Chapter XI: Preface: TO SECOND EDITION xi (8)

1578.—"Some of these (canes), especially in Malabar, are found so large
that the people make use of them as boats (_embarcaciones_) not opening
them out, but cutting one of the canes right across and using the natural
knots to stop the ends, and so a couple of naked blacks go upon it ...
each of them at his own end of the MAMBU [in orig. _mãbu_] (so they call
it), being provided with two paddles, one in each hand ... and so upon a
cane of this kind the folk pass across, and sitting with their legs
clinging naked."—_C. Acosta, Tractado_, 296.

Again:

"... and many people on that river (of Cranganor) make use of these canes
in place of boats, to be safe from the numerous Crocodiles or _Caymoins_
(as they call them) which are in the river (which are in fact great and
ferocious lizards)" [_lagartos_].—_Ibid._ 297.

These passages are curious as explaining, if they hardly justify,
Ctesias, in what we have regarded as one of his greatest bounces, viz.
his story of Indian canes big enough to be used as boats.

1586.—"All the houses are made of canes, which they call BAMBOS, and bee
covered with Strawe."—_Fitch_, in _Hakl._ ii. 391.

1598.—"... a thicke reede as big as a man's legge, which is called
BAMBUS."—_Linschoten_, 56; [Hak. Soc. i. 195].

1608.—"Iava multas producit arundines grossas, quas MANBU vocant."—_Prima
Pars Desc. Itin. Navalis in Indiam_ (Houtman's _Voyage_), p. 36.

c. 1610.—"Les Portugais et les Indiens ne se seruent point d'autres
bastons pour porter leurs palanquins ou litieres. Ils l'appellent partout
BAMBOU."—_Pyrard_, i. 237; [Hak. Soc. i. 329].

1615.—"These two kings (of Camboja and Siam) have neyther Horses, nor any
fiery Instruments: but make use only of bowes, and a certaine kind of
pike, made of a knottie wood like Canes, called BAMBUC, which is
exceeding strong, though pliant and supple for vse."—_De Monfart_, 33.

1621.—"These Forts will better appeare by the Draught thereof, herewith
sent to your Worships, inclosed in a BAMBOO."—Letter in _Purchas_, i.
699.

1623.—"Among the other trees there was an immense quantity of BAMBÙ, or
very large Indian canes, and all clothed and covered with pretty green
foliage that went creeping up them."—_P. della Valle_, ii. 640; [Hak.
Soc. ii. 220].

c. 1666.—"Cette machine est suspendue à une longue barre que l'on appelle
PAMBOU."—_Thevenot_, v. 162. (This spelling recurs throughout a chapter
describing palankins, though elsewhere the traveller writes _bambou_.)

1673.—"A BAMBO, which is a long hollow cane."—_Fryer_, 34.

1727.—"The City (Ava) tho' great and populous, is only built of BAMBOU
canes."—_A. Hamilton_, ii. 47.

1855.—"When I speak of bamboo huts, I mean to say that post and walls,
wall-plates and rafters, floor and thatch and the withes that bind them,
are all of bamboo. In fact it might almost be said that among the
Indo-Chinese nations the staff of life is _a_ BAMBOO. Scaffolding and
ladders, landing-jetties, fishing apparatus, irrigation-wheels and
scoops, oars, masts and yards, spears and arrows, hats and helmets, bow,
bow-string and quiver, oil-cans, water-stoups and cooking-pots,
pipe-sticks, conduits, clothes-boxes, pan-boxes, dinner-trays, pickles,
preserves, and melodious musical instruments, torches, footballs,
cordage, bellows, mats, paper, these are but a few of the articles that
are made from the bamboo."—_Yule, Mission to Ava_, p. 153. To these may
be added, from a cursory inspection of a collection in one of the museums
at Kew, combs, mugs, sun-blinds, cages, grotesque carvings, brushes,
fans, shirts, sails, teapots, pipes and harps.

Bamboos are sometimes popularly distinguished (after a native idiom) as male and female; the latter embracing all the common species with hollow stems, the former title being applied to a certain kind (in fact, a sp. of a distinct genus, _Dendrocalamus strictus_), which has a solid or nearly solid core, and is much used for bludgeons (see LATTEE) and spear-shafts. It is remarkable that this popular distinction by sex was known to Ctesias (c. B.C. 400) who says that the Indian reeds were divided into male and female, the male having no ἐντερώνην.

One of the present writers has seen (and partaken of) rice cooked in a joint of bamboo, among the Khyens, a hill-people of Arakan. And Mr Markham mentions the same practice as prevalent among the Chunchos and savage aborigines on the eastern slopes of the Andes (_J. R. Geog. Soc._ xxv. 155). An endeavour was made in Pegu in 1855 to procure the largest obtainable bamboo. It was a little over 10 inches in diameter. But Clusius states that he had seen two great specimens in the University at Leyden, 30 feet long and from 14 to 16 inches in diameter. And E. Haeckel, in his _Visit to Ceylon_ (1882), speaks of bamboo-stems at Peridenia, "each from a foot to two feet thick." We can obtain no corroboration of anything approaching 2 feet.—[See Gray's note on _Pyrard_, Hak. Soc. i. 330.]

BAMÓ, n.p. Burm. _Bha-maw_, Shan _Manmaw_; in Chinese _Sin-Kai_, 'New-market.' A town on the upper Irawadi, where one of the chief routes from China abuts on that river; regarded as the early home of the Karens. [(_McMahon, Karens of the Golden Cher._, 103.)] The old Shan town of Bamó was on the Tapeng R., about 20 m. east of the Irawadi, and it is supposed that the English factory alluded to in the quotations was there.

[1684.—"A Settlement at _Bammoo_ upon the confines of China."—_Pringle,
Madras Cons._, iii. 102.]

1759.—"This branch seems formerly to have been driven from the
Establishment at _Prammoo_."—_Dalrymple, Or. Rep._, i. 111.

BANANA, s. The fruit of _Musa paradisaica_, and _M. sapientum_ of Linnaeus, but now reduced to one species under the latter name by R. Brown. This word is not used in India, though one hears it in the Straits Settlements. The word itself is said by De Orta to have come from Guinea; so also Pigafetta (see below). The matter will be more conveniently treated under PLANTAIN. Prof. Robertson Smith points out that the coincidence of this name with the Ar. _banān_, 'fingers or toes,' and _banāna_, 'a single finger or toe,' can hardly be accidental. The fruit, as we learn from Muḳaddasī, grew in Palestine before the Crusades; and that it is known in literature only as _mauz_ would not prove that the fruit was not somewhere popularly known as 'fingers.' It is possible that the Arabs, through whom probably the fruit found its way to W. Africa, may have transmitted with it a name like this; though historical evidence is still to seek. [Mr. Skeat writes: "It is curious that in Norwegian and Danish (and I believe in Swedish), the exact Malay word _pisang_, which is unknown in England, is used. Prof. Skeat thinks this may be because we had adopted the word _banana_ before the word _pisang_ was brought to Europe at all."]

1563.—"The Arab calls these _musa_ or _amusa_; there are chapters on the
subject in Avicenna and Serapion, and they call them by this name, as
does Rasis also. Moreover, in Guinea they have these figs, and call them
BANANAS."—_Garcia_, 93_v_.

1598.—"Other fruits there are termed BANANA, which we think to be the
_Muses_ of Egypt and Soria ... but here they cut them yearly, to the end
they may bear the better."—Tr. of _Pigafetta's Congo_, in Harleian Coll.
ii. 553 (also in _Purchas_, ii. 1008.)

c. 1610.—"Des _bannes_ (marginal rubric BANNANES) que les Portugais
appellent figues d'Inde, et aux Maldives _Quella_."—_Pyrard de Laval_, i.
85; [Hak. Soc. i. 113]. The Maldive word is here the same as H. _kelā_
(Skt. _kadala_).

1673.—"BONANOES, which are a sort of _Plantain_, though less, yet much
more grateful."—_Fryer_, 40.

1686.—"The BONANO tree is exactly like the Plantain for shape and
bigness, not easily distinguishable from it but by the Fruit, which is a
great deal smaller."—_Dampier_, i. 316.

BANCHOOT, BETEECHOOT, ss. Terms of abuse, which we should hesitate to print if their odious meaning were not obscure "to the general." If it were known to the Englishmen who sometimes use the words, we believe there are few who would not shrink from such brutality. Somewhat similar in character seem the words which Saul in his rage flings at his noble son (1 Sam. xx. 30).

1638.—"L'on nous monstra à vne demy lieue de la ville vn sepulchre,
qu'ils appellent BETY-CHUIT, c'est à dire la vergogne de la fille
decouverte."—_Mandelslo_, Paris, 1659, 142. See also _Valentijn_, iv.
157.

There is a handsome tomb and mosque to the N. of Ahmedabad, erected by Hajji Malik Bahā-ud-dīn, a wazīr of Sultan Mohammed Bigara, in memory of his wife _Bībī Achut_ or _Achhūt_; and probably the vile story to which the 17th-century travellers refer is founded only on a vulgar misrepresentation of this name.

1648.—"BETY-CHUIT; dat is (onder eerbredinge gesproocken) in onse tale te
seggen, u Dochters Schaemelheyt."—_Van Twist_, 16.

1792.—"The officer (of Tippoo's troops) who led, on being challenged in
Moors answered (_Agari que logue_), 'We belong to the advance'—the title
of Lally's brigade, supposing the people he saw to be their own
Europeans, whose uniform also is red; but soon discovering his mistake
the commandant called out (_Feringhy_ BANCHOOT!—_chelow_) 'they are the
rascally English! Make off'; in which he set the corps a ready
example."—_Dirom's Narrative_, 147.

BANCOCK, n.p. The modern capital of Siam, properly _Bang-kok_; see explanation by Bp. Pallegoix in quotation. It had been the site of forts erected on the ascent of the Menam to the old capital Ayuthia, by Constantine Phaulcon in 1675; here the modern city was established as the seat of government in 1767, after the capture of Ayuthia (see JUDEA) by the Burmese in that year. It is uncertain if the first quotation refer to BANCOCK.

1552.—"... and BAMPLACOT, which stands at the mouth of the
Menam."—_Barros_, I. ix. 1.

1611.—"They had arrived in the Road of _Syam_ the fifteenth of August,
and cast Anchor at three fathome high water.... The Towne lyeth some
thirtie leagues vp along the Riuer, whither they sent newes of their
arrivall. The Sabander (see SHAHBUNDER) and the Governor of MANCOCK (a
place scituated by the Riuer), came backe with the Messengers to receiue
his Majesties Letters, but chiefly for the presents expected."—_P.
Williamson Floris_, in _Purchas_, i. 321.

1727.—The Ship arrived at BENCOCK, a Castle about half-way up, where it
is customary for all Ships to put their Guns ashore."—_A. Hamilton_, i.
363.

1850.—"Civitas regia tria habet nomina: ... _ban măkōk_, per
contractionem BANGKŌK, pagus oleastrorum, est nomen primitivum quod hodie
etiam vulgo usurpatur."—_Pallegoix, Gram. Linguae Thai._, Bangkok, 1850,
p. 167.

BANDANNA, s. This term is properly applied to the rich yellow or red silk handkerchief, with diamond spots left white by pressure applied to prevent their receiving the dye. The etymology may be gathered from Shakespear's Dict., which gives "_Bāndhnū_: 1. A mode of dyeing in which the cloth is tied in different places, to prevent the parts tied from receiving the dye;... 3. A kind of silk cloth." A class or caste in Guzerat who do this kind of preparation for dyeing are called _Bandhārā_ (_Drummond_). [Such handkerchiefs are known in S. India as PULICAT handkerchiefs. Cloth dyed in this way is in Upper India known as _Chūnrī_. A full account of the process will be found in _Journ. Ind. Art_, ii. 63, and _S. M. Hadi's Mon. on Dyes and Dyeing_, p. 35.]

c. 1590.—"His Majesty improved this department in four ways....
_Thirdly_, in stuffs as ... BÁNDHNÚN, _Chhínt_, _Alchah_."—_Āīn_, i. 91.

1752.—"The Cossembazar merchants having fallen short in gurrahs, plain
taffaties, ordinary BANDANNOES, and chappas."—In _Long_, 31.

1813.—"BANDANNOES ... 800."—_Milburn_ (List of Bengal Piece-goods, and
no. to the ton), ii. 221.

1848.—"Mr Scape, lately admitted partner into the great Calcutta House of
Fogle, Fake, and Cracksman ... taking Fake's place, who retired to a
princely Park in Sussex (the Fogles have long been out of the firm, and
Sir Horace Fogle is about to be raised to the peerage as Baron BANDANNA),
... two years before it failed for a million, and plunged half the Indian
public into misery and ruin."—_Vanity Fair_, ii. ch. 25.

1866.—"'Of course,' said Toogood, wiping his eyes with a large red
BANDANA handkerchief. 'By all means, come along, Major.' The major had
turned his face away, and he also was weeping."—_Last Chronicle of
Barset_, ii. 362.

1875.—"In Calcutta Tariff Valuations: 'Piece goods silk: BANDANAH
Choppahs, per piece of 7 handkerchiefs ... score ... 115 _Rs._"

BANDAREE, s. Mahr. _Bhanḍārī_, the name of the caste or occupation. It is applied at Bombay to the class of people (of a low caste) who tend the coco-palm gardens in the island, and draw toddy, and who at one time formed a local militia. [It has no connection with the more common _Bhândârî_, 'a treasurer or storekeeper.']

1548.—"... certain duties collected from the BANDARYS who draw the toddy
(_sura_) from the aldeas...."—_S. Botelho, Tombo_, 203.

1644.—"The people ... are all Christians, or at least the greater part of
them consisting of artizans, carpenters, _chaudaris_ (this word is
manifestly a mistranscription of BANDARIS), whose business is to gather
nuts from the coco-palms, and _corumbis_ (see KOONBEE) who till the
ground...."—_Bocarro, MS._

1673.—"The President ... if he go abroad, the BANDARINES and Moors under
two Standards march before him."—_Fryer_, 68.

" "... besides 60 Field-pieces ready in their Carriages upon
occasion to attend the Militia and BANDARINES."—_Ibid._ 66.

c. 1760.—"There is also on the island kept up a sort of militia, composed
of the land-tillers, and BANDAREES, whose living depends chiefly on the
cultivation of the coco-nut trees."—_Grose_, i. 46.

1808.—"... whilst on the BRAB trees the cast of BHUNDAREES paid a due for
extracting the liquor."—_Bombay Regulation_, i. of 1808, sect. vi. para.
2.

1810.—"Her husband came home, laden with toddy for distilling. He is a
BANDARI or toddy-gatherer."—_Maria Graham_, 26.

c. 1836.—"Of the BHUNDAREES the most remarkable usage is their fondness
for a peculiar species of long trumpet, called _Bhongalee_, which, ever
since the dominion of the Portuguese, they have had the privilege of
carrying and blowing on certain State occasions."—_R. Murphy_, in _Tr.
Bo. Geog. Soc._ i. 131.

1883.—"We have received a letter from one of the large BHUNDARRIES in the
city, pointing out that the tax on toddy trees is now Rs. 18 (? _Rs._ 1,
8 _as._) per tapped toddy tree per annum, whereas in 1872 it was only Re.
1 per tree; ... he urges that the Bombay toddy-drawers are entitled to
the privilege of practising their trade free of license, in consideration
of the military services rendered by their ancestors in garrisoning
Bombay town and island, when the Dutch fleet advanced towards it in
1670."—_Times of India_ (_Mail_), July 17th.

BANDEJAH, s. Port. _bandeja_, 'a salver,' 'a tray to put presents on.' We have seen the word used only in the following passages:—

1621.—"We and the Hollanders went to vizet Semi Dono, and we carid hym a
bottell of strong water, and an other of Spanish wine, with a great box
(or BANDEJA) of sweet bread."—_Cocks's Diary_, ii. 143.

[1717.—"Received the _Phirmaund_ (see FIRMAUN) from Captain Boddam in a
BANDAYE couered with a rich piece of Atlass (see ATLAS)."—_Hedges,
Diary_, Hak. Soc. ii. ccclx.]

1747.—"Making a small Cott (see COT) and a rattan BANDIJAS for the
Nabob.... (Pagodas) 4: 32: 21."—_Acct. Expenses at Fort St. David_,
Jany., _MS. Records in India Office_.

c. 1760.—"(_Betel_) in large companies is brought in ready made up on
Japan chargers, which they call from the Portuguese name, BANDEJAHS,
something like our tea-boards."—_Grose_, i. 237.

1766.—"To Monurbad Dowla Nabob—

R. A. P.
1 Pair Pistols 216 0 0
2 China BANDAZES 172 12 9"

—_Lord Clive's Durbar Charges_, in _Long_, 433.

BANDEJA appears in the _Manilla Vocabular_ of Blumentritt as used there
for the present of cakes and sweetmeats, tastefully packed in an elegant
basket, and sent to the priest, from the wedding feast. It corresponds
therefore to the Indian _ḍāli_ (see DOLLY).

BANDEL, n.p. The name of the old Portuguese settlement in Bengal about a mile above Hoogly, where there still exists a monastery, said to be the oldest church in Bengal (see _Imp. Gazeteer_). The name is a Port. corruption of _bandar_, 'the wharf'; and in this shape the word was applied among the Portuguese to a variety of places. Thus in Correa, under 1541-42, we find mention of a port in the Red Sea, near the mouth, called _Bandel dos Malemos_ ('of the Pilots'). Chittagong is called _Bandel de Chatigão_ (_e.g._ in _Bocarro_, p. 444), corresponding to _Bandar Chātgām_ in the Autobiog. of Jahāngīr (_Elliot_, vi. 326). [In the Diary of Sir T. Roe (see below) it is applied to GOMBROON], and in the following passage the original no doubt runs _Bandar-i-Hūghlī_ or _Hūglī-Bandar_.

[1616.—"To this Purpose took BANDELL theyr foort on the Mayne."—_Sir T.
Roe_, Hak. Soc. i. 129.]

1631.—"... these Europeans increased in number, and erected large
substantial buildings, which they fortified with cannons, muskets, and
other implements of war. In due course a considerable place grew up,
which was known by the name of PORT OF HŪGLĪ."—_'Abdul Hamīd_, in
_Elliot_, vii. 32.

1753.—"... les établissements formés pour assurer leur commerce sont
situés sur les bords de cette rivière. Celui des Portugais, qu'ils ont
appelé BANDEL, en adoptant le terme Persan de _Bender_, qui signifie
port, est aujourd'hui reduit à peu de chose ... et il est presque contigu
à Ugli en remontant."—_D'Anville, Éclaircissemens_, p. 64.

1782.—"There are five European factories within the space of 20 miles, on
the opposite banks of the river Ganges in Bengal; Houghly, or BANDELL,
the Portuguese Presidency; Chinsura, the Dutch; Chandernagore, the
French; Sirampore, the Danish; and Calcutta, the English."—_Price's
Observations_, &c., p. 51. In _Price's Tracts_, i.

BANDICOOT, s. Corr. from the Telegu _pandi-kokku_, lit. 'pig-rat.' The name has spread all over India, as applied to the great rat called by naturalists _Mus malabaricus_ (Shaw), _Mus giganteus_ (Hardwicke), _Mus bandicota_ (Bechstein), [_Nesocia bandicota_ (Blanford, p. 425)]. The word is now used also in Queensland, [and is the origin of the name of the famous _Bendigo_ gold-field (3 ser. _N. & Q._ ix. 97)].

c. 1330.—"In Lesser India there be some rats as big as foxes, and
venomous exceedingly."—_Friar Jordanus_, Hak. Soc. 29.

c. 1343.—"They imprison in the dungeons (of Dwaigīr, _i.e._ Daulatābād)
those who have been guilty of great crimes. There are in those dungeons
enormous rats, bigger than cats. In fact, these latter animals run away
from them, and can't stand against them, for they would get the worst of
it. So they are only caught by stratagem. I have seen these rats at
Dwaigīr, and much amazed I was!"—_Ibn Batuta_, iv. 47.

Fryer seems to exaggerate worse than the Moor:

1673.—"For Vermin, the strongest huge Rats as big as our Pigs, which
burrow under the Houses, and are bold enough to venture on
Poultry."—_Fryer_, 116.

The following surprisingly confounds two entirely different animals:

1789.—"The BANDICOOT, or musk rat, is another troublesome animal, more
indeed from its offensive smell than anything else."—_Munro, Narrative_,
32. See MUSK-RAT.

[1828.—"They be called BRANDY-CUTES."—_Or. Sporting Mag._ i. 128.]

1879.—"I shall never forget my first night here (on the Cocos Islands).
As soon as the Sun had gone down, and the moon risen, thousands upon
thousands of rats, in size equal to a BANDICOOT, appeared."—_Pollok,
Sport in B. Burmah_, &c., ii. 14.

1880.—"They (wild dogs in Queensland) hunted Kangaroo when in numbers ...
but usually preferred smaller and more easily obtained prey, as rats,
BANDICOOTS, and 'possums.'"—_Blackwood's Mag._, Jan., p. 65.

[1880.—"In England the Collector is to be found riding at anchor in the
BANDICOOT Club."—_Aberigh-Mackay, Twenty-one Days_, 87.]

BANDICOY, s. The colloquial name in S. India of the fruit of _Hibiscus esculentus_; Tamil _veṇḍai-khāi_, _i.e._ unripe fruit of the _veṇḍai_, called in H. _bhenḍi_. See BENDY.

BANDO! H. imperative _bāndho_, 'tie or make fast.' "This and probably other Indian words have been naturalised in the docks on the Thames frequented by Lascar crews. I have heard a London lighter-man, in the Victoria Docks, throw a rope ashore to another Londoner, calling out, BANDO!"—(_M.-Gen. Keatinge._)

BANDY, s. A carriage, bullock-carriage, buggy, or cart. This word is usual in both the S. and W. Presidencies, but is unknown in Bengal, and in the N.W.P. It is the Tamil _vaṇḍi_, Telug. _baṇḍi_, 'a cart or vehicle.' The word, as _bendi_, is also used in Java. [Mr Skeat writes—"Klinkert has Mal. _bendi_, 'a chaise or caleche,' but I have not heard the word in standard Malay, though Clifford and Swett. have _bendu_, 'a kind of sedan-chair carried by men,' and the commoner word _tandu_ 'a sedan-chair or litter,' which I have heard in Selangor. Wilkinson says that _kereta_ (_i.e. kreta bendi_) is used to signify any two-wheeled vehicle in Johor."]

1791.—"To be sold, an elegant new and fashionable BANDY, with copper
panels, lined with Morocco leather."—_Madras Courier_, 29th Sept.

1800.—"No wheel-carriages can be used in Canara, not even a
buffalo-BANDY."—Letter of _Sir T. Munro_, in _Life_, i. 243.

1810.—"None but open carriages are used in Ceylon; we therefore went in
BANDIES, or, in plain English, _gigs_."—_Maria Graham_, 88.

1826.—"Those persons who have not European coachmen have the horses of
their ... 'BANDIES' or gigs, led by these men.... Gigs and hackeries all
go here (in Ceylon) by the name of _bandy_."—_Heber_ (ed. 1844), ii. 152.

1829.—"A mighty solemn old man, seated in an open BUNDY (read _bandy_)
(as a gig with a head that has an opening behind is called) at
Madras."—_Mem. of Col. Mountain_, 2nd ed. 84.

1860.—"Bullock BANDIES, covered with cajans met us."—_Tennent's Ceylon_,
ii. 146.

1862.—"At Coimbatore I bought a BANDY or country cart of the simplest
construction."—_Markham's Peru and India_, 393.

BANG, BHANG, s. H. _bhāng_, the dried leaves and small stalks of hemp (_i.e._ _Cannabis indica_), used to cause intoxication, either by smoking, or when eaten mixed up into a sweetmeat (see MAJOON). _Ḥashīsh_ of the Arabs is substantially the same; Birdwood says it "consists of the tender tops of the plants after flowering." [_Bhang_ is usually derived from Skt. _bhaṇga_, 'breaking,' but Burton derives both it and the Ar. _banj_ from the old Coptic _Nibanj_, "meaning a preparation of hemp; and here it is easy to recognise the Homeric _Nepenthe_."

"On the other hand, not a few apply the word to the henbane (_hyoscyamus
niger_) so much used in mediæval Europe. The Kámús evidently means
henbane, distinguishing it from Hashísh _al haráfísh_, 'rascal's grass,'
_i.e._ the herb Pantagruelion.... The use of Bhang doubtless dates from
the dawn of civilisation, whose earliest social pleasures would be
inebriants. Herodotus (iv. c. 75) shows the Scythians burning the seeds
(leaves and capsules) in worship and becoming drunk upon the fumes, as do
the S. African Bushmen of the present day."—(_Arab. Nights_, i. 65.)]

1563.—"The great Sultan Badur told Martim Affonzo de Souza, for whom he
had a great liking, and to whom he told all his secrets, that when in the
night he had a desire to visit Portugal, and the Brazil, and Turkey, and
Arabia, and Persia, all he had to do was to eat a little
BANGUE...."—_Garcia_, f. 26.

1578.—"BANGUE is a plant resembling hemp, or the Cannabis of the Latins
... the Arabs call this BANGUE '_Axis_'" (_i.e._ Ḥashīsh).—_C. Acosta_,
360-61.

1598.—"They have ... also many kinds of Drogues, as Amfion, or Opium,
Camfora, BANGUE and Sandall Wood."—_Linschoten_, 19; [Hak. Soc. i. 61;
also see ii. 115].

1606.—"O mais de tẽpo estava cheo de BANGUE."—_Gouvea_, 93.

1638.—"Il se fit apporter vn petit cabinet d'or ... dont il tira deux
layettes, et prit dans l'vne de l'_offion_, ou opium, et dans l'autre du
BENGI, qui est vne certaine drogue ou poudre, dont ils se seruent pour
s'exciter à la luxure."—_Mandelslo_, Paris, 1659, 150.

1685.—"I have two sorts of the BANGUE, which were sent from two several
places of the East Indies; they both differ much from our Hemp, although
they seem to differ most as to their magnitude."—_Dr. Hans Sloane to Mr.
Ray_, in _Ray's Correspondence_, 1848, p. 160.

1673.—"BANG (a pleasant intoxicating Seed mixed with Milk)...."—_Fryer_,
91.

1711.—"BANG has likewise its Vertues attributed to it; for being used as
Tea, it inebriates, or exhilarates them according to the Quantity they
take."—_Lockyer_, 61.

1727.—"Before they engage in a Fight, they drink BANG, which is made of a
Seed like Hemp-seed, that has an intoxicating Quality."—_A. Hamilton_, i.
131.

1763.—"Most of the troops, as is customary during the agitations of this
festival, had eaten plentifully of BANG...."—_Orme_, i. 194.

1784.—"... it does not appear that the use of BANK, an intoxicating weed
which resembles the hemp of Europe, ... is considered even by the most
rigid (Hindoo) a breach of the law."—_G. Forster, Journey_, ed. 1808, ii.
291.

1789.—"A shop of BANG may be kept with a capital of no more than two
shillings, or one rupee. It is only some mats stretched under some tree,
where the _Bangeras_ of the town, that is, the vilest of mankind,
assemble to drink BANG."—Note on _Seir Mutaqherin_, iii. 308.

1868.—

"The Hemp—with which we used to hang
Our prison pets, yon felon gang,—
In Eastern climes produces BANG,
Esteemed a drug divine.
As Hashish dressed, its magic powers
Can lap us in Elysian bowers;
But sweeter far our social hours,
O'er a flask of rosy wine."
_Lord Neaves._

BANGED—is also used as a participle, for 'stimulated by _bang_,' _e.g._ "_banged_ up to the eyes."

BANGLE, s. H. _bangṛī_ or _bangrī_. The original word properly means a ring of coloured glass worn on the wrist by women; [the _chūrī_ of N. India;] but _bangle_ is applied to any native ring-bracelet, and also to an _anklet_ or ring of any kind worn on the ankle or leg. Indian silver bangles on the wrist have recently come into common use among English girls.

1803.—"To the _cutwahl_ he gave a heavy pair of gold BANGLES, of which he
considerably enhanced the value by putting them on his wrists with his
own hands."—Journal of _Sir J. Nicholls_, in note to _Wellington
Despatches_, ed. 1837, ii. 373.

1809.—"BANGLES, or bracelets."—_Maria Graham_, 13.

1810.—"Some wear ... a stout silver ornament of the ring kind, called a
BANGLE, or _karrah_ [_kaṛā_] on either wrist."—_Williamson, V. M._ i.
305.

1826.—"I am paid with the silver BANGLES of my enemy, and his cash to
boot."—_Pandurang Hari_, 27; [ed. 1873, i. 36].

1873.—"Year after year he found some excuse for coming up to Sirmoori—now
a proposal for a tax on BANGLES, now a scheme for a new mode of
Hindustani pronunciation."—_The True Reformer_, i. 24.

BANGUN, s.—See BRINJAUL.

BANGUR, s. Hind. _bāngar_. In Upper India this name is given to the higher parts of the plain country on which the towns stand—the older alluvium—in contradistinction to the _khāḍar_ [KHĀDIR] or lower alluvium immediately bordering the great rivers, and forming the limit of their inundation and modern divagations; the _khāḍar_ having been cut out from the _bāngar_ by the river. Medlicott spells _bhāngar_ (_Man. of Geol. of India_, i. 404).

BANGY, BANGHY, &c. s. H. _bahaṅgī_, Mahr. _baṅgī_; Skt. _vihaṅgamā_, and _vihaṅgikā_.

A. A shoulder-yoke for carrying loads, the yoke or bangy resting on the shoulder, while the load is apportioned at either end in two equal weights, and generally hung by cords. The milkmaid's yoke is the nearest approach to a survival of the bangy-staff in England. Also such a yoke with its pair of baskets or boxes.—(See PITARRAH).

B. Hence a parcel post, carried originally in this way, was called BANGY or dawk-BANGY, even when the primitive mode of transport had long become obsolete. "A BANGY parcel" is a parcel received or sent by such post.

A.—

1789.—

"But I'll give them 2000, with BHANGES and _Coolies_,
With elephants, camels, with hackeries and _doolies_."
_Letters of Simpkin the Second_, p. 57.

1803.—"We take with us indeed, in six BANGHYS, sufficient changes of
linen."—_Ld. Valentia_, i. 67.

1810.—"The BANGY-_wollah_, that is the bearer who carries the BANGY,
supports the bamboo on his shoulder, so as to equipoise the baskets
suspended at each end."—_Williamson, V. M._ i. 323.

[1843.—"I engaged eight bearers to carry my palankeen. Besides these I
had four BANGHY-_burdars_, men who are each obliged to carry forty pound
weight, in small wooden or tin boxes, called _petarrahs_."—_Traveller's
account, Carey, Good Old Days_, ii. 91.]

B.—

c. 1844.—"I will forward with this by BHANGY _dâk_ a copy of Capt.
Moresby's Survey of the Red Sea."—_Sir G. Arthur_, in _Ind. Admin. of
Lord Ellenborough_, p. 221.

1873.—"The officers of his regiment ... subscribed to buy the young
people a set of crockery, and a plated tea and coffee service (got up by
DAWK BANGHEE ... at not much more than 200 per cent. in advance of the
English price."—_The True Reformer_, i. 57.

BANJO, s. Though this is a West- and not East-Indian term, it may be worth while to introduce the following older form of the word:

1764.—

"Permit thy slaves to lead the choral dance
To the wild BANSHAW'S melancholy sound."—_Grainger_, iv.

See also _Davies_, for example of BANJORE, [and _N.E.D_ for BANJER].

BANKSHALL, s. A. A warehouse. B. The office of a Harbour Master or other Port Authority. In the former sense the word is still used in S. India; in Bengal the latter is the only sense recognised, at least among Anglo-Indians; in Northern India the word is not in use. As the Calcutta office stands on the _banks_ of the Hoogly, the name is, we believe, often accepted as having some indefinite reference to this position. And in a late work we find a positive and plausible, but entirely unfounded, explanation of this kind, which we quote below. In Java the word has a specific application to the open hall of audience, supported by wooden pillars without walls, which forms part of every princely residence. The word is used in Sea Hindustani, in the forms _bansār_, and _bangsāl_ for a 'store-room' (_Roebuck_).

_Bankshall_ is in fact one of the oldest of the words taken up by foreign traders in India. And its use not only by Correa (c. 1561) but by King John (1524), with the regularly-formed Portuguese plural of words in _-al_, shows how early it was adopted by the Portuguese. Indeed, Correa does not even explain it, as is his usual practice with Indian terms.

More than one serious etymology has been suggested:—(1). Crawfurd takes it to be the Malay word _bangsal_, defined by him in his Malay Dict. thus: "(J.) A shed; a storehouse; a workshop; a porch; a covered passage" (see _J. Ind. Archip._ iv. 182). [Mr Skeat adds that it also means in Malay 'half-husked paddy,' and 'fallen timber, of which the outer layer has rotted and only the core remains.'] But it is probable that the Malay word, though marked by Crawfurd ("J.") as Javanese in origin, is a corruption of one of the two following:

(2) Beng. _baṇkaśāla_, from Skt. _baṇik_ or _vaṇik_, 'trade,' and _śāla_, 'a hall.' This is Wilson's etymology.

(3). Skt. _bhāṇḍaśāla_, Canar. _bhaṇdaśāle_, Malayāl. _pāṇḍiśāla_, Tam. _paṇḍaśālai_ or _paṇḍakaśālai_, 'a storehouse or magazine.'

It is difficult to decide which of the two last is the original word; the prevalence of the second in S. India is an argument in its favour; and the substitution of _g_ for _ḍ_ would be in accordance with a phonetic practice of not uncommon occurrence.

A.—

c. 1345.—"For the _bandar_ there is in every island (of the Maldives) a
wooden building, which they call BAJANṢĀR [evidently for _banjaṣār_,
_i.e._ Arabic spelling for _bangaṣār_] where the Governor ... collects
all the goods, and there sells or barters them."—_Ibn Batuta_, iv. 120.

[1520.—"Collected in his BAMGASAL" (in the Maldives).—_Doc. da Torre do
Tombo_, p. 452.]

1524.—A grant from K. John to the City of Goa, says: "that henceforward
even if no market rent in the city is collected from the BACACÉS, viz.
those at which are sold honey, oil, butter, _betre_ (_i.e._ betel),
spices, and cloths, for permission to sell such things in the said
_bacacés_, it is our pleasure that they shall sell them freely." A note
says: "Apparently the word should be _bacaçaes_, or BANCACAES, or
_bangaçaes_, which then signified any place to sell things, but now
particularly a wooden house."—_Archiv. Portug. Or._, Fasc. ii. 43.

1561.—"... in the BENGAÇAES, in which stand the goods ready for
shipment."—_Correa, Lendas_, i. 2, 260.

1610.—The form and use of the word have led P. Teixeira into a curious
confusion (as it would seem) when, speaking of foreigners at Ormus, he
says: "hay muchos gentiles, Baneanes [see BANYAN], BANGASALYS, y
Cambayatys"—where the word in italics probably represents _Bangalys_,
_i.e._ Bengālis (_Rel. de Harmuz_, 18).

c. 1610.—"Le facteur du Roy chrestien des Maldiues tenoit sa BANQUESALLE
ou plustost cellier, sur le bord de la mer en l'isle de Malé."—_Pyrard de
Laval_, ed. 1679, i. 65; [Hak. Soc. i. 85; also see i. 267].

1613.—"The other settlement of Yler ... with houses of wood thatched
extends ... to the fields of Tanjonpacer, where there is a BANGASAL or
sentry's house without other defense."—_Godinho de Eredia_, 6.

1623.—"BANGSAL, a shed (or barn), or often also a roof without walls to
sit under, sheltered from the rain or sun."—_Gaspar Willens,
Vocabularium_, &c., ins' Gravenhaage; repr. Batavia, 1706.

1734-5.—"Paid the BANKSHALL Merchants for the house poles, country
REAPERS, &c., necessary for housebuilding."—In _Wheeler_, iii. 148.

1748.—"A little below the town of Wampo.... These people (_compradores_)
build a house for each ship.... They are called by us BANKSALLS. In these
we deposit the rigging and yards of the vessel, chests, water-casks, and
every thing that incommodes us aboard."—_A Voyage to the E. Indies_ in
1747 and 1748 (1762), p. 294. It appears from this book (p. 118) that the
place in Canton River was known as BANKSALL Island.

1750-52.—"One of the first things on arriving here (Canton River) is to
procure a BANCSHALL, that is, a great house, constructed of bamboo and
mats ... in which the stores of the ship are laid up."—_A Voyage_, &c.,
by _Olof Toreen_ ... in a series of letters to Dr Linnæus, Transl. by J.
R. Forster (with Osbeck's Voyage), 1771.

1783.—"These people (_Chulias_, &c., from India, at Achin) ... on their
arrival immediately build, by contract with the natives, houses of
bamboo, like what in China at Wampo is called BANKSHALL, very regular, on
a convenient spot close to the river."—_Forrest, V. to Mergui_, 41.

1788.—"BANKSAULS—Storehouses for depositing ships' stores in, while the
ships are unlading and refitting."—_Indian Vocab._ (Stockdale).

1813.—"The East India Company for seventy years had a large BANKSAUL, or
warehouse, at Mirzee, for the reception of the pepper and sandalwood
purchased in the dominions of the Mysore Rajah."—_Forbes, Or. Mem._ iv.
109.

1817.—"The BĀNGSAL or _mendōpo_ is a large open hall, supported by a
double row of pillars, and covered with shingles, the interior being
richly decorated with paint and gilding."—_Raffles, Java_ (2nd ed.), i.
93. The Javanese use, as in this passage, corresponds to the meaning
given in Jansz, Javanese Dict.: "BANGSAL, Vorstelijke Zitplaats"
(Prince's Sitting-place).

B.—

[1614.—"The custom house or BANKSALL at Masulpatam."—_Foster, Letters_,
ii. 86.]

1623.—"And on the Place by the sea there was the Custom-house, which the
Persians in their language call BENKSAL, a building of no great size,
with some open outer porticoes."—_P. della Valle_, ii. 465.

1673.—"... Their BANK SOLLS, or Custom House Keys, where they land, are
Two; but mean, and shut only with ordinary Gates at Night."—_Fryer_, 27.

1683.—"I came ashore in Capt. Goyer's Pinnace to ye BANKSHALL, about 7
miles from Ballasore."—_Hedges, Diary_, Feb. 2; [Hak. Soc. i. 65].

1687.—"The Mayor and Aldermen, etc., do humbly request the Honourable
President and Council would please to grant and assign over to the
Corporation the petty dues of BANKSALL Tolls."—In _Wheeler_, i. 207.

1727.—"Above it is the _Dutch_ BANKSHALL, a Place where their Ships ride
when they cannot get further up for the too swift Currents."—_A.
Hamilton_, ii. 6.

1789.—"And that no one may plead ignorance of this order, it is hereby
directed that it be placed constantly in view at the BANKSHALL in the
English and country languages."—_Procl. against Slave-Trading_ in
_Seton-Karr_, ii. 5.

1878.—"The term 'BANKSOLL' has always been a puzzle to the English in
India. It is borrowed from the Dutch. The 'Soll' is the Dutch or Danish
'Zoll,' the English 'Toll.' The BANKSOLL was then the place on the 'bank'
where all tolls or duties were levied on landing goods."—_Talboys
Wheeler, Early Records of B. India_, 196. (Quite erroneous, as already
said; and _Zoll_ is not Dutch.)

BANTAM, n.p. The province which forms the western extremity of Java, properly _Bāntan_. [Mr Skeat gives _Bantan_, Crawfurd, _Bantân_.] It formed an independent kingdom at the beginning of the 17th century, and then produced much pepper (no longer grown), which caused it to be greatly frequented by European traders. An English factory was established here in 1603, and continued till 1682, when the Dutch succeeded in expelling us as interlopers.

[1615.—"They were all valued in my invoice at BANTAN."—_Foster, Letters_,
iv. 93.]

1727.—"The only Product of BANTAM is Pepper, wherein it abounds so much,
that they can export 10,000 Tuns per annum."—_A. Hamilton_, ii. 127.

BANTAM FOWLS, s. According to Crawfurd, the dwarf poultry which we call by this name were imported from Japan, and received the name "not from the place that produced them, but from that where our voyagers first found them."—(_Desc. Dict._ s.v. _Bantam_). The following evidently in Pegu describes Bantams:

1586.—"They also eat certain cocks and hens called _lorine_, which are
the size of a turtle-dove, and have feathered feet; but so pretty, that I
never saw so pretty a bird. I brought a cock and hen with me as far as
Chaul, and then, suspecting they might be taken from me, I gave them to
the Capuchin fathers belonging to the Madre de Dios."—_Balbi_, f. 125_v_,
126.

1673.—"From Siam are brought hither little _Champore_ Cocks with ruffled
Feet, well armed with Spurs, which have a strutting Gate with them, the
truest mettled in the World."—_Fryer_, 116.

[1703.—"Wilde cocks and hens ... much like the small sort called
_Champores_, severall of which we have had brought us from
Camboja."—_Hedges, Diary_, Hak. Soc. ii. cccxxxiii.

This looks as if they came from CHAMPA (q.v.).

(1) BANYAN, s. A. A Hindu trader, and especially of the Province of Guzerat, many of which class have for ages been settled in Arabian ports and known by this name; but the term is often applied by early travellers in Western India to persons of the Hindu religion generally. B. In Calcutta also it is (or perhaps rather was) specifically applied to the native brokers attached to houses of business, or to persons in the employment of a private gentleman doing analogous duties (now usually called SIRCAR).

The word was adopted from _Vāṇiya_, a man of the trading caste (in Gujarāti _vāṇiyo_), and that comes from Skt. _vaṇij_, 'a merchant.' The terminal nasal may be a Portuguese addition (as in _palanquin_, _mandarin_, _Bassein_), or it may be taken from the plural form _vāṇiyān_. It is probable, however, that the Portuguese found the word already in use by the Arab traders. Sidi 'Ali, the Turkish Admiral, uses it in precisely the same form, applying it to the Hindus generally; and in the poem of Sassui and Panhu, the Sindian Romeo and Juliet, as given by Burton in his _Sindh_ (p. 101), we have the form _Wāniyān_. P. F. Vincenzo Maria, who is quoted below absurdly alleges that the Portuguese called these Hindus of Guzerat BAGNANI, because they were always washing themselves "... chiamati da Portughesi _Bagnani_, per la frequenza e superstitione, con quale si lauano piu volte il giorno" (251). See also Luillier below. The men of this class profess an extravagant respect for animal life; but after Stanley brought home Dr. Livingstone's letters they became notorious as chief promoters of slave-trade in Eastern Africa. A. K. Forbes speaks of the mediæval WĀNIAS at the Court of Anhilwāra as "equally gallant in the field (with Rajputs), and wiser in council ... already in profession puritans of peace, but not yet drained enough of their fiery Kshatri blood."—(_Rās Māla_, i. 240; [ed. 1878, 184].)

_Bunya_ is the form in which _vāṇiya_ appears in the Anglo-Indian use of Bengal, with a different shade of meaning, and generally indicating a grain-dealer.

1516.—"There are three qualities of these Gentiles, that is to say, some
are called Razbuts ... others are called BANIANS, and are merchants and
traders."—_Barbosa_, 51.

1552.—"... Among whom came certain men who are called BANEANES of the
same heathen of the Kingdom of Cambaia ... coming on board the ship of
Vasco da Gama, and seeing in his cabin a pictorial image of Our Lady, to
which our people did reverence, they also made adoration with much more
fervency...."—_Barros_, Dec., I. liv. iv. cap. 6.

1555.—"We may mention that the inhabitants of Guzerat call the
unbelievers BANYĀNS, whilst the inhabitants of Hindustan call them
Hindū."—_Sidi 'Ali Kapudān_, in J. As., 1^{ère} S. ix. 197-8.

1563.—"_R._ If the fruits were all as good as this (mango) it would be no
such great matter in the BANEANES, as you tell me, not to eat flesh. And
since I touch on this matter, tell me, prithee, who are these BANEANES
... who do not eat flesh?..."—_Garcia_, f. 136.

1608.—"The Gouernour of the Towne of _Gandeuee_ is a BANNYAN, and one of
those kind of people that obserue the Law of Pythagoras."—_Jones_, in
_Purchas_, i. 231.

[1610.—"BANEANES." See quotation under BANKSHALL, A.]

1623.—"One of these races of Indians is that of those which call
themselves _Vanià_, but who are called, somewhat corruptly by the
Portuguese, and by all our other Franks, BANIANS; they are all, for the
most part, traders and brokers."—_P. della Valle_, i. 486-7; [and see i.
78 Hak. Soc.].

1630.—"A people presented themselves to mine eyes, cloathed in linnen
garments, somewhat low descending, of a gesture and garbe, as I may say,
maidenly and well nigh effeminate; of a countenance shy, and somewhat
estranged; yet smiling out a glosed and bashful familiarity.... I asked
what manner of people these were, so strangely notable, and notably
strange. Reply was made that they were BANIANS."—_Lord, Preface._

1665.—"In trade these BANIANS are a thousand times worse than the _Jews_;
more expert in all sorts of cunning tricks, and more maliciously
mischievous in their revenge."—_Tavernier_, E. T. ii. 58; [ed. _Ball_, i.
136, and see i. 91].

c. 1666.—"Aussi chacun a son BANIAN dans les Indes, et il y a des
personnes de qualité qui leur confient tout ce qu'ils
ont...."—_Thevenot_, v. 166. This passage shows in anticipation the
transition to the Calcutta use (B., below).

1672.—"The inhabitants are called Guizeratts and BENYANS."—_Baldaeus_, 2.

" "It is the custom to say that to make one BAGNAN (so they call
the Gentile Merchants) you need three Chinese, and to make one Chinese
three Hebrews."—_P. F. Vincenzo di Maria_, 114.

1673.—"The BANYAN follows the Soldier, though as contrary in Humour as
the Antipodes in the same Meridian are opposite to one another.... In
Cases of Trade they are not so hide-bound, giving their Consciences more
Scope, and boggle at no Villainy for an Emolument."—_Fryer_, 193.

1677.—"In their letter to Ft. St. George, 15th March, the Court offer £20
reward to any of our servants or soldiers as shall be able to speak,
write, and translate the BANIAN language, and to learn their
arithmetic."—In Madras _Notes and Exts._, No. I. p. 18.

1705.—"... ceux des premieres castes, comme les BAIGNANS."—_Luillier_,
106.

1813.—"... it will, I believe, be generally allowed by those who have
dealt much with BANIANS and merchants in the larger trading towns of
India, that their moral character cannot be held in high
estimation."—_Forbes, Or. Mem._ ii. 456.

1877.—"Of the _Wani_, BANYAN, or trader-caste there are five great
families in this country."—_Burton, Sind Revisited_, ii. 281.

B.—

1761.—"We expect and positively direct that if our servants employ
BANIANS or black people under them, they shall be accountable for their
conduct."—_The Court of Directors_, in _Long_, 254.

1764.—"_Resolutions and Orders._ That no Moonshee, Linguist, BANIAN, or
Writer, be allowed to any officer, excepting the
Commander-in-Chief."—_Ft. William Proc._, in _Long_, 382.

1775.—"We have reason to suspect that the intention was to make him
(Nundcomar) BANYAN to General Clavering, to surround the General and us
with the Governor's creatures, and to keep us totally unacquainted with
the real state of the Government."—_Minute by Clavering, Monson, and
Francis, Ft. William_, 11th April. In _Price's Tracts_, ii. 138.

1780.—"We are informed that the Juty Wallahs or Makers and Vendors of
Bengal Shoes in and about Calcutta ... intend sending a Joint Petition to
the Supreme Council ... on account of the great decay of their Trade,
entirely owing to the Luxury of the Bengalies, chiefly the BANGANS
(_sic_) and Sarcars, as there are scarce any of them to be found who does
not keep a Chariot, Phaeton, Buggy or Pallanquin, and some all
four...."—In _Hicky's Bengal Gazette_, June 24th.

1783.—"Mr. Hastings' BANNIAN was, after this auction, found possessed of
territories yielding a rent of £140,000 a year."—_Burke, Speech on E. I.
Bill_, in _Writings_, &c., iii. 490.

1786.—"The said Warren Hastings did permit and suffer his own BANYAN or
principal black steward, named Canto Baboo, to hold farms ... to the
amount of 13 lacs of rupees per annum."—_Art. agst. Hastings, Burke_,
vii. 111.

" "A practice has gradually crept in among the BANIANS and other
rich men of Calcutta, of dressing some of their servants ... nearly in
the uniform of the Honourable Company's Sepoys and
Lascars...."—_Notification_, in _Seton Karr_, i. 122.

1788.—"BANYAN—A Gentoo servant employed in the management of commercial
affairs. Every English gentleman at Bengal has a BANYAN who either acts
of himself, or as the substitute of some great man or black
merchant."—_Indian Vocabulary_ (Stockdale).

1810.—"The same person frequently was BANIAN to several European
gentlemen; all of whose concerns were of course accurately known to him,
and thus became the subject of conversation at those meetings the BANIANS
of Calcutta invariably held...."—_Williamson, V. M._ i. 189.

1817.—"The European functionary ... has first his BANYAN or native
secretary."—_Mill, Hist._ (ed. 1840), iii. 14. Mr. Mill does not here
accurately interpret the word.

(2). BANYAN, s. An undershirt, originally of muslin, and so called as resembling the body garment of the Hindus; but now commonly applied to under body-clothing of elastic cotton, woollen, or silk web. The following quotations illustrate the stages by which the word reached its present application. And they show that our predecessors in India used to adopt the native or BANYAN costume in their hours of ease. C. P. Brown defines BANYAN as "a _loose dressing-gown_, such as Hindu tradesmen wear." Probably this may have been the original use; but it is never so employed in Northern India.

1672.—"It is likewise ordered that both Officers and Souldiers in the
Fort shall, both on every Sabbath Day, and on every day when they
exercise, _weare English apparel_; in respect the garbe is most becoming
as Souldiers, and correspondent to their profession."—_Sir W. Langhorne's
Standing Order_, in _Wheeler_, iii. 426.

1731.—"The Ensign (as it proved, for his first appearance, being
undressed and in his BANYON coat, I did not know him) came off from his
cot, and in a very haughty manner cried out, 'None of your disturbance,
Gentlemen.'"—In _Wheeler_, iii. 109.

1781.—"I am an Old Stager in this Country, having arrived in Calcutta in
the Year 1736.... Those were the days, when Gentlemen studied _Ease_
instead of _Fashion_; when even the Hon. Members of the Council met in
BANYAN SHIRTS, LONG DRAWERS (q.v.), and Conjee (CONGEE) caps; with a Case
Bottle of good old Arrack, and a Gouglet of Water placed on the Table,
which the Secretary (a Skilful Hand) frequently converted into
Punch...."—Letter from _An Old Country Captain_, in _India Gazette_, Feb.
24th.

[1773.—In a letter from Horace Walpole to the Countess of Upper Ossory,
dated April 30th, 1773 (_Cunningham's_ ed., v. 459) he describes a ball
at Lord Stanley's, at which two of the dancers, Mr. Storer and Miss
Wrottesley, were dressed "in BANIANS with furs, for winter, cock and
hen." It would be interesting to have further details of these garments,
which were, it may be hoped, different from the modern BANYAN.]

1810.—"... an undershirt, commonly called a BANIAN."—_Williamson, V.M._
i. 19.

(3) BANYAN, s. See BANYAN-TREE.

BANYAN-DAY, s. This is sea-slang for a _jour maigre_, or a day on which no ration of meat was allowed; when (as one of our quotations above expresses it) the crew had "to observe the Law of Pythagoras."

1690.—"Of this (_Kitchery_ or KEDGEREE, q.v.) the _European_ Sailors feed
in these parts once or twice a Week, and are forc'd at those times to a
Pagan Abstinence from Flesh, which creates in them a perfect Dislike and
utter Detestation to those BANNIAN DAYS, as they commonly call
them."—_Ovington_, 310, 311.

BANYAN-FIGHT, s. Thus:

1690.—"This Tongue Tempest is termed there a BANNIAN-FIGHT, for it never
rises to blows or bloodshed."—_Ovington_, 275. Sir G. Birdwood tells us
that this is a phrase still current in Bombay.

BANYAN-TREE, also elliptically BANYAN, s. The Indian Fig-Tree (_Ficus Indica_, or _Ficus bengalensis_, L.), called in H. _baṛ_ [or _baṛgat_, the latter the "_Bourgade_" of Bernier (ed. _Constable_, p. 309).] The name appears to have been first bestowed popularly on a famous tree of this species growing near GOMBROON (q.v.), under which the _Banyans_ or Hindu traders settled at that port, had built a little pagoda. So says Tavernier below. This original _Banyan-tree_ is described by P. della Valle (ii. 453), and by Valentijn (v. 202). P. della Valle's account (1622) is extremely interesting, but too long for quotation. He calls it by the Persian name, _lūl_. The tree still stood, within half a mile of the English factory, in 1758, when it was visited by Ives, who quotes Tickell's verses given below. [Also see CUBEER BURR.]

c. A.D. 70.—"First and foremost, there is a Fig-tree there (in India)
which beareth very small and slender figges. The propertie of this Tree,
is to plant and set it selfe without mans helpe. For it spreadeth out
with mightie armes, and the lowest water-boughes underneath, do bend so
downeward to the very earth, that they touch it againe, and lie upon it:
whereby, within one years space they will take fast root in the ground,
and put foorth a new Spring round about the Mother-tree: so as these
braunches, thus growing, seeme like a traile or border of arbours most
curiously and artificially made," &c.—_Plinies Nat. Historie_, by
_Philemon Holland_, i. 360.

1624.—

"... The goodly bole being got
To certain cubits' height, from every side
The boughs decline, which, taking root afresh,
Spring up new boles, and these spring new, and newer,
Till the whole tree become a porticus,
Or arched arbour, able to receive
A numerous troop."
_Ben Jonson, Neptune's Triumph._

c. 1650.—"Cet Arbre estoit de même espece que celuy qui est a une lieue
du Bander, et qui passe pour une merveille; mais dans les Indes il y en a
quantité. Les Persans l'appellent _Lul_, les Portugais _Arber de Reys_,
et les Français L'ARBRE DES BANIANES; parce que les Banianes ont fait
bâtir dessous une Pagode avec un carvansera accompagné de plusieurs
petits étangs pour se laver."—_Tavernier, V. de Perse_, liv. v. ch. 23.
[Also see ed. _Ball_, ii. 198.]

c. 1650.—"Near to the City of Ormus was a BANNIANS TREE, being the only
tree that grew in the Island."—_Tavernier_, Eng. Tr. i. 255.

c. 1666.—"Nous vimes à cent ou cent cinquante pas de ce jardin, l'arbre
_War_ dans toute son etenduë. On l'appelle aussi _Ber_, et ARBRE DES
BANIANS, et _arbre des racines_...."—_Thevenot_, v. 76.

1667.—

"The fig-tree, not that kind for fruit renown'd;
But such as at this day, to Indians known,
In Malabar or Decan spreads her arms
Branching so broad and long, that in the ground
The bended twigs take root, and daughters grow
About the mother-tree, a pillar'd shade
High over-arch'd, and echoing walks between."
_Paradise Lost_, ix. 1101.

[Warton points out that Milton must have had in view a description of the
Banyan-tree in _Gerard's Herbal_ under the heading "of the arched Indian
fig-tree."]

1672.—"_Eastward of Surat_ two _Courses_, _i.e._ a League, we pitched our
Tent under a Tree that besides its Leafs, the Branches bear its own
Roots, therefore called by the _Portugals_, _Arbor de Raiz_; For the
Adoration the _Banyans_ pay it, the BANYAN-TREE."—_Fryer_, 105.

1691.—"About a (Dutch) mile from Gamron ... stands a tree, heretofore
described by Mandelslo and others.... Beside this tree is an idol temple
where the BANYANS do their worship."—_Valentijn_, v. 267-8.

1717.—

"The fair descendants of thy sacred bed
Wide-branching o'er the Western World shall spread,
Like the fam'd BANIAN TREE, whose pliant shoot
To earthward bending of itself takes root,
Till like their mother plant ten thousand stand
In verdant arches on the fertile land;
Beneath her shade the tawny Indians rove,
Or hunt at large through the wide-echoing grove."
_Tickell, Epistle from a Lady in
England to a Lady in Avignon._

1726.—"On the north side of the city (Surat) is there an uncommonly great
Pichar or _Waringin_[35] tree.... The Portuguese call this tree Albero de
laiz, _i.e._ Root-tree.... Under it is a small chapel built by a
_Benyan_.... Day and night lamps are alight there, and BENYANS constantly
come in pilgrimage, to offer their prayers to this saint."—_Valentijn_,
iv. 145.

1771.—"... being employed to construct a military work at the fort of
Triplasore (afterwards called Marsden's Bastion) it was necessary to cut
down a BANYAN-TREE which so incensed the brahmans of that place, that
they found means to poison him" (_i.e._ Thomas Marsden of the Madras
Engineers).—_Mem. of W. Marsden_, 7-8.

1809.—"Their greatest enemy (_i.e._ of the buildings) is the
BANYAN-TREE."—_Ld. Valentia_, i. 396.

1810.—