Chapter LXXXIII: Act III: of 1873. Under that system the highest rank of native Judge was (2)

SURA, s. TODDY (q.v.), _i.e._ the fermented sap of several kinds of palm, such as coco, palmyra, and wild-date. It is the Skt. _sura_, 'vinous liquor,' which has passed into most of the vernaculars. In the first quotation we certainly have the word, though combined with other elements of uncertain identity, applied by Cosmas to the milk of the coco-nut, perhaps making some confusion between that and the fermented sap. It will be seen that Linschoten applies _sura_ in the same way. Bluteau, curiously, calls this a _Caffre_ word. It has in fact been introduced from India into Africa by the Portuguese (see _Ann. Marit._ iv. 293).

c. 545.—"The Argell" (_i.e._ _Nargil_, or NARGEELA, or coco-nut) "is at
first full of very sweet water, which the Indians drink, using it instead
of wine. This drink is called _Rhonco_-SURA,[258] and is exceedingly
pleasant."—_Cosmas_, in _Cathay_, &c., clxxvi.

[1554.—"CURA." See under ARRACK.]

1563.—"They grow two qualities of palm-tree, one kind for the fruit, and
the other to give ÇURA."—_Garcia_, f. 67.

1578.—"SURA, which is, as it were, _vino mosto_."—_Acosta_, 100.

1598.—"... in that sort the pot in short space is full of water, which
they call SURA, and is very pleasant to drinke, like sweet whay, and
somewhat better."—_Linschoten_, 101; [Hak. Soc. ii. 48].

1609-10.—"... A goodly country and fertile ... abounding with Date Trees,
whence they draw a liquor, called _Tarree_ (TODDY) or SURE...."—_W.
Finch_, in _Purchas_, i. 436.

1643.—"Là ie fis boire mes mariniers de telle sorte que peu s'en falut
qu'ils ne renuersassent notre almadie ou batteau: Ce breuvage estoit du
SURA, qui est du vin fait de palmes."—_Mocquet, Voyages_, 252.

c. 1650.—"Nor could they drink either Wine, or SURY, or Strong Water, by
reason of the great Imposts which he laid upon them."—_Tavernier_, E.T.
ii. 86; [ed. _Ball_, i. 343].

1653.—"Les Portugais appelent ce _tari_ ou vin des Indes, SOURE ... de
cette liqueur le singe, et la grande chauue-souris ... sont extremement
amateurs, aussi bien que les Indiens Mansulmans (_sic_), Parsis, et
quelque tribus d'Indou...."—_De la Boullaye-le-Gouz_, ed. 1657, 263.

SURAT, n.p. In English use the name of this city is accented _Surátt_; but the name is in native writing and parlance generally _Sŭrăt_. In the _Āīn_, however (see below), it is written _Sūrat_; also in _Ṣādiḳ Isfahānī_ (p. 106). Surat was taken by Akbar in 1573, having till then remained a part of the falling Mahommedan kingdom of Guzerat. An English factory was first established in 1608-9, which was for more than half a century the chief settlement of the English Company in Continental India. The transfer of the Chiefs to Bombay took place in 1687.

We do not know the origin of the name. Various legends on the subject are given in Mr. (now Sir J.) Campbell's _Bombay Gazetteer_ (vol. ii.), but none of them have any probability. The ancient Indian _Saurāshṭra_ was the name of the Peninsula of Guzerat or Kattywar, or at least of the maritime part of it. This latter name and country is represented by the differently spelt and pronounced _Sōrath_ (see SŪRATH). Sir Henry Elliot and his editor have repeatedly stated the opinion that the names are identical. Thus: "The names 'Surat' and 'Sūrath' are identical, both being derived from the Sankrit _Suráshtra_; but as they belong to different places a distinction in spelling has been maintained. 'Surat' is the city; 'Súrath' is a _pránt_ or district of Kattiwar, of which Junágarh is the chief town" (_Elliot_, v. 350; see also 197). Also: "The Sanskrit _Suráshtra_ and _Gurjjara_ survive in the modern names _Surat_ and _Guzerat_, and however the territories embraced by the old terms have varied, it is hard to conceive that Surat was not in Suráshtra nor Guzerat in Gurjjara. All evidence goes to prove that the old and modern names applied to the same places. Thus Ptolemy's _Surastrene_ comprises Surat...." (_Dowson_ (?) _ibid._ i. 359). This last statement seems distinctly erroneous. Surat is in Ptolemy's Λάρικη, not in Συραστρηνή, which represents, like Saurāshtra, the peninsula. It must remain doubtful whether there was any connection between the names, or the resemblance was accidental. It is possible that continental Surat may have originally had some name implying its being the place of passage to _Saurāshtra_ or Sorath.

Surat is not a place of any antiquity. There are some traces of the existence of the name ascribed to the 14th century, in passages of uncertain value in certain native writers. But it only came to notice as a place of any importance about the very end of the 15th century, when a rich Hindu trader, Gopi by name, is stated to have established himself on the spot, and founded the town. The way, however, in which it is spoken of by Barbosa previous to 1516 shows that the rise of its prosperity must have been rapid.

[_Surat_ in English slang is equivalent to the French _Rafiot_, in the sense of 'no great shakes,' an adulterated article of inferior quality (_Barrére_, s.v. _Rafiot_). This perhaps was accounted for by the fact that "until lately the character of Indian cotton in the Liverpool market stood very low, and the name '_Surats_,' the description under which the cotton of this province is still included, was a byword and a general term of contempt" (_Berar Gazetteer_, 226 _seq._).]

1510.—"Don Afonso" (de Noronha, nephew of Alboquerque) "in the storm not
knowing whither they went, entered the Gulf of Cambay, and struck upon a
shoal in front of ÇURRATE. Trying to save themselves by swimming or on
planks many perished, and among them Don Afonso."—_Correa_, ii. 29.

1516.—"Having passed beyond the river of Reynel, on the other side there
is a city which they call ÇURATE, peopled by Moors, and close upon the
river; they deal there in many kinds of wares, and carry on a great
trade; for many ships of Malabar and other parts sail thither, and sell
what they bring, and return loaded with what they choose...."—_Barbosa_,
Lisbon ed. 280.

1525.—"The corjaa (CORGE) of cotton cloths of ÇURYATE, of 14 yards each,
is worth ... 250 _fedeas_."—_Lembrança_, 45.

1528.—"Heytor da Silveira put to sea again, scouring the Gulf, and making
war everywhere with fire and sword, by sea and land; and he made an
onslaught on ÇURRATE and Reynel, great cities on the sea-coast, and
sacked them, and burnt part of them, for all the people fled, they being
traders and without a garrison...."—_Correa_, iii. 277.

1553.—"Thence he proceeded to the bar of the river Tapty, above which
stood two cities the most notable on that gulf. The first they call
SURAT, 3 leagues from the mouth, and the other Reiner, on the opposite
side of the river and half a league from the bank.... The latter was the
most sumptuous in buildings and civilisation, inhabited by warlike
people, all of them Moors inured to maritime war, and it was from this
city that most of the foists and ships of the King of Cambay's fleet were
furnished. SURAT again was inhabited by an unwarlike people whom they
call Banyans, folk given to mechanic crafts, chiefly to the business of
weaving cotton cloths."—_Barros_, IV. iv. 8.

1554.—"So saying they quitted their rowing-benches, got ashore, and
started for SURRAT."—_Sidi 'Ali_, p. 83.

1573.—"Next day the Emperor went to inspect the fortress.... During his
inspection some large mortars and guns attracted his attention. Those
mortars bore the name of Sulaimání, from the name of Sulaimán Sultán of
Turkey. When he made his attempt to conquer the ports of Gujarát, he sent
these ... with a large army by sea. As the Turks ... were obliged to
return, they left these mortars.... The mortars remained upon the
sea-shore, until Khudáwand Khán built the fort of SURAT, when he placed
them in the fort. The one which he left in the country of SÚRATH was
taken to the fort of Junágarh by the ruler of that
country."—_Ṭabaḳāt-i-Akbarī_, in _Elliot_, v. 350.

c. 1590.—"SŪRAT is among famous ports. The river Taptī runs hard by, and
at seven coss distance joins the salt sea. Rānīr on the other side of the
river is now a port dependent on SŪRAT, but was formerly a big city. The
ports of Khandevī and Balsār are also annexed to SŪRAT. Fruit, and
especially the ANANĀS, is abundant.... The sectaries of Zardasht,
emigrant from Fārs, have made their dwelling here; they revere the Zhand
and Pazhand and erect their _dakhmas_ (or places for exposing the
dead).... Through the carelessness of the agents of Government and the
commandants of the troops (_sipah-salārān_, SIPAH SELAR), a considerable
tract of this Sirkār is at present in the hands of the Frank, _e.g._
Daman, Sanjān (ST. JOHN'S), Tārāpūr, Māhim, and Basai (see (1) BASSEIN),
that are both cities and forts."—_Āin_, orig. i. 488; [ed. _Jarrett_, ii.
243].

[1615.—"To the Right Honourable Sir Thomas Roe ... these in
ZURATT."—_Foster, Letters_, iii. 196.]

1638.—"Within a League of the Road we entred into the River upon which
SURAT is seated, and which hath on both sides a very fertile soil, and
many fair gardens, with pleasant Country-houses, which being all white, a
colour which it seems the _Indians_ are much in love with, afford a noble
prospect amidst the greenness whereby they are encompassed. But the
River, which is the _Tapte_ ... is so shallow at the mouth of it, that
Barks of 70 or 80 Tun can hardly come into it."—_Mandelslo_, p. 12.

1690.—"SURATT is reckon'd the most fam'd Emporium of the _Indian_ Empire,
where all Commodities are vendible.... And the River is very commodious
for the Importation of Foreign Goods, which are brought up to the City in
Hoys and Yachts, and Country Boats."—_Ovington_, 218.

1779.—"There is some report that he (Gen. Goddard) is gone to
_Bender_-SOURET ... but the truth of this God knows."—_Seir Mutaq._ iii.
328.

SURATH, more properly SŌRATH, and SŌRETH, n.p. This name is the legitimate modern form and representative of the ancient Indian _Saurāshṭra_ and Greek _Syrastrēnē_, names which applied to what we now call the Kattywar Peninsula, but especially to the fertile plains on the sea-coast. ["Suráshṭra, the land of the Sus, afterwards Sanskritized into Sauráshṭra the Goodly Land, preserves its name in SORATH the southern part of Káthiáváḍa. The name appears as _Suráshṭra_ in the _Mahábhárata_ and Pánini's _Gaṇapátha_, in Rudradáman's (A.D. 150) and Skandagupta's (A.D. 456) Girnár inscriptions, and in several Valabhi copper-plates. Its Prákrit form appears as _Suraṭha_ in the Násik inscription of Gotamiputra (A.D. 150) and in later Prákrit as _Suraṭhṭha_ in the _Tirthakalpa_ of Jinapra-bhásuri of the 13th or 14th century. Its earliest foreign mention is perhaps Strabo's _Saraostus_ and Pliny's _Oratura_" (_Bombay Gazetteer_, i. pt. i. 6)]. The remarkable discovery of one of the great inscriptions of Aśoka (B.C. 250) on a rock at Girnār, near Junāgarh in Saurāshtra, shows that the dominion of that great sovereign, whose capital was at Pataliputra (Παλιμβόθρα) or PATNA, extended to this distant shore. The application of the modern form Sūrath or Sōrath has varied in extent. It is now the name of one of the four _prānts_ or districts into which the peninsula is divided for political purposes, each of these _prānts_ containing a number of small States, and being partly managed, partly controlled by a Political Assistant. Sorath occupies the south-western portion, embracing an area of 5,220 sq. miles.

c. A.D. 80-90.—"Ταύτης τὰ μὲν μεσόγεια τῇ Σκυθίᾳ συνορίζοντα Ἀβιρία
καλεῖται, τὰ δὲ παραθαλάσσια Συραστρήνη."—_Periplus_, § 41.

c. 150.—

"Συραστρηνῆς, * * *
Βαρδάξημα πόλις ...
Συράστρα κώμη ...
Μονόγλωσσον ἐμπόριον...."
_Ptolemy_, VII. i. 2-3.

" "Πάλιν ἡ μὲν παρὰ τὸ λοιπὸν μέρος του Ἰνδοῦ πασα καλεῖται κοινῶς
μὲν ... Ἰνδοσκυθία

* * * * * *

καὶ ἡ περὶ τὸν Κάνθι κόλπον ... Συραστρηνή."—_Ibid._ 55.

c. 545.—"Εἰσὶν οὐν τὰ λαμπρὰ ἐμπόρια τῆς Ἰνδικῆς ταῦτα, Σινδοῦ, Ὀῤῥοθα,
Καλλιάνα, Σιβὼρ, ἡ Μαλὲ, πέντε ἐμπόρια ἔχουσα βάλλοντα τὸ
πέπερι."—_Cosmas_, lib. xi. These names may be interpreted as SIND,
SORATH, CALYAN, CHOUL (?), MALABAR.

c. 640.—"En quittant le royaume de _Fa-la-pi_ (Vallabhi), il fit 500 _li_
à l'ouest, et arriva au royaume de _Sou-la-tch'a_ (SOURÂCHTRA).... Comme
ce royaume se trouve sur le chemin de la mer occidentale, tous les
habitans profitent des avantages qu'offre la mer; ils se livrent au
négoce, et à un commerce d'échange."—_Hiouen-Thsang_, in _Pèl. Bouddh._,
iii. 164-165.

1516.—"Passing this city and following the sea-coast, you come to another
place which has also a good port, and is called ÇURATI MANGALOR,[259] and
here, as at the other, put in many vessels of Malabar for horses, grain,
cloths, and cottons, and for vegetables and other goods prized in India,
and they bring hither coco-nuts, Jagara (JAGGERY), which is sugar that
they make drink of, emery, wax, cardamoms, and every other kind of spice,
a trade in which great gain is made in a short time."—_Barbosa_, in
_Ramusio_, i. f. 296.

1573.—See quotation of this date under preceding article, in which both
the names SURAT and SŪRATH, occur.

1584.—"After his second defeat Muzaffar Gujarátí retreated by way of
Champánír, Bírpúr, and Jhaláwar, to the country of SÚRATH, and rested at
the town of Gondal, 12 _kos_ from the fort of Junágarh.... He gave a lac
of _Mahmúdís_ and a jewelled dagger to Amín Khán Ghorí, ruler of SÚRATH,
and so won his support."—_Ṭabaḳāt-i-Akbarí_, in _Elliot_, v. 437-438.

c. 1590.—"Sircar _Surat_ (SŪRATH) was formerly an independent territory;
the chief was of the Ghelolo tribe, and commanded 50,000 cavalry, and
100,000 infantry. Its length from the port of Ghogeh (GOGO) to the port
of Aramroy (_Arāmrāī_) measures 125 _cose_; and the breadth from Sindehar
(_Sirdhār_), to the port of DIU, is a distance of 72 _cose_."—_Ayeen_, by
_Gladwin_, ii. 73; [ed. _Jarrett_, ii. 243].

1616.—"7 SORET, the chief city, is called _Janagar_; it is but a little
Province, yet very rich; it lyes upon Guzarat; it hath the Ocean to the
South."—_Terry_, ed. 1665, p. 354.

SURKUNDA, s. Hind. _sarkanḍā_, [Skt. _śara_, 'reed-grass,' _kāṇḍa_, 'joint, section']. The name of a very tall reed-grass, _Saccharum Sara_, Roxb., perhaps also applied to _Saccharum procerum_, Roxb. These grasses are often tall enough in the riverine plains of Eastern Bengal greatly to overtop a tall man standing in a howda on the back of a tall elephant. It is from the upper part of the flower-bearing stalk of _surkunda_ that SIRKY (q.v.) is derived. A most intelligent visitor to India was led into a curious mistake about the name of this grass by some official, who ought to have known better. We quote the passage. ——'s story about the main branch of a river channel probably rests on no better foundation.

1875.—"As I drove yesterday with ——, I asked him if he knew the
scientific name of the tall grass which I heard called tiger-grass at
Ahmedabad, and which is very abundant here (about Lahore). I think it is
a _saccharum_, but am not quite sure. 'No,' he said, 'but the people in
the neighbourhood call it SIKUNDER'S GRASS, as they still call the main
branch of a river 'Sikander's channel.' Strange, is it not?—how that
great individuality looms through history."—_Grant Duff, Notes of an
Indian Journey_, 105.

SURPOOSE, s. Pers. _sar-posh_, 'head-cover,' [which again becomes corrupted into our _Tarboosh_ (_tarbūsh_), and '_Tarbrush_' of the wandering Briton]. A cover, as of a basin, dish, hooka-bowl, &c.

1829.—"Tugging away at your hookah, find no smoke; a thief having
purloined your silver CHELAM (see CHILLUM) and SURPOOSE."—_Mem. of John
Shipp_, ii. 159.

SURRAPURDA, s. Pers. _sarā-parda_. A canvas screen surrounding royal tents or the like (see CANAUT).

1404.—"And round this pavilion stood an enclosure, as it were, of a town
or castle made of silk of many colours, inlaid in many ways, with
battlements at the top, and with cords to strain it outside and inside,
and with poles inside to hold it up.... And there was a gateway of great
height forming an arch, with doors within and without made in the same
fashion as the wall ... and above the gateway a square tower with
battlements: however fine the said wall was with its many devices and
artifices, the said gateway, arch and tower, was of much more exquisite
work still. And this enclosure they call ZALAPARDA."—_Clavijo_, s. cxvi.

c. 1590.—"The SARÁPARDAH was made in former times of coarse canvass, but
his Majesty has now caused it to be made of carpeting, and thereby
improved its appearance and usefulness."—_Āīn_, i. 54.

[1839.—"The camp contained numerous enclosures of SERRAPURDAHS or canvass
skreens...."—_Elphinstone, Caubul_, 2nd ed. i. 101.]

SURRINJAUM, s. Pers. _saranjām_, lit. 'beginning-ending.' Used in India for 'apparatus,' 'goods and chattels,' and the like. But in the Mahratta provinces it has a special application to grants of land, or rather assignments of revenue, for special objects, such as keeping up a contingent of troops for service; to civil officers for the maintenance of their state; or for charitable purposes.

[1823.—"It was by accident I discovered the deed for this tenure (for the
support of troops), which is termed SERINJAM. The Pundit of Dhar shewed
some alarm; at which I smiled, and told him that his master had now the
best tenure in India...."—_Malcolm, Central India_, 2nd ed. i. 103.]

[1877.—"Government ... did not accede to the recommendation of the
political agent immediately to confiscate his SARINGAM, or
territories."—_Mrs. Guthrie_, _My Year in an Indian Fort_, i. 166.]

SURRINJAUMEE, GRAM, s. Hind. _grām-saranjāmī_; Skt. _grāma_, 'a village,' and _saranjām_ (see SURRINJAUM); explained in the quotation.

1767.—"GRAM-SERENJAMMEE, or peons and pykes stationed in every village of
the province to assist the farmers in the collections, and to watch the
villages and the crops on the ground, who are also responsible for all
thefts within the village they belong to ... (Rs.) 1,54,521 :
14."—_Revenue Accounts of Burdwan._ In _Long_, 507.

SURROW, SEROW, &c., s. Hind. _sarāo_. A big, odd, awkward-looking antelope in the Himālaya, 'something in appearance between a jackass and a _Tahir_' (TEHR or Him. wild goat).—_Col. Markham_ in _Jerdon_. It is _Nemorhoedus bubalina_, Jerdon; [_N. bubalinus_, Blanford (_Mammalia_, 513)].

SURWAUN, s. Hind. from Pers. _sārwān_, _sārbān_, from _sār_ in the sense of camel, a camel-man.

[1828.—"... camels roaring and blubbering, and resisting every effort,
soothing or forcible, of their SERWANS to induce them to embark."—_Mundy,
Pen and Pencil Sketches_, ed. 1858, p. 185.]

1844.—"... armed SURWANS, or camel-drivers."—_G. O._ of _Sir C. Napier_,
93.

SUTLEDGE, n.p. The most easterly of the Five Rivers of the Punjab, the great tributaries of the Indus. Hind. _Satlaj_, with certain variations in spelling and pronunciation. It is in Skt. _Satadru_, 'flowing in a hundred channels,' _Sutudru_, _Sutudri_, _Sitadru_, &c., and is the Σαράδρος, Ζαράδρος, or Σαδάδρης of Ptolemy, the Sydrus (or _Hesudrus_) of Pliny (vi. 21).

c. 1020.—"The Sultán ... crossed in safety the Síhún (Indus), Jelam,
Chandráha, Ubrá (Ráví), Bah (Bíyáh), and SATALDUR...."—_Al-'Utbí_, in
_Elliot_, ii. 41.

c. 1030.—"They all combine with the SATLADER below Múltán, at a place
called Panjnad, or 'the junction of the five rivers.'"—_Al-Birūnī_, in
_Elliot_, i. 48. The same writer says: "(The name) should be written
SHATALUDR. It is the name of a province in Hind. But I have ascertained
from well-informed people that it should be _Sataludr_, not _Shataldudr_"
(_sic_).—_Ibid._ p. 52.

c. 1310.—"After crossing the Panjáb, or five rivers, namely, Sind, Jelam,
the river of Loháwar, SATLÚT, and Bíyah...."—_Wassāf_, in _Elliot_, iii.
36.

c. 1380.—"The Sultán (Fíroz Sháh) ... conducted two streams into the city
from two rivers, one from the river Jumna, the other from the
SUTLEJ."—_Táríkh-i-Fíroz-Sháhí_, in _Elliot_, iii. 300.

c. 1450.—"In the year 756 H. (1355 A.D.) the Sultán proceeded to
Díbálpúr, and conducted a stream from the river SATLADAR, for a distance
of 40 _kos_ as far as Jhajar."—_Táríkh-i-Mubárak Sháhí_, in _Elliot_, iv.
8.

c. 1582.—"Letters came from Lahore with the intelligence that Ibrahím
Husain Mirzá had crossed the SATLADA, and was marching upon
Dipálpúr."—_Ṭabaḳāt-i-Akbarí_, in _Elliot_, v. 358.

c. 1590.—"_Sūbah Dihlī._ In the 3rd climate. The length (of this Sūbah)
from Palwal to Lodhīāna, which is on the bank of the river SATLAJ, is 165
_Kuroh_."—_Āīn_, orig. i. 513; [ed. _Jarrett_, ii. 278].

1793.—"Near Moultan they unite again, and bear the name of SETLEGE, until
both the substance and name are lost in the Indus."—_Rennell, Memoir_,
102.

In the following passage the great French geographer has missed the Sutlej:

1753.—"Les cartes qui ont précédé celles que j'ai composées de l'Arie, ou
de l'Inde ... ne marquoient aucune rivière entre l'Hyphasis, ou Hypasis,
dernier des fleuves qui se rendent dans l'Indus, et le Gemné, qui est le
_Jomanes_ de l'Antiquité.... Mais la marche de Timur a indiqué dans cette
intervalle deux rivières, celle de _Kehker_ et celle de _Panipat_. Dans
un ancien itineraire de l'Inde, que Pline nous a conservé, on trouve
entre l'_Hyphasis_ et le _Jomanes_ une rivière sous le nom d'HESIDRUS à
égale distance d'Hyphasis et de Jomanes, et qu'on a tout lieu de prendre
pour _Kehker_."—_D'Anville_, p. 47.

SUTTEE, s. The rite of widow-burning; _i.e._ the burning of the living widow along with the corpse of her husband, as practised by people of certain castes among the Hindus, and eminently by the Rājpūts.

The word is properly Skt. _satī_, 'a good woman,' 'a true wife,' and thence specially applied, in modern vernaculars of Sanskrit parentage, to the wife who was considered to accomplish the supreme act of fidelity by sacrificing herself on the funeral pile of her husband. The application of this substantive to the suicidal act, instead of the person, is European. The proper Skt. term for the act is _saha-gamana_, or 'keeping company,' [_saha-maraṇa_, 'dying together'].[260] A very long series of quotations in illustration of the practice, from classical times downwards, might be given. We shall present a selection.

We should remark that the word (_satī_ or _suttee_) does not occur, so far as we know, in any European work older than the 17th century. And then it only occurs in a disguised form (see quotation from P. Della Valle). The term _masti_ which he uses is probably _mahā-satī_, which occurs in Skt. Dictionaries ('a wife of great virtue'). Della Valle is usually eminent in the correctness of his transcriptions of Oriental words. This conjecture of the interpretation of _masti_ is confirmed, and the traveller himself justified, by an entry in Mr. Whitworth's Dictionary of a word _Masti-kalla_ used in Canara for a monument commemorating a _sati_. _Kalla_ is stone and _masti_ = _mahā-satī_. We have not found the term exactly in any European document older than Sir C. Malet's letter of 1787, and Sir W. Jones's of the same year (see below).

_Suttee_ is a Brahmanical rite, and there is a Sanskrit ritual in existence (see _Classified Index to the Tanjore MSS._, p. 135_a_). It was introduced into Southern India with the Brahman civilisation, and was prevalent there chiefly in the Brahmanical Kingdom of Vijayanagar, and among the Mahrattas. In Malabar, the most primitive part of S. India, the rite is forbidden (_Anāchāranirṇaya_, v. 26). The cases mentioned by Teixeira below, and in the _Lettres Édifiantes_, occurred at Tanjore and Madura. A (Mahratta) Brahman at Tanjore told one of the present writers that he had to perform commemorative funeral rites for his grandfather and grandmother on the same day, and this indicated that his grandmother had been a _satī_.

The practice has prevailed in various regions besides India. Thus it seems to have been an early custom among the heathen Russians, or at least among nations on the Volga called Russians by Maṣ'ūdī and Ibn Fozlān. Herodotus (Bk. v. ch. 5) describes it among certain tribes of Thracians. It was in vogue in Tonga and the Fiji Islands. It has prevailed in the island of Bali within our own time, though there accompanying Hindu rites, and perhaps of Hindu origin,—certainly modified by Hindu influence. A full account of Suttee as practised in those Malay Islands will be found in Zollinger's account of the Religion of Sassak in _J. Ind. Arch._ ii. 166; also see Friedrich's _Bali_ as in note preceding. [A large number of references to _Suttee_ are collected in Frazer, _Pausanias_, iii. 198 _seqq._]

In Diodorus we have a long account of the rivalry as to which of the two wives of Kēteus, a leader of the Indian contingent in the army of Eumenes, should perform SUTTEE. One is rejected as with child. The history of the other terminates thus:

B.C. 317.—"Finally, having taken leave of those of the household, she was
set upon the pyre by her own brother, and was regarded with wonder by the
crowd that had run together to the spectacle, and heroically ended her
life; the whole force with their arms thrice marching round the pyre
before it was kindled. But she, laying herself beside her husband, and
even at the violence of the flame giving utterance to no unbecoming cry,
stirred pity indeed in others of the spectators, and in some excess of
eulogy; not but what there were some of the Greeks present who reprobated
such rites as barbarous and cruel...."—_Diod. Sic. Biblioth._ xix. 33-34.

c. B.C. 30.—

"Felix Eois lex funeris una maritis
Quos Aurora suis rubra colorat equis;
Namque ubi mortifero jacta est fax ultima lecto
Uxorum fusis stat pia turba comis;
Et certamen habet leti, quae viva sequatur
Conjugium; pudor est non licuisse mori.
Ardent victrices; et flammae pectora praebent,
Imponuntque suis ora perusta viris."
_Propertius_,[261] Lib. iii. xiii. 15-22.

c. B.C. 20.—"He (Aristobulus) says that he had heard from some persons of
wives burning themselves voluntarily with their deceased husbands, and
that those women who refused to submit to this custom were
disgraced."—_Strabo_, xv. 62 (E.T. by _Hamilton and Falconer_, iii. 112).

A.D. c. 390.—"Indi, ut omnes fere barbari uxores plurimas habent. Apud
eos lex est, ut uxor carissima cum defuncto marito cremetur. Hae igitur
contendunt inter se de amore viri, et ambitio summa certantium est, ac
testimonium castitatis, dignam morte decerni. Itaque victrix in habitu
ornatuque pristino juxta cadaver accubat, amplexans illud et deosculans
et suppositos ignes prudentiae laude contemnens."—_St. Jerome, Advers.
Jovinianum_, in ed. _Vallars_, ii. 311.

c. 851.—"All the Indians burn their dead. Serendib is the furthest out of
the islands dependent upon India. Sometimes when they burn the body of a
King, his wives cast themselves on the pile, and burn with him; but it is
at their choice to abstain."—_Reinaud, Relation_, &c. i. 50.

c. 1200.—"Hearing the Raja was dead, the Parmâri became a SATÍ:—dying she
said—The son of the Jadavanî will rule the country, may my blessing be on
him!"—_Chand Bardai_, in _Ind. Ant._ i. 227. We cannot be sure that
_satí_ is in the original, as this is a _condensed_ version by Mr.
Beames.

1298.—"Many of the women also, when their husbands die and are placed on
the pile to be burnt, do burn themselves along with the bodies."—_Marco
Polo_, Bk. iii. ch. 17.

c. 1322.—"The idolaters of this realm have one detestable custom (that I
must mention). For when any man dies they burn him; and if he leave a
wife they burn her alive with him, saying that she ought to go and keep
her husband company in the other world. But if the woman have sons by her
husband she may abide with them, an she will."—_Odoric_, in _Cathay_,
&c., i. 79.

" Also in Zampa or CHAMPA: "When a married man dies in this country
his body is burned, and his living wife along with it. For they say that
she should go to keep company with her husband in the other world
also."—_Ibid._ 97.

c. 1328.—"In this India, on the death of a noble, or of any people of
substance, their bodies are burned; and eke their wives follow them alive
to the fire, and for the sake of worldly glory, and for the love of their
husbands, and for eternal life, burn along with them, with as much joy as
if they were going to be wedded. And those who do this have the higher
repute for virtue and perfection among the rest."—_Fr. Jordanus_, 20.

c. 1343.—"The burning of the wife after the death of her husband is an
act among the Indians recommended, but not obligatory. If a widow burns
herself, the members of the family get the glory thereof, and the fame of
fidelity in fulfilling their duties. She who does not give herself up to
the flames puts on coarse raiment and abides with her kindred, wretched
and despised for having failed in duty. But she is not compelled to burn
herself." (There follows an interesting account of instances witnessed by
the traveller.)—_Ibn Batuta_, ii. 138.

c. 1430.—"In Mediâ vero Indiâ, mortui comburuntur, cumque his, ut
plurimum vivae uxores ... una pluresve, prout fuit matrimonii conventio.
Prior ex lege uritur, etiam quae unica est. Sumuntur autem et aliae
uxores quaedam eo pacto, ut morte funus suâ exornent, isque haud parvus
apud eos honos ducitur ... submisso igne uxor ornatiori cultu inter tubas
tibicinasque et cantus, et ipsa psallentis more alacris rogum magno
comitatu circuit. Adstat interea et sacerdos ... hortando suadens. Cum
circumierit illa saepius ignem prope suggestum consistit, vestesque
exuens, loto de more prius corpore, tum sindonem albam induta, ad
exhortationem dicentis in ignem prosilit."—_N. Conti_, in _Poggius de
Var. Fort._ iv.

c. 1520.—"There are in this Kingdom (the Deccan) many heathen, natives of
the country, whose custom it is that when they die they are burnt, and
their wives along with them; and if these will not do it they remain in
disgrace with all their kindred. And as it happens oft times that they
are unwilling to do it, their Bramin kinsfolk persuade them thereto, and
this in order that such a fine custom should not be broken and fall into
oblivion."—_Sommario de' Genti_, in _Ramusio_, i. f. 329.

" "In this country of CAMBOJA ... when the King dies, the lords
voluntarily burn themselves, and so do the King's wives at the same time,
and so also do other women on the death of their husbands."—_Ibid._ f.
336.

1522.—"They told us that in Java Major it was the custom, when one of the
chief men died, to burn his body; and then his principal wife, adorned
with garlands of flowers, has herself carried in a chair by four men ...
comforting her relations, who are afflicted because she is going to burn
herself with the corpse of her husband ... saying to them, 'I am going
this evening to sup with my dear husband and to sleep with him this
night.'... After again consoling them (she) casts herself into the fire
and is burned. If she did not do this she would not be looked upon as an
honourable woman, nor as a faithful wife."—_Pigafetta_, E.T. by _Lord
Stanley of A._, 154.

c. 1566.—Cesare Federici notices the rite as peculiar to the Kingdom of
"_Bezeneger_" (see BISNAGAR): "vidi cose stranie e bestiali di quella
gentilitâ; vsano primamente abbrusciare i corpi morti cosi d'huomini come
di donne nobili; e si l'huomo è maritato, la moglie è obligata ad
abbrusciarsi viva col corpo del marito."—_Orig._ ed. p. 36. This
traveller gives a good account of a Suttee.

1583.—"In the interior of Hindústán it is the custom when a husband dies,
for his widow willingly and cheerfully to cast herself into the flames
(of the funeral pile), although she may not have lived happily with him.
Occasionally love of life holds her back, and then her husband's
relations assemble, light the pile, and place her upon it, thinking that
they thereby preserve the honour and character of the family. But since
the country had come under the rule of his gracious Majesty [Akbar],
inspectors had been appointed in every city and district, who were to
watch carefully over these two cases, to discriminate between them, and
to prevent any woman being forcibly burnt."—_Abu'l Faẓl, Akbar Námah_, in
_Elliot_, vi. 69.

1583.—"Among other sights I saw one I may note as wonderful. When I
landed (at Negapatam) from the vessel, I saw a pit full of kindled
charcoal; and at that moment a young and beautiful woman was brought by
her people on a litter, with a great company of other women, friends of
hers, with great festivity, she holding a mirror in her left hand, and a
lemon in her right hand...."—and so forth.—_G. Balbi_, f. 82v. 83.

1586.—"The custom of the countrey (Java) is, that whensoever the King
doeth die, they take the body so dead and burne it, and preserve the
ashes of him, and within five dayes next after, the wiues of the said
King so dead, according to the custome and vse of their countrey, every
one of them goe together to a place appointed, and the chiefe of the
women which was nearest to him in accompt, hath a ball in her hand, and
throweth it from her, and the place where the ball resteth, thither they
goe all, and turne their faces to the Eastward, and every one with a
dagger in their hand (which dagger they call a crise (see CREASE), and is
as sharpe as a rasor), stab themselues in their owne blood, and fall
a-groueling on their faces, and so ende their dayes."—_T. Candish_, in
_Hakl._ iv. 338. This passage refers to Blambangan at the east end of
Java, which till a late date was subject to Bali, in which such practices
have continued to our day. It seems probable that the Hindu rite here
came in contact with the old Polynesian practices of a like kind, which
prevailed _e.g._ in Fiji, quite recently. The narrative referred to below
under 1633, where the victims were the slaves of a deceased queen, points
to the latter origin. W. Humboldt thus alludes to similar passages in old
Javanese literature: "Thus we may reckon as one of the finest episodes in
the _Brata Yuda_, the story how SATYA WATI, when she had sought out her
slain husband among the wide-spread heap of corpses on the battlefield,
stabs herself by his side with a dagger."—_Kawi-Sprache_, i. 89 (and see
the whole section, pp. 87-95).

[c. 1590.—"When he (the Rajah of Asham) dies, his principal attendants of
both sexes voluntarily bury themselves alive in his grave."—_Āīn_, ed.
_Jarrett_, ii. 118.]

1598.—The usual account is given by _Linschoten_, ch. xxxvi., with a
plate; [Hak. Soc. i. 249].

[c. 1610.—See an account in _Pyrard de Laval_, Hak. Soc. i. 394.]

1611.—"When I was in India, on the death of the Naique (see NAIK) of
Maduré, a country situated between that of Malauar and that of
Choromandel, 400 wives of his burned themselves along with
him."—_Teixeira_, i. 9.

c. 1620.—"The author ... when in the territory of the Karnátik ...
arrived in company with his father at the city of Southern Mathura
(Madura), where, after a few days, the ruler died and went to hell. The
chief had 700 wives, and they all threw themselves at the same time into
the fire."—_Muhammad Sharíf Hanafí_, in _Elliot_, vii. 139.

1623.—"When I asked further if force was ever used in these cases, they
told me that usually it was not so, but only at times among persons of
quality, when some one had left a young and handsome widow, and there was
a risk either of her desiring to marry again (which they consider a great
scandal) or of a worse mishap,—in such a case the relations of her
husband, if they were very strict, would compel her, even against her
will, to burn ... a barbarous and cruel law indeed! But in short, as
regarded Giaccamà, no one exercised either compulsion or persuasion; and
she did the thing of her own free choice; both her kindred and herself
exulting in it, as in an act magnanimous (which in sooth it was) and held
in high honour among them. And when I asked about the ornaments and
flowers that she wore, they told me this was customary as a sign of the
joyousness of the MASTÌ (_Mastì_ is what they call a woman who gives
herself up to be burnt upon the death of her husband)."—_P. della Valle_,
ii. 671; [Hak. Soc. ii. 275, and see ii. 266 _seq._]

1633.—"The same day, about noon, the queen's body was burnt without the
city, with two and twenty of her female slaves; and we consider ourselves
bound to render an exact account of the barbarous ceremonies practised in
this place on such occasions as we were witness to...."—_Narrative of a
Dutch Mission to Bali_, quoted by _Crawfurd, H. of Ind. Arch._, ii.
244-253, from _Prevost_. It is very interesting, but too long for
extract.

c. 1650.—"They say that when a woman becomes a SATTEE, that is burns
herself with the deceased, the Almighty pardons all the sins committed by
the wife and husband and that they remain a long time in paradise; nay if
the husband were in the infernal regions, the wife by this means draws
him from thence and takes him to paradise.... Moreover the SATTEE, in a
future birth, returns not to the female sex ... but she who becomes not a
SATTEE, and passes her life in widowhood, is never emancipated from the
female state.... It is however criminal to force a woman into the fire,
and equally to prevent her who voluntarily devotes herself."—_Dabistān_,
ii. 75-76.

c. 1650-60.—Tavernier gives a full account of the different manners of
_Suttee_, which he had witnessed often, and in various parts of India,
but does not use the word. We extract the following:

c. 1648.—"... there fell of a sudden so violent a Shower, that the
Priests, willing to get out of the Rain, thrust the Woman all along into
the Fire. But the Shower was so vehement, and endured so long, that the
Fire was quench'd, and the Woman was not burn'd. About midnight she
arose, and went and knock'd at one of her Kinsmen's Houses, where Father
_Zenon_ and many _Hollanders_ saw her, looking so gastly and grimly, that
it was enough to have scar'd them; however the pain she endur'd did not
so far terrifie her, but that three days after, accompany'd by her
Kindred, she went and was burn'd according to her first
intention."—_Tavernier_, E.T. ii. 84; [ed. _Ball_, i. 219].

Again:

"In most places upon the Coast of Coromandel, the Women are not burnt
with their deceas'd Husbands, but they are buried alive with them in
holes, which the Bramins make a foot deeper than the tallness of the man
and woman. Usually they chuse a Sandy place; so that when the man and
woman are both let down together, all the Company with Baskets of Sand
fill up the hole above half a foot higher than the surface of the ground,
after which they jump and dance upon it, till they believe the woman to
be stifl'd."—_Ibid._ 171; [ed. _Ball_, ii. 216].

c. 1667.—Bernier also has several highly interesting pages on this
subject, in his "Letter written to M. Chapelan, sent from Chiras in
Persia." We extract a few sentences: "Concerning the Women that have
actually burn'd themselves, I have so often been present at such dreadful
spectacles, that at length I could endure no more to see it, and I retain
still some horrour when I think on't.... The Pile of Wood was presently
all on fire, because store of Oyl and Butter had been thrown upon it, and
I saw at the time through the Flames that the Fire took hold of the
Cloaths of the Woman.... All this I saw, but observ'd not that the Woman
was at all disturb'd; yea it was said, that she had been heard to
pronounce with great force these two words, _Five_, _Two_, to signifie,
according to the Opinion of those who hold the Souls Transmigration, that
this was the 5th time she had burnt herself with the same Husband, and
that there remain'd but _two_ times for perfection; as if she had at that
time this Remembrance, or some Prophetical Spirit."—E.T. p. 99; [ed.
_Constable_, 306 _seqq._].

1677.—Suttee, described by A. Bassing, in _Valentijn_ v. (_Ceylon_) 300.

1713.—"Ce fut cette année de 1710, que mourut le Prince de Marava, âgé de
plus de quatre-vingt-ans; ses femmes, en nombre de quarante sept, se
brûlèrent avec le corps du Prince...." (details follow).—_Père Martin_
(of the Madura Mission), in _Lett. Edif._ ed. 1781, tom. xii., pp. 123
_seqq._

1727.—"I have seen several burned several Ways.... I heard a Story of a
Lady that had received Addresses from a Gentleman who afterwards deserted
her, and her Relations died shortly after the Marriage ... and as the
Fire was well kindled ... she espied her former Admirer, and beckned him
to come to her. When he came she took him in her Arms, as if she had a
Mind to embrace him; but being stronger than he, she carried him into the
Flames in her Arms, where they were both consumed, with the Corpse of her
Husband."—_A. Hamilton_, i. 278; [ed. 1744, i. 280].

" "The Country about (Calcutta) being overspread with _Paganisms_,
the Custom of Wives burning themselves with their deceased Husbands, is
also practised here. Before the _Mogul's_ War, Mr. _Channock_ went one
time with his Ordinary Guard of Soldiers, to see a young Widow act that
tragical Catastrophe, but he was so smitten with the Widow's Beauty, that
he sent his Guards to take her by Force from her Executioners, and
conducted her to his own Lodgings. They lived lovingly many Years, and
had several Children; at length she died, after he had settled in
_Calcutta_, but instead of converting her to _Christianity_, she made him
a Proselyte to _Paganism_, and the only part of _Christianity_ that was
remarkable in him, was burying her decently, and he built a Tomb over
her, where all his Life after her Death, he kept the anniversary Day of
her Death by sacrificing a Cock on her Tomb, after the _Pagan_
Manner."—_Ibid._ [ed. 1744], ii. 6-7. [With this compare the curious
lines described as an Epitaph on "Joseph Townsend, Pilot of the Ganges"
(5 ser. _Notes & Queries_, i. 466 _seq._).]

1774.—"Here (in Bali) not only women often kill themselves, or burn with
their deceased husbands, but men also burn in honour of their deceased
masters."—_Forrest, V. to N. Guinea_, 170.

1787.—"Soon after I and my conductor had quitted the house, we were
informed the SUTTEE (for that is the name given to the person who so
devotes herself) had passed...."—_Sir C. Malet_, in _Parly. Papers of
1821_, p. 1 ("Hindoo Widows").

" "My Father, said he (Pundit Rhadacaunt), died at the age of one
hundred years, and my mother, who was eighty years old, became a SATI,
and burned herself to expiate sins."—Letter of _Sir W. Jones_, in _Life_,
ii. 120.

1792.—"In the course of my endeavours I found the poor SUTTEE had no
relations at Poonah."—Letter from _Sir C. Malet_, in _Forbes, Or. Mem._
ii. 394; [2nd ed. ii. 28, and see i. 178, in which the previous passage
is quoted].

1808.—"These proceedings (Hindu marriage ceremonies in Guzerat) take
place in the presence of a Brahmin.... And farther, now the young woman
vows that her affections shall be fixed upon her Lord alone, not only in
all this life, but will follow in death, or to the next, that she will
die, that she may burn with him, through as many transmigrations as shall
secure their joint immortal bliss. Seven successions of SUTTEES (a woman
seven times born and burning, thus, as often) secure to the loving couple
a seat among the gods."—_R. Drummond._

1809.—

"O sight of misery!
You cannot hear her cries ... their sound
In that wild dissonance is drowned; ...
But in her face you see
The supplication and the agony ...
See in her swelling throat the desperate strength
That with vain effort struggles yet for life;
Her arms contracted now in fruitless strife,
Now wildly at full length,
Towards the crowd in vain for pity spread, ...
They force her on, they bind her to the dead."
_Kehama_, i. 12.

In all the poem and its copious notes, the word SUTTEE does not occur.

[1815.—"In reference to this mark of strong attachment (of Sati for
Siva), a Hindoo widow burning with her husband on the funeral pile is
called SUTEE."—_Ward, Hindoos_, 2nd ed. ii. 25.]

1828.—"After having bathed in the river, the widow lighted a brand,
walked round the pile, set it on fire, and then mounted cheerfully: the
flame caught and blazed up instantly; she sat down, placing the head of
the corpse on her lap, and repeated several times the usual form, 'Ram,
Ram, SUTTEE; Ram, Ram, SUTTEE.'"—_Wanderings of a Pilgrim_, i. 91-92.

1829.—"_Regulation XVII._

"A REGULATION for declaring the practice of SUTTEE, or of burning or
burying alive the widows of Hindoos, illegal, and punishable by the
Criminal Courts."—Passed by the _G.-G. in C._, Dec. 4.

1839.—"Have you yet heard in England of the horrors that took place at
the funeral of that wretched old Runjeet Singh? _Four_ wives, and _seven_
slave-girls were burnt with him; not a word of remonstrance from the
British Government."—_Letters from Madras_, 278.

1843.—"It is lamentable to think how long after our power was firmly
established in Bengal, we, grossly neglecting the first and plainest duty
of the civil magistrate, suffered the practices of infanticide and SUTTEE
to continue unchecked."—_Macaulay's Speech on Gates of Somnauth._

1856.—"The pile of the SUTEE is unusually large; heavy cart-wheels are
placed upon it, to which her limbs are bound, or sometimes a canopy of
massive logs is raised above it, to crush her by its fall.... It is a
fatal omen to hear the SUTEE'S groan; therefore as the fire springs up
from the pile, there rises simultaneously with it a deafening shout of
'Victory to Umbâ! Victory to Ranchor!' and the horn and the hard rattling
drum sound their loudest, until the sacrifice is consumed."—_Râs Mâlâ_,
ii. 435; [ed. 1878, p. 691].

[1870.—A case in this year is recorded by Chevers, _Ind. Med. Jurispr._
665.]

1871.—"Our bridal finery of dress and feast too often proves to be no
better than the Hindu woman's 'bravery,' when she comes to perform
SUTTEE."—_Cornhill Mag._ vol. xxiv. 675.

1872.—"La coutume du suicide de la SATÎ n'en est pas moins fort ancienne,
puisque déjà les Grecs d'Alexandre la trouvèrent en usage chez un peuple
au moins du Penjâb. Le premier témoignage brahmanique qu'on en trouve est
celui de la _Brihaddevatâ_ qui, peut-être, remonte tout aussi haut. A
l'origine elle parait avoir été propre à l'aristocratie
militaire."—_Barth, Les Religions de l'Inde_, 39.

SWALLOW, SWALLOE, s. The old trade-name of the sea-slug, or TRIPANG (q.v.). It is a corruption of the Bugi (Makassar) name of the creature, _suwālā_ (see _Crawfurd's Malay Dict._; [Scott, _Malayan Words_, 107]).

1783.—"I have been told by several Buggesses that they sail in their
Paduakans to the northern parts of New Holland ... to gather SWALLOW
(Biche de Mer), which they sell to the annual China junk at
Macassar."—_Forrest, V. to Mergui_, 83.

SWALLY, SWALLY ROADS, SWALLY MARINE, SWALLY HOLE, n.p. _Suwālī_, the once familiar name of the roadstead north of the mouth of the Tapti, where ships for Surat usually anchored, and discharged or took in cargo. It was perhaps Ar. _sawāḥil_, 'the shores' (?). [Others suggest Skt. _Śivālaya_, 'abode of Siva.']

[1615.—"The Osiander proving so leaky through the worm through the
foulness of the sea-water at SUALLY."—_Foster, Letters_, iv. 22. Also see
_Birdwood, Report on Old Recs._ 209.]

1623.—"At the beach there was no kind of vehicle to be found; so the
Captain went on foot to a town about a mile distant called SOHALI.... The
Franks have houses there for the goods which they continually despatch
for embarkation."—_P. della Valle_, ii. 503.

1675.—"As also passing by ... eight ships riding at _Surat_ River's
Mouth, we then came to SWALLY MARINE, where were flying the Colours of
the Three Nations, _English_, _French_, and _Dutch_ ... who here land and
ship off all Goods, without molestation."—_Fryer_, 82.

1677.—"The 22d of February 167-6/7 from SWALLY HOLE the Ship was
despatched alone."—_Ibid._ 217.

1690.—"In a little time we happily arriv'd at SUALYBAR, and the Tide
serving, came to an Anchor very near the _Shoar_."—_Ovington_, 163.

1727.—"One Season the _English_ had eight good large Ships riding at
SWALLY ... the Place where all Goods were unloaded from the Shipping, and
all Goods for Exportation were there shipp'd off."—_A. Hamilton_, i. 166;
[ed. 1744].

1841.—"These are sometimes called the inner and the outer sands of
SWALLOW, and are both dry at low water."—_Horsburgh's India Directory_,
ed. 1841, i. 474.

SWAMY, SAMMY, s. This word is a corruption of Skt. _suāmin_, 'Lord.' It is especially used in S. India, in two senses: (A) a Hindu idol, especially applied to those of Śiva or Subramanyam; especially, as SAMMY, in the dialect of the British soldier. This comes from the usual Tamil pronunciation _sāmi_. (B) The Skt. word is used by Hindus as a term of respectful address, especially to Brahmans.

A.—

1755.—"Towards the upper end there is a dark repository, where they keep
their SWAMME, that is their chief god."—_Ives_, 70.

1794.—"The gold might for us as well have been worshipped in the shape of
a SAWMY at Juggernaut."—_The Indian Observer_, p. 167.

1838.—"The Government lately presented a shawl to a Hindu idol, and the
Government officer ... was ordered to superintend the delivery of it ...
so he went with the shawl in his TONJON, and told the Bramins that they
might come and take it, for that he would not touch it with his fingers
to present it to a _Swamy_."—_Letters from Madras_, 183.

B.—

1516.—"These people are commonly called JOGUES (see JOGEE), and in their
own speech they are called ZOAME, which means Servant of God."—_Barbosa_,
99.

1615.—"Tunc ad suos conversus: Eia Brachmanes, inquit, quid vobis
videtur? Illi mirabundi nihil praeter SUAMI, SUAMI, id est Domine,
Domine, retulerunt."—_Jarric, Thes._, i. 664.

SWAMY-HOUSE, SAMMY-HOUSE, s. An idol-temple, or pagoda. The _Sammy-house_ of the Delhi ridge in 1857 will not soon be forgotten.

1760.—"The French cavalry were advancing before their infantry; and it
was the intention of Colliaud that his own should wait until they came in
a line with the flank-fire of the field-pieces of the
SWAMY-HOUSE."—_Orme_, iii. 443.

1829.—"Here too was a little detached SWAMEE-HOUSE (or chapel) with a
lamp burning before a little idol."—_Mem. of Col. Mountain_, 99.

1857.—"We met Wilby at the advanced post, the 'SAMMY HOUSE,' within 600
yards of the Bastion. It was a curious place for three brothers to meet
in. The view was charming. Delhi is as green as an emerald just now, and
the Jumma Musjid and Palace are beautiful objects, though held by
infidels."—_Letters written during the Siege of Delhi_, by _Hervey
Greathed_, p. 112.

[SWAMY JEWELRY, s. A kind of gold and silver jewelry, made chiefly at Trichinopoly, in European shapes covered with grotesque mythological figures.

[1880.—"In the characteristic SWAMI work of the Madras Presidency the
ornamentation consists of figures of the Puranic gods in high relief,
either beaten out from the surface, or affixed to it, whether by
soldering, or wedging, or screwing them on."—_Birdwood, Industr. Arts_,
152.]

SWAMY-PAGODA, s. A coin formerly current at Madras; probably so called from the figure of an idol on it. Milburn gives 100 _Swamy Pagodas_ = 110 Star Pagodas. A "_three_ SWĀMI pagoda" was a name given to a gold coin bearing on the obverse the effigy of Chenna Keswam SWĀMI (a title of Krishna) and on the reverse Lakshmi and Rukmini (_C.P.B._).

SWATCH, s. This is a marine term which probably has various applications beyond Indian limits. But the only two instances of its application are both Indian, viz. "the SWATCH of No Ground," or elliptically "The SWATCH," marked in all the charts just off the Ganges Delta, and a space bearing the same name, and probably produced by analogous tidal action, off the Indus Delta. [The word is not to be found in Smyth, _Sailor's Wordbook_.]

1726.—In Valentijn's first map of Bengal, though no name is applied there
is a space marked "no ground with 60 raam (fathoms?) of line."

1863.—(Ganges). "There is still one other phenomenon.... This is the
existence of a great depression, or hole, in the middle of the Bay of
Bengal, known in the charts as the 'SWATCH of No Ground.'"—_Fergusson, on
Recent Changes in the Delta of the Ganges, Qy. Jour. Geol. Soc._, Aug.
1863.

1877.—(Indus). "This is the famous SWATCH of no ground where the lead
falls at once into 200 fathoms."—_Burton, Sind Revisited_, 21.

[1878.—"He (Capt. Lloyd, in 1840) describes the remarkable phenomenon at
the head of the Bay of Bengal, similar to that reported by Captain Selby
off the mouths of the Indus, called 'the SWATCH of no ground.' It is a
deep chasm, open to seaward and very steep on the north-west face, with
no soundings at 250 fathoms."—_Markham, Mem. of Indian Surveys_, 27.]

[SWEET APPLE, s. An Anglo-Indian corruption of _sītāphal_, 'the fruit of Sītā,' the Musk Melon, Fr. _Potiron_. _Cucurbita moschata_ (see CUSTARD-APPLE).]

SWEET OLEANDER, s. This is in fact the common oleander, _Nerium odorum_, Ait.

1880.—"Nothing is more charming than, even in the upland valleys of the
Mahratta country, to come out of a wood of all outlandish trees and
flowers suddenly on the dry winter bed of some mountain stream, grown
along the banks, or on the little islets of verdure in mid (shingle)
stream, with clumps of mixed tamarisk and lovely blooming
OLEANDER."—_Birdwood, MS._ 9.