Chapter LIII: Preface: TO SECOND EDITION xi (50)

MALACCA, n.p. The city which gives its name to the Peninsula and the Straits of Malacca, and which was the seat of a considerable Malay monarchy till its capture by the Portuguese under D'Alboquerque in 1511. One naturally supposes some etymological connection between _Malay_ and _Malacca_. And such a connection is put forward by De Barros and D'Alboquerque (see below, and also under MALAY). The latter also mentions an alternative suggestion for the origin of the name of the city, which evidently refers to the Ar. _mulāḳāt_, 'a meeting.' This last, though it appears also in the _Sijara Malayu_, may be totally rejected. Crawfurd is positive that the place was called from the word _malaka_, the Malay name of the _Phyllanthus emblica_, or emblic MYROBALAN (q.v.), "a tree said to be abundant in that locality"; and this, it will be seen below, is given by Godinho de Eredia as the etymology. _Malaka_ again seems to be a corruption of the Skt. _amlaka_, from _amla_, 'acid.' [Mr. Skeat writes: "There can be no doubt that Crawfurd is right, and that the place was named from the tree. The suggested connection between _Malayu_ and _Malaka_ appears impossible to me, and, I think, would do so to any one acquainted with the laws of the language. I have seen the _Malaka_ tree myself and eaten its fruit. Ridley in his Botanical Lists has _laka-laka_ and _malaka_ which he identifies as _Phyllanthus emblica_, L. and _P. pectinatus Hooker_ (_Euphorbiaceae_). The two species are hardly distinct, but the latter is the commoner form. The fact is that the place, as is so often the case among the Malays, must have taken its name from the Sungei _Malaka_, or _Malaka_ River."]

1416.—"There was no King but only a chief, the country belonging to
Siam.... In the year 1409, the imperial envoy Cheng Ho brought an order
from the emperor and gave to the chief two silver seals, ... he erected a
stone and raised the place to a city, after which the land was called the
Kingdom of MALACCA (_Moa-la-ka_).... Tin is found in the mountains ... it
is cast into small blocks weighing 1 catti 8 taels ... ten pieces are
bound together with rattan and form a small bundle, whilst 40 pieces make
a large bundle. In all their trading ... they use these pieces of tin
instead of money."—_Chinese Annals_, in _Groenveldt_, p. 123.

1498.—"MELEQUA ... is 40 days from Qualecut with a fair wind ... hence
proceeds all the clove, and it is worth there 9 crusados for a BAHAR
(q.v.), and likewise nutmeg other 9 crusados the bahar; and there is much
porcelain and much silk, and much tin, of which they make money, but the
money is of large size and little value, so that it takes 3 farazalas
(see FRAZALA) of it to make a crusado. Here too are many large parrots
all red like fire."—_Roteiro de V. da Gama_, 110-111.

1510.—"When we had arrived at the city of MELACHA, we were immediately
presented to the Sultan, who is a Moor ... I believe that more ships
arrive here than in any other place in the world...."—_Varthema_, 224.

1511.—"This Paremiçura gave the name of MALACA to the new colony, because
in the language of Java, when a man of Palimbão flees away they call him
_Malayo_.... Others say that it was called Malaca because of the number
of people who came there from one part and the other in so short a space
of time, for the word _Malaca_ also signifies to _meet_.... Of these two
opinions let each one accept that which he thinks to be the best, for
this is the truth of the matter."—_Commentaries of Alboquerque_, E.T. by
Birch, iii. 76-77.

1516.—"The said Kingdom of Ansyane (see SIAM) throws out a great point of
land into the sea, which makes there a cape, where the sea returns again
towards China to the north; in this promontory is a small kingdom in
which there is a large city called MALACA."—_Barbosa_, 191.

1553.—"A son of Paramisora called Xaquem Darxa, (_i.e._ _Sikandar Shāh_)
... to form the town of MALACA, to which he gave that name in memory of
the banishment of his father, because in his vernacular tongue (Javanese)
this was as much as to say 'banished,' and hence the people are called
MALAIOS."—_De Barros_, II. vi. 1.

" "That which he (Alboquerque) regretted most of all that was lost
on that vessel, was two lions cast in iron, a first-rate work, and most
natural, which the King of China had sent to the King of MALACA, and
which King Mahamed had kept, as an honourable possession, at the gate of
his Palace, whence Affonso Alboquerque carried them off, as the principal
item of his triumph on the capture of the city."—_Ibid._ II. vii. 1.

1572.—

"Nem tu menos fugir poderás deste
Postoque rica, e postoque assentada
Là no gremio da Aurora, onde nasceste,
Opulenta MALACA nomeada!
Assettas venenosas, que fizeste,
Os crises, com que j'á te vejo armada,
Malaios namorados, Jaos valentes,
Todos farás ao Luso obedientes."
_Camões_, x. 44.

By Burton:

"Nor shalt thou 'scape the fate to fall his prize,
albeit so wealthy, and so strong thy site
there on Aurora's bosom, whence thy rise,
thou Home of Opulence, Malacca hight!
The poysoned arrows which thine art supplies,
the Krises thirsting, as I see, for fight,
th' enamoured Malay-men, the Javan braves,
all of the Lusian shall become the slaves."

1612.—"The Arabs call it _Malakat_, from collecting all
merchants."—_Sijara Malayu_, in _J. Ind. Arch._ v. 322.

1613.—"MALACA significa _Mirabolanos_, fructa de hua arvore, plantada ao
longo de hum ribeiro chamado Aerlele."—_Godinho de Eredia_, f. 4.

MALADOO, s. _Chicken maladoo_ is an article in the Anglo-Indian menu. It looks like a corruption from the French _cuisine_, but of what? [_Maladoo_ or _Manadoo_, a lady informs me, is cold meat, such as chicken or mutton, cut into slices, or pounded up and re-cooked in batter. The Port. _malhado_, 'beaten-up,' has been suggested as a possible origin for the word.]

MALAY, n.p. This is in the Malay language an adjective, _Malāyu_; thus _orang Malāyu_, 'a Malay'; _tāna_ [_tānah_] _Malāyu_, 'the Malay country'; _bahāsa_ [_bhāsa_] _Malāyu_, 'the Malay language.'

In Javanese the word _malāyu_ signifies 'to run away,' and the proper name has traditionally been derived from this, in reference to the alleged foundation of MALACCA by Javanese fugitives; but we can hardly attach importance to this. It may be worthy at least of consideration whether the name was not of foreign, _i.e._ of S. Indian origin, and connected with the _Malāya_ of the Peninsula (see under MALABAR). [Mr. Skeat writes: "The tradition given me by Javanese in the Malay States was that the name was applied to Javanese refugees, who peopled the S. of Sumatra. Whatever be the original meaning of the word, it is probable that it started its life-history as a river-name in the S. of Sumatra, and thence became applied to the district through which the river ran, and so to the people who lived there; after which it spread with the Malay dialect until it included not only many allied, but also many foreign, tribes; all Malay-speaking tribes being eventually called Malays without regard to racial origin. A most important passage in this connection is to be found in Leyden's Tr. of the '_Malay Annals_' (1821), p. 20, in which direct reference to such a river is made: 'There is a country in the land of Andalás named Paralembang, which is at present denominated Palembang, the raja of which was denominated Damang Lebar Dawn (chieftain Broad-leaf), who derived his origin from Raja Sulan (Chulan?), whose great-grandson he was. The name of its river Muartatang, into which falls another river named Sungey MALAYU, near the source of which is a mountain named the mountain Sagantang Maha Miru.' Here Palembang is the name of a well-known Sumatran State, often described as the original home of the Malay race. In standard Malay '_Damang Lebar Dawn_' would be '_Dĕmang Lebar Daun_.' Raja Chulan is probably some mythical Indian king, the story being evidently derived from Indian traditions. 'Muartatang' may be a mistake for _Muar Tenang_, which is a place one heard of in the Peninsula, though I do not know for certain where it is. 'Sungey Malayu' simply means 'River Malayu.' 'Sagantang Maha Miru' is, I think, a mistake for _Sa-guntang Maha Miru_, which is the name used in the Peninsula for the sacred central mountain of the world on which the episode related in the _Annals_ occurred" (see Skeat, _Malay Magic_, p. 2).]

It is a remarkable circumstance, which has been noted by Crawfurd, that a name which appears on Ptolemy's Tables as on the coast of the Golden Chersonese, and which must be located somewhere about Maulmain, is Μαλεοῦ Κῶλον, words which in Javanese (_Malāyu-Kulon_) would signify "Malays of the West." After this the next (possible) occurrence of the name in literature is in the _Geography_ of Edrisi, who describes _Malai_ as a great island in the eastern seas, or rather as occupying the position of the _Lemuria_ of Mr. Sclater, for (in partial accommodation to the Ptolemaic theory of the Indian Sea) it stretched eastward nearly from the coast of Zinj, _i.e._ of Eastern Africa, to the vicinity of China. Thus it must be uncertain without further accounts whether it is an adumbration of the great Malay islands (as is on the whole probable) or of the Island of the Malagashes (Madagascar), if it is either. We then come to Marco Polo, and after him there is, we believe, no mention of the Malay name till the Portuguese entered the seas of the Archipelago.

[A.D. 690.—Mr. Skeat notes: "I Tsing speaks of the 'MOLO-YU country,'
_i.e._ the district W. or N.W. of Palembang in Sumatra."]

c. 1150.—"The Isle of MALAI is very great.... The people devote
themselves to very profitable trade; and there are found here elephants,
rhinoceroses, and various aromatics and spices, such as clove, cinnamon,
nard ... and nutmeg. In the mountains are mines of gold, of excellent
quality ... the people also have windmills."—_Edrisi_, by _Jaubert_, i.
945.

c. 1273.—A Chinese notice records under this year that tribute was sent
from Siam to the Emperor. "The Siamese had long been at war with the
MALIYI, or MALIURH, but both nations laid aside their feud and submitted
to China."—Notice by Sir T. Wade, in _Bowring's Siam_, i. 72.

c. 1292.—"You come to an Island which forms a kingdom, and is called
MALAIUR. The people have a king of their own, and a peculiar language.
The city is a fine and noble one, and there is a great trade carried on
there. All kinds of spicery are to be found there."—_Marco Polo_, Bk.
iii. ch. 8.

c. 1539.—"... as soon as he had delivered to him the letter, it was
translated into the _Portugal_ out of the MALAYAN tongue wherein it was
written."—_Pinto_, E.T. p. 15.

1548.—"... having made a breach in the wall twelve fathom wide, he
assaulted it with 10,000 strangers, _Turks_, _Abyssins_, _Moors_,
_Malauares_, _Achems_, _Jaos_, and MALAYOS."—_Ibid._ p. 279.

1553.—"And so these Gentiles like the Moors who inhabit the sea-coasts of
the Island (Sumatra), although they have each their peculiar language,
almost all can speak the MALAY of Malacca as being the most general
language of those parts."—_Barros_, III. v. 1.

" "Everything with them is to be a gentleman; and this has such
prevalence in those parts that you will never find a native MALAY,
however poor he may be, who will set his hand to lift a thing of his own
or anybody else's; every service must be done by slaves."—_Ibid._ II. vi.
1.

1610.—"I cannot imagine what the _Hollanders_ meane, to suffer these
MALAYSIANS, _Chinesians_, and _Moores_ of these countries, and to assist
them in their free trade thorow all the _Indies_, and forbid it their
owne seruants, countrymen, and Brethern, upon paine of death and losse of
goods."—_Peter Williamson Floris_, in _Purchas_, i. 321.

[Mr. Skeat writes: "The word _Malaya_ is now often applied by English writers to the Peninsula as a whole, and from this the term MALAYSIA as a term of wider application (_i.e._ to the Archipelago) has been coined (see quotation of 1610 above). The former is very frequently miswritten by English writers as '_Malay_,' a barbarism which has even found place on the title-page of a book—'Travel and Sport in Burma, Siam and MALAY, by John Bradley, London, 1876.'"]

MALAYĀLAM. This is the name applied to one of the cultivated Dravidian languages, the closest in its relation to the Tamil. It is spoken along the Malabar coast, on the Western side of the GHAUTS (or _Malāya_ mountains), from the Chandragiri River on the North, near Mangalore (entering the sea in 12° 29′), beyond which the language is, for a limited distance, _Tulu_, and then Canarese, to Trevandrum on the South (lat. 8° 29′), where Tamil begins to supersede it. Tamil, however, also intertwines with Malayālam all along Malabar. The term _Malayālam_ properly applies to territory, not language, and might be rendered "Mountain region" [See under MALABAR, and _Logan, Man. of Malabar_, i. 90.]

MALDIVES, MALDIVE ISLDS., n.p. The proper form of this name appears to be _Male-dīva_; not, as the estimable Garcia de Orta says, _Nale_-dīva; whilst the etymology which he gives is certainly wrong, hard as it may be to say what is the right one. The people of the islands formerly designated themselves and their country by a form of the word for 'island' which we have in the Skt. _dvīpa_ and the Pali _dīpo_. We find this reflected in the _Divi_ of Ammianus, and in the _Dīva_ and _Dība_-jāt (Pers. plural) of old Arab geographers, whilst it survives in letters of the 18th century addressed to the Ceylon Government (Dutch) by the Sultan of the Isles, who calls his kingdom _Divehi Rajjé_, and his people _Divehe mīhun_. Something like the modern form first appears in Ibn Batuta. He, it will be seen, in his admirable account of these islands, calls them, as it were, _Mahal_-dives, and says they were so called from the chief group _Mahal_, which was the residence of the Sultan, indicating a connection with _Mahal_, 'a palace.' This form of the name looks like a foreign 'striving after meaning.' But Pyrard de Laval, the author of the most complete account in existence, also says that the name of the islands was taken from _Malé_, that on which the King resided. Bishop Caldwell has suggested that these islands were the _dives_, or islands, of _Malé_, as _Malebār_ (see MALABAR) was the coast-tract or continent, of _Malé_. It is, however, not impossible that the true etymology was from _mālā_, 'a garland or necklace,' of which their configuration is highly suggestive. [The _Madras Gloss._ gives Malayāl. _māl_, 'black,' and _dvīpa_, 'island,' from the dark soil. For a full account of early notices of the Maldives, see Mr. Gray's note on _Pyrard de Laval_, Hak. Soc. ii. 423 _seqq._] Milburn (_Or. Commmerce_, i. 335) says: "This island was (these islands were) discovered by the Portuguese in 1507." Let us see!

A.D. 362.—"Legationes undique solito ocius concurrebant; hinc
Transtigritanis pacem obsecrantibus et Armeniis, inde nationibus Indicis
certatim cum donis optimates mittentibus ante tempus, ab usque DIVIS et
Serendivis."—_Ammian. Marcellinus_, xxii. 3.

c. 545.—"And round about it (_Sielediba_ or _Taprobane_, _i.e._ Ceylon)
there are a number of small islands, in all of which you find fresh water
and coco-nuts. And these are almost all set close to one
another."—_Cosmas_, in _Cathay_, &c., clxxvii.

851.—"Between this Sea (of Horkand) and the Sea called Lāravi there is a
great number of isles; their number, indeed, it is said, amounts to
1,900; ... the distance from island to island is 2, 3, or 4 parasangs.
They are all inhabited, and all produce coco-palms.... The last of these
islands is Serendīb, in the Sea of Horkand; it is the chief of all; they
give the islands the name of DĪBAJĀT" (_i.e._ _Dības_).—_Relation_, &c.,
tr. by _Reinaud_, i. 4-5.

c. 1030.—"The special name of DĪVA is given to islands which are formed
in the sea, and which appear above water in the form of accumulations of
sand; these sands continually augment, spread, and unite, till they
present a firm aspect ... these islands are divided into two classes,
according to the nature of their staple product. Those of one class are
called DĪVA-_Kūzah_ (or the Cowry Divahs), because of the cowries which
are gathered from coco-branches planted in the sea. The others are called
DĪVA-_Kanbar_, from the word _kanbar_ (see COIR), which is the name of
the twine made from coco-fibres, with which vessels are
stitched."—_Al-Birūnī_, in _Reinaud, Fragmens_, 124.

1150.—See also _Edrisi_, in Jaubert's Transl. i. 68. But the translator
prints a bad reading, _Raibiḥāt_, for DĪBAJĀT.

c. 1343.—"Ten days after embarking at Calecut we arrived at the Islands
called DHĪBAT-AL-MAHAL.... These islands are reckoned among the wonders
of the World; there are some 2000 of them. Groups of a hundred, or not
quite so many, of these islands are found clustered into a ring, and each
cluster has an entrance like a harbour-mouth, and it is only there that
ships can enter.... Most of the trees that grow on these islands are
coco-palms.... They are divided into regions or groups ... among which
are distinguished ... 3^o MAHAL, the group which gives a name to the
whole, and which is the residence of the Sultans."—_Ibn Batuta_, iv. 110
_seqq._

1442.—Abdurrazzak also calls them "the isles of DĪVA-MAHAL."—In _Not. et
Exts._ xiv. 429.

1503.—"But Dom Vasco ... said that things must go on as they were to
India, and there he would inquire into the truth. And so arriving in the
Gulf (_golfão_) where the storm befel them, all were separated, and that
vessel which steered badly, parted company with the fleet, and found
itself at one of the first islands of MALDIVA, at which they stopped some
days enjoying themselves. For the island abounded in provisions, and the
men indulged to excess in eating cocos, and fish, and in drinking bad
stagnant water, and in disorders with women; so that many
died."—_Correa_, i. 347.

[1512.—"Mafamede Maçay with two ships put into the MALDIVE islands (ilhas
de MALDIVA)."—_Albuquerque, Cartas_, p. 30.]

1563.—"_R._ Though it be somewhat to interrupt the business in hand,—why
is that chain of islands called 'Islands of MALDIVA'?

"_O._ In this matter of the nomenclature of lands and seas and kingdoms,
many of our people make gerat mistakes even in regard to our own lands;
how then can you expect that one can give you the rationale of
etymologies of names in foreign tongues? But, nevertheless, I will tell
you what I have heard say. And that is that the right name is not
MALDIVA, but _Nalediva_; for _nale_ in Malabar means 'four,' and _diva_
'island,' so that in the Malabar tongue the name is as much as to say
'Four Isles.'... And in the same way we call a certain island that is 12
leagues from Goa _Angediva_ (see ANCHEDIVA), because there are five in
the group, and so the name in Malabar means 'Five Isles,' for _ange_ is
'five.' But these derivations rest on common report, I don't detail them
to you as demonstrable facts."—_Garcia, Colloquios_, f. 11.

1572.—"Nas ilhas de MALDIVA." (See COCO-DE-MER.)

c. 1610.—"Ce Royaume en leur langage s'appelle MALÉ-_ragué_, Royaume de
Malé, et des autres peuples de l'Inde il s'appelle MALÉ-DIVAR, et les
peuples DIUES ... L'Isle principale, comme j'ay dit, s'appelle MALÉ, qui
donne le nom à tout le reste des autres; car le mot DIUES signifie vn
nombre de petites isles amassées."—_Pyrard de Laval_, i. 63, 68, ed.
1679. [Hak. Soc. i. 83, 177.]

1683.—"Mr. Beard sent up his Couries, which he had received from ye
MAULDIVAS, to be put off and passed by Mr. Charnock at
Cassumbazar."—_Hedges, Diary_, Oct. 2; [Hak. Soc. i. 122].

MALUM, s. In a ship with English officers and native crew, the mate is called _mālum sāhib_. The word is Ar. _mu'allim_, literally 'the Instructor,' and is properly applied to the pilot or sailing-master. The word may be compared, thus used, with our 'master' in the Navy. In regard to the first quotation we may observe that _Nākhuda_ (see NACODA) is, rather than _Mu'allim_, 'the captain'; though its proper meaning is the owner of the ship; the two capacities of owner and skipper being doubtless often combined. The distinction of _Mu'allim_ from _Nākhuda_ accounts for the former title being assigned to the mate.

1497.—"And he sent 20 cruzados in gold, and 20 testoons in silver for the
MALEMOS, who were the pilots, for of these coins he would give each month
whatever he (the Sheikh) should direct."—_Correa_, i. 38 (E.T. by _Ld.
Stanley of Alderley_, 88). On this passage the Translator says: "The word
is perhaps the Arabic for an instructor, a word in general use all over
Africa." It is curious that his varied experience should have failed to
recognise the habitual marine use of the term.

1541.—"Meanwhile he sent three CATURS (q.v.) to the Port of the MALEMS
(_Porto dos Malemos_) in order to get some pilot.... In this Port of the
_Bandel of the_ MALEMS the ships of the Moors take pilots when they enter
the Straits, and when they return they leave them here
again."[159]—_Correa_, iv. 168.

1553.—"... among whom (at Melinda) came a Moor, a Guzarate by nation,
called MALEM Cana, who, as much for the satisfaction he had in conversing
with our people, as to please the King, who was inquiring for a pilot to
give them, agreed to accompany them."—_Barros_, I. iv. 6.

c. 1590.—"MU'ALLIM or Captain. He must be acquainted with the depths and
shallow places of the Ocean, and must know astronomy. It is he who guides
the ship to her destination, and prevents her falling into
dangers."—_Āīn_, ed. _Blochmann_, i. 280.

[1887.—"The second class, or MALUMIS, are sailors."—_Logan, Malabar_, ii.
ccxcv.]

MAMIRAN, MAMIRA, s. A medicine from old times of much repute in the East, especially for eye-diseases, and imported from Himalayan and Trans-Himalayan regions. It is a popular native drug in the Punjab bazars, where it is still known as _mamīra_, also as _pīlīārī_. It seems probable that the name is applied to bitter roots of kindred properties but of more than one specific origin. Hanbury and Flückiger describe it as the rhizome of _Coptis Teeta_, Wallich, _tīta_ being the name of the drug in the Mishmi country at the head of the Assam Valley, from which it is imported into Bengal. But Stewart states explicitly that the _mamīra_ of the Punjab bazars is now "known to be" mostly, if not entirely, derived from _Thalictrum foliosum_ D.C., a tall plant which is common throughout the temperate Himālaya (5000 to 8000 feet) and on the Kasia Hills, and is exported from Kumaun under the name of MOMIRI. [See _Watt, Econ. Dict._ vi. pt. iv. 42 _seq._] "The MAMIRA of the old Arab writers was identified with Χελιδόνιον μέγα, by which, however, Löw (_Aram. Pflanzennamen_, p. 220) says they understood _curcuma longa_." W.R.S.

c. A.D. 600-700.—"Μαμιράς, οἷον ῥιζίον τι πόας ἐστὶν ἔχον ὥσπερ κονδύλους
πυκνοὺς, ὄπος οὐλας τε καὶ λευκώματα λεπτύνειν πεπιστεύεται, δηλονότι
ῥυπτικῆς ὑπάρχον δυνάμεως."—_Pauli Aeginetae Medici_, Libri vii.,
Basileae 1538. Lib. vii. cap. iii. sect. 12 (p. 246).

c. 1020.—"MEMIREM quid est? Est lignum sicut nodi declinans ad nigredinem
... mundificat albuginem in oculis, et acuit visum: quum ex eo fit
collyrium et abstergit humiditatem grossam...." &c.—_Avicennae Opera_,
Venet. 1564, p. 345 (lib. ii. tractat. ii.).

The glossary of Arabic terms by Andreas de Alpago of Belluno, attached to
various early editions of Avicenna, gives the following interpretation:
"MEMIREM est radix nodosa, non multum grossa, citrini coloris, sicut
curcuma; minor tamen est et subtilior, et asportatur ex Indiâ, et apud
physicos orientales est valde nota, et usitatur in passionibus oculi."

c. 1100.—"MEMIRAM Arabibus, χελιδόνιον μέγα Graecis," &c.—_Io. Serapionis
de Simpl. Medicam. Historia_, Lib. iv. cap. lxxvi. (ed. Ven. 1552, f.
106).

c. 1200.—"Some maintain that this plant (_'urūk al-ṣábaghīn_) is the
small _kurkum_ (TURMERIC), and others that it is MAMĪRĀN.... The _kurkum_
is brought to us from India.... The MAMĪRĀN is imported from China, and
has the same properties as _kurkum_."—_Ibn Baithar_, ii. 186-188.

c. 1550.—"But they have a much greater appreciation of another little
root which grows in the mountains of Succuir (_i.e._ Suchau in Shensi),
where the rhubarb grows, and which they call MAMBRONI-Chini (i.e.
MAMĪRĀN-_i-Chīnī_). This is extremely dear, and is used in most of their
ailments, but especially when the eyes are affected. They grind it on a
stone with rose water, and anoint the eyes with it. The result is
wonderfully beneficial."—_Hajji Mahommed's Account of Cathay_, in
_Ramusio_, ii. f. 15_v_.

c. 1573.—(At Aleppo). "MAMIRANITCHINI, good for eyes as they
say."—_Rauwolff_, in Ray's 2nd ed. p. 114.

Also the following we borrow from Dozy's _Suppl. aux Dictt. Arabes_:—

1582.—"Mehr haben ihre Krämer kleine würtzelein zu verkaufen MAMIRANI
tchini genennet, in gebresten der Augen, wie sie fürgeben ganz dienslich;
diese seind gelblecht wie die Curcuma umb ein zimlichs lenger, auch
dünner und knopffet das solche unseren weisz wurtzlen sehr ehnlich, und
wol für das rechte mamiran mögen gehalten werden, dessen sonderlich
Rhases an mehr orten gedencket."—_Rauwolff, Aigentliehe Beschreibung der
Raisz_, 126.

c. 1665.—"These caravans brought back _Musk_, _China-wood_, _Rubarb_, and
MAMIRON, which last is a small root exceeding good for ill
eyes."—_Bernier_, E.T. 136; [ed. _Constable_, 426].

1862.—"Imports from Yarkand and Changthan, through Leh to the Punjab ...
MAMIRAN-_i-Chini_ (a yellow root, medicine for the eyes) ..."—_Punjaub
Trade Report_, App. xxiv. p. ccxxxiii.

MAMLUTDAR, s. P.—H. _mu'āmalatdār_ (from Ar. _mu'āmala_, 'affairs, business'), and in Mahr. _māmlatdār_. Chiefly used in Western India. Formerly it was the designation, under various native governments, of the chief civil officer of a district, and is now in the Bombay Presidency the title of a native civil officer in charge of a TALOOK, corresponding nearly to the TAHSEELDAR of a pergunna in the Bengal Presidency, but of a status somewhat more important.

[1826.—"I now proceeded to the MAAMULUT-DAR, or farmer of the
district...."—_Pandurang Hari_, ed. 1873, i. 42.]

MAMOOL, s.; MAMOOLEE, adj. Custom, Customary. Ar.—H. _ma'mūl_. The literal meaning is 'practised,' and then 'established, customary.' _Ma'mūl_ is, in short, 'precedent,' by which all Orientals set as much store as English lawyers, _e.g._ "And Laban said, It must not so be done in our country (_lit._ It is not so done in our place) to give the younger before the firstborn."—_Genesis_ xxix. 26.

MAMOOTY, MAMOTY, MOMATTY, s. A digging tool of the form usual all over India, _i.e._ not in the shape of a spade, but in that of a hoe, with the helve at an acute angle with the blade. [See FOWRA.] The word is of S. Indian origin, Tamil _manvĕtti_, 'earth-cutter'; and its vernacular use is confined to the Tamil regions, but it has long been an established term in the list of ordnance stores all over India, and thus has a certain prevalence in Anglo-Indian use beyond these limits.

[1782.—"He marched ... with two battalions of sepoys ... who were ordered
to make a show of entrenching themselves with MAMUTIES...."—Letter of
_Ld. Macartney_, in _Forrest, Selections_, iii. 855.]

[1852.—"... by means of a MOMETTY or hatchet, which he ran and borrowed
from a husbandman ... this fellow dug ... a reservoir...."—_Neale,
Narrative of Residence in Siam_, 138.]

MANCHUA, s. A large cargo-boat, with a single mast and a square sail, much used on the Malabar coast. This is the Portuguese form; the original Malayālam word is _manji_, [_manchi_, Skt. _maṇcha_, 'a cot,' so called apparently from its raised platform for cargo,] and nowadays a nearer approach to this, _manjee_, &c., is usual.

c. 1512.—"So he made ready two MANCHUAS, and one night got into the house
of the King, and stole from him the most beautiful woman that he had,
and, along with her, jewels and a quantity of money."—_Correa_, i. 281.

1525.—"Quatro LANCHARAS (q.v.) grandes e seis _qualaluzes_ (see CALALUZ)
e MANCHUAS que se remam muyto."—_Lembrança das Cousas de India_, p. 8.

1552.—"MANCHUAS que sam navios de remo."—_Castanheda_, ii. 362.

c. 1610.—"Il a vne petite Galiote, qu'ils appellent MANCHOUËS, fort bien
couverte ... et faut huit ou neuf hommes seulement pour la
mener."—_Pyrard de Laval_, ii. 26; [Hak. Soc. ii. 42].

[1623.—"... boats which they call MANEIVE, going with 20 or 24 Oars."—_P.
della Valle_, Hak. Soc. ii. 211; MANCINA in ii. 217.

[1679.—"I commanded the SHIBBARS and MANCHUAS to keepe a little ahead of
me."—_Yule, Hedges' Diary_, Hak. Soc. ii. clxxxiv.]

1682.—"Ex hujusmodi arboribus excavatis naviculas Indi conficiunt, quas
MANSJOAS appellant, quarum nonullae longitudine 80, latitudine 9 pedum
mensuram superant."—_Rheede, Hort. Malabar_, iii. 27.

[1736.—"All ships and vessels ... as well as the MUNCHUAS appertaining to
the Company's officers."—Treaty, in _Logan, Malabar_, ii. 31.

MANDADORE, s. Port. _mandador_, 'one who commands.'

1673.—"Each of which Tribes have a MANDADORE or Superintendent."—_Fryer_,
67.

MANDALAY, MANDALÉ, n.p. The capital of the King of Burmah, founded in 1860, 7 miles north of the preceding capital Amarapura, and between 2 and 3 miles from the left bank of the Irawadi. The name was taken from that of a conical isolated hill, rising high above the alluvial plain of the Irawadi, and crowned by a gilt pagoda. The name of the hill (and now of the city at its base) probably represents _Mandara_, the sacred mountain which in Hindu mythology served the gods as a churning-staff at the churning of the sea. The hill appears as _Mandiye-taung_ in Major Grant Allan's Map of the Environs of Amarapura (1855), published in the Narrative of Major Phayre's Mission, but the name does not occur in the Narrative itself.

[1860.—See the account of MANDELAY in _Mason, Burmah_, 14 _seqq._]

1861.—"Next morning the son of my friendly host accompanied me to the
MANDALAY Hill, on which there stands in a gilt chapel the image of
Shwesayatta, pointing down with outstretched finger to the Palace of
MANDALAY, interpreted as the divine command there to build a city ... on
the other side where the hill falls in an abrupt precipice, sits a
gigantic Buddha gazing in motionless meditation on the mountains
opposite. There are here some caves in the hard rock, built up with
bricks and whitewashed, which are inhabited by eremites...."—_Bastian's
Travels_ (German), ii. 89-90.

MANDARIN, s. Port. _Mandarij_, _Mandarim_. Wedgwood explains and derives the word thus: "A Chinese officer, a name first made known to us by the Portuguese, and like the Indian _caste_, erroneously supposed to be a native term. From Portuguese _mandar_, to hold authority, command, govern, &c." So also T. Hyde in the quotation below. Except as regards the word having been first made known to us by the Portuguese, this is an old and persistent mistake. What sort of form would _mandarij_ be as a derivative from _mandar_? The Portuguese might have applied to Eastern officials some such word as _mandador_, which a preceding article (see MANDADORE) shows that they did apply in certain cases. But the parallel to the assumed origin of _mandarin_ from _mandar_ would be that English voyagers on visiting China, or some other country in the far East, should have invented, as a title for the officials of that country, a new and abnormal derivation from 'order,' and called them _orderumbos_.

The word is really a slight corruption of Hind. (from Skt.) _mantri_, 'a counsellor, a Minister of State,' for which it was indeed the proper old pre-Mahommedan term in India. It has been adopted, and specially affected in various Indo-Chinese countries, and particularly by the Malays, among whom it is habitually applied to the highest class of public officers (see _Crawfurd's Malay Dict._ s.v. [and Klinkert, who writes _manteri_, colloquially _mentri_]). Yet Crawfurd himself, strange to say, adopts the current explanation as from the Portuguese (see _J. Ind. Archip._ iv. 189). [Klinkert adopts the Skt. derivation.] It is, no doubt, probable that the instinctive "striving after meaning" may have shaped the corruption of _mantri_ into a semblance of _mandar_. Marsden is still more oddly perverse, _videns meliora, deteriora secutus_, when he says: "The officers next in rank to the Sultan are _Mantree_, which some apprehend to be a corruption of the word _Mandarin_, a title of distinction among the Chinese" (_H. of Sumatra_, 2nd ed. 285). Ritter adopts the etymology from _mandar_, apparently after A. W. Schlegel.[160] The true etymon is pointed out in _Notes and Queries in China and Japan_, iii. 12, and by one of the present writers in _Ocean Highways_ for Sept. 1872, p. 186. Several of the quotations below will show that the earlier applications of the title have no reference to China at all, but to officers of state, not only in the Malay countries, but in Continental India. We may add that _mantri_ (see MUNTREE) is still much in vogue among the less barbarous Hill Races on the Eastern frontier of Bengal (_e.g._ among the _Kasias_ (see COSSYA) as a denomination for their petty dignitaries under the chief. Gibbon was perhaps aware of the true origin of _mandarin_; see below.

c. A.D. 400 (?).—"The King desirous of trying cases must enter the
assembly composed in manner, together with Brahmans who know the Vedas,
and MANTRINS (or counsellors)."—_Manu_, viii. 1.

[1522.—"... and for this purpose he sent one of his chief MANDARINS
(_mandarim_)."—India Office MSS. in an Agreement made by the Portuguese
with the "_Rey de Sunda_," this Sunda being that of the Straits.]

1524.—(At the Moluccas) "and they cut off the heads of all the dead
Moors, and indeed fought with one another for these, because whoever
brought in seven heads of enemies, they made him a knight, and called him
MANDERYM, which is their name for Knight."—_Correa_, ii. 808.

c. 1540.—"... the which corsairs had their own dealings with the
MANDARINS of those ports, to whom they used to give many and heavy bribes
to allow them to sell on shore what they plundered on the sea."—_Pinto_,
cap. 1.

1552.—(At Malacca) "whence subsist the King and the Prince with their
MANDARINS, who are the gentlemen."—_Castanheda_, iii. 207.

" (In China). "There are among them degrees of honour, and
according to their degrees of honour is their service; gentlemen
(_fidalgos_) whom they call MANDARINS ride on horseback, and when they
pass along the streets the common people make way for them."—_Ibid._ iv.
57.

1553.—"Proceeding ashore in two or three boats dressed with flags and
with a grand blare of trumpets (this was at Malacca in 1508-9)....
Jeronymo Teixeira was received by many MANDARIJS of the King, these being
the most noble class of the city."—_De Barros_, Dec. II. liv. iv. cap. 3.

" "And he being already known to the MANDARIJS (at Chittagong, in
Bengal), and held to be a man profitable to the country, because of the
heavy amounts of duty that he paid, he was regarded like a
native."—_Ibid._ Dec. IV. liv. ix. cap. 2.

" "And from these _Cellates_ and native Malays come all the
MANDARINS, who are now the gentlemen (_fidalgos_) of Malaca."—_Ibid._ II.
vi. 1.

1598.—"They are called ... MANDORIJNS, and are always borne in the
streetes, sitting in chariots which are hanged about with Curtaines of
Silke, covered with Clothes of Gold and Silver, and are much given to
banketing, eating and drinking, and making good cheare, as also the whole
land of China."—_Linschoten_, 39; [Hak. Soc. i. 135].

1610.—"The MANDORINS (officious officers) would have interverted the
king's command for their own covetousnesse" (at Siam).—_Peter Williamson
Floris_, in _Purchas_, i. 322.

1612.—"Shah Indra Brama fled in like manner to Malacca, where they were
graciously received by the King, Mansur Shah, who had the Prince
converted to Islamism, and appointed him to be a MANTOR."—_Sijara
Malayu_, in _J. Ind. Arch._ v. 730.

c. 1663.—"Domandò il Signor Carlo se MANDARINO è voce Chinese. Disse
esser Portoghese, e che in Chinese si chiamano _Quoan_, che signifia
signoreggiare, comandare, gobernare."—_Viaggio del P. Gio. Grueber_, in
_Thevenot, Divers Voyages_.

1682.—In the Kingdome of Patane (on E. coast of Malay Peninsula) "The
King's counsellors are called MENTARY."—_Nieuhof, Zee en Lant-Reize_, ii.
64.

c. 1690.—"MANDARINORUM autem nomine intelliguntur omnis generis
officiarii, qui a _mandando_ appellantur _mandarini_ linguâ Lusitanicâ,
quae unica Europaea est in oris Chinensibus obtinens."—_T. Hyde, De Ludis
Orientalibus_, in _Syntagmata_, Oxon. 1767, ii. 266.

1719.—"... one of the MANDARINS, a kind of viceroy or principal
magistrate in the province where they reside."—_Robinson Crusoe_, Pt. ii.

1726.—"MANTRÍS. Councillors. These give rede and deed in things of
moment, and otherwise are in the Government next to the King...." (in
Ceylon).—_Valentijn, Names_, &c., 6.

1727.—"Every province or city (Burma) has a MANDEREEN or Deputy residing
at Court, which is generally in the City of Ava, the present
Metropolis."—_A. Hamilton_, ii. 43, [ed. 1744, ii. 42].

1774.—"... presented to each of the Batchian MANTERIES as well as the two
officers a scarlet coat."—_Forrest, V. to N. Guinea_, p. 100.

1788.—"... Some words notoriously corrupt are fixed, and as it were
naturalized in the vulgar tongue ... and we are pleased to blend the
three Chinese monosyllables _Con-fû-tzee_ in the respectable name of
Confucius, or even to adopt the Portuguese corruption of
MANDARIN."—_Gibbon_, Preface to his 4th volume.

1879.—"The MENTRÍ, the Malay Governor of Larut ... was powerless to
restore order."—_Miss Bird, Golden Chersonese_, 267.

Used as an adjective:

[c. 1848.—"The MANDARIN-boat, or 'Smug-boat,' as it is often called by
the natives, is the most elegant thing that floats."—_Berncastle, Voyage
to China_, ii. 71.

[1878.—"The Cho-Ka-Shun, or boats in which the MANDARINS travel, are not
unlike large floating caravans."—_Gray, China_, ii. 270.]

MANDARIN LANGUAGE, s. The language spoken by the official and literary class in China, as opposed to local dialects. In Chinese it is called _Kuan-Hua_. It is substantially the language of the people of the northern and middle zones of China, extending to Yun-nan. It is not to be confounded with the literary style which is used in books. [See _Ball, Things Chinese_, 169 _seq._]

1674.—"The Language ... is called _Quenhra_ (_hua_), or the LANGUAGE OF
MANDARINES, because as they spread their command they introduced it, and
it is used throughout all the Empire, as Latin in Europe. It is very
barren, and as it has more Letters far than any other, so it has fewer
words."—_Faria y Sousa_, E.T. ii. 468.

MANGALORE, n.p. The only place now well known by this name is (A) _Mangaḷ-ūr_, a port on the coast of Southern Canara and chief town of that district, in lat. 12° 51′ N. In Mīr Husain Ali's _Life of Haidar_ it is called "_Gorial Bunder_," perhaps a corr. of _Kandiāl_, which is said in the _Imp. Gaz._ to be the modern native name. [There is a place called _Gurupura_ close by; see _Madras Gloss._ s.v. _Goorpore_.] The name in this form is found in an inscription of the 11th century, whatever may have been its original form and etymology. [The present name is said to be taken from the temple of _Mangalā_ Devī.] But the name in approximate forms (from _mañgala_, 'gladness') is common in India. One other port (B) on the coast of Peninsular Guzerat was formerly well known, now commonly called _Mungrole_. And another place of the name (C) _Manglavar_ in the valley of Swat, north of Peshāwar, is mentioned by Hwen T'sang as a city of Gandhāra. It is probably the same that appears in Skt. literature (see _Williams_, s.v. _Mangala_) as the capital of Udyāna.

A. MANGALORE of Canara.

c. 150.—"Μεταξὺ δὲ τοῦ Ψευδοστόμου καὶ τοῦ Βάριος πόλεις αἵδε·
Μαγγάνουρ."—_Ptolemy_, VII. i. 86.

c. 545.—"And the most notable places of trade are these ... and then the
five ports of Malé from which pepper is exported, to wit, Parti,
MANGARUTH...."—_Cosmas_, in _Cathay_, &c. clxxvii.

[c. 1300.—"MANJARUR." See under SHINKALI.]

c. 1343.—"Quitting Fākanūr (see BACANORE) we arrived after three days at
the city of MANJARŪR, which is large and situated on an estuary.... It is
here that most of the merchants of Fars and Yemen land; pepper and ginger
are very abundant."—_Ibn Batuta_, iv. 79-80.

1442.—"After having passed the port of Bendinaneh (see PANDARANI)
situated on the coast of Melibar, (he) reached the port of MANGALOR,
which forms the frontier of the kingdom of Bidjanagar...."—_Abdurrazzāk_,
in _India in the XVth Cent._, 20.

1516.—"There is another large river towards the south, along the
sea-shore, where there is a very large town, peopled by Moors and
Gentiles, of the kingdom of Narsinga, called MANGALOR.... They also ship
there much rice in Moorish ships for Aden, also pepper, which
thenceforward the earth begins to produce."—_Barbosa_, 83.

1727.—"The Fields here bear two Crops of Corn yearly in the Plains; and
the higher Grounds produce Pepper, Bettle-nut, Sandalwood, Iron and
Steel, which make MANGULORE a Place of pretty good Trade."—_A. Hamilton_,
i. 285, [ed. 1744].

B. MANGALOR or MUNGROLE in Guzerat.

c. 150.—

"Συραστρηνῆς ...
Συράστρα κώμη
Μοηόγλωσσοη εμποριον ..."
_Ptolemy_, VII. i. 3.

1516.—"... there is another town of commerce, which has a very good port,
and is called _Surati_ MANGALOR, where also many ships of Malabar
touch."—_Barbosa_, 59.

1536.—"... for there was come another CATUR with letters, in which the
Captain of Diu urgently called for help; telling how the King (of Cambay)
had equipped large squadrons in the Ports of the Gulf ... alleging ...
that he was sending them to MANGALOR to join others in an expedition
against Sinde ... and that all this was false, for he was really sending
them in the expectation that the Rumis would come to MANGALOR next
September...."—_Correa_, iv. 701.

1648.—This place is called MANGEROL by _Van Twist_, p. 13.

1727.—"The next maritime town is MANGAROUL. It admits of Trade, and
affords coarse Callicoes, white and died, Wheat, Pulse, and Butter for
export."—_A. Hamilton_, i. 136, [ed. 1744].

C. MANGLAVAR in Swat.

c. 630.—"Le royaume de Ou-tchang-na (Oudyâna) a environ 5000 _li_ de tour
... on compte 4 ou 5 villes fortifiées. La pluspart des rois de ce pays
ont pris pour capitale la ville de MOUNG-KIE-LI (Moungali).... La
population est fort nombreuse."—_Hwen T'sang_, in _Pèl. Bouddh._ ii.
131-2.

1858.—"Mongkieli se retrouve dans MANGLAVOR (in Sanskrit Mañgala-poura)
... ville située près de la rive gauche de la rivière de Svat, et qui a
été longtemps, au rapport des indigènes, la capitale du pays."—_Vivien de
St. Martin_, _Ibid._ iii. 314-315.

MANGELIN, s. A small weight, corresponding in a general way to a CARAT (q.v.), used in the S. of India and in Ceylon for weighing precious stones. The word is Telegu _maṇjāḷi_; in Tamil _maṇjāḍi_, [from Skt. _manju_, 'beautiful']; the seed of the _Adenanthera pavonina_ (Compare RUTTEE). On the origin of this weight see Sir W. Elliot's _Coins of S. India_. The _maṇjāḍi_ seed was used as a measure of weight from very early times. A parcel of 50 taken at random gave an average weight of 4.13 grs. Three parcels of 10 each, selected by eye as large, gave average 5.02 and 5.03 (_op. cit._ p. 47).

1516.—Diamonds "... sell by a weight which is called a MANGIAR, which is
equal to 2 _tare_ and ⅔, and 2 _tare_ make a carat of good weight, and 4
_tare_ weigh one fanam."—_Barbosa_, in _Ramusio_, i. f. 321_v_.

1554.—(In Ceylon) "A _calamja_ contains 20 MAMGELINS, each MAMGELIM 8
grains of rice; a Portugues of gold weighs 8 calamjas and 2
MANGELINS."—_A. Nunez_, 35.

1584.—"There is another sort of weight called MANGIALLINO, which is 5
graines of Venice weight, and therewith they weigh diamants and other
jewels."—_Barret_, in _Hakl._ ii. 409.

1611.—"Quem não sabe a grandeza das minas de finissimos diamantes do
Reyno de Bisnaga, donde cada dia, e cada hora se tiram peças de tamanho
de hum ovo, e muitas de sessenta e oitenta MANGELINS."—_Couto, Dialogo do
Soldato Pratico_, 154.

1665.—"Le poids principal des Diamans est le MANGELIN; il pèse cinq
grains et trois cinquièmes."—_Thevenot_, v. 293.

1676.—"At the mine of _Raolconda_ they weigh by MANGELINS, a MANGELIN
being one _Carat_ and three quarters, that is 7 grains.... At the Mine of
Soumelpore in Bengal they weigh by _Rati's_ (see RUTTEE), and the _Rati_
is ⅞ of a _Carat_, or 3½ grains. In the Kingdoms of _Golconda_ and
_Visapour_, they make use of MANGELINS, but a MANGELIN in those parts is
not above 1 carat and ⅜. The _Portugals_ in _Goa_ make use of the same
Weights in _Goa_; but a MANGELIN there is not above 5
grains."—_Tavernier_, E.T. ii. 141; [ed. _Ball_, ii. 87, and see ii.
433.]

MANGO, s. The royal fruit of the _Mangifera indica_, when of good quality is one of the richest and best fruits in the world. The original of the word is Tamil _mān-kāy_ or _mān-gāy_, _i.e._ _mān_ fruit (the tree being _māmarum_, '_mān_-tree'). The Portuguese formed from this _manga_, which we have adopted as _mango_. The tree is wild in the forests of various parts of India; but the fruit of the wild tree is uneatable.

The word has sometimes been supposed to be Malay; but it was in fact introduced into the Archipelago, along with the fruit itself, from S. India. Rumphius (_Herb. Amboyn._ i. 95) traces its then recent introduction into the islands, and says that it is called (_Malaicè_) "_mangka_, vel vulgo _Manga_ et _Mapelaam_." This last word is only the Tamil _Māpaḷam_, _i.e._ '_mān_ fruit' again. The close approximation of the Malay _mangka_ to the Portuguese form might suggest that the latter name was derived from Malacca. But we see _manga_ already used by Varthema, who, according to Garcia, never really went beyond Malabar. [Mr. Skeat writes: "The modern standard Malay word is _mangga_, from which the Port. form was probably taken. The other Malay form quoted from Rumphius is in standard Malay _mapĕlam_, with _mĕpĕlam_, _hĕmpĕlam_, _ampĕlam_, and _'pĕlam_ or _'plam_ as variants. The Javanese is _pĕlĕm_."]

The word has been taken to Madagascar, apparently by the Malayan colonists, whose language has left so large an impression there, in the precise shape _mangka_. Had the fruit been an Arab importation it is improbable that the name would have been introduced in that form.

The N. Indian names are _Ām_ and _Amba_, and variations of these we find in several of the older European writers. Thus Fr. Jordanus, who had been in the Konkan, and appreciated the progenitors of the Goa and Bombay Mango (c. 1328), calls the fruit _Aniba_. Some 30 years later John de' Marignolli calls the tree "_amburan_, having a fruit of excellent fragrance and flavour, somewhat like a peach" (_Cathay_, &c., ii. 362). Garcia de Orta shows how early the Bombay fruit was prized. He seems to have been the owner of the parent tree. The Skt. name is _Amra_, and this we find in Hwen T'sang (c. 645) phoneticised as _'An-mo-lo_.

The mango is probably the fruit alluded to by Theophrastus as having caused dysentery in the army of Alexander. (See the passage s.v. JACK).

c. 1328.—"Est etiam alia arbor quae fructus facit ad modum pruni,
grosissimos, qui vocantur _Aniba_. Hi sunt fructus ita dulces et
amabiles, quod ore tenus exprimi hoc minimè possit."—_Fr. Jordanus_, in
_Rec. de Voyages_, &c., iv. 42.

c. 1334.—"The mango tree (_'anba_) resembles an orange-tree, but is
larger and more leafy; no other tree gives so much shade, but this shade
is unwholesome, and whoever sleeps under it gets fever."—_Ibn Batuta_,
iii. 125. At ii. 185 he writes _'anbā_. [The same charge is made against
the tamarind; see _Burton, Ar. Nights_, iii. 81.]

c. 1349.—"They have also another tree called _Amburan_, having a fruit of
excellent fragrance and flavour, somewhat like a peach."—_John de'
Marignolli_, in _Cathay_, &c., 362.

1510.—"Another fruit is also found here, which is called _Amba_, the stem
of which is called MANGA," &c.—_Varthema_, 160-161.

c. 1526.—"Of the vegetable productions peculiar to Hindustân one is the
mango (_ambeh_).... Such mangoes as are good are excellent...."
&c.—_Baber_, 324.

1563.—"_O._ Boy! go and see what two vessels those are coming in—you see
them from the varanda here—and they seem but small ones.

"_Servant._ I will bring you word presently.

* * * * *

"_S._ Sir! it is Simon Toscano, your tenant in Bombay, and he brings this
hamper of MANGAS for you to make a present to the Governor, and says that
when he has moored the boat he will come here to stop.

"_O._ He couldn't have come more à propos. I have a MANGA-tree
(_mangueira_) in that island of mine which is remarkable for both its two
crops, one at this time of year, the other at the end of May, and much as
the other crop excels this in quality for fragrance and flavour, this is
just as remarkable for coming out of season. But come, let us taste them
before His Excellency. Boy! take out six MANGAS."—_Garcia_, ff. 134_v_,
135. This author also mentions that the MANGAS of Ormuz were the most
celebrated; also certain MANGAS of Guzerat, not large, but of surpassing
fragrance and flavour, and having a very small stone. Those of Balaghat
were both excellent and big; the Doctor had seen two that weighed 4
_arratel_ and a half (4-1/5 lbs.); and those of Bengal, Pegu, and Malacca
were also good.

[1569.—"There is much fruit that comes from Arabia and Persia, which they
call mangoes (MANGAS), which is very good fruit."—_Cronica dos Reys
Dormuz_, translated from the Arabic in 1569.]

c. 1590.—"The Mangoe (_Anba_).... This fruit is unrivalled in colour,
smell, and taste; and some of the _gourmands_ of Túrán and Irán place it
above musk melons and grapes.... If a half-ripe mango, together with its
stalk to a length of about two fingers, be taken from the tree, and the
broken end of its stalk be closed with warm wax, and kept in butter or
honey, the fruit will retain its taste for two or three months."—_Āīn_,
ed. _Blochmann_, i. 67-68.

[1614.—"Two jars of MANGES at rupees 4½."—_Foster, Letters_, iii. 41.

[1615.—"George Durois sent in a present of two pottes of
MANGEAS."—_Cocks's Diary_, Hak. Soc. i. 79.]

" "There is another very licquorish fruit called AMANGUES growing
on trees, and it is as bigge as a great quince, with a very great stone
in it."—_De Monfart_, 20.

1622.—P. della Valle describes the tree and fruit at Miná (_Minao_) near
Hormuz, under the name of _Amba_, as an exotic introduced from India.
Afterwards at Goa he speaks of it as "MANGA or _amba_."—ii. pp. 313-14,
and 581; [Hak. Soc. i. 40].

1631.—"Alibi vero commemorat MANGAE speciem fortis admodum odoris,
Terebinthinam scilicet, et Piceae arboris lacrymam redolentes, quas
propterea nostri _stinkers_ appellant."—_Piso_ on _Bontius, Hist. Nat._
p. 95.

[1663.—"_Ambas_, or MANGUES, are in season during two months in summer,
and are plentiful and cheap; but those grown at Delhi are indifferent.
The best come from _Bengale_, Golkonda, and Goa, and these are indeed
excellent. I do not know any sweet-meat more agreeable."—_Bernier_, ed.
_Constable_, 249.]

1673.—Of the Goa MANGO,[161] Fryer says justly: "When ripe, the Apples of
the _Hesperides_ are but Fables to them; for Taste, the Nectarine, Peach,
and Apricot fall short...."—p. 182.

1679.—"MANGO and SAIO (see SOY), two sorts of sauces brought from the
East Indies."—_Locke's Journal_, in _Ld. King's Life_, 1830, i. 249.

1727.—"The _Goa_ MANGO is reckoned the largest and most delicious to the
taste of any in the world, and I may add, the wholesomest and best tasted
of any Fruit in the World."—_A. Hamilton_, i. 255, [ed. 1744, i. 258].

1883.—"... the unsophisticated ryot ... conceives that cultivation could
only emasculate the pronounced flavour and firm fibrous texture of that
prince of fruits, the wild MANGO, likest a ball of tow soaked in
turpentine."—_Tribes on My Frontier_, 149.

The name has been carried with the fruit to Mauritius and the West Indies. Among many greater services to India the late Sir Proby Cautley diffused largely in Upper India the delicious fruit of the Bombay mango, previously rare there, by creating and encouraging groves of grafts on the banks of the Ganges and Jumna canals. It is especially true of this fruit (as Sultan Baber indicates) that excellence depends on the variety. The common mango is coarse and strong of turpentine. Of this only an evanescent suggestion remains to give peculiarity to the finer varieties. [A useful account of these varieties, by Mr. Maries, will be found in _Watt, Econ. Dict._ v. 148 _seqq._]

MANGO-BIRD, s. The popular Anglo-Indian name of the beautiful golden oriole (_Oriolus aureus_, Jerdon). Its "loud mellow whistle" from the mango-groves and other gardens, which it affects, is associated in Upper India with the invasion of the hot weather.

1878.—"The MANGO-BIRD glances through the groves, and in the early
morning announces his beautiful but unwelcome presence with his merle
melody."—_Ph. Robinson, In My Indian Garden_, 59.

MANGO-FISH, s. The familiar name of an excellent fish (_Polynemus Visua_ of Buchanan, _P. paradiseus_ of Day), in flavour somewhat resembling the smelt, but, according to Dr. Mason, nearly related to the mullets. It appears in the Calcutta market early in the hot season, and is much prized, especially when in roe. The Hindustani name is _tapsī_ or _tapassī_, 'an ascetic,' or 'penitent,' but we do not know the _rationale_ of the name. Buchanan says that it is owing to the long fibres (or free rays), proceeding from near the head, which lead the natives to associate it with penitents who are forbidden to shave. [Dr. Grierson writes: "What the connection of the fish with a hermit was I never could ascertain, unless it was that like wandering Fakīrs, they disappear directly the rains begin. Compare the _uposatha_ of the Buddhists." But _tapasya_ means 'produced by heat,' and is applied to the month Phāgun (Feb.-March) when the fish appears; and this may be the origin of the name.]