Chapter LXVII: Preface: TO SECOND EDITION xi (64)

3. GURRAHS.—This is probably the H. _gārhā_: "unbleached fabrics which
under names varying in different localities, constitute a large
proportion of the clothing of the poor. They are used also for packing
goods, and as a covering for the dead, for which last purpose a large
quantity is employed both by Hindoos and Mahomedans. These fabrics in
Bengal pass under the name of GARRHA and GUZEE." (_Forbes Watson_, _op.
cit._ 83.)

3. HABASSIES.—Probably P. _'abbāsī_, used of cloths dyed in a sort of
magenta colour. The recipe is given by _Hadi, Mon. on Dyeing in the
N.W.P._ p. 16.

3. HERBA TAFFETIES.—These are cloths made of GRASS-CLOTH.

3. HUMHUMS, from Ar. _ḥammām_, 'a Turkish bath' "(apparently so named
from its having been originally used at the bath), is a cloth of a thick
stout texture, and generally worn as a wrapper in the cold season."
(_Taylor_, _op. cit._ 63.)

2. IZAREES.—P. _izār_, 'drawers, trousers.' Watson (_op. cit._ 57, note)
says that in some places it is peculiar to men, the women's drawers being
_Turwar_. Herklots (_Qanoon-e-Islam_, App. xiv.) gives _eezar_ as
equivalent to SHULWAUR, like the PYJAMMA, but not so wide.

3. JAMDANNIES.—P.-H. _jāmdānī_, which is said to be properly _jāmahdānī_,
'a box for holding a suit.' The _jāmdānī_ is a loom-figured muslin, which
Taylor (_op. cit._ 48) calls "the most expensive productions of the Dacca
looms."

3. JAMWARS. H. _jāmawār_, 'sufficient for a dress.' It is not easy to say
what stuff is intended by this name. In the _Āīn_ (ii. 240) we have
_jamahwār_, mentioned among Guzerat stuffs worked in gold thread, and
again (i. 95) _jāmahwār Parmnarm_ among woollen stuffs. Forbes Watson
gives among Kashmīr shawls: "_Jamewars_, or striped shawl pieces"; in the
Punjab they are of a striped pattern made both in pashm and wool
(_Johnstone, Mon. on Wool_, 9), and Mr. Kipling says, "the stripes are
broad, of alternate colours, red and blue, &c." (_Mukharji, Art
Manufactures of India_, 374.)

3. KINCHA CLOTH.

3. KISSORSOYS.

3. LACCOWRIES.

1. LEMMANNEES.

3. LONG CLOTHS.

3. LOONGHEES, HERBA. (See GRASS-CLOTH.)

1. LOONGHEE, MAGHRUB. Ar. _maghrib_, _maghrab_, 'the west.'

3. MAMOODEATIS.

3. MAMMOODIES. Platts gives _Maḥmūdī_, 'praised, fine muslin.' The _Āīn_
(i. 94) classes the _Maḥmūdī_ among cotton cloths, and at a low price. A
cloth under this name is made at Shāhābād in the Hardoi District. (_Oudh
Gazetteer_, ii. 25.)

2. MONEPORE CLOTHS. (See MUNNEPORE.)

2. MOOREES.—"_Moories_ are blue cloths, principally manufactured in the
districts of Nellore and at Canatur in the Chingleput collectorate of
Madras.... They are largely exported to the Straits of Malacca."
(_Balfour, Cycl._ ii. 982.)

1684-5.—"MOOREES superfine, 1000 pieces."—_Pringle, Diary Ft. St. Geo._
iv. 41.

3. MUGGADOOTIES. (See MOONGA.)

3. MULMULS.

3. MUSHRUES.—P. _mashrū'_, 'lawful.' It is usually applied to a kind of
silk or satin with a cotton back. "Pure silk is not allowed to men, but
women may wear the most sumptuous silk fabrics" (_Yusuf Ali_, _op. cit._
90, _seq._). "All _Mushroos_ wash well, especially the finer kinds, used
for bodices, petticoats, and trousers of both sexes." (_Forbes Watson_,
_op. cit._ 97.)

1832.—"... MUSSHEROO (striped washing silks manufactured at
Benares)...."—_Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali, Observations_, i. 106.

1. MUSTERS.

3. NAIBABIES.

3. NAINSOOKS.—H. _nainsukh_, 'pleasure of the eye.' A sort of fine white
calico. Forbes Watson (_op. cit._ 76) says it is used for neckerchiefs,
and Taylor (_op. cit._ 46) defines it as "a thick muslin, apparently
identical with the _tunsook_ (_tansak'h_, _Blochmann_, i. 94) of the
_Ayeen_." A cloth is made of the same name in silk, imitated from the
cotton fabric. (_Yusuf Ali_, _op. cit._ 95.)

1. NEGANEPAUTS.

1. NICANNEES.—Quoting from a paper of 1683, Orme (_Fragments_, 287) has
"6000 NICCANNEERS, 13 yards long."

3. NILLAES.—Some kind of blue cloth, H. _nīlā_, 'blue.'

1. NUNSAREES.—There is a place called Nansārī in the Bhandāra District
(_Central Provinces Gazetteer_, 346).

2. ORINGAL (cloths). Probably take their name from the once famous city
of Warangal in Hyderabad.

3. PALAMPORES.

3. PENIASCOES.—In a paper quoted by Birdwood (_Report on Old Records_,
40) we have PINASCOS, which he says are stuffs made of pine-apple fibre.

2, 3. PERCAULAS.—H. _parkālā_, 'a spark, a piece of glass.' These were
probably some kind of spangled robe, set with pieces of glass, as some of
the modern PHOOLKARIS are. In the _Madras Diaries_ of 1684-5 we have
"PERCOLLAES," and "PERCOLLES, fine" (_Pringle_, i. 53, iii. 119, iv. 41.)

3. PHOTAES.—In a letter of 1615 we have "Lunges (see LOONGHEE) and
FOOTAES of all sorts." (_Foster, Letters_, iv. 306), where the editor
suggests H. _phūṭā_, 'variegated.' But in the _Āīn_ we find "_Fautahs_
(loin-bands)" (i. 93), which is the P. _foṭa_, and this is from the
connection the word probably meant.

3. PULECAT handkerchiefs. (See MADRAS handkerchiefs and BANDANNA.)

2. PUNJUM.—The _Madras Gloss._ gives Tel. _punjamu_, Tam. _puñjam_,
_lit._ 'a collection.' "In Tel. a collection of 60 threads and in Tam. of
120 threads skeined, ready for the formation of the warp for weaving. A
cloth is denominated 10, 12, 14, up to 40 _poonjam_, according to the
number of times 60, or else 120, is contained in the total number of
threads in the warp. _Poonjam_ thus also came to mean a cloth of the
length of one _poonjam_ as usually skeined; this usual length is 36
cubits, or 18 yards, and the width from 38 to 44 inches, 14 lbs. being
the common weight; pieces of half length were formerly exported as
SALEMPOORY." Writing in 1814, Heyne (_Tracts_, 347) says: "Here (in
Salem) two punjums are designated by 'first call,' so that twelve punjums
of cloth is called 'six call,' and so on."

3. PUTEAHS. (See PUTTEE.) In a letter of 1610 we have: "PATTA, katuynen,
with red stripes over thwart through." (_Danvers, Letters_, i. 72.)

2. PUTTON KETCHIES.—Cloths which ossibly took their name from the city of
Anhilwāra PATAN in CUTCH.

1727.—"That country (Tegnapatam) produces Pepper, and coarse Cloth called
CATCHAS."—_A. Hamilton_, i. 335.

3. RAINGS.—"_Rang_ is a muslin which resembles jhuna in its transparent
gauze or net-like texture. It is made by passing a single thread of the
warp through each division of the reed" (_Taylor_, _op. cit._ 44.) "1
Piece of RAIGLINS."—_Hedges, Diary_, Hak. Soc. i. 94.

1. SALOOPAUTS. (See SHALEE.)

3. SANNOES.

2. SASSERGATES.—Some kind of cloth called 'that of the 1000 knots,' H.
_sahasra granṭhi_. "_Saserguntees_" (_Birdwood, Rep. on Old Records_,
63).

2. SASTRACUNDEES.—These cloths seem to take their name from a place
called _Sāstrakunḍa_, 'Pool of the Law.' This is probably the place named
in the _Āīn_ (ed. _Jarrett_, ii. 124): "In the township of _Kiyāra
Sundar_ is a large reservoir which gives a peculiar whiteness to the
cloths washed in it." Gladwin reads the name _Catarashoonda_, or
_Catarehsoonder_ (see _Taylor_, _op. cit._ 91).

3. SEERBANDS, SEERBETTIES.—These are names for turbans, H. _sirband_,
_sirbatti_. Taylor (_op. cit._ 47) names them as Dacca muslins under the
names of _surbund_ and _surbutee_.

3. SEERSHAUDS.—This is perhaps P. _sirshād_, 'head-delighting,' some kind
of turban or veil.

3. SEERSUCKERS.—Perhaps, _sir_, 'head,' _sukh_, 'pleasure.'

3. SHALBAFT.—P. _shālbāft_, 'shawl-weaving.' (See SHAWL.)

3. SICKTERSOYS.

3. SOOSIES.

3. SUBNOMS, SUBLOMS.—"_Shubnam_ is a thin pellucid muslin to which the
Persian figurative name of 'evening dew' (_shabnam_) is given, the fabric
being, when spread over the bleaching-field, scarcely distinguishable
from the dew on the grass." (_Taylor_, _op. cit._ 45.)

3. SUCCATOONS. (See SUCLAT.)

3. TAFFATIES of sorts. "A name applied to plain woven silks, in more
recent times signifying a light thin silk stuff with a considerable
lustre or gloss" (_Drapers' Dict._ s.v.). The word comes from P.
_tāftan_, 'to twist, spin.' The _Āīn_ (i. 94) has _tāftah_ in the list of
silks.

3. TAINSOOKS.—H. _tansukh_, 'taking ease.' (See above under NAINSOOKS.)

3. TANJEEBS. P. _tanzeb_, 'body adorning.'—"A tolerably fine muslin"
(_Taylor_, _op. cit._ 46; _Forbes Watson_, _op. cit._ 76). "The silk
_tanzeb_ seems to have gone out of fashion, but that in cotton is very
commonly used for the chicken work in Lucknow." (_Yusuf Ali_, _op. cit._
96.)

1. TAPSEILS. (See under ALLEJA.) In the _Āīn_ (i. 94) we have:
"_Tafçilah_ (a stuff from Mecca)."

1670.—"So that in your house are only left some TAPSEILES and cotton
yarn."—In _Yule, Hedges' Diary_, Hak. Soc. ii. ccxxvi. Birdwood in
_Report on Old Records_, 38, has TOPSAILS.

2. TARNATANNES.—"There are various kinds of muslins brought from the East
Indies, chiefly from Bengal, betelles (see BETTEELA), _tarnatans_...."
(_Chambers' Cycl._ of 1788, quoted in 3rd ser. _N. & Q._ iv. 135). It is
suggested (_ibid._ 3rd ser. iv. 135) that this is the origin of English
_tarletan_, Fr. _tarletane_, which is defined in the _Drapers' Dict._ as
"a fine open muslin, first imported from India and afterwards imitated
here."

3. TARTOREES.

3. TEPOYS.

3. TERINDAMS.—"_Turundam_ (said by the weavers to mean 'a kind of cloth
for the body,' the name being derived from the Arabic word _turuh_
(_tarḥ_, _taraḥ_) 'a kind,' and the Persian one _undam_ (_andām_) 'the
body,' is a muslin which was formerly imported, under the name of
_terendam_, into this country." (_Taylor_, _op. cit._ 46.)

2. VENTEPOLLAMS.

PIGDAUN, s. A spittoon; Hind. _pīkdān_. _Pīk_ is properly the expectorated juice of chewed betel.

[c. 1665.—"... servants ... to carry the PICQUEDENT or
spittoon...."—_Bernier_, ed. _Constable_, 214. In 283 PIQUEDANS.]

1673.—"The Rooms are spread with Carpets as in _India_, and they have
PIGDANS, or Spitting pots of the Earth of this Place, which is valued
next to that of China, to void their Spittle in."—_Fryer_, 223.

[1684.—Hedges speaks of purchasing a "Spitting Cup."—_Diary_, Hak. Soc.
i. 149.]

PIGEON ENGLISH. The vile jargon which forms the means of communication at the Chinese ports between Englishmen who do not speak Chinese, and those Chinese with whom they are in the habit of communicating. The word "_business_" appears in this kind of talk to be corrupted into "_pigeon_," and hence the name of the jargon is supposed to be taken. [For examples see _Chamberlain, Things Japanese_, 3rd ed. pp. 321 _seqq._; _Ball, Things Chinese_, 3rd ed. 430 _seqq._ (See BUTLER ENGLISH.)]

1880.—"... the English traders of the early days ... instead of inducing
the Chinese to make use of correct words rather than the misshapen
syllables they had adopted, encouraged them by approbation and example,
to establish PIGEON ENGLISH—a grotesque gibberish which would be
laughable if it were not almost melancholy."—_Capt. W. Gill, River of
Golden Sand_, i. 156.

1883.—"The 'PIDJUN ENGLISH' is revolting, and the most dignified persons
demean themselves by speaking it.... How the whole English-speaking
community, without distinction of rank, has come to communicate with the
Chinese in this baby talk is extraordinary."—_Miss Bird, Golden
Chersonese_, 37.

PIG-STICKING. This is Anglo-Indian hog-hunting, or what would be called among a people delighting more in lofty expression, 'the chase of the Wild Boar.' When, very many years since, one of the present writers, destined for the Bengal Presidency, first made acquaintance with an Indian mess-table, it was that of a Bombay regiment at Aden—in fact of that gallant corps which is now known as the 103rd Foot, or Royal Bombay Fusiliers. Hospitable as they were, the opportunity of enlightening an aspirant Bengalee on the short-comings of his Presidency could not be foregone. The chief counts of indictment were three: 1st. The inferiority of the Bengal Horse Artillery system; 2nd. That the Bengalees were guilty of the base effeminacy of drinking beer out of champagne glasses; 3rd. That in pig-sticking they _threw_ the spear at the boar. The two last charges were evidently ancient traditions, maintaining their ground as facts down to 1840 therefore; and showed how little communication practically existed between the Presidencies as late as that year. Both the allegations had long ceased to be true, but probably the second had been true in the 18th century, as the third certainly had been. This may be seen from the quotation from R. Lindsay, and by the text and illustrations of Williamson's _Oriental Field Sports_ (1807), [and much later (see below)]. There is, or perhaps we should say more diffidently there was, still a difference between the Bengal practice in pig-sticking, and that of Bombay. The Bengal spear is about 6½ feet long, loaded with lead at the butt so that it can be grasped almost quite at the end and carried with the point down, inclining only slightly to the front; the boar's charge is received on the right flank, when the point, raised to 45° or 50° of inclination, if rightly guided, pierces him in the shoulder. The Bombay spear is a longer weapon, and is carried under the armpit like a dragoon's lance. Judging from Elphinstone's statement below we should suppose that the Bombay as well as the Bengal practice originally was to throw the spear, but that both independently discarded this, the QUI-HIS adopting the short overhand spear, the DUCKS the long lance.

1679.—"In the morning we went a hunting of wild Hoggs with Kisna Reddy,
the chief man of the Islands" (at mouth of the Kistna) "and about 100
other men of the island (Dio) with lances and Three score doggs, with
whom we killed eight Hoggs great and small, one being a Bore very large
and fatt, of greate weight."—_Consn. of Agent and Council of Fort St.
Geo._ on Tour. In _Notes and Exts._ No. II.

The party consisted of Streynsham Master "Agent of the Coast and Bay,"
with "Mr. Timothy Willes and Mr. Richard Mohun of the Councell, the
Minister, the Chyrurgeon, the Schoolmaster, the Secretary, and two
Writers, an Ensign, 6 mounted soldiers and a Trumpeter," in all 17
Persons in the Company's Service, and "Four Freemen, who went with the
Agent's Company for their own pleasure, and at their own charges." It was
a Tour of Visitation of the Factories.

1773.—The Hon. R. Lindsay _does_ speak of the "Wild-boar chase"; but he
wrote after 35 years in England, and rather eschews Anglo-Indianisms:

"Our weapon consisted only of a short heavy spear, three feet in length,
and well poised; the boar being found and unkennelled by the spaniels,
runs with great speed across the plain, is pursued on horseback, and the
first rider who approaches him throws the javelin...."—_Lives of the
Lindsays_, iii. 161.

1807.—"When (the hog) begins to slacken, the attack should be commenced
by the horseman who may be nearest pushing on to his left side; into
which the spear should be thrown, so as to lodge behind the shoulder
blade, and about six inches from the backbone."—_Williamson, Oriental
Field Sports_, p. 9. (_Left_ must mean hog's _right_.) This author says
that the bamboo shafts were 8 or 9 feet long, but that _very short_ ones
had formerly been in use; thus confirming Lindsay.

1816.—"We hog-hunt till two, then tiff, and hawk or course till dusk ...
we do not throw our spears in the old way, but poke with spears longer
than the common ones, and never part with them."—_Elphinstone's Life_, i.
311.

[1828.—"... the boar who had made good the next cane with only a slight
scratch from a spear thrown as he was charging the hedge."—_Orient.
Sport. Mag._ reprint 1873, i. 116.]

1848.—"Swankey of the Body-Guard himself, that dangerous youth, and the
greatest buck of all the Indian army now on leave, was one day discovered
by Major Dobbin, _tête-à-tête_ with Amelia, and describing the sport of
PIGSTICKING to her with great humour and eloquence."—_Vanity Fair_, ii.
288.

1866.—"I may be a young PIG-STICKER, but I am too old a sportsman to make
such a mistake as that."—_Trevelyan, The Dawk Bungalow_, in _Fraser_,
lxxiii. 387.

1873.—"PIGSTICKING may be very good fun...."—_A True Reformer_, ch. i.

1876.—"You would perhaps like tiger-hunting or PIG-STICKING; I saw some
of that for a season or two in the East. Everything here is poor stuff
after that."—_Daniel Deronda_, ii. ch. xi.

1878.—"In the meantime there was a 'PIG-STICKING' meet in the
neighbouring district."—_Life in the Mofussil_, i. 140.

PIG-TAIL, s. This term is often applied to the Chinaman's long plait of hair, by transfer from the _queue_ of our grandfathers, to which the name was much more appropriate. Though now universal among the Chinese, this fashion was only introduced by their Manchu conquerors in the 17th century, and was "long resisted by the natives of the Amoy and Swatow districts, who, when finally compelled to adopt the distasteful fashion, concealed the badge of slavery beneath cotton turbans, the use of which has survived to the present day" (_Giles, Glossary of Reference_, 32). Previously the Chinese wore their unshaven back hair gathered in a net, or knotted in a chignon. De Rhodes (Rome, 1615, p. 5) says of the people of Tongking, that "_like the Chinese_ they have the custom of gathering the hair in fine nets under the hat."

1879.—"One sees a single Sikh driving four or five Chinamen in front of
him, having knotted their PIGTAILS together for reins."—_Miss Bird,
Golden Chersonese_, 283.

PILAU, PILOW, PILÁF, &c., s. Pers. _pulāo_, or _pilāv_, Skt. _pulāka_, 'a ball of boiled rice.' A dish, in origin purely Mahommedan, consisting of meat, or fowl, boiled along with rice and spices. Recipes are given by Herklots, ed. 1863, App. xxix.; and in the _Āīn-i-Akbarī_ (ed. _Blochmann_, i. 60), we have one for _ḳīma pulāo_ (_ḳīma_ = 'hash') with several others to which the name is not given. The _name_ is almost as familiar in England as CURRY, but not the _thing_. It was an odd circumstance, some 45 years ago, that the two surgeons of a dragoon regiment in India were called _Currie_ and _Pilleau_.

1616.—"Sometimes they boil pieces of flesh or hens, or other fowl, cut in
pieces in their rice, which dish they call PILLAW. As they order it they
make it a very excellent and a very well tasted food."—_Terry_, in
_Purchas_, ii. 1471.

c. 1630.—"The feast begins: it was compounded of a hundred sorts of PELO
and candied dried meats."—_Sir T. Herbert_, ed. 1638, p. 138, [and for
varieties, p. 310].

[c. 1660.—"... my elegant hosts were fully employed in cramming their
mouths with as much PELAU as they could contain...."—_Bernier_, ed.
_Constable_, 121.]

1673.—"The most admired Dainty wherewith they stuff themselves is PULLOW,
whereof they will fill themselves to the Throat and receive no hurt, it
being so well prepared for the Stomach."—_Fryer_, 399. See also p. 93. At
p. 404 he gives a recipe.

1682.—"They eate their PILAW and other spoone-meate withoute spoones,
taking up their pottage in the hollow of their fingers."—_Evelyn, Diary_,
June 19.

1687.—"They took up their Mess with their Fingers, as the Moors do their
PILAW, using no Spoons."—_Dampier_, i. 430.

1689.—"PALAU, that is Rice boil'd ... with Spices intermixt, and a boil'd
Fowl in the middle, is the most common _Indian_ Dish."—_Ovington_, 397.

1711.—"They cannot go to the Price of a PILLOE, or boil'd Fowl and Rice;
but the better sort make that their principal Dish."—_Lockyer_, 231.

1793.—"On a certain day ... all the Musulman officers belonging to your
department shall be entertained at the charge of the _Sircar_, with a
public repast, to consist of PULLAO of the first sort."—_Select Letters
of Tippoo S._, App. xlii.

c. 1820.—

"And nearer as they came, a genial savour
Of certain stews, and roast-meats, and PILAUS,
Things which in hungry mortals' eyes find favour."—_Don Juan_, v. 47.

1848.—"'There's a PILLAU, Joseph, just as you like it, and Papa has
brought home the best turbot in Billingsgate.'"—_Vanity Fair_, i. 20.

PINANG, s. This is the Malay word for Areca, and it is almost always used by the Dutch to indicate that article, and after them by some Continental writers of other nations. The Chinese word for the same product—_pin-lang_—is probably, as Bretschneider says, a corruption of the Malay word. (See PENANG.)

[1603.—"They (the Javans) are very great eaters—and they haue a certaine
hearbe called _bettaile_ (see BETEL) which they vsually have carryed with
them wheresouer they goe, in boxes, or wrapped vp in a cloath like a
sugar loafe: and also a nut called PINANGE, which are both in operation
very hott, and they eate them continually to warme them within, and keepe
them from the fluxe. They do likewise take much tabacco, and also
opium."—_E. Scott, An Exact Discovrse_, &c., _of the East Indies_, 1606,
Sig. N. 2.

[1665.—"Their ordinary food ... is Rice, Wheat, PINANGE...."—_Sir T.
Herbert, Travels_, 1677, p. 365 (_Stanf. Dict._).]

1726.—"But Shah Sousa gave him (viz. Van der Broek, an envoy to Rajmahal
in 1655) good words, and regaled him with PINANG (a great favour), and
promised that he should be amply paid for everything."—_Valentijn_, v.
165.

PINDARRY, s. Hind. _pinḍārī_, _pinḍārā_, but of which the more original form appears to be Mahr. _penḍhārī_, a member of a band of plunderers called in that language _penḍhār_ and _penḍhārā_. The etymology of the word is very obscure. We may discard as a curious coincidence only, the circumstance observed by Mr. H. T. Prinsep, in the work quoted below (i. 37, note), that "PINDARA seems to have the same reference to _Pandour_ that _Kuzāk_ has to _Cossack_." Sir John Malcolm observes that the most popular etymology among the natives ascribes the name to the dissolute habits of the class, leading them to frequent the shops dealing in an intoxicating drink called _pinda_. (One of the senses of _penḍhā_, according to Molesworth's _Mahr. Dict._, is 'a drink for cattle and men, prepared from _Holcus sorghum_' (see JOWAUR) 'by steeping it and causing it to ferment.') Sir John adds: 'Kurreem Khan' (a famous Pindarry leader) 'told me he had never heard of any other reason for the name; and Major Henley had the etymology confirmed by the most intelligent of the Pindarries of whom he enquired' (_Central India_, 2nd ed. i. 433). Wilson again considers the most probable derivation to be from the Mahr. _penḍhā_, but in the sense of a 'bundle of rice-straw,' and _hara_, 'who takes,' because the name was originally applied to horsemen who hung on to an army, and were employed in collecting forage. We cannot think either of the etymologies very satisfactory. We venture another, as a plausible suggestion merely. Both _pinḍ-paṛnā_ in Hindi, and _pinḍās-basneṅ_ in Mahr. signify 'to follow'; the latter being defined 'to stick closely to; to follow to the death; used of the adherence of a disagreeable fellow.' Such phrases would aptly apply to these hangers-on of an army in the field, looking out for prey. [The question has been discussed by Mr. W. Irvine in an elaborate note published in the _Indian Antiq._ of 1900. To the above three suggestions he adds two made by other authorities: 4. that the term was taken from the _Beder_ race; 5. from _Pinḍārā_, _pinḍ_, 'a lump of food,' _ār_, 'bringer,' a plunderer. As to the fourth suggestion, he remarks that there was a Beder race dwelling in Mysore, Belary and the Nizam's territories. But the objection to this etymology is that as far back as 1748 both words, _Bedar_ and _Pinḍārī_, are used by the native historian, Rām Singh Munshī, side by side, but applied to different bodies of men. Mr. Irvine's suggestion is that the word _Pinḍārī_, or more strictly _Panḍhār_, comes from a place or region called _Pāndhār_ or _Pandhār_. This place is referred to by native historians, and seems to have been situated between Burhānpur and Handiya on the Nerbudda. There is good evidence to prove that large numbers of Pindāris were settled in this part of the country. Mr. Irvine sums up by saying: "If it were not for a passage in Grant Duff (_H. of the Mahrattas_, Bombay reprint, 157), I should have been ready to maintain that I had proved my case. My argument requires two things to make it irrefutable: (1) a very early connection between Pandhār and the Pindhāris; (2) that the Pindhāris had no early home or settlement outside Pandhār. As to the first point, the recorded evidence seems to go no further back than 1794, when Sendhiah granted them lands in Nimār; whereas before that time the name had become fixed, and had even crept into Anglo-Indian vocabularies. As to the second point, Grant Duff says, and he if anybody must have known, that "there were a number of Pindhāris about the borders of Mahārāshtra and the Carnatic...." Unless these men emigrated from Khandesh about 1726 (that is a hundred years before 1826, the date of Grant Duff's book), their presence in the South with the same name tends to disprove any special connection between their name, Pindhāri, and a place, Pindhār, several hundred miles from their country. On the other hand, it is a very singular coincidence that men known as Pindhāris should have been newly settled about 1794 in a country which had been known as Pandhār at least ninety years before they thus occupied it. Such a mere fortuitous connection between Pandhār and the Pindhāris is so extraordinary that we may call it an impossibility. A fair inference is that the region Pandhār was the original home of the Pindhāris, that they took their name from it, and that grants of land between Burhānpur and Handiya were made to them in what had always been their home-country, namely Pandhār."]

The Pinḍārīs seem to have grown up in the wars of the late Mahommedan dynasties in the Deccan, and in the latter part of the 17th century attached themselves to the Mahrattas in their revolt against Aurangzīb; the first mention which we have seen of the name occurs at this time. For some particulars regarding them we refer to the extract from Prinsep below. During and after the Mahratta wars of Lord Wellesley's time many of the Pinḍārī leaders obtained grants of land in Central India from Sindia and Holkar, and in the chaos which reigned at that time outside the British territory their raids in all directions, attended by the most savage atrocities, became more and more intolerable; these outrages extended from Bundelkhand on the N.E., Kadapa on the S., and Orissa on the S.E., to Guzerat on the W., and at last repeatedly violated British territory. In a raid made upon the coast extending from Masulipatam northward, the Pinḍārīs in ten days plundered 339 villages, burning many, killing and wounding 682 persons, torturing 3600, and carrying off or destroying property to the amount of £250,000. It was not, however, till 1817 that the Governor-General, the Marquis of Hastings, found himself armed with permission from home, and in a position to strike at them effectually, and with the most extensive strategic combinations ever brought into action in India. The Pinḍārīs were completely crushed, and those of the native princes who supported them compelled to submit, whilst the British power for the first time was rendered truly paramount throughout India.

1706-7.—"Zoolfecar Khan, after the rains pursued Dhunnah, who fled to the
Beejapore country, and the Khan followed him to the banks of the Kistnah.
The PINDERREHS took Velore, which however was soon retaken.... A great
caravan, coming from Aurungabad, was totally plundered and everything
carried off, by a body of Mharattas, at only 12 coss distance from the
imperial camp."—_Narrative of a Bondeela Officer_, app. to Scott's Tr. of
Firishta's _H. of Deccan_, ii. 122. [On this see _Malcolm, Central
India_, 2nd ed. i. 426. Mr. Irvine in the paper quoted above shows that
it is doubtful if the author really used the word. "By a strange
coincidence the very copy used by J. Scott is now in the British Museum.
On turning to the passage I find 'Peḍā Baḍar,' a well-known man of the
period, and not _Pindārā or Pinderreh_ at all."]

1762.—"Siwaee Madhoo Rao ... began to collect troops, stores, and heavy
artillery, so that he at length assembled near 100,000 horse, 60,000
PINDAREHS, and 50,000 matchlock foot.... In reference to the PINDAREHS,
it is not unknown that they are a low tribe of robbers entertained by
some of the princes of the Dakhan, to plunder and lay waste the
territories of their enemies, and to serve for guides."—_H. of Hydur
Naik_, by _Meer Hassan Ali Khan_, 149. [Mr. Irvine suspects that this may
be based on a misreading as in the former quotation. The earliest
undoubted mention of the name in native historians is by Rām Singh
(1748). There is a doubtful reference in the _Tārīkh-i-Muhammadī_
(1722-23)].

1784.—"BINDARRAS, who receive no pay, but give a certain monthly sum to
the commander-in-chief for permission to maraud, or plunder, under
sanction of his banners."—_Indian Vocabulary_, s.v.

1803.—"Depend upon it that no PINDARRIES or straggling horse will venture
to your rear, so long as you can keep the enemy in check, and your
detachment well in advance."—_Wellington_, ii. 219.

1823.—"On asking an intelligent old PINDARRY, who came to me on the part
of Kurreem Khan, the reason of this absence of high character, he gave me
a short and shrewd answer: 'Our occupation' (said he) 'was incompatible
with the fine virtues and qualities you state; and I suppose if any of
our people ever had them, the first effect of such good feeling would be
to make him leave our community.'"—_Sir John Malcolm, Central India_, i.
436.

[ " "He had ascended on horseback ... being mounted on a PINDAREE
pony, an animal accustomed to climbing."—_Hoole, Personal Narrative_,
292.]

1825.—"The name of PINDARA is coeval with the earliest invasion of
Hindoostan by the Mahrattas.... The designation was applied to a sort of
sorry cavalry that accompanied the Pêshwa's armies in their expeditions,
rendering them much the same service as the Cossacks perform for the
armies of Russia.... The several leaders went over with their bands from
one chief to another, as best suited their private interests, or those of
their followers.... The rivers generally became fordable by the close of
the DUSSERA. The horses then were shod, and a leader of tried courage and
conduct having been chosen as _Luhbureea_, all that were inclined set
forth on a foray or _Luhbur_, as it was called in the PINDAREE
nomenclature; all were mounted, though not equally well. Out of a
thousand, the proportion of good cavalry might be 400: the favourite
weapon was a bamboo spear ... but ... it was a rule that every 15th or
20th man of the fighting PINDAREES should be armed with a matchlock. Of
the remaining 600, 400 were usually common _looteas_ (see LOOTY),
indifferently mounted, and armed with every variety of weapon, and the
rest, slaves, attendants, and camp-followers, mounted on TATTOOS, or wild
ponies, and keeping up with the _luhbur_ in the best manner they
could."—_Prinsep, Hist. of Pol. and Mil. Transactions_ (1813-1823), i.
37, note.

1829.—"The person of whom she asked this question said '_Brinjaree_' (see
BRINJARRY) ... but the lady understood him PINDAREE, and the name was
quite sufficient. She jumped out of the palanquin and ran towards home,
screaming, 'PINDAREES, PINDAREES.'"—_Mem. of John Shipp_, ii. 281.

[1861.—

"So I took to the hills of Malwa, and the free PINDAREE life."]
_Sir A. Lyall, The Old Pindaree._

PINE-APPLE. (See ANANAS.) [The word has been corrupted by native weavers into PINAPHAL or MINAPHAL, as the name of a silk fabric, so called because of the pine-apple pattern on it. (See _Yusuf Ali, Mon. on Silk_, 99.)]

PINJRAPOLE, s. A hospital for animals, existing perhaps only in Guzerat, is so called. Guz. _pinjrāpor_ or _pinjrapol_, [properly a cage (_pinjra_) for the sacred bull (_pola_) released in the name of Siva]. See _Heber_, ed. 1844, ii. 120, and _Ovington_, 300-301; [_P. della Valle_, Hak. Soc. i. 67, 70. _Forbes_ (_Or. Mem._ 2nd ed. i. 156) describes "the Banian hospital" at Surat; but they do not use this word, which Molesworth says is quite modern in Mahr.]

1808.—"Every marriage and mercantile transaction among them is taxed with
a contribution for the PINJRAPOLE ostensibly."—_R. Drummond._

PINTADO. From the Port.

A. A 'painted' (or 'spotted') cloth, _i.e._ CHINTZ (q.v.). Though the word was applied, we believe, to all printed goods, some of the finer Indian chintzes were, at least in part, finished by hand-painting.

1579.—"With cloth of diverse colours, not much unlike our vsuall
PENTADOES."—_Drake, World Encompassed_, Hak. Soc. 143.

[1602.—"... some fine PINTHADOES."—_Birdwood, First Letter Book_, 34.]

1602-5.—"... about their loynes a fine PINTADOE."—_Scot's Discourse of
Iava_, in _Purchas_, i. 164.

1606.—"Heare the Generall deliuered a Letter from the KINGS MAIESTIE of
ENGLAND, with a fayre standing Cuppe, and a cover double gilt, with
divers of the choicest PINTADOES, which hee kindly accepted
of."—_Middleton's Voyage_, E. 3.

[1610.—"PINTADOES of divers sorts will sell.... The names are Sarassa,
Berumpury, large Chaudes, Selematt Cambaita, Selematt white and black,
Cheat Betime and divers others."—_Danvers, Letters_, i. 75.

c. 1630.—"Also they stain Linnen cloth, which we call PANTADOES."—_Sir T.
Herbert_, ed. 1677, p. 304.]

1665.—"To Woodcott ... where was a roome hung with PINTADO, full of
figures greate and small, prettily representing sundry trades and
occupations of the Indians."—_Evelyn's Diary_, Dec. 30.

c. 1759.—"The chintz and other fine PAINTED GOODS, will, if the market is
not overstocked, find immediate vent, and sell for 100 p. cent."—_Letter
from Pegu_, in _Dalrymple, Or. Rep._ i. 120.

B. A name (not Anglo-Indian) for the Guinea-fowl. This _may_ have been given from the resemblance of the speckled feathers to a chintz. But in fact _pinta_ in Portuguese is 'a spot,' or fleck, so that probably it only means speckled. This is the explanation of _Bluteau_. [The word is more commonly applied to the cape Pigeon. See Mr. Gray's note on _Pyrard de Laval_, Hak. Soc. i. 21, who quotes from Fryer, p. 12.]

PISACHEE, Skt. _piśāchī_, a she-demon, m. _piśācha_. In S. India some of the demons worshipped by the ancient tribes are so called. The spirits of the dead, and particularly of those who have met with violent deaths, are especially so entitled. They are called in Tamil _pey_. Sir Walter Elliot considers that the _Piśāchīs_ were (as in the case of _Rākshasas_) a branch of the aboriginal inhabitants. In a note he says: 'The _Piśāchī_ dialect appears to have been a distinct Dravidian dialect, still to be recognised in the speech of the _Paraiya_, who cannot pronounce distinctly some of the pure Tamil letters.' There is, however, in the Hindu drama a _Piśāchā bhāshā_, a gibberish or corruption of Sanskrit, introduced. [This at the present day has been applied to English.] The term _piśāchī_ is also applied to the small circular storms commonly by Europeans called DEVILS (q.v.). We do not know where Archdeacon Hare (see below) found the _Piśāchī_ to be a _white_ demon.

1610.—"The fifth (mode of Hindu marriage) is the _Pisácha-viváha_, when
the lover, without obtaining the sanction of the girl's parents, takes
her home by means of talismans, incantations, and such like magical
practices, and then marries her. PISÁCH, in Sanskrit, is the name of a
demon, which takes whatever person it fixes on, and as the above marriage
takes place after the same manner, it has been called by this name."—_The
Dabistán_, ii. 72; [See _Manu_, iii. 34].

c. 1780.—"'Que demandez-vous?' leur criai-je d'un ton de voix rude.
'Pourquoi restez-vous là à m'attendre? et d'où vient que ces autres
femmes se sont enfuies, comme si j'étois un PÉSCHASEH (esprit malin), ou
une bête sauvage qui voulût vous devorer?'"—_Haafner_, ii. 287.

1801.—"They believe that such men as die accidental deaths become
PYSÁCHI, or evil spirits, and are exceedingly troublesome by making
extraordinary noises, in families, and occasioning fits and other
diseases, especially in women."—_F. Buchanan's Mysore_, iii. 17.

1816.—"Whirlwinds ... at the end of March, and beginning of April, carry
dust and light things along with them, and are called by the natives
PESHASHES or devils."—_Asiatic Journal_, ii. 367.

1819.—"These demons or PEISACHES are the usual attendants of
Shiva."—_Erskine_ on _Elephanta_, in _Bo. Lit. Soc. Trans._ i. 219.

1827.—"As a little girl was playing round me one day with her white frock
over her head, I laughingly called her PISASHEE, the name which the
Indians give to their white devil. The child was delighted with so fine a
name, and ran about the house crying out to every one she met, _I am the_
PISASHEE, _I am the_ PISASHEE. Would she have done so, had she been wrapt
in black, and called _witch_ or _devil_ instead? No: for, as usual, the
reality was nothing, the sound and colour everthing."—_J. C. Hare_, in
_Guesses at Truth, by Two Brothers_, 1st Series, ed. 1838, p. 7.

PISANG, s. This is the Malay word for PLANTAIN or BANANA (qq.v.). It is never used by English people, but is the usual word among the Dutch, and common also among the Germans, [Norwegians and Swedes, who probably got it through the Dutch.]

1651.—"Les _Cottewaniens_ vendent des fruits, come du PISANG, &c."—_A.
Roger, La Porte Ouverte_, p. 11.

c. 1785.—"Nous arrivâmes au grand village de _Colla_, où nous vîmes de
belles allées de bananiers ou PISANG...."—_Haafner_, ii. 85.

[1875.—"Of the PISANG or plantain ... there are over thirty kinds, of
which, the _Pisang-mas_, or golden plantain, so named from its colour,
though one of the smallest, is nevertheless most deservedly
prized."—_Thomson, The Straits of Malacca_, 8.]

PISHPASH, s. Apparently a factitious Anglo-Indian word, applied to a slop of rice-soup with small pieces of meat in it, much used in the Anglo-Indian nursery. [It is apparently P. _pash-pash_, 'shivered or broken in pieces'; from Pers. _pashīdan_.]

1834.—"They found the Secretary disengaged, that is to say, if surrounded
with huge volumes of Financial Reports on one side, and a small silver
tray holding a mess of PISHPASH on the other, can be called
disengaged."—_The Baboo_, &c. i. 85.

PITARRAH, s. A coffer or box used in travelling by palankin, to carry the traveller's clothes, two such being slung to a BANGHY (q.v.). Hind. _piṭārā_, _peṭārā_, Skt. _piṭaka_, 'a basket.' The thing was properly a basket made of cane; but in later practice of tin sheet, with a light wooden frame.

[1833.—"... he sat in the palanquin, which was filled with water up to
his neck, whilst everything he had in his BATARA (or 'trunk') was soaked
with wet...."—_Travels of Dr. Wolff_, ii. 198.]

1849.—"The attention of the staff was called to the necessity of putting
their PITARAHS and property in the Bungalow, as thieves abounded. 'My
dear Sir,' was the reply, 'we are quite safe; we have nothing.'"—_Delhi
Gazette_, Nov. 7.

1853.—"It was very soon settled that Oakfield was to send to the dák
bungalow for his PETARAHS, and stay with Staunton for about three
weeks."—_W. D. Arnold, Oakfield_, i. 223.

PLANTAIN, s. This is the name by which the _Musa sapientum_ is universally known to Anglo-India. Books distinguish between the _Musa sapientum_ or plantain, and the _Musa paradisaica_ or banana; but it is hard to understand where the line is supposed to be drawn. Variation is gradual and infinite.

The botanical name _Musa_ represents the Ar. _mauz_, and that again is from the Skt. _mocha_. The specific name _sapientum_ arises out of a misunderstanding of a passage in Pliny, which we have explained under the head JACK. The specific _paradisaica_ is derived from the old belief of Oriental Christians (entertained also, if not originated by the Mahommedans) that this was the tree from whose leaves Adam and Eve made themselves aprons. A further mystical interest attached also to the fruit, which some believed to be the forbidden apple of Eden. For in the pattern formed by the core or seeds, when the fruit was cut across, our forefathers discerned an image of the Cross, or even of the Crucifix. Medieval travellers generally call the fruit either _Musa_ or 'Fig of Paradise,' or sometimes 'Fig of India,' and to this day in the W. Indies the common small plantains are called 'figs.' The Portuguese also habitually called it 'Indian Fig.' And this perhaps originated some confusion in Milton's mind, leading him to make the BANYAN (_Ficus Indica_ of Pliny, as of modern botanists) the Tree of the aprons, and greatly to exaggerate the size of the leaves of that _ficus_.

The name BANANA is never employed by the English in India, though it is the name universal in the London fruit-shops, where this fruit is now to be had at almost all seasons, and often of excellent quality, imported chiefly, we believe, from Madeira, [and more recently from Jamaica. Mr. Skeat adds that in the Strait Settlements the name PLANTAIN seems to be reserved for those varieties which are only eatable when cooked, but the word BANANA is used indifferently with PLANTAIN, the latter being on the whole perhaps the rarer word].

The name _plantain_ is no more originally Indian than is _banana_. It, or rather _platano_, appears to have been the name under which the fruit was first carried to the W. Indies, according to Oviedo, in 1516; the first edition of his book was published in 1526. That author is careful to explain that the plant was _improperly_ so called, as it was quite another thing from the _platanus_ described by Pliny. Bluteau says the word is Spanish. We do not know how it came to be applied to the _Musa_. [Mr. Guppy (8 ser. _Notes & Queries_, viii. 87) suggests that "the Spaniards have obtained _platano_ from the Carib and Galibi words for _banana_, viz., _balatanna_ and _palatana_, by the process followed by the Australian colonists when they converted a native name for the casuarina trees into 'she-oak'; and that we can thus explain how _platano_ came in Spanish to signify both the plane-tree and the banana." Prof. Skeat (_Concise Dict._ s.v.) derives plantain from Lat. _planta_, 'a plant'; properly 'a spreading sucker or shoot'; and says that the plantain took its name from its spreading leaf.] The rapid spread of the plantain or banana in the West, whence both names were carried back to India, is a counterpart to the rapid diffusion of the ANANAS in the Old World of Asia. It would seem from the translation of Mendoça that in his time (1585) the Spaniards had come to use the form _plantano_, which our Englishmen took up as _plantan_ and _plantain_. But even in the 1736 edition of Bailey's Dict. the only explanation of plantain given is as the equivalent of the Latin _plantago_, the field-weed known by the former name. _Platano_ and _Plantano_ are used in the Philippine Islands by the Spanish population.

1336.—"Sunt in Syriâ et Aegypto poma oblonga quae Paradisi nuncupantur
optimi saporis, mollia, in ore cito dissolubilia: per transversum
quotiescumque ipsa incideris invenies _Crucifixum_ ... diu non durant,
unde per mare ad nostras partes duci non possunt incorrupta."—_Gul. de
Boldensele._

c. 1350.—"Sunt enim in orto illo Adae de Seyllano primo _musae_, quas
incolae ficus vocant ... et istud vidimus oculis nostris quod ubicunque
inciditur per transversum, in utrâque parte incisurae videtur ymago
hominis _crucifixi_ ... et de istis foliis ficûs Adam et Eva fecerunt
sibi perizomata...."—_John de' Marignolli, in Cathay_, &c. p. 352.

1384.—"And there is again a fruit which many people assert to be that
regarding which our first father Adam sinned, and this fruit they call
_Muse_ ... in this fruit you see a very great miracle, for when you
divide it anyway, whether lengthways or across, or cut it as you will,
you shall see inside, as it were, the image of the _Crucifix_; and of
this we comrades many times made proof."—_Viaggio di Simone Sigoli_
(Firenze, 1862, p. 160).

1526 (tr. 1577).—"There are also certayne plantes whiche the Christians
call PLATANI. In the myddest of the plant, in the highest part thereof,
there groweth a cluster with fourtie or fiftie PLATANS about it.... This
cluster ought to be taken from the plant, when any one of the PLATANS
begins to appeare yelowe, at which time they take it, and hang it in
their houses, where all the cluster waxeth rype, with all his
PLATANS."—_Oviedo_, transl. in _Eden's Hist. of Travayle_, f. 208.

1552 (tr. 1582).—"Moreover the Ilande (of Mombas) is verye pleasaunt,
having many orchards, wherein are planted and are groweing ... Figges of
the Indias...."—_Castañeda_, by N. L., f. 22.

1579.—"... a fruit which they call _Figo_ (Magellane calls it a figge of
a span long, but it is no other than that which the Spaniards and
Portingalls have named PLANTANES)."—_Drake's Voyage_, Hak. Soc. p. 142.

1585 (tr. 1588).—"There are mountaines very thicke of orange trees,
siders [_i.e._ _cedras_, 'citrons'], limes, PLANTANOS, and
palmas."—_Mendoça_, by _R. Parke_, Hak. Soc. ii. 330.

1588.—"Our Generall made their wiues to fetch vs PLANTANS, Lymmons, and
Oranges, Pine-apples, and other fruits."—_Voyage of Master Thomas
Candish_, in _Purchas_, i. 64.

1588 (tr. 1604).—"... the first that shall be needefulle to treate of is
the PLANTAIN (_Platano_), or PLANTANO, as the vulgar call it.... The
reason why the Spaniards call it PLATANO (for the Indians had no such
name), was, as in other trees for that they have found some resemblance
of the one with the other, even as they called some fruites prunes,
pines, and cucumbers, being far different from those which are called by
those names in Castille. The thing wherein was most resemblance, in my
opinion, between the PLATANOS at the Indies and those which the ancients
did celebrate, is the greatnes of the leaves.... But, in truth, there is
no more comparison nor resemblance of the one with the other than there
is, as the Proverb saith, betwixt an egge and a chesnut."—_Joseph de
Acosta_, transl. by E. G., Hak. Soc. i. 241.

1593.—"The PLANTANE is a tree found in most parts of Afrique and America,
of which two leaves are sufficient to cover a man from top to
toe."—_Hawkins, Voyage into the South Sea_, Hak. Soc. 49.

1610.—"... and every day failed not to send each man, being one and
fiftie in number, two cakes of white bread, and a quantitie of Dates and
PLANTANS...."—_Sir H. Middleton_, in _Purchas_, i. 254.

c. 1610.—"Ces Gentils ayant pitié de moy, il y eut vne femme qui me mit
... vne seruiete de feuilles de PLANTANE accommodées ensemble auec des
espines, puis me ietta dessus du rys cuit auec vne certaine sauce qu'ils
appellent _caril_ (see CURRY)...."—_Mocquet, Voyages_, 292.

[ " "They (elephants) require ... besides leaves of trees, chiefly
of the Indian fig, which we call Bananes and the Turks
PLANTENES."—_Pyrard de Laval_, Hak. Soc. ii. 345.]

1616.—"They have to these another fruit we English there call a PLANTEN,
of which many of them grow in clusters together ... very yellow when they
are Ripe, and then they taste like unto a _Norwich_ Pear, but much
better."—_Terry_, ed. 1665, p. 360.

c. 1635.—

"... with candy PLANTAINS and the juicy Pine,
On choicest Melons and sweet Grapes they dine,
And with Potatoes fat their wanton wine."
_Waller, Battle of the Summer Islands._

c. 1635.—

"Oh how I long my careless Limbs to lay
Under the PLANTAIN'S Shade; and all the Day
With amorous Airs my Fancy entertain."
_Waller, Battle of the Summer Islands._

c. 1660.—

"The Plant (at Brasil _Bacone_ call'd) the Name
Of the Eastern PLANE-TREE takes, but not the same:
Bears leaves so large, one single Leaf can shade
The Swain that is beneath her Covert laid;
Under whose verdant Leaves fair Apples grow,
Sometimes two Hundred on a single Bough...."
_Cowley, of Plants_, Bk. v.

1664.—

"Wake, Wake Quevera! Our soft rest must cease,
And fly together with our country's peace.
No more must we sleep under PLANTAIN shade,
Which neither heat could pierce nor cold invade;
Where bounteous Nature never feels decay,
And opening buds drive falling fruits away."
_Dryden, Prologue to the Indian Queen._

1673.—"Lower than these, but with a Leaf far broader, stands the curious
PLANTAN, loading its tender Body with a Fruit, whose clusters emulate the
Grapes of _Canaan_, which burthened two men's shoulders."—_Fryer_, 19.

1686.—"The PLANTAIN I take to be King of all Fruit, not except the Coco
itself."—_Dampier_, i. 311.

1689.—"... and now in the Governour's Garden (at St. Helena) and some
others of the Island are quantities of PLANTINS, BONANOES, and other
delightful Fruits brought from the East...."—_Ovington_, 100.

1764.—

"But round the upland huts, BANANAS plant;
A wholesome nutriment bananas yield,
And sunburnt labour loves its breezy shade,
Their graceful screen let kindred PLANTANES join,
And with their broad vans shiver in the breeze."
_Grainger_, Bk. iv.

1805.—"The PLANTAIN, in some of its kinds, supplies the place of
bread."—_Orme, Fragments_, 479.

PLASSEY, n.p. The village _Palāsī_, which gives its name to Lord Clive's famous battle (June 23, 1757). It is said to take its name from the _pālas_ (or DHAWK) tree.

1748.—"... that they have great reason to complain of Ensign English's
conduct in not waiting at PLACY ... and that if he had staid another day
at PLACY, as Tullerooy Caun was marching with a large force towards
Cutway, they presume the Mahrattas would have retreated inland on their
approach and left him an open passage...."—_Letter from Council at
Cossimbazar_, in _Long_, p. 2.

[1757.—Clive's original report of the battle is dated on the "plain of
PLACIS."—_Birdwood, Report on Old Records_, 57.]

1768-71.—"General CLIVE, who should have been the leader of the English
troops in this battle (PLASSY), left the command to Colonel COOTE, and
remained hid in his palankeen during the combat, out of the reach of the
shot, and did not make his appearance before the enemy were put to
flight."—_Stavorinus_, E.T. i. 486. This stupid and inaccurate writer
says that several English officers who were present at the battle related
this "anecdote" to him. This, it may be hoped, is as untrue as the rest
of the story. Even to such a writer one would have supposed that Clive's
mettle would be familiar.

PODÁR, s. Hind. _poddār_, corrn. of Pers. _fot̤adār_, from _fot̤a_, 'a bag of money.' A cash-keeper, or especially an officer attached to a treasury, whose business it is to weigh money and bullion and appraise the value of coins.

[c. 1590.—"The Treasurer. Called in the language of the day
FOTADAR."—_Āīn_, ed. _Jarrett_, ii. 49.]

1680.—"PODAR." (See under DUSTOOR.)

1683.—"The like losses in proportion were preferred to be proved by
Ramchurne PODAR, Bendura bun PODAR, and Mamoobishwas who produced their
several books for evidence."—_Hedges, Diary_, Hak. Soc. i. 84.

[1772.—"PODĀR, a money-changer or teller, under a SHROFF."—_Verelst, View
of Bengal_, Gloss. s.v.]

POGGLE, PUGGLY, &c., s. Properly Hind. _pāgal_; 'a madman, an idiot'; often used colloquially by Anglo-Indians. A friend belonging to that body used to adduce a macaronic adage which we fear the non-Indian will fail to appreciate: "PAGAL _et pecunia jaldè separantur_!" [See NAUTCH.]

1829.—"It's true the people call me, I know not why, the PUGLEY."—_Mem.
John Shipp_, ii. 255.

1866.—"I was foolish enough to pay these BUDMASHES beforehand, and they
have thrown me over. I must have been a PAUGUL to do it."—_Trevelyan, The
Dawk Bungalow_, 385.

[1885.—"He told me that the native name for a regular picnic is a
'POGGLE-_khana_,' that is, a fool's dinner."—_Lady Dufferin, Viceregal
Life_, 88.]

POISON-NUT, s. _Strychnos nux vomica_, L.

POLEA, n.p. Mal. _pulayan_, [from Tam. _pulam_, 'a field,' because in Malabar they are occupied in rice cultivation]. A person of a low or impure tribe, who causes pollution (_pula_) to those of higher caste, if he approaches within a certain distance. [The rules which regulate their meeting with other people are given by Mr. Logan (_Malabar_, i. 118).] From _pula_ the Portuguese formed also the verbs _empolear-se_, 'to become polluted by the touch of a low-caste person,' and _desempolear-se_, 'to purify oneself after such pollution' (_Gouvea_, f. 97, and _Synod._ f. 52_v_), superstitions which Menezes found prevailing among the Christians of Malabar. (See HIRAVA.)

1510.—"The fifth class are called POLIAR, who collect pepper, wine, and
nuts ... the POLIAR may not approach either the Naeri (see NAIR) or the
Brahmins within 50 paces, unless they have been called by
them...."—_Varthema_, 142.

1516.—"There is another lower sort of gentiles called PULER.... They do
not speak to the nairs except for a long way off, as far as they can be
heard speaking with a loud voice.... And whatever man or woman should
touch them, their relations immediately kill them like a contaminated
thing...."—_Barbosa_, 143.

1572.—

"A ley, da gente toda, ricca e pobre,
De fabulas composta se imagina:
Andão nus, e somente hum pano cobre
As partes que a cubrir natura ensina.
Dous modos ha de gente; porque a nobre
_Nayres_ chamados são, e a minos dina
POLEAS tem por nome, a quem obriga
A ley não misturar a casta antiga."
_Camões_, vii. 37.

By Burton:

"The Law that holds the people high and low,
is fraught with false phantastick tales long past;
they go unclothèd, but a wrap they throw
for decent purpose round the loins and waist:
Two modes of men are known: the nobles know
the name of Nayrs, who call the lower caste
POLÉAS, whom their haughty laws contain
from intermingling with the higher strain...."

1598.—"When the Portingales came first into India, and made league and
composition with the King of _Cochin_, the _Nayros_ desired that men
shovld give them place, and turne out of the Way, when they mette in the
Streetes, as the POLYAS. ..." (used to do).—_Linschoten_, 78; [Hak. Soc.
i. 281; also see i. 279].

1606.—"... he said by way of insult that he would order him to touch a
POLEAA, which is one of the lowest castes of Malauar."—_Gouvea_, f. 76.

1626.—"These PULER are Theeves and Sorcerers."—_Purchas, Pilgrimage_,
553.

[1727.—"POULIAS." (See under MUCOA.)

[1754.—"Niadde and PULLIE are two low castes on the _Malabar_
coast...."—_Ives_, 26.

[1766.—"... POOLIGHEES, a cast hardly suffered to breathe the common air,
being driven into the forrests and mountains out of the commerce of
mankind...."—_Grose_, 2nd ed. ii. 161 _seq._]

1770.—"Their degradation is still more complete on the Malabar coast,
which has not been subdued by the Mogul, and where they (the pariahs) are
called POULIATS."—_Raynal_, E.T. 1798, i. 6.

1865.—"Further south in India we find polyandry among ... POLERES of
Malabar."—_McLennan, Primitive Marriage_, 179.