees for Dadny at 2 per cent., and never gives the Company credit for more than 1¼ rupee—by which he gains and putts in his own pocket Rupees ¾ per cent. of all the money he pays, which amounts to a great Summe in ye Yeare: at least £1,000 sterling."—Hedges, Diary, Oct. 2; [Hak. Soc. i. 121, also see i. 83].
1748.—"The Sets being all present at the Board inform us that last year they dissented to the employment of Fillick Chund, Gosserain, Occore, and Otteram, they being of a different caste, and consequently they could not do business with them, upon which they refused Dadney, and having the same objection to make this year, they propose taking their shares of the Dadney."—Ft. William Cons., May 23. In Long, p. 9.
1772.—"I observe that the Court of Directors have ordered the gomastahs to be withdrawn, and the investment to be provided by Dadney merchants."—Warren Hastings to J. Purling, in Gleig, i. 227.
DAGBAIL, s. Hind. from Pers. dāgh-i-bel, 'spade-mark.' The line dug to trace out on the ground a camp, or a road or other construction. As the central line of a road, canal, or {291a}railroad it is the equivalent of English 'lockspit.'
DAGOBA, s. Singhalese dāgaba, from Pali dhātugabbha, and Sansk. dhātu-garbha, 'Relic-receptacle'; applied to any dome-like Buddhist shrine (see TOPE, PAGODA). Gen. Cunningham alleges that the Chaitya was usually an empty tope dedicated to the Adi-Buddha (or Supreme, of the quasi-Theistic Buddhists), whilst the term Dhātu-garbha, or Dhagoba, was properly applied only to a tope which was an actual relic-shrine, or repository of ashes of the dead (Bhilsa Topes, 9). ["The Shan word 'Htat,' or 'Tat,' and the Siamese 'Sat-oop,' for a pagoda placed over portions of Gaudama's body, such as his flesh, teeth, and hair, is derived from the Sanskrit 'Dhātu-garba,' a relic shrine" (Hallett, A Thousand Miles, 308).]
We are unable to say who first introduced the word into European use. It was well known to William von Humboldt, and to Ritter; but it has become more familiar through its frequent occurrence in Fergusson's Hist. of Architecture. The only surviving example of the native use of this term on the Continent of India, so far as we know, is in the neighbourhood of the remains of the great Buddhist establishments at Nalanda in Behar. See quotation below.
1806.—"In this irregular excavation are left two dhagopes, or solid masses of stone, bearing the form of a cupola."—Salt, Caves of Salsette, in Tr. Lit. Soc. Bo. i. 47, pub. 1819.
1823.—"... from the centre of the screens or walls, projects a daghope."—Des. of Caves near Nasick, by Lt.-Col. Delamaine in As. Journal, N.S. 1830, vol. iii. 276.
1834.—"... Mihindu-Kumara ... preached in that island (Ceylon) the Religion of Buddha, converted the aforesaid King, built Dagobas (Dagops, i.e. sanctuaries under which the relics or images of Buddha are deposited) in various places."—Ritter, Asien, Bd. iii. 1162.
1835.—"The Temple (cave at Nāsik) ... has no interior support, but a rock-ceiling richly adorned with wheel-ornaments and lions, and in the end-niche a Dagop ..."—Ibid. iv. 683.
1836.—"Although the Dagops, both from varying size and from the circumstance of their being in some cases independent erections and in others only elements of the internal structure of a temple, have very different aspects, yet their character is universally recognised as that of closed {291b}masses devoted to the preservation or concealment of sacred objects."—W. v. Humboldt, Kawi-Sprache, i. 144.
1840.—"We performed pradakshina round the Dhagobs, reclined on the living couches of the devotees of Nirwan."—Letter of Dr. John Wilson, in Life, 282.
1853.—"At the same time he (Sakya) foresaw that a dágoba would be erected to Kantaka on the spot...."—Hardy, Manual of Buddhism, 160.
1855.—"All kinds and forms are to be found ... the bell-shaped pyramid of dead brickwork in all its varieties ... the bluff knob-like dome of the Ceylon Dagobas...."—Yule, Mission to Ava, 35.
1872.—"It is a remarkable fact that the line of mounds (at Nalanda in Bihar) still bears the name of 'dagop' by the country people. Is not this the dágoba of the Pálí annals?"—Broadley, Buddh. Remains of Bíhár, in J.A.S.B. xli., Pt. i. 305.
DAGON, n.p. A name often given by old European travellers to the place now called Rangoon, from the great Relic-shrine or dagoba there, called Shwé (Golden) Dagôn. Some have suggested that it is a corruption of dagoba, but this is merely guesswork. In the Talaing language tă'kkūn signifies 'athwart,' and, after the usual fashion, a legend had grown up connecting the name with the story of a tree lying 'athwart the hill-top,' which supernaturally indicated where the sacred relics of one of the Buddhas had been deposited (see J.A.S.B. xxviii. 477). Prof. Forchhammer recently (see Notes on Early Hist. and Geog. of B. Burma, No. 1) explained the true origin of the name. Towns lying near the sacred site had been known by the successive names of Asitañña-nagara and Ukkalanagara. In the 12th century the last name disappears and is replaced by Trikumbha-nagara, or in Pali form Tikumbha-nagara, signifying '3-Hill-city.'[102] The Kalyāni inscription near Pegu contains both forms. Tikumbha gradually in popular utterance became Tikum, Tăkum, and Tăkun, whence Dagôn. The classical name of the great Dagoba is Tikumbha-cheti, and this is still in daily Burman use. {292a}When the original meaning of the word Tăkum had been effaced from the memory of the Talaings, they invented the fable alluded to above in connection with the word tă'kkūn. [This view has been disputed by Col. Temple (Ind. Ant., Jan. 1893, p. 27). He gives the reading of the Kalyāni inscription as Tigumpanagara and goes on to say: "There is more in favour of this derivation (from dagoba) than of any other yet produced. Thus we have dāgaba, Singhalese, admittedly from dhātugabbha, and as far back as the 16th century we have a persistent word tigumpa or digumpa (dagon, digon) in Burma with the same meaning. Until a clear derivation is made out, it is, therefore, not unsafe to say that dagon represents some medieval Indian current form of dhātugabbha. This view is supported by a word gompa, used in the Himālayas about Sikkim for a Buddhist shrine, which looks primâ facie like the remains of some such word as gabbha, the latter half of the compound dhātugabbha.... Neither Trikumbha-nagara in Skt. nor Tikumbha-nagara in Pali would mean 'Three-hill-city,' kumbha being in no sense a 'hill' which is kūta, and there are not three hills on the site of the Shwe-Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon."]
c. 1546.—"He hath very certaine intelligence, how the Zemindoo hath raised an army, with an intent to fall upon the Towns of Cosmin and Dalaa (DALA), and to gain all along the rivers of Digon and Meidoo, the whole Province of Danapluu, even to Ansedaa (hod. Donabyu and Henzada)."—F. M. Pinto, tr. by H. C. 1653, p. 288.
c. 1585.—"After landing we began to walk, on the right side, by a street some 50 paces wide, all along which we saw houses of wood, all gilt, and set off with beautiful gardens in their fashion, in which dwell all the Talapoins, which are their Friars, and the rulers of the Pagode or Varella of Dogon."—Gasparo Balbi, f. 96.
c. 1587.—"About two dayes iourney from Pegu there is a Varelle (see VARELLA) or Pagode, which is the pilgrimage of the Pegues: it is called Dogonne, and is of a wonderfulle bignesse and all gilded from the foot to the toppe."—R. Fitch, in Hakl. ii. 398, [393].
c. 1755.—Dagon and Dagoon occur in a paper of this period in Dalrymple's Oriental Repertory, i. 141, 177; [Col. Temple adds: "The word is always Digon in Flouest's account of his travels in 1786 (T'aung Pao, vol. i. Les Francais en Birmanie au xviiie Siècle, passim). It is always Digon (except {292b}once: "Digone capitale del Pegù," p. 149) in Quirini's Vita di Monsignor G. M. Percoto, 1781; and it is Digon in a map by Antonio Zultae e figli Venezia, 1785. Symes, Embassy to Ava, 1803 (pp. 18, 23) has Dagon. Crawfurd, 1829, Embassy to Ava (pp. 346-7), calls it Dagong. There is further a curious word, "Too Degon," in one of Mortier's maps, 1740."]
DAIBUL, n.p. See DIULSIND.
DAIMIO, s. A feudal prince in Japan. The word appears to be approximately the Jap. pronunciation of Chin. taiming, 'great name.' ["The Daimyōs were the territorial lords and barons of feudal Japan. The word means literally 'great name.' Accordingly, during the Middle Ages, warrior chiefs of less degree, corresponding, as one might say, to our knights or baronets, were known by the correlative title of Shōmyō, that is, 'small name.' But this latter fell into disuse. Perhaps it did not sound grand enough to be welcome to those who bore it" (Chamberlain, Things Japanese, 101 seq.).]
DAISEYE, s. This word, representing Desai, repeatedly occurs in Kirkpatrick's Letters of Tippoo (e.g. p. 196) for a local chief of some class. See DESSAYE.
DALA, n.p. This is now a town on the (west) side of the river of Rangoon, opposite to that city. But the name formerly applied to a large province in the Delta, stretching from the Rangoon River westward.
1546.—See Pinto, under DAGON.
1585.—"The 2d November we came to the city of Dala, where among other things there are 10 halls full of elephants, which are here for the King of Pegu, in charge of various attendants and officials."—Gasp. Balbi, f. 95.
DALAWAY, s. In S. India the Commander-in-chief of an army; [Tam. talavāy, Skt. dala, 'army,' vah, 'to lead']; Can. and Mal. dhaḷavāy and daḷavāyi. Old Can. dhaḷa, H. dal, 'an army.'
1615.—"Caeterum Deleuaius ... vehementer à rege contendit, ne com̃itteret vt vllum condenda nova hac urbe Arcomaganensis portus antiquissimus detrimentum caperet."—Jarric, Thesaurus, i. p. 179.
1700.—"Le Talavai, c'est le nom qu'on donne au Prince, qui gouverne aujourd'hui {293a}le Royaume sous l'autorité de la Reine."—Lettres Edif. x. 162. See also p. 173 and xi. 90.
c. 1747.—"A few days after this, the Dulwai sent for Hydur, and seating him on a musnud with himself, he consulted with him on the re-establishment of his own affairs, complaining bitterly of his own distress for want of money."—H. of Hydur Naik, 44. (See also under DHURNA.)
1754.—"You are imposed on, I never wrote to the Maissore King or Dalloway any such thing, nor they to me; nor had I a knowledge of any agreement between the Nabob and the Dallaway."—Letter from Gov. Saunders of Madras to French Deputies in Cambridge's Acct. of the War, App. p. 29.
1763-78.—"He (Haidar) has lately taken the King (Mysore) out of the hands of his Uncle, the Dalaway."—Orme, iii. 636.
[1810.—"Two manuscripts ... preserved in different branches of the family of the ancient Dulwoys of Mysoor."—Wilks, Mysore, Pref. ed. 1869, p. xi.]
DALOYET, DELOYET, s. An armed attendant and messenger, the same as a Peon. H. ḍhalait, ḍhalāyat, from ḍhāl, 'a shield.' The word is never now used in Bengal and Upper India.
1772.—"Suppose every farmer in the province was enjoined to maintain a number of good serviceable bullocks ... obliged to furnish the Government with them on a requisition made to him by the Collector in writing (not by sepoys, delects (sic), or hercarras)" (see HURCARRA).—W. Hastings, to G. Vansittart, in Gleig, i. 237.
1809.—"As it was very hot, I immediately employed my delogets to keep off the crowd."—Ld. Valentia, i. 339. The word here and elsewhere in that book is a misprint for deloyets.
DAM, s. H. dām. Originally an actual copper coin, regarding which we find the following in the Āīn, i. 31, ed. Blochmann:—"1. The Dám weighs 5 tánks, i.e. 1 tolah, 8 māshas, and 7 surkhs; it is the fortieth part of a rupee. At first this coin was called Paisah, and also Bahloli; now it is known under this name (dám). On one side the place is given where it was struck, on the other the date. For the purpose of calculation, the dám is divided into 25 parts, each of which is called a jétal. This imaginary division is only used by accountants.
"2. The adhelah is half of a dám. 3. The Páulah is a quarter of a dám. 4. The damrí is an eighth of a dám."
It is curious that Akbar's revenues were registered in this small currency, {293b}viz. in laks of dáms. We may compare the Portuguese use of reis [see REAS].
The tendency of denominations of coins is always to sink in value. The jetal [see JEETUL], which had become an imaginary money of account in Akbar's time, was, in the 14th century, a real coin, which Mr. E. Thomas, chief of Indian numismatologists, has unearthed [see Chron. Pathan Kings, 231]. And now the dām itself is imaginary. According to Elliot the people of the N.W.P. not long ago calculated 25 dāms to the paisā, which would be 1600 to a rupee. Carnegy gives the Oudh popular currency table as:
| 26 | kauris | = | 1 damrī |
| 1 | damrī | = | 3 dām |
| 20 | da" | = | 1 ānā |
| 25 | dām | = | 1 pice. |
But the Calcutta Glossary says the dām is in Bengal reckoned 1⁄20 of an ānā, i.e. 320 to the rupee. ["Most things of little value, here as well as in Bhagalpur (writing of Behar) are sold by an imaginary money called Takā, which is here reckoned equal to two Paysas. There are also imaginary monies called Chadām and Damrī; the former is equal to 1 Paysa or 25 cowries, the latter is equal to one-eighth of a Paysa" (Buchanan, Eastern Ind. i. 382 seq.)]. We have not in our own experience met with any reckoning of dāms. In the case of the damrī the denomination has increased instead of sinking in relation to the dām. For above we have the damrī = 3 dāms, or according to Elliot (Beames, ii. 296) = 3¼ dāms, instead of ⅛ of a dām as in Akbar's time. But in reality the damrī's absolute value has remained the same. For by Carnegy's table 1 rupee or 16 anas would be equal to 320 damrīs, and by the Āīn, 1 rupee = 40 × 8 damrīs = 320 damrīs. Damrī is a common enough expression for the infinitesimal in coin, and one has often heard a Briton in India say: "No, I won't give a dumree!" with but a vague notion what a damrī meant, as in Scotland we have heard, "I won't give a plack," though certainly the speaker could not have stated the value of that ancient coin. And this leads to the suggestion that a like expression, often heard from coarse talkers in England as well as in India, originated in the latter country, and {294a}that whatever profanity there may be in the animus, there is none in the etymology, when such an one blurts out "I don't care a dām!" i.e. in other words, "I don't care a brass farthing!"
If the Gentle Reader deems this a far-fetched suggestion, let us back it by a second. We find in Chaucer (The Miller's Tale):
"——ne raught he not a kers,"
which means, "he recked not a cress" (ne flocci quidem); an expression which is also found in Piers Plowman:
"Wisdom and witte is nowe not worthe a kerse."
And this we doubt not has given rise to that other vulgar expression, "I don't care a curse";—curiously parallel in its corruption to that in illustration of which we quote it.
[This suggestion about dām was made by a writer in Asiat. Res., ed. 1803, vii. 461: "This word was perhaps in use even among our forefathers, and may innocently account for the expression 'not worth a fig,' or a dam, especially if we recollect that ba-dam, an almond, is to-day current in some parts of India as small money. Might not dried figs have been employed anciently in the same way, since the Arabic word fooloos, a halfpenny, also denotes a cassia bean, and the root fuls means the scale of a fish. Mankind are so apt, from a natural depravity, that 'flesh is heir to,' in their use of words, to pervert them from their original sense, that it is not a convincing argument against the present conjecture our using the word curse in vulgar language in lieu of dam." The N.E.D. disposes of the matter: "The suggestion is ingenious, but has no basis in fact." In a letter to Mr. Ellis, Macaulay writes: "How they settle the matter I care not, as the Duke says, one twopenny damn"; and Sir G. Trevelyan notes: "It was the Duke of Wellington who invented this oath, so disproportioned to the greatness of its author." (Life, ed. 1878, ii. 257.)]
1628.—"The revenue of all the territories under the Emperors of Delhi amounts, according to the Royal registers, to 6 arbs and 30 krors of dáms. One arb is equal to 100 krors (a kror being 10,000,000), and a hundred krors of dams are equal to 2 krors and 50 lacs of rupees."—Muhammad Sharīf Hanifī, in Elliot, vii. 138.
c. 1840.—"Charles Greville saw the Duke soon after, and expressing the pleasure he had felt in reading his speech (commending the conduct of Capt. Charles Elliot in China), added that, however, many of the party were angry with it; to which the Duke replied,—'I know they are, and I don't care a damn. I have no time to do what is right.'
"A twopenny damn was, I believe, the form usually employed by the Duke, as an expression of value: but on the present occasion he seems to have been less precise."—Autobiography of Sir Henry Taylor, i. 296. The term referred to seems curiously to preserve an unconscious tradition of the pecuniary, or what the idiotical jargon of our time calls the 'monetary,' estimation contained in the expression.
1881.—"A Bavarian printer, jealous of the influence of capital, said that 'Cladstone baid millions of money to the beeble to fote for him, and Beegonsfeel would not bay them a tam, so they fote for Cladstone.'"—A Socialistic Picnic, in St. James's Gazette, July 6.
[1900.—"There is not, I dare wager, a single bishop who cares one 'twopenny-halfpenny dime' for any of that plenteousness for himself."—H. Bell, Vicar of Muncaster, in Times, Aug. 31.]
DAMAN, n.p. Damān, one of the old settlements of the Portuguese which they still retain, on the coast of Guzerat, about 100 miles north of Bombay; written by them Damão.
1554.—"... the pilots said: 'We are here between Diu and Daman; if the ship sinks here, not a soul will escape; we must make sail for the shore."—Sidi 'Ali, 80.
[1607-8.—"Then that by no means or ships or men can goe saffelie to Suratt, or theare expect any quiett trade for the many dangers likelie to happen vnto them by the Portugals Cheef Comanders of Diu and Demon and places there aboute...."—Birdwood, First Letter Book, 247.]
1623.—"Il capitano ... sperava che potessimo esser vicini alla città di Daman; laqual esta dentro il golfo di Cambaia a man destra...."—P. della Valle, ii. 499 [Hak. Soc. i. 15].
DAMANI, s. Applied to a kind of squall. (See ELEPHANTA.)
DAMMER, s. This word is applied to various resins in different parts of India, chiefly as substitutes for pitch. The word appears to be Malayo-Javanese damar, used generically for resins, a class of substances the origin of which is probably often uncertain. [Mr. Skeat notes that the Malay damar means rosin and a torch made of rosin, the latter consisting of a regular {295a}cylindrical case, made of bamboo or other suitable material, filled to the top with rosin and ignited.] To one of the dammer-producing trees in the Archipelago the name Dammara alba, Rumph. (N. O. Coniferae), has been given, and this furnishes the 'East India Dammer' of English varnish-makers. In Burma the dammer used is derived from at least three different genera of the N. O. Dipterocarpeae; in Bengal it is derived from the sāl tree (see SAUL-WOOD) (Shorea robusta) and other Shoreae, as well as by importation from transmarine sources. In S. India "white dammer," "Dammer Pitch," or Piney resin, is the produce of Vateria indica, and "black dammer" of Canarium strictum; in Cutch the dammer used is stated by Lieut. Leech (Bombay Selections, No. xv. p. 215-216) to be made from chandrūz (or chandras = copal) boiled with an equal quantity of oil. This is probably Fryer's 'rosin taken out of the sea' (infra). [On the other hand Mr. Pringle (Diary, &c., Fort St. George, 1st ser. iv. 178) quotes Crawfurd (Malay Archip. i. 455): (Dammer) "exudes through the bark, and is either found adhering to the trunk and branches in large lumps, or in masses on the ground, under the trees. As these often grow near the sea-side or on banks of rivers, the damar is frequently floated away and collected at different places as drift"; and adds: "The dammer used for caulking the masula boats at Madras when Fryer was there, may have been, and probably was, imported from the Archipelago, and the fact that the resin was largely collected as drift may have been mentioned in answer to his enquiries."] Some of the Malay dammer also seems, from Major M‘Nair's statement, to be, like copal, fossil. [On this Mr. Skeat says: "It is true that it is sometimes dug up out of the ground, possibly because it may form on the roots of certain trees, or because a great mass of it will fall and partially bury itself in the ground by its own weight, but I have never heard of its being found actually fossilised, and I should question the fact seriously."]
The word is sometimes used in India [and by the Malays, see above] for 'a torch,' because torches are formed of rags dipped in it. This is perhaps the use which accounts for Haex's explanation below.
1584.—"Demnar (for demmar) from Siacca and Blinton" (i.e. Siak and Billiton).—Barret, in Hakl. ii. 43.
1631.—In Haex's Malay Vocabulary: "Damar, Lumen quod accenditur."
1673.—"The Boat is not strengthened with Knee-Timbers as ours are, the bended Planks are sowed together with Rope-yarn of the Cocoe, and calked with Dammar (a sort of Rosin taken out of the sea)."—Fryer, 37.
" "The long continued Current from the Inland Parts (at Surat) through the vast Wildernesses of huge Woods and Forests, wafts great Rafts of Timber for Shipping and Building: and Damar for Pitch, the finest sented Bitumen (if it be not a gum or Rosin) I ever met with."—Ibid. 121.
1727.—"Damar, a gum that is used for making Pitch and Tar for the use of Shipping."—A. Hamilton, ii. 73; [ed. 1744, ii. 72].
c. 1755.—"A Demar-Boy (Torch-boy)."—Ives, 50.
1878.—"This dammar, which is the general Malayan name for resin, is dug out of the forests by the Malays, and seems to be the fossilised juices of former growth of jungle."—McNair, Perak, &c., 188.
1885.—"The other great industry of the place (in Sumatra) is dammar collecting. This substance, as is well known, is the resin which exudes from notches made in various species of coniferous and dipterocarpous trees ... out of whose stem ... the native cuts large notches up to a height of 40 or 50 feet from the ground. The tree is then left for 3 or 4 months when, if it be a very healthy one, sufficient dammar will have exuded to make it worth while collecting; the yield may then be as much as 94 Amsterdam pounds."—H. O. Forbes, A Naturalist's Wanderings, p. 135.
DANA, s. H. dāna, literally 'grain,' and therefore the exact translation of gram in its original sense (q.v.). It is often used in Bengal as synonymous with gram, thus: "Give the horse his dāna." We find it also in this specific way by an old traveller:
1616.—"A kind of graine called Donna, somewhat like our Pease, which they boyle, and when it is cold give them mingled with course Sugar, and twise or thrise in the Weeke, Butter to scoure their Bodies."—Terry, in Purchas, ii. 1471.
DANCING-GIRL, s. This, or among the older Anglo-Indians, Dancing-Wench, was the representative of the (Portuguese Bailadeira) Bayadère, or Nautch-girl (q.v.), also Cunchunee. In S. India dancing-girls are all Hindus, [and known as Devadāsī or Bhogam-dāsī;] in N. India they are both Hindu, called Rāmjanī (see RUM-JOHNNY), and Mussulman, called {296a}Kanchanī (see CUNCHUNEE). In Dutch the phrase takes a very plain-spoken form, see quotation from Valentijn; [others are equally explicit, e.g. Sir T. Roe (Hak. Soc. i. 145) and P. della Valle, ii. 282.]
1606.—See description by Gouvea, f. 39.
1673.—"After supper they treated us with the Dancing Wenches, and good soops of Brandy and Delf Beer, till it was late enough."—Fryer, 152.
1701.—"The Governor conducted the Nabob into the Consultation Room ... after dinner they were diverted with the Dancing Wenches."—In Wheeler, i. 377.
1726.—"Wat de dans-Hoeren (anders Dewataschi (Deva-dāsī) ... genaamd, en an de Goden hunner Pagoden als getrouwd) belangd."—Valentijn, Chor. 54.
1763-78.—"Mandelslow tells a story of a Nabob who cut off the heads of a set of dancing girls ... because they did not come to his palace on the first summons."—Orme, i. 28 (ed. 1803).
1789.—"... dancing girls who display amazing agility and grace in all their motions."—Munro, Narrative, 73.
c. 1812.—"I often sat by the open window, and there, night after night, I used to hear the songs of the unhappy dancing girls, accompanied by the sweet yet melancholy music of the cithára."—Mrs. Sherwood's Autobiog. 423.
[1813.—Forbes gives an account of the two classes of dancing girls, those who sing and dance in private houses, and those attached to temples.—Or. Mem. 2nd ed. i. 61.]
1815.—"Dancing girls were once numerous in Persia; and the first poets of that country have celebrated the beauty of their persons and the melody of their voices."—Malcolm, H. of Persia, ii. 587.
1838.—"The Maharajah sent us in the evening a new set of dancing girls, as they were called, though they turned out to be twelve of the ugliest old women I ever saw."—Osborne, Court and Camp of Runjeet Singh, 154.
1843.—"We decorated the Temples of the false gods. We provided the dancing girls.  A boatman. The term is peculiar to the Gangetic rivers. H. and Beng. ḍānḍi, from ḍānḍ or ḍanḍ, 'a staff, an oar.'
1685.—"Our Dandees (or boatmen) boyled their rice, and we supped here."—Hedges, Diary, Jan. 6; [Hak. Soc. i. 175].
1763.—"The oppressions of your officers were carried to such a length that they put a stop to all business, and plundered and seized the Dandies and Mangies' [see MANJEE] vessel."—W. Hastings to the Nawab, in Long, 347.
1809.—"Two naked dandys paddling at the head of the vessel."—Ld. Valentia, i. 67.
1824.—"I am indeed often surprised to observe the difference between my dandees (who are nearly the colour of a black teapot) and the generality of the peasants whom we meet."—Bp. Heber, i. 149 (ed. 1844).
—— (b). A kind of ascetic who carries a staff. Same etymology. See Solvyns, who gives a plate of such an one.
[1828.—"... the Dandi is distinguished by carrying a small Dand, or wand, with several processes or projections from it, and a piece of cloth dyed with red ochre, in which the Brahmanical cord is supposed to be enshrined, attached to it."—H. H. Wilson, Sketch of the Religious Sects of the Hindus, ed. 1861, i. 193.]
—— (c). H. same spelling, and same etymology. A kind of vehicle used in the Himālaya, consisting of a strong cloth slung like a hammock to a bamboo staff, and carried by two (or more) men. The traveller can either sit sideways, or lie on his back. It is much the same as the Malabar muncheel (q.v.), [and P. della Valle describes a similar vehicle which he says the Portuguese call Rete (Hak. Soc. i. 183)].
[1875.—"The nearest approach to travelling in a dandi I can think of, is sitting in a half-reefed top-sail in a storm, with the head and shoulders above the yard."—Wilson, Abode of Snow, 103.]
1876.—"In the lower hills when she did not walk she travelled in a dandy."—Kinloch, Large Game Shooting in Thibet, 2nd S., p. vii.
DANGUR, n.p. H. Ḍhāngar, the name by which members of various tribes of Chūtiā Nāgpūr, but especially of the Orāons, are generally known when they go out to distant provinces to seek employment as labourers ("coolies"). A very large proportion of those who emigrate to the tea-plantations of E. India, and also to Mauritius and other colonies, belong to the Orāon tribe. The etymology of the term Ḍhāngar is doubtful. The late Gen. Dalton says: "It is a word that from its apparent derivation (dāng or dhāng, 'a hill') may mean any {297a}hill-man; but amongst several tribes of the Southern tributary Maháls, the terms Dhángar and Dhángarin mean the youth of the two sexes, both in highland and lowland villages, and it cannot be considered the national designation of any particular tribe" (Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal, 245) [and see Risley, Tribes and Castes, i. 219].
DARCHEENEE, s. P. dār-chīnī, 'China-stick,' i.e. cinnamon.
1563.—"... The people of Ormuz, because this bark was brought for sale there by those who had come from China, called it dar-chini, which in Persian means 'wood of China,' and so they sold it in Alexandria...."—Garcia, f. 59-60.
1621.—"As for cinnamon which you wrote was called by the Arabs dartzeni, I assure you that the dar-síni, as the Arabs say, or dar-chini as the Persians and Turks call it, is nothing but our ordinary canella."—P. della Valle, ii. 206-7.
DARJEELING, DĀRJĪLING, n.p. A famous sanitarium in the Eastern Himālaya, the cession of which was purchased from the Raja of Sikkim in 1835; a tract largely added to by annexation in 1849, following on an outrage committed by the Sikkim Minister in imprisoning Dr. (afterwards Sir) Joseph Hooker and the late Dr. A. Campbell, Superintendent of Darjeeling. The sanitarium stands at 6500 to 7500 feet above the sea. The popular Tibetan spelling of the name is, according to Jaeshcke, rDor-rje-glin, 'Land of the Dorje,' i.e. 'of the Adamant or thunderbolt,' the ritual sceptre of the Lamas. But 'according to several titles of books in the Petersburg list of MSS. it ought properly to be spelt Dar-rgyas-glin' (Tib. Eng. Dict. p. 287).
DARÓGA, s. P. and H. dāroghā. This word seems to be originally Mongol (see Kovalevsky's Dict. No. 1672). In any case it is one of those terms brought by the Mongol hosts from the far East. In their nomenclature it was applied to a Governor of a province or city, and in this sense it continued to be used under Timur and his immediate successors. But it is the tendency of official titles, as of denominations of coin, to descend in value; and that of dāroghā has in later days been bestowed on a variety {297b}of humbler persons. Wilson defines the word thus: "The chief native officer in various departments under the native government, a superintendent, a manager: but in later times he is especially the head of a police, customs, or excise station." Under the British Police system, from 1793 to 1862-63, the Darogha was a local Chief of Police, or Head Constable, [and this is still the popular title in the N.W.P. for the officer in charge of a Police Station.] The word occurs in the sense of a Governor in a Mongol inscription, of the year 1314, found in the Chinese Province of Shensi, which is given by Pauthier in his Marc. Pol., p. 773. The Mongol Governor of Moscow, during a part of the Tartar domination in Russia, is called in the old Russian Chronicles Doroga (see Hammer, Golden Horde, 384). And according to the same writer the word appears in a Byzantine writer (unnamed) as Δάρηγας (ibid. 238-9). The Byzantine form and the passages below of 1404 and 1665 seem to imply some former variation in pronunciation. But Clavijo has also derroga in § clii.
c. 1220.—"Tuli Khan named as Darugha at Merv one called Barmas, and himself marched upon Nishapur."—Abulghāzi, by Desmaisons, 135.
1404.—"And in this city (Tauris) there was a kinsman of the Emperor as Magistrate thereof, whom they call Derrega, and he treated the said Ambassadors with much respect."—Clavijo, § lxxxii. Comp. Markham, 90.
1441.—"... I reached the city of Kerman.... The deroghah (governor) the Emir Hadji Mohamed Kaiaschirin, being then absent...."—Abdurrazzāk, in India in the XVth Cent., p. 5.
c. 1590.—"The officers and servants attached to the Imperial Stables. 1. The Atbegi.... 2. The Dāroghah. There is one appointed for each stable...."—Āīn, tr. Blochmann, i. 137.
1621.—"The 10th of October, the darogā, or Governor of Ispahan, Mir Abdulaazim, the King's son-in-law, who, as was afterwards seen in that charge of his, was a downright madman...."—P. della Valle, ii. 166.
1665.—"There stands a Derega, upon each side of the River, who will not suffer any person to pass without leave."—Tavernier, E.T., ii. 52; [ed. Ball, i. 117].
1673.—"The Droger, or Mayor of the City, or Captain of the Watch, or the Rounds; It is his duty to preside with the Main Guard a-nights before the Palace-gates."—Fryer, 339.
1673.—"The Droger being Master of his Science, persists; what comfort can I reap from your Disturbance?"—Fryer, 389.
1682.—"I received a letter from Mr. Hill at Rajemaul advising ye Droga of ye Mint would not obey a Copy, but required at least a sight of ye Originall."—Hedges, Diary, Dec. 14; [Hak. Soc. i. 57].
c. 1781.—"About this time, however, one day being very angry, the Darogha, or master of the mint, presented himself, and asked the Nawaub what device he would have struck on his new copper coinage. Hydur, in a violent passion, told him to stamp an obscene figure on it."—Hydur Naik, tr. by Miles, 488.
1812.—"Each division is guarded by a Darogha, with an establishment of armed men."—Fifth Report, 44.
DATCHIN, s. This word is used in old books of Travel and Trade for a steelyard employed in China and the Archipelago. It is given by Leyden as a Malay word for 'balance,' in his Comp. Vocab. of Barma, Malay and Thai, Serampore, 1810. It is also given by Crawfurd as ḍachin, a Malay word from the Javanese. There seems to be no doubt that in Peking dialect ch'eng is 'to weigh,' and also 'steelyard'; that in Amoy a small steelyard is called ch'in; and that in Canton dialect the steelyard is called t'okch'ing. Some of the Dictionaries also give ta 'chêng, 'large steelyard.' Datchin or dotchin may therefore possibly be a Chinese term; but considering how seldom traders' words are really Chinese, and how easily the Chinese monosyllables lend themselves to plausible combinations, it remains probable that the Canton word was adopted from foreigners. It has sometimes occurred to us that it might have been adopted from Achin (d'Achin); see the first quotation. [The N.E.D., following Prof. Giles, gives it as a corruption of the Cantonese name toh-ch'ing (in Court dialect to-ch'êng) from toh 'to measure,' ch'ing, 'to weigh.' Mr. Skeat notes: "The standard Malay is daching, the Javanese dachin (v. Klinkert, s.v.). He gives the word as of Chinese origin, and the probability is that the English word is from the Malay, which in its turn was borrowed from the Chinese. The final suggestion, d'Achin, seems out of the question.] Favre's Malay Dict. gives (in French) "daxing (Ch. pa-tchen), steelyard, balance," also "ber-daxing, to weigh," and Javan. "daxin, a weight of 100 kātis." Gericke's {298b}Javan. Dict. also gives "datsin-Picol," with a reference to Chinese. [With reference to Crawfurd's statement quoted above, Mr. Pringle (Diary, Ft. St. George, 1st ser. iv. 179) notes that Crawfurd had elsewhere adopted the view that the yard and the designation of it originated in China and passed from thence to the Archipelago (Malay Archip. i. 275). On the whole, the Chinese origin seems most probable.]
1554.—At Malacca. "The baar of the great Dachem contains 200 cates, each cate weighing two arratels, 4 ounces, 5 eighths, 15 grains, 3 tenths.... The Baar of the little Dachem contains 200 cates; each cate weighing two arratels."—A. Nunes, 39.
[1684-5.—"... he replyed That he was now Content yt ye Honble Company should solely enjoy ye Customes of ye Place on condition yt ye People of ye Place be free from all dutys & Customes and yt ye Profitt of ye Dutchin be his...."—Pringle, Diary, Ft. St. Geo. 1st ser. iv. 12.]
1696.—"For their Dotchin and Ballance they use that of Japan."—Bowyear's Journal at Cochin-China, in Dalrymple, O. R. i. 88.
1711.—"Never weigh your Silver by their Dotchins, for they have usually two Pair, one to receive, the other to pay by."—Lockyer, 113.
" "In the Dotchin, an expert Weigher will cheat two or three per cent. by placing or shaking the Weight, and minding the Motion of the Pole only."—Ibid. 115.
" "... every one has a Chopchin and Dotchin to cut and weigh silver."—Ibid. 141.
1748.—"These scales are made after the manner of the Roman balance, or our English Stilliards, called by the Chinese Litang, and by us Dot-chin."—A Voyage to the E. Indies in 1747 and 1748, &c., London, 1762, p. 324. The same book has, in a short vocabulary, at p. 265, "English scales or dodgeons ... Chinese Litang."
DATURA, s. This Latin-like name is really Skt. dhattūra, and so has passed into the derived vernaculars. The widely-spread Datura Stramonium, or Thorn-apple, is well known over Europe, but is not regarded as indigenous to India; though it appears to be wild in the Himālaya from Kashmīr to Sikkim. The Indian species, from which our generic name has been borrowed, is Datura alba, Nees (see Hanbury and Flückiger, 415) (D. fastuosa, L.). Garcia de Orta mentions the common use of this by thieves in India. Its effect on the victim was to produce temporary {299a}alienation of mind, and violent laughter, permitting the thief to act unopposed. He describes his own practice in dealing with such cases, which he had always found successful. Datura was also often given as a practical joke, whence the Portuguese called it Burladora ('Joker'). De Orta strongly disapproves of such pranks. The criminal use of datura by a class of Thugs is rife in our own time. One of the present writers has judicially convicted many. Coolies returning with fortunes from the colonies often become the victims of such crimes. [See details in Chevers, Ind. Med. Jurispr. 179 seqq.]
1563.—"Maidservant. A black woman of the house has been giving datura to my mistress; she stole the keys, and the jewels that my mistress had on her neck and in her jewel box, and has made off with a black man. It would be a kindness to come to her help."—Garcia, Colloquios, f. 83.
1578.—"They call this plant in the Malabar tongue unmata caya [ummata-kāya] ... in Canarese Datyro...."—Acosta, 87.
c. 1580.—"Nascitur et ... Datura Indorum, quarum ex seminibus Latrones bellaria parant, quae in caravanis mercatoribus exhibentes largumque somnum, profundumque inducentes aurum gemmasque surripiunt et abeunt."—Prosper Alpinus, Pt. I. 190-1.
1598.—"They name [have] likewise an hearbe called Deutroa, which beareth a seede, whereof bruising out the sap, they put it into a cup, or other vessell, and give it to their husbands, eyther in meate or drinke, and presently therewith the Man is as though hee were half out of his wits."—Linschoten, 60; [Hak. Soc. i. 209].
1608-10.—"Mais ainsi de mesme les femmes quand elles sçauent que leurs maris en entretiennent quelqu'autre, elles s'en desfont par poison ou autrement, et se seruent fort à cela de la semence de Datura, qui est d'vne estrange vertu. Ce Datura ou Duroa, espece de Stramonium, est vne plante grande et haute qui porte des fleurs blanches en Campane, comme le Cisampelo, mais plus grande."—Mocquet, Voyages, 312.
[1610.—"In other parts of the Indies it is called Dutroa."—Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. ii. 114.
[1621.—"Garcias ab Horto ... makes mention of an hearb called Datura, which, if it be eaten, for 24 hours following, takes away all sense of grief, makes them incline to laughter and mirth."—Burton, Anatomy of Mel., Pt. 2, Sec. 5 Mem. I. Subs. 5.]
1673.—"Dutry, the deadliest sort of Solarium (Solanum) or Nightshade."—Fryer, 32.
1676.—
"Make lechers and their punks with dewtry
Commit fantastical advowtry."
Hudibras, Pt. iii. Canto 1.
1690.—"And many of them (the Moors) take the liberty of mixing Dutra and Water together to drink ... which will intoxicate almost to Madness."—Ovington, 235.
1810.—"The datura that grows in every part of India."—Williamson, V. M. ii. 135.
1874.—"Datura. This plant, a native of the East Indies, and of Abyssinia, more than a century ago had spread as a naturalized plant through every country in Europe except Sweden, Lapland, and Norway, through the aid of gipsy quacks, who used the seed as anti-spasmodics, or for more questionable purposes."—R. Brown in Geog. Magazine, i. 371. Note.—The statements derived from Hanbury and Flückiger in the beginning of this article disagree with this view, both as to the origin of the European Datura and the identity of the Indian plant. The doubts about the birthplace of the various species of the genus remain in fact undetermined. [See the discussion in Watt, Econ. Dict. iii. 29 seqq.]
DATURA, YELLOW, and YELLOW THISTLE. These are Bombay names for the Argemone mexicana, fico del inferno of Spaniards, introduced accidentally from America, and now an abundant and pestilent weed all over India.
DAWK, s. H. and Mahr. ḍāk, 'Post,' i.e. properly transport by relays of men and horses, and thence 'the mail' or letter-post, as well as any arrangement for travelling, or for transmitting articles by such relays. The institution was no doubt imitated from the barīd, or post, established throughout the empire of the Caliphs by Mo'āwia. The barīd is itself connected with the Latin verēdus, and verēdius.
1310.—"It was the practice of the Sultan (Alá-uddín) when he sent an army on an expedition to establish posts on the road, wherever posts could be maintained.... At every half or quarter kos runners were posted ... the securing of accurate intelligence from the court on one side and the army on the other was a great public benefit."—Ziā-uddīn Barnī, in Elliot, iii. 203.
c. 1340.—"The foot-post (in India) is thus arranged: every mile is divided into three equal intervals which are called Dāwah, which is as much as to say 'the third part of a mile' (the mile itself being called in India Koruh). At every third of a mile there is a village well inhabited, outside of {300a}which are three tents where men are seated ready to start...."—Ibn Batuta, iii. 95.
c. 1340.—"So he wrote to the Sultan to announce our arrival, and sent his letter by the dāwah, which is the foot post, as we have told you...."—Ibid. 145.
" "At every mile (i.e. Korūh or coss) from Delhi to Daulatabād there are three dāwah or posts."—Ibid. 191-2. It seems probable that this dāwah is some misunderstanding of ḍāk.
" "There are established, between the capital and the chief cities of the different territories, posts placed at certain distances from each other, which are like the post-relays in Egypt and Syria ... but the distance between them is not more than four bowshots or even less. At each of these posts ten swift runners are stationed ... as soon as one of these men receives a letter he runs off as rapidly as possible.... At each of these post stations there are mosques, where prayers are said, and where the traveller can find shelter, reservoirs full of good water, and markets ... so that there is very little necessity for carrying water, or food, or tents."—Shahābuddīn Dimishkī, in Elliot, iii. 581.
1528.—"... that every ten kos he should erect a yam, or post-house, which they call a dâk-choki, for six horses...."—Baber, 393.
c. 1612.—"He (Akbar) established posts throughout his dominions, having two horses and a set of footmen stationed at every five coss. The Indians call this establishment 'Dak chowky.'"—Firishta, by Briggs, ii. 280-1.
1657.—"But when the intelligence of his (Dara-Shekoh's) officious meddling had spread abroad through the provinces by the dák chauki...."—Khāfī Khān, in Elliot, vii. 214.
1727.—"The Post in the Mogul's Dominions goes very swift, for at every Caravanseray, which are built on the High-roads, about ten miles distant from one another, Men, very swift of Foot, are kept ready.... And these Curriers are called Dog Chouckies."—A. Hamilton, i. 149; [ed. 1744, i. 150].
1771.—"I wrote to the Governor for permission to visit Calcutta by the Dawks...."—Letter in the Intrigues of a Nabob, &c., 76.
1781.—"I mean the absurd, unfair, irregular and dangerous Mode, of suffering People to paw over their Neighbours' Letters at the Dock...."—Letter in Hicky's Bengal Gazette, Mar. 24.
1796.—"The Honble. the Governor-General in Council has been pleased to order the re-establishment of Dawk Bearers upon the new road from Calcutta to Benares and Patna.... The following are the rates fixed....
"From Calcutta to Benares.... Sicca Rupees 500."—In Seton-Karr, ii. 185.
1809.—"He advised me to proceed immediately by Dawk...."—Ld. Valentia, i. 62.
1824.—"The dāk or post carrier having passed me on the preceding day, I dropped a letter into his leathern bag, requesting a friend to send his horse on for me."—Seely, Wonders of Ellora, ch. iv. A letter so sent by the post-runner, in the absence of any receiving office, was said to go "by outside dawk."
1843.—"Jam: You have received the money of the British for taking charge of the dawk; you have betrayed your trust, and stopped the dawks....  If you refuse I will wait till the hot weather has gone past, and then I will carry fire and sword into your territory ... and if I catch you, I will hang you as a rebel."—Sir C. Napier to the Jam of the Jokees (in Life of Dr. J. Wilson, p. 440).
1873.—"... the true reason being, Mr. Barton declared, that he was too stingy to pay her dawk."—The True Reformer, i. 63.
DAWK, s. Name of a tree. See DHAWK.
DAWK, To lay a, v. To cause relays of bearers, or horses, to be posted on a road. As regards palankin bearers this used to be done either through the post-office, or through local chowdries (q.v.) of bearers. During the mutiny of 1857-58, when several young surgeons had arrived in India, whose services were urgently wanted at the front, it is said that the Head of the Department to which they had reported themselves, directed them immediately to 'lay a dawk.' One of them turned back from the door, saying: 'Would you explain, Sir; for you might just as well tell me to lay an egg!'
DAWK BUNGALOW. See under BUNGALOW.
DAYE, DHYE, s. A wet-nurse; used in Bengal and N. India, where this is the sense now attached to the word. Hind. dāī, Skt. dātrikā; conf. Pers. dāyah, a nurse, a midwife. The word also in the earlier English Regulations is applied, Wilson states, to "a female commissioner employed to interrogate and swear native women of condition, who could not appear to give evidence in a Court."
[1568.—"No Christian shall call an infidel Daya at the time of her labour."—Archiv. Port. Orient. fasc. iv. p. 25.]
1578.—"The whole plant is commonly known and used by the Dayas, or as we call them comadres" ("gossips," midwives).—Acosta, Tractado, 282.
1613.—"The medicines of the Malays ... ordinarily are roots of plants ... horns and claws and stones, which are used by their leeches, and for the most part by Dayas, which are women physicians, excellent herbalists, apprentices of the schools of Java Major."—Godinho de Eredia, f. 37.
1782.—In a Table of monthly Wages at Calcutta, we have:—
"Dy (Wet-nurse) 10 Rs."—India Gazette, Oct. 12.-
1808.—"If the bearer hath not strength what can the Daee (midwife) do?"—Guzerati Proverb, in Drummond's Illustrations, 1803.
1810.—"The Dhye is more generally an attendant upon native ladies."—Williamson, V.M. i. 341.
1883.—"... the 'dyah' or wet-nurse is looked on as a second mother, and usually provided for for life."—Wills, Modern Persia, 326.
[1887.—"I was much interested in the Dhais ('midwives') class."—Lady Dufferin, Viceregal Life in India, 337.]
DEANER, s. This is not Anglo-Indian, but it is a curious word of English Thieves' cant, signifying 'a shilling.' It seems doubtful whether it comes from the Italian danaro or the Arabic dīnār (q.v.); both eventually derived from the Latin denarius.
DEBAL, n.p. See DIUL-SIND.
DECCAN, n.p. and adj. Hind. Dakhin, Dakkhin, Dakhan, Dakkhan; dakkhiṇa, the Prakr. form of Skt. dakshiṇa, 'the South'; originally 'on the right hand'; compare dexter, δεξίος. The Southern part of India, the Peninsula, and especially the Tableland between the Eastern and Western Ghauts. It has been often applied also, politically, to specific States in that part of India, e.g. by the Portuguese in the 16th century to the Mahommedan Kingdom of Bījapur, and in more recent times by ourselves to the State of Hyderabad. In Western India the Deccan stands opposed to the Concan (q.v.), i.e. the table-land of the interior to the maritime plain; in Upper India the Deccan stands opposed to Hindūstān, i.e. roundly speaking, the country south of the {301b}Nerbudda to that north of it. The term frequently occurs in the Skt. books in the form dakshiṇāpatha ('Southern region,' whence the Greek form in our first quotation), and dakshīṇātya ('Southern'—qualifying some word for 'country'). So, in the Paṅchatantra: "There is in the Southern region (dakshīṇātya janapada) a town called Mihilāropya."
c. A.D. 80-90.—"But immediately after Barygaza the adjoining continent extends from the North to the South, wherefore the region is called Dachinabadēs (Δαχιναβάδης), for the South is called in their tongue Dachanos (Δάχανος)."—Periplus M.E., Geog. Gr. Min. i. 254.
1510.—"In the said city of Decan there reigns a King, who is a Mahommedan."—Varthema, 117. (Here the term is applied to the city and kingdom of Bījapur).
1517.—"On coming out of this Kingdom of Guzarat and Cambay towards the South, and the inner parts of India, is the Kingdom of Dacani, which the Indians call Decan."—Barbosa, 69.
1552.—"Of Decani or Daquẽ as we now call it."—Castanheda, ii. 50.
" "He (Mahmūd Shāh) was so powerful that he now presumed to style himself King of Canara, giving it the name of Decan. And the name is said to have been given to it from the combination of different nations contained in it, because Decanij in their language signifies 'mongrel.'"—De Barros, Dec. II. liv. v. cap. 2. (It is difficult to discover what has led astray here the usually well-informed De Barros).
1608.—"For the Portugals of Daman had wrought with an ancient friend of theirs a Raga, who was absolute Lord of a Prouince (betweene Daman, Guzerat, and Decan) called Cruly, to be readie with 200 Horsemen to stay my passage."—Capt. W. Hawkins, in Purchas, i. 209.
[1612.—"The Desanins, a people bordering on them (Portuguese) have besieged six of their port towns."—Danvers, Letters, i. 258.]
1616.—"... his son Sultan Coron, who he designed, should command in Deccan."—Sir T. Roe.
[ " "There is a resolution taken that Sultan Caronne shall go to the Decan Warres."—Ibid. Hak. Soc. i. 192.
[1623.—"A Moor of Dacàn."—P. della Valle, Hak. Soc. ii. 225.]
1667.—
"But such as at this day, to Indians known,
In Malabar or Decan spreads her arms."
Paradise Lost, ix. [1102-3].
1726.—"Decan [as a division] includes Decan, Cunkam, and Balagatta."—Valentijn, v. 1.
c. 1750.—"... alors le Nababe d'Arcate, tout petit Seigneur qu'il étoit, comparé au Souba du Dekam dont il n'étoit que le Fermier traiter (sic) avec nous comme un Souverain avec ses sujets."—Letter of M. Bussy, in Cambridge's War in India, p. xxix.
1870.—"In the Deccan and in Ceylon trees and bushes near springs, may often be seen covered with votive flowers."—Lubbock, Origin of Civilization, 200. N.B.—This is a questionable statement as regards the Deccan.
DECCANY, adj., also used as subst. Properly dakhinī, dakkhinī, dakhnī. Coming from the Deccan. A (Mahommedan) inhabitant of the Deccan. Also the very peculiar dialect of Hindustani spoken by such people.
1516.—"The Decani language, which is the natural language of the country."—Barbosa, 77.
1572.—
"...
Decanys, Orias, que e esperança
Tem de sua salvação nas resonantes
Aguas do Gange...."—Camões, vii. 20.
1578.—"The Decanins (call the Betel-leaf) Pan."—Acosta, 139.
c. 1590.—"Hence Dak'hinīs are notorious in Hindústán for stupidity...."—Author quoted by Blochmann, Āīn, i. 443.
[1813.—"... and the Decanne-bean (butea superba) are very conspicuous."—Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd. ed. i. 195.]
1861.—
"Ah, I rode a Deccanee charger, with a saddle-cloth gold laced,
And a Persian sword, and a twelve-foot spear, and a pistol at my waist."
Sir A. C. Lyall, The Old Pindaree.
DECK, s. A look, a peep. Imp. of Hind. dekh-nā, 'to look.'
[1830.—"When on a sudden, coming to a check, Thompson's mahout called out, 'Dekh! Sahib, Dekh!'"—Or. Sporting Mag., ed. 1873, i. 350.]
1854.—"... these formed the whole assemblage, with the occasional exception of some officer, stopping as he passed by, returning from his morning ride 'just to have a dekh at the steamer.'..."--W. Arnold, Oakfield, i. 85.
DEEN, s. Ar. Hind. dīn, 'the faith.' The cry of excited Mahommedans, Dīn, Dīn!
c. 1580.—"... crying, as is their way, Dim, Dim, Mafamede, so that they filled earth and air with terror and confusion."—Primor e Honra, &c., f. 19.
[c. 1760.—"The sound of ding Mahomed."—Orme, Military Trans. Madras reprint, ii. 339.
[1764.—"When our seapoys observed the enemy they gave them a ding or huzza."—Carraccioli, Life of Clive i. 57.]
DELHI, n.p. The famous capital of the great Moghuls, in the latter years of that family; and the seat under various names of many preceding dynasties, going back into ages of which we have no distinct record. Dillī is, according to Cunningham, the old Hindu form of the name; Dihlī is that used by Mahommedans. According to Panjab Notes and Queries (ii. 117 seq.), Dilpat is traditionally the name of the Dillī of Prithvī Rāj. Dil is an old Hindi word for an eminence; and this is probably the etymology of Dilpat and Dilli. The second quotation from Correa curiously illustrates the looseness of his geography. [The name has become unpleasantly familiar in connection with the so-called 'Delhi boil,' a form of Oriental sore, similar to Biskra Button, Aleppo Evil, Lahore or Multan Sore (see Delhi Gazetteer, 15, note).]
1205.—(Muhammad Ghori marched) "towards Dehli (may God preserve its prosperity, and perpetuate its splendour!), which is among the chief (mother) cities of Hind."—Hasan Nizāmi, in Elliot, ii. 216.
c. 1321.—"Hanc terram (Tana, near Bombay) regunt Sarraceni, nunc subjacentes dal dili.... Audiens ipse imperator dol Dali ... misit et ordinavit ut ipse Lomelic penitus caperetur...."—Fr. Odoric. See Cathay, &c., App., pp. v. and x.
c. 1330.—"Dillī ... a certain traveller relates that the brick-built walls of this great city are loftier than the walls of Hamath; it stands in a plain on a soil of mingled stones and sand. At the distance of a parasang runs a great river, not so big, however, as Euphrates."—Abulfeda, in Gildemeister, 189 seq.
c. 1334.—"The wall that surrounds Dihlī has no equal.... The city of Dihlī has 28 gates ..." &c.—Ibn Batuta, iii. 147 seqq.
c. 1375.—The Carta Catalana of the French Library shows ciutat de Dilli and also Lo Rey Dilli, with this rubric below it: "Aci esta un soldã gran e podaros molt rich. Aquest soldã ha DCC orifans e C millia homens à cavall sot lo seu imperi. Ha encora paons sens nombre...."
1459.—Fra Mauro's great map at Venice shows Deli cittade grandissima, and the rubrick Questa cittade nobilissima zà dominava tuto el paese del Deli over India Prima.
1516.—"This king of Dely confines with Tatars, and has taken many lands from the King of Cambay; and from the King of {303a}Dacan, his servants and captains with many of his people, took much, and afterwards in time they revolted, and set themselves up as kings."—Barbosa, p. 100.
1533.—"And this kingdom to which the Badur proceeded was called the Dely; it was very great, but it was all disturbed by wars and the risings of one party against another, because the King was dead, and the sons were fighting with each other for the sovereignty."—Correa, iii. 506.
" "This Kingdom of Dely is the greatest that is to be seen in those parts, for one point that it holds is in Persia, and the other is in contact with the Loochoos (os Lequios) beyond China."—Ibid. iii. 572.
c. 1568.—"About sixteen yeeres past this King (of Cuttack), with his Kingdome, were destroyed by the King of Pattane, which was also King of the greatest part of Bengala ... but this tyrant enioyed his Kingdome but a small time, but was conquered by another tyrant, which was the great Mogol King of Agra, Delly, and of all Cambaia."—Caesar Frederike in Hakl. ii. 358.
1611.—"On the left hand is seene the carkasse of old Dely, called the nine castles and fiftie-two gates, now inhabited onely by Googers.... The city is 2c betweene Gate and Gate, begirt with a strong wall, but much ruinate...."—W. Finch, in Purchas, i. 430.
DELING, s. This was a kind of hammock conveyance, suspended from a pole, mentioned by the old travellers in Pegu. The word is not known to Burmese scholars, and is perhaps a Persian word. Meninski gives "deleng, adj. pendulus, suspensus." The thing seems to be the Malayālam Manchīl. (See MUNCHEEL and DANDY).
1569.—"Carried in a closet which they call Deling, in the which a man shall be very well accommodated, with cushions under his head."—Caesar Frederike, in Hakl. ii. 367.
1585.—"This Delingo is a strong cotton cloth doubled, ... as big as an ordinary rug, and having an iron at each end to attach it by, so that in the middle it hangs like a pouch or purse. These irons are attached to a very thick cane, and this is borne by four men.... When you go on a journey, a cushion is put at the head of this Delingo, and you get in, and lay your head on the cushion," &c.—Gasparo Balbi, f. 99b.
1587.—"From Cirion we went to Macao, which is a pretie towne, where we left our boats and Paroes, and in the morning taking Delingeges, which are a kind of Coches made of cords and cloth quilted, and carried vpon a stang betweene 3 and 4 men: we came to Pegu the same day."—R. Fitch, in Hakl. ii. 391.
DELLY, MOUNT, n.p. Port. Monte D'Eli. A mountain on the Malabar coast which forms a remarkable object from seaward, and the name of which occurs sometimes as applied to a State or City adjoining the mountain. It is prominently mentioned in all the old books on India, though strange to say the Map of India in Keith Johnstone's Royal Atlas has neither name nor indication of this famous hill. [It is shown in Constable's Hand Atlas.] It was, according to Correa, the first Indian land seen by Vasco da Gama. The name is Malayāl. Eli mala, 'High Mountain.' Several erroneous explanations have however been given. A common one is that it means 'Seven Hills.' This arose with the compiler of the local Skt. Mahātmya or legend, who rendered the name Saptaṣaila, 'Seven Hills,' confounding ēli with ēl̤u, 'seven,' which has no application. Again we shall find it explained as 'Rat-hill'; but here ĕli is substituted for ēl̤i. [The Madras Gloss. gives the word as Mal. ezhimala, and explains it as 'Rat-hill,' "because infested by rats."] The position of the town and port of Ely or Hili mentioned by the older travellers is a little doubtful, but see Marco Polo, notes to Bk. III. ch. xxiv. The Ely-Maide of the Peutingerian Tables is not unlikely to be an indication of Ely.
1298.—"Eli is a Kingdom towards the west, about 300 miles from Comari.... There is no proper harbour in the country, but there are many rivers with good estuaries, wide and deep."—Marco Polo, Bk. III. ch. 24.
c. 1330.—"Three days journey beyond this city (Manjarūr, i.e. Mangalore) there is a great hill which projects into the sea, and is descried by travellers from afar, the promontory called Hīlī."—Abulfeda, in Gildemeister, 185.
c. 1343.—"At the end of that time we set off for Hīlī, where we arrived two days later. It is a large well-built town on a great bay (or estuary) which big ships enter."—Ibn Batuta, iv. 81.
c. 1440.—"Proceeding onwards he ... arrived at two cities situated on the sea shore, one named Pacamuria, and the other Helly."—Nicolo Conti, in India in the XVth Cent. p. 6.
1516.—"After passing this place along the coast is the Mountain Dely, on the edge of the sea; it is a round mountain, very lofty, in the midst of low land; all the ships of the Moors and the Gentiles ... {304a}sight this mountain ... and make their reckoning by it."—Barbosa, 149.
c. 1562.—"In twenty days they got sight of land, which the pilots foretold before that they saw it, this was a great mountain which is on the coast of India, in the Kingdom of Cananor, which the people of the country in their language call the mountain Dely, elly meaning 'the rat,'[103] and they call it Mount Dely, because in this mountain there are so many rats that they could never make a village there."—Correa, Three Voyages, &c., Hak. Soc. 145.
1579.—"... Malik Ben Habeeb ... proceeded first to Quilon ... and after erecting a mosque in that town and settling his wife there, he himself journeyed on to [Hīlī Marāwī]...."—Rowlandson's Tr. of Tohfut-ul-Mujahideen, p. 54. (Here and elsewhere in this ill-edited book Hīlī Marāwī is read and printed Hubaee Murawee).
[1623.—"... a high Hill, inland near the seashore, call'd Monte Deli."—P. della Valle, Hak. Soc. ii. 355].
1638.—"Sur le midy nous passames à la veüe de Monte-Leone, qui est vne haute montagne dont les Malabares descouurent de loin les vaisseaux, qu'ils peuuent attaquer avec aduantage."—Mandelslo, 275.
1727.—"And three leagues south from Mount Delly is a spacious deep River called Balliapatam, where the English Company had once a Factory for Pepper."—A. Hamilton, i. 291; [ed. 1744, ii. 293].
1759.—"We are further to remark that the late troubles at Tellicherry, which proved almost fatal to that settlement, took rise from a dispute with our linguist and the Prince of that Country, relative to lands he, the linguist, held at Mount Dilly."—Court's Letter of March 23. In Long, 198.
DELOLL, s. A broker; H. from Ar. dallāl; the literal meaning being one who directs (the buyer and seller to their bargain). In Egypt the word is now also used in particular for a broker of old clothes and the like, as described by Lane below. (See also under NEELÁM.)
[c. 1665.—"He spared also the house of a deceased Delale or Gentile broker, of the Dutch."—Bernier, ed. Constable, 188. In the first English trans. this passage runs: "He has also regard to the House of the Deceased De Lale."]
1684.—"Five Delolls, or Brokers, of Decca, after they had been with me went to Mr. Beard's chamber...."—Hedges, Diary, July 25; [Hak. Soc. i. 152].
1754.—"Mr. Baillie at Jugdea, accused by these villains, our dulols, who carried on for a long time their most flagrant rascality. The Dulols at Jugdea found to charge the {304b}Company 15 per cent. beyond the price of the goods."—Fort Wm. Cons. In Long, p. 50.
1824.—"I was about to answer in great wrath, when a dalal, or broker, went by, loaded with all sorts of second-hand clothes, which he was hawking about for sale."—Hajji Baba, 2d ed. i. 183; [ed. 1851, p. 81].
1835.—"In many of the sooks in Cairo, auctions are held ... once or twice a week. They are conducted by 'delláls' (or brokers).... The 'delláls' carry the goods up and down, announcing the sums bidden by the cries of 'ḥarág.'"—Lane, Mod. Egyptians, ed. 1860, p. 317; [5th ed. ii. 13].
DEMIJOHN, s. A large glass bottle holding 20 or 30 quarts, or more. The word is not Anglo-Indian, but it is introduced here because it has been supposed to be the corruption of an Oriental word, and suggested to have been taken from the name of Damaghān in Persia. This looks plausible (compare the Persian origin of carboy, which is another name for just the same thing), but no historical proof has yet been adduced, and it is doubted by Mr. Marsh in his Notes on Wedgwood's Dictionary, and by Dozy (Sup. aux Dict. Arabes). It may be noticed, as worthy of further enquiry, that Sir T. Herbert (192) speaks of the abundance and cheapness of wine at Damaghān. Niebuhr, however, in a passage quoted below, uses the word as an Oriental one, and in a note on the 5th ed. of Lane's Mod. Egyptians, 1860, p. 149, there is a remark quoted from Hammer-Purgstall as to the omission from the detail of domestic vessels of two whose names have been adopted in European languages, viz. the garra or jarra, a water 'jar,' and the demigān or demijān, 'la dame-jeanne.' The word is undoubtedly known in modern Arabic. The Moḥīt of B. Bistānī, the chief modern native lexicon, explains Dāmijāna as 'a great glass vessel, big-bellied and narrow-necked, and covered with wicker-work; a Persian word.'[104] The vulgar use the forms damajāna and damanjāna. Dame-jeanne appears in P. Richelet, Dict. de la Langue Franc. (1759), with this definition: "[Lagena amplior] Nom que les matelots donnent à une grande bouteille couverte {305a}de natte." It is not in the great Castilian Dict. of 1729, but it is in those of the last century, e.g. Dict. of the Span. Academy, ed. 1869. "Damajuana, f. Prov(incia de) And(alucia), CASTAÑA ..."—and castaña is explained as a "great vessel of glass or terra cotta, of the figure of a chestnut, and used to hold liquor." [See N.E.D. which believes the word adopted from dame-jeanne, on the analogy of 'Bellarmine' and 'Greybeard.']
1762.—"Notre vin étoit dans de grands flacons de verre (Damasjanes) dont chacun tenoit près de 20 bouteilles."—Niebuhr, Voyage, i. 171.
DENGUE, s. The name applied to a kind of fever. The term is of West Indian, not East Indian, origin, and has only become known and familiar in India within the last 30 years or more. The origin of the name which seems to be generally accepted is, that owing to the stiff unbending carriage which the fever induced in those who suffered from it, the negroes in the W. Indies gave it the name of 'dandy fever'; and this name, taken up by the Spaniards, was converted into dengy or dengue. [But according to the N.E.D. both 'dandy' and 'dengue' are corruptions of the Swahili term, ka dinga pepo, 'sudden cramp-like seizure by an evil spirit.'] Some of its usual characteristics are the great suddenness of attack; often a red eruption; pain amounting sometimes to anguish in head and back, and shifting pains in the joints; excessive and sudden prostration; afterpains of rheumatic character. Its epidemic occurrences are generally at long intervals.
Omitting such occurrences in America and in Egypt, symptoms attach to an epidemic on the Coromandel coast about 1780 which point to this disease; and in 1824 an epidemic of the kind caused much alarm and suffering in Calcutta, Berhampore, and other places in India. This had no repetition of equal severity in that quarter till 1871-72, though there had been a minor visitation in 1853, and a succession of cases in 1868-69. In 1872 it was so prevalent in Calcutta that among those in the service of the E. I. Railway Company, European and native, prior to August in that year, 70 per cent. had suffered from {305b}the disease; and whole households were sometimes attacked at once. It became endemic in Lower Bengal for several seasons. When the present writer (H. Y.) left India (in 1862) the name dengue may have been known to medical men, but it was quite unknown to the lay European public.
1885.—The Contagion of Dengue Fever. "In a recent issue (March 14th, p. 551) under the heading 'Dengue Fever in New Caledonia,' you remark that, although there had been upwards of nine hundred cases, yet, 'curiously enough,' there had not been one death. May I venture to say that the 'curiosity' would have been much greater had there been a death? For, although this disease is one of the most infectious, and as I can testify from unpleasant personal experience, one of the most painful that there is, yet death is a very rare occurrence. In an epidemic at Bermuda in 1882, in which about five hundred cases came under my observation, not one death was recorded. In that epidemic, which attacked both whites and blacks impartially, inflammation of the cellular tissue, affecting chiefly the face, neck, and scrotum, was especially prevalent as a sequela, none but the lightest cases escaping. I am not aware that this is noted in the text-books as a characteristic of the disease; in fact, the descriptions in the books then available to me, differed greatly from the disease as I then found it, and I believe that was the experience of other medical officers at the time.... During the epidemic of dengue above mentioned, an officer who was confined to his quarters, convalescing from the disease, wrote a letter home to his father in England. About three days after the receipt of the letter, that gentleman complained of being ill, and eventually, from his description, had a rather severe attack of what, had he been in Bermuda, would have been called dengue fever. As it was, his medical attendant was puzzled to give a name to it. The disease did not spread to the other members of the family, and the patient made a good recovery.—Henry J. Barnes, Surgeon, Medical Staff, Fort Pitt, Chatham." From British Medical Journal, April 25.
DEODAR, s. The Cedrus deodara, Loud., of the Himālaya, now known as an ornamental tree in England for some seventy-five years past. The finest specimens in the Himālaya are often found in clumps shadowing a small temple. The Deodar is now regarded by botanists as a variety of Cedrus Libani. It is confined to the W. Himālaya from Nepāl to Afghanistan; it reappears as the Cedar of Lebanon in Syria, and on through Cyprus and Asia Minor; and emerges {306a}once more in Algeria, and thence westwards to the Riff Mountains in Morocco, under the name of C. Atlantica. The word occurs in Avicenna, who speaks of the Deiudar as yielding a kind of turpentine (see below). We may note that an article called Deodarwood Oil appears in Dr. Forbes Watson's "List of Indian Products" (No. 2941) [and see Watt, Econ. Dict. ii. 235].
Deodar is by no means the universal name of the great Cedar in the Himālay. It is called so (Dewdār, Diār, or Dyār [Drew, Jummoo, 100]) in Kashmīr, where the deodār pillars of the great mosque of Srinagar date from A.D. 1401. The name, indeed (deva-dāru, 'timber of the gods'), is applied in different parts of India to different trees, and even in the Himālaya to more than one. The list just referred to (which however has not been revised critically) gives this name in different modifications as applied also to the pencil Cedar (Juniperus excelsa), to Guatteria (or Uvaria) longifolia, to Sethia Indica, to Erythroxylon areolatum, and (on the Rāvī and Sutlej) to Cupressus torulosa.
The Deodār first became known to Europeans in the beginning of the last century, when specimens were sent to Dr. Roxburgh, who called it a Pinus. Seeds were sent to Europe by Capt. Gerard in 1819; but the first that grew were those sent by the Hon. W. Leslie Melville in 1822.
c. 1030.—"Deiudar (or rather Diudar) est ex genere abhel (i.e. juniper) quae dicitur pinus Inda, et Syr deiudar (Milk of Deodar) est ejus lac (turpentine)."—Avicenna, Lat. Transl. p. 297.
c. 1220.—"He sent for two trees, one of which was a ... white poplar, and the other a deodár, that is a fir. He planted them both on the boundary of Kashmīr."—Chach Námah in Elliot, i. 144.
DERRISHACST, adj. This extraordinary word is given by C. B. P. (MS.) as a corruption of P. daryā-shikast, 'destroyed by the river.'
DERVISH, s. P. darvesh; a member of a Mahommedan religious order. The word is hardly used now among Anglo-Indians, fakīr [see FAKEER] having taken its place. On the Mahommedan confraternities of this class, see Herklots, 179 seqq.; Lane, {306b}Mod. Egyptians, Brown's Dervishes, or Oriental Spiritualism; Capt. E. de Neven, Les Khouan, Ordres Religieux chez les Musulmans (Paris, 1846).
c. 1540.—"The dog Coia Acem ... crying out with a loud voyce, that every one might hear him.... To them, To them, for as we are assured by the Book of Flowers, wherein the Prophet Noby doth promise eternal delights to the Daroezes of the House of Mecqua, that he will keep his word both with you and me, provided that we bathe ourselves in the blood of these dogs without Law!"—Pinto (cap. lix.), in Cogan, 72.
1554.—"Hic multa didicimus à monachis Turcicis, quos Dervis vocant."—Busbeq. Epist. I. p. 93.
1616.—"Among the Mahometans are many called Dervises, which relinquish the World, and spend their days in Solitude."—Terry, in Purchas, ii. 1477.
[c. 1630.—"Deruissi." See TALISMAN.]
1653.—"Il estoit Dervische ou Fakir et menoit une vie solitaire dans les bois."—De la Boullaye-le-Gouz, ed. 1657, p. 182.
1670.—"Aureng-Zebe ... was reserved, crafty, and exceedingly versed in dissembling, insomuch that for a long time he made profession to be a Fakire, that is, Poor, Dervich, or Devout, renouncing the World."—Bernier, E.T. 3; [ed. Constable, 10].
1673.—"The Dervises professing Poverty, assume this Garb here (i.e. in Persia), but not with that state they ramble up and down in India."—Fryer, 392.
DESSAYE, s. Mahr. deśāī; in W. and S. India a native official in charge of a district, often held hereditarily; a petty chief. (See DISSAVE.)
1590-91.—"... the Desayes, Mukaddams, and inhabitants of several parganahs made a complaint at Court."—Order in Mirat-i-Ahmadi (Bird's Tr.), 408.
[1811.—"Daiseye."—Kirkpatrick, Letters of Tippoo, p. 196.]
1883.—"The Desai of Sawantwari has arrived at Delhi on a visit. He is accompanied by a European Assistant Political Officer and a large following. From Delhi His Highness goes to Agra, and visits Calcutta before returning to his territory, viâ Madras."—Pioneer Mail, Jan. 24.
The regular title of this chief appears to be Sar-Deśāī.
DESTOOR, s. A Parsee priest; P. dastūr, from the Pahlavi dastôbar, 'a prime minister, councillor of State ... a high priest, a bishop of the Parsees; a custom, mode, manner' (Haug, Old Pahlaví and Pazand Glossary). [See DUSTOOR.]
1630.—"... their Distoree or high priest...."—Lord's Display, &c., ch. viii.
1689.—"The highest Priest of the Persies is called Destoor, their ordinary Priests Dároos, or Hurboods [HERBED]."—Ovington, 376.
1809.—"The Dustoor is the chief priest of his sect in Bombay."—Maria Graham, 36.
1877.—"... le Destour de nos jours, pas plus que le Mage d'autrefois, ne soupconne les phases successives que sa religion a traversées."—Darmesteter, Ormazd et Ahriman, 4.
DEUTI, DUTY, s. H. diuṭī, dewṭī, deoṭi, Skt. dīpa, 'a lamp'; a lamp-stand, but also a link-bearer.
c. 1526.—(In Hindustan) "instead of a candle or torch, you have a gang of dirty fellows whom they call Deûtis, who hold in their hand a kind of small tripod, to the side of one leg of which ... they fasten a pliant wick.... In their right hand they hold a gourd ... and whenever the wick requires oil, they supply it from this gourd.... If their emperors or chief nobility at any time have occasion for a light by night, these filthy Deûtis bring in their lamp ... and there stand holding it close by his side."—Baber, 333.
1681.—"Six men for Dutys, Rundell (see ROUNDEL), and Kittysole (see KITTYSOLL)."—List of Servants allowed at Madapollam Factory. Ft. St. George Cons., Jan. 8. In Notes and Exts. No. ii. p. 72.
DEVA-DĀSĪ, s. H. 'Slave-girl of the gods'; the official name of the poor girls who are devoted to dancing and prostitution in the idol-temples, of Southern India especially. "The like existed at ancient Corinth under the name of ἱερόδουλοι, which is nearly a translation of the Hindi name ... (see Strabo, viii. 6)."—Marco Polo, 2nd ed. ii. 338. These appendages of Aphrodite worship, borrowed from Phœnicia, were the same thing as the ḳĕdēshōth repeatedly mentioned in the Old Testament, e.g. Deut. xxiii. 18: "Thou shalt not bring the wages of a kĕdēsha ... into the House of Jehovah." [See Cheyne, in Encycl. Bibl. ii. 1964 seq.] Both male and female ἱερόδουλοι are mentioned in the famous inscription of Citium in Cyprus (Corp. Inscr. Semit. No. 86); the latter under the name of 'alma, curiously near that of the modern Egyptian 'ālima. (See DANCING-GIRL.)
1702.—"Peu de temps après je baptisai une Deva-Dachi, ou Esclave Divine, c'est ainsi qu'on appelle les femmes dont les Prêtres des idoles abusent, sous prétexte {307b}que leurs dieux les demandent."—Lettres Edifiantes, x. 245.
c. 1790.—"La principale occupation des devedaschies, est de danser devant l'image de la divinité qu'elles servent, et de chanter ses louanges, soit dans son temple, soit dans les rues, lorsqu'on porte l'idole dans des processions...."—Haafner ii. 105.
1868.—"The Dâsis, the dancing girls attached to Pagodas. They are each of them married to an idol when quite young. Their male children ... have no difficulty in acquiring a decent position in society. The female children are generally brought up to the trade of their mothers.... It is customary with a few castes to present their superfluous daughters to the Pagodas...."—Nelson's Madura, Pt. 2, p. 79.
DEVIL, s. A petty whirlwind, or circular storm, is often so called. (See PISACHEE, SHAITAN, TYPHOON.)
[1608-10.—"Often you see coming from afar great whirlwinds which the sailors call dragons."—Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. i. 11.
[1813.—"... we were often surrounded by the little whirlwinds called bugulas, or Devils."—Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd ed. i. 118.]
DEVIL-BIRD, s. This is a name used in Ceylon for a bird believed to be a kind of owl—according to Haeckel, quoted below, the Syrnium Indrani of Sykes, or Brown Wood Owl of Jerdon. Mr. Mitford, quoted below, however, believes it to be a Podargus, or Night-hawk.
c. 1328.—"Quid dicam? Diabolus ibi etiam loquitur, saepe et saepius, hominibus, nocturnis temporibus, sicut ego audivi."—Jordani Mirabilia, in Rec. de Voyages, iv. 53.
1681.—"This for certain I can affirm, That oftentimes the Devil doth cry with an audible Voice in the Night; 'tis very shrill, almost like the barking of a Dog. This I have often heard myself; but never heard that he did anybody any harm.... To believe that this is the Voice of the Devil these reasons urge, because there is no Creature known to the Inhabitants, that cry like it, and because it will on a sudden depart from one place, and make a noise in another, quicker than any fowl could fly; and because the very Dogs will tremble and shake when they hear it."—Knox's Ceylon, 78.
1849.—"Devil's Bird (Strix Gaulama or Ulama, Singh.). A species of owl. The wild and wailing cry of this bird is considered a sure presage of death and misfortune, unless measures be taken to avert its infernal threats, and refuse its warning. Though often heard even on the tops of their houses, the natives maintain that it has never been caught or distinctly seen, and they consider it to be one of the most annoying of the evil spirits which haunt their country."—Pridham's Ceylon, p. 737-8.
1860.—"The Devil-Bird, is not an owl ... its ordinary note is a magnificent clear shout like that of a human being, and which can be heard at a great distance. It has another cry like that of a hen just caught, but the sounds which have earned for it its bad name ... are indescribable, the most appalling that can be imagined, and scarcely to be heard without shuddering; I can only compare it to a boy in torture, whose screams are being stopped by being strangled."—Mr. Mitford's Note in Tennent's Ceylon, i. 167.
1881.—"The uncanny cry of the devil-bird, Syrnium Indrani...."—Haeckel's Visit to Ceylon, 235.
DEVIL'S REACH, n.p. This was the old name of a reach on the Hoogly R. a little above Pulta (and about 15 miles above Calcutta). On that reach are several groups of dewals, or idol-temples, which probably gave the name.
1684.—"August 28.—I borrowed the late Dutch Fiscall's Budgero (see BUDGEROW), and went in Company with Mr. Beard, Mr. Littleton" (etc.) "as far as ye Devill's Reach, where I caused ye tents to be pitched in expectation of ye President's arrivall and lay here all night."—Hedges, Diary, Hak. Soc. i. 156.
1711.—"From the lower Point of Devil's Reach you must keep mid-channel, or nearest the Starboard Shore, for the Larboard is shoal until you come into the beginning of Pulta or Poutto Reach, and there abreast of a single great Tree, you must edge over to the East Shore below Pulta."—The English Pilot, 54.