Chapter XXX: Preface: TO SECOND EDITION xi (27)

1848.—"The youngsters among the passengers, young Chaffers of the 150th,
and poor little Ricketts, coming home after his third fever, used to draw
out Sedley at the CUDDY-table, and make him tell prodigious stories about
himself and his exploits against tigers and Napoleon."—_Vanity Fair_, ed.
1867, ii. 255.

CULGEE, s. A jewelled plume surmounting the _sirpesh_ or aigrette upon the turban. Shakespear gives _kalghī_ as a Turki word. [Platts gives _kalghā_, _kalghī_, and refers it to Skt. _kalaśa_, 'a spire.']

c. 1514.—"In this manner the people of Bârân catch great numbers of
herons. The KILKI-_saj_ ['Plumes worn on the cap or turban on great
occasions.' Also see _Punjab Trade Report_, App., p. ccxv.] are of the
heron's feathers."—_Baber_, 154.

1715.—"John Surman received a vest and CULGEE set with precious
stones."—_Wheeler_, ii. 246.

1759.—"To present to Omed Roy, viz.:—

1 CULGAH 1200 0 0
1 Surpage (_sirpesh_, or aigrette) 600 0 0
1 Killot (see KILLUT) 250 0 0"

—_Expenses of Nabob's Entertainment._ In _Long_, 193.

1786.—"Three KULGIES, three _Surpaishes_ (see SIRPECH), and three
_Puduks_ (?) [_padak_, H. 'a badge, a flat piece of gold, a neck
ornament'] of the value of 36,320 rupees have been despatched to you in a
casket."—_Tippoo's Letters_, 263.

[1892.—Of a Banjara ox—"Over the beast's forehead is a shaped frontlet of
cotton cloth bordered with patterns in colour with pieces of mirror sewn
in, and crowned by a KALGI or aigrette of peacock feather tips."—_L.
Kipling, Beast and Man in India_, 147.

[The word was also applied to a rich silk cloth imported from India.

[1714.—In a list of goods belonging to sub-governors of the South Sea
C.—"A pair of CULGEE window curtains."—2 _ser._ _Notes & Q._ VI. 244.]

CULMUREEA, KOORMUREEA, s. Nautical H. _kalmarīya_, 'a calm,' taken direct from Port. _calmaria_ (_Roebuck_).

CULSEY, s. According to the quotation a weight of about a CANDY (q.v.). We have traced the word, which is rare, also in Prinsep's Tables (ed. _Thomas_, p. 115), as a measure in Bhūj, _kalsī_. And we find R. Drummond gives it: "_Kulsee_ or _Culsy_ (Guz.). A weight of sixteen maunds" (the Guzerat maunds are about 40 lbs., therefore _kalsi_ = about 640 lbs.). [The word is probably Skt. _kalaśi_, 'a water jar,' and hence a grain measure. The _Madras Gloss._ gives Can. _kalasi_ as a measure of capacity holding 14 SEERS.]

1813.—"So plentiful are mangos ... that during my residence in Guzerat
they were sold in the public markets for one rupee the CULSEY; or 600
pounds in English weight."—_Forbes, Orient. Mem._ i. 30; [2d. ed. i. 20].

CUMBLY, CUMLY, CUMMUL, s. A blanket; a coarse woollen cloth. Skt. _kambala_, appearing in the vernaculars in slightly varying forms, _e.g._ H. _kamlī_. Our first quotation shows a curious attempt to connect this word with the Arab. _ḥammāl_, 'a porter' (see HUMMAUL), and with the camel's hair of John Baptist's raiment. The word is introduced into Portuguese as _cambolim_, 'a cloak.'

c. 1350.—"It is customary to make of those fibres wet-weather mantles for
those rustics whom they call _camalls_,[99] whose business it is to carry
burdens, and also to carry men and women on their shoulders in palankins
(_lecticis_).... A garment, such as I mean, of this CAMALL cloth (and not
camel cloth) I wore till I got to Florence.... No doubt the raiment of
John the Baptist was of that kind. For, as regards _camel's hair_, it is,
next to silk, the softest stuff in the world, and never could have been
meant...."—_John Marignolli_, in _Cathay_, 366.

1606.—"We wear nothing more frequently than those CAMBOLINS."—_Gouvea_,
f. 132.

[c. 1610.—"Of it they make also good store of cloaks and capes, called by
the Indians _Mansaus_, and by the Portuguese 'Ormus CAMBALIS.'"—_Pyrard
de Laval_, Hak. Soc. ii. 240.]

1673.—"Leaving off to wonder at the natives quivering and quaking after
Sunset wrapping themselves in a COMBLY or Hair-Cloth."—_Fryer_, 54.

1690.—"CAMLEES, which are a sort of Hair Coat made in
Persia...."—_Ovington_, 455.

1718.—"But as a body called the CAMMUL-poshes, or blanket wearers, were
going to join Qhandaoran, their commander, they fell in with a body of
troops of Mahratta horse, who forbade their going further."—_Seir
Mutaqherin_, i. 143.

1781.—"One COMLEY as a covering ... 4 _fanams_, 6 _dubs_, 0
_cash_."—_Prison Expenses_ of Hon. J. Lindsay, _Lives of Lindsays_, iii.

1798.—"... a large black KUMMUL, or blanket."—_G. Forster, Travels_, i.
194.

1800.—"One of the old gentlemen, observing that I looked very hard at his
CUMLY, was alarmed lest I should think he possessed numerous flocks of
sheep."—Letter of _Sir T. Munro_, in _Life_, i. 281.

1813.—Forbes has CAMELEENS.—_Or. Mem._ i. 195; [2d. ed. i. 108].

CUMMERBUND, s. A girdle. H. from P. _kamar-band_, _i.e._ 'loin-band.' Such an article of dress is habitually worn by domestic servants, peons, and irregular troops; but any waist-belt is so termed.

[1534.—"And tying on a CUMMERBUND (_camarabando_) of yellow
silk."—_Correa_, iii. 588. _Camarabandes_ in _Dalboquerque, Comm._, Hak.
Soc. iv. 104.]

1552.—"The Governor arriving at Goa received there a present of a rich
cloth of Persia which is called COMARBÃDOS, being of gold and
silk."—_Castanheda_, iii. 396.

1616.—"The nobleman of Xaxma sent to have a sample of gallie pottes,
jugges, podingers, lookinglasses, table bookes, chint bramport, and
COMBARBANDS, with the prices."—_Cocks's Diary_, i. 147.

1638.—"Ils serrent la veste d'vne ceinture, qu'ils appellent
COMMERBANT."—_Mandelslo_, 223.

1648.—"In the middle they have a well adjusted girdle, called a
COMMERBANT."—_Van Twist_, 55.

1727.—"They have also a fine Turband, embroidered Shoes, and a Dagger of
Value, stuck into a fine CUMMERBAND, or Sash."—_A. Hamilton_, i. 229;
[ed. 1744, ii. 233].

1810.—"They generally have the turbans and CUMMER-BUNDS of the same
colour, by way of livery."—_Williamson, V. M._ i. 274.

[1826.—"My white coat was loose, for want of a KUMBERBUND."—_Pandurang
Hari_, ed. 1873, i. 275.]

1880.—"... The Punjab seems to have found out Manchester. A meeting of
native merchants at Umritsur ... describes the effects of a shower of
rain on the English-made turbans and KUMMERBUNDS as if their heads and
loins were enveloped by layers of starch."—_Pioneer Mail_, June 17.

CUMQUOT, s. The fruit of _Citrus japonica_, a miniature orange, often sent in jars of preserved fruits, from China. _Kumkwat_ is the Canton pronunciation of _kin-kü_, 'gold orange,' the Chinese name of the fruit.

CUMRA, s. H. _kamrā_, from Port. _camara_; a chamber, a cabin. [In Upper India the drawing-room is the _gol kamrā_, so called because one end of it is usually semi-circular.]

CUMRUNGA, s. See CARAMBOLA.

CUMSHAW, s. Chin. Pigeon-English for BUCKSHEESH (q.v.), or a present of any kind. According to Giles it is the Amoy pron. (_kam-siā_) of two characters signifying 'grateful thanks.' Bp. Moule suggests _kan-siu_ (or Cantonese) _kăm-sau_, 'thank-gift.'

1879.—"... they pressed upon us, blocking out the light, uttering
discordant cries, and clamouring with one voice, KUM-SHA, _i.e._
backsheesh, looking more like demons than living men."—_Miss Bird's
Golden Chersonese_, 70.

1882.—"As the ship got under weigh, the Compradore's CUMSHAS, according
to 'olo custom,' were brought on board ... dried lychee, Nankin dates ...
baskets of oranges, and preserved ginger."—_The Fankwae_, 103.

CUNCHUNEE, s. H. _kanchanī_. A dancing-girl. According to Shakespear, this is the feminine of a caste, _Kanchan_, whose women are dancers. But there is doubt as to this: [see Crooke, _Tribes and Castes, N.W.P._ iv. 364, for the _Kanchan_ caste.] _Kanchan_ is 'gold'; also a yellow pigment, which the women may have used; see quot. from Bernier. [See DANCING-GIRL.]

[c. 1590.—"The Kanjari; the men of this class play the Pakhāwaj, the
Rabāb, and the Tāla, while the women sing and dance. His Majesty calls
them KANCHANIS."—_Āīn_, ed. _Jarrett_, iii. 257.]

c. 1660.—"But there is one thing which seems to me a little too
extravagant ... the publick Women, I mean not those of the Bazar, but
those more retired and considerable ones that go to the great marriages
at the houses of the _Omrahs_ and Mansebdars to sing and dance, those
that are called KENCHEN, as if you should say the _guilded_ the
_blossoming_ ones...."—_Bernier_, E.T. 88; [ed. _Constable_, 273 _seq._].

c. 1661.—"On regala dans le Serrail, toutes ces Dames Etrangères, de
festins et des dances des QUENCHENIES, qui sont des femmes et des filles
d'une Caste de ce nom, qui n'ont point d'autre profession que celle de la
danse."—_Thevenot_, v. 151.

1689.—"And here the Dancing Wenches, or QUENCHENIES, entertain you, if
you please."—_Ovington_, 257.

1799.—"In the evening the CANCHANIS ... have exhibited before the Prince
and court."—Diary in _Life of Colebrooke_, 153.

1810.—"The dancing-women are of different kinds ... the _Meeraseens_
never perform before assemblies of men.... The KUNCHENEE are of an
opposite stamp; they dance and sing for the amusement of the male
sex."—_Williamson, V. M._ i. 386.

CURIA MURIA, n.p. The name of a group of islands off the S.E. coast of Arabia (_Kharyān Maryān_, of Edrisi).

1527.—"Thus as they sailed, the ship got lost upon the shore of Fartaque
in (the region of) CURIA MURIA; and having swum ashore they got along in
company of the Moors by land to Calayata, and thence on to
Ormuz."—_Correa_, iii. 562; see also i. 366.

c. 1535.—"Dopo Adem è Fartaque, e le isole CURIA, MURIA...."—_Sommario
de' Regni_, in _Ramusio_, f. 325.

1540.—"We letted not to discover the Isles of CURIA, MURIA, and
_Avedalcuria_ (in orig. _Abedalcuria_)."—_Mendez Pinto_, E.T. p. 4.

[1553.—See quotation under ROSALGAT.]

1554.—"... it is necessary to come forth between Súkara and the islands
KHÚR or MÚRIA (_Khōr Mōriyā_)."—_The Mohit_, in _Jour. As. Soc. Beng._ v.
459.

[1833.—"The next place to Saugra is KOORYA MOORYA BAY, which is
extensive, and has good soundings throughout; the islands are named
Jibly, Hallanny, Soda, and Haskee."—_Owen, Narr._ i. 348.]

1834.—"The next place to Saugra is KOORYA MOORYA Bay."—_J. R. Geog. Soc._
ii. 208.

CURNUM, s. Tel. _karaṇamu_; a village accountant, a town-clerk. Acc. to Wilson from Skt. _karaṇa_; (see CRANNY). [It corresponds to the Tam. _kanakan_ (see CONICOPOLY).]

1827.—"Very little care has been taken to preserve the survey accounts.
Those of several villages are not to be found. Of the remainder only a
small share is in the Collector's cutcherry, and the rest is in the hands
of CURNUMS, written on CADJANS."—_Minute by Sir T. Munro_, in
_Arbuthnot_, i. 285.

CUROUNDA, s. H. _karaundā_. A small plum-like fruit, which makes good jelly and tarts, and which the natives pickle. It is borne by _Carissa carandas_, L., a shrub common in many parts of India (N.O. _Apocynaceae_).

[1870.—Riddell gives a receipt for KURUNDER jelly, _Ind. Dom. Econ._
338.]

[CURRIG JEMA, adj. A corr. of H. _khārij jama_, "separated or detached from the rental of the State, as lands exempt from rent, or of which the revenue has been assigned to individuals or institutions" (_Wilson_).

[1687.—"... that whenever they have a mind to build Factorys, satisfying
for the land where it was CURRIG JEMA, that is over measure, not entred
in the King's books, or paying the usuall and accustomed Rent, no
Government should molest them."—_Yule, Hedges, Diary_, Hak. Soc. ii.
lxiii.]

CURRUMSHAW HILLS, n.p. This name appears in Rennell's Bengal Atlas, applied to hills in the Gaya district. It is ingeniously supposed by F. Buchanan to have been a mistake of the geographer's, in taking _Karna-Chaupār_ ('Karna's place of meeting or teaching'), the name of an ancient ruin on the hills in question, for _Karnachau Pahār_ (_Pahār_ = Hill).—(_Eastern India_, i. 4).

CURRY, s. In the East the staple food consists of some cereal, either (as in N. India) in the form of flour baked into unleavened cakes, or boiled in the grain, as rice is. Such food having little taste, some small quantity of a much more savoury preparation is added as a relish, or 'kitchen,' to use the phrase of our forefathers. And this is in fact the proper office of _curry_ in native diet. It consists of meat, fish, fruit, or vegetables, cooked with a quantity of bruised spices and turmeric [see MUSSALLA]; and a little of this gives a flavour to a large mess of rice. The word is Tam. _kari_, _i.e._ 'sauce'; [_kari_, v. 'to eat by biting']. The Canarese form _karil_ was that adopted by the Portuguese, and is still in use at Goa. It is remarkable in how many countries a similar dish is habitual; _pilāo_ [see PILLAU] is the analogous mess in Persia, and _kuskussu_ in Algeria; in Egypt a dish well known as _ruzz mufalfal_ [Lane, _Mod. Egypt._, ed. 1871, i. 185], or "peppered rice." In England the proportions of rice and "kitchen" are usually reversed, so that the latter is made to constitute the bulk of the dish.

The oldest indication of the Indian cuisine in this kind, though not a very precise one, is cited by Athenaeus from Megasthenes: "Among the Indians, at a banquet, a table is set before each individual ... and on the table is placed a golden dish on which they throw, first of all, boiled rice ... and then they add many sorts of meat dressed after the Indian fashion" (_Athen._, by _Yonge_, iv. 39). The earliest precise mention of _curry_ is in the Mahavanso (c. A.D. 477), where it is said of Kassapo that "he partook of rice dressed in butter, with its full accompaniment of _curries_." This is Turnour's translation, the original Pali being _sūpa_.

It is possible, however, that the kind of _curry_ used by Europeans and Mahommedans is not of purely Indian origin, but has come down from the spiced cookery of medieval Europe and Western Asia. The medieval spiced dishes in question were even coloured like curry. Turmeric, indeed, called by Garcia de Orta, _Indian saffron_, was yet unknown in Europe, but it was represented by saffron and sandalwood. A notable incident occurs in the old English poem of King Richard, wherein the Lion-heart feasts on the head of a Saracen—

"soden full hastily
With powder and with spysory,
And with saffron of good colour."

Moreover, there is hardly room for doubt that _capsicum_ or red pepper (see CHILLY) was introduced into India by the Portuguese (see _Hanbury and Flückiger_, 407); and this spice constitutes the most important ingredient in modern curries. The Sanskrit books of cookery, which cannot be of any considerable antiquity, contain many recipes for curry without this ingredient. A recipe for curry (_caril_) is given, according to Bluteau, in the Portuguese _Arte de Cozinha_, p. 101. This must be of the 17th century.

It should be added that _kari_ was, among the people of S. India, the name of only one form of 'kitchen' for rice, viz. of that in consistency resembling broth, as several of the earlier quotations indicate. Europeans have applied it to all the savoury concoctions of analogous spicy character eaten with rice. These may be divided into three classes—viz. (1), that just noticed; (2), that in the form of a stew of meat, fish or vegetables; (3), that called by Europeans 'dry curry.' These form the successive courses of a Hindu meal in S. India, and have in the vernaculars several discriminating names.

In Java the Dutch, in their employment of curry, keep much nearer to the original Hindu practice. At a breakfast, it is common to hand round with the rice a dish divided into many sectoral spaces, each of which contains a different kind of curry, more or less liquid.

According to the _Fankwae at Canton_ (1882), the word is used at the Chinese ports (we presume in talking with Chinese servants) in the form KĀĀRLE (p. 62).

1502.—"Then the Captain-major commanded them to cut off the hands and
ears of all the crews, and put all that into one of the small vessels,
into which he ordered them to put the friar, also without ears or nose or
hands, which he ordered to be strung round his neck with a palm-leaf for
the King, on which he told him to have a curry (CARIL) made to eat of
what his friar brought him."—_Correa, Three Voyages_, Hak. Soc. 331. The
"Friar" was a Brahman, in the dress of a friar, to whom the odious
ruffian Vasco da Gama had given a safe-conduct.

1563.—"They made dishes of fowl and flesh, which they call
CARIL."—_Garcia_, f. 68.

c. 1580.—"The victual of these (renegade soldiers) is like that of the
barbarous people; that of Moors all bringe [_birinj_, 'rice']; that of
Gentoos rice-CARRIL."—_Primor e Honra_, &c., f. 9_v_.

1598.—"Most of their fish is eaten with rice, which they seeth in broth,
which they put upon the rice, and is somewhat soure, as if it were sodden
in gooseberries, or unripe grapes, but it tasteth well, and is called
CARRIEL [v.l. CARRIIL], which is their daily meat."—_Linschoten_, 88;
[Hak. Soc. ii. 11]. This is a good description of the ordinary tamarind
curry of S. India.

1606.—"Their ordinary food is boiled rice with many varieties of certain
soups which they pour upon it, and which in those parts are commonly
called CARIL."—_Gouvea_, 61_b_.

1608-1610.—"... me disoit qu'il y auoit plus de 40 ans, qu'il estoit
esclaue, et auoit gagné bon argent à celuy qui le possedoit; et toute
fois qu'il ne luy donnoit pour tout viure qu'vne mesure de riz cru par
iour sans autre chose ... et quelquefois deux _baseruques_, qui sont
quelque deux deniers (see BUDGROOK), pour auoir du CARIL à mettre auec le
riz."—_Mocquet, Voyages_, 337.

1623.—"In India they give the name of CARIL to certain messes made with
butter, with the kernel of the coco-nut (in place of which might be used
in our part of the world milk of almonds) ... with spiceries of every
kind, among the rest cardamom and ginger ... with vegetables, fruits, and
a thousand other condiments of sorts; ... and the Christians, who eat
everything, put in also flesh or fish of every kind, and sometimes eggs
... with all which things they make a kind of broth in the fashion of our
_guazzetti_ (or hotch-potches) ... and this broth with all the said
condiments in it they pour over a good quantity of rice boiled simply
with water and salt, and the whole makes a most savoury and substantial
mess."—_P. della Valle_, ii. 709; [Hak. Soc. ii. 328.]

1681.—"Most sorts of these delicious Fruits they gather before they be
ripe, and boyl them to make CARREES, to use the Portuguese word, that is
somewhat to eat with and relish their Rice."—_Knox_, p. 12. This perhaps
indicates that the English _curry_ is formed from the Port. _caris_,
plural of _caril_.

c. 1690.—"Curcuma in Indiâ tam ad cibum quam ad medecinam adhibetur, Indi
enim ... adeo ipsi adsueti sunt ut cum cunctis admiscent condimentis et
piscibus, praesertim autem isti quod KARRI ipsis vocatur."—_Rumphius_,
Pars Vta. p. 166.

c. 1759-60.—"The CURREES are infinitely various, being a sort of
fricacees to eat with rice, made of any animals or vegetables."—_Grose_,
i. 150.

1781.—"To-day have CURRY and rice for my dinner, and plenty of it as C——,
my messmate, has got the gripes, and cannot eat his share."—_Hon. J.
Lindsay's Imprisonment_, in _Lives of Lindsays_, iii. 296.

1794-97.—

"The Bengal squad he fed so wondrous nice,
Baring his CURRIE took, and Scott his rice."
_Pursuits of Literature_, 5th ed., p. 287.

This shows that CURRY was not a domesticated dish in England at the date
of publication. It also is a sample of what the wit was that ran through
so many editions!

c. 1830.—"J'ai substitué le lait à l'eau pour boisson ... c'est une sorte
de contre-poison pour l'essence de feu que forme la sauce enragée de mon
sempiternel CARI."—_Jacquemont, Correspondance_, i. 196.

1848.—"Now we have seen how Mrs. Sedley had prepared a fine CURRY for her
son."—_Vanity Fair_, ch. iv.

1860.—"... Vegetables, and especially farinaceous food, are especially to
be commended. The latter is indeed rendered attractive by the unrivalled
excellence of the Singhalese in the preparation of innumerable CURRIES,
each tempered by the delicate creamy juice expressed from the flesh of
the cocoa-nut, after it has been reduced to a pulp."—_Tennent's Ceylon_,
i. 77. N.B. Tennent is misled in supposing (i. 437) that chillies are
mentioned in the Mahavanso. The word is _maricha_, which simply means
"pepper," and which Turnour has translated erroneously (p. 158).

1874.—"The craving of the day is for quasi-intellectual food, not less
highly peppered than the CURRIES which gratify the faded stomach of a
returned Nabob."—_Blackwood's Magazine_, Oct. 434.

The Dutch use the word as KERRIE or KARRIE; and KARI à _l'Indienne_ has a place in French cartes.

CURRY-STUFF, s. Onions, chillies, &c.; the usual material for preparing curry, otherwise MUSSALLA (q.v.), represented in England by the preparations called _curry-powder_ and _curry-paste_.

1860.—"... with plots of esculents and CURRY-STUFFS of every variety,
onions, chillies, yams, cassavas, and sweet potatoes."—_Tennent's
Ceylon_, i. 463.

CUSBAH, s. Ar.—H. _ḳaṣba_, _ḳaṣaba_; the chief place of a PERGUNNAH (q.v.).

1548.—"And the CAÇABE of _Tanaa_ is rented at 4450 _pardaos_."—_S.
Botelho, Tombo_, 150.

[c. 1590.—"In the fortieth year of his Majesty's reign, his dominions
consisted of one hundred and five _Sircars_, sub-divided into two
thousand seven hundred and thirty-seven KUSBAHS."—_Ayeen_, tr. _Gladwin_,
ii. 1; _Jarrett_, ii. 115.]

1644.—"On the land side are the houses of the Vazador (?) or Possessor of
the CASABE, which is as much as to say the town or _aldea_ of Mombaym
(BOMBAY). This town of Mombaym is a small and scattered
affair."—_Bocarro, MS._ fol. 227.

c. 1844-45.—"In the centre of the large CUSBAH of Streevygoontum exists
an old mud fort, or rather wall of about 20 feet high, surrounding some
120 houses of a body of people calling themselves _Kotie Vellalas_,—that
is 'Fort Vellalas.' Within this wall no police officer, warrant or Peon
ever enters.... The females are said to be kept in a state of great
degradation and ignorance. They never pass without the walls alive; when
dead they are carried out by night in sacks."—Report by _Mr. E. B.
Thomas_, Collector of Tinnevelly, quoted in _Lord Stanhope's
Miscellanies_, 2nd Series, 1872, p. 132.

CUSCUSS, CUSS, s. Pers.—H. _k̲h̲ask̲h̲as_. The roots of a grass [called in N. India _senṭhā_ or _tīn_,] which abounds in the drier parts of India, _Anatherum muricatum_ (Beauv.), _Andropogon muricatus_ (Retz), used in India during the hot dry winds to make screens, which are kept constantly wet, in the window openings, and the fragrant evaporation from which greatly cools the house (see TATTY). This device seems to be ascribed by Abul Faẓl to the invention of Akbar. These roots are well known in France by the name _vetyver_, which is the Tam. name _veṭṭivēru_, 'the root which is dug up.' In some of the N. Indian vernaculars _khaskhas_ is 'a poppy-head'; [but this is a different word, Skt. _khaskhasa_, and compare P. _k̲h̲ashk̲h̲ash_].

c. 1590.—"But they (the Hindus) were notorious for the want of cold
water, the intolerable heat of their climate.... His Majesty remedied all
these evils and defects. He taught them how to cool water by the help of
saltpetre.... He ordered mats to be woven of a cold odoriferous root
called KHUSS ... and when wetted with water on the outside, those within
enjoy a pleasant cool air in the height of summer."—_Ayeen_ (_Gladwin_,
1800), ii. 196; [ed. _Jarrett_, iii. 9].

1663.—"KAS _kanays_." See quotation under TATTY.

1810.—"The KUSS-KUSS ... when fresh, is rather fragrant, though the scent
is somewhat terraceous."—_Williamson, V. M._ i. 235.

1824.—"We have tried to keep our rooms cool with 'tatties,' which are
mats formed of the KUSKOS, a peculiar sweet-scented grass...."—_Heber_,
ed. 1844, i. 59.

It is curious that the coarse grass which covers the more naked parts of the Islands of the Indian Archipelago appears to be called _kusu-kusu_ (_Wallace_, 2nd ed. ii. 74). But we know not if there is any community of origin in these names.

[1832.—"The sirrakee (_sirkī_) and sainturh (_senṭhā_) are two specimens
of one genus of jungle grass, the roots of which are called secundah
(_sirkanda_) or KHUS-KHUS."—_Mrs. Meer Hasan Ali, Observations_, &c., ii.
208.]

In the sense of poppy-seed or poppy-head, this word is P.; De Orta says Ar.; [see above.]

1563.—"... at Cambaiete, seeing in the market that they were selling
poppy-heads big enough to fill a _canada_, and also some no bigger than
ours, and asking the name, I was told that it was _caxcax_ (CASHCASH)—and
that in fact is the name in Arabic—and they told me that of these poppies
was made opium (_amfião_), cuts being made in the poppy-head, so that the
opium exudes."—_Garcia De Orta_, f. 155.

1621.—"The 24th of April public proclamation was made in Ispahan by the
King's order ... that on pain of death, no one should drink _cocnur_,
which is a liquor made from the husk of the capsule of opium, called by
them KHASH-KHASH."—_P. della Valle_, ii. 209; [_cocnur_ is P. _koknār_].

CUSPADORE, s. An old term for a spittoon. Port. _cuspadeira_, from _cuspir_, [Lat. _conspuere_], to spit. _Cuspidor_ would be properly _qui multum spuit_.

[1554.—Speaking of the greatness of the Sultan of Bengal, he says to
illustrate it—"From the camphor which goes with his spittle when he spits
into his gold spittoon (COSPIDOR) his chamberlain has an income of 2000
cruzados."—_Castanheda_, Bk. iv. ch. 83.]

1672.—"Here maintain themselves three of the most powerful lords and
Naiks of this kingdom, who are subject to the Crown of Velour, and pay it
tribute of many hundred Pagodas ... viz. _Vitipa-naik_ of _Madura_, the
King's CUSPIDOOR-bearer, 200 Pagodas, _Cristapa-naik_ of _Chengier_, the
King's _Betel_-server, 200 pagodas, the _Naik_ of _Tanjouwer_, the King's
Warder and Umbrella carrier, 400 Pagodas...."—_Baldaeus_, Germ. ed. 153.

1735.—In a list of silver plate we have "5 CUSPADORES."—_Wheeler_, iii.
139.

1775.—"Before each person was placed a large brass salver, a black
earthen pot of water, and a brass CUSPADORE."—_Forrest, V. to N. Guinea_,
&c. (at Magindanao), 235.

[1900.—"The royal CUSPADORE" is mentioned among the regalia at Selangor,
and a "CUSPADORE" (_ketor_) is part of the marriage appliances.—_Skeat,
Malay Magic_, 26, 374.]

CUSTARD-APPLE, s. The name in India of a fruit (_Anona squamosa_, L.) originally introduced from S. America, but which spread over India during the 16th century. Its commonest name in Hindustan is _sharīfa_, _i.e._ 'noble'; but it is also called _Sītap'hal_, _i.e._ 'the Fruit of Sītā,' whilst another _Anona_ ('bullock's heart,' _A. reticulata_, L., the custard-apple of the W. Indies, where both names are applied to it) is called in the south by the name of her husband _Rāma_. And the _Sītap'hal_ and _Rāmp'hal_ have become the subject of Hindu legends (see _Forbes, Or. Mem._ iii. 410). The fruit is called in Chinese _Fan-li-chi_, _i.e._ foreign LEECHEE.

A curious controversy has arisen from time to time as to whether this fruit and its congeners were really imported from the New World, or were indigenous in India. They are not mentioned among Indian fruits by Baber (c. A.D. 1530), but the translation of the _Āīn_ (c. 1590) by Prof. Blochmann contains among the "Sweet Fruits of Hindustan," _Custard-apple_ (p. 66). On referring to the original, however, the word is _sadāp'hal_ (_fructus perennis_), a Hind. term for which Shakespear gives many applications, not one of them the _anona_. The _bel_ is one (_Aegle marmelos_), and seems as probable as any (see BAEL). The custard-apple is not mentioned by Garcia de Orta (1563), Linschoten (1597), or even by P. della Valle (1624). It is not in Bontius (1631), nor in Piso's commentary on Bontius (1658), but is described as an American product in the West Indian part of Piso's book, under the Brazilian name _Araticu_. Two species are described as common by P. Vincenzo Maria, whose book was published in 1672. Both the custard-apple and the sweet-sop are fruits now generally diffused in India; but of their having been imported from the New World, the name _Anona_, which we find in Oviedo to have been the native West Indian name of one of the species, and which in various corrupted shapes is applied to them over different parts of the East, is an indication. Crawfurd, it is true, in his Malay Dictionary explains _nona_ or _buah-_ ("fruit") _nona_ in its application to the custard-apple as _fructus virginalis_, from _nona_, the term applied in the Malay countries (like _missy_ in India) to an unmarried European lady. But in the face of the American word this becomes out of the question.

It is, however, a fact that among the Bharhut sculptures, among the carvings dug up at Muttra by General Cunningham, and among the copies from wall-paintings at Ajanta (as pointed out by Sir G. Birdwood in 1874, (see _Athenaeum_, 26th October), [_Bombay Gazetteer_, xii. 490]) there is a fruit represented which is certainly very like a custard-apple (though an abnormally big one), and not very like anything else yet pointed out. General Cunningham is convinced that it is a custard-apple, and urges in corroboration of his view that the Portuguese in introducing the fruit (which he does not deny) were merely bringing coals to Newcastle; that he has found extensive tracts in various parts of India covered with the wild custard-apple; and also that this fruit bears an indigenous Hindi name, _ātā_ or _āt_, from the Sanskrit _ātṛipya_.

It seems hard to pronounce about this _ātṛipya_. A very high authority, Prof. Max Müller, to whom we once referred, doubted whether the word (meaning 'delightful') ever existed in real Sanskrit. It was probably an artificial name given to the fruit, and he compared it aptly to the factitious Latin of _aureum malum_ for "orange," though the latter word really comes from the Sanskrit _nāranga_. On the other hand, _ātṛipya_ is quoted by Rāja Rādhakant Deb, in his Sanskrit dictionary, from a medieval work, the _Dravyaguna_. And the question would have to be considered how far the MSS. of such a work are likely to have been subject to modern interpolation. Sanskrit names have certainly been invented for many objects which were unknown till recent centuries. Thus, for example, Williams gives more than one word for _cactus_, or prickly pear, a class of plants which was certainly introduced from America (see _Vidara_ and _Viśvasaraka_, in his Skt. Dictionary).

A new difficulty, moreover, arises as to the indigenous claims of _ātā_, which is the name for the fruit in Malabar as well as in Upper India. For, on turning for light to the splendid works of the Dutch ancients, Rheede and Rumphius, we find in the former (_Hortus Malabaricus_, part iv.) a reference to a certain author, 'Recchus de Plantis Mexicanis,' as giving a drawing of a custard-apple tree, the name of which in Mexico was _ahaté_ or _até_, "fructu apud Mexicanos praecellenti arbor nobilis" (the expressions are noteworthy, for the popular Hindustani name of the fruit is _sharīfa_ = "nobilis"). We also find in a Manilla Vocabulary that _ate_ or _atte_ is the name of this fruit in the Philippines. And from Rheede we learn that in Malabar the _ātā_ was sometimes called by a native name meaning "the Manilla jack-fruit"; whilst the _Anona reticulata_, or sweet-sop, was called by the Malabars "the _Parangi_ (_i.e._ _Firingi_ or Portuguese) jack-fruit."

These facts seem to indicate that probably the _ātā_ and its name came to India from Mexico _viâ_ the Philippines, whilst the _anona_ and its name came to India from Hispaniola _viâ_ the Cape. In the face of these probabilities the argument of General Cunningham from the existence of the tree in a wild state loses force. The fact is undoubted and may be corroborated by the following passage from "_Observations on the nature of the Food of the Inhabitants of South India_," 1864, p. 12:—"I have seen it stated in a botanical work that this plant (_Anona sq._) is not indigenous, but introduced from America, or the W. Indies. If so, it has taken most kindly to the soil of the Deccan, for the jungles are full of it": [also see _Watt, Econ. Dict._ ii. 259 _seq._, who supports the foreign origin of the plant]. The author adds that the wild custard-apples saved the lives of many during famine in the Hyderabad country. But on the other hand, the _Argemone Mexicana_, a plant of unquestioned American origin, is now one of the most familiar weeds all over India. The cashew (_Anacardium occidentale_), also of American origin, and carrying its American name with it to India, not only forms tracts of jungle now (as Sir G. Birdwood has stated) in Canara and the Concan (and, as we may add from personal knowledge, in Tanjore), but was described by P. Vincenzo Maria, more than two hundred and twenty years ago, as then abounding in the wilder tracts of the western coast.

The question raised by General Cunningham is an old one, for it is alluded to by Rumphius, who ends by leaving it in doubt. We cannot say that we have seen any satisfactory suggestion of another (Indian) plant as that represented in the ancient sculpture of Bharhut. [Dr. Watt says: "They may prove to be conventional representations of the jack-fruit tree or some other allied plant; they are not unlike the flower-heads of the sacred _kadamba_ or _Anthocephalus_," (_loc. cit._ i. 260)]. But it is well to get rid of fallacious arguments on either side.

In the "_Materia Medica of the Hindus_ by Udoy Chand Dutt, with a Glossary by G. King, M.B., Calc. 1877," we find the following synonyms given:—

"_Anona squamosa_: Skt. _Ganḍagatra_; Beng. _Ātā_; Hind. _Sharīfa_, and
_Sītāphal_."

"_Anona reticulata_: Skt. _Lavali_; Beng. _Lonā_."[100]

1672.—"The plant of the _Atta_ in 4 or 5 years comes to its greatest size
... the fruit ... under the rind is divided into so many wedges,
corresponding to the external compartments.... The pulp is very white,
tender, delicate, and so delicious that it unites to agreeable sweetness
a most delightful fragrance like rose-water ... and if presented to one
unacquainted with it he would certainly take it for a blamange.... The
_Anona_," &c., &c.—_P. Vincenzo Maria_, pp. 346-7.

1690.—"They (Hindus) feed likewise upon Pine-Apples, CUSTARD-APPLES, so
called because they resemble a Custard in Colour and
Taste...."—_Ovington_, 303.

c. 1830.—"... the CUSTARD-APPLE, like russet bags of cold pudding."—_Tom
Cringle's Log_, ed. 1863, p. 140.

1878.—"The gushing CUSTARD-APPLE with its crust of stones and luscious
pulp."—_Ph. Robinson, In my Indian Garden_, [49].

CUSTOM, s. Used in Madras as the equivalent of DUSTOOR, DUSTOORY, of which it is a translation. Both words illustrate the origin of _Customs_ in the solemn revenue sense.

1683.—"Threder and Barker positively denied ye overweight, ye Merchants
proved it by their books; but ye skeyne out of every draught was confest,
and claimed as their due, having been always the CUSTOM."—_Hedges,
Diary_, Hak. Soc. i. 83.

1768-71.—"Banyans, who ... serve in this capacity without any fixed pay,
but they know how much more they may charge upon every rupee, than they
have in reality paid, and this is called COSTUMADO."—_Stavorinus_, E.T.,
i. 522.

CUSTOMER, s. Used in old books of Indian trade for the native official who exacted duties. [The word was in common use in England from 1448 to 1748; see _N.E.D._]

[1609.—"His houses ... are seized on by the CUSTOMER."—_Danvers,
Letters_, i. 25; and comp. _Foster_, _ibid._ ii. 225.

[1615.—"The CUSTOMER should come and visitt them."—_Sir T. Roe_, Hak.
Soc. i. 44.]

1682.—"The several affronts, insolences, and abuses dayly put upon us by
Boolchund, our chief CUSTOMER."—_Hedges, Diary_, [Hak. Soc. i. 33].

CUTCH, s. See CATECHU.

CUTCH, n.p. Properly _Kachchh_, a native State in the West of India, immediately adjoining Sind, the Rājput ruler of which is called the _Rāo_. The name does not occur, as far as we have found, in any of the earlier Portuguese writers, nor in Linschoten, [but the latter mentions the gulf under the name of _Jaqueta_ (Hak. Soc. i. 56 _seq._)]. The Skt. word _kachchha_ seems to mean a morass or low, flat land.

c. 1030.—"At this place (Mansura) the river (Indus) divides into two
streams, one empties itself into the sea in the neighbourhood of the city
of Lúháráni, and the other branches off to the east to the borders of
KACH."—_Al-Birūnī_, in _Elliot_, i. 49.

Again, "KACH, the country producing gum" (_i.e._ _mukal_ or _bdellium_),
p. 66.

The port mentioned in the next three extracts was probably _Mandavi_ (this name is said to signify "Custom-House"); [_manḍwī_, 'a temporary hut,' is a term commonly applied to a bazaar in N. India].

1611.—"CUTS-_nagore_, a place not far from the River of Zinde."—_Nic.
Dounton_, in _Purchas_, i. 307.

[1612.—"The other ship which proved of CUTS-_nagana_."—_Danvers,
Letters_, i. 179.]

c. 1615.—"Francisco Sodre ... who was serving as captain-major of the
fortress of Dio, went to CACHE, with twelve ships and a _sanguicel_, to
inflict chastisement for the arrogance and insolence of these blacks
("... _pela soberbia e desaforos d'estes negros_...."—"Of these
niggers!"), thinking that he might do it as easily as Gaspar de Mello had
punished those of Por."—_Bocarro_, 257.

[c. 1661.—"Dara ... traversing with speed the territories of the Raja
KATCHE soon reached the province of Guzarate...."—_Bernier_, ed.
_Constable_, 73.]

1727.—"The first town on the south side of the Indus is
CUTCH-_naggen_."—_A. Hamilton_, i. 131; [ed. 1744].

CUTCH GUNDAVA, n.p. _Kachchh Gandāva_ or _Kachchī_, a province of Biluchistan, under the Khan of Kela't, adjoining our province of Sind; a level plain, subject to inordinate heat in summer, and to the visitation of the _simūm_. Across the northern part of this plain runs the railway from Sukkur to Sibi. _Gandāva_, the chief place, has been shown by Sir H. Elliot to be the _Kandābīl_ or _Kandhābel_ of the Arab geographers of the 9th and 10th centuries. The name in its modern shape, or what seems intended for the same, occurs in the Persian version of the _Chachnāmah_, or H. of the Conquest of Sind, made in A.D. 1216 (see _Elliot_, i. 166).

CUTCHA, KUTCHA, adj. Hind. _kachchā_, 'raw, crude, unripe, uncooked.' This word is with its opposite _pakkā_ (see PUCKA) among the most constantly recurring Anglo-Indian colloquial terms, owing to the great variety of metaphorical applications of which both are susceptible. The following are a few examples only, but they will indicate the manner of use better than any attempt at comprehensive definition:—

A CUTCHA _Brick_ is a sun-dried A PUCKA _Brick_ is a properly kiln-
brick. burnt brick.

" _House_ is built of mud, " _House_ is of burnt brick or
generally with a terraced
plaster roof.

" _Road_ is earthwork only. " _Road_ is a Macadamised one.

" _Appointment_ is acting or " _Appointment_ is permanent.
temporary.

" _Settlement_ is one where the " _Settlement_ is one fixed for
land is held without lease. a term of years.

" _Account_ or _Estimate_, is " _Account_, or _Estimate_, is
one which is rough, carefully made, and claiming
superficial, and to be relied on.
untrustworthy.

" _Maund_, or _Seer_, is the " _Maund_, or _Seer_, is the
smaller, where two weights larger of two in use.
are in use, as often happens.

" _Major_ is a brevet or local " _Major_, is a regimental Major.
Major.

" _Colour_ is one that won't " _Colour_, is one that will
wash. wash.

" _Fever_ is a simple ague or a " _Fever_, is a dangerous
light attack. remittent or the like (what
the Italians call
_pernizziosa_).

" _Pice_ generally means one of " _Pice_; a double copper coin
those amorphous coppers, formerly in use; also a
current in up-country bazars proper pice (= ¼ anna) from
at varying rates of value. the Govt. mints.

" _Coss_—see analogy under " _Coss_—see under _Maund_
_Maund_ above. above.

" _Roof_. A roof of mud laid on " _Roof_; a terraced roof made
beams; or of thatch, &c. with cement.

" _Scoundrel_, a limp and " _Scoundrel_, one whose motto is
fatuous knave. "Thorough."

" _Seam_ (_silāī_) is the " _Seam_ is the definite stitch
tailor's tack for trying on. of the garment.

1763.—"Il parait que les CATCHA cosses sont plus en usage que les autres
cosses dans le gouvernement du Decan."—_Lettres Edifiantes_, xv. 190.

1863.—"In short, in America, where they cannot get a _pucka_ railway they
take a KUTCHA one instead. This, I think, is what we must do in
India."—_Lord Elgin_, in _Letters and Journals_, 432.

Captain Burton, in a letter dated Aug. 26, 1879, and printed in the "_Academy_" (p. 177), explains the gypsy word _gorgio_, for a Gentile or non-Rommany, as being KACHHĀ or CUTCHA. This may be, but it does not carry conviction.

CUTCHA-PUCKA, adj. This term is applied in Bengal to a mixt kind of building in which burnt brick is used, but which is cemented with mud instead of lime-mortar.

CUTCHÉRRY, and in Madras CUT′CHERY, s. An office of administration, a court-house. Hind. _kachahrī_; used also in Ceylon. The word is not usually now, in Bengal, applied to a merchant's counting-house, which is called DUFTER, but it _is_ applied to the office of an Indigo-Planter or a Zemindar, the business in which is more like that of a Magistrate's or Collector's Office. In the service of Tippoo Sahib CUTCHERRY was used in peculiar senses besides the ordinary one. In the civil administration it seems to have been used for something like what we should now call _Department_ (see _e.g._ _Tippoo's Letters_, 292); and in the army for a division or large brigade (_e.g._ _ibid._ 332; and see under JYSHE and quotation from _Wilks_ below).

1610.—"Over against this seat is the CICHERY or Court of Rolls, where the
King's Viseer sits every morning some three houres, by whose hands passe
all matters of Rents, Grants, Lands, Firmans, Debts, &c."—_Hawkins_, in
_Purchas_, i. 439.

1673.—"At the lower End the Royal Exchange or QUESHERY ... opens its
folding doors."—_Fryer_, 261.

[1702.—"But not makeing an early escape themselves were carried into the
CACHERRA or publick Gaol."—_Hedges, Diary_, Hak. Soc. ii. cvi.]

1763.—"The Secretary acquaints the Board that agreeably to their orders
of the 9th May, he last Saturday attended the Court of CUTCHERRY, and
acquainted the Members with the charge the President of the Court had
laid against them for non-attendance."—In _Long_, 316.

" "The protection of our Gomastahs and servants from the oppression
and jurisdiction of the Zemindars and their CUTCHERRIES has been ever
found to be a liberty highly essential both to the honour and interest of
our nation."—From the Chief and Council at Dacca, in _Van Sittart_, i.
247.

c. 1765.—"We can truly aver that during almost five years that we
presided in the CUTCHERY Court of _Calcutta_, never any murder or
atrocious crime came before us but it was proved in the end a _Bramin_
was at the bottom of it."—_Holwell, Interesting Historical Events_, Pt.
II. 152.

1783.—"The moment they find it true that the English Government shall
remain as it is, they will divide sugar and sweetmeats among all the
people in the CUTCHEREE; then every body will speak sweet words."—_Native
Letter_, in _Forbes, Or. Mem._ iv. 227.

1786.—"You must not suffer any one to come to your house; and whatever
business you may have to do, let it be transacted in our
KUCHURRY."—_Tippoo's Letters_, 303.

1791.—"At Seringapatam General Matthews was in confinement. James Skurry
was sent for one day to the KUTCHERRY there, and some pewter plates with
marks on them were shown to him to explain; he saw on them words to this
purport, 'I am indebted to the Malabar Christians on account of the
Public Service 40,000 Rs.; the Company owes me (about) 30,000 Rs.; I have
taken _Poison_ and am now within a short time of _Death_; whoever
communicates this to the Bombay Govt. or to my wife will be amply
rewarded. (Signed) Richard Matthews.'"—_Narrative_ of _Mr. William Drake,
and other Prisoners_ (in Mysore), in _Madras Courier_, 17th Nov.

c. 1796.—"... the other Asof Mirán Hussein, was a low fellow and a
debauchee, ... who in different ... towns was carried in his pálkí on the
shoulders of dancing girls as ugly as demons to his KUTCHERI or hall of
audience."—_H. of Tipú Sultán_, E.T. by _Miles_, 246.

" "... the favour of the Sultan towards that worthy man (Dundia
Wágh) still continued to increase ... but although, after a time, a
KUTCHERI, or brigade, was named after him, and orders were issued for his
release, it was to no purpose."—_Ibid._ 248.

[c. 1810.—"Four appears to have been the fortunate number with Tippoo;
four companies (_yeuz_), one battalion (_teep_), four _teeps_, one
_cushoon_ (see KOSHOON): ... four _cushoons_, one CUTCHERRY. The
establishment ... of a _cutcherry_ ... 5,688, but these numbers
fluctuated with the Sultaun's caprices, and at one time a _cushoon_, with
its cavalry attached, was a legion of about 3,000."—_Wilks, Mysore_, ed.
1869, ii. 132.]

1834.—"I mean, my dear Lady Wroughton, that the man to whom Sir Charles
is most heavily indebted, is an officer of his own KUCHEREE, the very
sircar who cringes to you every morning for orders."—_The Baboo_, ii.
126.

1860.—"I was told that many years ago, what remained of the Dutch records
were removed from the record-room of the Colonial Office to the CUTCHERRY
of the Government Agent."—_Tennent's Ceylon_, i. xxviii.

1873.—"I'd rather be out here in a tent any time ... than be stewing all
day in a stuffy KUTCHERRY listening to Ram Buksh and Co. perjuring
themselves till they are nearly white in the face."—_The True Reformer_,
i. 4.

1883.—"Surrounded by what seemed to me a mob of natives, with two or
three dogs at his feet, talking, writing, dictating,—in short doing
CUTCHERRY."—_C. Raikes_, in _Bosworth Smith's Lord Lawrence_, i. 59.

CUTCHNAR, s. Hind. _kachnār_, Skt. _kānchanāra_ (_kānchana_, 'gold') the beautiful flowering tree _Bauhinia variegata_, L., and some other species of the same genus (N. O. _Leguminosae_).

1855.—"Very good fireworks were exhibited ... among the best was a sort
of maypole hung round with minor fireworks which went off in a blaze and
roll of smoke, leaving disclosed a tree hung with quivering flowers of
purple flame, evidently intended to represent the KACHNAR of the Burmese
forests."—_Yule, Mission to Ava_, 95.

CUTTACK, n.p. The chief city of Orissa, and district immediately attached. From Skt. _kaṭaka_, 'an army, a camp, a royal city.' This name _Al-kataka_ is applied by Ibn Batuta in the 14th century to Deogīr in the Deccan (iv. 46), or at least to a part of the town adjoining that ancient fortress.

c. 1567.—"Citta di CATHECA."—_Cesare Federici_, in _Ramusio_, iii. 392.
[CATECHA, in _Hakl._ ii. 358].

[c. 1590.—"Attock on the Indus is called _Atak Benares_ in contra
distinction to _Katak Benares_ in Orissa at the opposite extremity of the
Empire."—_Āīn_, ed. _Jarrett_, ii. 311.]

1633.—"The 30 of April we set forward in the Morning for the City of
COTEKA (it is a city of seven miles in compasse, and it standeth a mile
from Malcandy where the Court is kept."—_Bruton_, in _Hakl._ v. 49.

1726.—"CATTEK."—_Valentijn_, v. 158.

CUTTANEE, s. Some kind of piece-goods, apparently either of silk or mixed silk and cotton. _Kuttān_, Pers., is flax or linen cloth. This is perhaps the word. [_Kattan_ is now used in India for the waste selvage in silk weaving, which is sold to Patwas, and used for stringing ornaments, such as _joshans_ (armlets of gold or silver beads), _bāzūbands_ (armlets with folding bands), &c. (_Yusuf Ali, Mon. on Silk Fabrics_, 66).] CUTANEES appear in Milburn's list of Calcutta piece-goods.

[1598.—"COTONIAS, which are like canvas."—_Linschoten_, Hak. Soc. i. 60.]

[1648.—"CONTENIJS." See under ALCATIF.

[1673.—"CUTTANEE breeches." See under ATLAS.

[1690.—"... rich Silks, such as Atlasses, CUTTANEES...."—See under
ALLEJA.

[1734.—"They manufacture ... in cotton and silk called CUTTENEES."—_A.
Hamilton_, i. 126; ed. 1744.]

CUTTRY. See KHUTTRY.

CYRUS, SYRAS, SARUS, &c. A common corruption of Hind. _sāras_, [Skt. _sarasa_, the 'lake bird,'] or (corruptly) _sārhans_, the name of the great gray crane, _Grus Antigone_, L., generally found in pairs, held almost sacred in some parts of India, and whose "fine trumpet-like call, uttered when alarmed or on the wing, can be heard a couple of miles off" (_Jerdon_). [The British soldier calls the bird a "_Serious_," and is fond of shooting him for the pot.]

1672.—"... peculiarly Brand-geese, Colum [see COOLUNG], and SERASS, a
species of the former."—_Fryer_, 117.

1807.—"The _argeelah_ as well as the CYRUS, and all the aquatic tribe are
extremely fond of snakes, which they ... swallow down their long throats
with great despatch."—_Williamson, Or. Field Sports_, 27.

[1809.—"SAROS." See under COOLUNG.]

1813.—In Forbes's _Or. Mem._ (ii. 277 _seqq._; [2nd ed. i. 502 _seqq._]),
there is a curious story of a CYRUS or SAHRAS (as he writes it) which
Forbes had tamed in India, and which nine years afterwards recognised its
master when he visited General Conway's menagerie at Park Place near
Henley.

1840.—"Bands of gobbling pelicans" (see this word, probably ADJUTANTS are
meant) "and groups of tall CYRUSES in their half-Quaker, half-lancer
plumage, consulted and conferred together, in seeming perplexity as to
the nature of our intentions."—_Mrs. Mackenzie, Storms and Sunshine of a
Soldier's Life_, i. 108.

D

DABUL, n.p. _Dābhol_. In the later Middle Ages a famous port of the Konkan, often coupled with CHOUL (q.v.), carrying on extensive trade with the West of Asia. It lies in the modern dist. of Ratnagiri, in lat. 17° 34′, on the north bank of the Anjanwel or Vashishti R. In some maps (_e.g._ A. Arrowsmith's of 1816, long the standard map of India), and in W. Hamilton's _Gazetteer_, it is confounded with Dāpoli, 12 m. north, and not a seaport.

c. 1475.—"DABYL is also a very extensive seaport, where many horses are
brought from Mysore,[101] Rabast [Arabistan? _i.e._ Arabia], Khorassan,
Turkistan, Neghostan."—_Nikitin_, p. 20. "It is a very large town, the
great meeting-place for all nations living along the coast of India and
of Ethiopia."—_Ibid._ 30.

1502.—"The gale abated, and the caravels reached land at DABUL, where
they rigged their lateen sails, and mounted their artillery."—_Correa,
Three Voyages of V. da Gama_, Hak. Soc. 308.

1510.—"Having seen Cevel and its customs, I went to another city, distant
from it two days journey, which is called DABULI.... There are Moorish
merchants here in very great numbers."—_Varthema_, 114.

1516.—"This DABUL has a very good harbour, where there always congregate
many Moorish ships from various ports, and especially from Mekkah, Aden,
and Ormuz with horses, and from Cambay, Diu, and the Malabar
country."—_Barbosa_, 72.

1554.—"23d Voyage, from DĀBUL to Aden."—_The Mohit_, in _J. As. Soc.
Beng._, v. 464.

1572.—See _Camões_, x. 72.

[c. 1665.—"The King of Bijapur has three good ports in this kingdom:
these are Rajapur, DABHOL, and Kareputtun."—_Tavernier_, ed. _Ball_, i.
181 _seq._]

DACCA, n.p. Properly _Dhākā_, ['the wood of _ḍhāk_ (see DHAWK) trees'; the _Imp. Gaz._ suggests Ḍhakeswarī, 'the concealed goddess']. A city in the east of Bengal, once of great importance, especially in the later Mahommedan history; famous also for the "_Dacca_ muslins" woven there, the annual advances for which, prior to 1801, are said to have amounted to £250,000. [_Taylor, Descr. and Hist. Account of the Cotton Manufacture of Dacca in Bengal_]. DĀKA is throughout Central Asia applied to all muslins imported through Kabul.

c. 1612.—"... liberos Osmanis assecutus vivos cepit, eosque cum
elephantis et omnibus thesauris defuncti, post quam DAECK Bengalae
metropolim est reversus, misit ad regem."—_De Laet_, quoted by
_Blochmann, Āīn_, i. 521.

[c. 1617.—"DEKAKA" in _Sir T. Roe's_ List, Hak. Soc. ii. 538.]

c. 1660.—"The same Robbers took _Sultan-Sujah_ at DAKA, to carry him away
in their Galeasses to _Rakan_...."—_Bernier_, E.T. 55; [ed. _Constable_,
109].

1665.—"DACA is a great Town, that extends itself only in length; every
one coveting to have an House by the Ganges side. The length ... is above
two leagues.... These Houses are properly no more than paltry Huts built
up with _Bambouc's_, and daub'd over with fat Earth."—_Tavernier_, E.T.
ii. 55; [ed. _Ball_, i. 128].

1682.—"The only expedient left was for the Agent to go himself in person
to the _Nabob_ and _Duan_ at DECCA."—_Hedges, Diary_, Oct. 9; [Hak. Soc.
i. 33].

DACOIT, DACOO, s. Hind. _ḍakait_, _ḍākāyat_, _ḍākū_; a robber belonging to an armed gang. The term, being current in Bengal, got into the Penal Code. By law, to constitute _dacoity_, there must be five or more in the gang committing the crime. Beames derives the word from _ḍāknā_, 'to shout,' a sense not in Shakespear's Dict. [It is to be found in Platts, and Fallon gives it as used in E. H. It appears to be connected with Skt. _dashṭa_, 'pressed together.']

1810.—"DECOITS, or water-robbers."—_Williamson, V. M._ ii. 396.

1812.—"DACOITS, a species of depredators who infest the country in
gangs."—_Fifth Report_, p. 9.

1817.—"The crime of DACOITY" (that is, robbery by gangs), says Sir Henry
Strachey, "... has, I believe, increased greatly since the British
administration of justice."—_Mill, H. of B. I._, v. 466.

1834.—"It is a conspiracy! a false warrant!—they are DAKOOS!
DAKOOS!!"—_The Baboo_, ii. 202.

1872.—"Daroga! Why, what has he come here for? I have not heard of any
DACOITY or murder in the Village."—_Govinda Samanta_, i. 264.

DADNY, s. H. _dādnī_, [P. _dādan_, 'to give']; an advance made to a craftsman, a weaver, or the like, by one who trades in the goods produced.

1678.—"Wee met with Some trouble About y^e Investment of Taffaties w^{ch}
hath Continued ever Since, Soe y^t wee had not been able to give out any
DAUDNE on Muxadavad Side many weauours absenting themselves...."—_MS.
Letter_ of 3d June, from _Cassumbazar Factory_, in India Office.

1683.—"Chuttermull and Deepchund, two Cassumbazar merchants this day
assured me Mr. Charnock gives out all his new _Sicca Rupees_ for DADNY at
2 per cent., and never gives the Company credit for more than 1¼ rupee—by
which he gains and putts in his own pocket Rupees ¾ per cent. of all the
money he pays, which amounts to a great Summe in ye Yeare: at least
£1,000 sterling."—_Hedges, Diary_, Oct. 2; [Hak. Soc. i. 121, also see i.
83].

1748.—"The Sets being all present at the Board inform us that last year
they dissented to the employment of Fillick Chund, Gosserain, Occore, and
Otteram, they being of a different caste, and consequently they could not
do business with them, upon which they refused DADNEY, and having the
same objection to make this year, they propose taking their shares of the
DADNEY."—_Ft. William Cons._, May 23. In _Long_, p. 9.