1701.—In a price list for Persia we find: "Gesjes Bengaals."—Valentijn, v. 303.
1784.—"It is suggested that the following articles may be proper to compose the first adventure (to Tibet): ... Guzzie, or coarse Cotton Cloths, and Otterskins...."—In Seton-Karr, i. 4.
[1866.—"... common unbleached fabrics ... used for packing goods, and as a covering for the dead.... These fabrics in Bengal pass under the names of Garrha and Guzee."—Forbes Watson, Textile Manufactures, 83.]
GWALIOR, n.p. Hind. Gwālīār. A very famous rock-fortress of Upper India, rising suddenly and picturesquely out of a plain (or shallow valley rather) to a height of 300 feet, 65 m. south of Agra, in lat. 26° 13′. Gwalior may be traced back, in Gen. Cunningham's opinion, to the 3rd century of our era. It was the seat of several ancient Hindu dynasties, and from the time of the early Mahommedan sovereigns of Delhi down to the reign of Aurangzīb it was used as a state-prison. Early in the 18th century it fell into the possession of the Mahratta family of Sindhia, whose residence was established to the south of the fortress, in what was originally a camp, but has long been a city known by the original title of Lashkar (camp). The older city lies below the northern foot of the rock. Gwalior has been three times taken by British arms: (1) escaladed by a force under the command of Major Popham in 1780, a very daring feat;[141] (2) by a regular attack under Gen. White in 1805; (3) most gallantly in June 1858, by a party of the 25th Bombay N. I. under Lieutenants Rose and Waller, in which the former officer fell. After the two first captures the fortress was restored to the Sindhia family. From 1858 it was retained in our hands, but in December 1885 it was formally restored to the Mahārājā Sindhia.
The name of the fortress, according to Gen. Cunningham (Archaeol. Survey, ii. 335), is derived from a small Hindū shrine within it dedicated to the hermit Gwāli or Gwāli-pā, after whom the fortress received the name of Gwāli-āwar, contracted into Gwāliār.
c. 1020.—"From Kanauj, in travelling south-east, on the western side of the Ganges, you come to Jajáhotí, at a distance of 30 parasangs, of which the capital is Kajuráha. In that country are the two forts of Gwáliár and Kálinjar...."—Al-Birūnī, in Elliot, i. 57-8.
1196.—The royal army marched "towards Gālewār, and invested that fort, which is the pearl of the necklace of the castles of Hind, the summit of which the nimble-footed wind from below cannot reach, and on the bastions of which the clouds have never cast their shade...."—Hasan Nizāmī, in Elliot, ii. 227.
c. 1340.—"The castle of Gālyūr, of which we have been speaking, is on the top of a high hill, and appears, so to speak, as if it were itself cut out of the rock. There is no other hill adjoining; it contains reservoirs of water, and some 20 wells walled round are attached to it: on the walls are mounted mangonels and catapults. The fortress is ascended by a wide road, traversed by elephants and horses. Near the castle-gate is the figure of an elephant carved in stone, and surmounted by a figure of the driver. Seeing it from a distance one has no doubt about its being a real elephant. At the foot of the fortress is a fine city, entirely built of white stone, mosques and houses alike; there is no timber to be seen in it, except that of the gates."—Ibn Batuta, ii. 193.
1526.—"I entered Guâliâr by the Hâtipûl gate.... They call an elephant hâti, and a gate pûl. On the outside of this gate is the figure of an elephant, having two elephant drivers on it...."—Baber, p. 383.
[c. 1590.—"Gualiar is a famous fort, in which are many stately buildings, and there is a stone elephant over the gate. The air and water of this place are both esteemed good. It has always been celebrated for fine singers and beautiful women...."—Ayeen, Gladwin, ed. 1800, ii. 38; ed. Jarrett, ii. 181.]
1610.—"The 31 to Gwalere, 6 c., a pleasant Citie with a Castle.... On the West side of the Castle, which is a steep craggy cliffe of 6 c. compasse at least (divers say eleven).... From hence to the top, leads a narrow stone cawsey, walled on both sides; in the way are three gates to be passed, all exceeding strong, with Courts of guard to each. At the top of all, at the entrance of the last gate, standeth a mightie Elephant of stone very curiously wrought...."—Finch, in Purchas, i. 426-7.
1616.—"23. Gwalier, the chief City so called, where the Mogol hath a very rich Treasury of Gold and Silver kept in this City, within an exceeding strong Castle, wherein the King's Prisoners are likewise kept. The Castle is continually guarded by a very strong Company of Armed Souldiers."—Terry, ed. 1665, p. 356.
[ " "Kualiar," in Sir T. Roe's List, Hak. Soc. ii. 539.]
c. 1665.—"For to shut them up in Goualeor, which is a Fortress where the Princes are ordinarily kept close, and which is held impregnable, it being situated upon an inaccessible Rock, and having within itself good water, and provision enough for a Garison; that was not an easie thing."—Bernier, E.T. 5; [ed. Constable, 14].
c. 1670.—"Since the Mahometan Kings became Masters of this Countrey, this Fortress of Goualeor is the place where they secure Princes and great Noblemen. Chaiehan coming to the Empire by foul-play, caus'd all the Princes and Lords whom he mistrusted, to be seiz'd one after another, and sent them to the Fortress of Goualeor; but he suffer'd them all to live and enjoy their estates. Aureng-zeb his Son acts quite otherwise; for when he sends any great Lord to this place, at the end of nine or ten days he orders him to be poison'd; and this he does that the people may not exclaim against him for a bloody Prince."—Tavernier, E.T. ii. 35; [ed. Ball, i. 63].
GYAUL (properly GAYĀL), [Skt. go, 'an ox'], s. A large animal (Gavaeus frontalis, Jerd., Bos f. Blanford, Mammalia, 487) of the ox tribe, found wild in various forest tracts to the east of India. It is domesticated by the Mishmis of the Assam valley, and other tribes as far south as Chittagong. In Assam it is called Mithan.
[c. 1590.—In Arakan, "cows and buffaloes there are none, but there is an animal which has somewhat of the characteristics of both, piebald and particoloured whose milk the people drink."—Āīn, ed. Jarrett, ii. 119.]
1824.—"In the park several uncommon animals are kept. Among them the Ghyal, an animal of which I had not, to my recollection, read any account, though the name was not unknown to me. It is a very noble creature, of the ox or buffalo kind, with immensely large horns...."—Heber, i. 34.
1866-67.—"I was awakened by an extraordinary noise, something between a bull's bellow and a railway whistle. What was it? We started to our feet, and Fuzlah and I were looking to our arms when Adupah said, 'It is only the guyal calling; Sahib! Look, the dawn is just breaking, and they are opening the village gates for the beasts to go out to pasture.'
"These guyal were beautiful creatures, with broad fronts, sharp wide-spreading horns, and mild melancholy eyes. They were the indigenous cattle of the hills domesticated by these equally wild Lushais...."—Lt.-Col. T. Lewin, A Fly on the Wheel, &c., p. 303.
GYELONG, s. A Buddhist priest in Tibet. Tib. dGe-sLong, i.e. 'beggar of virtue,' i.e. a bhikshu or mendicant friar (see under BUXEE); but latterly a priest who has received the highest orders. See Jaeschke, p. 86.
1784.—"He was dressed in the festival habit of a gylong or priest, being covered with a scarlet satin cloak, and a gilded mitre on his head."—Bogle, in Markham's Tibet, 25.
GYM-KHANA, s. This word is quite modern, and was unknown 40 years ago. The first use that we can trace is (on the authority of Major John Trotter) at Rūrkī in 1861, when a gymkhana was instituted there. It is a factitious word, invented, we believe, in the Bombay Presidency, and probably based upon gend-khāna ('ball-house'), the name usually given in Hind. to an English racket-court. It is applied to a place of public resort at a station, where the needful facilities for athletics and games of sorts are provided, including (when that was in fashion) a skating-rink, a lawn-tennis ground, and so forth. The gym may have been simply a corruption of gend shaped by gymnastics, [of which the English public school short form gym passed into Anglo-Indian jargon]. The word is also applied to a meeting for such sports; and in this sense it has travelled already as far as Malta, and has since become common among Englishmen abroad. [The suggestion that the word originated in the P.—H. jamā'at-khana, 'a place of assemblage,' is not probable.]
1877.—"Their proposals are that the Cricket Club should include in their programme the games, &c., proposed by the promoters of a gymkhana Club, so far as not to interfere with cricket, and should join in making a rink and lawn-tennis, and badminton courts, within the cricket-ground enclosure."—Pioneer Mail, Nov. 3.
1879.—"Mr. A—— F—— can always be depended on for epigram, but not for accuracy. In his letters from Burma he talks of the Gymkhana at Rangoon as a sort of establissement [sic] where people have pleasant little dinners. In the 'Oriental Arcadia,' which Mr. F—— tells us is flavoured with naughtiness, people may do strange things, but they do not dine at Gymkhanas."—Ibid. July 2.
1881.—"R. E. Gymkhana at Malta, for Polo and other Ponies, 20th June, 1881."—Heading in Royal Engineer Journal, Aug. 1, p. 159.
1883.—"I am not speaking of Bombay people with their clubs and gymkhanas and other devices for oiling the wheels of existence...."—Tribes on My Frontier, 9.
GYNEE, s. H. gainī. A very diminutive kind of cow bred in Bengal. It is, when well cared for, a beautiful creature, is not more than 3 feet high, and affords excellent meat. It is mentioned by Aelian:
c. 250.—"There are other bullocks in India, which to look at are no bigger than the largest goats; these also are yoked, and run very swiftly."—De Nat. Anim., xv. 24.
c. 1590.—"There is also a species of oxen called gaini, small like gūt (see GOONT) horses, but very beautiful."—Āīn, i. 149.
[1829.—"... I found that the said tiger had feasted on a more delicious morsel,—a nice little Ghinee, a small cow."—Mem. of John Shipp, iii. 132.]
1832.—"We have become great farmers, having sown our crop of oats, and are building outhouses to receive some 34 dwarf cows and oxen (gynees) which are to be fed up for the table."—F. Parkes, Wanderings of a Pilgrim, i. 251.
H
HACKERY, s. In the Bengal Presidency this word is now applied only to the common native bullock-cart used in the slow draught of goods and materials. But formerly in Bengal, as still in Western India and Ceylon, the word was applied to lighter carriages (drawn by bullocks) for personal transport. In Broughton's Letters from a Mahratta Camp (p. 156; [ed. 1892, p. 117]) the word is used for what in Upper India is commonly called an ekka (q.v.), or light native pony-carriage; but this is an exceptional application. Though the word is used by Englishmen almost universally in India, it is unknown to natives, or if known is regarded as an English term; and its origin is exceedingly obscure. The word seems to have originated on the west side of India, where we find it in our earliest quotations. It is probably one of those numerous words which were long in use, and undergoing corruption by illiterate soldiers and sailors, before they appeared in any kind of literature. Wilson suggests a probable Portuguese origin, e.g. from acarretar, 'to convey in a cart.' It is possible that the mere Portuguese article and noun 'a carreta' might have produced the Anglo-Indian hackery. Thus in Correa, under 1513, we have a description of the Surat hackeries; "and the carriages (as carretas) in which he and the Portuguese travelled, were elaborately wrought, and furnished with silk hangings, covering them from the sun; and these carriages (as carretas) run so smoothly (the country consisting of level plains) that the people travelling in them sleep as tranquilly as on the ground" (ii. 369).
But it is almost certain that the origin of the word is the H. chhakra, 'a two-wheeled cart'; and it may be noted that in old Singhalese chakka, 'a cart-wheel,' takes the forms haka and saka (see Kuhn, On Oldest Aryan Elements of Singhalese, translated by D. Ferguson in Indian Ant. xii. 64). [But this can have no connection with chhakra, which represents Skt. śakaṭa, 'a waggon.']
1673.—"The Coach wherein I was breaking, we were forced to mount the Indian Hackery, a Two-wheeled Chariot, drawn by swift little Oxen."—Fryer, 83. [For these swift oxen, see quot. from Forbes below, and from Aelian under GYNEE].
1690.—"Their Hackeries likewise, which are a kind of Coach, with two Wheels, are all drawn by Oxen."—Ovington, 254.
1711.—"The Streets (at Surat) are wide and commodious; otherwise the Hackerys, which are very common, would be an Inconveniency. These are a sort of Coaches drawn by a Pair of Oxen."—Lockyer, 259.
1742.—"The bridges are much worn, and out of repair, by the number of Hackaries and other carriages which are continually passing over them."—In Wheeler, iii. 262.
1756.—"The 11th of July the Nawab arrived in the city, and with him Bundoo Sing, to whose house we were removed that afternoon in a hackery."—Holwell, in Wheeler's Early Records, 249.
c. 1760.—"The hackrees are a conveyance drawn by oxen, which would at first give an idea of slowness that they do not deserve ... they are open on three sides, covered a-top, and are made to hold two people sitting cross-legged."—Grose, i. 155-156.
1780.—"A hackery is a small covered carriage upon two wheels drawn by bullocks, and used generally for the female part of the family."—Hodges, Travels, 5.
c. 1790.—"Quant aux palankins et hakkaries (voitures à deux roues), on les passe sur une double sangarie" (see JANGAR).—Haafner, ii. 173.
1793.—"To be sold by Public Auction ... a new Fashioned Hackery."—Bombay Courier, April 13.
1798.—"At half-past six o'clock we each got into a hackeray."—Stavorinus, tr. by Wilcocks, iii. 295.
1811.—Solvyns draws and describes the Hackery in the modern Bengal sense.
" "Il y a cependant quelques endroits où l'on se sert de charettes couvertes à deux roues, appelées hickeris, devant lesquelles on attèle des bœufs, et qui servent à voyager."—Editor of Haafner, Voyages, ii. 3.
1813.—"Travelling in a light hackaree, at the rate of five miles an hour."—Forbes, Or. Mem. iii. 376; [2nd ed. ii. 352; in i. 150, hackeries, ii. 253, hackarees]. Forbes's engraving represents such an ox-carriage as would be called in Bengal a bailī (see BYLEE).
1829.—"The genuine vehicle of the country is the hackery. This is a sort of wee tent, covered more or less with tinsel and scarlet, and bells and gilding, and placed upon a clumsy two-wheeled carriage with a pole that seems to be also a kind of boot, as it is at least a foot deep. This is drawn by a pair of white bullocks."—Mem. of Col. Mountain, 2nd ed., 84.
1860.—"Native gentlemen, driving fast trotting oxen in little hackery carts, hastened home from it."—Tennent's Ceylon, ii. 140.
[HADDY, s. A grade of troops in the Mogul service. According to Prof. Blochmann (Āīn, i. 20, note) they corresponded to our "Warranted officers." "Most clerks of the Imperial offices, the painters of the Court, the foremen in Akbar's workshops, &c., belonged to this corps. They were called Aḥadīs, or single men, because they stood under Akbar's immediate orders." And Mr. Irvine writes: "Midway between the nobles or leaders (mansabdārs) with the horsemen under them (tābīnān) on the one hand, and the Aḥshām (see EYSHAM), or infantry, artillery, and artificers on the other, stood the Aḥadī, or gentleman trooper. The word is literally 'single' or 'alone' (A. aḥad, 'one'). It is easy to see why this name was applied to them; they offered their services singly, they did not attach themselves to any chief, thus forming a class apart from the tābīnān; but as they were horsemen, they stood equally apart from the specialised services included under the remaining head of Aḥshām." (J. R. As. Soc., July 1896, p. 545.)
[c. 1590.—"Some soldiers are placed under the care and guidance of one commander. They are called Ahadis, because they are fit for a harmonious unity."—Āīn, ed. Blochmann, i. 231.
[1616.—"The Prince's Haddy ... betrayed me."—Sir T. Roe, Hak. Soc. ii. 383.
[1617.—"A Haddey of horse sent down to see it effected."—Ibid. ii. 450.
[c. 1625.—"The day after, one of the King's Haddys finding the same."—Coryat, in Purchas, i. 600.]
HADGEE, s. Ar. Ḥājj, a pilgrim to Mecca; from ḥajj, the pilgrimage, or visit to a venerated spot. Hence Hājjī and Hājī used colloquially in Persian and Turkish. Prof. Robertson Smith writes: "There is current confusion about the word ḥājj. It is originally the participle of ḥajj, 'he went on the ḥajj.' But in modern use ḥājij is used as part., and ḥājj is the title given to one who has made the pilgrimage. When this is prefixed to a name, the double j cannot be pronounced without inserting a short vowel and the a is shortened; thus you say 'el-Hajjĕ Soleimān,' or the like. The incorrect form Hājjī is however used by Turks and Persians."
[1609.—"Upon your order, if Hoghee Careen so please, I purpose to delve him 25 pigs of lead."—Danvers, Letters, i. 26.
[c. 1610.—"Those who have been to Arabia ... are called Agy."—Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. i. 165.
[c. 1665.—"Aureng-Zebe once observed perhaps by way of joke, that Sultan Sujah was become at last an Agy or pilgrim."—Bernier, ed. Constable, 113.
[1673.—"Hodge, a Pilgrimage to Mecca." (See under A MUCK.)
[1683.—"Hodgee Sophee Caun." See under FIRMAUN.]
1765.—"Hodgee acquired this title from his having in his early years made a pilgrimage to Hodge (or the tomb of Mahommed at Mecca)."—Holwell, Hist. Events, &c., i. 59.
[c. 1833.—"The very word in Hebrew Khog, which means 'festival,' originally meant 'pilgrimage,' and corresponds with what the Arabs call hatch...."—Travels of Dr. Wolff, ii. 155.]
HÁKIM, s. H. from Ar. ḥākim, 'a judge, a ruler, a master'; 'the authority.' The same Ar. root ḥakm, 'bridling, restraining, judging,' supplies a variety of words occurring in this Glossary, viz. Ḥākim (as here); Ḥakīm (see HUCKEEM); Ḥukm (see HOOKUM); Ḥikmat (see HICKMAT).
[1611.—"Not standing with his greatness to answer every Haccam, which is as a Governor or petty King."—Danvers, Letters, i. 158. In ibid. i. 175, Hackum is used in the same way.]
1698.—"Hackum, a Governor."—Fryer's Index Explanatory.
c. 1861.—
"Then comes a settlement Hakim, to teach me to plough and weed—
I sowed the cotton he gave me—but first I boiled the seed...."
Sir A. C. Lyall, The Old Pindaree.
HALÁLCORE, s. Lit. Ar.—P. ḥalāl-khor, 'one who eats what is lawful,' [ḥalāl being the technical Mahommedan phrase for the slaying of an animal to be used for food according to the proper ritual], applied euphemistically to a person of very low caste, a sweeper or scavenger, implying 'to whom all is lawful food.' Generally used as synonymous with bungy (q.v.). [According to Prof. Blochmann, "Ḥalālkhūr, i.e. one who eats that which the ceremonial law allows, is a euphemism for ḥarāmkhūr, one who eats forbidden things, as pork, &c. The word ḥalālkhūr is still in use among educated Muhammadans; but it is doubtful whether (as stated in the Āīn) it was Akbar's invention." (Āīn, i. 139 note.)]
1623.—"Schiah Selim nel principio ... si sdegnò tanto, che poco mancò che per dispetto non la desse per forza in matrimonio ad uno della razza che chiamano halal chor, quasi dica 'mangia lecito,' cioè che ha per lecito di mangiare ogni cosa...." (See other quotation under HAREM).—P. della Valle, ii. 525; [Hak. Soc. i. 54].
1638.—"... sont obligez de se purifier depuis la teste i'usqu'aux pieds si quelqu'vn de ces gens qu'ils appellent Alchores, leur a touché."—Mandelslo, Paris, 1659, 219.
1665.—"Ceux qui ne parlent que Persan dans les Indes, les appellent Halalcour, c'est à dire celui qui se donne la liberté de manger de tout ce qu'il lui plait, ou, selon quelques uns, celui qui mange ce qu'il a légitimement gagné. Et ceux qui approuvent cette dernière explication, disent qu'autrefois Halalcours s'appellent Haramcours, mangeurs de Viande defenduës."—Thevenot, v. 190.
1673.—"That they should be accounted the Offscum of the People, and as base as the Holencores (whom they account so, because they defile themselves by eating anything)."—Fryer, 28; [and see under BOY, b].
1690.—"The Halalchors ... are another Sort of Indians at Suratt, the most contemptible, but extremely necessary to be there."—Ovington, 382.
1763.—"And now I must mention the Hallachores, whom I cannot call a Tribe, being rather the refuse of all the Tribes. These are a set of poor unhappy wretches, destined to misery from their birth...."—Reflexions, &c., by Luke Scrafton, Esq., 7-8. It was probably in this passage that Burns (see below) picked up the word.
1783.—"That no Hollocore, Derah, or Chandala caste, shall upon any consideration come out of their houses after 9 o'clock in the morning, lest they should taint the air, or touch the superior Hindoos in the streets."—Mahratta Proclamation at Baroch, in Forbes, Or. Mem. iv. 232.
1786.—"When all my schoolfellows and youthful compeers (those misguided few excepted who joined, to use a Gentoo phrase, the hallachores of the human race) were striking off with eager hope and earnest intent, in some one or other of the many paths of a busy life, I was 'standing idle in the market-place.'"—Letter of Robert Burns, in A. Cunningham's ed. of Works and Life, vi. 63.
1788.—The Indian Vocabulary also gives Hallachore.
1810.—"For the meaner offices we have a Hallalcor or Chandela (one of the most wretched Pariahs)."—Maria Graham, 31.
HALÁLLCUR. V. used in the imperative for infinitive, as is common in the Anglo-Indian use of H. verbs, being Ar.—H. ḥalāl-kar, 'make lawful,' i.e. put (an animal) to death in the manner prescribed to Mahommedans, when it is to be used for food.
[1855.—"Before breakfast I bought a moderately sized sheep for a dollar. Shaykh Hamid 'halaled' (butchered) it according to rule...."—Burton, Pilgrimage, ed. 1893, i. 255.]
1883.—"The diving powers of the poor duck are exhausted.... I have only ... to seize my booty, which has just enough of life left to allow Peer Khan to make it halal, by cutting its throat in the name of Allah, and dividing the webs of its feet."—Tribes on My Frontier, 167.
HALF-CASTE, s. A person of mixt European and Indian blood. (See MUSTEES; EURASIAN.)
1789.—"Mulattoes, or as they are called in the East Indies, half-casts."—Munro's Narrative, 51.
1793.—"They (the Mahratta Infantry) are commanded by half-cast people of Portuguese and French extraction, who draw off the attention of the spectators from the bad clothing of their men, by the profusion of antiquated lace bestowed on their own."—Dirom, Narrative, ii.
1809.—"The Padre, who is a half-cast Portuguese, informed me that he had three districts under him."—Ld. Valentia, i. 329.
1828.—"An invalid sergeant ... came, attended by his wife, a very pretty young half-caste."—Heber, i. 298.
1875.—"Othello is black—the very tragedy lies there; the whole force of the contrast, the whole pathos and extenuation of his doubts of Desdemona, depend on this blackness. Fechter makes him a half-caste."—G. H. Lewes, On Actors and the Art of Acting.
HANGER, s. The word in this form is not in Anglo-Indian use, but (with the Scotch whinger, Old Eng. whinyard, Fr. cangiar, &c., other forms of the same) may be noted here as a corruption of the Arab. khanjar, 'a dagger or short falchion.' This (vulg. cunjur) is the Indian form. [According to the N.E.D. though 'hanger' has sometimes been employed to translate khanjar (probably with a notion of etymological identity) there is no connection between the words.] The khanjar in India is a large double-edged dagger with a very broad base and a slight curve. [See drawings in Egerton, Handbook of Indian Arms, pl. X. Nos. 504, 505, &c.]
1574.—"Patrick Spreull ... being persewit be Johne Boill Chepman ... in invadyng of him, and stryking him with ane quhinger ... throuch the quhilk the said Johnes neis wes woundit to the effusioun of his blude."—Exts. from Records of the Burgh of Glasgow (1876), p. 2.
1601.—"The other day I happened to enter into some discourse of a hanger, which I assure you, both for fashion and workmanship was most peremptory beautiful and gentlemanlike...."—B. Jonson, Every Man in His Humour, i. 4.
[c. 1610.—"The islanders also bore their arms, viz., alfanges (al-khanjar) or scimitars."—Pyrard de Laval, Hak. Soc. i. 43.]
1653.—"Gangeard est en Turq, Persan et Indistanni vn poignard courbé."—De la Boullaye-le-Gouz, ed. 1657, p. 539.
1672.—"... il s'estoit emporté contre elle jusqu'à un tel excès qu'il luy avoit porté quelques coups de Cangiar dans les mamelles...."—Journal d'Ant. Galland, i. 177.
1673.—"... handjar de diamants...."—App. to do. ii. 189.
1676.—
"His pistol next he cock'd anew
And out his nutbrown whinyard drew."
Hudibras, Canto iii.
1684.—"The Souldiers do not wear Hangers or Scimitars like the Persians, but broad Swords like the Switzers...."—Tavernier, E.T. ii. 65; [ed. Ball, i. 157].
1712.—"His Excy ... was presented by the Emperor with a Hindoostany Candjer, or dagger, set with fine stones."—Valentijn, iv. (Suratte), 286.
[1717.—"The 23rd ultimo, John Surman received from his Majesty a horse and a Cunger...."—In Wheeler, Early Records, 183.]
1781.—"I fancy myself now one of the most formidable men in Europe; a blunderbuss for Joe, a pair of double barrels to stick in my belt, and a cut and thrust hanger with a little pistol in the hilt, to hang by my side."—Lord Minto, in Life, i. 56.
" "Lost out of a buggy on the Road between Barnagur and Calcutta, a steel mounted Hanger with a single guard."—Hicky's Bengal Gazette, June 30.
1883.—"... by farrashes, the carpet-spreader class, a large canjar, or curved dagger, with a heavy ivory handle, is carried; less for use than as a badge of office."—Wills, Modern Persia, 326.
HANSALERI, s. Table-servant's Hind. for 'horse-radish'! "A curious corruption, and apparently influenced by saleri, 'celery'"; (Mr. M. L. Dames, in Panjab N. and Q. ii. 184).
HANSIL, s. A hawser, from the English (Roebuck).
HANSPEEK, USPUCK, &c., s. Sea Hind. Aspak. A handspike, from the English.
HARAKIRI, s. This, the native name of the Japanese rite of suicide committed as a point of honour or substitute for judicial execution, has long been interpreted as "happy despatch," but what the origin of this curious error is we do not know. [The N.E.D. s.v. dispatch, says that it is humorous.] The real meaning is realistic in the extreme, viz., hara, 'belly,' kiri, 'to cut.'
[1598.—"And it is often seene that they rip their own bellies open."—Linschoten, Hak. Soc. i. 153.
[1615.—"His mother cut her own belly."—Foster, Letters, iv. 45.]
1616.—"Here we had news how Galsa Same was to passe this way to morrow to goe to a church near Miaco, called Coye; som say to cut his bellie, others say to be shaved a prist and to remeane theare the rest of his dais."—Cocks's Diary, i. 164.
1617.—"The King demanded 800 tais from Shosque Dono, or else to cut his belly, whoe, not having it to pay, did it."—Ibid. 337, see also ii. 202.
[1874.—See the elaborate account of the rite in Mitford, Tales of Old Japan, 2nd ed. 329 seqq. For a similar custom among the Karens, see M‘Mahon, Karens of the Golden Chersonese, 294.]
HARAMZADA, s. A scoundrel; literally 'misbegotten'; a common term of abuse. It is Ar.—P. ḥarām-zāda, 'son of the unlawful.' Ḥarām is from a root signifying sacer (see under HAREM), and which appears as Hebrew in the sense of 'devoting to destruction,' and of 'a ban.' Thus in Numbers xxi. 3: "They utterly destroyed them and their cities; and he called the name of the place Hormah." [See Encycl. Bibl. i. 468; ii. 2110.]
[1857.—"I am no advocate for slaying Shahzadas or any such-like Haramzadas without trial."—Bosworth Smith, L. of Ld. Lawrence, ii. 251.]
HAREM, s. Ar. ḥaram, ḥarīm, i.e. sacer, applied to the women of the family and their apartment. This word is not now commonly used in India, zenana (q.v.) being the common word for 'the women of the family,' or their apartments.
1298.—"... car maintes homes emorurent e mantes dames en furent veves ... e maintes autres dames ne furent à toz jorz mès en plores et en lermes: ce furent les meres et les araines de homes qe hi morurent."—Marco Polo, in Old Text of Soc. de Géographie, 251.
1623.—"Non so come sciah Selim ebbe notizia di lei e s'innamorò. Volle condurla nel suo haram o gynaeceo, e tenerla quivi appresso di sè come una delle altre concubine; ma questa donna (Nurmahal) che era sopra modo astuta ... ricusò."—P. della Valle, ii. 525; [Hak. Soc. i. 53].
1630.—"This Duke here and in other seralios (or Harams as the Persians term them) has above 300 concubines."—Herbert, 139.
1676.—"In the midst of the large Gallery is a Nich in the Wall, into which the King descends out of his Haram by a private pair of Stairs."—Tavernier, E.T. ii. 49; [ed. Ball, i. 101].
1726.—"On the Ganges also lies a noble fortress, with the Palace of the old Emperor of Hindostan, with his Hharaam or women's apartment...."—Valentijn, v. 168.
[1727.—"The King ... took his Wife into his own Harran or Seraglio...."—A. Hamilton, ed. 1744, i. 171.
[1812.—"Adjoining to the Chel Sitoon is the Harem; the term in Persia is applied to the establishments of the great, zenana is confined to those of inferior people."—Morier, Journey through Persia, &c., 166.]
HARRY, s. This word is quite obsolete. Wilson gives Hāṛī as Beng. 'A servant of the lowest class, a sweeper.' [The word means 'a collector of bones,' Skt. haḍḍa, 'a bone'; for the caste, see Risley, Tribes of Bengal, i. 314 seqq.] M.-Gen. Keatinge remarks that they are the goldsmiths of Assam; they are village watchmen in Bengal. (See under PYKE.) In two of the quotations below, Harry is applied to a woman, in one case employed to carry water. A female servant of this description is not now known among English families in Bengal.
1706.—
| "2 Tendells (see TINDAL) | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| * * * * * | |||
| 1 Hummummee[142] | 2 | 0 | 0 |
|
* * * * * |
|||
| 4 Manjees | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 Dandees (see DANDY) | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| * * * * * | |||
| 5 Harrys | 9 | 8 | 0 |
| * * * * * | |||
List of Men's Names, &c., immediately in the Service of the Honble. the Vnited Compy. in their Factory of Fort William, Bengall, November, 1706" (MS. in India Office).
c. 1753.—Among the expenses of the Mayor's Court at Calcutta we find: "A harry ... Rs. 1."—Long, 43.
c. 1754.—"A Harry or water-wench...." (at Madras).—Ives, 50.
[ " "Harries are the same at Bengal, as Frosts (see FARASH) are at Bombay. Their women do all the drudgery at your houses, and the men carry your Palanquin."—Ibid. 26.]
" In a tariff of wages recommended by the "Zemindars of Calcutta," we have: "Harry-woman to a Family ... 2 Rs."—In Seton-Karr, i. 95.
1768-71.—"Every house has likewise ... a harry-maid or matarani (see MATRANEE) who carries out the dirt; and a great number of slaves, both male and female."—Stavorinus, i. 523.
1781.—
| "2 Harries or Sweepers | 6 Rs. | |
| 2 Beesties | 8 Rs. | " |
Establishment ... under the Chief Magistrate of Banaris, in Appendix to Narr. of Insurrection there, Calcutta, 1782.
[1813.—"He was left to view a considerable time, and was then carried by the Hurries to the Golgotha."—Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd ed. ii. 131.]
HATTY, s. Hind. hāthī, the most common word for an elephant; from Skt. hasta, 'the hand,' and hastī, 'the elephant,' come the Hind. words hāth and hāthī, with the same meanings. The analogy of the elephant's trunk to the hand presents itself to Pliny:
"Mandunt ore; spirant et bibunt odoranturque haud inproprie appellatâ manu."—viii. 10.
and to Tennyson:
"... camels knelt
Unbidden, and the brutes of mountain back
That carry kings in castles, bow'd black knees
Of homage, ringing with their serpent hands,
To make her smile, her golden ankle-bells."
Merlin and Vivien.
c. 1526.—"As for the animals peculiar to Hindustân, one is the elephant, as the Hindustânis call it Hathì, which inhabits the district of Kalpi, the more do the wild elephants increase in number. That is the tract in which the elephant is chiefly taken."—Baber, 315. This notice of Baber's shows how remarkably times have changed. No elephants now exist anywhere near the region indicated. [On elephants in Hindustan, see Blochmann's Āīn, i. 618].
[1838.—"You are of course aware that we habitually call elephants Hotties, a name that might be safely applied to every other animal in India, but I suppose the elephants had the first choice of names and took the most appropriate."—Miss Eden, Up the Country, i. 269.]
HATTYCHOOK, s. Hind. hāthīchak, servant's and gardener's Hind. for the globe artichoke; [the Jerusalem artichoke is hāthīpīch]. This is worth producing, because our word (artichoke) is itself the corruption of an Oriental word thus carried back to the East in a mangled form.
a. Hind. hāth, (the hand or forearm, and thence) 'a cubit,' from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger; a measure of 18 inches, and sometimes more.
[1614.—"A godown 10 Hast high."—Foster, Letters, ii. 112.
[c. 1810.—"... even in the measurements made by order of the collectors, I am assured, that the only standards used were the different Kazis' arms, which leaves great room for fraud.... All persons measuring cloth know how to apply their arm, so as to measure a cubit of 18 inches with wonderful exactness."—Buchanan, Eastern India, ii. 576.]
b. Hind. hāṭ, Skt. haṭṭa, 'a market held on certain days.'
[1800.—"In this Carnatic ... there are no fairs like the hauts of Bengal."—Buchanan, Mysore, i. 19.
[1818.—"The Hindoos have also market days (hătŭs), when the buyers and sellers assemble, sometimes in an open plain, but in general in market places."—Ward, Hindoos, i. 151.]
HAVILDAR, s. Hind. ḥavildār. A sepoy non-commissioned officer, corresponding to a sergeant, and wearing the chevrons of a sergeant. This dating from about the middle of the 18th century is the only modern use of the term in that form. It is a corruption of Pers. ḥawāladār, or ḥawāldār, 'one holding an office of trust'; and in this form it had, in other times, a variety of applications to different charges and subordinate officers. Thus among the Mahrattas the commandant of a fort was so styled; whilst in Eastern Bengal the term was, and perhaps still is, applied to the holder of a ḥawāla, an intermediate tenure between those of zemindar and ryot.