1673.—"... Our usual diet was of spotted deer, Sabre, wild Hogs and sometimes wild Cows."—Fryer, 175.
[1813.—"Here he saw a number of deer, and four large sabirs or samboos, one considerably bigger than an ox...."—Diary, in Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd ed. ii. 400.]
1823.—"The skin of the Sambre, when well prepared, forms an excellent material for the military accoutrements of the soldiers of the native Powers."—Malcolm, Central India, i. 9.
[1900.—"The Sambu stags which Lord Powerscourt turned out in his glens...."—Spectator, December 15, p. 883.]
SAMPAN, s. A kind of small boat or skiff. The word appears to be Javanese and Malay. It must have been adopted on the Indian shores, for it was picked up there at an early date by the Portuguese; and it is now current all through the further East. [The French have adopted the Annamite form tamban.] The word is often said to be originally Chinese, 'sanpan,' = 'three boards,' and this is possible. It is certainly one of the most ordinary words for a boat in China. Moreover, we learn, on the authority of Mr. E. C. Baber, that there is another kind of boat on the Yangtse which is called wu-pan, 'five boards.' Giles however says: "From the Malay sam-pan = three boards"; but in this there is some confusion. The word has no such meaning in Malay.
1510.—"My companion said, 'What means then might there be for going to this island?"' They answered: 'That it was necessary to purchase a chiampana,' that is a small vessel, of which many are found there."—Varthema, 242.
1516.—"They (the Moors of Quilacare) perform their voyages in small vessels which they call champana."—Barbosa, 172.
c. 1540.—"In the other, whereof the captain was slain, there was not one escaped, for Quiay Panian pursued them in a Champana, which was the Boat of his Junk."—Pinto (Cogan, p. 79), orig. ch. lix.
1552.-"... Champanas, which are a kind of small vessels."—Castanheda, ii. 76; [rather, Bk. ii. ch. xxii. p. 76].
1613.—"And on the beach called the Bazar of the Jaos ... they sell every sort of provision in rice and grain for the Jaos merchants of Java Major, who daily from the dawn are landing provisions from their junks and ships in their boats or Champenas (which are little skiffs)...."—Godinho de Eredia, 6.
[1622.—"Yt was thought fytt ... to trym up a China Sampan to goe with the fleete...."—Cocks's Diary, Hak. Soc. ii. 122.]
1648.—In Van Spilbergen's Voyage we have Champane, and the still more odd Champaigne. [See under TOPAZ.]
1702.—"Sampans being not to be got we were forced to send for the Sarah and Eaton's Long-boats."—MS. Correspondence in 1. Office from China Factory (at Chusan), Jan. 8.
c. 1788.—"Some made their escape in prows, and some in sampans."—Mem. of a Malay Family, 3.
1868.—"The harbour is crowded with men-of-war and trading vessels ... from vessels of several hundred tons burthen down to little fishing-boats and passenger sampans."—Wallace, Malay Archip. 21.
SAMSHOO, s. A kind of ardent spirit made in China from rice. Mr. Baber doubts this being Chinese; but according to Wells Williams the name is san-shao, 'thrice fired' (Guide, 220). 'Distilled liquor' is shao-siu, 'fired liquor.' Compare Germ. Brantwein, and XXX beer. Strabo says: 'Wine the Indians drink not except when sacrificing, and that is made of rice in lieu of barley" (xv. c. i. § 53).
1684.—"... sampsoe, or Chinese Beer."—Valentijn, iv. (China) 129.
[1687.—"Samshu." See under ARRACK.]
1727.—"... Samshew or Rice Arrack."—A. Hamilton, ii. 222; [ed. 1744, ii. 224].
c. 1752.—"... the people who make the Chinese brandy called Samsu, live likewise in the suburbs."—Osbeck's Voyage, i. 235.
[1852.—"... samshoe, a Chinese invention, and which is distilled from rice, after the rice has been permitted to foment (?) in ... vinegar and water."—Neale, Residence in Siam, 75.
SANDAL, SANDLE, SANDERS, SANDAL-WOOD, s. From Low Latin santalum, in Greek σάνταλον, and in later Greek σάνδανον; coming from the Arab. ṣandal, and that from Skt. chandana. The name properly belongs to the fragrant wood of the Santalum album, L. Three woods bearing the name santalum, white, yellow, and red, were in officinal use in the Middle Ages. But the name Red Sandalwood, or Red Sanders, has been long applied, both in English and in the Indian vernaculars, to the wood of Pterocarpus santalina, L., a tree of S. India, the wood of which is inodorous, but which is valued for various purposes in India (pillars, turning, &c.), and is exported as a dye-wood. According to Hanbury and Flückiger this last was the sanders so much used in the cookery of the Middle Ages for colouring sauces, &c. In the opinion of those authorities it is doubtful whether the red sandal of the medieval pharmacologists was a kind of the real odorous sandal-wood, or was the wood of Pteroc. santal. It is possible that sometimes the one and sometimes the other was meant. For on the one hand, even in modern times, we find Milburn (see below) speaking of the three colours of the real sandal-wood; and on the other hand we find Matthioli in the 16th century speaking of the red sandal as inodorous.
It has been a question how the Pterocarpus santalina came to be called sandal-wood at all. We may suggest, as a possible origin of this, the fact that its powder "mixed with oil is used for bathing and purifying the skin" (Drury, s.v.), much as the true sandal-wood powder also is used in the East.
c. 545.—"And from the remoter regions, I speak of Tzinista and other places of export, the imports to Taprobane are silk, aloeswood, cloves, Sandalwood (τζάνδανη), and so forth...."—Cosmas, in Cathay, &c., clxxvii.
1298.—"Encore sachiez que en ceste ysle a arbres de sandal vermoille ausi grant come sunt les arbres des nostre contrée ... et il en ont bois come nos avuns d'autres arbres sauvajes."—Marco Polo, Geog. Text, ch. cxci.
c. 1390.—"Take powdered rice and boil it in almond milk ... and colour it with Saunders."—Recipe quoted by Wright, Domestic Manners, &c., 350.
1554.—"Le Santal donc croist es Indes Orientales et Occidentales: en grandes Forestz, et fort espesses. Il s'en treuue trois especes: mais le plus pasle est le meilleur: le blanc apres: le rouge est mis au dernier ranc, pource qu'il n'a aucune odeur: mais les deux premiers sentent fort bon."—Matthioli (old Fr. version), liv. i. ch. xix.
1563.—"The Sandal grows about Timor, which produces the largest quantity, and it is called chundana; and by this name it is known in all the regions about Malaca; and the Arabs, being those who carried on the trade of those parts, corrupted the word and called it sandal. Every Moor, whatever his nation, calls it thus...."—Garcia, f. 185v. He proceeds to speak of the sandalo vermelho as quite a different product, growing in Tenasserim and on the Coromandel Coast.
1584.—"... Sandales wilde from Cochin. Sandales domestick from Malacca...."—Wm. Barrett, in Hakl. ii. 412.
1613.—"... certain renegade Christians of the said island, along with the Moors, called in the Hollanders, who thinking it was a fine opportunity, went one time with five vessels, and another time with seven, against the said fort, at a time when most of the people ... were gone to Solor for the Sandal trade, by which they had their living."—Bocarro, Decada, 723.
1615.—"Committee to procure the commodities recommended by Capt. Saris for Japan, viz. ... pictures of wars, steel, skins, sanders-wood."—Sainsbury, i. 380.
1813.—"When the trees are felled, the bark is taken off; they are then cut into billets, and buried in a dry place for two months, during which period the white ants will eat the outer wood without touching the sandal; it is then taken up and ... sorted into three kinds. The deeper the colour, the higher is the perfume; and hence the merchants sometimes divide sandal into red, yellow, and white; but these are all different shades of the same colour."—Milburn, i. 291.
1825.—"Redwood, properly Red Saunders, is produced chiefly on the Coromandel Coast, whence it has of late years been imported in considerable quantity to England, where it is employed in dyeing. It ... comes in round billets of a thickish red colour on the outside, a deep brighter red within, with a wavy grain; no smell or taste."—Ibid. ed. 1825, p. 249.
SANDOWAY, n.p. A town of Arakan, the Burmese name of which is Thandwé (Sand-wé), for which an etymology ('iron-tied'), and a corresponding legend are invented, as usual [see Burmah Gazetteer, ii. 606]. It is quite possible that the name is ancient, and represented by the Sada of Ptolemy.
1553.—"In crossing the gulf of Bengal there arose a storm which dispersed them in such a manner that Martin Affonso found himself alone, with his ship, at the island called Negamale, opposite the town of Sodoe, which is on the mainland, and there was wrecked upon a reef...."—Barros, IV. ii. 1.
In I. ix. 1, it is called Sedoe.
1696.—"Other places along this Coast subjected to this King (of Arracan) are Coromoria, Sedoa, Zara, and Port Magaoni."—Appendix to Ovington, p. 563.
SANGUICEL, s. This is a term (pl. sanguiceis) often used by the Portuguese writers on India for a kind of boat, or small vessel, used in war. We are not able to trace any origin in a vernacular word. It is perhaps taken from the similar proper name which is the subject of the next article. [This supposition is rendered practically certain from the quotation from Albuquerque below, furnished by Mr. Whiteway.] Bluteau gives "Sanguicel; termo da India. He hum genero de embarcação pequena q̃ serve na costa da India para dar alcanse aos paròs dos Mouros," 'to give chase to the prows of the Moors.'
[1512.—"Here was Nuno Vaz in a ship, the St. John, which was built in Çamguicar."—Albuquerque, Cartas, p. 99. In a letter of Nov. 30, 1513, he varies the spelling to Çamgicar. There are many other passages in the same writer which make it practically certain that Sanguicels were the vessels built at Sanguicer.]
1598.—"The Conde (Francisco da Gama) was occupied all the winter (q.v.) in reforming the fleets ... and as the time came on he nominated his brother D. Luiz da Gama to be Captain-Major of the Indian Seas for the expedition to Malabar, and wrote to Baçaim to equip six very light Sanguicels according to instructions which should be given by Sebastian Botelho, a man of great experience in that craft.... These orders were given by the Count Admiral because he perceived that big fleets were not of use to guard convoys, and that it was light vessels like these alone which could catch the paraos and vessels of the pirates ... for these escaped our fleets, and got hold of the merchant vessels at their pleasure, darting in and out, like light horse, where they would...."—Couto, Dec. XII. liv. i. ch. 18.
1605.—"And seeing that I am informed that ... the incursions of certain pirates who still infest that coast might be prevented with less apparatus and expense, if we had light vessels which would be more effective than the foists and galleys of which the fleets have hitherto been composed, seeing how the enemy use their sanguicels, which our ships and galleys cannot overtake, I enjoin and order you to build a quantity of light vessels to be employed in guarding the coast in place of the fleet of galleys and foists...."—King's Letter to Dom Affonso de Castro, in Livros das Monções, i. 26.
[1612.—See under GALLIVAT, b.]
1614.—"The eight Malabaresque Sanguicels that Francis de Miranda despatched to the north from the bar of Goa went with three chief captains, each of them to command a week in turn...."—Bocarro, Decada, 262.
SANGUICER, SANGUEÇA, ZINGUIZAR, &c., n.p. This is a place often mentioned in the Portuguese narratives, as very hostile to the Goa Government, and latterly as a great nest of corsairs. This appears to be Sangameshvar, lat. 17° 9′, formerly a port of Canara on the River Shāstrī, and standing 20 miles from the mouth of that river. The latter was navigable for large vessels up to Sangameshvar, but within the last 50 years has become impassable. [The name is derived from Skt. sangama-īśvara, 'Siva, Lord of the river confluence.']
1516.—"Passing this river of Dabul and going along the coast towards Goa you find a river called Cinguiçar, inside of which there is a place where there is a traffic in many wares, and where enter many vessels and small Zambucos (Sambook) of Malabar to sell what they bring, and buy the products of the country. The place is peopled by Moors, and Gentiles of the aforesaid Kingdom of Daquem" (Deccan).—Barbosa, Lisbon ed. p. 286.
1538.—"Thirty-five leagues from Guoa, in the middle of the Gulf of the Malabars there runs a large river called Zamgizara. This river is well known and of great renown. The bar is bad and very tortuous, but after you get within, it makes amends for the difficulties without. It runs inland for a great distance with great depth and breadth."—De Castro, Primeiro Roteiro, 36.
1553.—De Barros calls it Zingaçar in II. i. 4, and Sangaça in IV. i. 14.
1584.—"There is a Haven belonging to those ryvers (rovers), distant from Goa about 12 miles, and is called Sanguiseo, where many of those Rovers dwell, and doe so much mischiefe that no man can passe by, but they receive some wrong by them.... Which the Viceroy understanding, prepared an armie of 15 Foists, over which he made chiefe Captaine a Gentleman, his Nephew called Don Iulianes Mascharenhas, giving him expresse commandement first to goe unto the Haven of Sanguiseu, and utterly to raze the same downe to the ground."—Linschoten, ch. 92; [Hak. Soc. ii. 170].
1602.—"Both these projects he now began to put in execution, sending all his treasures (which they said exceeded ten millions in gold) to the river of Sanguicer, which was also within his jurisdiction, being a seaport, and there embarking it at his pleasure."—Couto, ix. 8. See also Dec. X. iv.:
"How D. Gileanes Mascarenhas arrived in Malabar, and how he entered the river of Sanguicer to chastise the Naique of that place; and of the disaster in which he met his death." (This is the event of 1584 related by Linschoten); also Dec. X. vi. 4: "Of the things that happened to D. Jeronymo Mascarenhas in Malabar, and how he had a meeting with the Zamorin, and swore peace with him; and how he brought destruction on the Naique of Sanguicer."
1727.—"There is an excellent Harbour for Shipping 8 Leagues to the Southward of Dabul, called Sanguseer, but the Country about being inhabited by Raparees, it is not frequented."—A. Hamilton, [ed. 1744] i. 244.
SANSKRIT, s. The name of the classical language of the Brahmans, Saṃskṛita, meaning in that language 'purified' or 'perfected.' This was obviously at first only an epithet, and it is not of very ancient use in this specific application. To the Brahmans Sanskrit was the bhāsha, or language, and had no particular name. The word Sanskrit is used by the protogrammarian Pāṇini (some centuries before Christ), but not as a denomination of the language. In the latter sense, however, both 'Sanskrit' and 'Prakrit' (Pracrit) are used in the Bṛihat Samhitā of Varāhamihira, c. A.D. 504, in a chapter on omens (lxxxvi. 3), to which Prof. Kern's translation does not extend. It occurs also in the Mṛichch'hakaṭikā, translated by Prof. H. H. Wilson in his Hindu Theatre, under the name of the 'Toy-cart'; in the works of Kumārila Bhatta, a writer of the 7th century; and in the Pāṇinīyā Śīkshā, a metrical treatise ascribed by the Hindus to Pāṇini, but really of comparatively modern origin.
There is a curiously early mention of Sanskrit by the Mahommedan poet Amīr Khusrū of Delhi, which is quoted below. The first mention (to our knowledge) of the word in any European writing is in an Italian letter of Sassetti's, addressed from Malabar to Bernardo Davanzati in Florence, and dating from 1586. The few words on the subject, of this writer, show much acumen.
In the 17th and 18th centuries such references to this language as occur are found chiefly in the works of travellers to Southern India, and by these it is often called Grandonic, or the like, from grantha, 'a book' (see GRUNTH, GRUNTHUM) i.e. a book of the classical Indian literature. The term Sanskrit came into familiar use after the investigations into this language by the English in Bengal (viz. by Wilkins, Jones, &c.) in the last quarter of the 18th century. [See Macdonell, Hist. of Sanskrit Lit. ch. i.]
A.D. x?—"Maitreya. Now, to me, there are two things at which I cannot choose but laugh, a woman reading Sanskrit, and a man singing a song: the woman snuffles like a young cow when the rope is first passed through her nostrils; and the man wheezes like an old Pandit repeating his bead-roll."—The Toy-Cart, E.T. in Wilson's Works, xi. 60.
A.D. y?—"Three-and-sixty or four-and-sixty sounds are there originally in Prakrit (PRACRIT) even as in Sanskrit, as taught by the Svayambhū."—Pāṇinīyā Śīkshā, quoted in Weber's Ind. Studien (1858), iv. 348. But see also Weber's Akadem. Vorlesungen (1876), p. 194.
1318.—"But there is another language, more select than the other, which all the Brahmans use. Its name from of old is Sahaskrit, and the common people know nothing of it."—Amīr Khusrū, in Elliot, iii. 563.
1586.—"Sono scritte le loro scienze tutte in una lingua che dimandano Samscruta, che vuol dire 'bene articolata': della quale non si ha memoria quando fusse parlata, con avere (com' io dico) memorie antichissime. Imparanla come noi la greca e la latina, e vi pongono molto maggior tempo, si che in 6 anni o 7 sene fanno padroni: et ha la lingua d'oggi molte cose comuni con quella, nella quale sono molti de' nostri nomi, e particularmente de numeri il 6, 7, 8, e 9, Dio, serpe, et altri assai."—Sassetti, extracted in De Gubernatis, Storia, &c., Livorno, 1875, p. 221.
c. 1590.—"Although this country (Kashmīr) has a peculiar tongue, the books of knowledge are Sanskrit (or Sahanskrit). They also have a written character of their own, with which they write their books. The substance which they chiefly write upon is Tūs, which is the bark of a tree,[237] which with a little pains they make into leaves, and it lasts for years. In this way ancient books have been written thereon, and the ink is such that it cannot be washed out."—Āīn (orig.), i. p. 563; [ed. Jarrett, ii. 351].
1623.—"The Jesuites conceive that the Bramenes are of the dispersion of the Israelites, and their Bookes (called Samescretan) doe somewhat agree with the Scriptures, but that they understand them not."—Purchas, Pilgrimage, 559.
1651.—"... Souri signifies the Sun in Samscortam, which is a language in which all the mysteries of Heathendom are written, and which is held in esteem by the Bramines just as Latin is among the Learned in Europe."—Rogerius, 4.
In some of the following quotations we have a form which it is difficult to account for:
c. 1666.—"Their first study is in the Hanscrit, which is a language entirely different from the common Indian, and which is only known by the Pendets. And this is that Tongue, of which Father Kircher hath published the Alphabet received from Father Roa. It is called Hanscrit, that is, a pure Language; and because they believe this to be the Tongue in which God, by means of Brahma, gave them the four Beths (see VEDA), which they esteem Sacred Books, they call it a Holy and Divine Language."—Bernier, E.T. 107; [ed. Constable, 335].
1673.—"... who founded these, their Annals nor their Sanscript deliver not."—Fryer, 161.
1689.—"... the learned Language among them is called the Sanscreet."—Ovington, 248.
1694.—"Indicus ludus Tchûpur, sic nominatus veterum Brachmanorum linguâ Indicè dictâ Sanscroot, seu, ut vulgo, exiliori sono elegantiae causâ Sanscreet, non autem Hanscreet ut minus recte eam nuncupat Kircherus."—Hyde, De Ludis Orientt., in Syntagma Diss. ii. 264.
1726.—"Above all it would be a matter of general utility to the Coast that some more chaplains should be maintained there for the sole purpose of studying the Sanskrit tongue (de Sanskritze taal) the head-and-mother tongue of most of the Eastern languages, and once for all to make an exact translation of the Vedam or Law book of the Heathen...."—Valentijn, Choro. p. 72.
1760.—"They have a learned language peculiar to themselves, called the Hanscrit...."—Grose, i. 202.
1774.—"This code they have written in their own language, the Shanscrit. A translation of it is begun under the inspection of one of the body, into the Persian language, and from that into English."—W. Hastings, to Lord Mansfield, in Gleig, i. 402.
1778.—"The language as well as the written character of Bengal are familiar to the Natives ... and both seem to be base derivatives from the Shanscrit."—Orme, ed. 1803, ii. 5.
1782.—"La langue Samscroutam, Samskret, Hanscrit ou Grandon, est la plus étendue: ses caractères multipliés donnent beaucoup de facilité pour exprimer ses pensées, ce qui l'a fait nommer langue divine par le P. Pons."—Sonnerat, i. 224.
1794.—
"With Jones, a linguist, Sanskrit, Greek, or Manks."
Pursuits of Literature, 6th ed. 286.
1796.—"La madre di tutte le lingue Indiane è la Samskrda, cioè, lingua perfetta, piena, ben digerita. Krda opera perfetta o compita, Sam, simul, insieme, e vuol dire lingua tutta insieme ben digerita, legata, perfetta."—Fra Paolino, p. 258.
SAPECA, SAPÈQUE, s. This word is used at Macao for what we call cash (q.v.) in Chinese currency; and it is the word generally used by French writers for that coin. Giles says: "From sapek, a coin found in Tonquin and Cochin-China, and equal to about half a pfennig (1⁄600 Thaler), or about one-sixth of a German Kreutzer" (Gloss. of Reference, 122). We cannot learn much about this coin of Tonquin. Milburn says, under 'Cochin China': "The only currency of the country is a sort of cash, called sappica, composed chiefly of tutenague (see TOOTNAGUE), 600 making a quan: this is divided into 10 mace of 60 cash each, the whole strung together, and divided by a knot at each mace" (ed. 1825, pp. 444-445). There is nothing here inconsistent with our proposed derivation, given later on. Mace and Sappica are equally Malay words. We can hardly doubt that the true origin of the term is that communicated by our friend Mr. E. C. Baber: "Very probably from Malay sa, 'one,' and păku, 'a string or file of the small coin called pichis.' Pichis is explained by Crawfurd as 'Small coin ... money of copper, brass, or tin.... It was the ancient coin of Java, and also the only one of the Malays when first seen by the Portuguese.' Păku is written by Favre peḳū (Dict. Malais-Français) and is derived by him from Chinese pé-ko, 'cent.' In the dialect of Canton pak is the word for 'a hundred,' and one pak is the colloquial term for a string of one hundred cash." Sapeku would then be properly a string of 100 cash, but it is not difficult to conceive that it might through some misunderstanding (e.g. a confusion of peku and pichis) have been transferred to the single coin. There is a passage in Mr. Gerson da Cunha's Contributions to the Study of Portuguese Numismatics, which may seem at first sight inconsistent with this derivation. For he seems to imply that the smallest denomination of coin struck by Albuquerque at Goa in 1510 was called cepayqua, i.e. in the year before the capture of Malacca, and consequent familiarity with Malay terms. I do not trace his authority for this; the word is not mentioned in the Commentaries of Alboquerque, and it is quite possible that the dinheiros, as these small copper coins were also called, only received the name cepayqua at a later date, and some time after the occupation of Malacca (see Da Cunha, pp. 11-12, and 22). [But also see the quotation of 1510 from Correa under PARDAO. This word has been discussed by Col. Temple (Ind. Antiq., August 1897, pp. 222 seq.), who gives quotations establishing the derivation from the Malay sapaku.
[1639.—"It (caxa, cash) hath a four-square hole through it, at which they string them on a Straw; a String of two hundred Caxaes, called Sata, is worth about three farthings sterling, and five Satas tyed together make a Sapocon. The Javians, when this money first came amongst them, were so cheated with the Novelty, that they would give six bags of Pepper for ten Sapocons, thirteen whereof amount to but a Crown."--Mandelslo, Voyages, E.T. p. 117.
[1703.—"This is the reason why the Caxas are valued so little: they are punched in the middle, and string'd with little twists of Straw, two hundred in one Twist, which is called Santa, and is worth nine Deniers. Five Santas tied together make a thousand Caxas, or a Sapoon (? Sapocon)."—Collection of Dutch Voyages, 199.
[1830.—"The money current in Bali consists solely of Chinese pice with a hole in the centre.... They however put them up in hundreds and thousands; two hundred are called satah, and are equal to one rupee copper, and a thousand called Sapaku, are valued at five rupees."—Singapore Chronicle, June 1830, in Moor, Indian Archip. p. 94.
[1892.—"This is a brief history of the Sapec (more commonly known to us as the cash), the only native coin of China, and which is found everywhere from Malaysia to Japan."—Ridgeway, Origin of Currency, 157.]
SAPPAN-WOOD, s. The wood of Caesalpina sappan; the baḳḳam of the Arabs, and the Brazil-wood of medieval commerce. Bishop Caldwell at one time thought the Tamil name, from which this was taken, to have been given because the wood was supposed to come from Japan. Rumphius says that Siam and Champa are the original countries of the Sappan, and quotes from Rheede that in Malabar it was called Tsajampangan, suggestive apparently of a possible derivation from Champa. The mere fact that it does not come from Japan would not disprove this derivation any more than the fact that turkeys and maize did not originally come from Turkey would disprove the fact of the birds and the grain (gran turco) having got names from such a belief. But the tree appears to be indigenous in Malabar, the Deccan, and the Malay Peninsula; whilst the Malayāl. shappaṅṅam, and the Tamil shappu, both signifying 'red (wood),' are apparently derivatives from shawa, 'to be red,' and suggest another origin as most probable. [The Mad. Gloss. gives Mal. chappannam, from chappu, 'leaf,' Skt. anga, 'body'; Tam. shappangaṃ.] The Malay word is also sapang, which Crawfurd supposes to have originated the trade-name. If, however, the etymology just suggested be correct, the word must have passed from Continental India to the Archipelago. For curious particulars as to the names of this dye-wood, and its vicissitudes, see BRAZIL; [and Burnell's note on Linschoten, Hak. Soc. i. 121].
c. 1570.—
"O rico Sião ja dado ao Bremem,
O Cochim de Calemba que deu mana
De sapão, chumbo, salitre e vitualhas
Lhe apercebem celleiros e muralhas."
A. de Abreu, Desc. de Malaca.
1598.—"There are likewise some Diamants and also ... the wood Sapon, whereof also much is brought from Sian, it is like Brasill to die withall."—Linschoten, 36; [Hak. Soc. i. 120].
c. 1616.—"There are in this city of Ová (read Odia, Judea), capital of the kingdom of Siam, two factories; one of the Hollanders with great capital, and another of the English with less. The trade which both drive is in deer-skins, shagreen sappan (sapão) and much silk which comes thither from Chincheo and Cochinchina...."—Bocarro, Decada, 530.
[1615.—"Hindering the cutting of baccam or brazill wood."—Foster, Letters, iii. 158.]
1616.—"I went to Sapàn Dono to know whether he would lend me any money upon interest, as he promised me; but ... he drove me afe with wordes, ofring to deliver me money for all our sappon which was com in this junk, at 22 mas per pico."—Cocks's Diary, i. 208-9.
1617.—Johnson and Pitts at Judea in Siam "are glad they can send a junk well laden with sapon, because of its scarcity."—Sainsbury, ii. 32.
1625.—"... a wood to die withall called Sapan wood, the same we here call Brasill."—Purchas, Pilgrimage, 1004.
1685.—"Moreover in the whole Island there is a great plenty of Brazill wood, which in India is called sapão."—Ribeiro, Fat. Hist. f. 8.
1727.—"It (the Siam Coast) produces good store of Sapan and Agala-woods, with Gumlack and Sticklack, and many Drugs that I know little about."—A. Hamilton, ii. 194; [ed. 1744].
1860.—"The other productions which constituted the exports of the island were Sapan wood to Persia...."—Tennent, Ceylon, ii. 54.
SARBATANE, SARBACANE, s. This is not Anglo-Indian, but it often occurs in French works on the East, as applied to the blowing-tubes used by various tribes of the Indian Islands for discharging small arrows, often poisoned. The same instrument is used among the tribes of northern South America, and in some parts of Madagascar. The word comes through the Span. cebratana, cerbatana, zarbatana, also Port. sarabatana, &c., Ital. cerbotana, Mod. Greek ζαροβοτάνα, from the Ar. zabaṭāna, 'a tube for blowing pellets' (a pea-shooter in fact!). Dozy says that the r must have been sounded in the Arabic of the Spanish Moors, as Pedro de Alcala translates zebratana by Ar. zarbatāna. The resemblance of this to the Malay sumpitan (q.v.) is curious, though it is not easy to suggest a transition, if the Arabic word is, as it appears, old enough to have been introduced into Spanish. There is apparently, however, no doubt that in Arabic it is a borrowed word. The Malay word seems to be formed directly from sumpit, 'to discharge from the mouth by a forcible expiration' (Crawfurd, Mal. Dict.).
[1516.—"... the force which had accompanied the King, very well armed, many of them with bows, others carrying blowing tubes with poisoned arrows (Zarvatanas com setas ervadas)...."—Comm. of Dalboquerque, Hak. Soc. iii. 104.]
SARBOJI, s. This is the name of some weapon used in the extreme south of India; but we have not been able to ascertain its character or etymology. We conjecture, however, that it may be the long lance or pike, 18 or 20 feet long, which was the characteristic and formidable weapon of the Marava Colleries (q.v.). See Bp. Caldwell's H. of Tinnevelly, p. 103 and passim; [Stuart, Man. of Tinnevelly, 50. This explanation is probably incorrect. Welsh (Military Rem. i. 104) defines sarabogies as "a species of park guns, for firing salutes at feasts, &c.; but not used in war." It has been suggested that the word is simply Hind. sirbojha, 'a head-load,' and Dr. Grierson writes: "'Laden with a head' may refer to a head carried home on a spear." Dr. Pope writes: "Sarboji is not found in any Dravidian dialect, as far as I know. It is a synonym for Sivaji. Sarva (sarbo)-ji is honorific. In the Tanjore Inscription it is Serfogi. In mythology Siva's name is 'arrow,' 'spear,' and 'head-burthen,' of course by metonomy." Mr. Brandt suggests Tam. sĕrŭ, "war," bŭgei, "a tube." No weapon of the name appears in Mr. Egerton's Hand-book of Indian Arms.]
1801.—"The Rt. Hon. the Governor in Council ... orders and directs all persons, whether Polygars (see POLIGAR), Colleries, or other inhabitants possessed of arms in the Provinces of Dindigul, Tinnevelly, Ramnadpuram, Sivagangai, and Madura, to deliver the said arms, consisting of Muskets, Matchlocks, Pikes, Gingauls (see GINGALL), and Sarabogoi to Lieut.-Col. Agnew...."—Procl. by Madras Govt., dd. 1st Decr., in Bp. Caldwell's Hist. p. 227.
c. 1814.—"Those who carry spear and sword have land given them producing 5 kalams of rice; those bearing muskets, 7 kalams; those bearing the sarboji, 9 kalams; those bearing the sanjali (see GINGALL), or gun for two men, 14 kalams...."—Account of the Maravas, from Mackenzie MSS. in Madras Journal, iv. 360.
SAREE, s. Hind. sāṛī, sāṛhī. The cloth which constitutes the main part of a woman's dress in N. India, wrapt round the body and then thrown over the head.
1598.—"... likewise they make whole pieces or webbes of this hearbe, sometimes mixed and woven with silke.... Those webs are named sarijn...."—Linschoten, 28; [Hak. Soc. i. 96].
1785.—"... Her clothes were taken off, and a red silk covering (a saurry) put upon her."—Acct. of a Suttee, in Seton-Karr, i. 90.
SARNAU, SORNAU, n.p. A name often given to Siam in the early part of the 16th century; from Shahr-i-nao, Pers. 'New-city'; the name by which Yuthia or Ayodhya (see JUDEA), the capital founded on the Menam about 1350, seems to have become known to the traders of the Persian Gulf. Mr. Braddell (J. Ind. Arch. v. 317) has suggested that the name (Sheher-al-nawi, as he calls it) refers to the distinction spoken of by La Loubère between the Thai-Yai, an older people of the race, and the Thai-Noi, the people known to us as Siamese. But this is less probable. We have still a city of Siam called Lophaburī, anciently a capital, and the name of which appears to be a Sanskrit or Pali form, Nava-pura, meaning the same as Shahr-i-nao; and this indeed may have first given rise to the latter name. The Cernove of Nicolo Conti (c. 1430) is generally supposed to refer to a city of Bengal, and one of the present writers has identified it with Lakhnāotī or Gauṛ, an official name of which in the 14th cent. was Shahr-i-nao. But it is just possible that Siam was the country spoken of.
1442.—"The inhabitants of the sea-coasts arrive here (at Ormuz) from the counties of Chín, Java, Bengal, the cities of Zirbád, Tenásiri, Sokotora, Shahr-i-nao...."—Abdurrazzāk, in Not. et Exts., xiv. 429.
1498.—"Xarnauz is of Christians, and the King is Christian; it is 50 days voyage with a fair wind from Calicut. The King ... has 400 elephants of war; in the land is much benzoin ... and there is aloeswood...."—Roteiro de Vasco da Gama, 110.
1510.—"... They said they were from a city called Sarnau, and had brought for sale silken stuffs, and aloeswood, and benzoin, and musk."—Varthema, 212.
1514.—"... Tannazzari, Sarnau, where is produced all the finest white benzoin, storax, and lac finer than that of Martaman."—Letter of Giov. d'Empoli, in Arch. Storico Italiano, App. 80.
1540.—"... all along the coast of Malaya, and within the Land, a great King commands, who for a more famous and recommendable Title above all other Kings, causeth himself to be called Prechau Saleu, Emperor of all Sornau, which is a Country wherein there are thirteen kingdoms, by us commonly called Siam" (Sião).—Pinto (orig. cap. xxxvi.), in Cogan, p. 43.
c. 1612.—"It is related of Siam, formerly called Sheher-al-Nawi, to which Country all lands under the wind here were tributary, that there was a King called Bubannia, who when he heard of the greatness of Malacca sent to demand submission and homage of that kingdom."—Sijara Malayu, in J. Ind. Arch. v. 454.
1726.—"About 1340 reigned in the kingdom of Siam (then called Sjaharnouw or Sornau), a very powerful Prince."—Valentijn, v. 319.
SARONG, s. Malay. sārung; the body-cloth, or long kilt, tucked or girt at the waist, and generally of coloured silk or cotton, which forms the chief article of dress of the Malays and Javanese. The same article of dress, and the name (saran) are used in Ceylon. It is an old Indian form of dress, but is now used only by some of the people of the south; e.g. on the coast of Malabar, where it is worn by the Hindus (white), by the Mappilas (Moplah) of that coast, and the Labbais (Lubbye) of Coromandel (coloured), and by the Banṭs of Canara, who wear it of a dark blue. With the Labbais the coloured sarong is a modern adoption from the Malays. Crawfurd seems to explain sarung as Javanese, meaning first 'a case or sheath,' and then a wrapper or garment. But, both in the Malay islands and in Ceylon, the word is no doubt taken from Skt. sāranga, meaning 'variegated' and also 'a garment.'
[1830.—"... the cloth or sarong, which has been described by Mr. Marsden to be 'not unlike a Scots highlander's plaid in appearance, being a piece of party-coloured cloth, about 6 or 8 feet long, and 3 or 4 feet wide, sewed together at the ends, forming, as some writers have described it, a wide sack without a bottom.' With the Maláyus, the sarong is either worn slung over the shoulders as a sash, or tucked round the waist and descending to the ankles, so as to enclose the legs like a petticoat."—Raffles, Java, i. 96.]
1868.—"He wore a sarong or Malay petticoat, and a green jacket."—Wallace, Mal. Arch. 171.
SATIGAM, n.p. Sātgāon, formerly and from remote times a port of much trade on the right bank of the Hoogly R., 30 m. above Calcutta, but for two and a half centuries utterly decayed, and now only the site of a few huts, with a ruined mosque as the only relique of former importance. It is situated at the bifurcation of the Saraswati channel from the Hoogly, and the decay dates from the silting up of the former. It was commonly called by the Portuguese Porto Pequeno (q.v.).
c. 1340.—"About this time the rebellion of Fakhrá broke out in Bengal. Fakhrá and his Bengali forces killed Kádar Khán (Governor of Lakhnauti).... He then plundered the treasury of Lakhnauti, and secured possession of that place and of Satgánw and Sunárgánw."—Ziā-ud-dīn Barnī, in Elliot, iii. 243.
1535.—"In this year Diogo Rabello, finishing his term of service as Captain and Factor of the Choromandel fishery, with license from the Governor went to Bengal in a vessel of his ... and he went well armed along with two foists which equipped with his own money, the Governor only lending him artillery and nothing more.... So this Diogo Rabello arrived at the Port of Satigaon, where he found two great ships of Cambaya which three days before had arrived with great quantity of merchandise, selling and buying: and these, without touching them, he caused to quit the port and go down the river, forbidding them to carry on any trade, and he also sent one of the foists, with 30 men, to the other port of Chatigaon, where they found three ships from the Coast of Choromandel, which were driven away from the port. And Diogo Rabello sent word to the Gozil that he was sent by the Governor with choice of peace or war, and that he should send to ask the King if he chose to liberate the (Portuguese) prisoners, in which case he also would liberate his ports and leave them in their former peace...."—Correa, iii. 649.
[c. 1590.—"In the Sarkár of Sátgáon, there are two ports at a distance of half a kos from each other; the one is Sátgáon, the other Hugli: the latter the chief; both are in the possession of the Europeans. Fine pomegranates grow here."—Āīn, ed. Jarrett, ii. 125.]
SATIN, s. This is of course English, not Anglo-Indian. The common derivation [accepted by Prof. Skeat (Concise Dict. 2nd ed. s.v.)] is with Low Lat. seta, 'silk,' Lat. seta, saeta, 'a bristle, a hair,' through the Port. setim. Dr. Wells Williams (Mid. King., ii. 123) says it is probably derived eventually from the Chinese sz'-tün, though intermediately through other languages. It is true that sz'tün or sz'-twan is a common (and ancient) term for this sort of silk texture. But we may remark that trade-words adopted directly from the Chinese are comparatively rare (though no doubt the intermediate transit indicated would meet this objection, more or less). And we can hardly doubt that the true derivation is that given in Cathay and the Way Thither, p. 486; viz. from Zaitun or Zayton, the name by which Chwan-chau (Chinchew), the great medieval port of western trade in Fokien, was known to western traders. We find that certain rich stuffs of damask and satin were called from this place, by the Arabs, Zaitūnia; the Span. aceytuni (for 'satin'), the medieval French zatony, and the medieval Ital. zetani, afford intermediate steps.