Chapter LXXVII: Section II: runs (1)

"_Standards._—The primary standard of weight shall be called SER, and
shall be a weight of metal in the possession of the Government of India,
which weight, when weighed in a vacuum, is equal to the weight known in
France as the kilogramme des Archives."

Again, Act XXXI. of 1872, called "_The Indian Weights and Measures of Capacity Act_," repeats in substance the same preamble and prescription of standard weight. It is not clear to us what the separate object of this second Act was. But with the death of Lord Mayo the whole scheme fell to the ground. The _ser_ of these Acts would be = 2.2 lbs. avoirdupois, or 0.143 of a pound greater than the 80 tola _ser_.

1554.—"_Porto Grande de Bemgala._—'The MAUND (_mão_) with which they
weigh all merchandize is of 40 CERES, each CER 18-2/5 ounces; the said
MAUND weighs 46½ _arratels_ (ROTTLE).'"—_A. Nunes_, 37.

1648.—"One CEER weighs 18 _peysen_ ... and makes ¾ pound troy
weight."—_Van Twist_, 62.

1748.—"Enfin on verse le tout un SERRE de l'huile."—_Lett. Edif._ xiv.
220.

SEER-FISH, s. A name applied to several varieties of fish, species of the genus _Cybium_. When of the right size, neither too small nor too big, these are reckoned among the most delicate of Indian sea-fish. Some kinds salt well, and are also good for preparing as TAMARIND-FISH. The name is sometimes said to be a corruption of Pers. _sīah_ (qu. Pers. 'black?') but the quotations show that it is a corruption of Port. _serra_. That name would appear to belong properly to the well-known saw-fish (_Pristis_)—see _Bluteau_, quoted below; but probably it may have been applied to the fish now in question, because of the serrated appearance of the rows of finlets, behind the second dorsal and anal fins, which are characteristic of the genus (see _Day's Fishes of India_, pp. 254-256, and plates lv., lvi.).

1554.—"E aos Marinheiros hum PEIXE CERRA par mes, a cada hum."—_A. Nunez,
Livro dos Pesos_, 43.

" "To Lopo Vaaz, Mestre of the firearms (_espingardes_), his pay
and provisions.... And for his three workmen, at the rate of 2 measures
of rice each daily, and half a SEER FISH (_peixe serra_) each monthly,
and a maund of firewood each monthly."—_S. Botelho, Tombo_, 235.

1598.—"There is a fish called PIEXE SERRA, which is cut in round pieces,
as we cut Salmon and salt it. It is very good."—_Linschoten_, 88; [Hak.
Soc. ii. 11].

1720.—"PEYXE SERRA is ordinarily produced in the Western Ocean, and is so
called" etc. (describing the _Saw-fish_).... "But in the Sea of the
Islands of Quirimba (_i.e._ off Mozambique) there is a different PEYXE
SERRA resembling a large corvina,[239] but much better, and which it is
the custom to pickle. When cured it seems just like ham."—_Bluteau,
Vocab._ vii. 606-607.

1727.—"They have great Plenty of SEER-FISH, which is as savoury as any
Salmon or Trout in Europe."—_A. Hamilton_, i. 379; [ed. 1744, i. 382].

[1813.—"... the robal, the SEIR-FISH, the grey mullet ... are very
good."—_Forbes, Or. Mem._ 2nd ed. i. 36.]

1860.—"Of those in ordinary use for the table the finest by far is the
SEIR-FISH,[240] a species of Scomber, which is called _Tora-malu_ by the
natives. It is in size and form very similar to the salmon, to which the
flesh of the female fish, notwithstanding its white colour, bears a very
close resemblance, both in firmness and in flavour."—_Tennent's Ceylon_,
i. 205.

SEERPAW, s. Pers. through Hind. _sar-ā-pā_—'cap-a-pie.' A complete suit, presented as a _Khilat_ (KILLUT) or dress of honour, by the sovereign or his representative.

c. 1666.—"He ... commanded, there should be given to each of them an
embroider'd Vest, a Turbant, and a Girdle of Silk Embroidery, which is
that which they call SER-APAH, that is, an Habit from head to
foot."—_Bernier_, E.T. 37; [ed. _Constable_, 147].

1673—"Sir George Oxendine ... had a _Collat_ (KILLUT) or SERPAW, a Robe
of Honour from Head to Foot, offered him from the Great Mogul."—_Fryer_,
87.

1680.—"Answer is returned that it hath not been accustomary for the
Governours to go out to receive a bare _Phyrmaund_ (FIRMAUN), except
there come therewith a SERPOW or a Tasheriffe (TASHREEF)."—_Ft. St. Geo.
Consn._ Dec. 2, in _N. & E._ No. iii. 40.

1715.—"We were met by Padre Stephanus, bringing two SEERPAWS."—In
_Wheeler_, ii. 245.

1727.—"As soon as he came, the King embraced him, and ordered a SERPAW or
a royal Suit to be put upon him."—_A. Hamilton_, i. 171 [ed. 1744].

1735.—"The last Nabob (Sadatulla) would very seldom suffer any but
himself to send a SEERPAW; whereas in February last Sunta Sahib, Subder
Ali Sahib, Jehare Khan and Imaum Sahib, had all of them taken upon them
to send distinct SEERPAWS to the President."—In _Wheeler_, iii. 140.

1759.—"Another deputation carried six costly SEERPAWS; these are garments
which are presented sometimes by superiors in token of protection, and
sometimes by inferiors in token of homage."—_Orme_, i. 159.

SEETULPUTTY, s. A fine kind of mat made especially in Eastern Bengal, and used to sleep on in the cold weather. [They are made from the split stems of the _mukta pata_, _Phrynium dichotomum_, Roxb. (see _Watt, Econ. Dict._ vi. pt. i. 216 _seq._).] Hind. _sītalpaṭṭī_, 'cold-slip.' Williamson's spelling and derivation (from an Arab. word impossibly used, see SICLEEGUR) are quite erroneous.

1810.—"A very beautiful species of mat is made ... especially in the
south-eastern districts ... from a kind of reedy grass.... These are
peculiarly slippery, whence they are designated 'SEEKUL-PUTTY' (_i.e._
polished sheets).... The principal uses of the 'SEEKUL-PUTTY' are to be
laid under the lower sheet of a bed, thereby to keep the body
cool."—_Williamson, V.M._ ii. 41.

[1818.—"Another kind (of mat) the SHĒĒTŬLŬPATĒĒS, laid on beds and
couches on account of their coolness, are sold from one roopee to five
each."—_Ward, Hindoos_, i. 106.]

1879.—In _Fallon's Dicty._ we find the following Hindi riddle:—

"_Chīnī kā piyālā ṭūṭā, kóī joṛtā nahīn;
Mālī jī kā bāg lagā, koī toṛtā nahīn;
Sītal-pãṭĭ bichhī, koī sotā nahīn;
Rāj-bansī mūā, koī rotā nahīn._"

Which might be rendered:

"A china bowl that, broken, none can join;
A flowery field, whose blossoms none purloin;
A royal scion slain, and none shall weep;
A SĪTALPAṬṬĪ spread where none shall sleep."

The answer is an Egg; the Starry Sky; a Snake (_Rãj-bansī_, 'royal
scion,' is a placatory name for a snake); and the Sea.

SEMBALL, s. Malay-Javan. _sāmbil_, _sāmbal_. A spiced condiment, the curry of the Archipelago. [Dennys (_Descr. Dict._ p. 337) describes many varieties.]

1817.—"The most common seasoning employed to give a relish to their
insipid food is the _lombock_ (_i.e._ red-pepper); triturated with salt
it is called SAMBEL."—_Raffles, H. of Java_, i. 98.

SEPOY, SEAPOY, s. In Anglo-Indian use a native soldier, disciplined and dressed in the European style. The word is Pers. _sipāhī_, from _sipāh_, 'soldiery, an army'; which J. Oppert traces to old Pers. _spāda_, 'a soldier' (_Le peuple et la Langue des Mèdes_, 1879, p. 24). But _Sbah_ is a horseman in Armenian; and sound etymologists connect _sipāh_ with _asp_, 'a horse'; [others with Skt. _padāti_, 'a foot-soldier']. The original word _sipāhī_ occurs frequently in the poems of Amīr Khusrū (c. A.D. 1300), bearing always probably the sense of a 'horse-soldier,' for all the important part of an army then consisted of horsemen. See _spāhī_ below.

The word _sepoy_ occurs in Southern India before we had troops in Bengal; and it was probably adopted from Portuguese. We have found no English example in print older than 1750, but probably an older one exists. The India Office record of 1747 from Fort St. David's is the oldest notice we have found in extant MS. [But see below.]

c. 1300.—"Pride had inflated his brain with wind, which extinguished the
light of his intellect, and a few SIPĀHĪS from Hindustan, without any
religion, had supported the credit of his authority."—_Amīr Khusrū_, in
_Elliot_, iii. 536.

[1665.—"Souldier—SUPPYA and Haddee."—_Persian Gloss._ in _Sir T.
Herbert_, ed. 1677, p. 99.]

1682.—"As soon as these letters were sent away, I went immediately to Ray
Nundelall's to have y^e SEAPY, or Nabob's horseman, consigned to me, with
order to see y^e _Perwanna_ put in execution; but having thought better
of it, y^e Ray desired me to have patience till tomorrow morning. He
would then present me to the Nabob, whose commands to y^e SEAPY and
Bulchunds _Vekeel_ would be more powerfull and advantageous to me than
his own."—_Hedges, Diary_, Hak. Soc. i. 55, _seq._ Here we see the word
still retaining the sense of 'horseman' in India.

[1717.—"A Company of SEPOYS with the colours."—_Yule_, in _ditto_, II.
ccclix. On this Sir H. Yule notes: "This is an occurrence of the word
SEPOY, in its modern signification, 30 years earlier than any I had been
able to find when publishing the A.-I. Gloss. I have one a year earlier,
and expect now to find it earlier still."

[1733.—"You are next ... to make a complete survey ... of the number of
fighting SEPOYS...."—_Forrest, Bombay Letters_, ii. 55.]

1737.—"Elle com tota a força desponivel, que eram 1156 soldados pagos em
que entraram 281 chegados na não Mercês, e 780 SYPAES ou _lascarins_
(LASCAR), recuperon o territorio."—_Bosquejo das Possesões Portuguezas no
Oriente_, &c., _por Joaquim Pedro Celestino Soares_, Lisboa, 1851, p. 58.

1746.—"The Enemy, by the best Intelligence that could be got, and best
Judgment that could be formed, had or would have on Shore next Morning,
upwards of 3000 _Europeans_, with at least 500 _Coffrys_, and a number of
CEPHOYS and Peons."—_Ext. of Diary_, &c., in App. to _A Letter to a
Propr. of the E.I. Co._, London, 1750, p. 94.

[1746.—Their strength on shore I compute 2000 Europeans SEAPIAHS and 300
Coffrees."—_Letter from Madras_, Oct. 9, in _Bengal Consultations_.
_Ibid._ p. 600, we have SEAPIES.]

1747.—"At a Council of War held at Fort St. David the 25th December,
1747.

Present:—
Charles Floyer, Esq., Governor.
George Gibson
John Crompton
William Brown
John Holland
John Rodolph de Gingens
John Usgate
Robert Sanderson.
* * *

"It is further ordered that Captn. Crompton keep the Detachment under his
Command at Cuddalore, in a readiness to march to the CHOULTRY over
against the Fort as soon as the Signal shall be made from the Place, and
then upon his firing two Muskets, Boats shall be sent to bring them here,
and to leave a serjeant at Cuddalore Who shall conduct his SEAPOYS to the
Garden Guard, and the Serjeant shall have a Word by which He shall be
received at the Garden."—_Original MS. Proceedings_ (in the India
Office).

" The Council of Fort St. David write to Bombay, March 16th, "if
they could not supply us with more than 300 Europeans, We should be glad
of Five or Six Hundred of the best Northern People their way, as they are
reported to be much better than ours, and not so liable to Desertion."

In Consn. May 30th they record the arrival of the ships Leven, Warwick,
and Ilchester, Princess Augusta, "on the 28th inst., from Bombay,
(bringing) us a General from that Presidency,[241] as entered No. 38,
advising of having sent us by them sundry stores and a Reinforcement of
Men, consisting of 70 European Soldiers, 200 _Topasses_ (TOPAZ), and 100
well-trained SEAPOYS, all of which under the command of Capt. Thomas
Andrews, a Good Officer...."

And under July 13th. "... The Reinforcement of SEPOYS having arrived from
Tellicherry, which, with those that were sent from Bombay, making a
formidable Body, besides what are still expected; and as there is far
greater Dependance to be placed on those People than on our own PEONS ...
many of whom have a very weakly Appearance, AGREED, that a General Review
be now had of them, that all such may be discharged, and only the
Choicest of them continued in the Service."—_MS. Records in India
Office._

1752.—"... they quitted their entrenchments on the first day of March,
1752, and advanced in order of battle, taking possession of a rising
ground on the right, on which they placed 50 Europeans; the front
consisted of 1500 SIPOYS, and one hundred and twenty or thirty
French."—_Complete Hist. of the War in India_, 1761, pp. 9-10.

1758.—A Tabular Statement (_Mappa_) of the Indian troops, 20th Jan. of
this year, shows "Corpo de SIPAES" with 1162 "SIPAES
promptos."—_Bosquejo_, as above.

" "A stout body of near 1000 SEPOYS has been raised within these
few days."—In _Long_, 134.

[1759.—"Boat rice extraordinary for the Gentoo SEAPOIS...."—_Ibid._ 174.]

1763.—"The Indian natives and Moors, who are trained in the European
manner, are called SEPOYS."—_Orme_, i. 80.

1763.—"Major Carnac ... observes that your establishment is loaded with
the expense of more Captains than need be, owing to the unnecessarily
making it a point that they should be Captains who command the SEPOY
Battalions, whereas such is the nature of SEPOYS that it requires a
peculiar genius and talent to be qualified for that service, and the
Battalion should be given only to such who are so without regard to
rank."—_Court's Letter_, of March 9. In _Long_, 290.

1770.—"England has at present in India an establishment to the amount of
9800 European troops, and 54,000 SIPAHIS well armed and
disciplined."—_Raynal_ (tr. 1777), i. 459.

1774.—"SIPAI sono li soldati Indiani."—_Della Tomba_, 297.

1778.—"La porta del Ponente della città sì custodiva dalli SIPAIS soldati
Indiani radunati da tutte le tribù, e religioni."—_Fra Paolino, Viaggio_,
4.

1780.—"Next morning the SEPOY came to see me.... I told him that I owed
him my life.... He then told me that he was not very rich himself, as his
pay was only a pagoda and a half a month—and at the same time drew out
his purse and offered me a rupee. This generous behaviour, so different
to what I had hitherto experienced, drew tears from my eyes, and I
thanked him for his generosity, but I would not take his money."—_Hon. J.
Lindsay's Imprisonment, Lives of Lindsays_, iii. 274.

1782.—"As to Europeans who run from their natural colours, and enter into
the service of the country powers, I have heard one of the best officers
the Company ever had ... say that he considered them no otherwise than as
so many SEAPOYS; for acting under blacks they became mere blacks in
spirit."—_Price, Some Observations_, 95-96.

1789.—

"There was not a captain, nor scarce a SEAPOY,
But a Prince would depose, or a Bramin destroy."
_Letter of Simpkin the Second_, &c., 8.

1803.—"Our troops behaved admirably; the SEPOYS astonished
me."—_Wellington_, ii. 384.

1827.—"He was betrothed to the daughter of a SIPAHEE, who served in the
mud-fort which they saw at a distance rising above the jungle."—_Sir W.
Scott, The Surgeon's Daughter_, ch. xiii.

1836.—"The native army of the E. I. Company.... Their formation took
place in 1757. They are usually called SEPOYS, and are light and
short."—In _R. Phillips, A Million of Facts_, 718.

1881.—"As early as A.D. 1592 the chief of Sind had 200 natives dressed
and armed like Europeans: these were the first 'SEPOYS.'"—_Burton's
Camoens, A Commentary_, ii. 445.

The French write _cipaye_ or _cipai_:

1759.—"De quinze mille CIPAYES dont l'armée est censée composée, j'en
compte à peu près huit cens sur la route de Pondichery, chargé de sucre
et de poivre et autres marchandises, quant aux Coulis, ils sont tous
employés pour le même objet."—_Letter of Lally to the Governor of
Pondicherry_, in _Cambridge's Account_, p. 150.

c. 1835-38.—

"Il ne criant ni Kriss ni zagaies,
Il regarde l'homme sans fuir,
Et rit des balles des CIPAYES
Qui rebondissent sur son cuir."
_Th. Gautier, L'Hippopotame_.

Since the conquest of Algeria the same word is common in France under another form, viz., _spāhī_. But the _Spāhī_ is totally different from the _sepoy_, and is in fact an irregular horseman. With the Turks, from whom the word is taken, the _spāhī_ was always a horseman.

1554.—"Aderant magnis muneribus praepositi multi, aderant praetoriani
equites omnes SPHAI, Garipigi, Ulufagi, Gianizarorum magnus numerus, sed
nullus in tanto conventu nobilis nisi ex suis virtutibus et fortibus
factis."—_Busbeq, Epistolae_, i. 99.

[1562.—"The SPACHI, and other orders of horsemen."—_J. Shute, Two Comm._
(Tr.) fol. 53 ro. _Stanf. Dict._ where many early instances of the word
will be found.]

1672.—"Mille ou quinze cents SPAHIZ, tous bien équippés et bien montés
... terminoient toute ceste longue, magnifique, et pompeuse
cavalcade."—_Journal d'Ant. Galland_, i. 142.

1675.—"The other officers are the _sardar_ (SIRDAR), who commands the
Janizaries ... the SPAHI _Aga_, who commands the SPAHIES or _Turkish_
Horse."—_Wheeler's Journal_, 348.

[1686.—"I being providentially got over the river before the SPIE
employed by them could give them intelligence."—_Hedges, Diary_, Hak.
Soc. i. 229.]

1738.—"The Arab and other inhabitants are obliged, either by long custom
... or from fear and compulsion, to give the SPAHEES and their company
the _mounah_ ... which is such a sufficient quantity of provision for
ourselves, together with straw and barley for our mules and
horses."—_Shaw's Travels in Barbary_, ed. 1757, p. xii.

1786.—"Bajazet had two years to collect his forces ... we may
discriminate the janizaries ... a national cavalry, the SPAHIS of modern
times."—_Gibbon_, ch. lxv.

1877.—"The regular cavalry was also originally composed of tribute
children.... The SIPAHIS acquired the same pre-eminence among the cavalry
which the janissaries held among the infantry, and their seditious
conduct rendered them much sooner troublesome to the
Government."—_Finlay, H. of Greece_, ed. 1877, v. 37.

SERAI, SERYE, s. This word is used to represent two Oriental words entirely different.

A. Hind. from Pers. _sarā_, _sarāī_. This means originally an edifice, a palace. It was especially used by the Tartars when they began to build palaces. Hence _Sarāī_, the name of more than one royal residence of the Mongol Khāns upon the Volga, the _Sarra_ of Chaucer. The Russians retained the word from their Tartar oppressors, but in their language _sarai_ has been degraded to mean 'a shed.' The word, as applied to the Palace of the Grand Turk, became, in the language of the Levantine Franks, _serail_ and _serraglio_. In this form, as P. della Valle lucidly explains below, the "striving after meaning" connected the word with Ital. _serrato_, 'shut up'; and with a word _serraglio_ perhaps previously existing in Italian in that connection. [_Seraglio_, according to Prof. Skeat (_Concise Dict._ s.v.) is "formed with suffix _-aglio_ (L. _-aculum_) from Late Lat. _serare_, 'to bar, shut in'—Lat. _sera_, a 'bar, bolt'; Lat. _serere_, 'to join together.'] It is this association that has attached the meaning of 'women's apartments' to the word. _Sarai_ has no such specific sense.

But the usual modern meaning in Persia, and the only one in India, is that of a building for the accommodation of travellers with their pack-animals; consisting of an enclosed yard with chambers round it.

Recurring to the Italian use, we have seen in Italy the advertisement of a travelling menagerie as _Serraglio di Belve_. A friend tells us of an old Scotchman whose ideas must have run in this groove, for he used to talk of 'a _Serragle_ of blackguards.' In the Diary in England of Annibale Litolfi of Mantua the writer says: "On entering the tower there is a _Serraglio_ in which, from grandeur, they keep lions and tigers and cat-lions." (See _Rawdon Brown's Calendar of Papers in Archives of Venice_, vol. vi. pt. iii. 1557-8. App.) [The _Stanf. Dict._ quotes Evelyn as using the word of a place where persons are confined: 1644. "I passed by the Piazza Judea, where their _seraglio_ begins" (_Diary_, ed. 1872, i. 142).]

c. 1584.—"At SARAIUM Turcis palatium principis est, vel aliud amplum
aedificium, non a _Czar_[242] voce Tatarica, quae regem significat,
dictum; vnde Reineccius SARAGLIAM Turcis vocari putet, ut _regiam_. Nam
aliae quoque domus, extra Sultani regiam, nomen hoc ferunt ... vt ampla
Turcorum hospitia, sive diversoria publica, quae vulgo _Caravasarias_
(CARAVANSERAY) nostri vocant."—_Leunclavius_, ed. 1650, p. 403.

1609.—"... by it the great SURAY, besides which are diuers others, both
in the city and suburbs, wherein diuers neate lodgings are to be let,
with doores, lockes, and keys to each."—_W. Finch_, in _Purchas_, i. 434.

1614.—"This term SERRAGLIO, so much used among us in speaking of the
Grand Turk's dwelling ... has been corrupted into that form from the word
SERAI, which in their language signifies properly 'a palace.'... But
since this word _serai_ resembles _serraio_, as a Venetian would call it,
or _seraglio_ as we say, and seeing that the palace of the Turk is
(_serrato_ or) shut up all round by a strong wall, and also because the
women and a great part of the courtiers dwell in it barred up and shut
in, so it may perchance have seemed to some to have deserved such a name.
And thus the real term SERAI has been converted into SERRAGLIO."—_P.
della Valle_, i. 36.

1615.—"Onely from one dayes Journey to another the _Sophie_ hath caused
to bee erected certaine kind of great harbours, or huge lodgings (like
hamlets) called _caravan_-SARA, or SURROYES, for the benefite of
_Caravanes_...."—_De Montfart_, 8.

1616.—"In this kingdome there are no Innes to entertaine strangers, only
in great Townes and Cities are faire Houses built for their receit, which
they call SARRAY, not inhabited, where any Passenger may haue roome
freely, but must bring with him his Bedding, his Cooke, and other
necessaries."—_Terry_, in _Purchas_, ii. 1475.

1638.—"Which being done we departed from our SERRAY (or Inne)."—_W.
Bruton_, in _Hakl._ v. 49.

1648.—"A great SARY or place for housing travelling folk."—_Van Twist_,
17.

[1754.—"... one of the Sciddees (SEEDY) officers with a party of men were
lodged in the SORROY...."—_Forrest, Bombay Letters_, i. 307.]

1782.—"The stationary tenants of the SERAUEE, many of them women, and
some of them very pretty, approach the traveller on his entrance, and in
alluring language describe to him the varied excellencies of their
several lodgings."—_Forster, Journey_, ed. 1808, i. 86.

1825.—"The whole number of lodgers in and about the SERAI, probably did
not fall short of 500 persons. What an admirable scene for an Eastern
romance would such an inn as this afford!"—_Heber_, ed. 1844, ii. 122.

1850.—"He will find that, if we omit only three names in the long line of
the Delhi Emperors, the comfort and happiness of the people were never
contemplated by them; and with the exception of a few SARÁÍS and
bridges,—and these only on roads traversed by the imperial camps—he will
see nothing in which purely selfish considerations did not prevail."—_Sir
H. M. Elliot_, Original Preface to _Historians of India, Elliot_, I.
xxiii.

B. A long-necked earthenware (or metal) flagon for water; a GOGLET (q.v.). This is Ar.—P. _ṣurāḥī_. [This is the _doraḳ_ or _ḳulleh_ of Egypt, of which Lane (_Mod. Egypt._ ed. 1871, i. 186 _seq._) gives an account with illustrations.]

c. 1666.—"... my _Navab_ having vouchsafed me a very particular favour,
which is, that he hath appointed to give me every day a new loaf of his
house, and a SOURAY of the water of _Ganges_ ... SOURAY is that
Tin-flagon full of water, which the Servant that marcheth on foot before
the Gentleman on horseback, carrieth in his hand, wrapt up in a sleeve of
red cloath."—_Bernier_, E.T. 114; [ed. _Constable_, 356].

1808.—"We had some bread and butter, two SURAHEES of water, and a bottle
of brandy."—_Elphinstone_, in _Life_, i. 183.

[1880.—"The best known is the gilt silver work of Cashmere, which is
almost confined to the production of the water-vessels or SARAIS, copied
from the clay goblets in use throughout the northern parts of the
Panjab."—_Birdwood, Indust. Arts of India_, 149.]

SERANG, s. A native boatswain, or chief of a LASCAR crew; the skipper of a small native vessel. The word is Pers. _sarhang_, 'a commander or overseer.' In modern Persia it seems to be used for a colonel (see _Wills_, 80).

1599.—"... there set sail two Portuguese vessels which were come to
Amacao (MACAO) from the City of Goa, as occurs every year. They are
commanded by Captains, with Pilots, quartermasters, clerks, and other
officers, who are Portuguese; but manned by sailors who are Arabs, Turks,
Indians, and Bengalis, who serve for so much a month, and provide
themselves under the direction and command of a chief of their own whom
they call the SARANGHI, who also belongs to one of these nations, whom
they understand, and recognise and obey, carrying out the orders that the
Portuguese Captain, Master, or Pilot may give to the said
SARANGHI."—_Carletti, Viaggi_, ii. 206.

1690.—"Indus quem de hoc Ludo consului fuit scriba satis peritus ab
officio in nave suâ dictus _le_ SARÀNG, Anglicè BOATSWAIN seú
BOSON."—_Hyde, De Ludis Orientt._ in _Syntagma_, ii. 264.

[1822.—"... the ghaut SYRANGS (a class of men equal to the kidnappers of
Holland and the crimps of England)...."—_Wallace, Fifteen Years in
India_, 256.]

SERAPHIN. See XERAFIN.

SERENDĪB, n.p. The Arabic form of the name of Ceylon in the earlier Middle Ages. (See under CEYLON.)

SERINGAPATAM, n.p. The city which was the capital of the Kingdom of Mysore during the reigns of Hyder Ali and his son Tippoo. Written _Sri-raṅga-paṭṭana_, meaning according to vulgar interpretation 'Vishnu's Town.' But as both this and the other Srirangam (_Seringam_ town and temple, so-called, in the Trichinopoly district) are on islands of the Cauvery, it is possible that _ranga_ stands for _Lanka_, and that the true meaning is 'Holy-Isle-Town.'

[SERPEYCH, s. Pers. _sarpech_, _sarpesh_; an ornament of gold, silver or jewels, worn in front of the turban; it sometimes consists of gold plates strung together, each plate being set with precious stones. Also a band of silk and embroidery worn round the turban.

[1753.—"... a fillet. This they call a SIRPEACH, which is wore round the
turban; persons of great distinction generally have them set with
precious stones."—_Hanway_, iv. 191.

[1786.—"SURPAISHES." See under CULGEE.

[1813.—"SERPEYCH." See under KILLUT.]

SETT, s. Properly Hind. _seṭh_, which according to Wilson is the same word with the Cheṭṭi (see CHETTY) or _Sheṭṭi_ of the Malabar Coast, the different forms being all from Skt. _śreshṭha_, 'best, or chief,' _śresṭhi_, 'the chief of a corporation, a merchant or banker.' C. P. Brown entirely denies the identity of the S. Indian _sheṭṭi_ with the Skt. word (see CHETTY).

1740.—"The SETS being all present at the Board inform us that last year
they dissented to the employment of Fillick Chund (&c.), they being of a
different caste; and consequently they could not do business with
them."—In _Long_, p. 9.

1757.—"To the SEATS Mootabray and Roopchund the Government of
Chandunagore was indebted a million and a half Rupees."—_Orme_, ii. 138
of reprint (Bk. viii.).

1770.—"As soon as an European arrived the Gentoos, who know mankind
better than is commonly supposed, study his character ... and lend or
procure him money upon bottomry, or at interest. This interest, which is
usually 9 per cent. at this, is higher when he is under a necessity of
borrowing of the CHEYKS.

"These CHEYKS are a powerful family of Indians, who have, time
immemorial, inhabited the banks of the Ganges. Their riches have long ago
procured them the management of the bank belonging to the
Court...."—_Raynal_, tr. 1777, i. 427. Note that by _Cheyks_ the Abbé
means SETTS.

[1883.—"... from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin a security endorsed by the
Mathura SETH is as readily convertible into cash as a Bank of England
Note in London or Paris."—_F. S. Growse, Mathura_, 14.]

SETTLEMENT, s. In the Land Revenue system of India, an estate or district is said to be _settled_, when instead of taking a quota of the year's produce the Government has agreed with the cultivators, individually or in community, for a fixed sum to be paid at several periods of the year, and not liable to enhancement during the term of years for which the agreement or _settlement_ is made. The operation of arranging the terms of such an agreement, often involving tedious and complicated considerations and enquiries, is known as the process of _settlement_. A _Permanent Settlement_ is that in which the annual payment is fixed in perpetuity. This was introduced in Bengal by Lord Cornwallis in 1793, and does not exist except within that great Province, [and a few districts in the Benares division of the N.W.P., and in Madras.]

[SEVEN PAGODAS, n.p. The Tam. _Mavallipuram_, Skt. _Mahabalipura_, 'the City of the Great Bali,' a place midway between SADRAS and Covelong. But in one of the inscriptions (about 620 A.D.) a King, whose name is said to have been Amara, is described as having conquered the chief of the Mahamalla race. Malla was probably the name of a powerful highland chieftain subdued by the Chalukyans. (See _Crole, Man. of Chingleput_, 92 _seq._). Dr. Oppert (_Orig. Inhabit._, 98) takes the name to be derived from the Malla or Palli race.

SEVEN SISTERS, or BROTHERS. The popular name (Hind. _sāt-bhāī_) of a certain kind of bird, about the size of a thrush, common throughout most parts of India, _Malacocercus terricolor_, Hodgson, 'Bengal babbler' of Jerdon. The latter author gives the native name as _Seven Brothers_, which is the form also given in the quotation below from _Tribes on My Frontier_. The bird is so named from being constantly seen in little companies of about that number. Its characteristics are well given in the quotations. See also _Jerdon's Birds_ (Godwin-Austen's ed., ii. 59). In China certain birds of starling kind are called by the Chinese _pa-ko_, or "Eight Brothers," for a like reason. See _Collingwood's Rambles of a Naturalist_, 1868, p. 319. (See MYNA.)

1878.—"The SEVEN SISTERS pretend to feed on insects, but that is only
when they cannot get peas ... sad-coloured birds hopping about in the
dust, and incessantly talking whilst they hop."—_Ph. Robinson, In My
Indian Garden_, 30-31.

1883.—"... the SATBHAI or 'Seven Brothers' ... are too shrewd and knowing
to be made fun of.... Among themselves they will quarrel by the hour, and
bandy foul language like fishwives; but let a stranger treat one of their
number with disrespect, and the other six are in arms at once.... Each
Presidency of India has its own branch of this strange family. Here (at
Bombay) they are brothers, and in Bengal they are sisters; but
everywhere, like Wordsworth's opinionative child, they are
seven."—_Tribes on My Frontier_, 143.

SEVERNDROOG, n.p. A somewhat absurd corruption, which has been applied to two forts of some fame, viz.:

A. _Suvarna-druga_, or _Suwandrug_, on the west coast, about 78 m. below Bombay (Lat. 17° 48′ N.). It was taken in 1755 by a small naval force from Tulajī Angria, of the famous piratical family. [For the commander of the expedition, Commodore James, and his monument on Shooter's Hill, see _Douglas, Bombay and W. India_, i. 117 _seq._]

B. _Savandrug_; a remarkable double hill-fort in Mysore, standing on a two-topped bare rock of granite, which was taken by Lord Cornwallis's army in 1791 (Lat. 12° 55′). [Wilks (_Hist. Sketches_, Madras reprint, i. 228, ii. 232) calls it _Savendy Droog_, and _Savendroog_.]

SEYCHELLE ISLANDS, n.p. A cluster of islands in the Indian Ocean, politically subordinate to the British Government of Mauritius, lying be-between 3° 40′ & 4° 50′ S. Lat., and about 950 sea-miles east of Mombas on the E. African coast. There are 29 or 30 of the Seychelles proper, of which Mahé, the largest, is about 17 m. long by 3 or 4 wide. The principal islands are granitic, and rise "in the centre of a vast plateau of coral" of some 120 m. diameter.

These islands are said to have been visited by Soares in 1506, and were known vaguely to the Portuguese navigators of the 16th century as the Seven Brothers (_Os sete Irmanos_ or _Hermanos_), sometimes Seven Sisters (_Sete Irmanas_), whilst in Delisle's Map of Asia (1700) we have both "les Sept Frères" and "les Sept Sœurs." Adjoining these on the W. or S.W. we find also on the old maps a group called the _Almirantes_, and this group has retained that name to the present day, constituting now an appendage of the Seychelles.

The islands remained uninhabited, and apparently unvisited, till near the middle of the 18th century. In 1742 the celebrated Mahé de la Bourdonnais, who was then Governor of Mauritius and the Isle of Bourbon, despatched two small vessels to explore the islands of this little archipelago, an expedition which was renewed by Lazare Picault, the commander of one of the two vessels, in 1774, who gave to the principal island the name of _Mahé_, and to the group the name of _Iles de Bourdonnais_, for which _Iles Mahé_ (which is the name given in the _Neptune Orientale_ of D'Apres de Manneville, 1775, pp. 29-38, and the charts), seems to have been substituted. Whatever may have been La Bourdonnais' plans with respect to these islands, they were interrupted by his engagement in the Indian campaigns of 1745-46, and his government of Mauritius was never resumed. In 1756 the Sieur Morphey (Murphy?), commander of the frigate _Le Cerf_, was sent by M. Magon, Governor of Mauritius and Bourbon, to take possession of the Island of Mahé. But it seems doubtful if any actual settlement of the islands by the French occurred till after 1769. [See the account of the islands in _Owen's Narrative_, ii. 158 _seqq._]

A question naturally has suggested itself to us as to how the group came by the name of the _Seychelles Islands_; and it is one to which no trustworthy answer will be easily found in English, if at all. Even French works of pretension (_e.g._ the _Dictionnaire de la Rousse_) are found to state that the islands were named after the "Minister of Marine, Herault de Séchelles, who was eminent for his services and his able administration. He was the first to establish a French settlement there." This is quoted from La Rousse; but the fact is that the only man of the name known to fame is the Jacobin and friend of Danton, along with whom he perished by the guillotine. There never was a Minister of Marine so called! The name SÉCHELLES first (so far as we can learn) appears in the _Hydrographie Française_ of Belin, 1767, where in a map entitled _Carte réduite du Canal de Mozambique_ the islands are given as _Les Iles_ SÉCHEYLES, with two enlarged plans _en cartouche_ of the _Port de Sécheyles_. In 1767 also Chev. de Grenier, commanding the _Heure du Berger_, visited the Islands, and in his narrative states that he had with him the chart of Picault, "envoyé par La Bourdonnais pour reconnoître les isles des Sept Frères, _lesquelles ont été depuis nommée iles Mahé et ensuite_ ILES SÉCHELLES." We have not been able to learn by whom the latter name was given, but it was probably by Morphey of the _Cerf_; for among Dalrymple's Charts (pub. 1771), there is a "_Plan of the Harbour adjacent to_ Bat River _on the Island_ Seychelles, _from a French plan made in_ 1756, _published by_ Bellin." And there can be no doubt that the name was bestowed in honour of Moreau de Séchelles, who was _Contrôleur-Général des Finances_ in France in 1754-56, _i.e._ at the very time when Governor Magon sent Capt. Morphey to take possession. One of the islands again is called _Silhouette_, the name of an official who had been _Commissaire du roi près la Compagnie des Indes_, and succeeded Moreau de Séchelles as Controller of Finance; and another is called _Praslin_, apparently after the Duc de Choiseul Praslin who was Minister of Marine from 1766 to 1770.

The exact date of the settlement of the islands we have not traced. We can only say that it must have been between 1769 and 1772. The quotation below from the Abbé Rochon shows that the islands were not settled when he visited them in 1769; whilst that from Capt. Neale shows that they were settled before his visit in 1772. It will be seen that both Rochon and Neale speak of Mahé as "the island Seychelles, or Sécheyles," as in Belin's chart of 1767. It seems probable that the cloud under which La Bourdonnais fell, on his return to France, must have led to the suppression of his name in connection with the group.

The islands surrendered to the English Commodore Newcome in 1794, and were formally ceded to England with Mauritius in 1815. SEYCHELLES appears to be an erroneous English spelling, now however become established. (For valuable assistance in the preceding article we are indebted to the courteous communications of M. James Jackson, Librarian of the _Société de Géographie_ at Paris, and of M. G. Marcel of the _Bibliothèque Nationale_. And see, besides the works quoted here, a paper by M. Elie Pujot, in _L'Explorateur_, vol. iii. (1876) pp. 523-526).

The following passage of Pyrard probably refers to the Seychelles:

c. 1610.—"Le Roy (des Maldives) enuoya par deux foys vn très expert
pilote pour aller descouvrir vne certaine isle nommée _pollouoys_, qui
leur est presque inconnuë.... Ils disent aussi que le diable les y
tourmentoit visiblement, et que pour l'isle elle est fertile en toutes
sortes de fruicts, et mesme ils ont opinion que ces gros Cocos medicinaux
qui sont si chers-là en viennent.... Elle est sous la hauteur de dix
degrés au delà de la ligne et enuiron six vingt lieuës des
Maldiues...."—(see COCO-DE-MER).—_Pyrard de Laval_, i. 212. [Also see Mr.
Gray's note in Hak. Soc. ed. i. 296, where he explains the word
_pollouoys_ in the above quotation as the Malay _pulo_, 'an island,' Malé
_Fólávahi_.]

1769.—"The principal places, the situation of which I determined, are the
SECHEYLES ISLANDS, the flat of Cargados, the Salha da Maha, the island of
Diego Garcia, and the Adu isles. The island SECHEYLES has an exceedingly
good harbour.... This island is covered with wood to the very summit of
the mountains.... In 1769 when I spent a month here in order to determine
its position with the utmost exactness, Secheyles and the adjacent isles
were inhabited only by monstrous crocodiles; but a small establishment
has since been formed on it for the cultivation of cloves and
nutmegs."—_Voyage to Madagascar and the E. Indies by the Abbé Rochon_,
E.T., London, 1792, p. liii.

1772.—"The island named SEYCHELLES is inhabited by the French, and has a
good harbour.... I shall here deliver my opinion that these islands,
where we now are, are the Three Brothers and the adjacent islands ... as
there are no islands to the eastward of them in these latitudes, and many
to the westward."—_Capt. Neale's Passage from Bencoolen to the Seychelles
Islands in the Swift Grab._ In _Dunn's Directory_, ed. 1780, pp. 225,
232.

[1901.—"For a man of energy, perseverance, and temperate habits,
SEYCHELLES affords as good an opening as any tropical colony."—_Report of
Administrator_, in _Times_, Oct. 2.]

SHA, SAH, s. A merchant or banker; often now attached as a surname. It is Hind. _sāh_ and _sāhu_ from Skt. _sādhu_, 'perfect, virtuous, respectable' '_prudhomme_'). See SOWCAR.

[c. 1809.—"... the people here called Mahajans (MAHAJUN), SAHU, and
Bahariyas, live by lending money."—_Buchanan Hamilton, E. India_, ii.
573.]

SHABASH! interj. 'Well done!' 'Bravo!' Pers. _Shā-bāsh_. 'Rex fias!'[243] [Rather _shād-bāsh_, 'Be joyful.']

c. 1610.—"Le Roy fit rencontre de moy ... me disant vn mot qui est commun
en toute l'Inde, à savoir SABATZ, qui veut dire grand mercy, et sert
aussi à louer vn homme pour quelque chose qu'il a bien fait."—_Pyrard de
Laval_, i. 224.

[1843.—"I was awakened at night from a sound sleep by the repeated
SAVĀSHES! _wāh! wāhs!_ from the residence of the thanndar."—_Davidson,
Travels in Upper India_, i. 209.]

SHABUNDER, s. Pers. _Shāh-bandar_, lit. 'King of the Haven,' Harbour-Master. This was the title of an officer at native ports all over the Indian seas, who was the chief authority with whom foreign traders and ship-masters had to transact. He was often also head of the Customs. Hence the name is of prominent and frequent occurrence in the old narratives. Portuguese authors generally write the word _Xabander_; ours _Shabunder_ or _Sabundar_. The title is not obsolete, though it does not now exist in India; the quotation from Lane shows its recent existence in Cairo, [and the Persians still call their Consuls _Shāh-bandar_ (_Burton, Ar. Nights_, iii. 158)]. In the marine Malay States the _Shābandar_ was, and probably is, an important officer of State. The passages from Lane and from Tavernier show that the title was not confined to seaports. At Aleppo Thevenot (1663) calls the corresponding official, perhaps by a mistake, '_Scheik_ BANDAR' (_Voyages_, iii. 121). [This is the office which King Mihrjān conferred upon Sindbad the Seaman, when he made him "his agent for the port and registrar of all ships that entered the harbour" (_Burton_, iv. 351)].

c. 1350.—"The chief of all the Musulmans in this city (_Kaulam_—see
QUILON) is Mahommed SHĀHBANDAR."—_Ibn Batuta_, iv. 100.

c. 1539.—"This King (of the Batas) understanding that I had brought him a
Letter and a Present from the Captain of _Malaca_, caused me to be
entertained by the XABANDAR, who is he that with absolute Power governs
all the affairs of the Army."—_Pinto_ (orig. cap. xv.), in _Cogan's
Transl._ p. 18.

1552.—"And he who most insisted on this was a Moor, XABANDAR of the
Guzarates" (at Malacca).—_Castanheda_, ii. 359.

1553.—"A Moorish lord called Sabayo (SABAIO) ... as soon as he knew that
our ships belonged to the people of these parts of Christendom, desiring
to have confirmation on the matter, sent for a certain Polish Jew who was
in his service as SHABANDAR (_Xabandar_), and asked him if he knew of
what nation were the people who came in these ships...."—_Barros_, I. iv.
11.

1561.—"... a boatman, who, however, called himself XABANDAR."—_Correa,
Lendas_, ii. 80.

1599.—"The SABANDAR tooke off my Hat, and put a Roll of white linnen
about my head...."—_J. Davis_, in _Purchas_, i. 12.

[1604.—"SABINDAR." See under KLING.]

1606.—"Then came the SABENDOR with light, and brought the Generall to his
house."—_Middleton's Voyage_, E. (4).

1610.—"The SABANDER and the Governor of _Mancock_ (a place scituated by
the River)...."—_Peter Williamson Floris_, in _Purchas_, i. 322.

[1615.—"The opinion of the SABINDOUR shall be taken."—_Foster, Letters_,
iv. 79.]

c. 1650.—"Coming to Golconda, I found that the person whom I had left in
trust with my chamber was dead: but that which I observ'd most
remarkable, was that I found the door seal'd with two Seals, one being
the Cadi's or chief Justice's, the other the SHA-BANDER'S or Provost of
the Merchants."—_Tavernier_, E.T. Pt. ii. 136; [ed. _Ball_, ii. 70].

1673.—"The SHAWBUNDER has his Grandeur too, as well as receipt of Custom,
for which he pays the King yearly 22,000 _Thomands_."—_Fryer_, 222.

1688.—"When we arrived at Achin, I was carried before the SHABANDER, the
chief Magistrate of the City...."—_Dampier_, i. 502.

1711.—"The Duties the Honourable Company require to be paid here on Goods
are not above one fifth Part of what is paid to the SHABANDER or
Custom-Master."—_Lockyer_, 223.

1726.—Valentyn, v. 313, gives a list of the SJAHBANDARS of Malakka from
1641 to 1725. They are names of Dutchmen.

[1727.—"SHAWBANDAAR." See under TENASSERIM.]

1759.—"I have received a long letter from the Shahzada, in which he
complains that you have begun to carry on a large trade in salt, and
betel nut, and refuse to pay the duties on those articles ... which
practice, if continued, will oblige him to throw up his post of
SHAHBUNDER Droga (DAROGA)."—_W. Hastings_ to the Chief at Dacca, in _Van
Sittart_, i. 5.

1768.—"... two or three days after my arrival (at Batavia), the landlord
of the hotel where I lodged told me he had been ordered by the SHEBANDAR
to let me know that my carriage, as well as others, must stop, if I
should meet the Governor, or any of the council; but I desired him to
acquaint the SHEBANDAR that I could not consent to perform any such
ceremony."—_Capt. Carteret_, quoted by transl. of _Stavorinus_, i. 281.

1795.—"The descendant of a Portuguese family, named Jaunsee, whose origin
was very low ... was invested with the important office of SHAWBUNDER, or
intendant of the port, and receiver of the port customs."—_Symes_, p.
160.

1837.—"The Seyd Mohammad El Mahroockee, the SHAHBENDAR (chief of the
Merchants of Cairo) hearing of this event, suborned a common
fellah...."—_Lane's Mod. Egyptians_, ed. 1837, i. 157.

SHADDOCK, s. This name properly belongs to the West Indies, having been given, according to Grainger, from that of the Englishman who first brought the fruit thither from the East, and who was, according to Crawfurd, an interloper captain, who traded to the Archipelago about the time of the Revolution, and is mentioned by his contemporary Dampier. The fruit is the same as the POMMELO (q.v.). And the name appears from a modern quotation below to be now occasionally used in India. [Nothing definite seems to be known of this Capt. Shaddock. Mr. R. C. A. Prior (7 ser. _N. & Q._, vii. 375) writes: "Lunan, in '_Hortus Jamaicensis_,' vol. ii. p. 171, says, 'This fruit is not near so large as the shaddock, which received its name from a Capt. Shaddock, who first brought the plant from the East Indies.' The name of the captain is believed to have been Shattock, one not uncommon in the west of Somersetshire. Sloane, in his 'Voyage to Jamaica,' 1707, vol. i. p. 41 says, 'The seed of this was first brought to Barbados by one Capt. Shaddock, commander of an East Indian ship, who touch'd at that island in his passage to England, and left its seed there.'" Watt (_Econ. Dict._ ii. 349) remarks that the Indian vernacular name _Batāvī nībū_, 'Batavian lime,' suggests its having been originally brought from Batavia.]

[1754.—"... pimple-noses (POMMELO), called in the West Indies, CHADOCKS,
a very fine large fruit of the citron-kind, but of four or five times its
size...."—_Ives_, 19.]

1764.—

"Nor let thy bright impatient flames destroy
The golden SHADDOCK, the forbidden fruit...."—_Grainger_, Bk. I.

1803.—"The SHADDOCK, or pumpelmos (POMMELO), often grows to the size of a
man's head."—_Percival's Ceylon_, 313.

[1832.—"Several trays of ripe fruits of the season, viz., kurbootahs
(SHADOCK), kabooza (melons)...."—_Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali, Observations_, i.
365.]

1878.—"... the splendid SHADDOCK that, weary of ripening, lays itself
upon the ground and swells at ease...."—_In My Indian Garden_, 50.

[1898.—

"He has stripped my rails of the SHADDOCK frails and the green unripened
pine."
_R. Kipling, Barrack Room Ballads_, p. 130.]

SHADE (TABLE-SHADE, WALL-SHADE), s. A glass guard to protect a candle or simple oil-lamp from the wind. The oldest form, in use at the beginning of the last century, was a tall glass cylinder which stood on the table, the candlestick and candle being placed bodily within in. In later days the universal form has been that of an inverted dome fitting into the candlestick, which has an annular socket to receive it. The _wall-shade_ is a bracket attached to the wall, bearing a candle or cocoa-nut oil lamp, protected by such a shade. In the wine-drinking days of the earlier part of last century it was sometimes the subject of a challenge, or forfeit, for a man to empty a wall-shade filled with claret. The second quotation below gives a notable description of a captain's outfit when taking the field in the 18th century.

1780.—"Borrowed last Month by a Person or Persons unknown, out of a
private Gentleman's House near the Esplanade, a very elegant Pair of
Candle SHADES. Whoever will return the same will receive a reward of 40
_Sicca Rupees_.—N.B. The Shades have private marks."—_Hicky's Bengal
Gazette_, April 8.

1789.—"His tent is furnished with a good large bed, mattress, pillow,
&c., a few camp-stools or chairs, a folding table, a pair of SHADES for
his candles, six or seven trunks with table equipage, his stock of linen
(at least 24 shirts); some dozens of wine, brandy, and gin; tea, sugar,
and biscuit; and a hamper of live poultry and his milch-goat."—_Munro's
Narrative_, 186.

1817.—"I am now finishing this letter by candle-light, with the help of a
handkerchief tied over the SHADE."—_T. Munro_, in _Life_, i. 511.

[1838.—"We brought carpets, and chandeliers, and WALL SHADES (the great
staple commodity of Indian furniture), from Calcutta...."—_Miss Eden, Up
the Country_, 2nd ed. i. 182.]

SHAGREEN, s. This English word,—French _chagrin_; Ital. _zigrino_; Mid. High Ger. _Zager_,—comes from the Pers. _saghrī_, Turk. _ṣāghrī_, meaning properly the croupe or quarter of a horse, from which the peculiar granulated leather, also called _sāghrī_ in the East, was originally made. Diez considers the French (and English adopted) _chagrin_ in the sense of vexation to be the same word, as certain hard skins prepared in this way were used as files, and hence the word is used figuratively for gnawing vexation, as (he states) the Ital. _lima_ also is (_Etym. Worterbuch_, ed. 1861, ii. 240). He might have added the figurative origin of _tribulation_. [This view is accepted by the _N.E.D._; but Prof. Skeat (_Concise Dict._) denies its correctness.]

1663.—"... à Alep ... on y travaille aussi bien qu'à Damas le SAGRI, qui
est ce qu'on appelle CHAGRIN en France, mais l'on en fait une bien plus
grande quantité en Perse.... Le SAGRI sa fait de croupe d'âne,"
&c.—_Thevenot, Voyages_, iii. 115-116.

1862.—"SAGHREE, or _Keemookt_, Horse or Ass-Hide."—_Punjab Trade Report_,
App. ccxx.; [For an account of the manufacture of _kimukht_, see _Hoey,
Mon. on Trades and Manufactures of N. India_, 94.]

SHAITAN, Ar. 'The Evil One; Satan.' _Shaitān kā bhāī_, 'Brother of the Arch-Enemy,' was a title given to Sir C. Napier by the Amīrs of Sind and their followers. He was not the first great English soldier to whom this title had been applied in the East. In the romance of _Cœur de Lion_, when Richard entertains a deputation of Saracens by serving at table the head of one of their brethren, we are told:

"Every man sat stylle and pokyd othir;
They saide: 'This is the _Develys brothir_,
That sles our men, and thus hem eetes...."

[c. 1630.—"But a Mountebank or Impostor is nick-named SHITAN-Tabib,
_i.e._ the Devil's Chirurgion."—_Sir T. Herbert_, ed. 1677, p. 304.

1753.—"God preserve me from the SCHEITHAN Alragim."—_Hanway_, iii. 90.]

1863.—"Not many years ago, an eccentric gentleman wrote from Sikkim to
the Secretary of the Asiatic Society in Calcutta, stating that, on the
snows of the mountains there were found certain mysterious footsteps,
_more than 30 or 40 paces asunder_, which the natives alleged to be
SHAITAN'S. The writer at the same time offered, if Government would give
him leave of absence for a certain period, etc., to go and trace the
author of these mysterious vestiges, and thus this strange creature would
be discovered _without any expense to Government_. The notion of catching
SHAITAN _without any expense to Government_ was a sublime piece of
Anglo-Indian tact, but the offer was not accepted."—_Sir H. Yule, Notes
to Friar Jordanus_, 37.

SHALEE, SHALOO, SHELLA, SALLO, &c., s. We have a little doubt as to the identity of all these words; the two latter occur in old works as names of cotton stuffs; the first two (Shakespear and Fallon give _sālū_) are names in familiar use for a soft twilled cotton stuff, of a Turkey-red colour, somewhat resembling what we call, by what we had judged to be a modification of the word, _shaloon_. But we find that Skeat and other authorities ascribe the latter word to a corruption of _Chalons_, which gave its name to certain stuffs, apparently bed-coverlets of some sort. Thus in Chaucer:

"With shetes and with CHALONS faire yspredde."—_The Reve's Tale._

On which Tyrwhitt quotes from the _Monasticon_, "... _aut pannos pictos qui vocantur_ CHALONS _loco lectisternii_." See also in _Liber Albus_:

"La charge de CHALOUNS et draps de Reynes...."—p. 225, also at p. 231.

c. 1343.—"I went then to _Shāliyāt_ (near Calicut—see CHALIA) a very
pretty town, where they make the stuffs (qu. SHĀLĪ?) that bear its
name."—_Ibn Batuta_, iv. 109.

[It is exceedingly difficult to disentangle the meanings and derivations of this series of words. In the first place we have SALOO, Hind. _sālū_, the Turkey-red cloth above described; a word which is derived by Platts from Skt. _śālū_, 'a kind of astringent substance,' and is perhaps the same word as the Tel. _sālū_, 'cloth.' This was originally an Indian fabric, but has now been replaced in the bazars by an English cloth, the art of dyeing which was introduced by French refugees who came over after the Revolution (see 7 ser. _N. & Q._ viii. 485 _seq._). See PIECE-GOODS, SALOOPAUTS.

[c. 1590.—"SÁLU, per piece, 3 R. to 2 M."—_Āīn_, i. 94.

[1610.—"SALLALLO, blue and black."—_Danvers, Letters_, i. 72.

[1672.—"SALLOOS, made at Gulcundah, and brought from thence to Surat, and
go to England."—In _Birdwood, Report on Old Records_, 62.

[1896.—"SALU is another fabric of a red colour prepared by dyeing English
cloth named _mārkīn_ ('American') in the _āl_ dye, and was formerly
extensively used for turbans, curtains, borders of female coats and
female dress."—_Muhammad Hadi, Mon. on Dyes_, 34.

Next we have SHELAH, which may be identical with Hind. _selā_, which Platts connects with Skt. _chela_, _chaila_, 'a piece of cloth,' and defines as "a kind of scarf or mantle (of silk, or lawn, or muslin; usually composed of four breadths depending from the shoulders loosely over the body: it is much worn and given as a present, in the Dakkhan); silk turban." In the Deccan it seems to be worn by men (_Herklots, Qanoon-e-Islam_, Madras reprint, 18). The _Madras Gloss._ gives SHEELAY, Mal. _shīla_, said to be from Skt. _chīra_, 'a strip of cloth,' in the sense of clothes; and SULLAH, Hind. _sela_, 'gauze for turbans.'

[c. 1590.—"SHELAH, from the Dek'han, per piece, ½ to 2 M."—_Āīn_, i. 95.

[1598.—"CHEYLA," in _Linschoten_, i. 91.

[1800.—"SHILLAS, or thin white muslins.... They are very coarse, and are
sometimes striped, and then called _Dupattas_ (see DOOPUTTY)."—_Buchanan,
Mysore_, ii. 240.]