1795.—"These events did not deter Shanbuan from pursuing his favourite scheme of conquest to the westward. The fertile plains and populous towns of Munnipoora and the Cassay Shaan, attracted his ambition."—Symes, p. 77.
" "Zemee (see JANGOMAY), Sandapoora, and many districts of the Yoodra Shaan to the eastward, were tributary, and governed by Chobwas, who annually paid homage to the Birman king."—Ibid. 102.
" "Shaan, or Shan, is a very comprehensive term given to different nations, some independent, others the subjects of the greater states."—Ibid. 274.
c. 1818.—"... They were assisted by many of the Zaboà (see CHOBWA) or petty princes of the Sciam, subject to the Burmese, who, wearied by the oppressions and exactions of the Burmese Mandarins and generals, had revolted, and made common cause with the enemies of their cruel masters.... The war which the Burmese had to support with these enemies was long and disastrous ... instead of overcoming the Sciam (they) only lost day by day the territories ... and saw their princes range themselves ... under the protection of the King of Siam."—Sangermano, p. 57.
1861.—
"Fie, Fie! Captain Spry!
You are surely in joke
With your wires and your trams,
Going past all the Shams
With branches to Bam-you (see BAMO), and end in A-smoke."
Ode on the proposed Yunnan Railway.
Bhamo and Esmok were names constantly recurring in the late Capt. Spry's railway projects.
SHANBAFF, SINABAFF, &c., s. Pers. shānbāft. A stuff often mentioned in the early narratives as an export from Bengal and other parts of India. Perhaps indeed these names indicate two different stuffs, as we do not know what they were, except that (as mentioned below) the sinabaff was a fine white stuff. Sīnabāff is not in Vuller's Lexicon. Shānabāf is, and is explained as genus panni grossioris, sic descripta (E. T.): "A very coarse and cheap stuff which they make for the sleeves of ḳabās (see CABAYA) for sale."—Bahār-i-'Ajam. But this cannot have been the character of the stuffs sent by Sultan Mahommed Tughlak (as in the first quotation) to the Emperor of China. [Badger (quoted by Birdwood, Report on Old Records, 153) identifies the word with sīna-bāfta, 'China-woven' cloths.]
1343.—"When the aforesaid present came to the Sultan of India (from the Emp. of China) ... in return for this present he sent another of greater value ... 100 pieces of shīrīnbāf, and 500 pieces of shānbāf."—Ibn Batuta, iv. 3.
1498.—"The overseer of the Treasury came next day to the Captain-Major, and brought him 20 pieces of white stuff, very fine, with gold embroidery which they call beyramies (beiramee), and other 20 large white stuffs, very fine, which were named sinabafos...."—Correa, E.T. by Ld. Stanley, 197.
[1508.—See under ALJOFAR.]
1510.—"One of the Persians said: 'Let us go to our house, that is, to Calicut.' I answered, 'Do not go, for you will lose these fine sinabaph' (which were pieces of cloth we carried)."—Varthema, 269.
1516.—"The quintal of this sugar was worth two ducats and a half in Malabar, and a good Sinabáffo was worth two ducats."—Barbosa, 179.
[ " "Also they make other stuffs which they call Mamonas (Maḥmūdīs?), others duguazas (dogazīs?), others chautares (see chowtars, under PIECE-GOODS), others sinabafas, which last are the best, and which the Moors hold in most esteem to make shirts of."—Ibid., Lisbon ed. 362.]
SHASTER, s. The Law books or Sacred Writings of the Hindus. From Skt. śāstra, 'a rule,' a religious code, a scientific treatise.
1612.—"... They have many books in their Latin.... Six of these they call Xastra, which are the bodies; eighteen which they call Purána (Poorana), which are the limbs."—Couto, V. vi. 3.
1630.—"... The Banians deliver that this book, by them called the Shaster, or the Book of their written word, consisted of these three tracts."—Lord's Display, ch. viii.
1651.—In Rogerius, the word is everywhere misprinted Iastra.
1717.—"The six Sastrangól contain all the Points and different Ceremonies in Worship...."—Phillips's Account, 40.
1765.—"... at the capture of Calcutta, A.D. 1756, I lost many curious Gentoo manuscripts, and among them two very correct and valuable copies of the Gentoo Shastah."—J. Z. Holwell, Interesting Hist. Events, &c., 2d ed., 1766, i. 3.
1770.—"The Shastah is looked upon by some as a commentary on the vedam, and by others as an original work."—Raynal (tr. 1777), i. 50.
1776.—"The occupation of the Bramin should be to read the Beids, and other Shasters."—Halhed, Gentoo Code, 39.
[SHASTREE, s. Hind. śāstrī (see SHASTER). A man of learning, one who teaches any branch of Hindu learning, such as law.
[1824.—"Gungadhur Shastree, the minister of the Baroda state, ... was murdered by Trimbuckjee under circumstances which left no doubt that the deed was perpetrated with the knowledge of Bajerow."—Malcolm, Central India, 2nd ed. i. 307.]
SHAWL, s. Pers. and Hind. shāl, also doshāla, 'a pair of shawls.' The Persian word is perhaps of Indian origin, from Skt. śavala, 'variegated.' Sir George Birdwood tells us that he has found among the old India records "Carmania shells" and "Carmania shawools," meaning apparently Kermān shawls. He gives no dates unfortunately. [In a book of 1685 he finds "Shawles Carmania" and "Carmania Wooll"; in one of 1704, "Chawools" (Report on Old Records, 27, 40). Carmania goats are mentioned in a letter in Forrest, Bombay Letters, i. 140.] In Meninski (published in 1680) shāl is defined in a way that shows the humble sense of the word originally:
"Panni viliores qui partim albi, partim cineritii, partim nigri esse solent ex lana et pillis caprinis; hujusmodi pannum seu telam injiciunt humeris Dervisii ... instar stolae aut pallii." To this he adds, "Datur etiam sericea ejusmodi tela, fere instar nostri multitii, sive simplicis sive duplicati." For this the 2nd edition a century later substitutes: "Shāl-i-Hindī" (Indian shawl). "Tela sericea subtilissima ex India adferri solita."
c. 1590.—"In former times shawls were often brought from Kashmír. People folded them in four folds, and wore them for a very long time.... His Majesty encourages in every possible way the (shāl-bāfī) manufacture of shawls in Kashmír. In Lahór also there are more than 1000 workshops."—Āīn i. 92. [Also see ed. Jarrett, ii. 349, 355.]
c. 1665.—"Ils mettent sur eux a toute saison, lorsqu'ils sortent, une Chal, qui est une maniere de toilette d'une laine très-fine qui se fait a Cachmìr. Ces Chals ont environ deux aunes (the old French aune, nearly 47 inches English) de long sur une de large. On les achete vingt-cinq ou trente écus si elles sont fines. Il y en a même qui coûtent cinquante écus, mais ce sont les très-fines."—Thevenot, v. 110.
c. 1666.—"Ces chales sont certaines pièces d'étoffe d'une aulne et demie de long, et d'une de large ou environ, qui sont brodées aux deux bouts d'une espèce de broderie, faite au métier, d'un pied ou environ de large.... J'en ai vu de ceux que les Omrahs font faire exprès, qui coutoient jusqu'à cent cinquante Roupies; des autres qui sont de cette laine du pays, je n'en ai pas vu qui passaient 50 Roupies."—Bernier, ii. 280-281; [ed. Constable, 402].
1717.—"... Con tutto ciò preziosissime nobilissime e senza comparazione magnifiche sono le tele che si chiamano Scial, si nella lingua Hindustana, come ancora nella lingua Persiana. Tali Scial altro non sono, che alcuni manti, che si posano sulla testa, e facendo da man destra, e da man sinistra scendere le due metà, con queste si cinge...."—MS. Narrative of Padre Ip. Desideri.
[1662.—"Another rich Skarf, which they call schal, made of a very fine stuff."—J. Davies, Ambassador's Trav., Bk. vi. 235, Stanf. Dict.]
1727.—"When they go abroad they wear a Shawl folded up, or a piece of White Cotton Cloth lying loose on the Top of their Heads."—A. Hamilton, ii. 50; [Shaul in ed. 1744, ii. 49].
c. 1760.—"Some Shawls are manufactured there.... Those coming from the province of Cachemire on the borders of Tartary, being made of a peculiar kind of silky hair, that produces from the loom a cloth beautifully bordered at both ends, with a narrow flowered selvage, about two yards and a half long, and a yard and a half wide ... and according to the price, which is from ten pounds and upwards to fifteen shillings, join, to exquisite fineness, a substance that renders them extremely warm, and so pliant that the fine ones are easily drawn through a common ring on the finger."—Grose, i. 118.
1781.—Sonnerat writes challes. He says: "Ces étoffes (faites avec la laine des moutons de Tibet) surpassent nos plus belles soieries en finesse."—Voyage, i. 52.
It seems from these extracts that the large and costly shawl, woven in figures over its whole surface, is a modern article. The old shawl, we see, was from 6 to 8 feet long, by about half that breadth; and it was most commonly white, with only a border of figured weaving at each end. In fact what is now called a Rampoor Chudder when made with figured ends is probably the best representation of the old shawl.
SHEEAH, SHIA, s. Arab. shī'a, i.e. 'sect.' A follower (more properly the followers collectively) of the Mahommedan 'sect,' or sects rather, which specially venerate 'Ali, and regard the Imāms (see IMAUM), his descendants, as the true successors to the Caliphate. The Persians (since the accession of the 'Sophy' dynasty, (q.v.)) are Shī'as, and a good many of the Moslems in India. The sects which have followed more or less secret doctrines, and the veneration of hereditary quasi-divine heads, such as the Karmathites and Ismaelites of Musulman history, and the modern Bohras (see BORA) and "Mulāḥis," may generally be regarded as Shī'a. [See the elaborate article on the sect in Hughes, Dict. of Islām, 572 seqq.]
c. 1309.—"... dont encore il est ainsi, que tuit cil qui croient en la loy Haali dient que cil qui croient en la loy Mahommet sont mescréant; et aussi tuit cil qui croient en la loy Mahommet dient que tuit cil qui croient en la loy Haali sont mescréant."—Joinville, 252.
1553.—"Among the Moors have always been controversies ... which of the four first Caliphs was the most legitimate successor to the Caliphate. The Arabians favoured Bubac, Homar, and Otthoman, the Persians (Parseos) favoured Alle, and held the others for usurpers, and as holding it against the testament of Mahamed ... to the last this schism has endured between the Arabians and the Persians. The latter took the appellation Xiá, as much as to say 'Union of one Body,' and the Arabs called them in reproach Raffady [Rāfiḍī, a heretic (lit. 'deserter')], as much as to say 'People astray from the Path,' whilst they call themselves Çuny (see SUNNEE), which is the contrary."—Barros, II. x. 6.
1620.—"The Sonnite adherents of tradition, like the Arabs, the Turks, and an infinite number of others, accept the primacy of those who actually possess it. The Persians and their adherents who are called Shias (Sciai), i.e. 'Sectaries,' and are not ashamed of the name, believe in the primacy of those who have only claimed it (without possessing it), and obstinately contend that it belongs to the family of Alì only."—P. della Valle, ii. 75; [conf. Hak. Soc. i. 152].
1626.—"He is by Religion a Mahumetan, descended from Persian Ancestors, and retaineth their opinions, which differing in many points from the Turkes, are distinguished in their Sectes by tearmes of Seaw and Sunnee."—Purchas, Pilgrimage, 995.
1653.—"Les Persans et Keselbaches (Kuzzilbash) se disent Schaì ... si les Ottomans estoient Schaìs, ou de la Secte de Haly, les Persans se feroient Sonnis qui est la Secte des Ottomans."—De la Boullaye-le-Gouz, ed. 1657, 106.
1673.—"His Substitute here is a Chias Moor."—Fryer, 29.
1798.—"In contradistinction to the Soonis, who in their prayers cross their hands on the lower part of the breast, the Schiahs drop their arms in straight lines."—G. Forster, Travels, ii. 129.
1805.—"The word Sh'eeah, or Sheeut, properly signifies a troop or sect ... but has become the distinctive appellation of the followers of Aly, or all those who maintain that he was the first legitimate Khuleefah, or successor to Moohummad."—Baillie, Digest of Mah. Law, II. xii.
1869.—"La tolerance indienne est venue diminuer dans l'Inde le fanatisme Musulman. Là Sunnites et Schiites n'ont point entre eux cette animosité qui divise les Turcs et les Persans ... ces deux sectes divisent les musulmans de l'Inde; mais comme je viens de dire, elles n'excitent généralement entre eux aucune animosité."—Garcin de Tassy, Rel. Mus., p. 12.
SHEERMAUL, s. Pers.—Hind. shīrmāl, a cake made with flour, milk and leaven; a sort of brioche. [The word comes from Pers. shīr, 'milk,' māl, 'crushing.' Riddell (Domest. Econ. 461) gives a receipt for what he calls "Nauna Sheer Mhal," nān being Pers., 'bread.']
[1832.—"The dishes of meetah (miṭhā, 'sweet') are accompanied with the many varieties of bread common to Hindoostaun, without leaven, as Sheah-maul, bacherkaunie (bakir-khani), chapaatie (chupatty), &c.; the first two have milk and ghee mixed with the flour, and nearly resemble our pie-crust."—Mrs. Meer Hassan Ali, Observations, i. 101.
[SHEIKH, s. Ar. shaikh; an old man, elder, chief, head of an Arab tribe. The word should properly mean one of the descendants of tribes of genuine Arab descent, but at the present day, in India, it is often applied to converts to Islam from the lower Hindu tribes. For the use of the word in the sense of a saint, see under PEER.
[1598.—"Lieftenant (which the Arabians called zequen)."—Linschoten, Hak. Soc. i. 24.
[1625.—"They will not haue them iudged by any Custome, and they are content that their Xeque doe determine them as he list."—Purchas, Pilgrimage, ii. 1146.
1727.—"... but if it was so, that he (Abraham) was their Sheek, as they alledge, they neither follow him in Morals or Religion."—A. Hamilton, ed. 1744, i. 37.
[1835.—"Some parents employ a sheykh or fikee to teach their boys at home."—Lane, Mod. Egypt., ed. 1871, i. 77.]
SHERBET, s. Though this word is used in India by natives in its native (Arab. and Pers.) form sharbat,[245] 'draught,' it is not a word now specially in Anglo-Indian use. The Arabic seems to have entered Europe by several different doors. Thus in Italian and French we have sorbetto and sorbet, which probably came direct from the Levantine or Turkish form shurbat or shorbat; in Sp. and Port. we have xarabe, axarabe (ash-sharāb, the standard Ar. sharāb, 'wine or any beverage'), and xarope, and from these forms probably Ital. sciroppo, siroppo, with old French ysserop and mod. French sirop; also English syrup, and more directly from the Spanish, shrub. Mod. Span. again gets, by reflection from French or Italian, sorbete and sîrop (see Dozy, 17, and Marcel Devic, s.v. sirop). Our sherbet looks as if it had been imported direct from the Levant. The form shrāb is applied in India to all wines and spirits and prepared drinks, e.g. Port-shraub, Sherry-shraub, Lall-shraub, Brandy-shraub, Beer-shraub.
c. 1334.—"... They bring cups of gold, silver, and glass, filled with sugar-candy-water; i.e. syrup diluted with water. They call this beverage sherbet" (ash-shurbat).—Ibn Batuta, iii. 124.
1554.—"... potio est gratissima praesertim ubi multa nive, quae Constantinopoli nullo tempore deficit, fuerit refirgerata, Arab Sorbet vocant, hoc est, potionem Arabicam."—Busbeq. Ep. i. p. 92.
1578.—"The physicians of the same country use this xarave (of tamarinds) in bilious and ardent fevers."—Acosta, 67.
c. 1580.—"Et saccharo potum jucundissimum parant quem Sarbet vocant."—Prosper Alpinus, Pt. i. p. 70.
1611.—"In Persia there is much good wine of grapes which is called Xaràb in the language of the country."—Teixeira, i. 16.
c. 1630.—"Their liquor may perhaps better delight you; 'tis faire water, sugar, rose-water, and juyce of Lemons mixt, call'd Sherbets or Zerbets, wholsome and potable."—Sir T. Herbert, ed. 1638, p. 241.
1682.—"The Moores ... dranke a little milk and water, but not a drop of wine; they also dranke a little sorbet, and jacolatt (see JOCOLE)."—Evelyn's Diary, Jan 24.
1827.—"On one occasion, before Barak-el-Hadgi left Madras, he visited the Doctor, and partook of his sherbet, which he preferred to his own, perhaps because a few glasses of rum or brandy were usually added to enrich the compound."—Sir W. Scott, The Surgeon's Daughter, ch. x.
1837.—"The Egyptians have various kinds of sherbets.... The most common kind (called simply shurbát or shurbát sook'har ...) is merely sugar and water ... lemonade (ley'moónáteh, or sharáb el-leymoón) is another."—Lane, Mod. Egypt., ed. 1837, i. 206.
1863.—"The Estate overseer usually gave a dance to the people, when the most dissolute of both sexes were sure to be present, and to indulge too freely in the shrub made for the occasion."—Waddell, 29 Years in the W. Indies, 17.
SHEREEF, s. Ar. sharīf, 'noble.' A dignitary descended from Mahommed.
1498.—"The ambassador was a white man who was Xarife, as much as to say a creligo" (i.e. clerigo).—Roteiro, 2nd ed. 30.
[1672.—"Schierifi." See under CASIS.
[c. 1666.—"The first (embassage) was from the Cherif of Meca...."—Bernier, ed. Constable, 133.
1701.—"... ye Shreif of Judda...."—Forrest, Bombay Letters, i. 232.]
SHERISTADAR, s. The head ministerial officer of a Court, whose duty it is to receive plaints, and see that they are in proper form and duly stamped, and generally to attend to routine business. Properly H.—P. from sar-rishtā-dār or sarishta-dār, 'register-keeper.' Sar-rishtā, an office of registry, literally means 'head of the string.' C. P. Brown interprets Sarrishtadār as "he who holds the end of the string (on which puppets dance)"—satirically, it may be presumed. Perhaps 'keeper of the clue,' or 'of the file' would approximately express the idea.
1786.—(With the object of establishing) "the officers of the Canongoe's Department upon its ancient footing, altogether independent of the Zemindars ... and to prevent confusion in the time to come.... For these purposes, and to avail ourselves as much as possible of the knowledge and services of Mr. James Grant, we have determined on the institution of an office well-known in this country under the designation of Chief Serrishtadar, with which we have invested Mr. Grant, to act in that capacity under your Board, and also to attend as such at your deliberations, as well as at our meetings in the Revenue Department."—Letter from G. G. in C. to Board of Revenue, July 19 (Bengal Rev. Regulation xix.).
1878.—"Nowadays, however, the Serishtadar's signature is allowed to authenticate copies of documents, and the Assistant is thus spared so much drudgery."—Life in the Mofussil, i. 117.
[SHEVAROY HILLS, n.p. The name applied to a range of hills in the Salem district of Madras. The origin of the name has given rise to much difference of opinion. Mr. Lefanu (Man. of Salem, ii. 19 seq.) thinks that the original name was possibly Sivarayan, whence the German name Shivarai and the English Shevaroys; or that Sivarayan may by confusion have become Sherarayan, named after the Raja of Sera; lastly, he suggests that it comes from sharpu or sharvu, 'the slope or declivity of a hill,' and vay, 'a mouth, passage, way.' This he is inclined to accept, regarding Shervarayan or Sharvayrayan, as 'the cliff which dominates (rayan) the way (vay) which leads through or under the declivity (sharvu).' The Madras Gloss. gives the Tam. form of the name as Shervarayanmalai, from Sheran, 'the Chera race,' irayan, 'king,' and malai, 'mountain.'
[1823.—"Mr. Cockburn ... had the kindness to offer me the use of a bungalow on the Shervaraya hills...."—Hoole, Missions in Madras, 282.
[SHIBAR, SHIBBAR, s. A kind of coasting vessel, sometimes described as a great pattamar. Molesworth (Mahr. Dict. s.v.) gives shibāṛ which, in the usual dictionary way, he defines as 'a ship or large vessel of a particular description.' The Bombay Gazetteer (x. 171) speaks of the 'shibādi, a large vessel, from 100 to 300 tons, generally found in the Ratnagiri sub-division ports'; and in another place (xiii. Pt. ii. 720) says that it is a large vessel chiefly used in the Malabar trade, deriving the name from Pers. shāhī-bār, 'royal-carrier.'
[1684.—"The Mucaddam (MOCUDDUM) of this shibar bound for Goa."—Yule, in Hedges' Diary, Hak. Soc. II. clxv.; also see clxxxiv.
[1727.—"... the other four were Grabs or Gallies, and Sheybars, or half Gallies."—A. Hamilton, ed. 1744, i. 134.
[1758.—"... then we cast off a boat called a large seebar, bound to Muscat...."—Ives, 196.]
SHIGRAM, s. A Bombay and Madras name for a kind of hack palankin carriage. The camel-shigram is often seen on roads in N. India. The name is from Mahr. śīghr, Skt. śīghra, 'quick or quickly.' A similar carriage is the Jutkah, which takes its name from Hind. jhaṭkā, 'swift.'
[1830.—At Bombay, "In heavy coaches, lighter landaulets, or singular-looking shigrampoes, might be seen bevies of British fair ..."—Mrs. Elwood, Narr. ii. 376.
[1875.—"As it is, we have to go ... 124 miles in a dak gharri, bullock shigram, or mail-cart...."—Wilson, Abode of Snow, 18.]
SHIKAR, s. Hind. from Pers. shikār, 'la chasse'; sport (in the sense of shooting and hunting); game.
c. 1590.—"Āīn, 27. Of Hunting (orig. Āīn-i-Shikār). Superficial worldly observers see in killing an animal a sort of pleasure, and in their ignorance stride about, as if senseless, on the field of their passions. But deep enquirers see in hunting a means of acquisition of knowledge.... This is the case with His Majesty."—Āīn, i. 282.
1609-10.—"Sykary, which signifieth, seeking, or hunting."—W. Finch, in Purchas, i. 428.
1800.—"250 or 300 horsemen ... divided into two or three small parties, supported by our infantry, would give a proper shekar; and I strongly advise not to let the Mahratta boundary stop you in the pursuit of your game."—Sir A. Wellesley to T. Munro, in Life of Munro, iii. 117.
1847.—"Yet there is a charm in this place for the lovers of Shikar."—Dry Leaves from Young Egypt, 3.
[1859.—"Although the jungles literally swarm with tigers, a shickar, in the Indian sense of the term, is unknown."—Oliphant, Narr. of Mission, i. 25.]
1866.—"May I ask what has brought you out to India, Mr. Cholmondeley? Did you come out for shikar, eh?"—Trevelyan, The Dawk Bungalow, in Fraser, lxxiii. 222.
In the following the word is wrongly used in the sense of Shikaree.
[1900.—"That so experienced a shikar should have met his death emphasises the necessity of caution."—Field, Sept. 1.]
SHIKAREE, SHEKARRY, s. Hind. shikārī, a sportsman. The word is used in three ways:
a. As applied to a native expert, who either brings in game on his own account, or accompanies European sportsmen as guide and aid.
[1822.—"Shecarries are generally Hindoos of low cast, who gain their livelihood entirely by catching birds, hares, and all sorts of animals."—Johnson, Sketches of Field Sports, 25.]
1879.—"Although the province (Pegu) abounds in large game, it is very difficult to discover, because there are no regular shikarees in the Indian acceptation of the word. Every village has its local shikaree, who lives by trapping and killing game. Taking life as he does, contrary to the principles of his religion, he is looked upon as damned by his neighbours, but that does not prevent their buying from him the spoils of the chase."—Pollok, Sport in Br. Burmah, &c., i. 13.
b. As applied to the European sportsman himself: e.g. "Jones is well known as a great Shikaree." There are several books of sporting adventure written circa 1860-75 by Mr. H. A. Leveson under the name of 'The Old Shekarry.'
[c. A shooting-boat used in the Cashmere lakes.
[1875.—"A shikārī is a sort of boat, that is in daily use with the English visitors; a light boat manned, as it commonly is, by six men, it goes at a fast pace, and, if well fitted with cushions, makes a comfortable conveyance. A bandūqī (see BUNDOOK) shikāri is the smallest boat of all; a shooting punt, used in going after wild fowl on the lakes."—Drew, Jummoo, &c., 181.]
SHIKAR-GĀH, s. Pers. A hunting ground, or enclosed preserve. The word has also a technical application to patterns which exhibit a variety of figures and groups of animals, such as are still woven in brocade at Benares, and in shawl-work in Kashmir and elsewhere (see Marco Polo, Bk. I. ch. 17, and notes). [The great areas of jungle maintained by the Amīrs of Sind and called Shikārgāhs are well known.
[1831.—"Once or twice a month when they (the Ameers) are all in good health, they pay visits to their different shikargahs or preserves for game."—J. Burnes, Visit to the Court of Sinde, 103.]
SHIKHÓ, n. and v. Burmese word. The posture of a Burmese in presence of a superior, i.e. kneeling with joined hands and bowed head in an attitude of worship. Some correspondence took place in 1883, in consequence of the use of this word by the then Chief Commissioner of British Burma, in an official report, to describe the attitude used by British envoys at the Court of Ava. The statement (which was grossly incorrect) led to remonstrance by Sir Arthur Phayre. The fact was that the envoy and his party sat on a carpet, but the attitude had no analogy whatever to that of shikho, though the endeavour of the Burmese officials was persistent to involve them in some such degrading attitude. (See KOWTOW.)
1855.—"Our conductors took off their shoes at the gate, and the Woondouk made an ineffectual attempt to induce the Envoy to do likewise. They also at four different places, as we advanced to the inner gate, dropt on their knees and shikhoed towards the palace."—Yule, Mission to Ava, 82.
1882.—"Another ceremony is that of shekhoing to the spire, the external emblem of the throne. All Burmans must do this at each of the gates, at the foot of the steps, and at intervals in between...."—The Burman, His Life and Notions, ii. 206.
SHINBIN, SHINBEAM, &c., s. A term in the Burmese teak-trade; apparently a corruption from Burm. shīn-byīn. The first monosyllable (shīn) means 'to put together side by side,' and byīn, 'plank,' the compound word being used in Burmese for 'a thick plank used in constructing the side of a ship.' The shinbin is a thick plank, about 15″ wide by 4″ thick, and running up to 25 feet in length (see Milburn, i. 47). It is not sawn, but split from green trees.
1791.—"Teak Timber for sale, consisting of
Duggis (see DUGGIE).
Shinbeens.
Coma planks (?).
Maguire planks (?)
Joists and Sheathing Boards."
Madras Courier, Nov. 10.
SHINKALI, SHIGALA, n.p. A name by which the City and Port of Cranganore (q.v.) seems to have been known in the early Middle Ages. The name was probably formed from Tiruvan-jiculam, mentioned by Dr. Gundert below. It is perhaps the Gingaleh of Rabbi Benjamin in our first quotation; but the data are too vague to determine this, though the position of that place seems to be in the vicinity of Malabar.
c. 1167.—"Gingaleh is but three days distant by land, whereas it requires a journey of fifteen days to reach it by the sea; this place contains about 1,000 Israelites."—Benjamin of Tudela, in Wright's Early Travels, p. 117.
c. 1300.—"Of the cities on the shore (of Malībār) the first is Sindábúr (Goa), then Faknúr (see BACANORE), then the country of Manjarúr (see MANGALORE) ... then Chinkalī (or Jinkalī), then Kúlam (see QUILON)."—Rashīduddīn, see J. R. As. Soc., N.S., iv. pp. 342, 345.
c. 1320.—"Le pays de Manîbâr, appelè pays du Poivre, comprend les villes suivantes.
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"La ville de Shinkli, dont la majeure partie de la population est composée de Juifs.
"Kaulam est la dernière ville de la côte de Poivre."—Shemseddin Dimishqui, by Mehren (Cosmographie du Moyen Age), p. 234.
c. 1328.—"... there is one very powerful King in the country where the pepper grows, and his kingdom is called Molebar. There is also the King of Singuyli...."—Fr. Jordanus, p. 40.
1330.—"And the forest in which the pepper groweth extendeth for a good 18 days' journey, and in that forest there be two cities, the one whereof is called Flandrina (see PANDARANI), and the other Cyngilin...."—Fr. Odoric, in Cathay, &c., 75-76.
c. 1330.—"Etiam Shâliyât (see CHALIA) et Shinkala urbes Malabaricae sunt, quarum alteram Judaei incolunt...."—Abulfeda, in Gildemeister, 185.
c. 1349.—"And in the second India, which is called Mynibar, there is Cynkali, which signifieth Little India" (Little China) "for Kali is 'little.'"—John Marignolli, in Cathay, &c., 373.
1510.—"Scigla alias et Chrongalor vocatur, ea quam Cranganorium dicimus Malabariae urbem, ut testatur idem Jacobus Indiarum episcopus ad calcem Testamenti Novi ab ipso exarati anno Graecorum 1821, Christi 1510, et in fine Epistolarum Pauli, Cod. Syr. Vat. 9 et 12."—In Assemani, Diss. de Syr. Nest., pp. 440, 732.
1844.—"The place (Codungalur) is identified with Tiruvan-jiculam river-harbour, which Cheraman Perumal is said to have declared the best of the existing 18 harbours of Kerala...."—Dr. Gundert, in Madras Journal, xiii. 120.
" "One Kerala Ulpatti (i.e. legendary history of Malabar) of the Nasrani, says that their forefathers ... built Codangalur, as may be learned from the granite inscription at the northern entrance of the Tiruvan-jiculam temple...."—Ibid. 122.
SHINTOO, SINTOO, s. Japanese Shintau, 'the Way of the Gods.' The primitive relation of Japan. It is described by Faria y Sousa and other old writers, but the name does not apparently occur in those older accounts, unless it be in the Seuto of Couto. According to Kaempfer the philosophic or Confucian sect is called in Japan Siuto. But that hardly seems to fit what is said by Couto, and his Seuto seems more likely to be a mistake for Sento. [See Lowell's articles on Esoteric Shintoo, in Proc. As. Soc. Japan, 1893.]
1612.—"But above all these idols they adore one Seutó, of which they say that it is the substance and principle of All, and that its abode is in the Heavens."—Couto, V. viii. 12.
1727.—"Le Sinto qu'on appelle aussi Sinsju et Kamimitsi, est le Culte des Idoles, établi anciennement dans le pays. Sin et Kami sont les noms des Idoles qui font l'object de ce Culte. Siu (sic) signifie la Foi, ou la Religion. Sinsja et au pluriel Sinsju, ce sont les personnes qui professent cette Religion."—Kaempfer, Hist. de Japon, i. 176; [E.T. 204].
1770.—"Far from encouraging that gloomy fanaticism and fear of the gods, which is inspired by almost all other religions, the Xinto sect had applied itself to prevent, or at least to moderate that disorder of the imagination."—Raynal (E.T. 1777), i. 137.
1878.—"The indigenous religion of the Japanese people, called in later times by the name of Shintau or Way of the Gods, in order to distinguish it from the way of the Chinese moral philosophers, and the way of Buddha, had, at the time when Confucianism and Buddhism were introduced, passed through the earliest stages of development."—Westminster Rev., N.S., No. cvii. 29.
[SHIRAZ, n.p. The wine of Shiraz was much imported and used by Europeans in India in the 17th century, and even later.
[1627.—"Sheraz then probably derives it self either from sherab which in the Persian Tongue signifies a Grape here abounding ... or else from sheer which in the Persian signifies Milk."—Sir T. Herbert, ed. 1677, p. 127.
[1685.—"... three Chests of Sirash wine...."—Pringle, Diary Ft. St. Geo., 1st ser. iv. 109, and see ii. 148.
[1690.—"Each Day there is prepar'd (at Surrat) a Publick Table for the Use of the President and the rest of the Factory.... The Table is spread with the choicest Meat Surrat affords ... and equal plenty of generous Sherash and Arak Punch...."—Ovington, 394.
[1727.—"Shyrash is a large City on the Road, about 550 Miles from Gombroon."—A. Hamilton, ed. 1744, i. 99.
[1813.—"I have never tasted this (pomegranate wine), nor any other Persian wine, except that of Schiraz, which, although much extolled by poets, I think inferior to many wines in Europe."—Forbes, Or. Mem. 2nd ed. i. 468.]
SHIREENBAF, s. Pers. Shīrīnbāf, 'sweet-woof.' A kind of fine cotton stuff, but we cannot say more precisely what.
c. 1343.—"... one hundred pieces of shīrīnbāf...."—Ibn Batuta, iv. 3.
[1609.—"Serribaff, a fine light stuff or cotton whereof the Moors make their cabayes or clothing."—Danvers, Letters, i. 29.]
1673.—"... siring chintz, Broad Baftas...."—Fryer, 88.
SHISHAM. See under SISSOO.
SHISHMUHULL, s. Pers. shīsha-maḥal, lit. 'glass apartment' or palace. This is or was a common appendage of native palaces, viz. a hall or suite of rooms lined with mirror and other glittering surfaces, usually of a gimcrack aspect. There is a place of exactly the same description, now gone to hideous decay, in the absurd Villa Palagonia at Bagheria near Palermo.
1835.—"The Shīsha-mahal, or house of glass, is both curious and elegant, although the material is principally pounded talc and looking-glass. It consists of two rooms, of which the walls in the interior are divided into a thousand different panels, each of which is filled up with raised flowers in silver, gold, and colours, on a ground-work of tiny convex mirrors."—Wanderings of a Pilgrim, i. 365.
SHOE OF GOLD (or of Silver). The name for certain ingots of precious metal, somewhat in the form of a Chinese shoe, but more like a boat, which were formerly current in the trade of the Far East. Indeed of silver they are still current in China, for Giles says: "The common name among foreigners for the Chinese silver ingot, which bears some resemblance to a native shoe. May be of any weight from 1 oz. and even less, to 50 and sometimes 100 oz., and is always stamped by the assayer and banker, in evidence of purity" (Gloss. of Reference, 128). [In Hissar the Chinese silver is called sillī from the slabs (sil) in which it is sold (Maclagan, Mon. on Gold and Silver Work in Punjab, p. 5).] The same form of ingot was probably the bālish (or yāstok) of the Middle Ages, respecting which see Cathay, &c., 115, 481, &c. Both of these latter words mean also 'a cushion,' which is perhaps as good a comparison as either 'shoe' or 'boat.' The word now used in C. Asia is yambū. There are cuts of the gold and silver ingots in Tavernier, whose words suggest what is probably the true origin of the popular English name, viz. a corruption of the Dutch Goldschuyt.
1566.—"... valuable goods exported from this country (China) ... are first, a quantity of gold, which is carried to India, in loaves in the shape of boats...."—C. Federici, in Ramusio, iii. 391b.
1611.—"Then, I tell you, from China I could load ships with cakes of gold fashioned like boats, containing, each of them, roundly speaking, 2 marks weight, and so each cake will be worth 280 pardaos."—Couto, Dialogo do Soldado Pratico, p. 155.
1676.—"The Pieces of Gold mark'd Fig. 1, and 2, are by the Hollanders called Goltschut, that is to say, a Boat of Gold, because they are in the form of a Boat. Other Nations call them Loaves of Gold.... The Great Pieces come to 12 hundred Gilders of Holland Money, and thirteen hundred and fifty Livres of our Money."—Tavernier, E.T. ii. 8.
1702.—"Sent the Moolah to be delivered the Nabob, Dewan, and Buxie 48 China Oranges ... but the Dewan bid the Moolah write the Governor for a hundred more that he might send them to Court; which is understood to be One Hundred shoes of gold, or so many thousand pagodas or rupees."—In Wheeler, i. 397.
1704.—"Price Currant, July, 1704, (at Malacca) ... Gold, China, in Shoos 94 Touch."—Lockyer, 70.
1862.—"A silver ingot 'Yambu' weighs about 2 (Indian) seers ... = 4 lbs., and is worth 165 Co.'s rupees. Koomoosh, also called 'Yambucha,' or small silver ingot, is worth 33 Rs. ... 5 yambuchas, being equal to 1 yambu. There are two descriptions of 'yambucha'; one is a square piece of silver, having a Chinese stamp on it; the other ... in the form of a boat, has no stamp. The Yambu is in the form of a boat, and has a Chinese stamp on it."—Punjab Trade Report, App. ccxxvi.-xxviii. 1.
1875.—"The yámbú or kúrs is a silver ingot something the shape of a deep boat with projecting bow and stern. The upper surface is lightly hollowed, and stamped with a Chinese inscription. It is said to be pure silver, and to weigh 50 (Cashghar) ser = 30,000 grains English."—Report of Forsyth's Mission to Kashghar, 494.
[1876.—"... he received his pay in Chinese yambs (gold coins), at the rate of 128 rubles each, while the real commercial value was only 115 rubles."—Schuyler, Turkistan, ii. 322.
[1901.—A piece of Chinese shoe money, value 10 taels, was exhibited before the Numismatic Society.—Athenaeum, Jan. 26, p. 118. Perhaps the largest specimen known of Chinese "boat-money" was exhibited. It weighed 89½ ounces troy, and represented 50 taels, or £8, 8s. 0d. English.—Ibid. Jan. 25, 1902, p. 120].
SHOE-FLOWER, s. A name given in Madras Presidency to the flower of the Hibiscus Rosa-sinensis, L. It is a literal translation of the Tam. shapāttupu, Singh. sappattumala, a name given because the flowers are used at Madras to blacken shoes. The Malay name Kempang sapatu means the same. Voigt gives shoe-flower as the English name, and adds: "Petals astringent, used by the Chinese to blacken their shoes (?) and eyebrows" (Hortus Suburbanus Calcuttensis, 116-7); see also Drury, s.v. The notion of the Chinese blackening their shoes is surely an error, but perhaps they use it to blacken leather for European use.