to receive plaints, and see that they are in proper form and duly stamped,
and generally to attend to routine business. Properly H.—P. from
_sar-rishtā-dār_ or _sarishta-dār_, 'register-keeper.' _Sar-rishtā_, an
office of registry, literally means 'head of the string.' C. P. Brown
interprets _Sarrishtadār_ as "he who holds the end of the string (on which
puppets dance)"—satirically, it may be presumed. Perhaps 'keeper of the
clue,' or 'of the file' would approximately express the idea.
1786.—(With the object of establishing) "the officers of the CANONGOE'S
Department upon its ancient footing, altogether independent of the
Zemindars ... and to prevent confusion in the time to come.... For these
purposes, and to avail ourselves as much as possible of the knowledge and
services of Mr. James Grant, we have determined on the institution of an
office well-known in this country under the designation of Chief
SERRISHTADAR, with which we have invested Mr. Grant, to act in that
capacity under your Board, and also to attend as such at your
deliberations, as well as at our meetings in the Revenue
Department."—_Letter from G. G. in C. to Board of Revenue_, July 19
(Bengal Rev. Regulation xix.).
1878.—"Nowadays, however, the SERISHTADAR'S signature is allowed to
authenticate copies of documents, and the Assistant is thus spared so
much drudgery."—_Life in the Mofussil_, i. 117.
[SHEVAROY HILLS, n.p. The name applied to a range of hills in the Salem
district of Madras. The origin of the name has given rise to much
difference of opinion. Mr. Lefanu (_Man. of Salem_, ii. 19 _seq._) thinks
that the original name was possibly _Sivarayan_, whence the German name
_Shivarai_ and the English SHEVAROYS; or that _Sivarayan_ may by confusion
have become _Sherarayan_, named after the Raja of _Sera_; lastly, he
suggests that it comes from _sharpu_ or _sharvu_, 'the slope or declivity
of a hill,' and _vay_, 'a mouth, passage, way.' This he is inclined to
accept, regarding _Shervarayan_ or _Sharvayrayan_, as 'the cliff which
dominates (_rayan_) the way (_vay_) which leads through or under the
declivity (_sharvu_).' The _Madras Gloss._ gives the Tam. form of the name
as _Shervarayanmalai_, from _Sheran_, 'the Chera race,' _irayan_, 'king,'
and _malai_, 'mountain.'
[1823.—"Mr. Cockburn ... had the kindness to offer me the use of a
bungalow on the SHERVARAYA hills...."—_Hoole, Missions in Madras_, 282.
[SHIBAR, SHIBBAR, s. A kind of coasting vessel, sometimes described as a
great PATTAMAR. Molesworth (_Mahr. Dict._ s.v.) gives _shibāṛ_ which, in
the usual dictionary way, he defines as 'a ship or large vessel of a
particular description.' The _Bombay Gazetteer_ (x. 171) speaks of the
_'shibādi_, a large vessel, from 100 to 300 tons, generally found in the
Ratnagiri sub-division ports'; and in another place (xiii. Pt. ii. 720)
says that it is a large vessel chiefly used in the Malabar trade, deriving
the name from Pers. _shāhī-bār_, 'royal-carrier.'
[1684.—"The Mucaddam (MOCUDDUM) of this SHIBAR bound for Goa."—_Yule_, in
_Hedges' Diary_, Hak. Soc. II. clxv.; also see clxxxiv.
[1727.—"... the other four were GRABS or Gallies, and SHEYBARS, or half
Gallies."—_A. Hamilton_, ed. 1744, i. 134.
[1758.—"... then we cast off a boat called a large SEEBAR, bound to
Muscat...."—_Ives_, 196.]
SHIGRAM, s. A Bombay and Madras name for a kind of hack palankin carriage.
The camel-_shigram_ is often seen on roads in N. India. The name is from
Mahr. _śīghr_, Skt. _śīghra_, 'quick or quickly.' A similar carriage is the
_Jutkah_, which takes its name from Hind. _jhaṭkā_, 'swift.'
[1830.—At Bombay, "In heavy coaches, lighter landaulets, or
singular-looking SHIGRAMPOES, might be seen bevies of British fair
..."—_Mrs. Elwood, Narr._ ii. 376.
[1875.—"As it is, we have to go ... 124 miles in a dak gharri, bullock
SHIGRAM, or mail-cart...."—_Wilson, Abode of Snow_, 18.]
SHIKAR, s. Hind. from Pers. _shikār_, 'la chasse'; sport (in the sense of
shooting and hunting); game.
c. 1590.—"_Āīn_, 27. _Of Hunting_ (orig. _Āīn-i_-SHIKĀR). Superficial
worldly observers see in killing an animal a sort of pleasure, and in
their ignorance stride about, as if senseless, on the field of their
passions. But deep enquirers see in hunting a means of acquisition of
knowledge.... This is the case with His Majesty."—_Āīn_, i. 282.
1609-10.—"SYKARY, which signifieth, seeking, or hunting."—_W. Finch_, in
_Purchas_, i. 428.
1800.—"250 or 300 horsemen ... divided into two or three small parties,
supported by our infantry, would give a proper SHEKAR; and I strongly
advise not to let the Mahratta boundary stop you in the pursuit of your
game."—_Sir A. Wellesley_ to _T. Munro_, in _Life of Munro_, iii. 117.
1847.—"Yet there is a charm in this place for the lovers of SHIKAR."—_Dry
Leaves from Young Egypt_, 3.
[1859.—"Although the jungles literally swarm with tigers, a SHICKAR, in
the Indian sense of the term, is unknown."—_Oliphant, Narr. of Mission_,
i. 25.]
1866.—"May I ask what has brought you out to India, Mr. Cholmondeley? Did
you come out for SHIKAR, eh?"—_Trevelyan, The Dawk Bungalow_, in
_Fraser_, lxxiii. 222.
In the following the word is wrongly used in the sense of SHIKAREE.
[1900.—"That so experienced a SHIKAR should have met his death emphasises
the necessity of caution."—_Field_, Sept. 1.]
SHIKAREE, SHEKARRY, s. Hind. _shikārī_, a sportsman. The word is used in
three ways:
A. As applied to a native expert, who either brings in game on his own
account, or accompanies European sportsmen as guide and aid.
[1822.—"SHECARRIES are generally Hindoos of low cast, who gain their
livelihood entirely by catching birds, hares, and all sorts of
animals."—_Johnson, Sketches of Field Sports_, 25.]
1879.—"Although the province (Pegu) abounds in large game, it is very
difficult to discover, because there are no regular SHIKAREES in the
Indian acceptation of the word. Every village has its local SHIKAREE, who
lives by trapping and killing game. Taking life as he does, contrary to
the principles of his religion, he is looked upon as damned by his
neighbours, but that does not prevent their buying from him the spoils of
the chase."—_Pollok, Sport in Br. Burmah_, &c., i. 13.
B. As applied to the European sportsman himself: _e.g._ "Jones is well
known as a great _Shikaree_." There are several books of sporting adventure
written _circa_ 1860-75 by Mr. H. A. Leveson under the name of 'The Old
SHEKARRY.'
[C. A shooting-boat used in the Cashmere lakes.
[1875.—"A SHIKĀRĪ is a sort of boat, that is in daily use with the
English visitors; a light boat manned, as it commonly is, by six men, it
goes at a fast pace, and, if well fitted with cushions, makes a
comfortable conveyance. A _bandūqī_ (see BUNDOOK) _shikāri_ is the
smallest boat of all; a shooting punt, used in going after wild fowl on
the lakes."—_Drew, Jummoo_, &c., 181.]
SHIKAR-GĀH, s. Pers. A hunting ground, or enclosed preserve. The word has
also a technical application to patterns which exhibit a variety of figures
and groups of animals, such as are still woven in brocade at Benares, and
in shawl-work in Kashmir and elsewhere (see _Marco Polo_, Bk. I. ch. 17,
and notes). [The great areas of jungle maintained by the Amīrs of Sind and
called _Shikārgāhs_ are well known.
[1831.—"Once or twice a month when they (the Ameers) are all in good
health, they pay visits to their different SHIKARGAHS or preserves for
game."—_J. Burnes, Visit to the Court of Sinde_, 103.]
SHIKHÓ, n. and v. Burmese word. The posture of a Burmese in presence of a
superior, _i.e._ kneeling with joined hands and bowed head in an attitude
of worship. Some correspondence took place in 1883, in consequence of the
use of this word by the then Chief Commissioner of British Burma, in an
official report, to describe the attitude used by British envoys at the
Court of Ava. The statement (which was grossly incorrect) led to
remonstrance by Sir Arthur Phayre. The fact was that the envoy and his
party sat on a carpet, but the attitude had no analogy whatever to that of
_shikho_, though the endeavour of the Burmese officials was persistent to
involve them in some such degrading attitude. (See KOWTOW.)
1855.—"Our conductors took off their shoes at the gate, and the Woondouk
made an ineffectual attempt to induce the Envoy to do likewise. They also
at four different places, as we advanced to the inner gate, dropt on
their knees and SHIKHOED towards the palace."—_Yule, Mission to Ava_, 82.
1882.—"Another ceremony is that of SHEKHOING to the spire, the external
emblem of the throne. All Burmans must do this at each of the gates, at
the foot of the steps, and at intervals in between...."—_The Burman, His
Life and Notions_, ii. 206.
SHINBIN, SHINBEAM, &c., s. A term in the Burmese teak-trade; apparently a
corruption from Burm. _shīn-byīn_. The first monosyllable (_shīn_) means
'to put together side by side,' and _byīn_, 'plank,' the compound word
being used in Burmese for 'a thick plank used in constructing the side of a
ship.' The _shinbin_ is a thick plank, about 15″ wide by 4″ thick, and
running up to 25 feet in length (see _Milburn_, i. 47). It is not sawn, but
split from green trees.
1791.—"Teak Timber for sale, consisting of
Duggis (see DUGGIE).
SHINBEENS.
Coma planks (?).
Maguire planks (?)
Joists and Sheathing Boards."
_Madras Courier_, Nov. 10.
SHINKALI, SHIGALA, n.p. A name by which the City and Port of CRANGANORE
(q.v.) seems to have been known in the early Middle Ages. The name was
probably formed from Tiruvan-_jiculam_, mentioned by Dr. Gundert below. It
is perhaps the Gingaleh of Rabbi Benjamin in our first quotation; but the
data are too vague to determine this, though the position of that place
seems to be in the vicinity of Malabar.
c. 1167.—"GINGALEH is but three days distant by land, whereas it requires
a journey of fifteen days to reach it by the sea; this place contains
about 1,000 Israelites."—_Benjamin of Tudela_, in _Wright's Early
Travels_, p. 117.
c. 1300.—"Of the cities on the shore (of Malībār) the first is SINDÁBÚR
(Goa), then Faknúr (see BACANORE), then the country of Manjarúr (see
MANGALORE) ... then CHINKALĪ (or _Jinkalī_), then Kúlam (see
QUILON)."—_Rashīduddīn_, see _J. R. As. Soc._, N.S., iv. pp. 342, 345.
c. 1320.—"Le pays de Manîbâr, appelè pays du Poivre, comprend les villes
suivantes.
* * * * *
"La ville de SHINKLI, dont la majeure partie de la population est
composée de Juifs.
"KAULAM est la dernière ville de la côte de Poivre."—_Shemseddin
Dimishqui_, by _Mehren_ (Cosmographie du Moyen Age), p. 234.
c. 1328.—"... there is one very powerful King in the country where the
pepper grows, and his kingdom is called Molebar. There is also the King
of SINGUYLI...."—_Fr. Jordanus_, p. 40.
1330.—"And the forest in which the pepper groweth extendeth for a good 18
days' journey, and in that forest there be two cities, the one whereof is
called Flandrina (see PANDARANI), and the other CYNGILIN...."—_Fr.
Odoric_, in _Cathay_, &c., 75-76.
c. 1330.—"Etiam Shâliyât (see CHALIA) et SHINKALA urbes Malabaricae sunt,
quarum alteram Judaei incolunt...."—_Abulfeda_, in _Gildemeister_, 185.
c. 1349.—"And in the second India, which is called Mynibar, there is
CYNKALI, which signifieth Little India" (Little China) "for _Kali_ is
'little.'"—_John Marignolli_, in _Cathay_, &c., 373.
1510.—"SCIGLA alias et Chrongalor vocatur, ea quam Cranganorium dicimus
Malabariae urbem, ut testatur idem Jacobus Indiarum episcopus ad calcem
Testamenti Novi ab ipso exarati anno Graecorum 1821, Christi 1510, et in
fine Epistolarum Pauli, Cod. Syr. Vat. 9 et 12."—In _Assemani, Diss. de
Syr. Nest._, pp. 440, 732.
1844.—"The place (Codungalur) is identified with _Tiruvan_-JICULAM
river-harbour, which Cheraman Perumal is said to have declared the best
of the existing 18 harbours of Kerala...."—_Dr. Gundert_, in _Madras
Journal_, xiii. 120.
" "One _Kerala Ulpatti_ (_i.e._ legendary history of Malabar) of
the Nasrani, says that their forefathers ... built Codangalur, as may be
learned from the granite inscription at the northern entrance of the
_Tiruvan_-JICULAM temple...."—_Ibid._ 122.
SHINTOO, SINTOO, s. Japanese _Shintau_, 'the Way of the Gods.' The
primitive relation of Japan. It is described by Faria y Sousa and other old
writers, but the name does not apparently occur in those older accounts,
unless it be in the _Seuto_ of Couto. According to Kaempfer the philosophic
or Confucian sect is called in Japan _Siuto_. But that hardly seems to fit
what is said by Couto, and his _Seuto_ seems more likely to be a mistake
for _Sento_. [See Lowell's articles on _Esoteric Shintoo_, in _Proc. As.
Soc. Japan_, 1893.]
1612.—"But above all these idols they adore one SEUTÓ, of which they say
that it is the substance and principle of All, and that its abode is in
the Heavens."—_Couto_, V. viii. 12.
1727.—"Le SINTO qu'on appelle aussi Sinsju et Kamimitsi, est le Culte des
Idoles, établi anciennement dans le pays. Sin et Kami sont les noms des
Idoles qui font l'object de ce Culte. Siu (_sic_) signifie la Foi, ou la
Religion. Sinsja et au pluriel Sinsju, ce sont les personnes qui
professent cette Religion."—_Kaempfer, Hist. de Japon_, i. 176; [E.T.
204].
1770.—"Far from encouraging that gloomy fanaticism and fear of the gods,
which is inspired by almost all other religions, the XINTO sect had
applied itself to prevent, or at least to moderate that disorder of the
imagination."—_Raynal_ (E.T. 1777), i. 137.
1878.—"The indigenous religion of the Japanese people, called in later
times by the name of SHINTAU or Way of the Gods, in order to distinguish
it from the way of the Chinese moral philosophers, and the way of Buddha,
had, at the time when Confucianism and Buddhism were introduced, passed
through the earliest stages of development."—_Westminster Rev._, N.S.,
No. cvii. 29.
[SHIRAZ, n.p. The wine of Shiraz was much imported and used by Europeans in
India in the 17th century, and even later.
[1627.—"SHERAZ then probably derives it self either from _sherab_ which
in the _Persian_ Tongue signifies a Grape here abounding ... or else from
_sheer_ which in the Persian signifies Milk."—_Sir T. Herbert_, ed. 1677,
p. 127.
[1685.—"... three Chests of SIRASH wine...."—_Pringle, Diary Ft. St.
Geo._, 1st ser. iv. 109, and see ii. 148.
[1690.—"Each Day there is prepar'd (at Surrat) a Publick Table for the
Use of the President and the rest of the Factory.... The Table is spread
with the choicest Meat Surrat affords ... and equal plenty of generous
SHERASH and ARAK PUNCH...."—_Ovington_, 394.
[1727.—"SHYRASH is a large City on the Road, about 550 Miles from
_Gombroon_."—_A. Hamilton_, ed. 1744, i. 99.
[1813.—"I have never tasted this (pomegranate wine), nor any other
Persian wine, except that of SCHIRAZ, which, although much extolled by
poets, I think inferior to many wines in Europe."—_Forbes, Or. Mem._ 2nd
ed. i. 468.]
SHIREENBAF, s. Pers. _Shīrīnbāf_, 'sweet-woof.' A kind of fine cotton
stuff, but we cannot say more precisely what.
c. 1343.—"... one hundred pieces of SHĪRĪNBĀF...."—_Ibn Batuta_, iv. 3.
[1609.—"SERRIBAFF, a fine light stuff or cotton whereof the Moors make
their CABAYES or clothing."—_Danvers, Letters_, i. 29.]
1673.—"... SIRING chintz, Broad Baftas...."—_Fryer_, 88.
SHISHAM. See under SISSOO.
SHISHMUHULL, s. Pers. _shīsha-maḥal_, lit. 'glass apartment' or palace.
This is or was a common appendage of native palaces, viz. a hall or suite
of rooms lined with mirror and other glittering surfaces, usually of a
gimcrack aspect. There is a place of exactly the same description, now gone
to hideous decay, in the absurd Villa Palagonia at Bagheria near Palermo.
1835.—"The SHĪSHA-MAHAL, or house of glass, is both curious and elegant,
although the material is principally pounded talc and looking-glass. It
consists of two rooms, of which the walls in the interior are divided
into a thousand different panels, each of which is filled up with raised
flowers in silver, gold, and colours, on a ground-work of tiny convex
mirrors."—_Wanderings of a Pilgrim_, i. 365.
SHOE OF GOLD (or of Silver). The name for certain ingots of precious metal,
somewhat in the form of a Chinese shoe, but more like a boat, which were
formerly current in the trade of the Far East. Indeed of silver they are
still current in China, for Giles says: "The common name among foreigners
for the Chinese silver ingot, which bears some resemblance to a native
shoe. May be of any weight from 1 oz. and even less, to 50 and sometimes
100 oz., and is always stamped by the assayer and banker, in evidence of
purity" (_Gloss. of Reference_, 128). [In Hissar the Chinese silver is
called _sillī_ from the slabs (_sil_) in which it is sold (_Maclagan, Mon.
on Gold and Silver Work in Punjab_, p. 5).] The same form of ingot was
probably the _bālish_ (or _yāstok_) of the Middle Ages, respecting which
see _Cathay_, &c., 115, 481, &c. Both of these latter words mean also 'a
cushion,' which is perhaps as good a comparison as either 'shoe' or 'boat.'
The word now used in C. Asia is _yambū_. There are cuts of the gold and
silver ingots in Tavernier, whose words suggest what is probably the true
origin of the popular English name, viz. a corruption of the Dutch
_Goldschuyt_.
1566.—"... valuable goods exported from this country (China) ... are
first, a quantity of gold, which is carried to India, in LOAVES in the
shape of BOATS...."—_C. Federici_, in _Ramusio_, iii. 391b.
1611.—"Then, I tell you, from China I could load ships with CAKES OF GOLD
fashioned like BOATS, containing, each of them, roundly speaking, 2 marks
weight, and so each cake will be worth 280 pardaos."—_Couto, Dialogo do
Soldado Pratico_, p. 155.
1676.—"The Pieces of Gold mark'd Fig. 1, and 2, are by the Hollanders
called GOLTSCHUT, that is to say, a Boat of Gold, because they are in the
form of a Boat. Other Nations call them Loaves of Gold.... The Great
Pieces come to 12 hundred Gilders of _Holland_ Money, and thirteen
hundred and fifty Livres of our Money."—_Tavernier_, E.T. ii. 8.
1702.—"Sent the Moolah to be delivered the Nabob, Dewan, and Buxie 48
China Oranges ... but the Dewan bid the Moolah write the Governor for a
hundred more that he might send them to Court; which is understood to be
One Hundred SHOES OF GOLD, or so many thousand pagodas or rupees."—In
_Wheeler_, i. 397.
1704.—"Price Currant, July, 1704, (at Malacca) ... GOLD, _China_, in
SHOOS 94 Touch."—_Lockyer_, 70.
1862.—"A silver ingot '_Yambu_' weighs about 2 (Indian) _seers_ ... = 4
lbs., and is worth 165 Co.'s rupees. _Koomoosh_, also called
'_Yambucha_,' or small silver ingot, is worth 33 Rs. ... 5 _yambuchas_,
being equal to 1 _yambu_. There are two descriptions of '_yambucha_'; one
is a square piece of silver, having a Chinese stamp on it; the other ...
in the form of a boat, has no stamp. The _Yambu_ is _in the form of a
boat_, and has a Chinese stamp on it."—_Punjab Trade Report_, App.
ccxxvi.-xxviii. 1.
1875.—"The _yámbú_ or _kúrs_ is a silver ingot something the shape of a
deep boat with projecting bow and stern. The upper surface is lightly
hollowed, and stamped with a Chinese inscription. It is said to be pure
silver, and to weigh 50 (Cashghar) _ser_ = 30,000 grains English."—Report
of _Forsyth's Mission to Kashghar_, 494.
[1876.—"... he received his pay in Chinese _yambs_ (gold coins), at the
rate of 128 rubles each, while the real commercial value was only 115
rubles."—_Schuyler, Turkistan_, ii. 322.
[1901.—A piece of Chinese SHOE MONEY, value 10 taels, was exhibited
before the Numismatic Society.—_Athenaeum_, Jan. 26, p. 118. Perhaps the
largest specimen known of Chinese "boat-money" was exhibited. It weighed
89½ ounces troy, and represented 50 taels, or £8, 8_s._ 0_d._
English.—_Ibid._ Jan. 25, 1902, p. 120].
SHOE-FLOWER, s. A name given in Madras Presidency to the flower of the
_Hibiscus Rosa-sinensis_, L. It is a literal translation of the Tam.
_shapāttupu_, Singh. _sappattumala_, a name given because the flowers are
used at Madras to blacken shoes. The Malay name _Kempang sapatu_ means the
same. Voigt gives SHOE-FLOWER as the English name, and adds: "Petals
astringent, used by the Chinese to blacken their shoes (?) and eyebrows"
(_Hortus Suburbanus Calcuttensis_, 116-7); see also _Drury_, s.v. The
notion of the Chinese blackening their shoes is surely an error, but
perhaps they use it to blacken leather for European use.
[1773.—"The flower (_Trepalta_, or _Morroock_) (which commonly by us is
called SHOE-FLOWER, because used to black our shoes) is very large, of a
deep but beautiful crimson colour."—_Ives_, 475.]
1791.—"La nuit suivante ... je joignis aux pavots ... une fleur de FOULE
SAPATTE, qui sert aux cordonniers à teindre leurs cuirs en noir."—_B. de
St. Pierre, Chaumière Indienne._ This _foule-sapatte_ is apparently some
quasi Hindustani form of the name (_phul-sabāt_?) used by the Portuguese.
SHOE-GOOSE, s. This ludicrous corruption of the Pers. _siyāh-gosh_, lit.
'black-ear,' _i.e._ lynx (_Felis Caracal_) occurs in the passage below from
A. Hamilton. [The corruption of the same word by the _Times_, below, is
equally amusing.]
[c. 1330.—"... ounces, and another kind something like a greyhound,
having only the ears black, and the whole body perfectly white, which
among these people is called SIAGOIS."—_Friar Jordanus_, 18.]
1727.—"Antelopes, Hares and Foxes, are their wild game, which they hunt
with Dogs, Leopards, and a small fierce creature called by them a
SHOE-GOOSE."—_A. Hamilton_, i. 124; [ed. 1744, i. 125].
1802.—"... between the cat and the lion, are the ... SYAGUSH, the lynx,
the tiger-cat...."—_Ritson, Essay on Abstinence from Animal Food_, 12.
1813.—"The Moguls train another beast for antelope-hunting called the
SYAH-GUSH, or black-ears, which appears to be the same as the caracal, or
Russian lynx."—_Forbes, Or. Mem._ i. 277; [2nd ed. i. 175 and 169].
[1886.—"In 1760 a Moor named Abdallah arrived in India with a 'SHAH
GOEST' (so spelt, evidently a SHAWL GOAT) as a present for Mr. Secretary
Pitt."—_Account of I. O. Records_, in _Times_, Aug. 3.]
SHOKE, s. A hobby, a favourite pursuit or whim. Ar.—_shauḳ_.
1796.—"This increased my SHOUQ ... for soldiering, and I made it my study
to become a proficient in all the Hindostanee modes of warfare."—_Mily.
Mem. of Lt.-Col. J. Skinner_, i. 109.
[1866.—"One Hakim has a SHOUKH for turning everything
_ooltapoolta_."—_Confessions of an Orderly_, 94.]
SHOLA, s. In S. India, a wooded ravine; a thicket. Tam. _sholāi_.
1862.—"At daylight ... we left the Sisipara bungalow, and rode for
several miles through a valley interspersed with SHOLAS of rhododendron
trees."—_Markham, Peru and India_, 356.
1876.—"Here and there in the hollows were little jungles; SHOLAS, as they
are called."—_Sir M. E. Grant-Duff, Notes of Indian Journey_, 202.
SHOOCKA, s. Ar.—H. _shuḳḳa_ (properly 'an oblong strip'), a letter from a
king to a subject.
1787.—"I have received several melancholy SHUKHAS from the King (of
Dehli) calling on me in the most pressing terms for assistance and
support."—_Letter of Lord Cornwallis_, in _Corresp._ i. 307.
SHOOLDARRY, s. A small tent with steep sloping roof, two poles and a
ridge-piece, and with very low side walls. The word is in familiar use, and
is habitually pronounced as we have indicated. But the first dictionary in
which we have found it is that of Platts. This author spells the word
_chholdārī_, identifying the first syllable with _jhol_, signifying
'puckering or bagging.' In this light, however, it seems possible that it
is from _jhūl_ in the sense of a bag or wallet, viz. a tent that is crammed
into a bag when carried. [The word is in Fallon, with the rather doubtful
suggestion that it is a corruption of the English '_soldier's_' tent. See
PAWL.]
1808.—"I have now a SHOALDARREE for myself, and a long _paul_ (see PAWL)
for my people."—_Elphinstone_, in _Life_, i. 183.
[1869.—"... the men in their SULDARIS, or small single-roofed tents, had
a bad time of it...."—_Ball, Jungle Life_, 156.]
SHRAUB, SHROBB, s. Ar. _sharāb_; Hind. _sharāb_, _shrāb_, 'wine.' See under
SHERBET.
SHROFF, s. A money-changer, a banker. Ar. _ṣarrāf_, _ṣairafi_, _ṣairaf_.
The word is used by Europeans in China as well as in India, and is there
applied to the experts who are employed by banks and mercantile firms to
check the quality of the dollars that pass into the houses (see _Giles_
under next word). Also SHROFFAGE, for money-dealer's commission. From the
same root comes the Heb. _sōrēf_, 'a goldsmith.' Compare the figure in
_Malachi_, iii. 3: "He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and
he shall purify the sons of Levi." Only in Hebrew the goldsmith tests
metal, while the _ṣairaf_ tests _coins_. The Arab poet says of his mare:
"Her forefeet scatter the gravel every midday, as the dirhams are scattered
at their testing by the _ṣairaf_" (W. R. S.)
1554.—"_Salaries of the officers of the Custom Houses, and other charges
for these which the Treasurers have to pay_.... Also to the XARRAFO,
whose charge it is to see to the money, two _pardaos_ a month, which make
for a year seven thousand and two hundred _reis_."—_Botelho, Tombo_, in
_Subsidios_, 238.
1560.—"There are in the city many and very wealthy ÇARAFOS who change
money."—_Tenreiro_, ch. i.
1584.—"5 TANGAS make a _seraphin_ (see XERAFINE) of gold; but if one
would change them into _basaruchies_ (see BUDGROOK) he may have 5 tangas
and 16 _basaruchies_, which ouerplus they call CERAFAGIO...."—_Barret_,
in _Hakl._ ii. 410.
1585.—"This present year, because only two ships came to Goa, (the
_reals_) have sold at 12 per cent. of XARAFAGGIO (shroffage), as this
commission is called, from the word XARAFFO, which is the title of the
banker."—_Sassetti_, in _De Gubernatis, Storia_, p. 203.
1598.—"There is in every place of the street exchangers of money, by them
called XARAFFOS, which are all christian Jewes."—_Linschoten_, 66; [Hak.
Soc. i. 231, and see 244.]
c. 1610.—"Dans ce Marché ... aussi sont les changeurs qu'ils nomment
CHERAFES, dont il y en a en plusieurs autres endroits; leurs boutiques
sont aux bouts des ruës et carrefours, toutes couuertes de monnoye, dont
ils payent tribut au Roy."—_Pyrard de Laval_, ii. 39; [Hak. Soc. ii. 67].
[1614.—"... having been borne in hand by our SARAFES to pay money
there."—_Foster, Letters_, iii. 282. The "SHERIFF of Bantam" (_ibid._ iv.
7) may perhaps be a SHROFF, but compare SHEREEF.]
1673.—"It could not be improved till the Governor had released the
SHROFFS or Bankers."—_Fryer_, 413.
1697-8.—"In addition to the cash and property which they had got by
plunder, the enemy fixed two _lacs_ of rupees as the price of the ransom
of the prisoners.... To make up the balance, the SARRÁFS and merchants of
Nandurbár were importuned to raise a sum, small or great, by way of loan.
But they would not consent."—_Kháfí Khán_, in _Elliot_, vii. 362.
1750.—"... the Irruption of the _Morattoes_ into _Carnatica_, was another
event that brought several eminent SHROFFS and wealthy Merchants into our
Town; insomuch, that I may say, there was hardly a SHROFF of any Note, in
the _Mogul_ empire but had a House in it; in a word, _Madrass_ was become
the Admiration of all the Country People, and the Envy of all our
_European_ Neighbours."—_Letter to a Proprietor of the E. I. Co._ 53-54.
1809.—"I had the satisfaction of hearing the Court order them (_i.e._
Gen. Martin's executors) to pay two lacs and a half to the plaintiff, a
SHROFF of Lucknow."—_Ld. Valentia_, i. 243.
[1891.—"The banker in Persia is looked on simply as a small tradesman—in
fact the business of the SEROF is despised."—_Wills, in the Land of the
Lion and the Sun_, 192].
SHROFF, TO, v. This verb is applied properly to the sorting of different
rupees or other coins, so as to discard refuse, and to fix the various
amounts of discount or _agio_ upon the rest, establishing the value in
standard coin. Hence figuratively 'to sift,' choosing the good (men,
horses, facts, or what not) and rejecting the inferior.
[1554.—(See under BATTA, B.)]
1878.—"SHROFFING schools are common in Canton, where teachers of the art
keep bad dollars for the purpose of exercising their pupils; and several
works on the subject have been published there, with numerous
illustrations of dollars and other foreign coins, the methods of scooping
out silver and filling up with copper or lead, comparisons between
genuine and counterfeit dollars, the difference between native and
foreign milling, etc., etc."—_Giles, Glossary of Reference_, 129.
1882.—(The COMPRADORE) "derived a profit from the process of SHROFFING
which (the money received) underwent before being deposited in the
Treasury."—_The Fankwae at Canton_, 55.
SHRUB, s. See under SHERBET.
SHULWAURS, s. Trousers, or drawers rather, of the Oriental kind, the same
as PYJAMMAS, LONG-DRAWERS, or MOGUL-BREECHES (qq.v.). The Persian is
_shalwār_, which according to Prof. Max Müller is more correctly _shulvār_,
from _shul_, 'the thigh,' related to Latin _crus_, _cruris_, and to Skt.
_kshura_ or _khura_, 'hoof' (see _Pusey_ on _Daniel_, 570). Be this as it
may, the Ar. form is _sirwāl_ (vulg. _sharwāl_), pl. _sarāwīl_, [which
Burton (_Arab. Nights_, i. 205) translates 'bag-trousers' and
'petticoat-trousers,' "the latter being the divided skirt of the future."]
This appears in the ordinary editions of the Book of Daniel in Greek, as
σαράβαρα, and also in the Vulgate, as follows: "Et capillus capitis eorum
non esset adustus, et SARABALA eorum non fuissent immutata, et odor ignis
non transisset per eos" (iii. 27). The original word is _sarbālīn_, pl. of
_sarbāla_. Luther, however, renders this _Mantel_; as the A.V. also does by
_coats_; [the R.V. _hosen_]. On this Prof. Robertson-Smith writes:
"It is not certain but that Luther and the A.V. are right. The word
_sarbālīn_ means 'cloak' in the Gemara; and in Arabic _sirbāl_ is 'a
garment, a coat of mail.' Perhaps quite an equal weight of scholarship
would now lean (though with hesitation) towards the cloak or coat, and
against the breeches theory.
"The Arabic word occurs in the Traditions of the Prophet (_Bokhāri_, vii.
36).
"Of course it is certain that σαράβαρα comes from the Persian, but not
through Arabic. The Bedouins did not wear trowsers in the time of
Ammianus, and don't do so now.
"The ordinary so-called LXX. editions of Daniel contain what is really
the post-Christian version of Theodotion. The true LXX. text has
ὑποδήματα.
"It may be added that Jerome says that both Aquila and Symmachus wrote
_saraballa_." [The _Encycl. Biblica_ also prefers the rendering of the
A.V. (i. 607), and see iii. 2934.]
The word is widely spread as well as old; it is found among the Tartars of
W. Asia as _jālbār_, among the Siberians and Bashkirds as _sālbār_, among
the Kalmaks as _shālbūr_, whilst it reached Russia as _sharawari_, Spain as
_zaraguelles_, and Portugal as _zarelos_. A great many Low Latin variations
of the word will be found in Ducange, _serabula_, _serabulla_, _sarabella_,
_sarabola_, _sarabura_, and more! [And Crawfurd (_Desc. Dict._ 124) writes
of Malay dress: "Trowsers are occasionally used under the _sarung_ by the
richer classes, and this portion of dress, like the imitation of the
turban, seems to have been borrowed from the Arabs, as is implied by its
Arabic name, _sarual_, corrupted _saluwar_."]
In the second quotation from Isidore of Seville below it will be seen that
the word had in some cases been interpreted as 'turbans.'
A.D. (?).—"Καὶ ἐθεώρουν τοῦς ἄνδρας ὅτι οὐκ ἐκυρίευσε τὸ πῦρ τοῦ σώματος
αὐτῶν καὶ ἡ θρὶξ τῆς κεφαλῆς αὐτῶν οὐκ ἐφλογίσθη καὶ τα σαράβαρα αὐτῶν
οὐκ ἠλλοιώθη, καὶ ὀσμὴ πυρὸς οὐκ ἦν ἐν αὐτοῖς."—Gr. Tr. of _Dan._ iii.
27.
c. A.D. 200.—"Ἐν δὲ τοῖς Σκύθαις Ἀντιφάνης ἔφη Σαράβαρα καὶ χιτῶνας
πάντας ἐνδεδυκότας."—_Julius Pollux, Onomast._ vii. 13, sec. 59.
c. A.D. 500.—"Σαράβαρα, τὰ περὶ τὰς κνῆμιδας (sic)
ἐνδύματα."—_Hesychius_, s.v.
c. 636.—"SARABARA sunt fluxa ac sinuosa vestimenta de quibus legitur in
Daniele.... Et Publius: Vt quid ergo in ventre tuo Parthi SARABARA
suspenderunt? Apud quosdam autem SARABARAE quaedã capitum tegmina
nuncupantur qualia videmus in capite Magorum picta."—_Isidorus
Hispalensis, Orig. et Etym._, lib. xix., ed. 1601, pp. 263-4.
c. 1000?—"Σαράβαρα,—ἐσθὴς Περσική ἔνιοι δὲ λέγουσι βρακία."—_Suidas_,
s.v.
which may be roughly rendered:
"A garb outlandish to the Greeks,
Which some call SHALWĀRS, some call Breeks!"
c. 900.—"The deceased was unchanged, except in colour. They dressed him
then with SARĀWĪL, overhose, boots, a _ḳurṭak_ and _khaftān_ of
gold-cloth, with golden buttons, and put on him a golden cap garnished
with sable."—_Ibn Foszlān_, in _Fraehn_, 15.
c. 1300.—"Disconsecratur altare eorum, et oportet reconciliari per
episcopum ... si intraret ad ipsum aliquis qui non esset Nestorius; si
intraret eciam ad ipsum quicumque sine SORRABULIS vel capite
cooperto."—_Ricoldo of Monte Croce_, in _Peregrinatores Quatuor_, 122.
1330.—"Haec autem mulieres vadunt discalceatae portantes SARABULAS usque
ad terram."—_Friar Odoric_, in _Cathay_, &c., App. iv.
c. 1495.—"The first who wore SARĀWĪL was Solomon. But in another
tradition it is alleged that Abraham was the first."—The '_Beginnings_,'
by _Soyuti_, quoted by _Fraehn_, 113.
1567.—"Portauano braghesse quasi alla turchesca, et anche SALUARĪ."—_C.
Federici_, in _Ramusio_, iii. f. 389.
1824.—"... tell me how much he will be contented with? Can I offer him
five _Tomauns_, and a pair of crimson SHULWAURS?"—_Hajji Baba_, ed. 1835,
p. 179.
1881.—"I used to wear a red shirt and velveteen SHAROVARY, and lie on the
sofa like a gentleman, and drink like a Swede."—_Ten Years of Penal
Servitude in Siberia_, by _Fedor Dostoyeffski_, E.T. by Maria v. Thilo,
191.
SIAM, n.p. This name of the Indo-Chinese Kingdom appears to come to us
through the Malays, who call it _Siyăm_. From them we presume the
Portuguese took their Reyno de _Sião_ as Barros and Couto write it, though
we have in Correa _Siam_ precisely as we write it. Camões also writes
_Syão_ for the kingdom; and the statement of De la Loubère quoted below
that the Portuguese used Siam as a national, not a geographical, expression
cannot be accepted in its generality, accurate as that French writer
usually is. It is true that both Barros and F. M. Pinto use _os Siames_ for
the nation, and the latter also uses the adjective form _o reyno Siame_.
But he also constantly says _rey de Sião_. The origin of the name would
seem to be a term SIEN, or _Siam_, identical with SHAN (q.v.). "The kingdom
of Siam is known to the Chinese by the name _Sien-lo_.... The supplement to
Matwanlin's _Encyclopædia_ describes _Sien-lo_ as on the seaboard, to the
extreme south of Chen-ching (or Cochin China). 'It originally consisted of
two kingdoms, SIEN and _Lo-hoh_. The Sien people are the remains of a tribe
which in the year (A.D. 1341) began to come down upon the Lo-hoh and united
with the latter into one nation.'" See _Marco Polo_, 2nd ed., Bk. iii. ch.
7, note 3. The considerations there adduced indicate that the _Lo_ who
occupied the coast of the Gulf before the descent of the _Sien_, belonged
to the Laotian Shans, _Thainyai_, or Great T'ai, whilst the _Sien_ or
Siamese Proper were the _T'ai Noi_, or Little T'ai. (See also SARNAU.)
["The name _Siam_ ... whether it is 'a barbarous Anglicism derived from the
Portuguese or Italian word _Sciam_,' or is derived from the Malay _Sayam_,
which means 'brown.'"—_J. G. Scott, Upper Burma Gazetteer_, i. pt. i. 205.]
1516.—"Proceeding further, quitting the kingdom of Peeguu, along the
coast over against Malaca there is a very great kingdom of pagans which
they call Danseam (of ANSEAM); the king of which is a pagan also, and a
very great lord."—_Barbosa_ (Lisbon, Acad.), 369. It is difficult to
interpret this _An_SEAM, which we find also in C. Federici below in the
form ASION. But the _An_ is probably a Malay prefix of some kind. [Also
see ANSYANE in quotation from the same writer under MALACCA.]
c. 1522.—"The king (of Zzuba) answered him that he was welcome, but that
the custom was that all ships which arrived at his country or port paid
tribute, and it was only 4 days since that a ship called the Junk of
CIAMA, laden with gold and slaves, had paid him his tribute, and to
verify what he said, he showed them a merchant of the said CIAMA, who had
remained there to trade with the gold and slaves."—_Pigafetta_, Hak. Soc.
85.
" "All these cities are constructed like ours, and are subject to
the king of SIAM, who is named Siri Zacebedera, and who inhabits Iudia
(see JUDEA)."—_Ibid._ 156.
1525.—"In this same Port of Pam (Pahang), which is in the kingdom of
SYAM, there was another junk of Malaqua, the captain whereof was Alvaro
da Costaa, and it had aboard 15 Portuguese, at the same time that in
Joatane (Patane) they seized the ship of Andre de Bryto, and the junk of
Gaspar Soarez, and as soon as this news was known they laid hands on the
junk and the crew and the cargo; it is presumed that the people were
killed, but it is not known for certain."—_Lembrança das Cousas da
India_, 6.
1572.—
"Vês Pam, Patâne, reinos e a longura
De SYĀO, que estes e outros mais sujeita;
Olho o rio Menão que se derrama
Do grande lago, que Chiamay se chiama."
_Camões_, x. 25.
By Burton:
"See Pam, Patane and in length obscure,
SIAM that ruleth all with lordly sway;
behold Menam, who rolls his lordly tide
from source Chiámái called, lake long and wide."
c. 1567.—"Va etiandio ogn'anno per l'istesso Capitano (di Malacca) vn
nauilio in ASION, a caricare di _Verzino_" (Brazilwood).—_Ces. Federici_,
in _Ramusio_, iii. 396.
" "Fu già SION vna grandissima Città e sedia d'Imperio, ma l'anno
MDLXVII fu pressa dal Re del Pegu, qual caminando per terra quattro mesi
di viaggio, con vn esercito d'vn million, e quattro cento mila uomini da
guerra, la venne ad assediare ... e lo so io percioche mi ritrouai in
Pegù sei mesi dopo la sua partita."—_Ibid._
1598.—"... The King of SIAN at this time is become tributarie to the king
of Pegu. The cause of this most bloodie battaile was, that the king of
SIAN had a white Elephant."—_Linschoten_, p. 30; [Hak. Soc. i. 102. In
ii. 1 SION].
[1611.—"We have news that the Hollanders were in SHIAN."—_Danvers,
Letters_, i. 149.]
1688.—"The Name of SIAM is unknown to the _Siamese_. 'Tis one of those
words which the _Portugues_ of the _Indies_ do use, and of which it is
very difficult to discover the Original. They use it as the Name of the
Nation and not of the Kingdom: And the Names of _Pegu_, _Lao_, _Mogul_,
and most of the Names which we give to the Indian Kingdoms, are likewise
National Names."—_De la Loubère_, E.T. p. 6.
SICCA, s. As will be seen by reference to the article RUPEE, up to 1835 a
variety of rupees had been coined in the Company's territories. The term
_sicca_ (_sikkā_, from Ar. _sikka_, 'a coining die,'—and 'coined
money,'—whence Pers. _sikka zadan_, 'to coin') had been applied to newly
coined rupees, which were at a BATTA or premium over those worn, or assumed
to be worn, by use. In 1793 the Government of Bengal, with a view to
terminating, as far as that Presidency was concerned, the confusion and
abuses engendered by this system, ordered that all rupees coined for the
future should bear the impress of the 19th year of Shāh 'Alam (the "Great
Mogul" then reigning), and this rupee, "19 _San_ SIKKAH," 'struck in the
19th year,' was to be the legal tender in "Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa. This
rupee, which is the Sicca of more recent monetary history, weighed 192 grs.
troy, and then contained 176.13 grs. of pure silver. The "Company's Rupee,"
which introduced uniformity of coinage over British India in 1835,
contained only 165 grs. silver. Hence the _Sicca_ bore to the Company's
Rupee (which was based on the old Farrukhābād rupee) the proportion of
16:15 nearly. The _Sicca_ was allowed by Act VII. of 1833 to survive as an
exceptional coin in Bengal, but was abolished as such in 1836. It
continued, however, a ghostly existence for many years longer in the form
of certain Government Book-debts in that currency. (See also CHICK.)
1537.—"... Sua senhoria avia d'aver por bem que as SIQUAS das moedas
corressem em seu nome per todo o Reino do Guzerate, asy em Dio como nos
otros luguares que forem del Rey de Portuguall."—_Treaty of Nuno da Cunha
with Nizamamede Zamom (Mahommed Zamam) concerning Cambaya_, in _Botelho,
Tombo_, 225.
1537.—"... e quoanto á moeda ser chapada de sua _sita_ (read SICA) pois
já lhe concedia."—_Ibid._ 226.
[1615.—"... CECAUS of Amadavrs which goeth for eighty-six _pisas_ (see
PICE)...."—_Foster, Letters_, iii. 87.]
1683.—"Having received 25,000 Rupees SICCAS for Rajamaul."—_Hedges,
Diary_, April 4; [Hak. Soc. i. 75].
1705.—"Les roupies SICCA valent à Bengale 39 sols."—_Luillier_, 255.
1779.—"In the 2nd Term, 1779, on Saturday, March 6th: Judgment was
pronounced for the plaintiff. Damages fifty thousand SICCA RUPEES."
" "... 50,000 SICCA RUPEES are equal to five thousand one hundred
and nine pounds, two shillings and elevenpence sterling, reckoning
according to the weight and fineness of the silver."—_Notes of Mr.
Justice Hyde_ on the case _Grand v. Francis_, in _Echoes of Old
Calcutta_, 243. [To this Mr. Busteed adds: "Nor does there seem to be any
foundation for the other time-honoured story (also repeated by Kaye) in
connection with this judgment, viz., the alleged interruption of the
Chief Justice, while he was delivering judgment, by Mr. Justice Hyde,
with the eager suggestion or reminder of 'SICCAS, SICCAS, Brother Impey,'
with the view of making the damages as high at the awarded figure as
possible. Mr. Merivale says that he could find no confirmation of the old
joke.... The story seems to have been first promulgated in a book of
'Personal Recollections' by John Nicholls, M.P., published in
1822."—_Ibid._ 3rd ed. 229].
1833.— * * *
"III.—The weight and standard of the Calcutta _sicca_ rupee and its
sub-divisions, and of the Furruckabad rupee, shall be as follows:—
_Weight._ _Fine._ _Alloy._
Grains. Grains. Grains.
Calcutta SICCA rupee 192 176 16
"IV.—The use of the SICCA weight of 179.666 grains, hitherto employed for
the receipt of bullion at the Mint, being in fact the weight of the
Moorshedabad rupee of the old standard ... shall be discontinued, and in
its place the following unit to be called the TOLA (q.v.) shall be
introduced."—_India Regulation VII._ of 1833.
[SICKMAN, s. adj. The English _sick man_ has been adopted into Hind. sepoy
patois as meaning 'one who has to go to hospital,' and generally _sikmān ho
jānā_ means 'to be disabled.'
[1665.—"That SICKMAN Chaseman."—In _Yule, Hedges' Diary_, Hak. Soc. II.
cclxxx.
[1843.—"... my hired cart was broken—(or, in the more poetical garb of
the sepahee, 'SEEK MĀN _hogya_,' _i.e._ become a sick man)."—_Davidson,
Travels_, i. 251.]
SICLEEGUR, s. Hind. _ṣaiḳalgar_, from Ar. _ṣaiḳal_, 'polish.' A furbisher
of arms, a sword-armourer, a sword- or knife-grinder. [This, in Madras, is
turned into CHICKLEDAR, Tel. _chikili-darudu_.]
[1826.—"My father was a SHIEKUL-GHUR, or sword-grinder."—_Pandurang
Hari_, ed. 1873, i. 216.]
SIKH, SEIKH, n.p. Panjābi-Hind. _Sikh_, 'a disciple,' from Skt. _Śishya_;
the distinctive name of the disciples of Nānak Shāh who in the 16th century
established that sect, which eventually rose to warlike predominance in the
Punjab, and from which sprang Ranjīt Singh, the founder of the brief
Kingdom of Lahore.
c. 1650-60.—"The Nanac-Panthians, who are known as composing the nation
of the SIKHS, have neither idols, nor temples of idols...." (Much
follows.)—_Dabistān_, ii. 246.
1708-9.—"There is a sect of infidels called _Gurú_ (see GOOROO), more
commonly known as SIKHS. Their chief, who dresses as a fakír, has a fixed
residence at Láhore.... This sect consists principally of _Játs_ and
_Khatrís_ of the Panjáb and of other tribes of infidels. When Aurangzeb
got knowledge of these matters, he ordered these deputy _Gurús_ to be
removed and the temples to be pulled down."—_Khāfī Khān_, in _Elliot_,
vii. 413.
1756.—"April of 1716, when the Emperor took the field and marched towards
Lahore, against the SYKES, a nation of Indians lately reared to power,
and bearing mortal enmity to the Mahomedans."—_Orme_, ii. 22. He also
writes SIKES.
1781.—"Before I left _Calcutta_, a gentleman with whom I chanced to be
discoursing of that sect who are distinguished from the worshippers of
_Brăhm_, and the followers of MAHOMMED by the appellation SEEK, informed
me that there was a considerable number of them settled in the city of
_Patna_, where they had a College for teaching the tenets of their
philosophy."—_Wilkins_, in _As. Res._ i. 288.
1781-2.—"In the year 1128 of the Hedjra" (1716) "a bloody action happened
in the plains of the Pendjab, between the SYCS and the Imperialists, in
which the latter, commanded by Abdol-semed-Khan, a famous Viceroy of that
province, gave these inhuman freebooters a great defeat, in which their
General, Benda, fell into the victors' hands.... He was a SYC by
profession, that is one of those men attached to the tenets of
Guru-Govind, and who from their birth or from the moment of their
admission never cut or shave either their beard or whiskers or any hair
whatever of their body. They form a particular Society as well as a sect,
which distinguishes itself by wearing almost always blue cloaths, and
going armed at all times...." &c.—_Seir Mutaqherin_, i. 87.
1782.—"News was received that the SEIKS had crossed the Jumna."—_India
Gazette_, May 11.
1783.—"Unhurt by the SICQUES, tigers, and thieves, I am safely lodged at
Nourpour."—_Forster, Journey_, ed. 1808, i. 247.
1784.—"The SEEKHS are encamped at the distance of 12 cose from the Pass
of Dirderry, and have plundered all that quarter."—In _Seton-Karr_, i.
13.
1790.—"Particulars relating to the seizure of Colonel Robert Stewart by
the SICQUES."—_Calc. Monthly Register_, &c., i. 152.
1810.—Williamson (_V.M._) writes SEEKS.
The following extract indicates the prevalence of a very notable error:—
1840.—"Runjeet possesses great personal courage, a quality in which the
SIHKS (_sic_) are supposed to be generally deficient."—_Osborne, Court
and Camp of Runjeet Singh_, 83.
We occasionally about 1845-6 saw the word written by people in Calcutta,
who ought to have known better, SHEIKS.
SILBOOT, SILPET, SLIPPET, s. Domestic Hind. corruptions of 'slipper.' The
first is an instance of "striving after meaning" by connecting it in some
way with 'boot.' [The Railway 'sleeper' is in the same way corrupted into
_silīpat_.]
SILLADAR, adj. and s. Hind. from Pers. _silaḥ-dār_, 'bearing or having
arms,' from Ar. _silaḥ_, 'arms.' [In the _Arabian Nights_ (_Burton_, ii.
114) it has the primary sense of an 'armour-bearer.'] Its Anglo-Indian
application is to a soldier, in a regiment of irregular cavalry, who
provides his own arms and horse; and sometimes to regiments composed of
such men—"a corps of SILLADAR Horse." [See Irvine, _The Army of the Indian
Moghuls_, (_J. R. As. Soc._, July 1896, p. 549).]
1766.—"When this intelligence reached the Nawaub, he leaving the whole of
his troops and baggage in the same place, with only 6000 stable horse,
9000 SILLAHDĀRS, 4000 regular infantry, and 6 guns ... fell bravely on
the Mahrattas...."—_Mir Hussein Ali, H. of Hydur Naik_, 173.
1804.—"It is my opinion, that the arrangement with the Soubah of the
Deccan should be, that the whole of the force ... should be SILLADAR
horse."—_Wellington_, iii. 671.
1813.—"Bhàou ... in the prosecution of his plan, selected Malhar Row
Holcar, a SILLEDAR or soldier of fortune."—_Forbes, Or. Mem._ iii. 349.
[SILLAPOSH, s. An armour-clad warrior; from Pers. _silaḥ_, 'body armour,'
_posh_, Pers. _poshīdan_, 'to wear.'
[1799.—"The SILLAH POSH or body-guard of the Rajah (of Jaipur)."—_W.
Francklin, Mil. Mem. of Mr. George Thomas_, ed. 1805, p. 165.
[1829.—"... he stood two assaults, in one of which he slew thirty
SILLEHPOSH, or men in armour, the body-guard of the prince."—_Tod,
Annals_, Calcutta reprint, ii. 462.]
SILMAGOOR, s. Ship Hind. for 'sail-maker' (_Roebuck_).
SIMKIN, s. Domestic Hind. for champagne, of which it is a corruption;
sometimes SAMKĪN.
1853.—"'The dinner was good, and the iced SIMKIN, Sir,
delicious.'"—_Oakfield_, ii. 127.
SIND, SCINDE, &c., n.p. The territory on the Indus below the Punjab. [In
the early inscriptions the two words _Sindhu-Sauvīra_ are often found
conjoined, the latter probably part of Upper Sind (see _Bombay Gazetteer_,
i. pt. i. 36).] The earlier Mahommedans hardly regarded Sind as part of
India, but distinguished sharply between _Sind_ and _Hind_, and denoted the
whole region that we call India by the copula 'Hind and Sind.' We know that
originally these were in fact but diverging forms of one word; the aspirant
and sibilant tending in several parts of India (including the extreme
east—compare ASSAM, _Ahom_—and the extreme west), as in some other regions,
to exchange places.
c. 545.—"Σινδοῦ, Ὄρροθα, Καλλιάνα, Σιβὼρ καὶ Μαλὲ πέντε ἐμπόρια
ἔχουσα."—_Cosmas_, lib. xi.
770.—"Per idem tempus quingenti circiter ex Mauris, SINDIS, et Chazaris
servi in urbe Haran rebellarunt, et facto agmine regium thesaurum
diripere tentarunt."—_Dionysii Patriarchae Chronicon_, in _Assemani_, ii.
114. But from the association with the Khazars, and in a passage on the
preceding page with Alans and Khazars, we may be almost certain that
these _Sindi_ are not Indian, but a Sarmatic people mentioned by Ammianus
(xxii. 8), Valerius Flaccus (vi. 86), and other writers.
c. 1030.—"SIND and her sister (_i.e._ _Hind_) trembled at his power and
vengeance."—_Al 'Utbi_, in _Elliot_, ii. 32.
c. 1340.—"Mohammed-ben-Iousouf Thakafi trouva dans la province de SIND
quarante behar (see BAHAR) d'or, et chaque behar comprend 333
_mann_."—_Shihābuddīn Dimishḳī_, in _Not. et Ext._ xiii. 173.
1525.—"_Expenses of Melyquyaz_ (_i.e._ Malik Āyāz of Diu):—1,000 foot
soldiers (_lasquarys_), viz., 300 Arabs, at 40 and 50 _fedeas_ each; also
200 _Coraçones_ (Khorāsānīs) at the wage of the Arabs; also 200 Guzarates
and CYMDES at 25 to 30 _fedeas_ each; also 30 Rumes at 100 _fedeas_ each;
120 _Fartaquys_ at 50 _fedeas_ each. Horse soldiers (_Lasquarys a
quaualo_), whom he supplies with horses, 300 at 70 _fedeas_ a
month...."—_Lembrança_, p. 37. The preceding extract is curious as
showing the comparative value put upon Arabs, Khorāsānīs (qu. Afghāns?),
Sindīs, Rūmīs (_i.e._ Turks), Fartakīs (Arabs of Hadramaut?), &c.
1548.—"And the rent of the shops (_buticas_) of the Guzaratis of CINDY,
who prepare and sell parched rice (_avel_), paying 6 bazarucos (see
BUDGROOK) a month."—_Botelho, Tombo_, 156.
1554.—"Towards the Gulf of Chakad, in the vicinity of SIND."—_Sidi' Ali_,
in _J. As._ Ser. I. tom. ix. 77.
1583.—"The first citie of India ... after we had passed the coast of
ZINDI is called Diu."—_Fitch_, in _Hakl._ p. 385.
1584.—"Spicknard from ZINDI and Lahor."—_W. Barret_, in _Hakl._ ii. 412.
1598.—"I have written to the said Antonio d'Azevedo on the ill treatment
experienced by the Portuguese in the kingdom of CIMDE."—King's Letter to
Goa, in _Archiv. Port. Orient._ Fascic. iii. 877.
[1610.—"TZINDE, are silk cloths with red stripes."—_Danvers, Letters_, i.
72.]
1611.—"_Cuts-nagore_, a place not far from the River of ZINDE."—_N.
Downton_, in _Purchas_, i. 307.
1613.—"... considering the state of destitution in which the fortress of
Ormuz had need be,—since it had no other resources but the revenue of the
custom-house, and there could now be returning nothing, from the fact
that the ports of Cambaia and SINDE were closed, and that no ship had
arrived from Goa in the current monsoon of January and February, owing to
the news of the English ships having collected at Suratte...."—_Bocarro,
Decada_, 379.
[c. 1665.—"... he (Dara) proceeded towards SCIMDY, and sought refuge in
the fortress of _Tatabakar_...."—_Bernier_, ed. _Constable_, 71.]
1666.—"De la Province du SINDE ou SINDY ... que quelques-uns nomment le
Tatta."—_Thevenot_, v. 158.
1673.—"... Retiring with their ill got Booty to the Coasts of
SINDU."—_Fryer_, 218.
1727.—"SINDY is the westmost Province of the Mogul's Dominions on the
Sea-coast, and has Larribunder (see LARRY-BUNDER) to its Mart."—_A.
Hamilton_, i. 114; [ed. 1744, i. 115].
c. 1760.—"SCINDY, or Tatta."—_Grose_, i. 286.
SINDĀBŪR, SANDĀBŪR, n.p. This is the name by which Goa was known to the old
Arab writers. The identity was clearly established in _Cathay and the Way
Thither_, pp. 444 and ccli. We will give the quotations first, and then
point out the grounds of identification.
A.D. 943.—"Crocodiles abound, it is true, in the _ajwān_ or bays formed
by the Sea of India, such as that of ṢINDĀBŪRA in the Indian Kingdom of
Bāghira, or in the bay of Zābaj (see JAVA) in the dominion of the
Maharāj."—_Maṣ'ūdī_, i. 207.
1013.—"I have it from Ābū Yūsaf bin Muslim, who had it from Ābū Bakr of
Fasā at Ṣaimūr, that the latter heard told by Mūsa the ṢINDĀBŪRĪ: 'I was
one day conversing with the Ṣaḥib of ṢINDĀBŪR, when suddenly he burst out
laughing.... It was, said he, because there is a lizard on the wall, and
it said, 'There is a guest coming to-day.... Don't you go till you see
what comes of it.' So we remained talking till one of his servants came
in and said 'There is a ship of Oman come in.' Shortly after, people
arrived, carrying hampers with various things, such as cloths, and
rose-water. As they opened one, out came a long lizard, which instantly
clung to the wall and went to join the other one. It was the same person,
they say, who enchanted the crocodiles in the estuary of ṢINDĀBŪR, so
that now they hurt nobody."—_Livre des Merveilles de l'Inde. V. der Lith
et Devic_, 157-158.
c. 1150.—"From the city of Barūh (Barūch, _i.e._ BROACH) following the
coast, to SINDĀBŪR 4 days.
"SINDĀBŪR is on a great inlet where ships anchor. It is a place of trade,
where one sees fine buildings and rich bazars."—_Edrisi_, i. 179. And see
_Elliot_, i. 89.
c. 1300.—"Beyond Guzerat are Konkan and Tána; beyond them the country of
Malibár.... The people are all Samanís (Buddhists), and worship idols. Of
the cities on the shore the first is SINDABŪR, then Faknūr, then the
country of Manjarūr, then the country of Hílí...."—_Rashīduddīn_, in
_Elliot_, i. 68.
c. 1330.—"A traveller states that the country from SINDĀPŪR to Hanāwar
towards its eastern extremity joins with Malabar...."—_Abulfeda_, Fr.
tr., II. ii. 115. Further on in his Tables he jumbles up (as Edrisi has
done) SINDĀPŪR with Sindān (see ST. JOHN).
" "The heat is great at Aden. This is the port frequented by the
people of India; great ships arrive there from Cambay, Tāna, Kaulam,
Calicut, Fandarāina, Shāliyāt, Manjarūr, Fākanūr, Hanaur, SANDĀBŪR, et
cetera."—_Ibn Batuta_, ii. 177.
c. 1343-4.—"Three days after setting sail we arrived at the Island of
SANDĀBŪR, within which there are 36 villages. It is surrounded by an
inlet, and at the time of ebb the water of this is fresh and pleasant,
whilst at flow it is salt and bitter. There are in the island two cities,
one ancient, built by the pagans; the second built by the Musulmans when
they conquered the island the first time.... We left this island behind
us and anchored at a small island near the mainland, where we found a
temple, a grove, and a tank of water...."—_Ibid._ iv. 61-62.
1350, 1375.—In the Medicean and the Catalan maps of those dates we find
on the coast of India CINTABOR and CHINTABOR respectively, on the west
coast of India.
c. 1554.—"_24th Voyage: from_ GUVAH-SINDĀBŪR to _Aden_. If you start from
GUVAH-SINDĀBŪR at the end of the season, take care not to fall on Cape
Fāl," &c.—_Mohit_, in _J.A.S.B._ v. 564.
The last quotation shows that Goa was known even in the middle of the
16th century to Oriental seamen as Goa-Sindābūr, whatever Indian name the
last part represented; probably, from the use of the _ṣwād_ by the
earlier Arab writers, and from the CHINTABOR of the European maps,
_Chandāpur_ rather than _Sundāpur_. No Indian name like this has yet been
recovered from inscriptions as attaching to Goa; but the Turkish author
of the Mohit supplies the connection, and Ibn Batuta's description even
without this would be sufficient for the identification. His description,
it will be seen, is that of a delta-island, and Goa is the only one
partaking of that character upon the coast. He says it contained 36
villages; and Barros tells us that Goa Island was known to the natives as
_Tīsvāḍī_, a name signifying "Thirty villages." (See SALSETTE.) Its
vicinity to the island where Ibn Batuta proceeded to anchor, which we
have shown to be ANCHEDIVA (q.v.), is another proof. Turning to
Rashīduddīn, the order in which he places SINDĀBŪR, Faknūr (BACCANORE),
Manjarūr (MANGALORE), Hīlī (MT. D'ELY), is perfectly correct, if for
Sindābūr we substitute Goa. The passage from Edrisi and one indicated
from Abulfeda only show a confusion which has misled many readers since.
SINGALESE, CINGHALESE, n.p. Native of Ceylon; pertaining to Ceylon. The
word is formed from _Siṉhala_, 'Dwelling of Lions,' the word used by the
natives for the Island, and which is the origin of most of the names given
to it (see CEYLON). The explanation given by De Barros and Couto is
altogether fanciful, though it leads them to notice the curious and obscure
fact of the introduction of Chinese influence in Ceylon during the 15th
century.
1552.—"That the Chinese (_Chijs_) were masters of the Choromandel Coast,
of part of Malabar, and of this Island of Ceylon, we have not only the
assertion of the Natives of the latter, but also evidence in the
buildings, names, and language that they left in it ... and because they
were in the vicinity of this Cape Galle, the other people who lived from
the middle of the Island upwards called those dwelling about there
CHINGÁLLA, and their language the same, as much as to say the language,
or the people of the CHINS OF GALLE."—_Barros_, III. ii. 1.
1583.—(The Cauchin Chineans) "are of the race of the CHINGALAYS, which
they say are the best kinde of all the Malabars."—_Fitch_, in _Hakl._ ii.
397.
1598.—"... inhabited with people called CINGALAS...."—_Linschoten_, 24;
[Hak. Soc. i. 77; in i. 81, CHINGALAS].
c. 1610.—"Ils tiennent donc que ... les premiers qui y allerent, et qui
les peuplerent (les Maldives) furent ... les CINGALLES de l'Isle de
Ceylan."—_Pyrard de Laval_, i. 185; [Hak. Soc. i. 105, and see i. 266].
1612.—Couto, after giving the same explanation of the word as Barros,
says: "And as they spring from the Chins, who are the falsest heathen of
the East ... so are they of this island the weakest, falsest, and most
tricky people in all India, insomuch that, to this day, you never find
faith or truth in a CHINGALLA."—V. i. 5.
1681.—"The CHINGŪLEYS are naturally a people given to sloth and laziness:
if they can but anyways live, they abhor to work."...—_Knox_, 32.
SINGAPORE, SINCAPORE, n.p. This name was adopted by Sir Stamford Raffles in
favour of the city which he founded, February 23, 1819, on the island which
had always retained the name since the Middle Ages. This it derived from
_Siṉhapura_, Skt. 'Lion-city,' the name of a town founded by Malay or
Javanese settlers from Sumatra, probably in the 14th century, and to which
Barros ascribes great commercial importance. The Indian origin of the name,
as of many other names and phrases which survive from the old Indian
civilisation of the Archipelago, had been forgotten, and the origin which
Barros was taught to ascribe to it is on a par with his etymology of
SINGALESE quoted in the preceding article. The words on which his etymology
is founded are no doubt Malay: _singah_, 'to tarry, halt, or lodge,' and
_pora-pora_, 'to pretend'; and these were probably supposed to refer to the
temporary occupation of Sinhapura, before the chiefs who founded it passed
on to Malacca. [It may be noted that Dennys (_Desc. Dict._ s.v.) derives
the word from _singha_, 'a place of call,' and _pura_, 'a city.' In
Dalboquerque's _Comm._ Hak. Soc. iii. 73, we are told: "Singapura, whence
the city takes its name, is a channel through which all the shipping of
those parts passes, and signifies in his Malay language, '_treacherous
delay_.'" See quotation from Barros below.]
The settlement of Hinduized people on the site, if not the name, is
probably as old as the 4th century, A.D., for inscriptions have been found
there in a very old character. One of these, on a rock at the mouth of the
little river on which the town stands, was destroyed some 40 or 50 years
ago for the accommodation of some wretched bungalow.
The modern Singapore and its prosperity form a monument to the patriotism,
sagacity, and fervid spirit of the founder. According to an article in the
_Geogr. Magazine_ (i. 107) derived from Mr. Archibald Ritchie, who was
present with the expedition which founded the colony, Raffles, after
consultation with Lord Hastings, was about to establish a settlement for
the protection and encouragement of our Eastern trade, in the Nicobar
Islands, when his attention was drawn to the superior advantages of
Singapore by Captains Ross and Crawford of the Bombay Marine, who had been
engaged in the survey of those seas. Its great adaptation for a mercantile
settlement had been discerned by the shrewd, if somewhat vulgar, Scot,
Alexander Hamilton, 120 years earlier. It seems hardly possible, we must
however observe, to reconcile the _details_ in the article cited, with the
letters and facts contained in the _Life of Raffles_; though probably the
latter had, at some time or other, received information from the officers
named by Mr. Ritchie.
1512.—"And as the enterprise was one to make good booty, everybody was
delighted to go on it, so that they were more than 1200 men, the soundest
and best armed of the garrison, and so they were ready incontinently, and
started for the Strait of CINCAPURA, where they were to wait for the
junks."—_Correa_, ii. 284-5.
1551.—"Sed hactenus Deus nobis adsit omnibus. Amen. Anno post Christum
natum, MDLI. _Ex Freto_ SYNCAPURANO."—_Scti. Franc. Xaverii_ Epistt.
Pragae, 1667, Lib. III. viii.
1553.—"Anciently the most celebrated settlement in this region of Malaca
was one called CINGAPURA, a name which in their tongue means 'pretended
halt' (_falsa dimora_); and this stood upon a point of that country which
is the most southerly of all Asia, and lies, according to our graduation,
in half a degree of North Latitude ... before the foundation of Malaca,
at this same CINGAPURA ... flocked together all the navigators of the
Seas of India from West and East...."—_Barros_, II. vi. 1. [The same
derivation is given in the _Comm. of Dalboquerque_, Hak. Soc. iii. 73.]
1572.—
"Mas na ponta da terra CINGAPURA
Verás, onde o caminho as naos se estreita;
Daqui, tornando a costa á Cynosura,
Se incurva, e para a Aurora se endireita."
_Camões_, x. 125.
By Burton:
"But on her Lands-end throned see CINGAPÚR,
where the wide sea-road shrinks to narrow way:
Thence curves the coast to face the Cynosure,
and lastly trends Aurora-wards its lay."
1598.—"... by water the coast stretcheth to the Cape of SINGAPURA, and
from thence it runneth upwards [inwards] againe...."—_Linschoten_, 30;
[Hak. Soc. i. 101].
1599.—"In this voyage nothing occurred worth relating, except that, after
passing the Strait of SINCAPURA, situated in one degree and a half,
between the main land and a variety of islands ... with so narrow a
channel that from the ship you could jump ashore, or touch the branches
of the trees on either side, our vessel struck on a shoal."—_Viaggi di
Carletti_, ii. 208-9.
1606.—"The 5th May came there 2 Prows from the King of Johore, with the
Shahbander (SHABUNDER) of SINGAPOERA, called Siri Raja
Nagara...."—_Valentijn_, v. 331.
1616.—"Found a Dutch man-of-war, one of a fleet appointed for the siege
of Malaca, with the aid of the King of Acheen, at the entrance of the
Straits of SINGAPORE."—_Sainsbury_, i. 458.
1727.—"In anno 1703 I called at _Johore_ on my Way to China, and he
treated me very kindly, and made me a Present of the Island of SINCAPURE,
but I told him it could be of no use to a private Person, tho' a proper
Place for a Company to settle a Colony in, lying in the Center of Trade,
and being accommodated with good Rivers and safe Harbours, so
conveniently situated that all Winds served Shipping, both to go out and
come in."—_A. Hamilton_, ii. 98; [ed. 1744, ii. 97].
1818.—"We are now on our way to the eastward, in the hope of doing
something, but I much fear the Dutch have hardly left us an inch of
ground.... My attention is principally turned to Johore, and you must not
be surprised if my next letter to you is dated from the site of the
ancient city of SINGAPURA."—_Raffles_, Letter to Marsden, dated
_Sandheads_, Dec. 12.
SINGARA, s. Hind. _singhārā_, Skt. _sriṇgāttaka_, _sriṇga_, 'a horn.' The
caltrop or water-chestnut; _Trapa bispinosa_, Roxb. (N.O. _Haloragaceae_).
[c. 1590.—The _Āīn_ (ed. _Jarrett_, ii. 65) mentions it as one of the
crops on which revenue was levied in cash.
[1798.—In Kashmīr "many of them ... were obliged to live on the Kernel of
the SINGERAH, or water-nut...."—_Forster, Travels_, ii. 29.
[1809.—Buchanan-Hamilton writes SINGGHARA.—_Eastern India_, i. 241.]
1835.—"Here, as in most other parts of India, the tank is spoiled by the
water-chestnut, SINGHARA (_Trapa bispinosa_), which is everywhere as
regularly planted and cultivated in fields under a large surface of
water, as wheat or barley is in the dry plains.... The nut grows under
the water after the flowers decay, and is of a triangular shape, and
covered with a tough brown integument adhering strongly to the kernel,
which is wholly esculent, and of a fine cartilaginous texture. The people
are very fond of these nuts, and they are carried often upon bullocks'
backs two or three hundred miles to market."—_Sleeman, Rambles_, &c.
(1844), i. 101; [ed. _Smith_, i. 94.]
1839.—"The nuts of the _Trapa bispinosa_, called SINGHARA, are sold in
all the Bazaars of India; and a species called by the same name, forms a
considerable portion of the food of the inhabitants of Cashmere, as we
learn from Mr. Forster [_loc. cit._] that it yields the Government
12,000_l._ of revenue; and Mr. Moorcroft mentions nearly the same sum as
Runjeet Sing's share, from 96,000 to 128,000 ass-loads of this nut,
yielded by the Lake of Oaller."—_Royle, Him. Plants_, i. 211.
SIPAHSELAR, s. A General-in-chief; Pers. _sipāh-sālār_, 'army-leader,' the
last word being the same as in the title of the late famous Minister-Regent
of Hyderabad, Sir Sālār Jang, _i.e._ 'the leader in war.'
c. 1000-1100.—"Voici quelle étoit alors la gloire et la puissance des
Orpélians dans le royaume. Ils possédoient la charge de SBASALAR, ou de
généralissime de toute la Georgie. Tous les officiers du palais étoient
de leur dependance."—_Hist. of the Orpélians_, in _St. Martin, Mem. sur
l'Arménie_, ii. 77.
c. 1358.—"At 16 my father took me by the hand, and brought me to his own
Monastery. He there addressed me: 'My boy, our ancestors from generation
to generation have been commanders of the armies of the Jagtay and the
Berlas family. The dignity of (SEPAH SALAR) Commander-in-Chief has now
descended to me, but as I am tired of this world ... I mean therefore to
resign my public office...."—_Autob. Mem. of Timour_, E.T. p. 22.
1712.—"Omnibus illis superior est ... SIPAH SALAAR, sive _Imperator
Generalis_ Regni, Praesidem dignitate excipiens...."—_Kaempfer, Amoen.
Exot._ 73.
1726.—A letter from the Heer Van Maatzuiker "to His Highness Chan
Chanaan, SAPPERSELAAR, Grand Duke, and General in Chief of the Great
Mogol in Assam, Bengal, &c."—_Valentijn_, v. 173.
1755.—"After the SIPAHSALAR Hydur, by his prudence and courage, had
defeated the Mahrattas, and recovered the country taken by them, he
placed the government of Seringaputtun on a sure and established
basis...."—_Meer Hussein Ali Khan, H. of Hydur Naik_, O. T. F. p. 61.
[c. 1803.—In a collection of native letters, the titles of Lord Lake are
given as follows: "_Ashja-ul-Mulk Khān Daurān_, General Gerard Lake
Bahādur, SIPAHSALAR-i-kishwar-i-Hind," "Valiant of the Kingdom, Lord of
the Cycle, Commander-in-chief of the Territories of Hindustan."—_North
Indian Notes and Queries_, iv. 17.]
SIRCAR, s. Hind. from Pers. _sar-kār_, 'head (of) affairs.' This word has
very divers applications; but its senses may fall under three heads.
A. The State, the Government, the Supreme authority; also 'the Master' or
head of the domestic government. Thus a servant, if asked 'Whose are those
horses?' in replying 'They are the _sarkār's_,' may mean according to
circumstances, that they are Government horses, or that they belong to his
own master.
B. In Bengal the word is applied to a domestic servant who is a kind of
house-steward, and keeps the accounts of household expenditure, and makes
miscellaneous purchases for the family; also, in merchants' offices, to any
native accountant or native employed in making purchases, &c.
C. Under the Mahommedan Governments, as in the time of the Mogul Empire,
and more recently in the Deccan, the word was applied to certain extensive
administrative divisions of territory. In its application in the Deccan it
has been in English generally spelt CIRCAR (q.v.).
A.—
[1759.—"... there is no separation between your Honour ... and this
SIRCAR...."—_Forrest, Bombay Letters_, ii. 129.]
1800.—"Would it not be possible and proper to make people pay the CIRCAR
according to the exchange fixed at Seringapatam?"—_Wellington_, i. 60.
[1866.—"... the SIRKAR Buhadoor gives me four rupees a
month...."—_Confessions of an Orderly_, 43.]
B.—
1777.—"There is not in any country in the world, of which I have any
knowledge, a more pernicious race of vermin in human shape than are the
numerous cast of people known in Bengal by the appellation of SIRCARS;
they are educated and trained to deceive."—_Price's Tracts_, i. 24.
1810.—"The SIRCAR is a genius whose whole study is to handle money,
whether receivable or payable, and who contrives either to confuse
accounts, when they are adverse to his view, or to render them most
expressively intelligible, when such should suit his
purpose."—_Williamson, V.M._ i. 200.
1822.—"One morning our SIRCAR, in answer to my having observed that the
articles purchased were highly priced, said, 'You are my father and my
mother, and I am your poor little child. I have only taken 2 annas in the
rupee dustoorie'" (DUSTOOR).—_Wanderings of a Pilgrim_, i. 21-22.
1834.—"'And how the deuce,' asked his companion, 'do you manage to pay
for them?' 'Nothing so easy,—I say to my SIRKAR: 'Baboo, go pay for that
horse 2000 rupees, and it is done, Sir, as quickly as you could dock
him.'"—_The Baboo and Other Tales_, i. 13.
C.—
c. 1590.—"In the fortieth year of his majesty's reign, his dominions
consisted of 105 SIRCARS, subdivided into 2737 kusbahs" (CUSBA), "the
revenue of which he settled for ten years at 3 ARRIBS, 62 CRORE, 97
LACKS, 55,246 DAMS" (q.v. 3,62,97,55,246 _dāms_ = about 9 millions
sterling).—_Ayeen_, E.T. by Gladwin, 1800, ii. 1; [ed. _Jarrett_, ii.
115.]
SIRDAR, s. Hind. from Pers. _sardār_, and less correctly _sirdār_, 'leader,
a commander, an officer'; a chief, or lord; the head of a set of
palankin-bearers, and hence the '_sirdār-bearer_,' or elliptically 'the
_Sirdār_,' is in Bengal the style of the valet or body-servant, even when
he may have no others under him (see BEARER). [SIRDĀR is now the official
title of the Commander-in-Chief of the Egyptian army; SIRDĀR _Bahādur_ is
an Indian military distinction.]
[c. 1610.—"... a captain of a company, or, as they call it, a
SARDARE."—_Pyrard de Laval_, Hak. Soc. i. 254.
[1675.—"SARDAR." See under SEPOY.]
1808.—"I, with great difficulty, knocked up some of the villagers, who
were nearly as much afraid as Christie's Will, at the visit of a SIRDĀR"
(here an _officer_).—_Life of Leyden._
[c. 1817.—"... the bearers, with their SIRDAUR, have a large room with a
verandah before it."—_Mrs. Sherwood, Last Days of Boosy_, 63.]
1826.—"Gopee's father had been a SIRDAR of some consequence."—_Pandurang
Hari_, 174; [ed. 1873, i. 252].
SIRDRÁRS, s. This is the name which native valets (BEARER) give to common
drawers (underclothing). A friend (Gen. R. Maclagan, R.E.) has suggested
the origin, which is doubtless "short drawers" in contradistinction to
LONG-DRAWERS, or PYJAMAS (qq.v.). A common bearer's pronunciation is
_sirdrāj_; as a chest of drawers is also called 'DRĀJ _kā almairā_' (see
ALMYRA).
SIRKY, s. Hind. _sirkī_. A kind of unplatted matting formed by laying the
fine cylindrical culms from the upper part of the _Saccharum sara_, Roxb.
(see SURKUNDA) side by side, and binding them in single or double layers.
This is used to lay under the thatch of a house, to cover carts and
palankins, to make CHICKS (q.v.) and table-mats, and for many other
purposes of rural and domestic economy.
1810.—"It is perhaps singular that I should have seen SEERKY in use among
a group of gypsies in Essex. In India these itinerants, whose habits and
characters correspond with this intolerable species of banditti,
invariably shelter themselves under SEERKY."—_Williamson, V.M._ ii. 490.
[1832.—"... neat little huts of SIRRAKEE, a reed or grass, resembling
bright straw."—_Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali, Observations_, i. 23.]
SIRRIS, s. Hind. _siris_, Skt. _shirisha_, _shri_, 'to break,' from the
brittleness of its branches; the tree _Acacia Lebbek_, Benth., indigenous
in S. India, the Sātpura range, Bengal, and the sub-Himālayan tract;
cultivated in Egypt and elsewhere. A closely kindred sp., _A. Julibrissin_,
Boivin, affords a specimen of scientific 'Hobson-Jobson'; the specific name
is a corruption of _Gulāb-reshm_, 'silk-flower.'
1808.—"Quelques anneés après le mort de Dariyaî, des charpentiers ayant
abattu un arbre de SERIS, qui croissoit auprès de son tombeau, le
coupèrent en plusieurs pièces pour l'employer à des constructions.
Tout-à-coup une voix terrible se fit entendre, la terre se mit à trembler
et le tronc de cet arbre se releva de lui-même. Les ouvriers épouvantés
s'enfuirent, et l'arbre ne tarda pas à reverdir."—_Afsōs,
Arāyish-i-Mahfil_, quoted by _Garcin de Tassy, Rel. Mus._ 88.
[c. 1890.—
"An' it fell when SIRRIS-shaws were sere,
And the nichts were long and mirk."
_R. Kipling, Departmental Ditties, The Fall of Jock Gillespie_.]
SISSOO, SHISHAM, s. Hind. _sīsū_, _sīsūn_, _shīsham_, Skt. _śinśapā_; Ar.
_sāsam_, _sāsim_; the tree _Dalbergia Sissoo_, Roxb. (N.O. _Leguminosae_)
and its wood. This is excellent, and valuable for construction, joinery,
boat- and carriage-building, and furniture. It was the favourite wood for
gun-carriages as long as the supply of large timber lasted. It is now much
cultivated in the Punjab plantations. The tree is indigenous in the
sub-Himālayan tracts; and believed to be so likewise in Beluchistan,
Guzerat, and Central India. Another sp. of _Dalbergia_ (_D. latifolia_)
affords the BLACK WOOD (q.v.) of S. and W. India. There can be little doubt
that one or more of these species of _Dalbergia_ afforded the _sesamine_
wood spoken of in the _Periplus_, and in some old Arabic writers. A
quotation under BLACK WOOD shows that this wood was exported from India to
Chaldaea in remote ages. Sissoo has continued in recent times to be
exported to Egypt, (see _Forskal_, quoted by _Royle, Hindu Medicine_, 128).
Royle notices the resemblance of the Biblical _shittim_ wood to _shīsham_.
c. A.D. 80.—"... Thither they are wont to despatch from Barygaza (BROACH)
to both these ports of Persia, great vessels with brass, and timbers, and
beams of teak (ξύλων σαγαλίνων καὶ δοκῶν) ... and logs of SHĪSHAM
(φαλάγγων σασαμίνων)...."—_Periplus, Maris Erythr._, cap. 36.
c. 545.—"These again are passed on from Sielediba to the marts on this
side, such as Malé, where the pepper is grown, and Kalliana, whence are
exported brass, and SHĪSHAM logs (σησαμίνα ξύλα), and other
wares."—_Cosmas_, lib. xi.
? before 1200.—
"There are the wolf and the parrot, and the peacock, and the dove,
And the plant of Zinj, and al-SĀSIM, and pepper...."
Verses on India by _Abu'l-ḍhal'i, the Sindi_,
quoted by _Kazvīnī_, in _Gildemeister_, p. 218.
1810.—"SISSOO grows in most of the great forests, intermixed with
SAUL.... This wood is extraordinarily hard and heavy, of a dark brown,
inclining to a purple tint when polished."—_Williamson, V.M._ ii. 71.
1839.—"As I rode through the city one day I saw a considerable quantity
of timber lying in an obscure street. On examining it I found it was
SHĪSHAM, a wood of the most valuable kind, being not liable to the
attacks of white ants."—_Dry Leaves from Young Egypt_, ed. 1851, p. 102.
SITTING-UP. A curious custom, in vogue at the Presidency towns more than a
century ago, and the nature of which is indicated by the quotations. Was it
of Dutch origin?
1777.—"Lady Impey SITS UP with Mrs. Hastings; _vulgo_ toad-eating."—_Ph.
Francis's Diary_, quoted in _Busteed, Echoes of Old Calcutta_, 124; [3rd
ed. 125].
1780.—"When a young lady arrives at Madras, she must, in a few days
afterwards SIT UP to receive company, attended by some beau or master of
the ceremonies, which perhaps continues for a week, or until she has seen
all the fair sex, and gentlemen of the settlement."—_Munro's Narr._, 56.
1795.—"You see how many good reasons there are against your scheme of my
taking horse instantly, and hastening to throw myself at the lady's feet;
as to the other, of proxy, I can only agree to it under certain
conditions.... I am not to be forced to SIT UP, and receive male or
female visitors.... I am not to be obliged to deliver my opinion on
patterns for caps or petticoats for any lady...."—_T. Munro to his
Sister_, in _Life_, i. 169.
1810.—"Among the several justly exploded ceremonies we may reckon that
... of 'SITTING UP.'... This 'SITTING UP,' as it was termed, generally
took place at the house of some lady of rank or fortune, who, for three
successive nights, threw open her mansion for the purpose of receiving
all ... who chose to pay their respects to such ladies as might have
recently arrived in the country."—_Williamson, V.M._ i. 113.
SITTRINGY, s. Hind. from Ar. _shiṭranjī_, _shaṭranjī_, and that from Pers.
_shaṭrang_, 'chess,' which is again of Skt. origin, _chaturanga_,
'quadripartite' (see SADRAS). A carpet of coloured cotton, now usually made
in stripes, but no doubt originally, as the name implies, in chequers.
1648.—"... Een andere soorte van slechte Tapijten die mẽ noemt
CHITRENGA."—_Van Twist_, 63.
1673.—"They pull off their Slippers, and after the usual SALAMS, seat
themselves in CHOULTRIES, open to some TANK of purling Water; commonly
spread with Carpets or SITURNGEES."—_Fryer_, 93.
[1688.—"2 CITTERENGEES."—In _Yule, Hedges' Diary_, Hak. Soc. ii. cclxv.]
1785.—"To be sold by public auction ... the valuable effects of Warren
Hastings, Esquire ... carpets and SITTRINGEES."—In _Seton-Karr_, i. 111.
SIWALIK, n.p. This is the name now applied distinctively to that outer
range of tertiary hills which in various parts of the Himālaya runs
parallel to the foot of the mountain region, separated from it by valleys
known in Upper India as _dūns_ (see DHOON). But this special and convenient
sense (D) has been attributed to the term by modern Anglo-Indian
geographers only. Among the older Mahommedan historians the term _Siwālikh_
is applied to a territory to the west of and perhaps embracing the Aravalli
Hills, but certainly including specifically Nagore (_Nāgaur_) and Mandāwar
the predecessor of modern Jodhpūr, and in the vicinity of that city. This
application is denoted by (A).
In one or two passages we find the application of the name (Siwālikh)
extending a good deal further south, as if reaching to the vicinity of
Mālwā. Such instances we have grouped under (B). But it is possible that
the early application (A) habitually extended thus far.
At a later date the name is applied to the Himālaya; either to the range in
its whole extent, as in the passages from _Chereffedin_ (Sharīffuddīn 'Ali
of Yezd) and from Baber; sometimes with a possible limitation to that part
of the mountains which overlooks the Punjab; or, as the quotation from
Rennell indicates, with a distinction between the less lofty region nearest
the plains, and the Alpine summits beyond, Siwālik applying to the former
only.
The true Indian form of the name is, we doubt not, to be gathered from the
occurrence, in a list of Indian national names, in the _Vishnu Purāna_, of
the SAIVĀLAS. But of the position of these we can only say that the
nations, with whom the context immediately associates them, seem to lie
towards the western part of Upper India. (See _Wilson's Works, Vishnu
Purāna_, ii. 175.) The popular derivation of Siwālik as given in several of
the quotations below, is from _sawalākh_, 'One lākh and a quarter'; but
this is of no more value than most popular etymologies.
We give numerous quotations to establish the old application of the term,
because this has been somewhat confused in Elliot's extracts by the
interpolated phrase 'SIWÁLIK _Hills_,' where it is evident from Raverty's
version of the _Ṭabaḳāt-i-Nāṣirī_ that there is no such word as _Hills_ in
the original.
We have said that the special application of the term to the detached
sub-Himālayan range is quite modern. It seems in fact due to that very
eminent investigator in many branches of natural science, Dr. Hugh
Falconer; at least we can find no trace of it before the use of the term by
him in papers presented to the Asiatic Society of Bengal. It is not
previously used, so far as we can discover, even by Royle; nor is it known
to Jacquemont, who was intimately associated with Royle and Cautley, at
Sahāranpūr, very shortly before Falconer's arrival there. Jacquemont
(_Journal_, ii. 11) calls the range: "la première chaine de montagnes que
j'appellerai _les montagnes de Dehra_." The first occurrence that we can
find is in a paper by Falconer on the 'Aptitude of the Himālayan Range for
the Culture of the Tea Plant,' in vol. iii. of the _J. As. Soc. Bengal_,
which we quote below. A year later, in the account of the _Sivatherium_
fossil, by Falconer and Cautley, in the _As. Researches_, we have a fuller
explanation of the use of the term _Siwālik_, and its alleged etymology.
It is probable that there may have been some real legendary connection of
the hills in the vicinity with the name of _Śiva_. For in some of the old
maps, such as that in Bernier's _Travels_, we find _Siba_ given as the name
of a province about Hurdwār; and the same name occurs in the same
connection in the Mem. of the Emperor Jahāngīr (_Elliot_, vi. 382). [On the
connection of Siva worship with the lower Himālaya, see _Atkinson,
Himalayan Gazetteer_, ii. 743.]
A.—
1118.—"Again he rebelled, and founded the fortress of Nāghawr, in the
territory of SIWĀLIKH, in the neighbourhood of
Bīrah(?)."—_Ṭabaḳāt-i-Nāṣirī_, E.T. by _Raverty_, 110.
1192.—"The seat of government, Ajmīr, with the whole of the SIWĀLIKH
[territory], such as (?) Hānsi, Sursutī, and other tracts, were
subjugated."—_Ibid._ 468-469.
1227.—"A year subsequent to this, in 624 H., he (Sultan Iyaltimish)
marched against the fort of Manḍawar within the limits of the SIWĀLIKH
[territory], and its capture, likewise the Almighty God facilitated for
him."—_Ibid._ 611.
c. 1247.—"... When the Sultan of Islam, Nāṣir-ud Dunyā-wa-ud-Dīn,
ascended the throne of sovereignty ... after Malik Balban had come [to
Court?] he, on several occasions made a request for Uchchah together with
Multan. This was acquiesced in, under the understanding that the SIWĀLIKH
[territory] and Nāg-awr should be relinquished by him to other
Maliks...."—_Ibid._ 781.
1253.—"When the new year came round, on Tuesday, the 1st of the month of
Muḥarram, 651 H., command was given to Ulugh Khān-i-A'z̤am ... to proceed
to his fiefs, the territory of SIWĀLIKH and Hānsī."—_Ibid._ 693.
1257.—"Malik Balban ... withdrew (from Dehli), and by way of the SIWĀLIKH
[country], and with a slight retinue, less than 200 or 300 in number,
returned to Uchchah again."—_Ibid._ 786.
1255.—"When the royal tent was pitched at Talh-pat, the [contingent]
forces of the SIWĀLIKH [districts], which were the fiefs of Ulugh
Khān-i-A'z̤am, had been delayed ... (he) set out for Hānsī ... (and
there) issued his mandate, so that, in the space of 14 days, the troops
of the SIWĀLIKH, Hānsī, Sursutī, Jīnd [Jhīnd], and Barwālah ...
assembled...."—_Ibid._ 837.
1260.—"Ulugh Khān-i-A'z̤am resolved upon making a raid upon the Koh-pāyah
[hill tracts of Mewāt] round about the capital, because in this ... there
was a community of obdurate rebels, who, unceasingly, committed highway
robbery, and plundered the property of Musalmāns ... and destruction of
the villages in the districts of Harīānah, the SIWĀLIKH, and Bhīānah,
necessarily followed their outbreaks."—_Ibid._ 850.
1300-10.—"The Mughals having wasted the SIWÁLIK, had moved some distance
off. When they and their horses returned weary and thirsty to the river,
the army of Islám, which had been waiting for them some days, caught them
as they expected...."—_Ziā-uddīn Barnī_, in _Elliot_, iii. 199.
B.—