Chapter LXXII: Preface: TO SECOND EDITION xi (69)

(c. 1000?).—"El Haçan fils d'Amr et d'autres, d'après ce qu'ils tenaient
de maint-personnages de l'Inde, m'ont rapporté des choses bien
extraordinaires, au sujet des oiseaux du pays de Zabedj, de Khmêr
(_Kumār_), du Senf et autres regions des parages de l'Inde. Ce que j'ai
vu de plus grand, en fait de plumes d'oiseaux, c'est un tuyau que me
montra Abou' l-Abbas de Siraf. Il était long de deux aunes environs
capable, semblait-il, de contenir une outre d'eau.

"'J'ai vu dans l'Inde, me dit le capitaine Ismaïlawéih, chez un des
principaux marschands, un tuyau de plume qui était près de sa maison, et
dans lequel on versait de l'eau comme dans une grande tonne.... Ne sois
pas étonné, me dit-il, car un capitaine du pays des Zindjs m'a conté
qu'il avait vu chez le roi de Sira un tuyau de plume qui contenait
vingt-cinq outres d'eau.'"—_Livre des Mervailles d'Inde._ (_Par Van der
Lith et Marcel Devic_, pp. 62-63.)

ROCK-PIGEON. The bird so called by sportsmen in India is the _Pterocles exustus_ of Temminck, belonging to the family of sand-grouse (_Pteroclidae_). It occurs throughout India, except in the more wooded parts. In their swift high flight these birds look something like pigeons on the wing, whence perhaps the misnomer.

ROGUE (Elephant), s. An elephant (generally, if not always a male) living in apparent isolation from any herd, usually a bold marauder, and a danger to travellers. Such an elephant is called in Bengal, according to Williamson, _saun_, _i.e._ _sān_ [Hind. _sānḍ_, Skt. _shaṇḍa_]; sometimes it would seem _gunḍā_ [Hind. _gunḍā_, 'a rascal']; and by the Sinhalese _hora_. The term _rogue_ is used by Europeans in Ceylon, and its origin is somewhat obscure. Sir Emerson Tennent finds such an elephant called, in a curious book of the 18th century, _ronkedor_ or _runkedor_, of which he supposes that _rogue_ may perhaps have been a modification. That word looks like Port. _roncador_, 'a snorer, a noisy fellow, a bully,' which gives a plausible sense. But Littré gives _rogue_ as a colloquial French word conveying the idea of arrogance and rudeness. In the following passage which we have copied, unfortunately without recording the source, the word comes still nearer the sense in which it is applied to the elephant: "On commence à s'apperceuoir dés Bayonne, que l'humeur de ces peuples tient vn peu de celle de ses voisins, et qu'ils sont _rogues_ et peu communicatifs avec l'Estranger." After all however it is most likely that the word is derived from an English use of the word. For Skeat shows that _rogue_, from the French sense of 'malapert, saucy, rude, surly,' came to be applied as a cant term to beggars, and is used, in some old English passages which he quotes, exactly in the sense of our modern 'tramp.' The transfer to a vagabond elephant would be easy. Mr. Skeat refers to Shakspeare:—

"And wast thou fain, poor father,
To hovel thee with swine, and ROGUES forlorn?"
_K. Lear_, iv. 7.

1878.—"Much misconception exists on the subject of ROGUE or solitary
elephants. The usually accepted belief that these elephants are turned
out of the herds by their companions or rivals is not correct. Most of
the so-called solitary elephants are the lords of some herds near. They
leave their companions at times to roam by themselves, usually to visit
cultivation or open country ... sometimes again they make the expedition
merely for the sake of solitude. They, however, keep more or less to the
jungle where their herd is, and follow its movements."—_Sanderson_, p.
52.

ROGUE'S RIVER, n.p. The name given by Europeans in the 17th and 18th centuries to one of the Sunderbund channels joining the Lower Hoogly R. from the eastward. It was so called from being frequented by the Arakan Rovers, sometimes Portuguese vagabonds, sometimes native MUGGS, whose vessels lay in this creek watching their opportunity to plunder craft going up and down the Hoogly.

Mr. R. Barlow, who has partially annotated _Hedges' Diary_ for the Hakluyt Society, identifies Rogue's River with Channel Creek, which is the channel between Saugor Island and the Delta. Mr. Barlow was, I believe, a member of the Bengal Pilot service, and this, therefore, must have been the application of the name in recent tradition. But I cannot reconcile this with the sailing directions in the _English Pilot_ (1711), or the indications in Hamilton, quoted below.

The _English Pilot_ has a sketch chart of the river, which shows, just opposite Buffalo Point, "_R. Theeves_," then, as we descend, the _R. Rangafula_, and, close below that, "_Rogues_" (without the word _River_), and still further below, _Chanell Creek_ or _R. Jessore_. Rangafula R. and Channel Creek we still have in the charts.

After a careful comparison of all the notices, and of the old and modern charts, I come to the conclusion that the R. of Rogues must have been either what is now called _Chingrī Khāl_, entering immediately below DIAMOND HARBOUR, or _Kalpī_ Creek, about 6 m. further down, but the preponderance of argument is in favour of _Chingrī Khāl_. The position of this quite corresponds with the _R. Theeves_ of the old English chart; it corresponds in distance from Saugor (the _Gunga Saugor_ of those days, which forms the extreme S. of what is styled _Saugor Island_ now) with that stated by Hamilton, and also in being close to the "first safe anchoring place in the River," viz. Diamond Harbour. The Rogue's River was apparently a little 'above the head of the Grand Middle Ground' or great shoals of the Hoogly, whose upper termination is now some 7½ m. below Chingrī Khāl. One of the extracts from the _English Pilot_ speaks of the "R. of Rogues, commonly called by the Country People, _Adegom_." Now there is a town on the Chingrī Khāl, a few miles from its entrance into the Hoogly, which is called in Rennell's Map _Ottogunge_, and in the _Atlas of India_ Sheet _Huttoogum_. Further, in the tracing of an old Dutch chart of the 17th century, in the India Office, I find in a position corresponding with Chingrī Khāl, _D'Roevers Spruit_, which I take to be 'Robber's (or ROGUE'S) RIVER.'

1683.—"And so we parted for this night, before which time it was resolved
by y^e Councill that if I should not prevail to go this way to Decca, I
should attempt to do it with y^e Sloopes by way of the RIVER OF ROGUES,
which goes through to the great River of Decca."—_Hedges, Diary_, Hak.
Soc. i. 36.

1711.—"_Directions to go up along the Western Shore_.... The nearer the
Shore the better the Ground until past the River of Tygers.[231] You may
begin to edge over towards the RIVER OF ROGUES about the head of the
Grand Middle Ground; and when the _Buffalow_ Point bears from you ½ N. ¾
of a Mile, steer directly over for the East Shore E.N.E."—_The English
Pilot_, Pt. iii. p. 54.

" "_Mr. Herring, the Pilot's Directions for bringing of Ships down
the River of Hughley_.... From the lower point of the _Narrows_ on the
Starboard side ... the Eastern Shore is to be kept close aboard, until
past the said Creek, afterwards allowing only a small Birth for the Point
off the RIVER OF ROGUES, commonly called by the Country People,
Adegom.... From the RIVER ROGUES, the Starboard (qu. larboard?) shore
with a great ship ought to be kept close aboard all along down to Channel
Trees, for in the offing lies the Grand Middle Ground."—_Ibid._ p. 57.

1727.—"The first safe anchoring Place in the River, is off the Mouth of a
River about 12 Leagues above Sagor,[232] commonly known by the Name of
ROGUES RIVER, which had that Appellation from some _Banditti Portuguese_,
who were followers of _Shah Sujah_ ... for those Portuguese ... after
their Master's Flight to the Kingdom of _Arackan_, betook themselves to
Piracy among the Islands at the Mouth of the _Ganges_, and this River
having communication with all the Channels from _Xatigam_ (see
CHITTAGONG) to the Westward, from this River they used to sally out."—_A.
Hamilton_, ii. 3 [ed. 1744].

1752.—"... 'On the receipt of your Honors' orders per _Dunnington_, we
sent for Capt. Pinson, the Master Attendant, and directed him to issue
out fresh orders to the Pilots not to bring up any of your Honors' Ships
higher than ROGUES RIVER.'"[232]—_Letter to Court_, in _Long_, p. 32.

ROHILLA, n.p. A name by which Afghāns, or more particularly Afghāns settled in Hindustan, are sometimes known, and which gave a title to the province _Rohilkand_, and now, through that, to a Division of the N.W. Provinces embracing a large part of the old province. The word appears to be Pushtu, _rōhēlah_ or _rōhēlai_, adj., formed from _rōhu_, 'mountain,' thus signifying 'mountaineer of Afghānistān.' But a large part of E. Afghānistān specifically bore the name of _Roh._ Keene (_Fall of the Moghul Monarchy_, 41) puts the rise of the Rohillas of India in 1744, when 'Ali Mahommed revolted, and made the territory since called Rohilkhand independent. A very comprehensive application is given to the term _Roh_ in the quotation from Firishta. A friend (Major J. M. Trotter) notes here: "The word ROHILLA is little, if at all, used now in Pushtu, but I remember a line of an ode in that language, '_Sádik_ ROHILAI _yam pa Hindubár gad_,' meaning, 'I am a simple mountaineer, compelled to live in Hindustan'; _i.e._ 'an honest man among knaves.'"

c. 1452.—"The King ... issued _farmáns_ to the chiefs of the various
Afghán Tribes. On receipt of the _farmáns_, the Afgháns of ROH came as is
their wont, like ants and locusts, to enter the King's service.... The
King (Bahlol Lodi) commanded his nobles, saying,—'Every Afghán who comes
to Hind from the country of ROH to enter my service, bring him to me. I
will give him a _jágír_ more than proportional to his
deserts.'"—_Táríkh-i-Shír-Sháhí_, in _Elliot_, iv. 307.

c. 1542.—"Actuated by the pride of power, he took no account of clanship,
which is much considered among the Afghans, and especially among the
ROHILLA men."—_Ibid._ 428.

c. 1612.—"ROH is the name of a particular mountain [-country], which
extends in length from Swád and Bajaur to the town of Siwí belonging to
Bhakar. In breadth it stretches from Hasan Abdál to Kábul. Kandahár is
situated in this territory."—_Firishta's Introduction_, in _Elliot_, vi.
568.

1726.—"... 1000 other horsemen called RUHELAHS."—_Valentijn_, iv.
(_Suratte_), 277.

1745.—"This year the Emperor, at the request of Suffder Jung, marched to
reduce Ali Mahummud Khan, a ROHILLA adventurer, who had, from the
negligence of the Government, possessed himself of the district of
Kutteer (_Kathehar_), and assumed independence of the royal
authority."—In Vol. II. of _Scott's_ E.T. of _Hist. of the Dekkan_, &c.,
p. 218.

1763.—"After all the ROHILAS are but the best of a race of men, in whose
blood it would be difficult to find one or two single individuals endowed
with good nature and with sentiments of equity; in a word they are
AFGHANS."—_Seir Mutaqherin_, iii. 240.

1786.—"That the said Warren Hastings ... did in September, 1773, enter
into a private engagement with the said Nabob of Oude ... to furnish
them, for a stipulated sum of money to be paid to the E. I. Company, with
a body of troops for the declared purpose of 'thoroughly extirpating the
nation of the ROHILLAS'; a nation from whom the Company had never
received, or pretended to receive, or apprehend, any injury
whatever."—_Art. of Charge against Hastings_, in _Burke_, vi. 568.

ROLONG, s. Used in S. India, and formerly in W. India, for fine flour; semolina, or what is called in Bengal SOOJEE (q.v.). The word is a corruption of Port. _rolão_ or _ralão_. But this is explained by Bluteau as _farina secunda_. It is, he says (in Portuguese), that substance which is extracted between the best flour and the bran.

1813.—"Some of the greatest delicacies in India are now made from the
ROLONG-flour, which is called the heart or kidney of the wheat."—_Forbes,
Or. Mem._ i. 47; [2nd ed. i. 32].

ROOCKA, ROCCA, ROOKA, s.

A. Ar. _ruḳ'a_. A letter, a written document; a note of hand.

1680.—"One Sheake Ahmud came to Towne slyly with several peons dropping
after him, bringing letters from Futty Chaun at Chingalhatt, and RUCCAS
from the Ser Lascar...."—_Fort St. Geo. Consns._ May 25. In _Notes and
Exts._ iii. 20. [See also under AUMILDAR and JUNCAMEER.]

" "... proposing to give 200 Pagodas Madaras Brahminy to obtain a
ROCCA from the Nabob that our business might go on Salabad (see
SALLABAD)."—_Ibid._ Sept. 27, p. 35.

[1727.—"Swan ... holding his Petition or ROCCA above his head...."—_A.
Hamilton_, ed. 1744, i. 199.]

[B. An ancient coin in S. India; Tel. _rokkam_, _rokkamu_, Skt. _roka_, 'buying with ready money,' from _ruch_, 'to shine.'

[1875.—"The old native coins seem to have consisted of Varaghans, ROOKAS
and Doodoos. The Varaghan is what is now generally called a PAGODA....
The ROOKAS have now entirely disappeared, and have probably been melted
into rupees. They varied in value from 1 to 2 Rupees. Though the coins
have disappeared, the name still survives, and the ordinary name for
silver money generally is ROOKALOO."—_Gribble, Man. of Cuddapah_, 296
_seq._]

ROOK, s. In chess the _rook_ comes to us from Span. _roque_, and that from Ar. and Pers. _rukh_, which is properly the name of the famous gryphon, the ROC of Marco Polo and the _Arabian Nights_. According to Marcel Devic it meant 'warrior.' It is however generally believed that this form was a mistake in transferring the Indian _rath_ (see RUT) or 'chariot,' the name of the piece in India.

ROOM, n.p. 'Turkey' (_Rūm_); ROOMEE, n.p. (_Rūmī_); 'an Ottoman Turk.' Properly 'a Roman.' In older Oriental books it is used for an European, and was probably the word which Marco Polo renders as 'a _Latin_'—represented in later times by FIRINGHEE (_e.g._ see quotation from Ibn Batuta under RAJA). But _Rūm_, for the Roman Empire, continued to be applied to what had been part of the Roman Empire after it had fallen into the hands of the Turks, first to the Seljukian Kingdom in Anatolia, and afterwards to the Ottoman Empire seated at Constantinople. Garcia de Orta and Jarric deny the name of _Rūmī_, as used in India, to the Turks of Asia, but they are apparently wrong in their expressions. What they seem to mean is that Turks of the Ottoman Empire were called _Rūmī_; whereas those others in Asia of Turkish race (whom we sometimes call _Toorks_), as of Persia and Turkestan, were excluded from the name.

c. 1508.—"Ad haec, trans euripum, seu fretum, quod insulam fecit, in
orientali continentis plaga oppidum condidit, receptaculum advenis
militibus, maximo Turcis; ut ab Diensibus freto divisi, rixandi cum iis
... causas procul haberent. Id oppidum primo Gogola (see GOGOLLA), dein
RUMEpolis vocitatum ab ipsa re...."—_Maffei_, p. 77.

1510.—"When we had sailed about 12 days we arrived at a city which is
called _Diuobandier_RUMI, that is 'DIU, the port of the Turks.'... This
city is subject to the Sultan of Combeia ... 400 Turkish merchants reside
here constantly."—_Varthema_, 91-92.

_Bandar-i-Rūmī_ is, as the traveller explains, the 'Port of the Turks.' Gogola, a suburb of Diu on the mainland, was known to the Portuguese some years later, as _Villa dos Rumes_ (see GOGOLLA, and quotation from Maffei above). The quotation below from Damian a Goes alludes apparently to Gogola.

1513.—"... Vnde RUMINU Turchorũque sex millia nostros continue
infestabãt."—_Emanuelis Regis Epistola_, p. 21.

1514.—"They were ships belonging to Moors, or to ROMI (there they give
the name of ROMI to a white people who are, some of them, from Armenia
the Greater and the Less, others from Circassia and Tartary and Rossia,
Turks and Persians of Shaesmal called the _Soffi_, and other renegades
from all) countries."—_Giov. da Empoli_, 38.

1525.—In the expenditure of Malik Aiaz we find 30 RUMES at the pay
(monthly) of 100 _fedeas_ each. The _Arabis_ are in the same statement
paid 40 and 50 FEDEAS, the _Coraçones_ (Khorāsānīs) the same; Guzerates
and _Cymdes_ (_Sindis_) 25 and 30 _fedeas_; _Fartaquis_, 50
_fedeas_.—_Lembrança_, 37.

1549.—"... in nova civitate quae RHOMAEUM appellatur. Nomen inditum est
RHOMAEIS, quasi Rhomanis, vocantur enim in totâ Indiâ RHOMAEI ii, quos
nos communi nomine _Geniceros_ (_i.e._ Janisaries) vocamus...."—_Damiani
a Goes, Diensis Oppugnatio_—in _De Rebus Hispanicis Lusitanicis,
Aragonicis, Indicis et Aethiopicis_.... Opera, Colon. Agr., 1602, p. 281.

1553.—"The Moors of India not understanding the distinctions of those
Provinces of Europe, call the whole of Thrace, Greece, Sclavonia, and the
adjacent islands of the Mediterranean RUM, and the men thereof RUMI, a
name which properly belongs to that part of Thrace in which lies
Constantinople: from the name of New Rome belonging to the latter, Thrace
taking that of Romania."—_Barros_, IV. iv. 16.

1554.—"Also the said ambassador promised in the name of Idalshaa (see
IDALCAN) his lord, that if a fleet of RUMES should invade these parts,
Idalshaa should be bound to help and succour us with provisions and
mariners at our expense...."—_S. Botelho, Tombo_, 42.

c. 1555.—"One day (the Emp. Humāyūn) asked me: 'Which of the two
countries is greatest, that of RŪM or of Hindustan?' I replied: ... 'If
by RŪM you mean all the countries subject to the Emperor of
Constantinople, then India would not form even a sixth part
thereof.'..."—_Sidi 'Ali_, in _J. As._, ser. I. tom. ix. 148.

1563.—"The _Turks_ are those of the province of Natolia, or (as we now
say) Asia Minor; the RUMES are those of Constantinople, and of its
empire."—_Garcia De Orta_, f. 7.

1572.—

"Persas feroces, Abassis, e RUMES,
Que trazido de Roma o nome tem...."
_Camões_, x. 68.

[By Aubertin:

"Fierce Persians, Abyssinians, RUMIANS,
Whose appellation doth from Rome descend...."]

1579.—"Without the house ... stood foure ancient comely hoare-headed men,
cloathed all in red downe to the ground, but attired on their heads not
much vnlike the Turkes; these they call ROMANS, or strangers...."—_Drake,
World Encompassed_, Hak. Soc. 143.

1600.—"A nation called RUMOS who have traded many hundred years to Achen.
These RUMOS come from the Red Sea."—_Capt. J. Davis_, in _Purchas_, i.
117.

1612.—"It happened on a time that Rajah Sekunder, the Son of Rajah Darab,
a _Roman_ (RUMI), the name of whose country was Macedonia, and whose
title was Zul-Karneini, wished to see the rising of the sun, and with
this view he reached the confines of India."—_Sijara Malayu_, in _J.
Indian Archip._ v. 125.

1616.—"RUMAE, id est Turcae Europaei. In India quippe duplex militum
Turcaeorum genus, quorum primi, in Asia orti, qui _Turcae_ dicuntur; alii
in Europa qui Constantinopoli quae olim Roma Nova, advocantur, ideoque
RUMAE, tam ab Indis quam a Lusitanis nomine Graeco Ῥωμαῖοι in RUMAS
depravato dicuntur."—_Jarric, Thesaurus_, ii. 105.

1634.—

"Allī o forte Pacheco se eterniza
Sustentando incansavel o adquirido;
Depois Almeida, que as Estrellas piza
Se fez do RUME, e Malavar temido."
_Malaca Conquistada_, ii. 18.

1781.—"These Espanyols are a very western nation, always at war with the
ROMAN Emperors (_i.e._ the Turkish Sultans); since the latter took from
them the city of Ashtenbol (_Istambūl_), about 500 years ago, in which
time they have not ceased to wage war with the ROUMEES."—_Seir
Mutaqherin_, iii. 336.

1785.—"We herewith transmit a letter ... in which an account is given of
the conference going on between the Sultan of ROOM and the English
ambassador."—_Letters of Tippoo_, p. 224.

ROOMAUL, s. Hind. from Pers. _rūmāl_ (lit. 'face-rubber,') a towel, a handkerchief. ["In modern native use it may be carried in the hand by a high-born _parda_ lady attached to her _batwa_ or tiny silk handbag, and ornamented with all sorts of gold and silver trinkets; then it is a handkerchief in the true sense of the word. It may be carried by men, hanging on the left shoulder, and used to wipe the hands or face; then, too, it is a handkerchief. It may be as big as a towel, and thrown over both shoulders by men, the ends either hanging loose or tied in a knot in front; it then serves the purpose of a _gulúband_ or muffler. In the case of children it is tied round the neck as a neckkerchief, or round the waist for mere show. It may be used by women much as the 18th century tucker was used in England in Addison's time" (_Yusuf Ali, Mon. on Silk_, 79; for its use to mark a kind of shawl, see Forbes Watson, _Textile Manufactures_, 123).] In ordinary Anglo-Indian Hind. it is the word for a 'pocket handkerchief.' In modern trade it is applied to thin silk piece-goods with handkerchief-patterns. We are not certain of its meaning in the old trade of piece-goods, _e.g._:

[1615.—"2 handkerchiefs RUMALL cottony."—_Cock's Diary_, Hak. Soc. i.
179.

[1665.—"Towel, RUMALE."—_Persian Glossary_, in _Sir T. Herbert_, ed.
1677, p. 100.

[1684.—"ROMALLS Courge ... 16."—_Pringle, Diary Ft. St. Geo._, 1st ser.
iii. 119.]

1704.—"Price Currant (Malacca) ... ROMALLS, Bengall ordinary, per Corge,
26 Rix Dlls."—_Lockyer_, 71.

1726.—"ROEMAALS, 80 pieces in a pack, 45 ells long, 1½
broad."—_Valentijn_, v. 178.

_Rūmāl_ was also the name technically used by the THUGS for the handkerchief with which they strangled their victims.

[c. 1833.—"There is no doubt but that all the Thugs are expert in the use
of the handkerchief, which is called ROOMAL or _Paloo_...."—_Wolff,
Travels_, ii. 180.]

ROSALGAT, CAPE, n.p. The most easterly point of the coast of Arabia; a corruption (originally Portuguese) of the Arabic name _Rās-al-ḥadd_, as explained by P. della Valle, with his usual acuteness and precision, below.

1553.—"From CURIA MURIA to Cape ROSALGATE, which is in 22½°, an extent of
coast of 120 leagues, all the land is barren and desert. At this Cape
commences the Kingdom of Ormus."—_Barros_, I. ix. 1.

" "Affonso d'Alboquerque ... passing to the Coast of Arabia ran
along till he doubled CAPE ROÇALGATE, which stands at the beginning of
that coast ... which Cape Ptolemy calls _Siragros Promontory_ (Σύαγρος
ἄκρα)...."—_Ibid._ II. ii. 1.

c. 1554.—"We had been some days at sea, when near RĀ'IS-AL-HADD the
_Damani_, a violent wind so called, got up...."—_Sidi 'Ali, J. As. S._
ser. I. tom. ix. 75.

" "If you wish to go from RÁSOLHADD to _Dúlsind_ (see DIUL-SIND)
you steer E.N.E. till you come to Pasani ... from thence ... E. by S. to
_Rás Karáshí_ (_i.e._ Karāchī), where you come to an anchor...."—_The
Mohit_ (by _Sidi 'Ali_), in _J.A.S.B._, v. 459.

1572.—

"Olha Dofar insigne, porque manda
O mais cheiroso incenso para as aras;
Mas attenta, já cá est' outra banda
De ROÇALGATE, o praias semper avaras,
Começa o regno Ormus...."
_Camões_, x. 101.

By Burton:

"Behold insign Dofar that doth command
for Christian altars sweetest incense-store;
But note, beginning now on further band
of ROÇALGATÉ'S ever greedy shore,
yon Hormus Kingdom...."

1623.—"We began meanwhile to find the sea rising considerably; and having
by this time got clear of the Strait ... and having past not only Cape
Iasck on the Persian side, but also that cape on the Arabian side which
the Portuguese vulgarly call ROSALGATE, as you also find it marked in
maps, but the proper name of which is RAS EL HAD, signifying in the
Arabic tongue Cape of the End or Boundary, because it is in fact the
extreme end of that Country ... just as in our own Europe the point of
Galizia is called by us for a like reason _Finis Terrae_."—_P. della
Valle_, ii. 496; [Hak. Soc. ii. 11].

[1665.—"... ROZELGATE formerly _Corodamum_ and _Maces_ in _Amian. lib._
23, almost _Nadyr_ to the Tropick of _Cancer_."—_Sir T. Herbert_, ed.
1677, p. 101.]

1727.—"_Maceira_, a barren uninhabited Island ... within 20 leagues of
Cape RASSELGAT."—_A. Hamilton_, i. 56; [ed. 1744, i. 57].

[1823.—"... it appeared that the whole coast of Arabia, from RAS AL HAD,
or Cape RASELGAT, as it is sometimes called by the English, was but
little known...."—_Owen, Narr._ i. 333.]

ROSE-APPLE. See JAMBOO.

ROSELLE, s. The Indian Hibiscus or _Hib. sabdariffa_, L. The fleshy calyx makes an excellent sub-acid jelly, and is used also for tarts; also called 'Red Sorrel.' The French call it 'Guinea Sorrel,' _Oseille_ de Guinée, and _Roselle_ is probably a corruption of _Oseille_. [See PUTWA.]

[ROSE-MALLOWS, s. A semi-fluid resin, the product of the _Liquidambar altingia_, which grows in Tenasserim; also known as Liquid Storax, and used for various medicinal purposes. (See _Hanbury and Flückiger, Pharmacog._ 271, _Watt, Econ. Dict. V._ 78 _seqq._). The Burmese name of the tree is _nan-ta-yoke_ (_Mason, Burmah_, 778). The word is a corruption of the Malay-Javanese _rasamalla_, Skt. _rasa-mālā_, 'Perfume garland,' the gum being used as incense (_Encycl. Britann._ 9th ed. xii. 718.)

1598.—"ROSAMALLIA."—_Linschoten_, Hak. Soc. i. 150.]

ROTTLE, RATTLE, s. Arab. _raṭl_ or _riṭl_, the Arabian pound, becoming in S. Ital. _rotolo_; in Port. _arratel_; in Span. _arrelde_; supposed to be originally a transposition of the Greek λίτρα, which went all over the Semitic East. It is in Syriac as _līṭrā_; and is also found as _lītrīm_ (pl.) in a Phœnician inscription of Sardinia, dating c. B.C. 180 (see _Corpus Inscriptt. Semitt._ i. 188-189.)

c. 1340.—"The RITL of India which is called _sīr_ (see SEER) weighs 70
_mithḳāls_ ... 40 _sīrs_ form a _mann_ (see MAUND)."—_Shihābuddīn
Dimishkī_, in _Notes and Exts._ xiii. 189.

[c. 1590.—"_Ḳafíz_ is a measure, called also _sáa'_ weighing 8 RAṬL, and,
some say, more."—_Āīn_, ed. _Jarrett_, ii. 55.

[1612.—"The BAHAR is 360 ROTTOLAS of Moha."—_Danvers, Letters_, i. 193.]

1673.—"... Weights in Goa:

1 _Baharr_ is 3½ _Kintal_.
1 _Kintal_ is 4 _Arobel_ or _Rovel_.
1 _Arobel_ is 32 ROTOLAS.
1 ROTOLA is 16 Ounc. or 1_l._ _Averd_."
_Fryer_, 207.

1803.—"At Judda the weights are:

15 Vakeeas = 1 RATTLE.
2 RATTLES = 1 maund."
_Milburn_, i. 88.

ROUND, s. This is used as a Hind. word, _raund_, or corruptly _raun gasht_, a transfer of the English, in the sense of patrolling, or 'going the rounds.' [And we find in the Madras Records the grade of 'Rounder,' or 'Gentlemen of the Round,' officers whose duty it was to visit the sentries.

[1683.—"... itt is order'd that 18 Souldiers, 1 Corporall & 1 ROUNDER goe
upon the Sloop Conimer for Hugly...."—_Pringle, Diary Ft. St. Geo._ 1st
ser. ii. 33.]

ROUNDEL, s. An obsolete word for an umbrella, formerly in use in Anglo-India. [In 1676 the use of the _Roundell_ was prohibited, except in the case of "the Councell and Chaplaine" (_Hedges, Diary_, Hak. Soc. ii. ccxxxii.)] In old English the name _roundel_ is applied to a variety of circular objects, as a mat under a dish, a target, &c. And probably this is the origin of the present application, in spite of the circumstance that the word is sometimes found in the form _arundel_. In this form the word also seems to have been employed for the conical hand-guard on a lance, as we learn from Bluteau's great _Port. Dictionary_: "ARUNDELA, or ARANDELLA, is a guard for the right hand, in the form of a funnel. It is fixed to the thick part of the lance or mace borne by men at arms. The Licentiate Covarrubias, who piques himself on finding etymologies for every kind of word, derives _Arandella_ from _Arundel_, a city (so he says) of the Kingdom of England." Cobarruvias (1611) gives the above explanation; adding that it also was applied to a kind of smooth collar worn by women, from its resemblance to the other thing. Unless historical proof of this last etymology can be traced, we should suppose that _Arundel_ is, even in this sense, probably a corruption of _roundel_. [The _N.E.D._ gives _arrondell_, _arundell_ as forms of _hirondelle_, 'a swallow.']

1673.—"Lusty Fellows running by their Sides with ARUNDELS (which are
broad Umbrelloes held over their Heads)."—_Fryer_, 30.

1676.—"Proposals to the Agent, &c., about the young men in Metchlipatam.

"_Generall._ I.—Whereas each hath his peon and some more with their
RONDELLS, that none be permitted but as at the Fort."—_Ft. St. Geo.
Consn._, Feb. 16. In _Notes and Exts._ No. I. p. 43.

1677-78.—"... That except by the Members of this Councell, those that
have formerly been in that quality, Cheefes of Factorys, Commanders of
Shipps out of England, and the Chaplains, RUNDELLS shall not be worne by
any Men in this Towne, and by no Woman below the Degree of Factors' Wives
and Ensigns' Wives, except by such as the Governour shall
permit."—_Madras Standing Orders_, in _Wheeler_, iii. 438.

1680.—"To Verona (the Company's Chief Merchant)'s adopted son was given
the name of Muddoo Verona, and a RUNDELL to be carried over him, in
respect to the memory of Verona, eleven cannon being fired, that the
Towne and Country might take notice of the honour done them."—_Ft. St.
Geo. Consn._ In _Notes and Exts._ No. II. p. 15.

1716.—"All such as serve under the Honourable Company and the English
Inhabitants, deserted their Employs; such as Cooks, Water bearers,
Coolies, Palankeen-boys, ROUNDEL men...."—In _Wheeler_, ii. 230.

1726.—"Whenever the magnates go on a journey they go not without a
considerable train, being attended by their pipers, horn-blowers, and
RONDEL bearers, who keep them from the Sun with a RONDEL (which is a kind
of little round sunshade)."—_Valentijn, Chor._ 54.

" "Their Priests go like the rest clothed in yellow, but with the
right arm and breast remaining uncovered. They also carry a RONDEL, or
parasol, of a _Tallipot_ (see TALIPOT) leaf...."—_Ibid._ v. (_Ceylon_),
408.

1754.—"Some years before our arrival in the country, they (the E. I. Co.)
found such sumptuary laws so absolutely necessary, that they gave the
strictest orders that none of these young gentlemen should be allowed
even to hire a ROUNDEL-BOY, whose business it is to walk by his master,
and defend him with his ROUNDEL or Umbrella from the heat of the sun. A
young fellow of humour, upon this last order coming over, altered the
form of his Umbrella from a round to a square, called it a _Squaredel_
instead of a ROUNDEL, and insisted that no order yet in force forbad him
the use of it."—_Ives_, 21.

1785.—"He (Clive) enforced the Sumptuary laws by severe penalties, and
gave the strictest orders that none of these young gentlemen should be
allowed even to have a ROUNDEL-BOY, whose business is to walk by his
master, and defend him with his ROUNDEL or umbrella from the heat of the
sun."—_Carraccioli_, i. 283. This ignoble writer has evidently copied
from Ives, and applied the passage (untruly, no doubt) to Clive.

ROWANNAH, s. Hind. from Pers. _rawānah_, from _rawā_, 'going.' A pass or permit.

[1764.—"... that the English shall carry on their trade ... free from all
duties ... excepting the article of salt, ... on which a duty is to be
levied on the ROWANA or Houghly market-price...."—_Letter from Court_, in
_Verelst, View of Bengal_, App. 127.]

ROWCE, s. Hind. _raus_, _rois_, _rauns_. A Himālayan tree which supplies excellent straight and strong alpenstocks and walking-sticks, _Cotoneaster bacillaris_, Wall., also _C. acuminata_ (N.O. _Rosaceae_). [See Watt, _Econ. Dict._ ii. 581.]

1838.—"We descended into the KHUD, and I was amusing myself jumping from
rock to rock, and thus passing up the centre of the brawling mountain
stream, aided by my long _pahārī_ pole of ROUS wood."—_Wanderings of a
Pilgrim_, ii. 241; [also i. 112].

ROWNEE, s.

A. A fausse-braye, _i.e._ a subsidiary enceinte surrounding a fortified place on the outside of the proper wall and on the edge of the ditch; Hind. _raonī_. The word is not in Shakespear, Wilson, Platts or Fallon. But it occurs often in the narratives of Anglo-Indian siege operations. The origin of the word is obscure. [Mr. Irvine suggests Hind. _rūndhnā_, 'to enclose as with a hedge,' and says: "Fallon evidently knew nothing of the word _raunī_, for in his _E. H. Dict._ he translates fausse-braye by _dhus, mattī kā pushtah_; which also shows that he had no definite idea of what a fausse-braye was, _dhus_ meaning simply an earthen or mud fort." Dr. Grierson suggests Hind. _ramanā_, 'a park,' of which the fem., _i.e._ diminutive, would be _ramanī_ or _rāonī_; or possibly the word may come from Hind. _rev_, Skt. _reṇu_, 'sand,' meaning "an entrenchment of sand."]

1799.—"On the 20th I ordered a mine to be carried under (the glacis)
because the guns could not bear on the ROUNEE."—_Jas. Skinner's Mil.
Memoirs_, i. 172. J. B. Fraser, the editor of Skinner, parenthetically
interprets _rounee_ here as 'counterscarp'; but that is nonsense, as well
as incorrect.

[1803.—Writing of Hathras, "RENNY wall, with a deep, broad, dry ditch
behind it surrounds the fort."—_W. Thorn, Mem. of the War in India_, p.
400.]

1805.—In a work by Major L. F. Smith (_Sketch of the Rise, &c., of the
Regular Corps in the Service of the Native Princes of India_) we find a
plan of the attack of Aligarh, in which is marked "Lower Fort or RENNY,
well supplied with grape," and again, "Lower Fort, RENNY or Faussebraye."

[1819.—"... they saw the necessity of covering the foot of the wall from
an enemy's fire, and formed a defence, similar to our fausse-braye, which
they call RAINEE."—_Fitzclarence, Journal of a Route to England_, p. 245;
also see 110.]

B. This word also occurs as representative of the Burmese _yo-wet-ni_, or (in Arakan pron.) _ro-wet-ni_, 'red-leaf,' the technical name of the standard silver of the Burmese ingot currency, commonly rendered FLOWERED-SILVER.

1796.—"ROUNI or fine silver, Ummerapoora currency."—_Notification_ in
_Seton-Karr_, ii. 179.

1800.—"The quantity of alloy varies in the silver current in different
parts of the empire; at Rangoon it is adulterated 25 per cent.; at
Ummerapoora, pure, or what is called FLOWERED SILVER, is most common; in
the latter all duties are paid. The modifications are as follows:

"ROUNI, or pure silver.
_Rounika_, 5 per cent. of alloy."
_Symes_, 327.

ROWTEE, s. A kind of small tent with pyramidal roof, and no projection of fly, or eaves. Hind. _rāoṭī_.

[1813.—"... the military men, and others attached to the camp, generally
possess a dwelling of somewhat more comfortable description, regularly
made of two or three folds of cloth in thickness, closed at one end, and
having a flap to keep out the wind and rain at the opposite one: these
are dignified with the name of RUOTEES, and come nearer (than the PAWL)
to our ideas of a tent."—_Broughton, Letters_, ed. _Constable_, p. 20.

[1875.—"For the servants I had a good RAUTI of thick lined
cloth."—_Wilson, Abode of Snow_, 90.]

ROY, s. A common mode of writing the title _rāī_ (see RAJA); which sometimes occurs also as a family name, as in that of the famous Hindu Theist Rammohun ROY.

ROZA, s. Ar. _rauḍa_, Hind. _rauẓa_. Properly a garden; among the Arabs especially the _rauḍa_ of the great mosque at Medina. In India it is applied to such mausolea as the TAJ (generally called by the natives the _Tāj-rauẓa_); and the mausoleum built by Aurungzīb near Aurungābād.

1813.—"... the ROZA, a name for the mausoleum, but implying something
saintly or sanctified."—_Forbes, Or. Mem._ iv. 41; [2nd ed. ii. 413].

ROZYE, s. Hind. _raẓāī_ and _rajāī_; a coverlet quilted with cotton. The etymology is very obscure. It is spelt in Hind. with the Ar. letter _zwād_; and F. Johnson gives a Persian word so spelt as meaning 'a cover for the head in winter.' The kindred meaning of _mirzāī_ is apt to suggest a connection between the two, but this may be accidental, or the latter word factitious. We can see no likelihood in Shakespear's suggestion that it is a corruption of an alleged Skt. _raṅjika_, 'cloth.' [Platts gives the same explanation, adding "probably through Pers. _razā'i_, from _razīdan_, 'to dye.'"] The most probable suggestion perhaps is that _raẓāī_ was a word taken from the name of some person called _Raẓā_, who may have invented some variety of the article; as in the case of _Spencer_, _Wellingtons_, &c. A somewhat obscure quotation from the Pers. Dict. called _Bahār-i-Ajam_, extracted by Vüllers (s.v.), seems to corroborate the suggestion of a _personal_ origin of the word.

1784.—"I have this morning ... received a letter from the Prince
addressed to you, with a present of a REZY and a shawl
handkerchief."—_Warren Hastings to his Wife_, in _Busteed, Echoes of Old
Calcutta_, 195.

1834.—"I arrived in a small open pavilion at the top of the building, in
which there was a small Brahminy cow, clothed in a wadded RESAI, and
lying upon a carpet."—_Mem. of Col. Mountain_, 135.

1857.—(Imports into Kandahar, from Mashad and Khorasan) "RAZAIES from
Yezd...."—_Punjab Trade Report_, App. p. lxviii.

1867.—"I had brought with me a soft quilted REZAI to sleep on, and with a
rug wrapped round me, and sword and pistol under my head, I lay and
thought long and deeply upon my line of action on the
morrow."—_Lieut.-Col. Lewin, A Fly on the Wheel_, 301.

RUBBEE, s. Ar. _rabi_, 'the Spring.' In India applied to the crops, or harvest of the crops, which are sown after the rains and reaped in the following spring or early summer. Such crops are wheat, barley, GRAM, linseed, tobacco, onions, carrots and turnips, &c. (See KHURREEF.)

[1765.—"... we have granted them the Dewannee (see DEWAUNY) of the
provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, from the beginning of the Fussul
RUBBY of the Bengal year 1172...."—_Firmaun of Shah Aaalum_, in _Verelst,
View of Bengal_, App. 167.

[1866.—"It was in the month of November, when, if the rains closed early,
irrigation is resorted to for producing the young RUBBEE
crops."—_Confessions of an Orderly_, 179.]

RUBLE, s. Russ. The silver unit of Russian currency, when a coin (not paper) equivalent to 3_s._ 1½_d._; [in 1901 about 2_s._ 1½_d._]. It was originally a silver ingot; see first quotation and note below.

1559.—"Vix centum annos vtuntur moneta argentea, praesertim apud illos
cusa. Initio cum argentum in provinciam inferebatur, fundebantur
portiunculae oblongae argenteae, sine imagine et scriptura, aestimatione
vnius RUBLI, quarum nulla nunc apparet."[233]—_Herberstein_, in _Rerum
Moscovit. Auctores_, Francof. 1600, p. 42.

1591.—"This penaltie or mulct is 20 _dingoes_ (see TANGA) or pence upon
every RUBBLE or mark, and so ten in the hundred.... Hee (the Emperor)
hath besides for every name conteyned in the writs that passe out of
their courts, five _alteens_, an alteen 5 pence sterling or
thereabouts."—_Treatise of the Russian Commonwealth_, by _Dr. Giles
Fletcher_, Hak. Soc. 51.

c. 1654-6.—"Dog dollars they (the Russians) are not acquainted with,
these being attended with loss ... their own _dínárs_ they call
ROUBLES."—_Macarius_, E.T. by _Balfour_, i. 280.

[RUFFUGUR, s. P.—H. _rafūgar_, Pers. _rafū_, 'darning.' The modern _rafūgar_ in Indian cities is a workman who repairs rents and holes in Kashmīr shawls and other woollen fabrics. Such workmen were regularly employed in the cloth factories of the E.I. Co., to examine the manufactured cloths and remove petty defects in the weaving.

1750.—"On inspecting the Dacca goods, we found the Seerbetties (see
PIECE-GOODS) very much frayed and very badly RAFFA-GURR'D or
joined."—_Bengal Letter to E.I. Co._, Feb. 25, India Office MSS.

1851.—"RAFU-GARS are darners, who repair the cloths that have been
damaged during bleaching. They join broken threads, remove knots from
threads, &c."—_Taylor, Cotton Manufacture of Dacca_, 97.]

RUM, s. This is not an Indian word. The etymology is given by Wedgwood as from a slang word of the 16th century, _rome_ for 'good'; _rome-booze_, 'good drink'; and so, _rum_. The English word has always with us a note of vulgarity, but we may note here that Gorresio in his Italian version of the Rāmāyaṇa, whilst describing the Palace of Rāvaṇa, is bold enough to speak of its being pervaded by "an odoriferous breeze, perfumed with sandalwood, and bdellium, with _rum_ and with sirop" (iii. 292). "Mr. N. Darnell Davis has put forth a derivation of the word _rum_, which gives the only probable history of it. It came from Barbados, where the planters first distilled it, somewhere between 1640 and 1645. A MS. 'Description of Barbados,' in Trinity College, Dublin, written about 1651, says: 'The chief fudling they make in the Island is _Rumbullion_, alias _Kill-Divil_, and this is made of sugar-canes distilled, a hot, hellish, and terrible liqour.' G. Warren's _Description of Surinam_, 1661, shows the word in its present short term: 'RUM is a spirit extracted from the juice of sugar-canes ... called _Kill-Devil_ in New England!' '_Rambullion_' is a Devonshire word, meaning 'a great tumult,' and may have been adopted from some of the Devonshire settlers in Barbados; at any rate, little doubt can exist that it has given rise to our word RUM, and the longer name _rumbowling_, which sailors give to their grog."—_Academy_, Sept. 5, 1885.

RUM-JOHNNY, s. Two distinct meanings are ascribed to this vulgar word, both, we believe, obsolete.

A. It was applied, according to Williamson, (_V.M._, i. 167) to a low class of native servants who plied on the wharves of Calcutta in order to obtain employment from new-comers. That author explains it as a corruption of _Ramaẓānī_, which he alleges to be one of the commonest of Mahommedan names. [The _Meery-jhony Gully_ of Calcutta (_Carey, Good Old Days_, i. 139) perhaps in the same way derived its name from one _Mīr Jān_.]

1810.—"Generally speaking, the present _banians_, who attach themselves
to the captains of European ships, may without the least hazard of
controversion, be considered as nothing more or less than RUM-JOHNNIES
'of a larger growth.'"—_Williamson, V.M._, i. 191.

B. Among soldiers and sailors, 'a prostitute'; from Hind. _rāmjanī_, Skt. _rāmā-janī_, 'a pleasing woman,' 'a dancing-girl.'

[1799.—"... and the RÁMJENÍS (Hindu dancing women) have been all day
dancing and singing before the idol."—_Colebrooke_, in _Life_, 153.]

1814.—"I lived near four years within a few miles of the solemn groves
where those voluptuous devotees pass their lives with the RAMJANNIES or
dancing-girls attached to the temples, in a sort of luxurious
superstition and sanctified indolence unknown in colder
climates."—_Forbes, Or. Mem._ iii. 6; [2nd ed. ii. 127].

[1816.—"But we must except that class of females called RAVJANNEES, or
dancing-girls, who are attached to the temples."—_Asiatic Journal_, ii.
375, quoting _Wathen, Tour to Madras and China_.]

RUMNA, s. Hind. _ramnā_, Skt. _ramaṇa_, 'causing pleasure,' a chase, or reserved hunting-ground.

1760.—"Abdal Chab Cawn murdered at the RUMNA in the month of March, 1760,
by some of the Hercarahs...."—_Van Sittart_, i. 63.

1792.—"The Peshwa having invited me to a novel spectacle at his RUNMA
(read _rumna_), or park, about four miles from Poonah...."—_Sir C.
Malet_, in _Forbes, Or. Mem._ [2nd ed. ii. 82]. (See also verses quoted
under PAWNEE.)

RUNN (OF CUTCH), n.p. Hind. _raṇ_. This name, applied to the singular extent of sand-flat and salt-waste, often covered by high tides, or by land-floods, which extends between the Peninsula of Cutch and the mainland, is a corruption of the Skt. _iriṇa_ or _īriṇa_, 'a salt-swamp, a desert,' [or of _araṇya_, 'a wilderness']. The Runn is first mentioned in the _Periplus_, in which a true indication is given of this tract and its dangers.

c. A.D. 80-90.—"But after passing the Sinthus R. there is another gulph
running to the north, not easily seen, which is called IRINON, and is
distinguished into the Great and the Little. And there is an expanse of
shallow water on both sides, and swift continual eddies extending far
from the land."—_Periplus_, § 40.

c. 1370.—"The guides had maliciously misled them into a place called the
KÚNCHIRAN. In this place all the land is impregnated with salt, to a
degree impossible to describe."—_Shams-i-Síráj-Afíf_, in _Elliot_, iii.
324.

1583.—"Muzaffar fled, and crossed the RAN, which is an inlet of the sea,
and took the road to Jessalmír. In some places the breadth of the water
of the RAN is 10 _kos_ and 20 _kos_. He went into the country which they
call KACH, on the other side of the water."—_Tabaḳāt-i-Akbarī_, _Ibid._
v. 440.

c. 1590.—"Between Chalwaneh, Sircar Ahmedabad, Putten, and Surat, is a
low tract of country, 90 cose in length, and in breadth from 7 to 30
cose, which is called RUN. Before the commencement of the periodical
rains, the sea swells and inundates this spot, and leaves by degrees
after the rainy season."—_Ayeen_, ed. _Gladwin_, 1800, ii. 71; [ed.
_Jarrett_, ii. 249].

1849.—"On the morning of the 24th I embarked and landed about 6 p.m. in
the RUNN of Sindh.

"... a boggie syrtis, neither sea
Nor good dry land ..."
_Dry Leaves from Young Egypt_, 14.

RUPEE, s. Hind. _rūpiya_, from Skt. _rūpya_, 'wrought silver.' The standard coin of the Anglo-Indian monetary system, as it was of the Mahommedan Empire that preceded ours. It is commonly stated (as by Wilson, in his article on this word, which contains much valuable and condensed information) that the rupee was introduced by Sher Shāh (in 1542). And this is, no doubt, formally true; but it is certain that a coin substantially identical with the rupee, _i.e._ approximating to a standard of 100 _ratis_ (or 175 grains troy) of silver, an ancient Hindu standard, had been struck by the Mahommedan sovereigns of Delhi in the 13th and 14th centuries, and had formed an important part of their currency. In fact, the capital coins of Delhi, from the time of Iyaltimish (A.D. 1211-1236) to the accession of Mahommed Tughlak (1325) were gold and silver pieces, respectively of the weight just mentioned. We gather from the statements of Ibn Batuta and his contemporaries that the gold coin, which the former generally calls TANGA and sometimes _gold_ DĪNĀR, was worth 10 of the silver coin, which he calls DĪNĀR, thus indicating that the relation of gold to silver value was, or had recently been, as 10 : 1. Mahommed Tughlak remodelled the currency, issuing gold pieces of 200 grs. and silver pieces of 140 grs.—an indication probably of a great "depreciation of gold" (to use our modern language) consequent on the enormous amount of gold bullion obtained from the plunder of Western and Southern India. Some years later (1330) Mahommed developed his notable scheme of a forced currency, consisting entirely of copper tokens. This threw everything into confusion, and it was not till six years later that any sustained issues of ordinary coin were recommenced. From about this time the old standard of 175 grs. was readopted for gold, and was maintained till the time of Sher Shāh. But it does not appear that the old standard was then resumed for silver. In the reign of Mahommed's successor Feroz Shāh, Mr. E. Thomas's examples show the gold coin of 175 grs. standard running parallel with continued issues of a silver (or professedly silver) coin of 140 grs.; and this, speaking briefly, continued to be the case to the end of the Lodi dynasty (_i.e._ 1526). The coinage seems to have sunk into a state of great irregularity, not remedied by Baber (who struck _ashrafīs_ (see ASHRAFEE) and _dirhams_, such as were used in Turkestan) or Humāyūn, but the reform of which was undertaken by Sher Shāh, as above mentioned.

His silver coin of 175-178 grs. was that which popularly obtained the name of _rūpiya_, which has continued to our day. The weight, indeed, of the coins so styled, never very accurate in native times, varied in different States, and the purity varied still more. The former never went very far on either side of 170 grs., but the quantity of pure silver contained in it sunk in some cases as low as 140 grs., and even, in exceptional cases, to 100 grs. Variation however was not confined to native States. Rupees were struck in Bombay at a very early date of the British occupation. Of these there are four specimens in the Br. Mus. The first bears _obv._ 'THE RVPEE OF BOMBAIM. 1677. BY AUTHORITY OF CHARLES THE SECOND' _rev._ 'KING OF GREAT BRITAINE . FRANCE . AND . IRELAND .' Wt. 167.8 gr. The fourth bears _obv._ 'HON . SOC . ANG . IND . ORI.' with a shield; _rev._ 'A . DEO . PAX . ET . INCREMENTUM:—MON . BOMBAY . ANGLIC . REGIM^S. A^o 7^o.' Weight 177.8 gr. Different _Rupees_ minted by the British Government were current in the three Presidencies, and in the Bengal Presidency several were current; viz. the _Sikka_ (see SICCA) Rupee, which latterly weighed 192 grs., and contained 176 grs. of pure silver; the _Farrukhābād_, which latterly weighed 180 grs.,[234] containing 165.215 of pure silver; the _Benares_ Rupee (up to 1819), which weighed 174.76 grs., and contained 168.885 of pure silver. Besides these there was the _Chalānī_ or 'current' rupee of account, in which the Company's accounts were kept, of which 116 were equal to 100 _sikkas_. ["The _bharī_ or Company's Arcot rupee was coined at Calcutta, and was in value 3½ per cent. less than the Sikka rupee" (_Beveridge, Bakarganj_, 99).] The Bombay Rupee was adopted from that of Surat, and from 1800 its weight was 178.32 grs.; its pure silver 164.94. The Rupee at Madras (where however the standard currency was of an entirely different character, see PAGODA) was originally that of the Nawāb of the Carnatic (or 'Nabob of Arcot') and was usually known as the _Arcot_ Rupee. We find its issues varying from 171 to 177 grs. in weight, and from 160 to 170 of pure silver; whilst in 1811 there took place an abnormal coinage, from Spanish dollars, of rupees with a weight of 188 grs. and 169.20 of pure silver.

Also from some reason or other, perhaps from commerce between those places and the 'COAST,' the Chittagong and Dacca currency (_i.e._ in the extreme east of Bengal) "formerly consisted of Arcot rupees; and they were for some time coined expressly for those districts at the Calcutta and Dacca Mints." (!) (_Prinsep, Useful Tables_, ed. by _E. Thomas_, 24.)

These examples will give some idea of the confusion that prevailed (without any reference to the vast variety besides of native coinages), but the subject is far too complex to be dealt with minutely in the space we can afford to it in such a work as this. The first step to reform and assimilation took place under Regulation VII. of 1833, but this still maintained the exceptional SICCA in Bengal, though assimilating the rupees over the rest of India. The _Sicca_ was abolished as a coin by Act XIII. of 1836; and the universal rupee of British territory has since been the "Company's Rupee," as it was long called, of 180 grs. weight and 165 pure silver, representing therefore in fact the _Farrukhābād_ Rupee.

1610.—"This armie consisted of 100,000 horse at the least, with infinite
number of Camels and Elephants: so that with the whole baggage there
could not bee lesse than fiue or sixe hundred thousand persons, insomuch
that the waters were not sufficient for them; a MUSSOCKE (see MUSSUCK) of
water being sold for a RUPIA, and yet not enough to be had."—_Hawkins_,
in _Purchas_, i. 427.

[1615.—"ROUPIES Jangers (_Jahāngīrī_) of 100 _pisas_, which goeth four
for five ordinary roupies of 80 _pisas_ called _Cassanes_ (see KUZZANNA),
and we value them at 2_s._ 4_d._ per piece: _Cecaus_ (see SICCA) of
Amadavrs which goeth for 86 _pisas_; _Challennes_ of Agra, which goeth
for 83 _pisas_."—_Foster, Letters_, iii. 87.]

1616.—"RUPIAS monetae genus est, quarum singulae xxvi assibus gallicis
aut circiter aequivalent."—_Jarric_, iii. 83.

" "... As for his Government of Patan onely, he gave the King
eleven Leckes of RUPIAS (the RUPIA is two shillings, twopence sterling)
... wherein he had Regall Authoritie to take what he list, which was
esteemed at five thousand horse, the pay of every one at two hundred
Rupias by the yeare."—_Sir T. Roe,_ in _Purchas,_ i. 548; [Hak. Soc. i.
239, with some differences of reading].

" "They call the peeces of money ROOPEES, of which there are some
of divers values, the meanest worth two shillings and threepence, and the
best two shillings and ninepence sterling."—_Terry_, in _Purchas_, ii.
1471.

[ " "This money, consisting of the two-shilling pieces of this
country called ROOPEAS."—_Foster, Letters_, iv. 229.]

1648.—"Reducing the ROPIE to four and twenty Holland Stuyvers."—_Van
Twist_, 26.

1653.—"ROUPIE est vne mõnoye des Indes de la valeur de 30_s._" (_i.e._
_sous_).—_De la Boullaye-le-Gouz_, ed. 1657, p. 355.

c. 1666.—"And for a ROUPY (in Bengal) which is about half a Crown, you
may have 20 good Pullets and more; Geese and Ducks, in
proportion."—_Bernier_, E.T. p. 140; [ed. _Constable_, 438].

1673.—"The other was a Goldsmith, who had coined copper RUPEES."—_Fryer_,
97.

1677.—"We do, by these Presents ... give and grant unto the said Governor
and Company ... full and free Liberty, Power, and Authority ... to stamp
and coin ... Monies, to be called and known by the Name or Names of
RUPEES, PICES, and BUDGROOKS, or by such other Name or Names
..."—_Letters Patent of Charles II._ In _Charters of the E.I. Co._, p.
111.

1771.—"We fear the worst however; that is, that the Government are about
to interfere with the Company in the management of Affairs in India.
Whenever that happens it will be high Time for us to decamp. I know the
Temper of the King's Officers pretty well, and however they may decry our
manner of acting they are ready enough to grasp at the RUPEES whenever
they fall within their Reach."—_MS. Letter of James Rennell_, March 31.

RUSSUD, s. Pers. _rasad_. The provisions of grain, forage, and other necessaries got ready by the local officers at the camping ground of a military force or official cortège. The vernacular word has some other technical meanings (see _Wilson_), but this is its meaning in an Anglo-Indian mouth.

[c. 1640-50.—RASAD. (See under TANA.)]

RUT, s. Hind. _rath_, 'a chariot.' Now applied to a native carriage drawn by a pony, or oxen, and used by women on a journey. Also applied to the car in which idols are carried forth on festival days. [See ROOK.]

[1810-17.—"Tippoo's AUMIL ... wanted iron, and determined to supply
himself from the RUT, (a temple of carved wood fixed on wheels, drawn in
procession on public occasions, and requiring many thousand persons to
effect its movement)."—_Wilks, Sketches_, Madras reprint, ii. 281.