[1767.—"Saggur Depessah-pay...."—In Long, 513.]
SAGO, s. From Malay sāgū. The farinaceous pith taken out of the stem of several species of a particular genus of palm, especially Metroxylon laeve, Mart., and M. Rumphii, Willd., found in every part of the Indian Archipelago, including the Philippines, wherever there is proper soil. They are most abundant in the eastern part of the region indicated, including the Moluccas and N. Guinea, which probably formed the original habitat; and in these they supply the sole bread of the natives. In the remaining parts of the Archipelago, sago is the food only of certain wild tribes, or consumed (as in Mindanao) by the poor only, or prepared (as at Singapore, &c.) for export. There are supposed to be five species producing the article.
1298.—"They have a kind of trees that produce flour, and excellent flour it is for food. These trees are very tall and thick, but have a very thin bark, and inside the bark they are crammed with flour."—Marco Polo, Bk. iii. ch. xi.
1330.—"But as for the trees which produce flour, tis after this fashion.... And the result is the best pasta in the world, from which they make whatever they choose, cates of sorts, and excellent bread, of which I, Friar Odoric, have eaten."—Fr. Odoric, in Cathay, &c., 32.
1522.—"Their bread (in Tidore) they make of the wood of a certain tree like a palm-tree, and they make it in this way. They take a piece of this wood, and extract from it certain long black thorns which are situated there; then they pound it, and make bread of it which they call sagu. They make provision of this bread for their sea voyages."—Pigafetta, Hak. Soc. p. 136. This is a bad description, and seems to refer to the Sagwire, not the true sago-tree.
1552.—"There are also other trees which are called çagus, from the pith of which bread is made."—Castanheda, vi. 24.
1553.—"Generally, although they have some millet and rice, all the people of the Isles of Maluco eat a certain food which they call Sagum, which is the pith of a tree like a palm-tree, except that the leaf is softer and smoother, and the green of it is rather dark."—Barros, III. v. 5.
1579.—"... and a Kind of meale which they call Sago, made of the toppes of certaine trees, tasting in the Mouth like some curds, but melts away like sugar."—Drake's Voyage, Hak. Soc. p. 142.
" Also in a list of "Certaine Wordes of the Naturall Language of Iaua"; "Sagu, bread of the Countrey."—Hakl. iv. 246.
c. 1690.—"Primo Sagus genuina, Malaice Sagu, sive Lapia tuni, h.e. vera Sagu."—Rumphius, i. 75. (We cannot make out the language of lapia tuni.)
1727.—"And the inland people subsist mostly on Sagow, the Pith of a small Twig split and dried in the Sun."—A. Hamilton, ii. 93; [ed. 1744].
SAGWIRE, s. A name applied often in books, and, formerly at least, in the colloquial use of European settlers and traders, to the Gomuti palm or Arenga saccharifera, Labill., which abounds in the Ind. Archipelago, and is of great importance in its rural economy. The name is Port. sagueira (analogous to palmeira), in Span. of the Indies saguran, and no doubt is taken from sagu, as the tree, though not the Sago-palm of commerce, affords a sago of inferior kind. Its most important product, however, is the sap, which is used as toddy (q.v.), and which in former days also afforded almost all the sugar used by natives in the islands. An excellent cordage is made from a substance resembling black horse-hair, which is found between the trunk and the fronds, and this is the gomuti of the Malays, which furnished one of the old specific names (Borassus Gomutus, Loureiro). There is also found in a like position a fine cotton-like substance which makes excellent tinder, and strong stiff spines from which pens are made, as well as arrows for the blow-pipe, or Sumpitan (see SARBATANE). "The seeds have been made into a confection, whilst their pulpy envelope abounds in a poisonous juice—used in the barbarian wars of the natives—to which the Dutch gave the appropriate name of 'hell-water'" (Crawfurd, Desc. Dict. p. 145). The term sagwire is sometimes applied to the toddy or palm-wine, as will be seen below.
1515.—"They use no sustenance except the meal of certain trees, which trees they call Sagur, and of this they make bread."—Giov. da Empoli, 86.
1615.—"Oryza tamen magna hic copia, ingens etiam modus arborum quas Saguras vocant, quaeque varia suggerunt commoda."—Jarric, i. 201.
1631.—"... tertia frequens est in Banda ac reliquis insulis Moluccis, quae distillat ex arbore non absimili Palmae Indicae, isque potus indigenis Saguër vocatur...."—Jac. Bontii, Dial. iv. p. 9.
1784.—"The natives drink much of a liquor called saguire, drawn from the palm-tree."—Forrest, Mergui, 73.
1820.—"The Portuguese, I know not for what reason, and other European nations who have followed them, call the tree and the liquor sagwire."—Crawfurd, Hist. i. 401.
SAHIB, s. The title by which, all over India, European gentlemen, and it may be said Europeans generally, are addressed, and spoken of, when no disrespect is intended, by natives. It is also the general title (at least where Hindustani or Persian is used) which is affixed to the name or office of a European, corresponding thus rather to Monsieur than to Mr. For Colonel Ṣāḥib, Collector Ṣāḥib, Lord Ṣāḥib, and even Sergeant Ṣāḥib are thus used, as well as the general vocative Ṣāḥib! 'Sir!' In other Hind. use the word is equivalent to 'Master'; and it is occasionally used as a specific title both among Hindus and Musulmans, e.g. Appa Ṣāḥib, Tīpū Ṣāḥib; and generically is affixed to the titles of men of rank when indicated by those titles, as Khān Ṣāḥib, Nawāb Ṣāḥib, Rājā Ṣāḥib. The word is Arabic, and originally means 'a companion'; (sometimes a companion of Mahommed). [In the Arabian Nights it is the title of a Wazīr (Burton, i. 218).]
1673.—"... To which the subtle Heathen replied, Sahab (i.e. Sir), why will you do more than the Creator meant?"—Fryer, 417.
1689.—"Thus the distracted Husband in his Indian English confest, English fashion, Sab, best fashion, have one Wife best for one Husband."—Ovington, 326.
1853.—"He was told that a 'Sahib' wanted to speak with him."—Oakfield, ii. 252.
1878.—"... forty Elephants and five Sahibs with guns and innumerable followers."—Life in the Mofussil, i. 194.
[ST. DEAVES, n.p. A corruption of the name of the island of Sandwīp in the Bay of Bengal, situated off the coast of Chittagong and Noakhālī, which is best known in connection with the awful loss of life and property in the cyclone of 1876.
[1688.—"From Chittagaum we sailed away the 29th January, after had sent small vessels to search round the Island St. Deaves."—In Yule, Hedges' Diary, Hak. Soc. II. lxxx.]
a. An English sailor's corruption, which for a long time maintained its place in our maps. It is the Sindān of the old Arab Geographers, and was the first durable settling-place of the Parsee refugees on their emigration to India in the 8th century. [Dosabhai Framji, Hist. of the Parsis, i. 30.] The proper name of the place, which is in lat. 20° 12′ and lies 88 m. north of Bombay, is apparently Sajām (see Hist. of Cambay, in Bo. Govt. Selections, No. xxvi., N.S., p. 52), but it is commonly called Sanjān. E. B. Eastwick in J. Bo. As. Soc. R. i. 167, gives a Translation from the Persian of the "Kiṣṣah-i-Sanjān, or History of the arrival and settlement of the Parsees in India." Sanjān is about 3 m. from the little river-mouth port of Umbargām. "Evidence of the greatness of Sanjān is found, for miles around, in old foundations and bricks. The bricks are of very superior quality."—Bomb. Gazetteer, vol. xiv. 302, [and for medieval references to the place, ibid. I. Pt. i. 262, 520 seq.].
c. 1150.—"Sindān is 1½ mile from the sea.... The town is large and has an extensive commerce both in exports and imports."—Edrisi, in Elliot, i. 85.
c. 1599.—
"When the Dastur saw the soil was good,
He selected the place for their residence:
The Dastur named the spot Sanjan,
And it became populous as the Land of Iran."
—Kiṣṣah, &c., as above, p. 179.
c. 1616.—"The aldea Nargol ... in the lands of Daman was infested by Malabar Moors in their parós, who commonly landed there for water and provisions, and plundered the boats that entered or quitted the river, and the passengers who crossed it, with heavy loss to the aldeas adjoining the river, and to the revenue from them, as well as to that from the custom-house of Sangens."—Bocarro, Decada, 670.
1623.—"La mattina seguente, fatto giorno, scoprimmo terra di lontano ... in un luogo poco discosto da Bassain, che gl'Inglesi chiamano Terra di San Giovanni; ma nella carta da navigare vidi esser notato, in lingua Portoghese, col nome d'ilhas das vaccas, o 'isole delle vacche' al modo nostro."—P. della Valle, ii. 500; [Hak. Soc. i. 16].
1630.—"It happened that in safety they made to the land of St. Iohns on the shoares of India."—Lord, The Religion of the Persees, 3.
1644.—"Besides these four posts there are in the said district four Tanadarias (see TANADAR), or different Captainships, called Samgês (St. John's), Danū, Maim, and Trapor."—Bocarro (Port. MS.).
1673.—"In a Week's Time we turned it up, sailing by Baçein, Tarapore, Valentine's Peak, St. John's, and Daman, the last City northward on the Continent, belonging to the Portuguese."—Fryer, 82.
1808.—"They (the Parsee emigrants) landed at Dieu, and lived there 19 years; but, disliking the place ... the greater part of them left it and came to the Guzerat coast, in vessels which anchored off Seyjan, the name of a town."—R. Drummond.
1813.—"The Parsees or Guebres ... continued in this place (Diu) for some time, and then crossing the Gulph, landed at Suzan, near Nunsaree, which is a little to the southward of Surat."—Forbes, Or. Mem. i. 109; [2nd ed. i. 78].
1841.—"The high land of St. John, about 3 leagues inland, has a regular appearance...."—Horsburgh's Directory, ed. 1841, i. 470.
1872.—"In connexion with the landing of the Parsis at Sanjân, in the early part of the 8th century, there still exist copies of the 15 Sanskrit Ślokas, in which their Mobeds explained their religion to Jadé Rânâ, the Râja of the place, and the reply he gave them."—Ind. Antiq. i. 214. The Ślokas are given. See them also in Dosabhai Framji's Hist. of the Parsees, i. 31.
b. ST. JOHN'S ISLAND, n.p. This again is a corruption of San-Shan, or more correctly Shang-chuang, the Chinese name of an island about 60 or 70 miles S.W. of Macao, and at some distance from the mouth of the Canton River, the place where St. Francis Xavier died, and was originally buried.
1552.—"Inde nos ad Sancianum, Sinarum insulam a Cantone millia pas. circiter cxx Deus perduxit incolumes."—Scti. Franc. Xaverii Epistt., Pragae 1667, IV. xiv.
1687.—"We came to Anchor the same Day, on the N.E. end of St. John's Island. This Island is in Lat. about 32 d. 30 min. North, lying on the S. Coast of the Province of Quantung or Canton in China."—Dampier, i. 406.
1727.—"A Portuguese Ship ... being near an Island on that Coast, called after St. Juan, some Gentlemen and Priests went ashore for Diversion, and accidentally found the Saint's Body uncorrupted, and carried it Passenger to Goa."—A. Hamilton, i. 252; [ed. 1744, ii. 255].
1780.—"St. John's," in Dunn's New Directory, 472.
c. ST. JOHN'S ISLANDS. This is also the chart-name, and popular European name, of two islands about 6 m. S. of Singapore, the chief of which is properly Pulo Sikajang, [or as Dennys (Desc. Dict. 321) writes the word, Pulo Skijang].
SAIVA, s. A worshipper of Śiva; Skt. Śaiva, adj., 'belonging to Siva.'
1651.—"The second sect of the Bramins, 'Seiviá' ... by name, say that a certain Eswara is the supreme among the gods, and that all the others are subject to him."—Rogerius, 17.
1867.—"This temple is reckoned, I believe, the holiest shrine in India, at least among the Shaivites."—Bp. Milman, in Memoirs, p. 48.
SALA, s. Hind. sālā, 'brother-in-law,' i.e. wife's brother; but used elliptically as a low term of abuse.
[1856.—"Another reason (for infanticide) is the blind pride which makes them hate that any man should call them sala, or Sussoor—brother-in-law, or father-in-law."—Forbes, Rās Mālā, ed. 1878, 616.]
1881.—"Another of these popular Paris sayings is 'et ta sœur?' which is as insulting a remark to a Parisian as the apparently harmless remark sālā, 'brother-in-law,' is to a Hindoo."—Sat. Rev., Sept. 10, 326.
SALAAM, s. A salutation; properly oral salutation of Mahommedans to each other. Arab. salām, 'peace.' Used for any act of salutation; or for 'compliments.'
[c. 60 B.C.—
"Ἀλλ' εἰ μὲν Σύρος ἐσσὶ "Σαλὰμ," εἰ δ' οὗν σύ γε φοίνιξ
"Ναίδιος," εἰ δ' Ἕλλην "Χαῖρε"· τὸ δ' αὐτὸ φράσον."
—Meleagros, in Anthologia Palatina, vii. 149.
The point is that he has been a bird of passage, and says good-bye now to his various resting-places in their own tongue.]
1513.—"The ambassador (of Bisnagar) entering the door of the chamber, the Governor rose from the chair on which he was seated, and stood up while the ambassador made him great çalema."—Correa, Lendas, II. i. 377. See also p. 431.
1552.—"The present having been seen he took the letter of the Governor, and read it to him, and having read it told him how the Governor sent him his çalema, and was at his command with all his fleet, and with all the Portuguese...."—Castanheda, iii. 445.
1611.—"Çalema. The salutation of an inferior."—Cobarruvias, Sp. Dict. s.v.
1626.—"Hee (Selim i.e. Jahāngīr) turneth ouer his Beades, and saith so many words, to wit three thousand and two hundred, and then presenteth himself to the people to receive their salames or good morrow...."—Purchas, Pilgrimage, 523.
1638.—"En entrant ils se salüent de leur Salom qu'ils accompagnent d'vne profonde inclination."—Mandelslo, Paris, 1659, 223.
1648.—"... this salutation they call salam; and it is made with bending of the body, and laying of the right hand upon the head."—Van Twist, 55.
1689.—"The Salem of the Religious Bramins, is to join their Hands together, and spreading them first, make a motion towards their Head, and then stretch them out."—Ovington, 183.
1694.—"The Town Conicopolies, and chief inhabitants of Egmore, came to make their Salaam to the President."—Wheeler, i. 281.
1717.—"I wish the Priests in Tranquebar a Thousand fold Schalam."—Philipp's Acct. 62.
1809.—"The old priest was at the door, and with his head uncovered, to make his salaams."—Ld. Valentia, i. 273.
1813.—
"'Ho! who art thou?'—'This low salam
Replies, of Moslem faith I am.'"
Byron, The Giaour.
1832.—"Il me rendit tous les salams que je fis autrefois au Grand Mogol."—Jacquemont, Corresp. ii. 137.
1844.—"All chiefs who have made their salam are entitled to carry arms personally."—G. O. of Sir C. Napier, 2.
SALAK, s. A singular-looking fruit, sold and eaten in the Malay regions, described in the quotation. It is the fruit of a species of ratan (Salacca edulis), of which the Malay name is rotan-salak.
1768-71.—"The salac (Calamus rotang zalacca) which is the fruit of a prickly bush, and has a singular appearance, being covered with scales, like those of a lizard; it is nutritious and well tasted, in flavour somewhat resembling a raspberry."—Stavorinus, E.T. i. 241.
SALEB, SALEP, s. This name is applied to the tubers of various species of orchis found in Europe and Asia, which from ancient times have had a great reputation as being restorative and highly nutritious. This reputation seems originally to have rested on the 'doctrine of signatures,' but was due partly no doubt to the fact that the mucilage of saleb has the property of forming, even with the addition of 40 parts of water, a thick jelly. Good modern authorities quite disbelieve in the virtues ascribed to saleb, though a decoction of it, spiced and sweetened, makes an agreeable drink for invalids. Saleb is identified correctly by Ibn Baithar with the Satyrium of Dioscorides and Galen. The full name in Ar. (analogous to the Greek orchis) is Khuṣī-al-tha'lab, i.e. 'testiculus vulpis'; but it is commonly known in India as s̤a'lab miṣrī, i.e. Salep of Egypt, or popularly salep-misry. In Upper India s̤aleb is derived from various species of Eulophia, found in Kashmīr and the Lower Himālaya. Saloop, which is, or used to be, supplied hot in winter mornings by itinerant vendors in the streets of London, is, we believe, a representative of Saleb; but we do not know from what it is prepared. [In 1889 a correspondent to Notes & Queries (7 ser. vii. 35) stated that "within the last twenty years saloop vendors might have been seen plying their trade in the streets of London. The term saloop was also applied to an infusion of the sassafras bark or wood. In Pereira's Materia Medica, published in 1850, it is stated that 'sassafras tea, flavoured with milk and sugar, is sold at daybreak in the streets of London under the name of saloop.' Saloop in balls is still sold in London, and comes mostly from Smyrna."]
In the first quotation it is doubtful what is meant by salīf; but it seems possible that the traveller may not have recognised the tha'lab, s̤a'lab in its Indian pronunciation.
c. 1340.—"After that, they fixed the amount of provision to be given by the Sultan, viz. 1000 Indian riṭls of flour ... 1000 of meat, a large number of riṭls (how many I don't now remember) of sugar, of ghee, of salīf, of areca, and 1000 leaves of betel."—Ibn Batuta, iii. 382.
1727.—"They have a fruit called Salob, about the size of a Peach, but without a stone. They dry it hard ... and being beaten to Powder, they dress it as Tea and Coffee are.... They are of opinion that it is a great restorative."—A. Hamilton, i. 125; [ed. 1744, i. 126].
[1754.—In his list of Indian drugs Ives (p. 44) gives "Rad. Salop, Persia Rs. 35 per maund."]
1838.—"Saleb Misree, a medicine, comes (a little) from Russia. It is considered a good nutritive for the human constitution, and is for this purpose powdered and taken with milk. It is in the form of flat oval pieces of about 80 grains each.... It is sold at 2 or 3 Rupees per ounce."—Desc. of articles found in Bazars of Cabool. In Punjab Trade Report, 1862, App. vi.
1882 (?).—"Here we knock against an ambulant salep-shop (a kind of tea which people drink on winter mornings); there against roaming oil, salt, or water-vendors, bakers carrying brown bread on wooden trays, pedlars with cakes, fellows offering dainty little bits of meat to the knowing purchaser."—Levkosia, The Capital of Cyprus, ext. in St. James's Gazette, Sept. 10.
SALEM, n.p. A town and inland district of S. India. Properly Shelam, which is perhaps a corruption of Chera, the name of the ancient monarchy in which this district was embraced. ["According to one theory the town of Salem is said to be identical with Seran or Sheran, and occasionally to have been named Sheralan; when S. India was divided between the three dynasties of Chola, Sera and Pandia, according to the generally accepted belief, Karur was the place where the three territorial divisions met; the boundary was no doubt subject to vicissitudes, and at one time possibly Salem or Serar was a part of Sera."—Le Fanu, Man. of Salem, ii. 18.]
SALEMPOORY, s. A kind of chintz. See allusions under PALEMPORE. [The Madras Gloss., deriving the word from Tel. sāle, 'weaver,' pura, Skt. 'town,' describes it as "a kind of cotton cloth formerly manufactured at Nellore; half the length of ordinary Punjums" (see PIECE-GOODS). The third quotation indicates that it was sometimes white.]
[1598.—"Sarampuras."—Linschoten, Hak. Soc. i. 95.
[1611.—"I ... was only doubtful about the white Betteelas and Salempurys."—Danvers, Letters, i. 155.
[1614.—"Salampora, being a broad white cloth."—Foster, ibid. ii. 32.]
1680.—"Certain goods for Bantam priced as follows:—
"Salampores, Blew, at 14 Pagodas per corge...."—Ft. St. Geo. Consn., April 22. In Notes and Exts. iii. 16; also ibid. p. 24.
1747.—"The Warehousekeeper reported that on the 1st inst. when the French entered our Bounds and attacked us ... it appeared that 5 Pieces of Long Cloth and 10 Pieces of Salampores were stolen, That Two Pieces of Salampores were found upon a Peon ... and the Person detected is ordered to be severely whipped in the Face of the Publick...."—Ft. St. David Consn., March 30 (MS. Records in India Office).
c. 1780.—"... en l'on y fabriquoit différentes espèces de toiles de coton, telles que salempouris."—Haafner, ii. 461.
SALIGRAM, s. Skt. Śālagrāma (this word seems to be properly the name of a place, 'Village of the Sāl-tree'—a real or imaginary tīrtha or place of sacred pilgrimage, mentioned in the Mahābhārata). [Other and less probable explanations are given by Oppert, Anc. Inhabitants, 337.] A pebble having mystic virtues, found in certain rivers, e.g. Gandak, Son, &c. Such stones are usually marked by containing a fossil ammonite. The śālagrāma is often adopted as the representative of some god, and the worship of any god may be performed before it.[235] It is daily worshipped by the Brahmans; but it is especially connected with Vaishnava doctrine. In May 1883 a śālagrāma was the ostensible cause of great popular excitement among the Hindus of Calcutta. During the proceedings in a family suit before the High Court, a question arose regarding the identity of a śālagrāma, regarded as a household god. Counsel on both sides suggested that the thing should be brought into court. Mr. Justice Norris hesitated to give this order till he had taken advice. The attorneys on both sides, Hindus, said there could be no objection; the Court interpreter, a high-caste Brahman, said it could not be brought into Court, because of the coir-matting, but it might with perfect propriety be brought into the corridor for inspection; which was done. This took place during the excitement about the "Ilbert Bill," giving natives magisterial authority in the provinces over Europeans; and there followed most violent and offensive articles in several native newspapers reviling Mr. Justice Norris, who was believed to be hostile to the Bill. The editor of the Bengallee newspaper, an educated man, and formerly a member of the covenanted Civil Service, the author of one of the most unscrupulous and violent articles, was summoned for contempt of court. He made an apology and complete retractation, but was sentenced to two months' imprisonment.
c. 1590.—"Salgram is a black stone which the Hindoos hold sacred.... They are found in the river Sown, at the distance of 40 cose from the mouth."—Ayeen, Gladwin's E.T. 1800, ii. 25; [ed. Jarrett, ii. 150].
1782.—"Avant de finir l'histoire de Vichenou, je ne puis me dispenser de parler de la pierre de Salagraman. Elle n'est autre chose qu'une coquille petrifiée du genre des cornes d'Ammon: les Indiens prétendent qu'elle represente Vichenou, parcequ'ils en ont découvert de neuf nuances différentes, ce qu'ils rapportent aux neuf incarnations de ce Dieu.... Cette pierre est aux sectateurs de Vichenou ce que le Lingam est à ceux de Chiven."—Sonnerat, i. 307.
[1822.—"In the Nerbuddah are found those types of Shiva, called Solgrammas, which are sacred pebbles held in great estimation all over India."—Wallace, Fifteen Years in India, 296.]
1824.—"The shalgramŭ is black, hollow, and nearly round; it is found in the Gunduk River, and is considered a representation of Vishnoo.... The Shalgramŭ is the only stone that is naturally divine; all the other stones are rendered sacred by incantations."—Wanderings of a Pilgrim, i. 43.
1885.—"My father had one (a Salagram). It was a round, rather flat, jet black, small, shining stone. He paid it the greatest reverence possible, and allowed no one to touch it, but worshipped it with his own hands. When he became ill, and as he would not allow a woman to touch it, he made it over to a Brahman ascetic with a money present."—Sundrábái, in Punjab Notes and Queries, ii. 109. The śālagrāma is in fact a Hindu fetish.
SALLABAD, s. This word, now quite obsolete, occurs frequently in the early records of English settlements in India, for the customary or prescriptive exactions of the native Governments, and for native prescriptive claims in general. It is a word of Mahratti development, sālābād, 'perennial,' applied to permanent collections or charges; apparently a factitious word from Pers. sāl, 'year,' and Ar. ābād, 'ages.'
[1680.—"Salabad." See under ROOCKA.]
1703.—"... although these are hardships, yet by length of time become Sallabad (as we esteem them), there is no great demur made now, and are not recited here as grievances."—In Wheeler, ii. 19.
1716.—"The Board upon reading them came to the following resolutions:—That for anything which has yet appeared the Comatees (Comaty) may cry out their Pennagundoo Nagarum ... at their houses, feasts, and weddings, &c., according to Salabad but not before the Pagoda of Chindy Pillary...."—Ibid. 234.
1788.—"Sallabaud. (Usual Custom). A word used by the Moors Government to enforce their demand of a present."—Indian Vocabulary (Stockdale).
SALOOTREE, SALUSTREE, s. Hind. Sālotar, Sālotrī. A native farrier or horse-doctor. This class is now almost always Mahommedan. But the word is taken from the Skt. name Sālihotra, the original owner of which is supposed to have written in that language a treatise on the Veterinary Art, which still exists in a form more or less modified and imperfect. "A knowledge of Sanskrit must have prevailed pretty generally about this time (14th century), for there is in the Royal Library at Lucknow a work on the veterinary art, which was translated from the Sanskrit by order of Ghiyásu-d dín Muhammad Sháh Khiljí. This rare book, called Kurrutu-l-Mulk, was translated as early as A.H. 783 (A.D. 1381), from an original styled Sálotar, which is the name of an Indian, who is said to have been a Bráhman, and the tutor of Susruta. The Preface says the translation was made 'from the barbarous Hindi into the refined Persian, in order that there may be no more need of a reference to infidels.'"[236] (Elliot, v. 573-4.)
[1831.—"'... your aloes are not genuine.' 'Oh yes, they are,' he exclaimed. 'My salutree got them from the Bazaar.'"—Or. Sport. Mag., reprint 1873, ii. 223.]
a. A considerable island immediately north of Bombay. The island of Bombay is indeed naturally a kind of pendant to the island of Salsette, and during the Portuguese occupation it was so in every sense. That occupation is still marked by the remains of numerous villas and churches, and by the survival of a large R. Catholic population. The island also contains the famous and extensive caves of Kāṇhērī (see KENNERY). The old city of Tana (q.v.) also stands upon Salsette. Salsette was claimed as part of the Bombay dotation of Queen Catherine, but refused by the Portuguese. The Mahrattas took it from them in 1739, and it was taken from these by us in 1774. The name has been by some connected with the salt-works which exist upon the islands (Salinas). But it appears in fact to be the corruption of a Mahratti name Shāshṭī, from Shāshashṭī, meaning 'Sixty-six' (Skt. Shaṭ-shashṭi), because (it is supposed) the island was alleged to contain that number of villages. This name occurs in the form Shatsashti in a stone inscription dated Sak. 1103 (A.D. 1182). See Bo. J. R. As. Soc. xii. 334. Another inscription on copper plates dated Sak. 748 (A.D. 1027) contains a grant of the village of Naura, "one of the 66 of Śri Sthānaka (Thana)," thus entirely confirming the etymology (J. R. As. Soc. ii. 383). I have to thank Mr. J. M. Campbell, C.S.I., for drawing my attention to these inscriptions.
b. Salsette is also the name of the three provinces of the Goa territory which constituted the Velhas Conquistas or Old Conquests. These lay all along the coast, consisting of (1) the Ilhas (viz. the island of Goa and minor islands divided by rivers and creeks), (2) Bardez on the northern mainland, and (3) Salsette on the southern mainland. The port of Marmagaon, which is the terminus of the Portuguese Indian Railway, is in this Salsette. The name probably had the like origin to that of the Island Salsette; a parallel to which was found in the old name of the Island of Goa, Tiçoari, meaning (Mahr.) Tīs-wādī, "30 hamlets." [See BARGANY.]
A.D. 1186.—"I, Aparāditya ("the paramount sovereign, the Ruler of the Koṅkana, the most illustrious King") have given with a libation of water 24 drachms, after exempting other taxes, from the fixed revenue of the oart in the village of Mahauli, connected with Shaṭ-shashṭi."—Inscription edited by Pandit Bhagavānlāl Indraji, in J. Bo. Br. R. A. S. xii. 332. [And see Bombay Gazetteer, I. Pt. ii. 544, 567.]
a.—
1536.—
| "Item—Revenue of the Cusba (Caçabe—see CUSBAH) of Maym: | ||
| R̃bc lxbij | fedeas | (40,567) |
| And the custom-house (Mandovim) of the said Maym |
" | (48,000) |
| And Mazagong (Mazaguão) | " | (11,500) |
| And Bombay (Monbaym) | " | (23,000) |
| And the Cusba and Customs of Caranja |
" | (94,700) |
| And in paddy (baté) | xxi muras (see MOORAH) 1 candil (see CANDY) |
|
| And the Island of Salsete | fedeas | (319,100) |
| And in paddy | xxi muras 1 candil." | |
| S. Botelho, Tombo, 142. | ||
1538.—"Beyond the Isle of Elephanta (do Alifante) about a league distant is the island of Salsete. This island is seven leagues long by 5 in breadth. On the north it borders the Gulf of Cambay, on the south it has the I. of Elephanta, on the east the mainland, and on the west the I. of Bombai or of Boa Vida. This island is very fertile, abounding in provisions, cattle, and game of sorts, and in its hills is great plenty of timber for building ships and galleys. In that part of the island which faces the S.W. wind is built a great and noble city called Thana; and a league and a half in the interior is an immense edifice called the Pagoda of Salsete; both one and the other objects most worthy of note; Thana for its decay (destroição) and the Pagoda as a work unique in its way, and the like of which is nowhere to be seen."—João de Castro, Primo Roteiro da India, 69-70.
1554.—"And to the Tanadar (tenadar) of Salsete 30,000 reis.
"He has under him 12 peons (piães) of whom the said governor takes 7; leaving him 5, which at the aforesaid rate amount to 10,800 reis.
"And to a Parvu (see PARVOE) that he has, who is the country writer ... and having the same pay as the Tenadar Mor, which is 3 pardaos a month, amounting in a year at the said rate to 10,800 reis."—Botelho, Tombo, in Subsidios, 211-212.
1610.—"Frey Manuel de S. Mathias, guardian of the convent of St. Francis in Goa, writes to me that ... in Goa alone there are 90 resident friars; and besides in Baçaim and its adjuncts, viz., in the island of Salsete and other districts of the north they have 18 parishes (Freguezias) of native Christians with vicars; and five of the convents have colleges, or seminaries where they bring up little orphans; and that the said Ward of Goa extends 300 leagues from north to south."—Livros das Monções, 298.
[1674.—"From whence these Pieces of Land receive their general Name of Salset ... either because it signifies in Canorein a Granary...."—Fryer, 62.]
c. 1760.—"It was a melancholy sight on the loss of Salsett, to see the many families forced to seek refuge on Bombay, and among them some Portuguese Hidalgos or noblemen, reduced of a sudden from very flourishing circumstances to utter beggary."—Grose, i. 72.
[1768.—"Those lands are comprised in 66 villages, and from this number it is called Salsette."—Foral of Salsette, India Office MS.]
1777.—"The acquisition of the Island of Salset, which in a manner surrounds the Island of Bombay, is sufficient to secure the latter from the danger of a famine."—Price's Tracts, i. 101.
1808.—"The island of Sashty (corrupted by the Portuguese into Salsette) was conquered by that Nation in the year of Christ 1534, from the Mohammedan Prince who was then its Sovereign; and thereupon parcelled out, among the European subjects of Her Most Faithful Majesty, into village allotments, at a very small Foro or quit-rent."—Bombay, Regn. I. of 1808, sec. ii.
b.—
1510.—"And he next day, by order of the Governor, with his own people and many more from the Island (Goa) passed over to the mainland of Salsete and Antruz, scouring the districts and the tanadaris, and placing in them by his own hand tanadars and collectors of revenue, and put all in such order that he collected much money, insomuch that he sent to the factor at Goa very good intelligence, accompanied by much money."—Correa, ii. 161.
1546.—"We agree in the manner following, to wit, that I Idalxaa (Idalcan) promise and swear on our Koran (no noso moçaffo), and by the head of my eldest son, that I will remain always firm in the said amity with the King of Portugal and with his governors of India, and that the lands of Salsete and Bardees, which I have made contract and donation of to His Highness, I confirm and give anew, and I swear and promise by the oath aforesaid never to reclaim them or make them the Subject of War."—Treaty between D. John de Castro and Idalxaa, who was formerly called Idalção (Adil Khān).—Botelho, Tombo, 40.
1598.—"On the South side of the Iland of Goa, wher the riuer runneth againe into the Sea, there cometh euen out with the coast a land called Salsette, which is also vnder the subiection of the Portingales, and is ... planted both with people and fruite."—Linschoten, 51; [Hak. Soc. i. 177].
1602.—"Before we treat of the Wars which in this year (c. 1546) Idalxa (Adil Shāh) waged with the State about the mainland provinces of Salsete and Bardés, which caused much trouble to the Government of India, it seems well to us to give an account of these Moor Kings of Visiapor."—Couto, IV. x. 4.
SALWEN, n.p. The great river entering the sea near Martaban in British Burma, and which the Chinese in its upper course call Lu-kiang. The Burmese form is Than-lwen, but the original form is probably Shān. ["The Salween River, which empties itself into the sea at Maulmain, rivals the Irrawaddy in length but not in importance" (Forbes, British Burma, 8).]
SAMBOOK, s. Ar. sanbuḳ, and sunbūḳ (there is a Skt. word śambūka, 'a bivalve shell,' but we are unable to throw any light on any possible transfer); a kind of small vessel formerly used in Western India and still on the Arabian coast. [See Bombay Gazetteer, xiii. Pt. ii. 470.] It is smaller than the bagalā (see BUGGALOW), and is chiefly used to communicate between a roadstead and the shore, or to go inside the reefs. Burton renders the word 'a foyst,' which is properly a smaller kind of galley. See description in the last but one quotation below.
c. 330.—"It is the custom when a vessel arrives (at Makdashau) that the Sultan's ṣunbūḳ boards her to ask whence the ship comes, who is the owner, and the skipper (or pilot), what she is laden with, and what merchants or other passengers are on board."—Ibn Batuta, ii. 183; also see pp. 17, 181, &c.
1498.—"The Zambuco came loaded with doves'-dung, which they have in those islands, and which they were carrying, it being merchandize for Cambay, where it is used in dyeing cloths."—Correa, Lendas, i. 33-34.
" In the curious Vocabulary of the language of Calicut, at the end of the Roteiro of Vasco da Gama, we find: "Barcas; Cambuco."
[1502.—"Zambucos." See under NACODA.]
1506.—"Questo Capitanio si prese uno sambuco molto ricco, veniva dalla Mecha per Colocut."—Leonardo Ca' Masser, 17.
1510.—"As to the names of their ships, some are called Sambuchi, and these are flat-bottomed."—Varthema, 154.
1516.—"Item—our Captain Major, or Captain of Cochim shall give passes to secure the navigation of the ships and zanbuqos of their ports ... provided they do not carry spices or drugs that we require for our cargoes, but if such be found, for the first occasion they shall lose all the spice and drugs so loaded, and on the second they shall lose both ship and cargo, and all may be taken as prize of war."—Treaty of Lopo Soares with Coulão (Quilon), in Botelho, Tombo, Subsidios, p. 32.
[1516.—"Zambucos." See under ARECA.]
1518.—"Zambuquo." See under PROW.
1543.—"Item—that the Zanbuquos which shall trade in his port in rice or nele (paddy) and cottons and other matters shall pay the customary dues."—Treaty of Martin Affonso de Sousa with Coulam, in Botelho, Tombo, 37.
[1814.—"Sambouk." See under DHOW.]
1855.—"Our pilgrim ship ... was a Sambuk of about 400 ardébs (50 tons), with narrow wedge-like bows, a clean water-line, a sharp keel, undecked except upon the poop, which was high enough to act as a sail in a gale of wind. We carried 2 masts, imminently raking forward, the main considerably longer than the mizen, and the former was provided with a large triangular latine...."—Burton, Pilgrimage to El Medinah and Meccah, i. 276; [Memorial ed. i. 188].
1858.—"The vessels of the Arabs called Sembuk are small Baggelows of 80 to 100 tons burden. Whilst they run out forward into a sharp prow, the after part of the vessel is disproportionately broad and elevated above the water, in order to form a counterpoise to the colossal triangular sail which is hoisted to the masthead with such a spread that often the extent of the yard is greater than the whole length of the vessel."—F. von Neimans, in Zeitschr. der Deutsch. Morgenl. Gesellsch. xii. 420.
1880.—"The small sailing boat with one sail, which is called by the Arabs 'Jámbook' with which I went from Hodeida to Aden."—Letter in Athenaeum, March 13, p. 346.
[1900.—"We scrambled into a sambouka crammed and stuffed with the baggage."—Bent, Southern Arabia, 220.]
SAMBRE, SAMBUR, s. Hind. sābar, sāmbar; Skt. śambara. A kind of stag (Rusa Aristotelis, Jerdon; [Blanford, Mammalia, 543 seqq.]) the elk of S. Indian sportsmen; ghaus of Bengal; jerrow (jarāo) of the Himālaya; the largest of Indian stags, and found in all the large forests of India. The word is often applied to the soft leather, somewhat resembling chamois leather, prepared from the hide.