Chapter LXVIII: Preface: TO SECOND EDITION xi (65)

POLIGAR, s. This term is peculiar to the Madras Presidency. The persons so called were properly subordinate feudal chiefs, occupying tracts more or less wild, and generally of predatory habits in former days; they are now much the same as ZEMINDARS in the highest use of that term (q.v.). The word is Tam. _pāḷaiyakkāran_, 'the holder of a _pālaiyam_,' or feudal estate; Tel. _paḷegāḍu_; and thence Mahr. _pālegār_; the English form being no doubt taken from one of the two latter. The southern Poligars gave much trouble about 100 years ago, and the "Poligar wars" were somewhat serious affairs. In various assaults on Pānjālamkurichi, one of their forts in Tinnevelly, between 1799 and 1801 there fell 15 British officers. Much regarding the Poligārs of the south will be found in Nelson's _Madura_, and in Bishop Caldwell's very interesting _History of Tinnevelly_. Most of the quotations apply to those southern districts. But the term was used north to the Mahratta boundary.

1681.—"They pulled down the POLEGAR'S houses, who being conscious of his
guilt, had fled and hid himself."—_Wheeler_, i. 118.

1701.—"Le lendemain je me rendis à Tailur, c'est une petite ville qui
appartient à un autre PALEAGAREN."—_Lett. Edif._ x. 269.

1745.—"J'espère que Votre Eminence agréera l'établissement d'une nouvelle
Mission près des Montagnes appellées vulgairement des PALLEAGARES, où
aucun Missionnaire n'avait paru jusqu'à présent. Cette contrée est
soumise à divers petits Rois appellés également PALLEAGARS, qui sont
independans du Grand Mogul quoique placés presque au milieu de son
Empire."—_Norbert, Mem._ ii. 406-7.

1754.—"A POLYGAR ... undertook to conduct them through defiles and passes
known to very few except himself."—_Orme_, i. 373.

1780.—"He (Hyder) now moved towards the pass of Changana, and encamped
upon his side of it, and sent ten thousand POLYGÀRS to clear away the
pass, and make a road sufficient to enable his artillery and stores to
pass through."—_Hon. James Lindsay_, in _Lives of the Lindsays_, iii.
233.

" "The matchlock men are generally accompanied by POLIGARS, a set
of fellows that are almost savage, and make use of no other weapon than a
pointed bamboo spear, 18 or 20 feet long."—_Munro's Narrative_, 131.

1783.—"To Mahomet Ali they twice sold the Kingdom of Tanjore. To the same
Mahomet Ali they sold at least twelve sovereign Princes called the
POLYGARS."—_Burke's Speech on Fox's India Bill_, in _Works_, iii. 458.

1800.—"I think Pournaya's mode of dealing with these rajahs ... is
excellent. He sets them up in palankins, elephants, &c., and a great
SOWARRY, and makes them attend to his person. They are treated with great
respect, which they like, but can do no mischief in the country. Old
Hyder adopted this plan, and his operations were seldom impeded by
POLYGAR wars."—_A. Wellesley_ to _T. Munro_, in _Arbuthnot's Mem._ xcii.

1801.—"The southern POLIGARS, a race of rude warriors habituated to arms
of independence, had been but lately subdued."—_Welsh_, i. 57.

1809.—"Tondiman is an hereditary title. His subjects are POLYGARS, and
since the late war ... he is become the chief of those tribes, among whom
the singular law exists of the female inheriting the sovereignty in
preference to the male."—_Ld. Valentia_, i. 364.

1868.—"There are 72 bastions to the fort of Madura; and each of them was
now formally placed in charge of a particular chief, who was bound for
himself and his heirs to keep his post at all times, and under all
circumstances. He was also bound to pay a fixed annual tribute; to supply
and keep in readiness a quota of troops for the Governor's armies; to
keep the Governor's peace over a particular tract of country.... A grant
was made to him of a tract of a country ... together with the title of
_Páleiya Kâran_ (POLIGAR)...."—_Nelson's Madura_, Pt. iii. p. 99.

" "Some of the POLIGARS were placed in authority over others, and
in time of war were answerable for the good conduct of their
subordinates. Thus the Sethupati was chief of them all; and the POLIGAR
of Dindigul is constantly spoken of as being the chief of eighteen
POLIGARS ... when the levying of troops was required the Delavay (see
DALAWAY) sent requisitions to such and such POLIGARS to furnish so many
armed men within a certain time...."—_Nelson's Madura_, Pt. iii. p. 157.

The word got transferred in English parlance to the people _under_ such
Chiefs (see quotations above, 1780-1809); and especially, it would seem,
to those whose habits were predatory:

1869.—"There is a third well-defined race mixed with the general
population, to which a common origin may probably be assigned. I mean the
predatory classes. In the south they are called POLIGARS, and consist of
the tribes of Marawars, Kallars (see COLLERY), Bedars (see BYDE), Ramuses
(see RAMOOSY): and in the North are represented by the Kolis (see COOLY)
of Guzerat, and the Gujars (see GOOJUR) of the N.W. Provinces."—_Sir
Walter Elliot_, in _J. Ethn. Soc. L._, N.S. i. 112.

[POLIGAR DOG, s. A large breed of dogs found in S. India. "The Polygar dog is large and powerful, and is peculiar in being without hair" (_Balfour, Cycl._ i. 568).]

[1853.—"It was evident that the original breed had been crossed with the
bull-dog, or the large POLIGAR DOG of India."—_Campbell, Old Forest
Ranger_, 3rd ed. p. 12.]

POLLAM, s. Tam. _pālaiyam_; Tel. _pāḷemu_; (see under POLIGAR).

1783.—"The principal reason which they assigned against the extirpation
of the POLYGARS (see POLIGAR) was that the weavers were protected in
their fortresses. They might have added, that the Company itself which
stung them to death, had been warmed in the bosom of these unfortunate
princes; for on the taking of Madras by the French, it was in their
hospitable POLLAMS that most of the inhabitants found refuge and
protection."—_Burke's Speech on Fox's E. I. Bill_, in _Works_, iii. 488.

1795.—"Having submitted the general remarks on the POLLAMS I shall
proceed to observe that in general the conduct of the POLIGARS is much
better than could be expected from a race of men, who have hitherto been
excluded from those advantages, which almost always attend conquered
countries, an intercourse with their conquerors. With the exception of a
very few, when I arrived they had never seen a European...."—_Report on
Dindigal_, by _Mr. Wynch_, quoted in _Nelson's Madura_, Pt. iv. p. 15.

POLO, s. The game of hockey on horseback, introduced of late years into England, under this name, which comes from Baltī; _polo_ being properly in the language of that region the ball used in the game. The game thus lately revived was once known and practised (though in various forms) from Provence to the borders of China (see CHICANE). It had continued to exist down to our own day, it would seem, only near the extreme East and the extreme West of the Himālaya, viz. at Manipur in the East (between Cachar and Burma), and on the West in the high valley of the Indus (in Ladāk, Balti, Astōr and Gilgit, and extending into Chitrāl). From the former it was first adopted by our countrymen at Calcutta, and a little later (about 1864) it was introduced into the Punjab, almost simultaneously from the Lower Provinces and from Kashmīr, where the summer visitors had taken it up. It was first played in England, it would seem at Aldershot, in July 1871, and in August of the same year at Dublin in the Phœnix Park. The next year it was played in many places.[224] But the first mention we can find in the _Times_ is a notice of a match at Lillie-Bridge, July 11, 1874, in the next day's paper. There is mention of the game in the _Illustrated London News_ of July 20, 1872, where it is treated as a new invention by British officers in India. [According to the author of the _Badminton Library_ treatise on the game, it was adopted by Lieut. Sherer in 1854, and a club was formed in 1859. The same writer fixes its introduction into the Punjab and N.W.P. in 1861-62. See also an article in _Baily's Magazine_ on "The Early History of Polo" (June 1890). The Central Asian form is described, under the name of _Baiga_ or _Kok-büra_, 'grey wolf,' by Schuyler (_Turkistan_, i. 268 _seqq._) and that in Dardistan by Biddulph (_Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh_, 84 _seqq._).] In Ladāk it is not indigenous, but an introduction from Baltistan. See a careful and interesting account of the game of those parts in Mr. F. Drew's excellent book, _The Jummoo and Kashmir Territories_, 1875, pp. 380-392.

We learn from Professor Tylor that the game exists still in Japan, and a very curious circumstance is that the polo _racket_, just as that described by Jo. Cinnamus in the extract under CHICANE has survived there. [See _Chamberlain, Things Japanese_, 3rd ed. 333 _seqq._]

1835.—"The ponies of Muneepoor hold a very conspicuous rank in the
estimation of the inhabitants.... The national game of Hockey, which is
played by every male of the country capable of sitting a horse, renders
them all expert equestrians; and it was by men and horses so trained,
that the princes of Muneepoor were able for many years not only to repel
the aggressions of the Burmahs, but to save the whole country ... and
plant their banners on the banks of the Irrawattee."—_Pemberton's Report
on the E. Frontier of Br. India_, 31-32.

1838.—"At Shighur I first saw the game of the Chaughán, which was played
the day after our arrival on the MYDAN or plain laid out expressly for
the purpose.... It is in fact hocky on horseback. The ball, which is
larger than a cricket ball, is only a globe made of a kind of
willow-wood, and is called in Tibeti 'PULU.'... I can conceive that the
Chaughán requires only to be seen to be played. It is the fit sport of an
equestrian nation.... The game is played at almost every valley in Little
Tibet and the adjoining countries ... Ladakh, Yessen, Chitral, &c.; and I
should recommend it to be tried on the Hippodrome at
Bayswater...."—_Vigne, Travels in Kashmir, Ladakh, Iskardo_, &c. (1842),
ii. 289-392.

1848.—"An assembly of all the principal inhabitants took place at
Iskardo, on some occasion of ceremony or festivity.... I was thus
fortunate enough to be a witness of the chaugan, which is derived from
Persia, and has been described by Mr. Vigne as hocky on horseback....
Large quadrangular enclosed meadows for this game may be seen in all the
larger villages of Balti, often surrounded by rows of beautiful willow
and poplar trees."—_Dr. T. Thomson, Himalaya and Tibet_, 260-261.

1875.—

"POLO, Tent-pegging, Hurlingham, the Rink,
I leave all these delights."
_Browning, Inn Album_, 23.

POLLOCK-SAUG, s. Hind. _pālak_, _pālak-sāg_; a poor vegetable, called also 'country spinach' (_Beta vulgaris_, or _B. Bengalensis_, Roxb.). [Riddell (_Domest. Econ._ 579) calls it 'Bengal Beet.']

POLONGA, TIC-POLONGA, s. A very poisonous snake, so called in Ceylon (_Bungarus?_ or _Daboia elegans?_); Singh. _poloñgarā_. [The _Madras Gloss._ identifies it with the _Daboia elegans_, and calls it 'Chain viper,' 'Necklace snake,' 'Russell's viper,' or COBRA MANILLA. The Singh. name is said to be TITPOLANGA, _tit_, 'spotted,' _polanga_, 'viper.']

1681.—"There is another venomous snake called POLONGO, the most venomous
of all, that kills cattel. Two sorts of them I have seen, the one green,
the other of reddish gray, full of white rings along the sides, and about
five or six feet long."—_Knox_, 29.

1825.—"There are only four snakes ascertained to be poisonous; the COBRA
DE CAPELLO is the most common, but its bite is not so certainly fatal as
that of the TIC POLONGA, which destroys life in a few minutes."—_Mrs.
Heber_, in _H.'s Journal_, ed. 1844, ii. 167.

POMFRET, POMPHRET, s. A genus of sea-fish of broad compressed form, embracing several species, of good repute for the table on all the Indian coasts. According to Day they are all reducible to _Stromateus sinensis_, 'the white Pomfret,' _Str. cinereus_, which is, when immature, 'the silver Pomfret,' and when mature, 'the gray Pomfret,' and _Str. niger_, 'the black P.' The French of Pondicherry call the fish _pample_. We cannot connect it with the πομπίλος of _Aelian_ (xv. 23) and Athenaeus (Lib. VII. cap. xviii. _seqq._) which is identified with a very different fish, the 'pilot-fish' (_Naucrates ductor_ of Day). The name is probably from the Portuguese, and a corruption of _pampano_, 'a vine-leaf,' from supposed resemblance; this is the Portuguese name of a fish which occurs just where the _pomfret_ should be mentioned. Thus:

[1598.—"The best fish is called Mordexiin, PAMPANO, and
Tatiingo."—_Linschoten_, Hak. Soc. ii. 11.]

1613.—"The fishes of this Mediterranean (the Malayan sea) are very
savoury SABLES, and SEER FISH (_serras_) and PAMPANOS, and
rays...."—_Godinho de Eredia_, f. 33_v_.

[1703.—"... Albacores, Daulphins, PAUMPHLETS."—In _Yule, Hedges' Diary_,
Hak. Soc. ii. cccxxxiv.]

1727.—"Between _Cunnaca_ and _Ballasore_ Rivers ... a very delicious Fish
called the PAMPLEE, come in Sholes, and are sold for two Pence per
Hundred. Two of them are sufficient to dine a moderate Man."—_A.
Hamilton_, i. 396; [ed. 1744].

1810.—

"Another face look'd broad and bland
Like PAMPLET floundering on the sand;
Whene'er she turned her piercing stare,
She seemed alert to spring in air."—
_Malay verses_, rendered by _Dr. Leyden_, in _Maria Graham_,
201.

1813.—"The POMFRET is not unlike a small turbot, but of a more delicate
flavour; and epicures esteem the BLACK POMFRET a great dainty."—_Forbes,
Or. Mem._ i. 52-53; [2nd ed. i. 36].

[1822.—"... the lad was brought up to catch PAMPHLETS and
bombaloes...."—_Wallace, Fifteen Years in India_, 106.]

1874.—"The greatest pleasure in Bombay was eating a fish called
'POMFRET.'"—_Sat. Rev._, 30th May, 690.

[1896.—"Another account of this sort of seine fishing, for catching
POMFRET fish, is given by Mr. Gueritz."—_Ling Roth, Natives of Sarawak_,
i. 455.]

POMMELO, PAMPELMOOSE, &c., s. _Citrus decumana_, L., the largest of the orange-tribe. It is the same fruit as the SHADDOCK of the West Indies; but to the larger varieties some form of the name Pommelo seems also to be applied in the West. A small variety, with a fine skin, is sold in London shops as "the Forbidden fruit." The fruit, though grown in gardens over a great part of India, really comes to perfection only near the Equator, and especially in Java, whence it was probably brought to the continent. For it is called in Bengal _Batāvī nimbū_ (_i.e._ _Citrus Bataviana_). It probably did not come to India till the 17th century; it is not mentioned in the _Āīn_. According to Bretschneider the Pommelo is mentioned in the ancient Chinese Book of the _Shu-King_. Its Chinese name is _Yu_.

The form of the name which we have put first is that now general in Anglo-Indian use. But it is probably only a modern result of 'striving after meaning' (quasi _Pomo-melone_?). Among older authors the name goes through many strange shapes. Tavernier calls it _pompone_ (_Voy. des Indes_, liv. iii. ch. 24; [ed. _Ball_, ii. 360]), but the usual French name is _pampel-mousse_. Dampier has _Pumplenose_ (ii. 125); Lockyer, _Pumplemuse_ (51); Forrest, _Pummel-nose_ (32); Ives, '_pimple-noses_, called in the West Indies _Chadocks_' [19]. Maria Graham uses the French spelling (22). _Pompoleon_ is a form unknown to us, but given in the _Eng. Cyclopaedia_. Molesworth's _Marāṭhi Dict._ gives "_papannas_, _papanas_, or _papanis_ (a word of. S. America)." We are unable to give the true etymology, though Littré says boldly "Tamoul, _bambolimas_." Ainslie (_Mat. Medica_, 1813) gives _Poomlimas_ as the Tamil, whilst Balfour (_Cycl. of India_) gives _Pumpalimas_ and _Bambulimas_ as Tamil, _Bombarimasa_ and _Pampara-panasa_ as Telugu, _Bambali naringi_ as Malayālim. But if these are real words they appear to be corruptions of some foreign term. [Mr. F. Brandt points out that the above forms are merely various attempts to transliterate a word which is in Tamil _pambalimāsu_, while the Malayālim is _bambāli-nārakam_ '_bambili_ tree.' According to the _Madras Gloss._ all these, as well as the English forms, are ultimately derived from the Malay _pumpulmas_. Mr. Skeat writes: "In an obsolete Malay dict., by Howison (1801) I find '_poomplemoos_, a fruit brought from India by Captain Shaddock, the seeds of which were planted at Barbadoes,' and afterwards obtained his name: the affix _moos_ appears to be the Dutch _moes_, 'vegetable.'" If this be so, the Malay is not the original form.]

1661.—"The fruit called by the Netherlanders PUMPELMOOS, by the
Portuguese _Jamboa_, grows in superfluity outside the city of Batavia....
This fruit is larger than any of the lemon-kind, for it grows as large as
the head of a child of 10 years old. The core or inside is for the most
part reddish, and has a kind of sourish sweetness, tasting like unripe
grapes."—_Walter Schulzen_, 236.

PONDICHERRY, n.p. This name of what is now the chief French settlement in India, is _Pudu-ch'chēri_, or _Puthuççēri_, 'New Town,' more correctly _Pudu-vai_, _Puthuvai_, meaning 'New Place.' C. P. Brown, however, says it is _Pudi-cherū_, 'New Tank.' The natives sometimes write it _Phulcheri_. [Mr. Garstin (_Man. S. Arcot_, 422) says that Hindus call it _Puthuvai_ or _Puthuççeri_, while Musulmans call it _Pulcheri_, or as the _Madras Gloss._ writes the word, _Pulchari_.]

1680.—"Mr. Edward Brogden, arrived from Porto Novo, reports arrival at
PUDDICHERRY of two French ships from Surat, and the receipt of advices of
the death of Sevajie."—_Fort St. Geo. Consn._, May 23. In _Notes and
Exts._ No. iii. p. 20.

[1683.—"... Interlopers intend to settle att Verampatnam, a place neer
PULLICHERRY...."—_Pringle, Diary Ft. St. Geo._, 1st ser. ii. 41. In iv.
113 (1685) we have PONDICHERRY.]

1711.—"The French and Danes likewise hire them (Portuguese) at PONT DE
CHEREE and Trincombar."—_Lockyer_, 286.

1718.—"The Fifth Day we reached BUDULSCHERI, a French Town, and the chief
Seat of their Missionaries in India."—_Prop. of the Gospel_, p. 42.

1726.—"POEDECHERY," in _Valentijn, Choro._ 11.

1727.—"PUNTICHERRY is the next Place of Note on this Coast, a colony
settled by the French."—_A. Hamilton_, i. 356; [ed. 1744].

1753.—"L'établissement des François à PONDICHERI remonte jusqu'en l'année
1674; mais par de si foibles commencements, qu'on n'auroit eu de la peine
à imaginer, que les suites en fussent aussi considerables."—_D'Anville_,
p. 121.

1780.—"An English officer of rank, General Coote, who was unequalled
among his compeers in ability and experience in war, and who had
frequently fought with the French of PHOOLCHERI in the Karnatic and ...
had as often gained the victory over them...."—_H. of Hyder Naik_, 413.

PONGOL, s. A festival of S. India, observed early in January. Tam. _pŏngăl_, 'boiling'; _i.e._ of the rice, because the first act in the feast is the boiling of the new rice. It is a kind of harvest-home. There is an interesting account of it by the late Mr. C. E. Gover (_J. R. As. Soc._ N.S. v. 91), but the connection which he traces with the old Vedic religion is hardly to be admitted. [See the meaning of the rite discussed by _Dr. Fraser, Golden Bough_, 2nd ed. iii. 305 _seq._]

1651.—"... nous parlerons maintenant du PONGOL, qui se celebre le 9 de
Janvier en l'honneur du Soleil.... Ils cuisent du ris avec du laict....
Ce ris se cuit hors la maison, afin que le Soleil puisse luire dessus ...
et quand ils voyent, qu'il semble le vouloir retirer, ils crient d'une
voix intelligible, PONGOL, PONGOL, PONGOL, PONGOL...."—_Abr. Roger_, Fr.
Tr. 1670, pp. 237-8.

1871.—"Nor does the gentle and kindly influence of the time cease here.
The files of the Munsif's Court will have been examined with cases from
litigious enemies or greedy money lenders. But as PONGOL comes round many
of them disappear.... The creditor thinks of his debtor, the debtor of
the creditor. The one relents, the other is ashamed, and both parties are
saved by a compromise. Often it happens that a process is postponed 'till
after PONGOL!'"—_Gover_, as above, p. 96.

POOJA, s. Properly applied to the Hindu ceremonies in idol-worship; Skt. _pūjā_; and colloquially to any kind of rite. Thus _jhanḍā kī pūjā_, or 'Pooja of the flag,' is the sepoy term for what in St. James's Park is called 'Trooping of the colours.' [Used in the plural, as in the quotation of 1900, it means the holidays of the Durgā Pūjā or DUSSERA.]

[1776.—"... the occupation of the _Bramin_ should be ... to cause the
performance of the POOJEN, _i.e._ the worship to _Dewtàh_...."—_Halhed,
Code_, ed. 1781, Pref. xcix.

[1813.—"... the Pundits in attendance commenced the POOJA, or sacrifice,
by pouring milk and curds upon the branches, and smearing over the leaves
with wetted rice."—_Broughton, Letters_, ed. 1892, p. 214.]

1826.—"The person whose steps I had been watching now approached the
sacred tree, and having performed PUJA to a stone deity at its foot,
proceeded to unmuffle himself from his shawls...."—_Pandurang Hari_, 26;
[ed. 1873, i. 34].

1866.—"Yes, Sahib, I Christian boy. Plenty POOJAH do. Sunday time never
no work do."—_Trevelyan, The Dawk Bungalow_, in _Fraser_, lxxiii. 226.

1874.—"The mass of the ryots who form the population of the village are
too poor to have a family deity. They are forced to be content with ...
the annual PUJAHS performed ... on behalf of the village
community."—_Cal. Rev._ No. cxvii. 195.

1879.—"Among the curiosities of these lower galleries are little models
of costumes and country scenes, among them a grand POOJA under a
tree."—_Sat. Rev._ No. 1251, p. 477.

[1900.—"Calcutta has been in the throes of the PUJAHS since
yesterday."—_Pioneer Mail_, 5 Oct.].

POOJAREE, s. Hind. _pujārī_. An officiating priest in an idol temple.

1702.—"L'office de POUJARI ou de Prêtresse de la Reine mère était
incompatible avec le titre de servante du Seigneur."—_Lett. Edif._ xi.
111.

[1891.—"Then the PŪJĀRI, or priest, takes the Bhuta sword and bell in his
hands...."—_Monier-Williams, Brahmanism and Hinduism_, 4th ed. 249.]

POOL, s. P.—H. _pul_, 'a bridge.' Used in two of the quotations under the next article for 'embankment.'

[1812.—"The bridge is thrown over the river ... it is called the POOL
Khan...."—_Morier, Journey through Persia_, 124.]

POOLBUNDY, s. P.—H. _pulbandī_, 'Securing of bridges or embankments.' A name formerly given in Bengal to a civil department in charge of the embankments. Also sometimes used improperly for the embankment itself.

[1765.—"Deduct POOLBUNDY advanced for repairs of dykes, roads,
&c."—_Verelst, View of Bengal_, App. 213.

[c. 1781.—"Pay your constant devoirs to Marian Allypore, or sell yourself
soul and body to POOLBUNDY."—Ext. from _Hicky's Gazette_, in _Busteed,
Echoes of Old Calcutta_, 3rd ed. 178. This refers to Impey, who was
called by this name in allusion to a lucrative contract given to his
relative, a Mr. Fraser.]

1786.—"That the Superintendent of POOLBUNDY Repairs, after an accurate
and diligent survey of the BUNDS and POOLS, and the provincial Council of
Burdwan ... had delivered it as their opinion...."—_Articles of Charge
against Warren Hastings_, in _Burke_, vii. 98.

1802.—"The Collector of Midnapore has directed his attention to the
subject of POOLBUNDY, and in a very ample report to the Board of Revenue,
has described certain abuses and oppressions, consisting chiefly of
pressing ryots to work on the POOLS, which call aloud for a
remedy."—_Fifth Report_, App. p. 558.

1810.—"... the whole is obliged to be preserved from inundation by an
embankment called the POOL BANDY, maintained at a very great and regular
expense."—_Williamson, V. M._, ii. 365.

POON, PEON, &c., s. Can. _ponne_, [Mal. _punna_, Skt. _punnāga_]. A timber tree (_Calophyllum inophyllum_, L.) which grows in the forests of Canara, &c., and which was formerly used for masts, whence also called _mast-wood_. [Linschoten refers to this tree, but not by name (Hak. Soc. i. 67).]

[1727.—"... good POON-masts, stronger but heavier than Firr."—_A.
Hamilton_, ed. 1744, i. 267.

[1776.—"... POHOON-masts, chiefly from the Malabar coast."—_Grose_, 2nd
ed. ii. 109.]

[1773.—"POON tree ... the wood light but tolerably strong; it is
frequently used for masts, but unless great care be taken to keep the wet
from the ends of it, it soon rots."—_Ives_, 460.]

1835.—"PEON, or PUNA ... the largest sort is of a light, bright colour,
and may be had at Mangalore, from the forests of Corumcul in Canara,
where it grows to a length of 150 feet. At Mangalore I procured a tree of
this sort that would have made a foremast for the Leander, 60-gun ship,
in one piece, for 1300 Rupees."—_Edye_, in _J. R. As. Soc._ ii. 354.

POONAMALEE, n.p. A town, and formerly a military station, in the Chingleput Dist. of Madras Presidency, 13 miles west of Madras. The name is given in the _Imp. Gazetteer_ as _Pūnamallu_ (?), and _Ponda malāi_, whilst Col. Branfill gives it as "_Pūntha malli_ for _Pūvirunthamalli_," without further explanation. [The _Madras Gloss._ gives Tam. _Pundamalli_, 'town of the jasmine-creeper,' which is largely grown there for the supply of the Madras markets.

[1876.—"The dog, a small piebald cur, with a short tail, not unlike the
'POONAMALLEE terrier,' which the British soldier is wont to manufacture
from PARIAH dogs for 'GRIFFINS' with sporting proclivities, was brought
up for inspection."—_McMahon, Karens of the Golden Chersonese_, 236.]

POONGEE, PHOONGY, s. The name most commonly given to the Buddhist _religieux_ in British Burma. The word (_p'hun-gyi_) signifies 'great glory.'

1782.—"... leurs Prêtres ... sont moins instruits que les Brames, et
portent le nom de PONGUIS."—_Sonnerat_, ii. 301.

1795.—"From the many convents in the neighbourhood of Rangoon, the number
of Rhahans and PHONGIS must be very considerable; I was told it exceeded
1500."—_Symes, Embassy to Ava_, 210.

1834.—"The TALAPOINS are called by the Burmese PHONGHIS, which term means
great glory, or _Rahans_, which means perfect."—_Bp. Bigandet_, in _J.
Ind. Archip._ iv. 222-3.

[1886.—"Every Burman has for some time during his life to be a POHNGEE,
or monk."—_Lady Dufferin, Viceregal Life_, 177.]

POORÁNA, s. Skt. _purāṇa_, 'old,' hence 'legendary,' and thus applied as a common name to 18 books which contain the legendary mythology of the Brahmans.

1612.—"... These books are divided into bodies, members, and joints
(_cortos, membros, e articulos_) ... six which they call _Xastra_ (see
SHASTER), which are the bodies; eighteen which they call PURANÁ, which
are the members; twenty-eight called _Agamon_, which are the
joints."—_Couto_, Dec. V. liv. vi. cap. 3.

1651.—"As their PORANAS, _i.e._ old histories, relate."—_Rogerius_, 153.

[1667.—"When they have acquired a knowledge of Sanscrit ... they
generally study the PURANA, which is an abridgment and interpretation of
the Beths" (see VEDAS).—_Bernier_, ed. _Constable_, p. 335.]

c. 1760.—"Le PURAN comprend dix-huit livres qui renferment l'histoire
sacrée, qui contient les dogmes de la religion des
Bramines."—_Encyclopédie_, xxvii. 807.

1806.—"Ceux-ci, calculoient tout haut de mémoire tandis que d'autres,
plus avancés, lisoient, d'un ton chantant, leurs POURANS."—_Haafner_, i.
130.

POORUB, and POORBEEA, ss. Hind. _pūrab_, _pūrb_, 'the East,' from Skt. _pūrva_ or _pūrba_, 'in front of,' as _paścha_ (Hind. _pachham_) means 'behind' or 'westerly' and _dakshina_, 'right-hand' or southerly. In Upper India the term means usually Oudh, the Benares division, and Behar. Hence POORBEEA (_pūrbiya_), a man of those countries, was, in the days of the old Bengal army, often used for a sepoy, the majority being recruited in those provinces.

1553.—"Omaum (Humāyūn) Patxiah ... resolved to follow Xerchan (Sher Khān)
and try his fortunes against him ... and they met close to the river
Ganges before it unites with the river Jamona, where on the West bank of
the river there is a city called Canose (Canauj), one of the chief of the
kingdom of Dely. Xerchan was beyond the river in the tract which the
natives call PURBA...."—_Barros_, IV. ix. 9.

[1611.—"PIERB is 400 cose long."—_Jourdain_, quoted in _Sir T. Roe_, Hak.
Soc. ii. 538.]

1616.—"Bengala, a most spacious and fruitful province, but more properly
to be called a kingdom, which hath two very large provinces within it,
PURB and Patan, the one lying on the east, the other on the west side of
the river."—_Terry_, ed. 1665, p. 357.

1666.—"La Province de Halabas s'appelloit autrefois
PUROP...."—_Thevenot_, v. 197.

[1773.—"Instead of marching with the great army he had raised into the
PURBUNEAN country ... we were informed he had turned his arms against
us...."—_Ives_, 91.]

1881.—

"... My lands were taken away,
And the Company gave me a pension of just eight annas a day;
And the POORBEAHS swaggered about our streets as if they had done it
all...."
_Attar Singh loquitur_, by '_Sowar_,' Sir M. Durand in an
Indian paper, the name and date lost.

POOTLY NAUTCH, s. Properly Hind. _kāṭh-putlī-nāch_, 'wooden-puppet-dance.' A puppet show.

c. 1817.—"The day after tomorrow will be my lad James Dawson's birthday,
and we are to have a PUTTULLY-NAUTCH in the evening."—_Mrs. Sherwood's
Stories_, 291.

POPPER-CAKE, in Bombay, and in Madras POPADAM, ss. These are apparently the same word and thing, though to the former is attributed a Hind. and Mahr. origin _pāpaṛ_, Skt. _parpaṭa_, and to the latter a Tamil one, _pappaḍam_, as an abbreviation of _paruppu-aḍam_, 'lentil cake.' [The _Madras Gloss._ gives Tel. _appadam_, Tam. _appalam_ (see HOPPER), and Mal. _pappatam_, from _parippu_, 'DHALL,' _ata_, 'cake.'] It is a kind of thin scone or wafer, made of any kind of pulse or lentil flour, seasoned with assafoetida, &c., fried in oil, and in W. India baked crisp, and often eaten at European tables as an accompaniment to curry. It is not bad, even to a novice.

1814.—"They are very fond of a thin cake, or wafer, called POPPER, made
from the flour of _oord_ or _mash_ ... highly seasoned with assa-foetida;
a salt called POPPER-_khor_; and a very hot massaula (see MUSSALLA),
compounded of turmeric, black pepper, ginger, garlic, several kinds of
warm seeds, and a quantity of the hottest Chili pepper."—_Forbes, Or.
Mem._ ii. 50; [2nd ed. i. 347].

1820.—"PAPAḌOMS (fine cakes made of gram-flour and a fine species of
alkali, which gives them an agreeable salt taste, and serves the purpose
of yeast, making them rise, and become very crisp when fried...."—_As.
Researches_, xiii. 315.

" "PAPER, the flour of _ooreed_ (see OORD), salt, assa-foetida, and
various spices, made into a paste, rolled as thin as a wafer, and dried
in the sun, and when wanted for the table baked crisp...."—_T. Coates_,
in _Tr. Lit. Soc. Bo._ iii. 194.

PORCA, n.p. In _Imp. Gazetteer_ _Porakád_, also called _Piracada_; properly _Puṛākkāḍŭ_, [or according to the _Madras Gloss._ _Purakkātu_, Mal. _pura_, 'outside,' _kātu_, 'jungle']. A town on the coast of Travancore, formerly a separate State. The Portuguese had a fort here, and the Dutch, in the 17th century, a factory. Fra Paolina (1796) speaks of it as a very populous city full of merchants, Mahommedan, Christian, and Hindu. It is now insignificant. [See _Logan, Malabar_, i. 338.]

[1663-4.—"Your ffactories of Carwarr and PORQUATT are continued but to
very little purpose to you."—_Forrest, Bombay Letters_, i. 18.]

PORCELAIN, s. The history of this word for China-ware appears to be as follows. The family of univalve mollusks called _Cypraeidae_, or COWRIES, (q.v.) were in medieval Italy called _porcellana_ and _porcelletta_, almost certainly from their strong resemblance to the body and back of a pig, and not from a grosser analogy suggested by Mahn (see in Littré _sub voce_). That this is so is strongly corroborated by the circumstance noted by Dr. J. E. Gray (see _Eng. Cyc. Nat. Hist._ s.v. _Cypraeidae_) that _Pig_ is the common name of shells of this family on the English coast; whilst _Sow_ also seems to be a name of one or more kinds. The enamel of this shell seems to have been used in the Middle Ages to form a coating for ornamental pottery, &c., whence the early application of the term _porcellana_ to the fine ware brought from the far East. Both applications of the term, viz. to cowries and to China-ware, occur in _Marco Polo_ (see below). The quasi-analogous application of _pig_ in Scotland to earthen-ware, noticed in an imaginary quotation below, is probably quite an accident, for there appears to be a Gaelic _pige_, 'an earthen jar,' &c. (see _Skeat_, s.v. _piggin_). We should not fail to recall Dr. Johnson's etymology of _porcelaine_ from "_pour cent années_," because it was believed by Europeans that the materials were matured under ground 100 years! (see quotations below from Barbosa, and from Sir Thomas Brown).

c. 1250.—Capmany has the following passage in the work cited. Though the
same writer published the Laws of the Consulado del Mar in 1791, he has
deranged the whole of the chapters, and this, which he has quoted, is
omitted altogether!

"In the XLIVth chap. of the maritime laws of Barcelona, which are
undoubtedly not later than the middle of the 13th century, there are
regulations for the return cargoes of the ships trading with
Alexandria.... In this are enumerated among articles brought from Egypt
... cotton in bales and spun wool _de capells_ (for hats?), PORCELANAS,
alum, elephants' teeth...."—_Memorias, Hist. de Barcelona_, I. Pt. ii. p.
44.

1298.—"Il ont monoie en tel mainere con je voz dirai, car il espendent
PORCELAINE blance, celle qe se trovent en la mer et qe se metent au cuel
des chienz, et vailent les quatre-vingt PORCELAINES un saic d'arjent qe
sunt deus venesians gros...."—_Marco Polo_, oldest French text, p. 132.

" "Et encore voz di qe en ceste provence, en une cité qe est apellé
Tinugui, se font escuelle de PORCELLAINE grant et pitet les plus belles
qe l'en peust deviser."—_Ibid._ 180.

c. 1328.—"Audivi quòd ducentas civitates habet sub se imperator ille
(Magnus Tartarus) majores quàm Tholosa; et ego certè credo quòd plures
habeant homines.... Alia non sunt quae ego sciam in isto imperio digna
relatione, nisi vasa pulcherrima, et nobilissima, atque virtuosa
PORSELETA."—_Jordani Mirabilia_, p. 59.

In the next passage it seems probable that the shells, and not China dishes, are intended.

c. 1343.—"... ghomerabica, vernice, armoniaco, zaffiere, coloquinti,
PORCELLÁNE, mirra, mirabolani ... si vendono a Vinegia a cento di peso
sottile" (_i.e._ by the CUTCHA hundredweight).—_Pegolotti, Practica della
Mercatura_, p. 134.

c. 1440.—"... this Cim and Macinn that I haue before named arr ii verie
great provinces, thinhabitants whereof arr idolaters, and there make they
vessells and disshes of PORCELLANA."—_Giosafa Barbaro_, Hak. Soc. 75.

In the next the shells are clearly intended:

1442.—"_Gabelle di Firenze_ ... PORCIELETTE marine, la libra ... soldi
... denari 4."—_Uzzano, Prat. della Mercatura_, p. 23.

1461.—"PORCELLANE pezzi 20, cioè 7 piattine, 5 scodelle, 4 grandi e una
piccida, piattine 5 grandi, 3 scodelle, una biava, e due bianche."—_List
of Presents sent by the_ Soldan of Egypt _to the Doge_ Pasquale
Malepiero. In _Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores_, xxi. col. 1170.

1475.—"The seaports of Cheen and Machin are also large. PORCELAIN is made
there, and sold by the weight and at a low price."—_Nikitin_, in _India
in the XVth Cent._, 21.

1487.—"... le mando lo inventario del presente del Soldano dato a Lorenzo
... vasi grandi di PORCELLANA mai più veduti simili ne meglio
lavorati...."—_Letter of P. da Bibbieno to Clar. de' Medici_, in
_Roscoe's Lorenzo_, ed. 1825, ii. 371.

1502.—"In questo tempo abrusiorno xxi nave sopra il porto di Calechut; et
de epse hebbe tãte drogarie e speciarie che caricho le dicte sei nave.
Praeterea me ha mandato sei vasi di PORZELLANA excellitissimi et grãdi:
quatro bochali de argento grandi cõ certi altri vasi al modo loro per
credentia."—_Letter of K. Emanuel_, 13.

1516.—"They make in this country a great quantity of PORCELAINS of
different sorts, very fine and good, which form for them a great article
of trade for all parts, and they make them in this way. They take the
shells of sea-snails (? _caracoli_), and eggshells, and pound them, and
with other ingredients make a paste, which they put underground to refine
for the space of 80 or 100 years, and this mass of paste they leave as a
fortune to their children...."—_Barbosa_, in _Ramusio_, i. 320_v_.

1553.—(In China) "The service of their meals is the most elegant that can
be, everything being of very fine PROCELANA (although they also make use
of silver and gold plate), and they eat everything with a fork made after
their fashion, never putting a hand into their food, much or
little."—_Barros_, III. ii. 7.

1554.—(After a suggestion of the identity of the _vasa murrhina_ of the
ancients): "Ce nom de PORCELAINE est donné à plusieurs coquilles de mer.
Et pource qu'vn beau Vaisseau d'vne coquille de mer ne se pourroit rendre
mieux à propos suyuãt le nom antique, que de l'appeller de PORCELÁINE
i'ay pensé que les coquilles polies et luysantes, resemblants à Nacre de
perles, ont quelque affinité auec la matière des vases de PORCELAINE
antiques: ioinct aussi que le peuple Frãçois nomme les patesnostres
faictes de gros vignols, patenostres de PORCELAINE. Les susdicts vases de
PORCELAINE sont transparents, et coustent bien cher au Caire, et disent
mesmement qu'ilz les apportent des Indes. Mais cela ne me sembla
vraysemblable: car on n'en voirroit pas si grande quantité, ne de si
grãdes pieces, s'il failloit apporter de si loing. Vne esguiere, vn pot,
ou vn autre vaisseau pour petite qu'elle soit, couste vn ducat: si c'est
quelque grãd vase, il coustera d'auantage."—_P. Belon, Observations_, f.
134.

c. 1560.—"And because there are many opinions among the Portugals which
have not beene in _China_, about where this PORCELANE is made, and
touching the substance whereof it is made, some saying, that it is of
oysters shels, others of dung rotten of a long time, because they were
not enformed of the truth, I thought it conuenient to tell here the
substance...."—_Gaspar da Cruz_, in _Purchas_, iii. 177.

[1605-6.—"... China dishes or PUSELEN."—_Birdwood, First Letter Book_,
77.

[1612.—"Balanced one part with sandal wood, PORCELAIN and
pepper."—_Danvers, Letters_, i. 197.]

1615.—"If we had in England beds of PORCELAIN such as they have in
China,—which PORCELAIN is a kind of plaster buried in the earth, and by
length of time congealed and glazed into that substance; this were an
artificial mine, and part of that substance...."—_Bacon, Argument on
Impeachment of Waste_; _Works_, by _Spedding_, &c., 1859, vii. 528.

c. 1630.—"The _Bannyans_ all along the sea-shore pitch their Booths ...
for there they sell Callicoes, China-satten, PURCELLAIN-ware, scrutores
or Cabbinets...."—_Sir T. Herbert_, ed. 1665, p. 45.

1650.—"We are not thoroughly resolved concerning PORCELLANE or China
dishes, that according to common belief they are made of earth, which
lieth in preparation about an hundred years underground; for the
relations thereof are not only divers but contrary; and Authors agree not
herein...."—_Sir Thomas Browne, Vulgar Errors_, ii. 5.

[1652.—"Invited by Lady Gerrard I went to London, where we had a greate
supper; all the vessels, which were innumerable, were of PORCELAN, she
having the most ample and richest collection of that curiositie in
England."—_Evelyn, Diary_, March 19.]

1726.—In a list of the treasures left by Akbar, which is given by
Valentijn, we find:

"In PORCELYN, &c., Ropias 2507747."—iv. (_Suratte_), 217.

1880.—"'Vasella quidem delicatiora et caerulea et venusta, quibus
inhaeret nescimus quid elegantiae, PORCELLANA vocantur, quasi (sed
nescimus quare) a _porcellis_. In partibus autem Britanniae quae
septentrionem spectant, vocabulo forsan analogo, vasa grossiora et fusca
_pigs_ appellant barbari, quasi (sed quare iterum nescimus) a _porcis_.'
_Narrischchen und Weitgeholt, Etymol. Universale_, s.v. 'Blue
China.'"—Motto to _An Ode in Brown Pig, St. James's Gazette_, July 17.

PORGO, s. We know this word only from its occurrence in the passage quoted; and most probably the explanation suggested by the editor of the _Notes_ is correct, viz. that it represents Port. _peragua_. This word is perhaps the same as _pirogue_, used by the French for a canoe or 'dug-out'; a term said by Littré to be (_piroga_) Carib. [On the passage from T. B. quoted below Sir H. Yule has the following note: "J. (_i.e._ T.) B., the author, gives a rough drawing. It represents the _Purgoe_ as a somewhat high-sterned lighter, not very large, with five oar-pins a side. I cannot identify it exactly with any kind of modern boat of which I have found a representation. It is perhaps most like the _palwār_. I think it must be an Orissa word, but I have not been able to trace it in any dictionary, Uriya or Bengali." On this Col. Temple says: "The modern Indian _palwār_ (Malay _palwa_) is a skiff, and would not answer the description." Anderson (_loc. cit._) mentions that in 1685 several "well-laden _Purgoes_" and boats had put in for shelter at Rameswaram to the northward of Madapollam, _i.e._ on the Coromandel Coast. There seems to be no such word known there now. I think, however, that the term _Purgoo_ is probably an obsolete Anglo-Indian corruption of an Indian corruption of the Port. term _barco_, _barca_, a term used for any kind of sailing boat by the early Portuguese visitors to the East (_e.g._ _D'Alboquerque_, Hak. Soc. ii. 230; _Vasco da Gama_, Hak. Soc. 77, 240).]

[1669-70.—"A PURGOO: These Vse for the most part between Hugly and Pyplo
and Ballasore: with these boats they carry goods into ye Roads on board
English and Dutch, &c. Ships, they will liue a longe time in ye Sea,
beinge brought to anchor by ye Sterne, as theire Vsual way is."—MS. by T.
B.[ateman], quoted by _Anderson, English Intercourse with Siam_, p. 266.]

1680.—Ft. St. Geo. Consn., Jany. 30, "records arrival from the Bay of the
'Success,' the Captain of which reports that a PORGO [_Peragua_?, a
fast-sailing vessel, Clipper] drove ashore in the Bay about
Peply...."—_Notes and Exts._ No. iii. p. 2.

[1683.—"The Thomas arrived with ye 28 bales of Silk taken out of the
PURGA."—_Hedges, Diary_, Hak. Soc. i. 65.

[1685.—"In Hoogly letter to Fort St. George, dated February 6 PORGO
occurs coupled with 'bora' (Hind. bhar, 'a lighter')."—_Pringle, Diary
Ft. St. Geo._ 1st ser. iii. 165.]

PORTIA, s. In S. India the common name of the _Thespesia populnea_, Lam. (N.O. _Malvaceae_), a favourite ornamental tree, thriving best near the sea. The word is a corruption of Tamil _Puarassu_, 'Flower-king'; [_pu-varasu_, from _pu_, 'flower,' _arasu_, 'PEEPUL tree']. In Ceylon it is called _Suria gansuri_, and also the Tulip-tree.

1742.—"Le bois sur lequel on les met (les toiles), et celui qu'on employe
pour les battre, sont ordinairement de tamarinier, ou d'un autre arbe
nommé PORCHI."—_Lett. Edif._ xiv. 122.

1860.—"Another useful tree, very common in Ceylon, is the _Suria_, with
flowers so like those of a tulip that Europeans know it as the tulip
tree. It loves the sea air and saline soils. It is planted all along the
avenues and streets in the towns near the coast, where it is equally
valued for its shade and the beauty of its yellow flowers, whilst its
tough wood is used for carriage-shafts and gun-stocks."—_Tennent's
Ceylon_, i. 117.

1861.—"It is usual to plant large branches of the PORTIA and banyan trees
in such a slovenly manner that there is little probability of the trees
thriving or being ornamental."—_Cleghorn, Forests and Gardens of S.
India_, 197.

PORTO NOVO, n.p. A town on the coast of South Arcot, 32 m. S. of Pondicherry. The first mention of it that we have found is in Bocarro, _Decada_, p. 42 (c. 1613). The name was perhaps intended to mean 'New Oporto,' rather than 'New Haven,' but we have not found any history of the name. [The Tamil name is _Parangi-pēṭṭai_, 'European town,' and it is called by Mahommedans _Maḥmūd-bandar_.]

1718.—"At Night we came to a Town called PORTA NOVA, and in Malabarish
_Pirenkī Potei_ (_Parangipēṭṭai_)."—_Propagation of the Gospel_, &c., Pt.
ii. 41.

1726.—"The name of this city (_Porto Novo_) signifies in Portuguese NEW
HAVEN, but the Moors call it _Mohhammed Bendar_ ... and the Gentoos
_Perringepeente_."—_Valentijn, Choromandel_, 8.

PORTO PIQUENO, PORTO GRANDE, nn.pp. 'The Little Haven and the Great Haven'; names by which the Bengal ports of SATIGAM (q.v.) and _Chatigam_ (see CHITTAGONG) respectively were commonly known to the Portuguese in the 16th century.

1554.—"PORTO PEQUENO _de Bemgala_ ... COWRIES are current in the country;
80 cowries make 1 _pone_ (see PUN); of these _pones_ 48 are equal to 1
LARIN more or less."—_A. Nunes_, 37.

1554.—"PORTO GRANDE _de Bemgala_. The MAUND (_mão_), by which they weigh
all goods, contains 40 SEERS (_ceros_), each seer 18-2/5 ounces...."—_A.
Nunes_, 37.

1568.—"Io mi parti d'Orisa per Bengala al PORTO PICHENO ... s'entra nel
fiume Ganze, dalla bocca del qual fiume sino a _Satagan_ (see SATIGAM)
città, oue si fanno negotij, et oue i mercadanti si riducono, sono centi
e venti miglia, che si fanno in diciotto hore a remi, cioè, in tre
crescenti d'acqua, che sono di sei hore l'uno."—_Ces. Federici_, in
_Ramusio_, iii. 392.

1569.—"Partissemo di Sondiua, et giungessemo in Chitigan il GRAN PORTO di
Bengala, in tempo che già i Portoghesi haueuano fatto pace o tregua con i
Rettori."—_Ibid._ 396.

1595.—"Besides, you tell me that the traffic and commerce of the PORTO
PEQUENO of Bemguala being always of great moment, if this goes to ruin
through the Mogors, they will be the masters of those tracts."—_Letter of
the K. of Portugal_, in _Archiv. Port. Orient._, Fascic. 3, p. 481.

1596.—"And so he wrote me that the Commerce of PORTO GRANDE of Bengala is
flourishing, and that the King of the Country had remitted to the
Portuguese 3 per cent. of the duties that they used to pay."—_Ibid._ p.
580.

1598.—"When you thinke you are at the point de Gualle, to be assured
thereof, make towards the Iland, to know it ... where commonlie all the
shippes know the land, such I say as we sayle to _Bengalen_, or to any of
the Hauens thereof, as PORTO PEQUENO or PORTO GRANDE, that is the small,
or the great Haven, where the Portingalles doe
traffique...."—_Linschoten_, Book III. p. 324.

[c. 1617.—"PORT GRANDE, PORT PEQUINA," in _Sir T. Roe's List_, Hak. Soc.
ii. 538.]

POSTEEN, s. An Afghan leathern pelisse, generally of sheep-skin with the fleece on. Pers. _postīn_, from _post_, 'a hide.'

1080.—"Khwája Ahmad came on some Government business to Ghaznín, and it
was reported to him that some merchants were going to Turkistán, who were
returning to Ghaznín in the beginning of winter. The Khwája remembered
that he required a certain number of POSTINS (great coats) every year for
himself and sons...."—_Nizám-ul-Mulk_, in _Elliot_, ii. 497.

1442.—"His Majesty the Fortunate Khākān had sent for the Prince of
Kālikūt, horses, pelisses (POSTĪN) and robes woven of
gold...."—_Abdurazzāk_, in _Not. et Extr._ xiv. Pt. i. 437.

[c. 1590.—"In the winter season there is no need of POSHTINS (fur-lined
coats)...."—_Āīn_, ed. _Jarrett_, ii. 337.]

1862.—"Otter skins from the Hills and Kashmir, worn as POSTĪNS by the
Yarkandis."—_Punjab Trade Report_, p. 65.

POTTAH, s. Hind. and other vernaculars, _paṭṭā_, &c. A document specifying the conditions on which lands are held; a lease or other document securing rights in land or house property.

1778.—"I am therefore hopeful you will be kindly pleased to excuse me the
five lacs now demanded, and that nothing may be demanded of me beyond the
amount expressed in the POTTAH."—_The Rajah of Benares_ to Hastings, in
_Articles of Charge against H._, Burke, vi. 591.

[1860.—"By the Zumeendar, then, or his under tenant, as the case may be,
the land is farmed out to the Ryuts by POTTAHS, or
agreements...."—_Grant, Rural Life in Bengal_, 67.

PRA, PHRA, PRAW, s. This is a term constantly used in Burma, familiar to all who have been in that country, in its constant application as a style of respect, addressed or applied to persons and things of especial sanctity or dignity. Thus it is addressed at Court to the King; it is the habitual designation of the Buddha and his images and dagobas; of superior ecclesiastics and sacred books; corresponding on the whole in use, pretty closely to the Skt. _Śṛī_. In Burmese the word is written _bhurā_, but pronounced (in Arakan) _p'hrā_, and in modern Burma Proper, with the usual slurring of the _r_, _P'hyā_ or _Pyā_. The use of the term is not confined to Burma; it is used in quite a similar way in Siam, as may be seen in the quotation below from Alabaster; the word is used in the same form _P'hra_ among the Shans; and in the form _Prea_, it would seem, in Camboja. Thus Garnier speaks of Indra and Vishnu under their Cambojan epithets as _Prea_ En and _Prea_ Noreai (Nārāyaṇa); of the figure of Buddha entering _nirvāna_, as _Prea_ Nippan; of the King who built the great temple of Angkor Wat as _Prea_ Kot Melea, of the King reigning at the time of the expedition as _Prea_ Ang Reachea Vodey, of various sites of temples as _Preacon_, _Preacan_, _Prea_ Pithu, &c. (_Voyage d'Exploration_, i. 26, 49, 388, 77, 85, 72).

The word P'HRĀ appears in composition in various names of Burmese kings, as of the famous _Alom_P'HRA (1753-60), founder of the late dynasty, and of his son _Bodoah-_P'HRA (1781-1819). In the former instance the name is, according to Sir A. Phayre, Alaung-_p'hrā_, _i.e._ the embryo Buddha, or Bodisatva. A familiar Siamese example of use is in the PHRĀ _Bāt_, or sacred foot-mark of Buddha, a term which represents the _Śṛi Pada_ of Ceylon.

The late Prof. H. H. Wilson, as will be seen, supposed the word to be a corruption of Skt. _prabhu_ (see PARVOE). But Mr. Alabaster points, under the guidance of the Siamese spelling, rather to Skt. _vara_, 'pre-eminent, excellent.' This is in Pali _varo_, "excellent, best, precious, noble" (_Childers_). A curious point is that, from the prevalence of the term PHRĀ in all the Indo-Chinese kingdoms, we must conclude that it was, at the time of the introduction of Buddhism into those countries, in predominant use among the Indian or Ceylonese propagators of the new religion. Yet we do not find any evidence of such a use of either _prabhu_ or _vara_. The former would in Pali be _pabbho_. In a short paper in the _Bijdragen_ of the Royal Institute of the Hague (Dl. X. 4de Stuk, 1885), Prof. Kern indicates that this term was also in use in Java, in the forms _Bra_ and _pra_, with the sense of 'splendid' and the like; and he cites as an example BRA-_Wijaya_ (the style of several of the medieval kings of Java), where BRA is exactly the representative of Skt. _Śṛī_.

1688.—"I know that in the country of _Laos_ the Dignities of _Pa-ya_ and
_Meuang_, and the honourable Epithets of PRA are in use; it may be also
that the other terms of Dignity are common to both Nations, as well as
the Laws."—_De la Loubère, Siam_, E.T. 79.

" "The PRA-Clang, or by a corruption of the _Portugueses_, the
_Barcalon_, is the officer, who has the appointment of the Commerce, as
well within as without the Kingdom.... His name is composed of the Balie
word PRA, which I have so often discoursed of, and of the word _Clang_,
which signifies Magazine."—_Ibid._ 93.

" "Then _Sommona-Codom_ (see GAUTAMA) they call PRA-_Boute-Tchaou_,
which verbatim signifies the _Great and Excellent Lord_."—_Ibid._ 134.

1795.—"At noon we reached Meeaday, the personal estate of the Magwoon of
Pegue, who is oftener called, from this place, Meeaday PRAW, or Lord of
Meeaday."—_Symes, Embassy to Ava_, 242.

1855.—"The epithet PHRA, which occupies so prominent a place in the
ceremonial and religious vocabulary of the Siamese and Burmese, has been
the subject of a good deal of nonsense. It is unfortunate that our
Burmese scholars have never (I believe) been Sanskrit scholars, nor _vice
versâ_, so that the Palee terms used in Burma have had little
elucidation. On the word in question, Professor H. H. Wilson has kindly
favoured me with a note: 'Phrá is no doubt a corruption of the Sanskrit
_Prabhu_, a Lord or Master; the _h_ of the aspirate _bh_ is often
retained alone, leaving _Prahu_ which becomes PRÁH or PHRA.'"—_Sir H.
Yule, Mission to Ava_, 61.

1855.—"All these readings (of documents at the Court) were intoned in a
high recitative, strongly resembling that used in the English cathedral
service. And the long-drawn PHYÁ-Á-Á-Á! (My Lord), which terminated each
reading, added to the resemblance, as it came in exactly like the Amen of
the Liturgy."—_Ibid._ 88.

1859.—"The word PHRA, which so frequently occurs in this work, here
appears for the first time; I have to remark that it is probably derived
from, or of common origin with, the Pharaoh of antiquity. It is given in
the Siamese dictionaries as synonymous with God, ruler, priest, and
teacher. It is in fact the word by which sovereignty and sanctity are
associated in the popular mind."—_Bowring, Kingdom and People of Siam_,
[i. 35].

1863.—"The title of the First King (of Siam) is PHRA-_Chom-Klao-Yu-Hua_
and spoken as PHRA _Phutthi-Chao-Yu-Hua_.... His Majesty's nose is styled
in the Pali form PHRA-_Nasa_.... The Siamese term the (Catholic)
missionaries, the Preachers of the PHRA-_Chao Phu-Sang_, _i.e._ of God
the Creator, or the Divine Lord Builder.... The Catholic missionaries
express 'God' by PHRA-_Phutthi-Chao_ ... and they explain the Eucharist
as PHRA-_Phutthi-Kaya_ (_Kaya_ = 'Body')."—_Bastian, Reise_, iii. 109,
and 114-115.

1870.—"The most excellent PARĀ, brilliant in his glory, free from all
ignorance, beholding Nibbāna the end of the migration of the soul,
lighted the lamp of the law of the Word."—_Rogers, Buddhagosha's
Parables_, tr. from the Burmese, p. 1.

1871.—"PHRA is a Siamese word applied to all that is worthy of the
highest respect, that is, everything connected with religion and royalty.
It may be translated as 'holy.' The Siamese letters _p_—_h_—_r_ commonly
represent the Sanskrit _v_—_r_. I therefore presume the word to be
derived from the Sanskrit '_vri_'—'to choose, or to be chosen,' and
'_vara_'—'better, best, excellent,' the root of ἄριστος."—_Alabaster, The
Wheel of the Law_, 164.

PRAAG, sometimes PIAGG, n.p. Properly _Prayāga_, 'the place of sacrifice,' the old Hindu name of ALLAHABAD, and especially of the river confluence, since remote ages a place of pilgrimage.

c. A.D. 638.—"Le royaume de _Polo-ye-kia_ (PRAYÂGA) a environ 5000 _li_
de tour. La capitale, qui est située au confluent de deux fleuves, a
environ 20 _li_ de tour.... Dans la ville, il y a un temple des dieux qui
est d'une richesse éblouissante, et où éclatent une multitude de
miracles.... Si quel qu'un est capable de pousser le mépris de la vie
jusqu' à se donner la mort dans ce temple, il obtient le bonheur eternel
et les joies infinies des dieux.... Depuis l'antiquité jusqu' à nos
jours, cette coutume insensée n'a pas cessé un instant."—_Hiouen-Thsang_,
in _Pèl. Boudd._ ii. 276-79.