Chapter XCI: Act III: of 1873. Under that system the highest rank of native Judge was (10)

VELLARD, s. This is a word apparently peculiar to the Island of Bombay, used in the sense which the quotation shows. We have failed to get any elucidation of it from local experience; but there can be little doubt that it is a corruption of the Port. _vallado_, 'a mound or embankment.' [It is generally known as 'Hornby's Vellard,' after the Governor of that name; but it seems to have been built about 1752, some 20 years before Hornby's time (see _Douglas, Bombay and W. India_, i. 140).]

1809.—"At the foot of the little hill of Sion is a causeway or VELLARD,
which was built by Mr. Duncan, the present Governor, across a small arm
of the sea, which separates Bombay from Salsette.... The VELLARD was
begun A.D. 1797, and finished in 1805, at an expense of 50,575
rupees."—_Maria Graham_, 8.

VELLORE, n.p. A town, and formerly a famous fortress in the district of N. Arcot, 80 m. W. of Madras. It often figures in the wars of the 18th century, but is best known in Europe for the mutiny of the Sepoys there in 1806. The etym. of the name _Vellūr_ is unknown to us. Fra Paolino gives it as _Velur_, 'the Town of the Lance'; and Col. Branfill as '_Vēḷūr_, from _Vēl_, a benefit, benefaction.' [Cox-Stuart (_Man. N. Arcot_, ii. 417) and the writer of the _Madras Gloss._ agree in deriving it from Tam. _vel_, 'the BABOOL tree, _Acacia arabica_,' and _ūr_, 'village.']

VENDU-MASTER, s. We know this word only from the notifications which we quote. It was probably taken from the name of some Portuguese office of the same kind. [In the quotation given below from Owen it seems that the word was in familiar use at Johanna, and the context shows that his duty was somewhat like that of the CHOWDRY, as he provided fowls, cattle, fruit, &c., for the expedition.]

1781.—From an advertisement in the _India Gazette_ of May 17th it appears
to have been an euphemism for _Auctioneer_; [also see _Busteed, Echoes of
Old Calcutta_, 3rd ed. p. 109].

" "Mr. Donald ... begs leave to acquaint them that the VENDU
business will in future be carried on by Robert Donald, and W.
Williams."—_India Gazette_, July 28.

1793.—"The Governor-General is pleased to notify that Mr. Williamson as
the Company's VENDU MASTER is to have the superintendence and management
of all Sales at the Presidency."—In _Seton-Karr_, ii. 99. At pp. 107,
114, also are notifications of sales by "G. Williamson, VENDU MASTER."

[1823.—"One of the chiefs, a crafty old rogue, commonly known by the name
of 'Lord Rodney' ... acted as captain of the port, interpreter,
VENDUE-MASTER and master of the ceremonies...."—_Owen, Narrative of
Voyages to explore the shores of Africa_, &c., i. 179.]

VENETIAN, s. This is sometimes in books of the 18th and preceding century used for _Sequins_. See under CHICK.

1542.—"At the bottom of the cargo (? _cifa_), among the ballast, she
carried 4 big guns (_tiros_), and others of smaller size, and 60,000
VENETIANS in gold, which were destined for Coje Çafar, in order that with
this money he should in all speed provide necessaries for the fleet which
was coming."—_Correa_, iv. 250.

1675.—Fryer gives among coins and weights at Goa:

"The VENETIAN ... 18 Tangoes, 30 Rees."—p. 206.

1752.—"At this juncture a gold mohur is found to be worth 14 Arcot
Rupees, and a VENETIAN 4½ Arcot Rupees."—In _Long_, p. 32.

VERANDA, s. An open pillared gallery round a house. This is one of the very perplexing words for which at least two origins may be maintained, on grounds equally plausible. Besides these two, which we shall immediately mention, a third has sometimes been alleged, which is thus put forward by a well-known French scholar:

"Ce mot (VÉRANDA) n'est lui-même qu'une transcription inexacte du Persan
_beramada_, perche, terrasse, balcon."—_C. Defréméry_, in _Revue
Critique_, 1869, 1st Sem. p. 64.

Plausible as this is, it may be rejected. Is it not, however, possible that _barāmada_, the literal meaning of which is 'coming forward, projecting,' may be a Persian 'striving after meaning,' in explanation of the foreign word which they may have borrowed?

Williams, again, in his Skt. Dict. (1872) gives '_varaṇḍa_ ... a veranda, a portico....' Moreover Beames in his _Comparative Grammar of Modern Aryan Languages_, gives Sansk. _baraṇḍa_, 'portico,' Bengali _bārāṇḍā_, Hind. _varaṇḍā_, adding: "Most of our wise-acre _literateurs_ (qu. _littérateurs_?) in Hindustan now-a-days consider this word to be derived from Pers. _barāmadah_, and write it accordingly. It is, however, good Sanskrit" (i. 153). Fortunately we have in Bishop Caldwell a proof that comparative grammar does not preclude good manners. Mr. Beames was evidently in entire ignorance of the facts which render the origin of the Anglo-Indian word so curiously ambiguous; but we shall _not_ call him the "wise-acre grammarian." _Varaṇḍa_, with the meaning in question, does not, it may be observed, belong to the older Sanskrit, but is only found in comparatively modern works.[281]

Littré also gives as follows (1874): "ETYM. _Verandah_, mot rapporté de l'Inde par les Anglais, est la simple dégénérescence, dans les langues modernes de l'Inde, du Sansc. _veranda_, colonnade, de _var_, couvrir."

That the word as used in England and in France was brought by the English from India need not be doubted. But either in the same sense, or in one closely analogous, it appears to have existed, quite independently, in Portuguese and Spanish; and the manner in which it occurs without explanation in the very earliest narrative of the adventure of the Portuguese in India, as quoted below, seems almost to preclude the possibility of their having learned it in that country for the first time; whilst its occurrence in P. de Alcala can leave no doubt on the subject. [Prof. Skeat says: "If of native Span. origin, it may be Span. _vara_ a rod, rail. Cf. L. _uarus_, crooked" (_Concise Dict._ s.v.).]

1498.—"E vêo ter comnosco onde estavamos lançados, em huma VARANDA onde
estava hum grande castiçall d'arame que nos alumeava."—_Roteiro da Viagem
de Vasco da Gama_, 2nd ed., 1861, p. 62, _i.e._ "... and came to join us
where we had been put in a VARANDA, where there was a great candlestick
of brass that gave us light...." And Correa, speaking of the same
historical passage, though writing at a later date, says: "When the
Captain-Major arrived, he was conducted through many courts and VERANDAS
(_muitos pateos e_ VARANDAS) to a dwelling opposite that in which the
king was...."—_Correa_, by _Stanley_, 193, compared with original
_Lendas_, I. i. 98.

1505.—In Pedro de Alcala's Spanish-Arabic Vocabulary we have:

"VARANDAS—_Târbuç._
VARANDAS assi _çârgaba_, _çârgab_."

Interpreting these Arabic words, with the assistance of Prof. Robertson
Smith, we find that _târbuç_ is, according to Dozy (_Suppt._ I. 430),
_darbūz_, itself taken from _darābazīn_ (τραπέζιον), 'a stair-railing,
fireguard, balcony, &c.'; whilst _çârgab_ stands for _sarjab_, a variant
(_Abul W._, p. 735, i.) of the commoner _sharjab_, 'a lattice, or
anything latticed,' such as a window,—'a balcony, a balustrade.'

1540.—"This said, we entred with her into an outward court, all about
invironed with Galleries (_cercado a roda de duas ordens de_ VARANDAS) as
if it had been a Cloister of Religious persons...."—_Pinto_ (orig. cap.
lxxxiii.), in _Cogan_, 102.

1553 (but relating events of 1511).

"... assentou Affonso d'Alboquerque com elles, que primeiro que sahissem
em terra, irem ao seguinte dia, quando agua estivesse estofa, dez bateis
a queimar alguns baileus, que são como VARANDAS sobre o mar."—_Barros_,
II. vi. 3.

1563.—"_R._ ... nevertheless tell me what the tree is like. _O._ From
this VARANDA you can see the trees in my garden: those little ones have
been planted two years, and in four they give excellent
fruit...."—_Garcia_, f. 112.

1602.—"De maneira, que quando ja El Rey (de Pegu) chegava, tinha huns
formosos Paços de muitas camaras, VARANDAS, retretes, cozinhas, em que se
recolhia com suas mulheres...."—_Couto_, Dec. vi. Liv. vii., cap. viii.

1611.—"VARANDA. Lo entreado de los corridores, por ser como varas, per
otro nombre vareastes quasi varafustes."—_Cobarruvias._

1631.—In Haex, Malay-Latin Vocabulary, we have as a _Malay_ word,
"BARANDA, Contignatio vel Solarium."

1644.—"The fort (at Cochin) has not now the form of a fortress,
consisting all of houses; that in which the captain lives has a VARANDA
fronting the river, 15 paces long and 7 wide...."—_Bocarro_, MS. f. 313.

1710.—"There are not wanting in Cambaya great buildings with their
courts, VARANDAS, and chambers."—_De Sousa, Oriente Conquist._ ii. 152.

1711.—"The Building is very ancient ... and has a paved Court, two large
VERANDAS or Piazzas."—_Lockyer_, 20.

c. 1714.—"VARANDA. Obra sacada do corpo do edificio, cuberta o
descuberta, na qual se costuma passear, tomar o sol, o fresco, &c.
_Pergula._"—_Bluteau_, s.v.

1729.—"BARANDA. Especie de corredor o balaustrada que ordinariamente se
colocà debante de los altares o escaléras, compuesta de balaustres de
hierro, bronce, madera, o otra materia, de la altura de un medio cuerpo,
y su uso es para adorno y reparo. Algunos escriven esta voce con _b_.
Lat. Peribolus, Lorica clathrata."—_Golis, Hist. de Nueva España_, lib.
3, cap. 15. "Alajábase la pieza por la mitad con un BARANDA o biombo que
sin impedir la vista señalava termino al concorso."—_Dicc. de la Ling.
Cast. por la R. Acad._

1754.—Ives, in describing the Cave of Elephanta, speaks twice of "the
VORANDA or open gallery."—p. 45.

1756.—"... as soon as it was dark, we were all, without distinction,
directed by the guard set over us to collect ourselves into one body, and
sit down quietly under the arched VERANDA, or Piazza, to the west of the
Black-hole prison...."—_Holwell's Narr. of the Black Hole_ [p. 3]; [in
_Wheeler, Early Records_, 229].

c. 1760.—"... Small ranges of pillars that support a pent-house or shed,
forming what is called, in the Portuguese lingua-franca,
VERANDAS."—_Grose_, i. 53.

1781.—"On met sur le devant une petite galerie appellée VARANGUE, et
formée par le toit."—_Sonnerat_, i. 54. There is a French nautical term,
_varangue_, 'the ribs or floor-timbers of a ship,' which seems to have
led this writer astray here.

1783.—"You are conducted by a pretty steep ascent up the side of a rock,
to the door of the cave, which enters from the North. By it you are led
first of all into a FEERANDAH (!) or piazza which extends from East to
West 60 feet."—_Acct. of some Artificial Caves in the Neighbourhood of
Bombay_ (Elephanta), by _Mr. W. Hunter_, Surgeon in the E. Indies. In
_Archaeologia_, vii. 287.

" "The other gate leads to what in this country is called a VERANDA
or FERANDA (printed _seranda_), which is a kind of piazza or
landing-place before you enter the hall."—_Letter_ (on Caves of
Elephanta, &c.), from _Hector Macneil_, Esq., _ibid._ viii. 254.

1796.—"... Before the lowest (storey) there is generally a small hall
supported by pillars of teka (TEAK) wood, which is of a yellow colour and
exceedingly hard. This hall is called VARANDA, and supplies the place of
a parlour."—_Fra Paolino_, E.T.

1809.—"In the same VERANDAH are figures of natives of every cast and
profession."—_Ld. Valentia_, i. 424.

1810.—"The VIRANDA keeps off the too great glare of the sun, and affords
a dry walk during the rainy season."—_Maria Graham_, 21.

c. 1816.—"... and when Sergeant Browne bethought himself of Mary, and
looked to see where she was, she was conversing up and down the VERANDAH,
though it was Sunday, with most of the rude boys and girls of the
barracks."—_Mrs. Sherwood's Stories_, p. 47, ed. 1873.

VERDURE, s. This word appears to have been used in the 18th century for vegetables, adapted from the Port. _verduras_.

1752.—Among minor items of revenue from duties in Calcutta we find:

RS. A. P.
VERDURE, fish pots, firewood 216 10 6."—In _Long_, 35.

[VERGE, s. A term used in S. India for rice lands. It is the Port. _Vársea_, _Varzia_, _Vargem_, which Vieyra defines as 'a plain field, or a piece of level ground, that is sowed and cultivated.'

[1749.—"... as well as VARGEMS lands as hortas" (see OART).—_Treaty_, in
_Logan, Malabar_, iii. 48.

[1772.—"The estates and VERGES not yet assessed must be taxed at 10 per
cent."—_Govt. Order_, _ibid._ i. 421.]

VETTYVER, s. This is the name generally used by the French for the fragrant grass which we call CUSCUS (q.v.). The word is Tamil _vettiver_, [from _vettu_, 'digging,' _ver_, 'root'].

1800.—"Europeans cool their apartments by means of wetted tats (see
TATTY) made of straw or grass, and sometimes of the roots of the WATTIE
WAEROO, which, when wetted, exhales a pleasant but faint smell."—_Heyne's
Tracts_, p. 11.

VIDANA, s. In Ceylon, the title of a village head man. "The person who conveys the orders of Government to the people" (_Clough_, s.v. _vidán_). It is apparently from the Skt. _vadana_, "... the act of speaking ... the mouth, face, countenance ... the front, point," &c. In Javanese _wadana_ (or _wadono_, in Jav. pronunciation) is "the face, front, van; a chief of high rank: a Javanese title" (_Crawfurd_, s.v.). The Javanese title is, we imagine, now only traditional; the Ceylonese one has followed the usual downward track of high titles; we can hardly doubt the common Sanskrit origin of both (see _Athenaeum_, April 1, 1882, p. 413, and May 13, _ibid._ p. 602). The derivation given by Alwis is probably not inconsistent with this.

1681.—"The Dissauvas (see DISSAVE) by these _Courli_ VIDANI their
officers do oppress and squeez the people, by laying Mulcts upon them....
In _Fine_ this officer is the DISSAUVA'S chief Substitute, who orders and
manages all affairs incumbent upon his master."—_Knox_, 51.

1726.—"VIDANES, the overseers of villages, who are charged to see that no
inhabitant suffers any injury, and that the Land is sown
betimes...."—_Valentijn_ (_Ceylon_), _Names of Officers_, &c., 11.

1756.—"Under each (chief) were placed different subordinate headmen,
called VIDÁNA-_Aratchies_ and VIDÁNS. The last is derived from the word
(_vidāna_), 'commanding,' or 'ordering,' and means, as Clough (p. 647)
defines it, the person who conveys the orders of the Government to the
People."—_J. de Alwis_, in _Ceylon Journal_, 8, p. 237.

VIHARA, WIHARE, &c., s. In Ceylon a Buddhist temple. Skt. _vihārā_, a Buddhist convent, originally the hall where the monks met, and thence extended to the buildings generally of such an institution, and to the shrine which was attached to them, much as _minster_ has come from _monasterium_. Though there are now no Buddhist _vihāras_ in India Proper, the former wide diffusion of such establishments has left its trace in the names of many noted places: _e.g._ _Bihār_, and the great province which takes its name; _Kuch Behār_; the _Vihār_ water-works at Bombay; and most probably the City of _Bokhārā_ itself. [Numerous ruins of such buildings have been unearthed in N. India, as, for instance, that at Sarnāth near Benares, of which an account is given by Gen. Cunningham (_Arch. Rep._ i. 121). An early use of the word (probably in the sense of a monastery) is found in the Mathura Jain inscription of the 2nd century, A.D. in the reign of Huvishka (_ibid._ iii. 33).]

1681.—"The first and highest order of priests are the _Tirinanxes_,[282]
who are the priests of the _Buddou_ God. Their temples are styled
VEHARS.... These ... only live in the VIHAR, and enjoy great
Revenues."—_Knox, Ceylon_, 74.

[1821.—"The Malwatte and Asgirie WIHARES ... are the two heads of the
Boodhaical establishment in Ceylon."—_Davy, An Account of the Interior of
Ceylon_, 369.]

1877.—"Twice a month, when the rules of the order are read, a monk who
had broken them is to confess his crime; if it be slight, some slight
penance is laid upon him, to sweep the court-yard of the WIHĀRA, sprinkle
the dust round the sacred bo-tree."—_Rhys Davids, Buddhism_, 169.

VISS, s. A weight used in S. India and in Burma; Tam. _vīsai_, 'division,' Skt. _vihita_, 'distributed.' In Madras it was ⅛ of a Madras maund, and = 3lb. 2oz. avoirdupois. The old scale ran, 10 pagoda weights = 1 _pollam_, 40 _pollams_ = 1 VISS, 8 VISS = 1 MAUND (of 25lbs.), 20 _maunds_ = 1 _candy_. In Burma the _viss_ = 100 _tikals_ = 3lbs. 5 5⅓. VISS is used in Burma by foreigners, but the Burmese call the weight _peiktha_, probably a corruption of _vīsai_.

1554.—"The baar (see BAHAR) of Peguu contains 120 BIÇAS; each BIÇA weighs
40 ounces; the BIÇA contains 100 TICALS; the TICAL weighs 3-1/5
_oitavas_."—_A. Nunes_, 38.

1568.—"This GANZA goeth by weight of BYZE ... and commonly a BYZA of
Ganza is worth (after our accompt) halfe a ducat."—_Caesar Frederike_, in
_Hakl._ ii. 367.

1626.—"In anno 1622 the Myne was shut up ... the comming of the Mogull's
Embassadour to this King's Court, with his peremptory demand of a VYSE of
the fairest diamonds, caused the cessation."—_Purchas, Pilgrimage_, 1003.

[1727.—"VIECE." See under TICAL.

[1807.—"VISAY." See under GARCE.]

1855.—"The King last year purchased 800,000 VISS of lead, at 5 tikals
(see TICAL) for 100 viss, and sold it at twenty tikals."—_Yule, Mission
to Ava_, 256.

VIZIER, WUZEER, s. Ar.—H. _wazīr_, 'a minister,' and usually the principal minister, under a (Mahommedan) prince. [In the Koran (cap. xx. 30) Moses says: "Give a WAZIR of my family, Harūn (Aaron) my brother." In the _Āin_ we have a distinction drawn between the _Vakīl_, or prime minister, and the _Vazīr_, or minister of finance (ed. _Blochmann_, i. 527).] In India the Nawāb of Oudh was long known as the Nawāb Wazīr, the founder of the quasi-independent dynasty having been Sa'ādat 'Alī Khān, who became Sūbadār of Oudh, c. 1732, and was also Wazīr of the Empire, a title which became hereditary in his family. The title of Nawāb Wazīr merged in that of _pādshāh_, or King, assumed by Ghāzī-ud-dīn Haidar in 1820, and up to his death still borne or claimed by the ex-King Wājid 'Alī Shāh, under surveillance in Calcutta. As most titles degenerate, _Wazīr_ has in Spain become _alguazil_, 'a constable,' in Port. _alvasil_, 'an alderman.'

[1612.—"Jeffer Basha VIZIER and Viceroy of the Province."—_Danvers,
Letters_, i. 173.]

1614.—"Il primo VISIR, sopra ogni altro, che era allora Nasuh bascià,
genero del Gran Signore, venne ultimo di tutti, con grandissima e ben
adorna cavalcata, enfin della quale andava egli solo con molta
gravita."—_P. della Valle_ (from Constantinople), i. 43.

W

[WACADASH, s. Japanese _waki-zashi_, 'a short sword.'

[1613.—"The Captain Chinesa is fallen at square with his new wife and
hath given her his WACADASH bidding her cut off her little
finger."—_Foster, Letters_, ii. 18.

[ " "His WACADASH or little cattan."—_Ibid._ ii. 20.

[1898.—"There is also the WAKIZASHI, or dirk of about nine and a half
inches, with which harikari was committed."—_Chamberlain, Things
Japanese_, 3rd ed. 377.]

WALER, s. A horse imported from N. South Wales, or Australia in general.

1866.—"Well, young shaver, have you seen the horses? How is the WALER'S
off foreleg?"—_Trevelyan, Dawk Bungalow_, 223.

1873.—"For sale, a brown WALER gelding," &c.—_Madras Mail_, June 25.

WALI, s. Two distinct words are occasionally written in the same way.

(A). Ar. WĀLI. A Mahommedan title corresponding to Governor; ["the term still in use for the Governor-General of a Province as opposed to the Muḥāfiz̤, or district-governor. In E. Arabia the Wali is the Civil Governor as opposed to the Amīr or Military Commandant. Under the Caliphate the Wali acted also as Prefect of Police (the Indian _Faujdār_—see FOUJDAR), who is now called Z̤ābit̤" (_Burton, Ar. Nights_, i. 238)]. It became familiar some years ago in connection with Kandahar. It stands properly for a governor of the highest class, in the Turkish system superior to a Pasha. Thus, to the common people in Egypt, the Khedive is still the _Wāli_.

1298.—"Whenever he knew of anyone who had a pretty daughter, certain
ruffians of his would go to the father and say: 'What say you? Here is
this pretty daughter of yours; give her in marriage to the BAILO Achmath'
(for they call him the _Bailo_, or, as we should say, 'the
Viceregent')."—_Marco Polo_, i. 402.

1498.—"... e mandou hum homem que se chama BALE, o qual he como
alquaide."—_Roteiro de V. da Gama_, 54.

1727.—"As I was one morning walking in the Streets, I met accidentally
the Governor of the City (Muscat), by them called the WAALY."—_A.
Hamilton_, i. 70; [ed. 1744, i. 71.]

[1753.—In Georgia. "VALI, a viceroy descended immediately from the
sovereigns of the country over which he presides."—_Hanway_, iii. 28.]

B. Ar. _walī_. This is much used in some Mahommedan countries (_e.g._ Egypt and Syria) for a saint, and by a transfer for the shrine of such a saint. ["This would be a separate building like our family tomb and probably domed.... Europeans usually call it 'a little _Wali_'; or, as they write it, '_Wely_'; the contained for the container; the 'Santon' for the 'Santon's tomb'" (_Burton, Ar. Nights_, i. 97).] See under PEER.

[c. 1590.—"The ascetics who are their repositaries of learning, they
style WALI, whose teaching they implicitly follow."—_Āīn_, ed. _Jarrett_,
ii. 119.]

1869.—"Quant au titre de pir (see PEER) ... il signifie proprement
_vieillard_, mais il est pris dans cette circonstance pour désigner une
dignité spirituelle equivalente à celle des _Gurû_ Hindous.... Beaucoup
de ces pirs sont à leur mort vénérés comme saints; de là le mot pir est
synonyme de WALI, et signifie Saint aussi bien que ce dernier
mot."—_Garcin de Tassy, Rel. Mus. dans l'Inde_, 23.

WALLA, s. This is a popular abridgment of _Competition-walla_, under which will be found remarks on the termination _wālā_, and illustrations of its use.

WANDEROO, s. In Ceylon a large kind of monkey, originally described under this name by Knox (_Presbytes ursinus_). The name is, however, the generic Singhalese word for 'a monkey' (_wanderu_, _vandura_), and the same with the Hind. _bandar_, Skt. _vānara_. Remarks on the disputed identity of Knox's _wanderoo_, and the different species to which the name has been applied, popularly, or by naturalists, will be found in Emerson Tennent, i. 129-130.

1681.—"_Monkeys_.... Some so large as our _English Spaniel Dogs_, of a
darkish gray colour, and black faces, with great white beards round from
ear to ear, which makes them show just like old men. There is another
sort just of the same bigness, but differ in colour, being milk white
both in body and face, having great beards like the others ... both these
sorts do but little mischief.... This sort they call in their language
WANDEROW."—_Knox, Hist. Rel. of the I. of Ceylon_, 26.

[1803.—"The WANDEROW is remarkable for its great white beard, which
stretches quite from ear to ear across its black face, while the body is
of a dark grey."—_Percival, Acc. of the I. of Ceylon_, 290.]

1810.—"I saw one of the large baboons, called here WANDEROWS, on the top
of a coco-nut tree, where he was gathering nuts...."—_Maria Graham_, 97.

1874.—"There are just now some very remarkable monkeys. One is a
Macaque.... Another is the WANDEROO, a fellow with a great mass of hair
round his face, and the most awful teeth ever seen in a monkey's mouth.
This monkey has been credited with having killed two niggers before he
was caught; he comes from Malabar."—_F. Buckland_, in _Life_, 289.

WANGHEE, WHANGEE, s. The trade name for a slender yellow bamboo with beautifully regular and short joints, imported from Japan. We cannot give the origin of the term with any conviction. The two following suggestions may embrace or indicate the origin. (1). Rumphius mentions a kind of bamboo called by him _Arundinarbor fera_, the native name of which is Bulu SWANGY (see in vol. iv. cap. vii. _et seqq._). As _buluh_ is Malay for bamboo, we presume that _swangi_ is also Malay, but we do not know its meaning. (2). Our friend Professor Terrien de la Couperie notes: "In the _K'ang-hi tze-tien_, 118, 119, the HUANG-_tchu_ is described as follows: 'A species of bamboo, very hard, with the joints close together; the skin is as white as snow; the larger kind can be used for boats, and the smaller used for pipes, &c.' See also _Wells Williams, Syllabic Dict. of the Chinese Lang._ p. 251.

[On this Professor Giles writes: "'_Whang_' clearly stands for 'yellow,' as in _Whang_poo and like combinations. The difficulty is with _ee_, which should stand for some word of that sound in the Cantonese dialect. There is such a word in 'clothes, skin, sheath'; and 'yellow skin (or sheath)' would form just such a combination as the Chinese would be likely to employ. The suggestion of Terrien de la Couperie is not to the purpose." So Mr. C. M. Gardner writes: "The word _hwang_ has many meanings in Chinese according to the tone in which it is said. _Hwang-chi têng_ or _hwangee-têng_ might be 'yellow-corticled cane.' The word _chuh_ means 'bamboo,' and _hwang-chuh_ might be 'yellow or Imperial bamboo.' _Wan_ means a 'myriad,' _ch'i_ 'utensil'; _wan-chi têng_ might mean a kind of cane 'good for all kinds of uses.' _Wan-chuh_ is a particular kind of bamboo from which paper is made in W. Hapei."

Mr. Skeat writes: "'_Buluh swangi_' is correct Malay. Favre in his _Malay-Fr. Dict._ has '_suwāngi_, esprit, spectre, esprit mauvais.' '_Buluh swangi_' does not appear in Ridley's list as the name of a bamboo, but he does not profess to give all the Malay plant names."]

WATER-CHESTNUT. The _trapa bispinosa_ of Roxb.; Hind. _singhāṛā_, 'the horned fruit.' See SINGARA.

WEAVER-BIRD, s. See BAYA.

WEST-COAST, n.p. This expression in Dutch India means the west coast of Sumatra. This seems also to have been the recognised meaning of the term at Madras in former days. See SLAVE.

[1685.—"Order'd that the following goods be laden aboard the Syam
Merchant for the WEST COAST of Sumatra...."—_Pringle, Diary Ft. St. Geo._
1st ser. IV. 136; also see 136, 138, 163, &c.]

1747.—"The Revd. Mr. Francis Fordyce being entered on the Establishment
... and having several months' allowance due to him for the WEST COAST,
amounting to Pags. 371. 9...."—_Ft. St. David's Consn._, April 30, MS. in
India Office. The letter appended shows that the chaplain had been
attached to Bencoolen. See also _Wheeler_, i. 148.

WHAMPOA, n.p. In former days the anchorage of European ships in the river of Canton, some distance below that city. [The name is pronounced _Wongpo_ (_Ball, Things Chinese_, 3rd ed. 631).]

1770.—"Now all European ships are obliged to anchor at HOUANG-POA, three
leagues from the city" (Canton).—_Raynal_, tr. 1777, ii. 258.

WHISTLING TEAL, s. This in Jerdon is given as _Dendrocygna Awsuree_ of Sykes. Latin names given to birds and beasts might at least fulfil one object of Latin names, in being intelligible and pronounceable by foreign nations. We have seldom met with a more barbarous combination of impossible words than this. A numerous flock of these whistlers is sometimes seen in Bengal sitting in a tree, a curious habit for ducks.

WHITE ANTS. See ANTS, WHITE.

WHITE JACKET, s. The old custom in the hot weather, in the family or at bachelor parties, was to wear this at dinner; and one or more dozens of white jackets were a regular item in an Indian outfit. They are now, we believe, altogether, and for many years obsolete. [They certainly came again into common use some 20 years ago.] But though one reads under every generation of British India that they had gone out of use, they did actually survive to the middle of the last century, for I can remember a white-jacket dinner in Fort William in 1849. [The late Mr. Bridgman of Gorakhpur, whose recollection of India dated from the earlier part of the last century told me that in his younger days the rule at Calcutta was that the guest always arrived at his host's house in the full evening-dress of the time, on which his host meeting him at the door expressed his regret that he had not chosen a cooler dress; on which the guest's Bearer always, as if by accident, appeared from round the corner with a nankeen jacket, which was then and there put on. But it would have been opposed to etiquette for the guest to appear in such a dress without express invitation.]

1803.—"It was formerly the fashion for gentlemen to dress in WHITE
JACKETS on all occasions, which were well suited to the country, but
being thought too much an undress for public occasions, they are now laid
aside for English cloth."—_Ld. Valentia_, i. 240.

[c. 1848.—"... a WHITE JACKET being evening dress for a
dinner-party...."—_Berncastle, Voyage to China, including a Visit to the
Bombay Pres._ i. 93.]

WINTER, s. This term is constantly applied by the old writers to the _rainy season_, a usage now quite unknown to Anglo-Indians. It may have originated in the fact that winter is in many parts of the Mediterranean coast so frequently a season of rain, whilst rain is rare in summer. Compare the fact that _shitā_ in Arabic is indifferently 'winter,' or 'rain'; the winter season being the rainy season. _Shitā_ is the same word that appears in _Canticles_ ii. 11: "The winter (_sethāv_) is past, the rain is over and gone."

1513.—"And so they set out, and they arrived at Surat (_Çurrate_) in May,
when the WINTER had already begun, so they went into WINTER-quarters
(_polo que envernarão_), and in September, when the WINTER was over, they
went to Goa in two foists and other vessels, and in one of these was the
GANDA (rhinoceros), the sight of which made a great commotion when landed
at Goa...."—_Correa_, ii. 373.

1563.—"_R._ ... In what time of the year does this disease (_morxi_,
MORT-DE-CHIEN) mostly occur?

"_O._ ... It occurs mostly in June and July (which is the WINTER-time in
this country)...."—_Garcia_, f. 76_y_.

c. 1567.—"Da Bezeneger a Goa sono d'estate otto giornate di viaggio: ma
noi lo facessimo di mezo L'INVERNO, il mese de Luglio."—_Cesare
Federici_, in _Ramusio_, iii. 389.

1583.—"Il UERNO in questo paese è il Maggio, Giugno, Luglio e Agosto, e
il resto dell'anno è state. Ma bene è da notare che qui la stagione nõ si
può chiamar UERNO rispetto al freddo, che nõ vi regna mai, mà solo per
cagione de' venti, e delle gran pioggie...."—_Gasparo Balbi_, f. 67_v_.

1584.—"Note that the Citie of Goa is the principall place of all the
Oriental India, and the WINTER thus beginneth the 15 of May, with very
great raine."—_Barret_, in _Hakl._ ii. 413.

[1592.—See under PENANG.]

1610.—"The WINTER heere beginneth about the first of Iune and dureth till
the twentieth of September, but not with continuall raines as at Goa, but
for some sixe or seuen dayes every change and full, with much wind,
thunder and raine."—_Finch_, in _Purchas_, i. 423.

c. 1610.—"L'HYVER commence au mois d'Avril, et dure six mois."—_Pyrard de
Laval_, i. 78: [Hak. Soc. i. 104, and see i. 64, ii. 34].

1643.—"... des Galiottes (qui sortent tous les ans pour faire la guerre
aux Malabares ... et cela est enuiron la May-Septembre, lors que leur
HYUER est passé...."—_Mocquet_, 347.

1653.—"Dans les Indes il y a deux Estez et deux HYUERS, ou pour mieux
dire vn Printemps perpetuel, parce que les arbres y sont tousiours verds:
Le premier Esté commance au mois de Mars, et finit au mois de May, que
est la commancement de l'HYUER de pluye, qui continue iusques en
Septembre pleuuant incessament ces quatre mois, en sorte que les
Karauanes, ny les Patmars (see PATTAMAR, A) ne vont ne viennent: i'ay
esté quarante iours sans pouuoir sortir de la maison.... Le second Esté
est depuis Octobre iusques en Decembre, au quel mois il commance à faire
froid ... ce froid est le second HYUER qui finit au mois de Mars."—_De la
Boullaye-le-Gouz_, ed. 1657, p. 244-245.

1665.—"L'HYVER se sait sentir. El commença en Juin per quantité de pluies
et de tonneres."—_Thevenot_, v. 311.

1678.—"... In WINTER (when they rarely stir) they have a _Mumjama_, or
Wax Cloth to throw over it...."—_Fryer_, 410.

1691.—"In orâ Occidentali, quae _Malabarorum_ est, HYEMS â mense Aprili
in Septembrem usque dominatur: in littore verò Orientali, quod Hollandi
DE KUST VAN CHOROMANDEL, _Oram Coromandellae_ vocant trans illos montes,
in iisdem latitudinis gradibus, contrariô planè modô â Septembri usque ad
Aprilem HYEMEM habent."—_Iobi Lusdofi_, ad suam Historiam _Commentarius_,
101.

1770.—"The mere breadth of these mountains divides summer from winter,
that is to say, the season of fine weather from the rainy ... all that is
meant by WINTER in India is the time of the year when the clouds ... are
driven violently by the winds against the mountains," &c.—_Raynal_, tr.
1777, i. 34.

WOOD-APPLE, s. [According to the _Madras Gloss._ also known as _Curd Fruit_, _Monkey Fruit_, and _Elephant Apple_, because it is like an elephant's skin.] A wild fruit of the N.O. _Aurantiaceae_ growing in all the drier parts of India (_Feronia elephantum_, Correa). It is somewhat like the _bel_ (see BAEL) but with a still harder shell, and possesses some of its medicinal virtue. In the native pharmacopœia it is sometimes substituted (_Moodeen Sherif_, [Watt, _Econ. Dict._ iii. 324 _seqq._]). Buchanan-Hamilton calls it the _Kot-bel_ (_Kaṭhbel_), (_Eastern India_, ii. 787)].

1875.—"Once upon a time it was announced that the Pádsháh was about to
pass through a certain remote village of Upper India. And the village
heads gathered in pancháyat to consider what offering they could present
on such an unexampled occasion. Two products only of the village lands
were deemed fit to serve as nazrána. One was the CUSTARD-APPLE, the other
was the WOOD-APPLE ... a wild fruit with a very hard shelly rind,
something like a large lemon or small citron converted into wood. After
many _pros_ and _cons_, the custard-apple carried the day, and the
village elders accordingly, when the king appeared, made salám, and
presented a large basket of custard-apples. His Majesty did not accept
the offering graciously, but with much abusive language at being stopped
to receive such trash, pelted the simpletons with their offering, till
the whole basketful had been squashed upon their venerable heads. They
retired, abashed indeed, but devoutly thanking heaven that the offering
had not been of WOOD-APPLES!"—_Some Unscientific Notes on the History of
Plants_ (by H. Y.) in _Geog. Mag._, 1875, pp. 49-50. The story was heard
many years ago from Major William Yule, for whom see under TOBACCO.

WOOD-OIL, or GURJUN OIL, s. Beng.—H. _garjan_. A thin balsam oil drawn from a great forest tree (N.O. _Dipterocarpeae_) _Dipterocarpus turbinatus_, Gaertn., and from several other species of _Dipt._, which are among the finest trees of Transgangetic India. Trees of this N.O. abound also in the Malay Archipelago, whilst almost unknown in other parts of the world. The celebrated Borneo camphor is the product of one such tree, and the SAUL-WOOD of India of another. Much wood-oil is exported from the Burmese provinces, the Malay Peninsula, and Siam. It is much used in the East as a natural varnish and preservative of timber; and in Indian hospitals it is employed as a substitute for copaiva, and as a remedy for leprosy (_Hanbury & Flückiger_, Watt, _Econ. Dict._ iii. 167 _seqq._). The first mention we know of is c. 1759 in Dalrymple's _Or. Repertory_ in a list of Burma products (i. 109).

WOOLOCK, OOLOCK, s. [Platts in his _Hind. Dict._ gives _ulāq_, _ulāk_, as Turkish, meaning 'a kind of small boat.' Mr. Grierson (_Bihar Peasant Life_, 42), among the larger kinds of boats, gives _ulānk_, "which has a long narrow bow overhanging the water in front." Both he and Mr. Grant (_Rural Life in Bengal_, 25) give drawings of this boat, and the latter writes: "First we have the bulky _Oolák_, or baggage boat of Bengal, sometimes as gigantic as the _Putelee_ (see PATTELLO), and used for much the same purposes. This last-named vessel is a clinker-built boat—that is having the planks overlapping each other, like those in a London wherry; whereas in the round smooth-sided _oolak_ and most country boats, they are laid edge to edge, and fastened with iron clamps, having the appearance of being stitched."]

1679.—"Messrs. Vincent" (&c.) ... "met the Agent (on the Hoogly R.) in
Budgeroes and OOLANKES."—_Fort St. Geo. Consns._, Sept. 14. In _Notes and
Exts._, Madras, 1871.

[1683.—"... 10 ULOCKS for Souldiers, etc."—_Hedges, Diary_, Hak. Soc. i.
76.

[1760.—"20 HOOLUCKS 6 Oars at 28 Rs. per month."—In _Long_, 227.]

1764.—"Then the Manjees went after him in a WOLLOCK to look after
him."—_Ibid._ 383.

1781.—"The same day will be sold a twenty-oar'd WOLLOCK-built
Budgerow...."—_India Gazette_, April 14.

1799.—"We saw not less than 200 large boats at the different quays, which
on an average might be reckoned each at 60 tons burthen, all provided
with good roofs, and masted after the country manner. They seemed much
better constructed than the unwieldy WULLOCKS of Bengal."—_Symes, Ava_,
233.

WOON, s. Burm. _wun_, 'a governor or officer of administration'; literally 'a burden,' hence presumably the 'Bearer of the Burden.' Of this there are various well-known compounds, _e.g._:

WOON-GYEE, _i.e._ '_Wun-gyī_' or Great Minister, a member of the High
Council of State or Cabinet, called the Hlot-dau (see LOTOO).

WOON-DOUK, _i.e._ _Wun-dauk_, lit. 'the prop of the _Wun_'; a sort of
Adlatus, or Minister of an inferior class. We have recently seen a
Burmese envoy to the French Government designated as "M. Woondouk."

ATWEN-WUN, Minister of the Interior (of the Court) or Household.

MYO-WUN, Provincial Governor (_May-woon_ of Symes).

YE-WUN, 'Water-Governor,' formerly Deputy of the Myo-wun of the Pr. of
Pegu (_Ray-woon_ of Symes).

AKAOK-WUN, Collector of Customs (_Akawoon_ of Symes).

WOORDY-MAJOR, s. The title of a native adjutant in regiments of Indian Irregular Cavalry. Both the rationale of the compound title, and the etymology of _wardī_, are obscure. Platts gives Hind. _wardī_ or _urdī_, 'uniform of a soldier, badge or dress of office,' as the first part of the compound, with a questionable Skt. etymology, _viruda_, 'crying, proclaiming, a panegyric.' But there is also Ar. _wird_, 'a flight of birds,' and then also 'a troop or squadron,' which is perhaps as probable. [Others, again, as many military titles have come from S. India, connect it with Can. _varadi_, 'news, an order.']

[1784.—"... We made the WURDEE WOLLAH acquainted with the
circumstance...."—_Forrest, Bombay Letters_, ii. 323.

[1861.—"The senior RESSALDAR (native captain) and the WOORDIE MAJOR
(native adjutant) ... reported that the sepoys were trying to tamper with
his men."—_Cave-Browne, Punjab and Delhi_, i. 120.]

WOOTZ, s. This is an odd name which has attached itself in books to the so-called 'natural steel' of S. India, made especially in Salem, and in some parts of Mysore. It is prepared from small bits of malleable iron (made from magnetic ore) which are packed in crucibles with pieces of a particular wood (_Cassia auriculata_), and covered with leaves and clay. The word first appears in a paper read before the Royal Society, June 11, 1795, called: "Experiments and observations to investigate the nature of a kind of Steel, manufactured at Bombay, and there called WOOTZ ... by George Pearson, M.D." This paper is quoted below.

The word has never since been recognised as the name of steel in any language, and it would seem to have originated in some clerical error, or misreading, very possibly for _wook_, representing the Canarese _ukku_ (pron. _wukku_) 'steel.' Another suggestion has been made by Dr. Edward Balfour. He states that _uchcha_ and _nicha_ (Hind. _uṅcha-nīcha_, in reality for 'high' and 'low') are used in Canarese speaking districts to denote _superior_ and _inferior_ descriptions of an article, and supposes that WOOTZ may have been a misunderstanding of _uchcha_, 'of superior quality.' The former suggestion seems to us preferable. [The _Madras Gloss._ gives as local names of steel, Can. _ukku_, Tel. _ukku_, Tam. and Malayāl. _urukku_, and derives WOOTZ from Skt. _ućća_, whence comes H. _uṅchā_.]

The article was no doubt the famous 'Indian Steel,' the σίδηρος Ἰνδικὸς καὶ στόμωμα of the _Periplus_, the material of the Indian swords celebrated in many an Arabic poem, the _alhinde_ of old Spanish, the _hundwānī_ of the Persian traders, _ondanique_ of Marco Polo, the _iron_ exported by the Portuguese in the 16th century from Baticalà (see BATCUL) in Canara and other parts (see Correa _passim_). In a letter of the King to the Goa Government in 1591 he animadverts on the great amount of iron and steel permitted to be exported from Chaul, for sale on the African coast and to the Turks in the Red Sea (_Archiv. Port. Orient._, Fasc. 3, 318).

1795.—"Dr. Scott, of Bombay, in a letter to the President, acquainted him
that he had sent over specimens of a substance known by the name of
WOOTZ; which is considered to be a kind of steel, and is in high esteem
among the Indians."—_Phil. Trans._ for 1795, Pt. ii. p. 322.

[1814.—See an account of WOOTZ, in _Heyne's Tracts_, 362 _seqq._]

1841.—"The cakes of steel are called WOOTZ; they differ materially in
quality, according to the nature of the ore, but are generally very good
steel, and are sent into Persia and Turkey.... It may be rendered
self-evident that the figure or pattern (of Damascus steel) so long
sought after exists in the cakes of WOOTZ, and only requires to be
produced by the action of diluted acids ... it is therefore highly
probable that the ancient blades (of Damascus) were made of this
steel."—_Wilkinson, Engines of War_, pp. 203-206.

1864.—"Damascus was long celebrated for the manufacture of its sword
blades, which it has been conjectured were made from the WOOTZ of
India."—_Percy's Metallurgy, Iron and Steel_, 860.

WRITER, s.

(A). The rank and style of the junior grade of covenanted civil servants of the E.I. Company. Technically it has been obsolete since the abolition of the old grades in 1833. The term no doubt originally described the duty of these young men; they were the clerks of the factories.

(B). A copying clerk in an office, native or European.

A.—

1673.—"The whole Mass of the Company's Servants may be comprehended in
those Classes, viz., Merchants, Factors, and WRITERS."—_Fryer_, 84.

[1675-6.—See under FACTOR.]

1676.—"There are some of the WRITERS who by their lives are not a little
scandalous."—_Letter from a Chaplain_, in _Wheeler_, i. 64.

1683.—"Mr. Richard More, one that came out a WRITER on y^e _Herbert_,
left this World for a better. Y^e Lord prepare us all to follow
him!"—_Hedges, Diary_, Aug. 22; [Hak. Soc. i. 105].

1747.—"82. Mr. ROBERT CLIVE, Writer in the Service, being of a Martial
Disposition, and having acted as a Volunteer in our late Engagements, We
have granted him an Ensign's Commission, upon his Application for the
same."—Letter from the _Council at Ft. St. David_ to the _Honble. Court
of Directors_, dd. 2d. May, 1747 (MS. in India Office).

1758.—"As we are sensible that our junior servants of the rank of WRITERS
at Bengal are not upon the whole on so good a footing as elsewhere, we do
hereby direct that the future appointments to a WRITER for salary, diet
money, and all allowances whatever, be 400 Rupees per annum, which mark
of our favour and attention, properly attended to, must prevent their
reflections on what we shall further order in regard to them as having
any other object or foundation than their particular interest and
happiness."—_Court's Letter_, March 3, in _Long_, 129. (The 'further
order' is the prohibition of _palankins_, &c.—see PALANKEEN.)

c. 1760.—"It was in the station of a covenant servant and WRITER, to the
East India Company, that in the month of March, 1750, I
embarked."—_Grose_, i. 1.

1762.—"We are well assured that one great reason of the WRITERS
neglecting the Company's business is engaging too soon in trade.... We
therefore positively order that none of the WRITERS on your establishment
have the benefit or liberty of Dusticks (see DUSTUCK) until the times of
their respective writerships are expired, and they commence FACTORS, with
this exception...."—_Court's Letter_, Dec. 17, in _Long_, 287.

1765.—"Having obtained the appointment of a WRITER in the East India
Company's service at Bombay, I embarked with 14 other passengers ...
before I had attained my sixteenth year."—_Forbes, Or. Mem._ i. 5; [2nd
ed. i. 1].

1769.—"The WRITERS of Madras are exceedingly proud, and have the knack of
forgetting their old acquaintances."—_Ld. Teignmouth, Mem._ i. 20.

1788.—"In the first place all the persons who go abroad in the Company's
civil service, enter as clerks in the counting-house, and are called by a
name to correspond with it, WRITERS. In that condition they are obliged
to serve five years."—_Burke, Speech on Hastings' Impeachment_, Feb.
1788. In _Works_, vii. 292.

B.—

1764.—"_Resolutions and orders._—That no MOONSHEE, LINGUIST, Banian (see
BANYAN), or WRITER be allowed to any officer except the
Commander-in-Chief and the commanders of detachments...."—_Ft. William
Consns._ In _Long_, 382.

[1860.—"Following him are the krānees (see CRANNY), or WRITERS, on
salaries varying, according to their duties and abilities, from five to
thirty roopees."—_Grant, Rural L. in Bengal_, 138-9.]

WUG, s. We give this Belūch word for LOOT on the high authority quoted. [On this Mr. M. L. Dames writes: "This is not, strictly speaking, a Balochī word, but Sindhī, in the form _wag_ or _wagu_. The Balochī word is _bag_, but I cannot say for certain whether it is borrowed from Sindhī by Balochi, or _vice versâ_. The meaning, however, is not LOOT, but 'a herd of camels.' It is probable that on the occasion referred to the _loot_ consisted of a herd of camels, and this would easily give rise to the idea that the word meant _loot_. It is one of the commonest forms of plunder in those regions, and I have often heard Balochis, when narrating their raids, describe how they had carried off a '_bag_.'"]

1845.—"In one hunt after WUG, as the Beloochees call plunder, 200 of that
beautiful regiment, the 2nd Europeans, marched incessantly for 15 hours
over such ground as I suppose the world cannot match for ravines, except
in places where it is impossible to march at all."—_Letter of Sir C.
Napier_, in _Life_, iii. 298.

X

XERAFINE, XERAFIM, &c., s. The word in this form represents a silver coin formerly current at Goa and several other Eastern ports, in value somewhat less than 1_s._ 6_d._ It varied in Portuguese currency from 300 to 360 _reis_. But in this case as in so many others the term is a corruption applied to a degenerated value. The original is the Arabic _ashrafī_ (see ASHRAFEE) (or _sharīfī_, 'noble'—compare the medieval coin so called), which was applied properly to the gold _dīnār_, but was also in India, and still is occasionally by natives, applied to the gold MOHUR. _Ashrafī_ for a gold _dīnār_ (value in gold about 11_s._ 6_d._) occurs frequently in the '1001 Nights,' as Dozy states, and he gives various other quotations of the word in different forms (pp. 353-354; [_Burton, Ar. Nights_, x. 160, 376]). _Aigrefin_, the name of a coin once known in France, is according to Littré also a corruption of _ashrafī_.

1498.—"And (the King of Calicut) said that they should tell the Captain
that if he wished to go he must give him 600 XARIFES, and that soon, and
that this was the custom of that country, and of those who came
thither."—_Roteiro de V. da G._ 79.

1510.—"When a new Sultan succeeds to the throne, one of his lords, who
are called Amirra (AMEER), says to him: 'Lord, I have been for so long a
time your slave, give me Damascus, and I will give you 100,000 or 200,000
TERAPHIM of gold.'"—_Varthema_, 10.

" "Every Mameluke, great or little, has for his pay six SARÁPHI per
month."—_Ibid._ 13.

" "Our captain sent for the superior of the said mosque, to whom he
said: that he should show him the body of _Nabi_—this Nabi means the
Prophet Mahomet—that he would give him 3000 SERAPHIM of gold."—_Ibid._
29. This one eccentric traveller gives thus three different forms.

1513.—"... hunc regem Affonsus idem, urbe opulẽtissima et praecipuo
emporio Armusio vi capto, quindecim milliũ SERAPHINORŨ, ea est aurea
moneta ducatis equivalẽs annuũ nobis tributariũ effecerat."—_Epistola
Emmanuelis Regis_, 2_b_. In the preceding the word seems to apply to the
gold dīnār.

1523.—"And by certain information of persons who knew the facts ...
Antonio de Saldanha ... agreed with the said King Turuxa (Tūrūn Shāh),
... that the said King ... should pay to the King Our lord 10,000
XARAFINS more yearly ... in all 25,000 XARAFINS."—_Tombo da India,
Subsidios_, 79. This is the gold MOHUR.

1540.—"This year there was such a famine in Choromandel, that it left
nearly the whole land depopulated with the mortality, and people ate
their fellow men. Such a thing never was heard of on that Coast, where
formerly there was such an abundance of rice, that in the port of
Negapatam I have often seen more than 700 sail take cargoes amounting to
more than 20,000 _moios_ (the _moyo_ = 29.39 bushels) of rice.... This
year of famine the Portuguese of the town of St. Thomé did much good to
the people, helping them with quantities of rice and millet, and
coco-nuts and jagra (see JAGGERY), which they imported in their vessels
from other parts, and sold in retail to the people at far lower prices
than they could have got if they wished it; and some rich people caused
quantities of rice to be boiled in their houses, and gave it boiled down
in the water to the people to drink, all for the love of God.... This
famine lasted a whole year, and it spread to other parts, but was not so
bad as in Choromandel. The King of Bisnagar, who was sovereign of that
territory, heard of the humanity and beneficence of the Portuguese to the
people of the country, and he was greatly pleased thereat, and sent an
_ola_ (see OLLAH) of thanks to the residents of S. Thomé. And this same
year there was such a scarcity of provisions in the harbours of the
Straits, that in Aden a load (_fardo_) of rice fetched forty XARAFIS,
each worth a _cruzado_...."—_Correa_, iv. 131-132.

1598.—"The chief and most common money (at Goa) is called Pardauue
(PARDAO) XERAPHIN. It is of silver, but of small value. They strike it at
Goa, and it is marked on one side with the image of St. Sebastian, on the
other with 3 or 4 arrows in a sheaf. It is worth 3 testoons or 300 Reys
(REAS) of Portugal, more or less."—_Linschoten_ (from French ed. 71);
[Hak. Soc. i. 241, and compare i. 190; and see another version of the
same passage under PARDAO].

1610.—"Inprimis of SERAFFINS _Ecberi_, which be ten Rupias (RUPEE) a
piece, there are sixtie Leckes (LACK)."—_Hawkins_, in _Purchas_, i. 217.
Here the gold MOHUR is meant.

c. 1610.—"Les pièces d'or sont CHERAFINS à vingt-cinq sols
pièce."—_Pyrard da Laval_, ii. 40; [Hak. Soc. ii. 69, reading CHERUFINS].

1653.—"_Monnoyes courantes à Goa._

"Sequin de Venise 24 tangues (TANGA)
* * * * *
Reale d'Espagne 12 tangues.
Abassis de Perse 3 tangues.
Pardaux (PARDAO) 5 tangues.
Scherephi 6 tangues.
Roupies (RUPEE) du Mogol 6 tangues.
Tangue 20 bousserouque (BUDGROOK)."
_De la Boullaye-le-Gouz_, 1657, 530.

c. 1675.—"Coins ... of Rajapore. Imaginary Coins. The Pagod (PAGODA) is
3½ Rupees. 48 Juttals (see JEETUL) is one Pagod. 10 and ½ Larees (LARIN)
is 1 Pagod. ZERAPHINS 2½, 1 Old Dollar.

"Coins and weights of Bombaim. 3 LAREES is 1 ZERAPHIN. 80 Raies (REAS) 1
Laree. 1 PICE is 10 Raies. The Raies are imaginary.

"Coins and weights in Goa.... The _Cruzado_ of gold, 12 ZERAPHINS. The
_Zeraphin_, 5 _Tangoes_. The _Tango_ (TANGA), 5 _Vinteens_. The
_Vinteen_, 15 _Basrooks_ (BUDGROOK), whereof 75 make a _Tango_. And 60
_Rees_ make a _Tango_."—_Fryer_, 206.

1690.—

dw. gr.
"The Gold St. Thoma 2 5½
The Silv. SHEREPHENE 7 4."
_Table of Coins_, in _Ovington_.

1727.—"Their Soldiers Pay (at Goa) is very small and ill paid. They have
but six XERAPHEENS per Month, and two Suits of Calico, stript or
checquered, in a Year ... and a XERAPHEEN is worth about sixteen Pence
half Peny _Ster._"—_A. Hamilton_, i. 249; [ed. 1744, i. 252].

1760.—"You shall coin Gold and silver of equal weight and fineness with
the Ashrefees (ASHRAFEE) and Rupees of Moorshedabad, in the name of
Calcutta."—_Nawab's Perwannah for Estabt. of a Mint in Calcutta_, in
_Long_, 227.

c. 1844.—"Sahibs now are very different from what they once were. When I
was a young man with an officer in the camp of Lāt Līk Sāhib (Lord Lake)
the sahibs would give an _ashrafi_ (ASHRAFEE), when now they think twice
before taking out a rupee."—_Personal Reminiscences of an old Khansama's
Conversation._ Here the gold MOHUR is meant.

XERCANSOR, n.p. This is a curious example of the manner in which the Portuguese historians represent Mahommedan names. Xercansor does really very fairly represent phonetically the name of _Sher Khān Sūr_, the famous rival and displacer of Humāyūn, under the title of Sher Shāh.

c. 1538.—"But the King of Bengal, seeing himself very powerful in the
kingdom of the Patans, seized the king and took his kingdom from him ...
and made Governor of the kingdom a great lord, a vassal of his, called
Cotoxa, and then leaving everything in good order, returned to Bengal.
The administrator Cotoxa took the field with a great array, having with
him a Patan Captain called XERCANSOR, a valiant cavalier, much esteemed
by all."—_Correa_, ii. 719.

The kingdom of the Patans appears to be Behar, where various Afghan
chiefs tried to establish themselves after the conquest of Delhi by
Baber. It would take more search than it is worth to elucidate the story
as told by Correa, but see _Elliot_, iv. 333. Cotoxa (Koto sha) appears
to be _Ḳutb Khān_ of the Mahommedan historian there.

Another curious example of Portuguese nomenclature is that given to the
first Mahommedan king of Malacca by Barros, _Xaquem Darxá_ (II. vi. 1),
by Alboquerque _Xaquendarxa_ (_Comm._ Pt. III. ch. 17). This name is
rendered by Lassen's ponderous lore into Skt. _Sakanadhara_, "d. h.
Besitzer kräftiger Besinnungen" (or "Possessor, of strong
recollections."—_Ind. Alt._ iv. 546), whereas it is simply the Portuguese
way of writing _Sikandar Shāh_! [So Linschoten (Hak. Soc. ii. 183) writes
Xatamas for _Shāh Tamasp._]. For other examples, see CODOVASCAM, IDALCAN.

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