Chapter XXVII: Preface: TO SECOND EDITION xi (24)

1880.—From West Afr. Mission, Port Lokkoh, Mr. A. Burchaell writes:
"Every evening we go out visiting and preaching the Gospel to our Timneh
friends in their COMPOUNDS."—_Proceedings of C. M. Society_ for 1878-9,
p. 14.

COMPRADORE, COMPODORE, &c., s. Port. _comprador_, 'purchaser,' from _comprar_, 'to purchase.' This word was formerly in use in Bengal, where it is now quite obsolete; but it is perhaps still remembered in Madras, and it is common in China. In Madras the _compradore_ is (or was) a kind of house-steward, who keeps the household accounts, and purchases necessaries. In China he is much the same as a BUTLER (q.v.). A new building was to be erected on the Bund at Shanghai, and Sir T. Wade was asked his opinion as to what style of architecture should be adopted. He at once said that for Shanghai, a great Chinese commercial centre, it ought to be COMPRADORIC!

1533.—"Antonio da Silva kept his own counsel about the (threat of) war,
because during the delay caused by the exchange of messages, he was all
the time buying and selling by means of his COMPRADORES."—_Correa_, iii.
562.

1615.—"I understand that yesterday the Hollanders cut a slave of theirs
a-peeces for theft, per order of justice, and thrust their COMPRADOR (or
cats buyer) out of dores for a lecherous knave...."—_Cocks's Diary_, i.
19.

1711.—"Every Factory had formerly a COMPRADORE, whose Business it was to
buy in Provisions and other Necessarys. But the Hoppos have made them all
such Knaves...."—_Lockyer_, 108.

[1748.—"COMPRADORES." See quotation under BANKSHALL.]

1754.—"COMPIDORE. The office of this servant is to go to market and bring
home small things, such as fruit, &c."—_Ives_, 50.

1760-1810.—"All river-pilots and ships' COMPRADORES must be registered at
the office of the Tung-che at Macao."—'_Eight Regulations_,' from the
_Fankwae at Canton_ (1882), p. 28.

1782.—"Le COMPRADOR est celui qui fournit généralement tout ce dont on a
besoin, excepté les objets de cargaison; il y en a un pour chaque Nation:
il approvisionne la loge, et tient sous lui plusieurs commis chargés de
la fourniture des vaisseaux."—_Sonnerat_ (ed. 1782), ii. 236.

1785.—"COMPUDOUR ... Sicca Rs. 3."—In _Seton-Karr_, i. 107 (Table of
Wages).

1810.—"The COMPADORE, or _Kurz-burdar_, or _Butler-Konnah-Sircar_, are
all designations for the same individual, who acts as purveyor.... This
servant may be considered as appertaining to the order of sircars, of
which he should possess all the cunning."—_Williamson, V. M._ i. 270.

See SIRCAR. The obsolete term _Kurz-burdar_ above represents
_Kharach-bardār_ "in charge of (daily) expenditure."

1840.—"About 10 days ago ... the Chinese, having kidnapped our COMPENDOR,
Parties were sent out to endeavour to recover him."—_Mem. Col. Mountain_,
164.

1876.—"We speak chiefly of the educated classes, and not of 'boys' and
COMPRADORES, who learn in a short time both to touch their caps, and wipe
their noses in their masters' pocket-handkerchiefs."—_Giles, Chinese
Sketches_, [p. 15].

1876.—

"An' Massa Coe feel velly sore
An' go an' scold he COMPRADORE."
_Leland, Pidgin English Sing-Song_, 26.

1882.—"The most important Chinese within the Factory was the COMPRADORE
... all Chinese employed in any factory, whether as his own 'pursers,' or
in the capacity of servants, cooks, or coolies, were the COMPRADORE'S own
people."—_The Fankwae_, p. 53.

CONBALINGUA, s. The common pumpkin, [_cucurbita pepo_. The word comes from the Malayāl., Tel. or Can. _kumbalam_; _kumbalanu_, the pumpkin].

1510.—"I saw another kind of fruit which resembled a pumpkin in colour,
is two spans in length, and has more than three fingers of pulp ... and
it is a very curious thing, and it is called COMOLANGA, and grows on the
ground like melons."—_Varthema_, 161.

[1554.—"CONBALINGUAS." See quotation under BRINJAUL.]

[c. 1610.—Couto gives a tradition of the origin of the kingdom of Pegu,
from a fisherman who was born of a certain flower; "they also say that
his wife was born of a COMBALENGA, which is an apple (_pomo_) very common
in India of which they make several kinds of preserve, so cold that it is
used in place of sugar of roses; and they are of the size and fashion of
large melons; and there are some so large that it would be as much as a
lad could do to lift one by himself. This apple the Pegús call
_Sapua_."—Dec. xii. liv. v. cap. iii.]

c. 1690.—"In Indiae insulis quaedam quoque Cucurbitae et Cucumeris
reperiuntur species ab Europaeis diversae ... harumque nobilissima est
COMOLINGA, quae maxima est species Indicarum cucurbitarum."—_Rumphius,
Herb. Amb._ v. 395.

CONCAN, n.p. Skt. _konkaṇa_, [Tam. _konkaṇam_], the former in the Pauranic lists the name of a people; Hind. _Konkan_ and _Kokan_. The low country of Western India between the Ghauts and the sea, extending, roughly speaking, from Goa northward to Guzerat. But the modern Commissionership, or Civil Division, embraces also North Canara (south of Goa). In medieval writings we find frequently, by a common Asiatic fashion of coupling names, _Kokan-_ or _Konkan-Tana_; TANA having been a chief place and port of _Konkan_.

c. 70 A.D.—The COCONDAE of Pliny are perhaps the _Konkaṇas_.

404.—"In the south are Ceylon (Lankâ) ... KONKAN ..." &c.—_Bṛhat
Saṅhita_, in _J.R.A.S._, N.S. v. 83.

c. 1300.—"Beyond Guzerat are KONKAN and _Tána_; beyond them the country
of Malíbár."—_Rashīduddīn_, in _Elliot_, i. 68.

c. 1335.—"When he heard of the Sultan's death he fled to a Kafir prince
called Burabra, who lived in the inaccessible mountains between
Daulatabad and KŪKAN-_Tāna_."—_Ibn Batuta_, iii. 335.

c. 1350.—In the _Portulano Mediceo_ in the Laurentian Library we have
'COCIN_tana_,' and in the Catalan Map of 1375 'COCIN_taya_.'

1553.—"And as from the Ghauts (_Gate_) to the Sea, on the west of the
Decan, all that strip is called CONCAN, so also from the Ghauts to the
Sea, on the West of Canara (leaving out those forty and six leagues just
spoken of, which are also parts of this same Canara), that strip which
extends to Cape Comorin ... is called Malabar...."—_Barros_, I. ix. 1.

[1563.—"CUNCAM." See quotation under GHAUT.]

1726.—"The kingdom of this Prince is commonly called Visiapoer, after its
capital, ... but it is properly called CUNKAN."—_Valentijn_, iv.
(_Suratte_), 243; [also see under DECCAN].

c. 1732.—"Goa, in the Adel Sháhi KOKAN."—_Khāfī Khān_, in _Elliot_, vii.
211.

1804.—"I have received your letter of the 28th, upon the subject of the
landing of 3 French officers in the KONKAN; and I have taken measures to
have them arrested."—_Wellington_, iii. 33.

1813.—"... CONCAN or COKUN ..."—_Forbes, Or. Mem._ i. 189; [2nd ed. i.
102].

1819.—Mr. W. Erskine, in his Account of Elephanta, writes KOKAN.—_Tr.
Lit. Soc. Bomb._, i. 249.

CONFIRMED, p. Applied to an officer whose hold of an appointment is made permanent. In the Bengal Presidency the popular term is PUCKA; (q.v.); (also see CUTCHA).

[1805.—"It appears not unlikely that the Government and the Company may
CONFIRM Sir G. Barlow in the station to which he has succeeded...."—In
_L. of Colebrooke_, 223.]

1886.—"... one Marsden, who has paid his addresses to my daughter—a young
man in the Public Works, who (would you believe it, Mr. Cholmondeley?)
has not even been CONFIRMED.

"_Cholm._ The young heathen!"—_Trevelyan, The Dawk Bungalow_, p. 220.

CONGEE, s. In use all over India for the water in which rice has been boiled. The article being used as one of invalid diet, the word is sometimes applied to such slops generally. _Congee_ also forms the usual starch of Indian washermen. [A _conjee_-cap was a sort of starched night-cap, and Mr. Draper, the husband of Sterne's Eliza, had it put on by Mrs. Draper's rival when he took his afternoon nap. (_Douglas, Glimpses of Old Bombay_, pp. 86, 201.)] It is from the Tamil _kanjī_, 'boilings.' _Congee_ is known to Horace, though reckoned, it would seem, so costly a remedy that the miser patient would as lief die as be plundered to the extent implied in its use:

"... Hunc medicus multum celer atque fidelis
Excitat hoc pacto ...
... 'Agedum; sume hoc _ptisanarium Oryzae_.'
'Quanti emptae?' 'Parvo.' '_Quanti_ ergo.' 'Octussibus.' 'Eheu!
Quid refert, morbo, an furtis pereamve rapinis?'"
_Sat. II._ iii. 147 _seqq._

c. A.D. 70.—(Indi) "maxime quidem ORYZA gaudent, ex qua TISANAM
conficiunt quam reliqui mortales ex hordeo."—_Pliny_, xviii. § 13.

1563.—"They give him to drink the water squeezed out of rice with pepper
and cummin (which they call CANJE)."—_Garcia_, f. 76_b_.

1578.—"... CANJU, which is the water from the boiling of rice, keeping it
first for some hours till it becomes acid...."—_Acosta, Tractado_, 56.

1631.—"Potus quotidianus itaque sit decoctum oryzae quod CANDGIE Indi
vocant."—_Jac. Bontii_, Lib. II. cap. iii.

1672.—"... la CANGIA, ordinaria colatione degl' Indiani ... quale colano
del riso mal cotto."—_P. Vinc. Maria_, 3rd ed., 379.

1673.—"They have ... a great smooth Stone on which they beat their
Cloaths till clean; and if for Family use, starch them with
CONGEE."—_Fryer_, 200.

1680.—"Le dejeûné des noirs est ordinairement du CANGÉ, qui est une eau
de ris epaisse."—_Dellon, Inquisition at Goa_, 136.

1796.—"CAGNI, boiled rice water, which the Europeans call CANGI, is given
free of all expenses, in order that the traveller may quench his thirst
with a cooling and wholesome beverage."—_P. Paulinus, Voyage_, p. 70.

"Can't drink as it is hot, and can't throw away as it is KANJI."—_Ceylon
Proverb, Ind. Ant._ i. 59.

CONGEE-HOUSE, CONJEE-HOUSE, s. The 'cells' (or temporary lock-up) of a regiment in India; so called from the traditionary regimen of the inmates; [in N. India commonly applied to a cattle-pound].

1835.—"All men confined for drunkenness should, if possible, be confined
by themselves in the CONGEE-HOUSE, till sober."—G. O., quoted in
_Mawson's Records of the Indian Command of Sir C. Napier_, 101 note.

CONGEVERAM, n.p. An ancient and holy city of S. India, 46 m. S.W. of Madras. It is called _Kachchi_ in Tamil literature, and _Kachchipuram_ is probably represented by the modern name. [The _Madras Gloss._ gives the indigenous name as _Cutchy_ (_Kachchi_), meaning 'the heart-leaved moon-seed plant,' _tinospera cordifolia_, from which the Skt. name _Kanchipura_, 'shining city,' is corrupted.]

c. 1030.—See KANCHI in Al-Birūnī, under MALABAR.

1531.—"Some of them said that the whole history of the Holy House (of St.
Thomas) was written in the house of the Pagoda which is called
CAMJEVERÃO, twenty leagues distant from the Holy House, of which I will
tell you hereafter...."—_Correa_, iii. 424.

1680.—"Upon a report that Podela Lingapa had put a stop to all the Dutch
business of Policat under his government, the agent sent Braminy spys to
CONJEE VORAM and to Policat."—_Ft. St. Geo. Cons._ Aug. 30. In _Notes and
Exts._ No. iii. 32.

CONGO-BUNDER, CONG, n.p. _Kung bandar_; a port formerly of some consequence and trade, on the north shore of the Persian Gulf, about 100 m. west of Gombroon. The Portuguese had a factory here for a good many years after their expulsion from Ormus, and under treaty with Persia, made in 1625, had a right of pearl-fishing at Bahrein and a claim to half of the customs of Cong. These claims seem to have been gradually disregarded, and to have had no effect after about 1670, though the Portuguese would appear to have still kept up some pretext of monopoly of rights there in 1677 (see _Chardin_, ed. 1735, i. 348, and _Bruce's Annals of the E.I.C._, iii. 393). Some confusion is created by the circumstance that there is another place on the same coast, called _Kongūn_, which possessed a good many vessels up to 1859, when it was destroyed by a neighbouring chief (see _Stiffe's P. Gulf Pilot_, 128). And this place is indicated by A. Hamilton (below) as the great mart for Bahrein pearls, which Fryer and others assign to what is evidently _Cong_.

1652.—"Near to the place where the Euphrates falls from Balsara [see
BALSORA] into the Sea, there is a little Island, where the Barques
generally come to an Anchor.... There we stay'd four days, whence to
Bandar-CONGO it is 14 days Sail.... This place would be a far better
habitation for the Merchants than _Ormus_, where it is very unwholsom and
dangerous to live. But that which hinders the Trade from Bandar-CONGO is,
because the Road to _Lar_ is so bad.... The 30th, we hir'd a Vessel for
_Bander-Abassi_, and after 3 or 4 hours Sailing we put into a Village ...
in the Island of _Keckmishe_" (see KISHM).—_Tavernier_, E.T. i. 94.

1653.—"CONGUE est vne petite ville fort agreable sur le sein Persique à
trois journées du Bandar Abbassi tirant à l'Ouest dominée par le Schah
... les Portugais y ont vn Feitour (see FACTOR) qui prend la moitié de la
Doüane, et donne la permission aux barques de nauiger, en luy payant vn
certain droit, parceque toutes ces mers sont tributaires de la generalité
de Mascati, qui est à l'entrée du sein Persique.... Cette ville est
peuplée d'Arabes, de Parsis et d'Indous qui ont leur Pagodes et leur
Saincts hors la ville."—_De la Boullaye-le-Gouz_, ed. 1657, p. 284.

1677.—"_A Voyage to_ CONGO _for Pearl_.—Two days after our Arrival at
Gombroon, I went to CONGO.... At noon we came to Bassatu (see BASSADORE),
an old ruined Town of the Portugals, fronting CONGO.... CONGO is
something better built than Gombroon, and has some small Advantage of the
Air" (Then goes off about pearls).—_Fryer_, 320.

1683.—"One Haggerston taken by ye said President into his Service, was
run away with a considerable quantity of Gold and Pearle, to ye amount of
30,000 Rupees, intrusted to him at Bussera (see BALSORA) and CONG, to
bring to Surrat, to save Freight and Custom."—_Hedges, Diary_, i. 96
_seq._

1685.—"_May 27._—This afternoon it pleased God to bring us in safety to
CONG Road. I went ashore immediately to Mr. Brough's house (Supra Cargo
of ye _Siam Merchant_), and lay there all night."—_Ibid._ i. 202.

1727.—"_Congoun_ stands on the South side of a large River, and makes a
pretty good figure in Trade; for most of the Pearl that are caught at
_Bareen_, on the _Arabian_ Side, are brought hither for a Market, and
many fine Horses are sent thence to _India_, where they generally sell
well.... The next maritim town, down the Gulf, is CONG, where the
_Portuguese_ lately had a Factory, but of no great Figure in Trade, tho'
that Town has a small Trade with _Banyans_ and _Moors_ from _India_."
(Here the first place is _Kongun_, the second one _Kung_).—_A. Hamilton_,
i. 92 _seq._; [ed. 1744].

CONICOPOLY, s. Literally 'Account-Man,' from Tam. _kanakka_, 'account' or 'writing,' and _piḷḷai_, 'child' or 'person.' ["The _Kanakar_ are usually addressed as '_Pillay_,' a title of respect common to them and the agricultural and shepherd castes" (_Madras Man._ ii. 229).] In Madras, a native clerk or writer, [in particular a shipping clerk. The corresponding Tel. term is CURNUM].

1544.—"Duc eò tecum ... domesticos tuos; pueros et aliquem CONACAPULAM
qui norit scribere, cujus manu exaratas relinquere posses in quovis loco
precationes a Pueris et aliis Catechumenis ediscendas."—_Scti. Franc.
Xavier, Epist._, pp. 160 _seq._

1584.—"So you must appoint in each village or station fitting teachers
and CANACOPOLY, as we have already arranged, and these must assemble the
children every day at a certain time and place, and teach and drive into
them the elements of reading and religion."—_Ditto_, in _Coleridge's L._
of him, ii. 24.

1578.—"At Tanor in Malabar I was acquainted with a Nayre CANACOPOLA, a
writer in the Camara del Rey at Tanor ... who every day used to eat to
the weight of 5 drachms (of opium), which he would take in my
presence."—_Acosta, Tractado_, 415.

c. 1580.—"One came who worked as a clerk, and said he was a poor
CANAQUAPOLLE, who had nothing to give."—_Primor e Honra_, &c., f. 94.

1672.—"Xaverius set everywhere teachers called CANACAPPELS."—_Baldaeus,
Ceylon_, 377.

1680.—"The Governour, accompanyed with the Councell and severall Persons
of the factory, attended by six files of Soldyers, the Company's Peons,
300 of the Washers, the Pedda Naigue, the CANCOPLY of the Towne and of
the grounds, went the circuit of Madras ground, which was described by
the CANCOPLY of the grounds, and lyes so intermixed with others (as is
customary in these Countrys) that 'tis impossible to be knowne to any
others, therefore every Village has a CANCOPLY and a Parryar, who are
imployed in this office, which goes from Father to Son for ever."—_Ft.
St. Geo. Consn._ Sept. 21. In _Notes and Exts._, No. iii. 34.

1718.—"Besides this we maintain seven KANAKAPPEL, or Malabarick
writers."—_Propagation of the Gospel in the East_, Pt. ii. 55.

1726.—"The CONAKAPULES (commonly called KANNEKAPPELS) are
writers."—_Valentijn, Choro._ 88.

[1749.—"CANACAPULA," in _Logan, Malabar_, iii. 52.

[1750.—"CONICOPLAS," _ibid._ iii. 150.

[1773.—"CONUCOPOLA. He keeps your accounts, pays the rest of the servants
their wages, and assists the Dubash in buying and selling. At Bengal he
is called secretary...."—_Ives_, 49.]

CONSOO-HOUSE, n.p. At Canton this was a range of buildings adjoining the foreign Factories, called also the 'Council Hall' of the foreign Factories. It was the property of the body of Hong merchants, and was the place of meeting of these merchants among themselves, or with the chiefs of the Foreign houses, when there was need for such conference (see _Fankwae_, p. 23). The name is probably a corruption of 'Council.' Bp. Moule, however, says: "The name is likely to have come from _kung-su_, the public hall, where a _kung-sz_', a 'public company,' or guild, meets."

CONSUMAH, KHANSAMA, s. P. _Khānsāmān_; 'a house-steward.' In Anglo-Indian households in the Bengal Presidency, this is the title of the chief table servant and provider, now always a Mahommedan. [See BUTLER.] The literal meaning of the word is 'Master of the household gear'; it is not connected with _khwān_, 'a tray,' as Wilson suggests. The analogous word _Mīr-sāmān_ occurs in _Elliot_, vii. 153. The Anglo-Indian form CONSUMER seems to have been not uncommon in the 18th century, probably with a spice of intention. From tables quoted in _Long_, 182, and in _Seton-Karr_, i. 95, 107, we see that the wages of a "CONSUMAH, Christian, Moor, or Gentoo," were at Calcutta, in 1759, 5 rupees a month, and in 1785, 8 to 10 rupees.

[1609.—"Emersee Nooherdee being called by the CAUNCAMMA."—_Danvers,
Letters_, i. 24.]

c. 1664.—"Some time after ... she chose for her KANE-SAMAN, that is, her
Steward, a certain _Persian_ called _Nazerkan_, who was a young Omrah,
the handsomest and most accomplished of the whole Court."—_Bernier_,
E.T., p. 4; [ed. _Constable_, p. 13].

1712.—"They were brought by a great circuit on the River to the CHANSAMMA
or Steward (Dispenser) of the aforesaid _Mahal_."—_Valentijn_, iv.
(_Suratte_) 288.

1759.—"DUSTUCK _or_ ORDER, _under the_ CHAN SUMAUN, _or_ Steward's _Seal,
for the Honourable Company's holding the King's_ [_i.e._ the Great
Mogul's] _fleet_."

* * * * *

"At the back of this is the seal of Zecah al Doulat Tidaudin Caun
Bahadour, who is CAUN SAMAUN, or Steward to his Majesty, whose
prerogative it is to grant this Order."—_R. Owen Cambridge_, pp. 231
_seq._

1788.—"After some deliberation I asked the KHANSAMAN, what quantity was
remaining of the clothes that had been brought from Iran to camp for
sale, who answered that there were 15,000 jackets, and 12,000 pairs of
long drawers."—_Mem. of Khojeh Abdulkurreem_, tr. by _Gladwin_, 55.

1810.—"The KANSAMAH may be classed with the house-steward, and butler;
both of which offices appear to unite in this servant."—_Williamson, V.
M._, i. 199.

1831.—"I have taught my KHANSAMA to make very light iced
punch."—_Jacquemont, Letters_, E.T., ii. 104.

COOCH AZO, or AZO simply, n.p. _Koch Hājo_, a Hindu kingdom on the banks of the Brahmaputra R., to the E. of Koch Bihār, annexed by Jahāngīr's troops in 1637. See _Blochmann_ in _J.A.S.B._ xli. pt. i. 53, and xlii. pt. i. 235. In Valentijn's map of Bengal (made c. 1660) we have _Cos Assam_ with _Azo_ as capital, and _T'Ryk van Asoe_, a good way south and east of Silhet.

1753.—"Ceste rivière (Brahmapoutra), en remontant, conduit à Rangamati et
à AZOO, qui font la frontière de l'état du Mogol. AZOO est une forteresse
que l'Emir Jemla, sous le règne d'Aorengzèbe, reprit sur le roi d'Asham,
comme une dependance de Bengale."—_D'Anville_, p. 62.

COOCH BEHAR, n.p. _Koch Bihār_, a native tributary State on the N.E. of Bengal, adjoining Bhotan and the Province of Assam. The first part of the name is taken from that of a tribe, the _Koch_, apparently a forest race who founded this State about the 15th century, and in the following century obtained dominion of considerable extent. They still form the majority of the population, but, as usual in such circumstances, give themselves a Hindu pedigree, under the name of _Rājbansi_. [See _Risley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, i. 491 _seqq._] The site of the ancient monarchy of Kāmrūp is believed to have been in Koch Bihār, within the limits of which there are the remains of more than one ancient city. The second part of the name is no doubt due to the memory of some important VIHARA, or Buddhist Monastery, but we have not found information on the subject. [Possibly the ruins at Kamatapur, for which see _Buchanan Hamilton, Eastern India_, iii. 426 _seqq._]

1585.—"I went from Bengala into the countrey of COUCHE, which lieth 25
dayes iourny Northwards from Tanda."—_R. Fitch_, in _Hakl._ ii. 397.

c. 1596.—"To the north of Bengal is the province of COACH, the Chief of
which commands 1,000 horse, and 100,000 foot. Kamroop, which is also
called Kamroo and Kamtah (see COMOTAY) makes a part of his
dominions."—_Ayeen_ (by _Gladwin_), ed. 1800, ii. 3; [ed. _Jarrett_, ii.
117].

1726.—"COS BHAAR is a Kingdom of itself, the King of which is sometimes
subject to the Great Mogol, and sometimes throws his yoke
off."—_Valentijn_, v. 159.

1774.—"The country about Bahar is low. Two _kos_ beyond BAHAR we entered
a thicket ... frogs, watery insects and dank air ... 2 miles farther on
we crossed the river which separates the KUCH BAHAR country from that of
the Deb Rajah, in sal canoes...."—_Bogle_, in _Markham's Tibet_, &c., 14
_seq._

(But Mr. Markham spoils all the original spelling. We may be sure Bogle
did not write _kos_, nor "_Kuch Bahar_," as Mr. M. makes him do.)

1791.—"The late Mr. George Bogle ... travelled by way of COOS-BEYHAR,
Tassasudon, and Paridrong, to Chanmanning the then residence of the
Lama."—_Rennell_ (3rd ed.), 301.

COOJA, s. P. _kūza_; an earthenware water-vessel (not long-necked, like the _ṣurāḥī_—see SERAI). It is a word used at Bombay chiefly, [but is not uncommon among Mahommedans in N. India].

[1611.—"One sack of CUSHER to make coho."—_Danvers, Letters_, i. 128.

[1871.—"Many parts of India are celebrated for their COOJAHS or guglets,
but the finest are brought from Bussorah, being light, thin, and porous,
made from a whitish clay."—_Riddell, Indian Domestic Economy_, 7th ed.,
p. 362.]

1883.—"They (tree-frogs) would perch pleasantly on the edge of the water
COOJA, or on the rim of a tumbler."—_Tribes on my Frontier_, 118.

COOK-ROOM, s. Kitchen; in Anglo-Indian establishments always detached from the house.

1758.—"We will not in future admit of any expenses being defrayed by the
Company either under the head of COOK-ROOMS, gardens, or other expenses
whatever."—_The Court's Letter_, March 3, in _Long_, 130.

1878.—"I was one day watching an old female monkey who had a young one by
her side to whom she was giving small bits of a piece of bread which she
had evidently just received from my COOK-ROOM."—_Life in the Mofussil_,
ii. 44.

COOLCURNEE, s. This is the title of the village accountant and writer in some of the central and western parts of India. Mahr. _kuḷkaraṇī_, apparently from _kuḷa_, 'tribe,' and _karaṇa_, writer, &c., the _patwārī_ of N. India (see under CRANNY, CURNUM). [_Kula_ "in the revenue language of the S. appears to be applied especially to families, or individual heads of families, paying revenue" (_Wilson_).]

c. 1590.—"... in this Soobah (Berar) ... a chowdry they call _Deysmuck_;
a _Canoongou_ with them is _Deyspandeh_; a _Mokuddem_ ... they style
_Putiel_; and a _Putwaree_ they name KULKURNEE."—_Gladwin's Ayeen
Akbery_, ii. 57; [ed. _Jarrett_, ii. 228].

[1826.—"You potails, COOLCUNNIES, &c., will no doubt ... contrive to reap
tolerable harvests."—_Pandurang Hari_, ed. 1873, ii. 47.]

COOLICOY, s. A Malay term, properly _kulit-kayu_, 'skin-wood,' explained in the quotation:

1784.—"The COOLITCAYO or COOLICOY.... This is a bark procured from some
particular trees. (It is used for matting the sides of houses, and by
Europeans as _dunnage_ in pepper cargoes.)"—_Marsden's H. of Sumatra_,
2nd ed. 51.

COOLIN, adj. A class of Brāhmans of Bengal Proper, who make extraordinary claims to purity of caste and exclusiveness. Beng. _kulīnas_, from Skt. _kula_, 'a caste or family,' _kulīna_, 'belonging to a noble family.' They are much sought in marriage for the daughters of Brāhmans of less exalted pretensions, and often take many brides for the sake of the presents they receive. The system is one of the greatest abuses in Bengali Hinduism. [_Risley, Tribes and Castes of Bengal_, i. 146 _seqq._]

1820.—"Some inferior KOOLĒĒNŬS marry many wives; I have heard of persons
having 120; many have 15 or 20, and others 40 and 50 each. Numbers
procure a subsistence by this excessive polygamy...."—_Ward_, i. 81.

COOLUNG, COOLEN, and in W. India CULLUM, s. Properly the great grey crane (_Grus cinerea_), H. _kulang_ (said by the dictionaries to be Persian, but Jerdon gives Mahr. _kallam_, and Tel. _kulangi_, _kolangi_, which seem against the Persian origin), [and Platts seems to connect it with Skt. _kurankara_, the Indian crane, _Ardea Sibirica_ (_Williams_)]. Great companies of these are common in many parts of India, especially on the sands of the less frequented rivers; and their clanging, trumpet-like call is often heard as they pass high overhead at night.

"Ille gruum ...
Clamor in aetheriis dispersus nubibus austri."
(_Lucr._ iv. 182 _seq._).

The name, in the form _Coolen_, is often misapplied to the Demoiselle Crane (_Anthropoides virgo_, L.), which is one of the best of Indian birds for the table (see _Jerdon_, ed. 1877, ii. 667, and last quotation below). The true _Coolung_, though inferior, is tolerably good eating. This bird, which is now quite unknown in Scotland, was in the 15th century not uncommon there, and was a favourite dish at great entertainments (see _Accts. of L. H. Treasurer of Scotland_, i. ccv.).

1698.—"Peculiarly Brand-geese, COLUM, and _Serass_, a species of the
former."—_Fryer_, 117.

c. 1809.—"Large flocks of a crane called KOLONG, and of another called
Saros (_Ardea Antigone_—see CYRUS), frequent this district in winter....
They come from the north in the beginning of the cold season, and retire
when the heats commence."—_Buchanan's Rungpoor_, in _Eastern India_, iii.
579.

1813.—"Peacocks, partridges, quails, doves, and green-pigeons supplied
our table, and with the addition of two stately birds, called the
_Sahras_ and CULLUM, added much to the animated beauty of the
country."—_Forbes, Or. Mem._ ii. 29; [2nd ed. i. 331].

1883.—"Not being so green as I was, I let the tempting herd of antelopes
pass, but the KULLUM I cannot resist. They are feeding in thousands at
the other end of a large field, and to reach them it will only be
necessary to crawl round behind the hedge for a quarter of a mile or so.
But what will one not do with roast KULLUM looming in the vista of the
future?"—_Tribes on my Frontier_, p. 162.

"*** N.B.—I have applied the word KULLUM, as everybody does, to the
demoiselle crane, which, however, is not properly the KULLUM but the
_Koonja_."—_Ibid._ p. 171.

COOLY, s. A hired labourer, or burden-carrier; and, in modern days especially, a labourer induced to emigrate from India, or from China, to labour in the plantations of Mauritius, Réunion, or the West Indies, sometimes under circumstances, especially in French colonies, which have brought the cooly's condition very near to slavery. In Upper India the term has frequently a specific application to the lower class of labourer who carries earth, bricks, &c., as distinguished from the skilled workman, and even from the digger.

The original of the word appears to have been a _nomen gentile_, the name (KOLĪ) of a race or caste in Western India, who have long performed such offices as have been mentioned, and whose savagery, filth, and general degradation attracted much attention in former times, [see _Hamilton, Descr. of Hindostan_ (1820), i. 609]. The application of the word would thus be analogous to that which has rendered the name of a _Slav_, captured and made a bondservant, the word for such a bondservant in many European tongues. According to Dr. H. V. Carter the _Kolīs_ proper are a true hill-people, whose especial locality lies in the Western Ghāts, and in the northern extension of that range, between 18° and 24° N. lat. They exist in large numbers in Guzerat, and in the Konkan, and in the adjoining districts of the Deccan, but not beyond these limits (see _Ind. Antiquary_, ii. 154). [But they are possibly kinsfolk of the _Kols_, an important Dravidian race in Bengal and the N.W.P. (see _Risley, T. and C. of Bengal_, ii. 101; _Crooke, T. C. of N.W.P._ iii. 294).] In the _Rās Mālā_ [ed. 1878, p. 78 _seqq._] the _Koolies_ are spoken of as a tribe who lived long near the Indus, but who were removed to the country of the Null (the Nal, a brackish lake some 40 m. S.W. of Ahmedabad) by the goddess Hinglāj.

Though this explanation of the general use of the term _Cooly_ is the most probable, the matter is perplexed by other facts which it is difficult to trace to the same origin. Thus in S. India there is a Tamil and Can. word _kūli_ in common use, signifying 'hire' or 'wages,' which Wilson indeed regards as the true origin of _Cooly_. [Oppert (_Orig. Inhab. of Bharatavarsa_, p. 131) adopts the same view, and disputing the connection of _Cooly_ with _Koli_ or _Kol_, regards the word as equivalent to 'hired servant' and originating in the English Factories on the E. coast.] Also in both Oriental and Osmanli Turkish _kol_ is a word for a slave, whilst in the latter also _kūleh_ means 'a male slave, a bondsman' (_Redhouse_). _Khol_ is in Tibetan also a word for a servant or slave (Note from A. Schiefner; see also Jäschke's _Tibetan Dict._, 1881, p. 59). But with this the Indian term seems to have no connection. The familiar use of _Cooly_ has extended to the Straits Settlements, Java, and China, as well as to all tropical and sub-tropical colonies, whether English or foreign.

In the quotations following, those in which the race is distinctly intended are marked with an *.

*1548.—"And for the duty from the COLÉS who fish at the sea-stakes and on
the river of Bacaim...."—_S. Botelho, Tombo_, 155.

*1553.—"Soltan Badur ... ordered those pagans to be seized, and if they
would not become Moors, to be flayed alive, saying that was all the
black-mail the COLLIJS should get from Champanel."—_Barros_, Dec. IV.
liv. v. cap. 7.

*1563.—"These COLLES ... live by robbing and thieving at this
day."—_Garcia_, f. 34.

*1584.—"I attacked and laid waste nearly fifty villages of the KOLÍS and
Grassias, and I built forts in seven different places to keep these
people in check."—_Ṭabaḳāt-i-Akbarī_, in _Elliot_, v. 447.

*1598.—"Others that yet dwell within the countrie called COLLES: which
_Colles_ ... doe yet live by robbing and stealing...."—_Linschoten_, ch.
xxvii.; [Hak. Soc. i. 166].

*1616.—"Those who inhabit the country villages are called COOLEES; these
till the ground and breed up cattle."—_Terry_, in _Purchas_; [ed. 1777,
p. 180].

*"The people called COLLEES or QUILLEES."—In _Purchas_, i. 436.

1630.—"The husbandmen or inferior sort of people called the
COULIES."—_Lord's Display_, &c., ch. xiii.

1638.—"He lent us horses to ride on, and COWLERS (which are Porters) to
carry our goods."—_W. Bruton_, in Hakl. v. 49.

In this form there was perhaps an indefinite suggestion of the
_cowl-staff_ used in carrying heavy loads.

1644.—"In these lands of Damam the people who dwell there as His
Majesty's Vassals are heathen, whom they call COLLIS, and all the
_Padres_ make great complaints that the owners of the _aldeas_ do not
look with favour on the conversion of these heathen COLLIS, nor do they
consent to their being made Christians, lest there thus may be hindrance
to the greater service which is rendered by them when they remain
heathen."—_Bocarro (Port. MS.)._

*1659.—"To relate how I got away from those Robbers, the KOULLIS ... how
we became good Friends by the means of my Profession of Physick ... I
must not insist upon to describe."—_Bernier_, E.T., p. 30; [ed.
_Constable_, 91].

*c. 1666.—"Nous rencontrâmes quantité de COLYS, qui sont gens d'une Caste
ou tribut des Gentils, qui n'ont point d'habitation arrêtée, mais qui
vont de village en village et portent avec eux tout leur
ménage."—_Thevenot_, v. 21.

*1673.—"The Inhabitants of Ramnagur are the Salvages called
COOLIES...."—_Fryer_, 161.

" "COOLIES, Frasses, and Holencores, are the Dregs of the
People."—_Ibid._ 194.

1680.—"... It is therefore ordered forthwith that the drum be beat to
call all COOLIES, carpenters...."—_Official Memo._ in _Wheeler_, i. 129.

*c. 1703.—"The Imperial officers ... sent ... ten or twelve _sardārs_,
with 13,000 or 14,000 horse, and 7,000 or 8,000 trained KOLÍS of that
country."—_Khāfī Khān_, in _Elliot_, vii. 375.

1711.—"The better sort of people travel in Palankeens, carry'd by six or
eight COOLEYS, whose Hire, if they go not far from Town, is threepence a
Day each."—_Lockyer_, 26.

1726.—"COELI'S. Bearers of all sorts of Burdens, goods, Andols (see
ANDOR) and Palankins...."—_Valentijn_, vol. v., _Names_, &c., 2.

*1727.—"Goga ... has had some Mud Wall Fortifications, which still defend
them from the Insults of their Neighbours the COULIES."—_A. Hamilton_, i.
141; [ed. 1744, i. 142].

1755.—"The Families of the COOLIES sent to the Negrais complain that Mr.
Brook has paid to the Head COOLEY what money those who died there left
behind them."—In _Long_, 54.

1785.—"... the officers were obliged to have their baggage transported
upon men's heads over an extent of upwards of 800 miles, at the rate of
5_l._ per month for every COULEY or porter employed."—_Carraccioli's L.
of Clive_, i. 243 _seq._

1789.—"If you should ask a common COOLY or porter, what cast he is of, he
will answer, the same as Master, _pariar-cast_."—_Munro's Narrative_, 29.

1791.—"... deux relais de vigoreux COULIS, ou porteurs, de quatre hommes
chacun...."—_B. de St. Pierre, La Chaumière Indienne_, 15.

[1798.—"The Resident hopes all distinctions between the COOLEY and
Portuguese inhabitants will be laid aside."—_Procl._ in _Logan, Malabar_,
iii. 302.]

*1813.—"Gudgerah, a large populous town surrounded by a wall, to protect
it from the depredations of the COOLEES, who are a very insolent set
among the numerous and probably indigenous tribes of freebooters, and
robbers in this part of India."—_Forbes, Orient. Mem._ iii. 63; [2nd ed.
ii. 160; also see i. 146].

1817.—"These (Chinese) emigrants are usually employed as COOLEES or
labourers on their first arrival (in Java)."—_Raffles, H. of Java_, i.
205.

*1820.—"In the profession of thieving the KOOLEES may be said to act _con
amore_. A KOOLEE of this order, meeting a defenceless person in a lane
about dusk, would no more think of allowing him to pass unplundered than
a Frenchman would a woman without bowing to her; it may be considered a
point of honour of the caste."—_Tr. Lit. Soc. Bo._ iii. 335.

*1825.—"The head man of the village said he was a _Kholee_, the name of a
degenerate race of Rajpoots in Guzerat, who from the low occupations in
which they are generally employed have (under the corrupt name of COOLIE)
given a name, probably through the medium of the Portuguese, to bearers
of burdens all over India."—_Heber_, ed. 1844, ii. 92.

1867.—"Bien que de race différente les COOLIES et les Chinois sont
comportés à peu-près de même."—_Quatrefages, Rapport sur le Progrès de
l'Anthropologie_, 219.

1871.—"I have hopes for the COOLIES in British Guiana, but it will be
more sure and certain when the immigration system is based on better
laws."—_Jenkins, The Coolie._

1873.—"The appellant, the Hon. Julian Pauncefote, is the Attorney-General
for the Colony (Hong Kong) and the respondent Hwoka-Sing is a COOLIE or
labourer, and a native of China."—_Report of Case before Jud. Com. of
Privy Council._

" "A man (Col. Gordon) who had wrought such wonders with means so
modest as a levy of COOLIES ... needed, we may be sure, only to be put to
the highest test to show how just those were who had marked him out in
his Crimean days as a youth whose extraordinary genius for war could not
be surpassed in the army that lay before Sebastopol."—_Sat. Review_, Aug.
16, 203.

1875.—"A long row of cottages, evidently pattern-built ... announced the
presence of COOLIES, Indian or Chinese."—_Palgrave, Dutch Guiana_, ch. i.

The word COOLY has passed into English thieves' jargon in the sense of 'a soldier' (v. _Slang Dict._).

COOMKEE, adj., used as _sub._ This is a derivative from P. _kumak_, 'aid,' and must have been widely diffused in India, for we find it specialised in different senses in the extreme West and East, besides having in both the general sense of 'auxiliary.'

[(A) In the Moghul army the term is used for auxiliary troops.

[c. 1590.—"Some troops are levied occasionally to strengthen the
_munsubs_, and they are called KUMMEKY (or auxiliaries)."—_Gladwin, Ayeen
Akbery_, ed. 1800, i. 188; in _Blochmann_, i. 232, KUMAKIS.

[1858.—"The great landholders despise them (the ordinary levies) but
respect the KOMUKEE corps...."—_Sleeman, Journey through Oudh_, i. 30.]

(B) KUMAKĪ, in N. and S. Canara, is applied to a defined portion of forest, from which the proprietor of the village or estate has the privilege of supplying himself with wood for house-building, &c. (except from the reserved kinds of wood), with leaves and twigs for manure, fodder, &c. (See COOMRY). [The system is described by _Sturrock, Man. S. Canara_, i. 16, 224 _seqq._]

(C). KOOMKEE, in Bengal, is the technical name of the female elephant used as a decoy in capturing a male.

1807.—"When an elephant is in a proper state to be removed from the
_Keddah_, he is conducted either by KOOMKIES (_i.e._ decoy females) or by
tame males."—_Williamson, Oriental Field Sports_, folio ed., p. 30.

[1873.—"It was an interesting sight to see the captive led in between two
KHOONKIES or tame elephants."—_Cooper, Mishmee Hills_, 88.

[1882.—"Attached to each elephant hunting party there must be a number of
tame elephants, or KOONKIES, to deal with the wild elephants when
captured."—_Sanderson, Thirteen Years_, 70.]

COOMRY, s. [Can. _kumari_, from Mahr. _kumbarī_, 'a hill slope of poor soil.'] _Kumari_ cultivation is the S. Indian (especially in Canara), [_Sturrock, S. Canara Man._ i. 17], appellation of that system pursued by hill-people in many parts of India and its frontiers, in which a certain tract of forest is cut down and burnt, and the ground planted with crops for one or two seasons, after which a new site is similarly treated. This system has many names in different regions; in the east of Bengal it it known as _jhūm_ (see JHOOM); in Burma as _tounggyan_; [in parts of the N.W.P. _dahya_, Skt. _daha_, 'burning'; _ponam_ in Malabar; _ponacaud_ in Salem]. We find _kumried_ as a quasi-English participle in a document quoted by the High Court, Bombay, in a judgment dated 27th January, 1879, p. 227.

1883.—"_Kumaki_ (COOMKEE) and KUMARI privileges stand on a very different
platform. The former are perfectly reasonable, and worthy of a civilised
country.... As for _Kumari_ privileges, they cannot be defended before
the tribunal of reason as being really good for the country, but old
custom is old custom, and often commands the respect of a wise government
even when it is indefensible."—_Mr. Grant Duff's Reply to an Address at
Mangalore, 15th October._

COONOOR, n.p. A hill-station in the Neilgherries. _Kuṇṇur_, 'Hill-Town.' [The _Madras Gloss._ gives Can. _Kunnūru_, Skt. _kunna_, 'small,' Can. _ūru_, 'village.']

COORG, n.p. A small hill State on the west of the table-land of Mysore, in which lies the source of the Cauvery, and which was annexed to the British Government, in consequence of cruel misgovernment in 1834. The name is a corruption of _Kŏḍagu_, of which Gundert says: "perhaps from _koḍu_, 'steep,' or Tamil _kaḍaga_, 'west.'" [For various other speculations on the derivation, see _Oppert, Original Inhabit._, 162 _seqq._ The _Madras Gloss._ seems to refer it to Skt. _kroḍadeśa_, 'hog-land,' from "the tradition that the inhabitants had nails on hands and feet like a boar."] _Coorg_ is also used for a native of the country, in which case it stands for _Kŏḍaga_.

COORSY, s. H.—from Ar.—_kursī_ [which is used for the stand on which the Koran is laid]. It is the word usually employed in Western India for 'a chair,' and is in the Bengal Presidency a more dignified term than _chaukī_ (see CHOKY). _Kursī_ is the Arabic form, borrowed from the Aramaic, in which the emphatic state is _kursĕyā_. But in Hebrew the word possesses a more original form with _ss_ for _rs_ (_kisse_, the usual word in the O. T. for 'a throne'). The original sense appears to be 'a covered seat.'

1781.—"It happened, at this time, that the Nawaub was seated on his
KOORSI, or chair, in a garden, beneath a banyan tree."—_Hist. of Hydur
Naik_, 452.

COOSUMBA, s. H. _kusum_, _kusumbha_, SAFFLOWER, q.v. But the name is applied in Rajputana and Guzerat to the tincture of opium, which is used freely by Rājputs and others in those territories; also (according to Shakespear) to an infusion of BANG (q.v.).

[1823.—"Several of the Rajpoot Princes West of the Chumbul seldom hold a
Durbar without presenting a mixture of liquid opium, or, as it is termed,
'KUSOOMBAH,' to all present. The minister washes his hands in a vessel
placed before the Rawul, after which some liquid opium is poured into the
palm of his right hand. The first in rank who may be present then
approaches and drinks the liquid."—_Malcolm, Mem. of Central India_, 2d
ed. ii. 146, note.]

COOTUB, THE, n.p. The _Ḳuṭb Minār_, near Delhi, one of the most remarkable of Indian architectural antiquities, is commonly so called by Europeans. It forms the minaret of the Great Mosque, now long in ruins, which Ḳuṭb-uddīn Ībak founded A.D. 1191, immediately after the capture of Delhi, and which was built out of the materials of numerous Hindu temples, as is still manifest. According to the elaborate investigation of Gen. A. Cunningham [_Arch. Rep._ i. 189 _seqq._], the magnificent Minār was begun by Ḳuṭb-uddīn Ībak about 1200, and completed by his successor Shamsuddīn Iyaltimish about 1220. The tower has undergone, in its upper part, various restorations. The height as it now stands is 238 feet 1 inch. The traditional name of the tower no doubt had reference to the name of its founder, but also there may have been a reference to the contemporary Saint, Ḳuṭb-uddīn Ūshī, whose tomb is close by; and perhaps also to the meaning of the name Ḳuṭb-uddīn, 'The Pole or Axle of the Faith,' as appropriate to such a structure.

c. 1330.—"Attached to the mosque (of Delhi) is a tower for the call to
prayer which has no equal in the whole world. It is built of red stone,
with about 360 steps. It is not square, but has a great number of angles,
is very massive at the base, and very lofty, equalling the Pharos of
Alexandria."—_Abulfeda_, in _Gildemeister_, 190.

c. 1340.—"In the northern court of the mosque stands the minaret
(_al-ṣauma'a_), which is without a parallel in all the countries of
Islām.... It is of surpassing height; the pinnacle is of milk-white
marble, and the globes which decorate it are of pure gold. The aperture
of the staircase is so wide that elephants can ascend, and a person on
whom I could rely told me that when the minaret was a-building, he saw an
elephant ascend to the very top with a load of stones."—_Ibn Batuta_,
iii. 151.

The latter half of the last quotation is fiction.

1663.—"At two Leagues off the City on Agra's side, in a place by the
Mahumetans called _Koja Kotubeddine_, there is a very ancient Edifice
which hath been a Temple of Idols...."—_Bernier_, E.T. 91.

It is evident from this that Bernier had not then visited the _Ḳuṭb_.
[Constable in his tr. reads "_Koia Kotub-eddine_," by which he
understands _Koh-i-Ḳuṭab-uddīn_, the hill or eminence of the Saint, p.
283.]

1825.—"I will only observe that the CUTTAB Minar ... is really the finest
tower I have ever seen, and must, when its spire was complete, have been
still more beautiful."—_Heber_, ed. 1844, i. 308.

COPECK, s. This is a Russian coin, 1/100 of a ruble. The degeneration of coin denominations is often so great that we may suspect this name to preserve that of the _dīnār Kopekī_ often mentioned in the histories of Timur and his family. _Kopek_ is in Turki, 'dog,' and Charmoy explains the term as equivalent to _Abū-kalb_, 'Father of a dog,' formerly applied in Egypt to Dutch crowns (_Löwenthaler_) bearing a lion. There could not be Dutch coins in Timur's time, but some other Frank coin bearing a lion may have been so called, probably Venetian. A Polish coin with a lion on it was called by a like name (see _Macarius_, quoted below, p. 169). Another etymology of kopek suggested (in _Chaudoir, Aperçu des Monnaies Russes_) is from Russ. _kopié_, _kopyé_, a pike, many old Russian coins representing the Prince on horseback with a spear. [This is accepted by the _N.E.D._] KOPEKS are mentioned in the reign of Vassili III., about the middle of the 15th century, but only because regularly established in the coinage c. 1536. [See TANGA.]

1390.—(Timour resolved) "to visit the venerated tomb of Sheikh Maslahat
... and with that intent proceeded to Tāshkand ... he there distributed
as alms to worthy objects, 10,000 _dīnārs_ KOPAKĪ...."—_Sharīfuddīn_, in
Extracts by _M. Charmoy, Mem. Acad. St. P._, vi. S., tome iii. p. 363,
also note, p. 135.

1535.—"It was on this that the Grand Duchess Helena, mother of Ivan
Vassilievitch, and regent in his minority, ordered, in 1535, that these
new _Dengui_ should be melted down and new ones struck, at the rate of
300 _dengui_, or 3 Roubles of Moscow à la grivenka, in KOPEKS.... From
that time accounts continued to be kept in _Roubles_, KOPEKS, and
_Dengui_."—_Chaudoir, Aperçu._

c. 1655.—"The pension in lieu of provisions was, for our Lord the
Patriarch 25 COPECKS daily."—_Travels of the Patriarch Macarius_, Or. Tr.
Fund, i. 281.

1783.—"The COPECK of Russia, a copper coin, in name and apparently in
value, is the same which was current in Tartary during the reign of
Timur."—_Forster's Journey_, ed. 1808, ii. 332.

COPPERSMITH, s. Popular name both in H. (_tambayat_) and English of the crimson-breasted barbet (_Xantholaema indica_, Latham). See the quotation from Jerdon.

1862.—"It has a remarkably loud note, which sounds like _took-took-took_,
and this it generally utters when seated on the top of some tree, nodding
its head at each call, first to one side and then to another.... This
sound and the motion of its head, accompanying it, have given origin to
the name of 'COPPERSMITH.'..."—_Jerdon_, ed. 1877, i. 316.

1879.—

"... In the mango-sprays
The sun-birds flashed; alone at his green forge
Toiled the loud COPPERSMITH...."
_The Light of Asia_, p. 20.

1883.—"For the same reason _mynas_ seek the tope, and the 'blue jay,'
so-called, and the little green COPPERSMITH hooting
ventriloquistically."—_Tribes on my Frontier_, 154.

COPRAH, s. The dried kernel of the coco-nut, much used for the expression of its oil, and exported largely from the Malabar ports. The Portuguese probably took the word from the Malayāl. _koppara_, which is, however, apparently borrowed from the H. _khoprā_, of the same meaning. The latter is connected by some with _khapnā_, 'to dry up.' Shakespear however, more probably, connects _khoprā_, as well as _khoprī_, 'a skull, a shell,' and _khappar_, 'a skull,' with Skt. _kharpara_, having also the meaning of 'skull.' Compare with this a derivation which we have suggested (s.v.) as possible of COCO from old Fr. and Span. _coque_, _coco_, 'a shell'; and with the slang use of _coco_ there mentioned.

1563.—"And they also dry these cocos ... and these dried ones they call
COPRA, and they carry them to Ormuz, and to the Balaghat."—_Garcia,
Colloq._ f. 68_b_.

1578.—"The kernel of these cocos is dried in the sun, and is called
COPRA.... From this same _copra_ oil is made in presses, as we make it
from olives."—_Acosta_, 104.

1584.—"CHOPRA, from Cochin and Malabar...."—_Barret_, in _Hakl._ ii. 413.

1598.—"The other Oyle is prest out of the dried Cocus, which is called
COPRA...."—_Linschoten_, 101. See also (1602), _Couto_, Dec. I. liv. iv.
cap. 8; (1606) _Gouvea_, f. 62_b_; [(1610) _Pyrard de Laval_, Hak. Soc.
ii. 384 (reading _kuppara_ for _suppara_);] (c. 1690) _Rumphius, Herb.
Amb._ i. 7.

1727.—"That tree (coco-nut) produceth ... COPERA, or the Kernels of the
Nut dried, and out of these Kernels there is a very clear Oil
exprest."—_A. Hamilton_, i. 307; [ed. 1744, i. 308].

1860.—"The ordinary estimate is that one thousand full-grown nuts of
Jaffna will yield 525 pounds of COPRA when dried, which in turn will
produce 25 gallons of cocoa-nut oil."—_Tennent, Ceylon_, ii. 531.

1878.—It appears from Lady Brassey's _Voyage in the Sunbeam_ (5th ed.
248) that this word is naturalised in Tahiti.

1883.—"I suppose there are but few English people outside the trade who
know what COPRA is; I will therefore explain:—it is the white pith of the
ripe cocoa-nut cut into strips and dried in the sun. This is brought to
the trader (at New Britain) in baskets varying from 3 to 20 lbs. in
weight; the payment ... was a thimbleful of beads for each pound of
copra.... The nut is full of oil, and on reaching Europe the copra is
crushed in mills, and the oil pressed from it ... half the oil sold as
'olive-oil' is really from the cocoa-nut."—_Wilfred Powell, Wanderings in
a Wild Country_, p. 37.

CORAL-TREE, s. _Erythrina indica_, Lam., so called from the rich scarlet colour of its flowers.

[1860.—"There are ... two or three species of the genus _Erythrina_ or
CORAL TREE. A small species of _Erythrina_, with reddish flowers, is
famous in Buddhist mythology as the tree around which the Devas dance
till they are intoxicated in Sudra's (? Indra's) heaven." _Mason's
Burmah_, p. 531.—_McMahon, Karens of the Golden Chersonese_, p. 11.]

CORCOPALI, s. This is the name of a fruit described by Varthema, Acosta, and other old writers, the identity of which has been the subject of much conjecture. It is in reality the _Garcinia indica_, Choisy (N. O. _Guttiferae_), a tree of the Concan and Canara, which belongs to the same genus as the mangosteen, and as the tree affording the gamboge (see CAMBOJA) of commerce. It produces an agreeable, acid, purple fruit, which the Portuguese call _brindões_. From the seeds a fatty oil is drawn, known as _kokun butter_. The name in Malayāl. is _koḍukka_, and this possibly, with the addition of _puli_, 'acid,' gave rise to the name before us. It is stated in the _English Cyclopaedia_ (_Nat. Hist._ s.v. _Garcinia_) that in Travancore the fruit is called by the natives _gharka pulli_, and in Ceylon _goraka_. Forbes Watson's 'List of Indian Productions' gives as synonyms of the _Garcinia cambogia_ tree '_karka-puliemaram?_' Tam.; '_kurka-pulie_,' Mal.; and '_goraka-gass_,' Ceyl. [The _Madras Gloss._ calls it _Mate mangosteen_, a ship term meaning 'cook-room mangosteen'; Can. _murginahuli_, 'twisted tamarind'; Mal. _punampuli_, 'stiff tamarind.'] The _Cyclopædia_ also contains some interesting particulars regarding the uses in Ceylon of the _goraka_. But this Ceylon tree is a different species (_G. Gambogia_, Desrous). Notwithstanding its name it does not produce gamboge; its gum being insoluble in water. A figure of _G. indica_ is given in _Beddome's Flora Sylvatica_, pl. lxxxv. [A full account of _Kokam butter_ will be found in _Watt, Econ. Dict._ iii. 467 _seqq._]

1510.—"Another fruit is found here fashioned like a melon, and it has
divisions after that manner, and when it is cut, three or four grains
which look like grapes, or birdcherries, are found inside. The tree which
bears this fruit is of the height of a quince tree, and forms its leaves
in the same manner. This fruit is called CORCOPAL; it is extremely good
for eating, and excellent as a medicine."—_Varthema_ (transl. modified
from), Hak. Soc. 167.

1578.—"CARCAPULI is a great tree, both lofty and thick; its fruit is in
size and aspect like an orange without a rind, all divided in
lobes...."—_Acosta, Tractado_, 357.

(This author gives a tolerable cut of the fruit; there is an inferior
plate in Debry, iv. No. xvii.).

1672.—"The plant CARCAPULI is peculiar to Malabar.... The ripe fruit is
used as ordinary food; the unripe is cut in pieces and dried in the sun,
and is then used all the year round to mix in dishes, along with
tamarind, having an excellent flavour, of a tempered acidity, and of a
very agreeable and refreshing odour. The form is nearly round, of the
size of an apple, divided into eight equal lobes of a yellow colour,
fragrant and beautiful, and with another little fruitlet attached to the
extremity, which is perfectly round," &c., &c.—_P. Vincenzo Maria_, 356.